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History of Buddhism in India HISTORY OF BUDDHISM IN INDIA The Gradual Unfolding of the Buddha’s Profound Intention SOURCEBOOK RIME SHEDRA CHANTS ASPIRATION In order that all sentient beings may attain Buddhahood, From my heart I take refuge in the three jewels. This was composed by Mipham. Translated by the Nalanda Translation Committee MANJUSHRI SUPPLICATION Whatever the virtues of the many fields of knowledge All are steps on the path of omniscience. May these arise in the clear mirror of intellect. O Manjushri, please accomplish this. This was specially composed by Mangala (Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche). Translated by the Nalanda Translation Committee DEDICATION OF MERIT By this merit may all obtain omniscience May it defeat the enemy, wrong doing. From the stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness and death, From the ocean of samsara, may I free all beings By the confidence of the golden sun of the great east May the lotus garden of the Rigden’s wisdom bloom, May the dark ignorance of sentient beings be dispelled. May all beings enjoy profound, brilliant glory. Translated by the Nalanda Translation Committee For internal use only Exclusively for the use of the Rime Shedra NYC Advanced Buddhist Studies Program Shambhala Meditation Center of New York First Edition - 2018 The History of Buddhism in India The Gradual Unfolding of the Buddha’s Profound Intention An Advanced Buddhist Studies/Rime Shedra NYC Course Eleven of the Tuesdays from January 23rd to April 10th, 2018 From 7-9:15 pm (Omitting February 20th) Shambhala Meditation Center of New York Syllabus I. Class One: Myth, Legends and Facts—Tradition and Western Scholarship A. Buddhist History for Buddhist Practitioners, Rita Gross, six pages, SB pp. 1-6 B. Chapter One: The Emergence of Buddhism in India, The Beautiful Necklace That Illuminates the Mind: A Brief Exposition of an Impartial History of the Buddhadharma, Jamgon Kongtrul, Trs. Yehuda Levinson, pp. 1-2, SB pp. 7-8 C. Perfect Conduct-Ascertaining the Three Vows, Ngari Panchen, Pema Wangyi Gyalpo, Commentary by Dudjom Rinpoche, Trs. Gyurme Samdrub and Sangye Khandro, SB pp. 9-21 1. Chapter Two: An Explanation of the Pratimoksa-Vinaya, excerpt on pp. 14-17 2. Chapter Three: The Bodhisattva Vows, excerpt on pp. 63-65 3. Chapter Four: Secret Mantra, excerpt on pp. 100-104 II. Class Two: The Life of the Buddha—Scholar’s View A. Origins, Buddhism in India, Luis O. Gomez, Buddhism in Asian History, pp. 51- 59, SB pp. 22-27 B. The Life of the Buddha, A History of Indian Buddhism From Sakyamuni to Early Mahayana, Hirakawa Akira, pp. 20-37, SB pp. 75-83 III. Class Three: The Life of the Buddha—Traditional View A. The Coming of Buddha, Teacher of the Doctrine, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History, Dudjom Rinpoche, Trs. Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein, pp. 411-427, SB pp. 94-103 B. Chapter One: How the Teacher Bhagavat became Abhisambuddha, Introduction to the Buddhist Tantric Systems, mKhas Grub rJe, Trs. F.D. Lessing and A. Wayman, pp. 17-39, (odd pages only), SB pp. 131-137 IV. Class Four: The Early Period and the Councils—Traditional View A. The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History, Dudjom Rinpoche, Trs. Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein, pp. 428-442 1. The Collecting of Transmitted Precepts by Councils, pp. 428-431, SB pp. 104-105 2. The Patriarchs of the Teaching, pp. 432-439, SB pp. 106-109 3. The Preservation of the Teaching and the Spread of the Greater Vehicle, pp. 440-442, SB pp. 110-111 B. Chapter Two: The Method of Setting the Wheel of the Law of the Paramita- yana into Motion, Introduction to the Buddhist Tantric Systems, mKhas Grub rJe, Trs. F.D. Lessing and A. Wayman, pp. 41-71 (odd pages only) 1. The Promulgations, pp. 43-53, SB pp. 137-140 2. Assembling the Promulgations, pp. 53-71, SB pp. 140-145 V. Class Five: The Early Period and the Councils—Scholar’s View A. Buddhism in India, Luis O. Gomez, Buddhism in Asian History, pp. 59-71 1. The Cenobium, pp. 59-65, SB pp. 27-30 2. The Age of Foreign Invasions, pp. 65-71, SB pp. 30-33 B. Hinayana Buddhism, Andre Bareau, Buddhism in Asian History, pp. 195-213, SB pp. 51-60 C. Optional: The Development of the Buddhist Order, A History of Indian Buddhism From Sakyamuni to Early Mahayana, Hirakawa Akira, pp. 76-94, SB pp. 84-93 VI. Class Six: The Three Turnings, Hinayana and Mahayana—Traditional View A. Causal Vehicles of Dialectics, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History, Dudjom Rinpoche, Trs. Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein, pp. 153-237, SB pp. 111-130 1. The Three Promulgations of the Doctrinal Wheel, pp. 153-155 2. The Lesser Vehicle, pp. 156-159 3. The Greater Vehicle, pp. 160-177 4. The Superiority of Great Madhyamaka to Mind Only, pp. 178-186 5. The Provisional and Definitive Meaning of the Transmitted Precepts, pp. 187-190 VII. Class Seven: The Rise of the Mahayana—Scholar’s View A. Buddhism in India, Luis O. Gomez, Buddhism in Asian History, pp. 71-87 1. The Sects and the Appearance of Mahayana, pp. 71-76, SB pp. 33-36 2. The Development of Mahayana, pp. 76-83, SB pp. 36-39 3. The High Tradition and the Universities, pp. 83-87, SB pp. 39-41 B. Mahayana Buddhism, Nakamura Hajime, Buddhism in Asian History, pp. 215- 238, SB pp. 61-74 VIII. Class Eight: Madhyamika, Nagarjuna and Aryadeva A. Tsong Khapa’s Speech of Gold in the Essence of True Eloquence: Reason and Enlightenment in the Central Philosophy of Tibet, Robert A.F. Thurman: 1. Part IV: I bow my head to the feet of Nagarjuna and Asanga, pp. 21- 32, SB pp. 180-188 B. Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti’s Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Jamgon Mipham, Trs. Padmakara Translation Committee, pp. 11-20, SB pp. 197-202 1. The Development of the Madhyamaka School, pp. 11-12 2. Nagarjuna and Aryadeva, pp. 12-20 C. How those Foretold Individuals Acted to Preserve the Doctrine from Buton's History of Buddhism in India and Its Spread to Tibet, Trs. Lisa Stein and Ngawang Zangpo, pp. 227-234, SB pp. 162-166 1. Nagarjuna, pp. 227-232 2. Aryadeva, pp. 233-234 IX. Class Nine: The Other Mahayana Pandits A. Tsong Khapa’s Speech of Gold in the Essence of True Eloquence: Reason and Enlightenment in the Central Philosophy of Tibet, Robert A.F. Thurman: 1. Part V: Respectfully I blow to those Master Scholars, pp. 32-48, SB pp. 188-196 B. How those Foretold Individuals Acted to Preserve the Doctrine from Buton's History of Buddhism in India and Its Spread to Tibet, Trs. Lisa Stein and Ngawang Zangpo, pp. 234-261, SB pp. 166-179 1. Nagabodhi, pp. 234 2. Chandragomi, pp. 234-235 3. Chandrakirti, pp. 235-236 4. Asanga, pp. 236-241 5. Vasubandhu, pp. 241-245 6. Stiramati, pp. 245-246 7. Dignaga, pp. 246-249 8. Dharmakirti, pp. 249-252 9. Vimutasena, pp. 252 10. Haribhadra, pp. 252-255 11. Buddhajana, pp. 255-256 12. Gunaprabha, pp. 256-257 13. Shantideva, pp. 257-261 X. Class Ten: The Dharma Treatises of the Mahayana A. The Treatises, Buton's History of Buddhism in India and Its Spread to Tibet, Trs. Lisa Stein and Ngawang Zangpo, pp. 40-55, SB pp. 154-161 B. Commentaries on the Promulgations, Introduction to the Buddhist Tantric Systems, mKhas Grub rJe, Trs. F.D. Lessing and A. Wayman, pp. 71-99, SB pp. 145-152 XI. Class Eleven: Madhyamika Variations A. Introduction to the Middle Way: Chandrakirti’s Madhyamakavatara with Commentary by Jamgon Mipham, Trs. Padmakara Translation Committee, 1. A Difference of Method: Buddhapalita, Bhavaviveka, and Chandrakirti, pp. 20-32, SB pp. 202-208 B. The Adornment of the Middle Way: Shantarakshita’s Madhyamakalankara with Commentary by Jamgon Mipham, Trs. Padmakara Translation Committee, pp. 6-35 (omitting 19-26), SB pp. 214-226 1. Mipham and the Prasangika-Svatantrika Distinction, pp. 6-19 2. Chittamatra, pp. 26-32 3. The Madhyamakalankara and the Pramana Tradition, pp. 32-35 Outtake: Later Madhyamika, Vajrayana and Decline of Buddhism 1. Introduction to the Middle Way, Trs. Padmakara Translation Committee, pp. 32-42, SB pp. 208-213 a. Madhyamika in Tibet, pp. 32-34 b. Mipham Rinpoche and the Prasangika-Svatantrika Distinction, pp. 34-42 2. Buddhism in India, Luis O. Gomez, Buddhism in Asian History, pp. 87-99, SB pp. 41-47 a. Tantric Innovations, pp. 87-94 b. The Decline of Buddhism in India, pp. 94-95 c. Buddhist Remnants and Revivals in the Subcontinent, pp. 95-99 Buddhist History for Buddhist Practitioners Rita M. Gross, Tricylce Fall 2010 http://www.tricycle.com/feature/buddhist-history-buddhist-practitioners?page=0,0 I am convinced that an accurate, nonsectarian study of Buddhist history can be of great benefit to dharma practitioners. As a scholar and practitioner, I have for many years worked to bring the findings of historical scholarship into dharma centers in Zen, Vipassana, and Tibetan lineages. While many students deeply appreciate this opportunity, others find the approach unnerving. Modern historical studies challenge assumptions commonly held in Buddhist traditions, though those assumptions differ in the different forms of Buddhism. Let me illustrate my point with an example. For four years, I have been teaching a multipart course in Buddhist history at an intensive study program, or shedra, at Lotus Garden, the headquarters of Her Eminence Mindrolling Jetsün Khandro Rinpoche. Several of the other senior teachers, because of their concern that the perceived conflict between history and traditional lineage stories was too difficult for many students to resolve, urged me to desist entirely with the project.
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