DGongs1
The book I am about to finish will deal with the convergence of Vinaya, Mahāmudrā, and tantric Yoga in the teachings of Jigten Sumgön. One chapter of the book shows how Jigten Sumgön envisions the ideal person in whom these three converge. It is the kusāli yogi who embodies this convergence.
We know from Jigten Sumgön’s biography by his nephew Sherab Jungné that Jigten Sumgön spent more than a decade in retreats of strict solitude. In his early years, he wandered from place to place, sometimes wearing nothing but rags, sleeping under the open sky. Eventually, he and his disciples became monastic, wore monastic robes, and ate food from the monasteryʼs kitchen. However, that does not mean they gave up the frugal lifestyle of earlier years. Even in the environment of the monastery, Jigten Sumgön continued to recommend wearing rags. He told the assembly:
Rags are sufficient as clothing. That includes discarded and also worn clothing. Discarded clothes are those others no longer want to wear and left behind. One collects these and cleans them. If in that way harmful influences were avoided, one can wear them. … Therefore, part of [the Buddhaʼs] teaching discourses is devoted to the merits of rags.
Jigten Sumgön talks here about the “twelve virtues of ascetic training.” These twelve virtues are the Buddha’s recommendations regarding frugality in the context of clothing, food, and places of residence. Although ascetic in style, they are not meant as a form of self-mortification. Instead, they are a way of life conducive to the practice of meditation.
In the vihāra of Phagmodrupa, where Jigten Sumgön spent almost three years, it was the rule that the disciples had to build their temporary hut within only a day. Phagmodrupa himself spent half of each month (during the waning moon) in retreat and taught the assembly during the afternoons of the other half while remaining in seclusion during the morning hours.
The shining examples of such a frugal lifestyle provided by the commentaries of the Single Intention mention Milarepa, Phagmodrupa, and Lama Zhang Tshalpa. Phagmodrupa praised Milarepa:
The mighty lord of yogis, Mila, ate unsalted nettle [soup], transformed into nectar. Cast off attachment! The supreme being will have whatever food he wishes; have no doubt!
Jigten Sumgön said:
The father, the dharma lord, the precious guru [[[Phagmodrupa]]], abandoned the attachment to meat and cheese, merely preferred a bit of curd, nourished himself only on vegetable soup, and, based on that, accomplished awakening.
As a further illustration of this lifestyle, Lama Zhang Tshalpa is mentioned. Planning for a retreat, he brought together such things as a bag of flour, hardened fat for soups, salt, and so forth. He was about to enter a suitable cave when suddenly, a thought of happiness about these favorable circumstances crossed his mind. He recognized that happiness as an attachment and immediately destroyed the retreat facility, scattered the flour, and went away to practice elsewhere.
Thus, this form of asceticism is not practiced like an exercise in penance but is a mental training: The practitioner has to watch out for attachment and aversion to pleasurable and disagreeable objects and circumstances. When Lama Zhang recognized the signs of such an attachment arising in his mind, he immediately counteracted it. That is what Jigten Sumgön meant when he said: “Expert skill is necessary concerning means of preventing the māra from entering [the mind], and if it has entered, to repel it.”
Ideally, a kusāli yogi is, according to Jigten Sumgön, ordained. The kusāli strives to become “a pure monk in the most perfect way,” takes up the twelve virtues of ascetic training, and “has few desires, remains frugal, and is an expert concerning the dharma.” In praise of such frugality, Jigten Sumgön says:
By maintaining a frugal and moderate [[[lifestyle]]] with clothing that merely sustains the body and alms that merely fill the stomach, one has a virtuous practice of frugality like the birds. Wherever they soar, they float on their wings—wherever one goes, one goes endowed with the alms bowl and dharma robes.
Elsewhere he provides a list of similar qualities. The kusāli yogi should
be easy to nourish, easy to satisfy, possess few desires, be frugal, parsimonious, sober, possess the virtues of ascetic training, be graceful, and be temperate.
Again in another instruction, he puts frugality, which he describes as wealth, into the context of mindfulness:
Mindfulness, alert awareness, attentiveness, and frugality are synonymous with wealth. Therefore, if you did not dwell earlier in these, the faults of desire will later arise. If you have been frugal earlier, qualities arise naturally.
In his teachings to the great assembly in Drikung, he contrasts the right and the wrong kind of frugality:
To be frugal with sense pleasures is the Buddha’s dharma; to be frugal with the dharma is māras dharma.
In several of his works, Jigten Sumgön identifies himself with the kusāli-yogi-monk, whom he differentiates from the scholar (paṇḍita). Quoting Gampopa, he states that such a kusāli
must be one who can carry a large load of suffering with great compassion, guide others with great wisdom, and does not even have a hair tip’s concern regarding his own life.
In another text, he relates what Phagmodrupa had told him about his teacher, Gampopa. He calls Gampopa a kusāli who was in possession of knowledge. What he learned from him was this:
All phenomena combined as samsara and nirvana are one’s mind, which is unestablished from the beginning, like the center of space.
Kusāli yogis do not analyze external objects. They see them as the mind’s natural display, that is, just mind. When phenomena are understood as the mind, they disappear into their origin, the mind. To realize the mind, one needs the guru’s instructions. One needs devotion to understand how to put the guru’s teachings into practice. To practice the instructions in solitude, one needs great effort. In solitude, defects and qualities will arise. Asking the guru about them, the guru will point out the causes for their arising and how the defects can be removed and qualities enhanced. Practicing accordingly, one will be a yogi or yogini who is free from defects and endowed with qualities. At that point, wisdom will arise from practice. The wisdom that arises from practice is such that hundred-thousands of learned panditas may ask questions, and not a single question will remain unanswered.
In the Instructions that are Like a Mighty King, Jigten Sumgön, once again, contrasts the kusāli yogi with the scholar pandita. The pandita treats words as essential, cutting off the false projections from the outside. The kusāli yogi treats meaning as essential, cutting off the false projections from the inside.
In the Three Words of the Lord, he says that in contrast to the pandita, the kusāli does not study and reflect many teachings. He meets with an excellent guru. He cultivates devotion and values just a single teaching and practices it. Through the power of the guru’s blessings and his own devotion, he realizes the innate mind, and all the appearances “arise like a book.” This is again due to the wisdom that arises from practice. In that way, the Kagyupas have “the system of the kusālis, who cut off false projections from inside.”
In the Three Words, he furthermore describes the kusāli as someone who realizes all phenomena of samsara and nirvana by practicing just one teaching. What kind of teaching is that? It has few words, a concise meaning, and is easy to practice. An example is the teaching of the Fivefold Path of Mahāmudrā. Practicing just that, three things arise. The first is the original state of reality. The body’s original state is that it is, from the very beginning, a male or female buddha. The mind’s original state is that the nature of the mind is, from the very beginning, the utterly pure dharmakāya buddha. The other two things that arise through the Fivefold Path are the method and the fruits.
In this way, the kusāli embodies frugality in many ways: He or she maintains a frugal and moderate lifestyle and practices the virtues of ascetic training. Thereby, a great wealth is obtained, namely mindfulness, alert awareness, and attentiveness. Kusālis carry the load of suffering with great compassion for the sake of other beings. They do not aim at great learnedness and need only a few teachings. As practitioners, however, they are insatiable.
To think or not to think. Is that the question?
March 8, 2022
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Already in India, the teaching styles of Mahāmudrā were quite diverse. There is a bewildering multitude of terminology like “mental inactivity” (yid la mi byed pa), “innate yoga” (lhan cig skyes sbyor), “ordinary consciousness” (tha mal gyi shes pa), or “natural mind” (gnyug ma[ʼi sems]). This posting will look at some aspects of the “natural mind” in Gampopa’s writings. We will see that, like the innate yoga, the natural mind practice uses thoughts for realizing the dharmakāya, yet it seems that it does so (at least at Gampopa’s time) in a more radical way. Future research may show that subsequent masters like Jigten Sumgön might have combined both into a single approach.
However, before I investigate Gampopa’s instructions on the matter, I would like to make a few remarks about translating esoteric instructions. My main point is that there is something not right when the terminology of such instructions is treated as if we are reading a philosophical debate or a more systematized form of a text. Esoteric instructions in the Kagyüpa tradition, especially those pointing out the nature of the mind or teaching mahāmudrā practice, are often spontaneously spoken words recorded by disciples or sketchy notes that reply to questions from disciples. Sometimes they are delivered in the form of poetry or song. Characteristic for them is the use of colorful metaphorical language (“space,” “light,” etc.), sometimes in the form of similes (“like a rainbow”). These metaphors are done an injustice when we translate them like the technical terms they sometimes turn into in the later literature of systematical treatises and commentaries. Such powerful metaphors as “clear light,” which originally illustrates the unobstructed quality of the mind, then turns into the abstract noun “luminosity,” and a term like “innate,” which refers to inborn qualities, morphs into such a terrible linguistic monstrosity as “co-emergent.” Translated like that, they are not metaphors anymore; they have solidified from a once-dynamic metaphor to a cold technical term. To use such technical terms when translating esoteric instructions is, in most cases, a mistake.
When we read a scholarly work, its technical language is often well-explained and specified by definitions. Although these explanations and definitions may vary between traditions or even from scholar to scholar, the scholarly activity of analyzing, defining, and teaching makes it often relatively easy to analyze and translate such terms. On the other hand, esoteric instructions are often brief to the point that they even seem cryptic. Their colorful terminology is much harder to pin down. Such texts virtually avoid definitions. They are on the spot compositions spontaneously delivered by experienced masters, often to remedy a problem in the meditative practice of their disciples. However, even though the terms are sometimes literally the same as in more technical texts, we should never make the mistake in our translations to define esoteric language through later technical terminology. That would be like putting the cart before the horse: The mahāmudrā instructions of the early Kagyüpa masters precede their more technical explanations of later generations. Therefore, translations of such texts should reflect the original and powerful metaphor, not the technicality of a philosophical debate.
That being said, let us have a look at the term “natural [[[mind]]]” (gnyug ma[ʼi sems]) as it appears in numerous esoteric instructions of Gampopa. To understand this key term in Gampopa’s system, we must carefully read it in the context of the teachings in which it occurs. Looking at more than fifty occurrences of the term in Gampopa’s instructions, we find it often in close vicinity of such terms as these:
– ordinary consciousness (tha mal gyi shes pa)
– nature of the mind (sems nyid)
– innate gnosis (lhan cig skyes pa’i ye shes)
– dharmakāya (chos sku)
– true reality (de nyid)
– unerring emptiness (stong pa nyid ma nor ba)
All these are terms pertaining to the level of the absolute truth. Accordingly, when we find descriptions of the qualities of the natural mind, we find that it
– cannot be seen, pointed out, or expressed
– has no basis or support, and no labels can be attached to it
– has no tendency toward anything and no aim
– is not produced from causes and conditions
– is like a dream or an illusion
In Buddhism, these descriptions through negation are typical for something belonging to the sphere of the absolute truth. After all, absolute truth is beyond the sphere of the mind and cannot really be expressed in words. The experience of the natural mind is therefore like a dream or an illusion, not because it is false, but because it cannot be expressed. Gampopa says that it is like the happiness of a young girl and the dream of a mute person—both the girl and the mute person cannot express their experience. However, there are also a few descriptions in positive terms. The natural mind is also described as genuine, fresh, and simple, and it is explained to possess clarity and bliss. The descriptions through negation tell us what the natural mind is not, and the positive descriptions provide us with some kind of an idea of how it feels when such a mind is recognized. Nevertheless, these are not precise definitions as we can find them in scholarly works. Such a mind seems to escape all attempts of precise linguistic expression.
In some instructions, however, Gampopa provides several interesting statements about the natural mind that can provide us with a clearer idea of what it is. First of all, he describes some preliminary steps for attaining it. Accordingly, an essential preliminary practice is to cut off all kinds of thoughts pertaining to subject and object, or, in other words, to the apprehending and the apprehended. This places the natural mind in the vicinity of the teaching that all phenomena are nothing but mind: If there is no thought about subject or object, then there is no idea of an apprehending mind and an apprehended thought or object. This is the state in which one must dwell, namely a state of nonduality, in order to experience the natural mind. However, this is not a state of total emptiness or nothingness. Gampopa says (vol. 6, 8r, all quotes are from the Derge edition):
The essence [of the natural mind] is not nonexistence but to be separate from all arising and ceasing. The result [of the natural mind] is that nonexistence of arising and ceasing, the dharmakāya.
Therefore, thoughts are not merely cut off. Instead, one dwells in the realization that the thought that arises has no place where it originates from, no space where it dwells, and nothing into which it finally disappears. Moreover, Gampopa explicitly says (vol. 27, 9r): “Thought is the path of the natural mind.” But how does that fit with the many other passages where he speaks in the context of the natural mind of “nonthought” and “cutting off all thoughts?” A crucial passage may be the following, where Gampopa explains two systems of taking thoughts as the path. The first part of the passage says (vol. 10, 47v):
What is the difference between the natural [[[mind]]] (gnyug ma) and the innate yoga (lhan cig skyes sbyor, Skt. sahajayoga)? Innate yoga [also] takes thoughts as the path. Thoughts have two aspects: good thoughts and bad thoughts. Whichever arises, the thought is taken as the path by understanding it as a blessing. Thus, concerning the roaming in samsara, one roams because one has not recognized thoughts. There is no fear of samsara since one has made thoughts the path.
This is a very abbreviated explanation of the innate yoga. He states that thoughts are understood as a blessing, but he does not explain here how thoughts are used for practice. Elsewhere, Gampopa is more explicit and thus, before we continue with the above quote, let us briefly look into some other passages. In an instruction on innate yoga, Gampopa says (vol. 19, 17r):
All phenomena of the whole world are one’s mind. Come to a definitive decision [about that], thinking that the mind is without origination. Rest serenely inside yourself without evaluation. Remain without evaluating “this is fresh,” “it exists,” or “it does not exist.” Rest without hesitation, like a swallow enters its nest. “Unfabricated:” remain free from blocking or establishing, as the garuda soars in the sky. “Loosely:” remain without exertion. Have a smooth attentiveness that has abandoned all the activities of a person and remain [like that]. “Remain:” remain without blocking
faults and establishing qualities. Remain lose and utterly without fabrication. Like that, be without focussing and rest at ease. Thereby, with a clear and unobstructed essence of the consciousness, loosen [the mind] through relaxation within complete purity, and practice! If relaxation is best, practice is best. If it is medium, practice is medium. If it is low, practice is low; it is impossible that it is any other way than that. Within dwelling like that, pacify any proliferating thought! This is like a cloud adventitiously rising in the sky that is pure by itself: It arises
from the sky, and in the end, it dissolves back into it, yet it dissolves into the sky itself, and it is of the sky’s nature. An adventitious thought may arise, but it arose from the innate nature of the mind itself. In the middle, it remains, but it remains as the innate nature of the mind itself. In the end, it dissolves, but it dissolves into the innate nature of the mind itself. Know it to be not beyond the innate nature of the mind itself and practice [like that].
Although later authors like Jigten Sumgön go into more details, this should suffice here. The meditative practice described here is characterized by being both relaxed and attentive. Arising thoughts are to be pacified but not by blocking them, but by understanding that the thought arises from and dissolves back into mind itself, and between that, while it remains, it is none other than the mind itself. This is often explained through the example of waves and the ocean: The waves are not different from the ocean itself. Understanding it like that, Gampopa’s disciple Phagmodrupa, who was Jigten Sumgön’s root guru, says about the innate yoga (vol. 2, p. 288):
The rainbow of duality disappears in space. The emerging of thoughts and getting involved in them disperse like clouds. In this fine palace of spontaneous victory, the person of the natural mind who is free from proliferation sits cross-legged on the seat beyond thoughts.
And elsewhere very clearly (vol. 4, p. 292):
Thoughts arise in the essence of the natural mind, but like the darkness at daybreak, they disappear by themselves.
Garchen Rinpoche has pointed out that this innate yoga practice of mahāmudrā is a training, but when one dwells entirely without thoughts as described in Tilopa’s Gangama Mahāmudrā, that is the result. Probably to point out the difference between the training and the result, Gampopa, from the perspective of the natural mind, stated these critical words to those who practice the innate yoga (continuing the above passage of vol. 19, 17r):
Because you take thoughts as the path, the thing to be cut off and the means of cutting off are perceived as two, and there is no end to thoughts. A thought that arises is recognized. However, that one that arises may be recognized, but if you do not perceive the essence, you are not up to the task! When a chance to perceive [the essence] arises, that is it! There is no other chance to perceive [the essence]!
The point is here that a practitioner of the innate yoga may dwell in a state where mind and thoughts are like the ocean and its waves, but the actual task is to perceive in that arising thought the “essence.” Gampopa teaches explicitly that apart from thoughts, there is no other way to realize the dharmakāya! Gampopa’s disciple, Lama Zhang, also taught that one must take thoughts as the path. He said (vol. 8 of the 2004 edition, pp. 566‒67):
Following after afflictions or thoughts one is an ordinary person, abandoning or stopping them, one is a Hīnayānist, purifying and transforming them with mantra, mudrā, and samādhi, one is [a practitioner of] the outer mantra. Here, through the endeavor of bad thoughts, one is not spoiled. By looking at the essence of an arising thought, thoughts subside for those in whom experience arises, and something is inevitably added to their experience. For those in whom realization arises, there is nothing to subside.
And he quotes the “precious guru” (Gampopa?):
If one does not use thoughts for one’s favor, the time when gnosis arises will never come. A fire whose firewood is discarded is like a lotus on dry ground. If you know how to use thoughts in your favor, all outer and inner obstructions become aids for meditative practice.
Thus, what is that essence of thoughts? There is an interesting passage in the collected works fo Marpa Lotsāva, where he says (vol. 2, 211‒12):
Just that essence of thoughts (rtog pa’i ngo bo) is the “self of phenomena” and the “self of the person.” If you know the nature of thoughts to be clear light, then they stop by themselves.
Thus the self of phenomena—the belief that phenomena have an independent existence—and the self of the person—the belief in an independent existence of the self, like a soul—are here likened to thoughts. This is undoubtedly an interesting remark and deserves further investigation. I believe that the point here is that, like thoughts, the self has no origin, abiding, and cessation. Since the self shares these characteristics with the thoughts—the very thing with which we identify ourselves so much—realizing the essence of thoughts will cause the realization of the self: There is no
identifiable essence. Therefore, the essence, the true nature of the self or natural mind, can be realized by understanding thoughts. Once one has realized the essence, thoughts and mind are realized as having no origin, abiding, and cessation—they are the dharmakāya. Gampopa actually explains this in the continuation of the above-quoted passage on the difference between the natural mind and the innate yoga (vol. 10, 47v):
If [the essence, i.e.] the “I” is not perceived [as it is], thoughts have no end. Through that, you possess the defect of endlessness with regard to that [[[arising]] of thoughts]. The “I” is [in truth] at the beginning unborn, in the middle without remaining, and at the end without cessation. It is without an essence to be identified. Its nature is uninterrupted. Its charateristics are beyond the mind. Now, from the perspective of mantra, with respect to the characteristics, even the buddhas of the three times do not perceive it. With respect to the absence of characteristics, it is uninterrupted at all times. From the perspective of the perfections, there is nothing to be removed from the “I” and there is not the slightest thing to be added. Watch perfectly the perfect purity! If you see the perfectly pure, you are free. Here, the perfectly pure is the “I.”
This essence, the perfectly pure self, the “I,” is, of course, the “natural mind” (gnyug ma), or dharmakāya. Thus, thoughts are used to attain the state of nonthought, just as firewood is completely burned up in a fire.
The Mahāmudrā Instruction for Ladrangpa
August 10, 2021
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
(German translation below)
Judging from their titles, many instructions in the Collected Works of Jigten Sumgön have been granted to a particular person. The recipient of the present instruction – Geshe Ladrangpa – is otherwise unknown. However, his title “Geshe” at least reveals that he was an educated student who had probably received his title in one of the training centers that already existed at that time, such as Sangphu (founded in 1074), Bodong, Sakya, Zhalu, and so on.
The core of this mahāmudrā instruction is once again the Fivefold Path with (1) bodhicitta, (2) the practice of one’s personal deity, (3) guru yoga, (4) mahāmudrā, and (5) dedication. What is special about this instruction is that the section on mahāmudrā practice is highlighted by its length and is quite tantric in nature. This practice instruction is an instruction for a secluded retreat. It is explicitly mentioned twice here that one should practice compassion for all those who harm one, since from this arises a compassion that is not merely feigned. The two practices of the deity and guru yoga, which are the second and third limbs of the Fivefold Path of Mahāmudrā, are mentioned only briefly at first, and the main focus of this instruction is mahāmudrā practice.
However, in the mahāmudrā instruction that follows, the two previous limbs of yidam practice and guru yoga are clarified once again. After all, one practices mahāmudrā after visualizing oneself as the deity and, although it is not explicitly mentioned here, one also visualizes the guru in one’s heart. In many yidam deity practice texts it is said that one should practice at certain external tantric pilgrimage sites, each of which is associated with places on oneʼs own body and with certain stages of the bodhisattvas, and so on. However, since the vīras, herukas, and ḍākinīs who reside at these places have all originated from the Vārāhī family, one should, according to Jigten Sumgön, focus primarily on practicing Heruka and Vajravārāhī in a retreat.
What is it about all the outer pilgrimage sites and their inhabitants? The first Chungtsang Rinpoche, Rigdzin Chökyidragpa, in his History of the Cakrasamvara Tantra, describes how at the beginning of kaliyuga, the age of discord, some gandharvas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, nāgās, asuras, kinnaras, and ḍākinīs wanted to dominate the three realms of existence. They therefore invited the fearsome Maheśvara and his consort Kālaratri. Maheśvara then emanated 24 lingams to 24 places and called these beings to hold sacrificial festivals at these places. Therefore, sex, human flesh, blood, etc.
were offered at these places to please Maheśvara. Thereupon, innumerable Buddhas came and emanated innumerable deities who manifested samādhis and maṇḍalas, by which innumerable corrupt and malignant beings were liberated from Maheśvaraʼs retinue. Eventually Cakrasamvara and Vajravārāhī manifested, subdued Maheśvara and Kālaratri, and made them their disciples (they also eventually became Buddhas). The deities of Cakrasamvara’s maṇḍala eventually subjugated all the gandharvas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, nāgās, asuras, kinnaras and ḍākinīs. Thus, all these places where previously the demons celebrated perverted sacrificial festivals became tantric pilgrimage sites of Buddhism.
However, as Jigten Sumgön teaches here, in a retreat it is sufficient to practice Heruka and Vajravārāhī, for all the deities of the various pilgrimage sites actually emerged from Varāhī. Then “there is no doubt that the vicious vīras and ḍākinīs will be destroyed by wrath.” It is therefore important to perceive all the deities of the maṇḍalas exclusively as Heruka and Vārāhī, that is, all the vīras are the Heruka, and the 37 ḍākinīs are the Vārāhī. Thus, in practice, one accomplishes the subjugation of the malicious Maheśvaras and his consort Kālaratri. In fact, the first torma to be offered after the blessing of the nectar goes to these gandharvas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, nāgās, asuras, kinnaras and ḍākinīs, who were formerly of Maheśvara’s retinue and are now bound to Cakrasamvaras maṇḍala.
The practice lineage of the Cakrasamvara Tantra has been transmitted in such a way that all members of the lineage have attained complete realization and therefore each bless their disciples “with the boundless ocean of the qualities of Heruka and of the Yogini.” This blessing is transmitted through the lineage of gurus alone. Therefore, one should “practice day and night without interrupting one’s efforts!” This uninterrupted practice and passionate devotion to the guru brings about the blessing transmission. “This is the vital point of the ultimate mahāmudrā!”
Then follows in the text the profound instruction on the actual practice of mahāmudrā as Jigten Sumgön had received it from Phagmodrupa, and the dedication of the merit.
I would like to thank Khenchen Nyima Gyaltsen for his advice and Katrin Querl, Yeshe Metok and Sonam Spitz for their support in translating this text. This perfect teamwork is always a great pleasure!
Translation
Summary of the Key Points of the Unsurpassed Vehicle for the Great Geshe Ladrangpa
[Homage]
I bow with the crown of my head to the lotus feet
of the peerless, precious guru
who is the essence of the body, speech, and mind
of all the Buddhas of the three times.
[Foundation of All Practice: The Fivefold Path]
I heard this guru say:
“Wholesome in the beginning, middle and end is what has been taught by the Buddhas of the past, what will be taught by the Buddhas of the future, and what the perfect Buddha who appeared in the present has taught over and over again. 1
The key points are (1) the resolve to awaken, (2) [practicing] one’s personal deity, (3) respectful devotion to the excellent guru, and (4) ultimate mahāmudrā,
as well as (5) dedicating what has been accumulated in the three times and the inherent virtue 2 to supreme awakening.
Apart from these [five points], there is no other excellent dharma. Practice this until perfect awakening is attained!”
[[[Bodhicitta]]]
First, the key point of the resolve to awaken: Practice great compassion again and again for the enemies who hate you and adversaries who harm you, and for those who stand in the way of your liberation and omniscience and hinder you.
This is to be practiced as follows: Mark a retreat place in a very secluded place and give up all activities and busyness.
You must dwell without distractions to body and mind! Practice compassion for all those who harm you with uninterrupted effort and familiarize with that. When compassion has authentically arisen,
until you have attained perfect Buddhahood, commit body, speech, and mind to virtue, so that all immeasurable beings may attain perfect joy, freedom from all suffering, and finally Buddhahood. Commit your body, speech and mind to virtue
until you die and until tomorrow at the same time! Imagine this and commit yourself! With this special yogic discipline you will achieve it like this!
[[[Yidam]]]
Visualize yourself as your unsurpassed deity and practice it as something that appears but is without a true nature, like a brilliantly clear rainbow. When you visualize like this,
then strive until you are exhausted! Visualize this and commit yourself! With this special yogic discipline, you will achieve it like this!
[[[Guru Yoga]]]
The glorious Phagmodrupa ‒ precious protector
and embodiment of the Buddhas of the three times ‒ is my excellent personal guru, who removes the defects and perfects the qualities in all of us, disciples and servants.
[[[Mahāmudrā]]]
As the King of Empowerment teaches,♦ 3
and as it says in the Vasantatilakā:♦ 4
“Practice continuously in the places
of Heruka and Vārāhī!”
The Heruka subdues the vicious ones,
and the venerable Ḍākinī
grants the immeasurable qualities that are beneficial and joyful. Following the countless authoritative scriptures, there are many views regarding the practice relating to the primary and secondary seats (pīṭha and upapīṭha), the primary and secondary fields (kṣetra and upakṣetra),
the primary and secondary assembly places (chandoha and upacchandoha),
the primary and secondary funeral places (śmaśāna and upaśmaśāna),♦ 5
and the palaces of the five Buddhas,
however, all the vīras of herukas
and all the thirty-seven kinds of ḍākinīs
all have come from the Vārāhī family.
Since the Exalted One has taught this,
do not practice anything other than these two! 6
There is no doubt that the malicious vīras and ḍākinīs
will be destroyed by the wrath, 7
and that the precious protector of beings
will bless you with the boundless ocean of the qualities
of Heruka and of the Yogini.
8
The precious guru who blesses all the qualities in us through the methods of the hidden mantra brings about all happiness and well-being. You should practice day and night without interrupting your efforts! Never interrupt your passionate devotion! When you realize the blessing of your precious guru, he will be there!
This is the vital point of ultimate mahāmudrā!
I heard the Venerable One say:
“Your own mind is self-originated and spontaneously present. Do not spoil that which is immutable in the three times by the notion of meditative absorption and post-meditative phase. You would fall into the teachings of the Vaibhāśikas!”♦ 9 Since this is what the Protector of the World taught, follow this instruction!
Your own mind is self-originated and spontaneously present.
It was not created at a previous time,
nothing should be taken away from it at present,
and nothing should be added to it in the future.
From your own mind, which was not created, nothing should be taken away
and nothing should be added to it – it is unchanging and nothing to be practiced.
Should it seem possible to practice it, that is a mistake.
It is spontaneously present and uncreated.
It is to be introduced by the spiritual teacher! The excellent beings should realize it! You should not put your hope in anyone other than yourself! The excellent, peerless guru said that, apart from realizing and not realizing, there is no attainment or non-attainment of the fruit. 10
Although it is actually inappropriate to write this down in words,
the spiritual teacher, who is the perfect master
of the precious teachings of [[[Shakya]]]muni,
has adorned it with the precious three trainings and enriched it with the jewels of study, reflection, and practice. He carries the banner of victory of the teaching that never disappears. Since the great teacher Ladrangpa
has made this request with faith and devotion, I have written this down. May all become bearers of the vajra through the merit that has arisen!
[[[Dedication of Merit]]]
Thus, the root of merit is dedicated: 11
“May all merit present in all beings,
which has been accomplished, is being accomplished, and will be accomplished,
result in all beings manifesting themselves according to this good nature
on the respective stages as the supreme excellence (Samantabhadra).”
Follow what has been expressed in this dedication
by the unsurpassed vajra victory banner!
This precious instruction requested by the teacher Ladrangpa, which is a summary of the key points of the unsurpassed vehicle, is hereby concluded.
Die Mahāmudrā-Instruktion für Ladrangpa
Viele Instruktionen in den Gesammelten Werken Jigten Sumgöns sind von ihrem Titel her jeweils einer bestimmten Person gewährt worden. Der Empfänger dieser Instruktion – Geshe Ladrangpa – tritt anderwertig nicht in Erscheinung. Sein Titel „Geshe“ verrät jedoch zumindest, dass es sich um einen gebildeten Schüler handelt, der seinen Titel in einem der zu jener Zeit bereits existierenden Ausbildungszentren erhalten hatte, z.B. in Sangphu (gegr. 1074), Bodong, Sakya, Zhalu, und so weiter.
Der Kern dieser Mahāmudrā-Instruktion ist wieder einmal der Fünfgliedrige Pfad mit (1) Bodhicitta, (2) Praxis der persönlichen Gottheit, (3) Guru-Yoga, (4) Mahāmudrā, und (5) Widmung. Das besondere an dieser Instruktion ist, dass der Abschnitt zur Mahāmudrā-Praxis durch seine Länge hervorgehoben und sehr tantrisch geprägt ist. Diese Praxis-Instruktion ist eine Instruktion für eine Klausur an einem abgeschiedenen Ort. Es wird in ihr zweimal ausdrücklich erwähnt, dass man Mitgefühl für alle üben soll, die einem Schaden zufügen, denn daraus entsteht ein Mitgefühl, das nicht bloß vorgetäuscht ist. Die beiden Übungen der Gottheit und des Guru-Yoga, die das zweite und dritte Glied des Fünfachen Pfades der Mahāmudrā sind, werden zuerst nur kurz erwähnt, das Hauptaugenmerk der Instruktion ist die Mahāmudrā-Praxis.
In der folgenden Mahāmudrā-Instruktion werden die beiden vorherigen Glieder der Yidam-Praxis und des Guru-Yoga aber noch einmal präzisiert. Tatsächlich ist es ja so, dass man Mahāmudrā praktiziert, nachdem man sich selbst als Gottheit visualisiert hat und – auch wenn es hier nicht ausdrücklich erwähnt wird – den Guru in seinem Herzen. In vielen Praxistexten zur Yidam-Gottheit heißt es nun, das man an bestimmten äußeren tantrischen Pilgerstätten praktiziert, die jeweils mit Stellen am eigenen Körper und mit den Bodhisattvastufen verbunden sind, und so weiter. Da jedoch die Vīras, Herukas und Ḍākinīs, die an diesen Orten wohnen, allesamt aus der Vārāhī-Familie hervorgegangen sind, sollte man – so Jigten Sumgön – sich vor allem darauf konzentrieren, den Heruka und die Vajravārāhī in einer Klausur zu praktizieren.
Was hat es mit all den äußeren Pilgerstätten und deren Bewohnern auf sich? Der erste Chungtsang Rinpoche, Rigdzin Chökyidragpa, beschreibt in seiner Geschichte des Cakrasamvara Tantras wie zu Beginn des Kaliyuga, dem Zeitalter der Zwietracht, einige Gandharvas, Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, Nāgās, Asuras, Kinnaras und Ḍākinīs die drei Bereiche der Existenz dominieren wollten. Deshalb luden sie den furchterregenden Maheśvara und seine Gefährtin Kālaratri ein. Dieser emanierte dann 24 Lingams an 24 Orte und rief diese Wesen dazu auf, an diesen Orten Opferfeste zu veranstalten. Deshalb wurde an diesen Orten Sex, Menschenfleisch, Blut usw. dargebracht um Maheśvara zu erfreuen. Daraufhin kamen unzählige Buddhas herbei und emanierten unzählige Gottheiten, die Samādhis und Maṇḍalas manifestierten, durch die unzählige verdorbene und bösartige Wesen aus dem Gefolge Maheśvaras befreit wurden. Schließlich manifestierten sich Cakrasamvara und Vajravārāhī, unterwarfen Maheśvara und Kālaratri und machten sie zu ihren Schülern (sie wurden schließlich auch zu Buddhas). Die Gottheiten des Cakrasamvara-Maṇḍalas unterwarfen schließlich alle Gandharvas, Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, Nāgās, Asuras, Kinnaras und Ḍākinīs. So wurden all diese Orten, an denen zuvor die Dämonen perverse Opferfeste feierten, zu tantrischen Pilgerstätten des Buddhismus.
