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The "Stages of the Teachings," or ''tenrim'', genre of Tibetan spiritual writing expounds the Mahayana Buddhist teachings as a systematic progression, from the practices required at the start of the bodhisattva's career to the final perfect awakening of buddhahood. The texts in the present volume each exerted seminal influence in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. The first text, ''The Blue Compendium'', presents the instructions of the Kadam teacher Potowa (1027/31-1105) as recorded by his student Dölpa (1059-1131). This verse work is followed by Gampopa's (1079-1153) revered ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', which, with its extensive quotations from the Indian scriptures, remains the most authoritative text on the path to enlightenment within the Kagyü school. The final selection is ''Clarifying the Sage's Intent'', a masterwork by the preeminent sage of the Sakya tradition, Sakya Pandita (1182-1251). (Source: [https://wisdomexperience.org/product/stages-buddhas-teachings/ Wisdom Publications])
Another version of Holmes's translation of Gampopa's ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'' is found in [[Ornament of Precious Liberation (Holmes)]]. +
Lopen Karma Phuntsho interviews translator Stephen Gethin and discusses the new book from Padmakara Translation Group, ''The Natural Openness and Freedom of the Mind: A Treasure Tantra of the Great Perfection'' by Deshek Lingpa with commentary by Khangsar Tenpa'i Wangchuk.
In September, Jigme Khyentse Rinpoche offered the oral transmission, or lung, for this incredibly clear text of Dzogchen that, in the eighth century, Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal sealed in the mind of Yudra Nyingpo, one of Guru Rinpoche’s twenty-five disciples. The text was rediscovered as a mind treasure by an emanation of Yudra Nyingpo, Deshek Lingpa (1956-2020), also known as Tulku Lhatsam or Tertön Padma Jigme Dorje, who was the abbot of both two monasteries in Golok.
Shambhala Publications just released a translation of this text, which includes an extensive commentary by Khangsar Tenpa'i Wangchuk, one of the most revered Nyingmapa lamas of the twentieth century whose entire collected works the Padmakara Translation Group is translating.
[https://www.shambhala.com/the-natural-openness-and-freedom-of-the-mind.html Find the book here on Shambhala's website.]
Stephen Gethin studied veterinary medicine at Cambridge University, where he was also awarded a choral exhibition. After a number of years in professional practice, he spent much of the 1980s undertaking two three-year retreats in France, where he now lives and, as a founding member of the Padmakara Translation Group, continues to translate. He was a Tsadra Foundation Translation Fellow from 2005 to 2024. His published translations include:
#[https://www.shambhala.com/nagarjuna-s-letter-to-a-friend-2951.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqpOsylggmtrxMDMlVNq_2gMDmP6H3FKC53g8gBzHfp7jZUsqtB ''Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend: With Commentary by Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rinpoche]]''. Shambhala 2005.
#[https://www.shambhala.com/zurchungpa-s-testament-9781559394925.html ''Zurchungpa's Testament''], by Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche. Shambhala, 2006.
#[https://www.shambhala.com/a-garland-of-views-3420.html ''A Garland of Views: A Guide to View, Meditation, and Result in the Nine Vehicles'']. Jamgön Mipham's commentary on Padmasambhava's ''Garland of Views'', Shambhala, 2015.
#Dudjom Rinpoche's [https://www.shambhala.com/a-torch-lighting-the-way-to-freedom-3665.html ''A Torch Lighting the Way to Freedom: Complete Instructions on the Preliminary Practices'']. Shambhala, 2016.
#''[[A Feast of the Nectar of the Supreme Vehicle]]: An Explanation of the Ornament of the Mahāyāna Sūtras; The Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra with Commentary by Mipham'', Shambhala, 2018.
#[https://www.shambhala.com/a-chariot-to-freedom-15692.html?srsltid=AfmBOopJ7UYfDn0JOedPBQmXkPSHU_166UGhyHH8w0xp-I9m9RaGJ8TC ''A Chariot to Freedom: Guidance From the Great Masters on the Vajrayāna Preliminary Practices'']. A detailed preliminary practice commentary by Shechen Gyaltsap. Shambhala, 2021.
#''[[Mahasiddha Practice: From Mitrayogin and Other Masters]]''. Volume 16 of Jamgön Kongtrul's ''Treasury of Precious Instructions'' (''gdams ngag rin po che'i mdzod''). Shambhala, 2021.
#[https://www.shambhala.com/awakening-wisdom-9781645471639.html ''Awakening Wisdom: Heart Advice on the Fundamental Practices of Vajrayana Buddhism''] by Pema Wangyal. Shambhala, 2023.
#''[[The Natural Openness and Freedom of the Mind]]''. Khangsar Tenpai'i Wangchuk's Collected Works. Shambhala, 2024.
#''The Cloudless Sky''. Khangsar Tenpai'i Wangchuk's Collected Works. Forthcoming.
#''The Aspiration to the Excellent Way''. Khangsar Tenpai'i Wangchuk's Collected Works. Forthcoming.
He also collaborated on a number of translations, including
*[https://www.shambhala.com/for-the-benefit-of-all-beings-14947.html ''A Flash of Lightning in the Dark of Night''] by the Dalai Lama. Shambhala, 1993.
*[https://bca.tsadra.org/index.php/Books/Wisdom:_Two_Buddhist_Commentaries ''Wisdom: Two Buddhist Commentaries''] by Khenchen Kunzang Pelden and Minyak Kunzang Sönam. Editions Padmakara, 1993.
*[https://bca.tsadra.org/index.php/Books/The_Words_of_My_Perfect_Teacher_(1998) ''The Words of My Perfect Teacher''] by Patrul Rinpoche. HarperCollins, 1994.
*[https://www.shambhala.com/a-guide-to-i-the-words-of-my-perfect-teacher-i-673.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqyYLKPXqzKE6AiJ_Dwlw5i_Gx7O8bPmrgDlZm8MBEHW77pKivg ''A Guide to The Words of My Perfect Teacher''] by Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang. Shambhala, 2004.
Geshe Sopa continues his elucidation of Lama Tsongkhapa’s masterwork on the Buddhist path with an explanation of the core meditative practice of śamatha, or calm abiding.<br> Showing how it is absolutely essential for—and goes hand in hand with—the achievement of insight into reality, he gives practical tips for countering sleepiness, agitation, and their more subtle counterparts. Leading us step by step toward deeper levels of concentration, volume 4 of the ''Steps on the Path to Enlightenment'' series brings readers closer to the ultimate goal of śamatha: unlimited and effortless focus. (Source: [https://wisdomexperience.org/product/steps-path-enlightenment-vol-4/ Wisdom Publications]) +
'''Abstract'''<br><br>
This thesis gives an account of Yogācāra Buddhist thought as presented in the works of Sthiramati, a leading sixth-century thinker in the Yogācāra tradition, along with a translation of his commentary on the Chapter on Enlightenment of the ''Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra''. The thesis introduces Sthiramati's life and times, and discusses the authorship and authenticity of works attributed to him.<br> Sthiramati's viewpoint is placed in the overall context of Yogācāra ontology. The thesis elucidates the fundamental categories of Yogācāra ontology, giving an analysis of the three identities (''trisvabhāva'') and their interrelationships, the connection between the three identities and the principle of representation-only (''vijñaptimātra''), and an account of basis-transformation (''āśrayaparāvṛtti''). This provides a philosophical foundation for interpreting the Yogācāra concept of Buddhahood, bringing out the intrinsic link between ontological realization and soteriological attainment in the Yogācāra system.<br> The thesis traces the Yogācāra account of Buddhahood in both its essence and its manifestation: Buddhahood is shown as both the absolute ground of being and as the locus for innumerable pure qualities and forms of mastery through which enlightenment is communicated to ordinary sentient beings. In this connection, the thesis presents the Yogācāra analysis of the Three Bodies of Buddha (''Dharmakāya'', the Truth-Body; ''Sambhogakāya'', the Enjoyment-Body; ''Nirmāṇakāya'', the Emanation-Body), which encompass both the essential being and the manifest functioning of Buddha. The three Budda-bodies are correlated with the four liberative wisdoms (''jñāna'') of the Buddha (the Mirror-like Wisdom, the Equality Wisdom, the Analytical Wisdom, and the All-Accomplishing Wisdom). The thesis recounts the classic Yogācāra discussion of the attributes of Buddhahood in terms of unity and multiplicity, and the nature and scope of Buddha's salvific activities.<br> The aims of the thesis are (1) to present Yogācāra Buddhology in its own terms; (2) to clarify the conceptual structure of Yogācāra Buddhology and the relationship in Yogācāra thought between Buddha and the phenomenal world, and between Buddha and the minds of sentient beings; and (3) to facilitate cross-cultural comparisons between Buddha and concepts of the Absolute in other religious traditions by providing a reliable presentation of the ontological, epistemological, and soteriological aspects of Yogācāra Buddhology.
