Notes 689 m kha’ rgyal msthan (1 6-1 401), who also had strong Nyingm a ties T h e latter text was edited (not authored) by Longchenpa as part o f the Mkha g ’ ro snying thig in the Snying thib yab bzhi The similarity betw een these two texts has been confirmed m ore recently by Franz-Karl Ehrhard in his Flügelschláge des Garuda (Franz Steiner Verlag, 1990) N ow , the words “Golden Garland” in the title o f said text edited by Longchenpa may well have caused its being conflated with Tsongkhapa’s LSSP, thus adding to the claim that the latter is actually by Longchenpa I am indebted to Matthew Kapstein for providing m e with this information 28 Though PBG opens w ith a brief “I pay h om age to the Buddha,” this is obviously just the h om age for the b eginning o f the text up through bodhicitta (the first o f the ten points o f the k now ledge o f all aspects) and not for the entire text For the next section on the instructions (the second point o f the knowledge o f all aspects) starts with paying h om age to the dharma Also, there are further such brief hom ages throughout the follow ing chapters (such as to the safigha in the m iddle o f the point o f the factors d u cive to penetration; to the guru, before the purifica tions o f the second bhümi; to Maitreya, in the section on the knowledge o f the path o f árávakas and at the beginning o f the third chapter on the knowledge o f entities; to Samantabhadra, in the context o f the 173 aspects o f the com plete training in all aspects; to Vimalaklrti, before the characteristic o f distinctiveness; to Avalokita, toward the end o f the culm inating training; and to Ajita, at the beginning o f the sámbhogikakáya) 29 In th e current editions, only th e colophon for th e print b y th e then King o f Derge, Karma Tsewang Rinchen Chogdrub (Tib ka rma tshe dbang rin chen m ch og grub), which is found at the end o f PBG, attributes this text to Patrul Rinpoche, calling it “a concise commentarial c o m pendium on the Abhisamayálamkára ” (Tib m n g o n rtogs rgyan bsdus grel k un las btus pa) 30 Haas 2008 (p 311) suggests that it seems plausible that Patrul R inpoche consciously chose LSSP as the basis for PSD and PBG not only for itscontents, but also for diplomatic rea sons in the sense o f the Rimé m ovem ent, that is, as a suitable text for studying prajñápáramitá during a politically sensitive period 31 The colop h on o f this text says that Padma Gyurmé Gyatso com p osed it according to the brief explanations by T endzin Karwang (Tib bstan ’dzin gar dbang) 32 Tib pad ma ’gyur m ed rgya mtsho 33 Tib sm in grol gling 34 Tib gter bdag gling pa 35 As with a num ber o f other works ascribed to M ipham Rinpoche, th e colop h on o f MCG says that it was published p osthum ously in 1926 by his m ain spiritual heir, the Fourth Shechen Gyaltsab, Pema Namgyal (Tib zhe chen rgyal tshab pad ma rnam rgyal; 1871-1926) according to M ipham R inpoches notes, which had previously been copied and com pleted by the Third Kathog Situ, Chókyi Gyatso (Tib kaH thog si tu chos kyi rgya mtsho; 8 0-1 923 /25), and edited by K henpo Kiinsang Belden (Tib m khan po kun bzang dpal ldan; 1862-1943; a student o f Patrul Rinpoche, M ipham Rinpoche, and Khenpo Padmavajra) Several later N y in g m a scholars doubt M ipham R in p och es direct authorship o f MCG since they consider its style and contents as falling short o f the quality that this author generally displays in his other works 36 According to the contemporary Kagyii master Thrangu Rinpoche, the text was given to Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche (1 93 9-1 987) by Khenpo Gangshar (Tib m khan po gang shar; 1925 -1 958/59) It is currently located in A kong R inpoches Samyé Ling Center in Scotland (I am indebted to Scott W ellenbach for providing m e with this information) I did not have access to the original text and, on the scans held by the Tibetan Buddhist Resource Center (www.tbrc.org, W2CZ5665), the handwritten notes are m ostly illegible Because o f this and the rather limited num ber and length o f these notes, I have not used them in the present study 690 Groundless Paths 37 Tib thub bstan chos kyi rdo rje 38 Tib mkhan po gzhan d ga\ His actual n am e is Shenpen Chokyi Nangwa (Tib gzhan phan chos kyi snang ba) 39 See endnote 60 40 “The invincible on e” (an