Absorption in No External World

Dzong-ka-ba’s The Essence of Eloquence is so cherished by Tibetan Buddhists that the Dalai Lama keeps a copy with him wherever he goes.

This book examines many fascinating points raised in six centuries of Tibetan and Mongolian commentary concerning the first two sections of this text: the Prologue, and the section on the Mind-Only School.

By providing vivid detail, Jeffrey Hopkins reveals the liveliness of Tibetan scholastic controversies, showing the dynamism of thoughtful commentary and stimulating the reader’s metaphysical imagination.

In the process of examining 170 issues, this volume treats many engaging points on Great Vehicle presentations of the three natures and the three non-natures, including how to apply these to all phenomena, the selflessness of persons, and the emptiness of emptiness.

It concludes with a delineation of the approaches through which the Mind-Only School interprets scriptures.