Wie Jigten Sumgön hier jedoch lehrt, reicht es aus, den Heruka und die Vajravārāhī in der Klausur zu praktizieren, denn alle Gottheiten der verschieden Pilgerstätten gingen aus der Varāhī hervor. Dann „gibt es keinen Zweifel, dass die bösartigen Vīras und Ḍākinīs durch den Zorn vernichtet werden.“ Es ist deshalb wichtig, dass man alle Gottheiten des Maṇḍalas ausschließlich als Heruka und Vārāhī wahrnimmt, das heißt: Alle Vīras sind der Heruka, und die 37 Ḍākinīs sind die Vārāhī. So vollziehen man in der Praxis die Unterwerfung des bösartigen Maheśvaras und seiner Gefährtin Kālaratri nach. Tatsächlich geht der erste Torma, der nach der Segnung des Nektars dargebracht wird, an diese Gandharvas, Yakṣas, Rākṣasas, Nāgās, Asuras, Kinnaras und Ḍākinīs, die früher zu Maheśvaras Gefolge gehörten und nun an Cakrasamvaras Maṇḍala gebunden sind.
Die Praxislinie des Cakrasamvara Tantras wurde so überliefert, dass alle Mitglieder der Überlieferungslinie eine vollständige Verwirklichung erlangt haben und deshalb jeweils ihre Schüler „mit dem grenzenlosen Ozean der Qualitäten des Heruka und der Yogini segnen.“ Dieser Segen wird allein durch den Guru überliefert. Deshalb soll man „Tag und Nacht üben, ohne die Anstrengungen zu unterbrechen!“ Diese ununterbrochene Übung und die leidenschaftliche Hingabe zum Guru bewirken die Segensübertragung. „Das ist der Kernpunkt der letztendlichen Mahāmudrā!“
Dann folgt im Text die tiefgründige Instruktion zur eigentlich Praxis der Mahāmudrā, wie Jigten Sumgön sie von Phagmodrupa erhalten hatte, und die Widmung des Verdienstes.
Ich möchte an dieser Stelle Khenchen Nyima Gyaltsen für seine Hinweise danken, sowie auch Katrin Querl, Yeshe Metok und Sonam Spitz für ihre Unterstützung bei der Übersetzung dieses Textes. Dieses perfekte Teamwork ist immer eine große Freude!
Übersetzung
Zusammenfassung der Kernpunkte des unübertroffenen Fahrzeugs für den großen Geshe Ladrangpa
[Ehrerweisung] Ich verneige mich mit der Krone meines Kopfes vor den Lotusfüßen des unvergleichlichen, kostbaren Gurus, der die Essenz von Körper, Rede und Geist aller Buddhas der drei Zeiten ist.
[Grundlage aller Praxis: Der fünfgliedrige Pfad]
Ich hörte diesen Guru sagen:
„Heilsam am Anfang, in der Mitte und am Ende
ist das durch die Buddhas der Vergangenheit Gelehrte,
was auch die Buddhas der Zukunft lehren werden,
und was der vollkommene Buddha, der in der Gegenwart erschien,
immer und immer wieder gelehrt hat.♦ 12
Die Kernpunkte sind (1) der Entschlusses zu erwachen, (2) [[[die]] Praxis] der persönlichen Gottheit,
(3) die respektvollen Hingabe zum exzellenten Guru
und (4) letztendliches Mahāmudrā,
sowie (5) der Widmung des in den drei Zeiten Angesammelten
und des innewohnenden Heilsamen♦ 13 für das höchste Erwachen.
Abgesehen von diesen [fünf Punkten] gibt es keinen anderen exzellenten Dharma.
Praktiziere dies, bis das vollkommene Erwachen erlangt ist!“
[[[Bodhicitta]]]
Zuerst der Kernpunkt des Entschlusses zu erwachen:
Übe immer wieder großes Mitgefühl
für die Feinde, die dich hassen und Widersacher, die dir Schaden zufügen,
und für die, die deiner Befreiung und Allwissenheit
entgegenstehen und dich behindern.
Dies ist wie folgt zu üben:
Stecke an einem sehr abgeschiedenen Ort
deinen Klausurplatz ab und gebe alle Aktivitäten und Geschäftigkeit auf.
Du mußt ohne Ablenkungen für Körper und Geist verweilen!
Übe mit ununterbrochener Anstrengung Mitgefühl für alle,
die dir Schaden zufügen, und gewöhne dich daran.
Daraus entsteht ein Mitgefühl, das nicht bloß vorgetäuscht ist.
Übe dies dann in Hinsicht auf alle Wesen.
Wenn Mitgefühl authentisch entstanden ist,
verpflichte, bis du vollkommene Buddhaschaft erlangt hast,
Körper, Rede und Geist dem Heilsamen,
damit alle unermeßlichen Lebewesen
vollkommene Freude, Freiheit von allem Leid
und schließlich die Buddhaschaft erlangen mögen.
Verpflichte bis zu deinem Tod und bis morgen zum selben Zeitpunkt
Körper, Rede und Geist dem Heilsamen,
Stelle dir dies vor und verpflichte dich!
Mit dieser speziellen yogischen Disziplin wirst du es so erreichen!
[[[Yidam]]]
Visualisiere dich als deine unübertroffene Gottheit
und übe sie als etwas, das erscheint, aber ohne eine wahre Natur ist,
wie ein strahlend klarer Regenbogen.
Wenn du so visualisierst,
dann bemühe dich, bis du erschöpft bist! Stelle dir dies vor und verpflichte dich! Mit dieser speziellen yogischen Disziplin wirst du es so erreichen!
[[[Guru Yoga]]]
Der glanzerfüllte Phagmodrupa
‒ kostbarer Beschützer
und Verkörperung der Buddhas der drei Zeiten ‒
ist mein exzellenter persönlicher Guru,
der bei uns allen, den Schülern und Dienern,
die Fehler beseitigt und die Qualitäten vollendet.
[[[Mahāmudrā]]]
So, wie der König der Ermächtigung es lehrt,♦ 14
und wie es im Vasantatilakā heißt:♦ 15
“Praktiziere ununterbrochen an den Plätzen
des Heruka und der Vārāhī!”
Der Heruka unterwirft die Bösartigen
und die ehrwürdige Ḍākinī
gewährt die unermeßlichen Qualitäten, die nützlich und freudvoll sind.
Folgt man den zahllosen autoritativen Schriften,
gibt es viele Auffassungen hinsichtlich der Praxis
bezüglich der Haupt- und Nebensitze (pīṭha und upapīṭha),
der primären und sekundären Felder (kṣetra und upakṣetra),
der Haupt- und Nebenversammlungsorte (chandoha und upacchandoha),
der primären und sekundären Leichenplätzen (śmaśāna, upaśmaśāna), 16
und der Paläste der fünf Buddhas,
jedoch sind alle Vīras der Herukas
und alle die siebenunddreißig Arten von Ḍākinīs
allesamt aus der Vārāhī-Familie hervorgegangen.
Da der Erhabene dies gelehrt hat,
praktiziere nichts anderes
als diese Beiden!17
Es gibt keinen Zweifel, dass die bösartigen Vīras und Ḍākinīs
durch den Zorn vernichtet werden, 18
und dass der kostbare Beschützer der Wesen dich
mit dem grenzenlosen Ozean der Qualitäten
des Heruka und der Yogini segnet. 19
Der kostbare Guru, der alle Qulitäten in uns
durch die Methoden des verborgenen Mantra segnet,
bewirkt alles Glück und Wohl.
Du solltest Tag und Nacht üben,
ohne die Anstrengungen zu unterbrechen!
Unterbreche niemals dein leidenschaftliche Hingabe!
Wenn du den Segen deines kostbaren Gurus erkennst,
wird er da sein.
Das ist der Kernpunkt der letztendlichen Mahāmudrā!
Ich hörte den Ehrwürdigen sagen:
ADein eigener Geist ist selbst-entstanden und spontan gegenwärtig.
Verdirb nicht das, was in den drei Zeiten unwandelbar ist,
durch die Vorstellung von meditativen Vertiefung und nach-meditativen Phase.
Du würdest den Lehren der Vaibhāśikas verfallen! 20
Da dies der Beschützer der Welt lehrte,
folge dieser Instruktion!
Der eigene Geist ist selbst-entstanden und spontan gegenwärtig.
Er wurde nicht zu einer früheren Zeit erschaffen,
gegenwärtig sollte ihm nichts entzogen werden,
und in der Zukunft sollte ihm nichts hinzugefügt werden.
Dein eigener Geist, der nicht geschaffen wurde, dem nichts entzogen
und nichts hinzugefügt werden sollte, ist unwandelbar und nichts, was zu praktizieren ist.
Sollte es möglich erscheinen, ihn zu praktizieren, ist das ein Irrtum.
Er ist spontan gegenwärtig und unerschaffen.
Er soll durch den spirituellen Lehrer eingeführt werden!
Die exzellenten Wesen sollen ihn verwirklichen!
Du sollstest in niemand anderen als dich selbst deine Hoffnung setzen!
Der exzellente, unvergleichliche Guru sagte,
dass es, abgesehen vom Verwirklichen und Nicht-Verwirklichen,
kein Erlangen oder Nicht-Erlangen der Frucht gibt. 21
Obwohl es eigentlich unpassend ist, dies in Worten niederzuschreiben,
hat der spirituelle Lehrer, der der vollkommene Herr
der kostbaren Lehren des [[[Shakya]]]muni ist,
es mit den kostbaren drei Schulungen verziert
und mit den Juwelen von Studium, Reflexion und Praxis angereichert.
Er trägt das Siegesbanner der niemals untergehenden Lehre.
Da der große Lehrmeister Ladrangpa
mit Vertrauen und Hingabe diese Bitte vorgebracht hat,
habe ich dies niedergeschrieben. Mögen Alle durch das entstandene Verdienst
zu Trägern des Vajra werden!
[Widmung des Verdienstes]
So wird die Wurzel des Verdienstes gewidmet:♦ 22
“Möge alles Verdienst, das bei allen Wesen vorhanden ist,
das vollbracht wurde, wird, und werden wird,
dazu führen, dass sich alle Wesen dieser guten Natur entsprechend
auf den jeweiligen Stufen als die höchste Exzellenz (Samantabhadra) manifestieren.”
Folge dem, was in dieser Widmung durch den unübertroffenen Vajra-Siegesbanner zum Ausdruck gebracht worden ist!
Diese von dem Lehrmeister Ladrangpa erbetene kostbare Instruktion, die eine Zusammenfassung der Kernpunkte des unübertroffenen Fahrzeugs ist, ist hiermit abgeschlossen.
NOTES/ANMERKUNGEN
1. []↩Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti, D vol. 77, 2r5.
2. []↩The virtue accumulated in the three times is the accumulation of merit and wisdom, and the inherent virtue is the Buddha nature present in all beings.
3. []↩Phagmodrupa, Yid bzhin gyi nor bu rin po che dbang gi rgyal po lta bu’i gdams ngag blo gros, Collected Works, vol. 2, pp. 1‒66.
4. []↩Kṛṣṇācāryaʼs Vasantatilakā (dPyid kyi thig le) from the Cakrasaṃvara cycle, D no. 1448, vol. wa, fols. 298b2‒306b4.
5. []↩In very general terms, these places came into existence when the Heruka of the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra destroyed the fearsome Maheśvara and distributed his body parts in 24 main and eight secondary places.
6. []↩“These two” means Heruka-Cakrasaṃvara and Vārāhī.
7. []↩Vīras and ḍākinīs, before being subdued by the main deity (Cakrasamvara) and integrated into the maṇḍala, are dangerous beings. It is therefore important to perceive all the deities of the maṇḍalas exclusively as Heruka and Vārāhī, that is, all the vīras are Heruka, and the 37 ḍākinīs are the Vārāhī (Khenchen Nyima Gyaltsen).
8. []↩“Guardian of beings” (ʼgro baʼi mgon po) is here Jigten Sumgönʼs guru Phagmodrupa. He grants the qualities of separation from afflictions and the maturing of qualities (Khenchen Nyima Gyaltsen).
9. []↩Khenchen Nyima Gyaltsen explains this as follows: Usually the phase of meditative absorption is considered to be the same as space and the post-meditative phase is considered to be something completely different from it. But this is a mistake. The realization of that “which is unchanging in the three times,” that is, the nature of mind or mahāmudrā, is spoiled by such divisions. “Vaibhashika” here stands for the lowest Buddhist view, which is known for dividing things and then considering them to be truly existent.
10. []↩That is, the only thing that matters is whether or not one achieves realizatopn. Other results are of no importance. Phagmodrupa’s Works, vol. 3, p. 393.
11. []↩Buddhāvataṃsaka Mahāvaipūlyasūtra, D vol. 36, 165v. Read: red ʼgyur cig.
12. []↩Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti, D vol. 77, 2r5.
13. []↩Das in den drei Zeiten angesammelte Heilsame sind die Ansammlungen von Verdienst und Weisheit, und das innewohnende Heilsame ist die in allen Wesen vorhandene Buddhanatur.
14. []↩Phagmodrupa, Yid bzhin gyi nor bu rin po che dbang gi rgyal po lta bu’i gdams ngag blo gros, Gesammelte Werke, Bd. 2, S. 1‒66.
15. []↩Kṛṣṇācāryas Vasantatilakā (dPyid kyi thig le) aus dem Cakrasaṃvara-Zyklus, D no. 1448, Bd. wa, fols. 298b2‒306b4.
16. []↩Ganz allgemein gesagt entstanden diese Orte, als der Heruka des Cakrasaṃvara Tantra den Maheśvara vernichtete und seine Körperteile an 24 Haupt- und acht Sekundärplätzen verteilte.
17. []↩Mit “diese Beiden” sind Heruka-Cakrasaṃvara und Vārāhī gemeint.
18. []↩Vīras und Ḍākinīs sind, bevor sie von der Hauptgottheit unterworfen und in das Maṇḍala integriert wurden, gefährliche Wesen. Es ist deshalb wichtig, dass man alle Gottheiten des Maṇḍalas ausschließlich als Heruka und Vārāhī wahrnimmt, das heißt: Alle Vīras sind der Heruka, und die 37 Ḍākinīs sind die Vārāhī (Khenchen Nyima Gyaltsen).
19. []↩“Schützer der Wesen” (‘gro ba’i mgon po) ist hier Jigten Sumgön’s Guru Phagmodrupa gemeint. Er gewährt die Qualitäten des Getrenntseins von Geistesgiften und der Heranreifung von Qualitäten (Khenchen Nyima Gyaltsen).
20. []↩Khenchen Nyima Gyaltsen erläutert dies folgendermaßen: Gewöhnlich wird die Phase der meditativen Vertiefung als raumgleich und die nach-meditative Phase als etwas komplett davon verschiedenes betrachtet. Das ist aber ein Fehler. Die Verwirklichung desses, „was in den drei Zeiten unwandelbar ist“, also der Natur des Geistes oder der Mahāmudrā, wird durch solche Unterteilungen verdorben. „Vaibhashika“ steht hier für die niedrigste buddhistische Sichtweise, die dafür bekannt ist, die Dinge zu unterteilen und dann als wahrhaft existent zu betrachten.
21. []↩Das heißt, dass es allein darauf ankommt, ob man Verwiklichung erlangt, oder nicht. Andere Resultate sind ohne Bedeutung. Phagmodrupa’s Werke, Bd. 3, S. 393.
22. []↩Buddhāvataṃsaka Mahāvaipūlyasūtra, D vol. 36, 165v. Lies: red ʼgyur cig.
Quintessential Practice of Sūtra and Mantra: Essential Instruction of the Fivefold Path of Mahāmudrā
August 4, 2021
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
(German translation below)
Once again, Jigten Sumgön teaches the practice of Mahāmudrā as the Fivefold Profound Path. He calls this instruction the “quintessential practice of sūtra and mantra.” This is interesting in view of the fact that in recent years, many Western writers have described the teachings of Mahāmudrā that come from Gampopa as “sūtra mahāmudrā,” following the lead of some Karma-Kagyü teachers of the 19th and 20th century, starting with the first Kongtrul Rinpoche. But Gampopa himself has never described his method as “sūtra mahāmudrā.” Instead, Gampopa himself has differentiated the Buddhist paths of practice in other ways. Once, in reply to a question of the first Karmapa, he said that there is
1. the path of inference (= sūtra)
2. the path of blessing (= receiving empowerment and practicing deities, mantras, etc.)
3. the path of direct perception (= the mahāmudrā of innate luminosity)
Here, the sūtra is a path where one identifies through arguments what is to be accomplished and what is to be abandoned. In mantra, through the blessing of the gurus of the transmission, one realizes the purity of all phenomena, whereby, in a way, the faults are transformed into qualities. In mahāmudrā, the innate luminosity of the mind is directly perceived. The point is that mahāmudrā does neither need inferences nor transformations. The mind itself already is mahāmudrā; directly perceiving that is liberation. But such direct perception needs masses of merit, and these are accumulated through the practices of the sūtra path and—much faster—through the mantra path of blessing, empowerment, practicing deities, and so forth. Thus, unless you are an instantaneous realizer with masses of merit from practice in previous lives, your mahāmudrā approach will be one through practices of sūtra and mantra.
Moreover, the third path of direct perception, too, is not outside of mantra. Only the sūtra approach is outside of mantra, since Gampopa explained that sūtra is an indirect approach (through inferences) while “mantra takes the actual, direct object as the path.” Hence, the third path above—the path of direct perception—is also a mantra path. To conclude this point, Gampopa’s mahāmudrā is not a “sūtra mahāmudrā.” For those few individuals who are instantaneous realizers (and not even Milarepa and Gampopa counted themselves among such lucky individuals), it is a mantra path of direct perception, and for everyone else, including Mila and Gampopa, mahāmudrā is achieved through sūtra and mantra practices.
This is also the case in Jigten Sumgön’s Fivefold Path of Mahāmudrā. Both the first and the last of the five limbs are sūtra practices, namely (1) love, compassion, and bodhicitta and (5) dedication of merit. The second and third limb are mantra practices, namely (2) practicing the deity (in this instructions, it is explicitly mentioned that one can use Avalokiteśvara for the Fivefold Path) and (3) practicing the guru in one’s heart, or, at the time of death, at the crown of your head. Having practiced the first three limbs, one dwells within one’s clear awareness without thoughts, which is the practice of mahāmudrā, embedded in practices of sūtra and mantra. Dwelling in that state, from time to time, one dedicates the merit to all sentient beings, which is the fifth limb.
This instruction of Jigten Sumgön is explicitly directed to laypersons.
Translation
In general, the certain cause of attaining perfect buddhahood is the resolve for awakening. Therefore, at all times and in all ways, when you practice the root of the great waves of virtue, when you do any practice, and at the beginning of any practice session, practice as follows to bring forth the resolve:
“May all my mothers—the sentient beings who are as limitless as space—have happiness, be free from suffering, and attain the precious, supreme, and perfect awakening. For that purpose, I will, until I reach buddhahood, bind body, speech, and mind to virtue. I will, until I die, bind body, speech, and mind to virtue. I will, until the same time tomorrow, bind body, speech, and mind to virtue”—thinking that, practice your body as your cherished deity. If you do not have such a deity, practice my cherished deity, the lord of great compassion, the noble Avalokiteśvara, or any powerful lord whatsoever. Practice the excellent guru in your heart. At the time of death, practice him at the crown of your head, it is said.
Then, look at your own vigilant and clear awareness and “not seeing anything at the time of looking is seeing true reality.” Therefore, dwell in that state without any mental activity.
If your mind begins to stirr again with high and low thoughts, transform your going, standing, lying, sitting, or any other conduct so that through practice, it becomes uninterrupted virtuous practice, the essence of being without thoughts, and the spontaneously accomplished nature. Then maintain that without interruption.
After you have cultivated the root of virtue or dwelled in meditative balance in your practice, recollect from time to time the root of virtue that has been accumulated by yourself and all sentient beings in the three times and the virtue that is existent [in the buddha nature of all beings]:
“May through this virtue that I and all sentient beings in the three times have accumulated, and that is existent, I and all sentient beings quickly attain the precious, supreme, and perfect awakening.” Thereby the root of virtue is to be dedicated.
You must practice at all times uninterruptedly in that manner, guard the precious approximation vow(*) and whichever lay vows from among the four roots you can maintain. Accordingly, the Exalted One said: “If you do not guard at least one rule, you are not part of my retinue.” Thus, knowing that all activities are without purpose if you do not belong to the retinue of our teacher, make efforts to guard disciplined conduct! This is complete.
Note
(*) “Approximation vows” (bsnyen gnas kyi sdom pa, Skt. upavasasaṃvara), are vows where laypersons practice the first four vows of ordination, relinquish alcohol, fancy clothing, jewelry, and high seats, and also cease taking meals after noon for one day to approximate the vows of ordination.
Quintessenz der Praxis von Sūtra und Mantra: Die Wesentliche Unterweisung des Fünffachen Pfades der Mahāmudrā
Einmal mehr lehrt Jigten Sumgön die Praxis von Mahāmudrā als den Fünffachen Tiefgründigen Pfad. Er nennt diese Unterweisung die “Quintessenz der Praxis von Sūtra und Mantra”. Dies ist interessant angesichts der Tatsache, dass in den letzten Jahren viele westliche Autoren die Lehren der Mahāmudrā, die von Gampopa stammen, als “Sūtra Mahāmudrā” bezeichnet haben, in Anlehnung an einige Karma-Kagyü Lehrer des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, beginnend mit dem ersten Kongtrul Rinpoche. Aber Gampopa selbst hat seine Methode nie als “Sūtra Mahāmudrā” bezeichnet. Stattdessen hat Gampopa selbst die buddhistischen Praxispfade auf andere Weise unterschieden. Einmal sagte er als Antwort auf eine Frage des ersten Karmapa, es gäbe
1. den Pfad der Schlussfolgerung (= sūtra)
2. den Weg der Segnung (= Empfang von Ermächtigungen und Praxis der Gottheiten, Mantrarezitation, usw.)
3. den Weg der direkten Wahrnehmung (= die Mahāmudrā der angeborenen Lichthaftigkeit)
Hier ist das Sūtra ein Weg, auf dem man durch Argumente feststellt, was zu erreichen und was aufzugeben ist. Im Mantra erkennt man durch den Segen der Gurus der Überlieferungslinie die Reinheit aller Phänomene, wodurch gewissermaßen die Fehler in Qualitäten verwandelt werden. In der Mahāmudrā wird die angeborene Lichthaftigkeit des Geistes direkt wahrgenommen. Der Punkt ist, dass Mahāmudrā weder Schlussfolgerungen noch Umwandlungen benötigt. Der Geist selbst ist bereits Mahāmudrā; dies direkt wahrzunehmen ist Befreiung. Aber eine solche direkte Wahrnehmung erfordert Massen von Verdienst, und diese werden durch die Praxis des Sūtra-Pfades und – viel schneller – durch den Mantra-Pfad des Segnens, der Ermächtigung, der Praxis der Gottheiten und so weiter angesammelt. Wenn man also kein plötzlicher Verwirklicher ist, der durch die Praxis in früheren Leben massenhaft Verdienst erworben hat, wird man Mahāmudrā durch die Praxis von Sūtra und Mantra verwirklichen.
Aber auch der oben erwähnte dritte Pfad der direkten Wahrnehmung liegt nicht außerhalb von Mantra. Nur der Sūtra-Pfad ist außerhalb von Mantra, da Gampopa erklärte, dass Sūtra eine indirekte Annäherung (durch Schlussfolgerungen) ist, während “Mantra das eigentliche, direkte Objekt als Weg nimmt.” Daher ist dieser dritte Pfad – der Pfad der direkten Wahrnehmung – ebenso ein Mantra-Pfad. Um diesen Punkt abzuschließen: Gampopas Mahāmudrā ist kein “Sūtra Mahāmudrā.” Für jene wenigen Individuen, die plötzliche Verwirklicher sind (und nicht einmal Milarepa und Gampopa zählten sich selbst zu diesen glücklichen Individuen), ist es ein Mantra-Pfad der direkten Wahrnehmung, und für alle anderen, einschließlich Mila und Gampopa, wird Mahāmudrā durch Sūtra- und Mantra-Praktiken erreicht.
Dies ist auch der Fall in Jigten Sumgöns Fünffachem Pfad der Mahāmudrā. Sowohl das erste als auch das letzte der fünf Glieder sind Sūtra-Praktiken, nämlich (1) Liebe, Mitgefühl und Bodhicitta und (5) Widmung von Verdienst. Das zweite und dritte Glied sind Mantra-Praktiken, nämlich (2) die Praxis der Gottheit (in dieser Instruktion wird ausdrücklich erwähnt, dass man Avalokiteśvara für den Fünffachen Pfad verwenden kann) und (3) die Praxis des Gurus im Herzen oder, zum Zeitpunkt des Todes, auf dem Scheitel des Kopfes. Nachdem man die ersten drei Glieder geübt hat, verweilt man in seinem klaren Gewahrsein ohne Gedanken, was die Praxis der Mahāmudrā ist, eingebettet in die Praxis von Sūtra und Mantra. In diesem Zustand verweilend, widmet man von Zeit zu Zeit den Verdienst allen fühlenden Wesen, was das fünfte Glied ist.
Diese Unterweisung von Jigten Sumgön richtet sich ausdrücklich an Laien.
Übersetzung
Im Allgemeinen ist die sichere Ursache für das Erreichen der vollkommenen Buddhaschaft der Entschluss zu Erwachen. Gelobe daher zu jeder Zeit und auf jede Weise wie folgt den Entschluss hervorzubrigen wenn du die Wurzel der großen Wellen des Heilsamen praktizierst, wenn du irgendeine Praxis übst, und zu Beginn einer jeden Praxissitzung:
“Mögen alle meine Mütter — die fühlenden Wesen, die so grenzenlos wie der Raum sind — Glück besitzen, frei von Leiden sein und das kostbare, höchste und vollkommene Erwachen erlangen; zu diesem Zweck werde ich, bis ich die Buddhaschaft erreicht habe, Körper, Rede und Geist an das Heilsame binden; ich werde, bis ich sterbe, Körper, Rede und Geist an das Heilsame binden; und ich werde, bis zur gleichen Zeit morgen, Körper, Rede und Geist an das Heilsame binden”—wenn du das denkst, übe deinen Körper als die Gottheit, die du am meißten schätzt. Wenn du keine solche Gottheit hast, praktiziere meine geschätzte Gottheit, den Herrn des großen Mitgefühls, den edlen Avalokiteśvara, oder irgendeinen anderen mächtigen Herrn. Praktiziere den ausgezeichneten Guru in deinem Herzen. Zur Zeit des Todes praktiziere ihn auf dem Scheitel deines Kopfes, so heißt es.
Dann schaue auf dein eigenes waches und klares Gewahrsein und “nichts zu sehen zum Zeitpunkt des Betrachtens ist das Sehen der wahren Wirklichkeit.” Verweile also in diesem Zustand ohne jegliche geistige Aktivität.
Wenn dein Geist wieder beginnt, sich mit hohen und niedrigen Gedanken zu bewegen, wandele dein Gehen, Stehen, Liegen, Sitzen oder jedes andere Verhalten so um, dass es durch die Praxis zu einer ununterbrochenen heilsamen Praxis wird, die Essenz des ohne Gedanken Seins und die spontan vollendete Natur. Dann halte dies ohne Unterbrechung aufrecht.
Nachdem du die Wurzel des Heilsamen hervorgebracht oder in meditativer Ausgeglichenheit in der Praxis verweilt hast, rufe dir von Zeit zu Zeit die Wurzel des Heilsamen, das von dir und allen fühlenden Wesen in den drei Zeiten angesammelt wurde, und des Heilsamen, das [in der Buddhanatur aller Wesen] vorhanden ist, ins Gedächtnis:
“Mögen ich und alle fühlenden Wesen durch dieses Heilsame, das von mir und allen fühlenden Wesen in den drei Zeiten angesammelt worden ist und das [in der Buddhanatur der Wesen] existent ist, schnell das kostbare, höchste und vollkommene Erwachen erlangen.” So ist die Wurzel des Heilsamen zu widmen.
Es ist sehr wichtig, dass man zu allen Zeiten ununterbrochen auf diese Weise praktiziert, das kostbare Annäherungsgelübde(*) bewahrt und je nach Fähigkeit eines oder mehrere der vier Wurzelgelübde aufrecht erhält. Dementsprechend sagte der Erhabene: “Wenn du nicht mindestens eine Regel bewahrst, gehörst du nicht zu meinem Gefolge.” Da ihr also wisst, dass alle Betätigungen zwecklos sind, wenn ihr nicht zum Gefolge unseres Lehrers gehört, bemüht euch, diszipliniertes Verhalten zu bewahren! Dies ist vollständig.
Anmerkung
(*) “Annäherungsgelübde” (bsnyen gnas kyi sdom pa, Skt. upavasasaṃvara), sind die Gelübde, bei denen Laien für einen Tag die ersten vier Gelübde der Ordination praktizieren, auf Alkohol, besondere Kleidung, Schmuck und hohe Sitze verzichten und auch die Einnahme von Mahlzeiten nach dem Mittag einstellen, um sich den Gelübden der Ordination anzunähern.
Collected Works of Jigten Sumgon, vol. 3, p. 67‒70.
