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The Gongchig of the Tibetan master Jigten Sumgon conveys clearly the essence of the Buddha's teachings. It delineates the causal law of the universe, Nagarjuna's philosophy of interdependence, and opens one's mind to principles of ethics that help to guard oneself against confusion and deceit. Thus the Gongchig is a guide for every Dharma practitioner - for both study and application in daily life. This edition comprises translations of the Gongchig root text by Jigten Sumgon and of the commentary by Rigdzin Chokyi Dragpa, as well as the original Tibetan texts. It makes the work accessible even for readers who are not well versed in Buddhist philosophy. ([https://www.amazon.com/Gongchig-Single-Intent-Sacred-Dharma/dp/393352928X Source Accessed Sept 18, 2020]) +
In 1941, philosopher and poet Gendun Chopel (1903–51) sent a large manuscript by ship, train, and yak across mountains and deserts to his homeland in the northeastern corner of Tibet. He would follow it five years later, returning to his native land after twelve years in India and Sri Lanka. But he did not receive the welcome he imagined: he was arrested by the government of the regent of the young Dalai Lama on trumped-up charges of treason. He emerged from prison three years later a broken man and died soon after.
Gendun Chopel was a prolific writer during his short life. Yet he considered that manuscript, which he titled Grains of Gold, to be his life’s work, one to delight his compatriots with tales of an ancient Indian and Tibetan past, while alerting them to the wonders and dangers of the strikingly modern land abutting Tibet’s southern border, the British colony of India. Now available for the first time in English, Grains of Gold is a unique compendium of South Asian and Tibetan culture that combines travelogue, drawings, history, and ethnography. Gendun Chopel describes the world he discovered in South Asia, from the ruins of the sacred sites of Buddhism to the Sanskrit classics he learned to read in the original. He is also sharply, often humorously critical of the Tibetan love of the fantastic, bursting one myth after another and finding fault with the accounts of earlier Tibetan pilgrims. Exploring a wide range of cultures and religions central to the history of the region, Gendun Chopel is eager to describe all the new knowledge he gathered in his travels to his Buddhist audience in Tibet.
At once the account of the experiences of a tragic figure in Tibetan history and the work of an extraordinary scholar, Grains of Gold is an accessible, compelling work animated by a sense of discovery of both a distant past and a strange present. (Source: [https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/G/bo17041383.html University of Chicago Press])
Media/Gregory Forgues: A Reluctant Expression of the Inexpressible: Klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer (1308–1364) on Sugatagarbha +
''Forgues, Gregory. "A Reluctant Expression of the Inexpressible: Klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer (1308–1364) on ''Sugatagarbha''." Old Topic, New Insights: Buddha-Nature at the Crossroads between Doctrine and Practice. The 16th IATS Conference, Prague, July 3–9, 2022. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department. Video, 21:04. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa76N32sfUM.'' +
This paper discusses syntheses forged in Tibet among the doctrines of Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, and buddha-nature (''tathāgatagarbha''). Buddha-nature is a distinctively Mahāyāna Buddhist doctrine, taking a place along side of the Yogācāra doctrine of the basic consciousness (''ālayavijñāna'') and the universal emptiness (''śūnyatā'') of Madhyamaka. As a fundamental ground of reality, buddha-nature comes to be identified with a positive side of emptiness (in the case of Madhyamaka) and is assimilated with the basic consciousness (in the case of Yogācāra) as well. As the intrinsic purity of mind, buddha-nature also plays a causal role as the potential for complete awakening.
Buddha-nature comes to shape a Madhyamaka interpretation of emptiness in a positive light in a way that parallels its place in a Yogācāra interpretation (as a positive foundation of mind and reality). Buddha-nature supplements a Yogācāra theory of mind and reality by offering a positive alternative to a theory of consciousness that otherwise functions simply as the distorted cognitive structure of suffering. It thus is not only the potential for an awakened mind, but the cognitive content of awakening, too.
