About one yojana518 from DhanakoL, on an island covered with golden sand, in a tiny thatched cottage, she practised yoga and
meditation
with her servant SukhasaravatL One night the nun had a dream in which an immaculate white man thrice placed a crystal vase sealed with the syllables AI:I svAHA upon the crown of her head.
Dudjom Rinpoche - Fundamentals and History of the Nyingmapa
Q.
gala of the glorious Yangdak Heruka while residing at Yanglesho, an irresistible impUlse entered the minds of an obstinate naga, a horse-headed and the spirit of an atmospheric lightning-cloud.
To subdue their evil design Padmasam- bhava practised the means for attainment based on the Hundred Thousand Verse Tantra of Supreme Awareness (Vidyottama-la 'bum-sde, NGB Vols.
19, 27-9).
VajrakumaraS08 actually appeared and eliminated all traces of obstruction.
Then the guru bound the twelve Matara!
).
and four female earth spirits under an oath of allegiance.
Later, he is known to have studied the Vajrakfla' Tantra eighteen times under master Prabhahasti, too; and thus he mastered all the transmitted precepts of VajrakIla, who embodies enlightened activity.
The aforementioned transmitted precepts were all fully comprehended by those masters respectively, and they, in turn, explained them extens- iVely to other fortunate disciples.
T 3562), and a large number o. o. t er agnl'tl'on' and he is said to have . f h d-11'n-lsofpnstmeco, .
structlOns 0 t e . az .
introduced SIxty
many extraordmary feats d S' - vataS07 for two hundred years . 11 h . remame at npar
ments. y, _ 11 h hile living in accord with the way of witharetmueof ate w . .
. d the body of indestrucuble realIty. mantras, he attame
VIMALAMITRA AND
THE TRANSMITTED PRECEPT OF VAJRAMJ3. . TA . d rece ts of Vajramrta, including the
[109. 4-110. 3] The pPficii! tasiirasiddhim;hodgatahrdayapari-
E i g h t V o l u m e s o f h n ; t o t h e f a m i l y o f R a t n a s a m b h a v a , t h a t
T 841)"bw IC £ the master Vimalamitra. This master of enlIghtened attn utes, e
Vajramrta
482 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
Mahiiyoga, the Class ofMeans for Attainment 483
SlO
entrusted the gold casket
Vo1. 32, no. 380) to Vimalamitra; the silver casket containing that of Sriheruka (NGB Vol. 32, no. 381) to HU:q1kara; the iron casket containing that of Yamiintaka (NGB Vo1. 32, no. 382) to Maiijusrlmitra; the copper casket containing that ofHayagrfva (NGB Vo1. 32, no. 383) to Nagarjuna;
the turquoise casket containing that of Vajrakfla (NGB Vo1. 32, no. 384)
to Padmasambhava; the bse-stone casket containing that of
(NGB Vo1. 32, no. 385) to Dhanasa:q1sk. rta; the agate casket containing
that of Mundane Praise (Lokastotrapuja, T 844) to Rambuguhya; and Sll
THE REVEALED TREASURES
Vajrakfla
[11l. 2-112. 4] Second, the treasures: The bodhisattva Vajradharma not perceive there to be anyone in the human to whom the containing the general and special means for b_e ar- vealed for the time being, so he entrusted them to the Qakmi Mahak. 1 mendraJ). l. She inserted the five general tantras. and the ten spect:_ tantras of the eight transmitted precepts means for ment into a casket made of eight kinds of precIOUS gems. inserted the special tantras into separate caskets, she . then conc;a e them all invisibly in the garden of the Sailkaraku1a (mcho -rten bde-byed brtsegs-pa) in the SItavana charnel ground. . h h
Later the eight great accomplished masters learned of thIS their supernormal powers. assemb. led and selves to the formation of an enlIghtened mtUltIO. n: whereby Yf voWS ated a host of mundane Qakinls and arrogant by of truth and appropriate substances. The. Qakini M a . f whic"h
actually arrived, owing. to the power of she the intention was serVIce to others. Bnngmg forth the
Mahakannendra1']f
the zi-stone
containing the tantra of Aiahottara (NGB
casket containing that of Malign Mantra (Vajraman- trabhfru, T 843) to Santigarbha. Each of them became adept in his own subject and attained the accomplishments of the way of mantras.
From the casket made of eight kinds of precious gems there emerged the transmitted precepts comprising the tantra and esoteric instructions of the Gathering of the Sugatas (bde-gshegs 'dus-pa, NGB Vols. 31-2), which subsumes all the aforementioned means for attainment at once; and this fell to master Padmasambhava.
484 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
Mahottara Heruka
KAMBALAP ADA OR THE YOUNGER INDRABHUTI
[112. 4-116. 6] Although King Ja, or VyakaraQavajra, had been empo- wered by the Lord of Secrets and had grasped the meaning of the entire teaching, even so, to prevent meddlesome onlookers from thinking he had entered the way of secret mantra at his pleasure, he relied on the human awareness-holder and layman, VimalakIrti the Licchavi, from whom he received all the empowerments and verbal teachings [NGB Vols. 11-13]. The king also composed treatises like the Commentary on the General Sutra which Gathers All Intentions. He gave empowerment in an emanational maQgala to master Uparaja, who had been his fellow student under the Licchavi, and to his own three sons - Sakraputra, Nagaputra, and Guhyaputra; and he taught them the instructions. At the SrI Dhanyakaraka Caitya, which is also called SrI he empowered Uparaja and entrusted the tantras to him. In the city of (skyid-pa'i 'byung-gnas) he empowered his own three sons.
Among King Ja's sons, Sakraputra is renowned as Indrabhuti the younger. It is said that when he attained accomplishment he became renowned as the master Kambalapada. This is also mentioned in the Commentary on the Verification of Co-Emergence (Sahajasiddhipaddhati, T 2261). In any case, because Indrabhuti introduced certain tantra- pilaka like the Cakrasar? lvara, the brahman Ratnavajra and others are among the adherents of his lineage. Some later gurus of India say that the master Kambalapada was a and a native of Oggiyana. So, accordingly, he must be identified with Indrabhuti the younger.
At first, this master received empowerments from a great mantra master, and realised pristine cognition by meditating on the instruc- tions. Then, at some other time, he went to Dhumasthira, the city of the gakinIs in Oggiyana. There, he accepted a flower garland which some non-Buddhist dakinls handed to him. The Buddhist dllkinls said, "Son, it was a mistake to take those flowers. Now you follow the non-Buddhists. "
6 The Lineage of Anuyoga, the Perfection Stage
486 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra .
. . he master was sitting absorbed III contem-
Then, at mldmght, d tones to rain down upon him. . h ·st dakIllls cause s . d
platIon, t e extreml . on his side of the protective CIrcle But there was no sta e of creation. It occurred to hIm through the of :dvantages, he should demonstrate
that, as the stage of creatIon h a c . well By abiding in a formless
this monk! He has transformed his body into a blanket. Let's just tear it into shreds and eat them! " They divided the blanket into five hundred fragments and ate them.
Then, the master bodily appeared and cursed the five hundred sorceres- ses, who were transformed into five hundred sheep-headed demonesses. They went to the king and said, "The monk who is the lord of the charnel ground has done this to us. Please release us, your majesty! "
The king then petitioned the master, who stood up quite naked and in the land of Oc;l<;hyana, III IdY . d many frozen stones are clearly said, "Your majesty's witches have eaten the blanket which is the only
t the power t e sage
of penectIon as .
fh
contemplatIon he sSk above the master's meditation cave,
h t nes to freeze in the sky. Even today, 0
. h supported bou er, an
thereISa ugeun f h· hisassmoothasamirror. visible on the rock- ace, w lC
possession of this monk. Pray, summon those witches. "
When they had all been summoned he pointed his index finger at each of them menacingly, and transformed them into creatures with various kinds of heads. Each one vomited up a fragment of the blanket. The fragments were sown together, but some parts were missing, "Three are missing", he said, "summon them! " Those three, who lived in the harem, were duly summoned, and he caused them to vomit, just as he had done to the others. The blanket was then completely restored, and the master wrapped it about his body. This is why he became renowned
as the venerable Kambalapada, the "Blanket Master".
