Chu gru lus kyi rnam bshad/Full text
This nine-page work, explicitly labeled a humorous discourse, offers a playful critique of Buddhist practitioners obsessed with religious talk, textual commentary, and monastic debate. Patrul creates a tongue-in-cheek etymology of chudrulü, a colloquial Derge expression meaning "nothing at all." In the text, a group of youth explain to older monks that chudrulü can be split into three Tibetan words—chu (water), dru (boat), and lü (body)—arguing that just as these things travel to different places without fundamentally changing, so too do the youth travel without learning anything new worth reporting. The work operates on multiple levels: as a joke teasing scholars for their constant thirst for new teachings, as a defense of creative and informal instruction, and potentially as an allegory about Buddhist practice or the unchanging nature of mind. The youth ultimately credit Patrul himself with the chudrulü teaching, demonstrating his ability to deliver brilliant discourse even about the silliest topics, proving his intelligence "can never be used up" even when teaching about "nothing." (Source: based on the introduction by Joshua Schapiro in "Playful Primers on the Path," in A Gathering of Brilliant Moons: Practice Advice from the Rimé Masters of Tibet)
| Reference | chu gru lus kyi rnam bshad [ཆུ་གྲུ་ལུས་ཀྱི་རྣམ་བཤད།]. [The Explanation of Chudrulü]. |
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| People | Patrul Rinpoche |
