Having the nature of clarity
means that when beings are still impure, all the various appearances of phenomena can manifest within this clarity.
means that when beings are still impure, all the various appearances of phenomena can manifest within this clarity.
Khenchen-Thrangu-Rinpoche-Asanga-Uttara-Tantra
There is, of course, the Vedic tradition based largely on the Hindu tradition which is one of the world's oldest systems of philosophy.
Then there is a more recent philosophical school which began in India around the first century A.
D.
and ended around the tenth century.
This was the time of the flourishing of a school of Buddhism which centered in a dozen monastic universities in Northern India.
This school was founded by realized individuals, rather than just scholars, and devoted itself to the examination of reality.
These Buddhist
practitioners and scholars illuminated the notion that what we conventionally take for real and solid, is not. They developed many logical arguments and demonstrations with the tools they had available to them at the time to show that everything as we perceive it is not as it is but rather an empty of inherent existence (Skt. Sunyata). What we take for "reality" is, for the most part, a projection of
our mind.
This philosophical tradition which became known as
mahayana Buddhism spread throughout the Far East but has been largely ignored in our modem, scientific age. This, however, is ironic because now physicist working on the frontiers of subatomic theory have basically come up with the notion that nothing is solid, but rather is almost
completely empty space with certain energy relations between them. Furthermore, if we even try to apply simple logic to these "building blocks" of matter such as electron^, we have to conclude that these elementary particles do ntft exist in any single place and can only be described in terms
? vi i i
of probability of where they might be and in their relationship to the rest of the material of the universe. Even in our more down-to-earth sciences we are discovering that objects which we thought of as distinct objects such as a single tree in a forest must be thought of as a complex organic combination with highly complicated interactions with the surrounding environment and not as a single unit.
What does this mean to the ordinary individual? Il
means that for us to gain any understanding of why we
were placed on this earth and how we should live our life
now we are here, we have to examine this world to see
what is lasting and enduring, and what is just a transitory
display of phenomena. The Madhyamaka school with great
masters such as Nagarjuna, Asanga, Vasubandhu, / ? >>.
Chandraklrti, Dignaga, Naropa, Shantarakshita, Shantideva did just this. They demonstrated that our suffering and problems and confusion in this world is due to our almost innate belief that we are a self as a solid enduring object.
Unfortunately, with the confusion after the Moslem invasion of India a vast amount of this literature was lost in India and only fragments of it remain in Sanskrit. However, a large portion of this literature was translated into Tibetan and written down and studied and practiced in Tibet. Because of this one of the greatest works of this tradition, The Uttara Tantra by the great scholar Asanga was preserved. This book consists of 404 verses devoted almost exclusively to enduring and permanent in this world, namely, tathagatagarba or buddha nature. Buddha nature is that primary essence that all beings possess and which is the essence that makes it possible for all beings to
achieve enlightenment. The Uttara Tantra is considered so
? important in the Tibetan tradition that these root verses are often memorized. In addition this text is also extremely relevant for all Buddhist practitioners because it answers many questions such as how can one tell if someone is enlightened and what are the necessary qualities to achieve enlightenment.
In the late 1970s Kagyu Samye Ling in Scotland invited the Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche to come to Europe and teach. Thrangu Rinpoche was eminently qualified because he had just finished establishing the curriculum for the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism for its head, the sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa. He chose one of the most important texts of Tibetan Buddhism to begin with and spent several months giving a line by line commentary on this Uttara Tantra.
The Uttara Tantra like many texts of the time was written in very terse, compact language with extremely deep and subtle references which makes the text accessible to only an extremely erudite scholar. This book follows an oral tradition used by lamas for the last ten centuries which meant that every point was numbered, placed in a category, stated, restated, emphasized, and then summarized. Had the transcripts simply been typeset, the commentary would
have been about 700 pages long and would have been very difficult to follow. So with the help of chapters, headings, and extensive elimination of repetition and categorization, the Uttara Tantra was brought down to a manageable size which could be easily read by Westerners. At the suggestion of Ken Holmes the numbers of the verses in the Changeless Nature were added in brackets before the
corresponding paragraphs of the commentary so one can read the verses of the Changeless Nature and then read the
? corresponding commentary. A glossary and appendix of Tibetan terms were also added for the reader not familiar with Buddhist terms. An attempt was also made to make the commentary so that the reader could read it without having to refer to the root text.
The result is quite extraordinary. We have a complete rendering of an intact text of the period by someone who not only has studied it for a lifetime, but who has done the same meditative practices that Asanga did to reach the realization described in the text. In addition to this we have Thrangu Rinpoche's line by line exposition explaining every word of the text. The covering of a text with this precision with the guide of Jamgon Kongtrul's shastra which has to be one of the greatest commentaries on any religious text of this period is something which has been available to only a few rare individuals living over the past
centuries in monasteries in Tibet
Clark Johnson,Ph. D. December 21, 1993
? Chapter 1
An Introduction to the Uttara Tantra
The Buddha gave many teachings and these teachings are classified into three turnings of the wheel of dharma. The subject matter of the first turning of the wheel of dharma are the four noble truths. These truths are the truth of suffering, the truth of the origin of suffering, the truth of the cessation of suffering, and the truth of the path. The teachings of this first turning were aimed at individuals who did not have the sharpest intelligence and needed teachings that were easier to comprehend. In this turning the Buddha stated there was suffering, that the defilements were the cause of suffering, and there was a possibility for the liberation from all of this. Everything in this turning
was phrased in terms of something tangible and in terms of conventional reality or relative truth. In the second turning the Buddha took a different position by explaining that everything that appears to exist actually does not have this reality. In this turning the Buddha said, "There is no form, no sound, no smell, no taste" etc. (as in the Prajha-
pUramitU or the Heart sutra) showing that all the objects of the senses and all the forms of appearance are simply illusory and have no ultimate reality. So, the actual nature of all phenomena is voidness.
In the second turning the Buddha established that all phenomena are void but this point was not elucidated.
? However, in the third turning, the Buddha revealed the ultimate nature of phenomena by showing that this voidness was not a total absence, a total emptiness of everything, but has qualities of the ultimate nature of phenomena. These teachings also show that all beings possess the essence of the Buddha. If they work on the path, they will be able tc develop the perfect knowledge of the Buddha. The Uttara Tantra explains that this essence of Buddhahood is present in the mind of all beings. After the teachings of the third turning, many works were
composed by learned teachers which pertained to this same subject matter. For example, the bodhisatrva Maitreva composed five teachings on this topic.
This Commentary
The Uttara Tantra is one of the five teachings of Maitreya and is related to the third turning. This text on the Uttara Tantra is based on the commentary by Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche and has two main parts. The first part is a general introduction which covers the nature of the text, the author, how it was composed, and so forth which is
reviewed in this chapter. 1 The second part of the commentary is on the actual text itself and is divided into eight points.
The first point is that there are two kinds of Buddhist teachings--the words of the Buddha (sutras) and the commentaries composed by others on the Buddha's works
*Thc Uttara Tantra is sastra by Maitreya on the dharanisvaranraja sutra of the Buddha. Thrangu Rinpoche used the commentary by Jamgon Kongtrul (1813-1899) which has not been translated into English for the basis of this exposition. The root text has been translated by Ken and Katia Holmes as The Changeless Nature.
? (fastras). One might think the Uttara Tantra is composed of the words of the Buddha because Maitreya is a representative of the Buddha. However, this work is related to the subject matter taught in the third turning and therefore it is classified as an explanatory text composed by someone other than the Buddha.
Secondly, what source did the Uttara Tantra rely on? Some claim this teaching is related to the Mind Only (Skt. Cittamatra) school, but this is not so because this teaching relates directly to the teachings on absolute truth. The Uttara Tantra derives its subject matter from all the sutras of the three turnings--it is like the quintessence of all these sutras and particularly it has a close connection to one sutra taught at the request of King Isvara.
The third point examines the authorship of this work. In general, the sastras are produced by authors who have one of three qualifications. The best is one who has a direct understanding of the absolute truth of phenomena. If someone does not have this understanding, then second best is someone who has met face-to-face with a deity such as Manjusri. The poorest are those authors who are well
educated and only have a thorough knowledge of the five branches of the sciences (grammar, logic, craftsmanship, healing, and spirituality). Texts written by someone who doesn't have one of the above three qualifications aren't worthy of a Buddhist commentary. Maitreya, the author of the Uttara Tantra, is even better than the best category because not only did he possess realization of absolute truth, but he was a bodhisattva of the highest level.
The fourth point discusses how this work spread after Maitreya had given the teachings of the Uttara Tantra. Buddha Sakyamuni had actually made a prediction that
? there would be a teaching given by one of the highest bodhisattvas and it would relate to the highest possible meaning and these teachings would be given to men and propagated among them.
The Story o f Asanga
The story of the spread of the Uttara Tantra begins at the famous Buddhist University of NSlanda in India. The university was set on fire by heretics and many precious teachings were destroyed including most of the Abhidharma teachings. At that time a nun called Salwai Tsultim became very worried that the teachings would be lost. So she decided to have sons to allow the teachings to grpw and spread again. She had two sons: Asanga who became a proponent of the mahayana teachings and Vasubandhu who became an outstanding proponent of the hlnayUna teachings.
Asanga began by meditating very diligently on Maitreya. He practiced for three years and didn't seem to be getting any results. He became very depressed at not having accomplished anything in his meditation. So he left his retreat and on the way met a man who was rubbing a rock. He inquired and found that the man was rubbing the rock to get rid of it because the rock was blocking the sun from shining on his house. Asanga was so impressed by his perseverance that he decided to try again. He returned and meditated for 12 years and still did not feel he was getting anywhere with his meditation and became depressed again. He left his retreat and on the way he saw a dog which was
very sick and thin. The dog was very angry and ready to bite him. Suddenly, Asanga felt strong compassion for the
? dog because he noticed that the dog had worms in his wounds. He wanted to remove the worms to help the dog, but realized that if he pulled the worms off, he would kill them. It was a choice between killing the worms or leaving the worms on the dog which would cause the dog to die. But Asanga felt such strong compassion and felt that he must find a way to get the worms out. He thought, "If I take the worms off with my tongue, then the worms won't be hurt and the dog will get better. " So he leaned down and
stuck out his tongue; and as he touched the ground, Maitreya appeared before him. He saw Maitreya and exclaimed, "How is it possible! I have been practicing this meditation for 12 years and haven't been able to meet you. You really don't have much compassion for me. " Maitreya said, "It wasn't my lack of compassion. I was there the whole time but you couldn't see me because you had too many obscurations. After 12 years of practice, your obscurations had become so slight that when you saw the
dog, you were able to have compassion and to see me. " After their meeting, Maitreya and Asanga went to the Tusita buddha-field and there Maitreya gave teachings on the second turning to Asanga. From these teachings and especially the teachings of the Prajhdpdramita Asanga composed the Abhisamaydlankdra. Maitreya also gave teachings on the third turning with some related to the
relative meaning and some related to the absolute meaning of the dharma. Three teachings pertained to the relative meaning: the MahaydnasUtralankara, the Dharmatavib- hahga, and the Madhydntavibhanga. The teachings related to the absolute meaning of reality were the Abhisamayp<<- lankdra and the Uttara Tantra &stra. So Maitreya gave,, Asanga these five teachings and they were transmitted to
human beings of our world.
? The fifth point discusses the line of transmission of the Uttara Tantra. The teachings of Maitreya were transmitted in two lines--the words and the meaning. The Uttara Tantra was given to Asanga and he transmitted it to his brother Vasubandhu. Later Asanga wrote five works on the five transmissions from Maitreya to make Maitreya's teachings more accessible to everyone. His brother Vasubandhu also wrote commentaries on two of these five works of Maitreya. He wrote a commentary on the
Dharmatavibhanga and the Madhyantavibhahga.
Among these five teachings, three were disseminated quite widely. These were the Abhisamayalahkara, the Madhyantavibhariga, and the Mahayanasutralahkara and were transmitted by Vasubandhu to his disciple Dinnaga. DinnSga passed them to his disciple Lodro Tenpa who disseminated these teachings quite widely. The other two
teachings, the Uttara Tantra and the Dharmatavibhanga, were more profound and were given to only a few pupils.
In Tibet there were two periods of history in which the Buddhist teachings were widely spread. The earlier period during the eighth century at the time of King Thrisong Deutsen or the "time of the three," with the ":hree" being mahapandita Santaraksita, King Thrisong Deutsen, and Guru Padmasambhava. During this time these first three teachings of Maitreya were translated into Tibetan and disseminated widely. The two profound works were hidden treasures (Tib. terma2) and were hidden so that they were not known during this first period. Much later Maitripa,
one of Marpa's gurus, saw a stupa that was cracked and
^ Tibetan words in this text arc spelled as they are pronounced, not as they are spelled in Tibetan. Their Tibetan spelling can be found in Appendix A.
? from the stupa came a brilliant light. Maitripa became curious and found these two texts inside the crack. He found their meaning was so deep that he wasn't sure he understood them. So he prayed to Maitreya for blessings to understand these texts and Maitreya appeared to him and gave him the ritual reading (Tib. lung). After that reading Maitripa could understand the text clearly. These teachings were then passed on to many panditas or the great scholars in India.
Later these deeper teachings spread in Tibet. There were two main lines of transmission--the transmission of the words and the transmission of the meaning of the text. The words were transmitted mainly by Loden Sherab. He was a translator who went to a preeminently Muslim part of India where he received the teachings of the Uttara
Tantra and the Dharamatavibhaga and translated them into Tibetan. His approach followed that of the Madhyamaka school. At the same time there was another lama named Senka Uche who received the teachings of the Uttara Tantra from the Indian teacher, Guru Tsatsana. He meditated on it to understand its deep meaning and started the meditation transmission.
The main difference between the scholarly and the meditative approach is that in the meditative approach "voidness" is not understood as the absence of everything, but as containing the essence of Buddhahood. In the meditative approach, however, one meditates on the voidness as containing the essence of Buddha to
understand this concept. This tradition combined the theoretical material of the Uttara Tantra with meditation of. mahamudra. This tradition based on the . five teachings of Maitreya was passed on to the third Karmapa, Rangjung
? Doije. He wrote a short summary of the Uttara Tantra and through him the Uttara Tantra was transmitted to all the
main lamas of the Kagyu lineage. For example, this teaching was transmitted to the eighth Shamarpa Rinpoche, Chuji Dondrup, and to the eighth Tai Situpa Rinpoche, Chuji Jungne, and to Jamgon Kongtrul.
The sixth point concerns the subject matter of the Uttara Tantra. As mentioned before, the Buddha gave his teachings in three turnings of the wheel of dharma. All his teachings, however, have a similar root with the essential point being the absence of a "self. " Some religions believe that if one does what pleases God or the gods, then they
will be rewarded one and one will obtain greater happiness. They also believe that if one does something that goes against God or the gods, one will encounter misfortunes and fall into a lower realm. There is no such belief in the Buddhist teachings. What happens to one is not the result of pleasing or displeasing a god. The Buddha's teachings are based on the study of the nature of things, so when the nature of phenomena is completely understood, one has attained Buddhahood. If one does not understand the nature of things, one continues to live in conditioned existence (Skt. samsUra).
The key to all Buddhist teachings is the twofold absence of self and of phenomena. Normally, we believe that we are a separate "self' and this belief in a "self' arises from the idea of "I. " As soon as we think "I" or "myself," there develops the wish to keep this "I" happy and comfortable which gives rise to desire. We want to
provide that "I" with all the happiness we can find. Then when this "I" feels threatened, the threat generates anger. This "I" will also feel it is better and has better qualities
? than others and this will generate pride. If this "I" fears there are others who are as good or better, then jealousy will be generated. To summarize, as soon as there is this belief that the individual self has a reality, then all the five negative afflictions (Skt klefas) of desire, anger, aversion,
pride, and jealousy are generated. The belief in the existence of phenomena is a consequence of the first belief. When we believe we exist, then we also believe that all phenomena one experiences also exists.
The main point of Buddhist practice is to eliminate the belief of self and phenomena. The way to eliminate the belief in self is to investigate the location of the one who thinks "I am. " If one thinks "I," then who is thinking "I"? Then try to find this "I" somewhere. If one meditates on this and investigates it closely, one will not find anything that is called the "I. " Through this process one will understand the nonexistence of self. The belief in the
existence of phenomena which appears to be real and substantial is more difficult. But when one considers it more closely, one will begin to see that phenomena are very much like a bubble in water or a dream. All these things do not have any solid reality either.
To summarize, the main point of all three turnings of the wheel of dharma is to understand the nonexistence of self and of phenomena. The absence of a "self' is voidness (Sunyatfi), but this voidness is not to be misunderstood as blankness, a complete emptiness. It is not like empty space because empty space is frozen and no change can manifest from it. Sunyata has a different quality. This voidness is by nature clarity (Tib. salwa).
Having the nature of clarity
means that when beings are still impure, all the various appearances of phenomena can manifest within this clarity.
? When individuals have eliminated their impurities, Buddhahood is manifested in clarity. Within this clarity the forms (Skt. kayas) of the Buddha and the activity of the Buddha can manifest. So this voidness is full of all these possibilities. For everything to manifest in the impure and the pure phase, this voidness must be indivisible from clarity. The clarity represents the very vivid intelligent aspect. So clarity and emptiness are completely united and the union of these two is the essence of all Buddhas and is present within the mind of all beings. If one can realize the unity of clarity and voidness, one can reach Buddhahood.
This essence of Buddhahood is present in all beings without any distinction which means that whoever practices can realize and reach Buddhahood. There is no difference between a man and a woman, or of a race or social class or anything else because everyone has this essence of enlightenment.
The reason one does not realize the essence of enlightenment is that it is obscured by defilements. One can distinguish three stages of defilements. In the impure phase, the stage of ordinary beings, buddha nature is totally obscured by defilements. In the second phase of the bodhisattvas the impurities are slightly purified with the obscurations partly removed. Finally, in the phase of total purity one is a Buddha.
The concept of buddha nature is central to the Buddhist teachings and is sometimes referred to by the Sanskrit word gharba which means "the inner core of something. " If one has a grain with a husk, the essential part of the grain is called the "gharba. " The parallel is that human beings have the essence of Buddha in them, but it is covered by fleeting impurities. This kernel, buddha nature is the main topic of the Uttara Tantra.
? The seventh point discusses the different ways of presenting the teachings. As we mentioned before, there is the tradition of Loden Sherab based on the more intel- lectual approach connected with the Madhyamaka tradition. The second approach which came from Sakya Dorje is the tradition of the immediate apprehension of the subject matter through meditation. This latter approach is the more direct approach in which one meditates on the mahamudrS and the actual meaning of the nature of
phenomena.
Name o f the Text
Most Tibetan texts translated from Sanskrit give the Sanskrit name and the Tibetan name in the title. They also usually contain a salutation by the translator to an emanation of the Buddha in order to receive the blessing of the Buddha so the translation will go forward without any obstacles. After the title and salutation, the Uttara Tantra begins with the actual words of Maitreya.
The Uttara Tantra was originally written in Sanskrit which is called "the language of the gods. " This work was then translated into Tibetan to make it accessible to Tibetans who could then read, contemplate, and meditate on it. The name of the text is in both Sanskrit and Tibetan to remember the kindness of the translators who made the work available to the Tibetan people and to show that the work was an original Sanskrit source taught directly by the Buddhas or bodhisattvas. The name of the text is first
given in Sanskrit and is called the MahaySna Uttara Tantra Sastra. Then it is translated into Tibetan as tegpa chenpo gyu lama tan cho which in English would literally
? be "the ultimate mahayana treatise on continuity. " Taking each word, tegpa literally means to "carry" or "lift. " This word "carry" has two different aspects: the process aspect of carrying and the result aspect of carrying. The process
aspect is represented by the path of the bodhisattva. The result aspect i<< reaching the state of Buddhahood. The word "tegpa" or "yQna" in Sanskrit, can be either small or
/
h*r>> it refers to the great aspect. MahSyana in . ffi krit means "great y3na" or "great action of carrying. " >j:rcat for seven different reasons, some of which are as the aim of the path is great (or very wide), the used on the path is great, the jruina or knowledge
toe path is very great,
FwJtewjflgi "tegpa cheapo" if "gyu lama. " The Sanskrit
word for "gyu lama'* is "uttara tantra" and this is usually the short name given to this work. Uttara Tantra can be explained from the viewpoint of the literal words or from the viewpoint of the terminology of its meaning.
From the terminology viewpoint, the first word gyu means "continuity" and means there is a continuity in the words and the continuity of these words creates a clear understandable meaning which makes up the work. To this word "gyu" it added the qualifier lama which means "ultimate," "superior,H"higher" or "excellent. " This is added to "continuity" because the continuity of this text
contains the deepest meaning.
From the viewpoint of meaning of the work, the word
"gyu" means "continuity" but in this context it means the continuity of the essence of the Buddhahood which never changes whether it is in terms of the ground when it is present in all beings, or in terms of the path when beings are practicing the attainment of enlightenment, or in terms
? of fruition when one becomes a Buddha. Throughout all these phases the nature of Buddhahood remains the same so there is an unbroken continuity all along its development The word "lama" here means "ultimate" or "highest" because the type of practice which will come from this text is not ordinary Buddhist practice, but superior to the practice of hlnaySna. It is a very high type
of practice because it points to the ultimate nature of all phenomena. It also comes from a very high bodhisattva which is another reason for giving it the qualifier of "ultimate. " Finally, the word "ultimate" is in the title because the Uttara Tantra involves explaining absolute truth so it is like a bridge between the sutras and the tantras.
The last word "tan cho" or "&stra" in Sanskrit literally means "a teaching which brings remedy" or a remedial teaching. This is because these teachings which are elucidations of the Buddha's teachings constitute a remedy for all the defilements and help beings abandon the sufferings of the three dimensions of existence.
The names of Buddhist works are generally given because of an analogy or an example. Here the name gyu is given in reference to the subject matter of the work which is the essence of Buddhahood. This continuity refers to the subject matter and also the function of the work. The function of this work is to help beings enter the Mahayana
path.
The Salutation
The salutation of the translators to the Buddhas is "homage to all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. " The Tibetan word for
? Buddha is sang gay and each syllable illustrates that the Buddha has two qualities: the quality of purity because he has eliminated all negative impurities and the quality of realization because once the impurities are gone, there is the full understanding of everything. The first syllable sang means "totally purified" or "awakened. " meaning awakened from the sleep of ignorance. A Buddha has completely eliminated all impurities, all the things that had to be removed have been removed. The second part of the word gay means "fully blossomed" referring to the fact that once every obscuration has been fully removed, the pure intelligence of a Buddha understanding all pheno- mena with full clarity. This word gay is also used to describe what happens to a lotus flower when it opens up completely. So the word sang gay in this context means awakened and fully blossomed.
The next word in the salutation is "bodhisattvas" or chang chub sem pa. This word was translated from the Sanskrit into four syllables in Tibetan. Literally, it means "those who have enough courage to strive for enlightenment. " So the first word chang chub or "enlightenment," can be broken into chang which means "completely purified" which has essentially the same meaning as sang in Tibetan and means purified of all ignorance. Chub means internalized or assimilated. This means that once all the obscurations have been removed, all knowledge has been realized. The Tibetan word changrhub is the word for "enlightenment" in general, but in this particular context of bodhisattvas it means "almost
completely purified" or "has almost completely assimilated the meaning of everything. " The second word sempa means "those who have the courage to embark on the path
? of enlightenment. " So in the salutation the translators prostrate to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas in order to receive the blessings so their work will be done properly and without difficulties.
Divisions o f the Commentary
Following the salutation the text by Maitreya begins. Buddhist commentaries usually follow the style of presenting the work in three main divisions. Usually, each chapter begins with one verse which is a condensed summary of the whole chapter, followed by a set of verses giving detailed explanations of each of the points mentioned in the first part, and a third set recapitulating the meaning of the verses. This first introductory chapter has three parts. Part A of the first division shows the work is
composed of seven points called "indestructible" or vajra points because they are very profound like a vajra. Part B shows this work is connected with the sutras and is based on Buddha's teachings. Part C is an explanation of the order of the seven points.
