The Nyingmapa hold that
buddhahood
is attained when intrinsic awareness is liberated just where it is through having recognised the nature of Samantabhadra, the primordially pure body of reality.
Dudjom Rinpoche - Fundamentals and History of the Nyingmapa
32] 363
Atiyoga [422. 33] 369
CONCLUSION
CONCLUDING REMARKS 375 DEDICATORY VERSES 376 COLOPHON 378
1 2 3
The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism represents the original Buddhist teachings as they were translated, principally from Sanskrit but also from Burushaski and other languages into Tibetan, until the period of the Indian scholar Sm. rtijiianaklrti (late tenth or early eleventh century) and prior to that of Locen Rincen Zangpo (958-1055). It is also known as the Ancient Translation School (snga-'gyur) in contrast to the other lineages of Indian origin such as the Kagytipa, the Sakyapa, and the Kadampa, which subsequently arrived in Tibet and became known as the new traditions (gsar-ma) or the later translation schools (phyi-'gyur).
The original promulgator of the doctrines brought together within the Nyingma tradition is held to be Samantabhadra, who is the primor- dial buddha-body of reality (chos-sku, Skt. dharmakaya). However, there are also a considerable number of teachings which derive from Vajra- dhara and the Buddhas of the Five Families, who are the buddha-body of perfect rapture (longs-spyod rdzogs-pa'i sku, Skt. sambhogakaya), and from the emanational bodies (sprul-pa'i sku, Skt. nirmalJakaya), such as Sakyamuni in the world of men, Munlndra in the god realms and so on.
All Buddhist teachings may be presented in accordance with the threefold approach of theoretical view (lta-ba), meditational experience (bsgom-pa), or conduct (spyod-pa). In the Fundamentals of the Nyingma School, His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche precisely delineates the entire range of the Buddhist spiritual and philosophical systems from the standpoint of the view. It is traditionally held that once the view has been comprehended, it is then to be experientially cultivated through meditation, and practically applied in all everyday situations which arise during the aftermath of meditation.
The Buddhist spiritual and philosophical systems form what is essen- tially a dynamic gradation of experience from the most mundane level of cyclical existence (sarrzsara) to that of the Great Perfection (rdzogs-pa chen-po). As the text explains (p. 80):
Translator's Introduction
12 Fundamentals
Translator's Introduction 13
When the transmitted precepts are classified according to their power, they form a vehicle, because it appears that therein higher and higher paths are traversed, in the manner of a "vehicle".
And again:
Riding on that, which is the best of vehicles, Manifestly attaining to delightful bliss,
All sentient beings pass into nirvaQ. a.
The Fundamentals expands upon these systems, which are known in the Nyingma tradition as the nine sequences of the vehicle (theg-pa'i rim-pa dgu), in extraordinarily intricate detail. To facilitate the reader's understanding, a summary now follows.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
The Fundamentals consists of four parts. The first expounds the doc- trines of cyclical existence or sarpsara and the supramundane doctrines of nirvana. The second explains the nature of the teachers who are endowed with the three buddha-bodies of reality, perfect rapture, and emanation. The third is an analysis of the causal vehicles of dialectics. And, finally, there is a detailed account of the resultant vehicles of indestructible reality (Vajrayana) which are held to be supreme by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Within these four parts the distinctions of entrance ()'ug-sgo), empowerment (dbang-bskur) , view (lta-ba), moral discipline (tshul-khrims), meditation (bsgom-pa), conduct (spyod-pa), and result (,bras-bu) are clarified as they apply to each stage of the Buddhist experience.
eighteen psychophysical bases, the five components and the twelve
l
activity fields.
mind, their apparent aspect and support being the five gross elements compounded by external objects. In this way, the three world realms of desire (kamadhatu), form (rilpadhiitu) and the formless (arilpyadhiitu) are nothing but apparitional modes of the bewildered intellect of living beings. They do not appear in the pure vision of the buddhas, and the sufferings sustained within them are prolonged by karma or world- forming deeds.
The Mundane Vehicle and the Brahma Vehicle
The mundane vehicle which is followed by gods and human beings (lha-mi jig-rten-gyi theg-pa) is the basis on which the nine specifically Buddhist sequences of the vehicle develop. By regulating world-form- ing deeds, renouncing the ten non-virtues and observing good deeds with piety and humility, one is said to progress to the status of a god of the desire realm within cyclical existence. As the text says (pp. 60-1):
It either forms the foundation of, or is preliminary to, all vehicles, because the vehicle which is not retained by the cor- rect view and which does not observe the deeds and path ofthe ten virtues as its actual foundation is nowhere to be found.
As an extension of this mundane vehicle, the vehicle of Brahma (tshangs- pa'i theg-pa) generates the experience of all the twenty-one higher realms within cyclical existence. These include seventeen realms of form, which are experienced through the four meditative concentrations of form, and four formless realms at the summit of cyclical existence, which are to be ex- perienced through the four formless absorptions. These meditative techniques employ both tranquillity (zhi-gnas, Skt. famatha) and higher in- sight (lhag-mthong, Skt. vipafyana), and are accompanied by the practice of the four immeasurables (loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity). The chart on the following pages indicates the stages and o. "erall structure of the three realms of cyclical existence with their subdivi- SIonsandtheircorrespondingmeditativestates.
Since the vehicles of gods and human beings and the vehicle of
Brahma possess qualities which are basic to any Buddhist experience,
they are regarded as a means of entering into the true vehicle of Buddhist experience.
Those ofNo Understanding and Those ofWrong Understanding
sentient beings who are considered to be ensnared within cyclical eXIstence and subject to continuous rounds of suffering are traditionally
P ART ONE: DOCTRINES OF AND
NIRV ANA
At the outset, the Author differentiates between mundane doctrines which do not transcend the suffering of cyclical existence and the supra- mundane doctrines which do so by relyiag on the continuum of en- lightenment.
Doctrines of Sarrzsara
The basis of the mundane doctrines is held to be ignorance which, in three interrelated aspects, generates a sense of bewilderment. This, in turn, gives rise to consciousness ofthe ground-of-all (kun-gzhi rnam-shes, Skt. iilayavijfilina), the six conflicting emotions of ignorance, delusion, hatred, pride, desire, and envy, and also all sensory perception, the
All these are said to be compounded internally by the
Class 6:
God Realms
THE SIX CLASSES OF LIVING BEINGS IN THEIR GRADATION TO THE SUMMIT OF EXISTENCE IN SA¥SARA
1. The Twenty-one Higher Realms (khams gong-ma nyi-shu rtsa-gcig)
IA. Four Formless Realms at the Summit of Existence (gzugs-med khams-pa'i gnas-bzhi, SkI. Caturarilpyadhatu, Mvt. 31lO-3113)
4. Activity Field of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception ('du-shes med 'du-shes med-min skye-mched, Skt. NaivasaT! ljfiiisamjiUiyatana) 3. Activity Field of Nothing At All (ci-yang med-pa'i skye-mched, Skt. Aki'f! lcanyayatana)
2. Activity Field of Infinite Consciousness (mam-shes mtha'-yas skye-mched, Skt. VijiUinanantyayatana)
1. Activity Field Infinite as the Sky (nam-mkha' mtha'-yas skye-mched, SkI. Akasanantyayatana)
lB. Seventeen Realms of Form (lha gzugs-khams bcu-bdun)
IBa. The Five Pure Abodes (gtsang-gnas lnga, SkI. Paiicasuddhanivasa, Mvi. 3101-3108)
5. Highest (,og-min, Skt.
4. Extreme Insight (shin-tu mthong, Skt. Sudarsana) 3. Attractive (gya-nom snang-ba, SkI. Sud! sa)
2. Painless (mi-gdung-pa, Skt. Atapa)
1. Slightest (mi-che-ba, Skt. Av! ha)
lBb. The Twelve Ordinary Realms of the Four Concentrations (so-skye'i gnas bCll-gnyis, MvI. 3085-3lO0)
FOURTH CONCENTRA TION
12. Great Fruition ('bras-bu che, SkI.
11. Increasing Merit (bsod-nams 'phe! , Skt. PW. lyaprasa'va) 10. Cloudless (sprin-med, SkI. Anabhraka)
THIRD CONCENTRA TION
9. Most Extensive Virtue (dge-rgyas, Skt.
8. Immeasurable Virtue (tshad-med dge, Skt. Apramal. 1GSllbha) 7. Little Virtue (dge-chung, Skt. Parfttasllbha)
SECOND CONCENTRA TION
6. Inner Radiance ('od-gsa/, SkI. Abhasvara)
5. Immeasurable Radiance (tshad-med 'od, Skt. Apramal. uibha) 4. Little Radiance ('od-chung, Skt. ParftUibha)
FIRST CONCENTRA TION
3. Great Brahma (tshangs-pa chen-po, Skt. Mahabrahma)
2. Priest Brahma (tshangs-pa mdun-na 'don, Skt. Brahmapllrohita) 1. Stratum of Brahma (tshangs-ris, Skt. Brahmakayika)
2. The Ten Higher Levels of the Desire Realm (,dod-khams-kyi mtho-I1S g/1QS-bal)
2A. Six Species of Kama Divinities ('dod-lha rigs-drug, Skt. Mvt. 3078-3083)
6. Mastery over Transformations (gzhan-'ph11ll dbang-byed, Skt. 5. Delighting in Emanation (,phrul-dga', Skt. NimlaJ. wrata)
4. Joyful (dga'-ldan, SkI.
3. Strifeless (,thab-bral, Skt. Yama)
2. Heaven of Thirty-three Gods (sum-al rtsa-gsum-pa, Ski. Trayatrin:zsa) 1. Four Great Kings (rgyal-chen bzhi'i 11'S, Skt. Catumzaharajakayika)
Antigods (lha-ma-yin, Skt. asura)"
2B. Human Beings of the Four Continents (gling-bzhi'i mi)
4. Surpassing the Body (lus-'phags, Skt. Prtrvavideha in the East)
3. Rose-Apple Continent (,dzam-bu gling, Skt. in the South) 2. Enjoyer of Cattle (ba-glang spyod, SkI. Aparagodanfya in the West)
1. Unpleasant Sound (sgra mi-snyan, SkI. Uttarakuru in the North)
3. The Three Lower Levels of the Desire Realm (ngan-song gSllm) 3. Animals (dud-'gro, SkI. tfryak)
2. Tormented Spirits (yi-dvags, SkI. preta)
1. Denizens of the Hells (dmyal-ba, Skt. nm'aka)
Class 5: Antigods
Class 4: Human Beings
Class 3: Animals
Class 2: Tormented Spirits
Class 1: Hells
16 Fundamentals
Translator's Introduction 17
divided into those who have no understanding (ma-rtogs-pa) and those who have wrong understanding (log-par rtogs-pa). The former include the apathetic who lack understanding of deeds and causality, and so fail to respond to any philosophical system, observing neither renun- ciation nor commitment; and the materialists (Lokayata) who refer only to the present life and set their trust in the mysterious calculations of worldly wisdom.
