Difference between revisions of "Primary Sources"

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<div class="h1 large">The Source Texts</div>__NOTOC__{{#addbodyclass:no-first-heading}}
<noglossary><h1 class="large">The Source Text: <br>The [[Research/Primary Sources/Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra|Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra]]</h1>__NOTOC__
 
  
<h1 class="large tibetan">ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས།</h1></noglossary>
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|content=<div class="bnw-heading-3 mt-0">A note about source texts</div>Source literature is divided into the two broad categories of sūtras and commentaries. While traditionally both entail a wide range of internal divisions and classifications, here the two can be simply understood to demarcate the difference between scriptures orated by the Buddha or his attendant bodhisattvas, and authored works which draw upon those discourses in order to elucidate a particular aspect of the Buddhist teachings. In terms of the former, these texts are traditionally referred to as “buddhavacana,’’ literally “the speech of the Buddha,’’ and are considered to represent actual sermons that were passed down orally until they were eventually set into writing. Commentaries refers to treatises composed to explicate the doctrine. They are recognized to have been written by historical people, although in many cases the authorship is shrouded in myth and mystery.
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*PUT SHORT ESSAY ON TITLE ISSUES HERE - LINK in other key text pages
 
*Read the Source Text Here:
 
**[[A Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Mahāyāna]] - Multilingual Edition of the root text only
 
***"The Three Reasons"  Verse: [[A_Treatise_on_the_Ultimate_Continuum_of_the_Mahāyāna/Verse_I.28|Verse I.28]]
 
**[[Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra]] - Multilingual Edition
 
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<h3>The Texts</h3>
 
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===Source Texts===
 
====Sanskrit Texts====
 
*[[Maitreya]]. [[Ratnagotravibhāgamahāyānottaratantraśāstra]] (Theg pa chen po'i rgyud bla ma). D4024. Sanskrit edition by [[E. H. Johnston]]. Patna, India: [[The Bihar Research Society]], 1950 (includes the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā).
 
*[[Asaṅga]]. [[Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā]] or [[Mahāyānottaratantraśāstravyākhyā]] (Theg pa chen po'i rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa). D4025. Sanskrit edition by [[E. H. Johnston]]. Patna, India: [[Bihar Research Society]], 1950.<ref>Besides this text, the only other two known Indian “commentaries” on the Uttaratantra are Vairocanarakṣita’s (eleventh century) very brief ahāyānottaratantraṭippaṇī (eight folios) and Sajjana’s (eleventh/twelfth century) Mahāyānottaratantraśāstropadeśa (a summary in thirty-seven verses). Brunnholzl, K. Luminous Heart pg 403 note 24</ref>
 
*[[Prasad, H. S.]], ed. [[The Uttaratantra of Maitreya]]. Containing [[E.H. Johnston]]'s Sanskrit text and [[E. Obermiller]]'s English translation. [[Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica]], 79. Delhi: [[Sri Satguru Publications]], 1991.
 
====Tibetan Texts====
 
* ''Please see the [[Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra]] or the [[Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā]] page for a detailed Tibetan catalog and source listing for this text''
 
**[[ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས]]
 
**[[Research/Primary_Sources/ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས་རྣམ་པར་བཤད་པ།|ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས་རྣམ་པར་བཤད་པ།]]
 
  
====Chinese Texts====
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*Ratnamati 勒那摩提 (508 A.D.), 究竟一乘寶性論 (Chinese translation of Rgvbh), in T 1611. Attributed author is Sāramati.
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====Sutra Sources====
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<h2 class="mt-0 pt-0"> Sources for Buddha-Nature Teachings </h2>
*[[Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra]] = ārya-tathāgata-mahākaruṇā-nirdeśa-nāma-mahāyāna-sūtra
 
*[[Śrīmālādevīsūtra]]
 
*[[Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivarta]]
 
*[[Sarvabuddhaviśayāvatārajñānālokālaṃkārasūtra]]
 
*[[Tathāgatagarbhasūtra]]
 
*[[Sāgaramatiparipṛcchāsūtra]]
 
*[[Mahāyānābhidharmasūtra]]
 
*[[Dṛḍhādhyāśayaparivarta]] (or Sthirādhyāśayaparivartasūtra)
 
*[[Tathāgataguṇajñānācintyaviṣayāvatāranirdeśa]]
 
*[[Buddhāvataṃsakasūtra]]
 
*[[Kāśyapaparivartasūtra]]
 
*[[Gaganagañjaparipṛcchāsūtra]]
 
*[[Ratnacūḍaparipṛcchāsūtra]]
 
*[[Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra]]
 
*[[Vajracchedikāprajñāpāramitāsūtra]]
 
*[[Samyutta Nikāya]]
 
*[[Ratnadārikāsūtra]]
 
*[[Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra]]
 
