Lama Shenpen Hookham: On How the Prajñāpāramitā Tradition Promotes a Shentong View

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Sources Mentioned

Text
Maitreya, Asaṅga: Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra
The Ratnagotravibhāga, commonly known as the Uttaratantra, or Gyu Lama in Tibetan, is one of the main Indian scriptural sources for buddha-nature theory. It was likely composed during the fifth century, by whom we do not know. Comprised of verses interspersed with prose commentary, it systematizes the buddha-nature teachings that were circulating in multiple sūtras such as the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, and the Śrīmaladevisūtra. The Tibetan tradition attributes the verses to the Bodhisattva Maitreya and the commentary to Asaṅga, and treats the two as separate texts, although this division is not attested to in surviving Indian versions. The Chinese tradition attributes the text to *Sāramati (娑囉末底), but the translation itself does not include the name of the author, and the matter remains unsettled. It was translated into Chinese in the early sixth century by Ratnamati and first translated into Tibetan by Atiśa, although this text is not known to survive. Ngok Loden Sherab translated it a second time based on teachings from the Kashmiri Pandita Sajjana, and theirs remains the standard translation. It has been translated into English several times, and recently into French. See the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā, read more about the Ratnagotravibhāga, or take a look at the most complete English translation in When the Clouds Part by Karl Brunnholzl.
Text
Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen: ri chos nges don rgya mtsho zhes bya ba mthar thug thun mong ma yin pa'i man ngag
Dolpopa's seminal work considered to be the most definitive philosophical treatise of the Jonang tradition. It became famous as the crucial source for the presentation of his view of other-emptiness (zhentong).
Text
Tāranātha: sher snying gi tshig 'grel rmad du byung ba
Tāranātha presents an interpretation of the Heart Sūtra in accordance with his philosophical espousal of the other-emptiness in this short word-for-word commentary. At the very outset, he states in this commentary that the main referent of the term Perfection of Wisdom is buddha-nature, the non-dual wisdom which is the true nature of all phenomena. This, he argues, is not empty of its nature. The Heart Sūtra sufficiently makes it clear that the five skandhas and other conventional phenomena are empty of their nature, but not buddha-nature or the ultimate truth. ‘Form is emptiness’ indicates that form is utterly non-existent and empty. ‘Emptiness is form’ indicates that emptiness, which is the ultimate reality, is what appears as form to ordinary beings. ‘Emptiness is not other than form’ shows there is no emptiness which exists separately from form but reality qua emptiness is rather the true nature of form. ‘Form is not other than emptiness’ states there is no real form that is different from emptiness in the ultimate sense, because emptiness qua reality exists whereas form doesn’t.

People Mentioned

Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen
1292 ~ 1361
Tāranātha
1575 ~ 1634

About the video

Featuring Shenpen Hookham, Karma Phuntsho
Creator Tsadra Foundation
Director Perman, M.
Producer Tsadra Foundation
Event Practical Implications of Shentong Interpretations of Tathāgatagarbha by Lama Shenpen Hookham (30 July 2022, Wales and Bhutan)
Related Website Buddha-Nature
Creation Date 30 July 2022
Citation Hookham, Shenpen. "On How the Prajñāpāramitā Tradition Promotes a Shentong View." Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, July 30, 2022. Video, 7:34. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_PmssfhzsM.

An important sūtra source for the Ratnagotravibhāga, particularly for its discussion of the nine examples that illustrate how all sentient beings possess buddha-nature.

"This sūtra became an important scriptural source for the discussion of buddha-nature in China and is famous for associating the term buddhadhātu with tathāgatagarbha.

Bodhisattva - A person who seeks enlightenment for the sake of others. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is a compassionate being who is training on the path to Buddhahood and aspires to eliminate the suffering of all beings and take all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment. The Mahāyāna sūtras including those on buddha-nature generally have Bodhisattvas as the main audience or interlocutors for the Buddha's discourses. Skt. बोधिसत्त्व Tib. བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའ། Ch. 菩薩

byams chos sde lnga - This refers to a series of five texts that, according to the Tibetan tradition, Asaṅga received directly from Maitreya in the pure realm of Tuṣita. Tib. བྱམས་ཆོས་སྡེ་ལྔ་

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