Chapter 2: The Critical Reception of B sod nams rin chen's MahiimudriJ 77 Tex ts " (Snying po skor drug) , 14 and Maitrlpa' s above-mentioned " Cycle of Teachings on No n- Cog nition " ( Yid la mi byed pa 'i chos skor) 1 B oth the latter text cycles are partly as soc i ate d with Maitrlpa, since he is said to have recovered S araha's Dohiis found in " The Cycle of Six Heart Texts " based on his vision of S abari and since he authored most of the works in "The Cycle of Teachings on Non-Cognition " It may be added that the first cycle, viz "The Seven Siddhi Texts , " was disseminated in Tibet already prior to the propagation of Maitrlpa's own works in Tibet In spite of the noticeable absence of more numerous references to Maitrlpa's writings in the Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum, it is clear that the later Tibetan tradition considered these textual cycles to be central for the Tibetan Mahiimudrii transmission For example, The Blue An nals refer to Maitrlpa's tradition when defe nding the Mahiimudrii doctrine of B sod nams rin chen, in that it references Sahaj avajra's commentary on Maitrlpa's Tattvadafaka : Now, during the time of Mar pa and Mi la ras pa, the understanding of Mahiimudrii was ascribed to the [Tantric] Completion Stage (sampannakrama) , in that an understanding derived from [the yoga of] Inner Heat (gtum mo) was produced first and based thereon an understanding of Mahiimudra was subsequently brought about [in the student] Dags po'i rin po che (i e , B sod nams rin chen) caused an understanding of Mahiimudra to arise even in beginners who had not received [Tantric] empowerment This is called the Paramita method (i.e , the Common Mahayana) With regard to this, though the Dharma Master S a skya pa (i e , S a Pai�) stated that the Param ita method ought not t o be called Mahamudra, since the awareness of Mahamudra arises solely from Tantric empowerment, [he was mistaken] [In fact,] the [Indian] A carya Jfianaklrti states in his Tattviivatara that even at the level of an ordinary person, someone who possesses a sharp intellect may attain an irreversible understanding, since he can understand Mahamudrii properly and with certainty [merely] by relying on the [Common Mahayana] practices of famatha and vipasyana in accordance with the Piiramita approach Moreover, in S ahaj avajra's commentary on the Tattvadasaka , we find: "The essence is the paramitiis, [whereas] mantra is a later adj ustment This is called Mahiim udra and it is clearly explained as an awareness that understands Suchness having three specific features (i e , bliss, presence, and non-thought) " Accordingly, varies slightly in different sources, and since the Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum nowhere specifies which texts the authors of this corpus considered to be included in the cycle of Grub pa sde bdun, it remains un certain how the precise list looked for the authors of the Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum 1 "The Cycle of Six Heart Texts " (Snying po skor, also called Snying po 'i skor or Snying po 'i skor drug) are defined in Bu ston Rin chen grub's bstan 'gyur catalog as : ( ) S araha's Dohako�a (Q3068, D2224) ; (2) Nagarjunagarbha's Caturmudranifraya (Q3069, D2225) ; (3) Devacandra's Prajfiiijiianapraka§a (Q3070, D2226) ; (4) S ahajavajra's Sthitisamuccaya (Q307 , D2227 ) ; (5) Kud dalI's Acintyakramopadesa (Q3072, D2228 ) ; and (6) A ryadeva's Cittavara!wvifodhana-niima prakara!W (Q2669 , D l 804) See B u ston Rin chen grub, Bstan 'gyur gyi dkar chag yid bzhin nor bu dban g gi rgyal po 'i phreng ba in Bu ston rin chen grub kyi gsung 'bum, vol 26 (La) , folios 47a3 -47b , pp 497-498 , TBRC W l 934-0759 1 See fn 06 78 Chapter 2: The Critical Reception of B sod nams rin chen's Malnlmudrii Rgod tshang pa [MGon po rdo rje] has explained that S gam po pa's pii ram i tii method is preci sely what had [formerly] been taught by Maitrlpa However, it is [also] certain that S gam po pa [additionally] taught his own personal pupils a [form of] Mahiimudrii whose path is mantra 1 According to this later Tibetan view dating from the fifteenth century, B sod nams rin chen's Mahiimudrii doctrine continued a trend first initiated by Maitripa and his peers of attempt ing to synthesize the terminology and practices of the Anuttarayogatantra s with the doctri nes of the Common Mahiiyiina Yet, how might this trend relate t o S a Pai:i's negative view o f Bka ' brgyud Mahiim udrii? S a Pai:i's own Tantric tradition had been handed down within his Sa skya clan The core of this tradition are Tantric teachings that had been gathered in India by the great translator 'Brog mi Lotsa ba Shakya Ye shes (992- 074) , 1 a little over two hundred years prior to S a Pai:i The Blue Annals state that 'Brog mi was sent t o India b y the Tibetan master Rin chen bzang po (95 8- 05 ) , when the latter was nearing the age of fifty 1 This means that 'Brog mi went to India around 00 'Brog mi stayed in India for thirteen years studying with S antibhadra, S anti pa, and Prajfiendraruci , and thereupon returned to Tibet around 02 This fits well with another statement found in The Blue Annals saying that Mar pa Chos kyi blo gros ( 009/ 02 - 097) went to learn S anskrit from 'Brog mi in Tibet when Mar pa was fifteen years old, which would correspond to 02 if the birth year of Mar pa is taken to be 009 1 In Tibet, 'Brog mi taught several students, one of whom was 'Khon Dkon mchog rgyal po ( 034- 1 02), Sa Pai:i's forefather who founded the monastery of Sa skya in 07 Comparing the dates o f 'Brog mi's visit t o India (ca 008- 02 ) with the dates of