epithet o f Maitreya) 41 Tib bod pa sprul sku m sngags bstan pa’i nyi ma 42 Tib sher phyin gyi zin bris The colophon o f these notes says that they were com piled and arranged in the correct order by one o f D ongag Tenp£ Nyim a’s students, Yukogpa Sh£ja Giinsi (Tib g.yu khog pa shes bya kun gzigs; born twentieth century), in 1944 43 Tib ma pham dgongs rgyan 44 See the Introduction o f PSD below 45 Tib kun bzang theg m ch og ye shes rdo rje 46 Tib rdo grub chen kun bzang ’jigs m ed chos dbyings rang grol 47 As m entioned above, both texts not add anything new to the other commentaries Also, they are hardly, if at all, used in the present-day m onastic colleges o f the N yingm a School 48 Throughout the translations o f PSD and PBG, numbers in {} refer to the page numbers o f Dpal sprul ’jigs m ed chos kyi dbang po 1997 N ote also that, in the endnotes to the transla tions in this volum e, I m o stly did not repeat the additional explanations on the them es o f the AA that can be found in the general topics and endnotes in the first two volum es o f this tril ogy Therefore, for further details, the reader is referred to the respective sections and charts in Brunnholzl 2010-2011 49 PVSD (fol 2a.4-2b.3) and MPZL (pp -8 ) speak about the five excellences o f the prajnaparamita sutras According to PVSD, the excellent teacher o f the prajnaparamita sutras is Buddha Sakyamuni, the fourth leader in the good eon The excellent place is the Vulture Flock Mountain in Rajagrha The excellent retinue consists solely o f those who are endowed with the disposition o f the mahayana, with their prajria being equal to the sky and their com passion being like a river stream The excellent time is when the retinue o f those to be guided has gath ered and the time to teach them has come The excellent dharma is the middle cycle o f the words o f the Buddha—the dharma wheel o f the lack o f characteristics MPZL links the five excellences to the introduction in the sutra in twenty-five thousand lines (see CZ, pp 37ff.), with the Buddha teaching the prajnaparamita sutras through his miraculous powers o f body, speech, and mind The excellent retinue consists o f ¿ravakas (such as KaSyapa) endowed with fifteen qualities, such as their contaminations being terminated, and bodhisattvas (such as Bhadrapala) endowed with thirty-three qualities 50 Literally “chariot trailblazers.” 51 T h e five texts in th is collection are (1) Mulamadhyamakakarika , (2) Yuktisdstika, (3) Sunyatasaptati , (4) Vigrahavyavartani , and (5) Vaidalyaprakarana Other Tibetan sources either add the Ratnavali or the Vyavaharasiddhi as the sixth text, but LSSP rejects this as being mistaken 52 Both prajnaparamita and its sutras are called “m other” since prajnaparamita is sid ered as the m other o f all four kinds o f noble ones (buddhas, bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, and ¿ravaka arhats) The Tibetan tradition refers to the prajnaparamita sutras in one hundred thousand, twenty-five thousand, and eight thousand lines, respectively, as “the large, m edium , and brief mothers.” Notes 691 53 Verse 54 LSSP (fol a 4-6) adds that, in the above verse, “foun d ation ” refers to the Buddha; “governance,” to his retinue o f bodhisattvas and ¿ravakas; “activity,” to h ow to engage in prajnaparamita; “signs,” to mara’s activities and the irreversibility o f bodhisattvas; “dow nfall,” to a rebirth in the lower realms, when rejecting prajnaparamita; and “benefit,” to the merit resulting from inquiring about prajnaparamita and so on being far greater than offering a trichiliocosm filled with the seven precious items o f a cakravartin This explanation corresponds to the com m ents at the end o f Asanga’s Prajndpdramitakarikdsaptati on the Vajracchedikaprajnapdramitasutra (seeT u cci 1971, pp 5-36 ) A s C o n z e 1960 (pp -1 0 ) points out, t h e b u l k o f the fifty-eight verses o f the Prajndpdramitdrthasamgraha is based on the large prajnaparamita sutras, with no parallels in the one in eight thousand lines The four largest sutras list twenty em ptinesses, while the sixteen given by Dignaga (verses -1 ) never occur in the sutra in eight thousand lines, but correspond exactly to the contents o f the sixteen in Madhydntavibhdga I.17-20 A lm ost the entire remainder o f Dignaga’s text (verses 19-5 4) discusses