Matthew T. Kapstein
Selected Articles on Tibetan Religion
During the 11th-13th centuries
All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced in any form without prior permission of the author.
The present selection includes the following articles:
2009a “The Commentaries of the Four Clever Men: A Doctrinal and Philosophical Corpus in the Bon po
rDzogs chen Tradition.” In East & West 59: 107-130.
2008 “The Sun of the Heart and the Bai rgyud ’bum.” In Tibetan Studies in Honour of Samten Karmay,
Part II. Revue d’études tibétaines 15, pp. 275-288.
2009b “Preliminary remarks on the Grub mtha’ chen mo of Bya ’Chad kha ba Ye shes rdo rje,” in Sanskrit
Manuscripts in China, ed. Ernst Steinkellner. Beijing: China Tibetology Publishing House, pp. 137-152.
2004 “Chronological Conundrums in the Life of Khyung po rnal ’byor.” In Journal of the International
Asoociation of Tibetan Studies 1: 1-14.
1992 “The Illusion of Spiritual Progress”. In Paths to Liberation, ed. Robert Buswell and Robert Gimello.
Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, pp. 193-224.
2011 “The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven: A Tibetan Defense of Mongol Imperial Religion,” in Mahāmudrā
and the Kagyü Tradition. Matthew T. Kapstein and Roger Jackson, eds. Andiast, Suisse: International
Institute for Tibetan and Buddhist Studies GmbH, pp. 259-316.
2010 “Chos-rgyal ’Phags-pa’s Advice to a Mongolian Noblewoman,” in Historical and Philological Studies
of China’s Western Regions, vol. 3, 135-143.
The Commentaries of the Four Clever Men:
A Doctrinal and Philosophical Corpus
in the Bon po rDzogs chen Tradition
by MATTHEW T. KAPSTEIN
Among the major cycles of the early rDzogs chen tradition of Bon, the Byang
sems gab pa dgu bskor (BGGK), or the ‘Ninefold Cycle of the Secrets of the
Enlightened Mind’, has not received more than passing attention from
contemporary scholarsi(1). While I shall not attempt to examine the cycle as a whole
at this time – its complexity demands more sustained treatment than is possible here
– one of the notable textual collections that is related to it will instead be my topic.
This is a group of four commentaries devoted to the BGGK, reporting the views of
four legendary masters, and said to have been discovered together in sPa gro, that is,
Paro in what is today Bhutan, by the famed physician and gter ston Khu tsha zla
'odi(2). The presumed role of the latter in the redaction of the collection provides us
with a plausible basis for its dating – at least for the dating of the received text –
placing it roughly in the second half of the 12th centuryi(3). This is quite significant,
as it permits us to relate these works to parallel developments within other traditions
(1) Brief bibliographical notices will be found in Kværne 1974: 111, no. K 109, and 139, no. T 257);
Karmay 1977: 95, nos. 53-53, and 143, no. 73.ii.5; and Martin 2001: 255, no. 20. See, too, Klein & Wangyal
2006: 327. The fundamental texts of the Byang sems gab pa dgu bskor were published in a lithographic
po ti edition by the Tibetan Bonpo Monastic Community in 1967 (Karmay’s nos. 52-53).
(2) The four commentaries were published in Gal mdo, pls. 147-498, reproducing the sMan ri
xylographic print. When citing passages from this work below, I will provide the plate number with a
point followed by the line number. Bon po hagiographical traditions concerning Khu tsha zla 'od may
be found in Karmay 1972: 145-48. Prats (1982: 35-40, 91-92), translates and transcribes the brief rnam
thar included by 'Jam mgon Kong sprul blo gros mtha' yas (1813-1899) in the gTer ston brgya rtsa'i
rnam thar, where Khu tsha is called Ku sa sman pa.
(3) Khu tsha’s lifetime may be assigned to the mid or late 12th century on the basis of a pointed
reference to him in the life of the Buddhist treasure-finder Gu ru Chos dbang (1212-1270), where the
latter’s father is presented as saying, ‘Doctor Kutsa, owing to his medical practice, neglected to serve
living beings through the doctrine’ (Dudjom 1991: 765). As Gyatso (1994) has shown, Gu ru Chos
dbang’s relationship with the Bon po gter ma tradition was in fact quite close, so that his awareness of
Khu tsha, whose activities in sPa gro placed him in regions in close communication with Chos dbang’s
native Lho brag, seems plausible. Klein & Wangyal (2006: 177, n. 40), state that Khu tsha composed
the Four Commentaries in 1037, but this early dating is not supported by the sum of the evidence available.
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of Tibetan thought during the same period, as are now becoming much better
known thanks to recent discoveries of early philosophical writings, above all the
early bKa' gdams pa corpus found at the 'Bras spungs gNas bcu lha khangi(4). As
my remarks below will make clear, the considerable interest of the Commentaries of
the Four Clever Men (mkhas pa mi bzhi'i 'grel pa, KhMZh hereafter), as they are
collectively designated, stems in large measure from their treatment of formal
doctrinal categories, exegetical methods, and philosophical arguments within a
broad context defined by the teaching of rDzogs chen. In this, they merit comparison
with the Gal mdo collection that has been recently studied by Klein & Wangyal
(2006), with which they share some features (and together with which they were in
fact published), while remaining nevertheless quite distinctive.
The BGGK itself, according to Bon po historical traditions, was first discovered
and its primary texts established by the great creative figure in the early 2nd
millennium development of Bon, gShen chen Klu dga' (996-1035)i(5). A variety of
commentarial texts seem to have been included even in this initial revelation, though
it remains a task for future research to trace out as precisely as possible the growth
of the corpus as a wholei(6). The KhMZh, our concern here, was not among the
original discoveries and is described as having been composed by the legendary
Dran pa nam mkha' (placed by tradition in the 8th century) under the general title
of the ‘Ocean of Awareness, the Four Commentaries Revealing the Intention of the
Ninefold Cycle of the Secrets of the Enlightened Mind’ (Byang sems gab pa dgu
bskor gyi dgongs pa bkrol pa'i 'grel bzhi rig pa'i rgya mtsho) (Gal mdo, pl. 147).
Though, as the colophon affirms, Dran pa nam mkha' presented the ideas of the
‘four clever men’ (mkhas pa mi bzhi) within this worki(7), it is not the case that the
four commentaries correspond to the four masters in turn. Rather, views attributed
to them are found distributed throughout the KhMZh as a whole. The four
commentaries that form the group are instead organized according to the different
(4) The publication by the dPal brtsegs dpe rnying tshogs pa of 60 volumes of early bKa' gdams pa
manuscripts over the past several years, most of them containing works dealing with philosophical
topics, hints at the possibility of previously unanticipated precision in the study of the evolution of
Tibetan thought during the crucial period of about 1100-1300. The impact of the gSang phu school on
developments within a variety of traditions, including the early bKa' brgyud, the rNying ma (in
particular, at Ka∆ thog), and the Bon po, and the various interactions among these traditions in the
formation of philosophical scholarship, have not so far been studied in depth, though it is becoming
clear that the promotion of pramå∫a?åstra at gSang phu had very broad ramifications extending far
beyond the traditions most characteristically associated with specialization in this area.
(5) I follow the dates proposed by Martin (2001: 88-89).
(6) The most substantial of these apparently early commentaries is the Sems lung gab pa dgu skor
gyi 'grel pa rgya cher bshad pa, the discovery of which is also attributed to gShen chen Klu dga' and
which was published in the 1967 lithographic edition referred to in n. 1.
(7) These four figures belong to the hoary antiquity of Bon and are listed as Zhang zhung sTong
rgyung mthu chen, Me nyag lCe tsha mKhar bu chung, lDe gyi ma tsha rMa bu chung, and Se sha ri u
chen. Refer to sPa bstan 1991: 137, 145.
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exegetical principles through which each one respectively elaborates, from various
angles, the key concerns of the cycle, namely, the ‘secrets of the enlightened mind’.
Their titles are as follows:
1. gces pa btus pa'i 'grel pa, ‘the commentary abridging cherished [instructions]’
(149.3-262.1);
2. spyi khog 'bru rnal gyi 'grel pa, ‘the commentary on the proper syllables of the
general source-text’ (262.1-440.2);
3. sgos dmigs tshags kyi 'grel pa, ‘the sieve[-like] commentary [that catches just] the
special points’ (440.2-470.4);
4. lta ba'i sgang (or: sgong) 'grel, ‘the overall commentary on the view’ (470.4-497.3).
While these are all described as ‘commentaries’, 'grel pa, with the exception of
the second they are not in fact direct glosses on the words of the primary text. They
are concerned, rather, to orient the disciple to key themes and topics in relation to
which the BGGK must be understood.
I have described the cycle as belonging to the class of rDzogs chen texts, and,
although this is in a general sense correct, it is important to note that the term
rDzogs chen does not actually occur here, and that these works refer to their subjectmatter as rig pa byang chub kyi sems, the ‘awareness that is the enlightened mind’,
thig le nyag gcig, the ‘sole seminal point’, or simply as theg pa chen po, the ‘Great
Vehicle’. In this, and in many other features, their diction recalls the rDzogs chen
sems phyogs, or ‘great perfection in the area of mind’, of the rNying ma pa tradition,
which was undergoing a similar process of redaction and elaboration during roughly
the same period as that to which our texts belongi(8). While such teachings are
regularly presented as introducing the adept to a domain that transcends ordinary
thought and discourse, what is particularly notable here, and resembling in some
respects the Gal mdo materials, is the sustained strategy of developing discursive
doxographical and dialectical frameworks precisely in order to dismantle and reach
beyond themi(9). The commentaries, in this regard, are multifaceted in their
recognition that no single approach will suit all disciples. The puzzle of speaking to
surpass speech while addressing aspirants of varied capacity had emerged as a
particularly prominent topic in Tibetan religious thought during the period of our
texts' redaction; the roughly contemporaneous Ma∫i bka' 'bum, for instance, which
shares their generalized rDzogs chen orientation, clearly thematises this in its use of
(8) The rGyud 'bum of Vairocana offers a collection of works that in many respects merit
comparison. Refer to Kapstein 2008.
(9) Klein & Wangyal (2006) consider the issues involved here at length, writing on p. 37 that:
‘Unlike inference and direct perception in classic Buddhist discussions of mind and logic, reflexively
authentic open awareness does not take the measure of anything. There is no process of
authentification associated with open awareness at all; it is simply, in and of itself, authentic to its own
nature. This is possible because, again, open awareness is not a consciousness. This is its unique
epistemological characteristic, privileging it over the other authenticators’.
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the expression ‘magical fragments of instruction’ (man ngag 'phrul gyi dum bu)
(Kapstein 2000: 153). In the BGGK and its allied literature, as well as the Gal mdo,
the Sems phyogs literature of the rNying ma pa, and the Ma∫i bka' 'bum and related
works, we find, I believe, diverse expressions of a common perspective, first arising
perhaps in the rDzogs chen materials of the late first millennium, but reaching
maturity and coming to pervade Tibetan contemplative traditions during the 12th
century, when the ramifications of the new infusion of Indian learning began to be
widely felt (cf. Germano 1994).
The fourth of the commentaries of the KhMZh, ‘the overall commentary on the
view’, offers a particularly salient example of the effort to employ discursive reason to
transcend mundane conceptual activity. It appears initially as a fairly standard survey
of elementary debating questions, presented in a manner well known from the
contemporaneous Buddhist literature on logic and epistemology (Skt. pramå∫å, Tib.
tshad ma), though following in its development the sequence of the nine vehicles
(theg pa rim pa dgu), which will be considered in greater detail below. Thus, for
instance, in the course of examining heretical (mu stegs pa) viewpoints, it introduces
the theory, derived ultimately from some passages in the Upanißads, that ‘the soul is a
permanent entity the size of a thumb’ (rtag pa'i bdag mthe bong tsam, 472.6)i(10). In
its refutation of this notion, however, our text does not simply duplicate the Buddhist
sources that surely lie in its background. The debate as it is developed here presents
the proponent of the permanent soul as being asked whether his view is
demonstrated just by affirming it (khas blangs pa tsam) or by rational proof (rigs pas
brtags na 'grub). If the first, then he is refuted by the assertion that, if what is affirmed
is so, just because it is so affirmed, then ‘gShen lha dkar po is here before us’ (mdun
'di ru gShen lha dkar po 'grub). And in the latter case, the proof offered by the soultheorist is that the åtman is required as the cause of bodily action (rtag pa mthe bong
tsam de rgyu, lus kyi bya byed 'bras bu'o). But this is criticized as being an instance of
non sequitur: ‘there’s a tiger down south, because of the clouds’ (lho phyogs na stag
yod de, sprin 'dug pa’i phyir ro). Thus, though the topic and the methods of reasoning
are well known from Buddhist writings, the precise development of the debate in this
case is not. The author of our text sought to assimilate the new learning emanating
from the Buddhist monastic colleges, but to do so according to his own lights.
His goal, however, was to move beyond discursive reason, and so far, with this talk
of the permanent soul and tigers and clouds, we remain well within its ambit. It is by
working through a progression of theories, following the pathways of refutation and
proof, that the ‘commentary on the view’ approaches its true destination, namely, the
teaching of the ‘Great Vehicle’ (483.6 ff.), and in this context, to characterize the
content of that teaching, it adopts a term employed equally in the Gal mdo: thig le nyag
(10) The locus classicus is Ka†hopanißad, II.3.17: a¥gu߆hamåtra∆ purußo ’ntaråtmå sadå janånåæ
h®daye sanniviß a∆, ‘the person who is the inner self, thumb-sized, rests ever in peoples’ hearts’.
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gcig, the ‘unique seminal point’ (or ‘unbounded wholeness’ in Klein & Wangyal’s
evocative translation). Nevertheless, in presenting this concept, our text does not rush
to assert that thig le nyag gcig is indeed beyond thought and language. Instead, in
accord with the dialectical method that it has pursued thus far, it relies on the views
attributed to the ‘four clever men’ to present even this as a topic to be debated (484.2
ff.). Thus two of the four are said to have affirmed that the ‘unique seminal point’
could be objectified in meditation (bsgom du yod pa), while the two others denied that
this could be so (bsgom du med pa). A short extract from the debate at this point will
help to illustrate the dialectical method as it has been adopted herein:
First, the assertion that it may not be an object of meditation: as for the unique
seminal point that is the essence of the view, it is sufficient that it be realized, for it
is said that [its] realization and acquisition are simultaneous.
Now the objection to that: is it the case that, having realized the unique seminal
point, it need not be an object of meditation for one who has arrived at the
conclusion, or that even beginners need not meditate? If you say that it need not be
an object of meditation for one who has arrived at the conclusion, then as he would
not have heard of ‘non-meditation’ [prior to the conclusion], on reaching the
conclusion he would be meditating [upon it], which is something that even those
who are partisans of meditation do not holdi(11). But if [one says that] beginners
are not to meditate, then that is unworthy; for, because [such beginners] are liable
to error, [non-meditation in this case] is not correct. Although, according to the
assertion of non-meditation, the unique seminal point that is the way of reality for
the Great Vehicle may not be the direct object of meditation, until the individual’s
intellect is stable there is no contradiction in [affirming] meditation.
Now, one says in objection to that: just how do you go about meditating upon
the Great Vehicle intellectually? Do you meditate upon it as existent or as
nonexistent? If you meditate upon it as existent, then it must have some
characteristic properties. But if you meditate upon it as nonexistent, you enter into
delusion, for there can be no meditating upon that which is not.i(12)
(11) The interpretation of this sentence is not quite certain, and the text may be defective at this
point. The argument, as I understand it, seems to be that, if non-meditation applies only at the point of
culmination, then, because it does not therefore apply prior to that point, one must reach the
culmination while meditating, which contradicts the original assertion of non-meditation.
(12) Gal mdo, 484.2: de las dang po bsgom du med pa'i bzhed kyi/ lta ba'i ngo bo thig le nyag gcig de/
rtogs pas [3] chog ste/ rtogs thob dus gcig yin gsung ngo/ de la brgal ba/ lta ba thig le nyag gcig de rtogs
nas/ mthar phyin pa la bsgom mi dgos sam/ las dang po la yang bsgom mi dgos/ mthar phyin nas bsgom
mi dgos zhe na/ de bsgom med ma thos pa yin te/ mthar [4] phyin nas bsgom du yod par/ phyogs gcig
bsgom yod pa rnams kyang mi 'dod pa/ las dang po ba nas bsgom du med na dmas pa yin te/ bslu bar 'gyur
bas mi mad do/ bsgom du med pa'i bzhed kyis/ theg pa chen po'i yin lugs thig le nyag gcig de/ rang la
bsgom [5] du med kyang/ gang zag la blo ma brtan gyi bar du bsgom pa la 'gal ba med ces bya'o/ de la rgol
ba na re/ khyed theg pa chen po blo ji ltar bsgom/ yod par bsgom mam med par bsgom/ yod par bsgom na
mtshan mar 'gyur la/ med par bsgom na 'khrul par 'gyur te/ [6] med pa la bsgom du med pa'i phyir ro.
The entire discussion that we find here merits comparison with the treatment of ‘meditation and nonmeditation’ in the Gal mdo, as translated in Klein & Wangyal 2006: 254-57.
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Despite some questions of interpretation as noted, it is clear that the dialectical
path explored here is not one that seeks to establish either ‘meditation’ or ‘nonmeditation’ in an ultimate sense. Rather, it urges the reader to surpass the network
of binary oppositions in which the dispute finds its source. We may refer to Klein &
Wangyal once again:
What is the relationship between apparent binary opposites such as the conditioned
and the unconditioned? The manner in which such conundrums are addressed is
worthy of our attention. They are neither resolved nor unresolved, but, to coin a
term, aresolved. (Klein & Wangyal 2006: 75).
While structural oppositions of various kinds constitute the essential condition
for constructive thought, the constructions that emerge are treated here as castles
that appear in the sky. This is not to say, however, that the architecture of these
intellectual edifices is not a matter of care. Indeed, as these brief notes on the
‘commentary on the view’ suggest, the system of the nine progressive vehicles forms
a basic framework for doctrinal exposition throughout the KhMZh. Accordingly,
close to the beginning of the ‘commentary abridging cherished [instructions]’ a
summary account of the vehicles is provided, of which I provide a complete
translation and text below. The specific approach that we find here, among the
three major Bon po systems of nine vehicles, is that of the ‘southern treasure’ (lho
gter), which also provides the basis for the exposition of the vehicles in the gZi
brjid, now well-known thanks to David Snellgrove’s pioneering The Nine Ways of
Bon (1967)i(13). The distinctive feature of the southern treasure’s teaching of the
vehicles is the ample place that it accords, in the elaboration of the first four ‘causal
vehicles’ (rgyu'i theg pa), for rites and techniques of apparently autochthonous
Tibetan origin (though the Bon po themselves would insist on the transmission of
these materials from Zhang zhung to Tibet, and before that from 'Ol mo lung ring).
In the discussion of these approaches, we find the elements of what may be fairly
described as an indigenous ethnography, as may be seen in its concern with
divination, therapy, and mortuary rites, among other matters. The four ‘fruitional
vehicles’ ('bras bu'i theg pa), by contrast, resembling more closely the ‘central
treasure’ (dbus gter) of Bon in this regard, offer a clear parallel with the major
Buddhist conceptions of the spiritual paths (Kapstein 200: 17). Finally, the
culminating ‘Great Vehicle’ (theg pa chen po), as we have already seen, is none
other than the teaching of the ‘enlightened mind’ (byang chub sems), understood
here in the terms of the rDzogs chen traditions and the real point of the teaching of
the nine vehicles as a whole.
Despite my characterization of the content of the four causal vehicles as
‘autochthonous’, it should be noted that categories derived from Indian Buddhism
(13) The system of the southern treasure is also summarized in the Bon sgo gsal byed, reproduced in
Mimaki & Karmay 1997. For a brief introduction, see, too, Wangyal 1993: 203-206.
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are on occasion in evidence even here. This is perhaps most striking in connection with
the fourth vehicle, the ‘gShen of Phenomenal Existence’ (srid gshen), where we read:
[A]lthough one abandons [in death] the inanimate body, there are three – vital
soul, intellect and mind – that wander in the round and experience pain. As for
those three, vital soul, intellect and mind: the vital soul (bla) is that which amasses
dispositions in the ground-of-all (kun gzhi); that which follows from connection
with that is mind (sems); and there it is intellect (yid) that passes through varied
pleasures and pains.
The threefold analysis of the psyche in terms of kun gzhi, sems, and yid reflects
quite closely the distinction found in such works as Asa¥ga’s Abhidharmasamuccaya,
wherein vijñåna (rnam shes), manas (yid) and citta (sems) are distinguished, the latter
being equivalent in this context to the consciousness of the ground-of-all
(ålayavijñåna, kun gzhi'i rnam shes). Disregarding minor differences in the use of this
terminology, however, the significant departure of our text from its Buddhist
antecedents is to be found in its inclusion of the bla, the vital soul of properly
Tibetan anthropologyi(14). This is a particularly clear example of a major Tibetan
cultural concept that is prominent in the ritual lives of Buddhists no less than Bon
po, but which Tibetan Buddhist doctrine ignores, no doubt due to its absence from
the Indian Buddhist lexicon. By associating the bla with the workings of the
‘ground-of-all’, the author of our work has both established a role for it in an
otherwise characteristically Buddhist conceptual scheme and, at the same time,
ensured that the bla not be relegated to the status of folklore and treated as an
artifact of Tibetan worldly belief that may be eliminated from more refined
discourse. Given the great importance of the bla to Tibetan mythologies, rituals, and
mentalities overall, it would seem that, in cases such as this, the Bon po succeed in
presenting a truer picture of the actual Tibetan belief system than do the
Buddhistsi(15).
In closing this brief introduction to the BGGK and KhMZh, it may be
worthwhile to reflect for a moment upon the endemic dispute within the study of
Tibetan religion as to who owed what to whom, a dispute that has been sometimes
couched in terms of the notion – an inappropriate and unhelpful one, I believe – of
‘plagiarism’. My examination of the texts treated here suggests, however, that,
although there were certainly influences and borrowings, these often expressed
themselves as creative appropriations, in which elements of originally disparate
traditions were brought into new relationships in the field of what we might think of
as Tibetan ‘fusion’ thought. Instead of invoking theft and plagiarism, we would do
(14) On the bla, see especially Karmay 1998.
(15) This is not to say, of course, that the bla is entirely ignored by Tibetan Buddhists. Its presence
in ritual contexts but not in doctrine would no doubt be explained by appealing to the distinction
between conventional and ultimate reality. The point remains, however, that normative doctrine seems
rather removed from the predominant contours of properly Tibetan ways of thought.
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better to imagine a dialogic (or ‘plurilogic’) process unfolding within the history of
Tibetan civilization, whereby, at various times and places, distinctive cultural
syntheses were being continually achieved or challenged. Seen in this light, works
like the BGGK and KhMZh may be seen as part of the historical trajectory that
would culminate much later in such developments as the massive organization of the
protector cults under the Fifth Dalai Lama, or of the ‘treasures’ under the aegis of
the 19th century Ris med masters. In these and other cases, patterns of
confrontation, accommodation and dialogue within Tibetan religious culture
repeatedly engaged the polarities of autochthonous (= conventional, unrefined,
wild) and Buddhist (= ultimate, cultivated, tame) beliefs and practices, undermining
and reconfiguring both at one and the same time.
TRANSLATION
The Teaching of Bon in the Ninefold Progression of Vehicles
The text translated here and transcribed below, as given in Gal mdo, 167.2-174.4,
surveys the nine vehicles according to the system of the Southern Treasure. Though the
exposition is in general quite clear, some of the vocabulary employed remains obscure,
and I have not yet succeeded in resolving all points. I thank the Ven. Kyongtrul
Rinpoche for his kind assistance in reading this work, though all faults of interpretation
that may remain are of course my responsibility alone. I would be grateful to readers
who may be aware of precise definitions of the more difficult terms noted here.
Henceforth, the greatness of our proper textual tradition in respect to the
vehicles is taught in what follows, where there are three [topics]: 1. the teaching of
the four causal Bon; 2. the teaching of the four fruitional Bon; and 3. the teaching of
the exceptional vehiclei(16).
1. Of them, in teaching the first, the four causal Bon, there are the vehicles of:
1.1. the gShen of Augury (Phya gshen), 1.2. the gShen of Appearance (sNang gshen),
1.3. the gShen of Marvels ('Phrul gshen), and 1.4. the gShen of Phenomenal
Existence (Srid gshen)i(17). Each has three subtopics: the teachings of entranceway
('jug pa'i sgo), practical action (spyod pa'i las), and realized view (rtogs pa'i lta ba).
(16) There is an annotation (mchan) at this point in the text that reads, sems kyi gnas lugs ji ltar
(sic!) bar 'dug pa'i phyir ro, ‘because it is just as is the abiding nature of mind’, however, it seems
probably to pertain to the line just above, which belongs to the preceding section of the work.
(17) The terminology employed here is quite problematic from the perspective of translation.
gShen, of course, refers to the Bon priesthood and in this context means roughly a ‘priestly way’. Phya
was at times taken to be a quasi-divine force ordering the world, or at least apportioning the fate and
fortune of living beings. Elsewhere it may refer to auguries and divinition, which better accord with the
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1.1. First, then, the three concerning the gShen of Augury:
1.1.1. The entranceway is an entrance through exorcism (gto)i(18) and medical
diagnosis (dpyad). How does one thus enter? In general, sentient beings are subject
to many congenital afflicting spirits (gdon) and so forth, and one enters [this vehicle]
in order to remove them by means of divination (mo) and exorcism. Because they
are subject to many diseases of fever and cold, etc., one enters in order to alleviate
them by medical treatment and diagnosis.
1.1.2. As for the practical action, when the effects of disease or afflicting spirits
have appeared, first [one investigates] what harm has occurred and what sort of
disease or afflicting spirit there is. You examine a disease by pulse and urine, while
afflicting spirits are examined by divination and mthangsi(19). Without halting the
application of medicine and treatment to the effects of disease, you bring about
benefits by medicine and treatment; and without halting the application of
divination and exorcism to the effects of afflicting spirits, you bring about benefits
through various sorts of exorcism. This is the practical action.
1.1.3. Concerning, now, the realized view: for example, just as a scout on the
mountain pass spies out all enemies and dangers [and so brings about their
avoidance or removal], so in this case you realize, with respect to disease, that it may
be treated and cured, and with respect to afflicting spirits, that they may be impeded
and deflected. Such is the view.
1.2.1. Second, the entranceway to the gShen of Appearance: one enters through
the gate of the four doors of incantation, the nine vocal inflections (skad gcong), and
the forty-two thanksgivings. The four doors of incantation are the door of worship
of the divine spirits, the door of removal and cleansing, the door of liberation and
ransom, and the door of Augury (phya), Enrichment (g.yang) and gNyani(20). The
nine vocal inflections are, first, three with respect to leading; then, three with respect
to transformation; and, finally, three with respect to settling. The forty-two
thanksgivings are ten with respect to the gate of worship of the divine spirits, ten
present context. sNang, though signifying ‘appearance’, has special reference here to the apparent
world taken as the play of divine and demonic forces that are engaged by ritual means. 'Phrul, always
associated with illusion and magical ability, was, as Stein (1981) has shown, associated in early times
with the marvelous insight of the king, an aspect of the semantic background that perhaps informs to
some extent the use of the term here. Srid, though referring to ‘phenomenal existence’ in general, has
particular reference here to post-mortem existence, as is seen in the emphasis that is clearly placed
upon mortuary rites. Snellgrove (1967) remains the essential Western-language source dealing with this
vocabulary in Bon po usage.
(18) gTo covers in fact a broader category of ritual than ‘exorcism’, though ‘practical magic’ would
perhaps be too broad. See now Liu 2005.
(19) mthangs is of uncertain meaning, though no doubt referring to a type of sortilege.
(20) Though gNyan is explained here with clear reference to the two classes mentioned just below,
it is perhaps in fact the remedies to these that are of concern here. This would help to explain its
inclusion with phya and g.yang.
[9]
9
with respect to removal and cleansing, ten with respect to liberation and ransom, ten
with respect to Augury and Enrichment, and one each with respect to gNyan pa sri
and gNyan po spyii(21), making forty-two in all. In that way, one enters unerringly, in
accord with the chants of thanksgiving and the methods of playing the drum.
1.2.2. As for the practical action: because all that appears and comes into being
abides as gods and demons, with respect to the 80,000 sorts of obstacles and the
eightfold groups of godlings (lha ma srin), whether in reference to past deeds or
ephemeral conditions, one amasses the several requisites and ritual items. Having
divided the beneficial deities and the harmful spirits and beseeched the deities for
final purposes, the excellent priesthood (gshen rab) provides a refuge for its lords
and patrons. At intervals, one offers ransoms (glud) to the obstacles, and thereby
reconciles opponents ('gras pa), removing their animosity ('khon pa). Thus, one
methodically extracts the nails and arrowsi(22), and gently terminates the continuity
of the illness. In the end, one oppresses the sri at the threshold and so imprisons the
sri in a pit (gcan khung).
1.2.3. Concerning the view to be realized: it is as at markettime, when the
speech of the traders is translated by their respective leaders, whereby each ones’
desires are respectively fulfilled. Similarly, in recognizing this appearance to be a
divinity, and thus beneficent, or a demon, and thus harmful, one comes to realize
that all of birth and death are fashioned by divinities and demons.
1.3.1. Third, the entranceway of the gShen of Marvels: one enters by means of
the combination of method and magic. As a method for extending the teaching of
the eternal Bon, before those who are fearful, in a location where there are savage
divinities and demons, one amasses the necessary provisions, including flesh and
blood. One enters in order to coerce the divinities and demons, such as the bdud
and srin po.
1.3.2. As for the practical action: by means of mantra, mudrå, and samådhii(23),
according to one’s degree of intimacy with and attainment of the arrogant worldly
divinities – such as the dbal mo, gyad mo, gzi ma and thang moi(24) – who are
(21) These designations seem to name classes of malignant spirits – compare the definitions
Snellgrove (1967: 297) offers for gnyen(-po) – though, if this is so, it would seem that in the present
context it should be the means for alleviating the ills caused by such spirits that is at issue. The sri,
mentioned here and in the following paragraph, are frequently associated with disease and death
among infants.
(22) thabs kyi [= kyis] gzer mda' 'phyung. The ‘nails and arrows’ (gzer mda') may perhaps be
understood metaphorically here, as referring to the sources of ailments.
(23) Of course, the use of Sanskrit vocabulary in the present context is in some respects
inappropriate. Nevertheless, because it provides a widely recognized ritual terminology, it is adopted
here for reasons of convenience.
(24) The dbal mo are well known as the female counterparts to the fierce warrior-deities, the dbal.
The remaining three groups of female spirits here mentioned are obscure, though the thang mo are
perhaps the goddesses of the plains.
10
[10]
respectful of Bon and attached to the gShen, one wins the sign of success (drod
rtags), according to the degree to which one has entrapped the enemy's soul-sign
(bla rtags), and thus one cultivates experience. Such is the practical action.
1.3.3. Concerning the view to be realized: it is like master and slave, for just as
the master puts the slave to work, the practitioner, like the master, realizes the dbal
mo and factotums (las mkhan) to be like slaves and servants. Thus, by freeing
oneself, one desires to free others. This is the view.
1.4.1. Fourth, the entranceway of the gShen of Phenomenal Existence: one
enters by way of the eighty-one means of death, the four doors to the grave, and the
360 mortuary rites. Among them, these are the eighty-one means of death: twenty
deaths due to illness through fever or chill; twenty sudden deaths due to spirits and
obstacles; twenty deaths by weapons, due to violence; twenty deaths conditioned by
the elements; and the one death due to karman, when the lifeforce is spent. This
makes eighty-one. They are summarized, moreover, in the four doors to the grave.
What are those four? The four are the pair of bkra and bkre'ui(25), and the pair of
knife and weaponi(26). As for the 360 mortuary rites: there are 120 varieties of
deceased ancestor and parental lineagei(27); 120 varieties of cemetery interiori(28);
and 120 varieties of mortuary priest, from among the entourage of the deceasedi(29).
With respect to them, one enters without error.
1.4.2. As for the practical action: with compassion and loving affection, like a
mother, one is to be skilled in the means of guiding the deceased, who turns in the
three realms and wanders among the six destinies. One unites the true sign and its
true significance (bden pa'i brda don) at the frontier of the visible world of the living
and the invisible world of the dead, and purifies [the fate of the deceased] by
emanating offerings (gtor ma) to discharge debts (lan chags)i(30) and as ransom
(glud). This is the practical action.
1.4.3. Concerning the view to be realized: it is like a dream; for, on falling
asleep, although one’s body does not budge from the bed, the mind is excited by
objects (yul las 'phros), so that one experiences various pleasures and pains.
Similarly, although one abandons [in death] the inanimate body, there are three –
(25) Perhaps ‘fortune (= bkra shis) and famine (= bkres)’?
(26) This should probably be read as meaning 'violent death' in general. Compare the usage of
mKhas pa lde'u 1987, pp. 375-76.
(27) shi rabs and cho 'drang (= cho 'brang?). This terminology, as used here, is somewhat obscure.
Cho 'brang properly refers to maternal lineage.
(28) 'dur ba'i khogs. Here, too, the reading is uncertain. The last syllable resembles khogl, which is
of course impossible.
(29) Despite the uncertainties in the precise interpretation of this passage, the division of mortuary
rites in relation to the ancestors, the space consigned to the dead, and the priesthood concerned seems
generally appropriate.
(30) Lan chags is taken to refer specifically to ‘karmic debts’, i.e., obligations stemming typically
from negative relations with others that must be discharged in this or future lives.
[11]
11
vital soul, intellect and mind – that wander in the round and experience pain. As for
those three, vital soul, intellect and mind: the vital soul (bla) is that which amasses
dispositions in the ground-of-all (kun gzhi); that which follows from connection with
that is mind (sems); and there it is intellect (yid) that passes through varied pleasures
and pains. The desire to purify that by means of three – bskal, srid and gshogsi(31) –
is the essential aspect of the view.
1.5. Thusfar, the causal vehicles have been explained.
2. Henceforth, in what follows, the four Bon of the result are taught: the
vehicles of 2.1. laymen (dge bsnyen), 2.2. ascetics (drang srong), 2.3. the pure A (a
dkar), and 2.4. the primordial gShen (ye gshen). There are three divisions of each of
them, among which:
2.1.1. Concerning the first of them, the entranceway of the laymen is an entry
via the ten virtues. Abandoning the three types of bodily evils, one enters by
preserving life, distributing donations, and practicing continence. Abandoning the
four types of evils of speech, one speaks the truth, avoids rumor, speaks gently, and
does not prattle. Abandoning the three types of mental evil, one enters by not
entertaining malicious thoughts, thinking beneficially, and thinking inerrantly.
2.1.2. The practical action is activity that, on abandoning even subtle forms of
evil, cultivates the practice even of the slightest virtues.
2.1.3. And concerning the view to be realized, just as, having first prepared the
cause, the result emerges later, so there is a cause of error in the mind, wherefore,
for the while, one earnestly practices austerities so that that error is renounced and
purified, whereupon one aspires to obtain the result later. That is the correct view.
2.2.1. Second, the entranceway of the ascetics is an entry via the four
immeasurables and the ten virtues. Among them, the four immeasurables are love,
sympathetic joy, compassion and equanimity. Of them, love is an all-embracing
nurturing, while compassion empathizes and sustains. Sympathetic joy produces
enthusiasm for the benefit of living beings. Equanimity makes no distinctions in the
[the scope of that] joy. As for the ten virtues, one enters just as before.
2.2.2. Regarding the practical action, there is the men’s moral code and the
women’s moral code. In the men’s moral code, one upholds 250 [branch
regulations] that are derived from four roots. There the four roots are [to abstain
from] killing, theft, sexual incontinence, and lying. The 250 branches derived from
them are: 50 misdeeds pertaining to killing; 50 misdeeds pertaining to theft; 50
misdeeds pertaining to sexual incontinence; 50 misdeeds pertaining to lying; and 50
misdeeds pertaining to diet and comportment. One upholds thus 250. In the
(31) The interpretation of this threefold classification of the means to purify the three elements that
are subject to transmigration remains uncertain; bskal refers to ‘luck, fortune, destiny’, srid to the
possibilities and prospects of phenomenal existence, and gshogs, literally ‘wing, flank’, perhaps to
accompanying factors of some sort.
12
[12]
women’s moral code, one upholds 360 branches derived from eight roots. Of them,
the eight roots are, in addition to the four roots given above, [to abstain from]
perverse desire, injurious thoughts, rumor, and anger. The 360 branches derived
from them are: 100 regulations to be observed by the body; 100 regulations to be
observed in speech; 100 regulations to be observed mentally; 20 regulations to be
observed in one’s comportment; 20 regulations to be observed in adornments and
colors [of clothing]; and 20 regulations to be observed in diet. These are the 360. To
maintain them [i.e., the men’s and women’s codes] is the practical action.
2.2.3. The view that is to be realized is the understanding that the objects that
are grasped externally are atoms and that the cognitions that grasp internally are
momentary. The view holds that both exist ultimately.
2.3.1. Third, the entranceway of the Alpha Pure consists of the nine approaches
that form the foundation for ritual service and the eighteen branches of attainment.
There, the nine approaches that form the foundation for ritual service are three
approaches to service that depend upon bodily mudrås, three approaches to service
that depend upon vocal b¤jas, and three approaches to service that depend upon
mental samådhi. The three bodily approaches are the mudrå of natural
accoutrements, the mudrå of the upper body [in the phase of] creation [in the form
of the divinity], and the mudrå of action involving [ritual] preparations and
transformations. The three vocal approaches are the infallible cause which is the
root mantra, the conditional mantra [in the phase of] creation, and the mantra of
practical action that is recited. The three mental approaches are the samådhi of
suchness, which is clear with respect to emptiness and selflessness, the samådhi of
all-embracing appearance, which is clear with respect to the four immeasurables,
and the causal samådhi, which is clear with respect to the body of the divinity, seedsyllables and light rays. The eighteen branches of attainment are: six branches of
common attainment; six branches of supreme attainment; and six branches of
exceptional attainment. Through these, one enters.
2.3.2. As for the practical action: in the bodily action, one practices the mudrås;
in vocal action, one recites the mantras and b¤jas; and in mental action, one
contemplates the three forms of samådhi. This is the practical action.
2.3.3. The view to be realized is like the moon arising [as a reflection] in water,
or a rainbow appearing in the sky: all of the principles (bon) comprising the
container and its contents, the round and transcendence are primordially autocognizing gnosis. One realizes the entire container that is the world to be a divine
palace, and all the living beings that are its contents within to appear in the bodies of
gods and goddesses. And one comprehends that to be apparent, but without
substantial nature.
