532 Chapter : The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum dream consciousness (rmi lam gyi shes pa), the experiences of this life and the next ( 'jig rten 'di dang phyi ma), or everything in SaJ??Siira and nirvii�w Finally, when everything is experienced as being of the same flavor (ro mnyam pa), the result is comparable to space ( 'bras bu nam mkha ' !ta r) The state or 'body' of great bliss (sku bde ba chen po) found in all outer and inner phenomena is realized without any act of cognition (yid la mi byed pa, *amanasikiira ) This is buddhahood It is explained that such an achievement is derived from different stages of practice Meditation on the Generation Stage (bskyed rim) leads to the attainment of the emanation body (sprul sku, *nirmii'.lakiiya) Meditation on radiance ( 'od gsal) leads to realizing the dha rmakiiya (chos sku) The medita tion on union (zung 'jug, *yuganaddha ) produces attainment of the enj oyment body (longs spyod rdzogs pa 'i sku, *sm11bhogakiiya) The realization of the three bodies as being insepa rable (sku gsum dbyer med du rtogs pa) is the attainment of the body of great bliss (de ba chen po 'i sku, *mahiisukhakiiya) B uddhahood is thus endowed with these four bodies The segment ends with a brief colophon (cited in Tibetan above) : " Taught by master Tailopa to the splendid Naropa " Segment DK.A.Ki : The segment begins (DK.A.Ki 4a7 ) : lus gnad kyi man ngag lags sol/ //bla ma dam pa mams la phyag 'tshal lo/ /gdam ngag nyams su Zen pa 'i dus na 'di ltar shes par bya ste/ It ends with the colophon (DK.A.Ki 4b ) : /b la ma chen po nii ro pa 'il lthabs lam khyad du 'phags pa 'di/ lskal ldan las can ma yin pal lgzhan la byin na dam tshig nyamsl/ 1 77 The segment's title heading (cited in Tibetan above) says : "Here is the Instruction on the Key point of the B ody " This short segment explains that the practitioner at the outset should know the right sitting posture very well It then outlines this position, explains the visualization of the three channels inside the body and briefly indicates the visualization for the yoga of inner Heat (gtum mo) By meditating repeatedly on Inner Heat, the experience of bli s s-heat (bde drod) will appear and thereby the realization of radiance ( 'od gsal) will automatically emerge in the mind The segment ends with a colophon (cited in Tibetan above) saying: " If this very special method path of the great teacher Naropa were taught to someone who is not probably suited to receive it, it would damage the Tantric commitment (dam tsh ig, *samaya) " Segment DK.A.Ki : The segment begins (DK.A.Ki 4b ) : /chos rje dags p o lha rje 'i gsung/ go cha gnyis kyi man ngag gzhugs sol/ //bla ma mnyam med rin po chel It ends with the colophon (DK A Ki 5b ) : /tha mal gyi shes pa bya ba/ rtog pa lam du 'khyer ba 'i man ngag go// 178 The segment is partly parallel with segments DK.A.A I O and DK.A.Khi It commences with a longer title (cited in Tibetan above) : "The Instruction on the Two Armors, a S aying by the Dharma Master the Doctor from Dags po " The title 1 77 Correl ated passage s : DK a.Kha.25b -26a1 , DK.B Ki 4ar 4h DK.D Ki 14 4�- 4b i , DK.Q.Ki 445b -s , DK.R.Ki 4.2 b 4-22a4, D K S Ki a5 -23b , DK.T.Ki 4n- 4b , Phyag chen mdzod vol Ka (TBRC W23447- 894) pp 02 _5 1 78 Correlated passage s : DK.a.Kha.45b6-47a , DK.B Ki 4b4l 5b6, DK.D Ki 4b - 5b4, DK.Q.Ki 4.445b -446b , DK.R.Ki 22a4-24%, DK S Ki 23b -26a3 , DK.T Ki 4b- 5b, Phyag chen mdzod vol Ka (TBRC W23447- l 94) pp 502 -507 i Chapter : The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum 533 marks the starting point of the second cycle of teachings in text DK.A.Ki, its teaching cycle on Mahamudra called the Two Armors (go cha gnyis, *dvayasm.n naha) The two armors , which are the armor of the view (!ta ba 'i go cha) and the armor of insight (shes rab kyi go cha) , have been mentioned in passing once before in the bka ' 'bum, namely in segment DK.A.Dza l Here, however, they make up the central theme of the text Following a homage verse to the bla ma, it is said that the practitioner needs to cut the bonds to this life , abandon what is to be abandoned (spang bya, prahatavya) , and develop what is to be developed (blang bya, pratigrhftavya) These points are briefly explained with reference to the four conditions, i e , the causal condition (rgyu 'i rkyen , *hetupratyaya) , the dominant condition (bdag po 'i rkyen, *adhipatipratyaya), the focal condition (dmigs pa 'i rkyen, *alambanapratyaya) , and the immediately preceding condition (de ma thag pa 'i rkyen, *samanantarapratyaya) The