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The Buddha from Dolpo (2010)

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The Buddha from Dölpo is a revised and enlarged edition of the only book about the most controversial Buddhist master in the history of Tibet, Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292-1361), who became perhaps the greatest Tibetan expert of the Kālacakra, or Wheel of Time, a vast system of tantric teachings. Based largely on esoteric Buddhist knowledge from the legendary land of Shambhala, Dölpopa's insights have profoundly influenced the development of Tibetan Buddhism for more than 650 years.

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)

Citation	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. First published 1999 by State University of New York Press.

A Historical Survey of the Shentong Tradition in Tibet

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ContentsAbout the BookSourcesQuotes

• Preface to the Revised Editionvii
• List of Illustrations xi
• List of Plates xiii
• Introduction 1

• PART ONE: The Life and Teachings of the Omniscient Dölpopa
• Chapter One: The Life of the Buddha from Dölpo 9
  • 1. Childhood and Early Education 10
  • 2. Studies at the Great Monastery of Sakya 11
  • 3. The Move to Jonang 15
  • 4. Raising Mount Meru and Revealing the Shentong View 19
  • 5. The Initial Reception of the Shentong Teachings 22
  • 6. The New Jonang Translation of the Kālacakra Tantra and the Stainless
        Light24
  • 7. Years of Retreat and Teaching 29
  • 8. Invitation to China by the Yüan Emperor Toghon Temür 29
  • 9. Changes in the Jonang Leadership and the Beginning of the Journey to
        Lhasa31
  • 10. Teachings in Central Tibet and the Return to Tsang 33
  • 11. The Aborted Meeting with Butön Rinchen Drup 35
  • 12. The Last Months at Jonang 36
• Chapter Two: A Historical Survey of the Shentong Tradition in Tibet 41
  • 1. The Shentong Tradition in Tibet before Dölpopa 42
  • 2. Dölpopa and the Shentong View 46
  • 3. The Shentong Tradition after Dölpopa 55
• Chapter Three: The Doctrine of the Buddha from Dölpo 85
  • 1. Emptiness of Self-nature and Emptiness of Other 87
  • 2. A Redefinition of Cittamātra and Madhyamaka 91
  • 3. Two Approaches to Enlightenment 103

• PART TWO: Texts in Translation
• Introduction to the General Commentary on the Doctrine 113
• 1. Supplication Entitled General Commentary on the Doctrine 119
• Introduction to the Fourth Council and the Autocommentary to the
  "Fourth Council"131
• 2. Great Calculation of the Doctrine That Has the Significance of a Fourth Council 135
• 3. Autocommentary to the "Fourth Council"205
• Notes 313
• Bibliography 413
• Index 449

This is essential reading for understanding Dölpopa's position on buddha-nature.

1. Dol po pa shes rab rgyal mtshan. bstan pa spyi 'grel. Short title for Supplication Entitled “General Commentary on the Doctrine.” bstan pa spyi ’grel zhes bya ba’i gsol ’debs. In The Collected Works (Gsung ’bum) of Kun-mkhyen Dol-po-pa Shes-rab rgyal-mtshan (1292-1361): Reproduced from the copies of prints from the Rgyal-rtse Rdzong blocks preserved at the Kyichu Monastery in the Paro Valley, Bhutan, vol. 1: 686–94. Paro/Delhi: Lama Ngodrup and Sherab Drimay, 1984.
   1. Also published in The ’Dzam-thang Edition of the Collected Works (Gsung-’bum) of Kun-mkhyen Dol-po-pa Shes-rab rgyal-mtshan, vol. 7, pt. 1: 494–501. Delhi: Shedrup Books, 1992.
2. _____. bka' bsdu bzhi pa (The “Fourth Council). Short title for Great Calculation of the Doctrine That Has the Significance of a Fourth Council. Bka bsdus bzhi pa’i don bstan rtsis chen po. In The ’Dzam-thang Edition of the Collected Works (Gsung-’bum) of Kun-mkhyen Dol-po-pa Shes-rab rgyal-mtshan, vol. 5: 207–52. Delhi: Shedrup Books, 1992.
3. ______. bka' bsdu bzhi pa'i rang 'grel - Autocommentary to the “Fourth Council.” Bka’ bsdu bzhi pa’i rang ’grel. In The Collected Works (Gsung ’bum) of Kun-mkhyen Dol-po-pa Shes-rab rgyal-mtshan (1292–1361): Reproduced from the copies of prints from the Rgyal-rtse Rdzong blocks preserved at the Kyichu Monastery in the Paro Valley, Bhutan, vol. 1: 585–665. Paro/Delhi: Lama Ngodrup and Sherab Drimay, 1984.

