Category Archives: Nagarjuna EN

Commentary on the Madhyamakāvatāra—Part 2

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Commentary on the Madhyamakāvatāra—Part 2—Title and Translators Homage

by Khenchen Namdrol Tsering

In this, the second part of his extensive oral commentary on Candrakīrti’s Madhyamakāvatāra, Khenchen Namdrol Tsering discusses the title of the text and the translator’s homage.

Madhyamakāvatāra: Collection of Reasoning

by Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche

The Text Itself

The text we are explaining here is the Introduction to the Middle Way, and to do so we will use its auto-commentary. There are four main parts to the explanation:

1. The Meaning of the Title
2. The Translators’ Homage
3. The Main Part of the Text
4. The Conclusion

1. The Meaning of the Title

The Sanskrit title of the auto-commentary is Madhyamakavatarabhashya-nama. In Tibetan, it is དབུ་མ་ལ་འཇུག་པའི་བཤད་པ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ།, or A Commentary to the Introduction to the Middle Way. Continue reading »

Commentary on the Madhyamakāvatāra—Part 1—Collection of Reasoning

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Khenpo Namdrol Tsering

Commentary on the Madhyamakāvatāra—Part 1—Collection of Reasoning

by Khenchen Namdrol Tsering

In this teaching, translated from an audio recording, Khenchen Namdrol Tsering explains the background to Candrakīrti’s classic work by discussing the texts of the ‘collection (or corpus) of reasoning’ (rigs tshogs) attributed to Nāgārjuna, the great philosopher and founder of the Madhyamaka tradition.

Madhyamakāvatāra: Collection of Reasoning

by Khenchen Namdrol Rinpoche

Motivation

Please listen to this explanation with the supreme motivation of bodhicitta, wishing to attain perfect awakening for the sake of all sentient beings.

Introduction to the Text

The Collection of Middle Way Reasoning

The great master Ārya Nāgārjuna was prophesied by the Buddha himself in the Root Tantra of Mañjuśrī (Mañjuśrīmūla Tantra):

Four hundred years after I,
The Tathāgata, have passed away,
A monk called Nāga will appear
Who will benefit my teachings.
Reaching the bhūmi of Perfect Joy
And living for six hundred years,
This great being will perfect
The science of the great peacock,[1]
And will understand the meaning of various śāstras
And the meaning of the absence of reality.
When he leaves behind his mortal body,
He will be reborn in Sukhāvatī.
And ultimately, he will certainly gain
he perfect fruit of buddhahood itself.

Continue reading »

Nagarjuna: Praise To Satisfying Sentient Beings

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Nagarjuna: If one benefits sentient beings, that is the best of offerings to me.

Nagarjuna: Praise To Satisfying Sentient Beings

In the Indian language: Sattva radha nastavam.

In the Tibetan language: sems can mgu bar bya ba’i bstod pa

In the English language: Praise to Satisfying Sentient Beings

Homage to Manjushri!

1 Respecting me is [to work for] the welfare of sentient beings,

because respect [for me] is not otherwise.

Whoever did not give up compassion, that one respects me; Continue reading »

Nagarjuna: A Commentary on the Awakening Mind, Bodhicittavivarana

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Nagarjuna

BODHICITTA VIVARANA

A Commentary on the Awakening Mind

Nagarjuna

Sanskrit title: Bodhicittavivarana

Tibetan title: byang chub sems kyi ‘grel pa

Homage to glorious Vajrasattva!

It has been stated:

Devoid of all real entities;

Utterly discarding all objects and subjects,

Such as aggregates, elements and sense-fields;

Due to sameness of selflessness of all phenomena,

One’s mind is primordially unborn;

It is in the nature of emptiness. Continue reading »

Nagarjuna: Letter to a Friend

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Nagarjuna (1st – 2nd century CE), the great Indian Buddhist master, wrote this letter of advice Suhrllekha, in verse, to a king that was a friend. Although short at only 123 verses, it is considered to be a monument in the Indian Buddhist tradition, and covers the Mahayana path with uncommon clarity, and is for this reason much quoted by many great Tibetan masters. Continue reading »

Nagarjuna: In Praise of the Transcendental

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Nagarjuna: Without entering the meditation As shown by the Noble Ones Can consciousness ever become signless?

