notes to th e introduction c 225 18 The vital essences (thig le, bindu/ tilaka) give the body vitality and radiance and are the seeds of great bliss They are contained within the channels and supported by the winds The body has both red and white vital essences, the red being predominant in females and the white in males The principal seat of the white is at the crown of the head; that of the red, at the navel The vital essences have both refined and residual parts See Kongtrul’s Treasury of Knowledge: Systems of Buddhist Tantra (English translation), pp 181-184 19 IOK, vol II, 655.9-14 20 IOK, vol II, pp 579.23-580.8 21 Concerning the identity of Rahulaguhya, see Chapter 3, n 113 22 A dharmodaya, or source of phenomena (chos ’byung), is imagined as a tetrahedron, the tip pointing downward and the base facing upward Abhayakaragupta explains that all steps of the visualization procedure take place within it, and thus it is known as the source of all phenomena, including all the qualities of buddhas It represents emptiness, the nature that pervades all that exists and from which all that exists manifests (Awn of Esoteric Instructions, Toh 1198, vol Cha, f 5a2-5) 23 The syllables oṃ, āḥ, and hūṃ are imagined at the forehead, throat, and heart, respectively 24 For a discussion of the three beings (sems pa gsum), the pledge-being (dam tshig sems pa, samayasattva), pristine-awareness being ( ye shes sems pa, jñānasattva), and contemplation-being (ting nge ’dzin sems pa, samādhisattva), see below, Chapter 3, n 61 25 For an enumeration of the four types of sealing (rgyas gdab), see Chapter 4, n 48 For descriptions of the sealing procedure, see Chapter 3, nn 62, 72 26 Longchenpa, Finding Comfort and Ease in the Nature of Mind, vol 2, p 21 27 Tsong kha pa blo bzang grags pa (1357-1419) See Tsong-ka-pa, Tantra in Tibet: The Great Exposition of Secret Mantra, translated by Jeffrey Hopkins, p 122 28 See Kongtrul’s Treasury of Knowledge: Systems of Buddhist Tantra (English translation), p 458, n 39 29 Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti 30 Taranatha was born in the central part of Tibet near U and Tsang and was named Kunga Nyingpo (Kun dga’ snying po) While still quite young he was recognized as the incarnation of Jonang Kunga Drolchok ( Jo nang kun dga’ sgrol mchog), an important teacher of the Jonangpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism The name “Taranatha” is the Sanskrit form of his title Drolwai Gönpo (sGrol ba’i mgon po), meaning Liberating Protector In Tibetan writings he is usually referred to as Jonang Taranatha or simply Jonang Jetsun Chenpo ( Jo nang rje brtsun chen po), names that indicate his affiliation with the Jonang school This school was founded in the eleventh century by Yumo Mikyö Dorjé (Yu mo mi bskyod rdo rje), and Taranatha was considered to be one of its two leading proponents, the other being Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen (Dol po pa shes rab rgyal mtshan, 1292-1361) Situated about a hundred miles northwest of the famous Tashi Lhunpo Monastery was the seat of 226 C not es to the intr od uc tion the Jonangpa, in the region of Jonang (the Jomonang valley in the Lhatsé county of Tsang), a place distinguished by the presence of a lofty stupa and a monastery The monastery, called Jonang Puntsok Ling ( Jo nang phun tshogs gling, Perfect Realm of Jonang), was founded by Kunpang Thukjé Tsöndru (Kun spangs thugs rje brtson ’grus, 1243-1313) At the age of sixteen, Taranatha met his Indian guru Buddhaguptanatha who was traveling in Tibet At that time the master was seventy-six One of the last recipients of the many tantric transmissions and teachings of India, Buddhaguptanatha had a vast knowledge of the history, culture, and geography of India and surrounding countries It was by relying on his guru’s knowledge that Taranatha came to write his astonishingly accurate historical works Having received teachings directly from Buddhaguptanatha, he acquired a special place in the transmission of tantra in Tibet An examination of his collected works reveals that Taranatha recorded all the essential teachings on the major tantric traditions, thereby ensuring their preservation, a role that Kongtrul himself was to continue to an extraordinary extent two centuries later The subjects