16) where
specIfic
is intended.
Dudjom Rinpoche - Fundamentals and History of the Nyingmapa
.
.
The Great Akanistha realm ('og-min chen-po, Skt.
MahakantHha) IS
the abode in and of itself (rang-snang), in which Samanta- bhadra transmits realisation to the Conquerors of the Five Enlightened Families and the of peaceful and wrathful deities by the blessing of the buddha-body of reality's intention. On its significance,
see Fundamentals, pp. 129ff. and n. 130.
The All-Pervader (khyab-'jug) here refers to Samantabhadra.
The Indestructible Nucleus of Inner Radiance ('od-gsal rdo-rje snying- po) is the dimension of the body of reality; see Fundamentals, p. 118
and n. 112. . The "special" or "extraordinary" realm (khyad-par-Can-gyl
'og-min, Skt. VisiHakaniHha) which manifests extraneously (gzhan- snang) is the abode in which Vajradhara and the Conquerors of the Five Enlightened Families transmit the teaching of Unsurpassed Yogatantra to tenth level bodhisattvas by the intentional symbols of
470 The traditions concerning this figure have been studied I·n S G K - "K· Ta/ . . ar
the buddha-body of perfect rapture.
Cf. Fundamentals, p. 125.
See above, p. 413; and Fundamentals, p. 62.
The ordinary ('og-min tsam-po, Skt. and the imputed AkaniHha realm (btags-pa'i 'og-min, Skt. *Au- pacarikakaniHha) are the extraneous realms within. the Pure Ab? des
in which the Unsurpassed Yoga tantras are transmItted respectlvely to ninth and eighth level bodhisattvas by the buddhas in the form of wrathful and peaceful meditational deities. See also Fundamen-
tals, pp. 128-9.
On the Vajra Queen, see Fundamentals, p. 125, n. 127.
In the Hindu traditions Rudra is typically an epithet of Siva, but for Tibetan Buddhists he is a wrathful embodiment of ego which has run wild. For a traditional and elaborate presentation ofthe myth ofRudra,
see The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava, Pt. I, pp. 26-46; and Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, Ch. IS, pp. 488ff.
(GGFTC, pp. 1075ff. ). . Vajradharma is the peaceful aspect of the Lord of Secrets: Guhyapatl
or . .
In the lineages which follow, Sanskrit names have been In most
u n d e r t h e
E i g h t e e n
G r e a t
T a n t r a p i t a k a ( o f t h e .
cases following the standard conventions for Tibetan-Sansknt. transla- tion. However, we know of no extant Sanskrit source for these lineages. It should be noted also that there are sometimes variants in the way
in which different Tibetan sources report these names, e. g. that of the YasasvI Varapala below. . , .
mg of Naropa.
476 In the name sgeg-pa'i rdo-rje as Lilavajra the translators are
bowlIlg to an which has recently been justifiably challenged by DaVIdson m The Litany of Names of MafijusrI", p. 6, n. 18, where he argues that Vilasavajra is the correct Sanskrit name.
477 ! h e spar-khab, from which this work takes its abbreviated title, IS found m dedicatory final verse of that text, the Peking Tangyur, Vol. 83; m the Commentaries on the Guhyagarbhatantra and Other Rare Nyzngma T. exts. from the Library of Dudjom Rinpoche, Vol. 1, p. 222. . Its preCIse mterpretation, however, is at the present time uncertam.
478 The Garland of Activity was omitted in the published text, but was
YasasvI Varapala (grags-Idan mchog-skyong) IS the yakl? a s nan;e, the old edition of this text wrongly reads phyogs-skyong. See Scholar s Feast of Doctrinal History, p. 236. This observation has been confirmed by
the Author.
On this empowerment, see Fundamentals, p. 345.
A1ahayoga).
475 Tilopa and Naropa in particular, see Guenther, The Life and Teach-
History: Part Two 35
36 Notes
inserted subsequently by the Author before the Hidden Point of the Moon (zla-gsang thig-le). An alter. native would be dhasamayoga (the mind of body), HIdden of the (the of speech), Guhyasamaja (the mind of mmd), . (the mmd
Newar Art, pp. 83-8.
494 This is the aural lineage of Zhang-Zhung, the Ponpo tradition of the
Great Perfection. On Tavihrca in particular, see L. Chandra (ed. ), The History and Doctrine ofthe Bon-po pp. 15. 5-6 and 26. 5-27. 4. See also S. G. Karmay, "Origin and Development of the Tibetan Religious Traditions of the Great Perfection. "
495 See below, pp. 519-20.
496 The distinctions between the outer and inner classes are considered
in Fundamentals, pp. 273-4.
497 During the empowerment ceremony, the initiate casts a flower offering
onto the symbolic ma1). <;iala. The direction in which the flower falls - east, south, west, north or centre - holds particular significance, and one has a special affinity with the deity located there.
498 On the enlightened family of indestructible reality (Skt. vajrakula), that of see Fundamentals, p. 274.
499 Ritual service (bsnyen-pa, Skt. seva) entails the recitation of mantra combined with one-pointed prayerful devotion to a deity externally visualised; further ritual service (nye-bar bsnyen-pa, Skt. upaseva) en- tails the prayer to receive the consecration which will transform the mundane body, speech and mind into the three seed-syllables of in- destructible reality; the rite or means for attainment (sgrub-pa, Skt. sadhana) entails accomplishment in the form of light rays which are absorbed from the sugatas of the ten directions into the deity and thence into oneself, in actuality, meditation or dreams; then, the rite of great attainment (sgrub-chen, Skt. mahasadhana) entails ultimate realisation of beginningless primordial purity, the naturally present pristine cognition experienced when body, speech and mind are coalesced with the deity. This is the inner significance of the ritual ceremonies and elaborate dances contained within the "drupchen". See Mipham Rinpoche, tshig-bdun rnam-bshad padma dkar-po, pp. 22-3.
