Khenpo Namdrol 2008 Teachings on Buddha Nature

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Khenpo Namdrol 2008 Teachings on Buddha Nature
Khenpo Namdrol
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Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche taught the Rigpa Shedra on Mipham Rinpoche's work on buddha nature (Skt. sugatagarbha): The Lion's Roar: A Commentary on Sugatagarbha.

The Lion's Roar: A Commentary on Sugatagarbha

By Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche


Prologue

1st teaching, 16-Dec-2008: How is buddha nature taught in sutra, tantra and Dzogchen?

Introduction

2nd teaching, 17-Dec-2008: Our teacher the Buddha has taught on buddha nature emphasizing sugatagarbha's essence (Wyl. ngo bo) by teaching on emptiness. On other occasions, he gave clarifications on its nature (Wyl. rang bzhin) by explaining its primordially present qualities. It is crucial to understand that those two aspects are in union. See Tibetan: Mipham gsung 'bum, Vol 4., p. 564-565. English: Duckworth, p.147-148


3rd teaching, 18-Dec-2008: Accuracy of scriptures can be examined by the three types of investigation and understanding establishes irreversible trust by means of the three types of valid cognition.[1] How can buddha nature (tathagatagarbha) be established in this way, as being empty in essence while cognizant in nature? See Tibetan: Mipham gsung 'bum, Vol 4., p. 566-567. English: Duckworth, p.148-149

1. Proof of the Presence of the Tathagatagarbha in all Sentient Beings

The Uttaratantra Shastra says:

27. Because the perfect buddhas’s kaya is all-pervading,
Because reality is undifferentiated,
And because they possess the potential,[2]
Beings always have the buddha nature.[3]
1.1 The Mistaken Apprehension of Others

4th teaching, 19-Dec-2008: A refutation of the position of early Tibetan commentators concerning the interpretation of the meaning of the Uttaratantra Shastra verse. Neither is the fact that the dharmakaya pervades everything sufficient for the existent of the nature (Tib. rigs) nor can suchness be simply understood as mere emptiness in the sense of the approximate ultimate.

See Tibetan: Mipham gsung 'bum, Vol 4., p. 567-569. English: Duckworth, p.149-151

Nature (rigs) as the union of the two truths

5th teaching, 20-Dec-2008: The sugatagarbha is the indivisible union, beyond any possibility of being united or separated, of the primordial purity of the cause and effect of samsara, and untainted appearances which are natural and spontaneous clear light.

See Tibetan: Mipham gsung 'bum, Vol 4., p. 569-572. English: Duckworth, p.151-153

1.2 Our Tradition
1.2.1 The Meaning of the First Line: Because the perfect buddhas’s kaya is all-pervading
1.2.1.1 General Reasoning
1.2.1.2 Specific Points

6th teaching, 22-Dec-2008: How to establish by reasoning that the sugatagarbha is already present in all beings?

See Tibetan: Mipham gsung 'bum, Vol 4., p. 572-575. English: Duckworth, p.153-156

From the Uttaratantra Shastra:

The disposition[4], is empty of the adventitious stains,
Which are characterized by their total separateness.
But it is not empty of the unsurpassed qualities,
Which have the character of total inseparability.[5]
  1. (Wyl. tshad ma gsum) Another expression for the three types of investigation.
  2. The alternative translation for potential (Tib. rig; Wyl. rigs) used during the teachings is nature or the Sanskrit gotra (here go comes from guna, quality. Tra means to protect. So gotra means to protect the qualities (Wyl. yon ten skyob pa) [RY])
  3. Sublime Continuum, I, 27. Translation Adam Pearcey, Compendium of Quotations VI, p. 49
  4. (Wyl. khams), translated as element during the teachings
  5. Sublime Continuum, I, 155. Translation Adam Pearcey, Compendium of Quotations VI

sugatagarbha - Literally, the "essence" or "heart of the Bliss Gone One(s)," a synonym for tathāgatagarbha that is likewise often rendered into English by the term buddha-nature. Though it is often back translated into Sanskrit as sugatagarbha, this term is not found in Sanskrit sources. Skt. सुगतगर्भ Tib. བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོ་

sugatagarbha - Literally, the "essence" or "heart of the Bliss Gone One(s)," a synonym for tathāgatagarbha that is likewise often rendered into English by the term buddha-nature. Though it is often back translated into Sanskrit as sugatagarbha, this term is not found in Sanskrit sources. Skt. सुगतगर्भ Tib. བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོ་

tantra - Tantra, when juxtaposed with Sūtra, generally refers to the scriptures and texts which discuss esoteric topics. While the term is used to refer to texts on other topics, it is mostly used to refer to the genre of scriptures and texts on themes and topics associated with Vajrayāna Buddhism. Skt. तन्त्र Tib. རྒྱུད། Ch. 密宗

Dzogchen - Dzogchen is an advanced system of meditation techniques to reveal the innate state of perfection primarily, but not exclusively, espoused by the Nyingma Buddhist tradition and the Tibetan Bön tradition. Skt. महासन्धि Tib. རྫོགས་ཆེན།

ngo bo - Essence or the most basic, fundamental nature or natural state of being. It is often used as a synonym for rang bzhin. Skt. भाव Tib. ངོ་བོ་

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

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.

gotra - Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain. Skt. गोत्र Tib. རིགས་ Ch. 鍾姓,種性

tathatā - Suchness itself, absolute reality, or thusness, as in the ultimate state of being of phenomena. Skt. तथता Tib. དེ་བཞིན་ཉིད་

ka dag - Primordial purity is a term found in the Dzogchen tradition and refers to the empty nature of phenomena which is experienced through the practice of cutting-through meditation (khregs chod). It is often juxtaposed with spontaneous presence (lhun grub). Tib. ཀ་དག

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

gotra - Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain. Skt. गोत्र Tib. རིགས་ Ch. 鍾姓,種性

āgantukamala - Mental stains that are not inherent to the nature of the mind but are temporarily present as the residue of past actions or habitual tendencies. It is sometimes iterated as adventitious defilements (Skt. āgantukakleśa, Tib. glo bur gyi nyon mongs), which references the fickle and temporary nature of disturbing emotions that lack an ultimately established basis for existence. Skt. आगन्तुकमल Tib. གློ་བུར་གྱི་དྲི་མ་

gotra - Disposition, lineage, or class; an individual's gotra determines the type of enlightenment one is destined to attain. Skt. गोत्र Tib. རིགས་ Ch. 鍾姓,種性

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