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Now Reading: The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows by Tsering Wangchuk

Join a small group of knowledgeable readers for regular online meetings to discuss Tsering Wangchuk's The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows. Meet the author! Dr. Tsering Wangchuk will join us for one session during the reading and talk about his book and take questions from the group.
Beginning January 7th, 2019 - Sign Up Here

The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows

With its emphasis on the concept of buddha-nature, or the ultimate nature of mind, the Uttaratantra is a classical Buddhist treatise that lays out an early map of the Mahāyāna path to enlightenment. Tsering Wangchuk unravels the history of this important Indic text in Tibet by examining numerous Tibetan commentaries and other exegetical texts on the treatise that emerged between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries. These commentaries explored such questions as: Is the buddha-nature teaching found in the Uttaratantra literally true, or does it have to be interpreted differently to understand its ultimate meaning? Does it explicate ultimate truth that is inherently enlightened or ultimate truth that is empty only of independent existence? Does the treatise teach ultimate nature of mind according to the Cittamātra or the Madhyamaka School of Mahāyāna? By focusing on the diverse interpretations that different textual communities employed to make sense of the Uttaratantra, Wangchuk provides a necessary historical context for the development of the text in Tibet. (Source: SUNY Press)

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Wangchuk, Tsering. The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows: Tibetan Thinkers Debate the Centrality of the Buddha-Nature Treatise. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2017.

Join regular online meetings to discuss Tsering Wangchuk's The Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows.

Overview - How to Join - About the Author

Article Study Group: Buddha-Nature

Other Offerings:

• "Article Study Group” - read a “long-read” article and contemplate specific questions and discuss together on Zoom.
• ”Book Study Group” - read a book together with author or translator
  • CHARRIER BOOK CLUB
• TRADITIONAL STUDY OF THE UTTARATANTRA (maybe with Karmapa or Lama Tenpa?)

Uttaratantra - The Ultimate Continuum, or Gyü Lama, is often used as a short title in the Tibetan tradition for the key source text of buddha-nature teachings called the Ratnagotravibhāga of Maitreya/Asaṅga, also known as the Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra. Skt. उत्तरतन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད་བླ་མ་ Ch. 寶性論

These are the root verses of the Uttaratantra attributed to Maitreya by the Tibetan tradition.