Nagarjuna: In Praise of the Transcendental

HYMN TO [THE BUDDHA,] THE WORLD TRANSCENDENT by Nagarjuna

Sanskrit title: Lokatistava

Tibetan title: ‘jig rten las ‘das par bstod pa (jigten ley depar toepa)

Homage to Manjushri!

1 I bow to you, the world transcendent,

You who’re versed in the gnosis of absence.

For the benefit of the world

You’ve suffered long with great compassion.

2 That apart from the mere aggregates

No sentient being exists, you uphold.

Yet, great sage, you continue to remain

Perfectly immersed in the welfare of beings.

3 Wise one, you’ve declared to the intelligent ones

That aggregates too are comparable

To an illusion, a mirage, Continue reading »

Nagarjuna: The Heart of Interdependent Origination

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The Heart of Interdependent Origination

Nagarjuna’s Commentary to The Heart of Interdependent Origination

An Introduction to Nagarjuna’s Heart of Interdependent Origination

All Buddhist schools have denied the existence of the self as an identical permanent and immutable substance which experiences the results of former actions. They have also universally rejected the notion of a supreme god. They have however accepted the relative reality of pre-existence and subsequent rebirth as well as the provisional efficiency of actions (Karma). Those who adhere to the doctrine of the self have opposed this view, because as they contend, denial of an identical permanent and immutable self controverts the efficiency of actions and the doctrine of rebirth. The Buddhist schools have replied to this objection with the doctrine of Interdependent Origination. The doctrine of Interdependent Origination has been expounded at length by the Buddha in numerous discourses, most notably in the Salistambasutra (1) wherein the famous and often cited example of the Interdependent Origination of the sprout appears.

Commentaries to the discourse were composed by Buddhist masters, such as Nagarjuna and Kamalashila. As the Madhyamaka system is based upon an interpretation of Interdependent Origination, this doctrine has been central to its inception and development. Nagarjuna, the foremost exponent of the Madhyamaka, has written extensively on the subject of Interdependent Origination. Among his works are counted his commentary to the Salistambasutra, Aryasalistambakarikanamamahayanastratika and the twentysixth chapter of The Foundation Stanzas of the Middle Way, and its commentary the Dvadasangaparikanamamahaynasauatiprakara as well as The Heart of Interdependent Origination and its autocommentary. Continue reading »

Nagarjuna: Sunyatasaptati

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SUNYATASAPTATI

by

Arya Nagarjuna

Translated by Christian Lindtner

[1] Though the Buddhas have spoken of duration, origination, destruction, being, non-being, low, moderate, and excellent by force of worldly convention, [they] have not done [so] in an absolute sense.


[2] Designations are without significance, for self, non-self, and self-non-self do not exist. [For] like nirvana, all expressible things are empty (sunya) of own-being.


[3] Since all things altogether lack substance — either in causes or conditions, [in their] totality, or separately — they are empty.

[4] Being does not arise, since it exists. Non-being does not arise, since it does not exist. Being and non-being [together] do not arise, due to [their] heterogeneity. Consequently they do not endure or vanish. Continue reading »

Nagarjuna: Great Praise of the Ten Acts of the Buddha

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Arya Nagarjuna

Arya Nagarjuna

Great Praise of the Ten Acts of the Buddha

by Arya Nagarjuna

With skilful means and compassion, you were born in the Shakya clan,

Unconquerable by others, you vanquished Mara’s hordes,

Your physical form resplendent, like a mountain of gold.

To you, the King of the Shakyas, I pay homage!

You I shall praise, who first awakened the mind of enlightenment,

Then completed the accumulations of merit and wisdom, Continue reading »

Ārya Nāgārjuna: Verses on the Heart of Dependent Origination

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Ārya Nāgārjuna: Verses on the Heart of Dependent Origination

In this short text, called Pratītyasamutpādahṛdaya in Sanskrit, Nāgārjuna explains the heart or ‘essence’ (hṛdaya) of dependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda) in just seven stanzas. He shows how the twelve links of dependent origination can be further condensed into the three categories of afflictions (kleśa), karma and suffering, and how all phenomena, being interdependent, are empty of true existence.

