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Notes

Note

On occasions when the translations in Books One and Two are cross-referenced against each other, page numbers are preceded by the short-title of the relevant book, i.e. either Fundamentals or History. In cases where references are given to passages within the same text, however, only the page numbers are given.

Readers are referred to the Bibliography whenever full information on primary and secondary sources does not appear in the relevant note.

1 Fundamentals

FUNDAMENTALS: TRANSLATOR'S INTRODUCTION

1 These and all subsequent enumerations are to be found in the Glossary of Enumerations in Volume Two.

2 In this traditional]] enumeration, the antigods were not given a class status distinct from that of the Four Great Kings (Caturmahārājakāyika).

3 Refer to pp. 162-9, where Madhyamaka philosophy is discussed.

4 These are explained on pp. 162-9.

5 For works of Sanskrit origin, wherever possible the formal Sanskrit titles are given in parentheses at the first mention of each text. The English rendering, however, follows the Tibetan, which often refers to texts by secondary or abridged titles. Further details for all texts mentioned can be found in the first part of the Bibliography in Volume Two.

6 An asterisk (*) has been used to indicate hypothetical reconstructions of Sanskrit technical terms not presently documented in available Sanskrit texts. Please note, however, that although many Sanskrit personal and place names used in these translations are similarly hypothetical, an asterisk has not been used to indicate these for purely aesthetic reasons.

7 I.e. those works contained in his Collection of Eulogies (Stavakāya, T 1118-36).

8 The distinction between these views and their integration from the standpoint of experience are the subject-matter of Pt. 3.

9 See H. V. Guenther, Buddhist Philosophy in Theory and Practice.

FUNDAMENTALS: PART ONE

10 I.e. Vajradhara of Oḍḍiyāna, a form of the great master Padmasambhava; see History, pp. 468-74, 512-20 and 533-7.

11 See History, Pt. 3.

12 Lokeśvara or Lokanātha ('jig-rten-gyi mgon-po) is more commonly known as Avalokiteśvara (spyan-ras-gzigs-kyi dbang-phyug). He is the bodhisattva who protects Tibet and whose blessing is said to have given rise to the Tibetan race. See History, p. 510.

13 Their biographies are included in the History: see pp. 607-16 for Nupcen Sangye Yeshe, Nup Khulungpa Yönten Gyamtso and the Zur family; pp. 755-9 for Nyang-rel Nyima Özer; pp. 701-2 for Rok Sherapö; pp. 703-9 for Rongzompa Chöki Zangpo; and pp. 575-96 for Longcen Rapjampa.

14 The text gives the root in the “coded” form ḍudhṛñ according to the tradition of the Pāṇinian Dhātupāṭhas. See G. B. Palsule, The Sanskrit Dhātupāṭhas, Ch. 3, p. 59, for an analysis of “the wonderful system of the Anubandhas [code letters] invented by the ancient Hindu grammarians”.

15 Cf. Paṇḍit Śivadatta (ed.), The Nāmaliṅgānuśāsana of Amarasinha, p. 73: “Dharma is that which upholds the world or is upheld by persons.”

16 dge-sbyong-gi chos-bzhi. The text wrongly reads dge-slong-gi chos-bzhi (Khenpo Palden Sherap).

17 Tib. dbyer-med. This reading is preferred by the Author to byed-med, which is given in the text.

18 ma-rig-pa zhes-pa ni gzhi 'khrul-rtog-gi cha 'dzin-pa. The phrase is omitted in the text, but included in the primary source: Longcenpa, Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle (theg-mchog rin-po-che'i mdzod), p. 84.

19 For the relationship of hatred to the creation phase of meditation, refer to p. 359.

20 I.e. the five sensory perceptions and the consciousness of the intellect.

21 See the Glossary of Enumerations. Six of these are objective, six are subjective and six are sensory.

22 rig-cing yul-du byed-pa rnam-par shes-pa'i phung-po. This phrase is omitted in the text, but found in the primary source: Longcenpa, Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle, p. 79.

23 These subjective modes of the activity fields are not referred to as the consciousness of the eye (mig-gi rnam-par shes-pa'i skye-mched) and so forth in the Abhidharma. They are simply known as the activity field of the eye (mig-gi skye-mched), etc. Refer to the Glossary of Enumerations under twelve activity fields.

24 The neutral deeds are those connected with the experiences of meditative absorption and the like. See below, pp. 61-4.

25 See the chart of the three world systems or realms of saṃsāra, pp. 14-15. Mount Sumeru is held to be the central axis of the world of Patient Endurance (mi-mjed 'jig-rten-gyi khams, Skt. Sahalokadhātu) within the desire realm. See also n. 376.

26 See the chart above, pp. 14-15. The extraordinary form realms (khyad-par-can) are the Five Pure Abodes (gtsang-gnas lnga), which are contrasted with the twelve ordinary form realms (tsam-po).

27 This quotation is also cited by the author of the gzhung-lugs legs-bshad, p. 62. Both this and the following quotation are given in DZ Vol. 1, pp. 113-14; and in Jamgön Kongtrül, shes-bya kun-khyab mdzod, Vol. 2, p. 351.

28 On Buddhaguhya, refer to History, pp. 464-5.

29 See the chart on pp. 14-15.

30 See the chart, pp. 14-15, for this Brahmakāyika realm, and for those other god realms such as Avṛha which are mentioned in the following pages.

31 The vehicle of Brahmā (tshangs-pa'i theg-pa) surpasses the vehicle of gods and humans because it reaches the summit of cyclical existence, as described below.

32 The summit of existence refers to the highest possible mode of being within cyclical existence or saṃsāra. It is contrasted with the nirvāṇa of the buddha levels.

33 These four formless absorptions are said to be endowed with the four nominal or mental components, but not the component of form.

34 See History, p. 688.

35 Līlāvajra's brief biography is given in the History, pp. 463-4.

36 For Vimalamitra's biography, see History, pp. 480-1, 497-501, 555-6, 601 and passim.

37 For the background to this debate, refer to sGam-po-pa, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, translated by H. V. Guenther, pp. 3-4; and to Sakya Paṇḍita, thub-pa dgongs-gsal, p. 2.1-2.

38 The former are the Outsiders or adherents of non-Buddhist traditions and the latter, the Insiders, are the followers of Buddhism.

39 The traditional]] Indian and Buddhist system of cosmology holds that the span of life is gradually reduced during the course of a single aeon, from an indefinitely long period to ten years.

40 An Indian source for this quotation preserved in Sanskrit is Kamalaśīla, Tattvasaṃgrahapañjikā, Vol. 1, p. 52. See also Nyāyavārttika, 4.1.21.

41 According to Longcenpa, Wish-fulfilling Treasury (yid-bzhin rin-po-che'i mdzod), p. 396, the Followers of the Owl are identical to the Vaiśeṣika. They are so called because when Kaṇāda attained the accomplishment of Īśvara, the deity alighted on a stone liṅgam within his meditation cave in the form of an owl (ulūka). There is also a tradition which claims Kaṇāda was known as the “Owl” after the name of his clan.

42 The origin of this fivefold classification, and the precise identities of several of the subjects, persons and texts here listed remain problematic. The grammatical tradition is listed among the six topics associated with Vedic study (vedāṅga), but usually traces itself to the ṛṣi Pāṇini, who is said to have been inspired by the god Śiva. The earliest logical method developed in India is that referred to as ānvīkṣikī, “inquiry”, on which see S. C. Vidyabhusana, A History of Indian Logic, Sect. I. The Followers of Satyavacas (bden-smras) are probably the adherents of the Upanishads. The Mīmāṃsaka (spyod/dpyod-pa-ba), whose sūtra is probably referred to here, are not usually associated with the legendary ṛṣi Bhṛgu (ngan-spong), on whom see R. Goldman, Gods, Priests and Warriors, but rather with Jaimini. On the Anthology of Caraka (Carakasaṃhitā) and its traditions, refer to A. L. Basham (ed.), A Cultural History of India, Ch. XII.

43 Aviddhakarṇa (rna ma-phug-pa) was a Nyāya-vaiśeṣika philosopher who flourished some time before Śāntarakṣita, as he is frequently criticised in the latter's Tattvasaṃgrahakārikā. None of his works survive today. For a summary of research on this thinker to date, see K. H. Potter (ed.), Encylopedia of Indian Philosophies: Indian Metaphysics and Epistemology, pp. 338-40. See also Longcenpa, Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle, p. 98. The text wrongly reads rnam-phug-pa (Khenpo Palden Sherap).

44 Unidentified, but possibly this refers to Deva Sūri Pramāṇanayatattvālokālaṃkāra, a major Jain philosophical text. The nine categories are also authoritatively given in, e.g., the Navatattvasūtra and the Pañcāstikāya of the Jains.

45 Tib. zad-pa.

46 This appears to be the non-extant Bṛhaspatisūtra, the views of which are reported in Indian philosophical works such as: Bhāvaviveka, Tarkajvāla; Śāntarakṣita, Tattvasaṃgraha; Jayarāśi, Tattvopaplavasiṃha; Haribhadrasūri, Ṣaḍdarśanasamuccaya; Mādhava, Sarvadarśanasaṃgraha; and in such later Tibetan treatises as Longcenpa, Treasury of Spiritual and Philosophical Systems (grub-mtha' mdzod).

47 Tib. tshu-rol mdzes-pa-ba is a rendering for Skt. Cārvāka, which is interpreted in Tibetan to mean “adherents of pleasures at hand”, i.e. hedonists.

48 The Outsiders (phyi-rol-pa) or non-Buddhists are here divided into those who follow a course independent of Buddhism and those who overtly teach a non-Buddhist doctrine, but are in fact emanations of the buddhas.

49 For some interesting observations on the relationship between the scepticism of the Lokāyata and the Prāsaṅgika dialectic, refer to D. Chattopadhyāya, Indian Philosophy, a popular introduction, pp. 186ff.

50 Tib. myang-'das, literally meaning “gone beyond sorrow”.

51 Superior mind (lhag-pa'i sems, Skt. adhicitta) is that which develops experience in meditation.

52 The Sage (drang-srong, Skt. ṛṣi) in this case refers to Śākyamuni Buddha.

53 For a different interpretation of this passage, see E. Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, p. 25.

54 See pp. 153-5; also History, pp. 423-5.

55 Darbhaṅga edn., BST 4, p. 286.

56 For Nartön Senge-ö, see Blue Annals, p. 157.

57 Innermost Spirituality of Vimalamitra (bi-ma snying-thig), Pt. 2, Vol. Cha, pp. 1-159.

58 Unidentified.

59 For Śāntipā or Ratnākaraśānti, see Blue Annals, pp. 206, 634-8; Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, translated by Lama Chimpa and A. Chattopadhyaya, p. 295, n. 12; and HIL 7.1, pp. 122-4.

60 I.e. the Nyingma [[tradition.

61 The primary source for this section is Vasubandhu, Commentary on the Ornament of the Sūtras of the Greater Vehicle (Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāravyākhyā, Darbhaṅga edn., BST 13), p. 55.

62 The Sanskrit version (Darbhaṅga edn., p. 56) of the Ornament of the Sūtras of the Greater Vehicle reads āpatti, although the Tibetan clearly gives vipatti in keeping with the content of the passage.

63 The distinction between the causal aspect of the vehicle or the bodhisattva vehicle and the six resultant vehicles of tantra is explored in great detail in Pt. 2, pp. 139-48; in Pt. 3 which deals with the nature of the causal aspects; and in Pt. 4 which focuses on the resultant aspects.

64 The eleventh level is held by bodhisattvas to be the buddha level. For these eleven levels, and the subsequent buddha levels until the sixteenth, Unsurpassed Pristine Cognition (ye-shes bla-ma), which are described below, see the Glossary of Enumerations; and Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions (phyogs-bcu mun-sel), pp. 428-35 (GGFTC, pp. 967-76).

65 This text is among those translated into Tibetan from the Chinese.

66 This is one of only a few verses from this text extant in Sanskrit. It is interpolated in Candrakīrti's Clearly Worded Commentary (Prasannapadā, Darbhaṅga edn., BST 10), p.1.

67 A Buddhist source for this well-known Indian cliché is Kamalaśīla, Tattvasaṃgrahapañjikā, Vol. 1, p. 2. Many other treatises that were studied in Tibet also refer to it.

68 Vajradharma is the peaceful aspect of Vajrapāṇi. See History, p. 451.

69 The passage quoted here is not found in Vasubandhu's work. There is, however, a parallel passage in Yaśomitra, Abhidharmakośavyākhyā (T 4092), Vol. l, p. 15.

70 A brief account of the lives of Śāriputra and Maudgalyāyana is given in the History, pp. 425-6. For a more detailed study of these texts and the tradition which holds the Abhidharma to have been compiled by arhats, refer to HBI, pp. 198-210.

71 On Vasubandhu, see S. Anacker, Seven Works of Vasubandhu; Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, pp. 167-75; also Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, pp. 136-47; and E. Frauwallner, On the Date of the Buddhist Master of the Law Vasubandhu, and the sources cited therein. Frauwallner's hypothesis, however, that there were two important Vasubandhus, has not met with general scholarly acceptance.

72 Refer to the first part of the Bibliography under Yogācāra Level. These treatises are the Bhūmivastu (T 4035-7), the Vastusaṃgrahaṇī (T 4039-40), the Paryāyasaṃgrahaṇī (T 4041), the Vivaraṇasaṃgrahaṇī (T 4042) and the Viniścayasaṃgrahaṇī (T 4038).

73 On Asaṅga, see Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, pp. 154-67; also Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, pp. 136-47; and W. Rahula's introduction to Le Compendium de la Super-Doctrine d'Asaṅga. The third level of bodhisattva realization is known as the Illuminating ('od-byed, Skt. Prabhākarī). See the Glossary of Enumerations under ten levels.

74 On Dignāga, refer to Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, pp. 181-5; Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, pp. 149-52; and to M. Hattori, Dignāga on Perception.

75 Refer to the first part of the Bibliography, under Eight Dissertations. They are the Commentary on the Ornament of the Sūtras of the Greater Vehicle (Sūtrālaṃkāravṛtti, T 4062), the Commentary on the Analysis of the Middle and Extremes (Madhyāntavibhaṅgavṛtti, T 4027), the Commentary on the Analysis of Phenomena and Reality (Dharmadharmatāvibhaṅgavṛtti, T 4028), the Rational System of Exposition (Vyākhyāyukti, T 4061), the Dissertation on the Proof of Deeds (Karmasiddhiprakaraṇa, T 4062), the Dissertation on the Five Components (Pañcaskandhaprakaraṇa, T 4059), the Twenty Verses (Viṃśatikā, T 4055) and the Thirty Verses (Triṃśikā, T 4055).

76 On Śāntideva, see Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, pp. 215-20; Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, pp. 161-6; and HIL 7.1.

77 On Jikme Lingpa, see History, pp. 835-40; Gyatso, Apparitions.

78 On Dharmakīrti, see Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, pp. 228-40; and Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, pp. 152-5. Bibliographies documenting recent research on the works of Dharmakīrti will be found in the sources listed under Pramāṇaviniścaya in the second part of the Bibliography.

79 On the patriarch Upagupta, see History, p. 436; Strong, The Legend. An account of Yaśaḥ's involvement in the second council is provided in History, p. 429. It is based on the Minor Transmissions (Kṣudrāgama, T 6). For a more detailed account of this period and its personalities, such as Yaśaḥ, Sarvakāmin and Kubjita, refer to HBI, pp. 134ff.

80 On Nāgārjuna, refer to Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, pp. 122-30; Tāranātha, bka'-babs bdun-ldan-gyi rnam-thar (translated in D. Templeman, The Seven Instruction Lineages, pp.4-8); E. Lamotte, Traité de la Grande Vertu de Sagesse; and M. Walleser, “The Life of Nāgārjuna from Tibetan and Chinese Sources” Asia Major 1 (1923), pp. 421-55. Research to date is surveyed in HIL 7.1.

81 Because the Vindication of Conventional Truth does not exist in a Tibetan translation, Tibetan authorities often count Nāgārjuna's Jewel Garland (Ratnāvalī) as the sixth collection of reasoning.

82 The term “reality” in this Buddhist usage refers to the abiding emptiness of all things (chos-nyid, Skt. dharmatā) and “apparitional reality” to their manifestation (chos-can, Skt. dharmin). See p. 19.

83 On Kawa Peltsek, see History, pp. 515 and 522.

84 The text reads instead lam rnam-bkod (P 4737), which was composed by King Ja.

85 Refer to L. Sternbach, “Les Aphorismes dits de Cāṇakya dans les textes bouddhiques du Tibet et du Turkestan Oriental” Journal Asiatique 259 (1971), pp. 71-82, for remarks on the extant Tibetan redaction of this work.

86 An oral attribution made by Lama Sonam Topgyel. However the precise source is unidentified.

87 These are, respectively, Mvt. 4972-5006, 5007-26, 5027-34 and 5035-45.

88 Here the text reads shes-rig for shes-rab.

89 Yutokpa is briefly mentioned in History, p. 753. See also Rechung Rinpoche, Tibetan Medicine, pp. 147-327, for a detailed biography; and F. Meyer, Gso-ba rig-pa: le système medical tibétain, pp. 80, 91-2.

90 According to the Indian tradition, this treatise is attributed to Vāgbhaṭa. Tibetans have identified Śūra with both Aśvaghoṣa and Vāgbhaṭa. See Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, pp. 130-6; also F. Lessing and A. Wayman, Mkhas Grub Rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras, p. 78n.; and C. Vogel, Vāgbhaṭa's Aṣṭāṅgahṛdaya.

91 All inflected nouns and conjugated verbs are subsumed within these two classes. “Gender” (rtags, Skt. liṅga), as used here, should be taken to refer to nominal stems of determinate gender, in contrast to, e.g., adjectival or pronominal stems, whose gender must be fixed.

92 These subdivisions are represented by a series of grammatical texts (T 4422-8) in the Tangyur (bstan-'gyur).

93 This is not precisely the form in which this verse is given in the Compendium of Valid Cognition. It corresponds exactly, however, to Śaṅkarasvāmin, Nyāyapraveśa, v. 1.

94 This line actually corresponds to Dharmakīrti, Exposition of Valid Cognition (Pramāṇavārttika), Ch. 1, v. 3.

95 Briefly, the axiom of the result ('bras-rtags, Skt. kāryahetu) governs causal inferences; the axiom of identity (rang-bzhin-rtags, Skt. svabhāvahetu) governs inferences determined by the internal relations among a subject of phenomena (chos-can, Skt. dharmin) and its phenomena (chos, Skt. dharma); and the axiom of the absence of the objective referent (mi-dmigs-pa'i rtags, Skt. anupalabdhihetu) governs negative inferences, such as the modus tollens of classical western logic.

96 For the history of this debate in Tibet, refer to D. S. Ruegg, The Life of Bu ston Rinpoche, pp. 37-8, n. 1.

97 Tib. go-la refers to the twenty-eight constellations (rgyu-skar nyer-brgyad) and the twelve lunar mansions (khyim bcu-gnyis). See D. Schuh, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Tibetischen Kalenderrechnung, pp. 147-8.

98 The twelve two-hour periods are named after the twelve animals, which follow the same sequential order as the twelve months and twelve years. See n. 1330.

99 The nine numbers (sme-ba dgu) and the trigrams (spar-kha) are explained in W. A. Sherrill and W. K. Chu, Anthology of the I Ching. For indications concerning their roles in Tibetan astrology and divination, see G. Dorje, Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings, pp. 92-108; and the articles by S. Hummel and D. Schuh listed in the final section of the Bibliography.

100 Refer to the fifteenth-century Tibetan compendium of knowledge, bshad-mdzod yid-bzhin nor-bu, pp. 428-32.

101 On Daṇḍin, see D. K. Gupta, A Critical Study of Daṇḍin and his Works; and S. K. De, History of Sanskrit Poetics.

102 See Jamgön Kongtrül, shes-bya kun-khyab mdzod, Vol. 2, p. 324, for a discussion on the Gauḍa style of East India and the Vaidarbha style of the south, as understood in Tibet.

103 Geometric poetry refers to verses which can be read in any direction. It includes acrostic verse (ardhabhrama or sarvatobhadra), and zigzagging (gomūtrikā). See Gupta, A Critical Study of Daṇḍin and his Works, pp. 238-9.

104 The modern study of Sakya Paṇḍita's life and works is thoroughly surveyed in D. P. Jackson, The Entrance Gate for the Wise (Section III).

105 On the South Indian (Vaidarbha) tradition of verse, refer to M. Winternitz, History of Indian Literature, Vol. III, p. 15

106 On Candragomin, see Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, pp. 199-209; Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, pp. 132-4; and M. Tatz, “The Life of Candragomin in Tibetan Historical Tradition” The Tibet Journal VII, 3 (1982), pp. 3-22.

107 On Śrīgupta, see Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, pp. 225 and 252; and on Śākyamati, ibid., p. 260.

FUNDAMENTALS: PART TWO

108 See below, p. 131.

109 A “countless” aeon (grangs-med bskal-pa) refers not to infinity but to a specific span of time defined in the Treasury of the Abhidharma (Abhidharmakośa) as 1059 aeons. Refer to R. Kloetzli, Buddhist Cosmology, pp. 113ff.

110 The Point of Enlightenment (byang-chub snying-po, Skt. bodhimaṇḍa) refers to the outer place and time at which Śākyamuni and other buddhas attain manifest enlightenment, i.e. Vajrāsana, the Indestructible Seat, at Bodh Gayā; to the inner Point of Enlightenment which is the Akaniṣṭha realm; and to the secret Point of Enlightenment which is the buddha-body of indestructible reality (vajrakāya). For the specific enlightenment of Śākyamuni and his encounter with Māra, see History, pp. 419-21.

111 History, pp. 423ff.

112 See p. 118 below. The Indestructible Nucleus of Inner Radiance ('od gsal rdo-rje snying-po, Skt. *Prabhāsvaravajragarbha) is the dimension or buddha-field of the buddha-body of reality, Samantabhadra, which cannot be limited in space and time. The teachings of the Great Perfection which pertain to this level are referred to as the vehicle of the Indestructible Nucleus of Inner Radiance.

113 I.e. it is without the subject-object dichotomy and without the threefold distinctions of beginning, middle and end.

114 See below, p. 140. It is contrasted with the “pristine cognition which quantitatively knows phenomena” (ji-snyed-pa mkhyen-pa'i ye-shes).

115 This is a synonym for the supreme buddha-body of reality (chos-sku chen-po, Skt. mahādharmakāya). See p. 342.

116 The tenth level of bodhisattva realization is known as the Cloud of Doctrine (chos-kyi sprin-pa, Skt. Dharmameghā). See n. 385.

117 There is an extensive account of this cosmological formation at the beginning of Longcenpa's Wish-fulfilling Treasury, pp. 28-31. See also the Glossary of Enumerations for the twenty-five world systems said to be situated upon the equipoised hands of Vairocana in the form of ye-shes gangs-chen mtsho (Skt. *Jñānamahāhimasāgara); and also History, pp. 409 and 961. Our world realm is situated at the heart of Vairocana and is representative of the mind aspect of his buddha-mind (thugs-kyi thugs). See also Jamgon Kongtrul, Myriad Worlds.

118 The reference for the past lives of Vajradhara is Longcenpa, Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle, pp. 12-14.

119 The major and minor marks of the buddha-body of perfect rapture are detailed below on p. 124 in terms of their outer, inner, secret and most secret appearances. See the Glossary of Enumerations for the outer category of the thirty-two major marks and the eighty minor marks.

120 For the Innermost Spirituality, refer to History, pp. 554-96.

121 During the creation stage of meditative experience (bskyed-rim, Skt. utpattikrama) the visualisation requires the meditator to invite the appropriate maṇḍala of deities from the expanse of reality, and then to make offerings and recite their mantras. The accomplishments which are attained thereby vary according to the nature of the maṇḍala.

122 This quotation occurs in the Bhadracaryāpraṇidhānarāja section of the Sūtra of the Great Bounteousness of the Buddhas (Avataṃsakasūtra), v. 3a.

123 The major and minor marks described here, which accord with the view of the Great Perfection, are considered to be the fourth or most secret kind of pristine cognition. Refer to p. 342.

124 The twofold bliss is that of the sixteen vowels which symbolise discriminative awareness (shes-rab, Skt. prajñā) and the sixteen consonants which symbolise skillful means (thabs, Skt. upāya). During the perfection stage of contemplation (rdzogs-rim, Skt. sampannakrama) these seed-syllables of light occupy the right and left channels in the body respectively, but they intermingle in the central channel. (Our text here reads phan-tshun ma-'dres… instead of phan-tshun 'dres-shing…) Then, generating the coalescent bliss of discriminative awareness, or emptiness, and skillful means, or compassion, they give rise to the sixteen delights (dga'-ba bcu-drug). This experience is duplicated in accordance with the upward and downward movement of the vital energy (rlung, Skt. vāyu), and so these sixteen delights come to possess the thirty-two major marks of the buddha-body of perfect rapture. Each of the sixteen delights experienced in series by the male consort is also endowed with the five pristine cognitions, making a total of eighty minor marks. This is the resultant and primordial buddha-body, which is not created by an accumulation of causes and provisions. The feeling of receptiveness, which this surpasses, is an experience belonging to the path of connection (sbyor-lam, Skt. prayogamārga) in the causal phase of the vehicle (Khenpo Palden Sherap). See also Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, p. 460 (GGFTC, pp. 1015-17).

125 rnam-pa mchog-dang ldan-pa'i stong-pa-nyid is the emptiness in which the pure appearances of the buddha-body and pristine cognition are coalesced. See pp. 282-3.

126 See Pl. 2 for the maṇḍala of peaceful and wrathful deities.

127 rdo-rje btsun-mo (Skt. Vajrayoṣit) is the ḍākinī or female consort who embodies emptiness and the expanse of reality. Refer to Jamgön Kongtrül's discussion in shes-bya kun-khyab mdzod, Vol. 4, p. 411, in which the womb of the Vajra Queen is identified with emptiness free from conceptual elaboration and the buddha level itself.

128 Surendra or Devendra is the form assumed by the Buddha among the gods and Munīndra is his form as Śākyamuni among human beings. For the precise identification of vaiḍūrya as beryl and aquamarine, see Meyer, Gso-ba rig-pa: le système médical tibétain, p. 177. The English word beryl in fact shares a common origin with the Tamil vēḷūr/bēlūr and the Prakrit veḷūriya (Skt. vaiḍūrya). The terrain of beryl is the Trāyastriṃśa heaven.

129 Vairocana is so called because he is the pure, enlightened nature of the component of form. Similarly, Akṣobhya-Vajrasattva is the king of consciousness, Ratnasambhava is the king of feeling, Amitābha is the king of discernment and Amoghasiddhi is the king of habitual tendencies.

130 The extraordinary Akaniṣṭha of the body of perfect rapture is perceived only by buddhas and tenth level bodhisattvas and is contrasted with the lower Akaniṣṭha realms of the emanational body which are visible to bodhisattvas below the tenth level. However the natural body of perfect rapture is strictly described as being manifest only to itself and not in an extraneous manner. The interpretation of this terse passage follows the oral commentary of Tülku Pema Wangyel.

131 Or “the lord of Yama's functionaries” (las-kyi gshin-rje mgon).

132 Tib. rlung-dkyil is the maṇḍala of wind, on which, according to the Abhidharma, the physical universe is based.

133 Īśvara refers in this context not to Śiva but to Indra. Refer to Śūra, Jātakamālā, Peking Tangyur, Vol. 128, p. 21; and for Brahmā, ibid., pp. 21-2. Also see the Sanskrit version of the Jātakamālā (Darbhaṅga edn., BST 21); and its English translation by P. Khoroche, Once the Buddha Was a Monkey, Chs. 11, 17 and 29.

134 On Vemacitra, see the Divyāvadāna, 182.13; the Sūtra of Extensive Play (Lalitavistara), 241.3; and the Mahāvastu, 3.138.2.

135 The tale of the woodpecker is related by Śūra in the Jātakamālā, Ch. 34. For an English translation, see Āryaśūra, The Marvelous Companion, pp. 349-53; Khoroche, Once the Buddha, pp. 249-53.

136 For the tale of Dṛḍhasamādāna, see Sūtra of the Wise and Foolish (mdo-mdzangs-blun, T 341), Ch. 49.

137 Tib. mu-ge'i tshe nya-bo-che.

138 The noble creature (srog-chags des-pa) is the rohita fish. This is recounted by Peltrül Rinpoche in The Words of My Perfect Teacher, pp. 230-31.

139 For the horse Ājāneyabalaha, see the Pali Valahassa Jātaka, no. 196; and also R.A. Stein, Recherches sur l'épopée et le barde au tibet, pp. 426, 510-11, where cang-shes balaha is identified with Hayagrīva on the basis of the bka'-gdams pha-chos bu-chos, and as the mount of Ling Kesar.

140 The golden bee was an emanation of Avalokiteśvara. Refer to Karaṇḍavyūhasūtra, pp. 47ff., as cited in H. Dayal's Bodhisattva Doctrine in Sanskrit Buddhist Literature, p. 49.

141 The primary source for this section is Longcenpa, Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle, pp. 20-6.

142 I.e. the Indestructible Seat at Bodh Gayā. See p. 115 above and History, p. 409.

143 Tib. sangs-rgyas stong-rtsa gcig is interpreted by the Author in this context to mean the Thousand Buddhas. Longcenpa in the Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle, p. 24, reads sangs-rgyas stong-dang rtsa gnyis. In his Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, p. 131, he explains the added two to be Vajrapāṇi and Mañjuśrī. Pawo Tsuklak Trhengwa in the Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History (dpa'-bo chos-'byung), p. 200, maintains that in the Penetration of Sound (sgra thal-'gyur) the additional two are asserted to be lha'i bu nyi-ma rab-tu snang-ba and dga'-byed dbang-phyug.

144 Vajradhara is known as the sixth teacher because he presides over the maṇḍala of the Conquerors of the Five Enlightened Families: Vairocana, Akṣobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitābha and Amoghasiddhi.

145 This is, of course, quite distinct from the Bodhi Tree at Vajrāsana (Author).

146 The eighth level experienced by bodhisattvas is known as the Immovable (mi-gYo-ba, Skt. Acalā) because there is no possibility of regression for one who reaches it.

147 I.e. the Bodhi Tree which subsequently became the location or Point of Enlightenment for Śākyamuni Buddha at Vajrāsana.

148 Refer to History, pp. 617-84.

149 For the views of the main proponents of the later Tibetan schools, refer to pp. 197-205.

150 The correspondence of the Tibetan to the Sanskrit is not precise for this particular verse.

151 Seminal point (thig-le, Skt. bindu) is the nucleus or seed of the enlightened mind which comprises a range of meanings, from the white and red seminal fluids of the physical body to the seminal points of light which appear during All-Surpassing Realization. In this context, the white and red seminal points (thig-le dkar-dmar) are the sperm and ovum which, in union with vital energy (rlung), create the three world realms along with their appearances, and become the source of rebirth in saṃsāra. According to the resultant phase of the greater vehicle, these propensities are purified by the empowerment of supreme desire ('dod-chags chen-po'i dbang-bskur), whereas the empowerment of great light rays ('od-zer chen-po'i dbang-bskur) given in the causal phase of the greater vehicle merely purifies the two obscurations in a gradual way. For the distinctions between these two, see p. 247; History, pp. 912-13; and also Longcenpa, Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle, pp. 663-4.

152 Tib. dam-pa'i bdag is equivalent to Skt. paramātmā. It is explained in the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle that the true self is revealed when the dichotomy of self and non-self has been transcended (Ch. 1, v. 37): “It is true self owing to the quiescence of all conceptual elaboration with reference to self and non-self.”

FUNDAMENTALS: PART THREE

153 The third promulgation is called irreversible because there is no possibility of its revelations being qualified or reversed, as is the case with the previous promulgations (Lama Sonam Topgyel).

154 I.e. Vajrāsana. See above, n. 110.

155 These three essential natures are explained below in accordance with Vijñānavāda, pp. 160-2; and according to Great Madhyamaka, pp. 169-77.

156 These behaviour patterns, which are mentally imposed, are held to be form by the Vaibhāṣika. Refer to the discussion in Mipham Rinpoche, mkhas-pa'i tshul-la 'jug-pa'i sgo, fols. 4a.3-4b.4.

157 See pp. 226-7 below; and the Glossary of Enumerations under sixteen minor truths.

158 Refer to the Abhidharmakośavyākhyā, Vol. 2, pp. 966-70, in which Yaśomitra compares this contemplation to a diamond drill which pierces all, because it pierces all dispositions.

159 See below, pp. 160-2, for the basic tenets of Mind Only.

160 The self-centred buddhas are said to be rhinoceros-like because they adhere to a course of solitary realization, in which their meditation depends on the subtle subjective aspect of phenomena. See below, pp. 227-31.

161 For the background relevant to this quotation, refer to S. Lévi, Matériaux pour l'étude du système Vijñaptimātrā, p. 43, n. 1.

162 These are explained in Longcenpa, Wish-fulfilling Treasury, pp. 617-18. The third category holds sensa and consciousness to be mental attributes which are the two parts of one essential consciousness, in the manner of the white and the yolk of an egg.

163 The Vijñānavāda are still trapped within the subject-object dichotomy because they hold intrinsic awareness to exist in an absolute sense. They do not understand the coalescence of awareness and emptiness which is basic to the higher vehicles from Great Madhyamaka to the Great Perfection of Atiyoga (Tülku Pema Wangyel).

164 For the five axioms (gtan-tshig lnga), refer to Longcenpa, Treasury of Spiritual and Philosophical Systems, pp. 118ff.; and HIL 7.1, p. 112.

165 Tib. yongs-gcod is equivalent to Skt. pariccheda. The text wrongly reads yongs-dpyod.

166 Tib. rnam-bcad, Skt. vyavaccheda. The text reads rnam-dpyad.

167 These impure levels of realization are the first seven attained by bodhisattvas. Refer to the Glossary of Enumerations under ten levels.

168 This text is by Āryadeva, yet may be attributed to Nāgārjuna in the sense that it was he who imparted the Madhyamaka teachings to Āryadeva (Khenpo Palden Sherap).

169 The Great Madhyamaka (dbu-ma chen-po) is also known as Yogācāra-Madhyamaka. As such it is not to be confused with the Yogācāra-Svātantrika school. It integrates the view that all things of saṃsāra are intrinsically empty (rang-stong) of their own inherent substantiality with the view that all enlightened attributes are empty of those extraneous phenomena (gzhan-stong). See below, pp. 183-6. The quotation given here does not occur in the extant Tibetan text of Bhavya's Madhyamakaratnapradīpa, rather it paraphrases passages found on fols. 280-1 of the Derge canonical edn. of the text: dbu-ma, Vol. Tsha.

170 This verse also occurs in the Ornament of Emergent Realization, Ch. 5, v. 21.

171 Refer to D. T. Suzuki, The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, p. 136. A variant reading would be “the subject, object and sensations”. See above, p. 55.

172 These are exemplified by the Five Doctrines of Maitreya (byams-chos sde-lnga), and the Trilogy of Commentaries by Bodhisattvas (byang-chub sems-'grel-gyi skor-gsum). Refer to the first part of the Bibliography.

173 Tib. sbyang-bzhi, Skt. *caturdhā vyavadāna, is unidentified. Perhaps the purification of the four perverted views (see Glossary of Enumerations) is intended.

174 The Guru of Suvarṇadvīpa (gser-gling-pa) or Sumatra was also known as Dharmakīrti and Dharmapāla. He was Atiśa's teacher. See Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, p. 213n.

