Karmapa, 3rd

From Buddha-Nature

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|BnwPersonFeaturedContent=The Third Karmapa’s commentary on the ''Dharmadharmatāvibhāga'' ’s concluding examples for the nature of the fundamental change explains the following.
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::Examples for the fundamental change are space, gold, water, and so on.
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For example, space is nothing but pure by nature. Therefore, by virtue of certain conditions (such as fog or mist), in the world, one can observe the statements "The sky is not pure" and "It is pure," [when] it is clear and free [from these conditions]. However, it is not suitable to claim such because of a change of the nature of space. With its own nature’s being pure, empty, and unconditioned, it is indeed not in order for it to either become pure by virtue of itself or become pure by virtue of something else. Nevertheless, mistaken minds that connect mere conventional terms to it cling to space as being pure and impure, [but] this is nothing but an error. Likewise, though it may appear as if the naturally pure nature of phenomena—the perfect [nature]—has become free from the fog and mist of conceptions, it is not asserted that this perfect [nature] changes [in any way]—it is absolutely without any arising or ceasing in terms of itself, others, both, or neither.
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In the same way, the fact of gold’s remaining in its state of being immaculate is not changed by any stains, and the fact of water’s remaining clear and moist is not changed in its nature, even if it becomes associated with sullying factors, [such as] silt. Likewise, all that happens to the unmistaken path and the pure dharmas is that they just become associated with stains and sullying factors through the conceptions of ignorance, but it is not asserted that these uncontaminated dharmas [the path and the pure dharmas entailed by cessation] change. Consequently, naturally luminous stainlessness is unconditioned and changeless. Therefore, though the nature of phenomena is referred to by the conventional term "fundamental change," it is also called "permanent."
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The words "and so on" refer to its being like a buddha [statue’s] existing in the shroud of a [decaying] lotus, honey’s existing amid bees, a grain in its husks, gold in filth, a treasure in the earth, a tree’s [sprouting] from a fruit, a precious statue in tattered rags, a cakravartin in the belly of a destitute woman, and a golden statue in clay.
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[In due order, the respective obscuring factors in these nine examples correspond to the following mental obscurations.] The four that consist of the three latencies of desire, hatred, and ignorance, as well as the intense rising of all [three] are the factors to be relinquished through cultivating the mundane paths. The ground of the latent tendencies of ignorance is the factor to be relinquished through the cognition of realizing the foundation of knowable objects. The [afflictive] factors to be relinquished through seeing are relinquished through the path of seeing. The [afflictive] factors to be relinquished through familiarization are relinquished through [the path of] familiarization. The cognitive obscurations of the impure bhūmis are relinquished through the two wisdoms of meditative equipoise and subsequent attainment. The cognitive obscurations of the pure [bhūmis] are relinquished through the vajra-like [samādhi].
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Thus, [the corresponding obscured factors in the nine examples correspond to] the buddha heart, the [single] taste of the [profound] dharma, the essence of its meaning, natural luminosity, changelessness, the unfolding of wisdom, the dharmakāya, the sāmbhogikakāya, and the nairmāṇikakāya, [all of which] represent the pure unchanging and spontaneously present nature. These [examples and their meanings] are found in the ''Uttaratantra'' and the ''Tathāgatagarbhasūtra''. [The ''Uttaratantra'' also says]:
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::There is nothing to be removed from it
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::And not the slightest to be added.
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::Actual reality is to be seen as it really is—
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::Whoever sees actual reality is liberated.
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::The basic element is empty of what is adventitious,
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::Which has the characteristic of being separable.
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::It is not empty of the unsurpassable dharmas,
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::Which have the characteristic of being inseparable.
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This teaches the defining characteristics of the emptiness endowed with all supreme aspects, free from the extremes of superimposition and denial.<ref>Rang byung rdo rje 2006b, 610–13. The last sentence here corresponds to the almost identical passage in RGVV on the above two verses from the ''Uttaratantra'' (J76; D4025, fol. 114ba.4).</ref>
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The same author’s commentary on verse 17 of Nāgārjuna’s ''Dharmadhātustava'' also quotes our verse in question, but interestingly uses Nāgārjuna’s ''Pratītysamutpādahṛdaya'' as its source.
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Therefore, in order to teach the conventional terms of cause and result with regard to this dharmadhātu, [lines 17ab] say:
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::This basic element, which is the seed,
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::Is held to be the basis of all dharmas.
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The basis of all uncontaminated qualities is the naturally pure dharmadhātu. This is also the seed and the basic element [for awakening]. As [Asaṅga’s] commentary on the ''Uttaratantra'' says:
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::Here, the meaning of "dhātu" is the meaning of "cause."<ref>J72.</ref>
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The ''Uttaratantra'' ’s chapter on awakening states:
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:::Just as space, which is not a cause,
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:::Is the cause for forms, sounds, smells,
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:::Tastes, tangible objects, and phenomena
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:::To be seen, heard, and so on,
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:::Likewise, on account of being unobscured,
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:::The two kāyas are the cause
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:::For the arising of uncontaminated qualities
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:::Within the objects of the faculties of the wise.<ref>II.27–28.</ref>
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For this reason, due to the obscurations of mind, mentation, and consciousness gradually becoming pure, [the dharmadhātu’s] own stainless qualities appear. Hence, this is taught as "attaining great awakening." In order to demonstrate that, [lines 17cd say]:
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:::Through its purification step by step,
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:::The state of buddhahood we will attain.
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However, there is nothing to be newly attained from something extrinsic [to the dharmadhātu], nor are there any obscurations other than being caught up in our own discriminating notions to be relinquished.
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Therefore, these discriminating notions’ own essence is that they, just like a mirage, lack any nature of their own. To directly realize this lack for what it is and to realize and reveal the basic nature of the naturally luminous dharmakāya—the perfect [nature]—as just this perfect [nature] means to have gone to the other shore, since it cannot be gauged by the mind of any naive being. This is stated in master [Nāgārjuna]’s text on dependent origination:
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:::There is nothing to be removed from it
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:::And not the slightest to be added.
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:::Actual reality is to be seen as it really is—
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:::Who sees actual reality is liberated.<ref>Rang byung rdo rje 2006c, 31–32.</ref> - ([[Karl Brunnhölzl]], ''[[When the Clouds Part]]'' pp. 917-920)
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<br><br>
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<big>'''Notes'''</big>
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<references/>
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Revision as of 16:08, 18 July 2018


རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་
Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje(1284 - 1339) 
Rinchen Terdzö ChenmoDamngak Rinpoché DzöBuddhist Digital Resource CenterHimalayan Art Resources

The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, was a prominent Karma Kagyu hierarch who also held Nyingma and Chod lineages. He was likely the first man to carry the title of Karmapa, following his identification by Orgyenpa Rinchen Pal as the reincarnation of Karma Pakshi, whom Orgyenpa posthumously identified as the reincarnation of Dusum Khyenpa. He spent much of his life traveling across Tibet and made two visits to the Yuan court in China.

... read more at The Treasury of Lives

Library Items

Book
Bde gshegs snying po rigs kyi chos skor
This collection includes a history of buddha-nature theory in Tibet by Thupten Jinpa and seven texts influential in the development of buddha-nature teachings in Tibet. The texts included represent many lineages and historical periods. Along with the root text the following texts appear: 1) Butön's commentary to the Uttaratantrashastra (བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོ་གསལ་བར་བྱེད་པ་མཛེས་བྱེད་ཀྱི་རྒྱན། pp 3-63). 2) The Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's commentary (བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོ་བསྟན་པ། pp 65-69). 3) The Fifteenth Karmapa Khakyap Dorje's commentary (དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་བསྟན་པའི་བསྟན་བཅོས་ཀྱི་མཆན་འགྲེལ། pp 71-88). 4) Rongton's commentary (ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས་ལེགས་པར་བཤད་པ། pp 89-206). 5) Shakya Chokden's commentary (ཆོས་དབྱིངས་བསྟོད་པའི་འགྲེལ་པ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབྱིངས་རྣམ་པར་ངེས་པ། pp 207-238). 6) Jetsun Chokyi Gyaltsen's text on the disposition (gotra, rigs) (རིགས་ཀྱི་སྤྱི་དོན། pp 239-287) 7) Mipham Gyatso's Lion's Roar (བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོའི་སྟོང་ཐུན་ཆེན་མོ་སེངྒེའི་ང་རོ། pp 289-316).
Jinpa, Thupten, ed. Treatises on the Buddha Nature. Tibetan Classics Series 17. New Delhi: Institute of Tibetan Classics, 2007.glang ri ba thub bstan sbyin pa. bde gshegs snying po rigs kyi chos skor. bod kyi gtsug lag gces btus 17. bod kyi gtsug lag zhib dpyod khang, 2007. གླང་རི་བ་ཐུབ་བསྟན་སྦྱིན་པ། བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོ་རིགས་ཀྱི་ཆོས་སྐོར། བོད་ཀྱི་གཙུག་ལག་གཅེས་བཏུས། ༡༧ བོད་ཀྱི་གཙུག་ལག་ཞིབ་དཔྱོད་ཁང་།, 2007.
Book
Buddha Nature (Shamar)
14th Shamar Rinpoche's teachings on the Uttaratantra using the 3rd Karmapa's text, Revealing Buddha Nature.
Draszczyk, Martina, trans. Buddha Nature: Our Potential for Wisdom, Compassion, and Happiness. By Shamar Rinpoche. Lexington, VA: Bird of Paradise Press, 2019.
Book
De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos
Rang byung rdo rje (རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་) and 'Jam mgon kong sprul (འཇམ་མགོན་ཀོང་སྤྲུལ་). De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos (དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་བསྟན་བཅོས།). Lekshey Ling Philosophy Series 21. Kathmandu: Lekshey Ling Publications, 2009.
Rang byung rdo rje (རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་) and 'Jam mgon kong sprul (འཇམ་མགོན་ཀོང་སྤྲུལ་). De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos (དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་བསྟན་བཅོས།). Lekshey Ling Philosophy Series 21. Kathmandu: Lekshey Ling Publications, 2009.
Book
In Praise of Dharmadhātu
Nagarjuna is famous in the West for his works not only on Madhyamaka but his poetic collection of praises, headed by In Praise of Dharmadhatu. This book explores the scope, contents, and significance of Nagarjuna's scriptural legacy in India and Tibet, focusing primarily on the title work. The translation of Nagarjuna's hymn to Buddha nature—here called dharmadhatu—shows how buddha nature is temporarily obscured by adventitious stains in ordinary sentient beings, gradually uncovered through the path of bodhisattvas, and finally revealed in full bloom as buddhahood. These themes are explored at a deeper level through a Buddhist history of mind's luminous nature and a translation of the text's earliest and most extensive commentary by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339), supplemented by relevant excerpts from all other available commentaries. The book also provides an overview of the Third Karmapa's basic outlook, based on seven of his major texts. He is widely renowned as one of the major proponents of the shentong (other-empty) view. However, as this book demonstrates, this often problematic and misunderstood label needs to be replaced by a more nuanced approach which acknowledges the Karmapa's very finely tuned synthesis of the two great traditions of Indian mahayana Buddhism, Madhyamaka and Yogacara. These two, his distinct positions on Buddha nature, and the transformation of consciousness into enlightened wisdom also serve as the fundamental view for the entire vajrayana as it is understood and practiced in the Kagyu tradition to the present day. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Brunnhölzl, Karl, trans. In Praise of Dharmadhātu: Nāgārjuna and the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. Nitartha Institute Series. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2007.
Book
Luminous Heart
This superb collection of writings on buddha nature by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339) focuses on the transition from ordinary deluded consciousness to enlightened wisdom, the characteristics of buddhahood, and a buddha’s enlightened activity. Most of these materials have never been translated comprehensively. The Third Karmapa’s unique and well-balanced view synthesizes Yogācāra, Madhyamaka, and the classical teachings on buddha nature. Rangjung Dorje not only shows that these teachings do not contradict each other but also that they supplement each other and share the same essential points in terms of the ultimate nature of mind and all phenomena. His fusion is remarkable because it clearly builds on Indian predecessors and precedes the later often highly charged debates in Tibet about the views of Rangtong ("self-empty") and Shentong ("other-empty"). Although Rangjung Dorje is widely regarded as one of the major proponents of the Tibetan Shentong tradition (some even consider him its founder), this book shows how his views differ from the Shentong tradition as understood by Dölpopa, Tāranātha, and the First Jamgön Kongtrul. The Third Karmapa’s view is more accurately described as one in which the two categories of rangtong and shentong are not regarded as mutually exclusive but are combined in a creative synthesis. For those practicing the sūtrayāna and the vajrayāna in the Kagyü tradition, what these texts describe can be transformed into living experience. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Brunnhölzl, Karl, trans. Luminous Heart: The Third Karmapa on Consciousness, Wisdom, and Buddha Nature. Nitartha Institute Series. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2009.
Book
Music of the Sphere of Definitive Meaning
A translation of Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche's detailed explanation of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's famous Mahāmudrā Aspiration Prayer.
Karmapa, 3rd, and Sangye Nyenpa. Music of the Sphere of Definitive Meaning: Detailed Explanation of the Mahamudra Prayer in Accordance with the Philosophy of the Great Emptiness-of-Other. Translated by David Molk. Kathmandu: Benchen Publications, 2020.
Book
ཟབ་མོ་ནང་དོན་དང་རྒྱུད་བརྟག་གཉིས་དང་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའ་བསྟན་བཅོས།
karma pa gsum pa rang byung rdo rje ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་. nang brtag rgyud gsum: zab mo nang don; rgyud brtag gnyis; rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos ནང་བརྟག་རྒྱུད་གསུམ། ཟབ་མོ་ནང་དོན། རྒྱུད་བརྟག་གཉིས། རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས།. wA Na badzra bi dya dpe mdzod khang ཝཱ་ཎ་བཛྲ་བི་དྱཱ་དཔེ་མཛོད་ཁང་, 2011.
The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. A Collection of Important Root Texts: Gyu Lama, Zangmo Nangdon, Namshe Yeshe Chepa, and the Hevajra Tantra. Vajra Vidya Library, 2011.
karma pa gsum pa rang byung rdo rje ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་. nang brtag rgyud gsum: zab mo nang don; rgyud brtag gnyis; rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos ནང་བརྟག་རྒྱུད་གསུམ། ཟབ་མོ་ནང་དོན། རྒྱུད་བརྟག་གཉིས། རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས།. wA Na badzra bi dya dpe mdzod khang ཝཱ་ཎ་བཛྲ་བི་དྱཱ་དཔེ་མཛོད་ཁང་, 2011.
The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. A Collection of Important Root Texts: Gyu Lama, Zangmo Nangdon, Namshe Yeshe Chepa, and the Hevajra Tantra. Vajra Vidya Library, 2011.
Book
The Profound Inner Principles
With masterful clarity and precision, The Profound Inner Principles delineates the principles and foundations of Vajrayāna practice. Rangjung Dorje presents the nature of things—mental and physical—and looks at the cause of delusion, what delusion creates, and how delusion is corrected. His explanations capture the principles of the Vajrayāna’s niruttara tantras, with a special focus on the structure and functioning of the body. Just as sugatagarbha, or buddha nature, is the nature of our mind, the potential for awakening lies within our body. The Mahāyāna literature refers to this pure potential as the evolving gotra, whereas the Vajrayāna refers to it as the “vajra body”—the subtle body of channels, winds, and bindus with six elements (earth, water, fire, wind, space, and wisdom-bliss). The vajra body is not only our innate capacity, it is also our path. Understanding its components and properties is essential for most meditators. The overarching theme of the text is that we need to understand how buddha nature is present in sentient beings, those on the path, and buddhas. All the details concerning the mind’s workings, the vajra body’s structures, and the meditations, paths, and stages will reinforce that understanding and give us insight into how and why the Vajrayāna path provides access to wisdom through the body. This translation includes a commentary by Jamgön Kongtrul with extensive footnotes containing extracts from all the other important commentaries to The Profound Inner Principles; several glossaries with annotations by the translator; a works cited list and a selected bibliography; and an index. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Callahan, Elizabeth M., trans. The Profound Inner Principles. By Rangjung Dorje (rang byung rdo rje), the Third Karmapa. With Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye's Commentary Illuminating "The Profound Principles." Tsadra Foundation Series. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, 2015.
Text
Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje: nges don phyag rgya chen po'i smon lam
The Mahamudra Prayer by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje is a short yet thorough and profound text which presents all the essential points of Mahamudra teaching in terms of view, practice, and fruition. It is a classic that, especially in the tradition of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, has been and is widely used whenever a disciple is given a first introduction into Mahamudra. The Third Karmapa shows how to recognize our ultimate potential as a buddha. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
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Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje: dbu ma chos dbyings bstod pa'i rnam par bshad pa
A commentary by the Third Karmapa on Nāgārjuna's Dharmadhātustava.
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Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje: zab mo nang don
Rang byung's most famous, and perhaps most difficult work is yet another verse text, his Zab mo nang don, on the Anuttarayogatantras. This eleven-chapter work is thirty-two folios in length. According to a colophon provided by Kong sprul, it was written in the Water Male Dog year, 1322, at Bde chen steng. The colophons to the present redactions say only that it was written in the Dog Year. (Source: Schaeffer, K., The Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood, p. 16)
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Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje: de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa'i bstan bcos
The Third Karmapa's treatise on buddha-nature written in verse, which is essentially a synopsis of the Uttaratantra. According to Schaeffer, "This verse text (De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po gtan la dbab pa, or De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa) blends scriptural quotations from both sūtra and tantra with Rang byung's own words, creating an evocative picture of the relation between the primordially pure enlightened state- symbolized by the Enlightened Heart (snying po)- human existence, and Buddhahood. While Rang byung has relied heavily on the Ratnagotravibhāgaśāstra, (known in Tibet as the Uttaratantra, or Rgyud bla ma), the syncretism of various strands of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna apparent in the text is particular to Tibet. Tathāgatagarbha, Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, Mahāmudrā, and Annuttarayogatantra all coalesce in this work, which is a testament to the hundreds of years of appropriation and synthesis of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist thought that preceded it. - Kurtis Schaeffer, from the introduction to The Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood.
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Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, Fifth Shamarpa Könchok Yenlak: de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po gtan la dbab pa'i bstan bcos mchan can
This work is an edition of the Third Karmapa's Treatise on Pointing Out the Tathāgata Heart (De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa'i bstan bcos) embellished with interlinear annotations by the Fifth Shamarpa.

On the topic of this person

Book
Buddha Nature (Shamar)
14th Shamar Rinpoche's teachings on the Uttaratantra using the 3rd Karmapa's text, Revealing Buddha Nature.
Draszczyk, Martina, trans. Buddha Nature: Our Potential for Wisdom, Compassion, and Happiness. By Shamar Rinpoche. Lexington, VA: Bird of Paradise Press, 2019.
Book
De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos
Rang byung rdo rje (རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་) and 'Jam mgon kong sprul (འཇམ་མགོན་ཀོང་སྤྲུལ་). De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos (དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་བསྟན་བཅོས།). Lekshey Ling Philosophy Series 21. Kathmandu: Lekshey Ling Publications, 2009.
Rang byung rdo rje (རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་) and 'Jam mgon kong sprul (འཇམ་མགོན་ཀོང་སྤྲུལ་). De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos (དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་བསྟན་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བའི་བསྟན་བཅོས།). Lekshey Ling Philosophy Series 21. Kathmandu: Lekshey Ling Publications, 2009.
Interview
Elizabeth Callahan Interview on Buddha-Nature
Elizabeth Callahan discusses buddha-nature and its related concepts in an interview with Marcus Perman of Tsadra Foundation.
Book
In Praise of Dharmadhātu
Nagarjuna is famous in the West for his works not only on Madhyamaka but his poetic collection of praises, headed by In Praise of Dharmadhatu. This book explores the scope, contents, and significance of Nagarjuna's scriptural legacy in India and Tibet, focusing primarily on the title work. The translation of Nagarjuna's hymn to Buddha nature—here called dharmadhatu—shows how buddha nature is temporarily obscured by adventitious stains in ordinary sentient beings, gradually uncovered through the path of bodhisattvas, and finally revealed in full bloom as buddhahood. These themes are explored at a deeper level through a Buddhist history of mind's luminous nature and a translation of the text's earliest and most extensive commentary by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339), supplemented by relevant excerpts from all other available commentaries. The book also provides an overview of the Third Karmapa's basic outlook, based on seven of his major texts. He is widely renowned as one of the major proponents of the shentong (other-empty) view. However, as this book demonstrates, this often problematic and misunderstood label needs to be replaced by a more nuanced approach which acknowledges the Karmapa's very finely tuned synthesis of the two great traditions of Indian mahayana Buddhism, Madhyamaka and Yogacara. These two, his distinct positions on Buddha nature, and the transformation of consciousness into enlightened wisdom also serve as the fundamental view for the entire vajrayana as it is understood and practiced in the Kagyu tradition to the present day. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Brunnhölzl, Karl, trans. In Praise of Dharmadhātu: Nāgārjuna and the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. Nitartha Institute Series. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2007.
Video
Karl Brunnhölzl: On the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's View of Buddha-Nature
Brunnhölzl, Karl. "On the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's View of Buddha-Nature." Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, February 26, 2022. Video, 4:59. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mzukFaO-No.
Brunnhölzl, Karl. "On the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's View of Buddha-Nature." Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, February 26, 2022. Video, 4:59. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mzukFaO-No.
Video
Karl Brunnhölzl: On the Views of Dolpopa, the 3rd Karmapa, and Different Views within the Kagyu School
Brunnhölzl, Karl. "On the Views of Dolpopa, the 3rd Karmapa, and Different Views within the Kagyu School." Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, February 26, 2022. Video, 5:43. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLF_ye2wOEg.
Brunnhölzl, Karl. "On the Views of Dolpopa, the 3rd Karmapa, and Different Views within the Kagyu School." Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, February 26, 2022. Video, 5:43. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLF_ye2wOEg.
Video
Karmapa on The Nature of All Beings
A commentary across lifetimes. H.H. the 17th Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, comments on a quote of the 3rd Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje: "The nature of all beings is always Buddha" (འགྲོ་བའི་རང་བཞིན་རྟག་ཏུ་སངས་རྒྱས་).
Karmapa, 17th. "All Beings Are Buddha by Nature." Interview with H.H. Karmapa conducted at Vajra Vidja Institute, Sarnath, Varanasi, India, February 2015. Video, 1:41. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pll8nGuWtU&list=PL8sDrkwWlohTjleLphxWRmLge5hgbpAXM.
Video
Khenpo Sherab Phuntsho on Application of Buddha-Nature in Kagyu Tradition
སྒྲུབ་བརྒྱུད་ཀམ་ཚང་བཀའ་བརྒྱུད་དུ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་སྐོར་དགོངས་བཞེད་དང་ཉམས་བཞེས་སྐོར།
Understanding and Application of Buddha-Nature in the Karma Kagyu Tradition


Khenpo gives a clear explanation of the buddha-nature as understood in the Karma Kagyu tradition based on the teachings on the 3rd Karmapa Rangjung Dorje. He breaks down his presentation into three parts:

1. Literature on buddha-nature in Kagyu tradition in general and the Karma Kagyu subschool in particular
2. Rangjung Dorje's formulation of buddha-nature through 15 distinct points
3. The practical application of buddha-nature.

Khenpo skips the detailed listing of the works on buddha-nature in the Kagyu tradition, which he lists in his long article. Explaining Rangjung Dorje's formulation of buddha-nature, Khenpo says that Rangjung Dorje is a leading voice on buddha-nature, final wheel and tantras, and perhaps the first Tibetan to compose independent texts on buddha-nature, with his Treatise on Tathāgata Heart and Distinguishing Consciousness and Pristine Wisdom. He also wrote his commentary on Nāgārjuna's In Praise of Dharmadhātu, which mainly discusses the buddha-element. Although the writings of many later scholars such as Longchenpa, Jonangpa, et. al., are similar to Rangjung Dorje's understanding, he stands out as a clear and pioneering Tibetan thinker on buddha-nature.

Rangjung Dorje presents a clear definition of buddha-nature as possessing four characteristics of a union: indivisibility of emptiness and appearance like a reflection of the moon in water, indivisibility of emptiness and luminosity like a reflection in a mirror, indivisibility of emptiness and awareness like a rainbow, and indivisibility of emptiness and bliss like the taste of mute person. The definition is further clarified by his disciple Sherab Rinchen. Buddha-nature is thus the luminous nature of mind which has these four characteristics of union and is the natural ordinary consciousness.

Khenpo explains that Rangjung Dorje accepted both middle wheel and final wheel as definitive and concurring on the same point that is buddha-nature. Buddha-nature is the reality, ultimate truth, and dharmakāya. It is the ground for all existence, eternal, permanent, and unconditioned. It is pure by nature and not stained by impurities, but it is obscured by temporary impurities which do not corrupt its nature. Such buddha-nature is emptiness free from conceptual and linguistic elaborations. It is the innate mind or ground tantra taught in the tantric literature.

Explaining how the various Buddhist schools of thought view phenomena such as a flower or vase, Khenpo explains that the great middle way of zhentong is the ultimate way of grasping the nature of the flower as being identical with the nature of the mind. A flower is a projection of the mind, and the mind, by nature, is not only empty but also luminous, and it is the union of luminosity and emptiness which forms the ultimate truth. In this respect, Khenpo points out that there is nothing so surprising or unacceptable in seeing a vase, flower, or other objects as possessing buddha-nature. He elaborates the 15 points to demonstrate the essence of buddha-nature.
Sherab Phuntsho, Khenpo. "Khenpo Sherab Phuntsho at the 2023 Buddha-Nature Conference." 2023 Buddha-Nature Conference, Shechen Monastery, Kathmandu. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department. Video,
Video
Klaus-Dieter Mathes at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium
Klaus-Dieter Mathes discusses Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen’s position on Buddha-nature. He describes how his student Zhangtön Sönam Drakpa defends his teacher's position by arguing that one faces eight undesired consequences if one does not strictly differentiate buddha-nature from the ground consciousness.
Mathes, Klaus-Dieter. “Zhang ston Bsod nams grags pa’s Defense of Dol po pa’s Clear-Cut Distinction between Buddha Nature and the Ground Consciousness.” Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 40:48. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-ALrY63cho.
Book
Luminous Heart
This superb collection of writings on buddha nature by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339) focuses on the transition from ordinary deluded consciousness to enlightened wisdom, the characteristics of buddhahood, and a buddha’s enlightened activity. Most of these materials have never been translated comprehensively. The Third Karmapa’s unique and well-balanced view synthesizes Yogācāra, Madhyamaka, and the classical teachings on buddha nature. Rangjung Dorje not only shows that these teachings do not contradict each other but also that they supplement each other and share the same essential points in terms of the ultimate nature of mind and all phenomena. His fusion is remarkable because it clearly builds on Indian predecessors and precedes the later often highly charged debates in Tibet about the views of Rangtong ("self-empty") and Shentong ("other-empty"). Although Rangjung Dorje is widely regarded as one of the major proponents of the Tibetan Shentong tradition (some even consider him its founder), this book shows how his views differ from the Shentong tradition as understood by Dölpopa, Tāranātha, and the First Jamgön Kongtrul. The Third Karmapa’s view is more accurately described as one in which the two categories of rangtong and shentong are not regarded as mutually exclusive but are combined in a creative synthesis. For those practicing the sūtrayāna and the vajrayāna in the Kagyü tradition, what these texts describe can be transformed into living experience. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Brunnhölzl, Karl, trans. Luminous Heart: The Third Karmapa on Consciousness, Wisdom, and Buddha Nature. Nitartha Institute Series. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2009.
Video
Martina Draszczyk at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium
Martina Draszczyk discusses the early Kagyu masters and explores how their meditation-oriented approach is based in both affirming buddha-nature as the ground and goal of Buddhist soteriology and avoiding its reification into an entity with real properties.
Draszczyk, Martina. "Buddha Nature as Seen by Early Bka’ brgyud Masters." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 37:27. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoMUdg40Qv8.
Book
Mind Seeing Mind
Roger Jackson's Mind Seeing Mind is the first attempt to provide both a scholarly study of the history, texts, and doctrines of Geluk mahāmudrā and translations of some of its seminal texts. It begins with a survey of the Indian sources of the teaching and goes on the discuss the place of mahāmudrā in non-Geluk Tibetan Buddhist schools, especially the Kagyü. The book then turns to a detailed survey of the history and major textual sources of Geluk mahāmudrā, from Tsongkhapa, through the First Panchen, down to the present. The final section of the study addresses critical questions, including the relation between Geluk and Kagyü mahāmudrā, the ways Gelukpa authors have interpreted the mahāsiddha Saraha, and the broader religious-studies implications raised by Tibetan debates about mahāmudrā. The translation portion of Mind Seeing Mind includes eleven texts on mahāmudrā history, ritual, and practice. Foremost among these is the First Panchen Lama's autocommentary on his root verses of Geluk Mahāmudrā, the foundation of the tradition. Also included is his ritual masterpiece Offering to the Guru, which is a staple of Geluk practice, and a selection of his songs of spiritual experience. Mind Seeing Mind adds considerably to our understanding of Geluk spirituality and shows how mahāmudrā came to be woven throughout the fabric of the tradition.
Jackson, Roger R. Mind Seeing Mind: Mahāmudrā and the Geluk Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. Somerville, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2019.
Book
Mining for Wisdom within Delusion
Maitreya’s Distinction between Phenomena and the Nature of Phenomena distinguishes the illusory phenomenal world of saṃsāra produced by the confused dualistic mind from the ultimate reality that is mind’s true nature. The transition from the one to the other is the process of “mining for wisdom within delusion.” Maitreya’s text calls this “the fundamental change,” which refers to the vanishing of delusive appearances through practicing the path, thus revealing the underlying changeless nature of these appearances. In this context, the main part of the text consists of the most detailed explanation of nonconceptual wisdom—the primary driving force of the path as well as its ultimate result—in Buddhist literature. The introduction of the book discusses these two topics (fundamental change and nonconceptual wisdom) at length and shows how they are treated in a number of other Buddhist scriptures. The three translated commentaries, by Vasubandhu, the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, and Gö Lotsāwa, as well as excerpts from all other available commentaries on Maitreya’s text, put it in the larger context of the Indian Yogācāra School and further clarify its main themes. They also show how this text is not a mere scholarly document, but an essential foundation for practicing both the sūtrayāna and the vajrayāna and thus making what it describes a living experience. The book also discusses the remaining four of the five works of Maitreya, their transmission from India to Tibet, and various views about them in the Tibetan tradition. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Brunnhölzl, Karl, trans. Mining for Wisdom within Delusion: Maitreya's Distinction between Phenomena and the Nature of Phenomena and Its Indian and Tibetan Commentaries. Tsadra Foundation Series. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, 2012.
Book
Music of the Sphere of Definitive Meaning
A translation of Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche's detailed explanation of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's famous Mahāmudrā Aspiration Prayer.
Karmapa, 3rd, and Sangye Nyenpa. Music of the Sphere of Definitive Meaning: Detailed Explanation of the Mahamudra Prayer in Accordance with the Philosophy of the Great Emptiness-of-Other. Translated by David Molk. Kathmandu: Benchen Publications, 2020.
Book
ཟབ་མོ་ནང་དོན་དང་རྒྱུད་བརྟག་གཉིས་དང་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའ་བསྟན་བཅོས།
karma pa gsum pa rang byung rdo rje ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་. nang brtag rgyud gsum: zab mo nang don; rgyud brtag gnyis; rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos ནང་བརྟག་རྒྱུད་གསུམ། ཟབ་མོ་ནང་དོན། རྒྱུད་བརྟག་གཉིས། རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས།. wA Na badzra bi dya dpe mdzod khang ཝཱ་ཎ་བཛྲ་བི་དྱཱ་དཔེ་མཛོད་ཁང་, 2011.
The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. A Collection of Important Root Texts: Gyu Lama, Zangmo Nangdon, Namshe Yeshe Chepa, and the Hevajra Tantra. Vajra Vidya Library, 2011.
karma pa gsum pa rang byung rdo rje ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་. nang brtag rgyud gsum: zab mo nang don; rgyud brtag gnyis; rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos ནང་བརྟག་རྒྱུད་གསུམ། ཟབ་མོ་ནང་དོན། རྒྱུད་བརྟག་གཉིས། རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས།. wA Na badzra bi dya dpe mdzod khang ཝཱ་ཎ་བཛྲ་བི་དྱཱ་དཔེ་མཛོད་ཁང་, 2011.
The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. A Collection of Important Root Texts: Gyu Lama, Zangmo Nangdon, Namshe Yeshe Chepa, and the Hevajra Tantra. Vajra Vidya Library, 2011.
Video
On the Terminology Associated with Buddha-Nature by Elizabeth Callahan
In this video Elizabeth Callahan discusses the various terminology that is used when talking about buddha-nature. She describes buddha-nature as who we are at our very core and goes on to discuss several terms that are associated with uncovering this buddha-nature within Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna, and Mahāmudrā contexts.
Callahan, Elizabeth. “On the Terminology Associated with Buddha-Nature.” Interview by Marcus Perman. Tsadra Foundation Research Department, November 9, 2019. Video, 8:29. https://youtu.be/ValneCRetjc.
MA Thesis
Schaeffer, K.: The Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood
This thesis includes a translation of The Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's work on Tathāgatagarbha, the Pronouncement on the Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood (De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po gtan la dbab pa) along with notes from the Fifth Shamar, Kongchog Yenlag (1525-1583). Kurtis Schaeffer analyzes the thought and language of the text and presents the key points cogently. Also included is a diplomatic edition of the Tibetan text in Wylie along with seven appendixes, including Jamgon Kongtrul's outline of Rangjung Dorje's text, a song on buddha-nature, and information from the Zab mo nang don related to the heart of Buddhahood.
Schaeffer, Kurtis R. "The Enlightened Heart of Buddhahood: A Study and Translation of The Third Karma pa Rang byung rdo rje's Work on Tathāgatagarbha, The De bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po gtan la dbab pa." MA thesis, University of Washington, 1995.
Book
The Profound Inner Principles
With masterful clarity and precision, The Profound Inner Principles delineates the principles and foundations of Vajrayāna practice. Rangjung Dorje presents the nature of things—mental and physical—and looks at the cause of delusion, what delusion creates, and how delusion is corrected. His explanations capture the principles of the Vajrayāna’s niruttara tantras, with a special focus on the structure and functioning of the body. Just as sugatagarbha, or buddha nature, is the nature of our mind, the potential for awakening lies within our body. The Mahāyāna literature refers to this pure potential as the evolving gotra, whereas the Vajrayāna refers to it as the “vajra body”—the subtle body of channels, winds, and bindus with six elements (earth, water, fire, wind, space, and wisdom-bliss). The vajra body is not only our innate capacity, it is also our path. Understanding its components and properties is essential for most meditators. The overarching theme of the text is that we need to understand how buddha nature is present in sentient beings, those on the path, and buddhas. All the details concerning the mind’s workings, the vajra body’s structures, and the meditations, paths, and stages will reinforce that understanding and give us insight into how and why the Vajrayāna path provides access to wisdom through the body. This translation includes a commentary by Jamgön Kongtrul with extensive footnotes containing extracts from all the other important commentaries to The Profound Inner Principles; several glossaries with annotations by the translator; a works cited list and a selected bibliography; and an index. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Callahan, Elizabeth M., trans. The Profound Inner Principles. By Rangjung Dorje (rang byung rdo rje), the Third Karmapa. With Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye's Commentary Illuminating "The Profound Principles." Tsadra Foundation Series. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, 2015.
PhD Diss
Wangchuk, Tsering: The Uttaratantra in the Age of Argumentation: Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen and His Fourteenth-Century Interlocutors on Buddha-Lineage
This dissertation examines the intellectual history of the Uttaratantra in Tibet from the 12th century to the early 15th century. It is between these centuries that the text, which is one of the most authoritative works on the notion of tathāgata-essence, takes its shape in Tibet through the writings of some of the most formidable Tibetan thinkers of the time.
Wangchuk, Tsering. "The Uttaratantra in the Age of Argumentation: Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen and His Fourteenth-Century Interlocutors on Buddha-Lineage." PhD diss., University of Virginia, 2009.
Book
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)
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.
Interview
What Is My Mind without Me? Buddha-Nature in the Karma Kagyu School by Karl Brunnhölzl
In this interview Karl Brunnhölzl and Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho discuss the buddha-nature teachings in the Karma Kagyu school, touching on Karl's first encounter with the buddha-nature teachings, the inspiration for his book When the Clouds Part, the Ratnagotravibhāga as a bridge between sūtra and tantra, how buddha-nature teachings were transmitted in the Kagyu lineage, the Third and Eight Karmapa's views on buddha-nature, and much more.
      Karl Brunnhölzl is one of the most prolific translators of Tibetan texts into English and has worked on all of the Five Treatises of Maitreya. He was originally trained as a physician and then studied at Kamalashila Institute, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso's Marpa Institute, and Hamburg University. Since 1989, Karl has served as a translator, interpreter, and Buddhist teacher mainly in Europe, India, and Nepal. Since 1999, he has acted as one of the main translators and teachers at Nitartha Institute (director: Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche) in the USA, Canada, and Germany. He has translated and written about buddha-nature extensively and he is the author of several books on Buddhism, such as The Center of the Sunlit Sky, Luminous Melodies, Milarepa's Kungfu, and The Heart Attack Sutra. He has also completed several ground-breaking translations in the Tsadra Foundation series, including a three-volume work on the Abhisamayālaṃkāra. He has also completed the work Prajñāpāramitā, Indian "gzhan stong pas", and the Beginning of Tibetan gzhan stong in the Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde series. When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and Its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sutra and Tantra, formed the basis for the Buddha-Nature website project. In 2019 his translation of the Mahāyānasaṃgraha with Indian and Tibetan commentaries was published and won the Khyentse Foundation Prize For Outstanding Buddhist Translation.
Brunnhölzl, Karl. "What Is My Mind without Me? Buddha-Nature in the Karma Kagyu School." Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, February 26, 2022. Video, 1:16:52. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh--a5jxNq4.
Video
Which Tibetans Wrote about Buddha-Nature? by Karl Brunnhölzl
Brunnhölzl, Karl. “Which Tibetans Wrote about Buddha-Nature?” Interview by Marcus Perman. Tsadra Foundation Research Department, December 3, 2018. Video, 6:58. https://youtu.be/wWzrtDltUwE.
Brunnhölzl, Karl. “Which Tibetans Wrote about Buddha-Nature?” Interview by Marcus Perman. Tsadra Foundation Research Department, December 3, 2018. Video, 6:58. https://youtu.be/wWzrtDltUwE.
Text
Fifteenth Karmapa Khakhyab Dorje: de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa'i bstan bcos kyi mchan 'grel byams mgon dgyes pa'i zhal lung nor bu dbang gi rgyal po dri ma med pa'i 'od
An annotated commentary written by the fifteenth Karmapa on the Third Karmapa's verses on buddha-nature, The Treatise on Pointing Out the Tathāgata Heart.
Text
Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche: chen po gzhan stong gi lta ba dang 'brel ba'i phyag rgya chen po'i smon lam gyi rnam bshad nges don dbyings kyi rol mo
A clear explanation of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's famous Mahāmudrā Aspiration Prayer in colloquial Tibetan by a leading contemporary Karma Kagyu master Sangay Nyenpa Rinpoche.
Text
Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje: nges don phyag rgya chen po'i smon lam
The Mahamudra Prayer by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje is a short yet thorough and profound text which presents all the essential points of Mahamudra teaching in terms of view, practice, and fruition. It is a classic that, especially in the tradition of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism, has been and is widely used whenever a disciple is given a first introduction into Mahamudra. The Third Karmapa shows how to recognize our ultimate potential as a buddha. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Text
Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye: de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po bstan pa'i bstan bcos kyi rnam 'grel rang byung dgongs gsal
Kongtrul's commentary on the Third Karmapa's short verse synopsis of the Uttaratantra, The Treatise on Pointing Out the Tathāgata Heart. As he states in the opening of the text: "The Omniscient Victor spoke about [this Heart] in the collection of the sūtras of the final definitive meaning and in the very profound collection of tantras in an unconcealed and clear way. The illustrious sons of this victor, such as the mighty lords of the tenth bhūmi, the regent Ajita and Avalokiteśvara, as well as the mahāsiddha Saraha and his heirs, noble Nāgārjuna, venerable Asaṅga, and others commented on it as being [the Buddha's] direct and straightforward intention. The way of being of the very profound actuality of this Heart does not fit within the scope of the minds of those who roam the [sphere of] dialectics. It was extensively illuminated by the second mighty sage, Rangjung Dorje, the charioteer who was the first in the land of snow mountains to utter the unassailable great lion's roar of the Heart that is the definitive meaning. The quintessence of all his excellent words is this Treatise on Pointing Out the Tathāgata Heart."

About this person

The Third Karmapa’s commentary on the Dharmadharmatāvibhāga ’s concluding examples for the nature of the fundamental change explains the following.

Examples for the fundamental change are space, gold, water, and so on.

For example, space is nothing but pure by nature. Therefore, by virtue of certain conditions (such as fog or mist), in the world, one can observe the statements "The sky is not pure" and "It is pure," [when] it is clear and free [from these conditions]. However, it is not suitable to claim such because of a change of the nature of space. With its own nature’s being pure, empty, and unconditioned, it is indeed not in order for it to either become pure by virtue of itself or become pure by virtue of something else. Nevertheless, mistaken minds that connect mere conventional terms to it cling to space as being pure and impure, [but] this is nothing but an error. Likewise, though it may appear as if the naturally pure nature of phenomena—the perfect [nature]—has become free from the fog and mist of conceptions, it is not asserted that this perfect [nature] changes [in any way]—it is absolutely without any arising or ceasing in terms of itself, others, both, or neither.

In the same way, the fact of gold’s remaining in its state of being immaculate is not changed by any stains, and the fact of water’s remaining clear and moist is not changed in its nature, even if it becomes associated with sullying factors, [such as] silt. Likewise, all that happens to the unmistaken path and the pure dharmas is that they just become associated with stains and sullying factors through the conceptions of ignorance, but it is not asserted that these uncontaminated dharmas [the path and the pure dharmas entailed by cessation] change. Consequently, naturally luminous stainlessness is unconditioned and changeless. Therefore, though the nature of phenomena is referred to by the conventional term "fundamental change," it is also called "permanent."

The words "and so on" refer to its being like a buddha [statue’s] existing in the shroud of a [decaying] lotus, honey’s existing amid bees, a grain in its husks, gold in filth, a treasure in the earth, a tree’s [sprouting] from a fruit, a precious statue in tattered rags, a cakravartin in the belly of a destitute woman, and a golden statue in clay.

[In due order, the respective obscuring factors in these nine examples correspond to the following mental obscurations.] The four that consist of the three latencies of desire, hatred, and ignorance, as well as the intense rising of all [three] are the factors to be relinquished through cultivating the mundane paths. The ground of the latent tendencies of ignorance is the factor to be relinquished through the cognition of realizing the foundation of knowable objects. The [afflictive] factors to be relinquished through seeing are relinquished through the path of seeing. The [afflictive] factors to be relinquished through familiarization are relinquished through [the path of] familiarization. The cognitive obscurations of the impure bhūmis are relinquished through the two wisdoms of meditative equipoise and subsequent attainment. The cognitive obscurations of the pure [bhūmis] are relinquished through the vajra-like [samādhi].

Thus, [the corresponding obscured factors in the nine examples correspond to] the buddha heart, the [single] taste of the [profound] dharma, the essence of its meaning, natural luminosity, changelessness, the unfolding of wisdom, the dharmakāya, the sāmbhogikakāya, and the nairmāṇikakāya, [all of which] represent the pure unchanging and spontaneously present nature. These [examples and their meanings] are found in the Uttaratantra and the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra. [The Uttaratantra also says]:

There is nothing to be removed from it
And not the slightest to be added.
Actual reality is to be seen as it really is—
Whoever sees actual reality is liberated.
The basic element is empty of what is adventitious,
Which has the characteristic of being separable.
It is not empty of the unsurpassable dharmas,
Which have the characteristic of being inseparable.

This teaches the defining characteristics of the emptiness endowed with all supreme aspects, free from the extremes of superimposition and denial.[1]

The same author’s commentary on verse 17 of Nāgārjuna’s Dharmadhātustava also quotes our verse in question, but interestingly uses Nāgārjuna’s Pratītysamutpādahṛdaya as its source.

Therefore, in order to teach the conventional terms of cause and result with regard to this dharmadhātu, [lines 17ab] say:

This basic element, which is the seed,
Is held to be the basis of all dharmas.

The basis of all uncontaminated qualities is the naturally pure dharmadhātu. This is also the seed and the basic element [for awakening]. As [Asaṅga’s] commentary on the Uttaratantra says:

Here, the meaning of "dhātu" is the meaning of "cause."[2]

The Uttaratantra ’s chapter on awakening states:

Just as space, which is not a cause,
Is the cause for forms, sounds, smells,
Tastes, tangible objects, and phenomena
To be seen, heard, and so on,
Likewise, on account of being unobscured,
The two kāyas are the cause
For the arising of uncontaminated qualities
Within the objects of the faculties of the wise.[3]

For this reason, due to the obscurations of mind, mentation, and consciousness gradually becoming pure, [the dharmadhātu’s] own stainless qualities appear. Hence, this is taught as "attaining great awakening." In order to demonstrate that, [lines 17cd say]:

Through its purification step by step,
The state of buddhahood we will attain.