In the language of India: pratītyasamutpāda hṛdaya kārikā
In the language of Tibet: rten cing ‘brel par ‘byung ba’i snying po tshig le’ur byas pa
In the English language: Verses on the Heart of Dependent Origination

Homage to Mañjuśrī, the Youthful!

1. These different links, twelve in number,
Which Buddha taught as dependent origination,
Can be summarized in three categories:
Mental afflictions, karma and suffering.

2. The first, eighth and ninth are afflictions,
The second and tenth are karma,
The remaining seven are suffering.
Thus the twelve links are grouped in three. Continue reading »

Nāgārjuna: Commentary on the Noble Essence of the Dharmadhātu

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Commentary on the Noble Essence of the Dharmadhātu

This short text attributed to Nāgārjuna, which appears in the Abhidharma section of the Tengyur (Toh 4101), is a commentary on the so-called ye dharma formula of dependent origination.

Nāgārjuna: Commentary on the Noble Essence of the Dharmadhātu

In the language of India: Ārya-dharmadhātu-garbha-vivaraṇa
In the language of Tibet: ‘phags pa chos kyi dbyings kyi snying po’i rnam par ‘grel pa
In the English language: Commentary on the Noble Essence of the Dharmadhātu

Homage to the Three Jewels!

It is said:

Those phenomena that originate from causes,
The Tathāgata has proclaimed these causes,
And also that which puts a stop to these causes,
This too has been taught by the Great Śramaṇa.

Here, “those phenomena” should be understood as sevenfold: 1) consciousness, 2) name and form, 3) the six sensory sources, 4) contact, 5) sensation, 6) birth, and 7) old age and death. Continue reading »

Nagarjuna: Seventy Verses on Emptiness

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Nagarjuna: Seventy Verses on Emptiness

Nagarjuna (who lived during the second century C.E) is regarded as the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism. His most important work was the Mulamadhyamaka-karika (‘Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way’). Other important works included the Yuktisastika (‘Sixty Verses on Reasoning’), and the Shunyatasaptati (‘Seventy Verses on Emptiness’).

Continue reading »

Nāgārjuna: In Praise of the Twelve Deeds

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Nagarjuna (c. 150-250 CE) the founder of Madhyamika School.

Ārya Nāgārjuna: In Praise of the Twelve Deeds

In the language of India: Dvādaśakāra-nāma-stotra
In the language of Tibet: mdzad pa bcu gnyis kyi tshul la bstod pa

Homage to the Buddha Śākyamuni!

You I shall praise, who first awakened the mind of enlightenment,
Then completed the accumulations of merit and wisdom,
And now in this age, through the vast sway of your actions,
Have become the lord and protector of living beings.

Homage to you who, having taught the gods,
Knew the time had come to tame the human world, and
Descending from the god realm like a great elephant,
Foresaw the family of your birth and entered the womb of Māyādevī. Continue reading »

Nāgārjuna: Great Praise of the Twelve Acts of the Buddha

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Buddha Sakyamuni

Ārya Nāgārjuna: Great Praise of the Twelve Acts of the Buddha

༈ཐབས་མཁས་ཐུགས་རྗེས་ཤཱཀྱའི་རིགས་སུ་འཁྲུངས།།

tabkhé tukjé shakyé rik su trung

With skilful means and compassion, you were born in the Śākya clan,

གཞན་གྱིས་མི་ཐུབ་བདུད་ཀྱི་དཔུང་འཇོམས་པ།།

shyen gyi mitub dü kyi pung jompa

Unconquerable by others, you vanquished Māra’s hordes,

གསེར་གྱི་ལྷུན་པོ་ལྟ་བུར་བརྗིད་པའི་སྐུ།།

ser gyi lhünpo tabur jipé ku

Your physical form resplendent, like a mountain of gold. Continue reading »