Radical Nonduality (Forgues 2024)

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Radical Nonduality: Ju Mipham Namgyal Gyatso's Discourse on Reality

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

Ju Mipham (1846–1912) stands as one of the preeminent scholars within the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The objective of this study is to present Mipham’s nonconceptual nondualism by analyzing his discourse with regard to the ground (gzhi), the path (lam), and the result (’bras bu).

In the initial sections of the book, the examination centers on Mipham’s teaching on the core components of the path: view, practice, and conduct. In the first part of the book, Mipham’s interpretation of the view primarily as a form of ontological nondualism is examined within the wider context of the path. This discussion presents in detail Mipham’s utilization of an array of ascending views in his discourse on the two truths. The subsequent part delves into the interplay between knowledge and liberation that shapes Mipham’s soteriological project through the central notions of practice and conduct. This exploration sheds light on how practices rooted in cognitive nondualism facilitate the actualization of ontological nondualism. The concluding part of the book shifts focus to Mipham’s soteriological nondualism in which the ground of being taken as the starting point of the path and the result of the path itself are understood to be beyond any distinction or separation. (Source: WSTB)

Citation

Forgues, Gregory. Radical Nonduality: Ju Mipham Namgyal Gyatso's Discourse on Reality. Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde No. 106. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien Universität Wien, 2024.

Table of contents

Acknowledgments9
Introduction11
- How Do We Make Sense of Mipham’s Project?14
- Mipham’s Nonconceptual Nondualism21
- Organization of the Book29
- Sources and Methods35

Part One
The View of Mipham’s Radical Nondualism
1. The Two Truths in Perspective45
- The Starting Point: Mipham's Nor bu ke ta ka47
- A Translation of Nor bu ke ta ka 4,1–9,5 and BCA 9.248
- Mipham's Perspectivist Approach to the Two Truths59
2. The Concealing Truth as an Epistemic Perspective63
- The Concealing as a Cognitive Experience63
- The Concealing as a Manifestation Resulting from Delusion66
3. The Ultimate Truth from the Perspectives of the Concealing and Ultimate Truths69
- Distinguishing the Conceptual and Nonconceptual Ultimates69
- Mipham's Perspectivist Discourse on the Inexpressible Ultimate75
- The Two Truths from the Perspective of the Nonconceptual Ultimate78
4. Mipham’s Soteriological Inclusivism85
- Mipham's Set of Ascending Views85
- Does Mipham’s Perspective-Based Madhyamaka Make Sense?92
- Is Mipham’s Soteriological Understanding of the Svātantrika-Prāsaṅgika Distinction Unfounded?96
- Does the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra Support Mipham's Interpretation of the Two Truths?117
5. The Hermeneutical Originality of Mipham's Perspectivist Approach120
- The Definitive Character of the Last Turning of the Wheel120
- The Compatibility of Asaṅga's and Nāgārjuna's Doctrines122
- The Conventional Existence of svasaṃvedana127

Part Two
Practice and Conduct in Mipham’s Radical Nondualism
6. Drawing on the Map the Itinerary toward Awakening135
- Starting to Work with the Only "Thing" We Have: Mere Experiences135
- Defining a Method: From Being to Knowing138
- Stage One: The Mereological Reduction of Imputed Wholes into Their Actual Primary Constituents143
- Stage Two: The Epistemic Reduction of Real Objects into Conditioned Cognitions144
- Stage Three: Seeing That Conditioned Cognitions are Primordially Beyond the Four Extremes154
- Stage Four: Seeing That the Nature of Conditioned Cognitions is Beyond the Four Extremes156
7. The Itinerary Is Not the Journey: The Two Truths in the Context of Practice158
- A Synthesis of Mipham's Presentation of the Stages of Practice158
- Nonconceptuality and Practice160
8. The Gradual Way and the Two Truths in Practice: A Translation166
- Introduction to Mipham's dPyad sgom 'khor lo166
- Translation: A Complete Purification of Mind’s activity Called "The Wheel of Practice of Analytical Investigation"169
9. The Direct Way and the Two Truths in Practice: A Translation195
- Introduction to Mipham's De kho na nyid gsal ba’i sgron me195
- Translation: "The Lamp Illuminating Reality" a Word Commentary of "Refining Gold from Ore," the Practice of the Thought of Awakening (byang chub sems/bodhicitta)199

Part Three
Ground and Result in Mipham's Radical Nondualism
10. Ground, Path, and Result from the Highest Perspective233
- The Ground As the Unity of the Two Truths238
11. The Two Truths from the Highest Perspective: A Translation255
- Introduction to Mipham's Commentary on Long chen pa's Yid bzhin mdzod (Chapter 18)255
- Translations of Longchenpa's Yid bzhin mdzod (Chapter 18) and Pad ma dkar po ad cit., and Mipham's Le’u bco brgyad 'grel262

Conclusion
- Reexamining the Monist Hypothesis299
- Mapping Mipham's Journeys to Freedom312
- Making Sense of Mipham's Project317

Appendices
- A. Instructions to Accomplish Mental Stillness327
- B. Instructions on the Thirty-Seven Aids to Awakening331
Abbreviations341
Bibliography
- Primary Literature
- Works of 'Ju Mi pham 'jam byangs rnam rgyal rgya mtsho and Klong chen rab 'byams343
- Secondary Literature and Translations345

Index371

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