Madhyamaka & Other Tenets


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ABSORPTION IN NO EXTERNAL WORLD: 170 Issues In Mind-Only Buddhism
by Jeffrey Hopkins.

580 pages, cloth.

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This book examines a plethora of fascinating points raised in six centuries of Tibetan and Mongolian commentary concerning the first two sections of Dzong-ka-ba's The Essence of Eloquence, the Prologue and the section on the Mind-Only School. By providing vivid detail, Jeffrey Hopkins reveals the liveliness of Tibetan scholastic controversies, showing the dynamism of thoughtful commentary and stimulating the reader's metaphysical imagination. In the process of examining 170 issues, this volume treats many engaging points on Great Vehicle presentations of the three natures and the three non-natures, including how to apply these to all phenomena, the selflessness of persons, and the emptiness of emptiness. It concludes with a delineation of the approaches through which the Mind-Only School interprets scriptures.

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APPEARANCE AND REALITY: The Two Truths in the Four Buddhist Tenet Systems
by Guy Newland

107 pp., notes, biblio.

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When seeking to understand Buddhism, where should one start? When the Dalai Lama was asked, he suggested that for many Westerners, the two truths, conventional truth and ultimate truth, is the best place to start. When the Buddha awoke, he saw the ultimate reality of things just as they are. There are shifting appearances and conventions, and then there is the mystery of things just as they are. Each system of Buddhist philosophy has its own way of explaining what these two truths are and how they relate to one another. In exploring these systems, we are asking: What is real? This is not an idle intellectual question, but a matter which cuts to the heart of our life. "Professor Newland's intellectually engaging examination of the four Buddhist tenet systems navigates the maze of complex theories that must be mastered to understand each system's contribution to the whole."--John Tigue, Ph.D., for Explorations

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BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY: Losang Gonchok's Short Commentary to Jamyang Shayba's Root Text on Tenets
by Daniel Cozort and Craig Preston

352 pp.

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What are the most important points of difference between the major schools of Buddhist philosophy? This rich, medium-length survey offers a lively answer. The introduction, aimed at those new to Buddhist thought, sets up a dialogue between the schools on the most controversial topics in Buddhist philosophy.

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THE CENTER OF THE SUNLIT SKY: Madhyamaka in the Kagyu Tradition
by Karl Brunnhölzl

1000 pp. 6 x 9, cloth.

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Madhyamaka is a potent and universally accessible means of calming our suffering and awakening to our innate wisdom. The Center of the Sunlit Sky artfully rescues this brilliant teaching from its unwarranted reputation for intellectual opacity and reinstates it as a supremely practical tool kit for everyday living. The aim of this book is to take Madhyamaka out of the purely intellectual corner into which it--unjustly--gets boxed. It is an attempt to show how Madhayamaka actually addresses and works with all of our experiences in life.

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CUTTING THROUGH APPEARANCES: Practice and Theory of Tibetan Buddhism
by Geshe Sopa & Jeffrey Hopkins.

376 pp., a Namgyal Institute Textbook.

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Presents the practice and theory of Tibetan Buddhism. First is a meditation manual written by the Fourth Pan-chen Lama (1781-1852) based on Tsongkhapa's Three Principal Aspects of the Path and covers the daily practice of Tibetan monks and yogis. It details how to properly conduct a meditation session that contains the entire scope of the Buddhist path. Next is the Presentation of Tenets, written by Gon-chok-jik-may-wang-bo. It covers Indian Buddhist schools as viewed in Tibet and provides a solid introduction to the Buddhist theory animating the practice. Topics include the two truths, consciousness, hindrances to enlightenment, paths to freedom, and fruits of practice.

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DEBATE IN TIBETAN BUDDHISM
Daniel E. Perdue

Paper, 1025 pp., notes, biblio., index.

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The practice and theory of Tibetan Buddhist logic and epistemology is the focus of this clear and thorough exposition. Debate is the investigative technique used throughout Tibetan education to sharpen analytical capacities and convey philosophical concepts- it is essential to master the procedure of debate. Using a debate manual by Pur-bu-jok Jam-ba-gya-tso (1825-1901) as its basis, Daniel Perdue covers elementary debate and demonstrates its application to a variety of secular and religious educational contexts. The translation is supplied with annotations on procedure and content drawn from Tibetan teachers expert in debate. 0937938769

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ECHOES FROM AN EMPTY SKY: The Origin of the Buddhist Doctrine of the Two Truths
by John B. Buescher

176 pp., 6" x 9".

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The important Buddhist doctrine of the two truths- conventional truths and ultimate truths- is the subject of this book. It examines how the doctrine evolved within early Buddhism from efforts to make sense of contradictions within the collected sayings of the Buddha. The two truths, however, came to refer not primarily to statements or language, but to thre realities to which statements or language referred. As such, the doctrine of the two truths became one through which Buddhist philosophers focused their efforts to elaborate an abhidharma, a "higher teaching," which allowed them to explain how the mind apprehends and misapprehends the world, how it attaches itself to objects that do not exist in and of themselves, thereby creating suffering. In effect, the doctrine then evolved into a distinction between different sorts of objects rather than a distinction between different sorts of statements. The doctrine of the truths, understood in this way, played a key role in the articulation of the Mahayana by its followers in distinguishing it from what they called Hinayana, especially in defining the central ideas of selflessness and emptiness. Unlike prior books on this topic, which concentrate on the doctrine within the context of the Mahayana, Buescher's examines it within the context of the Hinayana.

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EMPTINESS YOGA: The Tibetan Middle Way
by Jeffrey Hopkins.

504 pp., a Namgyal Institute Textbook, cloth.

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An absorbing exposition of the methods of realization of the Middle Way Consequence School (Prasangika Madhyamika) by Prof. Hopkins--considered by many as the foremost Western authority on Tibetan Buddhism. His presentation is based on Jang-gya's famous work--the original and translation are included. The reasonings used to analyze persons and phenomena to establish their true mode of existence are discussed in the context of meditative practice. This exposition includes a masterful treatment of the compatibility of emptiness and dependent-arising. Emptiness Yoga will be greatly appreciated by both beginners and advanced students for its immediacy, profundity, and precision. "Hopkins deserves congratulations for making this difficult material as transparent as possible."--E.K. Dargyay, Religious Studies Review

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by Jeffrey Hopkins.

504 pp., a Namgyal Institute Textbook, paper.

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THE ESSENCE OF OTHER-EMPTINESS
by Taranatha, trans. & annotated by Jeffrey Hopkins, in collaboration with Lama Lodro Namgyel

154 pp.

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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.

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THE KARMAPA'S MIDDLE WAY: Feast for the Fortunate
by the Ninth Karmapa, Wangchuk Dorje, trans. by Tyler Dewar

Pre-order Now--Available August 2008.
Cloth. 850 pp.

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Marked by eloquent poetry, vigorous and extensive analysis, and heart instructions on breaking through the veils of confusion to independently experience the true nature of things, The Karmapa’s Middle Way contains the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje’s comprehensive commentary on the Indian master Chandrakirti’s seminal text, the Entrance to the Middle Way. This commentary, Feast for the Fortunate, is the Ninth Karmapa’s abridgement of the Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje’s masterpiece, the Chariot of the Takpo Kagyü Siddhas. In it readers will find previously unavailable material on the Karmapas’ Middle Way view and a rare window into a philosophically charged era of Middle Way exposition in Tibetan Buddhism. In this book, Chandrakirti and the Karmapa present in precise detail the vital Buddhist concept of emptiness, through which the Mahayana path of compassionate altruism becomes complete.

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KNOWING, NAMING, AND NEGATION: A Sourcebook of Tibetan Texts and Oral Commentary on Buddhist Epistemology
by Anne Klein.

330 pp., a Namgyal Institute Textbook, cloth.

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Several years in the Tibetan monastic curriculum are devoted to study of the Sautrantika tenet system, for it forms the basis for Madhyamika epistemology. The systematization of Sautrantika assertions has interested generations of Tibetan scholars to the present. Three major types of scholastic literature developed: presentations of the whole tenet system; syllogistic debate texts on problematic topics; and expository treatments of single important issues. Klein annotates translations of outstanding texts in these categories and supplements them with commentary from Tibetan yogi/scholars. This is a challenging book on the nitty-gritty issues of Sautrantika philosophy.

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by Anne Klein.

330 pp., a Namgyal Institute Textbook, paper.

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KNOWLEDGE AND LIBERATION
by Anne Klein.

283 pp. A Namgyal Institute Textbook.

