One of the main concepts in Buddhism is that our external world is not solid and real. The Buddha in several sutras stated that this world is a dream, a mirage, an illusion.

This idea was further expanded by Nagarjuna and the Middle Way school around the first century of our era. He presented arguments that one could logically prove that all external phenomena are not solid and "real," but rather phenomena are just mental concepts that we hold. They called this "emptiness" and the belief that everything is empty later became known in Tibet as the Rangtong (empty of self) view.

A few centuries later, Asanga published the Five Treatises of the Maitreya that he had received directly from the Maitreya Buddha. These teachings extended the concept of emptiness to include buddha nature--the belief that all sentient beings have the potiential for achieving enlightenment. The reason we are not all automatically enlightened having buddha nature is that our buddha nature is covered up by our disturbing emotions and false beliefs about reality.

Understanding buddha nature involves a careful examination of ultimate reality which was developed and carefully explained by Dolopopa in the 13th century. Dolpopa wrote a 300 page book, Mountain Dharma, which contained over 500 quotations from the sutras, shastras, and tantras to support his view of buddha nature and its characteristics. He also directly introduced his ideas to the Karmapa of Kagyu and Longchenpa of Nyingma linage of Tibet which became known as the Shentong (empty of other) view.

Thrangu Rinpoche was introduced to the Shentong view in Tibet at an early age. When he was asked to teach Dolpopa at a week-long seminar, he condensed all the main ideas of Mountain Dharma into a very lucid narrative explained all the main topics of Mountain Dharma. In this book we have also added many selected quotes from the original text to give the reader more context and flavor of the reasonings used by Dolpopa.

Dolpopa's Mountain Dharma: The Creation of Shentong, Thrangu Rinpoche, Namo Buddha, 171 pages, $16.95

Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche is a renowned Tibetan Buddhist master known for his deep compassion and the clarity of his teachings. He was selected by His Holiness the Dalai Lama to serve as the principal tutor to His Holiness the 17th Karmapa, Oryen Trinley Dorje.

Thrangu Rinpoche is a full holder and teacher of the Kagyu Vajrayana lineages. He founded the Namo Buddha retreat center in Nepal, has established two shedras (monastic universities) in Nepal and India, and serves as Abbot of Gampo Abbey in Nova Scotia. He also built Tara Abbey, where nuns receive a full dharma education qualifying them to become khenpos or teachers. Thrangu Rinpoche teaches entensively throughout Asia, Europe and the United States. He has centers in Maine and California, and is building the Vajra Vidya Retreat Center in Crestone, Colorado.