In Tibet we see the interpretation of buddha-nature converge with Mahāyāna doctrines in structurally parallel ways. Paired with buddha-nature, the doctrine of emptiness in Madhyamaka pivots from a “self-empty” lack of intrinsic nature to an “other-empty,” pure ground that remains. In narratives of disclosure characteristic of the doctrine of buddha-nature, we also see parallel shifts in the foundations of Yogācāra, as grounds of distortion like the basic consciousness, the dependent nature, and self-awareness are reinscribed into a causal story that takes place within a pure, gnostic ground. +
The Guhyasamāja Tantra is one of the Unexcelled Yoga Tantras of Vajrayana Buddhism. In the initial, generation-stage practice, one engages in a prescribed sequence of visualizations of oneself as an enlightened being in a purified environment in order to prepare one’s mind and body to engage in the second stage: the completion stage. The latter works directly with the subtle energies of one’s mind and body and transforms them into the enlightened mind and body of a buddha. In this book, Gyumé Khensur Lobsang Jampa, a former abbot of Gyumé Tantric College, provides complete instructions on how to practice the generation stage of Guhyasamāja, explaining the visualizations, offerings, and mantras involved, what they symbolize, and the purpose they serve. These instructions, which are usually imparted only orally from master to student after the student has been initiated into the Guhyasamāja mandala, are now being published in English for the first time and are supplemented by extracts from key written commentaries in the footnotes to support practitioners who have received the required transmissions from a holder of this lineage. The complete self-generation ritual is included in the second part of the book, with the Tibetan on facing pages, which can be used by those who read Tibetan and want to recite the ritual in Tibetan. (Source: [https://www.shambhala.com/guhyasamaja-practice-arya-nagarjuna-system-volume-one.html Shambhala Publications]) +
''Tharchin Rinpoche. "Guru Yoga in the Foundational Practices." Translated by Lama Ngawang Zangpo (Hugh Leslie Thompson). Austin, Texas, 2009.'' +
Although Tsongkhapa did not author a commentary on the ''Ultimate Continuum'', his main student and successor at his main seat of Ganden, Gyaltsap Je Darma Rinchen, composed an elaborate commentary on the ''Ultimate Continuum''. +
''Kano, Kazuo. "Göttingen shozō no Rāhula Sāṅkṛtyāyana satsuei bonbon shahon Xc14/1, Xcl4/57 ni tsuite" (The Photocopies of Manuscripts Photographed by Rāhula Sāṅkṛtāyana Preserved in Göttingen, Xc14/1 and Xc14/57). ''Mikkyō Bunka'' (Journal of Esoteric Buddhism) 212 (2004) 35–54.'' +
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Tsele Natsok Rangdröl is renowned in the Kagyü and Nyingma schools of Tibetan Buddhism for his brilliant scholarship, profound exposition, and meditative accomplishment. Comprised of two of his most important texts, this collection presents four essential Buddhist strands of philosophical viewpoint and meditation technique: the teachings of the Prajnaparamita (Perfection of Wisdom) body of literature; the philosophy of the Middle Way; Mahamudra meditation; and Dzogchen teachings and practice.The theme of these teachings is that in every person’s heart, mind, and spirit there is an identical essence that makes that person a living Buddha. The focus is on how to realize that essence through “effortless” training based on the four techniques. Since the training is unbound by cultural or temporal limitations, the truth the book conveys is as valuable today as it was in centuries past. This system has been applied by people from many walks of life, giving them a simple method to not only withstand life’s challenges but to transcend them. This redesigned edition of ''The Heart of the Matter'' and ''Lamp of Mahamudra'' features illuminating introductions and a new foreword, bringing Rangdröl’s timeless message to contemporary seekers. ([https://1lib.us/book/1305949/761a93 Source Accessed Oct 12, 2021]) +
To European readers Tibetan historiography is known from Tārānātha’s History of Buddhism in India, translated simultaneously by two members of the St. Petersburg Academy of Science, W. P. Wassilieff into Russian and A. Schiefner into German.[1] But this is not the only work of this kind which the Tibetan literature contains. There are many others. Among them „ The History of Buddhism in India and Tibet”[2]) by the great scholar ''Bu-ston Rin-chen-grub-pa'' (pronouce Budon Rinchenḍub), also called Budon Rinpoche, is held in great esteem by Tibetan and Mongolian learned lamas. It is distinguished from the work of Tārānātha by the plan of its composition. It consists of three parts. The history proper is preceded by a systematical review of the whole of Buddhist literature so far as preserved in Tibet, and it is followed by a systematical catalogue of works, authors and translators of all the literature contained in the Kanjur and Tanjur collections. The first part is of an overwhelming scientifical value. It represents a synthesis of everything which directly or remotely bears the stamp of Buddhism, that synthesis which is also the ultimate aim of the European investigation of that religion. The whole of its literature, sacred and profane, is here reviewed as divided in periods, schools and subject-matter. No one was better qualified for such a task than Budon, for he was one of the redactors of the Kanjur and Tanjur great collections in their final form. As a matter of fact his "History" is but an introduction and a systematical table of contents to the Narthaṅ editions of the Kanjur and Tanjur.<br> His work has not failed to attract the attention of European scholarship. Wassilieff quotes it in the first volume of his Buddhism, Sarat Candra Das has translated some excerpts out of it. I myself have published a translation in French, in the Muséon 1905 ("Notes de littéature buoddhique. La littérature Yogācāra d'après Bou-ston"),
