Cataphatic Emptiness: rGyal-tshab on the Buddha-essence Theory of Asaṅga's Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā

Cataphatic Emptiness: rGyal-tshab on the Buddha-essence Theory of Asaṅga's Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā

Translation of Commentary on the Ultimate Continuum of the Mahāyāna

Dissertation

Dissertation

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Abstract

This doctoral dissertation studies the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra), the only surviving Indian Buddhist treatise on the Buddha-essence doctrine, by way of one of its major Tibetan commentaries, rGyal-tshab Dar-ma-rin-chen (1364-1432)'s Theg pa chen po rGyud bla ma'i ṭīkā. This project consists of three parts: a special edition of the first chapter of the Theg pa chen po rGyud bia ma'i ṭīkā, an English translation of the selected sections of that commentary, and a comparative analysis which follows six distinct lines of inquiry.
      The six lines are: rGyal-tshab's doctrinal classification of the text; his critiques of absolutism, skepticism, and quietism in connection with diverse interpretations of the Buddha-essence doctrine in Tibetan traditions as well as a tentative comparison with critiques of the theory of "Original-enlightenment" in modern Chinese Buddhism; his analysis of the title of Tibetan version and the structure of the text; rGyal-tshab's philosophical positions on reality, Element, and natural luminosity of the mind; his expositions of the tripartite Buddha-essence, its ten aspects, and the eighteen similes; and the notion "spiritual gene" understood by dGe-lugs-pas.
      This comparative approach will provide a broader synthetic understanding of the role that Buddha-essence played as a doctrinal genre in Tibetan intellectual history.

Citation	Jiang, Bo. "Cataphatic Emptiness: rGyal-tshab on the Buddha-Essence Theory of Asaṅga's Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā." PhD diss., Columbia University, 2008.

Contents

• List of Tablesv
• AcknowledgmentsvI
• Technical Notesvii

Part I: The Prāsaṅgika-Mādhyamika Interpretation of the Buddha-essence Theory

• Introduction2
• Chapter 1: Historical and Doctrinal Background17
  • 1. rGyal-tshab's Life and Works17
  • 2. The social-political background26
  • 3. The doctrinal background29
  • 4. The Structure and Contents of the rGyud bla ṭīkā33
• Chapter 2: Doctrinal Classification of the Ratnagotravibhāga37
  • 1. Asaṅga and the Five Treatises of Maitreya38
  • 2. The subtle emptiness according to the RGV41
    • The truth-habit as the cause of saṃsāra41
    • The truth-habit as the addictive obscuration43
    • Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas' realization of objective selflessness44
    • Refuting the Vijñānavādin standpoint concerning emptiness47
  • 3. The Three Stages of Teaching according to the DIR49
    • Establishing the unique vehicle49
    • As the distinctive presentation of the Prāsaṅgika-Mādhyamika
      viewpoint54
  • 4. The Prajñāpāramitā-sūtra and the TGS56
  • 5. The TGS as Being Definitive62
• Chapter 3: Critiques of Absolutism, Skepticism, and Quietism69
  • 1. Critique of Dol-po-pa's "Great Madhyamaka"70
    • Refuting Dol-po-pa's classification of the TGS71
    • Refuting Buddha-essence as a permanent entity72
    • Refuting Buddha-essence as being endowed with twofold purities77
  • 2. Critique of the Mainstream Positions81
    • 'Gos-lo's position on Buddha-essence84
    • dGe-lugs-pa scholars' responses89
  • 3. A Comparison with Critiques of "Original-enlightenment" theory in Modern Chinese Buddhism94
    • A comparison of interpretations between 'Gos-lo and Zongmi96
    • Modern Chinese Critiques of "Original-enlightenment"99
• Chapter 4: Analysis of the Title and Textural Structure110
  • 1. The Title "Mahāyānottaratantra" and Its Implication110
  • 2. The Seven Vajra-Like Bases114
    • Two aspects114
    • rGyal-tshab's revision of rNgog-lo's "two wheels" theory 116
    • The first three bases as ultimate fruition118
    • The last four bases as cause and conditions119
  • 3. The Term "Ratnagotra" and the Textual Structure of RGV121
  • 4. rGyal-tshab on the Fourfold Ratnagotra as Cause and Conditions124
    • Template:IThe Element as a cause according to RGV I.16
    • Template:IThe last three bases as conditions
  • 5. On RGV 1.3129
  • 6. Conclusion132
• Chapter 5: Reality, Element, and Natural Luminosity of the Mind134
  • 1. The Buddha-essence and Its Various Names134
  • 2. Reality136
    • As immutable ultimate reality136
    • The tainted reality138
  • 3. Dharmatā140
  • 4. Natural Luminosity of the Mind142
    • Origin in Canonical sources142
    • rGyal-tshab's Exegesis on the Passages from the SMS and the DIR144
    • On the Passage from the GGS147
  • 5. The Element150
    • According to the AAN150
    • According to the MAS154
  • 6. The Buddha-essence and the Madhyamaka Philosophy156
    • The Equation of the Buddha-essence with emptiness156
    • Realizing the Buddha-essence as the Middle Way159
  • 7. Conclusion163
• Chapter 6: Buddha-essence and Its Ten Aspects164
  • 1. The Tripartite Buddha-essence164
    • The diffusion of the truth body166
    • The indivisible reality and generic potentials168
  • 2. The Ten Points170
    • Nature171
    • Causes173
    • Fruition178
    • Actions187
    • Possession192
    • Engagement194
    • States196
    • All-pervadingness198
    • Unchangeability200
    • Indivisible excellences205