མདོ་སྔགས་ཉམས་ལེན་གྱི་ཉིང་ཁུ་ཕྱག་ཆེན་ལྔ་ལྡན་གྱི་ཁྲིད་སྙིང་བསྡུས༎ བླ་མ་དམ་པ་རྣམས་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ། །སྤྱིར་རྫོགས་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས་ཐོབ་པར་བྱེད་པའི་རྒྱུ་ངེས་པ་བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་ཡིན་པས། དུས་དང་རྣམ་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་དང་། རླབས་པོ་ཆེའི་དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་བྱེད་པ་དང་། ཉམས་ལེན་གང་དུ་བསྣུན་པའི་དུས་དང་བསྒོམས་པའི་ཐུན་འགོ་ལ། སེམས་བསྐྱེད་པའི་དམ་བཅའ་འདི་ལྟར་བྱ་སྟེ། མ་ནམ་མཁའ་དང་མཉམ་པའི་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་བདེ་བ་དང་ལྡན། སྡུག་བསྔལ་དང་བྲལ། བླ་ན་མེད་པ་ཡང་དག་པར་རྫོགས་པའི་བྱང་ཆུབ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཐོབ་པར་བྱ། དེའི་ཆེད་དུ་སངས་མ་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་བར་དུ་ལུས་ངག་ཡིད་གསུམ་དགེ་བ་ལ་བཀོལ། མ་ཤིའི་བར་དུ་ལུས་ངག་ཡིད་གསུམ་དགེ་བ་ལ་བཀོལ། དུས་དེ་རིང་ནས་བཟུང་ནས་ཉི་མ་སང་ད་ཙམ་གྱི་བར་དུ་ལུས་ངག་ཡིད་གསུམ་དགེ་བ་ལ་བཀོལ་སྙམ་དུ་བསམས་ལ། རང་གི་ལུས་ཡི་དམ་གྱི་ལྷར་བསྒོམ། མེད་ན་ངའི་ཡི་དམ་གྱི་ལྷ། ཇོ་བོ་ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་རྗེ་བཙུན་སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་དབང་ཕྱུག་གང་ཡང་རུང་བ་ཞིག་ཏུ་བསྒོམ། བླ་མ་དམ་པ་ཐུགས་ཀར་བསྒོམ། ནམ་འཆི་བའི་དུས་སུ་ནི་སྤྱི་བོར་བསྒོམ་པ་ཡིན་གསུངས། དེ་ནས་རང་གི་རིག་པ་རིག་རིག་ཏུར་ཏུར་པོ་འདི་ལ་བལྟས་ལ། བལྟས་པའི་དུས་སུ་གང་ཡང་མ་མཐོང་བ་དེ་ཁོ་ན་ཉིད་མཐོང་བའོ་ཞེས་པས། དེའི་ངང་ལ་ཅི་ཡང་ཡིད་ལ་མི་བྱེད་པར་བཞག། རྣམ་པར་རྟོག་པ་མཐོ་དམན་གྱིས་སེམས་རྣམ་པར་གཡེངས་ན། འགྲོ་འཆག་ཉལ་འདུག་གམ། སྤྱོད་ལམ་བསྒྱུར་ནས་བསྒོམས་པས་རྒྱུན་ཆད་མེད་པའི་དགེ་སྦྱོར། རྣམ་རྟོག་མེད་པའི་ངོ་བོ། ལྷུན་གྱིས་གྲུབ་པའི་རང་བཞིན་དུ་འོང་བ་ཡིན་པས། དེ་རྒྱུན་ཆད་མེད་པར་བསྐྱང་། དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་བྱས་པའི་རྗེས་སམ། ཐུགས་དམ་ལ་མཉམ་པར་བཞག་པའི་རྗེས་ལ། སྐབས་སྐབས་སུ་བདག་དང་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱིས་དུས་གསུམ་དུ་བསགས་ཤིང་ཡོད་པའི་དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་དྲན་པར་བྱས། བདག་དང་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱིs་དུས་གསུམ་དུ་བསགས་ཤིང་ཡོད་པའི་དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་འདིས། བདག་དང་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་མྱུར་དུ་བླ་ན་མེད་པར་ཡང་དག་པར་རྫོགས་པའི་བྱང་ཆུབ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཐོབ་པར་གྱུར་ཅིག་ཅེས། དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་བསྔོ་བར་བྱའོ། །དུས་རྒྱུན་ཆད་མེད་པར་ཚུལ་དེ་ལྟར་ཉམས་སུ་བླང་ཞིང་། བསྙེན་གནས་ཀྱི་སྡོམ་པ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་བསྲུང་བ་དང་། རྩ་བ་བཞི་ལས་གང་ཐུབ་ཐུབ་ཀྱི་དགེ་བསྙེན་གྱི་སྡོམ་པ་སྲུང་བ་གལ་ཆེ་སྟེ། དེ་ལྟར་ཡང་བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་ཀྱིས། ཁྲིམས་གཅིག་ཙམ་ཡང་མི་བསྲུང་ན་ངའི་འཁོར་དུ་མ་གཏོགས་སོ། །ཞེས་གསུངས་པས་སྟོན་པའི་འཁོར་དུ་མ་གཏོགས་ན་བྱས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་དོན་མེད་པར་ཤེས་པར་བྱས་ནས། ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་བསྲུང་བ་ལ་འབད་པར་བྱའོ། །རྫོགས་སོ༎་༎
mdo sngags nyams len gyi nying khu phyag chen lnga ldan gyi khrid snying bsdus//» bla ma dam pa rnams la phyag ‘tshal lo/ / spyir rdzogs pa’i sangs rgyas thob par byed pa’i rgyu nges pa byang chub kyi sems yin pas/ dus dang rnam pa thams cad dang / rlabs po che’i dge ba’i rtsa ba byed pa dang / nyams len gang du bsnun pa’i dus dang bsgoms pa’i thun ‘go <68>la/ sems bskyed pa’i dam bca’ ‘di ltar bya ste/ ma nam mkha’ dang mnyam pa’i sems can thams cad bde ba dang ldan/ sdug bsngal dang bral/ bla na med pa yang dag par rdzogs pa’i byang chub rin po che thob par bya/ de’i ched du sangs ma rgyas kyi bar du lus ngag yid gsum dge ba la bkol/ ma shi’i bar du lus ngag yid gsum dge ba la bkol/ dus de ring nas bzung nas nyi ma sang da tsam gyi bar du lus ngag yid gsum dge ba la bkol snyam du bsams la/ rang gi lus yi dam gyi lhar bsgom/ med na nga’i yi dam gyi lha/ jo bo thugs rje chen po rje btsun spyan ras gzigs dbang phyug gang yang rung ba zhig tu bsgom/ bla ma dam pa thugs kar bsgom/ nam ‘chi ba’i dus su ni spyi bor bsgom pa yin gsungs/ de nas rang gi rig pa rig rig tur tur po ‘di la bltas la/ bltas pa’i dus su gang yang ma mthong ba de kho na nyid mthong ba’o zhes <69>pas/ de’i ngang la ci yang yid la mi byed par bzhag/ rnam par rtog pa mtho dman gyis sems rnam par g.yengs na/ ‘gro ‘chag nyal ‘dug gam/ spyod lam bsgyur nas bsgoms pas rgyun chad med pa’i dge sbyor/ rnam rtog med pa’i ngo bo/ lhun gyis grub pa’i rang bzhin du ‘ong ba yin pas/ de rgyun chad med par bskyang / dge ba’i rtsa ba byas pa’i rjes sam/ thugs dam la mnyam par bzhag pa’i rjes la/ skabs skabs su bdag dang sems can thams cad kyis dus gsum du bsags shing yod pa’i dge ba’i rtsa ba dran par byas/ bdag dang sems can thams cad kyi[s] dus gsum du bsags shing yod pa’i dge ba’i rtsa ba ‘dis/ bdag dang sems can thams cad myur du bla na med par yang dag par rdzogs pa’i byang chub rin po che thob par gyur cig ces/ dge ba’i rtsa ba bsngo bar bya’o/ /dus rgyun chad med par tshul de <70>ltar nyams su blang zhing / bsnyen gnas kyi sdom pa rin po che bsrung ba dang / rtsa ba bzhi las gang thub thub kyi dge bsnyen gyi sdom pa srung ba gal che ste/ de ltar yang bcom ldan ‘das kyis/ khrims gcig tsam yang mi bsrung na nga’i ‘khor du ma gtogs so/ /zhes gsungs pas ston pa’i ‘khor du ma gtogs na byas pa thams cad don med par shes par byas nas/ tshul khrims bsrung ba la ‘bad par bya’o/ /rdzogs so// //
The One-Taste of View, Practice, and Realization
April 20, 2021
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
There is brief instruction found in the third volume of Jigten Sumgön’s collected works that brings together three main instructions he had received from his guru, Phagmodrupa.
(A) The first is the ever-present Fivefold Path of Mahāmudrā, consisting of the resolve for awakening, the practice of the cherished deity (yi dam), guru yoga, mahāmudrā, and dedication. It is presented here very briefly as the following stages:
(1) Recollecting impermanence and death and the disadvantages of transmigration as the basis of all practices, which are a part of the four thoughts that turn the mind to the dharma, namely (a) the leisures and endowments of the precious human body, (b) impermanence and certain death, (c) karma, cause, and result, and (d) the disadvantages of saṃsāra. Jigten Sumgon urges his followers to practice these at the beginning of each practice session or at least at the beginning of the first session in the morning (vajra statement 2.14).
(2) The practice of love, compassion, and the resolve for awakening (bodhicitta).
(3) The practice of the body as the cherishes deity (yi dam).
(4) The practice of guru yoga by visualizing one’s guru in the center of one’s heart.
(5) The practice of “the mind,” i.e., of mahāmudrā, which is the central instruction here.
(6) The dedication of merit, which closes the instruction.
Mahāmudrā is here presented directly as the practice of the nature of the mind and in its very essence of non-attachment. This kind of non-attachment is not only the very essence of disciplined conduct, but also of mahāmudrā, which is why vajra statement 6.13 says: “That mahāmudrā and disciplined conduct (śīla) are one is an unsurpassed special teaching of Jigten Sumgön.” In the present context, Jigten Sumgon teaches that the practice of the mind is essentially non-attachment to the concept of existence and non-existence of the mind, non-attachment to the theory of “only mind,”
which teaches that all appearances are only mind (an allusion to the philosophy of cittamātra), and non-attachment to the theory of remaining in the middle between these extremes, which is an allusion to the philosophy of madhyamaka. 1 Moreover, this practice of the nature of the mind is also the non-attachment to the “three spheres,” which refers to the mental imputation of a practitioner, a practice, and an object of the practice, such as a deity or a mantra. It is in this way of perfect non-attachment to any dualistic conception that one should “abide perfectly with deity and mantra in the nature that is free from proliferation.”
(B) The second main instruction that is contained in this brief instruction is that such a practice that is free from these dualistic concepts of establishing and abandoning, where no conception of anything to think or to practice is left, is the point on the path were the third yoga of mahāmudrā, one-taste, is accomplished and view, practice, and realization become indistinguishable. The lines that we find here and that are attributed to Phagmodrupa are an approximate rendering of a verse found in the works of Phagmodrupa:♦ 2
If you do not let go or not let go, invoke or not invoke,
focus on an object, or set up a support,
and if you, not practicing anything, rest in that innate state,
you will experience that which has no boundaries nor center, like space.
This is to be practiced at all times while going, standing, lying down, and sitting.
(C) The third main instruction contained in this brief instruction is that the liberation that occurs when realization arises in such a practice is the guru’s blessing. This is expressed in the famous passage of the Hevajra Tantra that teaches that the innate “is to be known through the final moment of guru attendance.” As Jigten Sumgon explains elsewhere, this
“final moment of guru attendance” does not refer to making great offerings, performing many services, and attending the guru for a long time. Since beyond seeing the guru as dharmakāya and the arising of certainty about that, there is no occasion of regarding him as anything superior to that, this [[[seeing]] of the guru as dharmakāya] is called “the final moment.”♦ 3
Such an “attendance” is the true guru devotion as it is also taught in the Samādhirāja Sūtra, also known as the Candrapradīpa[[[sūtra]]], and it is the “supreme intention of the precious one” (Phagmodrupa).
The guruʼs profound intention:
View, practice, and realization are of one-taste and indistinguishable
I bow my head to the feet of the supreme guru, who has permanently overcome total darkness, leads the beings away from the swamp of saṃsāra, and reveals the meaning as it is and in all its variety. For the sake of the devoted ones, I will write down these words that have been requested by the good disciple, who has gathered together the great collection of supreme accumulations and has spoken a supplicated with respectful devotion.
In general, the state of being for all of us is that of [certain] death and impermanence. There is neither bottom nor limit to the sufferings of transmigration and the lower births. Because you and all others wish to escape from the sufferings of transmigration and lower births, practice at first love, compassion, and the resolve for awakening. Then practice that your body is your cherished deity. Imagine the excellent guru in the center of your heart. Then, your mind:
Don’t practice it as existing, that would be eternalism. Don’t practice it as not existing, that would be nihilism. Don’t practice it as mind, that would be ‘only mind’ (Skr. cittamātra). Don’t practice it in the middle [between the extremes], that would be grasping. The practitioner does not exist, the practice does not exist, the deity does not exist, and the mantra, too, does not exist. The Exalted One taught
that you should abide perfectly with deity and mantra in the nature that is free from proliferation.
And the protector of the world [[[Phagmodrupa]]] taught:
If, neither letting go nor not letting go, neither invoking nor not invoking, you practice that where there is nothing to think or practice, View, practice and realization become one and the same taste, indistinguishable.
The meaning of this well-expressed instruction is this: Rest freshly, unfabricated, and in an unbound state. You must practice uninterruptedly in all kinds of conduct such as going, standing, lying down, and sitting. The Precious One maintained that when realization arises in that, the complete liberation is the guru’s blessing.
Furthermore, Vajradhara instructed on that meaning repeatedly in the [[[Hevajra-Tantra]]], saying:
That which cannot be expressed by others, the innate, which cannot be found anywhere, is to be known through the final moment of guru attendence, and through one’s own merit.
[And furthermore]:
Previously, for the sake of the King of Samādhi I have served billions of Buddhas to the East of this kingdom.
[This] has been taught in detail in the Candrapradīpa[[[sūtra]]]. And Maitreya said:
The absolute truth of the renunciants is to be realized through devotion alone.
And since this has been taught, I request you to undertake great efforts with regard to devotion [to the guru], for realization arises from devotion. This is the supreme intention of the precious one.
Should the Ḍākinīs of the three places not be pleased with the profound words I have written, I request them to tolerate it and also to extend their blessings.
May all the sentient beings reach as much excellence as there exists on the pure grounds that match the excellence as much as excellence exists and as much as has been, will be, and is [obtained].
[This instruction] is complete.
[This translation has been completed by Jan-Ulrich Sobisch on February 13, 2009 and slightly improved on April 20, 2021.]
‘Jig-rten-mgon-po’s works, vol. 3, pp. 291‒294.
བླ་མའི་ཐུགས་དགོངས་ཟབ་མོ་ལྟ་སྒོམ་རྟོགས་པ་རོ་གཅིག་དབྱེར་མི་ཕྱེད་པ༎
ཨོཾ་སྭསྟི། གང་ཞིག་ཀུན་ནས་མུན་པ་གཏན་བཅོམ་ཞིང་།། འཁོར་བའི་འདམ་ནས་འགྲོ་བ་འདྲེན་མཛད་པ།། ཇི་སྙེད་ཇི་བཞིན་དོན་རྣམས་སྟོན་པ་ཡི།། བླ་མ་མཆོག་གི་ཞབས་ལ་སྤྱི་བོས་འདུད།། བསགས་པ་རབ་གྱུར་ཚོགས་ཆེན་བསགས་པ་ཡི།། སློབ་མ་བཟང་པོས་དད་ཅིང་གུས་པ་ཡིས།། གསོལ་བ་བཏབ་ནས་ཞུས་པའི་ཡི་གེ་འདི།། མོས་གུས་ཅན་གྱི་དོན་ཕྱིར་འབྲི་བར་བྱ།། སྤྱིར་བདག་ཅག་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་འདུག་ལུགས་ནི་འཆི་བ་མི་རྟག་པ་ཡིན། འཁོར་བ་དང་ངན་སོང་གི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་ལ་གཏིང་མཐའ་མེད་པ་ཡིན། འཁོར་བ་དང་ངན་སོང་གི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་ལས་རང་གཞན་ཐམས་ཅད་བརྒལ་བར་འདོད་པས། དང་པོར་བྱམས་པ་དང་སྙིང་རྗེ་བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་བསྒོམ། དེ་ནས་ལུས་ཡི་དམ་གྱི་ལྷ་བསྒོམ། བླ་མ་དམ་པ་སྙིང་གི་དབུས་སུ་བསམ། དེ་ནས་རང་གི་སེམས། ཡོད་པར་མི་བསྒོམ་རྟག་ལྟ་ཡིན།། མེད་པར་མི་བསྒོམ་ཆད་ལྟ་ཡིན།། སེམས་སུ་མི་བསྒོམ་སེམས་ཙམ་ཡིན།། དབུ་མར་མི་བསྒོམ་འཛིན་པ་ཡིན།། སྒོམ་པ་པོ་མེད་སྒོམ་པའང་མེད།། ལྷ་མེད་སྔགས་ཀྱང་ཡོད་མ་ཡིན།། སྤྲོས་པ་མེད་པའི་རང་བཞིན་ལ།། ལྷ་དང་སྔགས་ནི་ཡང་དག་གནས།། བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་ཀྱིས་གསུངས་པ་དང་།། འཇིག་རྟེན་མགོན་པོའི་ཞལ་སྔ་ནས།། གཏང་ཡང་མི་བཏང་དགུག་ཀྱང་མི་དགུག་སྟེ།། བསམ་དུ་མེད་པ་སྒོམ་དུ་མེད་པ་ཉིད་བསྒོམ་ན།། ལྟ་སྒོམ་རྟོགས་པ་རོ་གཅིག་དབྱེར་མི་ཕྱེད།། བཀའ་བསྩལ་ལེགས་པར་གསུངས་པ་འདི་ཡི་དོན།། སོ་མ་མ་བཅོས་ལྷུག་པ་ཉིད་དུ་ཞོག།། འགྲོ་འཆག་ཉལ་འདུག་སྤྱོད་ལམ་ཐམས་ཅད་དུ།། རྒྱུན་ཆད་མེད་པར་ཉམས་སུ་བླང་བར་བྱ།། དེ་ལ་རྟོགས་པ་སྐྱེ་ན་རྣམ་གྲོལ་བ།། བླ་མའི་བྱིན་རླབས་ཡིན་པ་རིན་ཆེན་བཞེད།། ་དེ་ཡང་རྡོ་རྗེ་འཛིན་པ་ཡིས།། གཞན་གྱིས་བརྗོད་མིན་ལྷན་ཅིག་སྐྱེས།། གང་དུ་ཡང་ནི་མི་རྙེད་དེ།། བླ་མའི་དུས་མཐའ་བསྟེན་པ་དང་།། རང་གི་བསོད་ནམས་ལས་ཤེས་བྱ།། དོན་འདིར་ཡང་ཡང་བཀའ་བསྩལ་གསུངས།། ངས་སྔོན་ཏིང་འཛིན་རྒྱལ་པོ་འདི་ཡི་ཕྱིར།། རྒྱལ་པོ་ཁབ་ཀྱི་ཤར་ཕྱོགས་འདི་ཉིད་དུ།། སངས་རྒྱས་བྱེ་བ་ཁྲག་ཁྲིག་རིམ་གྲོ་བྱས།། ཟླ་བ་སྒྲོན་མ་རྒྱ་ཆེར་གསུངས་པ་དང་།། མི་ཕམ་མགོན་པོའི་ཞལ་སྔ་ནས།། རང་བྱུང་རྣམས་ཀྱི་དོན་དམ་ནི།། དད་པ་ཉིད་ཀྱིས་རྟོགས་བྱ་ཡིན།། ཞེས་པ་ལ་སོགས་པ་གསུངས་པས། མངོན་པར་རྟོགས་པ་མོས་གུས་ལས་སྐྱེ་བ་ལགས་པས། མོས་གུས་ལ་ནན་ཏན་ཆེ་བར་མཛད་པར་ཞུ། རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཡི་ཐུགས་དགོངས་མཆོག།། ཟབ་མོ་ཡི་གེར་བྲིས་པ་ལ།། གནས་གསུམ་མཁའ་འགྲོ་མ་མཉེས་ན།། བཟོད་པ་དམ་པ་བཞེས་ནས་ཀྱང་།། བྱིན་གྱིས་བརླབ་པར་མཛད་དུ་གསོལ།། འགྲོ་ཀུན་དགེ་བ་ཇི་སྙེད་ཡོད་པ་དང་།། བྱས་དང་བྱེད་འགྱུར་དེ་བཞིན་བྱེད་པ་དང་།། བཟང་པོ་ཇི་བཞིན་དེ་འདྲའི་ས་དག་ལ།། ཀུན་ནས་ཀུན་ཀྱང་བཟང་པོ་རེག་གྱུར་ཅིག།། རྫོགས་སོ༎ ༎
Notes
1. []↩See also the Samādhirāja Sūtra 9.27, which says: “Existence and nonexistence are extremes, and pure and impure, likewise, are extremes. Therefore, having abandoned such extremes, the wise one should not dwell in the middle either.”
2. []↩dGe ba’i bshes gnyen chos kyi blo gros la bskur ba’i gdams ngag, vol. 4, pp. 654‒661, p. 657: btang yang mi btang dgug kyang mi dgug ste/ /dmigs yul med par rten yang mi bca’ bar/ /bsgom du med pa gnyug ma’i ngang bzhag na/ /mtha’ dbus med pa nam mkha’ lta bur myong/ /.
3. []↩’Jig rten gsum mgon, bsTan bcos rdo rje ri zhes bya ba rgo na ba dang shākya dbang phyug gnyis la gnang ba, collected works, vol. 3, pp. 297–309, fol. 150v5. This interpretation builds on reading dus mtha’ (final moment) instead of dus thabs (timely method?) in the tantra.
Jigten Sumgon’s Fivefold Path of Mahāmudrā
April 6, 2021
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
(Deutsche Übersetzung weiter unten.)
The “Fivefold Path of Mahāmudrā” as we know it today was mainly shaped by Kunga Rinchen (1475‒1527), whose practice manual “Garland of Mahāmudrā” was translated by Khenchen Könchog Gyaltsen, and by Rigdzin Chökyi Dragpa’s disciple Könchog Trinlé Namgyal (17th c.), who wrote down his teachers oral instructions in the “Dharmakīrti Zhalung.” These manuals present the Fivefold Path as a fully ritualized form of practice with successive stages starting with a preliminary practice (Ngöndro) and individual rituals for practicing bodhicitta, yidam deity, guru yoga, mahāmudrā, and dedication.
But such a ritually structured set of practices cannot be found in the earlier writings of the lineage. In particularly, in Jigten Sumgön’s own collected writings, the Fivefold Path ist mentioned many times, but never as a ritual path. Instead, the “Fivefold Path” is presented as the fundamental principle of all practices of meditation: Whatever practice one performs, it should always be preceded by (1) the cultivation of the resolve for awakening (bodhicitta), through which (2) one’s body is manifested as the yidam deity, which is the basis for (3) practicing one’s guru in one’s heart or at the crown of one’s head, which culminates in (4) the practice of the mind free from mental activity (mahāmudrā). Finally, the virtuous roots of such practices should always be (5) dedicated for the benefit of the beings.
There is also no fixed yidam deity for this practice, although the manuals focus on Cakrasaṃvara as the main deity. In the early instructions of Jigten Sumgön, this is left open, and in the case where the practitioner does not yet have his own personal deity, Avalokiteśvara is recommended as the yidam deity of the Fivefold Path.
The following brief instruction by Jigten Sumgön is a typical early instruction on the Fivefold Path. There are many such instructions in his collected works, but this one is perhaps the most condensed presentation.
Quintessential Practice of Sūtra and Mantra: Essential Instruction of the Fivefold Path of Mahāmudrā
Generally, the certain cause for attaining perfect buddhahood is the resolve for awakening. Therefore, at all times and in every way, pledge to cultivate the resolve when you practice the root of great waves of virtue, when you get to any practice, and at the beginning of a practice session as follows:
“May all my mothers—the sentient beings who are as limitless as space—have happiness, be free from suffering, and attain the precious, supreme, and perfect awakening. For that purpose I will, until I reach buddhahood, bind body, speech, and mind to virtue. I will, until I die, bind body, speech, and mind to virtue. I will, until the same time tommorrow, bind body, speech, and mind to virtue”—thinking that, practice your body as your cherished deity. If you do not have one, practice my cherished deity, the lord of great compassion, the noble Avalokiteśvara, or any powerful lord whatsoever. Practice the excellent guru in your heart. At the time of death, practice him at the crown of your head, it is said.
Then, look at your own vigilant and clear awareness and “not seeing anything at the time of looking is seeing true reality.” Therefore, dwell in that state without any mental activity.
If your mind begins to stir again with high and low thoughts, transform your going, standing, lying, sitting, or any other conduct, so that through practice it becomes uninterrupted virtuous practice, the essence of being without thoughts, and the spontaneously accomplished nature. Then maintain that without interruption.
After you have produced the root of virtue or dwelled in meditative equipoise in the practice, recollect from time to time the root of virtue that has been accumulated by yourself and all sentient beings in the three times and the virtue that is existent [in the buddha nature of all beings]:
“May through this virtue that has been accumulated by myself and all sentient beings in the three times and that is existent I and all sentient beings quickly attain the precious, supreme, and perfect awakening.” Thereby the root of virtue is to be dedicated.
It is very important that you practice at all times uninterruptedly in that manner, guard the precious approximation vow1, and whichever lay vows from among the four roots you are able to maintain. Accordingly, the Exalted One said: “If you do not guard at least one rule, you are not part of my retinue.” Thus, knowing that all activities are without purpose if you do not belong to the retinue of our teacher, make efforts to guard disciplined conduct! This is complete.
1 “Approximation vows” (bsnyen gnas kyi sdom pa, Skt. upavasasaṃvara) are vows where lay persons practice the first four vows of ordination, relinquish alcohol, fancy clothing, jewelry, and high seats, and also cease taking meals after noon for one day to approximate the vows of ordination.
Der “Fünffache Pfad der Mahāmudrā”, wie wir ihn heute kennen, wurde hauptsächlich von Kunga Rinchen (1475-1527) geprägt, dessen Praxishandbuch “Girlande der Mahāmudrā” von Khenchen Könchog Gyaltsen übersetzt wurde, und von Rigdzin Chökyi Dragpas Schüler Könchog Trinlé Namgyal (17. Jh.), der die mündlichen Anweisungen seines Lehrers im “Dharmakīrti Zhalung” niederschrieb. Diese Handbücher präsentieren den Fünffachen Pfad als eine vollständig ritualisierte Form der Praxis mit aufeinanderfolgenden Stufen, beginnend mit einer vorbereitenden Praxis (Ngöndro) und individuellen Ritualen für die Praxis von Bodhicitta, Yidam-Gottheit, Guru-Yoga, Mahāmudrā und Widmung.
Aber eine solche rituell strukturierte Reihe von Praktiken ist in den früheren Schriften der Linie nicht zu finden. Insbesondere in Jigten Sumgöns eigenen Gesammelten Werken wird der Fünffache Pfad viele Male erwähnt, aber nie als ritueller Pfad. Stattdessen wird der “Fünffache Pfad” als das grundlegende Prinzip aller Meditationspraktiken dargestellt: Welche Praxis man auch immer ausführt, man sollte immer (1) die Kultivierung des Entschlusses zum Erwachen (bodhicitta) vorausgehen lassen, wodurch (2) der eigene Körper als Yidam-Gottheit manifestiert wird, was die Grundlage für (3) die Praxis des Gurus im Herzen oder auf der Kroe des Kopfes ist, was wiederum in (4) der Praxis des von geistiger Aktivität freien Geistes (mahāmudrā) gipfelt. Schließlich sollten die heilsamen Wurzeln solcher Praktiken immer (5) zum Nutzen der Wesen gewidmet werden.
Es gibt auch keine feste Yidam-Gottheit für diese Praxis, obwohl in den Handbüchern Cakrasaṃvara als Hauptgottheit genannt wird. In den frühen Unterweisungen von Jigten Sumgön wird dies offen gelassen, und für den Fall, dass der Praktizierende noch keine eigene persönliche Gottheit hat, wird Avalokiteśvara als Yidam-Gottheit des Fünffachen Pfades empfohlen.
Die folgende kurze Unterweisung von Jigten Sumgön ist eine typische frühe Unterweisung zum Fünffachen Pfad. Es gibt viele solcher Unterweisungen in seinen gesammelten Werken, aber diese hier ist vielleicht die komprimierteste Darstellung.
Quintessenz der Praxis von Sūtra und Mantra: Die Wesentliche Unterweisung des Fünffachen Pfades der Mahāmudrā
Im Allgemeinen ist die sichere Ursache für das Erreichen der vollkommenen Buddhaschaft der Entschluss zu Erwachen. Gelobe daher zu jeder Zeit und auf jede Weise wie folgt den Entschluss hervorzubrigen wenn du die Wurzel der großen Wellen des Heilsamen praktizierst, wenn du irgendeine Praxis übst, und zu Beginn einer jeden Praxissitzung:
“Mögen alle meine Mütter — die fühlenden Wesen, die so grenzenlos wie der Raum sind — Glück besitzen, frei von Leiden sein und das kostbare, höchste und vollkommene Erwachen erlangen; zu diesem Zweck werde ich, bis ich die Buddhaschaft erreicht habe, Körper, Rede und Geist an das Heilsame binden; ich werde, bis ich sterbe, Körper, Rede und Geist an das Heilsame binden; und ich werde, bis zur gleichen Zeit morgen, Körper, Rede und Geist an das Heilsame binden”—wenn du das denkst, übe deinen Körper als die Gottheit, die du am meißten schätzt. Wenn du keine solche Gottheit hast, praktiziere meine geschätzte Gottheit, den Herrn des großen Mitgefühls, den edlen Avalokiteśvara, oder irgendeinen anderen mächtigen Herrn. Praktiziere den ausgezeichneten Guru in deinem Herzen. Zur Zeit des Todes praktiziere ihn auf dem Scheitel deines Kopfes, so heißt es.
Dann schaue auf dein eigenes waches und klares Gewahrsein und “nichts zu sehen zum Zeitpunkt des Betrachtens ist das Sehen der wahren Wirklichkeit.” Verweile also in diesem Zustand ohne jegliche geistige Aktivität.
Wenn dein Geist wieder beginnt, sich mit hohen und niedrigen Gedanken zu bewegen, wandele dein Gehen, Stehen, Liegen, Sitzen oder jedes andere Verhalten so um, dass es durch die Praxis zu einer ununterbrochenen heilsamen Praxis wird, die Essenz des ohne Gedanken Seins und die spontan vollendete Natur. Dann halte dies ohne Unterbrechung aufrecht.
Nachdem du die Wurzel des Heilsamen hervorgebracht oder in der meditativen Ausgeglichenheit deiner Erfahrung verweilt hast, rufe dir von Zeit zu Zeit die Wurzel des Heilsamen, das von dir und allen fühlenden Wesen in den drei Zeiten angesammelt wurde, und des Heilsamen, das [in der Buddhanatur aller Wesen] vorhanden ist, ins Gedächtnis:
“Mögen ich und alle fühlenden Wesen durch dieses Heilsame, das von mir und allen fühlenden Wesen in den drei Zeiten angesammelt worden ist und das [in der Buddhanatur der Wesen] existent ist, schnell das kostbare, höchste und vollkommene Erwachen erlangen.” So ist die Wurzel des Heilsamen zu widmen.
Es ist sehr wichtig, dass man zu allen Zeiten ununterbrochen auf diese Weise praktiziert, das kostbare Annäherungsgelübde1 bewahrt und je nach Fähigkeit eines oder mehrere der vier Wurzelgelübde aufrecht erhält. Dementsprechend sagte der Erhabene: “Wenn du nicht mindestens eine Regel bewahrst, gehörst du nicht zu meinem Gefolge.” Da ihr also wisst, dass alle Betätigungen zwecklos sind, wenn ihr nicht zum Gefolge unseres Lehrers gehört, bemüht euch, diszipliniertes Verhalten zu bewahren! Dies ist vollständig.
1 “Annäherungsgelübde” (bsnyen gnas kyi sdom pa, Skt. upavasasaṃvara), sind die Gelübde, bei denen Laien für einen Tag die ersten vier Gelübde der Ordination praktizieren, auf Alkohol, besondere Kleidung, Schmuck und hohe Sitze verzichten und auch die Einnahme von Mahlzeiten nach dem Mittag einstellen, um sich den Gelübden der Ordination anzunähern.
Collected Works of Jigten Sumgon, vol. 3, p. 67‒70.
མདོ་སྔགས་ཉམས་ལེན་གྱི་ཉིང་ཁུ་ཕྱག་ཆེན་ལྔ་ལྡན་གྱི་ཁྲིད་སྙིང་བསྡུས༎ བླ་མ་དམ་པ་རྣམས་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ། །སྤྱིར་རྫོགས་པའི་སངས་རྒྱས་ཐོབ་པར་བྱེད་པའི་རྒྱུ་ངེས་པ་བྱང་ཆུབ་ཀྱི་སེམས་ཡིན་པས། དུས་དང་རྣམ་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་དང་། རླབས་པོ་ཆེའི་དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་བྱེད་པ་དང་། ཉམས་ལེན་གང་དུ་བསྣུན་པའི་དུས་དང་བསྒོམས་པའི་ཐུན་འགོ་ལ། སེམས་བསྐྱེད་པའི་དམ་བཅའ་འདི་ལྟར་བྱ་སྟེ། མ་ནམ་མཁའ་དང་མཉམ་པའི་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་བདེ་བ་དང་ལྡན། སྡུག་བསྔལ་དང་བྲལ། བླ་ན་མེད་པ་ཡང་དག་པར་རྫོགས་པའི་བྱང་ཆུབ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཐོབ་པར་བྱ། དེའི་ཆེད་དུ་སངས་མ་རྒྱས་ཀྱི་བར་དུ་ལུས་ངག་ཡིད་གསུམ་དགེ་བ་ལ་བཀོལ། མ་ཤིའི་བར་དུ་ལུས་ངག་ཡིད་གསུམ་དགེ་བ་ལ་བཀོལ། དུས་དེ་རིང་ནས་བཟུང་ནས་ཉི་མ་སང་ད་ཙམ་གྱི་བར་དུ་ལུས་ངག་ཡིད་གསུམ་དགེ་བ་ལ་བཀོལ་སྙམ་དུ་བསམས་ལ། རང་གི་ལུས་ཡི་དམ་གྱི་ལྷར་བསྒོམ། མེད་ན་ངའི་ཡི་དམ་གྱི་ལྷ། ཇོ་བོ་ཐུགས་རྗེ་ཆེན་པོ་རྗེ་བཙུན་སྤྱན་རས་གཟིགས་དབང་ཕྱུག་གང་ཡང་རུང་བ་ཞིག་ཏུ་བསྒོམ། བླ་མ་དམ་པ་ཐུགས་ཀར་བསྒོམ། ནམ་འཆི་བའི་དུས་སུ་ནི་སྤྱི་བོར་བསྒོམ་པ་ཡིན་གསུངས། དེ་ནས་རང་གི་རིག་པ་རིག་རིག་ཏུར་ཏུར་པོ་འདི་ལ་བལྟས་ལ། བལྟས་པའི་དུས་སུ་གང་ཡང་མ་མཐོང་བ་དེ་ཁོ་ན་ཉིད་མཐོང་བའོ་ཞེས་པས། དེའི་ངང་ལ་ཅི་ཡང་ཡིད་ལ་མི་བྱེད་པར་བཞག། རྣམ་པར་རྟོག་པ་མཐོ་དམན་གྱིས་སེམས་རྣམ་པར་གཡེངས་ན། འགྲོ་འཆག་ཉལ་འདུག་གམ། སྤྱོད་ལམ་བསྒྱུར་ནས་བསྒོམས་པས་རྒྱུན་ཆད་མེད་པའི་དགེ་སྦྱོར། རྣམ་རྟོག་མེད་པའི་ངོ་བོ། ལྷུན་གྱིས་གྲུབ་པའི་རང་བཞིན་དུ་འོང་བ་ཡིན་པས། དེ་རྒྱུན་ཆད་མེད་པར་བསྐྱང་། དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་བྱས་པའི་རྗེས་སམ། ཐུགས་དམ་ལ་མཉམ་པར་བཞག་པའི་རྗེས་ལ། སྐབས་སྐབས་སུ་བདག་དང་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱིས་དུས་གསུམ་དུ་བསགས་ཤིང་ཡོད་པའི་དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་དྲན་པར་བྱས། བདག་དང་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱིs་དུས་གསུམ་དུ་བསགས་ཤིང་ཡོད་པའི་དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་འདིས། བདག་དང་སེམས་ཅན་ཐམས་ཅད་མྱུར་དུ་བླ་ན་མེད་པར་ཡང་དག་པར་རྫོགས་པའི་བྱང་ཆུབ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཐོབ་པར་གྱུར་ཅིག་ཅེས། དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་བསྔོ་བར་བྱའོ། །དུས་རྒྱུན་ཆད་མེད་པར་ཚུལ་དེ་ལྟར་ཉམས་སུ་བླང་ཞིང་། བསྙེན་གནས་ཀྱི་སྡོམ་པ་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་བསྲུང་བ་དང་། རྩ་བ་བཞི་ལས་གང་ཐུབ་ཐུབ་ཀྱི་དགེ་བསྙེན་གྱི་སྡོམ་པ་སྲུང་བ་གལ་ཆེ་སྟེ། དེ་ལྟར་ཡང་བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་ཀྱིས། ཁྲིམས་གཅིག་ཙམ་ཡང་མི་བསྲུང་ན་ངའི་འཁོར་དུ་མ་གཏོགས་སོ། །ཞེས་གསུངས་པས་སྟོན་པའི་འཁོར་དུ་མ་གཏོགས་ན་བྱས་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་དོན་མེད་པར་ཤེས་པར་བྱས་ནས། ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་བསྲུང་བ་ལ་འབད་པར་བྱའོ། །རྫོགས་སོ༎་༎
The Prayer from the Four Session [[[Guru]]]-Yoga of the First Chungtsang Rinpoche
December 18, 2020
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
This prayer covers the whole path of mahāmudrā from the common outer preliminaries up to the special dedication, ending in verses of one-pointed devotion. It was composed by the first Drikung Chungtsang Rinpoche, Rigdzin Chökyi Dragpa (1595-1659). ♦ 1
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have trained the thought that the leasures and endowments are hard to obtain, I have wasted my life! Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have practiced the thought of impermanence and death, I have only ever grasped as permanent that which is conditioned. Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have practiced the thought that cause and result never fail, I have only ever confused what to accept and what to reject. Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have practiced seeing saṃsāra as suffering, ♦ 2 I have only ever taken the path of the lower realms. Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have maintained the prātimokṣa as my vows, I am separated from the mind of renunciation. Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, practiced seeing all beings as my parents, I have only ever brought forth attachment and rejection for my friends and enemies. Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have practiced love and compassion, ♦ 3 I have only ever brought forth hatred and ill will. Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have practiced the aspiration and completion of the resolve for awakening, I have only ever pursued my own happiness. Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have practiced my body as the body of the deity, I have only ever brought forth attachment to ordinary appearances. Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have counted the mantras to be recited, I have merely wasted the wind of my life force. Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have practiced the samādhi that is like a reflection, I have only ever thought of it as something seizable. ♦ 4 Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have dissolved the visualization according to the gradual and the sudden method, ♦ 5 this has remained only a mechanical procedure. Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have practiced my own mind as being free from mental proliferation, I have only ever cultivated an attitude. Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have practiced not grasping whatever appears, I have only ever superimposed my awareness on it. ♦ 6 Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have practiced the inseparable union as beyond mind, I have only ever fallen into the extreme of dualistic fixation. Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have practiced the fundamental nature as something unfabricated, I have only ever added the unfabricated. ♦ 7 Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have dedicated completely free from the three components, ♦ 8 I have only ever striven for glory. Please look compassionately on me from afar!
