INTRO
Turn away the
fuel of anger
and hatred;
May the radiance of the transcendental wisdom
Illuminate the darkness of ignorance;
May the holders of the Dharma enact the deeds
Of protecting transmigratory sentient beings.
I prostrate to you who is residing in the blissful heaven of
Tushita.
Shugchang" <bialick@usit.net> Date: Sun Jul
1, 2001 7:11 pm
Subject: the title
The Uttara Tantra was originally written in Sanskrit. Translated into
Tibetan it is called 'tegpa chenpo
gyu lama tan cho'.
Tegpa (T.) means yana or vehicle;
chenpo
= great.
gyu = tantra or
continuity
lama = highest or
ultimate
gyu lama = (S.) uttara
tan cho = shastra
which
means a remedial teaching, as the Buddha's teachings offer beings
true relief and freedom from the sufferings of samsara; therefore, it
can be called - The Great Vehicle
Teaching on the Ultimate Continuity
t seems the higher the yana one considers, the less
there is to really
say about it. Check out Dudjom Lingpa's Buddhahood Without Meditation
to see what I mean. Considering the merits of group study, I figured we
might want to look at a work which invites commentary, something
accessible to a degree of reasonable analysis, so I was drawn toward
the Uttaratantra, one of the more globally interesting texts to be
found among the third yana.
Although each school of Tibetan Buddhism focuses on
a specific set of
Mahayana texts, there are a number, 13 to be precise, which are studied
by all schools. Among this list of Thirteen Great Texts are such well-
known titles as Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life,
Chandrakirti's Ocean of Nectar, Nagarjuna's Root Verses of the Middle
Way, two works on Abhidharma by the Yogacara brothers Asanga and
Vasubandhu, and the Uttaratantra Shastra by Maitreya. Although these
are all Mahayana treatises, I believe study of such seminal root
scriptures will help establish a solid basis for a deeper understanding
of the higher tantric teachings.
pemakunzang@hotmail.com Date: Sun Jul 8, 2001
11:03 pm
Subject: Re: the title
Ultimate Continuity > More info on the title:
"The Ratnagotravibhaga
Mahayanottaratantrasastra,[...], is one of the treatises on the
Mahayana doctrine written in Sanskrit. It was, however, quite recently
that the Sanskrit manuscripts were discovered [in Tibet, sometime
before 1950] and critically edited. Before then, it was known only
through the Tibetan and Chinese versions. The first introducer of this
text to the world of modern study was Dr. E. Obermiller who translated
the Tibetan version into English [1931] under the title of
'Uttaratantra' according to the Tibetan tradition. In China, however,
they used the name 'Ratnagotra-sastra' as its title, and this title was
justified by the discovery of a Sanskrit fragment in Saka script in
which we find the title 'Ratnagotravibhaga'."
-J. Takasaki, A Study on the
Ratnagotravibhaga (1966), p.5
"Shugchang" <bialick@usit.net> Date: Sun Jul
1, 2001 7:16
pm Subject: five points
According to the Khenpos, in the traditional presentation of a text,
there are five inquiries addressed;
1. How or
through whom did this teaching originate?
2. For what
purpose? Why?
3. What is
the essential
meaning from beginning to end?
4. What are the
benefits associated with it?
5. On which
level of
the Tripitaka is
it classified?
To begin our discussion, please feel free to address any of these
points.
"Shugchang" <bialick@usit.net> Date: Sun Jul 1, 2001 9:38
pm Subject: point one
1. How or through whom did
this teaching originate?
The text is considered the speech of the Buddha manifest through the
agency of Lord Maitreya who resides in Tushita. According to Khenchen
Thrangu Rinpoche, of the five teachings given to Asanga by Maitreya,
both the Dharmatavibhanga and the Uttara Tantra were considered
especially profound and shared with only a few pupils. These two texts
were hidden as terma so that they were not known in Tibet during the
days of the 'Great Three', King Trisong Deutsen, Santaraksita and Guru
Rinpoche (khen lob cho sum).
Eventually, the adept Maitripa, one of
Marpa's Indian teachers, discovered these texts as they radiated light
through the cracks from within an old stupa. At first he was not sure
he understood what he read but after receiving the rlung directly from
Maitreya, these teachings were disseminated widely throughout India and
eventually into the Land of Snows.
