Shentong
Encyclopedia
Shentong is a philosophical sub-school found in Tibetan Buddhism
. Its adherents generally hold that the nature of mind, the substratum of the mindstream
, is "empty" (tong; Wylie: stong) of 'other' (shen or zhän; Wylie: gzhan), i.e., empty of all qualities other than an inherent, ineffable nature. The contrasting Rangtong view of the followers of Prasaṅgika Mādhyamaka is that all phenomena are unequivocally empty of self-nature, without positing anything beyond that. According to a Shentongpa (proponent of Shentong), the emptiness of ultimate reality should not be characterized in the same way as the emptiness of apparent phenomena because it is prabhāsvara-saṃtāna, or "clear light mental continuum," endowed with limitless Buddha qualities. It is empty of all that is false, not empty of the limitless Buddha qualities that are its innate nature.
, Prasaṅgika Mādhyamaka, Tsongkhapa and coalescence:
The earliest Shentong views are usually asserted to have been presented in a group of treatises variously attributed jointly to Asanga
and Maitreya
, especially in the treatise known as the "Unsurpassed Continuum" (Uttaratantra Śāstra), and in a body of Mādhyamaka treatises attributed to Nāgārjuna
.
The first exposition of a Shentong view is sometimes attributed to Śāntarakṣita
, but most scholars argue that his presentation of Mādhyamaka thought is more accurately labeled “Yogācāra-Svatantrika-Mādhyamaka". It is generally agreed that a true Shentong view was first systematized and articulated under that name by Dolpopa Sherab Gyeltsen, an originally Sakya-trained lama who joined the Jonang
school with which Shentong is strongly associated. However, the 11th century Tibetan master Yumo Mikyo Dorje
, a student of the Kashmiri scholar Somanatha, was possibly the first Tibetan master to articulate a Shentong view, after his experiences during a Kalachakra
retreat.
The Seventh Karmapa Chodrak Gyamtso (1454–1506), and the Sakya scholar, Sakya Chokden (gSer-mdog Pan-chen Sa-kya mChog-ldan, 1428–1507) were also important proponents of a Shentong view.
In the Jonang tradition, "Tāranātha
[1575-1635] is second in importance only to Dolpopa himself. He was responsible for the short-lived renaissance of the school as a whole in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, and of the widespread revitalization of the Zhentong theory in particular."
After the suppression of the Jonang school and its texts and the texts of Sakya Chokden by the Tibetan government in the 17th century, various Shentong views were propagated mainly by Karma Kagyu
and Nyingma
lamas. In particular, the 8th Tai Situ Rinpoche (Situ Paṇchen Chökyi Jungné (Si-tu Paṇ-chen Chos-kyi 'Byung-gnas) (1700–1774)) and Katok Tsewang Norbu
(Kaḥ-thog Tshe-dbang Nor-bu) (1698–1755), close colleagues and Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lamas respectively, were very instrumental in reviving Shentong among their sects. Also instrumental was Situ Panchen
(1700–1774), senior court chaplain in the Kingdom of Dêgê
, a student of Norbu. According to The Buddha from Dolpo of 2003, "[i]n the end it would be Situ more than anyone who would create the environment for the widespread acceptance of the Zhentong theories in the next century. This revival was continued by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, a 19th century ecumenical
(rimé) scholar and forceful exponent of Shentong. Shentong views were also advanced recently by the eminent Kagyu Lamas Kalu Rinpoche
and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche
.
primarily through philosophical studies, whilst Shentong is a means of support for the meditation-oriented practitioner.
(Wylie: hod-gsal; od-gsal; Sanskrit: prabhāsvara) such as "luminous clarity," "luminous awareness," "the clear light nature of mind," and so forth to characterize their experiences. Such language is often employed in Dzogchen
expositions as well.
(Mūlamadhyamakakārikā) by Nāgārjuna
, 13.8 has:
Shentongpas often present themselves as Rangtongpas as well, asserting they see the two views as a complementary unity, a continuum, a coalescence. This coalescence of Shentong and Rangtong, praxis and ideology
, fulfills and leavens the "middle way" of the Mādhyamika dialectic and counters extreme views that are anathema to the middle way. This coalescence may fall into a fallacy of the reification of the middle and through a nomenclature, yielding to ideation
and objectification
. Hence, to robustly secede from this extreme philosophical fallacy and the lure of objectification, this coalescence is nonetheless empty
(Sanskrit: śūnya) though it has a positive value and ineffable signification that does not succumb to the extreme of nihilism
: i.e., empty of emptiness; a fecund, fullness: the indivisible unity of emptiness and form as per Nāgārjuna
.