Although I, a commoner of little mind, have practiced one-pointed devotion, I have only ever been carried away by hopes for the pleasant and fears of the disagreable. Please look compassionately on me from afar!
From the depths of my heart, I, a commoner of little mind, pray to the refuge lord of this and all future lives, the physician who can cure the chronic disease of samsāra, the courageous one who conquers the afflictions that are the enemy, the sun that dispels the darkness of ignorance, the moon that protects me from the heat of suffering, the jewel that fulfills all my needs, desires, and hopes, and the guru who is a cure for everything!
Please look upon me quickly with compassion and grant me the blessing within effortlessness!
Grant me the feast of the spontaneous attainment of the twofold purpose on this seat! Please do not let the hope of this fortunate devotee go unfulfilled! May my devotion not be wasted uselessly! May my prayer not go unheard! May I be introduced to equanimity through your compassion!
You are the lord of refuge of this, the next life, and the intermediate state! Apart from you there is no other! No matter what happiness and sorrow, salvation and disaster may arise, there is no hope for me except you! Please look compassionately upon me from afar! Guru! Give me your attention! Guru! Give me your attention!
Notes
1. []↩ “Four Session [[[Guru]]]-Yoga: Sea of Blessings,” Collected Works of Rigdzin Chökyi Dragpa, vol. 14 (pha), pp.321‒330, this prayer on 325‒327.
2. []↩ These four, the thoughts regarding (1) the leasures and endowments, (2) impermanence and death, (3) cause and result, and (4) the sufferings of saṃsāra constitute the four outer common preliminaries that all Buddhists share in their practice.
3. []↩ These three, renunciation, seeing all beings as one’s parents, and practicing love and compassion are the basis for cultivating the resolve for awakaning (bodhicitta).
4. []↩ Practicing samādhi as something seizable means that one is attached to the arising of bliss, luminosity, and non-thought from samādhi. That attachment is only a cause of saṃsāra.
5. []↩ The gradual dissolving is the procedure where the outer world is dissolved into the palace of the deity, the palace into the body of the deity, the body into the heart syllable, and the syllable gradually into emptiness. The sudden dissolving turns the visualization abruptly into non-thought.
6. []↩ Such an artificial superimposing of awareness on apearances is only another form of grasping.
7. []↩ In his commentary on the Single Intention, Rigdzin Chökyi Dragpa says that some mantra practitioners use the “emptiness mantra” (“oṃ śūnyatā …”) “to empty” outer and inner phenomena. Thereby, however, they remain within duality by applying the emptying mantra with their mind to an object, to their consciousness, and to their bodies. Thereby, they mentally create the trap of fundamental nature, into which they fall.
8. []↩ In mahāmudrā practice, the “three components” (Tib. ’khor gsum, Skt. trimaṇḍala) of dedication have to be canceled out. The three components characterize the functioning of the dualistic mind. In the case of the perfection of giving or of dedication, the first of these three is the notion of a subject, which is the agent or acting entity. The second is an object, which is the patient (or recipient) of the action/dedication. The third is the action of giving or dedication proper.
Kühlende Sandelholz-Mala
November 7, 2020
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Sorry, this time only German:
Ich habe jetzt unten rechts bei den PDF-Downloads einen Link zur deutschen Übersetzung von Jigten Sumgöns “Kühlende Sandelholz-Mala” eingefügt.
Diese Instruktion Jigten Sumgöns war der erste Text, den ich zusammen mit meinem Mentor Ngawang Tsering in den achziger Jahren gelesen habe (tatsächlich fand ich noch Dateien zu diesem Text von 1992!). Ich habe den Text viele Male überarbeitet, jetzt lasse ich ihn endlich los. Der Text ist ein wunderbares Beispiel für die Art und Weise, wie Jigten Sumgön öffentliche Belehrungen gab: Immer mit direktem Bezug zur Praxis, und immer ohne in verschiedene Fahrzeuge zu unterscheiden. Für Jigten Sumgön gab es nur einen Pfad, nämlich den, der zur vollkommenen Buddhaschaft führt.
Viel Spaß beim Lesen!
Karma Chagme’s Summary of All Vows
August 20, 2020
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Karma Chagme (1613-1678) composed a text called “How to Guard the Three Vows: The Sun that Dispels the Darkness,” which is the fifth chapter of his famous “Mountain Dharma” (Ri chos mtshams kyi zhal gdams). You can find the whole translation of this chapter in the download section of this blog (scroll down and see the right hand side).
Here, I will present his summary of all vows from that chapter. Instead of making footnotes (as in my translation), the notes are here integrated into the text in blue print.
Summary of All Vows
The three vows of refuge, the five of the householders,
Most basic are the “vows of refuge.” They are presented in three groups of three rules each. After one has taken refuge, one observes the following: 1a) One continually strives to worship the three jewels, b) one does not abandon the three jewels even at the cost of oneʼs life, c) one recollects the qualities of the three jewels and continually practices taking refuge; 2a) one does not turn to other deities, b) harm other beings and c) rely on non-Buddhist teachers, 3) one worships the images and representations of a) the Buddhas, b) the teachings and c) the community, even if they only consist of mere clay figures, single letters or shreds of robes.
As a householder, one can maintain five vows or less. These are avoiding 1) killing, 2) stealing, 3) sexual misconduct, 4) lying and 5) the consumption of intoxicating substances. Either two or three of these are to be observed (but one can also take all five). In the so-called approximation vow (upavasasaṃvara), one enters into all five commitments for the duration of one day, but “sexual misconduct” is replaced by chastity, and there are other additional vows such as avoiding elevated seating, singing, dancing, jewelry, perfume, and “untimely meals.” Literally, upavasa means “approach” or “approximation,” i.e., a lay person approximates the lifestyle of the ordained ones for the period of one day.
the ten vows of ordained novices,
These are the four roots of the vinaya: celibacy, not killing, not stealing, not lying about spiritual accomplishments, and additional vows such as avoiding intoxication, elevated seating, singing, dancing, jewelry, and perfume.
the two hundred and fifty-three vows of fully ordained monks, In addition to the ten vows of the novices, the fully ordained ones have to follow a large catalogue of vows concerning the life in the sangha and regulating the contact with the layity. A good and complete documentation was published by Charles Prebish (1975). Buddhist Monastic Discipline: The Sanskrit Prātimokṣa Sūtras of the Mahāsāṃghikas and Mūlasarvāstivādins. University Park Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press. (Maybe you can ask someone to send you a PDF?)
the vows of the bodhisattvas,
There are different sets of vows for the bodhisattvas. Candragomin has summarized them in his Twenty Verses (Bodhisattvasaṃvaraviṃśaka 6‒7, translation by Mark Tatz), forming the Yogācara tradition of the bodhisattva vows:
(6) With attachment to gain and respect,
Praising oneself and deprecating another;
Stingily not giving Dharma and wealth
To the suffering, [poor] and forsaken.
(7) Heedless of another’s confession,
Striking him out of anger;
Rejecting the Greater Vehicle,
And showing what appears like good Dharma.
The Twenty Verses are a summary of the ethics chapter of the Bodhisattvabhūmi.
the four white and the four black dharmas
that are to be accepted and rejected,
The four white dharmas: (1) Never consciously telling lies, ranging from “even if it costs one’s life” to “even for fun;” (2) always maintaining an altruistic motivation, never deviating from it, and not deceiving the beings; (3) cultivating the certainty that all bodhisattvas are buddhas and praising them; (4) motivating the beings regarding the unsurpassable awakening and the great vehicle, without giving up the lesser vehicles.
The four black Dharmas: (1) To deceive the guru; (2) to slander those who have cultivated the resolve for complete awakening; (3) to have no faith in spiritual merit and repent virtuous actions; (4) To deceive the beings.
the eighteen and the twenty transgressions,
According to the Madhyamakas, depending on which basic text they follow, there are eighteen or more root vows of the bodhisattvas. In his Śikṣasamuccaya, Śāntideva cites the Ākāśagarbhasūtra with nineteen transgressions, the first six of which apply to “kings and ministers.” The remaining twelve roots are for beginners and average bodhisattvas:
(1) To teach emptiness to the unprepared so that they lose faith; (2) to induce someone to give up the great vehicle; (3) to induce someone gifted only for the small vehicle to enter the great vehicle; (4) to believe that one cannot remove the stains in the small vehicle; (5) out of greed for wealth and fame, to praise oneself and disrespect others; (6) falsely claiming that one has realized emptiness; (7) inducing others to punish a monk; (8) inducing a monk to abandon his meditation; (9) giving up the decision to awaken; (10-12) being stingy, angry, or hypocritical.
Only one root is taught for those bodhisatvas who are particularly blunt, namely at least not to give up the resolve for awakening.
the fourteen root pledges of the mantra vows There are countless pledges in the different tantras and tantra classes. After one has been initiated into one of the highest tantras, the fourteen root transgressions mentioned here are especially important:
(1) To disrespect the vajra master; (2) to disobey the Buddha’s instructions; (3) to be angry with oneʼs vajra siblings; (4) to give up love, even for a single being; (5) to lose bodhicitta; (6) to disregard religious teachings; (7) to reveal secrets to the immature; (8) to disregard one’s psycho-physical constituents as something ordinary; (9) to disregard that which is pure by nature; (10) to feel affection for the wicked; (11) to construct mental concepts of the ultimate truth; (12) to cause someone to lose faith; (13) to reject the substances of the pledges of mantra; (14) to disrespect women.
and the eight grave transgressions, The eight serious violations are:
(1) To engage (in the activities of the mantra) with women who have nopledges;
(2) to get into conflict with others during the activities of the mantra;
(3) to accept the external and internal nectar of the pledges from women who are not qualified in the sense of the mantra;
(4) not to teach mantra although it has been requested by qualified students;
(5) to answer qualified questions about mantra evasively;
(6) to spend more than one week with those who despise the great vehicle;
(7) to consider oneself a mantra adept if one knows only some of the rituals of the stage of cultivation;
(8) to reveal secrets to unqualified persons.
the roots of the body, speech, and mind of the Nyingmapas and the twenty-five branches. These were taught in detail as the hundred thousands of millions.
In brief, the roots of all these vows are as follows: The entire prātimokṣa is included in avoiding harm for others together with the mental basis for that. The entire system of the bodhisattva vows is included in bringing benefit to others together with the mental basis for that. The entire system of the pledges of mantra is included in one-pointed devotion to the guru.
If you say: “In detail, it is too detailed, in brief, it is too brief; but what is practiced concretely?” [I reply]: Preserve the four roots as if they were your life, abandon alcohol and meat [of animals killed] for your sake, etc.— these are the purest vows of this day and age. They are also of utmost importance for the vows of the bodhisattvas and mantra.
Whatever activities of virtue accumulation one pursues,
the core of the entire training of the bodhisattvas
is the cultivation of the resolve to awaken for the sake of all beings,
and to make wishes for the dedication of the root of virtue
for the benefit of all beings
and for attaining perfect awakening.
The meaning of this [is explained in the sutra of] detailed advice to the king.
Whoever your root guru is —whether ordinary being or a buddha— think of him as being inseparable from the lord of the [[[buddha]]] family on the crown of your head. This is the pledge of the guru’s body.
Practice whatever is appropriate for you: The deity of meditation with your body, recitations through your speech, holding the breath or vajra recitation. This is the pledge of the speech of the deity of meditation.
View your mind as emptiness, mahamudra, perform as best as you can on days such as the tenth of the month timely offerings, the tantric feast, and torma offerings! Never explain to those who hold wrong views the vital points of mantra. This is the pledge of the dakini’s heart.
Continue your efforts regarding the offering of tormas and the torma of the twenty-ninth day of the last month. The twenty-ninth day of the last month is the penultimate day of the Tibetan year. The focus of this torma offering ritual is to come to a conclusion with the past year by repelling negativity and misfortune and thus averting it for the next year. The ritual is traditionally performed in all households, monasteries, and retreat places all over Tibet on this day.
Perform as best you can on the appropriate days of the year, the appeasements and petitions, and the feast offering. Since one cannot avoid mistakes in ritual practice regarding the protectors, etc., “amendments” must be made on certain days to appease these deities. “Petitions” are requests to the deities regarding fortunate conditions in the future. The “feast offering” is one of the obligations one has towards the yidam deity.
In it are contained the pledges concerning the gods of wealth [who provide] qualities and the protectors of the teaching [who engage in various] activities.
Watch at all times the essence of your mind. That is the pledge of liberating one’s mental continuum through realization.
From time to time, train in the visualizations of the compassionate exchange of yourself and others, Literally, the “sending” of one’s happiness to others and the “taking” upon oneself the suffering of others.
fulfill the hopes of your trainees concerning empowerments, transmissions, instructions, and so forth. This is the pledge of bringing the mental continuum of others to maturity through compassion.
Make aspirations and dedications that everyone who is connected [to you] through seeing, hearing, remembering, and touching, may be born in the buddha field of great bliss. This is the pledge of the great vehicle that samsara is to be completely emptied.
In this way, the pledges are differentiated and summarized. They are clearly differentiated and easy to practice.
[Colophon]
This was taught by Rāga Asya (Karma Chagme) during the noon session
of the twenty-fourth day of the eighth month of the horse year.
The text literally says “the ninth day of the red half of the month,” which refers to the second half of the month with a waning moon. Since only the animal sign is mentioned, three years are most likely, namely 1642, 1654, or 1666.
It was written down by Tsöntrü Gyatso, who had requested the teaching. If there are mistakes in it, I confess them before the scholars. May all beings bring the three vows to perfection through this virtue.
[This translation was made in August 2000 in Hamburg and slightly revised in 2020 by Jan-Ulrich Sobisch.]
Buddhism is what one does
June 22, 2020
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
When different Buddhist groups form an association, e.g. in a counry, the question of a common definition of Buddhism is sometimes raised. The idea of that is obviously to come up with a kind of essence that is something like the least common denominator, which includes all and doesn’t reject anyone. I find this difficult, not only because “essentialism” has such a bad name these days.
Someone who tries to give an answer that is based on the teachings is Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. He says (Lions Roar, January 12, 2017):
Buddhism is distinguished by four characteristics, or ‘seals.’ If all these four seals are found in a path or a philosophy, it can be considered the path of the Buddha.
What are these four seals? They are, as he summarizes:
– All compounded things are impermanent. – All emotions are painful. This is something that only Buddhists would talk about. Many religions worship things like love with celebration and songs. Buddhists think, “This is all suffering.” – All phenomena are empty; they are without inherent existence. This is actually the ultimate view of Buddhism; the other three are grounded on this third seal. – The fourth seal is that nirvana is beyond extremes.
I have no problem with any of the four seals, and also not with putting them together. But I am uncomfortable with the idea that when any of these are not “found in a path or a philosophy,” it cannot be “considered a path of the Buddha.” Does he really mean to exclude people who do not follow the teaching of emptiness? And isn’t “nirvana is beyond extremes” very Mahayana? Moreover, is someone, like me, who has not fully grasped that “emotions are painful” and that “phenomena are empty” not a Buddhist, or not a complete Buddhist?
The more I think about it, the more I become aware that one perhaps should not try to define what Buddhism is, but rather talk about what people, who consider themselves followers of the Buddha, do.
What would that be?
All Buddhists seem to be striving—although to different degrees—in three fields: meditative practice, cognition, and conduct. With “cognition” I mean that we try to train our consciousness to recognize errors and understand how these errors function. The most basic error, according to the Buddha, is that we ignore something that actually causes suffering and often even hold it to be joyful (most prominently: the self). Through training cognition in many ways, Buddhists try to identify that error and to stop its proliferation in our mind. As soon as one has even only a little understanding of that, one can start to change one’s conduct and to integrate that understanding in meditative practice, applying antidotes against that error and habitualizing our improved understanding of reality. In that way, conduct and meditative practice become aids for an improved cognition until awakening is attained.
Okay, let’s test this against my own criticism above.
Does this formulate a philosophical position that is not shared by all Buddhists? Is this perhaps a position that ordinary people like me are far from understanding properly? The only position formulated above is that Buddhists try to recognize errors and seek to abandon them. If that would not be the case, one would not do anything.—That is why I try to describe Buddhism as something one does rather than what philosophical position one holds. Does this exclude people from being recognized as Buddhists? I hope not. Even the most humble persons who “only” practice by making offerings to the Sangha do that because they perceive a fault in this life, hope for improvement, and actually do something about it: They make an offering and put themselves in a humble state of mind.
Is this perhaps over-inclusive? Not if we agree on one point, namely that Buddhists are unique in perceiving existence—at least to some degree—as suffering and seek to end that suffering. As Khyentse Rinpoche says:
All emotions are painful. This is something that only Buddhists would talk about. Many religions worship things like love with celebration and songs. Buddhists think, “This is all suffering.”
I wouldn’t narrow it down so much on emotion alone, but I do agree that it is unique in the world of religions that the Buddha has described existence—including in heavenly realms—as ultimately only suffering. But here we have the problem again that this is an ideal view that most people have not yet fully realized. Yet Buddhists do seem to be attracted to the view of the entire existence as suffering. That is a strange attraction since from the point of view of its competetive ability in the market of religions it seems to be a huge disadvantage—it seems so negative. Yet it still appeals to people. Perhaps, if we now also look through the lense of what is, we could say that Buddhism is about existence as suffering and that people are, for whichever reason, somehow attracted to that idea. To me, this attraction is one of the big misterys about Buddhism.
Jigten Sumgön explains in the Single Intention that this is so because of Buddha nature: Everyone possesses it, and because it is pure, all beings have at least the capacity to recognize the huge gap between that purity within them and existence as it actually is. The rest of this blog entry will now be devoted to how the Single Intention explains the fact that people are drawn to a teaching that speaks so extensively about suffering.
The early commenator of the Single Intention, Doré Sherab, explains this point in the context of vajra statement 6.13. Here, Buddha nature, the nature of mind, and mahamudra are treated as synonymous terms. He explains that since every sentient being posesses the Buddha nature, which is the mahamudra of the ground, they gradually understand more and more about the nature of suffering and thereby are more and more attracted to taking up disciplined conduct in all of its forms until Buddhahood is attained. He thereby draws our attention to the analogy between Buddha nature/mahamudra on the one hand, and disciplined conduct on the other: Because of the purity of the first we are disgusted by samsara and strive with the help of the purity of the other, i.e., disciplined conduct, for awakening and Buddhahood. The passage reads in the Dosherma (section 6.13):
“[Discipined conduct and mahamudra] are one by being analoguous. In general, the sentient beings who revolve in samsara have not realized true reality. Therefore, based on grasping a self, they accumulate karma, through which, as a result, they revolve in the three realms. But if they realize their mind, they are free from grasping a self, and thereby they are also without an object of desire or hatred that could arise. Since this freedom from desire and hatred is pure disciplined conduct, [discipined conduct and mahamudra] are one by being analoguous. For ordinary sentient beings too, even though they have not realized their mind, discipined conduct and mahamudra are one, as expressed in the Uttaratantra (1.40):
If there were no buddha element, there would be no aversion to suffering, and there would be neither a desire to pass beyond sorrow, nor an effort and the aspiration toward it.
“From the perspective of the gradual path, having understood that the lower realms are suffering, there arises the striving for the higher realms. Even guarding merely the approximation vows is the power of mahamudra. Similarly, understanding that everything below the peak of existence is suffering, a mind arises that strives for what is higher than that. Thus, guarding the disciplined conduct up to the vows of full ordination too is the power of mahamudra. Understanding that all of samsara is suffering one sets one’s mind on the two lower awakenings, 1 and that too is the power of mahamudra. Seeing all sentient beings as one’s kind mothers one has the urge to obtain Buddhahood. That too is the power of mahamudra. For instance, when the sun rises, by the rising of the first light blue dawn, the whitish dawn, and then the reddish dawn, it becomes ever so slightly more radiant, and then gradually, up to daybreak, it becomes very bright. This is all due to the power of the sun.”
Notes 1. []↩ Shravaka and pratyekabuddhahood.
Very short guru realization of Kyobpa Jigten Sumgön by Nüden Dorje
June 14, 2020
Uncategorized
1 Comment
Note for English readers: I describe here the style of spiritual songs, where a special rhythm is produced through changes in the patern of heavy and light syllables. My German translation of Nuden Dorje’s text tries to follow his rhythmical pattern. Since I am not a native speaker of English, I have not tried to achieve the same effect in my English translation of the text. For the English translation of the guru-realization, please scroll to the bottom of the page.
Dieser kurze Text wurde von Drikung Nuden Dorje (1849‒1902) verfasst. Er ist auch bekannt als Lho Bongtül und Lho Jedrung und sticht heraus als jemand, der Überlieferungen aus allen Schulen erihelt und weitergab. In dieser kurzen “Guru-Verwirklichung” verwendet er eine Grundrhythmus, wie man ihn auch aus den spirituellen Liedern von Jigten Sumgön und anderen Meistern kennt. Normalerweise wechseln sich in sieben-silbrigen Versen die schweren und leichten Silben ab (schwer: ‿ leicht:__ ):
dag la dang bar je pé dra ‿ __ ‿ __ ‿ __ ‿
In spirituellen Gesängen findet man jedoch oft Doppelsilben, die den Rhythmus bestimmen, wie z.B. in Jigten Sumgön’s Lied an Rinchen Drag:
bu nyön dang sön dang rin chen grags// ‿ __ __ ‿ __ ‿ __ ‿
Genau diesen Rhythmus verwendet Nuden Dorje auch in diesem Text bis zum Mantra—danach wechselt er dann in den “normalen” Rhythmus. Heute, am 803ten Tag des Mahaparinirvana Jigten Sumgöns, habe in meiner Übersetzung versucht, diesen Grundrhythmus wiederzugeben:
Auf meinem Kopf ein Löwensitz ‿ __ __ ‿ __ ‿ __ ‿
Da man im Deutschen oft mehr Silben braucht, habe ich gelegentlich auch an anderer Stelle eine Doppelsilbe eingefügt, z.B. so:
gütiger Wurzellama mit dem ‿ __ __ ‿ __ ‿ __ __ ‿
So etwas finden wir gelegentlich auch bei Jigten Sumgön:
ka lo tä chig dug gam mi dug som ‿ __ __ ‿ __ __ ‿ __ ‿
Manchmal hat Jigten Sumgön sogar drei leichte Silben hintereinander:
dag nal jor pa ri trö kyi glön pa trim ‿ __ __ __ ‿ __ __ ‿ __ ‿
Hier nun Nuden Dorjes Text mit Übersetzung:
སྐྱོབ་པ་འཇིག་རྟེན་གསུམ་གམོན་གྱི་བླ་སྒྲུབ་ཤིན་ཏུ་བསྡུས་པ་བཞུགས་སོ༎ Sehr kurze Guru–Verwirklichung des Kyobpa Jigten Sumgön བདག་ཐ་མལ་སྤྱི་གཙུག་སེང་གེ་དང་༎ གདན་པདྨ་ཟླ་བ་བརྩེགས་པའི་སྟེང་༎ Auf meinem Kopf ein Löwensitz || darauf auf Lotussitz und Mond || རྗེ་དྲིན་ཅན་རྩ་བའི་བླ་མ་དང་༎ སྐྱབས་སངས་རྒྱས་ཐམས་ཅད་འདུས་པའི་སྐུ༎ gütiger Wurzellama mit dem || Körper der alle Zuflucht und || Buddhas in sich vereinigt hat, || der allen Schutz in sich vereint; || མགོན་གཅིག་བསྡུས་མཉམ་མེད་སྐྱོབ་པ་རྗེ༎ སྐུ་དཀར་དམར་མདངས་ལྡན་སྐྱིལ་ཀྲུང་བཞུགས༎ Schützer, der unvergleichlich ist, || rot-weißer Körper in hellem Glanz, || Beine im Lotussitz gekreuzt, || Hände hälst du in der Geste der || ཕྱག་མཉམ་བཞག་ཆོས་གོས་རྣམ་གསུམ་གསོལ༎ དབུ་སྒོམ་ཞྭ་མཚན་དང་དཔེ་བྱད་ལྡན༎ Meditation im Schoß und trägst || dreifache Dharma-Roben und || Meditationshut und bist mit den || Merkmal’n verseh’n, ich meditiere || ཡིད་རྩེ་གཅིག་མོས་པས་བཞུགས་པར་བསྒོམ༎ ཕྱོགས་གཡས་གཡོན་རྩ་བརྒྱུད་བླ་མས་བསྐོར༎ hingebungsvoll, ohne Ablenkung. || Du bist umgeben von all den || Gurus der Linie, rechts und links. || བདག་མོས་གུས་གདུང་བས་གསོལ་འདེབས་ན༎ རྗེ་ཁྱེད་ཀྱི་ཐུགས་རྗེའི་སྤྱན་གྱིས་གཟིགས༎ Wenn ich nun mit Respekt und voll || Hingabe zu dir bete, dann || schau mit dem Auge des Mitgefühls! || གནས་རིགས་དྲུག་འཁོར་བའི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་འདི༎ ཡིད་རྩེ་གཅིག་གཡེང་མེད་དྲན་པར་ཤོག། Denk an uns Wesen in den sechs || Daseinsbereichen voller Leid! || Schau konzentriert, ohne Ablenkung! || སེམས་བསྐྱེད་རྫོགས་ཟུང་འཇུག་གི་གདམས་པ་འདིས༎ སེམས་ཆོས་སྐུར་རྟོགས་པར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས༎ Dies ist die Instruktion, wonach || in meinem Geist die Erzeugungsstufe || mit der Vollendung vereinigt ist. ||Möge mein Geist gesegnet sein || in der Vollendung des Dharmakāya! || མ་མཁའ་ཁྱབ་སེམས་ཅན་མ་ལུས་པ༎ རྗེ་སྐྱོབ་པའི་ཐུགས་དང་དབྱེར་མེད་ཤོག། Mögen nun alle Wesen, die || früher einmal meine Mutter waren, || eins mit dem Geist dieses Schützers sein! ||
ཨོཾ་རཏྣ་ཤྲཱི་ཧཱུཾ།
Oṃ Ratna Shrī Hūng.
མཐར་ནི་བླ་མ་འོད་དུ་ཞུ༎ རང་གིས་སེམས་དང་བླ་མའི་ཐུགས༎
Schließlich schmilzt der Guru und || löst sich auf in Licht und dann ||
wird der Geist des Gurus mit || meinem Geist vereinigt, wie ||
དབྱེར་མེད་ཆུ་ལ་ཆུ་བཞག་བཞིན༎ འཛིན་མེད་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོར་སྐྱོང་།
Wasser sich mit Wasser mischt. || Diesen Mahāmudrā-Geist ||
halte ich ohne ihn festzuhalten! ||
ཞེས་པ་འདིའང་ལྷོ་རྗེ་དྲུང་བས་སྦྱར་བའོ༎
(Dieses wurde von Lho Jedrung [[[Nüden Dorje]]] verfasst.)
(Am 14.6.2020, dem 803ten Mahaparinirvana von Jigten Sumgön, von Jan-Ulrich Sobisch in Hamburg übersetzt.)
སྐྱོབ་པ་འཇིག་རྟེན་གསུམ་གམོན་གྱི་བླ་སྒྲུབ་ཤིན་ཏུ་བསྡུས་པ་བཞུགས་སོ༎
Very short guru realization of Kyobpa Jigten Sumgön
by Nüden Dorje
བདག་ཐ་མལ་སྤྱི་གཙུག་སེང་གེ་དང་༎ གདན་པདྨ་ཟླ་བ་བརྩེགས་པའི་སྟེང་༎
I am in my ordinary form. On my crown is a lion seat, lotus and moon, and upon that
རྗེ་དྲིན་ཅན་རྩ་བའི་བླ་མ་དང་༎ སྐྱབས་སངས་རྒྱས་ཐམས་ཅད་འདུས་པའི་སྐུ༎
the benevolent root lama with the body that is the union of all refuge and buddhas.
མགོན་གཅིག་བསྡུས་མཉམ་མེད་སྐྱོབ་པ་རྗེ༎ སྐུ་དཀར་དམར་མདངས་ལྡན་སྐྱིལ་ཀྲུང་བཞུགས༎
He unites all protection. Protector! You are incomparable, your red and white body shines brightly, and your legs are crossed in the lotus position.
ཕྱག་མཉམ་བཞག་ཆོས་གོས་རྣམ་གསུམ་གསོལ༎ དབུ་སྒོམ་ཞྭ་མཚན་དང་དཔེ་བྱད་ལྡན༎
You hold your hands in the lap in the gesture of meditation, wearing triple Dharma robes and the meditation hat. You are endowed with the major and minor features.
ཡིད་རྩེ་གཅིག་མོས་པས་བཞུགས་པར་བསྒོམ༎ ཕྱོགས་གཡས་གཡོན་རྩ་བརྒྱུད་བླ་མས་བསྐོར༎
I meditate devotionally, without distraction. You are surrounded right and left by all the gurus of the lineage.
བདག་མོས་གུས་གདུང་བས་གསོལ་འདེབས་ན༎ རྗེ་ཁྱེད་ཀྱི་ཐུགས་རྗེའི་སྤྱན་གྱིས་གཟིགས༎
Now, when I pray to you with respect and devotion, please look with your eye of compassion.
གནས་རིགས་དྲུག་འཁོར་བའི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་འདི༎ ཡིད་རྩེ་གཅིག་གཡེང་མེད་དྲན་པར་ཤོག།
Think of us beings in the six realms of suffering one-pointedly, without distraction!
