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Introduction:
At a certain point, I began to ask the Vidyaadhara questions like, Aren't you teaching, and manifesting, that really everything is the purity of the absolute? Once in particular I asked him whether Tibetans had anything to say similar to the net of Indra teaching of Hwa Yen and Zen. This symbolizes Ga.n.davyuuha, the vision of the relative as the sambhogakaaya realm of infinitely interpenetrating totality. I thought he would know, having both transmissions. He replied, Longchenpa says a lot about that in the Precious Treasury of Dharmadhaatu. I asked if it would be alright to look at it and he said, Yes. Actually net teachings are more explicitly treated in the Sangnying. (gsang snying = gsang ba'i snying po). So it seems that it was the primordial perfection of ati that he primarily wanted to communicate. My Tibetan is not good enough to read such a difficult text without actually translating it, so here is what happened. Later I told him I was translating this. He said it would be good if it were available to his students when they began to practice nyingma teachings. At the same time he was somewhat apprehensive that these teachings might be misunderstood and end up doing harm. Don't do anything inappropriate, he said. It would have been natural to ask for clarification, but I didn't. That seemed to happen a lot with him. However, there are various familiar instructions that he gave that seem relevant. First there are the teachings of transcending concept. It is not appropriate to intellectualize ati as a philosophical system. At the same time it is not an instruction to abandon study. One need only think of H. H. Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche in that regard. It is not appropriate to take the teachings of non-effort as an excuse to abandon the other practices we have been given, or not to relate to the sangha or the teaching ma.n.dala the Vidyaadhara created. Those situations were the very means by which he, as an ati master, hoped we would finally achieve this fruition. The buddhas are beyond conceptual good and evil because they are compassion and wisdom. The absolute teachings do not mean that we should not have compassion for those, including ourselves, who think they are sentient beings. Still less is ati meant as a license to ignore ordinary standards of considerate behavior and common sense. Even a cat can look at the King. Just so, ordinary people can get a glimpse of the vision of enlightened beings by associating with masters like the Vidyaadhara. But we should not think we have actually attained that level until we are capable of the achievements of individuals like Milarepa and Padmasambhava. Even then, The sages dwell in complete humility. If we take these cautions to heart any danger from these teachings will probably be minimized. At the same time we are really supposed to grasp this vision of absolute buddhahood insofar as we can. You would not think it was necessary to say this. But often we conceptualize the very means that are supposed to bring us to enlightenment in such a way that we conclude that enlightenment is almost inappropriate. Compassion can deteriorate into rigid morality. Emptiness can become nihilism. Nondwelling can negate appreciation of the sacred. Ego can use fear of spiritual materialism as an excuse to avoid relating to spirituality altogether. This is actually rejection of the guru's vision, and hence of devotion and samaya. On that level neither oneself nor the guru exist as individuals. There is only enlightenment. So oneself and the guru are of equal fortune. Even the hinayaana says that conceptual Dharma is like a raft to be thrown away when one has reached the other shore of the river of sa.msaara. Ati exists largely to remove fixation that arises on the path. Non-attachment doesn't mean we should boycott enlightenment, or not care about it. It is definitely a case of Take it easy, but take it. In lectures 5
This is the commentary on first chapter of The Precious Treasury of Dharmadhaatu THE NATURE OF SA.MSAARA AND NIRVAA.NA DOES NOT GO BEYOND SPACE
I prostrate to the ocean of all the victorious ones. Samantabhadra, he who is the primordial Lord, Immaculate,2 like the space of the sky, is utterly pure. He is the kaayas and wisdoms. He is divinity. 3 Within that nothing is added and nothing is taken away. I prostrate to him, the one who became the glory Of the state of sa.msaara and also that of nirvaa.na. There are no beings. Sa.msaara's appearance is like an illusion. Though here, as if in a dream, are those who are bound by fixation, Their nature is total freedom. 4 That is the meaning of ati. My subject is that great, self-existing, vast equanimity. 5 When, in primordial space,6 enlightenment is attainedkaaya and wisdom, where nothing ever needs to be added or taken awayit consists of 7 the self-existing ornament of dharmadhaatu. This is the ga.n.davyuuha realm, which is Akani.sh.tha. The inexhaustible body, speech, mind, qualities, and activity of buddhahood emanate from the nature of the wheel8 of the ornament. It is like light rays emanating from the disk of the sun in a clear sky. In the boundlessness of the ten directions are limitless buddha fields. They are as extensive as dharmadhaatu and the endless ocean of the sky. By the ever increasing causes of spontaneous compassion and of the white virtue of those who will be tamed, there was the full display of the lamp9 of teachings of the Bhagavat Shaakyamuni. Thus, he had the power10 of taming whatever needs to be tamed. The completely perfected meaning, the pure fruition, of the turnings of the wheel of dharma at that time is this nature of the great perfection. 11 It is the vehicle of the unsurpassable secret. The 12 The Seed of Secret Action Tantra, says: 10
The pure radiance of Samantabhadra emanates from everything. To that I prostrate. It is like
The same text says: The collection of mind exists for those who have a mind. The collection of Space exists for those who have the sky. The oral instructions exist for those without effort or stages. In nature pure, luminosity transcends all establishing and clearing away. It is the Space of the vajra heart-essence. Transcending all effort and establishment, luminosity is the Space of the essence as it is.56 Since its essence is pure from all eternity, it is eternal, universal, wondrously arisen space. This explanation of the meaning of insight-bodhicitta, ati, the vajra heart-essence like the sky, will be composed for the benefit of later generations. That is the promise. Praising this space, this h ighest peak of all views,57 the Rangshar, The Tantra of Intrinsic Insight says: As the highest peak of all the views, Ati, the great perfection, is explained. When there is vastness, then it is revealed. It should be known as being like the sky, Wide, profound, and hard to comprehend, Like some tremendous ocean in its depth. 15
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As for its self-luminosity, which does not depart from it; This is sambhogakaaya, enjoying the perfect expression. 105 This, from the time it appears, is the self-existing nature. Without fabrication or change, it is natural, total equality. 20
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Also it says there: Immense Samantabhadra is the play of everything, Samantabhadra in non-dual unity with his consort. The non-dual father and mother pervade all beings completely. Without fixation, or movement,132 he is bodhicitta. The face of Samantabhadra sees all the ten directions. 24
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This is the commentary on the second chapter of The Precious Treasury of Dharmadhaatu,
The nature of the space of the dhaatu has been resolved as the ground of arising. Now comes the extensive teaching of that space and the appearances of space181 as eternally self-arising buddha fields. At the beginning there is a description of the great all-encompassing space of the dhaatu. It is said to be like the sky. The nature of space, primordial in its self-existence, Having no inside or outside, pervades and encompasses all. It is unlimited by any kind of extremes, Unbounded above and below, as well in all directions. Without the duality of vastness and constraint, The purity of insight is like that of space; Space that is free from complexities of conceptual thought. The essence, bodhic itta, as limitless as space, is completely pure from all eternity. It has no external and internal, aspects of direction, vastness or constraint, essence, and reference points182 of dharmas. Its nature is as directionless as the sky. Joining it with that example, the Knj says: Suchness is the essence of the mind; And suchness is the great non-dual bliss, Having all phenomena 183 and none. Eternal being,184 simple like the sky, Which is not the object of any concept,185 Is thus not counted as a unity. The space of the dhaatu is insight-emptiness. Now it is taught how our empty projections 186 arise from it as the mere forms of sa.msaara and nirvaa.na: From birthless space arise the miracles of birth. With nothing that is real,187 there also are no limits. This describes the signless, which has no marks of things. Filling the directions, with nature like the sky, 31
Within the boundless, all-pervading, encompassing ground, Without any bias toward sa.msaara or nirvaa.na, Is the fortified castle which is the seat of bodhicitta. The vastness of Space of dharmataa is a lofty peak. Unmade nature, vast circle of the four directions; Without any stages or effort this vastest of gates is entered. Within the essence of space, whose nature is pure, there is no establishing or clearing away. There is no defilement by artificiality. The space of the dhaatu supports everything like the earth. It never falls into the limitations and partialities of sa.msaara and nirvaa.na. It is like a self-arising palace of freedom from extremes. Since the vast circle of dharmataa is without fixed criteria and reference points,205 it is merely said that it is a lofty height. It primordially transcends the four extremes with regard to act and effort, eternalism and nihilism, and so forth. Therefore, its nature is compared to the vast panorama of the four directions. It is a gate for those of supremely excellent mind, an eternally selfestablished gate beyond stages, effort, or cause and effect. It is called the palace of dharmataa bodhicitta. The Longdruk says about the nature of these206: Uncreated wisdom is completely pure. Uncreated color is luminous and unmixed. Uncreated non-duality is empty. Uncreated naturalness is insight-Space. Also the Knj says: As for the gate, the gate is entered without seeking. As for the arrangement and ornaments of this palace: Ornamented by this self-existing rich display207 Natural wisdom, the King, is seated on his throne. Wisdom's energies gather and emanate appearance,208 So that all objects are empowered as ministers. Self-existing samaadhi is the holy Queen; And self-rising realization209 the Prince with his attendants; Contained210 in the Space of great bliss, as non-thought and its self-luminosity. 35
Some call it by the name the nature of bodhicitta. Some call it by the name the kingdom of the sky. Some have called it by the name of dharmakaaya. Some have called it by the name sambhogakaaya. Some have called it by the name nirmaa.nakaaya. Some have called it by the name omniscience. Some have called it by the name of all the aspects. Some call it the three wisdoms or the four. Some have called it by the name of five-fold wisdom. Some call it by the name of space and wisdom. What is named, self-rising wisdom, is but one. As they saw my self-arising, so they spoke. The meaning of this is taught as dharmataa-bodhicitta, contained228 within a single space of bliss: When one dwells in this realm, then all is dharmakaaya. Not going beyond the unity of natural wisdom, It was never created. It was always complete. 38
All dharmas in reality are the root. They are bodhicitta, the doer of all. Just as236 they appear they are my essence. Just as they rise they are my miracles. All verbal sounds, just as they are heard, Are my meaning, being used as words.237 The qualities of the buddhas' kaayas and wisdoms, The vaasanaas and bodies of sentient beings, The vessel and essence of phenomena, Are the eternal essence of bodhicitta. All dharmas are perfect in the state described there. The dharmas of nirvaa.na are also present without needing to be sought. This is the great self-existing: Within this dharmadhaatu treasury, the source of all, Nirvaa.na has existed from all eternity. As it is self-existing, it does not need to be sought; So changeless, objectless 238 dharmakaaya is universal. The vessel and essence, all outer and inner appearance, Exist as the perfect enjoyment of sambhogakaaya. 239 Nirmaa.nakaaya, like a reflection, is self-arising.240 Trikaaya, the ornament, does not have imperfect dharmas; So all is 241 the play of the Buddha's body, speech, and mind. Though all the Sugata's buddha fields cannot be counted, The Space of trikaaya, from which they rise, is mind itself. All dharmas are the great eternal emptiness of dharmakaaya. One's experience is sambhogakaaya. The ceaseless arising of variety is nirmaa.nakaaya. In the pure fields the holy guides242 of sentient beings are of the nature of trikaaya. They are self-perfected insight-bodhicitta. The selfexisting essence need not be sought. The Knj says: 40
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The nature of bodhicitta has been taught. Now it will be explained how that nature includes all dharmas within it as the great perfection: All is completely included, included in bodhicitta. Since apart from bodhicitta there are no dharmas, All of the dharmas are of the nature of bodhicitta. All dharmas arise within bodhicitta. They dawn within 257 it. It is like the vessel and essence of the phenomenal world being completely included within the sky. Within one taste of molasses the taste of all molasses is included. Just so bodhicitta is taught to include the essences of sa.msaara, nirvaa.na, and the realization of all the buddhas. The Knj says: As for me, the doer of all, the King, Included in me is what has been realized By every one of the buddhas of the three times. Their bodies are included within my nature, Their speech is included, and all of their realization. Also it says there: The nature of the doer of all, the King, Is taught to be a nature without birth. Since all the buddhas likewise258 are unborn, It is taught that they have been included Within the unborn state of dharmataa. In the nature of the doer of all, the King, Just as dharmataa has no obstructions,259 All of the buddhas that were mentioned above Have no obstruction within dharmataa. Thus it is taught that they have been included Within that very state of dharmataa. 45
In the unpolluted ocean of naturally perfect wisdom, Shimmers the golden fish of insight's luminous purity, Engulfed in natural freedom from any condition or ground. 49
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The example has been fully taught, for the purpose of understanding the meaning. Now the nature of insight bodhicitta is ascertained: The nature of bodhicitta is all-inclusive totality. 348 It does not appear, transcending the dharmas of appearance. It is not empty, transcending the dharmas of emptiness. Not existent, it does not have the marks of things; Yet not nonexistent, pervading sa.msaara and nirvaa.na, The self-existing equality of primordial space, Is neither something existent nor is it nonexistent. It has no parts or borders, ground or root, or solidity. The essence of insight is free from the complexities of the extremes of thought and expression. It does not exist within the sphere of existence and non-existence. It eternally pervades all of sa.msaara and nirvaa.na. The Rangshar says: Having no birth, it is without cessation. Without a grasper, it is free as it is. With no conceptions, it is without complexity. Not rising by action, it exists as everything. Uncompounded, it is pure like 349 space. It is free from grasping conventional dharmas. Having no nature, it is inexpressible. Genuine dharmataa, this is insight-Space. Pervading everything, this is the state of the father. Producing everything, this is the space of the mother. In prajaa that is unutterable by words Exists the great text that never yet was taught. Dharmakaaya free from losing or keeping, 61
Having left behind one's ordinary state,380 Looking for something else existing at a distance, Putting one's faith in effort, rejecting the bliss of non-action. There is no cause of exhaustion that could be worse than that.381 Samaadhi that does not wander is staked to fixation's tether. Though non-wandering cannot be lost, as it is eternal, Those seduced by the hope of samaadhi that does not wander Are directly destined382 for the great yaana of cause and effect. But actionless transcendence of establishment and effort Exists eternally, never wandering, never lost. Now it is taught that, s ince the phenomenal world exists as the buddha fields, there are no accepting, rejecting, good, and evil: Dharmataa, the eternal coronation vase,383 Has no thought of itself and none of anything else. The three worlds are therefore nothing else but this itself, They are the field of equal nature with this itself. Insight, pure, equal, the great self-existence, pervades the buddha fields. The appearance of beings in the three worlds and six lokas is intrinsically their arising from all eternity within the buddha fields of self-arising wisdom. They are dharmataa, eternally enlightened within vajra space as the great perfection. The Thaljur says: And as for sentient beings, arising from conditions, Not even one has not attained enlightenment.
Experience is wisdom. It corresponds to the Dharma. Sa.msaara, then, has been eternally non-existent. Therefore, everyone has attained to enlightenment. Simply being born is attaining realization. To rest within the womb is to rest within dharmadhaatu. Union of body and mind is union of space and insight. 66
Also the Heap of Precious Stones says: As for ego and objects of fixated attachment,394 All of these from the very first are dharmataa.395 All of these are its own appearance to itself.396 But that eternal appearance is not yet understood. The five-fold kleshas, the conceptual bonds of ego, intrinsically rise397 in their nature as primordial insight; but these are not recognized co-emergence. When sa.msaara arises as eternal buddhahood, insight experiences itself.398 Likewise, nirvaa.na is also taught to be only the pure self-experience of buddhahood. Other than that nothing exists: The pure self-experience of the three times' victorious ones Does not accept or reject, for all is a single totality. 399 Not even an atom of this has been obtained from another. All dharmas are clearly great Space, the nature of the mind. Without the least movement from the ultimate state of equality. 68
Also the Knj says: Bodhicitta, without appearances And without the dharmas of the world, Is the suchness both of mind and of its contents.401 When this has not been realized as suchness, But seen as if it were individual objects, Even all the buddhas of the three times,402 If they should search outside the space of suchness, Would never find it anywhere at all. 403 Also it says there: The previous buddhas dwelling in the past Are the natural state 404 of one's own mind, One realizes this as already seen. If one realizes the self-nature of insight, the power of the strayings and obscurations is cut through: With nothing inside and also nothing that is external, Its clarity unclouded by any rising or setting, When the dark extremes are dispelled, the root is bodhicitta. Without abandoning, one cuts through the power of straying. The essence of insight is beyond effortful actions of abandoning and receiving. It has no view of progressing on a path toward anything else. Therefore, it does not have the strayings and obscurations. When insight, one's own essence, is left behind, then the strayings and obscurations arise. This occurs by meditating with effort with a view to become something else. The Knj says: 69
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It is taught that the nature is beyond action and effort and cause and effect:423 In the nature of mind, which is the essence of bodhicitta; There is no view, no meditation, nor any action; No fruition established, no traversing the paths and the bhuumis; No developing stage with its visualization of ma.n.dalas; No recitation of mantra, and also no stage of perfecting; Empowerment is not bestowed, nor is samaya guarded. Pure dharmataa, eternal in its self-existe nce, Is beyond the struggle of temporary stages Having to do with the dharmas of cause and its fruition. The absolute truth is insight like the sky. Speaking from that viewpoint, there is no existence of anything at all. Therefore, there are no view, meditation, action, fruition, developing stage and fulfillment stage of the ma.n.dala,424 samaya vows, and so forth. The essence of empty and egoless insight transcends all expression by characteristics. The Knj says: As for bodhicitta, it is like the sky. The nature of mind, which is dharmataa that is like the sky,425 Has no view, no meditation, no guarding samaya. Wisdom is unobscured, buddha activity effortless. There is no training in the levels of the bhuumis, Nor is there any path upon which one might tread.
Without subtle teachings, duality, or unification; Without resolving the truth of teachings about the mind; When glorification and deprecation have been transcended, 74
As for the four yogas they are these: 1) the three sattva-yogas of outer mantra;443 2) the great yoga of visualization, the developing stage, mahaayoga; 3) the scriptural instructions 444 of perfecting union, anuyoga; 4) the oral instructions of the highest yoga, ati yoga. In particular, the same tantra says: The highest yoga and the perfect yoga With mahaayoga and sattva-yoga are four. In the actionless yoga of the ultimate essence, Within the sphere of seeing by means of views, There are these four aspects to be found. Sattva-yoga sees both objects and senses,445 The five enlightenments,446 and the four legs of miracle.447 It has the view that because of having been blessed, There are the deities known as the two sattvas. But here the meaning of the essential heart, Which is the natural state, remains unseen. 78
In the essence, bodhicitta dharmataa, By means of auspicious aspects of the planets and the stars. There are the five-fold manifestations of enlightenment, And also the four-fold legs of miracle occur. Thus it is that whatever dharmas may appear Are blessed as meditation on the deities. Nevertheless, if one does not meditate on this As being one's own mind, then it will not be seen. As for the three stages of inner mantra: 80
One's own nature466 is bodhicitta, enlightened mind. This is the teacher of teachers, the doer of all, the King; Rather than mind, eternal freedom of dharmataa. To meditate on the three yaanas' teachings will come to nothing. 467 If one seeks to establish the state of meditation, One is thereby trying to abandon one's own mind.
Kye, O Mahaasattva! If one wishes to establish one's own mind, Since it is established by being without desire, Do not rest in the state of equality without thoughts. Rest in the sphere of the nature that does not accept or reject. Allow the motionless state to rest within itself.468 As for one's own mind, the essence of that is suchness. And all of the dharmas are established to be suchness. Do not attempt improvements on the state of suchness. Do not establish anything other than the essence. If they should seek for it, even victorious ones Will not find anything more than just the space of the dhaatu. 81
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Uncaused, conditionless, unobscured experience, The effortless single dot, not produced by anyone, This is eternally perfect sugatagarbha. This is the play497 of the realm of spontaneity. Also the Pearl Mala says: Perfect buddhahood is only one's own insight.498
Also the Knj says: Not having a view of buddhahood, realize your actionless mind. Though when it is analyzed, it has no existence,499 It is the eternal appearance of insight's self-luminosity.500 In the great vehicle, with cause and its fruition, There is the thought that says, All this has no existence. By means of various blessings that hinder, abandon, and purify, One will stray from dharmataa, this actionless mind.
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That which is called its essence is like the heart of the sun. By its power of manifestation there is unobstructed arising 517 Of transparent insight free from analysis and examining, Vividly luminous, yet without fixation or grasper. Naturally arising wisdom is the empty and luminous simplicity of insight. It is like a pure crystal. In the essence where objects are not analyzed, arising takes place. It is the ground and place of arising, but in its self-nature there are neither arising or non-arising. Therefore, it is supreme in its selfluminosity.518 It is unobstructed519 in its emptiness. It is etherial alpha-purity. From this state, there is the arising of variety, the complexities of fixated object and grasping subject. The naked, etherial self-nature of this arising is insight-wisdom. Since it is not conceived as an object, it is called naturally-arising wisdom. 520 The unbestowed transmission of this is above 521 all that arises. Letting go, look and you will recognize it.522 Projected conceptualization523 is a matter of not understanding the main point. Etherial, naked insight arises without a place or agent524 of arising. From the time it arises, while it arises ceaselessly as compassion, it exists as wisdom. The root, natural wisdom, remains nakedly as it is. When this has been recognized within arising, the essence and its intrinsic power of manifestation are non-dual. Therefore, they are called non-dual, naturally arising wisdom, the simplicity of the single dot of bindu. The Rangshar says: In insight that is separate from complexity How can there be confusion and ignorance? 88
In the nature of mind without perception of arising, Vipashyanaa, because it appears without thought or intention,539 Is vision that has exhausted any coming and going. Such is my teaching, I who am Samantabhadra. In the nature of mind, where there are no fixated objects, There is sacred outlook, pure unobstructed appearance,540 Within the samaadhi of the great play of manifestation. Such is my teaching, I who am Samantabhadra. In the nature of mind, with no such thing as a grasping subject, When vision of the great self-arising has appeared,541 That is the vision of non-obstruction of non-thought. Such is my teaching, I who am Samantabhadra. In the state of the nature of mind, with no such thing as affliction,542 Appearance that is free from conceptualizations of ego543 Exists as the vision of the great self-establishment. Such is my teaching, I who am Samantabhadra. In the nature of mind, which is neither eternal or nothingness, Appearance that is free from goodness as well as evil Is the vision of freedom from abandoning or attaining. Such is my teaching, I who am Samantabhadra In the nature of mind, without accepting or rejecting, Impartial appearance,544 arising as self-liberation, Is a vision of the great, all-pervading, all-encompassing. Such is my teaching, I who am Samantabhadra
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At the very time one depends on insight, insight is without essence. Therefore, its view, meditation, action, and fruition are actionless. As insight and action588 are mutually contradictory, actor and action do not exist for an instant. One's own insight already exists as dharmakaaya. Therefore, the three reasons,589 view, meditation, and action, are useless in the fruition. Insight is taught to transcend view, meditation, action, and fruition. The Seng says: In insight, which is self-existing non-meditation, By performing meditation I shall not be found. In self-arising eternal uncreatedness, By performances of action I shall not be found.
