The Precious Lamp, the First Bhutanese Commentary on the Ultimate Continuum
[[ |300px|thumb| ]] Gendün Rinchen alias Geshe Jyaku, the sixty-ninth Je Khenpo of Bhutan, is one of the most prolific monk-scholars Bhutan ever produced. A Bhutanese Buddhist luminary of the twentieth century, he has left behind an impressive literary legacy of nine volumes of compositions and commentarial literature, most of which he wrote while teaching in the shedra colleges in Bhutan. A scholar of great depth and vast knowledge, his works are marked by clarity and an exceptionally beautiful writing style, whether they are in prose or poetry. His creative play with words and lucid writing skills can be seen in his wit and humor-laden Biography of Drukpa Kunley and the very informative Religious History of Bhutan.
On buddha-nature, Gendün Rinchen wrote a commentary on the Ultimate Continuum entitled Precious Lamp: A Literal Explanation of the Ultimate Mahāyāna Continuum. In explaining the content of verses I.154 and 155, he clearly expresses his understanding of buddha-nature as a union of emptiness and luminosity endowed with latent qualities of the Buddha. He writes:
- If asked what is the ontic nature of the element which is taught to be unfathomed by others, this natural purity of the essence, which is free from stains, has no need for preexisting elements of flaws to be cleared because being free from all kinds of stains is the nature of this intrinsically empty [essence]. This natural luminosity of the essence, which is free from stains, has no need for new aspects of qualities to be maintained because possessing all qualities in an indivisible manner is the nature of this intrinsically luminous [essence].
He comments further:
- If asked what are the characteristics of such element, the naturally pure element is separable from the conditioned phenomena, which are divisible from it, because the afflictions which have arisen from the assembly of causes and conditions do not penetrate its innate character and the stains are empty of their nature, just like space. The pure element is inseparable from the unconditioned attributes of the Buddha, which are indivisible from it, because it naturally possesses the unsurpassable qualities of the Buddha, such as powers, and the qualities are not empty of their nature, just like the sun. It is empty of that which does not exist in it, thus transcending the extreme of exaggeration, and it is not empty of that which exists in it, thus transcending the extreme of denial, just as Maitreya has said: "What exists in it cannot be nonexistent and what does not exist can neither be existent."
Gendün Rinchen explicitly endorses a buddha-nature that is a union of emptiness and luminosity, but he also argues that the Buddha qualities which are latent in buddha-nature are not empty of their being. Thus, he adopts a position which is slightly different from the main advocates of self-emptiness and other-emptiness.
Weekly quote
O King! Mind is inconceivable and always luminous by nature. Its buddha-nature remains like gold in the rocks.~ Ghanavyūhasūtra