500 Garu<;ia is a gigantic and divine bird and, according to Hindu mytho- logy, the mount of the god He is a divinity in his own right and is worshipped as such by both Hindus and Buddhists.
501 For a summary of available information on this figure, see nayogavalf, pp. 9-12; and HIL 7. 1, pp. 114-15.
502 Davidson, "The Litany of Names of MafijusrI", p. 5, holds Mafiju- srImitra to have been a SrI Lankan.
503 These are the emanations of the deity which actually accomplish the four kinds of enlightened activity on behalf of the adept.
504 JeUiri is known for his contributions to the science of logic. See Vid- yabhusana, A History of Indian Logic, pp. 136-7, 140, 151; and G. Tucci, Minor Buddhist Texts, Pt. 1, pp. 249-74.
505 See Taranatha, History of Buddhism in India, p. 432. The younger Amoghavajra visited Tibet in 1086.
506 "Sublime" ('phags-pa, Skt. arya) refers to those who have sublimated the cyclical existence of samsara.
507 Some of the sources associating this mountain with Nagarjuna are discussed by Karmayin "King TsaIDza and Vajrayana", p. 197, n. 16.
508 Vajrakumara, the "Indestructible Youth", is an epithet of VajrakIla, or of his "offspring".
479 480
481
482 483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491 492
493
I. e. , the level of no return to the cyclical existence of saqlsara. On Asoka, see above, p. 453. .
The actual site of pilgrimage at the present day a cave locate
d on
of enlightened attributes) and Garland of ActlVzty (the of en- lightened activities). In this however, the Maf! "cal Net (the general tantra of mind) is included mstead of Paramadya. See also Jikme Lingpa, Narrative. History . of the Preczous Collected Tantras (rnying-ma'i rgyud-'bum-gyl p. _466. . . .
The outcaste boy is MatangIpa; see Taranatha, HIStory ofBuddhIsm m India, p. 129, n. 139 and p. 273. .
The great accomplished master first propagate the tradition of Saraha and Nagafjuna; see Taranatha, HIStory of Bud-
dhism in India, pp. 126-7, 152 and 273. _ . ' For the background to the Arya tradition of the Guhy'asama)a, whIch is that of Nagarjuna, refer to A. Wayman, The Tantras: New Light on Indo-Tibetan Esotericism, Ch. 2; also Idem, Yoga of the
Guhyasamajatantra, pp. 91-4.
See below, p. 533. .
The "Zombie" Sukhasiddhi is Garap DOfje; see pp. 490-3. . A survey of the different types of biogr. aphy of wIll be found in A. -M. Blondeau, "AnalysIs of the Pad- masambhava according to Tibetan Tradition: Ciassificauon of
Sources" in TSHR, pp. 45-52. . ' . krsna-'dzin. Often one sees this name spelt accordmg to ItS TIbetan
i. e. trig-na-'dzin. " . .
As explained in n. 291 above, to "liberate thIS c? ntext means to
forcefully transfer the consciousness of a senuent bemg n
from the body in order to remove obstacles, and, out of. compas. slO , to establish that being in a higher rebirth. Refer to the bIographIes of Nyak Jfianakumara, pp. 601-4; and Chowang, pp. . . This means that, having been absorbed mto the very heart of pnstme
cognition, he was fully empowered and so reborn, free of all obscura- tion. The symbolism of a passage such as the pre. sent one on several levels, however, so that a single fixed mterpretauon IS not
possible. . f Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims hold the Marauka Cave to be the cave 0
Haileshi, in Nepal's Sagarmatha district, south of the Mount Everest region near the town of Rumjitar. f
is here an aspect of Buddha Amitabha the body of per ect rapture, who is particularly the patron of longevity. _
-' The Tibetan term ma-mo is used to translate t e ans n. 1 the Hevajra Tantra (e. g. Pt. 1, Ch. 1, v.
16) where specIfic is intended. It should be noted, however, that rna-mo. IS used to trans a the term matrka, as well, and that this latter term IS used to denote d group of goddesses worshipped in the Kathmandu throughout northern IndIa. See A. W. Macdonald and A. .
the slope behind the VaJ'resvarI Temple in Pharpmg, Nepal. -
h "S k 't" matan III
History: Part Two 37
38 Notes
519
520
521 522
523
524 525
526
527
528
The syllables mentioned confer respectively the blessings of buddha- (o¥), speech (AI:I), mind (HO¥), attributes (sVA) and activities (HA).
On classes ofspirits, see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of VII, Ch. XII, pp. 281-2 and passim.
ThIS IS eXI? lained in detail in Fundamentals, pp. 319ff.
. the . of the Intrinsic Essential of the Innermost SP. If1tuahty (thlg-le rang-gnad-du dbab-pa), see Fundamentals, p. 333. IS the essence of the Esoteric Instructional Class of the Great Perfec- tIon.
