Jeffrey Hopkins continues his groundbreaking exploration of the Jo-nang-ba sect of Tibetan Buddhism with this revelatory translation of one of the seminal texts from that tradition. Whereas Dol-bo-ba's massive
Mountain Doctrine authenticates the doctrine of other-emptiness through extensive scriptural citations and elaborate philosophical arguments, Taranatha's more concise work translated here situates the doctrine of other-emptiness within the context of schools of tenets, primarily the famed four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, through comparing the various schools' opinions on the status of the noumenon and phenomena. Also included is a supplementary text by Taranatha which presents the opinions of a prominent fifteenth-century Sakya scholar, Shakya Chok-den, and contrasts them with those of the leading Jo-nang-ba scholar, Dol-bo-ba.
"Anyone eager to understand the currents and interpretation that flowed through Tibetan Buddhist literary culture and contemplative practice will be delighted by this excursion into the works of one of the more colorful and daring among Tibet's intellectual yogins."--Jules B. Levinson, Ph.D., Light of Berotsana Translation Group
"This book is lovingly translated and annotated. Jeffrey Hopkins likes nothing better than this sort of challenge of explication, and here he once again comes up trumps."--
The Middle Way
Taranatha (1575-1634) was one of the leading exponents of the Jo-nang-ba sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Scholar, teacher, and founder of monasteries in Tibet and Mongolia, where he taught for twenty years, his collected writings fill twenty-three volumes.
Jeffrey Hopkins is a seminal and influential scholar of Tibetan Buddhism. Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia, he is the author or translator of over thirty-five books on Tibetan Buddhism, including
Emptiness in the Mind-Only School of Buddhism (1999), and, as translator-editor, His Holiness the Dalai Lama's
How to Practice (2002),
Kindness, Clarity, and Insight (2006), and
How to See Yourself as You Really Are (2006).