2.4.1. Fourth, the entranceway of the Primordial gShen is an entry via the
expanse and gnosis. There, the ‘expanse’ is the unwavering ground-of-all, while
gnosis is awareness that is limpid and incessant. Thus, one enters via clarity, without
agitation.
[13]
13
2.4.2. The practical action: the host of the pure divinities are entirely perfect
with respect to their marks and signs; and to be entirely perfect, without
adulteration, is the practical action.
2.4.3. The view that is to be realized is this: one comprehends that from the
unborn space of appearance, awareness arises incessantly, or that the expanse and
gnosis are nondual.
2.5. Thusfar, the four Bon of the result have been taught. Here, it is appropriate
that the distinctions of cause and effect, or higher and lower vehicles, be put forth;
and these should be known from the Summary Commentary on the View (lTa ba'i
sgong 'grel).
3. Among them, this texti(32) is the general excellence of all of those vehicles. It
is general, because there is none among the eight vehicles [just explained] that is not
embraced in the expressive play of this Great Vehicle. And it is excellent because
there is nothing at all superior to the realization of this Great Vehicle.
3.1. Hence, first concerning the entranceway of this, the Great Vehicle, being
the general excellence of the ninefold sequence of vehicles and having been
designated [as a vehicle] so as to resemble the preceding eight vehicles, it is not
entered, as are the lower vehicles, via conceptual activity or with [the duality of]
subject and object. Rather it is entered via the self-emergent great gnosis that is an
equilibrium without duality.
3.2. The practical action is unlike that of the lower vehicles, in that there is no
activity involving efforts; rather, one practices the four actions of the view, namely,
oneness, plainness, open absence, and spontaneity.
3.3. The view that is to be realized is, unlike that of the lower vehicles, not a
view involving objective orientation.
3.4. Because the meaning of these is taught at length below, it is unnecessary to
do so here. That explains the Bon of the Great Vehicle. Thusfar, the greatness of the
proper text of [this vehicle] has been explained.
(32) I.e., the BGGK.
14
[14]
TEXT: GAL MDO, 167.2-174.4
[15]
15
16
[16]
[17]
17
18
[18]
[19]
19
20
[20]
[21]
21
22
[22]
[23]
23
REFERENCES
Achard, J.-L. (1999) L’Essence Perlée du Secret: Recherches philologiques et historiques sur l’origine de la
Grande Perfection dans la tradition rnying ma pa. Turnhout.
Dudjom Rinpoche, Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje (1991) The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its
Fundamentals and History. Transl. Gyurme Dorje and M. Kapstein. Boston.
Germano, D. (1994) Architecture and Absence in the Secret Tantric History of rDzogs Chen. Journal
of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 17, 2, pp. 203-35.
Gal Mdo: Texts Concerned with the Logical Establishment of the Authenticity of the Rdzogs-chen
Teachings of Bon. H.P. Dolanji, Tibetan Bonpo Monastic Centre, 1972.
Gyatso, J. (1994) Guru Chos-dbang’s Gter 'byung chen mo: An Early Survey of the Treasure Tradition
and Its Strategies in Discussing Bon Treasure. In P. Kværne, ed., Tibetan Studies. 2 vols., Vol. 1,
pp. 275-87. The Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture. Oslo.
Kapstein, M.T. (2000) The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism: Conversion, Contestation and Memory.
Oxford University Press. New York.
Kapstein, M.T. (2008) The Sun of the Heart and the Bai-ro-rgyud-'bum. In F. Pommaret & J.-L. Achard,
eds., Tibetan Studies In Honor Of Samten Karmay. Part II – Buddhist and Bon po Studies. In
Revue d’Études Tibétaines, 15, November 2008, (http://digitalhimalaya.com/collections/journals/
ret/): pp. 275-88.
Karmay, S.G. (1972) The Treasury of Good Sayings. London Oriental Series, 26. Oxford University
Press. London.
Karmay, S.G. (1977) A Catalogue of Bonpo Publications. The Toyo Bunko. Tokyo.
Karmay, S.G. (1998) Rituals for Recalling the bla and offering the glud. In The Arrow and the Spindle:
Studies in History, Myths, Rituals and Beliefs in Tibet. Kathmandu.
Klein, A.C. & Tenzin Wangyal (2006) Unbounded Wholeness: Dzogchen, Bon, and the Logic of the
Nonconceptual. Oxford University Press. New York.
Kværne, P. (1974) The Canon of the Tibetan Bonpos. IIJ, 16, 1, pp. 18-56; 16, 2, pp. 96-144.
Lalou, M. (1952) Rituel Bon-po des funérailles royales. JA, 240, 3, pp. 339-61.
Liu Shen-yu (2005) Tibetan Magic for Daily Life: Mi pham’s Texts on gTo-rituals. Cahiers d’ExtrêmeAsie, 15, pp. 107-26.
Martin, D. (2001) Unearthing Bon Treasures: Life and Contested Legacy of a Tibetan Scripture Revealer.
Leiden.
Mimaki, K. & S. Karmay (1997) Bon sgo gsal byed: Two Tibetan Manuscripts in Facsimile Edition of a
Fourteenth Century Encyclopedia of Bon po Doxography. The Toyo Bunko. Tokyo.
mKhas pa lde'u (1987) mKhas pa lde'us mdzad pa'i rgya bod kyi chos 'byung rgyas pa. Gangs can rig
mdzod Series, 3. Bod ljongs bod yig dpe rnying dpe skrun khang. Lhasa.
Nebesky-Wojkowitz, R. de (1956) Oracles and Demons of Tibet. London-The Hague.
Prats, R. (1982) Contributo allo studio biografico dei primi gTer-ston. Istituto Universitario Orientale.
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The Rgyud-'bum of Vairocana (1971) 8 vols. Smanrtsis Shesrig Spendzod Series, 16-23. Leh, Ladakh.
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Spa bstan rgyal bzang po (1991) bsTan pa'i rnam bshad dar rgyas gsal ba'i sgron me. Krung go'i bod kyi
shes rig dpe skrun khang. Beijing.
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Stein, R.A. (1988) Tibetica Antiqua V: La religion indigène et les Bon-po dans les manuscrits de Touenhouang. BEFEO, 77, pp. 27-56.
Wangyal, T. (1993) Wonders of the Natural Mind : The Essence of Dzogchen in the Native Bon Tradition
of Tibet. Barrytown, New York.
24
[24]
THE SUN OF THE HEART AND THE BAI-RO-RGYUD-’BUM*
Matthew T. Kapstein
EPHE, Vème Section
Background
n recent years we have seen much progress in scholarship clarifying the historical development of the Rdzogs-chen traditions of
contemplative practice. Not long ago, this topic was, to quote Churchill in a context he never dreamt of, “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,” but now — thanks in large measure to the initial impetus
provided by the late Herbert Guenther’s interpretations of the writings of
Klong-chen Rab-’byams-pa (1308-64); to the pioneering contributions on
the early formation of the Rdzogs-chen of Samten G. Karmay, to whom the
present work is dedicated; and to the access to traditional instruction provided by some of the leading contemporary teachers of Rdzogs-chen
meditation —, we face instead many particular riddles contained within a
field whose general features no longer appear to be so mysterious as formerly they did.1
One of these particular puzzles is the collection of Rdzogs-chen tantras
from the library of Rtogs-ldan Rinpoche that was published in 1971 under
the title The Rgyud ’Bum of Vairocana (hereinafter: Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum). As the
introductory remarks accompanying that work made clear, the collection
had obvious affinities with the then known edition of the Rnying-ma-rgyud’bum, but also included many tantras not identified in the available catalogue of ’Jigs-med-gling-pa (1730-1798).2 Questions surrounding the origi-
I
*
1
2
The present essay was first presented to the International Association of Tibetan Studies
meeting at Indiana University (Bloomington) in 1998. It is a pleasure to make it available in the present collection honoring a friend of many years, Samten G. Karmay,
whose work has done so much to open the present subject-matter for scholarly investigation.
For relevant background see, especially, Guenther 1975-76, 1984, 1994, Karmay 1988,
Ehrhard 1990, Dudjom 1991, Germano 1994, Achard 1999, van Schaik 2003, Klein and
Wangyal 2006, and Arguillère 2007. On the question of Rdzogs-chen in the Dunhuang
documents, first explored in the work of Karmay, see most recently Meinert 2007. There
have been, in addition, numerous popular translations of Rdzogs-chen texts that I do
not attempt to document here.
Since the original publication of Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum many additional materials for the
study of the Rnying-ma-rgyud-’bum collections have become available. The Tibetan Buddhist Nyingma Tantras Archive, a project at the University of Virginia under the direction of Prof. David Germano, is seeking to develop a complete, comparative digital
catalogue of the available sources. See also Ehrhard 1997. See now, too, the valuable resource created by Cantwell et al. 2002.
2
Tibetan Studies in honour of Samten Karmay
nal provenance of the collection, the period and lineage in which it was
compiled, remained unanswered.
In the course of my work on the English version of the late Bdud-’joms
Rin-po-che’s Rnying-ma’i chos-’byung, I became intrigued by references to
the transmission of Rdzogs-chen materials in the Zur lineage, particularly
during the 12th century. In the accompanying bibliography (Dudjom 1991
II: 269), I hazarded the guess that one of the works mentioned in the hagiography of Zhig-po Bdud-rtsis (1143-1199), namely, the Sun of the Heart of
Contemplation (Bsam-gtan snying-gi nyi-ma, Dudjom 1991 I: 654), could be
identified with a similarly titled text, the first text in fact contained in the
Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum, which is entitled Paṇ-sgrub-rnams-kyi thugs-bcud snyinggi nyi-ma, the Sun of the Heart Which is the Essential Spirit of the Scholars and
Saints.3 This guess led me to comment speculatively to several colleagues
about the possible provenance of the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum, and this snyanbrgyud came to be published, and later cited, without my prior knowledge
or permission.4 I am now fairly convinced that my original hunch was in
essence correct, and in the body of this essay will attempt to substantiate
this, at the same time drawing out what conclusions might be warranted
for our thinking about the history of the Rdzogs-chen tradition and the
Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum itself, while also now providing interested colleagues
with an appropriate citation.
The Sun of the Heart
The Sun of the Heart opens with a short introduction (3.1 - 4.1), in which
two Tibetan bhikṣu-s, Bai-ro-tsa-na (Vairocana) and his companion Legsgrub, are in the course of receiving instruction from Shri Sing-nga-pra-pata (Śrī Siṃha) in the assembly hall of Ha-he-na-ku-sha (Dhahena).5 Coming
to the exposition of the esoteric instructions in the area of mind (man-ngag
sems-phyogs), he perceives that it is the time for Tibet to be tamed by this
teaching, and so he imparts six particular teachings to them:
1. Rig-pa khu-byug
2. Rtsal-chen sprugs-pa
3
4
5
Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum, vol. 1, plates 1 - 172. In the remainder of this essay I refer to passages
from this text by page and line number, given in parentheses without further identification.
Germano 1994. The article in question in fact cited my unpublished opinions so
frequently that it is a matter of some astonishment that the editors of the Journal of the
International Association of Buddhist Studies made no effort at all to verify the many
remarks that were attributed to me there. Germano’s reference was repeated in Ehrhard
1997: 263.
Throughout this article I transcribe names and terms exactly as they are found in the
Sun of the Heart, adding other, more widely known designations in parentheses where
relevant.
The Sun of the Heart
3
3. Khyung-chen lding-ba
4. Rdo-la gser-zhun
5. Mi-nub rgyal-mtshan nam-mkha’-che
6. Rmad-du byung-ba.
With the original circumstances in which the teaching was imparted to the
Tibetans thus described, the text launches into a series of expositions of the
first five texts just enumerated, providing also brief indications regarding
the qualities of the guru and appropriate circumstances for practice. It frequently describes these teachings as having been transmitted from Kun-tubzang-po to Dga’-rab-rdo-rje, and sometimes thence to ’Jam-dpal-bshesgnyen.6 I shall not discuss here in detail the identifications of the texts that
are referred to by the titles just mentioned: the relationship between the
first five titles and the five corresponding teachings is made very clear in
the Sun of the Heart itself, and these five, moreover, correspond to the list of
five “earlier translations of the Mental Class” found in many Rnying-mapa works7—the Rig-pa khu-byug and Rdo-la gser-zhun in particular are now
very well known to contemporary students of Rdzogs-chen.8 The sixth, the
text called Rmad-du byung-ba, a phrase that occurs in the titles of several
Sems-sde tantras, is also usually included in the later lists of tantras transmitted by Śrī Siṃha to Bai-ro-tsa-na.9
This series of five teachings, which comprise more than half of the Sun
of the Heart (to 104.6), is followed by a disquisition on “exegetical methods
in general” (spyir bshad-thabs), explained in terms of the “aural transmissions relating to view, meditation, conduct and result” (lta-bsgom-spyod6
7
8
9
The pagination of the five teachings is as follows: 1. Rig-pa khu-byug (4.1 - 14.4): 2. Rtsalchen sprugs-pa (14.4-22.1); 3. Khyung-chen lding-ba (22.1-48.6); 4. Rdo-la gser-zhun (49.164.4); 5. Mi-nub rgyal-mtshan nam-mkha’-che (64.2-104..6). The close of the last interestingly remarks that “that [teaching] is not like what has been said in [the teachings of]
the translators of the dharmacakra and Śākyamuni” (de ni chos kyi ’khor lo bsgyur ba
mdzad mkhan dang/ shag thub la sogs par brjod pa lta bu ma yin no,104.5). The phrase chos kyi
’khor lo bsgyur ba mdzad mkhan may also be understood on analogy to ’khor lo bsgyur ba in
the sense of Cakravartin.
The first five are often classed as the snga-’gyur lnga, the “five early translations,” among
the eighteen tantras of the Rdzogs-chen sems-phyogs that Vairocana transmitted. There
are, however, differing redactions of these tantras in circulation and I have not yet attempted to identify the works referred to in the Sun of the Heart with actual texts to
which we now have access. On the basis of the titles alone we may propose, however,
the following general identifications, at least as a point of departure: 1. Rig-pa khu-byug
(Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum, vol. 5, no. 8.a; Kaneko no. 8.1): 2. Rtsal-chen sprugs-pa (Bai-ro-rgyud’bum, vol. 5, no. 8.b; Kaneko no. 8.3); 3. Khyung-chen lding-ba (Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum, vol. 5,
no. 8.c; Kaneko no. 8.2); 4. Rdo-la gser-zhun (=Byang-chub-kyi sems bsgom-pa, Bai-ro-rgyud’bum, vol. 5, no. 8.d; Kaneko no. 14); 5. Mi-nub rgyal-mtshan nam-mkha’-che (perhaps to be
identified with Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum, vol. 4, no. 4; see Karmay 1988, p. 23, n. 22).
Karmay 1988, Norbu and Lipman 1987.
Rmad-du byung-ba occurs in the title of Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum, vol. 2, no. 2 (cf. Kaneko nos.
10, 20, 40, 42).
4
Tibetan Studies in honour of Samten Karmay
’bras-kyi snyan-(b)rgyud, 105.1-120.6). This subject-matter is further amplified by a group of brief commentaries and outlines on four Rdzogs-chen
tantras, each given with its title in the vulgar Sanskrit often found in Tibetan works of this period, but with alternative titles at the end of each
work. The texts in question are:
1. ’Bras bu rin po che dang mnyam pa’i rgyud kyi dka’ ’grel, also called
Rin po che za ma tog ’bar ba (121.1 - 127.3).
2. Lta ba ye shes mdzod chen chos kyi dbyings, also called Rin po che
’phrul gyi lde mig (127.3 - 130.5).
3. Bsgom pa ye shes gsal ba chos kyi dbyings, also called Yang gsang
thugs kyi lde mig (130.5 - 132.6).
4. Spyod pa ye shes ’bar ba chos kyi dbyings, also called Zab mo mchog
gi lde mig (133.1 - 134.5).
The texts of the tantras commented upon here are included in the second
volume of the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum.10
Finally, it is of great interest that the work closes with an extended discussion of “exegetical methods for explaining the precepts” (man-ngag
bshad-pa’i bshad-thabs, 134.5 - 172.3). Here it treats of five major topics, explaining the teaching in terms of the significance of: (1) the history (lorgyus, 135.1 - 164.3), (2) the root [of the teaching, i.e. byang-chub-kyi sems]
(rtsa-ba, 164.3 -6), (3) yoga (rnal-’byor, 166.2-169.3),11 (4) the purpose (dgosched,166.2-169.3) and (5) the words themselves (tshig), in fact a commentary
on the Rig-pa’i khu-byug, referred to here as the “text” (gzhung, 169.3 172.3). The first and fullest of these sections is of special importance, as it is
certainly one of the earliest relatively well-developed histories of the
Rdzogs-chen traditions, it establishes the provenance of the work within
the early Zur lineage, and it seems clearly related to the later expanded
biographies of Bai-ro-tsa-na, known generally under the title ’Dra-’bag
chen-mo.12 To call this a “history,” however, is perhaps misleading, for this
10
11
12
Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum, vol. 2, nos. 1.d-g. As Mr. Philip Stanley reminded me, the four texts
commented upon here are among the Rdzogs-chen works preserved in the Peking edition of the Tibetan canon, nos. 5039-5042. Perhaps it is significant, too, that we find texts
relating to the ’Khor-ba rtsad-gcod cycle in close proximity (nos. 5031-5035), which is also
the case in Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum, vol. 2, nos. 1.a-c, and i-n. The provenance of the Rnyingma materials that are found in the Peking edition of the canon remains an intriguing
problem. The Zur, of course, were active in China under the Yuan, but more pertinent,
no doubt, was the reception by the Fifth Dalai Lama of elements of the old Zur-lugs. Cf.
Ehrhard 1997: 262-263.
This passage interestingly expands upon various explanations of the Tibetan term rnal’byor, and offers a very fine example of the manner in which some Tibetan religious circles were exploring the peculiarly Tibetan connotations of Buddhist terminology, quite
apart from questions of Sanskrit usage.
Note also that while a manuscript version of the ’Dra-’bag chen-mo is included in vol. 8
of the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum, it certainly has no original relationship with the other
The Sun of the Heart
5
section of the Sun of the Heart is primarily a lineage-list, expanded with the
inclusion of occasional myths and legends. It opens with a version of the
well-known Rdzogs-chen account of the primordial enlightenment of the
buddha Samantabhadra,13 and then lists the succession of teachers of the
Rdzogs-chen in India, providing only brief remarks on the circumstances
of transmission from Samantabhadra through Mañjuśrīmitra (135.3 138.6). The entire lineage in India is as follows, and will be seen to resemble closely the list derived from the ’Dra-’bag chen-mo as given by Karmay.14
1. Kun-tu-bzang-po (Samantabhadra)
2. Rdo-rje-sems-dpa’ (Vajrasattva)
3. Dga’-rab-rdo-rje (Dudjom 1991 I: 490-494)
4. ’Jam-dpal-bshes-gnyen (=Mañjuśrīmitra, Dudjom 1991 I:
493-493)
5. Rgyal-po ’Da’-he-na-ta
6. Sras thu-bo Ha-ti (Rājahasti)
7. Sras-mo Pa-ra-ni
8. Rgyal-po Yon-tan-lag-gi bu-mo Gnod-sbyin-mo byangchub
9. Rmad-’tshong-ma Par-na
10. Kha-che’i mkhan-po Rab-snang
11. U-rgyan-gyi mkhan-po Ma-ha-ra-tsa (= King Indrabhūti)
12. Sras-mo Go-ma-de-byi (Princess Gomadevī)
13. A-rya A-lo-ke
14. Khyi’i rgyal-po Gu-gu-ra-tsa (Kukkurāja)
15. Drang-srong Ba-sha-ti (= ṛṣi Bhāṣita)
16. Rmad-’tshong-ma Bdag-nyid-ma
17. Na-ga-’dzu-na (Nāgārjuna)
18. Gu-gu-ra-tsa phyi-ma (the later Kukkurāja)
19. ’Jam-dpal-bshes-gnyen phyi-ma (the later Mañjuśrīmitra)
20. Lha’i mkhan-po Ma-ha-ra (Devarāja)
21. Bud-dha-kug-ta (Buddhagupta)
22. Shri Sing-nga (Śrī Siṃha)
23. Dge-slong-ma Kun-dga’-ma
13
14
manuscripts comprising the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum itself, and thus should not be considered
to be properly part of this collection. One of the later redactions of the ’Dra-’bag chen-mo
is now available in English translation: Palmo 2004.
Dudjom 1991 I: 115-119 and 447-450, Kapstein 2000: chapters 9-10.
Karmay 1988: 19-21. The two lists are almost identical. Karmay was unaware that the
’Dra-’bag chen-mo was indeed repeating a received tradition at this point, and not itself
inventing the lineage it reports. The concurrence between the Sun of the Heart and the
’Dra-’bag chen-mo here possibly strengthens my suggestion that the Sun of the Heart
forms an important part of the background for the latter text.
6
Tibetan Studies in honour of Samten Karmay
24. Bye-ma-la-mu-tra (Vimalamitra)
25. ’Phags-pa Bai-ro-tsa-na
The Sun of the Heart further specifies (138.6) that numbers 18-24 constitute
the “lineage of seven,” with Bai-ro-tsa-na as the eighth added to this
group.
There are many interesting features of this list, which merits a much
fuller analysis than space permits here. I confine myself to two topics of
interest:
(a) As its inclusion in the ’Dra-’bag chen-mo demonstrates, some knowledge of the lineage as given here was preserved through at least the 14th
century, though the Rnying-ma-pa historians who do refer to it tend to abbreviate it, mentioning the figures 4-24 only as an enumeration of twentyone, twenty-three, or twenty-five generations, among whom few particular
names are given.15 This sometimes results in the enumeration of the intervening generations being forgotten altogether: in the Gsan-yig of Gterbdag-gling-pa (1646-1714), for instance, the Rdzogs-chen-sems-sde lineage
passes directly from ’Jam-dpal-bshes-gnyen through Śrī Siṃha to Bai-rotsa-na, although the lineage in Tibet that follows is closely similar to that
given in the Sun of the Heart.16 The figures in the lineage in India who were
still to some extent remembered seem to have been those also mentioned
in connection with the traditions of Mahāyoga and Anuyoga, certainly the
most important aspects of the Zur-lugs for the later Rnying-ma Bka’-ma tradition.17
15
16
17
Nyang-ral 488, for instance, mentions a lineage passing through “five hundred who
were learned, including the twenty-five generations” ((gdung rabs) nyi shu rtsa lnga la
sogs pa mkhas pa lnga brgya la brgyud). Klong-chen chos-’byung 202-203 enumerates Rgyalpo Dha-he-na-ta-lo, Sras thu-bo Ha-ti Rā-dza-has-ti, Sras-mo Pa-ra-ni, Klu’i Rgyal-po,
Gnod-sbyin-mo byang-chub and the former Kukkurāja as having beheld the visage of
Dga’-rab-rdo-rje. He further remarks that, down to Vimalamitra, there are differing
enumerations of 25, 23, 21, 7, 5, 3, and 1 generation(s) in the lineage of transmission.
Kong-sprul (1813-1899), Gdams-ngag-mdzod, vol. 12, 702.6, refers to the “twenty-one
learned ones” (mkhas-pa nyi-shu-rtsa-gcig) intervening between Dga’-rab-rdo-rje and Bairo-tsa-na in the lineage of the “eighteen empowerments of the expressive power of
awareness” (rig-pa’i rtsal-dbang bco-brgyad) according to the Kaḥ-thog tradition, and
enumerates a lineage of the Rdzogs-chen sems-sde stemming from Kaḥ-thog (704.2-5) that
passes from Dga’-rab-rdo-rje through Mañjuśrīmitra, Dha-he-ta-la, Go-ma-de-ba, Rabsnang-brtan, Tshogs-bdag, Klu-sgrub, Rdo-rje legs-brtsal, Ku-ku-rā-dza, Thor-tshugsdgu-pa and Mar-me-mdzad to Śrī Siṃha and thence to Bai-ro-tsa-na. That the Kaḥ-thog
school may have preserved a richer tradition than the central and western Tibetan
Rnying-ma-pa in regard to some of the obscure figures listed in the Indian Rdzogs-chen
lineages is apparent, too, in the Sems-sde’i rgyud-lung-gi rtsa-ba gces-btus nang-gses letshan bdun, given in Bka’-ma, vol. 17.
Gter-bdag Gsan-yig, plate 38.
Examples include Indrabhūti, Gomadevī, and Kukkurāja. See, e.g., Dudjom 1991 I: 458462. On the mahāyoga and anuyoga lineages of the Zur, refer to Mdo-dbang and Dudjom
1991 I: book two, part five.
The Sun of the Heart
7
(b) Some of the relatively obscure figures mentioned, for instance, the
nun Kun-dga’-ma, are also known to Gnubs-chen Sangs-rgyas-ye-shes’s
Bsam-gtan mig-sgron.18 Moreover, the form of Buddhagupta’s name, Buddha-kug-ta, conforms with other relatively early sources, including once
again Gnubs-chen.19 This seems to suggest that the Sun of the Heart belongs
to a stratum in the history of the Rdzogs-chen still close to that of the Bsamgtan mig-sgron, which indeed was also current within the early Zur tradition.20
Following the enumeration of the lineage in India, the lengthiest part of
the history is given over to a biography of Bai-ro-tsa-na, treating especially
of his exile in Rgyal-mo-rong in the east, and his disciple G.yu-sgra
Snying-po (138.6 - 163.5). This entire section of the work merits careful
comparison with the account of Bai-ro-tsa-na in the later ’Dra-bag chen-mo,
of which the Sun of the Heart is possibly one of the prototypes.21 The
historical discussion then closes with an enumeration of the lineage from
G.yu-sgra onwards (163.5 - 164.3). Knowledge of the figures mentioned
here was, of course, very well preserved in the later tradition.22
27. Bsnyags-gnya’ (Gnyags Jñānakumāra)
28. Sog-po Lha-dpal-gyi-ye-shes
29. Bsnubs (Gnubs) Sangs-rgyas-ye-shes
30a. Thugs-kyi sras bzhi (Pa-gor Blon-chen ’Phags-pa, So
Yes-shes (sic!) dbang-phyug, Sru Legs-pa’i sgron-ma,
Bsnubs Khung-lung (Khu-lung) Yon-tan-rgya-mtsho;
cf. Dudjom 1991 I: 612-615)
30b. Sras Ye-shes-rgya-mtsho
31. Myang-mi Shes-rab-mchog
32. Myang Ye-’byung
18
19
20
21
22
Bsam-gtan mig-sgron 316 and 412.
Norbu 1984 consistently reads “Buddhagupta,” correcting against the Bsam-gtan migsgron. The orthography of other old sources, such as the Dkar-chag ldan-kar-ma and Pelliot tibétain 44 (where it is a question of the transcription of the name Śrīgupta), however, confirms that the reading kug-ta/gug-ta does correctly represent the old Tibetan
transcription.
This is not to say, however, that it is necessarily the case that the composition of Gnubschen’s work (circa 10th century) and that of the Sun of the Heart were very close. I am
maintaining only that both are familiar with similar sources and doctrines, and unfamiliar with developments such as the snying-thig traditions, so that both seem to stem
from a common matrix within then early Rdzogs-chen tradition. Nevertheless, this does
not preclude their composition being separated by several generations.
Note that at the very beginning of this account plates 139-142 are out of order. The correct order here should be: 138, 141, 142, 139, 140, 143, 144, etc.
BA 102-141, Mdo-dbang 148-261, Gu-bkra 242-283, Dudjom 1991 I: 600-652. Significantly,
some members of this lineage are named in the labels of an exquisite ca. 13th century
thang-ka depicting the blue Vajrasattva and now in the collection of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Refer to Huntington and Huntington 1990: 309-13 and Kapstein
forthcoming.
8
Tibetan Studies in honour of Samten Karmay
33. Zur Sha-kya-’byung-gnas
34. Rtse-mo lnga dang rtse-kog (Zhang ’Gos-chung, Memyag ’Byung-grags (Khyung-’dra), Gzad Shes-rabrgyal-po, Tsag Bla-ma, Zur-chung Shes-rab-grags-pa;
cf. Dudjom 1991 I: 622, where the text reads rtse-mo
bzhi dang rtse-kog-gcig, the last being Tsag Bla-ma)
35. Ka-bzhi gdung-brgyad (only the “four pillars” (ka-bzhi)
are listed here: Skyo-ston Shakya ye-shes, Yang-kher
(Yang-kheng) bla-ma, Rlan Shakya bzang-po, Mda’dig Chos-shag (Mda’-tig Jo-shāk); cf. Dudjom 1991 I:
642, where the “eight rafters” (gdung-brgyad) are also
enumerated.)
36. Lha-rje Mda’-tsha hor-po (= Zur Sgro-phug-pa)
37. Lce-ston Rgya-nag
38. Dbus-pa Shakya bla-ma
The list then closes with the characteristic phrase, des bdag la gnang ngo,
“He bestowed it on me” (104.3). But who is this “me” that occupies the final position in the list? I would suggest that the name immediately preceding, Dbus-pa Shakya bla-ma, is likely to be identified with one of Lceston Rgya-nag’s leading disciples, Dbus-pa Ston-śāk, who is most often
referred to in the histories by his epithet Dam-pa Bse-sbrag-pa (Dudjom
1991 I: 651-2). If this is correct, the self-reference may be due to none other
than Zhig-po Bdud-rtsis, who counted Ston-śāk among his teachers and
who, as we have seen, was involved in the transmission of the Sun of the
Heart of Contemplation. Should we understand this to mean that he is the
probable author of our text? I do not think that we should rush to such a
conclusion, for the references to the Sun of the Heart in the histories suggest
that it was already more or in less in existence, perhaps as a sort of compendium of treasured Rdzogs-chen instructions of the Zur tradition,
though Zhig-po Bdud-rtsis may well have played a role in its redaction in
the form in which it is preserved in the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum today.
Implications
What, if anything, does this tell us of the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum itself? One
could, I suppose, argue that in the course of rumaging through old manuscript collections the compiler of the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum found this interesting old Sems-sde text and decided to include it, in which case it really tells
us nothing at all about the history of the collection of which it is but a
small part. I think, however, that such a scenario is rather unlikely, and
does not reflect a viable approach to the historical analysis of Tibetan
scriptural corpora. While some tantras may have incidentally entered the
The Sun of the Heart
9
Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum in this way, it is unlikely that an expository work, that is
not itself a tantra, would have come to occupy a preeminent position
within the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum in this fashion. It is on the whole better to
suppose that our collection is derived from earlier collections, and that one
of these prominently included the Sun of the Heart, prominently enough in
fact so that it would come to be placed as the very first text in the first volume of the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum. Evidence of such a collection would plausibly point to the initial core which grew into the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum. And,
indeed, there is evidence of such a collection.
Let us now consider further the reference, mentioned earlier, to the Sun
of the Heart of Contemplation in Dudjom Rinpoche’s History. It occurs in
close connection with the mention of Zhig-po Bdud-rtsis’s study of the
“Twenty-four Great Tantras of the Mental Class, including the AllAccomplishing King and the Ten Sūtras.” A generation later, his disciple Rtaston Jo-ye (b. 1163) is reported to have “studied the Triple Cycle of the
Mother and Sons, [which comprises] the All-Accomplishing King, the Ten Sūtras
which are its exegetical tantras, and the four groups of exegetical tantras
pertaining to the Tantra which Uproots Saṃsāra (’khor-ba rtsad-gcod-kyi
rgyud) … and the commentaries on meditation [including] the Six Suns of
the Heart (snying-gi nyi-ma drug)…” (Dudjom 1991 I: 658).23 This last title, I
think, may also refer to our text, for as we have noticed above, its point of
departure is the transmission of a group of six Rdzogs-chen tantras. Let us
note, too, the conspicious presence in the first several volumes of the Bairo-rgyud-’bum of materials relating to the Kun-byed-rgyal-po and the ’Khor-ba
rtsad-gcod cycle of tantras.24
Based upon what we have already seen, it is reasonable to assume that
during the period with which we are here concerned, roughly the 12th
century, there was an on-going process of compilation, within the Zur
lineage, of texts and traditions connected with that tradition’s treasured
teachings of the Rdzogs-chen Sems-sde, or Sems-phyogs, to use the expression
that is actually employed within these texts.25 The initial parts of the Bai-ro23
24
25
The entire passage mentions several other texts and teachings, including the Bsam-gtan
mig-sgron, which are also not represented in the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum. If I am correct that
the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum is derived in part from an earlier Zur-lugs collection, it must be
noted nevertheless that it is not a collection of which we have precise knowledge from
our available sources. I defer here discussion of the “twenty-four great tantras of the
mental class” (sems-phyogs-kyi rgyud-sde chen-po nyi-shu-rtsa-bzhi) referred to above. For
their enumeration as given by Klong-chen-pa, see Dudjom 1991 II: 284-285. Possibly
some of these are to be identified in Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum, vol. 1, nos. 2 and 3, etc.
Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum, vol. 1, no. 4, gives only the last of the three main sections of the Kunbyed-rgyal-po, while vol. 2, no. 1, includes the ’Khor-ba rtsad-gcod cycle. The Mdo-bcu (Kaneko no. 10) are nowhere to be found in the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum.
The threefold classification of the sde-gsum—sems-sde, klong-sde, mang-ngag-gi sde—appears to originate in the tantras of the latter category and is unknown to the other systems of Rdzogs-chen. A single reference to the threefold classification in the rnam-thar of
10
Tibetan Studies in honour of Samten Karmay
rgyud-’bum seem likely to have arisen as a result of this process, perhaps in
one of the Western Tibetan lineages stemming from the Zur,26 so that what
we find in the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum today includes a truncated version of the
Rdzogs-chen teachings of the Zur.
At the same time, we must note that large sections of the Bai-ro-rgyud’bum appear to have no relation to the known Zur traditions. Franz-Karl
Ehrhard has observed that a number of these tantras found in the Bai-rorgyud-’bum also appear in versions of the Rnying-ma’i rgyud-’bum recently
located in Nepal.27 This may suggest some filiation among the textual
traditions of the Rnying-ma-pa in the western parts of the Tibetan world,
and perhaps the earlier existence of one or more collections that at some
point were conjoined with the materials that, as I propose here, must derive from a branch of the Zur. In order to begin to sort out some of riddles
that remain here, it will be no doubt useful to begin to compare our evidence regarding the Rdzogs-chen canons in West and Central Tibet with
the available documents concerning the early Rdzogs-chen traditions of
Kaḥ-thog.28 One hopes that the tracing of textual stemma on the basis of
the available collections, in tandem with internal historical references, such
as those I have indicated here, will permit us eventually to document the
formation of the Rnying-ma Rdzogs-chen corpus in the crucial period from
the 11th through 14th centuries.
Given the importance of the Zur lineage in the history of the Rnying-ma
Bka’-ma traditions,29 it remains puzzling that we have no evidence, so far as
I have been able to locate to date, of later transmission, or even knowledge,
of the Sun of the Heart, excepting of course the mere mention of the title in
the histories.30 Even the Gsan-yig of the great Gter-dbag-gling-pa, in documenting the continuous transmission of the Zur tradition of the Rdzogschen, refers only to relatively late khrid-yig.31 One reason for this was no
doubt the great success of the snying-thig traditions, which overshadowed
the older approaches to the Rdzogs-chen, while absorbing much of their
26
27
28
29
30
31
Khyung-po rnal-’byor (written c. 1140) may be the earliest reference outside the tantras
themselves, and perhaps reflects later editorial intervention. Refer to Kapstein 2004.
Dudjom 1991 I: 702 mentions a Ya-stod zur-pa tradition, from which Klong-chen Rab’byams-pa apparently received some instruction. Besides this brief reference, however,
nothing has so far come to my attention that would shed light on the Zur traditions in
Western Tibet.
Ehrhard 1997. Note that the tantras common to the collections studied by Ehrhard are
concentrated in volumes 6-7 of the Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum (with some also in vols. 4-5), while
the works I am tracing to the Zur-lugs are concentrated in vols. 1-2.
Relevant sources include Theg-pa spyi-bcings and Rgya-mtsho mtha’-yas, on which see
Kapstein 2000, pp. 97-106.
See especially Mdo-dbang and Dudjom 1991 I: book two, part five.
E.g., BA 138, Gu-bkra 281.
Gter-bdag gsan-yig, plate 38, refers to two such works (khrid-yig che-chung) both authored
by Blo-gros-bzang-po, who precedes Gter-bdag-gling-pa himself by only three generations.
The Sun of the Heart
11
teaching.32 In the Sun of the Heart, for instance, we find much emphasis on
bringing mind to rest in its natural state (sems-nyid rnal-du phebs-pa), a
teaching that becomes formalized as part of the preliminary practice
(sngon-’gro) in the snying-thig traditions and their offshoots. Moreover,
the’Dra-‘bag chen-mo, in later times at least, no doubt supplanted whatever
older biographies of Bai-ro-tsa-na were still to be found. The great interest
shown by later Rdzogs-chen masters, particularly ’Jam-dbyangs Mkhyenbrtse’i dbang-po (1820-1892) and his disciples and colleagues, in the recovery and renewal of old and even lost teachings known only from the historical record, never seems to have extended to the early Zur-lugs.33
References
Achard 1999
Arguillère 2007
BA
Bai-ro-rgyud-’bum
Bka’-ma
Bsam-gtan mig-sgron
Cantwell et al. 2002
32
33
Jean-Luc Achard, L’Essence Perlée du Secret:
Recherches philologiques et historiques sur
l’origine de la Grande Perfection dans la tradition
rnying ma pa. Turnhout: Brepols.
Stéphane Arguillère, Vaste sphère de profusion,
Klong-chen rab-’byams (Tibet, 1308-1364), sa
vie, son œuvre, sa doctrine. Orientalia Analecta
Lovaniensa 167. Leiden: Peeters.
G. N. Roerich, trans. The Blue Annals. Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass, 1976.
The Rgyud-’bum of Vairocana. 8 vols.
Smanrtsis Shesrig Spendzod series,16-23.
Leh, 1971.
H. H. Bdud-’joms Rin-po-che, ed., Rnying ma
bka’ ma rgyas pa, Kalimpong, West Bengal:
Dupjung Lama, 1987.
Gnubs-chen Saṅs-rgyas ye-śes, Sgom gyi gnad
gsal bar phye ba bsam gtan mig sgron, Smanrtsis
Shesrig Spendzod series, vol. 74. Leh, 1974.
Cathy Cantwell, Robert Mayer and Michael
Fischer, The Rig ’dzin Tshe dbang nor bu
The ascent of the snying-thig traditions may have corresponded, too, to a general shift in
emphasis from bka’-ma to gter-ma teachings within the Rnying-ma-pa lineages.
’Jam-dbyangs Mkhyen-brtse and ’Jam-mgon Kong-sprul, however, were not altogether
without interest in the Zur. According to a story I have been told repeatedly (by the late
Dezhung Rinpoche, among others), but which I have not yet seen in written sources,
they made great efforts to capture the vital force (srog) of the great, miraculous Heruka
image of ’Up-pa-lung that had been constructed by Zur-po-che (Dudjom 1991 I: 626-28,
634-35) but which in their day no longer existed.
