The Other Emptiness

The Other Emptiness PDF Author: Michael R. Sheehy
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438477570
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
Presents a new vision of the Buddhist history and philosophy of emptiness in Tibet. This book brings together perspectives of leading international Tibetan studies scholars on the subject of zhentong or “other-emptiness.” Defined as the emptiness of everything other than the continuous luminous awareness that is one’s own enlightened nature, this distinctive philosophical and contemplative presentation of emptiness is quite different from rangtong—emptiness that lacks independent existence, which has had a strong influence on the dissemination of Buddhist philosophy in the West. Important topics are addressed, including the history, literature, and philosophy of emptiness that have contributed to zhentong thinking in Tibet from the thirteenth century until today. The contributors examine a wide range of views on zhentong from each of the major orders of Tibetan Buddhism, highlighting the key Tibetan thinkers in the zhentong philosophical tradition. Also discussed are the early formulations of buddhanature, interpretations of cosmic time, polemical debates about emptiness in Tibet, the zhentong view of contemplation, and creative innovations of thought in Tibetan Buddhism. Highly accessible and informative, this book can be used as a scholarly resource as well as a textbook for teaching graduate and undergraduate courses on Buddhist philosophy. “The book contains extremely interesting material and makes a valuable contribution to the study of Tibetan Buddhism. It will be appreciated by those interested in the development of one of the important and yet understudied of its traditions, the other emptiness tradition.” — Georges B. J. Dreyfus, coeditor of The Svātantrika-Prāsaṅgika Distinction: What Difference Does a Difference Make?

The Other Emptiness

The Other Emptiness PDF Author: Michael R. Sheehy
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438477570
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 402

Get Book

Book Description
Presents a new vision of the Buddhist history and philosophy of emptiness in Tibet. This book brings together perspectives of leading international Tibetan studies scholars on the subject of zhentong or “other-emptiness.” Defined as the emptiness of everything other than the continuous luminous awareness that is one’s own enlightened nature, this distinctive philosophical and contemplative presentation of emptiness is quite different from rangtong—emptiness that lacks independent existence, which has had a strong influence on the dissemination of Buddhist philosophy in the West. Important topics are addressed, including the history, literature, and philosophy of emptiness that have contributed to zhentong thinking in Tibet from the thirteenth century until today. The contributors examine a wide range of views on zhentong from each of the major orders of Tibetan Buddhism, highlighting the key Tibetan thinkers in the zhentong philosophical tradition. Also discussed are the early formulations of buddhanature, interpretations of cosmic time, polemical debates about emptiness in Tibet, the zhentong view of contemplation, and creative innovations of thought in Tibetan Buddhism. Highly accessible and informative, this book can be used as a scholarly resource as well as a textbook for teaching graduate and undergraduate courses on Buddhist philosophy. “The book contains extremely interesting material and makes a valuable contribution to the study of Tibetan Buddhism. It will be appreciated by those interested in the development of one of the important and yet understudied of its traditions, the other emptiness tradition.” — Georges B. J. Dreyfus, coeditor of The Svātantrika-Prāsaṅgika Distinction: What Difference Does a Difference Make?

Mountain Doctrine

Mountain Doctrine PDF Author: Dol-Bo-Ba Shay-Rap-Gyel-Tsen
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834830248
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 832

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Book Description
Translated here for the first time into any language, Mountain Doctrine is a seminal fourteenth-century Tibetan text on the nature of reality. The author, Dol-bo-ba Shay-rap-gyel-tsen, was on of the most influential figures of that dynamic period of doctrinal formulation, and his text is a sustained argument about the buddha-nature, also called the matrix-of-one-gone-thus. Dol-bo-ba recognizes two important types of emptiness—self-emptiness and other-emptiness—and shows how other-emptiness is the actual ultimate truth. He justifies this controversial formulation by arguing that it was the favored system of all the early outstanding figures of the Great Vehicle. The translator's introduction includes a short biography of Dol-bo-ba and an exposition of nine focal topics in his religious philosophy. Note: The hardcover edition of Mountain Doctrine includes a "Detailed Outline in Tibetan" that is omitted in the eBook edition.

