Chapter 2: The Critical Reception of B sod nams rin chen's Ma!nlmudrfi 47 45 cul ate d around , when Sa Pai:i composed his epi stemological masterpiece, The Repository of Polemics on Epistemology (Tshad ma rigs pa 'i gte r) , a text which still today is reg arded in all traditions of Tibetan Buddhism as one of the foremost Tibetan treatises on prama!w With The Repository of Polemics on Epistemology, S a Pai:i attempted to tidy up all impreci sions that had crept into the interpretations of the Indian pramii!W tradition in the prev ious writings by his Tibetan predecessors Some years later, Sa Pai:i wrote another polemical work entitled A Clear Differentation of the Three Sets of Vows (Sdom gsum gyi rab tu dbye ba 'i bstan bcos, or in brief Sdom gsum rab dbye) 46 In thi s text, S a Pai:i aimed at settin g straight the proper principles for Buddhist practice in relation to the three levels of vow s and commitments (sdom gsum), viz the Priitimok�a vows of liberation, the Mahayana vows of the bodhisattva, and the special observances of Tantric practice (dam tshig, samaya) B esides discussing the concrete principles of these vow s , Sa Par:i included a number of critiques of what he regarded as improper practices by his fellow Tibetan Buddhists Thus, the text's first section on the Priitimok�a vow s , which covers 24 folios in Sa Par:i's autocommentary, includes a short passage criticizing certain c ontemporary Tibetan interpretations of the buddha-nature doctrine (tathiigatagarbha) 47 The second section on the bodhisattva vows covers only eight folios in the commentary The maj or part of the text, however, is its third section, covering 62 folios , which deals with the proper practice of the Tantras , namely the methods of S ecret Mantra (guhyamantraniiya) In this part, S a Par:i was more concerned with criticizing what h e considered improper Tantric practices in the other Tibetan B uddhist traditions than he was with explaining the actual meaning and performance of the Tantric commitments (samaya ) Thus, it was in this context that he presented an implicit attack on the Bka ' brgyud tradition of Mahiimudrii as initiated by B sod nams rin chen and the way in which this form of Mahiimudrii practice had later been propagated within the " S ingle Intention" (dgongs gcig) teachings of the 'Bri gung Bka ' brgyud tradition and the "White Panacea" (dkar po gcig thub) teachings of the Tshal pa Bka ' brgyud school 45 For the date, see David P JACKSON ( 987:26-28) 46 The work includes a root text as well as a short auto-commentary entitled Sdom gsum rang mchan 'khrul med The auto-commentary does not explicitly state S a Pai:i to be its author, but it i s generally h e l d b y the later S a skya tradition t o have been composed b y S a Pai:i, a view that i s also shared by the academic specialist David P JACKSON ( 99 : 242-249) A later commentary on the text was composed in 463 by Go rams pa Bsod nams sengge ( 429- 489) under the title Sdom pa gsum gyi rab tu dbye ba 'i mam bshad rgyal ba 'i gsung rab kyi dgongs pa gsal ba 47 The passage has been translated by SEYFORT RUEGG ( 973 : -32) For a full English transla tion of the whole Sdom gsum rab dbye, see RHOTON (2002) 48 See TATZ ( 982 :5ff) 49 For the White Panacea teachings , see MARTIN ( 992) Another critique o f Bka ' brgyud Mahii.mudrii, which Sa Pai� refers to as the "later system" (phyi rahs pa 'i lugs) , was given by S a Pai� in his text Thub pa 'i dgongs gsal The critique given there is in some regards more detailed than that of Sdom gsum rab dbye, especially in its summary of B sod nams rin chen's teachings Nonetheless, it 48 Chapter : The Critical Reception of B sod nams rin chen's Mahiimudrli A Clear D ifferentiation was written around 232, when S a Pai:i was fifty years old Just twelve years later in 244, he traveled to Central Asia to meet the Mongol prince Kodan ( 206- 25 ) , a son of the Mongolian ruler Ogedei Khan ( 1 86- 24 ), who at that point controlled the Tangut region (Mi nyag, [713� Xfxia) northeast of Tibet Kodan had in 240 briefly invaded Tibet to pillage and had subsequently invited Sa Pai:i to visit him at his court in LanzhOu (M)'f'I) Having arrived there, Sa Pai:i entered into a political settlement with the Mongols in 249, which, on the one hand, prevented further Mongolian invasions of Tibet and, on the other hand, delegated great secular powers to Sa Pai:i's ' Khon clan by installing the 'Khon family as the Mongolian viceroy for the Tibetan territory S a Pai:i's Central Asian diplomatic mis sion sheds some light on the political and reli gious prestige that he possessed already prior to his j ourney S a Pai:i received a summons directly from Prince Kodan in 244 to attend Kodan' s court, suggesting that Kodan must have considered Sa Pa9 to be one of the most important b la mas in Tibet at the time A Clear Differentiation was therefore not an insignificant criticism, since it came from one of the most influential religious persons in Tibet, whose authority must have been fe lt scholastically as well as secularly Indeed, S a Pa9's criticism may be considered in l i ght of the political climate of the time As SAMUEL ( 99 : 479) writes: Among Gampopa's disciples were several founders o f maj or monastic gompa, each of which served as the center for a Kagytidpa suborder in later days These gompa were to be the S akyapa order' s main rivals in the power struggles of the thirteenth century In fact, the main Bka ' brgyud monasteries of the 'Bri gung, Tshal pa, and Karma kwri tshang traditions competed with the Sa skya pa s for the favor of the Mongols In the words of STEIN ( 972:77), " the Karma-pas were going to be the S akya-pas rivals at the court of the Emperors of China - first Mongolian (Yuan) and later Chinese (Ming) " Karma Pak�i ( 206- 28 ) , the head of the Karma kmJi tsh ang Bka ' brgyud branch, was sent for by Kubilai Khan ( 5- 294) who met him in A mdo in 25 , although this meeting did not lead to any lasting patronage Also, the 'Bri gung Rebellion of 28 - 290 should be noted, during which the 'Bri gung Bka ' brgyud monasteries supported by an army more or less repeats the same line of argument as the one found in Sdom gsum rab dbye, and it therefore need not be elaborated here for the present di scussion Sa Pai:i's Mahiimudrii critiques in both works have been treated in full detail by David P JACKSON ( 994) , who has also provided an English annotated translation of the pertinent passage from Thub pa 'i dgongs gsal (JACKSON, 994: 80- 82) For a general study of the Sdom gsum genre in Tibetan literature and the involved doctrinal debates , see SOBISCH (2002) For the date, see David P JACKSON ( : ) In another publication, JACKSON ( 994: 1 6) suggests the year 23 See David P JACKSON ( : -29) For further details o f S a Pai:i 's Mongolian mission, see (l 980a), S TEIN ( 972 :75-79), and SEYFORT RUEGG ( 966 :4- 0) For summaries o f this game for Mongolian favor, see STEIN ( 972 :75-79) and ( 99 :42-5 ) SZERB TRINLE Chapter 2: The Critical Reception of B sod nams rin chen's Mahilmudr/J 49 of Persian Mongols rose up against the Sa skya rule over Tibet In the end, the rebellion was quelled by the Sa skya pa s and the 'Bri gung monastic center was torched and burned down Sa Paiy's critique in A Clear Differentiation of the meditation systems practiced in other Tibetan traditions was thus written in a climate wherein a political power struggle between the Sa skya and the Bka ' brgyud traditions was about to evolve 54 Sa Pal) and Indian Tantric Buddhism The standpoint on Mahamudra found in A Clear Differentiation accords with the traditional Indian view of the Unparalleled Yogatantras (Rnal 'byor bla na med pa 'i rgyud, *Anuttarayogatantra or Yoganiruttaratantra) Sa Pa9 admonished that practitioners should strictly follow the Indian Tantras and their associated Indian commentaries He found that the Mahamudra doctrine propagated by B sod nams rin chen and other Bka ' brgyud pa s went against these Tantras , because B sod nams rin chen had taught Mahamudra independently of the Tantric empowerments and the pertinent yogic meditation techniques I n the eyes o f S a Pa9 , Mahamudra is exclusively linked to the wisdom that is said t o appear when practicing these Tantric empowerments Hence, before Sa Pa9's critique will be explained in detail below, the traditional role of Mahamudra in Indian Tantric B uddhism needs to be presented in brief, given that Sa Pa9 was a staunch defender of the Indian tradition The Indian term Mahamudra (phyag rgya chen po o r i n brief phyag chen) is a S anskrit compound consisting of two words: the adjective maha (chen po) meaning 'great' or 'big', and the noun m udra (phyag rgya) meaning a ' seal', ' stamp' , or 'impression' Used metaphorically, the S anskrit word mudra denotes a variety of symbols, especially symbolic handgestures employed in Indian dance and religious ritual and iconography The Indian Buddhist Tantras operate with a large number of m udras and the term Maham udra must therefore be seen in its Tantric context as