As already mentioned, all beings want to find some kind of happiness and eliminate their difficulties. In this respect everyone is the same. The difference between individuals lies in the way they go about attaining this happiness. Some people seek material happiness and some try to find happiness through the dharma. Those who try to find worldly happiness might believe happiness will come to them by achieving fame or success or wealth. If they try
this, they will not reach real happiness. The only way to find true happiness is to achieve Buddhahood. When one is a Buddha, all negative things which could bring
? unhappiness have been relinquished and everything that is to be realized has been realized. Only then can eternal happiness be achieved. All other attempts will bring temporary happiness. So the first points examined in the Uttara Tantra relate to this goal.
Outline ofthe Work
[l]3 The first three points of the Uttara Tantra relate to the Buddha, the dharma, and the sarigha because these lead to the goal of enlightenment. The first vajra point is the Buddha who shows the way to enlightenment. The second vajra point is the dharma which arc the teachings given by the Buddha and show us how to attain our goal. The third vajra point is the sarigha or our companions on the path who help us from straying from the path. These three vajra points are external causes. Besides this we need something within ourself. If we don't have anything within that makes it possible to reach enlightenment, then we cannot actually reach it. The fourth vajra point is the essence of Buddhahood called buddha nature which is present in all beings. Once we know buddha nature is present in the mind of all beings, we know that whoever strives for enlightenment can attain it. We cannot say this person can reach Buddhahood, but that person can't because all
persons have the seed of enlightenment. But it is not enough to have the seed of enlightenment; we must culdvate it so it develops fully into Buddhahood. We must exert ourself to remove all impurities for the goal to be
3 The numbers in brackets are the verse numbers of the original text Theymay be found in The Changeless Nature text
? achieved and this effort is the fifth vajra point. Then the good qualities achieved after obtaining enlightenment make up the sixth vajra point.
Why is it important to reach enlightenment? It is important because it is a state of possessing all the qualities which are the ultimate fulfillment for oneself. All that is left are all perfect qualities wh' 'h are not just of value for oneself, but automatically have great value for all other beings trapped in conditioned existence. The seventh and last vajra point, then, is the activity of a Buddha. This activity flows naturally from Buddhahood to benefit all other beings.
The Connection to the Sutras
[2] These seven vajra points were not arbitrarily made up by Maitreya, but were taught by the Buddha in the sutras. The Buddha taught this subject in seven vajra points because there is an inner connection between these points and their intrinsic characteristics. The Buddha taught this relationship at the request of King ISvara in the DharanifvarSraja sutra. In the introductory chapter of that sutra there is a teaching on the three jewels (the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha). The Buddha is shown to be
the one who has reached full realization of the true nature of all phenomena. From this realization springs the dharma. Once there is this teaching of the Buddha, there are persons who accompany the Buddha and learn his teachings and train their minds and become the sangha.
In the DhEtraniSvaMraja sutra the other four vajra points are covered beginning with how bodhisattvas can learn to purify the obstacles blocking the way to
? realization. They have to purify emotional afflictions and their dualistic thinking which is blocking true wisdom. This sutra explains the ways one can eliminate these obscurations. If the essence of Buddhahood is purified, then it manifests. This sutra shows 60 different ways that the essence of Buddhahood can be made pure and manifest. The fifth vajra point, enlightenment, is introduced by explaining the 16 aspects of compassion of a bodhisattva. With enlightenment all the qualities inherent in enlightenment are present (such as the ten powers of the Buddha and the four fearlessnesses. ) The sixth vajra point is the qualities of enlightenment. The seventh vajra point
describes the activity of the Buddha or the natural outflow of activities of Buddhahood. These points are in this particular order to show the intimate connection between them. The seven vajra points are also taught in several other sutras, but they are not taught in sequence and the connection between the points is not discussed in the other sutras.
The Order o f the Vajra Points
[3] When the Buddha enters the world, he is the root of all the good qualities, of all the forms of true happiness. Logically, the first vajra point has to be the Buddha from whom all the good qualities and happiness spring. Once a Buddha has entered the world to help other beings, he turns the wheel of dharma. From the Buddha springs the dharma. Once the dharma exists, it spreads. When beings are ready to understand the dharma, they practice the dharma each according to their ability and the aspect of the path that suits them. Through the practice of the path, they develop
? signs of realization and become known as "realized sangha" which is the third vajra point.
When the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha are present, there is the possibility of realizing the existence of buddha nature. Although persons possess buddha nature from the beginning of time, the presence of the three
jewels makes it possible for individuals to learn about Buddhahood so that they can begin making buddha nature manifest. They learn how to purify the obscurations that cover it. Little by little this essence of Buddhahood becomes clearer and clearer until the wisdom (jnana) manifests completely. But for this to happen there must be the external conditions of the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha and the inner condition of buddha nature within
one's mind. With the combination of the external and internal conditions, it is possible to remove all the impurities obscuring the essence of Buddhahood. Once all these impurities have been removed, one achieves Buddhahood which is the connection between the fourth and the fifth vajra point.
Once Buddhahood is achieved, one asks. the question of what qualities are connected with this condition and this question is answered in the sixth vajra point. When one achieves Buddhahood, it is not only great fulfillment for
oneself, but also of great value to others. The value for oneself means the qualities of enlightenment pertain not only to the body aspect, but to the mind aspect. The qualities of the body will be explained in terms of the two kayas of the Buddha (nirmanakaya and sambhogakaya). The qualities of the mind are all the qualities of. tfce
dharmakaya.
? Once the qualities of Buddhahood are present, great benefit for all other beings springs from them automatically which brings about the seventh vajra point, the activities of Buddhahood. So from these qualities comes the activities of the Buddha which help all beings. This activity is totally effortless, continuing until samsara has been completely eliminated.
The above three parts were an explanation of the central structure of the text which in Tibetan is referred to as the "body" of the text. What follows are the different parts or what Tibetan scholars call the "limbs" of the text. The detailed explanation of the seven vajra points is actually divided into two sections: the goal one is aiming for which covers the first three vajra points plus a summary, and the tools for reaching enlightenment which comprise the remaining four vajra points.
? CHAPTER 2
The Buddha
The explanation of the Buddha is divided into three sections: a description of what a Buddha is by means of the salutation, a section describing the qualities of the Buddhas, and a section with a more detailed explanation of these qualities.
The Salutation
[4] The Buddha is described in the salutation. A Buddha is someone who has reached total fulfillment Buddhahood is the ultimate fulfillment for oneself because it is free from all suffering and all possibility of suffering. If one is a Buddha, there is no longer any fear, any worry, or any doubt that suffering will never return. When Buddhahood has been achieved, one does not selfishly enjoy it just for
oneself but from this Buddhahood springs activity which spontaneously helps all other beings. In the text the salutation is made in the form, "I bow down. . . " and lists six qualities of Buddhahood. The first three qualities of the Buddha are connected to the value to oneself and the last three qualities are connected to the value for others.
The first quality of Buddhahood is the quality of beipg uncreated and not composed of anything. The text says the Buddha is eternal, centerless, and endless. Eternal means
? there is no birth or starting point of the Buddha. Centerless means there is no place where the Buddha abides. Endless means there is no death, no interruption of the Buddha. A birth, a place of abiding, and an ending, implies a condition of change. If there were change, even with happiness in the beginning, this happiness could change to suffering. Change automatically means impermanence and impermanence implies suffering. Being uncreated, the Buddha doesn't belong to conditioned phenomena which changes.
The second quality of Buddhahood is peace or equanimity which implies the spontaneous presence of everything beneficial. This peace means that all of the conceptual agitation has totally ended. One is constantly agitated by millions of thoughts so the mind is never peaceful. We must exert effort all the time with everything being difficult and a trouble. Whatever one wants is not available because there is always something in the way. This creates mental pain and physical difficulties because one is always struggling to do things not once, but again and again. In contrast, the Buddha with this peace of mind doesn't need to make any effort and everything happens spontaneously and effortlessly.
The third quality of Buddhahood is that it relies on no external conditions. The essence of Buddhahood is inherent, so one cannot give Buddhahood to another. Also one can't look outside oneself to become enlightened. Buddhahood realizes itself and has nothing to do with an external process.
The above three qualities are related to value for oneself. From the presence of these qualities springs the next three qualities of value for others. When Buddhahood
? is achieved, one has gone beyond suffering and all the causes of suffering.
practitioners and scholars illuminated the notion that what we conventionally take for real and solid, is not. They developed many logical arguments and demonstrations with the tools they had available to them at the time to show that everything as we perceive it is not as it is but rather an empty of inherent existence (Skt. Sunyata). What we take for "reality" is, for the most part, a projection of
our mind.
This philosophical tradition which became known as
mahayana Buddhism spread throughout the Far East but has been largely ignored in our modem, scientific age. This, however, is ironic because now physicist working on the frontiers of subatomic theory have basically come up with the notion that nothing is solid, but rather is almost
completely empty space with certain energy relations between them. Furthermore, if we even try to apply simple logic to these "building blocks" of matter such as electron^, we have to conclude that these elementary particles do ntft exist in any single place and can only be described in terms
? vi i i
of probability of where they might be and in their relationship to the rest of the material of the universe. Even in our more down-to-earth sciences we are discovering that objects which we thought of as distinct objects such as a single tree in a forest must be thought of as a complex organic combination with highly complicated interactions with the surrounding environment and not as a single unit.
What does this mean to the ordinary individual? Il
means that for us to gain any understanding of why we
were placed on this earth and how we should live our life
now we are here, we have to examine this world to see
what is lasting and enduring, and what is just a transitory
display of phenomena. The Madhyamaka school with great
masters such as Nagarjuna, Asanga, Vasubandhu, / ? >>.
Chandraklrti, Dignaga, Naropa, Shantarakshita, Shantideva did just this. They demonstrated that our suffering and problems and confusion in this world is due to our almost innate belief that we are a self as a solid enduring object.
Unfortunately, with the confusion after the Moslem invasion of India a vast amount of this literature was lost in India and only fragments of it remain in Sanskrit. However, a large portion of this literature was translated into Tibetan and written down and studied and practiced in Tibet. Because of this one of the greatest works of this tradition, The Uttara Tantra by the great scholar Asanga was preserved. This book consists of 404 verses devoted almost exclusively to enduring and permanent in this world, namely, tathagatagarba or buddha nature. Buddha nature is that primary essence that all beings possess and which is the essence that makes it possible for all beings to
achieve enlightenment. The Uttara Tantra is considered so
? important in the Tibetan tradition that these root verses are often memorized. In addition this text is also extremely relevant for all Buddhist practitioners because it answers many questions such as how can one tell if someone is enlightened and what are the necessary qualities to achieve enlightenment.
In the late 1970s Kagyu Samye Ling in Scotland invited the Venerable Thrangu Rinpoche to come to Europe and teach. Thrangu Rinpoche was eminently qualified because he had just finished establishing the curriculum for the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism for its head, the sixteenth Gyalwa Karmapa. He chose one of the most important texts of Tibetan Buddhism to begin with and spent several months giving a line by line commentary on this Uttara Tantra.
The Uttara Tantra like many texts of the time was written in very terse, compact language with extremely deep and subtle references which makes the text accessible to only an extremely erudite scholar. This book follows an oral tradition used by lamas for the last ten centuries which meant that every point was numbered, placed in a category, stated, restated, emphasized, and then summarized. Had the transcripts simply been typeset, the commentary would
have been about 700 pages long and would have been very difficult to follow. So with the help of chapters, headings, and extensive elimination of repetition and categorization, the Uttara Tantra was brought down to a manageable size which could be easily read by Westerners. At the suggestion of Ken Holmes the numbers of the verses in the Changeless Nature were added in brackets before the
corresponding paragraphs of the commentary so one can read the verses of the Changeless Nature and then read the
? corresponding commentary. A glossary and appendix of Tibetan terms were also added for the reader not familiar with Buddhist terms. An attempt was also made to make the commentary so that the reader could read it without having to refer to the root text.
The result is quite extraordinary. We have a complete rendering of an intact text of the period by someone who not only has studied it for a lifetime, but who has done the same meditative practices that Asanga did to reach the realization described in the text. In addition to this we have Thrangu Rinpoche's line by line exposition explaining every word of the text. The covering of a text with this precision with the guide of Jamgon Kongtrul's shastra which has to be one of the greatest commentaries on any religious text of this period is something which has been available to only a few rare individuals living over the past
centuries in monasteries in Tibet
Clark Johnson,Ph. D. December 21, 1993
? Chapter 1
An Introduction to the Uttara Tantra
The Buddha gave many teachings and these teachings are classified into three turnings of the wheel of dharma. The subject matter of the first turning of the wheel of dharma are the four noble truths. These truths are the truth of suffering, the truth of the origin of suffering, the truth of the cessation of suffering, and the truth of the path. The teachings of this first turning were aimed at individuals who did not have the sharpest intelligence and needed teachings that were easier to comprehend. In this turning the Buddha stated there was suffering, that the defilements were the cause of suffering, and there was a possibility for the liberation from all of this. Everything in this turning
was phrased in terms of something tangible and in terms of conventional reality or relative truth. In the second turning the Buddha took a different position by explaining that everything that appears to exist actually does not have this reality. In this turning the Buddha said, "There is no form, no sound, no smell, no taste" etc. (as in the Prajha-
pUramitU or the Heart sutra) showing that all the objects of the senses and all the forms of appearance are simply illusory and have no ultimate reality. So, the actual nature of all phenomena is voidness.
In the second turning the Buddha established that all phenomena are void but this point was not elucidated.
? However, in the third turning, the Buddha revealed the ultimate nature of phenomena by showing that this voidness was not a total absence, a total emptiness of everything, but has qualities of the ultimate nature of phenomena. These teachings also show that all beings possess the essence of the Buddha. If they work on the path, they will be able tc develop the perfect knowledge of the Buddha. The Uttara Tantra explains that this essence of Buddhahood is present in the mind of all beings. After the teachings of the third turning, many works were
composed by learned teachers which pertained to this same subject matter. For example, the bodhisatrva Maitreva composed five teachings on this topic.
This Commentary
The Uttara Tantra is one of the five teachings of Maitreya and is related to the third turning. This text on the Uttara Tantra is based on the commentary by Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche and has two main parts. The first part is a general introduction which covers the nature of the text, the author, how it was composed, and so forth which is
reviewed in this chapter. 1 The second part of the commentary is on the actual text itself and is divided into eight points.
The first point is that there are two kinds of Buddhist teachings--the words of the Buddha (sutras) and the commentaries composed by others on the Buddha's works
*Thc Uttara Tantra is sastra by Maitreya on the dharanisvaranraja sutra of the Buddha. Thrangu Rinpoche used the commentary by Jamgon Kongtrul (1813-1899) which has not been translated into English for the basis of this exposition. The root text has been translated by Ken and Katia Holmes as The Changeless Nature.
? (fastras). One might think the Uttara Tantra is composed of the words of the Buddha because Maitreya is a representative of the Buddha. However, this work is related to the subject matter taught in the third turning and therefore it is classified as an explanatory text composed by someone other than the Buddha.
Secondly, what source did the Uttara Tantra rely on? Some claim this teaching is related to the Mind Only (Skt. Cittamatra) school, but this is not so because this teaching relates directly to the teachings on absolute truth. The Uttara Tantra derives its subject matter from all the sutras of the three turnings--it is like the quintessence of all these sutras and particularly it has a close connection to one sutra taught at the request of King Isvara.
The third point examines the authorship of this work. In general, the sastras are produced by authors who have one of three qualifications. The best is one who has a direct understanding of the absolute truth of phenomena. If someone does not have this understanding, then second best is someone who has met face-to-face with a deity such as Manjusri. The poorest are those authors who are well
educated and only have a thorough knowledge of the five branches of the sciences (grammar, logic, craftsmanship, healing, and spirituality). Texts written by someone who doesn't have one of the above three qualifications aren't worthy of a Buddhist commentary. Maitreya, the author of the Uttara Tantra, is even better than the best category because not only did he possess realization of absolute truth, but he was a bodhisattva of the highest level.
