No More Learning

In the centre of Lanka there is a ravine called Sumanakiita, "Mount Pleasant". 468 No ordinary person can reach it because it is surrounded by a chain of rocky hills. The great master [Padmasambhava] and his disciples went there and stayed for six years before returning to India. While that mountain is usually known by the aforementioned name, it in fact possesses all the qualities of the Malaya Mountain, which is a ferocious wilderness. It has been described as follows:
On its peak dwells the king of powerful craft. On its face is a dog-shaped white rock.
It's adorned with the likeness of a lion Leaping through space.
At its base grow eight medicinal roots: Illness and disease do no harm here.
On the summit there is the eyrie and nest Of the solitary Kalantaka bird,
Which dwells apart from all others.
454
The Origination of the Symbollc Lmeage am
To those who were en owe
. .
H
Awareness-holders
uman
] In the Sutra of the Declaratwn. oj •
ong Human and
Lord' you have indeed taught o Transcendent . . 465
e tree
Why, then, do you not teac
. [72. 4-77. 3 T 444) the Teacher lS asked.
dhivyiikararJatantra,
h h guiding vehlcles.
T
In which the
Of the cause and the frult lS buddhas? And which cannot be requeste
To this he replied:
.
Havmg turne
h
For those w 0 h· 1 ofindestructible reality Theshortpathoftheve lCe
Will make its appearance
a e that has not yet come.
In an g .
In accordance with thlS prophec ,
twenty-eight years after the su- . this world [Sakyamuni] had
. 1 h the definitive vehlc e,
d the wheel of the doctrine of causes
are intent upon cause, .
y
. 1bdyoftheTeacherm dfmily preme emanatlOna 0 f the genuine enlightene a
passed into nirva1). a, naga king the _ namely, the god YasaSVl and the human the learnt by cognltiVe
Vimalaklrti the d he Lord had passed into
powers that, in thlS worl , t h . inner meditative absorptlOns an
then aroused themselves from t elr f Malayagiri in Lanka. There, bled on the peak 0 . . . miraculously assem s of lamentation begmnlng.
. d t in twenty-three verse they cne ou
h 1· ht from the Teacher's lamp Alas! when t e 19 .
Is gone from the whole un,lVerse, ';) Who will dispel the world s darkness.
The Transcendent or a h ld at some future time an , become renowned t. e of Secrets, appeared there that time had arrived, Va)rapa1). l, the d by the Buddha to teach the
. erson· for he had been empowere es as well as most of the He instructed the flv: 'teachings of the . secre: community of awareness-holdershr Phad previously conferred ill. thd
mantra vehicle which the Teac er ogre Matyaupayika inscnbe realm, and elsewhere. The
h . t of exhaustion. om
would So they wept to t e PL d h d predicted that the secret d as
The Emergence ofthis Teaching in the World 455
456
History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
The peak is of easy access to those of good fortune,
But to the unfortunate completely impregnible.
Lanka is more sublime than other islands by virtue of other praise- worthy qualities: Near the base of the mountain just mentioned, to the north of it, there are many stupas containing relics of the Tathagata, for instance, the great Caitya of GUI). avera. On its western side is a tree called BuddhasaraI). a under which the Tathagata remained in contem- plation for seven days. That land, whose rivers are filled with pearls, treasuries with jewels, forests with elephants, and houses with voluptu- ous girls, is the very one famed by the name of Singhala.
In a dense forest called KaI). gala, in the north-east, there is a cavern which houses Srlpaduka,469 an enormous footprint of the Buddha. It is said that during the regular festival held at the footprint twelve thousand monks congregate; and that from ancient times up to the present day the teachings of both the lesser and greater vehicles have been widespread.
THE AURAL LINEAGE OF MUNDANE INDIVIDUALS
[77. 3-78. 4] After the third council, in the time of King son, five hundred masters who proclaimed the greater vehicle came forth. All of them received precepts transmitted by the Lord of Secrets and others and they all acquired miraculous powers. They were invited to the west by King who built a temple on the summit of Mount Abu, and requested them to live there. He also caused five hundred intelligent members of his court to be ordained and to study the doctrine of the greater vehicle under those five hundred masters. The king thought that the pitaka should be written down and he asked how large they were. The masters replied, "Speaking generally, they are innum- erable, but these here comprise ten million [verses altogether]. " To this, the king responded that they should be written down, despite the large quantity. And so he had them all committed to writing and then presented them to the masters. From this time on the greater vehicle was widely propagated. There were also a great many who secretly practised Kriyatantra and Caryatantra. Numerous tantra texts, concern- ing the way of mantras, were brought from different lands and propa- gated by those masters.