of Taranatha’s vast writings range from esoteric instructions to history He produced many works on the Kalachakra, a tantra particularly important to the Jonang tradition His famous History of Buddhism in India is still regarded as a precious source of information In his writing Taranatha demonstrates an independent and critical mind and an ability to identify common misconceptions about doctrine and history that is very rare among Tibetan writers Most of Taranatha’s works are exegeses on the tantras and instruction manuals Although an adherent of the other-emptiness ( gzhan stong) approach to the great central way (madhyamaka), he wrote very few philosophical works He himself declared that he was more interested in writing liturgy and meditation texts since they would serve the welfare of others in a more significant way The main seat of Taranatha’s activity was the monastery established by him, named Takten Puntsok Ling (rTag brtan phun tshogs gling), Perfect Realm of Permanence and Stability, located near Zhigatsé (gZhis ka rtse) In Taranatha’s day, the monastery’s main patron was the ruler of Tsang, Karma Tenkyong Wangpo (Karma bstan skyong dbang po), who supported the reprinting of Jonangpa works Taranatha also founded many monasteries and taught extensively in Mongolia for almost two decades In the first half of the seventeenth century, the Jonang school was persecuted, evidently for purely political reasons After the death of Taranatha, Takten Puntsok Ling was converted into a Gelukpa monastery and renamed Gaden Puntsok Ling (dGa’ ldan phun tshogs gling) All the copies and woodblocks of Taranatha’s works were secreted in a hidden chamber of the Potala, and their printing was long forbidden However, in the nineteenth century Zhalu Ribuk Tulku Losal Tenkyong (Zha lu ri phug sprul sku blo gsal bstan skyong), a contemporary of Kongtrul, apparently persuaded the authorities to allow one edition to be printed The Jonangpa school survived the persecution and still exists in its own right today Many of its teachings and philosophical perspectives have been absorbed into the Karma Kagyu and Shangpa Kagyu schools A set of prints of Taranatha’s complete works, produced from the woodblocks of Takten Puntsok Ling, was preserved in the library of the Tok (sTog) Palace in Ladakh and published in 1983 by C Namgyal and Tsewang Taru in Leh We have used this edition as our source material Unfortunately, it contains a number of transcription notes to chapter one c 227 errors and lacks several volumes A digital version of the Dzamthang Tibet edition is available through TBRC 31 The three isolations (dben pa gsum) are the isolation of body, that of voice, and that of mind See below, Chapter 7, section entitled “The Arya [Nagarjuna] Tradition.” 32 By means of this practice one causes the winds to enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel See below, Chapter 8, n 50 33 In this practice one elicits and stabilizes the pristine awareness of the four joys See below, Chapter 8, n 50 34 In this practice is cultivated uncommon emptiness and unchanging bliss See below, Chapter Twelve, section entitled “The Ultimate: The Great-Seal Completion Phase.” 35 gtum mo; caṇḍālī See below, Chapter 8, section entitled “The Hevajra Completion Phase: The Second”; and Chapter 11, section entitled “The Yoga of Inner Fire.” 36 The four joys (dga’ ba bzhi): initial joy, supreme joy, special joy, and innate joy See below, Chapter 3, n 82 37 For a description of this realm and the beings who inhabit it, see Kongtrul’s Treasury of Knowledge: Myriad Worlds (English translation), pp 123-125 and 130 38 A city of gandharvas (dri za’i grong khyer) is a concentration of gandharvas, scenteating beings of the spirit class, that forms a “settlement” complete with buildings and inhabitants, appearing and then disappearing after a few days, or a few moments, without leaving any trace 39 Focus on mind (sems la dmigs pa, cittālaṃbana) refers to a stage in the Arya tradition of Guhyasamaja, that of purification of the mind, meaning the realization of natural awareness, which comes from the stopping of the one hundred and sixty “natures” (i.e., conceptions) See below, Chapter 7, n 40 Jewel Affinity (Toh 4024), vol Phi, f 57b1 41 For a discussion of the meanings of total apprehension (ril por ’dzin pa, piṇḍagraha) and successive destruction (rjes su gzhig pa, anuvināza), see below, Chapter 7, nn 33, 34; and Chapter 12, section entitled “Meditation on Luminous Clarity.” 