DOCSLIB.ORG

Vipashyana: the Indian Root Sources (Secondary Sourcebook)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Vipashyana: the Indian Root Sources (Secondary Sourcebook) Vipashyana The Indian Root Sources Secondary Readings Sourcebook Table of Contents Samdhinirmocana Sutra 1. Chapter Eight of Asanga's Explanation of the Superior Sutra Explaining the Thought (Arya‐samdhinirmocana‐sutra‐bhashya) from Two Commentaries on The Samdhinirmocana‐Sutra by Asanga and Jnanagarbha by John Powers, pp. 1‐3 2. Objects of Observation, from Study and Practice of Meditation: Tibetan Interpretations of the Concentrations and Formless Absorptions, Leah Zahler, Snow Lion Publications, pp. 81‐155 3. Analyzing Meditation, from The Third Turning of the Wheel: Wisdom of the Samdhinirmocana Sutra, Reb Anderson, pp. 131‐138 Kamalashila’s Bhavanakramas 4. Stages of Meditation, Root Text by Kamalashila, Commentary by The Dalai Lama, Translated by Ven Geshe Lobsang Jordhen, Losang Choephel Ganchenpa, and Jeremy Russell: a. The Practice of Calm Abiding, pp. 108‐121 b. Actualizing Special Insight, pp. 122‐139 c. Unifying Method and Wisdom, pp. 140‐158 5. Two Concepts of Meditation and Three Kinds of Wisdom in Kamalasila's Bhavanakramas: A Problem of Translation, Martin T. Adam, Buddhist Studies Review 23(1) 2006, 71‐92 6. Some Notes on Kamalaśīla’s Understanding of Insight Considered as the Discernment of Reality (bhūta‐pratyaveksha), by Martin T. Adam, Buddhist Studies Review 25: 2 (2008) pgs. 194‐209 7. The Conjunction of Quieting and Insight, from Buddha‐nature, Mind, and the Problem of Gradualism, David Seyfort Ruegg, pp. 182‐192 8. Sources of Tibetan Buddhist Meditation, Masao Ichishima, Buddhist‐Christian Studies, Vol. 2 (1982), pp. 119‐128 9. The Debate at Bsam Yas: A Study in Religious Contrast and Correspondence, Joseph F. Roccasalvo, Philosophy East and West, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Oct., 1980), pp. 505‐520 10. Insight, from Essential Practice: Lectures on Kamalashila’s Stages of Meditation in the Middle Way School, Thrangu Rinpoche, pp. 55‐64 Translation of Asanga's Explanation of the Superior Sutra Explaining the Thought (Arya‐samdhinirmocana‐sutra‐bhashya) FROM TWO COMMENTARIES ON THE SAMDHINIRMOCANA‐SUTRA BY ASANGA AND JNANAGARBHA John Powers Studies in Asian Thought and Religion Volume 13 The Edwin Mellen Press Lewiston CHAPTER EIGHT In the eighth [chapter, Buddha] teaches the path of yoga by way of six aspects. He indicates these by way of delineating designations due to [teaching]: (1) knowing; (2) not knowing; (3) nature; (4) causes of practice; (5) attainment and methods of attainment; and (6) not degenerating. With respect to those, the grouping of calming and insight is nature. Causes of practice are: (1) perceiving presentations of designations of doctrines; (2) not giving up aspirations; and (3) the four phenomena that are objects of attainment. Attainment [is described in the passage,] "Maitreya, designations of doctrines that I have stated...." Methods of attainment [are described in the passage] "Bhagavan, at what point do Bodhisattvas ...." You should know that the rest are designations that are delineated. by way of [the topic of] not degenerating. With respect to that, you should know that designations that are delineated by way of [the topic of] not degenerating are of many kinds. With respect to not degenerating in terms of meditative stabilizations (ting nge 'dzin, samadhi) that are based on non‐conceptual exalted wisdom, [Maitreya says,] "Bhagavan, [16] are the path of calming and the path of insight different or the same ...." With respect to not degenerating with respect to realizing non‐conceptual exalted wisdom, [Maitreya says,] "Bhagavan, is that image that is the object of activity of meditative stabilization which is a viewing consciousness ...."1 With respect to not degenerating due to not thinking about time in meditating on the three signs, [Maitreya says,] "Bhagavan, at what point... solely cultivate insight. ...'' With respect to eliminating satisfaction with mere inferior [attainments, Maitreya says,] "Bhagavan, how many kinds of insight are there ....'' This is due to not being satisfied with [insight] arisen from signs and so forth. With respect to eliminating degenerated faculties, [Maitreya says,] "Bhagavan, when you say, 'calming and insight that dwell on doctrines ...."' With respect to not degenerating in terms of increasing virtue, [Maitreya