ston"), of the part devoted to the litterature of the Yogācāra school, and, in English, of the part dealing with the Abhidharma Iitterature of the Sarvāstivādins, included in Prof. Takakusu's work on the Abhidharma Iitterature of the Sarvāstivādins. In the years 1927 and 1928 I have interpreted the work to my pupil E. E. Obermiller making it the subject of our seminary study. He then has made an English translation which was revised by me and is now published, thanks to the kind attention accorded to it by the Heidelberg Society for the Investigation of Buddhist Lore and by its president Professor M. Walleser.<br> The translation of the first part, now published, was not an easy task, since it consists predominantly of quotations, many of them having the form of mnemonic verse (kārikā's). They had to be identified and their commentaries consulted. With very few exceptions all has been found out by E. E. Obermiller in the Tanjur works. The high merit of this self-denying, absorbing and difficult work will, I have no doubt, be fully appreciated by fellow scholars who have a personal experience of that kind of work.<br> Budon Rinpoche was a native of Central Tibet. He lived in the years 1290–1364. He consequently belongs to the old school of Tibetan learning, the school which preceded the now dominant Gelugpa sect (the yellow-caps) founded by ''Tsoṅkhapa''. Besides the History he has written many other works. A full block-print edition of all his works in 15 volumes has recently appeared in Lhasa. No copy of it has as yet reached Leningrad. Among his works there is one on logic, Tshad-ma-rnam-ṅes-pai-bsdus-don = Pramāṇa-viniçcaya-piṇḍārtha, with his own commentary. A block-print containing his biography (rnam-thar) is in my possession. It will be analyzed by E. E. Obermiller in the Introduction also dealing with the sources of Tibetan historiography, which will be attached to the translation of the whole work. The Translation is made from the text of the old block-print edition, a copy of which is found in the Asiatic Museum of the Academy of Sciences of the U. S. S. R. (Th. Stcherbatsky, introduction, 3–4)<br><br>
<h5>Notes</h5>
#These translations are in need of revision, since there are considerable mistakes in which both translations always agree.<br>
#Bod-Chos-ḥbyuṅ.
The present volume contains the translation of the 2d Part of Bu-ton's History of Buddhism, i.e. of the historical part proper. The latter begins with the Life of the Buddha and ends with an account of the work carried out by the Tibetan Lotsavas and Indian Paṇḍits of Bu-ton's own period and immediately before him (XII and XIII Cent.), viz. the translation of the Buddhist kanonical texts and exegetical treatises from the Sanskrit. We have here, just as in the 1st Part, numerous quotations from both ''sūtra'' and ''çāstra''. Owing to this it becomes possible to get a clear aspect of the principal sources from which Bu-ton has compiled his History, and which have likewise later on served as a basis for the work of Tārānātha. —<br> Bu-ton's History of Buddhism proper is divided into the following principal parts: —<br> I. The Life of the Buddha Çākyamuni, the narrative of the so-called 12 Acts of the Buddha (''mdzad-pa bcu-gñis''), or rather of the 12 principal events in his life. The account of the first eleven, ending with the first "Swinging of the Wheel of the Doctrine" (''chos-kyi ḥkhor-lo bskor-ba = dharma-cakra-pravartana'') represents a summary of the ''Lalita-vistara-sūtra'' and contains numerous verses from it. Then, after a short indication of the Second and the Third Swingings (i.e. of the Scripture of the intermediate and the later period), there follows the story of the Buddha's attainment of Nirvāṇa. It is taken from the ''Vinayakṣudraka'' (tib. ''Ḥdul-ba-phran-tshegs'', Kangyur ḤDUL, XI), being a summary of the corresponding part of the latter.<br> II. The Rehearsals of the Buddhist Scripture. This part begins with the account of the first Rehearsal (Mahākāçyapa, Ānanda, Upāli), of the death of Kāçyapa and Ānanda, and of the second Rehearsal (Yaças, Kubjita, Revata, etc.). The only source here is likewise the ''Vinaya-kṣudraka'', the corresponding text of which is rendered in an abridged form, all the verses being quoted at full length. As concerns the 3d Rehearsal and the 18 Sects, the texts referred to on this subject are: —<br>
1. The ''Nikāya-bheda-upadarçana-saṁgraha'' of Vinītadeva (Tg.<br> MDO. XC.).<br>
2. The ''Bhikṣu-varṣāgra-pṛcchā''. of Padmākaraghoṣa (Ibid).<br>
3. The ''Prabhāvati'' of Çākyaprabha. (Tg. MDO. LXXXIX.)<br>
4. The ''Tarkajvālā'' of Bhāvaviveka. (Tg. MDO. XIX.)<br>