In the nearly four decades that have passed since the end of World War II, the study of East Asian Buddhism has made rapid, manifold, and significant advances in the West. One general effect of its remarkable progress, apart from the enormous increment it has produced in the sheer quantity of knowledge, has been to draw the study of Buddhist thought and history away from the obscure periphery of scholarship on China, Japan, and Korea into the very center of those fields of academic focus. Students of East Asian history and culture, therefore, are no longer so inclined as they once were to follow traditional prejudices—e.g., the residual biases of Confucianism or of the European Enlightenment—in regarding Buddhism as an entirely arcane subject beyond the pale of, say, sober Sinology or main-stream Japanology. Rather, it is now widely recognized that Buddhism is a subject worthy of study not only in its own right, as a subtle and sophisticated system of religious belief and practice, but also because of the variety of very consequential roles it has played in the formation of East Asian society and civilization. Conversely, Buddhist Studies itself has begun to outgrow that part of its previous isolation which was self imposed. Buddhist scholars, that is to say, are now less inclined than they once were to abstract their subject from its various, complex, and ever-changing cultural contexts. They are as much interested in exploring the web of its relationships with other components of East Asian civilization as they are in tracing the intricacies of its philology and the internal patterns of its thought.<br> The factors contributing to this change in the nature and place of East Asian Buddhist Studies are too numerous to list in their entirety, and it is likely that not all of them are yet fully understood. No doubt influential are the new definitions of Religious and Intellectual History that have been entertained throughout the academy. New designs of advanced graduate training in the relevant disciplines and areas have surely also had their effects. However, two rather more specific factors deserve special notice, particularly in view of their relevance to the work here at hand. The first of these that needs to be appreciated is the extent to which western scholars of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Buddhism have put themselves wisely in debt to Japanese scholarship. The Japanese have led the field of East Asian Buddhist Studies for several generations, and in recent decades they have succeeded in adding to the breadth and depth of their traditional learning in the subject a measure of critical sophistication in Philology and History that has set the standard which all others in the field must match. No
serious work on East Asian Buddhism is now being done in Europe or America that has not been deliberately
informed by the Japanese model. The other particular factor to be noted is the importance of the discovery
and exploitation of previously unknown or very little known primary sources of information. Foremost among
these, of course, are the manuscripts and xylographs of the now well known Tun-huang trove. Of a significance for the study of East Asian Buddhism comparable to the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls for the early history of Judaism and Christianity, these texts have had especially revolutionary effects upon our
knowledge of the origins and early phases of Ch'an (Zen). Again, it has been Japanese scholars who have
taken the lead in editing, analyzing, and interpreting the hundreds of these texts in Chinese and Tibetan that bear on the early history of Ch'an, but now French scholars are also making very important contributions, and for some years yet to come the study of early Ch'an will continue to be one of the most exciting frontiers of advancement in East Asian Buddhist Studies wherever conducted. Also to be considered are the many other primary sources, apart from the Tun-huang materials, that have come to light in the past forty years or so and are now attracting scholarly attention. One thinks particularly of texts discovered in Korean monastic libraries or in hitherto little explored Japanese collections. These too have helped stimulate the growth and redefinition of East Asian Buddhist Studies that is currently underway.<br> It is the belief of the editors of the present volume that the essays which comprise it exemplify the trends sketched above. They either broach new topics or address older topics from new theoretical and methodological perspectives, and they are based in large measure on primary literature—much of it from the Tun-huang collection—which has been only recently discovered or which has previously eluded extended investigation. Moreover, all five of the essays are written by scholars who owe much to their Japanese teachers and who try to emulate those teachers in philological and historiographical rigor.<br> Ch'an and Hua-yen (Kegon) Buddhism have been chosen as the dual focus of this group of studies essentially for three reasons: First, because they
