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From Buddha-Nature
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'''སྒྲུབ་བརྒྱུད་ཀམ་ཚང་བཀའ་བརྒྱུད་དུ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་སྐོར་དགོངས་བཞེད་དང་ཉམས་བཞེས་སྐོར།'''<br>'''Understanding and Application of Buddha-Nature in the Karma Kagyu Tradition'''
Khenpo gives a clear explanation of the buddha-nature as understood in the Karma Kagyu tradition based on the teachings on the 3rd Karmapa Rangjung Dorje. He breaks down his presentation into three parts:
:1. Literature on buddha-nature in Kagyu tradition in general and the Karma Kagyu subschool in particular<br>2. Rangjung Dorje's formulation of buddha-nature through 15 distinct points<br>3. The practical application of buddha-nature.
Khenpo skips the detailed listing of the works on buddha-nature in the Kagyu tradition, which he lists in his long article. Explaining Rangjung Dorje's formulation of buddha-nature, Khenpo says that Rangjung Dorje is a leading voice on buddha-nature, final wheel and tantras, and perhaps the first Tibetan to compose independent texts on buddha-nature, with his ''Treatise on Tathāgata Heart'' and ''Distinguishing Consciousness and Pristine Wisdom''. He also wrote his commentary on Nāgārjuna's ''In Praise of Dharmadhātu'', which mainly discusses the buddha-element. Although the writings of many later scholars such as Longchenpa, Jonangpa, et. al., are similar to Rangjung Dorje's understanding, he stands out as a clear and pioneering Tibetan thinker on buddha-nature.
Rangjung Dorje presents a clear definition of buddha-nature as possessing four characteristics of a union: indivisibility of emptiness and appearance like a reflection of the moon in water, indivisibility of emptiness and luminosity like a reflection in a mirror, indivisibility of emptiness and awareness like a rainbow, and indivisibility of emptiness and bliss like the taste of mute person. The definition is further clarified by his disciple Sherab Rinchen. Buddha-nature is thus the luminous nature of mind which has these four characteristics of union and is the natural ordinary consciousness.
Khenpo explains that Rangjung Dorje accepted both middle wheel and final wheel as definitive and concurring on the same point that is buddha-nature. Buddha-nature is the reality, ultimate truth, and ''dharmakāya''. It is the ground for all existence, eternal, permanent, and unconditioned. It is pure by nature and not stained by impurities, but it is obscured by temporary impurities which do not corrupt its nature. Such buddha-nature is emptiness free from conceptual and linguistic elaborations. It is the innate mind or ground tantra taught in the tantric literature.
Explaining how the various Buddhist schools of thought view phenomena such as a flower or vase, Khenpo explains that the great middle way of ''zhentong'' is the ultimate way of grasping the nature of the flower as being identical with the nature of the mind. A flower is a projection of the mind, and the mind, by nature, is not only empty but also luminous, and it is the union of luminosity and emptiness which forms the ultimate truth. In this respect, Khenpo points out that there is nothing so surprising or unacceptable in seeing a vase, flower, or other objects as possessing buddha-nature. He elaborates the 15 points to demonstrate the essence of buddha-nature.
Khenpo Sherab Sangpo offers teachings and guided meditation on the topic of buddha-nature during a retreat on February 15, 2020 at Bodhicitta Sangha: Heart of Enlightenment Institute in Minneapolis Minnesota. +
'''སྔ་འགྱུར་རྙིང་མ་བའི་བཀའ་འཁོར་ལོ་གསུམ་དང་གཤེགས་སྙིང་གི་དགོངས་བཞེད།'''<br>'''Nyingma Interpretation of the Three Wheels and Buddha-Nature'''
Buddha-nature is a central topic in the Nyingma tradition and very important for study and practice. Of the two transmissions of Maitreya's works, i.e. of the intellectual exegetical transmission based on inferential understanding passed down from Ngok Lotsāwa and the mystical meditative transmission based on direct experience passed down from Tsen Khawoche, the Nyingma tradition is more aligned to the latter tradition. Of the two schools of thought focusing on luminosity or emptiness, Khenpo explains that the Nyingma tradition puts equal emphasis on both aspects of reality. The emptiness aspect of buddha-nature is taught in the middle wheel and the luminosity of buddha-nature is taught explicitly in the final wheel of dharma. Although the middle wheel presents luminosity, it does not do so explicitly or in detail. For this reason, both the middle wheel and the final wheel of dharma are considered as definitive in the Nyingma tradition.
Although Longchenpa does not clearly state that the middle wheel is definitive, this can be inferred from his words. In his ''Treasury of Wish Fulfilling Jewel'', Longchenpa explains how buddha-nature is also free from all elaborations in the ultimate sense. In his commentary on the ''Relaxation in the Nature of Mind'', Longchenpa also explains how the buddha-nature teachings are definitive as buddha-nature is the ultimate truth and all other phenomena are illusory.
The theory of buddha-nature being empty of its nature, or ''rangtong'', is presented in the context of two truths of emptiness and appearance. In this context, the Middle Wheel focusing on the concept of emptiness is the definitive teaching and buddha-nature, like all phenomena, lacks true existence. Thus, it is empty. However, in the context of the two truths of ontic existence and appearance associated with the Final Wheel, buddha-nature is presented as the ultimate. Thus, the final wheel is considered as the definitive teaching. Some sūtras such as the ''Laṅkāvatāra'', which present the philosophical position of Mind Only, are, however, not considered definitive.
Khenpo then mentions that the presentation of this nature of buddha-nature which is the union of emptiness and luminosity varies from sūtra to tantra. What is emptiness and luminosity in the sūtra system is presented as purity and equality in Mahāyoga, Samantabhadra and Samantabhadri in Anuyoga and primordial purity and spontaneity in Atiyoga. The luminosity presented in these systems refers to the Buddha's pristine wisdom and not to any state of the ordinary mind. Ordinary mental states are impure, illusory, deceptive, and not worthy of being objects of refuge. The luminous nature is Buddha's pristine wisdom which is eternal and unconditioned. Such buddha-nature also has all the sublime qualities of the Buddha, including the three bodies. However, the three bodies latent in buddha-nature refer to the emptiness, luminosity, and nonduality and should not be understood as the Buddha bodies perceived by sentient beings.
In the state of buddhahood, all ordinary senses of individuality and phenomena are exhausted. That is why the state of ultimate enlightenment is called ''chos zad'', or exhaustion of phenomena, in the Nyingma tradition. Only the latent sublime qualities of the Buddha remain.
Khenpo Tenzin Norgay Rinpoche will talk with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho about the study and practice of Buddha-Nature Teachings in the Nyingma Tradition.
Khenpo Tenzin Norgay Rinpoche was born in Bhutan in 1965. He became a senior colleague at Ngagyur Nyingma Institute, the prestigious Buddhist studies and research center, at Namdroling Monastery in Mysore. At the Institute he studied under Khenchen Pema Sherab, Khenpo Namdrol Tsering, Khenchen Tsewang Gyatso, and other visiting professors, including Khenchen Jigme Phuntsok and Khenpo Pema Tsewang from Tibet. He completed the Shedra program in 1995 and joined the Institute staff, teaching there for three years. He was formally enthroned as Khenpo by His Holiness Penor Rinpoche in 1998 and was assigned by His Holiness to teach at the Buddhist college at Palyul monastery in Tibet. He is now the main resident master at [http://www.palyulnyc.org/npdc/ Palyul Dharma Center] in the New York City metropolitan area. +
In this talk given to students during RYI's Buddhist philosophy class on ''The Sublime Continuum'' by Arya Maitreya, Khenpo Karma Gyurme (also known as Khenpo Tokpa Tulku) covers the following topics:
In the first talk, he explains what marks the beginning of the bodhisattva path and the distinction between a noble bodhisattva and an aspiring bodhisattva. Furthermore, he explains the difference between emotional compassion and wisdom-based compassion. He introduces the four means of magnetizing, a skillful method used by Bodhisattvas to benefit others.
In the second talk, he expands on the four means of magnetizing; generosity, pleasant speech, teaching according to the needs of beings, and being consistent in conduct. He explains how noble bodhisattvas implement these methods and provides practical advice to aspiring bodhisattvas on how to engage with them. The translation is by RYI's translator, Anya Zilman. ([https://www.ryi.org/free-online-resources Source Accessed Sep 30, 2020]) +
'''རྙིང་མ་དང་རྫོགས་ཆེན་ལ་བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོའི་བཞེད་ཚུལ་དང་ཉམས་བཞེས།'''<br>'''The Understanding and Application of Buddha-Nature in the Nyingma and Dzogchen Tradition'''
Khenpo starts by thanking the participants, organizers, and attendees for the wonderful gathering and for the hard work to spread the teachings on buddha-nature by hosting this conference. A real patron of Buddhist teachings, he says, is one who supports critical thinking and the promotion of wisdom through such programes and not just someone who sponsors rituals and prayers. He then discusses the concept of ''gotra'', or family/clan, based on activities and based on causes or reasons. He highlightes how the participants gather together as one family, sharing the buddha-nature, and that everyone should cultivate a kindred spirit instead of seeing differences based on region, nationality, gender, status, etc.
Delving into the buddha-nature theories, Khenpo explains that the middle wheel teaches buddha-nature with the nomenclature of the Perfection of Wisdom and the final wheel discusses it as ''tathāgatagarbha''. In the tantric teachings we find other names such as innate mind, Mahāmudrā, and Great Perfection used to refer to buddha-nature. Citing the line from the ''Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines'', he explains what mind, the nonexistence of the mind, and luminous nature of mind refer to. In an ecumenical spirit, he argues that what the Geluk considered as the absence of inherent existence and the Nyingma and other schools as the lack of any foundation refer to the same point of not finding an entity as they appear when thoroughly searched for their existence. Thus, despite the difference in word and presentation, he argues that the different interpretations of buddha-nature in different schools reach the same point.
He also shares that in studying buddha-nature, there is the exegetical intellectual approach and the practical instructional approach to buddha-nature. The difference between sūtra and tantric approaches to buddha-nature also ends when one attains the path of seeing, because at this stage the meditator directly experiences reality or buddha-nature whether the person followed the sūtra or tantric path. At this stage, the practitioner has actualized the actual luminosity through direct perception.
Such direct experience of pure, clear, unperturbed, unconditioned luminosity or buddha-nature is cultivated through intellectual and contemplative meditation in the sūtra system, through the practice of channels and vital energy in father tantras, and through seminal fluid practices and so forth in the mother tantras. However, in the Dzogchen system of the Nyingma, no contrived efforts are made, but buddha-nature is actualized through resting in the natural state, like allowing water to settle down or the sky to be free from clouds. By using the skillful postures and gazes and leveraging the practices of visions and light rays in the transcendent practice of ''todgyal'', one unravels the buddha-nature from within one's heart.
'''མི་ཕམ་རྒྱ་མཚོ་སློབ་བརྒྱུད་བཅས་པའི་བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོའི་བཞེད་ཚུལ།'''<br>'''The Understanding of Buddha-Nature by Mipam Gyatso, His Students, and Scholars on Mipam'''
Khenpo starts his presentation by discussing the transmission of buddha-nature literature, particularly the ''Ultimate Continuum'', to Tibet. Khenpo suspects that Mipam Gyatso might have considered the ''Ultimate Continuum'' and ''Distinguishing Phenomena and Their Nature'' to have been translated during the early diffusion of the dharma in the late eighth and early ninth century. This is different from the general claim that the ''Ultimate Continuum'' reached Tibet only in the later diffusion after Maitrīpa revealed it from a stūpa in the 11th century. It is likely that Mipam used the mention of the five treatises of Maitreya in Ugyen Lingpa's kathang biography of Guru Rinpoche as the main reason for this.
