32 Chapter : The Essence o f Mahiimudrii title, Dags po thar rgyan) To such doctrinal or theoretical teachings, he then added instruc tion on practical techniques in the form of Mahiimudrii meditations aimed at instant Awa kening, being the goal of the Tantras B sod nam rin chen's Mahiimudrii method made it possible to leave out the higher stages of the Tantric path, namely the practices of the Six Doctrines of Naropa as well as the more advanced Tantric sexual techniques known as " the path of means" (thabs lam, *upiiyamiir ga),6 which according to the Indian Tantric tradition would normally be required in order to reach full Awakening within a single lifetime, i.e , the Tantras' fo urth and final stage known as Mahiimudrii B sod nams rin chen' s Mahiimudrii approach could thus be explained as a Mahiiyiina-based shortcut to the highest Mahiimudrii level of Tantric practice Later Tibetan sources, such as Sgam po Bkra shis mam rgyal's ( 2- 587) Mahiimudrii Moonlight (short title, Phyag chen zla ba 'i od zer) , referred to B sod nams rin chen's ap proach as Slitra Mahiimudrii (mdo 'i phyag chen) , a term which i s , however, not used in�the Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum itself The expression Siitra Mahtim udrii implies that B sod nam rin chen's Mahiimudrii teachings were rooted in the Common Mahiiyiina doctrines, i.e , the Siitras , rather than in the yogic techniques of the Tantras with all their sexual symbolism The opposite of Slitra Mahiimudrii was by later Tibetan authors labeled Tantra Mahiimudrii (rgyud kyi phyag chen) , referring to the traditional Indian form of Mahiim udrii practice that is the culmination of the regular Tantric path It seems that B sod nams rin chen's perhaps unique Siitra Mahiimudra approach w as a novelty in Tibetan B uddhism at the time In his booklength study of the Bka ' brgyud Slitra Mahiimudrti approach and the criticism it provoked from the side of more orthodox fol lowers of the Indian Tan tras within the Tibetan Sa skya tradition, David P JACKSON ( 994: 0) has succinctly characterized B sod nams rin chen's contribution to this develop ment in the following word s : I n the later part o f h i s life, [Sgam p o pa B s o d nams rin chen] gave increasing attention to transmitting directly the highest Great Seal [Mahiimudrii] insight, perhaps in part also as an outgrowth of his own deepened and intensified spiritual insight What was somewhat revolutionary about the approach sGam-po-pa adopted was that he sought ways to transmit this insight outside of the traditional Mantrayana method, which treated it as an ultima�e and highly secret "fruit" instruction to be conveyed only after full, formal Tantric initiation and in connec tion with special yogic practices Along the same lines, the fifteenth-century Tibetan religious history The Blue Annals (Deb ther sngon po) has characterized in slightly more detail the manner in which B sod nams rin chen is said to have circumvented the traditional Tantric approach: Throughout the book, most of the correlated S anskrit words marked with an asterisk, supplied as possible linguistic correspondences for the pertinent Tibetan word or expression, have been drawn from the Tibetan-Chinese-S anskrit index of the Indian contemplative treati se YogacarabhUmi com piled by YOKOYAMA & HIROSAWA ( 996) For the term Siitra Mahiimudrii in later Tibetan traditions, see MATHES (2006 : 20 -207) Chapter : The Essence of Mahiim udrii 33 Concerning that [teaching on Mahiimudrii] , Master Mi la had not given the [Tantric] Path of Means (thabs lam) and the Mahiimudrii [instructions] separately from one another Yet [Bsod nams rin chen] taught the instructions on the Path of Means [only] to those who were suitable recipients of the Mantra teachings, while he gave instructions on Mahiimudrii [also] to those who were suitable recipients [only] of the [Common Mahayana] Perfection Vehicle ( *Piira-mitiiyiina) teachings, even though [these latter practitioners] had not received Tantric empo-werment He composed a step-by-step manual of practical instructions called Sahajayoga (lhan cig skyes sbyor) , which generally became known also as "The Realization Teach ings from Dags po" (dags po 'i rtogs chos) He taught that although the scriptures mention many essential qualities of the teacher and the student, a student need not have many qualification s ; it suffices if the student just has devotion He swiftly produced realization of Mahiimudrii even in the