Those of wrong understanding are traditionally said to comprise four schools of eternalistic extremism and one of nihilistic extremism. The former are the Sarpkhya, the Aisvara, the and Jainism. The Sarpkhya hold all that is knowable to consist of twenty-five existent categories, which are said to be dissolved when sublimation of the self (purusa) occurs. The Aisvara, who include the adherents of Nyaya logic and Vaisesika analysis of substances, hold that an eternally existent lord or controls the destiny of all beings regardless of deeds. The uphold the authenticity of the Veda, along with the eternal status of Brahma and other deities. And Jainism holds all the knowable to be divided into nine categories, among which anim- ate substances (jiva) are eternally existent. The nihilistic extremists are the Barhaspatya hedonists of ancient India who negate causality, past and future lives, the existence of invisible beings and the possibility of progress beyond suffering into nirva1)a.
All these are said to lack a means of achieving liberation from the suffering of cyclical existence - those of no understanding because they are roused by no philosophical view and those of wrong understanding because they either cling to the concept of an eternal self or become totally negative. Even so, the Author maintains, there are certain cumstances when a buddha may teach in the manner of the eternahsts for a specific purpose or in that of the nihilists when scepticism may
3
:. . -
The true doctrine of nirvana which transcends the suffering of cyclical
existence is said to surpass' mundane doctrines because it seeks refuge in the Buddha, the doctrines of Buddhism and the community of prac- titioners. There are four seals or hallmarks indicative ofsuch transmitted precepts, namely, all that is compounded is impermanent, all that is corrupt is suffering, all things are without self, and nirva1)a is peace. By the practice of the Buddhist teachings all cyclical existence and rebirth are opposed.
In general, the Buddhist teaching is divided according to realisation (rtogs-pa, Skt. adhigama) and literary transmission (lung, Skt. agama). The former includes the realisation which has been achieved by bud- dhas, or the truth of cessation, as well as the active or dynamic means
to attain that realisation - the truth of the path which removes obscu- ration and reveals the intrinsic awareness of buddhahood, bringing about the truth of cessation. The literary transmissions comprise both the transmitted precepts (legs-bshad bka', Skt. subha$itapravacana) and the treatises (bstan-bcos, Skt. sastra).
Transmitted Precepts
Transmitted precepts are the sutra and tantra texts which origi- nated from buddhas such as Sakyamuni. They comprise those given in the form of oral teaching, those given by the blessing or con- secration of the buddha-body, speech and mind, and those given by a buddha's mandate (pp. 74-6). They may also be classified according to the three successive promulgations of the doctrinal wheel, the twelve branches of the scriptures, the eighty-four thousand doctrinal com-
ponents including the Vinayapi! aka, Sutrapi! aka, Abhidhar-
mapi! aka, and Vidyadharapi! aka,4 or according to the nine sequences of the vehicle.
The Author indicates at some length that enumerations such as two vehicles, three vehicles, four vehicles, or five vehicles are merely differ- ent ways of categorising the single vehicle. In fact there may be as many vehicles as there are thoughts. As the Sutra of the Descent to Lanka (Lankavatarasutra, T 107)5 says:
As long as there is perception
The culmination of vehicles will never be
reached.
In the Nyingma tradition the vehicle is said to have nine se-
quences, which are differentiated according to the acumen of those
who require training through them. Each lower sequence is also in-
cluded in the higher. Thus the All-Accomplishing King (kun-byed rgyal- po, T 828) states:
Existentially there is only one
But empirically there are nine vehicles.
n i n e s e q u e n c e s a r e t h e v e h i c l e s o f t h e p i o u s a t t e n d a n t s ( n y a n - t h o s , Skt. sravaka), self-centred buddhas (rang-rgyal, Skt. pratyekabuddha) and bodhisattvas (byang-chub sems-dpa'); the vehicles of Kriyatantra (bya- ba), Ubhayatantra (gnyis-ka), and Yogatantra (rnal-'byor); and those of Mahayoga Anuyoga (rjes-su rnal-'byor) and Atiyoga, the <? reat PerfectIOn (rdzogs-chen shin-tu rnal-'byor). However, it is em- phaSIsed that the transmitted precepts in the form of a vehicle are a
means of attaining realisation,and that, in the words of the Siltra of the Descent to Lanka:
be transmuted into Madhyamaka dialectic.
Doctrines of N irvalJa
18 Fundamentals
When the mind becomes transformed
There is neither vehicle nor mover.
Treatises
Treatises are commentaries composed by sublime beings such as Nagar- juna, Asati. ga and Longcen Rapjampa to elucidate the intention of the transmitted precepts.
In Buddhist terms, treatises are defined as compositions which are made so as to counteract the three poisons of delusion, desire and hatred, and to protect the mind from the suffering of cyclical existence (pp. 88ff). They require four special attributes, namely, a motivation based on com- passion and discriminative awareness, expressive words ve:se, expres- sed meaning which reveals the means for those who deSIre lIberatIon, and a purposeful composition. Treatises are then classified in six ways accord- ing to: the purpose of the composer, the qualitative of the com- position, the status of the composer (i. e. budd. ha, or paQC;tita), the specific or general manner of theIr the VIew, conduct and integration of view and conduct as revealed III each of the three successive promulgations of the transmitted precepts, and finally the meaning they express, which may be quantitative, qualitative or conducive to liberation and omniscience.
The quantitative treatises, in which diverse categories are enumerated, include general treatises on ethics, and specialised treatises on grammar, logic, art, medicine, astrology, poetics, prosody, and Qualitative treatises include those on Madhyamaka phIlosophY,which es- tablish the selflessness of the individual and of phenomena. Fmally, the treatises conducive to liberation and omniscience include esoteric instruc- tions of five kinds, which are condensed in order to generate liberation from cyclical existence in those who require training through them.
P ART TWO: BUDDHA NA TURE ACCORDING TO THE BUDDHA-BODIES
Having distinguished between the doctrines which cause one to remain in cyclical existence and those which transcend such suffering, what is the nature of the buddha or the teacher who is said to commumcate the means ofattaining liberation? This is the subject-matter ofPart Two.
Buddha (literally, the "awakened one") is rendered in Tibetan as rgyas: sangs meaning purified ofall conflicting emotions and rgyas n:eamng vast in enlightened attributes. Thus a buddha is one who has punfied sufferings of cyclical existence and is endowed with the attn- butes of buddha-body and pristine cognition. The buddha-bodIes are held to number three or five, although they have many other aspects. Lower sequences of the vehicle speak of the two bodies of reality and form, or
Translator's Introduction 19
of three or four. Here in the Nyingma tradition there are five, namely, the buddha-bodies of reality, perfect rapture, emanation, awakening and indestructible reality.
The Buddha-body of Reality
The buddha-body of reality (chos-sku, Skt. dharmakaya), which is also known as Samantabhadra (kun-tu bzang-po), is considered to be the prime mover of the highest teachings of the Great Perfection or Atiyoga.
The Nyingmapa hold that buddhahood is attained when intrinsic awareness is liberated just where it is through having recognised the nature of Samantabhadra, the primordially pure body of reality. This buddhahood is endowed with the pristine cognition ofthe expanse ofreality (chos-dbyings ye-shes, Skt. dharmadhatujfiana), for it is free from all conceptual elaborations, and the pristine cognition ofsameness (mnyam- nyid ye-shes, Skt. samatajfiana) which remains pure through the extent of saqlsara and nirvaQa.
Reality (chos-nyid, Skt. dharmata) in Buddhism refers to the emptiness which is the inherent nature of phenomena. The apparitional aspect of this reality is known as chos-can (dharmin), and that which is real (the phenomena themselves) are known as chos (dharma). Since it is held to be the foundation of all genuine experience, the body of reality is the basis of the buddha-bodies of form. It is also known as the youthful vase body (gzhon-nu bum-pa'i sku) because the pristine cognition remains inwardly radiant within it, in the manner of light within a crystal prism, even when it emanates as the buddha-body of form.
Through the blessing of this youthful vase body, the Buddha-field of the Bounteous Array (GhanavYithabuddhak$etra) becomes manifest, and therein the Teachers of Five Enlightened Families, including the Buddha Vairocana, assume the body of perfect rapture. This is the great play of undifferentiated buddha-body and pristine cognition, which also acts out of compassion for the sake of sentient beings who are perceived to be bewildered without cause; for they wander in cyclical existence without recognising the nature of the primordial ground.
These teachers emanate all the buddha-fields within and around the body of Vairocana in order to guide beings to liberation. The fields are arrayed in three dimensions, namely, the Indestructible Nucleus of Inner Radiance Cod-gsal rdo-1'je snying-po), Brahma's Drumbeat (tshangs- pa mga-sgra) and the Aeon of Great Brahma (tshangs-chen-gyi bskal-pa), which correspond, respectively, to the body of reality, the body of perfect rapture and the emanational body. The last of these comprises all the realms of cyclical existence outlined in the chart above. It is said that in the space of a single atomic particle there are measureless fields of sentient beings being trained·by the buddhas, and that on the surface
of a single atom there are fields containing atoms of oceanic infinity.
20 Fundamentals
As the Great Bounteousness of the Buddhas (Buddhavataytlsaka, T 44)
says:
Translator's Introduction 21
If there is no understanding of intrinsic awareness or genuine perception,
The field of SukhavatI is even seen as a state of evil existence.
If the truth which is equivalent to the supreme of vehicles is realised,
Even states of evil existence are and
The Emanational Body
The emanational body (sprul-pa'i sku, Skt. nirmiilJakiiya), which discip- lines those who require training on the path to liberation, is of three types. First, there are the emanations of natural expression (rang-bzhin sprul-pa'i sku) who are the above-mentioned Teachers of the Five En- lightened Families appearing in their lower role before bodhisattvas of the highest level, in the manner of rainbow light. In this situation, when they are compounded by the minds of others, they are said to be endowed with a semi-manifest natural expression, half-way between the true body of perfect rapture and the emanational body.
Secondly, there are the supreme emanational bodies (mchog-gi sprul- pa'i sku) or emanations of the body of reality who train living beings through their twelve deeds in myriads of world systems. Within this world system of ours, which is known as the world system of Patient Endurance (mi-mjed 'jig-rten-gyi khams, Skt. Sahalokadhatu), the sup- reme emanational body appears as a sage embodying awareness of the true buddha nature in each of the six classes of living beings - gods, antigods, humans, animals, tormented spirits and hells. In the human world, for example, he appears as Sakyamuni Buddha, and, as the text explains (p. 131):
In these realms, the supreme emanational body projects the lamp of instruction for those requiring training in as many ways as they have psychophysical bases, sense organs and modes of conduct, and acts on behalf of sentient beings through four kinds of instruction.
These four are instruction by the great merits of the buddha-body's twelve deeds, instruction by the direct perception of the buddha-mind which is endowed with six supernormal cognitive powers (mngon-shes drug, Skt. instruction by inconceivable miraculous abilities are the mysteries of the buddha's body, speech and mind, and mstruction by knowledge conveyed in speech.
Thirdly, there are the diversified emanations (sna-tshogs sprul-sku) appearing as oases, food, and medicine, which are of benefit to living bemgs, and as the emanations of birth (skyes-sprul) and artistry (bzo- S? rul) assumed, for example, by Sakyamuni Buddha in his previous lIves and recorded in the Jataka Tales.
On the surface of a single atom There are as many buddhas
As there are atoms.