JaI? bhala and Vasudhara are two of the most popular wealth-granting deItIes. For furth. er information, refer to Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tlbet, pp. 73-81.
"rites for deriving the most success" ('bogs-chog) transfer the to. ful. fil and restore the commitments of the secret mantra. ManJuvaJra IS a form of whose tradition in Tibet origin- ates from master See Dudjom Rinpoche, rgyal-rabs, pp. IS detailed in pp. 1-4. The whIch dIVIdes nirvaQ. a" ('khor-'das ru-shan) , . m texts. such as JIkme Lmgpa's khrid-yig ye-shes bla-ma, IS a medItatIOn t? the rejection of sarpsara, enabling one to the prehmmanes and main practice of Atiyoga.
Khotan m Turkestan was one of the greatest of Buddhist the first millenium AD. For an introduction to the on in that region, see, e. g. , K. Saha, zn Central. Asza, pp. 33-4 and passim; also M. A. Stein, Anczent Khotan: detazled report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan, 2 vols. ; and R. E. Emmerick (ed. & trans. ), The Book of Zambasta: A Poem on Buddhism. A useful synthesis of re- search to date IS D. L. Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Pt. 4. The body s,upreme (,pho-ba chen-po'i ku) is the rain- bow b? dy (}a attamment of All-Surpassing Realisation (thod-rgal). ! he rambow body transmutes all psychophysical components mt? lIght of buddhahood, so that no outward change is visible. ThIS IS Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Vairocana and so forth can pass other buddha-fields in the same forms. The lower rainbow attamment transmutes consciousness, feeling, perception and habItual i? to the. light of buddhahood, but the component of . form m SIze untIl only fingernails, tooth-enamel, hair or also Fundamentals, pp. 337-45; and Mipham's dis- CUSSIOn, CIted m n. 1285 below.
India here refers only to Madhyadesa, the heartland of Central India. The KokI countries are situated in the area from north-east India Burma and Cambodia; see Taranatha, History ofBuddhism in Indza, pp. 330-1.
"present refers to the era of Taranatha; this passage is denved HlstOry of Buddhism in India, pp. 320, 332-3.
On the tradmon of refer to G. W. Briggs, Gorakhniith and the Kiinphata YoglS; and to Dasgupta, Obscure Religious Cults, Ch. 8, pp. 206-9 and passim. For the Nathapamhas, see Chs. 8-9 of the latter work. The Hindu traditions here mentioned stem
509
The Caitya was situated in the Sltavana ground in Magadha. Originally the Gathering ofthe Sugatas ofthe Elght mitted Precepts (bka'-brgyad bder-'dus) was concealed there, along the Eight Sections of the Magical Net in the stiipa's the o f the Sugatas in the vase-shaped dome the speCIal tantras m Its four cardinal directions, the Consummatwn of Secrets (gsang-ba yongs- rdzogs) in the flute, the rgyud rang-byung rang-sha: in the of the
510
511 512 513
514
SIS
516
517
518
Kangyur. . .
gzi. A peculiar black-and-white-striped agate, beads of whIch are hIghly
prized by Tibetans for their talismanic value: _ .
This location in South India is revered by VaJrayana BuddhIsts as the
site where the Buddha taught the Kiilacakra Tantra. . Communal feast offerings (tshogs-kyi 'khor-lo, Skt. garJacakra). , m con- trast to other forms of contemplative activity, involve much ntual and material elaboration. Cf. Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten
spire, and the yang-gsang bla-med yang-ti nag-po I? P? mt of the spire. See E. Dargyay, The Rise of Esoteric Buddhlsm zn p:. 15, whose account is derived from the treasure of Nyang-rel NYIma Ozer
entitled Gathering of the Sugatas. . The Mahottara casket was. gold (gser), not bse-stone as the text mIsta-
kenly reads. See the Scholar's Feast of History, p. 243. Note that the catalogue numbers given for thIS senes of tantras are those corresponding to the extant texts of the eight cycles in NGB and the
Directions, pp. 402ff. (GGFTC, pp. 922ff. ); and Gonpo Tsetan, The Udumbara Bouquet. .
"Exercises which circulate the lamp-like vital energy" are, to Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche, a cycle of teachings based on Indian
hatha yoga. . . ' The lower method grants supernormal cognitive powers such as mVlSI-
bility, but not the ability to transcend sarpsara, which is the feature of the higher methods of Mahayoga and Anuyoga, or the great trans- formation into the rainbow body - the highest attainment of the buddha level according to the Great Perfection of Atiyoga. See Fundamentals,
pp. 337-45. . h Sthiramati comes between and Sukhodyotaka m t . e
Anuyoga lineage. See Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History, p. 239. HIS
writings on Anuyoga are represented by P 4752-4. " R. A. Stein, "Etude du monde chinoise: institutions L'Annuaire du College de France 72 (1972), pp. 502-3, mamtams that Chetsenkye may perhaps be identified with the P6npo translator Tsho-
tsenkye (mtsho-btsan-skyes), who appears to have flourished about the
529 530
531 532
. '
Buddhists to be four thousand arm-spans, i. e. about eIght thousan
year 1000. .
The yojana, an anCIent IndIan umt of length, IS gene. rall held
yards. It is defined as follows in the Treasury ofthe Abhidharma (Ch. 3, vv. 87-8):
Twenty-four inches equal one cubit.
Four cubits equal one bow-span. .
" fh "
Five hundred bow-spans equal one range 0 Eight "ranges of hearing" are said to equal one yo)ana.
. yb
History: Part Two 39
40 Notes
like Goraksanatha, are equally claimed the from n:tasters who, . ion of with the IS due
to Taranat a, a
Temp1eman, The Seven Instructwn Lmeages, pp.
HISTORY: PART THREE
. d'
533 As explamed by Du Jom f successive classes of non-human or
the gnod-sbyin nag-po, re-ti bdud, splntua emgs, na '. d -'jam lha rmu-rgyal kho-rye, krog- srin-bu skye-rengs khrag"dmlgkl and 'gong-po spun-dgu. Sub-
krog 'dre, ma-sengs rus- there, the country was divided sequently, when human e g . kingdoms' mchims-yul gru-shul between the ruled King lig snya-shur; ruled by by king gtsang-rje thod-dkar; gnubs-yul
m:J! ang-do phyo g . ubs- 'e dmigs-pa; nyang-ro ruled
tmf. dgu z/;ngs-sdonruledbyKinggyi-rye y mg rn '1 d b King zing-rje khri 'phrang-sum; 0 -p u ngam-shod khra-snar ru e y . . . . _ g la-mo gong
1 d b K' zmg-rye thon-greng, snn ron
ru e kong-yul bre-snu ruled by King kong-
to-re long-btsan, khri btsan-gnam, khri sgra-spungs btsan, khri thog-rje thog-btsan, and lha tho-tho ri gnyan-btsan who discovered the "Awesome Secret".
The ancestors of the religious kings (chos-rgyal-rnams-kyi mes) were khri-gnyan gzungs-btsan, 'brong-gnyan lde'u, slUg-ri gnyan-gzigs, and gnam-ri srong-btsan who was the father of Songtsen Gampo.
Then the religious kings (chos-rgyal rnams) were srong-btsan sgam-po, gung-ri gung-btsan, mang-srong mang-btsan, 'dus-srong mang-po rje klung- nam-'phrul-gyi rgyal-po, khri-lde gtsug-brtan, khri-srong lde'u btsan, mu-ne btsad-po, Prince mu-rab btsad-po, mu-tig btsad-po who was also known as sad-na legs-mjing, and khri ral-pa-can. Politically Tibet was at the zenith of its political power during this period. The conquest of the Chinese capital Chang-'an (modern Xi'an) was effected briefly in October 763.
Finally, King glang-dar-ma (b. 817), the apostate who ruled from 841 to 846 (or 838 to 842) was the last of the ancient line to govern the whole country. The dates given here are those ofmodern historians, based upon the records of Chinese, Tun-huang and Arabic origin, which for reasons stated on p. 399, are at variance by as much as sixty years with the traditional Tibetan dating for the royal dynasty between the reign of Songtsen Gampo and the restoration of the doctrine. For a synopsis of this problem, refer to Roerich's introduction to the Blue Annals; and for a detailed comparison of the various enumerations of the ancient kings, see Haarh, The Yar-lun Dynast)', Chs. 1-2, pp. 33-71. In chapter eight of the present work these divergencies have been noted in the course of nn. 1350-3 below.
According to Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche, this version of the prophecy belongs to an early siitra translation no longer extant.
Cf. Haarh, The Yar-lun Dynasty, p. 85. The Six-Syllable Mantra is that of the bodhisattva AvalokiteSvara: o ¥ PADME HO¥.
The "pure" Testament ofBa (sba-bzhed gtsang-ma), was composed prob- ably in the late eight or early ninth century. Until recently only an annotated version (zhabs-brtags-ma), dating from perhaps the four- teenth century, was known to exist. See R. A. Stein, Une Chronique Ancienne de bSam-yas. In 1980, however, an unsupplemented version was published in Peking by Gonpo Gyeltsen, on which see D. S.
Ruegg, "The Great Debate between Gradualists and Simultaneists in Eighth Century Tibet".
Considerable research has been devoted to the life and reign of this monarch. See especially: Haarh, The Yar-lun Dynasty, p. 62 and passim; A. Macdonald, "Une lecture des Pelliot tibetaine 1286, 1287, 1038,
1047 et 1290. Essai sur Ie formation et l'emploi des mythes politiques dans la religion royale de Sron-bcan sgam-po" in Etudes tibetaines dediees ala memoire de Marcelles Lalou, pp. 90-391; H. E. Richardson, "The Dharma that came down from Heaven" in Buddhist Thought and Asian Civilization; and G. Tucci, The Tombs of the Tibetan Kings.
rnam-thar. See the translation in
. '
Rin oche, rgyal-rabs, pp. 8-14, Tibet was
ruled by Kmg brang-rye go g I ' m ruled by nyang-btsun glang- . d d ng' nyang-yu -rnams gsu
rye ar-po tug- a , -bzhi ruled by King dvags-rje mang-po rgyal.
rgyal; and dvags-yul gru f: re between these twelve kingdoms, A result of constant warla . . . bh'b )
into the hands of forty principalItIesI(szl-ma . z Apart from 'brog-mo
gye-mo yul-drug ruled by the o'b rytheir names and localities are ruled by the lord gnyags-gru ra ,
unknown at the day. . . Tsen 0 have been summar- 534 The various tradltlons concermng Nyatrhl I PDy t Chs 10-11
ised and compared by E. Haarh in The Yar- un nasy, . , 535 the ancient royal dynasties of Tibet can be enumerated
as follows: 11 d h' (gnam gyi khri-bdun) were The seven heavenly kin.
the abode in and of itself (rang-snang), in which Samanta- bhadra transmits realisation to the Conquerors of the Five Enlightened Families and the of peaceful and wrathful deities by the blessing of the buddha-body of reality's intention. On its significance,
see Fundamentals, pp. 129ff. and n. 130.
