[Buddha-l] Prof. Guenther: some essays

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

M.B. Schiekel schreef:

>Dear folks,
>
>a small German Buddhist publishers: Buddhistischer Studienverlag,
>Berlin, (that is Peter Gaeng and friends) recently has published:
>  "Herbert Guenther, Wirbelndes Licht -
>  Texte zur holistischen Prozessphilosophie des tibetischen Buddhismus
>  der aelteren Ueberlieferung"
>
>This book gathers the German version of 8 essays about the early
>Dzogchen tradition (namely Padmasambhava), Guenther wrote in the years
>1994-2002:
>- The Re-Cognition of Being's Infrastructure as Self-Completion,
>- The Complexity of the Initial Condition,
>- Is the Mind in Search of Itself?
>- Light - An Emergent Phenomenon,
>- Sound, Colour, and Self-Organiszation,
>- Mandala and/or dkyil-'khor,
>- The Intensity-Immensity Singularity,
>- The Lama -From Authenticity to Theatrics.
>
>The German translation for this edition was done by Herbert and Ilse
>Guenther. Might be, this was the last work, Guenther could finish.
>
>I've been asked to review this book for a German Buddhist journal. Long
>time ago, I've read and enjoyed Guenther's:
>- The Tantric view of Life,
>- Ecstatic Spontaneity: Saraha's Three Cycles of Doha,
>but his recent "Wirbelndes Licht" I find not easy to read, very complex
>and I encounter many questions - might be, anybody here could help me.
>
>
>1. all the time Guenther speaks from the "rDzogs-chen thinkers" - is
>this really a valid approch to Dzogchen or isn't this focus too small?
>  
>
I myself would prefer not to isolate these Indo-Tibetan authors from 
their background, allthough in the Tibetan tradition they seem to be 
recognised as a class apart.

>2. very often Guenther compares the ontological dimension of
>Padmasambhavas "thinking" with the thinking of Heidegger?
>Well, is this only Guenther's view, or would you agree?
>  
>
It's not Heidegger's view anyway, I can garantee that. For him it's 
Seinsvergessenheit all around these days. Parmenides and Heracleitos 
were about the only exceptions and beyond Greece there wasn't even 
philosophy because everything is determined by history.

>3. Guenther is seeing a strong influence of oriental gnostic ideas in
>Padmasambhavas writings - would you agree?
>  
>
I don't know what you mean by gnosticism. In the strict sense it's a 
movement which is really historically determined, it is a kind of New 
Age movement in second centure Egypt. But if you merely mean a way of 
life directed to a liberating insight then you can lable many thinkers 
that way.
Influnce is only proved by a line of transmission. Mere similarity is 
not enough, because many people can have similar ideas at different 
times and places. Besides there the problem that similar propositions 
can have different meanings in different contexts. The only solid ground 
IMHO is the life form, i.e. the practices and social strcutures.

>4. a central term in Dzogchen and also in Guenther's book is "rigpa". He
>translates rigpa with: "overconscious ecstatic intensity".
>Well, until now, I understood rigpa as "insight/vipassana". What do you
>think about "rigpa" and Guenther's view?
>  
>
I would vote for 'clear awareness', but Guenter tried to imitate 
Heidegger by making mysterious expressions. The problem is that there 
may not be a word or precise translation for rigpa, so the only 
legitimate thing to do is make the best description you can make and 
then stipulate a word for it. Guenthers strategy of condensing a 
description into a long wordcombination is perhaps the worst solution.

>5. in Guenthers book, and especially in the essay "The Lama ...", I miss
>the word "byams-pa" (metta, loving kindness).
>The words "light, ecstatic, dynamic, ontic ground" are used very often.
>Do you think, this is the view of Guenther or the view of Padmasambhava?
>  
>
Heideggers. He made the distinction between ontologic (pertaining to 
being) and ontic (pertaining to beings). There's npo way you can use one 
of the pair without having th other in mind. And since I doubt that 
Guenther understood anyting of Heidegger it's very likely that he would 
not be able to explain clearly what he meant.

>By the way, in the end of "The Lama ..." there are some very unkind and
>in my view unknowing words about the american Nyingma Lama Surya Das.
>
>
>Thank you for your patience and feedback,
>bernhard
>
>
>  
>


-- 


Erik


www.xs4all.nl/~jehms
weblog http://www.volkskrantblog.nl/pub/blogs/blog.php?uid=2950