Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Intrinsic Nature (Dharmadharmatāvibhāga) – Self Study

Course Description

The Dharmadharmatāvibhāga is an exposition of one of the key principles of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition: the principle that there is a difference between how we perceive the world and the actual nature of reality. The text outlines the difference between appearance and reality and shows that the path to awakening involves leaving behind the inaccurate and limiting beliefs we have about ourselves and the world around us.

The Dharmadharmatāvibhāga is one of the five texts traditionally ascribed to Maitreya, said by the Tibetan Buddhist tradition to be the bodhisattva who will become the world’s next Buddha. He is said to have entrusted the text to the 4^th-century Indian scholar-monk Asaṅga. These five texts explain the Mahayana tradition in general, with an emphasis on what is typically known as the Mind-only tradition (or the related Yogācāra tradition), while also generally following the principles of the Madhyamaka (Middle Way) tradition. Together those two traditions summarize the entire Mahayana path.

Course pedagogy:

This course combines traditional Tibetan monastic pedagogy based on a word-for-word commentary and a modern academic pedagogy focusing on historical, philosophical, and cultural contextualization. This approach mirrors RYI’s on-campus courses in Kathmandu.

The course is taught by Khenpo Karma Gyurme, a professor in the monastic college of Ka-Nying Shedrub Ling monastery in Boudhanath. He explains the text using the commentary of Mipham Rinpoche, a brilliant scholar of the Tibetan Nyingma tradition in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries. The course is taught in Tibetan and translated into English by Zachary Beer and is available in both languages.

The course duration is one semester and earns six credits if taken in the For-Credit format.

Prerequisites:

The recommended prerequisite for this course is study of Śāntideva’s Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryāvatāara) or equivalent study.  For-credit students must be able to show prior accredited study of that text or a similar text to enroll.