The All-Pervader (khyab-'jug) here refers to Samantabhadra.
The Indestructible Nucleus of Inner Radiance ('od-gsal rdo-rje snying- po) is the dimension of the body of reality; see Fundamentals, p. 118
and n. 112. . The "special" or "extraordinary" realm (khyad-par-Can-gyl
'og-min, Skt. VisiHakaniHha) which manifests extraneously (gzhan- snang) is the abode in which Vajradhara and the Conquerors of the Five Enlightened Families transmit the teaching of Unsurpassed Yogatantra to tenth level bodhisattvas by the intentional symbols of
470 The traditions concerning this figure have been studied I·n S G K - "K· Ta/ . . ar
the buddha-body of perfect rapture.
Cf. Fundamentals, p. 125.
See above, p. 413; and Fundamentals, p. 62.
The ordinary ('og-min tsam-po, Skt. and the imputed AkaniHha realm (btags-pa'i 'og-min, Skt. *Au- pacarikakaniHha) are the extraneous realms within. the Pure Ab? des
in which the Unsurpassed Yoga tantras are transmItted respectlvely to ninth and eighth level bodhisattvas by the buddhas in the form of wrathful and peaceful meditational deities. See also Fundamen-
tals, pp. 128-9.
On the Vajra Queen, see Fundamentals, p. 125, n. 127.
In the Hindu traditions Rudra is typically an epithet of Siva, but for Tibetan Buddhists he is a wrathful embodiment of ego which has run wild. For a traditional and elaborate presentation ofthe myth ofRudra,
see The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava, Pt. I, pp. 26-46; and Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, Ch. IS, pp. 488ff.
(GGFTC, pp. 1075ff. ). . Vajradharma is the peaceful aspect of the Lord of Secrets: Guhyapatl
or . .
In the lineages which follow, Sanskrit names have been In most
u n d e r t h e
E i g h t e e n
G r e a t
T a n t r a p i t a k a ( o f t h e .
cases following the standard conventions for Tibetan-Sansknt. transla- tion. However, we know of no extant Sanskrit source for these lineages. It should be noted also that there are sometimes variants in the way
in which different Tibetan sources report these names, e. g. that of the YasasvI Varapala below. . , .
mg of Naropa.
476 In the name sgeg-pa'i rdo-rje as Lilavajra the translators are
bowlIlg to an which has recently been justifiably challenged by DaVIdson m The Litany of Names of MafijusrI", p. 6, n. 18, where he argues that Vilasavajra is the correct Sanskrit name.
477 ! h e spar-khab, from which this work takes its abbreviated title, IS found m dedicatory final verse of that text, the Peking Tangyur, Vol. 83; m the Commentaries on the Guhyagarbhatantra and Other Rare Nyzngma T. exts. from the Library of Dudjom Rinpoche, Vol. 1, p. 222. . Its preCIse mterpretation, however, is at the present time uncertam.
478 The Garland of Activity was omitted in the published text, but was
YasasvI Varapala (grags-Idan mchog-skyong) IS the yakl? a s nan;e, the old edition of this text wrongly reads phyogs-skyong. See Scholar s Feast of Doctrinal History, p. 236. This observation has been confirmed by
the Author.
On this empowerment, see Fundamentals, p. 345.
A1ahayoga).
475 Tilopa and Naropa in particular, see Guenther, The Life and Teach-
History: Part Two 35
36 Notes
inserted subsequently by the Author before the Hidden Point of the Moon (zla-gsang thig-le). An alter. native would be dhasamayoga (the mind of body), HIdden of the (the of speech), Guhyasamaja (the mind of mmd), . (the mmd
Newar Art, pp. 83-8.
494 This is the aural lineage of Zhang-Zhung, the Ponpo tradition of the
Great Perfection. On Tavihrca in particular, see L. Chandra (ed. ), The History and Doctrine ofthe Bon-po pp. 15. 5-6 and 26. 5-27. 4. See also S. G. Karmay, "Origin and Development of the Tibetan Religious Traditions of the Great Perfection. "
495 See below, pp. 519-20.
496 The distinctions between the outer and inner classes are considered
in Fundamentals, pp. 273-4.
497 During the empowerment ceremony, the initiate casts a flower offering
onto the symbolic ma1). <;iala. The direction in which the flower falls - east, south, west, north or centre - holds particular significance, and one has a special affinity with the deity located there.
498 On the enlightened family of indestructible reality (Skt. vajrakula), that of see Fundamentals, p. 274.
499 Ritual service (bsnyen-pa, Skt. seva) entails the recitation of mantra combined with one-pointed prayerful devotion to a deity externally visualised; further ritual service (nye-bar bsnyen-pa, Skt. upaseva) en- tails the prayer to receive the consecration which will transform the mundane body, speech and mind into the three seed-syllables of in- destructible reality; the rite or means for attainment (sgrub-pa, Skt. sadhana) entails accomplishment in the form of light rays which are absorbed from the sugatas of the ten directions into the deity and thence into oneself, in actuality, meditation or dreams; then, the rite of great attainment (sgrub-chen, Skt. mahasadhana) entails ultimate realisation of beginningless primordial purity, the naturally present pristine cognition experienced when body, speech and mind are coalesced with the deity. This is the inner significance of the ritual ceremonies and elaborate dances contained within the "drupchen". See Mipham Rinpoche, tshig-bdun rnam-bshad padma dkar-po, pp. 22-3.