42 Dilgo Khyentsé Rinpoché (1910-1991), an outstanding dzogchen master, spent twenty years in retreat and had countless students of many different nationalities This informal statement was made in Bodhgaya in 1988 43 Blazing Splendor: The Memoirs of the Dzogchen Yogi Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, as told to Erik Pema Kunsang and Marcia Binder Schmidt (Hong Kong: Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 2005), pp 312, 314 (Permission to include this excerpt granted by author.) Chapter 1: An Introduction to Tantric Meditation This means that the presentation here is based primarily on what is formulated in the tantras (rgyud ), as opposed to treating the same subject from the perspective of the 228 C not es to chapter one traditions of esoteric instructions (man ngag) The esoteric-instructions traditions are presented in Book Eight, Part Four, of Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé’s IOK Continuation of the Guhyasamaja Tantra (Toh 443), vol Ca, f 152a2 At the end of the first line of this citation, the Dergé Kangyur edition reads chos bstan pa; Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé’s IOK (Beijing edition) reads chos bstan la The line has been translated according to the Dergé Kangyur sgom don: what is cultivated or meditated upon in each of the two phases, i.e., the methods practiced in each phase rnam rtog gi rtsol ba: the effort of conceptual thought applied to the imaginative processes in the phase of creation 5 A reference to the five patriarchs of the Sakya tradition (sa skya’i rje btsun): Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (Sa chen kun dga’ snying po) (1092-1158), Sönam Tsemo (bSod nams rtse mo) (1142-1182), Drakpa Gyaltsen (Grags pa rgyal mtshan) (1147-1216), Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen (Sa skya paṇḍita kun dga’ rgyal mtshan) (1182-1251), and Chögyal Pakpa (Chos rgyal ’phags pa) (1235-1280) One of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the Sakya (Grey Earth) tradition takes its name from the monastery founded by Könchok Gyalpo (dKon mchog rgyal po) (1034-1102) in southwestern Tibet This triad represents the essence of the phase of creation in the inner tantras Kongtrul explains that the first, purification (dag pa), means to purify the stages of birth, and so forth, all the bases to be purified, by applying a meditation that accords in features with birth, death, and the intermediate state The second, completion (rdzogs pa), means to manifest a special potency that makes it possible to awaken the qualities of awakening, the result, through relying on concentrations that accord in features with liberation, buddha realms, etc The third, ripening (smin pa), means to ripen the cause and establish the basis for meditation on the completion phase, the higher path that is the cause for the attainment of the awakened qualities It is the first two aspects, purifying and completing, that allow the third, ripening, to take place See Kongtrul’s Manual for the Performance of Retreat on the Tantras of the Marpa Tradition, f 4b2-3 This means the capacity to gain the particular powers that would be acquired in this phase, including becoming ripened for practice of the phase of completion The bliss that arises from the melting (zhu bde) of vital essence refers to the bliss experienced when the vital essence at the crown of the head melts and descends to the various channel-wheels of the body The phase of creation (bskyed rim, utpattikrama); the phase of completion (rdzogs rim, niṣpannakrama) The Tibetan phoneticization of the Sanskrit terms as they appear in IOK should be amended to utpatti and nishpanna 10 Kongtrul explains the meaning of “the innate” (lhan cig skyes pa, sahaja) in terms of the ground, the path, and the result In the context of the ground, the innate means ultimate luminous bodhichitta, which transcends the domain of the intellect It is the lord pervader of everything in existence and beyond, the ground or essence of all In the context of the path, in a general sense, the innate means the view that understands