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From Buddha-Nature
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Excerpt from "Conversations on Buddha-Nature" with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho +
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Connecting with our buddhanature, our enlightened nature, often feels very far away, like it's not even possible. But it is much closer than we think. For example, when we are suddenly moved to compassion for someone, right then our buddhanature is shining through us. If we tune into ourselves at that moment, we can feel our innate goodness, our unconditioned pure being. Or when someone
looks at us with complete love, we can allow it in and feel the same.
Tonglen, which means taking and sending, is a meditation practice that cultivates unconditional compassion and love. In Tonglen, as we open to our own or others' suffering and allow it to be transformed into compassion, we awaken to the compassion and love that is at the core of who we are. We first bring loving awareness to ourselves, and then we exchange self for others. Taking and sending for ourselves can unearth feelings of self-hatred, low self-worth, deficiency, and unworthiness, among others. As we gradually work through these feelings and open to increased kindness and compassion for ourselves, it helps heal our core wounds and loosens our self-fixation, facilitating a deeper opening into compassion and love. ([https://www.lionsroar.com/meditations-on-buddhanature/ Read more here]) +
The approach to cutting our ties to samsara in the Dzogchen and Mahamudra meditation traditions of Vajrayana Buddhism is to allow samsara to manifest and immediately recognize that it is the expression or display of primordial wisdom.
In Dzogchen practice, the most important thing is the recognition of inner space or emptiness. If you can practice this, then whatever phenomena of samsara arise are dissolved into wisdom mind. For this to happen, your recognition of mind nature has to be unwaver-ing. If you can achieve this, then anything that arises in your mind-stream-any emotions, thoughts, likes, dislikes, perceptions of good and bad, and so on-is naturally released without effort.
The problem is, when phenomena arise from confusion and igno-rance, they dominate your perception and result in suffering. However, habitual negative emotions like fear can be naturally liberated by allowing them to dissolve into the inner space of mind. You can do this because the essence of these habitual emotions is actually wisdom.
The key point is to let go of the grasping within the emotion and see its true nature. When habitual emotions arise, you neither sup-press nor get caught up in them. You do not get carried away by clinging to self and other. If you just allow the emotion to dissolve, the energy trapped within it is released and blossoms as wisdom. ([https://www.lionsroar.com/recognizing-clarity-a-dzogchen-meditation/ Read more here]) +
The only way to acquire all the great qualities of Enlightenment is to repeat many times the short moment of recognising mind essence. +
Margarita Loinaz shares concise instructions for recognizing the luminous nature of mind. +
The Bka’ brgyud lineage tradition of Nā ro pa (c.956-1040), Mar pa lo tsā ba chos kyi blo gros (1002/1012-1097), and Sgam po pa rin chen dpal (1079-1153) is broadly characterized by the transmission tradition of tantric teachings and practices outlined in Nā ro pa’s six doctrines (''nā ro’i chos drug''). This tantric framework along with direct pointing-out instructions (''ngo sprod kyi gdams pa'') to the nature of one’s mind (''sems kyi rang bzhin'') within the context of Mahāmudrā teachings are the primary methods to liberation employed by Bka’ brgyud practitioners. The doctrine of luminosity (''’od gsal ba'') is fundamental to both methods since the nature of one’s mind is pointed out as luminosity and the yogic practice of inducing meditative states where one is able to recognize luminosity is a central doctrine for Nā ro pa’s tantric system, especially during the time of sleep (''gnyid kyi ’od gsal''). These methods eventually become synthesized into a cohesive soteriological program, as exemplified by instructions on merging ignorance (''gti mug'') and luminosity as found within Bka’ brgyud merging (''bsre ba'') literature, the focus of this study. (Source: [https://www.academia.edu/22793746/_Merging_Ignorance_and_Luminosity_in_Early_Bka_brgyud_Bsre_ba_Literature_Zentralasiatische_Studien_44_35_50._2015 Academia.edu]) +
Canonical and classical Mahāyāna literature falls into two classes viz., ''Prajñāparamitā'' and the ''Tathāgatagarbha'' classes. The ''Ratnagotravibhāgo Mahāyānottaratantra Śāstra'', is the foremost example of the ''Tathagāta-garbha'' literature. In this volume the author makes an exegetical and analytic study of the same text, and brings out the metaphysical and mystical bearings of Mahāyāna Buddhism. The teaching of the ''Uttaratantra'' is the perfect blend of philosophy, religion, spiritual discipline, mysticism and metaphysics–a blend which is characteristic of Buddhism.