Dölpopa considers the buddha nature, or sugata essence, to be natural luminosity (which is synonymous with the dharmakāya) and a primordial, indestructible, eternal great bliss inherently present in every living being.  

~ in The Buddha from Dolpo (2010), page(s) 89

Dölpopa considers the buddha nature, or sugata essence, to be natural luminosity (which is synonymous with the dharmakāya) and a primordial, indestructible, eternal great bliss inherently present in every living being. On the other hand, the incidental stains or impurities that veil the buddha nature are the various states of mind associated with the infinite experiences of mundane existence. While the veils of temporary affliction are empty of self-nature, the buddha nature is empty only of phenomena other than itself.  

~ in The Buddha from Dolpo (2010), page(s) 89

According to Dölpopa the process of enlightenment can be illuminated by some traditional examples. First, he accepts two types of "universal groung" (aālaya, kun gzhi). Of these, he considers the buddha nature, or sugata essence, to be the "universal-ground primoridal awareness" (kun gzhi ye shes). While still veiled by the temporary obscurations, of the afflictions and of knwledge, ths is like the sky filled with clouds or a jewel covered with mud. In contrast, the "universal-ground consciousness" (ālayavijñāna, kun gzhi rnam shes) is the impurities or incidental stains that are to be removed, and the deeply imprinted habitual propensities associated with it. Thes are like the clouds in the sky or the mud covering the jewel. Second, the path is composed of the various techniques of practice that removed the impurities. This path can be likened to the wind that scatters the clouds of the stream of water that washes the mud from the jewel. Finally, the result is described as an attainment, but is really unified bliss and emptiness, a self-arisen primordial awareness that is eternally present, but now manifests or actualizes. This is like the appearance of the clear cloudless sky or the jewel separated from the mud. Dölpopa says the incidental stains must be understood as empty of self-nature and suitable to be removed through meditation practice, while the buddha nature itself is empty only of other extrinsic factors such as the incidental stains that veil its eternal and indestructible nature.  

~ in The Buddha from Dolpo (2010), page(s) 91

Kālacakra - Can refer to either the Kālacakra Tantra and its derivative texts or to the systematic tantric tradition based on these texts, as well as the deity Kālacakra upon which the associated practices are centered. Skt. कालचक्र Tib. དུས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ། Ch. 時輪

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Kālacakra - Can refer to either the Kālacakra Tantra and its derivative texts or to the systematic tantric tradition based on these texts, as well as the deity Kālacakra upon which the associated practices are centered. Skt. कालचक्र Tib. དུས་ཀྱི་འཁོར་ལོ། Ch. 時輪

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śūnyatā - The state of being empty of an innate nature due to a lack of independently existing characteristics. Skt. शून्यता Tib. སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་ Ch. 空,空門

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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་

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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་

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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་

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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་

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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་

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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་

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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་

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Sakya - The Sakya tradition developed in the eleventh century in the Khön family of Tsang, which maintained an imperial-era lineage of Vajrakīla and which adopted a new teaching from India known as Lamdre. Tib. ས་སྐྱ་

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tantra - Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism. Skt. तन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད། Ch. 密宗

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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་

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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

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prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

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dharmakāya - "Truth body" or "true being" — One of the three bodies of a buddha. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, it often refers to a kind of fundamental principle or the true nature of reality itself. Skt. धर्मकाय Tib. ཆོས་སྐུ་ Ch. 法身

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gzhi - The foundational basis of both saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. It is often used as a synonym for tathāgatagarbha and dharmadhātu. Tib. གཞི་

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āvaraṇa - Literally, that which obscures or conceals. Often listed as a set of two obscurations (sgrib gnyis): the afflictive emotional obscurations (Skt. kleśāvaraṇa, Tib. nyon mongs pa'i sgrib pa) and the cognitive obscurations (Skt. jñeyāvaraṇa, Tib. shes bya'i sgrib pa). By removing the first, one becomes free of suffering, and by removing the second, one becomes omniscient. Skt. आवरण Tib. སྒྲིབ་པ་

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kleśa - Often referred to as poisons, these are a class of disturbing or disruptive emotional states that when aroused negatively affect or taint the mind. Skt. क्लेश Tib. ཉོན་མོངས་ Ch. 煩惱

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ālayavijñāna - A neutral base consciousness that is posited as the storehouse for the seeds of past karmic actions in which they remain in a latent state until the circumstances arise for them to ripen as karmic consequences. Skt. आलयविज्ञान Tib. ཀུན་གཞིའི་རྣམ་ཤེས་ Ch. 阿賴耶識,藏識

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