Three natures

From Rigpa Wiki
Revision as of 21:06, 16 November 2020 by Sébastien (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Vasubandhu, author of Treatise on the Three Natures

Three natures (Skt. trilakṣana or trisvabhāva; Tib. མཚན་ཉིད་གསུམ, tsennyi sum, or རང་བཞིན་གསུམ་, rangshyin sum; Wyl. mtshan nyid gsum or rang bzhin gsum) — the three categories into which the followers of the Mind Only school divide all phenomena:

  1. Imputed (Skt. parikalpita; Tib. ཀུན་བརྟགས་, Wyl. kun btags)
  2. Dependent (Skt. paratantra; Tib. གཞན་དབང་, Wyl. gzhan dbang)
  3. Truly Existent (Skt. pariniṣpanna; Tib. ཡོངས་གྲུབ་, Wyl. yongs grub)

Alternative Translations

  • Imaginary, Other-dependent & Perfect (Karl Brunnhölzl)
  • Imagined, Other-dependent & Consummate (Jay L. Garfield)
  • Imputation, Dependence & the Absolute (Lama Chökyi Nyima)
  • The three own-beings: the constructed, the interdependant, and the fulfilled (Anacker)

Canonical Literature

Further Reading

  • Garfield, Jay L. 'Vasubandhu's Treatise on the Three Natures' in Empty Words: Buddhist Philosophy and Cross-Cultural Interpretation, Oxford University Press, 2002
  • Karr, Andy. Contemplating Reality (Boston: Shambala Publications, 2007), Chapter 9