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Jonangpa Theory and Practice of Buddha-Nature
In order to discuss the Jonang understanding and practice of buddha-nature, Geshe Drime Ozer presents three main points, although he did not manage to discuss the second and third in any detail.
- 1. He briefly discusses how buddha-nature is explained in many sūtras and tantras and also quoted some important verses from these sūtras.
2. His second point concerns the method, path, and the techniques with which the ultimate truth of buddha-nature is actualized or revealed by getting rid of the adventitious obscurations.
3. The final point, which he planned to present, was the difference between sūtra and tantric presentations of buddha-nature and how they differ in profundity and effectiveness although they are dealing with the same point.
Quoting the verse which is said to be the declaration of the Buddha after he reached enlightenment, Geshe explains that the three sets of teachings of wheels of dharma are three phases of the Buddha's teachings to tame a person gradually or teachings to suit three different levels of spiritual caliber. In the Jonang tradition, the first two wheels of dharma are provisional and the last or final wheel of dharma is the definitive teaching dealing with the ultimate truth. Commenting on the emptiness taught in Nāgārjuna's scholastic writings, he states that the Jonang school considered that kind of emptiness to be only nominal emptiness and not the final one.
The Mādhyamika, in this respect, are divided into proponents of rangtong, or self-emptiness, and of zhentong, or other-emptiness. Both Prāsaṅgika and Śvātantrika fall within the rangtong group, while zhengtong is also known as Great Mādhymika and is the tradition promoted by the hymnic corpus of Nāgārjuna and the works of Maitreya. He goes on to explain how in the Jonang tradition, buddha-nature is equated with the alayajñāna and how this should be distinguished from alayavijñāna.
He says that in the Jonang tradition, buddha-nature is the ultimate buddha and that such buddha is endowed with all noble attributes and qualities, while the conventional buddha is one who has manifested such qualities having removed the obscuration. The sūtras did not teach a direct and effective path to reveal this ultimate buddha as the tantras did.
During the Q&A, a vibrant debate occurred among the presenters and attendees, primarily on the Jonang assertion that buddha-nature is a truly established eternal reality. Many scholars challenged the assertion that buddha-nature can be truly existing when analyzed by reductive reasoning presented in the Mādhyamika writings. Geshe Drime Ozer pointed out that buddha-nature is truly existent in the Jonang tradition as it is the truth and perceived by the pristine wisdom of the enlightened beings in their meditative equipoise. However, it is not a truly existing substance or entity which is nonexistent and what Nāgārjuna, Candrakīrti, and other Mādhyamika scholars negated.Abstract from the Author
About the video
| Featuring | Geshe Drime Ozer |
|---|---|
| Creator | Tsadra Foundation |
| Director | Perman, M. |
| Producer | Tsadra Foundation |
| Event | 2023 Buddha-Nature Conference Kathmandu (1 June 2023, Shechen Monastery, Kathmandu) |
| Related Website | Buddha-Nature |
| Creation Date | 1 June 2023 |
| Citation | Drime Ozer, Geshe. "Geshe Drime Ozer at the 2023 Buddha-Nature Conference." Day 1, Talk 5. 2023 Buddha-Nature Conference, Shechen Monastery, Kathmandu. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department. Video, 57:10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcSnACTyB9M. |