The latter work, though not directly mentioned, represents the principal source. Some passages of it are fully contained in Bu-ton's text. —<br> Ill. The different theories concerning the time of duration of the Buddhist Doctrine. Here we have quotations from the ''Karuñā-puṇḍarīka'', from Vasubandhu's Commentary on the ''Akṣayamati-nirdeça-sūtra'' (Tg. MDO. XXXV.), the Commentary on the ''Vajracchedikā''. (Tg. MDO. XVI), the Commentary on the 3 ''Prajñāpāramitā-Sūtras'' (Tg. MDO. XIV), etc. We have likewise the chronological calculations of the Sa-skya Paṇḍita and others concerning the time that has passed since the death of the Buddha.<br> IV. The "prophecies" concerning the persons that have furthered the spread of Buddhism. The most important are those contained in the ''Lankāvatāra'', the ''Mahākaruṇā-puṇḍarīka'' (Kg. MDO. VI), and the ''Mañjuçrī-mūlatantra''. (Kg. RGYUD. XI. Narthaṅ edition, or XII. Derge edition) A separate prophecy referring to the Tantric Ācāryas, that of the ''Kālacakra-uttaratantra'' (Kg. RGYUD. I) and the ''Mahākāla-tantra-rāja'' (Kg. RGYUD. V), is given at the end of this part. It is especially the ''Mañjuçrī-mūla-tantra'' which is to be regarded as a source of the greatest importance, not only for the History of Buddhism, but for the historiography of India in general. The most interesting is that part of it which refers to the Indian kings, — Açoka, Virasena, Nanda, Candragupta, etc. Noteworthy is the passage concerning Pāṇini who is spoken of as the friend of the king Nanda. — A detailed analysis of the historically important parts of all these texts will be published by me before long. —<br> V. The biographies of the celebrated Buddhist teachers, viz. Nāgārjuna, Āryadeva, Candragomin, Candrakīrti, Āryāsanga, Vasubandhu, Sthiramati, Dignāga, Dharmakīrti, Haribhadra, Çāntideva, etc. Each of these is followed by a list of the works composed by the teacher in question. An indication of the volumes of the Tangyur (Sūtra and Tantra) in which the works are contained is always given in the notes.<br> VI. A short summary of the history of the grammatical literature, or rather of the legends referring to it, viz. the stories about Bṛhaspati, Pāṇini, Sarvavarman (alias Çarvavarman, Saptavarman, or lçvaravarman), etc. After that comes an enumeration of the kanonical texts (Sūtra and Tantra) which have been lost or have not been translated into Tibetan. —<br> VII. Prophecies of an apocalyptic character foretelling the disappearance of the Buddhist Doctrine. Among these, that of the ''Candragarbha-paripṛcchā'' is quoted at full length with a very few abbreviations. This prophecy is treated in the Kangyur as a separate work (Kg. MDO. XXXII). In this place the text of the Lhasa block-print of Bu-ton's History contains a great number of mistakes in the proper names, which are sometimes quite illegible (e.g. Akandradha instead of Agnidatta !). A correct rendering of these names has been made possible with the help of the Derge (Sde-dge) edition of the Kangyur.<br> VIII. The History of Buddhism in Tibet. It begins with the genealogy of the early legendary Tibetan kings, commencing with Ña-ṭhi-tsen-po. Next come the legends about Tho-tho-ri-ñen-tsen and Sroṅ-tsen-gam-po. These are followed by a more detailed account concerning the spread of Buddhism in Tibet during the reign of Ṭhi-sroṅ-de-tsen, viz. the activity of Çāntirakṣita (called the "Ācārya Bodhisattva"), the selection of the first 7 Tibetan monks ''[Sad-mi mi bdun]'', the dispute between the adherents of Kamalaçīla and of the Chinese Hva-çaṅ Mahāyāna (the Tsen-min and the Tön-mün), etc. Then we have a brief account of the reign of Ral-pa-can, of the persecution by Laṅ-dar-ma, and of the restauration of the Church by the 10 monks of Ü and Tsaṅ, an indication of the monasteries and monastic sections founded by the said monks and their pupils and, finally, a narrative of the events that followed, viz. the arrival of Dīpaṁkaraçrījñāna (Atīça) in Tibet and the subsequent propagation of Buddhism. In particular we have an enumeration of the texts translated by some of the Lotsavas from the Sanskrit. It may be noted that, with very few exceptions, the texts mentioned belong to the Tantric parts of the Kangyur and Tangyur. Here ends the history proper. It is followed by a list containing the names of all the Paṇḍits and Lotsavas who have acted in Tibet, beginning with Çāntirakṣita and Padmasaṁbhava. With it ends the 3d Chapter (''leḥu'') of Bu-ton's text: "The History of the Doctrine in Tibet".<br> The last part is a systematical Index of all the Buddhist literature which has been translated from the Sanskrit by the Lotsavas and Paṇḍits. It is divided into 1. Sūtra Scripture (including the Vinaya, Prajñāpāramitā, Avataṁsaka, Ratnakūṭa, and Sūtra sections of the Kangyur), 2. Sūtra Exegesis, 3. Tantra Scripture, and 4. Tantra Exegesis. This Index, as well as the list of the Lotsavas and Paṇḍits, arranged in the alphabetical order, will form a separate 3d part which is to contain numerous other Indices and Appendices besides.<br> The part now published, similar to the first, includes a great number of smaller chapters and subdivisions. The system according to which these have been designated, is the same as in the first part, and is directly connected with the latter. A full table of the contents is given at the end. — (Obermiller, introduction, 3–6)
Hong Luo discusses Ratnākaraśānti’s understanding of self-awareness (''svasaṃvedana/svasaṃvitti'') and its relationship to buddha-nature in his ''Prajñāpāramitopadeśa''. +
Rev.Blayne Higa on the founder of Shin Buddhism's "spiritual insight of imperfection and radical acceptance." It can lead us to the ultimate realization of buddhanature. +
The question of ever-present change must be as old as the discipline of philosophy itself. The notion of constant flux attributed to Heraclitus (c. 535–c. 475 BC) and known as “''panta rhei''” was largely forgotten in the later development of Greek thought, but in India the notion of universal flux developed from around the sixth century BCE onward and inspired different philosophical systems, among them the Buddhist philosophy.
