Gone Beyond (Volume 1): The Prajnaparamita Sutras, The Ornament of Clear Realization, and Its Commentaries in the Tibetan Kagyu Tradition

by Karl Brunnhölzl (Introduction)

The Abhisamayalamkara summarizes all the topics in the vast body of the Prajnaparamita Sutras. Resembling a zip-file, it comes to life only through its Indian and Tibetan commentaries. Together, these texts not only discuss the "hidden meaning" of the Prajnaparamita Sutras—the paths and bhumis of sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas—but also serve as contemplative manuals for the explicit topic of these sutras—emptiness—and how it is to be understood on the progressive levels of realization of bodhisattvas. Thus these texts describe what happens in the mind of a bodhisattva who meditates on emptiness, making it a living experience from the beginner's stage up through buddhahood.

Gone Beyond contains the first in-depth study of the Abhisamayalamkara (the text studied most extensively in higher Tibetan Buddhist education) and its commentaries in the Kagyu School. This study (in two volumes) includes translations of Maitreya's famous text and its commentary by the Fifth Shamarpa Goncho Yenla (the first translation ever of a complete commentary on the Abhisamayalamkara into English), which are supplemented by extensive excerpts from the commentaries by the Third, Seventh, and Eighth Karmapas and others. Thus it closes a long-standing gap in the modern scholarship on the Prajnaparamita Sutras and the literature on paths and bhumis in mahayana Buddhism.

The first volume presents an English translation of the first three chapters of the Abhisamayalamkara and its commentary by the Fifth Shamarpa. The second volume presents an English translation of the final five chapters and its commentary by the Fifth Shamarpa.

Genres: Buddhism, Philosophy

937 pages, Hardcover

First published November 16, 2010

About the author

Dr. Karl Brunnhölzl, M.D., Ph.D. (Tibetology, Buddhology, and Sanskrit, Hamburg University, 2005; Buddhist philosophy, Kamalashila Institute, Germany, 1998), is one of the main translators and teachers at Nitartha Institute under Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche. In 2005, he was appointed as one of five Western Nalandabodhi teachers and given the title "mitra." In 2006, he moved to Seattle and works as a full-time Tibetan translator for Tsadra Foundation.

Reviews

[Barack Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

331-Prajnaparamita-Buddha-Religion-100BC

Barack
2021/05/16

" Prajnaparamita " is a classic of Mahayana Buddhism, translated from Sanskrit to Chinese by Master Xuanzang of the Tang Dynasty. The book contains 600 volumes. Probably it was written in the first century BC to several centuries later. "Prajna Paramita", paraphrased as "wisdom to the other side or self-nature to the other side and lightness to the other side, because the meaning is too much belongs to the translator's five not translated. The main purpose of this sutra is to clarify that everything comes from the "harmony of cause and condition", so it is "Self-nature is emptiness", so later generations are also called "emptiness".

Buddha, Sakyamuni, his surname is Gautama, and his name is Siddhartha. Born in 543 BC, or 483 years, or 400 years ago, at the age of 80. He was a thinker, educator, religious reformer, and founder of Buddhism in ancient India. The titles are Sakyamuni Buddha, Gautama Buddha, Buddha (meaning the enlightened person), Bhagavan, Sakyamuni, etc., also referred to as Sakyamuni Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha, and Sakyamuni Buddha. "Sakyamuni" is the surname of his race, which means "benevolence", and "Muni" is the honorific name for the saint in ancient India, which means "silence". In Buddhism, Shakyamuni is considered to be the noblest person in the world, so disciples and believers often call Shakyamuni the world-honored person. Buddhas are not gods but people whose realm is above gods, because all Buddhas are mortals born in the world. Starting from the Ming Dynasty, the Han Dynasty respected Shakyamuni as the Tathagata or Buddha, or simply called the Tathagata Buddha, while the Manchus in the Qing Dynasty called Sakyamuni the Buddha.