are major traditions of East Asian Buddhist thought and practice which were roughly contemporary with each
other in their origins and which influenced each other in important ways during the early centuries of their
development. Second, because they both loom large as examples of the East Asian transformation of Buddhism, i.e., of the remarkable process by which that originally Indian tradition took on the shape and substance first of a Chinese, and later of a Korean and a Japanese, religion; as such they serve as valuable
case studies in one of world history's most fascinating examples of religious change. Third, because they happen to be the subjects of some of the best work now being done, here and abroad, in the field of Buddhist Studies and so can serve well to index the changes underway in that field<br> The articles by Broughton, Gómez and McRae deal with early Ch'an and are based on texts in Chinese and Tibetan that were found among the Tun-huang manuscripts. All three shed substantively new light on the rise of what was to become one of the most crucial East Asian developments of Buddhism. The articles by Gregory and Gimello treat somewhat of Ch'an but mostly of Hua-yen—the latter especially in its "classical" phase during the eighth and ninth centuries, although they give some attention also to its later influences in other traditions of East Asian Buddhism. The Hua-yen articles are based primarily on materials which have long been available in standard editions of the Chinese Buddhist canon but which have been studied hardly at all in the West and only in the most preliminary way even in Japan. It is hoped that they will show, among other things, that the Hua-yen tradition is something more than its conventional reputation as a purely theoretical and rather cerebral form of Buddhism might lead one to believe.<br> Four of the five articles are much revised and expanded versions of papers delivered in 1980 at a Conference on East Asian Buddhism held in Los Angeles under the sponsorship of the Kuroda Institute for the Study of Buddhism and Human Values. The fifth, that by Luis Gómez, was especially solicited for the volume well after the conference. All of the articles were designed to comprise a collection that would serve not to introduce, survey, or sum up a field of study but to communicate new and ongoing advanced research. This will be the purpose also of the series, Studies in East Asian Buddhism, which this volume inaugurates. (Gimello, preface, 1983)
Part I of these ''Studies'' in Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka philosophy consists of three sections. The first outlines the history of the Madhyamaka school in Tibet from its origins toward the end of the eighth century until the time it fully assumed its classical form in the early fifteenth century owing to the efforts of Tson kha pa and other eminent masters of approximately that time. An earlier publication, ''The literature of the Madhyamaka school of philosophy in India'' (Wiesbaden, 1981), has traced the history of the Madhyamaka school in India beginning with its source, Nāgārjuna, and extending to the early part of the second millennium of the common era when it was establishing itself firmly in Tibet.
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Section II investigates the complex, and controversial, problem of whether a (Prāsaṅgika) Mādhyamika may, within the frame of his school's philosophy, assert a thesis (''pratijñā'') and maintain a philosophical position (''pakṣa'', ''mata''). It is a reworked and expanded version of an earlier study: 'On the thesis and assertion in the Madhyamaka/dBu ma' in E. Steinkellner and H. Tauscher (ed.), ''Contributions on Tibetan and Buddhist religion and philosophy'' (Proceedings of the Csoma de Korös Symposium held at Velm-Vienna, 13-19 September 1981 (Vienna, 1983), pp. 205-241).
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Section III concerns the very significant place occupied in Tsoṅ kha pa's Madhyamaka philosophy by the ideas and methods of epistemological and logical system (''pramāṇavidyā'') of Dharmakīrti. It is an expanded version of a study first published in 1991: 'On ''pramāṇa'' theory in Tsoṅ khap pa's Madhyamaka philosophy' in E. Steinkellner (ed.), ''Studies in the Buddhist epistemological tradition'' (Proceedings of the Second International Dharmakīrti Conference, Vienna, 11-16 June, 1989, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophische-Historische Klasse, Denkschriften, 222. Band (Vienna, 1991), pp. 281-310).
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Part II of these ''Studies'' will contain annotated translations of Candrakīrti's Sanskrit commentary on ''Madhyamakakārikā'' i.1 taken from his renowned ''Prasannapadā madhyamakavṛttiḥ'' and of rGyal tshab Dar ma rin chen's Tibetan Summary-Memorandum on the Eight Crucial Points in Madhyamaka philosophy (''dKya' gnad/gnas brgyad kyi zin bris''). (Source: foreword in Part I)
(Source: foreword in Part I)
