Buddha-Nature: Mahayana-Uttaratantra-Shastra (Khyentse Commentary)

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LibraryBooksBuddha-Nature: Mahayana-Uttaratantra-Shastra (Khyentse Commentary)
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The book includes a lengthy question and answer section organized around the chapters of the root text, but found at the end of the book. Also included are a Tibetan-Sanskrit-English glossary and an index.
 
The book includes a lengthy question and answer section organized around the chapters of the root text, but found at the end of the book. Also included are a Tibetan-Sanskrit-English glossary and an index.
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|BookToc=* {{i|Introduction and Preliminaries|1}}
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** {{i|2003 Teachings: Day 1 – Introduction|1}}
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** {{i|Day 2 – Introduction|8}}
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* {{i|The First Vajra Point: Buddha|13}}
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* {{i|The Second Vajra Point: Dharma|20}}
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* {{i|The Third Vajra Point: Sangha|24}}
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** {{i|Day 3 – Introduction|26}}
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** {{i|The Three Refuges|29}}
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* {{i|The Last Four Vajra Points|33}}
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** {{i|The Four Paradoxes|34}}
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* {{i|The Fourth Vajra Point: The Element|37}}
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** {{i|Day 4 – Introduction|38}}
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** {{i|The Ten Aspects (of Buddha-nature)|40}}
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*** {{i|#1: Essence|41}}
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*** {{i|#2: Cause|42}}
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**** {{i|The four obscurations that wrap the kham|43}}
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*** {{i|#3: Result|44}}
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*** {{i|#4: Action/Function|48}}
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*** {{i|#5: Container/Endowment|49}}
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*** {{i|#6: Entry|50}}
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*** {{i|#7: Occasions|51}}
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*** {{i|#8: All-pervasive|52}}
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*** {{i|#9: Unchanging|53}}
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**** {{i|Day 5 – Introduction|61}}
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**** {{i|The example of the lotus growing in the water|63}}
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*** {{i|#10: Inseparable|70}}
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**** {{i|The example of the sun and its rays|70}}
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**** {{i|The example of the painters|73}}
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**** {{i|Day 6 – Introduction|76}}
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** {{i|The Nine Examples (of essence and defilements)|78}}
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*** {{i|Example #1: The Buddha and the Lotus|79}}
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*** {{i|Example #2: The Honey and the Bees|81}}
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*** {{i|Example #3: The Grain and the Husk|82}}
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*** {{i|Example #4: The Gold and the Filth|83}}
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**** {{i|Day 7 – Introduction|88}}
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*** {{i|Example #5: The Treasure and the Earth|90}}
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*** {{i|Example #6: The Shoot and the Fruit-skin|92}}
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*** {{i|Example #7: The Statue and the Tattered Rag|93}}
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*** {{i|Example #8: The Chakravartin and the Woman|95}}
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*** {{i|Example #9: The Golden Image and the Clay Mould|96}}
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**** {{i|Day 8 – Introduction|99}}
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**** {{i|Day 9 – Introduction|113}}
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* {{i|The Fifth Vajra Point – Enlightenment|127}}
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** {{i|2004 Teachings: Day 1 – Introduction|133}}
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** {{i|Day 2 – Introduction|150}}
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** {{i|Day 3 – Introduction|169}}
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* {{i|The Sixth Vajra Point: Qualities|180}}
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** {{i|The Ten Powers|182}}
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** {{i|The Four Fearlessnesses|186}}
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*** {{i|Day 4 – Introduction|188}}
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** {{i|The Eighteen Distinctive Qualities|190}}
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** {{i|The Fruit of Maturation (the 32 Major Marks)|193}}
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*** {{i|How the examples and the qualities complement each other|199}}
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* {{i|The Seventh Vajra Point: Activity|206}}
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** {{i|Day 5 – Introduction|206}}
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** {{i|The Nine Examples for the Buddha’s Activity|216}}
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*** {{i|Example #1: Indra’s Reflection On The Lapis Lazuli Floor|217}}
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**** {{i|Day 6 – Introduction|219}}
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*** {{i|Example #2: The Heavenly Drum|225}}
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*** {{i|Example #3: The Cloud|232}}
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**** {{i|Day 7 – Introduction|236}}
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*** {{i|Example #4: Brahma|239}}
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*** {{i|Example #5: The Sun|242}}
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*** {{i|Example #6: The Wishfulfilling Jewel|247}}
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**** {{i|Day 8 – Introduction|249}}
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*** {{i|Example #7: The Echo|250}}
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*** {{i|Example #8: The Sky/Space|251}}
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*** {{i|Example #9: The Earth|252}}
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**** {{i|Day 9 – Introduction|261}}
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**** {{i|Day 10 – Introduction|276}}
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* {{i|Questions & Answers|287}}
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** {{i|The Fourth Vajra Point: The Element|287}}
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*** {{i|Do animals have Buddha-nature?|287}}
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*** {{i|Do plants and stones have Buddha-nature?|287}}
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*** {{i|Kham and Buddha-nature|293}}
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*** {{i|Kham and the gross & subtle elements|295}}
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*** {{i|Buddha-nature, mind & wisdom|297}}
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** {{i|The Fifth Vajra Point: Enlightenment|299}}
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*** {{i|Is Buddha-nature permanent?|299}}
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*** {{i|Is Buddha-nature uncompounded?|302}}
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** {{i|The Sixth Vajra Point: Qualities|306}}
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*** {{i|The 32 major marks|306}}
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*** {{i|The activity of the nirmanakaya|313}}
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** {{i|The Seventh Vajra Point: Activity|315}}
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*** {{i|The reflection in the lapis lazuli floor|315}}
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*** {{i|Effortlessness|320}}
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** {{i|View and Path|322}}
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*** {{i|Blessings & genuine heart of sadness|322}}
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*** {{i|How does prayer work?|324}}
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*** {{i|Uttaratantra and the Vajrayana|325}}
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*** {{i|Why does the path have two accumulations?|327}}
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*** {{i|Defilements, emotions & the origin of suffering|328}}
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*** {{i|Are there other sentient beings?|337}}
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*** {{i|Study & Practice|338}}
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*** {{i|Buddha-nature & atman in Hinduism|347}}
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*** {{i|Practice and the Four Seals|350}}
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* {{i|Tibetan Words & Phrases|351}}
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* {{i|Index|367}}
 
