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In connection with the requirement of a non-anthropocentric ethics encompassing all creatures, or nature as a whole, the Buddhist precept - valid for monks and nuns as well as lay followers - to abstain from killing any living, animate being (''pāṇātipātā veramaṇī''), occasionally supplanted or supplemented by the injunction not to injure them (''ahiṃaā''), is no doubt very important. Even though in everyday practice the ideal is rarely fulfilled and although the present ecological situation has created additional complications, the precept does seem to have had some protective influence in at least some traditional Buddhist societies.<br> However, being a living or animate being (e.g. ''p(r)āṇa/p(r)āṇin'', ''satt(v)a'', ''jīva'', bhūta) is, in India, at any rate in theoretical contexts, by and large equated with being sentient (''(sa)cetana'', ''sacittaka'', ''cittamaṃta'', etc.), with being, to a certain extent at least, capable of perception and sensation, and in doctrinally developed Buddhism it is, apart from men and mythological beings, only animals that are regarded as sentient beings. Except for certain developments
in the Far East and perhaps Tantric Buddhism (which requires special investigation), plants are not admitted in Buddhism as sentient beings, let alone crystals, stones, earth, water or other inorganic things. These are hence not, at least not directly, protected by the precept to abstain from killing/injuring animate beings.<br> The question is, however, whether this restriction of living, sentient beings, in the sphere of nature, to animals only was the position of Buddhism from the outset. Actually, from what we know about other Indian religions prior to or contemporary with earliest Buddhism, such a position would seem to have been anything but a matter of course.<br> As for Vedic religion, there is sufficient evidence that not only animals but also plants as well as seeds and even water and earth were, more or less naively, believed to be living and even sentient, and fire and wind had at least a personalized, divine aspect (viz. the gods Agni on the one hand, and Vāyu and Vāta on the other; cp. also the idea of water and fire as principles of life in late Vedic thought). Even in post-Vedic Hinduism, at least the view that plants and seeds capable of germination are sentient beings is still well documented, although some circles and authors disagree. Occasionally, even stones, water or the earth are admitted as living or sentient.<br> In Jainism the view that plants and seeds are sentient beings is clearly expressed and undisputed, and according to the view prevailing in Jaina sources even earth, water, wind and fire are alive, i.e., consist of minute living beings possessing, like plants, the sense of touch.<br> Against this background, it appears natural to raise the question whether in earliest Buddhism, too, at least plants and seeds (but perhaps even earth and water) may still have been viewed as living, sentient beings, in spite of the later rejection of such a view. To be sure, in this case it would be necessary to explain how the later view arose. But in the opposite case, too, one would have to search for a reason why the Buddhists, or the Buddha, abandoned the view, current at their time, that plants are sentient beings.<br> It would be easy to determine the status of plants and seeds in earliest Buddhism if the canonical Buddhist texts, and especially such layers as can be regarded as comparatively old, did contain fully explicit statements either rejecting or
asserting the sentience of plants. But there are none, as far as I can see. Hence, the matter has to be decided by induction. In view of the later doctrinal position of Buddhism that plants (etc.) are not sentient beings, the ''onus probandi'' is, of course, incumbent on him who maintains that in earliest Buddhism the situation was different. Therefore, I shall, in the following chapters (II-IV), discuss passages which may indicate that in earliest Buddhism plants were still regarded as living, sentient beings, or at least not yet definitely considered to be lifeless and insentient. (Schmithausen, ''The Problem of the Sentience of Plants in Earliest Buddhism'', 1–4)<br><br>
(*Notes of the author have been omitted.)
