Mountain Doctrine
By Dol-bo-ba Shay-rap-gyel-tsen
Edited by Kevin Vose
Translated by Jeffrey Hopkins
Translated here for the first time into any language, Mountain Doctrine is a seminal fourteenth-century Tibetan text on the nature of reality. The author, Dol-bo-ba Shay-rap-gyel-tsen, was on of the most influential figures of that dynamic period of doctrinal formulation, and his text is a sustained argument about the buddha-nature, also called the matrix-of-one-gone-thus. Dol-bo-ba recognizes two important types of emptiness—self-emptiness and other-emptiness—and shows how other-emptiness is the actual ultimate truth. He justifies this controversial formulation by arguing that it was the favored system of all the early outstanding figures of the Great Vehicle. The translator's introduction includes a short biography of Dol-bo-ba and an exposition of nine focal topics in his religious philosophy.
Note: The hardcover edition of Mountain Doctrine includes a "Detailed Outline in Tibetan" that is omitted in the eBook edition.
"The Mountain Doctrine of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen is one of the great monuments of Tibetan philosophical literature. For nearly 700 years Dolpopa's work has been a fundamental source of inspiration for practitioners attracted to the definitive meaning of the Buddha's teachings. Jeffrey Hopkins deserves our sincere gratitude for making this profound message finally available to students of the Dharma outside Tibet." —Cyrus Stearns, author of The Buddha from Dolpo
"It is only fitting that Hopkins, who wrote the single most important monograph on the central Buddhist concept of emptiness, should have undertaken to translate Dolpopa’s text for the first time. Few others would have been qualified for this challenging task. . . . Contains mountains of material for deep philosophical reflection and once again drives home the point that conceptual differences exist even between awakened masters, and that regardless of doctrinal differences, their fine-tuned teachings can point the way to enlightenment. A magnificent volume." —Georg Feuerstein, PhD, author of The Deeper Dimension of Yoga
"This monumental publication will serve as an invaluable source on emptiness and buddha nature for generations to come." —Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly