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Perfect or Perfected? Rongtön on Buddha-Nature

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As the most important canonical treatise on Buddha-nature, the Ratnagotravibhaga (also known as Uttaratantrasastra, Tib. rgyud bla ma) established the doctrinal foundations for the Mahayana philosophy of tathāgatagarbha, the doctrine according to which all sentient beings are either inherently buddhas or endowed with the potential for awakening. Among the most prominent Tibetan commentaries on this text figures that of the Sakya master Rongtön Sheja Künrig, a prolific writer who was active during the golden age of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. Refuting, on one hand, the notion that Buddha-nature is synonymous with mere emptiness, and on the other that the mind is inherently endowed with the Buddha qualities, Rongtön argues for an understanding of Buddha-nature that embraces both aspects of the nature of mind: cognizance and emptiness.

Rongtön Sheja Künrig (1376-1449) figures among the greatest teachers of the Sakya tradition. Particularly renowned for his commentaries on the Five Treatises of Maitreya, his vast erudition, and extensive teaching career made him one of the most influential masters for the scholastic lineages of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. This volume contains an annotated translation of Rongtön Chenpo’s commentary on the central chapter of this treatise (including the relevant stanzas of the root text), along with an extensive introduction to the historical development of this doctrine and an analysis of Rongtön’s position. (Source: Vajra Publications)

Citation	Bernert, Christian, trans. Perfect or Perfected? Rongtön on Buddha-Nature: A Commentary on the Fourth Chapter of the Ratnagotravibhāga (vv.1.27-95[a]). By Rongtön Sheja Künrig (rong ston shes bya kun rig). Kathmandu: Vajra Books, 2018.

Table of Contents About the Book Texts Translated Quotes

• Foreword vii
• Preface and Acknowledgments ix
• I - Translator's Introduction
• The Doctrine of Buddha-nature 1
  • Overview 1
  • Sources 4
  • The Sutras 4
  • The Sastras 8
• The Ratnagotravibhaga 11
  • The Text of the Ratnagotravibhaga 11
  • The Question of the Authorship of the Ratnagotravibhaga 12
  • The Ratnagotravibhaga in India 13
  • The Ratnagotravibhaga in Tibet 15
    • The Analytical School of Loden Sherab 15
    • The Meditative School of Tsen Khaboche 19
  • Previous Studies and the Aim of the Present work 20
• Rongton and His Presentation of Buddha-nature 22
  • A Brief Biography of Rongton Sheja Kiinrig 22
  • Rongton's Presentation of Buddha-nature 23
    • Introduction 23
    • The Buddha Qualities and the Dharmakaya 26
    • The Dhatu as a Cause 28
    • The Gotra and the Luminous Nature of the Mind 29
    • Rongton and the Ratnagotravibhagavyakhya 33
    • Summary 34
  • Notes on the Translation 35
• II - Translation: An Extensive Exposition of the Dhatu AllSentientBeingsHaveBuddha-Nature 37
• Determining the Dhatu by Means of a Tenfold Presentation 44
  • Essential nature and cause 44
  • Result and function 50
  • Connection 62
  • Manifestation 65
  • States 67
  • All-pervasiveness 69
  • Immutability 71
  • Inseparable qualities 97
• Summary 106
• Appendix: Detailed Outline of the Commentary 107 Glossary 113 Tibetan Names and Places 125
• Bibliography 129
• Index 137

Rongtön Sheja Künrig (རོང་སྟོན་ཤེས་བྱ་ཀུན་རིག་ rong ston shes bya kun rig). Erudite Commentary on the Treatise of the Sublime Continuum of the Mahayana (ཐེག་པ་ཆེན་པོ་རྒྱུད་བླ་མའི་བསྟན་བཅོས་ལེགས་པར་བཤད་པ་ theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos legs par bshad pa). Three editions were used by the translator for this book:

1. G: Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos legs par bshad pa. A detailed exegesis of the Uttaratantraśāstra (Ratnagotravibhāga) by Roṅ-ston Śes-bya-kun-rig. Reproduced from a rare manuscript from Jakhar Tshang. Gantok, 1979. This is a manuscript of ninety-six folios (192 pages) written in dbu med script.
2. LS: Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos legs par bshad pa bzhugs so. In Rong ston bka' 'bum, vol. JA. Skye gdu mod: Gangs ljong rig rgyan gsung rab par khang, 2004. A modern printed edition of 100 folios (199 pages).
3. K: Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos legs par bshad pa bzhugs so. In Theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos rtsal 'grel bzhugs so. Khreng tu'u (Chengdu): Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1995. A book in wesstern format including a concise account of Maitreya's career, the root verses of the Ratnagotravibhaga, Rongtön's commentary, and its outline.

There also exists a new (2012) ten volume version of Rong ston's gsung 'bum: rong ston thams cad mkhyen pa'i gsung 'bum. dkar mdzes bod rigs rang skyong khul sde dge rdzong: rdzong sar khams bye'i slob gling, 2012.