Abhisamayalankara

Haribhadra, author of the most famous commentary on the Abhisamayalankara

Abhisamayalankara (Skt. Abhisamayālaṃkāra; Tib. Ngön Tok Gyen; Wyl. mngon rtogs rgyan), The Ornament of Clear Realization — one of the five treatises that were directly revealed to Asanga by the future Buddha Maitreya, it is a commentary on the hidden meaning of the Prajñaparamita Sutras, describing the entire journey of the bodhisattva, from the generation of bodhichitta to the attainment of full omniscience.

Outline

Prajñaparamita, mother of all the buddhas

The text is divided into eight topics:

1. knowledge of all aspects, omniscience
   
2. path-knowledge
   
3. base-knowledge, knowledge of the bases, knowledge of the foundation
   
4. complete application of all aspects, application of the realization of all aspects
   
5. culminating application, application when reaching the peak
   
6. progressive application; gradual training; gradual application of the bodhisattva path
   
7. instantaneous application; momentary training
   
8. dharmakaya

These eight topics are further divided into seventy points.

Translations

• Abhisamayalankara, Edward Conze (Rome: Is.M.E.O., 1954).
• Gone Beyond: The Prajnaparamita Sutras, The Ornament of Clear Realization, and Its Commentaries in the Tibetan Kagyu Tradition, Volume One, translated and introduced by Karl Brunnhölzl, Snow Lion, forthcoming November 2010.
• Ornament of Clear Realization: A Commentary on the Prajnaparamita of Maitreya, Thrangu Rinpoche, Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal, 2004.
• Abhisamayalankara (mngon rtogs rgyan), Maitreya – Asanga with commentary by Jamgön Mipham, Padmakara translation group, forthcoming

Commentaries

• Tsongkhapa, Golden Garland of Eloquence (legs bshad gser phreng), translated by Gareth Sparham, Jain Publishing, 2008
• Abhisamayalamkara with Vritti by Arya Vimuktisena and Aloka by Haribhadra, translated by Gareth Sparham, 2005
• Amdo Geshe Jampal Rolwé Lodrö, The Essence of an Ocean of Fine Explanation

External Links

• Prajnaparamita Series on Lotsawa House