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Buddha-Nature: Mahayana-Uttaratantra-Shastra (Khyentse Commentary)
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Arya Maitreya’s Mahayana-Uttaratantra-Shastra is one of the most important teachings on buddhanature and enlightenment. It is revered by buddhist masters as a very special text, one of the five great teachings given by Lord Maitreya to Asanga, and part of the third turning of the wheel of the Dharma. Within the traditional buddhist shedras for monastic education, it is often taught as the final text in the curriculum, and many masters say it can be considered a bridge between the sutras and tantra. It provides an important philosophical foundation for understanding the workings of the buddhist path, particularly for Vajrayana practitioners. We are particularly fortunate to have these teachings by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche, rich with his usual clarity, warmth, humour and wisdom because, despite its beauty and profundity, this text is rarely taught in the West, and there are few translations.

Rinpoche gave these teachings on the Uttaratantra at the Centre d’Etudes de Chanteloube in Dordogne, France during the summers of 2003 and 2004, after completing a four-year teaching cycle on Chandrakirti’s Madhyamakavatara. He has often emphasised the value of a grounding in the Madhyamika or ‘Middle Way’ philosophy of emptiness, as without this foundation beginners can easily misunderstand Buddha’s teaching that all sentient beings have buddhanature. For example, many of us who have grown up in a Western cultural context can easily confuse buddhanature with ideas like God or a personal soul or essence. These teachings allow us to dispel these kinds of misunderstanding. And despite their very different presentations, both the Madhyamika and Uttaratantra are teachings on the buddhist view of emptiness. As Rinpoche says, “You could say that when Nagarjuna explains the Prajñaparamita, he concentrates more on its ‘empty’ aspect (“form is emptiness” in the Heart Sutra), whereas when Maitreya explains the same thing, he concentrates more on the ‘ness’ aspect (emptiness is form).” In showing us how emptiness and buddhanature are different ways of talking about the same thing, this text gives us the grounding we need to understand buddhanature.

In this way, the Uttaratantra gives us another way to understand the Four Seals that comprise the buddhist view, which Rinpoche teaches in his book “What Makes You Not a Buddhist.” It also offers a way to make sense of what modern physics has discovered about the magically “full” quality of “empty” space (e.g. vacuum particles and quantum optics). But like all buddhist philosophy, it is not intended simply to provoke an academic discussion that we leave behind as we return to our everyday lives. It is taught as a path for us to attain liberation. For practitioners, the Uttaratantra clearly explains what it means to accumulate merit and purify defilements, and it offers a safety net to protect our path from falling into all-too-common eternalist or nihilist extremes. It also tackles many of the basic questions that practitioners ask as they consider the nature of the path, questions like: What is the ultimate destination of this path? Who is this person travelling on the path? What are the defilements that are eliminated on the path? What is experience of enlightenment like? Rinpoche answers these questions and many others in this commentary on the Uttaratantra-Shastra. (Source: Siddhartha's Intent)

Citation Khyentse, Dzongsar. Buddha-Nature: Mahayana-Uttaratantra-Shastra. By Arya Maitreya. With commentary by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. Given at the Centre d'Études de Chanteloube, Dordogne, France. Edited by Alex Trisoglio. n.p.: Siddhartha's Intent, 2007. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zerz908dsq48lm4/AACBgmKw93qB1PldbrEW8NwVa?dl=0&preview=UttaratantraDJKR+Siddhartha%27s+Intent.pdf

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