Abhisamayalankara

Haribhadra, author of the most famous commentary on the Abhisamayalankara

Abhisamayalankara (Skt. Abhisamayālaṃkāra; Tib. Ngöntok 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.

Commentaries

Indian

• Arya Vimuktisena, Commentary on the Abhisamayalankara (Skt. abhisamayālaṅkārakārikāvārttika)
• Haribhadra, Sphutartha (Skt. Sphuṭārthā; Wyl. 'grel pa don gsal)

Tibetan

• Tsongkhapa, Golden Garland of Eloquence (legs bshad gser phreng) (translated by Gareth Sparham, Jain Publishing, 2008)
• Patrul Rinpoche, Overview
• Pöpa Tulku, The Oral Transmission of the Invincible Maitreya and An Adornment to the Vision of the Invincible Maitreya
• Amdo Geshe Jampal Rolwé Lodrö, The Essence of an Ocean of Fine Explanation

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 2011
• 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

Further Reading

• John Makransky, Buddhahood embodied: sources of controversy in India and Tibet, New York: SUNY, 1997

External Links

• Prajnaparamita Series on Lotsawa House