Karma Kagyu

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Topic: Karma Kagyu

Books

Book
Awakening the Sleeping Buddha
The great Karma Kagyu master, the Twelfth Tai Situ Pema Donyo Nyinje, discusses Mahayana Buddhist thought, focusing first on buddha-nature and bodhicitta.
Tai Situpa, 12th (pad+ma don yod nyin byed). Awakening the Sleeping Buddha. Edited by Lea Terhune. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1996.
Book
Commentary on The Presentation of Grounds, Paths, and Results
This edited transcript includes a detailed presentation of the five paths (accumulation, junction, seeing, meditation, completion), the two grounds (grounds free from attachment and the Buddha grounds), and the results.
Gyaltsen, Acharya Lama Tenpa. Commentary on The Presentation of Grounds, Paths, and Results in the Casual Vehicle of Characteristics from the Treasury of Knowledge by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye ('jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas). Root text translation and oral translation by Karl Brunnhölzl. Seattle, WA: Nītārtha Institute, 2004.
Book
De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos
Rang byung rdo rje (རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་) and 'Jam mgon kong sprul (འཇམ་མགོན་ཀོང་སྤྲུལ་). De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos (དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་བསྟན་བཅོས།). Lekshey Ling Philosophy Series 21. Kathmandu: Lekshey Ling Publications, 2009.
Rang byung rdo rje (རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་) and 'Jam mgon kong sprul (འཇམ་མགོན་ཀོང་སྤྲུལ་). De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos (དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་བསྟན་བཅོས།). Lekshey Ling Philosophy Series 21. Kathmandu: Lekshey Ling Publications, 2009.
Book
Luminous Heart
This superb collection of writings on buddha nature by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339) focuses on the transition from ordinary deluded consciousness to enlightened wisdom, the characteristics of buddhahood, and a buddha’s enlightened activity. Most of these materials have never been translated comprehensively. The Third Karmapa’s unique and well-balanced view synthesizes Yogācāra, Madhyamaka, and the classical teachings on buddha nature. Rangjung Dorje not only shows that these teachings do not contradict each other but also that they supplement each other and share the same essential points in terms of the ultimate nature of mind and all phenomena. His fusion is remarkable because it clearly builds on Indian predecessors and precedes the later often highly charged debates in Tibet about the views of Rangtong ("self-empty") and Shentong ("other-empty"). Although Rangjung Dorje is widely regarded as one of the major proponents of the Tibetan Shentong tradition (some even consider him its founder), this book shows how his views differ from the Shentong tradition as understood by Dölpopa, Tāranātha, and the First Jamgön Kongtrul. The Third Karmapa’s view is more accurately described as one in which the two categories of rangtong and shentong are not regarded as mutually exclusive but are combined in a creative synthesis. For those practicing the sūtrayāna and the vajrayāna in the Kagyü tradition, what these texts describe can be transformed into living experience. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Brunnhölzl, Karl, trans. Luminous Heart: The Third Karmapa on Consciousness, Wisdom, and Buddha Nature. Nitartha Institute Series. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2009.
Book
Mahāmudrā and the Middle Way