While preparing a second series of ''Essays in Zen Buddhism'', the author thought it desirable for the reader to know something more about the ''Laṅkāvatāra'' than had been sketched out in the First Series. To do this he had to study the sutra more thoroughly, and as he was doing so, his interest in it grew stronger and wider. Then, he came to the conclusion that his study of the ''Laṅkāvatāra'' might be published independently and even prior to the second series of Zen essays. The result is this book now before the reader.<br> The ''Laṅkāvatāra'' is a Mahayana text difficult in more than one way to understand perfectly as to its meaning and also in Its proper historical setting. But its importance as giving most of the fundamental tenets of Mahayana Buddhism has urged the author to publish whatever results he has gained so far in his study. They are no doubt short of being quite satisfactory from a strictly scholarly point of view, but the author's earnest wish is to open the way, if he could so hope, for further study and more thoroughgoing investigation of the text. Mahayana Buddhism is
just beginning to be known in the West. As to the appreciation of its full significance we have to wait patiently for some years yet to come.<br> The first two parts of these ''Studies'' were already published In ''The Eastern Buddhist'', but in the present work they have been revised fully and inaccuracies corrected as far as available. The third part is entirely new. As the ''Studies'' were not planned out as a whole from the beginning but have grown progressively in the author's mind, some repetitions have become inevitable. The second part dealing with the ''Laṅkāvatāra'' containing the philosophy of Zen Buddhism was written first. As it was being revised after its publication in ''The Eastern Buddhist'', Volume IV, Nos. 3-4, for 1928, the thought suggested itself that the sutra must be studied also textually since there are still three Chinese and one (or two) Tibetan translations. The result was the first part of the present work, which appeared as an independent article in ''The Eastern Buddhist'', Volume V, No. 1, for 1929.<br> The ''Laṅkāvatāra'' does not belong exclusively to the Zen school of Buddhism, it is also the common property of the Mahayana. When it is studied apart from Zen, some of the important conceptions developed in the sutra, which do not
necessarily belong to the philosophy of Zen, are to be expounded, however briefly. Hence the third part of the present ''Studies'', entitled "Some of the Important Theories Expounded in the ''Laṅkāvatāra''."<br> The author has prepared for the benefit principally of
his Japanese and Cbinese readers a glossary of the Sanskrit technical terms found in the book. This he hopes to be of use in their perusal of Sanskrit Buddhist literature and at the same time illustrative of the methods of the Indian-Chinese translators. (Suzuki, preface, v–vi)<br><br>
[https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.9311/page/n5/mode/2up Read more here . . .]
Books/Study of the Tathāgatagarbha as True Self and the True Selves of the Brahmanic, Sāṅkhya and Jaina Traditions +
'''Abstract:'''<br><br>The tathāgatagarbha is an intrinsically luminous consciousness naturally inscribed with the complete knowledge of the Buddha along with infinite Buddha-virtues and the potential to attain them. Studies in the past have focused on its potential aspect and negated it as an ontological entity. In this dissertation I examine it as a true self of sentient beings arguing that being beginningless, unborn, unconditioned, eternally unchanging, enduring and imperishable, it qualifies as true self. Also, the Mahāyāna-Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra unhesitatingly acknowledges it as true self, and its features conform to the definition of the true self of this sūtra and of Bhāvaviveka. I find ample support for its interpretation as true self in the sūtras on this doctrine. Besides, its features correspond with the features of the Brahmanic, Sāṅkhya and Jaina true selves. The Tathāgatagarbha Doctrine is recognized as a provisional teaching. The centrality of the doctrines of śūnyatā, tathatā, darmadhātu, dharmakāya and nirvāṇa suggest that it is truly Mahāyāna in spirit. According to the Ratnagotravibhāga, without realizing the emptiness of own being, nirvāṇa is not attained. This “Ultimate Doctrine”, it adds, is taught to remove the five defects. The defects, I find, are connected with not knowing emptiness or understanding the dharmakāya of the Tathāgata nihilistically. As a corrective to the nihilistic understanding of the Mahāyāna Doctrine, it qualifies as an ultimate teaching.
I study the Tathāgatagarbha Doctrine from the following perspectives: the tathāgatagarbha as true self; the all-pervading, undifferentiated Essence of Buddhahood as Cosmic Self; and the concept of liberation. I also compare this doctrine to the doctrines of the above-mentioned three traditions and study their concepts of true self, the concepts of Cosmic Self of the Brahmanic and Early Sāṅkhya doctrines; and the concepts of liberation of these three doctrines. I follow the trajectory of thought of the Ratnagotravibhāga and the Tathāgatagarbha group of texts.