500 Garu<;ia is a gigantic and divine bird and, according to Hindu mytho- logy, the mount of the god He is a divinity in his own right and is worshipped as such by both Hindus and Buddhists.
501 For a summary of available information on this figure, see nayogavalf, pp. 9-12; and HIL 7. 1, pp. 114-15.
502 Davidson, "The Litany of Names of MafijusrI", p. 5, holds Mafiju- srImitra to have been a SrI Lankan.
503 These are the emanations of the deity which actually accomplish the four kinds of enlightened activity on behalf of the adept.
504 JeUiri is known for his contributions to the science of logic. See Vid- yabhusana, A History of Indian Logic, pp. 136-7, 140, 151; and G. Tucci, Minor Buddhist Texts, Pt. 1, pp. 249-74.
505 See Taranatha, History of Buddhism in India, p. 432. The younger Amoghavajra visited Tibet in 1086.
506 "Sublime" ('phags-pa, Skt. arya) refers to those who have sublimated the cyclical existence of samsara.
507 Some of the sources associating this mountain with Nagarjuna are discussed by Karmayin "King TsaIDza and Vajrayana", p. 197, n. 16.
508 Vajrakumara, the "Indestructible Youth", is an epithet of VajrakIla, or of his "offspring".
479 480
481
482 483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491 492
493
I. e. , the level of no return to the cyclical existence of saqlsara. On Asoka, see above, p. 453. .
The actual site of pilgrimage at the present day a cave locate
d on
of enlightened attributes) and Garland of ActlVzty (the of en- lightened activities). In this however, the Maf! "cal Net (the general tantra of mind) is included mstead of Paramadya. See also Jikme Lingpa, Narrative. History . of the Preczous Collected Tantras (rnying-ma'i rgyud-'bum-gyl p. _466. . . .
The outcaste boy is MatangIpa; see Taranatha, HIStory ofBuddhIsm m India, p. 129, n. 139 and p. 273. .
The great accomplished master first propagate the tradition of Saraha and Nagafjuna; see Taranatha, HIStory of Bud-
dhism in India, pp. 126-7, 152 and 273. _ . ' For the background to the Arya tradition of the Guhy'asama)a, whIch is that of Nagarjuna, refer to A. Wayman, The Tantras: New Light on Indo-Tibetan Esotericism, Ch. 2; also Idem, Yoga of the
Guhyasamajatantra, pp. 91-4.
See below, p. 533. .
The "Zombie" Sukhasiddhi is Garap DOfje; see pp. 490-3. . A survey of the different types of biogr. aphy of wIll be found in A. -M. Blondeau, "AnalysIs of the Pad- masambhava according to Tibetan Tradition: Ciassificauon of
Sources" in TSHR, pp. 45-52. . ' . krsna-'dzin. Often one sees this name spelt accordmg to ItS TIbetan
i. e. trig-na-'dzin. " . .
As explained in n. 291 above, to "liberate thIS c? ntext means to
forcefully transfer the consciousness of a senuent bemg n
from the body in order to remove obstacles, and, out of. compas. slO , to establish that being in a higher rebirth. Refer to the bIographIes of Nyak Jfianakumara, pp. 601-4; and Chowang, pp. . . This means that, having been absorbed mto the very heart of pnstme
cognition, he was fully empowered and so reborn, free of all obscura- tion. The symbolism of a passage such as the pre. sent one on several levels, however, so that a single fixed mterpretauon IS not
possible. . f Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims hold the Marauka Cave to be the cave 0
Haileshi, in Nepal's Sagarmatha district, south of the Mount Everest region near the town of Rumjitar. f
is here an aspect of Buddha Amitabha the body of per ect rapture, who is particularly the patron of longevity. _
-' The Tibetan term ma-mo is used to translate t e ans n. 1 the Hevajra Tantra (e. g. Pt. 1, Ch. 1, v.
16) where specIfic is intended. It should be noted, however, that rna-mo. IS used to trans a the term matrka, as well, and that this latter term IS used to denote d group of goddesses worshipped in the Kathmandu throughout northern IndIa. See A. W. Macdonald and A. .
the slope behind the VaJ'resvarI Temple in Pharpmg, Nepal. -
h "S k 't" matan III
History: Part Two 37
38 Notes
519
520
521 522
523
524 525
526
527
528
The syllables mentioned confer respectively the blessings of buddha- (o¥), speech (AI:I), mind (HO¥), attributes (sVA) and activities (HA).
On classes ofspirits, see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of VII, Ch. XII, pp. 281-2 and passim.
ThIS IS eXI? lained in detail in Fundamentals, pp. 319ff.
. the . of the Intrinsic Essential of the Innermost SP. If1tuahty (thlg-le rang-gnad-du dbab-pa), see Fundamentals, p. 333. IS the essence of the Esoteric Instructional Class of the Great Perfec- tIon.
JaI? bhala and Vasudhara are two of the most popular wealth-granting deItIes. For furth. er information, refer to Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tlbet, pp. 73-81.