minds of some unintelligent, poverty-stricken, or negative-minded persons He moreover composed a literary treatise on the teaching-stages (bstan rim) of the Bka ' gdams pa tradition and also gave much practical advice He therefore became renowned for having merged the two streams of Bka ' gdams pa and Mahiimudrii The Blue Annals further illustrate with another story how openly B sod nams rin chen i s thought t o have taught MahiJm udrii i n comparison t o how selectively he is believed t o have taught the Tantric methods of the "Path of Means" or the " Method Way " (thabs lam ) : I n the end, when [Bsod nams rin chen] was passing into Nirvii!Ja i n the water female-hen year [ 1 53 CE] , two monks each holding a sacrificial cake (gtor ma, *bali) in their hands approached, calling out: "We request instruction in the Path of Means, so pray compassionately accept us ! " "Don't let them come near," [Bsod nams rin chen] replied Then one of his attendants advised them : " You should call out saying that you are requesting Mahiimudrii ! " Accordingly, those two then called out for a long time : "But we are requesting Mahiimudrii, sir ! " Thereupon, [Bsod nams rin chen] said, "Now send them in, " and he let them in and gave them the instructions of Mahiimudrii In this way , he emphasized Mahiimudrii in particular from among his teachings It is this particular Mahiimudrii approach expressed in the oral teachings of B sod nams rin chen that will be briefly outlined in the present chapter A detailed presentation and defi nition of B sod nams rin chen's Mahamudrii doctrine has so far not been undertaken in Western sources What is currently available in the form of academic studies are a brief synopsis of B sod nams rin chen's four stages or yogas of Mahiimudrii (rnal 'byor bzhi) (MARTIN, 99 : 250-252), a short discussion of B sod nams rin chen's Mahiimudrii doctrine emphasizing how his teachings can be classified and compared with other approaches, particularly those of classical Tantra and the Common Mahayana (JACKSON, 994 : - ) , The Blue Annals (CHANDRA, 974:400 ; ROERICH, 949:459-460) For a n alternative translation, see JACKSON ( 994: 1 ) The Blue Annals (CHANDRA, 974:402 ; ROERICH, 949:46 -462) For a n alternative translation, see JACKSON ( 994: 4) Chapter : The Essence of Mahamudrii 34 and an in-depth study of a single text from the Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum dealing partly with Mahiimudrii (SHERPA, 2004: 129-293) In order first to identify the kind of contemplative approach involved in B sod nams rin chen's Mahiimudrii system, the following pages will offer a brief outline of its philosophical basis, meditational methods, and the result that these methods are intended to produce in the practitioner These three are in later Tibetan sources respectively referred to as the basis (gzhi) , the way (lam), and the result ( 'bras bu) of Mahiimudrii To make the treatment as straightforward as possible, the overview will be given in the form of selected quotations of actual passages from the Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum The reader should keep in mind that the texts in question are not said to have been written directly by B sod nams rin chen himself, but they are stated to have been composed by his disciples on the basis of records of B sod nams rin chen' s oral sayings The Basis for Mahamudra The basis for Mahiimudrii is a certain 'theory', 'understanding', 'outlook', or 'view' (lta ba, *dr�ti) of the nature of the mind The texts of Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum employ a particular ter minology to describe this nature Since B sod nams rin chen' s Mahamudra doctrine has its indirect basis in the Indian Tantras and the Doha songs of realization by Indian yogfs , the majority of the terminology seems to have originated from those genres 1 One such term i s the " innate" or " the co-emergent" (lhan cig skyes pa, *sahaja) In the Mahiimudrii context, the word signifies the perfection that is naturally found within every experience or - in other w ords - dharmakiiya (chos sku) as inherently present within all Tan tra (rgyud) here refers to the B uddhist Tantric texts , which for the Tibetan tradition specifically are those works found in the rgyud sections of the Tibetan bka' 'gyur and bstan 'gyur canons Doha (mgur) is, in the Buddhist tradition, a song or poem of spiritual realization usually attributed to an Indian Tantric master, a so-called mahasiddha (grub