There are a great many other stories about Kambalapada. One de- scribes how both he and King Indrabhuti revealed the signs of their accomplishment to the people. Another describes how, on a certain occasion, when master Lalitavajra had attained the common accomplish- ments, the two went to the country of Oc;lgiyana together and waged
a miraculous competition on Mount MuruI). gaka.
It is said that at a somewhat later time everyone in the country of
Oggiyana became an awareness-holder by following the instructions of both the king [Indrabhuti] and the master [Kambalapada]; whereupon, even the vast land of Oggiyana was almost depopulated. It seems to me that this incident may be the same as that which occurred when Indrabhuti the younger, son of the aforementioned King Ja, became an awareness-holder along with the mass of his retinue.
THE SUCCESSORS OF THE YOUNGER INDRABHDTI
[116. 6-120. 1] In the same way, the younger Indrabhuti empowered Siqlhaputra and the later Kukkuraja ·on the seashore; and he explained the [Anuyoga] tantras to them. The later Kukkuraja empowered the great master Sukha the "Zombie" and in turn explained the tantras to him. Sukha the "Zombie" is one of the names of the emanation Garap Dorje. Before him, all the masters in the lineage, along with all their respective followers, who numbered between ten and fifty thousand, obtained the body of coalescence and vanished, having prac- tised the feast offerings, which involve elaborate activity. 513
Kambalapada
. r went to sleep right at the door of the Once upon a tIme, the maste . hout rostrating thelll-
royal palace. All those who entered soPeveryone had to
selves before him became paralyse. III f the sleep was twelve c . The duratIon 0 .
prostratebeloreentenng. . f bsorptionininnerradIance.
ears but to him it was only one sesslon 0 a spl·rl·ts from the countrY Y , . fi h dred sorceress .
On another occaSIOn lve un . h the intention of creatlllg
of O<;i<;iiyana the master they found only a
obstacles for hIm, but P I k at the illusion conjured up by blanket. "Aha! " they saId, Just 0 0
Anuyoga) the Perfection Stage 487
488
History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
Gathers All Intentions. In the Vajra Cavern ofOcjQiyana he gave instruc- tion to the master Hurpkara, who wrote many treatises on the Siitra which Gathers All Intentions such as the Commentary on the Root Tantra entitled Seven Seals (rgya-bdun-ma), and the Lamp on the Levels of Yoga (rnal-'byor sa'i sgron-ma). In the Asura Cave on the frontier of India and Persia (Ta-sig), he performed the means for attainment with the assistance of his consort Gagasiddhi; and he attained the body of an awareness-holder.
Though one can make one's body invisible by mundane methods, such as alchemy, seminal retention, and the exercises which circulate the lamp- like vital energy (sgron-ma rlung-gi 'khor-lo),514 the aforementioned mas- ters transformed their physical bodies, the products oftheir former deeds, into radiant light by relying on a mode of conduct which adhered to the non-discursive pristine cognition of the path of insight. We must recognise there to be a great difference between these methods. 515
[passed the teaching to Sthiramati],516 and he gave e m p o w e r m e n t t o S u k h o d y o t a k a i n t h e c i t y o f S r I a n d e n t r u s t e d the tantras to him. The latter also studied under master Hurpkara and, after achieving success in the practice of his gnostic mantra, attained the body of an awareness-holder. He composed the Eighteen Notes on the Sutra (mdo'i yig-sna bco-brgyad), the Yogic Sequence which is a Lamp on the Greater Vehicle (rnal-'byor-gyi rim-pa theg-chen sgron-ma), and so forth. He taught [the Anuyoga] to his four most fortunate spiritual sons, one of whom was Dharmabodhi of Magadha, a master of the Sutra [which Gathers All Intentions}.
Dharmabodhi composed the Compendium of the Sutra's Meaning (Guhyarthasutrapi1:ujiirtha, P 4751), the Lamp of Discriminative Aware- ness (shes-rab sgron-ma) and the Sutra Excerpts (bkol-mdo). At glorious Nalanda, he empowered the preceptor Dhamarajapala, and explained the tantras to him. He also gave empowerments and explanations on the tantras to Vasudhara, a Nepalese king, and to Tsuklak Pelge, in the city of Rajagrha. It is reported that those last three mentioned also studied under the master
All of the lineage-holders just mentioned held the entire lineage [of Anuyoga], including the transmitted empowerments, exegesis, and esoteric instructions. These three masters, in turn, empowered the master Chetsenkye of Bru-sha [Gilgit] and explained the tantras to him in Central India. 51? Meditating on th'ern he attained accomplishment and afterwards invited master to Bru-sha where they began to translate the Sutra which Gathers All Intentions and other texts. But because the people had little devotion abandoned the translation and went to Nepal, where he instructed Vasudhara and Dharmabodhi. Later, in Bru-sha, the master Chetsenkye translated those texts into the Bru-sha language [Burushaski], under the super- Vision of Dharmabodhi and
The master (Sukha the
"
Sakyamitra
. "] em owered the master Vajrahasya the to him. He, tOO, obtained
in Uttarasara Forest, and explame h f 1·h tbythepat0su
supreme accomp IS men . A
·1 d h S orYogzc wareness
of Gajane, he empowered the. master ra
tantras to h i m . . . d Prabhahasti's ordination name was As has been prevIOusly mentlone , S-k prabha who in turn
Sakyaprabha. He ver; learned in the taught Sakyamitra and SakyaslIl1ha . aky mmentaryon the Summa- Yoga tantras. In the land ofKosala he a It is said that Sakyamitr. a
tion ofthe Real, entitled the Ornament 0 osa d towards the end ofhIS h · f some eleven gurus, an
received teac mg rOI? tl served living creatures. e lifehewenttoKashmIr,wherehegrea y t master Padmasambhava. II
Sakyasirpha is an epithet of the grea k . ta on the roof of the nine-
explained the tantras to master This cOf! ih
storey NaivedyasaHi Pagoda [at n·s C'ound in the Sutra whze 1. . the enumera 10 l'
posed a treatise exp alnlng
atreatiseentlte te un'J f d athoftheSutrawze w h i c h e x p l a i n s R i v e r , i n t h e c o u n t r y Gathers All Intentwns. On the P bhahasti and explained the
preme bliss He composed
. .
. )
(rnal-'b. . )or rig-pa'z nyz-ma ) J h· h
Anuyoga) the Perfection Stage 489
7 The Lineage ofAtiyoga, the Great Perfection
Is he . . Atiyoga) the Great Perfection 491
I h a - a G y e l p o , a T s e n o r a M u
t e ree realms, who would desire oug some gods and anti d . .
Still I see no precedent for may take dIverse forms,
For Whom does this u . h .
Al 'M . nng teous kmgdom exist
as. y conduct IS pure and I . h .
GARAP DOR]E AND MAN]USRIMITRA
[120. 2-127. 2] When the Transcendent Lord of Secrets, Vajrapa1)i, was teaching the doctrine of the secret mantra to a host of 9akas, 9akinls, accomplished masters and awareness-holders in the Blazing Fire Moun- tain charnel ground, to the north of Mount Sumeru, the island of Dhanakosa, in 099iyana in West India, was inhabited solely by crea- tures called kO$a, who had bodies like those of men, the faces of bears, ,and claws all of iron. The island was encircled by many sublime types of tree, including sandalwood. This is why it was called Dhanakosa (Treasury of Wealth), or so it is said. In that country there was a great temple called Sankarakl1ta, which was surrounded by six thousand and eight hundred small temples. It was a place perfectly endowed with splendour and wealth.
