Property:Description
From Buddha-Nature
This is a property of type Text.
B
Jamgön Kongtrül’s ten-volume ''Treasury of Knowledge'' is a unique, encyclopedic masterpiece embodying the entire range of Buddhist teachings as they were preserved in Tibet. Tibetan Buddhist teachers expected their students to study Buddhist philosophical texts as well as practice reflection and meditation; present-day students have also realized that awakening has its source in study as well as in reflection and practice. ''Buddhism’s Journey to Tibet'' presents Kongtrül's masterful history of Buddhism in India and Tibet. Beginning with the appearance of the Buddha in our world (Book Two), it describes the Buddha's life, his enlightenment, and what he taught (Book Three) from a multitude of Buddhist viewpoints. Buddhism's transmission to and preservation in Tibet is the focus of the main part of this volume (Book Four), which describes the scriptural transmissions and lineages of meditation practice as well as the Buddhist arts that together make up the world of Tibetan Buddhism. (Source: [https://www.shambhala.com/the-treasury-of-knowledge-books-two-three-and-four-2410.html Shambhala Publications]) +
Media/Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions: Chapter 14: Buddha Nature: A Talk by Thubten Chodron (Part 1 of 4) +
Thubten Chodron guides viewers through her book, ''Buddhism: One Teacher, Many Traditions'' in this video series produced by Sravasti Abbey. This talk addressing Chapter 14 discusses buddha-nature by way of emptiness. Venerable Thubten Chodron presents that emptiness is the reason that the mind's afflictions and obscurations can be purified and that purification process reveals buddha-nature inherent in the minds of all beings. +
The ''Anūnatvāpūrṇatvanirdeśaparivart'' is a short Mahāyāna sūtra extant in its entirety only in Chinese translation. To judge from its use as a proof-text in the seminal philosophical treatise ''Ratnagotravibhāga'', which quotes roughly half of the sūtra, it is a fundamental scripture expressing ideas about the unitary nature of saṁsāra and nirvāṇa, and each individual’s innate capacity for awakening, called in this text and elsewhere ‘tathāgatagarbha,’ ‘embryo of the tathāgatas.’<br> Although the text has hitherto drawn the attention primarily of Japanese scholars, this is the first critical edition of the sūtra, aligning its Chinese text with the available Sanskrit, offering a richly annotated English translation, a detailed introduction which places the work in its historical and doctrinal context, and a number of appendices exploring key notions, providing a reading text shorn of annotation, and enumerating the prolific quotations of the work found in Chinese Buddhist literature. This volume is thus an important contribution to studies of developing Mahāyāna Buddhism, Buddhist doctrine and the textual history of scriptures.<br>(Source: [https://blogs.sub.uni-hamburg.de/hup/products-page/publikationen/128/ Hamburg University Press]) +
''Buddhist Faith and Sudden Enlightenment'' explains how sudden enlightenment occurs through the awakening of patriarchal faith. This is the non-dual affirmation that one is already Buddha as opposed to the doctrinal, dualistic faith that one can become Buddha. The essence of the presentation is that patriarchal faith forms the basis for sudden enlightenment in Zen meditation. For the practitioner, this book establishes the Zen method of mind-cultivation on a higher level by introducing a new understanding of awakening right faith.
Included is extensive material on the history of faith in Buddhism with the main attention devoted to Ch'an (Zen) and Hua-yen. There are also substantial discussions of Buddhist antecedents to these schools and of the Pure Land School.
