A Guide to the Guhyagarbha Tantra
Jamgön Mipham Rinpoche’s Luminous Essence
An Overview of the Commentary on the Secret Essence
Entitled
Dispelling the Darkness of the Ten Directions
Namo gurumañjughoṣāya!
Th e radiance of spontaneously present awareness, Inseparable from the inner basic space of primordial purity and simplicity, The wisdom body, free from aging and decay – Youthful Mañjuśrī, please bestow auspiciousness!
Within the basic space of the ground, the equality of all phenomena, You have perfected the strength of reveling in the self-manifest three bodies— Immaculate and primordial protector Longchenpa, Drime Özer, give me strength!
Lion of Speech, the fire of your reasoning Scorched the entire thicket of mistaken teachings in this world.
You who discovered the gentle and glorious body of nectar, Rongzom Chökyi Sangpo, may you be victorious!
Masters and knowledge holders of the mind, symbolic and oral transmissions,
Yidam deities assuming appearances of peace, passion and wrath, Ḍākinīs of the three places, and hosts of the three classes of haughty spirits— Infinite deities of the three roots, homage and veneration to you!
Th e lion’s roar of the supreme vehicle— Appearance and existence primordially the great bliss of purity and equality— Terrifies the herds of deer that teach falsely throughout the three worlds.
Th e vital points in the meaning of the profound and vast vajra tantras, Of the early translations of secret mantra, with their six-fold greatness, I shall here explain in a concise overview of the essence, An excellent teaching that vanquishes the darkness of the ten directions, With the expansive light of the sun and moon.
The Great Tantra of the Glorious Magical Net, the Secret Essence, Reality Ascertained reveals mind and wisdom to be self-display. The explanation of this tantra contains two sections:
(1) the magnificence of the tantra that is being taught and
(2) an explanation of its meaning.
1. THE MAGNIFICENCE OF THE TANTRA
Th is universal tantra of the great Magical Net is a secret among secrets. It clarifies the key points of the intent of the ocean-like mantra tantras of the vajra vehicle. In a general statement, the Tantra of the Heart Mirror of Vajrasattva declares:
The development of mahāyoga is like the ground of all doctrines.
The completion of anuyoga is like the path of all doctrines.
The great perfection of atiyoga is like the fruition of all doctrines.
Accordingly, mahāyoga teaches the complete nature of the ground, path, and fruition of the entire mantra vehicle. It is, therefore, essential to develop certainty regarding all aspects of mantra practice based on mahāyoga. Mahāyoga belongs to the inner tantras of secret mantra, and can itself be divided into an luminous essence infinite number of categories.
These all come about through the play of wisdom of the magical net. The latter, moreover, possesses an infinite number of practices related to deity, mantra, and meditative absorption, each of which is designed to suit the constitutions, capacities, and wishes of those in need of training. For this reason, it is impossible to fathom the full extent of these practices. From the perspective of their essence, however, they can be divided into two categories:
(1) the vast tantras of the common variety and
(2) the profound tantras of the extraordinary essence.
As for the former, all the infinite categories of tantra can, generally speaking, be included in six classes of tantra: the fi ve classes of enlightened body, speech, mind, qualities, and activity, plus their indivisibility, the class of the universal master heruka, also known as the class of the sixth, the vajra holder.
In terms of what they express, these tantras can also be divided into those that primarily teach the aspect of means, those that primarily teach the aspect of knowledge, and those that emphasize the wisdom of nondual means and knowledge. Respectively, these three approaches are the father, mother, and nondual tantras. These three classes are exemplified by the Gathering of Secrets, which clearly teaches the illusory body; the
Wheel of Supreme Bliss, which primarily teaches luminosity; and the Wheel of Time, which emphasizes the wisdom of unity. Because the Wheel of Time emphasizes that which is to be revealed, the ultimate wisdom of unity itself, it is known as “the androgynous stage of Vajrasattva.” In this way, it is classified as a nondual tantra. Th is is also the reasoning behind the subdivisions of the Nyingma School’s mantra scriptures, such as the classification of mahāyoga into three parts, starting with the mahā of mahā.
Secondly, the profound and extraordinary tantras are divided into the vast Tantra Section and the profound Sādhana Section. Th e Tantra Section consists of the renowned “Eighteen Great Tantras.” Th e basis or essence of all of these is the Tantra of the Secret Essence. Why are these tantras extraordinary and profound? It is because these tantras are the avenue whereby one may arrive at the unmistaken realization of
the central points of the intent of all the inner tantra sections of secret mantra. Th e entirety of the unsurpassable mantra is alike in that one is first ripened by the four empowerments and then applies the key points of the path of the two stages. Nevertheless, most other tantras tend to teach the practices of deity and mantra alone, as well as the methods for applying the key points concerning the channels, ener- gies, and essences in the completion stage. Moreover, all of these key points
are subsumed in the view of the great purity and equality of appearance and existence, and in the explicit introduction to the ultimate wisdom that is to be revealed. While this remains concealed in vajra statements elsewhere, in these tantras it is taught explicitly. In the Wheel of Time, for example, the key points hidden by the Vajra Possessor within vajra statements are taught clearly. For this reason, that tantra is known as “the open jewel casket of the buddhas.” Also, while the wisdom of the fourth empowerment is the core of the path of the [[vajra
vehicle]], other tantras describe it with statements such as, “the fourth is also like that.” Th us, they do not teach it explicitly, but simply leave it as something to be induced by the third empowerment. Because of this, many Indians who taught the key points of the tantras identified the wisdom of the fourth empowerment merely as the blissful sensation of union, the mind free from attachment, or the intellectual understanding of emptiness, and so forth. These notions have been clearly refuted in certain treatises, such as the commentary on the Sevenfold Union and Indrabhūti’s Accomplishment of Wisdom.
These days, there is abundant delusion here in the Cool Abode as well. For example, there are some who denigrate the pith instructions that point out the wisdom of the fourth empowerment, who assert the recent convergence of a blissful feeling and the notion of emptiness to be the co-emergent, and so forth. Considering all this, one must apply the teachings of the Wheel of Time universally when approaching the key points of the collected tantras.
This is a genuine pith instruction. The elucidations of the Wheel of Time and its commentary, the Accomplishment of Wisdom, are of exceptional clarity.
They deal with topics such as the nondual wisdom-body of immutable bliss and emptiness endowed with all supreme aspects, the ultimate co-emergent to be revealed, and the sky-like Vajra Possessor beyond the phenomena of matter and mind, yet pervading all of space.
It is said that tantras must be understood based on other tantras, and this great Tantra of the Secret Essence reveals all the key points concerning the view and meditation of the unsurpassable mantra; nothing is kept hidden. It also establishes the intended meaning of the entire vajra vehicle. For this reason, it is the single jewel of the three worlds, the king of all tantras, the pinnacle of all vehicles, the source of all teachings, the universal explanation of all scripture, the great highway of all the buddhas, and the sacred heart of the intent of all thus-gone ones. Its magnificent qualities are amazing.
However, lacking the essential points as taught in this tantra, treatises are composed recklessly with a limited understanding of a few profound vajra statements in the mantra tantras. In accordance with peoples’ individual mental capacities, they are treated as conceptual issues meant for logicians.
Knowing such texts to be devoid of the essential points, like a dead, lifeless corpse, fortunate individuals with a supreme aspiration toward the vajra vehicle will do well in wholeheartedly pursuing the study and teaching of a tantra such as this, doing so without concern for their own body or life.