There, there was a king, Uparaja, and his queen, AlokabhasvatL They had a daughter called Sudharma. She was ordained as a novice and, shortly thereafter, as a nun.
About one yojana518 from DhanakoL, on an island covered with golden sand, in a tiny thatched cottage, she practised yoga and meditation with her servant SukhasaravatL One night the nun had a dream in which an immaculate white man thrice placed a crystal vase sealed with the syllables AI:I svAHA upon the crown of her head. 519 The light radiating from the vase was such that she could clearly see the three world realms. Not long afterwards, the nun gave birth to a child, who was none other than the son of the Conqueror, Adhicitta (sems-lhag-can), the divine nation of Vajrasattva who had propagated the Great Perfection in heaven. But the nun was ashamed, and saw [his birth] as a great impropriety:
GarapDorje
To what race does this fatherless child belong?
Is he other than some mundane demon? p Is he, a devil? Brahma? or yet something else?
But I will be blamed b
WIS. to surpass the world, y perverse bemgs. What sin!
So she cried in great lame .
son of the buddhas It· . ntatIOn. But her servant said, "He is the
With . .
. out paymg any attention to her h
IS Improper to despair. "
ash PIt, and at once sounds light d' t e nun cast the child into an after three days had pass d h s, a? - other phenomena arose. Then
she knew him to be e, s e that the child was unharmed· b anemanatIOn Whe . h '
rought him forth from the . . . n, WIt. . great respect, she eXclaimed: PIt, celestIal deItIes assembled and
oMaster'0T h,
o lord of·the eac er. Lord!
world, revealmg true nature' rotect us, Celestial Vajra! .
We pray thus this day.
492 History: The Rise o/the Secret Mantra
. . - aksas and other mundane pro- Then qakas, qakmls,. gods. , provisions of worship.
tectors also honoured hIm wIt dt boy said to his mother, "Mother, When seven years had ht on the doctrine. Please give me
I would like to converse WIt sc 0 ars
your consent. " . "D h·ld you are still quite young. As the To which she rephed, ear C. l '·11 be hard for you to succeed. "
scholars are wise learned men, I t : l ld him to discuss the doctrine
But, on his perSIstent request, s e thO ·ests of the aforementioned
scholars. After lengthy discussions and critical dialogues he over- whelmed their brilliance, whereupon they bowed their heads at his feet. The scholars honoured him with great respect and gave him the name Prajfiabhava (Source of Discriminative Awareness). The king, too, was astonished and delighted, owing to which he conferred on the child the title "Great Master" and the name Garap Dorje (Vajra of Highest Delight). Previously, his mother, who had been amazed to find him unharmed after being cast into the pit of ashes, called him Sukha the "Zombie", or the "Ashen Zombie".
Then, in the northern direction, on the precipice called Siiryaprakasa, which was most fearsome, and where tormented spirits could actually be seen roaming about, Garap Dorje lived for thirty-two years in a
thatched cottage, absorbed in contemplation all the while. At that time, the earth shook seven times and a voice came from the sky, heralding the decline of extremist teachings. Hearing it, an extremist king sent an assassin to murder the master; but when they saw Garap Dorje fly off through the sky, the king and his retainers acquired supreme faith and were initiated into the Buddhist teaching.
Now, Garap Dorje's memory contained all the scriptures of the outer and inner vehicles, and, in particular, the six million four hundred thousand verses of the natural Great Perfection [NGB Vols. 1-10]. So when Vajrasattva actually appeared to him and showed him how to realize the pristine cognition of [the path of] no-more-Iearning, having conferred on him the vase empowerment of awareness, he also ordered him to write down the verbal tantras. Then, on the summit of Mount Malaya, which abounds in precious gems, the master, together with the Vajradhatu <;lakinI (the QakinI of the Indestructible Expanse), who relishes mundane bliss, as well as with the PItasankara <;lakinI (the Yellow Bliss-giving QakinI) and the AnantaguI). a <;lakinI (the QakinI of Limitless Virtues), spent three years recording these precepts in writing. They also correctly arranged them, without any error, along with the emanational writings, which were self-originated and naturally estab- lished. All of these they placed in a cave called the "Real Origin of the l;)akinIs" (mkha'-'gro-ma mngon-par-'byung-ba'i phug).
On another occasion the master went to the great SItavana charnel ground, to the north-east of Vajrasana, where there is a great stiipa, and which is inhabited by many venomous <;lakinIs and savage beings. There, he continued to teach the doctrine to the <;lakinI SiiryakiraI). a and countless other beings. At that time, the sublime declared to the master MafijusrImitra, "0 son ofthe enlightened family! if you wish to become a buddha in a single lifetime, go to the great SItavana charnel ground. "
MafijusrImitra went to the SItavana charnel ground, where he met l11aster Garap Dorje and studied the doctrine under him for seventy-five Years. After the great master Garap Dorje had given him all the instruc-
with five hundre
_. king Upara)a.
d h i s who were t e pn .
sc 0 ar , Dh a and sought an audIence
Th b then went to ana . h e oy d h· request But the kmg thoug t,
h m he repeate I S · . h
.
withthekmg,tow ? . . 11b t 0 difficultforhimtodISCUSSt e
"TheladisbutachIld,soItWI e 0 nymarksofagreatindi- . I A d yet there are ma
doctrine wIth scho ars.
. d P
' . . " haps he IS an emanatIOn.
n er
But one, who was very lea. rne dsal 'hall find out if he is, in fact, an auspicious. Send the boy m an we s
vidual upon hIS bo y.
The king consulted his is one mark that is most
emanation. " . .
When summoned mto theIr presen
ce the child prostrated before the
M aiijusrfmitra
h m there was no consensus.
Atiyoga, the Great Perfection 493
494 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
tions and further advice the master passed into nirvaJ). a in the uncor- rupted expanse, on the banks of the River Danatika. When that took place, Mafijusrlmitra cried "Alas! Alas! " in distress three times. Then, in an aura of celestial light the master's body actually appeared; and the master dropped a casket of gold the size of a fingernail into Mafi- jusrlmitra's hand. It contained his last testament, entitled Three Phrases which Penetrate the Essential (tshig-gsum gnad-du brdeg-pa, NYZ bi-ma snying-thig, Pt. l, Vol. Ga, pp. 304-18).
Afterwards, the great master Mafijusrlmitra divided the six million four hundred thousand verses ofthe Great Perfection into three classes:
The Mental Class is for those who abide in mind.
The Spatial Class is for those who are free from activity. The Esoteric Instructional Class is for those
Who are intent upon the innermost essence. 521
From among the latter, in particular, he divided the concise version, the Establishment of the Intrinsic Essential of the Innermost Spirituality (thig-le rang-gnad-du dbab-pa),522 into an aural lineage and an exegetical tradition. He annotated the aural lineage, but not finding, at that time,
a vessel worthy to be entrusted with the exegetical tradition, that is to say, with the transmitted precepts of the Innermost Spirituality (snying- thig), he concealed it under a boulder to the north-east of Vajrasana; and, sealing the boulder with a crossed-vajra (visvavajra), he made it invisible. Then he went to the Sosadvlpa charnel ground, to the west of Vajrasana, where he taught, the doctrine to ugly qakinls, countless animals, and to many practitioners who adhered to the conduct [of the secret mantra]. He remained there, absorbed in contemplation, for one hundred and nine years.