the ten c o n ceptual distractions (in term s o f nonentities or entities, superim position or denial, being one or different, a p h en om en o n ’s nature or its features, and taking a referent to be just as its nam e or vice versa) and their remedies N ote that these ten distractions are not found in any know n prajnaparamita text either, but in Mahdydnasutrdlamkdra XI.77 and in Mahay dnasamgraha II.20-22 (P5549, fols 19b.6-20b.5), with the latter correlating their remedies to passages in the prajnaparamita sutras In this context, D ignaga’s verses 27ff also discuss the three natures 55 Usually attributed to Vasubandhu or Damstrasena MCG (f ol 4a.3-4) speaks about a c o m mentary on the sutra in o n e hundred thousand lines by a certain Dpa bo (*Sura) as representing this third type o f com mentarial tradition (it is unclear to w h om this refers—obviously not the early master Arya^ura—so it may be an alias o f Damstrasena) H owever, MCG (fol a -4 b l) also m entions what is known as the “Satasdhasrikdprajndpdramitdtika b y Dam strasena” (obvi ously considering these two texts to be different) and denies the assertion by som e scholars that the latter is by Vasubandhu since none o f his or Asanga’s com m entaries on the AA were trans lated into Tibetan In addition, MCG (fol 5a.4) speaks o f a Satasdhasrikdprajndpdramitdtika by King Trisong Detsen SN (p 245) just says that, in old manuscripts, the Satasahasrikapancavimiatisdhasrikdstddaiasdhasrikdprajndpdramitdbrhattika (D 3808) is said to be authored by the Kashmiri Damstrasena A m o n g later scholars, som e say that it is the Paddhati by Vasubandhu, while others deny this For the com plexities around the identity and the author(s) o f D3807 and D3808, see the Introduction in Brunnholzl 2010 56 The three approaches are found in th e Aloka (p 11) and Vasubandhu’s Brhattika, which also m entions the eleven instructional specifications (though not enum erating them in one place as eleven) N o te that the page numbers o f Haribhadra’s Aloka and the first chapter o f Aryavimuktisena’s Vrtti refer to the Sanskrit editions by Wogihara and Pensa, respectively These numbers are also indicated in [ ] in Sparham’s (2006 and 2008a) English translations o f the sections o f these two commentaries that correspond to the first three chapters o f the AA and thus can be ven ien tly located by the English reader For the rem aining chapters o f the Aloka and the Vrtti , only the Derge Tengyur folio numbers are given because the Tengyur is more widely accessible and read than Wogihara’s Sanskrit edition and there is no published Sanskrit edition o f the last seven chapters o f the Vrtti (a working edition o f the Vrtti is available in p d f form from G Sparham and the IsMEO in Rom e plans to publish a com p lete edition) 57 N o te that this position on the Paddhati is originally stated in the Bhagavatydmnaydnusarini (D3811; according to the Tengyur, this is a com m entary that follows both Dignaga’s Prajndpdramitdrthasamgraha and the Paddhati) 58 D3796, fol 2b.2-6 692 Groundless Paths 59 In the Tibetan tradition, the teachings on the clear realizations are usually called “the hid den meaning” o f the prajnaparamita sutras (this term, as referring to the subject matter o f the AA, does not occur in any Indian commentary) Gung thang dkon m chog bstan pa’i sgron me’s (1762-1823) com mentary on the Heart Sutra (trans in Lopez 1988, p 179) explains that implicit teachings and hidden m eanings differ in that the former “can be found in any text and be under stood through the power o f reasoning that analyzes the m eaning o f the explicit teaching A hidden m eaning is som ething that cannot be understood with independent analysis without being indicated through the instructions o f a guru.” MPZL (p 6) com m ents as follows: “The intention o f the prajnaparamita sutras is definite as the following two The explicit teaching (the progressive stages o f emptiness) explicitly teaches, through the one hundred [and eight] repetitive phrases, that the basic nature o f all phenom ena o f ground, path, and fruition being identityless and em pty consists o f the nature o f the three doors to liberation The hidden m ean ing (the progressive stages o f clear realization) consists o f the subjects that realize this—the clear realizations o f realizing all phenom ena o f entities, paths, and aspects as being identityless, that is, the nature o f the three knowledges—as representing the hidden meaning o f said one hundred [and eight] repetitive phrases.” 