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From Buddha-Nature
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A critical edition of Gö Lotsāwa Zhönu Pal's ''Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos kyi 'grel bshad de kho nyid rab tu gsal ba'i me long''. +
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In connection with the Buddha-Nature resource project, Tsadra Foundation hosted a three-day symposium for monastic scholars of different Tibetan Buddhist traditions to discuss buddha-nature, related texts, theories, and practices. The event was held at Shechen Monastery, in the Tibetan language. The event was broadcast live and the proceedings were recorded. More than twenty leading scholars met in person for three days from 8:30 am - 6:00 pm. +
<big><span style="color:#841424">'''This event is finished and you can see all the recordings from it here: [[2023_Buddha-Nature_Conference_Kathmandu|2023 BN Conference]].'''</span></big><br><big>བོད་བརྒྱུད་ནང་བསྟན་ཆོས་ལུགས་རིས་མེད་ཀྱི་བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོའི་དགོངས་བཞེད་དང་ཉམས་བཞེས་སྐོར་བགྲོ་གླེང་།</big><br>
<span style="color:#841424">'''FINAL'''</span> <br>[[Media:2023 BN Conference Program.pdf|Download the full Program as a PDF here]] and the [[Media:2023 BN Nepal Abstracts and Speaker Profile.pdf|speaker bios and abstracts here]].<br>
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[[Media:2023 BN Conference Program.pdf|བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོའི་ཆོས་འཁོར་ལས་རིམ། - PDF]]<br>
[[Media:2023 BN Nepal Abstracts and Speaker Profile.pdf|གཤེགས་སྙིང་གཏམ་བཤད་བཅུད་དོན་དང་གསུང་བཤད་པའི་རྣམ་ཐར། - PDF]]<br>
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[[File:2023 Buddha-Nature Conference Banner-7-GoldText-Reduced.jpg|800px|link=https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/2023_Kathmandu_Buddha-Nature_Conference]]<br>
<big>June 1-3, 2023</big>
༈ ཙཱ་འདྲ་ཚོགས་པའི་བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོའི་ཆོས་མཛོད་ཆེན་མོའི་ལས་འགུལ་དང་འབྲེལ་ཏེ། གཞི་ཁམས་བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོའི་སྐོར་ཉིན་གསུམ་གྱི་རིང་། བོད་བརྒྱུད་ནང་བསྟན་ཆོས་ལུགས་རིས་མེད་ཀྱི་མཁན་སློབ་དགེ་བའི་བཤེས་གཉེན་རྣམས་གདན་འདྲེན་ཞུས་ཏེ་ཆོས་བརྒྱུད་སོ་སོའི་བདེ་གཤེགས་སྙིང་པོའི་དགོངས་བཞེད་ཕྱག་བཞེས་གཞུང་ལུགས་སོགས་ཀྱི་སྐོར་བགྲོ་གླེང་འཚོག་རྒྱུ་ཡིན་ཞིང་། དེ་ཡང་ཞེ་ཆེན་དགོན་པར་བོད་སྐད་ཐོག་གནང་རྒྱུ་དང་། དྲྭ་ལམ་བརྒྱུད་ནས་ཐད་གཏོང་བྱ་འཆར་དང་། གློག་བརྙན་ཐོག་ཕབ་བཟུང་དང་ཕྱིས་ནས་དབྱིན་སྐད་དུ་འགྱུར་རྒྱུ་དང་། མཁས་དབང་མཁན་སློབ་དགེ་བཤེས་ཉི་ཤུ་ལྷག་ཙམ་ཕེབས་ནས་ ཉིན་གྲངས་གསུམ་གྱི་རིང་སྔ་དྲོ་ཆུ་ཚོད་ ༨་༣༠ ནས་ ཕྱི་དྲོ་ཆུ་ཚོད་ ༦ བར་ ཆོས་གླེང་གནང་རྩིས་ཡིན་པས། ཁྱད་དུ་འཕགས་པའི་ཆོས་འཁོར་བགྲོ་གླེང་འདིར་ཕེབས་འདོད་ཡོད་ན[https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdEPrWbIV4M33f9xJDscpV4D9xUGa1wVBd7lc6QHJkanyFMQQ/viewform?usp=sf_link ་འདི་ལ་]ཐོ་བཀོད་གནང་བར་ཞུ།
[https://buddhanature.tsadra.org/index.php/2023_Kathmandu_Buddha-Nature_Conference རྒྱས་པར་དྲྭ་ངོས་འདི་ལ་གཟིགས་པར་ཞུ།]
In connection with the Buddha-Nature resource project, Tsadra Foundation will host a three-day symposium for monastic scholars of different Tibetan Buddhist traditions to discuss buddha-nature, related texts, theories, and practices.
The event will be held at Shechen Monastery, in the Tibetan language. We hope to broadcast it live and record the proceedings, and also provide some translation into English in the future. More than twenty leading scholars are meeting in person for three days from 8:30 am - 6:00 pm. [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdEPrWbIV4M33f9xJDscpV4D9xUGa1wVBd7lc6QHJkanyFMQQ/viewform?usp=sf_link Please register here] if you would like to attend in person.
Sessions will also be live-streamed on Zoom.
Sessions will start at 8:30 AM Kathmandu Local Time at the main hall at Shechen.
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<center><big>'''ཆོས་གླེང་གནང་ས། Venue'''</big></center><br>
<center>བལ་ཡུལ་རྒྱལ་ས་ཀཐ་མན་ཌུ་ མཆོད་སྡོང་ཆེན་པོ་བྱ་རུང་ཁ་ཤོར་གྱི་འགྲམ་ ཞེ་ཆེན་བསྟན་གཉིས་དར་རྒྱས་གླིང་གི་ལྷ་ཁང་ཆེན་པོ།</center><br>
<center>Main Temple, Shechen Monastery, Bouddhanath, Kathmandu</center>
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<center><big>'''ཆོས་གླེང་གནང་དུས། Date and Time'''</big></center><br>
<center>གནམ་ཆུ་མོ་ཡོས་ལོ་ ཟླ་ ༤ པའི་ཚེས་ ༡༢ ནས་ ༡༤ བར། སྤྱི་ལོ་ ༢༠༢༣ པའི་ཟླ་ ༦ པའི་ཚེས་ ༡ ནས་ ༣ བར།</center><br>
<center>1-3 June, 2023, 12, 13 and 14th of the 4th Tibetan Month.</center>
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<center><span style="color:#03116D"><big>'''ཆོས་གླེང་ལས་རིམ། - Conference Program''' </big></span></center><br>
<center><big>'''ཆོས་གླེང་ཉིན་ ༡ པོ། སྤྱི་ཟླ་ ༦ པའི་ ཚེས་ ༡ ལ། - 1 June 2023'''</big></center><br>
:<span style="color:#841424">8:30 སྒོ་འབྱེད་ཞལ་འདོན་དང་གསལ་བཤད། Opening chants and welcome address </span>
:<span style="color:#03116D">9:00 [[མཁན་པོ་ངག་དབང་བློ་གྲོས།_Khenpo_Ngawang_Lodoe|མཁན་པོ་ངག་དབང་བློ་གྲོས། སྨིན་གྲོལ་གླིང་། Khenpo Ngawang Lodoe, Mindroling - Read the abstract and bio here]]</span>
:<span style="color:#841424">10:00 གསོལ་ཇའི་བར་གསེང་། - Tea break</span>
:<span style="color:#03116D">10:30 [[དགེ་བཤེས་སྐལ་བཟང་བསྟན་སྐྱོང་། Geshe Kalsang Tenkyong|དགེ་བཤེས་ལྷ་རམས་པ་སྐལ་བཟང་བསྟན་སྐྱོང་། སེ་ར་བྱེས། Geshe Kalsang Tenkyong, Sera Je Monastery - Read the abstract and bio here]]</span>
:<span style="color:#841424">11:30 [[སློབ་དཔོན་དམ་ཆོས་རྡོ་རྗེ། Lopen Damcho Dorji|གསུང་བཤད་གསུམ་པ། - སློབ་དཔོན་དམ་ཆོས་རྡོ་རྗེ། རྟ་མགོ་རྡོར་གདན་བཀྲ་ཤིས་ཐང་ནང་དོན་རིག་པའི་གཙུག་ལག་སློབ་གྲྭ། Lopon Damcho Dorji, Tago Buddhist University - Read the abstract and bio here]]</span>
:<span style="color:#03116D">12:30 ཉིན་དགུང་གསོལ་ཚིགས། - Lunch</span>
:<span style="color:#841424">14:00 [[མཁན་པོ་གྲགས་པ་སེང་གེ Khenpo Dakpa Senge|མཁན་པོ་གྲགས་པ་སེང་གེ དབུས་བོད་ཀྱི་གཙུག་ལག་སློབ་གཉེར་ཁང་། Khenpo Dakpa Senge, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies]]
:<span style="color:#03116D">15:00 [[དགེ་བཤེས་དྲི་མེད་འོད་ཟེར། Geshe Drime Ozer|དགེ་བཤེས་དྲི་མེད་འོད་ཟེར། ཇོ་ནང་དགོན་ངེས་དོན་རྟག་བརྟན་བཤད་སྒྲུབ་ཆོས་འཁོར་གླིང་། Geshe Drime Ozer, Jonang Monastery, Parping]]</span>
:<span style="color:#841424">16:00 གསོལ་ཇའི་བར་གསེང་། - Tea break</span>
:<span style="color:#03116D">16:30 [[དགེ་བཤེས་ངག་དབང་མཚན་བཟང་། Geshe Ngawang Tsesang|དགེ་བཤེས་ལྷ་རམས་པ་ངག་དབང་མཚན་བཟང་། དགའ་ལྡན་ཤར་རྩེ། Geshe Ngawang Tsesang, Ganden Shartse Monastery]]</span>
:<span style="color:#841424">17:30 མཇུག་བསྡུའི་གསལ་བཤད་དང་སྨོན་ཚིག - Closing chants and remarks</span>
<center><big>'''ཆོས་གླེང་ཉིན་ ༢ པ། སྤྱི་ཟླ་ ༦ པའི་ ཚེས་ ༢ ལ། - 2 June 2023'''</big></center><br>
:<span style="color:#841424">8:30 སྒོ་འབྱེད་ཞལ་འདོན་དང་གསལ་བཤད། Opening chants and address </span>
:<span style="color:#03116D">9:00 [[མཁན་པོ་བསྟན་པ་ཚེ་རིང་། Khenpo Tenpa Tshering|མཁན་པོ་བསྟན་པ་ཚེ་རིང་། སྔ་འགྱུར་མཐོ་སློབ་མདོ་སྔགས་རིག་པའི་འབྱུང་གནས་གླིང་། Khenpo Tenpa Tshering, Ngagyur Nyingma Institute]]</span>
