142249 SE Indian Buddhology in the Uttaratantrasastra (2026S)

The Uttaratantra ('Supreme Disquisition'), also known as the Ratnagotravibhāga ('Analysis of the Source of the [Three] Jewels'), is a Buddhist treatise (śāstra) composed in likely the late fourth century. It is best known as a work that attempts to systematize Indian Buddhist thought on 'buddha-nature', or teaching about tathāgatagarbha, which is a focus of its first chapter (also, a focus of another course offered this semester). However, the rest of the text is comparatively less studied, and its second chapter is an intricate discussion of Mahāyāna 'buddhology', or theorizing about the nature and attainments of a buddha. This course will focus on close reading and discussion of this second chapter, and what it has to say about relatively 'mature' Indian thought about buddhas and their profound relationship to reality. Methodologically, and depending on the language skills of students in the class, we will also consider how best to handle different witnesses to a work such as this (Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese).