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From Buddha-Nature
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Venerable Dhammadipa discusses the nature of mind in the Yogachara tradition, touching upon notions such as luminosity, emptiness, and suchness. +
Karl Brunnhölzl responds to a question regarding the origins and authorship of the ''Uttaratantrashastra''. He describes how there is evidence that the ''Uttaratantra'' and its commentary was considered to be a singular text in India. However, the issue of when it arrived in Tibet and who brought it there is still a matter for further research. +
In this excerpt, Ringu Tulku discusses the relationship between a sentient being and a buddha. He discusses how a Buddha is a being that sees reality in an undeluded, clear way, and when beings do not see reality clearly, they are called sentient beings. That is, a buddha is not something that exists on its own, apart from sentient beings; it is more like a description for a being who has developed wisdom to its fullest and experiences reality as it is. He goes on to explain how sometimes the categories of "sentient being" and its association with saṃsāṛa and "Buddha" and its association with nirvāṇa are often reified, and this tends to lead to confusion. +
Venerable Dhammadipa discusses the concept of tathāgatagarbha, or buddha-nature, and its appearance in Chinese Buddhist traditions, noting that one hardly finds anything about the concept in the Theravada tradition. +
In this video Elizabeth Callahan explains the term ''ordinary mind'', a term that is often used in the Kagyu tradition, and its use as a term to describe buddha-nature. Ordinary mind, she explains, is the nature of mind that is not in its deluded state. +
In this video Elizabeth Callahan discusses the various terminology that is used when talking about buddha-nature. She describes buddha-nature as who we are at our very core and goes on to discuss several terms that are associated with uncovering this buddha-nature within Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna, and Mahāmudrā contexts. +
Tokpa Tulku discusses the three reasons all beings have buddha-nature, which come from chapter 1 verse 28 of the ''Uttaratantraśāstra'', or ''Gyü Lama''. As for the first reason, he points to the fact that the Buddha was once a deluded sentient being. Therefore, if the Buddha, through developing wisdom, attained enlightenment, this proves that sentient beings have buddha-nature, that they can also achieve the same. The second verse, he explains, points to the notion that the Buddha's mind and the mind of a sentient being are the same; while they are different in terms of their obscurations and level of delusion, from the ultimate point of view they are of the same nature. As for the third reason, he points to the fact that all sentient beings want to be happy and free of suffering, a quality which proves that all beings have buddha-nature. +
Media/On the Topic of Buddha-Nature Understood as Luminosity versus Buddha-Nature Understood as Emptiness by Douglas Duckworth +
Douglas Duckworth discusses the debate about buddha-nature understood as luminosity (or as having qualities) versus buddha-nature understood as emptiness. +
Our true mind is the pure mind of wisdom free of defilements. Our inherent nature refers to the nature of our being something common, which is also called the Buddha-nature. By taking refuge in our inner buddha-nature and letting go of our guest mind, which is subject to vexations, we can see our true mind, which is beyond defilement but functions as wisdom. To take refuge in oneself, one must first be able to realize the nature of his mind by the guidance of the Three Jewels. ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsA7rG2jvpI Source Accessed Nov 17, 2020]) +
Original enlightenment thought (''hongaku shiso'') dominated Buddhist intellectual circles throughout Japan’s medieval period. Enlightenment, this discourse claims, is neither a goal to be achieved nor a potential to be realized but the true status of all things. Every animate and inanimate object manifests the primordially enlightened Buddha just as it is. Seen in its true aspect, every activity of daily life—eating, sleeping, even one’s deluded thinking—is the Buddha’s conduct. Emerging from within the powerful Tendai School, ideas of original enlightenment were appropriated by a number of Buddhist traditions and influenced nascent theories about the ''kami'' (local deities) as well as medieval aesthetics and the literary and performing arts.<br>
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Scholars and commentators have long recognized the historical importance of original enlightenment thought but differ heatedly over how it is to be understood. Some tout it as the pinnacle of the Buddhist philosophy of absolute non-dualism. Others claim to find in it the paradigmatic expression of a timeless Japanese spirituality. According other readings, it represents a dangerous anti-nomianism that undermined observance of moral precepts, precipitated a decline in Buddhist scholarship, and denied the need for religious discipline. Still others denounce it as an authoritarian ideology that, by sacralizing the given order, has in effect legitimized hierarchy and discriminative social practices. Often the acceptance or rejection of original enlightenment thought is seen as the fault line along which traditional Buddhist institutions are to be differentiated from the new Buddhist movements (Zen, Pure Land, and Nichiren) that arose during Japan’s medieval period.<br>
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Jacqueline Stone’s groundbreaking study moves beyond the treatment of the original enlightenment doctrine as abstract philosophy to explore its historical dimension. Drawing on a wealth of medieval primary sources and modern Japanese scholarship, it places this discourse in its ritual, institutional, and social contexts, illuminating its importance to the maintenance of traditions of lineage and the secret transmission of knowledge that characterized several medieval Japanese elite culture. It sheds new light on interpretive strategies employed in pre-modern Japanese Buddhist texts, an area that hitherto has received a little attention. Through these and other lines of investigation, Stone problematizes entrenched notions of “corruption” in the medieval Buddhist establishment. Using the examples of Tendai and Nichiren Buddhism and their interactions throughout the medieval period, she calls into question both overly facile distinctions between "old" and "new" Buddhism and the long-standing scholarly assumptions that have perpetuated them. This study marks a significant contribution to ongoing debates over definitions of Buddhism in the Kamakura era (1185–1333), long regarded as a formative period in Japanese religion and culture. Stone argues that "original enlightenment thought" represents a substantial rethinking of Buddhist enlightenment that cuts across the distinction between "old" and "new" institutions and was particularly characteristic of the medieval period.
