The Uttaratantra Shastra of Asanga - Teachings by Philippe Cornu

Live courses from November 2023 to May 2024.
Then available as VOD on this page.

+ Organised by Rigpa France + 

During this study event, Philippe Cornu - Rigpa Senior Teacher, writer and Tibetan translator - will teach one of the key texts of the Mahâyâna, which presents buddha nature.
Philippe Cornu teaches in French and will be translated live into English. 

We might ask ourselves: "If the nature of buddhahood is within me, why can't I see it straight away?" Because, like gold buried in its ore, it is veiled by the tendencies we have accumulated since time immemorial. In other words, if it's possible to become a Buddha, an Awakened One, it's because we've always been that way, even if we're not aware of it.

The Uttaratantraśāstra (Skt.) or Gyü Lama (Tib.) is a famous and essential work by Asaṅga devoted to the buddha nature present in all beings—not just awakened beings. Written in the fourth century under the inspiration of the bodhisattva Maitreya, this text disappeared and was rediscovered two centuries later; it is the indispensable key to understanding Enlightenment, describing its qualities and the Three Bodies (trikāya). While it is part of the Mahāyāna, it opens the way to Vajrayāna and Dzogchen, both of which are based on the discovery of buddha nature within oneself.

This course, which will run from November 2023 to May 2024, will include 10 sessions. It will explore the key points of this text in relation to the practice of meditation and the teachings of these vehicles, all of which emphasise the unconditioned nature of mind, which is clarity-luminosity.

The theme of each session will be described here at a later date.

Each teaching takes place from 7.30pm to 9.30pm.

Dates of the live teachings :
- 13 November 2023
- 4 December 2023
- 18 December 2023
- 15 January 2024
- 12 February 2024
- 26 February 2024
- 11th March 2024
- 15 April 2024
- 29 April 2024
- 13 May 2024

Philippe Cornu teaches in French and will be translated live into English. 

To follow this course you will need an English translation of the root text. Philippe Cornu mainly recommends:
• Buddha Nature (with Jamgön Kongtrul's commentary) translated by Rosemarie Fuchs (Snow Lion, New York 2000)

You might also be interested to read:
• 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. 

You can contribute whatever is currently appropriate and possible for you. Our recommendations are:
- Suggested contribution: 80 € 
- If you want to give more: 100 € 
- If you have less means: 64 €

Note: if you have already specifically subscribed to this event as part of your Rigpa France membership, you can contribute €0.

Tibetologist, specialist of Buddhism in all its forms and long-time practitioner, Philippe Cornu has devoted his career to teaching and transmitting Buddhist philosophy in universities (INALCO, UCLouvain) as well as in Buddhist centers. He is the author of the Dictionnaire Encyclopédique du Bouddhisme and of the book Le bouddhisme : une philosophie du bonheur ? published by Seuil. He is also the author of numerous translations of essential Tibetan texts such as the Five Treatises on the Mind alone by Vasubandhu or the Diamond Sutra and other Sutras of the Middle Way published by Fayard. Philippe Cornu has been appointed as a senior teacher in the Rigpa Sangha in August 2021.