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In Praise of Dharmadhātu

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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)

Citation	Brunnhölzl, Karl, trans. In Praise of Dharmadhātu: Nāgārjuna and the Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. Nitartha Institute Series. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2007.

Table of Contents About the Book Texts Translated Quotes

• Abbreviations7
• An Aspiration by H.H. the Seventeenth Karmapa, Orgyen Trinlé Dorjé 9
• Foreword by H.H. the Seventeenth Karmapa, Orgyen Trinlé Dorjé 11
• Foreword by The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche13
• Preface17
• Nāgārjuna and His Works21
  • Who Was Nāgārjuna? 21
  • What Did Nāgārjuna Write or Not Write? 22
  • Various Views on Nāgārjuna's Scriptural Legacy and Its Scope 30
  • Who or What Is Praised in Nāgārjuna's Praises?43
• A Brief "History" of Luminous Mind57
  • A Terminological Map for the Dharmadhātustava and Its Commentaries57
    • The Eight Consciousnesses57
    • The World Is Imagination59
    • Mind Has Three Natures60
    • A Fundamental Change of State63
    • The Expanse of the Basic Element of Being63
    • Self-Awareness and Personal Experience64
    • Having the Heart of a Tathāgata66
    • Luminous Mind67
  • Luminous Mind and Tathāgatagarbha68
    • The Eighth Karmapa on the Dharmadhātu as "Disposition" and Tathāgata Heart83
    • Is Buddha Nature an Eternal Soul or Sheer Emptiness?102
• The Dharmadhātustava113
  • An Overview of the Basic Themes of the Dharmadhātustava113
  • Translation: In Praise of Dharmadhātu117
  • The Significance of the Dharmadhātustava in the Indo-Tibetan Tradition130
• The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, and His Commentary on the
  Dharmadhātustava 157
  • A Short Biography 157
  • Some Preliminary Remarks on Rangjung Dorje's View159
  • On Rangjung Dorje's Commentary on the Dharmadhātustava 193
  • Other Tibetan Commentaries on the Dharmadhātustava198
  • Translation of Rangjung Dorje's Commentary206
• Appendix I: Outline of Rangjung Dorje's Commentary307
• Appendix II: Existing Translations of the Praises Attributed to Nāgārjuna in the
  Tengyur310
• Appendix III: Translations of the Remaining Praises313
• Glossary: English-Sanskrit-Tibetan325
• Glossary: Tibetan-Sanskrit-English329
• Bibliography333
• Endnotes344
• Index426

1. Nāgārjuna. Dharmadhātustava (chos kyi dbyings su bstod pa), (D 1118) bstod tshogs, ka 63b5-67b3, Otani: (P2010), bstod tshogs, ka 73a7-77b8 (vol.46, p.31), (Tōh. 1118), ka 63b5-67b3. (N) ka 70a1-74b4. (Kinsha) 10, ka 90b1 (p.47-1-1) In bstan 'gyur (sde dge), Vol. 1: 126-134. Delhi: delhi karmapae choedhey, gyalwae sungrab partun khang, 1982-1985. Columbia AIBS
2. rang byung rdo rje. dbu ma chos dbyings bstod pa'i rnam par bshad pa. In
   1. gsung 'bum rang byung rdo rje, Vol. 7: 1-125. Zi ling: mtshur phu mkhan po lo yag bkra shis, 2006.
   2. mdo sngags mtshams sbyor. Lan kru’u: kan su’u mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 2003: 219–321.
   3. mngon rtogs rgyan gyi sa bcad snang byed sgron me dang skabs brgyad kyi stong thun dang dbu ma chos dbyings bstod pa rnam bshad. Sarnath: Vajra Vidya Institute, 2004: 157–312.