BUDDHAJNANAP ADA
Atryoga) the Great Perfection 495
[127. 2-130. 5] Mafijusrlmitra's disciple was Buddhajfianapada, a vajra
master of the great maJ). qalas. At first he served many gurus, such as
master Jalandharipa, master LIlavajra of Oqqiyana, and the yoginI
Guniru. Under them he studied many aspects of the secret mantra.
Jambhala and Vasudhara523 provided him with the necessities of life.
Once, when he had served the master of Koilkana for nine
years, and had heard the Guhyasamaja Tantra eighteen times, he told
his guru that he still did not understand reality. "Nor do I understand h
it," replied the guru.
Then, in Kupavana, a forest behind Vajrasana, he practised for eight-
een months, of which twelve were devoted to the four branches of ritual service and attainment, along with the rites for deriving the most cess,524 and six were devoted to the wrathful practice. Thereby, he
t'
0 accept It. The venerable
Buddhajfianapada
received this injunction' "If
ask the sublime you want to understand reality you must
"Very weII",he thought "b t M -' - .
shan [in China]. I must gO' anJusn resIdes on Mount Wu-t'ai-
He set out in that direction Arou d 'd
he saw Mafijusrlmitra dressed' n mi day, near a white house, his robe as a turban d as . a venerable old householder, wearing
old peasant woman. with the help of a filthy White bitch was sleeping. J napa a was dIstrustful. Nearby, an ugly
, At lunchtime, when Buddh '-- -
caught a fish fro went to ,beg for alms, Mafi-
bItch vomited up the fish gave It to the bitch. The
anJusnmItra offered it to the master
Who, thinking it to b "
e Impure
When the master h d b '
offered, and was aboutat elaten °hI1ed and curd which the woman
. 0eaveseSaId"N h ' .
WIll not reach the v'll G ' ,o w t e sun IS settIng. You
oUseholder said "Th
f'
refused
,
,e
1 eas and conceptions G' h'
rom Jab d - h
m u VIPa as a great many
man
elsewhere. . Ive 1m some good food. " And he went off
'd
1 age. 0 tomorrow. "
496 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
So he stayed there and read the Guhyasamaja Tantra. Whenever the master hesitated over a doubtful passage, the woman showed her dis- pleasure. Then, realising that she knew the minds of others, he asked her to remove his doubts. "I don't know", she said, "but that venerable householder who just left is very learned in the Guhyasamaja. He will come back late in the afternoon and will put an end to your doubts. "
Sure enough, late that afternoon the venerable householder arrived, staggering under the influence of wine. The master, knowing that he was a mantra adept, prostrated at his feet, and requested him to remove his doubts. "You must receive the empowerment," he answered.
"I have already received it from someone else. "
"But I have to empower you myself, before I can teach you my doctrine. " So saying, Mafijusrlmitra went into another room.
At twilight, when the master was called inside, he saw the venerable householder with the woman and the bitch, all beside an emanation of
525
A'
S - - _ tzyoga) the Great Perfection 497 RI SI1\1HA, ]NANASOTRA AND VIMALAMITRA
[! 30. 5-137. 5] At about the same ti . __
the nineteen-deity maJ}qala of Mafijuvajra. receive empowerment? "
"I will request it from the maJ}qala. "
"From whom will you
The master was contented by this and th "
the supreme fruit more easily I h Id Now, to understand
"Well, take it then! " replied Mafijusrlmitra as he went into another room with the woman and the dog. But the maJ}qala also vanished. Then, in dismay, the master cried out, "Oh! you are the sole father of all sentient beings. . . "
At his distressful prayer, Mafijusrlmitra rematerialised the maJ}qala and empowered him. He gave instructions on the Mental Class of the Great Perfection, whereupon Buddhajfianapada's understanding be- came as vast as the sky. He compiled a on the cultivation of the true nature of the two stages [of creation and perfection] entitled Oral Instructions of Mafijusrf [as a summary of the teaching he received].
Buddhajfianapada plumbed the profound depths of the e11tire doc- trine. It is said that because he was at first distrustful of the food which the bitch had vomited and of the conduct of the venerable householder, he did not attain supreme accomplishment in that body, but realised the level ofVajradhara during the intermediate state [immediately after his death].
A l s o , r e q u e s t e d i n s t r u c t i o n s f r o m m a s t e r B u d d h a - jfianapada and attained accomplishment.
Buddhajfianapada composed a great many treatises, for instance, the Point ofLiberation and the Means for Attainment entitled Samantabhadra (Samantabhadranamasadhana, T 1855). The esoteric instructions of this master on the stage of perfection, that were translated into the Tibetan language in ancient times, are included among the purest tenets of the Mental Class. Therefore, it is implicit that the host of his followers and
disciples belonged to the lineage of the Great Perfection. Some believe, too, that master SrI Sirpha was one and the same as this great master. This seems quite conceivable if one examines the various histories.
Sri Sirrzha
CIty of Shokyam in China th h me [as Buddhamanapada], in the h
and his wife Nan;wa Gewei Yicen (Virtuous- what IS Clearly Manifest) had a son whp ukhyenma (She who Intuits the master SrI Simha a , 0 was to become renowned as
fifteenth year he thpossde. ssor of. the ascetic virtues. From his it eor marySCIences like
or three years under master Haribhala. a ' grammar and logic, great scholar, he set out for the cit o f ' nd had become a the road, the sublime Avalokt ,y SuvarJ}advipa m the west. On
this prophetic declaration. "F 1 tesvara appeared in the sky and made h f . . orunateone'ifyou 11 . h
t e rUIt of enlightenment go t h h · rea y WIS to realise India. " , 0 t e c arnel ground of SosadvIpa in
of the way of secret mantra "0
shan, he studied all the mountain of Wu-t'ai-
exception, under the outcaste on mantra, without e a IftI, and he thoroughly
a so master the other tantras
498 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
mastered them. He became ordained and strictly observed the Vinaya vows for thirty years, acting as a monk who was learned in the pi! aka.
Then the sublime Avalokitesvara again encouraged him by repeating his former prophecy. SrI Sirpha thought that he should acquire some miraculous powers, in order to remove the hardships of the journey to India. He practised the means for attainment for three years and attained the body of an awareness-holder. Then, travelling with his feet about one cubit above the earth, he journeyed to the SosadvIpa charnel ground, where he met the great master MafijusrImitra; and propitiated him as his guru. He prayed to be accepted as a disciple. The guru delightedly granted his prayer. After giving instructions and further advice for a period of twenty-five years, the body of the great master MafijusrImitra vanished in a mass of light. At that, SrI Sirpha cried out in distress, whereupon the master's body actually appeared in the sky and dropped into his hand a casket made of precious stones, the size of a fingernail. It contained MafijusrImitra's last testament, which was entitled the Six Experiences ofMeditation (sgom-nyams drug- pa). Thereby, the master SrI Sirpha understood the profound truth.
Later, at Suvan:tadvIpa in West India, master MafijusrImitra reincar- nated. When he had grown up, he became known as the younger MafijusrImitra. He recited all the outer and inner mantra texts to master Padmasambhava. It is also said that the corrupt body ofmaster Aryadeva vanished when he received teaching on the Great Perfection from him.
Afterwards, master SrI Sirpha extracted the tantras which had for- merly been concealed under the Indestructible Seat. He went to China and divided the Esoteric Instructional Class of the Great Perfection into four cycles: outer, inner, secret, and unsurpassedly secret. He collected the first three cycles together for those who required elaboration; and he concealed them as treasures in the balcony ofthe Bodhi Tree Temple. Then, in accordance with a prediction he received from the <;Hikinls, he concealed the unsurpassedly secret cycle in a pillar in the Auspicious Myriad Gate Temple; and he sealed it up with prayers. He himself then dwelt in the great Siljin charnel ground and, venerated by savage spirits, became absorbed in contemplation.