"Shugchang" <bialick@usit.net> Date: Sat Jul 14, 2001
2:34 pm Subject: re: point #1
The following is excerpted from a
religion thesis by Brian Hafer. The entire
article is well worth reading. He gets into some very
interesting territory around the early phases of Dzogchen in Tibet and
the political atmosphere of the Samye debates.
"The doctrine
of tathagatagarbha
(Buddha-essence) appears to have emerged independently of the
Madhyamika school of Mahayana, although its historical origins are not
clearly understood. It is reasoned that the Truth Body (arupakaya) of
the Buddha is transcendent and eternal, yet must also be omnipresent
and immanent in every atom of limitless existence. Therefore, when
viewed from the perspective of a Buddha, all beings are seen to be
immersed in the realm of the truth body (dharmakayadhatu). They
continue to suffer, then, only because they fail to perceive their
actual situation. But because all beings are present in the
dharmakayadhatu, all sentient beings have within them the inherently
pure Buddha nature, but it is present in an obscured, tainted state.
Thus, the cultivation of wisdom is, in fact, "the removal of the
obscurations of the Buddha essence and the revelation of the natural
luminosity of the Buddha realm." The tathagatagarbha, translated
tathagata-embryo or tathagata-womb, is the essence within each being
which makes enlightenment possible. The tathagatagarbha writings go
further than Nagarjuna's Madhyamika approach in asserting the oneness
of samsara and nirvana. The Srimaladevisimhanada Sutra refers to the
tathagatagarbha as the permanent, steadfast, and eternal substratum of
samsara. This ground of being is said to be the dharmakaya when viewed
from the enlightened perspective. The realization of the inherent
purity of this substratum is nirvana, while the appearance of it as
defiled is samsara. The existence of the tathagatagarbha as
intrinsically pure and never defiled despite its apparent defilement
being the cause of bondage is said in the Srimala Sutra to be a mystery
which can only be understood by the Buddhas and advanced bodhisattvas.
Thus, this sutra suggests that an element of faith is required from
beginning practitioners who hope to discover the nature of the
tathagatagarbha. Not all the schools of Buddhism accept the doctrine of
tathagatagarbha. The Gelugpa school and others reject it as teaching
monism and will approach it only in terms of the two truths (i.e. the
conventional and ultimate levels of understanding) taught by Nagarjuna.
The different interpretations of this viewpoint have led to a division
along the lines of those Buddhists believing the path to enlightenment
to be gradual versus sudden."
Everyone here is probably already familiar with the story of Asanga's
frustrated retreat and relationship with Maitreya-
Also... A
Brief History of Maitreya- by Lama Thubten Yeshe-
jsierra@usit.net Date: Thu Jul 5, 2001 3:32 pm
Subject: Re:
point one
This teaching originated with the Buddha, yet in looking at its origin,
we can not help but be grateful to a nun, Salwai Tsultrim. When the
University of Nalanda was burned by heretics, most of the Abhidharma
texts were destroyed. She was very affected by this and decided to have
sons who could help strengthen the Dharma. To her were born two sons,
Asanga and Vasubandhu. Asanga became a master of Mahayana teachings,
and his brother a master of the Hinayana. When Asanga received the
teachings about Buddha Nature from Maitreya, he gave them to
Vasubandhu, who later gave them to his disciple Dignaga, who gave them
to Lodro Tenpa, his disciple.
"Shugchang" <bialick@usit.net> Date: Thu Jul 5, 2001 6:23
pm Subject: Re: point one
--- In uttaratantra@y..., jsierra@u... wrote: > This teaching
originated with the Buddha, yet in looking at its origin, > we can
not help but be grateful to a nun, Salwai Tsultrim.
(S) Pratisha Sheila actually had three sons who became Buddhist monks.
(T. Thogs-med) Asanga's
youngest brother was known as Virincivatsa,
while the middle brother was known as Vasubandhu (T. dByig-gbyen). She
made this decision to bear children after the latest wave of barbarians
to flood through the Khyber Pass had sacked and burned the local
monasteries. Born in region of present day Peshawar in NW India, Asanga
taught the Mahayana for awhile in Oddiyana before becoming abbot of
Nalanda for a dozen years. He died in Rajgrha. After spending some time
promulgating Hinayana doctrine and living in Ayodhya, Vasubandhu was
converted by the profundity of the Mahayana doctrine and eventually
took over as abbot at Nalanda after Asanga died. But not before he
wrote this verse-
Alas,
Asanga, residing in the forest
Has practiced meditation for 12 years.