This is the first book in English to examine the central role of faith in Mahayana Buddhism. The author's approach develops from his personal experiences as a son (Zen) monk of the Chogye order, which was heavily influenced by the integration of meditation and scriptural study established by Chinul. (Source: [https://www.sunypress.edu/p-71-buddhist-faith-and-sudden-enlig.aspx Suny Press]) +
This publication presents the academic papers presented at the 2nd International Association of Buddhist Universities Conference which took place at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University in Wang Noi, Ayutthaya, Thailand, in 2012. The theme of this large conference was "Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice" and it brought together over 33 Buddhist studies scholars. Of particular relevance to the topic of buddha-nature is Tadeuz Skorupki's paper, "Consciousness and Luminosity in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism" (43–64). +
Edward Conze presents the premier anthology of Buddhist texts and scriptures in this stunningly ambitious collection. He traces the development of Buddhism through the ages, with translations from the original Pali, Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese. For those looking for the perfect companion to Conze’s original text, ''Buddhism'', or for those new to Buddhist theology, ''Buddhist Texts Through the Ages'' contains a thorough and comprehensive guide to the theology. This edition also includes a glossary of English and foreign terms. (Source: [http://www.philosophicallibrary.com/book/buddhist-texts-through-the-ages/ Philosophical Library]) +
C
Articles/Can We Speak of Kadam Gzhan Stong? Tracing the Sources for Other-Emptiness in Early-Fourteenth-Century Tibet +
It has become the norm for scholars familiar with the self-emptiness (''rang stong'') and other-emptiness (''gzhan stong'')<sup>1</sup> in the history of Tibetan Buddhist scholastic tradition to associate the latter doctrine with Dolpopa (dol po pa shes rab rgyal mtshan, 1292–1361), the foremost synthesizer of the Jonang (''jo nang'') School of Tibetan Buddhism. He developed a systematic,
distinctive view of ultimate truth (''don dam bden pa''; ''paramārthasatya'') and propagated this view widely and earned much scorn for it, leading to one of the most controversial doctrinal-sectarian disputes in Tibetan Buddhist history. His explication of other-emptiness, which he equates with the ultimate truth, is deemed radical and wholly unacceptable by many of his contemporaries and later Tibetan scholars because it stands in sharp contrast to the mainstream fourteenth-century and early-fifteenth-century Tibetan interpretations of self-emptiness, the notion that all phenomena including ultimate truth do not exist inherently. The
self-emptiness interpretations are based primarily on Indie sources such as the ''Prajñāpāramitāsūtras'', Nāgārjuna's (c. 200) ''Madhyamakakārikā'', and Candrakīrti's (c. 570-640) ''Madhyamakāvatāra''. In contrast, Dolpopa generally does not claim that middle wheel treatises (''’khor lo bar pa’i gzhung'') such as the ''Prajñāpāramitāsūtras'' are the fundamental sources for his presentation of an other-emptiness view. Rather, he bases his formulation of other-emptiness on tantric sources such as the ''Kālacakra'',<sup>2</sup> last wheel suūtras {'''khor lo tha ma’i mdo'') such as ''Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra'',<sup>3</sup> and Indic commentarial sources<sup>4</sup> traditionally credited to figures such as Maitreya, Asaṅga (c. 300), and Vasubandhu (c. 300).<br> As a prominent fourteenth-century Tibetan doxographer, Dolpopa, however, does not repudiate self-emptiness per se; rather, he speaks of two types of emptiness<sup>5</sup> that have separate referent points. For him, self-emptiness refers only to conventional phenomena such as tables, chairs,
and negative defilements that do not inherently exist<sup>6</sup> or that are empty of their own entities. Dolpopa argues that since conventional phenomena cannot withstand analysis, in that their individual entities are essentially empty or deconstructed, as the existence of their nature is thoroughly investigated, they are empty of inherent existence. Therefore, he claims