The Buddha’s statement “all that is conditioned'"`UNIQ--ref-00000001-QINU`"' is impermanent!”'"`UNIQ--ref-00000002-QINU`"' is known as one of The “Four Seals,” the cornerstone of all Buddhist traditions. In Buddhist logic this seal became the basis for the equation: “Whatever is conditioned is impermanent and whatever is impermanent is conditioned. Whatever is not conditioned is not impermanent and whatever is not impermanent is not conditioned.”
In Buddhism, the doctrine of the impermanence of conditioned entities is interwoven with the doctrine of causality. The fact that an entity is conditioned by previous causes and moments makes it subject to impermanence. The doctrine of impermanence was further refined into the doctrine of momentariness. This doctrine postulates a process of momentary arising and cessation on the micro level that happens so fast that it is perceived as a continuity.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000003-QINU`"'
The following presentation will highlight different definitions and classifications of what the terms ''conditioned'' and ''impermanent'' might mean for a number of selected Tibetan Buddhist masters in their interpretations of the true nature of the mind. Their literary works are invariably based, directly or indirectly, upon Indian Buddhist ''śāstras'' translated into Tibetan.
The point of the exploration in general is to facilitate access to the insights of Tibetan Buddhist masters as they are formulated within the framework of a philosophical discussion. A characteristic feature of their statements is that they are not based on intellectual speculation, but on meditative experience.
Here, we will be concerned mainly with the interpretation of statements pertaining to this issue in two Indian ''śāstras'', the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' and the ''Madhyāntavibhāga'', both attributed to Maitreya. However, as we will see, some of our Tibetan authors also draw on Indian works on Buddhist logic, epistemology, and ontology such as Dharmakīrti’s ''Pramāṇavārttika'', Vasubandhu’s ''Abhidharmakośa'', and Asaṅga’s ''Abhidharmasamuccaya''. The latter texts were studied in the monastic colleges of Tibet in the form of simplified manuals that constitute their own literary genre known as “Collected Topics” (''Bsdus grwa'') and “Classifications of Mind” (''blo rigs'').'"`UNIQ--ref-00000004-QINU`"'
In Buddhism, a mind conditioned by “actions” (''karmasaṃkleśa'') and “defilements” (''kleśasaṃkleśa'') is by definition a changeable mind—or one could even say—an unstable mind. As different mental factors make their appearance in our minds, our mental states change. Over the course of a day, an ordinary mind experiences many different mental states or factors caused by various defilements. But what should we think about the ultimate nature of the mind?
The mind or mental state in which the ultimate nature of mind is experienced, is considered the goal of the Buddhist path. It is called the enlightened mind, the true nature that is revealed when ''kleśa'' (“defilements”) and karma have subsided. This observation leaves us with two fundamental questions: Is this ultimate nature also described as conditioned and impermanent? Second, if this is the case, why is ultimate nature described in such a way? I will return to these questions below.
In order to introduce the selected Tibetan authors and their works, it may be helpful to reiterate that the so-called “Empty in itself'"`UNIQ--ref-00000005-QINU`"'-Empty of other”'"`UNIQ--ref-00000006-QINU`"' distinction that arose in Tibet is based on different interpretations of the nature of the mind or the so called “buddha-nature.” These interpretations stem from different readings of the seminal text for the presentation of the buddha-nature, the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' (hereafter abbreviated as RGV). The Buddha nature teachings are traditionally associated with the so-called third turning of the wheel of the Dharma, which the “Empty of other” proponents as well as other thinkers assert to be the highest level of the Buddhist teachings, following the division of the Buddha’s teachings provided in the seventh chapter of the ''Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra'' into three stages or wheels of doctrine, the first two being classified as provisional and the third and final stage as definitive.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000007-QINU`"'
In the RGV the nature of the mind is described in a way that lends itself to various interpretations. More than fifty commentaries'"`UNIQ--ref-00000008-QINU`"' were written in Tibet based on this ''śāstra''. Some were composed by authors classified as proponents of the “Empty in itself” philosophy and others by proponents of the “Empty of other” philosophy. The latter were often accused of interpreting the RGV’s statements too literally, taking the true nature of the mind to be a truly existent entity which was anathema to the Madhyamaka teachings based on the so-called second turning of the wheel of the Dharma. There was also the question of the qualities attributed to buddha-nature. If it contains qualities (as the RGV says it does) how can it be empty at the same time? The ontological status of the nature of the mind vis-à-vis the nature of emptiness is a central topic much discussed in the Tibetan tradition.