says,] "Bhagavan, through calming and insight observing doctrines that are unmixed ...." This is because the extent to which mind subsumes objects of observation is the extent of increase of the root virtues. With respect to not degenerating in the sense of having antidotes to conceptuality and mental fluctuation, [Maitreya says,] "Bhagavan, at what point do calming and insight become meditative stabilizations that are conceptual and analytical ...." With respect to not degenerating and knowing causes with regard to meditation, [Maitreya says,] "Bhagavan, what is the cause of calming ... .'' With respect to eliminating boastful pride, [Maitreya says,] "Bhagavan, [when] Bodhisattvas cultivating calming and insight know doctrine and ...." This is by way of indicating the characteristics of thorough individual knowledge of doctrines and meanings [that arises] due to absence of boastful pride. This is due to [knowing]: (1) the set of all meanings; (2) the set of all meanings [known] by way of instructions; (3) the set of mental analyses; (4) extensive bases and supports; [17] and (5) all profound meanings. The set of all phenomena that are objects of knowledge is said to [include] apprehended objects and apprehending subjects: the varieties of existents and the ways that they exist.9 Objects that are apprehended are divided into objects that are states and objects that are resources. Initial mistakenness with respect to these apprehending subjects and so forth is thorough affliction. Initial non‐mistakenness is purification. Indicating village boundaries ‐or one hundred of those, etc. ‐is the cause of expressly denoting innumerable worldly realms. The set of all meanings [known] by way of instructions [refers to] doctrinal teachings of Buddhas that are based on the two truths [ie., conventional truths and ultimate truths]. Afflictive faults are expressed in those. Qualities of purification are expressed. These qualities of affliction and purification are produced from conditions, but are not produced from God (dbang phyug, Isvara) and so forth. These are also included together; they are divided according to the characteristics of compounded phenomena Similarly, one knows suffering by way of impermanence, sickness and so forth. In the Hearer Vehicle, one knows suffering and so forth. In the Great Vehicle, one knows [reality] by way of suchness and so forth. These are indicated by way of the two, grouping and dividing. Also, when answering, [Buddha] answers by way of partial answers and so forth. With respect to the fourth [part], the set of all meanings, the basis is letters. The support is meanings. You should know that these two are the profound teaching and profound meaning. [These] are extensive due to [the extensiveness of] objects that are realms, because these are incalculable [in number. Not degenerating due to merely attaining calming is a result of diligently seeking knowledge and insight. With respect to not degenerating in terms of through knowledge with respect to origination of the subtle, [Maitreya says,] "Bhagavan, how and through what mental contemplation cultivating calming and insight do Bodhisattvas remove what signs ...." With respect to eliminating fear with respect to emptiness, [the sutra says,] "Bhagavan, in the Great Vehicle ...the full character of emptiness...." [18] With respect to cultivating calming and insight ‐beginning with nature, causes, effects, actions, application, objects of engagement ‐not wasting instructions given [by Buddha is described in the passage,] "Bhagavan, how many kinds of meditative stabilization of calming and insight are included. ..." With respect to eliminating non‐serious aspiration with respect to meditation: The meanings of the four sources of subtle signs are to be known through pursuing [cultivation of] the [four] mindful establishments. The remainder are to be known through pursuing [understanding of] the sixteen emptinesses. You should connect the emptiness of the indestructible with collections of two terms. Emptiness of character [should be connected with] two signs. You should know that the remaining [emptinesses] are to be connected with each of these. Study and Practice of Meditation Tibetan Interpretations of the Concentrations and Formless Absorptions Leah Zahler Snow Lion Publications Ithaca, New York 5 OBJECTS OF OBSERVATION: I Ge-luk presentations of objects of observation are extremely complex. For the most part, they explain the