Running the Numbers for the Path of Mantra: Distinguishing the Thirteenth Bh?mi in Fifteenth-Century Tibet

This article explores a Buddhist text in which numbers set the very stakes for liberation. In 1404, Ngor chen Kun dga’ bzang po (1382–1456), who was to become one of most esteemed tantric commentators Tibetan Sakya tradition, composed his first polemical text, Dispelling Evil Misunderstandings Explanation Ground Zung ‘jug Vajradhara. this early work, grapples with relationship between path perfections and secret mantra as conduits I illuminate ways ritual, exegesis, pedagogy converge chen’s reveal larger implications distinguishing eleventh thirteenth grounds (bh?mi) Buddhahood fifteenth-century Tibet. concluding, highlight art differentiation fundamental scholastic enterprise briefly engage acts s?tra tantra conversation those key predecessors contemporaries.