If dharmakaaya, eternally free from all extremes, Is viewed as a view, then I shall not be seen. 590 Also the Longdruk says: I Samantabhadra am without a view. Because I have no view, appearances are exhausted. In that way meditation too is nonexistent. With no meditation, mindfulness will cease;591 And so-called action will be inexpressible. Without any action, the bodily elements are exhausted. 592 The Rangshar says: Within the great perfection, ati yoga, No view, meditation, or action will be found. So keep in mind what now I shall fully teach. The great perfection has never been established. It needs no power or strength of aspiration,593 For it is already unmade self-perfection. The meaning of it is expressed by that. How could it have production and a producer? This actionless self-existing dharmataa 95
My action goes beyond the sphere of objects. My fruition is at the level of unity. My samaya is nothing that is kept. My abhi.sheka is nothing one attains. Thus I myself am the great charnel ground. And buddhas are the death of sentient beings. 99
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This Is the Commentary on the Sixth Chapter of The Precious Treasury of Dharmadhaatu,
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This is the commentary on the seventh chapter of The Precious Treasury of Dharmadhaatu
Here is the teaching that the inclusion of all dharmas in bodhicitta is self-existing: The self-existing nature of the teaching of bodhicitta, Is the uncreated attainment,661 the peak of the king of mountains. The supreme, great king of vehicles towers over all. The king of mountains, in the center of the four continents, is supremely exalted. Just so, ati, the vajra heart-essence, is explained to be the highest peak of vehicles, more exalted than all the others. The Rangshar says: As for the highest peak of views it is explained As ati yoga, teaching of the great perfection. Here is the example that teaches it is the peak of all: As on reaching the summit of the king of mountains, Though one sees the lower valleys all at once, The valleys do not see the nature of the peak; In that way, the vajra essence, which is ati, The peak of yaanas, sees clearly the meaning of them all; But the lower vehicles do not see the meaning of ati. From the peak of a mountain, the valleys below are seen all at once. But, from the valleys, the top of the mountain peak is not clearly seen as it is. Just so, when the self-existing peak occurs, the meanings of the lower vehicles are seen all together from the viewpoint of ati. But the lower vehicles do not see its meaning. For that reason they have reversed662 high and low. As663 the Secret Assembly says, That is why the peak is the peak. Now the way in which great yaana distinguished from the lower ones described above is explained further: As, if one supplicates a great, wish-fulfilling gem, All664 that is desired naturally rises from it, 110
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As for realizing things just as they are as sambhogakaaya:672 All-pervading, all-encompassing self-luminosity, Is self-existing enjoyment/activity, sambhogakaaya. It exists in all, but is an object seen by few. It manifests when one accepts 673 whatever appears, Without any effort or any action of being sought. The self-luminosity of insight is the nature, sambhogakaaya. When apparent objects arise without obstruction,674 when vividness675 does not enter into ego-fixation, it appears very clearly. 676 The Seng says: The wisdom of sambhogakaaya is the wide-ranging677 play678 of phenomena. Unproduced self-luminosity, it is self-existing. Then this is taught regarding the realization of nirmaa.nakaaya: That which is designated as being nirmaa.nakaaya, 679 Is the all-encompassing Space of unobstructed play. 680 Existing in all, at the time of rising it clearly appears. Wish-granting qualities and miraculous buddha activity Are only this otherless purity, this very self-insight Space. Like troubled water, left alone it will clear itself. Apparently ceaseless arising from within the unobstructed nakedness of self-existing681 insight is nirmaa.nakaaya. It has arisen primordially as buddha qualities and buddha activity. In this effortless state without accepting and rejecting, the reflections of the five eyes, the higher perceptions, and so forth arise like luminous reflections in clear water purified of turbidity. The Knj says: 112
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The pure, self-existing nature is also taught to have the characteristic of non-duality. What arises from the single space of the dhaatu is non-dual with the essence from which it arises: In the single space of everything, self-arising wisdom, Everything exists non-dually with the essence. Dualistic appearance arises ceaselessly As the play of manifestation of the power of insight. Dualistic appearance arises as the play That manifests the unobstructed power of insight. This is called bodhicitta's non-duality With the realm of mere appearance and that of projected conceptions. For these three reasons, we should definitely conclude that all dharmas are non-dual: 1. In the single surface of a mirror, whatever reflections arise appear non-dually with the mirror.719 Just so, all dharmas that arise within insight are non-dual with insight. 2. The arising of various dreams within a single period of sleep is not something other than sleep. Just so sa.msaara and nirvaa.na are not something other than the play of insight. 3. Because they arise in a single river, all the waves of that river, great and small, are not other than the river. Just so, all the dharmas that appear to arise from within nothing whatever, are non-dual with insight of the empty nature of dharmataa and insight of their own emptiness. This is true over and above their being merely the luminous appearance of what does not exist. All dharmas have the following equalities: 1) Equality of non-existence. 2) Equality of non-obstruction. 3) Equality of power to produce individual effects.720 120
The trinity of body, speech, and mind, As well as the various objects of the mind, Have risen one and all727 from my own essence. All men, and women, as well as horses, and cattle, In all their forms arise from out of this. The various actions, like eating, sleeping, and standing, Have all arisen from nowhere else than728 this. Also the Knj says: Kye mahaasattva! realize this, my nature. I am the nature of the bodhicitta, The bodhicitta, doer of all, the King. The nature of the doer of all, the King Abides as the trio body, speech, and mind. Not even one thing has not been produced By this, the trio body, speech, and mind. They all were made by the body speech, and mind Which is that of all the buddhas of the three times.729 The three worlds, of desire, form, and the formless,730 And the body, speech, and mind of sentient beings,731 Were made by my own body, speech, and mind, By the King who is the maker of everything. The different732 kinds of collections that make up The environment and inhabitants of the world Were made, in unmade suchness, dharmataa, By the body, speech, and mind of me myself, 122
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From enlightened insight that is without transition or change The phenomenal world, sa.msaara as well as nirvaa.na, rises. Here there is nothing to be abandoned or be attained. From the viewpoint of yoga without a grasper or fixated objects, This appearance of what is not there seems like a wondrous joke. Those who know the causes of a magic show, realize that it is appearance of what does not exist. They see it as humorous that it appears even though they have no attachment to it as truly existing. That unobstructed arising of appearance does not exist for them as something good or evil to be accepted or rejected. Here, similarly, all the dharmas of sa.msaara and nirvaa.na are known as a play of appearance of what does not exist. Teaching that for yogins who realize the single, pure, and equal essence, the dharmas of sa.msaara and nirvaa.na are non-existent, the Seng says: Insight alone exhausts sa.msaara and nirvaa.na.751 Unfixated, one's experience752 is free from dharmas. Also the Finely Set Jewel says: There is no appearance or objects producing appearance. In purity from all dharmas, there is no non-appearance. When dharmakaaya appears, what is non-existent arises as non-existent from that time on. Such appearances of what does not exist are taught to be mere empty reflections: In what has no appearance, various appearances rise. In what has no emptiness, center and limit are fully encompassed. In what has no grasper and is without fixated objects, Still the I is attached to individual selfhood. 753 In what has no ground and root, successions of births appear. In what has no negation and no establishing, Accepting, rejecting, joy, and sorrow, are produced. If one contemplates dharmataa, the appearance of dharmins is the great wonder of mere arising. As to how the essence beyond existence or non-existence seemingly appears as a variety of things 124
What is untrue is then fixated as being true. What is unconfused is fixated as confused. What is uncertain is fixated then as being certain. What is beyond the scope of existence and non-existence Is then fixated as being existent or non-existent. What is unpleasant is then fixated as being pleasant. When the mind is beguiled by various superficial objects,760 The instant of insight lengthens into a meaningless chain. It goes beyond days and months; then years, and the lives of men. Beings grasp the non-dual as two and are deceived. When instantaneous awareness does not know its own nature, there is an accumulated succession of confused fixations, so that time passes. From many instants there is a second of confusion; from seconds, a day; from days, a month; from months a year of confusion. One becomes accustomed to that. Groundless insight still exists in itself as pure dharmakaaya like the sky. But not recognizing one's own essence becomes a situation of nothing but adventitious conditionality. The Pearl Mala says:
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Since there are no such things as coarse and subtle defilements, There is no confusion about conditioned arising. Since produced and producer are without existence, How will there be the kind of confusion that grasps at objects? Since both object and senses are without existence, There is also no confusion of grasper and fixation. Also the Thaljur says: Confusion, so-called, is actually alpha purity. 766 In non-confusion where nothing is artificial, Now seen as appearance of what does not exist, Dharmas are not conceived to rise by production. Such concepts have spontaneously ceased. Perceptions of confusion do not appear.767 Within the primordial radiance of the nature,768 All dharmas have the single taste of equality. They are free from conceptions of fixation.769 Since this is the state of eternal buddhahood, It should not be turned into artifice. Dharmataa without fixated objects is pure like the sky. It has been realized that there are no external objects. Now it is resolved how the inner grasper is without ground and support: When one looks within, at the purified mind of yoga, Insight, groundless and independent, is free from names. It is not seen as expressible by characteristics. One dispenses with organized view and meditation. 770 Natural,771 even and vast; pervasive and all-encompassing; Unpracticable, unbounded by sessions or retreats; It ranges freely, 772 completely and totally unrestricted. When one looks at one's own mind in this way, its essence is beyond the limits of recognition. Purified as the unsupported nature of the sky, dharmataa is self-purified of memory. This is called dharmakaaya without the extremes of existence and non-existence. The Thaljur says:
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All dharmas are groundless, so how can any root exist? Free from sa.msaaric existence is the mind without desire.
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Also the Finely Set Jewel says: Dharmadhaatu is neither realized nor is it not.799 With the characteristics of space, eternally alpha-pure, Dharmakaaya has no characteristics of things. With neither outer or inner, being the great vastness, Vast dharmataa is limitless, and there are no things. 129
Sound and appearance, understanding and memory, Experience and feeling are none of them as they were. What is this? Is this the appearance of madness? Is it that I am dreaming? One asks oneself such questions. Here, by the certainty of one's own time of realization,802 the appearance of all yogins are also realizable.803 Just so, those skilled in magic 804 see the show of their own illusions as being without true existence. Thereafter, appearances produced by other magicians 805 are also seen806 in the same way. These appearances of external objects, were formerly seen as if they had their own individual characteristics. But at the very time of realization, the grasping subject who is attached to truly existent self-nature is eliminated. Therefore, all fixated objects have an etherial, elusive quality like that of a dream, the moon in water, or a mirage. This produces the thought that they are seen transparently. All that appears is ungraspable, protean bubbles. Without thoughts of existence or non-existence, experience without reference point arises. One thinks that the nature of one's experience of beings has also changed from what it was before. One wonders, Does everyone realize that appearance has no reference points? Experience, hearing, memory, and understanding, are not like they were before, since the reference point of objects has subsided into emptiness. Insight is all-pervading and encompassing. Conceptuality never arises. One wonders, Where has it gone? Whatever perceptions arise are self-guarded in purity. Thus, awareness is evenly even. 807 It is pure of objective arising, reactive feeling, or dualistic existence. Sometimes, when all action, behavior, sight, and sound arise without reference point, it makes one laugh. One wonders, Am I mad? Are the others mad? Is this the bardo? Is it a dream? One thinks, This insight in which reference point has subsided is nakedly obvious.808 It exists in everyone. Why do they have such trouble realizing it? When one has thought that, objectless compassion arises unobstructedly,809 and because of that, one teaches this to others. Vajra song, action without reference point, and insight without attachment are shown to them. All appearances arise on the spot as transparency. At this time, dharmakaaya in which
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In the nature of mind, appearing in the form of existence, False words are actually pure exactly as they are. 133
In the nature of mind, appearing in the form of odor, The aspects of awareness are pure just as they are. In the nature of mind, appearing in the form of taste, Experiencing awareness is pure just as it is. In the nature of mind, appearing in the form of touch, Awareness of touchables is pure just as it is. In the nature of mind, appearing in the form of dharmas, Fixation on any self is pure just as it is. In the nature of mind, appearing in the form of ego, 134
Also the Longdruk says: In the nature of mind, appearing as if it were conception, Conception-producing aspects are pure just as they are.
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While one has attachment to the individuality Of this and that, because this is dualistic, One is caught in the cage of confusion of self and other. When, because this is unbounded by anything different, All is the all-encompassing equality, And there is nothing to serve as conceptual reference points, This is what is known as non-dual realization. So it has been said by Vajrasattva himself. Whoever realizes the meaning of insight, dharmakaaya, has realization. The sign of non-realization is attachment to fixation. The two are distinguished by the respective existence and non-existence of insight. Just so, pure space and impure clouds are distinguished by the existence and non-existence of particles of mist. Any yogins attached to their own view, meditation, and so forth, will certainly not have continuous realization of non-duality. This will be true as long as they fixate biases of abandoning, antidotes, accepting, and rejecting. This is because they are not free from attachment to
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Non-dual bodhicitta passes the pass into the Space of the sky beyond mind: In the single space which is the nature of the great vastness, Bodhicitta which is as limitless as the sky, Is the nail of space that holds everything together. 849 To bring out the pith of this and speak of just the essence: Greatest of the great, the vast mind of Samantabhadra, One's own essence, by its universal power, Knowing its own measure, knows the measure of all.850 The one great Space is the non-dual, great equality Of realization and the lack of realization, Of liberation and the lack of liberation. Here the root of all dharmas passes the pass into insight. The essence of insight passes the pass into the great vastness. As limitless as the sky, this is non-duality free from falling into extremes. Great Space, the nature of mind,851 the vast nail of space, is an unlimited expanse.852 It falls into no partialities at all. By direct penetration853 naked, transparent insight is recognized. It is unborn and unceasing. It is free from the conceptual mind of ego. The vision of naked dharmataa is unobscured by defiling intellectualizations of conceptual mind. This is the alpha-pure self-nature of the great perfection. It is the great transparency, dharmakaaya. From this pure mind there is no more passing the pass into anything else.854 The Mirror-essence of Vajrasattva855 says: Know that all the dharmas of insight are free from the mind of ego-conceptions. Thus have confidence856 that all dharmas are unobstructed. Have confidence that whatever is unobstructed appears. Have confidence that whatever appears is unborn. Have confidence that what is unborn is without coming and going. Have confidence that whatever is without coming and going is non-dual. Have confidence that whatever is non-dual is luminosity,
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The mind is not fixated as an object. It is gently left to rest as it is in its natural stillness.867 Let of that aspect of resting. That is the transmission of the vivid clarity of insight as dharmakaaya. 140
When the mind is lost by being drawn into objects, the mind has broken up into pieces, fragments,869 and so forth. These are the objective partialities which it has followed. Nevertheless, both objects and mind are nonexistent. Rest in that awakened state of inexpressible emptiness. Let go of that aspect of resting without any emanating and gathering. This is the transmission of the etherial nakedness of insight as dharmakaaya.
Like the bird that comes out of the egg with feathers and wings full-grown, And, free from confinement, soars 888 within the Space of the sky, Overpowering naagas, and cutting through mighty chasms; So the peak of vehicles, the vajra heart, For those who are fortunate yogins of that realization, Conquers the lower yaanas, cutting through the abyss of sa.msaara. The mighty garu.da hatches from the egg with feathers and wings already fully developed. When the time has come, as soon as it is liberated from the eggshell, it soars in the midst of the sky. At the same time it overpowers the naagas and cuts through mighty chasms in its flight.889 Just so, the yogin of the nature of the great perfection realizes insight as dharmakaaya. It is realized within this very lifetime, just as the guru transmitted it. Without having purified the body, that yogin emerges from it. This is like the garu.da 890 coming forth from the egg with feathers and wings fully developed. Insight without vastness or constraint also soars in the sky, as soon as it is freed from its confining bodily shell. It overpowers the lower vehicles and the assembly of kleshas. At the same time, it cuts through the abyss of sa.msaara. The Knj says:
Like a great garu.da, soaring in the sky, Having no emanation, also it has no gathering. Even though the three powers of realization891 are perfected right now, there is as yet no liberation from the confining egg of the illusory body. Later, when we emerge from obscuration, we shall be 142
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THE LIBERATION OF LESSER ONES LIKE THE SUN AND MOON ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF THE LUNAR MONTH
What is like the setting of the sun on the fifteenth day of the lunar month is the naked insight of the moment of death. This is the realization of equality. It causes the manifestation of 916 that which is like the rising of the moon. This is the wisdom of the bardo of dharmataa arising as one's own. If these two have been gathered together, nothing else comes between them to separate them. When naked insight of dharmakaaya is inseparable from the realizer of it, one has attained buddhahood. This is alpha-pure insight of dharmataa, the simplicity of luminosity. This arises when the internal breath has been cut off,917 at the instant when consciousness goes forth into space. Of the five praa.nas, the four praa.nas of earth, water, fire, and air dissolve. The praa.na of space enters into luminosity. When the departing of insight from the body is near, the yogin enters the space of alpha-purity. The attention focuses on consciousness as it rides the praa.na. It is transferred into space. One visualizes one's own root guru, the syllable HUM, a vajra, or the like, arising from the essence of insight, at the aperture of Bhramaa. Ejecting far outward the syllable HIK, one instantly passes into the transparency of dharmakaaya above. Alternately,918 in order to enter into the kaayas and wisdoms, put the body in the posture of a lion.919 Direct insight through the eyes. At this time, the realm of the space of the dhaatu will be appearing. If insight is transferred into it, one will instantly attain buddhahood without experiencing the bardo. This very important point is a special teaching of this great perfection. The Wedding of the Sun and Moon says: 148
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As for passing the pass into non-dependence on the main points of prajaa and upaaya: Not depending on any particular skillful means, By which there is the production of particular characteristics,932 Inexpressible mind of a fool who wants no liberation, When ati teaches inseparability from its meaning, What is wrong for the lower yaanas is here the pith of reason. The lower yaanas maintain that the nature of mind will not be seen without depending on their particular skillful means. These are means such as naa.dii, praa.na, and bindu; the two accumulations; merit and wisdom; and so on. Here there is no dependence on anything at all. The transparent, naked, directly penetrating, great realization proper to ati is not separated from the essence of insight for even an instant. Therefore, realization and seeing are only conventionalities. The Khyungchen says: By holding the breath and closing the eyes the mind is bound. Be groundless with no contrivance, not relying on anything. By adopting artificial postures of the body, And relaxing in luminosity, appearance will be bound. Therefore be impartial in your mindlessness. Therefore do not fall into any biased distinctions. By intellectualization the natural state is bound. There is no confidence in eternal liberation. Where things are left as they are, without the need of action, 151
Without the main point, resting things as they are without seeking, Insight is bound by dependence on teachings of cause and effect. As for passing the pass into transcendence of thought, beyond the absence of extremes: The eternally topless, bottomless, limitless, great perfection933 Is said to be beyond reach by those with the mind of a fool. But ati teaching, without extremes is all-sufficient, What is wrong in the lower yaanas is here the pith of reason. The lower vehicles and the collections of mind and space sometimes say that the essential meaning of the great perfection is beyond the objects of insight.934 This is because it is without center, or limit, and is limitless in depth. But here, a single, universal, emptiness without extremes is not maintained. Rather, all-sufficient, transparent, naked insight is taught. It is without mind, intellect, and objects of conception. 935 Seeing the object of personal realization936 is realizing the pith of the distinction between mind and wisdom. The Mirror-Mind of Samantabhadra says: Uncontrived view is wisdom, in its transparency. Uncontrived meditation is ungrasped luminosity. 937 Uncontrived action is self-arising naturalness. Uncontrived fruition is experience of insight. Uncontrived samaya is unwandering dharmataa. Uncontrived abhisheka is that of the power of insight. Uncontrived faith is changeless Spaciousness of the sky. These supreme and excellent powers of realization Make their dwelling on the level of mahaasukha. They abide in the motionless state of equanimity. In regard to passing the pass into insight, the single dot of bindu, the nakedness of dharmakaaya: Within the single bindu there is the elimination Of all our understanding and every kind of reason. 938 All hope and fear about the fruition has been cut off. Therefore this state is said to be limitless like the sky. It is vast. It is great. It is limitless, like the sky itself. Its existence is that of the mind of all the victorious ones. There is nothing to gain and nothing to leave behind. 939 The Space of the single bindu is liberated eternally. It has neither realization, nor any lack of it. Bliss is the actionless path of this state of yogic union. 940 152
This is vastness. It is as limitless as the sky. It is self existent, eternally as it is.949 It is primordial in its purity from sa.msaara. A dream does not move from sleep. Sleep does not move from insight. Insight does not move from dharmataa. If one examines and analyzes with that in mind, no one falls into sa.msaara at all. The appearance of sa.msaara has no nature. It has the essence of a dream. It has been pure from all eternity. In nature it is luminous appearance of what does not exist. That empty form is also the purity of groundless, rootless dharmakaaya. Therefore, there are no cause of confusion, confusion, confused appearance, and no one who is confused. There was no confusion previously. There is none now. Confusion cannot arise later on. This is because the groundless essence of the sky is completely purified for all eternity. The Khyungchen says: Ignorance and confusion are impossible for anyone.950 Therefore appearance has been forever unliberated. Nor is it going to be set free at a later time. Also the Pearl Mala says: The ground without confusion, existing as described, Self-insight has been illuminated951 eternally. Trikaaya is perfect eternally, needing no improvements.952 The fruition is self-existent from all eternity. The Dharma has never been anything that is artificial. The doctrine eternally never had to be maintained. 953 The five poisons too are unobscured from all eternity. Where then are sa.msaaric confusions to be found? Sa.msaara and nirvaa.na pass the pass into non-duality: Liberation is not entered into; nirvaa.na is not received. 154
For insight having no wide and narrow, high or low, Never falling into bias or partiality, To have any kind of goal is something superfluous.956 For insight that has no act or actor, coming or going, With no time or antidotes, grasping and effort are forgotten. When there is conception of purpose, that is the cause of bondage. Do not create grasping because of reference points. Rather see all things in terms of totality. 957 The essence of insight has no boundaries and does not fall into partialities. It has no time, abandoning, or antidotes. It has no action, actor, coming, or going. It has no view, mediation, action, or fruition. It has no existence, nonexistence, effort, or establishing. It is beyond the effort and establishing of the ten natures. Liberated from all extremes, it does not exist as anything at all. It should be known as the all encompassing Space of the great vastness. The Knj says: 155
Whether dharmas are liberated from all eternity, Or are not liberated, either way it is alright.969 Whether the natural state is by its nature pure, Or whether there is impurity, either way it is alright. 157
Whether fruition occurs, in the form of the natural state, Or there is no fruition, either way it is alright. Whether one progresses over the paths and the bhuumis, Or there is no progression, either way it is alright. The essence of insight, awakened to emptiness, is realized to be unobscured by dharmas. But do not make this itself into a reference point of fixated dharmas975 and then analyze them. The Yig Mpa says: Free from the partialities of appearance, It is not the producer of appearance. Being beyond the dharmas of obscuration, It is not the producer of obscuration, Encompassing as it does the ten directions, Without obstruction, it does not diminish. It is non-effort, in that it is free From dharmas of effort and establishing. It is not the one, 976 and free from the dharmas of many. Also the Knj says:
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Dharmataa, not other than action, is one's mind. One's uncreated mind is explained as dharmakaaya. Since the unborn is uncreated from all eternity, The unborn ultimate is not something sought or established. Since it is not produced by being sought and established, Neither will it come to be established later. Realization that insight is unobscured and unobstructed passes the pass into transcendence of loss and gain: Whether there is liberation from obscuration, 978 Or there is no liberation, either way it is alright. Whether dharmataa is developed and perfected, Or the stages are not completed, either way it is alright. Whether the fruit of liberation has been attained, Or there is no attainment, either way it is alright. Whether the six kinds of beings wander within sa.msaara, Or whether there is no wandering, either way it is alright. In this essence of insight there are neither loss and gain nor confusion and liberation. There is no hope for any higher attainment of buddhahood. Therefore, this path does not meditate on the dharmas of the developing stage and stage of perfection. There is no fear of wandering lower into sa.msaara. Therefore, the causes of this, obscurations and evil deeds, are not considered something that needs to be abandoned. Without actions and dharmas, karma is exhausted. Without abandoning sa.msaara or attaining nirvaa.na, one's mind is relaxed and confident.979 The Pearl Mala says: Since no dharmas rise out of the ground as something else, This is the primal, self-arising single dot. Having exhausted enumeration of one and two, This is bindu itself in all its matchlessness.980
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In insight there are no distinctions. There is no production of dharmas. Even if there were, there would still be no dharmas. Existence and non-existence are extremes. Is and is not are mind. 984 The view and meditation are hobbles. Dharmataa is straying. Sa.msaara and nirvaa.na are insight. Insight is transparent. Transparency is naked. The even awareness of natural freedom passes into no-liberation from the net.985 Thinking is conception. Meditation is mind. Expression is words. Looking is grasper and grasped. Resting is dharmataa. Acting is sa.msaara. Rising is self-arising. The natural,986 ownerless awareness of the sky passes into the vast spaciousness of bliss and happiness. This is not accomplished by action. It is not seen by looking at it in terms of a view.987 It is not liberated by meditating on it. It is not accomplished by seeking. It is not liberated by letting go. 988 It is not attained through grasping. Awareness of the exhaustion of dharmas in namelessness passes into unobstructed nakedness. There is no gap between sa.msaara and nirvaa.na. Transparency leaves no footprints. Self-arising has no exclusions. Self-liberation has no dharmas. The exhaustion of dharmas has no names. The view and meditation are paid no heed. Self-insight has no mind. Evenness has no exclusions. Birth and cessation have no ground. The awareness of continual989 self-luminosity passes into direct penetration990 that excludes nothing. From the place of arising comes liberation. From the place of appearance comes emptiness. From the place of discursive vibration991 comes subsidence. From the place of existence comes nonexistence. From the place of being comes non-being. From the place of rest comes discursive vibration. From the place of discursive vibration comes rest. Continuous awareness of the nature passes into the continuous river of samaadhi. 161
Distorted views, where there is desire of perfection, Already are the unbiased view of yoga. All the various graspings of hope and fear Are the fruition, the rising of transparency. Now is the time when this will come to pass. As for the explanation of the luminous nature of these realizations: 162
The Thaljur says: There is no going beyond the single realization. Since appearance is clear as appearance within that one, It is like a face appearing in a mirror.1009 When the mirror is gone the face is also liberated. 1010 Since appearances rise as the empty objects of mere experience, Seeing and knowing them are not distinct from insight. Insight is liberated along with what is within it. Since all is liberated by knowing this as one, From two and three to the limits of number are exhausted. 1011 Conceptualized and fixated1012 objects do not appear. Discursiveness1013 and the grasper have been eternally emptied. The vision of emptiness has perfected luminosity, And so the extreme of counting the many has been exhausted. Now there is the teaching that what arises for the yogin who has entered into realization is choicelessly liberated as dharmataa: 163
3) By the pith of chokshak , the actionlessness of letting everything be as it is, through awareness of appearance as empty form without ground, there is transcendence of attachment to the bondage of effort. 4) By the pith that all dharmas are empty of themselves, unproduced and unfindable, confidence is aroused that whatever happens subsides by itself into nakedness.
