A contemporary and student of the illustrious Tibetan masters Rongzom and Marpa the translator, Marpa Dopa traveled south to Nepal and India where he studied under numerous prominent Indian scholars and yogis of the time. He is mostly remembered for his translations of tantric works and, in particular, for the lineages of Cakrasaṃvara and Vajrayoginī that he brought back to Tibet and spread among his students.
Library Items
- A Commentary on the Meaning of the Words of the Uttaratantra
An early Tibetan commentary on the Uttaratantra, both the śāstra and the vyākhyā, that purports to represent the teachings passed on by the Kashmiri Parahitabhadra to his Tibetan student Marpa, though it is not entirely clear whether this refers to Marpa Dopa or Marpa Chökyi Lodrö, both of whom were important early Kagyu masters and translators that travelled south to receive teachings which they imported and propagated in Tibet. Nevertheless, the text follows more closely Indian commentarial styles and includes typical Mahāmudrā type instructions in its exegesis. Thus it is a prime example of the lineage that descends from Maitrīpa that came to dominate the Kagyu school's approach to the Uttaratantra in later generations.
Rgyud bla ma'i tshig don rnam par 'grel pa;Mahamudra;Kagyu;rgyud bla ma'i tshig don rnam par 'grel pa;རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་ཚིག་དོན་རྣམ་པར་འགྲེལ་པ།;རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་ཚིག་དོན་རྣམ་པར་འགྲེལ་པ།
On the topic of this person
Karl Brunnhölzl: On the Supposed Commentary on the Uttaratantra by Marpa Chökyi Lodrö
Brunnhölzl, Karl. "On the Supposed Commentary on the Uttaratantra by Marpa Chökyi Lodrö. Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, February 26, 2022. Video, 4:39. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLNp5ErprLc.
Brunnhölzl, Karl. "On the Supposed Commentary on the Uttaratantra by Marpa Chökyi Lodrö. Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, February 26, 2022. Video, 4:39. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLNp5ErprLc.
Brunnhölzl, Karl. "On the Supposed Commentary on the Uttaratantra by Marpa Chökyi Lodrö. Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, February 26, 2022. Video, 4:39. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLNp5ErprLc.;Karl Brunnhölzl: On the Supposed Commentary on the Uttaratantra by Marpa Chökyi Lodrö;Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra;Mar pa chos kyi blo gros;Mar pa do pa chos kyi dbang phyug;Karl Brunnhölzl: On the Supposed Commentary on the Uttaratantra by Marpa Chökyi Lodrö
Six Tibetan Translations of the Ratnagotravibhāga
No translation of the Ratnagotravibhāga seems to have existed in Tibet before the 11th century, inasmuch as no catalogue of the imperial period (the 9th century) shows any record of one. Although only a single Tibetan translation is extant (that of rNgog Blo ldan shes rab [1069-1109] and Sajjana), ’Gos Lo tsā ba gZhon nu dpal (1392-1481) reports that up to his time six translations had already been made. In the present paper, I will examine what can be learned about the six translations, those of: (1) Atiśa and Nag tsho Tshul khrims rgyal ba, (2) rNgog Blo ldan shes rab and Sajjana (late 11th cent.), (3) Pa tshab Nyi ma grags, (4) Mar pa Do pa Chos kyi dbang phyug (1042–1136), (5) Jo nang Lo tsā ba Blo gros dpal (1299–1353 or 1300–1364), and (6) Yar klungs Lo tsā ba.
Kano, Kazuo. "Six Tibetan Translations of the Ratnagotravibhāga." China Tibetology 23, no. 2 (2014), 76–101.
Kano, Kazuo. "Six Tibetan Translations of the Ratnagotravibhāga." China Tibetology 23, no. 2 (2014), 76–101.;Six Tibetan Translations of the Ratnagotravibhāga;Textual study;Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra;Atīśa;Nag 'tsho lo tsA ba tshul khrims rgyal ba;Rngog blo ldan shes rab;Sajjana;Mar pa do pa chos kyi dbang phyug;Jo nang lo tsA ba blo gros dpal;Pa tshab lo tsA ba nyi ma grags pa;Kazuo Kano
What Is My Mind without Me? Buddha-Nature in the Karma Kagyu School by Karl Brunnhölzl
In this interview Karl Brunnhölzl and Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho discuss the buddha-nature teachings in the Karma Kagyu school, touching on Karl's first encounter with the buddha-nature teachings, the inspiration for his book When the Clouds Part, the Ratnagotravibhāga as a bridge between sūtra and tantra, how buddha-nature teachings were transmitted in the Kagyu lineage, the Third and Eight Karmapa's views on buddha-nature, and much more.