categories of objects of observation set forth in Asaṅga’s Grounds of Hearers and Kamalashīla’s Stages of Medi- tation, which, in turn, systematize, in somewhat different ways, discus- sions of the topic in chapter 8 of the Sūtra Unraveling the Thought.a All these presentations include several overlapping categories, termino- logical divisions (sgras brjod rigs kyi sgo nas dbye ba) that are conceptually useful for a complete understanding of the nature and function of ob- jects of observation but that sometimes seem to have little practical significance, especially for the beginning meditator. Moreover, al- though monastic textbooks discuss objects of observation in their sec- tions on calm abiding, all the objects discussed are not objects of obser- vation for the attainment of calm abiding. Mainly, they are presented as objects for calm
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Sacred Arts of Tibet Tour ••• (562)225-3072 ••• ~Page 1~
    Sacred Arts of Tibet Tour ••• (562)225-3072 ••• www.sacredartsoftibettour.org ~page 1~ Sacred Arts of Tibet Tour 2014 - 2015 FOR HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGES PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE www.sacredartsoftibettour.org Table of Contents Gaden Shartse Monastic College Brief History of Buddhism in Tibet and the Effect of the Chinese Cultural Revolution Shartse Today History of Phukhang Purposes of the Tours Stage Performances Empowerments Healing Rituals Special Rituals Sand Mandala Lecture Topics School Prograns Monks' Biographies Suggested Donations Monks Bios Sacred Arts of Tibet Tour ••• (562)225-3072 ••• www.sacredartsoftibettour.org ~page 2~ GADEN SHARTSE MONASTIC COLLEGE Gaden Shartse Monastic College is situated amid lush green hills and jungle in the remote countryside of southern India. It was founded in 1969 as an effort to re-establish one of the great monastic traditions of Tibet. A small group of elder monks and fifteen young boys, all of whom had managed to escape the destruction in Tibet, settled on land given to them by the Indian government in Mundgod, Karnataka. Today the college is at the forefront of the revival of Tibetan Monastic education, with more than 1600 resident students, teachers, scholars, and spiritual practitioners. More than 70% of the members are between the ages of 10 and 25 and 80% of these were born in Tibet. To this day, young monks arrive at the Monastery weekly from Tibet, seeking shelter and education. Due to the success of the academic program and the quality of the teachers at the monastery, Gaden Shartse has established a reputation as being the leader in the field of Buddhist and Tibetan studies.
    [Show full text]
  • H.H. Kyabje Trijang Choktrul Rinpoche
    H.H. Kyabje Trijang Choktrul Rinpoche This prayer was composed by His Holiness Kyabje Trijang Choktrul Rinpoche. He was born 15 October 1981, and is the current reincarnation of the late Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang. Kyabje Trijang Dorje Chang was a direct disciple to Kyabje Pabongka Rinpoche, and was also the junior tutor and spiritual guide of the 14th Dalai Lama. In addition to this, he was also the root guru of many Gelug lamas, one of which includes my root guru, Zong Rinpoche. His reincarnation, Trijang Choktrul Rinpoche, was discovered in a Tibetan family in Northern India. On 23 April 1985, when Trijang Choktrul Rinpoche was just 4 years old, he was officially recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He completed his studies under his root guru Kyabje Lati Rinpoche and other incredible teachers of our time. Trijang Choktrul Rinpoche is the founder and spiritual guide of Trijang Buddhist Institute in Vermont, United States. Long Life Prayer for His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche All Jinas’ three secrets in the glorious youth of an autumn moon, With shining garlands of white light immortality, Supreme Deity of long life, Arya Tare Ma, Please protect us now with hundreds of blessings of all wished virtue and goodness! Bodhicitta, oceanic, that if ten million Holders of The Teachings, Armor of patience difficult to fathom in its depth and breadth, Supreme Spiritual Guide with a treasury of jewel qualities, May you live long nurturing an ocean of trainees, Blazing with the sun of the Jinas’ Teachings, Benevolent Lord dispelling the darkness
    [Show full text]
  • The Buddhist Concept of Selflessness According to Je Tsongkhapa
