Posts Tagged ‘Tibet’
Tags: Tibet
108 Quintessential Instructions
As I’ve recently been reading through the collection of 108 Quintessential Instructions that was arranged by the Jonang master Kunga Drolchok (1507-1566), I’ve been thinking through the seemingly simple question,…
Read MoreTibetan Zhentong Discourse II
Kongtrul also lists Rangjung Dorje’s and Dolpopa’s contemporary, the celebrated Nyingma master Kunkhyen Drimé Odzer or Longchen Rabjam (1308-1363). Longchenpa does use similar terminology but in a context and with…
Read MoreTibetan Zhentong Discourse I
The wide variety of intricacies and nuances within the body of Tibetan thought that is termed “zhentong” is simply fantastic. The use of the word is so varied in fact…
Read MoreTārāyogīni Tantra & Practice
This post is titled, The Transmission of the Tantra and Practices of Tārāyogīni (Sgrol ma rnal ‘byor ma): A Little-Known Jonang Specialty. By Thomas Roth, a contributing author to the…
Read MoreZhentong isn’t Cittamātra
For some reason, those unfamiliar with the zhentong presentation tend to associate it with the Cittamāra (“Mind Only” or “Mentalist”) system, as if Madhyamaka was only divided into Svātantrika and…
Read MoreŚākyamuni’s 3 Revolutions
With the sustaining of a tradition, there is the multi-generational task of repeatedly defining and describing what is understood to be most real (or unreal). Then, every once in a…
Read MoreWhat Is / Isn’t Rangtong?
Dolpopa, like many great Tibetan scholars, was interested in making distinctions. Within his writings, we find several terse compositions that employ rich Buddhist lingo in order to succinctly and deliberately…
Read MoreEmbodying the Kalachakra
Marveling at how the ultimate is described as expressions, and thinking about how to relate this ongoing theme to Kālachakra practice, I happened upon a short piece by the late…
Read MoreExpressions of the Essence
Buddhist phenomenology tells us that one of the five fundamental constituents of the egoic complex is “form” (rūpa, gzugs), the configuration of tangible materiality that is so integral to ordinary…
Read MoreDolpopa’s Experience
With “expressions of emptiness” on my mind, I thought it might be nice to reflect on Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen’s experience of this quintessential phenomena, and how this experience acted as…
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