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Lama Chonam and Sangye Khandro speak with Karma Phuntsho about their new publication, a translation of an extremely important Dzogchen text by the great Longchen Rabjam called the ''Choying Dzöd'', or ''Jewel Treasure of the Dharmadhatu''. This special translation was refined by the translators after years of oral teachings given by Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche on this important text. Longchen Rabjam composed the Seven Treasures as his crowning achievement, and the ''Jewel Treasure of the Dharmadhatu'' is the pinnacle of them all. This astonishing masterpiece sets forth the structure and practice of the Great Perfection path known as ''trekcho'', cutting through to original purity. This publication also includes the Omniscient Longchenpa's autocommentary called ''A Treasury of Citations'', which is an indispensable guide to the root verses that are woven throughout this shastra, to illuminate how they refer to the context of the ground, path, and fruition, as well as the view, meditation and conduct of this exceptional Great Perfection path. True to the title, this commentary disseminates the most crucial information by citing the original speech of Buddha Vajradhara found in the seventeen Great Perfection upadesha tantras, as well as including many quotations from the sutras, tantras, and shastras in general. +
Wulstan Fletcher discusses the unique way in which Longchenpa (1308-1364) approaches the topic of buddha-nature in his writings. Here he describes Longchenpa's language as somewhat difficult to understand, given his often poetic manner of expression. Furthermore, he also talks about the manner in which Longchenpa combines the second and third turning of the wheel of the Dharma and how he sees them as inseparable. Always speaking from the point of view of the Great Perfection (Dzogchen), Lonchenpa's approach was one that would influence later Nyingmapa thinkers such as Mipham Rinpoche. +
'''འབྲུག་པ་དཀར་བརྒྱུད་ལ་བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོའི་དགོངས་བཞེད་ཉམས་ལེན་སྐོར།'''<br>'''On Understanding and Practice of Buddha-Nature in Drukpa Kagyu Tradition'''
Explaining the concept of spiritual gene, or ''gotra'', in the Madhyamaka tradition in general through citations from sūtras and commentarial literature, Lopen Damcho Dorji presents Buddha-Nature in the Drukpa Kagyu school, particularly as found in the writings of Pema Karpo, as the sphere of reality which is the emptiness free from all elaborations, specifically the emptiness of the mental consciousness. Pema Karpo, he explains, considers an emptiness transcending all extremes of existence, nonexistence, both, and neither to be buddha-nature and not a mere negation of true existence.
Pema Karpo also asserted that both the naturally present spiritual gene and the acquired spiritual gene are in reality the unconditioned innate reality, given different names for being totally obscured or partially obscured. While the naturally present spiritual gene exists in all beings, the acquired spiritual gene, or the spiritual gene which has some of its obscuration removed, is only associated with the sublime Mahāyāna beings. Lopen Damcho Dorji also points out that buddha-nature in the Drukpa Kagyu tradition is not an emptiness which is a mere nonimplicative negation but rather an emptiness endowed with all qualities because the buddha-nature of sentient beings is not different from that of the Buddha. Such buddha-nature or emptiness endowed with all qualities is then only realized by Mahāyāna saints and not by other beings, as they possess the four types of defilements which obscure the buddha-nature. He goes on to discuss how the conceptual mind by nature is the ''dharmakāya'', or the gnosis of the Buddha, according to the Kagyu tradition. +
'''དཔལ་ཇོ་ནང་པའི་གཤེགས་སྙིང་གི་དགོངས་ཚུལ་དགུའི་སྒོ་ནས་བཤད་པ།'''<br>'''Explaining the Understanding of Buddha-Nature in the Jonang Tradition through Nine Characteristics'''
Starting his presentation with a prayer of homage to Dolpopa, Lopen Dawa Zangpo explains how the buddha-nature has been received via Nāgārjuna and Asaṅga and their followers, who interpreted the buddha-nature sūtras. In this context, he clarifies that in the Jonang tradition, which holds the buddha-nature teachings, the first turning of the wheel of dharma showed buddha-nature without any clarity, the second turning showed buddha-nature with partial clarity, and the third turning showed buddha-nature with full clarity. Thus, the Jonang tradition highlights how the third turning is the definitive teaching.