However, as our text emphasises (p. 1l9):
These fields are said to be radiant apparitions, not existing in reality because, in the expanse of reality, relative appear- ances have not existed from the beginning.
The Buddha-body of Perfect Rapture
The buddha-body of perfect rapture (longs-spyod rdzogs-pa'i sku, Skt. sambhogakiiya) is said to act within all those fields connected with Vairocana. It is endowed with seven attributes of natural expression, and the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks of the buddhas. These marks may appear outwardly, as the external form of the buddha-body; inwardly, as the network of energy channels, currents and seminal points (rtsa dung thig-le) within the buddha-body; secretly, as present in the seed which is enlightened mind, or the nucleus of the tathagata (de-gshegs snying-po, Skt. tathagatagarbha); and, most secretly, as the rapture of the Great Perfection (rdzogs-pa chen-po) which is experienced when the energy channels and seminal points are naturally expressed as supreme bliss.
As such, the five components of mundane cyclical existence find their true natural expression in the Teachers of the Five Enlightened Families, namely, Vairocana, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi; while the five elemental properties of space, cohe- sion, solidity, warmth and movement find their true natural expression as the five consorts: DhatvIsvarI, Locana, MamakI, PaIfcjaravasinI, and Samayatara. The four sensations of seeing, hearing, tasting and smel- ling, as well as the four sense objects, the four sense organs, the four temporal dimensions, the four aspects of sexual contact, and the four extremes of permanence, decay, self and character all find their true natural expression in the deities of the surrounding maIfcjalas. This pure vision, it is emphasised, lies within the perceptual range of the buddhas' pristine cognition alone, and remains invisible even to bodhisattvas of the highest level who are not liberated from all obscur- ations. It is maintained that all these elements of mundane cyclical existence are transmuted into the pure, divine nature through experien- tial cultivation of the Buddhistteachings. As the Extensive Magical Net (sgyu-'phrul rgyas-pa, NGB Vol. 14) says:
22 Fundamentals
Translator's Introduction 23
The Nyingma tradition in particular holds that twelve teachers of the emanational body have appeared as the blessing of the body of perfect rapture in this world system to disclose the three emanational teachings of the buddha-body, speech and mind. A hand-sized vajra (rdo-rje) is said to be the actuality of the body of reality, a four-inch book is said to be the actuality of the body of perfect rapture, and the physical form, exemplified in those twelve teachers, is the actuality of the emanational body. The emanational body, in the Nyingma view, is endowed with sixty attributes; for each of those twelve teachers is connected with the five excellences of place, teacher, retinue, doctrine and time. A single emanational body also possesses ninety-six doctrines with respect to enlightened activity . Yet this enumeration is not regarded as a limitation because (p. 138):
The Sugata, learned in skilful means, manifests the body of form in ways which correspond to the number of atoms in the myriad fields of those requiring training, which are of oceanic extent.
The Buddha-body of Awakening
The buddha-body of awakening (mngon-par byang-chub-kyi sku, Skt. abhisambodhikaya), which is derived from the distinct apparitional func- tions of the aforementioned three bodies, possesses the four fearless- nesses, the eighteen distinct attributes of the buddhas, great compassion and the ten powers. These are all enumerated in the Mahavyutpatti, the great glossary of technical terms composed by the Tibetan trans-
lators, probably during the reign of Senalek.
The Buddha-body of Indestnlctible Reality
Finally, the buddha-body of indestructible reality (rdo-rje sku, Skt. vajrakaya), which derives from the indivisible essence of the first three bodies, is the original unchanging expanse of reality in which all paths are concluded and all conceptual elaboration transcended. It is the taintless buddha nature pure from the beginning.
The Five Pristine Cognitions
The five pristine cognitions (ye-shes lnga) Skt. paiicajiiana), which are among the buddhas' attributes, are also discussed here. They are the pristine cognition of the expanse of reality (chos-dbyings ye-shes, Skt. dhannadhiitujiiana), which is the perception of the buddha-body of reality; the mirror-like pristine cognition (me-long ye-shes, Skt. adarsa- jiiiina),which is the unbroken causal basis of all pristine cognition; the pristine cognition of sameness (mnyam-nyid ye-shes, Skt. samatiijiiiina),
which continuously abides in tranquillity, loving kindness and compas- sion without falling into the extremes of cyclical existence or nirval). a; and the pristine cognition of discernment (sor-rtogs ye-shes, Skt. which is unimpeded with regard to the knowable, and refers to contemplations, dharal). l and other attributes. These last three are the perceptions of the body of perfect 'rapture. Finally, the pristine cognition of accomplishment (bya-grub ye-shes, Skt. krtyanu- sthanajiiana) is diversified in all realms, within the emanations who act behalf of living beings. Thus it is the perception of the emanational body.
The Author asserts that the nature of the buddhas who have purified obscurations and become vast in enlightened attributes of buddha-body and pristine cognition is to be experientially cultivated through the Buddhist teachings - both indirectly, through the sutra texts, and di- rectly through the mantra texts which are respectively a long and a short path to the same goal.
He concludes Part Two by distinguishing between the attributes of the buddha-bodies as they are revealed in the causal vehicles of dialec- tics, and in the resultant vehicles of secret mantra. The sutras of the causal vehicles require one to undertake a long path of causal gradation, whereby conflicting emotions are abandoned, and merits and pristine cognition are accumulated. The resultant vehicles of the way of mantras, however, begin from the ultimate view of the buddha nature and insist that the whole of cyclical existence and nirval). a conform to the pattern of the three buddha-bodies.
P ART THREE: CAUSAL VEHICLES OF DIALECTICS
The causal vehicles of dialectics (rgyu mtshan-nyid-kyi theg-pa, Skt. are classified either according to the three successive promulgations of the doctrinal wheel or according to the philosophical systems included within the lesser vehicle (theg-pa chung-ba, Skt. Hfnayana) and the greater vehicle (theg-pa chen-po, Skt. Mahayana).
The Three Promulgations of the Doctrinal Wheel
In the first promulgation the Buddha expounded the four truths of its origin, the path and the cessation of suffering, with the Intention that sentient beings should forsake cyclical existence. In the second promulgation he expounded the teaching on the transcendental perfection of discriminative awareness (shes-rab-kyi pha-rol-tu phyin- Palma, Skt. prajiiaparamita) with the intention that the buddha nature should be comprehended through topics of emptiness, signlessness and
24 Fundamentals
Translator's Introduction 25
aspirationlessness, and that consequently the ultimate truth which is referred to by synonyms in order to bring about the partial cessation of conceptual elaboration might become the foundation for those who enter the greater vehicle.
Then, in the third promulgation he excellently analysed all things from form to omniscience in accord with the three essential natures, namely, the imaginary (parikalpita), the dependent (paratantra), and the absolute (parini$panna), and disclosed the nucleus of the tathagata (tathagatagarbha), intending that the ultimate truth for which there is no synonym should become the nucleus of the path of the greater vehicle. Such were the three promulgations delivered by Sakyamuni Buddha.
The Lesser Vehicle
Among the philosophical systems of the causal vehicles of dialectics, those which belong to the lesser vehicle are the and the Sautrantika systems.
V aibha$ika
The pious attendants of the school classify the knowable into five categories: perceptual forms, mind, mental events, disjunct conditions unassociated with mental events, and uncompounded en- tities. They hold that consciousness ultimately exists as a series of time- moments and that the material substances composing the world are an association of indivisible atomic particles unified by vital energy. They claim the subject-object dichotomy to be created through the recognition of objects by consciousness, but that there is no intrinsic awareness apart from this consciousness.
Through the vehicle of the pious attendants (sravaka), the status of an arhat is realised by meditation on the sixteen aspects of the four truths, so that the obscurations of the three poisons and ignorance are destroyed. As it is said in the Sequence a/the Path (Mayajalapathakrama, P 4736):
If, without realising non-duality,
Everything is viewed to exist substantially
In terms of the four truths,
And one resorts to renunciation and non-renunciation, This is the level of the pious attendants.
Sautrantika
The self-centred buddhas and pious attendants ofthe Sautrantika school hold ultimate reality to agree with consciousness, which is a series of time moments. They also hold that, although consciousness refers to
· cts external objects are not actually perceived, a single, uncom-
obJe , . . d' h f fl .
nded sensum bemg transmltte m t e manner 0 a re ectlOn on a
The subject-object dichotomy therefore becomes a subjective conventionally known as the recognition of objects. They are prid to surpass the in holding the conglomerate of atoms to unknown and in their appreciation of an intrinsic awareness.
Through the vehicle of the self-centred buddhas (pratyekabuddha), the twelve modes of dependent origination are meditated on and re- versed. Whereas pious attendants hold the individual self to be aban- doned in ultimate truth, the self-centred buddhas hold external objects to be ultimately fallacious and subjective consciousness to exist genuinely. They are said to be realised in one and a half parts of what is implied by selflessness. This is because they realise selflessness with reference to the individual and understand that the atomic particles df external phenomena do not independently exist, but still hold time moments ofconsciousness or internal phenomena to be ultimately real.
The Greater Vehicle
Among the philosophical systems of the greater causal vehicle, there are the Vijfianavada or proponents of consciousness, and the Madh- yamika or adherents of the middle path.
Vijfianavada
The Vijfianavada confirm the Sautrantika view that objects are not perceived. All things are held to be apparitional aspects of mind, definit- ively ordered according to three essential natures: the imaginary which includes both phenomena and characteristics such as the concept of selfhood; the dependent which includes the five impure components of mundane existence and the pure attributes of buddha-body and pristine cognition; and the absolute which includes the unchanging abiding nature of reality and the incontrovertible absence of conflicting emotions.
The Mind Only school, which emphasises the ontological aspect of the Vijfianavada, is divided into those who hold sensa to be veridical (Sakaravada), and those holding sensa to be false, admitting only con- to be genuine (Nirakaravada). These have many subdivi- While the VijiHinavada is held to surpass the and Sau- of the lower vehicle, it fails to understand the absolute nature, SInce it holds consciousness to exist absolutely in the ultimate truth.
Madhyamaka
The Madhyamika or adherents of the middle path are either those who uphold the coarse outer Madhyamaka or the subtle inner Great Madhyamaka (dbu-ma chen-po).
26 Fundamentals
Outer M adhyamaka
The Outer Madhyamaka include the Svatantrika (rang-rgyud-pa) who employ independent reasoning, and the Prasangika (tlzal-'gyur-ba) who employ reductio ad absurdum.
The Svatantrika surpass the previous philosophical systems which adhere to substantiality and subjective conceptual elaboration, and they avoid both extremes. All things which appear are said to exist in relative truth, which is either correct or incorrect in conventional terms, but are inherently empty and non-existent in the ultimate truth, which cuts through conceptual elaboration. All relative appearances can be refuted by logical arguments, but it is also proven that no scrutiny or judgement can be made in relation to ultimate truth.
The Prasangika distinguish between the unbewildered intellect or pristine cognition of the buddhas, in which relative phenomena never appear, and the bewildered intellect of sentient beings. Ultimate truth, the reality of the unbewildered intellect of the buddhas, is vitiated by bewilderment, and so mundane cyclical existence appears and is as- signed conventionally to the relative truth, though not really admitted.
