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Secret Wisdom Three Tantras of the Great Perfection

From Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
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INTRODUCTION



As the title indicates, this book contains translations of three Tantras on the Great Perfection (rDzogs chen). A Tantra is a sacred, and often esoteric, work of literature. The Great Perfection is held by its followers to be the highest pathway in the Buddhist tradition.

The Buddhist tradition was historically founded by the teacher Úâkyamuṇi, also known as Gautama Buddha, in about the fifth century B.C.E., yet the Buddhist tradition itself holds that Buddhas continually appear throughout all time, and that Úâkyamuṇi is simply the Buddha of the present era.

There are a large number of texts claiming to record the teachings of the Buddha Úâkyamuṇi. There are also many texts recording the teachings of other Buddhas. Many of these teachings are contradictory. Buddhists themselves have always been aware of the large variety of Buddhist literature. It has been considered necessary for each sect to determine which texts it holds to be authoritative and which not. Some Buddhist sects, such as the Theravadins, have chosen to declare large numbers of "Buddhist" works to be forgeries, thus maintaining orthodoxy by exclusion. Other Buddhist traditions, particularly those of the Great Vehicle or Mahayâna, have accepted a much larger corpus of Buddhist literature.

In so accepting many contradictory works to be authoritative it was necessary to categorize the literature into different classes in order to distinguish the level of teaching contained in the work in question. Thus there is the general division between Great Vehicle Buddhism and Small Vehicle Buddhism, though only the "Great Vehicle" recognizes these terms. Some go on to divide the Great Vehicle into the Sutra Vehicle, or vehicle of the Buddha's discourses, and the Tantra Vehicle, or vehicle of the esoteric instructions. What is called the Small Vehicle is represented in the modern world by the followers of the Theravada tradition living in the countries of Thailand, Sri Lanka, Burma, and Laos. What is called the Great Vehicle is represented by the traditions of China, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Nepal, Bhutan, Bali, and Tibet. In all Great Vehicle countries both Sutra and Tantra traditions can be found side by side.

Both Sutras and Tantras appear to represent many different levels of teaching, and each school of Buddhism has its own system for classifying the literature. The texts translated in this volume were preserved only in the Tibetan language, however, so I wish to direct your attention to the development of Buddhism in that country.

As Buddhism came from India, China, and Central Asia to Tibet two major systems of classifying the levels of the Buddhist teaching became popular. The earliest texts translated into Tibetan speak of a nine level categorization, while later translations use a system that speaks of four levels of Tantra.

According to the earlier system there are the three outer levels of Auditor, Private Buddha, and the Bodhisattva; the three inner levels of the Kriyayoga, the Upayoga, and the Yoga itself; and the three secret levels of the Mahâyoga, the Anuyoga, and the Atiyoga, which is also known as the Great Perfection. This classification system was accepted by the rNying ma, or "Old School," which represents the followers of the Tantras first translated into Tibetan between the seventh and tenth centuries C.E.

Three schools of Buddhism were formed and came to prominence in Tibet in the eleventh century C.E. These, collectively known as "New Schools" (gSar ma) are the bKa’ gdams, the Sa skya and the bKa’ brgyud. These schools first divide Buddhists between Auditors, Private Buddhas, and followers of the Great Vehicle, then subclassify the Great Vehicle into Sutra and Tantra, then subclassify the Tantras into four categories: 1) Kriyatantra, 2) Caryatantra, 3) Yogatantra, and 4) Anuttarayogatantra.

The Tantras contained in this book were translated into Tibetan during the early period, and belong to the Old School. They expound the nine level system. Of these nine levels, these Tantras are written on the highest and most secret level, the ninth. As such they claim to be the very highest of Buddhist teachings.

The nine level classification of the Buddhist path used by the Old School Tantras is unique to the transmission of Buddhism into Tibet, for texts that mention the Great Perfection or Atiyoga are found nowhere else in the Buddhist world, and not even a single Indian language text remains which mentions this teaching. This fact may be one reason that the Tantras translated into Tibetan during the early period of Buddhism in that country were not included in the Tibetan Buddhist Canon (bKa’ ’gyur), which was compiled in the fourteenth century C.E.

The Tibetans did not fail to see the importance of preserving these early translations, despite the loss of Indian originals. The rNying ma Tantras were first gathered into a collection by Ratna gLing pa (1403-1479). This collection was then edited and completed by 'Jigs med gLing pa (1729-1798). In 1982 the National Library of the Royal Government of Bhutan published a photo-offset edition of the mTshams brag manuscript of this collection, which is known as The Hundred Thousand Tantras of the Old Ones (rNying ma rgyud 'bum). This publication made these rare texts available to the Western world in reliable form for the first time. The three Tantras translated in this volume come from the third volume of the rNying ma rgyud 'bum, where they occupy pages one through one hundred nineteen.

The teachings these Tantras contain are considered so rare and precious that the first two, The Secret Wisdom of the Great Perfection and Clarity Equal to the Limit, clearly declare themselves to be secret. The third Tantra, on the other hand, Vajrasattva of the Great Sky, insists that it must be taught to anyone who wishes to study it. The Secret Wisdom of the Great Perfection in particular sets very definite limits on just who should be allowed to read it, and insists its distribution is to be limited, while The Great Sky of Vajrasattva demands that it be taught without limitation.

It is not my intention, as translator, to throw pearls before swine in translating these rare texts into English. I wish, rather, to make this literature available to those who may benefit by it, yet cannot read the original Tibetan. The understanding of Buddhism has steadily increased in the West to the point where there are many practitioners who have been fully empowered in the higher levels of Buddhist teachings, and who are prepared to study the original Tantras. It is primarily for such readers that these texts are presented in English.

The Tantras themselves state very clearly that a proper understanding of their contents must be gained with the assistance of a living teacher. The reader who is seriously interested in the contents of these works is therefore encouraged to seek out such assistance, as there may be many points needing the clarification of an expert in Great Perfection thought.

All names and terms have been translated from Tibetan into English with the exception of certain figures whose names have come to be well-known by those knowledgeable in Esoteric Buddhism, such as Vajrasattva. There remain a few words for which there is no adequate English equivalent whatsoever. These words are given in Sanskrit, and include Samsara, Nirvana, Karma, Buddha, Dharma, Mara, Mudra, Mandala, Yoga, and Vajra. For this category of words I have omitted diacritical indicators. There are, in addition, certain words which the Tibetan translator did not translate into Tibetan, but allowed the “Sanskritword itself to stand in the Tibetan text. These include the “Indian Language” titles of the texts themselves. Diacritical indicators on these words are in accord with the diacritical indicators used in the Tibetan and may or may not conform to the standards of Classical Sanskrit. In some cases the term in question is easily identifiable as Classical Sanskrit, while in several cases the question of the word’s “Sanskrit” origin may be questioned. I have included a glossary at the end.

There is no need in this introduction to give a summary of the thought of the Great Perfection, for the texts contained herein are, in fact, summaries of just this topic. Nor is there need for lengthy discussion of the technical terms and my translations of them, for language is a contextual phenomenon. An understanding of the words will arrive most readily to a person who observes them in the contexts where they are actually used.

There is a great similarity between the conditions under which these Tantras were translated into Tibetan from Indian languages and the conditions under which they are now being translated into English from Tibetan, for in the year 1990 when these translations were done, very few conventions had been established for the translation of Buddhist technical terms into English. Accepted conventionalities in the translation of Buddhist texts into Tibetan were only established by the completion of the Mahavyutpatti, a Sanskrit-Tibetan dictionary, in the early part of the ninth century C.E. under King Khri gtsug lde brtsan. Vairocana, translator of The Secret Wisdom of the Great Perfection, was active at the end of the eighth century C.E., well before this dictionary was available. The other two Tantras presented in this volume were also most likely translated into Tibetan before the Mahavyutpatti was available. No universally accepted Sanskrit-English, Tibetan-English, or Chinese-English dictionary for Buddhist technical terms has yet been developed. Thus the present translation into English has been completed under the same conditions under which the Tibetan translations themselves were made.

These Tantras are profound, unusual, rare, and difficult to acquire. They are mystical texts of the highest order. They are here translated for the first time from Tibetan into English. Read them and be happy.

Chris Wilkinson 1990

DEDICATION

To the memory of my teachers,

Most especially Dezhung Rinpoche,

Dilgo Kyentse Rinpoche,

Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche,

Khenpo Palden Sherab,

Kalu Rinpoche,

And Geshe Ngawang Nornang,

As well as to

All teachers and students

Of the Great Perfection


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