Treasury of the Buddhist Sciences – serie

A masterful translation of classic scholar Buddhapalita’s breakthrough elucidation of Nagarjuna’s famous Middle Way text, which has profoundly influenced generations of Buddhist philosophers.This “Buddhapalita” commentary on Nagarjuna’s famous first-century text Wisdom: Fundamental Middle Way Verses has been considered for over a thousand years by Indian and Tibetan philosophers to be the special key that best unlocks the deep philosophical freedom from confusion and perplexity that the Middle Way (or Centrist) school seeks to provide for its students. Chandrakirti (seventh century) defended Buddhapalita’s elegant approach as most effective in opening the Middle Way for the inquiring mind to find the liberating experience of reality. Atisha (eleventh century) brought Buddhapalita’s and Chandrakirti’s transformative critical method to spread widely in Tibet, and Tsongkhapa (fifteenth century) provided a clarification of this philosophical work that was so rigorous and crystal clear that it opened the minds of Tibetan philosopher scientists of all schools until today. Ian Coghlan’s masterful translation makes Buddhapalita’s breakthrough elucidation of the Wisdom Verses clearly accessible. The translator’s unique education combines the Indo-Tibetan geshé curriculum with the modern doctoral training that adds comparative text-critical analysis and comparative language research in Sanskrit as well as Tibetan. This intellectual and experiential education enabled him to produce this reliable translation for the philosophical seeker to fully engage with Buddhapalita’s richly transformative, liberating work.

Presents two key Indian Buddhist philosophical masterpieces that integrate the Buddhist ethos of wisdom and compassion, with their profound relevance to contemporary thought clarified by a renowned scholar of contemplative science.This volume contains English translations of two critical treatises of the Middle Way (Madhyamaka) Buddhist philosophical school: the Reason Sixty, by the most important of Indian thinkers, Nagarjuna (2nd CE), and the commentary by his most influential successor, Chandrakirti (7th CE). These two treatises emphasize the non-foundationalist reasoning for which Madhyamaka thought is famed, here within the context of that quintessential Buddhist topic, universal compassion, thereby illuminating the nondual nature of these two fundamental components of Indian Buddhist thought. The full import of Nagarjuna’s verses are brought to life by Chandrakirti, whose influence in Tibetan Buddhist educational institutions remains profound to the present. Translator Joseph Loizzo, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and Columbia-trained Buddhologist, elucidates the relevance of these two treatises to the linguistic turn in contemporary philosophy and emphasizes their practical, therapeutic possibilities. Comparing, in particular, the deep resonances between Chandrakirti’s commentary and Wittgenstein’s later work, Loizzo presents a masterful analysis in cross-cultural thought that highlights the transformative potential of philosophy.

Explore an in-depth explanation of buddha nature and self-emptiness.The original Sublime Continuum Explanatory Commentary was written by Noble Asanga to explain the verses received from the bodhisattva Maitreya in the late fourth century CE in northern India. Here it is introduced and presented in an original translation from Sanskrit and Tibetan, with the translation of an extensive Tibetan Supercommentary by Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen (1364–1432), whose work closely followed the view of his teacher, Tsong Khapa (1357–1419). Contemporary scholars have widely misunderstood the Buddhist Centrist (Madhyamaka) teaching of emptiness, or selflessness, as either a form of nihilism or a radical skepticism. Yet Buddhist philosophers from Nagarjuna on have shown that the negation of intrinsic reality, when accurately understood, affirms the supreme value of relative realities. Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen, in his Supercommentary, elucidates a highly positive theory of the buddha nature, showing how the wisdom of emptiness empowers the compassionate life of the enlightened, as it is touched by its oneness with the truth body of all buddhas. With his clear study of Gyaltsap’s insight and his original English translation, Bo Jiang completes his historic project of studying and presenting these works from Sanskrit and Tibetan in both Chinese and, now, English translations, in linked publications.