175 The third level of bodhisattva realization is known as the Illuminating ('od-byed, Skt. Prabhākarī).

176 The Vaibhāṣika, Sautrāntika and Vijñānavāda systems.

177 This refers to the tendency to miss the experience of reality (chos-nyid) or emptiness, and to reduce the apparitional reality (chos-can) into categories which are then invested with substantial existence. This occurs in the Vaibhāṣika, Sautrāntika and Vijñānavāda systems.

178 These three kinds of tantra or continuum are explained below, pp. 263-7.

179 These are held to be the four attributes of absolute reality, according to the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle.

180 This quotation is from the Sūtra of Queen Śrīmālā (Śrīmālādevīsūtra). Cf. A. and H. Wayman (trans.), The Lion's Roar of Queen Śrīmālā, p. 106.

181 Tib. gzhung-lam, Skt. granthamārga, refers to the texts and path of the teaching on the Transcendental Perfection of Discriminative Awareness (Prajñāpāramitā), which is central to the bodhisattva vehicle.

182 Through their methodical order and planning such activities are said to be indicative of the transmitted precepts taught by Śākyamuni Buddha.

183 This nature is respectively the buddha-body of form (gzugs-sku, Skt. rūpakāya) and the buddha-body of reality (chos-sku, Skt. dharmakāya).

184 The paths of learning (slob-pa'i lam, Skt. śaikṣamārga) are the first four gradual paths traversed by bodhisattvas, i.e. those of provisions, connection, insight and meditation. The fifth path is that of no-more-learning, or the final path (aśaikṣamārga/niṣṭhamārga). See also n. 382.

185 There is an account of this incident during a past life of Śākyamuni in Peltrül Rinpoche, kun-bzang bla-ma'i zhal-lung, pp. 192bff.

186 This Tathāgata Śākyamuni was the first teacher of Śākyamuni Buddha.

187 Refer to the section on nihilism, pp. 66-7.

188 The Archer is Saraha.

189 For Terdak Lingpa's biography, see History, pp. 825-9; and for his brother, Locen Dharmaśrī, pp. 728-32.

190 On Mipham Rinpoche, who is known as Mipham Namgyel Gyamtso or Mipham Jampel Gyepa, see History, pp. 869-80.

191 On Atiśa, the founder of the Kadampa tradition, see Blue Annals, pp. 242ff.; A. Chattopadhyāya, Atiśa and Tibet; and H. Eimer's works on Atiśa which are detailed in the final section of the Bibliography.

192 On Tilopā, refer to Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, p. 299n.; and to H. V. Guenther (trans.), The Life and Teaching of Nāropa. For the lives of Tilopā and the other great accomplished masters mentioned in the following pages, see J. Robinson, Buddha's Lions; and K. Dowman, Masters of Mahāmudrā.

193 See Guenther, The Life and Teaching of Nāropa.

194 On Advayavajra or Maitripā, see Blue Annals, p. 731; and Advayavajrasaṃgraha.

195 On Saraha, refer to H. V. Guenther (trans.), The Royal Song of Saraha; and to M. Shahidullah, Les Chants Mystiques de Kanḥa et de Saraha.

196 Saraha appeared in a dream to Marpa Lotsāwa and this song is a recollection of the teaching he received. See Nalanda Translation Committee, The Life of Marpa, p. 46.

197 On Milarepa, refer to L. Lhalungpa (trans.), The Life of Milarepa; G. C. C. Chang (trans.), The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa; and Blue Annals, pp. 427-37.

198 On Gampopa or Takpo Lharje, see sGam-po-pa, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation; also Blue Annals, pp. 451-62.

199 Ngamdzong Tönpa was one of Marpa's four main students who transmitted the Kagyü tradition. See Blue Annals, pp. 435-7, 449.

200 On Zhang Rinpoche, see Blue Annals, pp. 711ff.; also History, pp. 655 and 921.

201 On Karmapa III, Rangjung Dorje, refer to History, pp. 572-4 and 666; also refer to Karma Thinley, The History of the Sixteen Karmapas of Tibet, pp. 55-8.

202 On Karmapa VII, Chödrak Gyamtso, see Thinley, The History of the Sixteen Karmapas of Tibet, pp. 83-7.

203 For Situ VIII, Dharmakara, refer to E. G. Smith's introduction to The Autobiography and Diaries of Situ Paṇ-chen.

204 This is the dri-ma med-pa zhes-bya-ba'i-cher 'grel-pa which is contained in the sa-skya bka'-'bum, Vol. 5, no. 65.

205 This work is no. 98 in the sa-skya bka'-'bum, Vol. 5. Our text wrongly reads snye-mo sgom-chen-gyis dris-lan.

206 On the life of Tsongkapa, see Blue Annals, pp. 1073-9; R. Kaschewsky, Das Leben des lamaistischen Heiligen Tsoṅ-kha-pa Blo-bzaṅ grags-pa; and R. A. F. Thurman (ed.), The Life and Teachings of Tsong Khapa.

207 On Tölpopa Sangye or Sherap Gyeltsen, see n. 1309; Blue Annals, pp. 775-7; and C. Stearns, Buddha from Dolpo.

208 Tib. gsang-mdzad. This reading is recommended by Lama Sonam Topgyel in preference to that given in the text, which would read “secret repositories” or “treasuries” (gsang-mdzod).

209 These three synonyms for ultimate reality in the outer tantras are respectively derived from Kriyātantra, Ubhayatantra and Yogatantra. See pp. 269-73.

210 See D. S. Ruegg, “Le Dharmadhātustava de Nāgārjuna” in Études tibetaines dediées à la memoire de Marcelle Lalou, p. 466.

211 Cf. Nāgārjuna, Root Stanzas on the Madhyamaka entitled Discriminative Awareness (Mūlamadhyamakakārikā), Ch. 18, v. 6.

212 Tib. bde-chen-zhing. As cited above on p. 127, this is the preferred reading. Here, however, our text gives bde-gshegs-zhing.

213 This incident occurs at the end of the first chapter of the Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra, in which Brahmā Śikhin considered the buddha-fields to be pure and Śāriputra held them to be impure. After their debate, the Buddha intervened to say that the buddha-fields are always pure when seen with pure vision, whereas Śāriputra could not actually see this purity. This is also recounted elsewhere, e.g. by Mipham Rinpoche in his spyi-don 'od-gsal snying-po, p. 78.

214 Tib. ri-dvags me'i gtsang-sbra-can is a legendary species of wildlife which holds fire to be not hot but purificatory. It is referred to in the texts of Madhyamaka (Khenpo Tsewang Dongyel).

215 This verse is also given in Ch. 10, v. 638.

216 Tib. gang-zag. The text reads gang-dag.

217 Tib. bram-ze'i 'jig-tshogs-kyi lta-ba refers to the view of the eternalistic extremists, which is said to have twenty aspects. See Mipham Rinpoche, grub-mtha'i mdzod bsdus-pa, p. 71; and S. Collins, Selfless Persons, pp. 118-19.

218 On Ngok Loden Sherap, refer to Blue Annals, pp. 328ff.

219 Tib. ma bral-bas. The text wrongly reads bral-bas.

220 The text ascribes this treatise to Nāgārjuna, although in the colophon of the Peking edn., Vol. 83, p. 90, 5.5, it clearly states that Vimalamitra entrusted it to Nyak Jñānakumāra in Phenyül.

221 The theory of atomism developed in the Vaibhāṣika school was decisively rejected by the Vijñānavāda, and probably also by the Sautrāntika. See M. Kapstein “Mereological Considerations in Vasubandhu's ‘Proof of Idealism'” in Reason's Traces.

222 Refer to the Glossary of Enumerations under eight vows of the prātimokṣa.

223 These are referred to in the Glossary of Enumerations under five, eight, ten and all things to be renounced.

224 See below, p. 229.

225 This is a meditative experience occurring on the path of connection (sbyor-lam). See below, p. 236; also Longcenpa, Treasury of Spiritual and Philosophical Systems, pp. 142-6.

226 I.e. they are superior to the pious attendants.

227 Although the ignorance which gives rise to the three poisons is reversed by the self-centred buddhas, the subject is not yet realised to be empty of the three interrelated aspects of ignorance. Refer to p. 54.

228 These first four paths are identical to the four paths of learning outlined above on p. 175, namely, the paths of provision, connection, insight and meditation. The three paths referred to are the first three of these.

229 This verse is probably derived from the theg-chen rnal-'byor-la 'jug-pa, which has only recently become available. Refer to nn. 608, 896 below; and to Blue Annals, pp. 999-1001, for Aro Yeshe Jungne.

230 This rendering follows the meaning of the Tibetan. For a detailed discussion of the Indian origins of the term bodhisattva, refer to A. L. Basham's contribution to L. Kawamura (ed.), The Bodhisattva in Asian Culture.

231 In this classification of seven prātimokṣa vows, the lay vows for men (upāsaka) and the lay vows for women (upāsikā) are combined so that the generally known eight vows of the prātimokṣa become seven. See the quotation cited above on p. 226 from the Treasury of the Abhidharma.

232 These meditative experiences on the path of connection, known as the feeling of warmth (drod), its climax (rtse-mo), the feeling of receptiveness (bzod) and the supreme phenomenon (chos-mchog) are explained in Longcenpa, Treasury of Spiritual and Philosophical Systems, pp. 142-6. For an overall account of the bodhisattva path, refer to Dayal, The Bodhisatvva Doctrine in Sanskrit Buddhist Literature, Ch. 4.

233 The ninth level of bodhisattva realization is known as Excellent Intelligence (legs-pa'i blo-gros, Skt. Sādhumatī).

FUNDAMENTALS: PART FOUR

234 It is the bodhisattva vehicle, among the causal vehicles of dialectics, which is also known as the vehicle of transcendental perfection.

235 The unsurpassed vehicle of the tantras in general is here contrasted with the higher view of the tantras belonging to the vehicle of skillful means. “Purity and suffering” (rnam-par byang-ba-dang sdug-bsngal) refer respectively to the last two and the first two sublime truths.

236 The maṇḍala of seals (phyag-rgya'i dkyil-'khor) refers to the seals of the deity's body, speech and mind.

237 The abiding nature of inconceivable reality is held to be vast because it contains manifold skillful means, and profound because it is essentially discriminative awareness and emptiness.

238 Refer, e.g., to Jamgön Kongtrül, shes-bya kun-khyab mdzod, Vol. 2, pp. 656-82; and to Mipham Rinpoche, spyi-don 'od-gsal snying-po, pp. 146-8. The vehicle of indestructible reality employs a series of four empowerments which enable one's awareness of pure enlightened attributes to ripen. The four are known as the vase empowerment (bum-dbang), the secret empowerment (gsang-dbang), the empowerment of discriminating pristine cognition (shes-rab ye-shes-kyi dbang) and the empowerment of word and meaning (tshig-don-gi dbang); see also below, p. 360. Among them, the third empowerment reveals the secret appearance of the deity and emphasises meditation on the perfection stage, leading to the eventual realization of the body of reality through union with the ḍākinī, embodiment of emptiness.

239 During empowerment, when creatively visualised as the deity, the meditator is known as the Being of Commitment (dam-tshig sems-dpa', Skt. samayasattva). Subsequently, the entry of the actual deity into this Being of Commitment is referred to as the “descent of the Being of Pristine Cognition” (ye-shes sems-dpa'i dbab-pa, Skt. jñānasattvapatana). This is also known as the “irresistible descent of pristine cognition” (ye-shes btsan-thabs-su dbab-pa).

240 These seven aspects of spiritual wealth according to ultimate truth are therefore the ultimate truth of the expanse, the ultimate truth of pristine cognition, and the ultimate truth of original natural cessation which has five aspects corresponding to the buddha-body, speech, mind, enlightened attributes and activities.

241 It is said that the gods perceive water as nectar, humans and animals perceive it as a drink, tormented spirits perceive it as pus and blood, and the denizens of hell see it as molten lava, whereas the buddhas perceive it as the divine consort Māmakī.

242 Tib. 'gyur ma-yin. Our text reads 'gyur-ba-yin; refer to the Peking Tangyur: rgyud-'grel, Vol. 81, p. 297.4.1.

243 It is the causal buddha-body of form (rgyu'i gzugs-sku) which is visualised on the path, in contrast to the resultant buddha-body of form ('bras-bu'i gzugs-sku) described above, pp. 123ff.

244 The desired qualities ('dod-yon, Skt. kāmaguṇa) are the pleasurable enjoyments of the five senses.

245 Tib. don-dam-du ni mnyam-rdzogs-la. Compare the alternative reading for this line on p. 245 above (i.e. don-dam-du ni dbyer-med-la).

246 The three maṇḍalas here refer to the view, commitment and conduct of Secret Mantra (Lama Sonam Topgyel).

247 See the quotation from Tantra of the Inconceivable Rali Cakrasaṃvara on p. 248 above.

248 Each of the levels is simultaneously the renunciation of an obscuration and the application of an appropriate antidote. See the Glossary of Enumerations for the ten, eleven or sixteen levels.

249 The deity's seal which secures all appearances within the maṇḍala of buddha-body is known as the great seal (phyag-rgya chen-po, Skt. Mahāmudrā). See below, p. 258.

250 In order for all appearances to be secured by the great seal of the deity's form, a melting bliss is generated within the energy channels by the fusion and melting of the seed syllables E and VAṂ, symbolising the coalescence of emptiness (E) and bliss (VAṂ). It is said that this coalescence is a prerequisite for all buddhas who become enlightened. The co-emergent bliss (sahajasukha) is the transmuted sexual energy issuing from the pulse of the seminal point of desire within the central channel of the body. Through this transmutation the propensities which lead to rebirth in saṃsāra are reversed.

251 Among these, medicinal pills extracted from herbal and mineral essences promote longevity, eye-salve promotes supernormal vision, and the enchanted sword cuts through obscuration. On the accomplishment of “swift feet”, refer to History, p. 614.

252 Tib. lta-ba'i lung. Our text wrongly reads rlung for lung.

253 On these four attributes, see Jamgön Kongtrül, shes-bya kun-khyab mdzod, Peking edn., Vol. 2, pp. 611ff.

254 Concerning the meditations on the presence of the buddha-body of reality in the heart centre: in the context of the Mahāyoga path of skillful means, see Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, p. 455 (GGFTC, p. 1010); and in the context of Atiyoga meditation, ibid., pp. 463ff. (GGFTC, pp. 1022ff.) On the pure and impure expressions of the seed-syllables in the body which give rise to buddhahood or saṃsāra, see the same source, pp. 172ff. (GGFTC, pp. 552ff.)

255 For the tradition of the Zur family, refer to History, pp. 617-49.

256 Tib. bya-min literally means “non-Kriyā”, i.e. the Caryātantra or Ubhayatantra.

257 Quoted by Longcenpa in his sngags-kyi spyi-don tshangs-dbyangs 'brug-sgra, p. 52.

258 See n. 1380 below.

259 This point is explained in the Glossary of Enumerations under four kinds of desire. Refer also to History, p. 413.

260 These six modes indicate the gradual appearance of the deity out of emptiness. See also below, p. 351.

261 For the distinction between the higher Secret Mantra (gsang-sngags), and the lower gnostic mantras (rig-sngags), see the Glossary of Enumerations under three kinds of mantra.

262 Syllables conjoined with syllables form mantra chains such as the Hundred-Syllable Mantra of Vajrasattva (yig-brgya).

263 These four yogas are generally known as the four miracles (cho-'phrul bzhi). Refer to p. 356 below.

264 See p. 255, n. 249.

265 For the historical background to the origin of these tantras and their means for attainment, the sādhana classes of Mahāyoga, see History, pp. 458-83.

266 Tib. mnyam-gnyis. Refer, e.g., to Mipham Rinpoche, spyi-don 'od-gsal snying-po, pp. 99-100. Our text reads mnyam-nyid.

267 Skt. mākṣika. This is a specific kind of mercury which is reputedly employed as a catalyst for the transmutation of iron into gold. Refer to Mipham Rinpoche, spyi-don 'od-gsal snying-po, pp. 48-9.

268 The upper and lower doors refer respectively to the higher centres and the secret or sexual centre, either in one's own body or in that of one's partner. See also Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 453ff. (GGFTC, pp. 1006ff.); and the Glossary of Enumerations under six centres forming the “upper door” of the body.

269 These occur during the practice of the inner heat (gtum-mo).

270 Refer to the Glossary of Enumerations under four branches of ritual service and attainment.

271 Tib. rin-po-che kaustubha according to Mipham Rinpoche, spyi-don 'od-gsal snying-po, pp. 48-9, is applied to the base metal which extracts gold. In classical Indian mythology Kaustubha is the name of Viṣṇu's gem, which was obtained during the churning of the primeval ocean.

272 This refers to the dissolution of the physical elements and the mental faculties at death.

273 The mental body (yid-kyi lus) is the form assumed by consciousness during the intermediate state of reality (chos-nyid bar-do) and the intermediate state of rebirth (srid-pa bar-do), i.e. after death and before rebirth. See W. Y. Evans-Wentz (ed.), The Tibetan Book of the Dead, pp. 85ff.; or F. Fremantle and C. Trungpa, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, pp. 33ff.

274 On melting bliss (zhu-bde), see n. 250 above.

275 The male and female yogins (rnal-'byor pho-mo) are peripheral in the maṇḍala, and so form the retinue of the central or foremost divine consorts (gtso-bo yab-yum).

276 For a discussion on this verse and the empowered awareness (dbang-bsgyur rigs), or that awareness which has power over the life-span, refer to Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 361-3, 466 (GGFTC, pp. 852, 1027). Other passages in the literature of the Sequence of the Path of the Magical Net, however, suggest “empowered family” as an alternative rendering of this phrase. See, e.g., the Litany of the Names of Mañjuśrī (Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti), vv. 23-4, and Mañjuśrīmitra's comments as given in R.M. Davidson's translation of the text in MCB 20 (1981), n. 62.

277 As explained above in n. 144, Vajradhara is known as the sixth regent (rgyal-tshab drug-pa) because he is the spontaneous presence of the Five Conquerors and the five buddha-bodies.

278 For the origins of the Eighteen Great Tantrapiṭaka of Mahāyoga and the eight classes of means for attainment, refer to History, pp. 458ff.

279 These eight classes each represent a large number of tantra texts, as found in the Collected Tantras of the Nyingmapa. A principle tantra of each is also contained in the Kangyur (bka'-'gyur), T 838-44 and 439.

280 For the classification of Kālacakra as Mother Tantra, see Jamgön Kongtrül, shes-bya kun-khyab mdzod, Vol. 3, p. 232.

281 The General Sūtra which Gathers All Intentions is the exegesis of the Root Tantra of All-Gathering Awareness.

282 Tib. kara is a corrupt form of Skt. ākara, meaning “source”. The source of all display (rol-pa'i kara) is the sexual centre of the consort.

283 These include the axioms of Madhyamaka outlined in pp. 163-4; and the axioms of Mahāyoga, pp. 275-6.

284 Tib. gzhag-nas. Our text reads gzhag-na in accordance with the Peking Kangyur, Vol. 9. However, the preferred reading is cited below on p. 368.

285 I.e. in an immediate manner without requiring the gradual creation of the visualisation as in Mahāyoga.

286 The following ten levels and five paths known to Anuyoga correspond to those of the causal vehicles discussed in Pt. 3. Refer also to the Glossary of Enumerations.

287 When a bodhisattva has advanced on the path of meditation he receives a prophetic declaration from the buddhas in which the time and circumstances for his own future buddhahood are revealed. See, e.g., the life of Tsangtönpa in History, pp. 691-3.

288 For the path of great desire, refer to the discussion on the necessity of the empowerment into this path on p. 152.

289 This refinement ends the cycle of rebirth in saṃsāra.

290 srog-chen-po'i rlung is a synonym for egotism and ignorance. Tib. srog-chags, which means living creatures or insects in this context, is a code standing for the “vital energy of great life-breath”.

291 These rites of sexual union (sbyor) and “liberation” (sgrol) are referred to in History, pp. 617-49 and 660-70. For a detailed discussion, refer to Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 386-402 (GGFTC, pp. 899-922). For their abuse during the tenth century, refer to R. A. Stein, Tibetan Civilization, pp. 71-2; and S. G. Karmay, “The Ordinance of Lha Bla-ma Ye-shes 'od” in TSHR, pp. 150-62. Here “liberation” means the forceful removal of consciousness from the body of another and its transference to a higher level of rebirth.

292 Tib. mi-nag mdung-thung-can bsod-pa. In a previous life, Śākyamuni Buddha “liberated” an assailant who almost murdered five hundred merchants, in order to release him from rebirth in the hells. See Peltrül Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, p. 125, and the theg-chen gsang-ba chen-po thabs-la mkhas-pa'i mdo referred to in that text.

293 Tib. ded-dpon-gyi bu-mo-la bsgrod-pa. This is an incident recounted in Peltrül Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, pp. 125-6, which describes the compassionate association of Karma, a celibate young brāhman, with a brāhman girl.

294 The text here reads nye-ba'i rnal-'byor, i.e. Upayoga, the “approximate yoga”.

295 Tib. mtshan-ma yod-med refers to the symbolic and non-symbolic methods of meditation which correspond respectively to the relative and ultimate truths.

296 I.e. Nāgārjuna and Asaṅga.

297 These are the Unsurpassed tantras according to the new translation schools. See Lessing and Wayman, Mkhas Grub Rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras, pp. 250ff.

298 The black outline (re-kha nag-po) is the form assumed by the central channel as a mark of success in the practices of vital energy according to the Kālacakra Tantra. Although all the pure appearances of the deities are reflected within it, the body of rainbow light cannot be obtained. Refer to Jamgön Kongtrül, shes-bya kun-khyab mdzod, Vol. 4, p. 185.

299 Through the action seal (las-rgya, Skt. karmamudrā), the result of an awareness-holder of the desire realm is attained. It is the yoga pertaining to the sexual centre of one's partner. The result of an awareness-holder of the form realm is secured by the seal of pristine cognition (ye-shes-kyi phyag-rgya, Skt. jñānamudrā).

300 Refer to p. 247, n. 238 above.

301 Refer to p. 288 for the path of desire (chags-lam).

302 The vajra and bell are ritual implements which respectively symbolise skillful means and discriminative awareness.

303 I.e. the non-Buddhist schools and systems.

304 Tib. thig-le chen-po is a synonym for the buddha-body of reality. See the Index of Technical Terms under seminal point.

305 Tib. mi-'jig-pa. The text wrongly reads mi-'jigs-pa. Compare the same quotation as cited on p. 181.

306 For an explanation of this verse, see Guenther, Buddhist Philosophy in Theory and Practice, pp. 200-2.

307 The “second stage which is the essence” refers to the perfection stage (rdzogs-rim). The second stage of this second stage is known as the Great Perfection (rdzogs-chen) because the perfection stage can be either symbolic (mtshan-yod rdzogs-rim) or non-symbolic (mtshan-med rdzogs-rim), and it is the latter which is referred to as the Great Perfection.

308 Refer to the Glossary of Enumerations under ten levels. The first is known as the Joyful (rab-tu dga'-ba, Skt. Pramuditā). The seventh is known as the Far-Reaching (ring-du song-ba, Skt. Dūraṅgamā). The eighth and tenth levels are mentioned in nn. 116, 146 and 385.

309 The buddhas of the surpassed levels are those who have accomplished the respective realizations of the systems just mentioned.

310 I.e. the single essence is not obtained through the subject-object dichotomy.

311 Tib. gti-mug ma-gsal cig. The same quotation cited on p. 899 of the History, reads gti-mug ma-bsam cig. Similarly the following line reads rang-gi lus-las gyen-du ma-bskyod cig, whereas the equivalent line cited in the History reads rang-gi lus-las gyen-du ma-spyod cig.

312 This interpretation follows the oral commentary of Lama Sonam Topgyel.

313 These are spontaneous axioms which arise internally and replace the lower axioms of Madhyamaka and Mahāyoga which are contrived by the intellect.

314 The text reads yin-tu smra-ba, after the reading in Longcenpa, Treasury of Spiritual and Philosophical Systems, p. 337. An alternative suggested tentatively by Khenpo Palden Sherap would read “freely” (yan-tu) for yin-tu.

315 This and the subsequent divisions and cycles of the Esoteric Instructional Class are indicated in terms of their essence (ngo-bo, i.e. “essentially”), their natural expression (rang-bzhin, i.e. “naturally”) and their character (mtshan-nyid, i.e. “characteristically”), which correspond respectively to the buddha-bodies of reality, perfect rapture and emanation.

316 In other words, the moment of death and liberation are simultaneous.

317 Tib. rtog-pa means thought. Our text erroneously reads rtogs-pa, i.e. realization.

318 Interpreted according to the oral commentary of Tülku Pema Wangyel.

319 The nucleus or awareness which is reality's expanse arises as a series of seminal points of light which are known as indestructible chains (of light). When this expanse is fully mature, the three world realms dissolve into inner radiance.

320 For the channels and vital energy within the body, see the Glossary of Enumerations under ten kinds of vital energy and six centres forming the “upper door” of the body. See also the disussion in Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 453ff. (GGFTC, pp. 1006ff.); and in Jamgön Kongtrül, shes-bya kun-khyab mdzod, Vol. 2, pp. 631-45.

321 See n. 151 above.

322 The forehead centre corresponds to the god realms, the throat centre to the antigods, the heart centre to human beings, the navel centre to animals, the secret centre to tormented spirits and the soles of the feet to the denizens of the hot and cold hells. Through these practices of the perfection stage (rdzogs-rim), the vital energy and mind remain in these centres, saṃsāra is not transcended, and rebirth consequently occurs.

323 Whereas in the perfection stage the vital energy and mind remain in the centres after entering from the left and right channels in the form of the white and red seminal points and releasing the knots in the central channel, in All-Surpassing Realization this purification is not required because the vital energy of pristine cognition naturally causes the channels to vanish into light. According to Longcenpa, Wish-fulfilling Treasury, pp. 851-8, there are twenty-one knots altogether, twenty of which are divided into pairs corresponding to their location in the right and left channels. Their vanishing in ten pairs also corresponds to the renunciation and realization of the ten levels.

324 These particular appearances of the hundred buddha-fields and contemplations correspond to the realization of the first level, through the vanishing of the first pair of knotted channels into light.

325 This text belongs to the Great Perfection endowed with Conch-Syllables (dung-yig-can) from the Innermost Spirituality of Vimalamitra, Pt. 2, Vol. Cha, pp. 1-159.

326 The biographies of Zurcungpa Sherap-tra and his son Dropukpa are presented in the History, pp. 635-49. For the four “pillars”, see pp. 640ff. The source for the material found in the recapitulations of this and the previous chapter is Locen Dharmaśrī, gsang-bdag zhal-lung.

327 I.e. the Kriyātantra which realises the three enlightened families and the Yogatantra which realises the five enlightened families are here said to be equivalent to the common vehicles of the bodhisattvas and so forth because their realization is incomplete.

328 Refer to History, p. 701.

329 History, p. 653.

330 History, pp. 667-8.

331 History, pp. 666-7.

332 Tib. ye-shes yon-tan kun-rdzob lha. Compare the identical passage cited above on p. 270. Here, our text gives ye-shes bzhi-yon kun-rdzob lha in conformity with the Peking Tangyur (P 3736), Vol. 83, p. 106.4.2. The Author and Khenpo Palden Sherap prefer the former reading.

333 For a detailed account of these and the succeeding empowerments, refer to Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 370-9, (GGFTC, pp. 369-81); and to Jamgön Kongtrül, shes-bya kun-khyab mdzod, Vol. 2, pp. 656-82, 737-9. See also the Glossary of Enumerations under fifteen ordinary sacraments (of empowerment). The water and crown empowerments employ their appropriate symbolic implements to purify obscurations respectively into the mirror-like pristine cognition and the pristine cognition of sameness.

334 These sublime, gentle and rough appearances are purified when they are seen respectively as Mañjuśrī who is sublime in discriminative awareness, Avalokiteśvara who is gentle in compassion, and Vajrapāṇi who is rough in power. These are the Lords of the Three Enlightened Families (rigs-gsum mgon-po) which pertain to Kriyātantra, and on whom see also History, pp. 452-4.

335 Tib. yig. The text wrongly reads yid.

336 On the distinction between the Being of Commitment and the Being of Pristine Cognition, see n. 239 above.

337 Tib. sangs-rgyas sa. Compare the identical passage above on p. 270. At this point, our text reads sangs-rgyas-pa. The former, however, is preferred by the Author.

338 The symbolic implements of these three empowerments are employed to purify obscurations respectively into Amitābha's pristine cognition of discernment, Amoghasiddhi's pristine cognition of accomplishment and Vairocana's pristine cognition of reality's expanse. These and the preceding two are all aspects of the outer vase empowerment (phyi bum-pa'i dbang). See also n. 333 above.

339 Tib. rdo-rje 'chang-sar. Compare the same verse cited above on p. 272. Here the text reads rdo-rje 'chang-bar.

340 The sixth empowerment is known as that of the master or that of the irreversible vase, which seals the previous five and so confers the ability to transmit the teaching. Refer also to n. 333 above.

341 Unidentified. Perhaps he is Lentön Śākya Zangpo. Refer to History, p. 640.

342 Garap Dorje was the first human preceptor of the Great Perfection. See History, pp. 490-3. The prefix ru means “first” or “predecessor”, and in this case indicates his primacy in the lineage (Khenpo Palden Sherap).

343 These are two of the four “pillars” who were students of Zurcungpa. See History, pp. 640ff.

344 Kyo Kongbupa was also among the four “pillars”; History, pp. 640ff.

345 History, p. 622.

346 See n. 333 above. The conferral of these four empowerments, beginning with the common vase empowerment, is held to result in the maturation respectively of the emanational body, the body of perfect rapture, the body of reality and the essential body.

347 These include ten aspects of beneficence and five of ability. See Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 372-9 (GGFTC, pp. 871-81); and the Glossary of Enumerations under fifteen ordinary sacraments (of empowerment).

348 Tib. grol-phyir-du. Compare the same passage above on p. 249. Here the text reads grol-phyir las, but the former reading is preferred.

349 See the Glossary of Enumerations under twenty-eight commitments of Mahāyoga.

350 This is Vimalamitra's commentary on the Root Tantra of the Secret Nucleus.

351 Examples of such practices are the ceremonies for the commemoration of Padmasambhava on the tenth day (tshes-bcu), and for the commemoration of the ḍākinīs on the twenty-fifth day (nyer-lnga).

352 Tib. sgrol, Skt. tana, according to the intentional language (Skt. sandhyābhāṣā), refers to the rites of forceful “liberation”. Tib. sbyor, Skt. gaṇa, according to the secret language, refers to sexual practices. See above, pp. 292-3.

353 Tib. brgyad-brgya so-gcig. The text wrongly reads brgyad-brgya-po-gcig. See Jamgön Kongtrül, shes-bya kun-khyab mdzod, Vol. 2, pp. 748-9.

354 The seals connected with the deity in Yogatantra and Mahāyoga are here contrasted with those of Anuyoga, which take immediate effect.

355 This empowerment is the initial entrance into the Great Perfection. For its subdivisions, refer to Longcenpa, Treasury of Spiritual and Philosophical Systems, pp. 370-2; and to History, p. 501.

356 These terms have a specific meaning in the context of Atiyoga, as elaborated by Longcenpa in The Treasury of the Abiding Nature of Reality (gnas-lugs rin-po-che'i mdzod), and are, of course, unconnected with the mundane views of apathy and nihilism, for which the same terms are applied in Tibetan (i.e. phyal-pa and med-pa).

FUNDAMENTALS: CONCLUSION

357 On Locen Dharmaśrī, see History, pp. 728-31; on Gyurme Tshewang Chokdrup, p. 736; on Jamgön Kongtrül, pp. 859-68; on Dodrup Jikme Tenpei Nyima, p. 879; and on Zhecen Gyeltsap, pp. 879 and 919.

358 These scriptures are partly enumerated in History, p. 591. For an enumeration of the Seven Great Treasuries (mdzod-bdun) of Longcenpa, refer to the first part of the Bibliography.

359 This is the Four-Part Innermost Spirituality (snying-thig ya-bzhi) which was redacted by Longcenpa. See History, pp. 554-96, for the background to this tradition.

360 This is a metaphor for the violation of the commitment not to divulge the secret teachings to an unsuitable recipient.

361 The personal names of the Author which are built into the structure of the verse introduce the Colophon.

362 The sponsor was one Ngawang Samdrup of Tingri who received the name Pelhün Yülgyel in a dream (Lama Sonam Topgyel).

2 History

HISTORY: INTRODUCTORY VERSES

363 This refers to the fundamental Buddhist view of dependent origination (rten-cing 'brel-bar 'byung-ba, Skt. pratītyasamutpāda), the Nyingmapa interpretation of which is summarised in Fundamentals, pp. 54-7. The verse as a whole is addressed to the Buddha, the first of the Three Precious Jewels.

364 Concerning the transmission or scriptural authorisation (lung, Skt. āgama) of the true doctrine and its realization (rtogs-pa, Skt. adhigama), the Treasury of the Abhidharma (Ch. 8, v. 39cd) says:

The two kinds of the Teacher's true doctrine

Are transmission and realization.

For their divisions and subdivisions, see Fundamentals, pp. 72ff.

365 I.e. the saṃgha, the spiritual community which maintains the Buddha's teaching.

366 The intricate metaphysical and cosmological doctrine upon which this verse is based is discussed at length in Fundamentals, Pt. 2. For the various lineages referred to in the last line, see below, pp. 447-57 and 775.

367 For the various divine manifestations of the Teacher alluded to here, see below, pp. 447-50.

368 The epithet “Lord of the World” or Lokeśvara ('jigs-rten dbang-phyug) is here a title indicating that Songtsen Gampo is the emanation of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. See also n. 12.

369 The Land of Snows is Tibet, which is referred to as a frontier, or land beyond the pale (mtha'-khob), in its relation to Buddhist India prior to the beginnings of Buddhism in Tibet.

370 The Lord of Sukhāvatī Field is Buddha Amitābha. His special realm, the “Pure Land” revered in East Asian Buddhism, is richly described in the Sanskrit Sukhāvatīvyūhasūtra, for an English translation of which, see SBE, Vol. 49, Pt. 2, pp. 1-107. According to the teachings of the vehicle of indestructible reality (Vajrayāna), Amitābha's seed-syllable is HRĪḤ.

371 “Skull-garlanded Master” refers to Padmasambhava in the form of Pema Thötrengtsel (padma thod-phreng-rtsal).

372 The Śākya King is Śākyamuni Buddha.

373 The Lord of Secrets is Vajrapāṇi in the form of Guhyapati. See pp. 451-7. Śāntarakṣita is regarded as his emanation.

374 The sceptre is the sword symbolising discriminative awareness which is held by the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī. His emanation was Trhisong Detsen.

375 The indestructible lineage of supreme transformation refers to the supreme masters who become accomplished in the rainbow body through the esoteric instructions of All-Surpassing Realization (thod-rgal) according to the Great Perfection. See Fundamentals, pp. 337-45.

