The Lamp and the Wind in Tibetan Buddhism

In the eighth century A.D., a vehement dispute arose in Tibet between representatives of Indian Buddhism, then predominately Madhyamika, and certain Chinese Buddhists who preached an extreme quietism. The Tibetan king invited the great Indian pandit Kamala"ila to represent the Midhyamikas in a debate to decide the issue. Accordingly, Kamala"ila composed three treatises called Madhyamaka-bhavand-krama, "The Steps of Cultivation According to the Madhyamaka School."3 In the second of these treatises, he