Paramartha
[1] Some of Paramārtha's influential translations include Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośa, Asaṅga’s Mahāyānasaṃgraha, and Dignāga's Ālambanaparīkṣā & Hastavālaprakaraṇa.
[2] The distinctive doctrine of the Faxing school was "the existence of a pure and transcendent element within the mind, in which case liberation would simply be a matter of recovering that innate purity.
[10] Paramārtha arrived in China through Guangdong (then called Nanhai) on 25 September 546 CE.23 The conditions of Paramartha's arrival at the capital are described in a Chinese introduction written by Pao Kuei in 597 CE:[10] During the Ta-t'ung period the emperor sent a rear guard Chang Szu to Funan to send back to China eminent monks and Mahayana sastras and sutras of various kinds.
This country [Funan] then yielded in turning over the western Indian Dharma Master from Ujjain, namely Paramartha, who in Liang was called Chen-ti, and many sutras and sastras in order to honor the emperor.
[11] Paramartha's work was interrupted by political events and the general chaotic state of China during this period, which included the murder of Emperor Wu.
[12] Despite his success in China, Paramārtha wished to return to India toward the end of his life, but felt that this journey back to the west would be "impossible.
[12] During his later years (562–569) Paramārtha finally attained a stable patronage and could remain in one single place to work - Guangzhou.
It was during this late period that he and his main students, like Huikai, Sengzong (僧宗), Fazhun (法准), and Sengren (僧忍), produced the most important translations, like the Abhidharmakośabhāṣya and the Mahāyānasaṃgraha.
[2] In this later period, Paramārtha had become famous throughout southern China and had acquired a supportive following of disciples, many of whom traveled great distance to hear his teachings, especially those from the Mahāyānasaṃgraha.
"[5] Furthermore, the phenomena produced by the immaculate consciousness act as the counteragent to all the defilements and the amalavijñāna is said to be attained by the cultivation of the wisdom that knows Thusness (tathatā).
[5] Some modern scholars also consider the "Treatise on Buddha Nature" (Foxing lun 佛性論, T. 1610) to be an original work of Paramārtha, based on his reading of the Ratnagotravibhāga (both texts share many similarities).
[5] There are many disagreements and discrepancies between the main Chinese Buddhist catalogs regarding Paramārtha's translations and modern scholarly opinion on which works to attribute to him also remain divided.
[2] According to Keng Ching and Michael Radich, the following key texts are agreed upon by all catalogs (with minor differences in dating etc) as being translations of Paramārtha (and his team of translators):[2] Regarding the famous Mahayana Awakening of Faith (Dasheng qi xin lun 大乘起信論, T. 1666), it is cited as "dubious" in one of the Chinese catalogs, hence the current scholarly debate as to its provenance.
[2] An important source for Paramārtha's doctrine of the immaculate consciousness is the Jueding zang lun (決定藏論, the beginning of the Viniścayasaṃgrahaṇī portion of the Yogācārabhūmi, T. 1584).
Some scholars such as Funayama Tōru have argued that this difference is due to Paramārtha's "lecture notes" being included as part of the translations of the Indian source texts.
[2] Some of Paramārtha's various lost works, including some of his oral commentaries written by his students, have survived in fragmentary form as quotations in later texts.
Tanqian is also seen as a key figure of the Shelun School (攝論宗) and he possibly was the main force behind the promotion of the Awakening of Faith as Paramārtha's work.
[5] The idea is used by numerous influential East Asian Buddhist authors like Zhiyi (智顗, 538–597), Wŏnch’uk (圓測, 613–696); Wŏnhyo (元曉, 617–686); Amoghavajra (不空金剛, 705–774), Chengguan (澄觀, 738–839); and Zongmi (宗密, 780–841).