12
Tibetan Studies in honour of Samten Karmay
Dudjom 1991
Ehrhard 1990
Ehrhard 1997
Gdams-ngag-mdzod
Germano 1994
Gter-bdag Gsan-yig
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Guenther 1975-6
Guenther 1984
Edition of the rNying ma’i rgyud ’bum: An
Illustrated Inventory. University of Kent at
Canterbury: Centre for Social Anthropology
and Computing. Electronic publication:
http://ngb.csac.anthropology.ac.uk/Title_p
age_main.html
Dudjom Rinpoche, Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje. The
Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its
Fundamentals and History. Trans. Gyurme
Dorje and Matthew Kapstein. Boston:
Wisdom Publications. 2 vols.
Franz-Karl Ehrhard, Flügelschläge des Garuḍa:
Literar- und ideengeschichtliche Bemerkungen zu
einer Liedersammlung des rDzogs-chen. Tibetan
and Indo-Tibetan Studies 3. Stuttgart: Franz
Steiner Verlag.
Franz-Karl Ehrhard, “Recently Discovered
Manuscripts of the Rnying ma rgyud ’bum
from Nepal,” in Helmut Krasser, Michael
Torsten Much, Ernst Steinkellner, and
Helmut Tauscher, eds., Tibetan Studies:
Proceedings of the Seventh Seminar of the
International Association for Tibetan Studies.
Vienna: Austrian Academy of Science, vol. 1:
253-267.
’Jam-mgon Kong-sprul Blo-gros-mtha’-yas,
Gdams ngag mdzod: A Treasury of Instructions
and Techniques for Spiritual Realization. Delhi:
N. Lungtok and N. Gyaltsan, 1971. 12 vols.
David Germano. “Architecture and Absence
in the Secret Tantric History of rDzogs
Chen,” JIABS, 17/ 2: 203-335.
Record of Teachings Received: The Gsan yig of
Gter-bdag-gliṅ-pa ’Gyur-med-rdo-rje of Smingrol-gliṅ. New Delhi: Sanje Dorje, 1974.
Gu-ru Bkra-shis, Gu bkra’i chos ’byung.
Beijing: Krung go bod kyi shes rig dpe skrun
khang, 1990.
Herbert V. Guenther, Kindly Bent to Ease Us. 3
vols.
Emeryville,
California:
Dharma
Publications.
Herbert V. Guenther, Matrix of Mystery:
Scientific and Humanistic Aspects of rDzogschen Thought. Boston/London: Shambhala.
The Sun of the Heart
Guenther 1994
13
Herbert V. Guenther, Wholeness Lost and
Wholeness Regained: Forgotten Tales of
Individuation from Ancient Tibet. Albany: State
University of New York Press.
Huntington and Huntington 1990. Susan L. Huntington and John C.
Huntington. Leaves from the Bodhi Tree: The
Art of Pāla India (8th-12th Centuries) and Its
International Legacy. Seattle/London: The
Dayton Art Institute in association with the
University of Washington Press.
Kaneko 1982
Eiichi Kaneko, Ko-tantura Zenshū Kaidai
Mokuroku. Tokyo: Kokusho Kankōkai.
Kapstein 2000
Matthew T. Kapstein, The Tibetan Assimilation
of Buddhism: Conversion, Contestation and
Memory. New York: Oxford Unversity Press.
Kapstein 2004
Matthew T. Kapstein, “Chronological
Conundrums in the Life of Khyung-po-rnal’byor: Hagiography and Historical Time,” in
Journal of the International Asoociation of
Tibetan Studies 1: 1-14.
Kapstein forthcoming
Matthew T. Kapstein, “Between Na rak and a
hard place: Evil rebirth and the violation of
vows in early Rnying ma pa sources and
their Dunhuang antecedents,” in Matthew T.
Kapstein and Sam van Schaik, eds., Aspects of
Esoteric Buddhism at Dunhuang. Leiden: Brill.
Karmay 1988
Samten Gyaltsen Karmay, The Great
Perfection: A Philosophical and Meditative
Teaching of Tibetan Buddhism. Leiden/New
York: E. J. Brill.
Klein and Wangyal 2006
Anne Carolyn Klein and Tenzin Wangyal,
Unbounded Wholeness: Dzogchen, Bon, and the
Logic of the Nonconceptual. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Klong-chen chos-’byung
Klong-chen Rab-’byams-pa Dri-med-’od-zer,
Chos-’byung rin-po-che’i gter-mdzod bstan-pa
gsal-bar byed-pa’i nyi-’od, Gangs-can rig-mdzod
Series 17. Lhasa: Bod-ljongs bod-yig dpernying dpe-skrun-khang, 1991.
Mdo-dbang
Rig-’dzin Padma-’phrin-las, Bka’ ma mdo dbaṅ
gi bla ma brgyud pa’i rnam thar. Smanrtsis
Shesrig Spendzod series, vol. 37. Leh, 1972.
Meinert 2007
Carmen Meinert, “The Conjunction of
Chinese Chan and Tibetan rDzogs chen
14
Tibetan Studies in honour of Samten Karmay
Norbu 1984
Norbu and Lipman 1987
Nyang-ral
Palmo 2004
Peking
Rgya-mtsho mtha’-yas
Theg-pa spyi-bcings
van Schaik 2003
Thought: Reflections on the Tibetan
Dunhuang Manuscripts IOL Tib J 689-1 and
PT 699,” in Matthew T. Kapstein and
Brandon Dotson, eds., Contributions to the
Cultural History of Early Tibet, Leiden/Boston:
Brill, pp. 239-301.
Namkhai Norbu (Nam-mkha’i nor-bu), Sbaspa’i rgum-chung: The Small Collection of Hidden
Precepts, A Study of an Ancient Manuscript on
Dzogchen from Tun-huang. Arcidosso, Italy:
Shang-shung Edizioni, 1984.
Namkhai Norbu and Kennard Lipman, trans.
Mañjuśrīmitra, Primordial Experience: An
Introduction to rDzogs-chen
Meditation.
Boston/London: Shambhala.
Nyang Nyi-ma ’od-zer, Chos-’byung me-tog
snying-po sbrang-rtsi’i bcud, Gangs-can rigmdzod Series 5. Lhasa: Bod-ljongs bod-yig
dpe-rnying dpe-skrun-khang, 1988.
Ani Jinpa Palmo, trans., The Great Image: The
Life Story of Vairochana the Translator. Boston:
Shambhala.
Daisetz T. Suzuki, ed., The Tibetan Tripitaka:
Peking Edition, Kept in the Library of the Otani
University, Kyoto. Tokyo/Kyoto: Tibetan
Tripitaka Research Institute, 1961.
Karma Pakshi (but attributed by the
publisher to Karma-pa III Rang-byung-rdorje), Rgya-mtsho mtha’-yas-kyi skor. 2 vols.
Gangtok: Gonpo Tseten, 1978.
Dam-pa Bde-gshegs and Ye-shes-rgyalmtshan,
Theg-pa
spyi-bcings
rtsa-’grel.
Chengdu: Si-khron mi-rigs dpe-skrun-khang,
1997.
Sam van Schaik, Approaching the Great
Perfection: Simultaneous and Gradual Methods
of Dzogchen Practice in the Longchen Nyingtig.
Boston: Wisdom.
Preliminary remarks on the Grub mtha’ chen mo
of Bya ’Chad kha ba Ye shes rdo rje
Matthew T. Kapstein, Paris / Chicago
The recent discoveries and publications of Tibetan manuscripts
found at the Gnas bcu lha khang at ’Bras spungs Monastery (Lhasa,
T.A.R.), and elsewhere, are shedding abundant new light on the development of Buddhist philosophy in Tibet, particularly during the
seminal period of roughly 1100–1300. The age in question may be
characterized as beginning with the activites of Rngog Lo tsā ba Blo
ldan shes rab at Gsang phu, and culminating in the contributions of
Bcom ldan Rig pa’i ral gri at Snar thang, in whose work the mastery
of the Indian Buddhist philosophical tradition is fully in evidence.1
As an example of the unanticipated gems that are to be found
among these newly revealed treasures, I offer here some initial
observations on the Grub mtha’ chen mo, the “Great Siddhānta,”
of Bya ’Chad (or: Mchad)2 kha ba Ye shes rdo rje (1101–1175), a
1
On Rngog, see now Ralf Kramer, The Great Tibetan Translator: Life
and Works of rNgog Blo ldan shes rab (1059–1109), Collectanea Himalayica 1 (Munich: Indus Verlag 2007); and on Bcom ldan ral gri, refer
to Leonard van der Kuijp and Kurtis Schaeffer, An Early Tibetan Survey
of Buddhist Literature: The Bstan pa rgyas pa rgyan gyi nyi ’od of Bcom
Idan ral gri, Harvard Oriental Series (Cambridge MA: Harvard University
Press 2009).
2
As the spelling ’chad is clearly preferred in all sources known to me, I
write mchad only where directly transcribing an occurrence of that orthograph in the manuscripts.
Ernst Steinkellner, Duan Qing, Helmut Krasser (eds.), Sanskrit manuscripts in
China. Proceedings of a panel at the 2008 Beijing Seminar on Tibetan Studies,
October 13 to 17. Beijing 2009, pp. 137–152.
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Matthew T. Kapstein
well-known figure in the early history of the Bka’ gdams pa order.
Though widely famed for his contributions to blo sbyong, the systems of “spiritual exercise” that were at the heart of Bka’ gdams pa
religious training, ’Chad kha ba had not been previously known as
an author of philosophical works,3 so that the present text reveals
an unanticipated dimension of his contribution to Tibetan religious
culture.
Dge bshes ’Chad kha ba, as he is most commonly known, was
born in the Bya clan in the district of Lo ro and from childhood was
a disciple of that region’s renowned teacher, Ras chung pa Rdo rje
grags.4 The Blue Annals recounts that, on accompanying his master
to a religious assembly that was “presided over by Rngog Lo tsā ba
[i.e., Blo ldan shes rab] and [where] many kalyāṇa-mitras discussed
the siddhānta, [f]aith was born in him and he proceeded in search of
religion.”5 This is the first reference to grub mtha’ (siddhānta) that
we find in the available biographical sketches of ’Chad kha ba. It
suggests that he may have become interested in philosophical studies during his youth and that he was inspired in this no less than by
3
Thus, for example, Paṇ chen Bsod nams grags pa (1478–1554), in his
Bka’ gdams gsar rnying gi chos ’byung yid kyi mdzes rgyan, Gangs can rigs
mdzod 36 (Lhasa: Bod ljongs bod yig dpe rnying dpe skrun khang 2001),
p. 24, describes him as “bdag pas (sic = bas) gzhan gces pa’i byang chub
sems rin po che’i bka’ babs, “he to whom descended the dictum of the precious enlightened spirit, wherein other is more dear than self.” He makes
no reference to philosophical teaching on the part of ’Chad kha ba at all.
4
Not all sources lay much stress on this, however. The Sa skya pa master Ngag dbang kun dga’ bsod nams grags pa rgyal mtshan, for instance,
in his Dge ba’i bshes gnyen bka’ gdams pa rnams kyi dam pa’i chos byung
ba’i tshul legs par bshad pa ngo mtshar rgya mtsho (Xining: Mtsho sngon
mi rigs dpe skrun khang 1995), pp. 125–26, does not mention any connection with Ras chung pa. It may be that Bka’ brgyud sources, such as the
Blue Annals, sought to emphasize what was in fact an incidental relationship between ’Chad kha ba during his childhood and the renowned Bka’
brgyud master of the region from which he hailed.
5
G. N. Roerich, trans., The Blue Annals (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass 1976), p. 273.
The Grub mtha’ chen mo of Bya ’Chad kha ba Ye shes rdo rje
139
the “Great Translator” himself. However, the course of his training
led him to specialize primarily in traditions relating to the study
and practice of the Mahāyāna path. Among the textual sources mentioned in his biographies in this connection, we may note in particular the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra, the rāvaka- and Bodhisattvabhūmis, and Bka’ gdams pa summaries of the path such as the Be’u
bum sngon po. He certainly studied Abhidharma and the major treatises of Madhyamaka, but there is no hint that prāmāṇa was ever
part of his curriculum. The teacher with whom he came to be most
closely associated was the celebrated Bka’ gdams pa adept Shar ba pa
(1070–1141), himself a disciple of Po to ba Rin chen gsal (1031–1105).
It was through Shar ba pa that ’Chad kha pa was instructed in blo
sbyong, and it was owing to his mastery of this tradition of practical
spiritual discipline that he himself achieved renown. His summation
of these teachings as the Blo sbyong don bdun ma (the “Seven-Point
Mind Training”), as recorded by his disciple Se spyil pu pa (1121–
1189), has proven to be one of the most popular works of the blo
sbyong genre, and is itself the subject of numerous commentaries.6
Five works by ’Chad kha ba may now be found in the eleventh
volume of the recently published Bka’ gdams gsung ’bum phyogs
bsgrigs series:7
Plates 225–252: Mchad kha ba’i grub mtha’ chen mo (found at
Rgyal rtse Dpal ’khor chos sde)
Pl. 253–269: ’Chad kha ba’i gsung sgros thor bu (found at Se ra
dgon pa)
6
It is also said to be the single Tibetan text that has been most often
translated into Western languages. For a recent discussion, see Thupten
Jinpa, trans., Mind Training: The Great Collection, The Library of Tibetan
Classics (Boston: Wisdom 2006), pp. 9–13. The list of commentaries given
there is by no means exhaustive. The text itself is translated in the same
work, pp. 83–85, with Se spyil pu’s commentary, pp. 87–132. Further commentary is also given in pp. 313–417.
7
Bka’ gdams gsung ’bum phyogs bsgrigs glegs bam bcu gcig pa bzhugs
(Chengdu: Dpal brtsegs bod yig dpe rnying zhib ’jug khang 2006). Further
references to this volume will use the abbreviation KDSB XI.
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Matthew T. Kapstein
Pl. 271–272: Blo sbyong don bdun ma’i rtsa ba (old print, accompanied by a dedication by Shar Tsong kha pa, found in the ’Bras
spungs gnas bcu lha khang)
Pl. 273–297: Dge bshes Glang ri thang pa’i Blo sbyong tshig
rkang brgyad ma’i ’grel ba (from the personal collection of
Mkhan rin po che Tshul khrims rgyal mtshan)
Pl. 299–303: Rom po’i bshad pa’i gdams ngag (found in the ’Bras
spungs gnas bcu lha khang)
Four of these are manuscripts of undetermined date. The third text,
however, the Blo sbyong don bdun ma’i rtsa ba is an interesting old
xylographic print, including a dedication of merit by “Shar Tsong
kha pa” (pl. 272.3–6), i.e., Tsong kha pa Blo bzang grags pa (1357–
1419). This is followed, however, by a brief printer’s colophon.8 It
may well be the case, therefore, that the printer (or his patron) added
the dedication, drawing it from Tsong kha pa’s works, and that it
was not written by the latter expressly for this publication. If it were,
however, it would be of considerable interest for the history of Tibetan xylographic printing. We may note, too, that the fourth work
listed, ’Chad kha pa’s commentary on Glang ri thang pa’s famed Blo
sbyong tshig rkang brgyad ma, has long been available in the Blo
sbyong brgya rtsa collection.9
It is in the first of ’Chad kha ba’s works above, however, that his
interest in philosophical studies is most in evidence, for here we find
one of the earliest examples of a treatise on siddhānta by a Tibetan
author.10 It is, moreover, a work that is unusual in respect of certain
8
The printer’s colophon (KDSB XI, 272.6–7) reads: brkos mkhan
mkhas pa chu shul gyi // gnas pa dpal ’phel zhes bya bas // dad pa’i sems
kyis kun blangs te // spar du brkos nas phul pa yis // dge bas ’gro ba ma lus
pa // byang chub sems gnyis stobs rgyas nas // kun mkhyen rgyal ba’i sku
thob ste // ’gro kun srid mtsho las sgrol shog //
9
Thupten Jinpa, op. cit., pp. 277–89.
10
Among the few still earlier exmples, one notes the Lta ba’ khyad par
of the ninth-century translator Ye shes sde and a small number of additional works dating to the “early diffusion of the teaching,” as well as the Grub
The Grub mtha’ chen mo of Bya ’Chad kha ba Ye shes rdo rje
141
features of its content, and not merely its relatively early date.11
Like many of the later, well-known examples of the Tibetan grub
mtha’ genre,12 ’Chad kha ba’s text is broadly divided into two major
sections treating non-Buddhist (phyi rol mu stegs pa) and Buddhist
(nang pa sangs rgyas pa) philosophical systems respectively. I have
provided a translation and transcription of the text of the first of these
sections, and the remarks introducing the second, below. It will be
seen that, as the author affirms, his descriptions of the non-Buddhist
schools – Vedānta, Sāṃkhya, Vai eṣika, and Mīmāṃsā – are largely
derived from the Tarkajvālā of Bhāviveka.13 His brief discussion,
mtha’ brjed byang and Lta ba’i brjed byang of the eleventh-century Rnying
ma pa master, Rong zom chos kyi bzang po. On the former, one may refer to David Seyfort Ruegg, “Autour du lTa ba’i khyad par de Ye es sde
(version de Touen-houang, Pelliot tibétain 814),” Journal Asiatique (1981):
208–229. On Rong zom’s contributions, see now Orna Almogi, Rongzom-pa’s Discourses on Buddhology: A Study of Various Conceptions of
Buddhahood in Indian Sources with Special Reference to the Controversy
Surrounding the Existence of Gnosis (jñāna: ye shes) as Presented by the
Eleventh-Century Tibetan Scholar Rong-zom Chos-kyi-bzang-po, Studia
Philologica Buddhica Monograph Series XXIV (Tokyo: The International
Institute for Buddhist Studies 2009).
11
It should be noted that the Grub mtha’ chen mo is accompanied by
finely written annotations (mchan bu) throughout. Unfortunately, due to
the mediocre quality of printing, these are in large part illegible or nearly
so. For the purposes of the present, brief exposition, I have therefore ignored them.
12
For general surveys of Tibetan works on siddhānta, refer to Katsumi
Mimaki, “Doxographie tibétaine et classifications indiennes,” in Fukui
Fumimasa and Gérard Fussman, eds., Bouddhisme et cultures locales:
Quelques cas de réciproques adaptations, Études thématiques 2 (Paris:
École française d’Extrême-Orient 1994), pp. 115–136; and Jeffrey Hopkins, “The Tibetan Genre of Doxography: Structuring a Worldview,” in
José Ignacio Cabezón, and Roger Jackson, eds., Tibetan Literature: Studies
in Genre (Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications 1995), pp. 170–86.
13
This is not the place to enter into a prolonged discussion of current
research on the Tarkajvālā or the correct form of the name of its author,
Bhāviveka. Fortunately, these matters have been very thoroughly treated in
the recent work of David Malcolm Eckel, Bhāviveka and His Buddhist Op-
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Matthew T. Kapstein
however, is no mere repetition of the Indian sources, for he endeavors, and in this seems unique among Tibetan authors, to advance
some ideas about the manner in which these non-Buddhist traditions
might have influenced Tibet. Thus he maintains that the Indian myth
of the cosmic egg, Hiraṇyagarbha, might be the source of a similar
myth among the Tibetan Bon, and that some of the contested aspects
of tantric practice among the Tibetans were due to the influence of
the Mīmāṃsakas. Lest we dismiss this as mere naïve speculation, it
would be well to recall that recent scholarship has suggested both
linguistic and mythological connections between archaic Tibet and
Indo-Europeans,14 and that the presence of numerous elements linking Vedic and Tantric ritual systems is not something that contemporary students of Indian religions might be inclined to deny.15
The second and largest section of the Grub mtha’ chen mo, concerning the Buddhist systems of philosophy, interestingly departs
from the model with which we are most familiar, namely, a progressive account of the four major philosophical schools – Vaibhāṣika,
Sautrāntika, Yogācāra, Madhyamaka – and their respective subdivisions. Instead, ’Chad kha ba proceeds topically, discussing in turn
ponents, Harvard Oriental Series 70 (Cambridge MA: Harvard University
Press 2008).
14
See, for example, Per Kværne, “Dualism in Tibetan Cosmogonic
Myths and the Question of Iranian Influence,” in C. I. Beckwith, ed., Silver
on Lapis: Tibetan Literary Culture and History (Bloomington: The Tibet
Society 1987), pp. 163–174; Michael Walter and Christopher Beckwith,
“Some Indo-European Elements in Early Tibetan Culture,” in Helmut
Krasser, Michael Torsten Much, Ernst Steinkellner, and Helmut Tauscher,
eds., Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the Seventh Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies. Vienna: Austrian Academy of Science 1997, vol. 2, pp. 1037–54.
15
If there are any who are, they may consult, e.g., the many references to
Vedic rites in Agehananda Bharati, The Tantric Tradition (London: Rider
1965). In affirming a measure of continuity between Vedic and both Hindu
and Buddhist Tantric traditions, however, I am not taking any particular
stand on the influence vs. substratum debate. That is best left for another
day.
The Grub mtha’ chen mo of Bya ’Chad kha ba Ye shes rdo rje
143
the approaches of the four schools to particular questions and doctrines. After briefly describing points about which the schools agree
(translated below), the remainder and most significant part of the
text treats points of difference in turn. As an example, his procedure
may be represented through these remarks on the five skandhas:
Among the five skandhas, the Vaibhāṣika hold all five to be substantial. The Sautrāntika hold four and a half (lit. “with a half, five”) of
the skandhas – excepting shapes and the viprayuktasaṃskāras – to be
substantial. The Cittamātra maintain three and a half of the skandhas
– excepting form (rūpaskandha) and the viprayuktasaṃskāras – to be
substantial. The Mādhyamika do not maintain there to be a substantial
nature in any of the five. ([KDSB XI, 230.2] phung po lnga las bye brag
smra bas lnga ka rdzas su ’dod pa / mdo’ sde bas dbyibs dang ldan pa
ma yin pa’i ’du byed ma gtogs pa phung po phyed dang lnga rdzas su
’dod pa’o // seṃs tsam pas gzugs dang ldan pa ma yin pa’i ’du byed ma
gtogs pa phung po phyed dang 4 rdzas su bzhed pa’o // dbu ma bas lnga
kha la rdzas kyi rang bzhin [3] mi bzhed pa’o //)
A fuller investigation of the many topics that ’Chad kha pa treats in
this fashion must await another occasion. His introductory passages,
in translation and transcribed text, will suffice to close the present,
preliminary description. As the concepts and categories discussed
will be for the most part quite familiar to students of Indian and
Buddhist philosophy, I have not burdened the translation with explanatory notes as might be useful to beginners in this field.
Translation selection
[225.1] Mchad kha ba’s Grub mtha’ chen mo.
[226.1] From the measureless ocean of the Sugata’s dicta,
[Come these] gems of the precious essence in brief;
As I have comprehended [them] by holy mentors’ grace,
I rehearse somewhat to clarify memory.
In general, all living beings may be subsumed in two [types], those
who do or do not affirm a philosophical system. As to the significance
of those two, they are those whose thoughts have or have not been
144
Matthew T. Kapstein
influenced by textual traditions. And concerning [what is called] a
textual tradition, in this context it is held to be each one’s highest,
reasoned knowledge. One may ask, “how many are the individuals
of that sort, who affirm philosophical systems?” According to this
teaching of ākyamuni, they are gathered in two: the outer Tīrthikas
and the inner Bauddhas. The reason for allocating them as inner
and outer pertains as to whether they are to be included within the
pronouncements of the Buddha or fall outside of them. With reference to the distinctions of those two, although various irrelevancies
are mentioned, nevertheless there are two according to whether or
not one grasps faultlessly the Three Precious Jewels as one’s refuge.
On that, the Lalitavistarasūtra says that all the textual traditions of
the outsiders have arisen from the sustaining power of the Buddha,
and thus so in order to beautify the Buddha’s teaching and to cause
one to recognize its opposite. The Vairocanābhisambodhitantra,
moreover, in reference to the material cause of Vairocana, speaks
[of the Tīrthikas] as the remote cause, among the pair of remote
and proximate cause, but this is an esoteric instruction. Concerning the outsiders, all the treatises speak of the sixteen who affirm
what is outside [our teaching], and the sixty-two, and the 360 views.
The most of all that emerge are drawn from a sūtra source in the
Saṅghānusmṛti. Nevertheless, it says in the Tarkajvālā that they are
all subsumed in four great textual traditions, as follows: Vedānta,
Sāṃkhya, Vai eṣika, and Mīmāṃsā.
[226.6] The first of them holds that all of these inner and outer
entities are of the nature of a single great Self (mahātma). The upper regions are its head, the lower regions its feet, the sky its back,
the directions its hands, the planets and constellations its hair, the
peaks its breast, the mountain ranges its bones, the rivers its network
of veins, the forests its body hairs and nails; its back is the celestial world, its forehead Brahmā, Dharma and Adharma are its two
brows; its wrathful grimace is Yama, the sun and moon its eyes, its
The Grub mtha’ chen mo of Bya ’Chad kha ba Ye shes rdo rje
145
inhalations and exhalations the winds, while sa ga ni is said to be the
navel.16 It is said that that was no cause for harm in Tibet.
[227.2] The Sāṃkhya affirm the twenty-five so-called “primitives” (tanmātra). Concerning them, they hold that the self, or person (puruṣa), is by nature conscious and aware, permanent and single. Its enjoyments are the “foremost” (pradhāna), the “great one”
(mahat), egoism (ahaṃkāra), the five primitives (tanmātra), the five
elements, and the eleven faculties. Thus they affirm the twenty-five
primitives, of which the “foremost” is a nature (prakṛti) and not a
transformation (vikāra). The seven beginning with the “great one”
are natures and transformations, while the [remaining] sixteen are
transformations. The person is neither a nature nor a transformation. According to this system, the foremost is solely a cause, while
the seven beginning with the great one are both cause and effect.
The sixteen, that is to say, the five elements and the eleven faculties, are solely effects. The person they hold to be neither cause nor
effect. According to their own treatises, they affirm both saṃsāra
and nirvāṇa. Nature is permanent and they also affirm a circumstantial impermanence, a so-called impermanence relating to the emergence of a disclosure and its [subsequent] disappearance. The master
[Ati a] is reported to have said that this [system] alone is subtle in
reasoning and hence hard to refute. One finds in their texts many
minor objects of knowledge, such as the “supreme light,” that are not
subsumed in the twenty-five primitives. It is said that they, too, have
done no harm in Tibet.
[227.5] The Vai eṣika maintain that all objects of knowledge are
subsumed in six categories. As is said:
Substance, quality, action and universal,
Particularization and inherence are the six aspects.
Among them, substance includes both permanent and impermanent substances, of which the first [includes] five: self, time, the di16
It is not clear to me whether sa ga ni should be read as a vulgar transcription of a Sanskrit word (sāgara?), or as Tibetan sa ga = Sanskrit
vaiśākha.
146
Matthew T. Kapstein
rections, atoms and space. The impermanent substances are those
substances that are part-possessors; they hold that when two and
three atoms conjoin, at that point there is the emergence of a discrete
part-possessing substance that is not an atom. They hold that the
so-called “universal” pervades everything from the part-possessing
substance to inherence. Thus, they maintain that the permanent substances and the universal are absolute, but that all except those two
are circumstantially impermanent and superficial. Qualities are, for
instance, the tawniness of the cow, or a person’s cleverness and dignity. Actions are, for instance, the pot’s function of containing water. Particularization is, for instance, the large pot or the small one.
Inherence, they hold, is that connection whereby a given substance
inheres in a given aggregation. Among those [topics], the self, they
maintain, is insentient, [numerically] different for each animate being, permanent, single, an agent, the experiencer of the ripening [of
karman], and autonomous with respect to actions and enjoyments.
They hold that it is without aspects. They hold, too, that it has a relationship with cognitions and with the substance in which the object
inheres. And they hold that [it may be subject to] liberation and omniscience. Their textual traditions hold that everything came to be
from an egg. Because something similar is maintained in the textual
traditions of Bon, I wonder whether this Bon might be a Vai eṣika
textual tradition. Later, the old writings say that in the time of Dri
gung [= Gri gum] btsan po, it [i.e. Bon] came to be translated from
the textual traditions of the Vai eṣika.
[228.4] This textual tradition of Mimāṃsā is an exceedingly evil
philosophical system that was of very great harm to Tibet. So, too,
all preaching of injury as religion comes from their textual tradition.
All teaching that there is no cause, and all the conduct of “union and
liberation” practiced in the old mantras, and all these bone ornaments made up among the yogins are [derived from] their textual
tradition. It is said that in the Pāramitā there has been no adulteration, but in these inner mantras, there is much adulteration due to the
outsiders, whereby much harm has emerged in Tibet.
The Grub mtha’ chen mo of Bya ’Chad kha ba Ye shes rdo rje
147
[228.5] Thus, I have discoursed a bit about the tenets of the outsiders.
All of the textual traditions of the inner Buddhists may be subsumed in four great ones, as it is said:
Buddhadharma has four aspects,
Said to be those of Vaibhāṣika, etc.17
[228.6] About this, the Indian ānti pa [Ratnākara ānti] says that
there are the Vaibhāṣika, Sautrāntika, and Yogācāra, and that the
proposition that phenomena are non-veridical (*mithyākāravāda)
is the Madhyamaka, while the Mahāyāna-Mādhyamikas are nihilists.18 All other Mahāyānists [hold that the four schools] are the
two nikāyas [i.e., Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika], Cittamātra, and the
Mahāyāna-Madhyamaka.
[229.1] All four in common adhere to the divine Three Precious
Jewels as their refuge. They hold that pleasure and pain are results
due to one’s acts, and that a personal self does not exist even superficially. They are alike in refuting entirely the eternalism and
nihilism of the Tīrthikas, and in affirming the four seals that characterize the [Buddha’s] dicta.19 The two nikāyas hold in common that
the outsiders, Mādhyamikas, etc., have fallen into the extremes of
exaggeration and depreciation, that there are six aggregates of consciousness, that apprehending subject and apprehended object are
ultimately real, that the minimal component [lit. “end”] of the name
is the phoneme, that the minimal component of time is the instant,
17
If one adopts the reading laṃ for lo, the second line would be translated, “The paths of Vaibhāṣika, etc.”
18
Of course, Yogācāra in all its forms is also Mahāyāna; nevertheless,
the designation “Mahāyāna-Mādhyamika” (theg pa chen po dbu ma ba pa)
is clearly being used here to refer to the Madhyamaka of Nāgārjuna and his
successors.
19
Namely, that conditioned things are impermanent, that those subject
to corruption (āsrava) are suffering, that no phenomenon is a self, and that
nirvāṇa is peace.
148
Matthew T. Kapstein
that the minimal component of form is the atom, and that reality is
ascertained on obtaining the fruit of an ārya.
[229.2] All of the Mahayānists hold in common that the philosophical systems of the outsiders and the philosophical systems of
the nikāyas are not of definitive meaning, that, having at first engendered the enlightened spirit on behalf of others, and having amassed
the two accumulations [of merit and wisdom] for an unlimited time,
the two obscurations with their dispositions are abandoned, and that
the triple embodiment (trikāya) is obtained as the fruit.
[229.3] The proponents of Yogācāra-Cittamātra accord in holding that the elements, the products of the elements, apprehended object and apprehending subject do not exist even superficially, that
the philosophical systems of the two nikāyas and Madhyamaka are
not of definitive meaning, that all that is knowable is determined
in terms of the three characteristics, and that the experience of the
mind is non-dual and ultimate.
[229.5] All of the Mādhyamikas hold in common that they refute
all the entities posited by the lower philosophical systems, those up
through Yogācāra, that all the knowable is determined in terms of
the two truths, and that ultimately all phenomena are without substantial essence.
Text
[225.1] % //
// mchad kha ba’i grub mtha’ chen mo /
[226.1] %%% // : // bde gshegs gsung rab rgya mtsho dpag med
las // gces pa’i snying po mdor bsdus rin po che // bshes gnyen dam
pa’i drin gyis gang rtogs pa // dran pa gsal byed cung zad brjod par
bya // // spyir skye ’gro thams cad ni grub mtha’ khas len pa dang
mi len pa gnyis [2] su ’dus pa yin la / de gnyis kyi don yang gzhung
lugs kyi blo bsgyur ba dang ma bsgyur ba gnyis yin no // gzhung
lugs de yang skabs ’dir rang rang gi rigs pa’i shes pa mthar thug
pa cig la ’dod pa’o // grub mtha’ khas len pa’i gang zag de lta bu du
yod ce na / shag kya thub pa’i bstan pa ’di la phyi [3] rol mu stegs pa
The Grub mtha’ chen mo of Bya ’Chad kha ba Ye shes rdo rje
149
dang / nang pa sangs rgyas pa dang gnyis su ’dus pa’o // de la phyi
nang du ’jog pa’i rgyu ni sangs rgyas kyi gsung gi nang du tshud pa
dang / phyi rol du gyur pa’o // / de gnyis kyi khyad par la ma ’brel
pa sna … tshogs pa cig brjod mod kyi / ’on kyang kha na ma tho ba
med pa nyid dkon mchog rin [4] po che gsum la skyabs gnas su ’dzin
pa dang mi ’dzin pa gnyis yin no // de la rgya cher rol pa’i mdo’ sde
las phyi rol ba’i gzhung lugs thams cad kyang sangs rgyas kyi byin
rlabs kyis byung pa ste / ’di ltar sangs rgyas kyi bstan pa mdzes par
bya ba’i phyir dang / de’i mi mthun pa’i phyogs ngo shes par bya ba’i
phyir byung par gsung la / yang [5] rnaṃ par snang mdzad mngon
par byang chub pa’i rgyud las kyang rnaṃ par snang mdzad kyi rgyu
ni yin pa la / ring pa’i rgyu dang nye ba’i rgyu gnyis las ring rgyur
gsungs pa ni ’dir man ngag yin no // phyi rol ba la phyi rol smra ba
bcu drug dang / drug bcu rtsa gnyis dang / lta ba suṃ brgya drug
bcu gsungs pa bstan bcos kun nas ’byung pa la / de kun pas kyang
mang [6] pa dge ’dun rjes su dran par mdo’ khung drangs pa dag nas
’byung ste / ’on kyang gzhung chen po 4r thams cad ’du bar rtog ge
la ’bar gsungs ste / ’di ltar rigs byed kyi mtha’ pa dang / grangs can
pa dang / bye brag pa dang / spyod pa ba’o // de la dang pos ni phyi
nang gi dngos po ’di thams cad bdag chen po cig gi rang bzhin du
’dod de / ’di
[227.1] % / / ltar steng gi phyogs ni ’go’ / ’og gi phyogs ni rkang
pa / naṃ mkha’ ni rgyab / phyogs rnaṃs ni lag pa / gza’ dang rgyu
skar rnaṃs ni skra / ri bo rnaṃs ni brang / ri’i ’phreng pa rnaṃs ni
rus pa / chu rlung rnaṃs ni rtsa’i dra ba / nags rnaṃs ni spu dang
sen mo / rgyab ni mtho’ ris kyi ’jig rten / ’phral ba ni tshangs pa /
chos dang chos ma yin pa ni smin ma / [2] gnyis / khro gnyer ni ’chi
bdag / nyi zla gnyis ni mig / dbugs ’byung rngub ni rlung / sa ga ni
la lte bo zer ste des bod la gnod rgyu tsam ma byung gsung // grangs
can pas de tsam nyi shu rtsa lnga bya bar khas len la / de yang bdag
skyes bu shes shing rig pa rtag pa cig pu’i rang bzhin du ’dod la /
de’i longs spyod du gtso’o dang / chen po dang / nga rgyal dang /
[3] de tsam lnga dang / ’byung ba lnga dang / dbang po bcu gcig ste
de tsam nyi shu rtsa lnga khas len la / de yang / gtso bo rang bzhin
yin gyi rnaṃ ’gyur min // chen po sogs bdun rang bzhin rnaṃ ’gyur
150
Matthew T. Kapstein
yin // bcu drug po ni rnaṃ par ’gyur ba ste // skye bu rang bzhin ma
yin rnaṃ ’gyur min // ces pa’i tshul gyis / gtso’o ni rgyu kho na yin
la / chen po la sogs pa bdun ni [4] rgyu ’bras gnyis ka / ’byung ba
lnga dang dbang po bcu gcig ste bcu drug po ni ’bras bu kho na yin
la / skyes bu rgyu ’bras gnyis ka ma yin par ’dod de / rang gi gzhung
gis ’khor ba dang myang ’das gnyis ka khas len la / rang bzhin rtag
pa dang / gsal ba’i skye ba dang nub pa’i mi rtag pa ces pa gnas
skabs mi rtag pa yang khas len te / jo bo’i zhal nas ’di kho na rigs
[5] pa phra ba sun dpyung rka ba yin gsung skad // de tsam nyi shu
rtsa lngas ma bsdus pa’i ’od mchog ces pa la sogs pa’i shes bya phra
mo mang po yang rang gi gzhung las ’byung ste / de kyang bod la
gnod pa tsam med gsungo // bye brag pas shes bya thams cad tshig
gi don drug gis bsdus par ’dod de / ji skad du / rdzas dang yon tan las
dang spyi // bye brag ’du [6] ba rnaṃ pa drug // ces te / de la rdzas
la rtag pa’i rdzas dang mi rtag pa’i gnyis las / rtag pa’i rdzas ni lnga
ste / bdag dang / dus dang / phyogs dang / rdul dang / nam mkha’o //
mi rtag pa’i rdzas ni yan lag can gyi rdzas ste / rdul phra rab gnyis
dang / gsum ’dus pa ni bar du yan lag can gyi rdzas rdul phra rab ma
yin pa re skye bar ’dod do //
[228.1] spyi zhes pa yan lag can gyi rdzas nas ’du ba’i bar thams
cad la khyab par ’dod de / de ltar rtag pa’i rdzas dang spyi gnyis
don dam du ’dod la / de gnyis ma gtogs pa gnas skabs mi rtag pa
kun rdzob du ’dod pa’o // yon tan ni ba lang ser zal dang / skyes
bu’i mkhas cing btsun pa la sogs pa’o // las ni bum pa’i las chu ’chu
ba [2] la sogs pa’o // bye brag ni bum pa che chung la sogs pa’o //
’du ba ni tshogs pa re ’du ba’i rdzas res ’brel bar ’dod pa’o // de la
bdag ni bems po sems can so so la tha dad pa / rtag pa / cig pu / las
byed pa po / rnaṃ smin myong pa po / bya ba dang longs spyod la
rang dbang du gyur par ’dod / de yang rnaṃ pa med par ’dod / shes
pa dang don [3] ’du ba’i rdzas kyis ’brel bar ’dod de / thar pa dang
thams cad mkhyen pa ’dod de / de’i gzhung gis kyang thaṃd sgo
ngar las srid par ’dod la / bon gyi gzhung las kyang de ltar ’dod pas
bon ’di bye brag pa’i gzhung cig yin naṃ snyaṃ la / phyi yig rnying
las dri gung btsan po’i ring la bye brag pa’i gzhung las bsgyur bar
’byung gsungo // [4] spyod pa ba’i gzhung ’di grub mtha’ shin du
The Grub mtha’ chen mo of Bya ’Chad kha ba Ye shes rdo rje
151
ngan pa bod la gnod pa shin tu che ba ste / ’di ltar ’tshe ba chos su
smra ba thaṃd kyang de’i gzhung las ’byung / rgyu med par smra ba
thaṃd dang / sngags rnying du byas pa’i sbyor sgrol spyod pa thaṃd
dang / rnal ’byor bar byas pa’i rus pa’i rgyan cha can ’di kun de’i
gzhung yin / pha rol du phyin pa la ’dres pa’i [5] zol med / sngags
nang pa ’di la phyi rol ba dang ’dres pa’i zol mang pas bod la shin tu
gnod par ’byung gsungo // des phyi rol ba’i ’dod pa cung zad gleng
bslang pa’o // // nang pa sangs rgyas pa’i gzhung chen po 4r thaṃd
’du bar bzhed de / ji skad du / sangs rgyas chos ni rnaṃ pa bzhi // bye
brag smra la sogs pa’i lo (laṃ?) // [6] zhes te / ’di la rgya gar shan ti
bas bye brag smra ba dang / mdo sde ba dang / rnal sbyor spyod pa
dang / rang gi rnaṃ par rdzun par smra ba la dbu ma zhes zer la /
theg pa chen po dbu ma ba pa ni chad par smra bar ’dod do // theg pa
chen po gzhan thaṃd kyis ni sde pa gnyis dang / rnal ’byor spyod pa
seṃs tsam pa dang / theg pa
[229.1] chen po dbu ma ba’o // de 4 kas thun mong du lha dkon
mchog gsum la skyabs gnas su ’dzin pa dang / bde sdug rang gi las
kyis ’bras bur ’dod pa dang / gang zag gi bdag kun rdzob du’ang
med par ’dod pa dang / mu stegs pa’i rtag chad thaṃd ’gegs pa dang /
bka’ rtags kyi phyag rgya bzhi khas len par bstun pa yin no // //
sde pa gnyis kyis thun mong du phyi rol pa dang / [2] dbu’ ma ba
la sogs pa sgro skur kyi mthar lhung bar ’dod pa dang / rnaṃ shes
tshogs drug du ’dod pa dang / gzung pa dang ’dzin pa don dam du
’dod pa dang / ming gi mtha’ yi ger ’dod pa dang / dus kyi mtha’
skad cig du ’dod pa dang / gzugs kyi mtha’ rdul phra rab du ’dod pa
dang / de nyid ’phags pa’i ’bras bu thob pa na nges par ’dod pa rnaṃs
mthun pa’o // // theg pa chen po ba thaṃd [3] kyis thun mong du
phyi rol ba’i grub mtha’ dang / sde pa dag gi grub mtha’ nges don
ma yin par bzhed pa dang / dang po gzhan don du byang chub du
thugs bskyed nas / tshogs gnyis dus thug pa med par bsags pas sgrib
pa gnyis bag chags dang bcas pa spong par bzhed pa dang / ’bras
bu sku gsum thob pas bzhed pa mthun no // // rnal ’byor spyod pa
seṃs tsam pas ’byung ba dang ’byung [4] ba dang20 ’byung ba las
20
’byung ba dang repeated by dittography.
152
Matthew T. Kapstein
’gyur pa dang / gzung ba dang ’dzin pa kun rdzob tsam du’ang med
par bzhed pa dang / sde pa gnyis dang dbu ma’i grub mtha’ nges don
ma yin par bzhed pa dang / shes bya thaṃd mtshan nyid gsum kyi
(sic) gtan la ’bebs par bzhed pa dang / sems myong pa gnyis med
don dam du bzhed par mthun no // // dbu ma ba thaṃd kyis thun
mong du bzhed pa ni rnal ’byor spyod pa man [5] chad grub mtha’
’og ma thaṃd kyis dngos por brtags pa thaṃd ’gegs pa dang / shes
bya thaṃd bden gnyis kyis gtan la ’bebs pa dang / don dam par chos
thaṃd rang bzhin med par bzhed pa mthun pa’o // //
Abbreviation
KDSB XI
Bka’ gdams gsung ’bum phyogs bsgrigs glegs bam bcu gcig pa
bzhugs. Vol. XI. Chengdu: Dpal brtsegs bod yig dpe rnying zhib
’jug khang 2006; cf. above n. 7.
Sanskrit manuscripts in China
Proceedings of a panel at the 2008 Beijing
Seminar on Tibetan Studies
October 13 to 17
Edited by
Ernst Steinkellner
in cooperation with
Duan Qing, Helmut Krasser
China Tibetology Publishing House
Beijing 2009
Contents
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
前言 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
•
DUAN Qing
A fragment of the Bhadrakalpasūtra in Buddhist Sanskrit
from Xinjiang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
FAN Muyou
Some grammatical notes on the Advayasamatāvijayamahākalparājā . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Pascale HUGON
Phya pa Chos kyi seng ge’s synoptic table of the Pramāṇaviniścaya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Harunaga ISAACSON
A collection of Hevajrasādhanas and related works in
Sanskrit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Matthew T. KAPSTEIN
Preliminary remarks on the Grub mtha’ chen mo of Bya
’Chad kha ba Ye shes rdo rje . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Shoryu KATSURA
Rediscovering Dignāga through Jinendrabuddhi . . . . . . . . . 153
Helmut KRASSER
Original text and (re)translation – a critical evaluation. . . . . . 167
LI Xuezhu
Candrakīrti on dharmanairātmya as held by both Mahāyāna
and Hīnayāna – based on Madhyamakāvatāra Chapter 1 . . . . 179
6
Contents
李学竹
月称关于二乘人通达法无我的论证 – 以梵文本 入中论 第
一章为考察中心 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
LUO Hong
A preliminary report on a newly identified Sanskrit manuscript of the Vinayasūtra from Tibet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
LUO Zhao
The cataloguing of Sanskrit manuscripts preserved in the
TAR: A complicated process that has lasted more than
twenty years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
罗炤
西藏梵文贝叶经的编目情况及二十余年的曲折经过 . . . . . . . . 235
SAERJI
Sanskrit manuscript of the Svapnādhyāya preserved in Tibet . . . 241
SFERRA
The Manuscripta Buddhica project – Alphabetical list of
Sanskrit manuscripts and photographs of Sanskrit manuscripts in Giuseppe Tucci’s collection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Ernst STEINKELLNER
Strategies for modes of management and scholarly treatment of the Sanskrit manuscripts in the TAR . . . . . . . . . . . 279
恩斯特∙斯坦因凯勒
西藏自治区梵文手稿的管理模式及学术性处理方面的策略 . . . . 293
Tsewang Gyurme
Protecting the Sanskrit palm-leaf manuscripts in the Tibetan Autonomous Region – A summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
YE Shaoyong
A preliminary survey of Sanskrit manuscripts of Madhyamaka texts preserved in the Tibet Autonomous Region . . . . . . 307
Chronological Conundrums in the Life of
Khyung po rnal ’byor: Hagiography and Historical Time
Matthew T. Kapstein
University of Chicago
and
École Pratique des Hautes Études
Abstract: Traditional sources attribute to Khyung po rnal ’byor, the founder of
the Shangs pa bka’ brgyud lineage, a lifespan of 150 years beginning in a tiger
year, usually thought to be 978 or 990. A careful examination of the chronological
indications given in his rnam thar, however, suggest that it is implausible to hold
that Khyung po was born prior to the middle years of the eleventh century. The
present communication surveys the relevant evidence for Khyung po’s dating, and
demonstrates the reasons for which traditional historians regarded his career as
beginning a full half century or more earlier than it actually did. It will be seen
that the questions raised here are pertinent to the larger problems surrounding
the “authenticity” of Shangs pa origins overall.
The beginnings of Tibetan historical writing can be traced back to the period of
the Tibetan empire, during the seventh through ninth centuries.1 Bureaucratic
1
I am grateful to an anonymous reviewer for noting several points in the present essay requiring
correction or clarification. In addition, one general issue that the reviewer raised concerned my use of
the term “historiography,” which she or he thought might be interpreted pejoratively, as if I were saying
that the West has “history,” but others only the lesser practice of “historiography.” To avoid any
misunderstanding about this, therefore, let me stress here that in my view all human societies have
histories, but only some have historiography, by which I mean not only historical writings as literary
artifacts, but also the intellectual and institutional canons and practices whereby history is written.
Tibet, like the West, has a long and distinguished historiographical tradition in this sense; and indeed
this is one of the things that makes the study of Tibetan civilization deeply interesting. Of course, there
is another sense of “history,” one often associated with the markedly teleological concerns of Hegelian
and Marxist historiographies, that does often regard history as the progressive evolution of humanity
toward an end most characteristically disclosed in the civilization of the West. There are certainly
important questions to be raised in this connection, but they are entirely beside the point of the present,
modest Tibetological contribution.
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies, no. 1 (October 2005): 1-14.
www.thdl.org?id=T1221.
1550-6363/2005/1/T1221.
© 2005 by Matthew T. Kapstein, Tibetan and Himalayan Digital Library, and International Association of Tibetan
Studies. Distributed under the THDL Digital Text License.
Kapstein: Chronological Conundrums in the Life of Khyung po rnal ’byor
2
record-keeping fostered the composition of state annals, and narrative traditions
relating to the monarchy were set down as chronicles. There is clear evidence of
the influence of Chinese historiography in the Tibetan imperial documents; we
know that the Book of Documents (Shujing) and the Annals of the Warring States
(Zhanguoce) were translated into Tibetan and that the Records of the Grand
Historian (Shiji) was as least to some extent known.2 The first traces of Tibetan
Buddhist historiography may be also found among the Dunhuang manuscripts,
and it is probably significant that the earliest Tibetan Buddhist hagiographical
writings now known are to be found in a Tibetan Chan text of the mid-ninth century
and in a short tantric work of the ninth or tenth century.3 On the basis of these
documents, it seems certain that both Chinese and Indian Buddhist hagiographical
traditions were becoming known and were already contributing to the formation
of indigenous Tibetan Buddhist hagiography. It is, however, only with the renewed
transmission of Indian Buddhism to Tibet during the late-tenth and eleventh
centuries that we see a real proliferation of hagiographical and auto-hagiographical
writing in Tibet. As Janet Gyatso has rightly argued in her Apparitions of the Self,
these developments were likely the product of the fragmentation of religious and
political authority in the wake of the empire’s collapse. This situation issued in,
in her words, “a competitive climate in which the personal accomplishments of
the individual religious master became a centerpiece in the struggle to establish a
lineage and eventually an institution and a power base.”4 Hagiography and lineage
histories thus gave literary expression to a multitude of competing claims of spiritual
authority. It is by no means surprising, therefore, that the emphasis in these works
is, in the first instance, on revelations, visions, prophetic dreams, miraculous
abilities and mystical attainments, and secondarily on the study and transmission
of authoritative Buddhist teachings and texts. Matters of historical circumstance
of the sort that we emphasize in much of modern historiography rank a poor third.
Nevertheless, over time a Tibetan Buddhist historiography did emerge and
hagiographical writing itself was not unaffected by this development. This is a
2
The Tibetan translations of these works and aspects of their legacy are studied in W. S. Coblin, “A
Study of the Old Tibetan Shangshu Paraphrase,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 111 (1991):
303-22, 523-39; Yoshiro Imaeda, “L’identification de l’original chinois du Pelliot tibétain 1291 –
traduction tibétaine du Zhanguoce,” Acta Orientalia (Hungarica) 34, nos. 1-3 (1980): 53-68; Rolf A.
Stein, “‘Saint et Divin’, un titre tibétain et chinois des rois tibétains,” Journal Asiatique nos. 1-2 (1981):
231-75; Rolf A. Stein, “Tibetica Antiqua I: Les deux vocabulaires des traductions Indo-tibétaine et
Sino-tibétaine dans les Manuscrits de Touen-houang,” Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient
72 (1983): 149-236; and Tsuguhito Takeuchi, “A Passage from the Shih chi in the Old Tibetan
Chronicle,” in Soundings in Tibetan Civilization, ed. Barbara Nimri Aziz and Matthew Kapstein (Delhi:
Manohar, 1985), 135-46. Dr. Imaeda has kindly informed me that recent Chinese scholarship regards
PT 1291 not as a translation of the Annals of the Warring States, but rather as derived from the
commentarial tradition of the Spring and Autumn Annals.
3
I am referring to Pelliot tibétain 996, a manuscript first studied in Marcelle Lalou, “Document
tibétain sur l’expansion du dhyāna chinois,” Journal Asiatique 231 (1939): 505-23; and to Pelliot
tibétain 44, on which see F. A. Bischoff and Charles Hartman, “Padmasambhava’s Invention of the
Phur-bu: Ms. Pelliot tibétain 44,” in Études tibétaines dédiées à la mémoire de Marcelle Lalou, ed.
Ariane Macdonald (Paris: Adrien Maisonneuve, 1971), 11-28; and Matthew T. Kapstein, The Tibetan
Assimilation of Buddhism (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 158-59.
4
Janet Gyatso, Apparitions of the Self (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998), 116.
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 1 (October 2005)
3
complicated story that so far is not very well understood, and for present purposes
a summary account will have to suffice. From the twelfth century onwards we see
a growing effort on the part of some Tibetan writers to address the history of Tibet,
or of Tibetan Buddhism, overall, not focusing solely on the continuity of a single
lineage.5 There seem to have been two important reasons for this shift in focus.
On the one hand, the history of the old Tibetan empire was now a matter of renewed
concern and interest, particularly among those whose own authority rested in part
on ancient claims, real or imagined. This resulted in an effort to reassemble available
documentation, including historical documents that were no doubt similar to what
we now know from Dunhuang.6 On the other hand, there was a strong tendency
within religious circles to pursue studies somewhat eclectically, so that in a given
individual’s life and formation, differing lineages were frequently woven together
as distinct strands of a single cord. To recount one’s lineage history now required
in fact narrating several lineage histories, so that one could not help but remark
upon those points at which the strands crossed, or came into conflict. To this we
may perhaps add that, with the reunification of Tibetan government under the
Mongol empire during the thirteenth century and throughout the successive
hegemonies culminating in the Fifth Dalai Lama’s formation of a unified Tibetan
polity during the seventeenth century, a bureaucratic interest in precise
record-keeping once again came to the fore.7 Despite this, of course, the older
hagiographical emphasis on spiritual attainment was never lost. As a result, in
reading a masterwork of later Tibetan Buddhist autobiography such as the life of
the early nineteenth-century master Zhabs dkar, one is repeatedly struck by the
seamless course the author steers between visionary passages that would have not
been too foreign in tone to St. Theresa and quantifications of pennies saved and
earned that might well have given cheer to Ben Franklin.8
With these generalities in mind, I would like us to imagine ourselves for the
moment to be in the position of earlier generations of Tibetan Buddhist historians,
who had before them the records of differing lineages, that is, their hagiographical
collections, and to pose for ourselves the problem of how, on this basis, we might
construct histories. For, in a sense, we are in the same position today as was the
5
This is already the case in twelfth- and thirteenth-century histories such as Mkhas pa lde’u, Mkhas
pa lde’us mdzad pa’i rgya bod kyi chos ’byung rgyas pa, Gangs can rig mdzod 3 (Lhasa: Bod ljongs
bod yig dpe rnying dpe skrun khang, 1987) and Nyang nyi ma ’od zer, Chos ’byung me tog snying po
sbrang rtsi’i bcud, Gangs can rig mdzod 5 (Lhasa: Bod ljongs bod yig dpe rnying dpe skrun khang,
1988).
6
It is of course well known that, as late as the mid-sixteenth century, Dpa’ bo gtsug lag phreng ba
was still able to locate authentic sources dating back to the imperial period. Though there is sometimes
good reason to believe that earlier historical writers – including, among others, Mkhas pa lde’u, Lde’u
jo sras, and O rgyan gling pa – similarly incorporated elements of veritable early documents into their
works, they were unfortunately seldom so scrupulous as was Dpa’ bo gtsug lag phreng ba, who frequently
gives us clear indications when he relies on such materials.
7
The preservation in the Tibetan Archives in Lhasa of at least some official records dating back to
the Phag mo gru pa and Rin spungs pa regimes gives hope that the materials needed to clarify this point
with reference to the history of Tibetan bureaucratic practices may eventually become available.
8
Matthieu Ricard et al., trans., The Life of Shabkar: The Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin (Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1994).
Kapstein: Chronological Conundrums in the Life of Khyung po rnal ’byor
4
author of the Blue Annals (Deb ther sngon po), ’Gos lo tsā ba, during the middle
part of the fifteenth century.9 This is not to say, of course, that the interests which
we bring to our interrogation of the hagiographical traditions are the same as his
were. Still, there are some matters about which our interests clearly do converge:
making sense of chronology is a case in point and we have a lot to learn from ’Gos
lo tsā ba’s efforts to elucidate the chronological record. I dare say, in fact, that
without his efforts and those of his successors, we would be hard pressed to interpret
the relative and absolute chronology of Tibetan Buddhism in the eleventh through
thirteenth centuries today.
The particular case I wish to consider is the hagiography of Khyung po rnal
’byor, the “yogin of the Khyung clan,” who was the founder of the Shangs pa bka’
brgyud, considered one of the eight major practice lineages of Tibetan tantric
Buddhism.10 I have written about Khyung po rnal ’byor and the Shangs pa bka’
brgyud tradition in a number of earlier articles and have been working for some
time on a book about the Shangs pa bka’ brgyud, which is concerned primarily
with the early history of the tradition and its distinctive teachings of dream and
apparition. One of the several problems that has forcefully emerged in the course
of this work involves the interpretation of the early hagiographies of the tradition
as historical documents. How far are we entitled to go in reading these texts as
historical sources? How do they speak to us of history?
We have access at present to four redactions of the Golden Rosary of the
Shangpa (Shangs pa gser ’phreng), the collected hagiographies of the Shangs pa
bka’ brgyud masters.11 These were compiled in different times and places, by quite
different branches of the Shangs pa bka’ brgyud. For the records of the early
masters, however, those who flourished no later than the beginning of the fourteenth
century, the four collections are closely similar, both in their selection of teachers
whose hagiographies are included, and in the actual texts themselves. Much the
same may be said of the condensed versions of the Golden Rosary of the Shangpa
we find in the Blue Annals and in another fifteenth-century history, The Archive
9
’Gos lo gzhon nu dpal, Blue Annals, 2 vols. (Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1984);
G. N. Roerich, trans., The Blue Annals (1949; repr., Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1976). As mentioned
below, it is evident that ’Gos lo tsā ba’s account of the Shangs pa bka’ brgyud tradition is based upon
precisely the same lineage history preserved in the various versions of the Golden Rosary of the Shangpa
Kagyü (Shangs pa bka’ brgyud gser phreng).
10
On this way of classifying the major lineages, see my “gDams ngag: Tibetan Technologies of the
Self,” in Tibetan Literature: Studies in Genre, ed. José I. Cabezón and Roger R. Jackson (Ithaca: Snow
Lion Publications), 275-89.
11
These are as follows. (1) Shangs-pa gser-’phreng: A Golden Rosary of the Lives of Masters of the
Shangs-pa dKar[sic]-brgyud-pa Schools, Smanrtsis Shesrig Spendzod 15 (Leh: Sonam W. Tashigangpa,
1970). (2) Śaṅs-pa bKa’-brgyud-pa Texts: A collection of rare manuscripts of doctrinal, ritual, and
biographical works of scholars of the Śaṅs-pa Bka’-brgyud-pa tradition from the monastery of
Gsaṅ-sṅags-chos-gliṅ in Kinnaur, 2 vols. (Sumra, H.P.: Urgyan Dorje, 1977). (3) Shangs pa bka’
brgyud bla rabs kyi rnam thar, Gangs can rig mdzod 28 (Lhasa: Bod ljongs bod yig dpe rnying dpe
skrun khang, 1996). (4) A sixteenth-century xylographic version from Mnga’ ris gung thang preserved
in the National Archives of Nepal, in Kathmandu. An abridged, vulgar translation of the first version
is found in Nicole Riggs, trans., Like An Illusion: Lives of the Shangpa Kagyu Masters (Eugene, OR:
Dharma Cloud Publishing, 2000).
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 1 (October 2005)
5
of China and Tibet (Rgya bod yig tshang), and in a later survey of Shangs pa bka’
brgyud history written by the renowned Tāranātha.12 This, together with much
other evidence, reinforces the assertion of the Shangs pa bka’ brgyud tradition
itself, that it remained a tightly knit and highly secretive lineage until the
late-thirteenth and early-fourteenth centuries, when its masters began to promulgate
its teachings much more widely than had been the case previously.13 These
circumstances further suggest that the early hagiographies were redacted in more
or less the form in which we now know them during this same period, and this in
turn would explain the remarkable consistency of these texts in the known versions.
It further suggests, however, that we must be rather cautious about attributing their
contents to the age of the earlier figures they treat.
All of the early Shangs pa bka’ brgyud hagiographies share a remarkable
emphasis on dreams and visions. In them, what we think of as ordinary waking
experiences, besides being frequently treated as matters of secondary importance,
are often not systematically distinguished from these other states. The contemporary
reader, even sometimes the Tibetan reader within the tradition, will be hard put at
points to say whether a given episode takes place in fact, in visionary experience,
or in dream. It is one of the hallmarks of later Tibetan writing that there are
well-formed conventions for distinguishing among these experiential modalities.14
Though the early Shangs pa bka’ brgyud hagiographies do often specify that certain
events are occurring in dreams – this reflects in part the emphasis upon lucid
dreaming as a specialty of the Shangs pa bka’ brgyud contemplative system15 – it
is also sometimes the case that we lose our bearings altogether and can only guess
as to the level of reality in which a given narrative unfolds.
Both the redaction history of the early Shangs pa bka’ brgyud hagiographies
and their internal phenomenology, therefore, give us prima facie reasons for
skepticism regarding their value as historical documents, except, of course, in as
much as they are documents that we may draw upon in our contemporary
constructions of the history of Tibetan mentalités. Nevertheless, some basic
historical questions must be asked, and if we cannot turn to these documents for
help, then we are left without any recourse at all.
12
(1) ’Gos lo gzhon nu dpal, Blue Annals. (2) Dpal ’byor bzang po, Rgya bod yig tshang chen mo
(Chengdu: Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1983). (3) The Shangs pa chos ’byung of Tāranātha is
found only in the editions of his gsung ’bum published in ’Dzam thang, Sichuan. One of these (the
lithographic reprint of the recent xylographic edition) has recently been scanned and issued on CD-ROM
by the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center, New York.
13
For a sketch of the spread of the Shangs pa bka’ brgyud, refer to my “The Shangs-pa bKa’-brgyud:
An Unknown School of Tibetan Buddhism,” in Studies in Honor of Hugh Richardson, ed. M. Aris and
Aung San Suu Kyi (Warminster: Aris and Phillips, 1980), 138-44. See, too, E. Gene Smith, “The Shangs
pa Bka’ brgyud Tradition,” in Among Tibetan Texts: History and Literature of the Himalayan Plateau
(Boston: Wisdom, 2001), chap. 4.
14
The stock phrase, frequently encountered in later hagiographical writings, is dngos snang rmi lam
gsum, the “threesome of reality, pure vision (dag snang), and dream.”
15
A very brief account of the Shangs pa bka’ brgyud system of tantric yoga may be found in Kapstein,
“The Journey to the Golden Mountain,” in Tibetan Religions in Practice, ed. Donald S. Lopez, Jr.
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997), 178-87.
Kapstein: Chronological Conundrums in the Life of Khyung po rnal ’byor
6
So let us begin with perhaps the most basic of historical questions: how do we
situate the Shangs pa bka’ brgyud in historical time? In particular, what can we
say about the time of Shangs pa bka’ brgyud beginnings? To reduce this to the
most pedestrian terms, just when was the Shangs pa bka’ brgyud founder, Khyung
po rnal ’byor, born, and when did he die? (Some may urge that an even more
primary question is: how can we know that there was even such a person at all?
But this is not in fact a real issue in the present case – some of the evidence for
my asserting this will be at least implicit in what follows.)
Khyung po rnal ’byor’s hagiography does not provide us with precisely specified
dates for his life, nor do the hagiographies of his successors make up this lacuna.
Late Tibetan chronologies assert his birth to have occurred in either 978 or 990,16
but we shall soon see how they arrived at this calculation. The earliest Shangs pa
bka’ brgyud master whose dates are known with relative assurance is Sangs rgyas
ston pa (1219-1290),17 who was Khyung po rnal ’byor’s great-great-granddisciple.
Before his time, our dating of events in Shangs pa bka’ brgyud history largely
depends on relative chronology, for instance, when we find reference to persons
also known from non-Shangs pa bka’ brgyud sources, whose dates are reliably
known.
One of the few dates specified in Khyung po rnal ’byor’s hagiography, albeit
imprecisely, is the year of his birth: he is said to have been born in a tiger year, an
assertion that is strengthened owing to the name of his father, “tiger-born” (stag
skyes), reflecting the still-current custom in some Tibetan communities of addressing
a parent by an epithet derived from the name or birthdate of the first-born.18 Tiger
years, however, come around once in every twelve years. In seeking to determine
just which tiger year is at stake here, we may wonder just why late Tibetan
chronologists fixed their calculations on the tiger years 978 or 990; for there is
nothing at all in the narrative of Khyung po rnal ’byor’s birth and childhood that
would in fact support this, notwithstanding Snellgrove’s glib assertion that “there
is no problem in accepting 990 as the ‘tiger-year’ in which he was born.”19 On the
contrary, Khyung po rnal ’byor is depicted at age ten as studying the Kālacakra –
here no doubt referring to the elementary mathematics taught in connection with
16
Thus, both alternatives are duly recorded in Tshe tan zhabs drung, Bstan rtsis kun las btus pa
(Xining: Mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1982), 150-51.
17
’Gos lo tsā ba, in Roerich, Blue Annals, 746, frankly acknowledges the dating problem with respect
to the early Shangs pa bka’ brgyud masters. Nevertheless, given Sangs rgyas ston pa’s birth in a hare
year, his death at 72, and the birth of his leading disciple, Mkhas grub shangs ston, in 1234 (wood male
horse), the present calculation seems plausible.
18
In the Sherpa communities of northeastern Nepal, for example, a parent is often known as “father
(or mother) of so-and-so” (X-gi a pa / a ma). In everyday speech, however, the phrase mentioning the
parental relation is often left off, so that the parent is in fact addressed by the child’s proper name.
19
David L. Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhists and Their Tibetan Successors
(Boston: Shambhala, 1987), 501 n. Pace Snellgrove, I do not think that Roerich’s calculation of the
date of Khyung po rnal ’byor’s birth as 1086 was a “mere oversight,” but most likely a tentative
conclusion drawn from the close study of the relations among figures mentioned in the Blue Annals.
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 1 (October 2005)
7
the Kālacakratantra’s astrological system – and this was not at all likely to have
been current in Tibet before roughly the middle of the eleventh century.20
So why did the later Tibetan historians, who knew very well when it was that
the Kālacakra was promulgated (indeed, they derived much of their system of
calculation from it!) reach back a full half century and more in their determination
of this particular tiger year? I have puzzled about this for a very long time and I
have only found one plausible explanation: Khyung po rnal ’byor’s hagiography,
though it does not state exactly the year of his death, does affirm that he lived for
150 years. Though this was certainly not always taken as literal truth,21 in a land
in which three-century lifespans were claimed for some sages, many were prepared
to accept a term of a century-and-a-half at face value. It is clear, at least, that not
a few later Tibetan historians thought in just this way.22 We may propose then, that
they sought to establish approximately the period of Khyung po rnal ’byor’s death,
and then calculated back to a tiger year occurring close to 150 years before. The
effort to determine the period of Khyung po rnal ’byor’s death, in fact, strongly
suggests that this is precisely what did occur.
Our best evidence for working out when Khyung po rnal ’byor was likely to
have died comes from the hagiography of his main successor, Rmog lcog pa. Rmog
lcog pa gives us sufficient information regarding his own age at various points in
recounting his studies, so that we can adduce that he was in his late twenties when
Khyung po rnal ’byor died.23 What’s more, tolerably precise references to certain
of his contemporaries within his hagiography strongly suggest that he had been
born close to 1110.24 This comports very well with the relative periodization we
can determine for another of Khyung po rnal ’byor’s leading disciples, La stod
dkon mchog mkhar of Gnas rnying.25 We are probably not far off, therefore, in
inferring that Khyung po rnal ’byor must have passed away in about the mid- or
20
The use of the expression dus ’khor in this manner does not seem to be documented in the available
Tibetan dictionaries. However, it is justified by the fact that the exoteric Kālacakra system, which treats
of calendrical and astrological calculations, has basic numeracy as its prerequisite. Elementary education
in the Kālacakra system was perhaps similar in India, as is suggested by the Kālacakrāvatāra of
Abhayākaragupta (fl. late eleventh century), an introductory work on astronomical calculation.
21
See below, n. 31.
22
See, for example, Dpa’ bo gtsug lag phreng ba, Chos ’byung mkhas pa’i dga’ ston (Beijing: Mi
rigs dpe skrun khang, 1986), 2: 1373.
23
As a youth Rmog lcog pa had studied under Khyung po rnal ’byor for five years, leaving him at
the age of twenty-one to pursue his education elsewhere. He returned to Khyung po rnal ’byor five
years or so later and then spent one year and seven months as his chosen successor before the master
passed away.
24
The chief evidence for this is his discipleship under Sgam po pa (1079-1153), which seems to place
him in the same generation as the latter’s chief successors Phag mo gru pa rdo rje rgyal po (1110-1170)
and Khams pa dbus se, aka Karma pa dus gsum mkhyen pa (1110-1193).
25
La stod dkon mchog mkhar may be assigned to the early and mid-twelfth century, as the Gnas
rnying chos ’byung records him to have been a disciple and successor of ’Bre shes rab ’bar, one of the
leading students of Rngog blo ldan shes rab (1059-1109). I am grateful to E. Gene Smith for sharing
with me his transcription of the rare history of Gnas rnying, one of the few sources outside the Shangs
pa bka’ brgyud tradition that affords, in its account of La stod dkon mchog mkhar, a small but precious
element of independent testimony concerning Khyung po rnal ’byor.
Kapstein: Chronological Conundrums in the Life of Khyung po rnal ’byor
8
late-1130s. And, from this conclusion, it is immediately apparent how the dates
of 978 or 990 were determined.
Now the real fun begins. How do the events of Khyung po rnal ’byor’s life, to
the extent that they appear to refer to persons and circumstances we can situate,
map onto a life that spanned circa 990-1140? We have already seen that his
childhood studies involved material suggesting an education during or after the
mid-eleventh century and certainly not the late-tenth or very early eleventh. As
matters turn out, almost everything about the hagiography supports this.
Khyung po rnal ’byor was born to a Bon po family and claims himself to have
become an adept and successful teacher of this tradition before becoming a Buddhist
adhering to the Rnying ma pa teaching of the Great Perfection (Rdzogs chen), in
which he similarly claims to have enjoyed great success. Unfortunately, none of
the figures mentioned as his teachers and students within these traditions has been
so far securely identified,26 so that there is no chronological evidence at all to be
derived from the tales of his involvement in them. But there is one curious detail
we find in connection with his study of the Great Perfection: he includes among
the topics that constituted his training the “three classes of the Great Perfection –
mental, spatial, and esoteric instructional.” The precise origins of this classificatory
scheme are not known, but there is strong reason to suspect that it entered into
currency in connection with a particular system of Great Perfection teaching, that
of the Snying thig, whose promulgation dates to the period of Zhang ston bkra shis
rdo rje (1097-1167) or shortly before.27 If the reference indeed does go back to
Khyung po rnal ’byor’s early career and is not an elaboration added late in his life
or even afterwards, then it seems to support our suggestion that the period of
Khyung po rnal ’byor’s youth could not have been earlier than the mid-eleventh
century.
It is with the introduction of Khyung po rnal ’byor’s third major teacher, the
Mahāmudrā master Skor ni ru pa, that the approximate temporal location of the
events of Khyung po rnal ’byor’s early career seems to be fixed. But be forewarned:
almost everything connected with Skor ni ru pa is so strange that this is rather like
triangulating the position of an illusion by reference to a mirage. In point of fact,
Khyung po rnal ’byor’s hagiography tells us that after his involvement in Great
Perfection he was still unsatisfied and, leaving his disciples, went on pilgrimage
26
Nevertheless, Dan Martin, Unearthing Bon Treasures (Leiden: Brill, 2001), does offer some
suggestions regarding Khyung po rnal ’byor’s Bon po associates. It has not so far been possible for me
to consider these in detail.
27
David Germano, “Architecture and Absence in the Secret Tantric History of the Great Perfection
(rdzogs chen),” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 17, no. 2 (1994): 203-335,
surveys aspects of the early history of the Snying thig tradition. See, too, Jean-Luc Achard, L’Essence
Perlée du Secret: Recherches philologiques et historiques sur l’origine de la Grande Perfection dans
la tradition rnying ma pa (Turnhout: Brepols, 1999). For a traditional account, refer to Dudjom Rinpoche,
Jikdrel Yeshe Dorje, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History, trans.
Gyurme Dorje and Matthew Kapstein (Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1991), 1: 554-74. The association
of the tripartite classification of the Great Perfection systems with the Snying thig in particular is due
to the reference, in traditional Rnying ma pa doxography (e.g., Dudjom, Nyingma School, vol. 1, 319)
to the A ti bkod pa chen po section of the Bi ma snying thig as the proof text in this context.
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 1 (October 2005)
9
to Lhasa. During the course of this journey he met Skor ni ru pa, who transmitted
the Mahāmudrā and other tantric teachings to him, praising him as his best disciple.
I will leave to one side the questions that might be raised about the actual nature
of Khyung po rnal ’byor’s relation with this teacher, assuming that indeed there
was such a relation, and the role his claim about this may have played, or not, in
authenticating his own attainments. Whatever else one may propose in the way of
interpretation with respect to this, Khyung po rnal ’byor’s hagiography is clearly
asserting that the period of his early career corresponded with the period of Skor
ni ru pa’s teaching. It is here that we owe a debt of gratitude to ’Gos lo tsā ba and
his Blue Annals, for by the fifteenth century Skor ni ru pa had already faded into
obscurity, so that ’Gos lo tsā ba saw this as good reason to preserve in his history
all that he knew of this figure and to attempt to rectify his dating with care.28
According to ’Gos lo tsā ba’s calculation, Skor ni ru pa lived for forty-one years
from 1062 to 1102. This corresponds well with the other synchronizations we have
proposed. However, we must wonder just what sources ’Gos lo tsā ba had at his
disposal for his record of Skor ni ru pa, particularly because Skor ni ru pa was, in
effect, the Lobsang Rampa of eleventh-century Tibet, a Tibetan yogin whose body
had been taken over by an Indian saint. To the historical uncertainties of visions
and dreams, then, we must also add possession!
Despite this last complication, a pattern of sorts is beginning to emerge: Khyung
po rnal ’byor’s youth and early career belong probably to the beginning of the
second half of the eleventh century, not earlier. Those among his Indian teachers
whom we can identify with some certainty – for instance, Maitripa’s disciple
Atulyavajra, or Amoghavajra of Vajrāsana – similarly belong to the mid- and late
eleventh century. Khyung po rnal ’byor claims to have studied, too, with Maitripa
himself. Because the tradition sometimes gives the death year of this master as
1088,29 we can perhaps accept this without much upsetting our chronological
assumptions, that is, if we accept that Khyung po rnal ’byor did indeed meet
Maitripa himself. One further detail is worth noting here: Khyung po rnal ’byor
states that he received his final ordination as a bhikṣu under the renowned Bka’
gdams pa preceptor Glang ri thang pa, who was born in 1054, founded Glang thang
Monastery in 1093, and passed away some thirty years later, in 1123.30
All that we have seen up to now convinces us that the period of Khyung po rnal
’byor’s discipleship and search for enlightenment must have taken place during
the last part of the eleventh century, perhaps even the beginning of the twelfth,
and that, in effect, he represented matters in this way by constant reference to
28
’Gos lo tsā ba, in Roerich, Blue Annals, 849-55. But consider, too, Kurtis R. Schaeffer, “The
Religious Career of Vairocanavajra – A Twelfth-Century Indian Buddhist Master from Dakṣiṇa Kośala,”
Journal of Indian Philosophy 28, no. 4 (2000): 361-84, esp. 371, on Vairocanavajra’s meeting with
Skor. Schaeffer’s conclusion would argue either for a readjustment of Skor’s dates, or for discounting
the meeting as apocryphal. As Khyung po rnal ’byor is associated with both of these figures, it may
well be that the former conclusion is to be preferred.
29
See Mark Tatz, “The Life of the Siddha-Philosopher Maitrīgupta,” Journal of the American Oriental
Society, 107, no. 4 (1987): 695-711.
30
Roerich, Blue Annals, 270-71.
Kapstein: Chronological Conundrums in the Life of Khyung po rnal ’byor
10
Tibetan and Indian teachers who, we know, were active during just the same period.
As we have seen above, his death certainly occurred in about 1135-1140. If we
assume, then, that he was in fact born circa 1050, he would have been approaching
ninety at the time of his death. It is not at all uncommon in traditional societies to
add a few decades to the ages of elderly persons; two well documented examples
well within the memory of living persons are the Tibetan teacher Ani lo chen, or
Shugs gseb rje btsun ma, who probably lived into her mid-nineties but whose
disciples thought she was well over 130 at the time of her death, and Baba Allaudin
Khan, the virtuoso musician and father of the renowned sarodist Ali Akbar Khan,
whose age was similarly exaggerated. Khyung po rnal ’byor’s claimed span of 150
years was a stretch, but nevertheless seems to exemplify a similar phenomenon.
’Gos lo tsā ba certainly saw matters in this way, and remarked in the Blue Annals
that 150 had to be understood here “symbolically.”31
Nevertheless, despite our best efforts to elaborate an appropriately rationalized
time-line for the events recounted in Khyung po rnal ’byor’s hagiography, there
are a number of points at which the attempt simply comes undone. The most
important of these occurs after Khyung po rnal ’byor’s second journey to India. If
the assumptions guiding us so far have been correct, this could not have taken
place much earlier than the mid 1080s. Here is how he narrates his return to Tibet:
[Upon arriving in Tibet] I went to Tho ling accompanied by the translators Bklan
dharma blo gros and Gayādhara. Since some of my Indian texts had begun to rot
(rul), I thought, “I must go back to India.” The paṇḍita Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna (=Atiśa)
was also staying there at that time. He said to me, “[Your Indian texts] are in
accord with my own [copies]. It will suffice to appoint Rin chen bzang po to
translate them,” and they were translated by Rin chen bzang po and the translator
Bklan dharma blo gros.32
This is followed by an extensive list of the teachings he subsequently received
from Atiśa.
This is all quite problematic. The translator Glan dar ma blo gros is a shadowy
figure who turns up at a number of interesting places in connection with Khyung
po rnal ’byor and the texts he collected in India.33 But he is mentioned occasionally
elsewhere as well, particularly in connection with the Indian tantric scholar
Vairocanarakṣita, who seems to have flourished during the early and mid-twelfth
century.34 Glan dar ma blo gros, therefore, would appear to have indeed been
Khyung po rnal ’byor’s contemporary according to the arguments already adduced.
31
Roerich, Blue Annals, 733; ’Gos lo tsā ba, Blue Annals, 2: 859. The term translated by Roerich as
“symbolically” is dgongs pa can.
32
Shangs pa bka’ brgyud bla rabs kyi rnam thar, 39. The clan designation bklan is elsewhere most
often given as glan. The printed text cited here is also unusual in its transcription of the proper name
dar ma as dharma.
33
34
See, for instance, n. 37 below.
Vairocanarakṣita is an alternative name of the Vairocanavajra studied by Schaeffer, “The Religious
Career of Vairocanavajra.”
Journal of the International Association of Tibetan Studies 1 (October 2005)
11
The three remaining figures, however, all were active much earlier: Gayādhara
visited Tibet probably during the 1040s, Atiśa was there from 1042 until his death
in 1054, and Rin chen bzang po likewise died in 1055.35 The last two were both
in residence in Tho ling only during the mid-1040s. Khyung po rnal ’byor’s account
of his meeting with them is, therefore, credible only if we assume that he travelled
backwards in time!36
It appears, then, that one of the key events reported in Khyung po rnal ’byor’s
hagiography is in conflict with the chronology that I have proposed, that is, a life
spanning roughly 1050-1140. That event, however, may best be read as a fiction
inserted into the hagiography for apologetical reasons. Why had his texts “begun
to rot”? This would be an unusual development in Tibet, where eleventh- and
twelfth-century palm-leaf manuscripts have been preserved in immaculate condition.
Could it be that the “rot” is metaphorical, alluding to the fact that the texts in
question were apocryphal works created by Khyung po rnal ’byor himself and not
at all the writings of his Indian masters? In fact, this is probably just what did occur,
but my detailed arguments about this must be reserved for another occasion.37
Still, let’s hold on here for a minute. If the episode in question is a fiction, found
in a hagiographical account that seems to be largely constructed of dream and
fiction, why on earth should we not suppose the episodes we have chosen to provide
us with reliable chronological coordinates to be fictions as well? In that case, all
that we have said in regard to Khyung po rnal ’byor’s probable dating has no more
substance to it than the proverbial city of the gandharvas. I really have no way to
answer this objection except to suggest, once again, that even in this case we are
nevertheless considering fictions that, for the most part, index themselves to a
particular period in time.
Earlier on, I summarized the manner in which the early traditions of Tibetan
hagiographical writing, though never entirely supplanted, did nevertheless have
to make room for an emerging historiography that was relatively more interested
in time and circumstance than early Tibetan hagiography had generally been.38
35
I know of no other record that places Gayādhara in Tho ling together with the others mentioned,
though, as noted by Roberto Vitali, The Kingdoms of Gu.ge Pu.hrang According to mNga’.ris.rgyal.rabs
by Gu.ge mkhan.chen Ngag.dbang.grags.pa (Dharamsala: Tho ling gtsug lag khang lo gcig stong ’khor
ba’i rjes dran mdzad sgo’i sgrigs tshogs chung, 1996), 238, n. 336, Gayādhara is supposed to have first
met his Tibetan disciple ’Brog mi in 1042, the year of Atiśa’s arrival in Tho ling.
36
Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, mistakenly assumed that the purported meeting of Khyung
po rnal ’byor with Atiśa at Tho ling could have taken place any time up until the latter’s passing in
1054, forgetting that he was no longer in Guge after 1045.
37
Namely, my edition and translation of the Tibetan text of the Sgyu ma lam rim and its
autocommentary, both attributed to the yoginī Niguma and translated by Glan dar ma blo gros at the
request of Khyung po rnal ’byor. For an introduction to these texts, see my “The Illusion of Spiritual
Progress,” in Paths to Liberation, ed. Robert Buswell and Robert Gimello (Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 1992), 193-224.
38
Despite this, some relatively recent authors remain frustratingly vague when it comes to dates. A
case in point is the autobiography of the late nineteenth – early twentieth-century Amdo Rnying ma
pa master Bdud ’joms rdo rje rol pa rtsal, on whom see my “The sprul-sku’s Miserable Lot: Critical
Voices from Eastern Tibet,” in Amdo Tibetans in Transition: Society and Culture in the Post-Mao Era,
Kapstein: Chronological Conundrums in the Life of Khyung po rnal ’byor
12
Some of the hallmarks of the new historiography were its concern with the linearity
of time and with the regularity, and hence measurability, of its flow.39 The evolution,
moreover, of such categories as those of outer, inner and esoteric biography,
together with the refinement of the literary conventions used to relate both mundane
and marvelous events, tended to clarify the once inexplicit boundaries between
reality, vision and dream. No doubt, the difficulties confronted by ’Gos lo tsā ba
and others in retrieving the hagiographical traditions for their own historical writing
were among the factors contributing to this development. But in Tibet the older
traditions of hagiographical writing never died, though in some respects they did
begin to fade away. What is perhaps most striking is their persistence, their refusal
of disenchantment when pierced by the straight and unidirectional arrow of time.
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39
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———. Apparitions of the Self. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998.
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———. “The Illusion of Spiritual Progress.” In Paths to Liberation, edited by
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———.“gDams ngag: Tibetan Technologies of the Self.” In Tibetan Literature:
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———. The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism. New York: Oxford University
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14
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mNga’.ris.rgyal.rabs by Gu.ge mkhan.chen Ngag.dbang.grags.pa. Dharamsala:
Tho ling gtsug lag khang lo gcig stong ’khor ba’i rjes dran mdzad sgo’i sgrigs
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Jackson and Kapstein (Hrsg.)
MAHĀMUDRĀ AND THE BKA’-BRGYUD TRADITION
BEITRÄGE ZUR ZENTRALASIENFORSCHUNG
MAHĀMUDRĀ AND THE BKA’-BRGYUD
TRADITION
PIATS 2006: Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the Eleventh Seminar of the
International Association for Tibetan Studies, Königswinter 2006.
EDITED BY
ROGER R. JACKSON AND MATTHEW T. KAPSTEIN
Cover: Karma Pakshi, copper alloy with copper inlay and painted details,
Tibet, circa 14th century, 12.5 cm. Photo courtesy Rossi & Rossi, London.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
vii
Contributors
xv
Preface
xi
I. FACETS OF MAHĀMUDRĀ
The Study Of Mahāmudrā In The West: A Brief Historical Overview
Roger R. Jackson
3
The Extraordinary Path: Saraha’s Adamantine Songs and
the Bka’ brgyud Great Seal
Lara Braitstein
55
The Collection of ‘Indian Mahāmudrā Works’ (phyag chen rgya gzhung)
Compiled by the Seventh Karma pa Chos grags rgya mtsho
Klaus-Dieter Mathes
89
II. TRADITIONS OF MEDITATION AND YOGA
Prolegomenon to the Six Doctrines of Nā ro pa: Authority and Tradition
Ulrich Timme Kragh
131
The Aural Transmission of Saṃvara: An Introduction to
Neglected Sources for the Study of the Early Bka’ brgyud
Marta Sernesi
179
Guru-Devotion in the Bka’ brgyud pa Tradition: The Single Means to
Realisation
Jan-Ulrich Sobisch
211
vi
Contents
III. CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE SUCCESSIVE KARMA PAS
The Doctrine of Eternal Heaven: A Tibetan Defense of Mongol Imperial
Religion
Matthew T. Kapstein
259
The Role of Rang rig in the Pramāṇa-based Gzhan stong of the Seventh
Karmapa
Anne Burchardi
The Eighth Karmapa’s Answer to Gling drung pa
Jim Rheingans
317
345
Tibetan Interest in Chinese Visual Modes: The Foundation of the Tenth
Karmapa’s ‘Chinese-style Thang ka Painting’
Karl Debreczeny
387
IV. THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF GTSANG SMYON HERUKA
What Do the Childhood and Early Life of Gtsang smyon Heruka Tell Us
about His Bka’ brgyud Affiliation?
Stefan Larsson
The Printing Projects of Gtsang smyon Heruka and His Disciples
425
Kurtis R. Schaeffer
453
PLATES
481
List of Illustrations
In K. Debreczeny, Tibetan Interest in Chinese Visual Modes
Fig. 1. The King of Lijiang, Mu Yi (1608-1692), official portrait. (After Mushi
Huanpu, p. 136.)
Fig. 2. Viewing Painting, central detail.
Fig. 3. Rabbit detail.
Fig. 4. Monkey and birds eating, detail.
Fig. 5. Lin Liang. “Wild Fowl,” landscape detail. (After Liu Zhen, fig. 21.)
Fig. 6. Lü Ji. “Two Ducks.” Ink and color on silk; 25 x 52 cm. Lijiang Dongba
Cultural Museum (no. 1115). (After Lijiang shu hua xuan, Pl. 21.)
Fig. 7. Notations detail from Deeds of the Buddha. Dpal-spungs Monastery.
(Photograph courtesy of Matthieu Ricard, Shechen Archives.)
Fig. 8. Arhat Sewing. Ink and color on paper flecked with gold; 30cm x 37cm.
Private collection.
Fig. 9. Arhat with Waterfall. Ink and color on paper flecked with gold; 30cm x
37cm. Private collection.
Fig. 10. Arhat on Rock. Ink and color on paper flecked with gold; 30cm x
37cm. Private collection.
Fig. 11. The Arhat Nāgasena. Ink on silk; 38 x 19 in. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. John
C. Rezk, Collection of the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art
[92.062]
Fig. 12. Monkeys Taking Mushrooms from an Arhat. Dpal-spungs Monastery.
(Photograph courtesy of Matthieu Ricard, Shechen Archives.)
Fig. 13. Arhat with Flock of Birds. Dpal-spungs Monastery. (Photograph
courtesy of Matthieu Ricard, Shechen Archives.)
Colour Plates (after p. 487)
Plate 1. Chos dbyings rdo rje. “Buddha Śākyamuni.” Ink and pigment on silk;
68x 42 cm. Dated 1660. From a set of seven paintings, Lijiang Dongba
Cultural Museum (no. 439.1).
viii
Illustrations
Plate 2. Chos dbyings rdo rje. “Three Arhats Eating with Peacocks on
Scholar’s Rock.” Ink and pigment on silk; 68 x 42 cm. From a set of
seven paintings, Lijiang Dongba Cultural Museum (no. 439.2).
Plate 3. Chos dbyings rdo rje. “Two Arhats and Dharmatāla Viewing Painting.”
Ink and pigment on silk; 68 x 42 cm. From a set of seven paintings,
Lijiang Dongba Cultural Museum (no. 439.3).
Plate 4. Chos dbyings rdo rje. “Two Arhats and Hva-shang with Woman
Washing Daikon.” Ink and pigment on silk; 68 x 42 cm. From a set of
seven paintings, Lijiang Dongba Cultural Museum (no. 439.4).
Plate 5. Chos dbyings rdo rje. “Three Arhats with Jade Gate.” Ink and pigment
on silk; 68 x 42 cm. From a set of seven paintings, Lijiang Dongba
Cultural Museum (no. 439.5).
Plate 6. Chos dbyings rdo rje. “Three Arhats Eating with Monkey and Bamboo
Fence.” Ink and pigment on silk; 68 x 42 cm. From a set of seven
paintings, Lijiang Dongba Cultural Museum (no. 439.6).
Plate 7. Chos dbyings rdo rje. “Three Arhats Heating Tea in Waterscape.” Ink
and pigment on silk; 68 x 42 cm. From a set of seven paintings, Lijiang
Dongba Cultural Museum (no. 439.7).
Plate 8. Lin Tinggui (act. 1160-1180). “Luohans Laundering.” Ink and color on
silk; 200 x 69.9 cm. Ningbo, dated 1178. Freer-Sackler Gallery of Art
(F1902.224).
Plate 9. “Lohans View Painting.” 500 Lohan set. Daitoku-ji, Kyoto.
Plate 10. Deeds of the Buddha. Dpal-spungs Monastery. (Photograph courtesy
of Matthieu Ricard, Shechen Archives.)
Plate 11. Śākyamuni Buddha. Ink and color on silk; 68 x 52 cm. From a set of
seventeen paintings, Lijiang Dongba Cultural Museum (no. 440).
Plate 12. Arhat Nāgasena with a Dragon Issuing Out of a Jar. Ink and color on
silk; 68 x 52 cm. From a set of seventeen paintings, Lijiang Dongba
Cultural Museum (no. 440).
Illustrations
ix
Plate 13. Arhat with Monkeys Stealing Mushrooms. Ink and color on silk; 68 x
52 cm. From a set of seventeen paintings, Lijiang Dongba Cultural
Museum (no. 440).
Plate 14. Arhat with Flock of Birds. Ink and color on silk; 68 x 52 cm. From a
set of seventeen paintings, Lijiang Dongba Cultural Museum (no. 440).
Plate 15. Arhat Sewing with Birds in Tree. Ink and color on silk; 68 x 52 cm.
From a set of seventeen paintings, Lijiang Dongba Cultural Museum
(no. 440).
Plate 16. Buddha Śākyamuni. Attributed to Chos dbyings rdo rje. Ink and
pigment on silk; 68 x 44 cm. Francoise & Alain Bordier Collection.
(After Jackson (1996), p. 253.)
In S. Larsson, The Early Life of Gtsang smyon Heruka
Fig. 1. Mkhar kha, Gtsang smyon’s birthplace north of Rgyal rtse.
Fig. 2. Dpal ’khor chos sde monastic complex at Rgyal rtse.
Fig. 3. Gur pa gra tshang, the monastic department where Gtsang smyon
studied at Dpal ’khor chos sde.
Fig. 4. Mar pa, Mi la, and Ras chung, the first three Tibetan lineage lamas of
the Aural Transmission of Ras chung. Modern statues at Ras chung
phug.
Fig. 5. A recent statue of Gtsang smyon in Ras chung phug, the place where he
passed away.
Fig. 6. Gtsang smyon’s shoe, kept in a village near his birthplace in Mkhar kha.
PREFACE
The spiritual traditions inspired by the great translator of Lho brag, Mar pa
Chos kyi blo gros, and known generally as Bka’ brgyud, have had a remarkable
legacy, contributing not only to the development of Tibetan religion, but to
philosophy, art, literature, and politics as well. Though prominent teachers
associated with several of the Bka’ brgyud orders have now established
teaching centres throughout the world, touching the lives of thousands of
persons outside of Tibet, and though a great many texts stemming from these
traditions have now been translated into English and other Western languages,
as a distinct area of inquiry the focused academic study of the Bka’ brgyud and
their historical role in the formation of Tibetan culture is a relatively recent
phenomenon. The present volume, offering the fruits of original research by
twelve scholars, advances our knowledge in this field, while suggesting
directions for future inquiry.
The work published here is based on presentations at two panels at the
Tenth Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies convened at
Königswinter, Germany, in August 2006 under the auspices of the Seminar for
Central Asian Studies at Bonn University. The first, concerning the Mahāmudrā
teachings that are considered the very heart of Bka’ brgyud contemplative
teaching, was organised by Roger R. Jackson and Lara Braitstein and entitled
“Phyag rgya chen po: Perspectives, Debates, Traditions and Transmissions.”
Besides the organisers, the contributors included Jim Rheingans, Burkhart
Scherer, and Jan-Ulrich Sobisch. The second panel, commemorating the figure
often considered the first representative of the unique Tibetan ecclesiatical
institution of recognised hierarchical incarnation, was called “For Karma
Pakshi’s Octocentenary: Dialogue and Innovation in the Bka’-brgyud
Traditions.” Organised by Matthew T. Kapstein, it had as its other participants
Karl Debreczeny, Ulrich T. Kragh, Stefan Larsson, Klaus-Dieter Mathes,
xii
Preface
Puchung Tsering, Jann Ronis, Kurtis R. Schaeffer, and Marta Sernesi. In view
of the close relationship between the two panels, and the overall quality and
coherence of the new scholarship they introduced, the editors of this volume
thought it advantageous that our efforts be combined. We regret that three of
our colleagues (B. Scherer, Puchung Tsering, and J. Ronis) were unable to
include their work in the present publication. At the same time, we were
delighted that Anne Burchardi, whose communication was originally read in a
panel devoted to Buddhist Philosophy, could make her research available for
presentation here.
In preparing this work for publication, the editors have been guided by
the intellectual architecture of the contributions, rather than the plan of the
original panels. The first part, “Facets of Mahāmudrā,” begins with R.R.
Jackson’s survey of contemporary scholarship and translation relating to the
Mahāmudrā traditions of India and Tibet. L. Braitstein’s study of the
“Adamantine Songs” attributed to the renowned mahāsiddha Saraha, as well as
K.-D. Mathes’s examination of the compilation of “Indian Mahāmudrā Works”
directed by the seventh Karma pa, both enhance our growing understanding of
the ways and means whereby Indian Mahāmudrā traditions were transmitted
and transmuted in Tibet.
The following section, “Traditions of Meditation and Yoga,” takes up
specific Bka’ brgyud systems of spiritual discipline with reference to their texthistory and practical content. U.T. Kragh examines the formation of the textual
sources of the famed “Six Yogas of Nāropa,” perhaps the most celebrated of
the Bka’ brgyud teachings besides the Mahāmudrā. His work has its
counterpart in M. Sernesi’s study of the Aural Transmissions (snyan brgyud)
and their place in the yoga systems specific to Bka’ brgyud esotericism. In the
final chapter in this section, on “Guru Devotion” by J.-U. Sobisch, we return to
the Mahāmudrā in connection with the teaching of ’Bri gung Skyobs pa,
considered controversial by some, that such devotion offered in fact the “single
means to realisation.”
Preface
xiii
The studies making up part three, “Contributions of the Successive
Karma pas,” examine selected works—textual and artistic—produced by
members of one of Tibet’s preeminent reincarnation lineages. M.T. Kapstein, in
his investigation of a recently discovered and puzzling treatise by the second
Karma pa, Karma Pakshi, discovers within it an apparently unique, albeit
notably eccentric, defense of Mongol imperial religion. More mainstream
doctrinal concerns are at issue in the two chapters that follow, though the
approaches to them that we find here are strikingly original nevertheless. A.
Burchardi’s topic is the seventh Karma pa’s treatment of reflexive awareness, a
key element in Buddhist epistemological theory, in relation to the controversial
doctrine of “extrinsic emptiness,” or gzhan stong¸ while J. Rheingans examines
the eighth Karma pa’s remarks on Mahāmudrā in a letter responding to the
questions of a disciple. In the closing chapter of part three, K. Debreczeny
introduces us to the remarkable artistic production of the tenth Karma pa in a
study based on painstaking efforts to locate and document the identifiable
paintings that survive.
The last section of the volume is devoted to the famous “Madman of
Gtsang,” Gtsang smyon Heruka, the author of the best-loved of Tibetan literary
masterworks, his redaction of the biography and songs of the poet-saint Mi la
ras pa. S. Larsson’s contribution offers an overview of his youth and early
career, placing his relation to the Bka’ brgyud tradition in a new, nuanced
perspective. K.R. Schaeffer focuses on Gtsang smyon’s later achievement, and
that of his followers, in bringing important parts of the Bka’ brgyud heritage
into print for the first time. In this regard, one may note that Gtsang smyon also
played a particularly strong role in the redaction of the Aural Transmissions
studied by M. Sernesi in her contribution as mentioned above.
In reflecting upon the work found here overall, we may note two broad
tendencies underlying much of current Bka’ brgyud-related research. On the
one hand, there is a significant interest in the early formation of the Bka’
brgyud orders, the particular doctrines and practices that distinguished them,
and the hagiographical traditions surrounding their founding adepts. Besides
xiv
Preface
this, a second area of focused study that is beginning to emerge concerns the
great masters of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, figures such as the
seventh and eighth Karma pas, as well as ’Brug chen Padma dkar po, Dwags po
Bkra shis rnam rgyal, Gtsang smyon Heruka, and others. While much of the
attention devoted to them concerns their important legacy in philosophy and
religious thought, we must also recognize that their rise to prominence
accompanied the age of Bka’ brgyud political dominance in Central Tibet. It is
a task for future research to disclose more thoroughly than so far has been
possible the precise relationships between the religious developments that have
mostly interested scholars to date and the material and political conditions that
enabled them.
Roger R. Jackson & Matthew T. Kapstein
Lo gsar, Year of the Iron Hare, 2011
CONTRIBUTORS
LARA BRAITSTEIN is Assistant Professor at McGill University (Montreal,
Canada). Her research focuses on Indian and Tibetan Buddhist poetic traditions,
Buddhist Hagiography, and Esoteric Buddhism. She completed her dissertation,
“Saraha's Adamantine Songs: Text, Contexts, Translation and Traditions of the
Great Seal,” in 2005.
ANNE BURCHARDI is External Lecturer in the Department of Cross Cultural and
Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen and Curator of the Tibetan
Collection of the Department of Orientalia and Judaica at The Royal Library of
Copenhagen. Her research focuses on Buddhist literature and philosophy, in
particular the Gzhan stong tradition. Recent publications include “Shākya
mchog ldan's Literary Heritage in Bhutan” (in Written Treasures of Bhutan:
Mirror of the Past and Bridge to the Future, Thimphu 2008), “The Diversity of
the Gzhan stong Tradition” (JIATS 2007) and “A Provisional list of Tibetan
Commentaries on the Ratnagotravibhāga” The Tibet Journal 2006).
KARL DEBRECZENY is Curator at the Rubin Museum of Art, New York. His
research focuses upon the history of Tibetan Art. Recent publications include
“Dabaojigong and the Regional Tradition of Ming Sino-Tibetan Painting in
Lijiang” (in Buddhism Between Tibet and China, Boston 2009), “Bodhisattvas
South of the Clouds: Situ Panchen’s Activities and Artistic Influence in Lijiang,
Yunnan” (in Patron & Painter: Situ Panchen and the Revival of the
Encampment Style, New York 2009), and “Wutaishan: Pilgrimage to Five Peak
Mountain” (JIATS forthcoming).
xvi
Contributors
ROGER R. JACKSON is John W. Nason Professor of Asian Studies and Religion
at Carleton College (Minnesota, USA). His research focuses upon Indian and
Tibetan Buddhist traditions of religious poetry and meditative praxis, especially
as related to Mahāmudrā. Recent publications include Tantric Treasures: Three
Collections of Mystical Verse from Buddhist India (New York/Oxford 2004)
and, with Geshe Lhundup Sopa, The Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems:
A Tibetan Study of Asian Religious Thought (Boston 2009).
MATTHEW T. KAPSTEIN is Director of Tibetan Studies at the École Pratique des
Hautes Études (Paris) and Numata Visiting Professor at the Divinity School of
the University of Chicago. His research focuses upon the early development of
Tibetan religious thought and its Indian antecedants. Recent publications
include The Tibetans (Oxford 2006), Buddhism Between Tibet and China
(Boston 2009), and, with Sam van Schaik, Esoteric Buddhism at Dunhuang:
Rites and Teachings for this Life and Beyond (Leiden 2010).
ULRICH TIMME KRAGH is Assistant Professor and Head of the Tibetan
Research Team at Geumgang Center for Buddhist Studies (Korea). His research
focuses upon the founder of the Bka’ brgyud school of Tibetan Buddhism,
Sgam po pa Bsod nams rin chen, the Indian Madhyamaka philosopher
Candrakīrti, and the Tantric writings of the female Uḍḍiyāna-master
Laksmiṅkarā. Recent publications include “Early Buddhist Theories of Action
and Result” (Vienna 2006), “Classicism in Commentarial Writing” (JIATS
2009), and the edited volume The Yogācarabhūmi and the Yogācaras
(Cambridge, MA 2010).
STEFAN LARSSON is a Visiting Scholar in the Center for Buddhist Studies at the
University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses upon the non-monastic
and yogin-oriented aspects of Tibetan Buddhism. His Ph.D. dissertation, “The
Birth of a Heruka: How Sangs rgyas rgyal mtshan became Gtsang smyon
Heruka—A Study of a Mad Yogin,” was completed in 2009.
Contributors
xvii
KLAUS-DIETER MATHES is Professor of Tibetan and Buddhist Studies at the
University of Vienna. His current research deals with the Indian origins of
Tibetan mahāmudrā traditions. Recent publications include “Blending the
Sūtras with the Tantras” (in Tibetan Buddhist Literature and Praxis, Leiden
2006), A Direct Path to the Buddha Within: Gö Lotsawa’s Mahāmudrā
Interpretation of the Ratnagotravibhāga (Boston 2008), and “The Succession of
the Four Seals (Caturmudrānvaya)” (in Tantric Studies 2008).
JIM RHEINGANS is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Center for Buddhist
Studies of the University of Hamburg. His research focuses upon Tibetan
religious
history
and
literature,
especially
meditation
guidebooks,
hagiographies, and the mahāmudrā traditions. Recent publications include
“Narratives of Reincarnation” (Boston 2009) and “Preliminary Reflections on
Guru Devotion” (St. Petersburg 2009); his 2008 dissertation is entitled “The
Eighth Karmapa's Life and his Interpretation of the Great Seal.”
KURTIS R. SCHAEFFER is Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at
the University of Virginia. His research focuses on the cultural and intellectual
history of Tibet from the fourteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Recent
publications include Himalayan Hermitess (Oxford 2004), The Culture of the
Book in Tibet (New York 2009), and, with Leonard W. J. van der Kuijp, An
Early Tibetan Survey of Buddhist Literature (Cambridge, MA 2009).
MARTA SERNESI is a Post-doctoral Fellow at the Ludwig-Maximilians-
Universität (Munich). Her research focuses on Tibetan history and literature of
the eleventh through seventeenth centuries, particularly on the transmission and
representation of religious traditions and lineages. Her current work is devoted
mainly to Bka’ brgyud sources, in particular to the school of Gtsang smyon
Heruka and to the issues of the production and circulation of manuscripts and
blockprints in Tibet and the Himalayas.
xviii
Contributors
JAN-ULRICH SOBISCH is Associate Professor for Tibetan Studies at the
University of Copenhagen. His research focuses upon the reception of Indian
tantric Buddhism in Tibet and Tibetan theories of tantric practice, with a
special interest in Tibetan manuscripts. His publications include Three-Vow
Theories in Tibetan Buddhism (Wiesbaden 2002), Life, Transmissions, and
Works of A-mes-zhabs (Stuttgart 2007), and Hevajra and Lam-’bras Literature
of India and Tibet (2008).
THE DIALECTIC OF ETERNAL HEAVEN:
A TIBETAN DEFENSE OF MONGOL IMPERIAL
RELIGION*
MATTHEW T. KAPSTEIN
1 Introduction
The doctrinal writings of the second Karma pa hierarch, Chos kyi bla ma (1204
or 1206–83), better known as Karma Pakshi, have so far been available to us
primarily through an incomplete manuscript of the Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas skor
from Rum btegs Monastery in Sikkim, published in India during the late 1970s,
but misattributed, as I have shown elsewhere, to Karma Pakshi’s successor, the
third Karma pa Rang byung rdo rje (1284–1339).1 With the gradual rediscovery
of Tibetan manuscript collections in Central Tibet and Khams, it is now evident
that a number of additional works have been preserved, and scans or photo>
graphs of some of these have begun to become available to researchers outside
of Tibet. While it is too early to maintain that Karma Pakshi’s complete Bka’
’bum may be reconstituted—a goal that tradition holds to have been unrealis>
able even in pre>1959 Tibet2—it appears that the major part of his writings
* The present article is dedicated in friendship to the Ven. Thub bstan nyi ma Rin po
che and to Karma Bde legs, in recognition of their outstanding efforts to locate and to
preserve the surviving literary legacy of Tibet.
1
Kapstein 1985, reprinted, with some revisions, in Kapstein 2000: 97–106.
2
Most of his teachings, which were believed to have exceeded two Bka’ ’gyurs (!),
were said to have been carried off by the ḍākinīs and other spirits and never circulated
among common mortals. See e.g. Sman sdong mtshams pa 1976, pp. 107–108: phyi
nang gi grub mtha’ theg pa sna tshogs pa rnams kyang rdo rje theg pa’i nges gsang
snying po’i don kho na la gzhol zhing ’bab par ’gyur ba’i bstan bcos kyi rim pa’ang
bka’ ’gyur ro ’tshal nyis ’gyur tsam bstan cing de dag gi gleng gzhi dang ’brel ba’i
260
Matthew T. Kapstein
formerly in circulation may be identified once more. 3 As earlier research
suggested, the Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas skor seems in fact to comprise all but a
small part of his production.4
Karma Pakshi’s regular use of the name Rang byung rdo rje, as I have
shown before, means that some texts signed with this name, and even some
apparently belonging to the Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas skor, must be considered
with care. For instance, a work entitled Dam tshig rgya mtsho mtha’ yas has
appeared in the collected writings of the third Karma pa and its actual author>
ship is, in all probablity, correctly credited to him.5 This text does, however,
rnam thar mang po ’thor nas yod par gsungs pa la / deng sang mi yul du snang ba la
gsung rab po ti drug tsam las / de bying rgyal ba’i gsung rab ltar / dpa’ bo / mkha’ ’gro
/ lha klu gnod sbyin sogs kyis yul du spyan drangs par don gyis gsal ba’i phyir bsam
gyis mi khyab pa’i gnas so //. The notion that Karma Pakshi’s teachings attained some
two Bka’ ’gyurs in volume in fact derived from his autobiographical writings: Karma
Pakshi 1978a, p. 110.
3
Manuscripts containing works by Karma Pakshi have been located, for instance, in the
collection of the ’Bras spungs Gnas bcu lha khang (Lha sa) and at Dpal spungs (Sde
dge). As many as eight po tis of his writings are now known to exist, and one hopes
that they will soon be made available in their entirety. The scanned manuscripts that
have been so far added to the archive of the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center (TBRC,
New York), together with other available texts, are listed in Appendix III below.
4
It would not be appropriate for me to anticipate those who have been working in Tibet
and Khams on the reconstitution of Karma Pakshi’s œuvre by reproducing here their
lists of titles above and beyond those that have already become available, as given in
Appendix III. The texts now found in the TBRC collection, as might be expected, in
fact mostly belong to the Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas corpus.
5
Full title: Dam tshig rgya mtsho mtha’ yas rnam par snang bar byed pa dri ma med
pa’i snying po, in Karma pa Rang byung rdo rje 2006, vol. 8 (nya), pp. 1–114. The
author in fact gives his name as Rang byung rol pa’i rdo rje (113.2), a form that is not
used, so far as I am aware, by Karma Pakshi. No explicit reference to Karma Pakshi’s
Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas skor appears to occur in the text and there is no sure basis for
supposing it to have been composed as a supplement to it. The title alone seems to have
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
261
problematise the use of the phrase Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas as a signature title.
Only the eventual availability of the entire extant Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas corpus
will permit us to determine whether or not any of the works included within it
may have been similary composed or redacted by Karma Pakshi’s successors.
Among the recent discoveries whose authorship seems secure, however,
one stands out, to my eyes at least, for its remarkable novelty, even in relation
to the originality that characterises the second Karma pa’s writings overall.6
been intended as an allusion to the author’s predecessor. Nevertheless, the published
handlist of the manuscripts that have been discovered in the Gnas bcu lha khang of
’Bras spungs Monastery, does attribute to Karma Pakshi a Dam tshig rgya mtsho’i rang
’grel in 58 folios (Dpal brtsegs 2004, vol. 1, p. 1112, no. 011037). An assessment of
this attribution must of course await that text’s becoming available.
6
As noted already in Kapstein 1985, Karma Pakshi’s writings appear to have been
poorly known even among the Karma Bka’ brgyud, and this no doubt owing to his
pronounced Rnying ma orientations and the remarkable eccentricity of his style of
exposition and argument. A brief note, found accompanying a manuscript of the Zhu
lan rgya mtsho mtha’ yas preserved at Dpal spungs, and transcribed in Appendix III
below (under W22469) reveals for the first time something of the manner in which
Karma Pakshi’s writings were perceived within the tradition. It says in part: “Although
the expressions [in Karma Pakshi’s works] seem as if somewhat misconstrued, they are
the words of a venerable siddha and not in the scope of conventional designation; if one
becomes certain [about them] with discrimination endowed with the four points of
reliance (Tib. rton pa bzhi, Skt. catuḥpratisaraṇa), because there is nowhere greater
development of the essential points of the nine vehicles proceeding from the Śrī>
Guhyagarbha, rather than letting them lie to rot in darkness, I pray a thousand times
that you regard them and know their meaning.” The note is signed by one Dge slong
Bstan pa’i nyi ma, who, given his diction and his audacity in committing to writing the
opinion that the second Karma pa’s writings “seem somewhat miscontrued,” must have
been no ordinary monk. Though I have not so far succeeded in determining his precise
identity, it appears at least possible in this context that it is none other than the great Si
tu Paṇ chen (1699/1700–1774), whose writings are often signed Bstan pa’i nyin byed,
or Bstan pa’i nyi mor byed pa.
262
Matthew T. Kapstein
This is the manuscript of a previously unknown work that bears the puzzling
title Mo gho ding ri’i sgra tshad, though the title turns out to be just the first of
the many puzzles to be found therein.7 Here, I wish to suggest that the Mo gho
ding ri’i sgra tshad, in terms of both style and content, is consistent with the
other major writings of Karma Pakshi that have so far come to light, namely
those belonging to the Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas skor.8 However, the Mo gho ding
7
As shown in Appendix III, the same manuscript appears in two separate scanned
versions in the TBRC archive. In addition, I have made use of high quality digital
images of the manuscript, which is preserved at Dpal spungs monastery in the Sde dge
district of Khams (Ganzi zhou, Sichuan).
8
The common authorship is confirmed, moreover, by passages in which the author of
the Mo gho ding ri’i sgra tshad explicitly refers to the Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas skor, for
instance at Mo gho ding ri 20b7–21a1: lung rigs sna tshogs kyis mueț [= mu stegs]
pa’i grub mtha’ bshiț [= bshigs] cing sgrub / ci’i phyir na bstan pa rgya mtsho mtha’
yas nas / ston pa drugis gleng bzhi [= gzhi] gleng lhong mueț kyis grub mtha’ cheno
[= chen po] dang / ’dod pa rgya’o [= rgya mtsho] mtha’ yas dang / khyab ’jug dang /
zhus len rgya’o mtha’ yas rnaṃs kyis shes pa… lung rig sgra tshad (21a) rnam la
mkhas shing rtog par bya’o //: “Various scriptures and reasonings confirm the
refutation of the tīrthikas. How so? In the Limitless Ocean of the Teaching, where the
discourse of six teachers [forms] the narrative frame, there is the Great Siddhānta of the
tīrthikas; and it may be known [too] from the Limitless Ocean of Tenets, the [Limitless
Ocean of] Viṣṇu, and the Limitless Ocean of Dialogue.… One should become learned
and realised in the language and logic of scripture and reason.” The Limitless Ocean of
Viṣṇu (Khyab ’jug rgya mtsho mtha’ yas) is found, with some lacunae, in a scanned
manuscript in the TBRC archive: W22340 (see Appendix III below). Khyab ’jug here
seems to have a double meaning, referring at once to the Hindu divinity Viṣṇu and to
Samantabhadra, the primordial buddha of the Great Perfection (rdzogs chen), who is
sometimes also known as the “Great All>Pervader” (khyab ’jug chen po = Skt.
Mahāviṣṇu). See e.g. Dudjom 1991, vol. 1: 447. Of course, we must await the
opportunity to examine the Khyab ’jug rgya mtsho mtha’ yas in detail before enter>
taining further conjectures about precisely what Karma Pakshi may have intended.
Note, too, that in citations from the text of the Mo gho ding ri’i sgra tshad, because of
the abundant use of abbreviations and plentiful occurrences of unconventional spellings
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
263
ri’i sgra tshad is distinguished from these latter, and in a sense adopts an
approach that is even more radical than the skepticism of the ’Dod pa rgya
mtsho mtha’ yas,9 in that it offers what at first blush appears to be a robust
defense of Mongol imperial religion; for the mo gho ding ri of the title is none
other than the supreme divinity of Mongol religion, “Eternal Heaven,” Möngke
tengri.10 The term may also have in this case a double signification, however,
for we know that Karma Pakshi’s royal patron was Möngke Khan, and some
passages in our text do seek to underwrite the latter’s sacral status before the
Tibetans.11
(in some cases clearly errors) throughout, I have thought it best not to litter my trans>
criptions with the notation ‘sic.’ Similarly, I have not attempted to emend within the
texts the indifferent use of the “instrumental” (kyis, etc.) and “genitive” (kyi, etc.) or
other grammatical irregularities.
9
Kapstein 2000: 101–104.
10
Heissig 1973: 403–405, esp. 403: “L’usage constant de la formule mongole
« Möngke tngri>yin küčündür… », « Par la force du Ciel éternel », dans des épitres, des
ordonnances, des panneaux de consignes (p’ai>tzu) et des inscriptions lapidaires de
l’époque mongole (13e>14e siècle) atteste la croyance des Mongols dans l’existence
d’une puissance céleste à laquelle sont soumises toutes les forces supra>terrestres et
terrestres.” The “constant use” of the formula no doubt explains Karma Pakshi’s
familiarity with and interest in it. There is, of course, an excellent English translation of
Heissig’s text (originally in German) by Geoffrey Samuel [The Religions of Mongolia
(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980)], but it is unavailable to me at this
time.
11
As is the case, in the preamble of the text translated below (3a.6), where Karma
Pakshi speaks of “the merit of the king of the world, Möngke Khan.” The depth of
Karma Pakshi’s regard for Möngke is very much in evidence in Karma Pakshi 1978a
(see Kapstein 2000: 99n62) and was recalled in later tradition. Dpa’>bo 1986, p. 912,
for instance, states that “in fact, the foremost among his disciples who were vessels
[capable of retaining his teaching] was Möngke Khan, whom he blessed so that his
renunciation and realisation were equivalent to his own” (dngos su snod ldan gyi slob
ma’i gtso bo rgyal po mong gor gan nyid dang spangs rtogs mnyams par byin gyis
264
Matthew T. Kapstein
2 Title and preamble
The Mo gho ding ri’i sgra tshad is a substantial work, occupying 149 long
folios of tightly written, and much abbreviated, dbu med. The difficulties in the
interpretation of our text, however, begin even on the title page:
dam pa’i chos ’dul ba’i gling bzhi na gos dmar can gyi yul nas ’ongs ba’i
mkhas pa yang dag phyi rol nyid bzhugs gsungs te / de la sha na’i gos can
’jams dpal dmar po la sogs pa’i tshan ’brug tsam du tha snyad ’dogs shing
ngo bo cig la mthong tshul tha dad pa ’di lta ste / mo gho ding ri’i sgra
tshad bzhugs so //.
The following, very tentative, translation may be proposed based on indications
given elsewhere in the text:
In the frame>narrative (reading: gleng gzhi) of the Vinaya of the True
Dharma, it is said that from the land of the Red>garbed came a paṇḍita who
dwelt genuinely outside. Names (reading: mtshan),12 including Śāṇakavāsin
and Red Mañjusrī,13 were thunderously attributed to him, just as there are
brlabs pa). Note, too, that in Karma Pakshi 1978a, p. 15, Möngke is styled mo ghor
rgyal po, confirming his use of mo gho to transcribe Mongolian möngke.
12
There is some possibility, too, that tshan is used here in an extension of its meaning
“section, segment,” or in the sense of tshan kha. In the latter case the phrase should
mean roughly “powers, including [those of] Śāṇakavāsin and Red Mañjusrī, were
thunderously attributed to him,” though this strikes me as not so plausible as the
proposed emendation to mtshan.
13
The bodhisattva Mañjusrī plays a particularly important role in Karma Pakshi’s
visionary world, and in the redaction of the Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas skor. Dpa’ bo 1986,
p. 888, for instance, tells us that “in Ke>chu he beheld Mañjusrī, yellow with a
thousand hands and a thousand eyes, and this [he took] as a sign of enlightened activity
in both this lifetime and the next” (ke chur ’jam dbyangs ser po phyag stong spyan
stong pa gzigs pa sku tshe phyi ma gnyis kyi ’phrin las kyi brdar ’dug). (Here Dpa’ bo
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
265
various visions of a single essence and hence: here is contained the
Dialectic of Eternal Heaven.
It is not clear, at the outset at least, why the peculiar expression
“genuinely outside” (yang dag phyi rol nyid) should be applied to the arhat
Śāṇakavāsin here; one may think perhaps of his borderline outsider status in the
early saṅgha, an issue discussed at length by John Strong,14 and some of the
legends involved may have inspired Karma Pakshi’s use of yang dag phyi rol
nyid, as will be seen in the text selections given below. It is possible, too, that
Xuanzang’s description of Śāṇakavāsin as having attained the “boundary>limit
samādhi” (ru bianji ding 入邊際定) further contributed to the liminal assoc>
iations of this arhat.15 What will emerge thoughout the text, however, is that
one of Pakshi’s chief concerns is to engage in debate with the “outsiders”
(tīrthika, phyi rol mu stegs pa), although the connection of this with the famed
arhat remains not altogether clear. In all events, we have already shown in our
earlier study that Karma Pakshi had a special interest in integrating non>
Buddhists into the fabric of Buddhist thought, an interest that explicitly stem>
med from his involvement in the debates and discussions among representatives
of differing religions sponsored by Möngke Khan in 1256.16 We shall return to
is following the text found in Karma Pakshi 1978a, p. 129.) What’s more, the entire
Zhu lan rgya mtsho mtha’ yas is cast as a dialogue between Karma Pakshi and the
bodhisattva.
14
Strong 1992: 66–74, esp. p. 71: “Śāṇakavāsin … look[s] grubby, [has] long hair, and
appear[s] to be a mahalla [a pejorative term for an uncouth old monk]; but he is
actually enlightened, and he is Upagupta’s master.”
15
Beal 1884, vol. 1: 52–53; Watters 1904, vol. 1: 120. Note, too, that the tradition
reported here by Xuanzang concerning the deep red colour of Śāṇakavāsin’s robe,
preserved as a relic in a monastery described in his chapter on Bamiyan, conforms with
Karma Pakshi’s attribution to him of red garb as well. For the Chinese text, see
Xuanzang 2000, vol. 1 (
16
), pp. 132–33.
Demiéville 1973: 181–82, summarises what is reported of these debates in Chinese
sources (as given in Chavannes 1904), which focus primarily on the censure of the
266
Matthew T. Kapstein
consider this point in further detail below. Given Karma Pakshi’s conviction
that the imperial policy of religious tolerance favored by the Khan was correct,
and his conviction, too, that a tacit adherence to Buddhism by the Khan under>
girded this policy,17 we may imagine that Karma Pakshi sought to expound a
teaching that was distinctively Buddhist, but at the same time made room for
everyone. This, at least, is what his effort simultaneously to refute and to
authenticate the mu stegs pas seems inevitably to imply.
Pakshi’s use of the term sgra tshad in the title seems to point in the
same direction. The expression literally means “language and logic,” though I
have used “dialectic” as an approximation to save words. The latter, in its
primary sense (given in the Oxford English Dictionary as “the art of critically
investigating the truth of opinions; logical disputation or argument”), may be
close to the author’s intended meaning in any case. In one passage, cited above
(n. 8), he even seems to suggest that the two terms used here in compound
correspond closely to lung rigs, scripture and reason. If so, then sgra tshad,
“language and logic,” may be employed to cover broadly the disciplines
charged with the task of interpretation and judgement in these two domains.
Daoists. The head of the Buddhist party, the Kashmiri monk Na mo, had long>establish>
ed ties to the Mongol ruling house and was appointed by Möngke in 1252 to direct
Buddhist affairs throughout the empire (Demiéville 1973: 178). Though the Chinese
sources refer also to the presence of the then sixteen>year>old Sa skya pa bla ma ’Phags
pa (1239–80) at these debates, the Chinese transcription of his name as it occurs here—
bahesiba 拔合斯八—is somewhat unusual, leading some to have speculated that
‘Pakshi’ may have been the name intended. (See, for instance, Richardson 1998: 341,
repeated by D. Jackson 2009: 261n185.) It may be noted in passing, too, that the
condemnation of Daoism stressed in the Chinese records stands in apparent contrast
with Möngke’s religious inclusivism as stressed by Karma Pakshi (Kapstein 2000:
244n81) and, sometime earlier, by the Franciscan William of Rubruck (P. Jackson 2009:
236: “But just as God has given the hand several fingers, so he has given mankind
several paths.”).
17
Kapstein 2000: 99.
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
267
The first several paragraphs of the Mo gho ding ri’i sgra clearly
exemplify both the work’s unusual stance and the difficulties involved in seek>
ing to understand it:18
(1b.1) The dialectic of Eternal Heaven is proclaimed to be the measure>
less, imponderable dialectic, to be discussed and definively established. As
the example of a body [followed by its] shadow, when the proposition
affirmed is measureless and imponderable, the implied conclusion is
measureless and imponderable. (1b.2) For this is evidently valid.19 Hence,
affirming the propositions that saṃsāra and nirvāṇa may be either
measureless and imponderable or delimited and ponderable, they are to be
proclaimed and discussed. So I pray that the Jina, the perfection of the five
kāyas, together with his sons (1b.3), be present as the holy witnesses. I pray
that Viṣṇu and Īśvara, Phywa and Brahmā, along with the eight classes of
deities and demons arrayed throughout the three worlds, who uphold
respectively the outer and inner systems, be present as the holy witnesses.
(1b.4) As for this wheel of swordplay,20 refutation and proof, the
delimited and ponderable dialectic and the measureless, imponderable
dialectic of the Red>garbed Eternal Heaven, it has not come forth
previously here in Tibet, the Glacial Land, nor will it come again. (1b.5) In
18
The Tibetan text is the first given in Appendix I below.
19
Throughout the Mo gho ding ri, Karma Pakshi appears to insist that the sole valid
means of knowledge is the “criterion of perception” (mngon sum tshad ma, Skt.
pratyakṣapramāṇa). He seems to be using this term with a peculiar sense, however, not
precisely limited to ‘perception’ as we are accustomed to regard it, but including what
is ‘intuitive,’ as this is often understood by anglophone philosophers (i.e. as referring to
what is known a priori). The phrase ‘evidently valid’ seems often to correspond, at
least roughly, with Karma Pakshi’s usage and so has generally been adopted here.
20
ral (b)skor. Meaning uncertain, though the usage here and throughout the text
inclines me to take it as referring to exercises in swordsmanship, much as we use
“parry” and “riposte” in English to refer both to the martial arts and to debate.
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Matthew T. Kapstein
debate with others, outer and inner, here is how at first the outer and inner
systems are respectively distinguished:
I affirm the proposition that unknowing is proven to be the
bewilderment and ground for the bewilderment of beings of the six classes.
Do you assent to refute it or not?
(1b.6) I affirm the proposition that the perverse views are the 360
errant views of the tīrthikas and their subdivisions. Do you assent21 to
refute this or not? In assenting, do define your bounds.
Among the inner systems of the Buddhists, (1b.7) the nine vehicles
that are partially realised and egocentric, 22 I affirm the propositions
establishing the teaching of the nirmāṇakāya, that is, the Tripiṭaka. You,
tīrthika, must affirm that you refute this.
I affirm the propositions establishing the teaching of the
sambhogakāya, that is, the three outer tantras. (2a.1) You, tīrthika, must
affirm that you refute this.
I affirm the proposition establishing that the declaration of the
intention of the dharmakāya is the unsurpassed Mahāyoga, [according to]
the ancient and modern [tantras]. You, tīrthika, must affirm that you refute
this.
21
Reading shes for bshig.
22
Karma Pakshi is here following (as he often does) the doctrinal categories elaborated
in connection with the Mahāyoga exegetical tradition of the Guhyagarbha Tantra and
the Anuyoga system of the Mdo dgongs pa ’dus pa. Here, the “nine vehicles that are
partially realised and egocentric” (phyogs rtog(s) ngar ’dzin gyi theg pa dgu) are the
worldly “vehicle of gods and men” (lha mi’i theg pa) together with the first eight of the
nine vehicles (i.e., śrāvakayāna through Aunyoga) of the standard nine>yāna system of
the Rnying ma pa. Many treatments of the highest vehicle, that of the Great Perfection
(rdzogs chen), or Atiyoga, adopt a similar standpoint, charcterising the lower vehicles
as “intellectually contrived” (blos bcos); see, for example, Dudjom 1991, vol. 1: 294–
310.
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
269
(2a.2) As for whether the teaching of the svābhāvikakāya, the
Anuyoga, is the general transmission of all systems, I affirm that to be the
proposition to be established. If you affirm yourself to be clever about all
the systems, then go ahead and refute me!
The self>emergent five bodies are fully (2a.3) realised in the teaching
that is the Great Perfection (rdzogs pa chen po). It is entirely complete,
unmixed with the ostensible outer and inner systems involving lack of
realisation and wrong realisation and so forth. Therefore, I will establish it,
and you, tīrthika, who act as the king of dumb ideas, (2a.4) you must assent
to refute it, and then prove what you may!
What’s more, are you or are you not going to refute or to prove the
subdivisions of the outer and inner systems piece>by>piece? In accord with
your faculties and reason, (2a.5) advice has been given to you; now it is
you who must advise! In all events, because nothing at all is unincluded,
unrealised, or unembraced in the binary division of delimited and
measureless, with respect to the outer and inner systems, (2a.6) all of them,
know that in affirming them to be either delimited or measureless, there is
nothing but refutation or proof. Whatever you proclaim and discuss should
be unabashedly brought forth for discussion, set out without error, one
time, three times, (2a.7) and so ascertained—this is my advice. Such is the
intention of Mañjuśrī, whose samādhi is firm, distinguishing the outer and
inner systems and definitively establishing the abiding nature of reality!
(2b.1) The Lord of Speech, the self>created Lion of Disputants, debates
once, debates twice, debates everything—debate that! Endless debate is like
sword>play. One is proven, two are proven, everything under debate is
decisively proven. Oṃ sarva pratisiddhi hūṃ!
[Addressing] Śākyamuni, (2b.2) Aniruddha entered into an exchange
of questions and answers between master and disciple, [whereby] they
analysed the great cycle, which neither fails to pervade the appearance and
reality of the Three Jewels, the cognitions and cognitive objects of saṃsāra
and nirvāṇa, nor is fixed with respect to any aspect [of them]. (2b.3), Thus
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Matthew T. Kapstein
it is related in the prophetic declaration at the point of Śākyamuni’s
parinirvāṇa: “In the land of Vārāṇasī, one called ‘Śāṇakavāsin’ (2b.4) will
emerge, whose deeds and activities with be the equal of the Buddha’s but
who will not be adorned with the major or minor marks of a buddha. He
will spread and expand my teaching, dividing the outer and inner systems.
He will definitively establish various holy doctrines.” If translated into
Tibetan, he is the Red>garbed One (gos dmar can, Tāmraśāṭiya), while
the ’Bum, (2b.5) concerning the auspicious marks [says] “revealing a red,
red color, like the fabric of Vārāṇasī, or like fabric of majukonaka23 or like
the color of mañjujonaka...” Translated into Tibetan, this is khug chos dar
lo [a type of flower, perhaps saffron?] (2b.6) by name.24
When the holy doctrine of the Vinaya became mixed with tīrthika
systems, so that there were no longer any bounds, the saṅgha implored
Śāṇakavāsin, encouraging him in his vow, at which time, at the Banyan
Temple (2b.7) an emanation of Śāṇakavāsin arrived outside and sat there.25
The functionaries among the saṅgha saw him and invited him in, but the
Red>garbed One remained well stationed outside in the sky, where he had
arrived on being invited. (2b.8) Meeting [him] thus, the sthaviras were
23
The reading of the second syllable, ju, is uncertain.
24
Typically ’Bum, as a title, refers to the Śatasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā. Though there
are some doubts about the interpretation of this passage, khug c(h)os does seem to be a
species of crocus, so that the reference to saffron appears plausible. However, the Indic
terms cited by Karma Pakshi have not yet been identified. Concerning the arhat Śāṇa>
kavāsin’s association with the colour red, see n. 15 above.
25
Here and in the paragraphs that follow, the tale that we find seems an exceedingly
eccentric retelling of the well>known story of Śāṇakavāsin’s appointment as Ānanda’s
successor in the aftermath the first council at the Banyan Tree of Rājagṛha and the
subsequent establishment of the Teaching in Kashmir by Śāṇakavāsin’s successor
Madhyāhnika. For Bu ston’s account, refer to Obermiller 1931–32: 87–91. Of course,
though there is no mention of tīrthikas here, schism within the saṅgha itself is a
prominent theme.
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
271
inspired and rejoiced,26 and he, having made the distinctions,27 turned the
dialectical wheel of the Three Precious Jewels, that is, the dialectic of the
Buddha’s gnosis and all principles of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, so that the
masses of tīrthikas were (2b.9) overcome and rebuked.
With respect to that [dialectic] there is a threefold division of topics
as follows: (i) there is the dialectic affirming the cause with respect to the
Three Precious Jewels, for, among ordinary beings, there emerge various
bewilderments from the ground of bewilderment, the six classes of
destinies; (3a.1) (ii) as the systems of the tīrthikas are erroneous, for they
[do not]28 practise the path with respect to the Three Precious Jewels and
do not delight in the Three Precious Jewels, [and whereas] tīrthikas
including the five fortunate companions [of Siddhārtha] became the
Teacher’s first circle [of disciples], there is (3a.2) the dialectic comprising
the result with respect to the Three Precious Jewels in relation to the
tīrthikas; and (iii) there is the dialectic traversing the path, for the
particulars of the inner Buddhist vehicles, such as the Vinaya of the
genuine doctrine and the Three Precious Jewels are to be obtained. The
wheels [of the doctrine] that [the Buddha] turned (3a.3) are [these].29 [This]
dialectic, which analyses them all in particular and synthesises them, has as
its purpose the analysis of all the particulars, so that there is nothing not
26
Reading gnas brtan rnams dbugs nas dga’ nas. Uncertain.
27
I am reading nang du dbye nas as referring to Śāṇakavāsin’s analytical teaching,
though if we accept the punctuation of the passage, it might alternatively refer to the
divisions among the saṅgha. The text at this point seems in any case not very clear, at
least to this reader.
28
Reading lam ma gom zhing against the ms. I see no other way to make sense of this
sentence without even more extensive emendation.
29
The threefold division proposed here evidently corresponds to the distinctions among
non>realisation (ma rtogs), erroneous understanding (log rtogs), and realised gnosis
(rtogs pa’i ye shes), upon which Karma Pakshi insists elsewhere. See below, Appendix
III, 3.
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Matthew T. Kapstein
embraced thereby. Because [there is such a purpose], 30 Śāṇakavāsin
emerged in the manner of an emanated disciple, (3a.4) as follows:
The
Linen Clad (rad pa’i gos can = Śāṇakavāsin) and
Madhyāhnika,31 numberless emanations, filled Jambudvīpa. In particular, in
the land of Kashmir, Padmo dka’, there is the Kashmiri city called Krigs
brtan,32 (3a.5), as it is famed, where there are known to be 360 million
30
Reading dgos pa yod pa’i phyir na, and taking this as a ‘pivot phrase’ joining the
preceding (where it is translated “has as its purpose”) and the present sentence.
31
I am assuming that one should read nyi ma gung pa for nyi ma ’gyur. It is possible
that Karma Pakshi felt a special affinity with this arhat; a tooth of Madhyāhnika (dgra
bcom pa nyi ma gung pa’i tshems) is reported among the items incorporated into the
central image of the Mtshur phu temple during its consecration in the course of its
expansion under Karma Pakshi’s direction: Dpa’ bo 1986, p. 902.
32
khyad par ga smin gyi yul padmo dka’ / du ba kha che’i grong khyer krigs brten. It is
not at all clear to me how du ba at the beginning of the second phrase is to be con>
strued. If it is used here with its normal Tibetan meaning, “smoke,” perhaps it is
describing the city of Krigs brtan as a smoky or misty place. And if Krig(s) brtan is to
be idenified with Śrīnagara, this would be at times appropriate. (Though given the
likelihood that Karma Pakshi never actually traveled to Kashmir, actual description is
probably irrelevent in any case.) The reference of the toponym ‘Krig(s) brtan’ remains
in any case puzzling. Its occurrence in such works as the rnam thar of Khyung>po rnal
’byor (Shangs pa gser phreng 1996, p. 26) as the name of a region clearly associated in
context with northwest India, and not at all with Central Asia, seems to rule out any
possibility of considering it to be a corruption of the ethnonym ‘Khitan,’ which does
sometimes appear as Khri (br)tan in late Tibetan sources. We may note, though, that
Karma Pakshi did at one point visit the realm of the Khitan, the Western Liao, which
he calls Khyi tan: Karma Pakshi 1978a, p. 19 (khyi tan rgyal po’i dbyar sa). But
consider, as well, n. 39 below, where kha che khri brtan seems surely to refer to
Kashmir and certainly not to the Liao. A plausible solution to the problem has, how>
ever, recently emerged: in response to a tentative Sanskrit back>translation of khri brtan
as *Sthirāsana or *Dhruvāsana, which I circulated among Indological colleagues,
Doctor Hartmut Buescher (Copenhagen) perspicaciously suggested that the name
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
273
collections of a hundred thousand tantras, and the arhat Nyi>ma>’bum [i.e.
Nyi>ma>gung, or Madhyāhnika] preserved the scriptural traditions. Outer
and inner learned paṇḍitas and siddhas beyond number (3a.6) always dwell
there, turning the wheel of dialectic, scriptural transmission, and reason.
There, due to the merit of the king of the world, Möngke Khan, I, the
renowned Karma pa, was looked to and acclaimed by the king of Kashmir,
his priests, beings adhering to Buddhism and outsiders, and the outer,
tīrthika (3a.7) paṇḍitas. Protecting them with various transmissions,
emblems, food, and wealth, I resolved doubts with regard to the dialectic of
the Three Precious Jewels. Later, having travelled to Kashmir, (3a.8) I
shared in the honour of the king of Kashmir and others, upholders of the
religious systems, and, by means of the dialectic of the Red>garbed,
purified the assembly—this is evident.
Therefore, this dialectic of the Three Precious Jewels (3a.9) is unlike
that which was translated into Tibetan in fits and starts from [the works of]
Dignāga and others among the six ornaments of Jambudvīpa;33 there is
nothing that it does not embrace. By the distinctions of the great measure
[or ‘logic’], it is rightly implied that the taintless, immeasurable dharma>
kāya is introduced. But apart from that which is inseparable from the
immeasurable spontaneous presence of the trikāya, the Three Precious
Jewels, you assert tenets, repeatedly turning34 about what is limited (tshad
can). Amen to that!35
represented might be Adhiṣṭhāna, which is in fact one of the old designations of
Śrīnagara. On this usage, refer to Slaje 2005.
33
The six ornaments are usually listed as Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva, Asaṅga and Vasu>
bandhu, and Dignāga and Dharmakīrti.
bskor tse bskor tser. The idiom interestingly occurs as well in the autobiographical
writings: Karma Pakshi 1978a, p. 110: kor tse kor tse yang rnor [= rnal ’byor] rang
byung rdore [= rdo rje] yi rnam thar gleng gzhi rgyas bsdus mang pos yul khaṃs
khyab nas yod pa …: “repeatedly turning, the yogin Rang byung rdo rje has filled the
34
lands with many liberation accounts, expanded and condensed…” It is not entirely
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Matthew T. Kapstein
3 The ‘Red>
‘Red>Garbed,’ God, and Christianity
The several concrete references found here—to Kashmir, to the red>garbed
Tāmraśāṭiya order, etc.—seem to call for explanation. When did Karma Pakshi
travel to Kashmir? What is known of the Tāmraśāṭiyas there? Unfortunately,
these and other specifications found in the text only deepen, rather than help to
resolve, our puzzlement about it. Concerning Pakshi’s sojourn in Kashmir, for
instance, Dpa’ bo Gtsug lag phreng ba (1504–66) is altogether clear:
From the Tāmraśāṭiya order of Kashmir he miraculously heard the Vinaya,
Pramāṇa and Abhidharma, [due to which he wrote] the Limitless Ocean of
the Vinaya, etc., which are preserved in his Bka’ ’bum.36
clear to me whether “repeatedly turning” should in this case be taken to refer to his
peregrinations, or, as perhaps better accords with the context, to his ceaseless authorial
activity.
35
Following this, the text becomes excessively obscure to me for some lines, and so I
have concluded the ‘preamble’ at this point. One point of interest that may be
mentioned in connection with the immediately subsequent lines 3b.1–2 is a reference to
the “region of Ri bo dgu ’dul [sic = ’dus].” This was a site of major importance for
the 11th century Zur lineage of the Rnying ma pa (see Dudjom 1991, vol. 1: 621–23,
638–39) and as such hallowed within the tradition of Kaḥ thog, in which Karma Pakshi
was educated. One may even begin to wonder whether Karma Pakshi did not in some
sense pave the way for the relations that emerged in the 14th century between the
Mongol court in China and the Zur hierarchs Bzang po dpal and his son Shākya ’byung
gnas (Dudjom 1991, vol. 1: 669–72). It may be noted in this connection that Rnying ma
pa traditional historiography, which maintains that the former undertook the printing of
Rnying ma works with Mongol sponsorship, seems now partially confirmed thanks to
the recent discovery of Bzang po dpal’s 1317 print of the Lam rnam par bkod pa, on
which see Sherab Sangpo 2009: 48.
Dpa’ bo, 1986, p. 885: kha che gos dmar po’i sde pa las rdzu ’phrul gyis ’dul tshad
mngon gsum gsan te ’dul ba rgya mtsho mtha’ yas la sogs pa bka’ ’bum na bzhugs.
36
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
275
In other words, Karma Pakshi never visited Kashmir. 37 This may help to
explain his insistence on the presence of the southern Tāmraśāṭiya order there,
though so little is precisely known of the Tāmraśāṭiya that we cannot altogether
exclude the possibility of their presence in the far north.38 The major city of
Kashmir, called Krigs brtan (or Khri brtan) in Tibetan and probably to be ident>
ified with Śrīnagara (usually dpal gyi grong khyer), was already a place of
myth in Pakshi’s time (see n. 32 above): Dpa’ bo Gtsug lag records that
Pakshi’s predecessor, Dus gsum mkhyen pa (1110–93), among his visions of
the past lives of celebrated persons saw that the master Phya pa (Chos kyi seng
ge, 1109–69) had been born there as a paṇḍita.39
Interpreting the Mo gho ding ri’i sgra tshad is further complicated by
the overall pattern of the work; it follows a peculiar course touching upon a
diffuse array of topics—for instance, whether or not the corpus of Buddhist
scriptures known in Tibet is or is not really representative of the entire Indian
corpus, whether or not the Pramāṇa corpus really represents the systems of
logic known in India, just what’s packed into the Tibetan use of the verb thal in
the debate logic,40 etc.—and it does this without a clearly coherent pattern of
37
I thank Mr. Charles Manson (London), who has undertaken to compare the available
accounts of Karma Pakshi’s life, for confirming that his researches so far tend to
support the same conclusion.
38
On the Tāmraśāṭiyas in general, see Bareau 1955: 204. Lamotte 1976: 592, locates
them in Ceylon, and (605), also in Nāgārjunikoṇḍa. But he regards them, too, as being
among those whose views were discussed by Asaṅga and Vasubandhu, which, if
correct, would suggest that there was some knowledge of them in the northwest of
India. Is it possible that the Kashmiri monk “Lama Namu/Namo,” who became estab>
lished at the Mongol court under Ögedei, and continued to serve the court under Güyük
and Möngke, played a role as Karma Pakshi’s informant?
39
Dpa’ bo 1986, p. 868: slob dpon phya pa kha che khri brtan du paṇḍi tar ’khrungs
sogs dpag tu med pa gzigs.
40
Mo gho ding ri, 82a5>6: bod kyi tshad ma thal ba ’di nyid la yang / thaṃd kyis bshiț
sgrub snoț yod pa’i phyir na/ thal zer ba’i tshig 1 sdu [=mdo] li’i thog du kha rgyal
kha phan [= pham] snogs ’byung ba shes pas mdzod /: “As for ‘implication’ (thal ba)
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Matthew T. Kapstein
development, or at least without a pattern that has as yet disclosed its order to
me. It is possible to imagine, therefore, that möngke tengri, as it is invoked
repeatedly here, is not in fact used to privilege the high divinity of Mongol
religion per se. It seems, rather, that the foreign designation was adopted in the
interest of short>circuiting established expectations. Such a read>ing of the work
brings us back to the remarkable skepticism of the ’Dod pa rgya mtsho mtha’
yas, which I have discussed elsewhere.41 To cite just one doctrinal question
raised in our present text that appears to confirm such a perspective, we may
consider Pakshi’s inquiry as to whether one ought to take one’s refuge in the
beings in hell. No, you say? Well consider this: you take refuge in the Buddhas
of the three times, right? That includes the Buddhas of the future, right? And
you’ve taken your bodhisattva vows so that all beings, especially the tormented
beings in the infernal realms, will be liberated as Buddhas. So they’re the
future Buddhas, right? … 42
in the logic of Tibet, because everyone has it for all sorts of refutations and proofs, you
should know that it is on the palanquin of this one word ‘implies!’ (thal) that all sorts
of victories and defeats in debate are borne.” It may be noted that, although the so>
called thal phyir form of argument is universally employed in the practice of Tibetan
monastic debate, literary evidence of it before Karma Pakshi’s time is quite rare.
41
Kapstein 2000: 101–106.
Mo gho ding ri, 4a8>b2: ma rig cing ’khrul gzhi ’khor ba’i ’gro ba rigs drug spyi
khyab du lus ngag yid 3 bye brag so sor yod pa rnam sku gsum ngo sprod kyis cig [=
rig] cing rtoṭ na dkoogs [= dkon mchog] 3 ma ’ong pa’i sangyas thaṃd kyis sku gsung
thuṭ yin pa mngon sum tshad ma / de’i phyir na dmyal ba la soṭ ’gro ba rigs drug la ni
phyag ’tshal zhing skyabsu ’gro bar mi ’dod pa mngon 3 tshad ma / (4b) ma ’ong pa’i
sangyas sku gsung thuṭ dang ldan pa’i dkon mchog 3 skyabsu ’gro bar thal rig / de’i
phyir na khyod bod kyi tshad ma rnams ngan song 3 la soṭ pa seṃn rnam la ni skyabsu
’gro bar mi ’dod cing ma ’ong dkooṭ 3 la skyabs su ’gro ba’i dam bca’ la svā hā //: “It
42
is evident that, in general, if the six classes of beings of saṃsāra, whose ground is
ignorance and bewilderment, become aware by means of the introduction to the three
buddha>bodies (sku gsum, Skt. trikāya) [with respect to], in particular, their body,
speech, and mind, and so realise [the three buddha>bodies], that they are then the Three
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
277
Despite the many uncertainties that attend the reading of the Mo gho
ding ri’i sgra tshad, it is very clear that Pakshi was deeply troubled, as the texts
of the Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas skor already reveal, by the problem posed by the
mu stegs pa. For most Tibetan doctrinal authors, as we know well, the mu stegs
pa had only a theoretical existence; they corresponded to no one you were
likely to meet in real life. As with most strawmen, they were to be disposed of
with a few gestures of facile refutation, before turning to the real beef, the
contests among Buddhist schools. Part of what makes Karma Pakshi’i dialect>
ical universe so strange, by contrast, is that the mu stegs seem to be the domin>
ant pūrvapakṣa. Challenged, reviled, and then revalued as embodying the
Buddhist enlightenment on some hidden level, the mu stegs pa are present in
the Mo gho ding ri’i sgra tshad wherever we turn. But just who were these mu
stegs pa who so exercised the second Karma pa? If we can identify them,
perhaps it will help us to make sense of möngke tengri as well, for in some
respects this latter seems to stand outside of the Buddhist>mu stegs pa
dichotomy altogether.
Karma Pakshi’s references to a “Red>garbed” religious order advoc>
ating a novel system of dialectics, together with the knowledge that he had
encountered Christians at the court of the Khan, immediately raises the
question as to whether or not the Karma pa may have been speaking in fact of
Christian clerics in red vestments. Indeed, Leonard van der Kuijp has recently
asserted that “in this context it is perhaps significant to note that Nestorian
Christian patriarchs wore red clothing and that therefore Karma pa II’s repeated
mentions of the Gos dmar can might actually refer to the Nestorian
Precious Jewels, the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the buddhas of the future.
Therefore, [although] it is evident that [you] do not affirm the six classes of beings in
the hells, etc. [as objects of] salutations and refuge, it is rightly implied that one should
go for refuge to the Triple Gem endowed with the Body, Speech, and Mind of all the
buddhas of the future. Therefore, you logicians of Tibet, amen to your assertion not to
affirm going for refuge in the sentient beings of the three evil destinies while going for
refuge in the Three Precious Jewels of the future!”
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Matthew T. Kapstein
Christians.”43 However, although ceremonial vestments in red are current in
both Roman and Orthodox rites, and may have been in the Nestorian rite as
well,44 it is significant that the colour with which the latter were associated in
43
Van der Kuijp forthcoming. During my first presentation of my researches on the Mo
gho ding ri, at the University of Virginia in March 2003, I had already suggested that
the “Red>garbed” might have been inspired by encounters with Christians, but as a
mere hypothesis that had to be treated with considerable caution. Prof. van der Kuijp’s
assertion, quoted here, is presented without a supporting citation—an uncharacteristic
departure from the author’s habitual precision in such matters—and I have not so far
been able to locate a confirming source. The closest I have been able to come is
William of Rubruck’s mention of “a priest from Cataia [i.e. Khitan, Cathay] … dressed
in cloth of the finest red.” In his remarks on this passage, P. Jackson (2009: 202n1)
mentions Rockhill’s proposal “that this must have been a Tibetan (or possibly a
Mongol) lama, since the Chinese Buddhists did not wear red and the Uighurs wore
yellow,” and adds, “we cannot be sure that Rubruck is referring to a lama … and it is
at least as likely that the person in question here was a Christian, like the one
mentioned at p. 152.” On examining this last reference, however, one finds that the
colour red is nowhere mentioned and that it is a question of a “Nestorian priest who
had cone from Cataia,” which is to say that Jackson is addressing solely the bearing of
the priest’s origins in Cataia upon the question of his religious affiliation. In other
words, the red>robed priest may have been Buddhist or Christian; we have no means to
be sure.
44
In the Roman Catholic and Byzantine rites, red vestments are prescribed for a
number of solemn feast days. (In the Byzantine rite, it appears that there is considerable
latitude in actual practice, while the Roman rite is at present stipulated in the Institutio
Generalis Missalis Romani, the text of which is subject to periodic updates and
revisions.) The famous c. 1412 Paris manuscript of the Book of Marco Polo, Biblio>
thèque Nationale de France, ms. fr. 2810, executed by the so>called Boucicaut master,
seems to favour white robes in depicting Eastern Christian clerics, but some are also
wearing red. (See, for instance, folio 10v, ‘God moves a mountain for the Christians of
Baghdad,’ reproduced in Baumer 2008: 154.) But the documentary value of this for our
understanding of Christian vestment further (and even nearer!) east remains uncertain.
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
279
China was white.45 Moreover, given Karma Pakshi’s explicit association of the
designation “red>garbed” with the arhat Śāṇakavāsin and the fact, as we have
seen, that this association was well established in earlier Buddhist tradition, we
are left with no real basis to suppose that Karma Pakshi used the term to speak
of Christians.
Although, for these reasons, I do not believe that Karma Pakshi’s “Red>
garbed” order can be identified with Nestorian or other Christians he may have
encountered during his travels outside of Tibet, the possibility that Christianity
was among his sources of inspiration cannot be altogether dismissed. Karma
45
As we read in line XXVI of the Xi’an (Chang’an) Nestorian stele of 781, the
Christian priests were “maîtres Radieux aux vêtements blancs” (Pelliot 1996: 178). In
his note on this passage (292n228), Pelliot however explains that “vêtement blanc”
(Ch. baiyi 白衣) may refer in ordinary Chinese usage to persons without official
function, as it does when, in Buddhist contexts, it means ‘laity.’ In the present instance,
nevertheless, there is the possibility that it refers specifically to the Christian priesthood,
or to a part thereof. As Pelliot comments, “une solution s’offre immédiatement à
l’esprit, qui est de retrouver dans le nestorianisme la distinction du clergé ‘blanc’ et du
clergé ‘noir’ qui nous est si familière dans l’église grecque et dans l’église russe.”
Notably, red does not figure among the colours he discusses. Beyond these
considerations, recent correspondence with Professor Mark Dickens (SOAS) and Mr.
Steven Ring (Bristol), both specialists in the study of the Church of the East, has
brought home to me that besides the so>called ‘Nestorians’ (an adjective no longer
much in favour, though retained here for reasons of custom and convenience),
representatives of several other Christian churches were circulating in Möngke’s
domains even after William of Rubruck’s departure, including Armenian Christians and
Roman Catholics (Rubruck’s companion Bartholomew of Cremona had stayed behind).
Moreover, Manichaeans, too, may have been present among the interlocutors at
Möngke’s court. For these and other reasons, we should resist the temptation to assume
too readily that Karma Pakshi’s references to the ‘Red>garbed’ allude to meetings with
‘Nestorian Christian patriarchs [who] wore red clothing,’ though there can be no doubt
that he did, in some manner or another, encounter representatives of the Church of the
East.
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Matthew T. Kapstein
Pakshi, in fact, though everywhere challenging the mu stegs pa to debate, tells
us almost nothing of their actual tenets; his work is far too thin on this score to
allow us to use doctrine to identify his unnamed opponents. However, his
autobiographical writings clarify the matter perfectly. For here he recounts that,
prior to the debates sponsored by Möngke Khan in 1256, the Mongol royal
family, and especially Möngke and Qubilai’s younger brother Ariq>böke, as
well as a noblewoman whose name he gives as E lji ga ma, were especially
devoted to a mu stegs pa faith called e rga ’o that had aspirations of converting
the entire world.46 In this case, e rga ’o is clearly a transcription of Mongol
erke’ün, that is, Christianity, Ariq>böke’s devotion to which was noted by
William of Rubruck in 1254.47
This perhaps helps us to understand just why it is that a noteworthy
feature of the Dialectic of Eternal Heaven is the author’s sustained interest in
addressing the challenge of theism. Tibetan thinkers were, of course, broadly
familiar with the outlines of certain Indian theistic traditions and the Buddhist
critiques of them, above all through the treatment of these matters in the
Pramāṇasiddhi chapter of Dharmakīrti’s Pramāṇavārttika and its comment>
46
Kama Pakshi 1978a, pp. 100–101: sngon dus 3 mkhyen pas glang po cher sprul nas
log lta can gyi rgyal po ’khor bcas btul ba de skye ba ’ga’ brgyud nas da ltar ’dzaṃ
gling rgyal po mo ’gor gan du sku ’khrungs shing/ sngon gyi bag chaṭ kyis mu steg er
ga ’o yi grub mtha’ ’dzin cing er ka’i sloon [= slob dpon] mang pos mu steṭ kyi grub
mtha’ ’chad cing/ thya [= mtha’] ’khor nas ’dzam bu gling pa thaṃd mu steṭ kyi bstan
pa la ’jug dgos ’dug pa rgyal bu a ri po ka: dpon mo i lji ga ma soṭ la rgyal rgyud
khaṃs kyi ’bangs thaṃd kyang / sngon mueṭ kyi rgyal po btsun mo sras dang nye du
dmag dpon mi la soṭ pa thaṃd da res ’dir ’khor bcas lhan cig tu skyes pa’i phyir na /
… ming yongs su graṭ pa karmā pa ? mo ’gor rgyal po 1 ? pu’i don du skyes shing
’khor bcas mtho ris thar pa la snoṭ [= sna tshogs] thabs kyis ’god pa dgos par dran
cing / gnam lo rgyal po ’brugi lo la zi ra ’ur rdor rgyal rgyud thaṃd ’tshoṭ pa’i dusu
phyin pa las / … mu steṭ kyi grub mtha’ las rje ’bangs thaṃd bzlog cing / nang pa
sargyas pa’i bstan pa la btsud pa ste. See, too, the summary account in Dpa’ bo 1986,
p. 889.
47
P. Jackson 2009: 212, 223.
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
281
aries.48 However, because the theistic schools in question were not at all active
in Tibet, they were largely a matter of exegetical interest and not of active
polemical or apologetical concern. 49 Karma Pakshi, though addressing the
affirmation of a deity described as Īśvara (dbang phyug), or “Īśvara with
Consort” (dbang phyug yab yum), and clearly conceiving of the theism he
criticises as a variety of the Śaivism well>known from Indian Buddhist sources,
nevertheless seems to speak with an urgency that is not at all characteristic of
Tibetan treatments of the issue. Is it possible that, in meeting representatives of
Christian traditions, he discovered that the theistic views he knew from the
works he had studied had not just a theoretical existence, and that they
presented a genuine challenge to Buddhist positions? Perhaps. In all events, it is
not clear that he grasped the distinctive features of Christian theism in contrast
to the Indian doctrines with which he was familiar. The conceptions of a
necessary being and of creatio ex nihilo are at best somewhat obscurely
suggested in one passage in his text (at 26b.7 in the selection translated below,
on “whether or not there is a self>emergent that has not emerged within the
three realms”), but only to be immediately dismissed, apparently too absurd to
merit further discussion. In short, if Karma Pakshi’s interest in theism was due
to his meeting living Christian theists, his response to their beliefs was firmly
cast in the mould of the Indian Buddhist traditions in which he had been
schooled.50
48
For a useful introduction to Indian Buddhist ‘atheology,’ see Hayes 1988, and for a
thorough study of a major Sanskrit work on the subject, Patil 2009. Aspects of the
Pramāṇasiddhi chapter of the Pramāṇavārttika have been studied by Franco 1997, and,
in the Tibetan context, by R. Jackson 1993.
49
Though see Kapstein 2009 for an example of a Tibetan doxographical work (in this
case by Bya ’Chad kha pa Ye shes rdo rje [1101–75]) prior to Karma Pakshi’s time that
does seek to relate the discussion of the non>Buddhist schools to actual religious
concerns in Tibet.
50
Cf. the responses to Christian argument attributed by Rubruck to the tuin, presum>
ably Chinese Buddhist priests, with whom he debated; P. Jackson 2009: 231–34.
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Matthew T. Kapstein
In this connection, it is striking to note, too, that in his great synthesis
of the Dignāga>Dharmakīrti tradition of Pramāṇaśāstra, the seventh Karma pa,
Chos grags rgya mtsho (1454–1506), refers to his predecessor Karma Pakshi
precisely in connection with the refutation of theism in the Pramāṇasiddhi
chapter, attributing to him a work entitled the Tshad ma rgya mtsho mtha’ yas.
However, no reference to a text with this title has so far been discovered in
Karma Pakshi’s available writings, nor has it yet appeared in any of the lists of
manuscripts in Tibet, so far known to me, in which works by Karma Pakshi
have otherwise been reported. Is it possible that the seventh Karma pa was
inexact in his citation of Karma Pakshi’s title? I believe that this may in fact
have been the case, and for some time worked under the hypothesis that the Mo
gho ding ri’i sgra tshad itself was the text referred to as the Tshad ma rgya
mtsho mtha’ yas. However, although, as will be seen, the Indian Vaiśeṣika
philosophy occupies a particularly important place in Karma Pakshi’s con>
ception of theism, as it does in the description of the Tshad ma rgya mtsho
mtha’ yas, the Mo gho ding ri’i sgra tshad is not plausibly the work that the
seventh Karma pa mentions. It was, rather, Karma Pakshi’s discussion of
Vaiśeṣika thought in a part of the Bstan pa rgya mtsho mtha’ yas that he likely
had in mind. Appendix II below sets forth in detail my reasons for drawing this
conclusion, but here let us return to consider Karma Pakshi’s treatment of
theism in the Mo gho ding ri’i sgra tshad.
It must be stressed at the outset that Karma Pakshi’s argumentation
about this is sometimes very difficult to follow, at least in many precise points,
and it is not at all certain whether this is due to obscurity or confusion in his
own thought or expression, or to problems in the transmission of the text. The
main lines of his argument, however, are often clear enough. The selection that
follows will suffice to introduce his treatment of traditions that assert the
existence of a divine creator:51
51
The Tibetan text is given as the second selection in Appendix I.
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
283
(26a.6) … You tīrthikas hold, (26a.7) do you not, that your source and
culmination is Īśvara with His Consort. Do you affirm or not that
Maheśvara and Consort are the parents of all living creatures? If you do
affirm Maheśvara and Consort to be sentient beings’ parents, because you
[therefore] affirm that there were no sentient beings in the three realms
prior to the emergence of Maheśvara, (26a.8) then did Maheśvara have
parents and ancestors or not? If you hold that he did, you must affirm there
to have been one culminating ancestor. For if there were no such
culmination, then Maheśvara and Consort, would have arisen [fortuitously]
like bubbles in water, without depending upon the aggregations and
continuum of awareness (26a.9) from which they emerge.52 Why so? As it
says in the text of the measureless dialectic:53 these distinctions are resumed
as finite or infinite. Therefore, given that you tīrthikas speak of Maheśvara
and Consort, Phya, Brahmā, (26b.1) etc., and the three teachers or the many
divisions, 54 and because there is a debate between you who evidently
appear as tīrthikas and myself, a Buddhist insider,55 do you hold Maheśvara
and Consort, etc., (26b.2) to have a culmination, or not?
52
I am not entirely comfortable with this interpretation, though I cannot imagine how
else to understand the passage. While the text appears to read rigrgyur, I am taking this
as meaning rig rgyun, the “continuum of awareness” linking one life to the next in a
series of births.
53
Cf. his references to “the measureless, imponderable dialectic of the Red>garbed
Eternal Heaven,” e.g. in 1b.4 of the selection given earlier. It was not clear there,
however, that Karma Pakshi was speaking of a “text” (gzhung). Was the work in
question real, or, like the Red>garbed Kashmiri order, the product of the author’s
visions?
54
It is not clear to me to whom the “three teachers” refer in this context. Is it possible
that, because we know Daoists to have been engaged in the dragon>year debates, that
Karma Pakshi is responding to the Chinese conception of “three teachings” (sanjiao
教), i.e. Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism?
55
For want of a better English formula to represent the standard expression nang pa
sangs rgyas pa.
284
Matthew T. Kapstein
If you hold that, according to the tīrthikas, the great divinities have
their culmnination in Maheśvara, then I, the Buddhist insider, will assert
that the four teachers are not gathered in one as [their] culmination.56 And
if you tīrthikas assert that Maheśvara is without culmination, (26b.3) I, the
Buddhist insider, will affirm that the Buddha has a culmination. 57 For
example, when the rain falls in torrents on a mountain, because it stops and
dries58 quickly, (26b.4) does not this example, tīrthikas, (26b.4) apply to
Maheśvara whom you hold to have a culmination? [But on the other hand,]
if you hold Maheśvara to be without culmination, does not your assertion
collapse, viz. that “you reach nothing beyond Maheśvara and Consort, that
everything arises from him, and is made by him?”
56
Who are the “four teachers” in this case? If, indeed, the “three teachers” mentioned
just above are the “three teachings” of Chinese tradition, then maybe we have here a
garbled allusion to the notion of the unity of the three teachings (sanjiao he yi
教和
一), that had become current during the Song. This would perhaps explain Karma
Pakshi’s notion of the several of which he speaks being “gathered in one.” Alter>
natively, if indeed the Christians are his interlocutors at this point, the “four teachers”
might be the Four Evangelists, and Jesus the “one” in whom they are gathered. Perhaps
more plausibly, Karma Pakshi is following Indian Buddhist doxographical traditions
well known in Tibet (Kapstein 2009) that emphasised the primacy of just four of the
non>Buddhist Indian philosophical traditions: Vedānta, Sāṃkhya, Vaiśeṣika, and Mī>
māṃsā, as surveyed in the Tarkajvālā of Bhāviveka. In this case, however, the sense in
which they are supposed to be “gathered in one” is uncertain.
57
This, I think, is less confusing that it seems. We may recall that in the ’Dod pa rgya
mtsho mtha’ yas (Kapstein 2000: 101–106) Karma Pakshi employed a skeptical form of
argument similar to the tenth mode of classical skepticism, according to which an
assertion is placed in doubt by showing its opposite. The goal of the procedure is not,
of course, to prove the opposite, but to engender a doubt, and that is precisely Karma
Pakshi’s strategy here.
58
Reading skam for snyam. (The appearance of this syllable in the ms. is in fact
ambiguous.)
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
285
Why so? Do you affirm, or not, that Maheśvara and Consort have a
sole ancestor? (26b.5) If you do not affirm it, then, even as you adhere to
the tīrthikas’ philosophical system, it is implied that it has emerged from
Buddhism and is Buddhist. For, as for us, the Buddhist insiders, it is
evident that the way in which Samantabhadra, self>emergent gnosis, is
realised and emerges, (26b.6) is a continuous flow, like a stream of water,
immeasurable and imponderable. For you tīrthikas, but for Maheśvara there
is neither an upper culminating limit nor a lower culminating limit, and
hence it is implied that you thus put the pieces in order.59 Why so? (26b.7)
You assemblies of tīrthikas, owing to eternalism, affirm all to be self>
emergent, made by no one. To this [one asks] whether or not there is a self>
emergent that has not emerged within the three realms. That is, are
Maheśvara and Consort understood to be within the three realms or not?
(26b.8) Therefore, [because] it is evident that everything has emerged from
causes and conditions, does not your affirmation of “made by no one”
collapse? Therefore, your eternalism implies the fault of annihilation.
You tīrthikas who are nihilists say (27a.1) that you have washed
away the plentiful talk of everything’s being made by a creator [such as]
Phya, Maheśvara, or Brahmā, and that you hold to the philosophical system
of nihilism. Do you or do you not? If you do, then, [as for] all the outer
vessel and inner contents [i.e. the world and beings]—none of it has arisen
primordially from the buddhas’ power and blessing. (27a.2) It is not to be
terminated by the efforts of sentient beings, and all the past activities of
study and teaching [on the part] of Buddhist insiders originate and are
destroyed by the collective merits of sentient beings. So they say. …
59
Though the first part of this sentence clearly means something like “without
Maheśvara there is neither beginning nor end,” the last phrase eludes me in this
context. Perhaps it may be taken as an idiom saying, roughly, “your position falls to
pieces.” Elsewhere, the phrase is known in the Rnying ma bka’ ma traditions, early
versions of which were familiar to Karma Pakshi from Kaḥ thog, where it occurs in the
titles of texts that put into order fragmentary instructions (dum dum khrigs su bkod pa).
286
Matthew T. Kapstein
That the problems raised by the thesis of divine creation were of sus>
tained concern to Karma Pakshi is further underscored by his repeated rehearsal
of them throughout the Mo gho ding ri’i sgra tshad.60 In sum, though the
identification of the “Red>garbed” with Nestorian Christians seems implaus>
ible, Karma Pakshi’s uncommon interest in the refutation of theism seems best
explained by his encounters with actual theists at the court of Möngke Khan.
4 Conclusions
Conclusions
Karma Pakshi’s peculiar dialectical strategy in the Mo gho ding ri’i sgra tshad
seems generally to turn on a distinction between two types of proposition, those
termed “measureless and imponderable” (tshad gzhal med pa) and those that
are “delimited and ponderable” (tshad gzhal yod pa). This distinction
60
For instance, at 72a8ff.: rten ’brel bcuis dang / byed pa’i skyes bu bcuis la soṭ par
bye brag grub mtha’ grangs mtha’ yas par khas blangs zhing dam bcas kyang / khyed
rnams kyi bskyed byed dbang phyug cheno yuṃb dang bcas pa’i yang ma rig rgya’o
cheonr ’khrul pa’i tshad gzhal med pa’i mngon suṃ tshad ma / (72b) de’i phyir na
khyod muegs byed khyad par du khyad lta ba rnams / ma rig log rtogis tshad ma khas
len nam mi len/ khyod thaṃd byed pa pos byas pa yin zer zhing / khyod kyi byed pa
po’i phyug (sic?) phya dang dbyuṃg dang po sus byas pa yin / […] (72b 4) ci’i phyir
na / khyed chad lta ba rnams phya’i phya dang / dbyuṃgis dbyuṃg byed pa po’i gong
nas gong du yod zer ba khas len/ phya dang dbyuṅg phug thug pa medr thal ci’i phyir
na byed pa po’i thog ma’i dusu byas pa ’di yin bya ba khas len zhing da ltar mngon
suṃ du khyod kyis ston nusaṃ mi nus /. The notion of the “twelve fabricants” (byed
pa’i skyes bu bcuis) that we find here, particularly in connection with Karma Pakshi’s
question about who might have made Īśvara, is of some interest in connection with
Rubruck’s report (P. Jackson 2009: 233), that the ‘tuins’ objected to his assertion of a
single supreme God, saying, “On the contrary, there is one supreme god in Heaven, of
whose origin we are still ignorant, with ten others under him and one of lowest rank
beneath them; while on earth they are without number.” The argument opposing the
conception of a single creator god with that of ‘creation by committee’ was much
invoked in Indian Buddhist critiques of Nyāya>Vaiśeṣika theism, and is well>known to
modern Western philosophy of religion from the Dialogues of David Hume.
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
287
corresponds, very approximately, to the classical division between the two
truths, or, rather, to that between “logic investigating the absolute” (don dam
dpyod pa’i tshad ma) and “logic investigating conventions” (tha snyad dpyod
pa’i tshad ma). Those propositions that are “delimited and ponderable,”
whether Buddhist or mu stegs pa are all subject to “proof and refutation,” but
what is “measureless and imponderable” is what remains when all possibility
of proof and refutation is exhausted. This is the dharmadhātu, Samantabhadra,
Mahāviṣṇu, and, of course, möngke tengri, “eternal heaven.” Regarded in this
fashion, the puzzling dialectic of the Mo gho ding ri’i sgra tshad begins to
emerge as a reflection of the religio>political order of the Mongol Empire, at
least, as Karma Pakshi conceived it to be. For the supreme Khan, Möngke,
regarded by Karma Pakshi as a realised adept of the Mahāmudrā, was the
“measureless and imponder>able” center of gravity around which his
squabbling subjects—Christians, Daoists, and Buddhists alike—were but
“delimited and ponderable” sublunary bodies. Pakshi’s eulogy of the Khan as
at once a fervent Buddhist and yet a protector of his subjects’ varied faiths
seems to accord with just such a perspective.
If the essential point is so simple, however, why does Karma Pakshi
require 149 folios of dense and often confusing argumentation to make it? I am
not at all sure that a clear answer is readily available, but perhaps we can
suggest the direction in which our answer must lie by noting that, for Karma
Pakshi, everything is always multiplied to exhaustion: his visions of divinities
have thousands of arms, multiply themselves billion>fold throughout infinite
reaches of space, blessing numberless beings in countless lands and cosmic
systems. His revelations express themselves as a limitless ocean, surpassing in
its extent even the dimensions of the Bka’ ’gyur. In the words of his Limitless
Ocean of Tenets (’Dod pa rgya mtsho mtha’ yas):
There is a limitless ocean of tenets pertaining to the principles of saṃsāra
and nirvāṇa and to the particular philosophical systems. You must realise it
to be neither conjoined with, nor separate from, the limitless ocean of
288
Matthew T. Kapstein
realisation, which is free from all acceptance and rejection, and which is
spontaneously present, pristine cognition.61
Analogously, in debate, one must consider each and every one of the myriad
propositions that may arise in all of their innumerable permutations. As he
himself put it: “Endless debate is like swordplay. One is proven, two are
proven, everything under debate is decisively proven. Oṃ sarva pratisiddhi
hūṃ!”
61
Kapstein 2000: 103.
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
289
Appendix I:
I: Selected passages from the Mo gho ding ri’i sgra tshad
In the following text selections, corresponding to the extended passages
translated above, I provide diplomatic transcriptions of the available manu>
script. Hence, I let irregularities of orthography—of which there are many—
stand as they appear in the text, and have attempted to reproduce the frequent
abbreviations found therein as faithfully as is possible. Underlined phrases are
those written in red ink in the original manuscript. Though shad and tsheg are
graphically indiscernable in the manuscript, the shad is represented by tsheg
followed by an extended space, which does not otherwise intervene between
syllables separated by the tsheg. On this basis, I have taken the liberty of
introducing the standard form of the shad in the present transcriptions. Na ro
and ’greng bu are often written in closely similar forms and one must decide
contextually which is appropriate; in a few cases, e.g. khyod/khyed, the
decision is virtually arbitrary.
1. Title page and preamble
ག
(1a.2)
༇། དམ་པའི་ཆོས་འ ལ་བའི་ ིང་བཞི་ན་གོས་དམར་ཅན་ ི་ ལ་ནས་འོངས་
བའི་མཁས་པ་ཡང་དག་ ི་རོལ་ཉིད་བ གས་ག ངས་ཏེ།
(1a.3)
དེ་ལ་ཤ་ན་པའི་གོས་ཅན་
འཇམས་དཔལ་དམར་པོ་ལ་སོགས་པའི་ཚན་འ$ག་ཙམ་ ་ཐ་'ད་འདོགས་ཤིང་
ངོ་བོ་ཅིག་ལ་མཐོང་(ལ་ཐ་དད་པ་འདི་)་*ེ མོ་གྷོ་དིང་རིའི་,་ཚད་བ གས་སོ།། །།
(1b.1) ༄༅༆།།
།།མོ་གོ་དི་རི་,་ཚད་གཞལ་མེད་པའི་,་ཚད་ ,ོཊ་ཞིང་ ེང་བ་
གཏན་ལ་ཕབ་པ་ཏེ། 2ས་དང་3ིབ་མའི་་དཔེ་བཞིན་4། ཚད་གཞལ་མེད་པར་དམ་བཅས་
290
Matthew T. Kapstein
ན། ཚད་གཞལ་མེད་པ་5ཊ་ལས་
(1b.2)
འ6ང་བ་མངོན་ མ་ཚད་མ་ཡིན་པའི་ ིར་
ན། འཁོར་བ་དང་7་ངན་ལས་འདས་པའི་ཚད་གཞལ་མེད་པ་དང་ཚད་གཞལ་ཡོད་པ་གཉིས་
་དམ་བཅའ་ནས་,ོཊ་ཞིང་ ེང་པ་ཡིན་པའི་ ིར་ན།
<ས་དང་
(1b.3)
8་9་ཡོངས་ ་:ོགས་པའི་;ལ་བ་
བཅས་པ་=མས་དཔང་པོ་དམ་པར་བ གས་ ་གསོལ། >བ་འ?ག་དང་
དབང་@ག༌B་དང་ཚངས་པ་C་<ིན་Dེ་བ;ད་ལ་སོཊ་པ་འཇིག་Eེན་ག མ་ན་འཁོད་ཅིང་ ི་ནང་
གི་Fབ་མཐའ་སོ་སོར་འGན་པ་=མས་Hངས་པོ་དམ་པར་བ གས་ ་གསོལ།
དིང་རི་གོས་དམར་ཅན་ ི་ཚད་གཞལ་ཡོད་པའི་,་ཚད་དང་།
(1b.4)
མོ་འགོ་
ཚད་གཞལ་མེད་པའི་,་ཚད་
བཤིག་པ་དང་། Iབ་པ་རལ་བJོར་ ི་འཁོར་ལོ་འདི། བོད་ ལ་ཁ་བ་ཅན་ ི་Kང་ ོགས་
འདིར་Lོན་ཆད་མ་6ང་ ིས་མི་འ6ང་བ་ཏེ་
)ར་ ་ ི་ནང་གི་Iབ་མཐའ།
(1b.5)
གཞན་དང་Mོད་ན་ ི་ནང་དང་པོའི་འདི་
སོ་སོར་ས་གཅོད་པ་འདི་)་*ཻ།
འ3ོ་བ་རིས་OPQ་གིས་འRལ་པ་དང་འRལ་གཞི་Iབ་པར་དམ་བཅས།
པར་ཁས་ལེནཾ་མི་ལཻན།
(1b.6)
ངས་མ་རིག་པ་
>ོད་Sིས་བཤིག་
Fབ་མཐའ་ལོག་པར་)་བ་Uེཊ་Sི་)་ལོག་ མ་བ;་
OPQ་V་Kེ་Wག་དང་བཅས་པ་ང་ཡིས་Iབ་པར་དམ་བཅས་>ེད་Sིས་ཤེས་པར་ཁས་ལX་མི་ལེན།
ས་འཚམས་ ེད་པར་ཁས་ལོང་། ནང་པ་ས;ས་པའི་Fབ་མཐའ་ ོཊ་
ི་ཐེག་པ་དY་ལས།
(1b.7)
Eོག་ངར་འGན་
Zལ་8འི་བ*ན་པ་Dེ་[ོད་ག མ་དང་ངའི་Iབ་པར་དམ་བཅས།
>ོད་Uེཊ་Kེད་Sིས་བཤིག་པར་ཁས་ལོང་ཞིང་དམ་ཆོས། \ོད་:ོགས་པ་Zལ་8འི་བ*ན་པ་
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
ི་]ད་ག ཾ་(?)་ངའི་
(2a.1)
291
Iབ་པར་དམ་བཅས། >ོད་Sི་Uེཊ་Kེད་Sིས་བཤིག་པར་ཁས་
ལོང་ཤིང་དམ་ཆོས། ཆོས་Sི་8འི་དགོངས་པ་2ང་བ*ན་=ོར་ཆཻན་^་ན་མེད་པ་གསར་_ིང་ང་ཡི
ས་Iབ། Uེཊ་Kེད་ཡིན་ན་>ོད་Sིས་བཤིཊ་པར་དཾ་ (2a.2) ཆོས། ངོ་བོ་ཉིད་Sི་8འི་བ*ན་པ་
ཨ་a་ཡོ་ག་Fབ་མཐའ་ཐཾད༌Sིས་bི་2ང་ཡིན་ན་ང་ཡིས་Iབ་པར་དམ་བཅས། >ོད་Fབ་མཐའ་
ཐཾད་ལ་མཁས་པར་ཁས་ལེན་ན་བཤིག་པར་དམ་ཆོས། རང་འ6ང་8་9་ཡོངས་
(2a.3)
་
Eོགས་པའི་བ*ན་པ་:ོགས་པ་ཆཻན་ཅིག་ཡིན་ཏེ། མ་Eོག་ལོག་Eོག་གཉིས་ལ་སོཊ་པ་ ི་ནང་གི་
Fབ་མཐའ་འདི་བ་མ་འOེས་པ་ཡོངས་ ་:ོགས་པའི་ ིར་ན། ང་ཡིས་Iབ་>ོད་Uེཊ་Kེད་Sིས་
cན་bོད་ལོག་པར་Eོག་ (2a.4) པའི་;ལ་པོ་ཡིན་ན། >ོད་Sིས་བཤིག་པར་དམ་ཆོས་བཅའ།
>ོད་Sི་Iབ་པར་ཁས་ལོང་། ཡང་ན་ ི་ནང་གི་Fབ་མཐའི་Kེ་Wག་=མས་ མ་d་རེ་རེ་ནས་
བཤིག་པ་དང་Iབ་པར་Kའམ་མི་K། >ོད་Sིས་དབང་པོ་རིཊ་པའི་
བ4ན་ནས་>ོད་ལ་གདམ་ཁ་eིན་པ་ཏེ།
(2a.5)
Kེ་Wག་དང་
>ོད་Sིས་འདོམ། འདི་=མས་Sང་ཚད་ཡོད་
པ་དང་། ཚད་མེད་པ་གཉིས་ ་མ་འ ས་པ་དང་མ་Eོགས་པ་དང་མ་>བ་པ་གང་ཡང་མེད་པའི་
ིར་ན།
ི་ནང་གི་Fབ་མཐའ་
(2a.6)
ཐཾད་ལ། ཚད་ཡོད་ཚད་མེད་གཉིས་ ་དམ་བཅའ་ཞིང་
བཤིག་Iབ་མ་གཏོཊ་པ་གང་ཡང་མེད་པར་ཤེས་པར་མfད།
Kེད་ན་ཡང་འདི་=མ་མ་ནོར་བར་འ3ིག ་ཚར་ཅིག་གི་ཚར་༣་ མ་
།གང་དང་གང་ ་,ོཊ་ ེང་
(2a.7) མེད་པར་འདོན་ནས་
,ོ་ ེང་བ་ལ་གོར་བVག་ཅིང་ ེང་བ་མན་ངག་ཡིན། དེ་)ར་འཇམ་དKངས་ཏིང་ངེ་འGན་བEེན་
292
Matthew T. Kapstein
ཞིང་ ི་ནང་Fབ་མཐའ་ཤན་འKེད་གནས་2ག་ཆོས་ཉིད་གཏན་ལ་ཕབ་པའི་དགོངས་པ་
ཡོད་པའོ། །
(2b.1)
ངག་གི་དབང་@ག་རང་འ6ང་h་བའི་སེང་གེ་༡་Mོད་༢་Mོད་cན་Mོད་
དེ་Mོད། Mོད་པ་མཐའ་ཡས་རལ་Jོར་དཔེ་དང་མ(ངས། ཅིག་Iབ་གཉིས་Iབ་Mོད་པ་
ཐདཾ་བIབ་གཅོད།།
།།ཨk་སl་m་ཏི་སིnི་oྃཿ rS་sབ་པ་ལ་
(2b.2)
མ་འགཊ་པ་
དཔོན་tོབ་གཉིས་Sིས་ ་བ་ ་ལེན་བ,ོཊ་ཞིང་ ེང་བ། དཀཽནག མ་ ི་ཆོས་ཅན་ཆོས་ཉིད་
འཁོར་བ་དང་7་ངན་ལས་འདས་པའི་ཤེས་པ་དང་ཤེས་Kའི་wགས་=མས་ལ་མ་>བ་ཅིང་གང་
དག་གང་ལ་མི་གནས་པ་
(2b.3)
མེད་པའི་Jོར་ཆཻན་དKེ་བ་ནི་འདི་)་*ེ།
7་ངན་ལས་འདས་ཁར་2ང་བ*ན་ལས།
rS་sབ་པ་
བ་ར་ན་སེའི་ ལ་ ་སxས་Sི་མཚན་དང་དཔེ་
Kད་Sིས་མ་བ;ན་པའི་ཡང་མཛད་པ་zིས་སxས་དང་མཉམ་པའི་ཤ་ན་པའི་གོས་ཅན་
ཞེས་K་བ་འ6ང་*ེ།
(2b.4)
ངའི་བ*ན་པ་དར་ཞིང་;ས་པར་Kེད་ཅིང་ ི་ནང་གི་Fབ་མཐའ་ཐདཾ་
ཤན་འKེད་པ་ཏེ། དམ་པའི་ཆོས་[་wཊ་གཏན་ལ་འབེབ་པར་Kེད་པ་ཏེ། བོད་Jད་ ་བ{ར་ན་
གོས་དམར་པོ་ཅན་ཞེས་བ|ོད་པ་ཏེ། འdཾ་
(2b.5)
ིས་མཚན་བཟང་གི་ ོགས་Jོར་ན།
ཁ་དོག་དམར་པོ་དམར་པོར་*ོན་ཞིང་བ་ར་ན་སེའི་གོས་~་*ེ། ཡང་ན་མ་•་ཀོ་ན་ཀའི་
གོས་~་ཏེ། ཡང་ན་མ€་f་ན་ཀའི་མདོག་འO་བ། བོད་Jད་ ་བ{ར་ན་•ག་ཆོས་དར་ལོ་
(2b.6)
མིང་བ་ཏེ། དམ་པའི་ཆོས་འ ལ་བ་U་Eེཊ་Sི་Fབ་མཐའ་དང་འOེས་ཤིང་ས་མཚམས་
མེད་པའི་3ངས་ ་དYེན་=མ་Sི་ཤ་ན་པའི་གོས་ཅན་ལ་གསོལ་བས་བཏབ་ཤིང་sག་དམ་ ི་]ད
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
་བ8ལ་བའི་ ས་ ་ནེ་‚ོ་ཏའི་གƒཊ་
(2b.7)
293
ལག་ཁང་ ་ ི་རོལ་ ་ཤ་ན་པའི་གོས་ཅན་ ི་
=མ་འ„ལ་Kོན་ནས་བ ཊ་པ་དYེན་ ི་ལས་Kེད་Sི་མཐོང་ནས་ནང་ ་…ན་ཏེ་གོས་དམར་ཅན་
ིས་…ན་ནས་Kོན་པའི་མཁའ་ལ་ཡང་དག་ ི་རོལ་༢་ན་བ ཊ་ (2b.8) ཞེས་…ག་པ་ལ།
གནས་བEེན་=མ་དdག་ནས་དགའ་ནས་ནང་ ་དKེ་ནས།
སxས་ཡཻས་འཁོར་བ་དང་
7་ངན་ལས་འདས་པའི་ཆོས་ཐདཾ་,་ཚད་དཀཽནག མ་ ིས་,་ཚད་Sི་འཁཽར་བJོར་ཞིང་།
Uེཊ་Sི་wཊ་ =མ་ཟིལ་ (2b.9)
ིས་མནན་ཏེ་ ན་@ང་ཏེ།
དེ་ལ་ག མ་ ་དKེ་ཞིང་ས་
བཅད་པ་ནི་འདི་)་*ེ། †ེ་བོ་ཐ་མལ་པ་ལ་འ3ོ་བ་རིགས་OPQ་འRལ་གཞི་ལས་འRལ་པ་[ོཊ་
འ6ང་*ེ། དཀཽནག མ་ ིས་]་ཡིན་པའི་,་ཚད་དང་ (3a.1) U་*ེག་Sི་Fབ་མཐའ་=མ་
ལོག་ཅིང་དཀཽག ཾ་ལ་ལཾ་གོམ་ཞིང་དཀཽནག མ་ལ་མི་དགའ་བའི་ ིར་ན། 9་Dེ་བཟང་པོ་ལ་
སོཊ་པ་Uེཊ་=མ་Sང་*ོན་པའི་འཁོར་ ི་དང་པོར་‡ར་པ་*ེ། Uེཊ་ (3a.2) Kེད་Sི་དཀཽནག མ་
ིས་འ$སའི་བˆས་པའི་,་ཚད་དང་། དམ་པའི་ཆོས་འ ལ་བ་ལ་སོཊ་པའི་ནང་པ་སxས་
པའི་ཐེག་པའི་Kེ་Wག་དང་། དཀཽནག མ་ཐོབ་པར་K་བའི་ ིར་ལམ་བ3ོད་པའི་,་ཚད་Sི་
འཁཽར་བJོར་བ་
(3a.3)
ཡིན།
ཐདཾ་སོ་སོར་འKེད་ཅིང་ཅིག་4་Dོམ་པའི་,་ཚད་ཡིས་
ཐདཾ་ལ་མ་>བ་པ་མེད་པར་Kེ་Wག་སོ་སོར་འKེད་པའི་དགོས་པ་ཡོད་པ་ཡོད་པའི་ ི་ན་ཤ་ན་པའི་
གོས་ཅན་ ིས་=མ་པར་འ„ལ་པའི་tོབ་པའི་(ལ་ ་
(3a.4)
འ6ང་བ་ནི། རད་པའི་གོས་ཅན་
ཉིད་དང་ཉི་མ་འ‡ར་ལ་སོཊ་པ་=མ་པར་འ„ལ་པ་3ངས་མེད་པ་=མ་Sིས་འཛམ་dའི་ ིང་>བ་
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པར་མཛད་པ་ཏེ། >དར་ག་‰ིན་ ི་ ལ་པŠོ་དཀའ།
(3a.5)
་བ་ཁ་ཆེའི་3ཻངར་‚ིཊ་བEེན་ཞེས་
K་བར་3ཊ་པ་ལས། ]ད་འdམ་w་Kེ་བ་ མ་V་སོ་OPQ་ཡོད་པར་3ཊ་པ་ན། ད3་
བཅོམ་པ་ཉི་མ་འdམ་ ིས་ག ང་2ཊ་བ†ང་བ་ཡིན།
ཐོབ་པའི་3ངས་མཐའ་ཡས་པ་=མས་
ི་ནང་གི་པ‹ི་ཏ་མཁས་པ་Fབ་པ་
(3a.6) ]ན་ཆད་མེད་པར་བ
ཊ་ཤིང་,་ཚད་2ང་རིགས་
Sིས་འཁཽར་བJོར་བ་ཏེ། དེ་ལ་འཛམ་d་ ིང་གི་;ལོ་མོ་གྷོ་གན་ ི་བསོད་ནམས་ལ་གར་‰ིན་
ིས་;ལོ་དིང་དེའི་^་མཆོད་ནང་པའི་སེནཾ་ ི་པ་=མ་དང་།
ི་པ་Uེཊ་Sི་
(3a.7)
པ‹ི་ཏ་
=མས་ངོ་)་ཞིང་2ང་བ*ན་ ་འ6ང་བ་ལས་མིང་ཡོངས་ ་3ཊ་པ་ཀŒ་པས་བདག་བ•ང་ཞིང་
2ང་ལག་Eག་ཟས་ནོར་[་wགས་Sིས་བ†ང་ཞིང་དཀཽནག མ་ ིས་,་ཚད་Sི་བདར་ཤ་བཅད་
ཅིང་།
ིས་ཁ་ཆེའི་ ལ་
(3a.8)
་ཡང་ ིནས་ཁ་ཆེའི་;ལོ་ལ་སོཊ་པ་Fབ་མཐའ་འGན་པ་
=མ་Sི་བcར་ཏི་བགོས་ཤིང་གོས་དམར་ཅན་ ི་,་ཚད་Sིས་wགས་ལ་ག་དར་Kས་པ་མངོན་
མ་ཚད་མ། དེའི་ ིར་ན། དཀཽནག མ་ ིས་,་ཚད་ (3a.9) འདི་འཛམ་ ིང་;ན་OPQ་ ོཊ་
Sི་ ང་པོས་སོཊ་ནས་བོད་ལ་ མ་ མ་Ž་Ž་འ‡ར་བ་དང་མི་འO་ཞིང་ཐདཾ་ལ་མ་>བ་པ་མེད་
ཅིང་། ཚད་ཆེན་Kེ་Wགིས་wགས་=མ་ཚད་གཞལ་མེད་པ་ཆོས་8་Oི་མ་མེད་པར་ངོ་•ོད་
(3b.1)
ཐལ་རིག དེའི་ཚད་གཞལ་མེད་པའི་དཀཽནག མ་8་ག མ་•ན་ ིས་Fབ་པའི་
ཐ་དད་མེད་པ་ལས་>ེད་=མ་ཚད་ཅན་བJོར་Ž་བJོར་Žར་འདོད་པའི་དམ་བཅའ་ལ་‘་’།
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2. On Īśvara
(26a.6)
…
>ོད་Uེཊ་པའི་6ང་
འདོད་པ་ཡིནམ་མིན།
ད6ཾག་ཆཻན་ ཾབ་†ེ་འ3ོ་ཡོངས་Sིས་ཕ་མར་ཁས་ལེནམ་མི་ལེན།
ད6ཾག་ཆཻན་ ཾབ་སེནཾ་ ིས་ཕ་མར་ཁས་ལེན་ན།
སེནཾ་>ོད་
(26a.8)
•ང་དང་མཐར་sག་པ་དེ་ད6ཾག་ ཾབ་ལ་
(26a.7)
དབང་@ག་ཆཻན་མ་6ང་བའི་Lོན་རོལ་ ་ཁཾ ཾ་
མེད་པར་འདོད་པའི་ ིར་ན།
དབང་@ག་ཆཻན་ལ་ཕ་མ་དང་ཕ་7ེས་
ཡོད་དམ་མེད། ཡོད་པར་འདོད་ན་ ཕ་མེས་Sི་མཐར་sག་པ་༡་ཡོད་དགོས་པ་>ོས་ཁས་ལོང་།
མཐའ་sག་པ་མེད་ན་ད6ཾག་ ཆཻན་ ཾབ་འ6ང་བའི་wཊ་=ཾས་དང་། རིག]ར་
ལ་མ་བEེན་པར་“འི་“་dར་བཞི”་6ང་བར་ཐལ།
ག ང་ལས། མཐའ་sག་ཡོདཾ།
(26a.9)
གཉིས་
ཅིའི་ ིར་ན་ཚད་གཞལ་མེད་པའི་ཚད་མའི་
sཊ་མེད་ ་བˆས་པའི་Kེ་Wག་པ་འདི་=ཾས་ཡིན་པའི་ ིར་ན།
>ོད་ད6ཾག་ཆཻན་ ཾབ་ ་དང་ཚངས་པ་
(26b.1)
ལ་སོཊ་པ་=མས་དང་། Uེཊ་Sིས་*ོནཔ་༣་མཾ་
Kེ་Wག་མང་ ་ག ང་པ་=མས་དང་། ད་)ར་>ོད་Sིས་མངོན་ ཾ་ཚད་མར་Uེཊ་པར་[ང་ཞིང་།
ང་ནང་པ་སxས་པ་ལ་>ོད་Sིས་Mོད་པའི་ ིར་ན།
>ོད་ད6ཾག་ཆཻན་ ཾབ་ལ་སོཊ་པ་=ཾས་
མ•ག་ཡོདར་ (26b.2) འདོད་དམ་མེདར་འདོད།
>ོད་Uེཊ་Sིས་Cེན་=མས་ད6ཾག་ཆཻན་
ལ་མ•ག་ཡོདར་འདོད་ན། ང་ནང་པ་ སxས་པས་*ོན་པ་བཞི་*ོན་པ་༡་ ་འ ས་པར་མཐར་sག་
མེད་པར་དཾ་བཅའ། >ེད་Uེཊ་པ་ད6ཾག་ཆཻན་མ•ག་མེདར་དམ་བཅའ་ན།
(26b.3)
ང་ནང་པ་
སxས་པས་སxས་ལ་མཐར་sག་ཡོད་པར་ཁས་ལེན་ཏེ། དཔེར་ན་རི་ལ་ཆར་Oག་པོ་འབབ་པའི་
ས་ན་2ང་པ་གང་བའི་“་6ང་ན་ཡང་།
–ར་ ་ཆད་ཅིང་'ཾ་པའི་ ིར་ན་>ེད་Uེཊ་པས་མ•ག་
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ད6ཾག་ཆཻན་ལ་
(26b.4)
འདོད་པ་དེ་ཡང་དཔེ་དེ་དང་མ(ངམ་མི་མ(ང་། >ེད་ད6ཾག་ཆཻན་
sག་མེད་ ་འདོད་ན། >ོད་ད6ཾག་ ཾབ་བས་ག4ག་པ་མེད།
ཐདཾ་ཁོ་ལས་6ང་། ཁོས་Kས་
ཟེར་བའི་དཾ་བཅའ་ཉཾ་མཾ་མི་ཉཾས། ཅིའི་ ིར་ན་ >ོད་ད6ཾག་ཆཻན་ ཾབ་ ིས་ཕ་7ེས་༡་ཁས་ (26b.5)
ལེན་ནཾ་མི་ལེན།
ཁས་མི་ལེན་ན་
>ོད་Uེགས་པའི་Fབ་མཐའ་བ•ང་ན་ཡང་།
དེ་ནང་པ་སxས་པ་ལས་6ང་ཞིང་སxས་པ་ཡིན་པར་ཐལ།
cན་4་བཟང་པོ་རང་འ6ང་ཡཻས་Eོག་(ལ་དང་6ང་(ལ་
མི་འཆད་པ་ཚད་གཞལ་མེད་པའི་མངོན་ མ་ཚད་མ།
ངེད་ནང་པ་སངས་;ས་པ་ལ་ནི།
(26b.6)
“་བོའི་]ན་བཞིན་ ་]ན་
>ེད་Uེཊ་པ་ལ་ནི་ད6ཾག་ཆཻན་མེད་པར་
ཡར་—ག་sག་པ་མེད། མར་མཐར་sག་པ་མེད་པའི་ ིར་ན། >ོད་ མ་ མ་˜ིག ་ཐལ་ཅིའི་
ིར་
(26b.7)
ན།
རང་6ང་ཡིས་ཁས་ལེན་པ་ལ།
>ོད་Uེཊ་Sིས་wགས་=མ་Eག་)་བས་ཐདཾ་ ས་Sང་མ་Kས་པར་
ཁམ་༣་ན་མ་6ང་བའི་རང་འ6ང་གཞན་ན་ཡོད་དམ་མེད།
དབང་@ག་ཆཻན་ ཾབ་ཡང་ཁཾ ཾ་ ིས་ཁོངས་ ་
(26b.8)
Eོག་གམ་མི་Eོག དེའི་ ིར་ན་ཐདཾ་
]་™ེན་ལས་འ6ང་བ་མངོན་ ཾ་ཚད་མ།
>ོད་ ས་Sང་མ་Kས་ཟེར་བ་ཁས་ལེན་ཉམསཾ་
མི་ཉཾས། དེའི་ ིར་ན་>ོད་Eག་)་བའི་འཇིཊ་པའི་†ོན་ཅན་ ་ཐལ། >ེད་Uེཊ་ཆད་)་བ་=ཾས་ན་རེ་
(27a.1)
ཐདཾ་ ་དང་དབང་@ག་ཆཻན་ཚངས་པ་Kེད་པ་པོས་Kས་ཟེར་ཞིང་གཏཾ་མང་ ་Kང་ཞིང་།
མེད་པའི་Fབ་མཐའ་འGན་པ་>ོད་ཡིནཾ་མིན། ཡིན་ན་ ི་[ོད་ནང་བVད་ཐདཾ། གདོད་མ་ནས་
སངས་;ས་=མས་Sིས་མsོབས་ (27a.2) Kིན་šབས་ལས་མ་6ང་། སེནཾ་=ཾས་Sིས་Mོལ་བས་
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མི་བཅག་པ་དང་། ནང་པ་སxས་པའི་Lོན་ཉན་བཤད་Kེད་པ་cན་། སེནཾ་bི་མsན་བསོད་ནམས་
ལས་ཆཊ་འཇིགས་Kེད་པ་ཡིན་ཟེར་བ་ཡོད་་་་་་།
Appendix II: Karma pa Chos grags rgya mtsho on the Tshad ma rgya mtsho
mtha’ yas
Although, as was documented already in Kapstein 1985, a small number of
later authors—including Dpa’ bo Gtsug lag phreng ba, Sog bzlog pa Blo gros
rgyal mtshan, and Karma Chags med—clearly had some degree of familiarity
with parts of Karma Pakshi’s Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas skor, only one with whom
we are so far familiar actually quotes any of Karma Pakshi’s doctrinal writings.