The Prasangika also employ the five kinds of logical axioms used by the Svatantrika, but unlike them do not seek to prove their conclusions positively with reference to relative appearances and conceptual elabora- tion, having refuted them. Rather they refute all possible views which lie within the range of the four extremes of being, non-being, both being and non-being, and neither being nor non-being. Ultimate truth is thus the pristine cognition of the buddhas, free from all conceptual elaboration of the subject-object dichotomy. It is said that the two truths form the Madhyamaka of the ground; the two provisions of merit and pristine cognition form the Madhyamaka of the path; and that the coalescence of the two buddha-bodies of reality and form is the Madhyamaka of the result.
Great Madhyamaka
The Great Madhyamaka (dbu-ma chen-po) is aloof from the reasoning of the Outer Madhyamaka which is based upon dialectics, and instead must be experientially cultivated in meditation. In accord with the analysis of all things made by Sakyamuni in the third promulgation of the doctrinal wheel with respect to the aforementioned essential natures, it holds the imaginary to imply that attributes are without substantiality, the dependent to imply that creation is without substantiality, and the absolute to imply that ultimate reality is without substantiality. Absolute reality is thus empty of all the imaginary objects which are to be refuted and all conceptual elaboration of cyclical existence, it. is not of the enlightened attributes of buddha-body and pnstme cogmtlon which are spontaneously present from the beginning.
Translator's Introduction 27 The Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle (Mahayanottaratantra-
iastra, T 4024) says:
The seed which is empty of suddenly arisen phenomena,
Endowed with divisive characteristics,
Is not empty of the unsurpassed reality, Endowed with indivisible characteristics.
The Great Madhyamaka therefore maintains that the conceptual area of the subject-object dichotomy is intrinsically empty (rang-stong), while the buddha-body of reality endowed with all enlightened attributes is empty of that extraneous conceptual area which forms the subject-object dichotomy (gzhan-stong). If enlightened attributes were themselves in- trinsically empty oftheir own essence, the entire structure ofthe ground, path and result would be negated and one would be in the position of the nihilistic extremists who deny causality, progress on the path to
liberation and so forth.
This expanse of reality, the ultimate truth, is said to pentade all
beings without distinction and is known as the nucleus of the tathagata (tathagatagarbha) or the nucleus of the sugata (sugatagarblza). It is held to be only fully developed and qualitatively perceived according to its true nature by buddhas, and yet equally present in ordinary sentient beings and bodhisattvas who are partially purified on the path to liber- ation. It is when the obscurations covering this seed of the buddha nature are removed that liberation is said to occur. Now, there are two kinds of renunciation of obscurations which have been expounded, one that is a naturally pure, passive fait accompli, and another which actively removes the obscurations by applying an appropriate antidote. Although the nucleus of the tathagata is held to be present from the beginning
in all beings, it is not therefore claimed that all beings are buddhas free from all obscuration. Similarly there are two kinds of realisation, one that is naturally present and passive, and another that is dependently produced and active. They are equivalent to the truths of cessation and of the path described above in Part One.
While the second and the third promulgations of the doctrinal wheel give authenticity to the view of Great Madhyamaka, it is the third or final promulgation which extensively reveals the nucleus of the tathagata. Certain scholars of the past have, as the Author states, errone- ously linked the views of Great Madhyamaka and Vijfianavada. How- the former is concerned with absolute reality, and the latter is dIrected towards consciousness. There is held to be a great distinction between the pristine cognition of the buddhas and the consciousness of. the ground-of-all. The proponents of Mind Only maintain that is not transcended in ultimate truth, but this is a view which IS bound within cyclical existence. According to Great Madhyamaka,
28 Fundamentals
the ultimate truth is the obscurationless pristine cognition, the uncor- rupted expanse of reality transcending consciousness. This is because subjective consciousness is only dependently real, and pristine cognition
is free from the subject-object dichotomy.
This view of the Great Madhyamaka is revealed in the compositions
of Nagarjuna,7 Asanga and others, whether they belong to the second or third promulgation of the doctrinal wheel, for both refer to the three essential natures. Once Mind Only has been provisionally taught, the apparitionless Madhyamaka is taught, and when that has been trans-
cended, the apparitional Madhyamaka is revealed. Without reaching that, the profound meaning of the greater vehicle is not perceived.
Those who actually and experientially cultivate the path to liberation do not differentiate the two modes of Madhyamaka (rang-stong and gzhan-stong), as is attested by the writings of Nagarjuna, Asanga and
other pa1). Qitas who commented on the intention of the definitive mean- ing (nges-don). While the second promulgation is generally confined to an outright negation of conceptual elaboration, this is merely a step in
the experiential cultivation of Madhyamaka, which must subsequently
transcend the Prasangika and Svatantrika reasoning.
When meditational experiences have been established, it is the Great
Madhyamaka, as taught in the third promulgation, which is profound and vast; and the vehicles of the secret mantra which are even more extensive. The purposes of the lower sequences of the vehicle are
gathered within the higher. Otherwise the buddhas would not have given the three promulgations and nine sequences of the vehicle in that
appropriate order.
Provisional and Definitive Meaning
Thus, in the Nyingma view, the first and second promulgations may be allocated provisional meaning (drang-don, Skt. neyiirtha) because they are a basis for debate, respectively rousing the mind from cyclical existence by teaching impermanence and destroying by means of the
three approaches to liberation the reductionist view which adheres to the selfhood of phenomena. The third promulgation, however, is allo- cated definitive meaning (nges-don, Skt. nitiirtha) because it teaches that all relative appearances are intrinsically empty (rang-stong) and that all
enlightened attributes are empty of those same extraneous appearances (gzhan-stong). The range of the buddhas' pristine cognition is therebY revealed and debate is surpassed by experiential cultivation, Yet, as
the Author asserts, there is no difference between the transcendental perfection of discriminative awareness (prajfiiiparamita) revealed in the second promulgation and the pristine cognition revealed in the third. The distinction merely concerns the extent to which ultimate reality is
The Enlightened or Buddha Family
Since all beings are endowed with the nucleus of the t th- h
f h b ddh a agata,t eseed
a they ar. e all part of the buddha or enlightened romteultimatepomtofview thO f: '1' . .
revealed.
FU
the natura1expreSSIOn of enlightenment is said to b'd . h
0 t. le amIy.
. ' IS amIyISonemwhIch
[:
from the conventional or dynamic point of' . a . 1 em. and " vIew, It IS one m whIch that
n. aturfa1exprbessIOn. IS t,o be attained. The former I. S the ground ofsepara- tIon rom 0 scuratIOn (bral-rgyu) in which th th 1
· . I ' '
e ree resu tant buddha
f'
0 cessation accordmg to the
actua Ise ral- bras). The three buddha-b d' h ' ,
, 1d' 11 ' 0 lesaret ussatdtoabIde
o les anse. t IS also known as the truth b d . 1 Th
. - greaterv. ehICe. 'elatteristhetruthofthepath h' h h ' ,
of ment
. d (b ' remove an the result be
' d "
an p
obscuratIons covenng the nucleus may be d d
pnmor Ia y m the nucleus of the enlightened fam'l d realised by the removal of the obscurat' h' hI y, an
are not themselves compounded by th 1 ' . y provisions. e accumu atIOn of causal
This indivisible essence of the enlightened f: '1 h
t th- " amIy,t enucleusofthe
a agata, IS extensIvely revealed in the writings of N '
such as L R ymgmapa authors
ongce,npa, ongzompa, Terdak Lingpa and Miph R '-
and aKlsodm the compositions of the great masters of
i nrath1 IOns - a amp,a, K . . Sakyapa and Gelukpa, as can be seen e many quotatIOns CIted from their works
The Two Truths according to Great Madhyamaka
moments of ,meditative absorption, the outer and inner . hhyamaka do not dIfferentiate the two truths since one then ab'd
m t e expanse of r h ,.
Ity, t e pnstme cognition that is free from 11
1 es of the subject-object dichotomy, During
differently however, they are distinguished ultimate truth u er a yamaka, which allocates emptiness to Madh k to the relative truth; and the inner Great
, _ a, w lch determines ultimate truth to be the 1" f lllrvana m which th b' , . rea ltIes 0
perception, as or pnstl? e and the object of its relative truth to be the y conventional ,lOgIC, ,are harmonious, and subJ'ectl've c ' phenomena of cyclIcal eXIstence, in which the
onSCIOusness and th b', being established ' e 0 Ject 0
, even m terms ofcon
dIchotomy. Ultimate t h' h ven IOna OgIC, are m a state of
appearances and e
Translator's Introduction 29
onw IC t eprOVISIOns nstme cognition are accumu1ated'm order that the
are merely IOns w IC cover them The
f ' ,
Its perception, incapable of
IS t us the expanse of reality in which pure mptmess are coalesced Alth h h'
even more elaborately revealed in th . oug IS coalescence is
mantra, it must first be established e result,ant vehIcles ,of the secret
Madhyamaka, on which the su er' to, VIew of Great
are all based. The Great M Pdh
vIews ,from Knyatantra to Atiyoga
t' 11' .
lor
a yamaka IS therefore said to be the
30 Fundamentals
Translator's Introduction 31
climax of the philosophical systems according to the causal vehicles of dialectics.
Through the vehicle of the bodhisattvas who uphold the Vijfianavada and Madhyamaka philosophies, the ten levels and five paths are gradu- ally traversed, and liberation is finally attained in the buddha-body of reality on the eleventh level (Samantaprablui). Manifesting the two bodies of form, the bodhisattva then acts on behalf of others until all beings have been liberated from cyclical existence. It is therefore held that the vehicle of the bodhisattvas is the first of the nine sequences of the vehicle which may be conducive to total liberation.
Key to the Appraisal oFCausal Vehicle Texts
Texts belonging to the causal vehicles of dialectics are firstly divided bet- ween those of the definitive third promulgation and their commentaries which reveal the full extent of the buddha nature, and those of the provi- sional earlier promulgations and their commentaries which partially re- veal the buddha nature. There are also four kinds ofintention with which buddhas deliver the teaching, unknown to the listener, and four kinds of covert intention which buddhas are said to employ in order for their precise meaning to be eventually understood by the listener.
Recapitulation of the Causal Vehicles
To facilitate comprehension of the above philosophical systems, Part Three is completed by a recapitulation of the three causal vehicles of dialectics, namely, those of the pious attendants, self-centred buddhas and bodhisattvas, within the context oftheir respective entrances, views, moral disciplines, meditations, modes of conduct and results.
PART FOUR: RESULTANT VEHICLES OF SECRET MANTRA
Part Four concerns the resultant vehicles of secret mantra, on which subject our text says (p. 244):
. . . in the vehicle of dialectics, mind-as-such [or pristine cog- nition] is merely perceived as the causal basis ofbuddhahood. Since it is held that buddhahood is obtained under the con- dition whereby the two provisions increasingly multiply, and since the purifying doctrines which form the causal basis of nirvaQ. a are made into the path, it is called the causal vehicle. Therein a sequence in which cause precedes result is admit- ted. According to the vehicle of mantras, on the other hand, mind-as-such abides primordially and intrinsically as the
essence of the result, identified as the buddha-bodies and pristine cognitions. Mind-as-such is thereby established as the ground which exists within oneself from the present moment as the object to be attained.