H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche
, a celebrated Nyingma lama of the 20th century, asserts:
Shentong views have often come under criticism by followers of all four of the main Tibetan Buddhist schools, but particularly by the Gelug
. The “Shentong-Rangtong distinction” is a dichotomy that Gelugpas and some Sakya
pas generally do not utilize. “Exclusive Rangtongpas", as the contemporary western Kagyu scholar S.K. Hookham would call them, have claimed that Shentong views are inconsistent with the basic Mahāyāna
teaching of emptiness
(śūnyatā) because Shentongpas posit an absolute. They sometimes label Shentong Mādhyamaka "eternalistic Mādhyamaka". Gyaltsab Je
and Khedrub Je, two of Gelug founder Je Tsongkhapa’s primary disciples, were particularly critical of the Shentong views of their time. The great fourteenth century Sakya master Buton Rinchen
(1290-1364) was also very critical of Shentong views.
Among Kagyupas and Nyingmapas, the noted 19th century Nyingma lama Ju Mipham wrote works both supportive and critical of Shentong positions, as did the 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje
. The contemporary western Kagyu scholar Karl Brunnhölzl argues that there is no such thing as “Shentong Mādhyamaka,” but rather that orthodox Yogācāra philosophy (when understood properly) is entirely compatible with Mādhyamaka, and therefore Shentong is not a novel position. He argues that Yogācāra has often been mischaracterized and unfairly marginalized in Tibetan Buddhist curricula.
Print
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is the body of Buddhist religious doctrine and institutions characteristic of Tibet and certain regions of the Himalayas, including northern Nepal, Bhutan, and India . It is the state religion of Bhutan...
. Its adherents generally hold that the nature of mind, the substratum of the mindstream
Mindstream
Mindstream in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment "continuum" of awareness. There are a number of terms in the Buddhist literature that may well be rendered "mindstream"...
, is "empty" (tong; Wylie: stong) of 'other' (shen or zhän; Wylie: gzhan), i.e., empty of all qualities other than an inherent, ineffable nature. The contrasting Rangtong view of the followers of Prasaṅgika Mādhyamaka is that all phenomena are unequivocally empty of self-nature, without positing anything beyond that. According to a Shentongpa (proponent of Shentong), the emptiness of ultimate reality should not be characterized in the same way as the emptiness of apparent phenomena because it is prabhāsvara-saṃtāna, or "clear light mental continuum," endowed with limitless Buddha qualities. It is empty of all that is false, not empty of the limitless Buddha qualities that are its innate nature.
Etymology
Shentong (also, zhäntong; ), is literally "other-emptiness", i.e., emptiness of other.Great Mādhyamaka: a qualification and disambiguation
Pettit (1999: p. 113) qualifies and disambiguates "Great Mādhyamaka" and mentions Ju Mipham, LongchenpaLongchenpa
Longchen Rabjampa, Drimé Özer "Longchenpa" was a major teacher in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Along with Sakya Pandita and Je Tsongkhapa, he is commonly recognized as one of the three main manifestations of Manjushri to have taught in Central Tibet...
, Prasaṅgika Mādhyamaka, Tsongkhapa and coalescence:
Extrinsic emptiness is also referred to as "Great Mādhyamaka" (dbu ma chen po), a term that appears frequently in Mipham's works. This term can also be misleading, because dbu ma chen po does not refer exclusively to extrinsic emptiness. Klong chen pa and Mipham use it to refer to Prasaṅgika Mādhyamaka, because it emphasizes the nonconceptual ultimate, which they understand as the principle of coalescenceCoalescenceCoalescence may refer to:* Coalescence , the merging of genetic lineages backwards time to a most recent common ancestor* Coalescence , the merging of two or more phonological segments into one...
. Tsongkhapa also uses this term in passing, for example, in the colophon of his dBu-ma dgongs-pa rab-gsal.
