ESTABLISHING APPEARANCES AS DIVINE: Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo on Reasoning, Madhyamaka, and Purity, by Heidi I. Koppl

ESTABLISHING APPEARANCES AS DIVINE: Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo on Reasoning, Madhyamaka, and Purity

by Heidi I. Köppl

Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo's concise treatise Establishing Appearances as Divine sets out to prove the provocative point that everything that appears is actually the deity manifest. Transformation of both one's identity and the environment is an important principle of Tantric Buddhist philosophy. In Tantric scriptures one is instructed to visualize oneself as a deity, a divine identity who resides in a perfect sphere. By repeatedly training in this visualization one perfects the transformation and ultimately becomes the deity itself. Do the Tantric teachings hold sentient beings to be intrinsically pure and divine, or do they consider them initially flawed, to be later purified through the visualization of divinity? Is the practice of deity yoga merely a means, or is it more fundamentally connected to the nature of things? These questions were among the main concerns of Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo, the illustrious philosopher of the Nyingma School of the Early Translations. Establishing Appearances as Divine sets out to prove the provocative point that the tradition still highly regards the point of view that everything which appears is actually the deity manifest.

Many books on Tibetan Buddhism address the important themes of mind training, compassion, and proper conduct. This book goes beyond that in its aim to bring the reader face to face with his or her divine and pure nature. Its method is unusual: the author uses reasoned philosophical arguments to argue for esoteric Tantric Buddhist ideas and practices. The result itself is an unusual book held in high esteem for nearly a thousand years.

The comprehensive introduction explores Rongzom's philosophy of purity by juxtaposing it with his view of Madhyamaka, while also relating the discussion to his assessment and application of reasoning. For readers of Tibetan, the book contains a comparative edition of the Tibetan text as well.

Establishing Appearances as Divine, translated here for the first time, embarks on the project of unraveling the magical interplay between rationality, truth, and divinity, bringing to light the view that underlies Tantric Buddhist practices.

"Rongzom Chozang, one of the most important scholars of the 11th century, believed in the divinity of the world. Even more interesting, he set out to prove it! Koppl's book, a translation of Rongzom's most important text on the subject, is an important contribution to Buddhist doctrinal studies. The long introduction provides us with one of the most detailed, comparative treatments of the Nyingma view (tawa) that I know of, elucidating Rongzom's position in relation to other Nyingma thinkers. The notes to the translation clarify even the most difficult portions of the text.... A truly masterful work."—Jose Ignacio Cabezón, XIVth Dalai Lama Professor of Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara, author of Freedom from Extremes

"Heidi Koppl makes the seminal work of Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo newly accessible to the modern reader. Rongzom, in deep conversation with Buddhist philosophy, argued for the most immediate visionary experience of enlightenment—every part of our world as already divine. Rongzom, assisted by Koppl's sparkling exegisis, leads readers to a direct encounter with their own primordial goodness."—John Makransky, Associate Professor of Buddhism and Comparative Theology, Boston College, author of Awakening Through Love

Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo (eleventh century) is among the most celebrated scholars of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. Particularly known for his lucid and innovative explanations of Tantra and Dzogchen, his influence on later scholars such as Ju Mipham has been profound.

Heidi Köppl has worked as a translator at the Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling Monastery in Nepal for more than a decade, and has been a faculty member at the Kathmandu University Centre for Buddhist Studies since the Centre's inception. She is currently doing research for a doctorate degree in Buddhist Studies at the University of Lausanne.

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1559392886, 9781559392884