Atiyoga [422. 33] 369
CONCLUSION
CONCLUDING REMARKS 375 DEDICATORY VERSES 376 COLOPHON 378
1 2 3
The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism represents the original Buddhist teachings as they were translated, principally from Sanskrit but also from Burushaski and other languages into Tibetan, until the period of the Indian scholar Sm. rtijiianaklrti (late tenth or early eleventh century) and prior to that of Locen Rincen Zangpo (958-1055). It is also known as the Ancient Translation School (snga-'gyur) in contrast to the other lineages of Indian origin such as the Kagytipa, the Sakyapa, and the Kadampa, which subsequently arrived in Tibet and became known as the new traditions (gsar-ma) or the later translation schools (phyi-'gyur).
The original promulgator of the doctrines brought together within the Nyingma tradition is held to be Samantabhadra, who is the primor- dial buddha-body of reality (chos-sku, Skt. dharmakaya). However, there are also a considerable number of teachings which derive from Vajra- dhara and the Buddhas of the Five Families, who are the buddha-body of perfect rapture (longs-spyod rdzogs-pa'i sku, Skt. sambhogakaya), and from the emanational bodies (sprul-pa'i sku, Skt. nirmalJakaya), such as Sakyamuni in the world of men, Munlndra in the god realms and so on.
All Buddhist teachings may be presented in accordance with the threefold approach of theoretical view (lta-ba), meditational experience (bsgom-pa), or conduct (spyod-pa). In the Fundamentals of the Nyingma School, His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche precisely delineates the entire range of the Buddhist spiritual and philosophical systems from the standpoint of the view. It is traditionally held that once the view has been comprehended, it is then to be experientially cultivated through meditation, and practically applied in all everyday situations which arise during the aftermath of meditation.
The Buddhist spiritual and philosophical systems form what is essen- tially a dynamic gradation of experience from the most mundane level of cyclical existence (sarrzsara) to that of the Great Perfection (rdzogs-pa chen-po). As the text explains (p. 80):
Translator's Introduction
12 Fundamentals
Translator's Introduction 13
When the transmitted precepts are classified according to their power, they form a vehicle, because it appears that therein higher and higher paths are traversed, in the manner of a "vehicle".
And again:
Riding on that, which is the best of vehicles, Manifestly attaining to delightful bliss,
All sentient beings pass into nirvaQ. a.
The Fundamentals expands upon these systems, which are known in the Nyingma tradition as the nine sequences of the vehicle (theg-pa'i rim-pa dgu), in extraordinarily intricate detail. To facilitate the reader's understanding, a summary now follows.
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
The Fundamentals consists of four parts. The first expounds the doc- trines of cyclical existence or sarpsara and the supramundane doctrines of nirvana. The second explains the nature of the teachers who are endowed with the three buddha-bodies of reality, perfect rapture, and emanation. The third is an analysis of the causal vehicles of dialectics. And, finally, there is a detailed account of the resultant vehicles of indestructible reality (Vajrayana) which are held to be supreme by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
Within these four parts the distinctions of entrance ()'ug-sgo), empowerment (dbang-bskur) , view (lta-ba), moral discipline (tshul-khrims), meditation (bsgom-pa), conduct (spyod-pa), and result (,bras-bu) are clarified as they apply to each stage of the Buddhist experience.
eighteen psychophysical bases, the five components and the twelve
l
activity fields.
mind, their apparent aspect and support being the five gross elements compounded by external objects. In this way, the three world realms of desire (kamadhatu), form (rilpadhiitu) and the formless (arilpyadhiitu) are nothing but apparitional modes of the bewildered intellect of living beings. They do not appear in the pure vision of the buddhas, and the sufferings sustained within them are prolonged by karma or world- forming deeds.
The Mundane Vehicle and the Brahma Vehicle
The mundane vehicle which is followed by gods and human beings (lha-mi jig-rten-gyi theg-pa) is the basis on which the nine specifically Buddhist sequences of the vehicle develop. By regulating world-form- ing deeds, renouncing the ten non-virtues and observing good deeds with piety and humility, one is said to progress to the status of a god of the desire realm within cyclical existence. As the text says (pp. 60-1):
It either forms the foundation of, or is preliminary to, all vehicles, because the vehicle which is not retained by the cor- rect view and which does not observe the deeds and path ofthe ten virtues as its actual foundation is nowhere to be found.
As an extension of this mundane vehicle, the vehicle of Brahma (tshangs- pa'i theg-pa) generates the experience of all the twenty-one higher realms within cyclical existence. These include seventeen realms of form, which are experienced through the four meditative concentrations of form, and four formless realms at the summit of cyclical existence, which are to be ex- perienced through the four formless absorptions. These meditative techniques employ both tranquillity (zhi-gnas, Skt. famatha) and higher in- sight (lhag-mthong, Skt. vipafyana), and are accompanied by the practice of the four immeasurables (loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity). The chart on the following pages indicates the stages and o. "erall structure of the three realms of cyclical existence with their subdivi- SIonsandtheircorrespondingmeditativestates.
Since the vehicles of gods and human beings and the vehicle of
Brahma possess qualities which are basic to any Buddhist experience,
they are regarded as a means of entering into the true vehicle of Buddhist experience.
Those ofNo Understanding and Those ofWrong Understanding
sentient beings who are considered to be ensnared within cyclical eXIstence and subject to continuous rounds of suffering are traditionally
P ART ONE: DOCTRINES OF AND
NIRV ANA
At the outset, the Author differentiates between mundane doctrines which do not transcend the suffering of cyclical existence and the supra- mundane doctrines which do so by relyiag on the continuum of en- lightenment.
Doctrines of Sarrzsara
The basis of the mundane doctrines is held to be ignorance which, in three interrelated aspects, generates a sense of bewilderment. This, in turn, gives rise to consciousness ofthe ground-of-all (kun-gzhi rnam-shes, Skt. iilayavijfilina), the six conflicting emotions of ignorance, delusion, hatred, pride, desire, and envy, and also all sensory perception, the
All these are said to be compounded internally by the
Class 6:
God Realms
THE SIX CLASSES OF LIVING BEINGS IN THEIR GRADATION TO THE SUMMIT OF EXISTENCE IN SA¥SARA
1. The Twenty-one Higher Realms (khams gong-ma nyi-shu rtsa-gcig)
IA. Four Formless Realms at the Summit of Existence (gzugs-med khams-pa'i gnas-bzhi, SkI. Caturarilpyadhatu, Mvt. 31lO-3113)
4. Activity Field of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception ('du-shes med 'du-shes med-min skye-mched, Skt. NaivasaT! ljfiiisamjiUiyatana) 3. Activity Field of Nothing At All (ci-yang med-pa'i skye-mched, Skt. Aki'f! lcanyayatana)
2. Activity Field of Infinite Consciousness (mam-shes mtha'-yas skye-mched, Skt. VijiUinanantyayatana)
1. Activity Field Infinite as the Sky (nam-mkha' mtha'-yas skye-mched, SkI. Akasanantyayatana)
lB. Seventeen Realms of Form (lha gzugs-khams bcu-bdun)
IBa. The Five Pure Abodes (gtsang-gnas lnga, SkI. Paiicasuddhanivasa, Mvi. 3101-3108)
5. Highest (,og-min, Skt.
4. Extreme Insight (shin-tu mthong, Skt. Sudarsana) 3. Attractive (gya-nom snang-ba, SkI. Sud! sa)
2. Painless (mi-gdung-pa, Skt. Atapa)
1. Slightest (mi-che-ba, Skt. Av! ha)
lBb. The Twelve Ordinary Realms of the Four Concentrations (so-skye'i gnas bCll-gnyis, MvI. 3085-3lO0)
FOURTH CONCENTRA TION
12. Great Fruition ('bras-bu che, SkI.
11. Increasing Merit (bsod-nams 'phe! , Skt. PW. lyaprasa'va) 10. Cloudless (sprin-med, SkI. Anabhraka)
THIRD CONCENTRA TION
9. Most Extensive Virtue (dge-rgyas, Skt.
8. Immeasurable Virtue (tshad-med dge, Skt. Apramal. 1GSllbha) 7. Little Virtue (dge-chung, Skt. Parfttasllbha)
SECOND CONCENTRA TION
6. Inner Radiance ('od-gsa/, SkI. Abhasvara)
5. Immeasurable Radiance (tshad-med 'od, Skt. Apramal. uibha) 4. Little Radiance ('od-chung, Skt. ParftUibha)
FIRST CONCENTRA TION
3. Great Brahma (tshangs-pa chen-po, Skt. Mahabrahma)
2. Priest Brahma (tshangs-pa mdun-na 'don, Skt. Brahmapllrohita) 1. Stratum of Brahma (tshangs-ris, Skt. Brahmakayika)
2. The Ten Higher Levels of the Desire Realm (,dod-khams-kyi mtho-I1S g/1QS-bal)
2A. Six Species of Kama Divinities ('dod-lha rigs-drug, Skt. Mvt. 3078-3083)
6. Mastery over Transformations (gzhan-'ph11ll dbang-byed, Skt. 5. Delighting in Emanation (,phrul-dga', Skt. NimlaJ. wrata)
4. Joyful (dga'-ldan, SkI.
3. Strifeless (,thab-bral, Skt. Yama)
2. Heaven of Thirty-three Gods (sum-al rtsa-gsum-pa, Ski. Trayatrin:zsa) 1. Four Great Kings (rgyal-chen bzhi'i 11'S, Skt. Catumzaharajakayika)
Antigods (lha-ma-yin, Skt. asura)"
2B. Human Beings of the Four Continents (gling-bzhi'i mi)
4. Surpassing the Body (lus-'phags, Skt. Prtrvavideha in the East)
3. Rose-Apple Continent (,dzam-bu gling, Skt. in the South) 2. Enjoyer of Cattle (ba-glang spyod, SkI. Aparagodanfya in the West)
1. Unpleasant Sound (sgra mi-snyan, SkI. Uttarakuru in the North)
3. The Three Lower Levels of the Desire Realm (ngan-song gSllm) 3. Animals (dud-'gro, SkI. tfryak)
2. Tormented Spirits (yi-dvags, SkI. preta)
1. Denizens of the Hells (dmyal-ba, Skt. nm'aka)
Class 5: Antigods
Class 4: Human Beings
Class 3: Animals
Class 2: Tormented Spirits
Class 1: Hells
16 Fundamentals
Translator's Introduction 17
divided into those who have no understanding (ma-rtogs-pa) and those who have wrong understanding (log-par rtogs-pa). The former include the apathetic who lack understanding of deeds and causality, and so fail to respond to any philosophical system, observing neither renun- ciation nor commitment; and the materialists (Lokayata) who refer only to the present life and set their trust in the mysterious calculations of worldly wisdom.
Those of wrong understanding are traditionally said to comprise four schools of eternalistic extremism and one of nihilistic extremism. The former are the Sarpkhya, the Aisvara, the and Jainism. The Sarpkhya hold all that is knowable to consist of twenty-five existent categories, which are said to be dissolved when sublimation of the self (purusa) occurs. The Aisvara, who include the adherents of Nyaya logic and Vaisesika analysis of substances, hold that an eternally existent lord or controls the destiny of all beings regardless of deeds. The uphold the authenticity of the Veda, along with the eternal status of Brahma and other deities. And Jainism holds all the knowable to be divided into nine categories, among which anim- ate substances (jiva) are eternally existent. The nihilistic extremists are the Barhaspatya hedonists of ancient India who negate causality, past and future lives, the existence of invisible beings and the possibility of progress beyond suffering into nirva1)a.
All these are said to lack a means of achieving liberation from the suffering of cyclical existence - those of no understanding because they are roused by no philosophical view and those of wrong understanding because they either cling to the concept of an eternal self or become totally negative. Even so, the Author maintains, there are certain cumstances when a buddha may teach in the manner of the eternahsts for a specific purpose or in that of the nihilists when scepticism may
3
:. . -
The true doctrine of nirvana which transcends the suffering of cyclical
existence is said to surpass' mundane doctrines because it seeks refuge in the Buddha, the doctrines of Buddhism and the community of prac- titioners. There are four seals or hallmarks indicative ofsuch transmitted precepts, namely, all that is compounded is impermanent, all that is corrupt is suffering, all things are without self, and nirva1)a is peace. By the practice of the Buddhist teachings all cyclical existence and rebirth are opposed.
In general, the Buddhist teaching is divided according to realisation (rtogs-pa, Skt. adhigama) and literary transmission (lung, Skt. agama). The former includes the realisation which has been achieved by bud- dhas, or the truth of cessation, as well as the active or dynamic means
to attain that realisation - the truth of the path which removes obscu- ration and reveals the intrinsic awareness of buddhahood, bringing about the truth of cessation. The literary transmissions comprise both the transmitted precepts (legs-bshad bka', Skt. subha$itapravacana) and the treatises (bstan-bcos, Skt. sastra).
Transmitted Precepts
Transmitted precepts are the sutra and tantra texts which origi- nated from buddhas such as Sakyamuni. They comprise those given in the form of oral teaching, those given by the blessing or con- secration of the buddha-body, speech and mind, and those given by a buddha's mandate (pp. 74-6). They may also be classified according to the three successive promulgations of the doctrinal wheel, the twelve branches of the scriptures, the eighty-four thousand doctrinal com-
ponents including the Vinayapi! aka, Sutrapi! aka, Abhidhar-
mapi! aka, and Vidyadharapi! aka,4 or according to the nine sequences of the vehicle.
The Author indicates at some length that enumerations such as two vehicles, three vehicles, four vehicles, or five vehicles are merely differ- ent ways of categorising the single vehicle. In fact there may be as many vehicles as there are thoughts. As the Sutra of the Descent to Lanka (Lankavatarasutra, T 107)5 says:
As long as there is perception
The culmination of vehicles will never be
reached.
In the Nyingma tradition the vehicle is said to have nine se-
quences, which are differentiated according to the acumen of those
who require training through them. Each lower sequence is also in-
cluded in the higher. Thus the All-Accomplishing King (kun-byed rgyal- po, T 828) states:
Existentially there is only one
But empirically there are nine vehicles.
n i n e s e q u e n c e s a r e t h e v e h i c l e s o f t h e p i o u s a t t e n d a n t s ( n y a n - t h o s , Skt. sravaka), self-centred buddhas (rang-rgyal, Skt. pratyekabuddha) and bodhisattvas (byang-chub sems-dpa'); the vehicles of Kriyatantra (bya- ba), Ubhayatantra (gnyis-ka), and Yogatantra (rnal-'byor); and those of Mahayoga Anuyoga (rjes-su rnal-'byor) and Atiyoga, the <? reat PerfectIOn (rdzogs-chen shin-tu rnal-'byor). However, it is em- phaSIsed that the transmitted precepts in the form of a vehicle are a
means of attaining realisation,and that, in the words of the Siltra of the Descent to Lanka:
be transmuted into Madhyamaka dialectic.
Doctrines of N irvalJa
18 Fundamentals
When the mind becomes transformed
There is neither vehicle nor mover.
Treatises
Treatises are commentaries composed by sublime beings such as Nagar- juna, Asati. ga and Longcen Rapjampa to elucidate the intention of the transmitted precepts.
In Buddhist terms, treatises are defined as compositions which are made so as to counteract the three poisons of delusion, desire and hatred, and to protect the mind from the suffering of cyclical existence (pp. 88ff). They require four special attributes, namely, a motivation based on com- passion and discriminative awareness, expressive words ve:se, expres- sed meaning which reveals the means for those who deSIre lIberatIon, and a purposeful composition. Treatises are then classified in six ways accord- ing to: the purpose of the composer, the qualitative of the com- position, the status of the composer (i. e. budd. ha, or paQC;tita), the specific or general manner of theIr the VIew, conduct and integration of view and conduct as revealed III each of the three successive promulgations of the transmitted precepts, and finally the meaning they express, which may be quantitative, qualitative or conducive to liberation and omniscience.
The quantitative treatises, in which diverse categories are enumerated, include general treatises on ethics, and specialised treatises on grammar, logic, art, medicine, astrology, poetics, prosody, and Qualitative treatises include those on Madhyamaka phIlosophY,which es- tablish the selflessness of the individual and of phenomena. Fmally, the treatises conducive to liberation and omniscience include esoteric instruc- tions of five kinds, which are condensed in order to generate liberation from cyclical existence in those who require training through them.
P ART TWO: BUDDHA NA TURE ACCORDING TO THE BUDDHA-BODIES
Having distinguished between the doctrines which cause one to remain in cyclical existence and those which transcend such suffering, what is the nature of the buddha or the teacher who is said to commumcate the means ofattaining liberation? This is the subject-matter ofPart Two.
Buddha (literally, the "awakened one") is rendered in Tibetan as rgyas: sangs meaning purified ofall conflicting emotions and rgyas n:eamng vast in enlightened attributes. Thus a buddha is one who has punfied sufferings of cyclical existence and is endowed with the attn- butes of buddha-body and pristine cognition. The buddha-bodIes are held to number three or five, although they have many other aspects. Lower sequences of the vehicle speak of the two bodies of reality and form, or
Translator's Introduction 19
of three or four. Here in the Nyingma tradition there are five, namely, the buddha-bodies of reality, perfect rapture, emanation, awakening and indestructible reality.
The Buddha-body of Reality
The buddha-body of reality (chos-sku, Skt. dharmakaya), which is also known as Samantabhadra (kun-tu bzang-po), is considered to be the prime mover of the highest teachings of the Great Perfection or Atiyoga.
The Nyingmapa hold that buddhahood is attained when intrinsic awareness is liberated just where it is through having recognised the nature of Samantabhadra, the primordially pure body of reality. This buddhahood is endowed with the pristine cognition ofthe expanse ofreality (chos-dbyings ye-shes, Skt. dharmadhatujfiana), for it is free from all conceptual elaborations, and the pristine cognition ofsameness (mnyam- nyid ye-shes, Skt. samatajfiana) which remains pure through the extent of saqlsara and nirvaQa.
Reality (chos-nyid, Skt. dharmata) in Buddhism refers to the emptiness which is the inherent nature of phenomena. The apparitional aspect of this reality is known as chos-can (dharmin), and that which is real (the phenomena themselves) are known as chos (dharma). Since it is held to be the foundation of all genuine experience, the body of reality is the basis of the buddha-bodies of form. It is also known as the youthful vase body (gzhon-nu bum-pa'i sku) because the pristine cognition remains inwardly radiant within it, in the manner of light within a crystal prism, even when it emanates as the buddha-body of form.
Through the blessing of this youthful vase body, the Buddha-field of the Bounteous Array (GhanavYithabuddhak$etra) becomes manifest, and therein the Teachers of Five Enlightened Families, including the Buddha Vairocana, assume the body of perfect rapture. This is the great play of undifferentiated buddha-body and pristine cognition, which also acts out of compassion for the sake of sentient beings who are perceived to be bewildered without cause; for they wander in cyclical existence without recognising the nature of the primordial ground.
These teachers emanate all the buddha-fields within and around the body of Vairocana in order to guide beings to liberation. The fields are arrayed in three dimensions, namely, the Indestructible Nucleus of Inner Radiance Cod-gsal rdo-1'je snying-po), Brahma's Drumbeat (tshangs- pa mga-sgra) and the Aeon of Great Brahma (tshangs-chen-gyi bskal-pa), which correspond, respectively, to the body of reality, the body of perfect rapture and the emanational body. The last of these comprises all the realms of cyclical existence outlined in the chart above. It is said that in the space of a single atomic particle there are measureless fields of sentient beings being trained·by the buddhas, and that on the surface
of a single atom there are fields containing atoms of oceanic infinity.
20 Fundamentals
As the Great Bounteousness of the Buddhas (Buddhavataytlsaka, T 44)
says:
Translator's Introduction 21
If there is no understanding of intrinsic awareness or genuine perception,
The field of SukhavatI is even seen as a state of evil existence.
If the truth which is equivalent to the supreme of vehicles is realised,
Even states of evil existence are and
The Emanational Body
The emanational body (sprul-pa'i sku, Skt. nirmiilJakiiya), which discip- lines those who require training on the path to liberation, is of three types. First, there are the emanations of natural expression (rang-bzhin sprul-pa'i sku) who are the above-mentioned Teachers of the Five En- lightened Families appearing in their lower role before bodhisattvas of the highest level, in the manner of rainbow light. In this situation, when they are compounded by the minds of others, they are said to be endowed with a semi-manifest natural expression, half-way between the true body of perfect rapture and the emanational body.
Secondly, there are the supreme emanational bodies (mchog-gi sprul- pa'i sku) or emanations of the body of reality who train living beings through their twelve deeds in myriads of world systems. Within this world system of ours, which is known as the world system of Patient Endurance (mi-mjed 'jig-rten-gyi khams, Skt. Sahalokadhatu), the sup- reme emanational body appears as a sage embodying awareness of the true buddha nature in each of the six classes of living beings - gods, antigods, humans, animals, tormented spirits and hells. In the human world, for example, he appears as Sakyamuni Buddha, and, as the text explains (p. 131):
In these realms, the supreme emanational body projects the lamp of instruction for those requiring training in as many ways as they have psychophysical bases, sense organs and modes of conduct, and acts on behalf of sentient beings through four kinds of instruction.
These four are instruction by the great merits of the buddha-body's twelve deeds, instruction by the direct perception of the buddha-mind which is endowed with six supernormal cognitive powers (mngon-shes drug, Skt. instruction by inconceivable miraculous abilities are the mysteries of the buddha's body, speech and mind, and mstruction by knowledge conveyed in speech.
Thirdly, there are the diversified emanations (sna-tshogs sprul-sku) appearing as oases, food, and medicine, which are of benefit to living bemgs, and as the emanations of birth (skyes-sprul) and artistry (bzo- S? rul) assumed, for example, by Sakyamuni Buddha in his previous lIves and recorded in the Jataka Tales.
On the surface of a single atom There are as many buddhas
As there are atoms.
However, as our text emphasises (p. 1l9):
These fields are said to be radiant apparitions, not existing in reality because, in the expanse of reality, relative appear- ances have not existed from the beginning.
