During the last years of his life, Buddha Sakyamuni revealed the deepest of his teachings, in what we now call the Third Turning of the Wheel of Dharma. These show the heart nature of every one and every thing to be the sublime perfection of enlightenment. This unrecognized inner essence is known as buddha nature. To discover it completely is to become a Buddha, with all a Buddha's qualities and power to help others. But what, really and truly, is a Buddha? What lies at the heart of the Buddha's teachings, the dharma? What is it that illuminates the Buddhist saints of the sangha? These and many other questions are answered in precise and beautiful poetry by Asanga, in his great classic, the Mahayana Uttara Tantra, which has become one of the most important doctrinal texts of Tibetan Buddhism.
This new and refreshingly accessible translation is accompanied by a commentary based on the explanations of the most learned contemporary masters of the Kagy Tradition. It provides an introduction for those new to buddha nature as well as a major and essential reference work, to which one can return again and again for inspiration and guidance.
(Source: back cover)
- TRANSLATORS' INTRODUCTION13
- CLASSICAL INTRODUCTION21
- The three major phases of the Buddha's teaching21
- First phase22
- Second phase24
- Third phase26
- A simple introduction to voidness26
- The Buddha's own teaching or a śāstra?29
- Source of this work30
- The author30
- Transmission of the text34
- Subject matter35
- Styles of explanation37
- A bridge between sūtra and tantra39
- PART ONE: The Goal to be Achieved: The Three Rare and Precious Refuges43
- Introduction to the Seven Vajra Abodes45
- The Refuges48
- First Vajra Abode: buddha50
- Homage50
- Three qualities of self-fulfillment51
- Not a creation52
- Non-dual peace53
- Non-dependent55
- Three qualities which benefit others57
- Three qualities of self-fulfillment, reflections57
- Beginningless, centreless and endless58
- Peace as spontaneity of dharmakāya60
- Apperceptive nature62
- Three qualities which benefit others, reflections62
- Second Vajra Abode: dharma65
- Homage 66
- Context 67
- Relating content of homage to context 69
- Qualities of the truth of cessation 69
- Inconceivability 69
- Not two 73
- Freedom from concepts 73
- Qualities of the truth of the path 74
- Stainlessness 74
- Brilliance 74
- Power to remedy 75
- Third Vajra Abode: saṃgha77
- Homage 77
- Context 79
- Thusness jñāna 80
- All-encompassing jñāna 80
- Inner jñāna 81
- What gives rise to these three 81
- Relating content of homage to context 82
- The way in which thusness jñāna is realised 82
- The way in which all-encompassing jñāna is realised 83
- Its special purity 84
- They are a supreme refuge 85
- General Points about the Refuges86
- Why it is threefold 86
- What is the ultimate refuge? 87
- Why are they called ratna? 88
- PART TWO: The Basis for Attaining the Three Rare and Precious Refuges91
- General Comment on the Final Four Vajra Abodes 93
- The final four vajra abodes only understood by Buddhas 93
- They are inconceivable 94
- Reasons for inconceivability 95
- Causes and conditions for realisation 97
- Fourth Vajra Abode: buddha nature 99
- Brief Introduction: three reasons why beings possess dhātu 100
- More detailed presentation through ten aspects of buddha potential 103
- character and cause treated together, in brief 103
- essential character 104
- cause 105
- fruition and function treated together, in brief 109
- fruition 110
- function 116
- endowments 118
- manifestation/approach 121
- phases 122
- all-pervasiveness 124
- changelessness 125
- in the impure phase 125
- in the partially pure phase 133
- in the completely pure phase 142
- inseparability from its qualities 145
- Nine examples showing how buddha nature remains changeless while concealed 153
- first example: buddha in decaying lotus 155
- second example: honey amid bees 156
- third example: grains in their husks 157
- fourth example: gold in fifth 158
- fifth example: buried treasure 159
- sixth example: seeds within a fruit 160
- seventh example: buddha image in tattered rags 161
- eighth example: future king in pauper's womb 162
- ninth example: statue inside its mould 163
- the meaning of these examples 164
- The purpose of the buddha nature teachings 179
- Fifth Vajra Abode: enlightenment 187
- The nature and cause of enlightenment 188
- treated together, in brief 188
- nature of enlightenment, in detail 190
- cause of enlightenment, in detail 192
- As a fruition 193
- in brief, as a summary of examples of stainlessness 193
- in detail 194
- Its function 198
- in brief, as twofold benefit 198
- in greater detail, as vimuktikāya and dharmakāya 200
- Its endowments 204
- in brief, listing fifteen qualities 204
- the fifteen qualities, in detail 205
- Actualisation 209
- in brief, the characteristics of the kāya 209
- in detail 213
- svabhavikakāya, five aspects and five qualities 214
- sambhogakāya, five aspects and five qualities 217
- nirmāṇakāya, the twelve deeds of the Buddha 220
- Its permanence 231
- in brief, ten-point presentation 231
- the ten points in detail 233
- Its inconceivability 237
- in brief 237
- in more detail 237
- The Sixth Vajra Abode: the qualities of buddhahood 242
- Synopsis: number of principal qualities and their relation to the kāya 242
- More detailed explanation 245
- Introduction to the examples and their significance 245
- The qualities of freedom: the ultimately true kāya 246
- Ten powers of perfect knowledge 246
- Four fearlessnesses 251
- Eighteen distinctive qualities 254
- The qualities of maturity: the relatively true kāya 259
- The thirty-two marks of a perfect being 259
- Example for the marks 264
- Scriptural source 264
- Recapitulation of the examples 265
- The qualities of freedom 265
- The qualities of maturity 269
- The Seventh Yajra Abode: enlightened activity 271
- Summary 271
- Its spontaneity 271
- Its ceaselessness 272
- More detailed explanation 273
- Its spontaneity 273
- It ceaselessness 274
- Expanded explanation through nine examples 277
- Summary of the nine examples 277
- The examples 278
- The reflection of Indra: Buddha forms 278
- The divine drumbeat: Buddha speech 283
- Monsoon clouds: the all-pervading compassionate mind 286
- Brahma's emanations: emanation 291
- The sun's radiance: the penetration of primordial wisdom 293
- A wish-fulfilling gem: the mystery of mind 297
- An echo: the mystery of speech 299
- Space: the mystery of form 300
- The earth: the application of compassion 301
- Review of the purpose and significance of examples 302
- Review of examples to show their sublime nature 306
- PART THREE: Conclusion 311
- The benefits of this text 312
- How this śastra was composed 320
- Dedication 327
- INDEX 331
Ken and Katia Holmes offer a new English translation of the root verses of the Ratnagotravibhaga with their own commentary focused on advice to those interested in engaging in a path of practice.
- Maitreya/Asaṅga (mgon po byams pa)/thogs med. Ratna-gotra-vibhaga, also known as Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra or Uttaratantrashastra (theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos), Otani: (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: 107-146. Delhi: delhi karmapae choedhey, gyalwae sungrab partun khang, 1982-1985.
Columbia AIBS