"rites for deriving the most success" ('bogs-chog) transfer the to. ful. fil and restore the commitments of the secret mantra. ManJuvaJra IS a form of whose tradition in Tibet origin- ates from master See Dudjom Rinpoche, rgyal-rabs, pp. IS detailed in pp. 1-4. The whIch dIVIdes nirvaQ. a" ('khor-'das ru-shan) , . m texts. such as JIkme Lmgpa's khrid-yig ye-shes bla-ma, IS a medItatIOn t? the rejection of sarpsara, enabling one to the prehmmanes and main practice of Atiyoga.
Khotan m Turkestan was one of the greatest of Buddhist the first millenium AD. For an introduction to the on in that region, see, e. g. , K. Saha, zn Central. Asza, pp. 33-4 and passim; also M. A. Stein, Anczent Khotan: detazled report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan, 2 vols. ; and R. E. Emmerick (ed. & trans. ), The Book of Zambasta: A Poem on Buddhism. A useful synthesis of re- search to date IS D. L. Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Pt. 4. The body s,upreme (,pho-ba chen-po'i ku) is the rain- bow b? dy (}a attamment of All-Surpassing Realisation (thod-rgal). ! he rambow body transmutes all psychophysical components mt? lIght of buddhahood, so that no outward change is visible. ThIS IS Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Vairocana and so forth can pass other buddha-fields in the same forms. The lower rainbow attamment transmutes consciousness, feeling, perception and habItual i? to the. light of buddhahood, but the component of . form m SIze untIl only fingernails, tooth-enamel, hair or also Fundamentals, pp. 337-45; and Mipham's dis- CUSSIOn, CIted m n. 1285 below.
India here refers only to Madhyadesa, the heartland of Central India. The KokI countries are situated in the area from north-east India Burma and Cambodia; see Taranatha, History ofBuddhism in Indza, pp. 330-1.
"present refers to the era of Taranatha; this passage is denved HlstOry of Buddhism in India, pp. 320, 332-3.
On the tradmon of refer to G. W. Briggs, Gorakhniith and the Kiinphata YoglS; and to Dasgupta, Obscure Religious Cults, Ch. 8, pp. 206-9 and passim. For the Nathapamhas, see Chs. 8-9 of the latter work. The Hindu traditions here mentioned stem
509
The Caitya was situated in the Sltavana ground in Magadha. Originally the Gathering ofthe Sugatas ofthe Elght mitted Precepts (bka'-brgyad bder-'dus) was concealed there, along the Eight Sections of the Magical Net in the stiipa's the o f the Sugatas in the vase-shaped dome the speCIal tantras m Its four cardinal directions, the Consummatwn of Secrets (gsang-ba yongs- rdzogs) in the flute, the rgyud rang-byung rang-sha: in the of the
510
511 512 513
514
SIS
516
517
518
Kangyur. . .
gzi. A peculiar black-and-white-striped agate, beads of whIch are hIghly
prized by Tibetans for their talismanic value: _ .
This location in South India is revered by VaJrayana BuddhIsts as the
site where the Buddha taught the Kiilacakra Tantra. . Communal feast offerings (tshogs-kyi 'khor-lo, Skt. garJacakra). , m con- trast to other forms of contemplative activity, involve much ntual and material elaboration. Cf. Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten
spire, and the yang-gsang bla-med yang-ti nag-po I? P? mt of the spire. See E. Dargyay, The Rise of Esoteric Buddhlsm zn p:. 15, whose account is derived from the treasure of Nyang-rel NYIma Ozer
entitled Gathering of the Sugatas. . The Mahottara casket was. gold (gser), not bse-stone as the text mIsta-
kenly reads. See the Scholar's Feast of History, p. 243. Note that the catalogue numbers given for thIS senes of tantras are those corresponding to the extant texts of the eight cycles in NGB and the
Directions, pp. 402ff. (GGFTC, pp. 922ff. ); and Gonpo Tsetan, The Udumbara Bouquet. .
"Exercises which circulate the lamp-like vital energy" are, to Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche, a cycle of teachings based on Indian
hatha yoga. . . ' The lower method grants supernormal cognitive powers such as mVlSI-
bility, but not the ability to transcend sarpsara, which is the feature of the higher methods of Mahayoga and Anuyoga, or the great trans- formation into the rainbow body - the highest attainment of the buddha level according to the Great Perfection of Atiyoga. See Fundamentals,
pp. 337-45. . h Sthiramati comes between and Sukhodyotaka m t . e
Anuyoga lineage. See Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History, p. 239. HIS
writings on Anuyoga are represented by P 4752-4. " R. A. Stein, "Etude du monde chinoise: institutions L'Annuaire du College de France 72 (1972), pp. 502-3, mamtams that Chetsenkye may perhaps be identified with the P6npo translator Tsho-
tsenkye (mtsho-btsan-skyes), who appears to have flourished about the
529 530
531 532
. '
Buddhists to be four thousand arm-spans, i. e. about eIght thousan
year 1000. .
The yojana, an anCIent IndIan umt of length, IS gene. rall held
yards. It is defined as follows in the Treasury ofthe Abhidharma (Ch. 3, vv. 87-8):
Twenty-four inches equal one cubit.
Four cubits equal one bow-span. .
" fh "
Five hundred bow-spans equal one range 0 Eight "ranges of hearing" are said to equal one yo)ana.