chen ) For an exposition of the Doha genre, see KvJERNE ( 977) The broader designations yogi (rnal 'byor pa, *yogin) and tantrika, literally meaning "yoga practitioner" and "follower of Tantra" respectively, are here used to denote Tantric practitioners in general Regarding the spelling of the word yogi, it will throughout this book be spelled in its S anskrit nominative form yogi, which is the form of the word that comes closest to the common English u s age yogi The proper stem form of the S anskrit word, however, is yo gin 1 It should be underlined that there still exists no detailed study of Mahamudra terminology that thoroughly traces the Indian, Chinese, or Tibetan sources for the basic terms Accordingly, the present terminological remarks given in this book should be regarded as highly preliminary 12 The translation 'co-emergent' is just one possible way of capturing the meaning of this term, in the sense that 'co-emergent' here means " innate within every moment of experience " GUENTHER ( 969) and KVJERNE ( 977 : -62) have both used the translations 'coemergence' or 'co-emergent' for the term David P JACKSON ( 994: 6) has employed the translation 'innate simultaneously arisen gnosis' for lhan cig skyes pa 'i ye shes ( *sahajajiiana) The literal meaning of the Sanskrit word is "born/arisen (ja) together with (saha ) , " implying something inborn, natural, or inherent which has been present since birth The literal meaning of the Tibetan term is "born/arisen (skyes pa) as [part of] a pair (lhan cig ) " Chapter I: The Essence of Mahiimudrii 35 perceptions B sod nams rin chen often taught the co-emergent as being binary : it is a natural perfection, liberation, or purity to be found both within perception (snang ba, *avabhasa) as well as within the perceiver, i e , the mind as such (sons nyid, *citta ta), and these two elements are co-emergent (lhan cig skyes pa, *sahaja) In a collection of notes on B sod nams rin chen's Teachings to the Gathering (tshogs chos), his student Sho sgom Byang chub ye shes (dates unknown), who was renowned for his special attainment in meditation, 13 wrote : In general, Mahiimudrii is without divisions, but solely for the sake of enabling yog is to comprehend the meaning of Mahiimudrii, to make them realize what has not yet been realized, a twofold division [is given] : the co-emergent mind as such and the co-emergent perceptions So it was said [by B sod nams rin chen] As for these, the co-emergent mind as such is dharmakiiya, while the co-emergent perceptions are the radiance of dharmakiiya Now, the co-emergent the mind as such, dharmaka_va, is devoid of all conceptual entanglement It is without color or shape, uncontrived in nature It has no identi fiable character, but as an analogy it is like space, since it embraces everything It is without conceptuality, unchanging, the emptiness of emptiness of a self-existing nature The co-emergent perceptions , the radiance of dharmakiiya, are like a wave of reali zation that is self-arisen as it has no cause or condition It is that which involves all the different positive, negative, and unspecified thoughts that pass by Are these two identical or different? For those without realization they are perceived as though they are different, but for those who have become realized by means of the instructions of a genuine teacher, they are identical In a list of B sod nams rin chen's students appended to text Na of the Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum entitled Answers to the Questions of Yogi Chos 'byung, Sho sgom Byang chub ye shes appears to be named as one of B sod nams rin chen' s two disciples who had attained special accomplishment (dngos grub, *siddhi) : "The two having special accomplishment were Gsal stong Shor sgom and Rnal 'byor Chos g yung " DK.A.Na.2.4a3 : khyad par can gyi grub thob gnyis nil gsal stong shor sgom! mal 'byor chos g.yung ste/ It seems that the name Gsal stong Shor sgom here refers to Sho sgom Byang chub ye shes Tshogs chos bkra shis phun tshogs, DK.A.Nga.9 1 a-b (critical edition based on manuscripts DK a and DK.A) : spyir phyag rgya chen po la dbye ba med kyang/ mal 'byor pa mams kyis phyag rgya chen po 'i don khong du chud par bya ba 'i ched du 'am/ ma rtogs pa rtogs par bya ba 'i ched tsam du! dbye ba mam pa gnyis tel sems nyid lhan cig skyes pa dang/ snang ba lhan cig skyes pa gnyis yin gsung! de la sems nyid than cig skyes pa nil chos kyi sku yin! snang ba than cig skyes pa ni chos sku 'i 'od