HISTORY: PART ONE

376 The world of Patient Endurance (mi-mjed 'jig-rten-gyi khams, Skt. Sahalokadhātu), is the thirteenth among twenty-five world systems said to be resting one above the other on the palms of Vairocana Buddha; there are five world realms focused in each of his five centres representing buddha-body, speech, mind, enlightened attributes and activities. Counting upwards from Vairocana's secret centre the thirteenth or world of Patient Endurance lies at the heart of Vairocana's mind (thugs-kyi thugs). It contains the four continents of Videha in the east, Jambudvīpa in the south, Godānīya in the west and Uttarakuru in the north, all together multiplied one billion times (10003), in three phases which are known respectively as the chiliocosm (stong spyi-phud-kyi 'jig-rten-gyi khams), the dichiliocosm (stong-gnyis-pa bar-ma'i 'jig-rten-gyi khams) and the great trichiliocosm (stong-gsum-gyi stong chen-po'i 'jig-rten-gyi khams, Skt. trisahasramahāsahasralokadhātu). See Fundamentals, pp. 130-1; and Kloetzli, Buddhist Cosmology, Chs. 2-4.

377 The Jambu or rose-apple tree (Eugenia Jambolana) is unique to this continent according to all major Indian religious traditions. See W. Kirfel, Symbolik des Hinduismus und des Jinismus, pp. 81 and 130.

378 For a general account of the Buddhist concept of cosmic aeons (bskal-pa, Skt. kalpa), see Kloetzli, Buddhist Cosmology, pp. 73-6. Most aeons are not graced by the presence of even a single buddha and so are “dark ages” (mun-bskal). Ours, however, with its thousand buddhas is so fortunate as to have been named the “Auspicious Aeon” (bskal-pa bzang-po, Skt. Bhadrakalpa) by the gods themselves. Cf. Peltrül Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, pp. 25-8.

379 Śākyamuni Buddha is the fourth supreme emanational body to appear during this aeon. The previous three were Buddhas Krakucchandra, Kanaka and Kāśyapa.

380 The basic doctrines of this school are described in Fundamentals, pp. 156-7. For a historical survey, see A. K. Warder, Indian Buddhism, pp. 341-7 and passim.

381 See n. 109 above.

382 The path of provisions (tshogs-lam, Skt. sambhāramārga) is first among the five paths of a bodhisattva's progress towards enlightenment. The others are the paths of connection (sbyor-lam, Skt. prayogamārga), insight (mthong-lam, Skt. darśanamārga), meditation (bsgom-lam, Skt. bhāvanāmārga) and no-more-learning (mi-slob-pa'i lam, Skt. aśaikṣamārga). For their relationship to the ten levels according to the tantras, see Fundamentals, pp. 281-3; and for their distinctive attributes, p. 236.

383 For a different reading of this verse, which better agrees with the extant Sanskrit text, see Fundamentals, p. 231. Refer, too, to R. Kloppenborg, The Paccekabuddha, for a detailed study of the self-centred buddha based pre-eminently on the texts of the Theravādin tradition.

384 A detailed explanation of this phrase may be found in L. de La Vallée Poussin, L'Abhidharmakośa de Vasubandhu, Vol. III, pp. 252-3.

385 The tenth level, Cloud of Doctrine, is the highest traversed by bodhisattvas. See Glossary of Enumerations under ten levels; and also Dayal, The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Sanskrit Buddhist Literature, pp. 270-91.

386 On the Akaniṣṭha heaven, see pp. 447-9; also Fundamentals, p. 129; and the chart on pp. 14-15.

387 On the contemplation of nothing at all, see Fundamentals, p. 62.

388 The expression “non-dual” (gnyis-med, Skt. advaya) in this context should be understood to refer to the absence of the subject-object dichotomy characteristic of mundane consciousness. It is not, however, synonymous with the Vedantic term advaita, which refers to an absolute monism, i.e. the doctrine that there is but a single substance. Alternatively, it may refer here to the non-duality of the experiences of profundity and clarity.

389 Concerning the Point of Enlightenment (bodhimaṇḍa), refer to Fundamentals, p. 115 and n. 110, for an explanation of its outer, inner and secret meanings.

390 The Pure Abode (śuddhanivāsa) comprises the five highest form realms, known in ascending order as Avṛha, Atapa, Sudṛśa, Sudarśana and Akaniṣṭha. For their position within the whole structure of the three world realms of saṃsāra and the realization attained by their occupants, see Fundamentals, p. 62; and the chart on pp. 14-15.

391 'du-'bral-med-pa. This phrase denotes an identity relation, its terms being neither united through artificial conjunction, nor capable of separation.

392 Further information on the Six Sages Embodying Awareness will be found in Fundamentals, pp. 129ff.; and in the Glossary of Enumerations.

393 “Both goals” are the two kinds of benefit, i.e. to oneself and to others (rang-don and gzhan-don).

394 Among these forms of the emanational buddha-body (nirmāṇakāya), those of artistry comprise created emanations (bzo-ba'i sprul-sku) which manifest as images, books and other beneficial objects; those of birth (skye-ba'i sprul-sku) include sentient beings of all types who work for the benefit of others; and the supreme emanations (mchog-gi sprul-sku) are Śākyamuni and other buddhas who perform the twelve deeds for the sake of living creatures.

395 The following account is ultimately derived from canonical sources, the first and foremost being the Sūtra of Extensive Play. Contemporary discussions of the Buddha's life, based on both literary and archaeological evidence, are too numerous to survey here. See HBI, pp. 13-25 and the sources mentioned therein. Chief among the post-1958 researches are the several volumes of A. Bareau's Recherches sur la Biographie du Buddha.

396 On the purificatory fast, see Fundamentals, p. 226.

397 Buddha Akṣobhyavajra, according to the traditions of the vehicle of indestructible reality, is particularly associated with the vase empowerment, for which reason he is especially referred to here on the occasion of the Bodhisattva's consecratory bath. Some of the symbolic significance of this consecration for practitioners of the vehicle of indestructible reality has been indicated in R. A. F. Thurman's article, “Tsoṅ-kha-pa's Integration of Sūtra and Tantra” in STC, pp. 372-82.

398 The sūtras of the greater vehicle frequently give the name in this form instead of the more familiar “Siddhārtha”.

399 The suffering of change, the all-pervading suffering of conditioned existence and the suffering of pain itself are the three kinds of suffering to which all saṃsāra is subject. For a detailed discussion, see, e.g., sGam-po-pa, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, pp. 55ff.

400 According to HBI, p. 346, this incident occurred near Rāmagrāma, east of Kapilavastu. Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche however informs us of a contemporary Indian view that the Sacred Stūpa (mchod-rten rnam-dag) was situated near Mankapur in Uttar Pradesh.

401 The pinnacle or summit of existence is explained in Fundamentals, p. 62.

402 The realm of desire ('dod-pa'i khams, Skt. kāmadhātu) is that which comprises the five lower classes of sentient beings and the lowest levels of the gods known in ascending order as the realms of the Four Great Kings (Caturmahārājakāyika), the heaven of Thirty-three Gods (Trāyastriṃśa), the Strifeless (Yāma), the Joyful (Tuṣita), Delighting in Emanation (Nirmāṇarati) and Mastery over Transformations (Paranirmitavaśavartin). For their position within the three world realms of saṃsāra and the realization acquired by their inhabitants, see Fundamentals, pp. 61-2; and the chart on pp. 14-15.

403 On great loving kindness (byamsr-pa chen-po), see Fundamentals, p. 88.

404 “Five-arrowed One” (mda'-lnga, Skt. Pañcaśara) and Smara (dran-pa, lit. “Memory”) are both epithets of Kāmadeva or Māra, the lord of the desire realm. His emblem is the crocodile banner.

405 Puṇḍarīkā (pad-dkar-ma), Menakā (me-na-kā), Subhūṣaṇā (legs-brgyan-ma) and Keśamiśrā (skra-'dres-ma) are four of the thirteen celestial courtesans (lha'i smad-'tshong-ma bcu-gsum), also known as offering goddesses (mchod-pa'i lha-mo). Others are dga'-ba'i shing-rta-ma, glog-'od-can, chu-shing bri-can, thig-le mchog-ma or Tilottamā, legs-bzang-ma, ma-nyang skyes-ma, a-lam bu-sha or Alaṃbuṣā, skad-legs-ma and rab-myos-ma or Pramodā.

406 The fourth meditative concentration (bsam-gtan bzhi-pa) is described in the quotation cited in Fundamentals, p. 61. See also the Glossary of Enumerations under four (meditative) concentrations.

407 “Middle way” here refers to the central channel (rtsa-dbu-ma, Skt. avadhūti) within the body. All impure psychophysical bases bound within the subject-object dichotomy were transformed here into pristine cognition and the enlightened attributes of the buddhas; see Fundamentals, p. 341.

408 On Rāhu, the eclipser of the moon, see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 259-63; and A. L. Basham, The Wonder that was India, p. 491.

409 The “impure religion of Magadha” is, of course, the Brāhmaṇism of the Buddha's day. While maintaining that this religion does not provide an ultimately salvific vehicle, Buddhists do not deny its many positive teachings. See, e.g., Fundamentals, pp. 57-62.

410 Corruptions (zag-pa, Skt. āsrava) comprise all those propensities which serve to sustain the round of saṃsāra. In attaining nirvāṇa, these are exhausted (zad); but, in addition, the Buddha knows directly that they have been completely exhausted.

411 “Long-living” (tshe-dang ldan-pa, Skt. āyuṣmān) implies that one is still bound to the cyclical existence of saṃsāra and so is not a realised buddha.

412 Refer here to the Glossary of Enumerations under four truths.

413 For a more detailed account of the subject-matter of the three wheels of the doctrine than will be found in the present summary, see Fundamentals, Pt. 3. See also Lessing and Wayman, Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras, pp. 43-53.

414 Vulture Peak is Gṛdhrakūṭa, near Rājagṛha (modern Rajgir) in Bihar, north India.

415 The teaching of path and result is that which leads out of cyclical existence or saṃsāra. It refers to the five paths (see n. 382 above) and the corresponding results which are attained by arhats, self-centred buddhas or bodhisattvas; see Fundamentals, pp. 223ff.

416 These are, primarily, the eight great fears, on which see the Glossary of Enumerations.

417 Kuśinagarī, in the Buddha's day within the domains of the Mallas, is identified with modern Kasiā, about thirty-five miles to the east of Gorakhpur in north India.

418 The so-called extremist (mu-stegs) or non-Buddhist doctrines are dealt with generally in Fundamentals, pp. 62-9.

419 Avīci is held to be the lowest and most unbearable of the hellish domains, occupied by sentient beings at the bottom of saṃsāra. See the chart on pp. 14-15; also sGam-po-pa, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, p. 58.

420 Udumbara here refers to a large and rare mythical lotus, which blossoms only once in an age.

421 On the traditions relative to these original reliquaries, refer to HBI, pp. 24-5; and Bareau, Recherches sur la Biographie du Buddha, II.II, pp. 308-23.

422 These three councils are considered in HBI, pp. 136-54 and 297-319. For the first council in particular, the standard work is J. Przyluski, Le Concile de Rājagṛha; and, for the second, M. Hofinger, Etude sur le Concile de Vaiśālī. Cf. also Lessing and Wayman, Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras, pp. 59-69; and J. Nattier and C. Prebish, “Mahāsaṅghika Orgins: The Beginnings of Buddhist Sectarianism” in History of Religions, Vol. 16, no. 3 (1977).

423 Our interpretation of the terse mnemonic given here is based on the discussion of the heresy found in Minor Transmissions (Kṣudrāgama, T 6), in the Derge Kangyur, Vol. Da, pp. 646-63. We are indebted to Lama Sonam Topgyel for locating this valuable passage.

424 Cf. Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, p. 94.

425 The major traditions relative to the origins and development of the eighteen schools of the lesser vehicle (Hīnayāna) are summarised in HBI, pp. 571-606. The divisions reported in our present text agree with those listed in Sarvāstivādin sources.

426 See Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, Pt. 2, p. 98. According to the Tibetan Vinaya tradition there were one hundred kings in the dynasty of Nāgapāla, son of King Gaganapati in Vārāṇasī. The last of these was King Kṛkī.

427 The elder Vātsīputra is held to have been a founder of the Āryasammitīya order. The Kashmiri schools referred to are the branches of the Mūlasarvāstivāda.

428 Theravādin sources usually date the third council two hundred and thirty-six years after the Buddha's nirvāṇa. But on this, see HBI, p. 298.

429 Cf. Lessing and Wayman, Mkhas grub rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras, pp. 69-71; Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, pp. 96ff.; and Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, Pt. 2, pp. 101ff.

430 rnam-mchan rnying-pa. Rikdzin Lhündrup in the Hindi version of the History, p. 22, has suggested that this refers to an ancient annotation on the Exposition of Valid Cognition (rnam-'grel-gyi mchan-bu rnying-pa).

431 Concerning the parallel division of the treatises according to the “profound view” (zab-mo lta-ba) and “extensive conduct” (rgya-chen spyod-pa), refer to Fundamentals, pp. 94-5.

432 Cf. the traditions reported in HBI, pp. 226-36.

433 “Nirgrantha” originally referred to Jain ascetics in general, but later is used of the Digambara or “sky-clad” sect in particular. An excellent introduction to their religious life will be found in P. S. Jaini, The Jaina Path of Purification, pp. 4-6ff.

434 There are twelve ascetic virtues; see the Glossary of Enumerations.

435 The Teacher's descent from the realm of the gods (lha-babs dus-chen) refers to the events following the period of a rain retreat passed by Śākyamuni Buddha in the Trāyastriṃśa heaven, where he taught his late mother. The location of his descent is traditional]]ly held to have been Laṅkā; hence the title of the Sūtra of the Descent to Laṅkā. This event is commemorated annually by Tibetans on the twenty-second of the ninth month.

436 It is said that humans in our own era are physically small relative to those of such golden ages as that in which Maitreya will make his appearance.

437 The current rite of ordination (lta-da'i cho-ga) is graded through the levels of a renunciate (rab-'byung, Skt. pravrajya), novitiate (dge-tshul, Skt. śramaṇera) and complete monkhood (bsnyen-rdzogs, Skt. upasampadā). This is contrasted with the ancient and sudden method of ordination (sngon-chog) through which Śāriputra, Kāśyapa and others were instantly ordained by Śākyamuni Buddha.

438 Aśoka is commonly associated with the prolific building and veneration of stūpas. See, J. Przyluski, La Légende de l'Empereur Aśoka; and J. Strong, The Legend of King Aśoka.

439 I.e. he would become not a buddha, but an arhat. The marks of a buddha refer to the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks. These are listed in, e.g., Mvt. 236-67, 269-349; the Ornament of Emergent Realization (Abhisamayālaṃkāra), vv. 13-32; and Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 73-6 (GGFTC, pp. 406-9). See also Fundamentals, p. 124; and the Glossary of Enumerations.

440 Cf. Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, p. 33.

441 On the Trāyastriṃśa heaven in relation to other divine realms, see n. 402 above.

442 The great Sixteen Elders, and many of the literary and artistic traditions associated with them, are considered extensively in M. W. de Visser, The Arhats in China and Japan; and J. Tate, The Sixteen Elders. While their divine intercession in Chinese life is detailed therein, the basis for associating them with the emperors here mentioned remains obscure. But cf. L. S. Dagyab, Tibetan Religious Art, Pt. I, Sect. IV.

443 Cf. Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, pp. 29-33.

444 The basic philosophical tenets of this school are summarised in Fundamentals, p. 158. For further background, see also Warder, Indian Buddhism, pp. 345-6, 421-2, 472-3.

445 The Great Treasury of Detailed Exposition (Mahāvibhāṣa), which today survives only in its Chinese translation (Taishō 1545), is assigned by Étienne Lamotte to the second century AD; see HBI, pp. 303-5, 424-5, etc. The prolific writings of Nāgārjuna are usually assigned to about AD 200, though they may have been composed slightly earlier. The treatises of Maitreyanātha are said to have been introduced into our world by Asaṅga, who was probably active during the fourth century. For the lives and works of these authors and others mentioned in the succeeding paragraphs, see Fundamentals, pp. 88-96; Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, Chs. 15-28; and Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston.

446 For the description of the “six adornments” and “two supreme ones” in Tibetan painting, see Namgyal Institute, Rgyan drug mchog gnyis. On the doctrinal developments of the Mahāyāna sūtra and śāstra tradition in general from ancient India through to China, Japan and Tibet, see P. Williams, Mahāyāna Buddhism.

447 Cf. HBI, pp. 648-9.

448 The Ancient Translation School or snga-'gyur rnying-ma tradition refers to the cycles of teaching current in Tibet prior to the death of Smṛtijñānakīrti, and to their subsequent propagation; the new traditions are those which arrived in Tibet during the later spread of the doctrine, from the time of Rincen Zangpo onwards.

449 The most popular account of these masters in Tibetan has been translated into English by J. B. Robinson as Buddha's Lions, and by K. Dowman in Masters of Mahāmudrā. Their iconographic representation is detailed in T. Schmid, The Eighty-five Siddhas. For related traditions, see also S. Dasgupta, Obscure Religious Cults, Chs. 1-9 and especially Ch. 8, pp. 202ff.

450 Spiritual maturity and liberation (smin-grol) are catalysed by the guru's empowerment (dbang) and guidance (khrid) respectively. See Fundamentals, pp. 346-71.

HISTORY: PART TWO

451 The sixth enlightened or buddha family is that of the body of reality, Samantabhadra, in the form of Vajradhara, who embodies the Conquerors of the Five Enlightened Families (rgyal-ba rigs-lnga). See Fundamentals, pp. 120-2.

452 The Great Akaniṣṭha realm ('og-min chen-po, Skt. Mahākaniṣṭha) is the abode manifest in and of itself (rang-snang), in which Samantabhadra transmits realization to the Conquerors of the Five Enlightened Families and the maṇḍalas 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.

453 The All-Pervader (khyab-'jug) here refers to Samantabhadra.

454 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.

455 The “special” or “extraordinary” Akaniṣṭha realm (khyad-par-can-gyi 'og-min, Skt. Viśiṣṭākaniṣṭha) which manifests extraneously (gzhansnang) 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 the buddha-body of perfect rapture.

456 Cf. Fundamentals, p. 125.

457 See above, p. 413; and Fundamentals, p. 62.

458 The ordinary Akaniṣṭha ('og-min tsam-po, Skt. *Gauṇākaniṣṭha) and the imputed Akaniṣṭha realm (btags-pa'i 'og-min, Skt. *Aupacārikākaniṣṭha) are the extraneous realms within the Pure Abodes in which the Unsurpassed Yoga tantras are transmitted respectively to ninth and eighth level bodhisattvas by the buddhas in the form of wrathful and peaceful meditational deities. See also Fundamentals, pp. 128-9.

459 On the Vajra Queen, see Fundamentals, p. 125, n. 127.

460 In the Hindu traditions Rudra is typically an epithet of Śiva, but for Tibetan Buddhists he is a wrathful embodiment of ego which has run wild. For a traditional]] and elaborate presentation of the myth of Rudra, see The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava, Pt. I, pp. 26-46; and Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, Ch. 15, pp. 488ff. (GGFTC, pp. 1075ff.).

461 Vajradharma is the peaceful aspect of the Lord of Secrets: Guhyapati or Vajrapāṇi.

462 In the lineages which follow, Sanskrit names have been given in most cases following the standard conventions for Tibetan-Sanskrit translation. 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 yakṣa Yaśasvī Varapāla below.

463 Yaśasvī Varapāla (grags-ldan mchog-skyong) is the yakṣa's name; 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.

464 On this empowerment, see Fundamentals, p. 345.

465 Cf. Fundamentals, pp. 81-6.

466 Vimalakīrti is best known to the Buddhist world through the magnificent sūtra of the greater vehicle bearing his name, i.e. the Vimalakīrtinirdeśasūtra (T 176), on which see E. Lamotte, L'Enseignement de Vimalakīrti; R. A. F. Thurman, The Holy Teaching of Vimalakīrti; and the translation from the Chinese by C. Luk.

467 Various versions of the legend of the ascendancy of the lion clan (Siṅghala) in Śrī Laṅkā are known. Cf. E. F. C. Ludowyk, The Footprint of the Buddha, pp. 14-15; and HBI, pp. 129-35.

468 Sumana or Sumanakūta is Adam's Peak, a place revered by Śrī Laṅkan adherents of all the major religions. The “king of powerful craft” referred to in the verse below is probably Saman, the local god who is identified with the Vedic Yama, lord of the dead. Refer to S. Paranavitana, The God of Adam's Peak.

469 This would appear to be none other than the footprint on Adam's Peak, locally called Siripāda (Skt. Śrīpāda). For a description of this and of the pilgrimage to it, see Ludowyk, The Footprint of the Buddha, pp. 16ff.; and R. F. Gombrich, Precept and Practice, pp. 108-12 and 178-9.

470 The traditions concerning this figure have been studied in S. G. Karmay, “King Tsa/Dza and Vajrayāna” in M. Strickmann (ed.), Tantric and Taoist Studies in Honour of R. A. Stein, pp. 192-211. Y. Imaeda, “Un Extrait Tibétain du Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa dans les Manuscripts de Touen-Houang” in Nouvelles Contributions aux Études de Touen-Houang, pp. 306, 311, records the occurrence of Ca/Tsa as a royal name in the early ninth-century document considered therein; but Karmay, p. 195, n. 10, discounts the possibility of this being associated with the personage here discussed.

471 On this verse, see Karmay, “King Tsa/Dza and Vajrayāna”, pp. 197-9.

472 Intermediate (bar-pa) here means later or second, i.e. coming between King Indrabhūti and later lineage-holders. For other references to this intermediate Indrabhūti, see Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, p. 241, n. 68 and p. 410; and especially, Karmay, “King Tsa/Dza and Vajrayāna”, pp. 205-6.

473 This system is examined in detail in Fundamentals, pp. 275-83.

474 For the tantrapiṭaka here enumerated, refer to the first part of the Bibliography under the Eighteen Great Tantrapiṭaka (of the Mahāyoga).

475 On Tilopā and Nāropa in particular, see Guenther, The Life and Teaching of Nāropā.

476 In rendering the name sgeg-pa'i rdo-rje as Līlāvajra the translators are bowing to an established convention which has recently been justifiably challenged by Davidson in “The Litany of Names of Mañjuśrī”, p. 6, n. 18, where he argues that Vilāsavajra is the correct Sanskrit name.

477 The term spar-khab, from which this work takes its abbreviated title, is found in the dedicatory final verse of that text, the Peking Tangyur, Vol. 83; and in the Commentaries on the Guhyagarbhatantra and Other Rare Nyingma Texts from the Library of Dudjom Rinpoche, Vol. 1, p. 222. Its precise interpretation, however, is at the present time uncertain.

478 The Garland of Activity was omitted in the published text, but was inserted subsequently by the Author before the Hidden Point of the Moon (zla-gsang thig-le). An alternative reading would be Buddhasamāyoga (the mind of body), Hidden Point of the Moon (the mind of speech), Guhyasamāja (the mind of mind), Paramādya (the mind of enlightened attributes) and Garland of Activity (the mind of enlightened activities). In this instance, however, the Magical Net (the general tantra of mind) is included instead of the Paramādya. See also Jikme Lingpa, Narrative History of the Precious Collected Tantras (rnying-ma'i rgyud-'bum-gyi rtogs-brjod), p. 466.

479 The outcaste boy is Mātaṅgīpā; see Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, p. 129, n. 139 and p. 273.

480 The great accomplished master Nāgabodhi was the first to propagate the tradition of Saraha and Nāgārjuna; see Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, pp. 126-7, 152 and 273.

481 For the background to the Ārya tradition of the Guhyasamāja, which is that of Nāgārjuna, refer to A. Wayman, The Buddhist Tantras: New Light on Indo-Tibetan Esotericism, Ch. 2; also idem, Yoga of the Guhyasamājatantra, pp. 91-4.

482 See below, p. 533.

483 The “Zombie” Sukhasiddhi is Garap Dorje; see pp. 490-3.

484 A survey of the different types of biography of Padmasambhava will be found in A.-M. Blondeau, “Analysis of the Biographies of Padmasambhava according to Tibetan Tradition: Classification of Sources” in TSHR, pp. 45-52.

485 kṛṣṇa-'dzin. Often one sees this name spelt according to its Tibetan pronunciation, i.e. trig-na-'dzin.

486 As explained in n. 291 above, to “liberate” in this context means to forcefully transfer the consciousness of a sentient being permanently from the body in order to remove obstacles, and, out of compassion, to establish that being in a higher rebirth. Refer to the biographies of Nyak Jñānakumāra, pp. 601-4; and Guru Chöwang, pp. 760-70.

487 This means that, having been absorbed into the very heart of pristine cognition, he was fully empowered and so reborn, free of all obscuration. The symbolism of a passage such as the present one operates on several levels, however, so that a single fixed interpretation is not possible.

488 Tibetan Buddhist pilgrims hold the Māratika Cave to be the cave of Haileshi, in Nepal's Sagarmatha district, south of the Mount Everest region, near the town of Rumjitar.

489 Amitāyus is here an aspect of Buddha Amitābha as the body of perfect rapture, who is particularly the patron of longevity.

490 I.e., the level of no return to the cyclical existence of saṃsāra.

491 On Aśoka, see above, p. 453.

492 The actual site of pilgrimage at the present day is a cave located on the slope behind the Vajreśvarī Temple in Pharping, Nepal.

493 The Tibetan term ma-mo is used to translate the “Sanskrit” mātarī in the Hevajra Tantra (e.g. Pt. 1, Ch. 1, v. 16) where a specific channel is intended. It should be noted, however, that ma-mo is used to translate the term mātṛkā, as well, and that this latter term is used to denote a group of goddesses widely worshipped in the Kathmandu Valley, and throughout northern India. See A. W. Macdonald and A. V. Stahl, Newar Art, pp. 83-8.

494 This is the aural lineage of Zhang-Zhung, the Pönpo tradition of the Great Perfection. On Tavihṛca in particular, see L. Chandra (ed.), The History and Doctrine of the Bon-po Niṣpanna-yoga, 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 maṇḍala. 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 Akṣobhya, see Fundamentals, p. 274.

499 Ritual service (bsnyen-pa, Skt. sevā) 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) entails the prayer to receive the consecration which will transform the mundane body, speech and mind into the three seed-syllables of indestructible reality; the rite or means for attainment (sgrub-pa, Skt. sādhana) 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. mahāsādhana) entails ultimate realization 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 Garuḍa is a gigantic and divine bird and, according to Hindu mythology, the mount of the god Viṣṇu. 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 Niṣpannayogāvalī, pp. 9-12; and HIL 7.1, pp. 114-15.

502 Davidson, “The Litany of Names of Mañjuśrī”, p. 5, holds Mañjuśrīmitra to have been a Śrī Laṅkan.

503 These are the emanations of the deity which actually accomplish the four kinds of enlightened activity on behalf of the adept.

504 Jetāri is known for his contributions to the science of logic. See Vidyabhusana, A History of Indian Logic, pp. 136-7, 140, 151; and G. Tucci, Minor Buddhist Texts, Pt. 1, pp. 249-74.

505 See Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, p. 432. The younger Amoghavajra visited Tibet in 1086.

506 “Sublime” ('phags-pa, Skt. ārya) refers to those who have sublimated the cyclical existence of saṃsāra.

507 Some of the sources associating this mountain with Nāgārjuna are discussed by Karmay in “King Tsa/Dza and Vajrayāna”, p. 197, n. 16.

508 Vajrakumāra, the “Indestructible Youth”, is an epithet of Vajrakīla, or of his “offspring”.

509 The Śaṅkarakūṭa Caitya was situated in the Śītavana charnel ground in Magadha. Originally the Gathering of the Sugatas of the Eight Transmitted Precepts (bka'-brgyad bder-'dus) was concealed there, along with the Eight Sections of the Magical Net in the stūpa's base, the Gathering of the Sugatas in the vase-shaped dome with the special tantras in its four cardinal directions, the Consummation of Secrets (gsang-ba yongs-rdzogs) in the flute, the rgyud rang-byung rang-shar in the rim of the spire, and the yang-gsang bla-med yang-ti nag-po in the point of the spire. See E. Dargyay, The Rise of Esoteric Buddhism in Tibet, p. 15, whose account is derived from the treasure of Nyang-rel Nyima Özer entitled Gathering of the Sugatas.

510 The Mahottara casket was gold (gser), not bse-stone as the text mistakenly reads. See the Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History, p. 243. Note that the catalogue numbers given for this series of tantras are those corresponding to the extant texts of the eight cycles in NGB and the Kangyur.

511 gzi. A peculiar black-and-white-striped agate, beads of which are highly prized by Tibetans for their talismanic value.

512 This location in South India is revered by Vajrayāna Buddhists as the site where the Buddha taught the Kālacakra Tantra.

513 Communal feast offerings (tshogs-kyi 'khor-lo, Skt. gaṇacakra), in contrast to other forms of contemplative activity, involve much ritual and material elaboration. Cf. Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 402ff. (GGFTC, pp. 922ff.); and Gonpo Tsetan, The Udumbara Bouquet.

514 “Exercises which circulate the lamp-like vital energy” are, according to Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche, a cycle of teachings based on Indian haṭha yoga.

515 The lower method grants supernormal cognitive powers such as invisibility, but not the ability to transcend saṃsāra, which is the feature of the higher methods of Mahāyoga and Anuyoga, or the great transformation into the rainbow body – the highest attainment of the buddha level according to the Great Perfection of Atiyoga. See Fundamentals, pp. 337-45.

516 Sthiramati comes between Dhanarakṣita and Sukhodyotaka in the Anuyoga lineage. See Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History, p. 239. His writings on Anuyoga are represented by P 4752-4.

517 R. A. Stein, “Étude du monde chinoise: institutions et concepts” L'Annuaire du Collège de France 72 (1972), pp. 502-3, maintains that Chetsenkye may perhaps be identified with the Pönpo translator Tshotsenkye (mtsho-btsan-skyes), who appears to have flourished about the year 1000.

518 The yojana, an ancient Indian unit of length, is generally held by Buddhists to be four thousand arm-spans, i.e. about eight thousand yards. It is defined as follows in the Treasury of the Abhidharma (Ch. 3, w. 87-8):

Twenty-four inches equal one cubit.

Four cubits equal one bow-span.

Five hundred bow-spans equal one “range of hearing”.

Eight “ranges of hearing” are said to equal one yojana.

519 The syllables mentioned confer respectively the blessings of buddha-body (OṂ), speech (ĀḤ), mind (HŪṂ), attributes (SVĀ) and activities (HĀ).

520 On these classes of spirits, see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, Ch. VII, Ch. XII, pp. 281-2 and passim.

521 This verse is explained in detail in Fundamentals, pp. 319ff.

522 For the “Establishment of the Intrinsic Essential of the Innermost Spirituality” (thig-le rang-gnad-du dbab-pa), see Fundamentals, p. 333. It is the essence of the Esoteric Instructional Class of the Great Perfection.

523 Jambhala and Vasudharā are two of the most popular wealth-granting deities. For further information, refer to Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 73-81.

524 These “rites for deriving the most success” ('bogs-chog) transfer the ability to fulfil and restore the commitments of the Secret Mantra.

525 Mañjuvajra is a form of Guhyasamāja, whose tradition in Tibet originates from master Buddhajñānapāda. See Dudjom Rinpoche, rgyal-rabs, pp. 198-218. The maṇḍala is detailed in Niṣpannayogāvalī, pp. 1-4.

526 The “practice which divides saṃsāra and nirvāṇa” ('khor-'das ru-shan), as explained in texts such as Jikme Lingpa's khrid-yig ye-shes bla-ma, is a meditation leading to the rejection of saṃsāra, enabling one to undertake the preliminaries and main practice of Atiyoga.

527 Khotan in Chinese Turkestan was one of the greatest of Buddhist centres during the first millenium AD. For an introduction to the extensive literature on Buddhism in that region, see, e.g., K. Saha, Buddhism in Central Asia, pp. 33-4 and passim; also M. A. Stein, Ancient Khotan: detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan, 2 vols.; and R. E. Emmerick (ed. & trans.), The Book of Zambasta: A Khotanese Poem on Buddhism. A useful synthesis of research to date is D. L. Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Pt. 4.

528 The body of supreme transformation ('pho-ba chen-po'i ku) is the rainbow body ('ja'-lus) attainment of All-Surpassing Realization (thod-rgal). The higher rainbow body transmutes all psychophysical components into the light of buddhahood, so that no outward change is visible. This is why Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra, Vairocana and so forth can pass into other buddha-fields in the same forms. The lower rainbow body attainment transmutes consciousness, feeling, perception and habitual tendencies into the light of buddhahood, but the component of form shrinks in size until only fingernails, tooth-enamel, hair or relics remain. See also Fundamentals, pp. 337-45; and Mipham's discussion, cited in n. 1285 below.

529 India here refers only to Madhyadeśa, the heartland of Central India.

530 The Kokī countries are situated in the area from north-east India towards Burma and Cambodia; see Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, pp. 330-1.

531 The “present time” refers to the era of Tāranātha; this passage is derived from his History of Buddhism in India, pp. 320, 332-3.

532 On the tradition of Gorakṣanātha, refer to G. W. Briggs, Gorakhnāth and the Kānphaṭa Yogīs; and to Dasgupta, Obscure Religious Cults, Ch. 8, pp. 206-9 and passim. For the Nāthapaṇṭhas, see Chs. 8-9 of the latter work. The Hindu traditions here mentioned stem from masters who, like Gorakṣanātha, are equally claimed by the Buddhists. The association of Śāntigupta with the Naṭeśvaras is due to Tāranātha, bka'-babs bdun-ldan-gyi rnam-thar. See the translation in Templeman, The Seven Instruction Lineages, pp. 75ff.

HISTORY: PART THREE

533 As explained by Dudjom Rinpoche, rgyal-rabs, pp. 8-14, Tibet was initially under the sway of ten successive classes of non-human or spiritual beings, namely, the gnod-sbyin nag-po, re-ti mgo-gYag bdud, srin-bu skye-rengs khrag-mig, dmar-'jam lha, rmu-rgyal kho-rje, krog-krog 'dre, ma-sengs rus-dgu, klu, rgyal-po and 'gong-po spun-dgu. Subsequently, when human beings settled there, the country was divided between the following twelve minor kingdoms: mchims-yul gru-shul ruled by mchims-rje gu-yod; zhang-zhang ruled by King lig snya-shur; myang-do phyong-dkar ruled by King gtsang-rje thod-dkar; gnubs-yul gling-dgu ruled by King gnubs-rje dmigs-pa; nyang-ro sham-bod ruled by King rngam-rje 'brom; gyi-ri ljongs-sdon ruled by King gyi-rje rman-po; ngam-shod khra-snar ruled by King zing-rje khri 'phrang-sum; 'ol-phu spang-mkhar ruled by King zing-rje thon-greng; srin-rong la-mo gong ruled by King brang-rje gong-nam; kong-yul bre-snu ruled by King kong-rje dar-po tug-dang; nyang-yul-rnams gsum ruled by nyang-btsun glang-rgyal; and dvags-yul gru-bzhi ruled by King dvags-rje mang-po rgyal.

As a result of constant warfare between these twelve kingdoms, power devolved into the hands of forty principalities (sil-ma bzhi-bcu). Apart from 'brog-mo rnam-gsum ruled by the lord rgyal-po se-mi ra-khrid, gye-mo yul-drug ruled by the lord gye-rje mkhar-ba, and se-mo gru-bzhi ruled by the lord gnyags-gru 'brang, their names and localities are unknown at the present day.

534 The various traditions concerning Nyatrhi Tsenpo have been summarised and compared by E. Haarh in The Yar-luṅ Dynasty, Chs. 10-11, pp. 168-270.