However, there is nothing to be newly attained from something extrinsic [to the dharmadhātu], nor are there any obscurations other than being caught up in our own discriminating notions to be relinquished.

Therefore, these discriminating notions’ own essence is that they, just like a mirage, lack any nature of their own. To directly realize this lack for what it is and to realize and reveal the basic nature of the naturally luminous dharmakāya—the perfect [nature]—as just this perfect [nature] means to have gone to the other shore, since it cannot be gauged by the mind of any naive being. This is stated in master [Nāgārjuna]’s text on dependent origination:

There is nothing to be removed from it
And not the slightest to be added.
Actual reality is to be seen as it really is—
Who sees actual reality is liberated.[4] - (Karl Brunnhölzl, When the Clouds Part pp. 917-920)



Notes

  1. Rang byung rdo rje 2006b, 610–13. The last sentence here corresponds to the almost identical passage in RGVV on the above two verses from the Uttaratantra (J76; D4025, fol. 114ba.4).
  2. J72.
  3. II.27–28.
  4. Rang byung rdo rje 2006c, 31–32.

Philosophical positions of this person

Is buddha-nature considered definitive or provisional?
Definitive 
Do all beings have buddha-nature?
  Qualified Yes

"Rangjung Dorjé says in accordance with RGV I.27-28 that only the dharmakāya of all buddhas truly abides in sentient beings. The form kāyas are then explained as the outflow of the Dharma teachings on the level of the fruit, which corresponds to the pertinent passages in the first and third chapters of the Ratnagotravibhāga."
Mathes, K., A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, p. 72.

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To which "turning of the wheel" do the buddha-nature teachings belong?
  Third Turning

"Furthermore, the Third Karmapa composed a summary of the Uttaratantra in accordance with the meditative tradition, which establishes the Uttaratantra as a definitive text included in the last wheel of the Buddha's teachings." Wangchuk, Tsering. Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, pp. 30-31.

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Is buddha-nature equated with emptiness or alayavijnana?
  Yogācāra
  • "To sum up, in his explanation of buddha nature, Rangjung Dorjé combines three different strands of interpretations:

1. The mahāmudrā interpretation stemming from Saraha. 2.The interpretation according to Asaṅga's Mahāyānasaṁgraha. 3.The dzogchen interpretation. In other words, for Rangjung Dorjé, well-founded mahāmudrā and dzogchen explanations need be combined with Asaṅgas Yogācāra distinction." Mathes, K., A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, p. 65.

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Do buddha-nature teachings belong to the zhentong or rangtong view of emptiness?
  Zhentong
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Are there one or three vehicles on the path to buddhahood?
 
Do the author's writings belong to the analytic or meditative tradition of Uttaratantra exegesis?
  Meditative Tradition

"Furthermore, the Third Karmapa composed a summary of the Uttaratantra in accordance with the meditative tradition, which establishes the Uttaratantra as a definitive text included in the last wheel of the Buddha's teachings." Wangchuk, Tsering. Uttaratantra in the Land of Snows, pp. 30-31.

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What is Buddha-nature?
  Tathāgatagarbha as Mind's Luminous Nature
  • "The tathāgata heart is mind’s luminous ultimate nature or nondual wisdom, which is the basis of everything in saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. Its essence is empty, its nature is lucid, and its display is unimpeded (this is also how the nature of the mind is presented in the Mahāmudrā tradition, and the Karmapa’s commentary on the Dharmadhātustava indeed equates the tathāgata heart with Mahāmudrā)." Brunnhölzl, K., When the Clouds Part, p. 72.
  • Another take on this is found in Mathes, K., A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, pp. 51-54, in which he seems to suggest that his views are more inclined to view it as the dharmadhātu, which is equivalent to dharmakāya.
  • "This becomes clear from an answer to a rhetorical question in the autocommentary of the Zab mo nang gi don:

Question: How are the properties of purification produced? They are supported by buddha nature, [in as much as] it is the dharmakāya of the above-mentioned purity of mind." Mathes, K., A Direct Path to the Buddha Within, p. 58.

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Does the author advocate the Svatantrika or Prasangika view of emptiness?
 

Other names

  • ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་ · other names (Tibetan)
  • karma pa gsum pa · other names (Wylie)
  • Karmapa, 3rd · other names

Affiliations & relations

  • Karma Kagyu · religious affiliation
  • Karmapa, 2nd · emanation of
  • Karmapa, 4th · incarnation
  • o rgyan pa rin chen dpal · teacher
  • rig 'dzin ku mA ra rA dza · teacher
  • Pad+ma las 'brel rtsal · teacher
  • Rgyal sras legs pa · teacher
  • klong chen rab 'byams · student
  • Rgyal sras legs pa · student
  • G.yung ston rdo rje dpal bzang po · student
  • g.yag sde paN chen · student
  • Shamarpa, 1st · student

Tertön Gyatsa Information from the Rinchen Terdzö

Text
Tibetan
Wylie

The full Tertön Gyatsa text can be found at the following page: Volume 1 (ཀ), 341-765, 1a1-213a4.

Name in Gyatsa: ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེ་ (karma pa gsum pa rang byung rdo rje)

Page #s for bio of this person: 702 to 703

Folio #s for bio of this person: 181b4 to 182a4

སྐལ་བཟང་སངས་རྒྱས་དྲུག་པ་སེང་གེའི་རྣམ་འཕྲུལ་འཇིག་རྟེན་དབང་ཕྱུག་ཀརྨ་པ་གསུམ་པ་རང་བྱུང་རྡོ་རྗེའི་རྣམ་པར་ཐར་པ་ནི་ཡོངས་སུ་གྲགས་པ་ལྟར་ལ། བྱེ་བྲག་དག་སྣང་གི་བཀའ་བབ་ཚུལ་ནི། ས་སྤྱོད་གསུང་གི་འཁོར་ལོ་འོག་མིན་ཀརྨའི་ཡང་དབེན་དེང་སང་རི་བར་གྲགས་པའི་གནས་དེར་ཐུགས་དམ་ལ་བཞུགས་པའི་སྐབས་ཤར་ཕྱོགས་ཀྱི་ནམ་མཁར་མཁས་པ་བི་མ་ལ་དངོས་སུ་བྱོན་ནས་མཛོད་སྤུར་ཐིམ་པའི་རྐྱེན་གྱིས། བི་མ་སྙིང་ཐིག་ཆེན་མོའི་ཚིག་དོན་མ་ལུས་པ་ཐུགས་ལ་ཤར་ནས་གདམས་ངག་གི་རྩ་བ་རྡོ་རྗེའི་ཚིག་རྐང་དང་། སྨིན་གྲོལ་གྱི་ཡིག་ཆ་རྫོགས་པར་མཛད་ནས་སྤེལ་བའི་རྒྱུན་ད་ལྟའང་བཞུགས་པ་ཁོ་བོས་ཀྱང་ཐོབ། སློབ་དཔོན་ཆེན་པོ་པདྨའི་བྱིན་རླབས་ཀྱིས་རྩ་གསུམ་དྲིལ་སྒྲུབ་ཀྱི་གདམས་སྐོར་ཟབ་མོ་དགོངས་པའི་གཏེར་ལས་ཕྱུངས་པ་ཕྱིས་རྗེ་བརྒྱད་པ་མི་བསྐྱོད་རྡོ་རྗེས་ཐུགས་ཉམས་སུ་བཞེས་པས་དག་སྣང་ཉེ་བརྒྱུད་དུ་བྱུང་བ་ལྟར་ལོ་རྒྱུས་དང་། རྩ་ཚིག་ཡི་གེར་བཀོད། རྗེ་དགུ་པ་དབང་ཕྱུག་རྡོ་རྗེས་ལས་བྱང་དབང་ཆོག་རྒྱས་པར་བཀོད་པ་ལྟར་ཁོ་བོས་ཀྱང་དཔལ་ཀརྨ་པ་བཅུ་བཞི་པའི་བཀའ་དྲིན་ལས་ནོས་ཤིང་ཡིག་ཆའི་ཞབས་ཏོག་ཀྱང་སྤེལ་བ་སྟེ། འདི་ཉིད་ཕྱིས་རིག་འཛིན་ཆོས་རྗེ་གླིང་པའི་གཏེར་བྱོན་འཆི་མེད་རྩ་གསུམ་དྲིལ་སྒྲུབ་དང་ལྷ་སྔགས་ངོ་བོ་གཅིག་པས་བརྒྱུད་པའི་ཆུ་བོ་གཉིས་འདྲེས་སུའང་འགྱུར་རོ།

skal bzang sangs rgyas drug pa seng ge'i rnam 'phrul 'jig rten dbang phyug karma pa gsum pa rang byung rdo rje'i rnam par thar pa ni yongs su grags pa ltar la/_bye brag dag snang gi bka' bab tshul ni/_sa spyod gsung gi 'khor lo 'og min karma'i yang dben deng sang ri bar grags pa'i gnas der thugs dam la bzhugs pa'i skabs shar phyogs kyi nam mkhar mkhas pa bi ma la dngos su byon nas mdzod spur thim pa'i rkyen gyis/_bi ma snying thig chen mo'i tshig don ma lus pa thugs la shar nas gdams ngag gi rtsa ba rdo rje'i tshig rkang dang /_smin grol gyi yig cha rdzogs par mdzad nas spel ba'i rgyun da lta'ang bzhugs pa kho bos kyang thob/_slob dpon chen po pad+ma'i byin rlabs kyis rtsa gsum dril sgrub kyi gdams skor zab mo dgongs pa'i gter las phyungs pa phyis rje brgyad pa mi bskyod rdo rjes thugs nyams su bzhes pas dag snang nye brgyud du byung ba ltar lo rgyus dang /_rtsa tshig yi ger bkod/_rje dgu pa dbang phyug rdo rjes las byang dbang chog rgyas par bkod pa ltar kho bos kyang dpal karma pa bcu bzhi pa'i bka' drin las nos shing yig cha'i zhabs tog kyang spel ba ste/_'di nyid phyis rig 'dzin chos rje gling pa'i gter byon 'chi med rtsa gsum dril sgrub dang lha sngags ngo bo gcig pas brgyud pa'i chu bo gnyis 'dres su'ang 'gyur ro