At that time, in Hastisthala in western India, the householder Sukhacakra and his wife Atmaprakasa had a son called Vimalamitra; and in the eastern city of Kamaiasiia the outcaste Santihasta and his wife Kalyat:lacitta had a son called Jfianasutra. The glorious Vajrasattva actually appeared to them both and made this prophetic declaration: " 0 sons of the enlightened family! you have both been born as scholars five hundred times; and you have both practised the true doctrine. But you have not attained its fruit in past lives, nor will you in the present one [ifyou persist in the same course as before]. Ifyou wish the corrupt body to vanish and to attain enlightenment, you must go to the Bodhi Tree Temple in China.
The aforementioned transmitted precepts were all fully comprehended by those masters respectively, and they, in turn, explained them extens- iVely to other fortunate disciples.
T 3562), and a large number o. o. t er agnl'tl'on' and he is said to have . f h d-11'n-lsofpnstmeco, .
structlOns 0 t e . az .
introduced SIxty
many extraordmary feats d S' - vataS07 for two hundred years . 11 h . remame at npar
ments. y, _ 11 h hile living in accord with the way of witharetmueof ate w . .
. d the body of indestrucuble realIty. mantras, he attame
VIMALAMITRA AND
THE TRANSMITTED PRECEPT OF VAJRAMJ3. . TA . d rece ts of Vajramrta, including the
[109. 4-110. 3] The pPficii! tasiirasiddhim;hodgatahrdayapari-
E i g h t V o l u m e s o f h n ; t o t h e f a m i l y o f R a t n a s a m b h a v a , t h a t
T 841)"bw IC £ the master Vimalamitra. This master of enlIghtened attn utes, e
Vajramrta
482 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
Mahiiyoga, the Class ofMeans for Attainment 483
SlO
entrusted the gold casket
Vo1. 32, no. 380) to Vimalamitra; the silver casket containing that of Sriheruka (NGB Vol. 32, no. 381) to HU:q1kara; the iron casket containing that of Yamiintaka (NGB Vo1. 32, no. 382) to Maiijusrlmitra; the copper casket containing that ofHayagrfva (NGB Vo1. 32, no. 383) to Nagarjuna;
the turquoise casket containing that of Vajrakfla (NGB Vo1. 32, no. 384)
to Padmasambhava; the bse-stone casket containing that of
(NGB Vo1. 32, no. 385) to Dhanasa:q1sk. rta; the agate casket containing
that of Mundane Praise (Lokastotrapuja, T 844) to Rambuguhya; and Sll
THE REVEALED TREASURES
Vajrakfla
[11l. 2-112. 4] Second, the treasures: The bodhisattva Vajradharma not perceive there to be anyone in the human to whom the containing the general and special means for b_e ar- vealed for the time being, so he entrusted them to the Qakmi Mahak. 1 mendraJ). l. She inserted the five general tantras. and the ten spect:_ tantras of the eight transmitted precepts means for ment into a casket made of eight kinds of precIOUS gems. inserted the special tantras into separate caskets, she . then conc;a e them all invisibly in the garden of the Sailkaraku1a (mcho -rten bde-byed brtsegs-pa) in the SItavana charnel ground. . h h
Later the eight great accomplished masters learned of thIS their supernormal powers. assemb. led and selves to the formation of an enlIghtened mtUltIO. n: whereby Yf voWS ated a host of mundane Qakinls and arrogant by of truth and appropriate substances. The. Qakini M a . f whic"h
actually arrived, owing. to the power of she the intention was serVIce to others. Bnngmg forth the
Mahakannendra1']f
the zi-stone
containing the tantra of Aiahottara (NGB
casket containing that of Malign Mantra (Vajraman- trabhfru, T 843) to Santigarbha. Each of them became adept in his own subject and attained the accomplishments of the way of mantras.
From the casket made of eight kinds of precious gems there emerged the transmitted precepts comprising the tantra and esoteric instructions of the Gathering of the Sugatas (bde-gshegs 'dus-pa, NGB Vols. 31-2), which subsumes all the aforementioned means for attainment at once; and this fell to master Padmasambhava.
484 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
Mahottara Heruka
KAMBALAP ADA OR THE YOUNGER INDRABHUTI
[112. 4-116. 6] Although King Ja, or VyakaraQavajra, had been empo- wered by the Lord of Secrets and had grasped the meaning of the entire teaching, even so, to prevent meddlesome onlookers from thinking he had entered the way of secret mantra at his pleasure, he relied on the human awareness-holder and layman, VimalakIrti the Licchavi, from whom he received all the empowerments and verbal teachings [NGB Vols. 11-13]. The king also composed treatises like the Commentary on the General Sutra which Gathers All Intentions. He gave empowerment in an emanational maQgala to master Uparaja, who had been his fellow student under the Licchavi, and to his own three sons - Sakraputra, Nagaputra, and Guhyaputra; and he taught them the instructions. At the SrI Dhanyakaraka Caitya, which is also called SrI he empowered Uparaja and entrusted the tantras to him. In the city of (skyid-pa'i 'byung-gnas) he empowered his own three sons.
Among King Ja's sons, Sakraputra is renowned as Indrabhuti the younger. It is said that when he attained accomplishment he became renowned as the master Kambalapada. This is also mentioned in the Commentary on the Verification of Co-Emergence (Sahajasiddhipaddhati, T 2261). In any case, because Indrabhuti introduced certain tantra- pilaka like the Cakrasar? lvara, the brahman Ratnavajra and others are among the adherents of his lineage. Some later gurus of India say that the master Kambalapada was a and a native of Oggiyana. So, accordingly, he must be identified with Indrabhuti the younger.
At first, this master received empowerments from a great mantra master, and realised pristine cognition by meditating on the instruc- tions. Then, at some other time, he went to Dhumasthira, the city of the gakinIs in Oggiyana. There, he accepted a flower garland which some non-Buddhist dakinls handed to him. The Buddhist dllkinls said, "Son, it was a mistake to take those flowers. Now you follow the non-Buddhists. "
6 The Lineage of Anuyoga, the Perfection Stage
486 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra .
. . he master was sitting absorbed III contem-
Then, at mldmght, d tones to rain down upon him. . h ·st dakIllls cause s . d
platIon, t e extreml . on his side of the protective CIrcle But there was no sta e of creation. It occurred to hIm through the of :dvantages, he should demonstrate
that, as the stage of creatIon h a c . well By abiding in a formless
this monk! He has transformed his body into a blanket. Let's just tear it into shreds and eat them! " They divided the blanket into five hundred fragments and ate them.
Then, the master bodily appeared and cursed the five hundred sorceres- ses, who were transformed into five hundred sheep-headed demonesses. They went to the king and said, "The monk who is the lord of the charnel ground has done this to us. Please release us, your majesty! "
The king then petitioned the master, who stood up quite naked and in the land of Oc;l<;hyana, III IdY . d many frozen stones are clearly said, "Your majesty's witches have eaten the blanket which is the only
t the power t e sage
of penectIon as .
fh
contemplatIon he sSk above the master's meditation cave,
h t nes to freeze in the sky. Even today, 0
. h supported bou er, an
thereISa ugeun f h· hisassmoothasamirror. visible on the rock- ace, w lC
possession of this monk. Pray, summon those witches. "
When they had all been summoned he pointed his index finger at each of them menacingly, and transformed them into creatures with various kinds of heads. Each one vomited up a fragment of the blanket. The fragments were sown together, but some parts were missing, "Three are missing", he said, "summon them! " Those three, who lived in the harem, were duly summoned, and he caused them to vomit, just as he had done to the others. The blanket was then completely restored, and the master wrapped it about his body. This is why he became renowned
as the venerable Kambalapada, the "Blanket Master".