  
==Commentaries==
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===Indian Commentaries===
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<div class="col-lg-8 maitreya-gradient pl-1 pt-2 pb-3">The seeds of buddha-nature teachings are sprinkled throughout the sutras and tantras of the Buddhist canon. A core group of scripture that initially taught buddha-nature known as the tathāgatagarbha sūtras date between the second and fourth centuries. These include the ''Tathāgatagarbhasūtra'', the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'', the ''Śrīmālādevīsūtra'' and several others. The famous ''Laṇkāvatārasūtra'' was also important for buddha-nature theory. In Tibetan Buddhism the late-Indian treatise ''Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra,'' or "Gyu Lama" as it is known in the Tibetan, serves as a major source for buddha-nature. In East Asia the ''Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna'' (大乗起信論) was the most influential treatise in spreading buddha-nature theory.
*[[Sajjana]]. [[Pith Instructions on “The Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Mahāyāna”]] - [[Mahāyānottaratantraśāstropadeśa]]. Sanskrit edition in Kano, Kazuo. "[[rNgog Blo-ldan Shes-rab’s Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga: The First Tibetan Commentary on a Crucial Source for the Buddha-Nature Doctrine]]" 513-18. PhD diss., [[University of Hamburg]], 2006.
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This page provides a listing of some of the key sources for buddha nature teachings found in the sutras, as well as the key texts found in Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan traditions, as well as influential commentaries from centuries of traditional scholarship on the subject.  
*[[Vairocanarakṣita]]. [[A Commentary on the Meaning of the Words of the “Uttaratantra”]] - [[Mahāyānottaratantraṭippaṇī]] ([[rgyud bla ma’i tshig don rnam par ’grel pa]]. Sanskrit edition in Kano, Kazuo. "[[rNgog Blo-ldan Shes-rab’s Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga: The First Tibetan Commentary on a Crucial Source for the Buddha-Nature Doctrine]]" 552–75. PhD diss., [[University of Hamburg]]. 2006.
 
===Tibetan Commentaries===
 
====Select Tibetan Texts<ref>For an extensive list of Tibetan Commentaries, see [[A List of the Commentaries on the Ratnagotravibhāga]]</ref>====
 
*[['Gos Lo Gzhon nu dpal]], [[Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel bshad de kho na nyid rab tu gsal ba'i me long]] (Lhasa 2006), in 2 volumes.
 
*[['Gos Lo Gzhon nu dpal]], [['Gos Lo tsā ba gZhon nu dpal's Commentary on the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā]], Edited text in Tibetan script by [[Mathes, Klaus-Dieter]]. [[Publications of the Nepal Research Centre]] 24, Stuttgart: [[Franz Steiner Verlag]]. 2003.  Reviewed by Pascale Hugon in Asiatische Studien, vol. 60, no. 1 (2006), pp. 246-253.
 
*[[Rinchen, Gyaltsap Darma]] . [[Commentary to the Uttaratantra]]. [[Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i ṭīkka]]. Collected works ga. Vol. 13. Mungod, India: [[Drepung Loseling Educational Society]], 1997.
 
*[[Mipham]]. [[Words of Mi-pham: Commentary on the Uttaratantra]] (theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi mchan 'grel mi pham zhal lung). Mi-pham's Collected Works, vol. 4 (pa), 349-361.
 
*Rin chen ye shes. rgyud bla ma'i 'grel pa mdo dang sbyar ba nges pa'i don gyi snang ba zhes pa'o. Jonan Publication Series 31, Pe cin: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2010.
 
*[[Rngog Lo tsā ba Blo ldan shes rab]] and [[Kano, Kazuo]]. "[[rNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga: The First Tibetan Commentary on a Crucial Source for the Buddha‐nature Doctrine]]." Ph.D. Dissertation, [[University of Hamburg]], 2006. Contains a critical edition in Wylie transliteration.
 
*[[Rngog Lo tsā ba Blo ldan shes rab]] (1059-1109), [[Theg chen rgyud bla ma'i don bsdus pa]], Dharamsala: [[Library of Tibetan Works and Archives]], 1993.
 
*shes rab rgyal mtshan ,  thogs med bzang po dpal. "[[theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel ba legs bshad nyi ma'i 'od zer zhes bya ba bzhugs so/]]." In rgyud bla'i TI ka. TBRC W2DB4614. : 153 - 305. pe cin: mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2007. [http://tbrc.org/link?RID=O2MS1067|O2MS10672MS1071$W2DB4614 TBRC]
 
*Ye shes rdo rje. theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi bshad pa nges don nor bu'i mtsod ces bya ba bzhugs so. Jonan Publication Series 31, Pe cin: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2010.
 
