Karmapa, 3rd
< People(Redirected from Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje)
Library Items
The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. A Collection of Important Root Texts: Gyu Lama, Zangmo Nangdon, Namshe Yeshe Chepa, and the Hevajra Tantra. Vajra Vidya Library, 2011.
The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. A Collection of Important Root Texts: Gyu Lama, Zangmo Nangdon, Namshe Yeshe Chepa, and the Hevajra Tantra. Vajra Vidya Library, 2011.
The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. A Collection of Important Root Texts: Gyu Lama, Zangmo Nangdon, Namshe Yeshe Chepa, and the Hevajra Tantra. Vajra Vidya Library, 2011.;ཟབ་མོ་ནང་དོན་དང་རྒྱུད་བརྟག་གཉིས་དང་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའ་བསྟན་བཅོས།;Karmapa, 3rd;Karma Kagyu;Vajrayana;Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje;རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་;rang byung rdo rje;karma pa gsum pa;ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་;Karmapa, 3rd; nang brtag rgyud gsum: zab mo nang don;rgyud brtag gnyis;rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos
The subject of this famous treatise is budda essence, the basic nature of all beings. The term is a translation of the Sanskrit tathagatagarbha, or deshek nyingpo (bde-gshegs snying-po) in Tibetan. The Tibetan interprets garbha as "essence" (snying-po), the innermost part of something. Both terms indicate that our very nature is buddhahood—buddha essence is possessed not only by enlightened masters but by everyone.
(Source: back cover)
On the topic of this person
Understanding and Application of Buddha-Nature in the Karma Kagyu Tradition
Khenpo gives a clear explanation of the buddha-nature as understood in the Karma Kagyu tradition based on the teachings on the 3rd Karmapa Rangjung Dorje. He breaks down his presentation into three parts:
- 1. Literature on buddha-nature in Kagyu tradition in general and the Karma Kagyu subschool in particular
2. Rangjung Dorje's formulation of buddha-nature through 15 distinct points
3. The practical application of buddha-nature.
Khenpo skips the detailed listing of the works on buddha-nature in the Kagyu tradition, which he lists in his long article. Explaining Rangjung Dorje's formulation of buddha-nature, Khenpo says that Rangjung Dorje is a leading voice on buddha-nature, final wheel and tantras, and perhaps the first Tibetan to compose independent texts on buddha-nature, with his Treatise on Tathāgata Heart and Distinguishing Consciousness and Pristine Wisdom. He also wrote his commentary on Nāgārjuna's In Praise of Dharmadhātu, which mainly discusses the buddha-element. Although the writings of many later scholars such as Longchenpa, Jonangpa, et. al., are similar to Rangjung Dorje's understanding, he stands out as a clear and pioneering Tibetan thinker on buddha-nature.
Rangjung Dorje presents a clear definition of buddha-nature as possessing four characteristics of a union: indivisibility of emptiness and appearance like a reflection of the moon in water, indivisibility of emptiness and luminosity like a reflection in a mirror, indivisibility of emptiness and awareness like a rainbow, and indivisibility of emptiness and bliss like the taste of mute person. The definition is further clarified by his disciple Sherab Rinchen. Buddha-nature is thus the luminous nature of mind which has these four characteristics of union and is the natural ordinary consciousness.
Khenpo explains that Rangjung Dorje accepted both middle wheel and final wheel as definitive and concurring on the same point that is buddha-nature. Buddha-nature is the reality, ultimate truth, and dharmakāya. It is the ground for all existence, eternal, permanent, and unconditioned. It is pure by nature and not stained by impurities, but it is obscured by temporary impurities which do not corrupt its nature. Such buddha-nature is emptiness free from conceptual and linguistic elaborations. It is the innate mind or ground tantra taught in the tantric literature.
Explaining how the various Buddhist schools of thought view phenomena such as a flower or vase, Khenpo explains that the great middle way of zhentong is the ultimate way of grasping the nature of the flower as being identical with the nature of the mind. A flower is a projection of the mind, and the mind, by nature, is not only empty but also luminous, and it is the union of luminosity and emptiness which forms the ultimate truth. In this respect, Khenpo points out that there is nothing so surprising or unacceptable in seeing a vase, flower, or other objects as possessing buddha-nature. He elaborates the 15 points to demonstrate the essence of buddha-nature.The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. A Collection of Important Root Texts: Gyu Lama, Zangmo Nangdon, Namshe Yeshe Chepa, and the Hevajra Tantra. Vajra Vidya Library, 2011.
The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. A Collection of Important Root Texts: Gyu Lama, Zangmo Nangdon, Namshe Yeshe Chepa, and the Hevajra Tantra. Vajra Vidya Library, 2011.