With masterful clarity and precision, The Profound Inner Principles delineates the principles and foundations of Vajrayāna practice. Rangjung Dorje presents the nature of things—mental and physical—and looks at the cause of delusion, what delusion creates, and how delusion is corrected. His explanations capture the principles of the Vajrayāna’s niruttara tantras, with a special focus on the structure and functioning of the body. Just as sugatagarbha, or buddha nature, is the nature of our mind, the potential for awakening lies within our body. The Mahāyāna literature refers to this pure potential as the evolving gotra, whereas the Vajrayāna refers to it as the “vajra body”—the subtle body of channels, winds, and bindus with six elements (earth, water, fire, wind, space, and wisdom-bliss). The vajra body is not only our innate capacity, it is also our path. Understanding its components and properties is essential for most meditators. The overarching theme of the text is that we need to understand how buddha nature is present in sentient beings, those on the path, and buddhas. All the details concerning the mind’s workings, the vajra body’s structures, and the meditations, paths, and stages will reinforce that understanding and give us insight into how and why the Vajrayāna path provides access to wisdom through the body.
This translation includes a commentary by Jamgön Kongtrul with extensive footnotes containing extracts from all the other important commentaries to The Profound Inner Principles; several glossaries with annotations by the translator; a works cited list and a selected bibliography; and an index. (Source: [https://www.shambhala.com/the-profound-inner-principles.html Shambhala Publications]) +
This comprehensive guide to the body of Buddhist teachings known as the hinayana brings together theory and practice in a way that reveals contemplative experience to be inseparable from the traditional concepts used to describe it. Based on teachings from the Vajradhatu Seminaries—the three-month-long meditation-and-study retreats that Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche led annually from 1973 to 1986—it covers in detail topics such as the four noble truths, karma, the four foundations of mindfulness, meditation, the refuge vows, the three jewels, the five skandhas, and more. ''The Path of Individual Liberation'', along with its two companion volumes, presents a complete map of the Tibetan Buddhist path from beginning to middle to end, from a teacher who had an extraordinary ability to convey the buddhadharma to the hearts and minds of his students. (Source: [https://www.shambhala.com/the-path-of-individual-liberation-volume-1-3107.html Shambhala Publications]) +
This comprehensive guide to the body of Buddhist teachings known as the mahayana brings together theory and practice in a way that reveals contemplative experience to be inseparable from the traditional concepts used to describe it. Based on teachings from the Vajradhatu Seminaries—the three-month-long meditation-and-study retreats that Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche led annually from 1973 to 1986—it covers in detail topics such as ''shunyata'' (emptiness), ''bodhichitta'' (the heart and mind of enlightenment), the bodhisattva ideal, and more. ''The Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom'' and Compassion, along with its two companion volumes, presents a complete map of the Tibetan Buddhist path from beginning to middle to end, from a teacher who had an extraordinary ability to convey the buddhadharma to the hearts and minds of his students. (Source: [https://www.shambhala.com/the-bodhisattva-path-of-wisdom-and-compassion-volume-2-3096.html Shambhala Publications]) +
Till quite recently nothing more was known of the text edited in this volume than that, under the title of ''Uttaratantra'', was included among the five chief works of Asaṅga by Tibetan tradition, which reported it to represent the Mādhyamika aspect of his teaching. In 1931 however a complete translation of it from Tibetan into English was published by E. Obermiller in Vol. IX, parts ii, iii and iv, of ''Acta Orientalia'', under the title "The Sublime Science of the Great Vehicle to Salvation, being a Manual of Buddhist Monism, the work of Ārya Maitreya with a Commentary by Āryāsaṅga". A few years later Prof. Bailey discovered among the Central Asian finds a Śaka transliteration of a number of Sanskrit verses, among which I identified the first verse of chapter i and the opening verses of chapter iii.[1] The MS. gave the name of the work as ''Ratnagotravibhāga'', thereby enabling me to adduce Chinese tradition about its authorship[2]. This tradition and the contents of the few verses thus restored caused me to doubt whether the treatise was really by Asaṅga at all and whether Obermiller had not in certain respects misrepresented its doctrinal tendencies by following modern Tibetan exegesis, which naturally endeavours to support the ascription to Asaṅga by reading his known views into the text. But while this paper was in the press, the Rev. Rāhula Sāṁkṛtyāyana published the first list of Sanskrit MSS. found by him in Tibet. These discoveries, whose importance for Buddhist learning can hardly be exaggerated, included according to him three MSS. of the ''Uttaratantra''[1], and, as the work I had done on it had convinced me of its great value in filling a gap in our knowledge of Mahāyana developments, I asked the Bihar and Orissa Research Society for permission to edit it, a request which was most generously granted. Owing to the defectiveness of the original photographs and the necessity of obtaining new ones on a later expedition, there was some delay in undertaking the work, and the war has further postponed preparation and publication of the text.