Kagyu - The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the first monastery of the Kagyu order. As many as twelve subtraditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa. Tib. བཀའ་བརྒྱུད་

Nyingma - The Nyingma, which is often described as the oldest tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, traces its origin to Padmasambhava, who is said to have visited Tibet in the eighth century. Tib. རྙིང་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

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་

Rong ston shes bya kun rig. Erudite Commentary on the Treatise of the Sublime Continuum of the Mahayana

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

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

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

Sakya - The Sakya tradition developed in the eleventh century in the Khön family of Tsang, which maintained an imperial-era lineage of Vajrakīla and which adopted a new teaching from India known as Lamdre. Tib. ས་སྐྱ་

Geluk - The Geluk tradition traces its origin to Tsongkhapa, who propagated a modified version of the Kadampa lojong and lamrim teachings. It is the dominant tradition of Tibet, having established its control of the government under the figure of the Dalai Lama. Tib. དགེ་ལུགས་

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.

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

dharmakāya - "Truth body" or "true being" — One of the three bodies of a buddha. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, it often refers to a kind of fundamental principle or the true nature of reality itself. Skt. धर्मकाय Tib. ཆོས་སྐུ་ Ch. 法身

dharmadhātu - The fundamental expanse from which all phenomena emerge. Skt. धर्मधातु Tib. ཆོས་དབྱིངས་ Ch. 法界

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

dharmadhātu - The fundamental expanse from which all phenomena emerge. Skt. धर्मधातु Tib. ཆོས་དབྱིངས་ Ch. 法界

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་

gzhan stong - The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature. Tib. གཞན་སྟོང་

dharmadhātu - The fundamental expanse from which all phenomena emerge. Skt. धर्मधातु Tib. ཆོས་དབྱིངས་ Ch. 法界

Yogācāra - Along with Madhyamaka, it was one of the two major philosophical schools of Mahāyāna Buddhism. Founded by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu around the fourth century CE, many of its central tenets have roots in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the so-called third turning of the dharma wheel (see tridharmacakrapravartana). Skt. योगाचार Tib. རྣལ་འབྱོར་སྤྱོད་པ་ Ch. 瑜伽行派

prabhāsvaracitta - The luminous aspect of mind that is often contrasted with its empty aspect. It is often used figuratively to reference the cognizant, or knowing, aspect of mind and sometimes more literally as the natural luminosity of mind and luminous wisdom that is experienced in meditation. Skt. प्रभास्वरचित्त Tib. འོད་གསལ་གྱི་སེམས་ Ch. 光明心

gzhan stong - The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature. Tib. གཞན་སྟོང་

tathāgatagarbha - Buddha-nature, literally the "womb/essence of those who have gone (to suchness)." Skt. तथागतगर्भ Tib. དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་ Ch. 如来藏

sems nyid - Commonly found in Dzogchen and Mahāmudrā literature, this term denotes the true, natural state of mind as it is. Often used in these traditions as a synonym for buddha-nature. Skt. चित्तत्व Tib. སེམས་ཉིད་

rang stong - The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena. Tib. རང་སྟོང་

gzhan stong - The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature. Tib. གཞན་སྟོང་

rang stong - The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena. Tib. རང་སྟོང་

Vajrayāna - The esoteric Buddhist tradition which developed as a syncretic system involving deity worship, use of mantras, physical energy, and mystical practices. It is also known as the mantra tradition and the tantric school as a result of being based on texts known as tantras. Skt. वज्रयान Tib. རྡོ་རྗེ་ཐེག་པ། Ch. 金剛乘

Kagyu - The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the first monastery of the Kagyu order. As many as twelve subtraditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa. Tib. བཀའ་བརྒྱུད་

byams chos sde lnga - This refers to a series of five texts that, according to the Tibetan tradition, Asaṅga received directly from Maitreya in the pure realm of Tuṣita. Tib. བྱམས་ཆོས་སྡེ་ལྔ་

kun gzhi - Although it is commonly used as an abbreviation of ālayavijñāna (kun gzhi'i rnam shes), in later Tibetan traditions, particularly that of the Kagyu and the Nyingma, it came to denote an ultimate or pure basis of mind, as opposed to the ordinary, deluded consciousness represented by the ālayavijñāna. Alternatively, in the Jonang tradition, this pure version is referred to as ālaya-wisdom (kun gzhi'i ye shes). Skt. आलय Tib. ཀུན་གཞི་

Mahāmudrā - Mahāmudrā refers to an advanced meditation tradition in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna forms of Into-Tibetan Buddhism that is focused on the realization of the empty and luminous nature of the mind. It also refers to the resultant state of buddhahood attained through such meditation practice. In Tibet, this tradition is particularly associated with the Kagyu school, although all other schools also profess this tradition. The term also appears as part of the four seals, alongside dharmamūdra, samayamudrā, and karmamudrā. Skt. महामुद्रा Tib. ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་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

Vajrayāna - The esoteric Buddhist tradition which developed as a syncretic system involving deity worship, use of mantras, physical energy, and mystical practices. It is also known as the mantra tradition and the tantric school as a result of being based on texts known as tantras. Skt. वज्रयान Tib. རྡོ་རྗེ་ཐེག་པ། Ch. 金剛乘

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་

Mahāyāna - Mahāyāna, or the Great Vehicle, refers to the system of Buddhist thought and practice which developed around the beginning of Common Era, focusing on the pursuit of the state of full enlightenment of the Buddha through the realization of the wisdom of emptiness and the cultivation of compassion. Skt. महायान Tib. ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ། Ch. 大乘

śrāvaka - The disciples of the Buddha who aspire to attain individual liberation or nirvāṇa. The final goal of the Hearers is to become an arhat, a state in which one has totally eliminated the inner problems of attachment, hatred and ignorance, the main causes for rebirth in this cycle of existence. There are four stages of a śrāvaka path including eight phases. Skt. श्रावक Tib. ཉན་ཐོས། Ch. 聲聞

The Third Karmapa's treatise on buddha-nature written in verse.

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

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

tathāgatagarbha - Buddha-nature, literally the "womb/essence of those who have gone (to suchness)." Skt. तथागतगर्भ Tib. དེ་བཞིན་གཤེགས་པའི་སྙིང་པོ་ Ch. 如来藏

The Third Karmapa's treatise on buddha-nature written in verse.

tha mal gyi shes pa - A Mahāmudrā term for the basic state of consciousness that has not been fabricated or altered in any way. Tib. ཐ་མལ་གྱི་ཤེས་པ་

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་

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

paramārthasatya - "Ultimate truth" or "absolute truth"; the reality of things as they truly are. Skt. परमार्थसत्य Tib. དོན་དམ་བདེན་པ་ Ch. 第一義諦,眞諦

gzhan stong - The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature. Tib. གཞན་སྟོང་

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

gzhan stong - The state of being devoid of that which is wholly different rather than being void of its own nature. The term is generally used to refer to the ultimate, or buddha-nature, being empty of other phenomena such as adventitious defiling emotions but not empty of its true nature. Tib. གཞན་སྟོང་

Descent into Laṅka Sūtra, a very influential text in East Asia and Nepal.

An important sūtra source for the Ratnagotravibhāga, particularly for its discussion of the nine examples that illustrate how all sentient beings possess buddha-nature.