that self-emptiness is not ultimate truth.<sup>7</sup><br> On the other hand, he passionately demonstrates that other-emptiness exists inherently and ultimately. Furthermore, it is identified with the ''tathâgata''-essence (''de bzhin gshegs pa’i snying po'', ''tathdgatagarbha'' or buddha-nature (''sangs rgyas kyi rigs''; ''buddhagotra'') endowed with enlightened qualities that exists in all beings. Dolpopa argues that this form of emptiness is not empty of its own entity, since it ultimately and permanently exists. Also, ultimate truth is empty of all conventional phenomena that are antithetical to ultimately existent other-emptiness. So, while self-emptiness, which he refers to as "empty-emptiness" (''stong pa’i stong pa''), is primarily taught in the ''Prajñāpāramitāsūtras'' of the middle wheel teachings, it is not ultimate truth, as it is empty of its own entity and it is not free from conceptual thought. On the other hand, other-emptiness, which he dubs "non-empty-emptiness" (''mi stong pa’i stong pa''), while not primarily taught in the Prajñāpāramitāsūtras, is delineated in last wheel teachings of the Buddha, such as ''Tathāgatagarbhasūtra'', ''Śrīmālādevīsūtra'', and others to refer to the naturally enlightened buddha-nature that is empty of all conventional phenomena. This is Dolpopa’s position on the two types of emptiness and the hierarchy of Mahāyāna literature in a nutshell and much of the discourse that follows on other-emptiness in the history of Tibetan Buddhist scholasticism has its roots in Dolpopa’s doctrinal formulation of other-emptiness vis-à-vis self-emptiness.<br> While Dolpopa certainly gets the well-deserved credit for making other-emptiness "a place of fundamental importance in the expression of
his philosophy"<sup>8</sup> in Tibet, his controversial interpretation of Mahāyāna texts and the relative early availability of his writings to international scholars has perhaps led some to assume that Dolpopa’s thought is more original than it really was. Fortunately, the recent release of dozens of Kadam (''bka’ gdams'') volumes of previously unknown philosophical texts that predate Dolpopa allows us to reconsider this issue. Among the new texts that might be pertinent to a reconstruction of the early history of other-emptiness discourse in Tibet is the writing of Rinchen (''rin chen ye shes'', 13th-14th c.) in conjunction with the previously available Buton’s (''bu ston rin chen grub'', 1290-1364) ''Precious Garland of Rebuttals'' (''’phrin yig gi lan rin po che’i phreng ba'').<sup>9</sup> I argue that Dolpopa’s unique doctrinal views with respect to ultimate truth and their related Indie sources are found in Rinchen’s doctrinal formulation of Mahāyāna literature. Furthermore, there is a good reason to argue that Dolpopa’s unique views were directly influenced by the Kadam scholar.<sup>10</sup> Therefore, in this article, I analyze their points of convergence and divergence on the issues of buddha-nature,
textual authority, and doxographical strategy, and suggest that Kadam influence on Dolpopa needs to be recognized more than we do in modern scholarship on Dolpopa’s works. (Wangchuk, introduction, 9–11)
In this book I will outline ground, path and fruition in the hope of helping you gain some understanding about your basic nature, your own mind. This nature of mind is always present, and it can be called different names: the natural state, the basic nature, the real condition, the enlightened essence, or buddha-nature. This basic nature is what is meant by ground.<br> Path is a state of confusion which is not recognizing this ground, our basic state, to be as it is. Conceptual mind and time are both present during the path. But when your mind is pure, free of these, that is called fruition, and that is what is to be attained. To reiterate, confusion is called path. This confusion can be cleared up. There are three methods to clarify confusion: view, meditation and conduct. By means of the view, meditation and conduct we reveal what is already present. Slowly and gradually, we uncover more and more of the basic state. This process is what I will try to explain. (Tsoknyi Rinpoche, chapter 1, 20–21) +
Cataphatic Emptiness: rGyal-tshab on the Buddha-essence Theory of Asaṅga's Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā +
'''Abstract'''<br>
<br>