(Source: [https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/product/original-enlightenment-and-the-transformation-of-medieval-japanese-buddhism/ University of Hawai'i Press])
''Ornament of Precious Liberation'' is a spiritual and literary treasure of Tibetan Buddhism and of the Kagyü lineage in particular. Laying out step by step the path to buddhahood that is open to us all, to read Gompopa's text is like receiving the teachings directly from the master himself.<br>
It is a quintessential guide to enlightenment that students will return to again and again for its insights into living an awakened life. (Source: [https://wisdomexperience.org/product/ornament-precious-liberation/ Wisdom Publications])
This publication is an updated version of the translation found in ''[[Stages of the Buddha’s Teachings| Stages of the Buddha's Teachings: Three Key Texts]]''. +
The premiere volume of Thupten Jinpa’s thirty-two-volume ''Library of Tibetan Classics'' series, inaugurated to coincide with the Dalai Lama’s conferral of the initiation rite of Kālacakra in Toronto in April 2004.
The Kālacakra, or “wheel of time,” tantra likely entered Indian Mahayana Buddhism around the tenth century. In expounding the root tantra, the Indian master Puṇḍarīka, one of the legendary Kalkī kings of the land of Shambhala, wrote his influential Stainless Light. ''Ornament of Stainless Light'' is an authoritative Tibetan exposition of this important text, composed in the fifteenth century by Khedrup Norsang Gyatso, tutor to the Second Dalai Lama.
One of the central projects of Kālacakra literature is a detailed correlation between the human body and the external universe. In working out this complex correspondence, the Kālacakra texts present an amazingly detailed theory of cosmology and astronomy, especially about the movements of the various celestial bodies. The Kālacakra tantra is also a highly complex system of Buddhist theory and practice that employs vital bodily energies, deep meditative mental states, and a penetrative focus on subtle points within the body’s key energy conduits known as channels. ''Ornament of Stainless Light'' addresses all these topics, elaborating on the external universe, the inner world of the individual, the Kālacakra initiation rites, and the tantric stages of generation and completion, all in a highly readable English translation. (Source: [https://wisdomexperience.org/product/ornament-stainless-light/?attribute_pa_format=ebook Wisdom Publications]) +
The Buddhist masterpiece Ornament of the Great Vehicle Sūtras, often referred to by its Sanskrit title, Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra, is part of a collection known as the Five Maitreya Teachings, a set of philosophical works that have become classics of the Indian Buddhist tradition. Maitreya, the Buddha’s regent, is held to have entrusted these profound and vast instructions to the master Asaṅga in the heavenly realm of Tuṣita.
The Ornament provides a comprehensive description of the bodhisattva’s view, meditation, and enlightened activities. Bodhisattvas are beings who, out of vast love for all sentient beings, have dedicated themselves to the task of becoming fully awakened buddhas, capable of helping all beings in innumerable and vast ways to become enlightened themselves. To fully awaken requires practicing great generosity, patience, energy, discipline, concentration, and wisdom, and Maitreya’s text explains what these enlightened qualities are and how to develop them.
This volume includes commentaries by Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham, whose discussions illuminate the subtleties of the root text and provide valuable insight into how to practice the way of the bodhisattva. Drawing on the Indian masters Vasubandhu and, in particular, Sthiramati, Mipham explains the Ornament with eloquence and brilliant clarity. This commentary is among his most treasured works. (Source: [https://www.shambhala.com/ornament-of-the-great-vehicle-sutras-3250.html Shambhala Publications]) +
When His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave a series of lectures at Harvard University, they fulfilled magnificently his intention of providing an in-depth introduction to Buddhist theory and practice. He structured the presentation according to the teachings of the Four Noble Truths and expanded their meaning to cover most of the topics of Tibetan Buddhism. The Dalai Lama’s combination of superb intellect, power of exposition, and practical implementation are evident in these lectures. He covers a broad spectrum of topics, including the psychology of cyclic existence, consciousness and karma, techniques for meditation, altruism, valuing enemies, wisdom, and much more. (Source: [https://www.shambhala.com/our-human-potential.html Shambhala Publications]) +
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The Jewel Ornament of Liberation is regarded by all Tibetan Buddhist schools as one of the most inspiring and comprehensive works of the tradition. Written by Gampopa (born 1079 CE), the main spiritual son of the great hermit Milarepa, this important text lays out the stages of the Buddhist path and explains how an enlightened attitude is strengthened by practicing the six perfections of generosity, discipline, patience, exertion, meditation, and knowledge. [https://www.shambhala.com/path-to-buddhahood.html (Source: Shambhala Publications)] +
As the most important canonical treatise on Buddha-nature, the ''Ratnagotravibhaga'' (also known as ''Uttaratantrasastra'', Tib. ''rgyud bla ma'') established the doctrinal foundations for the Mahayana philosophy of ''tathāgatagarbha'', the doctrine according to which all sentient beings are either inherently buddhas or endowed with the potential for awakening. Among the most prominent Tibetan commentaries on this text figures that of the Sakya master Rongtön Sheja Künrig, a prolific writer who was active during the golden age of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. Refuting, on one hand, the notion that Buddha-nature is synonymous with mere emptiness, and on the other that the mind is inherently endowed with the Buddha qualities, Rongtön argues for an understanding of Buddha-nature that embraces both aspects of the nature of mind: cognizance and emptiness.