In this article, I will focus on explanations by selected authors, some of which have been classified as proponents of the “empty of other” philosophy. It is by now generally accepted that their works have been underrepresented, if not misrepresented, within the Tibetan scholastic tradition, partly as a consequence of the political persecution of the Jonang school. (Burchardi, "How Can a Momentary and Conditioned Mind Be Integral to ''Gzhan Stong''?, 55–57)
According to traditional biographies, Gautama Buddha had a special relationship with trees. He was born among trees in Lumbini Grove, when his mother went into premature labor. As a child, while sitting under a tree and watching his father plow a field as part of a religious ceremony, he naturally fell into a meditative trance. Later, when he left home on his spiritual quest, he went into the forest, where he studied with two teachers, later engaged in ascetic practices, and then meditated by himself under a tree, where he awakened. Afterward he continued to spend most of his time outdoors, often teaching under trees and eventually dying between two trees.<br> Unsurprisingly, the Buddha often expressed his appreciation of trees and other plants. According to one story in the Vinaya monastic code, a tree spirit appeared to him and complained that a monk had chopped down its tree. In response, the Buddha prohibited monastics from damaging trees or bushes, including cutting off limbs, picking flowers, or even plucking green leaves. One wonders what he would say about our casual destruction of whole ecosystems today.<br> We may also wonder about the larger pattern: why religious founders so often experience their spiritual transformation by leaving human society and going into the wilderness by themselves. Following his baptism, Jesus went into the desert, where he fasted for forty days and nights. Mohammed's revelations occurred when he retreated into a cave, where the archangel Gabriel appeared to him. The ''Khaggavisana Sutta'' (Rhinoceros Horn Sutra), one of the earliest in the
Pali canon, encourages monks to wander alone in the forest, like a rhinoceros. Milarepa lived and practiced in a cave by himself for many years, as did many Tibetan yogis after him. Today, in contrast, most of us meditate inside buildings with screened windows, which insulate us from insects, the hot sun, and chilling winds. There are many advantages to this, of course, but is something significant also lost?<br> Although we normally relate to nature in a utilitarian way, the natural world is an interdependent community of living beings that invites us into a different kind of relationship. The implication is that withdrawing into it, especially by oneself, can disrupt our usual ways of seeing and open us up to an alternative experience. Does that also point to why we enjoy being in nature so much? We find it healing, even when we don't understand why or how, but clearly it has something to do with the fact that the natural world offers us a temporary escape from our instrumentalized lives. (Read the entire article [https://rk-world.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/DW18_7-12.pdf here].)
Shohaku Okumura explains the connection between non-sentient beings and buddhanature. +
No abstract given. Below are the first relevant paragraphs:<br><br>A monk asked Zhaozhou: ‘‘Does a dog have buddha-nature?’’ Zhaozhou replied: ‘‘No.’’<br><br>
This pithy exchange between an unidentified Buddhist monk and the Tang dynasty Chan master Zhaozhou Congshen (778–897) is perhaps the best-known example of a Chan ''gong’an'', or ‘"public case." Although the passage occurs in a collection of Zhaozhou's sayings supposedly compiled by his disciples, its notoriety is due to a Song dynasty master, Wumen Huikai (1183–1260), who placed this exchange at the beginning of his famous ''gong’an'' collection, ''Gateless Barrier of the Chan Tradition'' (''Chanzong wumen guan'', 1228).[1] Wumen’s compilation, consisting of forty-four such exchanges and anecdotes accompanied by Wumen’s comments, is one of the most important works of Chan literature. And as the first case in Wumen’s collection, "Zhaozhou’s dog" became the single most influential ''gong’an'' in the Chinese Chan, Korean Son, and Japanese Zen traditions. It is often the first and sometimes the only ''gong’an'' assigned to monks, and many traditional commentators claim, following Wumen’s lead, that this single ''gong’an'' holds the key to all others.<br> Wumen’s work was neither the earliest nor the most comprehensive compilation of Chan cases. Indeed, the ''Gateless Barrier'' is relatively short and straightforward in comparison to two earlier collections, the ''Blue Cliff Record of Chan Master Foguo Yuanwu'' (''Foguo Yuanwu Chanshi Biyan lu''), published in 1128, and the ''Congrong Hermitage Record of the Commentaries by Old Wansong on the Case and Verse [Collection] by Reverend Jue of Tiantong [Mountain]'' (''Wansong laoren pingzhang Tiantong Jue heshang songgu Congrongan lu''), published in 1224. The cases that