    1 UNIVERSITY OF SÃO PAULO SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY, LITERATURE AND HUMAN SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY PhD PROGRAMME Adriana Toledo Piza The Buddhist Concept of Selflessness According to Je Tsongkhapa São Paulo 2018 2 Adriana Toledo Piza The Buddhist Concept of Selflessness According to Je Tsongkhapa This thesis is presented at the PhD program on Philosophy of the School of Philosophy, Literature and Human Sciences of the University of São Paulo for obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the supervision of Prof. PhD João Vergílio Gallerani Cuter São Paulo 2018 3 Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere appreciation, first of all, to my doctoral advisor, Prof. PhD João Vergílio Gallerani Cutter, for his earnest inspiriting and constructive critiques, as well as for his constant support in all possible manners to my endeavors throughout the whole doctorate program. I also wish to express my very deep gratitude to Ven. Gonsar Tulku Rinpoche, Director and principal Professor at the Center for Higher Tibetan Studies Rabten Choeling, in Switzerland, and to Prof. PhD Wilhelm Essler, from the Department of Philosophy of the Goethe University Frankfurt, in Germany, for having guided me through the vastness and depths of Buddhist philosophy, as well as for their valuable advices and assistance to my efforts for carrying out an academical research on this subject. I am particularly grateful to Marina Simen and Peter Caccivio for their precious financial support, which enabled me to attend lectures and courses both at the Goethe University Frankfurt, in Germany, and at the Center for Higher Tibetan Studies Rabten Choeling, in Switzerland, during the years 2016, 2017 and 2018.
    [Show full text]
  • Aspects of the Study of the (Earlier) Indian Mahāyāna
    JIABS Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies Volume 27 Number 1 2004 David SEYFORT RUEGG Aspects of the Investigation of the (earlier) Indian Mahayana....... 3 Giulio AGOSTINI Buddhist Sources on Feticide as Distinct from Homicide ............... 63 Alexander WYNNE The Oral Transmission of the Early Buddhist Literature ................ 97 Robert MAYER Pelliot tibétain 349: A Dunhuang Tibetan Text on rDo rje Phur pa 129 Sam VAN SCHAIK The Early Days of the Great Perfection........................................... 165 Charles MÜLLER The Yogacara Two Hindrances and their Reinterpretations in East Asia.................................................................................................... 207 Book Review Kurt A. BEHRENDT, The Buddhist Architecture of Gandhara. Handbuch der Orientalistik, section II, India, volume seventeen, Brill, Leiden-Boston, 2004 by Gérard FUSSMAN............................................................................. 237 Notes on the Contributors............................................................................ 251 ASPECTS OF THE STUDY OF THE (EARLIER) INDIAN MAHAYANA* D. SEYFORT RUEGG Il est aussi facile dans l’Inde de constater des prolongements que malaisé d’assister à des ruptures. (L. Renou, Études védiques et pa∞inéennes, tome VI [Paris, 1960], p. 11) Proem As a continuation of his monumental Histoire du bouddhisme indien, published in 1958, Étienne Lamotte once envisaged writing a second volume to be devoted to the Indian Mahayana. This second part was, however,
    [Show full text]
  • 00 List of Speakers and Abstracts-Final-2
    A List of Speakers and Abstracts Cross-Cultural Transmission of Buddhist Texts: Theories and Practices of Translation July 23–25, 2012; University of Hamburg Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1: Akademischer Senatssaal Organized by: Khyentse Center for Tibetan Buddhist Textual Scholarship (KC-TBTS) Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asia-Africa Institute, University of Hamburg Financially Supported by: Khyentse Foundation and Fritz Thyssen Stiftung A List of Speakers Participants Lecture Topics (1) Dr. Orna ALMOGI Translation as Proofs and Polemics of Authentication: rNying-ma versus gSar-ma Translation Practices (University of Hamburg) (2) Dr. Stefan BAUMS Found in Translation: Resolution of Linguistic Ambiguity as Source of Doctrinal Innovation (University of Munich) (3) Prof. Dr. Daniel BOUCHER Gāndhārī and the Early Chinese Buddhist Translations: Reconsidering an Old Hypothesis in Light of New (Cornell University) Finds (4) Dr. Martin DELHEY Reading