Adorning Maitreya's Intent ─ Arriving at the View of Nonduality

A seminal commentary on one of the most important works of Mahayana Buddhism.


The revelatory text Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes explains the vast paths of the three "vehicles" or high-level schools of Buddhism, emphasizing the view of Yogacara and the distinctive features of the Mahayana. The author invites readers to explore the way things appear and the way things truly are. He guides his students toward a realization that goes completely beyond the dualistic grasp of ordinary consciousness. Yet at the same time, he avoids the pitfall of denying experience--an extreme negation that might otherwise mistakenly be derived from the teaching of emptiness. Through careful description and analysis of the fabric of the world and that which lies beyond it, Maitreya leads his students toward a pivotal conclusion: emptiness and experience are not in conflict, but rather, entail one another.

RONGTON SHEJA KUNRIG, also known as Rontonpa and Shakya Gyaltsen (1367-1449), was one of the greatest scholars of the Sakya school, and indeed in all Tibetan history, who, like his principal teacher Yakton Sangye Pal, is especially renowned for his mastery of the prajnaparamita teachings and the text of the Abhisamayalankara. He taught at the great Sangphu Neuthog, and founded his own monastery of Nalendra in 1436. His most famous disciples were Shakya Chokden and Gorampa Sonam Senge. According to Shakya Chokden, he "had more students who understood philosophical texts than any Tibetan teacher of all time."