yin/ de yang sems nyid than cig skyes pa chos kyi sku de spros pa thams cad dang bral bal kha dog dang dbyibs dang bra! ba! rang bzhin ma bcos pa 'o/ /ngo bo ngos bzung dang bra! ba/ dpe ' nam mkha ' !ta bu yin te gang du yang khyab pal mam par rtog pa med pal mi 'gyur ba ngo bo nyid kyis stong pa nyid kyis stong pa nyid cig yin/ snang ba than cig skyes pa chos kyi sku 'i 'od nil rgyu rkyen dang bral bas rang byung rtogs pa 'i rba rlabs dang 'dral blo bur gyi dge ba dang mi dge ba dang/ 36 Chapter J: The Essence of Mahclmudra B sod nam rin chen's younger nephew and later lineage holder, Shes rab byang chub ( 1301 173), encapsulated the same point as follow s : Your own co-emergent mind is the actual dharmakiiya The co-emergent perceptions are the light of dharmakiiya The co-emergent thoughts are the waves of dharmakava The co-emergent inseparability [of these] is the meaning of dharmakiiya As suggested by the word 'inseparability' (dbyer med, *abheda) in the last line of the poem, the given explanation is not meant to imply any dichotomy between a perceiving subj ect and a perceived object, or between the mind, perception, and thought, since the co emergent is said to be characterized by non-duality (gnyis su med pa, *advaya) Thus, Sho sgom Byang chub ye shes further wrote : Moreover, the co-emergent perceptions never stop being the co-emergent mind as such In order to realize this, there are three teachings that generate reali-zation One must understand that from a source that isn't anything, it emerges as a multiplicity Although it emerges as a multiplicity, one must understand that it isn't any obj ect at all And one must understand that when that has been realized, its non-duality cannot be expressed in words Concerning this, a source that isn't anything refers to the co-emergent mind as such That which emerges as a multiplicity refers to the co-emergent percep-tions That it isn't any obj ect at all although it emerges as a multiplicity should be understood in the way that all the different thoughts are untrue and not exist as any kind of [real] obj ects To understand that when that has been realized, its non-duality cannot be expressed in words means that the realization of the non-duality of perception and realization is beyond the ex-pression of language Although Mahamudra is frequently referred t o as a 'theory' o r 'view' ( !ta b a , *dr�ti) , the word 'view' does here not imply a belief A belief is a concept (rnam rtog, *vikalpa) or a conceptual entanglement (spros pa, zprapafica), while the co-emergent is said to be free lung ma bstan pa 'i rnam rtog du ma dang bcas pa 'di yin/ de gnyis gcig gam tha dad na ma rtogs pa rnams la tha dad pa !tar snang yang bla ma dam pa 'i gdam ngag gis rtogs pa rnams la gcig yin tel Chas rje dags po !ha rje 'i gsung/ snying po don gyi gdams pa phyag rgya chen po 'i 'bum tig, DK.A.'a.4 2b : rang sems lhan cig skyes pa chos sku dngos/ snang ba lhan cig skyes pa chos sku 'i 'od/ rnam rtog lhan cig skyes pa chos sku 'i rlabs/ dbyer med lhan cig skyes pa chos sku 'i don! Tshogs chos bkra sh is phun tshogs, DK.A.Nga 1 b (critical edition based on manuscripts DK.a and DK.A) : snang ba lhan cig skyes pa yang sems nyid lhan cig skyes pa las ma 'das tel de !tar rtogs par byed pa la rtogs par byed pa 'i chos gsum ste/ gzhi ci yang ma yin pa las sna tshogs su shar bar shes par bya ba dang/ sna tshogs su shar yang don ci yang ma yin par shes par bya ba dang/ rtogs pa 'i dus n a gnyis med smrar mi btub par shes par bya 'o/ Ide la gzhi ci yang ma yin pa ni sems nyid lhan cig skyes pa 'o/ sna tshogs su shar ba ni snang ba lhan cig skyes pa 'o/ !sna tshogs su shar yang don ci yang ma yin pa nil rnam par rtog pa du ma de don ci yang ma yin pa mi bden par shes par bya 'o/ rtogs pa 'i dus su gnyis med smrar mi btub par shes par bya ba n il snang ba dang rtogs pa gnyis med du rtogs pa de smra r med pal ... free lung ma bstan pa 'i rnam rtog du ma dang bcas pa 'di yin/ de gnyis gcig gam tha dad na ma rtogs pa rnams la tha dad pa !tar snang yang bla ma dam pa 'i gdam ngag gis rtogs pa rnams la gcig yin... thoughts are the waves of dharmakava The co-emergent inseparability [of these] is the meaning of dharmakiiya As suggested by the word 'inseparability' (dbyer med, *abheda) in the last line of the. .. his teachings can be classified and compared with other approaches, particularly those of classical Tantra and the Common Mahayana (JACKSON, 994 : - ) , The Blue Annals (CHANDRA, 974:400 ; ROERICH,