There are a great many other stories about Kambalapada. One de- scribes how both he and King Indrabhuti revealed the signs of their accomplishment to the people. Another describes how, on a certain occasion, when master Lalitavajra had attained the common accomplish- ments, the two went to the country of Oc;lgiyana together and waged
a miraculous competition on Mount MuruI). gaka.
It is said that at a somewhat later time everyone in the country of
Oggiyana became an awareness-holder by following the instructions of both the king [Indrabhuti] and the master [Kambalapada]; whereupon, even the vast land of Oggiyana was almost depopulated. It seems to me that this incident may be the same as that which occurred when Indrabhuti the younger, son of the aforementioned King Ja, became an awareness-holder along with the mass of his retinue.
THE SUCCESSORS OF THE YOUNGER INDRABHDTI
[116. 6-120. 1] In the same way, the younger Indrabhuti empowered Siqlhaputra and the later Kukkuraja ·on the seashore; and he explained the [Anuyoga] tantras to them. The later Kukkuraja empowered the great master Sukha the "Zombie" and in turn explained the tantras to him. Sukha the "Zombie" is one of the names of the emanation Garap Dorje. Before him, all the masters in the lineage, along with all their respective followers, who numbered between ten and fifty thousand, obtained the body of coalescence and vanished, having prac- tised the feast offerings, which involve elaborate activity. 513
Kambalapada
. r went to sleep right at the door of the Once upon a tIme, the maste . hout rostrating thelll-
royal palace. All those who entered soPeveryone had to
selves before him became paralyse. III f the sleep was twelve c . The duratIon 0 .
prostratebeloreentenng. . f bsorptionininnerradIance.
ears but to him it was only one sesslon 0 a spl·rl·ts from the countrY Y , . fi h dred sorceress .
On another occaSIOn lve un . h the intention of creatlllg
of O<;i<;iiyana the master they found only a
obstacles for hIm, but P I k at the illusion conjured up by blanket. "Aha! " they saId, Just 0 0
Anuyoga) the Perfection Stage 487
488
History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
Gathers All Intentions. In the Vajra Cavern ofOcjQiyana he gave instruc- tion to the master Hurpkara, who wrote many treatises on the Siitra which Gathers All Intentions such as the Commentary on the Root Tantra entitled Seven Seals (rgya-bdun-ma), and the Lamp on the Levels of Yoga (rnal-'byor sa'i sgron-ma). In the Asura Cave on the frontier of India and Persia (Ta-sig), he performed the means for attainment with the assistance of his consort Gagasiddhi; and he attained the body of an awareness-holder.
Though one can make one's body invisible by mundane methods, such as alchemy, seminal retention, and the exercises which circulate the lamp- like vital energy (sgron-ma rlung-gi 'khor-lo),514 the aforementioned mas- ters transformed their physical bodies, the products oftheir former deeds, into radiant light by relying on a mode of conduct which adhered to the non-discursive pristine cognition of the path of insight. We must recognise there to be a great difference between these methods. 515
[passed the teaching to Sthiramati],516 and he gave e m p o w e r m e n t t o S u k h o d y o t a k a i n t h e c i t y o f S r I a n d e n t r u s t e d the tantras to him. The latter also studied under master Hurpkara and, after achieving success in the practice of his gnostic mantra, attained the body of an awareness-holder. He composed the Eighteen Notes on the Sutra (mdo'i yig-sna bco-brgyad), the Yogic Sequence which is a Lamp on the Greater Vehicle (rnal-'byor-gyi rim-pa theg-chen sgron-ma), and so forth. He taught [the Anuyoga] to his four most fortunate spiritual sons, one of whom was Dharmabodhi of Magadha, a master of the Sutra [which Gathers All Intentions}.
Dharmabodhi composed the Compendium of the Sutra's Meaning (Guhyarthasutrapi1:ujiirtha, P 4751), the Lamp of Discriminative Aware- ness (shes-rab sgron-ma) and the Sutra Excerpts (bkol-mdo). At glorious Nalanda, he empowered the preceptor Dhamarajapala, and explained the tantras to him. He also gave empowerments and explanations on the tantras to Vasudhara, a Nepalese king, and to Tsuklak Pelge, in the city of Rajagrha. It is reported that those last three mentioned also studied under the master
All of the lineage-holders just mentioned held the entire lineage [of Anuyoga], including the transmitted empowerments, exegesis, and esoteric instructions. These three masters, in turn, empowered the master Chetsenkye of Bru-sha [Gilgit] and explained the tantras to him in Central India. 51? Meditating on th'ern he attained accomplishment and afterwards invited master to Bru-sha where they began to translate the Sutra which Gathers All Intentions and other texts. But because the people had little devotion abandoned the translation and went to Nepal, where he instructed Vasudhara and Dharmabodhi. Later, in Bru-sha, the master Chetsenkye translated those texts into the Bru-sha language [Burushaski], under the super- Vision of Dharmabodhi and
The master (Sukha the
"
Sakyamitra
. "] em owered the master Vajrahasya the to him. He, tOO, obtained
in Uttarasara Forest, and explame h f 1·h tbythepat0su
supreme accomp IS men . A
·1 d h S orYogzc wareness
of Gajane, he empowered the. master ra
tantras to h i m . . . d Prabhahasti's ordination name was As has been prevIOusly mentlone , S-k prabha who in turn
Sakyaprabha. He ver; learned in the taught Sakyamitra and SakyaslIl1ha . aky mmentaryon the Summa- Yoga tantras. In the land ofKosala he a It is said that Sakyamitr. a
tion ofthe Real, entitled the Ornament 0 osa d towards the end ofhIS h · f some eleven gurus, an
received teac mg rOI? tl served living creatures. e lifehewenttoKashmIr,wherehegrea y t master Padmasambhava. II
Sakyasirpha is an epithet of the grea k . ta on the roof of the nine-
explained the tantras to master This cOf! ih
storey NaivedyasaHi Pagoda [at n·s C'ound in the Sutra whze 1. . the enumera 10 l'
posed a treatise exp alnlng
atreatiseentlte te un'J f d athoftheSutrawze w h i c h e x p l a i n s R i v e r , i n t h e c o u n t r y Gathers All Intentwns. On the P bhahasti and explained the
preme bliss He composed
. .
. )
(rnal-'b. . )or rig-pa'z nyz-ma ) J h· h
Anuyoga) the Perfection Stage 489
7 The Lineage ofAtiyoga, the Great Perfection
Is he . . Atiyoga) the Great Perfection 491
I h a - a G y e l p o , a T s e n o r a M u
t e ree realms, who would desire oug some gods and anti d . .
Still I see no precedent for may take dIverse forms,
For Whom does this u . h .
Al 'M . nng teous kmgdom exist
as. y conduct IS pure and I . h .
GARAP DOR]E AND MAN]USRIMITRA
[120. 2-127. 2] When the Transcendent Lord of Secrets, Vajrapa1)i, was teaching the doctrine of the secret mantra to a host of 9akas, 9akinls, accomplished masters and awareness-holders in the Blazing Fire Moun- tain charnel ground, to the north of Mount Sumeru, the island of Dhanakosa, in 099iyana in West India, was inhabited solely by crea- tures called kO$a, who had bodies like those of men, the faces of bears, ,and claws all of iron. The island was encircled by many sublime types of tree, including sandalwood. This is why it was called Dhanakosa (Treasury of Wealth), or so it is said. In that country there was a great temple called Sankarakl1ta, which was surrounded by six thousand and eight hundred small temples. It was a place perfectly endowed with splendour and wealth.
There, there was a king, Uparaja, and his queen, AlokabhasvatL They had a daughter called Sudharma. She was ordained as a novice and, shortly thereafter, as a nun.