being a subtype of the broader term mudra Several late Mahayana Sutras employ the term mudra55 and it is likely that the B uddhist Tantras adopted the word from these texts In these Sutras , mudra appears in the sense that See TRINLE ( 99 : 50-52) 54 David P JACKSON ( 994 : 67) has objected to such a political interpretation of S a Pa9 's motiva tion in writing his critique He devotes an entire chapter of his book ( 994 : - 22) for arguing that Sa Pai? adhered to pure scholarly principles and that he therefore ought not to be seen as having been motivated by sectarianis m He nevertheless admits ( 994 : 72) that Sa Pa9 by his criticism attempted to counter the continuing influence of the Tshal pa Bka ' brgyud school founded by Bla ma Zhang ( 1 23 - 1 93 ) , which was a maj or contender for political power at the time Sa Pa9 ' s personal motivation can, of course, never be known, but it seems to make little sense completely to ignore the political tension within which these Buddhist traditions developed 55 For discussion and examples of various uses of the word mudra in the Mahayana Sutras and Tantras, see the sixteenth-century Tibetan Mahiimudra treatise Nges don phyag rgya chen po 'i sgom rim gsal bar byed pa 'i legs bshad zla ba 'i 'od zer composed by S gam po Bkra shis rnam rgyal (c 2- 87), TBRC W23447- 89 , pp 63 - 86 (the section entitled phyag rgya chen po 'i mam 50 Chapter 2: The Critical Reception of B sod nams rin chen's Mahamudrii emptiness ' stamps', 'marks' , or 'characterizes' all phenomena, just like a seal or a stamp (i e , a mudrii) is a symbolic mark that identifies the person who h a s signed o r sent a document The Sutras thus say that all phenomena are ' sealed' by emptiness Further, in the ritual practices of the Kriyii- , Caryii-, and Yogatantras , the word m udrii designates symbolic hand gestures used for 'sealing' ritual actions through their representational intent The word is also used to express the symbolic meanings of such gestures in iconography and in the visualization of Tantric deities I n the Unpara lleled Yogatantras ( *Anuttarayogatantra), however, the terminological meaning of the word mudrii is much more complex, and it is particularly in this context that the word has been given a deeper semantic significance that is relevant for the present discussion The practice of these Tantras begins with receiving empowerment (dbang, abhi:jeka) by a master belonging to the lineage of a given Tantra The Anuttarayoga empowerment is a ritual act generally consisting of four steps known as " the four empowerments " 57 These empowerments serve to indicate the experience of spiritual realization and its qualities to the practitioner as well as to introduce the yogic techniques leading to this realization Once the practitioner has received empowerment, he or she must cultivate the understanding that was achieved during the empowerment through the meditation practices associated with each empowerment In brief, these meditation practices are divided into two overall steps known as the 'Generation Stage' (bskyed rim, utpattikrama) and the 'Completion Stage' (rdzogs rim, sampannakrama or utpannakrama) Having perfe cted these techniques involving ritual, visualization, and yoga, the practitioner must in the end let go off all contrived, premeditated efforts , since the experience of emptiness involves something that goes beyond the conceptuality embedded in these stages of practice It is this final, uncontrived stage wherein all contemplative or yogic technique has been abandoned that is refe rred to as the " Greal Seal" (Mahiimudrii) In this context, the word m udrii carries a special meaning in the Tantric practices of the Anuttarayogatantras, wherein orgasm is employed as a special sexual approach for experiencing the meditative unraveling of thought Such unraveling of thought is called 'emptiness' (stong pa nyid, sunyatii) or 'radiance' ( 'od gsal, prabhiisvara or iibhiisvara) in the Tantric terminology The basic theory is that an unraveling of thought occurs naturally during orgasm and through yogic control of the sexual experience it may become possible to remain in an intense prolonged experience of an orgasm-like bliss that reaches beyond ordinary concepts and thereby shatters the mind's usual entanglement in conceptuality The nges) English translation by LHALUNGPA ( : 97- 05 ) The following brief survey draws on the examples provided in this Tibetan text For a discussion of the seal metaphor in Chinese Buddhist texts, s ee BARRETT & PALUMBO (2007) 57 For a short descripti on and analysis of the four empowerments, see Maitripa's *$ekatanvaya saf!1graha (D2243) For further study, see KVJERNE ( 975) For a study of the sexuality involved in these Indian Tantric Buddhist texts and their rituals, see ONIANS (2003) Chapter 2: The Critical Reception of B sod nams rin chen's Mahilmudw 51 Tantric practitioner is then supposed to utilize this experience of sexual ecstacy for the spiritual purpose of realizing non-conceptuality (mi rtog pa, n irvikalpa) or 'emptines s ' The sexual practices o f the Anuttarayogatan tras involve a constellation of three or four so-called mudras or ' seals' These are named the 'Dharma seal' (chos kyi phyag rgya, dharmamudrii) , the 'knowledge seal' (ye shes kyi phyag rgya, jfiiinamudrii), the 'action seal' (las kyi phyag rgya, karmamudrii), and the 'great seal' (phyag rgya chen po, mahiimudrii) Basically, all four mudriis are 'representations' or 'symbols' of radiance and emptiness, viz the object of realization in Buddhist Tantric practice Emptiness is first expres sed in the form of the teacher's oral instruction to the practitioner, which i s referred to as the 'Dharma seal' Thereupon, to cultivate the slight experience of emptiness that naturally occurs during the height of sexual arousal and orgasm, the Tantric practitioner visualizes him- or herself as a male deity in sexual union with a female deity Here, the female deity represents emptiness and this imagined sexual partner is called the 'knowledge seal ' Having mastered the visualized technique while practicing alone, very advanced practitioners may go on to engage in sexual union with an actual partner in order to enhance the attained meditative experience, and this physical sexual partner (which generally is considered to be a female partner, since B uddhist Tantric texts almost invariably are written from a male perspective) is called the 'action seal' Through prolonged sexual union, imagined or real, the practitioner may experience a partial glimpse of Awakening, which is called 'indicatory knowledge' (dpe 'i ye shes) The indicatory knowledge enables the practitioner to progress to the final stage of the Tantric practice, which is related to the fourth empowerment of the Anuttarayogatantra s , during which 'actual knowledge' (don gyi ye shes) emerges It is such actual knowledge of emptiness or radiance that is referred to with the term the 'great seal', i.e , Mahiimudrii 58 Mahiimudrii is thus the ultimate symbol that does not point to Awakening but which rather is Awakening itself Mahiimudrii is the final view of the An uttarayogatantras and it is only taught at the highest level of their various practices Its view is the final stage, where the practitioner has attained genuine realization of emptiness, has abandoned all contrived efforts and techniques , whether sexual or otherwise, and is fully able to remain absorbed in the understanding that every perception in its true nature is Awakening (byang chub, bodhi) 59 As will be explained below, S a Pai:i maintained that Mahiimudrii only should be taught in this type of Tantric context, namely as the outcome of the four empowerments and their associated meditations of the Generation and Completion S tages involving the four mudriis He therefore strongly disagreed with B sod nams rin chen's direct way of teaching Mahii mudrii without necessarily first bestowing Tantric empowerment on the practitioner and without teaching the yogic and sexual Tantric techniques involving the four mudriis S a Pai:i also suggested that B sod nams rin chen's instant approach to Mahiimudrii, in fact, might not In this connection, GRAY (2007 : 06) has translated the word mudrii simply as 'consort' and has accordingly rendered Mahiimudrii as 'the great consort' Such a translation seems to be quite suitable for the context 59 For another brief exposition of the four mudriis, see Kv!ERNE ( 977 : 34-35 ) ... Indian view of the Unparalleled Yogatantras (Rnal 'byor bla na med pa 'i rgyud, *Anuttarayogatantra or Yoganiruttaratantra) Sa Pa9 admonished that practitioners should strictly follow the Indian... the Karma-pas were going to be the S akya-pas rivals at the court of the Emperors of China - first Mongolian (Yuan) and later Chinese (Ming) " Karma Pak�i ( 206- 28 ) , the head of the Karma... symbolic meanings of such gestures in iconography and in the visualization of Tantric deities I n the Unpara lleled Yogatantras ( *Anuttarayogatantra), however, the terminological meaning of the word