This two-volume publication explores the complex philosophy of Mahāmudrā that developed in Tibetan Dwags po Bka’ brgyud traditions between the 15th and 16th centuries CE. It examines the attempts to articulate and defend Bka’ brgyud views and practices by four leading post-classical thinkers: (1) Shākya mchog ldan (1423‒1507), a celebrated yet controversial Sa skya scholar who developed a strong affiliation with the Karma Bka’ brgyud Mahāmudrā tradition in the last half of his life, (2) Karma phrin las Phyogs las rnam rgyal (1456‒1539), a renowned Karma Bka’ brgyud scholar-yogin and tutor to the Eighth Karma pa, (3) the Eighth Karma pa himself, Mi bskyod rdo rje (1507‒1554), who was among the most erudite and influential scholar-hierarchs of his generation, (4) and Padma dkar po (1527‒1592), Fourth ’Brug chen of the ’Brug pa Bka’ brgyud lineage who is generally acknowledged as its greatest scholar and systematizer. It is an important academic work published in the Vienna series WSTB and is divided into two volumes: the first offers a detailed philosophical analysis of the authors’ principal views and justifications of Mahāmudrā against the background of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist doctrines on mind, emptiness and buddha nature; the second comprises an annotated anthology of their seminal writings on Mahāmudrā accompanied by critical editions and introductions. These two volumes are the result of research that was generously funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) from 2012 to 2015 under the supervision of Prof. Klaus-Dieter Mathes. The project was entitled “‘Emptiness of Other’ (Gzhan stong) in the Tibetan ‘Great Seal’ (Mahāmudrā) Traditions of the 15th and 16th Centuries” (FWF Project number P23826-G15). (Source: WSTB Description)
Higgins, David, and Martina Draszczyk. Mahāmudrā and the Middle Way: Post-Classical Kagyü Discourses on Mind, Emptiness and Buddha-Nature. 2 vols. Vol. 1, Introduction, Views of Authors and Final Reflections. Vol. 2, Translations, Critical Texts, Bibliography and Index. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 90.1–90.2. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2016.
Book
Maitrīpa: India's Yogi of Nondual Bliss
Biography of Maitripa, India's great yogi of nondual bliss.
Mathes, Klaus-Dieter. Maitrīpa: India's Yogi of Nondual Bliss. Lives of the Masters series. Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2021.
Book
Mind Seeing Mind
Roger Jackson's Mind Seeing Mind is the first attempt to provide both a scholarly study of the history, texts, and doctrines of Geluk mahāmudrā and translations of some of its seminal texts. It begins with a survey of the Indian sources of the teaching and goes on the discuss the place of mahāmudrā in non-Geluk Tibetan Buddhist schools, especially the Kagyü. The book then turns to a detailed survey of the history and major textual sources of Geluk mahāmudrā, from Tsongkhapa, through the First Panchen, down to the present. The final section of the study addresses critical questions, including the relation between Geluk and Kagyü mahāmudrā, the ways Gelukpa authors have interpreted the mahāsiddha Saraha, and the broader religious-studies implications raised by Tibetan debates about mahāmudrā. The translation portion of Mind Seeing Mind includes eleven texts on mahāmudrā history, ritual, and practice. Foremost among these is the First Panchen Lama's autocommentary on his root verses of Geluk Mahāmudrā, the foundation of the tradition. Also included is his ritual masterpiece Offering to the Guru, which is a staple of Geluk practice, and a selection of his songs of spiritual experience. Mind Seeing Mind adds considerably to our understanding of Geluk spirituality and shows how mahāmudrā came to be woven throughout the fabric of the tradition.
Jackson, Roger R. Mind Seeing Mind: Mahāmudrā and the Geluk Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2019.
Book
ཟབ་མོ་ནང་དོན་དང་རྒྱུད་བརྟག་གཉིས་དང་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའ་བསྟན་བཅོས།
karma pa gsum pa rang byung rdo rje ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་. nang brtag rgyud gsum: zab mo nang don; rgyud brtag gnyis; rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos ནང་བརྟག་རྒྱུད་གསུམ། ཟབ་མོ་ནང་དོན། རྒྱུད་བརྟག་གཉིས། རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས།. wA Na badzra bi dya dpe mdzod khang ཝཱ་ཎ་བཛྲ་བི་དྱཱ་དཔེ་མཛོད་ཁང་, 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.
karma pa gsum pa rang byung rdo rje ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་. nang brtag rgyud gsum: zab mo nang don; rgyud brtag gnyis; rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos ནང་བརྟག་རྒྱུད་གསུམ། ཟབ་མོ་ནང་དོན། རྒྱུད་བརྟག་གཉིས། རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས།. wA Na badzra bi dya dpe mdzod khang ཝཱ་ཎ་བཛྲ་བི་དྱཱ་དཔེ་མཛོད་ཁང་, 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.
Book
The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet
This book brings together perspectives of leading international Tibetan studies scholars on the subject of zhentong or “other-emptiness.” Defined as the emptiness of everything other than the continuous luminous awareness that is one’s own enlightened nature, this distinctive philosophical and contemplative presentation of emptiness is quite different from rangtong—emptiness that lacks independent existence, which has had a strong influence on the dissemination of Buddhist philosophy in the West. Important topics are addressed, including the history, literature, and philosophy of emptiness that have contributed to zhentong thinking in Tibet from the thirteenth century until today. The contributors examine a wide range of views on zhentong from each of the major orders of Tibetan Buddhism, highlighting the key Tibetan thinkers in the zhentong philosophical tradition. Also discussed are the early formulations of buddhanature, interpretations of cosmic time, polemical debates about emptiness in Tibet, the zhentong view of contemplation, and creative innovations of thought in Tibetan Buddhism. Highly accessible and informative, this book can be used as a scholarly resource as well as a textbook for teaching graduate and undergraduate courses on Buddhist philosophy. (Source: SUNY Press)
Sheehy, Michael R., and Klaus-Dieter Mathes, eds. The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2019.
Book
The Profound Inner Principles
With masterful clarity and precision, The Profound Inner Principles delineates the principles and foundations of Vajrayāna practice. Rangjung Dorje presents the nature of things—mental and physical—and looks at the cause of delusion, what delusion creates, and how delusion is corrected. His explanations capture the principles of the Vajrayāna’s niruttara tantras, with a special focus on the structure and functioning of the body. Just as sugatagarbha, or buddha nature, is the nature of our mind, the potential for awakening lies within our body. The Mahāyāna literature refers to this pure potential as the evolving gotra, whereas the Vajrayāna refers to it as the “vajra body”—the subtle body of channels, winds, and bindus with six elements (earth, water, fire, wind, space, and wisdom-bliss). The vajra body is not only our innate capacity, it is also our path. Understanding its components and properties is essential for most meditators. The overarching theme of the text is that we need to understand how buddha nature is present in sentient beings, those on the path, and buddhas. All the details concerning the mind’s workings, the vajra body’s structures, and the meditations, paths, and stages will reinforce that understanding and give us insight into how and why the Vajrayāna path provides access to wisdom through the body. This translation includes a commentary by Jamgön Kongtrul with extensive footnotes containing extracts from all the other important commentaries to The Profound Inner Principles; several glossaries with annotations by the translator; a works cited list and a selected bibliography; and an index. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Callahan, Elizabeth M., trans. The Profound Inner Principles. By Rangjung Dorje (rang byung rdo rje), the Third Karmapa. With Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye's Commentary Illuminating "The Profound Principles." Tsadra Foundation Series. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, 2015.