The Buddha-body of Perfect Rapture
The buddha-body of perfect rapture (longs-spyod rdzogs-pa'i sku, Skt. sambhogakiiya) is said to act within all those fields connected with Vairocana. It is endowed with seven attributes of natural expression, and the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks of the buddhas. These marks may appear outwardly, as the external form of the buddha-body; inwardly, as the network of energy channels, currents and seminal points (rtsa dung thig-le) within the buddha-body; secretly, as present in the seed which is enlightened mind, or the nucleus of the tathagata (de-gshegs snying-po, Skt. tathagatagarbha); and, most secretly, as the rapture of the Great Perfection (rdzogs-pa chen-po) which is experienced when the energy channels and seminal points are naturally expressed as supreme bliss.
As such, the five components of mundane cyclical existence find their true natural expression in the Teachers of the Five Enlightened Families, namely, Vairocana, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, and Amoghasiddhi; while the five elemental properties of space, cohe- sion, solidity, warmth and movement find their true natural expression as the five consorts: DhatvIsvarI, Locana, MamakI, PaIfcjaravasinI, and Samayatara. The four sensations of seeing, hearing, tasting and smel- ling, as well as the four sense objects, the four sense organs, the four temporal dimensions, the four aspects of sexual contact, and the four extremes of permanence, decay, self and character all find their true natural expression in the deities of the surrounding maIfcjalas. This pure vision, it is emphasised, lies within the perceptual range of the buddhas' pristine cognition alone, and remains invisible even to bodhisattvas of the highest level who are not liberated from all obscur- ations. It is maintained that all these elements of mundane cyclical existence are transmuted into the pure, divine nature through experien- tial cultivation of the Buddhistteachings. As the Extensive Magical Net (sgyu-'phrul rgyas-pa, NGB Vol. 14) says:
22 Fundamentals
Translator's Introduction 23
The Nyingma tradition in particular holds that twelve teachers of the emanational body have appeared as the blessing of the body of perfect rapture in this world system to disclose the three emanational teachings of the buddha-body, speech and mind. A hand-sized vajra (rdo-rje) is said to be the actuality of the body of reality, a four-inch book is said to be the actuality of the body of perfect rapture, and the physical form, exemplified in those twelve teachers, is the actuality of the emanational body. The emanational body, in the Nyingma view, is endowed with sixty attributes; for each of those twelve teachers is connected with the five excellences of place, teacher, retinue, doctrine and time. A single emanational body also possesses ninety-six doctrines with respect to enlightened activity . Yet this enumeration is not regarded as a limitation because (p. 138):
The Sugata, learned in skilful means, manifests the body of form in ways which correspond to the number of atoms in the myriad fields of those requiring training, which are of oceanic extent.
The Buddha-body of Awakening
The buddha-body of awakening (mngon-par byang-chub-kyi sku, Skt. abhisambodhikaya), which is derived from the distinct apparitional func- tions of the aforementioned three bodies, possesses the four fearless- nesses, the eighteen distinct attributes of the buddhas, great compassion and the ten powers. These are all enumerated in the Mahavyutpatti, the great glossary of technical terms composed by the Tibetan trans-
lators, probably during the reign of Senalek.
The Buddha-body of Indestnlctible Reality
Finally, the buddha-body of indestructible reality (rdo-rje sku, Skt. vajrakaya), which derives from the indivisible essence of the first three bodies, is the original unchanging expanse of reality in which all paths are concluded and all conceptual elaboration transcended. It is the taintless buddha nature pure from the beginning.
The Five Pristine Cognitions
The five pristine cognitions (ye-shes lnga) Skt. paiicajiiana), which are among the buddhas' attributes, are also discussed here. They are the pristine cognition of the expanse of reality (chos-dbyings ye-shes, Skt. dhannadhiitujiiana), which is the perception of the buddha-body of reality; the mirror-like pristine cognition (me-long ye-shes, Skt. adarsa- jiiiina),which is the unbroken causal basis of all pristine cognition; the pristine cognition of sameness (mnyam-nyid ye-shes, Skt. samatiijiiiina),
which continuously abides in tranquillity, loving kindness and compas- sion without falling into the extremes of cyclical existence or nirval). a; and the pristine cognition of discernment (sor-rtogs ye-shes, Skt. which is unimpeded with regard to the knowable, and refers to contemplations, dharal). l and other attributes. These last three are the perceptions of the body of perfect 'rapture. Finally, the pristine cognition of accomplishment (bya-grub ye-shes, Skt. krtyanu- sthanajiiana) is diversified in all realms, within the emanations who act behalf of living beings. Thus it is the perception of the emanational body.
The Author asserts that the nature of the buddhas who have purified obscurations and become vast in enlightened attributes of buddha-body and pristine cognition is to be experientially cultivated through the Buddhist teachings - both indirectly, through the sutra texts, and di- rectly through the mantra texts which are respectively a long and a short path to the same goal.
He concludes Part Two by distinguishing between the attributes of the buddha-bodies as they are revealed in the causal vehicles of dialec- tics, and in the resultant vehicles of secret mantra. The sutras of the causal vehicles require one to undertake a long path of causal gradation, whereby conflicting emotions are abandoned, and merits and pristine cognition are accumulated. The resultant vehicles of the way of mantras, however, begin from the ultimate view of the buddha nature and insist that the whole of cyclical existence and nirval). a conform to the pattern of the three buddha-bodies.
P ART THREE: CAUSAL VEHICLES OF DIALECTICS
The causal vehicles of dialectics (rgyu mtshan-nyid-kyi theg-pa, Skt. are classified either according to the three successive promulgations of the doctrinal wheel or according to the philosophical systems included within the lesser vehicle (theg-pa chung-ba, Skt. Hfnayana) and the greater vehicle (theg-pa chen-po, Skt. Mahayana).
The Three Promulgations of the Doctrinal Wheel
In the first promulgation the Buddha expounded the four truths of its origin, the path and the cessation of suffering, with the Intention that sentient beings should forsake cyclical existence. In the second promulgation he expounded the teaching on the transcendental perfection of discriminative awareness (shes-rab-kyi pha-rol-tu phyin- Palma, Skt. prajiiaparamita) with the intention that the buddha nature should be comprehended through topics of emptiness, signlessness and
24 Fundamentals
Translator's Introduction 25
aspirationlessness, and that consequently the ultimate truth which is referred to by synonyms in order to bring about the partial cessation of conceptual elaboration might become the foundation for those who enter the greater vehicle.
Then, in the third promulgation he excellently analysed all things from form to omniscience in accord with the three essential natures, namely, the imaginary (parikalpita), the dependent (paratantra), and the absolute (parini$panna), and disclosed the nucleus of the tathagata (tathagatagarbha), intending that the ultimate truth for which there is no synonym should become the nucleus of the path of the greater vehicle. Such were the three promulgations delivered by Sakyamuni Buddha.
The Lesser Vehicle
Among the philosophical systems of the causal vehicles of dialectics, those which belong to the lesser vehicle are the and the Sautrantika systems.
V aibha$ika
The pious attendants of the school classify the knowable into five categories: perceptual forms, mind, mental events, disjunct conditions unassociated with mental events, and uncompounded en- tities. They hold that consciousness ultimately exists as a series of time- moments and that the material substances composing the world are an association of indivisible atomic particles unified by vital energy. They claim the subject-object dichotomy to be created through the recognition of objects by consciousness, but that there is no intrinsic awareness apart from this consciousness.
Through the vehicle of the pious attendants (sravaka), the status of an arhat is realised by meditation on the sixteen aspects of the four truths, so that the obscurations of the three poisons and ignorance are destroyed. As it is said in the Sequence a/the Path (Mayajalapathakrama, P 4736):
If, without realising non-duality,
Everything is viewed to exist substantially
In terms of the four truths,
And one resorts to renunciation and non-renunciation, This is the level of the pious attendants.
Sautrantika
The self-centred buddhas and pious attendants ofthe Sautrantika school hold ultimate reality to agree with consciousness, which is a series of time moments. They also hold that, although consciousness refers to
· cts external objects are not actually perceived, a single, uncom-
obJe , . . d' h f fl .
nded sensum bemg transmltte m t e manner 0 a re ectlOn on a
The subject-object dichotomy therefore becomes a subjective conventionally known as the recognition of objects. They are prid to surpass the in holding the conglomerate of atoms to unknown and in their appreciation of an intrinsic awareness.
Through the vehicle of the self-centred buddhas (pratyekabuddha), the twelve modes of dependent origination are meditated on and re- versed. Whereas pious attendants hold the individual self to be aban- doned in ultimate truth, the self-centred buddhas hold external objects to be ultimately fallacious and subjective consciousness to exist genuinely. They are said to be realised in one and a half parts of what is implied by selflessness. This is because they realise selflessness with reference to the individual and understand that the atomic particles df external phenomena do not independently exist, but still hold time moments ofconsciousness or internal phenomena to be ultimately real.
The Greater Vehicle
Among the philosophical systems of the greater causal vehicle, there are the Vijfianavada or proponents of consciousness, and the Madh- yamika or adherents of the middle path.
Vijfianavada
The Vijfianavada confirm the Sautrantika view that objects are not perceived. All things are held to be apparitional aspects of mind, definit- ively ordered according to three essential natures: the imaginary which includes both phenomena and characteristics such as the concept of selfhood; the dependent which includes the five impure components of mundane existence and the pure attributes of buddha-body and pristine cognition; and the absolute which includes the unchanging abiding nature of reality and the incontrovertible absence of conflicting emotions.
The Mind Only school, which emphasises the ontological aspect of the Vijfianavada, is divided into those who hold sensa to be veridical (Sakaravada), and those holding sensa to be false, admitting only con- to be genuine (Nirakaravada). These have many subdivi- While the VijiHinavada is held to surpass the and Sau- of the lower vehicle, it fails to understand the absolute nature, SInce it holds consciousness to exist absolutely in the ultimate truth.
Madhyamaka
The Madhyamika or adherents of the middle path are either those who uphold the coarse outer Madhyamaka or the subtle inner Great Madhyamaka (dbu-ma chen-po).
26 Fundamentals
Outer M adhyamaka
The Outer Madhyamaka include the Svatantrika (rang-rgyud-pa) who employ independent reasoning, and the Prasangika (tlzal-'gyur-ba) who employ reductio ad absurdum.
The Svatantrika surpass the previous philosophical systems which adhere to substantiality and subjective conceptual elaboration, and they avoid both extremes. All things which appear are said to exist in relative truth, which is either correct or incorrect in conventional terms, but are inherently empty and non-existent in the ultimate truth, which cuts through conceptual elaboration. All relative appearances can be refuted by logical arguments, but it is also proven that no scrutiny or judgement can be made in relation to ultimate truth.
The Prasangika distinguish between the unbewildered intellect or pristine cognition of the buddhas, in which relative phenomena never appear, and the bewildered intellect of sentient beings. Ultimate truth, the reality of the unbewildered intellect of the buddhas, is vitiated by bewilderment, and so mundane cyclical existence appears and is as- signed conventionally to the relative truth, though not really admitted.