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The self-established, uncreated natural state, Does not ever change from being such a state. That is what is realized by all the buddhas. Here, compared to making a path out of ordinary meditation, this path of the nyingthig, the heart-essence drop, is nobler in five ways: 1.) In nakedly realizing insight, there is no such thing as relative sharpness or dulness of powers. 177
These three samaadhis arise one after another, when the four chokshak s are practiced: 1) The samaadhi of the great self-existence. 2) The samaadhi of the great sudden occurrence. 3) The samaadhi of the great sealing. 1093
If those who transform themselves by means of colors and letters Do not fall into partialities of that kind,1106 That is the meditation of resting without straying. Fixating luminosity in the style of partiality, means habitually thinking that external appearances are this and that. Those who transform themselves by means of colors and letters, are those who fixate inner mind by conceptual examination. The rest is easy to understand. 1107
When there is appearance having the marks of dharmins, By their self-appearance as my buddha qualities There is no accepting and no rejecting of these. When the sufferings of sentient beings are experienced, Also along with that my bliss is self-arising. 1115 At that time, if bliss and sorrow are inseparable, My buddha qualities are perfected in that way. As for hell beings, animals, and hungry ghosts, 183
Here the one taste of non-dual appearance/awareness is experienced. It is important that this not be mixed with ordinary experience. Viewing what arises as bliss is a conceptualized fantasy. 1119 Relaxing into that, one meditates in darkness, not knowing one's own face. Lost in greater and greater experience, one cuts oneself off. Seeking the purity and clarity of the middle way1120 becomes one-sided accepting and rejecting. Those who do this do not have the pith of self-arising. This is like a dog not taking much notice of a place where someone is cutting felt.1121 Here is how to be certain of the secret self-existing pith of the nyingthig, the essential drop. When something appears or arises, recognize it as naked, unobstructed insight. It should not be looked upon as other at all. At that time, there will be self-arising realization of naked, unobstructed insight as it is. This is the bliss of dharmakaaya. By that, the rope of connections which is the mind of the three times will be cut through. There will be the spontaneous luminosity of the great equality. Here there is no conceptualization of what has arisen in the past. There is no thought of what will come later in the future. There is no examination of the present between them. One does not move from recognition of unobstructed nakedness. The Longdruk says:
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Not making a reference point of the cave of the mind of the past, not making a reference point of relying on the future, not making a reference point of the mind of the present; this is the yoga of realizing the equality of the three times. Not continuing with the cage of past ignorance, not rejecting the father of future ignorance, if one does not receive present ignorance into one's lap; this is the yoga of realizing the equality of the three times. If one is not attached to past aggression, not impaled on the hook of future aggression, and the ego is not hardened like tempered steel by present aggression; this is the yoga of realizing the equality of the three times. If the clouds of past delusion are not collected, and future delusion is not cut off, if the rain of present delusion does not fall; this is the yoga of realizing the equality of the three times. Not receiving past buddhas, not sending off future buddhas, if one does not take refuge in the fruition of present buddhahood; this is the yoga of the equality of the three times. With no casting off of blame for past desire, and no cutting off of the disposition for future desire, if one does not cast out the objects of present desire; this is the yoga of the equality of the three times. Not tightly grasping past jealousy, not gathering the mind into future jealousy, if one does not interfere with the mind of present jealously; this is the yoga of realizing the unity of the three times.
The yoga of realizing the non-duality of sa.msaara and nirvaa.na is said to be like that. Buddhahood is insight, along with lack of artificiality. It occurs because of having cut the rope of the relationships of the three times. Here, one may think, Is it not contradictory that what arises in awareness is explained as the qualities of its own power, but that this is classified as being conceptually unanalyzable That is very relevant.1122 When apparent kleshas vividly arise, enter into their arising as it is. That is recognizing the revelation of naked insight. Without conceptual artificiality, cut the rope of relationships of the three times. Rest without moving. Realization, the samaadhi that does not move from dharmataa, then arises naturally.
Appearances other than oneself are confusion of mind. Desires to strive and meditate are confusion of mind. Confusion is dharmataa, self-established field of equality, Unmoving Space of the nature in all its primordial purity, With no action and seeking, no establishment or its lack. Here, insight is established as the great sealing. There are no actions of accepting and rejecting. Even if one grasps such things as existing, that same confused conceptualization goes into the self-established space of the vajra heart-essence. That space is free from benefit or harm. Therefore, meditation and non-meditation are not two. They are realized with certainty as one. Within the essence of the true awareness There is no insight of action or an actor To be the cause of straying through fixation.
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Here the nakedly transparent essence of insight, the ultimate whose meaning transcends viewer and viewed, is unwaveringly viewed. The Knj says: Kye teacher of teachers! The doer of all, the King, Unerringly prophesies who is going to have realization. 1129 In the essence with no exaggeration or denigration, Being concerned about meditation and non-meditation1130 Is like trying to wage a battle for the space of the sky. The meaning of realization is an unwandering vision. It is not a real thing, yet not without reality. 1131 It has no partiality, but it is not beyond it. For that reason one should make no attempt to1132 rest In one-sided meditation or one sided non-meditation. But if one should come to realize the meaning That neither has a view nor any meditation, One need not seek for the self-existing King of equality.
In non-meditation, insight free from sending and taking, Meditating again and again, one sees non-meditation. As for non-meditation, it is meditation Upon the coronation vase of insight itself. The essence is naked insight. The Thaljur says: As for the mark of the way things appear in meditation, The mark is that insight, which is empty and luminous, Is never mixed with any nature whatsoever. The extremes of grasper and fixation are exhausted.
This is the purity of the nature of dharmataa. The manner of its appearance is without confusion. The nature, which is pure of causes and conditions, Is self-purified of non-things, as of things. Pure of attachment to all objects of the five gates, 188
Without any entering into this by means of effort, Without training the mind by means of antidotes, Without renouncing objects or training in mindfulness; Just as things arise, that itself is the meaning. So enter into that meaning, myself the doer of all. Kye! The teacher of teachers, the doer of all, the King, Penetrates into the natural retinue of mind. The yogin who realizes that everything is unborn, Should make no effort to try to perfect1139 the ten-fold natures. The nature of bodhic itta, which is the doer of all, Cannot have awareness of fixation and the grasper. Therefore, there is no need for these to be abandoned. 1140 By resting in that when realization transforms ones' powers, There is spontaneous realization of the King. This view, meditation, action, and fruition of the samaadhi of the great self-existence are included within the single, unobstructed, naked wakefulness1141 of insight: Outwardly the mind does not project appearances. Arising does not go beyond being one's own ornament. It is transparent awareness, self-subsiding without a trace. Within, the flickering of mind is not intellectually conceptualized. Ceaseless, radiant manifestation is known as the power of compassion. It is the clear ocean of the vast Space of self-clarity. 190
Within the self-existing samaadhi which is chokshak , There is no obstruction of the gates of the senses. There is no particular1142 action for the body to perform. Even sleep itself is not to be given up. The mind does not dissect and make analyses.1143 Briefly, body and speech are left just as they are. Thus they are not disturbed by the risings of the mind. The six sense objects do not flicker discursively. When the mind does not flicker with introspective examining, From the great experience of non-thought itself Rises experience of non-thought as luminosity.
1) THE RECOGNITION WHEN ABIDING IN THE NATURAL SAMAADHI OF ONE'S NATURE The first is the recognition of 1147 naturalness. When you are resting in stillness1148 without the arising of hope and fear, or any entering into them, that is the samaadhi. Remain there. Such recognition directly penetrates the awakened state of insight.1149 In respect to guarding that state the Yig Mpa says: Nothing is outside of this, and nothing is within. So it is explained as having neither outside or inside. It is not the producer of any sort of view. It is beyond both eternalism and nihilism. Since it has no view, there is nothing that is viewed. Though not beyond all meaning, it is without a view. Rest in the state where such a thing does not exist. Also the Knj says: Kye! In suchness free from effort, which is the great bliss, Do not try to strive by means of the three gates. Do not produce artificialities and conceptions. Do not intellectualize 1150 or follow out characteristics. Rest in self-rising wisdom. This is the meaning of bliss. This, is the realization of self-rising luminosity. This is the state of self-arising buddha activity. This is the realization of the doer of all, the King.
Distinctions of boundaries and of high and low, are equal like the sky. In the beginning, their arising is neither good or bad, so we should not accept or reject. In the middle their duration in existence is equality, so it will pass away of itself. At the end they are equal in the liberation of self-subsiding; so we should not follow the past or pursue the future.1173 Teaching that here there should be neither resting nor an object of meditation, the Knj says: All-inclusive, unborn, completely pure samaadhi Has no conditions of meditation or non-meditation. Whatever dharmas appear as objects of meditation, Without a particular manner of where and how to rest, If they rest unsought as they are, that is meditation. Now, the meaning of these, is summarized as the great equality of dharmataa: Everything rises1174 from bodhicitta, the Space of the ground. But since there is no real1175 arising of its power and play, Its equal rising rises as primordial Space. Unequal rising also rises as equal space. Abiding within the state of that equality Is self-established resting within dharmataa.
But even if one abides in non-equality, One is still abiding within that state of equality. Equality is freedom, in the Space of natural wisdom; But what is non-equal is also free as equal space. Insight like the sky arises as one's mere experience1176 of all the variety of ceaseless play. This happens by means of the power of compassion. When things appear as the five poisons and so forth, these are the bad dharmas of sa.msaara. When things appear as wisdom and so forth, these are the good dharmas of nirvaa.na. All vehicles, appearing as higher and lower, are pure by having the essence of a dream. In reality they are without good and bad, or accepting and rejecting. They are included in the single perfection of unborn equality, the vast palace of dharmadhaatu. This is like the sun, moon, stars, and so forth being included within the sky. The Tantra of Self-Liberated Insight says: 194
(4) TYING THE KNOT OF THE ULTIMATE MEANING OF DIRECT LIBERATION, THE GREAT SUBSIDING OF WHATEVER IS SEEN: Arising, existing, and liberation, are liberated As soon as they arise,1192 without any sort of gap. 1193 Since they are continuous and have no gaps, Cause and effect cannot succeed in coming between them. 1194 197
(5) TYING THE KNOT OF THE ULTIMATE MEANING OF LIBERATION EXTREMES, BEYOND ALL THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION:
Space of Samantabhadra, changeless from all eternity, Since it is changeless, it is the Space of Vajrasattva. Within the self-nature of the natural state itself, Mere awareness is labeled with the name of buddhahood.
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Since the essence of insight does not exist at all, it is Samantabhadra. Since it is empty, luminous, and transparent, it is the Space of Vajrasattva. Recognizing this vastness is called attaining the buddhahood within one. If it is looked for anywhere else, it will not be found. 198
Also the Precious Treasury of the Unborn, says:1210 Not realizing1211 anything, also not thinking anything, Create nothing artificial; let the nature be. That is the precious treasury known as the unborn. All the victorious ones of the three times have gone there.1212 Also the Bodhicaryaavataara says: At any time when either things or non-things Are in the mind, they do not long remain. 1213 Since at that time phenomena are not other, Without conception they are pacified. 1214 It is as it is said there and elsewhere. Now there is the praise of liberation from extremes, the meaning of dharmataa: Since, after the time when this itself has been realized, There are no dharmas of accepting or rejecting, All is one all-pervading, encompassing dharmataa.
As in a land of gold, where everything is golden, Nothing is excluded, 1215 remaining untouched by extremes, Straying and obscurations have been refined away. Bodhicitta has no gap like a great abyss. Trikaaya is perfect spontaneously and effortlessly. Beyond all thought and expression is merely a figure of speech. It is exhausted merely by having been expressed. All dharmas are without ground like the sky. There are no dharmas to be made any better and worse or to be accepted and rejected. When this has been realized, all dharmas are seen as equality. In a land of gold, all things are equal in being made of gold. Ordinary rocks and stones are not found, because everything is made of gold. Just so, whatever forms appear, things are neither better and worse. All dharmas are pervaded and
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(6) TYING THE KNOT OF UNOBSTRUCTED NAKEDNESS, THE ONE THAT LIBERATES ALL WITHOUT PASSING THE PASS:
Appearance let loose1216 clearly appears as self-rising insight. Since its transparency is totally unobscured, And there is no division of external and internal, This is uncontrived resting within the natural state. Everything clearly appears as the space of dharmataa. 1217 Here both body and mind are naturally at rest,1218 Taking their rightful place on the seat of confidence.1219 Awareness is carefree1220 like that of a person with nothing to do. Neither too tight or loose,1221 leave body and mind at ease. If the insight of each individual person is without duality and so forth, this will liberate that person from bondage. One must conclude that this depends on solitary insight. Therefore, it is the one that liberates all. Solitary insight is dharmakaaya, the single dot of bindu. By realizing this all is liberated. Therefore, it is proper to call it the one that liberates all. When appearance let loose arises as transparent insight, do not contemplate it in terms of appearance and mind.1222 Recognize that solitary, unobstructed insight. The meaning of dharmataa will become clear. The spacious1223 confidence of being on one's own seat is the oral instruction for those who have already done all the work. 1224 Here is how to practice this. Unobstructed insight, awareness of its power, and the appearance of objects are unified. 1225 Awareness and the object that arises are not thought of as two. By recognizing that, single insight, object, and mind are liberated from the net. Just so, merely pulling out the pin of a pack harness causes the packs to be released. Pulling the central pin of a number of linked tethers causes them all to be released. 1226 The threefold production of object, awareness, and intellectualizations are conventionally called false conceptions. They are the dharmas of sa.msaara. By recognizing them as solitary insight, these three are liberated from the net, instantly awakened into freshness.1227 This is dharmataa, self-arising wisdom exhausting word and mind. That which is to be abandoned is sa.msaara. That which is to be gained is nirvaa.na. When they are fixated, there are those three, object, awareness and intellectualizations. The middle way between sa.msaara and nirvaa.na is free from antidotes of the mind of abandoning. This is called tying the knot of the ultimate point of insight arising without obstruction. 201
All that exists has its existence within oneself. However one rests,1233 one is resting within oneself. Wherever one goes, one is going within oneself. The space of enlightenment does not have any coming and going. The body of all the buddhas 1234 does not come and go. In a dream all the appearances of going, staying, and existence appear within one period of sleep. This happens even though sleep has no going, staying, and existing. Just so, all the dharmas of the phenomenal world of sa.msaara and nirvaa.na, are appearances of the ground, luminous appearance of what does not exist. So are all appearances that in it many beings go, stay, and exist. They do not go beyond single insight. The essence, insight, is the master without coming and going. He does not move from his seat, the dharmakaaya of the victorious ones. The Knj says: The environment and inhabitants of the phenomenal world, The suchness of sa.msaara as well as that of nirvaa.na, Do not go beyond the state of 1235 bodhicitta. When nothing goes beyond bodhicitta, that is peace.1236
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If conditions are liberated by conditions, I shall not depend upon conceptual dharmas. If objects are liberated by their being objects, I shall not depend on fixation and the grasper. If cause has been liberated by causes and conditions, I shall not depend on sa.msaara and nirvaa.na. If dharmas have been liberated by being dharmas, I shall not depend on words and conventionalities. If Mind itself is liberated by the mind, 204
As defilement is cleansed by defilement itself, Just so purity is liberated by purity. As poisons overcome poison, and iron is cut by iron, Stones are cut by stones, and wood is burned by wood, Liberation from one's enemy, oneself, is likewise liberation that is self-produced. 1240 Nothing is ever brought to the state of 1241 liberation By anything that is not of a kind in accord with it. With that, the discussion of the five manners of liberation and of the six kinds of binding1242 associated with them is completed. Now there are the detailed instructions for realizing the Space of dharmataa. From among them here are the teachings of
THE FIVE TIES THAT BIND LIBERATION FROM OBSTACLES OF DOUBTS AND CONCEPTUAL EXTREMES.1243
1) THE TIE THAT BINDS THE SPACE OF EQUALITYEQUANIMITY BEYOND THOUGHT AND EXPRESSION: From the state of the great Space which is bodhicitta itself, Discursive thoughts of memory do not arise at all.1244 The mind unmoved by the characteristics of awareness, Realizes the single dot of buddhahood.