  
====English Translations====
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*[[Brunnhölzl, Karl]], ed., trans. [[When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sūtra and Tantra]]. Boston: [[Snow Lion Publications]], an imprint of Shambhala Publications, 2014.
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*[[Fuchs, Rosemarie]]. [[Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra]]. Commentary by Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé "The Unassailable Lion's Roar." Ithaca, NY: [[Snow Lion Publications]], 2000.
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*[[Kilty, Gavin]]. [[The Tathāgata Essence Commentary to the First Chapter of the Uttaratantra]], by [[Rinchen, Gyaltsap Darma]] (1364-1432). Unpublished, FPMT.
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*[[Kano, Kazuo]]. "[[rNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga: The First Tibetan Commentary on a Crucial Source for the Buddha‐nature Doctrine]]." Ph.D. Dissertation, [[University of Hamburg]], 2006. Contains a critical edition in Wylie transliteration.
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*[[Mathes, Klaus-Dieter]]. [[A Direct Path to the Buddha Within]]: Go Lotsāwa's Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga. Boston: [[Wisdom Publications]], 2008.
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*[[Mathes, Klaus-Dieter]]. ''[['Gos Lo tsā ba gZhon nu dpal's Extensive Commentary on and Study of the Ratna-gotravibhāgavyākhyā]]''. In [[Religion and Secular Culture in Tibet]], 79-96. Proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies ([[PIATS]]), Leiden, 2000. [[Brill's Tibetan Studies Library]] vol. 2, bk. 2 . Leiden : [[Brill]], 2002.
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*[[Mipham]] ('jam mgon 'ju mi pham rgya mtsho). [[A Commentary on the Uttaratantra Shastra]] (rgyud bla ma). Translated by [[Padmakara Translation Group]], [[John Canti]], forthcoming.
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*[[Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche]]. [[Buddha-Nature, Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra]], by Arya Maitreya. Edited by Alex Trisoglio. [[Khyentse Foundation]], 2007.
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*[[Obermiller, E.]], tr., [[Uttaratantra or Ratnagotra-vibhāga: The Sublime Science of the Great Vehicle to Salvation, Being a Manual of Buddhist Monism: The Work of Ārya Maitreya with a Commentary by Āryāsaṅga]], [[Acta Orientalia]] 9 (1931): 81-306. Re-printed in [[Prasad, H. S.]], ed. [[The Uttaratantra of Maitreya]], 1991. (Translated from Tibetan)
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*[[Holmes, Ken]] and [[Katia Holmes]]. [[Maitreya on Buddha nature : A New Translation of Asaṅga's Mahāyāna Uttara Tantra Śāstra]]. Forres: [[Altea]], 1999. (Translated from Tibetan)
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*[[Holmes, Ken]] and [[Katia Holmes]], trans. [[The Changeless Nature]]. Newcastle: [[Karma Kagyu Trust]], 1985. (Translated from Tibetan)
 
*[[Prasad, H. S.]], ed. [[The Uttaratantra of Maitreya]]. Containing [[E.H. Johnston]]'s Sanskrit text and [[E. Obermiller]]'s English translation. [[Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica]], 79. Delhi: [[Sri Satguru Publications]], 1991. (Translated from Tibetan)
 
*[[Takasaki, Jikido]]. [[A study on the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra), being a treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha theory of Mahayana Buddhism]]. [[Serie Orientale Roma]] 33. Roma: [[Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente]] (ISMEO), 1966. (Translated from Sanskrit)
 
*[[Thrangu Rinpoche]]. [[The Uttara Tantra: A Treatise on Buddha Nature]], translated by [[Ken Holmes]] and [[Katia Holmes]], edited by Clark Johnson, Delhi: [[Sri Satguru Publications]], 2001.
 
 
 
====French Translations====
 
*[[Loyon, Etienne]], trans. [[Traité de la Continuité ultime du Grand Véhicule de Maitreya, avec le commentaire de Jamgœun Kongtrul Rimpoché, L'Inéluctable Rugissement du lion]].  With Commentary by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. 2007. Online Source: [http://www.khenpo.fr/rgv.html]
 
 
 
====German Translations====
 
*[[Buddha-Natur Mahayana-Uttaratantra-Shastra = Theg pa chen po rgyud bla maʼi bstan bcos kyi ʼgrel bśad]].  With Commentary by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. Berlin Manjughosha Editions, 2017.
 
*[[Fuchs, Rosemarie]], [[Tenzin Dordje. Ill.]], [[R. D. Salga, trans.]] [[Buddha-Natur : das Mahayana-Uttaratantra-Shastra Mit Kommentar "Das unerschütterliche Gebrüll des Löwen" / von Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye und Erl. von Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche]]. Freiburg [Breisgau]; Eckernförde: Khampa-Ed., 2014.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
== The Gyü Lama ==
 
 
 
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<div class="bnw-heading-3">Text Information</div>
 
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''Author'': '''Maitreya (Byams pa) or Maitreyanātha (Byams pa mgon po)'''<br>
 
''Sanskrit Title'': '''Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra'''<br>
 
''Alternate Title'': '''Ratnagotravibhāga'''<br>
 
''Tibetan Title'': '''Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos'''<br>
 
''Translated to Tibetan by'': '''Sajjana and Blo ldan shes rab'''<br>
 
''Tibetan Catalogue'': '''Tôh. no. 4024. Dergé Tanjur, vol. PHI, folios 54v.1-73r.7'''
 
 
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The [[Gyü Lama]] (<span class="sans">རྒྱུད་བླ་མ་</span>), also called the [[Mahāyānottaratantra Śāstra]] (<span class="sans">ཐེག་ཆེན་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས་</span>), the [[Ratnagotravibhāga]] (RGV), or simply the [[Uttaratantra]], is one of the most important texts of the Yogācāra tradition that expounds the tathāgatagarbha (buddha nature) theory, the idea that all sentient beings possess the nature of a buddha.<ref>Mathes, [[A Direct Path to the Buddha Within]], 2</ref> The Tibetan Buddhist tradition holds the [[Ratnagotravibhāga]] to be one of the Five Treatises that [[Maitreya]] taught to [[Asaṅga]] (4th century?). According to Klaus-Dieter Mathes, the [[Ratnagotravibhāga]] was largely ignored until the eleventh century when Indian scholars and adepts attempted to bring the tantric teachings in line with mainstream Mahāyāna.<ref>Ibid.</ref> The [[Ratnagotravibhāga]] and buddha nature theory provided the necessary doctrinal support for this kind of work, paving the road for its entry and subsequent importance within the Tibetan Buddhist dialogue.
 