The Prasangika also employ the five kinds of logical axioms used by the Svatantrika, but unlike them do not seek to prove their conclusions positively with reference to relative appearances and conceptual elabora- tion, having refuted them. Rather they refute all possible views which lie within the range of the four extremes of being, non-being, both being and non-being, and neither being nor non-being. Ultimate truth is thus the pristine cognition of the buddhas, free from all conceptual elaboration of the subject-object dichotomy. It is said that the two truths form the Madhyamaka of the ground; the two provisions of merit and pristine cognition form the Madhyamaka of the path; and that the coalescence of the two buddha-bodies of reality and form is the Madhyamaka of the result.
Great Madhyamaka
The Great Madhyamaka (dbu-ma chen-po) is aloof from the reasoning of the Outer Madhyamaka which is based upon dialectics, and instead must be experientially cultivated in meditation. In accord with the analysis of all things made by Sakyamuni in the third promulgation of the doctrinal wheel with respect to the aforementioned essential natures, it holds the imaginary to imply that attributes are without substantiality, the dependent to imply that creation is without substantiality, and the absolute to imply that ultimate reality is without substantiality. Absolute reality is thus empty of all the imaginary objects which are to be refuted and all conceptual elaboration of cyclical existence, it. is not of the enlightened attributes of buddha-body and pnstme cogmtlon which are spontaneously present from the beginning.
Translator's Introduction 27 The Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle (Mahayanottaratantra-
iastra, T 4024) says:
The seed which is empty of suddenly arisen phenomena,
Endowed with divisive characteristics,
Is not empty of the unsurpassed reality, Endowed with indivisible characteristics.
The Great Madhyamaka therefore maintains that the conceptual area of the subject-object dichotomy is intrinsically empty (rang-stong), while the buddha-body of reality endowed with all enlightened attributes is empty of that extraneous conceptual area which forms the subject-object dichotomy (gzhan-stong). If enlightened attributes were themselves in- trinsically empty oftheir own essence, the entire structure ofthe ground, path and result would be negated and one would be in the position of the nihilistic extremists who deny causality, progress on the path to
liberation and so forth.
This expanse of reality, the ultimate truth, is said to pentade all
beings without distinction and is known as the nucleus of the tathagata (tathagatagarbha) or the nucleus of the sugata (sugatagarblza). It is held to be only fully developed and qualitatively perceived according to its true nature by buddhas, and yet equally present in ordinary sentient beings and bodhisattvas who are partially purified on the path to liber- ation. It is when the obscurations covering this seed of the buddha nature are removed that liberation is said to occur. Now, there are two kinds of renunciation of obscurations which have been expounded, one that is a naturally pure, passive fait accompli, and another which actively removes the obscurations by applying an appropriate antidote. Although the nucleus of the tathagata is held to be present from the beginning
in all beings, it is not therefore claimed that all beings are buddhas free from all obscuration. Similarly there are two kinds of realisation, one that is naturally present and passive, and another that is dependently produced and active. They are equivalent to the truths of cessation and of the path described above in Part One.
While the second and the third promulgations of the doctrinal wheel give authenticity to the view of Great Madhyamaka, it is the third or final promulgation which extensively reveals the nucleus of the tathagata. Certain scholars of the past have, as the Author states, errone- ously linked the views of Great Madhyamaka and Vijfianavada. How- the former is concerned with absolute reality, and the latter is dIrected towards consciousness. There is held to be a great distinction between the pristine cognition of the buddhas and the consciousness of. the ground-of-all. The proponents of Mind Only maintain that is not transcended in ultimate truth, but this is a view which IS bound within cyclical existence. According to Great Madhyamaka,
28 Fundamentals
the ultimate truth is the obscurationless pristine cognition, the uncor- rupted expanse of reality transcending consciousness. This is because subjective consciousness is only dependently real, and pristine cognition
is free from the subject-object dichotomy.
This view of the Great Madhyamaka is revealed in the compositions
of Nagarjuna,7 Asanga and others, whether they belong to the second or third promulgation of the doctrinal wheel, for both refer to the three essential natures. Once Mind Only has been provisionally taught, the apparitionless Madhyamaka is taught, and when that has been trans-
cended, the apparitional Madhyamaka is revealed. Without reaching that, the profound meaning of the greater vehicle is not perceived.
Those who actually and experientially cultivate the path to liberation do not differentiate the two modes of Madhyamaka (rang-stong and gzhan-stong), as is attested by the writings of Nagarjuna, Asanga and
other pa1). Qitas who commented on the intention of the definitive mean- ing (nges-don). While the second promulgation is generally confined to an outright negation of conceptual elaboration, this is merely a step in
the experiential cultivation of Madhyamaka, which must subsequently
transcend the Prasangika and Svatantrika reasoning.
When meditational experiences have been established, it is the Great
Madhyamaka, as taught in the third promulgation, which is profound and vast; and the vehicles of the secret mantra which are even more extensive. The purposes of the lower sequences of the vehicle are
gathered within the higher. Otherwise the buddhas would not have given the three promulgations and nine sequences of the vehicle in that
appropriate order.
Provisional and Definitive Meaning
Thus, in the Nyingma view, the first and second promulgations may be allocated provisional meaning (drang-don, Skt. neyiirtha) because they are a basis for debate, respectively rousing the mind from cyclical existence by teaching impermanence and destroying by means of the
three approaches to liberation the reductionist view which adheres to the selfhood of phenomena. The third promulgation, however, is allo- cated definitive meaning (nges-don, Skt. nitiirtha) because it teaches that all relative appearances are intrinsically empty (rang-stong) and that all
enlightened attributes are empty of those same extraneous appearances (gzhan-stong). The range of the buddhas' pristine cognition is therebY revealed and debate is surpassed by experiential cultivation, Yet, as
the Author asserts, there is no difference between the transcendental perfection of discriminative awareness (prajfiiiparamita) revealed in the second promulgation and the pristine cognition revealed in the third. The distinction merely concerns the extent to which ultimate reality is
The Enlightened or Buddha Family
Since all beings are endowed with the nucleus of the t th- h
f h b ddh a agata,t eseed
a they ar. e all part of the buddha or enlightened romteultimatepomtofview thO f: '1' . .
revealed.
FU
the natura1expreSSIOn of enlightenment is said to b'd . h
0 t. le amIy.
. ' IS amIyISonemwhIch
[:
from the conventional or dynamic point of' . a . 1 em. and " vIew, It IS one m whIch that
n. aturfa1exprbessIOn. IS t,o be attained. The former I. S the ground ofsepara- tIon rom 0 scuratIOn (bral-rgyu) in which th th 1
· . I ' '
e ree resu tant buddha
f'
0 cessation accordmg to the
actua Ise ral- bras). The three buddha-b d' h ' ,
, 1d' 11 ' 0 lesaret ussatdtoabIde
o les anse. t IS also known as the truth b d . 1 Th
. - greaterv. ehICe. 'elatteristhetruthofthepath h' h h ' ,
of ment
. d (b ' remove an the result be
' d "
an p
obscuratIons covenng the nucleus may be d d
pnmor Ia y m the nucleus of the enlightened fam'l d realised by the removal of the obscurat' h' hI y, an
are not themselves compounded by th 1 ' . y provisions. e accumu atIOn of causal
This indivisible essence of the enlightened f: '1 h
t th- " amIy,t enucleusofthe
a agata, IS extensIvely revealed in the writings of N '
such as L R ymgmapa authors
ongce,npa, ongzompa, Terdak Lingpa and Miph R '-
and aKlsodm the compositions of the great masters of
i nrath1 IOns - a amp,a, K . . Sakyapa and Gelukpa, as can be seen e many quotatIOns CIted from their works
The Two Truths according to Great Madhyamaka
moments of ,meditative absorption, the outer and inner . hhyamaka do not dIfferentiate the two truths since one then ab'd
m t e expanse of r h ,.
Ity, t e pnstme cognition that is free from 11
1 es of the subject-object dichotomy, During
differently however, they are distinguished ultimate truth u er a yamaka, which allocates emptiness to Madh k to the relative truth; and the inner Great
, _ a, w lch determines ultimate truth to be the 1" f lllrvana m which th b' , . rea ltIes 0
perception, as or pnstl? e and the object of its relative truth to be the y conventional ,lOgIC, ,are harmonious, and subJ'ectl've c ' phenomena of cyclIcal eXIstence, in which the
onSCIOusness and th b', being established ' e 0 Ject 0
, even m terms ofcon
dIchotomy. Ultimate t h' h ven IOna OgIC, are m a state of
appearances and e
Translator's Introduction 29
onw IC t eprOVISIOns nstme cognition are accumu1ated'm order that the
are merely IOns w IC cover them The
f ' ,
Its perception, incapable of
IS t us the expanse of reality in which pure mptmess are coalesced Alth h h'
even more elaborately revealed in th . oug IS coalescence is
mantra, it must first be established e result,ant vehIcles ,of the secret
Madhyamaka, on which the su er' to, VIew of Great
are all based. The Great M Pdh
vIews ,from Knyatantra to Atiyoga
t' 11' .
lor
a yamaka IS therefore said to be the
30 Fundamentals
Translator's Introduction 31
climax of the philosophical systems according to the causal vehicles of dialectics.
Through the vehicle of the bodhisattvas who uphold the Vijfianavada and Madhyamaka philosophies, the ten levels and five paths are gradu- ally traversed, and liberation is finally attained in the buddha-body of reality on the eleventh level (Samantaprablui). Manifesting the two bodies of form, the bodhisattva then acts on behalf of others until all beings have been liberated from cyclical existence. It is therefore held that the vehicle of the bodhisattvas is the first of the nine sequences of the vehicle which may be conducive to total liberation.
Key to the Appraisal oFCausal Vehicle Texts
Texts belonging to the causal vehicles of dialectics are firstly divided bet- ween those of the definitive third promulgation and their commentaries which reveal the full extent of the buddha nature, and those of the provi- sional earlier promulgations and their commentaries which partially re- veal the buddha nature. There are also four kinds ofintention with which buddhas deliver the teaching, unknown to the listener, and four kinds of covert intention which buddhas are said to employ in order for their precise meaning to be eventually understood by the listener.
Recapitulation of the Causal Vehicles
To facilitate comprehension of the above philosophical systems, Part Three is completed by a recapitulation of the three causal vehicles of dialectics, namely, those of the pious attendants, self-centred buddhas and bodhisattvas, within the context oftheir respective entrances, views, moral disciplines, meditations, modes of conduct and results.
PART FOUR: RESULTANT VEHICLES OF SECRET MANTRA
Part Four concerns the resultant vehicles of secret mantra, on which subject our text says (p. 244):
. . . in the vehicle of dialectics, mind-as-such [or pristine cog- nition] is merely perceived as the causal basis ofbuddhahood. Since it is held that buddhahood is obtained under the con- dition whereby the two provisions increasingly multiply, and since the purifying doctrines which form the causal basis of nirvaQ. a are made into the path, it is called the causal vehicle. Therein a sequence in which cause precedes result is admit- ted. According to the vehicle of mantras, on the other hand, mind-as-such abides primordially and intrinsically as the
essence of the result, identified as the buddha-bodies and pristine cognitions. Mind-as-such is thereby established as the ground which exists within oneself from the present moment as the object to be attained.