This volume examines the historical basis of the debate over sudden versus gradual approaches to enlightenment in Chinese Buddhism, seeing it as part of a recurrent polarity in Chinese history and thought. ''Sudden and Gradual'' includes essays by Luis O. Gómez on the philosophical implications of the debate in China and Tibet, Whalen Lai on Taodheng's theory of sudden enlightenment, Neal Donner on Chih-i's system of T'ien-t'ai, John R. McRae on Shen-Hui's sudden enlightenment and its precedents in Northern Ch'an, and Peter N. Gregory on Tsung-mi's theory of sudden enlightenment. (Source: [https://www.mlbd.in/products/sudden-and-gradual-approaches-to-enlightenment-in-chinese-thought-peter-n-gregory-9788120808195-8120808193 Motilal Banarsidass]) +
A translation of the primary materials on the life and teachings of Ma-Tsu (709-788), the successor to the great sixth patriarch and the greatest Ch'an master in history, Hui-Neng (638-713). The book should be invaluable to all who wish to study the development of the Zen thought and philosophy over the course of history. (Source: [https://www.jainpub.com/inc/sdetail/255 Jain Publishing]) +
T
(Chu) Tao-sheng stands out in history as a unique and preeminent thinker whose paradigmatic, original ideas paved the way for the advent of Chinese Buddhism. The universality of Buddha-nature, which Tao-sheng championed at the cost of excommunication, was to become a cornerstone of the Chinese Buddhist ideology. This book presents a comprehensive study of the only complete document by Tao-sheng still in existence. (Source: [https://www.sunypress.edu/p-986-tao-shengs-commentary-on-the-lo.aspx SUNY Press]) +
'''Abstract'''<br><br>
This dissertation provides a comprehensive study and complete translation of Tao-sheng's Commentary on the ''Saddharmapuṇḍarīka-sūtra'' (CSPS). This document occupies an important place in Chinese Buddhist literature. Its significance in the study of Chinese Buddhism can be described in two ways. Firstly, the CSPS was the first commentary ever written on the ''Lotus Sūtra'', which was to become a scripture of fundamental importance on the Far Eastern Buddhist scene, especially for the later Chinese Buddhist schools. Furthermore, it was the first commentary on any Buddhist scripture that was written in Chinese and structured in fully developed commentarial form. The CSPS set a pattern in many ways for later Buddhists to follow in terms of both structure and ideology.<br> Secondly, the CSPS is a rich source of Tao-sheng's seminal ideas. Tao-sheng (ca. 360-434) has been regarded, both in his time and subsequently, as a uniquely creative and prophetic thinker. The CSPS, the only writing of Tao-sheng preserved in complete form, is essential to any study of Tao-sheng's own original thought. Most of his theses and arguments, which were controversial in his day, were originally propounded in his other writings, but the commentary may provide at least the general structure of Tao-sheng's thought.<br> The thesis is composed of two main portions: "Study" (Part I-IV) and "Translation" (Part V). Part I sets out and clarifies the problems involved in the study of Tao-sheng, the aims and method of the present study. Part II as the introductory step to the main task involving the CSPS extensively examines Tao-sheng as a whole as reflected in other sources, in terms of his background, historical and biographical, his works, his doctrines, and his influence. Part III is devoted to a critical examination of the CSPS proper. Here I undertake an in-depth analysis in several different ways in respect with both form and content, or language and ideology. The analysis focuses on how Tao-sheng renders, successfully or otherwise, the ancient Indian system of religious thought into the current Chinese language, which was already laden with indigenous philosophical connotations. Here I also trace and reconstruct Tao-sheng's thought incorporated in the commentary in accordance with his distinct themes. Part IV reviews the findings and significance of the study conducted. In brief, the thesis is the first full-scale study of Tao-sheng and the commentary.<br> Finally, a complete translation of the text is presented along with detailed annotations including the classical sources of Chinese philosophical terms used and numerous corruptions of the text. In light of the significance of Tao-sheng and the CSPS, the translation answers the need for a complete translation of the text into a modern language and will serve as a basis for further study.
Increased attention to the tathāgatagarbha doctrine in the last decade has lead to significant publications and meetings on the topic of buddha-nature and related themes. Scholars in Asia, Europe, and the Americas have published new translations and studies of the foundational scriptures and commentaries, and are examining the history and literature of the doctrine. In July 2019 Tsadra Foundation partnered with the University of Vienna to bring many of these scholars together for an international symposium titled Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia. The presentations are available here and the edited papers were published in this book: [[Books/Buddha_Nature_Across_Asia|Buddha Nature Across Asia. WSTB 103]].
Over three days the symposium surveyed the differing forms of tathāgatagarbha doctrine that developed as its primary Indian scriptural sources were translated, transmitted, and interpreted by religious schools across Asia. Contemporary Buddhist teachers joined academics at the podium. Presentations ranged from the historical-philological analysis of the primary sources to issues of reconstruction and comparison in the target languages and cultures and included how tathāgatagarbha is taught in Buddhist communities today. Although primarily focused on the Indian and Himalayan material, the diversity in approaches and subject matter made for fruitful comparisons and discussions. +
Media/Teachings on Buddha-Nature: Commentary on the Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra by Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin (Part 1 of 20) +
Teachings on the Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra by Khenpo Tsultrim Tenzin at Tibetan Meditation Center, Frederick, MD. According to the posters, the third installment was lost due to recording errors, and the teachings from May 15, 2016 (part 14) have been lost due to a sound encoding problem. +
Media/Teachings on the Uttaratantra by Gyumed Khensur Rinpoche Lobsang Jampa by Do Ngak Kunphen Ling, Redding, CT and the Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Center of NJ (Part 1 of 16) +
Do Ngak Kunphen Ling of Redding, CT and the Mahayana Sutra and Tantra Center of New Jersey are pleased to announce an extraordinary nine-day teaching to be given by Gyumed Khensur Lobsang Jampa Rinpoche on the singularly important Buddhist philosophical work entitled The Treatise on the Higher Doctrine of the Great Vehicle (S: Mahāyānottaratantra¬śāstra, T: Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma’i bstan bcos), which is also known by the name Distinguishing the Spiritual Lineage of the Three Jewels (S: Ratnagotravibhāga, T: dKon mchog gi rigs rnam par dbye ba).
