[page 261] In the literature and associated oral traditions presenting the grounds (bhūmi, sa) and paths (mārga, lam) of the Hīnayāna, or Low Vehicle, and the Mahāyāna, or Great Vehicle, Buddhist poets, philosophers, and yogins from India and Tibet describe a journey from bondage and ignorance (avidyā, ma rig pa) to liberation (mokṣa, thar pa) and enlightenment (bodhi, byang chub). Here I want to introduce the story that emerges in the literature on grounds and paths. I will begin with a few words about the origin and development of this literature, and then consider some of its prominent themes.

The authors of the Tibetan literature on grounds and paths include scholars working in many parts of Tibet and also in Mongolia from as early as the eleventh century until contemporary times. The earliest literature on grounds and paths that I have found is the presentation of the five paths and the Mahāyāna grounds in sGam po pa's (1079-1153) Thar pa rin po che'i rgyan ("Ornament for Precious Liberation"); the most recent is a text by Blo bzang rta dbyangs (1867-1937) setting forth the grounds and paths of the hearer, solitary realizer, and bodhisattva vehicles from the point[page 262] of view of Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka as interpreted by Tsong kha pa and some among his many followers. Studies of grounds and paths composed during the intervening centuries include treatments by mKhas grub dge legs dpal bzang po (1385-1438), rJe btsun chos kyi rgyal mtshan (1469-1546), 'Jam dbyangs blo bzang bshes gnyen (dates unknown), the eighth Karma pa, Mi bskyod rdo rje (1507-1554), lCang skya rol pa'i rdo rje (1717-1786), 'Jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas (1813-1899) and 'Ju Mi pham rgya mtsho (1846-1912). Other scholars have applied the presentation of grounds and paths to the Vajrayāna, and at least two Bon po writers have written texts on grounds and paths. The proliferation of such literature indicates widespread and persistent interest in the topics of grounds and paths, the study of which continues to occupy an important place in the curriculum of contemporary monastic colleges.

Tibetan scholars say that the Buddha himself initiated the discussion of grounds and paths when he taught a set of discourses known as the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras ("Sūtras on the Perfection of Wisdom") to an assembly of students at Rājagṛha. In that collection of sūtras, the Buddha presented the emptiness that is the profound nature of all phenomena. He indicated also the paths that three types of students—hearers (śrāvaka, nyan thos), solitary realizers (pratyekabuddha, rang sangs rgyas), and bodhisattvas—follow to the liberations they seek, but left it for others to explain those paths in an open and complete way.

The Buddha's teachings on emptiness were clarified by Nāgārjuna (first to second century C.E.) in commentaries known collectively as the Rigs tshogs drug ("Six Collections of Reasonings"). His teachings on the paths of the three sūtra vehicles were elaborated in a treatise (śāstra) by Maitreya known as the Abhisamayālaṃkāra ("Ornament for the Clear Realizations"). The treatises by Nāgārjuna and Maitreya inspired further discussion among many generations of Indian Buddhist scholars. That conversation eventually migrated to Tibet and continues even now in the monastic universities that the Tibetans have established outside their homeland.

In other literature, the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition describes spiritual development as a series of grounds. Tibetan authors writing[page 263] about the grounds of the Mahāyāna frequently use the Daśabhūmika ("Ten Grounds Sūtra") as an authoritative and inspirational source. Nāgārjuna plays an important role here too, for Tibetan authors regularly quote the verses in his Ratnāvalī ("Precious Garland") celebrating the bodhisattva and buddha grounds. Usually they refer also to Maitreya's verses on the Mahāyāna grounds, found in his Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra ("Ornament for the Mahāyāna Sūtras"). If they look to a fourth Indian source, it is frequently to Candrakīrti's (seventh century C.E.) Madhyamakāvatāra ("Entrance into the Middle"), a text in which the ideals of the Mahāyāna tradition are expressed in terms of the ten bodhisattva grounds and the buddha ground. One might expect Asaṅga's Yogācaryabhūmi ("Levels of Yogic Practice"), which contains long and elaborate discussions of the grounds of hearers and bodhisattvas, to play an important role in the Tibetan literature on grounds. To my surprise, I have found that Asaṅga's texts are mentioned only rarely in the literature on grounds and paths with which I am familiar.