Maitripa (ca 1 0- 087), it would seem that 'Brog mi may have visited India before the new trend of synthesizing the teachings and practices of the Anuttarayogatantras with the Common Mahiiyiina had come to fore, since one of the maj or figures in this movement was Maitripa who flourished in the middle of the eleventh century It is therefore conceivable that Sa Pai:i's more orthodox view of Mahiimudrii as only belonging within the frame of the four empowerments and the four mudriis was derived from a slightly earlier stage in Indian Tantrism that existed prior to the time when the monastic establishment had truly begun to emphasize Mahiimudrii meditation as a non-Tantric possibility In extension thereof, B sod 1 The Blue Annals (CHANDRA, 974:632-63 ; ROERICH, 949: 724-725 ) The English translation is partly based on B ROIDO ( 98 : 2- 3) 1 The dates are according to STEIN ( 97 2: ) and ZHANG ( 99 : 7) SNELLGROVE ( 98 : 37) gives 'Brog mi's dates as 992- 072 without mentioning his source 1 The Blue Annals (CHANDRA, 974: 84- 89 ; ROERICH, 949 : 205-2 0) 1 The Blue Annals (CHANDRA, 974: ; ROERICH, 949 : 99) The dates of Mar pa remain problematic For a discussion, see DAVIDSON (2005 : 42- 48) His birth year is variously believed to be 009 or 02 Regarding the year of Mar pa's death, another Tibetan source ought to be added to the previous discussion in the form of the recently published biography by Rngog Zhe sdang rdo rj e ( 07 8- 1 54), wherein the year of Mar pa's death is given as "the wood ox year" (shing glang), i e , 085 C E S e e Rngog chos skor phyogs bsgrigs, vol (Beijing: Dpal brtsegs bod yig dpe mying zhib 'j ug khang, 2007), Chapter 2: The Critical Reception of B sod nams rin chen's Mahamudrfi 79 nams rin chen's more liberal view of Mahiimudra could be seen as a further development in the mer ger of the Tantric subculture with the culture of the Common Mahiiyiina, which had ini ti ally been promote d by Maitripa Still , as noted above, Maitripa never spoke explicitly of Mahiimudrii as a practice to be used outside the Tantric context of the four empowerments and the four mudriis Instead, he only attempted to explain certain key Tantric terms by equaling them with well-known philosophical concepts of the Common Mahayana, in particular with the Madhyamaka philosophy Maitripa, therefore, does not seem to have severed Mahamudra from its Tantric context, as it was later made explicit in B sod nams rin chen's contemplative approach Moreover, the two cases of non-Tantric forms of Mahiimudrii attested in Jfi anaklrti' s Tattviivatiira and S ahaj avajra' s Tattvadasakaffka cited by MATHES cannot be sai d to constitute full equivalents of B sod nams rin chen's much more extensive Maham udra system Although much of the Tibetan Mahiimudra terminology consists of Tantric terms that also appear in the writings of Maitripa and other authors belonging to his circle, the texts of Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum not directly and explicitly rely on these Indian treatises, either by quoting or explaining them While the authors of B sod nams rin chen's contemplative community may have had general knowledge of the exi stence of Maitripa's textual corpora, it does not seem that they ever studied these sources closely Hence, it appears rather difficult outright to conclude that B sod nams rin chen's Mahiimudra doctrine was directly derived from Maitr1pa Perhaps it was merely the case that Maitripa's synthesis of Tantra and Common Mahayana served as an indirect inspiration for B sod nams rin chen and other early Tibetan Mahiim udra teachers and authors Conversely, Sa Pai:i had a certain case in point with his critique, given that Mahamudra in the multivalent senses of this term traditionally did belong firmly to the context of the four empowerments and the four mudras of the Anuttarayogatantras , and it was only in very exceptional cases separated from this context in Indian sources Consequently, it would seem pertinent to conclude that Bsod nams rin chen's Mahamudra approach in large part was a novelty, an innovative approach to B uddhist meditation practice which carefully attempted to fuse the existing Indian-Tibetan traditions of Tantric and Common Mahayana practices in a new way considered more suitable for the needs of Tibetan meditators living in communities of ascetic wilderness retreat in the twelfth century 120 It should be noted that an exception in this regard is the Indian Tantric treatise Acintyiidvaya kramopadefa composed by Kuddalapada, which is commented upon in text Za of the Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum (DK.A.Za) Kuddal apada's work is not included in Bu ston Rin chen grub' s list of the eight Siddhi texts, but it is found among the eight Siddhi texts edited and published by SAM-DHONG & DWIVEDI ( 987) S ee fn 1 above The form of Maluimudra taught in thi s work by Kuddalapada i s , however, clearly framed in the Tantric context o f the four empowerments and the four mudriis Part II The Narrative Construct of a Founder ... contemplative approach Moreover, the two cases of non-Tantric forms of Mahiimudrii attested in Jfi anaklrti' s Tattviivatiira and S ahaj avajra' s Tattvadasakaffka cited by MATHES cannot be sai d... of Tantra and Common Mahayana served as an indirect inspiration for B sod nams rin chen and other early Tibetan Mahiim udra teachers and authors Conversely, Sa Pai:i had a certain case in point... given that Mahamudra in the multivalent senses of this term traditionally did belong firmly to the context of the four empowerments and the four mudras of the Anuttarayogatantras , and it was only