[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.326624/page/n7/mode/2up Read more here . . .]
<h5>Notes</h5>
1. ''Bull. LSOS'', VIII, pp. 77-89. My reconstruction was only partially successful, the transliteration being imperfect and leaving much to guesswork.<br>
2. The full name is shown by the MSS. as well as by the Tibetan and Chinese translations to be ''Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra''; the second part is merely descriptive of the scope of the work, and the first, being the proper title, is used throughout hereafter in place of the hitherto accepted ''Uttaratantra''.<br>
1. ''JBORS'', XXI, pp. 31 and 33.
This translation and study of Chapter Ten of Asanga's ''Mahayanasamgraha'', one of the foundational documents of the Yogacara school of Mahayana Buddhism, presents the systematic thinking of one of the greatest early Buddhist theoreticians on the nature of the Buddha. Providing insight into Asanga's thought and influence in the development of Mahayana Buddhism in India, Tibet, China, and Japan, the book includes translations of early Indian commentaries on the text which have been preserved in earlier Chinese and Tibetan translations. ([https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195057317?pf_rd_r=SX0S73G1YRQZX1XKNXA5&pf_rd_p=ab873d20-a0ca-439b-ac45-cd78f07a84d8 Source Accessed March 20, 2020]) +
[T]he work [''Denkōroku''] [was] written by Keizan Jokin during the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Keizan began this book with Shakyamuni Buddha as the leading chapter. Denkoroku is a collection of stories about 53 Patriarchs from India, China and Japan and illustrates the enlightenment of each Patriarch – known as the Zen Enlightenment, or Transmission of Light.
Each chapter is started with the Leading Case (本則, Honsoku), Background (機縁, Kien), Dharma Discourse (提拮, Nentei), and Verse (古頌, Juko). When Keizan mentioned each Patriarch he began with the most important point. First, the key tenet as Leading Case (Honsoku). Next, he indicated the background (Kien) of each Patriarch. Some backgrounds are minutely detailed while others are brief and sparse. After a discussion about background, Keizan presented a lengthy interpretation about the Patriarch as Dharma Discourse (Nentei). He followed with his own Verse (Juko) as a short conclusion.
Short stories of each Patriarch are given in this manner so it is easy to follow the accomplishment of each Patriarchs life. Honsoku as Leading Case is the area which indicates the Enlightenment and level of transmission of the Patriarch, while Kien as Background describes the process by which the Patriarch is enabled to practice the transmission. Nentei as Dharma Discourse clarifies the Enlightenment of the Patriarch. Here Keizan teaches the students various interpretations of the Dharma. Finally, Juko (Verse) expresses the spirit of the chapter. Though not necessarily connected with the surface meaning of the chapter, it does express the essence and the conclusion. By making use of the Leading case, background, and dharma discourse, Keizan demonstrates the spiritual tenets which lead to the actual stage of being a Patriarch. In other words, it portrays the Way of Enlightenment. (Nishiyama, introduction, 3–4) +
''The Record of Transmitting the Light'' traces the inheritance of the Buddha's enlightenment through successive Buddhist masters. Written by a seminal figure in the Japanese Zen tradition, its significance as an historical and religious document is unquestionable. And ultimately, ''The Record of Transmitting the Light'' serves as a testament to our own capacity to awaken to a life of freedom, wisdom, and compassion.