Table of Contents
1. Top grade prajna
2. Middle grade prajna
3. Inferior Prajna
4. Prajna
5. Manjusri Prajna
6. Naga Sri Prajna
7. Vajra Prajna
8. Reasonable Prajna
9. Six-pointed Prajna


"For a while, Bhagavad lived on the top of Jiufeng Mountain in the city of Kings, and together with the tens of thousands of people of Da Fu, they were all Arahants. All the omissions and troubles were gone. The wisdom horse is like a big dragon. He has done what he has done and has done what he has done, abandoning all the burdens and catching his own interests, doing everything he can to have a bound, righteous knowledge and liberation, and the ultimate freedom of mind is the first thing. "

According to legend, Sakyamuni only preached without record. The Buddhist scriptures we see today were recorded by the Buddha's disciple Ananda from memory. Ananda, "Ananda" in Sanskrit, translates as "joy" and "huanxi", which also means "no dye". Ananda is the Buddha's cousin and the Buddha's attendant. He is one of the top ten disciples of the Buddha. After the Buddha died, at the first sacred gathering assembly in Wangshe City, his excellent memory allowed him to recite many of the Buddha's past speeches. Those recorded manuscripts are sorted into Buddhist scriptures, which is of great help in spreading the Dharma. In the Buddhist scriptures, "If I Smell", "I" refers to Ananda.

"The Analects" is a student of Confucius who recorded Confucius's words and deeds of the works, why these sages do not leave your own text? So that later generations had to rely on their own memory to record and spread their wisdom. Is it because they are worried about leaving the text, it is easy to imprison future generations, leading to dogmatism?

"At that time, the Blessed One was sitting on the seat of the master, sitting on the altar of the master, standing upright and willing to live on the opposite side, and waiting to hold the king Miao samadhi. All samadhis are absorbed in this samadhi. The story goes. "

Even Bodhisattvas and Arhats must listen to the preaching of the Buddha and learn the wisdom of the Buddha. So where does the wisdom of the Buddha come from? In an era when written records were scarce, it was mainly through word of mouth to learn. The difficulty of learning can be imagined.

" At the time, these three thousand great worlds and the more than ten fangs of Gaza and other worlds have sentiments. The blind can see, the deaf can hear, the suffocated can speak, the mad can read, the chaotic can be determined, the poor get rich, and the exposed have clothing, food bidder hungry, thirsty have to drink, in addition, to have more sick, ugly bidder Duanyan, shaped disabled persons have a surpassingly successful bidder, those who have lost nausea wake Wu, Pidun bidder comfortable. "

The divine power of the Buddha is very similar to the divine power shown by Jesus in the Bible. Whether it is Buddhism or Christianity, if you want to get the faith of others, if you want to get faith, you must show your divine power and give mortals what they want.

"At that time, the Blessed One was in the seat of the Master, the light and the great towering, shadowing the three thousand worlds, and the remaining ten directions of the Buddhas such as Gaza, Su Milu Mountain, Lunwei Mountain, etc., and the rest of the Dragon God Palace Even the pure abode does not appear; like the full moon in autumn, the stars are reflected, like the wheel of light in summer, like the four treasures of the mountain kings illuminating the mountains and the majestic light. The Buddha manifests his true body with divine power, making these three thousand great things. All sentient beings in the world can see you. "

If the Buddha wise, but no such god, he has to get so many believers to do? If the Buddha had divine power but lacked wisdom, could his story be passed on for so long?

" At the time, the Precious Nature Buddha told Puguang Bodhisattva Mahasattva: "Goodman! From then on, the West has killed Gaza and other worlds. In the end, the world is called tolerable. The Buddha's name is Sakyamuni's Tathagata, Ying, Enlightenment, Enlightenment, Consummation, Good death, world interpretation, supreme husband, tune-in-law, celestial teacher, Buddha, Bhagavad, now and now the abbot of Pinyin, will speak of the great Prajna Paramita for the Bodhisattva Mahasattvas, and the supernatural power of the Buddha is now Sri." "

It stands to reason that the memorizer here is Ananda. He should only be able to remember what he saw with his own eyes, right? How can he remember where he can't see?

"At this time, in this world of three thousand great and thousand Buddhas, all treasures are full of treasures, all kinds of wonderful flowers are all over the place, treasure buildings and flag covers are everywhere, flower trees, fruit trees, fragrant trees, beautiful trees, treasure trees, clothing trees, and miscellaneous The ornamental trees are all around the solemn and lovely and joyous, such as the world of lotus flowers, the pure land of Tathagata, the auspicious bodhisattva, the bodhisattva of good living wisdom, and the bodhisattva Mahasa of Yu Wuliang, great power, and supernatural power, live in it. "

Tathagata has multiple incarnations, able to incarnate in many places at the same time, giving lectures on doctrines, but since he has such great magical powers, why is there still suffering in the world? Why is there still a dark place?