In regard to the trio of essence, nature, and compassion, the true state of the essence is the nature of mind. It is the space of the dhaatu without memory and thought. It abides in all-pervading equality free from arising of hope and fear or entering into them. The Khyungchen says: Self-insight is above the level of non-meditation,1245 Free from sound and mind, field of perfection of all. What need has this itself for conceptualized contrivance? Also the Knj says: 205
If there are no false conceptions of emanating and gathering, That in itself is supremely excellent meditation. The nature of insight is luminosity. It is like the luminosity of the sun and moon shining without obscuration in the dome of the sky. Rest in the vivid self-luminosity of this nakedly revealed state without emanating and gathering discursive thoughts. Luminosity will be clear within the self-existing essence. The Khyungchen says: The pith is the wisdom of non-meditation, The naturalness with nothing artificial. Without any cause and free from all conditions, This is unobscured experience. It is the self-existing play of objects,1248 Of the single dot that is free from any effort, And never was produced by anyone, The essence that is perfect from all eternity. Discursive thought is opposite and contradictory to this self-existing clarity. But since there are no extremes, there is no place for discursiveness to be established. 1249 Therefore abide in the self-awakened nakedness of non-thought. This is the self-existing clarity of the nature. The Knj says: This is beyond the scope 1250 of the marks of discursive thought.1251 Removing concepts by concepts, can never be completed, Like stirring up silt in water, when one is trying to remove it,1252 206
Regarding supreme steadfastness of samaadhi, If one becomes attached to such experience, Then this is considered childish behavior. It does not lead one to the state of nirvaa.na. When the yogin realizes unobstructed insight, awareness may enter into the objects of insight's power of manifestation. But even so, they do not go beyond the essence of dharmataa. Therefore, awareness too does not go beyond realization of self-existing dharmataa. The Knj says: This is the view that liberates thoughts just as they are. By means of unseeking, unwandering resting within the nature, All is self-rising self-liberation as it is. Here, to sum up the main points, the deliberately fabricated view and meditation of the gods should be known as a dharma having characteristics. It is ordinary non-fabrication. It wanders away from non-conceptual awareness of unobstructed insight into awareness of objects. Therefore, it should be known as sa.msaaric conceptualization. Within transparent insight, do not dwell in the adulteration1271 of hope and fear. Do not wander from the realization of limitless non-obstruction. 1272 That should be known as the non-dual realization of the victorious ones. The same tantra says: Kye! The essence of teachers is the doer of all, the King. This is dharmataa without meditation and thought. To Rest unthinking within subsidence is sa.msaara. Seeking and meditating is the conceptual path. 1273 The doer of all does not teach that there will be liberation By resting in such a samaadhi that has both hope and fear.1274 When dualistic bonds are cut1275 by realization, That produces the resting of ultimate equality. As that is compatible with anything at all,1276 Realization of me, the doer of all, is spontaneous. Also it says there:
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5) THE TIE THAT BINDS TRANSCENDENCE OF EMANATING AND GATHERING MEMORY AND THOUGHT: Since self-rising wisdom has no bias or partiality, It cannot be indicated by saying, This is it. All complexities are at peace within this nature. Intellectualizations have therefore been abandoned. Train in the groundless ultimate, known as the great vastness. The essence of insight is free from the extremes of complexity. It is important for the yogin desiring enlightenment that the path too does not go beyond the essence. if ground and path are not in harmony, one will not attain the fruition. Realization of unobstructed insight is simply not going beyond the sphere of the pure nature, and not meditating on objects for some particular purpose. It is also realization of self-arising wisdom. Regarding the liberation of non-renunciation, the completion of the great perfection, the Khyungchen says: The ceaseless appearance of the objects of the nature, Exists as the footprints of the essential heart of things.1277 Therefore do not try to1278 examine these empty objects. Left exactly as they are, they are liberated. Free from all extremes, as they are in themselves, They are pure of the residue of former births. Also the Knj says: Kye! Yogins having the fortune to enter all at once When1279 the doer of all, the King, has been displayed, Should be mindful of that Space of realization. By that they will get accustomed to their being there.1280 Not meditating on this, not entering into it: Are doctrines that should be taught to those who are like this. 6) THE TIE THAT BINDS FREEDOM FROM OBSTRUCTIONS OF LABELING WITHIN THE SINGLE DOT OF SIMPLE INSIGHT: Dharmataa, the single dot, is self-risen wisdom. 210
THE THREE TIES THAT BIND1285 BY WHICH ONE PASSES THE PASS INTO THE SELF-EXISTING, LUMINOUS CLARITY OF THE OCEAN
1) GRASPING THE MOTIONLESS GREAT EQUALITY AS IT IS: When dharmas appear to be a variety of objects, Not conceiving, this is classified as that, Letting them rest just as they are spontaneously, Without the addition or the removal of anything, They will naturally dwell in the equal Space of dharmataa. When there is the clear self-nature of insight, the ceaseless vividness of the way things appear rests in dharmataa. Self-insight does not emanate or gather anything. The Khyungchen says: Since all dharmas are unobscured1286 and free from complexity, This is the great main point that they are liberated Without any need for action exactly as they are. When causation has ceased, and conditions have subsided, And even the fruition is worn out and exhausted, When there is no reliance on anything at all, The point is, there is Space, the one that liberates everything. Also the Knj says: What is without any manner of resting in this way Left resting unsought as it is, will be in meditation. 2) GRASPING THE LEVEL1287 OF SELF-LUMINOUS, TRANSPARENT NAKEDNESS: Regarding all the phenomena which have made an appearance As objects of the energies of white and red, 1288 Not collecting the senses, not moving the eyes about, Neither contemplating oneself, nor thinking about another, One should rest in self-existing luminosity, 212
With body unmoving in the vajraasana, with unmoving eyes, rest directly in clarity. Let objects appear in the unhindered variety of luminosity, as reflections rise within a clear ocean. The mind is within non-thought, so emanating and gathering are cut off by themselves. Let insight rest within transparency. The Heap of Precious Stones says: Now this itself is called1290 the essence of insight, Abiding in unobstructed transparency. Just so, within a clear ocean, for example , The planets and stars appear, But never hide it. Variety too is the great transparency. 3) ALL-PERVADING AND ENCOMPASSING VASTNESS, LIBERATION FROM THE NET,1291 IS GLORIFIED:1292 Having aroused that vastness,1293 it should be glorified. The mind is entirely free from emanating and gathering. In the vision of self-rising wisdom, where everything is equal, Without any outside, inside, or anything in between, The experience will arise of being mixed with the sky. Then samaadhi, the luminous bliss of simplicity, rises. Just recognize this, without meditating on anything in particular. The upper body is straight. The gaze is even, and the eyes are directed into the distance, beyond the space of confused appearance of here and there. Let insight expand into vastness.1294 Leave the five gates free-floating. 1295 When all these things have been done, meditate by going into evenness without outer, inner, or anything in between. Then there will be the experience of mixing body and space. This is experience of the great transparency unhindered by conceptualization, experience of transparently naked insight. Regard all appearances as the brightly sparkling evanescence of transparency. 1296 Regard transparent, trackless awareness as complete evenness.1297 Everything is transparently liberated from the net. Emptiness has cut through extremes. Regard this as the state of nothing whatever from which everything arises. If we search for this conceptually, examining and thinking about it, we shall not find it. It will not be able to arise, even if it has arisen formerly. No conceptions should be present. Do not entertain many discursive thoughts, thinking, what is this? and so forth. Then experience of transparency will arise in a way beyond expression. The Seng says: The self-existing samaadhi is realization Where everything rests within the state of chokshak . The experience of insubstantiality, Is the principal one of all the ma.n.dalas. Unchanging in its self-awakened state, The object of dharmataa is only this. 213
Rest in the ground, the vision of motionless dharmataa; Simplicity without inner and outer, fixation and grasper. With no attachment of mind to so-called objects as other, No dharmas are grasped, and one is free from all attachment To appearances of the vessel and essence of the world. 1299 There is no birth of sa.msaaric objects. They are like space. The essence of self-insight is without grasping. Since the appearances of play have not been grasped as objects, insight is not obscured by external appearance. 2) THE DISCRIMINATION OF BEING WITHOUT THE BIRTH OF SA.MSAARIC OBJECTS: Since mind is not conceived as being an inner self, And dharmas of a grasper are totally1300 nonexistent, False concepts of the phenomenal world are pacified. The understanding of things that has given birth to sa.msaara Is completely cut through by that,1301 down to the very root. This is the time when confusions of outer and inner dharmas Are utterly nonexistent, like the space of the sky. 1302 Because they are not conceptualized in any way, They arrive at the state of1303 realization of dharmakaaya. On reaching 1304 the ground of exhaustion, there is no coming and going. That universal Space is 1305 the field of Samantabhadra. The highe st1306 palace of dharmakaaya is attained.
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4) DISCRIMINATION BETWEEN AALAYA AND DHARMAKAAYA: To go beyond this is sa.msaaric intellectualization. In that there is cause and effect. It does not pass the pass. Beings who are in error go ever lower and lower. Therefore, as for the ultimate, secret, great perfection It does not go beyond the state of spacious ness, And all its powers 1318 are included in the ground. Motionless realization abides in that equality.
The essence of insight is like a mirror. Its power is like the clarity of the mirror. From that the play of manifestation arises, like reflections in a mirror. When play arises, it does not move from the essence of insight, dharmakaaya. So this too is dharmakaaya. AAlaya is a neutral1319 kind of non-thought. It does not realize unobstructed insight. If one rests in aalaya, samaadhi is obscured by accumulations of the karma of the higher realms and so forth. From this 217
1. aalaya, 2. the mere clarity and non-thought of the awareness of aalayavijaana, 3. the arising of the conceptual awareness of the six senses Meditation on these and all guarding of these as liberation of what arises does not go beyond the three worlds. In ati yoga, the root, dharmakaaya, is attained. This is done by recognizing transparent insight. By not having hope of meditating in the non-thought of shamatha, aalaya is eliminated. By not making clarity and clarity meditation into a path, aalayavijaana is eliminated. By not making the external arising of thoughts into a path, the awarenesses of the six senses are eliminated. One abides continually in the wisdom of trikaaya, dharmakaaya, sambhogakaaya, and nirmaa.nakaaya. Insight occurs as emptiness with no established essence at all. This is resting in the wisdom of dharmakaaya. Transparency and the luminosity accompanying it are the wisdom of sambhogakaaya. Realization of the ground of ceaseless arising as unobstructed insight is the wisdom of nirmaa.nakaaya. The main point is that insight must always be revealed in transparent nakedness. If it is not revealed unobstructedly, we shall not be liberated from awareness of the three worlds. We shall not be led from the sa.msaaric state to anything more illuminated or exalted than before. Therefore, aalaya and dharmakaaya must be distinguished. The essence of aalaya is being the receptacle of the vaasanaas. Its definition is that aalaya is the ground of all the dharmas of sa.msaara. Since it is the ground of these, it is known as aalaya, in Tibetan 1323 kn shii, the ground of all. There are three divisions:1324 1) aalaya of body is the beginningless vaasanaas that appear as a body and the arising from that basis of the collections of the individual body. 1325 2) The aalaya of ultimate joining is the ignorance that is the support of collecting the skandhas and so forth, all the karmas that join one to sa.msaara.1326 218
The essence of dharmakaaya is transparent insight without complexity. Its proper definition is being the ultimate essence of the true dharmas of the pure relative.1328 The support is called kaaya. Its three divisions, essence, nature, and compassion, exist as trikaaya. Therefore, it is three-fold. The Thaljur says: From the main points concerning dharmakaaya and aalaya This is the brief explanation of the ground of aalaya. It is the ground of all dharmas, as well as all non-dharmas. The defining feature of its essence is having division. Its essence is to be the receptacle of the vaasanaas. The divisions are body and joining, eternal ground and variety. 1329 As for the definition, kun, is collection of karma. shi, has the meaning of heaping up and accumulation. As for dharmakaaya it is simplicity, It does not have ordinary characteristics of grasping. Inseparable emptiness-luminosity is its essence. The divisions, are dharma- sambhoga- and nirmaa.na- kaaya. When it is divided, it has these three distinctions. The definition of dharma, is the path of purity. The meaning of kaaya, is what is established by this. Also the Pearl Mala says: AAlaya, has the function of accumulation. Dharmakaaya is the exhaustion of defilements, As Emptiness/luminosity and pervading luminosity, It is not stained by thought, and is awakened from memory; Likewise it is free from all1330 complexity. Like the sky, it is all-pervading and it is empty. Pure by itself, it is freedom from all characteristics. With cause and condition, aalaya, which is like a pond, Has for its function accumulation of vaasanaas, As for dharmakaaya, it is free from vaasanaas. From the collective karma of mind and intellect 219
From virtuous karma blissful experience will arise. Many limitless buddha fields will thus be seen. From non-virtuous karma experience of suffering rises. Beings of the lower realms dwell within blazing fire. As for the distinction involved in thus passing the pass of cause and fruition:1346 Just as if one should ponder the nature 1347 of all things, It has no existence any way or anywhere, When making this into the path, one does not move from the nature. That vision without conceptions of anything sees1348 the essence. On reaching that final fruition, 1349 nothing is obscured. The vision of dharmakaaya is the wisdom of the absolute within itself. At the very time of realizing this, sa.msaara and nirvaa.na, cause and effect, and so forth do not exist at all. All complexities are completely 222
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This is the commentary on the eleventh chapter of The Precious Treasury of Dharmadhaatu
CONDITIONED APPEARANCES
ARE THE PURE EQUALITY OF SPACE.1361
What follows is an accompaniment to the previous teachings about realization of the great resting.
Since there is liberation directly when things arise,1388 They subside on the very1389 level where they are seen. Since liberation is perfect, the nature is perfectly pure. Since time is liberated, this need not be cultivated. 1390 Since liberation is natural, it is not artificial. 4) THE SELF-LIBERATING NAIL OF SPACE OF THE GREAT JOY THAT BINDS THINGS AND MIND WITHIN TRANSPARENCY: Wanting things as they are, one has a joyful mind, Enjoying good companions and pleasant conversation. Living and all its aspects are pleasing to the mind. Because of that joyful nature, the mind of the ornament rises. Recognizing this, let everything rest as it is. There will be the spontaneous naturalness of primordial space. Take this as your support. Joyful subsidence1391 will be born. This is the luminous clarity1392 of insight. Rest without moving from that1393 recognition of unobstructedness. The Heap of Precious Stones says: When there is external appearance by the memory of mind,1394 At that time 1395 My prajaa is self-purified. If this is not cut off, my sounds will be heard by that. 5) THE NAIL OF SPACE OF BEING LIBERATED ON ONE'S OWN SEAT1396 227
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9) THE NAIL OF SPACE THAT THOSE WHO HOLD THE LINEAGE 1475 OF THE KING OF YAANAS SHOULD KEEP IT SECRET FROM THOSE WITH INFERIOR, FIXATED MINDS: This is the highest peak of the ultimate, secret vehicle. Do not speak of this to those of inferior mind. Rather than that you ought to keep it completely secret. By the force of exaggeration and denigration, This teaching of the essence will come to be misused. 1476 Dwelling within exaggeration and denigration, With wrong understanding, those who misuse the secret gate Will fall without any limit into the lower realms. Therefore the lineage of the secret1477 king of yaanas Should only be taught1478 to holy ones of excellent fortune. This miraculously arisen lineage of the king of yaanas should be kept secret from those of bad fortune, but taught to those who have good fortune. Those of good fortune are those who have the supreme reference point1479 of the vajra essence. Now there are the essence, the divisions, the way of keeping secret, the faults of not keeping secret, and the virtues of secrecy. The essence of being without good fortune is not to be a vessel of the profound dharma. This happens because one has no power to receive a share of the dharma. The divisions are these: 1. Ordinary beings who have no karmic connection with the dharma. 2. Those of small mind who will be terrified and angered by it. 3. Dwellers in the ordinary vehicles. 4. Beings who are not vessels of the secret or for whom it is not the right time. They would misuse the presentation of the secret teachings. The meaning of this great secret should be kept secret from those of the family who would misuse the secret gate. Those who are not perfect vessels, having small minds, slandering the Dharma because of that, will be joined to the karma of being born endlessly in the lower realms. This karma is extremely heavy, even more so than that of the five inexpiable transgressions. The Uttaratantra says: Those who again and again have recourse to evil counsel and have bad thoughts about the tathaagata; who kill their fathers, mothers, or an arhat; who do what should not be done by causing dissension among the sangha; even these, if they properly contemplate 234
Here are the virtues of keeping this secret. 1. Good will be done for oneself and others. 2. The teachings will remain for a long time.
In regard to the fortunate ones to whom this should be taught, the divisions are these: 1. Their characteristics. 237
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Also the Knj says: Bliss should not be accepted; nor suffering rejected. You may ask why: 243
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This is the commentary on the twelfth chapter of The Precious Treasury of Dharmadhaatu
In that way, conditioned appearances of the dharmas of action have been purified into the space of the dhaatu. That is because we have reached the fruition. This is eternal liberation, the self-existing pith. From this teaching, here is the teaching that the eternal liberation of space encompasses all dharmas: As in bodhicitta all dharmas are eternally liberated, Therefore, there are no dharmas that are not liberated. Arising interdependently from the power and substances of vidyaa mantra, appearances of men, women, horses, elephants,1646 and so forth are all eternally liberated in the state of illusion. They are just luminous appearances of what does not exist. They do not have the particular characteristics1647 of real horses, elephants, and so forth. Just so, all the dharmas of the phenomenal world of sa.msaara and nirvaa.na are mere arising. They are the miracles of appearance of the ground, insight. They have no essence over and above that. Therefore, they are calle d the illusion of variety. Natureless appearances are eternally liberated in the state of insight. The Khyungchen says: Self-liberated from all eternity, They are without a cause of liberation. From the extended explanation of the way in which they are liberated, here is the teaching of their being liberated from all eternity because they are groundless and rootless: Sa.msaara is liberated for all eternity. It has been set free as primordial, absolute purity.
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By thinking one will not attain the meaning of wisdom. If by thinking, one could attain the meaning of wisdom, Self-arising wisdom would then be something false. By meditating one will not see dharmakaaya. If one could see dharmakaaya by means of meditation, Self-appearing dharmataa would then be false. One will not realize the meaning of insight by theory. 1673 If one could realize the meaning of insight by theory, Unobstructed dharmakaaya would be false. The root of ignorance cannot be cut by means of Dharmas.1674 If the root of ignorance could be cut by Dharmas, Alpha-pure wisdom itself would then be something false. By virtue one does not know the meaning of buddhahood. 255
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(3) The three piths of the self-liberation of action without desire are these:
1. The direct liberation of appearance. 2. The self-liberation of flickering discursiveness. 3. The eternal liberation of insight.
(4) The four eternal, all-sufficient meditations, free from the support of memory and thought are those upon the following:
1. 2. 3. 4. Outer appearance. Inner awareness. Secret insight. Natural state of suchness.
are these:
1. Though there are times when there is dwelling on existence1731 and times when discursiveness, they are recognized as the transparency of self-arising insight. 2. Insight of non-thought as it is has only one place to go. This is naked there is flickering
alpha-purity.
Within the alpha-purity of essence the nature spontaneously exists. That two-fold heart-essence of spontaneous insight transcends eternalism and nihilism.
(6) The three oral instructions of the self-existing fruition are those of the following:
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insight.
They are the possible places to go of nameless alpha-purity, the vast, great space of the exhaustion of dharmas. It is liberated from extremes and has no grasper.
(10) As for the three ma.n.dalas, there is no accepting and rejecting after realization of the following:
1. Appearances are the ma.n.dala of body. 2. Sounds are the ma.n.dala of speech. 3. Understanding and memory are the ma.n.dala of mind.
(11) The twenty one upaayas are the twenty-one transmissions of the twenty-one powers.1738 The Tantra on the details of Transmission says:1739
According to the twenty-one stages of mind, Regarding radiant light and wisdom itself, By the means of the seven transmissions of these, Those who are of the lesser1740 seven stages, Those who are of small mind, will be liberated. Likewise, in the case of the kaayas and bindus, 264
(12)
1. Overcoming appearance, like 1742 the eight examples of illusion. 2. Overcoming awareness, like the trackless self-subsidence of a breeze 1743 in space. 3. Overcoming insight in the transparency of emptiness like the sky.
(13)
1. The naked, empty heart-essence of eternal liberation. 2. The naked, luminous heart-essence of self-liberation. 3) The naked, unobstructed1744 heart-essence of liberation from existence
(14)
1. The appearance of lustrous manifestation, the five lights.1745 2. The appearance of insight, the clear purity1746 of luminosity. 3) The appearance of the nature,1747 the exhaustion of dharmas that transcends all grasping
About the meaning of these points, the Seng says: The essence of insight of the great perfection Has neither confusion nor yet non-confusion. The thoughts within the minds of sentient beings Cannot be symbolized by thoughts and letters; But that which is the main point of all this 1748 Is the three heart-essences of the oral instructions. Self-insight is the appearance of dharmakaaya.1749 It is not seen by having a view of it; But that which is the main point of all this Is the three heart-essences of the means of resting. The great perfection's unobstructed action Does not arise by having been produced; But that which is the main point of all this Is the three-fold desirelessness of self-liberation. Familiarity with the great perfection Is eternal and does not rise from meditation; But that which is the main point of all this 265
(15)
As for the five paths of the five wisdoms , there are these:
1. From the appearances of the signs 1754 of the five wisdoms, arises the path of the wisdom of dharmadhaatu, the essence of simplicity. This is the appearance of the exhaustion of dharmataa. 2. From this comes the path of the mirror-like wisdom.1755 This is the first, great, lustrous manifestation1756 of the luminosity of self-insight. It is continuous yoga day and night, free from falling into bias and partiality. This is the appearance of reaching the perfection of insight. 3) From that comes the path of the wisdom of equality. This is the appearance of increase of the virtues of the nyam. 4) Being free from extremes of fixation and attachment in regard to the nyam is experiencing the path of discriminating awareness wisdom. This is the appearance of the manifestation of dharmataa. It is taught not to go beyond the first ground of self-arising insight. 5) From that arises the path of the all-accomplishing wisdom. It is liberation of insight as alpha-purity. It is the transparency of naked dharmataa resting in its own nature. 16) The above is also a presentation of the stages of the four appearances according to tregch. They are in reverse order1757 from that taught in thgel. Vimalamitra says: These, by means of their having been reversed, Go to the primal ground, which is self-insight.
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7) Kye! Vajra of Speech, consider the essence of empty insight that purifies all. Its effortless, self-attained fruition is wondrous. By accomplishing this one thing, all of sa.msaara and nirvaa.na are purified as non-duality. HA HA! 8) Kye! Vajra of Speech, consider the perfection1788 of the essence, the great emptiness in which everything rests. The appearance of the six kinds of beings as trikaaya is wondrous. Without even a particle of meditation, all beings becomes enlightened at once. HA HA! 9) Kye! Vajra of Speech, consider the great emptiness of trikaaya, the eternal perfection of the fruition. That the three times are without addition or taking away is wondrous. Without practicing the six paaramitaas, the accumulations are perfected all at once. HA HA! 10) Kye! Vajra of Speech, consider the direct resting of insight, the great emptiness, the equality of everything. The arising of all actions and actors as the ornament is wondrous. The liberation of the view from all accepting and rejecting is wondrous. HA HA! 11) Kye! Vajra of Speech, consider the emptiness of emptiness, the eternal, great emptiness. T great cliff where all the buddhas are is wondrous. By he meditating on action and actor you will fall over it. HA HA! 12) Kye! Vajra of Speech, consider the reality of the emptiness of nonemptiness.1789 The vehicle of fixating non-existence as a self is indeed wondrous. By being born the unborn is attained. HA HA! The retinue, Vajra of Speech and the others, rejoiced supremely in those words of great wonder. By their being spoken, all appearances arose by themselves as the great wonder. They appeared as themselves. They liberated themselves. They attained themselves. They become non-dual with the vajra body.
That is the extensive teaching. At this time, by the arising of the liberation of conceptualizations from the net, there is the spontaneous play of experience of dharmataa: All The confusions of the environment and the inhabitants Of all the phenomenal world are completely overthrown. Day and night have been awakened for all eternity. They are self-awakened. They are awakened as space. The day, the day of the week, and the date are all awakened. The month and the year are awakened. The kalpa is awakened. Dharmas and non-dharmas, one and all, are awakened. Confusion, the ground of both sa.msaara and nirvaa.na, 270
That was the extensive teaching. Now one exists in the fortress of realizing the exhaustion of dharmas. Within that there are none of the transition or change of the three times: 271
All is eternally and primordially unborn, non-dwelling, and unceasing. The environment is the apparent vessel of the world. The inhabitants are the essence, all sentient beings of the three worlds. Both are eternally non-existent. There are no objects. Without support, they are already pure. Whatever appears, whatever arises, builds 1815 the empty fortress of the sky. This is the ground, the great emptiness, the eternal essence. In this jewel1816 fortress of unobstructed luminosity are appearances of what does not exist, self-luminous, mere reflections of empty form. In this fortress all that arises is the ground, insight. It is a self-unified single space, without past and future. All dharmas are the exhaustion of dharmas. They are empty, equal, all-pervading, and self-existing. They pass the pass into vast, great Space. This is realization liberated from extremes, without bias or partiality. As the power of self-arising produces thoughts in one's being, there is experience of the seven-fold, wondrous, secret words . As to why that is so, the Heap of Precious Stones says: Then the teacher himself spontaneously 1817 spoke these kings of words of wondering at himself. 1) E Ma Ho! Listen, Vajra of Speech, you who are the essence.1818 Because one's own insight is the pith that is free from birth and death, there is not even an atom of distinction in seeing the essence of insight between someone who has killed a million sentient beings and an individual who always practices the ten paaramitaas. That is what is taught by me, Samantabhadra. 2) Kye! Vajra of the Speech of all the Buddhas, because the pith of dharmataa is simplicity, the person who has a constant acquaintance with emptiness and the individual who does not make his mind into emptiness for even in instant are made into buddhas1819 without even an atom of distinction. That is what is taught by me, Samantabhadra. 3) Kye! Vajra of Speech, a person who has faith that immeasurable conditioned1820 virtues are produced by the uncompounded pith of insight itself and one who is always striving to cut off lives are without an atom of difference in their opportunity1821 to perfect the accumula tions. That is what is taught by me, Samantabhadra. 4) Kye! Vajra of Speech, the person in whose body and speech the various signs of dharmataa arise by the pith of insight without coming or going and the being who does not train his mind in hearing and contemplating for even an instant are without even a particle of difference in seeing reality. 1822 That is what is taught by me, Samantabhadra. 272
Such confusion and wandering is the dream-like confusion of sa.msaara. The Seng says: 273
The self-nature of insight is simplicity. That completely pure nature has existed as buddhahood from all eternity. Its opposite, sa.msaara, does not exist at all, like space. Do not bind insight in the cage of incidental, false conceptions. That is the instruction. The number of the great binders of insight is limitless. But, if they are summarized, there are these ten cages of Dharmas : 1) The cage of attachment to conventional words. 2) The cage of the pool of non-thought. 3) The cage of the grasper of action and effort. 4) The cage of the grasper of appearances as truly existing. 5) The cage of seeking the true meaning from another. 6) The cage of grasping the characteristics of empty form. 7) The cage of losing the nature by making a view of emptiness. 8) The cage of pointless, discursive chatter.1853 9) The cage of emptiness meditation, like pointing fingers in the dark. 10) The cage of senseless self-torture.1854
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Therefore abandon the cage of biased and partial desire. Let awareness be self-existing and impartial. Let it be free from bias,1881 like the space of the sky itself. 279
The minor limbs are the twenty eight external maaras and so forth. The divisions of their emanations are beyond the compass of thought. They are as many as the extremes of conceptualization, particular karmas, and the assembly of kleshas. But they can all be summarized as conceptualization alone. By liberating conceptualization as insight, insight is transparently realized. Whoever does this is called a yogin completely victorious over the maaras. The Tantra of Self-Liberated Insight says: The maaras that bind by the characteristics of various concepts Are so many that they are beyond the compass of thought. As many characteristics of thought as may come forth Have, every one of them, the nature of the maaras. Here is an abbreviated teaching of these, Whose inexpressible vastness transcends all thought. If someone desires the objects of grasping and fixation, That is what is known as the external maara. 280
Whatever is seen and heard within the six collections Is self-luminous Space, without separation or clearing away. Therefore, pass the pass into the state of equality, Space that is liberated for all eternity. That was the instruction. None of the five spheres of external appearance, form and so on, go beyond the power and play of self-arising wisdom. Nor do whatever affirmations and negations arise in inner awareness. As empty form, appearance of what does not exist, they pass the pass into insight. Insight, self-arising wisdom, passes the pass into transparent namelessness, the exhaustion of dharmas. This is not the realm of the complexities of thought and expression. The Seng says: I am separate from the word emptiness. Because I do not have any dharmas of darkness, I thus am the self appearing, great radiance. Because I have no conditions of appearance, I thus am the luminosity of the five kaayas. Because I am without the dharmas of action, I thus am birthless for all eternity. Because I have no entering of the maaras, I thus am free from variety of conditions. Because I have no extreme conceptualizations I thus am free from dharmas of is and is not. Because I have no words for characteristics, I thus am free from nihilistic conceptions.1888 283
Because I have no conceptions of fixation, I thus transcend extremes of nihilism. Because I have no productions of memory, The dharmas of sa.msaaric suffering are set free. Because I have no dualistic appearance, I thus am free from dualized joy and sorrow. Because I do not fall into partiality, I thus am free from all confusion of mind. Because I do not have any dharmas of action, I thus am self-arising spontaneity. Here is the general teaching of the distinguishing features of the space of ying,1889 the ground, and the Space of long,1890 the mind:1891 The single equality that is the source of whatever appears Is the space of the dhaatu that is known as ying. Everything is the Space that is designated as long. As the producer of qualities, it is the ground of all. It is self-rising, without separation or clearing away. The feature that distinguishes dharmataa bodhicitta Is its rising as the essence, the source of everything. Know it to be like space, primordially pure. Insight in its aspect of emptiness and equality, existing as the ground of everything, is called ying, the space of the dhaatu. Because of the spontaneously appearing display of its qualities, it is called the ground. Because it is the essence of everything, it is called bodhicitta. These are actually inseparable, like the space of the sky. This is the I of the Knj.1892 The wisdom arising from this I is called the heart-essence of all dharmas. Regarding these distinguishing features the Knj says: Now I, so-called, am the essential heart, And I am the essence of all the various dharmas.1893 Regarding what is known as self-arising, 284
of the great
The meaning of jang is that the vast Space which is the ground, Self-arising wisdom, eternally without stain, Does not have the obscurations of sa.msaara. Chuup means that its self-existing qualities Have been perfected in a way beyond cause and effect. What is meant by sem is pure luminosity. This is the essence of self-arising insight itself. They are united as bodhicitta, completely pure. The essence of insight is eternally without stain, because sa.msaara does not exist at all. Therefore, it is called purified, jang. Within this very essence, the self-existing qualities exist. The essence exists in a way suitable for the arising of anything whatsoever. Its compassion exists all-pervadingly, and so it pervades all of sa.msaara and nirvaa.na. Therefore, it is perfected, chuup. Its luminosity arises as one's own insight. Therefore, it is called mind, sem. Collected conceptualizations of mind and mental contents, arise impurely from the power of play. These are not bodhicitta. They are the mind of sa.msaara. They are different from the mind of the power and the arising of play from the power. They have a nature contradictory to bodhicitta. The Knj says: Now here is the meaning of what is meant by jang. 286
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The three ways are these: 1) The way to be accomplished is by accomplishment as it is. 2) The way to be liberated is by awakening into alpha-purity. 3) The way to be realized is by realizing transparency. These three arise at once. Within this state there are the three piths of producing acquaintance: 1. The view of transparency. 2. Instantaneous resting. 3. Going into the ground of exhaustion.
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By realizing the groundless, great exhaustion of dharmas, insight becomes as it really is. The Pearl Mala says: When absolute and relative do not exist as two, Our own personal realm is that of mahaasukha. The sign of dharmataa is non-duality; Therefore, do not follow after appearances. 301
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Thus, when the end of the path has been reached, there is the fruition, dharmataa. The supreme nature of enlightenment manifests within appearance. Its nature is like that of a spotless, wish-fulfilling gem. All that is desired is spontaneously accomplished. When one has become fully and completely adept1918 in the great perfection, the spontaneously accomplished kaayas and wisdoms manifest. Within their essence there is neither gathering or separation. When the ground first arises into appearance of the ground, it is accompanied by confused appearance and the collections of the eight consciousnesses of mind and its objects. With these are the five solidifying skandhas,1919 like obscuring clouds. All this occurs in dependence on the vaasanaas of ego-fixation. When these are purified, self-arising wisdom, self-existing dharmakaaya, the s elf-existing, luminous ma.n.dala of the sun, arises without obscuration. Trikaaya is like the heart of the sun. From trikaaya buddha activity is emanated like the sun's1920 rays to the limits of the directions, and benefits are performed. That is the fruition. In the extensive explanation of this topic there are these explications: 1) The general teaching of the essence. 2) The teaching of the different suitabilities. 3) The extensive expression of the 1921 fruition.
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Also it says there: The kaaya of peace is luminous like a wish fulfilling tree. Like a wish-fulfilling gem, it is inconceivable. Until beings are liberated, it is always there To benefit the world, appearing without complexity.
Even though there is the luminous ma.n.dala Of the sun and moon within the center of space, Because the heart-essence of things has been completely obscured, By the gathering of great clouds in the darkness1939 of non-realization, It does not appear. Enlightenment stays within itself. 1940 The luminous nature of buddhahood, the dhaatu,1941 sugatagarbha, mind itself, is like the ma.n.dala of the sun and moon. But non-realization arises from the power of insight as fixation and grasper. Because of that there arise the details of the vessel and essence. The vessel is the collection of the five objects, form and so forth. The essence is the play of mind and its contents, arising like clouds. The luminous nature is not actually 1942 obscured. But it appears obscured. This is like the sun being seemingly obscured by clouds. One's experience of dharmakaaya is made non-luminous by such incidental obscurations of the dhaatu. But Dharmakaaya still exists in itself as luminosity. Here is the teaching of how 2) IT IS MADE TO MANIFEST BY CLEARING AWAY THOSE OBSCURATIONS: Just as great clouds, by resting in space, go away by themselves, By being without effort, free from the clouds of cause and fruition, The center of space, the heart-essence of enlightenment, Will then be seen to rise from within the heart of oneself. 1943 309
Here is how the essence1950 is obscured by the arising of play from our own power: The essence like the sun is luminosity. It exists within the space of dharmadhaatu. The power, arises everywhere, like its impartial rays. If the earth and watery lakes are pervaded by its heat, A play of clouds arises from the resulting mists, As the solar1951 essence and power are thus obscured, 310
If the knot that joins the elements is untied, We cast away the tether of ego clinging. If there should be no covering1972 vaasanaas, Then we are part of the space of dharmataa. If we do not have the wand of illusion, appearance, Then wisdom is completely 1973 luminous.
Also it says there: For sentient beings remaining in their bodies, The pure appearances of wisdom exist As if within the womb or the shell of an egg. They do not manifest, and are obscured. But when their intrinsic powers have been perfected, Then they will arise as they really are.1974 As soon as one casts off this body of concepts, The object of such experience is encountered. Self-insight itself, existing from all eternity, The essence without conceptualizations, is seen. The pure appearance of the state of wisdom, 313
Regarding the power of compassion of the nature, Its action has been eternally effortless. Completely pure in its unproduced appearance, It appears to all forever without distinction. 1985 As the light of the sun is not produced for some purpose,1986 The appearance of one's own nature is like that.
3) THE SUITABILITY FOR THE ARISING OF COMPASSION TO BENEFIT SENTIENT BEINGS AFTER BUDDHAHOOD HAS BEEN ATTAINED:
Though the impure portion of play, has now been pacified, Appearances still are emanated for impure beings. They rise by the power of compassion of the suchness of the teacher. And by the positive karma of purified aspirations, Dwelling within the minds of those who are to be tamed. 1987 As one dwells in the peace and unity of dharmakaaya, one's essence is beyond appearance, non-appearance, and performance of actions. The partialities of appearance are eliminated. They are abandoned along with confused appearance. Since they do not appear, the environment and inhabitants of confused appearance are not ascertained. Similarly, by eliminating disorder of the phlegm, blurring, spots in the eyes, and jaundice are eliminated. 1988 They no longer appear to one. The individual characteristics of the 1989 confused appearances of sa.msaara do not exist. But still one enters into the vision of compassion for sentient beings. Some would have it that, from the supplications of sentient beings and the blessings of the buddhas, ruupakaaya appears to others, but never to the buddhas themselves. Therefore, buddhas never see sentient beings. That is right insofar as it is saying that things like chrtens, statues, objects of worship, and wish-fulfilling trees floating in the sky, things whose nature is definitely 1990 confused, do not appear to them. But to say they have no knowledge of those who are to be tamed is completely wrong. It has the faults of contradicting omniscience and negating the wisdom of extent. Some would have it that the buddhas see the particular characteristics of confused appearance as real,1991 and then perform benefits. This is acceptable regarding their knowledge of the confused individual characteristics that appear as real for those who are to be tamed. However, to say that such objects are also real for them is completely wrong. It would follow that those connected with the pure field are not perfected. This is because impure, confused appearances would still appear to them. It would also follow that no special change was attained by becoming a buddha.1992 This is because the apparent objects of the five senses, and the grasper of these as well, would still be confused and impure. There would also be the fault that these obscured and i pure buddhas would pass into m sa.msaara. Even in the pure bhuumis, confused appearances are transformed. If the pure buddha fields of the mahaasattvas are explained that way, why even speak of the view of the buddhas. The Suutraala.mkaara says: 315
At that time, because the three gates are purified of defilements, one sees the ma.n.dala of trikaaya. Dharmakaaya is attained by mind, sambhogakaaya by speech, and nirmaa.nakaaya by body. This conventional expression is like saying that because of transmuting the five poisons, the five wisdoms are attained. The five wisdoms are conceptually contradictory with the five poisons. This is because the five wisdoms do not have the characteristics of producer and produced or of cause and fruition. But since they arise by the power of purity, they are explained as the pure effect of a pure cause. The intention of explaining the three gates and trikaaya as pure cause and pure effect is like that. The Thaljur says: Moreover, as for the stages of the fruition, By karma of the mind there is dharmakaaya. By that of speech sambhogakaaya is gained. By bodily karma there is nirmaa.nakaaya. When the kaayas are attained, if it is asked where they are, they are in the realm of Akani.sh.tha.2001 The Bindu of the Secret Moon, says: As for Akani.s.tha, within the experience of joy, That is where the actual buddha gets enlightened. The commentary to the Madhyamakaavataara says: 317
1) The teacher is the Regent, the sambhogakaaya buddha Vairochana-Immense Ocean of the Five Families.2016 2) The place is that of the ornament, the ga.n.davyuuha realm, the self-luminous purity of Akani.s.tha. 3) The Dharma is the mahaayaana exclusively. 4) The retinue is not other than the teacher himself. They are self-appearing2017 buddhas, bodhisattvas, and so forth and also .daakiniis, vidyaadharas, and so forth. They have the same good fortune as the bodhisattvas of the tenth bhuumi. 5) The time is that of the circle of the ornament. The Ocean of Illusion says:
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THE CONNECTIONS OF THE KAAYAS AND WISDOMS. First there is the extensive teaching of HOW DHARMAKAAYA EXISTS TOGETHER WITH ITS WISDOMS: The essence of dharmakaaya is self-arising wisdom. Its play exists as the ocean2030 of the wisdom of omniscience, The single drop of bindu within the primordial space. The essence of insight is the heart-essence of dharmakaaya, pure from all eternity. Its manifestation is the alpha-pure, precious, secret sheath2031 of dharmakaaya. This consists of the kaayas and wisdoms. They are the simplicity of the single dot of bindu, without gathering or separation. This is the realm of realizing2032 the single dot of buddhahood beyond the objects of thought, expression, and conception. 2033 The kaayas and wisdoms are the individual aspects of the wisdom of the ground of arising, subtle, mere, fundamental luminosity. 2034 They are anything but non-existent. The essence, nature, and compassion, exist as svaabhaavikakaaya. From trikaaya, the ground of arising of individuality, come many partial2035 characteristics. From the ground of arising of luminosity, the nature, come many partialities of colors. The phenomena that come from the ground of arising of the wisdom of compassion do not enter into being objects. Thus the only objects are the individual kaayas and wisdoms. These constitute the individual aspects2036 of trikaaya's reality, the essence, nature, and compassion. The Thaljur says: Dharmakaaya, sambhogakaaya, and nirmaa.nakaaya Also exist in the form of svaabhaavikakaaya. So dharmakaaya, sambhogakaaya, and nirmaa.nakaaya 2037 322
325
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When they are conditioned by wisdom that grasps the real nature, The ripening of those who are pure will be produced. 2065 By the wisdom of knowing and the objects of knowing, The siddhis are bestowed on those who have devotion.
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Except as dharmataa, which is not distinguished as anything, Wisdom does not exist in any way at all. Without any words, without the existence of expression, The purity of self-insight does not exist in extremes. Extremes of expression, words, and names have been exhausted. Causeless, and without the panoply 2068 of conditions, Without the perceiver and objects2069 of dualistic appearance, Without the distinction of any characteristics at all, Coarse conditions and objects have here been self-exhausted, It is pure in the sense of eternal non-existence. Since confused conceptions have entirely ceased, There is nothing whatsoever that is done. Since it is not born, it is empty of cessation. In regard to the wisdom of the spontaneous nature, As things are2070 unborn and unceasing, there is nothing to realize. Being without fixation,2071 it is pure of objects.2072 By its unobstructed power and qualities, It is the ground of exhaustion of variety. There appearances are merely those of play. Since it is non-existent, therefore it can appear. Since it is appearance, it is emptiness. Having these unified aspects, appearance and emptiness, It is the sphere that is pure of buddhas and sentient beings.2073 Thus the so-called ground exists in manifestation. Because the pure nature is free from existence of even an atom,2074 When examined in terms of its essence, it is emptiness. 328
Moreover, as for 2076 the wisdom of all-pervading compassion, This the source of arising of unproduced variety. 2077 Its seeming to be produced is exhausted as the essence. Rising from out of the empty nature of dharmakaaya, The aspect of perfect knowledge, also known as wisdom, Has arisen spontaneously for the sake of sentient beings. Sa.msaara and nirvaa.na otherwise would be nothingness. This knowledge is insight and it is also luminosity. From the Lord,2078 the luminosity of self-insight, The nature's intrinsic compassion arises spontaneously. Being unobstructed, it will never cease.2079 As for its pure arising in perfect bodiless unity, As the solar rays are intrinsically part of the sun itself,2080 What rises is not obscurations, but is one's own accoutrements. SAMBHOGAKAAYA AND ITS WISDOMS: Sambhogakaaya's essence is the self-existing nature, It is the five-fold play of the families and wisdoms. All the space of the sky appears to be filled with them. As for 2081 the self-existing nature of insight, the Lord of the perfect qualities is the real sambhogakaaya. It is inseparable from the nature of dharmakaaya. From that, as the external luminosity of play, manifestations of the individual bodies of the deities of the five families appear, pervading all the space of the sky. This is called the self-arising of the sovereign2082 of all ma.n.dalas, V airochanaImmense Ocean. He is the play of sambhogakaaya. Associated with the five wisdoms of grasping characteristics,2083 he is the master of all ma.n.dalas. Now from the extensive explanations of the nature of the support, kaaya, and the supported, wisdom, there are the essence, defining characteristics, and divisions of the support, sambhogakaaya. The essence of sambhogakaaya is the appearance of the body2084 of self-existing wisdom, which has natureless major and minor marks. The Rangshar says: Not mixing colors, grasping individual marks, The good marks, major and minor, emanate rays of light. In tradition the bodies of father and mother are in union. 329
world
3) 4) 5) 6)
The place is Akani.s.tha, ga.n.davyuuha. The retinue is the individuals of the five families. The teaching is knowledge of the five wisdoms. The time is that of the gathering and proliferation2093 of appearances. In the case of the nirmaa.nakaaya of sambhogakaaya,
1) The teachers are the individual buddhas who are the principal ones of the five families. 330
4) 6)
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Regarding what is called equality, There are two things to be equalized By three conditions of equality, 333
-ity means in itself, unfabricated, Without any effort or establishing. Its nature and existence are empty of essence, As mind itself where conceptions are exhausted. And from the existence of this so-called wisdom, This is the characteristic realized: Sa.msaara and nirvaa.na are not two. The two things that are equalized by the wisdom of equality are sa.msaara and nirvaa.na. The three conditions of equality are appearance, emptiness, and their being conceptualized2106 as non-dual. The time of equality is the time when the ultimate fruition manifests. The limit of equality is when the ground of exhaustion is reached. As for discriminating awareness wisdom, so sor tak p y sh,2107 the Rangshar says: As for discriminating awareness wisdom, It is realization of insight free from action The Thaljur says: The family power of discriminating awareness Is that whatever appears, the dharmas of that Are clear in all2108 their individual details. After experience has been purified, Concept too becomes the object of insight.
