ngo bo

From Buddha-Nature
Tibetan Noun

ngo bo

essential nature
भाव
ངོ་བོ་

Basic Meaning

Essence or the most basic, fundamental nature or natural state of being. It is often used as a synonym for rang bzhin.

Has the Sense of

According to Ives Waldo, it is similar to rang bzhin, but when referring to sugatagarbha, ngo bo refers to the emptiness part, whereas rang bzhin refers to the luminosity or clarity part.

Term Variations
Key Term ngo bo
Topic Variation ngo bo
Tibetan ངོ་བོ་  ( ngowo)
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration ngo bo  ( ngowo)
Devanagari Sanskrit भाव
Romanized Sanskrit bhāva
Buddha-nature Site Standard English essential nature
Richard Barron's English Term essence, essence (of being), essential nature
Jeffrey Hopkin's English Term entity
Dan Martin's English Term substance. NOT in the sense of material substance (as in materialism).
Gyurme Dorje's English Term essential nature
Term Information
Source Language Tibetan
Basic Meaning Essence or the most basic, fundamental nature or natural state of being. It is often used as a synonym for rang bzhin.
Has the Sense of According to Ives Waldo, it is similar to rang bzhin, but when referring to sugatagarbha, ngo bo refers to the emptiness part, whereas rang bzhin refers to the luminosity or clarity part.
Related Terms svabhāva, rang bzhin
Term Type Noun
Definitions
Rangjung Yeshe Dictionary svabhava 1) *, nature, character, attribute, identity, entity, intrinsic / central / essential nature, vital substance, core, being, inmost nature. 2) principle, existence, fact. 3) entity, fact of being, identity. 4) definition, main principle. 5) what it comes down to, at bottom, in fact, 5) essential meaning [in textual introduction].
Tshig mdzod Chen mo rang bzhin dang gnas lugs
Synonyms rang bzhin

Works About this Term

Books
Book
The Heart of the Matter
The perfect Buddha Shakyamuni gave us, his disciples, boundless Dharma Wheels each in accordance with our various capacities and inclinations. The quintessence of all these teachings is the third turning of the Dharma Wheel, called the 'final set of teachings on the complete and total uncovering.' This is the Vajrayana approach to the definitive meaning that takes the fruition as the path, wherin the crucial points of how to apply its view and meditation training are shown. This know-how for bringing this definitive meaning into our experience is found in a text entitled The Unchanging Convergence, which here, in English, is called The Heart of the Matter.

The author, Tsele Natsok Randröl, was born in the snowy land of Tibet. It was through study and reflection that he first unraveled the key points of everything that there is to know. Having brought forth realization through meditation training, he became known as a great pandita and siddha, a learned and accomplished master.

Among his various instructions, The Heart of the Matter is both concise and comprehensible. Not only does it contain all the vital points of the Buddha's words but, in particular, it lucidly and precisely covers the definitive meaning of the view, meditation, conduct and fruition, in their entirety, so that their practice can take effect and mature in our minds. (Source: The Heart of the Matter, introduction, 7–8)
Kunsang, Erik Pema, trans. The Heart of the Matter. By Tsele Natsok Rangdröl (rtse le sna tshogs rang grol). Edited by Marcia Binder Schmidt and Michael Tweed. Buddhist Classics. Hong Kong: Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 1996.
Book
The Lion's Roar of the Ultimate Non-Dual Buddha Nature
The teaching of the Buddha hinges around the one point that sentient beings, meaning beings having a mind, have within them the potential to become a buddha. If they did not possess that potential, it would not be possible for them to become buddhas and the rest of the Buddhist teaching would be an interesting but useless philosophy. Therefore, the topic of buddha nature is especially important.

The Buddha taught buddha nature in three steps, each more profound than the previous one. The last step is regarded by most Tibetan Buddhist schools as the most profound teaching of the sutras, the very essence of what the Buddha was trying to communicate to his followers. It is the same teaching as found in Mahamudra and Dzogchen, so is important for all Buddhists to understand, but especially for those who are studying the Mahamudra and Dzogchen teachings.

The very learned Nyingma teacher Ju Mipham Namgyal gave a teaching that clearly showed this ultimate non-dual buddha nature. It was recorded and published by his students in a text called The Lion's Roar that is A Great Thousand Doses of Sugatagarbha which forms the basis of this book. The text needs clarification, so a very extensive explanation has been provided by the author of the book, the well known Western Buddhist teacher and translator, Tony Duff. As with all of our books, and an extensive introduction, glossary, and so on are provided to assist the reader.
Duff, Tony, trans. The Lion's Roar of the Ultimate Non-Dual Buddha Nature: A Text by Ju Mipham Namgyal and Explanation by Tony Duff. Kathmandu: Padma Karpo Translation Committee, 2015.
Articles
Article
Mind Is Empty and Lucid, Its Nature Is Great Bliss
The Tibetan teacher Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche offers instruction on key verses from one of the Mahamudra’s seminal texts, A Song for the King by the Indian sage Saraha.
Thrangu Rinpoche. "Mind Is Empty and Lucid, Its Nature Is Great Bliss." Lion's Roar, July 1, 2007.
Multimedia
Video
Gregory Forgues: A Reluctant Expression of the Inexpressible: Klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer (1308–1364) on Sugatagarbha
Forgues, Gregory. "A Reluctant Expression of the Inexpressible: Klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer (1308–1364) on Sugatagarbha." Old Topic, New Insights: Buddha-Nature at the Crossroads between Doctrine and Practice. The 16th IATS Conference, Prague, July 3–9, 2022. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department. Video, 21:04. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ccYmqWedKw.
Forgues, Gregory. "A Reluctant Expression of the Inexpressible: Klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer (1308–1364) on Sugatagarbha." Old Topic, New Insights: Buddha-Nature at the Crossroads between Doctrine and Practice. The 16th IATS Conference, Prague, July 3–9, 2022. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department. Video, 21:04. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ccYmqWedKw.
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