:<span style="color:#841424">10:00 གསོལ་ཇའི་བར་གསེང་། - Tea break</span>
:<span style="color:#03116D">10:30 [[མཁན་པོ་ཟླ་བ་ཚེ་རིང་། Khenpo Dawa Tsering|མཁན་པོ་ཟླ་བ་ཚེ་རིང་། འབྲི་གུང་བཀའ་བརྒྱུད་བྱང་ཆུབ་གླིང་། Khenpo Dawa Tsering, Drikung Kagyu Institute]]</span>
:<span style="color:#841424">11:30 [[མཁན་པོ་ངག་དབང་ཐོགས་མེད། Khenpo Ngawang Thokmey|མཁན་པོ་ངག་དབང་ཐོགས་མེད། དབུས་བོད་ཀྱི་གཙུག་ལག་སློབ་གཉེར་ཁང་། Khenpo Ngawang Thokmey, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies]]</span>
:<span style="color:#03116D">12:30 ཉིན་དགུང་གསོལ་ཚིགས། - Lunch </span>
:<span style="color:#841424">14:00 [[སློབ་དཔོན་ཟླ་བ་བཟང་པོ། Lopen Dawa Zangpo|སློབ་དཔོན་ཟླ་བ་བཟང་པོ། ཇོ་ནང་དགོན་ངེས་དོན་རྟག་བརྟན་བཤད་སྒྲུབ་ཆོས་འཁོར་གླིང་། Lopen Dawa Zangpo, Jonang Monastery, Parping]]</span>
:<span style="color:#03116D">15:00 [[དགེ་བཤེས་ངག་དབང་སྟོབས་ལྡན། Geshe Ngawang Topden|དགེ་བཤེས་ལྷ་རམས་པ་ངག་དབང་སྟོབས་ལྡན། སེ་ར་བྱེས། Geshe Ngawang Topden, Sera Je Monastery]]</span>
:<span style="color:#841424">16:00 གསོལ་ཇའི་བར་གསེང་། - Tea break</span>
:<span style="color:#03116D">16:30 [[མཁན་པོ་ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་ནོར་བུ། Khenpo Tsultrim Norbu|མཁན་པོ་ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་ནོར་བུ། སྔ་འགྱུར་མཐོ་སློབ་མདོ་སྔགས་རིག་པའི་འབྱུང་གནས་གླིང་། Khenpo Tsultrim Norbu, Ngagyur Nyingma Institute]]</span>
:<span style="color:#841424">17:30 མཇུག་བསྡུའི་གསལ་བཤད་དང་སྨོན་ཚིག - Closing chants and remarks</span>
<center><big>'''ཆོས་གླེང་ཉིན་ ༣ པ། སྤྱི་ཟླ་ ༦ པའི་ ཚེས་ ༣ ལ། - 3 June 2023'''</big></center><br>
:<span style="color:#841424">8:30 སྒོ་འབྱེད་ཞལ་འདོན་དང་གསལ་བཤད། Opening chants and Book Launch: '''[[The Life and Works of Kyotön Monlam Tsultrim]]'''. </span>
:<span style="color:#03116D">9:00 [[མཁན་པོ་ཚེ་དབང་བསོད་ནམས། Khenpo Tshewang Sonam|མཁན་པོ་ཚེ་དབང་བསོད་ནམས། འབྲུག་ཐར་པ་གླིང་། Khenpo Tshewang Sonam, Tharpaling Monastery]]</span>
:<span style="color:#841424">10:00 གསོལ་ཇའི་བར་གསེང་། - Tea break</span>
:<span style="color:#03116D">10:30 [[མཁན་པོ་ལྷག་པ་ཡེ་ཤེས། Khenpo Lhakpa Yeshi|མཁན་པོ་ལྷག་པ་ཡེ་ཤེས། བན་ཆེན་ནང་བསྟན་ཐོས་བསམ་གླིང་། Khenpo Lhakpa Yeshi, Benchen Nangten Thösam Ling Shedra]]</span>
:<span style="color:#841424">11:30 [[མཁན་པོ་ངག་དབང་འབྱོར་ལྡན། Khenpo Ngawang Jorden|མཁན་པོ་ངག་དབང་འབྱོར་ལྡན། རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་གསུང་རབ་སློབ་གཉེར་ཁང་། Khenpo Ngawang Jorden, International Buddhist Academy]]</span>
:<span style="color:#03116D">12:30 ཉིན་དགུང་གསོལ་ཚིགས། - Lunch </span>
:<span style="color:#841424">14:00 [[དགེ་བཤེས་བློ་བཟང་རྒྱ་མཚོ་ Geshe Lobsang Gyatso|དགེ་བཤེས་་ལྷ་རམས་པ་བློ་བཟང་རྒྱ་མཚོ། རྒྱུད་སྨད། Geshe Lobsang Gyatso, Gyume Monastery]]</span>
:<span style="color:#03116D">15:00 [[མཁན་པོ་ཤེས་རབ་ཕུན་ཚོགས། Khenpo Sherab Phuntsho|མཁན་པོ་ཤེས་རབ་ཕུན་ཚོགས། ཁྲ་འགུ་བཀྲ་ཤིས་ཡང་རྩེ་དགོན་པ། Khenpo Sherab Phuntsho, Thrangu Tashi Yangtse Monastery]]</span>
:<span style="color:#841424">16:00 གསོལ་ཇའི་བར་གསེང་། - Tea break</span>
:<span style="color:#03116D">16:30 [[དགེ་བཤེས་འཇིགས་མེད་རྒྱ་མཚོ། Geshe Jigme Gyatso|དགེ་བཤེས་ལྷ་རམས་པ་འཇིགས་མེད་རྒྱ་མཚོ། འབྲས་སྤུངས་སྒོ་མང་། Geshe Jigme Gyatso, Drepung Gomang Monastery]] </span>
:<span style="color:#841424">17:30 མཇུག་བསྡུའི་གསལ་བཤད་དང་སྨོན་ཚིག - Closing chants and remarks</span>
:<big>'''ཆོས་གླེང་གོ་སྒྲིག་པ། Organizing Team'''</big><br>
:ཀརྨ་ཕུན་ཚོགས། ཆོས་འཁོར་འགོ་འདྲེན་པ། ཙཱ་འདྲ་ཚོགས་པ།<br>
:མར་ཀས་པེར་མན། བཀོད་ཁྱབ་མདོ་ཆེན། ཙཱ་འདྲ་ཚོགས་པ།<br>
:གྭན་ཝིཊ་དོ་རིང། ཡིག་ཚང་འགན་འཛིན། ཙཱ་འདྲ་ཚོགས་པ།<br>
:མཁན་པོ་འགྱུར་མེད་ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས། ཞེ་ཆེན་དགོན་པའི་སྤྱི་ཁྱབ་འགན་འཛིན།<br>
:མཁན་པོ་ཉི་མ་སེང་གེ ཞེ་ཆེན་བཤད་གྲྭའི་འགན་འཛིན།<br>
:སློབ་དཔོན་ཀརྨ། ཞེ་ཆེན་ཞིབ་འཇུག་སྡེ་ཚན།<br>
:Karma Phuntsho, Convenor, Tsadra Foundation
:Marcus Perman, Executive Director, Tsadra Foundation
:Gwen Witt-Dorring, Office Manager, Tsadra Foundation
:Khenpo Gyurme Tsultrim, Director General, Shechen Monastery
:Khenpo Nyima Senge, Principal, Shechen Shedra
:Lopen Karma, Shechen Research Division.
A
Michael Zimmermann's ''A Buddha Within'' is a comprehensive edition of the ''Tathāgatagarbhasūtra'' (''TGS'') and an annotated English translation based on Tibetan materials. It includes "an analysis of the textual history of the ''TGS'', an interpretation of the term ''tathāgatagarbha'', a discussion of the authors' ideas as reflected in the sūtra, and the specification of the place of the ''TGS'' in Indian Buddhist history"(8). Key sections include an analysis of the term ''tathāgatagarbha'' (39), a detailed discussion of terms related to buddha-nature (50-62), and a discussion of the sources, motives, and reception of the text in India, Tibet, China, and in the twentieth century (67-90). +
''This early Western publication on Buddhism includes mention of the concept of buddha-nature 19 times. Thus this work would have been one of the few English publications at the time to mention buddha-nature by name. What follows is Goddard's preface to the book''.<br><br>
The first edition of this Buddhist Bible was published in 1932. When the need of a new edition became evident, it was decided to enlarge it so as to include other Scriptures of like importance so as to make it more comprehensive. This involved making a number of new translations for which we are indebted to Bhikshu Wai-tao. We are also indebted and are very grateful to a number of other Buddhist Scholars for permission to use their translations, as noted in the Appendix.<br> The compiling of a Buddhist Bible is a very different matter from compiling the Christian Bible. In the first place, there is no Hierarchy or Ecclesiastic Council to pass upon the authenticity of different scriptures, and as to their canonicity. In the second place, Christian Scriptures are a closed system of doctrines and dogmas that have been inspired by the Holy Spirit and are to be accepted in faith. Buddhism, on the contrary, is looked upon as a growing organism whose scriptures are of many kinds as the organism has developed under different racial, temporal and cultural conditions. As disciples follow the Buddha's Noble Path and practice dhyana concentration and intuitive meditation they have an unfolding experience of spiritual insight and grace which any one of them may describe and elucidate. Some of these expediences are of highest value, some of less value. Some are concerned with