Khenpo then explains how Mipam saw the five works of Maitreya in terms of their doxographical affiliation, which Mipam explains in his commentary on ''Distinguishing Phenomena and Their Nature''. Although Mipam takes the ''Ultimate Continuum'', the main classic on buddha-nature, to be Mādhyamika in its ultimate purport, he does not mention whether it is aligned to Prāsaṅgika or Svātantrika Mādhyamika. It appears he considered it as a primary or root text (''gzhung phyi mo'') of the Mādhyamikas. The students of Mipam, including Zhechen Gyaltsab, Bodpa Trulku, Kaḥthog Situ, and Kunzang Palden also carried on his interpretation and understanding of the ''Ultimate Continuum'' as a Mādhyamika text, some classifying it as a text of the Prāsaṅgika school.
Discussing Mipam's understanding of buddha-nature, Khenpo states that Mipam did not accept buddha-nature to be mere emptiness as the Gelukpas accepted it or a truly established entity as some Tibetan scholars taught. He says Mipam considered buddha-nature to be empty because it is negated by the ultimate analysis. Yet, on the highest conventional level, buddha-nature exists latent in all sentient beings with all the sublime qualities of the Buddha. Thus, in this context, buddha-nature is empty of other afflictive emotions and impurities but not of the sublime qualities which are innate traits of buddha-nature. Before Mipam, Rongzom focused on the emptiness aspect of buddha-nature and Longchenpa on the luminosity of the nature of the mind. Mipam sought a balanced presentation, resulting in the union of emptiness and luminosity.
While Mipam's position may be considered to be ''rangtong'' because he asserted the lack of the true self-existence of buddha-nature, he also defended the ''zhentong'' position, leading many modern scholars to mistakenly think he is an adherent of the ''zhentong'' tradition. Khenpo Tsultrim Norbu explores the position of Mipam in his various writings, of his disciples, and also of the modern scholars who work on Mipam.
༄༅། །ངོ་བོ་སྟོང་པའི་ཆ་བརྗོད་བྱའི་གཙོ་བོར་བྱས་པ་དང་། རང་བཞིན་ལྷུན་གྲུབ་ཀྱི་ཆ་བརྗོད་བྱའི་གཙོ་བོར་བྱས་པ་སྟེ་ཡང་གསལ་བར་བརྗོད་ན་སྟོང་ཉིད་མེད་དགག་དང་མ་ཡིན་དགག་ཏུ་སྨྲ་བའི་ཁྱད་པར་རོ། །ཁ་ཕྱི་བལྟས་དང་ནང་བལྟས་ཀྱི་བཤད་ཚུལ་དཔྱད་པ་དང་སྒོམ་པའི་དོན་གཉིས་སུ་སོང་བ་ཡིན་ནོ་ཞེས་རྒྱུད་འགྲེལ་སེངྒེའི་ང་རོ་ལས་༧རྗེ་འཇམ་མགོན་ཀོང་སྤྲུལ་བློ་གྲོས་མཐའ་ཡས་ཀྱིས་གསུངས་པ་ལྟར་ཡིན། བཤད་ཚུལ་གཉིས་པོ་དེ་ལ་བོད་གངས་ཅན་གྱི་ལྗོངས་སུ་དབུ་མ་རང་སྟོང་དང་དབུ་མ་གཞན་སྟོང་ཞེས་གྲགས་ཤིང་། དེ་དག་བོད་སྟོན་རྣམས་ཀྱིས་རང་བཟོར་བྱས་པ་ཡང་མ་ཡིན་ཞིང་གོང་གསལ་གནས་སྐབས་སྤྲོས་པ་གཅོད་པའི་ངེས་དོན་དང་། མཐར་ཐུག་གནས་ལུགས་དོན་དམ་གཏན་ལ་དབབ་པའི་ངེས་དོན་དུ་གནས་པ་འཁོར་ལོ་བར་མཐའ་གསུང་རབ་དགོངས་འགྲེལ་དང་བཅས་པའི་གསུང་སྒྲོས་ཉིད་ལ་གཞན་སྟོང་ཞེས་པའི་མིང་བླ་དྭགས་སུ་བཏགས་པ་ཡིན་ནོ། ། +
Professor Klaus-Dieter Mathes, one of the world’s most learned and published specialists on the topic of buddha-nature in Tibetan Buddhism, spoke with Lopen Karma Phuntsho about the various interpretations of tathāgatagarbha teachings in Tibet, including those of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, Longchenpa, Gö Lotsawa, Dölpopa, Butön, and Tsongkhapa.
