The Treasury of Knowledge, Book 6, Part 3: Frameworks of Buddhist Philosophy

481 Pages·2009·2.39 MB·English

The Treasury of Knowledge
Book Six, Part Three:
Frameworks of Buddhist Philosophy
A Systematic Presentation of
the Cause-Based Philosophical Vehicles
The publication of this work has been made possible through
the generous support of the Tsadra Foundation.
The Treasury of Knowledge
Book Six, Part Three:
Frameworks of Buddhist Philosophy
A Systematic Presentation of
the Cause-Based Philosophical Vehicles
Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé
KALU RINPOCHÉ TRANSLATION GROUP
under the direction of Venerable Bokar Rinpoché
This volume
translated, introduced, and annotated by
Elizabeth M. Callahan
Snow Lion Publications
Ithaca, New York
Boulder, Colorado
Snow Lion Publications
P.O. Box 6483
Ithaca, New York 14851 USA
607-273-8519
www.snowlionpub.com
Copyright © 2007 Kalu Rinpoché
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced by any
means without prior written permission from the publisher.
Printed in Canada on acid-free recycled paper.
ISBN 978-1-55939-277-8
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Koṅ-sprul Blo-gros-mtha’-yas, 1813-1899.
[Śes bya mtha’ yas pa’i rgya mtsho. English. Selections]
The treasury of knowledge : Book six, part three, frameworks of
Buddhist philosophy, a systematic presentation of the cause-based
philosophical vehicles / Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé ; Kalu Rinpoché
Translation Group under the direction of Bokar Rinpoché ; this volume
translated, introduced, and annotated by Elizabeth M. Callahan.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-55939-277-8 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-55939-277-0 (alk. paper)
1. Buddhism—Doctrines. 2. Buddhist sects. 3. Buddhism—China
—Tibet—Doctrines. I. Callahan, Elizabeth M. II. Title.
BQ4140 . K672513 2007
294.3'420423—dc22
2007010391
CONTENTS
Foreword by Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche 7
Introduction 9
The Root Text: Frameworks of Buddhist Philosophy:
A Systematic Presentation of the
Cause-Based Philosophical Vehicles 57
1. Three Ya¯nas and Four Tenet Systems 83
Section I: H¯inaya¯na 85
2. The Shra¯vakaya¯na: An Overview and the Four Truths 87
3. The Shra¯vakaya¯na: Its Tenet Systems, Orders,
and Results 123
4. The Pratyekabuddhaya¯na 151
Section II: Maha¯ya¯na 159
5. The Maha¯ya¯na’s Distinctions and Training 161
6. Chittama¯tra 175
7. An Overview of Madhyamaka 195
8. Rangtong-Madhyamaka 203
9. Sva¯tantrika 217
.
10. Pra¯sangika 223
11. Shentong-Madhyamaka 249
12. Secret Mantra-Madhyamaka 269
Appendix: Outline of the Text 275
Glossary 283
Endnotes 301
Bibliography of Works Cited by the Author 407
Reference Bibliography 423
Index 459
FOREwORD
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If you thoroughly comprehend the philosophical vehicles presented in
Jamgön Lodrö Tayé’s Treasury of Knowledge, you will develop the firm
resolve to emerge from saṃsāra and will understand the absence of the
self of persons. These are the teachings of the first turning of the dharma
wheel.
 C the treasury of knowledge
You will understand emptiness, which is freedom from all conceptu-
ally elaborated extremes, and will know that, on a conventional level,
all phenomena are simply dependently originated appearances. Having
understood these things, you will understand the threefold enumeration of
utter purity and the twelvefold enumeration of complete purity1 with ease.
These are the teachings of the middle turning of the dharma wheel.
You will recognize that the abiding nature of mind, luminous sugata-
garbha, is stainless in nature: stains are self-arising and self-liberated. This
is the thought of the third turning of the dharma wheel.
On the basis of this, you will know the way in which the five poisons are
the five wisdoms, as is taught in the Vajrayāna.
It is precisely for these reasons that this section of the Treasury of Knowl-
edge is of the utmost importance. May those of great intelligence master
this.
Spoken by Tsülgyam, who is only called “Khenpo”
(Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche)
5 November 2005
INTRODUCTION
For Buddhists, the study of philosophy has a single goal: awakening. Study
(or, as it is traditionally undertaken, listening) is the first of the three
means to knowledge, the other two being reflection and meditation. All
Buddhist practitioners engage in some form of study, though for many of
those whose main interest is meditation, the formal study of philosophy,
with its branch areas of epistemology and logic, seems quite unnecessary.
Yet, as Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche’s foreword explicates, the sys-
tematic study of the topics contained in this volume will lead us from the
foundational Buddhist teachings on the four truths to the Madhyamaka of
Secret Mantra, and thence to awakening.
Khenpo Tsültrim teaches that there are four ways to approach the real-
ization of mahāmudrā: through training progressively in the view, medi-
tation, conduct, or the tantras. In the Karma Kagyu tradition, training in
meditation starts with the four common preliminaries and four uncom-
mon preliminaries,2 and is followed by shamatha (calm abiding) and
vipashyanā (superior insight) meditations according to either a Sūtrayāna
or a Vajrayāna approach. When training in conduct, the first step is to do
no harm, either to oneself or to others; subsequent training in altruistic
behavior may be followed by instruction in other styles of conduct appro-
priate to one’s level of practice.3 To train according to the tantras is to
practice the meditations of the four sets of tantra in sequence, starting with
kriyā (action) tantras, charyā (conduct) tantras, yoga tantras, and finally
anuttarayoga (highest yoga) tantras. Khenpo Tsültrim explains that while
any of these three approaches will lead to the realization of mahāmudrā,
training in the stages of the view, such as presented by Jamgön Kongtrul
in this section of his Treasury of Knowledge, is the most profound way to
proceed.4