The Tibetan texts in which grounds and paths are discussed vary both in format and in point of view. Nevertheless, a close look at the structure of two dGe lugs pa texts gives a sense of the style of such literature and of the topics with which it is concerned. Let us consider a presentation of grounds and paths composed by dKon mchog 'jigs med dbang po, called Sa lam gyi rnam bzhag theg gsum mdzes rgyan ("Presentation of Grounds and Paths, Beautiful Ornament for the Three Vehicles") and another composed by Blo bzang rta dbyangs, called Sa lam gyi rnam bzhag zab don rgya mtsho'i snying po ("Presentation of Grounds and Paths, Essence of the Ocean of Profound Meaning").

dKon mchog 'jigs med dbang po's text opens with an outline of the paths of three types of religious practitioners. The first is those who seek rebirth in a favorable situation rather than liberation from rebirth altogether. These are called "special beings of small capacity" (skye bu chung ngu khyad par can). The second aim merely to accomplish their own welfare by achieving liberation from cyclic existence. They are called "beings of middling capacity" (madhyamapuruṣa, skyes bu 'bring). Those of the third type seek highest enlightenment themselves so as to help all other sentient beings[page 264] find a genuine and enduring happiness. They are called "beings of great capacity" (mahāpuruṣa, skyes bu chen po). dKon mchog 'jigs med dbang po defines and illustrates the paths of each, indicates areas where the paths of the three types of practitioners overlap one another, and discusses the ways in which individual practitioners enhance their ability to consider the long-term welfare of themselves and others.

The second section of dKon mchog 'jigs med dbang po's text identifies the grounds of the Hīnayāna and then provides a detailed explanation of the paths of all three Sūtra vehicles. This includes a discussion of the various names and synonyms for the five paths, the definitions and divisions of each path, and the points at which each path begins and ends.

The final major topic is the ten grounds of bodhisattva superiors (ārya). dKon mchog 'jigs med dbang po explains the names given to the individual grounds, the obstructions that are abandoned over the course of the ten grounds, and the extraordinary qualities that bodhisattvas develop as they journey to complete enlightenment. These qualities are grouped into seven categories: (1) perfections (pāramitā), (2) magical abilities, (3) fruitional rebirths, (4) the trainings in discipline (śīla), meditatve stabilization (samādhi), and wisdom (prajñā), (5) the way in which reality is understood in the periods subsequent to nonconceptual realization of emptiness, (6) thorough purification, and (7) the signs of achieving a ground.

Blo bzang rta dbyangs was a Mongolian scholar who wrote prolifically both on Sūtra and on Tantra. His treatise on the grounds and paths of the sūtras is unusual in that it presents the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school's point of view, for most texts, including dKon mchog 'jigs med dbang po's, present the views of the Yogācāra-Svātantrika Madhyamaka school. Blo bzang rta dbyangs's text is divided into two major sections that are approximately equal in length. The first section explains the grounds and paths of the Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna. The second section analyzes controversial points on which various scholars and schools disagree. In that latter section, Blo bzang rta dbyangs is particularly interested in distinguishing the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school's position from that of the Yogācāra- Svātantrika Madhyamaka.

The section on the grounds and paths of the three Sūtra vehicles begins with a description of the eight Hīnayāna grounds. It then[page 265] presents the five paths of the Hīnayāna in detail, with definitions, divisions, and illustrations of each. This occupies roughly six pages of a thirty-four page section. The remainder—twenty-eight pages—is devoted to a discussion of the grounds and paths of the Mahāyāna. The number of pages alloted to the Hīnayāna and the Mahāyāna, six and twenty-eight, respectively, indicates the author's relatively greater interest in Mahāyāna topics.

The portion concerned with the grounds and paths of the Mahāyāna begins with a presentation of the five Mahāyāna paths, and includes definitions, divisions, and illustrations of each. This is followed by a discussion of the ten grounds of bodhisattva superiors. Each of the ten grounds is described in terms of (1) the magical abilities that bodhisattvas achieve on that ground, (2) the practice of a perfection that has been brought to a superlative level on that ground, (3) the power to advance further that is achieved on that ground, and (4) the fruitional rebirths that are taken on that ground. Blo bzang rta dbyangs cites liberally from works by Nāgārjuna and Maitreya in describing these ten grounds. The citations help to give the reader a sense of the literature on which the Tibetan presentations are based.