The fourth point discusses how this work spread after Maitreya had given the teachings of the Uttara Tantra. Buddha Sakyamuni had actually made a prediction that
? there would be a teaching given by one of the highest bodhisattvas and it would relate to the highest possible meaning and these teachings would be given to men and propagated among them.
The Story o f Asanga
The story of the spread of the Uttara Tantra begins at the famous Buddhist University of NSlanda in India. The university was set on fire by heretics and many precious teachings were destroyed including most of the Abhidharma teachings. At that time a nun called Salwai Tsultim became very worried that the teachings would be lost. So she decided to have sons to allow the teachings to grpw and spread again. She had two sons: Asanga who became a proponent of the mahayana teachings and Vasubandhu who became an outstanding proponent of the hlnayUna teachings.
Asanga began by meditating very diligently on Maitreya. He practiced for three years and didn't seem to be getting any results. He became very depressed at not having accomplished anything in his meditation. So he left his retreat and on the way met a man who was rubbing a rock. He inquired and found that the man was rubbing the rock to get rid of it because the rock was blocking the sun from shining on his house. Asanga was so impressed by his perseverance that he decided to try again. He returned and meditated for 12 years and still did not feel he was getting anywhere with his meditation and became depressed again. He left his retreat and on the way he saw a dog which was
very sick and thin. The dog was very angry and ready to bite him. Suddenly, Asanga felt strong compassion for the
? dog because he noticed that the dog had worms in his wounds. He wanted to remove the worms to help the dog, but realized that if he pulled the worms off, he would kill them. It was a choice between killing the worms or leaving the worms on the dog which would cause the dog to die. But Asanga felt such strong compassion and felt that he must find a way to get the worms out. He thought, "If I take the worms off with my tongue, then the worms won't be hurt and the dog will get better. " So he leaned down and
stuck out his tongue; and as he touched the ground, Maitreya appeared before him. He saw Maitreya and exclaimed, "How is it possible! I have been practicing this meditation for 12 years and haven't been able to meet you. You really don't have much compassion for me. " Maitreya said, "It wasn't my lack of compassion. I was there the whole time but you couldn't see me because you had too many obscurations. After 12 years of practice, your obscurations had become so slight that when you saw the
dog, you were able to have compassion and to see me. " After their meeting, Maitreya and Asanga went to the Tusita buddha-field and there Maitreya gave teachings on the second turning to Asanga. From these teachings and especially the teachings of the Prajhdpdramita Asanga composed the Abhisamaydlankdra. Maitreya also gave teachings on the third turning with some related to the
relative meaning and some related to the absolute meaning of the dharma. Three teachings pertained to the relative meaning: the MahaydnasUtralankara, the Dharmatavib- hahga, and the Madhydntavibhanga. The teachings related to the absolute meaning of reality were the Abhisamayp<<- lankdra and the Uttara Tantra &stra. So Maitreya gave,, Asanga these five teachings and they were transmitted to
human beings of our world.
? The fifth point discusses the line of transmission of the Uttara Tantra. The teachings of Maitreya were transmitted in two lines--the words and the meaning. The Uttara Tantra was given to Asanga and he transmitted it to his brother Vasubandhu. Later Asanga wrote five works on the five transmissions from Maitreya to make Maitreya's teachings more accessible to everyone. His brother Vasubandhu also wrote commentaries on two of these five works of Maitreya. He wrote a commentary on the
Dharmatavibhanga and the Madhyantavibhahga.
Among these five teachings, three were disseminated quite widely. These were the Abhisamayalahkara, the Madhyantavibhariga, and the Mahayanasutralahkara and were transmitted by Vasubandhu to his disciple Dinnaga. DinnSga passed them to his disciple Lodro Tenpa who disseminated these teachings quite widely. The other two
teachings, the Uttara Tantra and the Dharmatavibhanga, were more profound and were given to only a few pupils.
In Tibet there were two periods of history in which the Buddhist teachings were widely spread. The earlier period during the eighth century at the time of King Thrisong Deutsen or the "time of the three," with the ":hree" being mahapandita Santaraksita, King Thrisong Deutsen, and Guru Padmasambhava. During this time these first three teachings of Maitreya were translated into Tibetan and disseminated widely. The two profound works were hidden treasures (Tib. terma2) and were hidden so that they were not known during this first period. Much later Maitripa,
one of Marpa's gurus, saw a stupa that was cracked and
^ Tibetan words in this text arc spelled as they are pronounced, not as they are spelled in Tibetan. Their Tibetan spelling can be found in Appendix A.
? from the stupa came a brilliant light. Maitripa became curious and found these two texts inside the crack. He found their meaning was so deep that he wasn't sure he understood them. So he prayed to Maitreya for blessings to understand these texts and Maitreya appeared to him and gave him the ritual reading (Tib. lung). After that reading Maitripa could understand the text clearly. These teachings were then passed on to many panditas or the great scholars in India.
Later these deeper teachings spread in Tibet. There were two main lines of transmission--the transmission of the words and the transmission of the meaning of the text. The words were transmitted mainly by Loden Sherab. He was a translator who went to a preeminently Muslim part of India where he received the teachings of the Uttara
Tantra and the Dharamatavibhaga and translated them into Tibetan. His approach followed that of the Madhyamaka school. At the same time there was another lama named Senka Uche who received the teachings of the Uttara Tantra from the Indian teacher, Guru Tsatsana. He meditated on it to understand its deep meaning and started the meditation transmission.
The main difference between the scholarly and the meditative approach is that in the meditative approach "voidness" is not understood as the absence of everything, but as containing the essence of Buddhahood. In the meditative approach, however, one meditates on the voidness as containing the essence of Buddha to
understand this concept. This tradition combined the theoretical material of the Uttara Tantra with meditation of. mahamudra. This tradition based on the . five teachings of Maitreya was passed on to the third Karmapa, Rangjung
? Doije. He wrote a short summary of the Uttara Tantra and through him the Uttara Tantra was transmitted to all the
main lamas of the Kagyu lineage. For example, this teaching was transmitted to the eighth Shamarpa Rinpoche, Chuji Dondrup, and to the eighth Tai Situpa Rinpoche, Chuji Jungne, and to Jamgon Kongtrul.
The sixth point concerns the subject matter of the Uttara Tantra. As mentioned before, the Buddha gave his teachings in three turnings of the wheel of dharma. All his teachings, however, have a similar root with the essential point being the absence of a "self. " Some religions believe that if one does what pleases God or the gods, then they
will be rewarded one and one will obtain greater happiness. They also believe that if one does something that goes against God or the gods, one will encounter misfortunes and fall into a lower realm. There is no such belief in the Buddhist teachings. What happens to one is not the result of pleasing or displeasing a god. The Buddha's teachings are based on the study of the nature of things, so when the nature of phenomena is completely understood, one has attained Buddhahood. If one does not understand the nature of things, one continues to live in conditioned existence (Skt. samsUra).
The key to all Buddhist teachings is the twofold absence of self and of phenomena. Normally, we believe that we are a separate "self' and this belief in a "self' arises from the idea of "I. " As soon as we think "I" or "myself," there develops the wish to keep this "I" happy and comfortable which gives rise to desire. We want to
provide that "I" with all the happiness we can find. Then when this "I" feels threatened, the threat generates anger. This "I" will also feel it is better and has better qualities
? than others and this will generate pride. If this "I" fears there are others who are as good or better, then jealousy will be generated. To summarize, as soon as there is this belief that the individual self has a reality, then all the five negative afflictions (Skt klefas) of desire, anger, aversion,
pride, and jealousy are generated. The belief in the existence of phenomena is a consequence of the first belief. When we believe we exist, then we also believe that all phenomena one experiences also exists.
The main point of Buddhist practice is to eliminate the belief of self and phenomena. The way to eliminate the belief in self is to investigate the location of the one who thinks "I am. " If one thinks "I," then who is thinking "I"? Then try to find this "I" somewhere. If one meditates on this and investigates it closely, one will not find anything that is called the "I. " Through this process one will understand the nonexistence of self. The belief in the
existence of phenomena which appears to be real and substantial is more difficult. But when one considers it more closely, one will begin to see that phenomena are very much like a bubble in water or a dream. All these things do not have any solid reality either.
