The Uttaratantra Shastra is one of the Five Treatises of Lord Maitreya (jamchö dé nga). It is a treatise explaining the vast meaning of the teachings taught by the Buddha when he turned the third wheel of the Dharma. This treatise mainly expounds on buddha nature—the unchanging pure innate nature of all sentient beings present from beginningless time. It can…

Abhidharma is the teaching that explains the existence of various phenomena from physical particles to the spiritual realisation of omniscience. It is of two types with respect to the higher and lower vehicles. Here, we are going to explain in brief the Abhidharma of the lower vehicle, compiled and commented on by Vasubandhu, referring to a further commentary by Mipham…

Prajna-mula-madhyamika, the major text among the six root Madhyamika teachings of Nagarjuna, teaches about emptiness, the sole path to attain pristine cognition. By learning and contemplating this teaching, one can generate insight into the reality that is beyond the eight fabricated extremes. The teaching is described briefly through the following summary of its twenty-seven chapters. [The first fifteen chapters were…

Prajna-mula-madhyamika, the major text among the six root Madhyamika teachings of Nagarjuna, teaches about emptiness, the sole path to attain pristine cognition. By learning and contemplating on this teaching, one can generate insight into the reality which is beyond the eight fabricated extremes. The teaching is described briefly through the following summary of its twenty-seven chapters. Chapter One: Analysis of…

Some accounts say that Aryadeva was born from a lotus flower in Sri Lanka near the king’s palace and was adopted by the king as his next successor. At an early age, he went to south India, became a monk and studied the Buddhist scriptures thoroughly under Nagarjuna in the Shatavahana kingdom of King Udayibhadra. Aryadeva went to Nalanda University…

The author of this profound teaching on emptiness and the vast teaching on the qualities of the path and fruition popularly known as Madhyamakavatara (Tib: Uma-La-Jugpa) is the great Buddhist adept-scholar known as Chandrakirti, who was born in the land of Samanta in India in about the seventh century. He was an extraordinary person deeply immersed in the truth of…