notes to chapter one c 229 e mptiness–luminous clarity In a hidden sense, the innate refers to the direct experience of the innate fourth joy, which occurs as the inner winds dissolve in the central channel, effected through the technique of inner fire or through reliance on a consort In the context of the result, the innate refers to that very innate of the ground, which, through the strength of contemplation of the innate of the path, has become free from obscurations and possessed of the two purities See Kongtrul’s Phrase-by-Phrase Commentary on the Hevajra Tantra (henceforth cited as Commentary on the Hevajra), ff 92b5-93b5 11 For details of the life and tradition of Nagarjuna, see Chapter 3, n 50 12 The Commentaries by the Bodhisattvas (Byang chub sems dpa’i ’grel pa/ Sems ’grel skor gsum), three commentaries on tantras contained in the Tengyur: Vajrapani’s Eulogy Commentary on the Chakrasamvara Tantra (Toh 1402); Vajragarbha’s Commentary Epitomizing the Hevajra Tantra (Toh 1180); and Pundarika’s Stainless Light Commentary on the Kalachakra Tantra (Toh 1347) 13 The context of the ground ( gzhi dus) refers to the starting point of tantric practice, when the fundamental nature of the body and mind has not yet been realized The context of the path (lam dus) means the endeavor to realize that fundamental nature The context of the result (’bras dus) means having awakened the qualities of the ground once that fundamental nature of body and mind has been realized 14 The phase of completion is differentiated in terms of causal aspects (rgyu’i rdzogs rim) and resultant aspects (’bras bu’i rdzogs rim) According to the Galpo Tantra, the causal aspects of the phase of completion include self-consecration (rang byin brlabs), that is, the visualization of syllables, and so forth, in the central channel, which brings about the dissolution of winds and the ensuing experience of bliss; the circle of the mandala (dkyil ’khor ’khor lo), which means practices with a real or imaginary consort; and the great seal (phyag rgya chen po) in its special tantric form (serving the same purpose as self-consecration) They are defined as “causal” because they act as factors in the eliciting of the experience of bliss The resultant phase of completion comprises aspects related to emptiness (stong phyogs), appearances (snang phyogs), and the union of appearances and emptiness (zung ’jug) The emptiness aspect refers to the experience of the three stages of light and luminous clarity; the appearance aspect, the illusory body; and the union aspect, the coalescence of luminous clarity and illusory body at the stage of training and at the stage beyond training See Kongtrul’s Treasury of Knowledge: Systems of Buddhist Tantra (English translation), pp 243-270 15 Illusory body (sgyu lus, mayadeha): the actual manifestation of the form of the deity and the mandala See Chapter 11, section entitled “The Illusory Body.” 16 Continuation of the Guhyasamaja Tantra (Toh 443), vol Ca, f 154a4-5 The citation as found in the Dergé Kangyur reads: thun mong mchog gi bye brag gis/ tha mal sgrub la bsnyen pa bya/ rdo rje bzhi po thun mong ste/ ye shes bdud rtsi mchog yin no That differs slightly from the IOK version The verse has been translated in accordance with IOK 17 This verse indicates that the steps to achieve ordinary powers are the four vajra yogas that comprise the phase of creation, namely, yoga (rnal ’byor, yoga), subsequent yoga (rjes su rnal ’byor, anuyoga), superior yoga (shin tu rnal ’byor, atiyoga), and great yoga (rnal ’byor chen po, mahāyoga) The steps to achieve the supreme power (awakening) are the six branches of yoga that comprise the phase of completion, namely, with- ... Kongtrul’s Treasury of Knowledge: Myriad Worlds (English translation), pp 123-125 and 130 38 A city of gandharvas (dri za’i grong khyer) is a concentration of gandharvas, scenteating beings of the... See Kongtrul’s Treasury of Knowledge: Systems of Buddhist Tantra (English translation), pp 243-270 15 Illusory body (sgyu lus, mayadeha): the actual manifestation of the form of the deity and... snying po) (1 092-1158), Sönam Tsemo (bSod nams rtse mo) (1 142-1182), Drakpa Gyaltsen (Grags pa rgyal mtshan) (1 147-1216), Sakya Pandita Kunga Gyaltsen (Sa skya paṇḍita kun dga’ rgyal mtshan) (1 182-1251),