Saraha’s Dohākośa Mahāmudrā Upadeśa as an Example of Early Mahāmudrā Literature Julia Stenzel* The Indian mystic Saraha is the spiritual father of the Mahāmudrā meditation tradition according to Tibetan textual sources. Mahāmudrā is generally translated as “The Great Seal” and refers to sophisticated meditation systems that aim at the realization of ultimate reality. Mahāmudrā is a meditation tradition that has been kept alive by Tibetan Buddhists until the present day, mainly in the Kagyu and Gelug schools. In these traditions, ultimate reality is understood as the union of emptiness and innate wisdom. We have no definite proof of when Saraha lived, or if he even existed. He might have lived in the 8th century, during the Indian Pāla dynasty. Some of the texts that are attributed to Saraha are songs of realization, which express the Mahāmudrā view and its practise. These are known as caryā gīti (spyod pa’i glu), and vajra gīti (rdo rje glu). With a few * University of the West, 1409 N. Walnut Grove Avn., Rosemead, CA 91770, USA. Paper presented at the International Conference on "The State of Buddhism, Buddhists and Buddhist Studies in India and Abroad", held at Banaras Hindu University during 2-4 January 2009, published by Delhi Buddhist World Press, 2012. 128 "The State of Buddhism, Buddhists and Buddhist Studies in India and Abroad" exceptions, Saraha’s songs are exclusively preserved in the Tibetan language. Twenty-six texts in the Derge Canon are attributed to Saraha. A number of these have been translated into western languages by scholars such as Muhammad Shahidullah; Herbert Guenther, David Snellgrove, Roger Jackson, Kurtis Schaeffer and Lara Braitstein. In this article, I explore the predominant features of Saraha’s Mahāmudrā poetry, based mainly on a song called "The Treasury of Songs of Instructions on the Great Seal," or do ha mdzod ces bya ba phyag rgya chen po'i man ngag or dohākoŚa nāma mahāmudropadeśa. This text is located in chapter zhi of the Tantra section of the Derge Tengyur. (zhi 122a3-124a7, D 2273, X 3119.) It has 176 lines, or 48 verses.1 This text has not been translated before (at least not published), but it presents magnificently Saraha’s main ideas on Mahāmudrā. Features and Content of Saraha’s Songs Saraha says in verse 12 of the mentioned song: I realized immutability in the state of suchness. I came to know the beginning and end of myself. Looking into myself [to see whether] there was an identity left, I looked into oneness and did not see a single thing. Saraha’s songs are poetic expressions of ecstatic states of consciousness and at the same time instructions providing direction for practitioners on the path to the highest spiritual achievement. These instructions unfold in a rather unsystematic way in Saraha’s songs. It is difficult to identify a progression of ideas, let alone a structured doctrine. Characteristically Saraha jumps from one topic to 1 It was translated into Tibetan by Khenpo Śri Vairocana RakΣita in the 11th/12th century. For more information on Vairocana RakΣita: Kurtis Schaeffer, "The Religious Career of Vairocanavajra." Saraha’s Dohākośa Mahāmudrā Upadeśa 129 another, and the underlying connection is not always obvious. There are, however, a few recurrent themes: (1) The focus on ultimate reality; (2) Saraha’s meditation instructions; and (3) a rhetoric style using paradox and questions. These three topics shall be explained now in more detail: (1) Focus on the ultimate: Ultimate reality is the central theme of Saraha’s songs. He seems to be inciting his audience to answer the question of all questions: What is the human potential developed to its fullest? Or, in other words, what is ultimate reality? The same question can be asked (and has been asked) in infinite ways: What is Buddhahood, Mahāmudrā or co-emergence (sahaja)? Saraha wants his disciples, his audience to find personal answers about ultimate reality. He himself gives indications using pictoral, emotional, and cognitive elements.2 A Tibetan Saraha-commentator of the 16th century, Karma Trinlaypa, summarizes it as follows: When the dohās are taught, a threefold procedure is employed: objectively with reference to the outer world by similes, subjectively by experiencing himself what it is about, and mystically by the symbol language of the Dākas.3 The pictoral approach refers to Saraha’s extensive use of similes. The most frequent simile used to describe the 2 3 Herbert Guenther, The Royal Song of Saraha, 24. Karma Trinlaypa explains in the same commentary, fols 58b, the term Dāka: "Heroes [i.e. spiritual giants] and yogis walk over the sky by their magic powers and so are called ‘sky walkers.’ Their mystic language, which expresses itself in symbol-terms such as ‘memory,’ ‘nonmemory,’ and so on is difficult to understand by ordinary people. The real meaning is that the a priori awareness which intuits the evidence of being, which is like celestial space, is a kind of ‘going over it.’" 130 "The State of Buddhism, Buddhists and Buddhist Studies in India and Abroad" mind is the sky, or space. Saraha is in no way unique in the usage of this image. Space, being without center and without limits, is the reference in the outer world that comes closest to the reality of the mind. Space was experienced as notmaterial (even though modern physics might not agree with this description.) Being intangible, space is similar to the ungraspable mind. In the 48 verses of the Mahāmudrā Upadeśa, space is referred to 11 times. Equally important is the simile of water. It is used in various contexts to illustrate the twofold aspect of reality the variety of phenomena on a conventional level on the one hand, and unity/oneness on the ultimate level, on the other. “Realize water and waves as not being two [different things]!” Saraha says in Verse 32. In verse 23, he points out that the water of "[t]he Ganges and various other rivers /All taste the same in the salty ocean,”4 thereby implying that also all phenomena have one taste. Various other similes refer to the qualities of mind; images such as the wish-fulfilling jewel; or the lotus, which grows clear white out of the mud. The ecstatic experience of mind in its full potential is compared to the lion’s roar, which delights those who are familiar with it, but frightens everyone else.5 Just as the lion’s roar in the jungle That causes terror for all the animals Brings the lion cubs running with joy, When this primordial, unborn bliss is taught, It terrifies the deluded and confused But the fortunate ones’ hairs stand on end with delight. (Verses 17-18) 4 5 Ibid., verse 23, compare to People’s Dohā, verse 78b: "Just as salt dissolves in water, so mind dissolves into its nature." Jackson, Tantric Treasures, 98. Mahāmudrā Upadeśa , verse 17. Saraha’s Dohākośa Mahāmudrā Upadeśa 131 Coming back to Karma Trinlaypa’s threefold description of Saraha’s poetry, the second aspect is Saraha’s emotional approach, i.e. his articulation of his subjective experience of "what it is about." Saraha’s songs are interspersed with first-person statements of experiences of the fundamental reality of mind. These statements convey a powerful sense of certainty and elation, which give the listener or reader a sense of why Saraha, as well as other siddhas, could develop an attitude of superiority and authority.6 For example in Verse 12, Saraha exclaims: Hey! Although childish people are unaware of suchness, In the state of suchness I realized immutability, Because I came to know the beginning and end of myself. When I looked into myself, I abandoned the self. I looked into oneness and did not see a single thing. Numerous are also Saraha’s personal expressions of joy and bliss that accompany realization on the yogic path. Once a meditator has realized emptiness, he or she experiences every perception as blissful. In Verse 30, Saraha says: "Variety has one taste: that of uninterrupted great bliss."7 In the People’s Dohā he says "It is utmost great bliss: without it, Saraha declares, you get nowhere."8 Saraha declares bliss to be an indispensable component for the realization of the ultimate reality of mind. Thirdly, the cognitive elements in Saraha’s songs, mentioned by Karma Trinlaypa as "the symbol language of the Ḍākas," refer to the various terms of the "mystic language" used by the siddhas to speak about the unspeakable. Mystics were faced with the dilemma that they had experienced a state of being they could not put in words, 6 7 8 More on that in Davidson, "Reframing Sahaja," 67-71. See page 39 of this chapter. Verse 31, Jackson, Tantric Treasures, 68. 132 "The State of Buddhism, Buddhists and Buddhist Studies in India and Abroad" but which they wanted to explain for their fellow beings. Four terms of this symbol language of the Ḍākas are mentioned by Karma Trinlaypa: "mindfulness, non-minding, the unborn and beyond the intellect,"9 (dran pa, dran med, skye (ba) med (pa), and blo (las) ‘das (pa) in Tibetan. These terms refer to progressive stages of meditative experience, and some scholars10 believe that these laid the foundation for the four Mahāmudrā stages as they were later developed in Tibet.11 Time constraints do not allow exploring the Dāka 9 10 11 Thrangu, Song for the King, 100. Karma Trinlaypa gives four specific terms (brda’ bzhi, lit. four symbols) as examples of D āka language, namely "memory, non-memory, non-origination, release from the intellect," (Guenther, Royal Song, 6) alternatively translated as "mindfulness, non-minding, the unborn and beyond the intellect." Their Tibetan rendering is dran pa, dran med, skye (ba) med (pa), and blo (las) ‘das (pa). These terms occur in Karma Trinlaypa’s story about Saraha’s life in the crucial passage of Saraha’s meeting with the female arrow smith. While watching her concentrated fabrication of an arrow, Saraha gains an intuitive understanding of the symbolic meanings of her work. He sees the "fourfold split at the base" Karma Trinlaypa in Schaeffer, Dreaming the Great Brahmin, 21.) of the arrow as this fourfold symbolism of mahāmudrā. We find an elaboration on these terms in the King Dohā, verses 27 - 33. The contemporary Buddhist scholar Thrangu Rinpoche refers to these four terms as Saraha’s Four Symbols and parallels them with the four joys, the four seals and the four meditative absorptions (samādhi) of the sūtra tradition.( Thrangu Rinpoche, A Song for the King, 100) According to his explanations, the first symbol, “mindfulness,” refers to a state of "certainty about the illusory nature of phenomenon."( Ibid., 93.) “Non-minding,” the second symbol, refers to an experience of "recogniz[ing] the emptiness of mindfulness itself."( Ibid.) The third term, “unborn,” refers to the realization that all phenomena are "empty, and therefore without true arising, they are unborn."10 Finally, the fourth symbol refers to the direct experience of things as they are, and is therefore called “beyond the intellect."( Ibid., 94.) for example, by Gampopa Sönam Rinchen (sgam po pa bsod nams rin chen, 1079-1153) in The Ineffable Mahāmudrā Gradual Meditation (phyag rgya chen po bsam gyis mi khyab pa'i sgom rim, in Collected Works of Gampopa (gsung ‘bum sgam po pa); as well Saraha’s Dohākośa Mahāmudrā Upadeśa 133 language further in this paper. However, let me add a final remark to Saraha’s view of language: Although he uses language as an indispensable and powerful tool to communicate with his students, he regularly warns his audience about the limits and pitfalls of language. "The whole world is word bound - nobody gets past words; but resists words, and you’ll get past words."12 (2) The second recurring theme in Saraha’s songs is his particular view of meditation practise. The prime purpose of his songs was certainly to give practical meditation instructions to his disciples. For Saraha, ultimate reality was present and available, but elusive, if searched for deliberately.13 Therefore, Saraha advertised a meditation technique of minimal intervention. His approach is reflected in his songs in two ways. He criticizes techniques that he considers inferior, and promotes those he deems successful. His criticism takes on the form of mockery, disdain and ironical, rhetorical questions. He attacks not only nonBuddhist yogis, but also his fellow Buddhists. Saraha criticises common Buddhist practices, such as the accumulation of merit, i.e. the practise of generosity and other virtuous actions. He also mocks Buddhist vajrayāna methods such as receiving empowerments; breath control meditation; the manipulation of subtle energies; mantra practise; to name a few. He considers all these techniques fabrications, and manipulations of the mind. These criticisms are prominent features of both trilogies, the caryā gīti and the vajra gīti. In the little song I 12 13 as the Explanation of the Sole Path of Mahāmudrā (rje sgam po pa’i phyag rgya chen po lam gcig chod, in Jamgon Kongtrul (‘jam mgon kong sprul), gdams ngag mdzod, 5:67-69) Saraha’s verse 88 of the People’s Dohā, in Jackson, Tantric Treasures, 103. Peter Fenner, “Spiritual inquiry in Buddhism,” 18. 134 "The State of Buddhism, Buddhists and Buddhist Studies in India and Abroad" am looking at, Saraha only pities the “deluded,” (V12), the “ignorant fools” (V 45) that wander in “darkness,” (V11). Having stated that “sentient beings who do not realize that mind does not exist/ get completely trapped in conceptualisation,” Saraha then focuses mainly on the question: What is a meditator supposed to do? According to Saraha, the wisdom, that is able to realize ultimate reality, is inherent in the mind, but obscured through mental fabrications. The meditator’s task is to strip away these obscurations by means of giving up any form of fabricated effort, and seeing directly into "the essence" of thought. Saraha advises to short-circuit any kind of intellectual interference in the spiritual process. Cut the root [of hope and fear] and the authentic mind [will appear] like space! Don’t meditate, don’t do anything with your mind!14 (V27) When memories or thoughts arise, look [directly] into their essence!15 Realize water and waves as not being two [different things]! In Mahāmudrā there is nothing to do with the mind. There is not one iota of meditation to do. Therefore, don’t meditate! (V32) Even if you thoroughly search the realm of outer space, You will discover neither center nor limits. 