the Dharma, some have to do with the rules of the Brotherhoods, some are philosophical, some psychological, some are commentaries and some are commentaries on commentaries. In the third place, there is the difference of quantity. In the Christian Bible there are sixty-six titles; Buddhist scriptures number over ten thousand, only a fraction of which have thus far been translated. In the Sung Dynasty about 972 AD a Chinese version of these scriptures was published consisting of 1521 works, in more than 5000 volumes, covering 130,000 pages.<br> The nearest approach to canonicity is the Pali Tripitika. That was the earliest collection and was supposed to be limited to the words of Buddha. Southern Buddhists are passionately devoted to these Pali Scriptures and are inclined to disparage and dispute the more philosophical scriptures of the Northern School that developed later after Buddhism had come in contact with other world religions in Persia, Palestine, Egypt and Greece. Under these conditions there developed in Northern India, and Kashgar, a succession of very able minds,
Ashvaghosha, Nargajuna, Vasobandhu and his brother Asangha from whose writings and teachings there developed various important schools of philosophical thought that profoundly changed the understanding of Buddha's Dharma.<br> Later on as Buddhism spread into China and came under the influence of its immemorial culture and practical good sense, it took on forms of Taoist naturalism and kindly humanism, and there developed forms of "salvation by faith in Amitabha's mercy" and rebirth in his Pure Land. While in Tibet, coming in contact with its ancient Bon religion, and
under the climatic conditions of its high altitudes, it took on forms of strenuousness and magic and tantric conceptions. Later on in Japan owing to political and social conditions incident to the presence of a limited but powerful noble class dominating a suppressed peasantry, which had developed extremes of loyalty and obedience and self-control, it took on forms of concentrative meditation known as Zen, and a still more widely divergent type of the True Pure Land Sect.<br> Naturally among these diverse conditions Buddhist scriptures vary widely, and the quantity of them being so enormous, they have become segregated into different groups as they are favored by different schools of thought and practice. The Tien-tai favor the more philosophical scriptures, the Shingon, the more esoteric, the Ch’an (Zen), the more intellectual, and the Pure Land, the more emotional. The present editor has been guided in his selection of scriptures for this Buddhist Bible by a sincere purpose to make the selection as comprehensive as possible within its limits and to represent as truly as possible the original teachings of the Blessed One both as understood by the Southern and more primitive school and by the Northern and more philosophical interpreters. He has also humbly tried to have the choice vouched for by his own spiritual experience in his practice of the Noble Path and especially during its Eighth Stage of intuitive Dhyana.<br> It follows, therefore, that the scriptures thus selected are the generally accepted scriptures of the Dhyana Sects—Ch’an in China, Zen in Japan and Kargyupta in Tibet. Of course among so enormous a collection of scriptures there are others that are favorites also, notably the ''Saddharma-pundarika'' (Lotus of the Perfect Law), and the ''Avatamsaka'', said to be the grandest religious document ever written, but these are very large books in themselves. The late W. E. Soothil of London left a very careful translation of the Lotus that still waits a publisher. Dr. Suzuki of Kyoto has made a translation of the Gandhavyuha sections of the Avatamsaka that is now in process of being published. The inclusion of Laotzu’s ''Tao-teh-king'' is open to question as it is not strictly a Buddhist
text, but its teaching has such a close affinity to Buddhist teaching and nearly all early Chinese Masters of Buddhism were Taoist scholars who, upon becoming Buddhists, did not give up their Taoist conceptions and terms, and because the Laotzuan teaching in the ''Tao-teh-king'' has had such a wholesome
influence on the development of Chinese Buddhism, and, in later years, wherever the ''Tao-teh-king'' is held in reverence, it has tended to restrain individual pride of egoism, religious ceremonial, ecclesiasticism, priestcraft and insincerity generally, we make no apology for including it. In fact, it is our earnest wish that the ''Tao-teh-king'' may become one of the foundation stones of American and European Buddhism.<br> Further introductory notes are reserved for the Appendix
under the heads of the individual Scriptures, as are also -grateful appreciation to those who have contributed to the preparation and publication of this Bible, especially to those Buddhist scholars who have courteously granted the Editor permission to use their translations for this purpose <br> Just a closing word as to the rules that have guided the
Editor in his choice and handling of textual material. He has always kept in mind the spiritual needs of his readers. This Buddhist Bible is not intended to be a source book for critical literary and historical study. It is only intended to be a source of spiritual inspiration designed to awaken faith and to develop faith into aspiration and full realization. The original texts having for centuries been carried in memory and transcribed by hand by scribes who were often more loyal to their Master than to historical exactness, are often overloaded with interpolations and extensions, and in places are confused and obscure. To carry out the design of the Editor, he has omitted a great deal of matter not bearing directly upon the theme of
the particular Scripture, and has interpreted occasionally where it seemed necessary and advisable, in order to provide an easier and more inspiring reading. The need for this course will become apparent to every earnest minded disciple.<br> In these days when Western civilization and culture is buffeted as never before by foreboding waves of materialism and selfish aggrandisement both individual and national, Buddhism seems to hold out teachings of highest promise. For two thousand years Dhyana Buddhism has powerfully conditioned the cultural, ethical and spiritual life of the great Oriental nations. It well may be the salvation of Western civilization. Its rationality, its discipline, its emphasis on simplicity and sincerity, its thoughtfulness, its cheerful industry not for profit but for service, its love for all animate life, its restraint of desire in all its subtle forms, its actual foretastes of enlightenment and blissful peace, its patient acceptance of karma and rebirth, all mark it out as being competent to meet the problems of this excitement loving, materialistic, acquisitive and thoughtless age.<br> Its basic principle of an eternal process based on unchanging law and operating in eternal recurrence, leading to mind-control, to highest cognition, to purest conceptions of love and compassion, to ever clearing insight, to highest perfect wisdom, to the self-giving of Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas, to blissful peace, is worthy of confidence; and its Noble Path worthy of
trial.<br> The theme of this Buddhist Bible is designed to show the unreality of all conceptions of a personal ego. Its purpose is to awaken faith in Buddhahood as being one’s true self-nature; to kindle aspiration to realize one’s true Buddha-nature; to energize effort to follow the Noble Path, to become Buddha. The true response to the appeal of this Buddhist Bible is not in outward activities, but in self-yielding, becoming a clear channel for Buddhahood's indrawing compassion, that all sentient beings may become emancipated, enlightened and brought to Buddhahood. (Goddard, preface, v–viii)
''A Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes'' presents the first English translation of the ''sDom gsum rab dbye'', one of the most famous and controversial doctrinal treatises of Tibetan Buddhism. Written by Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltshen (1182–1251), a founder of the Sakya school and one of Tibet’s most learned sages, ''The Three Codes'' strongly influenced subsequent religious and intellectual traditions in Tibet—and sparked a number of long-lasting doctrinal and philosophical disputes, some of which persist today.
In ''The Three Codes'', Sakya Pandita discusses the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Tantric vows of Buddhist conduct, which often diverge and contradict each other. He criticizes, on at least one point or another, later practitioners of almost every lineage, including the Kadampa, Kagyupa, and Nyingmapa, for contradicting the original teachings of their own traditions. (Source: [https://www.sunypress.edu/p-3532-a-clear-differentiation-of-the-.aspx SUNY Press]) +
In 1981 Kagyu Samye Ling in Scotland invited the Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche to give some Buddhist teachings. He chose to give commentaries on some of the important texts of the Kagyü sect of Tibetan buddhism and spent several months giving a line by line commentary on the ''Uttara Tantra'' and then answering the questions of the students.<br> The ''Uttara Tantra'' was written in the fourth century AD by Asaṅga and was brought to Tibet and translated into Tibetan. This was before the Muslim invasion of India which caused the destruction of most Buddhist texts in India. This text of 400 verses is devoted entirely to the study of buddha nature—that primary essence that all beings possess and that quality which makes it possible for all beings to achieve enlightenment. In the Kagyü tradition the verses of the ''Uttara Tantra'' are often memorized and studied before entering a three-year meditation retreat. Needless to say, this text is extremely relevant for all Buddhist practitioners and answers many of the questions Western students have, namely, how one can tell if someone is enlightened and what is necessary to achieve this state.<br> Ken and Katia Holmes, working off the tapes of Thrangu Rinpoche's teachings, were able to translate the "root text", that is the 400 verses of the ''Uttara Tantra'', and the results of their efforts are found in their excellent book ''The Changeless Nature''. However, like most Buddhist texts of the period, the ''Uttara Tantra'' was written in very terse, compact language with extremely deep and subtle references which makes the text accessible to only an extremely great scholar such as Thrangu Rinpoche. So the need for a commentary arose, and at the suggestion of Thrangu Rinpoche, the 14 audio tapes of the English translation of Rinpoche's commentary were transcribed and used for this commentary. These tapes follow an oral tradition used by lamas of Tibet for the last thousand years in which every point is numbered, placed in a category, stated, restated, emphasized, and then summarized. Had the transcripts simply been typeset, the commentary would have been about 700 pages long and would have been almost impossible to read. So with the help of chapters, headings, and extensive elimination of repetition and categorization, the ''Commentary on the Uttara Tantra'' was brought down to a manageable size and changed into a work which could be read by Westerners. At the suggestion of Ken Holmes the numbers of the verses in the ''Changeless Nature'' are given in brackets before the corresponding paragraphs of the commentary so one can read the verses of the ''Changeless Nature'' and then read the corresponding commentary. Two appendices were also added so that readers not familiar with Buddhist terms can easily look them up. An attempt was also made to make the commentary clear enough so that the reader could read it and learn from it without having to keep referring to the root text. (Clark Johnson, foreword)
'''Abstract''' <br/><br/> This thesis, a comparison of the concepts of buddha-nature and dao-nature in the medieval period (from the 5th to the 10th centuries) of China, presents a historical investigation of the formation of the idea that insentient things are able to possess buddha-nature in medieval Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism. In Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism, the concept of buddha-nature was originally defined as a potential possessed by sentient beings that enabled them to achieve buddhahood. From the 6th century, the concept was reinterpreted within the Chinese Buddhist tradition so that insentient things were also able to possess buddha-nature. Recent scholarship has pointed out that the idea of insentient things having buddha-nature is a combination of Buddhist and Daoist ideas based on the concept of the all-pervading Dao found in the Zhuangzi 莊子. In this sense, buddha-nature seems to be interpreted as equivalent with the Dao of Daoism. My project suggests that the reinterpretation of buddha-nature in association with the insentient realm should be elucidated in a more nuanced way than the idea of all-pervasiveness of the Dao. A historical, doctrinal investigation of the intellectual formation of the concept of buddha-nature in Chinese Mahāyāna Buddhism demonstrates a new interpretation of buddha-nature in the context of insentient things having buddha-nature. Further, through a historical investigation of intellectual exchange between Buddhism and Daoism, some evidence provided in this project illustrates that the idea of insentient things having dao-nature in Daoism was not inherited from Buddhism, but drawn from Daoist tradition. This new perspective is different from that of some contemporary scholars who have claimed that the idea of insentient things having dao-nature was borrowed from Chinese Buddhism. A chronological investigation of the discussion of nature in Chinese thought demonstrates that the idea of insentient things having buddha-nature incorporates earlier Daoist traditions found in Arcane Study.
This is a book of teachings on how to do a complete session of meditation. The book was composed by the Western teacher, Lama Tony Duff, to help those who would like to practise meditation in general. However, it will be especially useful for those who would like to practise according to the ways of the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions of Tibetan Buddhism. The book emphasizes the practical style of instruction found in those two traditions. It deliberately avoids the scholarly style taught in some other Tibetan Buddhist traditions and focusses on actually doing something with one’s own mind. Nonetheless, the book is very precise and clear about all of the key points involved in meditation practice.
The book emphasizes the Kagyu approach in particular. The author has received teachings from many Kagyu masters and used his knowledge of the tradition as a basis for making this book. He selected teachings from Gampopa and other early masters to set the basis for explaining meditation. Then he added other, necessary teachings according to the extensive teachings he has received over many years from many different Kagyu masters, such as Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche, and others. The result is a book that explains how to do a complete session of meditation in the style of the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions.
The book begins with a lengthy introduction by Lama Tony which is a teaching in its own right. He writes a lengthy piece about what can and cannot usefully be obtained from science in terms of dharma practice. Following the introduction, there are two chapters on the buddha nature, the second of which uses a significant portion of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen’s explanation of the ground in his famous Mountain Dharma text. This is the first time that this part of Dolpopa’s text has been fully translated and published. After that are several chapters on the various steps of a complete session of meditation. Anyone who practises meditation will find this book useful in many ways.
The book contains a translation of the following text:
“Mountain Dharma, An Ocean of Definitive Meaning” by Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsan, ground section
(Source: [https://www.pktcshop.com/product-p/csm.htm Padma Karpo Translations])
Douglas Duckworth offers a definition of buddha-nature. +
Maitreya’s ''Ratnagotravibhāga'', also known as the ''Uttaratantra'', is the main Indian treatise on buddha nature, a concept that is heavily debated in Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. In ''A Direct Path to the Buddha Within'', [[Klaus-Dieter Mathes]] looks at a pivotal Tibetan commentary on this text by [[Gö Lotsāwa Zhönu Pal]], best known as the author of the ''Blue Annals''. Gö Lotsāwa, whose teachers spanned the spectrum of Tibetan schools, developed a highly nuanced understanding of buddha nature, tying it in with mainstream Mahāyāna thought while avoiding contested aspects of the so-called empty-of-other (''zhentong'') approach. In addition to translating key portions of Gö Lotsāwa's commentary, [[Mathes]] provides an in-depth historical context, evaluating Gö’s position against those of other Kagyü, Nyingma, and Jonang masters and examining how Gö Lotsāwa’s view affects his understanding of the buddha qualities, the concept of emptiness, and the practice of mahāmudrā. (Source: [https://www.wisdompubs.org/book/direct-path-buddha-within Wisdom Publications]) +
His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama teaches in a traditional line-by-line commentary of the Mahayanottaratantrashashtra in this video from Holland in 1986. Alexander Berzin interprets His Holiness into English. Seven diamond-strong points of the in five chapters, the first four points, which introduce "the source", or buddha-nature, are presented in the first chapter, the second chapter discusses the fifth point, the state of purified growth of enlightenment fifth point, the third chapter presents the sixth point which is the qualities of that state of purified growth, the fourth deals with the seventh point, the enlightening influence, and the fifth chapter discusses the benefits of studying the text. The text itself discusses the clear light nature of the mind which is covered over by cognitive and afflictive obscurations. Once these obscurations have been purified, the clear light nature of mind is revealed. +
In this book, an international team of fourteen scholars investigates the Chinese reception of Indian Buddhist ideas, especially in the sixth and seventh centuries. Topics include Buddhist logic and epistemology (pramāṇa, yinming); commentaries on Indian Buddhist texts; Chinese readings of systems as diverse as Madhyamaka, Yogācāra and tathāgatagarbha; the working out of Indian concepts and problematics in new Chinese works; and previously under-studied Chinese evidence for developments in India. The authors aim to consider the ways that these Chinese materials might furnish evidence of broader Buddhist trends, thereby problematizing a prevalent notion of “sinification”, which has led scholars to consider such materials predominantly in terms of trends ostensibly distinctive to China. The volume also tries to go beyond seeing sixth- and seventh-century China primarily as the age of the formation and establishment of the Chinese Buddhist “schools”. The authors attempt to view the ideas under study on their own terms, as valid Buddhist ideas engendered in a rich, “liminal” space of interchange between two large traditions. (Source: [https://blogs.sub.uni-hamburg.de/hup/products-page/publikationen/125/ Hamburg University Press]) +
A monumental work and Indian Buddhist classic, the ''Ornament of the Mahāyāna Sūtras'' (''Mahāyānasūtrālamkāra'') is a precious resource for students wishing to study in-depth the philosophy and path of Mahāyāna Buddhism. This full translation and commentary outlines the importance of Mahāyāna, the centrality of bodhicitta or the mind of awakening, the path of becoming a bodhisattva, and how one can save beings from suffering through skillful means.
This definitive composition of Mahāyāna teachings was imparted in the fourth century by Maitreya to the famous adept Asanga, one of the most prolific writers of Buddhist treatises in history. Asanga’s work, which is among the famous Five Treatises of Maitreya, has been studied, commented upon, and taught by Buddhists throughout Asia ever since it was composed.
