Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Intrinsic Nature –Dharmadharmatāvibhāga (Interactive)
Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Intrinsic Nature is an exposition of one of the key principles of the Mahayana Buddhist tradition: the principle that there is a difference between how we perceive the world and the actual nature of reality. The text’s title translates as “Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Intrinsic Nature”, with phenomena referring to everything that appears to us, including ourselves. The intrinsic nature is at the heart of phenomena, their true nature, and our true nature.
Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Intrinsic Nature is held by the Tibetan Buddhist tradition to have been realized by the bodhisattva Maitreya who taught and entrusted it to the Indian scholar and monk Asaṅga in 4th century India. It is one of the Five Teachings of Maitreya. RYI’s founder, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, writes:
In his Five Teachings the protector Maitreya, the Regent who has mastered the ten grounds, reveals fully and flawlessly the view, meditation, conduct, and fruition that are accomplished through the Great Vehicle. With utmost profundity his teachings reach far and wide; they are a treasury of scripture, reasoning, and oral instruction.
The text itself is a short, pithy oral instruction that, by showing us our confusion, teaches us how to see the source of our own suffering and the suffering of others. By learning to recognize the phenomena of samsara for the illusions that they are, and to become familiar with the causes that gives rise to these illusions, we learn to cut through confused thinking to glimpse the true nature of things.
Course methodology:
The recommended prerequisite for this course is study of Śāntideva’s Way of the Bodhisattva (Bodhicaryāvatāara) or equivalent study. For-credit students must be able to show prior accredited study of that text or a similar text to enroll.
The instructional approach offers traditional Tibetan monastic pedagogy based on the root text and two word-for-word commentaries written by Khenpo Shenga and Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche. In addition, review classes and additional course materials provide a modern academic approach to the material focusing on historical, philosophical, and cultural contextualization. This approach mirrors RYI’s on-campus courses in Kathmandu.
The Dharmadharmatāvibhāga course is a one-semester, six-credit course.
Students can expect to average four to six hours of lecture and study per week. Given the nature of the course, we recommend that students set aside time for contemplation and meditation each week. The course is presented as video lectures given by Khenpo Karma Gyurme and translated into English by Zachary Beer. Review classes, audio lectures and lecture transcripts are also available.
Course Content:
OL TSTD 201/301/401: Distinguishing Phenomena from Their Intrinsic Nature (Dharmadharmatāvibhāga)
- Introduction to the text, its author, and its commentators
- Overview of the nature of samsara and nirvana
- Eight collections of consciousness
- Three natures and five dharmas
- Characteristics of phenomena
o Dualistic appearances
o False imagination
o Rationale for the appearance of the non-existent - Shared abodes
- Shared and unshared abodes
o Individual experience are unshared
o All appearances are only mind
o No external object apart from what apprehends it
o Lack of an apprehended object means no apprehender either - Characteristics of the intrinsic nature
- Accessing the intrinsic nature
- Fundamental transformation
- Non-conceptual wakefulness
- Nirvana and enlightened qualities
Course Details:
This is a 15-week course. All students have access to the course for one year from the date of registration. Interactive For-Credit students must successfully complete all course assignments by the end of RYI’s fall or spring semesters to pass. Interactive Non-Credit students can proceed at their own pace within the one-year access period.
A course moderator is available for live online office hours for Non-Credit students from April 1 – May 15. During the summer, communication is limited to written correspondence.
The first opportunity to take this course for credit will be during RYI’s Fall 2025 semester. Regular Fall classes start on September 1 and For-Credit students will have until December 19 to complete the course and take the final exam. A moderator will be available to grade students’ work, lead course discussions in the class forum, and host weekly office hours so that participants can ask questions and discuss the text further.
This registration button is for the Interactive Non-Credit format only. To register for the For-Credit format, apply through the admissions page, “Asynchronous Online through LearnDash – For Credit Format” (https://ryi.org/admissions), or through the portal (for KU students currently studying at RYI).