" Relics! The Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas should make it convenient to live in the Prajna Paramita and to live and be able to live without gain. The Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas should take the convenience of no residence to fully give Paramita and give. The person, the recipient, and the things donated must not get the cause. The Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas should use unprotected as the convenience, complete the pure precepts Paramita, and commit no sins or sins without gaining the cause. The Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas should take no gains. For the sake of convenience, complete peace, and tolerance of paramita, no movement or immobility can be achieved. The bodhisattva Mahasattvas should use the lack of diligence for convenience, perfect diligence in the paramitas, physical and mental diligence, and negligence. It is convenient for thoughtlessness, consummation, and contemplation of paramita, which is scented and tasteless and cannot be obtained. The bodhisattvas Mahasattvas should use nothingness for convenience, perfect prajna paramita, all dharmas and phases cannot be obtained. "

The so-called " Hearing the Dao in the morning and death at night " means that if you hear a good reason and feel that it is reasonable, you should study hard and make it your own. You should not be arrogant, turn a deaf ear to the truth, and be diligent. not cease. This is truly the love of learning. Confucius said that he had never met someone who knew him by birth. In that case, it would be extremely difficult to be agile and easy to learn.

" Further times, relics! The Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas live in Prajna Paramita and take nothing to gain for convenience. They should consummate four mindfulness, four righteousness, four god feet, five faculties, five powers, seven levels of enlightenment, and eight sages. The Taoist branch is the thirty-seven bodhi division method. The bodhisattva Mahasattva lives in the Prajna Paramita and uses nothing for convenience. It should be perfect for the empty liberation gate, the non-phase liberation gate, the unwilling liberation gate, and the three liberation gates. There is no reason. The Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas live in Prajna Paramita, taking nothing to gain for convenience. They should complete the four calm considerations, the four immeasurables, and the four colorless samādhi, and the calmness, immeasurable, and colorless samādhi shall not gain cause. "

Shakyamuni’s thoughts seem to be somewhat similar to those of Lao Tzu, and both pursue a state of being close to nature, quiet and inaction. Changes in intensity of one's heart, often more intense than the outside world changes. If you are upset, you can't get peace. Xiufo core of one is to maintain a steady heart, try the heart affected by external things to change.

" Further times, relics! If the Bodhisattva Mahasattva wants to gain access to inner space, outer space, inner and outer space, empty space, large space, triumphant emptiness, being emptiness, non-emptiness, after all, emptiness, infinite emptiness, scattered emptiness, non-variable emptiness, nature empty, empty autocorrelation, a total phase space, all the laws empty, was not empty, empty asexual, Zixing Kong, asexual Zixing Kong should learn Prajna Paramita. "

In his preaching, the Buddha first talked about the benefits and effects of studying Dharma. If we want to attract others to do something, we must first publicize the benefits of doing it. Others are willing to learn and listen.

"The Buddha tells the relics: "If the Bodhisattva Mahasattva practiced Prajna Paramita, he has been able to accomplish such merits. At that time, the four great heavenly kings of the three thousand worlds, all rejoiced and said: "I wait for the present to serve in four bowls. This bodhisattva is like a Buddha's bowl offered by the former king." "

Buddhism has the Three Jewels, Buddhism, Dharma, and Sangha. They help mortals find relief from the sufferings of the real world. In fact, whether religion or philosophy, this method is also being explored. Everyone has their own setbacks and sufferings. Buddhism has been around for so long, and it must have its essence. Even if there is no religious belief, you can still draw nourishment from it.

[Everett Grandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

gone beyond

yet you stay right at home in this familiarization... as obscuration to being is unraveled and its imputation to substantiate reason for being falls on groundlessness...a trued foundation is revealed

[Graham Smetham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karl Brunnholzl is one of the best translators and commentators on Tibetan Buddhism around today. I have read all of his works and have always marveled and been very grateful for his lucid expositions of the wonderful teachings of the Kargyu practitioner/meditators/philosophers. I awaited this volume with great anticipation and got a copy as soon as it was available. I started reading the introduction when doing my washing in the local laundrette - it was the most blissful laundry days I have ever had, I was beaming with delight. Its a large book and I am only a tenth of the way in but I know there a major moments of deep insight to come. I will write more later. One warning, however, one does need to have some background knowledge of the subtle philosophies of Tibetan Buddhism - especially 'emptiness', in order to really understand what is going on, I am not sure what an absolute novice would make of it.