Chinese Through Sanskrit, Reading Sanskrit Through Chinese: An In-depth Analysis of Xuanzang's (University of Hamburg) Translation Technique (5) Prof. em. Dr. Luis O. GÓMEZ Technical and Dynamic Translation: Translation Theory and the Heterogeneity of Buddhist Literature (University of Michigan) (6) Prof. em. Dr. Michael HAHN Multiple Translations from Sanskrit into Tibetan (Philipps-Universität Marburg) (7) Prof. Dr. Harunaga ISAACSON Some Problems in the Translation of Technical Terms of Tantric Literature (University of Hamburg) (8) Prof. Dr. Leonard VAN DER KUIJP A Fourteenth Century Text-critical Conundrum in Tibet with a History: On a Quotation from the (Harvard University) Śrīmālādevīsiṃhanādasūtra in the Uttaratantra- vyākhyā (9) Prof. Dr. Rachel LUNG Xuanzang and Translation (Lingnan University, Hongkong) (10) Dr. Hong LUO The Tibetan and Mongolian Translation of the Kāraka section of Rāmacandra’s Prakriyākaumudī (China Tibetology Research Center, Beijing) (11) Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Here It Re- Monastery
    BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID ITHACA, NY 14851 Permit No. 746 M 16 Address correction requested SNOW LION ORDER FROM OUR NEW TOLL FREE NUMBER NEWSLETTER & CATALOG 1-800-950-0313 1992 WINTER SUPPLEMENT SNOW LION PUBLICATIONS PO BOX 6483, ITHACA, NY 14851, (607)-273-8506 ISSN 1059-3691 VOLUME 7, NUMBER 1 Chakrasamvara, Yamantaka and Kalachakra, the special deity of NAMGYAL MONASTERY Namgyal, as the main ritual and meditation practices of the mon- Institute of Buddhist Studies astery. He placed special empha- Ithaca, New York sis on maintaining the practice of Kalachakra, and in conjunction Namgyal Monastery is establish- Namgyal Dratsang (Victorious with Zha-lu masters taught dance. ing a branch monastery in the Monastery). Since its inception, To gain admission to the monas- United States, in Ithaca, New the monastery has assisted the tery, a monk had to memorize cer- York, under the direction of His Dalai Lamas in their public reli- tain texts and was tested by a Holiness the Dalai Lama and the gious activities and performed senior monk who would judge parent monastery in Dharamsala, ritual prayer ceremonies for the whether he was capable of being India. Six Namgyal monks, in- welfare of Tibet. From the begin- examined in the Dalai Lama's cluding a Geshe and others with ning, the monastery has been a presence. If formally admitted, the the ' 'Master of Sutra and Tantra'' center of learning, contemplation monk would have a private au- degree, have been selected to es- and meditation on the vast and dience with the Dalai Lama before tablish the Namgyal Monastery In- profound Buddhist treatises.
    [Show full text]
  • Revealing the Medicine Buddha's Art Windhorse
    PO Box 6483, Ithaca, NY 14851 607-273-8519 WINTER 1999 NEWSLETTER & CATALOG SUPPLEMENT REVEALING THE MEDICINE BUDDHA'S ART H.H. Dalai Lama Opens Groundbreaking Tibetan Medical Conference SETTLING INTO AMERICA by Victoria Huckenpaliler as Harvard Medical School, and Yale cause such a conference had already Interviews with the Four The First International Conference and Oxford Universities, exchanged been held in Tibet in the eighth cen- on Tibetan Medicine, held in the views with Tibetan doctors, including tury, and had included participants Tibetan Employees at Snow Lion nation's capital from 7-9 November the Dalai Lama's past and present from China, Mongolia, Iran and and inaugurated by H.H. the Dalai personal physicians, Dr. Yeshe Greece! Following his statement, Dr. by Julie Totlen main office with huge, silly grins on Lama, brought together notable phy- Donden and Dr. Tenzin Choedrak, in Wayne Jonas, Director of the Office Palden carefully wraps a pair of their faces, probably the result of sicians, scholars, and translators an atmosphere of mutual courtesy of Alternative Medicine at the Na- eternal knot earrings. Gently folding D.D.'s latest wisecrack. As they return from twenty-two nations seeking an and deference. tional Institute of Health, set the tone the plastic cushioning, he glances up to work and begin to regain their integrative approach to healing. The His Holiness opened the plenary by advocating greater receptivity in at a picture of the Dalai Lama at- calm, Kunga gently begins singing Western physicians, whose impec- session by gently reminding partici- the West to indigenous medicines, re- tached to the wall directly in front of an old Tibetan folk tune.