Source Texts

Text
Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje: The Profound Inner Meaning
Rang byung's most famous, and perhaps most difficult work is yet another verse text, his Zab mo nang don, on the Anuttarayogatantras. This eleven-chapter work is thirty-two folios in length. According to a colophon provided by Kong sprul, it was written in the Water Male Dog year, 1322, at Bde chen steng. The colophons to the present redactions say only that it was written in the Dog Year. (Source: Schaeffer, K., The Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood, p. 16)
Text
Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche: Music of the Sphere of Definitive Meaning: Detailed Explanation of the Mahamudra Prayer in Accordance with the Philosophy of the Great Emptiness-of-Other
Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche's explanation of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's famous Mahāmudrā Aspiration Prayer.
Text
Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje: Aspiration Prayer of the Definitive Meaning of Mahāmudrā
The Mahamudra Prayer by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje is a short yet thorough and profound text which presents all the essential points of Mahamudra teaching in terms of view, practice, and fruition. It is a classic that, especially in the tradition of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, has been and is widely used whenever a disciple is given a first introduction into Mahamudra. The Third Karmapa shows how to recognize our ultimate potential as a buddha. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Text
Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje: The Lamp That Excellently Elucidates the System of the Proponents of the Other-Emptiness Madhyamaka
In terms of its contents, the Lamp represents a digest of the Uttaratantra, discussing its seven vajra points. In particular, the text’s structure closely follows the first chapter of the Uttaratantra and RGVV, explaining the first four vajra points in detail. Thus, the Lamp refers to both the Uttaratantra and RGVV throughout, though each one is only quoted explicitly once. In addition, the text cites the Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta, the Avataṃsakasūtra, and the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārabhāṣya (once each). It also refers to the Dharmadharmatāvibhāga, the Madhyāntavibhāga, the Kālacakratantra, and six verses from the Dharmadhātustava. (Karl Brunnhölzl. When the Clouds Part, 2015: p. 323.)
Text
Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje: The Treatise on Pointing Out the Tathāgata Heart
The Third Karmapa's treatise on buddha-nature written in verse, which is essentially a synopsis of the Uttaratantra. According to Schaeffer, "This verse text (De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po gtan la dbab pa, or De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa) blends scriptural quotations from both sūtra and tantra with Rang byung's own words, creating an evocative picture of the relation between the primordially pure enlightened state- symbolized by the Enlightened Heart (snying po)- human existence, and Buddhahood. While Rang byung has relied heavily on the Ratnagotravibhāgaśāstra, (known in Tibet as the Uttaratantra, or Rgyud bla ma), the syncretism of various strands of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna apparent in the text is particular to Tibet. Tathāgatagarbha, Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, Mahāmudrā, and Annuttarayogatantra all coalesce in this work, which is a testament to the hundreds of years of appropriation and synthesis of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist thought that preceded it. - Kurtis Schaeffer, from the introduction to The Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood.
Text
Fifteenth Karmapa Khakhyab Dorje: Annotated Commentary on the Treatise on Pointing Out the Tathāgata Heart
An annotated commentary written by the fifteenth Karmapa on the Third Karmapa's verses on buddha-nature, The Treatise on Pointing Out the Tathāgata Heart.
Text
Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye: A Commentary on The Treatise on Pointing Out the Tathāgata Heart, Illuminating the Intention of Rangjung
Kongtrul's commentary on the Third Karmapa's short verse synopsis of the Uttaratantra, The Treatise on Pointing Out the Tathāgata Heart. As he states in the opening of the text: "The Omniscient Victor spoke about [this Heart] in the collection of the sūtras of the final definitive meaning and in the very profound collection of tantras in an unconcealed and clear way. The illustrious sons of this victor, such as the mighty lords of the tenth bhūmi, the regent Ajita and Avalokiteśvara, as well as the mahāsiddha Saraha and his heirs, noble Nāgārjuna, venerable Asaṅga, and others commented on it as being [the Buddha's] direct and straightforward intention. The way of being of the very profound actuality of this Heart does not fit within the scope of the minds of those who roam the [sphere of] dialectics. It was extensively illuminated by the second mighty sage, Rangjung Dorje, the charioteer who was the first in the land of snow mountains to utter the unassailable great lion's roar of the Heart that is the definitive meaning. The quintessence of all his excellent words is this Treatise on Pointing Out the Tathāgata Heart."
Text
Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye: Immaculate Light Rays of the Vajra Moon: Instructions on the View of Other-Emptiness of Great Madhyamaka
Written at Dzamtang, a monastic city in southern Amdo that is the primary institutional base of the Jonang school, this work by the famed Kagyu scholar Jamgön Kongtrul is characterized by Brunnhölzl as "an eclectic blend of what could be called "Kagyü Shentong" (primarily based on Maitrīpa, the Third and Seventh Karmapas, and the Eighth and Ninth Situpas) and "Jonang Shentong" (based on Dölpopa and especially Tāranātha), as well as some elements of Śākya Chogden’s Shentong."
Text
Dumowa Tashi Özer: Heart of the Luminous Sun
Dumowa Tashi Özer's commentary on the Uttaratantra that is based on the Third Karmapa’s topical outline or summary (bsdus don).

Multimedia

Video
David Higgins at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium
David Higgins explores the Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje’s (1507–1554) prolific writings on tathāgatagarbha, which contain several extended discussions on the topic of how buddha-nature relates to different conceptions of selfhood.
Higgins, David. "Buddha-Nature and Selfhood." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 41:28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHzI1PxptpI.

Kagyu - The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the first monastery of the Kagyu order. As many as twelve subtraditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa. Tib. བཀའ་བརྒྱུད་

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