After outlining the ten grounds of bodhisattva superiors, bLo bzang rta dbyangs describes the ground of a buddha. His discussion begins with a vivid and eloquent description of the way in which bodhisattvas pass from the tenth bodhisattva ground to the buddha ground. This is followed by a clarification of the nature of a buddha's three bodies, i.e., Truth Body (dharmakāya, chos sku), Complete Enjoyment body (saṃbhogakāya, longs spyod rdzogs pa'i sku), and Emanation Body (nirmāṇakāya, sprul sku).

The presentation of Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna grounds having been completed, Blo bzang rta dbyangs presents thirty-four pages of dialectical discussion in which he differentiates the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school's view from that of other schools, and offers extensive support, both scriptural and logical, for the radical positions taken by the Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka school. The topics explored include the ignorance that serves as the root of cyclic existence, the selflessness (nairātmya, bdag med) that hearers, solitary realizers, and bodhisattvas must realize in order to achieve the goals they seek, the difference between the afflictive obstructions (kleśāvarana, nyon mongs pa'i sgrib pa) and the obstructions to omniscience (jñeyāvaraṇa, shes bya'i sgrib pa), and the difference between nirvāṇas with remainder and those without remainder.[page 266]

Grounds and paths are presented as keys to liberation from a prison. The prison, called cyclic existence (saṃsāra, 'khor ba), extends both spatially and temporally. Transmigrators (gati, 'gro ba) stumble from one lifetime to another within the limitless prison of cyclic existence, but generally know little about the past from which they have emerged or the future that they are creating. Buddhist literature therefore describes the types of lifetimes that sentient beings (sattva, sems can) experience within cyclic existence and the actions (karma, las) that lead to particular types of rebirths.1

Having visualized cyclic existence, a practitioner considers how to respond to such confinement. As dKon mchog 'jigs med dbang po's text makes clear, one might respond by seeking to ensure a comfortable position within the prison, or one might seek liberation from prison for oneself alone, or one might seek the means to liberate not only oneself but also all others from prison. The literature on grounds and paths outlines the journeys toward freedom as well as the freedom that is achieved. In such literature, one is studying a map of areas that one has never visited. For that reason, the study of grounds and paths, like the study of cyclic existence itself, requires a reader to imagine unknown territory. We find in such literature a carefully crafted set of meaningful images that enable students to imagine areas of progressively greater freedom, to become inspired by the world they have imagined, and to set forth on the journey toward freedom in the very act of imagining an alternative to endless and oppressive confusion. Let us consider three images that are central to the transmission of the Buddhist vision.

To dispel the ignorance that creates and sustains cyclic existence, those who desire liberation generate consciousnesses (jñāna, shes pa) that realize selflessness. The selflessness that they realize is the opposite of the self that is conceived by ignorance. Through realizing selflessness, those consciousnesses uproot the ignorance that conceives self, whereupon the gates of cyclic existence fall open. In the literature on spiritual development, those consciousnesses are called "grounds" (bhūmi, sa) and "paths" (mārga, lam). Moreover, the consciousnesses that lead to realization of selflessness and those that, subsequently, are both deeply marked by that realization[page 267] and centrally involved in strengthening it further are also called "grounds" and "paths."

The first point to realize is that "ground" and "path" are metaphors. The grounds and paths of hearers, solitary realizers, and bodhisattvas are not material highways, and the map of their development does not describe a physical geography. Grounds and paths refer, rather, to consciousnesses. Although only some consciousnesses are grounds and paths, all grounds and paths are consciousnesses.2 Some of those grounds and paths realize selflessness; the others either lead to or arise from such realization. In that sense, we might say that the grounds and paths of the Sūtra vehicles are the study of selflessness.

It is important to realize that all of the grounds and paths of the three vehicles are just consciousnesses. That they are consciousnesses means that they are clear and immaterial awareness, without color, shape, sound, odor, taste, or texture. Although engraved upon the personality of the practitioner, they cannot be seen with the eye or touched with the hand. The presentation of spiritual development in the Buddhist tradition is, in that sense, a careful survey of an invisible, inaudible, and intangible world. As such, it could easily become an uninviting abstraction. That would defeat what must be one of the central purposes of the discussion, which is not only to inform but also to inspire, and that may be why the literature on spiritual development has attracted metaphors that arouse both curiosity and longing.

Why are these consciousnesses called "paths"? dKon mchog 'jigs med dbang po characterizes paths as consciousnesses serving as passageways to the enlightenments that are their fruits (428). He then explains that they are called "paths" because they cause one to progress to the rank of liberation (428). Similarly, Blo bzang rta dbyangs says that such consciousnesses are called "paths" in that they cause one to progress to the city of liberation (74). Both authors use the causative form of the verb, bgrod, here translated as "progress," indicating that these consciousnesses do not merely allow practitioners to achieve liberation but actually impel them toward it.

How do consciousnesses move practitioners toward liberation? In speaking about paths generally, Blo bzang rta dbyangs observes that, although "ground" and "path" are interchangeable terms, in usage, "path" refers mainly to the factor of wisdom (prajñā, shes rab) and "ground" refers mainly to the factor of method (upāya,[page 268] thabs) (74). As becomes apparent in his text, the discussion of spiritual development as a series of five paths presents mainly the development of wisdom, which means the genesis and maturation of the wisdom realizing selflessness. Thus, it is through realizing selflessness that paths drive practitioners toward liberation.

The name "ground" is applied to many different types of consciousnesses. For instance, an intention to emerge from cyclic existence (niḥsaraṇa, nges 'byung gi bsam pa), compassion (karuṇā, snying rje), generosity (dāna, sbyin pa), realizations of selflessness, and other such consciousnesses are all called "grounds." In explaining the reason for this, sGam po pa says:

They serve as the basis for the qualities that are the good qualities of that ground and the occasion of that ground, or, they cause higher grounds to develop, whereby they are called grounds....One dwells in and enjoys that wisdom, whereby they are called grounds; for example, like an enclosure for oxen. One travels on that wisdom, whereby they are called grounds; for example, like racing horses. That wisdom is the basis of all good qualities being born, whereby they are called grounds; for example, like fertile soil. (279)

Similarly, dKon mchog 'jigs med dbang po says:

As for calling these grounds, just as earth serves as the basis for plants, trees, and so forth, so these serve as the basis for the many good qualities of one who has entered a path, whereby they are called such. (426)

Also, Blo bzang rta dbyangs says:

In the world, the ground serves as a basis of production and abiding of fruit trees, forests, and so forth. Similarly, these perform the similar function of serving as the basis of the production and abiding of worldly qualities and qualities that are beyond the world. (74)

These scholars see wisdom, compassion, generosity, and so forth as bases that both nourish and enable further growth, and so they call such consciousnesses "grounds." Just as trees, mountains, lakes, animals, humans, farms, cities, and so forth all depend on the earth, so the beneficial qualities of body, speech, and mind developed by hearers, solitary realizers, and bodhisattvas all depend upon the consciousnesses from which they grow. Like the earth that is the basis for fruit trees and forests, such consciousnesses are the foundation for (1) the increase of beneficial[page 269] qualities and (2) the release of a limitless number of sentient beings from mistaken conceptions and mistaken appearances. As we read, we are invited to regard such minds as fertile points of departure, like good earth in which grow magnificent, shade-giving trees, beautiful flowers, luxurious green grass, and a rich harvest of corn.