The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. A Collection of Important Root Texts: Gyu Lama, Zangmo Nangdon, Namshe Yeshe Chepa, and the Hevajra Tantra. Vajra Vidya Library, 2011.;ཟབ་མོ་ནང་དོན་དང་རྒྱུད་བརྟག་གཉིས་དང་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའ་བསྟན་བཅོས།;Karmapa, 3rd;Karma Kagyu;Vajrayana;Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje;རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་;rang byung rdo rje;karma pa gsum pa;ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་;Karmapa, 3rd; nang brtag rgyud gsum: zab mo nang don;rgyud brtag gnyis;rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos
The subject of this famous treatise is budda essence, the basic nature of all beings. The term is a translation of the Sanskrit tathagatagarbha, or deshek nyingpo (bde-gshegs snying-po) in Tibetan. The Tibetan interprets garbha as "essence" (snying-po), the innermost part of something. Both terms indicate that our very nature is buddhahood—buddha essence is possessed not only by enlightened masters but by everyone.
(Source: back cover)
Philosophical positions of this person
"Rangjung Dorjé says in accordance with RGV I.27-28 that only the dharmakāya of all buddhas truly abides in sentient beings. The form kāyas are then explained as the outflow of the Dharma teachings on the level of the fruit, which corresponds to the pertinent passages in the first and third chapters of the Ratnagotravibhāga."
Mathes, K., A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, p. 72.
"Furthermore, the Third Karmapa composed a summary of the Uttaratantra in accordance with the meditative tradition, which establishes the Uttaratantra as a definitive text included in the last wheel of the Buddha's teachings." Wangchuk, Tsering. Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, pp. 30-31.
- "To sum up, in his explanation of buddha nature, Rangjung Dorjé combines three different strands of interpretations:
1. The mahāmudrā interpretation stemming from Saraha. 2.The interpretation according to Asaṅga's Mahāyānasaṁgraha. 3.The dzogchen interpretation. In other words, for Rangjung Dorjé, well-founded mahāmudrā and dzogchen explanations need be combined with Asaṅgas Yogācāra distinction." Mathes, K., A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, p. 65.
- See also Wangchuk, Tsering. Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, p. 30.
- He never actually uses this term, so this is a later attribution imputed on to his exegesis of the RGV and other works by his commentators such as Karma Trinlepa and eventually Kongtrul, which is labeled the Zhentong Tradition of the Karma Kagyu, which differs considerably from Dölpopa's tradition. See Mathes, K., A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, pp. 54-57.
- For more on the difference between the Third Karmapa and Dölpopa see Mathes, K., A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, p. 69-70.
- See also Brunnhölzl, K., Luminous Heart, pp. 95-109.
"Furthermore, the Third Karmapa composed a summary of the Uttaratantra in accordance with the meditative tradition, which establishes the Uttaratantra as a definitive text included in the last wheel of the Buddha's teachings." Wangchuk, Tsering. Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, pp. 30-31.
- "The tathāgata heart is mind’s luminous ultimate nature or nondual wisdom, which is the basis of everything in saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. Its essence is empty, its nature is lucid, and its display is unimpeded (this is also how the nature of the mind is presented in the Mahāmudrā tradition, and the Karmapa’s commentary on the Dharmadhātustava indeed equates the tathāgata heart with Mahāmudrā)." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 72.
- Another take on this is found in Mathes, K., A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, pp. 51-54, in which he seems to suggest that his views are more inclined to view it as the dharmadhātu, which is equivalent to dharmakāya.
- "This becomes clear from an answer to a rhetorical question in the autocommentary of the Zab mo nang gi don:
Question: How are the properties of purification produced? They are supported by buddha nature, [in as much as] it is the dharmakāya of the above-mentioned purity of mind." Mathes, K., A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, p. 58.
Other names
- ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་ · other names (Tibetan)
- karma pa gsum pa · other names (Wylie)
- Karmapa, 3rd · other names
Affiliations & relations
- Karma Kagyu · religious affiliation
- Karmapa, 2nd · emanation of
- Karmapa, 4th · incarnation
- o rgyan pa rin chen dpal · teacher
- rig 'dzin ku mA ra rA dza · teacher
- Pad+ma las 'brel rtsal · teacher
- Rgyal sras legs pa · teacher
- klong chen rab 'byams · student
- Rgyal sras legs pa · student
- G.yung ston rdo rje dpal bzang po · student
- g.yag sde paN chen · student
- Shamarpa, 1st · student
Tertön Gyatsa Information from the Rinchen Terdzö
The full Tertön Gyatsa text can be found at the following page: Volume 1 (ཀ), 341-765, 1a1-213a4.