Readers of Zen will also find the introduction and translation by Francis Dojun Cook, the scholar whose insights brought Zen Master Dogen to life in ''How to Raise an Ox'', of great value. (Source: [https://wisdomexperience.org/product/record-transmitting-light/ Wisdom Publications]) +
According to the Tibetan Tsong Kha pa one of the eight difficult points in understanding Madhyamaka philosophy is the way in which Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka does not accept even conventionally that reflexivity is an essential part of awareness — that in being aware there is also an awareness of being aware (rang rig). One of the most sysyematic and detailed refutations of Tsong kha pa's approach to this issue can be found in the commentary to the ninth chapter of the Bodhicaryaāvatāra by the rNyingma lama Mi pham (1846–1912), together with Mi pham's own replies to his subsequent critics. In the course of this Mi pham reveals a vision of what is going on in the Madhyamaka which is rather different from the more familiar Tibetan approach of Tsong kha pa.<br> Paul Williams places this controversy in its Indian and Tibetan context. He traces in detail Mi pham's position in his commentary on the Bodhicaryaāvatāra, the attack of one of his opponents, and his response, as well as indicating ways in which this controversy over the nature of awareness may be important within the context of Mi pham's rNyingma heritage of rDzogs chen thought and practice.<br> This book is the first book length study of its subject, and also includes a reprint of a previous paper by Williams on the reflexive nature of awareness, as well as the relevant Tibetan texts from Mi pham. The book will be of interest to all students of Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka, as well as associated areas of Buddhist thought such as Yogācāra and the philosophy of Dharmakīrti. It will also be of value to those concerned with the intelectual foundations of rDzogs chen. (Source: Back cover of Routledge 2013 edition) +
No description given. The following is an excerpt from Turrell Wylie's review published in ''The American Historical Review'', Volume 88, Issue 5, December 1983, Page 1309:<br><br>
This book by Giuseppe Tucci, the internationally renowned Tibetologist, is a scholarly study of the religions of Tibet: Buddhism, the nameless "folk religion," and the system called ''Bon''. The history of the spread of Buddhism in Tibet is divided in the indigenous tradition into the "early" and "later" stages. The first chapter of the book surveys the significant events of the early spread, which ended with the persecution of Buddhism in the ninth century, and the second reviews those of the later spread, beginning with the revival of Buddhism and the founding of great monasteries in the eleventh century. Chapter 3 deals with the general characteristics of "Lamaism" and the emergence of the major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, particularly the rNying ma pa, Sa skya pa, bKa' brgyud pa, and dGe lugs pa. Chapter 4 examines the doctrines held, both in common and in particular, by these schools, as well as the substantialism of the Jo nang pa and the quietism of the Zhi byed pa. The fifth chapter deals with the organization of the monastic community, the administration of the monastery and its property, and the religious calendar with its various festivals. Chapter 6 is devoted to the "folk religion," replete with its beliefs in benevolent and malevolent numina. Various apotropaic rituals intended to protect the individual, the family, the house, and other property are discussed in detail. This chapter shows clearly the contradiction between the intellectual preoccupation with Buddhist epistemology and ontology on the monastic level and the emotional concern with the existence of demonic powers and the vulnerability of the "soul" (''bla'') on the lay level. The final chapter deals with the ''Bon'' religion that predated Buddhism in Tibet. This chapter explores the religious milieu of the ancient monarchy and then examines the way in which ''Bon'' evolved over the centuries in competition with, and later in imitation of, Buddhism. An eight-page chronological table listing significant dates and events in Tibetan history is given at the end of the book.<br><br>
[https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/88/5/1309/100538?redirectedFrom=fulltext Read more here . . .]
