THE
Clear
Studies
en. e. Thirteenth Century rQzogs-chen Text
by
Christopher James Wilkinson
A THESIS
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES
;r;'N PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS ',FOR THE
DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS
DEPARTMENT OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES
ｃａｌｇａｒｙｾ
ALBERTA
APRIL, 1988
.
ｲ･ｨｰｯｴｳｬｾ ｩＨＧＡｾ
J. Wilkinson 1988
Abstract
Clear Meaning: Studies on a 13th Century rpzogs-chen Text
Christopher James Wilkinson
is thesis is devoted to a
study of the history and
content of the Tantra of Great Unreified Clear Meaning or
sPros-bral Pon-gsal Chen-po'i rGyud in Tibetan (PBP).
The
PBP claims a very ancient history, asserting its origins to
be with the famed founder of the Great Perfection tradition
dGa-rab rPo-rje,
century C.E.
is believed
who is thought to have lived in the first
\
The PBP is a "treasure" (gter-ma) text, which
to
have been hidden in Tibet by the
teacher
Padmasambhava during the eighth century C.E. and discovered
by
Guru
Chos-kyi
dBang-phyug
in
the
thirteenth
century.
Guru Chos-dbang taught this text in the year 1257, and it
was written down by one of his disciples.
The PBP came to
be included in the great collection of Tantric texts known
as the Hundred Thousand Tantras Q!. the rNying-ma (rNying-ma
rGVJ19 __ 'bum),
and
is
found
in this collection today.
Hi
As
such,
the
PBD
represents
the
teachings
of
the
rNying-ma
school of Tibetan Buddhism in general, and their thirteenth
century manifestation in particular.
The essence of the
teaching of the PBD
living beings have a pure awareness
conceptual,
mind
uncontrived,
ＨｾＩＮ
and
the
is
that all
which is non-
Ｈｲｩｧｾｰ｡Ｉ
fundamental
state of the
This awareness is the fundamental ground on
which both the deluded experience of samsara and the pure
experience of nirvana are based.
When this awareness is
falsely intuited based on the primary ignorance of subjectobjf;!ct
duality
and
the
emotional
defilements
which arise
from this duality there is the experience of samsara.
When
this awareness is directly intuited it is Buddhahood itself.
The
history
of
the
PBD
is
fully
discussed
in
this
thesis, and a thematic study of the major points made in the
PBD is presented in the main body of the thesis.
The PBD
discusses
of
topics
rNying-ma school.
the
path,
Base
ＨｾＩＬ
to
the
Buddhology
the
This thesis presents the PBD r s views on
delusion,
recognition,
vehicle.
fundamental
and
the
the
Buddha-kaya,
Great Perfection
wisdom,
the
(rDzogs-chen)
These are the major themes presented in the PBD.
This investigation provides an insight into the doctrines of
esoteric Buddhism as they are reflected in a primary text,
and
provides
an
insight
into
a
"treasure"
text
of
rNying-ma school in the thirteenth century in particular.
iv
the
Acknowledgments
I wish to express my deepest thanks to Dr. Eva Dargyay
for
her
constant
instruction,
advice,
support,
well
as
as
extensively from her book, .Ilut
Tibet.
I
thank
Dr.
proofreading
my
for
ｾ
Leslie
encouragement and support.
for
guidance,
generosity,
permission
to
and
quote
Q.f Espteric Buddhism
Kawamura
for
his
in.
constant
lowe thanks to Windsor Viney
manuscr fpt.
I
want
to
thank
the
Religious Studies faculty at the University of Calgary for
much valuable instruction in the course of my studies.
would
also
government
program
like
of
where
to
express
Canada
for
studies
such
my
thanks
providing
furthered.
v
as
my
to
an
own
I
the people and
institution
are
promoted
and
and
Table of Contents
Page
Title Page . .
•
•
•
•
1
Approval Page . .
ii
Abstract . . . .
. . iii
Acknowledgements .
. . v
Table of Contents.
vi
Chapter
1.
History of the Text. . .
. . . . . . 1
Teaching of the PBD.
. . . . . . . . 3
The Colophon . . . . . . . . . .
Transmission of the PBD. . . .
....
11
. . .
24
Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
43
2.
Methodology. . .
3.
The Base .
4.
Delusion
73
5.
The Buddha-kaya. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
87
6.
Wisdom. . . . .
7.
The Path . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
....
vi
. . . . . . .
52
..
57
...
112
124
8.
Recognition
9.
The Great Perfection .
·
• • •
Conclusion . . . .
·
..
.
. .
10.
.
Bibliography, Works Cited . .
· . ..
.
.
Appendix A . . . . . . . . . • . • .
vii
. .
. . 149
172
. . . 200
. .
. .
. 206
. 2'10
CHAPTER 1
History of the Text
7.b§. Tantra
Wl.,Dop-gsal
Q.L Great Unreified Clear Meaning, or sProsChen-po' i
rGyud
in
the
Tibetan
language
(hereafter the PBD), 1 is a text belonging to the tradition
of esoteric Buddhism.
The text is a discussion on the view,
meditation, practice, and result of what it holds to be the
highest
path
Perfection.
of
Buddhism,
the
ｲｰｺｯｧｳｾ｣ｨ･ｮ
or
Great
Its intention is to explain how enlightenment
1 The PBD is contained in the rNying-ma rGyud-tbum. There
are currently two versions of the rNying-ma rGYQd-'bum
available.
These are: 1 ) Rnying. mc.1 Rgyud 'Bum.
A.
Collegti9n21 Treasured Tantras Translated during t.Wit Perigd
Q.t First Propagation Qi. Buddhism in . Tibet, ed. by Dingo
Khyentse Rimpoche (Thimpu, Bhutan: n.p. 1973) where the PBD
is found in volume Cha p.374-608, and 2) ｾ
Mtshams.....Brag
Manuscript. gi, :tb.!t B.nJ.n. b. Rgyud 'Bum, (Thimpu, Bhutan:
National Library, Royal ｇ ｯ ｶ ･ ｲ ｾ ｭ ･ ｮ ｴ ｯ ｦ
Bhutan,
1982) where
the PBD is found in volume XIII, p.1-296.
The version of
the PBD found in the 1982 edition of the ｲｎｹｩｮｧｾｭ｡
.rGyud....
Ｎｾ
is superior with regard' to spelling and sense, while
the 1973 version occasionally offers superior readings.
Bothhave·beenusedin preparation for this study.
Page
references to the PBD in this thesis refer to the 1982
version.
All transla.tlonsof the PBD in this thesis are my·,
own.
2
can be instantly intuited by the practitioner ,wi thout his
relying on any kind of gradual development or cultivation of
spiritual qualities.
As a dialogue on the Great Perfection
the text rejects the common. Buddhist method of dealingw.lth
,tbeabsolute, for unllke more traditional Buddhist works the
PBD uses posltive language to describe the ultimate reality.
In fact,
the PBD· presents an account of Buddhism that is
almost diametrically opposed to the traditional renderings.
of Buddhism in many ways.
It is the intention of this thesis to discuss. thePBD
I
will begin, by presenting the history of the
Then I
will discuss my methodology in analyzing the
in full.
text.
text.
I will then discuss the major themes presented in the
text.
Finally I
will conclude with aft summary of the
important. points in thePBD and the areas in which fur·ther
research is needed.
It is not the case that the ideas presented in the PBD
are new to Buddhism.
though
perhaps
not
Perfection teachings.
The· PBD itself is a very old text,2
the
oldest
to
describe
the
Great
The transmission of the teachings of
the Great Perfection must certainly go back to the arising
of Tantr ic Buddhism in India, perhaps as early as the first
centuryC. E. 3
The teachings' of the Great Perfection'are·
2 See p.21 of this thesis.
3 See p.33 of this thesis.
3
generally held to have been made immanent in this world by a
certain dGa' -rab rDo-rje,
It is not, however, from the historical Buddha
the Buddha.
ｾｫｹ｡ｭｵｮｩ
who received them directly from·
that dGa' -rab rDo-rje received the teachings, but
from the ultimate principle of Buddhahood itself --r·e·ferred
to
in
the
PBD
as
rDo-rje
'Chang..
To
understand
the
historicity of the PBD it will. be useful to first examine
what the text itself says about its history.
information and a
Based on this
careful analysis. o·fthe text scholarly
discussion of the claims made in the text will follow.
Teaching
To
ｾ
ｾ
ｾ
get
an
immediate
insight into
the style o·f the
text, as well as to see what the text itself says about the
place and time that this teaching was given,
I
will now
quote extensively from the opening passage of the text:
In the Sanskrit language of India [this book
is] the:
Tilaka OUhakala,· Trad" Tilaka DuhakalaTantra
Mahatantra.
In the Tibetan language it is the:
ｳｐｲｯｳｾ｢ｲ｡ｬ
ｄｯｰｾｧｳ｡ｬ
Chep-po'i rGyud
[In the English language it is:
Ib§. Tantra
ｾ
Meaning]
IU. Great Unrelfied Clear
4
Homage· to the Body, Speech and Mind of the
Omniscient and Glorious Great rDo-rje 'Chang!
In the great'lnbuilt palace of the Thirty
,
Three (gods] (Tult ta) ab ides the ch ief of all
·Gods·."·····
Ｍｾｴｨ･ｧｯ､ｳｫｮｷＢＬ｡ﾷｱｲｒｑｬｦ
He is surrounded by a retinue of subservient .
gods.
He stopped a confrontation which had
created
a
great
battle
among
the
asuras,4
then (gave] these sacred instructions
for establishing
bliss:
Dharma Sarya Tilaka AbSJIl Rupi.tikaya Triruka
Rusadup ihi .HAm.a,
Thus I have at one time heard:
T'heBlessedOne Great Dor-rje'Chang, who is
the actual intuition o·f sel f-awareness (Rang.tJr.g,
rTogs-pa) ,
whose
k5:ya S
the
force
4 Asuras are
one of the six classes of living beings . . in
Buddhist cosmology.
They are extremely envious· of the
-splendors of the gods and are excessively devot.ed to battle.
For a full description seeSgam-po-pa, IbJt Jewel QrnamentgL
Liberation,
translated by Herbert Guenther;.
(Berkeley:
Shambhala, 1971), p.68.
5 Klya refers to the state of true being. This technical
term is discussed in detail in this thesis on p.I' .
5
(rtsal) of wisdom-- appears without a self
nature,
who
colors,
who,
lotus
exists
in a
variety< of bodily
in the pose of the equanimous
position,
acts
in
a
manner
which
,/
teaches the Kudradharma (phvag-rgya-chgs) for
he is the kaya
0
f wisdom" whose countenance
is brilliant clarity --unhindered in all the
ten directions, abides in the abode totally
pure by its own nature know,n as "Lotus Clear
Bl iss"
(Pad-ma
bDe,..gsal) .
It's
cause
is
through the arising of the force of wisdom in
unhinderedl ight.
colors.
It is caused by the five
Its shape is that ofa square.
Its
walls are formed from precious stones of the
I ts palace, is round.
five colors.
On the
outside
it
spokes.
It has towers.
Its center courtyard
of goddesses.
Its four doors have
is
full
is encircled by a wheel of four,
dismounting facilities.
such
requisites
The
vajra
surrounded
as
fence
by
It is endowed with
dakinis
at
lotuses.
o·f
its
All
many
kinds.
perimeter
this
is
appears
without a self nature, like a rainbow in the
atmosphere.
In "such a grand,celestialpalace abides
the Teacher .. the Blessed One, the Great rOo,..
6
rje
'Chang.
His
retinue,
the
unhindered.
force ofwlsdom, appears as the five families
The unhindered force of wisdom
Ｈｲｩｧｳｾｉｍ｡ｊＮ
also
[appears
as]
male
and
female
[Bodhi Jsattvas and· male and female Wrathful
Ones.
is
The Lord of SecretsPhyag'""na rDo-rje
the
retinue
of
solici tators.
dGa' -rab
rDo-rje is the retinue ·of compilers.
There
are also the five kinds of dakinis,and these
five:
The
Pacifier
of
Purna.,
Wrath-faced
Woman,
the
.Woman,
Corpse
Eater
the
Single
the
Vajra
Crown Jewel
Shant!
with
his
rosary of sku.lls, and He with Wings of Vajra
Wind.
Each of these has his own retinue of
innumerable dakinis.
At that time the Lord of Secrets led the
retinue
in
making
a
seven-fold
circumambulation [of rDo-rje 'Chang].
s.itting.
down· before
Secrets]
addressed
the
him,
[the
Teacher
Then,
Lord
with
of
these
words:
"0, 0 Blessed
One,
Great rDo-rje 'Chang,
you who have attained power. in the force of
the intuition (rtogs) of the meaning of selfawareness, [you who areJ the
three
kayas
dwelling
in
sel.f-perfected
the. mode
of
the
7
(you
.' Sambhogakaya,
are)
who
unreified
awareness, perfection in· the Dharmakay.a, (you
who· are] the unhindered· force of flickering.
aris ing as the NirmanakSya," (you
( 'gyu-ba ),
•
who] in the way of the Sambhogakaya, are not
established by self nature , (you who) remove
both delu.si;onandconceptual ization, bringing
forth the benefi t
0
f 1 i v in9 beings:
Wben it
is near the moment of the Kaliyuga (snylqs-:ma' i-dus), the path which leads through . the
nine
vehicles
is very
lengthy.
The
five'
pois.ons of the obscurations. are very ripe in
the
continuum.
Pious
a'spirations
and
contemplation of doctrinal views are mentally
fabricated religion (blo-yi-chosh
request
I
n9S.9.)
the
sacred
instructions
of the Great Tantra of
Meaning,
sudden
the
instructions
enlightenment
Unreified Clear
which
real ize the way
of
the
cannot
be
instructionsl
the
0
f being','
instructions
·which
objects,
(the
self-liberation no
matter
harmed
of
show
(cig,,-car)
Dharmaklya,. which
self-awareness,
(man,,-
by
how the two forces (of good and evil larise,
which demonstrate the great meaning- with the·
lamp. ·.of words, which comprehend the meaning .'
8 ,',
when known
through
reading,
and
which are
decidedly certain through the connection of
words and meaning. 6
The presence of a Sanskrit name at the beginning of the
text should not·betaken as a certain sign that the text was
originally composed· in Sanskrit.
It is possible that some
portions of the text are truly Banskri t in or·i-gin,while the
possibility is very good that the. majority of the text is
,Tibetan in origin.
of
the
Sanskrit
offered
is
a
The Tibetan title is not a translation
title.
The
translation of
English
the
ti tie
Tibetan
that
title.
1
have
It
is
difficult to make sense of the Sanskrit title, except for
notlng,thatTJ.laka is the Sanskrit word for the Tibetan word
Thig....le. 7
In chapter one hundred twenty two of the PBD are
listed the various nameso,f the text. 8
has
the word Thig-le in it.
It is
None of these names
most
likely that this
Sanskrit title is as,purtous creation of the Tibetan writer.
It is also significant that no,' translator of the PRO into
Tibetan ismentloned in the colophon. 9
6 PBD, pp.1-4.
7 Lokesh Cha,ndra, " Tibetan,....SMskr.i.t
RlnsenBook Co., 1982),p.l029.
Dictionary,
(Kyoto:
8 The PBD offers, in total, seventeen di·£ferent· names for
itself. ,It also of·f&rs specific' reasons. for eacho,f these .
For a complete listing of the names of thePBD, see
names,.
appendix A.
9 See this thesis, p.l1ff.•
9
In the openingpas.sagewe gain the in£ormationthat the
Tantra was promulga,ted when Indra, the ruler of the Tu:Hta
beaven, ,had conquered the demi-gods or asurasand required a
teaching for establishing bliss .
This unusualpassa,gewhich
precede,s the text of the Tantra itself is significant, for
in the dogma ,of trad,itional Buddhism, represented by texts
such as· The
Jewel
Ornament··Qt Liberation.
the
incapable o·f galningthe Buddhist teaching_ 10
gods
are
It is, also
significant tha,t Indra is not mentioned again lnthe entire
text.
The implication that it was due to the need of the
,highest god o·'ftheworld that the Tantracame into the world
of men shows that· the text wishes .. · from, '., the . beginning, to
proclaim l,ts divine status. 11
It is only after this introductory passage that. we find
the
sign'i£ica,nt, , words
"ThllS
have· I
at
one
time heard.,"
These are thewordswhicb formall,ybeg·ln the Tantra. After
the
formal
beginning. of·· the Tantra weare told that the
Blessed One rDo-rje 'Chang lives ina great celestial palace
in a land called Lotus Clear Bliss, and this is the place
where the Tantra is actually taught.
Many other characters
are mentioned in this opening passage, but there are only
10 SeeSgam....po....pa, JewelQrpament,p.68.
11 On the· difference . between mundane (' jig-rtea....pa,) and
supramundane. ('jig....rtep lu. 'das....pa) gods see D; S. Ruegg,
"On the Supramundane and the Divine in Buddhism, "
Tibet
Journal, ＱＹＷＶｾ
3-4.
10
two among those mentioned that· are mentioned again.
These
are Phyag-narDo-rje, the solicitor or questioner, and dGa'rab rOo-rje, the compiler.
Phyag...na rDo-rie
In the actual body of the text
is identified with rOo-rje
.
e
the two names, are used J.nterchangjl.bl Y•
rDo-rje
'Ozin-paare
two
Tibetan
Sanskrit name.Vajradhara. 12
'Dzin-pai and
rOo-rj e 'Chang and
translations
for
the
It therefore turns out that the
text of the PBD is a dialogue between . Vajradhara (rOo-rje
'Chang)
and
Vairadhara· (rOo...rje
'Ozin..-pa).
In order ·.·to
avoid confusion I have left the· names in the Tibetanratber
than translate .. them into Sanskrit.
As I
have pointed out,
the text of tbe
PBD is a
dialogue between rOo-rje 'Chang and rOo-rje 'Ozin-pa.
Each
chapter begins with a question by rOo-rie 'Ozin-pa (Phyag-na
rDo-rie,
the. Lord o-f Secrets) which is followed by rOo-rje
, Chang's answer.
It is therefore the Lord of Secrets that
begins the Tantra withbis·request for the paD to be taught.
It
central
is
immediately
impo.rtance to
beginning of the text.
apparent
that
many
subjects.
of
the· ,- paD are mentionedr ightat - the
The request for, the teachings of
Instant Enlightenment and the comments <that the path-of the
nine vebicles is too lengthy are especially important.
From
the beglnning.tbe PBO proposes to - teach the path ,o·f· ins:tant
enlightenment, and reJects all gradual methods of progress.•
12 LokeshChandra, Dictionary. p.1285 and p.1298 •.
11
These are .subjectsthat-will,be-dealtwitb in detail in this
thesis.
-IWL Colophon
Now that we know whe·re, and·, in _what company, the PBD
claims to have beentaugbt,
at the PBD's colophon.
describes
teaching
the
to
it will beworthwbile to look
The colophon at tbeendo,fthe text
transmission
its
being-
put
of
the
into
text
from
writing.
its
Here
first
is
colophon:
Ratna BUa Halla
This Tantra 2f :t.b§..Great Clear Meaping2L
th!. Unification- of th!. Buddba( ｓ｡ｮｧｳｾ｛ｧｹ｡ｳ
,mNyam-.sbygrQsm.
which
Chep-mo'irGyud)
Ｙｓ｡ｬｾｭ｡
by
liberates
perceiving
it
is
oompletely finished.
Guhya
gTad
rGya
rGya
rGya/
gTad
rGya·
rGyarGya/gTadr-Gya rGya rGya.
This
Great
Tantra
of
secret
saored
instructions wa's-complied by the-retinue of
compilers, dGa' -rab rDo-rje, -andsetfo-rth in
words and letters.
He explained it to Guru
'Jam-dpaclbShes-gnyen.
Guru ｾｲｩ
Singha.
He explained it to
He explained it to the Guru
of Orgyan, Padma.
I,
Padmasambhavao-f· ---Org.yan,
dur,ing
tbe
the
12
degenerate time [of, thelastl
fivehu-ndred,
[years) have hidden' this Great Hotherof·all
the Dharmas,
enjoined
this generator of all
and-
perfect
as
a
things,
self-treatise
(rang-gzhungh 7b!t. Great Taptra ··21·· UnreHiied . '
Clear. Meaning"
the
three
for the sake-of persons, with
endowments
fldaD::Qsum.."skyes..,bu) .
This meaning of the u-n:1fioatio&· of sentient
beings and Buddha does . Dot rely on hearing,····
thinking, or
its
It is .realized. by
ｭ･､ｩｴ｡ ｩｮｧｾ
teaching .'.
reco.llection.
and
is
clear
by
its
Its e.mpowerment is attained by
meeting. with-it, and liberation by perceiving
it.
A Dharma, which at,tains the result i;n this
way is like, a
wish-ful£illing,.-jewel...
This
'secret treasure of Mind Treasure (thugs:=ater)
and Repeated T.reasure(yanq=aterJ 13 fills in
.incompletenessesandgathersthefragments .
This
harvest
practice,
of
encounter,
su·itahle
is a jewel of the 'heart.
for
It is a
fruit. ·for the eye .
13 Fora full. discussion of "tre·asures" and tbedifferent
types tbereo'f-,seeTulku ThondupRinpoche, Hidden Teachings.
g!, Tibet, An Explanatiop of .thslTerma . ··Tradi,tion o £ :tbJt
Hying" cScho·Ql g.f, Buddh;ksm, . (London':WisdomPubltcations,
1986).
13
I
mysel fam· not
small· in learning..
My
knowledge is equal to that of rDo-rje 'Chang.
Therefore tbisSecret Treasure of the Kind is
the
only
treasure ·be tween . the sk.y and .... the
earth.
Even
if
this
should
meet
w-ith
one
of
fortunate karma it [should be.] contemplated
in his mind for fiftee·nyears.
During the
pa,ssage
secret
of
this
(gsang-dam) and
of
samsara
time
for
the mind
ｶｯｷｾｰｲｯｴ･｣ｴｯｲｳ
[should
be]
given
certain mea·ning searched.
devotion
to
the
the
Guru.
up
vow
<b!.2.)
and
the
Give up life in
No,t
everyone,· has
exemplary praise for the tbree(jewelsJ.
When
the . time arrives
the
fortunate
are
protected from those who. have attained it as
an oral
transmission (snyan--brgyudl for the
sake of 1 i v ingbeings .
Fearing.
supreme
the. decline
Tantra,
this
oftb1s
unexcelled
Tantra· is
t-hreetreasure-troves 19ter-k,ha).
hidden
in·
One is the
Northern Treasure atPraduntse.
It is hidden
in
It
the
heart
of
Vairocana·.,
brought forth in· the tiger year.
Repea,ted· Tre'asurehidden here.
brought for,th· in the snake-year •
will
be
One is the'
It- will be
One is in
14
the
cave
of mKba-ri
dGye-rL
It will be
Drought ,fo·rth lnthe monkey year.
Furthermore,
complete.
the mother' and son. are here·
f
Further
Treasure are in the way of the son.
This is
because
The
three
Tantras
0
the potency of the mother is here
condensed .
The
8upremeTantra2.i,Clear
Meaning is in thewayo£ the mother.
This is
because
and
it
generates.
all
things
is
enjoined as a self-treatise.
In this'way it is profound, so it is a Mind
Treasure and is not taught at the rank of a
Further·Treasure.
In this waytbe meaningof,the
of
Buddba, .' is. taug'ht
ｵｮＬｩｦｾｩ｣｡ｴｩｯｮﾷ
by .this;, ,so
may· the,
Tafttra come to its place.
Some· will
cover
it
by
the
darkness
of
Some will block it with the claw
commentary.
of interpretation.
Some will poison it with
the content .stomach of scriptural.quotatio.n.
·Therefore
may
the
Pronounced
Transmission
(bka' -brgyq.d)· find,.· its own place.
If
it
mea,ning,
is
difficult
to
rely on the Guru..
accumulations
[0£
interpret
the
Make a hundred
meritJandoffer mandalas,.
Examine. the similes minutely and ·apply them
15
to the> ｭ･｡ｮｩ ｧｾＮＬ
'There. is only liberation by
.' examination.
May this meet with those possessing a mind'
compas·s!on.
and··
knowledge
profound
of
,Why?
possessing,·
,Because the essence of the
Secret. Mantra is' profound knowledge.
It,iGuhya
ｾ
tltYs. rGya.
En Ma,HolThe pronoaftcement··.of the,',Buddhas
of the three times' has· . fallen ana' treasure
·finder like me, ·Chos-dbang.A supreme Tantra
of
Essence
like
possession!
this
has
come
into
my
This is certainly the greatest
·miracle amo,ng the great t
sNang-don Dad--seng of gZhu...snyereque,sted
(this
Tan·tra,l from the- Nirmanaka.yaChos-kyi·
•
Lho-brag. in the year of the. snake, and wrote
it . dowltc.
this
By
may
the virtu&whicharisesfrom
this>
Tantra
of
all
things
continually liberate f 14,
It will be noted that this. colophon hasthr,ee. distinct
sections.
The
first
before ente,r1ng Tibet.
is
the account of its transmission
Here' we .are· told· that the compile·r
mentioned "atthe beginning of the text, dGa· ...rab rOo-rje,
14 PBD, p.286f.
16
composed,the-. PBD in words and Ie tte·rs.
From dGa·l-rab rDo-
rj.etbe· teaching .went,·to . IJam.,.,dpa,l·bSbes,-gnyell,. then to
ＢｾｲｩＭＯ
,,/':-:\
'\,"'----.;/
Singha. andi·finallyto Padmasambhava·.
The next secotion o,f,
thecolophon·;1s/Padmasambhava··s· account ,of how he hid the
texttnthree places so that its teaching WGuldnot decline,
with adv·lceregarding the finding andunderstandlng. of the
text.
Finally
there
is
the-- section
revelation. of thePBDln Tibet.
discussing-
the ...
Here we are - told that the
text came to Guru·Chos-dbang (Chos-kyi dBang..,.phyug)· and was
iwri tten downbyhisstudentsNang-don Dad-seng.
tellsusthatdGa' -,rabrDo,...rjeput<the,PBD illtowriti'ng,and
the end of thecolophontellsustha.t
the text into ,.wri,t.ing..
ｳｎ｡ｮｧ［ＡＢＧ ､ｯｮｄ｡､ｾＭｳ･ｦｴｧｰｵｴ
Itis,pos-sible that. both,peo·pl·e·.put
the text into words,. bu,t was "it the same . text exactly that
theY"wereconcerned with?
Tbe identif,icati·on, of the PBBasa"treasure tf
Is most sign·lfioant<here.
Ｈｧﾷｴ･ｲｾｭ｡Ｉ
"Treasures" are sacred objects
and- particularly literary, works that are said to have been
hidden during the ., "early spread">· (snga.,.,dar) of Buddhlsm'ln
Tibet,
the eighth andninth>centuries C.E.,15 so that. tbey'
The coming" of· Buddhism-to Tibet is cUvidedbyTibetan
into· an ｦｬＮ･ｾｲｬｹＮｳｰｲ･｡､ｦ
.... (snga;!"'"dar), repre.senting,,'
the period before··Atil,a·'callletoTi'bet( 1042, C.E. landa
"later spread" (phYl-dar),. represented by ｴｨ･Ｇﾷｰ･ｲｩｯ､｡ｦｴｾ ﾭ
Atiga came to Tibet.
See Guiseppe·Tuccl,. Ｎﾷｾｒ･ｬｩｧＮ ｯﾷｮｳ Ｎｩ
Tibet.. . (Berkeley: Uni.versity ｯｦＧＬｃ｡ｬｩｦＹｾｮｴ｡Ｌ
. Pres's, ｬ［ｑＨｏｾＧ
·,p.19;andp .250 .
15
ｨｩｾｳｴｯｲｩ｡ｮｳ
17
might be rediscovered ina later period.
The,PBD claims, to
,have been hidden byPadmasambhava for this purpose.
One of the
features of the·· "'treasure" texts is that
:theyare oftenwr itten in "Dakinf
Script."
•
DakinI
script is
l
wr i:tingthat . can· only be unders,toodby.· the pers.on·, who has
the karm:!c,·conneGtionto, read it.
as
strange. scribblings•.
The
To others lt may appear
te:xt of the· "treasure'"
is
w·ritten,,>on wha,tare known as t1-yellow scrolls" (shgg-ser).. 16
Snob" scro:11s may not actually, be yellow"and they may. not
actnally
be
scrolls..
In
many
cases
the
contento£ a
treasure is nothing more thana small scrap. of paper with
strange writings on It.Thetreasure finder who uncovers
such a
"yellow scroll"
is though,tto· have the abi;lityto
drawQuta,nentire "treasure," perhaps of great length, from
this myste.rious, writing...
The rationale forthi.s is that t'he
treasure finder is believed to have been one of the original
disciples of ,Padma,sambhava·, in' a former-life, ·wherebe or she
receiv,edthe teaching of the treasure in full.
the
yellowscr.oll
the
memor·y
of
Uponfinding
tbi,s,. previou-sli£e . is
brought.fo-r·th,.and the treasure finder is able to compose an
entire teachiDg . based.on it.
case
that
the
"treasure"
Of·. course··, it may .a-laG' be the,·
found". ,is
in
fact .a . complete
manuscript." a partial manuscript, ar even some,other,object .
16 See Tulku, ThondupRi,npacbe,.HiddeR.,TeaqhiJlgs.,..pp.l03,
127, 237.
18
··suahasan . image
0
ftheBuddba . 17
As the PBD is a "treasure" there 1s some difficulty in
arriving at what might be called anUr-text,wbether such a
text
might
himself,
represent
the
"yellow
the composition of· dGa' -rab rDo-rje'
scroll" hidden by Padmasa·mbbava and-'
found' by Guru Chos'-dbang, or even . the text as composed by
sNang-don Dad-seng.
that
the- PBD
The problem is compounded by·· ,the· fact
remained- .·as···a copied
manuscript.·.· unt-il
the,·····
"compllationof ·the Hundred .TbousandTantras2!..tU.rHying-,ma
(rNying"",ma rGyud-'bum) ···begun .by Ratoa .. 9bing-pa·· ('1'403-1479)
and completed by 'Jigs-med gLlng-pa Cborn 1729).18
Tbere are
variations ln tbe text o·fthe· PBDln the· different editions
of the -Hundred Thous.and Tantras"
ｾＮ
rNy1ng..,.ma, yet these
amount to . nothing more thanminorvar1ants inreading·sand>
spel1ings. 19
It is safe to assume that· we still possess the.
-texto.f· tbe,P,BDas . Ratna gLlng-pahadit.
The stages of rev!·s·ion that thePBD took between thefirst compositlon",ofdGa"'-rabrDo-rje and RatnagLing-pa' s
inc1 uding"lt 1nthe"Mundred'l'housand Tantras '. -.Q;! . t.bJl r,HyingII@.;
are difficult to determine.
The text of thePBD does
17 Ibid, p.77.
18 See Eva Dargyay, lb!l··lU.U.a· Esoteric Buddhism. a%ibe.t,
(New ¥ork:SaIMlel'"lfeiser', Inc·.-,. 1978) p.7·O; .pr.1-44....14':7.
·Permirssio.n-to . q uote extensively from this work kindly
provided by· Eva,/ Dargyay •.. "
19 See this the&ls p.l,notel.
See.
·Esgterlc·Buddb,is.,pp.144ff, ,and 186f£.
also Dargyay,
19
contain in it short fragments of a-mys,terious wr iting, which
canbe·leen·tifled
as
"daklnT
•
ser ipt ... 2.0
'·here
is
no
statementwbetberthesewritings are theorig.inal content of
- the·
treasure,
or . whether-
there
was
more.
Also
considered is the fact· that the questioner is
na rDo-r:Je
to
be
｣｡ｬ ･､ｐｨｹ｡ｧｾ
in thefirsttwo.-chapters ofthePBD· whi·le in
later chapters hels almost alwa.ys referred,toas the Lord·of Secrets
or
rDo-rje
, Dzln-pa..
Anotber
£eatureof the·
firsttwochap-ters .ofthe,te,xt is thelr- discussion of the
"force of good" (bzaM"",rtsal) and the "·force ··of evil" - (09an-
wins over evil,
yet after the second chapte·rthereis no
discus-sion-of - these poin-ts w-hatever.
evidence' tha·t the· first two chapters a.r.e.pe-rhaps earlier
-·thaotherest of the volume.
Each cbapterof the PBD begins
with a. ques-tion from- the Lord of Secrets which 1s followed"
by
rDo-r:Je
'Chang'S
a-nswer.
progress·i-onfr-omsu-bjectto
impression·, that much
0
There
subj ect.
is
a
very
This
orderly
gives
the
f the text may representt-he teachings·
o£ Guru Chos-dbangas given to his disciples and written· ,. downbysNang-don Dad-seng.
The statements in the colophon·that this text "£111sin
incomp.1:.etenesses and, ·ga·ther.s the £rag:Jnents"·...i,s ·significant.
The words are put .·intothe _. mouth of Padmasambhava.,which
20 PBD,. p.9l, 288.
20
would seem to indicate that there were missing portions even
duringtbe early.history·of tbetext.
Yet if we assume ·tbat
even this colophon was . the composi tion.,ofGuruChos-dbang
then', tbe . reference
would indicate that the
text was not
complete when it reached Gtl:!'.u.Cbos-dbang·' s attention.,
The
statement tha'tthetext should be contemplated for f·ifteen
years<before; be,ingrevealed to the pUb1 icmay be taken as an
indi,cation. that the contents of the PBD were onGuruChosdbang' smindfora long·time before he taugbtsNang-don Dadseng.
The·
statement· that .sNang-don Dad-seng . wrote '. the
,t-eacblngs ·down is an indication: that Guru Chos-dbang did not
have a w,ritten ,text from,·wbich.·to·.··teac-h.
If we are not to as·s'ume, that the PBD is a spurious
"treasure" we must assume· that Guru Chos-dbang did in. fact
find,sometbing, which, wa-slater developed into the texto·f
the PBD.
There' is no 'way of knowing just wha-tit 'la,s that
Gur,Q< Chos-dba,ng. ｦｯｵｮＨｨｾＮｬ
but i,t is safe to assumetbat the
text as we havei t
represents both the findings,o£ Guru
Chos--dbangas well as bis own inspiration in teaching.
I will therefore not attempt to define·· an Ur-text of
the
PBD,
as
there
is
history to make such
not enough, evidence .·of the text's
defini tion"pos,sible.
It will be
21 IbI.;GreatTreasure&!scov,eries Ｎ ｾ
iB:.ll.'Chps;:dbapg Ｎｈｩｵｾｲ ［Ｌ
.. '
Chos-dbgng bi.,g!1ier-'bVUB9 ,Chen,....,' <manu'script copy kind-ly
made available to me'by Tu'lku Thondup,Rinpoche),p,.133.,
indicates that the PBD,was, one of the first eighteen major'
treasure ·,discoveries 'of Guru' ··Chos-dbang, <but does not
indicate,' the details of the ,discovery.
21
sufficientfor'the-pu:rposes of thepresen'tstudy to take the
text as we have it contained in the Hundred Thousand, Tankas
Qt.
ｾ
of the study.
ｲｎｹｩｮｧｾｭ｡ＭＬ｡ｳｴｨ･｢｡ｳｩ
some doubt> as
to· whether, the
The·re may be
PBD. ,underwent. any serious,·'
changes at . the, handsofma·nuscript _. copie,rsbe·tween:bhe . time
These
errors
tend
to
be
1 imitad,' however,
to errors
in'
spelli·ng,·and·, .·no,t .·toma,jor·' rei.nterpreta tions of . . meaning,. so··'
it is pe·rhaps .. -safe to say that. the, principal form of the,
·manuscriptremained the same during this time.
Thecolophon
informsu-s tba·tthe text was. revealed,duringthe snake· year,
which maybe· ,taken .. lll' this case to be the year 1257 . 2.2
This
22 This dat-ecan be determined based on the,i·nformation
that Guru Chos....dbangwas born, in '1212.
The PBD,according
to "the Great Treasure DiscQyeries2.Lilwa. Qhos-,obaD9,p.133,
is one' of his firstmaj'or ｴｲ･｡ｳｵｲ･､Ｇｬｳ｣ｯｶ･ｲｩ･ｳｾ＼
which he .
began to make at the age of· 22.
I f we allow" 15 years 0'£ .
contemplation. before theunveillng; of the . teaching .' this,
brings·us'to·the year 1249. The next'snake y,ear -after 1249
is 1257.
It is also possible that the text was revealed in
the snake year 1269, one year before Garg,· Chos-dbang's
death.
ｉｴｩｳｮｯｴ･ｷｯｲｴｨｹＧＮｴｨ｡ｴｳｎ｡ｮｧＭ､ｯｮｄ｡､ｾｳ･ｮｧｲ･ｰｯｲｴｳ
..
thathe·wrotetbePBDdo·wn lnthe snake year . If Guru Chosdbang'discoveredthe ,·.text··fifteenyear,s be,fo·re . . revealing it
it would> have· been discovered· in the tige,r year.·. -- which
contradict,s the-prediction ····in the c010phonthat .. the text·
wou,ldbe <uncovered-lnthe· snake. year.
This would indicate .
tha·t··· the·writlngdownof· the, text by sNa'ng-.donDad-seng<-- -.
rathe-r, ··thantbe·uncoveringby GuruChos-dbang-1sthe,
revealing of· the ,text'pred,icted . in' tbe.colophalh
'lb1smay·
also strengtben···thesapposition"that, ··l,t is ｳｎ｡ｮｧｾＭ､ｯｮﾷ ｄ｡､
....
seng himself who is thetrueauethor,·ofthe<PBD, thougbhe
was gu'ided by Guru'· Chos,....dbang, in his composi,t.ion., See Eva
Dargyay" . Esoteric, 'Buddhi,slft!., ﾷｰＮＬＱＰＺｾＧＹＢ｡ｮ､ｋ｢･ｴｳｩｵＮｓ｡ｮｧｰｯＧｬ
ｂｩｯＮ｡ｰ｢Ｌ ｣ ＧｄﾷｩＺ ｴＴｯｮ｡ｲﾥＧＲＮ ｔｩ｢･Ｌｴｾ Ｈ
Dharmasala·.,H'. P., . India:'
c'·
22
is ·tbeear-liestda·te.tha·tmay safely be given to the P·DD, as
the exact na,tu.reo£· the, teachIng handed ·dGwn·from the. Indian
·maste.rs to·Padmas·ambhava canno tbedete·rmined.
The au-thority o·f the PBD doesno·t come/.f·rom, its being
"-
··taughtbyt·heh·istorical·Buddha Sakyamuni.
itself, states.
that
"The·
teachers
of
In fact the text
the
past..
such
as'
including the, nine. vehicles, . . as . the sudden penetration, -of'
awareness in -order to remedy the >obscurationso£ the· six
classes 10f living beingsJ.,,23
Another passage states:
I, the gr.eatDor-rje 'Cbang, thepe·rsonal
intuition of self-awar·eness,.. teach.wha.t; ha,s
.not been taught pt"eviously orbyano,ther, the
meaning
wb:ichdoes· not dependo.n.hearing,
thinkl.ng, or meditating, the Dharma of 1 i ttle
toil. aru:! of eas-ein.unders·tanding<the great·
meaning,
. that . which ,teaches
pene·tration
awareness
of
Ｈｲ｡ｮｱｾｲｩｧＺ ･ｨＰｳｾ ｫｵＮＩＬﾷ
the.
the
Dharmakay.a . of
suddea"
-self-
which·
alb
inferior minds real·ize by the mer-eteaehing,"
which is the· great-essential meaning..
Oi£.
all
Library of. Tibetan Wer.ks·;·and·Archives;. 1973),. p .. 37.
23PBD, . p. 9. The six classes of sentient beinqsare·:ll·
Gods, 2) Asuras,. 3JHuma,ns.,41 . Animals, 5). Hungry ghosts,
and, 6 ) Hel1 be·lngs...SeeSga·m...po--pa,tlewel'Qrnament,· pp·.. 5S...
74.