  
As a whole, the [[Ratnagotravibhāga]] consists of three parts: (1) basic verses, (2) commentarial verses and (3) prose commentary, the third being the vyākhyā, the commentary attributed to [[Asaṅga]].<ref>Kano, [[RNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga: The First Tibetan Commentary on a Crucial Source for the Buddha‐nature Doctrine]], 17</ref> Issues with regards to [[Authorship of the RGV|authorship]] arise when comparing the Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan texts, as the only extant Sanskrit version<ref>critically edited by Johnston in [[Prasad, H. S.]], ed. [[The Uttaratantra of Maitreya]]. Containing E.H. Johnson's Sanskrit text and [[E. Obermiller]]'s English translation. [[Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica]], 79. Delhi: [[Sri Satguru Publications]], 1991.</ref> attributes no author, and the only Chinese version, translated by Ratnamati sometime after 508<ref>Kano, [[RNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga: The First Tibetan Commentary on a Crucial Source for the Buddha‐nature Doctrine|RNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga]], 17</ref>, attribues the entire text to Sāramati.<ref>For a detailed discussion regarding the authorship of the verses and prose, see Kano, [[RNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga: The First Tibetan Commentary on a Crucial Source for the Buddha‐nature Doctrine|RNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga]]; Takasaki, [[A study on the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra), being a treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha theory of Mahayana Buddhism]]</ref> ([[Authorship of the RGV|You can see various interpretations of the RGV authorship here.]])
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== The Titles of the Text ==
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For more detail on the meanings of the terms in the title, [[The Meanings of the Titles Ratnagotravibhāga and Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra|see the excerpt from ''When the Clouds Part'' by Karl Brunnhölzl here]].
  
The only extant Tibetan version of the [[Ratnagotravibhāga]] was translated by rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab (1059–1109) and Sajjana (late 11th cent.),<ref>Kano, [[RNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga: The First Tibetan Commentary on a Crucial Source for the Buddha‐nature Doctrine|RNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga]], 89</ref> though according to gZhon-nu-dpal there were a total of six translations made, the first by Atiśa (982–1054) and Nag-tsho Tshul-khrims-rgyal-ba (1011–1064).<ref>Ibid. 90
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The title ''Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra''<ref>According to the Sanskrit grammatical rules associated with ''sandhi'', the word boundaries of the “a” of Mahāyāna and the “u” of Uttaratantra combine as “o.” The title could just as easily be rendered “''Mahāyāna Uttaratantra Śāstra''.”</ref> is attested in the surviving Sanskrit manuscripts. It roughly translates as “The Ultimate Teaching (''uttaratantra'')<ref>See [[Articles/Continuum_vs._Teachings|the more detailed discussion of the translation of this term]] here: [[Articles/Continuum_vs._Teachings|Continuum vs. Teachings: Discrepancies in the Translation of the Term Tantra (rgyud) in the Subtitle of the Ratnagotravibhāga]].</ref> of the Mahāyāna, A Treatise (''śāstra'') Analyzing (''vibhāga'') the Jewel (''ratna'') Disposition (''gotra'').” One surviving Sanskrit reference, Abhayākaragupta’s ''Munimatālaṃkāra'', gives the name as ''Mahāyānottara: [Treatise] on the Ultimate Mahāyāna [Doctrine]''.<ref>[[Kano, K.]] ''[[Buddha-Nature and Emptiness]]'', 27, note #41.</ref> Western scholars only became aware of Sanskrit versions in the 1930s (see below); prior to this, they knew the text only in Chinese or Tibetan translation, and this was complicated by the fact that both the Chinese and the Tibetan traditions divide the text into two. Where in India the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' was a single work comprised of root verses, explanatory verses, and prose commentary, the Chinese and Tibetan translators and commentators considered the root and explanatory verses to be one text and the complete text, including the prose commentary, to be a second. Thus not only do we have multiple names in multiple languages for the treatise, but multiple names in Chinese and Tibetan for its different parts....
:(a) Atiśa (982–1054) and Nag-tsho Tshul-khrims-rgyal-ba (1011–1064)
 
:(b) rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab (1059–1109) and Sajjana (late 11th cent.)
 
:(c) sPa-tshab Nyi-ma-grags (b.1055)
 
:(d) Mar-pa Do-pa Chos-kyi-dbang-phyug (1042–1136)
 
:(e) Jo-nang Lo-tsā-ba Blo-gros-dpal (1299–1353 or 1300–1355)
 