. yb
History: Part Two 39
40 Notes
like Goraksanatha, are equally claimed the from n:tasters who, . ion of with the IS due
to Taranat a, a
Temp1eman, The Seven Instructwn Lmeages, pp.
HISTORY: PART THREE
. d'
533 As explamed by Du Jom f successive classes of non-human or
the gnod-sbyin nag-po, re-ti bdud, splntua emgs, na '. d -'jam lha rmu-rgyal kho-rye, krog- srin-bu skye-rengs khrag"dmlgkl and 'gong-po spun-dgu. Sub-
krog 'dre, ma-sengs rus- there, the country was divided sequently, when human e g . kingdoms' mchims-yul gru-shul between the ruled King lig snya-shur; ruled by by king gtsang-rje thod-dkar; gnubs-yul
m:J! ang-do phyo g . ubs- 'e dmigs-pa; nyang-ro ruled
tmf. dgu z/;ngs-sdonruledbyKinggyi-rye y mg rn '1 d b King zing-rje khri 'phrang-sum; 0 -p u ngam-shod khra-snar ru e y . . . . _ g la-mo gong
1 d b K' zmg-rye thon-greng, snn ron
ru e kong-yul bre-snu ruled by King kong-
to-re long-btsan, khri btsan-gnam, khri sgra-spungs btsan, khri thog-rje thog-btsan, and lha tho-tho ri gnyan-btsan who discovered the "Awesome Secret".
The ancestors of the religious kings (chos-rgyal-rnams-kyi mes) were khri-gnyan gzungs-btsan, 'brong-gnyan lde'u, slUg-ri gnyan-gzigs, and gnam-ri srong-btsan who was the father of Songtsen Gampo.
Then the religious kings (chos-rgyal rnams) were srong-btsan sgam-po, gung-ri gung-btsan, mang-srong mang-btsan, 'dus-srong mang-po rje klung- nam-'phrul-gyi rgyal-po, khri-lde gtsug-brtan, khri-srong lde'u btsan, mu-ne btsad-po, Prince mu-rab btsad-po, mu-tig btsad-po who was also known as sad-na legs-mjing, and khri ral-pa-can. Politically Tibet was at the zenith of its political power during this period. The conquest of the Chinese capital Chang-'an (modern Xi'an) was effected briefly in October 763.
Finally, King glang-dar-ma (b. 817), the apostate who ruled from 841 to 846 (or 838 to 842) was the last of the ancient line to govern the whole country. The dates given here are those ofmodern historians, based upon the records of Chinese, Tun-huang and Arabic origin, which for reasons stated on p. 399, are at variance by as much as sixty years with the traditional Tibetan dating for the royal dynasty between the reign of Songtsen Gampo and the restoration of the doctrine. For a synopsis of this problem, refer to Roerich's introduction to the Blue Annals; and for a detailed comparison of the various enumerations of the ancient kings, see Haarh, The Yar-lun Dynast)', Chs. 1-2, pp. 33-71. In chapter eight of the present work these divergencies have been noted in the course of nn. 1350-3 below.
According to Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche, this version of the prophecy belongs to an early siitra translation no longer extant.
Cf. Haarh, The Yar-lun Dynasty, p. 85. The Six-Syllable Mantra is that of the bodhisattva AvalokiteSvara: o ¥ PADME HO¥.
The "pure" Testament ofBa (sba-bzhed gtsang-ma), was composed prob- ably in the late eight or early ninth century. Until recently only an annotated version (zhabs-brtags-ma), dating from perhaps the four- teenth century, was known to exist. See R. A. Stein, Une Chronique Ancienne de bSam-yas. In 1980, however, an unsupplemented version was published in Peking by Gonpo Gyeltsen, on which see D. S.
Ruegg, "The Great Debate between Gradualists and Simultaneists in Eighth Century Tibet".
Considerable research has been devoted to the life and reign of this monarch. See especially: Haarh, The Yar-lun Dynasty, p. 62 and passim; A. Macdonald, "Une lecture des Pelliot tibetaine 1286, 1287, 1038,
1047 et 1290. Essai sur Ie formation et l'emploi des mythes politiques dans la religion royale de Sron-bcan sgam-po" in Etudes tibetaines dediees ala memoire de Marcelles Lalou, pp. 90-391; H. E. Richardson, "The Dharma that came down from Heaven" in Buddhist Thought and Asian Civilization; and G. Tucci, The Tombs of the Tibetan Kings.
rnam-thar. See the translation in
. '
Rin oche, rgyal-rabs, pp. 8-14, Tibet was
ruled by Kmg brang-rye go g I ' m ruled by nyang-btsun glang- . d d ng' nyang-yu -rnams gsu
rye ar-po tug- a , -bzhi ruled by King dvags-rje mang-po rgyal.
rgyal; and dvags-yul gru f: re between these twelve kingdoms, A result of constant warla . . . bh'b )
into the hands of forty principalItIesI(szl-ma . z Apart from 'brog-mo
gye-mo yul-drug ruled by the o'b rytheir names and localities are ruled by the lord gnyags-gru ra ,
unknown at the day. . . Tsen 0 have been summar- 534 The various tradltlons concermng Nyatrhl I PDy t Chs 10-11
ised and compared by E. Haarh in The Yar- un nasy, . , 535 the ancient royal dynasties of Tibet can be enumerated
as follows: 11 d h' (gnam gyi khri-bdun) were The seven heavenly kin.