Prof. Dr. Klaus-Dieter Mathes is the Head of the Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Vienna, Austria. Dr. Mathes has published widely on Mahāmudrā, Tibetan Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, and the interpretations of Buddha-nature in Tibet. Many of his books can be found on this website, including the recent ''[[The Other Emptiness: Rethinking the Zhentong Buddhist Discourse in Tibet]]'' and ''[[A Direct Path to the Buddha Within]]''. Klaus-Dieter also hosted the [[Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia]] Symposium in 2019. From 1980-1984 he lived in the Himalayas and studied Buddhism, later obtaining a master's degree in Tibetology from the University of Bonn and then a Doctorate from Marburg in 1994 with a study of the Yogācāra text ''Dharmadharmatāvibhāga'' (published in 1996 in the series Indica et Tibetica). He served as the director of the Nepal Research Centre and the Nepal-German Manuscript Preservation Project in Kathmandu from 1993 to 2001. +
We were on Facebook live on Saturday, June 26th at 11:00 AM Eastern Standard Time, 5:00 PM CET, 9:00 PM Bhutan Time. The discussion is available online and sections will also be made available as answers to specific questions on this website.
Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho had a wonderful, animated, and detailed discussion with Rev. Kokyo Henkel about Buddha-Nature in Early Chan and Japanese Zen and comparisons with Tibetan Dzogchen. They also discussed some Koans, Dogen, and many textual sources from Indian sutras in Tibetan and Chinese translation to sources for key schools of Buddhism in China and Japan up to more modern texts. +
My monograph explores theories on ''tathāgatagarbha'', ''tathatā'' and ''gotra'' in East Asian Buddhism between the 5th and the 7th centuries, with a focus on the interpretation and influence of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' (Ch. ''Jiujing yisheng baoxing lun'' 究竟一乘寶性論). I review and reconsider ''tathāgatagarbha'' and consciousness-only theories in the context of East Asian Buddhism, especially before the return of Xuanzang 玄奘 (602-664) to China.<br> There are major differences between our Sanskrit text of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' and its classical Chinese translation, which had an immeasurable influence on East Asian Buddhist thought and has yet to be fully explored. No commentary on the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' in Chinese Buddhism has survived, so scholars have maintained the opinion that it was not regarded too much in Chinese and East Asian Buddhism. However, the findings of my research show that the Chinese translation of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' had more influence than previously imagined in East Asian Buddhist intellectual history.<br> I explore the ideological background of the classical Chinese translation of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'', with reference to the ''Pusa dichi jing'' 菩薩地持經, several commentaries on the ''Śrīmālā-sūtra'', the ''Da boniepan jing'' 大般涅槃經 and the ''Rulengqie jing'' 入楞伽經. In comparison to the surviving Sanskrit text, the Chinese version of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' downplays the significance of the expression ''gotra'' and instead reflects a strong interest in ''zhenru'' 真如 (Skt. ''tathatā'') and ''foxing'' 佛性 (Buddha-nature) – for instance, '' 'zhenru foxing' '' becomes the foundation or reason for transmigration in the world. In this context, reality (Skt. ''tathatā'') acts like a conditioned dharma, an idea that deeply influenced later understanding of Buddha-nature in East Asian Buddhism. I furthermore discuss the relationship between the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' and other significant East Asian authors and teachings, such as Paramārtha 真諦 (499-569), the ''Dasheng qixin lun'' 大乘起信論, Fazang 法藏 (643-712), the Sanjie school 三階教, and trace the influence of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' beyond China into the writings of Wonhyo 元曉 (617-686) in Korea and the Japanese authors Juryō 寿霊 and Chikei 智憬 in Nara era (710-784). ([https://www.soas.ac.uk/buddhiststudies/events/18feb2021-book-launch-revisiting-buddha-nature-in-india-and-china.html Source Accessed May 25, 2021])
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Le ''tathāgatagarbha'', « embryon » ou « matrice » de Tathāgata, est le genre de la nature de Bouddha qui, selon certains textes du Mahāyāna, est présent en tous les êtres. Cette théorie joua un rôle considérable dans le bouddhisme de la Chine, du Japon et du Tibet. Elle est liée à d'autres points de doctrine importants, que M. Ruegg a examinés également ici, ceux du ''gotra'' ou « lignée » spirituelle, de l'Eveil universel, du Véhicule unique de salut, de la luminosité naturelle de la pensée. Toutes ces théories, étroitement liées entre elles, touchent de très près à l'essence même du bouddhisme du Grand Véhicule, comme l'a montré excellemment M. Ruegg. Celui-ci a pourtant limité le champ de ses investigations à certaines sources, ''sūtra'' sanskrits du Mahāyāna, traités des Mādhyamika et des Yogācāra, commentaires et traités tibétains d'époques diverses, laissant de côté notamment toute l'abondante littérature chinoise et japonaise sur le sujet. Prudemment, il s'en est tenu à une étude doxographique, sans traiter aucun des problèmes de philologie et d'histoire. Cependant, la maîtrise acquise par lui en sanskrit et en tibétain, et sa grande familiarité avec la pensée bouddhique, même dans ce qu'elle a de plus abstrus, permettent à M. Ruegg de se jouer aisément de toutes les difficultés, fort nombreuses et redoutables, dont un tel sujet était hérissé. On regrettera seulement qu'il n'ait guère fait effort pour rendre son livre accessible au lecteur non spécialiste. Pourtant, cet ouvrage, qui est une contribution capitale à notre connaissance de la pensée bouddhique, mérite d'être connu d'un large public de philosophes et d'historiens des religions. Souhaitons que son auteur en donnera bientôt un condensé sous une forme claire. Mais ce défaut, qui ne concerne que l'expression et est en quelque sorte la rançon de la compétence de M. Ruegg, n'enlève rien à la valeur intrinsèque de ce travail, l'un des meilleurs qu'ait produits l'étude du bouddhisme ces dernières années. (Source: [https://www.persee.fr/doc/rhr_0035-1423_1971_num_179_1_9680 Review by André Bareau, ''Revue de l'histoire des religions''])
''The following is an excerpt from the preface'':<br><br>
Une religion comme le bouddhisme est un tout infiniment complexe. Quelque place qu'y tiennent les idées théosophiques, soyons sûrs qu'elles ne la constituent pas tout entière. Elles s'y trouvent amalgamées à des éléments de toute provenance. Est-ce en les isolant artificiellement qu'on les étudiera le mieux dans leur nature et dans leur action ? Ce ne serait ni avantageux, ni même possible. Les contacts qu'elles subissent entraînent pour elles des déterminations dont il faut bien tenir compte : tel le cristal transparent qui se colore par le voisinage d'une fleur d'hibiscus. D'autre part, il serait excessif sous prétexte de théosophie, d'embrasser ici le bouddhisme dans toute son étendue. D'excellents ouvrages, aisément accessibles au public, me permettent de limiter ma tâche sans inconvénient.