make up these texts are each based on an individual anecdote, verbal exchange, or quandary known as the ''benze'' (original edict), to which has been added comments in prose and verse brushed by later masters. Whereas the ''Gateless Barrier'' contains forty-four such anecdotes accompanied by a brief comment and verse by Wumen, the ''Blue Cliff Record'' and ''Congrong Hermitage Record'' each contain one hundred cases including several layers of appended judgments, verses, and interlinear glosses. (The same "original edict" may appear in two or more collections, but the exegesis will invariably differ. More will be said about the structure of these
collections below.) Many more ''gong’an'' collections gained currency in China, and the Chan tradition would come to speak of seventeen hundred authoritative cases (although this number was probably not meant to be taken literally). By the end of the Song the ''gong’an'' had assumed a central role in the ideological, literary, and institutional identity of the Chan school.<br> Popular books on Chan and Zen Buddhism present ''gong’an'' as intentionally incoherent or meaningless. They are, it is claimed, illogical paradoxes or unsolvable riddles intended to frustrate and short-circuit the intellect in order to quell
thought and bring the practitioner to enlightenment. This understanding of ''gong’an'' is allied with a view of Chan as an iconoclastic and anti-intellectual tradition that rejects scripture, doctrine, philosophy, and indeed all forms of conceptual understanding in favor of unmediated or "pure" experience. ''Gong’an'' are intended, according to this view, not to communicate ideas so much as to induce a transformative experience. To grasp at the literal meaning of a Chan case is to
miss its point.<br> Recently scholars have begun to question the instrumental view of Chan that underlies this approach to Chan cases, arguing that it is based on a misreading of the historical and ethnographic record.[2] Chan ranks among the most ritualistic forms of Buddhist monasticism, and a master’s enlightenment is constituted within a prescribed set of institutional and ritual forms.[3] Moreover, the notion that Chan is designed to induce a nonconceptual or pure experience can be traced in part to late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Japanese intellectuals such as D. T. Suzuki and Nishida Kitarō, who were culling from Western sources, notably William James.[4] The notion that Chan is anti-intellectual and repudiates "words and letters" is belied by the fact that the Chan tradition produced the largest literary corpus of any Buddhist school in East Asia.[5] This corpus consists in large part of "recorded sayings" (''yulu'') and "records of the transmission of the flame" (''chuandenglu'') texts—texts recounting the careers and teachings of past patriarchs from which the original edicts were drawn.<br> Scholars now appreciate that Chan is more complex than early apologists and enthusiasts cared to admit; it is no longer possible to reduce Chan practice and Chan literature to a mere means intended to engender a singular and ineffable
spiritual experience. Accordingly, scholars of Chan ''gong’an'' have begun to attend to the institutional context and literary history of the genre,[6] and one scholar has devoted an entire monograph to the folkloric themes that appear in a single case.[7] Be that as it may, little progress has been made in deciphering the doctrinal and exegetical intent of Chan ''gong’an''; it would appear that scholars remain reluctant to treat ''gong’an'' as a form of exegesis at all. This reluctance may be due to the enduring legacy of an earlier apologetic mystification of the ''gong’an'' literature. The primary objective of this chapter is to demonstrate that such reluctance is misguided and that it is indeed possible to recover the original meaning and doctrinal purport of at least some of the cases. The task is not easy, however, as the cases are philosophically subtle and hermeneutically sophisticated, and the authors of the collections delighted in obscure allusions, clever puns, and deft wordplay. (Sharf, "How to Think with Chan ''Gong’an''," 205–7)<br><br>
<h5>Notes</h5>
My thanks to Charlotte Furth and Elizabeth Horton Sharf for their comments and
suggestions on earlier drafts of this chapter and to Ling Hon Lam for his meticulous
editorial attention.<br>
#T 2005:48.292c20–24. The exchange is also featured in case no. 18 of the ''Wansong Laoren pingzhang Tiantong Jue heshang songgu Congrongan lu'', T 2004:48.238b21–39a28. Textual details concerning Zhaozhou’s recorded sayings (''Zhaozhou Zhenji Chanshi yulu'') will be found below.
#Faure, ''The Rhetoric of Immediacy'' and ''Chan Insights and Oversights''; Foulk, "Myth, Ritual, and Monastic Practice"; Sharf, "The Zen of Japanese Nationalism," "Whose Zen?" and "Experience."
#Foulk and Sharf, "On the Ritual Use"; Sharf, "Ritual."
#Sharf, "Whose Zen?"
#On the sometimes controversial place of literary endeavors in the Song monastic institution, see esp. Gimello, "Mārga and Culture"; and Keyworth, "Transmitting the Lamp," 281–324.
#See esp. Heine and Wright, eds., ''The Kōan''.
#Heine, ''Shifting Shape''.