སེམས་བསྐྱེད་རྫོགས་ཟུང་འཇུག་གི་གདམས་པ་འདིས༎ སེམས་ཆོས་སྐུར་རྟོགས་པར་བྱིན་གྱིས་རློབས༎
This is the instruction that in my mind the generation stage is united with the completion. May thereby my mind be blessed in the realization of the Dharmakāya!
མ་མཁའ་ཁྱབ་སེམས་ཅན་མ་ལུས་པ༎ རྗེ་སྐྱོབ་པའི་ཐུགས་དང་དབྱེར་མེད་ཤོག།
May all beings who were once my mother now be one with the mind of this Protector!
ཨོཾ་རཏྣ་ཤྲཱི་ཧཱུཾ།
Oṃ Ratna Shrī Hūng.
མཐར་ནི་བླ་མ་འོད་དུ་ཞུ༎ རང་གིས་སེམས་དང་བླ་མའི་ཐུགས༎
Finally, the Guru melts and dissolves into light. My mind is united with mind of the guru,
དབྱེར་མེད་ཆུ་ལ་ཆུ་བཞག་བཞིན༎ འཛིན་མེད་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོར་སྐྱོང་།
like water mixes with water. I maintain this Mahāmudrā mind without maintaining!
ཞེས་པ་འདིའང་ལྷོ་རྗེ་དྲུང་བས་སྦྱར་བའོ༎
(This was written by Lho Jedrung [[[Nüden Dorje]]].)
Translated on June 14th, 2020, the 803rd Mahaparinirvana, by Jan-Ulrich Sobisch in Hamburg.
Samadhi Abhishekha
May 16, 2020
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Samadhi empowerments that precede practices like that of Cakrasamvara are well-known. The name “samadhi empowerment” seems to suggest either that one’e ability to practice samadhi is empowered by this practice, or that these empowerments—instead of being bestowed by a teacher who is actually present—occur “only” within the space of one’s samadhi. Many benefits are mentioned in the texts, the most extraordinary one would be that in the best case the blessing from this samadhi is indistinguishable from an actual fourfold empowerment. Other benefits are that breaches of the pledges and corruptions of vows are healed and one’s virtuous practice increases. An important aspect of samadhi empowerment also seems to be that it enhances the perception of the guru as the Buddha.
In the “profound dharma” section of Jigten Sumgön’s teachings (zab chos), I found a brief text with instructions:♦ 1
Instructions on the samādhi empowerment
Again, the precious guru said: This samadhi empowerment is very profound! Take your yogic position on a comfortable seat, cultivate the resolve, and vividly visualize your body as the cherished deity. Imagine in that way that your principle guru dwells on a four-layered seat in the space in front of the area of the spot between the eyebrows of [the deity you] visualize. The form of his body is that of the exalted great Vajradhara. He and Vajrayogini are inseparable and enter into the union.♦ 2 They are endowed with the ornaments and garb such as the six bone ornaments. In brief, visualize vividly the guru as the body of Heruka. Then, offer once the seven limbs such as the outer, inner, secret, and true reality offerings.
After that, you supplicate three times: “Guru Mahavajradhara, grant me the empowerment!” White rays of light come forth and dissolve into the spot between your eyebrows. Imagine that thereby all veils of the body are cleared. You have received the vase empowerment. You are the essence of the body of all buddhas. Your body has the leisure of a deity. Overjoyed, think: “I have realized that.”♦ 3 Again, the guru and the consort enter into the union. From the spot between their eyebrows, bright and redish-white rays of light come forth and dissolve into your throat. Thereby the veils of speech are cleared and you have received the secret empowerment. You are the essence of the speech of all buddhas and your speech has the nature of mantra—audible and empty. Overjoyed, think: “I have realized that.”
Blue rays of light come forth from the hearts of the guru and his consort. They dissolve into your heart. Thereby the veils of the mind are cleared and you have revceived the empowerment of discriminating knowledge and primordial wisdom. You are the nature of the mind of all buddhas, the nature of mind, unarisen from the beginning, free from arising, abiding, and ceasing. Overjoyed, think: “I have realized that.”
Then, the guru Heruka with the consort turn into many-colored rays of light that dissolve into your body through the crown of your head. Thereby the impurity of holding body, speech, and mind as something different is purified. You have received the precious forth empowerment of the word. You are the essence of the primordial wisdom of the nonduality of the body, speech, and mind of all the buddhas of the three times—spontaneous sameness. Overjoyed, think: “I have realized that.”
Then, remain within that state equanimously in mahamudra. Afterwards, within that, you have to dedicate the root of virtue.
Practicing like that this samadhi empowerment as much as you can, up to 108 times a day, if the samadhi is luminous, the attainment of the [actual] four empowerments and the blessing [of this samadhi empowerment] are indistinguishable. Breaches of the pledges are automatically cleared, all corruptions are repaired, one is well, and the virtuous practice increases. Therefore, please keep this in mind and practice it! <<end of translation – the Tibetan text is documented below the notes>>
These instructions are in the tradition of Ga Lotsawa, who is also in the transmission lineage of the Cakrasamvara empowerment that Jigten Sumgön transmitted. Ga’s method is preserved in the works of Gyalwa Yanggönpa (1213‒1258).♦ 4 Here the guru is in the form of Sahaja Cakrasamvara with Vajravarahi. The visualization of the seat and the guru is much more detailed. They are surrounded by numerous tantric deities of the father and mother tantras and of the Nyingma tantras. The offerings are also much more detailed. Before the actual empowerment, one sends out rays of light that fall upon the numerous mandalas visualized in the space. The white drop of bliss of all the male deities of these mandalas melts and dissolves into the guru as Cakrasamvara. The rays of light also fall upon the consorts of these mandalas and their red drops of bliss melt and dissolve into the guru and his consort. The essence of all mandalas is now present as this Cakrasamvara with consort.
There are not only one, but two rounds of empowerments. With the first round, one is purified through the light rays coming from the guru and the consort. With the second round, one’s body is gradually filled with nectar via the spot between the eyebrows, etc. Through that nectar one receives the actual empowerment. Finally, the guru and consort melt and dissolve into oneself and one is inseparable from the body, speech, and mind of the guru.
Through this empowerment, the text says, all transgressions and loss of pledges are healed and all veils, obstructions, and unfortunate conditions are removed. A good samadhi will arise. Even if one dwells at the dangerous places of non-humans, one cannot be harmed. All the qualities of mantra arise and increase. This practice is praised a lot in the Buddhakapala Tantra. The glorious Ga Lotsawa practiced it every night. The precios Nyö (gNyos rGyal ba lha nang pa, 1164‒1224) never broke his habbit of practicing it seven times a day. Lama Zhang (Zhang g.yu brag pa, 1123‒1193) practiced it three times at night. The disciple of Yanggönpa, who recorded this teaching, says: “I practice it every time I go to sleep and every morning. Since this is extremely important, please practice it without interruption!”
The samadhi empowerment that one finds in the works of Phagmodrupa♦ 5 is connected to the tradition of the Guhyasamaja Tantra. His teacher—here probably Sachen Künga Nyingpo—told him that it is important for great meditators (sgom chen) to have the samadhi empowerment. He tells the story of the famous translator Gö Lotsawa (‘Gos Khug-pa Lhas-btsas, 11th c.), who went to India to become a translator. He had 108 teachers, and two of them were his root gurus. One was known for his supernatural perception and the other was very venerable. Under them, Gö Lotsawa became very learned, in particular in the Guhyasamaja Tantra. Once, he thought that there is no one as learned in the Guhyasamaja as he was. A yogi apeared, who said: “You still don’t know the meaning of the Guhyasamaja.” Gö asked him, where he could learn more. The Yogi told him to go to Nagseb and study with a very venerable teacher there. Gö went there and found in a grass hut a woman who had the color of a dove with a very beautiful body and countenance. “Who are you?” he asked. “I am the venerable lady.” He offered her a mandala with some gold and requested Guhyasamaja instructions from her. However, she said that he had a problem with previous pledges and that he, therefore, did not understand the Guhyasamaja. She said: “If you practice this samadhi empowerment, you will primordially understand the Guhyasamaja.” She gave him a brief samadhi empowerment.
The visualization is very similar to that of Jigten Sumgön’s instructions. The text mentions that Gö Lotsawa practiced the samadhi empowerment for a month. He thereby mastered the meaning of the Guhyasamaja Tantra. But the text states also that “it is very important that the nature of the guru is unchangeable [in your mind]. You will not find a guru superior to him.”
At the end, it is mentioned that Gö “bestowed it on lama Sakyapa and he bestowed it on me.” The Sakyapa lama mentioned here should be Khön Könchog Gyalpo (1034-1102), the founding father of the Sakya tradition, who was known to have been a disciple of Gö Lotsawa. But it is impossible that Khön bestowed it directly on Phagmodrupa, as the latter was only just born when Khön died. As mentioned above, it is more likely that he received it from Khön’s son, Sachen Künga Nyingpo, with whom Phagmodrupa had studied intensively before he met Gampopa.
I think that it is noteworthy in all of these texts that they deal with the way of seing the guru. In Ga Lotsawa’s text, the guru receives the white and red drops of bliss of the deities of all mandalas, and he is then understood to be the essence of entirely all mandalas. In Gö’s text, it is very important to think “that the nature of the guru is unchangeable. You will not find a guru superior to him.” His female guru, who told him to practice the samadhi empowerment, had also told him that his problem with understanding the Guhyasamaja teachings was a breach of the pledges. Could it be that this breach had been that he did not see his guru as the Buddha?
In an instruction for those of highest capacity concerning the practices of luminosity and the transference of the consciousness,♦ 6 Jigten Sumgön talks about the practice of the samadhi empowerment when he says:
“Put your mind one-pointedly and without distraction on the guru being the Buddha. As long as that has not become clear, practice with much effort! When it has become clear, the dependent origination of the guru’s blessing and one’s devotion come together and thereby it is impossible that it is not clear. The mahamudra with which one has familiarized earlier becomes sevenfold and arises automatically. Like water ist poured into water and butter into butter, one proceeds in a state of mahamudra, and the primordial wisdom that is nondual with the guru’s mind and one’s own consciousness mix inseparably in mahamudra.”
Notes
1. []↩Khams gsum chos kyi rgyal po thub dbang ratna shrI’i nang gi zab chos no bu’i phreng ba, Dehra Dun: International Drikung Kagyu Council, 1217, vol. 6, no. 763.
2. []↩This is most probably intentionally ambiguous. The Tibeta term snyoms par ʼjug means both to enter into a mental equilibrium, which is a “union,” and to join in sexual union.
3. []↩This reminds us of an important aspect of meditative visualization, namely that one should not only visualize the forms and activities of the deities, but also be convinced that a result is produced thereby.
4. []↩’Bri gung chos mdzod chen mo, TBRC W00JW501203, vol. 48, pp. 321‒327.
5. []↩gSung ‘bum, TBRC W23891, vol. 7, pp. 676‒682.
6. []↩’Bri gung chos mdzod chen mo, vol. 10, no. 814.
Tibetan text of Jigten Sumgön’s instructions on the samadhi empowerment
༄།།ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་གྱི་དབང་བསྐུར་གྱི་གདམས་པ༎ ཡང་བླ་མ་རིན་པོ་ ཆེའི་ཞལ་ནས། ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་གྱི་དབང་བསྐུར་འདི་ཤིན་ཏུ་ཟབ་པ་ཡིན། དེ་ཡང་སྟན་བདེ་བའི་སྟེང་དུ་འཁྲུལ་འཁོར་ལེགས་པར་བཅའ། སེམས་ བསྐྱེད་ལུས་ཡི་དམ་གྱི་ལྷར་ཝལ་གྱིས་བསྒོམ། དེ་ལྟར་སྒོམ་པའི་སྨིན་མཚམས་ ཀྱི་ཐད་སོའི་མདུན་གྱི་ནམ་མཁའ་ལ་གདན་བཞི་བརྩེགས་ཀྱི་སྟེང་དུ། རང་ གི་རྩ་བའི་བླ་མ་བཞུགས་པར་བསམ། སྐུའི་རྣམ་པ་ནི་བཅོམ་ལྡན་འདས་རྡོ་ རྗེ་འཆང་ཆེན་པོ། ཡུམ་རྡོ་རྗེ་རྣལ་འབྱོར་མ་དང་གཉིས་སུ་མེད་ཅིང་སྙོམས་ པར་ཞུགས་པ། རུས་པའི་རྒྱན་དྲུག་ལ་སོགས་པའི་རྒྱན་ཆ་ལུགས་དང་ལྡན་པ། མདོར་ན་བླ་མ་ཧེ་རུ་ཀའི་སྐུར་ཝལ་གྱིས་བསྒོམ། དེ་ནས་ཕྱི་ནང་གསང་གསུམ་ དེ་ཁོ་ན་ཉིད་ཀྱི་མཆོད་པ་ལ་སོགས་པ་ཡན་ལག་བདུན་པ་ཚར་གཅིག་དབུལ། དེའི་རྗེས་ལ་བླ་མ་རྡོ་རྗེ་འཛིན་པ་ཆེན་པོས། བདག་ལ་དབང་བསྐུར་བར་མཛད་ དུ་གསོལ། ཞེས་གསོལ་བ་ལན་གསུམ་གདབ། དེ་ནས་བླ་མ་ཡབ་ཡུམ་གྱི་སྨིན་ མཚམས་ནས། འོད་ཟེར་དཀར་པོ་བྱོན་ནས་རང་ཉིད་ཀྱི་སྨིན་མཚམས་སུ་ཐིམ་ པས་ལུས་ཀྱི་སྒྲིབ་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་སངས་ཀྱིས་དག་པར་བསམ། བུམ་པའི་དབང་ ཐོབ། བདག་ཉིད་སངས་རྒྱས་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་སྐུའི་ངོ་བོ། ལུས་ལྷའི་དལ་ཡིན་པ་ ལ། དེ་ལྟར་རྟོགས་པ་རེ་དགའ་སྙམ་དུ་བསམ། ཡང་བླ་མ་ཡབ་ཡུམ་སྙོམས་པར་ ཞུགས། སྦྱོར་མཚམས་ནས་འོད་ཟེར་དཀར་ལ་དམར་བའི་མདངས་ཆགས་པའི་ རྣམ་པར་བྱོན་ནས་རང་ཉིད་ཀྱི་མགྲིན་པར་ཐིམ་པས། ངག་གི་སྒྲིབ་པ་དག་ གསང་བའི་དབང་ཐོབ། བདག་ཉིད་སངས་རྒྱས་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་གསུང་གི་ངོ་བོ་ ངག་གྲགས་སྟོང་སྔགས་ཀྱི་རང་བཞིན་ཡིན་པ་ལ། དེ་ལྟར་རྟོགས་པ་དེ་རེ་ དགའ་སྙམ་དུ་བསམ། བླ་མ་ཡབ་ཡུམ་གྱི་ཐུགས་ཀ་ནས་འོད་ཟེར་སྔོན་པོ་བྱོན་ ནས་རང་ཉིད་ཀྱི་སྙིང་གར་ཐིམ་པས། ཡིད་ཀྱི་སྒྲིབ་པ་དག་ཤེས་རབ་ཡེ་ཤེས་ཀྱི་ དབང་ཐོབ། བདག་ཉིད་སངས་རྒྱས་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་ཐུགས་ཀྱི་རང་བཞིན་སེམས་ ཉིད་གདོད་མ་ནས་མ་སྐྱེས་པ། སྐྱེ་འགག་གནས་གསུམ་དང་བྲལ་བ་ཡིན་པ་ལ། དེ་ལྟར་རྟོགས་པ་རེ་དགའ་སྙམ་དུ་བསམ། དེ་ནས་བླ་མ་ཧེ་རུ་ཀ་ཡབ་ཡུམ་འོད་ ཟེར་ཁ་དོག་སྣ་ཚོགས་སུ་གྱུར་ནས། རང་ཉིད་ཀྱི་སྤྱི་བོ་ནས་ལུས་ལ་ཐིམ་པས། ལུས་ ངག་ཡིད་གསུམ་ཐ་དད་དུ་འཛིན་པའི་དྲི་མ་དག་བཞི་པ་ཚིག་དབང་རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ ཐོབ། བདག་ཉིད་དུས་གསུམ་གྱི་སངས་རྒྱས་ཐམས་ཅད་ཀྱི་སྐུ་གསུང་ཐུགས་གཉིས་ སུ་མེད་པའི་ཡེ་ཤེས་ཀྱི་ངོ་བོ་མཉམ་པ་ཉིད་ལྷུན་གྱིས་གྲུབ་པ་ཡིན་པ་ལ། དེ་ལྟར་ རྟོགས་པ་རེ་དགའ་སྙམ་དུ་བསམ། དེ་ནས་དེ་ཉིད་ཀྱི་ངང་དུ་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་ལྷན་ གྱིས་མཉམ་པར་བཞག་རྗེས་དེར་དགེ་བའི་རྩ་བ་བསྔོ་བ་བྱ། དེ་ལྟར་ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་ གྱི་དབང་བསྐུར་འདི་ཉིན་ཞག་རེ་ལ་བརྒྱ་རྩ་བརྒྱད་མན་ཆད་ཅི་ནུས་རེ་ཉམས་སུ་ བླངས་ན། ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་གསལ་ན་དབང་བཞི་ཐོབ་པ་དང་བྱིན་རླབས་ཁྱད་མེད། དམ་ཚིག་གི་འགལ་འཁྲུལ་ཆགས་ཉམས་ཐམས་ཅད་སོར་ཆུད་ནས། ཁམས་བཟང་ ཞིང་དགེ་སྦྱོར་འཕེལ་བ་ལགས་པས། དེ་ལྟར་ཐུགས་ལ་བཞག་ནས་ཉམས་སུ་ལེན་ པར་ཞུ་གསུངས༎ ༎
Book out now!
April 3, 2020
Uncategorized
6 Comments
Finally! After 15 years of work, the book is now available at Wisdom Publications (https://wisdomexperience.org/product/buddhas-single-intention/). 841 pages packed with the wisdom of Kyobpa Jigten Sumgön, his fathers, and his sons.
Here is the forword of His Holiness Kyabgön Chetsang Rinpoche:
It gives me great pleasure to be able to offer a few words on the occasion of the publication of Professor Jan-Ulrich Sobisch’s The Buddha’s Single Intention: Drigung Kyobpa Jikten Sumgön’s Vajra Statements of the Early Kagyü Tradition. I have been aware of Professor Sobisch’s ongoing study of Kyobpa Jikten Sumgön’s Single Intention, or Gongchik (dgongs gcig), for at least the last decade or so—first with the late Ngawang Tsering and later with several learned teachers of our Drigung Kagyü lineage. It is gratifying to now have in hand the fruit of Professor Sobisch’s hard work. In particular, with the help of Khenpo Könchok Rangdröl, former principal of Kagyu College in Dehradun, India, Professor Sobisch has produced a meticulous and complete translation of Rikzin Chökyi Drakpa’s influential Gongchik commentary known as Light of the Sun. Furthermore, this volume also includes Professor Sobisch’s careful selection of relevant passages from the two earliest surviving Gongchik commentaries—the Dorsherma and Rinjangma, both composed within fifty to sixty years of Kyobpa Jikten Sumgön’s mahāparinirvāṇa in 1217.
As the book’s title suggests, it is a window into the early, formative period of the Kagyü tradition. The root text of the Gongchik with 150 vajra statements organized into seven chapters (plus an eighth, ancillary chapter with 47 vajra statements) represents the distillation of Kyobpa Jikten Sumgön’s unique presentation of the Buddhadharma as he received from his root guru Phakmodrupa, who in turn was one of the key disciples of Gampopa, fountainhead of the Dakpo Kagyü. In particular, these vajra statements reflect Kyobpa Jikten Sumgön’s understanding that all 84,000 aspects of the Buddhadharma—the teachings classified into the so-called Lesser, Great, and Vajra Vehicles; the categories of prātimokṣa precepts, bodhisattva trainings, and tantric samayas; the division of sūtras and tantras into those of definitive meaning and those requiring further explanation—have a single, unified, holistic intention of revealing the fundamental nature (gshis babs) of all phenomena to us deluded sentient beings so that we can be freed from suffering and attain the perfect buddha state. Importantly, this fundamental nature—whether we call it sugatagarbha, emptiness, dependent origination, nature of mind, or rikpa—can best be understood in the way that virtue and nonvirtue lead to happiness and suffering, respectively and unmistakenly, and ultimately to the resultant states of nirvāṇa and saṃsāra. With this understanding, the entire path taught by the Buddha is none other than the exhaustion of all nonvirtue and the perfection of all virtue. This emphasis on the inseparability of the fundamental nature and the incontrovertible workings of cause and effect is the cornerstone of Kyobpa Jigten Sumgön’s Gongchik teachings.
The early Kagyü masters are well known for their absolute commitment to practice and to the spiritual welfare of their students. While learning and studying the Buddhadharma is necessary, early Kagyü masters such as Marpa, Milarepa, Gampopa, Phakmodrupa, and Kyobpa Jikten Sumgön did not engage in disputing and debating philosophical positions or composing treatises establishing tenet systems. Their energies went instead into their personal meditation practice and into guiding devoted students through personal, intimate, and direct instructions. Therefore it is my hope that with Wisdom Publications’ publishing of Professor Jan-Ulrich Sobisch’s masterful presentation of Kyobpa Jikten Sumgön’s Gongchik, readers will now not only be exposed to a major system of thought and practice in Tibetan Buddhism, but more importantly, they will take to heart these vajra statements and the related commentaries for the task of exhausting all nonvirtue and perfecting all virtue, thus leading to the perfect buddha state.
Finally, as one blessed with the name Drikung Kyabgön, I offer my personal appreciation to Professor Sobisch and to all the Drigung Kagyü teachers who have assisted in this project. This book is an important contribution to a greater understanding of the legacy of Kyobpa Jikten Sumgön and his sublime successors. May this book inspire further interest and engagement with the jewels held by the glorious Drigung Kagyü!
H.H. Drikung Kyabgön Tinle Lhundup, Head of the Drigung Kagyü Lineage
Teaching the Method of the Glorious Saraha’s “Mahāmudrā Thunderbolt”
March 4, 2020
Uncategorized
1 Comment
I pay homage to the excellent gurus!
This mahāmudrā of the great master Saraha has four topics:
Relax body and mind. Do not engage mental objects. Do not set up any support whatsoever. Release the mind in its natural state.
About the first, i.e., to relax body and mind, the great Ācārya Brahmin said: “There is no doubt that this mind that is bound with a knot will be freed when it is relaxed.” Therefore, you must relax body and mind.
About the second, i.e., not to engage in mental objects, [he said]: “Non-mentation is the body of the great seal (mahāmudrākāya). Yogi, have no hope for any results!” Therefore, rest without maintaining in your mind any notion of good or bad thoughts whatsoever.
Concerning the third, i.e., not setting up any support whatsoever: Rest without making channels, winds, vital essences, and whatever else your support.
Concerning the fourth, i.e., resting the mind in its natural state: Just rest in the natural state, without any activities and exertions whatsoever.
That concludes the great ācārya, the brahmin Saraha’s “Mahāmudrā Thunderbolt.”
Collected Works of Kyobpa Jigten Sumgon, vol. 2, p. 426 f.
དཔལ་ས་ར་ཧའི་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་ཐོག་བབས་ཀྱི་སྒོམ་ཐབས་བསྟན་པ༎ བླ་མ་དམ་པ་རྣམས་ལ་ཕྱག་འཚལ་ལོ།། སློབ་དཔོན་ཆེན་པོ་ས་ར་ཧའི་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་འདི་ལ་དོན་བཞི་སྟེ། དང་པོར་ལུས་སེམས་ཁོང་གློད།་གཉིས་པ་ཡིད་ཀྱི་ཡུལ་དུ་མི་བྱ། གསུམ་པ་རྟེན་གང་ཡང་མི་བཅའ།་བཞི་པ་སེམས་རང་སོར་གློད། དེ་ལ་དང་པོ་ལུས་སེམས་ཁོང་གློད་པ་ནི། སློབ་དཔོན་བྲམ་ཟེ་ཆེན་པོའི་ཞལ་སྔ་ནས།། འཇུར་བུས་བཅིངས་པའི་སེམས་འདི་ནི།། གློད་ན་གྲོལ་བར་ཐེ་ཚོམ་མེད།། ཅེས་པས། ལུས་སེམས་ཁོང་གློད་པར་བྱའོ།། གཉིས་པ་ཡིད་ཀྱི་ཡུལ་དུ་མི་བྱ་བ་ཡང་།། ཡིད་ལ་མི་བྱེད་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོའི་སྐུ།། འབྲས་བུ་གང་ལ་ཡང་རེ་བར་མ་བྱེད་རྣལ་འབྱོར་པ།། ཞེས་པས།་བཟང་ངན་གྱི་རྣམ་པར་རྟོག་པ་གང་ཡང་ཡིད་ལ་མི་བྱ་བར་བཞག་པའོ།། གསུམ་པ་རྟེན་གང་ལ་ཡང་མི་བཅའ་བ་ནི། རྩ་དང་རླུང་དང་ཐིག་ལེ་ལ་སོགས་པ་གང་ལ་ཡང་རྟེན་མི་བཅའ་བར་བཞག་པའོ།། བཞི་པ་རང་སོར་བཞག་པ་ནི། བྱ་བྱེད་དང་རྩོལ་སྒྲུབ་ཐམས་ཅད་དང་བྲལ་བར་རང་སོ་ཁོ་ནར་བཞག་པ་ཉིད་དོ།། སློབ་དཔོན་ཆེན་པོ་བྲམ་ཟེ་ས་ར་ཧའི་ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་ཐོག་བབས་རྫོགས་སོ༎ ༎
Violence in Tantric Rituals: Reading Text and Context
September 20, 2019
Uncategorized
1 Comment
Until the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Price in 1989, Buddhism had been largely portrayed as a peaceful religion. But since the 1990s, several articles and books have appeared that critically investigated this image. By now, western scholars and the public have a much more balanced view of the history of Buddhism and the violence that was a part of it. Unfortunately, not all contributions to this new critical assessment have applied the necessary care and fairness. In this posting, I would like to investigate two recent and influential contributions to the study of violence in tantric Buddhism. Both portray particular kinds of Buddhist tantric practices as involving “real” violence; both conclude that people are really getting killed here. While I do not want to argue that such a thing—killing of people in the context of mantra—did not happen in the history of Buddhism, I do want to point out that the sources that were used for these studies not only do not allow that conclusion but are actually prime examples for texts that leave no doubt that the ritual activities are only imagined (: text) and that this kind of imagining has a particular training purpose (: context).
How could such a misjudgment have come about on the part of the authors? I will show that this is mainly due to mistranslations of the texts and to a lack of cultural context.
Interestingly, Jacob Dalton’s recent book, The Taming of the Demons (2011), 1 provides – despite its many attempts to prove that the texts he investigates speak of real actual violence – the best arguments for the contrary. 2 In his introduction, Dalton first concedes that “[c]onclusive proof of early tantric ritual killings may never be found; indeed, it is unclear what such evidence would even look like” (p. 3). But then he speaks throughout his book of “ritual killing of actual people” (p. 3), “a Buddhist rite for human sacrifice” (p. 4), “the [bestowed] right to enact violence” (p. 14), and that “several details suggest that a live person may be intended” [to be killed] (p. 77).
Dalton knows that later Tibetans were adamant about killing “not being performed on a live person, and their ritual manuals bear this out” (p. 4). His thesis is that the old 9th century (or earlier) Tibetan texts found in the famous library cave of Dunhuang do not “bear this out,” but rather are explicit in stating instructions for actual killing of living persons.
His chief evidence for the alleged existence of actual violence in these early rites is contained in two texts from Dunhuang. One of them (PT 840/1), which he presents in Appendix C of his book, he translates thus (p. 212, my square brackets):
“When citta [the consciousness] is led forth by the mudrā, imagine that it is grabbed with ʻja’ʼ (bzung bar bsam),” … “imagine he [sic!] is led (’dren par bsam),” and “imagine that he [sic! ] is sent (bton par bsam),” [i.e., to nirvana].♦ 3
This passage of the text extends over five and a half lines in his translation. The object that is “led,” “grabbed,” and “sent” remains the same: the consciousness (citta) of the enemy. Consciousness has the neutral gender, and thus “it” is grabbed—surely “grabbed” in a metaphorical sense. But then, suddenly, in that same passage, Dalton switches to the male gender when he translates “he is led” and “he is sent” to nirvana. What justifies this switching from consciousness to a real person—for which there is no indication in the Tibetan text? Was the wish to prove that this is an instance of killing of a real person the father of this not so subtle slip? Moreover, even if one could label this as violence, one could not state more clearly that it is entirely imagined violence (note the Tibetan verb bsam in all quotes).
The second example (PT42/ITJ419) is presented as his supposedly strongest evidence of the entire book for the possibility that a real and human victim is actually to be sacrificed. It begins with the following line (in my translation):
Imagine that a demonic iron ax that one holds aloft performs the activities of the Lady of Death.
Dalton translates “holding aloft the demonic iron axe, imagine that one performs the activities of the Lady of Death.” The Tibetan text says sta re thogs pa gcig, lit. “an ax held aloft.” The gcig in this syntactic position must refer to the ax; it cannot mean “one.” Thus, it is not oneself, the performer of the ritual that one imagines to carry out the destructive activities; it is the ritual ax. Therefore, the violence is thrice removed: (1) It is imagined, (2) it is carried out by the ax, (3) and that ax is not a real ax, but a ritual simulacrum. In exactly this manner the text continues (my translation):
Then 4 imagine a dark blue syllable KRONG atop the head [of the being that is liberated]. … From the DRONG (!) atop the head, many razor-[like] weapons cleave and chop, the consciousness emerges, and it is offered to the principal [[[deity]]]. (…) Having made all these visualizations (bsam ba’i rnams) clear in his mind, the master must revive the consciousness and hold it. He throws it on top of the mandala and then has to examine the signs. 5
In previous passages, the enemy to be liberated, termed throughout the text “the object of compassion,” is placed in the middle of the mandala, facing west, and smeared with white mustard seed paste. Is this a real person, a real body of a living being? Even if that should be the case—for which there is no evidence—it is clear that everything else is imagined: A syllable is imagined atop the head, from that appear visualized weapons, and it is imagined that the consciousness appears and is offered to the visualized deity. The text makes this as explicit as one could wish: “Having made all these visualizations (bsam ba’i rnams) clear in his mind”—thus, the ritual master is visualizing the activity. Other than the visualized weapons there are no real weapons mentioned in the text through which a head could be chopped off. Also, what else but a visualization would be the emerging consciousness? Tibetans do not have a concept according to which any part that could be chopped out of the head would be seen as the consciousness.
Now the master “must revive (sos) the [[[visualized]]] consciousness and hold it. He throws it on top of the mandala and then has to examine the signs.” As Dalton himself has noted a few pages before (p. 79), in the Guhyasamāja Tantra, i.e., the canonical work from which this ritual manual derived, the thing that is beheaded is, in fact, a paper effigy. Moreover, in a footnote (p. 239, n. 40) he states: “The interlinear notes to the same lines in the tantra make the use of a paper effigy still more explicit (ITJ438, 53v5: ri mor bris pa de’i mgo gcad par byas pa).” The interlinear note says: “The head drawn in the picture is chopped off.” Isn’t thus the most probable scenario that the “object of compassion” is represented in the described ritual by a picture drawn on a piece of paper or by any other effigy, such as one made of dough? The signs that are to be examined after the effigy is thrown onto the mandala are in accordance with that: The effigy faces into one particular direction, it lands “face down,” or it may “split at the crown” (which indicates an effigy made of dough). 6
Despite all this evidence and virtually no evidence to the contrary, Dalton insists in his translation that what is thrown onto the maṇḍala is a real head. Moreover, he describes the above ritual procedure with these words:
Certainly the most violent text to emerge from the library cave ofDunhuang is a ritual manual for the performance of the notorious “liberation rite” (sgrol ba). Many early Mahayoga writings from Dunhuang and elsewhere mention the liberation rite, but none is so explicit or detailed as this manual. … The instructions have the victim brought in and placed at the center of the ritual altar so that he faces west; the weapon is blessed and the victim purified, before being beheaded with an axe. Finally, the position in which the head comes to rest is interpreted to determine the rite’s success. The description is unusual, as it supplies so much detail yet makes no mention of an effigy.
To repeat: The iron ax is a ritual instrument that is clearly not used to chop off any heads (“imagine[!] that a demonic iron ax that one holds aloft performs the activities”); the “weapons” that arise from the syllable are visualized, and whatever activity they perform can therefore only be imagined; according to the text, it is not the head that is thrown onto the mandala, but the consciousness; and although the ritual text itself does not mention an effigy, the tantra from which it is derived and its interlinear notes do. Dalton’s above description of the ritual is forced. If this is his “most violent” and most explicit example, his thesis that the old 9th century (or earlier) Tibetan texts from Dunhuang are explicit in stating instructions for actual killing of living persons is failed.