explanations thereon are partly similar to those found in segment DK.A.A I O T o accomplish such a path, i t i s stated that the practitioner needs to rely o n a teacher (bla ma, *guru ) , who may assume either of two forms On the one hand, the teacher may appear as thoughts , and the practitioner therefore ought to regard thoughts with gratitude and utilize thoughts as the path (rtog pa lam du 'khye r ba) On the other hand, the teacher may appear as a person, who is someone capable of transforming adverse conditions, who se wishes or prayers (gsol ba 'debs) are powerful, who is without delusion, and who is able to instill insight in the student With these preliminary instructions in place, the text now turns to its main topic, namely the two armors It says that the yoga of the co-emergent ( lhan cig skyes sbyor, *sahajayoga) is put into practice ( lam du 'khyer) by means of the two armors (go cha gnyis), being the armor of the view (lta ba 'i go cha) and the armor of insight (shes rab kyi go cha) The armor of the view means to bring forth the right understanding of the mind in terms of four points ( ) The first is to understand the characteristics of awareness (shes pa 'i mtshan nyid, *jiianalak�a(ia), seeing its non-arising as dharmakaya (skye ba med pa chos sku), its non-ceasing as sambhogakaya ( 'gag pa med pa longs sku), its non-abiding as nirmti(iakaya (gnas pa med pa sprul sku), and the inexpressibility of the unity of these aspects as svabhavikakaya (ngo bo nyid kyi sku ) (2) The second is to understand the special characteristics (khyad par gyi mtshan nyid, *vise�alak�m:ia) thereof, that is to say, the particular implication, namely that thoughts and ideas are not to be removed or abandoned, but that they should be understood to be part of the four buddha bodies (sku, *kaya) , given that they are all mind (3) Thirdly, the characteristics of its activity (byed pa 'i mtshan nyid, *karm;.alak�a(ia) needs to understood in the manner that although realization leads to the four buddha bodies, the nature of things is nonetheless illusory, given that the things not involve any doer or agent (byed pa po, *kartr) (4) Finally, the characteristic of the appearance [of the mind] (ngo bo nyid kyi mtshan nyid, *svabhavalak�a(ia) is explained as denoting that realization has always existed within, having the form of the four buddha bodies All phenomena are subsumed under these four characteristics and knowing this is the armor of the view 534 Chapter 5: The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum The armor of insight refers to the process of realizing the view by practicing meditation The segment first explains how to sit in the correct meditation posture When sitting thus, the practitioner should bring forth the right motivation of bodhicitta Then he should observe the mind with insight and pronounce the following words out loud three times: "It has no birth, no end, no staying The mind is not a thing " 17 This constitutes the insight of listening (thos pa 'i shes rah) The meditator should then look at the mind and observe each of these points for himself, which brings out the insight of understanding (bsam byung gi shes rah) The logic behind each statement is briefly explained in the text Finally, the meditative experience that ensues from such analysis is a feeling of the mind being like the center of the clear sky That is the insight of meditation (sgom byung gi shes rah) It is here underlined that the meditator must regard any thought that arises as wholly natural and necessary and he should think of each thought with gratitude In this way, thoughts be comes quiet in and of themselves, and that is the technique to be employed for making thoughts part of the path (rtog pa lam du 'khye r ba) With repeated and sustained practice, the meditator will increase the achieved level of insight, which will lead him through the four yogas , namely the yoga of one-pointedness (rtse gcig gi rnal 'byor) , the yoga of freedom from conceptual proliferation (spros brat gyi rnal 'byor) , the yoga of the same flavor of various things (du ma ro gcig gi rna l 'byor) , and the yoga of great meditative absorption (mnyam bzhag chen po 'i rna l 'byor) The segment ends with a brief colophon (cited in Tibetan above) : " [This was] the instruction on bringing thoughts onto the path, called the natural mind " Segment DK.A.Ki : The segment begins (DK A Ki 5b1) : bla m a rin po che la phyag 'tshal loll /bla ma 'i zhal nasl than cig skyes sbyor sgom pa 'i dus na/ It ends (DK.A.Ki 6ai) : de las med/ 'bad nas bsgoms gsungl/ 1 The segment contains a short outline of the two armors (go cha gnyis, *dvayasm1111 a ha), which respectively are said to represent the outer (phyi) and inner (nang) aspects of practicing the yoga of the co emergent ( lhan cig skyes sbyor, *sahajayoga) The armor of the view (lta ba 'i go cha) is never to stop practicing positive actions (dkar po 'i chos spyod) and never to give in to even the smallest negative action (sdig pa phra zhing phra la 'dzem pa) The armor of insight (shes rab kyi go cha) is to let the mind rest undistractedly, while neither seeing the attain ment of a deep and pleasant meditative absorption as a good quality nor seeing the lack thereof as a fault When the mind rests undistractedly, thoughts simply not arise, but when the mind is distracted (yengs pa) thoughts arise When a thought arises, the meditator should look directly at it and see that it neither entails birth, abiding, nor ter mination, that it is without any identifiable independent nature of its own, that it is simply 1 In Tibetan : skye ba med pal 'gag pa med pal gnas pa med pal sems dngos po med pa 'o// 1 ° Correlated passage s : DK.a.Kha.47a3-47b i , DK.B Ki 5br l 6l4, DK.D.Ki 5b4- l 6a2, DK Q Ki 6.446br447l4, DK.R.Ki l 24a6 -25 , DK.S Ki 6.26a3-26b4, DK.T.Ki 5b- 6n, Phyag chen mdzad vol Ka (TBRC W23447- 894) pp 507 -5082 Manuscript DK.a contain s an additional correlated passage on folio DK.a.Kh a 48b2_4, which attests a variant version of the beginning of segment DK.A.Ki Chapter : The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum 535 mind, that the mind is empty and birthless, and that this quality is the dha rmakaya Thereby, the meditator should understand that a thought is nothing else than the mind and it does not exist apart from the mind, which is empty Applying himself like that, the meditator should strive in his meditation The segment has no colophon Segment DK.A.Ki 17 : The segment begins (DK.A.Ki 6a4 ) : llbla m a rin p o che 'i zhal nasl sangs rgyas la re ba med de/ It ends (DK.A Ki l 6b ) : Ide dge bshes lea gs ri ba 'i 'khyer lugs yin gsungll 1 The segment contains a short outline of an instruction on how to turn thoughts onto the path (rtog pa lam du 'khyer ba) according to a method taught by the Bka ' gdams pa Dge bshes who was named Bla ma Lcags ri ba The instruction and its wording are closely parallel to a similar instruction given in segments DK.A.La ! and DK.A.A First, it is pointed out that the meditator does not need to harbor any hope for buddhahood, since the three buddha bodies exist inherently within himself, and he also need not entertain any fear of sa17isara , since smJisara entails nothing to be abandoned and since it, in fact, constitutes the fuel or firewood (bud shing) for kindling the fire of insight Thereafter, three methods for how to deal with thoughts in meditation are taught, namely to quell them as soon as they are encountered (phrad '}oms) by seeing them as being unborn, to pursue them (phyi bsnyag pa) through analysis of their source, or to entertain them (or, literally, " let them emanate" ) in spite of their being non-existent (med sp rul pa) These instructions are here explained in brief, in the same manner as they were summarized above under segment DK.A.La I Finally, three analogies are presented to illustrate how thoughts may be useful to the meditator These are the analogies of the wild spreading of a bush fire (nags la me mched pa), the melting of snow that falls into a lake (kha ba bahs tshad chur ro gcig tu 'gro ), and the sense of recognition experienced when meeting an old acquaintance (sngar 'dris kyi mi mthong ba) These analogies are presented in the same manner as summarized in segment DK.A.La ! The segment ends by stating that this is the approach for employing ( 'khyer) [thoughts on the path] that was taught by Dge bshes Lcags ri ba The segment has no colophon Segment DK.A.KU S : The segment begins (DK A Ki 6b ) : lhan cig skyes sbyor nil gang dang skyes sbyor zhe na/ It ends (DK.A.Ki l a6 ) : sems skye 'gag gnas gsum dang bra! ba 'i ngang la 'jog pa n i ma yengs pa 'ol/ 1 82 The segment opens by giving an explana tion for the term "yoga of the co-emergent" (lhan cig skyes sbyor, *sahajayoga) The question is asked what it is that is 'co-emergent' or, literally, " arises together" (gang dang 1 Correlated DK.a.Kha.47b , DK.B Ki 6�- 6b2, DK.D.Ki 6ar l 6b , DK.R Ki l 25 a -25b4, DK S Ki l 26b4-27b2, DK.T.Ki 6n- 6b, passage s : DK.Q.Ki l 447 a4-447h Phyag chen mdzad vol Ka (TBRC W23447- 894) pp 508r5094 1 Correlated passages : DK