Transcendent Wisdom (1988)

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Transcendent Wisdom: A Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life

Book

Translation of the BCA Source Texts (Tib-Fr)

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Descriptionངོ་སྤྲོད།

The Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life is one of the most highly recommended texts for Mahayana practice. The ninth chapter of that book, the chapter on Transcendent Wisdom, is known among Buddhist scholars as a challenging and profound exposition of the Madhyamika View of Buddhist philosophy. It is difficult to understand without a commentary.
This extraordinarily clear exposition is based on an oral teaching given in 1979 by His Holiness the Dalai Lama before an assembly of over a thousand Tibetans and Westerners. He explicates the different points and shows how the Centrist View differs from other Buddhist and non-Buddhist views. This invaluable volume, with its precise elucidation of core issues of Tibetan Buddhism, stands as a key work in Buddhist literature. (Source: back cover)

Citation

Dalai Lama, 14th. Transcendent Wisdom: A Commentary on the Ninth Chapter of Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life. Translated, edited, and annotated by B. Alan Wallace. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 1988.

Table of contents

Acknowledgements7
Foreword9
Preface: The Place of Wisdom in Spiritual Practice15

Part I: THE METHODS NEEDED FOR CULTIVATING WISDOM17
I. Introduction to the Two Truths that Comprise Reality19
- The Classification of the Two Truths
- People Who Ascertain the Two Truths
- Qualms Concerning the Lack of Intrinsic Existence
II. Critique of the Idealist View29
III. The Necessity of the Centrist Path38
- The Necessity of Realizing Emptiness

Part II: IDENTITYLESSNESS55
IV. Personal Identitylessness57
- Refutation of an intrinsic "I"
- Refutation of the Samkhya theory of self
- Refutation of the Nyaya theory of self
- Rebuttal of arguments against identitylessness
V. Phenomenal Identitylessness71
- The four applications of mindfulness
  - Mindfulness of the body
  - Mindfulness of the feelings
  - Mindfulness of the mind
  - Mindfulness of phenomena
  - Refutation of objections

Part III: REFUTATION OF TRUE EXISTENCE89
VI. Refutation of Others' Conceptions of True Existence91
VII. Proofs of the Absence of True Existence94
- The "Diamond-splinters" argument
- The interdependence argument
- The argument concerning the arising and cessation of entities and non-entities
VIII. Encouragement to Strive to Realize Emptiness110
Bibliography115
Notes117

Interconnections

Works related to this item

1 Partial translation of

Śāntideva (ཞི་བ་ལྷ་). Bodhicaryāvatāra [बोधिचर्यावतार]. byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa [བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྤྱོད་པ་ལ་འཇུག་པ།]. [The Way of the Bodhisattva]. Tengyur, RKTST 3216 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=3216&typ=2.

Classical WorksAbout this item

An "Introduction to Bodhisattva Practice," the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra is a poem about the path of a bodhisattva, in ten chapters, written by the Indian Buddhist Śāntideva (fl. c. 685–763). One of the masterpieces of world literature, it is a core text of Mahāyāna Buddhism and continues to be taught, studied, and commented upon in many languages and by many traditions around the world. The main subject of the text is bodhicitta, the altruistic aspiration for enlightenment, and the path and practices of the bodhisattva, the six perfections (pāramitās). The text forms the basis of many contemporary discussions of Buddhist ethics and philosophy.

2 Other editions

Dalai Lama, 14th. Perfecting Wisdom: How Things Appear and How They Truly Are; A Commentary on the Wisdom Chapter of A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life. Translated, edited, and annotated by B. Alan Wallace. Core Teachings of the Dalai Lama. Boulder, CO: Shambhala Publications, 2019.

Books2019About this item

A clear exposition on the wisdom section of A Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life based on an oral teaching given in Switzerland by H.H. the Dalai Lama in 1979.

Dalai Lama, 14th. Transcendent Wisdom: A Teaching on the Wisdom Section of Shantideva's Guide to the Bodhisattva Way of Life. Translated, edited, and annotated by B. Alan Wallace. Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2009.

Books2009About this item

A translation of a commentary by the 14th Dalai Lama on the ninth chapter of the Bodhicaryāvatāra based on an oral teaching given in 1979 in Rikon, Switzerland.

1 Teaching based on

Śāntideva (ཞི་བ་ལྷ་). Bodhicaryāvatāra [बोधिचर्यावतार]. byang chub sems dpa'i spyod pa la 'jug pa [བྱང་ཆུབ་སེམས་དཔའི་སྤྱོད་པ་ལ་འཇུག་པ།]. [The Way of the Bodhisattva]. Tengyur, RKTST 3216 http://www.rkts.org/cat.php?id=3216&typ=2.

Classical WorksAbout this item

An "Introduction to Bodhisattva Practice," the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra is a poem about the path of a bodhisattva, in ten chapters, written by the Indian Buddhist Śāntideva (fl. c. 685–763). One of the masterpieces of world literature, it is a core text of Mahāyāna Buddhism and continues to be taught, studied, and commented upon in many languages and by many traditions around the world. The main subject of the text is bodhicitta, the altruistic aspiration for enlightenment, and the path and practices of the bodhisattva, the six perfections (pāramitās). The text forms the basis of many contemporary discussions of Buddhist ethics and philosophy.