In the early twentieth century, one of Tibet’s greatest scholars and saints, Jamgön Mipham, wrote ''A Feast of the Nectar of the Supreme Vehicle'', which is a detailed explanation of every verse. This commentary has since been used as the primary blueprint for Tibetan Buddhists to illuminate the depth and brilliance of Maitreya’s pith teachings. The Padmakara Translation Group has provided yet another accessible and eloquent translation, ensuring that English-speaking students of Mahāyāna will be able to study this foundational Buddhist text for generations to come. (Source: [https://www.shambhala.com/a-feast-of-the-nectar-of-the-supreme-vehicle.html Shambhala Publications]) +
The collection of twenty-six texts on non-conceptual realization is the result of blending the essence and tantric mahamudra teachings of Saraha, Nagarjuna and Savaripa with a particular form of Madhyamaka philosophy, called 'non-abiding' (''apratisthana''), which aims at radically transcending any conceptual assessment of true reality. This goal is achieved by "withdrawing one's attention" (''amanasikara'') from anything that involves the duality of a perceived and perceiver. The result is a "luminous self-empowerment," Maitripa's (986–1063) final tantric analysis of amanasikara. The collection of texts on non-conceptual realization plays a crucial role, as it constitutes, together with Naropa's teachings, the main source of bKa' brgyud lineages. The edition and translation of this collection is followed by another text attributed to Maitripa, the *''Mahamudrakanakamala'', which was translated by Mar pa Lo tsa ba Chos kyi blo gros (11th century) into Tibetan. The *''Mahamudrakanakamala'' picks up on the themes of the collection and shows that all aspects of Maitripa's mahamudra were indeed passed on to early bKa' brgyud masters. Besides an English translation and analysis, the present publication contains a new edition of the available Sanskrit on the basis of the editio princeps by Haraprasad Shastri, the edition of the Studying Group of Sacred Tantric Texts at Taisho University, the Nepalese manuscript NGMPP B 22/24, and the manuscript no. 151 from the Todai University Library. The Tibetan edition of all texts is based on the Derge and Peking bsTan 'gyur and the dPal spungs edition of Karmapa VII Chos grags rgya mtsho's (1454-1506) Collection of Indian Mahamudra Works (Phyag rgya chen po'i rgya gzhung). ([https://www.amazon.com/Fine-Blend-Mahamudra-Madhyamaka-Philosophisch-Historischen/dp/3700177860 Source Accessed Feb 11, 2020]) +
This collection focuses on an influential and inspiring generation of Buddhist teachers: the nineteenth-century ecumenical, or rimé, tradition of eastern Tibet. A Gathering of Brilliant Moons provides lively translations of nineteen pithy and profound works by these great masters, along with essays by their translators which explore the aesthetic qualities of their chosen works, highlight their ecumenical features, and comment on the journey of translation.
Includes works from Jamgon Kongtrul, Dza Patrul Rinpoché, Ju Mipham Rinpoché, Dudjom Lingpa, The Third Dodrupchen, Do Khyentsé, Tokden Sakya Sri, Jikmé Lingpa, Shardza Tashi Gyaltsen, Getsé Mahapandita, Shangton Tenpa Gyatso, and Bamda Thupten Gelek Gyatso.
This book arose from a unique conference on Tibetan translation, where the fourteen translators shared their process with each other and received feedback from their peers with a special focus on the literary aspects of the source texts. As a reflection of this genesis, the accompanying essays in this volume by the translators explore the aesthetic qualities of their chosen works, highlight ecumenical features in them, and comment on the journey of translation. This unique book will be welcomed by religious scholars, Buddhist practitioners, and meditators. (Source: [https://wisdomexperience.org/product/gathering-brilliant-moons/ Wisdom Experience])
On the topic of buddha-nature, see especially Tina Draszczyk's translation of Jamgön Kongtrul's ''Immaculate Vajra Moonrays: An Instruction for the View of Shentong, the Great Madhyamaka'' in chapter 12, Putting Buddha Nature into Practice. +
Tsongkhapa’s ''A Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages'' (1419) is a comprehensive presentation of the highest yoga class of Buddhist tantra, especially the key practices—the so-called five stages (''pancakrama'')—of the advanced phase of Guhyasamāja tantra. Beginning with a thorough examination of the Indian sources, Tsongkhapa draws particularly from the writings of Nāgārjuna, Aryadeva, Candrakīrti, and Nāropā to develop a definitive understanding of the Vajrayana completion stage. Whereas in the generation stage, meditators visualize the Buddha in the form of the deity residing in a mandala palace, in the completion stage discussed in the present volume, meditators transcend ordinary consciousness and actualize the state of a buddha themselves. Among other things, Tsongkhapa’s work covers the subtle human physiology of channels and winds along with the process of dying, the bardo, and rebirth. This definitive statement on Guhyasamāja tantra profoundly affected the course of Buddhist practice in Tibet. (Source: [https://wisdomexperience.org/content-author/gavin-kilty/ Wisdom Experience]) +
A Prolegomena to the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra and the Tathāgatagarbha Theory: The Role of Women in Buddhism +
The ''Śrīmālādevī siṁhanāda sūtra'' (''ŚDS'') (''The Treatise on the Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā'') is a Mahāyāna text no longer extant in Sanskrit but preserved in both the Chinese and Tibetan Tripiṭakas. This text is a unique development within the Buddhist tradition because of its egalitarian view concerning women, portraying, on the one band, the dignity and wisdom of a laywoman and her concern for all beings, and on the other, the role of woman as a philosopher and teacher. Doctrinally, the major emphasis is upon the Tathāgatagarbha and Ekayāna.<br> Because of the number of citations and references which are retained in Sanskrit Buddhist texts, the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra'' seems to have been widely circulated throughout India. This text is
quoted in the ''Ratnagotravibhāga-mahāyānottara-tantra śāstra'' (''The Supreme Exposition of Mahāyāna: A Commentary on the Jewel Lineage'')[1] and the ''Śikṣāsamuccaya'' (''A Compendium on Instruction'')[2] with allusions made in the ''Laṅkāvatāra sūtra''[3] and the ''Mahāyāna sūtrālaṁkāra'' (''The Ornament of the Mahāyāna sūtras'').[4] The ''Ch'eng wei-shih lun'' (''Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi'') by Hsüan-tsang also quotes from the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra'' but does not identify the ''sūtra'' by name.[5]<br> According to the ''Sung kao seng chuan''[6] Bodhiruci used a Sanskrit text of the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra'' for reference in translating the text into Chinese. From the above evidence, it may be concluded that a Sanskrit original of the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra'' did exist and that this text was part of the Indian Buddhist tradition.<br>
The classical Chinese text is extant in two recensions:<br>
1) ''Sheng-man shih-tzu-hou i-ch'eng ta-fang-pien fang-kuang ching'' (1 ch.) (T.v.12, no. 353, pp. 217-223), translated by Guṇabhadra (394-468) in 435.<br>