This doctoral dissertation studies the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' (''Uttaratantra''), the only surviving Indian Buddhist treatise on the Buddha-essence doctrine, by way of one of its major Tibetan commentaries, rGyal-tshab Dar-ma-rin-chen (1364-1432)'s ''Theg pa chen po rGyud bla ma'i ṭīkā''. This project consists of three parts: a special edition of the first chapter of the ''Theg pa chen po rGyud bia ma'i ṭīkā'', an English translation of the selected sections of that commentary, and a comparative analysis which follows six distinct lines of inquiry.<br> The six lines are: rGyal-tshab's doctrinal classification of the text; his critiques of absolutism, skepticism, and quietism in connection with diverse interpretations of the Buddha-essence doctrine in Tibetan traditions as well as a tentative comparison with critiques of the theory of "Original-enlightenment" in modern Chinese Buddhism; his analysis of the title of Tibetan version and the structure of the text; rGyal-tshab's
philosophical positions on reality, Element, and natural luminosity of the mind; his expositions of the tripartite Buddha-essence, its ten aspects, and the eighteen similes; and the notion "spiritual gene" understood by dGe-lugs-pas.<br> This comparative approach will provide a broader synthetic understanding of the role that Buddha-essence played as a doctrinal genre in Tibetan intellectual history. +
As the title indicates, the present study is primarily devoted to a textual examination of the ''Ta-ch'eng-hsüan-lun'' (hereafter referred to as ''Hsüan-lun''), a work written by the Sanlun monk Chi-tsang (549-623) to serve as an outline of the major teachings of his Three Treatises tradition.[1] The text consists of several independent essays on subjects such as the "Two Truths," "Eight Negations," "Buddha-nature," "Ekayāna," "Nirvāṇa," and "Two Knowledges."[2] From this compendium on Sanlun doctrine, the essays on the "Two Truths" and the "Buddha-nature" will primarily serve as the textual basis for this study. The objective of this dissertation is to discuss how the Sanlun theory of two truths (''saṁvṛti-satya'' and ''paramārtha-satya'') and the ''Nirvāṇa-sūtra'' concept of Buddha-nature (''buddha-dhātu'') were defined and interpreted by Chi-tsang.[3]
More specifically, this study will explore the relationship between the theory and practice of the two truths and the Buddha-nature. In these two significant components of Chi-tsang's thought, one can see the synthesis of the Prajñāpāramitā doctrine of emptiness (''śūnyatā'') and the Buddha-nature theory of "not-empty" (''aśūnya''). In combining these two major doctrinal trends of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Chi-tsang's thought is innovative and constitutes an important phase in Chinese intellectual history. (Koseki, introduction, 1)<br><br>
<h5>Notes</h5>
#Biographical data on Chi-tsang can be found in the ''Hsü Kao-seng-chuan'' (T5O, 513c-515a). The material selected by Tao-hsüan explains that Chi-tsang was a third generation Chinese whose ancestors originally came from Parthia {An-hsi). Passing through what is now North Vietnam, his family eventually settled in Chin-ling {Nanching), where Chi-tsang was born. According to the biography, Chi-tsang's countenance was Central Asian, but his speech was Chinese, and he apparently never forgot his ethnic background. Many of his works are often signed, "Hu Chi-tsang," again indicating his Central Asian origins. Chi-tsang came from a family of Buddhists; his father was also a monk who took the name, Tao-liang. Two points in the biography are rather hazy. First, the biography states that Chi-tsang became a novice under Fa-lang (507–581) when he was seven. Material on Fa-lang indicates that he left Mt. She, the center of San-lun studies in the south (Chiang-nan), in 558 to reside at the Hsing-huang ssu in Chien-k'ang (Nanching). At that time, Chi-tsang was ten or eleven. Second, the biography also notes contact with Paramārtha, the Tripiṭaka-master, who arrived in China in 546. According to Kanakura Enshō, Paramārtha entered Chin-ling in 548 and immediately left the following year. Chi-tsang may have received his name from Paramārtha, but during Paramārtha's brief stay in Chin-ling, Chi-tsang_probably had not made his appearance in the world. See Kanakura Enshō, ''Sanron Gengi'' (Tokyo: Iwanami, 1941), pp. 191–92. In addition to the primary material, see, also, Ōchō Enichi, "Eon to Kichizō," ''Bukkyō Shisō-shi Ronshū'' (Tokyo: Daizō Shuppansha, 1964), pp. 433–450; Hirai Shunei, ''Chūgoku Hannya Shisō-shi Kenkyū'' (Tokyo: Shunjū-sha, 1976), pp. 346–50. For a discussion of the three Mādhyamika texts (Sanlun), translated by Kumārajīva (''Middle Treatise'', ''Twelve Topic Treatise'', and the ''Hundred Treatise'' by Āryadeva), see Richard Robinson, ''Early Mādhyamika in India and China'' (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967), pp. 28–39.<br>