535 The kings in the ancient royal dynasties of Tibet can be enumerated as follows:

The seven heavenly kings called Trhi (gnam-gyi khri-bdun) were gnya'-khri btsan-po, mu-khri btsan-po, ding-khri btsan-po, so-khri btsan-po, mar-khri btsan-po, gdags-khri btsan-po, and sribs-khri btsan-po. All of these are said to have been immortal beings who ascended to the heavens after fulfilling their reigns. Their succession was matriarchal.

The two celestial kings called Teng (stod-kyi steng-gnyis) were gri-gum btsan-po and spu-de gung-rgyal. The former is said to have been assassinated and so became the first mortal king of Tibet. spu-de gung-rgyal or bya-khri btsan-po of Kanam was the culture hero who discovered basic metals, agriculture and founded Yarlung.

The six earthly kings called Lek (sa-yi legs-drug) were e-sho legs, de-sho legs, thi-sho legs, gong-ru legs, 'brong-gzher legs, and i-sho legs.

The eight middle kings called De (bar-gyi lde-brgyad) were za-nam zin-lde, lde-'phrul nam-gzhung btsan, se-snol gnam-lde, se-snol-po lde, lde snol-nam, lde snol-po, lde rgyal-po, and lde sprin-btsan.

The five linking kings called Tsen (tshigs-la btsan-lnga) were rgyal 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, stug-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 of modern 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-luṅ Dynasty, 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.

536 According to Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche, this version of the prophecy belongs to an early sūtra translation no longer extant.

537 Cf. Haarh, The Yar-luṅ Dynasty, p. 85. The Six-Syllable Mantra is that of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara: OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ.

538 The “pure” Testament of Ba (sba-bzhed gtsang-ma), was composed probably in the late eight or early ninth century. Until recently only an annotated version (zhabs-brtags-ma), dating from perhaps the fourteenth 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 Gönpo Gyeltsen, on which see D. S. Ruegg, “The Great Debate between Gradualists and Simultaneists in Eighth Century Tibet”.

539 Considerable research has been devoted to the life and reign of this monarch. See especially: Haarh, The Yar-luṅ Dynasty, p. 62 and passim; A. Macdonald, “Une lecture des Pelliot tibétaine 1286, 1287, 1038, 1047 et 1290. Essai sur le formation et l'emploi des mythes politiques dans la religion royale de Sroṅ-bcan sgam-po” in Études tibétaines dédiées à la 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.

540 On this verse, refer to Blue Annals, pp. 44-5 and n. 33.

541 A traditional]] and popular romanticised account of the king's marriage may be found in J. Bacot, “Le marriage chinois du roi tibétain Sroṅ bcan sgam po” MCB 3 (1935).

542 For a detailed description of these two images, see KGHP, p. 86.

543 These are discussed in detail in M. Aris, Bhutan, pp. 5-33. Through the influence of Songtsen Gampo's Chinese consort Wen-ch'eng K'ongjo, divination techniques based on kaptse or elemental charts (see Fundamentals, p. 104) and geomancy were introduced to Tibet. The supine ogress (brag srin-mo) or demoness represents the natural energies of the Tibetan landscape, the harnessing and protection of which was effected by the construction of temples at geomantic sites or focal points (me-btsa') on the ogress' body. At the geomantic centre, the Trhülnang Temple was constructed at Lhasa, representing the heart-blood of the ogress. Four District Controlling temples (ru-gnon-gi lha-khang) were then erected around it. They were located in Trhadruk (khra-'brug) in Yoru upon her left shoulder, Ka-tshel in Uru upon the right shoulder, Drompagyel in Rulak upon her left hip and Tsangtram in Yeru upon the right hip. Surrounding these concentrically, the four Border Taming temples (mtha'-'dul-gi lha-khang) were built in Khoting in Lhodrak upon the ogress' left elbow, Pucu in Kongpo upon her right elbow, Bumthang in Mön upon her left knee and Tradüntse in the north (byang) upon her right knee. An outer series of Further Taming temples (yang-'dul-gi lha-khang) was also constructed beyond them. These were in Lungngen in Cangtshel upon the ogress' left hand, Langtang Drölma in Dokam upon her right hand, Kyercu in Paro upon her left foot and Camtrin in Mangyül upon her right foot. Other enumerations are also given in Aris' work cited above.

544 Nothing is known of this brāhman Śaṅkara. He is certainly not to be identified with the Hindu Vedantist philosopher of the same name.

545 On this work, see Aris, Bhutan, pp. 8ff.; and M. Kapstein, “Remarks on the Maṇi bKa'-'bum and the Cult of Avalokiteśvara in Tibet” in S. D. Goodman and R. M. Davidson (eds.), Tibetan Buddhism: Reason and Revelation.

546 Among the eight treatises composed by Thönmi Sambhoṭa only two are extant and contained in the Tangyur, namely, the lung-ston-pa-la rtsa-ba sum-cu-pa (T 4348) and the rtags-kyi 'jug-pa (T 4349). The titles of the other six are now unknown.

547 See Fundamentals, pp. 59-60.

548 The source of this tradition of the copper-plate inscription is the annotated Testament of Ba. See Stein, Une Chronique Ancienne de bSam-yas.

549 All these spiritual beings were bound under oath by Guru Padmasambhava to guard the transmitted precepts and treasures, and to protect the sites of monasteries, hermitages and sacred places. See The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava, Pt. 2, pp. 370-5; and also the Glossary of Enumerations for a full list.

550 The oracular mirror is employed for the divination of past, present and future events. Cf. Rikdzin Lhündrup's Hindi version of the History, Ch. 3, n. 17; and G. Tucci, The Religions of Tibet, pp. 202-4.

551 Odantapurī Monastery was founded at the site of present-day Bihar Sharif in Patna district, probably during the reign of Gopāla I of the Pāla dynasty, who flourished in the mid- or late eighth century.

552 I.e. Samye was built to resemble our world realm, the world of Patient Endurance. The three shrines of the three queens are described in KGHP, p. 114.

553 The Sarvāstivāda order has always been the Hīnayāna school to which the Tibetans have adhered for their Vinaya.

554 Vaiśravaṇa is an important wealth-granting deity, for whose rites in Tibet, see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, Ch. IV.

555 The doctrine according to which contradiction is here avoided is elaborated above, pp. 473-4.

556 Cf. The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava, Ch. 107.

557 See Sūtra of the Wise and the Foolish, Ch. 13.

558 The twenty mountain caves of Ngari have been listed in the Glossary of Enumerations. We have been unable to identify a precise enumeration of twenty-one places of attainment in Central Tibet and Tsang although there are indeed many sacred sites there (see KGHP). The twenty-five great pilgrimage places of Kham and Amdo (see Glossary of Enumerations) are well known from the rediscovered teachings of Chogyur Lingpa, on whom see pp. 844-8. His guidebooks to these pilgrimage places are to be found in Vol. 30 of his Collected Rediscovered Teachings. The five valleys are shangs-kyi zab-bu lung in the centre, kong-gi ljongs-pa lung in the east, mon-gyi srib-btsan lung in the south, 'gos-kyi phag-ri lung in the west and skyid-kyi gro-ma-lung in the north. The one parkland is padma gling on the south-east border, the three districts are Sikkim ('bras-mo ljongs) on the south-west border, mkhan-pa ljongs on the north-west border and lung-gsum ljongs on the north-east border. See also The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava, Pt. 2, pp. 644-6.

559 According to Dudjom Rinpoche, rgyal-rabs, pp. 228-34, Murup Tsepo led an expeditionary force against the Bhaṭa Hor, setting out for the north in 827 (me-lugs, rgyal-rabs dating) and returning in 836 (me-'brug).

560 The Gyelpo Shingjachen would here appear to be none other than the great protector Pehar. Usually he is regarded as the latter's emanation, see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 97-100 and 111-15; and Dudjom Rinpoche, rgyal-rabs, pp. 207, 228-34.

561 On the inscriptions of the ancient kings of Tibet, see especially H. E. Richardson, Ancient Historical Edicts at Lhasa; and Tucci, The Tombs of the Tibetan Kings. Complete texts of the extant inscriptions may be found in bod-kyi rdo-ring-dang dril-bu'i kha-byang. Richardson has recently re-edited all of this material, with new translations and extensive commentary, in A Corpus of Early Tibetan Inscriptions.

562 The source of this quotation is the sgra sbyor bam gnyis (T 347), pp. 2-3, a summary of Buddhist lexicography and translation conventions compiled under imperial order.

563 See below, p. 794 and n. 1065, for the relevant ancient quotation.

564 According to the traditional]] account Pelgi Dorje gained access to the royal presence disguised as a Pönpo sorceror, and then used his ritual bow and arrow to slay the evil monarch. Also see below, p. 524.

565 On these two kings, see Stein, Tibetan Civilization, p. 70. Pelkortsen's death at the hands of his rebellious subjects ended the dynasty which had begun with Nyatrhi Tsenpo.

566 I.e. the far north-east of Tibet, in the direction of Mongolia.

567 The three levels of ordination were normally given over a ten-year period.

568 The Lower Tibetan Lineage of the Vinaya (smad-'dul) is contrasted with the Upper Lineage introduced into Tibet by Dharmapāla, and the Sakya Lineage which was transmitted from Nāgārjuna through Guṇamati and eventually descended to Tsongkapa. Cf. Blue Annals, pp. 34-5.

569 For Dharmaśrī and the seminary of Mindröling, see below, pp. 728-31. The entire lineage down to Dharmaśrī's age is surveyed in Zhecen Gyeltsap, źe-chen chos-'byuṅ, pp. 63-100.

570 This Abhidharma lineage was codified in the fourteenth century by Sazang Mati Paṇcen in his great Abhidharmasamuccaya Commentary. He discusses the lineage briefly there, Vol. 2, p. 520.

571 The Author has provided a compilation of material from these histories in his rgyal-rabs. His own sources, as listed in the bibliography of that work, p. 391, are: the bka'-chems skor of Songtsen Gampo; the gter-ma ka-bkol-ma of Jowoje Atiśa; the bsam-yas-kyi dkar-chag chen-mo, which is also known as sba-bzhed che-'bring; the Early and Later Injunctions of Padma (thang-yig snga-phyi); the Biography of Vairocana (bai-ro'i 'dra-'bag); the Great Account (lo-rgyus chen-mo) of Khutön; the Royal History (rgyal-rabs) of Yarlung Jowo; the Red Annals (deb-dmar) of Tshelpa; the Royal History which is a Clear Mirror (rgyal-rabs gsal-ba'i me-long) of Sakya; the Blue Annals (deb-sngon) of Gölo Zhönupel; the Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History (chos-'byung mkhas-pa'i dga'-ston) of Pawo Tsuklak Trhengwa; the Annals entitled the Delight of the Youthful Perfect Age (rdzogs-ldan gzhon-nu'i dga'-ston) of the Dalai Lama V; and the Genealogy of the Divine Kings entitled Mirror for the Mind which is Brief in Word but Clear in Meaning (lha'i btsan-po'i gdung-rabs tshig-nyung don-gsal yid-kyi me-long) of Katok Tshewang Norbu.

HISTORY: PART FOUR

572 On the distinction between the stages of creation (bskyed-rim), perfection (rdzogs-rim) and Great Perfection (rdzogs-pa chen-po), see Fundamentals, pp. 358-9.

573 See below, pp. 607-13.

574 See above, p. 462, n. 497.

575 On this work, unfortunately little studied as yet, see R. A. Stein, “Une Mention du Manichéisme dans le Choix du Bouddhisme comme religion d'état par le roi Tibétain Khri-sroṅ lde-bcan” in Indianisme et Bouddhisme, Mélanges offerts à Mgr. Etienne Lamotte, (1980), pp. 329-37; and G. Tucci, Minor Buddhist Texts, Pt. 2, pp. 122-5.

576 Tib. mkha'-spyod-pa or sky-farer indicates the accomplishment of celestial travel, on which see Fundamentals, p. 259. It is also the name given to one of the four ways of death, which are listed in the Glossary of Enumerations.

577 This is none other than Pelgi Yeshe, on whom see below, pp. 605-6.

578 The accomplishment of transforming a zombie or ro-langs (lit. standing corpse) into gold is achieved by the yogin in the context of particular cremation-ground rituals. See A. David-Neel, Magic and Mystery in Tibet, pp. 134-7. The corpse is resurrected, its tongue tenaciously bitten by the yogin, and then the transformation is said to occur.

579 The vital energy (rlung, Skt. vāyu) and mind (sems, Skt. citta) operate respectively in the right and left channels of the body in the form of the white and red seminal points. During the unenlightened state the vital energies cling and differentiate through their five functions of life-breath, secretion, speech, digestion and metabolism, and so pervade all major and minor channels within the body. Maturation occurs when these “active vital energies” (las-kyi rlung) and the mind are reunited in the central channel as the vital energy of pristine cognition (ye-shes-kyi rlung) and the enlightened mind. See Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 453ff. (GGFTC, pp. 1006ff.).

580 On the state of coalescence, see Fundamentals, p. 259.

581 The twenty-five great accomplished masters of Chimpu (rje-'bangs nyer lnga) are enumerated above on pp. 534-6. The precise enumerations of the others are unknown (Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche).

582 See below, pp. 607-15.

583 The effortless vehicle is Atiyoga, the highest.

584 For the distinctions between the White, Black and Variegated branches of the Spatial Class, see Fundamentals, pp. 326-8; and the detailed explanation in Longcenpa, Treasury of Spiritual and Philosophical Systems, pp. 339-48.

585 On the accomplishment of swift-footedness, see Fundamentals, p. 259. It is conferred by yakṣa and yakṣiṇī spirits and classed among the mundane accomplishments which do not transcend the cycle of existence.

586 Of the Eighteen Esoteric Instructions of the Mental Class which are listed in the Bibliography, the first five were those translated by Vairocana; the remaining thirteen were subsequently translated by Vimalamitra with the assistance of Nyak Jñānakumāra and Yudra Nyingpo.

587 On the reasons for the exile of Vairocana to Kham, see The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava, Pt. 2, pp. 450-70; the Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History, pp. 225-9; and P. Kvaerne, “A Preliminary Study of Ch. VI of the Gzer-mig” in TSHR, pp. 185-91. A major source to be explored in depth is the Biography of Vairocana (rje-btsun thams-cad mkhyen-pa bai-ro-tsa-na'i rnam-thar 'dra-'bag chen-mo), Ch. 11.

588 The lineages indicated in this paragraph are detailed in Pt. 5.

589 The four ways of death are listed in the Glossary of Enumerations.

590 Phadampa is revered in Tibet as the founder of the tradition known as Pacification (zhi-byed). For his life and deeds, refer to B. N. Aziz, “Indian Philosopher as Tibetan Folk Hero” Central Asiatic Journal 23, 1-2 (1979), pp. 19-37; and idem, “The Work of Pha-dam-pa Sangsrgyas as Revealed in Ding-ri Folklore” in TSHR, pp. 21-9. Cf. also Blue Annals, Book XII.

591 The Vajra Bridge is a teaching according to the Spatial Class of the Great Perfection. It is known as such because its practice leads to the attainment of the rainbow body in one lifetime. See Fundamentals, pp. 326-8.

592 On the Six-Syllable Mantra, see n. 537.

593 This master appears to have played a major role in the transmission of the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle in Tibet. See, e.g., Jamgön Kongtrül, rgyud bla-ma'i 'grel-pa, introduction; and Jetsün Künga Drölcok, khrid-brgya lo-rgyus. His tradition did much to inspire the elaboration of the teaching of extrinsic emptiness (gzhan-stong), on which see Fundamentals, pp. 169ff.

594 See Fundamentals, p. 370, n. 355.

595 “Water-stone” (chu-rdo) refers to a type of soft, porous rock.

596 Atiśa's direct and circuitous paths of Transcendental Perfection are exemplified in his Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment (Bodhipathapradīpa) and the many brief precepts anthologised in, e.g., DZ Vols. 2-3.

597 For a useful introduction to the life and teachings of this great woman, see Blue Annals, pp. 982-4; and J. Gyatso, “A Preliminary Study of the Good Tradition” in STC, pp. 320-41.

598 The available data on this master is summarised in B. N. Aziz's introduction to The Traditions of Pha-dam-pa Saṅs-rgyas.

599 Refer to sGam-po-pa, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation.

600 Four Syllables: In the practice of gtum-mo when the inner heat blazes upward from the syllable VAṂ to melt the seminal point in the crown centre, the seed-syllables of body, speech and mind (OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ) then lose their stability in the crown, throat and heart centres respectively (Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche.)

601 The text erroneously reads zla-bzhi for brda-bzhi.

602 Deathless nectar ('chi-med bdud-rtsi) is a purificatory means of subsistence on alchemical and herbal essences and so forth.

603 As above, n. 600, the three movements are the destabilisation of the syllables OṂ ĀḤ HŪṂ effected by the syllable VAṂ when it generates the heat to melt the seminal point of the crown centre.

604 thugs-pa lcags-bsregs. The red-hot image that emerges when the mould used in iron-casting is broken.

605 Vajrapāṇi is frequently invoked to deal with skin diseases such as leprosy which are said to be caused by malign nāgas or water spirits.

606 There are four kinds of relics, on which see Fundamentals, p. 337; and the Glossary of Enumerations. They are generally the small indestructible particles among the larger bone remains left behind after the cremation of an enlightened master.

607 On this renowned logician, see L. W. J. van der Kuijp, “Phya-pa Chos-kyi Seng-ge's Impact on Tibetan Epistemological Theory” JIP 5 (1977), pp. 355-69.

608 The Seven Sessions of Aro (a-ro thun-bdun), also known as Aro khrid-mo-che, is the system of the Mental Class which was formulated by Aro Yeshe Jungne in Kham (khams-lugs). It was so called because he held both the Indian and Chinese lineages during the seventh generation of their transmission. See DZ Vol. 1; and Karmay, “Origin and Early Development of the Tibetan Religious Traditions of the Great Perfection”, pp. 181-2, n. 41.

609 Phakmotrupa (1110-70) was one of the four greatest disciples of Gampopa. The tradition named after him was for some centuries one of the most influential Kagyü subsects, and came to wield great temporal power as well. His own disciples went on to found eight independent subsects of their own. See Blue Annals, pp. 552-63; Stein, Tibetan Civilization, pp. 74-81; and Tucci, The Religions of Tibet, pp. 26, 36, 40-1.

610 On this figure, see below, pp. 674-5.

611 See below, pp. 825-34.

612 Her father was King Trhisong Detsen.

613 The seed-syllable NṚ focused in the heart centre of the body is the source of human existence. In Sanskrit it is the root indicating “human existence”, “mankind” or “man”.

614 Pema Lendreltsel was the reincarnation of the princess Pemasel. According to the Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History, p. 213, he was also known as Pangangpa Rincen Dorje (see below, p. 582). Other sources, however, hold Rincen Dorje to have been his reincarnation. He, in turn, was succeeded by Longcen Rapjampa, and he, by Pema Lingpa. See pp. 796-9.

615 See n. 586 above; and Longcenpa, Treasury of Spiritual and Philosophical Systems, pp. 357-61.

616 Mount Wu-t'ai-shan (ri-bo rtse-lnga) is a mountain sacred to Mañjuśrī and located in Shanxi province. See also p. 495. For much useful background on Wu-t'ai-shan as a place of Chinese Buddhist pilgrimage, see R. Birnbaum, Studies on the Mysteries of Mañjuśrī.

617 For a description of this important temple, see H. E. Richardson, “Tibetan inscriptions at Źva-ḥi Lha Khaṅ” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1952), pp. 133-54, and (1953), pp. 1-12; also KGHP, pp. 37-9, 110, etc.

618 Elder (gnas-brtan) is usually equivalent to Skt. sthavira. Zhecen Gyeltsap, źe-chen, chos-'byung, p. 208, however, glosses gnas-brtan in this instance with the words dkon-gnyer dkun-ma, “ordinary temple attendant”, which refers, he maintains, to Dangma's long-held position in the Zha Temple in Uru.

619 On this renowned ascetic, see Nālandā Translation Committee, The Rain of Wisdom, pp. 256-8.

620 Uttaraphalgunī (khra'i zla-ba) is the latter half of the second Tibetan month (March/April). It is also known as dbo zla-ba. The earlier half, Pūrvaphalgunī, is known in Tibetan as gre-zla-ba or rta-chung zla-ba.

621 The Tibetan kha-byang means an inventory to concealed treasure doctrines. In this context however it equally refers to the cave facing (kha) north (byang), which is symbolic of the inventory Zhangtönpa was to discover.

622 Physical refinement: this is shin-tu sbyangs-pa yang-dag byang-chub-kyi yan-lag, Skt. praśrabdhi, one of the seven limbs of enlightenment (byang-chub-kyi yan-lag bdun, Skt. saptabodhyaṅga) cultivated by a bodhisattva.

623 The western chronology giving precise days and months from this point onwards is calculated according to the tables appended to Schuh's Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Tibetischen Kalenderrechnung. Refer to pp. 399-400, for guidelines on our usage of Schuh's tables.

624 I.e. white representing Vairocana, blue representing Akṣobhya-Vajrasattva, yellow representing Ratnasambhava, red representing Amitābha, and green representing Amoghasiddhi. See Fundamentals, pp. 125-7.

625 The Seventeen Tantras of the Esoteric Instructional Class are listed in the first part of the Bibliography. See also Longcenpa, Treasury of Spiritual and Philosophical Systems, pp. 390ff.

626 The aftermath of meditative absorption (rjes-thob, Skt. pṛṣthalabdha) refers to the experiences which occur during the intervals between specific periods of meditative absorption (snyoms-'jug, Skt. samāhita).

627 On this Kagyü master, see Blue Annals, pp. 403-7.

628 Trakpa Gyeltsen (1147-1216) was the third of the five great masters of the early Sakyapa school. See Blue Annals, pp. 194, 211, 217.

629 The three continua in general are the tantras of ground, path and result, on which see Fundamentals, pp. 263-7. Here, however, they refer to such instructions specifically within the Sakya tradition.

630 The Protector of Pristine Cognition (ye-shes mgon-po, Skt. Jñānanātha) is a form of Mahākāla. See Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 44-8.

631 See Blue Annals, pp. 711-15. Zhang (1122-93) was the founder of the Tshelpa Kagyü tradition.

632 The khukcö flower (khug-chos me-tog), also known as ug-chos, is said by Kalön Jigme Taring and Hugh Richardson to be Incarvillea Delavayi. It is a pink trumpet-shaped flower on a short stalk blossoming between May and July.

633 See Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History, p. 198, for this prediction which is derived from the Penetration of Sound, pp. 40-1.

634 According to Blue Annals, p. 195, this occurred in the year 1214 when Guru Cober was nineteen. In that source the Translator of Sakya is clearly stated to be Sa-skya Paṇ-chen, i.e. Sakya Paṇḍita.

635 On the Mitrayogī tradition, see Blue Annals, pp. 1031-4.

636 See Guenther, The Royal Song of Saraha, Pt. 1.

637 This is of course the famed image in the Lhasa Jokhang. See Pl. 8.

638 The actual ground of the practice (dngos-gzhi) is preceded by the preliminaries (sngon-'gro), on which see Jamgön Kongtrül, The Torch of Certainty, and The Words of My Perfect Teacher.

639 “Secret vajra” (gsang-ba rdo-rje) is here a mystical metaphor for penis.

640 These are famed as “secret lands” (sbas-yul), on which see E. Bernbaum, The Way to Shambhala, pp. 53-77.

641 Orgyenpa Rincenpel, p. 891, played a dominant role in the transmission of the Drukpa Kagyü and Karma Kagyü traditions during the latter part of the thirteenth century. In addition, he founded his own teaching system known as the Oḍḍiyāna Tradition of Ritual Service and Attainment (o-rgyan bsnyen-bsgrub), which was connected with the Kālacakra Tantra. See Blue Annals, pp. 696-702; G. Tucci, Travels of Tibetan Pilgrims in the Swat Vally, pp. 41-64; and the Glossary of Enumerations under three indestructible realities.

642 Kumārādza, the name by which this figure is best known, is a Tibetanised form of the Sanskrit name Kumārarāja.

643 spyan-ras-gzigs na-rag dong-sprugs, an aspect of Avalokiteśvara particularly favoured among the Nyingmapa.

644 This quotation occurs in a biography of Drigung Rincen Phüntsok, on whom, see below, pp. 595 and 676-7.

645 This is a valuable assertion that must be seriously considered in studying the evolution of the doctrines of the Great Perfection. In particular, the diction of early authors such as Nupcen Sangye Yeshe and Rongzom Chöki Zangpo should be closely compared to that of Kumārādza's leading disciples Longcen Rapjampa and Karmapa Rangjung Dorje and their successors.

646 gza'-sngags-dam-gsum. See, in particular, Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, Ch. X, pp. 185-6, 259-64. Nebesky-Wojkowitz, however, does not seem to have been aware of their occurrence as a trio in the tradition of the Great Perfection.

647 See Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History, p. 198, and the Penetration of Sound, pp. 40-1.

648 All the major chronological schools agree on the date for Kumārādza's passing.

649 The Chinese emperor was Toghan Timur (reigned 1332-68). See Karma Thinley, The History of the Sixteen Karmapas of Tibet, pp. 57-8.

650 See below, pp. 666-7.

651 The Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History, p. 198, states the source to be the Innermost Spirituality of the Ḍākinī (mkha'-'gro snying-thig).

652 See above, p. 515.

653 Dromtön (1004-64) was one of the three leading disciples of Atiśa and a founder of the Kadampa tradition. Refer to Blue Annals, pp. 251-67.

654 The date of Longcenpa's birth is calculated according to the old Phukpa school. The Tshurpu system omits from its reckoning the eighteenth day on which he passed away, while Phakpa omits the sixteenth day preceding his demise, which is also mentioned in the biography. Hence only Phukpa includes all of these three days, although it is a system of calculation adopted after the death of Longcenpa.

655 Namdru Remati, the protectress from the Mātaraḥ maṇḍala, is the embodiment of the constellation Andromeda. See also Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, p. 33.

656 On the seminary of Sangpu Neutok, see Blue Annals, pp. 328ff.

657 Note also that this epithet echoes the name of a group of profound scriptures of the Great Perfection, the Tantras of the Extent of Vast Space (klong-chen rab-'byams-kyi rgyud-rnams, NGB Vol. 3).

658 Sonam Gyeltsen (1312-75) is best known to western scholars as the possible author of a popular history of the ancient Tibetan kings, the rgyal-rabs gsal-ba'i me-long. That Longcenpa regarded him as an important philosophical thinker is revealed by his letter to Sonam Gyeltsen in Kloṅ-chen gSuṅ thor-bu, Vol. 1, pp. 360-3.

659 The traditions of these masters, and their positions in the lineage of Pacification are detailed in Blue Annals, pp. 872ff.

660 Regional factionalism seems to have been endemic in the Tibetan monastic colleges from an early date. For an example belonging to the twelfth century, see M. Kapstein, “The Shangs-pa bKa'-brgyud: an unknown tradition of Tibetan Buddhism” in TSHR, pp. 138-44.

661 I.e. Ngok Loden Sherap the great translator. See Blue Annals, especially pp. 328ff.

662 The entire text of this satirical poem is preserved in the Kloṅ-chen gSuṅ thor-bu, Vol. 1, pp. 268-70.

663 This great scholar contributed vastly to the exegesis of the Transcendental Perfection of Discriminative Awareness, and to other traditions as well. See Blue Annals, pp. 532-6; and the English introduction to Yakde Paṇcen, phar-phyin 'phrul-gyi bang-mdzod, Vol. 1.

664 In modern Central Tibetan the final “-s” is never pronounced, though it is still written in words in which it once occurred. In Longcenpa's day it had probably only recently passed out of the vernacular. The ḍākinī is here a champion of the older pronunciation! The usage of rigs for rig-pa or awareness is prevalent in works such as Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, e.g. pp. 361-3, 466 (GGFTC, pp. 852, 1027). The tradition of the Tantra of the Secret Nucleus (rgyud gsang-ba'i snying-po) itself adopts the former in the well-known verse cited above, p. 281, n. 276.

665 Contemplative experience correlates in various ways with ordinary mental states. Thus ordinary waking consciousness corresponds to the experience of the “body of illusion” (sgyu-lus, Skt. māyākāya), mundane dreaming to the yoga of the dream state (rmi-lam, Skt. svapna), and deep dreamless sleep to inner radiance ('od-gsal, Skt. prabhāsvara). Hence, there is the reference to sleep at this juncture.

666 The deity Ode Kungyel is held to be the protector of a mountain range in Nyangpo which bears the same name; see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 206, 227. For Nyencen Thangla, ibid., pp. 205-10. The seven Menmo sisters (sman-mo mched-bdun) were subdued at Silma in Tsang by the master Padmasambhava: ibid., pp. 198-202; and The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava, Pt. 2, p. 373.

667 The prophecy is referring to Longcenpa's subsequent incarnation as the treasure-finder Pema Lingpa in Bhutan to the south-west of Tibet.

668 The treasure troves in Bumthang are those which he later discovered as Pema Lingpa.

669 Kumārādza, the teacher of Longcenpa, was of course the emanation of Vimalamitra.

670 Longcenpa was the reincarnation of Pangangpa Rincen Dorje who, according to different traditions, is held to have been either identical to, or the reincarnation of, Pema Lendreltsel, the discoverer of the Innermost Spirituality of the Ḍākinī. See above, p. 555, n. 614.

671 The point is that the widespread propagation of the Innermost Spirituality of Vimalamitra continued for one hundred years and the Innermost Spirituality of the Ḍākinī for five hundred years. Although both lineages are preserved at the present time, there are few who actively practise their teachings. And yet they are treasured for providing the essential background to many cycles which are currently practised.

672 On the third empowerment and its related teachings, see Fundamentals, pp. 301-2, n. 238.

673 ngo-sprod. This is the formal introduction to the experience of reality itself, which is conferred from master to student in a direct manner.

674 “Even a clay pot has a handle” – this is a pun on the Tibetan word lung which means either “transmission” or “the handle of a vase”.

675 This is the princess Pematsel mentioned above on p. 554.

676 I.e. the four profound volumes of the Innermost Spirituality of Vimalamitra.

677 On “the manifestation of inner radiance by night”, see Fundamentals, p. 280.

678 According to H. V. Guenther in the introduction to Kindly Bent to Ease Us, Vol. 1, p. xiv, it was on this occasion that he was given the name Dorje Ziji by Yeshe Tshogyel. Previously Guru Rinpoche had named him Trime Özer.

679 mngon-rtogs. The text in which the visualisation and ritual of the deity is described.

680 It is by conferring the seal of entrustment (gtad-rgya) that the continuity of transmitted doctrines is maintained.

681 sprul-bsgyur. This compound belongs to the technical terminology of the yoga of the dream state, but is also applied to the manufacture of sacramental substances.

682 Longcenpa developed the Innermost Spirituality of the Ḍākinī into his own mind treasure, the Further Innermost Spirituality of the Ḍākinī. Later he condensed it along with the Further Innermost Spirituality of the Guru (bla-ma yang-tig, NYZ Vol. 1) into the Profound Further Innermost Spirituality (zab-mo yang-tig, NYZ Vols. 10-11).

683 “Offerings pure in respect of the three spheres” are those purely given without trace of attachment in the giver, the giving or to the gift itself.

684 Ceremonies of the eighth, tenth and twenty-fifth days respectively commemorate the medicine buddhas, Guru Padmasambhava in his various manifestations and the ḍākinīs.

685 This is the Further Innermost Spirituality of the Guru or the Further Innermost Spirituality like the Wish-fulfilling Gem (yang-tig yid-bzhin nor-bu) which Longcenpa developed from the Innermost Spirituality of Vimalamitra.

686 bca'-ka.

687 On Tamsi demons, see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 517-18, 119, 284.

688 On the conflict between Sakya and Drigung, see, e.g., D. Snellgrove and H. Richardson, A Cultural History of Tibet, pp.144-5, 152; and Blue Annals, pp. 217-18. This led eventually to the formal assumption of power in 1349 of Tā'i Situ Cangcup Gyeltsen of Phakmotru (1302-64). Longcenpa moved to Bhutan in consequence of a dispute with this new potentate of Tibet, which endured for some ten years. See below, pp. 591-2; and for an enumeration of the eight monasteries which he founded or developed there, see Aris, Bhutan, pp. 155, 315.

689 Our text erroneously reads gsum (three) for gnyis (two). For a highly useful anthology of Longcenpa's writings, drawn from many of the texts mentioned in this paragraph, see Tulku Thondup Rinpoche, Buddha Mind.

690 This incident is recounted by Guenther in his introduction to Kindly Bent to Ease Us, Vol. 1, p. xv. Tā'i Situ Cangcup Gyeltsen was unfortunately provoked into believing Longcenpa to be an ally of his opponent Drigung Gompa Künrin. Shortly after the former assumed power, Künrin organised a revolt. Longcenpa tried to mediate, but his actions were misinterpreted and in consequence he was forced into exile in Bhutan where he remained at the monastery of Tharpaling near Bumthang (see n. 688 above). Eventually he was reconciled with Tā'i Situ (the “Eight-footed Lion” or “Shing-go-chen-pa”) through the efforts of his lay patrons Prince Situ Śākya Zangpo of upper Ü and Dorje Gyeltsen of Yamdrok.

691 shing-sgo chen-pa: “King of the Land of Wooden Doors” was a title adopted by Tā'i Situ Cangcup Gyeltsen. Tibet is called the land of wooden doors because (according to Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche) a wooden gateway was erected on the Amdo frontier with China to mark a peace treaty during the reign of Relpacen. According to Khenpo Palden Sherap the significance is that in antiquity the first Tibetans to build houses constructed their doors of plentiful forest wood. The Author recommends both views should be recorded here. T. V. Wylie in GT, p. 155, n. 373, maintains the latter view on the basis of G. Tucci's Tibetan Painted Scrolls, p. 698, n. 486: “This expression becomes synonymous with the areas of Dbus and gTsang, where the population is largely sedentary as opposed to the nomadic peoples of other areas.” The former lived in permanent houses while the latter lived in tents.

692 In this instance Longcenpa refers to himself by this name, not to his previous incarnation.

693 See Fundamentals, pp. 335-45.

694 The date of Longcenpa's death is here calculated according to the old Phukpa school, on which see p. 400. The Tshurpu calendar omits the eighteenth day of this particular month on which he passed away, and the Phakpa school omits the sixteenth day which is mentioned in this biography. Cf. n. 654 above.

695 “Upper demons” (steng-gdon) afflict the brain causing epilepsy, stroke and nervous disorders.

696 See the Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History, p. 198, and the Penetration of Sound, pp. 40-1, where the prediction concerning Lodröchok clearly intervenes between those of Gelong Pelden (i.e. Kumārādza) and the ḍākinī Śrīdharā.

697 See below, pp. 676-7.

698 See below, pp. 835-40.

HISTORY: PART FIVE

699 On the trilogy of the Sūtra which Gathers All Intentions, the Magical Net and the Mental Class (mdo-sgyu-sems-gsuni), see p. 396. The term Mental Class in this context specifically refers to the cycle of teachings associated with the All-Accomplishing King (chos thams-cad rdzogs-pa chen-po byang-chub-kyi sems kun-byed rgyal-po, T 828), which exemplifies the Mental Class of the Great Perfection.

700 See p. 533 above.

701 dmar-khrid.

702 See Dudjom Rinpoche, rgyal-rabs, p. 313. Queen Margyen, also known as Queen Tshepong-za, was the senior consort of King Trhisong, and a partisan of the Pön tradition. When the crown-prince Mune Tsepo came to power in 796 (rgyal-rabs dating), he married his father's younger consort Phoyongza and in direct consequence was poisoned to death by his own mother out of jealousy in 798, shortly before his father's demise. The queen then became openly hostile to Buddhist teachers such as Nyak. Cf. also Kvaerne, “A Preliminary Study of Chapter VI of the gZer-mig”.