2) ''Sheng-man-fu-jen hui'' which is the forty-eighth assembly in the Ratnakūṭa anthology (''Ta-pao chi ching'') (T.v.11, no. 310, pp. 672-678), translated by Bodhiruci[7] (572-727) of T'ang between 706 and 713.<br> Because Guṇabhadra's translation is almost three hundred years older than Bodhiruci's, it has been chosen as the basic text in order to trace the development of Tathāgatagarbha thought in its original form. Bodhiruci's translation is used when Guṇabhadra's translation is ambiguous and when differences in interpretation are indicated.<br> The Tibetan recension, ''Hphags-pa lha-mo dpal-phreṅ gi seṅ-geḥi sgra shes-bya-ba theg-pa chen-poḥi mdo'' (Tōhoku no. 92, Bkaḥ-ḥgyur), which is part of the Ratnakūṭa anthology, will not be used. When significant differences between the Chinese and Tibetan recensions occur, the Tibetan text will be noted also.[8]<br> The commentaries which are extant are few and only in Chinese and Japanese. There are no Tibetan commentaries now extant, which discuss only the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra''.[9] According to the ''Kao seng chuan'',[10] immediately after the translation of the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra'' many commentaries were composed by monks who had studied and memorized the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra''. These texts, now lost, were dated between the fifth and sixth centuries A.D. According to Chi-tsang's ''Sheng-man ching pao-k'u'', monks studied and composed commentaries on the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra'' from the North-South dynastic periods through the Sui (i.e. from approximately 440-618 A.D.).<br> The major commentaries[11] extant in Chinese are:<br>1) ''Hsieh-chu sheng-man ching'' (T.v.85, no. 2763) - Although the commentator is unknown, this text was probably the composition of a noble woman of Northern Wei, attested to by the calligraphy and literary style of the Tun-huang manuscript. Completed before 500 A.D., it is the oldest extant commentary on the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra''.[12] Only Chapter 5, "Ekayāna" is discussed.<br>2) ''Sheng-man ching i-chi'' (2 ch.) (''Dainihon zokuzōkyō'', v.1, no. 30-1) by Hui-yüan, (523-692) of Sui - Only the first half of the text is extant, corresponding to the first four chapters of the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra''.<br>3) ''Sheng-man ching pao-k'u'', (3 ch.) (T.v.37, no. 1744) by Chi-tsang (549-623) of Sui.<br>4) ''Sheng-man ching shu-chi'', (2 ch.) (''Dainihon zokuzōkyō'' v.1, no. 30-4) by K'uei-chi (632-682) of T'ang.<br>5) ''Sheng-man ching su-i ssu-ch'ao'', (6 ch.) (''Dainihon bukkyō zensho'', v.4) by Ming-k'ung[13] of T'ang in 772.<br> The major commentaries extant in Japanese are:<br>1) ''Shōmagyō gisho'' (1 ch.) (T.v.56, no. 2184) attributed to Prince Shōtoku (573-621) but probably the composition of a North Chinese Buddhist scholar.[14]<br>2) ''Shōmangyō shosho genki'', (18 ch.) (''Dainihon bukkyō zensho'', v.4) by Gyōnen (1240-1321). First five chüan are missing. The extant text begins with the chapter "The Ten Ordination Vows".<br>3) ''Shōman-shishikugyō kenshūshō'' (3 ch.) (''Nihon daizōkyō'', v. 5; ''Dainihon bukkyō zensho'', v.4) by Fūjaku (1707-1781)<br> The ''Sheng-man ching pao k'u'' and the ''Shōmangyō gisho'' are the two primary commentaries upon which the present study's interpretation of the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra'' is based. These two commentaries have been selected because the former, written by a San-lun master, interprets Tathāgatagarbha from a Mādhyamikan perspective whereas the latter is representative of the North Chinese scholars' interpretation and frequently overshadows the sūtra itself in popularity, particularly in Japan. The ''Sheng-man ching i-chi'' and the ''Hsieh-chu sheng-man ching'' are used as references in analyzing Chapters 4 and 5, "The Acceptance of the true Dharma" and the "One Vehicle" respectively of the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra''.<br> In Chapter One, a historical analysis will be attempted, suggesting the place and time of composition on the basis of external and internal evidence now available. In Chapter Two, the evolution of the Tathāgatagarbha will be outlined, based upon the first two Tathāgatagarbhan texts, the ''Tathāgatagarbha sūtra'' and the ''Pu tseng pu chien ching'', which predate the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra''.[15]<br> In Chapter Three the characteristic format of the
''Śrīmālādevī sūtra'' is summarized in relation to the ''Tathāgatagarbha sūtra'' and the ''Pu tseng pu chien''. In Chapter Four the Tathāgatagarbha as presented in the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra'' is analyzed with relation to the text as a whole, and in Chapter Five the annotated translation of the ''Śrīmālādevī-siṁhanāda sūtra'' is presented with notations of key differences between the two Chinese recensions and with references made to the two commentaries, ''Sheng-man ching pao-k'u'' and ''Shōmangyō gisho'', and to the Sanskrit fragments noted above.<br> Appendix I is an attempt to lay the groundwork for a methodology of Buddhist studies which would provide a foundation for the skills needed for a critical analysis and interpretation of Buddhist phenomena. Appendix II is an annotated bibliography for studying the ''Śrīmālādevī-siṁhanāda sūtra''. Appendix I is admittedly limited and will provide only the most general outline of the requisite methodological procedure in analyzing a Buddhist text. (Paul, introduction, 1–6)
<h5>Notes</h5>
#There are two English translations of the ''Ratnagotravibhāga-mahāyānottara-tantra śāstra'': E. E. Obemiller, ''The Sublime Science of the Great Vehicle to Salvation Being a Manual of Buddhist Monism'' (Rome: ''Acta Orientalia'', 1932), (Shanghai reprint: 1940) and Jikido Takasaki, ''A Study on the Ratnagotravibhāga (Uttaratantra): Being a Treatise on the Tathāgatagarbha Theory of Mahāyāna Buddhism'' (Rome: Series Orientale Rome XXIII, 1966). The Sanskrit text of the ''Ratnagotra-vibhāga-mahāyānottara-tantra śāstra'', ed., by E. R. Johnston (Patna: Bihar Society, 1950) cites the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra'' on pp. 3, 12, 15, 19, 20, 22, 30, 33, 34, 36, 37, 45, 50, 55, 56, 59, 72, 73, 74, 76, and 79. A portion of these Sanskrit fragments have been noted below, in the translation, wherever differences or ambiguities in the Chinese recensions occur.
#Cf. ''Çikshāsamuccaya (A Compendium on Buddhist Teaching'', ed. by Cecil Bendall (St. Petersburg: Imperial Academy of Sciences, (1897-1902), vol. I of ''Bibliotheca Buddhica'', reprinted by ''Indo-Iranian Journal'' (The Hague: Mouton & Co., 1957), pp. 42 and 43.
#Cf. ''Laṅkāvatāra sūtra'', ed. by Bunyiu Nanjio, (Second edition, Kyoto: Otani University Press, 1956), p. 222 line 19 and p. 223 line 4.
#Cf. ''Mahāyāna sūtrālaṁkāra'', ed. by Sylvain Lévi (Paris: 1907), (Shanghai reprint : 1940), Tome 1 (XI, 59), p. 70. The cited passage, attributed to the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra'', could not be found in either Chinese recension. Lévi also was unable to find the passage but does allude to the citation as being in the ''Çikshāsamuccaya'', ed. by Cecil Bendall, op. cit., but these two citations are not of the same passage.
#The following citations are quoted in the ''Ch'eng wei-shih lun'', translated by Hsüan-tsang (T.v.31, no. 1585, p. 1-60): (The remainder of this note is handwritten in Chinese and is unavailable.)
#(The first part of this note is handwritten in Chinese and is unavailable.) In the second year of T'ang emperor Chung-tsung in the reign of Shen-lung (706) he (Bodhiruci) returned to the capital (Loyang) to Chao ch'ung-fu temple to translate the ''Mahāratnakūṭa'' anthology. This anthology bad forty-nine old and new assemblies, totaling 120 ch., which were finished in the fourth month, eighth day of the second year of Hsun-t'ien (713). In the translation hall, the monks Ssu-chung and the Indian director Iśara (?) translated the Sanskrit: while the Indian monks Prajñāgupta (?) and Dharma were consulted concerning the Sanskrit meaning." (T.v.50, no. 2061, p. 720b)<br>The ''Sung kao seng chuan'', 30 ch., was compiled by Chih-lun and Tsang-ning of the Sung dynasty during the period from the beginning of the T'ang dynasty until 967 according to Ui Hakuju, ''Bukkyō jiten'' (''A Buddhist Dictionary''), (Tokyo: Daitō shuppansha, 1971), p. 654 and until 988 according to Nakamura Hajime, ''Shin-bukkyō jiten'' (''The New Buddhist Dictionary''), (Tokyo: Seishin shobō, 1972), p. 329.
#According to the ''Sung kao seng chuan'', op. cit., (p. 720c) Bodhiruci died in the fifteenth year of K'ai-yuan (727) of T'ang at the age of 156.
#The differences noted between the Chinese and Tibetan recensions are based upon the ''Shōmangyō hōgatsu dōji shomongyō'' (Kyoto: Kōkyō shoin, 1940) by Tsukinowa Kenryū.
#Tibetan commentaries on the ''Ratnagotravibhāga'' do interpret the passages which cite the ''Śrīmālādevī sūtra''. These are not discussed within the present study.