:(f) Yar-klungs Lo-tsā-ba Grags-pa-rgyal-mtshan (1242–1346)</ref> rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab wrote the first commentary on the RGV<ref>Translated in Kazuo's Ph.D. dissertation, "[[rNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga: The First Tibetan Commentary on a Crucial Source for the Buddha‐nature Doctrine]]</ref> officially bringing it into Tibetan discourse at the end of the 11th century, from which point, the various Tibetan interpretations of the buddha nature theory take off. Mathes points to the main issue in the various interpretations as being whether the teaching that all beings are buddhas is provisional or definitive in meaning.<ref>Mathes, [[A Direct Path to the Buddha Within]], 3</ref> Over the next nine centuries, 45 commentaries were written on the [[Ratnagotravibhāga]] alone<ref>Burchardi, [[A Provisional List of Tibetan Commentaries on the Ratnagotravibhāga]]; Kano, [[RNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga: The First Tibetan Commentary on a Crucial Source for the Buddha‐nature Doctrine|RNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga]] (See [[A List of the Commentaries on the Ratnagotravibhāga|Appendix G]]) </ref>, and the text was referenced in "different ways to doctrinally support disputed traditions, such as the zhentong (gzhan stong) ("empty of other") of the Jonangpas (Jo nang pa) or sūtra-based mahāmudrā."<ref>Mathes, [[A Direct Path to the Buddha Within]], 3</ref> The text also serves as an important basis for both the Dzogchen tradition of Longchenpa and the Mahamudra tradition of the Kagyüpas.<ref>Ibid., 1</ref>
 
 
 
 
 
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|+ Tibetan Catalogue Information<ref>Catalogue information from Phil Stanley and [http://web.otani.ac.jp/cri/twrp/tibdate/Peking_online_search.html http://web.otani.ac.jp/cri/twrp/tibdate/Peking_online_search.html]</ref>
 
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|Peking||5525||sems tsam||phi||54b7-74b6||(vol.108, p.24-32)
 
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|Dergé (Tôh.) ||4024||sems tsam||phi||54b1-73a7||
 
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|Narthang ||4314||sems tsam||phi||48b3-69a3. ||
 
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|Kinsha <ref>Golden Manuscript - Tengyur</ref>||3524||sems tsam||phi||64b1||(p.33-3-1)
 
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|Cone ||3991||sems tsam||phi||51b1-69b1.||
 
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The emphasis of this site is to provide information on the resources available in the study of the [[Ratnagotravibhāga]] and all of its interpretations within the Tibetan Buddhist milieu. The information presented here is far from complete and will continue to develop as new scholarship arises. We welcome any feedback, and if you see any omissions or errors, [mailto:Research@tsadra.org please let us know via email].
 
  
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<h3 class="mt-0"><span class="noglossary"><div id="rgvTibToggle" class="link-no-border">Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra</div></span></h3>
  
 
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== The Five Dharmas of Maitreya ==
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;The Ornament of Clear Realization
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:Skt. Abhisamayālaṃkāra
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:Tib. <span class="sans">མངོན་རྟོགས་པའི་རྒྱན་</span>
 
:Wyl. mngon par rtogs pa'i rgyan
 
  
;The Ornament of the Mahayana Sutras
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:Skt. Māhayānasūtrālaṃkāra
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:Tib. <span class="sans">ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོའི་མདོ་སྡེ་རྒྱན་</span>
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:Wyl. theg pa chen po'i mdo sde rgyan
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|text=Comparative edition of the root verses
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|text="The Three Reasons" Verse
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</div>
  
;Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes
+
== The Texts ==
:Skt. Madhyāntavibhāga
 
:Tib. དབུས་དང་མཐའ་རྣམ་པར་འབྱེད་པ་
 
:Wyl. dbus dang mtha' rnam par 'byed pa
 
  
;Distinguishing Dharma and Dharmata
+
=== Sutras ===
:Skt. Dharma-dharmatā-vibhāga
 
:Tib. ཆོས་དང་ཆོས་ཉིད་
 
:Wyl. chos dang chos nyid rnam par 'byed pa
 
  
;The Sublime Continuum
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:Skt. Uttaratantra Śāstra
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:Tib. རྒྱུད་བླ་མ་
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== Resources ==
 
<div class="bnw-text-section">
 
* [[#Maitreya's Root Text: Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra|Maitreya's Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, Texts & Translations]]
 
* [[#Asaṅga's Commentary: Mahāyānottaratantraśāstravyākhyā|Asaṅga's Mahāyānottaratantraśāstravyākhyā, Texts & Translations]]
 
* [[#Other Tibetan Commentaries|Select Tibetan Commentaries & Translations]]
 
* [[#Selected Bibliography & Resources|Selected Bibliography of Books, Articles, Dissertations & Other Resources]]
 
* [[Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra|Tibetan Catalogue of Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra]]
 
* [[Mahāyānottaratantraśāstravyākhyā|Tibetan Catalogue of Mahāyānottaratantraśāstravyākhyā]]
 
* [[A List of the Commentaries on the Ratnagotravibhāga|Extensive List of Tibetan Commentaries]]
 
* [[Records of Transmission Lineages (gsan yig) of the Ratnagotravibhāga|Transmission Lineages of the Ratnagotravibhāga according to Jamgon Kongtrol]]
 
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;Bibliographical Title
 
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;Location
 
:ff. 54v-73r
 
;Authorship
 
:''byams pa'' (author); ''sajjana'' (translator); ''blo ldan shes rab''
 
;Tohoku Catalog Num.
 
