The original Sublime Continuum Treatise Commentary was written by Aryasanga, as inspired by the bodhisattva, Maitreyanatha, around 400 CE, in North India. It was subsequently elucidated frequently in India and Tibet. Here, it is introduced and presented in an original translation from Sanskrit and Tibetan, with the translation of a detailed Tibetan Super-Commentary by Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen (1364-1432 CE), whose work is considered to be authentically inspired by his teacher, the widely acclaimed Tibetan philosophical genius, Tsong Khapa (1357-1419 CE). The Buddhist Centrist teaching of emptiness, or selflessness, is foundational in all forms of Buddhist thought and education. In contemporary scholarship, its critical, negational impact is widely misunderstood as a form of nihilism, or at least as a radical skepticism. This is unsurprising, as indeed it is a negation of any intrinsic reality in any persons or things. However, Buddhist philosophers from Nagarjuna on have argued that this negation of intrinsic reality powerfully affirms the supreme importance and value of relative realities, as elusive and sometimes even illusory as they may be. Such affirmation of relative reality--filled as it is with sensitive beings, usually caught in suffering due to their ignorance of their natural freedom and their frustrating struggles with the overwhelming "otherness" of the universe of beings and things--is the bottom line of the theory of emptiness. In the Super-Commentary, Gyaltsap Darma Rinchen elucidates in great detail this supremely positive theory of the "buddha-nature," showing how it provides the meaning and value of the liberated life, so powerfully enabled by the wisdom of emptiness. Herein, Marty Bo Jiang, in his clear presentation and original translation, completes the historic project of presenting these works in both English and Chinese translations, in parallel publications.
Sublime Continuum Super-Commentary (theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i tikka) with the Sublime Continuum Treatise Commentary (Mahayanottaratantrasastravyakhya; theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos rnam par bshad pa), American Institute of Buddhist Studies, Wisdom Publications, Hardcover, 580 Pages, $59.95
Marty Bo Jiang (Translator) is a research fellow at the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, Columbia University Center for Buddhist Studies.
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CONTENTS: Sublime Continuum Super-Commentary
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Editor's/Series Editor's Preface
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ix
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Author's Preface and Acknowledgements
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xv
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Abbreviations, Sigla, and Typographical Conventions
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xvi
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Part One: Introduction
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1.
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Introduction to The Sublime Continuum and Its Commentary
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3
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2.
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Introduction to Gyaltsap's Supercommentary
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17
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Part Two: Translations
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Maitreyanatha's Sublime Continuum and
Noble Asanga's Commentary
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I
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Tathagatha Essence
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53
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II
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Enlightenment
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145
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III
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Excellences
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159
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IV
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Enlightened Activities
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166
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V
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Benefit
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184
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Gyaltsap's Supercommentary
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Introduction
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193
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I
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Tathagatha Essence
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205
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II
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Enlightenment
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479
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III
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Excellences
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511
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IV
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Enlightened Activities
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524
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V
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Benefit
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555
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Appendix
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Tibetan Names (Phonetic-Transliterated Equivalents)
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570
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Selected Bibliographies
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Canonical Sources
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572
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Modern Sources
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579
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Indexes
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Index of Canonical Texts Cited
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581
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Index of Canonical Authors Cited
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584
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General Index
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586
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