(The Autobiographical Writings, by contrast, are abundantly cited by Dpa’ bo
and later Karma Bka’ brgyud historians.) This is the seventh Karma pa, Chos
grags rgya mtsho, who reproduces a lengthy passage that he attributes to the
Tshad ma rgya mtsho mtha’ yas in his famous commentary on the works of
Dignāga and Dharmakīrti, the Tshad ma rigs gzhung rgya mtsho (on which see
the contribution to this volume by A. Burchardi). As mentioned earlier, it
seems significant that this citation occurs in the seventh Karma pa’s comments
on the refutation of theism.62 Though none of the works by Karma Pakshi now
known in fact bears the title Tshad ma rgya mtsho mtha’ yas, the passage given
by the seventh Karma pa corresponds almost precisely with a part of the manu>
script described in Appendix III, 3 below, and entitled Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i
dbu’ phyogs, a work that evidently belongs to the group of writings called
Bstan pa rgya mtsho mtha’ yas. I reproduce here the passage as given in the
Tshad ma rigs gzhung rgya mtsho, with the differences between this and Karma
Pakshi’s work noted.63 Besides the light that this text sheds on Karma Pakshi’s
62
This is the īśvarāder apramāṇyam section of the Pramāṇasiddhi chapter of the Pra>
māṇavārttika, verses 9–28 in the edition of Miyasaka 1972.
Karma pa Chos grags rgya mtsho 2001, pp. 38–43. In the manuscript of the Bstan pa
rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, the passage in question occupies folio 9a.2–12a.2. In record>
63
298
Matthew T. Kapstein
interest in theism, it serves also as an example of the evident care with which
he reported doxographical traditions that were available to him in Tibetan
sources (though just what these were remains to be established), despite the
eccentricities that so frequently characterise his writing overall. For, as an
introduction to the refutation of Śaivite theism, the text given here offers a
relatively well delineated survey of the system of the categories (padārtha)
according to the philosophy of the Vaiśeṣika school. The precise circumstances
of Karma Pakshi’s philosophical education, however, remain in most respects
obscure.
*
དབང་@ག་Eག་པ་ཚད་མར་འདོད་པ་དགག་པ་ལ་bིའི་དོན་དང་།
དང་པོ་ནི།
œག་གི་དོན་གཉིས་ལས།
རིན་པོ་ཆེ་ཀŒ་པཀྵིའི་ཚད་མ་;་མw་མཐའ་ཡས་ལས་འ6ང་བ་)ར་ཤེས་པར་
K་*ེ།* 64 འདི་ལ་ ོགས་L་མ་*དགོད་པ་དང་།* 65 དེ་དགག་པ་གཉིས་ལས།
དང་པོ་ལ།
དབང་@ག་གི་མཚན་ཉིད་དང་། དེའི་ག ང་h་བ་Kེ་Wག་པའི་འདོད་པ་དང་། *རིག་པ་ཅན་པའི་
འདོད་པ་* 66 =མ་པར་བཞག་པའོ། །དང་པོ་ནི། དབང་@ག་ཡོན་ཏན་བ;ད་དང་žན་པ་*ེ།
z་བ་དང་། ཡང་བ་དང་། མཆོད་པར་K་བ་དང་། བདག་པོར་‡ར་པ་དང་། དབང་ ་‡ར་པ་
ing differences between the two texts, the phrases concerned being set apart by
asterisks, I am concerned here only with substantive differences and not simple variants
of orthography, particles, or punctuation, or use of abbreviations, etc.
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 9a.2: rtag par smra ba’i sde gnyis pa dbang
phyug pa’i gzhugs dgag pa las /.
65
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 9a.2: dgag pa las /. This seems surely to be
64
merely a copyist’s error, as also do several others among the variants that follow.
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 9a.3: de’i gzhung smra ba rigs pa can gyi khyad
bar.
66
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
དང་།
གར་ཡང་ ིན་པ་དང་།
འདོད་དY་žན་པ་དང་།
299
དགའ་མYར་གནས་པ་*ེ།
སེམས་ཅན་ ི་འཇིག་Eེན་†ེ་འཇིག་Kེད་པ་དང་།
[ོད་Sི་འཇིག་Eེན་†ེ་འཇིག་Kེད་པ་དང་།
འ6ང་པོ་ཐམས་ཅད་Sིས་མཆོད་པར་K་བ་དང་།
[ོད་བVད་གཉིས་ཀ་†ེ་འཇིག་Kེད་པ་དང་།
འ6ང་པོ་ཐམས་ཅད་ལ་ཕན་གནོད་Kེད་པའི་དབང་Kེད་པ་དང་། ཡིད་Sིས་ཐམས་ཅད་འFབ་པ་
དང་།
*
ཡོན་ཏན་ཐམས་ཅད་འདོད་དYར་Kེད་པ་དང་།
མཐོ་རིས་དང་ཐར་པ་གང་འདོད་
ཐོས་པ་=མས་དང་རིམ་པ་བཞིན་ ་eར་རོ།* 67 །ཡོན་ཏན་དེ་དག་མདོར་བˆ་ན། གང་ཞིག་z་
ཞིང་གཅིག་Ÿ་†ེ་གནས་འ ག །དེ་ཡིས་འདི་cན་†ེ་ཞིང་འཇིག་པར་Kེད། །དེ་ནི་དབང་བདག་
མཆོག་*eིན་*
68
C་མཆོད་K། །ཡོན་ཏན་Kེད་པ་ཤིན་4་ཞི་བ་ཐོབ། །Kེད་པ་པོ་ལ་ཤེས་པ་
ཡོད་མིན་ཏེ། །བདག་གི་བདེ་ˆག་ལ་རང་དབང་མེད། །དབང་@ག་གིས་བ8ལ་ཡང་ན་གཡང་
སའམ།
།ཡང་ན་མཐོ་རིས་དག་4་འ6ང་བར་འ‡ར།
།ཞེས་དང་།
དབང་@ག་བ ོམས་
པས་ཐར་པ་ཐོབ་པ་དང་། །z་ཞིང་རབ་<བ་cན་རིག་Kེད་པ་ཐམས་ཅད་Kེད།
གོམས་པས་=ལ་འKོར་པ་ཡི་བསམ་གཏན་ ལ།
།ཞི་བའི་བདེ་བ་* 69 འདོད་པ་=མས་Sིས་
དབང་@ག་Eག་4་བ ོམ། །ཞེས་བཤད་པ་ཡིན་ནོ། །
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 9a.6: thob pa dang /.
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 9b.1: bzhin.
69
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 9b.3: inserts dam pa.
67
68
།བསམ་གཏན་
300
Matthew T. Kapstein
*
གཉིས་པ་དེའི་ག ང་h་བ་Kེ་Wག་པའི་འདོད་པ་བཤད་པ་ནི།*70
ཤེས་Kའི་གནས་
2གས་œག་དོན་OPQ་*ཁས་ལེན་ཏེ།*71 :ས་དང་། ཡོན་ཏན་དང་། ལས་དང་། bི་དང་།
Kེ་Wག་དང་། འ ་བའོ། །:ས་ནི་དY་*ེ། ས་དང་། “་དང་། མེ་དང་། ¡ང་དང་།
ནམ་མཁའ་དང་།
ས་དང་།
ོགས་དང་། བདག་དང་། ཡིད་དོ། །དེའང་དང་པོ་བཞི་ནི།
རགས་པ་མི་Eག་པ་K་བ་དང་བཅས་པ་*cན་ལ་>བ་པ་*72 འདོད་ཅིང་། ནམ་མཁའ་ལ་སོགས་
པ་ག མ་ནི་*cན་ལ་>བ་པ། K་བ་མང་ལ་* 73 Kེ་Wག་པ་ཕལ་ཆེ་བས་འདོད་Sང་། ཁ་ཅིག་
གིས་ ས་]ར་h་བས་K་བ་དང་བཅས་པར་འདོད་པའང་ཡོད་དེ། ས་Sི་†ེ་¢་ˆད་པར་Kེད། །
ས་Sིས་འ6ང་བ་‰ིན་པར་Kེད། ། ས་Sིས་གཉིད་ལོག་སད་པར་Kེད། ། ས་འདའ་བར་ནི་
དཀའ་བ་ཡིན། །ཅེས་དང་།
*
འོབས་*
74
ནི་;་མw་བ£ང་བ་ མ་བMེགས་དང་།
དམག་ནི་<ིན་པོ་ནོར་eིན་Kེད། །དེ་ཡི་བ*ན་བཅོས་*པ་སངས་ཚདམེད་ཉམས།
dང་བ་* 75 དེ་ལ་ ས་Sི་དབང་གིས་ཉམས།
།ཞེས་བཤད་པ་ཡིན་ནོ།
།
།,་,ོག་
།བདག་ནི་Eག་
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 9b.4: gnyis pa ni mu stegs bye’ brag pa’i lugs
dgod pa la gsuṃ ste /.
71
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 9b.4–5: ngos bzung ba ni/ tshig gi don drug yang
dag par khas len te /.
72
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 9b.6: ma khyab par.
73
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 9b.6: khyab pa/ rtag pa byed pa myed pa.
74
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 10a.2: ngo bos.
75
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 10a.2–3: pa ba sangs tshad mnyam// sgra bsgrogs
bu.
70
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
301
པ་ཐམས་ཅད་ ་འ3ོ་བ་དགེ་བ་དང་མི་དགེ་བ་ལ་སོགས་པའི་ལས་Kེད་པ་པོར་རང་ཉིད་སེམས་
མེད་Sང་སེམས་པ་དང་འWེལ་བར་འདོད་ཅིང་། ཡིད་ནི་K་བ་དང་བཅས་པས་ཡོངས་ ་*
མ་>བ་པར་འདོད་པ་ཡིན་ནོ།
76
།:ས་དེ་དག་གི་ཡོན་ཏན་ནི་ཁ་དོག་ལ་སོགས་པ་ཉི་5་M་9་*ེ།
ཁ་དོག་Oི་རོ་རེག་K་*ེ་9་* 77 ནི་འ6ང་བ་བཞི་དང་། ནམ་མཁའི་ཡོན་ཏན་*ནི།* 78 མིག་གི་
^ོ་ལ་སོགས་པ་^ོ་9་བདེ་བ་ˆག་བLལ་འདོད་པ་།
Dང་བ་འབད་པ་ཆོས་དང་ཆོས་མ་ཡིན་པ་
དང་འ ་Kེད་པ་*ེ་བV་ག མ་ནི་བདག་གི་ཡོན་ཏན། 3ངས་དང་བོང་wད་དང་། སོ་སོ་བ་དང་།
*
z་རགས་དང་།
དKེ་བ་དང་།* 79
ས་Sི་ཡོན་ཏན་ཏེ་ཉི་5་M་9།
*
གཞན་དང་།
གཞན་མ་ཡིན་པ་ཞེས་K་བ་བ ན་ནི་
དེ་དག་ནི་ལ་ལ་Eག་པ་ཡིན་ལ།
ལ་ལ་མི་Eག་པའོ།
།
ལ་ལ་* 80 ནི་9་*ེ། །འདེགས་པ་དང་། འཇོག་པ་དང་། བ8མ་པ་དང་། བ™ང་བ་དང་
འ3ོ་བའོ། །bི་ནི་གཉིས་ཏེ། >བ་པའི་bི་དང་། ཉི་¤་བའི་bིའོ། །Kེ་Wག་ནི་ཉི་¤་བ་བ་ལང་E་ལས་
žོག་པ་)་dའོ། །འ ་བ་ནི་]་དང་འWས་d་zད་པའོ་ཞེས་ཟེར་རོ། །འཇིག་Eེན་ཆགས་པའི་
(ལ་དེ་དག་Sང། འཇིག་Eེན་*ོངས་པའི་ཚ་འ6ན་བ་བཞིའི་¥ལ་ཆ་ཤས་མེད་པ་སོ་སོར་གནས་
པ་ལས་དབང་@ག་གིས་འཇིག་Eེན་Zལ་པར་འདོད་ལ།
།དེའི་|ེས་ལ་སེམས་ཅན་ ིས་ཆོས་
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 10a4: inserts chad pa.
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 10a5: inserts lnga.
78
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 10a5: no //.
79
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 10a6: phrad pa dang bye ba.
80
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 10b1: las.
76
77
302
Matthew T. Kapstein
དང་ཆོས་མ་ཡིན་པས་བདས་པའི་དབང་གིས་འ6ང་བ་བཞིའི་¥ལ་འKར་བ་ལས།
ཡང་ཞིང་
གཡོ་བ་¡ང་གི་དSིལ་འཁོར་དང་། དེའི་*ེང་ ་“་ཡང་དང་ཡང་ ་འ>ིལ་བ་དང་། དེའི་*ེང་ ་
སའི་དSིལ་འཁོར་ཆེན་པོ་དང་། དེའི་*ེང་ ་མེའི་—ང་པོ་ཆེན་པོ་འབར་བ་རབ་4་འབར་བ་cན་4་
འབར་བ་མེ་¦ེ་གཅིག་4་འབར་བ་ཆགས་སོ། །དེའི་ནང་ ་དབང་@ག་ཆེན་པོ་འདོད་པ་ཙམ་ལས་
ཚངས་པའི་ ོ་9་ཆེན་པོ་གསལ་ཞིང་རབ་4་འབར་བར་འ ག་ལ།
དེ་‰ིན་ཅིང་འRགས་པའི་
ནང་ནས་ཚངས་པ་གདོང་བཞི་པ་རལ་བ་ཅན་པŠ་ལ་གནས་པ་6ང་*ེ། དེ་འཇིག་Eེན་ ི་མེས་པོ་
ཡིན་པས། དེ་†ེ་]་ཐམས་ཅད་Kས་ནས་འཇིག་Eེན་ཐམས་ཅད་ཆགས་ཤིང་གནས་པར་འ‡ར་
ལ་། *ཚངས་པའི་ཁ་ནས་Wམ་ཟེ་དང་། དŸང་པ་ལས་;ལ་རིགས་དང་། བš་ལས་|ེ§་རིགས་
དང་། ¨ང་པ་ལས་དམངས་རིགས་†ེས་པར་ཁས་ལེན་ཅིང་། རེ་ཞིག་གདོལ་བའི་རིགས་ནི་
གང་ལས་†ེས་མི་ཤེས་སོ་ཞེས་ཟེར་རོ།* 81 །འདིས་འWེལ་བ་ནི་9་ཁས་ལེན་པར་Kེད་དེ།
མེ་
དང་ ་བ་)་d་ནི་འKོར་བའི་འWེལ་བའོ། །žན་པའི་འWེལ་བ་ནིམེ་དང་ག•གས་)་dའོ། །
འzོད་པ་འ ་བའི་འWེལ་བ་ནི་མེ་དང་ག•གས་དང་žན་པ་ཉིད་)་dའོ། །འ ་བ་དང་žན་པའི་
མཚན་ཉིད་Sི་འWེལ་བ་ནི་མེ་དང་ ་བ་ལ་ཡོད་པའི་ག•གས་)་dའོ། །žན་པ་དང་འzོད་པ་འ ་
81
Not found in the Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs and so perhaps an amplification
on the part of the seventh Karma pa. Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 11a1, at this
point reads ’brel ba dang tshad ma dpyad pa ni, introducing the passage that follows.
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
303
བའི་མཚན་ཉིད་Sི་འWེལ་བ་ནི་མེ་དང་ ་བ་ལ་ཡོད་པའི་ག•གས་དང་žན་པ་ཉིད་)་dའོ། །ཚད་
མ་ནི་ *ག མ་*ེ། །འzད་པའི་ཚད་མ། མངོན་ མ། |ེས་དཔག་གོ་ཞེས་ཟེར་རོ། །*82
* 83
རིགས་པ་ཅན་པ་ཕལ་ཆེར་Kེ་Wག་པ་དང་མsན་མོད་Sི། ཚད་མ་ལ་མངོན་ མ་
དང་། |ེས་དཔག་དང་། ཉེར་འཇལ་དང་། ,་ལས་6ང་བའི་ཚད་མ་དང་བཞིར་འདོད་ཅིང་།
མངོན་ མ་ཡང་དོན་ཉེ་བར་ངེས་པའི་Eོག་པ་ཡིན་པར་འདོད་དོ། །དེའང་ཡོན་ཏན་ལ་དམིགས་
པ་>ད་པར་ཅན་ ི་ཤེས་པ་ནི་ཚད་མ། :ས་ལ་དམིགས་པ་>ད་པར་ཅན་ ི་ཤེས་པ་ནི་ཚད་མའི་
འWས་d་ཡིན་ནོ་ཞེས་ཟེར་རོ།
།དེ་དག་གིས་Sང་¥ལ་z་རབ་དང་ ས་ལ་སོགས་པ་Eག་པར་
ཁས་ལེན་པས་འ ས་Kས་Jད་ཅིག་མར་མི་འདོད་ལ།
བདག་དང་དབང་@ག་Kེད་པ་པོར་h་
བས་ཆོས་ཐམས་ཅད་བདག་མེད་པར་ཡང་ཁས་མི་ལེན་ནོ། །
གཉིས་པ་དེ་དགག་པ་*ལ།
Kེ་Wག་པ་དགག་པ་དང་།
རིགས་པ་ཅན་པ་དགག་
པའོ། །*84 དང་པོ་ནི། ¥ལ་zན་=མས་སོ་སོར་བEགས་ཏེ་ ོགས་ཆའི་དKེ་བས་གཞིགས་ནས་
རགས་པར་འ‡ར་བ་མི་<ིད་ཅིང་།
རགས་པ་ཆ་ཤས་མེད་པར་ཡན་ལག་ཅན་ ི་:ས་ཡིན་ན།
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 11a4: gnyis khas len te phrad pa dang mngon
sum dang rtags las/ byung ba rjes su dpag pa ste / phrad pa dang mngon sum ni cig par
bzung ngo /.
83
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 11a4: inserts gsum pa ni.
84
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 11b2: ni gsum ste / bye brag pa’i rdzas dgag pa
dang / tshad ma gsum du ’dod pa dgag pa dang / rig pa can gyi tshad ma dag (sic! =
dgag) pa’o //.
82
304
*
Matthew T. Kapstein
བ,ིབས་པའི་ཡན་ལག་དང་། ཁ་བ{ར་བའི་ཡན་ལག་=མས་མ་བ,ིབས་པ་དང་།
བ{ར་བའི་ཡན་ལག་ཅན་ ི་:ས་ཡིན་པས་མ་བ,ིབས་པ་དང་།
རོ། །* 85
ཁ་མ་
ཁ་མ་བ{ར་བར་འ‡ར་
ོགས་ ས་གཉིས་འ6ང་བ་བཞི་ལས་:ས་གཞན་ཡིན་ན་ས་ལ་སོགས་པ་འ6ང་བ་
བཞི་ལ་ཤར་ལ་སོགས་པའི་ ོགས་དང་།
འདས་པ་ལ་སོགས་པའི་ ས་མེད་པར་འ‡ར་
རོ། །:ས་གཞན་མ་ཡིན་ན། ས་ལ་སོགས་པ་རགས་པ་མི་Eག་པ་བཞིན་ ་ ོགས་དང་ ས་Sང་
མི་Eག་པར་འ‡ར་བས་Eག་པར་ཅི་)ར་©ང་།
རིམ་ ིས་བ†ེད་པའི་]ར་མི་འ‡ར་ལ།
མི་©ང་ངོ་།
*
ཡང་དབང་@ག་Eག་པ་འWས་d་འ3ོ་བ་
འ3ོ་བ་རིམ་ ིར་བ†ེད་ན་Eག་པའི་དངོས་པོར་
།ཚད་མས་ ལ་འzད་ནས་འGན་ན།
བ]ད་ནས་འzད་པས་འGན།
དངོས་ ་འzད་ནས་འGན་ནམ།
དང་པོ་)ར་ན་ག•གས་,་Eོགས་པའི་ཚད་མ་མི་<ིད་པར་
འ‡ར་ལ།*86 གཉིས་པ་)ར་ན་མིག་ཤེས་Sིས་Sང་Oི་ལ་སོགས་པ་Eོགས་པར་འ‡ར་རོ།
།
Appendix
Appendix III: Recently discovered writings
writings by Karma Pakshi
The following list includes all writings attributed to Karma Pakshi that have so
far become available to me: the 1978 publications of Karma Pakshi’s Auto>
biographical Writings and Rgya>mtsho mtha’>yas>kyi skor, scanned documents
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 11b3–4: bsgribs pa dang ma bsgribs pa dang kha
bsgyur ma bsgyur la sogs pa myed par ’gyur ro //.
86
Bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs, 11b6–12a1: gnyis pa ni phrad pa tshad ma yin
na/ dngos su phrad pa dang dngos kyis ’brel par kho na tshad ma yin nam / brgyud pa’i
phrad pa’ang tshad ma yin / dang po ltar na yon tan gyi chos rtogs pa’i tshad ma myi
srid cing /.
85
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
305
available through the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center (TBRC), as well as a
small number of items that are not (yet?) available through TBRC.
My references to page numbers of the TBRC scans are to roman
numerals pasted in the upper right hand corner or left side of each plate, and
these do not necessarily correspond to the Tibetan page numbers. In some of
the scanned texts, moreover, folios are missing, and this in some instances
appears to be due to errors in scanning and not to defects of the original
manuscripts. The present brief and tentative list does not attempt to document
these points in detail.
I am grateful to Charles Manson for sharing with me his notes on
Karma Pakshi’s writings, which I have been able to compare usefully with my
own while completing the present Appendix.
1. The 1978 Gangtok publications
(i) The Autobiographical Writings of the Second Karma>pa
(a) 1–55: grub chen karmā pakśi’i bka’ ’buṃ las / nyid kyi rnam par thar pa
gdug pa tshar gcod gzi brjid ’od ’bar bzhugso //
(b) 57–118: grub chen karmā pakśi’i bka’ ’buṃ las / nyid kyi rnaṃ thar dus
3 dus med gcig tu rtogs shing rtsal cheon rdzoṭ pa’i gleng gzhi
bzhugso //
(c) 119–35: grub chen karmā pakśi’i bka’ ’buṃ las / nyid kyi rnam thar
lhan skyes ye shes dgongs pa lung bstan bzhugs pa’i dbu phyogs so //
(ii) Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas kyi skor
Refer to Kapstein 1985: 359n2, for a discussion of problems in the alpha>
betical ordering given in the margins. Here, I just list the individual works in
the order in which they appear.
Volume I
(a) 1–9: bshad lung sbyor bkod rgya mtsho mtha’ yas
306
Matthew T. Kapstein
(b) 11–208: bstan pa rgya mtsho mtha’ yas kyi spyi gzhung chen mo rtog
pa rab ’byams chos dbyings ye shes lnga ldan (incomplete: missing 11–
24 and 193–206)
(c) 209–470: glegs bam ’dir bstan pa rgya mtsho mtha’ yas kyi bshad pa
phun sum tshogs pa rgya mtsho mtha’ yas
(d) 471–601: bstan pa rgya mtsho mtha’ yas byin gyis brlabs pa’i bka’ chen
(e) 603–37: ’dod pa rgya mtsho mtha’ yas
(f) 639–47: skyes rabs sbas mchod la nyams su blangs pa
Volume II
(g) 1–70: gsar rnying la sogs pa’i bzhed pa so sor ’byed pa gsang ba rgya
mtsho mtha’ yas
(h) 71–221: bya ba’i rgyud dang spyod pa’i rgyud rnal ’byor gyi rgyud
rnams kyi don brtan la ’bebs par byed pa phyi rgyud gsum gyi rgya
mtsho mtha’ yas (note that the title given in the romanised table of
contents was mangled in this case).
(i) 223–34: pha rgyud ma rgyud thabs dang shes rab dbyer med kyi rgyud
la gtogs tshad kyi klad don gyi gzhung
(j) 235–453: gsang sngags rnam par bla na med pa’i rgyud sde chen po
rnams kyi bzhed pa ma hā yo ga gsar pa’i rgya mtsho mtha’ yas
(k) 455–524: mkha’ ’gro yid bzhin nor bu’i gzhung
2. Scanned texts in the TBRC archive
W22466, W22467, W22468, and W22469 appear to be volumes 3–4 (ga–nga)
of a collection of Karma Pakshi’s writings preserved at Dpal spungs Monastery
in the Sde dge district of Khams. W22340 appears to preserve parts of a dif>
ferent set:
W22340:
Including parts of several different volumes; the texts it contains are out of
order and the scanned pages begin with 94a.
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
307
(a) From volume ga. 94a: a cover page that is very poorly scanned, the first
syllables not clearly legible. The colophon of this text (120b), however,
establishes that it should read: gsang ba rgya mtsho mtha’ yas bzhugs.
(b) From volume ga. 1a: mdo sde rgya mtsho mtha’ yas bzhugs. Ending on
55b.
(c) From volume ca. The first page, 46a, is the obverse of Tibetan folio 46,
perhaps the second folio of the text. A note at the top of the folio,
written in a fine hand and barely legible due to the poor quality of the
scan, seems to read rdzogs chen dbang gi chu bo bzhugs. The text
concludes on folio 80b.
(d) From volume ca. The first page (81a) gives the title in a fine hand
above the beginning of the text: khyab ’jug rgya mtsho mtha’ yas.
Ending on 120a. All reverse folio sides from 109b through 118b are
unfortunately missing. Folio 120b is laid out to resemble a title page,
but is illegible (though it does appear to contain the syllables khyab
’jug.)
(e) From volume cha. Beginning on folio 1a: dbu’i phyogs lags s+ho.
Above this is a partially illegible note in fine hand: sde (?) X X a nu yo
ga bzhugs. Ending on 94a (94b is blank).
(f) From volume cha. Beginning on folio 95a: a nu yo ga’i chings bzhugs
(written in fine hand above the first line of text). Ending on 123b.
(g) From volume cha. Beginning on folio 124a: dbang gi bstan pa rgya
mtsho mtha’ yas bzhugs (written in fine hand above the first line of
text). Ending on 133b.
(h) From volume cha. Beginning on folio 134a: gsang ba’i (?) ma hā yo
ga’i rgya mtsho mtha’ yas bzhugs (written in fine hand above the first
line of text). Ending on 228a (228b is blank).
(i) An incomplete text, lacking title page, perhaps from another collection
and numbered 102a–125b. The colophon (125a) indicates it to be the
phun sum tshogs pa rgya mtsho mtha’ yas mdor bsdus pa.
308
Matthew T. Kapstein
(j) Some miscellanous pages from volume ga (apparently the same volume
as (a) and (b) above): 126a, 127a, 128a. The reverse is blank in each
case and an English label attached to 128a reads “redos.”
(k) The final part of the first volume of an unrelated work, on plates
numbered 449a–477b, and followed (478a) by an interesting note
attributing the text to the eighth Karma pa, Mi bskyod rdo rje stating
that the work was borrowed during the sixth month of an earth tiger
year (sa stag) from the Bla brang dpe mdzod—the library of the bla
ma’s residence—for the purpose of carving blocks for publication (spar
brko). The text is called karma pa’i dgongs pa gsal bar byed pa’i bstan
bcos thar pa’i lam chen bgrod pa’i shing rta, and a ms. containing the
missing first folios of this same volume is given in the TBRC as
W00KG04035. (None of the second volume has yet been located.)
Though the work, a very detailed tantric lam rim, is attributed in the
note just mentioned to the eighth Karma pa, it is clear that it is in fact
based on his oral teaching and that the author of the written text was a
disciple, possibly Dpa’ bo Gtsug lag phreng ba.
W22466:
The mo gho ding ri’i sgra tshad in the same manuscript that I have consulted
here, but missing the title page and beginning on folio 1b. A complete scan of
the same manuscript, however, will be found in W00KG03996 below.
W22467:
Volume nga from a collection of Karma Pakshi’s works, bearing a general title
on p. 1—chos thaṃd gtan la phabsba yongsu mya ngan las ’da’ ka rgya mtsho
mtha’ yas dang / mdoe rgy'o mtha’ yas kyi chings dang / ma rig ’khrul ba’i rtsa
rgyud dang / theg rim dgu’i spyi chings dang / sde snod gsuṃ gyi chings dang /
chos tshan lnga yod— and containing the following individual texts:
(a) 2–219: no title given, though the general title above designates this text
to be the yongs su mya ngan las ’da’ ka rgya mtsho mtha’ yas, and a
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
309
similar title is mentioned passim in the text itself, for instance on p.
153, where we find shākya thub pa’i ’da’ ka ma’i rgya mtsho mtha’
yas, and p. 172, where it is sku gsum rangin [=rang bzhin] gyis gnas
pa’i ’da’ ka ma’i rgya mtsho mtha’ yas.
(b) 221–65: mdo sde’i chings bzhugs so. But called at the conclusion mdo
sde bstan pa rgya mtsho mtha’ yas kyi chings.
(c) 267–70: ma rig ’khrul pa’i rtsa rgyud bzhugs pa’i dbu phyogs lags so.
(d) 271–74: sde snod gsum gyis ching bzhugs pa’i dbu phyogs lags so.
(e) 275–80: theg pa drug kyis ching bzhugs pa’i dbu phyogs lagso.
(f) 281–373: byin gyis brlabs pa’i bka’i bstan pa rgya mtsho mtha’ yas
bzhugs so / byin gyis brlabs pa’i bka’i bstan pa rgya mtsho mtha’
yasrab ’byaṃs chos kyi phung po bka’ gsuṃ bye ba phrag brgya’i rtsa
ba theg pa cheno byuṃb seṃda’i gzhi laṃ bru’i gdaṃs ngag rnaṃs
bzhuṭ so. This last work is not mentioned in the general title of the
volume. Possibly, within the general structure of the Rgya mtsho mtha’
yas skor, (a)–(e) form a distinct subset, while (f) is (or is part of) a
separate section of the cycle.
W22468:
Volume nga from a collection of Karma Pakshi’s works. The layout and calli>
graphy being closely similar to those of W22467, both of these volumes were
perhaps parts of the same the fourth volume (nga) of a set. The contents of the
present volume are:
(a) 1–23: ’dod pa rgya mtsho mtha’ yas bzhugs so. On this work, given
also in Karma Pakshi 1978a, vol. I, text (e), refer to Kapstein 2000:
101–103.
(b) 25–85: shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i rab dbye bzhugs lags so.
W22469:
Cover title, p. 1: ’phaṭ pa ’jaṃ pa (!) dang ’jal nas zhus pa ste / zhu len rgya
mtsho mtha’ yas bzhugso. This is the sole text contained in this volume, the
310
Matthew T. Kapstein
last folio of which is (in the Tibetan pagination) 101. The arabic page numbers
are 1–200. The discrepancy (as Tibetan folio 101a–b should be equivalent to
arabic 201–202) is due to a single folio that bears the double numbering 44–45
(arabic 87–88), and apparently not to a missing folio. A series of digital
photographs of the same manuscript, which are in my possession, demonstrate
clearly that the title page bears the label ga; but owing to the somewhat pale
red ink in which this is written, it does not appear in the TBRC scan. Also
missing from the latter is an interesting handwritten note, in a refined cursive
(dbu med) script, preceding the title page, but on paper similar (so far as one
can determine from the photograph) to that used in the preparation of the ms.
itself: rgyal ba kun gyi brtse ba’i thuṭ rje ni // dkar gsal gangs rir sprin gzhon
gyis ’khyud lta’i (?) // ’gro ba’i mgon po spyan ras gziṭ dbang dang // tha dad
mi phyed karma yab sras rgyal // phyag rgya chen po dang rdzoṭ pa chen po la
zhuṭ pa’i gang zag de dag las gsungs pa’i theg rim dgu’i rnam par bzhag pa
rtoṭ ’dod pa rnaṃs kyis bstan pa rgya mtsho mtha’ yas kyi gzhung ’di la gziṭ
shing nan tar du nges pa drangs na don gyi gteng (? or: gting) bsaṃ gyi mi
khyab pa de dag dang / khyad par du’ang ’jaṃ dpal gyi zhu len ’dir shintu zab
pa’i gnad mang po mnga’ bas gal che zhing / tshig ’gaṭ (?) phye mi ’grigs pa
lta’u cung zad snang na yang87 rje grub thob kyi gsung yin pa tha snyad gdaṭ
bya’i yul ma yin cing rton pa bzhi dang ldan pa’i shes rab kyis nges par byas
na dpal gsang ba’i snying po las ’phros pa theg dgu’i gnad ’di ’dra rgyas pa
gang du’ang med pa de’i phyir rul mun gyi gnas su bzhuṭ mi ’jug par gziṭ shing
don shes pa gsol ba lan stong du ’debs // zhes pa’ang dgeong [= dge slong]
chos smra ba bstan pa’i nyi mas so // manggalaṃ //. This is followed by a brief
notation in similar handwriting, but much finer, that I find to be only partially
readable: ’dis snyan rang dgra bcom pa � ung soṭ shes bya mtha’ dag gi steng
nas stong nyid ���’dug //
87
[� = illegible syllable]
Though the reading of the syllable following tshig is uncertain, it is clear that this
clause as a whole means “although the expressions seem as if somewhat miscon>
strued….” Refer also to n. 6 above.
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
311
W00KG03996:
Under this record number, the TBRC archive includes two volumes from a
single collection:
Volume I is in fact the same manuscript also reproduced as W22469 and
W22466, but missing the title page of the former. Together they formed
volume ga in a collection of Karma Pakshi’s works.
Volume II is in fact the same manuscript also reproduced as W22467, but
the scan here is incomplete and concludes with p. 234. W22467 +
W22468 seem to have been volume nga of the same collection as the
volume ga given here as volume I.
3. Other available manuscripts
A number of high quality digital images of manuscripts containing writings by
Karma Pakshi became available to the present writer some years ago. Three of
the works in question are now available in the TBRC archive as noted above:
mo gho ding ri’i sgra tshad (W22466), mdo sde’i chings (W22467(b)), and zhu
lan rgya mtsho mtha’ yas (W22469). A fourth manuscript included among
them, however, has neither appeared in the TBRC collection, nor, to the best of
my knowledge, elsewhere. In terms of the quality of the calligraphy and the
overall preparation of the manuscript, it is surely the finest of the manuscripts
of Karma Pakshi’s writings to have surfaced so far, though it is by no means
free of apparent errors. Its 257 folios contain one text, the title page of which is
unfortunately worn and not fully legible, in contrast with the almost perfect
clarity of the entire body of the text that follows. Its first line, inscribed in dbu
can script with consonants in red and vowel signs in black, is quite clear for the
first six syllables: bstan pa rgya mtsho’i dbu’ phyogs. The seventh and final
syllable of the title appears rather like begs, which cannot be correct, though
perhaps this should be legs. (I imagine that it may have been originally lags, as
we find so often in the titles given above.) The second line, in black ink in dbu
med, and in a finer hand, cannot be satisfactorily deciphered. The content of the
work, which is clearly related by title to the several sections of the bstan pa
312
Matthew T. Kapstein
rgya mtsho mtha’ yas already known from the first volume of the 1978
Gangtok Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas skor (see above), offers a very detailed survey
of views and paths, beginning with those of the mu stegs pa and culminating
with the Great Perfection, according to the threefold division of non>realisation,
erroneous understanding, and realised gnosis: ma rtogs pa ’gro drug gi ’khrul
gzhi dang, log par rtogs pa mu stegs kyi lta ba…dang, rtogs pa’i ye shes (fol.
2a). This scheme is in turn based on Karma Pakshi’s preferred citation from the
Guhyagarbha Tantra, which he repeats at intervals throughout the Limitless
Ocean Cycle:
Intention, Discipline, and Esotericism,
Non>realisation and mistaken realisation,
Partial realisation and not realising what is genuine
Give rise to doubts about this absolute.88
That the work given here may have been of particular importance within the
structure of the Rgya mtsho mtha’ yas skor as a whole may be gathered from
the seventh Karma pa’s probable use of it, as shown in Appendix II above.
88
Refer to Kapstein 2000: 104–105.
The Dialectic of Eternal Heaven
313
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