<br> Ce que je me propose, c'est d'étudier dans quelles conditions, externes et internes, les idées maîtresses du bouddhisme ont agi sur les esprits ; de quelle manière elles se lient les unes aux autres ; quelle influence elles ont exercée sur la conduite des individus et sur la communauté ; comment elles se sont transformées par le travail même de la pensée ; comment elles ont dévié au contact de doctrines hétérogènes ; à quels excès de théorie et de pratique elles ont parfois abouti. Je ne m'occuperai donc du Bouddha et du Sangha que dans la mesure où la personnalité du maître et l'organisation de l'église sont pour quelque chose dans la direction prise par le travail des âmes religieuses. Quant aux doctrines, je laisserai de côté celles qui n'intéressent pas du tout l'élaboration du salut, et passerai rapidement sur celles qui peuvent être considérées comme la simple application des principes essentiels. Si je ne craignais d'exposer mon livre à de redoutables comparaisons, je dirais que j'ai tenté de mettre en lumière !'« esprit » du bouddhisme, un esprit remarquable à la fois par sa continuité et par ses variations.<br> Malgré les restrictions que je viens d'indiquer, ce programme, je le crains, paraîtra trop ambitieux. Peutêtre même le trouvera-t-on irréalisable dans les conditions actuelles de la science. Que d'incertitudes, en effet, et que de lacunes dans l'histoire de la pensée bouddhique! Pouvons-nous seulement dater avec quelque approximation les écrits dits canoniques ? N'est-il pas puéril de vouloir expliquer les aspects successifs du bouddhisme sans tenir le plus grand compte de facteurs qui ne sont ni théosophiques, ni même hindous ? On a cherché du côté de la gnose et du manichéisme l'origine de quelques-unes des nouveautés par lesquelles se distinguent les écoles du Grand Véhicule. Si l'on a eu raison l'évolution de la doctrine cesse d'être exclusivement autochtone. Comme, d'ailleurs, l'influence des religions sectaires s'est fait sentir très vite, qu'elle s'est accentuée avec le temps, qu'elle a fini par devenir presque prépondérante, on trouvera l'explication des dernières déviations, non pas sans doute hors de l'Inde, mais hors du bouddhisme, et dans des formations religieuses dont nous savons fort mal l'histoire ancienne. Ces écueils,et d'autres encore, je savais qu'ils étaient semés sur ma route, et j'espère n'avoir jamais oublié leur présence pendant que je travaillais à cet ouvrage. Mais je n'ai pas eu non plus la prétention de résoudre tous les problèmes. Je me tiendrai pour satisfait, si j'ai quelque peu contribué à une plus entière connaissance du bouddhisme. (Oltramare, preface, xiii–xv)
Join us in celebration of a long-awaited translation of Longchenpa's masterpiece, the ''Choying Dzöd'' (<big>ཆོས་དབྱིངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་མཛོད།</big>). Lama Chonam and Sangye Khandro will speak with Karma Phuntsho about their new publication, a translation of an extremely important Dzogchen text by the great Longchen Rabjam called the ''Choying Dzöd'', or ''Jewel Treasure of the Dharmadhatu''. This special translation was refined by the translators after years of oral teachings given by Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche on this important text. Longchen Rabjam composed the Seven Treasures as his crowning achievement, and the ''Jewel Treasure of the Dharmadhatu'' is the pinnacle of them all. This astonishing masterpiece sets forth the structure and practice of the Great Perfection path known as ''trekcho'', cutting through to original purity. This publication also includes the Omniscient Longchenpa's autocommentary called ''A Treasury of Citations'', which is an indispensable guide to the root verses that are woven throughout this shastra, to illuminate how they refer to the context of the ground, path, and fruition, as well as the view, meditation and conduct of this exceptional Great Perfection path. True to the title, this commentary disseminates the most crucial information by citing the original speech of Buddha Vajradhara found in the seventeen Great Perfection upadesha tantras, as well as including many quotations from the sutras, tantras, and shastras in general.
