"Buddha nature" (tathāgatagarbha) is the innate potential in all living beings to become a fully awakened buddha. This book discusses a wide range of topics connected with the notion of buddha nature as presented in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and includes an overview of the sūtra sources of the tathāgatagarbha teachings and the different ways of explaining the meaning of this term. It includes new translations of the Maitreya treatise Mahāyānottaratantra (Ratnagotravibhāga), the primary Indian text on the subject, its Indian commentaries, and two (hitherto untranslated) commentaries from the Tibetan Kagyü tradition. Most important, the translator’s introduction investigates in detail the meditative tradition of using the Mahāyānottaratantra as a basis for Mahāmudrā instructions and the Shentong approach. This is supplemented by translations of a number of short Tibetan meditation manuals from the Kadampa, Kagyü, and Jonang schools that use the Mahāyānottaratantra as a work to contemplate and realize one’s own buddha nature. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Brunnhölzl, Karl. When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and Its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sūtra and Tantra. Tsadra Foundation Series. Boston: Snow Lion Publications, 2014.
Different Ways of Explaining the Meaning of Tathāgatagarbha
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The ''Uttaratantra'' and Mahāmudrā
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The Emptiness Endowed with All Supreme Aspects
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The Meanings of the Titles Ratnagotravibhāga and Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra
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The Meditative Tradition of the Uttaratantra and Shentong
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The Sūtra Sources of the ''Tathāgatagarbha'' Teachings
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Abbreviationsix
Prefacexi
Acknowledgmentsxiii
Translator's Introduction1
The Sūtra Sources of the Tathāgatagarbha Teachings3
Tathāgatagarbha as the Emptiness That Is a Nonimplicative Negation55
Tathāgatagarbha as Mind’s Luminous Nature57
Tathāgatagarbha as the Ālaya-Consciousness63
Tathāgatagarbha as a Sentient Being63
Tathāgatagarbha as the Dharmakāya, Suchness, the Disposition, and Nonconceptuality64
Tibetan Assertions on Tathāgatagarbha65
The History and Transmission of "The Five Dharmas of Maitreya" from India to Tibet81
The Mahāyānottaratantra (Ratnagotravibhāga) and the Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā93
Texts and Authorships93
The Meanings of the Titles Ratnagotravibhāga and Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra95
The Uttaratantra and Its Relationship with Yogācāra105
The Meditative Tradition of the Uttaratantra and Shentong123
The Two Approaches of Explaining the Uttaratantra123
The Shentong Lineages and the Meditative Tradition of the Uttaratantra in the Jonang, Kagyü, and Nyingma Schools131
Indian Forerunners of Shentong, Early Tibetan Shentongpas, and Their Connection to the Uttaratantra140
The Uttaratantra and Mahāmudrā151
Sūtra Mahāmudrā, Tantra Mahāmudrā, and Essence Mahāmudrā151
The Sūtra Sources of Mahāmudrā165
Maitrīpa’s Mahāmudrā of "Mental Nonengagement"167
Connections between Maitrīpa’s Mahāmudrā and the Uttaratantra177
Other Indian Nontantric Treatises on Mahāmudrā184
Gampopa’s Mahāmudrā and the Uttaratantra190
The Third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje202
The Eighth Karmapa, Mikyö Dorje206
Tagpo Dashi Namgyal 212 Padma Karpo214
The Eighth Situpa, Chökyi Jungné216
Other Kagyü Masters on Mahāmudrā and the Uttaratantra227
Gö Lotsāwa’s Unique Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the Uttaratantra243
The Geden Kagyü Tradition of Mahāmudrā278
Overview of the Indian and Tibetan Texts Presented in This Book283
The Uttaratantra and Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā283
The Indian Texts on the Uttaratantra288
The Tibetan Commentaries301
Instruction Manuals314
Translations329
Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra331
Chapter 1: The Three Jewels and the Tathāgata Heart337
Chapter 2: Awakening415
Chapter 3: The Buddha Qualities429
Chapter 4: Buddha Activity437
Chapter 5: The Benefit455
Pith Instructions on "The Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Mahāyāna" by Sajjana461
A Commentary on the Meaning of the Words of the "Uttaratantra"473
