''Ocean of Definitive Meaning: A Teaching for the Mountain Hermit'' (), written in the first half of the 14th century, is considered the

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen Dölpopa Shérap Gyeltsen () (1292–1361), known simply as Dölpopa, was a Tibetan Buddhist master. Known as "The Buddha from Dölpo," a region in modern Nepal, he was the principal exponent of the shentong teachings, and an influential memb ...

(1292–1361). The ''Ocean of Definitive Meaning'' is a hermeneutical text on the issue of the doctrine of the

Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma The Three Turnings of the Wheel (of Dharma) refers to a framework for understanding the sutra stream of the teachings of the Buddhism originally devised by the Yogachara school. It later became prevalent in modified form in Tibetan Buddhism and re ...

that was first codified in the ''

Sandhinirmocana Sutra The ''Ārya-saṃdhi-nirmocana-sūtra'' (Sanskrit) or ''Noble sūtra of the Explanation of the Profound Secrets'' is a Mahāyāna Buddhist text and the most important sutra of the Yogācāra school. It contains explanations of key Yogācāra conce ...

''. The ''Ocean of Definitive Meaning'' conveys a specific reading, understanding and interpretation of

śūnyatā ''Śūnyatā'' ( sa, शून्यता, śūnyatā; pi, suññatā; ), translated most often as ''emptiness'', ''vacuity'', and sometimes ''voidness'', is an Indian philosophical concept. Within Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and other p ...

and

Buddha-nature Buddha-nature refers to several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, including '' tathata'' ("suchness") but most notably ''tathāgatagarbha'' and ''buddhadhātu''. ''Tathāgatagarbha'' means "the womb" or "embryo" (''garbha'') of the "thus-gone ...

, of the second and third turnings of the wheel respectively. Both Śūnyatā and Tathāgata-garbha are central and key principles of Mahayana Buddhism. This specific reading of Śūnyatā and Tathāgata-garbha and the philosophical view behind it, became known as

shentong ''Rangtong'' and ''shentong'' are two distinctive views on emptiness ( sunyata) and the two truths doctrine within Tibetan Buddhism. ''Rangtong'' (; "empty of self-nature") is a philosophical term in Tibetan Buddhism that is used to distinguis ...

, the key tenet of the

Jonang The Jonang () is one of the schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Its origins in Tibet can be traced to early 12th century master Yumo Mikyo Dorje, but became much wider known with the help of Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen, a monk originally trained in the ...

school. Dölpopa's thought in this work is a hermeneutics of the

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

Buddhist texts Buddhist texts are those religious texts which belong to the Buddhist tradition. The earliest Buddhist texts were not committed to writing until some centuries after the death of Gautama Buddha. The oldest surviving Buddhist manuscripts a ...

and develops teachings of

Maitreya Maitreya (Sanskrit: ) or Metteyya (Pali: ), also Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha, is regarded as the future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. As the 5th and final Buddha of the current kalpa, Maitreya's teachings will be aimed at ...

and

Yogacara Yogachara ( sa, योगाचार, IAST: '; literally "yoga practice"; "one whose practice is yoga") is an influential tradition of Buddhist philosophy and psychology emphasizing the study of cognition, perception, and consciousness through t ...

masters

Asanga Asaṅga (, ; Romaji: ''Mujaku'') ( fl. 4th century C.E.) was "one of the most important spiritual figures" of Mahayana Buddhism and the "founder of the Yogachara school".Engle, Artemus (translator), Asanga, ''The Bodhisattva Path to Unsurpassed ...

(4th century) and his brother

Vasubandhu Vasubandhu (; Tibetan: དབྱིག་གཉེན་ ; floruit, fl. 4th to 5th century CE) was an influential bhikkhu, Buddhist monk and scholar from ''Puruṣapura'' in ancient India, modern day Peshawar, Pakistan. He was a philosopher who ...