Concerning the Unsurpassed [Yoga]tantra: Until a later period, only a few supremely fortunate beings, those who had attained to all-surpas- sing [realisation], received teachings from their preferred deity or some other. They practised these teachings in solitude and attained ac- complishment. Since neither the specific instructions were set forth,
The Emergence ofthis Teaching in the World 457
nor. the sequence of the lineage established theIr . names; so how could there hav b
teachmgs?
e
at all, one ever knew een a publIc spread of their
4 The Lineage of Mahayoga, the Class of Tantras
KING JA AND KUKKURAJA
[78 4-85 2] When the Lord of Secrets turne
d the doctrinal wheel of the . ' . 470
f o r t h e f i v e n o b l e o n e s o n M a l a r g l f l , ; h e who practised the outer tantras of the way 0 secret man r , ,
very same time, seven wonderful dreams, as follows:
The signs of the buddhas' . Speech, and mind dissolved [Into hIS own], And a bejewelled book descended.
He engaged in a doctrinal
Everyone revered him as a samt. .
He performed a great rite worshIp. Jewels fell down, as does ram. . And it was prophesied that he would attain
To the level of buddhahood.
Ja was prophesied by the Teacher in all sorts of siitras and
K'
The Subsequent Tantra of the Emergence of Cakrasalflvara
(SalflVarodayottaratantra) says:
One hundred and twelve years from now,
When I have vanished from here,
KingJa) Indrabhuti
and this king are contemporary, whether or not they are in fact one and the same person. He is also the approximate contemporary of Vidyavajra, Saroruha, and Jalandharipa.
In any case, while the king was sitting absorbed in the meditative cultivation of the yoga of the lower tantras, a volume containing the great texts of the way of secret mantra, including the Buddhasamayoga and a one-cubit-tall image of the Lord of Secrets actually fell upon the :oyal palace, just as in his dream. Then, having performed prayers, he Intuitively understood the chapter entitled the "Vision of Vajrasattva" and, relying on that and on the image of Vajrapa1). i, he practised for seven months. As a result he had a vision of Vajrasattva and received from him the empowerment of pristine cognition. Thus he came to
A quintessential doctrine: .
Renowned in the three dIvme realms, Will be revealed by the Lord of Secrets To one who is named King Ja,
Who will appear by virtue of great ments
. 471 At Jambudvlpa's eastern frontler.
.
Similar quotations are also found III t e enera
All Intentions. h
Some say that King Ja was none ot an
who had been empowered by the Teacher Imse ,
h
1Sutra which Gathers
.
G
h I drabhuti the Great,
It
but others maintain
Mahayoga) the Class ofTantras 459 that he was that Indrabhiiti's son. Some even believe him to have been
472
an intermediate Indrabhiiti.
ions; but, because ordinary persons cannot imagine the emanations of great sublime beings, perhaps they are all correct! And yet, upon exam- ining the chronology, we find he is described as the contemporary of master Kukkuraja. For this reason he may well be an intermediate Indrabhiiti. Moreover, the great accomplished master Kambalapada
Thus, there are various dissimilar opin-
460 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
understand the symbolic conventions and meanings of that volume in their entirety.
At the same time, the Anuyoga texts were revealed in Ceylon. As it says in the prediction found in the fifth chapter of the Tantra which Comprises the Supreme Path ofthe Means which Clearly Reveal All-Positive Pristine Cognition (kun-bzang ye-shes gsal-bar ston-pa'i thabs-kyi lam- mchog 'dus-pa'i rgyud, NGB Vol. 3):
The Mahayoga tantras will fall onto the palace of King Ja. The Anuyoga tantras will emerge in the forests ofSiilghala.
Then King Ja taught the book to master Uparaja, who was renowned as a great scholar throughout the land of Sahor, but he could not understand their symbolic conventions and meaning. The king then taught them to the master Kukkuraja. He intuitively understood the chapter on the "Vision of Vajrasattva", from the Tantra of the Magical Net of Vajrasattva, and practised it, whereupon Vajrasattva revealed himself and predicted that the Lord of Secrets would reveal the meanings of this tantra thereafter. When he had practised more, the Lord of Secrets actually appeared and granted him the complete empowerment of the authentic teaching and of all vehicles. Then he told him to request the verbal teaching from the Licchavi Vimalaklrti. It is said that, follow- ing the transmitted precepts of the Lord of Secrets, master Kukkuraja divided [the Mahayoga tantras] into the Eighteen Great Tantrapitaka (tantra chen-po sde bco-brgyad) and taught them to King Ja. 473
In the king's own composition, the Array of the Path of the Magical Net, he says:
In the eastern domain of Indrabhuti, At Vajraku! a in India,
I, the noble Indrabhuti,
Practised the Magical Net,
Having been taught by the Lord of Secrets himself. I actually realised VajrapaJ). i,
With his retinue of fifty thousand.
Being empowered in wholesome action,
By the practice of disciplined conduct,
I was free from sin, and reached [an exalted] level.
Just so, although the king himself had attained realisation, he de- monstrated the way of realisation by relying upon Kukkuraja. This was in order to prevent charlatans from entering this path at wilL". f
Now, the renowned master Kukkuraja, whose name means klllg 0 dogs", and who is also called Kuttaraja in some legends, taught the doctrine by day in the guise of a dog to a thousand warriors and yoginIS, and by night went to the charnel grounds with them to perform feast offerings and other sacramental practices. After practising in this waY
Mahayoga, the Class of'T'antras 461
years he finally attained the accomplishment of the Great
M
zveJo 'dh' T
1670).
g znto
Others say that while the master went to Oggiyana and once more
b'd"
was a 1 I? g III such p. ractice he
Five Inner Tantrapitaka of the samayoga; which were drawn fro ,nga IncludIng the Buddha- the Mahayoga]. In this way, he Great Tantrapitaka, [of ment by following the Tantra of thY H'd;e t supreme accomplIsh-
draguhyatilakatantra, T 477). e z en Poznt of the Moon (Can-
This master was an adept of the B ddh -
many treatises, including the Six ArraUs 0 asama:;:oga He wrote
thadharavyuha, T 1664-9) and th
pry, EZdsotRer:c Meanzng (Sacjguhyar-
d Z , e an a as (Sarvamandala-nuvartzp' -
. " ". ancavz z, Now, In the peculIar terminology of the A
zte for Enterin' All
the inner tantras are universally regard d
Mahayoga, [which deals r i m ' l as
Anuyoga, [which deals r i P . an WIth] the stage of creation; the
Atiyoga, [which deals pof and the reat erlectIOn.
Kukkuraja
' . TranslatIOn School,
OrmIng three classes: the
462 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
The first of these, the Mahayoga, has two divisions: the class of tantras [*tantravarga] and the class of means for attainment [*sadhanavarga, NGB Vols. 20-33]. Ofthese, the former, which consists of the great tantrapilaka, is divided into eighteen: the five great tan- trapilaka of buddha-body, speech, mind, attributes, and activity-these are the ground and the roots; the five tantrapilaka concerned with the means for attainment - these are the branches; the five tantrapilaka concerned with conduct - these are also branches; the two supplement- ary tantras which make up the omissions; and the single tantrapilaka
474
King Ja taught all of these to Kukkuraja. From the latter they were transmitted succes- sively to Sakraputra, or Indrabhuti the younger, who was the king's son; SiI11haraja; Sakrabhiiti, or Uparaja; and finally to the daughter Gomadevl. By practising the path on which the two provisions [of merit and pristine cognition] are achieved [rapidly], they and their respective
retinues reached the level of Vajradhara. As it says in the Sequence of the Path:
Then to the east of Jambudvlpa,
Which rests on the Indestructible Seat,
In a holy palace of precious gems,
In an auspicious and sacred room,
Kukkuraja and Indrabhiiti,
Together with SiI11haraja, Uparaja,
Daughter GomadevI, and others,
Received the empowerment of the Magical Net. They actually attained the ma1). 9ala as an assembly, And manifestly reached the level of Vajradhara.
King Ja wrote the Array of the Path of the Magical Net, the Two Stages (Sriguhyagarbhakramadvayoddesa, P 4771), et cetera. He also composed many other definitive texts which bring out the most secret meaning: the Commentary on the Root Tantra of Cakrasarrzvara (Sricakrasarrzvaratantrarajasambarasamuccayanamavrtti, T 1413); the Verification ofPristine Cognition afianasiddhi, T 2219); the Verification of Co-Emergence (Sahajasiddhi, T 2260) and so forth. Nearly all of the tantras and instructions that were widespread among the great accomplished masters of India came from this royal master. He gave the transmitted precepts on supreme bliss and on inner radiance to the accomplished master Balapada, or Jalandharipa, who in turn transmit- ted the lineage to and his retinue of disciples. Tilopa and Naropa and all their disciples came forth from this lineage. 475 It is alsO the source of the transmitted precepts concerning the action seal (kar- mamudra), which were passed down from daughter Gomadevl to King
Ja and Kukkuraja, and from them to the masters LIlavajra and Bud- dhaguhya.
Mahayoga) the Class oJTantras 463
which summarises the meaning of all the others.
a long time, owing to which th
anJusn and IllumInated the island for e master was called Suryavat, "Sun-like".
LILAVAJRA476
[85. 2-87. 6] The master LIlavajra was bor .
J:Ie was ordained in Oggiyana and In the of tlcularly learned in the ph·1 h· the Tnpitaka. He was par-
knew all of the ordinary of A. sanga, and he also Madhima he practised the L an Island In Og9iyana called When he was approaching acc;:e r oj the Names oj Mafijusri
fromthefaceofapaintingofM _ _ment. a oflightemanated
Lflavaira (or Vilasavajraj
On another occasion whe . .
the five sense' of perverse doctrines, who hIS practice, came to kill the as sacraments for
forms, such as those of an I LIlavaJra appeared in various
Unable to recognis: boy, girl, buffalo, and t IS Incident, the master becam m, t e went away. Owing to Near the end of h· rfl he renowned as Vlsvarupa, "Everyform".
The master living creatures in
ng, In all the tantrapitaka, and in th M speak- e aglcal Net cycle, In particular.
464 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
He also lived for ten years at Nalanda, where he preserved the teaching of the way of mantras. He composed many treatises and expounded them in detail. [His works include]: a Commentary on the Litany of the Names of Mafijusrf ('jam-dpal mtshan-brjod-kyi 'grel-ba, T 2533) according to the interpretations of the Unsurpassed [Yoga]tantra; the Sequence of the Supreme Point (Mahatilakakrama, T 1290), concerning the stage of perfection of Hevajra; a Commentary on the Guhyasamaja Tantra, based on the Guru's Instruction (Srfguhyasamajatantranidana- gUrilpadesanavyakhyana, T 1910); the Means for the Attainment of Co- Emergence (Srfguhyasamajasahajasadhana, T 1913); and other treatises dealing with sundry tantras. Concerning the system of the Magical Net, [he composed]: the Parkap Commentary on the Secret Nucleus;477 the Innermost Point (Cittabindu, P 4723); the Sixfold Sequence (Krama$atka, P 4741); the Clarification ofCommitments; the Propensityfor the Commit- ments (Samayanusayanirdefa, P 4745) and so on. In the end he attained the body of indestructible reality. His ordination name was Srlmad Uttamabodhibhagavat and his esoteric name was LIlavajra. In the treatises, too, he is referred to as LIlavajra, Suryavat, or Visvarupa.
Under LIlavajra the master Buddhajfianapada studied the Magical Net, the Buddhasamayoga, the Guhyasamaja, [the Garland of Activity, Karmamala, NGB Vol. 17]478 and the Hidden Point of the Moon, which are known as the Five Inner Tantrapitaka and are foremost among the Eighteen Great Tantrapitaka. He meditated upon them and attained mastery of pristine cognition. In the Oral Instructions of Mafijusrf, he says:
Then I went to O<;i<;iiyana, the birthplace of all virtues, Where there dwelt one famed as LIlavajra.
I learned much from him and pondered it. . .
While the venerable LIlavajra was preserving the mantra teaching in
O<;i<;iiyana, an outcaste boy met Aryadeva [in a vision]. 479 By the latter's
blessing the boy spontaneously understood the doctrine and expounded
various texts concerning the way of mantras, which had been composed
by the sublime Nagarjuna and Aryadeva, [who were spiritual] father
and son. Matailglpa and of Koilkana also heard them from
Candraklrti in person; and they were the first to copy down his book,
the Clarifying Lamp. In the same way, it is said that the scholar Rahula
met Nagabodhi480 [and also received similar doctrines]. Thus, the sub-
lime Nagarjuna's cycle of teaching on the Guhyasamaja first appeared
481
[87. 6-90. 2] The master Buddhaguhya was born in Central India and was ordained at Nalanda. He and master Buddhasanti were both dis-
. Mahayoga, the Class ofTantras 465 clples of Buddhajfiana -d d .
! : s o f the_ life. VaraI). asi regIOn, it so happened that a . me _ In the clarified butter of a red cow h· h pIcture ManJusn smIled; the
to boil; and some for this practice,
realIsed that these were signs of 1. ossomed anew. He
a while, not knowing whether he bhut he hesitated for
during this period.
BUDDHAGUHY A
· Irs 0 Ier t e flowe d . k t e gee. A yaksInI obstructed h· . h 1 r, or nn
fainted for a short t·ime Then 1m asap on the face and he . . , on regaInIng conscio h
the pIcture was covered with dust the fl e saw that
the ghee had boiled over Non ' ow. ers had WIlted, and even
his head with the flowers· and he off the dust, adorned
upon, his body became free of the ghee. There-
and sharp-witted, and acquired master and he became powers. y 0 the supernormal cognItIve
At about that time, he went on to Odd· -
LIlavajra, under whom he studied th . ylyana, where he met the master
Unsurpassed Tantrapitaka He b e tantras, and the Five Inner
Net. On another he . adept at the Magical asantl to meet the sublime
hh
Buddhaguhya
466 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
Avalokitesvara on Mount Potalaka. There they met Arya Tara, who was teaching the doctrine to a host of nagas at the foot of the mountain; BhrkuF, who was teaching the doctrine to a host of antigods and on the slope; and sitting openly on the summit was the sublime Ava- lokitesvara. All were as plainly manifest as they themselves were.
Buddhaguhya also attained accomplishments there, like the ability to walk without his feet touching the ground. It was Arya Tara, too, who advised him to go to Mount Kailash in the Himalayas, and to practise the means for attainment there.
Returning from Mount Potalaka, Buddhaguhya taught the doctrine in and around Vara1). asI for many years. Then, once again, the sublime MafijusrI exhorted him to follow Tara's former advice. He proceeded to Mount Kailash and practised the means for attainment, whereby he directly perceived the great Ma1). <;lala of the Indestructible Expanse (VajradhatumarJ4ala) many times, and could speak to the sublime Mafi- just as to another man. Non-human beings also acted as his servants.
The master composed a great many works, including: the Analytical Commentary on the Tantra of the Secret Nucleus (gsang-ba snying-po-la 'grel-ba rnam-bshad-kyi 'grel); the Sequence of Indestructible Activity (Mayajalavajrakarmakrama, P 4720); the Significance of the Ma1JcJala Doctrine (Dharmama1JcJalasiltra, T 3705); the Holy Ornament (Tattv- alokaparamalarrzkara, P 4735); the Lesser Net P 4734) and the Greater Net (drva-chen); the Greater Sequence of the Path (Mayajalapathakrama, P 4736) and the Lesser Sequence ofthe Path (sgyu- 'phrullam-gyi rnam-bshad chung-ba, DZ Vol. 1); the Stages of the Real- isation ofthe Peaceful and Wrathful Deities (zhi-khro mngon-rtogs rim-pa); the Introduction to Yoga, which is the means for the attainment of the Ma1). <;lala of the Indestructible Expanse according to the Yoga tantras (Tantrarthavattira, T 2501); the Abridged Commentary on the Tantra of the Awakening of the Great Vairocana (Mahavairocanatantrapi1JcJartha, T 2662); the Expanded Commentary on the Later Stages of Meditation (Dhyanottarapatalatfka, T 2670), et cetera.
482 BUddhaguhya's great kindness to Tibet will be described later on.
At the end of his life, he vanished bodily. V AJRAHASY A
[90. 2-91. 1] Again, King Ja and Kukkuraja expounded [the samaja] to the "Zombie" Sukhasiddhi,483 and to the ni The former taught the master Vajrahasya, who composed the commentary on the Guhyasamaja entitled Apprehending the Entire Intention (Srfguhyasamajatfka, T 1909), as well as the Means for the Attainment of Supreme Bliss (Mahasukhasadhana, T 1911), and other works. He was the master of these teachings and expounded them. It is maintained
. . Mahayoga) the Class ofTantras 467 that m IndIa there were twenty-four di . . . . Guhyasamaja, of which six stmct teachmg tradItIOns of the
these being the Guhyasamaja in Tibet. , the fourth of of teachings. 1 IOn enved from VaJrahasya's cycle
Vajrahasya bestowed the em ower
varaklrti, the "guardian ofthe of on VagIs- that tantra to him. He also conferred 0 at expounded
advice. By meditating on th n . the mstrUctIOns and further
attained accomplishment. and mstructions VagIsvaraklrti , m at very body h b
the awareness of the Great Seal the b e ecame a holder of The master [Vajrahasya] and the
tantras to King Prabhahasti of Sahor. . . both expounded the PRABHAHASTI
[91. 1-91. 6] Prabhahasti was born into
H. e was ordained by master Santi rab:aroyal. famlly m western India. Vmaya master, Punyaklrti of M P H of CIta:ara, and by the great
. aru.
. .
e was gIVen the name Sakya-
Prabhiihasti
468 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra , , learned in the entire Tripitaka. As the dIsCIple of prabha, and became f' d t uctible reality according to the way of a great many holders 0 m es h- a he mastered all the tantras
mantra, for instance, master as; His [esoteric] name according
and obtained accomp Sakyamitra, a disciple of this
filling gem be brought from an island. His minister of righteousness, [who had been sent to fetch the jewel] first saw the boy on his return journey. Then the king met him and brought him to the palace to become his adopted son. He received the names Padmakara (Lotus-origin) and Saroruhavajra (Vajra of the Lake-born Lotus), and was requested to sit upon a throne of precious stones, which appeared by the power of the wish-fulfilling gem. He satisfied the entire populace with a rain of food, clothing, and jewels. By his youthful play, he matured numberless disciples. He married the <;lakinI PrabhavatI, and defended the kingdom of O<;l<;iiyana according to the doctrine. There- fore, he became renowned as King Sikhin (Crested King).
Then he realised that by governing the kingdom he could not be of great service to others. He asked his father for permission to leave, but was refused. Therefore, while performing a dramatic dance, he pre- tended that a trident slipped from his hand and thus he "liberated" the son of an evil minister. 486 As punishment for murdering the minister's son, he was banished to live in charnel grounds. He practised asceticism [in the charnel grounds of] SHavana, Nandanavana, and SosadvIpa, where he received empowerment and blessing from the <;iakinIs Marajita and When he had brought the <;iakinIs of the charnel grounds under his sway he became known as (Preserver of Peace).
Then he proceeded to the isle of Dhanakosa, where, by practising the way of secret mantra through the symbolic language of the <;iakinIs, he brought the <;iakinIs of the island under his sway. When he practised in the (Coarse Wood), VajravarahI appeared in order to bless him. He bound all the nagas of the ocean, as well as the planets and stars of the sky under an oath of allegiance. Warriors and <;iakinIs of the three abodes conferred their accomplishments upon him, and he became renowned as Dorje Trakpotsel (Expression of the Ferocious V ajra).
After that he went to Vajrasana, where he performed various miracles. When the people asked who he was, he replied,"I am a self-born bUddha! " But, not believing this, they insulted him. Seeing that much Power was required [in order to overcome their doubts], he went to the country of Sahor, where he received ordination from master Prabhahasti, and received the name Sakyasirpha (Lion ofthe Sakyas).
Having received the teaching of the Yogatantra eighteen times, the deities [of those tantras] appeared to him in that very place. Guhyajfiana, the <;iakinI of pristine cognition, appeared in the form of the nun Ananda and, at his request for empowerment, she transformed him into the sYllable HO¥, and then swallowed him. In her stomach he was given the complete outer, inner, and secret empowerments, and was then
eXpelled through her vagina. In this way, the three obscurations were removed. 487
to the mantra traditIOn was Pra h . S mmation O f the Real, which d mmentary on t e U 'J _
a co, d h Ornament of Kosala (Kosalalan:zkara ,
master, compose
is a Yoga tantra, entitle ,t e /_ mitra went to Kashmir where T 2503). Both PrabhahastI ,SakyaMaster Buddhaguhya and the
they vastly benefitted living der Prabhahasti; but Padma- reat master Padmasambhava stu Ie U?
also studied under King Ja hImself. P ADMASAMBHAV A
[Padmasambhava]: There is [91. 6-103. 4] Concernin? that (vv 1l0cd-llab):
a prophecy in the MagIcal Net OJ anJus .
He is the lorious buddha, lotus-born: , . '
, gthe store of all-knowing pnstme cogmtIOn, possessmg ,
A king displaying various magIcal feats, .
The great one endowed with the buddhas' gnoStiC mantras.
, _
is the emanation of the Buddha AmItabha, Actually, , ech of all the tathagatas; but he
who embodies the mdestructIble of the differences of fortune seems to appear in different forms, ecause, d
h hoaretobetrame . , and acumen among t mitted precepts of VajrakTla, and III
In the legend found m t e h born as the son of either . " Idthat ewas
some Indian It IS sa e of his ministers. Some say that he
the king ? f or meteoric summit of Mount Malaya. appeared m a lIghtnmg flash I £ und in the revealed treas- But here, I will follow the ta 0 I us bl'rth 484 According
o·
to them, the land of O<;l<;hyana, w and north. In the south-
, h k nly of hIS mlfacu
ures, et cetera, WhlC spea, 0_ hich is to the west [of India], IS
surrounded by great oceans to the eahst, , land in a lake. There, L d f Ogres t ere IS an IS h
west, towards the an, 0 , hich had sprung up by t e in the bud of a lotus'kwd 'th the syllable HRIl:l e11l- buddhas' blessing, a golden the SukhavatI paradise.
anated from the heart of Amltabha: ld boy who was adorned
From it, there forth an a and a lotus. The
with the major and mInor nd doctrine to the gods and to boy remained there teaching t e pro ou ,
the <;lakinIs of the , -na Indrabhl1ti, had no son, so (10 At that time the kmg of O<;lQ,lya d' h Three Precious Jewels and
order to obtain one] he orderedthatthe exhausted his treasury by gIVmg a ms.
,
Mahayoga) the Class ofTantras 469
470
History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
Having thus attained the body of indestructible reality that is beyond
birth and death, Padmasambhava went to subdue the kingdom of Sahor.
When the king and his ministers tried to immolate him, he performed
the miracle of [transforming the pyre into] a lake of sesame oil, in the
midst of which he remained seated on a lotus. Thus he secured them
in faith and introduced them all to the doctrine, so that they reached
490
the level of no-return.
Again, in order to convert the kingdom of Oc;ic;iiyana, he went there
begging for alms, but he was recognised by the inhabitants. The evil minister [whose son Padmasambhava had slain] and his associates tried to burn the master in a fire ofsandalwood, but, displaying his miraculous powers, both he and his consort remained seated on a lotus surrounded by a lake, the master wearing a garland of skulls to indicate that he released sentient beings from sarpsara. Therefore, he became renowned as Perna Thotrengstel (Lotus whose Expression is a Garland of Skulls).
He acted as the king's venerated guru for thirteen years, securing the whole kingdom in the doctrine. By bestowing the [empowerments which cause] maturation and the [guidance which causes] liberation, for [the teaching called] the Ocean ofDoctrine) the Gathering ofTransmit- ted Precepts (bka'-'dus chos-kyi rgya-mtsho) he caused the king, queen, and all other fortunate beings to become holders of supreme awareness. Thus, he became known as Padmaraja (Lotus King).
According to a prophecy found in the Siitra ofMagical Transformation of the Scope of Activity (Gocaropayavi$ayavikurvarJanirdesasutra, T 146) he emanated as the monk Indrasena in order to convert King Asoka. Having developed immutable faith, the king built ten million stiipas containing the relics of the Tathagata throughout Jambudvlpa in a single night. 491
Thereafter, Padmasambhava skilfully vanquished some powerful kings who were religious extremists, hostile to the teaching, by rites of exorcism. When one such king caused the master to eat poison he remained unharmed, and when he was thrown into the River Ganges the waters reversed their flow. He danced in the sky and became known as Khyeucung Khadingtsel (Youth who Flies like Garuc;ia).
Moreover, he taught through countless other forms and manifesta- tions: as Master Saroruha who introduced the Hevajra Tantra, the brahman Sarahapada, and as Oombi Heruka, Viriipa, and the great He travelled to the great charnel grounds, such as Kula- dZokpa, where he taught the doctrines of the secret mantra to the <;iakinls. When he grasped the vital heart-mantras ofall arrogant spirits, BUddhist and non-Buddhist, and charged them to protect the teaching, he became known as Siiryarasmi (Sunbeam).
Once, when five hundred extremist teachers began to dispute the teaching at Vajrasana, the master defeated them in a contest of debate and occult power. When they cursed him, he warded off their spells
Padmasambhava
were: the eight great awareness,- 0 ers, ha uh a from whom he Eight Classes of Means for he received the
. h M . I Net· and 1m a, 11 d rece1ved t e . agzca . . ' . If thuS he fully understood a oc-
_
He studied all the sutras, tantras'f I d' f whom the foremost
r h d masters 0 n la, 0 ,
scholars and accomp 1S e h ld from whom he received the
Great PerfectlOn. Trammg h1mse
. h only once
trines after studymg t em .
without propitiating them. In waYdhe demonstrated the ultimate Chokse (Intelligent Boon-seeker, an spiritual maturation.
attainment of a holder of the awareness - the daughter of King Then he gained influence over Man arakva, f d-ak1'nI He took her
h dthemar s0
Arsadhara of Sahor, w 0 possesse h sort his practice; an
. . C 488tserveastecon
to the Maratlka ave, o. £ r the attainment of long
for three months they practlsed the means empowered them,489 and
ity. Lord Amitayus actually there han h' self He granted theJ1l b d1fferenttan1m. . he
he consecrated them to e no h b P dmasambhava attained t one billion rites of longevity, w y ad wed with power over the accomplishment of an awareness-ho er en 0
duration of his own life.
and sciences under the many
H' ld see the deities even e cou
. h became renowned as Loden
a·
d ev-
Mahayoga) the Class ofTantras 471
472 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
by using the wrathful mantra which had been given to hi. m the dakini Marajita. He brought down a mighty thunderbolt hber- those teachers and set fire to their city. When he mitiated the
remainder of them into the Buddha's teaching and raised aloft the victory banner of the doctrine, he became renowned as (Lion's Roar). By that time, he had trave. rsed the supreme path whIch
destroys the three corruptions and he lIved as an awareness-holder,
controlling the duration of his own life. .
Then, in the Yanglesho Cave,492 near the border of IndIa and Nepal,
he took the Nepali girl SakyadevI, the daughter of PUJ). yadhara, king of Nepal, to serve him in his practice. W. hile he was performmg the means for the attainment of the glonous Yangdak Heruka
[Sr1heruka], in order to obtain supreme very powerful demons obstructed him. For three years It dId not ra. m. Plague and famine were rampant. So he sent [messengers] to to fetch from his gurus the doctrines which remove ! hey
two porters carrying the transmitted text of the Va! raklla Tantra, whIch caused the obstacles to subside by themselves. Ram fell and the and famine finally ceased. The master and his consort both obtamed
the supreme accomplishment and became holders of the awareness of
the Great Seal.
Yangdak Heruka confers great accomplishments, but, like a merchant
who has many obstacles, he must be escorted. The means for the attainment ofVajraklla is his escort. Seeing this, Padmasambhava com- posed many practical means for attainment which combine Yangdak
and Vajraklla. The master bound all mundane spirits, both male and female, including the sixteen protectors of the Vajrakfla (NGB Vol. 19, 27-9, T 439), under an oath of allegiance and appomted them
to protect the doctrine. . .
Moreover, at one time or another, he taught the doctnne m acco:d a
with the needs of disciples in Hurmudzu, Sikodhara, Dhanakos , Rukma, and other districts of Oqqiyana; in Tlrahuti and other Tharu kingdoms; and in Kamarupa, and elsewhere. By the common aC- complishments, too, he helped many sentient beings. He made water
structed there. '! 'eaching, study and meditation on the four classes of tantra, and particularly on the tantras of Hevajra, Hidden Point of the Moon, (T Vajrakfla, and (NGB Vols. 30-1). accordmg to the tradItIOn of this master remained wide- spread until a later period. In the legends of these [tantras] it is said that he travelled thence to the Land of Ogres in the south-west
: ? e accounts are well known from sources of indian ong. m. WhIle It IS generally said that Padmasambhava remained in IndIa. for three and six hundred years, acting on behalf of the teachmg and hvmg creatures, scholars believe either that the years referred to are half-years, or that the statement is hyperbole.
to Turkestan and China, Padmasambhava emana- ted . as a kmg WIth. supernormal cognitive powers, and as a powerful yogIn. And emanatmg as the self-born child Tavihrca in Zhang-Zhung, he fortunate beings to attain the body of light, by means of the mstructIOns of the aural lineage of the Great Perfection 494
Thus, it to the extent of his activity: which, . vane? befittmg those requiring training, secured all bemgs, InhabIt. mg countries and speaking diverse languages, on path t? all this merely refers to those biographies whIch descn? e speCIfic mamfestations and names. In fact, if we dis- regard the. dIfference bet:veen his direct and indirect action, [then it may be. saId that] there IS no place that is not to be trained by this Thus, no one at all can express a limit to the liberating of those who abide in the state of coalescence.
So It is that accomplished masters may make themselves disap- pear from the VIew of ordinary disciples and then, after a long time has passed, they may make themselves reappear, and then remain for a long time. They may be invisible in some places and VIsIble m others simultaneously. In one place they may demonstrate [of consciousness at death]: and another, the act of
kmg bIrth. In these and other ways theIr mamfestations are infinite.
thrice appeared bodily after disappear- g, Jalandhanpa SImIlarly reappeared five times' and the great
Krs - ' f
. . . ? acann, a ter passmg away m and being cremated by his
reappeared elsewhere in his former body and acted to benefit t e world. At the same time, it is said that he took new births in yet other and demonstrated in them the attainment of supreme ac- S? , just as a commoner's status cannot be applied to a
I g, It IS ImpOSSIble to determine exactly the chronology and dwelling p of these accomplished masters according to the conventions of That is because they are empowered with miraculous am HIes, perfectly with the faculties of will and attitude
bemgs. It says m the Sublime Sidra which Comprises the Entzre Doctrzne:
flow from dry riverbeds. He diverted a wide river underground. great harm came to the Buddhist teaching because images of
a deities spontaneously appeared in the south, east, and centre of Ind: h
he annihilated all three by the power of Vajrakila. When a TurklS
. dK-- here
king led his army by b. oat over t. he River Niia to mva e. ancl. , v: dex the Buddhist commumty was WIdespread, the master hIS III finger in a menacing gesture and five hundred vessels sank m the water.
Subsequently, the Turkish danger came to an end. . d Though it is not clear exactly when he visited the land of DraVI . a
('gro-lding-ba'iyul) , he did gradually convert the human and beings of that country, the qakinls and so on, and had a temple con
. .
'
Mahayoga, the Class ofTantras 473
474
History: The Rise afthe Secret Mantra
(\
. '11 of dissolution to become Sentientbemgs WI.