''Nelug Dzö'' () is a

poetic Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

vignette Vignette may refer to: * Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy * Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters * Vignette (literature), short, i ...

written in

Classical Tibetan Classical Tibetan refers to the language of any text written in Tibetic after the Old Tibetan period. Though it extends from the 12th century until the modern day, it particularly refers to the language of early canonical texts translated from oth ...

and one of the

Seven Treasuries The Seven Treasuries (, THL: ''Dzö Dün''), are a collection of seven works, some with auto-commentaries, by the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Longchenpa (1308–1364). They constitute his most influential scholarly output and together provide a sys ...

Longchenpa Longchen Rabjam Drimé Özer (), commonly abbreviated to Longchenpa (1308–1364, an honorific meaning "The Vast Expanse") was a Tibetan scholar-yogi of the Nyingma school ('Old School') of Tibetan Buddhism. According to tibetologist David Germ ...

. Longchenpa wrote ''Desum Nyingpo'' (Wylie: sde gsum snying po), a

prose Prose is a form of written or spoken language that follows the natural flow of speech, uses a language's ordinary grammatical structures, or follows the conventions of formal academic writing. It differs from most traditional poetry, where the f ...

autocommentary to this work. Keith Dowman considers it a "magical

psychotropic A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, psychoactive agent or psychotropic drug is a chemical substance, that changes functions of the nervous system, and results in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition or behavior. Th ...

poem".

Etymology

Sanskrit title in

IAST The International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST) is a transliteration scheme that allows the lossless romanisation of Indic scripts as employed by Sanskrit and related Indic languages. It is based on a scheme that emerged during ...

: Tathātva-ratna-koṣa-nāma. Importantly, the Tibetan Wylie "gnas lugs" is the analogue of the Sanskrit

"Tathātva". The online dictionary of the

Tibetan and Himalayan Library The Tibetan and Himalayan Library (THL), formerly the Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library (THDL), is a multimedia guide and digital library hosted by the University of Virginia focused on the languages, history and geography of Tibet and the Him ...

identifies "Tathātva" (which is a Sanskrit contraction or compound of "Tathātā" and "

Tattva According to various Indian schools of philosophy, ''tattvas'' () are the elements or aspects of reality that constitute human experience. In some traditions, they are conceived as an aspect of deity. Although the number of ''tattvas'' varies ...

") as synonymous with Tathātā and Dharmatā.Source

(accessed: 25 April 2011)

Outline of text

Rigpa Shedra provides an English text outline following the translation by Barron, from whom the Tibetan was sourced, as follows: #The Theme of 'Ineffability' () #The Theme of 'Openness' () #The Theme of 'Spontaneous Presence' () #The Theme of 'Oneness' () #The Individuals to Whom These Teachings May Be Entrusted

Intertextuality and themes

The majority of quotations cited by Longchenpa in the ''Desum Nyingpo'' are drawn from the tantras of the

Nyingma Gyubum ''Nyingma Gyubum'' () is a collection of Tantra, esoteric Tantric texts reflecting the teachings of the History of Tibetan Buddhism, New Translation lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. It comprises the Classes of Tantra in Tibetan Buddhism, Inner Tant ...

() ('Collected Tantras of the Ancients'). Out of the Nyingma Gyubum the most quoted tantra in the ''Desum Nyingpo'' is the '' Kunjed Gyalpo'' (), the principal tantra of ''

Semde Semde (; Sanskrit: ) translated as 'mind division', 'mind class' or 'mind series' is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within Atiyoga, Dzogchen or the Great Perfection which is itself the pinnacle of the ninefold divis ...

'' (), the 'mind series' of Dzogchen. Sixteen of the

Seventeen Tantras The ''Seventeen Tantras of the Esoteric Instruction Series'' () or the ''Seventeen tantras of the Ancients'' (''rnying-ma'i rgyud bcu-bdun'') are an important collection of tantras in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. They comprise the cor ...

of the Upadesha-varga are quoted at least once in the ''Desum Nyingpo'' and the most cited is the principal tantra of this class, the ''Drataljur'' or '' Reverberation of Sound'' ().

English translations

In 1998,

Richard Barron Richard Barron (Lama Chökyi Nyima) is a Canadian translator who specializes in the writings of Longchenpa. He has served as an interpreter for many lamas from all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, including his first teacher, Kalu Rinpoche. He c ...

opened the discourse into English with his translation of the ''Nelug Dzö'' in free verse with the Tibetan verse on the facing page for probity along with its prose autocommentary by Longchenpa, the ''Desum Nyingpo'', with both works within the one bound volume. The numerous embedded quotations from the ''

'' were referenced and checked by Barron against the collection enshrined in the edition printed at Adzom Chögar in eastern Tibet. Keith Dowman has also tendered an English rendering. * * *

Etymology

Outline of text

Intertextuality and themes

English translations

References

Citations

Works cited

Further reading