23
the Dharma's,
which is the- roo·t ·ofa11, the
vellic1esofsamsaraandnirvana, whlchis the
unification'
of,
transmis's'ion.,
sacred·· instruction,·
satra""
and,
the· essenoeof·the·
awa,re,ness,the condensedmeaningwhlch severs
extremesandseversreiflcatlon. 24
The;, PBD,' therefore,.,." actuall: y.. teaches· '.' a. doc,tr ineth'at· ·i,t
·,clalmswas,not ., taught.bythe h lstor lca18Qddha .
proclatmedbythe historical Buddha. be, a Buddhis,t text? The'"
,answerwlll
question.
the
depend> on
the
perspective of,the perso.n
The Theravadatradition.
Budd·ha·was
enlightenmen.t,
a
,taught:,
historical
0'£"
in'
Buddhism'" holds"".that,
personage"
wbe· gained'
and,pass,ed away intoni'rvaaa.
For
this tradition only the- teachings given. or authoci·zed' 'by
tbis .histar ical .Buddha·, can· be . considered orthodox.· 25
Mahayana, ,tradition.· . there
are
believed
to
In.,,the
be '. i,nnu'Marable
Buddhas, . . the Buddba. Sakyamunl.being' only one .' among, them·.- '
The
teachings of, any of these Buddhas could therefore be
24PBD, p.IO.
25 See Ja·netGyatso., "Signs, Memory, and-H.!story: A Tantric'
Buddhist ｔｨ･ｯｲｹｯﾣｓ｣ｲｩｰｴｵＬｲ｡［ｬＮｔｲ｡ｮｳｭＡＭｳ ＬｩｯｮｾＢ
.Joqroa1gj, t.I:uL.
International AssQciation " gL Buddhi·st . Studies' (Madison),
pp.• 7-3L See especially "pp. 9-11. -
24
considered
ｯｲｴｨｯ､ ｸｾＲＶ
The
Vajrayanaalso
upholid·s
the·
trad! tioD ofi,nnuaerable,Buddhas, ,but in-troducestheidea of
"
aqiaq,ibuddha, , ar 'supreme Buddha, ·that 'is thoU9bt torepresen,t
h
the
qu:inte,ssential
adibuddha
.real i ty
is' referred
to
0
fall
Buddbahood.
in·" therNying-ma
Sama·ntbabha,ora or the Al'l Good.
This
tradition as
ThePBD cla,ims that this
Samanthabhadra is none, other ·tha,nrDo-rj·e '. 'Chan9'bimsel'f.27
. In,thev,i,.wof ｖ｡ｪｲｾＬｹ｡ｦｴ
,Buddhism theteaehingsgive,n byt'he
a41buddhaa,re. mostautbori tative,
come
for they are thought to
from ,. the highest principle of· Buddhabood,. and it is
this au,thortty that the PBD, cla,ims. , From,thils,perspective
it, is only 'fnfortuna te ' that thehisto'rical Buddha did, not
wb'lcb,rDo-rje"Cha,ftg presents in the
ＬｰｲｯｭｵｬＭｧ ｡ｴ･ ｨ･ｾＮ･｡ｯｨｩｮＹ
PBD;
it is no-cause, for questioning the. authority of the
teaohing.
From, a scholarly point" of view there is little rea SOft'
shoul,d'sufflcethat a
'.
text such. as the PBD is held· to be
··authoritative,·.·by a··,tradition of,Buddblsm. ,The investlgation
of such> a text will only lead to a, deeper understanding-of,
"the '., brancho·f8uddbism,t'hat it represents.
transmission Q[, .:tti,., "'mll! "
I t wi 11 beuse,fnl·" a,ttbispoint . to briefly discuss ,the, '
26lb.isi.
27 PBD",p.24'•. ,
25
lives of the holders of tbe, transmission, as presentedby,the
text.
,,,At the opening o·f the PBD weare told that,1'Do-r je
'Chang is the actual· intuition of
of wisdom,
ｳ･ｬＧｦｾ｡ｷ ｲ･ｮ ｳ Ｂ
the body
the· "princi;ple ·of Buddhabood'
as represented. by
the three·kayas.Yet intbethirty eighth.,..,cbapterof the
tantrawe'are g'iven, a shortbiogra,phy of Dorj·e Chang.
passage is so unusual that it1s worth quoting in full:
Tben againtbe Lord· of Secrets addressed·
(rOo"'1'je ',C.bang):
The
three
kayas
are·
unbindered
compassion.. , SQ.> how do· tbeyenact thepu;r,pose·····,
·0£· livingoe,ings?'
The Teacher . . gave.
Son of
ｩｮｳｴｲｵｯｴｩｯｮＬｾ
Noble . Fami.ly.., 1· was
bor·n.· a·s a
child ,who ·had .reached tbeage ofeigbtyears.
Then, for .' aper.iod,·of e.igh,t years· I, turned the,'
·y,beelofthe five wisdoms at t·ne life-tree of
.profound.knowledge..
By
11berated"
put·
I
was
Intu,ltion,.· I
into
the
was
true
insp11'at ion .
. The·n,.
during .' the·firs't . eight.year.s,
I
came .. £or,tb,as many.emana,tions .(Nirmana,) and
·;wo,rked t·hepurpose [of 1iv1.ogoe1ngs J.
I, removed the; torment of suffer ing.for.the
first ret.inues(inl·the. abode,.Gfgods·.·I
This
26
'strung a ·silktbreadwith a rosary ·of .pearls,
then"turned,the wheel, to the ou,tside.
In
order to 'libera,te others by . compassion ,1 was·','
-inspired in the meaning of enigmas (Idem-po) 28
Then againattbepeak of the Burning Fire
Hou'ntain·, I
saw with··certainty,thetrnth . of
the Buddba.
appearance,
Then at
ｔ｡ｮｴｲ｡ｳｾ
I e»pla·inedthedhar.mas .of ,empty
Ｈｳｮ｡ ｧＺ ｢｡ｾｳＬｴｯｮｧｾｰ｡
ｴｩＮｾ｣ｨｯｳｊＮ
the
Vulture
Mountai,n> the
secret and fabulous,
from' (mylHindfthugs».
Great
were released
[They were) wrapped
in the vessel of my throat, stretched out on"
the lotos ,of! my· tOD9't8,i 'and: scattered for.th
.·bythe consciousness with, the quality of five
explained.
aspects.
I
Awarepess29
in a
the
Cuckoo
'" gL.
melodious voice, possessing
the sixty branches [o,f a Buddha,' s v.oice h
I
cut off the doubt's and ·re,ifieations, of the
28 This, refer's ,·,to the distinction- bet,ween def,lnit,ive
meaning Ｈｮｧ･ｳｾ､ｯｰＩＭ｡Ｌｮ､Ｌ
interpretable ｭ･｡ｮｩ ｧＬ Ｈ､ｲ｡ｮＹｾ､ｯｮｩＩＮＢ
Enigmas in .this' case, are interpr,etable presentat'ionsof the
,.·teachi,ng,ratherthandirect .and .certai,p·expla,nations.
29. ｩｴＬﾷ｡ｄｾＮＹｩｒ
., Ｎｱｵｹ｢ｾ ｨｋ
Tb,isis ashorttexbofsix, li,nes.
The' text'has beenstud'ied bySamten<Karmay'inhisart,icle
"'J.'heRdzogs..-.chen'fn its-Ea,rliest Text: A Hanu'script from>
Tun.....Ｌｬｾｮ｡ｵｨ
..'··· Ｚｾ［ｎＮｂ
ＢＧｾ ｈ､ｮ｡ｺＬ､ ａＬＧ
Kapstein' (eds:.·) ·Sou,nding§>m·
Tibetan Clsdli;zatj,on ,(New Del,b,i:,Manohar, 1985) , "pp. 272-282.
27
retinue,' s minds· ( bl2;)'.
In.my twent,yferth year, at my nirvana, I
explained, the
chems).
For
explained..
secondly
·of mywlllfzhal....,.
ｴｨｾ･ ｡ｳｰ･｣ｴｳ
the
the,
purpo,se
0'£
followers
1
Unreified,···.·· Clear:.·, Meanina,
'Total .. Yberation
ｴ｢･Ｌｾｋｮｯｷｬ･､｡･ｩ
(9Cig...,.sbes· Kun...,.gljo.lJ 30 C, .. and· ··thirdlytbe, Total··
Ga,theping., "Precious Jewel.s fRin...,.CheR 1Jm::.,
ＱＳＮＩｾ
1 put them down for,tbe.purpose,o£· .
,.yfollo-we-rs.,those
wbo
a-re
-without·
the
fortune ·ofmeeting with me.,. .
I
three
likewise pu,t down. ,tbereliquary of the·
·kayas.
Speak
these
Then
I
(en,tered)
complete
words
fo,r·· the"sake·. of
the,
i,future! H
Thus· be .spoke.
From·, the ·Great Tantra·· 2L Unreified.Clear
Meaning
this
is. the
thirty eightb cha'pter>
whichteacbes the mannero'f·the·N.iroflakaya 's
•
30 This text is me·ntioned· in the· . hagiogr,aphyofGuru,Chos...,.,
·-dbang···translated ·by··. Eva,Darg,yay.(Dargyay....Es9.teric ····Buddhism,
p.llO·)'rw,herehe·readsthetext to bi,'s'father.
It is not,
clear, however, whetberthistext was discovered by Guru"
I have been unable .toloeate any
Cho·s....dbangorby'another.
extantcopy.o.ftbetextitsel f.
31 It has not.beenposs.ible. to locate this text or to
deter.mi·newhe ther -or ,not i t !s s t illextaat •
28
enacting tbepurcpose Coflivtng beingsl. 32
Tbisshort
"antobiographytt doe,s not ,inform,· us of· the
time or place. that rDo....,rie'Cbang< was born or give us any
historically ·soU>nd"informationas .to his life.
has
the
character of many
hagiographies, of
The·· story
Siddhas
or
spiritualtraining,and, does. not report any. contact. ,with a
"teacherofany,ki,nd.
It lssignificant .,that this biography,
fouRd··,lnthe., ,PBll,. ·sta,testha.t the·.PBD.was·.·taught, 'just before'
rDo-rje 'Chang. entered ca,mplete nirvana,i-ndica·ting that ,the
present
exposition.. of
complete nirvana.
the
PBD
wa·s·
preached> afte·r
tn,is
This opens,the'questiono£ whether this·
biography is in fact one of thefra,gments mentioned., la, the . . "
colopbon,.
for·.! £
it were an· inbe,rent par,t of thePBD it
cou-ld·'·not.mentlon,thePBDas .hav ingheen taugbt,ln· the past .
is
in
·,tbisi,nforma,t-ion is ·found.
Al though,·thls biography. ·of rDo-rje 'Chang:cmight.lead.
32PBD,p.78ff.
See· e.g. Abhayadatta#, .BuddhaJ·s Lions. ﾷ ｾ Ｏ ｌ ｩ ｶ ･ ｳ Ｒ ｩ Ｎ ｾ Ｇ
Siddhas,
translated
by
James
(Berkeley: DbarmaPub:lisbing.:"19-7··9J.
33
｣ｅｩＮＨｊｬｲｴｹｾｆＹｵｲ
,Robinson,
29
the" reader·
rDo-rjewas
to
believe
that> he
.thef.,i-rstbuma,n
vas
at
some point a human
transmitter
of
the
Great
·.Perfec·tion·(;r,Dzogs .....cben) teachings. 34 dGa-rabrOo-rje is held
by the PBD· as
the redaetor of its teaehings.andtbe-fil"'st
one to ,writetbem down.
Eva DargyayLnt·he
'B.ia.. 2.t,.Esoter Ie
.rDo....r.jewh!ch·',readsas follows:
The
Lord, of· "Secrets .' (gSanq-ba,·i....bdag=oo)'··
instructed tbe Holders of Wisdom·.JRig.... 'dsin)
in Dbanalto'a . in· Uddly,ana,.· the
••
There
a .'. large . ｴ･ｭｰｬﾷｾ
was
.called bDe .,..byed-brtsegs -pa ;
contemporary'
i t was ,surreuaded
ｋｩｮＹＢｕｰ｡Ｌｲ ｪＮ｡ｾ［
and"
Queen sNa·IlCj,....ba ....g.sal-ba·!,-.-,·od-ldan.....II\a' ﾷ ｲ･ｳｩ､･ ｾＧﾷ Ｌ
there.
Tbey,'badada09h.ter called" SudbaJltmi;:
. s·be, took the novice v.ows, and soon afterwards
the ·fu11··. monastic·· ·v.ows.
maditatecJ,-
aboa$.,
··SQdhar;majl ..·.·.toge·tber·
the,,' ¥oga·Tant·ra
(rna,1.... ·
·byor-gyi....rgyud.).
ｓｵ､｢｡ｲｭｾ､ｲ･｡ｭ･､ﾷＢｴｨ｡ｴ
a white man, had coma,..· .
wnowas.'t1·tterly pur,e.andbeaot,ifaLHe held.
a crys,talves'sel·· w,bieb·hadtheletter!s
34 Dal'gyay, Esote,ric . . ByddhisL.p,.19.,
·if·l·
30
hiim,.svA'hiengravedupon. it.
Three, times . he·,
•
set the" vessel .upon the cro,wn of her head,
and···' light, then ,shone from, it.
',bappened,
she
Whiletbis·
bebeldthetbreefold·world
pe'rfectly and clearly.
Not, longa.£ter ,.thls',
dream ·.the BhiksunI, -gave birth to' a true· son
• •
o,f the ,gods,..
She, however., was· ve,ry asbamed·'
and thus bad ,bad, thoughts:,
,was
born withou"t. a
"Since the child
fatherthewbole world
heap;, when ,this" cont·t·nued > for thr,eedaysancfl"
the. chi,ld·.,badno·t
ye.td-ied,tbe
Bbiksun'I·
• •
'believedtbe ,infant an lncar,nation(sPrul-pa)
andtookhlmback· into the bouse., .
All> the
gods and"spiEi·tscamei ,to· pay., respe.ct, to the'
,was seven years old he asked bismotherto "be
allowed
to
dispute ·witb"the
Patfits,
the
scholars.
because of .biste,nder age.
ｨ｡､Ｎｲ･ｰ ｡ﾷｴ･､Ｂ｢ＬｩｾＢｲ･ｱＬｑ･ｳｴＢＮＬ
'0£
However , a·fterhe
;he··stepped'.·i'flfront..,·.·",
the .,ft,ve <hundred scholars ,who were9ues.,ts
31
now
th,e", ,scholars-' honoured,the, boy ,and,: gave
him
the,name,Praj.nabhava,
Belng"is
W.l,sdom..-"
"TheOne
V,ho'se-·
Thaking,:, wno' < was
pleased ,. wi1:1hthi1-s·, 'oecur,r;ence,,'"
very'
,hinL the '"
ｧ｡ｶｾ
.name", sLob-dpon,. dGa,,'-rao, ,rDo....r;e;,under"tbls,
name
he, became,
fa,lRGus.,
Becaasehis"JDQ,t,her,
had once' thrown h1.., on ,the·
also
known
as
､ｵｳｴｾｨ･｡ｰ［ＬＮ
he-"was
Ro-langs-bde-ba' ,or
Ro....langs,...' "
tbal.,..mdog, ,"Who,rose Happyfroa, -bheDust't or
"'The Ashy,...paleOne,wbo" rosefrom·".,the,,[N·s:b.'"
In
terrible ,mou·a1:ain ',', ,ranges .,and"solitudes
where, the ,hungr,Y" spi,r'its
hordes,.
When,
he,-meditated
in;Jures
·l·nfidel
responsible,
space.
but"
years.
times...
mKba' .,.. '9r9 "'U
the.Hlndu,bel,le-fl"
king",tbenwanted.
appear -in,
thirt:v-two
the, 'earth"trembled- ,'seven
'lle·ret1e,«nd
"He
for
<Pre,ta.)
the,
called:
TbeHindu' ".'
to, hold· dGa,f-rab-rdo,.,.,.rje,
the
latter.
ascended . into
Because ,oftbis, eve,n,t",the, king . and·
",>,his- "ento;tlrage became
Ｌｾｶ･ｲﾥ
reI igious •
After ,: tbese· 'asceti:c exerc1ses,.",dGa".-rab,-'
rde-rjeknew ,the<exo,teric,and,tbeesoteric '
path;
and
mCils,t·".o,f,all""the, sixty.,..four by, a·'
hundred. ""thousand "",verses' or· "the ,rpzoqszcben."
rQo ....rje ....sems-dpa'r
Uncbangeability", ,wbose
the
･ｭ｡ｮ ｴｩｯｮＬ､ｇ｡ＧＭｲ｡｢ｾｲ､ｯＬＮ
Being
of
.
32
empowermen.t:,Cdbang,..,bskur,,) .
three
mKbal-'gro'!""c'ma,
he
TogetheJ!l- with.,··, thecompiled
an, . . index
Cdkar::chags!l of . the sixty-fourbya,handred
thousand. r[)zoQS'!""c'ghen,verses;
three·
years •.
After·
,
that
this task took
he
gr-oUBcl' , ·SI'tavana,
cremation
went. :to
where'
It is at this poi,nt, in,dGa!-rab' rDo-r;'e',
comes
into ,contact with.- • ｊ｡ｭｾｰｬ
the
many'
lifethat'he
bShes,.-gnyeft",,'the,nex:t,
holder of the lineage,o£,thePBD..
The accoun,t,J:n· 'IK···IU.H,;
g,L<Esoter1cBuddhilmJ.n,Tibet continues as£0110ws:
follo.wing '··propheoy:
Buddbahoodgo..
to
,SitavanatJ'.
th,ilsadvice,' a'ndmet·dGa,r -rab,..,rdo-r.je·there,. "
For, seventy-five-:year,s:·· ＭＧｊ｡ｾｰ ｬＮ Ｍ｢Ｇ･ＬｳＢ ＹｮｹＺ･ ［Ｂﾷ
listened
to< dGa'-rab..,.,roo-r;e,·'s, instructions.
lnthe ,Dharma.
After
'having
91v8nal1
tradit,ionsto' Jam.-dpal.-bles-gftyen, dGa' -rab..... '
35 Dargyay, Esp.tertc Buddn:ism.., p,.19-20.
For a,no,ther,'
accounJt ,of dGa""-rab rDo......r j:e·'s life· with. slightvariation&·,
ｳ･ ｾ｡ｲｴｨ｡ｮＹＺｔｑＱＺ［ｾｵＬｃｲｹＮｳＬｴ｡ｬＬＢｩｲ ＹｲｖｯｬﾷＮ
. Publisbing,; 1,971, .. pp.• l&2.,..186.,
VＧＨｂ･ｲＬｫｬｹＺｄｨ｡ｾｭ
33
Teacher
dGah-rab,...rdo·-rje
appeared·
middleofa. ma,ss of light,
i,n
surrounded·
the·
by
Spiritua.l··Beings.(mKha.I .".,lgro''''ma)..·, He. handed';
. contai·n.ed,therJ)zogs.".chepverses.
He di v·lded
these· sixty...fourey a ··bund·ped,·:thousand.verses·
into. the, ···Three.. ,·Sect-iOfts. " ,0£·· tbe.rDzogs-pa...' '.'
o
It
chen-po.
. . .36
is
possible'
historical
are
not
to
aseerta·in
the.
de'gree· of
trtt·th, that 'lies bebind,these·'stories, yet they,
tlsefuli,n
·providingan
insightlnto
the
Buddbist
tradit.ioD" svlew· of the··bolders of the· lineage of teaching ..
Eva Da·rgyayhas. proposed· the year 52€. E .., fordGa· ...rabrDorje, 37 while, .·Tartbang,Tulku" propo,ses the·yea.reS5 C.E..for "his
birth. 38
A. If..
Hanson.-Barber arguest.hat<tbis.date, is. too'
early' and sU,gges,ts 550. C. E.
bim. 3·9
as a
more suitable, date .' for',
Hanson....Barber· s method,s in, reaehing.tbis. da·te do Dot.
appear tobeent,irel.ysound,,40 wb,ilethe.firstcemtar,y,da,ting
ＧＳｾ
Dargyay,. Esoteric: Buddhi.s.m#..p.21.
37 Dargya'Yi' Es,oterlc.Buddhj"Sm,.P .24.5 •.
38 TartbangTulku.;.: . CrystaLHirrH·,;- •. . p.182.
39 A.W. ｈ｡ｮｳ･ｲｴＢｂ｡Ｇｲ｢･［Ｌｾｔｨ･ｬ､ｮＭｴｩﾣ｣｡ ｯｮ
·o-f·, dGa· l . fab·, rao '
r:le, ff Journa·l.·,·S!t,·tWl InterMtionalAssQciati.on·.g,f: BtuidMst,
·,Sbldies .. · fffad.i·son) VoL 9 'no. 2. 1986 .'p.5'5-63.
i
4.0' There al'>e· two ·main weaknesse·s
to Hansen-Barber's
argament.. . Firrst,·heucsesastandard';of·· "tair:ty-flve·ye'ar.
spacings>between.,..each·master and·stude·nt·..
It is poss'ible"···
that· a master,betbi·rty...five year,s older "tha'n.. bis.studenti
34
of dGa' -rab rDo-rie accords with· the ac.counts provided. by"
the
Buddbist
For
tradiotton' ltself.
this
reasoni t;·· is
-·furtherevidencebeeomesava ilable .
Tulku'·repoJr'ts
Vajrasanain
·Grub..,.pa.
tha,t
an
logi'c,., and
kno:wledgehe
from·, a
India, and, was a
He ,was
philosophy"
he came
was
( MaDju6r,imI't.ral.·
also
expert
village
j,ust west of
Brahma,n'" known as
ＬｳｎｹｩｮＹｾｰｯ
inSansk,rit,linguistics,
art.
known, as
' Jam,.",(ipal.
bShes-gmyen>,
.TarthangTulku's·. account then,. reports., the
same events qQG.te.d, above about·. hi,smee,ting,. wi th.dGa:,f.,..rab.
rDo,...r·j.e.·. 41
Eva Dargyayplaces 'Jam,...(lpal bShes.,.gnye,n1sde'atb·
',: in<theyea,r 3'42 C.S .42
'.Jam,...Q.pal, ｳＬｦｮ･ｹｾｳｨｓ｢
ｾ
student was SrI. Simbilb·.··
short biography, of h!s li'£e is £otloo.·,1n: Eva"Da·rgyay's
2.i,Esotcr ic dBuddhisma Tlbe t .
A
ｾＮＢ
It ,reads as follows :
but it is also possible -- and more likely -- that the
difference be greater or, lesser, perhaps very much· so.
Secondl,y, Hansen,...Ba,rber invents two holders· of the lineage
which 'the tradition does not know-of.
These "are a se-eond<
Vimalamltr,a.,,·and······an·unknown,,···person· Hanson..-;Barber. ·does ·'not.
""propose to·,j;dentify.Heascribes thirty-five year intervals
for tbe,se, two ""lineage bolders,If, in, order,'to""suppo£t'his"
dating;, of . dGa.',-rab,rDo....rje in-the s,ix,thcentury,.,;, See'
. 'ﾷＧｈ｡ｮｳ･ｾｂｲ｢Ｌ
...IS.:i.4.
41 TartbangTu1ku..Cfystal' ｈｩｲ Ｌｯｲ Ｎ ｰ ＱＸＶＬｾﾷ
4 2 ｄ｡ｲｧ［ｹＦｾ
E,oter icBuddhism".p.24,5.
35
In Chlnain the town So-khyam",a son full
virtuous
clear
father
and·his
intellec,t; ·this
wife
who· were
of.·
s'ODwas;.. tbe-T-eaeher
§rIsimha.Atthe, age of fifteen ,he· studied·
•
grammar.
and
.10g1cano"
other
the,
usual;,
scholar,- one; night,. inthetown,·.of.gSer;-g11ng.
Avalokite'.yara
prophesied:
to
appeared'"
him·
and··
"I··f·· you reallyasplre·for the
Buddbabood,thengo to Indiatotbecremation
ground, . · 80-sa4311n9"""
The· Ｇｔ･｡｣｢･ｲＬｾ ｉｳ
'puthistrus t in,th is word.
ilJ'ha· .-.
S·ince.he tbougbt
that tbe·o.t·he,r\·'l,anva,sbou,ld a·lao. be. studied ,
studied··tbe,exoter..ic a,nd., the asater iG ·'1'a-ntra···
with, the· .Teacher·,.BbelakIrtL, .
the
vows
0
famonk,.
and
ｾｲＧｉｳｩｬｊｨ｡Ｎｴｯｫ
for ,three
years
o,practiced,asce.ticismaccording to the . ¥.iUyaｳｹ ｴ･ｬｄＮＭＨｌ･ＬＮｲｵｬＬ･ｳﾷＬｦｯｲｴ｢･｣ｯｮ､ｴｬ･ｴﾷＬＨＧＩｦﾷＮｭｯｮｫｳＩＮｾ
AdlROni,s'hed .. by,a·pr.ophecyrepeatedly, given., by
, Ayaloki.te'vara ,he set out to India.
･ｮ｣ｯｵｮｾ･ｲ ､ﾷＮｮｯ
-Because
. pain .·and' hardship·,·, on the way. '.
36
Thus be came, sa·fe,and,soundto the crema<t.i&a.,,'
grouftdSo...,sa...,gling... ,. "'bere··.be met ·.the.great
Teacher'Jam-dpal-b'es-gnyen,whorbecause of
§rIsimba's., entreaties,
•
accept-ed. him
asa
student·.
FOr'···· t·wenty-five .years.·.··the,Te·aeher
belonging
to
it,
till
fina·llythe
dtssolvedin-amass ofl ight..
master
W·ben, 'rlsl-mba
,
was engaged. with .tbe-deathlamentations r
'
the,:
form··,af, the master.appeareclin.:,tbe sk,y and··
instrueted ,h·iHh bodily.
/-
He gave· Sriscimba,· a.·
•
the Six Med:ttation ,Experiences-. (sGom...,nYaIls..."
After
the death of his· master"
'r.I'simha.pract.lced til isdoctr·l,neandreal ized
•
,the absolutely real (doD79yl::ading) .43
,
-
.' At this point in Sri Si,mha'sstory other character's,
become ·invo'lved·,tha·t, de,· not· ·fmmed,tately ｣ｯｮ ･ｆｮＬ ［ｵｳＮ ｾｲｴﾷ
Simhareturned<toCbina.·
He ·wasi·nvited, ·to
ｋｨｯｴ｡ﾷｮＨｌｩＮｾｹｵｬﾷ
atalat'ter date anddiedthe·reafter·o,ne week' sstay .44
·main s·tude·nts·we.re . .v.i'mal'am.ltra Aand ﾷＮｊｾ｡ｮｳｵｴｲ
His
45
43 Dargy.ay,Eso1berig,Budtlh4sm.".p.. 22,. Fora slightl.ylo·nger,
account of, his life see' Tarthang "TQlku, -Crystal Mirror,
p.188-191.
44 See, Bargyay,. EsoterigBuddhism.. pp.24...,5." .
45 lRisl.,p. 2.7.
37
C.E.,46 while Eva Dargyay remains'uncommittedo'n a,date.· 4 ?
The. col'ophORr" o£ . . the:PB[)· ﾷ ｲ ･ ｰ ｯ ｲ ｴ ｳ Ｎ ﾷ Ｚ ｴ ｨ ｡ ｾ ｲ
.. Simba it,aug'btl
the text to Padmasambhava, . who was the a,ne, to bringth,is
'ite,acbing ·toT'!,bet. ..Padaa;salftbhava .1sa figureo,f outs·tanai ng
impoE,tanee·.in 1:be ,n,iestory of Budd'hism,. in,'l'ibe;'b,.£o·r it, is he'
f
who
is,. bel.ieved'
·to
be,
responsible .for.thesucce-ss
Buddl):'iism. in.· . that country. 48
of·
Unlike,thei' previoUisgUr:US'" for'
whicn, we have only, .scanty· >biograph,i·cal.· ,informat.ion", . there·
are ....aa·ny.,yol.ulftes·· tnTibe·tan ,1 i-tera ture aevotedto . his·1 ife . 49
These· ··wo·rks.. ' are· mach" too.· le-ngthyto.··· be. included;" in ··the,
;·presents·tudy.'·.inat is' important·forthepresent 'purpose is
to note that Padmasambhava,·'vas invltedtoTibet, duri·ng the
re1gft ···.ofKhri·-srong ·lDe-btsan
(reigned,7SS'-97 Ｉ Ｕ Ｐ ｾ ｡ ｮ ､
.instrQtae·ntali,ne·stablishiftg 8uddhi,sm there.
. . . was·
It ·isbel ieved
·46 Tarthang:.Tulku,.CrystalH"irro.r.p.18,8.
4 7 Dargy'ay, Esoter iC( BuddhA,sm" .p. 24·5.
48 See e.g. 'Bar1:hang·.·TQlku.". Crystal Hiprqr",p,. 14,0££.
49
The following"are some· of the more well known
blograph;les..·of ·.Padma,sambhava:: The,bKa.',.-tbaASelzbraq....U",by .'.
'Y-r.9.ya
...n .9L....ii.'n9""'pa,....
g Llngzpa . .ｬ･ｓＭｮｱｈＬｒＺｴｦｾＧＺ
sGrop.-mej' ·by,Padma,<gLingpaioo ,;andthe,'adma" Ｎ Ｚ ｾ｟ＧＭＮ Ｚ ｟Ｎ ［｟ｂｳｬＮﾧ｡ ＡｊｬＺ
br"by Ｎﾷｳｎ｡ｮＹＬﾷ ｊＬ｣ｨ｡ｮＮ ｊｴＡＬｮＢＧ｣ｨ･ｮｾｰ｡ｬＢｩＮ
U....rgyan' .' gLi,ng....pa··<s .
biogrsapby ··Q:.f,·Padmasambbava· was' tr'ans.lated . . . tnt-e·... Pre'ncb by'
Gustave-Cbar.,lces.Toussa'int·,· as I.dL . . IU&:t...
PadM.. (PaI'is:
Libra·rire'·Ernes$·· 'Leroux r .... " 1933), and·, ,trans·lated .. fI'om,the·,
Frencb i·nto Englls·h 'by I\e,nneth Douglas and Gwendol·yn Bays as
ld.a,Ad·LJrbe'l!o,t:ioQ:·.U 'PadmasaaIjWay8,p,>,.(Berk'e'1ey:'·· Dhar,ma,·
Pubelishlng, 1918+ 2 Nols •.
·the_,Pad"a •. .
sm.
:r.u.
50 These .... dateasuppl,ied ,by.Sha;kabpa,...Tibe't,>6, .,Pol,i,ti@a,l"
HisTtory,'(-,NewHaven: ,Yale,Unlversi ty'Press,1967) ,p. 34.
Sh
38
by the, Tibetans that during. his stay In-Tibet he not only",
taught
val"ious
students· about·Buddb,ism,bll·thld
teach'ing-:sthrGugAout" Tibet, under
temples,
inrive,rs
and lakes,
many'
the. eartb.,'in" rock·s,. in-,
in
the, sky,.
etc. 51
"These'
biade'ft, ,teaehiings-.are'" kno'wn ," as "'treasures ".< g,terzM'). '
The,·
.-,PBD lsone ,such ,treasure .
Padmasambbava,ls' knowD-,to ,have stfdied under, a certain .'Jam-.d-pal,bSbes-gnyen,t-he You'Dejer, ',who is believed to be the
reinca,rnation ,of the tJam-dpalbShes-gnyen mentioned above. 52
;
He is not kno,wn" to have,studied",with5rT Simhs i,nany Gf thetraditiona'l, accounts.• 53
There
is an account ,which states'
-
ｾ
tha-tPadmasambbava·, ,ta-ugh1lSri5
ｩｭｨ｡ｾｔ｢Ｇｩｳﾷ
by' Eva, Dar9yayas
,accounts
0,£,
accoul'llt·. is taken-
unr.ellable
In. l"igbt. o;f,
the" existil'lg
the.pr i·no,i,pal trans,missiono;ftbe- rDzogs:cben .54
The, fact., tbat, , there, iSl'lOdirect conneetionbetweenJ
Padmas-ambhava- " and
irI,
5imha
the
l:n
reliable-existing
,accGuntsdees,aot-mea-n thatstlch aconnectionis.impossible.
It i s a common· feature" o-f the teacbi-ngso·f theVajray'lna-"
tbat they' ma,y be,handed. downinencoanters;o,f N,pure.,vision".;
(dag,..snang) •
teaching
·'l'hismeans
from· a, master
t-nat
,a
long.· dead
disciple
ina
51 5eeTu--l'kui'Jhondup"Rinpoebe Ｌ［ｈＧｩ､ ･ｂＬＮ ＧｬＮ｡･ｨＧｍｳｾ
52 Dargyay, Eso:telic-'B!1dd,Msm, ,p.27 •.
53 See Da·rgyay"Eso$eri,q'Buddhism,'p,.27 •
54 Dar.9ya;y'i .. Esot&JPi·c'Bud4hlg,,, ,p,.55.
can
direct
ＬｰｾＮＵＸ［ ﾷ Ｇ
receive
spiritual
f""'-
39
encounter,. 55
tradition,
Suobtransmissions .·'are
but
rather
are
taken
not
very
rej,ected
by' the,
seriously.
Tbe
colopnon'·Q·ftbe· PBD does 'not,s-tate that· i t was· received by
Padmasambbava,
transm;ission,
,in
in
. transmis's4on that
PBD,
this
this
0
way"
way
but
we
are
by
lnte'r,preting
able
the,
to· explain., a·
therw isemustbecons idered inaut,he,ntic.
during> ,his, .stayinT'i.bet in,tbee,J;gh,th' century'C.• E.
GuruChos--dbang,discovered ,thi,s,teacbing,andtaught. it< to
his disciple .sNang.-aon, Dad.-seng,
Guru Cbos...dbang, wa,s . a. ver:y
teachei;ngsof
the
who wrote· i t down.
famou,st'ransmittero.·£ the
rHying,-ma".· school,.
secondgr:ea:t> .•Discoverer..-Kill9,*S.6
a-n.d',i:s .known
a,s, . the,
Eva, Dargyay i:n,her", lUJi&.,.Q!.
Esoteric Buddhi,sm, Ul"Tibe,t,.Ras, translated, a
ｇｵｲ ｃｨｯｳＭ ､｢｡ＬｮＹＧｾＢ
Thus
biography"o.f
toolengtby" to be' qua ted in, full he,rei,57
t'herea,lso ex,ists,a£Ullbiogcaphy of hitmthatremainsto be
55 There, are· numerous ··accounts,·,of, sucheneounters.
For'"an·
examp,le" see Dar'9¥ay" Esotep,iq.Budgh4·sm·"p" 4,8,.
Forabrlef
,:cJisQU,ss,!on of ,this type of' 'spiri,tual . trans.iss,ion see
Gyatso,' "Signs, Memory and His.tor.y, ," p •. l0'.
See al'so 'Jh:llku', '
ThondupRlnpoche,Segre.:t Teachi.ngs ,p. 90 •
56 8eeDargyay, Eso,teric. Buddbi:sm..p. 104.,
57 .Dargyay, ··'soter ＱＹＮｂｧ､ ｨＬｩｳｭｾＮ
Ｂｰ ｩＮｬＧＬｏ［ＳｾＱＧｽ Ｙ
•. '.
40
,,,bls ·life.
Guru Chos-dbang,·wa-s born: in"theyear 1212.• 59
His. birth .'
He received an
was attended by. various miraculous-signs.
i·.
,intensiveeducati-o,n ..£roB\ a youncg age in literature, history,
and re;llgioustrad.!.tiGns.
At the ageofthirteenhehad'a
spiritual vision in wbl:cbbe. encountered ·Tara., ·Va;rasa.ttva,
and a
DakinI:.
He co·ntinued.torece ive· large . numbers 0 £
•
important teachings:, and transmiss10n-s· until the age "0£·'
treaso·res· or :hidden·:- teachings.•.·
He" revealed· eigh:teeamaj;or·
treasu'res·· .a'nd· nu-mer0Us·.·.• ·mi.nor" 'treasures,.
He·
prophesied" the:·',
Mongol- invasion. of._.Tibet,a pr.ophecywhl.cb in· fact came· .to
pass in. i.' the year.. 1239. -60
Guru:-Cbos...dba,ng .·not .only revealed·
copious lyonmanyaspects a £
'ma·ny ･ｴｯｲｷＭ･ｨ ＬｳＮ･ｲｵｳ｡･.ｲｴﾷｮＭ･､ ｩｾｨ
BUddhistrellg;i,o.n.
He·· -d1ed
in·.the. year 1270·.
. Guru· Ohos ...dbang",. is·. known.· to ba,ve· bad·"eight.." sp"iritua.}: .
sons, ,,61
yet the 'nameo£sNang.-don. Dac):-seng.doesnot'a,ppear:
58 ﾷＥｗｌａｵｴｑ｢ｩｦＩｱｲ｡ｰ｢ｙＺﾷｾＢｬｮｳｴｲｵ｣ｴｩＹｄｳＬＧＮＲＱ
gBang..,.phyus:;. (J(yichu-"Temp'1e-,..Paro,;
;(;yaltsen,1979). Two volumes •
. Go,u,· . ﾷ ｩｶｫｾﾧｯ｢ｃ
Bha-·tan.:Ugyen-Tempal
59 Datesaccord-ing.toDarg-yay., EsqUerie Buddhism... ···p.103.,60 Dargyay, Eso-tericBuddhd"sm,p-.112.
61 DargyaY,.hgteric Bllddhi.sm,p.118.
41
There .is no further information on the transmiss,ion,·of
thePBD',until ,its collection in the Huodred Thou,sandTaptras
Q.f
:th!it ,,' rNyinq,,..mabyRatna 'gLing-!"'pa" (14o-3.,..14Q9l. 62
gLing.,..pa··
W&'S
Ratna, ....
a· tre'asu·re£inder himself, and, tbe"compiler ·o,f·
the gr.eatcollection,,·of rNyi,ng""ma . tantras.
Vithregardto
his compilation of. the rN,ying-ma.. Tantras.EvaDarg,yay has
presented ,tbefollowing account.
The, 'lDan--dkar""ma Catalogue, of the Kanjur'
states
tbattbe
esoteric
T'antras
of
the
Vajrayana(gsang.,..snaagsnana.,..rgygd) were not··
included ,because
studied. by
they
were
non,-qualcified
dangerous
perso,nsl.
transmission of these books . ＨｾＩ
{if
The
and their
oral tradltion (l!m.sl)had become very sca'rce
and, preciou,s<, because, the.,Old'l'antras .o,fL the·' .
First,Periodo,f
ｲｮｹｩｮｧｾｍｴＮＱＺ ｲｧｹｵＮ､Ｇﾥ
Transl,at,ions(snaa.,..'gyur,·
·were,not'taken· ··i·nto .' the"
collection of the Kanj\1<I'"dbKA,f-"gyurh
great
enthusiasm
searched
for
Vitb, .
Ratna-gl ing.,..paearnestly
t,hese·
books
and,
the',ora·l .'
traditionsinalJ directio·ns, 0'£ the compass·,.
Finally, be£ound·thema;ln", bu,lk,o,£· .the· , One,...,
,HQndred-,'l'housa,nd Tantras ("rGyud-"bum)at Zur-·
'ug-pa...,l,uDg;.,He,knew that, lnKhams, dBus"or,
62. Dates·' acco,rd·ing.toDargy'ay,. Esoteric·'Buddhism,;. ·,p.144.,·
42
gTsang,tbecomplete, ora-ltrad,!,tion,·wa,s, not,'
handed dow,n, to: anybody witb, th.,exeeptio.D'of,
Mes.,-sgom"'"9tan"",bzang ""po, iDgTsang,.·
.He .could,!'. "
not imag1ne that this oral tradl tionwas to
,-be' interrupted so soen. .lJ!be mas'te-r-Has -8go·m,
in spite of his old age#· taught and gave, him;
,the ins truct ions, ,sftowinggre,a t zeal indo In9
so fO.r a long,time""
compl1ed" the- One.".·
ｌ｡ｴ･ｲｯｮ＼Ｌｒ｡ｴｮ｡ｲＭｧｬＬｩｮｧｾｰ｡
Hundred....Thousand ,Tantras,
(rG¥ud....,fbumJ
in,a
single ccollection", .at- the.,LbuD""'9r,ub....pho,-brang,'
(palace) .in Gru-sul.
At first he-wrote i tin
Indian . ink- bu-tclateron in golden tincture ..
Thereupon" he did,much,forthe.-di8sem:ina,tion<"
o·f· t·)lisoral
traditioll:.Tbanks, to Ratna ....
Ｌｳｵｯｩ｣｡ｲＹＧ･｢ｴＧＬ ＢｾＹｮｩＭＱＹ
and great Discovero£ -'.
Concealed",'l'reasares,
--of
the
Vajrayana
ava,ilable
for' the
wish,.,..bestowi.Dg
even,-todaythe.Tantras .
(9saD9""&ngags ""'-9Yud )
are
Q,se.o·f,·ever.ybody like, a
jewel
(clntauni,).
i
He, was,
e:xceedingly usefu1.to,- the whole ,rNYingzma....po' .'
Doctrine. 63
'lbispassage,shows, ,tllat,.the,te'achings, of ,the .rHying""ma,
tantras' bad, almost
fully,declineda,tthe -' time, of, Ratna·
43
tral'lsmiss,ions . in"all
Ratna
ｧｌｬｮｧｾｰ｡
of
Tibet.
edited, the
IttmdredThousandTantras
mate,rials ·he
compiled" in,tothe
U tbil rHying-rna or ·l£be preserved
them' jus,t, as he found·the,ln,,,,
. It is nonetheless.> due to the
e£forts' ,of Ratila,gLlng"""pa that tbePBD exists in the present
world··· and, is. a.val,lable ·for. study.,.
. The Huntkjed,·Thousa'pdTantras of·· ｾ ｲ ｈ ｶ ｬ ｮ ｱ ｾ ｭ ｡ Ｌ ﾷ ｢ ｡ ｳ
been·
handed down, since tbe,time, of Ra,tna",gLing.,..pa and ,exists in
severaleditions,·.a.nd,·eoples.Ai4
The ·PBD is £ound"in, all. known,','
cop;ies' of ···tats, collection.
There' 'are '. no,known""colDIReatar-·ies. ontbe,PBD.,
to
tbePBO·,· ar,ealso
accounts
Refer-enees '
lacking,in,tbe"ava!,lable' b,istorical,
0'£, ,the ,.transmiss,ion, .of
Buddhism, ,,In.·. T,lbe$.
The
,present studylsperbapst'hefirst,exploration of thePBD in
letters s ｩｮ･Ｌｴｨｭｯｦｒ｡ｧｌｾｰ
•
.Coptepts
The . PSD· contains .ｴｷｯＮﾷｨｵｮ､ｲ･ｩＬＺｹｾｳｸ
pag.es.
ar:e di'vided .-.into,· one., hundred ·twenty-three
chaptertitlesa're
chapter.
ｔｨ･Ｌｾ｣ｦｴ｡ｰＮｴ･ｲｴｩ ｬ･ｳ｡ｲ･Ｌ
'recorded
in
the
chapters •.·
colophons
as, follows:·
I. Tbe,Baste .Top,lc·and·tak,!ng:·up thetoplc (p. l) .
2 •..Ｎｴｮ･ Ｎ｡ｯ｣ＮｳｾｩＢ ｭ｡Ｌ［ｧｮＮｩ ｡･ｭＮ［ｬ｡ｲ･ｮ ｧ･ｨｔ
3.The,way ,0£:be18g o·ftheBas& (p.• 12).
lp.,9 l.
of
These,
The·.·
each
44
···4 .>Tbe'exlstentlal,,;mode of ·tbe:Base andt'heGreatAppearance
of the Base, (p.1S) ..
5,. Thepartioulars of the Base (p.18).
6.·
7-.
. the',Ba5e (p.19L
ｔｨ･ＮＬ［Ｇｳｩｭ ｬ･ｳＮｴｨ｡ｴ･ｾ ｭｰｬＧＬｩｦｹ
Thewayo£ Being
of· the
Base
and" eft-titles;.
and, the
recogni:·tion. oftheword-whicbsy-mbol,izesthe,made of,
"appearancefp. 2 2 l.
8. A
on the Base and, its recognition (,p,.,27L
｣ｯｮ､･ｳｴ｡ｨｾｧ
9. Thecomplete·recogn.itio,n of ·Wisdom(p .30) .
10. The·, wordstha,t si-gnify ;w'isdo...".(,p.33·).··
11.' The·com,ingforth;o,f' . the
force of awarenessa,nd,the
tota,lly",pure . force (p. 34) .
12. The words, wbis,h"symbelize:th1s, (p.3fH,.
13 • Thefo,rce ·in·,brle f (p .36) •
14. The" ornament,andtbe,p,lay,(.p.37}.
15. The words ,for ffor,nament",and"play" I,D ·brief (p. 39).
16. The slgn,ifying; slmllesfor "ornament", and ,,,play" (p.40).
,,17.
Teaches thatl:nthe pure·,. Base there -is, .nodelusionand;'
teaches the three bases,fordel,us,!on lnthe
appearanceo,fquality· (p. 4,ll.'
1'8 .1.'becauseand ti,me ofde:lusion,fp .,45),
19. The conditian· of deluslan,andtbede-lnslon of; the obj,ect
,duriog,the·'ill,termediate 'kalpa, ,aloftg-with"the· condit·,ions
of the body (p.47l •
. 20.' The,manner,·bk..wbiieh,the
ｩＬｮ ｴ･ＭｲＧｩｯｲ･ｯｮｾ･ｮＴｨ
,bein<JSlis'es:tabl"isbed '(p.49).-
'. [of se,nt:ilen,t,
45
23.
Tbecharacteris,tics
of, the
elements, and,the>'wayof,-
arising and way of dissolving in 'combination, with tbe
,meaning (p.53) .
24..- Thethr,ee" aeons (.p,.55).
,25. The coming ,£orth "of ,the two,RupakaYilsof compassio,n ·from
the Dbarmakay,a and, that the', twokayasdGnotexist in,
itself (p. 56) .
26. The, way theki'ya is clear as amudrl,'for the>discipleof
,·"pro'found',kROwledge,,'and, its arising as "perfectioft and
knowledge in" the·,kaya"oitbe', disciple (p'.,59;)·.
27·. ·Tbe·abode·ofdwellingand thethr'O'fte(,p. 60 ) •
28. The.'expl,anatlon, of the·meaning.ofa. throne, .(.p,. '6·1,h
29. ,The retinue
0
£.theSambbogakay·a (p. 61 ) .
30. The words which signify the SambbGgakaya, (·p.63h
,31.
/L',begeneral ,characteristics 'and
conioinedwith,the femal,ecaRsorts·
ﾷｴｨ･ｦｩＬｶ･ｦｾｭｬ ｩ･ｳ
{p;...64l.
·32 . ,'l'he r·etinue of the;Sambhogak1iya joined totbeessence of
mean1ng" ,(p.66)., ,
33. The way the liirmtnattaya comes·fo·rth in the world (p.68 ) •
•
,3,4. T,he divlsio·nsof ·thethree kayas (.p. 69) .
35.
The,words
which
signify
the . tbree
·eftumerations,o,fthe k.yas (p. 72).
klyas
and
the.'
46
'Buddba"i.n ",brief {p. 75) •
37.
The,
Ｇｂｨ｡ｧ Ｌｶ｡ｮＮＬ Ｈ｢｣ｯｭｾｬ､｡ｮｾ
oftbe,', thl'ee kayas"
ｾ､Ｙｓｽ
Buddha
Ｈｳ｡ｮｧｳｾｲｱｹ｡ｳＩ
the
,. and the way of purify ingthe
defilements (p .76) •
1 lving be 1ngs ) (p. 78) .
39.
The
philosopbicalperspeet'ives ofthee-ight"vehieles
(p. 79).
40., The medLtations"oftheelgbt, velli,cles. (p.'82:l,.,
41. Theactlvi,tie'softhe'elghtvehicle,s (p. 84) •
42.
The results of the, individual
(p ..
43.
The
vehicles;
tbe· doors of
85) •
recogn,i;tion, of the ,meaning,. of At!
together
with
questiGnsanda,nswers(p. 87) .
44.
The
recognition,of
the
tbreekayas
including. ',' the
·,phenominaldlmens-ion,the Dbarmakaya ,Q,f awareness (p. 91).
45. Therecogn;itionofthe,£i,ve aspects of
ｷｩｳ､ｯｾＬＨｰ
.• l,()O"h
·,46., ,The,pu,t·t4ng in order ;.o.,f theeightaccuMUlatio,ns and then
their",· reeogn.i.tion ".. (p" 10,2). '
47.
Goingbe'yond.thecaQseofsa,msara,., severing ltsroo·ts
£romthe,end,and recognizing ltlp.1(5).
48. Divid,ing" the three ,time·sand, recogn,izing th.em (p.108').
47
51.·The·.· s-aered··ins,true,tionswbicb condense, the enter,tng lnto
recogAi.tioD.·.,(,p·.>120:l .. ··· "
52 . The viewin"ge'neral(,p .. 1211.
53. The view and its application,(,p.124,).•
54 .·The view i'n deta!1 (p .126) .
55. The gra·spiagof the ,one view· in one life. (p,.. 13·8).
56.
The view"
medita,tic.A", ano"practicecombi:ned into, one'
Cp.142) .
57. The final settlemen'tof the view (p •. 144¥.•
58.
The
jo ining,with··· existence anda·bsencein, meditation,
andthe< cont,inua,l samadbi
fo,r·· average·mind1!k togetber:.
,withtts de,ftn!ng,enaracterist.ics .(p •.147) .
ＵｾｬＮ
The,' insp;j:ra,tionthat,,·teachesconte'nt.and, . lack,of conten·£·,'··
ｩｮＬｭ･､ｩｴ｡ｾｩｯｮＮＬ
｡ｮ､Ｎｾｴｨ･ﾷＬ
meansoi meditation ..in ·de,tail '.
(.p.152).
60 •. The ,'applied theory of med11:a·t10n· (·p ..· 157l.
6·1. .T,be..,.qro,unos ·£o-rer,ror in .meditation fp. 158) •
62.
Tbe,·cutting,;"off·; of.tb&.. groQ'nds. for·error·in.meditatien,· .'
·(p.160) •
63. The·"practice, in condensed forRk(p •.175,) ..
64.
The sacred···.,·instructio&s,·Q·f, applylng,equal·lythe . theory·
of re1.ig1-on5 'practi.ce.toitsel£during·,tbe fou·r,times
(p.178) .
65.
The practice of the joining,- in equality of the three
titftes(-p-. 179) .
66.' The",eighteen",.spberes"of, ,ac,tivityocf,H"ra.. ,p.180l·.·
48
6 7. The ,e,xperieace (p .180 ) •
68. €learingdoabtsalld·"obstruetions.· (·p.181l
·69.,How theresulteomesfortb(p.181).
70.
The explanation, of the· me,aning of a vehicle in .brief
(p.l81) .
71. The explanation ofthemenaing, of the view"
tbe words of
,teaehing(p. 182) .
72. The explanatlon··ofthe·meaning . .· .ofmed,itation·. al.ong witb,·,
the ,words
73.
0
fsignif·ication (p .182 ) .
Thee,xplanation oftbe, meaning·ofnon-medi,tational·oDg"
-wlth tbewordsofproclamation (p. 183).
74,. The praotice in brief (.p.184). "
. 75. T,lle explanation of· the, meaning of the resul t(p .185) .
76.· The
individual
defin·i,tions
of
the
vehicles
and
the
. de·fini'Dg' charaote.ristics(p.187) .
77.
The way's of superio,rity,of the eight vehicles in· brief"
(p.18S) .
78. The·/meaning,.of thesupe,rior ·(p.190J. '
79.
The
superiority,
by
five·
greatnesses', over, the· eight
vehicles (p.191).
80.
Teaches. that .the
eight
vehicles
have
error
and·'
obscuratlon., and < that, the; Ati does·no>t" ba¥e erro.r,·,and·,
·obscuration (p.195J.
81.
Anexpla,nation.of, grounds·· for error
and the.word.s of,·,
sigD'ificat1onin brie·f(p.197).
82.
The ｷ ｯ ｾ ｲ ､ ｳ ｯ ｦ Ｎ ｩ ｮ ｱ ｵ ｩ ｲ ［ ｹ ｷ ｩ ｴ ｢ ［ ｡ Ｌ ｣ ･ ｲ ｴ ｡ Ｇ ｩ ｮ
, summar:y,(ofthe·
49
follow.iRgchapters 1 (p. 198) .
83. Theflveto-talitie's f,p.199J.
84.
Theexplanation"of . the .mea·niag-of,,· the, five total·1 ties:
·toge,ther,wl·th the,ir.necessity (p. 202) .
85. The explanation •. ·of·.··tbe,··meaniug,·,of"a,,·Tantra.· G:p.203.)·.
86. The vow·s andempower-ments..· of· the measure of .' rLsing .o·fa .'
Ta·nt·ra ·(.p.204) .
87.
Clearly
teaches
the
explanationofthe·meaningi:o£··
·ie.powerffte,nt " (p. 21,0) .
88. 'l'besacred•.commi-tments (p·.210.).
89.
The explanation, ·afthe meanLngof·a. sacredcomm!tment-·
(p. 211) .
90,_ The:manda·la.(p.• 21·2).
91.
The self-nature ." of·sacred. aot10nis wi tho·ut .. deeds.or
searching (p. 213) .
92. Worship, aoo.:yoga, .(p.215) .. ·
··9·3.,Kant,raand·,·mudra fp.216).
94,. Retreat and! practice (.p.2181.·
95 . The ·JHNe.greatnessesoftbe .tran&mis-s!on(p. -219) .
96. The explana.tionof the meaning ··of,thetra,nsmission (p. 219).
97.
The five neces.sar.ypu·rposes o·fthesacred instruction
.(p. 220).
98. The meani,ng,·.a,f the saar.ed·· instructions (p.•. 222l ..
99. Puts the levels.,tbepe·rfeetions, and,·the;·fivepatbs· in·'
··proper order ,and actuall yteaches the sta-qeso fthe
levels ·(p.,223).
50
'100 •. 'T·be ,mean!-Ing of a level (p .226) .
101. Tbe' result, the five . certain, paths
(p.•
226).
102 • Theexplana,tion o·f themeanln9 of a path (p. 228).
103.
Tbefour. paths· of, practice, of
t·hete'D·perfections
Cp.228l.
1&4..
The,explanat:ion, of,·the< mea,ning,·of. the •.· per,fections, of..
.re,sul"tCp.230) .
105.. The·med tuma .(p ＮＲＳＰＬＱｾ
10·6.'.rhe".mea,n·!.ng
0
f..appearanoein br ie·,f(-p . 232) .
107. 'l'he£ourmodeso'f·attachmen,t'<lh23Sl.
108. The fou,r ·i,nte·r;mediate states (p.236).
10'9. The div isio:n, betweenm,lnd",and" wi,sdom.. ·Cp.2'37-l.'
110.
The- cOIMd,tments,,;·ofthe
ge,neral
char,acteris·ttcs
of
l'ihera,t·!onandthe stqDs (.p. 240 ) .
11:1. The· signsofdeatb1Dde,tail(p. 24'2h
112.T·be res;ults. of the . intermediate state (p.244).
113.
Theabs·ence,(of a need] for liber,ation· 1n those with'
eo·mpletelysuper i-Cilrsenses andthedivisl-on of·t'he
superior, a<Verage.. ··and·inieriorof those wi,t!l'"a·verage
·senses, . ,t,hed'irect ,recogni tion o,fPossessi"ngtheFive
and
Pos-sess.ing., Per·feo,tion"
the·
six
superknow:'ledgesr'i'
fo,rth,.and.the·
ｴｯＮｧ･ｴｨ･ｲｾｷＮｩｴｨ ･Ｎｷ｡ｹ｣ｯｭｰ｡ｳ ｩｯｮＮ｣ｯｭ･Ｍｳ
individual:
division,,·. 0·£,
-the
,Great.-
Posses-siag,.of.
.P er£ect-ion.(p .245) .
114. Tbemeaft>1;D.(jS) of.libera,t·ioD; and
115.
A
gene;r.al.assortment. of
｣ｯｭｰ｡Ｇｳ ｬｯｮﾷＬＮＨ ｰｾＲｓＸﾷＩＮ
similes
"..
toge.ther'",witban
51
expl,a,oati,onof tbelr meanings fp. 259).
116. The inspiration of n!r.vana,a,nd, the meanings: of the five
words.wbichsignifytt (p. 261).
117.. The"explanationof,tbemeaning,o,f·nirvaBa,,( p .26·7 l •
.l18 .,'lbe.meani,ng. ·,ofthe eyefp. 268) .
119. Tbemeanlng'of the·, four, extremes (.p.2.6&).,
',12'0,.·, Tbe' mean,ingof,tbeletters (,p.271).
121.
Bringstogethe,r.·. the,,'sca,t±ered,., words"
causes"freedom,
from doubt, and clears, away tbe extreme of ,faults (p.272).
122. The··names o·f· the· Tantra and offerl,ftgsofpraise(p'o280).
123. ConcludestbeTa,ntra (p.284).
Colophon ,.( 28:6¥,.
CHAPTER 2·
Methodology
Tbe
fol.lowing,.:chapters ....ofthisthe,s·ls· conststot a
.,themat.ics,tudy. o·f the ,most lmportant topics in tbePBD.
T·be
PBD is a text attempting to comprehend every aS,pect of ·i,ts
view of tbeBuddbology,it,represents..
To"pFesent. ,a.·full
analysis. of everytopi'c, i'D the PRO, wouldrequire c ,nobhia9""
less than",a,ninterlinear, commenta,r,y: andconcordance;o,fthe
'entire tex·t., a .task that could well extend .into tbousandsof
pages..
subjects
For tbis·reasonlhave foeu·sed, on· the principal
nece·ss·ary
for
a ··compre·heDsion; ,o-f, ·thePBDf,s .
'teaohings, tbose topics presentedrepea·tedly a·ndextensi vel y
througboutthe.·,··text.
The·' PBD·.···prese.nts
topics, oftencrypticall,yandincomple,tely.,.'
many·· secondary
These topics I
.have; ,alluded to"butno,t discussed in detail.
The,following;chapters,tbereforeconsistofanaaalysis
ofthe,PBIHs;views:on,·lJ.The-Base,.
ＢＧＣ｡ｹ ｾ ｨ､ ｵｂ
...!fhe,A,tiyo,ga.
2)
()elU64-on,.
3,.),.
T.he,
··4,)··... ,.Wisdoa...,·,.S)···Tbe,,····path,,·6.),.• Recogni,ti,Oft,. .• ·anch··7),.·
·I·t ,wo.uldcerta1nlybe ,desirable to· ,d.iscuss·tbe
53
relationship the ide'aspre,sentedln the PBDbave to var iou,s
other
views
of
reality,.
sucbas, the
di,ffer,ent
Bu-Mbi·st
.scbools 'of ·t.fiought,andt,he.·mys.ticall.i-teratureof tiheworld.
Such an enterprise ··woaldaga·lnrequire-detailed analy'sis·
al80untlng to a fall thesi·s'foreacb topic cov,ered,.
in
preseatingth!s-
camprehensi-ve
a
information,··.. is
to
v.iew, a.spossible·ofa
M,ygoa,l
provide.
text
that. is
as
an.,
importan,t,re·pre.s.entation·,( of,," esoteric Btlddh,!sm.. in·.,genera1,.· '
and··· its ·thirteenth .cent.ury mani,:£estation
.. assume .my
.reader
·to
be .familiar
. . , ·1··
ｩｮＬＮｰ｡ｲｩｴＮｩ｣ｵｬ｡ｲＮｾ
"i·tb
.the£undamental
concepts of the Buddh·i.st·traditi.on,. a,nda&suRle< that, he or
she
is
able, to
draw
conclusions· on . the
q
import off· the
infot'lRationoI provide on-his orber o-wn part.
It ·ha.s not been,my·conoern. to a s.certain the truth or
falsity o,f the
in.£ormation con,talnedi,n· the··PBD.· .1 have'
striven, ra.tber,. ·to provide t·be··reader with·an .. ·ins,,igbt,in,to
the thOUigbt.·:,o£:·. the: PBD .a-s..'accaratel·yas.possible.,·. dwlthouit"
prejud.ice as ·tolts greatnes·s· in or lack of splr·itualvalue.
Thi.s . info.rmation,should ..provide.. ·.·.·tbe.·.reader·. witban.,aecurate·"
i.nsighti.ntothe tbeoriesandoutlook of one of the greatest
movemen.ts.·· in
esater:ic
Buddhl,sm".
the
Great
Perfection
Ｈｲ､ｺｑｱｳｾ｣ｨ･ｮｬｶ･ｨｩ｣ｬ･Ｎ
This study represents theflrsttime,the.PBD." ha·scome·; .
to
the
atten·tion.·of
modern. scholarship,.
translations of tbePBDavailable.·
There are
no
F-or.thisreason. it bas· .
been· necessary. to quote extensively fro.. the text iftiorder .
54
to provide' an accurate·, picture of the . tex,t .itself,. ·.t·nave ,"
augmen>ted,tbese,>'(Juo'katdi&ftS, from. the .. tex.t w4th,,,cla,rifying
remar'ks'· ·.·aOO··' footnotes,., yet, ,.o,f.ten "I " have, 'allowed., the, tex,t, to'.
speak, . for
itself.
I·bavestriven topickau·t the, most
appropriate quo·tations. from the PBD,, to expre,sstbesubj,ec,t.
at·· band .'.and.,. have .. provided,comme·ftitar.y and ,·aaalysis!"in" order·
to,make,,·thesepointsmor,e·lucid.tomy reader.
All
translations.. in,,,, ,tllis,A:hesis,#
noted... are my own.·
.
unle·ss
otherwise
lnpreparat.ion.·for .this, thesis I .have·
prepari!d:a prelimblary" trans,latio,n,·of"tbe, 'entire· text ｾＮ
,Dr •
Eva;J}argyay·,.has'·,·kinclly"read,i:his ,maaascrdptin,compal'isoft"
w,Um theo,riginal ''ribetant8'xt .
She' ,has of,reredaany,.useful
commentsandmllCh."good. advice. on, tec'hnicalpoi·nts·.·
advice
,has
been
very
helpful
inarrivinq
at
Th,ts
su,itable
transla,tionsfortechnical term,s and· identifying. important
passages,•.,.
own,.
The, transl a,t ions. 'presented are Donetheless my
Aftyerror ormisunders.ta,nding..perpetrated.. by,taese
',' ·,tremsl·atlansis "my ow,n respons.lbility, though . the reader can
be suretbat, I bavemade every a;'btemp,t:to·present, the. text
.·lnas. accurate -and meaning fUrl a form as possible.
The met'bodologyof. my. 'trans,latioft .·repr.esents.ane£for.t·
to avoldtbe two extremesofover-l"lteralness lntranslati:on
ando<Ver-interpretdveness i,n trans·latto:n".· This,means·that I
havestr,iven. to
succinctly..
, present
ｉｮＮ｡ｶＮｯｬ､ｩｮＹﾷＬｯｶ･ｲｾｬｩｴ･ｲ｡ｬｮ･Ｍｳ
render> the
Tibetan, both accurately and"
1 have s:trlven, to
my,trans],·ati.onsso ,tbat,an< educated·> speaker: of.
55
.avo id ingover-lnte.rpret ivetranslatio,n I ·bavestrivento use
the .simple,stterms . possible to render' Tibetan.vocabular.y
items.
An
example·,
of
what
I
consider
entitled' ·•. 'Primorsiia,l·<·.ExPerience'"
Tibetan,.term,rig,.".paas. "the
aware·ness
Tibetan
its.
word
quality . ,,1
in,to,
over.-i·nterpretive·
where . be" translates . the
flash· of knowing. that gives
This
me,thod. renders
nine, . En-g11:sb.. words.
a
single,
.he,n··· ·numer·au,s·;
technleal,·termsare, ·found together, . , 1n.a· texttbe resulting;.
overabundaRce..; o.fwordsin English, can'easily turn a single,
sentence into a longparagraph:.;
as
ｲｩｧｾｰ｡Ｎｳｩｭｰｬｹ
"awareness."
under.standabl,e to my reader ,
wbich .it is
The
text
found
i.tse1 f
I havetra·nslated theter'IR:'
.I
believe this word· to be
and· rely onthe·con,telC't·s· in
to elucidate' its more subtle meanings.'
often strives
to
gi,ve
meaning.. to
the,
tecbnicalterms it uses, and it is the co.ntext of the text
>i ｴ ｳ ･ ｬ ｦ ｴ ｨ ｡ ｴ ｧ ｩ ｶ ･ ﾷ ｳ ｭ ･ ｡ ｮ ｩ Ｙ ﾷ Ｇ ｴ ｾ
the contents, ratherthan·;,the
specula·tlons atinterpreta,tion
in, the,translator,'smind,.
For this reason I have opted· forsimplic,ity in expre,ss:ion
wi-th,
the· . . . intention·· of
provid·!ng·.· directly·
accessible ".
1. Manjus.rimitra,.·Primordial, ,. Experience.' t·r.ans·.), Hamkhal""
Norou .and Kennard-" M-pman"
<Bo·ston:· Shambha.la,:.1.987'),i
p.xxlii.
56
readable.
The·thema,tic analysis,of· thePBDnow,follows.
The
oolophoao:E the PB9 , .a·s.ql1o,tedabove ,2.makespr-o,pbesies that
"some w,ill cover it w-itb the darkness of "GQmmentar,y.
will block it wi·ththe claw,.ofinterpreta:tloa.
Some
Some. will"
:poison ,it ,wi th .thecontentstomacb 0·£ scrlp·turalquo-tatiOfl.
H
I have made every attempt not to fulfill, thlspropbesy,in··
thepre'sent 'study..- I
hopetha t , I
have
elas.ida,ted."the'
mea·nln<j;,Q·f, the -.PBI) for . the· Engl1sb,speaklngworld -rather·
,thandar·kened it, in ,a,nyway.
CHAPTER. 3,
·TheBase
I t has
already been noted in ,theopening"pas,s&ge" o£
this ·tbesd:sthat the,PBD;, g,ses;pos!:tive"1'8nguage,, ,to d1seu'ss
theul.'tlmate,reality,.l ''llhe PBD, usesa,lar·genumberof .'. terms '
in relat,ion, to the' .u:l,tlmatereali,ty(don....dam.).,de5pite the,
fact tbattheBud:cith1stit,raditlon, and the,·PBDitsel£, c1aim
tha:t.. the',ul,tima,te:reality
c09n1,t1Qn,.2
,is
u:nspeakab1e,.and,,'beyond,·
ThePBDexplains. 1t5use'o£· sucb,terminola9yin>
the '4fo.l low ing ,sticeinc,ts tatement :
[The-
Base
(!D.h.i.ll
1s· uas·peakable,. a,nd
" inconceivable, ,yet therels,ftoperfect.lypure
meaning-.,
other·
1. This thesis.,. p.2.
-g.. Santideva,
verse,i2,where,'it,
. 2. See->e
/,,,
than
this.,
so
.-.
1t
.must
be
-
BOdhlsat.t.yaqaryayatara •. ,.chapt-er nine';,"
preclaims"··.·tba·t· ·'":fhe'>u11:i-mate·.,[,ea111:y-· ·ls·
·no,1:1:he·' province ···o·'f,the.,m,j;;nd" ... (dop,...dam,...plg-yi ..,..,spyod-.YUl-.mlp) .'
See ·alsoPBD.,.p.24.
58
spoken!
ThIs
z,t·lM1s·tbeknown! 3
quo.tat.ion,
willingness
to
no·t . only
u·se
positive
points'
out
.language.. ', to
the
PRD'··s,
desc1'\ib&\ .. the
., ful:timat-e, itbrings:us .di-rectly·to.tbeaostfundamental te.zom
the·PBD usesinrela.tion·.
ＨｾＩ
terms
.
to
ultima,te· reality"
the Base
There is a deep . inter..."relationship betwee'n< all: the
the·· PBI>
understanding
uses
of
u'nderstand.tng,of the
on· the., ultimate
one
ｯｴｨ･ｲｳｾ
most
. often
·level.;
depends
and
an
u.pon·.an··
It is, however, neoessary·to
··en4:er·into the·sys,tem·at ·some point,and·the·PBD itself uses
·tbe.Baseasi,tsownstartin.g point in th.isdlscusslon. 4
'l'bePBD"de·scribes :the,·Base bath· nega.t,l:vely,deseFibing·
wha·t it is not, .• and poslt.lvely" de·scribingwhat· iti,s.
will
firs.t
present. the
passages, that descrlbe,the.Base
. positively :
Before.' the realized intuit iOD < (rtp9sJ and.
de 1 Gslon( 'khpulJo.fsamsara . and, nirvana, it·
transcended•. both· ·cause .-and··. conciUtlon,. ·'50 it
lsself-arisen. S
It
isnon..."dua·l .,equi.l U:>riu.,.. ·creating,·no,·
good orevilanywhe·re . 6
3.P8D,p.24.
4. PBD; chapters threethr.ou.gb.eight..
5.PBI>, p.13.
6. PRO,·· ｾＮｰ
14.
I
59
The uncontrivedis the· Base, so it iethe·'
matrixo£ al.l,·tba,t,is spontaneously.1"eal,ized'"
"andsel £.,.a'1"ls·1n9 . 1 t i stbe v ita! essence 0'£
the
unadulterated,.·. the,
a·l1· encompa,sslng:·
meaning.., .,
It
is
the
uDcon.trived.mind'
of
perfect.·
,pu'1"·ity(byang-gbub""'Ums), .self-abiding. in .its
own· way
0
£being__ the pr imevalspontaBeously
reall·zedt,reasucyo·f all :precioQsthings. 8
It is
the.essence'do£meaning"o£ all. the·
Dharmas . '.' of samsara,· ·and,-,·n·i,rvana.Its,arislng·'...
that"' it
is
arlsesf1".omthe·
dimension. 0·£ :
. ,a.wa1"eness. 9
The essentialrea,l·i.ty . (aao-"",bp)o,f.tAe.-,·Base" "
,is
"RPo-dualit-y .
,,,T.be
def,iD·!,tion·lstha,t
becau,se:itis the. matrix o£al1thlngs it is
the
Base.
ＨＬｾＩ
Fu·rthermore
it··lathe- supper-,t
o:f.both sa·msaraa.ndni-rvana .10
(The. Basel cleanses-ma:t,ter
｢･｣｡ｾｩｕＬ･ﾷ Ｎ
it i,s
subsumed.. under., "awa,reness" which is, cleansed·
7. PBD" .po; 14:. .
8. PBD,p .,16.
9. PBGi' p.17.
10.,PBO"p.18.
60
of
all
It ·.·isclea,nsedof, ...
otberthings.,
-entltiesbecause
it
exists
in
It
appearance
'0 f
duality,
for
for,· it is· self-arising,...
the
empty
cleanses
it
the
is. w"ltbou,t··
It cleanses hopes
and, fear,s., fo,rit is spontaneously ·real-ized.
It cleanses .def.ilements,. fO.I\lt is perfec,tly.
pure, .. ll
It is liberated from,:the conventiona·lit-ie;s,··
of
samsara
and
nirvana,,.,
,
so
it
is
tbe·,
Dharmak3y.a .12
There i,sno,tbing above it,. so it is g-reat.
primordial.
Everything"
arises
.from,
and,
appears ·from tt,.soit istheCrea·torof All
(kun-byed) .
｡ｰ ･｡ｲｾ ｯｭﾷｬｴＬｳｯｩｴ
All
·of
samsara
and-nirvana
is the Base. 13
It
d'ld
not
appear
ad,vent1·tiously, and it istbeide,ntity ('bda9n¥JJl)of·· thepr imord,ia ll,y "exlstent<awareness,'
lI. PBD,. p.19.
ＱＲｾＮ
,PBD,
p.23.
13. POO, p.2:3 •.
61
( ｹ･Ｍｮ｡ｳｾｧＮｰﾷＬｩｲ
io-.pa);,.
So
it
iSi'
w.1sdollh14
It transcends, the· enumeration of Rupakaya
"Buddhas, .' andeverythingar ises
and
oomes
fortbfrom·reallzedi Intu'ition ,oflts meaning_
So·
it
is' the
·Ancestcn;,
(mes-:-po l
of
all·
ｂｕ､ ｨ｡ｳﾷｾＱＵ
Its own;.essential nature ·isu,naefJ:leil,and,····
lit
is
cl:ear ly
the, u·nh·inder:ed .great.. ·sel,£,...".:
··.l.wainesoe.nce,Ocf··,wisaom.Tbus'!.t is·above .all
tbl.ngs..,
and
it
is
the·
u.ncDangJ:ng ·se1·£-.
appearaace" and.··self-aspeE:tto£, ,.awarenes,s.
So
it lsthe highest Buddha" ·Unebangi,ng.,Light,i
(lQJlMl-'.qyur-.ba) • 16
All:samsara. afu5,nir·va·ftaarisef,rom,it, and,·,
touc!l·,u.ponit,so it is,theroat. 17
Everything.' is born, fr.omand·connected with,·;
,this great Base, so it lsthe seed. 18
It is certain thattbe essential, nature:
,0,£
tbeBase is.tbeself-.arislngolearandempty.
14.PBD, p.22.
15. PBD,
ｾＴＲＮｰ
·.16.,P·BD, .p.24.
17 •
ｐｂｄＮＬｰｾＲＵ
·l8.PBD,.p.25.
62
There, 1s·,no difference between the, arising",
and;
·of certainknowleage·,(witb,';
ｮｯ ｾ｡ｲｩｳ ｮＹＧ
regard to Itl. 19
These passages, "can; be "summarized by noting that· the;
,Base istbefuftdaaaental groandof being ·of.al1 reality,bo·th
conditioned'
real<lty( sarns-ara;,).
.,(·n"irvana) .
It
.is,te,aaporally
sucR-manifestation,.
rea:U,ty arises.
ｲ･｡ｬＱｴｹＨｫｵＮｮｾ｢ｹ･､ＩＮＲＰ
and
transcendent·. reality
.' a·ntecedent
-to
-all
It is also tbe>groundfrom.. wbich ·a,ll
In this, sense it is the creator ·of all·
It is theultimate,principle·of be.!'ng·
the perspective, ofe,xper'ience it can/be, said, to. arise "froaa,
wisdom (ye...,she,s), '. asw·isdomis· the direct in-tul.tion· of .pure .'
awareness itself.
Yet it does. net depend. in, allywayontbe'
perisanal·· .intuition;"01"' analysis. o,f . anyone."" it··.preceding,even·
tbeRupakaya
pr,inciple.
ｂｵ､ ｢｡ﾷｳＮＬＲｾＮ
It
is,
in
fact"
the
highest.,
of Buddhahood itself, whether ,tbisistermedtbe,
20·. For. a· discus'sion,·"o,f 'the·terakUBrbyed and 'an ana.ly·s·is of
the ultimatepr;lnciple·· as acreatoc' ofallreali,ty see .•Eva,'
.Dacgyay,,«theConcept ,of a 'Creator "God' ·,in ,''!'antr ic
Buddhism,.."·. ﾷｾＧｊｯｵｲｮ｡ｬＬﾷｧｦＮ
.• ·..tha ,·,International·Association· (If'
Buddhist Studies, (Had'J;sonl, ｖｯｬｾ
8, Number' I; ＱＹＸＵｾ
p.3-1-
48.
21.. Ropak·ayaBuddhasar,e ·,Sa·ddllas ｭ｡ｮｩＮｦ･ｳｾｊＮＬｮｧ ｡Ｌｴ
the Sambbocgakaya ﾷ｡ｮ､ＧｎＬｩｲｭ｡ｮ ｫﾷ｡ｾ Ｎ
·tef7ms,is'fo110d ·In·.,this,thesis,p.90 .
.tbe.leveLo,f'
Adisc'lssion,.of.these·
63
,
. 2 .2
.,
.
.
DharmakX,ya...
thehigbes,t
Buddha Unchanging.
Light,.
or the" .'
state of, en1'igh·tenedawareness;
to as . the,
ｩＮｴｳ･ｬｦｾＭｲ･Ｌｦ･ｲ ･､
mind,·of perfect purity (byanq....chub':""kyi ....sems.)... Tt1sa1,so<
,forth.
These descri.ptions of; the Base may lead"thereaderto·
reify.
it,
existent.
thinking,
that
the,· Base
is
somethi,ng"
trn1"
The·PBDisverycareful ,notto·positsucha view,
hold.ing"thattbe,Base,; is beyond "tbe,'four,extrellle's, "wh;lch,
are existence, non-ex'!ste,nce;,; both; andne,itber..;23
That ls,
,to say that the Base is not an 'entity whose ex lstence ca,n be
whos,e,existence ··canneitherbe divorcedfroll\l.;,reality ,nor,
To
gain.
an,· ins·igbt
in,to
I tdidnot arise
the 8u9atas;,.
points 'the
PBD's"
from tbe compas,sion of'
It was not born; ,from the,·karma,
o·f '., sentient beings.
It· was no tbornfromthe
five external· elements.
23 •. PBO,p.17.
these
64
the",
inner;··.
discursive· .
conceptual iz·a ti ODS , . (rnam",..rtoqJ.
by
affected
an
It. is not
individual's
path-wise
attitude. 24
It
bas
no
designation o·fname< or
let basna" knowotng, .'
Ｈｭｴｳｨ｡ｮｾｭ｡ﾥﾷ
DO
realized
ignorance, nor ,delusion.
ｩｮｾｵＱＬｴｩｯＬｮＮＬＧＱ Ｐ
VAltioQS
"conceptualizations
tendencies .'. (bag:"'"'gbags,)
and"
mark,
The;
of"delws"lofl;.< and,',
the·
dbarmas.of··,
wisdom:,£oroe", appearanee,.and,re,sult.· aranot
distinguished: in the" Base,.,tbe
Ｇｳ･ｬｦｾ｡ｲＬｬｳｩｮＹ［ｩＧ
,wayof,being,{ofall ,reality]. 25
It isno1:es,tab,lished atbimeJs. beginnt,n9', '
or ,end·" nor ,in"the,past, or futu,re.•",
It has
. "notbing, whatever toaccompl ish, to take up or
reject, good ,or bad.
center I'
It has no, limit and ,no"
no, d,trection. or partial ity.
It is'
'uacontrl,ved"unadulterat.edessence,remaiaing
i,n, the .natural state, ,(9 n yug...ma). 26
It does· not bold to, any, tr-atb,or.fal,sity;,.'
existenceor,.,non-existence, at all. 27
24
. ·PBD,
p. 13
.
25. PBD, p.,13.
26. ,PBD, p.14
.
2,7. PBD, p.·,14.•
65
It
is
without.
thought,.
and,·w.ltbou·t··
.... ,'.
dwell,lng
. ·or
ﾷ ﾷＮｮｯ ｾｷ･ｬ ｮＹ
..
It
permanence.
OF
cessation,
.
bas·
no
no, ,unit¥ · o r
plur.ali ty .28
The· six .classes . ,of sentient·. be,ingsw,!,th"
their
various
the. ·k;iya.. >of
delusions.,
the
Victorious One,. the appearance 'Of,wi-sdo... and
the ·different vehicle,s.
includi,ng
establ:isbed·,
the
on·
aiBe '.
the··
..
Ｈｴｨ･ｧｾｰ｡ｲﾷｓｫｴＮｾＩ
levels ..
Base:,
by
not
virtue
of
exis·ti,ngi,n t-bewayof entities .29
It. has no exp.erieftOe,
entering ..ｾＧｬｯＬｴｩ
ﾷｮｯ ｾｸｰ･ｲｩ･ｮ｣･ｦＧ
no,t.·entering. it.
·no
It ba.s no,·
dispe:Fsion or·· non..,.d,ispers 10ft .Tl'lu·s .. it .. ..is 'not
,neoe.ssaryto seek! t .30
It·has;no ..cause.,.&.t·the,fi,rst.·..