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"Anne Klein presents vividly and intimately many concepts essential to a deeper understanding of Buddhist philosophy and for realizing emptiness--the process of naming, positive and negative phenomena, direct perception, and more. I highly recommend this book!"--Prof. Jeffrey Hopkins

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MAPS OF THE PROFOUND: Jam-yang-shay-ba's "Great Exposition of Buddhist and Non-Buddhist Views on the Nature of Reality"
by Jeffrey Hopkins

1136 pp., cloth bound.

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"Maps of the Profound is a monumental achievement. Drawing on a lifetime's experience with leading figures in Tibetan oral scholarly traditions, Jeffrey Hopkins presents the most comprehensive and at the same time most detailed exploration available of Tibetan tenet systems. No other single volume opens as wide a window onto the interlocking literature of Tibet's philosophical interlocutors over the last five centuries and more, including their expansive articulation of non-Buddhist Indian systems of thought."—Anne C. Klein, Professor, Rice University; author of Knowledge and Liberation and Meeting the Great Bliss Queen

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MIND IN TIBETAN BUDDHISM
by Lati Rinpoche, trans., ed., & intro. by Elizabeth Napper

181 pp., tibetan text, a Namgyal Institute Textbook.

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In the great Tibetan monasteries of Lhasa, monks seeking to purify their minds and develop the understanding necessary for final enlightenment began their inquiry into mind and consciousness by studying The Presentation of Awareness and Knowledge. Through understanding the nature of the mind and the process of cognition, inner peace can be attained. This text plus Lati Rinbochay's rich and extensive commentary give a comprehensive explanation of the nature and function of the mind, the different types of mind and mental factors, and how we develop knowledge and understanding. In her introduction, Elizabeth Napper gives an overview of the principal divisions of consciousness and mind.

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THE MOON OF WISDOM: Chapter Six of Chandrakirti's Entering the Middle Way with Commentary from the Eighth Karmapa Mikyo Dorje
by Chandrakirti and Eighth Karmapa Mikyo Dorje, trans. by Ari Goldfield, Jules Levinson, Jim Scott and Birgit Scott under guidance of Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche

528 pp.

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Nagarjuna, in his seminal text The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way, summarized the vast teachings of the Buddha and used logical reasoning to prove the validity of his words. Entering the Middle Way is Chandrakirti's explanation of Nagarjuna's work. Its sixth chapter, which comprises the majority of the text, has four main sections: an explanation of how, in genuine reality, phenomena do not truly arise; a refutation of the Mind-Only School's assertion that mind truly exists; a refutation of the true existence of the personal self; and an explanation of the sixteen emptinesses taught by the Buddha in the Transcendent Wisdom Sutras.

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MOUNTAIN DOCTRINE: Tibet's Fundamental Treatise on Other-Emptiness and the Buddha Matrix
by Dol-bo-ba Shay-rap-gyel-tsen, translated and introduced by Jeffrey Hopkins, edited by Kevin Vose

854 pages, cloth.

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Translated here for the first time into any language, Mountain Doctrine, Ocean of Definitive Meaning: Final Unique Quintessential Instructions 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.

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NAGARJUNA'S SEVENTY STANZAS: A Buddhist Psychology of Emptiness
by David Ross Komito, comm. on Nagarjuna's text by Geshe Sonam Rinchen, trans. by Tenzin Dorjee & David Ross Komito.

226 pp., notes, bibliography, index.

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This volume contains a translation of Seventy Stanzas, a fundamental work of Nagarjuna on the Madhyamika system of Buddhist philosophy, along with a commentary on it from the Prasangika viewpoint by Geshe Sonam Rinchen. David Komito summarizes basic Buddhist doctrines on perception and the creation of concepts which have traditionally served as the backdrop for Nagarjuna's teachings about how people consistently misperceive and misunderstand the nature of the reality in which they live and the means through which they experience it. This book will interest Buddhist practitioners and scholars and psychologists who seek a deeper understanding of Buddhist psychology and epistemology. 0937938394

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THE NATURE OF THINGS: Emptiness and Essence in the Geluk World
by William Magee

257 pp.

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Nature (Tib. rang bzhin, Skt..svabhava or prakrti ) is a topic in many Indian and Tibetan philosophical texts although its meaning varies considerably in both Hindu and Buddhist scriptures.

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