The Lion's Roar of the Ultimate Non-Dual Buddha Nature

Title	The Lion’s Roar of the Ultimate Non-Dual Buddha Nature
Sub-title	With commentary
Author	Text by Ju Mipham Namgyal, Commentary by Tony Duff
Details	254 pages, 1 colour plate, 6" X 9", $US 35, available in paper format
ISBN	paper book 978-9937-572-79-8, e-book 978-9937-572-80-4
Texts	Tibetan text in Tibetan script included

The teaching of the Buddha hinges around the one point that sentient beings, meaning beings having a mind, have within them the potential to become a buddha. If they did not possess that potential, it would not be possible for them to become buddhas and the rest of the Buddhist teaching would be an interesting but useless philosophy. Therefore, the topic of buddha nature is especially important.

The Buddha taught buddha nature in steps, with each more profound than the previous one. He first taught it as a seed that could be developed, like growing a plant. After that he taught that it is, like all phenomena, empty. Finally, he taught it as actual buddhahood present in the mind. This last level of teaching is regarded by most Tibetan Buddhist schools as the most profound teaching of the sutras, the very essence of what the Buddha was trying to communicate to his followers.

The ultimate teaching of the buddha nature as actual buddhahood was given in the third and final turning of the wheel of dharma. It does not show emptiness as taught in the second turning of the wheel to be most important but teaches non-dual, luminosity wisdom totally beyond all of the elaborations—the conceptual stuff—of dualistic mind as the most important point. It is part of the teaching of the highest tantras, Mahamudra and Dzogchen, so is especially important for practitioners of those systems.

It is easy to misunderstand this very profound teaching. Therefore, there is a strong need to clearly and correctly establish what buddha nature actually is and what the Buddha’s teachings on it actually meant. The very learned Nyingma teacher Ju Mipham Namgyal gave a teaching on buddha nature that was recorded and published by his students. The resulting text was titled The Lion’s Roar that is A Great Thousand Doses of Sugata Essence, where sugata essence is one of many names for buddha nature. The text first examines the question of why buddha nature is present in all beings having mind. then goes on to present the ultimate sutra teachings in which buddha nature is understood to be buddhahood actually present in beings.

Mipham’s teaching needs clarification, so a very extensive explanation has been provided by the author of the book in order to make this ultimate teaching of the sutras and by extension of the tantras available to all. As with all of our books, an extensive introduction, glossary, and so on are provided to assist the reader.

Note that Mipham’s text is one of a pair of texts that go hand in hand with each other. The ultimate teaching of buddha nature is based in emptiness of other, therefore Mipham also taught on that topic in what became the sister text to this The Lion’s Roar That Proclaims Other Emptiness. We also strongly recommend the great exposition of Other Emptiness found in the book The Other Emptiness, Entering Wisdom Beyond Emptiness of Self.

The book contains translations of the following texts:

The Lion’s Roar that is A Great Thousand Doses of Sugatagarbha by Ju Mipham Namgyal

Download Tibetan text in TibetD format: • available here.

Introduction

Main Part 1.
The Lion’s Roar That is a Great Thousand Doses of the Sugata Essence by Ju Mipham Namgyal
Posing the Question
Giving the Answer
The presentations of other traditions
The first reason
The second reason
Stating our own tradition
The first reason
The ordinary way
The extraordinary way
The second reason
The third reason
Dispensing with some mistaken positions
The element in being not empty being truly established
The element being a cut-off empty condition
Wisdom in being impermanent being compounded

Main Part 2.
A Thorough Commentary to the Lion’s Roar That is a Great Thousand Doses of the Sugata essence by Tony Duff
Introduction
The vocabulary of buddha nature—garbha, dhatu, gotra, potential, seed of a buddha, sugata essence and tathagata essence; the importance of the teaching on sugata essence
The Text: Prefatory section
The title; the prostration; the expression of worship
The Text: Body of the text
Introduction, the need to establish sugata essence using scripture and reasoning; posing the question, giving the answer; the presentations of other traditions; presenting the positions of early Tibetans; refuting the positions of early Tibetans; the first reason; the second reason; stating our own tradition; the first reason; the ordinary way; the extraordinary way; the second reason; the third reason; dispensing with some mistaken positions; dispensing with the view that the element being not empty is truly established; dispensing with the view that the element is a cut-off empty condition; dispensing with wisdom in being impermanent taken to be compounded
The Text: Concluding section and colophons

Texts Cited
Glossary of Terms
Supports for Study
Tibetan Text
Index