Shentong: a heterogenous tradition
Burchardi (2007: p. 1) opens her foray with a sound introduction, cited herewith, that promises of a future richness and texture in Shentong dialectical discourse in English:
Descriptions of gzhan stong are frequently encountered in the context of polemical discourse, where it stands in contradistinction to rang stong. Some scholarly attention has been paid to the historical context of the controversies involving prominent gzhan stong masters and their writings. But so far the attention given to the actual differences of interpretation of the term gzhan stong in its various hermeneutical and philosophical contexts has been quite limited in non-Tibetan publications – limited, that is, when we consider the extent of primary sources available in Tibetan.
History
Asanga
Asaṅga was a major exponent of the Yogācāra tradition in India, also called Vijñānavāda. Traditionally, he and his half-brother Vasubandhu are regarded as the founders of this school...
and Maitreya
Maitreya-natha
Maitreya-nātha is a name whose use was pioneered by Buddhist scholars Erich Frauwallner, Giuseppe Tucci, and Hakiju Ui to distinguish one of the three founders of the Yogācāra school of Buddhist philosophy, along with Asaṅga and Vasubandhu. Some scholars believe this "Maitreya" to be a historical...
, especially in the treatise known as the "Unsurpassed Continuum" (Uttaratantra Śāstra), and in a body of Mādhyamaka treatises attributed to Nāgārjuna
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...
.
The first exposition of a Shentong view is sometimes attributed to Śāntarakṣita
Shantarakshita
' was a renowned 8th century Indian Buddhist Brahmin and abbot of Nalanda University. Śāntarakṣita founded the philosophical school known as Yogacara-Svatantrika-Madhyamaka, which united the Madhyamaka tradition of Nagarjuna, the Yogacara tradition of Asanga and the logical and epistemological...
, but most scholars argue that his presentation of Mādhyamaka thought is more accurately labeled “Yogācāra-Svatantrika-Mādhyamaka". It is generally agreed that a true Shentong view was first systematized and articulated under that name by Dolpopa Sherab Gyeltsen, an originally Sakya-trained lama who joined the Jonang
Jonang
The Jonang is one of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Its origins in Tibet can be traced to early 12th century master Yumo Mikyo Dorje, but became much wider known with the help of Dolpopa Sherab Gyeltsen, a monk originally trained in the Sakya school...
school with which Shentong is strongly associated. However, the 11th century Tibetan master Yumo Mikyo Dorje
Yumo Mikyo Dorje
Yumo Mikyo Dorje was a student of the Kashmiri scholar Somanatha, and an 11th century Kalachakra master. Yumo Mikyo Dorje is regarded as one of the earliest Tibetan articulators of a shentong view of shunyata — an understanding of the absolute radiant nature of reality...
, a student of the Kashmiri scholar Somanatha, was possibly the first Tibetan master to articulate a Shentong view, after his experiences during a Kalachakra
Kalachakra
Kalachakra is a Sanskrit term used in Tantric Buddhism that literally means "time-wheel" or "time-cycles".The spelling Kalacakra is also correct....
retreat.
The Seventh Karmapa Chodrak Gyamtso (1454–1506), and the Sakya scholar, Sakya Chokden (gSer-mdog Pan-chen Sa-kya mChog-ldan, 1428–1507) were also important proponents of a Shentong view.
In the Jonang tradition, "Tāranātha
Taranatha
Tāranātha was a Lama of the Jonang school of Tibetan Buddhism. He is widely considered its most remarkable scholar and exponent....
[1575-1635] is second in importance only to Dolpopa himself. He was responsible for the short-lived renaissance of the school as a whole in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, and of the widespread revitalization of the Zhentong theory in particular."
After the suppression of the Jonang school and its texts and the texts of Sakya Chokden by the Tibetan government in the 17th century, various Shentong views were propagated mainly by Karma Kagyu
Karma Kagyu
Karma Kagyu , or Kamtsang Kagyu, is probably the largest and certainly the most widely practiced lineage within the Kagyu school, one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. The lineage has long-standing monasteries in Tibet, China, Russia, Mongolia, India, Nepal, and Bhutan, and current...
and Nyingma
Nyingma
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
lamas. In particular, the 8th Tai Situ Rinpoche (Situ Paṇchen Chökyi Jungné (Si-tu Paṇ-chen Chos-kyi 'Byung-gnas) (1700–1774)) and Katok Tsewang Norbu
Katok Tsewang Norbu
'Katok Tsewang Norbu' was a Nyingmapa who championed the view of 'extrinsic emptiness' or Zhentong which he propagated amongst his tradition...