About one yojana518 from DhanakoL, on an island covered with golden sand, in a tiny thatched cottage, she practised yoga and meditation with her servant SukhasaravatL One night the nun had a dream in which an immaculate white man thrice placed a crystal vase sealed with the syllables AI:I svAHA upon the crown of her head. 519 The light radiating from the vase was such that she could clearly see the three world realms. Not long afterwards, the nun gave birth to a child, who was none other than the son of the Conqueror, Adhicitta (sems-lhag-can), the divine nation of Vajrasattva who had propagated the Great Perfection in heaven. But the nun was ashamed, and saw [his birth] as a great impropriety:
GarapDorje
To what race does this fatherless child belong?
Is he other than some mundane demon? p Is he, a devil? Brahma? or yet something else?
But I will be blamed b
WIS. to surpass the world, y perverse bemgs. What sin!
So she cried in great lame .
son of the buddhas It· . ntatIOn. But her servant said, "He is the
With . .
. out paymg any attention to her h
IS Improper to despair. "
ash PIt, and at once sounds light d' t e nun cast the child into an after three days had pass d h s, a? - other phenomena arose. Then
she knew him to be e, s e that the child was unharmed· b anemanatIOn Whe . h '
rought him forth from the . . . n, WIt. . great respect, she eXclaimed: PIt, celestIal deItIes assembled and
oMaster'0T h,
o lord of·the eac er. Lord!
world, revealmg true nature' rotect us, Celestial Vajra! .
We pray thus this day.
492 History: The Rise o/the Secret Mantra
. . - aksas and other mundane pro- Then qakas, qakmls,. gods. , provisions of worship.
tectors also honoured hIm wIt dt boy said to his mother, "Mother, When seven years had ht on the doctrine. Please give me
I would like to converse WIt sc 0 ars
your consent. " . "D h·ld you are still quite young. As the To which she rephed, ear C. l '·11 be hard for you to succeed. "
scholars are wise learned men, I t : l ld him to discuss the doctrine
But, on his perSIstent request, s e thO ·ests of the aforementioned
scholars. After lengthy discussions and critical dialogues he over- whelmed their brilliance, whereupon they bowed their heads at his feet. The scholars honoured him with great respect and gave him the name Prajfiabhava (Source of Discriminative Awareness). The king, too, was astonished and delighted, owing to which he conferred on the child the title "Great Master" and the name Garap Dorje (Vajra of Highest Delight). Previously, his mother, who had been amazed to find him unharmed after being cast into the pit of ashes, called him Sukha the "Zombie", or the "Ashen Zombie".
Then, in the northern direction, on the precipice called Siiryaprakasa, which was most fearsome, and where tormented spirits could actually be seen roaming about, Garap Dorje lived for thirty-two years in a
thatched cottage, absorbed in contemplation all the while. At that time, the earth shook seven times and a voice came from the sky, heralding the decline of extremist teachings. Hearing it, an extremist king sent an assassin to murder the master; but when they saw Garap Dorje fly off through the sky, the king and his retainers acquired supreme faith and were initiated into the Buddhist teaching.
Now, Garap Dorje's memory contained all the scriptures of the outer and inner vehicles, and, in particular, the six million four hundred thousand verses of the natural Great Perfection [NGB Vols. 1-10]. So when Vajrasattva actually appeared to him and showed him how to realize the pristine cognition of [the path of] no-more-Iearning, having conferred on him the vase empowerment of awareness, he also ordered him to write down the verbal tantras. Then, on the summit of Mount Malaya, which abounds in precious gems, the master, together with the Vajradhatu <;lakinI (the QakinI of the Indestructible Expanse), who relishes mundane bliss, as well as with the PItasankara <;lakinI (the Yellow Bliss-giving QakinI) and the AnantaguI). a <;lakinI (the QakinI of Limitless Virtues), spent three years recording these precepts in writing. They also correctly arranged them, without any error, along with the emanational writings, which were self-originated and naturally estab- lished. All of these they placed in a cave called the "Real Origin of the l;)akinIs" (mkha'-'gro-ma mngon-par-'byung-ba'i phug).
On another occasion the master went to the great SItavana charnel ground, to the north-east of Vajrasana, where there is a great stiipa, and which is inhabited by many venomous <;lakinIs and savage beings. There, he continued to teach the doctrine to the <;lakinI SiiryakiraI). a and countless other beings. At that time, the sublime declared to the master MafijusrImitra, "0 son ofthe enlightened family! if you wish to become a buddha in a single lifetime, go to the great SItavana charnel ground. "
MafijusrImitra went to the SItavana charnel ground, where he met l11aster Garap Dorje and studied the doctrine under him for seventy-five Years. After the great master Garap Dorje had given him all the instruc-
with five hundre
_. king Upara)a.
d h i s who were t e pn .
sc 0 ar , Dh a and sought an audIence
Th b then went to ana . h e oy d h· request But the kmg thoug t,
h m he repeate I S · . h
.
withthekmg,tow ? . . 11b t 0 difficultforhimtodISCUSSt e
"TheladisbutachIld,soItWI e 0 nymarksofagreatindi- . I A d yet there are ma
doctrine wIth scho ars.
. d P
' . . " haps he IS an emanatIOn.
n er
But one, who was very lea. rne dsal 'hall find out if he is, in fact, an auspicious. Send the boy m an we s
vidual upon hIS bo y.
The king consulted his is one mark that is most
emanation. " . .
When summoned mto theIr presen
ce the child prostrated before the
M aiijusrfmitra
h m there was no consensus.
Atiyoga, the Great Perfection 493
494 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
tions and further advice the master passed into nirvaJ). a in the uncor- rupted expanse, on the banks of the River Danatika. When that took place, Mafijusrlmitra cried "Alas! Alas! " in distress three times. Then, in an aura of celestial light the master's body actually appeared; and the master dropped a casket of gold the size of a fingernail into Mafi- jusrlmitra's hand. It contained his last testament, entitled Three Phrases which Penetrate the Essential (tshig-gsum gnad-du brdeg-pa, NYZ bi-ma snying-thig, Pt. l, Vol. Ga, pp. 304-18).
Afterwards, the great master Mafijusrlmitra divided the six million four hundred thousand verses ofthe Great Perfection into three classes:
The Mental Class is for those who abide in mind.
The Spatial Class is for those who are free from activity. The Esoteric Instructional Class is for those
Who are intent upon the innermost essence. 521
From among the latter, in particular, he divided the concise version, the Establishment of the Intrinsic Essential of the Innermost Spirituality (thig-le rang-gnad-du dbab-pa),522 into an aural lineage and an exegetical tradition. He annotated the aural lineage, but not finding, at that time,
a vessel worthy to be entrusted with the exegetical tradition, that is to say, with the transmitted precepts of the Innermost Spirituality (snying- thig), he concealed it under a boulder to the north-east of Vajrasana; and, sealing the boulder with a crossed-vajra (visvavajra), he made it invisible. Then he went to the Sosadvlpa charnel ground, to the west of Vajrasana, where he taught, the doctrine to ugly qakinls, countless animals, and to many practitioners who adhered to the conduct [of the secret mantra]. He remained there, absorbed in contemplation, for one hundred and nine years.
BUDDHAJNANAP ADA
Atryoga) the Great Perfection 495
[127. 2-130. 5] Mafijusrlmitra's disciple was Buddhajfianapada, a vajra
master of the great maJ). qalas. At first he served many gurus, such as
master Jalandharipa, master LIlavajra of Oqqiyana, and the yoginI
Guniru. Under them he studied many aspects of the secret mantra.
Jambhala and Vasudhara523 provided him with the necessities of life.
Once, when he had served the master of Koilkana for nine
years, and had heard the Guhyasamaja Tantra eighteen times, he told
his guru that he still did not understand reality. "Nor do I understand h
it," replied the guru.
Then, in Kupavana, a forest behind Vajrasana, he practised for eight-
een months, of which twelve were devoted to the four branches of ritual service and attainment, along with the rites for deriving the most cess,524 and six were devoted to the wrathful practice. Thereby, he
t'
0 accept It. The venerable
Buddhajfianapada
received this injunction' "If
ask the sublime you want to understand reality you must
"Very weII",he thought "b t M -' - .
shan [in China]. I must gO' anJusn resIdes on Mount Wu-t'ai-
He set out in that direction Arou d 'd
he saw Mafijusrlmitra dressed' n mi day, near a white house, his robe as a turban d as . a venerable old householder, wearing
old peasant woman. with the help of a filthy White bitch was sleeping. J napa a was dIstrustful. Nearby, an ugly
, At lunchtime, when Buddh '-- -
caught a fish fro went to ,beg for alms, Mafi-
bItch vomited up the fish gave It to the bitch. The
anJusnmItra offered it to the master
Who, thinking it to b "
e Impure
When the master h d b '
offered, and was aboutat elaten °hI1ed and curd which the woman
. 0eaveseSaId"N h ' .
WIll not reach the v'll G ' ,o w t e sun IS settIng. You
oUseholder said "Th
f'
refused
,
,e
1 eas and conceptions G' h'
rom Jab d - h
m u VIPa as a great many
man
elsewhere. . Ive 1m some good food. " And he went off
'd
1 age. 0 tomorrow. "
496 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
So he stayed there and read the Guhyasamaja Tantra. Whenever the master hesitated over a doubtful passage, the woman showed her dis- pleasure. Then, realising that she knew the minds of others, he asked her to remove his doubts. "I don't know", she said, "but that venerable householder who just left is very learned in the Guhyasamaja. He will come back late in the afternoon and will put an end to your doubts. "
Sure enough, late that afternoon the venerable householder arrived, staggering under the influence of wine. The master, knowing that he was a mantra adept, prostrated at his feet, and requested him to remove his doubts. "You must receive the empowerment," he answered.
"I have already received it from someone else. "
"But I have to empower you myself, before I can teach you my doctrine. " So saying, Mafijusrlmitra went into another room.
At twilight, when the master was called inside, he saw the venerable householder with the woman and the bitch, all beside an emanation of
525
A'
S - - _ tzyoga) the Great Perfection 497 RI SI1\1HA, ]NANASOTRA AND VIMALAMITRA
[! 30. 5-137. 5] At about the same ti . __
the nineteen-deity maJ}qala of Mafijuvajra. receive empowerment? "
"I will request it from the maJ}qala. "
"From whom will you
The master was contented by this and th "
the supreme fruit more easily I h Id Now, to understand
"Well, take it then! " replied Mafijusrlmitra as he went into another room with the woman and the dog. But the maJ}qala also vanished. Then, in dismay, the master cried out, "Oh! you are the sole father of all sentient beings. . . "
At his distressful prayer, Mafijusrlmitra rematerialised the maJ}qala and empowered him. He gave instructions on the Mental Class of the Great Perfection, whereupon Buddhajfianapada's understanding be- came as vast as the sky. He compiled a on the cultivation of the true nature of the two stages [of creation and perfection] entitled Oral Instructions of Mafijusrf [as a summary of the teaching he received].
Buddhajfianapada plumbed the profound depths of the e11tire doc- trine. It is said that because he was at first distrustful of the food which the bitch had vomited and of the conduct of the venerable householder, he did not attain supreme accomplishment in that body, but realised the level ofVajradhara during the intermediate state [immediately after his death].
A l s o , r e q u e s t e d i n s t r u c t i o n s f r o m m a s t e r B u d d h a - jfianapada and attained accomplishment.
Buddhajfianapada composed a great many treatises, for instance, the Point ofLiberation and the Means for Attainment entitled Samantabhadra (Samantabhadranamasadhana, T 1855). The esoteric instructions of this master on the stage of perfection, that were translated into the Tibetan language in ancient times, are included among the purest tenets of the Mental Class. Therefore, it is implicit that the host of his followers and
disciples belonged to the lineage of the Great Perfection. Some believe, too, that master SrI Sirpha was one and the same as this great master. This seems quite conceivable if one examines the various histories.
Sri Sirrzha
CIty of Shokyam in China th h me [as Buddhamanapada], in the h
and his wife Nan;wa Gewei Yicen (Virtuous- what IS Clearly Manifest) had a son whp ukhyenma (She who Intuits the master SrI Simha a , 0 was to become renowned as
fifteenth year he thpossde. ssor of. the ascetic virtues. From his it eor marySCIences like
or three years under master Haribhala. a ' grammar and logic, great scholar, he set out for the cit o f ' nd had become a the road, the sublime Avalokt ,y SuvarJ}advipa m the west. On
this prophetic declaration. "F 1 tesvara appeared in the sky and made h f . . orunateone'ifyou 11 . h
t e rUIt of enlightenment go t h h · rea y WIS to realise India. " , 0 t e c arnel ground of SosadvIpa in
of the way of secret mantra "0
shan, he studied all the mountain of Wu-t'ai-
exception, under the outcaste on mantra, without e a IftI, and he thoroughly
a so master the other tantras
498 History: The Rise ofthe Secret Mantra
mastered them. He became ordained and strictly observed the Vinaya vows for thirty years, acting as a monk who was learned in the pi! aka.
Then the sublime Avalokitesvara again encouraged him by repeating his former prophecy. SrI Sirpha thought that he should acquire some miraculous powers, in order to remove the hardships of the journey to India. He practised the means for attainment for three years and attained the body of an awareness-holder. Then, travelling with his feet about one cubit above the earth, he journeyed to the SosadvIpa charnel ground, where he met the great master MafijusrImitra; and propitiated him as his guru. He prayed to be accepted as a disciple. The guru delightedly granted his prayer. After giving instructions and further advice for a period of twenty-five years, the body of the great master MafijusrImitra vanished in a mass of light. At that, SrI Sirpha cried out in distress, whereupon the master's body actually appeared in the sky and dropped into his hand a casket made of precious stones, the size of a fingernail. It contained MafijusrImitra's last testament, which was entitled the Six Experiences ofMeditation (sgom-nyams drug- pa). Thereby, the master SrI Sirpha understood the profound truth.
Later, at Suvan:tadvIpa in West India, master MafijusrImitra reincar- nated. When he had grown up, he became known as the younger MafijusrImitra. He recited all the outer and inner mantra texts to master Padmasambhava. It is also said that the corrupt body ofmaster Aryadeva vanished when he received teaching on the Great Perfection from him.
Afterwards, master SrI Sirpha extracted the tantras which had for- merly been concealed under the Indestructible Seat. He went to China and divided the Esoteric Instructional Class of the Great Perfection into four cycles: outer, inner, secret, and unsurpassedly secret. He collected the first three cycles together for those who required elaboration; and he concealed them as treasures in the balcony ofthe Bodhi Tree Temple. Then, in accordance with a prediction he received from the <;Hikinls, he concealed the unsurpassedly secret cycle in a pillar in the Auspicious Myriad Gate Temple; and he sealed it up with prayers. He himself then dwelt in the great Siljin charnel ground and, venerated by savage spirits, became absorbed in contemplation.
At that time, in Hastisthala in western India, the householder Sukhacakra and his wife Atmaprakasa had a son called Vimalamitra; and in the eastern city of Kamaiasiia the outcaste Santihasta and his wife Kalyat:lacitta had a son called Jfianasutra. The glorious Vajrasattva actually appeared to them both and made this prophetic declaration: " 0 sons of the enlightened family! you have both been born as scholars five hundred times; and you have both practised the true doctrine. But you have not attained its fruit in past lives, nor will you in the present one [ifyou persist in the same course as before]. Ifyou wish the corrupt body to vanish and to attain enlightenment, you must go to the Bodhi Tree Temple in China.