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Rongtön Sheja Künrig (1376-1449) figures among the greatest teachers of the Sakya tradition. Particularly renowned for his commentaries on the ''Five Treatises of Maitreya'', his vast erudition, and extensive teaching career made him one of the most influential masters for the scholastic lineages of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. This volume contains an annotated translation of Rongtön Chenpo’s commentary on the central chapter of this treatise (including the relevant stanzas of the root text), along with an extensive introduction to the historical development of this doctrine and an analysis of Rongtön’s position. (Source: [http://www.vajrabookshop.com/categories/vajra-publications/products/perfect-or-perfected-rongton-on-buddhanature--a-commentary-on-the-fourth-chapter-of-the-ratnagotravibhaga Vajra Publications]) +
An early foundational text for buddha-nature theory, the ''Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra'' is an influential teaching in many Buddhist traditions in China and Tibet. There is some controversy surrounding its teaching, and this discussion will illuminate some of the more interesting aspects of the sutra. Set around the time of Buddha's passing, or ''Mahāparinirvāṇa'', the sūtra contains teachings on buddha-nature equating it with the ''dharmakāya''—that is, the complete enlightenment of a buddha. It also asserts that all sentient beings possess this nature as the ''buddhadhātu'', or buddha-element, which thus acts as a cause, seed, or potential for all beings to attain enlightenment. Furthermore, the sūtra includes some salient features related to this concept, such as the single vehicle and the notion that the ''dharmakāya'' is endowed with the four pāramitās of permanence, bliss, purity, and a self.
Peter Alan Roberts was born in Wales and lives in Hollywood, California. He earned a BA in Sanskrit and Pali and a DPhil in Tibetan Studies from Oxford University (Harris-Manchester College). For more than thirty years he has been working as an interpreter for lamas and as a translator of Tibetan texts. He specializes in the literature of the Kagyü and Nyingma traditions with a focus on tantric practices, and he is the author of ''The Biographies of Rechungpa'' and [[Books/Mahāmudrā and Related Instructions|''Mahāmudrā and Related Instructions'']], along with many other translations, especially for the [https://read.84000.co/search.html?s=Peter+Alan+Roberts 84000 Project]. See [https://read.84000.co/translation/UT22084-037-007.html ''The Stem Array]'', a translation of the ''Gaṇḍavyuha'' from the Tibetan, ''Sūtra of the Sublime Golden Light'' - a translation of the ''Suvarṇaprabhāsottamasūtra'', and others online at [https://read.84000.co/search.html?s=Peter+Alan+Roberts 84000.co]. +
Dr. Peter Skilling and Lopen Karma Phuntsho will discuss a key early quote attributed to the Buddha that serves as a source for buddha-nature teachings, among other things textual, historical, and beyond.
Peter Skilling is the founder of the Fragile Palm Leaves Foundation (Bangkok). He received a PhD with honors and a Habilitation in Paris (Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes). Peter’s publications include numerous articles and several books, including ''Questioning the Buddha'' (Wisdom, 2021), ''How Theravada is Theravada?'' (University of Washington Press, 2012), and ''Mahāsūtras: Great Discourses of the Buddha'' (2 vols., Oxford, The Pali Text Society, 1994 and 1997). His interests include the art and archaeology of South and Southeast Asia, as seen for example in the edited volume ''Wat Si Chum, Sukhothai: Art, Architecture and Inscriptions'' (River Books, Bangkok, 2008). +
This book contains thirty-four essays written by eminent philosophers and indologists in honor of the erudite scholar of Indian studies, Professor Gustav Roth. +
The present study has grown out of a lecture held in the winter term 2003-04, in which my aim was to present my view on the problem of the sentience of plants in early Buddhism to the participants of a series of lectures or various aspects of Buddhism, past and present, which were arranged by the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies of the University of Hamburg over about a decade. (Source: [https://www.bibliaimpex.com/index.php?p=sr&startrow=0&format=listpage&String=Plants+in+Early+Buddhism+and+the+Far+Eastern+Idea+of+the+Buddha-Nature+of+Grasses+and+Trees&Field=keywords Biblia Impex]) +
