A Direct Path to the Buddha Within

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Go rejected both of these positions, arguing that the Uttaratantra is consistent with other Third-Turning teachings of Yogacāra and that such teachings are definitive. This was a necessary move in order to conflate cataphatic Yogacāra doctrine with Mahāmudrā: buddha-nature for Go is not a synonym for emptiness, but rather for "the unfabricated nature of mind" and "luminosity," core Mahāmudrā doctrine. But Go differentiated his approach from other advocates of a Yogacāra interpretation. He argued against the notion that buddha-nature is fully formed in every sentient being (the "buddha qualities" discussion), advocating instead that buddha-nature is a potential that needs to be developed. We are not like golden statues hidden in mud, but rather like acorns that need water and sunlight to grow into oak trees.
 
Go rejected both of these positions, arguing that the Uttaratantra is consistent with other Third-Turning teachings of Yogacāra and that such teachings are definitive. This was a necessary move in order to conflate cataphatic Yogacāra doctrine with Mahāmudrā: buddha-nature for Go is not a synonym for emptiness, but rather for "the unfabricated nature of mind" and "luminosity," core Mahāmudrā doctrine. But Go differentiated his approach from other advocates of a Yogacāra interpretation. He argued against the notion that buddha-nature is fully formed in every sentient being (the "buddha qualities" discussion), advocating instead that buddha-nature is a potential that needs to be developed. We are not like golden statues hidden in mud, but rather like acorns that need water and sunlight to grow into oak trees.
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|BookToc=* {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Abbreviations | Abbreviations]]|viii}}
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|BookToc=* {{i|Abbreviations|viii}}
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* {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Preface | Preface]]|ix}}
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* {{i|Preface|ix}}
 
* {{i|[https://www.wisdompubs.org/book/direct-path-buddha-within/introduction Introduction - online on Wisdompubs.org]|1}}
 
* {{i|[https://www.wisdompubs.org/book/direct-path-buddha-within/introduction Introduction - online on Wisdompubs.org]|1}}
 
** {{i|General Remarks|1}}
 
** {{i|General Remarks|1}}
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** {{i|The Reaction of Mainstream Mahāyāna to the Theory of Buddha Nature|17}}
 
** {{i|The Reaction of Mainstream Mahāyāna to the Theory of Buddha Nature|17}}
 
* {{i|Part I:The Tibetan Historical Context}}
 
* {{i|Part I:The Tibetan Historical Context}}
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** {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/1. The Development of Various Traditions of Interpreting Buddha Nature|1. The Development of Various Traditions of Interpreting Buddha Nature]]|25}}
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** {{i|1. The Development of Various Traditions of Interpreting Buddha Nature|25}}
 
*** {{i|Ngog Loden Sherab's Analytical Interpretation of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''|25}}
 
*** {{i|Ngog Loden Sherab's Analytical Interpretation of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''|25}}
 
*** {{i|''Ratnagotravibhāga'' Commentaries in the Meditation Tradition|32}}
 
*** {{i|''Ratnagotravibhāga'' Commentaries in the Meditation Tradition|32}}
 
*** {{i|The Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''|34}}
 
*** {{i|The Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''|34}}
 
*** {{i|The Zhentong Interpretation of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''|45}}
 
*** {{i|The Zhentong Interpretation of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''|45}}
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** {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/2. Various Positions Related to Zhönu Pal's Interpretation|2. Various Positions Related to Zhönu Pal's Interpretation]]|49}}
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** {{i|2. Various Positions Related to Zhönu Pal's Interpretation|49}}
 
*** {{i|The Position of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorjé|51}}
 
*** {{i|The Position of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorjé|51}}
 
*** {{i|The Position of Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen|75}}
 
*** {{i|The Position of Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen|75}}
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*** {{i|The Position of Barawa Gyaltsen Palzang|113}}
 
*** {{i|The Position of Barawa Gyaltsen Palzang|113}}
 
*** {{i|A Comparison of the Positions|125}}
 
*** {{i|A Comparison of the Positions|125}}
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** {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/3. A Short Account of the Most Important Events in Zhönu Pal's Life|3. A Short Account of the Most Important Events in Zhönu Pal's Life]]|131}}
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** {{i|3. A Short Account of the Most Important Events in Zhönu Pal's Life|131}}
 