My second example is an article by David Gray (esp. pp. 248 ff.).♦ 7 In it, he refers to an interesting passage in Atishaʼs Abhisamayavibhanga.♦ 8 Atisha discusses here destructive means in a ritual text. Gray concludes from his translation of the passage that Atisha “justifies” and “legitimate[s] such [[[violent]]] actions.” Moreover, Gray states: “This justifies violence by those who have controlled their minds, and are thus not motivated by the passions, but rather by the cool calculus of compassion (…).” Apart from his rather eccentric formulation “cool calculus of compassion,” which is obviously a contradiction in terms, and other strange expressions (“Atisha finds solace”), Gray has, in fact, not done justice to the subtlety of Atishaʼs argument. For my discussion I would like to begin the passage Gray investigates two lines earlier because these lines provide the context for Atishaʼs reply (all translations are mine):♦ 9
འོ་ན་ཀུན་རྫོབ་ཏུ་གནོད་བྱ་གནོད་བྱེད་མེད་དོ་ཞེ་ན་ནི་རྒྱུ་འབྲས་ལ་སྐུར་པ་ཡིན་ལ། Query: Are, conventionally speaking, the one who is going to be harmed and the harm doer inexistent? Reply: That would be to disavow cause and result!
The interlocutor asks if the person who is going to be harmed, namely oneself (attacked by the demon or enemy) and the harm doer (namely the demon or enemy who will have to be repelled) are, conventionally speaking, inexistent. (Alternatively the one who performs the rite could be the harm doer and the demon or enemy the one to be harmed. This does not make a difference in the logic of the argument.) Atisha denies their inexistence because that would mean to disregard the teaching of cause and result on the level of conventional reality. In other words, conventionally speaking, both oneself and the enemy/demon do exist. The next query follows:
ཡང་ན་ནི་ཐ་དད་ཀྱི་ཚུལ་གྱིས་བཟློག་པ་ལ་འགལ་བ་མེད་དོ་ཞེ་ན། Query: Is there not a contradiction concerning a repelling by way of [[[seeing]] the enemy] as something separate?
This question concerns the teaching that all appearances are only the mind. If that is the case, is the enemy not also nothing but oneʼs mind? Is it, therefore, not a mistake to see him as a separate entity? Now follows the part that Gray has presented in his article, again in my own translation:
ཀུན་རྫོབ་ཏུ་རྒྱུ་འབྲས་མེད་པ་མ་ཡིན་གྱི། འོན་ཀྱང་ཞེ་སྡང་གིས་བསླང་བའི་སྦྱོར་བས་བཟློག་པར་བྱ་བ་མ་ཡིན་ཏེ། ཀུན་རྫོབ་ཉིད་དུ་ཡང་བྱམས་པ་ལ་སོགས་པའི་གོ་ཆ་དང་དོན་དམ་པར་སྐྱེ་མེད་དུ་ཤེས་པས་སོ། ད་ཡང་ཅི་ཞེ་ན། ཀུན་རྫོབ་ཏུ་ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་སེམས་ཙམ་ལས་གཞན་མ་ཡིན་ཏེ། དེ་བས་ན་སེམས་ལོག་པར་གཡོ་བ་ཉིད་བདུད་དང་བགེགས་ཡིན་ནོ། དེ་ཡང་ངན་སོང་སྦྱོར་བའི་རྒྱུད་ལས། ཇི་སྲིད་ཡིད་ཀྱིས་ལོག་གཡོ་བ༎ དེ་སྲིད་བདུད་ཀྱིས་སྤྱོད་ཡུལ་ལོ༎ ཞེས་གསུངས་སོ༎ སེམས་གཉེན་པོ་ལས་འཁྱར་བ་ཉིད་བདུད་ལ་སོགས་པ་ཡིན་ནོ༎ Reply: Conventionally, cause and result do not fail [lit. “are not inexistent”]. However [even though the enemyʼs harm is experienced as a real threat] it is wrong to repel [harm doers] by the application of a vengeful motivation because conventionally [one wears] the armor of love, and so forth, and ultimately one understands [harm doers] to be without birth. How is that? Conventionally, all phenomena are nothing but merely mind, and, therefore, the very deviation from [the understanding that phenomena are only] the mind is the Mara and the demons [that one must repel]. As the Sarvadurgati Tantra says:♦ 10
“Just as much as one wavers off with the mind, just that much is the sphere of Mara.”
The very straying from [the understanding that all phenomena are] the mind, which is the antidote, is Mara and so forth.
Gray concludes from this:
Atisha here invokes the Yogacara theory of the baselessness of imputations of independent existence to phenomenal reality in order to deny the external reality of the demons who are the targets of the sadhanaʼs ritual violence. (…) This argument seems a bit inconsistent; if the demons do not in fact exist as independent entities, what need is there to insist that their destruction should be performed with a compassionate motivation?
Gray says: Since appearances are only mind, the demon doesn’t exist, and, thus, to say that he is destroyed with compassion is inconsistent. However, the passage translated from Atishaʼs text so far only pertains to a first and conventional part of his argument. Here, however, Atisha does not at all “justify” or “legitimate” a violent killing of a victim. On this conventional level, he instructs to apply love as an antidote to hatred and, still conventionally, to understand that the phenomenon perceived as the enemy is nothing but oneʼs mind. He also briefly alludes to an absolute level that is without the arising of such conventional phenomena like enemies and demons, but this will be only discussed later. Here, on the conventional level, one applies antidotes: love and the understanding that all phenomena are one’s mind.
One of the most important requirements for understanding this kind of ritual is that this is a training. As in all Mahayana practices, love for all sentient beings is cultivated at the beginning. Then, based on that, when there is a disturbance, one applies first of all that loving-kindness, and secondly one trains one’s understanding that all phenomena are only mind. This is the typical and well-known Mahayana training as it is expressed, for instance, in the Thirty-seven Trainings of the Bodhisattvas:
(16) Even if someone whom we have taken care of like our own child, is seeing us as an enemy, we only increase our love for him, like a mother for her sick child. That is the training of the bodhisattvas.
(20) When hatred, our enemy, is rampant, we may defeat the outer enemies, but they still increase. Thus, one’s mental continuum is to be tamed with the armies of love and compassion. That is the training of the bodhisattvas.
(22) Whatever appears is our mind.
Its nature is primordially free from proliferation.
Knowing that, not to indulge in the characteristics of perceived objects
and perceiving mind is the training of the bodhisattvas.
Up to this point in Atisha’s text, there is no one killed or repelled, neither with anger nor with compassion. This is a training of the mind. And here now follows in the text the crucial line:
… the very deviation from [the understanding that phenomena are only] the mind is the Māra and the demons [that one must repel].
Who or what is the enemy? It is one’s own deviating from this training. Just as much as one deviates from that, Mara can operate. The ritual practice of repelling enemies is, up to this point, explained by Atisha as a training in love and the understanding that appearances, even if they are threatening, are only one’s mind. Within a ritual practice such as the one commented upon by Atisha, the training takes place within several “frames,” from the outside to the inside: renunciation (when one contemplates the four thoughts that turn the mind away from samsara), love, compassion, and the resolve for awakening, purity and emptiness (with the shunyata-mantras, etc.), and, when appearances are mentally deleted and once again arise from the syllables, the understanding that all appearances are only the mind.
It can hardly be stated in clearer terms than Atisha provides them here, that the enemy one has to remove is oneʼs inability to cultivate these “frames” in one’s meditative practice. Whatever happens within these frames is a training of the mind to realize the true nature. The very wavering from these frames is the Mara that one must (metaphorically) “kill.” Since there is no person here that one must kill—only one’s own shortcomings in the training—to call this a “justification for killing” is to misunderstand the whole character of this endeavor as Atisha describes it. The enemy that appears is obviously an instance of training, and, as I have understood from interviews, it can become a particularly powerful training when it is done under adverse conditions, i.e., when, conventionally speaking, one perceives a real threat.
Atisha also clearly states that it would be wrong on the level of conventional truth to attack a real enemy, because the enemy conventionally exists for a deluded mind, and to attack him would have karmic consequences for the attacker in agreement with the teaching of cause and result. Therefore, the antidote to hatred for an enemy perceived as real is “the armor of love.” Once the yogi or yogini has removed the gross obscuration of hatred, he or she should train in the manner described above to realize that the threat that is perceived is nothing but mind. Atisha nowhere says, as Gray claims, that the enemy must be killed with compassion. The “armor of love” is not to prevent the yogis from karmic consequences; its purpose is to train and tame the mind.
Atisha provides the above explanation on the level of conventional truth. What follows is his brief argument on the level of absolute truth, which has been briefly alluded to with the above line “and ultimately, one understands [harm doers] to be without birth.” The text continues:
དེའི་ཕྱིར་ངེས་བརྗོད་ལས། མི་གསོད་གསོད་པ་མེད་པ་ཡིན༎ གང་གིས་རང་སེམས་ཐུལ་བ་ཡིས༎ བདག་གི་སེམས་ནི་བཅིངས་པ་ཡིན༎ གང་ལ་གང་གིས་གསོད་པ་ཡོད༎ ཅེས་པ་དང། (…) Thus the Abhidhānottara says:
“There is neither killing nor not-killing.
One who has tamed his mind
is binding his mind.
Who is killed by whom?”
Note that Atisha does not primarily argue that “harm doers have no birth” with a mere “intellectual” argument of emptiness, but that he embeds his teaching in the “practical” instruction of binding the mind by taming it. This refers to exactly the training and taming of the mind as it was explained above, i.e., by entering successively into renunciation, love, and so forth, up to the realization of “only the mind” within the ritual of liberation embedded in mahayogatantra sadhana practice. Within such a realization of “only mind,” one must indeed ask the question “who is killed by whom?”♦ 11 Atisha concludes the argument with a continuation of the quote and his conclusion:
ཡང་། བྱམས་པའི་གོ་ཆ་བགོས་པ་དང་༎ སྙིང་རྗེ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་གོ་ཆ་ཡིན༎ ཤེས་རབ་མཚན་ཆར་ལྡན་པ་ཡིས༎ ཉོན་མོངས་བདུད་རྣམས་བཟློག་པར་བྱ༎ བཀའ་ཡི་འཁོར་ལོ་སྲུང་བ་ཆེ༎ ཕུར་བུས་བགེགས་མེད་དངོས་གྲུབ་འགྱུར༎ སྲུང་བའི་ཆོ་ག་འདི་དག་གིས༎ སྒྲུབ་པ་པོ་ལ་བྱང་ཆུབ་སྩོལ༎ གཙོ་བོའི་བཀའ་ནི་བླང་བར་གྱིས༎ རྣལ་འབྱོར་པ་ནི་གར་གནས་པར༎ བགེགས་རྣམས་ཐམས་ཅད་མེད་པར་མཐོང་༎ ཞེས་གསུངས་པའི་ཕྱིར་རོ༎ དེ་ལྟར་མ་ཡིན་པར་བཀའ་ལ་ལོག་པར་རྟོགས་ཏེ་ངན་པའི་ལས་དང་ལྡན་པ་ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་ཀྱིས་འོག་ཏུ་འགྲོ་བ་ལ་ཕྱོགས་པ་ཉོན་མོངས་པ་ལ་སོགས་པའི་ཞགས་པས་བཅིངས་པ་ཟོ་ཆུན་ལྟར་འཁོར་བ་རྣམས་དང་ཁྱད་པར་མེད་པས་ལམ་ལ་གནས་པའི་རྣལ་འབྱོར་པ་ཡང་མ་ཡིན་ནོ༎
Moreover:
He wears the armor of love and the armor of the Dharma of compassion. Being endowed with discriminative knowledge as a weapon, he should repel the afflictions, which are the Mara. This wheel of instruction is a great protection. With the kila it turns into the siddhi of freedom from obstruction. With these armors of protection awakening is bestowed on the adept. Hold this principal instruction! Wherever he abides, the yogi will perceive all obstructions as not existent.
To understand the instructions not like that and, thus, wrongly [means that] one is not a yogi abiding on the path since one possesses bad karma, moves towards the lower realms through oneʼs very nature, is bound by the noose of affliction, etc., and is not different from samsaric beings, roaming [in samsara] like a water wheel.
Gray, however, concludes from the above passage:
This justifies violence by those who have controlled their minds, and are thus not motivated by the passions, but rather by the cool calculus of compassion, which calls for violence as a defensive strategy, that is, as a way preventing evildoers from committing greater acts of violence. This denial of the reality of violence …
Such a complete misunderstanding of the intention of Atisha’s texts is only possible through several translation mistakes and a biased reading. If there ever existed a Tibetan text that justified violence, then it is certainly not this one.
Notes
1. []↩ Dalton, Jacob P. 2011. The Taming of the Demons: Violence and Liberation in Tibetan Buddhism. New Haven: Yale University Press.
2. []↩ The qualities and problems of this book were reviewed by Matthew Kapstein, 2013, Review of The Taming of the Demons: Violence and Liberation in Tibetan Buddhism by Jacob P. Dalton (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011). Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 73.1: 177–84; and Cathy Cantwell, 2014, Review article of The Taming of the Demons: Violence and Liberation in Tibetan Buddhism by Jacob P. Dalton. History of Religions 54.1: 106–12.
3. []↩ Lines 37–9 in the Tibetan text.
4. []↩ The first sentence quoted ends with the Tibetan particle las, and Dalton connects this to the Lady of Death: “from her” appears a syllable. However, that cannot be because such a function of the las particle is only possible when it is attached to a noun. In the text, it is attached to a verb, “imagine,” and in this case it simply continues the action.
5. []↩ Cf. Dalton 2011, 208.
6. []↩ It is difficult to explain that according to one sign the effigy “does not stop shaking.” But that is as difficult to explain for an effegy as for a real human head once it is chopped off.
7. []↩ Gray, David B. 2007. “Compassionate Violence? On the Ethical Implications of Tantric Buddhist Ritual.” Journal of Buddhist Ethics 14: 239–71.
8. []↩ Abhisamayavibhanga by Atisha, 188r f. Mngon par rtogs pa rnam par ’byed pa, D vol. 22, 185v7–202v3.
9. []↩ These and the following quotes are taken from Atishaʼs Abhisamayavibhanga, 188r f.
10. []↩ One of the more obvious problems of Gray’s translation is that he did not recognised the Sarvadurgati Tantra quote and has translated the words of the title and the quote as if they were part of Atishaʼs speech.
11. []↩ But Gray translates: “Yet those whose minds are bound kill one another,” which is syntactically impossible. He also overlooks that this is a question.
Tilopa’s Gangama Mahamudra within the Oral Transmission of Cakrasamvara
May 17, 2019
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Tilopa’s famous Gangama Mahamudra‒according to tradition taught by Tilopa to Naropa at the banks of the River Ganges and later transmitted to Marpa Lotsawa‒has been translated before, e.g., by Trungpa, Tiso and Torricelli, Brunnhölzl, and Khenpo Thampel.
Why now another translation? The answer is: because we have different texts.
More then a decade ago I started collecting manuscript editions of the Gangama, that is, text editions that were written by hand and transmitted outside of the “official” canon (i.e., the Tibetan Tangyur). I soon noticed that these paracanonical manuscripts contained a text that differed in many ways from the canonical version of the Peking, Derge, Narthang, and Cone Tangyur editions of the same text.
The greatest surprise for me was to discover the vast extent of structural intervention undertaken by the redactors of the canon. The paracanonical (manuscript) versions are structured as follows (numbers refer to the lines of the Tibetan text):
1‒4: advice to listen 5‒29: introduction to the nature of the mind through the examples of space, clouds, and the sun 30: view 31: conduct 32‒37: meditative practice 38‒47: pledges 48‒52: benefits of practicing this path 53‒55: defects of not practicing like that 56‒59: practice of relying on the guru and renunciation 60‒66: ascertaining the result of view, meditation, and conduct 67‒79: abandoning distractions in the solitude 79‒86: benefits of such practice 87‒100: practice of the individuals of highest capacity 101‒104: types of individuals 105‒113: practice of the individuals of lower capacities 114‒118: results and qualities
One of the key features of this structure is that the text directly introduces with 25 lines the nature of the mind. The key feature of the structure of the canonical version as found in the Tangyur, on the other hand, is that the text teaches first a gradual teaching of 28 lines before it offers an introduction to the nature of the mind. The redactors of the canon thus have changed the very nature of the text, turning this teaching of the Indian Siddha tradition into a mainstream “gradual path” type of teaching (lam rim).
Secondly, the paracanonical manuscript tradition presents the Gangama as a text with irregular numbers of syllables per line, generally nine or eleven, but occasionally also seven and thirteen. This allows for a natural expression as we find it in many instructional texts on mahamudra, such as the poetical and spontaneous songs of the mahasiddhas and also in many of Jigten Sumgön’s songs and instructions. The editors of the Tangyur, on the other hand, have changed this into a uniform pattern of nine syllable verses with mostly four lines, thereby streamlining it to fit the style of other versified teachings.
The text that I present here as the main text is taken from the Oral Transmission of Cakrasamvara and the Oral Transmission of the Dakini, both edited and arranged by the great Drukpa Kagyü master Padma Karpo (1527‒1592). According to the tradition, these teachings were received by Tilopa directly from the Dakinis when he was staying in Uddiyana. Tilopa transmitted them to Naropa and the latter to his Tibetan disciple Marpa Lotsawa, who passed them on to Milarepa. At this point, there is some confusion that was recently cleared up in an article by Marta Sernesi (2011). According to her, people have confused this oral transmission (or, as she calls it, aural since that is closer to the meaning of the Tibetan word snyan, “ear”) with the Nine Instructions of the Formless Dakini. The story of Milarepa receiving only five of these instructions from Marpa and sending his disciple Rechungpa to India to bring back the remaining four has actually nothing to do with the transmission of the Oral Transmission of Cakrasamvara (or the Oral Transmission of the Dakini, which are alternative terms) itself since the Nine Instructions are only supplemental teachings to the actual Oral Transmissions. Larsson (2012: 86) and Quintman (2014: 41) still repeat the mistake, and this shows once again how dangerous it is to take such legends at face value. In truth, in the writings of the Oral Transmission, it is clear that the transmission from Marpa to Mila has been complete.
Sernesi also points out that the Oral Transmission of Cakrasamvara or the Dakini are (alternative) names for the teaching, and the Oral Transmission of Rechung and Oral Transmission of Ngendzong, who was the other cotton clad yogi to receive the transmission from Mila, are names for particular lineages in which the instructions were transmitted. There also appears to be a further lineage through Gampopa and Phagmodrupa (Larsson 2012: 88), the Oral Transmission of Dakpo, possibly with abridged or essential instructions (Sernesi 2011: 180, n. 2).
The Oral Transmission of Cakrasamvara contains teachings by Vajradhara, Vajrayogini and other Dakinis, Tilopa, Naropa and other Indian masters, as well as by Marpa, Milarepa, and later disciples. According to Padma Karpo’s introduction and catalog of the Oral Transmission of the Dakini (mKha’ ’gro snynan brgyud kyi dpe tho, Torricelli 2000: 361), the Gangama Mahamudra is the first text of the collection (as arranged by him), and it is its essential instruction.
Of the already existing translations of the Gangama, Trungpa Rinpoche’s and Tiso and Torricelli’s are made from the canonical version of the Tangyur. Brunnhölzl’s translation is based on a paracanonical transmission as it appears in the 5th Shamarpas’s commentary. Within the paracanonical transmission, I observed two groups with the Shamarpa’s and the rGya gzhung manuscripts on the one side and the Oral Transmissions on the other (this is described in the introduction to my edition). The Shamarpa’s commentary and Brunnhölzl’s translation show some particular features that I pointed out in the introduction to my translation of the Oral Tradition manuscripts. The commentary of H.H. Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang Rinpoche is based on my edition of ten paracanonical and four canonical editions. Khenpo Thampel’s translation of the root text, however, seems to be based on a canonical version.
My translation and the accompanying edition are not supposed to present a definitive edition or translation of the Gangama. I aim above all to document the hitherto neglected Oral Transmission and to make the many interesting variant readings of the different manuscript families visible.
You can download my translation and edition in the downloads section in the lower part of the right column of your screen: “Tilopa: Gangama Mahamudra (Translation)” and “Tilopa: Gangama Mahamudra (Edition of Tib. text).” Enjoy!
For bibliographical references to the other translations, see my translation of the Oral Tradition.
Larsson, Stefan (2012) Crazy for Wisdom: The Making of a Mad Yogin in Fifteenth-Century Tibet, Leiden: Brill.
Sernesi, Marta (2011) “The Aural Transmission of Samvara: An Introduction to Neglected Sources for the Study of Early Bka’ brgyud,” Mahamudra and the Bka’ brgyud Tradition, Andiast: International Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies.
Torricelli, Fabrizio (2000) “Padma dkar-po’s Arrangement of the ‘bDe-mchog snyan-brgyud,’ East and West, 50(1/4), 359-386.
Quintman, Andrew (2014) The Yogin and the Madman: Reading the Biographical Corpus of Tibet’s Great Saint Milarepa, New York: Columbia University Press.
Of bad thoughts about burnt stumps
March 17, 2019
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
In one of the public teachings recorded by Sherab Jungné, Jigten Sumgön quoted the Buddha, saying:♦ 1
Do not cultivate a bad thought even about a burnt stump, and, because desire cannot be satisfied, abandon sense pleasures!
These two lines summarize all the Buddha’s teachings about “the thing-to-be-abandoned,” namely aversion and attachment. Similar statements can be found in the Vinaya and many sūtras such as the Vinayakṣudrakavastu:♦ 2
If one should not have bad thoughts even about a burnt stump, there is no need to mention a body endowed with consciousness! Monks, train yourself like that!
The Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra too says:♦ 3
Monks, do not cultivate a bad thought even about a burnt stump! Why? All sentient beings fall into the hell of beings due to their cultivation of bad thoughts!
Moreover, the Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna says:♦ 4
Those who crave will not be satisfied by desire
like fire not by firewood
and the ocean not by rivers.
Therefore, desire cannot be soothed.
We usually categorize such statements as the Buddha’s teaching on disciplined conduct (Skt. śīla). In the Single Intention teachings of Jigten Sumgön, however, an instruction like “do not cultivate a bad thought even about a burnt stump” also has other and, perhaps, unexpected dimensions.
In his teachings on the 37 Bodhisattva Trainings, Garchen Rinpoche, too, often reminds us in the context of training five, which teaches us to avoid bad friends, that it is one thing to stay away from people who destroy our love and compassion when our spiritual capacity is low, but quite another to see faults in the spiritual teacher when we want to practice the Dharma.♦ 5 Moreover, in the context of Mahāmudrā teachings, he often says that we must view all lamas as buddhas. “When you see a fault in the lama, that is only your own fault!”
This instruction goes back to a teaching in the Single Intention, where Jigten Sumgön’s commentator, Dorjé Sherab, says that oneʼs supreme, medium, or lower accumulation of merit determines the guruʼs good, medium, or inferior qualities. If one perceives a guru who is lacking characteristics, that is only due to oneʼs inferior roots of virtue. Thus, qualities cannot arise if the guru lacks qualities since that is a sign of oneʼs own lack of accumulations.
Due to the lack of accumulations, we do not perceive our world as a pure land and its beings, including ourself, as buddhas and bodhisattvas. Therefore, we have to gather merit, and this is not done by seeing faults, but by perceiving qualities, even in inferior spiritual friends. Dorjé Sherab quotes Jigten Sumgön:
We do not follow the opinion that a contamination arises through devotion to an inferior guru. We do not follow the opinion that harm arises from making offerings to such a guru. And we also do not follow the opinion that looking at the bad as something good is a wrong view.
In other words, by perceiving good qualities even in inferior spiritual friends, no harm arises. One may not develop the qualities in his presence, but that devotion, through which the pledges remain intact, will be the cause for meeting a perfect guru in whose presence the qualities arise without impediment. That is also Garchen Rinpoche’s instruction for disciples who want to practice Mahāmudrā.
There is also a further dimension with regard to the instruction not to cultivate a bad thought even about a burnt stump. It is also connected to the Mahāmudrā instructions found in the Single Intention (vajra statement 6.13): “That Mahāmudrā and disciplined conduct (śīla) are one is an unsurpassed special teaching of Jigten Sumgön.” There are several reasons provided in the commentaries why Mahāmudrā and disciplined conduct are one, but here I want to focus only on one, namely that in both teachings—Mahāmudrā and disciplined conduct—one is advised not to cultivate a bad thought even about a burnt stump.
Generally, Mahāmudrā and disciplined conduct are both practiced to obtain liberation. To obtain liberation, the grasping of the self must be abandoned. How is the self being grasped? It is constantly grasped through our conceptions of aversion and attachment. Therefore, both Mahāmudrā and disciplined conduct abandon the conceptions of aversion and attachment. Someone who cultivates bad thoughts even towards a burnt stump and who has the hopes that his actions of desire will satisfy his desire can neither be successful in the practice of Mahāmudrā nor of disciplined conduct.
Most importantly, however, when the Mahāmudrā trainee, having mastered calm abiding and superior insight, trains to realize all stirrings of the mind as dharmakāya, whatever thought arises is watched in its essence without following after it. “Without following after it” refers to any subsequent thought activity or any other activity of body and speech that engages in the manner of aversion or attachment because one hopes to destroy the object of aversion or satisfy one’s desire. To stay clear from that is “not to cultivate a bad thought even about a burnt stump” and to “abandon sense pleasures” on the level of Mahāmudrā.
- * *
I would like to add a few personal thoughts. To say like Dorjé Sherab that “oneʼs supreme, medium, or lower accumulation of merit determines the guruʼs good, medium, or inferior qualities” should not be misconstrued as a free ticket for teachers to abuse students. At this time, when some spiritual teachers have caused scandals in the West by sexually or otherwise abusing their students, we need to be very clear of what is possible and what not.
Both Jigten Sumgön and his guru Phagmodrupa have strongly repudiated the possibility of sexual relations between teacher and student. It has never been Jigten Sumgön’s intention to make the disciple responsible for sexual (or any other) assaults by the teacher in the sense that the disciple would have an impure view if he or she perceives the guru’s conduct as sexual abuse. There is no place for sex in the guru-disciple relation. Abuse should be made public and not be hidden under the blanket of “pure view.”
When Dorjé Sherab points out the correlation between seeing faults in others (including the teacher) and one’s own lack of qualities, this has in mind that we generally lack the ability to see qualities and focus instead on the faults of others. We tend to divide the world into good and bad, friend and foe, Buddhist and not Buddhist. In that way, we are focusing on other people’s faults instead of learning from their qualities. We are strengthening the notion of “I” and “others.” Moreover, we are robbing ourselves of the possibility to learn from others, no matter who they are. Jigten Sumgön says in the Single Intention (1.19): “We maintain that there exists much that is virtuous by its fundamental nature to be practiced in the systems of the Non-Buddhists too.” Are we not encouraged to see the quality of loving kindness even in animals?
Thus, when we see faults in others, but not their qualities, that is a sure sign that we lack wisdom. By condemning others (including teachers) for their faults, we deepen our tendency to only see faults in others and to overlook their qualities. With such a deepened tendency, we are reinforcing attachment and aversion and the grasping of a self, and we make it less likely to create in the future the conditions for meeting a perfect teacher.
But, again, that does not mean that we should not protect ourselves and others from abuse. To protect ourselves and others, we should speak up when we see abuse, but we should not do that with an attitude of self-righteousness and hatred, but out of love and compassion. Then, nothing can go wrong.
Notes 1. []↩ Collected Works, vol. 12, p. 251: de bas sdong dum mes tshig la’ang // ngan sems bskyed par mi bya zhing // ‘dod la ngoms pa yod med pas// de bas ‘dod yon spang bar gsungs//
2. []↩Vinayakṣudrakavastu, vol. 10, fol. 95r: gang mgal dum la yang ngan sems mi bya na rnam par shes pa dang bcas pa’i lus la lta smos kyang ci dgos/ dge slong dag khyed kyis de lta bur bslab par bya’o//
3. []↩Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra, D vol. 52, fol. 256r: dge slong dag mgal dum la yang ngan sems ma skyed cig /de ci’i phyir zhe na/ sems can thams cad ni ngan sems bskyed pa’i rgyus sems can dmyal bar ltung bar ‘gyur ro zhes gsungs so//
4. []↩Saddharmasmṛtyupasthāna, D vol. 71, fol. 205v: me la bud shing rnams dang ni// rgya mtsho la ni chu bo ltar// sred ldan ‘dod pas ngoms pa med// de phyir ‘dod pa zhi ba min//
5. []↩I thank Ven. Yeshe Metog for allowing me to read her translation of Garchchen Rinpoche’s teachings on the 37 Bodhisattva Trainings.
Buddhist Metaphors and the Inexpressible
September 30, 2018
Uncategorized
2 Comments
Buddhism certainly presents itself as a metaphor: the Awakend One, the assemblage (samgha), the path, the vehicle, and so forth. Quite a number of very old metaphors are agricultural: root of merit, karmic seed, fruit to be obtained, field of merit (and later: Buddha fields), and refuge tree. Some metaphors appear to be intercultural and interreligious, for instance colours: white merit is virtuous, black is non-virtuous. Or spatial metaphors: upwards is positive, downwards is negative. Knowledge, wisdom and understanding are interculturally represented by light, ignorance as darkness. Probably through the notion of an increased visibility in luminosity, understanding is metaphorically expressed as “seeing,” not understanding as “blindness.” Some metaphors are very productive. They produce many more metaphors that produce whole clusters of metaphors, like the above cluster of agricultural metaphors, or like the metaphor of space, which is the basis for the metaphorical field containing metaphors like upwards and downwards, lack of hindrance (= succes), or pervasion (= understanding, compassion, wealth, etc.).
With this knowledge in mind, how much deeper is our understanding of Jigten Sumgön’s opening words of his Simultaneously Arising Mahamudra (Phyag rgya chen po lhan cig skyes sbyor gyi ngo sprod):
I bow down to the Gurus, who remove the darkness of ignorance of beings by pervading the sphere of the unborn pure space of true reality with a thousand lights of unhindered compassion.
From early on, the Buddha himself has created numerous similes on the basis of metaphors. The website Access to Insight lists ca. 250 such similies that occur in their translations of Pali sutras. A recent Thai Buddhist master has similarly collected 108 similes. 1 There is for instance a story in an old Pali sutra (SN 35.206) where several different kinds of animals are bound togther by a rope. Each animal pulls into a different direction. This is a simile that shows how the thoughts of the mind contest for dominance. The simile builds on the metaphor of thoughts being wild animals. In this way, the figurative language of metaphors and similes was used throughout the history of Buddhism as a hermeneutical tool to explicate the doctrine.
From very early on, Buddhist philosophers and commentators have understood the power of figurative language and described its elements and functions. In a metaphor, they explained, the metaphorical term (e.g., “lotus born”) indirectly refers to a concept (e.g., “purity”). Thus, when someone says “I take refuge in the Buddha,” both “refuge” and “Buddha” are metaphors — we are not literally trying to hide behind the broad shoulders of Shakyamuni. Such figurative speech opens up a world of interpretation and understanding. The Drikungpa master Garchen Rinpoche, for instance, would explain that what we seek is not the person Siddharta Gautama, but his awakening to the true nature of the mind, which we ourselves cannot get from him, but only find in ourselves. “Going for refuge in the Buddha” is according to him a metaphor for searching for the nature of one’s own mind within oneself.
Such a deep penetration of the language of the sutras and other scriptues is on the one hand possible through the experience of a teacher like Garchen Rinpoche. But it has also been made possible through the forerunners of mahamudra yogis, the philosophers of Yogacara Buddhism. Beginning from the 3rd century they have developed a theory of language according to which not only metaphors, but actually all language is figurative: If all phenomena to which language refers are only appearances of the mind, the words that refer to such phenomena do not have a direct referent, since that referent does not exist as it appears. 2 This understanding, namely that words can never refer directly to any real object, has also led them to proclaim that the ultimate truth is, therefore, actually inexpressible and completey beyond language. Paradoxically, however, it is just this figurative language that best illustrates this inexpressibility. Consider these words of the Great Brahmin Saraha (quoted in the above mentioned mahamudra instruction of Jigten Sumgön): 3
If you dedicate yourself wholeheartedly to the authoritative [instructions] of the guru and strive respectfully, there is no doubt that the simultaneously arisen will come forth. Since it is without color, attributes, words or illustrations, unable to express it, I will try a rough illustration: Like a young girls joy in her heart, Holy Lord, whom could it be told?
Apart from that, it is certainly important to keep in mind that the language of Buddhist texts, be it technical or metaphorical, refers to phenomena that do not exist as they appear. As Garchen Rinpoche pointed out in his teachings this week in Munich, all the words of the texts, however skillfully expressed, are of no particular value if the reality that is expressed at best indirectly by them is not directly experienced in meditation.
Notes
1. http://www.accesstoinsight.org and http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/thai/chah/insimpleterms.html. ↩
2. See the new study A Yogācāra Buddhist Theory of Metaphor by Roy Tzohar, Oxford University Press, 2018. ↩
3. Another version is recorded by Kurtis Schaeffer, Dreaming the Great Brahmin, Oxford University Press, p. 154: Free of color, quality, words, and examples,// It cannot be spoken, and in vain I point it out.// Like the bliss of a young woman, desirous for love,// Who can teach its noble power to whom?// ↩
Two Truths / Zwei Wahrheiten
April 8, 2018
Uncategorized
1 Comment
I have added in the right margin (scroll down to “download PDF”) a new translation of Patrul Rinpoche’s instruction on the two truths (auch auf deutsch!). It has been translated in the past, but I think that I was able to add some precision to the translation. I also provided a number of footnotes to clarify a few points for those who have not so much experience in reading this kind of text.