In continuation of the presentation of buddha-nature as an eternal, permanent, absolute, and innate nature which is endowed with all the sublime qualities of enlightenment, he clarifies the sūtras which teach this doctrine. Explaining the etymology of buddha-nature, he explains that the term ''garbha'' implies the possession of all qualities, the term ''hṛdaya'' indicates the supreme and ultimate true nature of buddha-nature while other phenomena are illusory and deceptive, and the term ''sāra'' refers to the stability, firmness, and immutability of buddha-nature.
Lopen Dawa went on to explain the Jonangpa understanding of buddha-nature with nine characteristics.
1. Buddha-nature is permanent as it involves no birth, abiding and ceasing. What exists as an object of conceptual thought is impermanent and what is a realm of non-conceptuality is permanent and eternal.<br>
2. Buddha-nature is all pervasive or immanent. It permeates all phenomena as the ultimate true nature.<br>
3. Buddha-nature is self-awareness as it is open and luminous awareness or the consciousness of the ultimate truth.<br>
4. Buddha-nature is diverse in its aspects as the ultimate truth can manifest in myriad expressions.<br>
5. Buddha-nature is free from all elaborations of existence, non-existence, etc. and transcends all points of fixation.<br>
6. Buddha-nature is stainless and pristine as it is not stained or polluted by the adventitious impurities even at the stage of sentient beings.<br>
7. Buddha-nature is a union of emptiness and non-emptiness, i.e. emptiness of what is imputed and dependent, and non-empty of the absolute truth.<br>
8. Buddha-nature is the spiritual gene or seed which exists in all sentient beings and serves as the basis of enlightenment.<br>
9. Buddha-nature is the element or core nature of all beings.
Khenpo Gyurme Tshultrim and Lopon Karma Phuntsho launch the new book ''The Life and Works of Kyotön Monlam Tsultrim'' (སྐྱོ་སྟོན་སྨོན་ལམ་ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་ཀྱི་མཛད་རྣམ་དང་གསུང་རྩོམ།). Following the formal release, Lopon Karma Phuntsho presents the account of why and how the book was created. The original texts, he shares, are in ''dbu med'' manuscript and were discovered about twenty years ago in the Nechu temple of Drepung monastery in Tibet. The texts are in volumes 50 and 61 of the Collection of Kadam Writings published by Paltsek Bodyig Penying Zhibjugkhang. The original texts, which are in archaic and difficult ''dbu med'' script with many abbreviations, were rendered in modern computer typeset so as to make the writings easily available to all Tibetan readers.
The book contains 32 works, including 30 titles attributed to Kyotön Monlam Tshultrim, one biography of Kyotön by his student, and a long introduction by the editor in English. He mentions how some titles from the two volumes from Drepung were excluded from this book, as they appear to be by other authors. He also explains the significance of Narthang and the early Kadam tradition for buddha-nature studies and how Kyotön lived at an interesting period of Tibetan religious history. The interest to publish the writings of this master came about as Kyotön has written several short and interesting works related to buddha-nature, which present the meditative tradition of Maitreya's teachings passed down from Tsen Khawoche.
The typeset was created and the layout and design done by the staff of Loden Foundation, which published the book with funding from Tsadra Foundation. +
Articles/Lost in Translation? The Treatise on the Mahāyāna Awakening of Faith (Dasheng qixin lun) and Its Modern Readings +
The ''Treatise on the Mahāyāna Awakening of Faith'', an indigenous Chinese composition written in the guise of an Indian Buddhist treatise, is one of the most influential texts in the history of East Asian Buddhism. Its outline of the doctrines of buddha nature (''foxing''), buddha bodies (''foshen''), and one mind (''yixin''), among others, served from the medieval period onwards as one of the main foundations of East Asian Buddhist thought and practice. The ''Treatise'' is putatively attributed to the Indian writer Aśvaghoṣa, and its current Chinese version was traditionally conceived of as a translation from an original Sanskrit text. In the course of the twentieth century, however, many important scholars of Buddhism have called into question the textual history of the ''Treatise''. Even if the specific circumstances of its creation are still largely unknown, the view that the ''Treatise'' is an original Chinese composition (not necessarily written by a native Chinese) is now prevalent among scholars. Meanwhile, and for more than one hundred years, the text has also become a source of knowledge of Buddhism in the West thanks to a number of English translations. After examining the early textual history of the two existing versions of the text, this article will offer some examples of its modern appropriation by a novel group of readers and interpreters, an appropriation that took place during the first decades of the twentieth century amidst efforts to re-envision Chinese and East Asian Buddhist history and the place of Buddhism in modern society. +
Media/Loving-Kindness and Buddha-Nature: Talk by Bardor Tulku Rinpoche at the First Annual Benefit for Kunzang Palchen Ling +
At the first annual benefit for Kunzang Palchen Ling, Bardor Tulku Rinpoche gave a talk on loving-kindness and compassion, but the first part of the talk was focused on buddha-nature. Rinpoche emphasizes that any person who truly wants to make a difference in their lives can focus on these teachings of loving-kindness and compassion to liberate themselves from suffering of karma and afflictive emotions. +
Chapter 12 of ''The Treasury of Knowledge Book Eight, Part Three: The Elements of Tantric Practice'', by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé +
This superb collection of writings on buddha nature by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339) focuses on the transition from ordinary deluded consciousness to enlightened wisdom, the characteristics of buddhahood, and a buddha’s enlightened activity. Most of these materials have never been translated comprehensively. The Third Karmapa’s unique and well-balanced view synthesizes Yogācāra, Madhyamaka, and the classical teachings on buddha nature. Rangjung Dorje not only shows that these teachings do not contradict each other but also that they supplement each other and share the same essential points in terms of the ultimate nature of mind and all phenomena. His fusion is remarkable because it clearly builds on Indian predecessors and precedes the later often highly charged debates in Tibet about the views of Rangtong ("self-empty") and Shentong ("other-empty"). Although Rangjung Dorje is widely regarded as one of the major proponents of the Tibetan Shentong tradition (some even consider him its founder), this book shows how his views differ from the Shentong tradition as understood by Dölpopa, Tāranātha, and the First Jamgön Kongtrul. The Third Karmapa’s view is more accurately described as one in which the two categories of rangtong and shentong are not regarded as mutually exclusive but are combined in a creative synthesis. For those practicing the sūtrayāna and the vajrayāna in the Kagyü tradition, what these texts describe can be transformed into living experience. (Source: [https://www.shambhala.com/luminous-heart-2287.html Shambhala Publications]) +
Roger R. Jackson, in his essay "Luminous Mind Among the Logicians", treats the Indo-Tibetan commentarial discussions of the affirmation of the mind's natural luminosity (''prabhāsvaratā'') found in ''Pramāṇavārttika'' II.208. Such an affIrmation, as he shows, has deep roots in the Buddhist tradition, and is usually connected with ''tathāgatagarbha'' thought. That it is also affirmed by Dharmakīrti and discussed extensively by his commentators in India and Tibet shows that it is not without significance for the logicoepistemological tradition represented by Dignāga and his successors. The idea that the mind is naturally luminous or radiant and that
its defIlements have only an adventitious status is of obvious relevance to Buddhist soteriology; it affirms that, in some important sense, the goal of Buddhist religious practice has already been attained or is already present. The importance of Jackson's study is that it shows the same idea to be relevant also to Buddhist epistemological theory: it is precisely the mind's natural radiance that makes apprehension of things as they really are a possibility. It is this metaphysical and epistemological fact which leads Jackson to categorize Dharmakīrti and his school as epistemological optimists. (Griffiths and Keenan, introduction to ''Buddha Nature'', 5) +
Articles/Lying to Tell the Truth-Upaya in Mahayana Buddhism and Oikonomia in Alexandrian Christianity +
Roger Gregory-Tashi Corless, in his essay "Lying to Tell the Truth", explores the use of intentional vagueness and obscurity in the texts of Clement of Alexandria and Origen, and relates this to the intentional use of falsehood (or, perhaps better, nontruth) in the ''Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra''. Both in second century Alexandria and in third century India, he suggests, one fmds a self-conscious use
