A Direct Path to the Buddha Within: Go Lotsawa's Mahamudra Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhaga

Table of Contents … v

Introduction … 1

    General Remarks … 1
    Delimitation of the Subject and Methods Employed … 3
    The Ratnagotravibhāga and its Vyākhyā … 7
    The Reaction of Mainstream Mahāyāna to the Theory of Buddha Nature … 17

Part I: The Tibetan Historical Context

1. The Development of Various Traditions of Interpreting Buddha Nature … 25

    Ngog Loden Sherab’s Analytical Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga … 25
    Ratnagotravibhāga Commentaries in the Meditation Tradition … 32
    The Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga … 34
    The Zhentong Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga .. 45

2. Various Positions Related to Zhönu Pal’s Interpretation … 49

    The Position of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorjé … 51
    The Position of Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen … 75
    The Position of Sabzang Mati Panchen … 84
    The Position of Lodrö Tsungmé … 91
    The Position of Longchen Rabjampa … 98
    The Position of Barawa Gyaltsen Palzang … 113
    A Comparison of the Positions … 125

3. A Short Account of the Most Important Events in Zhönu Pal’s Life … 131

Part II: Translation

4. Zhönu Pal’s Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā Commentary … 151

    Translator’s Introduction … 151
    Technical Notes … 154

The Commentary on the Treatise “Mahāyana-Uttaratantra”: The Mirror Showing Reality Very Clearly (Introduction and Initial Commentaries) … 157

    Introduction … 157
    The Commentary for Those with Sharp Faculties … 169
    The Commentary for Those with Average Faculties … 180
    The Explanation of RGV I.1 … 181
    The Explanation of RGV I.2 … 204
    The Three Jewels: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha … 205
    Buddha Nature and Its Purification through the Three Dharmackras … 214
    Enlightenment, Buddha Qualities, and Activity … 309
    A Short Explanation of RGV I.3 … 312

Part III: Zhönu Pal’s Views on Buddha Qualities, Emptiness, and Mahāmudrā

5. Buddha Qualities … 317

    General Remarks … 317
    Different Views on Buddha Qualities … 318
    The Blossoming of Subtle Qualities … 320
    The Examples Used to Illustrate the Growth of the Qualities … 342
    The Ontological Status of the Buddha Qualities … 344

6. Two Types of Emptiness … 351

7. Zhönu Pal’s Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga … 367

    The Ratnagotravibhāga as a Basis for Mahāmudrā Instructions … 367
    The Three Dharmacakras: Mahāmudrā Hermeneutics … 368
    The Mahāmudrā Approach of Yogic Direct Valid Cognitions … 373
    Sutra-Based Mahāmudrā Meditation … 377
    The First Mahāmudrā Yoga of One-Pointedness … 381
    The Second Mahāmudrā Yoga of Freedom from Mental Fabrications … 382
    The Third Mahāmudrā Yoga of One Taste … 384
    The Fourth Mahāmudrā Yoga of Nonmeditation … 385
    The Four Mahāmudrā Yogas and the Ratnagotravibhāga … 386
    Zhönu Pal’s Justification of a Sudden Mahāmudrā Path … 397
    Pairs of Paradoxes … 406

8. Conclusion … 411

Notes … 423
Table of Tibetan Transliteration … 555
Bibliography … 565
Subject Index … 589
Indian Text Index … 607