Although I do not know of any systematic presentation of Jigten Sumgön’s understanding of the two truths, I think that Patrul Rinpoche’s explanation is very close to how Jigten Sumgön would teach them. The main point is that the level of truth is determined by the realization of one’s mind. Thus, already Jigten Sumgön’s guru Phagmodrupa had said (as quoted in Rigdzin Chökyi Dragpa’s commentary on dGongs gcig 7.1):
E ma ho! This king that is the mind, – if one realizes it, that is nirvana, if one does not realize it, that is the ocean of samsara. Apart from realizing and non-realizing there is no obtaining and non-obtaining of the fruit.
Therefore, Chökyi Dragpa said in the same commentary: “Samsara and nirvana have no other difference than ‘realized’ and ‘not-realized.'” Moreover, since that realization of the mind is free from all extremes of proliferation – the buddhahood that is achieved in the sameness of all phenomena, the inseparable union – within that absolute result there exists no distinction between the two truths (dGongs gcig 7.1). This union on the level of absolute truth is also in accordance with Patrul Rinpoche’s instruction.
I hope you will enjoy the text!
jan
Jigten Sumgön’s Mahāmudrā Instruction “Yoga of the Innate: The Two Armours”
January 3, 2018
Uncategorized
3 Comments
[Updated version (May 20, 2019)]
The “Yoga of the Innate” (lhan cig skyes sbyor, Skt. *sahajayoga) is a special transmission of Gampopa and all the Kagyüpas after him – but before I discuss some of its details, let me first briefly explain my choice of the term “innate.” The literal meaning of the Tibetan term lhan cig is “together.” In connection with the Tibetan term skyes pa, the idea is that something is “born or arising together,” and Gampopa has pointed out that it means “at the same time,” namely that dharmakāya and mind♦ 1
have no “earlier” and “later” concerning the time [of their arising] and they are not a “good thing” [i.e. the dharmakāya] and a “bad thing” [i.e. the mind with its thoughts]. They are, therefore, “arisen together”
or simultaneously, that is, innate. When, in the mahāmudrā instructions of the “yoga (Tib. sbyor) of the innate,” the disciple is introduced to the nature of the mind right from the beginning, the topic or contents of this introduction is that, chiefly, the dharmakāya is innate to the mind, i.e. they are “arisen together.” In particular, as Gampopa said to the first Karmapa: 2
What is innate to the mind is the dharmakāya. What is innate to appearance is the radiance of the dharmakāya.
The innate nature of the mind is its nature or essence. The innate appearance is the thought that has arisen from [the mind]. They are like the sun and the rays of the sun or sandalwood and the scent of sandalwood.
In other words, any outer appearance is in truth a thought arising in the mind, where the mind is actually the dharmakāya and the thought dharmakāya’s radiance. This nature of reality, which is introduced to the disciple, is after that used as a means of practice on the path. Another way to express this are these words of Phagmodrupa:♦ 3
Mind, thought, and dharmakāya
are from the beginning innate (lhan cig skyes pa).
Since this is trained (sbyor ba, Skt. yoga) through instructions,
it is called “yoga of the innate.”
The perhaps most important characteristic of this yoga is, therefore, the involvement of thoughts and appearances in the practice of the path, as it is only through them that the dharmakāya can be seen. In other words, *sahajayoga is “mahāmudrā on the level of the path.”♦ 4
Jigten Sumgön has used this basic instruction of innateness in his Introduction to Mahāmudrā, the Yoga of the Innate in the chapter where he introduces appearances as dharmakāya. When the disciple dwells in an original or natural state of the mind, relaxed and without grasping,♦ 5
… appearance and mind vividly arise as inseparable without the appearing objects remaining outside and the mind being inside as different from the appearance. (…) Therefore, [the appearance] is the unhindered self-appearance of the natural radiance of the nature of the mind. (…) [I]t is not so that formerly separate things become one after they have merged – they have always been like that!
Since that is the case, Jigten Sumgön says in the instruction translated below that a thought “is seen as possessing qualities, as a kindness, or as indispensable” as it can be used to fully unfold the potential (rtsal) of discriminating knowledge (shes rab), leading to the realisation that dharmakāya is from the beginning innate to the mind.
Gampopa received two traditions of the instruction of this yoga; one by the Kadampa Geshe Chagriwa♦ 6 and the other one by Milarepa. The teaching that was transmitted by Phagmodrupa to Jigten Sumgön is called the “two armours” (go cha gnyis). According to Phagmodrupa, it is the teaching that Gampopa received from Milarepa. It occurs, however, that elements of Chagriwa’s instruction are also visible in Jigten Sumgön’s instruction translated below.
There exists a very profound and important commentary by Jigten Sumgön on Phagmodrupa’s teaching of the four yogas of mahāmudrā which has been translated by Alexander Schiller in his remarkable book on the four yogas. 7 Jigten Sumgön mentions here that Milarepa’s transmission of the “two armours” – one concerning the “outer view,” the other “inner wisdom” – includes the following instructions. (1) All thoughts and mental afflictions did not arise from anywhere, which is the dharmakāya, they did not disappear anywhere, which is the sambhogakāya, they abide neither outside nor inside, which is the nirmāṇkāya, and they do not exist anywhere, which is the svabhāvikakāya. They have always been like that.♦ 8 (2) This knowledge is cultivated in meditative practice until thoughts and mental afflictions have completely vanished, like the centre of space, free from all clouds. – Here, the “outer” and “inner” aspects appear to be that the first is an “outer view” in the sense of an analysis based on learning and reflecting and the second a cultivation of inner wisdom leading to realisation. These two aspects of “outer” and “inner” are differently interpreted in Jigten Sumgön’s instruction translated below.
Jigten Sumgön’s commentary of the four yogas also mentions the instruction Gampopa received from Chagriwa. These are, at first, that thoughts, even though they do not have a real existence, are “a kindness” (because they are a means of realisation). Moreover, thoughts are non-existent-[yet]-manifested (med sprul), which is to say that although they are in truth not existent (med), they manifest (sprul) as possessing qualities, as a kindness, or as indispensable for the arising of the potential (rtsal) of discriminating knowledge. 9 Furthermore, one overcomes thoughts on arising (phrad ‘joms), which is the conviction that at the very moment a thought arises, it is without origination. Thoughts are, still furthermore, retraced (rjes snyags). In Gampopa’s teaching, this is done by asking: Where did they come from?, and so forth (as above). In the commentary on the four yogas, thoughts are “removed without experiencing their taste.” 10 These three points of Chagriwa’s instruction (together with two further points) also appear in Jigten Sumgön’s instruction translated below, at the very end of the text, almost as an afterthought.
The next section in the commentary of the four yogas refers to the four aspects of “taking as the path” (lam ‘khyer rnam pa bzhi). These are the instructions for taking thoughts, mental afflictions, illness (nad), and demons (gdon) as the path. 11 These, too, are to be practised as not arising from anywhere, not disappearing anywhere, abiding neither outside nor inside, and not existing anywhere, that is, they are the four kāyas. In the instruction translated below, afflictions and illnesses seem to be mentioned at the beginning as the armour of the outer view. Concerning the afflictions, Jigten Sumgön mentions (as he does in his Single Intention 6.17) that one would have to be very attentive concerning even the most subtle evil. Proceeding like that, the virtuous disciplined conduct is never interrupted. Concerning illnesses, the instruction translated below states that neither the illnesses of the outer body nor the sufferings of the inner mind are to be abandoned. That is, they are not to be seen as a “bad” thing to be removed, but rather as something to be taken as the path. In general, instructions of how to take thoughts, mental afflictions, illnesses, and demons as the path can be found in many teachings of Jigten Sumgön (which can hopefully be explored on another occasion).
The commentary of the four yogas mentions in the section on the armour concerned with inner wisdom only that the knowledge that thoughts are unarisen, etc., is cultivated in meditative practice until thoughts and mental afflictions have completely vanished. The instruction translated below, however, has a different emphasis. Here, again in accordance with the Single Intention (6.9), Jigten Sumgön points out that the experience of the samādhis is not a quality in itself (and its not-arising is not a defect). In the commentaries of the Single Intention, a similar point is made for the three samādhis of bliss, luminosity, and non-thought. Clinging to bliss, one is only sidetracked to the realm of desire (Skt. kamadhātu), clinging to luminosity, to the realm of form (Skt. rūpadhātu), and clinging to non-thought, to the realm of formlessness (Skt. arūpyadhātu). The reason that the experience of bliss, luminosity and freedom from thoughts is not leading to any useful realisation is that it is a conditioned phenomenon and thus impermanent, but realisation is not conditioned and thus also not impermanent. An unconditioned realisation, however, cannot be achieved by a conditioned practice. This point is also briefly mentioned in a different section of the commentary of the four yogas.♦ 12
In conclusion, while Jigten Sumgön’s commentary of the four yogas is a systematical presentation of Phagmodrupa’s teaching, including a presentation of the teaching that mind, thought, and dharmakāya arise together, the instruction translated below is a direct personal instruction for the practice of the “yoga of the innate,” i.e. the practice of appearances and thoughts as unarisen and nothing to be abandoned.
TRANSLATION
The Instruction of the Yoga of the Innate: The Two Armours 13
I pay homage to the guru!
At the time of practising the yoga of the innate, there are two armours: Being careful about the most subtle evil and not to interrupt the virtuous disciplined conduct are the armour of the outer view. Not to abandon illnesses of the outer body and sufferings of the inner mind is also the armour of the outer view.
Secondly, concerning the armour of the inner discriminating knowledge (shes rab), not to view the arising of the samādhi of the abiding, tranquil, and blissful mind as a qualitiy, and, likewise, not to view its non-arising as a defect is the armour of the inner discriminating knowledge.
By being endowed with the two armours in that way, one regards the thoughts with the eye of discriminating knowledge (Skt. prajñā). Thereby, at the time of non-distraction, thoughts are primordially unarisen. When there is a distraction, a thought arises. However, if you want to know if that thought has to be abandoned, it has not to be abandoned. It is seen as possessing qualities, as a kindness, or as indispensable.♦ 14 Why is that so? On the basis of that thought arises the potential (rtsal) of discriminating knowledge. Therefore, as a non-existence of thoughts is not established after [merely] abandoning that thought, examine from where that thought first arose. It did not arise from anywhere else but your empty nature of the mind, like, for instance, a cloud arises [in] the empty sky. By examining where [the thought] disappears at the end, [you will find that] it does not go anywhere but your [[[mind’s]] nature], like a bubble disappears in the water. By examining how [the thought] exists in the time between [[[arising]] and disappearing], [you will find that] it is not established as an essence of anything at all and does not abide anywhere.
In that way, by examining and practising the thought as unborn, the idea arises that somehow all phenomena of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa do not exist apart from your mind. By maintaining that experience, at first, it is an experience like the falling of snow upon a lake [i.e., the thought and the nature of the mind become of one taste]. By maintaining that [[[experience]]], it is then an experience like a fire spreading in a forest [i.e., the fire of experience is well-nourished with thoughts]. Then, thirdly, it is an experience like meeting a person one is familiar with from earlier times [i.e., there is an immediate recognition of the true nature of thoughts and appearances also in the post-meditative state]. [Now], you must not examine [anymore] from where that thought first arose, how it abides in the middle, and where it disappears at the end. That freedom from arising, stopping, and abiding is the dharmakāya.
[Generally, thoughts] are turned back by overcoming [them] on arising (phrad ‘joms), retracing (rjes snyags, also: phyi bsnyags), non-existence-[yet]-manifested (med sprul), removing hopes [of obtaining nirvāṇa] and giving up fright [concerning saṃsāra] (re ba ‘gag dogs pa bsu),♦ 15 and repenting from the heart (? zhe nas ‘gyod pa).
The Mahāmudrā-Yoga of the Innate is complete.
Notes 1. [sGam po pa’i gsung ‘bum, vol. 2, p. 356: dus la snga phyi med cing dngos bzang ngan med pas lhan cig skyes pa’o; in: Schiller (2014: 454).]↩
2. [[[Gampopa]], Dus gsum mkhyen pa’i zhus lan: sems nyid lhan cig skyes pa chos kyi sku// snang ba lhan cig skyes pa chos sku’i ’od// sems nyid lhan cig skyes pa ni/ sems kyi rang bzhin nam ngo bo de yin/ snang ba lhan cig skyes pa ni/ de las byung ba’i rnam par rtog pa de yin/ de yang nyi ma dang nyi ma’i ’od bzhin nam/ tsan dan dang tsan dan gyi dri lta bu yin/. (Unfortunately, TBRC provides no folio numbers.)]↩
3. [[[Phag mo gru pa]], lHan cig skyes sbyor, in: Schiller (2014: 454): sems dang rnam rtog chos sku gsum// dang po lhan cig skyes pa de// gdams pas sems su sbyor ba’i phyir// lhan cig skyes sbyor zhes su bshad//.]↩
4. [Cf. Gampopa’s characterisation of the difference between the two in Schiller (2014: 453, ftn. 37).]↩
5. [[[Phyag chen]] lhan cig skyes sbyor gyi ngo sprod, vol. 9, p. 489 f.; Cf. Sobisch 2006: 53.]↩
6. [Chagriwa (rGya lCags ri Gong kha ba) was one of the most important Kadampa teachers of Gampopa.]↩
7. [[[Chos]] rjes mdzad pa’i rnal ‘byor bzhi’i grel pa rnam dag rang ldan, in: Schiller 2014: 344-378 (Tib. text), 462-539 (translation and notes).]↩
8. [In his Phyag chen lhan cig skyes sbyor gyi ngo sprod, Jigten Sumgön explains that “the not being established as anything whatsoever is the dharmakāya, completely unhindered expression is the sambhogakāya, and the non-duality of these two and non-abiding anywhere whatsoever is the nirmaṇakāya” (Sobisch 2006: 43).]↩
9. [Cf. also Schiller 2014: 368.]↩
10. [See Trungram (2004: 196) and Schiller (2014: 506).]↩
11. [Cf. Schiller (2014: 369).]↩
12. [Cf. Schiller (2014: 361).]↩
13. [[[Khams gsum]] chos kyi rgyal po, vol. 5, no. 745.]↩
14. [[[Phagmodrupa]] describes thoughts as “the kind teacher” and as Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha; Chos rjes mdzad pa’i rnal ‘byor bzhi’i ‘grel pa rnam dag rang ldan, in: Schiller (2014: 344 ff., esp. 368).]↩
15. [This point is explained by Gampopa in the context of the sameness of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. By realising saṃsāra itself to be nirvāṇa, one does not hope anymore to obtain nirvāṇa from somewhere. Instead, one realises nirvāṇa itself to be saṃsāra and does not have a fear of falling into a “bad” saṃsāra. See sGam po pa’i gsung ‘bum, vol.1, p. 223: re dogs med pa ni/ de ltar ‘khor ba nyid mya ngan las ‘das pa rtogs pas/ mya ngan las ‘das pa logs nas thob tu re ba med la/ mya ngan ‘das pa nyid ‘khor bar rtogs pa dang / ‘khor ba ngan pa cig tu lhung gis dogs pa yang med de/.]↩
Bibliography (Tibetan Texts) Chos rjes mdzad pa’i rnal ‘byor bzhi’i grel pa rnam dag rang ldan, in: Schiller 2014: 344-378 (Tib. text), 462-539 (translation and notes).
Dus gsum mkhyen pa’i zhus lan, by Gampopa, TBRC W3JT13326.
Khams gsum chos kyi rgyal po, vol. 5, Zab chos of ‘Jig rten gsum mgon’s Collected Works, Dheradun, 2017.
lHan cig skyes sbyor, by Phagmodrupa, in: Schiller (2014: 454).
Phyag chen lhan cig skyes sbyor gyi ngo sprod ma rig mun sel ye shes snang ba’i rgyan, by Jigten Sumgön, in: The Collected Works of Khams gsum Chos kyi rgyal po thub dbang Ratna Shri, Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche (ed.), Dheradun: D.K. Institute, vol. 9, p. 489 f.; cf. Sobisch 2006.
sGam po pa’i gsung ‘bum, Khasup Gyatsho Shashin, Delhi, 1975.
(Western Academic Publications)
Schiller, Alexander (2014) Die „Vier Yoga“-Stufen der Mahāmudrā-Meditationstradition, (Indian and Tibetan Studies 2), Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Universität Hamburg.
Sobisch, Jan-Ulrich (2006) Einführung in die Mahāmudrā „Angeborene Einheit,“ München: Otter Verlag.
Trungram, Gyaltrul Rinpoche Sherpa (2004) Gampopa, the Monk and the Yogi: His Life and Teachings, PhD thesis, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University.
Jigten Sumgön’s Teaching of Bodhicitta
October 27, 2017
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
This year, I have published much less on this blog because I have been very busy with a wonderful project at a Consortium of the University of Erlangen-Nürnberg called “Fate, Freedom and Prognostication: Strategies for Coping with the Future in East Asia and Europe.” (http://www.ikgf.uni-erlangen.de/) In this project, I have studied Central and East Asian divination texts and worked together with Solvej Hyveled Nielsen on a dice divination text of Achi Chökyi Dölma. Solvej has also contributed a translation of a mala divination text of Tara that is ascribed to Atisha. We hope that we will soon be able to present our book Divining with Achi and Tara, which will include a comparative study of dice divination, detailed interviews with Khenchen Nyima Gyaltsen Rinpoche and Lho Ontul Rinpoche, appendices on the specialised Tibetan terminology of divination and more.
This blog will now undergo a small transformation. Instead of being solely devoted to Jigten Sumgön’s “Single Intention” (dGongs gcig), it will from now on be concerned with his teachings in general. I will, therefore, soon migrate a few articles from my other blog, “The World of Jigten Sumgön,” to this blog. In truth, whichever teaching of Jigten Sumgön we study, we will find that it always reflects the central idea that the teachings of all Buddhas have only one single intention.
The blog entry of today is concerned with Jigten Sumgön’s teaching of the two resolves for awakening (bodhicitta). In agreement with the idea of the unity of all teachings, he maintains that the “two bodhicittas” are actually “of a single taste like sesame and sesame oil.” Moreover, ultimately speaking, bodhicitta is not different from the absolute nature of reality, or Buddha nature, which is also the thing to be dedicated.
The teaching is brief but very profound.
Bestowing the pith instructions of cultivating the two resolves for awakening on Yeshe Tseg
Om swasti! Respectfully I pay homage with my body to the feet of glorious Phagmodrupa, protector of the three worlds, and essence of the gnosis of body, speech, and mind of the Buddhas of the three times. With a pure mind, I take refuge.
In general, to achieve supreme, completely awakened Buddhahood, there is nothing but the resolve for awakening whereby complete awakening can be obtained. If [the resolve] is lacking, that is a certain cause [for awakening] not to arise. This resolve for awakening has two aspects. From the point of view of cultivating the conventional resolve for awakening, when you engage in the cultivation of the root of immeasurably vast virtue – or, respectively, in the first morning session – you bless the three longer and shorter periods of time, thinking from the depth of your heart and the marrow of your bones:
May all sentient beings – my mothers who are as infinite as space – have happiness, be free from suffering, and obtain the precious, supreme, and complete awakening. To achieve that, I will bind body, speech, and mind to virtue until I have obtained Buddhahood, I will bind body, speech, and mind to virtue until I die, and I will bind body, speech, and mind to virtue from today until tomorrow.
Then, for the practice, you should train all the roots of virtue of body, speech, and mind in terms of that intention. Moreover, having cultivated the resolve for awakening in the morning or when you are at ease to do so, you must take the roots of virtue of body, speech, and mind that implement that [[[intention]]] as an example and dedicate the virtue that is accumulated by you and all others in the three times and the root of the virtue of true reality♦ 1 to complete awakening. That is the conventional resolve for awakening, the intention of all masters of skill – the Buddhas of the three times – and the great treasure that will accomplish all temporary and ultimate qualities. Therefore, you should cultivate the conventional resolve for awakening.
Now, how is the ultimate resolve for awakening practised? The ultimate resolve for awakening is exactly that same conventional resolve for awakening, but free from the extremes of all proliferations of arising, ceasing, and abiding, the true reality. Similarly, Acarya Arya [[[Nagarjuna]]], too, says: 2
are not two. Understanding the nature of samsara is called nirvana.
And the precious guru [[[Phagmodrupa]]], too, says:
Complete pacification of proliferation is the absolute resolve for awakening. [That and] conventional preliminary resolve and its actualisation thoroughly moistened with compassion are of a single taste like sesame and sesame oil.
Therefore, [[[relative]] and absolute resolve] are to be known as inseparable. And with that regard, even though there are systems of practicing [the absolute] as an emptiness where all things are discerned by way of atoms and divisions of parts of atoms, we maintain that it is realised only by way of devotion to the excellent guru, since that is what has been maintained by our precious guru [[[Phagmodrupa]]]. Similarly, the Exalted One has taught it in the Shri Hevajra Tantra:
That, which is not expressed by others, the inborn, which one cannot find anywhere, one must know through the ultimate guru sacrifice♦ 3 and through one’s merit.
Therefore, we assert the essence of the nature of the mind to be without interruption when the meaning that is beyond expression and thought and that is not the object of theoreticians – the inborn gnosis that is free from proliferation – has arisen as something that arises naturally through the devotion to the excellent guru and by the gathering of the accumulation of merit that precedes that. How is that practised? First, sit well on a comfortable seat in the cross-legged position and remain with the five limbs of concentration. Then, first, cultivate the resolve for supreme awakening and cultivate the body as the deity of Mantra. Then, meditate the excellent guru on the top of your head or in your heart and remain in a state of an unfabricated mind.
Do not grasp [the mind] as existing – that would be eternalism. Do not meditate it as non-existent – that would be annihilism. Do not meditate it “without grasping” – that would be “fabricated by the mind.” Leave [the mind] fresh, unfabricated, and unbound. From making supplications [to the guru in this state] and habituating [to that], you and others, whatever exists – all of samsara and nirvana – become one mind, spontaneously present, single, free from something to be meditated and meditating, without the hopes and fears of losing and obtaining results, free from “I,” “mine,” “subject and object,”
and without [merely] imagining to be separate [from that] or not.
You are, without interruption,
the spontaneously present svabhavikakaya.
Dedicate the merit afterwards
and also at other occasions for [the obtaining of] great awakening.
The way to make the dedication is this:
“May all beings achieve in every possible way the excellence
of whatever virtue exists of all beings,
which has been achieved, will be achieved, and is being achieved
on the stages of that excellence.”
Thus, you must dedicate the root of virtue.
This pith instruction of the Precious One
has been written requested by an excellent being.
May all beings obtain supreme awakening
by the merit arising from that.
[This text, which] has been requested by Gompa Yeshe Tseg from the precious Guru, the Glorious Drigungpa, is complete.
Byang chub sems gnyis nyams su blang ba’i gdams ngag ye shes rtsegs la gnang ba ‘Jig-rten-mgon-po’i gSung ‘bum, vol. kha, pp. 275-280.
Notes 1. [Tib. dge ba, lit. “existing virtue.” The Kagyüpas maintain the existence of virtue within the nature of reality, which is the Buddha nature, and which can be dedicated to awakening. The Drugpa Kagyüpa use the term “inherent virtue” (gnas pa’i dge ba ) and the Taklung Kagyüpas “natural virtue” (rang bzhin gyi dge ba ).]↩
2. [Yuktishastika 6; P vol. 95, p. 11/2/8. The actual quote has some variants: srid pa dang ni mya ngan ‘das// gnyis po ‘di ni yod ma yin// srid pa yongs su shes pa nyid// mya ngan ‘das zhes bya bar brjod//. “Existence and nirvana,// these two do not exist.// Thoroughly knowing existence// is called ‘nirvana.’//” ]↩
3. [My translation of bla ma’i dus mtha’ bsten pa as “ultimate guru sacrifice” reflects Jigten Sumgön’s teaching of ultimate guru devotion as seeing the guru as the dharmakaya.]↩
Der Kommentar zu Tilopas Mahamudra Gangama, “Wasserkristall”, von S.H. Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang Rinpoche
June 25, 2017
Uncategorized
1 Comment
Im Jahr 2002 lehrte Seine Heiligkeit, der Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang Rinpoche, den Grundtext von Tilopas „Ganges-Mahamudra“ in Medelon (Deutschland), im Drikung Ngaden Chöling. Bei einem Treffen in Dehradun bat ich ihn, zu diesem Text einen eigenen schriftlichen Kommentar zu verfassen, und ich versprach, die Grundlagen für eine Edition des Grundtextes zusammen zu stellen.
In den beiden folgenden Jahren sammelte verschiedene handschriftliche, außerkanonischen Überlieferungen der Gangama zusammen, z.B. die Handschrift der Mündlichen Überlieferung des Cakrasamvara, die alte Handschrift der Mündlichen Überlieferung der Vajrayogini, und die Handschriftensammlung der Indischen Grundtexte der Mahamudra. Auf diese Weise habe ich insgesamt vierzehn Textausgaben so zusammengestellt, dass für jede einzelne Silbe des Grundtextes alle Varianten aller Ausgaben sichtbar wurden. Diese mehr als 100 Seiten umfassende „Kollationierung“ war die Grundlage für die Belehrungen, die Seine Heiligkeit im Herbst 2008 in Dehra Dun (Indien) gab. Während der gesamten Belehrungen behielt er den kollationierten Text bei sich auf dem Tisch und entschied von Zeile zu Zeile, welches jeweils die beste Lesart des Grundtextes ist. Während der Belehrungen machte sich Seine Heiligkeit Notizen, die er dann später zu einem vollständigen und hier vorliegenden Kommentar ausgearbeitet hat. Es ist das erste Mal, dass in nicht-tibetischer Sprache eine „Gangama-Mahamudra“ Textausgabe und Übersetzung erscheint, die auf der Texttradition der ursprünglichen Handschriften beruht und die auf der Basis von mehreren verfügbaren Textausgaben ediert wurde.
Seine Heiligkeit übergab mir seinen Kommentar bereits im Jahr 2009 mit der Bitte, diesen ins Deutsche zu übersetzen. Leider haben mich verschiedene andere Projekte für geraume Zeit davon abgehalten. Im Frühjahrssemester 2015 habe ich schließlich die Chance ergriffen, und zusammen mit einigen Studenten an der Universität Kopenhagen Teile des Kommentars gelesen und bei dieser Gelegenheit den gesamten Text übersetzt.
Hier ist nun das Ergebnis, das für jeden frei zugänglich sein soll:
CHU SHEL Unicode
Ich wünsche Euch viel Freude beim Lesen!
jan
Is the Single Intention a philosophy? A first glance at the 8th Karmapa’s commentary
December 27, 2016
Uncategorized
1 Comment
During the last three months, I had the chance to work a bit on the 8th Karmapa’s enormous commentary of the Single Intention. Actually, it is not really one commentary, but a collection of texts composed between the mid-1530s and the mid-1540s. Karmapa Mikyö Dorje’s style of writing is remarkably different from the other commentaries of the Single Intention that I have studied so far, in particular, the early 13th century commentaries by Dorje Sherab and Rinchen Jangchub, and the 17th-century commentary by Rigdzin Chökyi Dragpa. But it is not only the writing style but also his whole approach that differs from the commentaries of Drikungpa authors.
One aspect of the Karmapa’s special approach to the Single Intention is that he discusses it as if it were (largely) a philosophical text. At one point, Mikyö Dorje indicates that the Single Intention was conceived of from the beginning as a “system of philosophical tenets” text (Skt. siddhanta). He says that Jigten Sumgon once predicted that his chief disciple Sherab Jungne would compose such a “system of philosophical tenets” on the basis of the teachings he had given to him. Moreover, one of the Karmapa’s commentaries is called General Summary of the Tenets [of the] Single Intention, and he claims here that the Single Intention is the “siddhanta of the Kagyupas.” In fact, much of Mikyö Dorje’s writings on the Single Intention is largely using the topical themes of Jigten Sumgon’s vajra-statements as stepping stones to expound his own philosophical views.
A siddhanta (Tib. grub mtha’) or “system of philosophical tenets” usually expounds non-Buddhist and Buddhist views one-by-one, refuting the respectively lower through the respectively higher view, until it arrives at the ultimate view, usually Madhyamaka, which refutes all other views. The Drikungpas themselves have never authored such a text. There is just one Drikungpa text by Dombu Jowo Dowa, who might be Jigten Sumgon’s disciple Chöje Tsadrelwa, that has the term siddhanta in its title. Although it touches briefly on some general topics of philosophy, it is really not in any way a typical “system of philosophical tenets” text at all. In fact, all the usual themes of the siddhanta authors, like defining which of the three wheels of Shravaka teachings, Perfection of Wisdom teachings, and Buddha Nature teachings is the definite wheel, etc., have been avoided by Jigten Sumgon, who much prefers to reveal the unity of all teachings and not its differentiations – hence his legacy is known as the Single Intention. (I have already made a few remarks on Jigten Sumgon’s approach to philosophical views here).
In truth, the position Jigten Sumgon and his successors took with regard to philosophical tenets can only be described as dismissive or, sometimes, perhaps, ironic. Thus, Jigten Sumgon states in the Single Intention (4.13):
The truth is veiled by all [[[philosophical]]] tenets whatsoever.
And in a praise of his guru Phag mo gru pa’s lives he says:♦ 1
May those who mistake the system of tenets, which is a knot of the mind, as the Buddha’s intention, realise true reality and may their mindfulness be purified in itself.
And, as the final lines in a text about the primordial purity of all phenomena, he states:♦ 2
If one’s pure mind, [which is like] the sky, is, due to the conceptions of the inconceivable collections of the various views of the [[[philosophical]]] tenets, covered with clouds of conceptions, which are false, one cannot purify it because one has not understood and realised the natural state of the mind as it is. Therefore, engage in this pure essence of the mind that is spontaneously taken hold of in itself without being covered by the clouds of thoughts, which are false.
Moreover, echoing the Mahasiddha Saraha, he says: 3
All the views starting from the Non-Buddhists’ view of permanence and nihilism and up to the Madhyamikas’ [view] are something that is a mind-made duality. Since I have not studied these views of the various tenets, I do not know them.
Furthermore, an introduction to the Single Intention contained in the block print of Dorje Sherab’s commentary states:♦ 4
The grasping of that which is free from the extremes of all proliferation [of] “existence” and “non-existence” [is] the conceptuality (rtog pa ) of the tenets, the sphere of the [proliferating] mind (blo’i yul ). It is mind-made, but not empty.
In fact, this introductory text of unknown authorship discusses the concept of tenets with the same negative attitude as is illustrated above. It also offers a curious statement that it ascribes to Jigten Sumgon (but which I could not yet identify). Here, he says, somewhat ironically:♦ 5
Virtue [is] natural virtue (gshis kyi dge ba): Due to being good “white” [natural] virtue, a virtue that apprehends the characteristic “virtue” will not become non-virtue. Non-virtue [is] natural non-virtue (gshis kyi mi dge ba ): Due to being “black” [natural] non-virtue, the non-virtue that apprehends the characteristic “non-virtue” will not turn into virtue. This is my great system of tenets.
These words ascribed to Jigten Sumgon are summarising an important aspect of his Single Intention teaching according to which something is either by nature virtuous or non-virtuous, and nothing and no one can change that – neither the highest philosophical view, nor a skilful means of mantra, nor the Buddha himself. That, the passage states, is Jigten Sumgon’s “philosophy,” not any of those intellectual conceptualisations that one finds in the siddhanta literature.
Judging from all this evidence, I think that the prophecy of which the Karmapa speaks, according to which Sherab Jungne would compose a siddhanta on the basis of Jigten Sumgon’s vajra-statements, namely the Single Intention, is perhaps a “creative invention.” The Karmapa may have thereby justified his own predominantly philosophical approach to Jigten Sumgon’s teaching. Or such a prophecy, if it existed, did not use the term “system of tenets” with its usual philosophical connotation, but rather in the ironical sense illustrated above.
It will be an important task for future research to investigate whether the Single Intention is in any other sense than the strictly “philosophical” paradigmatic for the whole of the Kagyupas. It is, indeed, time to ask ourselves what it is that makes the Kagyupas a distinctive tradition. The Single Intention is an excellent focus to start this work. My first glance at the Karmapa’s comments, however, has rather revealed differences of Jigten Sumgon’s and Mikyö Dorje’s approaches to the Dharma. But that was only a first attempt, and Mikyö Dorje’s approach is certainly not typical for the Karma Kagyupa up to his time. With all its diversity, it will be a challenging task to define the Kagyupas’ identity.