·'bavean·,entity 's cause.
at the ··'·middl,e •. ·
PBO.. p.l5.
29.
PBD.. p. IS •.
30. PBD, p. 15.
31. PBD.. p.16.
H:·has Roconditions
It has no. ·rival .at,. the end,.
Thus it is unchanging. 31
28.
t,t,.does,. nnt
66
Thesestatements.make.it·clear,. tbat.the ·PBD . does not
. hold. the Base to be an ontologlca11yver-i·fiableobiect.
not·ion
tba·t
sta·temen,ts
whether-
The
the . Base is primordia-lis elucida·ted,by the,
that
they
the Base' is· beyond·· temporal.. boundaries,
be .in·
the
past ortbe
futu-r·e..
Thus· the'
statements. thatthe.Base·precedesall other·reall.ty, .mas-t-be.
.unders.tood cG*jnitive ly<ra,t;ber .tbanbisetor lea11 y .
T·hat is to
saytha-t···.·the ·. "time"···· ·wh,ioh· "'precedes '. ·a·ll" time·· .bothe·trans·cends·
and enco.apasses .thetemporal,process;.andthisp:rimordial
"time." lsthe locus. ·o·f· the Ba-se.
'allc-ognitive
prooesses
the
.of
notions
appearanse,..
of .·the .' ·mi.nd,wbether
existence,
abid.ing,
The Base is a1 so beyond··
non,-..ex.istence,
non-abiding,
they
be
essence,
experience,
non-"
exper.!ence, etc . The. Base has no cause or conditlons 0.£. any
. kind.
These statements represen-ttbe,attempt. to speak. about·
the ultimate. real!tywo-ile Cl·t '" tbesame·.timepreve·nt·false.
conceptions
from,
arising,
with
regard
to
it.
As
a
compos.ition.in.thetraditionof mystical Buddhism· the. PBD
cannot,-howev·er, ·.avoid some attempt to ·define and .ca-,tegorize.
the
Base., .
The
tension
i,.nheJr'en·t.·in
speak.ing- '" o·f
the"
unspeakable pervades.. the...'PBD,and.mast be accepted frola·the .
very begianing" ,in· order t-oappreciatethe . i-deas -thatlt sets
fort.h.
Atone point the PBD<states:
has not. been defined..
"The limit"lofthe.,Base}.
. Know,ledge q(shes,.-pa)·canno-t"separate·'
.
67
it into ｾ sections.• .,,32
in' . two ways·. -
Ne:Be'tbeless, ﾷＧｴｨ･ ﾷ ｐｂＹ［､ﾷｩｶ ･ﾷｳＮｴ｢･ｾﾷＮｂ｡ｳ･ﾷ Ｇ
Flpst .' ·it· .·makes. the ·distinction· ,be.tween,···the<'
existentialmoda.. ( 'dug....thSAl).· ·of. the> Base and. "the»
appearance of the Base"
it·d!vide.s Ｍ ｴ ｨ ･ Ｘ ｡ ｳ ･ ｩ ｮ ｾ ｯ
Ｈｧｺ｢ｩｾｳｮ｡ ｧｾ｣｢･ｮｾｄｯｨＳ
ｧｾ･｡ｩｴﾷ
Secondly.,
threedivlsions or types. 34
Tbe .PBD, defines the. esi.s-tentialmode of the Base and
·the,appearance of·. the . Base as the,Kaya of ·!ssentiality(DSI2::,
bg-nvid,""'kvi ....skuJ ·and·the·Appe-araneeo,f· Es,senti,ali'ky.
ｮｹｩ､ｾｫｹｩＬＮ Ｌｳｮ｡ ｱＢ Ｇ｢｡ﾥＬＳＵ
.and
states
ＨｄＹ Ｌｾ｢ｰｾＧ
that· "as as1mi1e.,
they
exi·st,. I·ike .the-s.key: and thesllR.• ,,36Wit·h. regard to the Kaya
of Essentiality '. thePBD states the· f-ollow,lng:
The
Kaye
of·.
Esse·ntiality ..·is,
p·re-fou-nd,,·
>knowledge .(Shes-rab) which does not fall into
partiality.
the
It is nnbinderedwisdom.
spontaneousl.,
realized., Buddha ..
. penetrati.ng and insubstantial.
It 1s
It
is
It transoends
all theextremeso·f·acrea-to,r. ·(byed-pa"...po),.
It
is uftOontr·!ved,
and.··. 'tra,pscend,s., all . · .·the
extreme,s' of· ex·aggera,tion.···aod"·deprec:iation,,
32. PBD, p,. 17,.
33. P-BO, p.,,15..-18.
34. PBD,. p.18,.
35. ,PBD, p • 16.
36. PBI);, . p •.16,•.
68
It is Qnadul;'te-ra.ted"...·lt. is.
·faulty.
ｰｵﾷｾ･＼ｯﾣＭＮ
extremes,.. 37
Witbregard,to the·- Appearanoe ofEssent;ialitytbe. PBD· .
states:
Tbe
obi ect· - of
Essentiality
is
Cchgs-dbyings),
·.fie-ld.
the
Appear.anee.
the· phe·nomenal
Buddha
. l·t ..hasno extreme nor center.
Ithas
no cardinal no.!l,secondar,y .
｢･ｬｯｷｾ
direction.-
totally
dime·Ds-lon.
pure
no abo,venor
the
of
It-
has.
no '. plurali,ty
supporting ground, (rten.....sa).
nop,
. It isno·ta
materlal dharma,..
Whencpu-sbed."
it . equalizes
the, suppr.ession·.
Wben,li·fted,
it. equalizes·
thear;is'i·ng:..
ｬｾｴＭｩｳ
brillian·tl"y, . olear."
penetrating:"" aoo"tota11y onh-i'ndereEh·
It is
.' the.unrei-fieddiaension, the ·unehang·ing .space
(kloD9).38
The .poin.t.of· this distinction is·.··· that .altbo,ugbthe.. Base·,
isbeyond,a11 d\l>allty, . from."the.,po,int·of-view·o£ phenGJDenal
experience._,there
is
a·n, .·apparent
difference; be·tween"the·
cente,r ofawaren&ss( yul.,..can,),and· tbe.·objects·of.<awareness,
(3all.) •
Tl,estatement·that ·the.Appear-anceo f,Essential ity is
the phenomenal,dimension·refers to the ·.appearance ,o;f.. obj ects
37. PBD,p.16.
38 .;<pao, .p .16 •
69
to the,awarene,ss,,'while t))eKi.ya--of·Essentia·lity ·refers···to
the subjective sphere or center of awareness.•.,39
are
These two
fundamenta,lly· .in,separable .... in·.· that ··each, depends. ,on· the-·
other,.
and
thePBD· is,car,eful, to
point
out
that
"The'
Appearance:o£ Es.sentiali:ty. and· tbeKaya lo£ Essent,ial,i.ty,),
.are spoken of· ano,exempli£ied> In.,.this way as two (tn,lngs;],
yet,acaordingto ,the, hig'hestmeaning they are not two • ,,40
The "three . typeso·f Base, mentioned in' the PBD" are:
1),
The, Total . · ·Base .of, ,··Primordial- Mean,lng"··{-ve---dop",",,kyi---kuPcG,zhi.)
whieh,isgl;ossed as
"Thee.Base; of,To4:al ,Parity," 2l ,The
Total .Base which Gathers. the Kapy:Tbings( ｳｮ｡ｾｴｳｨｱｧｳｾ｢ｊ｡ｱｳ［Ｇｲ Ｂ
;pal ｬ［ｾｫｵａｾＮｧｺ｢ＴＮＱﾷｷＮｨｩ｣ｨｩｳＬｧｬｯｳ ･､｡ｳ
tbeeight consaiousnesses
whieh aremixedw,lth karmictendencles,.and3lThe·; Total
Ba,se -which· is,tbe "Mean,tng
ＧＮｾＩＬｷｨｩ｣｢
(gMs..,..pa....don..,..kyi..,.kun-
ｯｦﾷｅｸｩｳｴ･ｮ｣ｾ
lsnotglossed. 41
The
PRO.. providesexplana·.ti-on, ',fo,ronly
the first 0.£
these. 42
Tb.f.s... explanation, ··,intends,to .show:· tbat"the, ··Total,
Base
Primordial.· Meaning,
of
cannot ..' be
identified
with
anythi;ng,. .whetherlt bea dbarma. -of the phenomenal, ,:W&rld.or
of thetranscenden:trea;];i:ty.
In 'part,icular,,,,.,the,,PBD-,po,iDts:
Gut-thati-tlsfree' from
"t,he
,39. ,PBD·,. p.15-19.
40. PBD,. p.17.
41.
PBD,. p.19.
42.
PRO., p.19.'
ei'CJh,taccuMu1at,ionsof
70
consciousness. 43
The text reads as follows:
It is without increase or decrease, so it
is liberated ,from-the Alayavii'nana (kun-gzhirnam-shes).
It has, no grasping-, to a self, so
it is liberated from the de'filed mind (nyon,mongs,-pa'i-yid).
duality,
It has no
subject-object
so it is liberated from·, the, mental
consciousness (yid-kyi-rnam-shes).
It has no
birth or cessation.. so it is libera:ted,' from· '
the
(sense]
doors. 44
consciousnesses. of,
the
five
Thus it is different (from all of
_them 1. 45
passages,-
This
refers,
according
consciousness
Buddhism. Ｔｾ
to
to
the
the
eight
types
of
school
of
The statement that the Ba,se is· liberated from
-
,.,- is most significant here, for ilayay,ij1iana
the Alayayiinana
may be
literally translated as
Base."
In
the Yogacara
"The, Consciousness o£ the
system· the "AlayavijMna is
that
aspect o£consciousness in which, karmic traces are stored
43. PBD, ,p.19.
44. Thisre£ers to consciousnesses of the five senses, i.e.
eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness" tongue,-consciousness,
nose-consciousness, and skin-consciousness.
45. PBD, p.19.
46. See Nagao Gadjin, "On the Theory o·f Buddha-Body (Buddha,""
MB),"
Hay 1973.
%bit Eastern Buddhist, New Series, Vol. VI, No.1,
p.46.
71
and ·wbicbserves as, the . basic ground from·· ·which· the other
forms. of consciousness arise. 47
Thls passage 'shows that the
PBll makes> a fundamental,,· di,st:i:ne,tionbetween·.:k..79Zhi"asthe,
wb,ich;, ·.gathers·.·. ···infor.ma-tioD:,' and,< hal!'bors ··ka·rm!c·
tendencies.•.·· ·
"Herbert, 'GU:entberelucidates this differ·entlation clearly:
Sanskrit
This
ilaya.
usua,ll y . ',
is
sa·i-dto .oonta,in or "sto·re"the.,experlentially
initiated potentialities of, experienee.fbi51.::.
permanent/subs·tratuJD,:,ha's been created·.
dGe-l ugs""pa:
understand" .
by
The '
it
Collected, Works ,XV'II I 3, fo 1. '1bJ ;t,hebKa ' -
ｲｎﾥｩｄＹＬＮｭ｡ｾｰｳ
distinguisb'" between· the
ｾ
k--,., .
.. <'ijlaya::) as the ground. exbausting . itself
in being the ground, and,,· not·.· being behind...or
o'vertheresto,;f real. tty.,
ｫｵｮｾｧｺｨｩｾＬ
(alaya,,,,,yiioana,.) which is thefle,rst",
ｲｮ｡ｭｾｳｨ･ｳＮ
step
and the
in ,thedi-rec,tion,o,;f, concep·t.l1a-l,lza,tion
,and logical construction. 48
4'7. See .' Nagao Gadj:in, Ibid.. Also, see, Herbert ,Guenther, D!L'
"Revali2:mlg,i,Saraha , (Berkeley: Shambbala, 1973 ) ,p. 32.
48.
Gaen,the'r*"
Ibid..､ＢＲＭＳｾｰＮＬ
£n,.,·1.3·.
Ｇﾷ ＧＮ｡ｋ｢ﾷ ＺＬ｡ｰｾｳＹｵｬＭＬ ･ｇ､ ｨｲＺＬ
72
This opens thequestion,o£,··.w·heether,t.he.· second.·t.ype.·of·
Base ment:ioned>in tbePBD..The, Total Base wllichGather.s the,,·
Many Things, is in fact thei.layaviiiina_ for it is glossed
mentionech"
The <PBD·isnotclearon t·bis . po,int, ye't its
staotementt'batt·bls second Base is alleigbt consciousnesses
runs
counter
AlayaviiMna
to
in
the
the
Yogicara
eighth
view
or
which
puts
the'
bigbestposition. of
consciousness.
"Me·ani!ngof Existenoe , .is nei t'her .glossed,noraent1oned again
in the·PBD.
An. explanat.ion ofits.slgnifi,cance> must awai·t
discovery ofa·>relatedtext tba,t ·d·!scusses .tbese·pointsmore
fully..
The PBD both-holds the Base as thefundame·ntal gr.ound,
of all being and begins . itsexpos!,ti·on. ,wi.thadiscQssion·of,
it.
The
PBD,alsoidentifies·tbe
principle of Buddhahood.
if
the
Base is
Base. with. the
ultima·te
The question of course follows:
BQddhaaood·. as
wellasthe< groundo.fall
reality why. are no,t· alll,iving'beiogs.. ﾷＮ､･ｮ ｾｨｧｩＺｬｮ･ｹ､｡ﾷ･ｲｬ｡
brgyud·-pa, and "rNy,ing,..,ma,..,pa ·.·are ..schooIs . of . Tibetan,· Buddbis'lIh",
ThePBD ｢･ｬｯｮＹｳｴｯ ｨ･ＮｲｎｹｩﾷｮＹｾｭ｡ＬＮ Ｌｰ｡Ｎ
sc-hool. See thist·hesis
p.• 16.
CHAPTER 4:,
Delusion
At the' beginning '" of. chapter .. seventeen o£,the PBD the:
:Lord 'o,fSecretsreques'bsa,n·explanatlon·for delusion. 1
rOo-
rje 'Chang'" begins .Ilis .. answer wit-b.·the ··£ol·.lo·wi'Rg".·statement:
Son of
Base
Hable.. Fami·Iy,.
is
unchanging.. ···.· It, ·1s
:..Buddhahood.
The,
primordial,.
It is tbeBlessed One"tbeGr-eat
rDo-rje 'Chang.
,·deluded.
listen wel1J
Previously it ba,s:ne·ver:,been,
Presen,tly it lsnetdeluded.
It is
impossibletba,t· it will,· beoomedeluded.even.
intbe future,.
vital essence
It is like,. for examp.le., t.be,
of thesunhav!-ng no basis for
darkness" or·a crystalappearcing. acoordi.ftgto.'
whatever . conditions
appears
1 PBD,p.42.
by
tbepower
it
of
meets.
its
ｷＬｩｴｨＧｾｩＺ
clarity,
It
yet
74
no.tbing adberesto. oreovers .it.
In ethe ,same,way
w,bieb
does
t,he,. pro.found,knowledge
not . fall
lntoa
direction. is
perfect. Buddbahood·:from,.· the P-rotec·t,i,ve Base
(mgon"",po....gz,hil...
I·t, ls.·· fro..,,· thebegi,nning.,
pure ( ka""'us.....daq.,)of . the del-usioD,·.ofkarmic.·
,·tendencies...Where
1s
theeonvention
of
delusion in the undeluded Buddha?·
However"
this" is not realized..
Just as
therels but one sun"
bu,t by. t·be· pewerof..
perception.
a
(mt·hgng.....,bal
separa,te
sun'· for·'
each area appears,. so· there is but··one·.self...,
awar;:eness wbich· appea·rs as thepluralltyof
both samsara, , and.; ni.r.valla...
Just as.campbor.·.
appea·rs . as;· Ebothl.medicine"andpoison,thau9h,
tbere.·.·.is. ··no.· ｾｮｯＮｩｳＬｶｩ､ﾷ
. ·In··· -it betweenmedi·eiae.
and. poison,*", ﾷ ｴ ｨ ･ ｮ ｯ ｾ ｵ ｡ ｬ
. . Great·."Appe.arance·,Q-f··
the Base· doe·s. not wave::r7fronktbe state, ·o·f
appears-.by· the.· power
ｴＭｵ｢Ｃｹｴｩｬ｡ｵ､ｾｮｯ
[its] quall.ty.
of,
The ·quality of appearing. as
pl.ural also beeomesdeluded,.·and. a .qua-lity.·
arlses·asacfault. 2
Tb;is "passage. points, out . tha-ttheBaseremains . thesame-whether . "an ·i·nd·ividual.·has ,·en·lightened
2 PBD,p.• 42.
awareness
or
is
75
deluded.
The·. Base,,.
conceived of· dualisticall'y,
div idedinteitsesseneeand",its, appearance.
｡ｲＺ･ｩｮｴｲｩｮｳｩ｣｡ｬ ｹｰｵｾ･ＬｯｩｦＧ｡Ｌｬ
this
can'be
Bot:h e fthe,se
yet,'
､･ｦｩｬ･ｭ ｮｾｴＢ｡ｮ､Ｂｪ､･ｬｵｳｬｯｮＢ
is not. understoodand,living,;beings,co,ntinue, in the:
state of delusion.-
In this ease the Base, which is the
'ground o-fallreality,hasbecome dualistically concei.ved on
accoun-t
The
oftbe. defilement,s, of, a,ttachme-nt.. , a,versloft;"etc..
essence'
of
tbe·se
defilemeftts
is
ｴ｢･Ｂｳｵ｢ｪ･ ｴｾ｢ｪ･｣ＮｴＧ
,b,ypost4bi zation of reaIi ty , ,t·he essential dual i tyfr,om ·,which
all otber,du'al&ty ,comesfortb..
In..
its
opening.,. statements,
on
the
Base
tbe:. 'PBD
·,proclai-ms:
['.l'heBasel becomes obscured. by such things:
as ignorance,<- :perve,rse views .. ,. fa.tthl,essness,;,-·
and laz'iness, but is free from, ,the, faults o£
,the,.ex,tre'lI\esof,pe,raanencea'nd cessation, ,the
extreme-s:· of
existence- ' and
eoarseawa,reness,
ｮｯ Ｂ ＧＸＺｸｩｳｴ･ｮｯ･ＭｾＬ
andsub:lect -obj,ect
(dual,ity) . 3
This poin;t bas·, been ,'- expressedvery-cl-early. ,by Namkhai ,'. .,.
,Norbu,inh-j"sexpo,sition of the Great Perfectien,DlI.,Crystal
｡ｷｬﾷ ｾ
lWtu.,Ligbt: .
It Is called, the Basebeeause,itls there<
,from·· the
very
beg inn,lng,
"pure
and
se1 f-
76
perfected·
and, " does·
construc!ted,.
no,t
,have
to
be
It exis,ts in·; every being" . a.Ad,.,.
',cannot<,be'destroyed, tboQgh the experience ·of
it is. lost wben.abeing,;enters in-to daalism".
It
is
thea
temporarily
obscured .'. by
the
iateraction of the,.nega,tive, mentalsta,tes . 0£
the Passions', of:,.attaahment"and··,aversion thact
vision.
objecti.fiedas a self-ex,istent ·tll.ing, it is a
.state, or condition ,of being .4
These
defilements
statements
point
out
the
role
played. by-. the
of ,attractioD,.> &versio-n,.. !gnora,nce"
etc·.
in
the Base, is beyondall,·,·def·ilemen,t,how.can·,d,'t be <,the: basis·
..,' ,upon,wh.!ch,de··f:llement is established.
basis of defilement...
bases. of. defilement:,.··
(UU) ,and3 )
ThePBDteaches that there are three
··1)
Reality (.ghos"",pyid),'., 2,lTbe . · ·mind,·,· .
Thebedy.{1Y.§.).
Tbe·first of ,these refers in
,particular to the objective sphere, 5 the second t.a· a.wareness
(r.1g"",p9) "and t,beth!rd to the five lights. 6
4 Namkha,i.Nt>roo, ｾ Ｌ ｃ ｲ ｹ ｳ Ｌ ｴ ｡ ｬ
5lD!l·tbs.Iiut·· .g,£. ,Ligh!, (New;·
York : Routledge &,KeganPaul ,19·86), p. 57.
5 PBD,p.43 ..
6 The :five, lights are ,.. azure.,·red,.·.white, green,;, ,aDd, .,. y<&I.10w"o'
77
The PBDexpla.ins,thesui,tability of these three bases,
forbeinq'bases·of delusion in these words:
Reality
delusion
is
fit
to
('khEul ｾｧｺＮ｢ｬ
be
of
the
basis· for
tbe
obj,ective
sphere,·'for ,without awareness i t appears as a
materialtbing,..A,wareness is fit to be' the
basis
for
delus!onofthe· mind)'
awareness . . has parrtiality..
The
for,mere,
five
lights
are fit to be tbebasis· for delusion ,of the,;
boay,for, they M,ve, tbe,pa,r.tiali,ty of·colo,r
and sbape. 7
The way tbat:these,.bases for
de-l,us,!o,n, ",are , developed,
·,1nto deluslon ,itself . is.·e,xplainedas follows:
1)
At
first: reali.ty
is empty,.
witbou·t
awareness.
aspects.
-At
conceptt1'alization,
forth,., .
These
.ql'asping,
the
and"
appear
'. tendenc1e,s
as
swell
lfthey
were
,essenceless.Tbis is ,taugbtastbebasis for
deluslon,o,£tbe ·,ob:ject,.
2)
At
fir st awarenes,s
£1 lokers
( 'qyus}
In., the ··middle.· gras.ping, '.
Theirrelat.ioftsbip-, "t&,the':body, ·and, ,to,. the "fivewisdomsi,s
.'. discQssed<inttlisthesis-onp .121 .
7 PBD., p,.4,4,.
78
towar,ds···tbe· lum,j"ne,scenee·.· is,/born,.,
<,theme·fttatlon
flickers.
o·f. the
From,
this
mind
,At ·thee,ad"··
(sems-kyi-vid)
men'tal
-(sems,.,..rtog ),ar ise i:nplural i ty.
conce,ptions
This teaches
tbe, Dasis for de·lusia,n, oitha mina.·
3)
At.,.' firs,t, ,awareness;, >ari,ses fro., ,s,pace, ,
(kl,onq).,
Intbemiddle,reali,ty arises
space.
At
the
physical
constituents,
in
end. the ·ma,terialpsycbo,.,...,
CskaMbasl ',of
,form,,'
,appea,rbe·cause,o,fthetendencles towards this
(reality}.
This
teaches,
the ··ba;s!s '. for
delusion ,of the body. 8
Al"ltbree of .these anal'yses areexpressions-of-howa·1 ivi·ng:beingaeparts,frolft-·the,spber.e,of pure be ing;through,/
the igDO,rance.of duallstie,conceptions.•"
This delus'ionmay.·
take as its object reality, . the m-lnd,;, or the,body,and.as
such. . these are the base,s of ignorance;·., ,Prom,,· tbisbasi·c,
ignorance, ··a,ll. c.ondltio,ned ..,existenae,including,.,our tempora,l","
·w,orldand, ,the .sentie,ntbeingsthat live in it, -are fOl:',med.
The procea·sby wh,ich.the worlais .for,med·or, created is
alsodisonssedln ,the
·PBO .T'hepassage
i·nquest.ion
describesi·'how,··, reali:ty·isatfir·st. pure.bu,ttben,: 'beoomes,,
obsculTed· due.: ,··to
obJectHiication,·· conceptua,],:.izat,ton, ,. and,
,graspi,ng.Jl'he ,;passage,readsas .follo.ws:
79
I,
(rOo-rde' '." Chang:},
will
explain-
the,"
cause (of del:u·sionJandthecondition ·of the'
'cause (·of··.,(jel·usion)·.
awar·eness;.
The cause is···u,nhi:ndered
The· condition, . is. empty,reali·ty
Aw.areness, .
Ｈ｣ｨｯｳｾｮｹｩ､ＬＮ ｳｴｱｮＹＬＮ ｰ｡ＩＮ
characteristic
emptiness.
of.'
the
the'
Dharmakaya"
inse·parable. .
from
is
awareness,
unobstructed pro,fGund...knowl.eage··•. , ··T,he.. ·.aeure., . .
·,·white, .r.ed, .yello,w,andgreenhold,iad ividual
Pure real tty, .. wbicb",abides:
characterlstics-.· .',
lnit5Gwll cause, is ,seen li.ke·&imirror.The
five.
arisings.
of
ｷＬｩｳ､ｯｭＢＮＬＨﾥ･Ｍｳｨ･ｳＬＮ Ｎｴ｢ﾥｕａｱｾＡ
1DS8;> 9. arise like·ara·inbow"j;,n·the,sky.
In
tbe, next
momeRt, theas.pec,ts
i,ma9ination,.. ﾷＩＬ｡ｰＮ ｾｳｱｩｭ､Ｈ
of· the.
appear as an.. object.
Conceptual',i:zati&Dcomesfor·th. by grasping·. to
··thecondit·lon (o.·f, emptyrealit.y J. • • .
At
this
cannot
be
moment
the.·.f,!ve
clear
due
to
natu·r.al
the
lights
discursi;ve
cencept·ualizations of subject and object.
The·, four
continents·,
Ht •. Meru·,
and
the····
. saal.li.sl·ands.appear, like chunksa·f· ice on. a
lake < or Ch'il'llk:s,· af.·scum-,aD".yogurt., by. imeans·
0,£1'
tendencies
towards··
the.
five
image·s.····
80
The
( ｧｺｵｳｾ｢ｲｮｹ｡Ｉﾷ
egg.· of
the
world, 10
froit, trees,
medicinal [herbs}, ·.flowers and
forests
born in
are
and·· wa,rmth.
world
the; potency
of
these,
In tbis.. way tbevessel of the'
[·enters].·· a
different .aeonafte.r
intermediate aeon.·
the',
[The worldlis bor·nfram,
·knowledge .
The
e99
ident.ity; of
of
the· wo,;,l,d,..·.. whiah., has. t·he
tllafive
elementis'
earth;,
(of
water ,fIre, wind, and spaoe) is ..icmpure.
The
.this.
That
which
has
the
ident.tty· 0'£
both
·at·tachment and aversion Isthe.support o·fthe
,body. 11
The PBD·, also discuss,esthe way sent.ien,t,beiog.scome
·,fortbin tAe"wor 1<1 :
Just as .. w100 f1 ickers through t,he empty·
sky ,..the, greatwindo·f themlnd (w,>eourses
everywhere.•
By the.· engagement. of· the,eyes
the egg.· of the world is perceived .. ·
By the
10- For a descr·1ption.'·of,the,-.e99tO£ ,theworld",see.Namk.b§,j..",
.',Noirbu, ,·.iU.·Crys·ta1 ｵ ､ Ｎ Ｇ ｾ
. .1H g.i.'Ligbt,QR.,sa:t.. ,..p.60.
11 PBD.,pp. 48... 49,.
81
engageme:nb· Q'f the mind" the egg,o£ the world,
is well.· and,··beautifully understood.
Bytbe
. ",engage.eat G.£the face the mind 0'£ attaohment
dwells inooniunctlon w:ith,the<·mlnd.
Sentient beings ripell.a,tthe,:rootto both
male
and
female.·
Fromthefonr (types of 1
birtbs.,12 this is the, egg. born•.
In
the
Base
constituents 1 3
great
the
five
psycho':"'"physical
are establi'shed,ln:, the five'
eleme,n,·ts.
The 'aspect
of . the
five"
[elementsl whieh. comefromthe,sapport.. [o·r
Base]
is
compl.ete,; .so
cO.nstituents;,
elements14
the
the .psycho-:,pby·sical .
sense
areestabl lshed.
bases,.
and
the
They are kno.w-ft'··,
.'as tbe son·s' of ".men and ..f,r-iends·o.fmen .
12 The four· types. . of
birth,. are:
1 ) Eggebor.n ,.such, as
birds; 2)Womb-born, such as humans; 3 ) Adventitiously-born,
such as insects (wbichare believedtoar isef-romthe>dus·t);
and. 4 ) . M'iiracu 1'0 asl,y-oorn·" such as incarnate- Buddhas,,' who ·appear . ·.drirectl·y.. tn't:<he ·wo,r1'8 without··· ,any normal" "birth. II
13 Tbe, five ps,yoho....physicalconsti,tuentsare: 1) . . Form,
CrUpal, 2) Feel-lngs Ｈ ｖ ･ ､ ｡ ｮ Ｇ ｩ ｬ Ｌ Ｓ ｬ ｐ ･ ｲ ｣ ･ ｐ ｴ ｩ ｯ ｮ ｳ ｾ Ｉ Ｇ Ｌ
4¥
Impulses, (sa,sklra handSl Consciousness.(yij2:dl., See
Th,.
Stcherbatsky,. IU,;' .··.·.CentralCopqeptioD .. _g,t Buddhl,smi
(Oelhi.:Hotilal.Bana·rsidass,19'70) ,.pp. 6-7.
14· Tlle .sense bases .··.elvatana,) a,re,." the.·-· cognJ.tive. faculties:
and thelrob:Jects.
ｔｨ･ ｬ･ｭ ｮｴｳＨｾＩ｡ｲ･ｴｨ･ｳｬｸｳ･ｮｳ･
faculties.. the sixob:Jectsof the·se faculties, and the six
;>consc.iousnesses.See <Stcherbatsky, ib14,p. 6-10 •
82
The
untor-·men,ted,
are bad.
g·rad.uall.y. becomes
the,
At last [they] touch the abode. of
Avici(hell) .15
These passages show that from tbe-point.,o£view·of thee
come into existence with tbearising,,-o£the defilemen:tso·£ .attachment . and aver·sionwhich hav-e ignorance- at. the-irroot.
Thus both the experiencersandobiectsof experience thatconsti:tute"
inauthentic
being.. are
the -resalts, of-a, bas.ic
del us ion > whose ·-bas,ia - na.bllreis thedicbotomi.-zing,.ofreal i ty--
aversion -towards this. bi f_ureated-·reality.•The PBD' does not leave off- its anaIy,s,is of delusion
with these passages,. but a,lso· presents a deeper anal·ysis.of .delusion itself.·ln this analysis thePBDdlsc-riminatestwo
sorts
of
delusion:
];)
skyes.. ..,pa,'i-ma...,riq--pal 16 ,
15 PBD.,- p.-50.
bel-Is of ｂｕ､ｑｨｩｬｳｴＭ｣ｯｳｭｯＮｬｯＹｙＧｾ
pAi9.
Co-emergeRt.
and
The
2·)
ignorance
(lban....ｾｱｬＮｇ
igDoranceof
fa-lse
The Avici bel.l-.i-s the lowest of the eighteen
ｓ･ ﾷｓｧ｡ｾｰｯＮＭｰ｡ＣＲ｡Ｎ
£i.t... ,
16 Saha1a..,.ayidya.
This, trans-Ia:tion ｦｯｬ ｩｷ ｮＹＮＭｈ･ｲ｢ ｾｴ
Guenther, who' says. witb,--.regard.• toco-emergentw'ls,dome,tthe
opposite· of our term): "The literal trans lati-on , of-the
Tibetan.. term Ihap-ciq,...,skyes...,pa, (Sanskrit .sahaia) would· be
'aaemerge-nae ',·and --,as --,such-it -,is expl ained -,by --.Padma --dk-ar -po,
Phyaq-chen - gan..,.mdzod.- •• , fol-s. 29a, ff..
Essenti,all,y - it -refers to the spontaneity and. total-i.tY -of- the experience in'
which, theapposi·tes --such, as transcendence, and.. imminence"
83
'U,t,h
regard
to
the
first
ignorance"tbe,PBD, statest
of· these,
t,he c:o...,emergent.
. "Theco-emer.gentigllorance
born toge·ther wi-tb,· that·. which ··i t
comes· from·.- H18:
. 1-5
The text
then.goesonto give a clearer explanation of the term:
.I fyou, ask. from wha.t£ei t
comes), · i t is·
from the Bas,e Grasping Awareness .
.T,f you ask
what andwhatda·rise togetherl, it lsthe coemergentwisdom19 andignorance-.
If you ask
what lit is}, it is tbat by contrivance there
is ignorance . -toward .. tbe .. space.. o£ .uneolltrived,:
reall.ty.20
there
is, both wisdom, and ignorance,;. whieb., ar,isetogether ,
and that thismome,nt of cogni,tio.nrepresents a·; ·.contrived,or
subject and, object,
thenoumenal, and. t·he phenomenal,·
iind'ivislbly,blend.Tbetranslation·of -this term by '1' lnne'
(K.
Shahidulclabland,'tbe innate' (D.L.· Snel,lgrove) . is
·,wrong." ｓ ･ ｾ ｒ ｯ ｹ ｡ ｬ Ｖ Ｒ ｄ ｡ ｑ ｌ ｓ ｡ ｲ ｡ ｨ ｡ Ｌ
QQ.. £ll..,p.9n.
17 Thlstransla.tion. following. Nagao, Gadiin who tra·nslates
"the·termparikalpi ta· (Tlb .kup:::brtags )asHimagifla tioa," ·bu t
speci fies'that "',' thi's ·.imag,ina-tion is- always'. fa1s'e,. See. Nagao',
·Gadj,ln:r"'l'.he.,Buddbis,tWorldYiewasEl,uc'ida,ted in ,tlle· Three Nature, TbeoJr·y.and·,ItsSimiles ,.-" ﾷｷ･ｎﾷＧＬｴ ｳＮｩｴ ､ ｵｂＬｮｲ･ｴｳ｡ｅｾ
Series,.
Vol. XYl,No.!;
Sprlng"1·983.
pp.1-18.
See
'espec lal-1 yp. 2.
18, PBD, p.45.
19 See above .p. 82.. fn·.16 .•
20 PBD, pp.45-46.
84
false intu! tlon, of .tb&real.ity inquest-ion •. ' Th,is coga,it.ion"
comes· from, a
grasping., or
attaobmen:t' to",tbe, Base.
The
PBD of£er,s,·i,tbe ,s,ima..·le,ofa,n,. image, appearing, in a,mi,rror,
wherethemomenttbe object !splacedin ·front o·f the mirror
·the·re,flection also arises .21
With regard·"to . the· second fo,rm of, ignorance, ..thePBD"
states:
The ignorance; of·falseimag,inati.onis OOr-n,.'
in,.
subtle
and
coarseconeeptualizations
toward,· an obj'e.ct.
It is
in" the.,mannero·!
pJ:leviou.sand· late.r·,moments. 22
This is to say. that with this ignoranee,tbere:'may be a·n
.. awareness of an object whicb is then grasped upon to be some
par,ticular . . . tbing,.bythe .imagination" ,which·, has no .·grasp on
the true reality oftha,t ·thing.
The· term parikalpita.. ,(,false·imagination.) isemplo,yedby
the YogacaEa, , school,ofBuddhism,.··'wnere it ·is, one of·' the··
Ｂｴ｢ｬＢ･ ﾷｮ｡ｴｑｲ･ｳﾷｾ
(trisvabMya'hThe· PBD,does, ne-tu,se the
,,(J,tbert-wo ·.termsof·the threenaturetbeoryat any ,point .
An
under s tandi.ng,· .o.f .. this.··· term ·.1n. its. tracli·t,!onal·: •Buddllis.t·.-usage
will nonetheless be, . help,ful inga-ining·insig,h,t,.in.to this,
term.
Nagao.,.Gadj 1-n p.r·esents an excellent . discussion.of this
term-· ' in,. his article•... " The... Buddh·!s·t,,·Wo.rld,..,V·!e'w. ··as.'Eluc1-da,ted···.····
21 PBD, p.45.
22 PBD, p,.. 45•.
85
nei<thercontaminatednor purifi-ed, but rather
ju,st
neGtral,
like·
However ..
research..."
world,; ,·which '. a -
the
,
insofar·
as··
,'.
our
interaction wi.th this world occurs directly
reflection or self....consciousness-":'" ·that. is.,
insofar as· we are Doty,et ,enlightened, to' its,
speak
of .this· ,world
imagined nature·;
it
a's
is
an
a
world
of
the
imaglnedworld.
Through-.· our ,cognitio,ns, or discriminations"
or intellect"
weare. always; projecting some
ki'nd"o'f imagination (which· is always. false
onto the world tha·t isoriginally,neutr·.al.
Thi,s .proj'ection; of.,·falseimaginat.i.on,·ckanges.
o.r"con·taainates"th-e world,thinklngtbat it
is
the
rise
real
to
all
world.
forms
Thisattachment,gives
of
human-,
discontent,. ,conflict, defileme.nt"
In short..
-
suffering,
and,so,o-n,.,
this con-taminatedwarld to which",
samsara,whicb,
the, Budd,ha declared ·tobefull
,
86
of
suffering.
appears
upon
Theimagined'iworld,·
then,
the .' change,· .conversion,·
or
ttlltAabo·ut·of·· theworldfrom·"a· neutral·, pure,
uncontami.na,t..ed.. ··s tate . to an· '. impu're,,.·imaq.ined,, ..
>co·n.taminated state. 23
These two sorts of del us·ion·, are held by the PBI) to be·
the cause·ofall concH tio,ned,·e.xistence, anil i,n part,icu,l·atr.
the· failure .to, intuit the Base in its true being.
From
.these£orms of i<jnoranceallthe deflle'ments·comefo.r.tb.,the
mater'ial, world andthe,bei.ng,switbinit arise, andsu£fering;·
ensues.
",No.ne,theless,
'Dot
ｾｉＹｮｯｲ｡ｮ｣･ｩｳ
,re,al,but
is
expe'rien.t,iallyexistent. ,,24
Theaat ····of, going. beyond ,this ignorance" of." in.tutting.,
reality"i:nits
primorcUa,l.purity"
is. te,r.medr'.by
thePBD,
Before entering. a 01scus·s1on·"",0£·
Ｂｲ･｣ＰＹｮｩＬｴｩｯｮＢＨｮｧｯｾｳｰｲ［ｯ､ｬＮ
recognition' ia, t'he ,PBD.,.boweve,r '"
it, will
be
helpful
to
elucidatetbePBIl:'::s views on the. na·ture of, .tbeBuddha" ·of·
wisdom,," and,of . the
path.
This
fr,amework· from, whichthe·,PBD' s
will·be . more ··full y,under s toad.
23 Nagao Gadjin, ga.£it..."p,.,.3 ..
24 PBD; ﾷＮｾＶＴｰ
discuss,ion
will
lay
a
s'tatements, . . . Oft ·recogni.tion·'··
CHAPTERS
"The'.Baddba-kaya
The' ,PBD.is a Buddb.i,s.t···text,,, yet up·.te tbe-present.··tbe:re'
has been, almost no mention, of the Buddha"illc:thls thesis '+
'T-hewo-rdWA."has"however "occurred in v'ar ious ·.,quotations I
have madefrom··the.PBD."
This section' of tbe the.sls will be
devoted to an explanation"o,fthePBD·'s,. understanding of· the.,
.,Budd'ba andw,ill also ,cla,rify the,word,ma,.
There. is a close in,teJrrelationship.. between, thePBD',s.
",understanding ·o·f·Buddhaand of.wa,.
·Befor·etbis·connection
isdiscuss,ed.. however., it will be useful to disctlSS the,term
:lsW.so that it 'may be properly understood.
K.iils.ls a. Sanskroitword, andis··translated iDtothe,
ｔｩ｢･ｴ｡ｮＬ｡ｳｾ
Franklin
•. l
Inh!s Buddhist. Hvbrid·Sanskrit9J.ctionanr·
Edgerton
defines
&W,. as
"body, H
understandings of the term that designate
1 Loke'sh Chandra, ,po 129.
and
provides
it as both the
88
body of a
things,
person and the body· of a
i.n
w.hich
"bundle,,'. or ｯｾｧｲｯｵｰ
used
in
.the
group ,of per.sons or
case,· he. recommends,.the
.... 2
terms
Ｂｭ｡ｳ ｾＢ
He also points out. that this term is
Buddhist
technical
terms
Dha,rmakaya,
Sambbogakiu,andeUrmipak'lya. 3
•
Na9ao' ·Gadj:·in·,in··.·his. ·.exce1:1ent:,study ·.onthe . history. ··and>
mean'1119·;o,£.. the. te.rm.. kiya.. ·"On,·the Theory o,f, "the·· Buddha".,.B0dy·
Hany other
····'authors .·:·and ·trans·lators .·.fo,ll,ow this·t-ransIa·tion as·,well.
I-n
the trans·}a'tlon.of Tibetan"t.ex;ts the word. "body" is often·
used asa ,·transla·tionforthe worduy'."Thlsterm "&!l is in
Tibetan the, honorific term for the ward "lu.r. wh·i:,cb.doe.s ·in·
fact mean "body."STheword "body" is
adequate.
ｓ｡ｮｳｫｲｩｴｾＮ
term
translation . of
either.
ｮｯＮｴｾ
the' 'l'ibe,tan
howeve.r,
H!!' or
｡Ｎｮｾ
the
HerbertGuentherco.mme,nts ··that "the'l'ibetan
Ｎｾ
alway,s,··impl,ies·.·the,··.dy,nam-ic., .character·· .of··· belng.····andi.,·,
ex lstlng;thestaticaspectof' body '.is ter:med1,wt. ,,6
This
statement strikes right at theheart·of· the; difficulty of
adequately translating UJl...
The problem becomes, compounded·
2 Franklin Edgerton,. Buddhist Hybrid, Sanskrit Dictionary
(Delhi: ,MattIa! ··Ba'narsldass,1977), p.177.
3l:b.Jr4.
4 Nagao. Gadjin" " 'l'heBuddha.....bod.y,"
QQ.. .
w..
5 H.A. Jaschke', A. 'l'ibetan...English Digt.ionary,..
Routledge & KeganPaul Ltd ... 188l),·p.21.
6 Herbert Guenther,. %IlstRoyal..ｾ Ｎ
·,.Sha-mbhala,:il973J i\p.:5"Rote .' 4.
(London,:'
Q;i Saraha:,(Berkeley:
89
·ls:comblnedwithothertechnicaLterms,toformthe
ｷｨ･ｮｾ
words
Ｇ｣ｨｏｓｾｳｫｵＬ
CQharaaki'ya),
sP£ul..,.sku
Ｇｬｯｮｧｳｾ ｫｵＢ
CSambhQ.gaMya )"
fNirmavaki:ya'h..Nagao . Gadjin, .. translates
.and
these
terms ."Dharma.,...body," "Enjoyment".,body," and,."Transforma,tion.,...
body"
these
respectively.7
terms,
Tulku
"Ultimate
"Manifesting,,body •. " 8
uses the terms
ＮｾｵＬｴｊＡｬ･ｮｩＧｴ ｣｢･ｩｮｧＮ
Thondup
body,"
Rinpoche
,translates
"Enjoy,ment· body,"
and
Herbert. Guentherr., on" ,the other .hand,
"noetic being," "communicative· being, "a·ad'
"9
Each
of
these
translations
advan-tages ··anddisadvantages.
of
The
§kJl
or
w.a
has,
striking, point, to be
no·tedhere is that ,there is no consensus as to how .the ter,ms
should be translated.
This is in part, due to the lack of
te,rms :In,''Englisbthateasily lend themselves to encompassing
the, meani,ngs, of, the Sansk,rit and Tibetan, te,rms.
Guen,ther" '., in.
translate
translates
into, the<ir
these
. , sm4·.·Teaching21 Hargpa., has opted to
ｾＬＧＮ ｌ ｩＮｦ ｉＮ
the
the
Tibetan
term" Hll,·a,s
"kaya. "10
He
also
connected ·.··technical, terms,men,tioned above
Sanskr it equivalents.
Sanskrit
Herbert
words,
for
He
they are
does not italicize
used as
the, work,i'neJ,,
7 HagaoGadj,in., gg..£i.t.
8 Tulku ThondnpRinpocbe,
2Q.w..,
P.273-279.
9 H. Guen-ther,. Saraba. p. 5 note 4 •
Herbert Guenther, Ｌ ｾ Ｎ
L1a.. ·smsl·feacbing, ·2Llaropa...
(·London:,Ox4:ordUniversity ·Press, 1963).
10
90
vocabulary of his study.
For my pre,senta,tion. ·of .' the.PBO,L,
have determinedthat.tbis is the best course to take, for it
avoids the difficulties inherent in eacho·f the.possibl-e
.. "Englis,btranslatlons ,and allows the reader to develop his or
her own compJ!'cehension of the true meanings· of the,se·tel'ms.
ThePBO speaks of the Buddha as being, or havin9"two,
kayas"
kayas
(sku-gnyis)
referred
or
to
"three kayas lf
are
Rupakaya, (gzugs-sk u).
the
ＨｳｫＡＱｾｧｳｵｭｬＮﾷ
Oharmakaya
The. two·
(chos-sku)
and·, the
/
The
three kayasmentioned are thei'
These
are
not
actually
separate groupings. lnthe PBD,i for
the
·RuPakayao£ the two kaya system is actually the Sambhogakaya
and
Nirmanakaya.-of
.
the
three -kayasystem•
under·stood in.<tha,t, . theDhar,malGi'ya.,is thepu,r,e, noe,tic,. and·
uDlllaAi:fest aspect, "of Buddhahood"wbile the twa Rupaki'yas are
man.ifest.aspects .o£<Buddbahood •. ,. . The 'difference ,between the'
two '. Rupakayas 1s that the. Sambhogakay,a. manifests only to
accompli.shed
spiritual
Enligh:tened.,'MincU
while
beings or
Bodhisattvas
(Bel.ngs
the Nirmanakaya,
manifest·s
.
of·
in the
'mate-rial warld tanarmal 1 ivlng beings.
The PBD's discusslon.oftheBuddhais therefore found,
initsenameratiGn and clari fica·tiono·f thethreeJ{i"yas.
my
analysis
of, this discussion I
will
first
PBD's defi'n·ltions of the threetta'yas, then I
ｰｲ･ｳ Ｌｮｾ
In
the
w'illdiscuss
some of the, terminologyc ·the,PBDuses, i,n rela,tion·to the
thre.e kayas, a,nd,.finally 1,.' will .present.. a,· detailed account,
91
of each of the kayas according to the PBO's statements on· \
<these points .
In chapter" tbirt·y-fouroft.he PBD tbeLord', of Secrets
requests
an explanation of
the, three
kayas
from" ,rDo"",rje
,'Chang.rDo-",r;e 'Chang's answerbeginsasfo11ows:
The essence of the Dharmaka·ya 1s profound
knowledge which does not fa111nto pa,:-tia1ity
and ,. is
The,
ｮｯ ｾ､ｵ｡ｬＮ
essence
Character is.tic
Grasping-Wisdom,clea,rand
ｮｯ ｾｯｮ｣･ｰｴｵ｡ｬＮＬ
The
essence
of
.U<ftbi'-ftderedcompass ion.
The
definition
of
the
,pervasiveness and non-support
Dbarmakaya
is
.
Ｈｭ｡Ｍｲｴ･ｮｾｰ｡Ｉ
Thedefin·itio·n of·,the Sambhogakaya
is the
enjoyme,nt,·" (sambllogalof., the., pure ,realm: 'and
theripen.i.ng of thereti,nue.
Thedefini:tion·of the Nirmanauya
is, that
,
unhindered 'compassion man,ifests. (nlrmina)· as
"
It is the Nirmanakaya
many things.
•
because!t abides for a short while ..
the
Nirmanakaya
•
because
accordance (with ,theworldl.
it
It is
appears.
in
It 1sa1so, the
92
[fo·rmsl.· 11 .
The
Buddha, is
often referred to as the Blessed, One
fBhagayan) ,·,bothi'D the,P,BOand in ,the ,Buddhist tradition in
general.
The
Sanskrit
Tibetan as ｢｣ｯｭｾｬ､｡ｄＬｾＧ
word
Bhagavapistranslated into
das. 12
syllables,
which
me'an.·
"possession"
(ldan),
and
This;T1betanword has three
1 iterally
"transcendence'"
"defeat"
ＨｾＮ＾Ｎ
ＨｾＩＮＬ
Chapter
thirty-seven ofthePBD is devotedteanexplanat'ioBcof the,
,Buddha's ,th,ree kayasbasedon the three....,fold division of the
word, bcom,..,.ltian"..'das.
,', ,de £.1,81 t10ns .'o·f '. ctheki'yas jus,tmentioned .
. The
DhaFmakaya.
ＨｾＩ
destroys
Death.
is
. the
unbinde,red· aBd . thus
Mara 13 of the Lord of
It has no marks and thus destroys the
Malta. of '. thepsycbo,...physicakconstitue,nts.
It,
isnon...dual andtbus destroys,tbeMara of the
passions.
It
destroys
them", by, its
very
na·ture.
The
,11fe1e'5s
( sroq,,,..medJ
five
11 PBD, pp.70-71.
12 Lokesh Chandra, pigtionary.. ,p.679,.
13 Mara,(Wiwl> is the force ofnega,tivity that attempts to'
prevent,sp1ritual progress andenligbtenment.
The,re ar;e
ｴｲ｡､ｩｴ ｯｮ｡ｬ ﾥｦｯｵｲﾷｾｲｴ｡ｳＮ
These·'are:ll The Harao·£the"
defiltemen·ts<k.l;eU,..,.m'lral!2) T'heMara ,0 f the psycho-physical
constituents Ｈｳｫ｡ｮ､｢｡ｾｭｬｲ｡ｬＬ
3)
The Ha1"a·,o£ the Lord ·0£
Death
(mrtyu-mira);
and
4>
TbeDevaputra".,:Mfra,.
or
anthro.pomorpbici zed
"Evil
One'. "
See
F.
Edgerton,
.,0 ictionary, . p .430 .
<
93
(Sambhogalkayas, destroy the Narao·f the Lord
of· Death.
destroys
Wisdom ,is an, il,lusion,
the
Mara
cons t i tuents.
of
The
conceptuali.za,tio'D
and tbus
thepsyoho-.physical
mind,
( BIJl§.)
destroys .
the·
without,
Mara
of,
"passions ano, the ,Deva.putra ,Mara.
The
intuition,··· of·. .the,
Hi,rmanakaya,,,
•
adamantinebe·ing' spur.posefu1ness
of
destroys
the Mara of the defilements and, 1 ikewisetbe,
.Devaputra Mara.
•
The Dbarmakaya is the Wide Door· of Quality
and ).tbuspossesse,s .. Ｈ ｾ Ｉ
and
two
the,f.iv.ewisdoms1,4
lRupa lkayas.
The.
Sambhogakaya.
possesses. the marks a,nd., seaondac.y. marks., I t
possesses
the
wisdoms.
It
inspirat.ion
pO.ssesses
o,f
the
fiv·e·
the. sixdbarmaso£
'supernatural . perception.
1'belH,rmi'nauya
•
possesses miracles andmag'ic •.
The
Dharmakaya
extremes,.
transcends Ｈ ｾ Ｉ
Tbe,Sambhogakaya.
subject and objec,t,
The
all the
Ni,r,ma,akay,a.
tra'Dscends
the ,dhat;.mas ,ofsamsa,ra,.,
possesses. great, profound"
knowledge,. 'and co,mpassionate. means,,. .and" thus
does not abide in .and transcends
ｴｨ･ ｾｴｲ･ｭ ｣ｳ
1.4 The fi,ve· wisdoms are discussed in· this .,thesis. ·on·, ,p.l'12ff.
94
of both samsar,aandnirvana. 15
The
Tibetan.
word
"Buddha,"
is
rendered
sangs-rgVa,s
in
The syllable sang,s,mea,ns,toremoveor clear away.
The syllab.lergvas . means to expand'" eropenupi.,16
ThePBD,·
presentsthe<,threekayas in relation to these two terms that
makeup "Buddha,":
The
Dhar.makaya. removes
(sang.s)
all
the
dharmas of, marks, which ap.peardual,istically.
It expands ( rgvas) . the
self-clear ·non,,-,dua,l
'wisdom. ,The ·SambhogakayaremQves the dha,rmas
of samsar,a'.' '. It, expands. omniscience and the
greater good quality of the Dharmakaya.
The
Nirmanakaya,removes
•
perverse views.
It
all
and
deluded . appearance.
It
ignorance
removes
samsaraand
expa-nds
profound
knowledge, skillful means, ,a,nd, compassion. 17
Another analysis of the three kayas i,s with refer,enee
to their .purity.
The', Dharmakaya,in.'its-esse,ntia.l.i.t,y
defiled.
The
ｩｳ［ｮｯ ｾＬ
Sambhogakayais pure of·.. the
defilements of what can be known, (shes-bya).
; The.,.N.irmanak'ay,a is ; pure ·ofthede,filements of
"
15 PBD, pp,.76.-78.
16 Jaschke" Qictionat:v ... p.571 & p.10-9-. '.'
17 PBD.,p. 77.
95
the
obscurations
[.of
aversion,
｡ｴ ｡｣ｨｭ･ｮｴ［ｾ
19nora·nce, etc.) .18
The'se are .. the,definitions·of the, thr,ee,o)tiayas.fou'nd"in·
the'
PBD.
The
PBD's
usage, of
these. terms
willnew··be
,elucidated so that the k'ayas,Rlay be better understood.
The first defin,ition·of tbe,·Dharmakayapresentedabove,
was that it .is "profoand, knowledge.that,.does no·t .fal·1,· into
par,tiality'8nd isnon-dual."
In the discussion of the Base,
under the divisions· of ,. the existential, mode·of. the Base and
the Great Appearance o,f the Base, the Kaya, of Essentiality
...sk u.. Sk t. syabhAV,ik.:-kAva)
Ｈｮｧｯｾ｢ｯｾｮｶｩ､Ｍｫｙｩ
existential
mode of theBase--
ｷｾ Ｏ
defined. as "profound,;
knowledge that .does notfallinto,par.,tiali-ty,.. ｾｬＢ
terms ｄｨ｡ｲｭ ｫ｡［ｹ Ｎ｡ｮ､Ｚ＼Ｌｓｹ｡｢ｨ ｶ［ｩｾｬ､｡ﾥ ｲ･
might
That"tbe
defi:.nedidentica;ll.y, ".
lead,ns" '. to, believe them" identical.
I,ndeed.. . Nagao
Gadjin in. his study of the BUddM...ki'va,sa,ys ,that these', two
terms" refer ·to the same . tbing .. 2Q
Howeve,r, ·the"PB9a,tone,
point defines- tbeDharmakayaastheGrea,t Appearanceo'f the
Bas&.,2l
This would indicate that .whiletbeSyabhaviki,Jt'iya,
is the existential mode afthe Base the Dharmakaya is the
Appearanceaf the Base.,
The,PBD isnotrconsistent 'on· this
18 PBD., p .. 78.
19 See this thesis, p.67.
20 Nagao . Gad,j,in, Buddha-"k.a<Ya., .p .. 31.,
21 PBD" .p.,56.
96
poin,t, however, for Dharmakayais g,1ven. asa synonym for the
Base in its non-dual aspect as wel1. 22
ThePBD clarifies
the issue' to somedeg,ree in, stating that "at the time. [the
Dharma·kaya] is not ··in.taited it is the Kaya of Es.sentiality.·
At the time of intuition it is exactly the Dharmakaya. ,,23
This statement ." is help·ful,- but also obfuscate·stheissue
further,
fortbe K'aya of· Essentiality astRe existe:at1al
mode of the Base is not subject
The ··PBD· is'
ｴｯ､･ｬｵｳｩｯｮｾ
.thereforenot conslst-entorclear regarrdingtbe relationship
of
the
-
-
and
Syabhayikakaya
the· Dbarmak'i'ya..
On many occasions throug·bout t·he text the ·PBDspeaks of
"The DharmaJta:ya.- of self-awareness"
one occa-sion self,...,.a·wareness
are
said
to
be
identical. 2.4
literal transla,tlon for
translation
presents.
correct.
Ｂｓ･ｬｦＭ｡ｷ ｲ･ｮ ｳ ｾＱ
Ｈｲ｡ｮｧｾｴｩｧｾ｣ｨｯﾧＺＭｳｫｵＩＮ
On
(ran9:-ri9') and the Dharmakaya
"Self-awareness" is a
the Tibetan word rang-rig.
the, , r 1sk
tha,tthe,
refers.
word. may
very
This
be
toself-referen;tlal
awareness, awareness which·· is not directed toward an· object
but rather is aware o·f i tsown,beingaware.
same
as
introspective
22 This ·thesis, p.60.
23 PBD, p.99.
24 PBD, p.157.
awar,eness
in
This is not the
tha,t,·
introspect!ve
97
makes· them.i.tsobject.The· ｬ｡ｩｴｮ･ｲＬ'ｦ.･ｲｾｦｬ･ｳＢＮ［ｭｲ･ｴ
aw,areness"
·'m·lg·ht be used to translaterang,..,rig, yet I have preferred to
stick as close to· the Tibetan.ternk&s-,po:ssible despite the
,risk·ent-ailed.
r,t is hoped t·hatfalse understandings of the
term· ··may. be prevented by thepres.ent explanation.···
With
ka,as,
regard
to
the PBD holds
therelationshlp. bet-v'een
the
three'
that they are neither identical nor
different. 25
between. ,the tbreek'i'yas wblchtbe PBDdescrlbes as·follows:
The Sambhogakayais multiplied through the
Dharmakaya"
and· this
is
taugh,t
to be
the
Nirmanakaya.
,
Qil>.26
The .,forty-two
Sambho.gakayas
transformatioDsof, the. light
the
From
Dbarmakaya.
playful
Nirmanakayas
•
are
(' od,..,'g,yur)of
their
speech.
explain
the
the
characteristics· [·of.realityJ,-inciUviduallyto
thes ix di.sciples. 27
25 PBD, p:.102.
26 PBD, p.75.
27 PBD, p.69. Theforty,.,..two ·Sambhogakayas are, discussed· in;.
this thesis. onp.
The. six disciples are· the disciple·s
of the ｳｩｸＬ｣ｬ｡ｳ ･ｳ＾ｯｦｴ･ｭｰｯｲ｡ｬＬ･ｸｬｳｴ･ｮ｣･ｯｾﾷ
The gods.. MU.tas",
98
The
PBD presents
will be helpful
a
divisiono·f
the
three kayas
that
incunderstanding the relationships between,
them as well as to clarify the <PBD's own view of the three
kaya'S. 28
This division divides each of. the
turn into three more> kayas.
ｴｨｲ･ ｫｾ｡ｳＧ
in
Thus for the Dharmakaya, there,
are .the- Dharmakaya,...,Dharmakaya"
the Dharmakaya,-Sambhogak'l"y-a ....
and the Dharmakaya,-Nirmanakay,a.•.
· For the Sambhogakaya there
,
the.
. are
the '
··Sambhogakaya"",Dharmakaya,
Sambbogakaya,-
and, tme .Sambhogakaya...Kirmanakaya, ..
•
N:irmanakaya .,
•
there
are
the
Nirmanakaya-Sambhogakaya,
•
Nirmanakaya-Dharmakaya,.
•
and
The PBDdoes not provide elucidation of" all nine af these
kayas,
but, describes most of them,.,
The description is as
·£ollows:
The·
Dharmaki'ya-Dharmakaya'
from,
free
.al1·
is
awareness
identifica,t ion·.
ｄｨ｡ｲｭ｡ｫ ｹ｡ｾｓ｡ｭ｢ｨｯＹ｡Ｇｫ｡ｹ
is
awareness·
The
wl,th
unhindered;, knewledge (mk,hyen...,.pa), oithe k'aya;
of
ＧＬｎＮｬＬｾｭ｡ｮ ｫ｡ｹ
profound'"
knowledge,.
The
Dharmakay·a-
is, thef1vekayas,whicbappear to
•
disciples.
These. are.·. called,··the,·,
essence,
and,compassion.
true nature,
humans, animals., hungry ghosts, and: hell beings.
.'. pO.-pa, Jewek.Qp,oamept.pp. 55-74.
28 PBD,'p.70.
They
See 8g8m'"":
99
are also called the three, kayas·wllich, abide
in the Base.
The Sambhogakaya.,.,.Sambhogakiiya,ls the four
. . {Buddha)
,The
,families.
the
is
Bodhi,sattvas.
male
Sambhogakayaand
These are called the
,threekayas setout in,aspects.
The
Nirmanakaya-Dharmakaya,
is
.
[Buddha]
the
fou,r"
The
.Sambhogakaya
is
the,
"male
and
female
Bodbisattvas.
The NirRnaki."ya-Nirmanakaya is
•
•
the I i9ht., rays of compassion.
These,'
are called the threekayas, which bring forth
compass·ion,•. "'.
three' kayas
This
They are also. called the
which
subdue
description' defines, all
Sambhogakaya-,.Dharmakaya.,
discussedshortl,y.
living. beings. 29
nine
kayasexcept, the"
The· four Buddhafami,l,ies",will ,be'
For the pr,e·sent it should be na.ted ,that,
the four, Buddha",£amilies (rlqs...,.bzhi,). ,·"are an.abbrevia.tion""o,f,
the five' Buddha ,fam.11ies (rigs.-lnqaJ,the di,fference< being'
that
in
the
four
family
system.
the
Vairocana and his family are disregarded.
are
central, figure
of
The Buddhas which
the lards of these five Buddha families· are the ' five
kayas which" appear to d,tsciples.,
29 PBD,.pp.70-71.
This,allaws,presentation
100
of a· diagram . sbowing.,.·the·.. relationshoips·.betwee,n.· these nine
kayas.
For the. sake of space Dharmakaya is shown as "D,"
"N":
D-Il.
.
0-8.
.
.............
D-N:..
• • • S-S.
.
.
.
. . . . N-D . .
N-8. .
• . S--N.
8-8 • .
This table shows, that there is an overlap between.
the
three
levels.
kayas as
The
they are
subdi,vided···,i,nto
their
nine
pos.ition.of., the. SambhogakayarDharmak8ya,· has
been·determ:inedbypostulating its place .in reference to the
definitions
provided.
for
the
other
eight
kayas •
This
.prese.ntation of ,the t·hree kayas as nine ..k'ayas is helpful for
seeingitheinterconnectedness of thethreekayas, yet it is
anI y inthisnl,ne-kayapr-esentat ionthat t,hed! f,fer-enti-a·tton
In the general body of the text the
is used in the PBD..
threekayas are not presented in this way.
the d'ifficul:ty, that a
example,
may
,refer
This introduces
refer·ence:.to the Sambhogak'aya,
for
the .. Dhar.makaya-Sambhogakaya,
the
to
8ambbogakaya·-Dharmakaya,.the
8ambhogakaya,-Nirmanakaya....
or
,
ｓ｡ｭ｢ｨＰＹ｡ｫｾｹ｡ＭＺｓ｡ｭ｢ｨｯＮｧ｡ｫＢｩ ｹ｡ＮＬ
the.'
the
Nlrmanak'iya-:8ambhogakaya.
I
The element ·o·fconfuslonthis creates is not resolved in the
PBO.
The"
reader
mGst
simply
iunde:rstandthe··,three ·kayas
do
his
or
her
best
on .w:hateverlevelthe
to
PBD
101
presents.thematany ..·particular point.
There is one paragraph. in the PBD whererDo-rj.e 'Chang
gives three concreteexampJ..es of how. .tbeBuddha·s ·fit into
this nine kayasysitem.
I,
It reads as .foll.ows:
the
adamantine·
ＬｄＮｨ｡ｾｭ｡ｫ ｹ｡ＭｎｬｲＧｭ｡ｮ ｫ｡ｹ Ｎ
as
•
This
. am·
the
Thekayas such
are· Sambhagaltaya-
N,irmanakayas...
as
.
•
ｍ｡ｾｪｵＧｲｩＢ Ｌ｡ｭ ｬ｡ｾｧ ｲ｢ｨ｡
being"
The· six sages·.. (thub'-Ri) such
rDo-rje
dGa'-rab
statement
info·rms
Nirmanakaya-
are
us
that
•
·rDo-rJ·e
'Chang
is
manlfestiDgon the. level of the fiveBuddha.fam,1.1ies;wbich'
will·· be
discussed
shortly.
ｍ｡Ｂｪｵｾｲｩ
is. known· as .the
Bodhisattva of Wisdom and as such is presented. on· the level
...
_......
h
of theSambhogakaya.-Nirmanakaya; the level of Bodisattvas •
•
dGa',...rab rDo-rje lsthe compiler of the PRO and is also held
to be the sage .for the class of huma,nbeings at the level ·of
--...
..... ....
.Nirmanak'aya·-Nirmanakaya.•
the
•
•
The
six
sages
are· the.
manifestations of Buddhahoodthat appear in the. six locales
of
samsaric existence.
The six sages,
according to the
traditional rNying,.,.ma presentation, are:
1)
gods,
3)
2J Thags-bzang.-ris.for tbe asuras..
the huma-,as, 4) Seng.,.,.ge ﾷｮＬ｡ｴｲ｢ｾｒＮ
Indra for the
,Sak·yamunlfor.
for the animals, Sl sGrom.-bu
Iba-' barfo·r thehuRgry ghos ts , and
6)
the Dhacma-king¥amafor
102
,
the· hel1s. 31
､ｇ｡ｾ
The' PBD replaces. the Buddha Saityamuni w,ith
-rabrDo-rie as the .sage for the. huma·ns.This indicates
tbe;primaey·the PBn places. on the first human expounder. of
the Grea,t. Per·fection tradition ove·r the historical founder·
of the Buddhist religion.
In the definition of the three
ｫｾｹ｡ｳｯｦＭｴｨ･
ｄ｢｡ｲｭ｡ｫｾｹ｡Ｇ
'
just mentioned they were described as, the,. "essence,
nature,
and compassion."
noting that
The PBO elucidates tbispoint by
"the essence
true-nature (rapg-bzhin)
(tbugs-rjeJ is. the ｎＮｩｉＧＱｬｴ ｡ｮ ｫ Ｚｹ｡ＮＬ Ｓｾ
true
(nao-boJ
is
is the Dharmakaya •
the Sambhogakaya.
The
Compassion
These· terms are:· inddturn·,
•
eluo!dated,as .fol lows :
The
essence
unadulte·rat.ed,
unereated,
unchang.ing."
uncontrived,
and.
na,tural1 y
It is the' great uncompou·ndedwisdom, .
pure.
the
is
sky-l ike
subject
reality,
,.
ＨｳｴｯｮＹｾｄ｡Ｍ ｲ､ｯＭｲｩ･ｾ｣ｨｯｳ［Ｍ｣｡ｮＩ
insubs,tantial ..
the
pure,
primordially
penetrating awareness.
The true-, nature is the grea,t wisdom which,
abides
in, the Base and is the. five· wisdoms
which
grasp
characteristics.
It
is
31 This in.iormation, kindly prov,ided by.my Tibetan ,informant'
Khenpo: Palden Sberab, who is one of . the·mast,deeply learned
native scholars of the rNying-ma tradition living.
-",-,. p -'.. 72 ..
32 PB·O'"
- -
.
'.
'
,
103
\111billc!lered" "just, as
I i9llt is clear in ' the
,(abo,vemen,tioned ) essence.
Compa,ssion ,is
in", its vital,essent,itali,ty.",
the fivekayas. 33
This quotation provides an insight into the . Dbarmakaya"
on its ,thr,ee levels.
The, five ,wisdoms will, be discussed in,
the followlng ,chapter of this thesis.
The fiv,e kayas and
the fiveBuddhafamilies,ofw·bi,ah they are the lords will
,no,woe lnves t igated .
The Buddhas 0.£, the five fami.lies are presented in the
PBD as.Sambhogakaya Buddhas. 34
,however,
that
mani fest'
may
the
be
level
e1 ther
·Sambboga·kaya-Sambhogakaya,
It has already. been shown,
onwhlch
the
or
the
Buddha
families
Dharmakaya,-Nirmanak'aya,
•
the
the ,Nir.manakaya.,...Dha.rmakaya .
•
The PBO describes the ,Sambhogakaya as the ffking,ofkayas,,,35
for,
it
is
the
Sambhogakayatha,t actua.l,ly
initiates
the
dlssemina·tionof theteaoblng on the highest possible level.
The
Dharmak,aya
processes .'
such
is
unmanifest
and.
beyond
interaotive
The N-i,rmanakay,a·mani·fests ,·intheworld", and as
conforms, wi th
•
the
I imitations
inherent" in wor Idly
existence, thoug·hit is capable ofmiraculo\lsactivity,.
It
is the Sambhogakaya that is both manlfe,stand completely
33 PBD"
p.72.
34 PBD"
p.,6,4.
35 PBD, p. 65.
104
be,yond liimitatio,ns.
The PBDdescrib&s the origin of ,the Sambhogak;aya as
follows:
The
space
(klang)
and
Dharmakaya
reality
of
the
indivisible
as 1
islknown
Dense Array of Purity. 36
The,
The five vessels
Cbum"",pa) of self-luminescent wisdom appear as
unhindered
sprouts
appearance's
white,
of
yellow,
(myu""9u ),.
pure
red,
reality,
The
the
five
azure,
and green complete "the
unmixed' clear wisdom, (ma.,..'dres-9sal-ba' i.,..yeThe
ｾＩＮ
five
kayas , are ,realized
amongst ,these five.
(places·],
four'
from,',
They abide, in the five
di:rections
and
the.:
center. 37
Tbi-s passage.: informs ustha;t, from· the Dharmakaya, in its
indivisible
connection
with
luminescent wisdoms come fort,h.
as light. of the, five colors.
reality
the
apparent
the
importance
self.,..
These five wisdoms manIfest
The five Sambhogaklyas come
forth as manifestations of this luminosity.
makes
five
of
the
five
This passage
wisdoms
understanding the lord,s, ofthefi:veBuddha,faml1ies.
in
A full
36 The Dense Arra.y 0'£ Purity is the name, of a"Buddba.,..,fleld
w·here the· SambbQgakaya becomes apparent...
See Bod-rgya'
'" .Tshis::mdzodCbeft-po, Vo1.2,p.l103.
37 PBO"p.S9.
105
discussion· of
the
relationships- to
the next chapter .
nature
the
five
of
the·· five·· wisdoms· and
their
Sambhogakaya Buddha,s follows in,
At this point I want to ,draw atte,ntio,nto
the final statement in the above quotation,
that; the five
Buddhas abide in tbe fou·r directions and the center.
"The four directions and the center" is
a reference to
the posltions in the mandala or interactive matrix.
Each of
••
the f!.ve Sambhogaki'ya·Buddbasabidesi,n, one position of this
mal}9al,a. 38
this
The ·PBD devotes. f1vecha,pters,toadescri,ption.of
mangala in all
••
its,aspec·ts.• 39
The mandala in its
••
entirety contains forty,...two figures, which are referred to
as the forty-two Sambhogakayas. 40
The space available .does
38 The five tathaga·tas, the. lords ·of . the five Buddha" families,'
,are not a creation of the Tibetans, but are found in the
earliest Sanskrit Tantric literature. They are mentioned in
the Sidhanamila
(Baroda: GaekwadOrie·nta·l Series, 1968)1n
the Kurgltulla-s'idhana
by ｉｮ､ｲ｡｢ｬｭｴｾｩＬＧｷ｢ｩＬ｣｢ﾷ ｬｩＧｳＬｴｳ
·.thefi;ve;
ｓ｡ｭ｢ｨｯＧＹ｡ｫｾｹ｡［ｂｵ､ ｢｡ｳＬ
jus,t;as· does .tbe"PBD.;,The Arapachaoa""
sadhana 1n
the Si'dhanamalaalso
speaks of the five
ta ｴｨｾｧ｡ｴ ｳＬ
but considers them eminations, 0 f Manju,'r LThe
GUhyas4ddhi ,by Padmavajra ment;ions the; five Baddhas,'bu,t
, ｾＺ］ｮＮＩ
ｮＺＧ｢ｨｹ［ｾ･ﾧＩ｡ｴＬ
Ｎｾｳ［ＺＬ
(Amitabha l,and 5 Kulad'ya(AmoghasiddhihTbe Jnanasiddbi"
;bylndrabhut,i Ｈ ｦ ｯ ｵ ｮ ､ ｩ ｮ ｾ
Vajrayana'orks,Barada : Gaekwad
Or lenta;l Series" 1922) Ed. by Benoytosh'BhattacharYijlists,
the five tathaga,tas as in. the PBD.The Sahajas4ddhi,by
DombI'heruka (Baroda: Gaekwad Or ientil Series, tl'npubl ished
manuscript l lists these same· five tathagatas under thena,me,
of ｾ ･ ｦ ｩ ｡ ｳ
(Lords of the Families).
,The Adyayasiddhiof
Lakf,amkaralBaroda: UnpUblished ｭ ｡ ｮ ｵ ｾ ｣ ｲ ｩ ｰ ｴ ｜ Ｉ Ｇ ｅ ､ Ｎ ｢ ｹ
Malati',
Shendge,'pr'esentst,hesa.melisto ftathagatas .
.
39 PBD, chapters 26,...31.
40 See this thesis, p.97.
-
106
not allow a full. description ··of th·is ma,qalawith reference
to
the- indi,vidual, signifi-cance of each member.
I
shall
therefore pr.esent the . five Buddbas, whoa,rethe principal
figuresoftbe
mal}falaand,the, lords of the
five Buddha
famillesaloDg, with the, names and loca,tions o,f the other
members of themaDdala .
••
The PBDpresentsthe. fivema-in. figures of the mandpla
,.
.
as follows:
At
the
other)
center
Vairocana ·faces
all· [the
four in the·· wisdom ·of all appearance
He appears as ａｫｾｯ｢ｨｹ｡Ｌ
(kun""snang,...ve-/ihes) .
Ratnasambhava,
Ami.ti'bha,.
Amoghas,iddhi..•
heart.
and
;i
the
great·
His mOOra is held at his own
He holds the
identity of· the,five
colors. 41
Furt-her
in
the .-text the. -name·s·· of -these Buddbas .. are--·
givenwi-th short glosses:
The onett-ayawhich,exists in lumi,nosit.y as
the
five
kayas
unchaftg,ing,
ａｫｾｏ｢ｨｹ｡［Ｎ
qua1itie.s,
withou,t
is
Vairocana.
He
I
He
is
br lngs forth good
partiality.,
so
he
is
Ratnasambha-va,.,. ,He· is the, appearance' of. the
force
of
Amitl'bha
41 PBD, p .. 59.
compassion
is
the
kaya
unstained
without
by
faults:
limit.
He
107
accomp,lishesthe purpose of self and, others
.without
obstructio·n,
Amoghasiddbireaches
so
the
kaya
·of
the 1: imito f· . spiritual
action. 42
These passages make', i tclear that Vairocanaencompasses
all the Buddhas while the different aspects of his being are
manifested as the other four Buddhas.
It is for this reason·
that the PBD alternately speaks of the four Buddha families .
and the. five B'-1ddha families.
the
families
Amitabha,.
the
of
Vairocana ..
and Amogbas iddbL
Ak.'obhya,
Ratnasambhav,a,
Tbe four Buddha fami·lies are,
secondar,y manifestations
of· Vairocanaasthe, central
figure and. are thus Ak'obbya, Ratnasambha,va, Amitabha,and,
···Amoghasiddb,i.
The PBD refers to the Buddha- fa'miliesby the names of
The,
Vajrayana
ｴｲ｡､ｩｴ ｯｮｾ
however, has separate names for these Budd,ha . families which
di ffer ··fromtbe .name's
of
Vairocana.
Ak'obhya's
Ratna
is
family.
is
the
0
ftheBuddhas .themsel ves .'1'hef,ami I y
referred
Vajra
to
as·
Buddha
Ratnasambha,va's
family.
Amitabha's
the
is
family.
is., the
family.
Amoghasiddhi's is the Karma family. 43
42 PBD,.p.65.
Ｔｾ
See KeithcDowman,,. .a¥. Pancer" .(London:Routledge,'& Kegan
Pau.l" 1984h· p .,193.
Also see MkbasGrub Rje, Intrg,duction
m :tM;.. Buddhist Tantrio Systems, trans. F. D. Lessing and A.
108
Each of these £1ve SambhogakayaBuddhas sits inun10n
w1thhlsconsort
himself
The male principle of the Buddha·
ＨｾＩＮ
15 referred·. to
as
a
manifestation . of
method.·. or
skill ful means (thabs) while the consort is a manl festa tion
of profound" ·knowled.ge
(shes-rabl .
Their being joined in
.sexua·l anlon,is ·anindicationo ftbeinseparab,il i ty of means
and ,profound knowl.edge •. 44
The
the
five
female consorts·· fare joined to
Budd,bas ]
shadow.
T-hePBDstatesthis clearly:
like
a·
body
and
(lwi,)
its
Thus the non-dual means and profound
know,l·edge abidew,ith faces joined. 45
The PBD does not give a name, for Vairocana's consort,
nor does it describe any, Bodb,t-sattvas.iDhls reti.nue.Each
of the o·thet fourBuddhas,howeve,r, not· only hasaconsol't·
but hasaBodhlsattvaonbis le·ftand right.
Eachoithese
Bod-hisattva·s in-. turn has a consort • - The PBDspeaks of each"
Buddlla,w1·th, his
consort and retinueasa heapedmWa.la,
••
khar).
Ｈｴｨｳｯｭｾ｢ｵＢＬ ､ｫﾥｩｬＭＧ
Thus the oftemandala of-the five
q
••
Buddhasbecomesflve 'Modalas .
• #
The PBD does not state any particular direction of the
:mandala
••
in
which
any
particular
Buddha
abides .
This
informa-tion cannot safely be -derived from outside ,sources·,
Wayman: (Delhi: MotilalBanarsidass,. 1968) ,pp.119,147, 149.
44 PBD, p.60.
45 PBD, p.• 60.
109
for the locations of. the five Buddhas vary intbedifferent
Tantric sysotems.
The consort of Akfobhya is Buddhalocani.
sits ｋｾｩＺ ｴ Ｙ｡Ｇｲ｢ｨ｡
ｾ
witbhi,s consort Lisya,.
Onhl·s·1eftsits
f
Maitreya
wirth
his
consort
Ratnasambhava is Kamak!.
with his consort Klla.
Dhupe .. ,
ｲｩＹｨｾ
On· his right ,.
4
Dhupe..
The
consor t
of
On his right sits Samantabhadra
-
-,
On his left sits Akasagarbhawi
th
The consort of Amitabhais pandaravasinI'.
On his
••
sits Avalokite'varawith,G'irtima.On his left, sits
,.,
Manjusr i
w,i thAloke.
The consort of Amoghasiddhi is'
,
On his right slts Vajrapani
, with Ghirti.
Samayatara.
On
.hisleft sitsSarvanivaranaviskambhinwithGante.
"
EacbBuddh'a,andBodhlsa,ttva . is also.· Samantabhadra. 46
The . Buddhas are .thus identi,fiedwith the .pr imo.rdialBuddha
Cadibuddba).This Samantabhadrashould not be confused with
the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, who sits at Ratnasambhava's·
right.
Yair-ocana,
the
central· BUddha,.
identifiedwlth Samantabhadra"
teacher
of
the
PBD,
rDo ....rje
he
1s
not
only
is none· other· thantbe,
'Ohang .. 41
The above quoted
passages indicates that the ·four·Buddhas are emanations of
Vairocana, yet in another passage it states that:
Vairocanasees "the,!r .faces and, knows their
inspiration.
46 PBD, p.74 ..
47 PBD, p.69.
Vairocanais
ｳ･ｬｦＮｾ｡ｰ ｡ｲ･ｮｴ
,and..
110
He is self-
has no appearance '. as another.
arising,
known
self-apparent,
by
himself.
self-rising,
His
own
force
and is
is not
c,reated ata,ny one point. 48
The mandala is protected. in each of the four quarte,rs,
••
by a gate,...keeper (sgo,...srung.). 49
Each gate-keeper alsoMsa
consort.,!',hesefigures are not named in thePBO.
e.
The total number of ·figures in the mandala. is said to'
be forty-two,
to that number·.,
ment;ioned
consorts
yet it is difficu'l·t to add,upthe cbarac,ters
make
ten.
The
consor.ts make sixteen.
consorts make eight .
figu.res..
If..
Buddhas
w,ith
their
eight, Bodhisattvas
with
their
,The
five
The four door-keepers with their
This adds up toatotal o·f thirty-four
however..
that
surround,
Vairocana and theircon'sorts, are counted twice:
once in,
their identities as ａｫｾｯ｢ｨｹ｡Ｌ
the
four
Buddhas
Ra·tnasambhava., Amitabha;.. and
b
ｾ
Amoghasiddhi..etc. ;
,.Samantabhadr·a ,and
and
once
Saaantabhadr!,
in
their
the
identities.
total
number
as
does
·PBOis no,t clear onthispo.int.
｢･ ｯｭ･［ＢＬｦｯｲｴｹＬＮ ｴｷＨＡＩｾｔ｢･
Nowherein,thePBD,does itrecommend.·that,·thj.,;s, ,maMa1a. '
of Sambhogakaya Buddhas be used as an 'object of medlta tion .
or
spir itualpractice.
appears
to
48·- PBD, p. 59.
49 PBD, p.62.
be
simply
The
to
pur.pose
show· the
for
this exposition,
waytbe
Samboogakaya,'
111
mandala
••
is
layed
out,.
The
importance
of
the
five·
Sambhogakiya Buddhas inthePBo is most strongly felt In the
presentation of
their
relationships to the five
wisdoms.
'l'hiswll1be discussed in the next chapter.
It
remains
Nirmanakaya.
to
present
the
PBD' s
account. 0·£
the
The PBo is very quiet on tbispoint,bowever .
•
The six sages mentioned above· are described as y,irmanakaya
•
Beyond this the PBD has almost nothing to say,
except·
are',
they
manifestations of. compassion and that theybavetheability
to per form, miracles.
The lack of lengthy discussion 0'£ the
Nirmanakayas. in the PBDcan be· attributed to. the importance.
•
placed
on
the
Sambhogakayaas
both,· -the . origin
of
the
·,teachbuj and ,the pure "mane! fe station of wisdom.
This· comple.tesmy di,scus:siono£
.threekayas.
discussion
the Buddha· and. his
The threekayaswill be mentioned again in the
of
recognition;
where
the· recognition of
the
three kayas is presented as a> fundamental insight i·ntothe
definitive meaning of the BUddha'steachin9' and, neces,sary
for the el.iminationo.fdelnsio,n·.
. The nature of. wisdom and,
the pa·thmust be discu!ssed first,
however;
fo·r the PBO's
statements on these subjects will serve as a g,roundworkfrom
which recognition will. be ·.better·Q·nderstoed.
Wl·sdom
preceding. portions
of this
thesis.
aspect of the PBD's presentation.
It is a
fundamental
This chapter is devoted
to an inquiry intothePBD's treatmento-f this subject.
ThePBDsometimesspeaks of wisdom as a single concept,
'but "most often·wisdomis presented in a particula.raspect or
enu,meration..
throughout
The five wisdoms"
the
text.
:;J-
In
the
in particular, are mentioned·
preceding chapter
Bugdha..,kaya it was shown that these
on the
five wisdoms are the,·
ground froDl'whicb thefiveSambhog-ak.-aya,·Buddbas arise..
In.
the discussion of the Base it was shown that . wisdom is, a
·synony·m .' for
the
Base .
Theses ta tementswi 11
now
be
clarified.
Just as the five families of Sambho9aka'yaBuddhas a,re;,
sald to be manifestations of Vairocana, the five wisdoms are
said to arise from the essential wisdom which, is known as·
113
the Base abiding wisdom:,(gzhi ....ｩｹｫｾｳ｡ｮＹ
wisdoms"
are:
1)
The
wisdom" of
(chos...dbyings-ye-shes),
Ita....bu-ye-shes),
ｾＩＬ
4)
The· five
pbeno.menal
dimension
The mirror, like wisdom,(me ...1ong....
2)
The
3)
the
....ye...shesJ.
equality
wisdom
(mn'(am:-pyld-ye-
The\ distinction conceivi,ng., wisdomCsg....sor-rtoq.....
par i-ye-shes),
and
The
5)
､･ ､｡｣ ｯｭｰｬｩｳｨｩｮｧｷｩｳ､ｯｭＬＨｾ
.grub...pa • i -ye ....shes . 1
When thePBD first discusses wisdom it presen'tstbese
five wisdoms as well as other wisdoms.,wblchareshown to be
elucidations
wisdom.
of
different
aspects
of
the
Base,
abiding"
ThePBD presents wisdom in thefollo,wi,ng phrases:
The essence of wisdom· is tbati,tis clear
andnon....conceptual.
naturally
correlated
Dharmakay'a,.
Base
'pure
insubstantial
Furthermore,
abid1ng, .. wisdom
penetrating..
and··
the·
with
kaya
the
is
When
it
is
the,
When correlated, with awareness .
it ,1 stheessence (nao ....bo) .
Son of·· Noble Famlly, its existential mode
abi'des
with
as
the
correlated
light,
kaya
with
so when it is correlated
it
is
the
wisdom
Riipakaya.
it
is
the
When
five·
character isticgrasping wisdoms (,mtshap....nyid•dz in....pa· i ....ye -shes)',
L
PBD, p.30.
114
The
mode
of
appe'arance
lis
that
it 1
.appears without an exterior or interior, thus
it is unobscured clear wisdom.
Fu.rthe·rmore,
its
pure
nature
transcends
the extreme of permanence.
··Its existential
,mode
,the
as
light
cessation.
transcends
extre·me
of
Its Inodeof appearance is without
exteriorand.·interior,.. so i t l s pure ofp the
extreme of subject and object.
This is the essence of wisdom ..
The
definition
knowledge
.cshes",,:,pa)
is
of
that
unmistaken.
the . meaning
which
exists from the primordial is wisdom.'
Ifall
samsaraand ni,rvanaappear
this great.,
pene trat lng,
insubstantlal
abiding wisdom.
empty
the
primordial.lypure,
awarene,ss,-
it
is
Base
i,t is the wisdom of the
dimensioD,.
The
empty .exis·ts
as unhindered. awa,reness.,.
mirror.
awareness,
empty.
the
This (wisdom] abides in, the
ＨｳｴｯｮＹｾｰ｡ｊＬｳｯ
phenome,nal..
ＨｾＩ
·from·,
wisdom.,
and
this
This
empty
awareness,
thus" it is
itself
is
itself
is
As the empty and awareness are .not
divided they are the equality wisdom;.
The,
empty 'and aw,areness are wlthO-ut dual! ty and,
(yet) are ,known distinctly, thus there is the
115
distinction conceiving wi.sdom·.Thewisdom of
insubstantial
thing..
awareness
is
nota
thus. there is the Wide
'Quality.
mater ial
0001'
of Good
Force (rtsal) come·s £orthwithout
any· obstruction whatever .. without direction.
Thus tbereisthedeed accomplishing.iwisdom.
Kye MaHo! Son of Noble Family, thlssort
of knowledge
(shes-pa)
self-awarene·ss
there is the
ｳ･ｬｦｾ｡ｷ ｲ･
is aware of its own;·
(rang=:ais""'raBg-r ig..,.,pa) ,
thus
wisdom.
There is no creator of· [wisdomh tnusi·t
is·the self-arising wisdom.
There is no transcending its meaning# so
it is thet-ranscende;ntbeart wisdom.
To teach the,s·imiles:
the
A simile
ＨｾＩ
for
Base abiding;,wisdoDh is that it brings .
·.fortheverything, like-a precious jewel.
The·.:{sim.ilelforthe airror wisdom· isth-at
it
is
like
sparkling. water-or
a
polished
>;mirc·or.
That for the equality wisdom is the. simile
for
the equaliity of the three times:
It is
like a r iver.
The simile for the' non-dual·wisdom.is that··
it is 1 ikegolda·nd yellow.
116
The simile for the distinction conceiving
wisdom is that it is like the,a,ri,singofthe
planets and stars at sea.
The
simile
for
the
deed
accomplishing-
wisdom is that it is like the wind and the,
sun.
The simile for the non-abiding, w,isdom,,,is
that· it
is
like. the
moon
[reflected
onJ .'.
water.
The s imlle, for
these If-aware wisdom; ·is
thatl,tislikecrystal and light. 2
This .passageno,t,on1y mentions the five· wisdoms,
it
also talks about other aspe.ets, of the, Base abiding.· wisdom.
In the body of the text, however, 1t1s the five wisdoms
that
receive
the
identifies these
greatest
five
attention.
A
wisdoms and, their
passage
t,hat
interrelationsh,ip
follows:
The essence of awareness exists
the . empty,
thus
ＨｾＩ
as '"
it is the emptines,sw1sdom
This
Ｈｳｴｯｮｧｾｄ｡ＭｮｹＱ､ＭｫｹＱＭｶ･Ｍｳｨ･ｳＩＮ
empty
awarenessitsel£ is unhindered clarity, so it
is
the
ｭｩｾｲｯ
without. the
like
dualJ.,ty
wisdom.,
of
the
Awareness, is
emp,ty . and"the·
clear;. these two are equal, so there is the
2. PBD, pp.31-33.
117
equality wisdom.
ｮｯ ｾ､ｵ｡ｬ
essence
of
this,
and
Awareness is the
from. theperspectiv&
(bltas) of the direction of the empty it is
clear as the·· emp.ty.
the
direction.
clarity.
direction
of
From
of
From .'. tbeperspeotlve of
clar! ty
it
exists
theperspectiv.e
non--dua11ty
it
is
of
as
the
non--dual.
Fromsuch,unhinder-ed,indi,vidual.aspects it is
the distinction oonceivingwlsdom.
Alldeeds
are unobstructedlyaccomllli,shed, by the· force .
of
realizing
this.· meaning;,
accomplishing wisdom.
it is the deed,
Non--intuition of these
five arises as the five poisons. 3
In this passage the wisdom of the pbenome'nal dimension
bas been replaced bytbe .emptinesswisdom.
·This is in order
to elucidatetbe relationsh.ip,betweenawareness, emptiness,
and
clarity.
The
PBD.
is
generally
consistent< in
its
enumerationofthefive< wisdoms, with the exception of the
·f1rstwisdomwhich is sometimes referred to as the wisdom of
the
phenomenal
wisdom.
avers.ion,
dimens.ionand ,some,times as
the
emptiness
The statement tha,tthe fivepoiso,ns( ° f attachme'at,
ignorance,
pride,
,and
jealousy)
are
the
ｮｯ ｾ
intuition of thef·ive wisdoms, though not elaborated further
in the PBD, deserves further inquiry.
3. PBD, p.lOl.
118
The connection between· the ·five wisdoms. and, the-five
pois.ons. is common to the traditions of, TantricBuddhlsm'O·
Keith Dowman, has presented this connection in<his, book
Dancer. 4
wisdom
ｾ
There he states that the poison connected with the
of
the· . phenomenal
con·nected·wl·th
,mir.ror
dimension
like
wisdom
is
ignorance.
. That .
is
aversion.
That
connected with the equality wisdom is pride·..T'hatconnected
with, ,the. distinction conceiving wisdom. is attraction.
That
connectedwitbthe deed accomplishing wisdom is jealousy.
The PBD does not present any method of finding the five
wisdoms with,in .the five poisons, nor does it recommend any
practice that would turn the five poisons into wisdom.
It
does state, as above, that the five poisons are the fallure
to recognize or intultthe five wisdoms, which is delusion ..
The
five
Sambhogakaya, Buddhas,.
previous chapter,
as
mentioned
in the
are manifestations of· the. fi.vewisdoms.
Thisrela,tionsh ip is described in the follow ingpassage from
the PBD·:
All
things
awareness,
the
arise
single
and
essence,
appear
thus
from
it
is
also called "The Great All-Appearance". (Un=.
,soana:;eben-co).
good
quality,.
Self-awareness is unhindered
so
Great Self-ar ising.
4. Dowman,
ｾ
Dancer, p.193.
it
is
It
explained as
"The
is Amlt'lbha,. e,ndowed
119
with
the
power
of
compassion.
unobstructed
profound
AmoghasiddhL
This
unchanging,
It
knowledge,
(awareness)
so is Aklobhya.
is
so
is
itself
is
The essence of
the five. kayas of profoand know,ledge is the··
unobstructed· non-dualemp,ty: awarenessw·isdom.
ＨｳｴｏｒＹｾｰ｡ ｲｩＹＢＧｄ｡ＢＧＹｮｶｩｳ
In
...med-ve-shes). S
scattered references. throughout the text thePBD
corr-elates
the
wisdoms. 6
These pass.ages can be summarized by
Vairocana·
is
. phenomenal
five
the
Sambhogakaya
manife·sta·tion
dimension
or
Buddhas
of
emptiness
the
with
the· five
ｮｯｴﾷｩｮｧＬｾｴｨ｡Ｎｴ
wisdom
wlsdom;
of·
the
Ak/obhya
represents . the mirror like wisdom;. Ratna,sambhava represents
the equality
conceiving.
wisdom;
wisdom;
Amitaoha ." represen.ts .. thedisti,nctlon·
and
Amoghasiddhi,·
represents
the
deed
accomplishing wisdom.
In the discussion of the Sambhogakiya in the previous
chapter
0
f
this
indivisibility
manifests
as
of
the
thesis
real.fty
five
it
was
aBel
colors
shown .' tha,t·
the
from
the
Dha·rmakayawisdom
of.· light..
.manifesY as thefiveSambhogakaya Buddhas.
which
in
turn
Each wisdom and
SambbDgakaya Buddha is associated with a particular color o.f
light.
The simile used in the PBDfor tbisrelationsbipis
S. PBD, p.S7.
6. See' in particular PBD,pp.66-68.
120
that of a
crystal and the rainbow
held
in
the
it produces. 7
sunligllrt a ··rainbow
crystal
is
forth..
The rainbow is not . the same, as the crystal , nor can
it be' separa,ted from, the crystaL.,
is
When a
proj ected
The Dharmakaya is like
the crystal while the five Sambhogaki'yas are like the lightrays
that
issue
forth
from
it.
The
following
passage
clearly presents the relationships between the five wisdoms
,and.the five colors of light:
The
of· the
ｳ･ｬｦｾｬｵｭｩｮ･ｳ｣･ｮ｣･ＬＨｲ｡ｮｧＢＧＡＢＹ､｡ｮｧｳＩ
wisdom of tbe,phenomenaldimens·!on . as light
is clear, from
Ｈ｣ｨｯｳＭ､｢ｙｩｮｧｳＢＧＡＢＧｯ､ｾｫｹｩＭｹ･Ｍｳｨ･ｳＩ
the state of the empty as azure.
The self-
luminescence of the mlrror wisdom is clear
from the state, of the unhindered as· white.
The self-luminescence of the equality. wisdom'
is clear from the sta,te of ,the .inseparable as
yellow.
The
self,...luminescence ,of
the
all
conceiving wisdom is clear f·rom the state of·
the knowledge of thusness as red.
The se1f-
luminousity of the deed accomplishing w,isdom
is
clear
from
unbindered
space
as
green.
These five arise in the space of reality.8
Nowhere in thePBD, doe,s it state the actual colors of
7. PBD, p.116.
8.,PBD,p! 34.
121
the Sambhogabya Buddhas.
This information, maybe derived,
however, from the relationships of the wisdoms to the colors
and.
the
wisdoms
manifestation
o·f
to·
the
Vairocana,
Buddhas.
wisdom
of
the
as
a
phenomena-I. dimension
)
would be· azure.
white.
the
Akfobhya as mirror. like wisdom would be
Ratnasambbava
as
theequal.ity
wi.sdom. -wou-ld
be
ye.llow .,Am1tabha as the distinction conceiv.ingwisdom would
be red . . Amogha.siddbi;&s thedeedaccomplishingwisdemwGuld-
be green.
The
PBD
holds.. that
throughGut reality,
perceived.
In
water,
wind"
fire,
these
five
wisdoms are·manifest
though due to delusion they may not be
particular..
the· five
elements
of ear-th,
and sky are in fact the five wisdoms.
Thep·BDdoes not, however , correlate the elements with their
specific wisdoms.
The PBDalsoholds that the body ofa
human or other living being is in fact a conglomeration of
the five wisdoms in their nature as light.
This is stated
as follows:
Flesh a-nd bones are from· white light.
bile and pus are from.yell0·w· light,.
and warmth are from red light.
from green light.
The'
Blood
Breath is·
The comfort of the body is
from azure 1ight. 9
In the chapter on delusion it was pointed out that the.
9. PBD,. p.53.
122
body is one of the three bases for delusion.
The present
elucidation demonstratestha-t thebod,y,can.alsobe a basis
for
the
intuit,ioD,.o£ wisdom,. if it seen in. its nature, as
,li,gh·tratbertban taken to be merely a material reality.
The PBD, also holds that the five wisdoms are actually
none other than the three kaya,s.
This is demonstrated-in
the following. passage:
There
is
no
division
between
the
five
wisdoms and the meaning. of the three kayas.
The empty aspect of reality, clear awareness,
and the non"", dual. aspect. are the- essence of .
ｄｨ｡ｲｭ｡ｫｾｹ｡Ｎ
the
The
two
l-Rupa.Jkayas
are,
unhindered force, and light· comesforth,£rom·,'
,theunbinderedi-ndiv idual
aspects.
This
itself istbe essence of the Sambhogakaya .•
The enactor of the purpose of living, being,s,
with compassion, the Nirmav-akaya, is the deed
accomplishing.· w'isdom,.
five
wisdoms
are
The .. three -kayas and,
spontaneously realized in
the state of the Oharmakaya. IO
If
the
exposition
in
the
PBO-
reqUired
rational
consistencythi·s statement -would be-i,mpossible, for the five
wisdoms
have
already
been· shown to· manife·st as the
five
Sambhogakaya-. Buddhas.· If· this passage,were,correlated-wi,th
lO. PBD, p.102.
123
the
previous
Ak'obhya,
stateme·nts
and
,
it
would, follow· that
Ratnasambhav&
Amitabha would, be
are
in,
fact
Vairocana,
Dharmakayas,
the only Sambhogakaya,andAmoghasiddhi
. would be a Nirmanakaya.
Such a position ,runs Gounterto t,he
•
identification of the five Buddha,£amiliesas manifesting' on
the Sambhogakaya level.
This statement must. ther,efore. be
taken to represent a totally different way of looking at the
wisdoms,
where
are
ｮｯ ｾｵ｡ｬｩｴｹ
the
principle,s of emptiness,
held
to reflect cthe
clarity,
and,
true nature of pure
awareness .(theDha,rmakaya) ,the .ab!1 i ty todist ingu ish these
separate aspects represents the division o·t·pure awareness
into aspects (the ..Sambhogakaya), and the fact that all deeds
issue forth from the state of pure awareness represents the
princi-pleof .compas,sionin action, (the
ｎｩｲｭ｡ｾ ｫ｡ｹ ＩＮ
The fact that the five wisdoms ,can be seen in these two
different presentations must be taken as an-encouragement to
the reader· not . to pigeon"""ho.le or relfy the five. wisdoms as
being definite "things .. "
In the chapter on recogni tion,I
willdiscU'sshow.the PRD·· advises the direct intuition of
the'se
wisdoms
in
oneself
as
a·
means> for
eliminating
delusio:n.
First, however,
it is necessary to investigate,
the
presentation, of
the
PBD's
<the·ir merits and -,faults.
different. Buddhist
paths,
CHAPTER.7
The Path
In-
the
preceding
fundamen-talconcepts
chapter
I
have
discussed
the
that are dealt with in the PBD.
It
remains to discuss thePBO's treatment of the Buddhist path,
the actual application. of the previously discussed themes to
the spiritual quest,
and a summary of the PBD's statements
regarding the higbe.st mode of. spiri tual·· being,
Perfection.
the Great
Tbischapterwil1 discuss the path.
The Va.jraya'natradition of Buddhism has beensubdlvided·
in the Tibetan tradition into two·main bJ:'anches: 1) The "Old
School II (rnying..,..mal·whichrep.rese·nts . the Buddhisttraditicon"
in its early diffus.iop.
and,
2)
The.
"Ne·w
c. E •.),
ｩＬｮＧｔｩ｢･ｾﾷＮＨＬＶｴｨＭＹｴｨ｣･ｮｴｵｲｩ･ｳ
Schools" . (gsar,:",mal
which. represent
the
traditions prQmu1gate.d during the later spread.of Buddhism
in Tibet (10th century onwards C.E.).l
There are generally
1 On the Old and. New,'Scbools,. see this· thesis, p.l6.·
125
held to be three "New Schools."
the Sa-skya-pa, and the
There
School
is
and
a
the
These are· the
､ｇ･Ｎ Ｍｬｵｧｳｾｰ｡Ｂ
｢ｋ｡ＧＭｲｧｹｵ､ｾｰ｡Ｎ
fundamental
difference
between
the
Old
New Schools in their presentation> of the
tantric systems.
The New· Schools present thetantrasunde·r
four subdivisions.
Tbese are: 1) Kriya-yoga, 2) Carya-yoga,
3) Yoga..-yoga, and 4) ａｮｵｴ｡ｲ ｾｹｯｧ｡Ｎ
2
ｾＭ
The Old Scbool d·ivldes
the Buddhisbpath into nine '. levels, referred to as vehicles
(tbeg""'oa"
Skt..
xina.).
Tbi.snlne vebicle,· .system. does not.
limit itself to tbe tan·tric systems, but includes them,..
an, Old
School
subdivision
enumerated
text,
of
as
the
tbePBD maintains
Buddhist
follows:
Pratyeka'...buddha
1)
nine
This
paths.
The
the
Auditor
vebicle
division
2)
ｶ･ｨｩ｣ｬ･ｾﾷ
As.
is
The
3)Tbe Bodhisattvaveh·icle, 4) The
ｶ･ｨ＾ｴ｣ｬ･ｾ
Kriya""y09a vehicle, 5JThe Carya..-yoga vehicle (which is also
known as Upa.-yoga), 6) The
yoga
8) The Anu-yoga .' vehicle, and 9 ) The Ati -yoga
ｶ･｢ｩ｣ｬ･ｾ
vehicle
vehicle., 7 ) The Maba...
ｙＰＹ｡ｾｹＰＹ｡
(which, is
also
known
as
the
Great
Perfection,·
(rdzogs -chep) .
NamkbaiNorbu' has elucidated the ,status of· tbeseviews
in the rNying ...maschoolvery clearly:
In the rNying ma pa school,
nine-fold
division
of
spiritual
there
isa
pursuits:
2 These four· levels of tantra are thoroughly disctl'ssedin '
Mkhas.GrQb ,'Rje '5 IntroduQti2nm ｾ ｂ ｵ ､ ｢ ｩ ｳ ｴ ｔ ｡ ｮ ｴ ｲ ｩ ｣
Systems,£Q.. £U.., ｰ ＮｬＰＧＱｾＲＷｬＮ
126
the three ordinary pursuits,
men,
and
of
the
Pratyeka"..buddhas,
--
(Auditors)
Sravakas
and
of
tha>t of gods
the
and
Bodhisattvas;
the three outer tantras· -- Kr iya, Carya, and
Yoga;
and
the
threeinne'r,
unsurpassable
'" por.soits -_. Hahayoga. Anuyoga.· and
1,Among these, the three .ordinary
l
pr imar ily
(SP0Da
lam.);
primarily
lu);
teach."
the
the
way
the
way
pursuits
of. renunciation
three outer
of
Atiyoga"
tantras teach
purification
(sbvgnq·
and the three inner tanb-asprimarily
the way ·of transfo·rmation( sgvur lH,). 3
The PBD refers to the first eigbt of these spiritual
pursuits as "the eight vehicles."
As a. text representing..
the At! yoga,. or Great Perfection, the.PBD is explicit in
rejecting these eight vehicles as a truly effective means to
realize
the
definltivemeaning. of . the Buddhis,t.·teach.!ng.
Thefollowlng,passage makes this clear:
The
. Auditors,
Pratyekabuddha,s.,
Bodhisattvas,tbethree classes of Kriya, Upa
and Yoga [Tantrasl, and both generatlon·[the
Mahayoga,} and perfection, [the Anu,yogal grasp,
the truth ·from a single direction.,
They ar·e
3 Manjusrimitra, Primordial EXDer ience .. Trans. .Namkhai·
Norbu anelKennard Lipman, , (Boston:
Shambhala..
1986) ,
introduction by Namkhai Norbu, p.x.
127
the
eight
views
which
go
astrological divination.
dualistic extremes.
wisdom
of
perverted,
together
The mind, holds to
They do not speak of the
Thus,
self-awareness.
for
with·
they
fail
and
they
are
in
the
err
They are views which hold to, an
meaning.
attitude of a ttachedpostur 1ng . 4
Despite this statement,
thePBD does not ignore these
eight vehicles.
There isa considerable discussio'nof the
nature,
and effects of each view along with the
con,tent,
superiority of ·each view over
presentation
of
these
the ones preceding it.
vehicles
will
not
only
help
A
to
understandtherNying.-,ma sohool's del inea,tion of the various
versions o,f the Buddhist path, it will provide a ground-work
from- which
the
explanation of
the
Grea,t Perfection, will
become more meaningful.
The PBDdevotestenchaptersto an analysis of the nine
vehicles. 5
These chapters are devoted,todiscussions of the
vehicles w,ith referencetospecificpointsabol1·t each one.
In
my
summary
separate
provide
of
statements
a
concise
these
statements
I
have
gathered,the
on each of the vehicles" ino,rderto
insight
into
perspective that thePBD offers.
each
vehicle
from., every
ThePBD does not discuss
4 PBD, p.SO.
S
Chapters 39, 40,. 41, 42, 43". 70, 76, 77, 79, and 80 of
thePBD are devoted to discussion of the nine vehicles.
128
every
vehicle
with
every
topic
presented,
yet
there
is
enough, information on each vehicle toprov ide an insight
iinto,what it is. 6
The present state.· of scholarship, on the nine vehicles
of the rlfying':'"'ma> schoo.lis very limited.
For this reason I
will quote extensively from·thePBD on its discussion. of
these topics, preferring. to let the, PBD speak for itsel£on
this subject.
In. place o·f commentary and analysis I
ha,ve
,attempted toprovideclar i fying footnotes.
The first of the nine vebiclesis the Audltor vehicle.
These are thePBD's comments upon it:
The Auditor vehicle is so called because
(.its propou,nders) .positsabj-ecta,nd object as
;twotb:ings . I f 7
The Aud-ltor lvehlclel is superior to both
and
ｮｯ ｾｩｮｴｵｩｴ ｯｮﾷＮ
Further,
view
is
perverse
intuition.
if you ask how i t is super,ior., the
superior
because
it
selflessness of individuals.
intuits
the
The pract.ice is
superior because it enacts the ten virtues
for
one.'s own, purpose .
super ior because
The· -attainment is
it is accomplished through,
My explication of the nine, vehicles relies entirely onthe PBD.For a summarized account of the nine vehicles see
Tucci, Religions 2i. Tibet,pp. 7-6-87.
6
7 .ｐｂｄｾ
p.l8L
129
the
four - [nobl.e,]
truths.
The
resul t
super-ior because it is the attainment
four
and,
pairs
eight
units
0
is
f the
such
as
Arhatship.8
The
graspable
is
clearly
the
relative
truth ( kun,,-rdzob) .
[ They 1 hold the ultimate
truth
be
{r
(don..,.dam)
to
the stuff of minate -
atoms. 9
Those
meditate
who
espouse
in
conception
this
the Audi,tor
way:,
toward
their
They
own
[vehicle]
generate
body,
the
the
,material psycho""'physical constituent, that it
is unclean matter.
body]
is
risky,
decomposed,.
of
longing
decaying,
rotten,
a,nd
They turn away from- . the extreme
for
constituent of form.
the
psycho,""'physical
They possess the twelve
branches of peaceful abiding, (zhi:=anas), and
reject the objects of the six consciousnesses
8 PBD, p.188.
The fo-ur pairs are the, same as the eight
units'.
They. are the attainments of Stream Winner (Srotl'apatti),
Once
Returner - (saktdagimiQJ,
Non-returner
(Anlgl"min), and Arhatship. ｅ ｡ ｣ ｨ ｯ ｾ ｴ ｨ ･ ｳ ｦ ｯ ｵ ｲ
is subdivided
intotheobta,in,ing,ofthe state and, theen;Joyment of."i ts
fruits, wbichmakes a total of four pairs or eight units.
See
Etienne
Lamotte,
Histoire
Wi. Boud4hisme' Indien..
(Louvai,n: InstltutOriental lste, 1976), -.p. 51.
9 PBD,. p.. 80.
130
. along with conceptual izations .10
The
are
particalarso·f
that
the Auditor practice
they give up steal ingand impu,re
sexual practices.
Theyg!ve up killing.
The
pure. practice of speech is practice without
lying, gossip, slander, and cruel words.
pure
practice
of
avar iciousness,.
the
mind
is. free
harmfulness,
and·.
The
from
perverse.
v.lews.The tenvirtuesaree·nacted ··forone' 5
own purpose. 11
The resu1 t
thee.nd of
for the Audi tors is that when
. meditation, and practice has
ｶＬｩ･ ｷｾ
been . reached the results of the four pairs
and eig-ht units·ripens. 12
This
ve,hicle.
concludes
the
PBO' 5
remarks
on
the
Auditor
T·he·.P·BD' 5 statements on the Pratyekabuddha ve,hicle
follow:
The
de finit.ion, -of
the
name
Pratyekabuddhas is that they are
of
the
ｳ･ｬｦｾｂｵ､ ｢｡ｳ
because they practise witbthepower·of their
own skill.fulnes.s., without lookingtowar.d any
10
PBO,
p.82.
consciousnesses
of
co,nacio'usness" Ｈｹｩ､ｾｫｹｩＭＧｬｩｪｮ｡ｭＭＮｳ｢･ Ｌｭ｡ｮｯｹｩ ｮ｡ ＩＮ
11 PBO, p.84.
12 PBO,p.85.
The
the
six conse·ious,nesses
are
the
five
senses .and
the
"mind,...
131
other teacher. 13
The
view
o·f
the
Pratyekabuddhas
is
so
called because they say " the existence o·f the
subject is absent in theobject.,,14
The
Pra·tyekabuddhas are
superior· to the
The . view is superior because it .
Aud.itors.
intuits selflessness in· the ··s ingle.. direction
of tbe psy.cbo-pbysical constituent of form,
the
realm· ofdharmas
activi ty
(chos...,.khams).The
is superior becau·se
living,
purpose
it enacts
'beings
by
the'
some
disproportionate miracles on top of the ten
virtues.
The attainment··· is supe·rior because
it is accomplished. through the strength of
skillfulness, without relying. on a friend in
virtue.
The resul t
because·
it
is
is especially superior,
like
a
parrot
or
a
rhi-noceros.1 5
Tbe
v lew
certainly
posited
realizes
by thePratyekabuddhas
the
selflessness
of
individuals, just a·s the· Auditors, but views
selflessness .in
13 PBD; p.187.
14 PBD, p.182.
15 PBD, p.188.
the, realm of dharmas ..ina
132
single
[Pratyekabuddtlas 1
direction.
hold
marks ·to be certain, thus they fall f·rom the
"meanlng o·f the non-dual grea tbl iss. 16
Those
who
espouse
the
Pratyekabuddtla.
vehicle meditate in,th1s way:
that
from, such. things, as
first
one
finally
meets
They meditate
ignora,nce at the
with old, age
and·
death. 17
They focus the mind. on their own
forehead,
then
hold
skeleton the ·size
there .
the
the
o,f
a
mind
on
a .white
thumb ,and rest
it
The,n they increase i tunti 1 they view
skeleton
in
full
size.
Then
they
gradu.allymeditate into cessation. 18
The practice of the Pratyekabuddba enacts
only part of the purpose of living beings by
means of a few incongruous miracles. 19
The result for the Pratyekabuddhas is that
',when the end of view, meditation and, .practice
has
been reached ',. the two kinds of desired,
fruition
are
obtained, . like a
parro.t or a
16 PBD, p.81.
17 This refers to the twelve-fold chain of interdependence.
See ｒｩ｣ｨ｡ｾ､
Robinson ans: illill,ardJohnson, .:J1.Wl....,' Buddhi;st. '
ReI i9ion, (California, =, pickeason ,Publ isb'lngCo. ,1977) ,
I if..
f
31 ... 34. '. ''''''f.
pp'.'
ｴＬＭ ［ ｾ
..'\,t,
ＮｾＩＬｻ＾ ｾＺ＿ｩ［ｻＬ ｾＮ
ｬｴｾ ＺＯＬｦｴ
<;
18 PBD, p.82.
19 PBD, p.8,4.
133
rhinoceros for example. 20
This
concludes
Pratyekabuddhas.
the
The
PBD's
vehicle
sta·tements
of
the
on
Bodhlsattvas
the
is.
explainedas·fo1-1ows:
The
defi·nit.iop,of
Bodhisattva' is
renu,nciation,
that
the, name·
of
[Bodhisa.ttvas]
the
pas,se.ss
wisdom." compassion, and sacred·
action in a state, of perfection, and declare,
the meaning of this to others. 21
The Bodhisattva is, so called because they
proclaim "the mind and- the, mind's aspects"
and they proclaim "the ul timatetrut.b, is in! .
the relative t.ruth ... 22
The
Bodhisattva
,Pratyekabuddha.
l.t realizes
The practice
the
purpose
is
super ior
to
the
The view is super ior because
the' two kinds of selflessness.
is superior because
[of
immeasurables. 23
others]
by
it enacts
the
four
The, attainment is superior
because i t is accomplished through the
ten
20 PBD, p.8S.
21 PBD, p.l8?
22 PBD, p.l82.
23
The four immeasarables are benevolence, compassion,
delight, and. equanimi·ty.,
See Sgam...po-pa, Jewel,Qrnament"
p.234.
134
perfections.· 24
because
result
The
it mounts
the
is
snperior
level of Total Light
(kun-tu- 1 odJ.25
The view ·of the Bodhisattva is the view
free from the two selves [of individuals and
of dharmas)
and es.pouses
the.properway.
the two truths in
The ultimate truth is viewed
as the mind, and the relative
truth is not
belittled,
i11ns10n
like
a
dream
or
for
[Th,is v lew 1 errs from the meaning..
example.
of the wisdom of non-dual grea.t bliss. 26
Those who espouse the Bodhi.sattva vehicle·
meditate
in
this
way:
They meditate with,
mental desire on mind only (sems-tsam)., mind
itself
(sems-nyldl,andself-clarity.
They
meditate ·on the undivided truth of the middle
way "(dbu-rna) , like the center 0·£ the sky . 27
The
practice
of
the
24
Bodhisattva
is
the
Herbert Guenther lists the ten perfectlonsas follows:
liberality, 2) ethics and manners, 3) pat,ience,4)
strenuousness.,
5)
meditative
concentration,
6)
discrim4natill9: aware·ness, 7) beneficial expediency, 8)
devoted
resolution,
9)
p.ower,
and
10)
transcending
awareness. See Sgam....P?-pa, Jewelprnament, p.253 note 3.
1)
25 PBD, p.189.
26 PBD, p.8127 PBD, p.83.
Ｂ［Ｌｊ ｬｾ ｴＧ
ｦｾＬＨｴ［ｃ Ｚ ｩ Ｂ ｾ Ｇｊ
135
four immeasurables>. [Bodhlsattvas l act mainly
for the purpose of others. 28
The result" for Bodbisattvas 1s that when
the end of view, medltationand practice ha,s
been reached the actual ten stages (bhumil 29
are gradually purified and then they posit
that they come to abide in the Total Light
(kun-tu- 'ad) .30
This completes . . the discussion of . the, three ou-ter, levels·
ofspiritua1 practice from the PBD.
These are also known as
the levels of cau-se, because they take the perspective of
the causes of spiritual progress as their .basis.
Tbenext
six levels are the vehicles of effect, because they take the
resul,tof
the
path as ,the basis of thelr perspective. 31
ThePBD's description of the Kriya yoga is as follows:
The
definition of
the name o-f Kriya
is
that (its propounderslmainly teach ablution,
purification"
the
planets
and
the
co,nstellations. 32
The view,,·ofthe KrTyais. so called because
28 PBD, p.84.
29 The ten stages of the Bodhisattva path are described in,
Sgam,....po-pa, ··Jewel-- -o.rnament,
30 PBD, p.85.
31 PBD, p.196.
32 PBD, p.187.
136
[its
propounders1
families
are
in
posit
that
the
accord. with .the
three
ultimate
truth in its entirety.33
The Kriya is superior to
iIl'7 view
the Bodbisattva.
is superior because it fUlly intuits
that the ultimate reality
views the self
is unborn and it
(W;Jsg,);wbich·· is relatively.
real, and the god (lbsJ, which!s wisdolfti, as .
subj.ect and lord.
becaus.e
it
ｾ
purity. 34
The practice is superior
enacts
the
three
kinds
of
f:{c
atta,inment is superior because
/'
it . is ·.accomplished
throug·hthe
skillfalness.,. transformation,
(bv.iu-::-rlabs).
ｾ
ｔｾｊ
and
doors
of
blessings
result issupe.riorbecause
it is the attainment of the fru! tion o£ the
33 The, three Buddha families according' to the Kriyasystem
are the ｔ｡ｴｨｾｧ｡ｴ
famlly, the Padma·family, and the Vaj ra
:family.
These arediscussedln detail In,Mkbas Grub Rj,e's
.Introdu.ctiopto t.lulBuddh ist Taptr ic Sys,tems, pp. 1() 1-135 .
34 The "three purities" (dag-pa..,.,gsum) are listed.-intheKun..,.,byed
rGyal..,.,poti
ｾＮ
rNy-ing""M.' rGyud-' bum, '1973
edition), Vol. I, p.38 as the purities of the outer, inner,
and conceptual. Hkhas·GrubRje, however, lists three methods
of practlce(rather than. purity) used·in<,theKr,iyaTantra.·
His descr ipt:ion, is as £0 110ws: "'l'here·are·threemethodso·f
procedu,re
(anusthli'na)
in
the
Kriya
Tantra,
namely,
meditation
Ｈ､Ｇｨｹｾｮ｡ｬ
accompanied by
muttering
(i..s.Qs),
meditation independent .. of Ｇｭｵ［ｴ ･ｲｬｮｾｨＢ
and accompl.ishment .. ,o·f .
slddb4 after appropriate servlce( ｾ ｽ Ｎ ｂ ｵ ､ ｨ ｩ ｳ ｴ ｔ ｡ ｮ ｴ Ｎ ｲ Ｚ ｩ ｣
'
Systems .. ,p. 159.
137
three families. 35
The Kiri.ya view
is
tied up with a·ttached,
posturing .. but does not waver from the state
of
the
without
non-conceptual
birth, or
emi .."rtgg)
cessation.
,which
is
It views the
[Bodhilsat"tvas in two aspects, as lords and
servants ..
It errs fro·m the meaning of the
great bliss. 36
｡ｬ ｾｯ ､
ｾ
Those
who
espouse
meditate in this···way:
the
Kr iya
vehicle
Afterthe.·.·gods . ··of· the
empty ( stgng,..pali...,.lha-tshogs) have gone away
they,·meditate that they possessthemudras of
the three . famil ies. 37
The practice of Krlya is pure beha·v lor in
the three:
External..
internal, and mater ial
(rdzas).38
The perfection of· the result of Kriya is
the .reason, for
their
v iew
and medita·tion.
[Its practltionerslhold [this resu,l,tl, to, be
35 PBD,,' p. 189.
36 PBD, p.8l.
37 PBD, p.83. Thewordmqdra in thIs case may refer either
to the' "seaVI signified. ·by thehand-gesture,o·f the':lord of
the Buddha ,family or to . the Mother of the Buddha family , the
lord l s consort and hence his mu4ra. Ei,.t;betL meaning would,
nonetheless have a mystical ...,.- rather than worldly
significance.
38 PBD,p.84.
138
the essence of the three families and,three
They
doors.
mount
the
level
of
ｲｄｾｲｪ･
tDzin-pa. 39
This conclude,s the PBD-ts comments
0,0
Kr iya-yog'a "The
next level of tantra is known variously as Carya-yoga ·.and
Upa,..,.yoga.
The PBD uses the term Upa,..,.yoga, along·,with its
derivative Upaya., for this level in every case.
The PBD,is
also relatively silent on tbesubject.ofUpa-yoga, hence the
smaller< numbe,r, of· quotat.ions ...
,c'.'"'
",
The defJ:nition:ofthe· name 0 ftbe ［ｾ Ａ［ＧＩＮｩｓ［
that the ir practice comes upward· from below
and
their
view
is
turned
downwards
from
above. 40
The view of the Upaya-is so called because,
7
theyposltthetwo aspects {cha-gnyis:? ＩＮｾ
The Upa is superior
v iew
along
is
superior
with
practice
the
to
because
master
Ｇ ｦｾ
the Kriya.
1
('The
it v iew·s the god'
and
is superior because
servants.
The
it enacts the
purpo.se of,living beings via the existenGe
39 PBD, p.85.
40 PBD, p.187.
41 PBD,p-.182. This may refer to the two forms of practice
in the Carya Tantra, which· according to Mkhas Grub Rje are
Yoga with images and Yoga wi thout images,. BuddhiSt Taptrig .
System§,pp. 207-215.
139
and non.,-existence of marks.
is
superior
because
The- attainment
it
is
accomplished
through the four thusnesses (de,-kho,-na-nyid-
tWl1>
(42)
,""",,'
'i
"I
The Upaya espouses a view which does not
waver
and,
from
the state of the non..,.conceptual
is
from
free
cessation.
It
views
the
birth
two
and, '
types,
[Bodhilsattvas as brothers and", friends.
of
It
errs from the meaning of the undivided wisdom
of
This
great
concludes
bliss. 43
the
PBD's discussion of the Upa-yoga
vehicle. The Yoga vehicle follows.
The definition of the name Yoga is that
a,neu,ni tes one 'sbady, speech andmi-nd to the
i' ./t t
ＬｾＭｴﾧ
［ＺＯＢｾｬ >";;'1 ..｟ＬｾＮａ . /
natural state ' (rnal '-ma), ｴｨｾＧ
meaning.,',of which
i' ,f
is tlhefaur£amiliesofBuddhas .44
Those
nerve
who
use
channels
words
(r!&s.)
to
of
posit
the
the
mind
seven
are
explained tobe,(halders of] the Yoga view. 45
The Yoga, is superior to ,the Upa."
ｾＭ ＧＢ
42 PBD;, p18S]
\._-""",,/
43 PBD, p.• SI.•
44 PBD, p. 187.
45 PBD, p. 182.
The view,
140
is
superior
because
it
views
the
relat!ve
reality. as being. in friendship with the god.
The practice is. superior becallse
it enacts
the four kinds of. sacred action (phrin...,1as,-rnamdmhi ). 46
The
attainment .·is
super lor
because. it is the accomplishment of the four
kinds of n\Udras. 47
because
it
is
The result is superior
the
. Buddhahood of the five families .48
Those. who posit.. the Yoga vehicle meditate"
in·
this
way:
enlightenment
After
the
five
aspects
(byana--chub""'rnam...,lnga)
passed away they meditate
of
have
that the, thirty--
seven possess the four mudras. 49
The, practice of the Yoga.. vehicle is made·
to ena.ct the four kinds of·. sacred, action, and
46 In·the Bod...,rgyaTshig...,m4zgd ·Chep--mo··these are listed in
Vol. 2., p.1771 as: 1) Peace (zhi...,ba), 2.) Productiontrgyas...,
'a), ,3) Power (gpang) , and 4') ,Wrath (drag --po) .
47 The four mudras a·re: 1) The Gpeat,Mudpa .. 2) The, Hudra,gL
Sacped Commitment,; 3) The···.pharma····· Mudra.. and 4) The Karma,
Mudra.
These are d iscu'ssed e,xtensivelythrou'ghou,t Herbert·
Guenther's Royal ｾ
gL Saraha.
Also see Mkha,s Grub Rje's
Buddhist Tantric Systems, pp.229--250.
48 PBD, p.1.89.
49 PBD, p.83.
The five aspects of enlightenment are
nowhere detailed in the PBD,nor does there appear to be an
available external reference.
The "thirty--seven" mentioned
are also mysterious in· this regard.
141
.tbef0ur.thusnesses Ｈｫｨｯｾｮ｡ＺＭＮｰｹｩ､ＬＮ ｢ｺｨｩＩＮ
50
The result of ·,the Yoga. is that the thirtyseven are actually perfected by the blessing
(bYip""rlabs)
practice,
view, .
of
and
the
meditation,
and
kayas
are
three
spo.ntaneously realized by their ownnature. 51
This
completes.
vehicle.
The
the
PRDf s
elucidation
be.ginningwiththe
ｾｍ｡ｨ ＭｹｯＹｾＬｩＧｶ･｢ｩ｣ｬ･
.
of·
".
ＬＢｾ ..-".- .. ＢＮＭＬ ｾ
the
three
of
the
inner
Yoga
tantras,
follows:
.
ｾＭ＼
discus,sion
-,
The definition of the name.·o·f tbe·Mahayoga
that
is
Meditative
it
chiefly
absorption,
the.
uses
skill·ful
three:
means,
and
profound knowledge in order to engage in the
meaning. 52
The,tt;hayoga \ is like the wide dominion of
The
forty-two
fifty-eight
(peaceful
[wrathful
deities)
deitiesJ,
etc.
and.,
are
explained as the view of the Mahayoga. 54
50 PRD, p.84.
5-1 PBD, p.86.
52 PRO, p.187.
53 PBD, p.l8!.
54 PBD, p.182.
The peaceful,and wra,thful deitle,s ,are
described in France sea Fremantle and Chogyam 'l'rungpafs
translation of Karma Lingpafs Tibetap ｾ
2i ｾ
Dead,
(Berkeley:Shambhala,1975),tbroughout.
142
The Maba ,is super lor to the¥oga, in four···
I'
ways.
The view is superior because it views
one's
own· 'body
victor ious
because
as
one.
it
the
The
enacts
mandala, oftha
••
practice· is superior
the
purpose
of
living
beings by both union (. sbyor) and liberation
(sgroI).
it
The attainment· is super iorbecause
is
through
both
profound knowledge',
skillful
means
and
The result is superior
because it is the mounting of the level of
Total Ligbt .55
Those who posit the Maba hold to marks.
[Its
propounders'
view}
is
also
unborn..
without. cessation, is non"..concep·tual, and··is
They view. the
(dbatii,,) and. sense bases
and
goddesses..
··meaning
The
0
elements·
(aYe tapas) as god,s
[This view! errs
from the
f the ·unreified .grea t bl iss. 56
medita·tion .of", the
Mabayoga
is
types
of
absorption have, gone
away
they
meditation of
widely-diffused
after
the
three
the
that
meditative
create
tbe
ＨＮｾ
55 PBD, pp.189-190.
56 PBD, p.81.
thesis, p.81.
On the elements and sense bases see this
143
'byams)
peacefnl·.and
.wrathful.
[dei-ties].
That which· possesses the ·four mudras·is the
supreme ·.meditation. 57
The
which
practice
reaches
of
the
the
Mahayoga
is
action
limit of the purpose of
living beings through both skillful means and
·profound knowledge. 5 $
The resul t
0
f
the Mahayoga is that.· .·. when·-
the view and· so· forth.. have already come up·,
and
the
perfected,:
realized
Great.
Mudra
has
already
(its practitioners]
-on
the
eleventh
been
are actually
level
of
Total
Light. 59
Tbis concludes; the. description of the; Mahayoga.
Mahayoga
while
is known.,as tbe stage of generation ( bskyed.....rimJ .
the
Anuyog8. is
(rdzogs.,-rimh 60
known·
as
the
stage
of
perfe.ction
The.description.ofAnuyoga follows:
The definition of the perfection of Anu is
that it is perfectio.n. without generation and
isappl icationofthe·meaning o·fthis. 61
57 PBD, p.83.
58
The··
PBD, p.84.
59 PBD., p. 86.
60 PBD, p.l89.
61 PBD, p.187.
144
The
Anuyoga
is
like
a
man, and
woman
performing intercourse. 62
expressing.
Words
perfection
gene,rationandwordswhich
without·
speak
of
the
dimension·of reality and wisdom. refer to the "
view ·of the Anuyoga. 63
The Ana
issupe,rior· to the Maba in . . four,
ways.
The
view
intui ts
that
the
wisdom
are
superior
is
superior
dimension o·f
The
ｮｯ ｾ､ｵ｡ｬＮ
because
it
enacts
dimension o,f·enjoyment.•
because
it
reallty
and
pra<:tice
is
wisdom
in
the
The attainment is
superior because it is the accomplisbment of.
the
five
psycho-physical: constituents,
the
five elements, and the. five Buddha,families
in, Fa·ther.,.,..Motber (yab,.,..yum)
·Tbe,.·re,sult,
ｾｭｲｯﾣＮ
i,s sUiper ior because it 1.5 the attainment of
the level oftheUnchanging",Lotus
Ｈｭ｡Ｍ｣ｨ｡ｧｳｾ
ｄ｡､ｾｭ｡ｬＮＶＴ
Those who meditate by. positing the Anuyoga
claim
that
after
they
have
left
behind
proclamat·lon of the e55ence(snying--:-po-brjod-
62 PBI), p.l8!.
63 PBD, p.l82.
64 PBD, p.l90.
145
the; .. psycho""phys,ical ,coDs;ti tuents . are , the'
ea.}
four· 'mudra,s of the god;, like bubbles in water
or taking a clay reliquaryout,·from, the, mold,
for example.
mere
They meditate on clarity fo·ra
instant.
branches
of
divisions
After
they have entered the,
meditative
concentration,
the,
of
meditated in the same way.
They attain the
result whIch reaches the limit of the desired
.purpose. 65
The situation of practice for the Anuyoga
is that li,tspract,i tioner Jactsinthe way of
The
ｮｯ ｾｵ｡ｬｩｴｹＮ
dimension
0
two
aspects
0
£
the'
freal i,ty and wisdomarelenacted J
without duality.66
/
The result of the, ,Anu· is the need for . pure
views.
[Its practltioners,l mount the < level
of the totally perfect name;of·Vajrasattva.
They
abide
on, the level ·of the Unchanging,
Lotus Possessor (ma ...chags=oad.,..ma=:can). 67
This concludes the PSD's discussion, of. the Anuyoga.
It··
also concludes the discussion of . the eight, vehicles, which
-65 PSD, p.83.
66 PBD, p.84.
67 PBD, p.86.
146
. the
PBD
rej ects
as
meaning. (drana=4on)
representing. only
the
interpretable
of the, Buddha's teaching.
The ninth
level
is the Atiyoga. or Great Perfection, and it is this
level
of
.Buddhist
definitive.
Atiyoga
As
its
teaching
that
the
PBO
holds
to
be
the-. PSD-is intiJnate-l·y concerned with the-·
discussion of· this
level
attention tbantheother levels.
receive-smuch' more
The remainder- ·of this
thesis will be an elucidation of this Great Perfection.
First,
in order to properly conclude this chapter, I
will present the statements made in the, _PBD regarding the
Atiyoga in its comparison with the other eight leve-Is.
the following chapter I
of
the
methods
recog.nition
thematic
statements
will present the PBD r s explanation
of
reaching.
(Uao..,..sprodl.
study . I
wlll
spiritual
In, the
present
regarding-· the ._ ",iew,
result of the Atiyoga.
In
a
flnal
awareness
or
chapter of· tbis
summary
of
the
PBD's
medl tation,· pr-actice,
and
The final chapter of the thesis will
then contain concluding remarks.
The
PBD's
statements
regarding
the
Atiyoga
compariso-nwiththe other eight vehicles areas follows:
The, de·finition -of the . name of the .yoga-of
Great Perfection is engagement by way of·· the
non-dual.
and
the
All the. phenomenon of appearance
world
primordlall:y
[are
perfect
non..,..duaI
withl
Buddha,
the
the
in
147
- 6..8
Dharmakaya
The Atiyoga is like a great, garuda soa,r ing
in the sky.69
Words
expressing
the
transcendence
.of
deeds and searching,· words which· express the
self-arising
the
spontaneously
re·fer
to the view of
ｷｩｳ､ｯｭｾ
realized Buddha,
etc.
the Great Perfection. 70
The .At!
ways.
all
is superior
to theAnu
in four
The·· v lew is super ior because it views
appearance
and.
Dharmaka,ya .. Buddha.
·because
the
Dharmakaya.
The
world
as
the
The practice is super ior
purpose
through
enacted
the
the
of
living
beings
blessing
of.
attainment
is
is
the
super,ior
becau'se it is accomplished without deeds or
·search.ing.
mounts
The result is super ior because it
the
levels
beginning;
at
the
thirteenth, the Great Collection of the Wheel
('khor..,lo-tshogs-chen), on up to the, twentyfirst. 71
68 PBD, p.187.
69 ｐｂｄｾ
p.18L
large eagle.
The,garuda iaa mythlcalbird, like a very
70 PBD, p.182.
71
PBD, p.190.
No reference to the thirteenth, level by
148
These statements on the . Great Per£ectionwillserveto
introduce
the
reader
to
level
the
of· spiritual
understanding offered in the ,PBD.It will be noted that the
Atiyoga is held to be "beyond deeds and searching."
This
sta,tement indicates that from the .point of view of the Great
Perfection there is nothing. to. be done in order to attain
realization.
Nonetheless, thePBD does provide, in£ormat,ioDr
on how-to realize Buddba,hood.
"recognition,"
·for according
This realization·. is called
to
the
PBDi t
is
only
the
difference between recognizing all reality as Buddhahood and
failing to recognize this that makes the difference between
delusion and . intuiti,ve realization·.,
Thus there· is nothing,·'
really to be done in an active sense, but one must recognize
the Buddhahood of oneself, others, and, real.ityas a whole in
order
to
comprehend
the
meaning
of
non"...searching .
The
following chapter is devoted to the PBD's elucidation, of
.,recogni tion .
this name nor . to . the higher levels up to thetwenty""'flrs.t·· is
available.
CHAPTER 8
Recognition
At the beginning, of the forty third chapter of the PBD,
the Lord of Secrets poses a question of fundamental import.
It reads as follows:
0, 0
Blessed One, rDo-rje 'Chang, if the
view, meditation, practice and final fruition
of the eight vehicles are such, what are the
stages of sacred instruction for entering the
meaning of the Ati?
All living and sentient
beings have the three kayas and five kinds of
wisdom in themselves as part of themselves
(rapg,-la-rang....cha.s),
so how
is
it that all
those individuals who enter the path do not
Int,uitthls?
Nothing but tbe external object
itself obscures reality;
they do not perceive
so how is it that
this?
I
beg rDo-rje
150
'Chang .to explain this. l
This"
question
fundamental
,everything
realize
strikes
problem
is
in Great
naturally
it?
right
rOo-rje
at
the
heart
of
Perfection philosophy.
the
If
pure Buddhahood why don't people
'Chang then goes on to explain that
beings do not recognize the true state of things and hence
wander
on .in
del us ion.
As
a
remedy
for
this
. presents ,what it calls "the seven recognitions."
the
intuitive
the· PBO
It is with
realization of these recognitions that the
force ·of delusion can be cut off.
The PBO is generally a
discussion
of
language.
I
the
very clear text,
recognitions
will
not,
it
therefore,
resorts
yet
in its
to
cryptic
present
extensive·
quotations from the PBO in this chapter, but will attempt to
express the content of each recognition with only occasional
quotations from the text. 2
The seven recognitions are recognition of:
elements,
2)
The three kayas,
eight·· consciou·snesses,·
5)
The
3)
1)
The five
The five wisdoms,
three
times,
6)
4)
The
The
four
recognitions, and 7) The outer, inner, and secret.
It should be understood right from the; beginning that
the PBO does not recommend; any active measures. for reaching
these recognitions.
Each of the recognitions. is., rather, a
1 PBD, pp.86-87.
2 The PBO's discussion on recognition is found on pp.9l ...
125.
151
description of its topic with the - proviso that when this
topic is
intuitively realized there will
delusion.
be release
from
This is in accordance with the PBD' s statements
that the Great Perfection is beyond deeds and searching.
The recognitions are therefore neither goals nor objects of
spiritual practice, but rather indications -of the state of
realization
itself.
This
is
expressed
clearly
in
the
follow ingquotation:
There
is nothing to do
for
the sake o·f
that which has been done from the primordial,
dwells
in
the
present,
and
is
unsought.
There is nothing to stop it. 3
II Recognition
The
one I s
Q.L :tb!l.
UK Elements,
first of. the seven recognitions
own essential nature
is. to recognize
in the true state of the five
elements.
The five elements are earth, water" fire", wind,
and sky.
The PBD divides each of the elements into its-
radiant
and
defiled
aspect.
The
elements is their nature as light.
radiant
aspect
of
the
The defiled aspect o·f
the elements is their concretization under the influence of
delusion -into matercial reality.
In the state of delusion
beings perceive the five elements as real entities.
W-ith
therecognit.ion of their true nature as light comes release
3 PBD, p.123.
152
from
this
delusion.
The
five
elements· as hypostasis. o·f
reality are cut through.
In its description 'of, this . recognition. the,PBD first
points
out
that
real i ty
is
di ffere·ntia ted
between
the
objects of the five senses, which are, the external world,
and
consciousness
world.
The
combinations
and, awareness,
true
o·f
light.
phenomenal dimension
conceptualizations
brought
into
concretized
objects
of
This
the
the
internal
five. senses
isreferred,to
as
are
the
It is w,hen.d'iscu:rsive.
Ｈ｣ｨＹｳｾ､｢ｹｩｮｱｳＩＮ
based
play
into
which are
on
that
real
SUbject/object
the
entities.
duality
external
world
Reality
itself
are
becomes
is
both
external and internal, as this passage states:
In. pure
appearance.
and
reality
there
is
no
dualistic
It is taught as "both external
internal."
There
is
no
reificatlon
towards the meaning of reality; it is pure. 4
The
process
whereby
this pure reality is obfusc,ated
into deluded appearance is described as follows:
By
the
spreading
conceptualizations
forth
coarse
of
discursive·
defilement
is
spread forth as the five kinds of elements.
From thesupreme,Mt.
the
4 'PBD, p. 92 ..
cosmos)
down
to
Mera at the center [of
small
rocks,·, bits
of
153
earth and bits of wood it is spread forth as
the entlty of the earth element.
coarse.
Thus it is
From the ocean and great. rivers on
down to mere moistne.ss, mere wetness, and a
drop of water discurs,lve conceptualization is
spread forth as water.
From the
end ofl
Thus it is coarse.
burning-of the great fire at [the
the
rUbbing
aeon on down to
sticks
together
conceptualization
is
Thus it is coarse.
thecrossed-vaira
spread
the
spark of
discursive
forth' as
fire.
From the great wind of
on down
Ｈｲ､ｯＭｲｪ･Ｍｲｧｶ｡ｾｧｲ｡ｭＩ
to the smallest breeze, movements are spread
forth
by
discursive
conceptualization
wind.
Thus it is coarse.
as
The four elements
obscure the empty unreified reality.5
When this process of delusion is recognized for what it
is an intuition. of reality, will come forth as light,.
light is none other
Therefore
there
wisdom.
by
is a
This··
than the natare of the· five wisdems.. ·
intuiting
the
true
reality. of the elements
clear percep-tion of the nature of reality as
This is the recognition.of the elements.
I I Recognition·of .tb!t Three layas.
5 PBD, pp.92-93.
154
The
second
recognition
is
that
of
the three kayas.
This involves a recognition of each of the three
ｫｾｹ｡ｳＬ
yet
the PBD also holds that an intuition of the Dharmakaya alone
automatically results in an intuition of all three kayas. 6
The recognition of the Dharmakaya is the intuition that
it is pure awareness
(rig.-pa).
This is stated . clearly in,
the 'PBD:
In the teaching of instant eni ightenment,,,
awareness and the Dharmakaya are taught as a
single essence.
The essence of self-
awareness and the Dharmakaya is empty.
is the empty reality.
itself
It
clear.
This
This empty essence is
abides
in
pure
self-
clarity . . The force of clarity comes forth as
the flickering wind and. the appearing light.
It arises as experience by the power of the
flickering.
force
of
perfectly
The
the
five
lights arise as
arising five
comprehe·nd. the
wisdoms.
three
kayas;
the
These
the
Dharmakaya is clear andnon-conceptual. 7
This statement not only shows the PBD's identification
of awareness with the Dharmakaya,
it points out that the
three kayas are spontaneously realized in the Dharmakaya•..
6 PBD, p.lOO.
7 PBD, p.96.
155
How is the Dharmakaya obscured?
The PBD informs us that:
When the phenomenaL. dimension is. obscured
by
subtle
and·
coarse
de filements
the,
Dharmakaya is not recognized, so co-emergent
ignorance comes forth.
spread
forth
as
[This ig.norance 1 is
coarse
discursive
conceptualizations by causes and conditions.
By these conditions the meaning. of the three
kayas is not clear .
The meaning of reality
is also not clear and becomes spread forth as
The external object
coarseness.
obscured,
and
the
particulars
of
i tsel f
the
is
non-
deluded come forth in this way.8
It is the intuition that pure awareness is Buddhahood
itself that undercuts the process of delusion, and ·from this
a full intuition of all the three kayas will manifest.
The
recogni tion
are
of
the
Sambhogakaya
and
Nirmanakay.a
•
therefore dependent on a recognition of the Dharmakaya.
The Sambhogakaya is recognized to be the five families
of Buddhas,
wisdoms.
which· are
in fact manifestations of the five
These five wisdoms are inherent in the Dharmakaya.
This is explained as follows:
The essence of the Sa.mbhogakaya .is . that it;·
is realized to be the five kinds of wisdom in
8 PBD, p.97.
156
the
meaning
without
of
the
defilement
Dharmakaya
and
which
pure.
The
is
five
wisdoms which are the arising o.f the force of
the Dharmakayaarise as luminescence. 9
The PBD also. points out that "self-awareness possesses
the five wisdoms, and .luminescence itself arises as the five
lights,
thus
it
comes
forth
as
the
kayas
of
the
five
famil les . ,,10
What obscures the Sambhog.akaya?
Actually,
obscurant
ungiving
of
subtle
the
longing.
is
Sambhog.akaya.
(ma-ster)
obscuring
the
subtle
It
is the
defilement
against the perceptiono.f the Sambhogakaya. l1
When luminescence,. the clear aspect of the Dharmakaya,
is perceived as the five lights (azure, white, yellow, red,
and green) and these are intuited to be wisdom itself the
Sambhogakaya will be recognized.
The recognition of the Nirmanakaya depends on· intuition
•
of the Dharmakayaand Sambhogakaya.
recognition
of
kaya
th e1rmana,
N" -
•
very
ThePBD describes the
br iefl y
with
words:
The arising. of the spontaneously realized
9 PBD, p.98.
10 PBD, p.98.
11 PBD, p.99.
these·
157
luminescent light
awareness,
in clear and empty selfDharmakaya,
the
Sambhogakaya.
is
the
The arising of the force of
these ·twoto the face of the disciple appears
as
the
kaya
of
the
force
of
light
and
An appropr iate appearance ar ises
awareness.
for the six (classes ofl sentient beings, and
it appears as
the Nirmanakayas such as the
•
six sages. 12
informs
This> passage
us
that
the
Ni.rmanauya. is
•
a
manifestation ·ofawareness and wisdom, ·in· a fo.rmappropriate
to
the
beings
of
samsara.
This
conform! ty
to
samsaric
existence is the manifestation of the Buddha's compassion.
Unl ike the information on the Dharmakaya and Sambhogakaya,
where practitioners may find their own awareness to be the
Dharmakaya and,tbeir perception of color to be the wisdom of
the
Sambbogakaya,
the
PBD
does
not
present
any
direct
indication that a practitioner may discover him or hersel f
to. bea Nirmana,kaya..lt is said,. on the other ·hand, that
•
with
the
intuition
of. the
Dha,rmak.'iya
will
come
a
full
reco.gnition of all, three kayas..This may be taken to be an
indication
that
with
the
intuition
Buddhahood itself is actually realized.
Buddhahood
yet
continues
to
of
the
Dharmakaya
One who realizes
remain·· in
the .·world
of
158
appearance ma.y be said to be a Nirmanakaya, and it is in
•
this
sense
that
practitioners may
find
their status as
N.irmanakaya Buddhas .
•
Furthermore, the three kayas -- though not recognized -are
actually
present
in
ordinary living beings.
the
body,
speech. and, mind· of
The following stateme·nt clarifies
this:
At the time the Dharmakaya is recognized
·the· three kayas are recognized.
why,
the
realized,
three
kayas
therefore
kayas are the body
mind
the
spontaneously
un-intuited
speech
(lwi,;),
At the
(Ud).
are
If you ask
three
(1l92Sl),
and
time of intuition the
three kayas arise at one time.
All three are
perfected at one time in the Dharmakaya..
If '.
you
is
ask
why,
it
is
because
it
spontaneously realized. 13 .
It is
present
Herber t
in this connection that it will be useful
the
definitions
Guenther.
of
the
three
kayas
offered
-
to
by
Dr. Guenther focuses on the three kayas
in their interrelationship with persons., and it is therefore
under the present discussion of recognition -- rather than
the previous chapter delineating the three kayas· -- that I·
offer his presentation.
13 PBD,p.lOO.
159
"Dharmak'aya
Ｈ｣ｨｯｳｾ ｫｵＩ
is a
experience of Being
term for
the
in one's own existence
in the sense that, BeiDgis an absolute
(Ull)
real i ty and val ue
The exper lence is
ＨｾＩＮ
'ineffable' in the sense that any attempt to
conceptual i,ze
it
would
detract
from
validity of absoluteness by reducing
some
content
in
its
it to
mind,' which, is relative
other contents.
'Ineffable'
to
therefore does
notmeanthat'ineffabillty' is a quaIl tyof
Dharmakaya.
The experience of Being operates
,
through,
Nirmanakaya
•
(longs-sku)
Sambhogakaya
(spru1-sku) ,
both
of
and
them
referred to by the- termRUpakaya (gzugs-sku).
Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya are thus images
•
through which, we understand, our existential
value o,f Being.
In par ticu1ar, Sambhogakaya
is an empathetic experience- through which we
take
empathetic
Being,.
delight
Nirmanakaya
•
in
Dharmakaya
'expresses'
or
this
exper lence in-such away as to communicate it
to others.
for
Dharmakaya is also used as a term
Being-as-such
in
which
a1.1
that
is
participates and by virtue of it a,.14
14 Herbert Guenther, The Tantric lliJt Q.t Life, (Berkeley:
Sbambha1a,1972), pp.14&-149, note 13.
160
Dr. Guenther does not employ such terms used in the PBD·
as "awareness," "light, "luminosity," etc.
Yetbisempbasis
on the threekayasas being.. directly related to the ground
of
experience
of
a
perso.n
is
in harmony with the PBD's
exegesis.
II Recogni tion 2L .tWit. [,J.n Wisdoms
The third recognition is that of the five wisdoms.
It
has already been pointed out in the chapter on wisdom that
the
five
wisdoms
represent
the
emptiness,
clarity,
non-
duality, differentiation, and manifest force of awareness.
It was also pointed out that the five wisdoms a,re in fact
the three kayas.
What obscures the fiv·e wisdoms?
The PBD states that
the five poisons of attachment, aversion, ignorance, pride,
and jealousy are the· coarse obscurants of the five wisdoms.
Grasping
is the subtle obscurant.
Non"","recognition is the
very subtle obscurant. IS
The point of recognizing the five wisdoms, therefore,
is
to
distinguish
them
from
the
five
poisons.
This
discrimination amounts to recognition.
The PBD holds that both wisdom and the poisons arise
from the same fundamental state, which is called the Sel farising Wisdom.
1S PBD, p.10l.
Under the influence of non-recognition or
161
delusion these proceedings from the basic state of wisdom
are either identified with the five wisdoms or felt as the
poisons
which
hold
one
in
samsara. 16
When
there
is
recognition of the Self-arising Wisdom and understanding of
the differentiation between the five wisdoms and the five
poisons delusion is cleared away.
This is the recognition.
of wisdom.
ll. Recognitioq2i. .tb!!.·EightCopsgiQusnesses
The
fourth
recognition
is
that
of
the
eight
consciousnesses.
These are the five consciousnesses o·f the
sense
the
faculties,
ｾＩＬ
mental
consciousness
(Yid-kvi-rnam-
the defiled mind (nyon-mongs.,-kyi-yid), and the Total
,Base which gathers the many things .
In
the
chapter
on
the
Base,
the
Total
Base
which
gathers the many things was identified with all eight of· the
,consciousnesses, while here -- at the point of recognition - it is identified only with the eighth consciousness.
The
PBD
explains
the
functions
of
the
consciou,snesses of the senses in the following passage:
Form
is
Attachment
beautiful
seen as
and
the object of the eye.
aversion
and ugly forms.
are .born
towards
In the same way··
sound is the object of the ear; smell is the
object of the nose;
16 PBD, p.102.
taste is the object of
five
162
the tongue; touchables are the object of the
body,
etc.
[The consciousnessesl act 1 ike
servants, for they carry [their contents] to
the mental consciousne.ss, like being sent to
a lord. 17
The explanation of how sensory input is then processed
by the remaining three consciousnesses follows:
[Sense datal are carried to
"mind.
They
are
grasped
the defiled
firmly
by
such
defilements as attachment and aversion, like
a husband looks after a wife after acquiring
her.
By this they turn into tendencies
chags) .
Ｈｾ
The Total· Base which gathers these
[tendencies], which is 1 ike a vessel, is the
Total Base which gathers the many things.
In relation to the five senses, the PBD speaks of the
five "doors."
The doors referred to are the sensory organs.
The sense consciousnesses seize hold of the data intercepted
by the sense
faculties and relay this i·nformation to the
mental consciousness.
The. defiled mind·. then interprets the
data
five
in terms o·f the
defiled
poisons.
The tendencies· this
interpretation harbors are held in the Total Base
which .gathers the many things.
It is clear, therefore, that theobiects of perception
17 PBD, p.103.
163
do
not become
until
interpreted. in. terms of subject and object
they are received by the mental consciousness, which
interprets its data in terms of internal and external.
is the fundamental- delusion of subject-object duality.
This
In
the realm of the· defiled mind the poisons come into play,
and it is here that grasping at a true identity or "self"
ＨｾＩ
with reference to the sense data and the receptor of
the sense da ta appears.
The consciousness that perpetuates
the tendencies towards this deluded vision of reality is the
Total Base which gathers the many things.
The recognition of the eight consciousnesses in nothing
more or
less
then an understanding
process takes place. 1S
clearly perceived
intuition of how this
When the workings of the mind are
there will no longer arise the grasping
attitude that delusion is inherent in reality.
The delusion
of the mind will dissolve upon recognition of the nature of
the mind. 19
I I Recognition g,t··the Three Times
The fifth recognition is that of the three times.
The
PBD holds that "the recognition through dividing the three
times
is
inconceivable
18 PBD, p.l04.
19 PBD, p.l05.
20 PBD, p.l08.
for
an
ordinary
person.,,20
164
Nonetheless
it
provides
teaching
on
this
subject.
The
recogn-ition of the three times is divided between the pure
knowledge of the three times and the timeless knowledge of
intuition. 2l
The two knowledges of the three times are explained as
follows:
If
the
knowledge
of the
three times
is
recognized there are the knowledge that the
past cuts off the future, the knowledge tha,t,
the
future
meets
with
the. past,
and
the
knowledge that the five sensory bases which
issue forth in the present are lost into the
object.
This
recollection
adventitious.
cuts
off
the
is
and
the
knowledge
conceptualization
that
are
The knowledge that the past
future
is recollected in. the
mind, which creates the past.
The knowledge
that the£uture meets the past is recollected
in the mind of the future.
recollection
and
conceptual-ization
present is generated
five senses.
The adventitious
of
the
in the objects of the
These are the phenomena,
of samsara, and by the knowledge that these
three are adventi tious there come
2lpBD,. p.109.
forth the
165
three
times
which
grasping,
are· selfless,
uncreated,
uncontaminated,
from
uncontrived,
self--arising,
from the primordial.
free
a-nd
abiding
Knowledge· of. just this
is wisdom. 22
This passage represents the teaching on the three times
in full.
It is appareat that an intuitive awareness of the
past, present and future leads to the priJn(;)rdJ:al awareness
which is beyond ticme altogether.
This is the recognition of
the three times.
2l.RecognitionU
E.2Ju:. Recognitions
Ｎｾ
The sixth recognition is the four recognitions.
The
four recognitions are recognition . of the Dharmaka,ya, of the
Sambhogakaya, of the Nirmanakaya, and that thethreekayas
•
are without joining or separation.
Thisrecognitiondiffers
from that of the three kayas only in its presentat.ion.
In
this teaching. the PBD uses what it calls "the four signs of
(mtshon-pa .1 i -brda) •
signi·fication"
These
are:
1)
Vajrasattva'smirror, 2) A mask, 3) A house of light, and 4)
The sun.
given
to
The PBD offers a speech or lecture which should be
the
recognitions.
student
in
order
to
teach
each
of
these
The speech on Vajrasattva'smirror follows:
You
suitable
teaching),
22 PBD, p.I09.
student,
receptacle
listen
to
[for
me!
the
This
166
mirror
of
truly
the
the
mind,
this
Dharmakaya.
known?
Just
interior
to.
as
a
sel f-awareness
crystal,
How
there
is
no
the
must
kno·wn
exterior or interior.
not
this
be
exterior
or
must
crystal,.
be
is
Dharmaki'ya. of
to
have
no
Just as a crystal has
no front or back the Dharmakaya· also has no
front
or
back.
penetrating
undefiled;
Jus.t
clarity
pure,
as
the
a
crystal
has
Dharmakaya.
is
and penetrating.
Just as
the unconditioned five lights are inside, so
this which has no interior, the three kayas,
abides
in
inner
clarity
penetrating Dharmakaya.
inside
the
You must know tha·t
this is the empty with the vital essence of
wisdom.
A simile is that just as the five
lights arise on the outside from· the inside
of
this
[crystal),
so
the
two
R"iipak'ayas
appear for the two [sorts ofl disciples;from
the Dharmakaya. 23
The presentation on the
Sambhogakaya, which uses the
mask as a simile, is as follows:
Son of Noble Family, listen to this !
instructions
23 PBD, p.lll.
on
the
The
Sambhogakayas are that
167
just as when a mask is shown· in the face· of a
mirror
yet
reality
is
appearance
the
mirror
is
pure
and
clear.
of
an
image
pure
and
Just
inside a
clear,
as
the
mirror
is
without self nature, so the appearance of the
five
kayas
in
the dimension of reality
is
wi·thoutselfnature and abides in clarity. 24
The
speech on the
Nirma9akaya,
which should use
the
simile of a house of light yet in fact uses the simile of a
lamp reflected em water, is as follows:
Oh Son of Noble
Just
as
the
Family,
mirror
of
listen to this!
speech is pure and
clear at the time the N'irmanak-ayais applied
•
to signs and speech, just as the dimension of
the
lamps
clear
which
as
mirror,
the
are reflected on water
five
kayas
the
wisdom
is
clear
in the
face
is
of a
of sigRs(rtags,-kyi-yeas
light,
the-
as
Nirmanakaya. 25
•
The
lecture on the inseparabil i ty of the three kayas
finishes the four speeches.
Kye
certain!
24 PBD, p.112.
25 PBD, p.l12.
Ma,
Lord
of
Secrets,
take
it
as
Just as the essential nature of the
168
sun
is
together
with
its
light
rays"
the
Dharmakaya is ornamented by the compas.s iona te
Riipakaya.
Just as the light. rays of the sun
are free from dual i ty ,
from
the
primordial
the three kayas abide
without
joining
or
separation. 26
The PBD goes on to say that
there
is
Buddhahood..
(rNam-pa Kun-rig)
"when. this
is
so the Buddha Aware of All
is supreme.
intuited
Aspects
This is the, inspiration of
the four recognitions." 27
The fundamental difference between the presentation of
the recognition of the three kayas and the recognition of
the
four
recognitions
is that the latter uses simi·les to
elucidate its subject.
It is also apparent. that these four
speeches are actually intended to be delivered to students
by a guru. In this respect these passages are unique in the
PBD.
The paD does not provide any directions to the guru
for malting these presentations, yet it is not unlikely that
the guru would use such props as a crystal, a mirror, etc.
in del iver ingthese sermons.
The
outer,
inner,
last- of
the . seven recogni.tions
inner, and secre<t.
and
26 PBD, p.ll2.
27 PBD., p.l14.
secret
is
is
that of
the
"The recognition of the outer ..
the
final
settlement
of
the
169
recognitions.
It is applied to the meaningof,the view,. ,,28
The recognition of these is explained very concisely in the
PBD:
The
recognition
of
the
the
o·f
dimension.
The teaching. on the recognition
phenomenal
inner is the recognition of the two
Riipakayas.
of
the
is
recognition
of· the
appearance,
outer
the
The teaching on the recogniti,on·
secret
is
the
recognition
that
awareness is the Dharmakaya. 29
The PBD then offers a
unique passage..
It was said
above that the Atiyoga is beyond all deeds and searching and
that nothing can be done to acco>mplishwhat is complete from·
the primordiaL
Nonetheless, in this one instance the PBD
does recommend action as a means to gain recognition.
passage reads as follows:
Show a crystal to the cloudless rising sun
and set out an icon (br is-sku).
crystal
to
the
sun,
and
set
where the. 1 ight spreads out.
crystal
look.
sky.
28 PBD, p.lIS.
29 PBD, p.lIS.
and the
icon hi t
Lift up the
out the
icon
When both the
the unmoving eye,
Look at the picture and look at the
You must look when. it enters the mind
The
170
that the su,nl ight
hits the crystal and the
icon has color and
Look at the sky
form.
which is empty of both eye and cloud.
is the
icon?
appear
to
What
The color and shape actually
the
eye-sense,
but
they
arise
without self-nature. 30
After this passage the PBD offers various explanations
of the three kayas, all of which conform to thein£ormation
already
provided
in
this
thesis.
An
example
is
the
following:
Through the aspect of awareness there is
the Dharmakay.a.
appearance
of
Thro\lghthe aspect.
light
by
means
0
f
of
the
the
unhindered aspect of form, its clarity, there
is the Sambhogakaya.
flickering
five
Through the aspect of
recollection
and
awareness
sense organs variously flicker
object.
the
in the
These are the Nirmanakayas. 3l
•
Eacbof the seven recognitions is intended to provide
an
insight
into
the
nature
Perfection tradition sees it.
of
reality
as
the· Great
Upon gaining any or all of
these recognitions the follower is expected to have realized
the definitive. meaning of the Buddha's teaching.
30 PBD, p.116.
31 PBD, p.ll?
In the
171
discussion
of
Buddhist path
and result.
the
nine
vehicles .we
result.
seen that
each
is divided· into view,. meditation, practice,
Upon gaining recognition. one has truly entered
the vehicle of the Great. Perfection.
discussed
have
in terms of its view,
The following chapter,
study of the PBD,
This vehicle is also
meditation,
practice,
and
the last in this thematic
will devoted to an exposition of these
aspec.ts of the Atiyoga.
CHAPTER 9
The Great Perfection
In
the
previous
fundamental· .concepts
chapters
that
I
have
presented.
the' PBD is built upon.
the
In the
chapter on the nine vehicles I have shown the PBD's views on
the different Buddhist paths.
I
In the chapter on recognition.
have shown the PBD'sanalysis on- the true entrance into
the
highest
vehicle,
the
sudden
penetration. of
real i ty.
This highest vehicle, the ninth, is . the Atiyoga, also known
as
the Great Perfection.
The PBD is quite clear in its
statements> that recognition constitutes
Nonetheless,
a
large
and
important
the highest view.
part
of
the
PBD
is
devoted to a discussion of the view, meditation,. practice,
and results of the Great Perfection vehicle.
The Great Perfection vehicle is held by the PBD to be
the highest Buddhist path.
the
An elucidation of this path is
fundamental purpose of the PBD.