of graded, hierarchically ordered sets of "false truths" as pedagogical devices. For the ''Lotus'', Corless suggests, the "true truth" is that all living beings are in fact possessors of Buddha Nature; it is this toward which the pedagogically useful though partial truths (''upāya'') found in other assertions point. This position is illustrated with extensive quotations from [[Kūkai]], and is compared with positions taken by a series of Christian thinkers from Nicholas of Cusa to John Henry Newman. (Griffiths and Keenan, introduction to ''Buddha Nature'', 3–4) +
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This two-volume publication explores the complex philosophy of Mahāmudrā that developed in Tibetan Dwags po Bka’ brgyud traditions between the 15th and 16th centuries CE. It examines the attempts to articulate and defend Bka’ brgyud views and practices by four leading post-classical thinkers: (1) Shākya mchog ldan (1423‒1507), a celebrated yet controversial Sa skya scholar who developed a strong affiliation with the Karma Bka’ brgyud Mahāmudrā tradition in the last half of his life, (2) Karma phrin las Phyogs las rnam rgyal (1456‒1539), a renowned Karma Bka’ brgyud scholar-yogin and tutor to the Eighth Karma pa, (3) the Eighth Karma pa himself, Mi bskyod rdo rje (1507‒1554), who was among the most erudite and influential scholar-hierarchs of his generation, (4) and Padma dkar po (1527‒1592), Fourth ’Brug chen of the ’Brug pa Bka’ brgyud lineage who is generally acknowledged as its greatest scholar and systematizer. It is an important academic work published in the Vienna series [[WSTB]] and is divided into two volumes: the first offers a detailed philosophical analysis of the authors’ principal views and justifications of Mahāmudrā against the background of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist doctrines on mind, emptiness and buddha nature; the second comprises an annotated anthology of their seminal writings on Mahāmudrā accompanied by critical editions and introductions. These two volumes are the result of research that was generously funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) from 2012 to 2015 under the supervision of Prof. Klaus-Dieter Mathes. The project was entitled “‘Emptiness of Other’ (Gzhan stong) in the Tibetan ‘Great Seal’ (Mahāmudrā) Traditions of the 15th and 16th Centuries” (FWF Project number P23826-G15). (Source: [https://www.istb.univie.ac.at/cgi-bin/wstb/wstb.cgi?ID=93&show_description=1 WSTB Description]) +
Mahāsiddha Practice, the sixteenth volume of Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye's ''The Treasury of Precious Instructions'' (''[https://dnz.tsadra.org/index.php/Gdams_ngag_mdzod_Shechen_Printing/Volume_16 gdams ngag rin po che'i mdzod]''), presents a selection of teachings and practices (40 texts) centered on the mahāsiddhas, Indian tantric masters. The mahāsiddha Mitrayogin, whose work forms the majority of this volume, visited Tibet in the late twelfth century. His ritual texts along with instructions are here translated from Tibetan, including sādhanas, empowerments, guru yogas, authorization rituals for protector deities, and detailed compositions on Mahāmudrā practice, or resting in the nature of mind. In addition to instructions given by mahāsiddhas, this volume includes ritual practices to visualize them and transmit their blessings, beginning with a devotional text composed by Jamgön Kongtrul himself. [https://www.shambhala.com/mahasiddha-practice-9781611808933.html (Source Accessed Feb. 25, 2022)]. You can access the Tibetan texts translated in this [https://dnz.tsadra.org/index.php/Gdams_ngag_mdzod_Shechen_Printing/Volume_16 book here]. +
The ''Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra is one of the five great treatises given by Lord Maitreya to Asanga. It is a commentary on the teachings of the third turning of Dharma wheel in explaining the buddha-nature. Many great masters say it can be revered as a “commentary bridging the Exoteric and Vajrayana Buddhism”. It provides an important philosophical foundation for understanding the workings of the Buddhist path, particularly for Vajrayana practitioners. +
For the Kagyu, the lines of transmission of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' and the Mahāmudrā teachings converge with the Indian teacher [[Maitrīpa]]. In terms of the former, Maitrīpa is believed to have extracted the treatise from a stūpa after receiving instructions from Maitreya in a dream. It is this lineage passing from Maitrīpa to Ānandakīrti, who traveled to Kashmir where he passed it onto Sajjana, that is considered the ''de facto'' line of transmission of the treatise for the Kagyu...
