Ultimate + Virtue = Ultimate Virtue? Tibetan Thinkers Debate the Possibility of Virtuous Ultimate Reality

The talk focuses on the sectarian polemics in the Kagyü and Sakya traditions of Tibetan Buddhism regarding what can be described as the “inherently virtuous nature of reality.” While Buddhist thinkers agree that on the ultimate level nature is pure, what exactly that ultimate nature is—whether it is neutral or virtuous— is the subjects of debates. Komarovski will discuss how conflicting understandings of the ultimate nature by Buddhist thinkers affect their diverse approaches to virtue.