[[File:Lama Chonam Sangye Khandro prayerwheels Official.png|500px]] +
Join Lama Palden Drolma and Lopen Karma Phuntsho as they discuss experiences of Buddha-Nature.
Lama Palden was one of the first Western women to be authorized as a lama in 1986, by her primary teacher, Kalu Rinpoche, following her completion of the traditional Tibetan three year, three month retreat. She has been a student and practitioner of Buddhism and of Comparative Mysticism for over 40 years. She is the founding teacher of Sukhasiddhi Foundation http://www.sukhasiddhi.org in the SF Bay Area, a Tibetan Buddhist center in the Shangpa and Kagyu lineages. Lama Palden has a deep interest in helping to make the teachings and practices of Vajrayana Buddhism accessible and practical for Westerners in order to help students actualize our innate wisdom, love and joy. As a teacher, she is committed to each student's unique unfolding and blossoming.
In 1993 Lama Palden completed a Masters degree in Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University in Silicon Valley. After licensing as a psychotherapist, she engaged in facilitating clients psycho-spiritual integration and development, through bringing together understandings and methods from Buddhism and Psychology, as well as from the Diamond Heart work, that she engaged with and trained in for many years. +
Lama Shenpen Hookham is the founding Lama of the [https://buddhawithin.org.uk/about/ Awakened Heart Sangha] and principle teacher of the [https://ahs.org.uk/training Living the Awakened Heart training].
Lama Shenpen has trained for over 50 years in the Mahamudra & Dzogchen traditions of Tibetan Buddhism.
Lama Shenpen wrote a seminal work in the western study of Buddha-Nature, her doctoral thesis at Oxford, ''[[The Buddha Within]]'', which was then the first work by a Western writer to present an analysis of the Shentong tradition based on previously untranslated sources. She is also the author of ''[https://www.windhorsepublications.com/product/theres-more-to-dying-than-death/ There’s More to Dying than Death]'', ''[https://buddhawithin.org.uk/autobiography/ Keeping the Dalai Lama Waiting and Other Stories]'', and ''[https://www.shambhala.com/the-guru-principle.html The Guru Principle]''.
She has spent over 12 years in retreat and has been a student of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, one of the foremost living masters of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, since the late 70s. +
Fresh from her return from the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia (July 16–19, 2019), Lama Shenpen Hookham speaks to the Awakened Heart Sangha about the topic of buddha-nature. +
Lama Surya Das offers his perspective on what it means to center oneself in Buddha-nature, how one lives and acts in the wakeful state, the balance of inner and outer life, the relationship between enlightenment and social transformation, and more. He talks with Robert Gabriele, Chief Operating Officer at the Garrison Institute. +
If you remove the cold from the ice, it becomes what it has always been - water. Our buddha nature is like water under the influence of the cold, the poisons of the mind. +
A timeless instruction on the heart of Buddhist practice. ''Lamp of Mahamudra'' is a meditation manual on one of the most advanced practices of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. This precise text distills the instructions of the practice lineage and describes the entire path of meditation leading to the ultimate fruition. The book includes advice from Kyabje Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche and Kyabje Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche. Lamp of Mahamudra was written by Tsele Natsok Rangdrol, a seventeenth-century master of both the Kagyi and Nyingma Schools. He was renowned as one of the most learned teachers of his era. His writing is inspiring in its lucid style and profundity. ([https://www.amazon.com/Lamp-Mahamudra-Immaculate-Perfectly-Illuminates/dp/9627341312 Source Accessed Feb 12, 2020]) +
