Groundless Paths: The Prajnaparamita Sutras, The Ornament of Clear Realization, and Its Commentaries in the Tibetan Nyingma Tradition

The Abhisamayalamkara summarizes all the topics in the vast body of the prajnaparamita sutras. Resembling a zip-file, it comes to life only through its Indian and Tibetan commentaries. Together, these texts not only discuss the hidden meaning of the prajnaparamita sutras-the paths and bhumis of sravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas-but also serve as contemplative manuals for the explicit topic of these sutras-emptiness-and how it is to be understood on the progressive levels of realization of bodhisattvas. Thus these texts describe what happens in the mind of a bodhisattva who meditates on emptiness, making it a living experience from the beginner’s stage up through buddhahood.

Groundless Paths contains the first in-depth study of the Abhisamayalamkara (the text studied most extensively in higher Tibetan Buddhist education) and its commentaries from the perspective of the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism. This study consists mainly of translations of Maitreya’s famous text and two commentaries on it by Patrul Rinpoche. These are supplemented by three short texts on the paths and bh