Mountain Dharma - (Library of Tibetan Classics) by Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (Hardcover)

About the Book

"The most famous (or infamous) book Dèolpopa wrote to present his unprecedented interpretations of Buddhist doctrine is called Mountain Dharma: An Ocean of Definitive Meaning (Ri chos nges don rgya mtsho). Few controversial books remain controversial a hundred years after they were written. This one has. After nearly seven hundred years, the ideas discussed in Mountain Dharma are still as provocative as when Dèolpopa first openly taught them in 1330. Written for learned practitioners of Vajrayåana Buddhism who were meditating in mountain retreats, Dèolpopa's masterpiece is filled with an ocean of quotations selected from the Indian Buddhist scriptures and treatises translated into Tibetan and preserved in the canonical collections of the Kangyur and Tengyur. When deciphering the true intent of these passages of definitive meaning, he never mentions another Tibetan author or book. His only goal is to establish the validity of his theories based on Indian works of indisputable authority. The first section of the book concerns the ground and basis of all phenomena, that is, the awakened state of the ultimate Buddha known by many names, such as dharmakåaya, tathåagata essence, ultimate luminosity, dharmadhåatu, self-arisen primordial awareness, and great bliss. In the second section, he explains how the ultimate Buddha, the dharmakåaya, the quintessence of limitless, inseparable qualities, is inherently present in all sentient beings. But this does not mean the path of the two assemblies of merit and primordial awareness is unnecessary, because one must remove the incidental stains, produce the relative råupakåaya, and act for the benefit of all sentient beings. Therefore, pure and excellent view, meditation, and conduct are necessary. The third section of Mountain Dharma begins with a general presentation of the Mahåayåana results. By means of correct view, meditation, and conduct, the path of the two assemblies of merit and primordial awareness is utterly completed and, through extinguishing the two obscurations that are to be abandoned, the result of buddhahood will be attained"--

Book Synopsis

A brilliant annotated translation of Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen's Mountain Dharma that opens a masterpiece of the Jonang tradition to Western readers and presents Dölpopa's provocative ideas about a true, eternal, and established reality that still impact Buddhism today.

The controversial master Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen shook Buddhist Tibet when he taught that an eternal enlightened essence, or buddha nature, exists in full form in all living beings. The ideas discussed in Mountain Dharma are still as provocative now as when Dolpopa first taught them, impacting Buddhism to this day. Dolpopa identified the ultimate with the buddha nature, or sugata essence, which he held to be eternal and not empty of self-nature. The buddha nature is perfect, with all its characteristics inherently present in all living beings. It is only the impermanent and temporary afflictions veiling the buddha nature that are empty of self-nature and must be removed through the practice of the path to allow it to manifest. Dolpopa establishes the validity of his theories with an ocean of quotations selected from Indian Buddhist scriptures and treatises of indisputable authority, showing us that the ultimate is a true, eternal, and established reality, empty merely of other relative phenomena.

Review Quotes

"Cyrus Stearns's elegant translation of Mountain Dharma: An Ocean of Definitive Meaning reveals the brilliance of Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, one of Tibet's most profound yet controversial thinkers. Mountain Dharma showcases Dölpopa's distinctive vision of an eternal buddha nature within all beings and his presentation of emptiness of other and emptiness of self-nature as complementary rather than opposing views. Stearns's meticulously researched and highly readable translation of Dölpopa's magnum opus will be treasured by scholars and practitioners alike."--Elizabeth Callahan, translator of Moonbeams of Mahamudra

"Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292-1361) is among the most admired and, at the same time, contested figures in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. His radical reinterpretation of the concept of 'emptiness, ' grounded in the vision of a pervasive and permanent buddha nature, has provided a challenge to Tibetan thinkers of all schools and a continuing source of inspiration for practitioners of Buddhist tantric meditation and yoga. With Cyrus Stearns's exemplary new translation of his masterwork, Mountain Dharma: An Ocean of Definitive Meaning, Dölpopa's thought becomes accessible to contemporary readers as it has not been before."--Matthew T. Kapstein, professor emeritus, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris

About the Author

Cyrus Stearns has been a student of Tibetan Buddhism since 1973. His main teachers have been Dezhung Tulku Rinpoché, Chogyé Trichen Rinpoché, and Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché. He received a PhD in Buddhist Studies from the University of Washington and is the author and translator of various books, including The Buddha from Dölpo, King of the Empty Plain, and Hermit of Go Cliffs. He is an independent scholar and translator living in the woods on Whidbey Island, north of Seattle, Washington.