''Tathāgata-garbha'' is an important Mahāyāna principle, which explains that all living beings process essence of Buddha-hood (''Sarvasattvās-tathāgata-garbhāh''). ''Tathāgata-garbha'' theory is a teaching that gives great optimism for all living beings in the pursuit of ''Bodhi'' (Enlightenment) or ''Buddhatva'' (Buddhahood). This theory enshrines in it a sublime concept that all the sentient beings are potential Buddhas or all will attain Buddha-hood. Owing to the presence of ''Tathāgata-garbha'' in all, one perceives the equality of oneself with others, and works for the wellbeing of all living beings, as one's entire life motif. According to A.K. Chatterjee, an outstanding authority on Yogācāra Idealism, the author "brings out beautifully the implication of the notion of the "Tathāgatagarbha" in this volume. (Source: [https://www.exoticindiaart.com/book/details/mataphysics-and-mysticism-in-mahayana-buddhism-analytical-study-of-ratnagotravibhago-mahayanottaratantra-sastram-NAD770/ Exotic India]} +
Michael Sheehy explores the “images of emptiness” or expressions of emptiness in the Kālacakra Tantra. He discusses how these were interpreted by Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292-1361) and his immediate disciples to be direct expressions of tathāgatagarbha. +
In light of the argument that the theory of Buddha-nature is non-Buddhist, Michael Zimmerman summarizes more recent research on the earliest history of buddha-nature thought in India and discusses possible reasons for why the idea that all sentient beings have buddha-nature made its appearance. +
Middle Beyond Extremes contains a translation of the Buddhist masterpiece Distinguishing the Middle from Extremes. This famed text, often referred to by its Sanskrit title, Madhyāntavibhāga, is part of a collection known as the Five Maitreya Teachings. Maitreya, the Buddha’s regent, is held to have entrusted these profound and vast instructions to the master Asaṅga in the heavenly realm of Tuṣita.
In pithy verses, Distinguishing the Middle from Extremes employs the principle of the three natures to explain the way things seem to be as well as the way they actually are. Unraveling the subtle processes that condition our thinking and experience, Maitreya’s teaching reveals a powerful path of compassionate vision and spiritual transformation.
Distinguishing the Middle from Extremes is presented here alongside commentaries by two outstanding masters of Tibet’s nonsectarian Rimé movement, Khenpo Shenga and Ju Mipham. (Source: [https://www.shambhala.com/middle-beyond-extremes-2298.html Shambhala Publications]) +
A simple three-word koan. Or just a one-word koan: buddhanature. So deceptively simple, so easy to leave in the realm of concept, yet it penetrates to the very heart of the matter. Here’s Geoffery Shugen Arnold, Sensei, on Case 30 of the Gateless Gate, “Mazu’s ‘Mind is buddha.'” +
The Tibetan teacher Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche offers instruction on key verses from one of the Mahamudra’s seminal texts, ''A Song for the King by the Indian sage Saraha''. +
Roger Jackson's ''Mind Seeing Mind'' is the first attempt to provide both a scholarly study of the history, texts, and doctrines of Geluk mahāmudrā and translations of some of its seminal texts. It begins with a survey of the Indian sources of the teaching and goes on the discuss the place of mahāmudrā in non-Geluk Tibetan Buddhist schools, especially the Kagyü. The book then turns to a detailed survey of the history and major textual sources of Geluk mahāmudrā, from Tsongkhapa, through the First Panchen, down to the present. The final section of the study addresses critical questions, including the relation between Geluk and Kagyü mahāmudrā, the ways Gelukpa authors have interpreted the mahāsiddha Saraha, and the broader religious-studies implications raised by Tibetan debates about mahāmudrā. The translation portion of ''Mind Seeing Mind'' includes eleven texts on mahāmudrā history, ritual, and practice. Foremost among these is the First Panchen Lama's autocommentary on his root verses of Geluk Mahāmudrā, the foundation of the tradition. Also included is his ritual masterpiece ''Offering to the Guru'', which is a staple of Geluk practice, and a selection of his songs of spiritual experience. ''Mind Seeing Mind'' adds considerably to our understanding of Geluk spirituality and shows how mahāmudrā came to be woven throughout the fabric of the tradition. [https://wisdomexperience.org/product/mind-seeing-mind/ (Source: Wisdom Publications)] +
In this uniquely insightful overview and practice guide, Traleg Kyabgon presents a thorough introduction to the Kagyu lineage's Mahamudra tradition. The author's approach is straightforward—he presents the Mahamudra teachings as a means of seeing things in, as he says, "a positive and open light. Even things we might normally regard as bad and undesirable can be interpreted in a more uplifting way due to the expansiveness of the Mahamudra vision." Mahamudra—which means "great seal" or "great symbol," referring to the symbol or mark of ultimate reality, or emptiness—points to the true nature of mind as well as the ultimate insubstantiality of all things.