Becoming a ''buddha'' ('Awakened One') under the Bodhi tree (''Ficus religiosa'') was undoubtedly the most significant event in the career of the historical Buddha, and may be considered the starting point of Buddhism. According to both Mahāyāna ('Greater Vehicle') and Hīnayāna ('Lesser Vehicle') or non-Mahāyāna, the historical Buddha had sometime in the distant past resolved to become a ''buddha'', thereby launching out on the career of a ''bodhisattva'', that is, a sentient being who strives to attain the highest state of awakening. A major distinction between non-Mahāyāna and Mahāyāna, however, is that for the former the status of being a ''bodhisattva'' or ''buddha'' is confined to the historical Buddha (or a few others like him), while the ultimate soteriological goal of a disciple is Arhatship (that is, the final state of a saint who has attained release from the cycle of birth and death) primarily for oneself. For the latter, by contrast, even an ordinary sentient being is capable of undertaking the long and arduous career of a ''bodhisattva'' by generating ''bodhicitta'' and finally becoming a ''buddha'' (just like the historical Buddha himself), primarily for the sake of many other sentient beings. In sum, a person who possesses or has generated ''bodhicitta'' is considered to be a ''bodhisattva'', and the form of Buddhism concerned with the theory and practice of a ''bodhisattva'' is known as Mahāyāna. The idea of ''bodhicitta'' in the sense of the resolve to become a ''buddha'' is hence the bedrock of Mahāyāna, and is what distinguishes a ''bodhisattva'' from a ''śrāvaka'', Mahāyāna from non-Mahāyāna. It is presupposed by all forms of Mahāyāna Buddhism including Vajrayāna ('Diamond Vehicle'), or tantric Mahāyāna.<br> Multiple internal and external factors must have contributed to the formation and further development of the concept of ''bodhicitta''. The psychological need of the Buddhists to make up in one way or another for the demise of the historical Buddha may have been one of the principal internal factors that contributed to the formation of the idea of the resolve to become a ''buddha''. Such an idea would not have lacked the doctrinal justification or legitimisation that it needed, for the non-Mahāyāna sources seem to abound in doctrinal elements that could easily be used to underpin the concept of ''bodhicitta''. In its early phase of development, the idea of generating ''bodhicitta'' probably meant only the initial resolve to become a ''buddha'', a momentous decision made by an aspirant seeking Buddhahood (''buddhatva''). This was seen as an indispensable but not necessarily a sufficient condition for the attainment of Buddhahood. However, gradually the idea came to encompass the entire theory and practice of a ''bodhisattva'' and to be considered not only a necessary but in fact a sufficient condition for such an attainment. In the course of time, even the true reality that a ''bodhisattva'' or ''buddha'' experiences as a spiritual event, the meditative insight or gnosis by means of which the true reality is experienced, and all conceivable resources or means—be they psycho-physiological, visual, verbal, or visional impulses that could be employed for becoming a ''buddha''—came to be regarded as ''bodhicitta''. It is this idea as found explicated in Indian and Tibetan Mahāyāna Buddhism that the present study seeks to examine. (Wangchuk, introductory remarks, 21–22)
([https://www.academia.edu/471592/Wangchuk_2007_The_Resolve_to_Become_a_Buddha_A_Study_of_the_Bodhicitta_Concept_in_Indo-Tibetan_Buddhism._Studia_Philologica_Buddhica_Monograph_Series_23._Tokyo_The_International_Institute_for_Buddhist_Studies_2007 Read More Online...])
Through a highly sensitive exploration of key concepts and metaphors, Bernard Faure guides Western readers in appreciating some of the more elusive aspects of the Chinese tradition of Chan Buddhism and its outgrowth, Japanese Zen. He focuses on Chan’s insistence on “immediacy” — its denial of all traditional mediations, including scripture, ritual, good works — and yet shows how these mediations have always been present in Chan. Given this apparent duplicity in its discourse, Faure reveals how Chan structures its practice and doctrine on such mental paradigms as mediacy/immediacy, sudden/gradual, and center/margins. (Source: [https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691029634/the-rhetoric-of-immediacy Princeton University Press]) +
'''Taishō 676'''<br>
'''Volume 16'''<br>
The basic sūtra of the Faxiang School, ''The Scripture on the Explication of Underlying Meaning'' expounds the thought of the Yogācāra or Mind-Only School (''Vijñānavāda''), stating that all phenomena are manifestations of the mind. It belongs to the middle period of Indian Mahāyāna Buddhism and is considered to have been composed at the start of the fourth century A.D. It is divided into eight chapters, and gives a detailed exposition of the philosophy of the Yogācāra School. Judging from the fact that the greater part of this sūtra is quoted in the ''Yogācārabhūmi'' (Taishō 53), and that numerous citations from it are to be found in such works as the ''Mahāyānasaṃgraha'' (Taishō 57) and ''Jō-yui-shiki-ron'' (Taishō 54), it is clear that it exerted considerable influence in later times.