So sor means the particular object of knowledge. Arising in the style of an antidote. Tak p, means the seeing of characteristics And proliferation of experience.
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Within the divisions of nirmaa.nakaaya, There are perfected and performing action, And both these kinds have been said to exist. Nirmaa.nakaayas of perfected action Have liberated their being without remainder,2120 Become the manifestation of buddhahood; And then they send forth limitless emanations. Regarding action-performing nirmaa.nakaayas, 336
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Perfected knowledge of the qualities, And the outer, inner, and secret activities, Are perfectly performed without remainder, Thus existing as the five perfections. From the two classifications of the supported, wisdom, as for the brief teaching, the same tantra says: As regards the objects of knowledge of nirmaa.nakaaya, By the knowledge of nature one knows the natural state, And thus the meaning of things is known as it really is.2126 The knowledge of extent knows the thoughts that exist, Just as they are, in all of those who are to be tamed. If one explains it extensively, there are the two wisdoms of nature and extent. By knowledge of the nature, ji ta y sh,2127 the way things are is correctly known. By the knowledge of extent, ji ny y sh,2128 the way things appear, pure of the extremes of cause and effect, is known. As for the essence together with the defining characteristics, the Thaljur says: Regarding the wisdom of the collection of knowables, It is known in a manner that is two-fold. The first is explained as extent of knowables. Regarding this, it knows the thoughts of students. By understanding the benefit for others, 338
The aspect of knowing of nirmaa.nakaaya Is experience which is essentially perfected. The knowledge of the nature is explained As appearance that is inexpressible. It is the reflections of pure experience, The luminosity of sacred outlook. 2132 By knowledge of the natural state of things The benefit for self is realized, Exhausting the continuity of confusion. Ji is the natural state of things as they are. Ta is reaching the view of things as they are, The ground of exhaustion that is without agitation. Since knowledge is unobstructed, it is perfected. Y is the eternity of the path. Sh is reaching perfection2133 of awareness. If it is asked from what those manifestations of the fruition of kaaya and wisdom arise, it is explained: These are not established by efforts of cause and effect. They appear in chokshak, letting things be as they are, And the way they are is self-existing for all eternity. For the highest, the ultimate secret appears within this life. And even the others will not be deceived within the bardo. The distinction of the peak of yaanas, the vajra heart, Is that it is higher than all the yaanas of cause and fruition. The holy fruition, the kaayas and wisdoms, is self-existing within one, uncompounded from all eternity. It manifests as the pith of chokshak , when we let everything be as it is beyond cause and fruition. It is higher than all the lower vehicles. The Longdruk says: Arising from the wisdom of non-thought, By the oral instructions of resting without seeking, 339
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Thus, having completed the extensive resolution of the subject of the body of the shaastra, now, from the seven subjects of the ultimate conclusion,
1) THE TEACHING OF THE PLACE WHERE ALL THIS WAS WELL ARRANGED:
Thus, this song of the vajra heart-essence of dharmataa, The pure primordial nature, limitless as the sky, Is itself in that changeless place that has no ground or root. It arises as play which is changeless in its self-arising. The arising place of this great, secret song of the vajra heart-essence, the self existing, all-encompassing natural state, was the peak of the precious mountain of existence. It is the peak of blessings of the self-existing lotus King. It arises in a hundred appearances at once, easing the weariness of mind. On its highest peak I received this secret song from the .daakiniis and set it down in writing.2135
2) CHARACTERIZING THE REALIZATION EXPRESSED AS THE ETERNAL EQUALITY OF GREAT, VAST, ALL-PERVADING, ALL-ENCOMPASSING SPACE:
Never reached anywhere, this, which is the primordial nature, Is the self-existing, motionless state of dharmataa. It has no gaps; and does not fall into partiality. By the arising of the phenomenal world as dharmataa, whatever appears is realized as self-arising wisdom. By realizing dharmataa without coming and going, one becomes free from all striving and effort. There are no gaps. There is no falling from the nature into partiality. By true realization of this, beings who enter into this shaastra will be blessed with the auspicious coincidence of realizing dharmataa. The song of the glorious bhramin Saraha on the natural state says: Whatever one sees, that is the state of suchness. Today, like a master, I have cut through confusion. Now, I have no defiled acts for anyone. By its manifesting like that, later generations will be liberated without effort. The master Seng Zangpo once said: 341
3) THE NATURE The self-existing Space of the great vastness has been reached. Now there is the teaching of the nature. That teaching joins the words of the shaastra with mastery of their meaning:
The intention of these words is the vast center of all suchness. This is just as limitless as the space of the sky. As for the King of great Space where all is self arisen, Variety has been motionless for all eternity. It is liberated in its own place as it is. This is reaching the markless womb of the vastness of space. 4) REQUIREMENTS2136 FOR ALL THOSE WHO COMPOSE A SHAaSTRA: They must correctly realize the meanings of the words of their topic, and know how to present them well to others in word by word commentary. Here, I correctly realized my vajra topic, the nature of the great perfection. Then I explained it skillfully so that others might receive the good fortune of the words and meaning. I ornamented this commentary on the secret mind of realization of the teacher, the bhagavat, with garlands of scriptural quotations. Until t e composition was completed, I abandoned h dealings with external phenomena. Reaching the Space of the King of dharmataa, I was joined to the one-pointed samaadhi of thinking of the dharma. Then by the power of arising of the prajaa of the meaning, I arranged this. 5) THE INSTRUCTION TO RESPECT THESE TEACHINGS This is the eye of those who have the good fortune of devotion to this supreme vehicle. It should be regarded with respect. That is a good instruction. The Uttaratantra says: It is explained that if one is solely in accord With that which has been taught by the Victorious One, One will have a mind completely free from wandering. It will harmonize with the path of attaining liberation. Moreover, in accord with the words of the Sage himself, This should be received with respect upon the head.
7) THE ARRIVAL OF THE TIME FOR BUDDHA ACTIVITY I the yogin who had established the yoga of the luminous vajra heart-essence was certain that it was the time for buddha activity to benefit others. The vastness of the opportunity was like the sky. I explained well in words what my realization was like for the following reasons: 2139
1) So that benefit would be established for later generations. 2) So that the doctrines of the matchless, supreme vajra, Kumaraaja, the second Samantabhadra, would not diminish. 3) So that his teachings and the experiences of the nyam would be gathered. 4) So that, the points of this, profound, but difficult to realize for ordinary people, would be taught in the most excellent way, unmixed with points of ordinary truths. 5) So that the peak of the king of yaanas, the teaching of the vajra heart essence, would exist for a long time in the world. 6) So that beings by seeing this, might realize all those points well and with ease. For those who do not know how to gather into one the many points of the tantras and oral instructions and have no power to assemble them, this shaastra explains how it should be done.2140 I put aside and abandoned my own ideas and had faith in the power of the teachings. This was arranged in accord with the three collections of mind, Space, and the oral instructions. Then I joined it with quotations from them. How can those who are not knowledgeable about the texts be authoritative about the vajra points? It is as useless a blind man trying to distinguish the aspects of forms. Moreover, the Suutraala.mkaara says: The spiritual friend is tamed and pacifiedpacified well. He is very rich in virtue and in effort. With the highest realization, he has skillful speech. Personifying kindness, he abandons sorrow and weariness. Among the twenty one texts of the collection of mind, there are the five earlier ones:2141 343
Emanating a thousand lights of benefit, Pervading everywhere without obstruction,2166 May limitless benefits now come to others Arising out of spontaneous buddha activity. This Commentary on The Precious Treasury of Dharmadhaatu, called Realization as Appearance, The King of Vehicles, and The Scriptural Treasury, reaches the further shore of all doctrines, one's own and those of others. The wondrously appearing supreme topic of the speech of the Sugata, the excellent blossoming of the appearance of intellect, the presentation by the yogin of the supreme vehicle, the omniscient lord of speech, Longchen Rabjam is completed. May it be auspicious. ge'o ge'o ge'o.
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Information about these terms will be found under the listed Tibetan equivalents in the Tibetan glossary, which is in English alphabetical order.
Abhirati: mngon par dga' ba abhi.sheka: dbang abhidharma: mngon chos absolute: don dam accept and reject: blang 'dor act and effort: bya rtsol action: spyod adding and taking away: 'du bral affirmation: sgrub affirmation and negation: dgag sgrub Akani.sh.tha: 'og min aalaya: kun gzhi aalayavijaana: kun gzhi rnam par shes pa all at once: cig char all-pervading, all-encompassing: phyam gdal all-sufficient: gcig chod alpha-pure: ka dag am.rita: bdud rtsi analysis: dpyod pa antidotes: gnyen po anu: a nu appearance: snang ba artificial: bcos as it is: rang babs, rang sar, rang mal ati: a ti: rdzogs pa chen po authentic: yang dag avaricious: rngom Aviici Hell: mnyal ba mnar med pa awakened: sangs awareness: shes pa bardo: bar do bhagava[-t][-an]: bcom ldan 'das bhramin: bram ze bhuumi: sa bhuta: byung po bias: ris bindu: thig le bodhicitta: byang chub sems bodhisattva: byang chub sems dpa' body speech and mind: honorific: sku, gsung, thugs; non-honorific: lus, ngag, sems buddha qualities: yon tan buddha[hood]: sangs rgyas cage: gzeb caste: rigs cause and condition: rgyu rkyen
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NOTES
1 2
. pron. ch ying rin po che'i dz ch ja w drel pa lung gi terdz. . dri med. 3 . lha. 4 . rang bshin rnam grol. The true nature, rang bshin, of beings and sa.msaara, is the same state of complete liberation or freedom, rnam there are no limited beings, but only buddhas who do not know what they are. 5 . lhun mnyam = lhun grub mnyam pa nyid. KSTR. 6 . gdod ma'i dbyings . 7 . bzhugs. 8 . 'khor lo, wheel, circle here means realm and [self-existing] maala, dkyil 'khor. 9 . sgron ma rnam par bkod pa. 10 . Power, thub pa, also is a title of the Buddha, The Muni the Powerful One, the Sage. 11 . rang bshin rdzogs pa chen po. OR great natural perfection. 12 . gsang spyod pa sa bon gyi rgyud, pron. sang ch pa s a bn gyi gy. 13 . nyag gcig rnal ma. 14 . snying po = bde gshegs snying po = sugatagarbha = dharmadhtu as space of bliss. 15 . rang byung. <Our>. 16 . sems nyid. OR the nature of mind. 17 . rig pa dang ma rig pa. Insight and ignorance [lit. non-insight] . 18 . The world is taken to arise in response to the pure aspirations of buddhas and the confused ones of beings. 19 . rgyud rig pa rang shar, pron. rgy rig pa rng shar.
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. I here is not an individual or the ego. KSTR The speaker is Samantabhadra, persinifying bodhicitta, the essence of primordial budd the doer of all. LUS. But he is our true nature, so this is also potentially ourselves. There is no time before eternal buddhahood, but evo this world with its distinctions of buddhas and beings and so forth is a common scriptural theme. 21 . ga la yod. Literally so how could there be... 22 . Great... , ...chen po, often = beyond ...and not.... 23 . bdag chen: also, self, what they are. ...great master. 24 . thabs kyi pha rol phyin, upyapramit. 25 . sems here = sems nyid = byang chub sems. 26 . dur: tomb or death. in the next dur sa = charnel ground. Dharmadhtu is traditionally called a charnel ground, because all complex fixations subside into it. This subsiding of the world of ego is sometimes called the great death. 27 . 'gyur med dur sa nga la btab. btab, p. 'debs: throw, hit, general verbifier. plant a seed, found a monastery, do accounts, pitch a tent somewhat obscure. Neither LUS nor KSTR thought it meant I send/put/plant the buddhas in that charnel ground. LUS though something like, I made the charnel ground. KSTR said that the overall idea was that this egoless I is the charnel ground. 'debs verbif charnel ground-ize. He is himself the establishment of it. He adminis trates it. He is the entombment of all incidental, conceptual, sasric in buddhahood. The charnel ground metaphor is a common one, explained, for example, in VCTR's Sdhana of all the Siddhas. 28 . gnas here is ambiguous. It could mean existence, place, or = gnas lugs, state of things as they are. KSTR favored the latter. 29 . Here praj = absolute, non-conceptual praj not relative. 30 . sku, here = dharmakya. 31 . KPSR says that in general in ati negation of characteristics. dharmas, thoughts, etc. does not mean emptiness like space, but lack of fixations. 32 . The last phrase does not occur as such in the text. It is the literal meaning of chos dbyings, dharmadhtu. It also has a sense of b stuff out of which dharmas are formed. 33 . Reading brjod do for ...de. KSTR. 34 . phyogs med. 35 . rang rig. 36 . 'char gshi. 37 . gnas = gnas lugs. 38 . bla mar byon. 39 . Pron. tse ma nam drel. 40 . rnam 'grel du, where las would be expected. It might conceivably mean in comment or by supplicating. However, it does hav strokes indicating verses, and is followed by zhes, indicating a quote. KSTR said it was a quote from the tshad ma rnam 'grel. 41 . kun tu bzang po thugs kyi me long, pron. kn to zang po tuk kyi me long. 42 . rang bshin, rgyan, ston pa, rig pa, rtogs pa. 43 . The passage mostly concerns the unchanging nature in itself, making it natural to translate rang 'byung, and lhun grub, from the viewpoint as naturally arisen and self-existing. But they can still have a sense of self-arising and spontaneous from the relative vi There is a certain double vision in this, but not a sense of contradictory paradox. 44 . pho 'gyur med. 45 . gnas pa nyid = gnas lugs. 46 . yang dag don gyi no bo nyid. 47 . 'dzin pa med pas. This could be read, because it has no [fixating sasric] subject, is empty. 48 . rang gi: one's own, natural, intrinsic great bliss. 49 . rang gi rig par. = rang rig. 50 . rang snang, OR as the King. 51 . yang rtse literally highest peak, as Meru is the highest central peak in the middle of the four continents in hindu cosmology.
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. rang bshin babs. . ye 'byams. 54 . a ti bkod pa chen po, pron. a ti k pa chen po. 55 . thig le. 56 . rang bshin babs. 57 . rgyud rig pa rang shar. 58 . Two lines inverted. 59 . rang shar. 60 . ...Which is dharmat. 61 . ma 'gags.
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. ma btsal. . gshi gnas, is sometimes shamatha, but this is full blown enlightenment. It can be interpreted as here = gshi gnas lugs, fundamenta things as they are or as dwelling within the ground. 64 . Probably the unchanging vajrakya etc. See sku lnga. 65 . The grammar of these lines in isolation makes it unclear whether the relationships involved are those of cause or identity. The comm context seems to require the latter. 66 . OR all-performing/creating King. kun byed rgyal po, pron. Knj gyal po. 67 . ma bcos. 68 . nges med: it does not have fixed reference points. It is not true or real. 69 . ...Gather externally and internally. 70 . so so rang gi rig pa [KPSR]. 71 . This could also be saying within the sky-like state of our own insight there is the play of various dharmas existing as if they were th and essence... Such is poetry. 72 . kun las snyoms par. kun moved to next line. 73 . <All the>. 74 . What is immovable, strictly speaking, is the space of the dhtu. Phenomena do not move because they do not truly exist. 75 . 'gyu 'phro. 76 . rang snang: one's experience. rang shar, one's own experience. rang shar here = spontaneous and also as just itself this time n sense of the essence, but as just mere illusory experience, like a dream. 77 . ye shes kyi sku. Wisdom is the perceiver and kyas the object. Cf. SSN. 78 . yi ge med pa. 79 . This line has thugs, honorific for mind vs. sems non-honorific in the last. Sems as many times in ati presumably = byang chub bodhicitta. Otherwise it would be irrelevant. In such contexts the three gates, body, speech and mind, have the meaning of forms/thing ing/communication, awareness. 80 . snying po'i don la blang 'dor med pa'i phyir, could mean because within ultimate sugatagarbha there is nothing to accept or reject that seems less clear. 81 . grags shing gnas, OR exist and are known by talked about in sounds of speech. 82 . bkod, also as display just above. 83 . Ordinary meanings and communication seem to become a universal display of teachings. VCTR said that at a certain point on the may be intense enough to become a sense of being haunted.
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. Here the essence of the concepts of ordinary understanding rig pa is transparently seen rig as rig pa in the ati sense, insight-wisdom concept. Longchenpa takes pains to point out that the difference between this and saying conceptual mind is Buddha is as great as that heaven and earth. This sort of passage is behind the VCTR translation of rig pa as insightwhich is both ordinary and extraordinary. 85 . ...Three maalas. 86 . Reality: don. included: 'dus. 87 . cho 'phrul, elsewhere miracle. 88 . rang gzugs, which is similar to rang snang, here = one's own projection [onto appearance] of what does not exist. 89 . KSTR it is the illusory projected object that is empty and does not exist at all. . 90 . Spontaneous...mere experience they are = rang shar. 91 . LUS thought this was the sense of tshor byed ma 'gags nga yi yid ltar mgyogs. Ati masters can have an astonishing ability to dea instantly with complex situations because they are not hindered by having to think things out in terms of reference points. 92 . LUS read yi as yis. Otherwise it reads they are my charnel ground, which seems unusual. 93 . Longer title of Ngrjuna's Mlamadhyamakakrik . In Tibetan, rtsa ba'i shes rab [dbu ma'i sho lo ka dag]. 94 . btags here = kun btags. 95 . lhun mnyam. 96 . ye babs. 97 . gcig tu 'khyil. 98 . <Very>. 99 . sen ge rtsal rdzogs, pron. Seng tsl dzok. 100 . 'ub chub . 101 . Evenness, cha snyoms. 102 . no bo snang ba sku yi klong du thim. The words could be read as referring to withdrawal of phenomena into basic space. The implies merging as appearance\emptiness. 103 . dbyings, rig pa, and gsal ba are inseparably united in this one nature. Thus it is not rang bshin in the sense opposed to ngo bo. 104 . lung bstan. 105 . A gloss of longs spyod rdzogs. 106 . rang ngo. 107 . rang shar. 108 . sprul pa as in sprul pa'i sku = nirmakya. 109 . ngo bo las. 110 . The knj reverses the meanings of ngo bo, and rang bshin, found elsewhere in this text. 111 . chos nyid. 112 . dang re legs. 113 . Such unintelligent people.... 114 . I don't know where. 115 . brtag pa gnyis pa, pron. takpa nyi pa. It is from the Hevajra cycle. 116 . KSTR: He is explaining the subjects of the vinaya. 117 . lhun rdzogs = lhun grub rdzogs KSTR TT. 118 . Great and eternally.... 119 . mi zad. 120 . Fixed conceptualizations do not correspond to reality, either on the level of appearance, or that of the ground.
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. Literally, bdag, = here bdag chen, the great master or great self, mahtma= The King = the emperor of this imperial yna. [with som license.] 122 . Ugyen Rinpoche says that stong gsum, which usually means three thousand, here means a thousand cubed, or one billion. 123 . sangs, OR awakened. 124 . rang snang...rang rig. Our: See glossary, we. 125 . mkhyen pa'i spyod yul: the sphere of their knowledge, what they know, where their activity occurs. 126 . klong tu 'gyur, can mean they become, are within, or are the Space of insight. While all are appropriate, the second seems close sense of the verses. 127 . nyi mkha', just leaves the relationship of sun and space hanging. 128 . rang la yod. 129 . = The kyas and wisdoms. 130 . 'char gshi'am ston pa. The single teacher, insight-wisdom, which as such does not appear, is the ground of the many manifesta trikya. Thus it is the teacher or displayer of these, the producer of them all. 131 . This might be seen as saying that things do not appear as they are to insight-bodhicitta, but this is not the doctrine of ati. There passage has to mean that when there are individual dharmas things do not appear as they are, but when they are gathered into the single bodhicitta where there are no such dharmas, things do appear as they are. This is exactly the doctrine of ati. The prima facie paradox following root verses should be interpreted in the light of this. The following verses play on the meaning of kun [tu] bzang [po], as both Samantabhadra and total goodness. 132 . bgrod, OR progress. 133 . 'khyil. ...Included within. 134 . Marks, mtshon. = characterized. 135 . Manifestation is also known by the wisdom of prajpramit = Samantabhadr as being of the essence of space. 136 . rtags mchog ldan. KSTR read this as possesses the supreme signs [of complete realization.] He did not think it meant something l best of symbols/reasons. 137 . mkha'. 138 . They are pure of fixations of extremes such as eternalism and nihilism. 139 . rgya ma chad. 140 . 'byung, could also be arising. 141 . On this level knowing = direct vision. 142 . gcig tu 'khyil . 143 . She is prajpramit uniting all in the essence of emptiness. 144 . The phenomenal world is seen as the heruka principle. 145 . gsal 'tshor, can be perception of luminosity as perceived without the fixations of ego. 146 . chos 'byung. Here she is equated with the kin principle, involving not only space, but the energy of desire/compassion etc as m arising. cf. below Compassion.... 147 . sa bon dgnos. Here relative existence is compared to a seed which grows into buddhahood. 148 . In the next four shlokas the usual attributes are reversed which is like the Heart Sutra saying that which is appearance is emptiness which is emptiness is appearance. 149 . Like dreams in that they are not appearances of some truly existing entity external to experience = rang snang. Mere experience: 150 . rang mtshan. 151 . so so rang gi rig pa. 152 . Cf. TT54 which speaks of a basic level of duality and a purely conceptual one. The subject object split occurs at both levels. Note gzung and 'dzin arise simultaneously. The terms are not always so explained, even in this text.