:4024
 
;Citation
 
:tshul khrims rin chen. "theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos." In bstan 'gyur (sde dge). TBRC W23703. 123: 109 - 148. delhi: delhi karmapae choedhey, gyalwae sungrab partun khang, 1982-1985. http://tbrc.org/link?RID=O1GS6011%7CO1GS601137645$W23703
 
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<center class="link-no-border">[[File:BDRC.png|27px|link=http://tbrc.org/link?RID=O2DB75712%7CO2DB757122DB79425$W22704|class=image-icon-raised|]] [http://tbrc.org/link?RID=O2DB75712%7CO2DB757122DB79425$W22704 BDRC Narthang Version]</center>
 
;Bibliographical Title
 
:''theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos/''
 
;Title Page Title
 
:''mahayana uttara tantara sastra''
 
;Page Numbers
 
:100-141 in Volume 132 of Work W22704
 
;Location
 
:vol.132,ff.48v-69r (pp.96-137)
 
;Colophon
 
:theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos/ mgon po byams pas mdzad pa rdzogs so/ /dpal grong khyer dpe med kyi mkhas pa chen po/ bram ze rin chen rdo rje'i dpon po paN+Di ta mkhas pa chen po sa dza na dang / lo tsA ba shAkya'i dge slong blo ldan shes rab kyis/ grong khyer dpe med de nyid du bsgyur pa'o//
 
;gSer bris Catalog Num.
 
:3528
 
;Otani, Beijing Catalog Num.
 
:5525
 
;Citation
 
:"theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos/." In bstan 'gyur (snar thang). TBRC W22704. 132: 100 - 141. [narthang]: [s.n.], [1800?]. http://tbrc.org/link?RID=O2DB75712%7CO2DB757122DB79425$W22704
 
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;Bibliographical Title
 
:''theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos/''
 
;Other Title
 
:''mahayanottaratantrasastra''
 
;Page Numbers
 
:109-143 in Volume 123 of Work W1GS66030
 
;Location
 
:ff. 51r-68r
 
;Authorship
 
:''byams pa'' (author); ''sajjana'' (translator); ''blo ldan shes rab''
 
;Tohoku Catalog Num.
 
:4024
 
;Citation
 
:grags pa bshad sgrub . "theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos/." In bstan 'gyur (co ne). TBRC W1GS66030. 123: 109 - 143. [co ne dgon chen]: [co ne], [1926]. http://tbrc.org/link?RID=O2DB20796%7CO2DB207962DB24440$W1GS66030
 
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;Bibliographical Title
 
:''theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos/''
 
;Other Title
 
:''mahayanottaratantrasastra''
 
;Page Numbers
 
:958-1009 in Volume 70 of Work W1PD95844
 
;Location
 
:pp. 935-986
 
;Authorship
 
:''byams pa'' (author); ''sajjana'' (translator); ''blo ldan shes rab''
 
;Tohoku Catalog Num.
 
:4024
 
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;Bibliographical Title
 
:''theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos''
 
;Title Page Title
 
:''mahayana uttara tantara sastra''
 
;Page Numbers
 
:129-180 in Volume 132
 
;Location
 
:vol.132,ff.64r-89v(pp.127-178)
 
;Colophon
 
:theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos/ mgon po byams pas mdzad pa rdzogs so/ /dpal grong khyer dpe med kyi mkhas pa chen po/ bram ze rin chen rdo rje'i dpon po paN+Di ta mkhas pa chen po sa dza na dang / lo tsA ba shAkya'i dge slong blo ldan shes rab kyis/ grong khyer dpe med de nyid du bsgyur pa'o
 
;gSer bris Catalog Num.
 
:3528
 
;Otani, Beijing Catalog Num.
 
:5525
 
;Citation
 
:"theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos." In bstan 'gyur/?gser bris ma/?. TBRC W23702. 132: 129 - 180. tibet: [snar thang], [17-?]. http://tbrc.org/link?RID=O00CR0008%7CO00CR000800CR034422$W23702
 
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== ''When The Clouds Part'' by Karl Brunnhölzl ==
+
=== Commentaries ===
  
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<div class="bnw-resources-button" id="bnw-resources-button-1"><i class="fal fa-book fa-fw"></i>&nbsp; About the Book</div>
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|query=[[TextClass::Commentary]]
<div class="bnw-resources-button" id="bnw-resources-button-2"><i class="fal fa-video fa-fw"></i>&nbsp; Interview with Karl Brunnhölzl</div>
+
|classes=col-lg-6
<div class="bnw-resources-button" id="bnw-resources-button-3"><i class="fal fa-file-pdf fa-fw"></i>&nbsp; An outline of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great's commentary on the Gyü Lama</div>
+
}}
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</div>
 
</div>
 
</div>
<div class="bnw-resources">
 
<div class="bnw-resource-item bnw-minitron" id="bnw-resource-item-1" style="height: 100%; margin: 0;">
 
[[File:When the Clouds Part-front.jpg|200px|class=float-left mr-4 mb-2 depth-1|link=http://library.tsadra.org/index.php/When_the_Clouds_Part|]]
 
Shedding light on the meditative tradition of the five texts of Maitreya with meditation manuals and commentaries from the Kagyu and Kadampa traditions: ''When The Clouds Part, The Uttaratantra and Its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sutra and Tantra''.
 