'''Source'''<br>
Skt. ''Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra''. Translated into the Chinese by Xuan Cang as ''Jie shenmi jing'' (解深密經). 5 fascicles.<br>(Source: [https://bdkamerica.org/product/the-scripture-on-the-explication-of-underlying-meaning/ BDK America]) +
This careful analysis of early Buddhist thought opens out a perspective in which no permanent Self is accepted, but a rich analysis of changing and potent mental processes is developed. It explores issues relating to the not-Self teaching: self-development, moral responsibility, the between-lives period, and the 'undetermined questions' on the world, on the 'life principle' and on the liberated one after death. It examines the 'person' as a flowing continuity centered on consciousness or discernment (''vinnana'') configured in changing minds-sets (''cittas''). The resting state of this is seen as 'brightly shining' - like the 'Buddha nature' of Mahayana thought - so as to represent the potential for Nirvana. Nirvana is then shown to be a state in which consciousness transcends all objects, and thus participates in a timeless, unconditioned realm. (Source: [https://www.routledge.com/The-Selfless-Mind-Personality-Consciousness-and-Nirvana-in-Early-Buddhism/Harvey/p/book/9780700703388 Routledge])<br><br>See especially chapter 10, ''Bhavaṅga'' and the Brightly Shining Mind. +
“The Shentong interpretation of Tathagatagarbha doctrine does not imply there is no need for the path. However, according to Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, it does try to counter an ambitious, goal orientated approach to it. If Buddha were something newly produced by following the path, it would be a conditioned phenomena, the product of self-effort; it would not arise simply through complete relaxation of conceptual contrivance.” (From: ''The Buddha Within'') ([https://soundcloud.com/rangjung-yeshe-institute/lama-shenpen-hookham-the-shentong-interpretation-of-tathagatagarbha-doctrine Source Accessed August 13, 2020])<br><br>
Lama Shenpen Hookham speaks with students at RYI about the Shentong interpretation of Tathāgatagarbha on April 15, 2019. +
Books/The Single Intention: The Root Text, a Commentary by Khenpo Kunpal, and an Overview by Rinchen Jangchub +
The Single Intention by Jigten Sumgön (1143–1217), the founder of the Drikung Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, is a key philosophical text for the whole Kagyu tradition. It contains Jigten Sumgön’s special teachings in 150 pithy “vajra statements” and their 40 additions.
It is about the fundamental intention that underlies all the Buddha’s teachings and unites all the categories of Buddhist concepts within one central principle – the “actual reality of the nature or state of all phenomena.” One of the main messages is the universal validity and unchangeable nature of virtue and non-virtue, which means that no one can bypass the foundational practices and the observance of disciplined conduct..
[https://www.garchen-stiftung.de/en/edition-garchen-stiftung-49.html (Source: Garchen Stiftung)] +
"The Six Gates to the Sublime" is a classic Buddhist meditation instruction manual explaining the six practices crucial to success in traditional Indian Buddhist breath-focused (''anapana'') meditation and calming-and-insight (''samatha-vipasyana'') meditation. Correctly implemented, these six "gates" lead the meditator to realization of the fourth of the four truths (cessation), of which the "sublimity" referenced in the title is one of the four canonically-described practice aspects.