The first English-language translation (with rich historical introduction and extensive annotation) of a key group of Indian Buddhist tantric texts that have had profound influence on the Tibetan Buddhist tradition.The Seven Siddhi Texts is a key collection of Indian Buddhist tantric exegetical treatises that have shaped the interpretation of unexcelled yoga tantra and Mahamudra (Great Seal) practice in Tibet from the eighth century CE to the present. The scholar-yogi authors of these seven texts—drawing upon their scriptural knowledge and personal insight—clarify the intended meanings underlying cryptic, seemingly antinomian passages in root tantras such as the Esoteric Community Tantra (Guhyasamaja-tantra) pertaining to sex, violence, and magical powers, which have proved controversial for many traditional and modern scholars. These seven treatises come from the famed mahasiddha (great adept) tradition, which often defied the rigid social, religious, and gender norms of premodern India in quest of nondual wisdom. The translator’s introduction places the collection in its Indian sociohistorical context, traces its reception in Tibetan Mahamudra practice lineages, and addresses modern misinterpretations. As a window into the earliest Indian Buddhist tantric communities, The Seven Siddhi Texts is a treasure for both practitioners and scholars of these increasingly popular subjects.

A detailed, beautifully illustrated presentation of the construction and symbolism of the famed Kalachakra mandala, the crown jewel of the Indo-Tibetan tantric traditions.This volume contains an extensive analysis of the construction and symbolism of the mandala of the Kalachakra tantric system, the most intricate and explicit of the Indian Buddhist unexcelled yoga tantras, the most advanced teachings within the Indo-Tibetan tradition. Indo-Tibetan tantric traditions, particularly the unexcelled category, depend on imagery and visualization for the processes of purifying cyclic existence, and Kalachakra is the most detailed. The late scholar-practitioner Edward Henning, one of the earliest Western specialists on this material, offers this labor of love as a testament to the genius of the Tibetan tradition in preserving and transmitting these teachings over a thousand years. Well known internationally now due to the Dalai Lama’s many public initiations, the Kalachakra mandala serves as a primary focal point for meditators both new and seasoned. Henning draws primarily from the Jonang tradition of Kalachakra practice, particularly the modern master Banda Gelek, to elucidate and clarify inconsistencies across traditions and literature, including the authoritative Indian commentary Stainless Light (Vimalaprabha), regarding the construction and visualization of the three-tiered mandala with its hundreds of deities. In addition to providing detailed information on the images to be visualized, Henning provides in the final chapter a clear and extensive explanation of the symbolism of the habitat and inhabitants that are to be animated during the meditation session. An excellent companion to the translations of the Kalachakra Tantra and Stainless Light chapters co-published by the American Institute of Buddhist Studies and Wisdom Publications, this beautifully illustrated volume is a must-have for scholars and practitioners alike.

The Buddha’s final pronouncement on how to understand precisely the entirety of his teachings on key elements of meditative practice, the role of language in metaphysical insight, and the nature of enlightenment itself.Elucidating the Intent (Arya-samdhinirmocana-nama-mahayana-sutra) is a foundational text in the East Asian and Indo-Tibetan Buddhist canons that reveals vitally important points of practice and philosophy. Over eight chapters of deepening profundity, the Buddha dispels the confusion of his interlocutors on the fundamental aspects of meditation and liberation, making this a text treasured across these Buddhist traditions. With perfect precision, the Buddha clarifies his teachings, particularly those related to the nature of existence that he had propounded in the Perfection of Wisdom literature. Whereas in other teachings the Buddha elaborated extensive ethical principles for both monastics and laypersons, therein he declared all existent things to lack any essential nature or characteristic, which seemed to undermine these very principles. So, these interlocutors plead, elucidate the intent of these teachings. In so doing, the Buddha explains exactly how to balance the twin elements of Buddhist concern over the millennia: how to maintain intense meditative practice, disposition of universal compassion, and infallible ethics while simultaneously unraveling self-grasping habit patterns. Perfectly balanced, the Buddha explains, these two constitute the path to enlightenment. This text, then, could not be more critical to all Buddhist traditions, which is why it has remained a jewel for scholars and practitioners. Combining philological and philosophical accuracy in light of recent international scholarship, Gregory Forgues’ rendering marks a significant advance over prior translations. This new rendering, with a brief introduction and extensive glossary, introduces a new generation of scholars and practitioners to its rich offerings.