    [Show full text]
  • Buddhism and the Dynamics of Transculturality Religion and Society
    Buddhism and the Dynamics of Transculturality Religion and Society Edited by Gustavo Benavides, Frank J. Korom, Karen Ruffle and Kocku von Stuckrad Volume 64 Buddhism and the Dynamics of Transculturality New Approaches Edited by Birgit Kellner ISBN 978-3-11-041153-9 e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-041308-3 e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-041314-4 ISSN 1437-5370 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. For details go to: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. Library of Congress Control Number: 2019941312 Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. © 2019 Birgit Kellner, published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston This book is published in open access at www.degruyter.com. Typesetting: Integra Software Services Pvt. Ltd. Printing and binding: CPI books GmbH, Leck www.degruyter.com Contents Birgit Kellner 1 Introduction 1 Ingo Strauch 2 Buddhism in the West? Buddhist Indian Sailors on Socotra (Yemen) and the Role of Trade Contacts in the Spread of Buddhism 15 Anna Filigenzi 3 Non-Buddhist Customs of Buddhist People: Visual and Archaeological Evidence from North-West Pakistan 53 Toru Funayama 4 Translation, Transcription, and What Else? Some Basic Characteristics of Chinese Buddhist Translation as a Cultural Contact between India and China, with Special Reference to Sanskrit ārya and Chinese sheng 85 Lothar Ledderose 5 Stone Hymn – The Buddhist Colophon of 579 Engraved on Mount Tie, Shandong 101 Anna Andreeva 6 “To Overcome the Tyranny of Time”: Stars, Buddhas, and the Arts of Perfect Memory at Mt.
    [Show full text]
  • Cross-Cultural Transmission of Buddhist Texts Theories and Practices of Translation
    Cross-Cultural Transmission of Buddhist Texts Theories and Practices of Translation Edited by Dorji Wangchuk Hamburg nd I INDIAN ANDT TIBETANib STUDIES 5 Hamburg • 2016 Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg Cross-Cultural Transmission of Buddhist Texts Hamburg nd I INDIAN ANDT TibIBETAN STUDIES Edited by Harunaga Isaacson and Dorji Wangchuk __________________________________________________ Volume 5 Hamburg • 2016 Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg Cross-Cultural Transmission of Buddhist Texts Theories and Practices of Translation Edited by Dorji Wangchuk Hamburg nd I INDIAN ANDT TIBETANib STUDIES 5 Hamburg • 2016 Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg Published by the Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Asien-Afrika- Institut, Universität Hamburg, Alsterterrasse 1, D-20354 Hamburg, Germany Email: [email protected] © Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg, 2016 ISBN: 978-3-945151-04-4 Wangchuk, Dorji: Cross-Cultural Transmission of Buddhist Texts First published 2016 All rights reserved. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, no part of the book may be reproduced or translated in any form, by print, photoprint, microform or any other means without written permission. Enquiry should be made to the publishers. Printing and distribution: Aditya Prakashan, 2/18 Ansari Road, New Delhi, 110 002, India. Email: [email protected] Website: www.adityaprakashan.com Digitally
    [Show full text]
  • SPREAD of BUDDHISM INTO TIBET Compilation from Various Sources
    THE SPREAD OF BUDDHISM INTO TIBET Compilation from Various Sources Ven. Kelsang Wangmo ABHISAMAYALAMKARA - YEAR TWO Class One - 01 APRIL 2008 INSTITUTE FOR BUDDHIST DIALECTICAL STUDIES McLeod Ganj, Dharamsala, INDIA 1 SPREAD OF BUDDHISM INTO TIBET {/ë+-} The land of Tibet is called Phö [bod] in the Tibetan language; a name that some texts say derives from the pre-Buddhist religion of Bön. The name Tibet probably derived from the Mongolian word Thubet. As recounted in traditional Tibetan sources, in the distant past, the land of Tibet arose above the waters. This aspect of the origin story of Tibet corresponds to current scientific information on the area’s geographical history. In the distant past, much of what is now the Tibetan plateau was in fact under water. Approximately 40 million years ago the Indian land mass collided with Asia and began to slide underneath the Asian land mass, eventually lifting up land that had been under sea. One result was the formation of the Himalaya, the world’s highest mountain ranges, along with the huge high-altitude plateau that came to be known as Tibet. Tradition has it that Tibet is the land of Avalokiteshvara, the Buddha of compassion, and the Tibetan people are his descendents. They trace their ancestry to the copulation of an ape, an emanation of Avalokiteshvara, and an ogress, an emanation of Tara, the Buddha of enlightened activity. Their progeny gave birth to the Tibetan people in the Yarlung valley, which is located about 100 kilometers southeast from Lhasa. Tibet’s oldest spiritual tradition is Bön, which is a system of shamanistic and animistic practices.
