Chandragomin
Chandragomin (Skt. Candragomin, Tib. ཙནྡྲ་གོ་མིན་) (seventh century) — a famous Indian master and scholar who was a lay practitioner, or upasaka, who dressed in white robes and upheld the five precepts (not to kill, steal, commit sexual misconduct or take intoxicants) and famously challenged Chandrakirti to a debate in Nalanda that lasted for many years. His writings include Twenty Verses on the Bodhisattva Vow and Letter to a Disciple.
Quotations
སེམས་ཀྱི་སྟོབས་ཆེན་མི་ཡིས་རྙེད་པ་གང་ཡིན་པ། །
ལམ་དེ་ལྷ་དང་ཀླུ་ཡིས་རྙེད་མིན་ལྷ་མིན་དང་། །
The path followed and taught by the Buddha in order to guide the world
Is within the reach of human beings with strength of heart,
But cannot be attained by the gods, nagas,
Asuras, garudas, vidyadharas, kinnaras or uragas.
Further Reading
- Candragomin, Difficult Beginnings: Three Works on the Bodhisattva Path, translated, with commentary by Mark Tatz, Shambhala, 1985
- Geshe Sonam Rinchen, The Bodhisattva Vow, translated and edited by Ruth Sonam, Snow Lion, 2000