• • A. The Mahiiyanottaratantraryakhya (Chapter One: 1.1-7.5 and 21.1-78.22)449
  • B. The Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i ṭīkā (Chapter One: la-72a and 64a-170b)525

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

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

Go to the page with the definition of 'Ratnagotravibhāga'

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

Go to the page with the definition of 'Uttaratantra'

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

Go to the page with the definition of 'Uttaratantra'

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

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prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

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prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

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śūnyatā - The state of being empty of an innate nature due to a lack of independently existing characteristics. Skt. शून्यता Tib. སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་ Ch. 空,空門

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RGV - Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra

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

Go to the page with the definition of 'RGV'

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

Go to the page with the definition of 'RGV'

anātman - The nonexistence of the self as a permanent, unchanging entity. Skt. अनात्मन् Tib. བདག་མེད་པ་ Ch. 无我

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DIR - Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra

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Prajñāpāramitā - A class of Mahāyāna sūtras which represents some of the earliest known literature of this genre of Buddhism. There are around forty texts associated with this category, though the most widespread is the exceedingly brief Prajñāpāramitāhṛdayasūtra, popularly known as the Heart Sūtra. This class of literature is typically associated with the second turning of the dharma wheel and especially with the teachings on emptiness (śūnyatā). As such, these texts were the primary scriptural source for the philosophy of the Madhyamaka school. Skt. प्रज्ञापारमिता Tib. ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་,ཤེར་ཕྱིན་ Ch. 般若波羅蜜多

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sūtra - Sūtras mainly refer to the discourses delivered by the Buddha and his disciples, and the Sūtra corpus is one of the three main sets of teachings which form the Buddhist canon. Skt. सूत्र Tib. མདོ། Ch. 佛经

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TGS - Tathāgatagarbhasūtra

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Madhyamaka - Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Skt. मध्यमक Tib. དབུ་མ་ Ch. 中觀見

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prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

Go to the page with the definition of 'Luminosity'

prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

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dharmatā - The true nature of phenomenal existence. Skt. धर्मता Tib. ཆོས་ཉིད་ Ch. 法性

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Madhyamaka - Along with Yogācāra, it is one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Nāgārjuna around the second century CE, it is rooted in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, though its initial exposition was presented in Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. Skt. मध्यमक Tib. དབུ་མ་ Ch. 中觀見

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

Go to the page with the definition of 'rgyud bla ma'

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

Go to the page with the definition of 'rgyud bla ma'