60 SN (p 247) defines these tw o “system founders” here as “those who were directly proph esied by the Buddha him self as system founders, who are taken care o f by their personal deities (such as the foremost bodhisattvas Maitreya or Mariju^rl), and w ho com m ent on the intention o f the Victor in an independent m anner without relying on any other com m entaries o f human authorship.” PVSD (fols b -3 a l) states that the large, m edium , and brief prajnaparamita sutras in one hundred thousand, twenty-five thousand, and eight thou san d lines and others contain the topics that are profound and vast Am ong these two topics, the explicit teaching (the points o f emptiness) are determined by the great system founder Nagarjuna in his collection o f Madhyamaka reasoning, which represents the tradition o f the profound view The hidden m eaning (the progressive stages o f clear realization) is elucidated by Maitreya through his AA, w hich represents the tradition o f vast activity and contains the pith instructions on m other prajnaparamita—the heritage o f all buddhas o f the three times and the single path that all bod hisattvas travel 61 Khenpo Shenga’s prologue to his SCG (Gzhan phan chos kyi snang ba 1987, pp 71.6-74.6) says that the five works o f Maitreya w ere taught as com mentaries on the intentions o f the entire mahayana A m ong them, the AA explains the intention o f the sutras that teach profound em p tiness; the Mahdydnasutrdlamkdray the Madhyantavibhaga , and the Dharmadharmatavibhaga , the intention o f the sutras that teach vast activity; and the JJttaratantra, the intention o f the sutras that teach the inconceivable nature o f phenom ena These texts were given for the sake o f guiding three types o f persons—the three middle treatises were com posed f or those to be guided through the philosophical system o f Mere Mentalism; the AA, for those to be guided through the teachings o f the *Svatantrika system; and the Uttaratantra , for those to be guided through the teachings o f the *Prasangika system Also, these five texts are taught as the remedies for six kinds o f wrong ideas As the remedies for (1) the clinging to entities and (2) the clinging to the lack o f entities, respectively, the AA teaches the lack o f any nature and all the stages o f the paths The Mahdydnasutrdlamkdray the Madhydntavibhdgay and the Dharmadharmatavibhaga were taught for those who are temporarily unable to understand the m eaning o f the freedom from extremes Thus, these texts teach the intentions, the indirect intentions, the three natures, and so on as the remedies for (3) taking said m eaning literally They also teach the infinite varieties o f the aspect o f skillful means as the remedy for (4) lacking interest in the vast aspect o f the teachings and the narrow-minded wish to merely meditate on identitylessness The Uttaratantra teaches that all sentient beings possess the buddha heart as the remedy for (5) the five faults, such as faintheartedness As the remedy for (6) the idea that if all beings have buddha nature, there can be neither any decrease o f flaws nor any increase in qualities, the text differentiates this in Notes 693 terms o f various presentations, examples, utterly pure buddhahood, and so on In particular, the AA is based on, and draws on, all prajnaparamita sutras (such as the large, m edium , and brief ones) From a m ong the three turnings o f the wheel o f dharma, it com m ents on the intention o f the sutras o f definitive m eaning from the m iddle turning on the lack o f characteristics and belongs to the category o f pith instructions on p rofoun d emptiness It was com p osed for the purpose o f guiding those w h o are ignorant about h ow the stages o f clear realization— the h id den m eaning o f the prajnaparamita sutras—are to be made a living experience 62 Here PSD differs som ew hat from LSSP (fols 6b.5-7a.5), which sum m arizes its presen tation o f the sutras correlated to the AA by saying that it is clear that the root sutras are only the first four above, or five if on e includes the one in eighteen thousand lines as com m