In describing the internal structure of the Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna, the literature on grounds and paths creates a basis for discussing both the significant features of each and their differences. In that context, the grounds or paths of any one person's journey are individually distinct. In general, however, "ground" and "path" are synonyms: any consciousness that is one is also the other (ZGN: 74). Generally speaking, then, the names "ground" and "path" point to further extension of the Hīnayāna or Mahāyāna disciplines. As a ground, a consciousness serves as the basis for an increase of one's own good qualities and, in the Mahāyāna, for the liberation of others from suffering. Thus, "ground" suggests the further development both of oneself and of others. As a path, a consciousness invites further steps, and itself carries one part of the way. In brief, grounds and paths encourage motion and expansion.

dKon mchog 'jigs med dbang po gives "vehicle" (yāna, theg pa) as one of six synonyms for "path" (428). Since all paths are also grounds, "ground," "path," and "vehicle" are mutually inclusive: whatever is one is also the other two. However, the terms are used differently and suggest different aspects of the consciousnesses to which they refer. Consciousnesses are called "vehicles" when they are able to bear the welfare of sentient beings. The grounds and paths that carry practitioners to the liberations of arhats and buddhas are vehicles in that they bear sentient beings to the states of well-being that those practitioners seek. The final paths that practitioners achieve at the end of their journeys are also called vehicles because they themselves are the vessel for such well-being.

In each case, the image—ground, path, vehicle—connects one experience to another. Saying that a consciousness realizing emptiness is a "path" leading to liberation connects an extraordinary experience with an ordinary experience. Calling compassion a "ground" associates the fertility of the heart with the fertility of the earth. The metaphor enables a practitioner to think about compassion in a new way. Similar purposes have led Buddhist writers[page 270] to cast the literature of spiritual development in the terms of agriculture, ocean voyages, and warfare, which is to say, in the terms of the ordinary world.

From several points of view, the literature on grounds and paths provides a general environment for study and meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. In it are described the initial steps in the direction of liberation, the obstructions to further progress toward liberation, and the landmarks along the paths to liberation. This literature describes also the qualities that develop as practitioners approach liberation, the nature of the liberations that are achieved, and the varieties of journeys that different kinds of practitioners make toward liberation. However, except for texts that are specifically concerned with the paths of the Vajrayāna, the literature of grounds and paths explains the Sūtrayāna rather than the Vajrayāna. For this reason it does not describe the entirety of Tibetan Buddhist practice and omits in particular the ritual, the vision of sacredness, and the yoga to which Tibetan Buddhists have been overwhelmingly dedicated. Nevertheless, the grounds and paths of sūtra are studied, taught, debated, and have been written about repeatedly since the introduction of this body of knowledge to the people of Tibet. Moreover, the texts that present the grounds and paths of the Vajrayāna correlate the practices and realizations of that vehicle with the grounds and paths of the Sūtrayāna, and speak of Vajrayāna accomplishments in terms of the outline set down in the literature on the grounds and paths of the Sūtrayāna. This indicates that the Sūtra presentation has sufficient authority that the more powerful Vajrayāna of which it is a subset does not render it irrelevant or quaint. On the contrary, the presentation made in the sūtras and śāstras informs and directs Vajrayāna practice to a significant degree, in that the network of metaphors and analogies redefines and enlarges the perspectives of those who bring such a visualization into their own lives, in somewhat the way that remarkable people alter and extend the outlooks of those who meet them. These images reveal a territory that lies beyond the futility of cyclic existence, whereby they also invite and orient a personal exploration of the unknown ground.[page 271]

Asaṅga

NPSrNal 'byor spyod pa'i sa/ Sa'i dngos gzhi (Yogacaryābhūmi/ Bhūmivastu, "Levels of Yogic Practice/ Actuality of the Levels"). P nos. 5536-5538, vols. 109-110.

Blo bzang rta dbyangs

ZGNPhar chen theg pa'i lugs kyi theg pa gsum gyi sa dang lam gyi rnam par bzhag pa mdo tsam du brjod pa zab don rgya mtsho'i snying po ("Brief Expression of the Presentation of the Grounds and Paths of the Three Vehicles According to the System of the Great Perfection Vehicle, Essence of the Ocean of Profound Meaning"). In The Collected Works (Gsuṅg 'Bum) of Rje-Btsun Blo-Bzang-Rta-Mgrin, vol. 4, pp. 65-139. New Delhi: Mongolian Lama Gurudeva, 1975.