To summarize, the main point of all three turnings of the wheel of dharma is to understand the nonexistence of self and of phenomena. The absence of a "self' is voidness (Sunyatfi), but this voidness is not to be misunderstood as blankness, a complete emptiness. It is not like empty space because empty space is frozen and no change can manifest from it. Sunyata has a different quality. This voidness is by nature clarity (Tib. salwa).
Having the nature of clarity
means that when beings are still impure, all the various appearances of phenomena can manifest within this clarity.
? When individuals have eliminated their impurities, Buddhahood is manifested in clarity. Within this clarity the forms (Skt. kayas) of the Buddha and the activity of the Buddha can manifest. So this voidness is full of all these possibilities. For everything to manifest in the impure and the pure phase, this voidness must be indivisible from clarity. The clarity represents the very vivid intelligent aspect. So clarity and emptiness are completely united and the union of these two is the essence of all Buddhas and is present within the mind of all beings. If one can realize the unity of clarity and voidness, one can reach Buddhahood.
This essence of Buddhahood is present in all beings without any distinction which means that whoever practices can realize and reach Buddhahood. There is no difference between a man and a woman, or of a race or social class or anything else because everyone has this essence of enlightenment.
The reason one does not realize the essence of enlightenment is that it is obscured by defilements. One can distinguish three stages of defilements. In the impure phase, the stage of ordinary beings, buddha nature is totally obscured by defilements. In the second phase of the bodhisattvas the impurities are slightly purified with the obscurations partly removed. Finally, in the phase of total purity one is a Buddha.
The concept of buddha nature is central to the Buddhist teachings and is sometimes referred to by the Sanskrit word gharba which means "the inner core of something. " If one has a grain with a husk, the essential part of the grain is called the "gharba. " The parallel is that human beings have the essence of Buddha in them, but it is covered by fleeting impurities. This kernel, buddha nature is the main topic of the Uttara Tantra.
? The seventh point discusses the different ways of presenting the teachings. As we mentioned before, there is the tradition of Loden Sherab based on the more intel- lectual approach connected with the Madhyamaka tradition. The second approach which came from Sakya Dorje is the tradition of the immediate apprehension of the subject matter through meditation. This latter approach is the more direct approach in which one meditates on the mahamudrS and the actual meaning of the nature of
phenomena.
Name o f the Text
Most Tibetan texts translated from Sanskrit give the Sanskrit name and the Tibetan name in the title. They also usually contain a salutation by the translator to an emanation of the Buddha in order to receive the blessing of the Buddha so the translation will go forward without any obstacles. After the title and salutation, the Uttara Tantra begins with the actual words of Maitreya.
The Uttara Tantra was originally written in Sanskrit which is called "the language of the gods. " This work was then translated into Tibetan to make it accessible to Tibetans who could then read, contemplate, and meditate on it. The name of the text is in both Sanskrit and Tibetan to remember the kindness of the translators who made the work available to the Tibetan people and to show that the work was an original Sanskrit source taught directly by the Buddhas or bodhisattvas. The name of the text is first
given in Sanskrit and is called the MahaySna Uttara Tantra Sastra. Then it is translated into Tibetan as tegpa chenpo gyu lama tan cho which in English would literally
? be "the ultimate mahayana treatise on continuity. " Taking each word, tegpa literally means to "carry" or "lift. " This word "carry" has two different aspects: the process aspect of carrying and the result aspect of carrying. The process
aspect is represented by the path of the bodhisattva. The result aspect i<< reaching the state of Buddhahood. The word "tegpa" or "yQna" in Sanskrit, can be either small or
/
h*r>> it refers to the great aspect. MahSyana in . ffi krit means "great y3na" or "great action of carrying. " >j:rcat for seven different reasons, some of which are as the aim of the path is great (or very wide), the used on the path is great, the jruina or knowledge
toe path is very great,
FwJtewjflgi "tegpa cheapo" if "gyu lama. " The Sanskrit
word for "gyu lama'* is "uttara tantra" and this is usually the short name given to this work. Uttara Tantra can be explained from the viewpoint of the literal words or from the viewpoint of the terminology of its meaning.
From the terminology viewpoint, the first word gyu means "continuity" and means there is a continuity in the words and the continuity of these words creates a clear understandable meaning which makes up the work. To this word "gyu" it added the qualifier lama which means "ultimate," "superior,H"higher" or "excellent. " This is added to "continuity" because the continuity of this text
contains the deepest meaning.
From the viewpoint of meaning of the work, the word
"gyu" means "continuity" but in this context it means the continuity of the essence of the Buddhahood which never changes whether it is in terms of the ground when it is present in all beings, or in terms of the path when beings are practicing the attainment of enlightenment, or in terms
? of fruition when one becomes a Buddha. Throughout all these phases the nature of Buddhahood remains the same so there is an unbroken continuity all along its development The word "lama" here means "ultimate" or "highest" because the type of practice which will come from this text is not ordinary Buddhist practice, but superior to the practice of hlnaySna. It is a very high type
of practice because it points to the ultimate nature of all phenomena. It also comes from a very high bodhisattva which is another reason for giving it the qualifier of "ultimate. " Finally, the word "ultimate" is in the title because the Uttara Tantra involves explaining absolute truth so it is like a bridge between the sutras and the tantras.
The last word "tan cho" or "&stra" in Sanskrit literally means "a teaching which brings remedy" or a remedial teaching. This is because these teachings which are elucidations of the Buddha's teachings constitute a remedy for all the defilements and help beings abandon the sufferings of the three dimensions of existence.
The names of Buddhist works are generally given because of an analogy or an example. Here the name gyu is given in reference to the subject matter of the work which is the essence of Buddhahood. This continuity refers to the subject matter and also the function of the work. The function of this work is to help beings enter the Mahayana
path.
The Salutation
The salutation of the translators to the Buddhas is "homage to all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas. " The Tibetan word for
? Buddha is sang gay and each syllable illustrates that the Buddha has two qualities: the quality of purity because he has eliminated all negative impurities and the quality of realization because once the impurities are gone, there is the full understanding of everything. The first syllable sang means "totally purified" or "awakened. " meaning awakened from the sleep of ignorance. A Buddha has completely eliminated all impurities, all the things that had to be removed have been removed. The second part of the word gay means "fully blossomed" referring to the fact that once every obscuration has been fully removed, the pure intelligence of a Buddha understanding all pheno- mena with full clarity. This word gay is also used to describe what happens to a lotus flower when it opens up completely. So the word sang gay in this context means awakened and fully blossomed.
The next word in the salutation is "bodhisattvas" or chang chub sem pa. This word was translated from the Sanskrit into four syllables in Tibetan. Literally, it means "those who have enough courage to strive for enlightenment. " So the first word chang chub or "enlightenment," can be broken into chang which means "completely purified" which has essentially the same meaning as sang in Tibetan and means purified of all ignorance. Chub means internalized or assimilated. This means that once all the obscurations have been removed, all knowledge has been realized. The Tibetan word changrhub is the word for "enlightenment" in general, but in this particular context of bodhisattvas it means "almost
completely purified" or "has almost completely assimilated the meaning of everything. " The second word sempa means "those who have the courage to embark on the path
? of enlightenment. " So in the salutation the translators prostrate to the Buddhas and bodhisattvas in order to receive the blessings so their work will be done properly and without difficulties.
Divisions o f the Commentary
Following the salutation the text by Maitreya begins. Buddhist commentaries usually follow the style of presenting the work in three main divisions. Usually, each chapter begins with one verse which is a condensed summary of the whole chapter, followed by a set of verses giving detailed explanations of each of the points mentioned in the first part, and a third set recapitulating the meaning of the verses. This first introductory chapter has three parts. Part A of the first division shows the work is
composed of seven points called "indestructible" or vajra points because they are very profound like a vajra. Part B shows this work is connected with the sutras and is based on Buddha's teachings. Part C is an explanation of the order of the seven points.