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. bdag 'dzin. . mu tig phreng ba, pron. mutig treng wa. 155 . Our projected conceptions: rnam rtog. 156 . Sdud pa, pron. d pa. 157 . <Alone>. 158 . Ie. not a claim that the obscurations of confusion do not arise in any sense. 159 . What does not exist cannot have a truly existing nature. Eg. if a rope is taken for a snake, there is nothing with the nature of a snake not do to say that on the relative level there is no confusion. However, from the absolute viewpoint of there is neither rope nor snake, nirva, it is right to say that confusion never existed like the child of a barren woman. This, which is logically established by p mdhyamaka, is here directly experienced. 160 . Thus on the relative level one can distinguish what is true and false. The next is the absolute level, on which there are equally no rop snake. This is the level on which it is correct to say confusion never existed. 161 . The dharmas involved with the path, realizing nirva etc, the wisdom of the pure relative. 162 . 'jig rten: It is justified only in terms of the practical activities of the world, and it makes no sense to call it absolute. This is mdh doctrine. It is also like the account science typically gives of itself these days. 163 . yang dag. 164 . rin chen spungs pa, pron. rin chen pung pa. 165 . sangs, OR awakened. 166 . The sense in which med pa gsal snang, do not exist is the sense in which these examples do not. 167 . The Longd says that in the sense it is correct to say that the absolute, emptiness truly exists, it is correct to say that appearance truly exist. This is very close to prsangika mdhyamaka. 168 . lhun grub sgo las rang shar bas. cf. TT51. Without the need for purification or analysis, appearance is primordially appea appearance/emptiness. 169 . . sangs. 170 . ltos here and . = opposite. KSTR. 171 . <Utterly...all the>. 172 . gyur chen, pron. gyr chen. 173 . sangs rgyas med cing su yis bcings pa'i rgya. KSTR preferred this to, ...by whom has the net been tied, or There is no buddh sealed as such. He said that the basic idea is that there are neither buddhas nor sentient beings, so nobody is there to be bound in sasra 174 . 'khrul dang ma rig sems can su la srid ming med. KSTR . 175 . lhun rdzogs. KSTR. 176 . lhun mnyam. 'dus has a double meaning. 1) These are the summary verses of the chapter. 2) The meaning summarized is th dualities are gathered into one in the great perfection (or seen to be already included within its unity. mdor na, in the next line inclin interpret it as summary, but the commentary says sasra and nirva are gathered or united as one, 'dus. 177 . Energy: rtsal. Usually power. 178 . . shar tsam nyid nas. 179 . don la med de: Really non-existent, when they are non-existent, without them. The meaning seems to be not that dreams are blissfu are nightmares after all. However insight in itself on the level of pure luminosity is mahsukha. Eg. in the six yogas one experiences luminosity of sleep. 180 . lhun grub kyi sgo la. This vision of things is self existing, so it arises spontaneously when one lets go of illusory fixation. 181 . dbyings snang = gshi snang. 182 . ngos bzung gi chos. 183 . rnam pa. OR aspects. 184 . ye gnas.
407
. dmigs pa'i yul med OR does not have conceiv able\ perceivable objects. . stong pa'i rang gzugs. 187 . ma nges. 188 . Empty, not arising as existence = sa.msaara. 189 . dmigs med. 190 . byang chub, bodhi, here = bodhicitta. 191 . Literally, sku, [=kaaya] gsung (speech, hon.) the body and speech of buddhas and lus/ngag, the (ordinary) body and speec sentient beings. 192 . dgnos po: OR of real things. 193 . This is distinction between things, not subject and object in particular. 194 . Pron. long druk pa. 195 . Primarily this is practice of mantrayaana in general. 196 . rnam pa, phenomena. here = sa.msaaric phenomena of consciousness, rnam par shes pa, and yul, objects = dgnos po. This line doe refer to formless experience, but to freedom from conceptual obscurations. 197 . These do not exist as conceptions. 198 . dmigs pa med. Nothing real corresponds to that conception. 199 . phyam gdal, all-pervading and encomp assing, omitted. 200 . dgongs pa. 201 . nga yi yul med gshi bsam bral. KSTR read this as saying, I am the ground [the way things are] This ground is without object thoughts. He did not think the primary sense was, I exist, but not as an object, although this is true in one sense. He did not think n yul, or that only I-objects and thoughts of the ground are negated. <Every>. 202 . lhun. 203 . bcas pa, here = brtsegs which has been constructed. 204 . phyogs med kun shong: impartial, ie. non-exclusive, all-inclusive totality. phyogs med = without directions and aspects is unlikely, all phenomena are included within this fortress. 205 . tshad dang ngos bzung. 206 . de dag, these, does not have an obvious referent. KSTR thought it referred to this as the essence of the various extremes. thought it might refer to the nature of those of excellent mind. Dharmataa and bodhicitta would also be conceivable. It might be a misprin something like de'i dag gi rang bshin, that pure nature. In any case the point is clearly that phenomena are of the pure nature of bodhicitt 207 . 'byor ba'i bkod. 208 . OR gathered and emanated appearances are all the rtsal, (powers/energy/ manifestations) of wisdom. 209 . dgongs pa. 210 . 'khyil. 211 . dgongs pa'i drod. 212 . yul la mi ltos. 213 . lung ma bstan. 214 . Essential <wisdom> and this wisdom <that depends on objects>. 215 . This passage has numerous plays on the literal meaning of ye shes, wisdom, eternal awareness or eternal knowing. Thes difficult to translate. 216 . ...Samaadhi and so forth. 217 . ...All the buddhas. 218 . 'jig rten byis pa. OR worldly fools.
408
. thim, here merges, elsewhere dissolve, does not mean that one must dissolve all manifestations into nothingness, but refers to un . ...All the objects, 221 . <This...all>. 222 . Literally, this is the sphere of dharmadhaatu, the extensiveness of the khams = sugatagarbha. 223 . 'das rjes. 224 . What in sa.msaara appears as the selfhood of mind and objects appear as unobstructed experience for insight. This experience from viewpoint of the pure relative is dharmakaaya, but from the absolute viewpoint it is empty and is not established as truly existing. 225 . rang gi thog, from its start = self-liberation. 226 . No 1 to 1 correlation. 227 . so sor gsal. 228 . 'khyil. 229 . zlum pa. 230 . bya rtsol bsam yul, beyond act effort thought object, could reasonably be read with various combinations of and's and of's. seemed most natural to KSTR. 231 . dgongs pa. 232 . 'gyu byed rnams. 233 . lam bgrod, the path has been travelled. 234 . Thoughts here are opposed to direct realization, not formless experience. 235 . Philosophical monism or mystical experience of all as one thing [mind etc] is no more ultimate for ati than philosophical or experie dualism. 236 . ji ltar. OR whatever appears is my essence. 237 . Words remain conceptual, but they are transparent. They clearly appear as the essence, embody the nature, and are part of the purp of compassion. KSTR. 238 . yul med, = empty. 239 . perfect enjoyment of sambhogakaaya = longs spyod rdzogs pa'i sku. 240 . rang shar: All the meanings seem relevant. 241 . All arises as.... 242 . ded dpon dam par byon pa rnams: On the most literal level ship captains who have come in a holy way. 243 . <By anyone>. 244 . Arises merely.... 245 . nying 'khrul du snang. 246 . nyams dga'. 247 . snying po. 248 . dben, literally, isolated, here = stong pa. KSTR. 249 . <Root>. 250 . <And vanish>. 251 . rdo rje snying po. 252 . ji ltar. OR whatever. 253 . <One's own>, 254 . la 'chos byed: OR construct artificialities within. 255 . <Itself>.
409
. In ati, sems sometimes = byang chub sems, bodhicitta, = sems nyid, the true nature of mind = buddhahood. Sometimes it means ' sems, confused mind. If one does not differentiate the two, one will not know the difference between confusion and realization. One even imagine that ati was saying that confusion itself was buddhahood. This is a great error. KSTR. 257 . Within: ngang las/ ngang du: OR as that state.
<Likewise>. 'gag.
An extended explanation is found in chapter ten. The following line translates the literal meaning. <Really>. 262.22 chos nyid, here = nature . gsal, here = clarifies .
Pron. dra thal wahr jur tsa w'i gy. Translation ES. It looks like it might mean consequences of words, as in = consequential
praasangika .
. rdzogs. OR it is completely complete. . <Rises as>. 267 . <Wherever there is>. 268 . rtsal las . 269 . shar sa shar mkhan med: it is without place of arising and that which arises . 270 . <There is only> ris med mnyam pa chen por 'ub chub bo. 271 . rtsal su shar. 272 . rang sar dag = all this line. 273 . ris med sangs. 274 . mtshan ma'i yul med. 275 . In a humorous vein VCTR would sometimes say engolluped.. 276 . bya byed med. 277 . phyogs yan. No partialities or divisions separate dharmataa from something else. 278 . nges pa'i: ...True example . 279 . rang bshin. It is the all inclusive nature.. 280 . mnyam. ..equal great vastness.. 281 . 'chugs. 282 . <You> throughout this quote. 283 . <Meaning.. in fact>. 284 . dmigs med. 285 . <At all>. 286 . These are respectively the buddhas just preceding Shaakyamuni, the buddhas of the good kalpa, all the buddhas of the various time buddha fields. 287 . <Myself>. 288 . khams . 289 . <Concepts of>. 290 . 'phro .
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. ngos bzung gi chos su grub. . <Kaayas>. KSTR, since the preceding and following sections concern trikaaya. 293 . <All>. 294 . <Various>. 295 . rtsal gzugs brnyed lta bar shar. 296 . dus med, timeless, i.e. there is no time when they did not occur. 297 . kun rdzogs, all is perfect/completely perfect is repeated. 298 . la, within, could also be are the essence of insight.. 299 . mthong ba'i, literally, that are seen.. 300 . phyin pa'i phyir: One's mind is goalless and everything is empty. 301 . dbyings kyi chos gsum. KSTR interpreted this as ngo bo, rang bshin, and thugs rje. <Utterly>. 302 . Without darkness mun, and brilliance, snang, dharmas that appear in manifestation mngon par snang ba'i chos, are utterly perfected 303 . KSTR: dri ma gnyis, = sgrib pa gnyis. The five-fold luminous dharmas = the five wisdoms . 304 . This refers to the practice of emanating and gathering, in this case of letters in visualization. Here the fruition beyond all dualities,
305
as gathering and emanating has been attained. This is the ultimate meaning of what the syllables represent, which therefore is perfe KSTR.
. go kha la yod: it is [only] on the face or surface of it. This explains Longchenpa's understanding of rang shar, as applied to sa.ms entities in the following passage as being roughly equivalent to rang snang, subjective experience or snang tsam, mere appearance [m one's own, merely as it is]. As such it is seen as it is, as an incidental reflection within one's own nature, bodhicitta. Therefore, it is exhausted/perfected: its illusory false nature is exhausted, and its true nature as trikaaya, the ornament, one's intrinsic, naturally ar wisdom is perfectly displayed. If rang shar, = here, as often with enlightened entities self-arising, intrinsically existing the connecti perfection would be obscure. The multi-faceted use of rang shar, (cf. rang rig, elsewhere) makes the following passage quite difficult. In case I have tried to bring out the most relevant sense, but often several possible meanings apply. I have noted occurrences of rang sh that the reader can keep this in mind.
306 307
. rang shar ba[s]. . <Really>. 308 . Here rang shar, refers to enlightenment, so self-arising is appropriate. 309 . gzung. Here it is positive. 310 . Words and names not repeated. ...As only themselves . 311 . rang shar. 312 . <When>. 313 . so sor shar. 314 . rang shar. 315 . so sor rdzogs. Cf. so sor rtags pa'i ye shes . 316 . brngod. 317 . rang shar: In this tradition there is no true accomplishment as long as meditation is conceived of as an effort to produce some desi
state. Shamatha puts us in a position to see our own intrinsic nature. Vipashyanaa extends this insight to appearances, whose nature i same as our own. Therefore, these are not two, and finally they are realized as the primordial samaadhi which is an intrinsic part of one's insight.
318
411
. rang shar: as separate entities they have already arisen as they are as mere appearance, aspects of oneself. In their true nature the
rang shar. rang shar.
Name and form are revealed as the two kaayas of form. These are the self-luminosity of one's nature. KSTR. dpag, literally, measures seems to = reference points here . bden shar. rang shar. <All> their limitations are transparently understood. .
One has all the self-existing experiences of realization. These are what the teachings are about: brjod bya gshi mar. Moreove
enlightened teachers like the buddha or Longchenpa the words of the teachings arise perfectly without effort. KSTR.
. rang gshag gshir shar bas. OR as the self-resting ground. . . chog gshag chen po'i lta bar ni. <Universal>. 330 . rang shar. 331 . rang sar. 332 . <Completely>. dag. Even if this is a plural, the ultimate meaning is the same . 333 . gshal / tshad. This can be literal or figurative = reference point etc. 334 . bre srang. 335 . Pron. gyu trul sang nying. = gsang snying, Sangnying . 336 . <Of truth>. 337 . rtogs pa bzhi. 338 . gyos pa, more or less = phenomena. cf. 'gyu ba. 339 . ngo bo . 340 . lhug par. 341 . ye nas . 342 . dmigs pa'i yul med. OR does not have conceivable \ perceivable objects . 343 . <Beings>. 344 . btags pa tsam zad. 345 . Pron. sang j tam ch gong pa d p do. 346 . This is similar to the Hwa Yen statement that the dharmadhaatu of non-obstruction of dharma and dharma is the highest reality.
347 348 349
dharmadhaatu of non-obstruction of dharma and the principle [sugatagarbha etc.] is an approximation. The point in both cases is not to f sugatagarbha.
. <Totality>. . <Like>. 350 . sangs. 351 . Pron. norbu trak.. 352 . See five kaayas, "sku lnga" in glossary. 353 . rdo rje 'dzin, is sometimes presented as the thirteenth bhuumi.
412
. Reading gzhung nyid, for gzhul nyid: KPSR, LUS. . As space is not a characteristic, this makes more sense if read = bya.ba.med.pa. 356 . gnyis las, OR beyond both relative.... 357 . 'dzin pa. 358 . gol ba and sgrib pa. 359 . It is not some external object that one does not have now but can attain. 360 . rang snang. 361 . rab gnas. 362 . <Of reality>. 363 . phung po, does not mean skandhas here: LUS. 364 . gdung. 365 . mtshan. 366 . so so rang rig. KPSR. 367 . Pron, mjung gyalpo.. 368 . bsam du med. 369 . so so rang rig. discriminating awareness wisdom below is so so rang rig ye shes. I have left the latter in the form familiar to stu VCTR from their practice texts. The two seem to be equated. 370 . DEGE. LT has [as CYD does not] circles under the two occurrences of gcod = cut off, ie. removed. KSTR said that someti indicates repetition. KPSR did not think they were significant in this case. Analyze = conceptually analyze for the absolute. Whateve so examined will be found to be empty, and hence removable from the absolute viewpoint. 371 . 'dir: From context.. 372 . rang 'babs. 373 . bya bral blun po'i shugs chang blo bde ba. The yogin is without effortful action. He holds what is metaphorically compared to the an idiot or fool. Without a reality check, the insane can be very quick, strong, and decisive, though the power is notoriously inappro application. Also, relaxed and flexible like a drunk person fulling down, they are often very hard to injure. The yogin is already in touch situation without having to pause to check up. Here the positive qualities have none of the disadvantages of madness or intoxication. Th the yogin's state is one of well-being or comfort, blo bde. 374 . byos, achieved. LUS thought "bestowed" might be the meaning. 375 . ngang ring literally something like far-going. 376 . lhug pa: free of cares and constraints, natural, relaxed, carefree. However where a real idiot gets bliss from ignorance, for the yogin from non-attachment that makes him much more open to phenomena than is the case for those who are primarily concerned with makin conform to preconceived goals and reference points. 377 . <The state of>. 378 . <Surely>. 379 . rang babs lhun grub. 380 . rang ga ma, here =tha mal gyi shes pa = ordinary/unfabricated mind.. 381 . tshi chad nad.. 382 . dri lung bstan. 383 . spyi blugs. 384 . MTC pp. 328-9 According to this tradition's teaching on the genesis of ego, the true nature of the body is eternally self-liberated as perfection. This is part of a section on self-liberation generally. According to Tibetan medicine the semen and blood of father and mo giving rise to the karmic energy that gives rise to the fetus. But they are in nature pure as upaaya and prajaa = insight and emptine karmic energy ejected into the womb vibrates so that one's own insight is in the great bliss of union. The seeds are the semen and bloo are the collected essence of wisdom. From wisdom arises the manifest object, the body, but it is of the nature of the object, emptiness,
413
start. The two blisses are the relative blisses of father and mother, which are able to unite because they are by nature non-dual samaad consists of the union of upaaya and prajaa. 385 . <Knows>. 386 . MTC: Wisdom and its objects are of the pure nature of emptiness, and therefore they can arise. according to maadhyamaka a f nature would be incapable of birth. 387 . MTC: The two blisses are those of the father and mother, which are of the essence of prajaa and upaaya. Because the awarene bardo vibrates in the bliss of their union it does not give rise to the appearances of the lower realms. It arises as gzhi snang, appearan ground. The seven times seven are stages of development of the fetus in the womb: 1) 7 stages of nur nur = oblong. 2) 7 mer mer = ov gor gor circular 4 7 ltar = lumpy 5) 7 fish-like, nya lta bu 6) 7 rus sbal lta bu tortoise-like. 7) 7 sbal lta bu, frog-like. In JOL p. 64 mer mer i stage, corresponding to the first week, nur nur second, the second week, and ltar ltar the third. JOL cites the Abhidharmakosha for this If the same is true here, each sub-stage of these will last for one day. The seven times seven seems to correspond to the 49 days of th But obviously either some stages must be longer than a day, or else there must be other stages to fill out the period of gestation. Not the original source of this system, I cannot say exactly how it works. Tibetan accounts of the length of gestation vary but ten months is c They mean that birth occurs in the tenth month, ie. after nine have elapsed. MTC compares this to completing the path of the ten bhuu 388 . MTC: Because it is co-essential with and does not go beyond the ground. 389 . MTC: This is because they were always like that. The tantra says instead of effortlessly perfected, primordially liberated withou . 390 . <Various>. See chos dpal rgya mtsho's commentary for details. . 391 . Lord of the ma.n.dala, Vairochana and his consort AAkaashadhaatviishvarii. 392 . <Never>. 393 . ...great dharmakaaya. 394 . 'dzin. pa'i shen yul. 395 . <All of these>.. 396 . rang gis rang snang bar. KPSR. 397 . rang shar. 398 . de ltar, refers to rang snang, and back to rang gis rang snang, above.. 399 . thams cad phyam gcig. 400 . Among external phenomena. 401 . The primary meaning of 'byung, is sems 'byung, mental contents. KSTR. 402 . <All>. 403 . <At all>. 404 . ma bcos, without artificialities, unfabricated. 405 . dmigs med, OR the non-conceptual. 406 . Condensed and shifted. 407 . dgnos gshi. 408 . rang gsal chos nyid dag pa'i dbyings gsal bas. The second gsal means clear appearance or apprehension. The first means self realization.. 409 . 'gros rgya yan. Literally, it has a carefree gait, one given free rein or wide range. Suggested by Merilyne Waldo. 410 . <Like a reflection>, but it does say this elsewhere. 411 . rgya ma chad, unlimited. 412 . shel gong, the same wording as above. 413 . rang gis 'od gsal. 414 . ...It is nothing at all.
414
. chos nyid. . ma 'gags, was translated twice as ceaseless and non-obstruction. A different sense seemed natural for upaaya and space (dbyin 417 . Space of the emptiness.... 418 . med pa zang ma. 419 . dgnos med. OR being without things.. 420 . <Is nothing but>. 421 . rang lugs, omitted = gnas lugs, the way it really is.
422 423
. Insight is the charnel ground where dharmas are exhausted; but it itself is not exhausted. . KPSR and KSTR both saw this as an enumeration of the ten natures as discussed in the following passages. 424 . dkyil 'khor bskyed rdzogs, could be three things not two, ma.n.dalas, developing stage, and fulfillment stage. Empowerment is certainly one of the omitted topics. If the paths and bhuumis are the others, that gives what KPSR thought was a very plausible list for the ten natures: view, meditation, action, fruition, paths, bhuumis, developing, fulfillment, empowerment, samaya. 425 . The nature of mind and the nature of dharmas, sems nyid/chos nyid, are equated. 426 . Various. 427 . Real non-thought, mi rtog, is beyond thinking and non-thinking in the sense of simply having no thoughts. It means lack of attachm conceptualized phenomena. 428 . Are neither = gnyis med. and ff. 429 . sems dang yid dang chos. TT in a similar context says sems = thought. Mind = intellectual consciousness = yid kyi rnam shes. dharmas. 430 . dgnos por 'dzin. OR grasping solidity VCTR. OR the experiential quality of the world so grasped. 431 . <Therefore ... such a thing as>. 432 . The following concerns various aspects of bskyed rim. 433 . <Bodhicitta> supplied from following verse. Delineates = dpe nges pa, example that ascertains, true example. 434 . ngang gis. 435 . Said from the viewpoint of pure perception: dag par bya'o. 436 . yum chen mo. 437 . Pron. ngn tok gyen. 438 . ngor: for their viewpoint. 439 . <For those>. 440 . rim rtsol dbang: powers of stages and effort. <Only>. 441 . The text has most of the full Tibetan title of the Knj, [chos thams cad rdzogs pa chen po] byang chub kyi sems kun byed rgyal po ch tam c dzok pa chen po jang chub sem Knj gyalpo. 442 . See rnal 'byor bshi. 443 . The deity is visualized in terms of the two sattvas, samayasattva and jaanasattva. The three yogas are the kriyaa, upa, and yoga ve 444 . lung, vs. man ngag, for ati. 445 . <Both>. 446 . byang chub lnga. 447 . cho 'phrul rkang pa bshi. 448 . bsnyen sgrub bshi. 449 . One rests greatly in the same sense that mahaayoga is greater than yoga, great = beyond extremes etc. 450 . yongs su rnal 'byor. 451 . dbyings kyi snying po.