#In addition to these six essays, two additional essays have been added, a content analysis of sūtras and śāstras. The material in these sections is taken from Chi-tsang's other work, the ''Sanlun-hsüan-i''. The essay on the two truths is similar in content to an independent work on the two truths, the ''Erh-t_i-i''. Material on ''ekayāna'' is also similar to his large work on the ''Lotus Sūtra'', the ''Fa-hua-hsüan-lun''. The essay on the "Two Knowledges" draws much of its material from a large commentary on the ''Vimalakīrti-sūtra'', the ''Ching-ming~hsüan-lun''. Finally, the essays on Buddha-nature and nirvāṇa are independent works and do not overlap with his other writings. The origins of the essay on the "Eight Negations" is not clear. Ui Hakuju, for example, believes that this essay was not written by Chi-tsang. Early Sanron scholars such as Chinkai also question the authenticity of this essay (cf. ''Daijo genron mondō'', T70, 572c- 573a). Whether Chi-tsang actually wrote this essay still remains a question, and the most common answer given is that this essay was written by Chi-tsang's contemporary, Chün-cheng. Chün-cheng is the author of another Sui Sanlun work, the ''Ta-ch'eng-ssu-lun-hsüan-i''. Despite the problem of authorship, Hirai believes that the ''Hsüan-lun'' as a whole is a work written by Chi-tsang (or compiled by a disciple). The content of the essays is consistent with Chi-tsang's other works, and all the Japanese catalogs and commentators agree that it is a work written by the "Great Master of Chia-hsiang ssu," Chi-tsang's posthumous title. Ui also noted that the text was known as the ''Ta-ch'eng-hsüan-i'' or the ''Ta-ch'eng-hsüan-chang''; he also referred to a twenty chüan version of the text, but did not give his source. Again, the Japanese catalogs and commentators all agree that the text was written in five chüan. See Ui Hakuju, "Daijo genron kaidai," ''Kokuyaku Issaikyō, Shoshubu'' I (Tokyo: Daitō Shuppansha, 1965), pp. 67–73. See, also, Hirai Chūgoku Hannya, pp. 356; 378.<br>
#The Sanskrit for Buddha-nature (''buddha-dhātu'' or ''buddha-gotra'') follows Takasaki Jikidō, ''Nyoraizo Shisō no Kenkyū'' (Tokyo: Shunjūsha, 1974), p. 11. See, also, his article, "Nyoraizō-Busshō shisō," ''Kōza Bukkyō Shisō'', vol. 3 (Tokyo: Risōsha, 1975), pp. 101–133. Further, see Ogawa Ichijō, ''Nyoraizo-Busshō no Kenkyū'' (Kyoto: Buneidō, 1974), pp. 62–66.
Articles/Cittaprakṛti and Ayoniśomanaskāra in the Ratnagotravibhāga: A Precedent for the Hsin-Nien Distinction of The Awakening of Faith +
The question of the authorship of the ''Ta-ch'eng chi-hsin lun'' ''The Awakening of Faith in Mahāyāna'', tr. Paramārtha, hereafter referred to as the AFM), has long been a lively subject of discussion among scholars of Buddhism. Such eminent Buddhologists as Demiéville, Liebenthal, and Mochizuki (to name just a few), have debated the authenticity of the two Chinese translations of the text and discussed the possibility that the original text of the AFM might have been composed in China as part of a controversy between two branches of the ''Ti-lun'' sect. In recent editions of the ''Journal of the IABS'' the question of the authorship of the AFM has been raised again. In a couple of intriguing essays, Professor Whalen Lai has presented some new arguments in support of the Chinese authorship of the text.<br>
I do not intend here to try to resolve all of the many questions involved in determining the author of the AFM (such an undertaking is well beyond the scope of a short paper), but I would like to address an argument that Professor Lai raised in the first of his articles—namely his contention that the AFM's exposition of the relationship of ''hsin'' (mind) and ''nien'' (thought, thought-moment) bears such an "unmistakable sinitic stamp" that it must have been authored in China. I will try to show that the AFM's central conception of an "unmoved," pure mind (''hsin'') existing as the basis of the deluded movement of thoughts (''nien'') has an important Indian precedent in the ''cittaprakṛti'' and ''ayoniśomanaskāra'' notions of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga-mahāyānottaratantraśāstra'' (hereafter referred to as the RGV), a text with which the AFM's author may well have been familiar. I do not intend this as a criticism of Professor Lai's research—the parallels he finds between Chinese thought regarding ''hsin'' and ''nien'' prior to the period of the Six Dynasties and the elucidation of these notions in the AFM deserve serious attention. I simply would like to show that similar parallels—if not direct textual influences—exist between the AFM and the Indian-composed RGV, so that there is no compelling reason to conclude that the AFM theory of mind (''hsin'') and thoughts (''nien'') demonstrates Chinese authorship. (Grosnick, "''Cittaprakṛti'' and ''Ayoniśomanaskāra'' in the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''," 35–36)
