]> 2026-10-16T06:46:37-04:00 Books/Buddha-Nature and Emptiness 0 en Yes Kano, K.;Rngog blo ldan shes rab ''Buddha-Nature and Emptiness'' by Japanese scholar <div class="inline-person-tag grey-hoverlay position-relative d-inline-block nowrap px-1 rounded">START_WIDGET"'-4e0bb0090d24fabaEND_WIDGET'"`UNIQ--noglossary-00000002-QINU`"'START_WIDGET"'-0511131dbecebafcEND_WIDGET </div> is a book of herculean research and superior writing. With apparent ease, [[Kano, K.|Kano]] consults Chinese, Tibetan, and various Sanskrit-hybrid literature to surround the ''[[Ratnagotravibhāga]]'' and its eleventh-century Tibetan translator and commentator [[Ngok Lotsāwa]] with the necessary information to clarify what [[Kano, K.|Kano]] believes to be their central goals. For the first, this was the systematization of Indian ''tathāgatagarbha'' literature; for the second, it was to strip out the ontological aspect of the definitive. The book is organized historically, with initial chapters on the origin and impact of the''[[Ratnagotravibhāga]]'' in India ([[Kano, K.|Kano]] is fully cognizant of the treatise’s history in China but the book is not concerned with that topic). These address the issues of authorship, influence, translation, and transmission. [[Kano, K.|Kano]] mines virtually every surviving piece of Indian Buddhist literature for references to the text, and one of the remarkable feats of the book is the resurrection of the transmission lineage of the ''[[Ratnagotravibhāga]]'' in India, in particular, how he breathes life into relationships between men who lived well over a thousand years ago. The second section of the book is dedicated to [[Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab]]’s late eleventh-century Tibetan translation and commentary of the treatise that he knew as the ''[[Uttaratantra]]''. As [[Kano, K.|Kano]] explains, the ''[[Ratnagotravibhāga]]'' systematized buddha-nature doctrine with awareness of both Madhyamaka and Yogācāra doctrine, but without allegiance with either. [[Ngok]], however, like all Tibetans after him, was intent on fitting buddha-nature theory into these standard doctrinal schools of thought. Buddha-nature, both [[Ngok]] (and [[Kano, K.|Kano]]) decided, was a valuable tool in the promotion and pursuit of the Buddhist goal of liberation; yet philosophically the assertion of a permanent, existent self was problematic and needed to be explained away. The second part of the book does for [[Ngok]] and his commentary what the first part of the book did for the ''[[Ratnagotravibhāga]]'': [[Kano, K.|Kano]] packs them in fascinating information about [[Ngok]]’s teachers and contemporaries, and he carefully unravels the complicated philosophical position [[Ngok]] established. This includes a lengthy chapter on [[Ngok]]’s Indian guru, [[Sajjana]], who was also the teacher to [[Tsen Khawoche]], a man who fully accepted the ontological aspect of buddha-nature and influenced the dzokchen and mahāmudrā interpretations of the doctrine. As a committed Mādhyamika, [[Ngok]] however was forced to confront what [[Kano, K.|Kano]] calls the “incompatibilities between the Buddha-nature and the Madhyamaka doctrines, especially with regard to the ultimate ontological status of Buddha-nature, which has never been accepted as Madhyamaka doctrine.” Step-by-step [[Kano, K.|Kano]] skillfully explains how [[Ngok]] did this by redefining three aspects of buddha-nature—''dharmakāya'', ''tathatā'', and ''gotra''—as resultant, intrinsic, and causal aspects of emptiness, respectively. Attentive to the historical nature of ideas, Kano ends the book with a lengthy section on [[Ngok]]’s impact on the many Tibetan ''[[Ratnagotravibhāga]]'' commentators who followed him; [[Ngok]]'s translation (and the only one of six to survive) became canonical, and his commentary has been continuously read in almost every Tibetan Buddhist educational center. Secondary Sources <div class="d-flex align-items-center justify-content-start position-relative text-article p-2 clearfix"> <div class="mr-3" style="width: 70px !important; height: 70px !important;">START_WIDGET"'-8f75a871d600fb8cEND_WIDGET</div> <div>[[Rngog blo ldan shes rab|Ngok Lotsawa]]</div>START_WIDGET"'-4793cbeed4c4a708END_WIDGET </div><div class="d-flex align-items-center justify-content-start position-relative text-article p-2 clearfix"> <div class="mr-3" style="width: 70px !important; height: 70px !important;">START_WIDGET"'-2a892e77a2b7696fEND_WIDGET</div> <div>[[Kano, K.|Kazuo Kano]]</div>START_WIDGET"'-8fe7d48e9f33a7feEND_WIDGET </div> * PREFACE * <span> Introduction</span><span> i</span> * <span> PART I: Historical and Doctrinal Background</span><span> 5</span> ** <span> Chapter 1: The Authorship of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' and Its Transmission in<br>India from the 5th to the 10th Century</span><span> 17</span> ** <span> Chapter 2: The Resurrection of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' in India in the Early 11th Century: Maitripa and Jñānasrimitra </span><span>43</span> ** <span> Chapter 3: Ratnakarasanti’s Understanding of Buddha-nature </span><span>71</span> ** <span> Chapter 4: The Transmission of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' in East India from the<br>11th to the 13th Century: From Prajñākaramati to Vibhūticandra </span><span>97</span> ** <span> Chapter 5: The Kashmiri Tradition of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' Exegesis in the 11th and 12th Centuries: Sajjana and his Circle </span><span>135</span> ** <span> Chapter 6: Six Tibetan Translations of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' </span><span>155 </span> ** <span> Conclusion </span><span>181</span> * <span> PART II: rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab and His Doctrinal Position </span><span>189</span> ** <span> Chapter 7: The Life and Works of rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab </span><span>191</span> ** <span> Chapter 8: rNgog’s Doctrinal Positions in Relation to Sajjana’s and His Commentarial Style </span><span>211</span> ** <span> Chapter 9: rNgog’s ''rGyud bla ma'i don bsdus pa'' as a Reflection of His Own Doctrinal Position </span><span>241</span> ** <span> Conclusion </span><span>277</span> * <span> PART III: rNgog’s Impact on Later Developments </span><span>283</span> ** <span> Chapter 10: rNgog’s Impact on Doctrinal Developments from the 11th to<br>the Early 14th Century </span><span>285</span> ** <span> Chapter 11: rNgog’s Impact on Doctrinal Developments from the Late 14th<br>to the 16th Century </span><span>345</span> ** <span> Conclusion </span><span>379</span> * <span> FINAL CONSIDERATIONS </span><span>383</span> ** <span> Resituating rNgog’s Position in a Wider Context </span><span>385</span> * <span> APPENDICES </span><span>393</span> ** <span> Appendix A: A Topical Outline of the ''rGyud bla ma'i don bsdus pa'' </span><span>395</span> ** <span> Appendix B: A List of Commentaries of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' </span><span>405</span> * <span> ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHIES </span><span>415</span> * <span> INDICES </span><span>461</span> Academic true IV false Advanced Book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Kano's book is an essential work on buddha-nature textual studies in Tibetan traditions. Buddha-Nature and Emptiness Kano, Kazuo. ''Buddha-Nature and Emptiness: rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab and A Transmission of the Ratnagotravibhāga from India to Tibet''. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 91. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2016. #[[rngog blo ldan shes rab]]: [[theg chen rgyud bla ma'i don bsdus pa]]. In [[bka' gdams gsung 'bum phyogs bsgrigs thengs dang po]], Vol. 1: 289-368. Khreng tu'u: [[si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang]], 2006. [[File:Buda by BDRC Logo.jpg|class=bdrc-button|x40px|link=http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/W1PD89051]] #[[Maitreya]]; [[Asaṅga]]. [[mahāyānottaratantraśāstra-ratnagotra-vibhāga]], ([[theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos]]) (P5525), [[sems tsam]], phi 54b7-74b6 (vol.108, p.24-32); (Tōh) 4024, [[sems tsam]], phi 54b1-73a7. (N) phi 48b3-69a3. (Kinsha)3524, phi 64b1 (p.33-3-1). In [[bstan 'gyur (sde dge)]], Vol. 123: 106-146. Delhi: [[delhi karmapae choedhey, gyalwae sungrab partun khang]], 1982-1985. [[File:Buda by BDRC Logo.jpg|class=bdrc-button|x40px|link=http://purl.bdrc.io/resource/W23703]] [http://databases.aibs.columbia.edu/index.php?id=f252678ccc40d9de0f3b10febe611c4d&enc=sanskrit_romanized_title_4_search&coll=tengyur Columbia AIBS] An essential study of a key text that presents buddha-nature theory and its transmission from India to Tibet, this book is the most thorough history of buddha-nature thought in Tibet and is exceptional in its level of detail and scholarly apparatus. It serves as a scholarly encyclopedia of sorts with extensive appendices listing every existent commentary on the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' (''Uttaratantraśāstra''), as well as covering Ngok Lotsawa's commentarial text and his philosophical positions related with other Tibetan thinkers. false Buddha-Nature and Emptiness: rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab and A Transmission of the Ratnagotravibhāga from India to Tibet Kano, Kazuo. ''Buddha-Nature and Emptiness: rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab and A Transmission of the Ratnagotravibhāga from India to Tibet''. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 91. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2016.;Buddha-Nature and Emptiness;Buddha-nature as Emptiness;History;History of buddha-nature in Tibet;Madhyamaka;Ngok Tradition;Textual study;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Tibetan Buddhism;Theg chen rgyud bla ma'i don bsdus pa;Sajjana;Rngog blo ldan shes rab;Geluk;Maitrīpa;Jñānaśrīmitra;Ratnākaraśānti;Prajñākaramati;Vibhūticandra;Kazuo Kano; Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab;རྔོག་བློ་ལྡན་ཤེས་རབ་;rngog blo ldan shes rab;rngog lo tsA ba;lo chen blo ldan shes rab;blo ldan shes rab;རྔོག་ལོ་ཙཱ་བ་;ལོ་ཆེན་བློ་ལྡན་ཤེས་རབ་;Ngok Lotsāwa;Ngok Loden Sherab;Lochen Loden Sherab;Loden Sherab;Buddha-Nature and Emptiness: rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab and A Transmission of the Ratnagotravibhāga from India to Tibet;rngog blo ldan shes rab true Buddha-Nature and Emptiness-front.jpg Kano, K. Rngog blo ldan shes rab rngog blo ldan shes rab Kazuo Kano 2016 <blockquote> <div id="leftQuoteBack"><i class="fas fa-quote-left fa-2x"></i></div> <div class="quoted-text"> The core idea of the RGV's teaching is that everyone possesses Buddha-nature. This nature does not change at any time throughout the progression from the level of ordinary beings to that of a buddha; it is merely purified from adventitious defilements. The completion of this purification process constitutes awakening.  <i class="fas fa-quote-right" style="color: rgba(212, 200, 174, 0.5);"></i> <span class="quote-attr font-italic">~ in Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, page(s) 212-213</span> </div> </blockquote><blockquote> <div id="leftQuoteBack"><i class="fas fa-quote-left fa-2x"></i></div> <div class="quoted-text"> While the RGV teaches Buddha-nature as displaying three aspects–dharmakaya, tathata, and gotra–rNgog holds that all three are nothing but one or another form of emptiness: the dharmakaya is the completely pure emptiness found at the states of a buddha; the tathata is the emptiness that pervades the stages of both a buddha and ordinary sentient beings; and the naturally present disposition (''prakrtisthagotra'') is the emptiness that, in pervading every sentient being, serves to give rise to the Buddha-qualities. For rNgog, the evolved disposition (''samudanitagotra'') is not emptiness but wholesome seeds. Further, rNgog takes Buddha-nature as the mind characterized by emptiness.  <i class="fas fa-quote-right" style="color: rgba(212, 200, 174, 0.5);"></i> <span class="quote-attr font-italic">~ in Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, page(s) 275</span> </div> </blockquote><blockquote> <div id="leftQuoteBack"><i class="fas fa-quote-left fa-2x"></i></div> <div class="quoted-text"> After allaying the "heat" of defilements, with the "cool rainwater" of repeated study, carried by the "clouds" of good teachers; and after moistening the "seeds" of Buddha-nature (bde gshegs snying po), you should cultivate "crops" of perfect Buddha-qualities.  <i class="fas fa-quote-right" style="color: rgba(212, 200, 174, 0.5);"></i> <span class="quote-attr font-italic">~ Rngog blo ldan shes rab in Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, page(s) 232</span> </div> </blockquote><blockquote> <div id="leftQuoteBack"><i class="fas fa-quote-left fa-2x"></i></div> <div class="quoted-text"> The teaching "all sentient beings have Buddha-nature" is interpreted in the sense that all sentient beings are pervaded by the ''dharmadhātu'' which is characterized by selflessness. In other words, the ''tathāgatagarbha'' is taken to be the ''dharmadhātugarbha''. Though the term ''dharmadhātugarbha'' appears in the RGVV, Kamalaśīla's interpretation seems to have been derived from a phrase in the ''Lankāvatārasūtra'', "the embryo of the ''tatāgata'', which is selflessness" (''tathāgatanairātmyagarbha''), reinforcing the notion that Buddha0nature does not refer to ''ātman'' but rather to selflessness (''nairātmya'').  <i class="fas fa-quote-right" style="color: rgba(212, 200, 174, 0.5);"></i> <span class="quote-attr font-italic">~ in Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, page(s) 10</span> </div> </blockquote><blockquote> <div id="leftQuoteBack"><i class="fas fa-quote-left fa-2x"></i></div> <div class="quoted-text"> rNgog further denies the full presences of Buddha-qualities in Buddha-nature, asserting instead that Buddha-nature gives rise to the Buddha-qualities only after it has been purified. He thus avoids the vulnerabilities of ''satkāryavāda'', but his interpretation of the Buddha-qualities as mundane remains incompatible with what is stated in the RGV, which depicts the Buddha-qualities as unconditioned.  <i class="fas fa-quote-right" style="color: rgba(212, 200, 174, 0.5);"></i> <span class="quote-attr font-italic">~ in Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, page(s) 276</span> </div> </blockquote><blockquote> <div id="leftQuoteBack"><i class="fas fa-quote-left fa-2x"></i></div> <div class="quoted-text"> We can point out three characteristics regarding rNgog's position as set forth in his ''rGyud bla don bsdus'': rNgog, basing himself on Madhyamaka doctrine, (a) identifies Buddha-nature with emptiness, (b) embraces the single-vehicle doctrine, and (c) understands the Buddha-nature doctrine as a definitive teaching.  <i class="fas fa-quote-right" style="color: rgba(212, 200, 174, 0.5);"></i> <span class="quote-attr font-italic">~ in Buddha-Nature and Emptiness, page(s) 280</span> </div> </blockquote> Translations,Academic Publications An essential study of a key text that presents buddha-nature theory and its transmission from India to Tibet, this book is the most thorough history of buddha-nature thought in Tibet and is exceptional in its level of detail and scholarly apparatus. It serves as a scholarly encyclopedia of sorts with extensive appendices listing every existent commentary on the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' (''Uttaratantraśāstra''), as well as covering Ngok Lotsawa's commentarial text and his philosophical positions related with other Tibetan thinkers. Buddha-Nature and Emptiness;Buddha-Nature and Emptiness;Buddha-Nature and Emptiness: rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab and A Transmission of the Ratnagotravibhāga from India to Tibet Buddha-Nature and Emptiness;Buddha-Nature and Emptiness;Buddha-Nature and Emptiness: rNgog Blo-ldan-shes-rab and A Transmission of the Ratnagotravibhāga from India to Tibet 2018-07-19T18:55:42Z 2458319.2886806 2020-10-02T16:13:41Z 2459125.176169 false Buddha-Nature and Emptiness 0 0 template 2 [[Category:Book Excerpts]] [[Category:Buddha-Nature and Emptiness||Books/Buddha-Nature and Emptiness]] Buddha-Nature and Emptiness# QUERY6d8be93b5490faa34f9fbca19207d3b7 0 0 plainlist 1 [[:People/Kano, K.]] Buddha-Nature and Emptiness# QUERY3ba95d2472e96f6dd2cb26627dcff1c1 0 0 plainlist 1 [[:Rngog blo ldan shes rab]] Buddha-Nature and Emptiness# QUERY65cef13152f513390c34bf7a80a34b77 0 0 plainlist 1 [[:Kano, K.]] Buddha-Nature and Emptiness# QUERYf6475f6f0f364dc593734152935b0f20 0 0 plainlist 1 [[:History]] Buddha-Nature and Emptiness# QUERY64124c6b25b2706d2f39fa188f62dffc 0 0 plainlist 1 [[:Madhyamaka]] Buddha-Nature and Emptiness# QUERY0863baaac08dab792fc0b1c27ebc5439 0 0 plainlist 1 [[:Ngok Tradition]] Buddha-Nature and Emptiness# QUERY4b01258719afb818a40e53275721f18e 0 0 plainlist 1 [[:Theg chen rgyud bla ma'i don bsdus pa]] Buddha-Nature and Emptiness# QUERYb889651e91d620394998c296113f7a79 0 0 plainlist 1 [[:Geluk]] Buddha-Nature and Emptiness# QUERY4ac3359411691c83746305fe3ec0231c 0 0 plainlist 1 [[:Buddha-nature as Emptiness; History; History of buddha-nature in Tibet; Madhyamaka; Ngok Tradition; Textual study; The doctrine of buddha-nature in Tibetan Buddhism; Theg chen rgyud bla ma'i don bsdus pa; Sajjana; Rngog blo ldan shes rab; Geluk; Maitrīpa; Jñānaśrīmitra; Ratnākaraśānti; Prajñākaramati; Vibhūticandra]] Buddha-Nature and Emptiness# QUERYfb095ed411e21bb2c4e8dd39d1c9205e 0 Ngok Lotsawa Buddha-Nature and Emptiness# 72b79b814a6fc38a8a81f0d22caa4844 0 Kazuo Kano Buddha-Nature and Emptiness# 26e786874c0344b2a92c2c1dca9b0d50 Texts/Theg chen rgyud bla ma'i don bsdus pa 0 en '"`UNIQ--noglossary-00000000-QINU`"' Texts/Mahāyānottaratantraśāstraṭippaṇī 0 en '"`UNIQ--noglossary-00000000-QINU`"' Texts/Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma rgyan gyi me tog 0 en '"`UNIQ--noglossary-00000000-QINU`"' Buddha-Nature and Emptiness 0 en Buddha-Nature and Emptiness PagesScholarship 102 en PagesScholarship REDI 102 en REDI