* {{i|Part II: Translation}}
 
* {{i|Part II: Translation}}
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** {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/4. Zhönu Pal's Ratnagotravibhagavyākhya Commentary |4. Zhönu Pal's Ratnagotravibhagavyākhya Commentary]]|151}}
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** {{i|4. Zhönu Pal's Ratnagotravibhagavyākhya Commentary|151}}
 
*** {{i|Translator's Introduction|151}}
 
*** {{i|Translator's Introduction|151}}
 
*** {{i|Technical Notes|154}}
 
*** {{i|Technical Notes|154}}
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***** {{i|A Short Explanation of RGV I.3|312}}
 
***** {{i|A Short Explanation of RGV I.3|312}}
 
* {{i|Part III. Zhonu Pal's Views on Buddha Qualities, Emptiness and Mahamudra}}
 
* {{i|Part III. Zhonu Pal's Views on Buddha Qualities, Emptiness and Mahamudra}}
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** {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/5. Buddha Qualities|5. Buddha Qualities]]|317}}
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** {{i|5. Buddha Qualities|317}}
 
*** {{i|General Remarks|317}}
 
*** {{i|General Remarks|317}}
 
*** {{i|Different Views on Buddha Qualities|318}}
 
*** {{i|Different Views on Buddha Qualities|318}}
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*** {{i|The Examples Used to Illustrate the Growth of the Qualities|342}}
 
*** {{i|The Examples Used to Illustrate the Growth of the Qualities|342}}
 
*** {{i|The Ontological Status of the Buddha Qualities|344}}
 
*** {{i|The Ontological Status of the Buddha Qualities|344}}
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** {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/6. Two Types of Emptiness|6. Two Types of Emptiness]]|351}}
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** {{i|6. Two Types of Emptiness|351}}
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** {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/7. Zhönu Pal's Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga|7. Zhönu Pal's Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'']]|367}}
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** {{i|7. Zhönu Pal's Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''|367}}
 
*** {{i|The ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' as a Basis for Mahāmudrā Instructions|367}}
 
*** {{i|The ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' as a Basis for Mahāmudrā Instructions|367}}
 
*** {{i|The Three Dharmacakras: Mahāmudrā Hermeneutics|368}}
 
*** {{i|The Three Dharmacakras: Mahāmudrā Hermeneutics|368}}
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*** {{i|Zhönu Pal's Justification of a Sudden Mahāmudrā Path|397}}
 
*** {{i|Zhönu Pal's Justification of a Sudden Mahāmudrā Path|397}}
 
*** {{i|Pairs of Paradoxes|406}}
 
*** {{i|Pairs of Paradoxes|406}}
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** {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/8. Conclusion|8. Conclusion]]|411}}
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** {{i|8. Conclusion|411}}
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* {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Notes|Notes]]|423}}
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* {{i|Notes|423}}
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* {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Table of Tibetan Transliteration|Table of Tibetan Transliteration]]|555}}
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* {{i|Table of Tibetan Transliteration|555}}
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* {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Bibliography|Bibliography]]|565}}
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* {{i|Bibliography|565}}
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* {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Subject Index|Subject Index]]|589}}
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* {{i|Subject Index|589}}
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* {{i|[[{{BASEPAGENAME}}/Indian Text Index|Indian Text Index]]|607}}
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* {{i|Indian Text Index|607}}
 
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Revision as of 17:00, 20 September 2018

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Maitreya’s Ratnagotravibhāga, also known as the Uttaratantra, is the main Indian treatise on buddha nature, a concept that is heavily debated in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. In A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, Klaus-Dieter Mathes looks at a pivotal Tibetan commentary on this text by Gö Lotsāwa Zhönu Pal, best known as the author of the Blue Annals. Gö Lotsāwa, whose teachers spanned the spectrum of Tibetan schools, developed a highly nuanced understanding of buddha nature, tying it in with mainstream Mahāyāna thought while avoiding contested aspects of the so-called empty-of-other (zhentong) approach. In addition to translating key portions of Gö Lotsāwa's commentary, Mathes provides an in-depth historical context, evaluating Gö’s position against those of other Kagyü, Nyingma, and Jonang masters and examining how Gö Lotsāwa’s view affects his understanding of the buddha qualities, the concept of emptiness, and the practice of mahāmudrā. (Source: Wisdom Publications)

Citation Mathes, Klaus-Dieter. A Direct Path to the Buddha Within: Gö Lotsāwa's Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga. Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2008.

Ngog Loden Sherab's Analytical Interpretation of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''

Book Excerpt

The Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''

Book Excerpt

The Zhentong Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga

Book Excerpt

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These are the root verses of the Uttaratantra attributed to Maitreya by the Tibetan tradition.

Uttaratantra - The Ultimate Continuum, or Gyü Lama, is often used as a short title in the Tibetan tradition for the key source text of buddha-nature teachings called the Ratnagotravibhāga of Maitreya/Asaṅga, also known as the Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra. Skt. उत्तरतन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད་བླ་མ་ Ch. 寶性論

These are the root verses of the Uttaratantra attributed to Maitreya by the Tibetan tradition.

Mahāyāna - Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion. Skt. महायान Tib. ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ། Ch. 大乘

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་

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་

Nyingma - The Nyingma, which is often described as the oldest tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, traces its origin to Padmasambhava, who is said to have visited Tibet in the eighth century. Tib. རྙིང་མ་

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་

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

Mahāmudrā - Mahāmudrā refers to an advanced meditation tradition in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna forms of Into-Tibetan Buddhism that is focused on the realization of the empty and luminous nature of the mind. It also refers to the resultant state of buddhahood attained through such meditation practice. In Tibet, this tradition is particularly associated with the Kagyu school, although all other schools also profess this tradition. The term also appears as part of the four seals, alongside dharmamūdra, samayamudrā, and karmamudrā. Skt. महामुद्रा Tib. ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ།

Mahāmudrā - Mahāmudrā refers to an advanced meditation tradition in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna forms of Into-Tibetan Buddhism that is focused on the realization of the empty and luminous nature of the mind. It also refers to the resultant state of buddhahood attained through such meditation practice. In Tibet, this tradition is particularly associated with the Kagyu school, although all other schools also profess this tradition. The term also appears as part of the four seals, alongside dharmamūdra, samayamudrā, and karmamudrā. Skt. महामुद्रा Tib. ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ།

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་

tathāgatagarbha - Buddha-nature, literally the "womb/essence of those who have gone (to suchness)." Skt. तथागतगर्भ Tib. དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་ Ch. 如来藏

sūtra - Sūtras mainly refer to the discourses delivered by the Buddha and his disciples, and the Sūtra corpus is one of the three main sets of teachings which form the Buddhist canon. Skt. सूत्र Tib. མདོ། Ch. 佛经

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་

Dzogchen - Dzogchen is an advanced system of meditation techniques to reveal the innate state of perfection primarily, but not exclusively, espoused by the Nyingma Buddhist tradition and the Tibetan Bön tradition. Skt. महासन्धि Tib. རྫོགས་ཆེན།

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

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་

Kadam - The Kadam tradition, which traces its origin to the teachings of Atiśa, was the first of the so-called New Schools of Tibetan Buddhism, traditions which arose during or after the Second Propagation of Buddhism (phyi dar) in the tenth century. Tib. བཀའ་གདམས་

Geluk - The Geluk tradition traces its origin to Tsongkhapa, who propagated a modified version of the Kadampa lojong and lamrim teachings. It is the dominant tradition of Tibet, having established its control of the government under the figure of the Dalai Lama. Tib. དགེ་ལུགས་

neyārtha - Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true. Skt. नेयार्थ Tib. དྲང་དོན་

sems nyid - Commonly found in Dzogchen and Mahāmudrā literature, this term denotes the true, natural state of mind as it is. Often used in these traditions as a synonym for buddha-nature. Skt. चित्तत्व Tib. སེམས་ཉིད་

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

'jog sgom - This is the meditation of directly observing the mind without engaging in any analytical or intellectual activity. (Thrangu Rinpoche, Transcending Ego, 102). Skt. स्थाप्यभावना Tib. འཇོག་སྒོམ་

These are the root verses of the Uttaratantra attributed to Maitreya by the Tibetan tradition.

Tsen Tradition - Tsen Khawoche's "meditative tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; it is one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana. Tib. བཙན་ལུགས་

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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