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The Kagyü school of Tibetan Buddhism began in the eleventh century with such renowned figures as Marpa and Milarepa, and its seminal meditative traditions are Mahāmudrā and the six Dharmas of Nāropa. Mahāmudrā teachings focus on the cultivation of profound insight into the nature of the mind. The Mahāmudrā texts in this volume include a lucid work by the celebrated master Tselé Natsok Rangdröl and works by the twelfth-century master Shang Rinpoche, the great Third Karmapa, the Eighth Tai Situ, and Drukpa Pema Karpo. The volume also contains an inspirational work by Gampopa, the Drigung Kagyü root text, The Single Viewpoint, the Sixth Shamarpa’s guide to the six Dharmas of Nāropā, and finally an overview of tantric practice by Dakpo Tashi Namgyal, author of the famous Moonlight of Mahāmudrā. The texts in this volume were selected by the preeminent scholar of the Kagyü school, Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. (Source: [https://wisdomexperience.org/product/mah%C4%81mudr%C4%81-and-related-instructions/ Wisdom Publications]) +
Famously, tathāgatagarbha doctrine holds that every sentient being has within the body a womb for Buddhas, or an embryonic Buddha – the potential for full buddhahood. Previous scholars have seen this doctrine as originating in the Tathāgatagarbha-sūtra. In this book, Michael Radich argues that rather, the Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra is most likely our earliest extant tathāgatagarbha text. Radich then argues that tathāgatagarbha ideas originated as part of a wider pattern of docetic Buddhology – ideas holding that Buddhas are not really as they appear. Buddhist docetic texts are clearly troubled by the notion that Buddhas could have flesh-and-blood human mothers. The Mahāparinirvāṇa-mahāsūtra is one such text, and tathāgatagarbha functions as a better substitute for imperfect human maternity: rather than a putrid, painful human womb, buddhahood springs from a “womb” inherent in every sentient being, which promises final liberation from flesh altogether. This book should interest readers concerned with the history of Buddhist ideas, gender in Buddhism, the early Mahāyāna, the cult of the Buddha’s relics, and relations between Buddhist ideas and practice. (Source: [https://blogs.sub.uni-hamburg.de/hup/products-page/publikationen/127/ Hamburg University Press]) +
Originating in India, Mahayana Buddhism spread across Asia, becoming the prevalent form of Buddhism in Tibet and East Asia. Over the last twenty-five years Western interest in Mahayana has increased considerably, reflected both in the quantity of scholarly material produced and in the attraction of Westerners towards Tibetan Buddhism and Zen.
Paul Williams’ Mahayana Buddhism is widely regarded as the standard introduction to the field, used internationally for teaching and research and has been translated into several European and Asian languages. This new edition has been fully revised throughout in the light of the wealth of new studies and focuses on the religion’s diversity and richness. It includes much more material on China and Japan, with appropriate reference to Nepal, and for students who wish to carry their study further there is a much-expanded bibliography and extensive footnotes and cross-referencing. Everyone studying this important tradition will find Williams’ book the ideal companion to their studies. (Source: [https://www.routledge.com/Mahayana-Buddhism-The-Doctrinal-Foundations/Williams/p/book/9780415356534 Routledge]) +
Books/Mahāyāna-Sūtrālaṃkāra: Exposé de la doctrine du Grand Véhicule selon le système Yogācāra, Vol. 2 +