Candrakīrti

UJdBu ma la 'jug pa (Madhyamakāvatāra, "Supplement to [Nāgārjuna's] 'Treatise on the Middle'"). P nos. 5261, 5262, vol. 98. Edited Tibetan in Louis de la Vallée Poussin's Madhyamakāvatāra par Candrakīrti. Bibliotheca Buddhica9. Osnabruck: Biblio Verlag, 1970. English translation of Chapters One through Five in Tsong ka pa, Lekden, and Hopkins, Compassion in Tibetan Buddhism, pp. 95-230. Valois, NY: Gabriel/ Snow Lion, 1980, pp. 95-230. English translation of Chapter Six by Stephen Batchelor in Geshé Rabten, Echoes of Voidness, pp. 47-92. London: Wisdom, 1983.

Dalai Lama XIV, Tenzin Gyatso

1975The Buddhism of Tibet and the Key to the Middle Way. Translated by Jeffrey Hopkins and Lati Rimpoche. New York: Harper & Row.

DB

mDo sde sa bcu pa (Daśabhūmikasūtra, "Ten Grounds Sūtra"). P no. 761.31, vol. 25. Translated by M. Honda in An Annotated Translation of the 'Daśabhūmika.' In Studies in Southeast and Central Asia, pp. 115-276. Ed. by D. Sinor. Śata-Piṭaka Series74. New Delhi: 1968.[page 272]

dByangs can dga ba'i blo gros

KZJNdPal gsang ba 'dus pa 'phags lugs dang mthun pa'i sngags kyi sa lam rnam gzhag legs bshad skal bzang 'jug ngogs ("Presentation of the Grounds and Paths of Mantra According to the Superior Nāgārjuna's Interpretation of the Glorious Guhyasamāja, A Good Explanation Serving as a Port for the Fortunate"). Blockprint, N.p., n.d.

dKon mchog 'jigs med dbang po

TSDGSa lam gyi rnam gzhag theg gsum rdzes rgyan ("Presentation of Grounds and Paths, Beautiful Ornament for the Three Vehicles"). In The Collected Works of dKon-mchog-'jigs-med-dbang-po, vol. 7. New Delhi: Ngawang Gelek Demo, 1972.

GT

Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa brgyad stong pa'i mdo (Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitāsūtra, "Eight-Thousand-Stanza Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra"). P no. 734, vol. 21. Translated by E. Conze, Aṣṭasāhasrikāprajñāpāramitā. Asiatic Society Bibliotheca Indica284. Calcutta, 1958; reprint Bolinas, CA: Four Seasons Foundation, 1962.

Hopkins, Jeffrey

1992 A Tibetan Perspective on the Nature of Spiritual Experience. In Paths to Liberation: The Mārga and its Transformations in Buddhist Thought. Ed. by Robert E. Buswell, Jr. and Robert M. Gimello. Studies in East Asian Buddhism7. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

'Jam dbyangs blo bzang bshes gnyen

KZMPSa lam gyi rnam bzhag skal bzang mig phyed ("Presentation of Grounds and Paths, Opener of the Eyes of the Fortunate"). Blockprint, N.p., n.d.

'Jam mgon kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas

SBDbGrod bya sa dang lam gyi rim par phye ba ("Distinguishing the Stages of Those That Are to Be Traversed, the Grounds and Paths"). In Shes bya mdzod/ Theg pa'i sgo kun las btus pa gsung rab rin po che'i mdzod bslab pa gsum legs par ston pa'i bstan bcos shes bya kun khyab ("Treasury of Knowledge/ Treasury of Precious High Speech Gathered from All the Doors of Vehicles, Treatise Pervading All That Is to Be Known and Teaching Well the Three Trainings"). Lhasa: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1983.

'Ju Mi pham rgya mtsho

KJmKhas pa'i tshul la 'jug pa'i sgo zhes bya ba'i bstan bcos ("Treatise Called, 'Door of Entry into the Way of the Learned'"). Blockprint, N.p., n.d.[page 273]

Kalu Rinpoche

1986 The Dharma that Illuminates All Beings Impartially Like the Light of the Sun and the Moon. Edited by The Kagyu Thubten Choling Translation Committee. Albany: State University of New York Press.

Lati Rinbochay et al.

1983Meditative States in Tibetan Buddhism.London: Wisdom Publications.