Geydak Rinpoche, who attended the full three day conference, gives an extemporaneous review of the conference on behalf of the attendees. He shares that it was his first experience of an intellectual gathering including most brilliant representatives from all Tibetan Buddhist traditions. In the past, such thing was not possible and he would have assumed that there would be only much debate, confrontation and mudslinging and not a friendly, joyful and substantive discussion, if the differing traditions came together. The event, he says, was an eye opener and an exceptional event to share and learn from the best of minds with much laughter and joy.
In India, many such events may be happening but he shares how it is in fact both wonderful and ironic that such a convention of Buddhist scholars is the first one take place in Nepal, the birth place of the Buddha himself. Such meeting of minds was long overdue and he expresses his deepest gratitude to Tsadra Foundation and Shechen monastery for organising and hosting such an august event.
The event, which he says might have taken years to plan, is also exemplary in bringing together the traditional wisdom and learning with modern methodology and tools. Abstracts, paper and presentations are easily available online making it very convenient for access. Moreover, every monastery and scholarly centre in Kathmandu and areas in the vicinity were invited and asked to send their members to benefit from the event. Thus, as a participant, he states it was a free intellectual feast which each of the participants must have enjoyed and will cherish. He prays that all the attendees make the best of such an endeavour and continue to learn from the scholarly presentations. +
Khenpo Gyurme Tshultrim presents his vote of thanks to all presenters, who represent the main institutions of the Tibetan Buddhist traditions, the attendees and organisers. He says that it is an honour and fortune for Shechen monastery to host such an august gathering of great significance. He recounts how Dr Lopen Karma Phuntsho first called him, then visited Shechen monastery, and how the wonderful event gradually took shape.
He expresses gratitude to the presenters, who represent the best minds of the different Buddhist traditions, for their learned presentations and the abstracts and papers, which contain many months and years of work on their part. He also conveys his thanks to the monastic centres in and around Kathmandu for taking the rare opportunity and attending the conference despite busy schedule in the holy month of Saga Dawa. Invitations have been sent to most monasteries and centres in the area, with earnest request to attend, and the response was great. He explains that it is imperative that all traditions come together, given the easy communication facilities, to discuss and share their understanding and interpretations instead of remaining secluded and antagonising each other. It is time for the Buddhist scholars to also engage in conversations with non-Buddhist schools and update our knowledge and understanding. He requests the young attendees to take extra interest and zeal in studies and grasp opportunities such as this conference, and make use of the research papers even after the conference.
He, then, expresses his gratitude to Dr Karma Phuntsho, the convenor, Eric Colombel and Andrea, who have done so much for Tibetan Buddhism through the programmes of Tsadra, Marcus Perman, the director of Tsadra, and the team including Gwen Witt-Dorring, Dawa, Migmar and Kiran who helped organise the conference. He also thanks the Shechen team for moral support and actual organisation, particularly Lopen Karma Jurme who was the focal person for the conference. He also acknowledges Koncho, the treasurer of Shechen for the help in arranging the meals.
He also makes requests that more such events are organized in the future.