(4th century). For 150 years prior to the sacking of the Jonang monasteries by the

Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous ...

pa, the ''Ocean of Definitive Meaning'' was banned within the grounds of Gelug monasteries.Newland, Guy (1992). ''The Two Truths: in the Mādhyamika Philosophy of the Ge-luk-ba Order of Tibetan Buddhism''. Ithaca, New York, USA: Snow Lion Publications. , p.30

English translations

Jeffrey Hopkins Jeffrey Hopkins (born 1940) is an American Tibetologist. He is Emeritus professor of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the University of Virginia, where he taught for more than three decades since 1973. He has authored more than twenty-five books ab ...

(translator) and Kevin Vose (editor) rendered the ''Ocean of Definitive Meaning'' into English as ''Mountain Doctrine'', published by Snow Lion, Ithaca in 2006 . Ives Waldo published an electronic version of ''Ocean of Definitive Meaning,'' freely availabl
here
A third English rendering of ''The Ocean of Definitive Meaning'' entitled ''Ocean of Definitive Meaning: A Teaching for the Mountain Hermit'' is numbered volume seven of The Library of Tibetan Classics, a thirty-two volume series covering Tibet's classical literary heritage, published by

Wisdom Publications The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT) was founded in 1975 by Lamas Thubten Yeshe and Thubten Zopa Rinpoche, who began teaching Mahayana Buddhism to Western students in Nepal. The FPMT has grown to encompass over 1 ...

Influence

The influence of Dölpopa's shentong view extends beyond the Jonang school and is discernible in the writings of: * Serdok Penchen Sakya Chokden (, 1428–1507) of the

Sakya The ''Sakya'' (, 'pale earth') school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu. Origins Virūpa, 16th century. It depict ...

; *

Mikyö Dorje, 8th Karmapa Lama Mikyö Dorje (, 1507–1554) was the eighth Karmapa, head of the Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism. Biography Mikyö Dorje was born in Satam, Kham. According to the legend, he said after being born: "I am Karmapa." and was recognized by Tai Sit ...

(1507–1554) of the

Kagyu The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. The Kagyu lineag ...

; *

Kunkhyen Pema Karpo Kunkhyen Pema Karpo () (1527–1592 CE) was the fourth Gyalwang Drukpa, head of the Drukpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. He was the most famous and learned of all the Gyalwang Drukpas. During his lifetime, he was known as the grand lama amongs ...

(1527–92) of the Kagyu; *

Taranatha Tāranātha (1575–1634) was a Lama of the Jonang school of Tibetan Buddhism. He is widely considered its most remarkable scholar and exponent. Taranatha was born in Tibet, supposedly on the birthday of Padmasambhava. His original name was Kun ...

(1575–1634) the historian; *

Jamgon Kongtrul Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé (, 1813–1899), also known as Jamgön Kongtrül the Great, was a Tibetan Buddhist scholar, poet, artist, physician, tertön and polymath.Jackson, Roger R. The Tibetan Leonardo, 2012, https://www.lionsroar.com/the ...

( fl. 19th century)

Rimé movement The Rimé movement is a movement or tendency in Tibetan Buddhism which promotes non-sectarianism and universalism.Sam van Schaik (2011). ''Tibet: A History'', pp. 161-162. Yale University Press. Teachers from all branches of Tibetan Buddhism - ...

master; * Jamgon Ju Mipham Gyatso (1846–1912), the

Nyingma Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and transl ...

master.

Notes

References

(translator); Kevin Vose (editor) (2006). ''Mountain Doctrine''. Snow Lion, Ithaca. *Newland, Guy (1992). ''The Two Truths: in the Mādhyamika Philosophy of the Ge-luk-ba Order of Tibetan Buddhism''. Ithaca, New York, USA: Snow Lion Publications. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Ocean Of Definitive Meaning Jonang Tibetan Buddhist texts

English translations

Influence

See also

Notes

References