As already mentioned, all beings want to find some kind of happiness and eliminate their difficulties. In this respect everyone is the same. The difference between individuals lies in the way they go about attaining this happiness. Some people seek material happiness and some try to find happiness through the dharma. Those who try to find worldly happiness might believe happiness will come to them by achieving fame or success or wealth. If they try
this, they will not reach real happiness. The only way to find true happiness is to achieve Buddhahood. When one is a Buddha, all negative things which could bring
? unhappiness have been relinquished and everything that is to be realized has been realized. Only then can eternal happiness be achieved. All other attempts will bring temporary happiness. So the first points examined in the Uttara Tantra relate to this goal.
Outline ofthe Work
[l]3 The first three points of the Uttara Tantra relate to the Buddha, the dharma, and the sarigha because these lead to the goal of enlightenment. The first vajra point is the Buddha who shows the way to enlightenment. The second vajra point is the dharma which arc the teachings given by the Buddha and show us how to attain our goal. The third vajra point is the sarigha or our companions on the path who help us from straying from the path. These three vajra points are external causes. Besides this we need something within ourself. If we don't have anything within that makes it possible to reach enlightenment, then we cannot actually reach it. The fourth vajra point is the essence of Buddhahood called buddha nature which is present in all beings. Once we know buddha nature is present in the mind of all beings, we know that whoever strives for enlightenment can attain it. We cannot say this person can reach Buddhahood, but that person can't because all
persons have the seed of enlightenment. But it is not enough to have the seed of enlightenment; we must culdvate it so it develops fully into Buddhahood. We must exert ourself to remove all impurities for the goal to be
3 The numbers in brackets are the verse numbers of the original text Theymay be found in The Changeless Nature text
? achieved and this effort is the fifth vajra point. Then the good qualities achieved after obtaining enlightenment make up the sixth vajra point.
Why is it important to reach enlightenment? It is important because it is a state of possessing all the qualities which are the ultimate fulfillment for oneself. All that is left are all perfect qualities wh' 'h are not just of value for oneself, but automatically have great value for all other beings trapped in conditioned existence. The seventh and last vajra point, then, is the activity of a Buddha. This activity flows naturally from Buddhahood to benefit all other beings.
The Connection to the Sutras
[2] These seven vajra points were not arbitrarily made up by Maitreya, but were taught by the Buddha in the sutras. The Buddha taught this subject in seven vajra points because there is an inner connection between these points and their intrinsic characteristics. The Buddha taught this relationship at the request of King ISvara in the DharanifvarSraja sutra. In the introductory chapter of that sutra there is a teaching on the three jewels (the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha). The Buddha is shown to be
the one who has reached full realization of the true nature of all phenomena. From this realization springs the dharma. Once there is this teaching of the Buddha, there are persons who accompany the Buddha and learn his teachings and train their minds and become the sangha.
In the DhEtraniSvaMraja sutra the other four vajra points are covered beginning with how bodhisattvas can learn to purify the obstacles blocking the way to
? realization. They have to purify emotional afflictions and their dualistic thinking which is blocking true wisdom. This sutra explains the ways one can eliminate these obscurations. If the essence of Buddhahood is purified, then it manifests. This sutra shows 60 different ways that the essence of Buddhahood can be made pure and manifest. The fifth vajra point, enlightenment, is introduced by explaining the 16 aspects of compassion of a bodhisattva. With enlightenment all the qualities inherent in enlightenment are present (such as the ten powers of the Buddha and the four fearlessnesses. ) The sixth vajra point is the qualities of enlightenment. The seventh vajra point
describes the activity of the Buddha or the natural outflow of activities of Buddhahood. These points are in this particular order to show the intimate connection between them. The seven vajra points are also taught in several other sutras, but they are not taught in sequence and the connection between the points is not discussed in the other sutras.
The Order o f the Vajra Points
[3] When the Buddha enters the world, he is the root of all the good qualities, of all the forms of true happiness. Logically, the first vajra point has to be the Buddha from whom all the good qualities and happiness spring. Once a Buddha has entered the world to help other beings, he turns the wheel of dharma. From the Buddha springs the dharma. Once the dharma exists, it spreads. When beings are ready to understand the dharma, they practice the dharma each according to their ability and the aspect of the path that suits them. Through the practice of the path, they develop
? signs of realization and become known as "realized sangha" which is the third vajra point.
When the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha are present, there is the possibility of realizing the existence of buddha nature. Although persons possess buddha nature from the beginning of time, the presence of the three
jewels makes it possible for individuals to learn about Buddhahood so that they can begin making buddha nature manifest. They learn how to purify the obscurations that cover it. Little by little this essence of Buddhahood becomes clearer and clearer until the wisdom (jnana) manifests completely. But for this to happen there must be the external conditions of the Buddha, the dharma, and the sangha and the inner condition of buddha nature within
one's mind. With the combination of the external and internal conditions, it is possible to remove all the impurities obscuring the essence of Buddhahood. Once all these impurities have been removed, one achieves Buddhahood which is the connection between the fourth and the fifth vajra point.
Once Buddhahood is achieved, one asks. the question of what qualities are connected with this condition and this question is answered in the sixth vajra point. When one achieves Buddhahood, it is not only great fulfillment for
oneself, but also of great value to others. The value for oneself means the qualities of enlightenment pertain not only to the body aspect, but to the mind aspect. The qualities of the body will be explained in terms of the two kayas of the Buddha (nirmanakaya and sambhogakaya). The qualities of the mind are all the qualities of. tfce
dharmakaya.
? Once the qualities of Buddhahood are present, great benefit for all other beings springs from them automatically which brings about the seventh vajra point, the activities of Buddhahood. So from these qualities comes the activities of the Buddha which help all beings. This activity is totally effortless, continuing until samsara has been completely eliminated.
The above three parts were an explanation of the central structure of the text which in Tibetan is referred to as the "body" of the text. What follows are the different parts or what Tibetan scholars call the "limbs" of the text. The detailed explanation of the seven vajra points is actually divided into two sections: the goal one is aiming for which covers the first three vajra points plus a summary, and the tools for reaching enlightenment which comprise the remaining four vajra points.
? CHAPTER 2
The Buddha
The explanation of the Buddha is divided into three sections: a description of what a Buddha is by means of the salutation, a section describing the qualities of the Buddhas, and a section with a more detailed explanation of these qualities.
The Salutation
[4] The Buddha is described in the salutation. A Buddha is someone who has reached total fulfillment Buddhahood is the ultimate fulfillment for oneself because it is free from all suffering and all possibility of suffering. If one is a Buddha, there is no longer any fear, any worry, or any doubt that suffering will never return. When Buddhahood has been achieved, one does not selfishly enjoy it just for
oneself but from this Buddhahood springs activity which spontaneously helps all other beings. In the text the salutation is made in the form, "I bow down. . . " and lists six qualities of Buddhahood. The first three qualities of the Buddha are connected to the value to oneself and the last three qualities are connected to the value for others.
The first quality of Buddhahood is the quality of beipg uncreated and not composed of anything. The text says the Buddha is eternal, centerless, and endless. Eternal means
? there is no birth or starting point of the Buddha. Centerless means there is no place where the Buddha abides. Endless means there is no death, no interruption of the Buddha. A birth, a place of abiding, and an ending, implies a condition of change. If there were change, even with happiness in the beginning, this happiness could change to suffering. Change automatically means impermanence and impermanence implies suffering. Being uncreated, the Buddha doesn't belong to conditioned phenomena which changes.
The second quality of Buddhahood is peace or equanimity which implies the spontaneous presence of everything beneficial. This peace means that all of the conceptual agitation has totally ended. One is constantly agitated by millions of thoughts so the mind is never peaceful. We must exert effort all the time with everything being difficult and a trouble. Whatever one wants is not available because there is always something in the way. This creates mental pain and physical difficulties because one is always struggling to do things not once, but again and again. In contrast, the Buddha with this peace of mind doesn't need to make any effort and everything happens spontaneously and effortlessly.
The third quality of Buddhahood is that it relies on no external conditions. The essence of Buddhahood is inherent, so one cannot give Buddhahood to another. Also one can't look outside oneself to become enlightened. Buddhahood realizes itself and has nothing to do with an external process.
The above three qualities are related to value for oneself. From the presence of these qualities springs the next three qualities of value for others. When Buddhahood
? is achieved, one has gone beyond suffering and all the causes of suffering.