ālayavijñāna - A neutral base consciousness that is posited as the storehouse for the seeds of past karmic actions in which they remain in a latent state until the circumstances arise for them to ripen as karmic consequences. Skt. आलयविज्ञान Tib. ཀུན་གཞིའི་རྣམ་ཤེས་ Ch. 藏識,阿賴耶識

Jonang - The Jonang tradition was established by Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, a thirteenth-century Sakya monk famous for his Zhentong teachings. The Jonang teachings and monasteries were suppressed in Tibet in the seventeenth century but survived in Amdo. Tib. ཇོ་ནང་

One of the sūtra sources for the Ratnagotravibhāga, which is only extant in its Chinese translation.

trisvabhāva - According to the Yogācāra school, all phenomena can be divided into three natures or characteristics: the imaginary nature (parikalpitasvabhāva), the dependent nature (paratantrasvabhāva), and the perfect or absolute nature (pariniṣpannasvabhāva). Skt. त्रिस्वभाव Tib. རང་བཞིན་གསུམ་

parikalpitasvabhāva - The first of the three natures, according to the Yogācāra school. It is the imaginary nature which is falsely projected onto an object out of confusion. Skt. परिकल्पितस्वभाव Tib. ཀུན་བཏགས་ཀྱི་རང་བཞིན་

paratantrasvabhāva - The second of the three natures, according to the Yogācāra school. It is the dependent nature that is used to describe the relationship between mind and its objects, though there is a clear emphasis on the latter. Hence, this nature is concerned with the nature of seemingly external objects that arise in dependence upon causes and conditions. Skt. परतन्त्रस्वभाव Tib. གཞན་དབང་གི་རང་བཞིན་

pariniṣpannasvabhāva - The third of the three natures, according to the Yogācāra school. It is the perfect nature that represents the most authentic understanding of phenomena, which is classically defined as the complete absence of the imaginary nature within the dependent nature. Skt. परिनिष्पन्नस्वभाव Tib. ཡོངས་སུ་གྲུབ་པའི་རང་བཞིན་

guṇa - The qualities or attributes of an enlightened being. Skt. गुण Tib. ཡོན་ཏན་ Ch. 功德

Kadam - The Kadam tradition, which traces its origin to the teachings of Atiśa, was the first of the so-called New Schools of Tibetan Buddhism, traditions which arose during or after the Second Propagation of Buddhism (phyi dar) in the tenth century. Tib. བཀའ་གདམས་

Tsen Tradition - Tsen Khawoche's "meditative tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; it is one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana. Tib. བཙན་ལུགས་

paryudāsapratiṣedha - A negation that denies one thing in such a way that it clearly implies another. Skt. पर्युदासप्रतिषेध Tib. མ་ཡིན་དགག་

prasajyapratiṣedha - A negation that merely denies the existence of something without implicitly suggesting an alternative. Skt. प्रसज्यप्रतिषेध Tib. མེད་དགག་

Mahāmudrā - Mahāmudrā refers to an advanced meditation tradition in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna forms of Into-Tibetan Buddhism that is focused on the realization of the empty and luminous nature of the mind. It also refers to the resultant state of buddhahood attained through such meditation practice. In Tibet, this tradition is particularly associated with the Kagyu school, although all other schools also profess this tradition. The term also appears as part of the four seals, alongside dharmamūdra, samayamudrā, and karmamudrā. Skt. महामुद्रा Tib. ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ།

Geluk - The Geluk tradition traces its origin to Tsongkhapa, who propagated a modified version of the Kadampa lojong and lamrim teachings. It is the dominant tradition of Tibet, having established its control of the government under the figure of the Dalai Lama. Tib. དགེ་ལུགས་

Great Madhyamaka - The term Great Madhyamaka is utilized in different contexts depending on the tradition. In the Jonang tradition, it generally refers to the Zhentong Madhyamaka philosophy as it was developed and systematized by Dölpopa. In this context, the Great Madhyamaka refers to the presentation of ultimate truth, while Madhyamaka describes the emptiness of the relative level of truth. In the Nyingma tradition, Great Madhyamaka refers to the subtle, inner Madhyamaka that unifies the philosophical positions of Nāgārjuna and Asaṅga. This is presented in opposition to the coarse, outer Madhyamaka that is the dialectic approach of Prāsaṅgika and Svātantrika. In the Kagyu tradition, the term is used in a similar vein in that Madhyamaka is used to refer to philosophical inquiry, while Great Madhyamaka is used to refer to the view arrived at through yogic accomplishment. However, in all of these traditions, Great Madhyamaka is heavily associated with buddha-nature (tathāgatagarbha) and the definitive status of these teachings. Skt. महामध्यमक Tib. དབུ་མ་ཆེན་པོ་

paramārthasatya - "Ultimate truth" or "absolute truth"; the reality of things as they truly are. Skt. परमार्थसत्य Tib. དོན་དམ་བདེན་པ་ Ch. 第一義諦,眞諦

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

āvaraṇa - Literally, that which obscures or conceals. Often listed as a set of two obscurations (sgrib gnyis): the afflictive emotional obscurations (Skt. kleśāvaraṇa, Tib. nyon mongs pa'i sgrib pa) and the cognitive obscurations (Skt. jñeyāvaraṇa, Tib. shes bya'i sgrib pa). By removing the first, one becomes free of suffering, and by removing the second, one becomes omniscient. Skt. आवरण Tib. སྒྲིབ་པ་

Ngok Tradition - Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherab's "analytic tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana. Tib. རྔོག་ལུགས་

rang stong - The state of being empty of self, which references the lack of inherent existence in relative phenomena. Tib. རང་སྟོང་

Cittamātra - Though it is sometimes used synonymously with Yogācāra, it is in fact one of the more prominent philosophical theories associated with this school. It asserts that the objects in the external world with which we interact are actually mentally created representations appearing as those objects. The character of these perceptions is predetermined by our own karmic conditioning that is stored in the ālayavijñāna. Skt. चित्तमात्र Tib. སེམས་ཙམ་

tridharmacakrapravartana - Three successive stages of the Buddhist teachings. Though they are traditionally attributed to the historical Buddha, modern scholarship tends to view them as developmental stages that occurred over the course of an extended period of time, with interludes of several centuries, in which we see major doctrinal shifts often based on seemingly newly emergent scriptural sources. Skt. त्रिधर्मचक्रप्रवर्तन Tib. ཆོས་འཁོར་རིམ་པ་གསུམ་

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

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།

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. ཤེར་ཕྱིན་,ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་ཕ་རོལ་ཏུ་ཕྱིན་པ་ Ch. 般若波羅蜜多

Tsen Tradition - Tsen Khawoche's "meditative tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; it is one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana. Tib. བཙན་ལུགས་

Jamgön Kongtrul's commentary on the Third Karmapa's verse treatise on buddha-nature.

nītārtha - Refers to a teaching that is literally true. Skt. नीतार्थ Tib. ངེས་དོན་

bhūmi - A plateau of spiritual development. Skt. भूमि Tib. ས་

Jamgön Kongtrul's commentary on the Third Karmapa's verse treatise on buddha-nature.

svabhāva - The nature or essence of a thing, which originates only from itself and is not dependent on any external entities, causes, or conditions. Skt. स्वभाव Tib. རང་བཞིན་ Ch. 自性

avidyā - Literally "unknowing," it refers to a lack of knowledge or misunderstanding of the nature of reality. As such, it is considered to be the root cause of suffering and the basis for the arising of all other negative mental factors. Skt. अविद्या Tib. མ་རིག་པ་ Ch. 無明

āvaraṇa - Literally, that which obscures or conceals. Often listed as a set of two obscurations (sgrib gnyis): the afflictive emotional obscurations (Skt. kleśāvaraṇa, Tib. nyon mongs pa'i sgrib pa) and the cognitive obscurations (Skt. jñeyāvaraṇa, Tib. shes bya'i sgrib pa). By removing the first, one becomes free of suffering, and by removing the second, one becomes omniscient. Skt. आवरण Tib. སྒྲིབ་པ་

bhūmi - A plateau of spiritual development. Skt. भूमि Tib. ས་

dhātu - A fundamental component or essential constituent. Skt. धातु Tib. ཁམས་ Ch. 界

sarvākāravaropetāśūnyatā - As opposed to a mere voidness, this phrase refers to an emptiness that is endowed with enlightened qualities and attributes. Tib. རྣམ་ཀུན་མཆོག་ལྡན་གྱི་སྟོང་པ་ཉིད་

bīja - A seed, commonly used figuratively in the sense of something which has the potential to develop or grow, and likewise as the basic cause for this development or growth. Skt. बीज Tib. ས་བོན་ Ch. 無漏種

dhātu - A fundamental component or essential constituent. Skt. धातु Tib. ཁམས་ Ch. 界

pratītyasamutpāda - The notion that all phenomena arise in dependence on causes and conditions. Skt. प्रतीत्यसमुत्पाद Tib. རྟེན་ཅིང་འབྲེལ་བར་འབྱུང་བ་,རྟེན་འབྲེལ་ Ch. 緣起

neyārtha - Refers to something that is taught for a specific reason, rather than because it is entirely true. Skt. नेयार्थ Tib. དྲང་དོན་

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

RGV - Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra

Tsen Tradition - Tsen Khawoche's "meditative tradition" of exegesis of the Uttaratantra; it is one of two major Tibetan traditions of exegesis, both stemming from students of Sajjana. Tib. བཙན་ལུགས་

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།

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

triyāna - Commonly seen in a Mahāyāna context, the three vehicles are the Śrāvakayāna, Pratyekabuddhayāna, and Bodhisattvayāna, which reference the three different types of Buddhist practitioners. However, these three vehicles can also reference the three types of Buddhist teachings of the Hīnayāna, Mahāyāna (or Pāramitāyāna), and the Vajrayāna. Skt. त्रियान Tib. ཐེག་པ་གསུམ་ Ch. 三乗

advaya - Literally, "without duality," it refers to that which is indivisible, in that it is not divided into two. Skt. अद्वय Tib. གཉིས་མེད་ Ch. 不二

thugs dam - Persons who have experience in meditation on the nature of the mind or emptiness are said to be able to remain in a meditative equipoise after death. Although they have stopped breathing and are clinically dead, they are said to be able to retain their body without decay, often with lustre and flexibility. They are believed to have actualised their buddha-nature at the time of death and attained the state of enlightenment. Tib. ཐུགས་དམ།

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་

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