#''Kokuyaku-issaikyō hōshaku-bu shichi'', Ono Masao (gen. ed.) (Tokyo: Daitō shuppansha, 1958), p. 84 lists the monks who attempted to write commentaries now lost. The ''Kao seng chuan'', compiled by Hui-chao of the Liang dynasty, is the record of approximately 253 eminent monks from 67 A.D. through 519 A.D. Cf. Ui, ''Shin-bukkyō jiten'', op. cit., p. 303.
#For a complete listing of all commentaries in both Chinese and Japanese, extant and no longer extant, see below - Appendix II, Annotated Bibliography.
#Fujieda Akira, "Hokucho ni okeru ''Shōmangyō no tenshō''" in ''Tōhō gakuhō'', v.XL, 1973, p. 334. (Journal of the Institute of Humanities) (Jimbun Kagaku kenkyūsho) (Kyoto University).
#According to the ''Bussho kaisetsu daijiten'', Ono Masao {gen.ed.) (Tokyo: Daitō shuppansha, 1966), vol. V, p. 350, this text was composed by both Prince Shōtoku and Ming-k'ung.
#Prince Shōtoku most probably did not compose the ''Shōmangyō gisho'' since many of the texts which the ''Gisho'' cites were not known to Prince Shōtoku but were introduced to Japan at a much later date. For the transmission of the Chinese commentaries on the ''Śrīmālādevī-siṁhanāda sūtra'', see "Hokucho ni okeru ''Shōmangyō''", op. cit. For the "original" Gisho, composed by a Chinese scholar of the North-South dynastic period, residing in North China, see "Shōman gisho hongi" in ''Shōtoku taishi kenkyū'', v. 5 (Osaka: Shitennoji Joshi Daigaku, 1973) by Koizumi Enjun in which the original Chinese commentary is edited and later almost entirely copied in the ''Shōmangyō gisho''.<br> The research on these commentaries at the time of this writing has been undertaken by members of the Jimbun Kagaku kenkyusho who are affiliated with Kyoto University. From analyzing the Tun-huang manuscripts, two very similar hypotheses have been developed: a) The Gisho itself was written by a Chinese scholar, or b) The original for the ''Shōmangyō gisho'', viz. ''Shōman gisho hongi'' (or, ''Sheng-man i-su ben-i''), was composed by a Northern Chinese scholar and later almost entirely interpolated into the ''Shōmangyō gisho'' by Prince Shōtoku or one of his followers.
#The analysis of Tathāgatagarbha was undertaken in consultation with Professors Yuichi Kajiyama, Chairman of Buddhist Studies, Kyoto University, and Gadjin Nagao, Professor Emeritus in Buddhist Studies, Kyoto University.
'''Abstract'''
This study is an examination of Master Yinshun's hermeneutics. It focuses especially on his interpretation of the Buddhist concept known as the ''tathagatagarbha'', which refers to the idea that all sentient beings intrinsically possess the "womb of the Buddha." In some explanations of this teaching, the ''tathāgatagarbha'' is symbolic of the practitioner's potential for attaining enlightenment. In others, it functions as a synonym for the Ultimate and becomes the eternalistic substrate for all of existence. It is this latter view to which Yinshun takes exception, seeing it as antithetical to the doctrine of emptiness which espouses the notion that all things, including ideas, material objects, and living beings, lack a permanent and independent nature and thus cannot possess an unchanging, eternalistic form.<br> I focus particularly on Yinshun's text ''A Study of the Tathāgatagarbha'', for it serves as a concise statement of his interpretation of the ''tathāgatagarbha'' and its relationship to emptiness. In this text, Yinshun continually asserts the doctrine of emptiness as the definitive expression of Buddhist truth and relegates the ''tathāgatagarbha'' to the category of expedient means. He does this by examining the development of the ''tathāgatagarbha'' emphasizing particularly its evolution within pre-Mahāyāna and Mahāyāna textual sources said to have had their genesis in India such as the ''Āgamas'', the ''Perfection of Wisdom Sūtras'' and the ''Ratnagotravibhāga''. For Yinshun, to regard the ''tathāgatagarbha'' as the ultimate truth rather than as an expedient means can only result in misguided practice and confusion about how to attain enlightenment.<br> I conclude by asking a number of general questions about Yinshun's thought and its relationship to the early to mid-twentieth century intellectual milieu in China. I also inquire about how Yinshun's ideas have contributed to the development of contemporary Chinese Buddhist movements flourishing in Taiwan today. (Source: [https://www.worldcat.org/title/study-of-master-yinshuns-hermeneutics-an-interpretation-of-the-tathagatagarbha-doctrine/oclc/1118674801&referer=brief_results Worldcat Library Materials Online])
'''Abstract'''
Through a close examination on three Sanskrit compounds — i.e., tathāgatanairātmyagarbha, tathāgatagarbhālayavijñāna and pariniṣpannasvabhāvas tathāgatagarbhahṛdayam — in the ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'', this thesis will demonstrate how the tathāgatagarbha thought in the ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'' is significantly enriched by Yogācāric influence.<br> First, in regard to tathāgata-nairātmya-garbha, a doctrinal review of the term "nairātmya" is necessary, because its definition differs according to different traditions. In primitive Buddhism, the term "nairātmya" is a synonym of the term "anātman" (non-existence of a substantial self), which indicates that in the realm of suffering and the impermanence of life phenomena that arise according to the principle of co-dependent
origination/ pratītyasamutpāda, no eternal and dependent ātman can be found. According to
the Madhyamaka School, the term "nairātmya" is a synonym of the term "niḥsvabhāva" (no
intrinsic-nature) which implies that all beings, whether conditioned or unconditioned, are all devoid of an ever-abiding intrinsic nature. For the Yogācāra School, the reality of nairātmya is said to be grasped under the principle of mind-only. That is to say, the imagined self /kalpitātman that is the presentation of mind is unreal, while the indescribable self/ anabhilāpyātman that is the genuine mind itself is real. Finally, it can be said that the tathāgata-nairātmya-garbha in ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'' accords well with the Yogācāra teaching. In other words, it is the Yogācāric sense of nairātmya that sheds an influence upon the tathāgatagarbha doctrine.<br> Secondly, in regard to tathāgatagarbhālayavijñāna, a doctrinal development is promoted owing to the identification of tathāgatagarbha with ālayavijñāna, which according to the Yogācāra School is also named "sarvabīljavijñāna" (cognition as the seed of everything). This latter synonym references its function of bringing forth all beings just as a giant tree originates from a seed. As a result of its identification with the ālayavijñāna, the tathāgatagarbha is said to be endowed with the function of bringing forth all forms of existence and thus becomes the "producing cause" of all. This interpretation is not seen in earlier scriptures wherein the tathāgatagarbha is described simply as a static substance supporting all beings.<br> Thirdly, in regard to pariniṣpannasvabhāvastathāgata-garbhahṛdayam, the implication of the tathāgatagarbha was expanded substantially by declaring that pariniṣpannasvabhāva is the very essence of tathāgatagarbha. The term "pariniṣpannasvabhāva" according to some important Yogācāra texts is defined as tathatā (ultimate realm of suchness). The combining of pariniṣpannasvabhāva with tathāgatagarbha that had formerly focused on the subjective potential of realizing wisdom, shifts the doctrinal emphasis toward the objective realm of realized perfection.<br> This thesis reveals that, having assimilated the Yogācāric doctrine of dharmanairātmya, ālayavijñāna and pariniṣpannasvabhāva, the tathāgatagarbha thinking in ''Laṅkāvatārasūtra'' presents the comprehensive and distinctive features in comparison to the scriptures that preceded it.
