In Praise of Dharmadhatu Hardcover – February 1, 2008

This is a wonderful book, combining a thoroughly-considered and refined translation of two important Buddhist texts, Nagarjuna's Dharmadhatustava and the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje's commentary, with very extensive and insightful introductory material. The introductions are thorough and clear, with extensive references; a very readable presentation of a lot of information, all of which can enhance understanding of the texts translated here. The 102 pages of endnotes provide thorough and detailed explanations, and providing additional literary and commentarial context for parts of the translations.

I found the texts translated here inspiring, and beautifully rendered. The thorough introductions and extensive endnotes, along with this elegant translation, made it possible to appreciate this text as I would not have been able to otherwise.

Since the introductory material seems particularly valuable, I will describe it briefly here. It provides background regarding Nagarjuna's works and the views they express, the third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje, and Buddhist explanations of mind (in particular, "luminous mind") relevant to the text. These provide helpful context for the translations that follow, and, being meticulously grounded in texts and richly "endnoted," provide resources for those interested in further research in these and related topics.

The first section, "Nagarjuna and his Works," provides a brief biography of Nagarjuna and a coherent overview of texts attributed to Nagarjuna by various sources, some questions and points of disagreement from various sources, and so on. The primary focus, however, is in establishing that "Nagarjuna--even if only his generally accepted works are taken into account--displays a wide range of resourcful ways to express the Buddhist teachings in their entirety," and, therefore, that Nagarjuna's "praise" texts, including that translated in this volume, are part of an extensive and coherent Buddhist perspective.

The next section provides additional philosophical context for the current work, succinctly, and sometimes poetically, discussing pertinent Buddhist views of mind and cognition.

The section on Rangjung Dorje provides a brief biography followed by a systematic survey of seven of Rangjung Dorje's texts understood to illuminate the view and understanding expressed in the third Karmapa's commentary on Nagarjuna's Dharmadhatustava (Praise of Dharmadhatu), and some discussion of later depictions of Rangjung Dorje's view as a synthesis of classical Yogacara and Madhyamaka, followed by an extensive discussion of views that might be characterized as "shentong" (gzhan-stong) and why.

The introduction to Rangjung Dorje's comentary on the Dharmadhatustava provides brief historical context, and, more valuably for me, then discusses main themes in the text.

There is also a brief discussion of the other known Tibetan commentaries on the Dharmadhatustava, ten in all. Of these ten, five are described in some detail in this introductory section; they are also excerpted in the endnotes.

This book is a translation of the root text, "Dharmadhatustava" or "In Praise of Dharmadhatu" by the Indian master Nagarjuna and a complete commentary by the Tibetan master Karmapa III, Rangjung Dorje. Fortunately, rather than just being a straight translation, a great deal of effort has been put into providing the supporting materials necessary for people who are not steeped in the traditional Indo-Tibetan educational system to make a satisfying foray into a profound and difficult teaching. To this end, Brunnhölzl offers context-setting introductions, history, and summarizations which strongly prepare the reader to embark into the profound root text and commentary.

What is the Dharmadhatustava?

Pg 168: "The Dharmadhatustava is a teaching on the very essence of pure mind, which is stained ... in just an adventitious way."

What is this "dharmadhatu" that is praised?

From the root verses of Nagarjuna (pg 117 and pg 121)

I bow to you, the dharmadhatu,
Who resides in every sentient being.
But if they aren't aware of you,
They circle through this triple being. (verse 1)
...
Covered by the web of afflictions,
It is called a "sentient being."
Once it's free from the afflictions,
It should be expressed as "Buddha." (verse 37)

In other words, this is a teaching on the innate enlightened nature of sentient beings and the temporary, removable obstacles that block beings from experiencing it fully. Since root texts such as this are frequently very pithy and somewhat difficult to understand without some prior vocabulary and conceptual framework, Karl first provides background on Nagarjuna, placing him in context and outlining the themes on which he wrote. He then goes on to provide a "Terminological Map" for the root text and its commentaries, as well as an overview of the major themes. With this essential foundation in place, the reader is prepared to dive into the pithy, lucid root verses of the "Dharmadhatustava."