The Other Emptiness

The Other Emptiness PDF Author: Tony Duff
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789937572675
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
Other Emptiness is the view of emptiness that goes with wisdom. It has long been thought amongst Westerners that the view of emptiness championed by the Gelug tradition following the views of Tsongkhapa is the one and only view of emptiness in the Buddhist teachings. However, that is not the case. The majority of Tibetan Buddhists accept two approaches to emptiness, a logical approach called empty of self and a non-conceptual approach called empty of other. This book clearly presents all of these views and shows how the empty of other type of emptiness is actually the ultimate teaching of the Buddha, the teaching on how to enter non-dual wisdom. Other emptiness has usually been thought of amongst Westerners who have heard of it as a very complicated and difficult philosophy. It is subtle, that is true, because it describes what it is like to be in wisdom. However, it was not taught as a difficult philosophy. Rather, it was taught as a practical teaching on how to enter non-dual wisdom. The book explores this point at length. The book was written to be useful for all levels of reader. It starts simply, giving a clear explanation of the Buddha's non-dual teaching and how the other emptiness teaching is part of that. Then it goes into details about the history and teaching other emptiness. Finally, it goes in to great technical detail concerning the other emptiness teaching, and supports that with extensive materials from various Tibetan teachers. Unlike many of the books on other emptiness that have appeared, this book does not only present the theory of other emptiness but keeps a proper balance between showing the theory of other emptiness and presenting the practice-based reality of the teaching. The book is divided into four parts, each one a set of presentations from someone knowledgeable of the subject. The first part is several chapters written by the author in plain English in order to get the reader under way. Following that, there are sections embodying the explanations of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyatso, and amgon Kongtrul the great. Ample introductions, glossaries and so on are provided.

Insight Into Emptiness

Insight Into Emptiness PDF Author: Jampa Tegchok
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 161429013X
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 299

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Book Description
A former abbot of one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the world, Khensur Jampa Tegchok has been teaching Westerners about Buddhism since the 1970s. With a deep respect for the intellectual capacity of his Western students, Khensur Tegchok here unpacks with great erudition Buddhism's animating philosophical principle--the emptiness of all appearances. Instead of commenting on a text or relying on a traditional framework, Insight into Emptiness uses accessible language specifically tailored to the Western mind. Engagingly edited by bestselling author Thubten Chodron, emptiness is here approached from a host of angles far beyond most treatments of the subject, while never sacrificing its conversational approach.

Luminous Emptiness

Luminous Emptiness PDF Author: Francesca Fremantle
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834824787
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 428

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Book Description
The Tibetan Book of the Dead, a best-seller for three decades, is one of the most widely read texts of Tibetan Buddhism. Over the years, it has been studied and cherished by Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike. Luminous Emptiness is a detailed guide to this classic work, elucidating its mysterious concepts, terms, and imagery. Fremantle relates the symbolic world of the Tibetan Book of the Dead to the experiences of everyday life, presenting the text not as a scripture for the dying, but as a guide for the living. According to the Buddhist view, nothing is permanent or fixed. The entire world of our experience is constantly appearing and disappearing at every moment. Using vivid and dramatic imagery, the Tibetan Book of the Dead presents the notion that most of us are living in a dream that will continue from lifetime to lifetime until we truly awaken by becoming enlightened. Here, Fremantle, who worked closely with Chögyam Trungpa on the 1975 translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Shambhala), brings the expertise of a lifetime of study to rendering this intriguing classic more accessible and meaningful to the living. Luminous Emptiness features in-depth explanations of: • The Tibetan Buddhist notions of death and rebirth • The meaning of the five energies and the five elements in Tibetan Buddhism • The mental and physical experience of dying, according to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition

A Dose of Emptiness

A Dose of Emptiness PDF Author: Mkhas-grub Dge-legs-dpal-bza?-po
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791407295
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 614

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Book Description
This book is an annotated translation of one of the great Tibetan classics of Mahayana Buddhist thought, mKhas grub rje's sTong thun chen mo. The text is a detailed critical exposition of the theory and practice of emptiness as expounded in the three major schools of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy: the Yogacara, Svatantrika, and Prasangika. Used as a supplement to the scholastic debating manuals in some of the greatest monasteries of Tibet, the sTong thun chen mo is a veritable encyclopedia of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy, dealing with such topics as hermeneutics, the theory of non-duality, the linguistic interpretation of emptiness, the typology of ignorance, logic, the nature of time, and the perception of matter across world spheres. This book is an indispensable source for understanding the Tibetan dGe lugs pa school's synthesis of the Middle Way (Madhyamaka) and Epistemological (Pramanika) traditions of Indian Buddhism. In addition, it is an unprecedented source for the philosophical polemics of fifteenth century Tibet.