Karl Brunnhölzl is one of the most prolific translators of Tibetan texts into English and has worked on all of the Five Treatises of Maitreya. He was originally trained as a physician and then studied at Kamalashila Institute, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso's Marpa Institute, and Hamburg University. Since 1989, Karl has served as a translator, interpreter, and Buddhist teacher mainly in Europe, India, and Nepal. Since 1999, he has acted as one of the main translators and teachers at Nitartha Institute (director: Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche) in the USA, Canada, and Germany. He has translated and written about buddha-nature extensively and he is the author of several books on Buddhism, such as The Center of the Sunlit Sky, Luminous Melodies, Milarepa's Kungfu, and The Heart Attack Sutra. He has also completed several ground-breaking translations in the Tsadra Foundation series, including a three-volume work on the Abhisamayālaṃkāra. He has also completed the work Prajñāpāramitā, Indian "gzhan stong pas", and the Beginning of Tibetan gzhan stong in the Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde series. When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and Its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sutra and Tantra, formed the basis for the Buddha-Nature website project. In 2019 his translation of the Mahāyānasaṃgraha with Indian and Tibetan commentaries was published and won the Khyentse Foundation Prize For Outstanding Buddhist Translation.
Karl Brunnhölzl is one of the most prolific translators of Tibetan texts into English and has worked on all of the Five Treatises of Maitreya. He was originally trained as a physician and then studied at Kamalashila Institute, Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso's Marpa Institute, and Hamburg University. Since 1989, Karl has served as a translator, interpreter, and Buddhist teacher mainly in Europe, India, and Nepal. Since 1999, he has acted as one of the main translators and teachers at Nitartha Institute (director: Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche) in the USA, Canada, and Germany. He has translated and written about buddha-nature extensively and he is the author of several books on Buddhism, such as The Center of the Sunlit Sky, Luminous Melodies, Milarepa's Kungfu, and The Heart Attack Sutra. He has also completed several ground-breaking translations in the Tsadra Foundation series, including a three-volume work on the Abhisamayālaṃkāra. He has also completed the work Prajñāpāramitā, Indian "gzhan stong pas", and the Beginning of Tibetan gzhan stong in the Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde series. When the Clouds Part: The Uttaratantra and Its Meditative Tradition as a Bridge between Sutra and Tantra, formed the basis for the Buddha-Nature website project. In 2019 his translation of the Mahāyānasaṃgraha with Indian and Tibetan commentaries was published and won the Khyentse Foundation Prize For Outstanding Buddhist Translation.
Brunnhölzl, Karl. "What Is My Mind without Me? Buddha-Nature in the Karma Kagyu School." Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, February 26, 2022. Video, 1:16:52. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh--a5jxNq4.
Brunnhölzl, Karl. "What Is My Mind without Me? Buddha-Nature in the Karma Kagyu School." Conversations on Buddha-Nature with Lopen Dr. Karma Phuntsho. Produced by the Tsadra Foundation Research Department, February 26, 2022. Video, 1:16:52. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh--a5jxNq4.;What Is My Mind without Me? Buddha-Nature in the Karma Kagyu School by Karl Brunnhölzl;Karma Kagyu;Buddha-nature as Emptiness;Buddha-nature as Luminosity;rang stong;gzhan stong;Karmapa, 3rd;Karmapa, 8th;Mahamudra;Sentient beings;The doctrine of buddha-nature in Tibetan Buddhism;gotra;Uttaratantra;Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra;Mar pa chos kyi blo gros;Mar pa do pa chos kyi dbang phyug; 
Philosophical positions of this person
Do the author's writings belong to the analytic or meditative tradition of Uttaratantra exegesis?
Other names
- མར་པ་དོ་བ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་དབང་ཕྱུག་ · other names (Tibetan)
- mar pa do ba chos kyi dbang phyug · other names (Wylie)
Affiliations & relations
- Parahitabhadra · teacher
- Mar pa chos kyi blo gros · teacher
- cog ro chos kyi rgyal mtshan · student
