kun gzhi

From Buddha-Nature
Tibetan Noun

kun gzhi

universal ground
आलय
ཀུན་གཞི་

Basic Meaning

Although it is commonly used as an abbreviation of ālayavijñāna (kun gzhi'i rnam shes), in later Tibetan traditions, particularly that of the Kagyu and the Nyingma, it came to denote an ultimate or pure basis of mind, as opposed to the ordinary, deluded consciousness represented by the ālayavijñāna. Alternatively, in the Jonang tradition, this pure version is referred to as ālaya-wisdom (kun gzhi'i ye shes).

On this topic
Article
Grounds of Buddha-Nature in Tibet
This paper discusses syntheses forged in Tibet among the doctrines of Madhyamaka, Yogācāra, and buddha-nature (tathāgatagarbha). Buddha-nature is a distinctively Mahāyāna Buddhist doctrine, taking a place along side of the Yogācāra doctrine of the basic consciousness (ālayavijñāna) and the universal emptiness (śūnyatā) of Madhyamaka. As a fundamental ground of reality, buddha-nature comes to be identified with a positive side of emptiness (in the case of Madhyamaka) and is assimilated with the basic consciousness (in the case of Yogācāra) as well. As the intrinsic purity of mind, buddha-nature also plays a causal role as the potential for complete awakening.

Buddha-nature comes to shape a Madhyamaka interpretation of emptiness in a positive light in a way that parallels its place in a Yogācāra interpretation (as a positive foundation of mind and reality). Buddha-nature supplements a Yogācāra theory of mind and reality by offering a positive alternative to a theory of consciousness that otherwise functions simply as the distorted cognitive structure of suffering. It thus is not only the potential for an awakened mind, but the cognitive content of awakening, too.

In Tibet we see the interpretation of buddha-nature converge with Mahāyāna doctrines in structurally parallel ways. Paired with buddha-nature, the doctrine of emptiness in Madhyamaka pivots from a “self-empty” lack of intrinsic nature to an “other-empty,” pure ground that remains. In narratives of disclosure characteristic of the doctrine of buddha-nature, we also see parallel shifts in the foundations of Yogācāra, as grounds of distortion like the basic consciousness, the dependent nature, and self-awareness are reinscribed into a causal story that takes place within a pure, gnostic ground.
Duckworth, Douglas S. "Grounds of Buddha-Nature in Tibet." Critical Review for Buddhist Studies 21 (2017): 109–36. https://sites.temple.edu/duckworth/files/2019/01/Duckworth_Buddha-Nature-in-Tibet.pdf.
Video
Khenpo Tamphel at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium
Drawing on the text entitled A Mahāmudrā Investigation into Confusion: An Instruction for Identifying the Process of Confusion by Jikten Sumgon, Khenpo Tamphel explains how, according to this text, sentient beings and buddhas are related, how confusion arises that leads to saṃsāra, and how recognition of the true nature of sentient beings is the way to enlightenment.
Tamphel, Khenpo Könchok. "The Difference Between a Sentient Being and a Buddha: 'Jig rten gsum mgon’s Instruction on the Process of Confusion." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 47:23. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GbYgx3ozDM.
Book
Luminous Heart
This superb collection of writings on buddha nature by the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje (1284–1339) focuses on the transition from ordinary deluded consciousness to enlightened wisdom, the characteristics of buddhahood, and a buddha’s enlightened activity. Most of these materials have never been translated comprehensively. The Third Karmapa’s unique and well-balanced view synthesizes Yogācāra, Madhyamaka, and the classical teachings on buddha nature. Rangjung Dorje not only shows that these teachings do not contradict each other but also that they supplement each other and share the same essential points in terms of the ultimate nature of mind and all phenomena. His fusion is remarkable because it clearly builds on Indian predecessors and precedes the later often highly charged debates in Tibet about the views of Rangtong ("self-empty") and Shentong ("other-empty"). Although Rangjung Dorje is widely regarded as one of the major proponents of the Tibetan Shentong tradition (some even consider him its founder), this book shows how his views differ from the Shentong tradition as understood by Dölpopa, Tāranātha, and the First Jamgön Kongtrul. The Third Karmapa’s view is more accurately described as one in which the two categories of rangtong and shentong are not regarded as mutually exclusive but are combined in a creative synthesis. For those practicing the sūtrayāna and the vajrayāna in the Kagyü tradition, what these texts describe can be transformed into living experience. (Source: Shambhala Publications)
Brunnhölzl, Karl, trans. Luminous Heart: The Third Karmapa on Consciousness, Wisdom, and Buddha Nature. Nitartha Institute Series. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2009.
Term Variations
Key Term kun gzhi
Topic Variation universal ground
Tibetan ཀུན་གཞི་  ( kunzhi)
Wylie Tibetan Transliteration kun gzhi  ( kunzhi)
Devanagari Sanskrit आलय
Romanized Sanskrit ālaya
Buddha-nature Site Standard English universal ground
Richard Barron's English Term universal ground
Jeffrey Hopkin's English Term basis-of-all
Dan Martin's English Term all basis
Gyurme Dorje's English Term substratum, ground-of-all
Ives Waldo's English Term all-ground
Term Information
Usage Example In his Entering the Way of the Great Vehicle, Rongzompa states,

ཐེག་པ་གོང་མའི་ཚུལ་ལས་ནི།་ཀུན་གཞིའི་མཚན་ཉིད་གདོད་མ་ནས་བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་ཞེས་བྱ་བལ་ཉོན་མོངས་པ་དང་གནས་ངན་ལེན་གྱི་བག་ཆགས་ནི་གློ་བུར་གྱི་དྲི་མ་སྟེ་གསེར་གཡས་གཡོགས་པའམི་ནོར་བུ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་འདམ་དུ་སྦུབས་པ་བཞིན་ཡོན་ཏན་ཅུང་ཟད་མི་སྣང་བར་ཟད་དེལ་རང་བཞིན་ཉམས་པར་བྱས་པ་མེད་དོ།

"In the higher vehicles, the characteristic of the ālaya [kun gzhi] is that it is the primordial awakened mind [bodhicitta]. The afflictions and the imprints that lead to birth in the lower realms are adventitious obscurations, like oxide covering gold, or dirt covering a precious jewel. Although the buddha qualities are temporarily hidden, their nature is not defiled."

-Translated in Sam van Schaik. Approaching the Great Perfection: Simultaneous and Gradual Approaches to Dzogchen Practice in Jigme Lingpa's Longchen Nyingtig. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2004: p. 63.


In his Treasury of Words and Meanings, Longchenpa defines four types of kun gzhi: the primordial universal ground (ye don gyi kun gzhi), the linking universal ground (sbyor ba don gyi kun gzhi), the universal ground of varied karmic propensities (bags sna tshogs pa'i kun gzhi), and the universal ground of the karmic propensities(-derived) body (bag chags lus kyi kun gzhi).

-David F. Germano and William S. Waldron. "A Comparison of Ālaya-Vijñāna in Yogācāra and Dzogchen." In Buddhist Thought and Applied Psychological Research: Transcending Boundaries. New York: Routledge, 2006: p. 53.
Source Language Tibetan
Basic Meaning Although it is commonly used as an abbreviation of ālayavijñāna (kun gzhi'i rnam shes), in later Tibetan traditions, particularly that of the Kagyu and the Nyingma, it came to denote an ultimate or pure basis of mind, as opposed to the ordinary, deluded consciousness represented by the ālayavijñāna. Alternatively, in the Jonang tradition, this pure version is referred to as ālaya-wisdom (kun gzhi'i ye shes).
Related Terms gzhi
Term Type Noun
Definitions



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