14 15 yid la mi byed = not taking to mind, trans, by Daniel Brown. One of the two key points of Saraha, according to him, the other one being mindfulness without activity. Verse 27 of the Treasury of Couplets on Mahāmudrā Instructions, translation mine. See part 2.5. of this chapter. Alternative translation: When ordinary thoughts arise, see them as suchness. Verse 32 of the Treasury of Couplets on Mahāmudrā Instructions, translation mine. Ibid. Saraha’s Dohākośa Mahāmudrā Upadeśa 135 In the same way, when you look thoroughly for the mind and phenomena Not the slightest [trace of a] core of an atom is found. (V24) And because even the thoroughly searching mind cannot be experienced, When nothing is seen - that is seeing! (V25) Then, in the ordinary mind, the genuine natural state, You cannot be deceived by fabricated imaginings.16 The mind in its pure nature does not need artificiality Don’t hold on [to anything], don’t reject [anything], rest in the ordinary, joyful state. (V28) As part of the spiritual practice, Saraha teaches devotion to the guru. On many occasions, Saraha emphasized the necessity of a guru or lama (bla ma) for the spiritual path. He taught that without the guidance of an accomplished teacher, who is holder of a transmission lineage, the Mahāmudrā practitioner was not able to reach the highest goal. Not only did the teacher assist with his or her experience and wisdom, but moreover, devotional practice and worship of the guru may trigger mental attitudes which are highly conducive to opening the mind, and to the realization of emptiness. Verses 5 and 6 of the Speech Treasury summarize the role of the guru in the disciple’s spiritual progress. Relying on the lama, realization comes from the pure accomplishment of the essential instructions, And if you worship the Lama, you will accomplish spontaneous highest bliss. 16 Alternative translation: bcos ma’i dmigs: fabricated objects. 136 "The State of Buddhism, Buddhists and Buddhist Studies in India and Abroad" Bow at the Lama’s feet, because his actions are free of defilement. "If you worship the Lama, great blessings will arise" declared the Conqueror (the Buddha).17 Saraha addresses the importance of the guru in every song of his two trilogies. Curiously, however, it is altogether missing in the Treasury of Couplets on Mahāmudrā Instructions (Mahāmudrā Upadeśa Dohā).18 (3) The third feature of Saraha’s poems that I want to mention briefly is his rhetorical style of paradox and questions. Saraha had a very engaged -- and engaging -teaching style. He called out to his listeners "hey, you," "boy," or insulted them as “ignorant fools." Far from being a reserved, self-effacing teacher, he shot a lot of questions at his students—questions that cannot be answered intellectually. These rhetorical questions have the function of "pointing-out instructions,"19 by which a teacher helps the disciple to recognize the fundamental nature of mind. This first glimpse of understanding is thought to be indispensable to establish the correct view of the most subtle level of mind. It serves consequently as an orientation for the practitioner’s meditation and has to be stabilized through familiarization. In the forty-eight verses of the Treasury of Couplets on Mahāmudrā Instructions (Mahāmudrā Upadeśa Dohā), one can count twelve questions. Saraha asks, for example: "Since ego-lessness is primordial, what else could exist?"20 17 18 19 20 Lines 19-24 of the Speech Treasury, trans. Braitstein, dissertation, 225. Also in the People’s Dohā, guru devotion is a recurring topic. More than a dozen verses mention the guru. See Jackson’s discussion of the guru in Tantric Treasures, 37-40. The title Upadeśa - Instructions indicate by inference the presence of a guru. See below 2.4. ngo sprod: pointing-out instruction, lit. to bring face to face with, to introduce. Verse 7. Saraha’s Dohākośa Mahāmudrā Upadeśa 137 And he goes on with: "However, without mind - who could grasp even one dharma?”21 (V7) This excerpt displays another character of Saraha’s composition, i.e. the use of paradoxical language. In these two lines, Saraha addresses the classical Buddhist contradiction between non-existence (in primordial egolessness) and existence (of a mind capable of cognition). Paradox is a common feature of much of the Mahāyāna literature, in which there is an attempt to express the two dimensions of reality: the conventional and the ultimate. The ultimate level evades the intellectual understanding of human beings. Concepts of existence or non-existence are irrelevant on that level. Phenomena are said to be “empty,” even though what exactly empty means is explained differently by different philosophical traditions. Buddhists do not negate, however, that on the conventional level, phenomena do appear. Language does exist conventionally and it has the capacity to incite understanding of the ultimate. Therefore, language is used as a skillful means. The rhetoric of paradox has the double function of expressing the co-existence of the two levels of reality, as well as being a means that pushes the listener or reader to explore consciousness beyond reason and logic.22 Saraha says: Being free of the seen and the seer, [it] is inexpressible. Who can understand the inexpressible? (v 16) When you contemplate hope and fear, and you accept them [as real], Who [is it ] who thinks about blocking or accomplishing them? (V 20) 21 22 Ibid. More on the rhetoric of paradox in Jackson Tantric Treasures, 1619. 