A Commentary on "The Treatise on the Ultimate Continuum of the Mahāyāna," The Heart of the Luminous Sun by Dashi Öser695
Instructions on "The Ultimate Continuum of the Mahāyāna" by Mönlam Tsültrim777
The Repository of Wisdom by Mönlam Tsültrim789
The Heart of the Matter of Luminosity by Mönlam Tsültrim797
Pith Instructions on the Wisdom at the Point of Passing when about to Die by Mönlam Tsültrim801
The Lamp That Excellently Elucidates the System of the Proponents of Shentong Madhyamaka by the Eighth Karmapa803
Guiding Instructions on the View of Great Shentong Madhyamaka— Light Rays of the Stainless Vajra Moon by Jamgön Kongtrul831
Appendix 1: Selected Indian and Tibetan Comments on Uttaratantra I.27–2855
Appendix 2: Selected Indian and Tibetan Comments on Uttaratantra I.154–5901
Appendix 3: Indian and Tibetan Comments on Abhisamayālaṃkāra V.2943
Appendix 4: The Emptiness Endowed with All Supreme Aspect953
Appendix 5: The General Explanation of Tathāgatagarbha in Yeshé Dorje’s Commentary on the Uttaratantra963
Appendix 6: The Presentation of the Purpose of Teaching Tathāgatagarbha in Yeshé Dorje’s Commentary on the Uttaratantra969
Appendix 7: Comparison of the First Six Topics of the Fourth and Fifth Vajra Points in the Uttaratantra with the Same Six Topics in the Mahāyānasūtrā- laṃkāra and the Mahāyānasaṃgraha979
Appendix 8: A Letter from Stainless Expanse and Awareness— a Casual Summary of the "Uttaratantra983
Notes985
English–Sanskrit–Tibetan Glossary1227
Tibetan–Sanskrit–English Glossary1231
Bibliography1235
Index1259
When the Clouds Part is a translation and study of the Uttaratantra, also known as the Ratnagotravibhāga, and nine related texts from India and Tibet, some translated for the very first time in this publication. It is not the first translation of the text—Brunnhölzl cites two previous English translations by Obermiller (1931) and Takasaki (1958), who translated from Sanskrit and Tibetan, and Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese, respectively.
The book begins with a 325-page "Translator's Introduction," a study of the sutra's sources and exegetical traditions, which is a tour de force and a major reference for buddha-nature studies. It is for highly educated readers, assuming an extensive familiarity with the issues and terms of the discussion, such as the Madhyamaka/Yogācāra divide and the doctrine of tathāgatagarbha.
The Translator's Introduction is divided into eight sections: (1) the sūtra sources for tathāgatagarbha teachings; (2) historical survey of Indian and Tibetan definitions of tathāgatagarbha; (3) the history of the transmission of the "Five Books of Maitreya" to Tibet; (4) a survey of explanations of the meaning of the title of the Uttaratantra; (5) the relationship between the Uttaratantra and Yogācāra; (6) the Uttaratantra and zhentong; (7) the Uttaratantra and Mahāmudrā; (8) and an outline and summary of the ten works translated.
the buddha potential that is innate in all sentient beings.
~ in When the Clouds Part, page(s) 3
Mipham Rinpoche wrote four texts that discuss the tathāgata heart—his
commentary on the Uttaratantra,262 The Beacon of Certainty,263 The Lion’s
Roar of Shentong,264 and A Synopsis of the Sugata Heart.265 As Dorji Wangchuk
says, the “official position” of the Nyingma School on buddha nature
may be said to be spelled out in A Synopsis of the Sugata Heart. Briefly
speaking, Mipham generally describes the tathāgata heart as the unity of
appearance and emptiness, adopting a view of buddha nature that reflects
Longchenpa’s description of the ground of Dzogchen—the ground of the
indivisible ultimate reality that is primordially pure (ka dag) and spontaneously
present (lhun grub). Mipham also uses reasoning in the tradition
of valid cognition to establish the existence of the tathāgata heart, similar
to his use of reasoning to establish the purity and divine nature of appearances
in the vajrayāna (the latter use of reasoning is a unique feature of the
Nyingma tradition, which is said to go back to the works of Rongsom).
~ Brunnhölzl, K. in When the Clouds Part, page(s) 74
During analysis, the adventitious stains and buddha nature are necessarily differentiated since buddha nature is empty of what does not belong to it (that is, it is shentong—"empty of other"). But when buddha nature is directly realized in Mahāmudrā, there is no longer any difference between it and the adventitious stains or seeming reality.
~ Mathes on Thrangu Rinpoche's position. in When the Clouds Part, page(s) 131
