This is David Higgins and Martina Draszczyk's second book together and comes out of their first study, Mahāmudrā And The Middle Way. In their follow up they have delivered another two volumes on the writings of the Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje (1507-1554) and his nuanced approach to the intricacies of the buddha-nature debate. It is an approach that combines the yogic sensibilities of Mahāmudrā with the dialectic approach of the Madhyamaka, which, according to the authors, Mikyö Dorje characterizes as the Yuganaddha-Apratiṣṭhāna-Madhyamaka (zung ’jug rab tu mi gnas pa’i dbu ma), that is, as a “Nonfoundational (or Nonabiding) Middle Way consisting in Unity.” As the authors explain,
"This nomenclature tells us much about the central philosophical aims and presuppositions of the Eighth Karma pa and his Karma bka’ brgyud tradition. As a Mahāmudrā proponent, Mi bskyod rdo rje gives primacy to innate modes of being and awareness, such as coemergent wisdom or buddha nature naturally endowed with qualities, that are amenable only to direct yogic perception and revealed through the personal guidance of a qualified teacher. As an exponent of yuganaddha (zung ’jug), i.e., unity (literally, “yoking together”), he espouses the tantric goal of unity beyond extremes, a goal grounded in the inseparability of the two truths or realities (bden gnyis dbyer med), of appearance and emptiness (snang stong dbyer med). In his eyes, this unity is only fully realized when one understands that the conventional has no independent existence apart from the ultimate and that the latter is a condition of possibility of the former. As an advocate of apratiṣṭhāna (rab tu mi gnas pa), i.e., nonfoundationalism, he resolutely maintains that all outer and inner phenomena, including deep features of reality disclosed through meditation, lack any ontic or epistemic essence or foundation that the mind can lay hold of. Finally, as a champion of Madhyamaka, i.e., the Buddhist Middle Way, the author attempts to ply a middle course between the extremes of existence and nonexistence, eternalism and nihilism. These various doxographical strands are deftly interwoven in the Karma pa’s view of buddha nature, which affirms the innate presence of buddha nature and its qualities in all sentient beings as well as their soteriological efficacy while denying either any ontological status." (Higgins and Draszczyk, preface, 14)
Contents
- Acknowledgements11
- Preface 13
- Chapter 1: Introduction 27
- Chapter 2: Doctrinal Background
- 1. Introductory remarks 57
- 2. An outline of buddha nature [by Karma phrin las], translation 60
- 3. Key points in Karma phrin las pa’s outline of buddha nature 72
- 3.1. Tathāgatagarbha concepts in early Indian Buddhist sources 72
- 3.2. Tathāgatagarbha concepts in Indo-Tibetan Mahāyāna sources73
- 3.3. Rang byung rdo rje’s Karma bka’ brgyud position on buddha nature 74
- 4. Critical edition of Karma phrin las pa’s outline of buddha nature78
- Chapter 3: The Eighth Karma pa’s Central Claims About Buddha Nature
- 1. Introductory remarks83
- 2. Sixteen central claims regarding buddha nature85
- 2.1. Buddha nature exists equally in everyone from ordinary beings to buddhas85
- 2.2. Buddha nature discourses are of definitive meaning (nītārtha)95
- 2.3. The “nature” (garbha) of a buddha is actual, not nominal 101
- 2.4. The gotra is not metaphorical (upacāra), but attributions of cause and result are106
- 2.5. Buddha nature is buddhahood obscured by defilements111
- 2.6. The three phases of buddha nature indicate progressive degrees of disclosure116
- 2.7. The classification of three vehicles has a hidden intent (ābhiprāyika); the one vehicle (ekayāna) doctrine is definitive (lākṣaṇika)120
- 2.8. The unfolded gotra is the naturally present gotra awakened through virtue131
- 2.9. Resultant buddha nature may be equated with dharmakāya136
- 2.10. Buddha nature is not emptiness as a nonaffirming negation (med dgag)141
- 2.11. Buddha nature is not a basis established (gzhi grub) by valid cognition151
- 2.12. The identification of buddha nature and ālayavijñāna is provisional162
- 2.13. Buddha nature is not a self (coarse or subtle) but is selflessness204
- 2.14. Buddha nature is only fully revealed in Mantrayāna thought and praxis226
- 2.15. Buddha nature is natural awareness (tha mal gyi shes pa)241
- 2.16. Buddha nature consists in the unity of the two truths 257
- 3. Conclusion276
This is David Higgins and Martina Draszczyk's second book together and comes out of their first study, Mahāmudrā And The Middle Way. In their follow up they have delivered another two volumes on the writings of the Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje (1507-1554) and his nuanced approach to the intricacies of the buddha-nature debate. An approach that combines the dialectic approach of the Madhyamaka with the yogic sensibilities of Mahāmudrā, which, according to the authors, Mikyö Dorje characterizes as the Yuganaddha-Apratiṣṭhāna-Madhyamaka (zung ’jug rab tu mi gnas pa’i dbu ma), that is, as a “Nonfoundational (or Nonabiding) Middle Way consisting in Unity.”
As they put it in their preface,
"This nomenclature tells us much about the central philosophical aims and presuppositions of the Eighth Karma pa and his Karma bka’ brgyud tradition. As a Mahāmudrā proponent, Mi bskyod rdo rje gives primacy to innate modes of being and awareness, such as coemergent wisdom or buddha nature naturally endowed with qualities, that are amenable only to direct yogic perception and revealed through the personal guidance of a qualified teacher. As an exponent of
yuganaddha (
zung ’jug), i.e., unity (literally, “yoking together”), he espouses the tantric goal of unity beyond extremes, a goal grounded in the inseparability of the two truths or realities (
bden gnyis dbyer med), of appearance and emptiness (
snang stong dbyer med). In his eyes, this unity is only fully realized when one understands that the conventional has no independent existence apart from the ultimate and that the latter is a condition of possibility of the former. As an advocate of
apratiṣṭhāna (
rab tu mi gnas pa), i.e., nonfoundationalism, he resolutely maintains that all outer and inner phenomena, including deep features of reality disclosed through meditation, lack any ontic or epistemic essence or foundation that the mind can lay hold of. Finally, as a champion of Madhyamaka, i.e., the Buddhist Middle Way, the author attempts to ply a middle course between the extremes of existence and nonexistence, eternalism and nihilism. These various doxographical strands are deftly interwoven in the Karma pa’s view of buddha nature, which affirms the innate presence of buddha nature and its qualities in all sentient beings as well as their soteriological efficacy while denying either any ontological status."