The Essence of Other-Emptiness

The Essence of Other-Emptiness PDF Author: Taranatha
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 1559392738
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 155

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Book Description
Jeffrey Hopkins continues his groundbreaking exploration of the Jo-nang-ba sect of Tibetan Buddhism with this revelatory translation of one of the seminal texts from that tradition. Whereas Dol-bo-ba's massive Mountain Doctrine authenticates the doctrine of other-emptiness through extensive scriptural citations and elaborate philosophical arguments, Taranatha's more concise work translated here situates the doctrine of other-emptiness within the context of schools of tenets, primarily the famed four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, through comparing the various schools' opinions on the status of the noumenon and phenomena. Also included is a supplementary text by Taranatha which presents the opinions of a prominent fifteenth-century Sakya scholar, Shakya Chok-den, and contrasts them with those of the leading Jo-nang-ba scholar Dol-bo-ba.

The Other Emptiness

The Other Emptiness PDF Author: Michael R. Sheehy
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 1438477570
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
Presents a new vision of the Buddhist history and philosophy of emptiness in Tibet. This book brings together perspectives of leading international Tibetan studies scholars on the subject of zhentong or “other-emptiness.” Defined as the emptiness of everything other than the continuous luminous awareness that is one’s own enlightened nature, this distinctive philosophical and contemplative presentation of emptiness is quite different from rangtong—emptiness that lacks independent existence, which has had a strong influence on the dissemination of Buddhist philosophy in the West. Important topics are addressed, including the history, literature, and philosophy of emptiness that have contributed to zhentong thinking in Tibet from the thirteenth century until today. The contributors examine a wide range of views on zhentong from each of the major orders of Tibetan Buddhism, highlighting the key Tibetan thinkers in the zhentong philosophical tradition. Also discussed are the early formulations of buddhanature, interpretations of cosmic time, polemical debates about emptiness in Tibet, the zhentong view of contemplation, and creative innovations of thought in Tibetan Buddhism. Highly accessible and informative, this book can be used as a scholarly resource as well as a textbook for teaching graduate and undergraduate courses on Buddhist philosophy. “The book contains extremely interesting material and makes a valuable contribution to the study of Tibetan Buddhism. It will be appreciated by those interested in the development of one of the important and yet understudied of its traditions, the other emptiness tradition.” — Georges B. J. Dreyfus, coeditor of The Svātantrika-Prāsaṅgika Distinction: What Difference Does a Difference Make?

Freedom from Extremes

Freedom from Extremes PDF Author: Jose Ignacio Cabezon
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861718577
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description
What is emptiness? This question at the heart of Buddhist philosophy has preoccupied the greatest minds of India and Tibet for two millennia, producing hundreds of volumes. Distinguishing the Views, by the fifteenth-century Sakya scholar Gorampa Sonam Senge, is one of the most important of those works, esteemed for its conciseness, lucidity, and profundity. Freedom from Extremes presents Gorampa's elegant philosophical case on the matter of emptiness here in a masterful translation by Geshe Lobsang Dargyay. Gorampa's text is polemical, and his targets are two of Tibet's greatest thinkers: Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug school, and Dolpopa, a founding figure of the Jonang school. Distinguishing the Views argues that Dolpopa has fallen into an eternalistic extreme, whereas Tsongkhapa has fallen into nihilism, and that only the mainstream Sakya view - what Gorampa calls "freedom from extremes" - represents the true middle way, the correct view of emptiness. Suppressed for years in Tibet, this seminal work today is widely regarded and is studied in some of Tibet's greatest academic institutions. Gorampa's treatise has been translated and annotated here by two leading scholars of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and a critical edition of the Tibetan text on facing pages gives students and scholars direct access to Gorampa's own words. Jose Cabezon's extended introduction provides a thorough overview of Tibetan polemical literature and contextualizes the life and work of Gorampa both historically and intellectually. Freedom from Extremes will be indispensable for serious students of Madhyamaka thought.

Elaborations on Emptiness

Elaborations on Emptiness PDF Author: Donald S. Lopez, Jr.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400884519
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
The Heart Sutra is perhaps the most famous Buddhist text, traditionally regarded as a potent expression of emptiness and of the Buddha's perfect wisdom. This brief, seemingly simple work was the subject of more commentaries in Asia than any other sutra. In Elaborations on Emptiness, Donald Lopez explores for the first time the elaborate philosophical and ritual uses of the Heart Sutra in India, Tibet, and the West. Included here are full translations of the eight extant Indian commentaries. Interspersed with the translations are six essays that examine the unusual roles the Heart Sutra has played: it has been used as a mantra, an exorcism text, a tantric meditation guide, and as the material for comparative philosophy. Taken together, the translations and essays that form Elaborations on Emptiness demonstrate why commentary is as central to modern scholarship on Buddhism as it was for ancient Buddhists. Lopez reveals unexpected points of instability and contradiction in the Heart Sutra, which, in the end, turns out to be the most malleable of texts, where the logic of commentary serves as a tool of both tradition and transgression.