ented on by the Astasamdnarthasasana ascribed to Smrtijnanaklrti, w hose authorship is, however, doubted by LSSP MCG (fol 4b I -6 ) also lists tw enty-one com m entaries and follows the above correlations o f the individual texts with different sutras and the AA (the first twenty c o m m e n taries are the sam e as usual, w hile the twenty-first on e is called sdud p a i gdams ngag, which seems to refer to the Munimatalamkara) As for the prajnaparamita sutras being enumerated by m any early Tibetan masters as “the six m others” (the sutras in one hundred thousand, twenty-five thousand, eighteen thousand, ten thousand, and eight thousand lines as well as the Prajndpdramitdsamcayagdtha) and “the eleven children,” LSSP (fol 6b 3-5 ) rejects it on the grounds o f the Kangyur containing m ore prajnaparamita sutras than those seventeen and the Prajndpdramitdsamcayagdtha being nothing other than one o f the chapters o f the sutra in eigh teen thousand lines SN (pp 53-5 ) provides a “qu ote” from the Kausikdprajnapdramitasutra (“On the occasion o f com pleting the seventeen m others and children o f prajnaparamita, the Bhagavan dwelled on Vulture Flock M ou n tain ”) and says that, thus, the rejection o f said en u m eration com es d ow n to contradicting the Buddha him self (however, this passage is not found in any prajnaparamita sutra in the Kangyur) SN continues that there is no flaw in applying the conventional expression “seventeen m others and children” to group together seventeen prajnaparamita sutras that were taught together by the Buddha since this does not im ply that he taught n o other prajnaparamita sutras SN does not consider the reasons for LSSP’s above rejec tion o f this enum eration as conclusive, saying that the first reason applies equally to the generally accepted enumeration o f the large, m edium , and brief prajnaparamita sutras Moreover, just as these three sutras are considered as the main ones am ong the main prajnaparamita sutras that are explained in the AA, said seventeen are also taken as the main sutras explained in the AA, but not as the only ones that exist or are explained in this text As for the second reason, the Prajndpdramitdsamcayagdtha does not have the same status as the other chapters o f the sutra in eighteen thousand lines, which is demonstrated by there being three Indian com m entaries that correlate the AA to the Prajndpdramitdsamcayagathdy but none that correlate the AA with any o f the other chapters o f the sutra in eighteen thousand lines To think that all these chapters are equal in their topic simply because they are alike in being chapters o f the sutra in eighteen thousand lines is like the reasoning that a fo x and a lion are the sam e because they are equal in being wild animals, or that a thought and a vase are the same because they are both knowable objects That the sutras explained in the AA are not limited to the large, medium, and brief ones is also stated in the o p en in g verse o f Haribhadra’s Vivrti saying that the AA is an orna m ent o f all prajnaparamita sutras (and thus o f the seventeen m oth ers and children) This is clearly evidenced by the existence o f the Indian com m entaries that directly correlate the AA not only to said three sutras, but also to the Prajndpdramitdsamcayagdtha By w ay o f quoting PSD’s above enum eration o f the six mothers as the primary sutras explained by the AA, SN also includes the sutras in eighteen thousand and ten thousand lines in this category, while “the eleven children” are said to represent the ordinary sutras explained by the AA For m ore details on all prajnaparamita sutras and the tw enty-one Indian com mentaries, see the Introduction in Brunnholzl 2010 ... belongs to the category o f pith instructions on p rofoun d emptiness It was com p osed for the purpose o f guiding those w h o are ignorant about h ow the stages o f clear realization— the h id... explanations on the them es o f the AA that can be found in the general topics and endnotes in the first two volum es o f this tril ogy Therefore, for further details, the reader is referred to the respective... as the foremost bodhisattvas Maitreya or Mariju^rl), and w ho com m ent on the intention o f the Victor in an independent m anner without relying on any other com m entaries o f human authorship.”