Dol po pa
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The book emphasizes the Kagyu approach in particular. The author has received teachings from many Kagyu masters and used his knowledge of the tradition as a basis for making this book. He selected teachings from Gampopa and other early masters to set the basis for explaining meditation. Then he added other, necessary teachings according to the extensive teachings he has received over many years from many different Kagyu masters, such as Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, and others. The result is a book that explains how to do a complete session of meditation in the style of the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions.
The book begins with a lengthy introduction by Lama Tony which is a teaching in its own right. He writes a lengthy piece about what can and cannot usefully be obtained from science in terms of dharma practice. Following the introduction, there are two chapters on the buddha nature, the second of which uses a significant portion of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen’s explanation of the ground in his famous Mountain Dharma text. This is the first time that this part of Dolpopa’s text has been fully translated and published. After that are several chapters on the various steps of a complete session of meditation. Anyone who practises meditation will find this book useful in many ways.
The book contains a translation of the following text: “Mountain Dharma, An Ocean of Definitive Meaning” by Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsan, ground section
(Source: Padma Karpo Translations)Dölpopa emphasized two contrasting definitions of the Buddhist theory of emptiness. He described relative phenomena as "empty of self-nature," but absolute reality as only "empty of other," i.e., relative phenomena. He further identified absolute reality as the buddha nature, or eternal essence, present in all living beings. This view of an "emptiness of other," know in Tibetan as shentong, is Dölpopa's enduring legacy.
The Buddha from Dölpo contains the only English translation of three of Dölpopa's crucial works. A General Commentary on the Doctrine is one of the earliest texts in which he systematically presented his view of the entire Buddhist path to enlightenment. The Fourth Council and its Autocommentary (which was not in the first edition of this book) were written at the end of his life and represent a final summation of his teachings. These translations are preceded by a detailed discussion of Dölpopa's life, his revolutionary ideas, earlier precedents for the shentongview, his unique use of language, and the influence of his theories. The fate of his Jonang tradition, which was censored by the central Tibetan government in the seventeenth century but still survives, is also examined. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
On the topic of this person
The book emphasizes the Kagyu approach in particular. The author has received teachings from many Kagyu masters and used his knowledge of the tradition as a basis for making this book. He selected teachings from Gampopa and other early masters to set the basis for explaining meditation. Then he added other, necessary teachings according to the extensive teachings he has received over many years from many different Kagyu masters, such as Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, and others. The result is a book that explains how to do a complete session of meditation in the style of the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions.
The book begins with a lengthy introduction by Lama Tony which is a teaching in its own right. He writes a lengthy piece about what can and cannot usefully be obtained from science in terms of dharma practice. Following the introduction, there are two chapters on the buddha nature, the second of which uses a significant portion of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen’s explanation of the ground in his famous Mountain Dharma text. This is the first time that this part of Dolpopa’s text has been fully translated and published. After that are several chapters on the various steps of a complete session of meditation. Anyone who practises meditation will find this book useful in many ways.
The book contains a translation of the following text: “Mountain Dharma, An Ocean of Definitive Meaning” by Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsan, ground section
(Source: Padma Karpo Translations)Gorampa's text is polemical, and his targets are two of Tibet's greatest thinkers: Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug school, and Dolpopa, a founding figure of the Jonang school. Distinguishing the Views argues that Dolpopa has fallen into an eternalistic extreme, whereas Tsongkhapa has fallen into nihilism, and that only the mainstream Sakya view—what Gorampa calls "freedom from extremes"—represents the true middle way, the correct view of emptiness. Suppressed for years in Tibet, this seminal work today is widely regarded and is studied in some of Tibet's greatest academic institutions.
Gorampa's treatise has been translated and annotated here by two leading scholars of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and a critical edition of the Tibetan text on facing pages gives students and scholars direct access to Gorampa's own words. José Cabezón's extended introduction provides a thorough overview of Tibetan polemical literature and contextualizes the life and work of Gorampa both historically and intellectually. Freedom from Extremes will be indispensable for serious students of Madhyamaka thought. (Source: Wisdom Publications)Dölpopa emphasized two contrasting definitions of the Buddhist theory of emptiness. He described relative phenomena as "empty of self-nature," but absolute reality as only "empty of other," i.e., relative phenomena. He further identified absolute reality as the buddha nature, or eternal essence, present in all living beings. This view of an "emptiness of other," know in Tibetan as shentong, is Dölpopa's enduring legacy.