(Kaḥ-thog Tshe-dbang Nor-bu) (1698–1755), close colleagues and Karma Kagyu and Nyingma lamas respectively, were very instrumental in reviving Shentong among their sects. Also instrumental was Situ Panchen
Situ Panchen
Situ Panchen , also known as the 8th Tai Situ Rinpoche, was an influential Tibetan painter, writer and medical innovator as well as a notable figure in the histories of Karma Kagyu and the Kingdom of Dêgê, where he served as senior court chaplain...
(1700–1774), senior court chaplain in the Kingdom of Dêgê
Kingdom of Dêgê
The Kingdom of Derge was an important kingdom in Eastern Tibet, a center of industry, religion and politics, with the seat of its kingdom in the town of Derge. The kings of Derge followed a 1300-year lineage....
, a student of Norbu. According to The Buddha from Dolpo of 2003, "[i]n the end it would be Situ more than anyone who would create the environment for the widespread acceptance of the Zhentong theories in the next century. This revival was continued by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, a 19th century ecumenical
Rime movement
Rimé is a Tibetan word which means "no sides", "non-partisan" or "non-sectarian". In a religious context, the word ri-mé is usually used to refer to the "Eclectic Movement" between the Buddhist Nyingma, Sakya, and Kagyu traditions, along with the non-Buddhist Bön religion, wherein practitioners...
(rimé) scholar and forceful exponent of Shentong. Shentong views were also advanced recently by the eminent Kagyu Lamas Kalu Rinpoche
Kalu Rinpoche
Kyabje Kalu Rinpoche was a Buddhist meditation master, scholar and teacher. He was one of the first Tibetan masters to teach in the West.-Early life and teachers:...
and Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche
Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche
Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche is a prominent scholar yogi in the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. He teaches widely in the West, often through dohas composed by Milarepa and other masters of the past...
.
View
Shentongpas (those who hold a Shentong view) consider their position to be the rarefied expression of Mādhyamika. They hold that this view is the fruit of direct meditative experience and not realised through the path of conceptual understanding nor scholarship. In light of that, they posit that Rangtong is expedient for individuals who approach DharmaDharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
primarily through philosophical studies, whilst Shentong is a means of support for the meditation-oriented practitioner.
Technical language: twilight language
When speaking of the emptiness of mind's ultimate nature, Shentongpas often use renderings of öselÖsel (yoga)
Ösel , the Yoga of the Clear Light Ösel (tib. hod-gsal; od gsal), the Yoga of the Clear Light Ösel (tib. hod-gsal; od gsal), the Yoga of the Clear Light (often translated as 'Radiant Light' (Sanskrit: prabhasvara), referring to the 'intrinsic purity' (Tibetan: ka-dag) of the substratum of the...
(Wylie: hod-gsal; od-gsal; Sanskrit: prabhāsvara) such as "luminous clarity," "luminous awareness," "the clear light nature of mind," and so forth to characterize their experiences. Such language is often employed in Dzogchen
Dzogchen
According to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of the mind, and a body of teachings and meditation practices aimed at realizing that condition. Dzogchen, or "Great Perfection", is a central teaching of the Nyingma school also practiced by...
expositions as well.
Shentong and Rangtong: a continuum, a coalescence
Fundamental WisdomMulamadhyamakakarika
The Mūlamadhyamakakārikā , or Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, is a key text by Nagarjuna, one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.-Competing interpretations:...
(Mūlamadhyamakakārikā) by Nāgārjuna
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...
, 13.8 has:
śūnyatā sarvadriṣṭīṇām proktā niḥsaraṇam jinaiḥ
yeṣām tu śūnyatādṛṣṭtis tan asādhyan babhāṣire
All the buddhas have said that emptiness
Definitely eliminates all viewpoints.
Those who have the view of emptiness
Are said to be incurable.
Shentongpas often present themselves as Rangtongpas as well, asserting they see the two views as a complementary unity, a continuum, a coalescence. This coalescence of Shentong and Rangtong, praxis and ideology
Ideology
An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...