Name in Gyatsa: ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་ (karma pa gsum pa rang byung rdo rje)
Page #s for bio of this person: 702 to 703
Folio #s for bio of this person: 181b4 to 182a4
སྐལ་བཟང་སངས་རྒྱས་དྲུག་པ་སེང་གེའི་རྣམ་འཕྲུལ་འཇིག་རྟེན་དབང་ཕྱུག་ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེའི་རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ་ནི་ཡོངས་སུ་གྲགས་པ་ལྟར་ལ། བྱེ་བྲག་དག་སྣང་གི་བཀའ་བབ་ཚུལ་ནི། ས་སྤྱོད་གསུང་གི་འཁོར་ལོ་འོག་མིན་ཀརྨའི་ཡང་དབེན་དེང་སང་རི་བར་གྲགས་པའི་གནས་དེར་ཐུགས་དམ་ལ་བཞུགས་པའི་སྐབས་ཤར་ཕྱོགས་ཀྱི་ནམ་མཁར་མཁས་པ་བི་མ་ལ་དངོས་སུ་བྱོན་ནས་མཛོད་སྤུར་ཐིམ་པའི་རྐྱེན་གྱིས། བི་མ་སྙིང་ཐིག་ཆེན་མོའི་ཚིག་དོན་མ་ལུས་པ་ཐུགས་ལ་ཤར་ནས་གདམས་ངག་གི་རྩ་བ་རྡོ་རྗེའི་ཚིག་རྐང་དང་། སྨིན་གྲོལ་གྱི་ཡིག་ཆ་རྫོགས་པར་མཛད་ནས་སྤེལ་བའི་རྒྱུན་ད་ལྟའང་བཞུགས་པ་ཁོ་བོས་ཀྱང་ཐོབ། སློབ་དཔོན་ཆེན་པོ་པདྨའི་བྱིན་རླབས་ཀྱིས་རྩ་གསུམ་དྲིལ་སྒྲུབ་ཀྱི་གདམས་སྐོར་ཟབ་མོ་དགོངས་པའི་གཏེར་ལས་ཕྱུངས་པ་ཕྱིས་རྗེ་བརྒྱད་པ་མི་བསྐྱོད་རྡོ་རྗེས་ཐུགས་ཉམས་སུ་བཞེས་པས་དག་སྣང་ཉེ་བརྒྱུད་དུ་བྱུང་བ་ལྟར་ལོ་རྒྱུས་དང་། རྩ་ཚིག་ཡི་གེར་བཀོད། རྗེ་དགུ་པ་དབང་ཕྱུག་རྡོ་རྗེས་ལས་བྱང་དབང་ཆོག་རྒྱས་པར་བཀོད་པ་ལྟར་ཁོ་བོས་ཀྱང་དཔལ་ཀརྨ་པ་བཅུ་བཞི་པའི་བཀའ་དྲིན་ལས་ནོས་ཤིང་ཡིག་ཆའི་ཞབས་ཏོག་ཀྱང་སྤེལ་བ་སྟེ། འདི་ཉིད་ཕྱིས་རིག་འཛིན་ཆོས་རྗེ་གླིང་པའི་གཏེར་བྱོན་འཆི་མེད་རྩ་གསུམ་དྲིལ་སྒྲུབ་དང་ལྷ་སྔགས་ངོ་བོ་གཅིག་པས་བརྒྱུད་པའི་ཆུ་བོ་གཉིས་འདྲེས་སུའང་འགྱུར་རོ།
skal bzang sangs rgyas drug pa seng ge'i rnam 'phrul 'jig rten dbang phyug karma pa gsum pa rang byung rdo rje'i rnam par thar pa ni yongs su grags pa ltar la/_bye brag dag snang gi bka' bab tshul ni/_sa spyod gsung gi 'khor lo 'og min karma'i yang dben deng sang ri bar grags pa'i gnas der thugs dam la bzhugs pa'i skabs shar phyogs kyi nam mkhar mkhas pa bi ma la dngos su byon nas mdzod spur thim pa'i rkyen gyis/_bi ma snying thig chen mo'i tshig don ma lus pa thugs la shar nas gdams ngag gi rtsa ba rdo rje'i tshig rkang dang /_smin grol gyi yig cha rdzogs par mdzad nas spel ba'i rgyun da lta'ang bzhugs pa kho bos kyang thob/_slob dpon chen po pad+ma'i byin rlabs kyis rtsa gsum dril sgrub kyi gdams skor zab mo dgongs pa'i gter las phyungs pa phyis rje brgyad pa mi bskyod rdo rjes thugs nyams su bzhes pas dag snang nye brgyud du byung ba ltar lo rgyus dang /_rtsa tshig yi ger bkod/_rje dgu pa dbang phyug rdo rjes las byang dbang chog rgyas par bkod pa ltar kho bos kyang dpal karma pa bcu bzhi pa'i bka' drin las nos shing yig cha'i zhabs tog kyang spel ba ste/_'di nyid phyis rig 'dzin chos rje gling pa'i gter byon 'chi med rtsa gsum dril sgrub dang lha sngags ngo bo gcig pas brgyud pa'i chu bo gnyis 'dres su'ang 'gyur ro