Catch Ornament Of Reason: The Great Commentary To Nagarjunas Root Of The Middle Way Author Mabja Jangchub Tsöndrü Textbook

Nagarjuna's root text is so difficult, a commentary is needed, This early Tibetan sage gives the most lucid amp helpful one, so much so that many Tibetans used his as a basis for their own.
There is nothing like this book ever written by a westerner, to he best of my knowledge, This is commentary on Nagarjunas masterpiece Ornament or Realization, The Great Commentary to Nagarjunas Root if the Middle Way, Nagarjuna is thought by some to have lived between the first and second century A, D. Others claim he lived for six or seven hundred years and was the logician extraordinaire who formulated the Buddhas teachings in a systematic and logical form that has in my estimation, never been surpassed.
He lived in ancient times in what we now call India, which was at that time numerous kingdoms, This books root commentary is that of Magjub Jangchub Tsondru, a Master from the vast area we now call Tibet, a vast which then consisted uninhabited lands and feudal kingdoms.


The questions Nagarjuna tried to answer is “Do things truly exist Which is to say does anything inherently or permanently exist And doe things exist the way they appear But we experience things through our body and mind, right So in what way do they exist And in what way are our assumptions and perceptions wrong about how they exist Is there a way to examine how things exist with logic, that unmasks our false assumptions about how they exist

Magarjunas conclusion was that things exist in a conventional way.
But upon deeper examination, they do not at all exist the way we think, and they only exist at a sensory and ultimately conceptual level.
If however, we examine our senses and concepts, they only exist by a temporary or adventitious assembly of causes and conditions, and naming all of which are impermanent and not ultimately genuine.


Nagarjuna then goes on to logically demonstrate that the self does not truly exist, except by this labeling process, that cause and effect do not truly exist, that time does not truly exist, that our sense sources do not truly exist, that is in the way we think and that for example there is no real separation between the seeer the act of seeing and the seen.


This is my editorial, but we can see that our eyesight and senses do not exist in an ultimate sense but only as a result of complex causes and conditions.
We do not see for example, the same way as a fly or smell in the same way as a snake, Since various animals see colors differently, what we call colors are only by our human labeling conventions, but they do not ultimately exist in the way we think.


Nagarjuna did not in this masterpiece directly, write about suffering and its causes, and so to some this might seem like it has little to do with the teachings of the Buddha.
Yet, the more our underlying assumptions of what we believe self, other, and what we call reality are undermined, the more we see what we call reality is illusory and dreamlike, and therefor, our convention mechanisms of attachment and aversion are undermined, which in turn undermines the causes of suffering.
So this book, deeply studied is a genuine path to realization,

The root verses of this text are written by Nagarjuna, But the explanation of the verses were expounded upon by Mabja Jangchub Tsondru, a Tibetan scholar and master who centuries later expounded in the meaning of Nagarjunas verses.
There is further commentary by the modern translation committee, that with great kindness and care translated and further elucidated this text,

Note that the subtitle of the text is The Great Commentary to Nagarjunas Root of the Middle Way, The Middle Way refers to the Buddhist Mahayana Tradition, which teaches that “Things Do Not Exist as They Appear”, This is the wisdom or Manjushri tradition of Buddhism whereas the Compassion tradition is referred to as the Avalokiteshvara Tradition, However, ultimately in the Mahayana, there is an inseparable unity of wisdom and compassion

This book is traditionally explained by a Mahayana Geshe presumably a scholar of logic and reasoning if Buddhist philosophical works, though not all Geshe ps are equal in knowledge, realization, and understanding.
In my cases that is Geshe Tenzin Sherap at Land of Enlightened Wisdom in Pomona, California, United States, To read this book is a huge undertaking, To understand this book alone is a lifetime undertaking, though most people who read it spend a much shorter period studying it, This involves understanding why the chapters are in a certain order, why the verses are in a certain order, understanding how this the order is logically set out, and the deep meaning in even a single verse.
This is not by any means casual reading, and many will be baffled, discouraged, or conclude that this is just gobblygook or a great bore, only effective at putting themselves to sleep which sometimes happens to me when I am listening to my Geshes teaching.
Intelligence and great discipline and application qualities which I myself lack are required,

Though a number of these books were sold, my review appears to be the only one on Goodreads, This probably reflects the fact that this is an extremely tough book, and westerners, even most dharma practitioners are not trained in a rigorous contemplative tradition.
this is overwhelming true of most easterners too, I would add that from my perspective this is not what is viewed as a quick yogic path, involving total faith in a guru.
On the other hand, I am not convinced that many followers in a quick yogic path such as Vajrayana Buddhism, necessarily have much understanding into what they are doing.
Any Buddhist path to realization takes great discipline, great application, and cultivation of wisdom and compassion,

If this review contains any errors, the responsibility is mine alone, and I apologize for any mistakes, mischaracterizations, or poor editing, Of the commentaries I've read of Nagarjuna's masterpiece in the last several years, Mabja's commentary is probably the most useful overall for understanding the treatise in its own terms, with Jay Garfield's modern commentary in his "Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way" a close second.


The works I have read carefully include Sprung's translation of Chandrakirti's commentary "Clear Words," Garfield's aforementioned commentary, Stephen Batchelor's close, literal translation of the root text, Batchelor's liberal interpretation of the text in "Verses from the Center," and the superb translation of Tsong Khapa's "Ocean of Reasoning" by Jay Garfield and Geshe Ngawang Samten.


For me, two considerations make Mabja's commentary stand apart: first, he gives a very clear sense of how Nagarjuna's argument progresses and builds over the work, proceeding systematically in analyzing a number of possible counterpositions to his own thesis that all phenomena arise dependently, and are therefore empty of intrinsic nature.
Second, unlike Tsong Khapa's prolix commentary, he sticks very close to the root text itself, as a whole, While Tsong Khapa's primary concern is interpreting Nagarjuna as the basis for a far more elaborate Madhyamaka system elaborated by his subsequent interpreters, such as Buddhapalita and Chandrakirti, Mabja's commentary, while benefiting from those commentators, is principally concerned with analyzing each verse to clarify what exactly is being said in any given line what the argument is, and who, if anyone, the likely target of refutation is.
For as this commentary makes clear, many of the views that Nagarjuna analyzes and refutes are positions held by various Indian Buddhist and nonBuddhist schools.


For me personally, no individual commentary has been sufficient to understand every verse of the cryptic root text, and at times I've had to consult two, three, or even four commentaries to understand what was being said on a basic level.
And I must say, I think sometimes Mabja gets a few things rather wrong, Generally where he differs from Tsong Khapa, I find Tsong Khapa to make the more persuasive and coherent reading,

This commentary is exceedingly well translated into readable English, but I would be remiss if I did not point out some fairly serious deficits of this edition.
First it includes no useful information about the author, Mabja Jangchub Tsöndru, who goes virtually unmentioned in the existing Englishlanguage scholarship on IndoTibetan Madhyamaka, with the exception of a handful of scholarly articles.
They mention almost nothing in the introduction of his context, lineage, life, teachers, or the subsequent reception of his work, I gather he was an early writer in the Sakya lineage, and he appears to be well known within the Tibetan tradition itself Jose Cabezon and Georges Dreyfus offer effusive praise of the commentary in their cover blurbs, and the Kunu Lama is reported to have called this the best Nagarjuna commentary there is due to its clarity.


A second glaring omission is the absence of a Sanskrit or Tibetan glossary, and the complete absence of parenthetical references to technical terms on their occurrence.
There are a variety of obscure technical terms or names of Buddhist schools where the reader is left guessing what the Tibetan or Sanskrit could be, because of this rather gross omission.
Instead, the book includes a strange appendix including a kind of flow chart of the arguments made in each chapter, which I find entirely useless.
I would have far preferred a threepage glossary,

Third, and related to the above, there are no footnotes or endnotes whatsoever, Mabja's commentary is indeed quite clear, but there are nonetheless very technical analyses of logical arguments, forms of negation, and such which would have benefitted greatly from a twosentence gloss.


These are the basic tools of translation, and their absence is baffling, I can only hope that someone at the Dharmachakra Translation Committee reads this book and rethinks their editorial policy the failure to include these resources really harms this otherwiseoutstanding work.


I highly recommend this book to people interested in wrestling with the Fundamental Treatise I consider it to be the greatest work of religious philosophy I have yet encountered in the whole of our human heritage.


Update: a bit more on Mabja

Before writing this review I checked a number of major sources on Tibetan Madhyamaka looking for more information on Mabja and was unable to find anything besides a citation to an article by Paul Williams published in the Journal of Indian Philosophy.
However, I just stumbled across a useful reference to Mabja in a translation of the Sakya master Gorampa's polemical work "Distinguishing the Views" translated by Jose Cabezon and Geshe Lobsang Dargay as "Freedom from Extremes.
"

In this work, Gorampa identifies three positions with respect to Madhyamaka in Tibet one epitomized by the Jonangpa yogi Dolpopa, which Gorampa considers to be an eternalist perspective another represented by Tsong Khapa, which Gorampa considers to be a nihilist perspective and a correct approach which avoids both extremes, which he identifies with several Tibetan scholars, including Mabja.


In Gorampa's view, this correct interpretation of Madhyamaka rejects all possible positions with respect to existence, and thus is the only view that accepts the full implications of the tetralemma, which rejects existence, nonexistence, both, and neither.
According to this reading, Dolpopa errs in asserting the true establishment of ultimate truth, while Tsong Khapa errs by rejecting true establishment altogether,

Leaving aside a critique of this reading of Tsong Khapa, which I consider a gross caricature, it still gives us useful signal on how Mabja was situated among Tibetan positions by at least one important Sakya author.


In a valuable footnote, Cabezon and Dargay review some biographical problems and discrepancies in Tibetan and European scholarly sources on Mabja and conclude it is very difficult to say much about him at all.
The few fragmentary references he has turned up seem to conflate or confuse different figures with similar names,

This one footnote tells the reader far more about Mabja than anything found in "Ornament of Reason, " In my view, this is a very serious omission,

Update: "Resurrecting Candrakirti," Kevin A, Vose's outstanding intellectual history of the integration of Madhyamaka into Tibet, provides an invaluable look at precisely the period at stake here, Vose devotes considerable analysis to the positions of Mabja and how they differ in key respects from those of his teacher, Chapa Chokyi Senge.
I would enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about Mabja, or is generally interested in IndoTibetan Madhyamaka, In the Root of the Middle Way, Nagarjuna presents a magical method of reasoning, inviting everyone who encounters these lucid and fearless contemplations to follow him on a journey to the heart of transcendent insight.
Inspired by the Buddha's teachings on profound emptiness in the Prajnaparamita Sutras, Nagarjuna sets out to probe what appears to be the most fundamental facts of the world, challenging us to question even our most deeply ingrained ideas and what seem to be selfevident facts.
In a series of unassuming and penetrating investigations, he asks basic questions such as: "What does it mean for something to occur What is meant by 'going' or by 'coming' Does the eye see Does fire burn fuel What is an example of being right What does it mean to be wrong Nagarjuna extends an invitation to openminded and unprejudiced inquiry, and from his reader he asks for nothing more and nothing less

than sincere and honest answers.
Yet where are our answers Once we begin to follow Nagarjuna's clear and direct steps, the gateway to the inconceivable emergesperhaps unexpectedly, The present work contains Nagarjuna's verses on the Middle Way accompanied by Mabja Jangchub Tsöndrü's famed commentary, the Ornament of Reason.
Active in the twelfth century, Mabja was among the first Tibetans to rely on the works of the Indian master Candrakirti, and his account of the Middle Way exercised a deep and lasting influence on the development of Madhyamaka philosophy in all four schools of Buddhism in Tibet.
Sharp, concise, and yet comprehensive, the Ornament of Reason has been cherished by generations of scholarpractitioners, The late Khunu Lama Tenzin Gyaltsen Rinpoche, a renowned authority on the subject, often referred to this commentary as "the best there is, " A visual outline of the commentary has been added that clearly shows the structure of each chapter and makes the arguments easier to follow.
.