This classic was written by the sixth-century monk and meditation master, Shramana Zhiyi (Chih-i), one of the most illustrious figures in the history of Chinese Buddhism. Master Zhiyi is famous for his role in the founding of the Tiantai teachings lineage and for his authorship of a quartet of meditation manuals of which this is one. The translator of this volume is the American monk, Bhikshu Dharmamitra, a translator of numerous classic works from the Indian and Chinese Buddhist traditions. ([https://www.amazon.com/Dharma-Sublime-Kalavinka-Buddhist-Classics-ebook/dp/B08FZS6K18 Source Accessed July 15, 2021]) +
'''Abstract'''<br><br>Given the disregard many lamas and yogis have had towards the soteriological efficacy of epistemology, one may come to the false conclusion that epistemology is only relevant to the context of debate, without any application to meditation practice and the path to liberation. However, one can clearly see that this is not completely true, since Dharmakīrti (c. 600 CE), who is arguably Buddhism’s most influential epistemologist, provides an account of how a practitioner may attain the liberative cognition known as yogic direct valid means of cognition (''rnal ’byor mngon sum tshad ma'', hereafter referred to as ''yogic perception''). In Tibet, the dGe lugs pa-s are particularly known for their soteriological use of epistemology, which is unsurprising given their emphasis on scholarship, but there are even thinkers in the meditation- oriented bKa’ brgyud school who have a soteriologically-oriented take on epistemology.<br> The aim in thesis is to show how bKa’ brgyud epistemologists’ (most notably, the Seventh Karma pa’s (1454-1506)) view on yogic perception differs from that of Dharmakīrti and the dGe lugs pa-s, since most western scholarship on Buddhist epistemology has focused on them. Like Dharmakīrti and the dGe lugs pa-s, the Seventh Karma pa describes the gradual path to attaining yogic perception through inference and familiarization, although there are striking differences in their understandings of the nature of what is observed in this type of perception. His epistemology is not only relevant to the scholarly path of inference, as one finds with most epistemologists, however. His view on reflexive awareness represents a common ground between the theory attached to Mahāmudrā, and ''pramāṇa'', which allows for an epistemological explanation of the Mahāmudrā method of “taking direct perception as the path.” Through showing first, how his view of yogic perception differs from Dharmakīrti and the dGe lugs pa-s,and secondly, how his view concerning reflexive awareness is connected to Mahāmudrā, I wish to show the unique characteristics of the Seventh Karma pa’s brand of soteriological epistemology.
Leading Buddhist scholar Sam van Schaik explores the history and essence of Zen, based on a new translation of one of the earliest surviving collections of teachings by Zen masters. These teachings, titled The Masters and Students of the Lanka, were discovered in a sealed cave on the old Silk Road, in modern Gansu, China, in the early twentieth century. All more than a thousand years old, the manuscripts have sometimes been called the Buddhist Dead Sea Scrolls, and their translation has opened a new window onto the history of Buddhism.
Both accessible and illuminating, this book explores the continuities between the ways in which Zen was practiced in ancient times, and how it is practiced today in East Asian countries such as Japan, China, Korea, and Vietnam, as well as in the emerging Western Zen tradition. (Source: [https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300221459/spirit-zen Yale University Press]) +
The original ''Sublime Continuum Explanatory Commentary'' was written by Noble Asaṅga to explain the verses by the bodhisattva Maitreyanātha around the 4th CE century in North India. Here it is introduced and presented in an original translation from Sanskrit and Tibetan, with the translation of an extensive Tibetan ''Supercommentary'' by Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen (1364–1432 CE), whose work is considered to follow the view of his teacher, Tsong Khapa (1357–1419 CE).<br>
<br>
Contemporary scholars have widely mis-understood the Buddhist Centrist teaching of emptiness, or selflessness, as either a form of nihilism or a radical skepticism. Yet Buddhist philosophers from Nāgārjuna on have shown that the negation of ''intrinsic'' reality affirms the supreme value of ''relative'' realities if accurately understood. Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen, in his ''Supercommentary'', elucidates a highly positive theory of the “buddha-nature,” showing how the wisdom of emptiness empowers the compassionate life of the enlightened, as it is touched by its oneness with the truth body of all buddhas. With his clear study of Gyaltsap’s insight and his original English translation, Bo Jiang, Ph.D. completes his historic project of studying and presenting these works from Sanskrit and Tibetan both in Chinese and, now, English translations, in linked publications.<br>
<br>
Marty Bo Jiang is a research fellow at the American Institute of Buddhist Studies at the Columbia University Center for Buddhist Studies. (Source: [http://aibs.columbia.edu/books.html AIBS]) +