The book includes an exploration of Mahamudra fundamentals and thorough explanations of Ground, Path, and Fruition Mahamudra, including meditation techniques for investigating, experiencing, and contemplating these teachings. (Source: [https://www.shambhala.com/mind-at-ease-1033.html Shambhala Publications]) +
The Dalai Lama delves deep into the teaching of the Great Perfection, or Dzogchen. His enthusiasm and admiration for this profound tradition shine through as he comments on an important work by the great Dzogchen master Longchen Rabjam, Finding Comfort and Ease in Meditation on the Great Perfection.
This teaching, with its remarkable breadth and richness, was originally given to an audience of ten thousand in France in 2000, and this book perfectly captures the majesty of the occasion. As Sogyal Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama’s host for the occasion, said, "All of us were moved by the depth, relevance, and accessibility of these teachings; there were those who said that they were among the most remarkable they had ever heard him give. To receive these teachings from him was the opportunity of a lifetime." (Source: [https://wisdomexperience.org/product/mind-comfort-and-ease/ Wisdom Publications]) +
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:<br><br>The Chan tradition is renowned as the “meditation” school of East Asia. Indeed, the Chinese term ''chan'' 禪 (Jpn: ''zen'') is an abbreviated transliteration of ''dhyāna'', the Sanskrit term arguably closest to the modern English word “meditation.” Scholars typically date the emergence of this tradition to the early Tang dynasty (618–907), although Chan did not reach institutional maturity until the Song period (960–1279). In time, Chinese Chan spread throughout East Asia, giving birth to the various Zen, Sŏn, and Thiê`n lineages of Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, respectively. Today these traditions continue to promote, at least in theory, meditation practices, and these have been the subject of considerable scholarly interest.[1]<br> It may then come as a surprise to learn just how little is known about the meditation techniques associated with the “founders” of this tradition—the masters associated with the nascent (or proto-) Chan lineages of the seventh and eighth centuries. It was during this fertile period—which, following scholarly convention, I will call “early Chan”—that the lineage myths, doctrinal innovations, and distinctive rhetorical voice of the Chan, Zen, Sŏn, and Thiê`n schools first emerged. Although hundreds of books and articles have appeared on the textual and doctrinal developments associated with early Chan, relatively little has been written on the distinctive meditation practices, if any, of this movement.<br> This essay emerged from an attempt to answer a seemingly straightforward question: what kinds of meditation techniques were promulgated in early Chan circles? The answer, it turned out, involved historical and philosophical forays into the notion of “mindfulness”—a style of meditation practice that has become popular among Buddhists (and non-Buddhists) around the globe. Accordingly, I will digress briefly to consider the roots of the modern mindfulness movement, and will suggest possible sociological parallels between the rise of the Buddhist mindfulness movement in the twentieth century and the emergence of Chan in the medieval period. (Sharf, "Mindfulness and Mindlessness in Early Chan," 933)<br><br>
<h5>Notes</h5>
#The literature is vast; on modern Japanese Zen and Korean Sŏn meditation practice in English see, for example, Buswell 1992, Hori 2000, and Hori 2003. On the history of these practices see Bielefeldt 1988, Buswell 1987, Collcutt 1981, Foulk 1993, and Schlütter 2008.