Si nous étions réduits au seul témoignage de l'original sanscrit, nous ignorerions encore le véritable auteur de l'ouvrage. Le colophon sanscrit se contente d'indiquer que le texte a été « énoné » (''bhâṣita'') « par le grand Bodhisattva Vyavadâta-samaya ». Ce colophon est reproduit par le traducteur chinois et le traducteur tibétain; il est donc certainement très ancien, s'il ne remonte pas même jusqu'à l'original. Je n'ai pas retrouvé ailleurs un Bodhisattva de ce nom ; il est impossible de dire si cette désignation s'applique à Maitreya, à Asaṅga, ou à tout autre personnage, soit fictif, soit réel.<br> L'Indien Prabhâkara-mitra, auteur de la traduction chinoise (entre 630 et 633 J. C.), assigne le M. S. A. à Asaṅga, qu'il qualifie expressément de « Bodhisattva ». La préface de là traduction, due à Li Pe-yo (l'auteur du ''Pe-Tsin chou'') répète et confirme cette attribution, sans faire allusion à une révélation surnaturelle. Mais, à cette époque même, Hiuan-tsang apprend dans les couvents de l'Inde à classer le M. S. A. parmi les textes sacrés révélés à Asaṅga par Maitreya. Jusque-là, au témoignage de Paramârtha et des traducteurs chinois du v<sup>c</sup> siècle, le Saptadaçabhûmi çâstra (ou Yogâcâryabhûmi çâstra) avait seul passé pour révélé.<br> Un demi-siècle après Hiuan-tsang, Yi-tsing, qui n'est pas comme Hiuan-tsang un adepte de l'école Yogâcâra, continue à classer le M. S. A. parmi « les huit branches » (''pa tchi'') d'Asanga, où il fait entrer pêle-mêle et de son propre aveu plusieurs traités de Vasubandhu.<br> Chez les Tibétains[1], le M. S. A. est unanimement rangé dans les « Cinq çâstras de Maitreya », et il en ouvre la série. Mais les vers seuls sont attribués à Maitreya ; la prose qui commente ces vers est tenue pour un ouvrage à part, sous le titre de Sûtrâlaṃkâra-bhâṣya, attribué à Vasubandhu. La traduction tibétaine est due à Çâkyasiṃha l'Indien, assisté du Lotsava grand réviseur Dpal brcogs et autres. Je n'ai pas d'informations sur ces personnages; mais, quelle que soit leur date, Prabhâkara mitra leur est certainement antérieur ; avant le milieu du VII<sup>c</sup> siècle, le Tibet, à peine ouvert à la civilisation, n'avait ni traducteurs, ni traductions. Nous sommes donc fondés à considérer l'ouvrage entier, prose et vers, comme dû à un seul auteur, Asaṅga. Au reste, si le tibétain distingue dans l'ouvrage deux parties, texte et commentaire, avec deux auteurs différents, le ''Tche-yuen lou'' chinois (Catalogue comparé des Livres Bouddhiques compilé dans la période Tche-yuen 1264–1294) donne à l'ouvrage entier, en tant qu'oeuvre du Bodhisattva Asaṅga, le titre ''fan'' (c.-à-d. sanscrit) de : ''Sou-tan-lo A-leng-kia-lo ti-kia'', transcription de Sûtrâlaṃkâraṭîkâ « Commentaire du Sûtrâlaṃkâra » (''Tche-yuen lou'', chap. IX, in°.); en fait, cette désignation de ''ṭîkâ'' ne peut s'appliquer pourtant qu'à la prose explicative qui accompagne les vers ou ''kârikâs''.<br> Le texte sanscrit est divisé en ''adhikâras'' ou « chapitres » régulièrement numérotés jusqu'au quinzième ; à partir de là les chapitres ne portent plus d'indication numérique jusqu'au chapitre final ; mais celui-ci est désigné comme le vingt et unième. Les sections marquées dans l'intervalle sont seulement au nombre de quatre ; il manque donc une unité pour parfaire le chiffre de 21. Il est probable que le dernier chapitre est à partager en deux sections, entre le vers 42 et le vers 43. Les dix-neuf derniers vers, avec leur refrain uniforme, constituent une unité bien nette comme hymne de conclusion.<br> Le tibétain[1] reproduit exactement les divisions du manuscrit sanscrit. Le chinois[2] représente un autre partage de l'ensemble. Le texte y est divisé en treize grandes sections, découpées d'une manière assez irrégulière en vingt-quatre chapitres. (Lévi, "Le Mahâyâna Sûtrâlaṃkâra," 7–9)<br><br>
[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k55109774/f9.image.r= Read more here . . .]
===Notes===
1. Outre Târanâtha, v. aussi Bouston traduit par Stcherbatzkoï, ''La littérature Yogâcâra d'après Bouston'', Muséon, 1905, II. Il est assez surprenant de voir que les Tibétains comptent comme l'oeuvre personnelle d'Àsaṅga le (Saptadaça-)bhûmi çâstra, le seul ouvrage que la tradition ancienne assigne à Maitreya. En dehors de cet ouvrage (et, naturellement, des sections détachées qui en ont été traduites à part: Nanjio 1170, 1083,1086, 1096, 1097, 1098, 1200, 1235), le Canon chinois n'attribue à Maitreya que le Madhyânta-vibhaṅga(Nj. 1245, traduit par Hiuan-tsang), également compté comme une oeuvre de Maitreya par les Tibétains [Je laisse en dehors l'insignifiant opuscule : Sarvaçiksàsthitanâmârtha çâstra (Nj. 1315) traduit par Che-houentre 980 et 1000]. Le cas du Mahâyânasaṃparigraha çâstra offre un intérêt tout particulier. Le premier en date des trois traducteurs