  
[http://library.tsadra.org/index.php/When_the_Clouds_Part When the Clouds Part on the Tsadra Library]
+
==Further Reading==
 +
*[[Books/When_the_Clouds_Part/The_Sūtra_Sources_of_the_%27%27Tathāgatagarbha%27%27_Teachings|Details on the Sutra Sources for the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' by Karl Brunnhölzl]]
  
[http://www.shambhala.com/when-the-clouds-part.html Buy ''When the Clouds Part'' from Shambhala Publications]
+
*[[Articles/Tathāgatagarbha_Scriptures|Michael Radich on the Tathāgatagarbha Scriptures]]
</div>
 
<div class="bnw-resource-item" id="bnw-resource-item-2">
 
{{#ev:vimeo|225908764}}
 
</div>
 
<div class="bnw-resource-item p-0 m-0 text-center" id="bnw-resource-item-3">[[File:UttaratantraShastra English Outline Poster.pdf|640px|link=http://buddhanature.tsadra.org/images-budnat/a/ad/UttaratantraShastra_English_Outline_Poster.pdf|]]</div>
 
</div>
 
</div> 
 
</div>
 
  
===Secondary Sources and Further Studies ===
+
<references/>
<div class="bnw-text-section">
 
* [[Duckworth, Douglas]]. [[Mipam on Buddha-Nature]]: The Ground of the Nyingma Tradition. New York: SUNY Press, 2008.
 
* [[Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche]]. [[Buddha-Nature, Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra]], by Arya Maitreya. Edited by Alex Trisoglio. [[Khyentse Foundation]], 2007.
 
* [[Fuchs, Rosemarie]]. [[Buddha Nature: The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra]]. Commentary by Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé "The Unassailable Lion's Roar." Ithaca, NY: [[Snow Lion Publications]], 2000.
 
* [[Holmes, Ken]] and [[Katia Holmes]]. [[Maitreya on Buddha nature : A New Translation of Asaṅga's Mahāyāna Uttara Tantra Śāstra]]. Forres: [[Altea]], 1999. (Translated from Tibetan)
 
* [[Holmes, Ken]] and [[Katia Holmes]], trans. [[The Changeless Nature]]. Newcastle: [[Karma Kagyu Trust]], 1985. (Translated from Tibetan)
 
* [[Kilty, Gavin]]. [[The Tathāgata Essence Commentary to the First Chapter of the Uttaratantra]], by [[Rinchen, Gyaltsap Darma]] (1364-1432). Unpublished, FPMT.
 
* [[Kano, Kazuo]]. "[[rNgog Blo‐ldan‐shes‐rabʹs Summary of the Ratnagotravibhāga: The First Tibetan Commentary on a Crucial Source for the Buddha‐nature Doctrine]]." Ph.D. Dissertation, [[University of Hamburg]], 2006. Contains a critical edition in Wylie transliteration.
 
* [[Kano, Kazuo]]. "[[Buddha-Nature and Emptiness]]: rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab and A Transmission of the Ratnagotravibhāga from India to Tibet." WSTB 91. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde (Vienna Series for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies). Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien, 2016. 
 
* [[Mathes, Klaus-Dieter]]. [[A Direct Path to the Buddha Within]]: Go Lotsāwa's Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga. Boston: [[Wisdom Publications]], 2008.
 
* [[Mathes, Klaus-Dieter]]. ''[['Gos Lo tsā ba gZhon nu dpal's Extensive Commentary on and Study of the Ratna-gotravibhāgavyākhyā]]''. In [[Religion and Secular Culture in Tibet]], 79-96. Proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies ([[PIATS]]), Leiden, 2000. [[Brill's Tibetan Studies Library]] vol. 2, bk. 2 . Leiden : [[Brill]], 2002.
 
* [[Mipham]] ('jam mgon 'ju mi pham rgya mtsho). [[A Commentary on the Uttaratantra Shastra]] (rgyud bla ma). Translated by [[Padmakara Translation Group]], [[John Canti]], forthcoming.
 
* [[Obermiller, E.]], tr., [[Uttaratantra or Ratnagotra-vibhāga: The Sublime Science of the Great Vehicle to Salvation, Being a Manual of Buddhist Monism: The Work of Ārya Maitreya with a Commentary by Āryāsaṅga]], [[Acta Orientalia]] 9 (1931): 81-306. Re-printed in [[Prasad, H. S.]], ed. [[The Uttaratantra of Maitreya]], 1991. (Translated from Tibetan)
 
* [[Prasad, H. S.]], ed. [[The Uttaratantra of Maitreya]]. Containing [[E.H. Johnston]]'s Sanskrit text and [[E. Obermiller]]'s English translation. [[Bibliotheca Indo-Buddhica]], 79. Delhi: [[Sri Satguru Publications]], 1991. (Translated from Tibetan)
 
* [[Stearns, Cyrus]]. [[The Buddha From Dolpo]]: A Study of the Life and Thought of the Tibetan Master Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen. Tsadra Foundation Series. Ithaca, NY: [[Snow Lion Publications]], 2010.
 
* [[Takasaki, Jikido]]. [[A study on the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra), being a treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha theory of Mahayana Buddhism]]. [[Serie Orientale Roma]] 33. Roma: [[Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente]] (ISMEO), 1966. (Translated from Sanskrit)
 
* [[Thrangu Rinpoche]]. [[The Uttara Tantra: A Treatise on Buddha Nature]], translated by [[Ken Holmes]] and [[Katia Holmes]], edited by Clark Johnson, Delhi: [[Sri Satguru Publications]], 2001.
 