Moving right along to the commentary and its author, Karl provides biographical information about Karmapa III and an account of his scriptural legacy, highlighting his texts that are still available to the modern world. He goes on to confront the common assertion that Karmapa III was a major proponent of the shentong view by giving the reader a guided tour of some of Rangjung Dorje's most famous texts: The Aspiration Prayer of Mahamudra, Commentary on Dharmadhatustava (the present translation), and other well known texts including his magnum opus, The Profound Inner Reality and its auto-commentary. By directly presenting some of the essential points of these texts related to Rangjung Dorje's view, Karl establishes that Karmapa III's view cannot be so easily pigeon-holed, but is actually a cohesive integration of the two great schools of the Indian Mahayana tradition - Yogacara and Madhyamaka.

Pg 171: "Thus if one wants to use the categories of rangtong and shentong at all, one could say that Rangjung Dorje's view takes them to be anything but mutually exclusive and represents a creative synthesis of them."

Having confronted the assertion that Karmapa III is an exclusive shentongpa, Karl enters an inquiry into what exactly is meant by the term "shentongpa" or the shentong view, the so-called other emptiness school. For those of us trying to make sense of the complex landscape of Buddhist philosophy, Karl presents a thorough map which includes the origins of such a view in India, details of the Jonang presentation of the view (the card carrying shentong exponents), and excerpts from masters sympathetic to this presentation's valuable insights. In this way, he allows the reader to come to her own understanding of the purpose for the presentation of a variety of views and how they may be understood in context and even integrated. This inquiry culminates in an examination of the faults of a simplistic understanding of Buddhist philosophy which results from only examining popular simplified classifications of different views into a hierarchical structure. This is frequently what results from casual inquiry with no knowledge of the actual development of these systems in India, the evolution of such classifications as they moved through Tibet, or the agendas of those structuring such classifications (no doubt with their own school or view at the top).

From page 187: "... I am not saying all this to discredit Tibetan doxography altogether... but because there are so many - and typically always the same - misunderstandings triggered by these presentations (followed by endless and pointless discussions), when they are taken to represent actual Indian schools and masters, with each one nicely tucked into their assigned drawers. Often, this just serves as a basis for further enhancing mind's tendencies for reification and solidified belief systems, which the whole point of ascertaining the proper view is to undermine exactly these tendencies."

Finally, before going directly into Rangjung Dorje's commentary, Karl very briefly overviews the other ten known commentaries on Dharmadhatustava, six of which are available. Five were written by Sakya authors, three by Jonangpas, one by a Kagyupa (the present work), and one by a Gelugpa. Karl provides brief details on the authors and contents of the other five available commentaries, which he has used to supplement Rangjung Dorje's commentary, putting relevant passages as endnotes for the interested reader.

The work Karl does to establish the origin and context of the text and its commentary demonstrates his commitment to impeccable scholarship and attention to detail. The amount of reference material provided showing how Buddhist masters have used Nagarjuna's root text throughout the different schools and lineages is vast, providing the reader many angles to explore interpretations of his view. The sheer amount of research and translation provided in the introductions to various sections and the summaries is enough to amount to another text on its own. Karl provides a complete view of the present work from the perspective of Tibetan Buddism as a whole, giving exerpts from texts written by the 3rd, 7th and 8th Karmapa, the 8th Situpa, Jamgon Kongtrul the Great, Sakya Pandita, Gorampa, Sonam Gyaltsen, Dolpopa, Taranatha, Ju Mipham, and even some Gelugpa scholarship (which apparently does not refer to Nagarjuna's text as much as the other schools do). These brief excerpts are like pith commentaries highlighting difficult to grasp aspects of the view. The effect is like having your mind blown by these great masters, one after the other, culminating in the knockout punch which is the translation of Rangjung Dorje's lucid explanation of Nagarjuna's text. As with his previous works (The Center of the Sunlit Sky: Madhyamaka in the Kagyu Tradition (Nitartha Institute Series),Straight from the Heart: Buddhist Pith Instructions ), Karl continues to focus on bringing the perspective of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism into the western world to enrich the presentations of the dharma to our culture.