Maitreya’s ''Distinction between Phenomena and the Nature of Phenomena'' distinguishes the illusory phenomenal world of saṃsāra produced by the confused dualistic mind from the ultimate reality that is mind’s true nature. The transition from the one to the other is the process of “mining for wisdom within delusion.” Maitreya’s text calls this “the fundamental change,” which refers to the vanishing of delusive appearances through practicing the path, thus revealing the underlying changeless nature of these appearances. In this context, the main part of the text consists of the most detailed explanation of nonconceptual wisdom—the primary driving force of the path as well as its ultimate result—in Buddhist literature.
The introduction of the book discusses these two topics (fundamental change and nonconceptual wisdom) at length and shows how they are treated in a number of other Buddhist scriptures. The three translated commentaries, by Vasubandhu, the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, and Gö Lotsāwa, as well as excerpts from all other available commentaries on Maitreya’s text, put it in the larger context of the Indian Yogācāra School and further clarify its main themes. They also show how this text is not a mere scholarly document, but an essential foundation for practicing both the sūtrayāna and the vajrayāna and thus making what it describes a living experience. The book also discusses the remaining four of the five works of Maitreya, their transmission from India to Tibet, and various views about them in the Tibetan tradition. (Source: [https://www.shambhala.com/mining-for-wisdom-within-delusion-2460.html Shambhala Publications]) +
''A comprehensive overview of Tibetan Buddhist thinker Mipam’s work on emptiness and Buddha-nature.''
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Mipam ('' 'ju mi pham rgya mtsho, 1846–1912'') is one of the most prolific thinkers in the history of Tibet and is a key figure in the Nyingma tradition of Buddhism. His works continue to be widely studied in the Tibetan cultural region and beyond. This book provides an in-depth account of Mipam’s view, drawing on a wide range of his works and offering several new translations. Douglas S. Duckworth shows how a dialectic of presence and absence permeates Mipam’s writings on the Middle Way and Buddha-nature.
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Arguably the most important doctrine in Buddhism, Buddha-nature is, for Mipam, equivalent to the true meaning of emptiness; it is the ground of all and the common ground shared by sentient beings and Buddhas. This ground is the foundation of the path and inseparable from the goal of Buddhahood. Duckworth probes deeply into Mipam’s writings on Buddha-nature to illuminate its central place in a dynamic Buddhist philosophy. (Source: [http://www.sunypress.edu/p-4644-mipam-on-buddha-nature.aspx SUNY Press]) +
No abstract given. Here are the first relevant paragraphs:<br>
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The different philosophies of the Buddhist tradition are chiefly concerned with the understanding of mind, consciousness, and mental states. In Buddhist literature, the relative nature of mental phenomena are described in a rather detailed manner, but more interestingly certain sections contain significant hints pointing to the so-called true nature of the mind and, in particular, how to access it. One of the terms referring to this true nature of mind is ''Buddha-nature'', describing a quality of potential awakening inherent to the mind of everyone.<br>
In ''Mipam on Buddha-Nature'', Douglas S. Duckworth seeks to illustrate the Tibetan contexts in which this so-called Buddha-nature is variously described, conceptualized, and experienced. In doing so, he draws on approximately twenty-eight different Tibetan texts written by Mi pham ('' 'jam mgon mi pham rgya mtsho'', 1846–1912) that he quotes; translating and paraphrasing the quotes in order to discuss their purport in relation to a significant number of interpretations of the issue by earlier Tibetan Buddhist authors, all of which are based on the explanations found in the earlier Indian Buddhist literature. However, the main text selected and translated in full is Mi pham’s ''Bde gshegs snying po’i stong thun chen mo seng ge’i nga ro''. Duckworth also cites later masters commenting on Mi pham’s writings, notably Bötrul (''Bod sprul mdo sngags bstan pa’i nyi ma'', 1898–1959).<br>
His work primarily contributes insight into textual discussions taking place over centuries within the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition and, secondarily, attempts to position the issues discussed within a comparative philosophical dialogue. However, the aim of the book—in the words of its author—is “to provide a holistically-oriented account of Mipham’s view of Buddha-nature” (xvii). Duckworth’s book represents a valuable presentation that seeks to define and summarize the philosophical and ideological views of this significant and influential Tibetan Buddhist master. (Burchardi, Review of ''Mipam on Buddha-Nature'', 734)