Karma pa VIII, Mi bskyod rdo rje

DGGSdBu ma la 'jug pa'i rnam bshad dpal ldan dus gsum mkhyen pa'i zhal lung dwags brgyud sgrub pa'i shing rta ("Explanation of [Candrakīrti's] 'Supplement to [Nāgārjuna's] "Treatise on the Middle",' Sacred Speech of the Glorious Knower of the Three Times, Chariot Establishing the Dak po Lineage"). Blockprint, N.p., n.d.

lCang skya rol pa'i rdo rje

TLDGGrub pa'i mtha'i rnam par bzhag pa gsal bar bshad pa thub bstan lhun po'i mdzes rgyan ("Clear Exposition of the Presentations of Tenets, Beautiful Ornament for the Meru of the Subduer's Teaching"). Varanasi: Pleasure of Elegant Sayings Press, 1970.

Maitreya

MTGmNgon par rtogs pa'i rgyan (Abhisamayālamkāra, "Ornament for the Clear Realizations"). P no. 5184, vol. 88. Sanskrit edition by Th. Stcherbatsky and E. Obermiller, Abhisamayālaṃkāra-Prajñāpāramitā-Updeśa-Śāstra. Bibliotheca Buddhica21. Osnabruck: Biblio Verlag, 1970. English translation by Edward Conze, Abhisamayālaṃkāra. Serie Orientale Roma6. Rome: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1954.

DDGTheg pa chen po'i mdo sde rgyan gyi tshig le'ur byas pa (Mahāyāna-sūtrālaṃkārakārikā, "Ornament for the Mahāyāna Sūtras"). P no. 5521, vol. 108.

mKhas grub dge legs dpal bzang po

KYPSa lam gyi rnam gzhag mkhas pa'i yid 'phrog ("Presentation of Grounds and Paths, Captivating the Minds of the Learned"). In The Collected Works (gsuṅ 'bum) of Mkhas-grub Dge-legs Dpal, vol. 9, pp. 309-337. New Delhi: Ngawang Gelek Demo, 1983-1985.

Nāgārjuna

RPrGyal po la gtam bya ba rin po che'i 'phreng ba (Rājaparikathāratnāvalī, "Precious Garland of Advice for the King"). P no. 5658, vol. 129. Translated by Jeffrey Hopkins and Lati Rimpoche in[page 274] The Precious Garland and The Song of the Four Mindfulnesses. London: George Allen and Unwin, 1975. Partial translation by G. Tucci, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1934, pp. 307-325; 1936, pp. 237-252, 423-435.

Ngag dbang dpal ldan

GZSBgSang chen rgyud sde bzhi'i sa lam gyi rnam bzhag rgyud gzhung gsal byed ("Illumination of the Texts of Tantra, Presentation of the Grounds and Paths of the Four Great Secret Tantra Sets"). Blockprint, N.p., n.d.

Rig 'dzin rgyal mtshan

BTCSLBon theg pa chen po'i sa lam ("Grounds and Paths of the Bon Mahāyāna"). Blockprint, N.p., n.d.

rJe btsun chos kyi rgyal mtshan

KGGmKhas pa'i mgul rgyan ces bya ba sa lam rnam bzhag ("Presentation of Grounds and Paths, Necklace for the Learned"). Blockprint, N.p., n.d.

sGam po pa

TRGDam chos yid bzhin gyi nor bu thar pa rin po che'i rgyan zhes bya ba theg pa chen po'i lam rim gyi bshad pa ("Explanation of the Stages of the Paths of the Mahāyāna, Called 'The Excellent Dharma, the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel, the Ornament for Precious Liberation'"). Thimphu: National Library of Bhutan, 1985. Translated by Herbert V. Guenther, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation. Berkeley: Shambhala, 1971.

Shes rab rgyal mtshan

PGMSa lam 'phrul gyi sgron me ("Magical Lamp for the Grounds and Paths"). Blockprint, N.p., n.d.

Tsong-ka-pa

1977Tantra in Tibet: The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra. Introduced by Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. Translated and edited by Jeffrey Hopkins. London: George Allen and Unwin.

Tsong-ka-pa, Kensur Ngawang Lekden, and Jeffrey Hopkins

1980Compassion in Tibetan Buddhism. Valois, NY: Snow Lion.

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