Here are some translations and research posts about Buddhist Philosophy, in particular ‘Zhentong Madhyamaka’ (gzhan stong dbu ma chen po) the view of ‘ Great Madhyamaka Empty-of-Other’.
Texts and Translations
1) Tāranātha’s Commentary on the Heart Sūtra . Translated and edited by Adele Tomlin. Published by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 2017. 160 pages. English, with the Tibetan root text.
A detailed study, translation and commentary on the Heart Sūtra written by Tāranātha (1575–1634), with extensive annotations from his longer commentary on the Sutra, The Previously Non-Existent Explanation of the Heart Sutra (shes rab snying po’i ‘grel ba sngon med legs bshad). Tāranātha is widely considered to be one of the most remarkable Buddhist scholars, translators and practitioners from Tibet.
In his commentary, Tāranātha succinctly distils his vast studies of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist thought on prajñāpāramitā and Buddha-Nature with the philosophical view of ‘Empty-of-Other’. The leitmotif of the text is Tāranātha’s five-fold assertion that the Sūtra ‘clearly teaches the Empty-of-Other Great Madhyamaka’. For Tāranātha, this confirms that ‘the intention of all three Turnings is the Empty-of-Other Great Madhyamaka’.
Tāranātha’s explanation is a valuable addition to the corpus of (Indian and Tibetan) translated commentaries on the Heart Sūtra. As a concise distillation of the Jonang view of Empty-of-Other and its connection to prajñāpāramitā, it provides the reader with a reasoned analysis as to why prajñāpāramitā involves not only ‘seeing’ that all phenomena are empty of intrinsic existence, but also realizing, via primordial awareness, that the ultimate nature is ‘unchanging’ and ‘permanent’, going beyond ‘impermanent’ conditioning, duality and mental elaborations.
In his foreword to the book, Prof. Matthew Kapstein (University of Chicago, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris) states it is:
…a valuable service to Tibetan Buddhist Studies. Her work, originally written as her M.A thesis, is clear and precise throughout, well-examplifying the distinguished tradition of research on Buddhism at the University of Hamburg…..Ms Tomlin’s study may be recommended as a particularly attractive and accessible introduction to the Jonangpa’s distinctive doctrinal perspective.
English language (contains the root text in Tibetan), 160 pages. If you would like a copy of this book posted to you, please contact me or the LTWA. You can also purchase it on Amazon and other online book sellers. All proceeds go to the LTWA.
A public lecture on this book and text was given at the Rangjung Yeshe Institute in October 2018 and is available to listen on the RYI website here.
2) Eight Swirling Spears by Gotsangpa with commentary by HE 10th Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche. Translated and edited by Adele Tomlin, Dakini Publications, copyright 2019.
Free download: The Eight Swirling Spears in Space. For more on the text see here.
3) The Explicit and Hidden Aspects of Tāra: Commentary on the Twenty-One Tāras by Jetsun Tāranātha. Translated and edited by Adele Tomlin, Dakini Publications, 2020.
A short and beautiful commentary on the conventional and definitive aspects of the twenty-one Tāras by Tāranātha. In the text, Tāranātha also briefly teaches how the practice of Tāra is connected to the six vajra-yogas of Kālacakra. Transmission and oral instruction on the text given by Chokyi Nangwa Rinpoche in 2017. Free download here for those with both Tara and Kalacakra empowerments.
4) Condensed Essence of Empty-of-Other by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo
Translation of short text by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo explaining the ‘essence’ of the ultimate nature, from the Empty-of -Other perspective.
POSTS
On the meaning and translation of Shentong; a modern debate?
Tenth Sangye Nyenpa’s verbal pith instructions on the 8th Karmapa’s Shentong Madhyamaka
The 8th Tai Situpa, Tāranātha, Shentong and the Golden Stupa at Sherab Ling
HH the 14th Dalai Lama on the Jonang Kalacakra Six Yogas and Shentong ; English translation
The Shentong View of Emptiness; A Short Introduction and Reader
Public Lecture on Taranatha’s Commentary on Heart Sutra now available online
The Life and Works of Tsen Khawoche: Founder of the Meditative Tradition, and Tibetan Empty-of-Other
Dakini Translations and Publications མཁའ་འགྲོ་མའི་ལོ་ཙཱ་བའི་འགྱུར་དང་འགྲེམས་སྤེལ། 