chinois, Buddhaçânta, en 531, présente l'ouvrage comme une « oeuvre d' ''A-seng-kia'' », dans le texte de l'édition de Corée ; mais les éditions proprement chinoises ont remplacé cette mention par « composition de ''Wou-tcho p'ou-sa'' [equals] Asaṅga bodhisattva ». La préface qui accompagne la traduction de Paramârtha, en 563, déclare que « le çâstra original (''pen loun'') a été composé par ''A-seng-kia'', maître de la loi (''fa che''). » Hiuan-tsang, enfin, qui donne une traduction en 648, traduit fidèlement un colophon qui dit : « Moi, ''A-seng-kia'', j'ai fini d'expliquer brièvement le Mahâyâna-saṃparigraha çâstra dans les sûtras du Grand Véhicule de l'Abhidharma », mais il présente le texte comme « la composition de ''Wou-tcho p'ou-sa'' [equals] Asanga bodhisattva ».<br> Wassilieff (''Notes sur Târanâtha'', p. 315 sq.) a tort de dire que « les cinq textes de Maitreya manquent tous [''sämmtlich''] chez les Chinois ». J'ai déjà signalé la traduction chinoise du M. S. A. et celle du Madhyânta-vibhâga. La version chinoise de l'Uttaratantra a échappé jusqu'ici aux recherches, parce qu'elle ne porte pas de nom d'auteur. C'est le Mahâyânottaratantraçâstra (Nj. 1236; éd. Tôk. XIX, 2) des catalogues chinois, traduit par Ratnamati en 508. Restent le Dharmadharmalâ-vibhaṅga et l'Abhisamayâlaṃkâra qui n'ont pas de correspondant connu ou reconnu en chinois. A propos des oeuvres d'Asaṅga conservées en chinois, j'ajoute encore que le ''Choun tchong louen'' (Nj. 1246; Tôk. XIX, 2), dont le titre sanscrit est restitué par Nanjio sous la forme : Madhyântânugama çâstra, est en fait — comme le titre chinois l'exprime exactement — un commentaire sur le Madhyamakaçâstra de Nâgârjuna, interprété au point de vue de la doctrine Yogâcâra.<br>
1. La traduction tibétaine se trouve dans le Tanjour, Mdo. vol. XLIV (''phi''), le texte en vers va de 1 à 43''b''; le « bhâṣya » termine le volume, de la page 135 à la fin.<br>
2. La traduction chinoise porte le n° 1190 dans le Catalogue de Nanjio; dans l'édition du Tripiṭaka de Tôkyô, elle trouve boîte XIX, vol. 4: Elle se forme la première moitié du volume ; le Sûtrâlaṃkâra d'Açvaghoṣa forme l'autre moitié.
Books/Mahāyāna-Sūtrālaṃkāra: Exposé de la doctrine du Grande Véhicule selon le système Yogācāra, Vol. 1 +
C'est par l'effet d'une confusion de titre que j'ai mis la main sur ce texte. Un peu avant de partir pour l'Inde, J'avais eu l'occasion d'étudier et de signaler à l'attention des indianistes un recueil important de contes bouddhiques, le Sūtralaṃkāra, d'Açvaghoṣa, conservé dans une traduction chinoise. Dès mon arrivée au Nepal, en janvier 1898. je me mis en quête de l'original sanscrit. Hodgson, dans sa Liste des Ouvrages Bouddhiques en sanscrit connus de fait ou de nom au Népal (''Sketch of Buddhism'', publié en 1828: réim- primé dans les ''Essays on the Languages, Literature, and Religion of Nepal and Tibet'', 1874; p. 37), mentionne (n 29) le Mahāyāna Sūtrālaṃkāra: l'espoir de le retrouver n'était donc pas complétement interdit. Bientôt, en effet, Pandit Kulamāna, de Patan, qui s'était intéresé a mes recherches, m'annonçait qu'un de ses amis possédait un manuscrit de l'ouvrage: il refusait toutefois de s'en dessaisir. Je finis par en obtenir la communication ; il ne s'agissait pas du Sūtralaṃkāra d'Açvaghoṣa, mais bien du Mahāyāna Sūtrālaṃkāra d'Asaṅga. Au lieu d'un recueil de contes édifiants, c'était un exposé scolastique des doctrines mahāyānistes sur le Bodhisattva, au point de vue de l'école des Yogācāras. Il n'entre pas dans mon propos de marquer ici l'intérêt de ce texte, ni de signaler les problèmes qu'il pose ou qu'il résout. Je compte traiter en détail ces questions dans l'Intruduction à la traduction que je publierai prochainement ; c'est dans le même fascicule que je donnerai aussi l'index des termes techniques dont l'ouvrage foisonne, et les éclaircissements que je pourrai en fournir. lci je ne me suis préoccupé que d'établir le texte.