The volume brings together a selection of the late author's previously published papers written in English (and one in German). Their subject matter relates by and large to the ''tathāgatagarbha'' theory or the idea of Buddhanature, which have been the main subjects of his research over the years.<br> In part 1 he has singled out those scriptures that use the term ''tathāgatagarbha'' as their principal term and identified three scriptures—''Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra'', ''Anūnatvāpurṇatvanirdeśa'', and ''Śrīmālādevīnirdeśa''—as the basis for the formation of the ''tathāgatagarbha'' theory. Next, he has placed the ''Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra'', which uses the term ''buddhadhātu'' for the first time as a synonym of ''tathāgatagarbha'', and associated scriptures in a second group, while in the third group we have the ''Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra'' and so on, in which the concept of ''tathāgatagarbha'' is identified with ''ālayavijñana'', the basic concept of the Vijñānavāda.<br> In part 2, he has dealt with the prehistory of the ''tathāgatagarbha'' theory in Mahāyāna scriptures that use terms synonymous with ''tathāgatagarbha'', such as ''gotra'' and ''dhātu'', ''tathāgatagotra'', ''tathāgatotpattisambhava'', ''āryavaṃsa'', ''buddhaputra'', ''dharmadhātu'' and ''dharmakāya'', ''cittaprakṛti'', and so on. The main points made in this work are discussed in the papers that have now been brought together in the present volume.<br> This volume has for convenience' sake been divided into seven parts according to subject matter. Part 1 presents a textual study, namely, a critical edition of chapter 6 of the ''Laṅkāvatāra''. Part 2 deals with subjects concerning scriptures such as the ''Laṅkāvatāra'', part 3 with technical terms and basic concepts of the ''tathāgatagarbha'' theory, part 4 with ''tathāgatagarbha'' doctrine in general, and part 5 with Japanese Buddhism and Buddhism in East Asia (on the basis of scriptures translated into Chinese). Part 6 presents a historical survey of Japanese scholarship on Buddhism, and part 7 consists of several book reviews. (Source: [https://www.mlbd.in/products/collected-papers-on-the-tathagatagarbha-doctrine-jikido-takasaki-9788120839441-8120839447 Motilal Banarsidass])
The issue of sinification—the manner and extent to which Buddhism and Chinese culture were transformed through their mutual encounter and dialogue—has dominated the study of Chinese Buddhism for much of the past century. Robert Sharf opens this important and far-reaching book by raising a host of historical and hermeneutical problems with the encounter paradigm and the master narrative on which it is based. ''Coming to Terms with Chinese Buddhism'' is, among other things, an extended reflection on the theoretical foundations and conceptual categories that undergird the study of medieval Chinese Buddhism.<br><br>
Sharf draws his argument in part from a meticulous historical, philological, and philosophical analysis of the ''Treasure Store Treatise'' (''Pao-tsang lun''), an eighth-century Buddho-Taoist work apocryphally attributed to the fifth-century master Seng-chao (374–414). In the process of coming to terms with this recondite text, Sharf ventures into all manner of subjects bearing on our understanding of medieval Chinese Buddhism, from the evolution of T’ang “gentry Taoism” to the pivotal role of image veneration and the problematic status of Chinese Tantra.<br><br>
The volume includes a complete annotated translation of the ''Treasure Store Treatise'', accompanied by the detailed exegesis of dozens of key terms and concepts. (Source: [https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/coming-to-terms-with-chinese-buddhism-a-reading-of-the-treasure-store-treatise/ University of Hawai'i Press]) +
This edited transcript from Nītārtha Institute includes a detailed presentation of the five paths (accumulation, junction, seeing, meditation, completion), the two grounds (grounds free from attachment and the Buddha grounds), and the results (three nirvanas, three kayas, five wisdoms, and qualities of freedom and maturation), which was given in Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye's work, ''Treasury of Knowledge'' (''shes bya mdzod''), and presented by a graduate of Karma Shri Nalanda Institute, Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen. +
Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche explains the origins of love and compassion as the first step to love ourselves so we can love others. Recorded in Hartford, CT., May 2013. +
