Introduction By Jeffrey Hopkins and Jongbok Yi The title of text is Maitreya’s Treatise of Quintessential Instructions on (shes the Perfection of Wisdom, Ornament for the Clear Realizations rab kyi pha rol tu phyin man ngag gi bstan bcos mngon par rtogs pa’i pa’i As rgyan, prajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstrābhisamayālaṃkāra). First Paṇchen Lama and a tutor of the Fifth Dalai Lama, says in his Explanation of the First Category in the Ocean of (Maitreya’s) Illuminating the Essence of the Essence of for the Clear Realizations: Treatise of Quintessential Instructions on the Perfection of Wisdom”: There are reasons for calling this treatise by such a title since it is called: because of ngag, “quintessential instructions” (man upadeśa) • causing easy realization of what is difficult to realize—the meanings of the three vast, medium, Perfection of Wisdoms, and brief because it rtogs, abhisamaya) “clear realization” (mngon • causes manifest realization because of being endowed with bcos, “treatise” (bstan śāstra) • the two qualities of curing (’chos) and protecting (skyobs, because [like a mirror] this “ornament” (rgyan, alaṃkāra) • treatise, an illuminating ornament, causes perception of the beautiful body of the Mother [the perfection of wisdom], a natural ornament, bedecked with the seventy topics, ornaments. The text was translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan probably around 800 C.E. and was either newly translated or revised by Ngog Lo-dan-Shay-rab and the Indian At the beginning, the translators paṇḍita Amaragomin. make homage to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. As says: There are reasons for their making a homage this way: translator’s to all Buddhas and because it is for the “Homage Bodhisattvas,” sake of completing the translation and for the sake of making known that [this text] is included within the class of the scriptural
Introduction By Jeffrey Hopkins and Jongbok Yi The title of Maitreya’s text is Treatise of Quintessential Instructions on the Perfection of Wisdom, Ornament for the Clear Realizations (shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i man ngag gi bstan bcos mngon par rtogs pa’i rgyan, prajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstrābhisamayālaṃkāra). As First Paṇchen Lama and a tutor of the Fifth Dalai Lama, says in his Explanation of the First Category in the Ocean of Illuminating the Essence of the Essence of (Maitreya’s) for the Clear Realizations: Treatise of Quintessential Instructions on the Perfection of Wisdom”: There are reasons for calling this treatise by such a title since it is called: • “quintessential instructions” (man ngag, upadeśa) because of causing easy realization of what is difficult to realize—the meanings of the three Perfection of Wisdoms, vast, medium, and brief • “clear realization” (mngon rtogs, abhisamaya) because it causes manifest realization • “treatise” (bstan bcos, śāstra) because of being endowed with the two qualities of curing (’chos) and protecting (skyobs, • “ornament” (rgyan, alaṃkāra) because [like a mirror] this treatise, an illuminating ornament, causes perception of the beautiful body of the Mother [the perfection of wisdom], a natural ornament, bedecked with the seventy topics, ornaments. The text was translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan probably around 800 C.E. and was either newly translated or revised by Ngog Lo-dan-Shay-rab and the Indian paṇḍita Amaragomin. At the beginning, the translators make homage to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. As says: There are reasons for their making a translator’s homage this way: “Homage to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas,” because it is for the sake of completing the translation and for the sake of making known that [this text] is included within the class of the scriptural