Uttaratantra Shastra

Maitreya

Uttaratantra Shastra (Skt. Mahāyānottaratantra Śāstra; Tib. Gyü Lama; Wyl. theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos), Treatise on the Sublime Continuum or the Ratnagotravibhaga. One of the Five Treatises of Maitreya, a commentary on the teachings of the third turning of the wheel of Dharma explaining buddha nature. It was first translated into Tibetan by Ngok Loden Sherab and the Kashmiri pandita Sajjana.

Outline

The text has seven vajra points. These points come within the five chapters:

1. The Tathagatagarbha
   
2. Awakening/Enlightenment (bodhi)
   
3. Enlightened Qualities
   
4. The Activity of the Tathagatas
   
5. Benefits of the Text

Commentaries

In Sanskrit

• Asanga, Ratnagotravibhāgavyākhyā

In Tibetan

• Rongtön Sheja Kunrig, theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos legs par bshad pa (currently being translated by John Whitney Pettit for the Library of Tibetan Classics series)
• Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé, theg pa chen po rgyud bla ma'i bstan bcos snying po'i don mngon sum lam gyi bshad srol dang sbyar ba'i rnam par 'grel pa phyir mi ldog pa seng ge'i nga ro (translated by Fuchs, see below)
• Mipham Rinpoche, rgyud bla ma'i mchan 'grel mi pham zhal lung (currently being translated by John Canti of the Padmakara Translation Group for the Tsadra Foundation)

Translations

In English

• Buddha-Nature, Mahayana Uttaratantra Shastra by Arya Maitreya with commentary by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche, edited by Alex Trisoglio, Khyentse Foundation, 2007. A free copy can be requested online at siddharthasintent.org.
• Buddha Nature (with Jamgön Kongtrul's commentary) translated by Rosemarie Fuchs, Snow Lion, New York 2000
• The Changeless Nature, translated by Ken and Katia Holmes, Karma Kagyu Trust, Newcastle 1985
• Uttaratantra-shastra (rgyud bla ma), Maitreya – Asanga with commentary by Jamgön Mipham, Padmakara translation group, forthcoming

In French

• Traité de la Continuité ultime du Grand Véhicule de Maitreya, avec le commentaire de Jamgœun Kongtrul Rimpoché, L'Inéluctable Rugissement du lion (trad. Etienne Loyon); including commentary by Khenpo Tsulstrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. All accessible on line here!

Further Reading

• Klaus-Dieter Mathes, A Direct Path to the Buddha Within: Go Lotsawa's Mahamudra Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga, Wisdom Publications, 2008
• S.K. Hookham, Buddha Within: Tathagatagarbha Doctrine According to the Shentong Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhaga , SUNY Press, 1992
• Thrangu Rinpoche, The Uttara Tantra: A Treatise on Buddha Nature, translated by Ken and Katia Holmes, edited by Clark Johnson, Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 2001
• J. Takasaki, A Study of the Ratnagotravibhaga, Rome, Is. M.E.O., 1966.

Teachings on the Uttaratantra Shastra

• Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, Rigpa Shedra, Lerab Ling, 2002
• Khenpo Dawa Paljor, Rigpa Shedra, Pharping, 2009 (available here)