, fulfills and leavens the "middle way" of the Mādhyamika dialectic and counters extreme views that are anathema to the middle way. This coalescence may fall into a fallacy of the reification of the middle and through a nomenclature, yielding to ideation
Ideation
Ideation is the creative process of generating, developing, and communicating new ideas, where an idea is understood as a basic element of thought that can be either visual, concrete, or abstract. Ideation is all stages of a thought cycle, from innovation, to development, to actualization...
and objectification
Objectification
Objectification is the process by which an abstract concept is made as objective as possible in the purest sense of the term. It is also treated as if it is a concrete thing or physical object...
. Hence, to robustly secede from this extreme philosophical fallacy and the lure of objectification, this coalescence is nonetheless empty
Emptiness
Emptiness as a human condition is a sense of generalized boredom, social alienation and apathy. Feelings of emptiness often accompany dysthymia, depression, loneliness, despair, or other mental/emotional disorders such as borderline personality disorder...
(Sanskrit: śūnya) though it has a positive value and ineffable signification that does not succumb to the extreme of nihilism
Nihilism
Nihilism is the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putatively meaningful aspects of life. Most commonly, nihilism is presented in the form of existential nihilism which argues that life is without objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value...
: i.e., empty of emptiness; a fecund, fullness: the indivisible unity of emptiness and form as per Nāgārjuna
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...
.
H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche
Dudjom Rinpoche
Dudjom Rinpoche is the title of a prominent line of tulkus of the Nyingmapa order of Tibetan Buddhism. Dudjom Rinpoche was born in 1904 on the tenth day of the sixth month in the year of the wood dragon in Southern Tibet in a region called the "hidden land" of Pema Ko. He died on January 17, 1987...
, a celebrated Nyingma lama of the 20th century, asserts:
- The Madhyamaka of the Prāsaṅgika and the Svātantrika is the coarse, outer Madhyamaka. It should indeed be expressed by those who profess well-informed intelligence during debates with extremist outsiders, during the composition of great treatises, and while establishing texts which concern supreme reasoning. However, when the subtle, inner Madhyamaka is experientially cultivated, one should meditate on the nature of Yogacara-Madhyamaka.
Criticisms and controversies
Arguments concerning fine points of Mādhyamaka tend to be complex and difficult to understand, let alone to summarize pithily. The terms of Mādhyamaka are understood differently by different schools, adding to the confusion. It is therefore beyond the scope of any general overview to present the technical dimension of the argument in detail. However, a historical context for the argument may be helpful.Shentong views have often come under criticism by followers of all four of the main Tibetan Buddhist schools, but particularly by the Gelug
Gelug
The Gelug or Gelug-pa , also known as the Yellow Hat sect, is a school of Buddhism founded by Je Tsongkhapa , a philosopher and Tibetan religious leader...
. The “Shentong-Rangtong distinction” is a dichotomy that Gelugpas and some Sakya
Sakya
The Sakya school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug...
pas generally do not utilize. “Exclusive Rangtongpas", as the contemporary western Kagyu scholar S.K. Hookham would call them, have claimed that Shentong views are inconsistent with the basic Mahāyāna
Mahayana
Mahāyāna is one of the two main existing branches of Buddhism and a term for classification of Buddhist philosophies and practice...
teaching of emptiness
Shunyata
Śūnyatā, शून्यता , Suññatā , stong-pa nyid , Kòng/Kū, 空 , Gong-seong, 공성 , qoγusun is frequently translated into English as emptiness...
(śūnyatā) because Shentongpas posit an absolute. They sometimes label Shentong Mādhyamaka "eternalistic Mādhyamaka". Gyaltsab Je
Gyaltsab Je
Gyaltsab Je or more elaborately, Gyaltsab Dharma Rinchen was born in the Tsang province of central Tibet. He was a famous student of Je Tsongkhapa, and actually became the first Ganden Tripa of the Gelug tradition after Je Tsongkhapa's death.Gyaltsab Je was a prolific writer; one of his most...
and Khedrub Je, two of Gelug founder Je Tsongkhapa’s primary disciples, were particularly critical of the Shentong views of their time. The great fourteenth century Sakya master Buton Rinchen
Buton Rinchen
Buton Rinchen Drub , , 11th Abbot of Shalu Monastery, was a fourteenth century Sakya master and Tibetan Buddhist leader...