</div>
 
  
== Videos ==
 
<div class="bnw-text-section">
 
<div class="bnw-fullwidth-shell">
 
<div class="bnw-resources-container depth-3">
 
<div class="bnw-resources-buttons">
 
<div class="bnw-resources-button" id="bnw-resources-button-4"><i class="fal fa-video fa-fw"></i>&nbsp; Mingyur Rinpoche on Buddha Nature</div>
 
<div class="bnw-resources-button" id="bnw-resources-button-5"><i class="fal fa-video fa-fw"></i>&nbsp; Ringu Tulku on Buddha Nature</div>
 
<div class="bnw-resources-button" id="bnw-resources-button-6"><i class="fal fa-video fa-fw"></i>&nbsp; Ken Holmes on Buddha Nature</div>
 
<div class="bnw-resources-button" id="bnw-resources-button-7"><i class="fal fa-video fa-fw"></i>&nbsp; Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche on the Uttaratantra at Rangjung Yeshe Gomde California, 2014</div>
 
<div class="bnw-resources-button" id="bnw-resources-button-8"><i class="fal fa-video fa-fw"></i>&nbsp; Tai Situpa on the 3 Most Important Sentences Of All Living Beings</div>
 
</div>
 
<div class="bnw-resources">
 
<div class="bnw-resource-item" id="bnw-resource-item-4">{{#ev:youtube|srRcHz9jVrg}}</div>
 
<div class="bnw-resource-item" id="bnw-resource-item-5">{{#ev:youtube|wG9c0k8H5Y0}}</div>
 
<div class="bnw-resource-item" id="bnw-resource-item-6">{{#ev:youtube|Kn4MbfU2KMA}}</div>
 
<div class="bnw-resource-item" id="bnw-resource-item-7">{{#ev:vimeo|98990870}}</div>
 
<div class="bnw-resource-item" id="bnw-resource-item-8">{{#ev:youtube|i2UuAXNvuZ4}}</div>
 
</div>
 
</div> 
 
 
</div>
 
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<noinclude>[[Category:Buddha Nature Project Tests]]</noinclude>
 

Latest revision as of 12:12, 31 January 2023

The Source Texts

A note about source texts
Source literature is divided into the two broad categories of sūtras and commentaries. While traditionally both entail a wide range of internal divisions and classifications, here the two can be simply understood to demarcate the difference between scriptures orated by the Buddha or his attendant bodhisattvas, and authored works which draw upon those discourses in order to elucidate a particular aspect of the Buddhist teachings. In terms of the former, these texts are traditionally referred to as “buddhavacana,’’ literally “the speech of the Buddha,’’ and are considered to represent actual sermons that were passed down orally until they were eventually set into writing. Commentaries refers to treatises composed to explicate the doctrine. They are recognized to have been written by historical people, although in many cases the authorship is shrouded in myth and mystery.


Sources for Buddha-Nature Teachings

The seeds of buddha-nature teachings are sprinkled throughout the sutras and tantras of the Buddhist canon. A core group of scripture that initially taught buddha-nature known as the tathāgatagarbha sūtras date between the second and fourth centuries. These include the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra, the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, the Śrīmālādevīsūtra and several others. The famous Laṇkāvatārasūtra was also important for buddha-nature theory. In Tibetan Buddhism the late-Indian treatise Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra, or "Gyu Lama" as it is known in the Tibetan, serves as a major source for buddha-nature. In East Asia the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna (大乗起信論) was the most influential treatise in spreading buddha-nature theory.

This page provides a listing of some of the key sources for buddha nature teachings found in the sutras, as well as the key texts found in Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan traditions, as well as influential commentaries from centuries of traditional scholarship on the subject.

The Titles of the Text[edit]

For more detail on the meanings of the terms in the title, see the excerpt from When the Clouds Part by Karl Brunnhölzl here.

The title Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra[1] is attested in the surviving Sanskrit manuscripts. It roughly translates as “The Ultimate Teaching (uttaratantra)[2] of the Mahāyāna, A Treatise (śāstra) Analyzing (vibhāga) the Jewel (ratna) Disposition (gotra).” One surviving Sanskrit reference, Abhayākaragupta’s Munimatālaṃkāra, gives the name as Mahāyānottara: [Treatise] on the Ultimate Mahāyāna [Doctrine].[3] Western scholars only became aware of Sanskrit versions in the 1930s (see below); prior to this, they knew the text only in Chinese or Tibetan translation, and this was complicated by the fact that both the Chinese and the Tibetan traditions divide the text into two. Where in India the Ratnagotravibhāga was a single work comprised of root verses, explanatory verses, and prose commentary, the Chinese and Tibetan translators and commentators considered the root and explanatory verses to be one text and the complete text, including the prose commentary, to be a second. Thus not only do we have multiple names in multiple languages for the treatise, but multiple names in Chinese and Tibetan for its different parts....

The Texts[edit]

Sutras[edit]

Commentaries[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  1. According to the Sanskrit grammatical rules associated with sandhi, the word boundaries of the “a” of Mahāyāna and the “u” of Uttaratantra combine as “o.” The title could just as easily be rendered “Mahāyāna Uttaratantra Śāstra.”
  2. See the more detailed discussion of the translation of this term here: Continuum vs. Teachings: Discrepancies in the Translation of the Term Tantra (rgyud) in the Subtitle of the Ratnagotravibhāga.
  3. Kano, K. Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, 27, note #41.