a.Kha.47b -48b2 and DK.a.Kha.48b4 (the end of the segment i s 5 split in two o n folio b b y a short interposing segment that contains a p arallel t o segment DK.A Ki ; for details , see fn 1 80), DK.B Ki l l 6b3- l a6 , DK.D Ki 6br l 7as, DK.Q.Ki 447br448 a4, DK.R.Ki 25b4-27a , DK S Ki 27br29a , DK.T.Ki 6b- 7n , Phyag chen mdzad vol Ka (TBRC W23447- 894) pp 5094-5 536 Chapter : The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum skyes sbyor zhe na) Thus, it is here probed what is meant by the literal meaning " arising together" or "born together" ( *saha-ja), or - perhaps more appropriately for the present context - by the literal meaning of the Tibetan translation of the term, namely " arisen (skyes) as a pair (lhan cig) " or "born (skyes) as a pair ( than cig) " The answer given is that what arises together is knowledge (rig pa, *vidyii) and being empty (stong pa, *sunya) These two aspects are neither identical nor different Rather, the meaning is that knowledge, presence (gsal ba, *vyakti), and bliss (bde ba, *sukha) are all 'yoked' or 'j oined' together (sbyor ba, *yoga) within emptiness (stong nyid, *sunyatii) It is in this sense that it is called " union arising as a pair" (than cig skyes sbyor) , if the term should here be translated strictly in accordance with how the segment interprets it Following this semantic exegesis, the segment gives an explanation of the two armors (go cha gnyis) The armor of the view ( lta ba 'i go cha) is again presented in the framework of the characteristics of awareness (shes pa 'i mtshan nyid), the special characteristics (khyad par gyi mtshan nyid) , the characteristics of activity (byed pa 'i mtshan nyid) , and the characteristic of the nature (ngo bo nyid kyi mtshan nyid) These features are explained along the s ame lines as was done in segment DK.A.Ki The armor of insight (shes rah kyi go cha) consists in the three insights of listening , understanding, and meditating These are generally to be practiced in the manner explained previously (DK.A.Ki 5) , but the explanation of the insight of meditation (sgom pa 'i shes rah, *bhavaniimayf prajfiii) is here presented with a little twist S imilar to segment DK.A Ki , meditation is here taught with reference to the four kinds of yoga (rnal 'byor rnam pa bzhi) Here, however, these yogas are given additional explanation and the instruction on how to handle thought attributed to Dge bshes Lcags ri ba in segment DK.A.Ki is brought in Thus, the yoga of one-pointedness (rtse gcig gi rnal 'byor) consists in remaining without distraction (ma yengs par 'dug pa) When this has been achieved, the meditator must lead thoughts onto the path (rtog pa lam du longs) either by quelling them as soon as they are encountered (phrad ]oms) or by pursuing them [through analysis of their source] (phyi bsnyag) Thereby, the yogf understands that it is not the right way of practice to attempt to be wholly without thoughts ; rather, thoughts should be viewed as being very helpful This is the second level, the yoga of being free from conceptual proliferation (spros bral gyi rnal 'byor) By making this experience undistracted, outer perceptions (phyi 'i snang ba) are cut off and become indistinct and ephemeral (ban bun tsam) This is the yoga of the same flavor of the manifold (du ma ro gcig gi rnal 'byor) B ecoming well-trained therein, 'awareness' or 'knowledge' (rig pa, *vidyii) becomes completely naked (gcer bu 'ba ' zhig) That is the completion of training and the attainment of dhannakiiya, and this is the yoga of being meditation-les s (sgom med kyi rnal 'byor) These explanations teach the two armors of the view and insight It is said that the instructions of a true teacher are always accompa nied by meditative experience (nyams myong) In brief, all thoughts are mind and to rest the mind in a state that is completely without arising, ceasing, or abiding is non-distraction (ma yengs pa, *avik�epa or *avik�ipta) The segment has no colophon ... the characteristics of awareness (shes pa 'i mtshan nyid, *jiianalak? ?a( ia), seeing its non-arising as dharmakaya (skye ba med pa chos sku), its non-ceasing as sambhogakaya ( 'gag pa med pa longs... agent (byed pa po, *kartr) (4 ) Finally, the characteristic of the appearance [of the mind] (ngo bo nyid kyi mtshan nyid, *svabhavalak? ?a( ia) is explained as denoting that realization has always... by the literal meaning of the Tibetan translation of the term, namely " arisen (skyes) as a pair (lhan cig) " or "born (skyes) as a pair ( than cig) " The answer given is that what arises together