A Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes presents the first English translation of the sDom gsum rab dbye, one of the most famous and controversial doctrinal treatises of Tibetan Buddhism. Written by Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltshen (1182-1251), a founder of the Sakya school and one of Tibet's most learned sages, The Three Codes strongly influenced subsequent religious and intellectual traditions in Tibet - and sparked a number of long-lasting doctrinal and philosophical disputes, some of which persist today.
In The Three Codes, Sakya Pandita discusses the Hinayana, Mahayana, and Tantric vows of Buddhist conduct, which often diverge and contradict each other. He criticizes, on at least one point or another, later practitioners of almost every lineage, including the Kadampa, Kagyupa, and Nyingmapa, for contradicting the original teachings of their own traditions.


Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes, Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltshen, Translated by Jared Douglas Rhoton, SUNY Press, Paperback, 2002, 369 pages, $39.95

Jared Douglas Rhoton received a Ph.D. in Indic Studies from Columbia University and was the translator of Deshung Rinpoche�s The Three Levels of Spiritual Perception: An Oral Commentary on �The Three Visions� (Nang Sum) of Ngorchen K�nchog Lh�ndrub.

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Note on Transcription

List of Abbreviations

Part I: Sakya Pandita�s Life and Work

Introduction

Part II: A Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes

Prologue

Vows of Individual Liberation

Vows of the Bodhisattva

Vows of the Vajra Vehicle

Epilogue

Part III: Six Letters by Sakya Pandita

1. Reply to the Questions of the Translator from Chak

2. Reply to the Questions of the Translator of Lowo

3. A Letter to the Noble-Minded

4. A Letter to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Ten Directions

5. Reply to the Questions of Dokorwa the Kadampa

6. Reply to the Questions of Namkha Bum the Kadampa

Appendix A: Gorampa's Outline of A Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes

Appendix B: Transliteration of the Tibetan Text of A Clear Differentiation of the Three Codes

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

About the Cover