    [Show full text]
  • 1. Remarkable Meetings with Lama Yeshe: Encounters with a Tibetan Mystic, by Glenn H
    The Stories & Words of Great Buddhist Masters Volume 1 A Mandala Ebook ©2016 Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system or technologies now known or developed, without permission in writing from the publisher. Cover image: Based on a thangka of the life of Je Tsongkhapa; photo by Piero Sirianni. Mandala/FPMT, Inc., 1632 SE 11th Avenue, Portland, OR 97214 USA; fpmt.org TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1. Remarkable Meetings with Lama Yeshe: Encounters with a Tibetan Mystic, by Glenn H. Mullin, Mandala September–October 1995 2. Autobiography of a Yogi as a Child, by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, Mandala November–December 1995 3. The Mahasiddha Je Tsongkhapa, by Lama Thubten Yeshe, Mandala November–December 1995 4. An Interview with Geshe Lhundup Sopa, Mandala November–December 1996 5. Transforming Suffering into Pure Joy: A Talk by Ribur Rinpoche, Mandala March–April 1997 6. A Kalachakra Master: An Interview with Kirti Tsenshab Rinpoche, Mandala September–December 1998 7. Obituary for Geshe Yeshe Tobden, by Massimo Corona, Mandala November–December 1999 8. The Life of a Hidden Meditator: Choden Rinpoche, Mandala July–August 2000 About the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) Introduction Over the past two decades of our existence, Mandala magazine has been honored to share the stories of contemporary Tibetan Buddhist masters. These lamas occupy a special place in the history of Tibetan Buddhism as they are part of the generation of monks who lived through the Chinese takeover of Tibet.
    [Show full text]
  • The Preliminary Practices of Tibetan Buddhism
    The Preliminary Practices of Tibetan Buddhism: A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH TO VISUALIZATION Dr. Miles Neale THE NALANDA INSTITUTE FOR CONTEMPLATIVE SCIENCE Prologue We begin our journey with an excerpt from the Jewel Tree of Tibet by Professor Robert Thurman (2006), recalling his early encounter with the world of Tibetan Buddhism, specifically through a sacred text known as the Mentor Devotion (lama chopa). His own Mongolian mentor Geshe Wangyal, a living embodiment and exemplar of the transformation proclaimed within its ancient passages revealed the text to him. “…Yet there I also met my teacher and went to work with philosophers from all the world’s spiritual traditions. I beheld him in the Jersey Pine Barrens, in a Russian Mongolian the shinning tree of jewels, decked with living jewel beings. refugee community. Through him I met the path to en- I recognized the jewel tree as the world tree Yggdrasil, the lightenment. I met a true mentor. I had come home to great ash tree extending over the entire earth, growing from myself and my soul – through this great teacher and the a well of wisdom, where Odin, the highest God, had cast one jewel tree text he revealed to me. eye as a sacrifice in order to receive the eye of wisdom from And it was not just the text and the teachings that affected the goddess of the tree. The jewel tree is the tree of life, the me so deeply. It was the special context in which Tibetans tree of wisdom, and it is also the giant fig tree under which meditate and use their teachings.
    [Show full text]