This treatise is one of the Five Teachings of Maitreya, all of which were said to have been revealed to Asanga by the Bodhisattva Maitreya. The central teaching of the Higher Doctrine is the topic of the “spiritual lineage” (Skt: gotram, Wyl: rigs), which is known popularly as “Buddha Nature” and represents the quality, both in a potential and an actualized form, by means of which all sentient beings possess the ability to attain the supreme enlightenment of a Buddha. The root text of the Higher Doctrine, written in verse form, comprises five chapters that are organized around seven “adamantine” topics. The first chapter deals with the first four topics, which are the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, and the spiritual lineage. Each of the next three chapters deals with the remaining three topics of enlightenment, a Buddha’s virtuous qualities, and a Buddha’s enlightened activities. The concluding chapter describes the benefits that are gained by a person who possesses devotion toward the subject matter presented in the treatise. +
Join world-renowned teacher, author, and activist Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo to delve into the ineffable nature and reflect on the universality of buddha-nature.
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo is a bhikṣuṇī in the Drukpa Lineage of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. She is an author, teacher and founder of the Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery in Himachal Pradesh, India. In addition to her role as Founding Director of Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery, Jetsunma is a former President of Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women, Founding Director of the Alliance of Non Himalayan Nuns, Honorary Advisor to the International Network of Engaged Buddhists, co-president of the International Buddhist Confederation [IBC], and Founding Member of the Committee for Bhiksuni Ordination.
To find out more about Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo’s life, read Vicki Mackenzie’s biography ''[https://www.amazon.com/Cave-Snow-Western-Womans-Enlightenment/dp/0747543895 Cave in the Snow]'', and see the "[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQMLYJEX4wM Cave in the Snow]" movie directed by Liz Thompson and narrated by Rachel Ward. +
This beautifully written work sheds new light on the origins and nature of Mahayana Buddhism with close readings of four well-known texts—the ''Lotus Sutra'', ''Diamond Sutra'', ''Tathagatagarbha Sutra'', and ''Vimalakirtinirdesa''. Treating these sutras as literary works rather than as straightforward philosophic or doctrinal treatises, Alan Cole argues that these writings were carefully sculpted to undermine traditional monastic Buddhism and to gain legitimacy and authority for Mahayana Buddhism as it was veering away from Buddhism’s older oral and institutional forms. His sophisticated and sustained analysis of the narrative structures and seductive literary strategies used in these sutras suggests that they were specifically written to encourage devotion to the written word instead of other forms of authority, be they human, institutional, or iconic. (Source: [https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520242760/text-as-father University of California Press]) +
Books/The Active Self: A Philosophical Study of the "Buddha Nature Treatise" and Other Chinese Buddhist Texts +
Buddha nature is the Thusness revealed by the twin<br> emptiness of man and things. . . . If one does not<br> speak of Buddha nature, one does not understand<br> emptiness.[1]
The Buddhist notion of ''anātman'', no self, has been a source of fascination and bewilderment to Western thinkers ever since the introduction of Buddhism to the West. Yet once we accept this notion and its centrality in Buddhist thought and practice, our bewilderment is redoubled when we learn that certain texts of the ''tathāgatagarbha''/Buddha nature lineage speak in the most positive language of such things as a Buddha nature, a pure mind and even the perfection of selfhood. How can such language be used within a tradition which places so much importance on the ''anātman'' teaching? Similarly, we are at first puzzled by the Mādhyamika teaching that everything is empty (''śūnya'') and that the supreme truth is emptiness. This language is the product of a man, Nāgārjuna, who is regarded as second only to the Buddha by Mahāyāna Buddhists and whose thinking forms the core of Mahāyāna philosophy. How, then, do the Buddha nature theorists intend their remarks that the Buddha nature is revealed by emptiness and that the perfections of purity, self, bliss and eternity characteristic of the ''dharmakāya'', with which the Buddha nature is identified, are ''not'' empty (''aśūnya'')? Such doctrines are astonishing in the context of Mādhyamika emptiness teachings.