<br> La besogne, à dire vrai, n'était pa si facile. Je ne disposais que de la copie exécutée, sous ma surveillance, par le Pandit Kulamāna, reproduction fidèle d'un original assez bon dans l'ensemble, mais parsemé de menues fautes dues principalement a la confusion de lettres analogues dans la devanāgari du Népal. Cette copie, sur papier népalais (gris au recto, jaune au verso), occupe 123 feuillets, à neuf lignes par page. L'ouvrage est complet: la seule lacune étendue se place à la suite du vers 2 de la ll<sup>e</sup>section: deux feuillets avaient à cet endroit disparu de l'archétype; pour dissimuler la lacune, le copiste ancien a recouru à un procédé assez usuel ; il a copié ailleurs deux autres feuilles qu'il a insérées à la place des feuillets manquants. Je n'ai pas pu arriver à déterminer la provenance exacte de cette interpolation; mais elle vient sans aucun doute de quelque çāstra étroitement apparenté au Mahāyāna Sūtrālaṃkāra par le sujet et par le lexique. J'ai donné en Appendice à la suite du texte le contenu de ces deux feuilles: un chercheur plus heureux réussira probablement à les identifier. Les autres lacunes sont de peu d'étendue : XI, 5, une ligne; 51, deus lignes; XI, 70, deux ou trois lignes; XII, 7, un hémistiche.<br> La traduction chinoise, due à I'Hindou Prabhākara mitra (entre 630 et 633 J.-C.), comble heureusement toutes ces lacunes; sans elle, j'aurais dû renoncer même à éditer ce texte. C'est par une collation constante de la version chinoise que j'ai réussi—si j'y ai réussi— à dégager de mon unique manuscrit un texte acceptable et intelligible. Je n'ai pas cru devoir, sous couleur d'une « acribie ». intransigeante, étaler au bas des pages toutes les lectures vicieuses du manuscrit; Je ne les ai rapportées que dans les rares cas où ma correction affectait l'ensemble d'un mot. Je laisse à ceux qui voudront bien se référer à la copie de Kulamāna le soin de juger ce qu'a pu coûter d'efforts la constitution d'un texte présentable.<br> C'est de propos délibéré que je me suis refusé a faire disparaître les irrégularités d'orthographe et de sandhi de mon manuscrit. La tradition des scribes népalais a ses usages constants, par exemple la réduction du groupe ''ttva'' à ''ttva'' (''bodhisatva'', ''tatva'', etc.), l'interchange des sifflantes palatale et dentale (''kuçīda'', ''kusīda'', etc.); pour les textes qu'ils sont seuls à nous avoir conservés, il me paraît préférable de se conformer à leurs usages plutôt que de leur imposer les rigueurs d'un purisme théorique. le sancrit a bien assez d'uniformité pour qu'on n'aille pas effacer de parti pris les rares particularités de temps ou de lieu qui ont pu y marquer leur empreinte. Quant au sandhi, I'application mécanique des règles risque le plus souvent d'anéantir des nuances de ponctuation et de pensée exprimées justement par des infractions à ces règles.<br> Si j'ai préféré donner le texte en caractères devanāgarī, malgré les avantages pratiques de la transcription au point de vue occidental, c'est que nos éditions d'ouvrages bouddhiques ont chance d'atteindre une catégorie de lecteurs que nous me prévoyons pas assez peut-être tt qui mérite pourtant d'être prise en considération. Au Népal même, et par delà le Népal, dans le monde si peu accessible encore des Lamas, nous pouvons apporter ainsi à de bonnes âmes un aliment de piété qui se convertira peut-être en amorce de science: l'exemple donné par les éditeurs européens peut provoquer là-bas une imitation féconde, sauver de la destruction ou rappeler au jour des textes menacés, et activer ainsi le progrès des connaissances. L'indianisme n'est point un vain exercice de dilettantisme: derrière nos problèmes de linguistique, de philologie, d'histoire politique, religieuse ou sociale, il faut entrevoir les centaines millions d'êtres vivants que ces problèmes conditionnent à leur insu, et dont le sort est lié aux solutions qui doivent triompher.<br> Je manquerais à un réel devoir de gratitude si je n'exprimais pas ici mes remerciements à tous ceux qui ont collaboré à l'impression de ce livre, aux typographes de l'Imprimerie nationale, au Directeur des travaux, M. Héon, et surtout à M. Guérinot, de qui les corrections minutieuses m'ont valu des épreuves presque parfaites. Mon ami et collègue M. Finot a pris la peine de relire aussi toutes les épreuves. S'il reste encore des fautes, et je sais pertinemment qu'il en reste (un erratum sera donné à la fin de la traduction), responsabilité n'en saurait incomber qu'à moi, et à la faiblesse de la nature humaine. (Lévi, foreword, i-iii)