Articles/Hu-Jan Nien-Ch'i (Suddenly a Thought Rose): Chinese Understanding of Mind and Consciousness +
''The Issue'': In the ''Awakening of Faith in Mahāyāna'' (''Ta-ch'eng ch'i-hsin lun'',<sup>b</sup> henceforth abbreviated as AFM), is found a unique explanation of the origin of ''avidyā'', ignorance:<br>
:''Hu-jan nien-ch'i, ming wei wu-ming<sup>c</sup>
:Suddenly a thought rose; this is called ignorance<br>
This idea has baffled many modern scholars as it has traditionally charmed many a Far Eastern Buddhist. What is meant by "suddenly"? What constitutes "thought"? The most recent translator of the AFM, Yoshito Hakeda, has appended this remark to the passage:<br>
:There has been much discussion on the meaning of ''hu-jan'' in connection with the origin of ignorance, mainly on the basis of interpretations proposed by Fa-tsang,<sup>d</sup> (1) that ignorance alone becomes the source of defiled states of being. It is the subtlest; no other state of being can be the origin of this. It is therefore said in the text that ignorance emerges suddenly. (2) Commenting on a quotation from a ''sūtra'', he says "suddenly" means "beginninglessly," since the passage quoted makes clear that there is no other state of being prior to the state of ignorance. (3) The word "suddenly" is not used from the stand point of time, but is used to account for the emergence of ignorance without any instance of inception.
:. . . A monk of Ming<sup>e</sup> China, glosses "suddenly" as ''pu-chüeh'',<sup>f</sup> which may mean "unconsciously" or "without being aware of the reason."
:. . . If ''hu-jan'' is a translation of a Sanskrit word, the original word ''asasmāt'' may be posited. ''Akasmāt'' means "without reason" or "accidentally."'"`UNIQ--ref-00000001-QINU`"'<br>
The above remark does not actually answer the question of the origin of the concept, ''hu-jan'' (suddenly) or the identity of ''nien''<sup>g</sup> (thought). We become only more aware that ''hu-jan'' is one crucial justification for ''ch'an''<sup>h</sup> (zen) "sudden enlightenment," itself a unique idea. Concerning the meaning of ''nien'' and ''wu-nien''<sup>i</sup> (no-thought), I have shown in a related article that (a) Hakeda is not the first repeatedly to read ''nien'' as ''wang-nien'',<sup>j</sup> ''vikalpa''; Śikṣānanda's AFM was bothered by the same term; (b) but both managed to distort the original meaning; for (c) ''nien'' is rooted in a peculiar understanding in pre-Buddhist Han China.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000002-QINU`"' Nien is the incipient thought, associated with ''yin''<sup>k</sup> that disrupts the (otherwise passive, ''yang'',<sup>l</sup> mind. In this present article, I will cite more evidences—this time focusing upon the concepts of ''shih'',<sup>m</sup> consciousness, and ''hu-jan'', suddenness—to show again why the AFM cannot be fully understood without reference to the native mode of thought. (Lai, "''Hu-Jan Nien Ch'i'' (Suddenly a Thought Rose)," 42–43)
Articles/Hōshōron miroku chosaku setsu no kagen nendai saikō: Tonkō bonbun dankan IOL Khot S 5 to Pelliot 2740 no setsugō fukugen to nendai suitei +
It was reported by H. W. Bailey that a Khotanese-hybrid Sanskrit manuscript fragment from Dunhuang, IOL Khot S5 (abbr. S5) verso side, quotes verses from the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' (abbr. RGV) and attributes them to Maitreya. S5 is the earliest text hitherto known that ascribes the authorship of the RGV to Maitreya. While Bailey dates the S5 verso side to the period between the end of the 8th century and the 11th century, we can now further specify the date of composition as some time between the first half of the 9th century and the 11th century. Our rationale for this more specific ''terminus post quem'' is that the Chinese version of the ''Aparimitāyurjñānadhāraṇī'' (無量寿宗要経) written on the recto side of S5 is likely one of the numerous copies of the sūtra produced during (or shortly after) the reign of king Khri gtsug lde btsan, that is, during the first half of the 9th century. This fact is attested by two witnesses: Pelliot Tibétain 999 and the colophon of S5 recto side. There is also another Dunhuang Sanskrit fragment (Pelliot Chinois 2740) which quotes the RGV, and it is identified as the missing part of S5: the text of Pelliot 2740 recto precisely supplies the missing portion of S5 recto, and the two fragments are very similar in terms of size, material, and scripts. (Source: [https://www.academia.edu/5417315/_Dating_the_Earliest_Source_that_Attributes_the_Ratnagotravibh%C4%81ga_to_Maitreya_Sanskrit_Fragments_IOL_Khot_S_5_and_Pelliot_2740_from_Dunhuang_Indogaku_Bukkyogaku_Kenkyu_60-2_2012_._pp._168-174_in_Japanese_ Academia.edu]) +
''Sasaki, Shizuka. "Hōshōron no bonnōshōkisetsu" (The Explanation of the Origination of ''kleśa'' in the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''). ''Indogaku Bukkyōgaku Kenkyū'' (Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies) 40, no. 1 (1991): 128–34.'' +