Without having attained anything by this meditation,
He has founded a
system so difficult and burdensome
That it can be carried only by an elephant!
A painting of Asanga
and Vasubandhu-
Here’s an excellent page on Buddha
Maitreya
Shugchang" <bialick@usit.net> Date: Sun Jul 1, 2001 11:10
pm Subject: #two
2. For what purpose was
this composed?
The title of this work refers to the Ultimate Continuity and contains
the word tantra (gyu
continuity), the lineage of primordial wisdom
manifesting uninterruptedly as both relative and absolute truth, as
well as the continuity between the ground, the path and the fruit. More
specifically in the present case, this shastra reveals the continuity
which bridges views between sutra and tantra.
An interesting and important aspect of this work, especially in the
light of Jamgon Kongtrul's commentary involves a clarification of the
differences between the Rangtong and Shentong points of view (empty/
tong self/ rang other/ gzhan).
"Shugchang" <bialick@usit.net> Date: Tue Aug 14, 2001
9:48 am Subject: Beacon of Certainty
Ruegg (1969, 1989)
and Hookham (1991) have drawn attention to the
crucial importance of the Ratnagotravibhaga
for understanding Tibetan
philosophical traditions. The Ratnagotravibhaga's
importance hinges
upon its role as a liminal text bridging sutra and tantra. It
systematically discusses the most important principle underlying
tantra - the tathagatagarbha as a primordial state -
while purporting also to
represent the final intention of the sutras. Many Tibetan authors,
including Tsongkhapa's disciple rGyal tshab Dar ma rin chen, interpret
the Ratnagotravibhaga as expressing the Prasangika view. These authors
do not agree, however, on whether the teaching of the immanence of the
qualities of buddhahood in the tathagatagarbha should be taken
literally. rGyal tshab understands the immanence of qualities to mean
the nature of emptiness, which has the potential to manifest any
possibility, while the dialectical-philosophical and tantric
interpretations of the Nyingma understand this immanence literally, as
the coalescence of enlightened attributes and the wisdom of the
realization of emptiness in the original state.
-John Pettit, Mipham's Beacon
of
Certainty p.56-7, Wisdom
Publications,1999
note: the subtitle of the Ratnagotravibhaga
is the Mahayana
Uttaratantra Shastra
"Shugchang" <bialick@usit.net> Date: Mon Jul
2, 2001 12:11
am Subject: #3
3. What is the essential
meaning from beginning
to end?
The seven vajra points which comprise the body of
the text are derived
from the sutras of all three turnings of the wheel, distilling the
essential meaning of all buddhist scriptures. The primary focus is on
the true nature, the ground of awareness, the uncreated purity at the
heart of all beings and phenomena. As both the title of this
translation and the fourth vajra point, 'buddha nature' comprises
almost one third of the book. At this last retreat, I asked the Khenpos
to bless my copy of Buddha Nature. They were very happy to hear we were
studying this text. On the inside cover they wrote- May you come to
realize the Tathagatagarbha now! This statement directly indicates the
heart of this work.
As Jamgon Kongtrul points out in the first few pages, the Buddha is the
source of the Dharma and the Dharma is the source of the community. The
practicing community manifests the buddha nature, the tathagatagarbha
which is fully realized in buddhahood; from this follow the unfolding
of the kaya qualities and the powers of buddha-activity. The seven
vajra points delineate both the source and course of awakening, the
true nature, expression and evolution of the supreme intention which
takes form as experience and appears as being in the world.
"Shugchang" <bialick@usit.net> Date: Mon Jul
2, 2001 12:22
am Subject: #4
4. What are the benefits
associated with it?
Khenchen Thrangu
Rinpoche states, "In the second turning the Buddha
established that all phenomena are void but this point was not
elucidated. However, in the third turning, the Buddha revealed the
ultimate nature of phenomena by showing that this voidness was not a
total absence, a total emptiness of everything, but has qualities of
the ultimate nature of phenomena. These teachings also show that all
beings possess the essence of the Buddha. If they work on the path,
they will be able to develop the perfect knowledge of the Buddha. The
Uttara Tantra explains that this essence of Buddhahood is present in
the mind of all beings. After the teachings of the third turning, many
works were composed by learned teachers, which pertained to this same
subject matter. For example, the bodhisattva Maitreya composed five
teachings on this topic."
