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Buddha Nature (Shamar)

Translation of The Treatise on Pointing Out the Tathāgata Heart

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This book contains the teachings on buddha nature given by the 14th Shamarpa, Mipham Chokyi Lodro (1952-2014), in Dhagpo Kagyu Ling, France, in the year 1988. In a very inspiring way he clearly pointed to what really counts: the heart of awakening is nothing other than our true nature and therefore all of us, in fact every sentient being, can awaken to his or her buddha qualities.

The Shamarpa based his explanations on the text Revealing Buddha Nature composed by the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339), which sums up Maitreya/Asaṅga's Ultimate Continuum, that is, the Uttaratantraśāstra, also known as the Ratnagotravibhāga. This latter treatise is considered to reflect the meaning of the so-called third and final cycle of the Buddha's teachings, which is mainly concerned with buddha nature and its qualities.

The first part of this book consists of the Shamarpa's instructions, which at the time were orally translated from the Tibetan by Lama Rinchen, a long-time meditator, translator, and retreat-master, based in France. . . . The second part of this book presents a translation of Revealing Buddha Nature by Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, the text on which these teachings are based. (Draszczyk, preface, xi)

Citation	Draszczyk, Martina, trans. Buddha Nature: Our Potential for Wisdom, Compassion, and Happiness. By Shamar Rinpoche. Lexington, VA: Bird of Paradise Press, 2019.

ContentsSources

• Preface by Jigme Rinpocheix
• Preface by the translatorxi
• Introduction by the translator1

• Buddha Nature:13
  • Our Potential for Wisdom,
  • Compassion, and Happiness
• Ignorance does not have a concrete beginning, but it does have an end15
• Scriptural sources19
• Mind, the foundation of everything21
• Begin with bodhicitta25
• Buddha wisdom, the true nature of mind29
  • The thirty-two qualities of the dharmakāya29
  • The ten powers (qualities 1-10)29
  • The four types of fearlessness (qualities 11-14)34
  • The eighteen qualities exclusive to buddhas37
    • Behavior and way of training sentient beings37
    • (qualities 15-20)
    • The realization of buddhas (qualities 21-26)40
    • The activity of buddhas (qualities 27-29)42
    • The wisdom of buddhas (qualities 30-32)43
  • How can qualities be present but not manifest?43
  • The special qualities of the form kāyas46
  • Purification of obscurations50
  • The all-accomplishing wisdom52
  • The wisdom that knows the variety of appearances54
  • The wisdom of equality55
  • The difference between an arhat and a buddha55
  • The form kāyas do not resemble an ordinary body56
  • Ignorance and illusory appearances do not reoccur56
  • Buddha nature resembles gold ore57
  • Purification: its basis, object, method, and result58
    • The basis of purification58
    • The object of purification58
    • The method of purification59
    • The result of purification59
• Concluding advice61

• Revealing Buddha Nature63
• A treatise by the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje
• Endnotes79
• About the Author83
• About the Translator85

rang byung rdo rje, (Karmapa, 3rd). de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa'i bstan bcos

1. In gsung 'bum rang byung rdo rje, Vol. 7: 282-290. Zi ling: mtshur phu mkhan po lo yag bkra shis, 2006.
2. In mdo sngags mtshams sbyor, pp 387-394. Zi ling: mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2004.
3. In rnam grol 'dod 'jo ris med dpe rnying khang gi tshad ldan nges don dpe tshogs, Vol. 6: 335-342. Zi ling: rnam grol 'dod 'jo dpe rnying khang, 2007-2009.

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་

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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

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

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bodhicitta - The altruistic thought to seek enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. It is said to have two aspects: compassion aimed at sentient beings and their problems and the wisdom of enlightenment as the solution. Skt. बोधिचित्त Tib. བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས། Ch. 菩提心

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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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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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arhat - A person who has reached nirvāṇa by eliminating the three poisons of attachment, hatred and ignorance having followed the path of seeking individual liberation as a Śrāvaka or a Pratyekabuddha. An arhat, thus, is a person who has overcome the cause of rebirth in the cycle of existence and will not take an ordinary birth again. Skt. अर्हत् Tib. དགྲ་བཅོམ་པ། Ch. 阿羅漢

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gotra - Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain. Skt. गोत्र Tib. རིགས་ Ch. 鍾姓,種性

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