A General Explanation of Buddha’s Teaching

A General Explanation of Buddha’s Teaching-Introduction

A General Explanation of Buddha's Teaching was written by Dolpopa, the master of the Jonang sect, one of the five main sects of Tibetan Buddhism. The Jonang teaching disseminated by Dolpopa reached its peak of popularity in the 14th century. When Dolpopa spoke, the throng of listeners is said to have crushed the staircase of the lecture hall. The Jonang monks tried displaying large dogs in an attempt to scare away the people crowding the staircase, to no avail. It is also said that when Dolpopa was leaving Lhasa and about to cross the river, many desperate admirers jumped in the water to follow him, but couldn’t swim and would have drowned if they hadn’t been dragged out of the water by others.

Although the Jonang teaching in many ways reveals the Ultimate Reality more clearly than other sects, few Jonang doctrinal writings have been translated into English and Chinese, especially compared with the writings of the other four sects. The present translation attempts to make up for this unfortunate lack. A General Explanation of Buddha's Teaching is Dolpopa’s first work on his ground-breaking view of“Empty of Other,”elucidating the core meaning of Buddhism. It is the only poem-style work among his three major works, and Jonang followers memorized it by heart. History has it that they once sent Dolpopa away with an awe-inspiring scene of tens of thousands of people reciting this work aloud in harmony, unrehearsed.Compared to Mountain Dharma and The Fourth Collection, Dolpopa’s other two major works, A General Explanation of Buddha's Teaching is most concise and easiest to read. It is the best choice for beginners.

For scholars, this is the first translation into English and Chinese simultaneously, with sentence-to-sentence fidelity among the three languages. Chinese is a major source language in Buddhist texts, but its cross referencing with Tibetan and English is regrettably lacking among traditional western Tibetologists. Therefore, this book is a long-sought stxafter rare gem. In addition, this book compares three versions of the Tibetan hand-written folios, and painstakingly marks every variation and misspelling, in order to help ascertain the true meaning of the text. The English part has two sets of footnotes: one in English and one in Chinese. The former is intended for those who read only English, while the latter is meant for those with bilingual interest. In summary, this book provides valuable information for scholars, and is a must-read for lay readers

This book has been sent to many libraries as gifts, with all expenses paid for by the translator and donors (ISBN 978-626-01-0550-1). Readers who can’t afford to buy the book are welcome to borrow it from those libraries for free. The balance of the book sale, if ever positive, will be donated to Jonang Dharma Volunteers. Jonang Dharma Volunteers is dedicated to digitizing and translating ancient Jonang literature, producing videos explaining Jonang Dharma, and printing Jonang books. If anyone would like to contribute to this line of work, buy books in bulk or help printing books, please contact us.

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Not-for-profit

A General Explanation of Buddha’s Teaching is not intended for profit. It is made possible entirely by unpaid volunteers from Jonang Dharma Volunteers (www.jonangdharma.org). This book has been sent to many libraries as gifts, with all expenses paid for by the translator and donors. Readers who can’t afford to buy the book are welcome to borrow it from those libraries for free. The balance of the book sale, if ever positive, will be donated to Jonang Dharma Volunteers. Jonang Dharma Volunteers is dedicated to digitizing and translating ancient Jonang literature, producing videos explaining Jonang Dharma, and printing Jonang books. If anyone would like to contribute to this line of work, buy books in bulk or help printing books, please contact www.jonangdharma.org

A General Explanation of Buddha’s Teaching