703 long-mo.

704 The Perfect Practice of Vajrakīla is a means for attainment derived from the Vajrakīlaguhyatantra (NGB Vol. 27). The Blue-skirted One's Cycle (gsham-sngon) is another tradition derived from the Twelve-Section Kīlaya Tantra (kilaya tan-tra bcu-gnyis, NGB Vols. 19, 29). Together with the Six Secret Tantras (NGB Vols. 28-9) they were passed down in the lineage of Nyak Jñānakumāra. See p. 712 below.

705 The “Crow of Chim” or Chim Carok, one of Nyak's enemies, was unfortunately named. Nyak's careless invocation of the rite brought death to an innocent crow (bya-rog).

706 It is not clear to us exactly which tale this refers to. But compare this with the story of Jālandharipā's disciple Kaṇhapā (who is often identified with Kṛṣṇacārin) in Robinson, Buddha's Lions, pp. 81-5.

707 The rite of the “Tie to the Higher Realms” (gnas-lung) is a funeral ceremony in which the consciousness of the deceased is actually transferred to a higher level of existence. The rite of “liberation” (sgrol) is one aspect of the fourth rite (drag-po'i phrin-las) through which the consciousness of a sentient being trapped in the unfavourable conditions of bad karma can be transferred forcefully to the favourable conditions of a buddha-field by great mantra adepts acting out of compassion. Obstacles to oneself and to others are said to be thereby removed. Such is the purpose of all the wrathful actions which are described in this and subsequent passages. Refer to Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions pp. 396-402 (GGFTC, pp. 914-22).

708 Life-supporting wolf-spirits (bla-spyang) are one manifestation of the life-supporting talisman (bla-gnas) which was generally adopted by Tibetan potentates as a magical means of personal protection. The ancient kings are said to have possessed turquoise crown ornaments (bla-gYu) which were empowered in this way. The power traditional]]ly ascribed to a life-supporting talisman is illustrated by an incident from the Epic of Ling Kesar in which the hostile king Sa-tham proves to be invincible until the moment when Kesar kills the seven bears which were his life-support. See also Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 481-3.

709 All that arises in the mind is ultimately grounded in the very nature of mind itself, and thus, if used skillfully, provides a path leading to the realization of that nature. Vimalamitra guided Nyak's wrath in such a way that realization emerged from wrath itself, which was then transmuted into great compassion.

710 The Sogdians and related peoples of Central Asia, such as the Scythians, were renowned metal-workers. The name sog-po (originally referring to the Sogdians) was later applied to the Mongols when they overran the whole of Central Asia. See Stein, Tibetan Civilization, p. 34; and G. Uray, “The Four Horns of Tibet according to the Royal Annals” Acta Orientalia Hungarica X, 1 (1960), pp. 31-57, n. 34.

711 I.e. Pektse's body was similar to a kīla or ritual dagger – the symbolic implement of Vajrakīla through which wrathful rites of “liberation” are performed.

712 This is a variant on one of the most famous and ancient summations of the teaching, which is found in, e.g., Dhammapāda, v. 183, and other canonical texts. See N.S. Shukla, The Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dharmapāda, p. 62, no. 357.

713 See p. 540.

714 Nyakmar and Getön are apparently one and the same.

715 As noted briefly in the Translators' Introduction and in n. 535 above, there are many discrepancies in the dating of the imperial period of Tibetan history which come to light when the various available sources are compared. One of the problems centres on whether Songtsen Gampo died in 649/50 as stated by Chinese and early Tibetan sources (Tun Huang, T'ang Annals), or whether he lived until 718 as claimed by some Tibetan sources (cf. Dudjom Rinpoche, rgyal-rabs, pp. 137ff.). In addition, Tibetan historians disagree as to the length of time that elapsed between Langdarma's persecution and the restoration of Buddhism in Central Tibet. Nupcen's birth according to the tradition which asserts Songtsen Gampo's longevity and a late date for the Langdarma persecution would be February 832, whereas the dating based on the early annals would place his birth in 772 (chu-pho-byi lo). Our present History assumes that the dates associated with the life of Nupcen, which are given below on p. 613, follow the former tradition. See also pp. 948-50; and, for further information, Karmay, “Origin and Early Development of the Tibetan Religious Traditions of the Great Perfection”, pp. 170-1, 187.

716 Chinese preceptors (Ch. Ho-shang, Tib. Hva-shang) were active in Central Tibet until their defeat in the great debate at Samye by Kamalaśīla who represented the orthodox Indian philosophical tradition of Svātantrika-Madhyamaka. They later continued to teach their sūtra-based tradition in the Gyelmorong area of Kham where the Great Perfection was also transmitted by Vairocana during his exile. See also pp. 896ff. Some of their texts are said to be among the concealed treasures which were subsequently rediscovered by Ratna Lingpa and others. That Nupcen Sangye Yeshe was himself much influenced by Chinese Ch'an Buddhism is made abundantly clear by his Lamp for the Eye of Contemplation, Ch. 5. Cf. Jeffrey Broughton, “Early Ch'an in Tibet” in R. Gimello and P. N. Gregory (eds.), Studies in Ch'an and Hua-yen; Karmay, “Origin and Early Development of the Tibetan Religious Traditions of the Great Perfection”, passim; and Ruegg, “The Great Debate between Gradualists and Simultaneists in Eighth-Century Tibet”.

717 Preceptor here, following the oral interpretation of Khenpo Palden Sherap, corresponds closely to the archaic Tibetan word ru, which also means superior, primordial, or precursor. See also n. 342.

718 On Marutse the butcher (gshan-pa ma-ru-rtse), see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, p. 92.

719 I.e. the empowerment for the zombie or vetāla ritual. Seen. 578 above.

720 Running throughout Indo-Tibetan religious culture is a profound belief in the power of truth and the truthful utterance, which when properly applied can work wonders. See, e.g., H. Zimmer, Philosophies of India, pp. 160-9.

721 cha-ga.

722 That the persecution was directed primarily at the monastic establishment and not at the Buddhist laity is indicated by S. G. Karmay, “The Rdzogs-chen in its Earliest Text” in STC, pp. 272-82. Nup's own survival of the persecution is indicated in his Lamp for the Eye of Contemplation. Langdarma, in his decision to supress the Buddhist monasteries, may have been following the lead of the T'ang emperor Wu-tsung, who suppressed Buddhism in 845, as well as responding to reactionary forces in Tibetan society.

723 See above, pp. 523-4.

724 The texts of deathless nectar are exemplified by the Eight Volumes of Nectar (bdud-rtsi bam-brgyad, T 841 and NGB Vol. 26).

725 Regarding the traditional]] Tibetan dating of Buddha Śākyamuni's final nirvāṇa, see p. 948.

726 On the accomplishment of the “swift feet of the yakṣiṇī” (gnod-sbyin-mo'i rkang-mgyogs), see Fundamentals, p. 259. The Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History, p. 225, speaks of two kinds of swift-footedness, one of which was conferred by Rematī, the yakṣiṇī.

727 For an explanation of the geomantic centres, see n. 543; also Aris, Bhutan, pp. 5-33.

728 “Both of the great accomplishments” acquired by Yönten Gyamtso refers to the supreme accomplishment of enlightenment and the mundane accomplishment of special powers, on which see, e.g., Fundamentals, pp. 259-60.

729 For the standard account of Milarepa's apprenticeship under this master, see Lhalungpa, The Life of Milarepa, pp. 27ff; and D. Martin “The Teachers of Mi-la-ras-pa” The Journal of the Tibet Society 2 (1982).

730 Nyang Yeshe Jungne of Chölung – the text wrongly reads Nyang Sherap Jungne.

731 The principle division in the lineage of the transmitted precepts is a geographical one between the tradition of Rong in Central Tibet and the tradition of Kham in the east. The Rong tradition will be described first.

732 See Blue Annals, p. 109.

733 Atsara is a Tibetan corruption of Skt. ācārya, “master” or “teacher”.

734 “I” probably refers here to an earlier historian rather than to the present Author.

735 Zurpoche's outward journey from Kham to Central Tibet is paralleled by his inward meditative experience. The robe worn by adepts of the inner heat (gtum-mo) is one of thin, white linen.

736 On the centre of perfect rapture (sambhogacakra), which is the centre of buddha-speech located in the throat, see pp. 818-19, 837 and n. 1143.

737 The rulu mantra is that of Yangdak Heruka.

738 This may well refer to a form of Pehar. See Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 97, 99 and 145ff.

739 Matram is Rudra, the matricide who is said to have been subdued by Hayagrīva. See, e.g., The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava, Pt. 1, pp. 26-46.

740 rgya-phubs/phibs. On this characteristic motif in Tibetan architecture, see A. Chayet, “The Jehol Temples and their Tibetan Models” in STC, pp. 65-72; and idem, Les Temples de Jehol et leurs modèles tibétaines.

741 I.e. Vairocana with four faces facing in the four cardinal directions.

742 glo-'bur.

743 This is Vairocana in the form of Samantamukha. See n. 741 above.

744 The causal Heruka (rgyu'i he-ru-ka) is the simple form with one face and two hands visualised through the stage of creation. It is contrasted with the maturational Heruka ('bras-bu'i he-ru-ka) which is the multiarmed deity spontaneously appearing through the stage of perfection. See below, pp. 627-8; also the sections on Mahāyoga and Anuyoga in Fundamentals, pp. 275-89 and 359-69.

745 Cf. Lhalungpa, The Life of Milarepa, pp. 52-3.

746 The flesh of one born a brahman or vegetarian over seven successive lifetimes is regarded traditional]]ly as having miraculous properties. See, e.g., the account of the life of Orgyen Lingpa, pp. 775-89.

747 As explained on p. 462, Mahāyoga is divided into the section of tantra texts and the section of means for attainment derived from the former. The first is, relatively speaking, exoteric and the second esoteric. See also Fundamentals, p. 283.

748 According to the Tibetan system of weights and measures, one load (khal gcig) comprises twenty measures ('bre nyi-shu), a measure being about four pints.

749 them-bu.

750 thun.

751 Cf. Hevajra Tantra, Pt. 2, Ch. 5, v. 26:

Flirtatious, heroic and fearsome,

Mirthful, stern and terrific,

Compassionate, awed and at peace,

He is endowed with the nine flavours of drama.

752 On the fruitional or maturational Heruka, see n. 744 above.

753 chu-rab.

754 Shenrap Miwoche is regarded by the Pönpo as the founder of their religion. See S. G. Karmay, The Treasury of Good Sayings, intro., pp. xviii-xx, 23-4 and passim; D. L. Snellgrove, The Nine Ways of Bon, intro.; and Tucci, The Religions of Tibet, Ch. 7.

755 Drokmi Lotsāwa (993-1050), the student of the Indian Gayadhara, was responsible for introducing into Tibet the tradition of the Path and Fruit (lam-'bras), which was to become the foremost teaching of the Sakyapa lineage. His requirements for gold were notorious; see, e.g., Nālandā Translation Committee, The Life of Marpa the Translator, pp. 6-8.

756 Name of a pass leading into the valley in which Tshurpu is situated.

757 The bells and dishes would have been attached to the chain as decorations.

758 This is Myu-gu-lung, in Tsangtön Mangkar Valley, situated to the immediate west of Sakya. See Blue Annals, pp. 207-8; and KGHP, pp. 64-5.

759 On “holder of the awareness of spontaneous presence” (lhun-grub rig-'dzin), see Fundamentals, p. 282.

760 The essential substances are pure essences or particles of rainbow light. See Fundamentals, p. 340.

761 The wolf-skin hat (spyang-zhva) is a garment typically worn by the Pönpo, see below, p. 939. Similarly, the practice of counter-clockwise circumambulation is characteristic of the Pönpo. Cf. D.L. Snellgrove, Himalayan Pilgrimage, pp. 42-3.

762 The text erroneously reads rung-chu instead of rud-chu, “flooding waters” (Khenpo Palden Sherap).

763 “Male wealth” is a family's land and house, and “female wealth” its utensils and valuables. Cf. Stein, Tibetan Civilization, p. 109.

764 These first three clauses represent a common formula expressive of unalterable determination in spiritual practice. See Künzang Pelden, byang-ckub sems-dpa'i spyod-pa-la 'jug-pa'i tshig-'grel, fol. 21b.

765 dpe-'grems.

766 Zurcungpa is here referred to as Zurpoche's nephew simply because he hails from the same clan, though the genealogy given on p. 617 makes him Zurpoche's grandnephew.

767 chos-'khor.

768 The evil destinies (ngan-'gro) are those which entail birth as animals, tortured spirits or denizens of hell.

769 For the Eight Gaurī in the retinue of Yangdak Heruka, see the Glossary of Enumerations.

770 How they came to be so called is explained below, p. 643.

771 sdig-pa mi-dge so-sor bshags. Zurcungpa is here punning on the word sdig-pa, which means both “sin” and “scorpion”, as well as on the word bshags, which means “to repent” and also “to cleave” or “to split”.

772 For the full implications of this phrase, see Fundamentals, pp. 215-16.

773 tsong-ge.

774 These seals or mudrā (phyag-rgya) are the seals of the body, speech and mind of the peaceful and wrathful deities (Khenpo Palden Sherap).

775 “The activity field in which appearances are exhausted” (chos-zad-pa'i skye-mched) refers to the experience of Cutting Through Resistance (khregs-chod). See Fundamentals, pp. 334-7.

776 Tib. dge-ba'i bshes-gnyen, Skt. Kalyāṇamitra. In essence this term refers to one who benefits others by means of the teachings of the greater vehicle. It was taken over by the Kadampa school at an early date as a title for their masters and gradually came to be used to describe those who had passed the scholastic curriculum of the dialectical colleges. Later the Gelukpa school formalised this usage so that in their colleges it became roughly the equivalent of the western Doctor of Divinity or Doctor of Theology degree.

777 sta-gu-ra mi-gnyis. According to Blue Annals, p. 119, and the Hindi translation of the present text by Rikdzin Lhündrup, p. 186, this term means the “two honourables” (ādāraṇīya). Khenpo Palden Sherap speculates that it may mean “two who lived in tents”. However the precise derivation of the word is uncertain.

778 This figure played a major role in the diffusion of Buddhist formal logic in Tibet. See Blue Annals, pp. 70-1.

779 See Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, pp. 124-5 and 131-2, for this account of Śūra's meeting with Āryadeva.

780 As pointed out above, nn. 291 and 486, “liberation” refers to the forceful transference of consciousness to a higher level.

781 The identity of the Great Translator of Sakya (sa-lo-chen-po) referred to here is unclear. According to Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche he may possibly have been Sakya Locen Jinpei Dorje. Alternatively, Sakya Lotsāwa Jamyang Künga Zangpo and even Sakya Paṇḍita have been suggested.

782 Regarding the four visionary appearances, of which this is the fourth, it says in the Penetration of Sound, p. 91:

Then turning from that to the four visionary appearances: by the visionary appearance of the direct perception of reality (chos-nyid mngon-sum-gyi snang-ba) the terms which rely on ideas and scrutiny are transcended; by the visionary appearance of ever increasing contemplative experience (nyams gong-'phel-ba'i snang-ba) bewildering appearances decrease and the pristine cognition of the bardo is manifested; by the visionary appearance of reaching the limit of awareness (rig-pa tshad-phebs-kyi snang-ba) the appearances on the path to realization of the three bodies are transcended; and by the visionary appearance in which reality is exhausted (chos-nyid zad-pa'i snang-ba) the continuity of the three realms of saṃsāra is broken.

See also Fundamentals, pp. 337-45 and 371. During these four successive visions it is said that the four empowerments of the Great Perfection are received. For the latter, see pp. 498-501.

783 This translator did much to advance the teaching of the Guhyasamāja Tantra in Tibet. See Blue Annals, pp. 359ff. He was a vociferous opponent of the Ancient Translation School, on which see below, pp. 914ff.

784 phyir-'don-pa.

785 The paths of skillful means (thabs-lam) and liberation (grol-lam) are explained in Fundamentals, pp. 279-81 (under Mahāyoga); and pp. 286-7 (under Anuyoga).

786 mig-ltag khung-du 'chus.

787 Coalescence (zung-'jug, Skt. yuganaddha) is conceived variously according to the different vehicles of the Secret Mantra, e.g. as that of appearance and emptiness, bliss and emptiness, awareness and emptiness, the expanse of reality and pristine cognition, or buddha-body and pristine cognition. See Fundamentals, pp. 206ff. and 245ff. According to the higher vehicles coalescence is said to occur primordially and not causally.

788 Tibetan houses usually have flat roofs, used for threshing grain and as a place to catch the sun on warm days.

789 che-'don or investiture is a ceremony marking the maturity of a young hierarch, elevating him or her to precedence in a particular spiritual community and conferring temporal power over the monastic estates. Blue Annals, p. 124, reads “coming of age ceremony”.

790 rdzogs-chen skor-lugs. skor, or “cycle”, refers here to the four cycles of the Esoteric Instructional Class, on which see Fundamentals, pp. 332, 333.

791 On the four nails, see the Glossary of Enumerations.

792 The parasol is a symbol of power or authority, here displayed out of respect for Phadampa's illustrious guest.

793 It is after Dropukpa that the Central Tibetan tradition or rong-lugs and the Eastern tradition or khams-lugs of the transmitted precepts began to diverge.

794 For Tsen spirits, see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 12-15, etc.; and for the Mātaraḥ (ma-mo), ibid., pp. 267-73.

795 Sacen Künga Nyingpo (1092-1158) was the first of the “five superiors” (gong-ma lnga) of the Sakyapa school.

796 jo-sras. This title was used to address the son of a priestly family.

797 gshegs-btsun-mdzad: our interpretation of this obscure phrase follows the oral commentary of Khenpo Palden Sherap.

798 'ongs-'don means a public gathering according to Khenpo Palden Sherap; in this particular case it would seem to refer to a harvest festival or thanksgiving ceremony. Cf. Blue Annals, p. 134.

799 For the tradition of the cyles of the Great Perfection, see above n. 790. For the Rong and Kham traditions, see nn. 731 and 793 above.

800 The comparison with a horse, traditional]]ly held to be a noble animal, is complimentary. The horse was known as “Loud-voiced Garuḍa-nestling” (khyung-phrug kha-che).

801 Lama Zhang was a Kagyü master who, to judge from the many references to him one finds in the literature of the period, was much beloved by adherents of all schools. He was the founder of the Tshelpa Kagyü order. See Blue Annals, pp. 711-15; and Stein, Tibetan Civilization, p. 76.

802 The Indestructible Seat is the Vajrāsana at Bodh Gayā in Bihar. The images of Śākyamuni are in the Lhasa Trhülnang and Ramoche temples; see p. 510 and Pl. 37. The stone dikes of Lhasa are said to have been first constructed during the reign of Songtsen Gampo; see A. Grünwedel, Die Tempel von Lhasa, pp. 21ff., which is based on Dalai Lama V, Guide to the Cathedral of Lhasa.

803 Phakmotrupa (1110-70), though famed primarily as a Kagyüpa master, studied also under Sacen Künga Nyingpo. Hence, his involvement in the transmission of the Path and Fruit, a pre-eminently Sakyapa instruction. See Blue Annals, p. 556.

804 Recung Dorje-tra was one of Milarepa's leading disciples. His life is summarised in Blue Annals, pp. 436ff. In the well-known Life of Milarepa, he plays the role of interlocutor, but he was not the author of that work as is asserted in the Evans-Wentz edition. For a convenient summary of the contributions of the actual author, Tsangnyön Heruka (1452-1507), see Nālandā Translation Committee, The Life of Marpa the Translator, pp. xix-xxi. Recung is also referred to as “Loro Recungpa”, after the name of his favourite dwelling-place.

805 This appears to be the name of a malicious spirit.

806 According to Blue Annals, p. 133, Sangye Öntön was a relative of Zhikpo Dütsi.

807 The Kashmiri scholar Śākyaśrī spent the years from 1204 to 1213 in Tibet, during which time he taught extensively to adherents of all the major Tibetan schools. His close ties to Trhopu (khro-phu) are evidenced in Blue Annals, pp. 599, 710, 1063. It was Campapel, the translator of Trhopu, who invited him to Tibet, served as his interpreter, and eventually became his biographer. He is said to have died in Kashmir in 1225.

808 For this ritual, see n. 707 above.

809 Nyang-rel Nyima Özer (see pp. 755-9) passed away in 1192 or 1204. This must then either refer to his son and grandson, or be an erroneous reference to his son alone.

810 The struggle between Qubilai and Ariboga for the throne occurred in 1260. See Stein, Tibetan Civilization, pp. 77-8.

811 Phakpa (1235-80) was made the effective ruler of Tibet by Qubilai in 1253, his power being enhanced in 1260. He held the rank of “Imperial Preceptor” (ti-shih), on which see nn. 817 and 924 below.

812 Cf. the texts of other letters from Mongol Qans to Tibetan lamas, e.g. in Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, pp. 61-6.

813 The complete text of this prayer does not seem to be known at the present time.

814 Rudrākṣa is the berry of a tree (Elaeocarpus Ganitrus). Rosaries made from these berries are favoured for use in connection with wrathful rites of subjugation.

815 mu-men according to S. C. Das, Tibetan-English Dictionary, p. 968, is sapphire. According to Nyoshul Khenpo it is a non-crystalline precious stone, probably lapis. For its medical usage in the treatment of leprosy, skin ailments and as an antidote for poisoning see, e.g., gso-rig snying-bsdus skya-rengs gsar-pa, p. 243.

816 This edict does not appear to be otherwise known, but would be consistent with Qubilai's attitude towards Tibetan practitioners of the vehicle of indestructible reality. Cf. Tsepon W.D. Shakabpa, Bod kyi srid don rgyal rabs, Vol. 1, pp. 289-301.

817 Pakshi (Chinese po-shih and Mongolian baγši) was a title which was interpreted in Tibet to imply spiritual equality with the imperial preceptors of China (ti-shih or gong-ma'i bla-ma). From the time of Chögyel Phakpa the latter were appointed from the Sakya tradition which was predominantly patronised by the Yüan dynasty.

818 Leprosy is held to originate from the nāga or water spirits. Through their favours, the lama's flesh would have granted immunity from the disease.

819 Possibly to be identified with Pakshi Śākya-ö, though this is uncertain.

820 On Campapel, the translator of Trhopu (b. 1172/3), see n. 807 above; and Blue Annals, pp. 708ff.

821 These were the Mongol incursions during the year 1285. See Stein, Tibetan Civilization, p. 78.

822 Qubilai Qan's elder brother Hülegü founded the Ilkhan dynasty in Iran in 1258, and as early as 1267 began to challenge Qubilai's authority in Tibet by extending his patronage to the Drigungpa sect, which rivalled the Sakyapa. From 1285 onwards the Ilkhans lent military support to Drigung, but Sakya, with the help of an army dispatched by Qubilai, was ultimately victorious, Drigung Monastery being sacked in 1290. Cf. Stein, Tibetan Civilization, pp. 78-9; and Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, p. 70.

823 These Mahāyoga empowerments, numbering eighteen altogether, are listed in the Glossary of Enumerations under fifteen ordinary sacraments (of empowerment). See also Fundamentals, p. 360; and Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 370-9 (GGFTC, pp. 869-81).

824 This translator was also the tutor of Putön Rinpoche. Refer to Blue Annals, p. 793; and Ruegg, The Life of Buston Rin po che, pp. 80-1.

825 A mdos or thread-cross is a wooden-framed structure crossed with many layers of thread or silk. Used as a device for the trapping and exorcising of evil forces, its structure varies in size and appearance depending upon the deity invoked and the function of the rite. See Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 369-97; and Tucci, The Religions of Tibet, pp. 181ff.

826 This great scholar (1290-1364) has long been well known to western students of Buddhism in Tibet. The following works are the most significant contributions to the study of his life and works published to date: Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston; Ruegg, The Life of Bu ston rin po che; idem, La théorie du tathāgatagarbha et du gotra; idem, Le traité du tathāgatagarbha du Bu ston Rin chen grub. For Putön's view of the ancient translations, see below, pp. 892-3.

827 rten-'brel.

828 Buyantu was emperor from 1311 to 1320.

829 On these magical weapons, see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 354ff. and 496ff.

830 Tā'i-tu is the name usually given by Tibetan sources for the Yüan Imperial Palace. Cf. Blue Annals, pp. 500-1. It corresponds to Chinese ta-tu, the Yüan period name of Peking (modern Beijing), constructed by Qubilai between the years 1267 to 1274.

831 Chinese bronze (li-ma).

832 “Leather Mask of the Seven Steps” (bse-'bag goms-bdun-ma): for leather mask (bse-'bag) in general, see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 102-4. Stein, however, has argued that bse in this instance means not “leather”, but refers rather to the bse-spirits, and that the mask is thus a representation of such a bse.

833 Guluk, the third Yüan emperor, reigned from 1307 to 1311.

834 Mati Paṇcen was a leading Sanskritist, who made the final revisions of the Kālacakra Tantra. He also authored several influential commentaries on philosophical works. See n. 570 above; and Blue Annals, pp. 776, 1045-6.

835 Probably Danyi Chenpo Zangpopel (bdag-nyid chen-po bzang-po dpal), 1262-1322, or one of his sons.

836 The seal of entrustment or succession (gtad-rgya) refers to the approval granted by a preceptor to a student, thereby authorising the latter to become a lineage-holder and transmitter of the transmitted precepts. For its function within the close lineage of the treasures (gter-ma), see below, p. 745.

837 Our text erroneously reads bcu-bdun for bdun-cu.

838 A permissory initiation (rjes-snang) refers to the blessing of the buddhas or meditational deities which, when conferred by one's guru, authorises one to practise the visualization and mantra of the buddha or deity in question. Compare the usage of this term here with its usage in relation to the causal vehicles, where it is translated as the Buddha's mandate, see Fundamentals, pp. 75-6.

839 Compare this with an identical passage on p. 674 where the Forty-Chapter Magical Net has been inserted after the Eighty-Chapter Magical Net instead of after the Illuminating Lamp of the Fundamental Text.

840 This Bengali master of the Kālacakra tradition was one of the last great Indian Buddhist scholars to visit Tibet. His unusual career is treated in Blue Annals, pp. 797ff.

841 Blue Annals, p. 153.

842 Cf. Blue Annals, p. 171:

I [Gölo] have given a brief description of the greatness of these teachers belonging to this lineage, in order to remove the great sin committed by fools who wrongly understood the Doctrine [i.e. attacked the rÑiṅ-ma-pa].

843 The history and status of this major Karma Kagyü establishment is surveyed in the autobiography of its late hierarch, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Born in Tibet, especially Ch. 2.

844 I.e. Pengar Jampel Zangpo (ban-sgar 'jam-dpal bzang-po), on whom see Nālandā Translation Committee, The Rain of Wisdom, pp. 123-5, 324.

845 The “ultimate doctrinal language” is that of the subtle, inner Great Madhyamaka. See Fundamentals, pp. 169-216; and for Tölbupa in particular, p. 204 and n. 1309.

846 On Karpopa, see below, p. 697.

847 The Earlier and Later Treasure Troves (gter-kha gong-'og) are respectively those discovered by Nyang-rel Nyima Özer and Guru Chöwang. See pp. 755-70.

848 See below, pp. 805-8.

849 This is Dalai Lama III, under whom many of the Mongol tribes were converted to Buddhism. See, e.g., Stein, Tibetan Civilisation, pp. 81, 82.

850 sgra'i ri-mo.

851 sum-rtags, i.e. the study of the sum-cu-pa and rtags-kyi 'jug-pa attributed to Thönmi Sambhoṭa, on whom see p. 512 and n. 546.

852 Advanced philosophy students in Tibet would customarily spend some period as visiting scholars at institutions with which they were otherwise unaffiliated. Exposed thus to divergent approaches to the teaching, they would hone their intellectual skills by engaging in debate with any who would challenge them.

853 Sera Ce (se-ra byes) is one of the colleges of Sera Monastery, near Lhasa. Its curriculum is surveyed in L. Candra (ed.), Materials for a History of Tibetan Literature, Pt. 3, pp. 666-7; and Geshe Lhundup Sopa, Lectures on Tibetan Religious Culture, Ch. 2.

854 The date of Peljor Lhündrup's death is calculated according to the old Phukpa school. According to Schuh, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Tibetiscken Kalenderrechnung, p. 139, Dalai Lama V used old Phukpa, and his successor, the regent Sangye Gyamtso, was the first to employ the new Phukpa calculations from 1696 onwards. Refer to p. 400.

855 I.e. those cycles of teaching which are considered essential to the Zur tradition.

856 On this figure, see p. 783.

857 This is undertaken by advanced students of the vehicle of indestructible reality in order to perfect the techniques of yoga and meditation. See, e.g., Ngawang Zangpo, Jamgon Kongtrul's Retreat Manual.

858 See Fundamentals, pp. 335-45.

859 For details of this dispute, see Stein, Tibetan Civilization, p. 81. The Drigungpa formed an alliance with the Zhamarpa and the king of Tsang against the Gelukpa and the Ganden Palace in 1537. See also n. 1114.

860 On the induction of epilepsy and stroke by means of sorcery, see n. 695 above.

861 Köncok Chöpel was a teacher of Dalai Lama V. See p. 821.

862 The Lhodrak Sungtrül is the incarnation of the great treasure-finder Pema Lingpa, associated with Nenang Monastery near Truptso Pemaling in Lhodrak; see below, p. 799. Tabla (or Takla) Padmamati was particularly influential in connection with the lineage of Zhikpo Lingpa, on whom see n. 929 below.

863 The lords of Tsang and the Karmapa assumed control over most of Central Tibet in 1565. Established by Karma Tsheten of Tsang and continued by his successor Karma Tenkyong (1599-1641), their administration was finally ended by the Qōśot Mongols under Guśrī Khan who duly enthroned Dalai Lama V in 1642. Cf. Stein, Tibetan Civilization, pp. 82-3; Snellgrove and Richardson, A Cultural History of Tibet, pp. 194-5; and Z. Ahmad, Sino-Tibetan Relations in the Seventeenth Century.

864 On this monastic establishment and its hierarch Pema Trhinle, see below, pp. 736-7.

865 A brief reference to Zhang as the “Unborn” may be found in Blue Annals, p. 900. See also n. 801 above.

866 See below, pp. 724-6.

867 On Rikdzin Gyurme Dorje or Terdak Lingpa, see pp. 825-34; and on Locen Dharmaśrī, pp. 728-32.

868 dar-ring-chen-mo.

869 Unidentified.

870 For a later Menlungpa's connection with the Kham tradition, see below, p. 699.

871 For the lineage of Katok Monastery in general, see H. Eimer and P. Tsering, “Äbte und Lehrer von Kaḥ-thog” Zentralasiatische Studien 13 (1979), pp. 457-509; and idem, “A List of Abbots of Kaḥ-thog Monastery” The Journal of the Tibet Society 1 (1981).

872 For the Lower Tibetan Vinaya lineage, see pp. 525-6 and n. 568.

873 On the first Karmapa hierarch and Gampopa's greatest disciple, see Blue Annals, pp. 473ff.; and Karma Thinley, The History of the Sixteen Karmapas of Tibet, pp. 41-5.

874 pha-vang. But this word may mean “bat” (the animal) as well as “boulder”.

875 On this wrathful protectress, see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, Ch. II.

876 The eighth level of realization attained by a bodhisattva is known as the Unmoving (mi-gYo-ba, Skt. Acalā). See Fundamentals, p. 137 and n. 146.

877 For the eleventh level, Universal Light (kun-tu 'od, Skt. Samantaprabhā), which is that of buddhas rather than bodhisattvas, see Fundamentals, p. 237.

878 On this figure, who was instrumental in transmitting the Dohā in Tibet, see Guenther, The Royal Song of Saraha, pp. 16-17.

879 Pomdrakpa was the spiritual heir of the first Karmapa's leading disciple, Sangye Recen. In his turn he became the tutor of Tüsum Khyenpa's reincarnation, Karma Pakshi. See Blue Annals, pp. 483ff.

880 On Karma Pakshi's affiliation with and contribution to the Nyingma [[tradition, see M. Kapstein, “Religious Syncretism in 13th century Tibet: The Limitless Ocean Cycle” in STC, pp. 358-71.

881 Sakya Paṇḍita and Chögyel Phakpa journeyed to visit the Mongol prince Godan in Gansu in 1246. When Phakpa was seventeen (1251) Sakya Paṇḍita passed away. At nineteen (1253), Phakpa became advisor to Qubilai Qan and returned to Tibet in 1265. His second visit to China for seven years began in 1268. After his return in 1276 he held the conclave at Chumik and died, perhaps poisoned, at Sakya in 1280. See Blue Annals, pp. 211-12; and Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, pp. 62-9. The Author and Khenpo Palden Sherap have agreed with the hypothesis that the consecration of Dzing Namgyel was performed by Katokpa Campabum, who was still officiating until 1251 when Sakya Paṇḍita passed away.

882 Jang was one of the principalities of far south-eastern Tibet, centered on Lijiang in Yunnan. On the patronage of Buddhism by its kings, see Y. Imaeda, The 'Jang Sa-tham Edition of the Tibetan Buddhist Canon.

883 This refers to the great Nyingma centres founded or restored from the seventeenth century onwards, such as Mindröling and Dorje Trak. See below, pp. 733-9.

884 See pp. 700-1.

885 The sacred mountain of far south-eastern Tibet and the surrounding region, presently in north-western Yunnan. See TH, pp. 417-9.

886 The “three superiors” of Katok (gong-ma gsum) were, of course, Katokpa Tampa Deshek, Tsangtönpa and Campabum.

887 drung means “attendant”. The title drung(-pa) or zhabs-drung is given to the attendant of a hierarch. In cases in which the attendant himself rises to assume a major position in a given lineage he and his successors often maintain the original title as an indication of their continuing service to the lineage itself.

888 See the Glossary of Enumerations for the fifteen ordinary sacraments (of empowerment); also Fundamentals, p. 360. Together with the three empowerments of profundity (zab-dbang gsum) they form the eighteen empowerments of Mahāyoga. Altogether, they comprise ten outer empowerments of beneficence (phyi phan-pa'i dbang bcu), five inner empowerments of ability (nang nus-pa'i dbang lnga) and the three secret empowerments of profundity (gsang-ba zab-mo'i dbang gsum). Cf. Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 370-9 (GGFTC, pp. 869-81).

889 The account given here may be compared with that found in Blue Annals, pp. 160-7.

890 See the Glossary of Enumerations for the five awakenings. Their generation at the birth of an emanational master has also been referred to in the account of Dropukpa's life, p. 645 above. At the time of enlightenment they bring about five resultant excellences ('bras-bu'i phun-sum-tshogs-pa lnga) associated with the buddha-body of perfect rapture, namely, those of teacher (Samantabhadra in the form of Vajradhara), place (Akaniṣṭha), retinue (Conquerors of the Five Enlightened Families and tenth level bodhisattvas), time (unbroken timeless continuity of the experience) and teaching (ultimate truth in which saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are identical). Here five parallel accomplishments are poetically ascribed to Rongzompa.

891 The point of this example is that Daṇḍin's treatise, on which see Fundamentals, pp. 104-5, was virtually the only work on classical Indian poetics studied in Tibet. Only a real savant would have been familiar with, e.g., Maṃmata.

892 For contemporary Tibetan views on the Vivarta or Vartula script, see Narkyid, “In Defence of Amdo Gendun Chompel's Theory of the Origin of the Tibetan Script” Tibet Journal VII, 3 (1982), pp. 23-34; and Namkai Norbu, The Necklace of Gzi, pp. 7-13.

893 chos-la blo ma-sgyur. The text erroneously reads chos-kyi bla-mar sgyur.

894 These three qualities are usually ascribed to the transmitted precepts of the Buddha himself. See Fundamentals, pp. 73-4.

895 Rongzompa himself is “father Chödrak”.

896 The teachings of this obscure figure, who is perhaps to be assigned to the tenth century, have played a profound role in the tradition of the Great Perfection. For a brief biographical reference, see Blue Annals, pp. 999-1001. Also, see n. 608 above.

897 Our text erroneously reads zi for ya-zi.

898 The founder of the Kagyü lineage in Tibet. His traditional]] biography has been translated into English: Nālandā Translation Committee, The Life of Marpa the Translator. Marpa's dates are usually given as 1012-96, but see ibid., p. 199n.

899 Esoteric Mañjuśrī, as indicated above on p. 702, was composed and translated by Smrtijñānakīrti. The commentary by Rongzompa is contained in Selected Writings of Roṅ-zom Chos-kyi bzaṅ-po. Refer to Esoteric Mañjuśrī in the first part of the Bibliography.

900 Blue Annals, p. 166.

901 On Macik Zhama (b. 1062) and her brother Khurbupa or Khönpupa ('khon-phu-ba, b. 1069), see Blue Annals, pp. 220ff. It appears that Macik Zhama is therein confused with the founder of the tradition of the Object of Cutting (gcod-yul), Macik Lapdrön. Cf. Gyatso, “A Preliminary Study of the Gcod Tradition”.

902 For the iconography of the kīla, the foremost ritual emblem of this tradition, see J. Huntington, The Phur-pa, Tibetan Ritual Daggers. Evidence for the antiquity of kīla practice in Tibet and India is surveyed in R. A. Stein “A propos des documents anciens relatifs au phur-bu” in Csoma de Koros Symposium; and in R. Mayer “Tibetan Phur-bas and Indian Kīlas” in The Buddhist Forum.

903 The maṇḍala of material symbols here would entail the use of the symbolic kīla implement (rdzas-phur).

904 Zandre (za-'dre) are a class of malicious spirits who haunt fixed locations and require propitiation with offerings of foodstuffs.

905 Cf. p. 496.

906 Concerning the importance of Vajrakīla for the Sakyapa, refer to E. G. Smith's introduction to Kongtrul's Encyclopedia of Indo-Tibetan Culture, p. 8, n. 17. Sakya Paṇḍita himself was responsible for locating a Sanskrit manuscript of the Root Fragment of Vajrakīla (T 439) and redacting its Tibetan translation.

907 A summary of his life may be found in Blue Annals, pp. 374-80.

908 On this figure (b. 1016), see p. 765; and R. Prats, Contribute allo Studio Biografico dei primi Gter-ston, pp. 25-8.

909 On the death of Tarma Dode, see Nalanda Translation Committee, The Life of Marpa the Translator, pp. 156-73; and Lhalungpa, The Life of Milarepa, pp. 82-3. These sources, however, do not specifically mention Ra Lotsāwa.

910 tha-phyi'i grva-pa.

911 The Devourers (za) and Slaughterers (gsod) are protectors associated with Vajrakīla.

912 Our text erroneously reads rang for rang.

913 The trio of Se (bse), Cak (lcags) and Shel (shel) are protective deities associated with Vajrakīla, and named according to three different kinds of material kīla – briar, iron and crystal.

914 zhal 'chos-pa.

915 The fifth path or death follows upon the four modes of life (āśrama) prevalent in traditional]] Indian culture. These are the way of the celibate student (brahmacarī), the way of the householder (gṛhasthī), the way of the forest-dweller (āraṇyavāsī) and the way of the homeless mendicant (sannyāsī).

916 se-ra phur-mjal. See KGHP, pp. 100-1. The kīla itself is only seen publicly once each year, during a special empowerment conferred by the abbot of Sera Ce College on the seventeenth of the twelfth month as a prelude to the New Year celebrations. The annual ceremony has been maintained by the Sera Monastery community in exile in Mysore, India, but the actual kīla remains in the shrine of the secret attainment of Hayagrīva (rta-mgrin gsang-sgrub) in Sera itself. Since 1980, with the partial relaxation of Chinese restrictions on the practice of religion in Tibet, the shrine has again become an important pilgrimage site. The translators were able to visit it during separate journeys from 1984 onwards, but, unfortunately, were not permitted to photograph the exquisitely embossed brass reliquary, which shows the figures of Padmasambhava, Darca and Sakya Paṇḍita and in which the kīla is kept.

917 On Ngari Paṇcen, see below, pp. 805-8.

918 This figure (b. 1524) was one of the leading Sakyapa scholars of the period.

919 For these four rivers, see p. 601. The seal of entrustment (gtad-rgya) has been explained above in this chapter, n. 836.

920 'dus-pa-dang lhan-cig.

921 On Kong-ra Locen Zhenpen Dorje, see below, pp. 723-4; and for Lhatsün Namka Jikme, pp. 818-20.

922 The practice of the Black Further Innermost Spirituality requires solitary retreat in total darkness in order to simulate the experiences which follow death. A “secret passageway” is utilised to provide the practitioner with food, and also serves as the channel through which he or she can occasionally converse with the meditation master.

923 See below, pp. 760-70.

924 ti-shih, “Teacher of the Emperor” – this form of Chinese honour was adopted and conferred by Dalai Lama V. See also nn. 811, 817 above.

925 See p. 783.

926 Presumably that of Drölcen Samdrup Dorje.

927 Lama Namdingpa is Zhangtön Namka Dorje. The identification of Lama Zurcenpa is uncertain.

928 See pp. 681 and 799.

929 A brief biography of this treasure-finder (1584-1643) may be found in Jamgön Kongtrül, Lives of the Hundred Treasure-finders (gter-ston brgya-rtsa), fols. 91b-93b.

930 On energy channels, currents and seminal points (rtsa-rlung-thig-le), see Fundamentals, pp. 279-87 and 341; also Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 453ff. (GGFTC, pp. 1006ff.).

931 These are aspects of dream yoga (rmi-lam), for a general introduction to which see, e.g., W. Y. Evans-Wentz, Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines, pp. 215ff.

932 The Indestructible Nucleus of Inner Radiance is the dimension of the buddha-body of reality (dharmakāya); see Fundamentals, p. 115.

933 dgung-keg. This refers to any year, i.e. one's thirteenth, twenty-fifth, thirty-seventh and so on, in which the animal sign is the same as that under which one was born. See G. Dorje, Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings, pp. 229-31.

934 Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Mkhyen-brtse on the History of the Dharma, pp. 40-1, defines the trio of Guru, Great Perfection and Great Compassionate One as follows:

The blessed cycles of the peaceful and wrathful Guru…; the cycles of the Great Perfection, the consummation of all profound paths…; and the cycles for the attainment of the Great Compassionate One, the divine fortune of Tibet, the Land of Snows…

935 See above, p. 701.

936 grva'i-dbang-bum. We follow here the explanation of Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche.

937 See pp. 825-34.

938 The date of Sangdak Trhinle Lhündrup's death is calculated according to the new Phukpa school since it has been recorded by his son Dharmaśrī. The date according to the old Phukpa school would have read Sunday 2 March 1662.

939 This is a sign of proficiency in the transference of consciousness ('pho-ba) through which, at the moment of death, one can take rebirth in a pure land or buddha-field such as Sukhāvatī.

940 bca'.

941 Yangdok (yang-bzlog) is propitiated as a means of averting war and other unfavourable conditions; it derives from the maṇḍala of Yangdak Heruka. Drangsong Loktri is a sage and protector from the maṇḍala of Yamāntaka (Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche).

942 As stated in the Fundamentals, p. 104, rtsis dkar-nag refers to Indian astronomy (dkar-rtsis) and Chinese divination (nag-rtsis or 'byung-rtsis).

943 On the rites of service, further service, attainment and great attainment, see n. 499 above.

944 See p. 828.

945 The conferral of every empowerment of the way of Secret Mantra must include the disciple's affirmation of the vows of refuge and of the cultivation of the enlightened attitude, in addition to the specific commitments associated with the empowerment. Often the layman's prātimokṣa vows must be affirmed as well. Cf. the quotation from the Hevajra Tantra given on p. 911.

946 See n. 892 above.

947 Svarodaya is a profound branch of Indian divination and numerology ascribed to Īśvara in its origin. Refer to the life of Mipham Rinpoche on p. 890; and also to Fundamentals, p. 104.

948 His own extensive commentary on this text, called dpag-bsam snye-ma, is doubtlessly the most influential one amongst modern Nyingmapa. On the Ascertainment of the Three Vows itself, see p. 808.

949 Treasure doctrines (gter-chos) discovered since the time of Terdak Lingpa have been known as new treasures (gter-gsar) in contrast to those which were discovered earlier (gter-rnying).

950 Zhecen Monastery was founded in 1735 (wood tiger year) by Rapjam II, Gyurme Künzang Namgyel (b. 1713). Its history is detailed in Zhecen Gyeltsap, źe-chen chos-'byuh. For a modern description in English, see TH, pp. 473-4. With the exception of Zhecen, the monasteries mentioned here are discussed in the pages that follow.

951 I.e. the linear descendants of Terdak Lingpa.

952 See the biographical sketch of the Author in the Foreword.

953 See p. 833, n. 1137.

954 Again, see the Author's biographical sketch in the Foreword.

955 In general, Tshültrim Dorje is known as Sungtrül II. See Aris, Bhutan, p. 318, n. 70; and the Collected Works of Pema Lingpa (pad-gling 'khrungs-rabs-kyi rtogs-brjod nyung-gsal dad-pa'i me-tog), Vol. Pha.

956 See below, pp. 859-68.

957 Thu'u-bkvan, Crystal Mirror of Philosophical Systems (grub-mtha' shel-gyi me-long), p. 80.

958 On Thuken's view of the Nyingma [[tradition in general and the background for this assertion, see M. Kapstein, “The Purificatory Gem and its Cleansing: A Late Tibetan Polemical Discussion of Apocryphal texts” in The Tibetan Assimilation of Buddhism.

959 See pp. 813-17.

960 Mindröling was constructed at Traci in 1676 by Terdak Lingpa. For a description, see TH, pp. 169-71; and PPCT, pp. 164-7.

961 Katok Rikdzin Tshewang Norbu was a master of extremely eclectic interests who played an instrumental role in the preservation of the then-suppressed Conangpa tradition. A great traveller, he visited Nepal on at least three occasions during which he restored the stūpas of Bodhnāth and Svayambhūnāth. As a skilled political negotiator he journeyed as far as Ladakh.

962 Dzokcen (Rudam Samten Chöling) Monastery was founded in the year 1685 by Pema Rikdzin. For a description, see TH, pp. 471-3.

963 Pelyül Monastery (Pelyül Namgyel Cangcup Chöling) was founded in 1665 by Pelyül Rikdzin Künzang Sherap. On the history of this monastery and its influence in both Kham and Amdo, see Ven. Lama Jampal Zangpo, A Garland of Immortal, Wish-fulfilling Trees; and TH, pp. 463-4.

964 See pp. 841-7.

965 These twenty-seven maṇḍalas of the long lineage of transmitted precepts (bka'-ma) are also known as tshogs-chen 'dus-pa'i dkyil-'khor. They comprise all levels of teaching referred to within the nine vehicles, as stated on pp. 911-13; and in Fundamentals, pp. 364-5.

966 According to the Author's oral communication, the edition of the Transmitted Precepts (rnying-ma bka'-ma) referred to here was published xylographically at Pelyül Monastery in Kham.

HISTORY: PART SIX

967 The close lineage of treasures (nye-brgyud gter-ma) is so called because the teachings formerly concealed by Guru Padmasambhava and others were subsequently discovered and propagated in more recent times. The line of their transmission is therefore short or close when contrasted with the distant or long lineage of the transmitted precepts (ring-brgyud bka'-ma), by which teachings were passed down from earliest times through an unbroken chain of accomplished masters.

968 This prophetic declaration is attributed to Ratna Lingpa, tshes-bcu bskul-thabs.

969 See pp. 447-57, for an account of these lineages.

970 The treasure lords (gter-bdag, Skt. nidhipati) are spiritual beings bound under oath of allegiance by Guru Padmasambhava to protect and guard his treasures.

971 See pp. 468-74 and 512-20, for the traditions concerning his career in India and Tibet in general.

972 I.e. the western Tibetan districts of Ngari and Tö, the central districts of Ü and Tsang, and the eastern districts of Kham and Amdo respectively.

973 According to Sangye Lingpa, bka'-thang gser-phreng, Ch. 48, pp. 319ff.:

Treasures are divided into eighteen types, namely, the fourfold group of secret treasures (gsang), profound treasures (zab), mind treasures (thugs) and intentional treasures (dgongs); the fourfold group of material treasures (rdzas), life-supporting treasures (bla) minor treasures (phran) and treasures which liberate by taste (myong); the fourfold group of Indian treasures (rgya), Tibetan treasures (bod), lordly treasures (rje) and father treasures (yab); the threefold group of mother treasures (yum), neuter treasures (ma-ning) and outer treasures (phyi); and lastly the threefold group of inner treasures (nang), middling treasures (bar) and treasures of wealth (nor-gter).

974 dam-rdzas.

975 The “four ways of liberation” are: liberation by sight (mthong-grol), which comes through seeing the objects which represent the buddhabody, speech and mind; liberation by hearing (thos-grol), when a description of the bardo is narrated in the presence of a recently deceased person; liberation by wearing (btags-grol), when a circular diagram or yantra is worn or attached to the shoulders, head and heart at the moment of death (in life the diagram is worn around the neck in a cloth pouch or in the case of mantrins it is sealed within a golden casket and tied in the topknots of their braided hair); and liberation by taste (myang-grol), when the flesh of one who has been born a brāhman or vegetarian over seven successive lives, or some other sacramental substance, is consumed.

976 On these prophecies, see R. Prats, “Some Preliminary Considerations Arising from a Biographical Study of the Early gTer-ston” in TSHR, pp. 256-60.

977 Representative of these are the early biographies composed by Cangdak Trashi Topgyel and the later ones by Jamgön Kongtrül. For full details of these, refer to the first part of the Bibliography under Earlier and Later Versions of the Biographies of the Hundred Treasure-Finders.

978 On this figure, see in particular D. L. Snellgrove and T. Skorupski, The Cultural Heritage of Ladakh, Vol. 2, Pt. III.

979 Chöje Lingpa was an emanation of Sangye Lama. See the Glossary of Enumerations under thirteen incarnations of Gyelse Lharje.

980 See below, pp. 855-8.

981 I.e. an abbreviated empowerment ritual in which a torma sculpture functions as the maṇḍala into which the disciple is empowered.

982 Ostensibly the name Trapa Ngönshe (spelt in Tibetan gra-pa mngon-shes) could be taken to mean “monk endowed with supernormal cognitive powers”. The explanation given in the text, however, precludes this interpretation.

983 On the yakṣa Vajra Mārajit (gnod-sbyin rdo-rje bdud-'dul), see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 77-8.

984 Minister Zhang or Zhanglön (zhang-blon) is an epithet of the yakṣa Vajra Mārajit. See Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 77-8, where he is referred to as gnod-sbyin zhang-blon rdo-rje bdud-'dul.

985 These books were formerly the property or “master copy” (bla-dpe) of King Trhisong.

986 Refer to Fundamentals, p. 99 and n. 89. See also Meyer, Gso-ba rig-pa: Le système médical tibétain, pp. 85ff.

987 See Blue Annals, pp. 94-7, on the founding of Tratang in 1081.

988 Tshangpa Lhei Metok is the secret name which Trhisong Detsen received when empowered into the Vajradhātu maṇḍala at Chimpu by Guru Padmasambhava. See pp. 534-5. For the five kingly treasure-finders and three supreme emanations, see the Glossary of Enumerations.

989 According to our text the birth of Nyang-rel would have occurred in 1124 (wood dragon year). However, Stein, Tibetan Civilization, p. 74, gives 1136 (fire dragon year). Since Nyang-rel lived until the age of 69; this date would be preferred, assuming his death occured in 1204. But see n. 995 below.

990 I.e. Buddha Śākyamuni.

991 The Rashak Treasure-finder (i.e. ra-shag chos-'bar) was a contemporary of Milarepa and Ngok Lotsāwa. See Jamgön Kongtrül, Lives of the Hundred Treasure-finders, pp. 46b.5-47a.6.

992 According to Blue Annals, pp. 888-90, Mel Kawacen lived from 1126 to 1211. Zhikpo Nyima Senge is referred to as an adept of Phadampa's Pacification, in the same source, p. 937.

993 See above, p. 511 and n. 545. This is the core of the Collected Works of the King concerning the Mantra “Oṃ Maṇi Padme Hūṃ”, attributed to King Songtsen Gampo.

994 Myrobalan (a-ru-ra) is specifically Terminalia chebula. Its uses and properties according to the Tibetan medical system are described in T. Clifford, The Diamond Healing: Tibetan Buddhist Medicine and Psychiatry, p. 119.

995 Our text gives 1192 (water mouse) for Nyang-rel's death. Chak Lotsāwa Chöjepel is reported in Blue Annals, pp. 1057-9, to have lived from 1197 to 1264. So it is possible that the person referred to below should be identified with his uncle, Chak Dracom, to whom Blue Annals, pp. 1054-6, assigns the dates 1153-1216. None the less, it is clear from the same source, p. 1064, that Śākyaśrī (1127-1225) travelled in Tibet only from 1204 to 1213. Pawo Tsuklak Trhengwa, mkhas-pa'i dga'-ston, p. 260, and Jamgöng Kongtrül, Lives of the Hundred Treasure-finders, fol. 49a. 5, concluded therefore that Nyang-rel passed away in 1204. Nevertheless, see now the arguments of van der Kuijp, “On the Lives” (1994).

996 On this dike, see p. 656 and n. 802. Zhikpo Dütsi who restored the dike was a disciple of Nyang-rel, as indicated below.

997 Lesser adepts would be obliged to perform such wrathful rites of sorcery only on certain astrologically propitious days of the month.

998 Unattached Lotus Endowed (ma-chags padma-can) is the twelfth level of realization. See Fundamentals, p. 254; and Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, p. 430 (GGFTC, p. 975).

999 On these four Further Taming temples, see the Glossary of Enumerations; also, p. 510 and n. 543.

1000 This was Jikten Gönpo (1143-1217), Phakmotrupa's foremost disciple and the founder of the Drigung Kagyü school. He was widely renowned as an incarnation of Nāgārjuna. See Blue Annals, pp. 596ff.

1001 The ceremonial silk arrow (mda'-dar) is the emblem of Amitāyus, symbolic of longevity. It is draped with five-coloured veils and brandished with a circular movement of the right hand.

1002 This calculation accords with the old Phukpa, Tshurpu and Phakpa schools. The year of Chöwang's birth, 1212, falls within the fourth sexagenary cycle. Some sources say he was born in the water monkey year of the third cycle, but this is inconsistent with him meeting Sakya Paṇḍita at the age of eighteen.

1003 The Litany of the Names of Mañjuśrī, v. 55c.

1004 According to Khenpo Palden Sherap, this is the preferred reading. Our text wrongly reads sde-brgyud chen-po'i sgrung-'bum.

1005 The ḍākinī's four faces symbolise the four rites of enlightened activity: peaceful (white), expansive (yellow), overpowering (red) and wrathful (blue). The five-quilled arrow is indicative of the five pristine cognitions, but also prophetically symbolises Chöwang's future mastery of certain treasure-troves.

1006 On this empowerment, see Fundamentals, p. 370.

1007 In Tibetan this verse reads:

sgyogs-dang dpag-chen

than-dang cho-'phrul

bzo-sna kyag-kyog rnams…

The early association of the treasure-finders with the military arts requires careful study. Perhaps, in this respect, they are to be compared with the sorcerers and alchemists of other medieval civilisations.

1008 See above, p. 713 and n. 908.

1009 According to Mongolian sources, Tibet was first contacted by the emissaries of Chinggis Qan in 1206. But on this tradition, see L. Kwanten, “Chingis Khan's Conquest of Tibet: Myth or Reality” Journal of Asian History 8 (1974), pp. 1-20; and T. V. Wylie, “The First Mongol Conquest of Tibet Reinterpreted” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 37 (1977), pp. 103-33. Then, in 1239 (earth pig) Godan, the second son of Ogodai, sent an army into Tibet under the general Dorta the Black and Gyelmen. That the force reached as far as Reting (rva-sgrengs) and Gyel Lhakang is undisputed; however there are varying accounts of the date on which this incursion took place. Our present text gives in its two editions 1204 (wood mouse, third cycle) and 1264 (wood mouse, fourth cycle). The Author has agreed, however, that the element should be iron rather than wood, giving us the year 1240 (iron mouse), which is sufficiently close to the Chinese records. See also Stein, Tibetan Civilization, pp. 77-80; and Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, p. 61.

1010 The name Bharo (Newar bāḍe) refers to the Buddhist priestly caste among the Newars, which in later times had exclusive rights to gold-and silver-work. See Snellgrove and Richardson, A Cultural History of Tibet, p. 202 and 274n.; also, Macdonald and Stahl, Newar Art, p. 73.

1011 Bharal Sheep (gna'-ba) or Ovis Nahar.

1012 The divine gateway (lha'i sgo) and the vajra (rdo-rje) are the secret names respectively for the rectum and the penis. Since Bharo was an adept of the Great Perfection he perceived Guru Chöwang's body of indestructible reality (vajrakāya) in its true divine nature without the slightest trace of impurity.

1013 OṂ MAṆI PADME HŪṂ is the mantra of Avalokiteśvara's compassion. Chöwang's point is that there are peaceful applications of this mantra which generate compassion for all sentient beings, and that this motivation must preside over any application of wrathful sorcery.

1014 On the liberating diagram, see n. 975 above.

1015 The zho is a weight measure, being equivalent to one-tenth of the Tibetan ounce (srang).

1016 Our version is incomplete. For the significance of the turnip here, see the Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History, p. 275, which states that the turnip which was cooked in secrecy turned into a strong and pleasant tasting meat. This indicated that Bharo's success would be assured and that he should not divulge Chöwang's enlightened attributes to anyone. The turnip is often associated with the activity of ḍākinīs in Tibet.

1017 See n. 847 above.

1018 On p. 759 above, this figure is also listed as a disciple of Nyang-rel Nyima Özer. Possibly this presents a problem, but again, it is not unknown in Tibet for one whose life overlaps with successive emanations of a single master to consider himself to be the disciple in youth of the one and in old age of the other.

1019 See p. 698.

1020 The second real presence of Yeshe Tshogyel was the ḍākinī Künga Bumpa (mkha'-'gro-ma kun-dga' 'bum-pa), who can perhaps be assigned to the early fourteenth century. See Jamgön Kongtrül, Lives of the Hundred Treasure-finders, pp. 113b.4-114b.4.

1021 See Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Mkha' 'gro gsaṅ ba kun 'dus kyi chos skor, p. 276, 11. 3-4.

1022 Como Menmo's birth must have occurred in 1248 (earth monkey year, fourth cycle), and not in the same year of the third cycle (1188) as our text claims, because she was a disciple of Guru Chöwang. See n. 1002 above.

1023 On the Menmo (sman-mo), see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 198ff.

1024 On the “seal of action” or action seal (las-rgya, Skt. karmamudrā), see p. 475; Fundamentals, pp. 277ff.; and Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 386-96 (GGFTC, pp. 899-914).

1025 Since Como Menmo was born in 1248, it would seem unlikely that she could have met Lingje Repa who, according to Blue Annals, pp. 660-4, lived from 1128 to 1188 and founded the monastery of Ralung in 1180. According to the same source, p. 660, a certain Menmo with whom “he had a karmic link” married him and became his yogic partner. Her life story could well have been woven together with that of Como Menmo. The Author also accepts the divergence of dating between Como Menmo and Lingje Repa, and maintains that she may have emanated during an earlier age with the sole intention of benefiting him.

1026 This calculation agrees with all the calendrical systems. The year of her death, at the age of thirty-six, would fall within the fourth cycle, as pointed out above.

1027 For contemporary research on this figure, see A.-M. Blondeau, “Le Lha-'dre bka'-thaṅ” in Études tibétains dédiées à la mémoire de Marcelle Lalou, pp. 29-126, and the sources cited therein.

1028 Lhase Chokdrup Gyelpo is another name for Gyelse Lharje; see the Glossary of Enumerations under thirteen incarnations of Gyelse Lharje.

1029 As stated in Dudjom Rinpoche's gter-mdzod thob-yig, pp. 147-52, Ati, Citi and Yangti are three subdivisions of the Esoteric Instructional Class of Atiyoga, successively more profound. Ati means the Innermost Spirituality belonging to the Esoteric Instructional Class of Atiyoga (atiyoga man-ngag snying-thig). Citi reveals the essential points in general of the profound tantras of the Esoteric Instructional Class (man-ngag-sde'i rgyud-don sab-mo spyi-gnad ston-pa spyi-ti yo-gar grags-pa). Yangti reveals the aural lineage which is most secret and uncommon (yang-gsang thun-mong ma-yin-pa'i snyan-rgyud ston-pas yang-ti yo-gar grags-pa). They are exemplified respectively by NGB Vols. 7, 6 and 8.

1030 The Neuter Lord (mgon-po ma-ning) is a form of Mahākāla.

1031 On the relationship of this work to other recensions of Padmasambhava's biography, see Blondeau, “Analysis of the Biographies of Padmasambhava according to Tibetan Tradition: Classification of Sources”. For the western language renditions, refer to the Bibliography.

1032 On the Lord of Pristine Cognition (ye-shes-mgon-po), see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 44-8.

1033 On this collection, see Blondeau, “Le Lha-'dre bka'-thaṅ”, and the sources cited therein.

1034 For the Glorious Tiger-riding Lord (dpal-mgon stag-zhon), see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons in Tibet, pp. 34, 52.

1035 This prophecy made by Orgyen Lingpa is to be found in the Injunction of Padma Discovered at Crystal Rock (padma bka'-thang), Ch. 92, pp. 564ff. It contains the cryptic statement: “The pig will uproot the soil,” which was interpreted to mean that Tā'i Situ Cangcup Gyeltsen of Phakmotru (the pig) would politically uproot Sakya (the soil). Cf. also, pp. 590-2.

1036 Temo Rinpoche was regent from 1886 until 1895, when the Thirteenth Dalai Lama compelled his resignation. In 1899 he was implicated in a plot to overthrow the Dalai Lama by means of sorcery. See Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, pp. 198-9; and L. Petech, Aristocracy and Government in Tibet 1728-1959, pp. 5 and 62.

1037 The sudden and unexpected possession (thog-babs) of an oracle is a most ominous portent (Lama Sonam Topgyel). The Great Protector of the Doctrine at Samye is Pehar, on whom see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 94-133.

1038 The reliquary of Orgyen Lingpa resembled other tombs in the stūpa design – with its base in the shape of the bulbous dome (bum-pa), a window of lattice-work ('phrul-mig) in front and surmounted by a spire (bre).

1039 In 1435 the dynasty of Phakmotru conceded power to the princes of Rinpung who were lay patrons of the Karmapa. See p. 954 and n. 1364; Snellgrove and Richardson, A Cultural History of Tibet, pp. 154, 180; and Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, pp. 86-90.

1040 Terdak Lingpa himself reports only the last two mentioned, in his Record of Teachings Received, pp. 423-5.

1041 This is the biography of Khyentse Rinpoche by Jamgön Kongtrül. See the first part of the Bibliography for publication details.

1042 The dating given here for Rikdzin Gödemcen follows the Tshurpu school. The other possibility according to the calculation of the Phakpa school would be Sunday 12 January 1337.

1043 Kurser is a legendary Horpa king who figures prominently in the Kesar Epic. See Stein, Recherches sur l'épopée et le barde au tibet, index, p. 600, under “Gur-ser (E), roi des Hor”.

1044 Tshurpu calculation, as explained above. According to both the Tshurpu and the Phakpa schools the snake month is the fourth (whereas it is the second according to the Phukpa schools); similarly the sheep month is the sixth according to Tshurpu and Phakpa, but the fourth in Phukpa. See Schuh, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Tibetischen Kalenderrechnung, p. 146.

1045 On the Gongpo ('gong-po), see especially Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 283-5.

1046 The governor of Tsang, Zhingshakpa Tsheten Dorje, actively supported the Karmapa and persecuted the adherents of the Northern Treasures (byang-gter). Consequently, he was “liberated” to a higher level of existence by Cangdak Trashi Topgyel. See Dudjom Rinpoche, rgyal-rabs, pp. 492-3.

1047 Lhase Tamdzin Rölpa Yeshetsel was Murup Tsepo, the son of Trhisong Detsen.

1048 Not to be identified with Gö Lotsāwa; pp. 674-5 above.

1049 This calculation is made according to all the four major calendrical schools.

1050 The Nyingmapa in general prefer to dye the edges of their books red, rather than yellow as is sometimes done by the other traditions.

1051 The Great Ming emperor of China who invited Karmapa V Tezhinshekpa to Peking was Yung-lo (reigned 1403-24); see E. Sperling, “The 5th Karma-pa and some aspects of the relationship between Tibet and the early Ming” in TSHR, pp. 280-9. According to the Karma Kagyü tradition, Yung-lo sponsored and requested the manufacture of the actual Black Crown (dbu-zhva nag-po) of the Karmapa which is worn for only special ceremonial and ritual occasions.

1052 sgal-tshig-gi dam (Mongolian tamaγa) is the name of the privy seal which is the property of dignitaries such as the Dalai Lamas.

1053 Such catalysts are medicinal compounds of nectar-like substance (bdud-rtsi sman). They are employed to multiply the original quantity when blended with other medicinal substances.

1054 This calculation accords with all schools except the new Phukpa, which was not in existence when the biography of Sangye Lingpa was originally redacted.

1055 The earlier and later Tsele (rtse-le gong-'og) refer to Tsele Monastery in Takpo, founded by Künkyen Chöku Özer, and the nearby New Tsele Monastery (rtse-le dgon-gsar), founded by Rikdzin Sonam Namgyel. Cf. Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, Mkhyen-brtse on the History of Dharma in Tibet, p. 18. Tsele Natshok Rangdröl (seventeenth century) is the best known of their hierarchs. See also n. 1094 below.

1056 The elder and younger Tabla (ta-bla snga-phyi) are Tabla Padmamati of Katok and one whom we are unable to identify.

1057 On Zhapdrung Ngawang Namgyel (1594-1651) and his role in the political and spiritual life of Bhutan, see Aris, Bhutan, Pt. 3, “The Zhabs-drung and the Creation of Bhutan”.

1058 For the importance of the tenth-day ceremony (tshes-bcu) which commemorates the twelve manifestations of Guru Padmasambhava respectively on the tenth day of each month, see Ratna Lingpa, tshes-bcu bskul-thabs; Tucci, The Religions of Tibet, p. 148; and Gonpo Tseten, The Udumbara Bouquet, pp. 11-18. The eight emanations of Padmasambhava are given in the Glossary of Enumerations. The twelve manifestations are given in the Index of Personal Names under Guru Rinpoche.

1059 The ceremony for the fulfilment of commitments (skong-chog) invokes the protectors of the doctrine and employs confession as a means of restoring violations of the commitments assumed by those who enter the tantra vehicles.

1060 The Como of Trhadruk (khra-'brug jo-mo) is a miracle-performing image of Tārā in the temple of Trhadruk which was founded by King Songtsen Gampo. See KGHP, pp. 50, 125; PPCT, pp. 177-9; and TG, pp. 250-1.

1061 I.e. King Trhisong Detsen's.

1062 The “Vase Pillar” (ka-ba bum-pa-can), adjacent to the shrine of the great image of Śākyamuni brought to Tibet by Princess Wen-ch'eng K'ong-jo, has been the site of several treasure discoveries. See Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa, Guide to the Central Temple of Lhasa, p. 47.

1063 “Mön” is frequently used to refer to Bhutan and neighbouring districts in Tibet. On this term in general, see Aris, Bhutan, intro., p. xvi.

1064 All the four major calendrical schools arrive at this calculation, except the Phukpa in which the day of his birth (fifteenth) is omitted for the seventh month.

1065 The Denkarma Catalogue of the Kangyur is the oldest of its kind in Tibet, dating back to the early ninth century; see M. Lalou, “Les Textes Bouddhiques au temps du Roi Khri-sroṅ-lde-bcan” Journal Asiatique CCXLI (1953), pp. 313-53. Lalou assigns that work to the year 812. The present quotation, however, is not found therein. It occurs, rather, in the nearly contemporaneous sgra sbyor bam gnyis (T 4347), pp. 6-7.

1066 For much useful information on Pema Lingpa, see Aris, Bhutan, pp. 158-65 and passim; idem, Hidden Treasures and Secret Lives, pp. 13-106; and Padma Tshewang, The Treasure Revealer of Bhutan.

1067 See p. 554 above; the Glossary of Enumerations under five pure incarnations of the royal princess Pemasel; and KGHP, p. 45.

1068 This calculation accords with all four schools except Phakpa, which would give us instead Thursday 1 August 1476.

1069 According to the Author, this temple was one branch or gling-phran of Samye Monastery. See TH, pp. 178-9; and PPCT, pp. 216-32.

1070 I.e. Princess Pemasel.

1071 On Dawa (b.1499), see Aris, Hidden Treasures and Secret Lives, pp. 91, 95-6, 105-6.

1072 For the various English language translations of this work, see the first part of the Bibliography. The traditions associated with it are considered at length by D. I. Lauf in Secret Doctrines of the Tibetan Books of the Dead.

1073 For much useful material on this great saint, see J. Gyatso, “The Teachings of Thang-stong rgyal-po” in TSHR, pp. 111-19; idem, The Literary Transmission of the Traditions of Thang-stong rgyal-po, unpublished Ph.D. thesis; C. R. Stearns, “The Life and Teachings of the Tibetan Saint Thang-stong rgyal-po”, unpublished MA thesis; and Aris, Bhutan, pp. 185-90 and passim.

1074 On Thangtong Gyelpo's position in the Shangpa tradition, see Kapstein, “The Shangs-pa bKa'-brgyud: an unknown tradition of Tibetan Buddhism”, pp. 141-2.

1075 See p. 511; also Aris, Bhutan, pp. 5-33.

1076 Parts of the bridges are still in existence. It has recently been demonstrated that they were constructed of a specially alloyed, non-corrosive iron. See Aris, Bhutan, pp. 185-90.

1077 On Thangtong Gyelpo's contribution to Tibetan theatre, see Stein, Tibetan Civilization, pp. 276-7; and Wang Yao, “Tibetan Operatic Themes” in STC, pp. 186-96.

1078 Aris, Bhutan, pp. 185, 321, disputes the date of Thangtong Gyelpo's death, following Stein, Recherches sur l'épopée et le barde au tibet, p. 238, n. 17, who gives 1385-1464 instead of 1509. J. Gyatso and C. R. Stearns argue in favour of the dates 1361-1485, as given in the standard biography.

1079 This figure is associated with a popular rite for the propitiation of Avalokiteśvara, entitled yi-ge drug-pa'i sgrub-thabs, rediscovered in the last century by Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. Through the efforts of the recent abbots of Dzarong-phu, near Mount Everest, it has become particularly popular among the Sherpa and Tibetan populations of northern Nepal.