138 "The State of Buddhism, Buddhists and Buddhist Studies in India and Abroad" In conclusion, I would like to point out that this poem by Saraha represents a typical example of early Mahāmudrā literature. With these three aspects --focus on the ultimate; a meditation practice of minimal intervention; and a rhetoric of provocation and paradox-- Saraha addresses a public of probably advanced meditators for whom any formalized practise would have represented a regression, and not progress in their spiritual development. This at least must have been the attitude of later Tibetan Mahāmudrā masters, who integrated Saraha’s teaching into a very formalized approach to meditation. Tibetan masters such as the 9th Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje (dbang phyug rdo rje, 1556-1603) and Tagpo Tashi Namgyal (bkra shis rnam rgyal, 1512-1687) explained for the beginning stages of Mahāmudrā the very techniques that Saraha called a fabrication. However, when it comes to the very heart of Mahāmudrā meditation, they veered into Saraha’s style of meditation without fabrication, where liberation is said to happen on its own accord, given that the mind is positioned in an unconstrained manner. With Saraha’s words: Kye Ho! Look into the distracted mind of yours! When you realize your own true nature, The distracted mind dawns as Mahāmudrā. Characteristics are self-liberated - great bliss. (V19) Bibliography: Braitstein, Lara E. Saraha's Adamantine Songs: Texts, Contexts, Translations and Traditions of the Great Seal. Ph.D. diss., McGill University, Montreal, Canada, 2004. Saraha’s Dohākośa Mahāmudrā Upadeśa 139 Dalai Lama and Alexander Berzin. The Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahāmudrā. Ithaka, NY: Snow Lion, 1997. Davidson, Ronald, M. Indian Esoteric Buddhism, A Social History of the Tantric Movement. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2002. ___________. "Reframing Sahaja." Journal of Indian Philosophy, Vol 30, 2002. 45-83. 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Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1986. 140 "The State of Buddhism, Buddhists and Buddhist Studies in India and Abroad" Śāstrī, Haraprasād. Hājār bacherer purāṇa bāṇgālā bhāṣāy bauddh gān o dohā. Calcutta: Bagiya Sāhitya Pariṣat, 1916. Schaeffer, Kurtis, R. Dreaming the Great Brahmin, Tibetan Traditions of the Poet Saint Saraha. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. ___________. "The Religious Career of Vairocanavajra - A Twelfth Century Indian Buddhist Master From Daksina Kośala. Journal of Indian Philosphy. Tuscaloosa, University of Alabama, 2000, 28: 361384. Shahidullah, M. Chants mystiques de Kānha et de Saraha: Les Dohā-kośa et les Caryā. Paris: Adrien Maisonneuve, 1928. Snellgrove, David. Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists & Their Tibetan Successors, 1987. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2002. Thrangu, Khenchen, Rinpoche. A Song For The King, Saraha on Mahāmudrā Meditation. Trans. Michelle Martin, Peter O’Hearn. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2006. Wangchuk Dorje, The Ninth Gyalwang Karmapa. Mahāmudrā, The Ocean of Definitive Meaning, The Profound Instructions on Connate Union: The Radiant Activity of the Essence of the Ocean of Definitve Meaning. Trans. Elizabeth M. Callahan. Seattle, WA: Nitartha international, 2001. _____________. Mahāmudrā, Ozean des Wahren Sinnes, Die tiefgründige Unterweisung über die gleichzeitig entstehende Einheit - Essenz vom Ozean des Wahren Sinnes, dessen Wirken Licht verbreitet. Trans. Henrik Havlat und Waltraud Sander. Zürich: Theseus Verlag, 1990. Saraha’s Dohākośa Mahāmudrā Upadeśa 141 Tibetan Texts karma ‘phrin las pa. do ha skor gsum ti ka ‘bring po sems kyi rnam thar ston pa’i me long. Thimpu: Kunzang Tobgyel, Druk Sheig Press, 1984. ka.rma pakshi'i rnam thar bsam yas lha'i rnga chen. bkra shis rnam rgyal. nges don phyag rgya chen po'i sgom rim gsal bar byed pa legs bshad zla ba'i 'od zer. dbang phyug rdo rje, lhan cig skyes sbyor gyi zab khrid nges don rgya mtsho’i snying po phrin las ‘od ‘phro.