The Buddha from Dölpo contains the only English translation of three of Dölpopa's crucial works. A General Commentary on the Doctrine is one of the earliest texts in which he systematically presented his view of the entire Buddhist path to enlightenment. The Fourth Council and its Autocommentary (which was not in the first edition of this book) were written at the end of his life and represent a final summation of his teachings. These translations are preceded by a detailed discussion of Dölpopa's life, his revolutionary ideas, earlier precedents for the shentongview, his unique use of language, and the influence of his theories. The fate of his Jonang tradition, which was censored by the central Tibetan government in the seventeenth century but still survives, is also examined. (Source: Shambhala Publications)Philosophical positions of this person
"The crucial stanza [RGV] I.27, in which the three reasons for the presence of a buddha nature in sentient beings are presented, is thus explained in the following way:
Since the dharmakāya of the perfect buddha embraces and pervades all phenomena, since there is no differentiation [to be made] within the dharmatā concerning all samsāra and nirvāna, and since the potential of the tathāgata exists in all sentient beings as the natural purity of the dharmadhātu, which can be purified of hindrances, truly every being possesses, always, continuously, and throughout beginningless time, the ultimate essence of the Buddha." Mathes, K., A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, p. 82.
Dolpopa has a unique view on this issue as Wangchuk points out:
- "Dölpopa argues the following: (1) Cittamātra is categorized into Conventional Cittamātra (kun rdzob pa'i sems tsam) and Ultimate Cittamātra (don dam pa'i sems tsam); (2) Cittamātra must not be conflated with Vijnānavāda; (3) Madhyamaka is grouped into Madyamaka without Appearance (snang med dbu ma) and Madhyamaka with Appearance (snang bcas dbu ma). His Mahäyäna doxography differs significantly from that of other fourteenth-century Tibetan scholars." Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 47.
- It seems that the simple answer is that Dolpopa espoused Great Madhyamaka (dbu ma chen mo) or Madhyamaka with Appearance (snang bcas dbu ma), which is equivalent to Ultimate Cittamātra (don dam pa'i sems tsam). See Wangchuk, Tsering, The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, pp. 49-50.
He was not the first to use the term, but he was the one to define and make it a central feature of his innovative philosophical position:
- "According to traditional Tibetan accounts, the revolutionary theory that the ultimate is not "empty of an own-being” (rang stong) but “empty of other” (gzhan stong) arose in Dölpopas mind during a Kālacakra retreat at Jonang. Lhai Gyaltsen informs us that Dölpopas realization was connected with the Kālacakratantra and the construction of the great stūpa in Jonang, which was consecrated in 1333. One of the first works in which Dölpopa expressed his new zhentong understanding of the Buddhist doctrine was his famous Ri chos nges don rgya mtsho. His last major work was the Bka bsdu bzhi pa (Bka' bsdu bzhi pa'i don bstan rtsis chen po, The Great Reckoning of the Doctrine That Has the Significance of a Fourth Council), which can be seen as a final summary of Dölpopas views." Mathes, K., A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, p. 75.
"He typically describes both buddha nature and the dharmakāya as being ultimately really established, everlasting, eternal, permanent, immutable (ther zug), and being beyond dependent origination. He also equates the tathāgata heart with “ālaya-wisdom” as opposed to the ālaya-consciousness." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 68.
Other names
- ཤེས་རབ་རྒྱལ་མཚན་ · other names (Tibetan)
- ཤེས་རབ་མགོན་ · other names (Tibetan)
- རྟོན་པ་བཞི་ལྡན་ · other names (Tibetan)
- shes rab rgyal mtshan · other names (Wylie)
- shes rab mgon · other names (Wylie)
- rton pa bzhi ldan · other names (Wylie)
Affiliations & relations
- Jonang · religious affiliation
- tshul khrims snying po · teacher
- skyi ston 'jam dbyangs · teacher
- skyi ston grags pa rgyal mtshan · teacher
- sa skya slob dpon shes rab bzang po · teacher
- gzhon nu bzang po · teacher
- blo gros bstan pa · teacher
- jo gdan mkhan po bsod nams grags pa · teacher
- nag 'bum · teacher
- jo nang chos rje yon gtan rgya mtsho · teacher
- jo nang lo tsA ba blo gros dpal · student
- g.yag sde paN chen · student
- bsod nams rgyal mtshan · student
- phyogs las rnam rgyal · student
- sa bzang ma ti paN chen blo gros rgyal mtshan · student
- 'bri gung lo tsA ba ma Ni ka shrI · student
- nya dbon kun dga' dpal · student
- kun spangs chos grags dpal bzang · student