(1290-1364) was also very critical of Shentong views.
Among Kagyupas and Nyingmapas, the noted 19th century Nyingma lama Ju Mipham wrote works both supportive and critical of Shentong positions, as did the 8th Karmapa, Mikyo Dorje
Mikyö Dorje
Mikyö Dorje , also Mikyo Dorje, was the eighth Gyalwa Karmapa, head of the Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism.Mikyö Dorje was born in Satam, Kham. According to the legend, he said after being born: "I am Karmapa." and was recognized by Tai Situpa. In this case there was another child from Amdo who...
. The contemporary western Kagyu scholar Karl Brunnhölzl argues that there is no such thing as “Shentong Mādhyamaka,” but rather that orthodox Yogācāra philosophy (when understood properly) is entirely compatible with Mādhyamaka, and therefore Shentong is not a novel position. He argues that Yogācāra has often been mischaracterized and unfairly marginalized in Tibetan Buddhist curricula.
Electronic
- Burchardi, Anne (2007). A Look at the Diversity of the Gzhan stong Tradition. JIATS, no. 3 (December 2007), THDL #T3128, 24 pp. © 2007 by Anne Burchardi, IATS, and THDL. Source: http://www.thdl.org/collections/journal/jiats/index.php?doc=jiats03burchardi.xml&s=d0e287 (accessed: Sunday August 17, 2008)
- Roger Jackson.(2007) The Great Debate on Emptiness: Review of The Essence of Other-Emptiness by Taranatha and Mountain Doctrine:Tibet’s Fundamental Treatise on Other-Emptiness and the Buddha Matrix by Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen in Buddhadharma, Summer 2007 p. 75-76
- Tāranātha, Jetsun (2008). The Essence of Zhentong. Translation based upon the ‘Dzam thang edition of the 'Gzhan stong snying po'. Jonang Foundation’s Digital Library: Ngedon Thartuk Translation Initiative. Source: http://www.jonangfoundation.org/files/jf_snying%20po_final.pdf (accessed: Sunday August 17, 2008)
- Karl BrunnholzlKarl BrunnholzlDr. Karl Brunnholzl has been a translator and oral interpreter for Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche at Nitartha Institute since 2000. He has received the traditional “dharma tutor” degree from Khenpo Lama Thubten of Germany’s Kamalashila Institute and is the author of a Madhyamaka compendium, "The Center...
, The Center of the Sunlit Sky: Madhyamaka in the Kagyu Tradition, ISBN 1-55939-218-5 - Ven. Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso, Rimpoche. Progressive Stages Of Meditation On Emptiness, ISBN 0-9511477-0-6
- S. K. Hookham The Buddha Within, SUNY Press, ISBN 0-7914-0358-0
- Jeffrey HopkinsJeffrey Hopkins (Tibetologist)Jeffrey Hopkins is a distinguished American Tibetologist. He is Emeritus of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia, where he taught for more than three decades since 1973...
(translator); Kevin Vose (editor) : Mountain Doctrine:Tibet’s Fundamental Treatise on Other-Emptiness and the Buddha Matrix. Snow Lion, Ithaca (2006). - a translation of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen's Ri chos nges don rgya mtsho. - Pettit, John Whitney (1999). Mipham's Beacon of Certainty: Illuminating the View of Dzogchen, the Great Perfection. Boston: Wisdom Publications (1999). ISBN 0861711572. NB: contains a complete translation of Mipham's 'Lion's Roar Proclaiming Extrinsic Emptiness' (Wylie: gZhan stong khas len seng ge
' i nga ro) - Cyrus Stearns. The Buddha from Dolpo: A Study of the Life and Thought of the Tibetan Master Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen. State University of New York Press (1999). ISBN 0-7914-4191-1 (hc); ISBN 0-7914-4192-X (pbk)
- TaranathaTaranathaTāranātha was a Lama of the Jonang school of Tibetan Buddhism. He is widely considered its most remarkable scholar and exponent....
(auth.), Jeffrey Hopkins, (trans.) The Essence of Other-Emptiness. Wisdom Books (2007). ISBN 1559392738 - Brunnholzl, Karl. Luminous Heart: The Third Karmapa on Consciousness, Wisdom, and Buddha Nature Snow Lion Publications 2009.