Dr. Tadeusz Skorupski in ‘Consciousness and Luminosity in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism’ invokes the juxtaposition of the phenomenal world of ''saṃsāra'' and the perfected state of nirvana, noting that they reflect and essentially correspond to the dynamic operating in the Buddhist analysis of consciousness and the propensities of the human mind: the mind produces the factors contributing to rebirth, but is also the primary vehicle in the attainment of salvation. He identifies several key features that permeate early Buddhist doctrine: the pre-eminence of mind, the notion of inherent radiance, the alien nature of the defilements that contaminate the mind, and the interplay of the image of purification and corruption. Starting with a close reading of Buddhaghosa's interpretations of the nature of luminosity, the author extends his discussion to include the Mahāsaṅgikas, who emphasize the inherent radiance of a mind obscured by adventitious defilements, and the Sarvāstivāda Vaibhāṣikas, who aver that an inherently radiant mind could not be obscured, for to them it has a propensity, rather than an innate disposition, to luminosity. Delineating various attributes of the description of consciousness according to different schools, the author moves from Pāli ''Abhidhamma'' to Mahāyana and Vajrayāna sources and Bodhicitta doctrine. Alighting on subsequent Indian Tantric theories that posit a fourfold luminosity of consciousness as four kinds of emptiness, he notes that such an understanding of consciousness and luminosity was applied in the Tibetan understanding of the processes occurring during death, as described in the work known as ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead''. The author describes this account of death, as involving the transition through four kinds of luminosity, as unique to Tibet, in particular to the Nyingma and Kagyu traditions. He concludes that although varied schools often disagree in certain features, all concur in the possibility of and access to a purified mind. Tracing the continuity between early ''Abhidhamma'' through to the various Mahāyāna schools, the author avers, provides an insightful range of perspectives on luminosity and nature of the mind itself. (Editorial Committee, introduction, 10)
The present paper is a considerably revised version of my doctoral dissertation entitled "Contributions to the Development of Tibetan Buddhist Logic - from the eleventh to the fifteenth century." This dissertation was submitted to the Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Hamburg, in January of 1979. The title has been changed for two reasons. The first of these is a conceptual one. Namely, in the course of my subsequent studies of Buddhist tshad-ma (pramāṇa), I have decided to translate this fundamentally untranslatable term by 'epistemology'. While this rendition does also not do justice to its semantic range, I feel that it has at least the merit of being less misleading than the more widely used 'logic', especially for those who have no background in Indian or Tibetan studies, and who may chance to come across this title. It is and remains an untranslatable term.<br> The second reason for my changing the original title of my dissertation, is that I felt obliged to change its scope. The vast literature on Tibetan Buddhist epistemology, which has become available during the last few years, necessitated such a curtailment. Especially the presently available Dga'-ldan-pa contributions by Rgyal-tshab-rje and Mkhas-grubrje, in particular, need to be properly assessed, and this takes time. Moreover, much but not all of the subsequent Sa-skya-pa literature in this area by Go-ram-pa and Gser-mdog Pan-chen must be read with the particular theories of these Dga'-ldan-pa philosophers in mind. To undertake such a comparative study cannot be done in a hurried fashion. Some references to the Dga'-ldan-pa contributions have, however, been made in the course of this paper on the basis of my original access to but a limited number of their writings. Nonetheless, a significant portion of my dissertation that deals with the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, has been included in the footnotes of the present paper where I was concerned with historical or bio-bibliographical details. (van der Kuijp, preface, vii)<br><br>
[https://www.scribd.com/document/255465514/Contributions-to-the-Development-of-Tibetan-Buddhist-Epistemology Read more here . . .]
''Counsels from My Heart'' is one of the few volumes of teachings by Dudjom Rinpoche, a legendary meditation master of the Nyingma lineage of Tibetan Buddhism, to become available in English. It features talks given in 1962, the 1970's and 80's, presented in Dudjom Rinpoche's characteristically incisive and direct style, bringing the timeless heart-counsels of this great teacher vividly to life. (Source: [https://www.shambhala.com/counsels-from-my-heart-440.html Shambhala Publications]). The Padmakara Translation Group gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Tsadra Foundation in sponsoring the translation of this book. +