"Shugchang" <bialick@usit.net> Date: Mon Jul
2, 2001 12:38
am Subject: #5
5. On which level of the
Tripitaka is the
Uttaratantra classified?
According to Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, this work is
related to the
subject matter taught in the third turning and therefore is classified
as an explanatory text composed by someone other than the Buddha. It is
in the Tangyur collection of sutric commentaries.
"Shugchang" <bialick@usit.net> Date: Thu Jul 5, 2001 6:28
pm Subject: Re: #5
Dudjom Rinpoche on the Third Turning of the Wheel -
Concerning the
third: The Tathagata's perseverance was not interrupted
merely by that second promulgation of the doctrinal wheel.
Subsequently, the Teacher promulgated the final turning of the
doctrinal wheel, directing his intention towards the nucleus of the
path of the greater vehicle, and actually revealed the ultimate truth
for which there is no synonym. This he did after opposing all bases for
the views concerning being and non-being and the like by causing
sentient beings to penetrate the objective range of the Buddha through
the topics of that irreversible promulgation and through topics
concerning the utter purity of the three spheres (of subject, object,
and their interaction).
In places such as Mount Malaya, the Point of
Enlightenment and Vaisali,
at indeterminate times and to the host of great bodhisattvas who
required the essential training, he excellently analyzed all things
from form to omniscience in accord with the three essential natures of
the imaginary (S. parikalpita),
the dependent (S. paratantra)
and the
absolute (S. parinispanna);
and having established the nature of the
ground, path and result, he extensively revealed the abiding reality of
the nucleus of the tathagata.
-Jigdral Yeshe Dorje,
Fundamentals, P. 154.
: pemakunzang@hotmail.com Date: Sun Jul 8,
2001 10:27
pm Subject: Re: #5
A somewhat different reading of this passage from the Samdhinirmocana:
Then the Bodhisattva
Paramarthasamudgata said to the Bhagavan: "Initially, in the Varanasi
area, in the Deer Park called Sages' Teaching, the Bhagavan taught the
aspects of the four truths of the Aryas for those who were genuinely
engaged in the [Sravaka] vehicle. The wheel of doctrine you turned at
first is wondrous. Similar doctrines had not been promulgated before in
the world by gods or humans. However, this wheel of doctrine that the
Bhagavan turned is surpassable, provides an opportunity [for
refutation], is of interpretable meaning, and serves as a basis for
dispute.
"Then the Bhagavan turned a second
wheel of doctrine which is more wondrous still for those who are
genuinely engaged in the Great Vehicle, because of the aspect of
teaching emptiness, beginning with the lack of own-being of phenomena,
and beginning with their absence of production, absence of cessation,
quiescence from the start, and being naturally in a state of nirvana.
However, this wheel of doctrine that the Bhagavan turned is
surpassable, provides an opportunity [for refutation], is of
interpretable meaning, and serves as a basis for dispute.
"Then the Bhagavan turned a third
wheel of doctrine, possessing good differentiations, and exceedingly
wondrous, for those genuinely engaged in all vehicles, beginning with
the lack of own-being of phenomena, and beginning with their absence of
production, absence of cessation, quiescence from the start, and being
naturally in a state of nirvana. Moreover, that wheel of doctrine
turned by the Bhagavan is unsurpassable, does not provide an
opportunity [for refutation], is of definitive meaning, and does not
serve as a basis for dispute."
-Wisdom of Buddha The
Samdhinirmocana
Sutra, Translated by John Powers
(Dharma Publishing), pp. 140-141.
pemakunzang@hotmail.com Date: Sat Jul 14,
2001 8:10 pm
Subject: sources
There are two versions of the uttaratantra in the Tibetan canon:
1.
theg pa chen po
rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos (Skt. mahayana- uttaratantra-sastra)
2. theg pa chen
po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa (Skt. mahayana-uttaratantra-sastra-vyakhya)
The first is the root verses of Arya Maitreya and
the second one
contains the root verses plus Acarya Asanga's commentary (Skt. vyakhya).
Both were translated at Srinagar in Kashmir under
the panditas
Ratnavajra and Sajjana by the Tibetan Loden Sherab around the end of
the 11th century.
ONWARD TO FIRST VAJRA POINT: THE BUDDHA
OUTLINE
CONTENTS