The Buddha from Dölpo is a revised and enlarged edition of the only book about the most controversial Buddhist master in the history of Tibet.  Dölpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (1292–1361), who became perhaps the greatest Tibetan expert of the Kalacakra or Wheel of Time, a vast system of tantric teachings. Based largely on esoteric Buddhist knowledge from the legendary land of Shambhala, Dölpopa’s insights have profoundly influenced the development of Tibetan Buddhism for more than 650 years. Dölpopa emphasized two contrasting definitions of the Buddhist theory of emptiness. He described relative phenomena as empty of self-nature, but absolute reality as only empty of other (i.e. relative) phenomena. He further identified absolute reality as the buddha nature or eternal essence present in all living beings. This view of an “emptiness of other,” known in Tibetan as shentong, is Dölpopa’s enduring legacy. The Buddha from Dölpo contains the only English translations of three of Dölpopa’s crucial works. A General Commentary on the Doctrine is one of the earliest texts in which he systematically presented his view of the entire Buddhist path to enlightenment. The Fourth Council and its Auto-commentary (which was not in the first edition of this book) were written at the end of his life and represent a final summation of his teachings. These translations are preceded by a detailed discussion of Dölpopa’s life, his revolutionary ideas, earlier precedents for the shentong view, his unique use of language, and the influence of his theories. The fate of his Jonang tradition, which was censored by the central Tibetan government in the seventeenth century but still survives, is also examined. This revised edition of Cyrus Stearns’s The Buddha from Dölpo is a must read for all interested in the intellectual history of Tibet. New translations of some of the key works of Dölpopa open philosophical and cosmological ideas of one of the great thinkers of the Tibetan tradition. This is a marvellous piece of scholarship.” —E. Gene Smith, founder and senior research scholar of the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center “Cyrus Stearns’s The Buddha from Dölpo is among the major contributions to the history

By Tenzin Gyatso, His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama Having perfectly meditated upon generating the enlightened mind for incalculable eons, The incomparable sovereign of the Shakyas wisely brought down the rain Of sublime teachings in order to fulfil the wishes of illimitable beings. To you who protects beings through glorious virtue, I pay homage! The intended meaning of the three successive Wheels of Dharma Was explicated from multiple realisations derived from study and practice. This is what distinguishes the one from the many gates of the Buddha’s Dharma. May the teachings of the Jonang flourish!  Amidst the vast lotus grove of the victor’s teachings in the Land of Snow, Hundreds of petals of Buddhist exposition and meditation systems bloomed. Among them, the dynamic intent of the final Wheel of Dharma was revealed. May the teachings of the Jonang flourish! You uphold and transmit an unparalleled oral transmission, A commentarial tradition distinct from other sutras and tantras On the great chariot tradition of the Kalachakra Tantra. May the teachings of the Jonang flourish! From Yumo Mikyo Dorje, through Dolpopa, Kunga Dolchok, the protector Jetsun Taranatha, And successive masters, your lineage has gracefully disseminated. May the teachings of the Jonang flourish! The timelessly ultimate residing, stable, enduring Enlightened essence is the indivisible ground and fruition. This is the way elucidated in the Essence Sutras and the meaning beheld by Nagarjuna. May the teachings of the Jonang flourish! Your Middle Way zhentong view of the sutras And your practice of the Six Yogas which unfolds the meaning of the tantras Are great traditions of explanation that activate the actual dimension of reality. May the teachings of the Jonang flourish! Through the great blessings of the sources of refuge, the victor and the victor’s children, Through the power of the unalterable ultimate nature of reality, Through the force of divine virtue, and through our devotion, May this aspiration prayer be fulfilled accordingly! This “Aspiration Prayer for the Flourishing of the Jonang Tradition” was requested by Khenpo Ngawang Dorje and other Jonang practitioners. It was