Category of Pith Instructions
[[Image:Shri Singha.jpg|frame|Shri Singha)]
Category of pith instructions (Tib. མན་ངག་སྡེ་, mengakdé, Wyl. man ngag sde) — one of the three classes into which Manjushrimitra divided the Dzogchen teachings. Shri Singha arranged the teachings of the Pith Instruction class into four cycles:
- the outer cycle (Tib. ཕྱི་སྐོར་, chi kor; Wyl. phyi skor), which is like the physical body, intended for those of lesser capacity;
- the inner cycle (Tib. ནང་སྐོར་, nang kor; Wyl. nang skor), which is like the eyes, intended for those of medium capacity;
- the secret cycle (Tib. གསང་སྐོར་, sang kor; Wyl. gsang skor), which is like the heart, for those of the highest capacity; and
- the innermost secret unsurpassed cycle (Tib. ཡང་གསང་བླ་ན་མེད་པའི་སྐོར་, yang sang lana mepé kor; Wyl. yang gsang bla na med pa'i skor), which is like the whole person, intended for those of exceptionally high capacity—this is the Nyingtik cycle of teachings.
Khenpo Namdrol explains:
- "These four great cycles present the Trekchö teachings in a similar way, but where they differ is in the clarity, explicitness and detail of how the Tögal teachings are given.
- Shri Singha gave the outer, inner and secret cycles of the category of pith instructions to both Vimalamitra and Jñanasutra. He transmitted the innermost secret cycle to Jñanasutra, who then passed it on to Vimalamitra."
The root tantra of the category of pith instructions is the 'Reverberation of Sound' Tantra (Tib. སྒྲ་ཐལ་འགྱུར་, dra tal gyur).
Instruction Section. The third of the Three Sections of Dzogchen, arranged by Manjushrimitra and emphasizing the special key points [RY]
division on category of instructions, instruction section (of ati yoga) the Instruction section [in rdzogs chen, rdzogs chen sde gsum yin lugs gnad thog tu 'bebs pa encountering the pith of the way things are (tserig). rdzogs chen aa ti yo ga'i nang gses zab pa man ngag gi sde ni, snying thig gi skor rnams te, ao rgyan gyi slob dpon padma 'byung gnas nas brgyud pa'i man ngag mkha' 'gro snying thig dang
pan chen bi ma mi tra nas brgyud pa'i bi ma snying thig sogs yin zhing, 'di'i lta grub ni, 'khor 'das spang blang dang bral zhing re dogs phyogs lhung las brgal nas blo dang yid dpyod las 'das pa'i chos nyid de, gzhi dbyings ka dag khregs chod dang, lam snang lhun grub thod rgal bsgoms pas blo 'das rang byung gi ye shes skad cig la 'char bar byed pa'o [IW]
man ngag gi sde Category of Direct Transmission [RB]
division on category of instructions, instruction section [of Ati yoga. the Instruction Section [in rdzogs chen, rdzogs chen sde gsum. def. yin lugs gnad thog tu 'bebs pa; instruction section of Ati yoga. the Instruction Section [in rdzogs chen, rdzogs chen sde gsum [RY]
upadesha series (divided by shrisingha into phyi skor, nang skor, gsang skor, gsang ba bla na med pa skor), atiyoga division of esoteric instructions, upadesavarga, instruction section, category of
instructions, series of esoteric instructions, secret instruction series, series of secret instructions, category of direct transmission [JV]
division on category of instructions, instruction section (of ati yoga) the Instruction Section [IW]
