''The Jewel Ornament of Liberation'' or ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'' () is a key text in 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 ...

tradition of

Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in maj ...

that is said to capture the essence of both the

Kadampa 300px, Tibetan Portrait of Atiśa The Kadam school () of Tibetan Buddhism was an 11th century Buddhist tradition founded by the great Bengali master Atiśa (982-1054) and his students like Dromtön (1005–1064), a Tibetan Buddhist lay maste ...

and

Kagyü 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 ...

pa lineages of

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 ...

teachings. The text was written by

Gampopa Gampopa Sönam Rinchen (, 1079–1153) was the main student of Milarepa, and a Tibetan Buddhist master who codified his own master's ascetic teachings, which form the foundation of the Kagyu educational tradition. Gampopa was also a doctor an ...

(1074-1153 C.E.), one of the two most important disciples of

Milarepa Jetsun Milarepa (, 1028/40–1111/23) was a Tibetan siddha, who was famously known as a murderer when he was a young man, before turning to Buddhism and becoming a highly accomplished Buddhist disciple. He is generally considered one of Tibet's m ...

. Gampopa, both a

monk and

Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...

student of the famed yogi

, based this text on Atisha's " Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment". Khunu Lama Rinpoche said that this was the first

lamrim Lamrim (Tibetan: "stages of the path") is a Tibetan Buddhist textual form for presenting the stages in the complete path to enlightenment as taught by Buddha. In Tibetan Buddhist history there have been many different versions of ''lamrim'', pres ...

text written in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

and that all the later great lamrim texts were based on The Jewel Ornament of Liberation. It's a critically important text to study as a foundation for the traditional three year retreat. Gampopa said, "For anyone who wishes to see me, studying The Jewel Ornament of Liberation and The Precious Garland of the Excellent Path is the same as meeting me." This text contains the complete form of

Buddhism—from the starting point of

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 ...

, all the way to enlightenment.

Outline

The text is structured around the following points: #The primary cause:

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 ...

. #The support: precious human existence. #The contributory cause: the spiritual teacher. #The methods of practice. #The result: perfect buddhahood. #The activities of the Buddha.

Buddha Nature

According to The Jewel Ornament, all living beings, even the smallest insects, have the potential of Buddhahood. All beings have this same essence, or Buddha nature. Gampopa presented the example of the sesame seed and sesame seed oil. Though the oil is present in the seed, there are steps to take to separate (or realize) the oil.

Translations into English

The text by Gampopa was first translated into English by

Herbert Guenther Herbert may refer to: People Individuals * Herbert (musician), a pseudonym of Matthew Herbert Name * Herbert (given name) * Herbert (surname) Places Antarctica * Herbert Mountains, Coats Land * Herbert Sound, Graham Land Australia * Herbe ...

in 1959. More recent translations include the one by Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche in 1998. Ken Holmes's translation, entitled ''Ornament of Precious Liberation'', was published in 2017.

Tibetan Text

*དམ་ཆོས་ཡིད་བཞིན་གྱི་ནོར་བུ་ཐར་པ་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་རྒྱན་, ''dam chos yid bzhin gyi nor bu thar pa rin po che'i rgyan''

References

{{Authority control Tibetan Buddhist texts 12th-century books 12th century in Tibet