1080 The condition of this region in recent years has been described in G. Tucci, Preliminary Report on Two Scientific Expeditions in Nepal, pp. 15-25; Snellgrove, Himalayan Pilgrimage, pp. 188-99; M. Peissel, Mustang, The Forbidden Kingdom; and D. Jackson, The Mollas of Mustang.

1081 I.e. he received the five vows of an upāsaka.

1082 This incident is alluded to on p. 717.

1083 On this learned master (1456-1532), see E. G. Smith's introduction to Glo-bo mKhan-chen, Tshad-ma rigs-pa'i gter-gyi rnam-par bshad-pa.

1084 I.e. he never left his place of meditation.

1085 This is the very Lekdenje, on whom see above, p. 717.

1086 For Cangdak Trashi Topgyel, see pp. 783 and 824.

1087 See pp. 555-6.

1088 The constellation Puṣya (Cancer γ, δ, θ) is auspiciously associated with the birth of the Buddha Śākyamuni. See below, p. 946; and Przyluski, Le Concile de Rājagrha, p. 88.

1089 The term “secret seal” is equivalent to the seal of concealment (sbasrgya) by which the treasures were originally hidden. According to the treasure (gter-ma) tradition, there are four kinds of seal connected with the transmission of the teachings, namely, the seal of commitment (samaya-rgya), the seal of treasures (gter-rgya), the seal of concealment (sbas-rgya), and the seal of entrustment or succession (gtad-rgya) through which the most secret teachings are transmitted. Treasures discovered in secret (gsang-gter) are contrasted with those discovered in public (khrom-gter).

1090 The essences of the earth (sa-bcud) are minerals such as sulphur, and precious gemstones.

1091 The Gyeltsaps are the regents of Tshurpu, the Central Tibetan seat of the Karmapa. Trakpa Töndrup, the fourth, lived c. 1550 to c. 1617.

1092 Chöki Trakpa (b.1595) was a renowned exponent of the Drigung Kagyüpa system of the yogas of Nāropā.

1093 Paksam Wangpo (1593-1641), the fifth in the line of Drukcen incarnations, was the immediate successor of the great Pema Karpo (1527-92).

1094 Tsele (fl. mid-seventeenth century) was one of the most influential exponents of the vehicle of indestructible reality within the Drukpa Kagyü and Nyingma [[traditions. His works are even now regarded as authoritative guides to the resolution of philosophical difficulties. See, e.g., E. Schmidt (trans.), The Mirror of Mindfulness.

1095 The career of this great political leader (1689-1747) has been the subject of detailed study by L. Petech in China and Tibet in the Early 18th Century; and Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, pp. 143-7. See also S. Jagchid, “A Mongol Text Letter from a Tibetan Leader” Central Asiatic Journal 17 (1973), pp. 150-63. An account of this figure is also found in the writings of the Italian Capuchin Cassiano Beligatti de Macerata, who knew him personally. See J. Macgregor, Tibet: A Chronicle of Exploration, pp. 105-7.

1096 For some indications concerning the practice of Jatsön Nyingpo's Gathering of All Precious Jewels in modern Nepal, see D. L. Snellgrove, Buddhist Himalaya, pp. 228ff.

1097 On this aristocratic household, see Stein, Recherches sur l'épopée et le barde au tibet, Ch. 5.

1098 In the vase attainment (bum-sgrub), the ritual vase (bum-pa) becomes a container for sacramental substances known as nectar-elixir (bdud-rtsi sman).

1099 spu-stod. Our text erroneously reads spa-stod.

1100 This prodigy, whose floruit may be assigned to the mid-seventeenth century, received the revelations known as “celestial doctrines” (gnam-chos), from his twelfth year onwards. He passed away in his twenty-fourth, leaving as his legacy some fifteen volumes of collected visionary teachings. See Tsering Lama, A Garland of Immortal, Wish-fulfilling Trees, pp. 45-52.

1101 Karma Chakme (1613-78) was the tutor of Namcö Mingyur Dorje and the redactor of his teachings. A prolific author in his own right, he was considered to be an emanation of Karmapa VIII, Mikyö Dorje. See Tsering Lama, A Garland of Immortal, Wish-fulfilling Trees, pp. 35-44.

1102 See above, p. 736.

1103 See above, p. 736.

1104 A is the seed-syllable which is symbolic of emptiness.

1105 The practices of Mahāyoga and Anuyoga are applied in accordance with either of two paths – the path of skillful means (thabs-lam) and the path of liberation (grol-lam), on which see Fundamentals, pp. 279-81 and 286-7. The path of skillful means is also known as the path of desire (chags-lam) – for its object is the coalescence of bliss and emptiness achieved by relying on “one's own body as the means” (rang-lus thabs-ldan) and “one's consort's or partner's body as the seal” (gzhan-lus phyag-rgya), i.e. the “action seal”. The practices associated with this path of skillful means are discussed in Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 453ff. (GGFTC, pp. 1006ff.).

The coalescence of the four delights with the four modes of emptiness which is referred to here and in the passage below, p. 830, is also illustrated by the following account derived from the gtum-mo 'bar-'dzag yig-chung, snying-thig rtsa-pod, Vol. 3, pp. 23-6:

Through the practice of the inner heat (gtum-mo) the blissful warmth (bde-drod) descends through the central channel, giving rise to the four successive delights (dga'-ba bzhi). In the crown centre, it gives rise to Vairocana's pristine cognition of delight (dga'-ba'iye-shes) and the vase empowerment is received through which this delight is united or coalesced with emptiness (stong-pa). In the throat centre it gives rise to Amitābha's pristine cognition of supreme delight (mchog-dga'i ye-shes) and the secret empowerment is received through which this supreme delight is coalesced with great emptiness (stong-pa chen-po). In the heart centre it gives rise to Akṣobhya's pristine cognition free from delight (dga'-bral ye-shes) and the empowerment of discerning pristine cognition is received, through which this absence of delight is coalesced with extreme emptiness (shin-tu stong-pa). And in the navel centre it gives rise to Ratnasambhava's pristine cognition of co-emergent delight (lhan-skyes dga'-ba'i ye-shes) and the empowerment of word and meaning is received through which this co-emergent delight is coalesced with total emptiness (thams-cad stong-pa). Therein the recognition of the four delights dissolve as they arise. Finally, the blissful warmth gives rise, in the secret centre, to Amoghasiddhi's inconceivable pristine cognition (bsam-gyi mi-khyab-pa'i ye-shes) and the empowerment of the expressive power of awareness is received.

1106 The disciplined conduct of awareness (rig-pa brtul-zhugs-kyi spyod-pa) is that which corresponds to the path of skillful means. See Fundamentals, p. 281.

1107 According to Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche, the Tent of Longevity is a practice belonging to the Northern Treasures (byang-gter) tradition, which combines Yamāntaka, Lord of Life (gshin-rje tshe-bdag) with Mahākāla in the form of “Lord of the Tent” (mgon-po gur or gur-gyi mgon-po), i.e. the form of Mahākāla associated especially with the Vajrapañjara Tantra (T 419).

1108 This was the first Paṇcen Rinpoche, 1570-1662.

1109 This refers to the systematic teaching of logic instituted by Chapa Chöki Senge (1109-69), on whom see L.W.J. van der Kuijp, Contributions to the Development of Tibetan Buddhist Epistemology, pp. 59-96. Chapa's own writings have fallen out of use, but later textbooks adhere pedagogically to his system, for a sample of which, see D. Perdue, Debate in Tibetan Buddhist Education.

1110 See E. G. Smith's introduction to Kongtrul's Encyclopaedia, p. 20, n. 40.

1111 The Qōśot Mongols under Guśrī Qan subdued the king of Tsang, Karma Tenkyong, in the year 1642, two years before the Manchus overthrew the Ming dynasty in China. It was K'anghsi, the second emperor of the Ch'ing Dynasty who invited Dalai Lama V to Peking. See Stein, Tibetan Civilization, pp. 82-3; Snellgrove and Richardson, A Cultural History of Tibet, p. 198; and also Dawa Norbu, “An Analysis of Sino-Tibetan Relationships” in STC, pp. 176-95.

1112 The internal administration of Tibet under the Dalai Lamas was characteristically held to insist upon the integration of religious and temporal traditions (chos-srid lugs-gnyis). A detailed historical analysis of this theme is found in Dongar Lobzang Chinlei, bod-kyi chos-srid zung-'brel skor bshad-pa. For a useful introduction to the practical implications of this system for the actual organisation of the Tibetan government, see H. E. Richardson, A Short History of Tibet, pp. 18-27.

1113 A treasure-discoverer of the Sakyapa school, Khyentse Wangcuk was born in 1524.

1114 Ganden Palace (dga'-ldan-gyi pho-brang) was the name of office of the Dalai Lama which ruled Tibet from the time of Dalai Lama V until 1959. The name is derived from that of the Great Fifth's residence at Drepung Monastery prior to the construction of the Potala Palace; see TH, pp. 134-40.

1115 “Enlightened activity of his future dominion” ('byung-'gyur dbang-gi phrin-las). This activity forms one aspect of the third of the four rites (las-bzhi), that of subjugation, which is the special accomplishment achieved through the rites of Kurukullā.

1116 Dalai Lama VI is best known for his free-wheeling life-style and beautiful songs. See Yu Dawchyuan, Love-songs of the Sixth Dalai Lama Tshangs-dbyangs-rgya-mthso; and Aris, Hidden Treasures and Secret Lives, pp. 107-212. One version of his eccentric life story has been translated by P. Klafkowski as The Secret Liberation of the Sixth Dalai Lama. On this, however, see the reviews by J. W. de Jong in the Indo-Iranian Journal 24 (1982), pp. 223-5; and by P. Denwood in the Bulletin of SOAS 45 (1982), pp. 381-3.

1117 His previous embodiment was named Sinpo Chöki Koca.

1118 Targye Chöling in Tranang was the ancestral seat of Mindröling in Central Tibet. See PPCT, p. 170.

1119 skyid-rong rang-byung 'phags-pa. This is the “Kyirong Wati” mentioned in GT, p. 129; and known in Blue Annals, p. 528, as 'phags-pa wa-ti. It was brought to the Potala via Drepung in 1656 when rumours of an impending war with Nepal were widespread.

1120 All maṇḍalas referred to in this section are derived from the tshogs-chen 'dus-pa of Anuyoga. See Fundamentals, pp. 284-9. Anuyoga includes empowerments associated with the nine vehicles, on which see pp. 911-13.

1121 I.e. the old seat of Targye Chöling and the new seat of Orgyan Mindröling which was founded by Terdak Lingpa in 1676.

1122 On these practices of Cutting Through Resistance and All-Surpassing Realization, see Fundamentals, pp. 335-45.

1123 The crucial times and duration for such practices are given in the appropriate texts for each.

1124 Dhūti or avadhūti is the central energy channel. See Fundamentals, pp. 340-1; and also Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, pp. 453ff. (GGFTC, pp. 1006ff.).

1125 On this bliss of melting (zhu-bde), see nn. 250 and 1105 above.

1126 On the relation between meditative equipoise and its aftermath, see especially Fundamentals, p. 206.

1127 For the four empowerments: the vase, secret empowerment, empowerment of discerning pristine cognition and the empowerment of word and meaning, see n. 1198 below; Fundamentals, p. 360; and the Glossary of Enumerations.

1128 According to the new Phukpa system, the second month corresponds to March/April.

1129 According to the new Phukpa calendar, khrums zla-ba corresponds to September/October.

1130 The messenger (pho-nya) is the consort or partner who acts as an intermediary, bringing to the practitioner the pristine cognition of co-emergent bliss. See n. 1105 above.

1131 I.e. the three indestructible realities of buddha-body, speech and mind.

1132 Governor (dpon-chen) and district administrator (dpon-skya). For an account of these offices during the Sakya administration of Tibet, see Tucci, Tibetan Painted Scrolls, pp. 33-5, where dpon-chen is explained to mean “myriarch” (khri-chen) and dpon-skya to mean “minister of transport”.

1133 The Tibetan shawm (rgya-gling) is similar to the Persian shanā'ī, to which it perhaps owes its origins. Curiously, the very name in Tibetan may have originated as a translation from the Persian word, which means “royal flute”, for in some old texts one sees the spelling rgyal-gling, with precisely the same significance. For this suggestion we are indebted to Mme Mireille Helffer.

1134 Terrestrial pure lands (sa'i zhing-khams) within the sphere of the emanational body are contrasted with celestial pure lands (mkha'-spyod-kyi zhing-khams) which are frequented by the buddha-body of perfect rapture; see Fundamentals, pp. 123ff.

1135 I.e. King Trhisong and his twenty-four main subjects. The “present sovereign” referred to in the prophecy is King Trhisong, and “his son” is Murup Tsepo. The prophecy is addressed by Padmasambhava to King Trhisong.

1136 Sangye Gyamtso became the regent of Tibet in 1682 after the death of Dalai Lama V. He was killed in 1705 by Lhazang Qan, leader of the Qōśot Mongols. See Stein, Tibetan Civilization, p. 85; and, for more details, the works of Z. Ahmad, L. Petech and Tsepon W. D. Shakabpa listed in the final section of the Bibliography.

1137 Mingyur Peldrön was largely responsible for the restoration of Mindröling following the Dzungar invasion of 1717. A brilliant teacher, she authored several important meditation manuals.

1138 For detailed information on many points dealt with in the present account, see S. D. Goodman, “Rig-'dzin 'Jigs-med gling-pa and the Klong-Chen sNying-Thig” in Goodman and R. M. Davidson (eds.), Tibetan Buddhism: Reason and Revelation.

1139 For an account of this and the surrounding royal tombs, see Tucci, The Tombs of the Tibetan Kings.

1140 Prajñāraśmi was the treasure-finder Sherap Özer. See Jamgön Kongtrül, Lives of the Hundred Treasure-finders, pp. 135a.6-137a.6.

1141 The root text of Jikme Lingpa's doctrinal masterpiece, the Precious Treasury of Enlightened Attributes, is renowned among Tibetan literati for its poetic beauty. See Blankleder and Fletcher, trans.

1142 “Warmth” (drod): see n. 1105 above.

1143 The throat centre of buddha-speech is known as the centre of perfect rapture (long-spyod rdzogs-pa'i 'khor-lo, Skt. sambhogacakra). This dissolution into a mass of seed-syllables indicates that Jikme Lingpa attained accomplishments associated with buddha-speech.

1144 The horse is, of course, symbolic of Hayagrīva.

1145 mtshon-byed dpe'i ye-shes. This is the pristine cognition which arises in consequence of instruction and empowerment. It forms the basis for the realization of the “genuine pristine cognition which is the object of exemplification” (mtshon-bya don-gyi ye-shes).

1146 For the traditional]] account of the construction of this monument and pilgrimage centre, see Keith Dowman, The Legend of the Great Stūpa.

1147 gcig-car smra-ba 'byung. Our interpretation of this phrase follows the Author's oral explanation. gcig-car here has nothing to do with the teaching of instantaneous enlightenment (as it often does), but rather suggests forthrightness or spontaneity.

1148 The ancient recensions are those redacted by Longcenpa in the Fourfold Innermost Spirituality (snying-thig ya-bzhi) and the new recension is Jikme Lingpa's own Innermost Spirituality of Longcenpa (klong-chen snying-thig).

1149 I.e. the three doctrinal centres of Samye, Trhadruk and the Jokhang at Lhasa.

1150 The ransom of animals (tshe-thar/srog-blu) due to be slaughtered was widely practised in Tibet for the sake of accumulating the provision of merit (bsod-nams-kyi tshogs).

1151 This was the Gurkha incursion in the years from 1788 to 1792, on which see Stein, Tibetan Civilization, p. 88; Snellgrove and Richardson, A Cultural History of Tibet, pp. 226-7; and Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, pp. 156ff.

1152 For Langcen Pelgi Senge, see p. 535.

1153 Jikma Trhinle Özer (1745-1821) was the first Dodrup Rinpoche. He gathered disciples from throughout eastern Tibet and thus greatly promoted the rediscovered teachings of his master. As preceptor to the queen of Derge, Tshewang Lhamo, he gained for his efforts the royal support of her household. For the account of his life, see Tulku Thondup, Masters of Meditation and Miracles, pp. 136-162. His relations with the Derge kingdom are discussed on p. 155.

1154 An important teacher in his own right, Jikme Gyelwei Nyugu is remembered above all through the beautiful record of his oral instructions set down by his disciple Dza Peltrül Rinpoche (1808-87), i.e. the kun-bzang bla-ma'i zhal-lung, which remains a most popular teaching manual of the Nyingma [[tradition. See S. T. Kazi (trans.), Kun Zang La May Zhal Lung; and Padmakara Translation Committee, The Words of My Perfect Teacher.

1155 For the remaining four treasure-finders discussed in this part and, in particular, their role in the spiritual eclecticism of nineteenth-century Kham, see Smith's introduction to Kongtrul's Encyclopedia.

1156 This is a new Phukpa calculation; the Tshurpu calculation would read 11 July 1829.

1157 A brief introduction to the Nangcen district may be found in Karma Thinley, Important events and places in the history of Nangchin Kham and E. Tibet. See also Trungpa Rinpoche, Born in Tibet, which refers to many locations in Nangcen, though this is seldom made explicit.

1158 This figure (1774-1853?), the ninth in the line of Situ incarnations, was a leading master of the Karma Kagyü tradition, and also revered as a treasure-finder.

1159 “Store of the Sky” (nam-mkha'i mdzod) is the name of one particular treasure trove in Kham, see the Index of Locations under Yegyel Namkadzö.

1160 I.e. Murup Tsepo. The meeting of Chogyur Lingpa with Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo was, in effect, the reunion of Murup Tsepo with his father, the sovereign Trhisong Detsen.

1161 “Treasure attainment” (gter-sgrub) is the means of performing and attaining accomplishment in accordance with any teaching discovered as treasure, which must be performed by the treasure-finder in connection with his or her discovery.

1162 Reconcealed treasures (yang-gter) are those which were discovered and then reconcealed by an earlier treasure-finder, to be found again in the future.

1163 The great attainment (bsgrub-chen), the fourth category of the four branches of ritual service and attainment, may include an elaborate dramatic and choreographic performance directed by the vajrācārya (rdo-rje slob-dpon). See n. 499 above.

1164 These dramatic ceremonies, enacting the lives of the preceptor Śāntarakṣita, the great master Padmasambhava and the religious king Trhisong Detsen (mkhan-slob-chos gsum), continue to be performed at the present day.

1165 This is a new Phukpa calculation; Tshurpu would read Tuesday 31 May 1870.

1166 This pure vision was the Means for the Attainment of the Guru Chogyur Lingpa, the Gathering of the Families of the Three Bodies (mchog-gling bla-sgrub sku-gsum rigs-'dus), referred to on p. 858 below.

1167 See the Glossary of Enumerations under five kingly treasure-finders.

1168 The Thartse Khen Rinpoche is one of four preceptors in the Ngorpa subsect of the Sakya tradition; two of these are hereditary positions and the others, including that of Thartse, rotate every four years. Since no one can hold the office twice, it often would pass into the hands of the brother of the previous preceptor. The Sakyapa recognized Khyentse Rinpoche himself to be the emanation of an eighteenth-century Thartse Khen Rinpoche, named Campa Namka Chime.

1169 On this figure, see Smith's introduction to Kongtrul's Encyclopedia, p. 30.

1170 A good introduction to the subsects of the Sakyapa tradition is given by R. M. Davidson in, “The Ṅor-pa Tradition” Wind Horse 1, pp. 79-98.

1171 Losel Tenkyong of Zhalu (b. 1804) was a particularly close associate of Khyentse and Kongtrül, who played an instrumental role in connection with their efforts to revive rare lineages. See Smith's introduction to Kongtrul's Encyclopedia, pp. 34-5; and Kapstein, “The Shangs-pa bKa'-brgyud: an unknown tradition of Tibetan Buddhism”.

1172 According to the venerable Dezhung Rinpoche, the continuous transmission survives for not more than about forty volumes, i.e. less than one-fifth of the Tangyur.

1173 These “Ten Great Pillars” were Thönmi Sambhoṭa, Vairocana, Kawa Peltsek, Cokro Lüi Gyeltsen, Zhang Yeshe De, Rincen Zangpo, Dromtön Gyelwei Jungne, Ngok Lotsāwa Loden Sherap, Sakya Paṇḍita and Gö Khukpa Lhetse. They are contrasted with the Eight Pillars who Supported the Lineages of Means for Attainment (Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche).

1174 I.e. smin, grol, rgyab-chos lung. See p. 733, in relation to the lineage of transmitted precepts.

1175 On the political upheavals of the period, refer to T. Tsering, “Ñag-roṅ mgon-po rnam-rgyal: A 19th century Khams-pa Warrior” in STC, pp. 196-214. Bricks of dried tea were frequently used as currency in traditional]] Tibet.

1176 The twofold precious enlightened attitude refers to the relative (kun-rdzob) enlightened attitude which requires the generation of the four immeasurables, namely, loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity; and the ultimate (don-dam) enlightened attitude which affirms the liberation of all sentient beings in the primordially pure nature of fundamental reality. Alternatively the term may refer to the two aspects of the relative enlightened attitude, namely, aspiration (smon-pa) and undertaking or entrance ('jug-pa). See also the Glossary of Enumerations.

1177 The emphasis on freedom from sectarian bigotry upon which Khyentse and his followers insisted, has led some scholars to speak of an impartial or eclectic (ris-med) movement in nineteenth-century Tibetan Buddhism. See especially Smith's introduction to Kongtrul's Encyclopaedia.

1178 I.e. the “auspicious” tradition of the Pönpo, whose ascetic teachings are represented primarily by the sixth of the nine Pönpo vehicles. See Tucci, The Religions of Tibet, p. 229.

1179 The text incorrectly reads khrid-rgya.

1180 These are to be found in the Glossary of Enumerations.

1181 This prophecy is found in the Innermost Spirituality of the Accomplished Master (grub-thob thugs-thig), which was rediscovered by Khyentse Rinpoche.

1182 Khyentse Rinpoche was born in the district of Ga, within the clan of Nyö, during an iron dragon year.

1183 The ten-syllable mantra of White Tārā is OṂ TĀRE TUTTARE TURE SVĀHĀ. See S. Beyer, The Cult of Tārā, index, p. 533, under “Mantra, 10-syllable, of Tārā”.

1184 As communicated by the Author, the three masters who had accomplished immortality were Guru Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra and the Newar Śīlamañju.

1185 For the life of Cetsün, see pp. 557-9.

1186 This is Khyentse Rinpoche's recension of a treasure discovered by Jikme Lingpa – the bla-sgrub thig-le rgya-can – from the Innermost Spirituality of Longcenpa.

1187 See above, p. 848.

1188 This is a new Phukpa calculation; the other schools would read Saturday 19 March 1892.

1189 On the various enumerations of Khyentse Rinpoche's emanations, see A. Macdonald, Le Maṇḍala du Mañjuśrīmūlakalpa, pp. 91-5; and Smith's introduction to Kongtrul's Encyclopedia, pp. 73-4.

1190 In addition to Smith's introduction to Kongtrul's Encyclopedia, already referred to, see Jamgön Kongtrül, The Torch of Certainty, translated by Hanson.

1191 Schuh, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Tibetischen Kalenderrechnung, p. 80, affirms that the dating for Jamgön Kongtrül's life is to be calculated according to the Tshurpu calendrical system. According to new Phukpa his birth would have occurred on Friday 3 December 1813.

1192 I.e. “omniscient great paṇḍita”.

1193 Jamgön Kongtrül has left us a brief account of the names of these masters and the studies which he undertook under their guidance in the mos-gus rab-byed in nineteen folios.

1194 Tsandra Rincen Trak was Kongtrül's own main seat. He wrote an exceptionally detailed descriptive guide to it entitled dpal-spungs yang-khrod tsā-'dra rin-chen brag-gi sgrub-sde'i dkar-chag in one hundred and twenty-seven folios.

1195 According to Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche, the “thirteen immortal awareness-holders” are probably deities in the maṇḍala of Amitāyus.

1196 Lerap Lingpa or Tertön Sogyel (1856-1926) is mentioned, along with others, as a master of the author of the Ling xylographic recension of the Kesar Epic: R.A. Stein, L'épopée tibétaine de Gesar dans sa version lamaïque de Ling, p. 8. According to Lama Sonam Topgyel, he was also responsible for uncovering the 1899 plot against the Thirteenth Dalai Lama, on which see n. 1036 above; and Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, p. 195.

1197 The visit of those aristocrats was ill-timed. The secrecy of the decipherment was interrupted, the commitments were violated and Khyentse Rinpoche fell ill in consequence.

1198 On the four empowerments, see the Glossary of Enumerations; and Fundamentals, p. 360. The vase empowerment (bum-dbang) reveals the emanational buddha-body. The secret empowerment (gsang-dbang) reveals the buddha-body of perfect rapture through practices associated with the energy channels, currents and seminal points, the latter of which are also known as “enlightened mind” (byang-sems). The empowerment of discerning pristine cognition (shes-rab ye-shes-kyi dbang) reveals the buddha-body of reality through awareness symbolised by the ḍākinī. The fourth empowerment of word and meaning (tshig-don-gyi dbang) reveals the essential buddha-body through the meditative practices of the Great Perfection.

1199 The scorpions are the emblem of Dorje Trolö.

1200 Rakta, “blood”, is a sacramental substance symbolic of passion transmuted into enlightened involvement in the world. Its miraculous overflow is a portent of boundless enlightened activity.

1201 Again this is a Tshurpu calculation; according to new Phukpa, Jamgön Kongtrül would have passed away on Saturday 27 January 1900. Schuh, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Tibetischen Kalenderrechung, p. 80, gives 29 December 1899 but this is equivalent to the twenty-seventh day of the eleventh Tibetan month; our text has the twenty-sixth of the eleventh month. Smith gives 1899 in Kongtrul's Encyclopedia, p. 2.

1202 A synonym for the western Buddha-field of Sukhāvatī, or a metaphor for the peace of enlightenment that is great bliss. See Jikme Lingpa, Narrative History of the Precious Collected Tantras of the Ancient Translation School (rnying-ma rgyud-'bum-gyi nogs-brjod), p. 364: bde-ba chen-po shanti-pu-ri grong-khyer.

1203 I.e. emanations of Mañjunātha (Mañjuśrī): 'jam-mgon mkhyen-kong rnam-gnyis.

1204 Loter Wangpo (1847-1914), a leading Sakyapa disciple of Khyentse Rinpoche, played a major role in the redaction and publication of GDKT and the Exposition of the Path and Fruit on Behalf of the Closest Students (lam-'bras slob-bshad), encyclopaedic compilations of teachings belonging to the vehicle of indestructible reality as preserved by the new translation schools, with the Sakyapa foremost among them.

1205 For much valuable data, refer to S. D. Goodman, “Mi-pham rgya-mtsho: an account of his life, the printing of his works, and the structure of his treatise entitled Mkhas pa'i tshul la 'jug pa'i sgo” Wind Horse 1, pp. 58-78. Aspects of his philosophical thought are discussed in M. Kapstein, “Mi-pham's Theory of Interpretation” in Reason's Traces; and in J. Pettit, The Beacon of Certainty.

1206 The pill rites (ril-bu'i las-sbyor) performed by Mipham Rinpoche in connection with the propitiation of Mañjuśrī are practised so as to realise the ordinary accomplishments, e.g. during times of eclipse. These practices are described in detail in GTKT, Vol. II, pp. 70-137.

1207 “Exegetical transmission” (bshad-lung). This refers to the initiation into the study of a text by hearing the master recite it, along with occasional explanation of particular points of difficulty.

1208 On the Nyarong disturbances of the 1860s, see GT, p. 183, n. 627; E. Teichman, Travels of a Consular Officer in East Tibet, p. 5; and Tsering, “Ñag-roṅ mgon-po rnam-rgyal: A 19th Century Khams-pa Warrior”, pp. 196-214. The five clans of Nyarong were unified after 1837 by Gönpo Namgyel. In 1860 they invaded and conquered Derge and Hor-khog. In 1862 the rebellion was suppressed by Lhasa.

1209 sa-ris is an arithmetical calculation performed, not with the aid of an abacus, but traced in sand.

1210 “Bean-sprout rites” (makṣa'i las-sbyor) are those in which the mantra of White Mañjuśrī is recited while a dark-brown makṣaka bean is held in the mouth. If the bean sprouts, this is a sign of successful accomplishment.

1211 On Mipham's association with Peltrül Rinpoche, and his contribution to the study of the ninth chapter of the Introduction to the Conduct of a Bodhisattva, see E. G. Smith's introduction to Mi-pham's Brgal-lan. Cf. also, K. Lipman, “A Controversial Topic from Mipham's Analysis of Śāntarakṣita's Madhyamakālaṃkāra” Windhorse 1 (1981), pp. 40-57.

1212 Teachings based on Mañjuśrī in the forms of Lord of Life, Iron-like and Iron-evil are common to various means for attainment. But see also the entry under Mañjuśrī Lord of Life, Iron-like and Iron-evil, in the first part of the Bibliography.

1213 The basic documents for the study of their dispute have been published in Mi-pham's Rablan; and Pari Rapsel, 'ju-lan ga-bur chu-rgyun. The former has an excellent introduction by Smith.

1214 For the kaptse (gab-rtse) diagrams, derived from Chinese geomancy, see Fundamentals, p. 104; and G. Dorje, Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings, pp. 63-4.

1215 I.e. he was a Nyingmapa who was learned in the new traditions, but not an adherent of these traditions himself (Tulku Thondup Rinpoche).

1216 This quotation is derived from both the Oral Transmission of Mañjuśrī, and Ngari Paṇcen, Ascertainment of the Three Vows. See listed in the first part of the Biblography.

1217 See Fundamentals, pp. 335-45.

1218 On the “cloud-mass wheel of syllables” (yi-ge 'khor-lo tshogs), see n. 1143 above. For an explanation and discussion of the significance of syllables in the vehicle of indestructible reality, see Longcenpa, Dispelling Darkness in the Ten Directions, Chs. 4-5, pp. 170-224 (GGFTC, pp. 550-631).

1219 Abhirati (mngon-dga') is the eastern Buddha-field of Akṣobhya; see Fundamentals, p. 128.

1220 As stated below, Mipham suffered from a violent nervous ailment ('khrugs-nad). Indeed, extant samples of his handwriting reveal a deterioration until, in his last year, they become entirely illegible (Khenpo Sangye Tenzin). Akṣobhya, the “unshakeable”, was invoked to counteract this malady.

1221 On the appearance of seminal points of rainbow light through the practice of All-Surpassing Realization, see Fundamentals, pp. 337-45.

1222 In connection with Shambhala, see the prophetic declarations cited by the Author, p. 960. On Shambhala in general, refer to Bernbaum, The Way to Shambhala.

1223 Zhecen Gyeltsap (d. c. 1926) was with Khencen Künzang Pelden (c. 1870 – c. 1940) largely responsible for continuing Mipham's teaching tradition. His collected works occupied thirteen volumes.

1224 I.e. Katok Situ Chöki Gyamtso, the author of An Account of a Pilgrimage to Central Tibet During the Years 1918 to 1920.

1225 Andzom Drukpa, a leading adept of the Great Perfection, was the publisher of very fine blockprint editions of the works of Longcenpa and many other major Nyingmapa texts.

1226 Trupwang Śākyaśrī (1853-1919), an adherent of both the Nyingmapa and Drukpa Kagyüpa traditions, was one of the most influential treasure-finders during the early decades of the present century.

1227 Repkong district in the province of Amdo has long enjoyed the reputation of a major centre of Nyingma practice. See TH, pp. 570-5.

HISTORY: PART SEVEN

1228 On the Indestructible Nucleus of Inner Radiance ('od-gsal rdo-rje snying-po), see p. 448, and Fundamentals, p. 115, where it is explained as the dimension of the buddha-body of reality (chos-sku).

1229 The twenty-four lands are those enumerated in the Hevajra Tantra, Pt. 1, Ch. 7, vv. 12-17. See the Glossary of Enumerations for their exact names.

1230 This and the following quotations from Rongzompa are said to be taken from his Commentary on the Secret Nucleus (dkon-mchog 'grel).

1231 The expression “high and low” doctrinal centres refers respectively to those at Lhasa and Samye (Lama Sonam Topgyel).

1232 Literally drawn from the under-arm pocket of the Tibetan garment.

1233 Nālandā Translation Committee, The Life of Marpa the Translator, p. 37, provides the standard account of this incident.

1234 Orgyenpa Rincenpel (1230-1309) is renowned as a master of the Nyingma, Kagyü and Kālacakra traditions. The precise source of the following quotation remains unidentified.

1235 On this figure, see p. 758, n. 995 above; and G. Roerich, Biography of Dharmasvāmin.

1236 Concerning Orgyenpa's journey to Oḍḍiyāna, consult Tucci, Travels of Tibetan Pilgrims in the Swat Valley.

1237 The text reads bhe-ha-ra (Skt. vihāra). For an introduction to the Newar Buddhist establishments of the Kathmandu Valley, see Macdonald and Stahl, Newar Art, pp. 71ff.

1238 These charges appear to have originated as early as the eleventh century, i.e. in the polemics of the Guge prince Photrang Zhiwa-ö. See Karmay, “King Tsa/Dza and Vajrayāna”, p. 204. For the detailed Nyingma response, see below, pp. 911-13.

1239 The following two quotations correspond closely to passage 076 of Atiśa's biography, as edited in Eimer, Rnam thar rgyas pa, Vol. 2, p. 53.

1240 Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, p. 332. India here refers only to the Magadha heartland.

1241 On Mahādeva, see p. 429.

1242 Concerning the dispute about the Non-Dual Victor, see Blue Annals, p. 417, n. 4.

1243 On Śākya Chokden (1428-1507) and his many contributions to philosophical controversy in Tibet, see Kuijp, Contributions to the Development of Tibetan Buddhist Epistemology, pp. 10-22.

1244 This refers to Sakya Paṇḍita's confirmation of the authenticity of these tantras, on which see pp. 710-16.

1245 The rgyud-sde spyi-rnam and other major works of Comden Rikpei Reldri have only recently been located. Putön does list Sakya Paṇḍita's translation of the Root Fragment of Vajrakīla (rdo-rje phur-ba rtsa-ba'i dum-bu) in his rgyud-'bum-gyi dkar-chag, p. 373, 1. 4.

1246 The Kālacakra Tantra is here referred to as the abridged version because it is traditional]]ly held that the longer unabridged version was not transmitted in Jambudvīpa. Putön holds that the long version had twelve thousand verses; see Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, Pt. 2, p. 170.

1247 A standard account of Hoshang Mo-ho-yen's view of conduct is that of Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, Pt. 2, p. 193: “if one commits virtues or sinful deeds, one comes to blissful or evil births (respectively). In such a way the deliverance from Saṁsāra is impossible, and there will be always impediments to the attainment of Buddhahood.”

1248 On the three turnings or promulgations of the doctrinal wheel, see pp. 423-5. For a detailed discussion, see Fundamentals, pp. 76 and 153-5. On provisional and definitive significance, see Fundamentals, pp. 187-90.

1249 The view held by adherents of the new translation schools is traditional]]ly one in which the philosophies of tantra and the dialectics are integrated. The Author here asserts that the view of the Great Perfection is central to this integration.

1250 The texts which have just been quoted are common to all the Buddhist traditions in Tibet. They are not the exclusive property of the tradition of Chinese Ch'an Buddhism attributed to Hoshang Mo-ho-yen, and their view is identical to that of the Great Perfection. Hence the convergence of the various traditions concerned on this point cannot be taken as evidence of error on the part of any of them.

1251 I.e. deviation (gol-sa) from the true view of the Great Perfection into that of the lower vehicles, or into the “four experiences” (nyams-bzhi) of bliss, emptiness, radiance and non-conceptualisation, which can mislead meditation. See Fundamentals, pp. 294-310.

1252 This refers to the meditative practices of All-Surpassing Realization. See Fundamentals, pp. 337-45.

1253 Unidentified. This passage is also cited in Fundamentals, p. 164.

1254 I.e. the adherents of the new translation schools.

1255 This quotation is drawn from Atiśa, Bodhimārgapradīpapañjikā, which comments on the Bodhipathapradīpa, vv. 56-8. See R. Sherburne, SJ (trans.), A Lamp for the Path and Commentary, p. 151.

1256 On the view of the Svātantrika-Madhyamaka as interpreted by the Nyingma [[tradition, see Fundamentals, pp. 162-4.

1257 On the pristine cognition of discernment (sor-rtogs ye-shes), see Fundamentals, p. 141.

1258 “Great liberation from limits” or “great liberation from extremes” (mtha'-grol chen-po): see Fundamentals, p. 334.

1259 Quoted by Nāgārjuna in Vigrahavyāvartanīsvavṛttiḥ, as a comment on v. 28.

1260 On “expressed meaning and expression”, see Fundamentals, pp. 71-2.

1261 These categories from the Great Perfection are given in the Glossary of Enumerations.

1262 Sakya Paṇḍita, Analysis of the Three Vows (sdom-gsum-gyi rab-tu dbye-ba'i bstan-bcos, Gangtok edn.), fol. 62b6.

1263 Refer to sGam-po-pa, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, p. 216. Though Gampopa did indeed introduce material from the Great Seal tradition in the context of the transcendental perfection of discriminative awareness, he never maintained that the two could be fully assimilated one to the other, as his critics sometimes claim.

1264 On “seals”, see Fundamentals, p. 356.

1265 On the term “nucleus of the sugata”, see Fundamentals, pp. 169ff.

1266 On the empowerments according to the Anuyoga teachings, see Fundamentals, pp. 364-5.

1267 On the tenth level, Cloud of Doctrine, see Fundamentals, p. 117.

1268 Ūrṇakeśa (mdzod-spu) is the circle of hair between the eyes of a buddha, from which rays of light emanate.

1269 The “empowerment of great light rays” is discussed in Fundamentals, p. 142.

1270 On the first level, the Joyful (rab-tu dga'-ba, Skt. Pramodā), see Fundamentals, pp. 281-2; and sGam-po-pa, The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, pp. 240-2.

1271 Orpiment is “yellow arsenic powder” (ba-bla). According to gso-rig snying-bsdud skya-rengs gsar-pa, p. 251, this substance is medically applied for the prevention of decay and epidemics. It can be taken as a treatment for anything from a swelling goitre to a festering wound, and is even nowadays used as an antidote for mercury poisoning.

1272 On the three higher empowerments, see the Glossary of Enumerations; and Fundamentals, p. 360.

1273 On this rivalry, see p. 643.

1274 The four faults attributed to the “Secret Nucleus” are listed in the Glossary of Enumerations. Gö Lhetse probably published this critique in his oft-mentioned Broadside ('byams-yig), on which see sngags log sun-'byin-gyi skor, pp. 18-25. The traditional]] refutations of Lhetse's charges are given below. Cf. also Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History, pp. 179ff; Jikme Lingpa, rgyud-'bum 'dri-lan, pp. 281ff.; and Sodokpa Lodrö Gyeltsen, rgyal-dbang karma-pa mi-bskyod rdo-rjes gsang-sngags rnying-ma-ba-rnams-la dri-ba'i chab-shog gnang-ba'i dris-lan lung-dang rig-pa'i 'brug-sgra, in Collected Writings of Sog-bzlog-pa, Vol 2, p. 33.

1275 See above, p. 891.

1276 The following reproduces almost the entire text of this short work, as preserved in the Collected Writings of Sog-bzlog-pa, Vol. 1, pp. 524-6. To help clarify the complex embedding of quotations found here, all passages from the Tantra of the Secret Nucleus itself are in italics.

1277 For the five empowerments and three realities which are referred to in the context of the Secret Nucleus, see the Glossary of Enumerations.

1278 dkyil-'khor-gyi gtso-bo 'pho-bar bya-ba.

1279 The Scholar's Feast of Doctrinal History, p. 180, cites this as Prajñāsūtraṃ trikraṣyati.

1280 The passage which follows is cited, too, in the Collected Writings of Sog-bzlog-pa, Vol. 1, pp. 519-20. Sodokpa however rejects the possibility of treating the Nyingmapa tantras as treatises.

1281 I.e. even if their Indian origins are suspect, they can be held to be authoritative treatises so long as they are shown to conform to normal doctrinal criteria. The problem here alluded to is discussed in some detail in the contribution of Davidson to Buswell, Buddhist Apocryphya; and in Kapstein, “The Purificatory Gem and Its Cleansing: A Late Tibetan Polemical Discussion of Apocryphal Texts”.

1282 According to Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, p. 302, the Red Master (atsara dmar-po) was a student of Ratnavajra named Guhyaprajñā. The Blue-skirted Paṇḍita is mentioned in Blue Annals, p. 697.

1283 Refer to Karmay, “The Ordinance of Lha Bla-ma Ye-shes-'od”, pp. 150-62; idem, “An Open Letter by Pho-brang Zhi-ba-'od to the Buddhists of Tibet” The Tibet Journal V, 3 (1980), pp. 3-28; and idem, “A Discussion on the Doctrinal Position of rDzogs-chen from the 10th to the 13th centuries” Journal Asiatique (1975), pp. 147-56.

1284 On the rainbow body, see n. 528; and Fundamentals, pp. 336-7, 341-2.

1285 This occurrence aroused considerable controversy in Tibet at the time, and receives detailed discussion in Mipham Rinpoche, gzhan-stong khas-len seng-ge'i nga-ro, fols. 18b3ff.

1286 Düjom Lingpa (1835-1904) was the Author's previous incarnation. He was one of the most prolific treasure-finders of nineteenth-century Kham. See his biography in Pema Lungtok Gyatso et al., gter-chen chos-kyi rgyal-po khrag-'thung bdud-'joms gling-pa'i rnam-lhar zhal-gsungs-ma.

1287 This is the great Pönpo scholar, Shardza Trashi Gyeltsen (1859-1935), on whom see Karmay, The Treasury of Good Sayings, especially pp. xv-xvi; Shardza, Heart Drops of the Dharmakaya.

1288 Probably this is Köpo Kelzang Gyeltsen, mentioned by Karmay, The Treasury of Good Sayings, p. xvi.

1289 This was the father of the late lama Jurme Drakpa (d. 1975) of Jore Bungalow, Darjeeling, who was a well-known meditation master. For an account of the father's miraculous death, see Trungpa Rinpoche, Born in Tibet, pp. 95-6.

1290 See pp. 714-16.

1291 mtho-ris dang nges-legs.

1292 Śāntigupta (late fifteenth to early sixteenth century) was a South Indian yogin who preserved and transmitted the surviving precepts of seven successive lineages. These traditions and Śāntigupta's own life form the subject-matter of Tāranātha's bka'-babs bdun-ldan-gyi rgyud-pa'i rnam-thar, translated by Templeman in The Seven Instruction Lineages. See also p. 504 and n. 532.

1293 According to the standard traditional]] account, Nup was Milarepa's master only in sorcery. His master in the Great Perfection was Rongtön Lhaga. See Lhalungpa, The Life of Milarepa, p. 42; and Martin, “The Teachers of Mi-la-ras-pa”.

1294 The text erroneously reads Ba Selnang for Khön Lüiwangpo.

1295 Śāntideva, Introduction to the Conduct of a Bodhisattva, Ch. 9, v. 2c.

1296 Alakāvatī (lcang-lo-can) is the abode of yakṣas presided over by the Lord of Secrets, Vajrapāṇi in the form of Vaiśravaṇa or Kubera.

1297 Paṇcen Lozang Chöki Gyeltsen, dge-ldan bka'-brgyud rin-po-che'i phyag-chen rtsa-ba rgyal-ba'i gzhung-lam, fol. 2a4-5.

1298 Aśvottama (rta-mchog) or Aśvavarapāda in Pag Sam Jon Zang, p. 93, is said to have been the teacher of Viṇapā from Oḍḍiyāna.

1299 One treasure has perhaps been omitted in this quotation, which is in any case unlocatable in the extant Sūtra which Genuinely Comprises the Entire Doctrine (Dharmasaṃgītisūtra, P 904, Vol. 36, pp. 1-45). Alternatively, the totality of the list may be counted as its tenth member.

1300 Sakya Paṇḍita's principle targets were the “heresies” of the Drigung Kagyü and Tshelpa Kagyü, both of which sought to resolve the complexities of the doctrine by insisting on a single quintessential metaphor: the “single intention” (dgongs-pa gcig) in the case of the former, and the “one purity that achieves all” (dkar-po gcig-thub) in the case of the latter.

1301 This refers to Milarepa's insistence that Gampopa, during their first meeting, abandon monastic rules by partaking of ale. See Chang, The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa, Vol. 2, p. 473.

1302 The text erroneously reads “four golden doctrines” (gser-chos bzhi), though five are properly enumerated. See the Glossary of Enumerations; and Kapstein, “The Shangs-pa bKa'-brgyud: an unknown tradition of Tibetan Buddhism”, pp. 138-44. The basic Shangpa texts are found in the Peking edition of the Tangyur, but not in the Derge edition.

1303 On Yakde Paṇcen (1299-1378) and Rongtön Sheja Künzi (1367-1449), see Blue Annals, pp. 339-40, 532-6, 1080-1. It is clear that Yakde Paṇcen, who predeceased the publication of Tsongkapa's (1357-1419) major works, cannot be counted as a critic of the latter. Most likely he is listed here owing to his association with the tradition of Tölpopa (see n. 1309 below), whom Tsongkapa vehemently opposed, and because Rongtön, who was Tsongkapa's first great critic, was educated in his school. The attacks on Tsongkapa launched by Korampa Sonam Senge (1429-89) and Śākya Chokden (1428-1507) were, on the other hand, so threatening to the Gelukpa establishment that their writings were banned in Central Tibet. The works of Korampa were eventually re-assembled and published in Derge during the eighteenth century, while those of Śākya Chokden were preserved only in Bhutan. Taklung Lotsāwa, the last named critic of Tsongkapa, is Taktsang Lotsāwa Sherap Rincen (b. 1405), who has been the target of particularly rigorous refutation by later Gelukpa masters. See Kuijp, Contributions to the Development of Tibetan Buddhist Epistemology, p. 16, n. 46; and J. Hopkins, Meditation on Emptiness, passim.

1304 The source of the quotation is unidentified. Remdawa Zhönu Lodrö (1349-1412), a Sakyapa, was a foremost teacher of Tsongkapa. See Blue Annals, pp. 339-40, 349, 1075.

1305 This quotation is attributed to the Broadside of Gö Lhetse. See n. 1274 above.

1306 I.e. by sublime bodhisattvas who have yet to realise the buddha level.

1307 This incident connected with Buddhajñānapāda is mentioned in Tāranātha, History of Buddhism in India, p. 279.

1308 Karmapa VIII, Mikyö Dorje's (1507-54) disagreements with earlier Karma Kagyü masters have not yet received scholarly attention. On his disputes with the Gelukpa school, see P. Williams, “A Note on Some Aspects of Mi Bskyod Rdo Rje's Critique of Dge Lugs Pa Madhyamaka” JIP 11 (1983), pp. 124-45; and on those with the Nyingmapa, see Kapstein, “The Purificatory Gem and Its Cleansing: A late Tibetan Polemical Discussion of Apocryphal Texts”, n. 39.

1309 On Tölpopa Sherap Gyeltsen (1292-1361) and his doctrine of “extrinsic emptiness” (gzhan-stong), see especially D.S. Ruegg, “The Jo Naṅ pas: A School of Buddhist Ontologists according to the Grub mtha' śel gyi me loṅ” Journal of the American Oriental Society 83 (1963), pp. 73-91; S. Hookham, The Buddha Within; and C. Stearns, The Buddha from Dolpo. Cf. also Fundamentals, pp. 169ff. Tsongkapa's critique of Tölpopa receives detailed treatment in R.A.F. Thurman, Tsong Khapa's Speech of Gold in the Essence of True Eloquence.

1310 See Kuijp, Contributions to the Development of Tibetan Buddhist Epistemology, pp. 15-16.

1311 Unidentified.

1312 Prophecies concerning the discovery of the treasures are found in The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava, Pt. II, pp. 619ff. See also, Prats, “Some Preliminary Considerations Arising from a Bibliographical Study of the Early Gter-ston”, pp. 256-60; and Tulku Thondup Rinpoche, Hidden Teachings of Tibet.

1313 For a good example of this, see Karmay, “The Rdzogs-chen in its Earliest Text”.

1314 Phyva-gshen. This refers to the adepts of the first way of Pön, who, according to Tucci, The Religions of Tibet, p. 228: “were able to distinguish the profitable from the dangerous, and therefore to function as diviners or augurs.” Cf. also Snellgrove, The Nine Ways of Bon, pp. 24-41.

1315 This perhaps refers to the nirgrantha ascetic Satyaka-Mahāvādin, who was brought into the fold with six thousand of his followers through the Buddha's skillful means. See Sūtra of the Arrayed Bouquet, p. 277, ll. 10-16.

1316 Cf. Karmay, “The Rdzogs-chen in its earliest Text”; and idem, “Origin and Early Development of the Tibetan Religious Traditions of the Great Perfection”. Stein in Tibetan Civilization, p. 241, also remarks that the Pönpo have modelled their monasteries, and the technical vocabulary for their philosophy and meditation on those of Buddhism. Some Pönpo works which, according to Nyingma [[tradition, were permitted by Padmasambhava are also represented in the Store of Precious Treasures; for there were certain treasure-finders who recovered both Pön and Buddhist treasures, e.g. Dorje Lingpa. See p. 791 above. For accounts of some of the treasure-finders common to the two traditions, see also Prats, Contributo allo studio biografico dei primi gter-ston.

1317 rgya-nag-na ha-shang-dang ho-shang. This passage in general merits comparison with Karma Chakme, ri-chos mtshams-kyi zhal-gdams, fol. 23a2-6, especially 1. 5: “In India they say ‘Outsider' and ‘Insider', in China 'Taoist' (ha-shang) and 'Buddhist' (ho-shang), and in Tibet ‘Buddhist' and ‘Pönpo'. All of these are causally connected.”

1318 The Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava, Pt. II, Canto 82, p. 489.

1319 The shang instrument is a Pönpo religious hand-bell made of bronze, with a wooden chime. See M. Helffer, “Note à propos d'une clochette gshang” Objets et Mondes 21, 3 (1981), pp. 129-34.

1320 The title “Phajo” indicates the head of a family: Stein, Tibetan Civilization, p. 95, translates it “father-lord”. It was also a term of respect applied to the old Pön priests, the prophets who knew the origin of the three worlds, ibid., p. 231.

1321 See pp. 512-16.

1322 On Gongpo ('gong-po) spirits, see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 168-70. For Tamsi (dam-sri) demons, ibid., pp. 119, 284, 300-1, 469, 577-8. On Gyelpo (rgyal-po) and Senmo (bsen-mo) spirits who respectively manifest through anger and attachment, refer to the same source, pp. 233-6 for the former, and pp. 385, 396 for the latter.

1323 Cf. Śāntideva, Introduction to the Conduct of a Bodhisattva, Ch. 1, vv. 35-6.

HISTORY: PART EIGHT

1324 On the Auspicious Aeon (bskal-pa bzang-po, Skt. Bhadrakalpa) and the reason why the Teacher, Śākyamuni Buddha, is referred to as the Fourth Guide, see p. 409 and nn. 378-9 above.

1325 The Gelukpa tradition identifies Vasubandhu's Conquest of Objections with Daṃṣṭrasena's Commentary on the Hundred Thousand Line Transcendental Perfection, and maintains that the author of this work was solely Daṃṣṭrasena. Cf. Lessing and Wayman, Mkhas Grub Rje's Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras, p. 97. In the Nyingmapa view these are regarded as two separate treatises (Nyoshul Khenpo).

1326 One great aeon is said to contain eighty smaller aeons. See also n. 1380 below.

1327 The “third wheel of definitive significance” is explained at length in Fundamentals, pp. 169-217.

1328 The dating given here for Śākyamuni Buddha and all dates from the Indian period follow the Kālacakra reckoning which is based on scriptural authority and prophetic declaration. Thus there is a divergence of approximately four hundred years between this traditional]] dating of the Buddha's life and that favoured by modern historical scholars, i.e. c. 563 to 483 BC. A. Bareau, “La Date du nirvāṇa” Journal Asiatique (1953), pp. 27-52, tabulates over fifty traditional]] calculations of the year of the Buddha's nirvāṇa, ranging from about 2100 BC to 265 BC.

1329 Āṣāḍha (chu-stod) is the sixth month of the Tibetan year, corresponding to July/August.

1330 According to the Kālacakra system of astrological calculation, earthtime is divided into cycles of sixty years known as rab-byung. Each of the sixty years within a single cycle has a distinctive name, but may also be referred to by a combination of twelve animals (hare, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, bird, dog, pig, mouse, ox and tiger) with the five elements (fire, earth, iron, water and wood). This latter system accords with elemental divination ('byung-rtsis) derived from Chinese traditions. Thus don-drub or the earth sheep year is the fifty-third within the sexagenary cycle. See Schuh, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Tibetischen Kalenderrechnung, pp. 144-5.

1331 The month of Vaiśākha (sa-ga) is the fourth month of the Tibetan year, corresponding to May/June.

1332 drag-po or the iron monkey year is the fifty-fourth in the sexagenary cycle. See Schuh, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Tibetischen Kalenderrechnung, pp. 144-5.

1333 On the constellation Puṣya, see n. 1088.

1334 Kārttika (smin-drug) is the tenth month, corresponding to November/December.

1335 kun-'dzin, or the earth mouse year, is the twenty-second year in the sexagenary cycle.

1336 The days are further divided into twelve two-hour periods, known as khyim or dus-tshad, and named after the twelve animals in the aforementioned sequence. The hour of the ox would fall approximately between midnight and 2 a.m. See chart in G. Dorje, Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings, p. 89.

1337 A ghaṭikā (chu-tshad) is one-fifth of a two-hour period, i.e. twenty-four minutes.

1338 For various attempts to calculate the precise duration of each promulgation or turning of the doctrinal wheel, see Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, Pt. 2, pp. 46-52. Putön himself rejects all such efforts as lacking any authoritative source.

1339 Caitra (nag) is the third month of the Tibetan year, corresponding to April/May. It is also known as the mid-spring month (dpyid-zla 'bring-po) according to the Phukpa system of calculation. The chart of the twelve months in Schuh, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Tibetischen Kalenderrechnung, p. 146, shows the correspondences between their seasonal names, the animals and the constellations.

1340 The iron dragon year (rnam-gnon) is the fourteenth in the sexagenary cycle; see Schuh, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Tibetischen Kalenderrechnung, p. 144.

1341 Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, Pt. 2, p. 107.

1342 On the mid-spring month, see n. 1339 above.

1343 Jyaiṣṭha (snron) is the fifth month of the Tibetan year, corresponding to June/July.

1344 The Author concurs that the calculations of 2839, 2815, 2744 and 2743 given here and in the following paragraphs are accurate and that the calculations given in the Tibetan text, i.e. 2838, 2814, 2743 and 2742 years, are at fault.

1345 According to recent estimates, Aśoka came to the throne in about 269 BC. See Basham, The Wonder that was India, p. 53. The most thorough treatment of the question remains that of P. H. L. Eggermont, The Chronology of the Reign of Asoka Moriya, where the period of Aśoka's rule is given as 268-233 BC. AS stated in n. 1328 above, the dating given in our text is based on traditional]] sources.

1346 The Author concurs that the text should read 401st year (not 400th). Nāgārjuna's floruit is considered by most modern historians to have occurred during the second century CE.

1347 1 BC is, of course, the year traditional]]ly held to precede the birth of Jesus, not that of his death. The Tibetan text, assimilating the Christian calendrical convention to the Tibetan emphasis on the date of death, erroneously reads 'das-lo for 'khrungs-lo.

1348 The text erroneously reads 619 years. Corrected with the Author's approval.

1349 According to this calculation, the duration of Śākyamuni Buddha's teaching is held to be five thousand years, divided into ten periods of five hundred years each. In the first period there was a profusion of arhats, so it was called the period of arhats. The second is called the period of non-returners and the third, the period of stream-entry. Those three periods together are called the Age of Fruition or enlightenment. In the fourth period there is a predominance of discriminative awareness, therefore it is so called. The fifth is called the period of contemplation and the sixth, that of moral discipline. Those three periods together are called the Age of Attainment. The next three periods of Abhidharma, Sūtra and Vinaya are collectively known as the Age of Transmission. The tenth and final period is called the Age of Convention or symbols because at that point the actual practice of the path will be lost, and only conventional tokens of the renunciate ordination (pravajyā) will remain. See Rikdzin Lhündrup's Hindi translation of the History, Ch. 8, n. 21; HBI, pp. 210-22; and Obermiller, History of Buddhism by Bu-ston, Pt. 2, pp. 102-5.

1350 There is much disagreement in Tibetan and other sources concerning the year of birth and life-span of King Songtsen Gampo. A fine survey of the problem is given by H. E. Richardson in “How old was Srong btsan sgam po?” Bulletin of Tibetology 2, 1 (1965). Richardson concludes that the king was born in the period from 609 to 613 and died in 650. For the traditional]] account of his longevity, see also Dudjom Rinpoche, rgyal-rabs, pp. 129-51.

1351 As stated below by the Author, p. 959, the absence of systematic accounts of the period between the fall of the dynasty (846) and the revitalisation of the teaching in the late tenth century has led to considerable confusion in Tibetan dating of the imperial period. In essence, the problem consists in determining just how many sixty-year cycles elapsed during the Age of Fragmentation. To compensate for past miscalculations, one must subtract sixty years from each of the dates given for the period from 790 to 953. Thus, Trhisong was born not in 790 but in 730, i.e. 90 and not 150 years after Songtsen Gampo had founded the Jokhang. In 750 Samye was founded. In 767 the “seven who were tested” were initiated. In 804 Guru Padmasambhava left Tibet. In 806 Trhi Relpacen was born. In 832 Lacen Gongpa Rapsel was born. In 841 the persecution began. In 846 Langdarma was assassinated. In 869 the kingdom disintegrated; and in 893 Lume returned to Central Tibet. The Author concurs in this respect with Shakabpa and other modern Tibetan historians who have made this adjustment. Even with this adjustment, however, the dating for the period remains problematic – e.g. Stein, Tibetan Civilization, p. 60, gives 775 as the foundation of Samye; and Richardson assigns the reign of Langdarma to the period from 836 to 842. For a compendium of the traditional]] chronologies, see Tshe-brtan Zhabs-drung, bstan-rtsis kun-las btus-pa.

1352 Cf. Blue Annals, pp. 60-7. It is clear that Lacen did not visit Central Tibet in person, and that Lume is intended. Six men of Central Tibet and Tsang are usually spoken of, rather than ten. As Roerich indicates in the same source, p. xviii, the date, whether calculated as 893 or 953 is problematic.

1353 The Shangpa Kagyü historical tradition maintains that Khyungpo Neljor was born in a tiger year and lived for 150 years. The tiger year in question is usually said to be 978 or 990. In any case, Khyungpo was certainly active as late as the early twelfth century. See Kapstein, “The Shangs-pa bKa'-brgyud: an Unknown Tradition of Tibetan Buddhism”.

1354 On Khön Lüiwangpo (i.e. Luwangsungwa), see also pp. 515 and 712.

1355 Kesar of Ling is the legendary hero of the Tibetan epic. See especially A. David-Neel, The Superhuman Life of Gesar of Ling; Stein, Recherches sur l'épopée et le barde au Tibet; and idem, L'épopée tibėtaine de Gesar dans sa version lamaïque de Ling.

1356 The birth of Ngok Lotsāwa occurred not in 1071 (iron pig) but in 1059 (earth pig). This is correctly stated in Blue Annals, p. 328, and in the old Kalimpong edition of the present History, p. 795. Furthermore, on p. 646, it is stated that Dropukpa was sixteen years younger than Ngok.

1357 Lingje Repa Pema Dorje lived from 1128 to 1188, on which see Blue Annals, pp. 659-64 and n. 1025. Our text here places him in the fourth cycle; see also n. 1359 below.

1358 Nyang-rel's dates are either 1124-96 or 1136-1204; see n. 995 for an explanation.

1359 Our text wrongly includes Guru Chöwang and Como Menmo here in the fourth cycle; they should be included in the fifth, as explained in nn. 1002 and 1022. Similarly Lingje Repa has been reassigned to the third cycle, while Tsangpa Gyare, who lived from 1161 to 1211 belongs here, instead of in the fifth cycle where he has been mistakenly assigned. See Blue Annals, pp. 664-70; and Aris, Bhutan, p. 165. The latter was a teacher of Götsangpa (1189-1258), who, in turn, taught Orgyenpa (1230-1309).

1360 The episode of Dorta Nakpo's invasion, given erroneously in the third cycle, should be transferred to the fourth cycle; see n. 1009. This of course refers to Mongol rather than Chinese rule.

1361 The Sakya ascendancy endured from 1235 to 1349. See Snellgrove and Richardson, A Cultural History of Tibet, pp. 148-9; C.W. Cassinelli and R.B. Ekvall, A Tibetan Principality, The Political System of Sa sKya; and Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, pp. 61-72. For the chronology of the period in particular, see Wylie, “The First Mongol Conquest of Tibet Reinterpreted”; H. Franke, “Tibetans in Yüan China” in J. D. Langlois (ed.), China under Mongol Rule; and Shoju Inaba, “The Lineage of the Sa skya pa, A Chapter of the Red Annals” in Memoirs of the Research Department of Toyo Bunko 22 (1963), pp. 150-63.

1362 Eleven hierarchs of Phakmotru successively governed Tibet and Kham from 1349 to 1435. See the accounts in Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, pp. 73-90; and G. Tucci, Deb t'er dmar po gsar ma, pp. 203-19.

1363 Concerning the problems involved in the dating of Thangtong Gyelpo, refer to n. 1078.

1364 Four kings of the Rinpung administration successively governed Tibet from 1435 to 1565. See Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, pp. 86-90.

1365 The Three Gyamtsos were Phukpa Lhündrup Gyamtso, the founder of the old Phukpa school, Khedrup Gyamtso and Sangye Gyamtso. See Schuh, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Tibetischen Kalenderrechnung, pp. 81, 83, 86.

1366 E. G. Smith in his introduction to L. Chandra (ed.), The Life of the Saint of Gtsan, p. 3, provides no date for the death of Künga Zangpo, the madman of Central Tibet (b. 1458). For the madman of Tsang, Sangye Tshencen's death, however, he suggests 1495 in Śaṅs-pa gser-'phreṅ, p. 6.

1367 Pawo II, Tshuklak Trhengwa lived not from 1454 as stated in our text, but from 1504 to 1566. Hence he was in his 4th year (not 54th) when the ninth cycle began in 1507. Correction made with the Author's approval.

1368 On the kings of the Tsang administration (1565-1641) in Tibet, see pp. 682-3, 783; and Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, pp. 89-113.

1369 The date for Lhodruk Zhapdrung Ngawang Namgyel's death is usually given as 1651. His death was originally concealed until 1705 approximately with the pretense that he remained in a secret retreat. See Aris, Bhutan, pp. 233-42.

1370 The role played by the Qōśot Mongols under Guśri Qan in the establishment of the Dalai Lama's temporal power is alluded to on pp. 682-3 and 823. See also Ahmad, Sino-Tibetan Relations in the Seventeenth Century; and Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, pp. 131-7.

1371 In 1717 the Dzungars occupied Lhasa and killed Lhazang, the leader of the Qōśot Mongols who had previously murdered the regent Sangye Gyamtso and helped the Chinese to remove Dalai Lama VI in 1706. A great persecution of Nyingmapa monasteries followed, resulting in the deaths of Locen Dharmaśrī, Cangdak Pema Trhinle and others. This is certainly one reason for the subsequent shift in Nyingmapa activity to East Tibet from the eighteenth century onwards. See especially Petech, China and Tibet in the Early XVIIIth Century.

1372 On the setting of Pemakö, the Author's native place, see J. Bacot, Le Tibet Révolté: Vers Népémakö, la terre promise des Tibetains, pp. 10-12; also TH, pp. 407-8. Rikdzin Dorje Thokme is probably to be indentified with Bacot's “grand lama nommé Song-gye Tho-med.”

1373 Gyelse Zhenpen Thaye of Dzokcen was born not in 1740, as the original text states, but in 1800. The date of his death is presently unidentified. See Tulku Thondup Rinpoche, The Tantric Tradition of the Nyingmapa, p. 95.

1374 On the Gurkha invasion of 1855, see Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, pp. 156-66. This was their second attack upon Tibet. On the first, see p. 838. The 1846 Tibet-Nepal Treaty is given in Richardson, A Short History of Tibet, pp. 247-9.

1375 Jamgön Kongtrül passed away either in 1899 or 1900 according to different systems of calculation; see nn. 1191 and 1201 for an explanation.

1376 1888 marks the Tibeto-British conflict over the boundaries of Sikkim, at which time the British invaded the Chumbi valley. It was a confrontation which led to the Younghusband expedition and treaty of 1904, the year of the Author's birth. For a detailed study of these events, see, e.g., P. Mehra, The Younghusband Expedition. Many useful references and a good overview of the conflict in its wider historical contexts may be gathered from D. Woodman, Himalayan Frontiers; and A. K. Jasbir Singh, Himalayan Triangle.

1377 In 1910 the troops of Chao Erh-feng occupied Lhasa, and Dalai Lama XIII was temporarily driven to seek refuge in India. See Shakabpa, Tibet: A Political History, pp. 225ff.

1378 mdzes-byed or the water hare year is the thirty-seventh year in the sexagenary cycle; zad-pa or fire tiger is the sixtieth.

1379 It is recorded that the Rudrakulika will be a future emanation of the Author. The wheel (cakra) of power, or force, turned by Rudrakulika is of iron. It symbolises the authority of a universal monarch (cakravartī), and may also be fashioned of gold, silver or copper (Khetsun Zangpo Rinpoche). According to Longdöl Lama, Collected Works, Vol. Ja, fol. 12a, and Stein, Recherches sur l'épopée et le barde au Tibet, pp. 525-6: “he was invested as a universal monarch by a sign which fell from the sky, viz. a wheel of iron.” Cf. also Bernbaum, The Way to Shambhala, pp. 238ff.

1380 On Buddhist cosmology in general, see Kloetzli, Buddhist Cosmology. The temporal scheme of the universe presupposed here is similar, though in specifics not identical, to that of the Hindu Puranas, according to which, as summarised by Basham, The Wonder that was India, pp. 320-1, each aeon (kalpa) is divided into:

… fourteen manvantara, or secondary cycles, each lasting 306,720,000 years, with long intervals between them… Each manvantara contains seventy-one Mahāyuga, or aeons great ages], of which a thousand form the kalpa. Each mahāyuga is further divided into four yugas or ages, called Kṛta [rdzogsldan], Tretā [gsum-ldan], Dvāpara gnyis-ldan] and Kali [rtsod-ldan]. The lengths of these ages are respectively 4800, 3600, 2400, and 1200 Brahmā-years of the gods; each of which equals 360 human years.

These four successive ages represent a gradual decline in positive attributes. For the special meditative practices and vehicles associated with these particular ages, see Fundamentals, p. 268.

1381 See Longcen Rapjampa, Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle, Chs. 1-2, for a thorough survey of cosmology according to the Great Perfection.

1382 The realms in which the emanational buddha-body operates are those of the world of Patient Endurance. See Fundamentals, p. 130. This world is held to be situated at the heart centre of Vairocana in the form of the Great Glacial Lake (Skt. Mahāhimasāgara); see p. 409. The heart-orb (dpal be'u, Skt. śrīvatsa) symbolised by the auspicious eternal knot is itself indicative of the world system of Patient Endurance.

HISTORY: CLOSING STATEMENTS

1383 The verses that follow are composed in an extremely ornate style of Tibetan ornamented verse (snyan-ngag, Skt. kāvya) which reflects the conventions of Indian courtly poetry, both by displaying much metrical variation, and by the employment of varied and sometimes complex tropes, including simile (dpe-rgyan, Skt. upamā) and extended metaphor (gzugs-ldan, Skt. rūpaka). Unfortunately, the intricate characteristics of this verse-genre do not run as well in English as the more simple and direct aspects of many other types of Tibetan verse. Useful background reading on the main features of classical Sanskrit poetics is M. van Buitenen et. al, The Literatures of India. See also Fundamentals, pp. 104-6.

1384 This metaphor is based on the legend of the goddess Gaṅgā, who embodies the River Ganges, becoming entwined in the locks of Maheśvara (lord Śiva) and so conducted on her steady course to the ocean. It is said of Śiva in this connection that “holding the Ganges on his head, he brought into his power the means of the liberation of the world.” Quoted in A. Daniélou, Hindu Polytheism, p. 215. Cf. also Basham, The Wonder that was India, p. 374. On the term “awareness-holders' piṭaka”, see Fundamentals, p. 78.

1385 The term “supreme transformation” or “great transformation” ('pho-ba chen-po) is explained in Fundamentals, pp. 241-2.

1386 I.e. those who indulge in parochialism.

1387 Lake Manasarovar situated near Kailash is renowned as a sacred pilgrimage place of vast riches and blessings. For a fine description, see Lama Anagarika Govinda, The Way of the White Clouds, pp. 197-211.

1388 For the “threefold reason” see the Glossary of Enumerations under three kinds of valid cognition.

1389 The Fifth Guide will be the next buddha, Maitreya.

1390 This metaphor compares the cakravartin's wheel of gold with the indestructible nucleus of the teaching. Its axis is the teaching of All-Surpassing Realization (thod-rgal), its spokes are Cutting Through Resistance (khregs-chod) and its rim is Transcendental Perfection (pha-rol-tu phyin-pa). These teachings are explained in depth in Fundamentals, Pts. 3-4.

1391 Catri Tsenpo (bya-khri btsan-po) was the middle son of King Drigum Tsenpo (gri-gum btsan-po) who fled to Mount Kanam in Puwo after his father's assassination, and established a residence there. He is known as a “deity of the Radiant Heaven” since he was a close descendant of the divine kings of Tibet who, after fulfilling their purpose, were said to ascend to the heavens on a sky-cord. Catri Tsenpo's father is said to have been the first mortal king of Tibet.

1392 The water tiger year (dge-byed) is the thirty-sixth in the sexagenary cycle. This is a new Phukpa calculation.

1393 Some traditions ascribe the birth of Guru Padmasambhava to the sixth Tibetan month. However according to the new Phukpa calendar of the Mindröling tradition, the monkey month is the fifth, and the older Tshurpu and Phakpa systems enumerate it as the seventh. The present calculation is based on the new Phukpa system.

1394 Ratnapurī is, in this case, the town of Mandi in Himachal Pradesh. It is held by Tibetans to be the ancient kingdom of Sahor; see pp. 470-1.

1395 I.e. Shinglotsel in Bhutan.