Notes
1. [Jigten Sumgon’s Collected Works (2001), vol. 1, p. 24: grub mtha’ blo yi mdud pa la// sangs rgyas dgongs par ‘khrul ba rnams// de nyid rtogs par gyur nas kyang // dran ‘dzin rang sar dag mdzad gsol//.]↩
2. [Jigten Sumgon’s Collected Works (2001), vol. 3, p. 358: ji ltar sems kyi gnas lugs ‘di// ma go rtogs par ma gyur pas// grub mtha’ lta ba’i bye brag tshogs// bsam gyis mi khyab rnam rtog gis// rang sems rnam dag nam mkha’ ‘di// log rtog sprin gyis bkab na ko / rnam dag gsal bar mi ‘gyur bas// sems kyi ngo bo rnam dag ‘di// log rtog sprin gyis mi dgab par// lhun grub rang sa zin du chug//.]↩
3. [Jigten Sumgon’s Collected Works (2001), vol. 6. p. 434: mu stegs rtag chad nas dbu ma’i bar gyi lta ba thams cad blos byas pa’i gzung ‘dzin zhig yin te/ grub mtha’ so so’i lta ba de ngas thos pa ma byas pas mi shes/. He repeats very similar words in vol. 5, p. 491: yang bka’ gdams pa rnal ‘byor pa mtshan nyid pa gang yin yang so so’i lta bsgom spyod pa gsum yod de/ ‘di grub mtha’ mkhan kun la phyi rol mu stegs nas dbu ma’i bar du lta sgom mi ‘dra ba mang po yod de grub mtha’ ma mnyan pas mi shes/.]↩
4. [Khog dbub (dGongs gcig edition of Kagyu College, 2007, p. 219 f.): yod med spros pa thams cad kyi// mtha’ dang bral ba’i ‘dzin pa yang // grub mtha’i rtog pa blo yi yul// blo yis byas kyang stong pa min//. dGongs pa gcig pa’i khog dbub , in: dGongs pa gcig pa’i ‘grel chen snang mdzad ye shes sgron me , vol. 1, bKa’ brgyud nang bstan mtho slob khang, 2007, pp. 197-258. The text is ascribed there to rDo rje shes rab, but that is doubtful.]↩
5. [Khog dbub dGongs gcig edition of Kagyu College, 2007, , p. 218 f.: nyid kyi zhal nas dge ba gshis kyi dge ba ste/ dge ba dkar pos dge ba’i mtshan nyid ‘dzin pa’i dge ba mi dge bar mi ‘gyur/ mi dge ba gshis kyi mi dge ba ste/ mi dge ba nag pos mi dge ba’i mtshan nyid ‘dzin pa’i mi dge ba dge bar mi ‘gyur bya ba ‘di nga’i grub mtha’ chen ]↩
The 8th Karmapa on Faith
November 7, 2016
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
The 8th Karmapa, Mikyö Dorje, upon being invited to Drikung by the 18th throne holder Rinchen Namgyal (1519-1576, reg. 1534-1565), spent there one year (1536-37) together with his famous “secretary,” the great historian and 2nd Pawo Rinpoche, Tsuglag Trengwa (1504-1566). During this time, he studied and extensively taught Jigten Sumgon’s Gongchik, which he saw as the tenet’s of the Kagyüpas. Later (1544-46), using his own notes and the notes of Tsuglag Trengwa, he wrote several texts which are nowadays collectively known as the 8th Karmapa’s commentary of the Gongchik. Here I would like to present a very brief excerpt from his comments upon vajra-statement 6.6, which teaches that guru devotion is the only means for obtaining realisation. In this excerpt, the Karmapa explains the Buddhist notion of faith (Tib. dad pa). He says:
“The Ratnolka says: 1
If you have faith in the Victor and the Victor’s teachings, faith in the teachings of the Victor’s sons, and faith in supreme awakening, that is the arising of the resolve of great beings.
And the Shikshasamuccayakarika says:2
Make the root of faith stable and make the mind the support for awakening.
What kind of faith is that? The Abhidharmasamuccaya says: 3
What is faith? It is the firm conviction (mngon par yid ches pa), admiration, and aspiration with regard to what exists and is endowed with [good ] qualities and abilities. Its has the function of forming the basis for striving.
Thus, ‘what exists’ are the causes and results of the five skandhas such as ‘action and result’ and ‘suffering and the origin [of suffering].’ ‘What is endowed with [good] qualities’ are the Three Jewels. ‘Abilities’ is the truth of cessation, [namely] the thought: ‘I am able to obtain cessation; I am able to cultivate the path in my mental continuum.’ Because of the faith of conviction [that understands] ‘action and result’ and ‘suffering and the origin [of suffering]’ as infallible, and since the Three Jewels that are free from the faults of ‘suffering and [its] origin,’ etc., are without all defects and endowed with all [good] qualities, by cultivating [[[faith]]] in their presence, the small hairs of the body are standing on end and tears flow [from one’s eyes], etc. [That is] the faith of admiration. The aspiration to obtain cessation and the aspiration to cultivate the path in the mental continuum are ‘the faith of aspiration.’ Now, if, first, there [arises] admiration from seeing and hearing about the qualities of the Supreme Jewels, and from that the aspiration to obtain their qualities, and if one is convinced that the faults that veil those qualities are faults, that forms the basis that is the function of causing all faults and defects to be abandoned. [All that] is faith.”
Notes
The 17th Karmapa recently re-published the 8th Karmapa’s commentary: http://www.dharmadownload.net/karmapa/08_Karmapa/8th%20Karmapa%20pages/07_8th_Karmapa_text_DrigungGongchig/07_00_00_8thKarmapa_DG_index.htm
The excerpt is taken from the second part (smad cha) of ‘Jig rten gsum gyi mgon po ‘bri gung pa chen po’i dam chos dgongs pa gcig pa’i kar TIka las/ tshoms dang po’i rnam bshad karma bka’ brgyud kyi mkhyen pa rab gsal bka’i me long mchog tu ‘bar ba bzhugs so//
1. [These lines are actually from the Arya Ratnolka Namadharani Mahayanasutra (‘Phags pa dkon mchog ta la la’i gzungs zhes bya ba theg pa chen po’i mdo), D vol. 57, fol. 63v (variants in bold): rgyal dang rgyal ba’i chos la dad gyur cing // sangs rgyas sras kyi spyod la dad byed la// byang chub bla na med la dad gyur nas// skyes bu chen po rnams kyi sems skye’o//. Sonam Spitz informed me that according to Shakya mchog ldan (brDa’i gnas bye brag tu rtogs ces bya ba’i tshig leu byas pa, p. 378, vol. 24/ya, TBRC-no WG00WGS1016899), “dKon mchog ta la la” is just a bad translation of the Sanskrit title “Ratnolka”, which indeed reads correctly “dKon mchog sgron me” in Tibetan. Thus, the “Ta la la” is in fact the Ratnolka.]↩
2. [Shikshasamuccayakarika, D vol. 111, fol. 1v (variants in bold): dad pa’i rtsa ba brtan bya ste// byang chub la yang blo brtan bya//. In the Shikshasamuccaya, these lines are followed by the quote preceding in the present text.↩
3. [[[Abhidharmasamuccaya]], D vol. 134, fol. 48v: dad pa gang zhe na/ yod pa nyid dang / yon tan can dang / nus pa rnam la mngon par yid ches pa dang / dang pa dang ‘dod pa ste/ ‘dun pa’i rten byed pa’i las can no//.]↩
The World of Kyobpa Jigten Sumgön
August 25, 2016
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
Dear friends,
I have started a second blog under the above name at https://kyobpa.net/ While I will continue to publish in the present blog on the Single Intention (dGongs gcig), in the new blog I will chiefly write about things I find while reading Tibetan works of the Drikung Kagyü tradition (other than the dGongs gcig).
When I do research, I often stumble over gems that never make it into a book or an article, but which are too good to be left unnoticed and unavailable.
Have a look at the first entries and enjoy (and if you like it, become a follower)!
jan
How Jigten Sumgön tested the teachings
May 17, 2016
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
(This blog article is both an abbreviated version and a slight expansion of the second part of an article published in the Festschrift for Per K. Sörensen. You can download it here: https://www.academia.edu. Please see for all references the original article.)
All Tibetan traditions have developed ways and methods to authenticate the teachings they had received from their masters. Jigten Sumgön’s master was Phagmodrupa, and it is from him that he received the methods of testing the teachings. These are called the “four means of authentication” (tshad ma bzhi) and they are mentioned in the Drikung tradition in Jigten Sumgön’s collected works and in the commentaries of the Same Intention.
Jigten Sumgön reports in his collected works the view of his teacher Phagmodrupa, who said that the teachings have to be checked against these four authentications:
(1) the pure instructions of the Sugata, i.e. the Buddha’s teachings contained in the authoritative texts (lung) of Sutra and Mantra,
(2) the vajra masters’ experiences, i.e. the experiences of the gurus of the lineage,
(3) dependent origination, i.e. the illustrating stories (lo rgyus) that we find in the scriptures, and
(4) the yogis’ own experiences.
Jigten Sumgön says that scholars explain the Buddha’s Dharma with the help of authoritative quotations (lung) and logic (rigs). They establish a teaching through a form of inference known as syllogism (rig pa’i gtan tshig). Yogis, on the other hand, produce inner experiences and rely on the Buddha’s and the lineage gurus’ instructions. They do this because these instructions are without error since the Buddha and the lineage gurus have obtained an understanding and realisation that is certain and free from delusion. It is not possible to realise the Buddha’s intentions through quotations and logic alone. Thus, if one searches for the exact meaning of the intentions, it is not enough to rely on inferences (rjes dpag) and syllogisms. Instead, it is necessary to practise as well. Through practice, an experience will arise, through which self-reflexive awareness is realised (rang rig rtogs pa). However, not only quotations and flawed logic can mislead. If the experience of a practising yogi is not free from error, it will only lead back into samsara because the experiences and qualities arising from error are false. Whoever wants to obtain realisation must, therefore, rely on all of the above mentioned four means of authentication.
In one of the earliest commentaries of the Single Intention, Dorje Sherab’s Dosherma, we find the following passage:
(1) “It occurs like this in the [[[Buddha’s]]] instructions (bka’)” – that is the means of authentication of the Sugata’s instructions. (2) “The former ones have elucidated the teachings like this” – that is the means of authentication of the excellent gurus. (3) The Dharma Lord [[[Jigten Sumgön]]] said:
Whichever profound [topic] I have taught in the assembly, I have never said anything I have not experienced myself.
Because Jigten Sumgön himself mastered and experienced all that, it is the means of authentication of being experienced by the yogi. (4) “It occurred like this through the workings of dependent origination, which is known throughout the world,” that is the means of authentication of the stories [illustrating] dependent origination. This ascertaining through these four is the “complete liberation” (rnam thar) of Phagmodrupa. Therefore, Jigten Sumgön, too, follows this and ascertains all teachings through the four means of authentication.
1. The Instructions of the Buddha
“It occurs like this in the [[[Buddha’s]]] instructions (bka’)” means that a teaching that is found in the Sutras or Tantras is authentic due to the Buddha’s authority. This category is not much discussed in the context of the “four means of authentication,” but it has its own vajra-statement in the Same Intention, which says (1.16): “Valid knowledge is the gnosis that is the knowledge of the Buddha.” This is a problem of its own, however, suffice it to say that according to Jigten Sumgön the Buddha is definitively a valid means of knowledge. I will not go further into this interesting, but complicated topic and concentrate instead on the other three means of authentication.
2. The Experience of the Lineage Gurus
Phagmodrupa speaks of “the vajra masters’ experience,” i.e. the experiences of the lineage gurus. That is, he points out that one relies on the former gurus because they possess authentic experience. This statement is obviously meant to exclude mere scholarship and inauthentic experience from being a means of authentication. This is also exactly what the Drikungpa has in mind. In this context, Jigten Sumgön speaks of scholars who work with authoritative quotations (lung), syllogisms (gtan tshigs), inference (rjes dpag), and logic (rigs), and of yogis who work with realisation through self-reflexive awareness (rang rig rtogs pa). But whatever they do, if they only use scholarly means or if their experience is faulty, they will not obtain realisation. Thus, they all, scholars and yogis, have to rely on the four means of authentication, which then may be further “ornamented” with inferences and syllogisms. The yogi’s own experience is crucial (see the next point), but how can the yogi or the yogini be sure that the experience is not flawed? The answer is that one has to check whether one’s experience matches the other three means of authentication: It should be mentioned like this in Sutra and Tantra, it should match the stories of dependent origination (see point 4 below), and it should match the experience of the gurus of the lineage. The guidance by an experienced and realised master has a special place. When one shares one’s experiences with him, it is the guru who steers one away from traps (shor sa) and sidetracks (gol sa). He does that, based on his own experience, with the help of quotations from the Buddha’s teachings and the stories of dependent origination.
3. The Experience of the Disciple
In the category “the yogi’s experience,” Phagmodrupa speaks, generally, of the yogis’ own experiences, while the commentator of the Same Intention, Dorje Sherab, speaks here, specifically, of Jigten Sumgön’s experience, quoting the line from his work according to which Jigten Sumgön never taught in the assembly anything he had not experienced himself. Thus, Jigten Sumgön is both a worthy receiver of teachings from former authentically realised masters and, since he has become a realised master, an authentic teacher for his own followers. In a more general sense, this category of experience is “the yogi’s experience” in the sense of “the disciple’s experience” in contrast to “the experience of the lineage gurus.” When the disciple himself turns into a master, his experience will be that of the lineage of gurus.
The Sakyapa master (and earlier guru of Phagmodrupa), Sachen Künga Nyingpo, makes many very interesting remarks on the topic of the four authenticities in his work known as the Sras don ma. Among other things, he points out that there is always at the beginning the yogi’s – i.e. the disciple’s – own experience arising from practice. Without that, nothing can be done. This is followed by the guru’s guidance (based on his own realisation) and, in fact, correcting instructions which are backed by the Buddha’s words and (in the Sakya tradition) the expositions of Indian masters as collected in the Tanjur.
Thus, the first thing is always the disciples’s own practice experience. However, for that experience to turn into a means of authentication, it must be checked against the other three means. These other three means are used by the master to guide the disciple to a purified experience and realisation. But without the disciple’s own experience, the other three authentications cannot be checked against anything. Finally, through the disciples own realisation, his own experience turns into the experience and realisation of the unbroken lineage of masters.
4. The Illustrating Stories of Dependent Origination
A very significant category for the Drikungpa’s teachings is that of the “stories.” It is also the main difference between the Drikungpa’s system of the four means of authentication and the very similar system of the Sakyapas, who have a different interpretation of this fourth category. Although in their commentaries they also use the term lo rgyus (“story”), they rather understand it in the sense of “exposition.” In doing that, they follow a line in the Samputitantra, which uses the term bstan bcos (“treatise”) instead of lo rgyus. In short, they understand this category as “authenticity of the exposition.” For them, the fourth authenticity lies in the treatises composed by the masters of the Indian tradition. That is also why the Sakyapa tradition is not only a tradition of realised masters but also of great scholars of the Indian tradition of scholarship.
This interpretation, however, is not what is taught by Phagmodrupa and the Drikungpas. There are two hints how they understand this category. One is that Phagmodrupa speaks in this context of “dependent origination,” the other that Jigten Sumgön glosses this with “stories that are well known to the world.” Dorje Sherab explains this point in his commentary of the Same Intention:
[The experience] occurred like this through the workings of dependent origination, which is known throughout the world – that is the means of authentication of the stories [illustrating] dependent origination.”
Moreover, the Introduction to the Same Intention says:
Dependent origination [is] the means of authentication of stories: It is, due to the natural state (gshis dang babs kyis) of dependent origination, as [stated] in the universally known stories (gtam rgyud).
What this means becomes evident in Dorje Sherab’s commentary, the Dosherma. Each of its seven chapters has an extensive appendix with numerous stories from former life stories of the Buddha (Skt. jataka), as well as from Sutra and, occasionally, Tantra. These stories are illustrating the natural state (gshis babs) of dependent origination. That is to say that they demonstrate how virtuous causes have virtuous results, and how non-virtuous causes lead to suffering. Let me provide an example. In Same Intenion 3.11, Jigten Sumgön teaches that the Buddha’s instructions are not meant only for particular groups of people or beings, such as only for human beings or only for monks, but generally for each and every being alike. This is so because his instructions are based on his understanding of the fundamental nature of reality. Because the Buddha understood that nature, he knows what must be eliminated and what must be accomplished. The fundamental nature, however, is the same for all beings, from the tenth level of the bodhisattvas down to hell. It is not so that the fundamental nature of the dependent origination of virtuous and evil causes and results is different for a bodhisattva on the highest level and a hell being of the lowest levels. Therefore, the elimination of evil and the accomplishing of virtue concerns all beings alike, no matter which status they have.
The illustrating stories that the commentaries provide in this section as a means of authentication all have the purpose of showing just that point. Thus, for instance, in an earlier life, the Buddha was born in hell among the lowest of beings. Here, he developed for the first time compassion and relieved another person from dragging a cart of fire. This example is to show that bodhicitta is a teaching for all beings – even if they are born in hell, as the Buddha-to-be was at that time – and that the benefit of that will arise even for the lowest being who cultivates that virtue. Secondly, there is the story of Kumara Kusha (Tib. Zhönnu Kusha). There was once a householder who refused to give alms to a Pratyekabuddha. Instead, he got angry at him and said because that Pratyekabuddha was associated with eighteen unpleasant omens and had the face of a lion: “You, with the face like a lion, don’t come into my house!” In a later life, the householder was born as Prince Kusha with a very strong body, a face like a lion, and associated with eighteen unpleasant omens. The commentary of the Same Intention by Rinchen Jangchub, the Rinjangma, remarks that although the householder Kusha was a Bodhisattva of the tenth level, he was unable to avoid the negative consequences of his deed. Thus, this is to show that the negative results of non-virtue arise even for the highest bodhisattvas. Yet another story is that of the monk Svagata (Tib. Leg Ong), who had, due to his ignorance, taken food (in some versions: drink) mixed with alcohol. Heavily intoxicated, he had gotten into trouble that nearly killed him. On that occasion, the Buddha proclaimed the rule concerning intoxicants. This is to show that becoming intoxicated had been a non-virtuous act even before the Buddha issued a rule about it. The Buddha has not “invented” the rule prohibiting the use of intoxicants, he only understood their fundamental nature and, therefore, issued the rule prohibiting it.
The stories collected in the appendices of the Same Intention also play an enormous role in the extensive commentary of Jigten Sumgön’s Essence of the Mahayana Teachings (Theg chen bstan pa’i snying po) by Ngorje Repa, who was roughly contemporary to Jigten Sumgön. In short, while the Sakyapas rely on the exposition of dependent origination, as found in treatises of Indian Buddhist masters collected in the Tanjur, the Drikungpas rely on the stories illustrating dependent origination as found in the Buddha’s instructions. Since these are directly related to the Buddha’s instructions in that the Buddha (or an earlier incarnation of the Buddha) often appears as one of the actors in these stories and in that he is the one who uses the story in his teachings, Jigten Sumgön accepts them as having the same authority than the teachings of Sutra and Tantra. In fact, occasionally, when there is a contradiction between such a story and the teaching in a treatise by an Indian Buddhist master, the story carries more weight. This is, for instance, the case when some scholarly treatises teach that, as a rule, the pratimoksha vows always end at death. Here the Dosherma teaches that it depends on the capacity of the person. There are stories according to which the vows can arise in a dream, in the intermediate state, and in the next life as a continuation of the strong habituation to holding the vows in a previous life. Therefore, the experience transmitted in these stories shows that the rigid explanation of the scholarly treatise does not always hold.
This does not mean that the Drikungpas have a disregard for the treatises of the Indian masters. It is only so that the Drikungpas put more trust in the stories told by the Buddha than in the treatises of later masters and that they distrust purely analytical means as the only means of approaching understanding. In fact, we will find in every generation of Kagyüpa teachers several great masters who demonstrated their analytical faculties, even though there are by far not as many as we find among Sakyapas and Gelugpas.
This does also not mean that yogic experience is per se and uncritically accepted by Jigten Sumgön in the Same Intention. Grasping and conceptualising yogic experience is held to be as dangerous as the attachment to the fruits of intellectual analysis. Jigten Sumgön often warns against false, deluded, or incomplete yogic experiences. In particular, he warns against the mistaken identification of the gnosis introduced during tantric empowerment, he explains that the experiences produced through the practice of channels and winds may be deceiving and misleading, or may even be false. Moreover, he says about meditative concentration that it may only cause birth in the realms of samsara and that an incomplete realisation of emptiness comprises dangerous downfalls and sidetracks.
The correctives which can be applied to false, deluded, or incomplete experience are just these four means of authentication that are discussed here, namely the words of the Buddha, the instructions of the lineage of realised masters, yogic experience, and the illustrations through dependent origination as found in Jatakas, Sutras and Tantras. Thus, there is really no difference concerning the necessity to authenticate intellectual understanding or yogic experience. The difference, however, lies in the means of authentication. Here the Drikung tradition favours non-analytical authentic expression and experience.
February 19, 2016
Uncategorized
Leave a comment
I would like to prefix a few personal words here. As you may already know, on Losar morning (Feb. 9), the University of Copenhagen has dismissed me from my position as associate professor for Tibetan Studies. In our institute, in particular, “small subjects” and regional studies have been targeted. Their staff was fired, or their intake of students was frozen, making them more vulnerable for future closures of study programs. As a consequence, hundreds of letters, emails, and Facebook posts from individuals and institutions around the world expressing concern about this development have reached us. Many people, from Beijing to Berkeley and from Oslo to Rome, have written personal letters of protest to the rector and the chairman of the board of directors. This outpour of solidarity means a lot to me. I do not know if the protest will have any effect on the decision of the management of the university, but the support has definitively touched me in a deep way and strengthened me in my conviction to continue my work whatever may happen. Thank you!
Historical texts describe how Sherab Jungne, on several occasions, rearranged the vajra-statements and finally arranged them in seven chapters, keeping ca. 50 of the 200 vajra-statements separate from the main text as “supplements” (Tib. lhan thabs). Some (but not all) authors comment on these supplements, too. They either keep them separate from the main text, as an independent work, or, like Rigdzin Chökyi Dragpa, include them in the main text as the eighth chapter of their commentary. The commentary of fourth Zhamar Rinpoche, for instance, composed in 1516, even presents the supplements as its first chapter. Interestingly, Togden Rinpoche Könchog Thubten arranges the supplements in his commentary so that they are attached to those vajra-statements that deal with a similar topic. One of these clusters of statements that are formed in this way, consisting of one vajra-statement and two supplements, will be the subject of the present posting.
The vajra-statement under investigation and its two supplements focus on the nature of a “solitary deity.” “Solitary” means that it is a single deity, like, for instance, Avalokiteshvara or Tara. It is not in union with another deity or appears with an entourage of other deities surrounding it. The vajra-statement occurs in the fifth chapter in the context of a discussion of empowerment. It focusses on the question whether empowerment can be bestowed based on a solitary deity like Tara. Although it is not explicitly stated in the commentaries, “empowerment” refers here clearly to an empowerment on the level of the highest yoga tantra. This assumption creates the tension of the statement: Can an empowerment of the highest yoga tantra be conferred through a solitary deity like Tara? Rinchen Jangchub quotes some former scholars, who say that “one cannot open the Dharma gate with the Lady Tara.” They provide the following reason: “Because the three seats – the seat of the male and female wrathful deities, the seat of the male and female Bodhisattvas, and the seat of the Buddhas and their consorts – are not complete [in Tara].” Dorje Sherab refers in his commentary to a view of people who claim that one cannot obtain the empowerment through any solitary male or female deity, and their example is Vajrayogini.
This point, in fact, alludes to several debates that were going on in Tibet already at a very early time, but here I will mainly focus on the topic of the nature of the solitary deity.
Kyobpa Jigten Sumgön states – in contrast to those people – that (5.3) the empowerment functions even through a solitary deity. If we just look at that formulation, it is clear that it has empowerment on the level of the highest yoga tantra in mind, because otherwise there would not be a problem at all. Nobody doubts that a solitary deity can confer an empowerment of a lower class of tantra.
The claim made by others is that the “three seats” are not complete in a solitary deity. The “three seats” (Tib. gdan gsum) of a deity are usually explained in the following way. The first seat are the five male and female Tathagathas, which are, according to the highest yoga tantras, the nature of the five constituents of the person (Skt. skandha). The second seat comprises the eight male and eight female Bodhisattvas, who are the nature of the sense organs and their objects. There is some confusion about the third seat, but for our purposes, it is sufficient to state that other elements of a person’s existence are identified as the male and female wrathful deities. The opponent’s claim that the three seats are “not complete” in a solitary deity is in our commentaries taken to mean that they are “not directly visible.” If “not visible” is the point, however, the consequence would be that even many deities of the supreme yoga tantra class (such as Vajrayogini) would not qualify as a basis for an empowerment of the highest yoga tantra, because the complete deities of the three seats are directly visible only in very few mandalas.
Our commentators of the Single Intention point out that in most cases, the three seats are only complete “by implication,” as for instance in all cases of the solitary deities. It is nevertheless important, they state, that the implicit completeness is understood by both the vajra master who bestows the empowerment and the disciple who receives it. They have to understand that the master’s and the disciple’s skandhas and so forth are by nature the five Buddhas, their consorts, the male and female Bodhisattvas, and the male and female wrathful deities. Furthermore, master and disciple have to understand that both the external physically created mandala (such as a sand mandala) and the mandala visualised in front of themselves comprise the five Buddhas, and so forth. Finally, they also have to be aware that the substances of the empowerment, such as the water of the vase, and the crown, vajra, jewel, lotus, bell, sword, and wheel, which the master uses during the empowerment, are similarly the five Buddhas, and so forth. These identifications, therefore, have to be visualised in every empowerment of the highest yoga tantra. Within that, which seems to be incomplete, because the three seats are not directly visible, namely the solitary deity, one must know the three seats to be complete because the ritual would otherwise be impure and incomplete. In short, one must know how the three seats are complete also in each solitary deity.
Furthermore, the three seats are present in the empowerment of any deity whatsoever when one visualises that the five Buddhas perform the activities of bestowing the empowerment, that their consorts sing vajra songs, that the male and female Bodhisattvas utter auspicious verses, and that the male and female wrathful deities expel obstructors.
In a nutshell: Jigten Sumgön maintains that if the vajra master and the disciple skilfully visualise the deities of the three seats, a solitary deity can bestow empowerment even of the highest tantra class. Thus, Dorje Sherab states:
If one recognises all skandhas, dhatus, and ayatanas as the Buddha, one obtains empowerment just as it is. Based on that one will also obtain the [other] three empowerments.
This statement provides an important clue how Dorje Sherab understood the matter. He mentions “the other three empowerments,” i.e. the secret, wisdom, and word empowerment. We can conclude from this that the empowerment he refers to is the vase empowerment of the four empowerments of the highest tantra class. In other words, Dorje Sherab maintains that a solitary deity can bestow the vase empowerment of the highest tantra class. By stating that the other three will be obtained based on that, he leaves it open whether those empowerments can be bestowed by a solitary deity. Dorje Sherab furthermore adds: “It is necessary to treat empowerment as detailed, medium, and brief.” He, thereby, appears to be saying that abbreviated forms of the empowerment of the highest yoga tantra are based on the vase empowerment alone, whereas more detailed forms include all four empowerments. These brief statements, however, do not suffice to conclude anything about Dorje Sherab’s opinion regarding the ability of solitary deities to confer the other three empowerments.
The first supplement that is attached to this vajra statement is more generally concerned with the accomplishment of activities through a solitary deity.
The position of others, as it is presented by our commentators, is that there are a hundred Buddha families, which all perform their individual activities. This would imply that immeasurable forms of Buddhas are necessary to accomplish all activities. According to supplement 8.27, however, Jigten Sumgön maintains that a solitary deity, too, accomplishes all the activities.
The comments of Rigdzin Chökyi Dragpa on this supplement are closely connected with the vajra-statement discussed above. Accordingly, a solitary deity, since its skandhas are the five Buddhas and so forth, indeed contains the hundred families completely. The skandhas alone are the five male and female Tathagatas, and each of them accomplishes their activities. Since the parts and elements of the body, speech and mind of a deity are filled with numerous other deities, its activities are countless. There is, therefore, no difference between a principal deity with a retinue of a thousand deities and a solitary deity. The Hevajra Tantra says:♦ 1
The great mind is one. It is represented, however, through this fivefold embodiment. From these five families many thousands arise. Therefore, all these are of one nature.
Chökyi Dragpa points out that if all families are summarised, they are combined in the single vajra family of the mind. He quotes an (unidentified) Mantra text:
The characteristics of all the mantras exists in the mind of the Sugata.
Thus, whether the practising disciple is successful or not does not depend on whether the deity of his practice is one that resides in a mandala with a retinue of hundreds of deities, or whether it is a solitary deity. What counts, says Chökyi Dragpa, is whether the practitioner “obtains or not obtains the warmth (Tib. drod) in his samadhi” and whether he “accomplishes the activities or not through having received or not the firm sign.” It is, however, “very deluded” to evaluate the quality of a practitioner according to whether his deity has a large or a small retinue.
The second supplement that is connected with the vajra-statement discussed above has to do with the names or marks of deities. The earlier commentaries seem to discuss the individuality of deities primarily with respect to their names, such as “Cakrasamvara” or “Hevajra.” Indeed, in the Tibetan language, the term mtshan may be a honorific form of “name” (Tib. ming) or an abbreviated form of “mark, sign, symbol” (Tib. mtshan ma). Thus, while many people claim that every deity possesses an individual name or (more broadly) individual marks, Jigten Sumgön maintains in supplement 8.28 that [one’s] chosen deity possesses the names / marks of all deities. (The “chosen deity” is the one that is at the heart of a person’s deity practise.)
Rigdzin Chökyi Dragpa evidently reads the statement in its more broad form, saying that one’s chosen deity possesses the marks of all deities. He says that if one purifies on the path all one’s mental afflictions, just that will be the cause of obtaining Buddhahood. Having become a Buddha, one is “the essence of the qualities of the results of separation and maturation, one possesses – no matter which body [of a deity] one has trained – the major and minor marks of maturation, and one possesses the results of separation such as the power of the mind (Tib. thugs stobs).” Thus, one accomplishes the result of Buddhahood by separating from unwholesome factors and by bringing wholesome factors to maturation. One separates, for instance, from the afflictions. The result of that is the three (or, depending on the system, five) bodies of a Buddha. In particular, the quality of separation is the obtainment of the dharmakaya, from which all other bodies arise. The quality of bringing to maturation all the wishes of benefiting sentient beings is the arising of the sambhogakaya, and the necessary activities manifest as the nirmanakaya. For this process, it is of no significance, which deity one trains since all deities function in a similar way. Therefore, they are all “Exalted Ones” (Skt. Bhagavan) and when one supplicates a deity, no matter which deity one chooses, the blessing that arises is always the same.
In this context, Chökyi Dragpa quotes the well-known and often quoted, but rarely followed instruction of Lord Atisha:
Tibet is poor due to its many deities. At the time when one establishes the practice of one’s chosen deity and invites its wisdom beings, by inviting whichever deities one wishes in the form of one’s chosen deity and absorbing them when one accomplishes that deity, it will be one that accomplishes all.
Notes: 1. [[[Hevajra Tantra]] 2.2.58-59a. Snellgrove (1959: 53).]↩
News about the Paris Manuscript
December 13, 2015
Uncategorized
1 Comment
In April 2014, I have introduced here the “Paris Manuscript” of the sNang mdzad ye shes sgron me. This is a handwritten copy of the commentary on the Single Intention by Dorje Sherab, a direct disciple of Sherab Jungne (1187-1241). It was brought to France by Alexandra David-Neel and is now kept at the Musée Guimet in Paris. Since my last post on it, many exciting things have happened.
The most exciting thing is that the manuscript is now dated with great certainty to the period between 1267 and 1290. That means that it is either a copy written by the author himself, or by one of his immediate disciples. In any case, the manuscript is the earliest witness of the Single Intention and this commentary that we possess. We have to treat this copy as the Leit-Handschrift and all future editions of the text must be based on it. Moreover, the manuscript is very well preserved, without significant damages and gaps (lacunae). It contains many important variants to Rinchen Phüntshok’s block print edition of ca. 1530 and numerous little glosses by different hands.
How can we be sure of the above-mentioned dating? I had some pieces of the paper carbon dated (according to the OxCal4 program) in a laboratory in Glasgow. The result was that the paper of the manuscript was manufactured with 95.4 % probability between 1215 and 1290 (calibrated dates). We can assume that paper is usually manufactured in Tibet for specific purposes and that it is highly unlikely that paper that was produced is left lying around for years or decades. We can, thus, assume that it was promptly used for our manuscript.
calib plot
Last month I visited a workshop on Tibetan manuscripts at the Chicago Centre in Paris, organised by Matthew Kapstein. On one afternoon we all went over to the Musée Guimet, where I introduced the original manuscript to my colleagues. I had ample opportunity to discuss its features with them. Several of my learned colleagues – experts on art, paper, and handwriting – confirmed the early date of the manuscript. The artwork on the left side of the reverse of the cover folio is an exact copy of a Tibetan thanka depicting Jigten Sumgön, which was carbon dated to the early 13th century (see the pictures in my post of April 2014). The handwriting is comparable to 12th to 13th century Kharakhoto script.