For this reason the
present. chapter is devoted· to a prese.ntation ,··ofthe view,
173
meditation,
according
previous
framework
practice,
to
the
The
PBD.
chapters
in
and results of the Great Perfection
of
this
the
which
information. provided in
thesis
PBDls
will
views
now· serve
an
Atiyoga
as
the
a
can be
properly understood.
Concerning the relationship between recognition and the
view the PBO states the following:
At the occasion of recognition of the view
there is clarity.
intuition
why,
Upon recognition, realized
immediately arises.
it
is
the
penetration.
If you ask
teaching
There·fore
of
sudden
recognitio.n
is
extremely dear. l
Why is the view
50
important?
The PBO explains this as
follows:
Concerning the
teaching on· the . necessary
purpose of the view:
The view is like an
eye; everything is clear.
for
persons
who
do
obtain Buddhahood.
impossible
to
ignorance.
If
not
It is impossible
have
the
view
to
Without the view it is
remove
the
darkness
one
practises
of
meditation
wi thout the view it will be to no purpose.
Engaging
1 PBD, p.135.
in
practice
without
the
view
is
174
devoid of a reason for practice.
view
it
is
impossible
the abode of samsara.
impossible
to
be
Withoutthe
to be liberated from
Without the view it is
liberated
from sUffering.,
Without the view it is impossible to obtain
the great bl iss.
There fore the requirement
of the view is extremely great. 2
Just what,
then,
is the view?
The PBD I S presentation
of the definition of the view is a follows:
The· definition of the view is self-aware
wisdom (rang-rig.,-ye-shes).
said
because
it
"Self"
(tsn9,)
is
need not ·rely on another.
"Aware"(t.J.g,) is said because it is different
from
material
things..
Its
time is called
"primordial"(m) as it does not come ··forth
adventitiously.
ＨｾＩ
This itself is the knowledge
of the meaning and the recognition. 3
This .statement is elucidated by the following remark:
By
a
lucid
intuition
of
the
apparent
reality of the phenomenal dimension and the
self-arising, self-aware Dharmakaya there is
the
view.
I£
this
itself
is
suddenly
recognized there will arise in this or.dinary
2 PBD, p.130.
3 PBD, p.128
175
knowledge
(shes-pa)
startlement,
lucidity,
purity, thrill, distinctness, and holiness. 4
To condense several passages relating to the view it
may be said that awareness i tsel f is empty, in tha·t, it can
be in no way defined, and clear, in that perception is its
quality.
The empty aspect of awareness and the clear aspect
are non-dual, in that the emptiness is i tsel f clear and the
clarity is
clarity,
The
itself· empty.
. These three aspects, empt·iness,
and non..,..duality,
manifest
force
of
can be conceived of separately.
this
awareness
is
action.
This
explanation represents the discussion of the five wisdoms,
and
the
five
wisdoms
-- which are manifestations of the
sel·f-aware wisdom --are the essence of the view.
The five wisdoms are also the three kayas.
The empty,
clear, and non-dual aspects of awareness are the Dharmakaya.
The
distinction
Sambhogakaya.
o·f
The
these
qualities
manifes,t
force
of
awareness
is
the
of
aw·areness
is
the
.',Nirmanakaya .
•
Upon recognition that awareness is the .Dharmakaya there
is instant intuition of the five wisdoms and three }ka'yas.
This in,tuition is exactly the view.
This
intuition
of
abandonment of grasping,
the
view
also
amounts
the
for the view is intuited directly
and not in the manner of grasping or searching.
4 PBD, p.124.
to
With this
176
abandonment of grasping comes the disappearance of subjectobject duality and the five poisons.
This is expressed in
the PBD as follows:
When
there
externally
is
no
appear ing
longing
object
self-arislngawareness
called
The
"the
is
of
and
the
clear,
Dharmakaya of
meaning
for
the
inner
this
is
self-awareness."
everything
is.
known
by
possessing the bliss of not conceptualizing
the
empty and
the
clear,
subsequent grasping.
and
This
there
is
is no
called
"the
.Dharmakaya of awareness. ,,5
It is possible that the view be misunderstood.
Such a
misunderstand is called a "ground for error" (gol-sa) in the
PBD.
The PBD presents the ways that such misunderstandings·
are eliminated by the view as follows:
The
ground
for
error
of
[a
belief
in}
cause and condition is cut off because [ the
view] is self-arising.
The ground fer error
of it being an entity is cut off because it
exists in the empty.
The ground for error of
it being empty is cut off because it exists
as clarity.
abiding
5 PBD, p.129.
The grou.nd for error of peaceful
( zhi -gnas )
is
cut
off
because,
177
awareness
error
is
The
penetrating.
of awareness
ground
for·
being alone
is cut off
because clarity arises as light.
The ground
for error of the stage o·f generation is cut
off
because
[the
view)
abides
uncontr ived and uncontaminated.
as
the
The ground
for error of meditation is cut off because it
is clear, without joining or separation.
The
ground for error of hoping for some th i,ng else
is cut off because it is exactly itself.
ground
for
error
directions
is
0
cut
without direction.
the vehicles
f
card inal and secondary
off
because
it
arises
The ground for error of
is cut off because
root of everything.
The
it is the
The ground for error of
study and thinking is cut off because it is
intui"ted by the mere teaching.
are
Other errors
impGssibl.e because one knows one r sown
true essence. 6
These statements indicate that any hypo.stapization or
objectification of the view results in a misconception.
may be
thought,
given up.
then,
that these
faults must be actively
This would also be ami·stake, however, for i:tis
recognition itself -- and not any overt act -- that removes
6 PBD. pp.130-131.
178
misconceptions about the view.
The PBD states:
The purification of faults
is that they
are not purposefully abandoned.
Faults are
purified
their
by
the
intuition
of
own-
essence, just as darkness does not abide when
the sun rises, for example. 7
It ma,y also be thought that an individual who intuits
the view,
samsara.
and hence obtains Buddhahood, also departs from·
The PBD does -not negate this possibility, but
offers another.insight into the situation:
An individual who knows and intuits these
things may exist in the abode of samsara but
the result,
[For
him]
the three kayas,
there
is
no
changing
meaninCj of the five wisdoms.
actual
is
perfected.
from
the
There is the
arising of the meaning of the self-
ar ising awareness.
By having not the least
bit of anguish one
is like a
great garuda
soaring in the sky.S
The ultimate. misconception, of the view, however, is not
in the
realm of
overt grasping.
It
is
the conceptual
holding of such concepts as Dharmakaya, clarity, emptiness,
etc. to refer to real things.
7 PBD, p.131.
8 PBD,;: p.137.
The summation of the view is
179
that it is totally beyond even, such concepts as Buddbahood.
ThePBD makes t-his very clear:
The essential Dharmakaya o·f awareness,. or
what is called "self-arising wisdom" is, from
the essence of self-awareness, the Dharmakaya
withoutsamsara and without n,!rvana; without
the
Base,
result;
without
the
without
path,
without
vehicles
and.
the
without·
i·ncUvlduals; wi thou t any Dharma or non -Dharma
whatever;
without
the
cause
and result
of
samsara; without any cause, which is taught
to be the two ignorances
the
four
result
and such things as
condi tlons, .whatever;
which
ignorance,.
is
without the.
attraction,
pride,
and
aversion,
jealousy;
without
defilements such as the five poisons; without
the six classes of samsara's sentient beings;
also without the five external elements, i.e.
without
and
earth,
wind;
even
designation.
world:]
or
Whatever.
without
the
pure
without fire
sky
is
mere
Thus there is no vessel {of the
contents
Samsara
through delusion.
nirvana.
water,
Buddha
[of
is
sentient
merely
beings.]
designated
There is nosamsara and no
Ｈｳ｡ｮｧｳｾｲｧｹ｡ｳＩ
through realiza.t.ion,
is designated
but in the essence of
180
meaning, the Dharmakaya, there is no removing
(sangs) and no increa-sing (rayas).
no- defeat
no possessing. <l.9M),
ＨｾＩＬ
transcendence
(' das) ,
accomplishment,
Thus
There
(de-bzhin),
is
no
no
[and hence no Blessed
One (bcgm-ldan,...'das)].
no
There is
There is no purity,
no
being.
There
is no
no-
Gone
One
(asheas-pa).
Arahat
who
has
removed
the
defilements.
There is no abandoning to be abandoned, or
attaining to be attained.
There is not even
an atom of the name that is called "Buddha."
There
is
not
vehicles.
the
path
he
preaches or
the
There are no nine. vehicles, cause
and resul t,· outer and
inner.
There
is no
path of means and. path of liberation.
There
[enlightenment],
nor
is
no
gradual
instantaneous
[enl ightenmentl.
There· is no
medi tatton and non-meditation,
non-practice.
There
is
no
absorption,
meditative
practice and
go.d,
mandala,
i.
expansion
or
contraction.
There
is
appearance,
permanence,
no
existence,
empty,
cessation,
non,...existence,
single,
like,
plural,
dislike,
fame,
infamy, finding, not finding, . accomplishment,
181
non,.,.accomplishment,
expanding,
removing"
non,.-removing,
action, non-action,
ｮｯ ｾｸｰ｡ｮ､ｩｮｧＬ
and so on whatever. 9
These
statements
show
that
the
view
of
the
Great
Perfection is ultimately beyond even the three kayas,
five wisdoms,
and the nine vehicles.
In the highest view
there is not even a Buddha or Buddhahood.
the absence of the
ｫｾ｡ｳＬ
the
There is also not
the wisdoms, etc.
The view of the
Atiyoga is totally beyond any defined reality whatever.
As
thePBD states:
Sim.iles,
characteristics,
recognition,
result"
view,
meditation,
delusion,
skillfulness,
are
practice,
intui tion,
mere
infer ior minds as a
conventions,
designations
and
for
suitable condition for
the path. lO
Thus the PBO, which set out from the beginning to, speak
of 'the unspeakable,
the highest view.
was
merely
to
now reasserts the inconceivability of
The information provided up to this point
accommodate
inferior
intellects,
while
the
intuition of the view of the Atiyoga is beyond even these
lofty subjects.
If, the view of the Atiyoga, is completely unspeakable,
9 PBD, pp.14S-146.
lOpBO, p.14S.
182
what can be said of the meditation of Atiyoga?
The PBD
presents the situation clearly:
The non-dual great bliss that I
'Chang]
[rDo-rje
teach is completely pure of all the
conventions of content and lack ·of content in
meditation.
For
knowledge who
intui ts the meaning of sel f-
awareness
one
there
is
separation .' from
bliss . . • .
possessing
no
profound
joining
to
or
the state of non-dual great
This is taught for the purpose
of those with very sharp senses.
For those
individuals
knowledge
of
middling
profound
non-meditation is taught as meditation.
yogis whose
small
For
force of profound knowledge
non-meditation
is
taught
to
be
is
non-
Buddhahood. 11
This
teaching
meditation
passage
shows
meditation.
or
that
For
taught
to
the
as
ｮｯ ｾｭ･､ｩｴ｡ ｩｯｮＬ
nature of self-awareness.
is
there
be
the
are
three
superior
they
have
levels
there.
of
is
no
intuited
the
For the middling not meditating
true
meditation.
For
the
inferior
meditation is ,taught to be essential.
Therefore
the
PBD
does
not
concern
itself
with
providing teachings fo.rsuperior and middling. individuals.
11 PBD, p.148.
183
It is for the inferior that the PBD speaks of meditation at
all.
This teaching. intends to demonstrate that there is no
entering
or
leaving
the
state
Dharmakaya of self-awareness.
of
pure
Meditation,
reality,
the
in the view of
the PBD, is awareness of the all-encompassing, state of pure
being.
Thus
the
meditatio.n
of
the
understanding of the view of Atiyoga.
Atiyoga
is
the
The following passage
applies this view of med.itation to the activities of daily
life:
One
sits,
wavering
but
from
one
the
sits
state
appearance of reality.
simply
of
wi thou·t
the
One moves,
selfbut one
moves simply astbe unhindered self-nature of
the self.,..luminescence of wisdom,
just as a
butter lamp and the sun go along wi th the ir
sel f-appearance.
One
sleeps,
but
one
is
joined to the force of the Base through the
space of the unwavering state of reality, the
state
of
dissolves
penetrating
into
the
awareness,
natural
Base.
and
one
A.fter
defining marks are liberated into their own
place
tbeybecome
meaning.
the great joining to the
One gets up, but one gets up in the
unwavering state.
Awareness is self-arising.,
184
and is clear as the naturally unhindered. l2
The PBD is clear in stating that there is no joining to
or
separation
from
reality,
yet
in
one
constantly within the state of reality.
sense
one
is
This is exemplified
as follows:
No matter where a bird fl ies there is no
that
ｰｬ｡｣ｾ
transcends
the sky.
No matter
where a fish swims it does not transcend the
water.··
No>· matter where a man goes he does
not transcend the. earth.
endowed who possess
Just so, the well-
intuition do not waver
f·rom the state of reality. 13
The inferior, nonetheless, require some idea of what to
do in meditation.
The comments on this in the PBD vary, but
the following is an excellent example:
Son
of
Noble
meditated
There
is
Family,
pure
the
thing
perfected
to
be
Buddhahood.
is nothing other than the meaning of
this.
Self-awareness
Dharmakaya.
Awareness,
is
exactly
the
All arisings are self-a,rising.
the
Dharmakaya,
arises
as
the
empty,
the unhindered, the inseparability of
these
two,
12 PBD, p.150.
13 PBD, p.150.
the
unhindered
discriminative
185
awareness
which·
knows
this,
and
the
unobstructedness of that, in short, the five
characteristics.
These· five ·ar ise
as.
the.
five·wisdoms. 14
This explanation of meditation is in harmony with the
PBO's contention that the Atiyoga is beyond all deeds and
searching.•
Nonetheless,.
the PBO does offeranexplana·tion
of meditation for the inferior.
This meditation is divided
into outer, inner, and secret.
It ma.yappearthat thePBO
is proposing a
type of deed for the spiritual path, which
would in turn mean that the practitioner is searching some
unattained goal.
This would be a misconce.ption, for it is
the PBD's contention . that the goal is not something to be
attained,
but
rather
immediate
present.
something
The
to
be
following
recognized
passage
in
makes
clear:
The
application
of
meditation
Ohar.makaya ·of sel f-awareness.
by the seven, recognitions.
disposition
as
is
the
confidence,.
It is intuited
and
it
if
this
is applied
If it is realized that awareness
-
Oharmakaya
the
spontaneously realized.
14 PBD, p.151.
the
It will enter the
meaning is continually clear
meditation.
is
three
kayas,
are
The five wisdoms are
the
this
186
also spontaneously realized. 15
What
secret,
are
the
then?
meditations
These
of
the
outer,
inner,
and
teachings are given. at the level of
content in-meditation, ra.ther than contentless med,ita.tion;
though in the . highest medita.tio.n.there is neither. content
nor lack of it.
The
outer
[meditation)
bod,y, speech, and mind •
is relaxation of
It
is remaining in.
the state ·of giving up deeds. 16
This statement is very clear .
abandoning
a
straining
hence the view.
attitude
towards
meditation,
and
The inner meditation is more complicated.
It involves the nerve channels
ｔＬｾ ＱＷ
The outer meditation is
winds (rlung), and
ＨｾＩＬ
which are part of thetantric physiology- of a human'
being.
The passages -describing this meditation are obscure,
as are the passages relating the secret meditation.
It is
likely that these are techniques intended to be learned from
a guru who holds the transmission for this teaching.
native
expert
not
being
available,
I
have
Such a
attempted to
portray these techniques based only on the text of the PBD
15 PBD, p.157.
16 PBD, p.153.
17
is a technical term that is very hard to
On one level it refers to the semen. On another
level it represents the unified state of reality.
No
adequate translation is therefore available, for which
reason I have used the 'Tibetan term itself.
ｴｲ｡ｮｳｬ ｴｩ ＺｾＢ
T!!9-le
187
itself.
The
doors
inner
of
[meditation]
the
winds
is
closing
the
in the nerve channels.
From the Thigle of the self-arising dimension
there is first the attraction for the world
of the body.
From this both upper and lower
nerve channels arise.
From thejoinlng of
the two [kinds of] nerve channels the knot of
the
nerve
channels
navel.
From
(rtsa-mdud)
this
the
becomes the
secondary
nerve
channels generate the splendor ·of the body.
From this the gathered entrails are expanded
in
the
heart.
From·· this
innards.
From
conceptualizations
there comes
these
ar ise.
the
discursive
From
these
the
nerve channels are conceptualized.
Whatever
appears
Uncreated .discursive
nakedly seen.
is
sel f-appearing.
conceptualizations
are
The conceptualization is not
enjoined, so the force of awareness does not
flicker
from
this.
The
profound
knowledge which intuits the presence of wind
is completely spread out.
skillful
means"
so
. abides in its own place.
utteringl
Ｇ ｈ｡Ｇｾ
It is grasped by
non-conceptualization
On the occasion [of
and "Phat" the dead winds are
188
blownou t. 18
As I
is
have noted above, this passage is obscure.
required
is
not only a
What
thorough understanding of the
tantric physiology but instruction in the technique being
explained.
This
information
must await
the
release
of
fu·r·ther information in this area .
secret
The
meditation
called three methods.
throne,
the
2)
is
presented
These are:
under
These
do
not
are
The king. sits on the
1)
The minister is held in prison, and
public.
what
represent
3)
three
SUbduing
separate
techniques, but are rather combined into a single meditative
process.
the
The ins.tructions found on the secret meditation in
PBO are
cryptic,
nonetheless I
will present the key
passages so that the reader may gain some insight into this·
technique.
o
rOo-rje
'Ozin-pa,
take
it well!
The
king is pure self-awareness, the Oharmak'iya.
The throne is this appearance as an object of
the naturally pure sky .
This is the Thigl.e
of the l.phenomena 1 ] dimension I s appearance as
an object.
from a self.
the
The meaning of just this is free
The· totally pure dimension is
dwell ing-throne
awareness.
18 PBD, pp.153-154.
Now
the
for
the
wisdom
0
f
lamp of Bodhicitta is
189
joined to the pure and clear self-nature of
water.
Furthermore,
[ the
Dharmakaya.]
abides
by
its existential mode and is diffused by its
modeo.f appearing.
of
a
peregrine
It is just as the abode
falcon
abides
in
a
rock
mountain and all the [young falcons 1 stay at
the
door,
for
example.
Just
as
in. this
simile the wisdom of awareness abides in the
precious citta (mind).
Its true essence is
actually clear in the conception. . . .
Dwelling on the throne, the appearance of
wisdom, is the unhindered self-clarity of the
Thigle of great wisdom.
wisdom abides
in awareness,
clear in awareness.
real ized
The vital essence of
Tbigle
in
the
wisdom
is
Thus the . spontaneously
defeats
defining marks and
discursive conceptualization.
abides
and
unchanging,
In this way it
and
other
than
self-appearance there is no other-appearance.
The
king
abiding
on the
throne
is
that
awareness is primordially pure in the state
of the unchanging,
unreified dimension, and
is placed in the unwavering state from that
(dimens ion). . . .
190
Defining
marks
do
not
abide
[in
this
statel, so the eye looks at the center of the
sky.
The
door of the winds
in the nerve
channels is closed.
The
meditative
absorption
of
the
Bodhisattva abides in-between the Buddha and
sentient beings.
atmosphere.
Thus - the eye looks at the
The
contracted.
throat
is
slightly
The neck is placed on top of the
shoulder.
The three nerve channels squeeze
the-passage way of the winds.
The mental absorption and mind holding of·
gods and men is for the most part a defined
mark.
.
.
.
The eye looks at the earth.
As
for this, the throat is sl ightly bent and the
neck must nearly touch the chest.
The minister is the mind
not arise above awareness,
force,
thus
it does
conceptualization.
It
conceptualization.
held
in
prison
not
It
and
above
go
is
is
has
It does
ＨｾＩＮ
together
clear
like
no
enactor of what must be done,
It
i-s not
breath.
free
the wind-
from the body,
a
in
with
non-
minister
counselor
or
for example.
so there is
Awareness has a horse, so it is like
a minister.
l,t is li.kebeing held in prison,.
191
for it has reason for conceptual ization but
cannot move.
The five sense organs. are like subjects.
They are creators of karma.
At this
they do not conceptual ize clar ity,.
time
This is
like subduing the subjects. 19
These are
meditation.
is clear.
the PBDt s
statements regarding the secret
The difficulty in interpreting these passages
It will be observed that thePBD walks a very
fine line between recommending actual practices which will
further the disciple in his or her meditation and refraining
from
recommending
path.
any
deeds or searching as part o·f the
The meditation of the king sitting, on the
throne
basically represents the conjunction of the Dharmakaya with
the
phenomenal
dimension,
bringing
together
the
apparent
subject and object into a unity.
Holding the minister in
prison
allowing
seems
concep,tualize.
to
refer
Subdui-ng
to
the
not
public
seems
the
mind
to
to
refer
to
ignoring the data of the sense facul-ties duringmedi tation.
This
analysis
understanding
is
of
at
present
these
speculation,
meditative
and
techniques
a
final
must
await
further infor-mation.
The
meditation
fundamentally
of
the
Great
Perfection,
the recognition of the view
19 PBD,pp.155-157.
then,
is
in i tsapplied
192
aspect.
The particular techniqu.es taugh.tfor the. sake of
inferior individuals are methods of applying. the intuition
of the view to an actual meditative session.
The practice of the Great Perfection is nothing more or
less
than the continual application of the view.
beyond deeds and searching.
It is
Here follow some of the PBD's
statements of Atiyoga practice:
The practice which
is without taking up
and rejecting is without a cause for action,
thusltisthe supreme practice. 20
The practice. of self-aware wisdom is. like
a
mirror
of
precious
jewels,
for
example.
Wisdom is naturally unhindered, and the selfself-appearing
arising
acts
without
attraction or aversion. 21
The practice of the meaning of the view is
like a greatgaruda soaring in the sky.
enjoys
the
It
spont,aneous perfection free fro·m
deeds. 22
The
statements
deeds or searching,
that
the practice
is
totally without
attraction or aversion,· may lead the
reader to believe that any behavior is appropriate to the
20 PBD, p.162.
21 PBD, p.162"
22 PBD, p.162.
193
Great
Perfection.
The
PBO
speaks
out
against
this
perception in the following phrase:
The practice which is without recollection
(drap...pa) must not be contrived as the way of
yoga.
It acts
like a
mad elephant.
Yoga
acts in what is bliss, without desire for a
single
thing,
just
as
a
bee
relishes
a
flower. 23
As in the section on Atiyoga meditation, there exists
the tension in thePBO between speaking of no practice ...- as
the Atiyoga is beyond deeds and searching -- and actually
recommending something to do.
The PBO divides practice into
two levels, that for the superior and tha-tfor·the middling.
and infer ior •
Concerning the super ior the PBO states the
following:
The
practice
individual
view.
This
senses.
is
is
as
applied
to
an
intuition through the. highest
is
for
the
those
perfection of
at
one
view,
time.
sought from another,
23 PBD-, p.163.
is
with very sharp
Not being separated from- this state
practice
the
it
instantaneous
meditation
The -result
and
is not
so at that very mome.nt
enl ightenment
is
194
perfected. 24
With regard to middling and inferior individuals the
PBD prescribes what it calls the practice. of the four times
and the practice of the three times.
these
practices
is
cryptic,
The in·formation on
and undoabtedlyreqaires the
explanation of a qualified native expert.
will
present
practices,
the
with
important
hopes. that
passages
the
For the present I
relating
insights
to
these
provided may be
supplemented by the future uncovering of more information.
The
four
times
are
the
past,
present,.
pri-rnordially pure time (ka-dag-Pa' i-dus).
future,
and
The PBO does not,
however, present the practice of the four times in terms of
this
division"
but
focuses on practice as
sleeping and waking up.
it relates
The text reads as follows:
Concerning the practice of the four times,
at the time of sl.eep the five ·forces [of the
senses]
are
condensed
into the Base.
The
five senses, the force of theBase,tbe clear
aspect of the Base,
external
object
which
senses is cut off.
of
relies
on
object
generates
poisons.
These,
at
time
sleep
gathered
are
so the
the
five
The dualistic appearance
and
24 PBD, p.163.
subject
are unhindered,
the
upo.n
the
the
five
of going to
Base's
clear
to
195
aspect.
Ordinary ignorance goes to sleep . .
If the recollection and conceptu'alization,
o·f a dream come forth or the recollection and
conceptualization of· awaking· come
forth at
the time the dream is purified or awakened,.
grasping to the recollection of the meaning
is
self-liberated.
according
to
the
instructions of sel f-clear awareness.
Thus
self-appearing appearance in its own place is
1 iberated
grasping;
and
if appe.arances are
spread forth by skillfulness the dream is cut
off.
The practice which 1 iberates grasping is
self-clear, like a butter lamp..
of
getting
dispersed.
up
the
Even
At the time
five objects are widely
though the
[ sense 1 obj ect appear
.
five
kinds of
• . they are taught
to be called "their own selves" (rang-rang).
They are caused to be cut off, so the force
of
flickering
wind
is
the
object
and
appearance • s force o·f form.
If conceptual.izations are bornthemeaning'
is recollected and non-grasping is born, thus
grasping is liberated.
Conceptualizations
are
not
put into the
i
196
object
of
there
is
grasping
and
When
liberation.
in
skillfulness
taking
up
the
practice conceptualizations decrease.
Self-awareness,
clear
without
the Dharmakaya,
chang1ng
in
the
is self-
four
time,s.
For example the essential nature of the sun
is not separated from clarity and exists in
accompaniment
with
it.
The
Dharmaki'ya of
awareness is like this. 25
It
is
not
entirely
clear
just
practice of the fou·r times represents.
three
times
is
somewhat
less
obscure.
what
practice
this
The practice of the
Traditionally
the
three times are said to be the past, present, and future .
In this
practice
different.
of
the
three
times,
however,
they, are
The description of the practice of the three
times follows:
For
the
sake
of
sui table
receptacles
practice
of
this way:
the
individuals
for
three
the
times
who
are
teaching,
the
is enacted in
In the three times the Dharmakaya
of self-awareness is like the sun which is
not separated from cIaI' i ty.
Sel f-awareness
is not separated from clarity, but the power
o·f .non-recognition and evil tendencies brings
25 PBD, pp.164-165.
197
fortb obscuration to tbe cIaI.' ity .
Therefore
the practice of the three times is dear.
[The
three
sel f-clear
times are:]
1) The time when
sel f-awareness
composed,
2)
The
time
agitation
fromtbis,
is
equanimously
which
and
follows
3)
The
upon
time
of
discursive conceptualization at the rising up
of the
five
poisons.
separate
from
explained
to
the
be
These
three are not
Dharmakaya.
the
final
This
is
settlement
of
practice.
At
this
the
time
agitation.comes
equanimously
composed
clarity of the Dharmakaya,
forth
state
from
in
the
thatwbich comes
forth as the object is the appearance of (the
Dharmakayafs] force.
Conceptualizationwhicb
creates
ｳ･ｬｦｾｬｩ｢･ｲ｡ｴ･､Ｌ
grasping. is
Dharmakaya
of
recollecting.
so
self-awareness
is
self-
Thus conceptualizations which
grasp at a self are emptied out.
Tberefore
conceptual ization which creates grasping
liberated
to
the
its
own
place
in
is
the, self-
appearance of appearance. 26
This practice of the three times, then, appears to be a
26 PBD, p.166.
198
technique for identifying every moment of perception as the
Dharmakaya
itself.
When
the
intuited to be. the manifest
objects
of
the
senses
are
force of the Dharmakaya,.
the
phenomenal dimension, all grasping towards them, disappears
naturally.
In this way the practice
abandonment
of
the
defilements,
is not a
but rather a
conscious
recognition
that the objects of defiled consciousness are pure in their
own na ture.
Thus it is apparent
tha t the PBD doe s bel ieve
practice without deeds and searching is not only possible
but mandatory.
The result of the Atiyoga is nothing more or less than
the direct intuition of real i ty ,the five wisdoms and the
three
kayas.
explanation
The
of
the
PBD
does
resul t
of
not
present
an
extensive
the
Great Perfection.
concise passage sums up the result of the Atiyoga:
The teaching on the way of being [of the
resul t 1
is
that
real i ty
interior or exterior.
is
clear
without
Awareness is pervasive
wi thout interior or exter ior.
The non-dual
Oharmakaya
body
is
Self-clarity
the
abides
adamantine
in
the
state
wisdom
ＨｾＩＮ
of
noo-
is
the
grasping.
Self-aware
Sambhogakaya..
The true nature.· of the object
is the five vessels of the eye of wisdom.
In
appearance they are like the rainbow colors
of the
insubstantial
sky.
Inside of these
A
199
the five Nlrmanakayas are clear.
There is no
•
conceptualization
of
the
clarity,
butter lamp which is inside a pot.
like
a
The three
kayas abide in inner clarity without joining
or separation. 27
The result of· the Atiyoga is the intuition of the three
kay-as,
and
view,
meditation,
Perfection
thus
all
is Buddhahood
practice,
amount
to
and
Dharmakaya
indivis ibill ty ,
is
result in totality.
and
27 PBD, p .. 179 .
result
finally
of
the
true
the
Great
being
and
This state of true being,
phenomenal
dime,nslon
the· Base,
the
path,
in
their
and
the
This is Buddhahood itself, primordial,
present, and all-encompassing.
Great Perfection.
In actuality,
recognition of
continuing in this recognition.
the
i tsel f.
This is the summation of the
CHAPTER 10
Conclusion
This thesis has been devoted to a study of the history
and content of the Tantra- gL Great Unreified Clear Meaning
(PBO).
The PBO claims a very ancient history, asserting its
origi.ns to be with the famed· founder of the Great Perfection
tradition dGa-rab rOo-rie who is thought to have lived in
the first century C. E.
The PBO is a "treasure" (gter-ma)
text, which is believed to have been hidden, in Tibet by the
teacher
Padmasa,mbhava
during
the eighth century C. E.. and
discovered by Guru Chos-kyidBang,..,.,phyug.in the thirteenth
century.
Guru Chos-dbang taught this text in the year 1257,
and it was
WI' i
tten down by one of his disciples.
The PBO
came to be included in the great collection of Tantrictexts
known· as
the
Ｈｲｎｹｩｮｧｾｭ｡
today.
Hundred
rGyud""" bum>,
As
such,
Thousand
and
is
Tantras
found
g.i.
in
.t.htiL rNying-ma
this
collection
the PBO represents the teachings of the
rNying-ma.. school of Tibetan Buddhism in general, and their
201
thirteenth.centurymanifestation in particular.
The essence of the
teaching of the PBD
is that all
living beings have a pure awareness (rig-paJ which is non.".
conceptual,
mind
uncontrived,
and
the
fundamental state of the
This awareness is the funda·mental ground on
ＨｾＩＮ
which both the deluded experience of samsara and the pure
experience of nirvana are based.
In this sense awareness is
referred to as the Base, as it is thebasiso·f both samsara
When this awareness is.falsely intuited based
and nirvana.
on the primary ignorance of subject-object duality and the
,emotional defilements which arise from this duality there is
the experience of samsara.
When this awareness is directly
intuited it is Buddhahood itself.
The fundamental ground of awareness is referred to as '.
the
Base
abiding
wisdom, and
from
this
wisdom all
..manifestations of wisdom are thought to come forth.
speaks
of
five
wisdoms,
in
particular,
which
other
The paD
represent
awareness in its empty, clear, non-dual, and differentiated
aspects as well as its manifest force.
As this awareness is
nothing less that Buddhahood, the PBD also identifies
awareness
-
with
Dharmakaya.
also
the
highest
principle
of
Buddhahood,
pure
the
This awareness in its manifest form as wisdom
appears
as
the
manifest
forms
of
Buddha,
the
Sambhogakayaand Nirmanakaya .
•
In keeping with the doctrines of the rNying-maschool
the
PBD
speaks
of nine vehicles,
or
levels of spiritual
202
pursuit.
The
first
eight
of
these
are
rejected
as
representing only the interpretable mean,ing (drang-donl of
the Buddha's teaching, while the ninth, or Great Perfection,
is upheld as the definitive meaning, (nges-don) of Buddha's
teaching.
It is only on this ninth level that the teachings
of instant enlightenment are propounded.
This
instant
(ngo-sgrod)
in
enlightenment
the
PBO,
for
it
is
called
is
the
"recognition"
recognition
that
awareness itself is Buddhahood that liberates from samsara
instantly.
It
practitioner
actually
Perfection.
is
The
on
the
point
enters
Great
the
of
recognition
vehicle
Perfection
of
vehicle,
that
the
or
a
Great
Atiyog8,
consists in maintaining this recognition, which is in fact
the
view,
meditation,
practice
and
result
of this path.
That is to say that the view of Atiyoga is an understanding
that awareness is Buddhahood, the meditation and practice of
Atiyoga are methods of abiding in this understanding., and
the result of Atiyoga
is
the
state of Buddhahood itself,
pure awareness.
Thus
the
PBO
teaches
that
Buddhahood,
as
pure
awareness, is both the ground of all being and the result of
the spiritual path.
The purpose in explaining the path at
all is to overcome the delusion which prevents living beings
from
intuiting. the
perfect
reality
that
underlies
this
delusion.
The present study of the PBO opens the door for much
203
further research.
other
A study is needed, first of all, of any
"treasure"
determine
texts
whether
revealed
they
by
contain
Guru
Chos-dbang
similar
teachings to those found in thePBD.
or
to
identical·
This study would also
do much to clarify many o·f the obscure points found in the
-PBD.
of
Such as study would
the
rNying-ma
century, as
PBD.
and
add to the knowledge of the state
school's
well as
Buddhology
clarify
in
the
thirteenth
the major themes found in the
The present study begins this effort in identifying.
examining
one
o·f
Guru
Chos-dbang' s
maj or
"treasure"
discoveries.
The PBD represents only one text in a vast store of
literature
devoted
to
the
Great
Perfection
tradition.
Almost none of this literature has been explored by Western
scholarship.
on
the
There remains a great deal of work to be done
history
and
development
Perfection tradition in general.
be
the
determination of
the
of
ideas
in
the
Great
Of special interest will
impact of
other
schools
of
Buddhism and historical events in Tibet upon this tradition.
This study depends on first developing specific information
about the Great Perfection as it appears throughout Tibetan
history.
The
present
study
is
intended
to
begin
this
investigation.
It
remains
to
be
determined
whether
the
concepts
expressed in such texts as the PBD are representations. of
pure Indian Buddhism transplanted into Tibet, whether there
204
are
original
Tibetan
developments
in
this
teaching,
and
whether Chinese influences might not also be present in this
tradition.
The relationship of Great Perfection thinking to other
schools of Buddhlst philosophy remains to be studied.
The
chapter on the nine vehicles in the present thesis begins
this study, yet there is certainly a great deal of research
to be done to clarify this relationship further.
As a treatise representing the esoteric branch of the
Buddhist tradition the teachings in the PBD might also be
compared
to
mystical
traditions
world and periods in history.
from
other
parts of the
Such a study will no doubt
require extensive knowledge of languages and history as well
as a
the
methodology that will allow honest interpretation of
differing
traditions.
and
similar
ideas
found
in
such
mystical
For the sake of scholars whose comprehension of
Tibetan· is limited studies such as the present one will do
much to make the ideas of the Great Perfection available to
thinkers in comparative religious traditions.
Thus it can be seen that the present study of the PBD
represents
levels.
a
beginning.
to
major
investigation on many
It has been my purpose in presenting this analysis·
of the PBD to begin this
investigation with an authentic
text representingthe·Great Perfection school ill general and
the "treasure" tradition in particular.
It is my hope that
the information provided in this study will not only stand
205
as a
will
starting point for my own research in· this area but
also
serve as an encouragement to other scbolarsto
pursue in-depth knowledge of the Great Perfection tradition.
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Appendix A
Names of the PBD
The
one
(pp.280-283)
reasons
for
hundred
lists
these
twenty
the
PBD's
names.
second
chapter
several
names
The passage
of
the
along
PBD
with
in question is of
interest in identifying the PBD, and is included for this
purpose.
The passage in question follows:
"This Tantra g,L Great Unreified Clear Meaning ,(sPros-
m:.sl. Don-gsal Chen,.-po' i rGyud) of mine teaches the instant
enlightenment into the root of all dharmas, so it is taken
to be
The Great Tantra of Sudden Penetration of the Bs.9.i
(rTsa,...ba Car,...phgg rGyud-chen).
"It teaches the one knowledge [that brings] liberation
to all, so it is taken to be !lut Tantra
o.t
.t.WtGreat K!tY.
o.t
Further Teaching (Xang-tig IDe-mig Chen,...pg' i rGyud).
"It
i tsel f
is
the
unification into equality with Buddhahood
in the present,
so it is taken to be !lut Tantra
o.t
.t.Wt Great Unifficatign !n.t.o.Egual ity !!.ilhBuddhahggd (Sangs-
rgyas mNyamcsbyor
rGyud) ..
ｃｨ･ｮｾｰｑＮＧｩ
"It teaches without reification, the final settlement,
so
Great Ta·ntra 2L Unreified Clear
ｾ
it is taken to be
rGyud...,chen).
ｍ･｡ｮｩ ｧＨｳｐｲｯｳｾ｢ｲ｡ｬｄＬｑｮＺＹｳ｡ｬ
"It
teaches
the
recognition
which
shows
one' 5
true
nature to oneself, so it -is taken to be The Tantra g.f,
Great
Secret
Recognition
(gSang=ba'i
Ngo-sprod
Ｎｾ
Chen-po'i
rGyud) .
"It perfectly teache·s the existential mode just as it
is,
so
it
is
Perfection
taken to be The· Tantraof the Great Total
from
inside
the
Great
Perfection
(rDzogs-chen
. ,Na,pg,.,.na·sYang-rOzogsChen.. . . po' i rGyud).
"It
teaches
. med! tattoo,
Unclefi.led
so
the
it
great
is
Primordial
undefiled. purity
to
ｴｾｊｴ･ｮ
Purity
be
The·
(Dri,=med··
of view and
Tantra
of
Great
Ka-dag
Chen?'""po'i
,rGyud) .
"It teaohes
qualit'ies,
Spontaneous
so
it
the spontaneous realization of faultsa·s.
taken
Real iza.t.ion
to
be
ｾ
Great Tantra of Gr.eat
(lHun...,g·rub· Chen-po,' irGyud....chen) .
It teaches the self.. . .a rising Wisdom arising in oneself, so it
is taken be to the The Tantra of .t.Wl Great Sel f . . . ar ising Qi.
Wisdom (Ye ....shes Rang-shar Cben-po' i rGyud).
"It clears away the gl--oom of
the darkness of ignorance
from the root, so it is taken to be The Tantra Qi.
Clearing Away of the Darkness· of Ignorance
Cben...,po'i rGyud).
"
Ｈｍ｡ｾｲｩｧ
ｾ
Great
Mun....sel
212
"It leaps forth from. the pit of all samsara, so it is
taken to be called The T.antra gl. the Great Leaping From the
f!.t. {Dong-sorng
ｃｨ･ｮｾｰＹ
t
i rGyud).
"It- cuts off all delusion at the root, so it is taken
to be called The
(t Khr-ul ｾｰ｡
T.antra which Cuts Delusion at
the Root
rTsad-:gcod rGyud).
"It gives liberation from the river of samsara with a
boat,
ｾ
so it is taken to be called The Tantra g,!
ｾｇｲ･｡ｴ
g.f.Llberatlop (Gru-sgrol Chen-po' i rGyud).
"It
expels
the
fever
of
the obscurations
from, its
depths, so it is taken-to be called The Tantra g,! the Great
Supre.me- ppctor ( sHan-pa .ehe -,mchogrGyud) .
"It teaches
roots,
so it is taken to __ be
Defeat 2.L
"It·
opening
the defeat of the
tW:a
Ｎｾ
four Karas. from the,ir
Great Tantra of
ｾｇｲ･｡ｴ
(gDud- t toms Chen-Do 'irGyud-chen) .
teache's
the
unexcelled' greaot .. meaning
through,
it up". so it is taken to be The Grea,t TaptraWhich
Opeps .. ta!LGreatForce <pTsal-chen. s,Prugs-pa t i rGyud-:ehen).
If
Christopher Wilkinson