Semde

See also :

Wylie: sems sde; Sanskrit: cittavarga) translated as

"mind division", "mind class" or "mind series"

is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within Atiyoga, Dzogchen or the Great Perfection which is itself the pinnacle of the ninefold division of practice according to the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Semde emphasizes the clarity (gsal-ba) or the innate awareness (rig-pa) aspect of the Natural State.

Penor Rinpoche states that due to the different approaches of various Dzogchen lineages, three sub-schools have developed of which semde is one.

The other two divisions or schools are Longde (Space Series) and Menngagde (Oral Instruction Series).

The Mind School is attributed to Sri Singha and Vairotsana's lineage

Background

These three divisions were introduced by the Buddhist scholar Manjushrimitra.

As Great Perfection texts, the texts of all three divisions are concerned with the basic primordial state, the nature of mind-itself (which is contrasted with normal conscious mind).

They are related to the 'Three statements of Prahevajra.

It is important to note that the three series do not represent different schools of Dzogchen practice as much as different approaches to the same goal, that being the basic, natural, and primordial state.

As is common throughout much Buddhist literature, Tibetan Buddhism in particular, gradations in the faculties of practitioners are also ascribed to the three divisions, they being seen as appropriate for practitioners of low, middling, and high faculties, respectively.

Germano (2005: p.12) states that:

The earliest revelations of the Great Perfection are those said to have been disseminated in Tibet in the latter half of the eighth century, and which retroactively were classified as the Mind Series to distinguish them from later developments.

They begin with a collection of quite short texts known as The Eighteen Texts of the Mind Series (Sems sde bco brgyad), and then subsequently proliferate into a large family of texts spawned by the original collection’s expansion, modification, and so forth, culminating in a series of texts centered on The All-Creating King (Kun byed rgyal po).

Most of the resultant sub-divisions of the Mind Series rubric have names based upon geographical regions, clans, or individual founders. Padmasambhava (eighth century) does not figure prominently – if at all – in these early Great Perfection traditions; rather, Śrīsiṁha (eighth century),

Dga’ rab rdo rje (seventh century?), and Vimalamitra (eighth-ninth century) are the main Indian figures cited as involved in their authorship, redaction, transmission, and translation. (NB: original text not meta-enhanced.)

Distinguishing Features of the Mind Division

Texts of the Mind Division emphasize that the totality of phenomena that present themselves to us are nothing more than apparitions or projections of the mind.

As the Mind Division is related to the first statement of Prahevajra, Semde texts emphasize the direct introduction to the natural state of mind, including explanations of this state and methods for recognizing it.

Texts of the Mind Division

The mind class (semde) of Dzogchen was also said to comprise eighteen tantras, although the formulation eventually came to include slightly more. Tantras belonging to the Mind Division include: