Gregory Forgues: Mipham's Radical Nonduality

Gregory Forgues

Mipham's Radical Nonduality

14 December 2024 · 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Description & Participants

Mipham's Radical Nonduality
14 December 2024 · 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

Please join us on Zoom or Facebook live on Saturday, December 14th at 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time (note the changed time) (5:00 PM CET, 9:00 PM Bhutan, 8:45 PM Kathmandu)

Lopen Karma Phuntsho will interview Tsadra Foundation's director of research, Gregory Forgues and discuss his recent book "Radical Nonduality: Ju Mipham Namgyal Gyatso's Discourse on Reality (Vienna WSTB 106).

Ju Mipham Namgyal Gyatsho (1846–1912) stands as one of the most influential scholars within the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. This book, which will be of interest to both academic researchers and Buddhist practitioners, presents a comprehensive analysis of Mipham's nonconceptual nondualism through the traditional Buddhist framework of ground (gzhi), path (lam), and result ('bras bu).

The study begins by examining how Mipham's view represents a form of ontological nondualism, exploring his innovative use of ascending perspectives to explain the two truths. This approach offers readers new insights into Mipham's sophisticated philosophical system while illuminating the philosophical foundations of the path.

The middle section investigates how knowledge and liberation interweave in Mipham's soteriological project through his teachings on practice and conduct. Here, readers will discover how cognitive nondualism serves as a bridge to realizing ontological nondualism, while scholars will appreciate the theoretical framework underlying these practices.

The final section examines Mipham's soteriological nondualism, in which ground and result are understood to be beyond any distinction or separation. This fresh analysis of Mipham's thought offers valuable insights into one of Tibet's most sophisticated philosophical systems and its practical application on the Buddhist path.

The book is free online here!

Dr. Gregory Forgues is the Director of Research at Tsadra Foundation. Before joining the foundation, Gregory was part of the Open Philology research project with Professor Jonathan Silk at the University of Leiden. He also worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Heidelberg and a Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Bochum. Gregory has published on a wide variety of topics including Mahāyāna sūtra translations, Tibetan tantric rituals, Dzogchen teachings, and digital humanities methods. His PhD dissertation on Jamgon Mipham’s interpretation of the two truths under Professor Klaus-Dieter Mathes' supervision was reviewed by Professor Birgit Kellner and Professor Matthew Kapstein, receiving a distinction from the University of Vienna.

Guest

Dr. Gregory Forgues

Host

Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho

Conversations on Buddha-Nature

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This is a space for stimulating and inspiring conversations on Buddha-Nature and related subjects. As a part of the Buddha-Nature Project of the Tsadra Foundation, Karma Phuntsho will host conversations with a Buddhist leader, influencer or expert each month on the theories and practices of Buddha-Nature, which will be live on Facebook. As an exercise of mindful listening, right speech, and wholesome exploration of meaning and nature of life and existence, these conversations aim to enhance the understanding and awareness of Buddha-Nature and promote the ethos of innate goodness and positive perception.

Recommended content

Person

Mi pham rgya mtsho

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Ju Mipam Gyamtso was a prolific author who brought formal philosophical study, including debate, to the Nyingma tradition. Based in Kham during a period of great inter-sectarian exchange, he trained with the Kagyu lama Jamgön Kongtrul and the Sakya lama Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, among others, even as he preserved a strong Nyingma identity. Among his most celebrated works are the Beacon of Certainty and a commentary on the Ninth Chapter of the Bodhicaryāvatāra. In addition to his considerable literary output he spent decades of his life in retreat.

Mipam Gyatso;མི་ཕམ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་;mi pham rgya mtsho;Mi pham rgya mtsho

Radical Nonduality (Forgues 2024)

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Ju Mipham (1846–1912) stands as one of the preeminent scholars within the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The objective of this study is to present Mipham’s nonconceptual nondualism by analyzing his discourse with regard to the ground (gzhi), the path (lam), and the result (’bras bu). In the initial sections of the book, the examination centers on Mipham’s teaching on the core components of the path: view, practice, and conduct. In the first part of the book, Mipham’s interpretation of the view primarily as a form of ontological nondualism is examined within the wider context of the path. This discussion presents in detail Mipham’s utilization of an array of ascending views in his discourse on the two truths. The subsequent part delves into the interplay between knowledge and liberation that shapes Mipham’s soteriological project through the central notions of practice and conduct. This exploration sheds light on how practices rooted in cognitive nondualism facilitate the actualization of ontological nondualism. The concluding part of the book shifts focus to Mipham’s soteriological nondualism in which the ground of being taken as the starting point of the path and the result of the path itself are understood to be beyond any distinction or separation. (Source: WSTB)

Forgues, Gregory. Radical Nonduality: Ju Mipham Namgyal Gyatso's Discourse on Reality. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde No. 106. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2024.

Forgues, Gregory. Radical Nonduality: Ju Mipham Namgyal Gyatso's Discourse on Reality. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde No. 106. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2024.;Greg Forgues;Radical Nonduality: Ju Mipham Namgyal Gyatso's Discourse on Reality

External resources

Link

WSTB 106: Radical Nonduality

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Free book available online!

external link