<br> This study addresses these philosophical issues. What is the Buddha-nature? What is its ontological status? Why do certain texts speak of a Buddha nature? What is the place of a Buddha nature concept in the context of the history of Buddhist thought? In particular, can it be reconciled with the central teachings of ''anātman'' and ''śūnyatā''? If so, how? In short, what does the term "Buddha nature" represent and how does it function?<br> I shall approach these issues through an examination of the Buddha nature concept within the context of Chinese Buddhism. The Buddha nature idea achieved a popularity and an importance in China which greatly exceeded its importance in India. China was the site of the heated and sustained "Buddha nature controversy" which revolved around the issue of whether or not all beings possess a Buddha nature. Virtually all important Buddhist schools and thinkers were obliged to commit themselves to positions on this crucial issue of the time and these positions became one of the primary criteria by which they judged each other. As a result of its being made an object of such scrutiny, the importance of the Buddha nature concept for subsequent developments of Chinese Buddhism was assured. I shall therefore be concerned toward the end of the study to consider the influences the Buddha nature concept may have had on some of these subsequent developments. (King, introduction, 1–3)<br><br>
<h5>Notes</h5>
#''Fo Hsing Lun'', (''Buddha Nature Treatise'', ''BNT''), attributed to Vasubandhu, translated by Paramārtha. T. 31, #1610, p. 787b.
The text known as the ''Dasheng qixinlun'' (Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna) is a short treatise occupying only nine pages in the Taishō edition of the Chinese Tripitaka.[1] The reconstructed Sanskrit title of the work is ''Mahāyāna-śraddhotpāda-śāstra''; it is said to have been written in Sanskrit by Aśvaghosha and translated into Chinese in A.D. 550 by the famous Indian translator of Buddhist texts, Paramārtha. No Sanskrit version of the text exists today, however, and all our knowledge of the work is based on this Chinese version and a second version that dates from a somewhat later period.<br> The work is a comprehensive summary of the essentials of Mahāyāna Buddhism, the product of a mind extraordinarily apt at synthesis. It begins with an examination of the nature of the Absolute or enlightenment and of the phenomenal world or nonenlightenment and discusses the relationships that exist between them; from there, it passes on to the question of how man may transcend his finite state and
participate in the life of the infinite while still remaining in the midst of the phenomenal order; it concludes with a discussion of particular practices and techniques that will aid the believer in the awakening and growth of his faith. In spite of its deep concern with philosophical concepts and definitions, therefore, it is essentially a religious work, a map drawn by a man of unshakable faith, which will guide the believer to the peak of understanding. But the map and the peak are only provisional symbols, skillful and expedient ways employed to bring men to enlightenment. The text and all the arguments in it exist not for their own sake but for the sake of this objective alone. The treatise is, indeed, a true classic of Mahāyāna Buddhism. (Hakeda, introduction, 1–2)<br><br>
[https://archive.org/details/awakeningoffaithattributedtoasvaghoshayoshitohakedas._87_U/mode/2up Read more here . . .] +
'''Taishō 1666'''<br>
Volume 32
This treatise, ''The Awakening of Faith'', sometimes known by the longer title of ''The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana'', presents a concise synopsis of both the theoretical and practical aspects of the central ideas of Mahāyāna Buddhism, and has therefore been widely read as an introduction to this branch. A short work, it remains extremely important in the history of Buddhism, having exerted influence in China and Japan on the schools of Hua-yen (Jp. Kegon), T'ien-t'ai (Jp. Tendai), Chan/Zen, Pure Land (Ch. Jìngtǔzōng; Jp. Jōdo Bukkyō), Chên-yen (Jp. Shingon), and more.
However, many questions remain concerning the author and place of composition, including whether it was composed in India or China, and whether the attributive author Aśvaghoṣa lived before or after Nāgārjuna.
Source
Skt. *''Mahāyānaśraddhotpāda-śāstra'', attributed to Aśvaghoṣa. Brought into the Chinese by Paramārtha as ''Dasheng qixin lun'' (大乘起信論). 1 fascicle.
Editor’s Note: This is a reprint of the sutra as translated by the late Dr. Yoshito S. Hakeda and originally published by Columbia University Press. This reprint edition retains Dr. Hakeda's chapter and subdivision headings and his commentaries, which are set in italicized paragraphs within the text itself. (Source: [https://bdkamerica.org/product/the-awakening-of-faith/ BDK America]) +
