This course is a systematic presentation of Chittamātra, or Mind Only meditative view of Mahāyāna Buddhism. We will engage in the philosophical reformulation of experiences arising from meditation practice – declaring reasonings establishing objects as not separate from mind, as well as the three natures theory and the eight-fold collection of consciousness.

Prerequisite: BUD 530

Required texts:

    • Root text: The Mind Only Tenet System (Semtsam), by Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen, Nitartha Institute Publications 
    • Mind Only Tenet System Sourcebook, by Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen, Nitartha Institute Publications 

Recommended text:

    • Commentary on the Chittamatra Philosophical Tradition, by Acharya Sherab Gyaltsen, Nitartha Institute Publications

This course is an exposition of the Middle Way philosophical tradition. Students will explore the ground, path, and fruition of Madhyamaka, the classification of knowable objects into the two realities, and cultivate certainty in twofold identitylessness, namely, 1) the emptiness of all phenomena through engaging in the five great Madhyamaka reasonings, and (2) the emptiness of a self of persons using the sevenfold analysis of the chariot. This course is based on the Middle Way section of Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Taye’s The Treasury of Knowledge, with the transcript of the oral commentary on this section by Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen. The course will also use selections from Karl Brunnhölzl’s The Center of the Sunlit Sky.

Prerequisite: BUD501 is required, and it is recommended that all four Mind and Its World courses be taken before taking level 2.

Required texts:  

  • TOK: Root Text: Selections from The Presentation of Madhyamaka in The Treasury of Knowledge, Nitartha Institute Publications 

  • ALTG: Sourcebook: Commentary on The Presentation of Madhyamaka In the Treasury of Knowledge, by Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen, 2009, Nitartha Institute Publications 

  • CSS: The Center of the Sunlit Sky: Madhyamaka in the Kagyü Tradition, by Mitra Karl Brunnhölzl, 2004, Snow Lion Publications

This course is an exposition of the Tathāgatagarbha philosophical tradition, based on The Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra: Fourth Vajra Point root text. Students cultivate certainty in the view of Buddha nature —the essence of awakening present in all beings. The Fourth Vajra Point of the Uttaratantra establishes Buddha nature through three reasonings, its ten aspects, nine analogies, and five reasons why it is necessary to teach it. 

This course is a presentation of the five paths on the voyage to awakening, the ten bodhisattvas' bhūmis, or levels of realization, and the result: the enlightenment, buddha's kāyas and wisdoms as well as enlightened activity. We will study what is required to embark and progress on the path and what the goal of such spiritual journey is.

Prerequisites: Taking BUD 610 (Madhyamaka) is recommended before this course.

Required Texts: 

    • Root text: The Presentation of Bhumis, Paths & Results in the Treasury of Knowledge (Salam), by Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye, Nitartha Institute Publications 
    • Sourcebook: Commentary on The Presentation of Paths Bhumis, & Results in the Causal Vehicle of Characteristics from the Treasury of Knowledge by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye, by Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen and Karl Brunnhölzl, Nitartha Institute Publications