Gzhan stong snying po

གཞན་སྟོང་སྙིང་པོ།

gzhan stong snying po

Essence of Other-Emptiness

SOURCE TEXT

A fairly brief work by Tāranātha on the basic tenets of the four systems of Buddhist philosophy, namely the Vaibhāṣika, Sautrāntrika, Cittamātra, and Madhyamaka. His exposition culminates with a presentation of the Great Madhyamaka, the pinnacle of the four, which is synonymous with other-emptiness as represented by the Jonang tradition.

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Translations of This Text

Book

The Essence of Other-Emptiness

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Jeffrey Hopkins continues his groundbreaking exploration of the Jo-nang-ba sect of Tibetan Buddhism with this revelatory translation of one of the seminal texts from that tradition. Whereas Dol-bo-ba's massive Mountain Doctrine authenticates the doctrine of other-emptiness through extensive scriptural citations and elaborate philosophical arguments, Taranatha's more concise work translated here situates the doctrine of other-emptiness within the context of schools of tenets, primarily the famed four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, through comparing the various schools' opinions on the status of the noumenon and phenomena. Also included is a supplementary text by Taranatha which presents the opinions of a prominent fifteenth-century Sakya scholar, Shakya Chok-den, and contrasts them with those of the leading Jo-nang-ba scholar Dol-bo-ba. (Source: Back Cover)

Hopkins, Jeffrey, trans. The Essence of Other-Emptiness. By Tāranātha. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, 2007.

Hopkins, Jeffrey, trans. The Essence of Other-Emptiness. By Tāranātha. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, 2007.;The Essence of Other-Emptiness;Jonang;gzhan stong;Yogācāra;Madhyamaka;Tāranātha;ཏཱ་ར་ནཱ་ཐ་;tA ra nA tha;kun dga' snying po;ཀུན་དགའ་སྙིང་པོ་; Jeffrey Hopkins;The Essence of Other-Emptiness;TA ra nA tha

Recensions of This Text

Gzhan stong snying po. (Essence of Other-Emptiness). Recension information:

Tibetan

TA ra nA tha. གཞན་སྟོང་སྙིང་པོ།, (Gzhan stong snying po). In Gsung 'bum/ tA ra nA tha (Rtag brtan phun tshongs gling gi par ma), Vol. 4: 491-514. Leh: C. Namgyal and Tsewang Taru, 1982-1987. BDRC W22277 In Gsung 'bum/ tA ra nA tha ('Dzam thang par ma), Vol. 18: 171-193. 'Dzam thang; Dzam thang dgon, 199-. BDRC W22276 In Rdzogs ldan chos mchog dbu ma gzhan stong gi chos skor. Shang kang: Shang kang then mA dpe skrun khang, 2005: 214-239. BDRC W30484 In Gsung 'bum/ tA ra nA tha (Dpe bsdur ma), Vol. 36: 162-182. Pe cin: Krung go'i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang, 2008. BDRC W1PD45495 In Rnam grol 'dod 'jo ris med dpe rnying khang gi tshad ldan nges don dpe tshogs, Vol. 4: 229-254. Zi ling: Rnam grol 'dod 'jo dpe rnying khang, 2007-2009. BDRC W1KG5705

Text Metadata

Other Titles	~ gzhan stong dbu ma'i snying po

Cittamātra - Though it is sometimes used synonymously with Yogācāra, it is in fact one of the more prominent philosophical theories associated with this school. It asserts that the objects in the external world with which we interact are actually mentally created representations appearing as those objects. The character of these perceptions is predetermined by our own karmic conditioning that is stored in the ālayavijñāna. Skt. चित्तमात्र Tib. སེམས་ཙམ་

Madhyamaka - Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Skt. मध्यमक Tib. དབུ་མ་ Ch. 中觀見

Great Madhyamaka - The term Great Madhyamaka is utilized in different contexts depending on the tradition. In the Jonang tradition, it generally refers to the Zhentong Madhyamaka philosophy as it was developed and systematized by Dölpopa. In this context, the Great Madhyamaka refers to the presentation of ultimate truth, while Madhyamaka describes the emptiness of the relative level of truth. In the Nyingma tradition, Great Madhyamaka refers to the subtle, inner Madhyamaka that unifies the philosophical positions of Nāgārjuna and Asaṅga. This is presented in opposition to the coarse, outer Madhyamaka that is the dialectic approach of Prāsaṅgika and Svātantrika. In the Kagyu tradition, the term is used in a similar vein in that Madhyamaka is used to refer to philosophical inquiry, while Great Madhyamaka is used to refer to the view arrived at through yogic accomplishment. However, in all of these traditions, Great Madhyamaka is heavily associated with buddha-nature (tathāgatagarbha) and the definitive status of these teachings. Skt. महामध्यमक Tib. དབུ་མ་ཆེན་པོ་

gzhan stong - The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature. Tib. གཞན་སྟོང་

Jonang - The Jonang tradition was established by Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, a thirteenth-century Sakya monk famous for his Zhentong teachings. The Jonang teachings and monasteries were suppressed in Tibet in the seventeenth century but survived in Amdo. Tib. ཇོ་ནང་