415
. <Aspect>. . yongs su rnal 'byor = anu. 454 . <Which is the yoga of>. 455 . de bshin nyid la rnal du 'byor. rnal 'byor, also = yoga. 456 . gsum la bstan: This could be read are stages of the teachings for the three lesser [levels of power of mind]. Likewise for the a passages ff. about the other trios. 457 . rang bshin babs kyis grub = naturally established is more characteristic of the last three fruition yaanas. In the middle ones one v the descent of wisdom. 458 . nye lam. 459 . <And so on all of the>. This verse concerns the first two vehicles of the hinayaana, the shraavaka and pratyekabuddha vehicles. 460 . Reading spangs pa yin, for ...yangs. KSTR. Hinayaana relies heavily on renunciation. Ati says it throws out the baby with the bath 461 . <And discipline>. This section concerns the bodhisattva yaana. 462 . ...Ten bhuumis. 463 . ...Remains on the levels of training. 464 . ...Gates of the yanas of cause and effect. 465 . ting 'dzin gsum; cho ga rnam pa lnga. 466 . chos nyid. 467 . lung ma bstan. OR is not taught. 468 . Second. ngang la ngang gis gnas: that state is rested OR one rests within that state] by that state [itself]. 469 . <Of these yaanas finally...the gate of>. Literally, all have to enter this ultimate essential meaning. The sense is that this occurs a in order to attain enlightenment. cf. TT 98. 470 . Literally, who are small. 471 . Two lines inverted. 472 . stegs 'cha'o. The meaning is analogous to political platform. That is their program or system. 473 . grub mtha' rin po che'i mdzod, theg mchog rin po che'i mdzod and 'od gsal rin po che'i mdzod. 474 . <Something>. 475 . <Wide>. 476 . snang, here = false appearance. 477 . Here objects, mind, defilement, complexity etc. are more or less equated. 478 . yul la 'dzin pa'i shes pa. 479 . ye shes la thug cing gseb na. 480 . dus la ltos. 481 . Cf. TT9. 482 . Reality, nges pa. 483 . kun tu 'od, samantaprabhaa, sometimes presented in the sutras as the eleventh bhuumi.. 484 . Ie. it is nihilistically empty. 485 . <Therefore>. 486 . Cf. TT95. ni/ mdo sde dag tu: dag is a plural. LUS. 487 . rdo rje 'dzin. 488 . gzung 'dzin dag, usually means pure = empty of grasper and grasped; but this passage makes sense only if dag, means pure in the the pure relative.. 489 . DEGE, TT, and original tantra, lta spyod. LT, lha spyod.
416
. Insofar as there is divine action, one's connection to it is eternal and inseparable. . <Yoga yaana>. 492 . mtshan yod [dang] med: Practice with and without a focused object. 493 . phyag rgya bshi. 494 . <State of> rdo rje chang, Vajradhara. 495 . Inseparability of wisdom and the space of the dhaatu, kaaya and wisdom, Samantabhadra and Samantabhadrii, as above. 496 . <Essence>. 497 . OR enjoyment. 498 . rang rig. 499 . <Though>. 500 . Literally, it is the clear primordial appearance of self-insight = luminosity. 501 . rang ga ma here = tha mal gyi shes pa, ordinary/unfabricated mind. LUS. 502 . Literally, it is taught that this is like producing the primordially established sun. 503 . Literally: as to whether..., and the quote says they do not. 504 . rang babs sa. 505 . Nine = the nine yaanas. Insofar as ati is a stage, means, or vehicle to attain the fruition, it too is not ultimate. 506 . <Of that one>. 507 . <Of all>. 508 . snang ba'i ye shes. exists in truth as... 509 . Vajra rising = rising as the indestructible nature. 510 . bzlog pa. 511 . Cf. TT175. rtsal dang rtsal las shar ba'ang mi shes. They do no understand either, and therefore, as TT says they cannot tell the di between them. 512 . Elephants are a traditional symbol of the dignified and mindful bearing of enlightenment, but also of haughtiness. Pompous: r haughty. Bombastic: kha gsag. KSTR thought that talkative, ie boastful was the most likely meaning. 513 . zin. A genuine master might say these same things in a special situation where the would produce genuine realization in some p student. 514 . Projections, sgro btags. Elsewhere exaggerations. 515 . <Of sufferings>. 516 . 'gyu 'phro. 517 . Literally, as for its power, the manner of arising is unobstructed. 518 . rang gsal du lhag ge. 519 . zang ngo = zang ka. 520 . An object as something external to one's nature would need to be acquired causally by establishing and effort. 521 . thog. 522 . <You>. 523 . rtog pa nying 'khrul. 524 . shar mkhan. LUS did not think it meant that which arises. 525 . <Thus it is that>. rang ngo dang chos nyid. 526 . rang snang ngo bo. OR the essence of experience, the essence of one's projections. 527 . yid = conceptual consciousness. 528 . <All-pervading>.
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. Primordially: ye. <Appearance.> . gleng gshi. 531 . rang byung chen po rang snang: Almost any sense rang can have seems relevant here. 532 . dri ma. 533 . dgongs pa. 534 . rang dag chen po. 535 . Realm ngo: Literally, viewpoint. 536 . rang gnas. 537 . dran pa, LUS. Often memory. 538 . 'gyu byed, producer of the flickering motions of discursive thought. Cf. _______, kun byed. LUS thought this verse concerned sh where by cutting discursive thought one finally sees through ego and the kleshas to their primo rdial ground. The next is about vipas Beginning with artificial approaches to emptiness and non-duality, one finally renders the selfhood of phenomena transparent by spon panoramic vision without accepting and rejecting. 539 . ma bsams: LUS thought the primary meaning was goallessness. 540 . One dag snang = both 1 (literally) pure [of the two obscurations] appearance and 2 sacred outlook. 541 . <Vision of> self-arising: rang shar chen po. 542 . zug ngu. 543 . bdag rtog. 544 . Impartial, phyogs med. 545 . Drowsy or discursive: bying rgod. 546 . Natural freedom: lhug pa. 547 . Fear: ya nga. 548 . Without the aspect of appearance: snang cha med. As Longchenpa says below freedom from false appearance, not nihilistic emptin 549 . <Manifestations>. 550 . Etherial purity: sang se ba = sang seng. 551 . Stripped naked: rjen ne ba. 552 . <This wisdom>. 553 . Guard and maintain are both one skyong: One has to make an effort to keep it in that form or it may become something else.. 554 . <But in this case>. 555 . ngo ma phrod pa'i rnam 'gyur. 556 . <As liberation>. 557 . rang mal. 558 . <Aspects of>. 559 . ngo ti zang ma ni gnas lugs de yin pas: ti = te, it indicates that a list of one or more [expressions in this case] is to follow. zang m relative clause. ni, here doesn't mean much, but serves to emphasize non-obstruction as the point. KPSR. 560 . <Currents of>. 561 . Pron. d chikpa. 562 . This phrase does not exist as such. It is to bring out that rig pa, which means insight in an ati context, means understanding in the sphere. 563 . <Of the world>. 564 . Compassion, thugs rje, here is more or less equal to rtsal.
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. rtsal yul thog tu shar. thog literally means toward. The power follows, is drawn, or passes into appearance of objects and do'i rto pair. The subjective aspect of rtsal becomes a conceptualized grasper of this. 566 . <Or mind...manifestation>; but that is the idea. 567 . Reading: glod pa'am ma lta ba. 568 . stong ldan chen po. 569 . Cf. the lion's roar = fearless presentation of the teachings. 570 . ngo ma shes = ye shes. KSTR. 571 . yul 'dzin. 572 . For khyad yod reading khyad med. 573 . 'dra gshi. 574 . [dgnos po] stobs kyi rig pa: The power of direct experience of how things are, the ultimate source of all reasoning. 575 . dris: OR gains experience in it. 576 . yul gsal thog pa med pa'i sems/ rnam pa dag pa'i dbyings la dris, could mean the mind that beginninglessly knows objects inquires in free from objects. But that would be conceptualized emptiness, the very fault in question. 577 . AAlaya is the ground of dualistic mind. Explanation below. 578 . Insight is the root of everything. 579 . 'gyu 'phro snang ba dang yul snang sgyu ma'i rtsed mo. 580 . zang ma. 581 . Internally = tshur, vs. externally = phar 'tshor, below. 582 . chags zhen. ES. 583 . dgag sgrub. 584 . dgnos po zad. 585 . shig = mod, emphatic word. 586 . rgyun chod: cuts the continuity. Sa.msaara is an interconnected system of man parts. Here its support system is cut off, or broken like turning off the water, sewers, electricity, traffic signals and such in a city. The metaphor has improved with time. 587 . dbang po. 588 . <Insight and action>. 589 . gtan tshigs gsum: ES three axioms. They are axioms of doctrine that logically establish the ground and possibility of fruition, a practical causes showing how the fruition is established in reality. The four realizations, rtogs pa bshi, are also called reasons in this sens 590 . lta ba bltas: Seems to mean more viewing with a view than watching with a watcher in this case. 591 . dran pa: memory, checking up. 592 . One cuts the karmic chain of nidaanas that leads to rebirth etc. 593 . rtsal sprugs smon lam. 594 . Pure and true = yang dag, and truth below. 595 . dam bca. 596 . chos nyid. 597 . So it goes = de bshin gshegs. LUS thought it was not tathaagata here. 598 . <Dharmataa>. 599 . 'jig pa'i: Not just destructible by its conditioned nature, but incompatible with that and so never existing at all, or not existing as so characteristic was acquired. 600 . <Subsequent>. 601 . bya byed.
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. These are the attributes of the deities, visualized in the developing stage. . bskyed rim spyan 'dran: visualizations of the developing stage. 606 . <Kind of thing...truly>. 607 . gnas sa: the bhuumis. 608 . <Passages>. 609 . <Into emptiness>, but that is the meaning of zhi bar. 610 . gshis. 611 . shin tu rnal 'byor. 612 . Ordinary teachings are taught so that one can see this. Those who have done so do not need them. 613 . ris mthun pas
614
. The general Tibetan conception is that the sun's rays are of the same essence as the sun.
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. Commentary suggests reading yang as and here. <both> above. That might not otherwise be the most natural reading.
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. <dkyil 'khor = disk> omitted. . ngos gzung. One does not distinguish bodhicitta from what is not bodhicitta. . all this = 'khor 'das. . <various>. . <the different>. . <of the universe>. . nges med . dbyings: the space where it is. . go 'byed par . nam mkha' . bya byed . <leaves nothing out>.
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. <without remainder>. . <within his power>. . rdzogs pa spyi chings, pron. dzokpa chi ching. spyi ching = chings. . <in turn>. . <without remainder>. . <can>.
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. zla ba rgyal mtshan. A teacher of that name is mentioned in the Blue Annals. p. 472 The bodhisattva zla ba rgyal mtshan ordains a disciple of Gampopa (sgam po pa). p. 561 he instructs phag mo gru pa. p. 1024 ff. he studies with Marpa and others, in particular learning the teachings of mahaakaru.nika from rdo rje gdan pa. He seems to have been genuinely learned and accomplished, having had many visions and written many treatises. blo rgya: hundred minds or conceptualizations. Longchenpa probably thought he was too attached to the contents of these.
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. vice and virtue = dge sdig. . place where they arise = byung sa. . <not having arisen>. . <dharmas>. . transparency = zang ma nyid dang thal = zang thal. KSTR . duties = spyod bya. . <I>. . extremes = mu mtha'. . spheres of apprehension = spyod yul, ...of realization, activity. . <surely>. . mchog: Supreme, excellent.
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. There is no individual ego existing in relation to the skandhas etc. But they do think dharmas truly exist = have selfhood. This corresponds to abhidharma philosophy.
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. KPSR says this is the usual interpretation. It sounds like mind only. They accept a truly existing self, so they have not fully realized emptiness.
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. This is the view of madhyamaka. . phyir mi ldog 'khor lo'i mdo . siddhi: dgnos grub. . practice = spyod pa, OR action. . <in ati>. in this. . Literally, field of, but as TT points out this is more correct. . mtshan ma'i chos . luminous brilliance = snang bar gsal. . heart OR self-existing essence. . rdzogs: They are perfected by their sa.msaaric aspects being exhausted. . complete phun sum tshogs = perfect. <really>. . ...individual body
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. Attainment: don grub. KSTR. . Reversed: 'dzol OR confused. 663 . gsang 'dus, pron. sangd. 664 . All, dgu. Literally, many. 665 . tshi chad nad. 666 . Effortless abundance: lhug par. 667 . in general: dgos ni. 668 . <Dwelling>. 669 . lhun mnyam. 670 . <Actually>. 671 . Selfish desire: zhe 'dod. 672 . Just as they are: rang babs. 673 . rang bshag. 674 . Apparent objects rise without obstruction: snang yul ma 'gag par shar. If phenomena are like a rope mistaken for a snake, proj
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external objects are like the snake, and the apparent object, snang yul, is like the rope.
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. Vividness: sal le ba. . Appears very clearly: legs par gsal. KSTR. 677 . Wide ranging: rgya che. Here it means immensity of the extensive array of phenomena, rather than that of vast space. 678 . Here play = mere play of phenomena that are not external = rang gsal. 679 . <That which is designated as>. 680 . Here play of the nirmaa.nakaaya level. 681 . Self-existing: rang gnas. 682 . Confidence: yid ches, OR faith, but not in something that is not experienced as present. 683 . All this = ye gshi babs gshi. 684 . <Instructions>. 685 . zang thal: not that things are transparent like glass, but that they are seen transparently, just so, as they are. The meaning is clo zang ka, unobstructed, just so. 686 . See appendix 2. 687 . <Like>. 688 . Above rang gi rig pa, usually one's own insight. In the verse rang rig. Longchenpa seems to equate them, which KPSR says is ofte
case. 689 . lhun mnyam.
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. don grub, KSTR success. Accomplishing the goal or benefit. . This is paradoxical. The meaning, as it says just below, is that Compassion and trikaaya embodying the three natures become hindr if fixated. KSTR. 692 . <Extremes>. 693 . Non-existent = not conceptualized and fixated, as in maadhyamaka. The same is true of not appearing as anything just below. 694 . Lord, bdag = bdag pa chen po, like the Knj. 695 . <And does it all for you>. It does though. Many, through supreme effort, have realized this. 696 . kun grub lhun grub chen por rgyas . 697 . Insight is the mind aspect. Body and speech correspond to the two ruupakaayas . 698 . Reliance: mi las. KSTR. 699 . rang snang chen po. 700 . The outer and inner, and the secret abhishekas reveal the outer world, inner feelings etc, and secret, non-dual bliss of union as aspec
the ultimate ma.n.dala of the essence. 701 . This could also mean [to get it] rest in the suchness of non-thought.
<Final>. <The King>. <The obstacles of>. Reading DEGE and CYD lung, instead of LT lhung, fall. phu thag mi chod. yul med. The nature, vs. the essence. KSTR. <Can it be said>. babs kyi grub.
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<The different conceptualizations of>. <Something that is>. And f. Ie. the paaramitaas: pha rol tu phyin pa. Born and arise = skyes. <It is I who...It is I who am the nature of>. Virtues = paaramitaas. KSTR. <Stages of the>. Yaanas. Two shlokas condensed.
ye. . No separate parts constitute seeing the mirror and seeing the reflection. . so so'i don byed nus pa. . rtsal snang, cf. gshi snang. . snang ngo cog.
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. sems dang yid: here aalaya, aalayavijaana, and klesha-mind as the basis and the conceptual mental consciousness yid kyi rnam shes. cf. TT.
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. ya ma brla. OR vain. It has much the same meaning as snying po med, in the next line: essenceless, hollow, heartless, without a c724. No separate parts constitute seeing the mirror and seeing the reflection. ore [traditionally exemplified by a banana tree].
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. nyer len. . ...Blood and pus. . <And all>. . <Nowhere else than>. . <Which is that> of <all>. . <Of desire form and the formless>. . Non-honorific. . <Different kinds>. All the collections.... . thos pa dam pa. . rdol thabs su smra.
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. Without maintaining that there is one actual thing that they both are, mthun gshi. This is denied.. . <All>. 'dus pa, the collection of.... . dbye bsal med. . Eg. men and mice are both mammals, but that does not entail that a man is a mouse.
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. They can have no connection if they do not exist. If they do, actually exist, they are inherently separate. Mind, oneself, the unmoving, and truly existent, cannot be united with things that are other, moving, and non-truly-existent in the sense of being the same conventional entity.
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. bye brag du mas khyad par nges pa'i phyir. In maadhyamaka it is equally improper to say conventional entities related in this way are truly one or truly many. Saying mind = external entities has the first fault. Distinguishing experience and the experiencer as really two has the second. These would primarily be faults of certain followers of the mind only school. In particular they would accrue to the true aspectarians who hold that phenomena really have the characteristics they are perceived to have in a sense that appears vulnerable to these criticisms. Ati was criticized by some maadhyamaka followers for having these same faults, and Longchenpa wants to clarify the difference between the two.
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. Cf. SSN. Use of conventional language requires the use of distinctions like is/is not etc. . phyam gcig: This is true and desirable in the absolute sphere, but wrong in the relative. . gshis. . Non-triple actually. They are all found to be empty by examination for the absolute. . rig pa tha snyad, ordinary consciousness of the conventional. . gnyid = the consciousness of sleep.. . snang tshul.
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. snang and snang yul, here meaning the appearance of truly existing dharmas, and the experiential phenomenon. In the case of external appearance, phyi snang, this involves the conventional distinction of phyi snang gi chos and nang gi snang yul, the dharmas of outer appearance and the inner experience of them. But it is known by absolute analysis that these are empty, and in the great perfection one directly experiences the dharmas of external play as illusion. So mere appearance is not opposed to anything else.
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. <Of those others>. . Within one's experience: rang snang du, OR as one's experience. . Alone: gcig =single. Exhausts: rdzogs OR perfects.
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. 'dzin med rang snang: OR experience without an experiencer (qua ego, who fixates dharmas, vs. simply being without an individual ego) OR self-experience without fixation/experience, which = rang snang chen po.
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. I, nga, = the King, insight bodhicitta. Selfhood, nga bdag so sor = primarily ego but also the independent self of objects. . nor rdzas ..things of wealth. . 'phags pa dkon mchog tal la la'i mdo, pron. pakpa knchok ta la la'i d. . ...Because the Sugata, the blissfully gone, the Buddha, is also beyond marks, duality etc. . 'thad, suitable, here agreeable, pleasant.. . rang gzugs sgyu ma tsam. . byis pa. . col chung. . rin chen phreng ba pron. rinchen drengwa.. . rgyu can, here is not cause.. . kun tu btags. . sems dang yid. . 'gyu byed 'khrul pa. . <Actually>. . dmigs pa. . ...Nature, not going beyond it. . ...All conceptions.
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. lta sgom khrigs chags bud. KSTR did not care for the reading, [Insight] is banished by organized meditation on the view..
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. sangs, equated to dang just below. . It is not produced and does not produce anything else. Likewise, arising five lines below. . gnyis med. . rang rig rang gsal. . <Insight>.
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. rang gi rig pa. cf. TT 103. Often = one's own insight. Here referring to yogaachaara doctrine of a real, substantial, selfapprehending self.
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. tshor rig, TT in the sense in which mind-only claims that enlightenment is realization of subject and object as non-dual aspects of truly existing mind.
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. rang gi sems.
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. The reasoning that concludes that this passage rejects rang rig, altogether, will here reduce itself to absurdity by establishing the rejection of insight [= wisdom =bodhicitta] the main point of this treatise.
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. brda shes. This is the same sense in which it can be pointed out by holding up a crystal etc. . don du shen. As mind-only is said to do and maadhyamaka should not do. . <In these terms of ati>. But this is unquestionable from context. . Ie. Similar terms are used, but in ati they are ultimately seen as empty.
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. The two could conceivably be subject and object, in which case the whole passage concerns Yogaachaarins. But it seems more likely Longchenpa is addressing these polemics at Praasangika critics who said that ati was like sems tsam, Hindu theism, Pn and so forth, making just such criticisms as these. SSN deals with this extensively.
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. smra bar zad. KSTR preferred this to they wear thems elves out, or with that they exhaust what they have to say.. . Evaluating: 'jal tshul. . rtsis and 'jal are pretty much the same: comprehend, account [as]. . gshi = stong gshi. cf. SSN. . zang nge. . mi 'gag.
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. Benefits: In particular dharmakaaya as self-benefit, and ruupakaaya as benefit for others. . ya ma brla. . gdos bcas. . ngo bo gsal, here is juxtaposed to gsal rig: luminous insight.. . sgra bral yang dag. OR the truth is inexpressible etc. . ltos gshi: Relative reference points of causal or conceptual dependency. . spyod. . yongs.
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. The two lines beginning Are etherial...: thams cad sang seng 'al 'ol zang ma thal/ ra ri zab zeb gza' gtad chos dang bral. See glossary. KPSR. gza' gtad = gtad [so]..
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. rang rtogs pa'i dus nges pas. KSTR said nges pa here = tan tan: certain, definite, and not "at that very time" or something similar.
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. KSTR said that this meant both that they know the realization of other yogins from their own example and that they have actual experience of it through the higher perceptions and so forth.
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. rgyus la mkhas. . rgyus shes gshan: <Produced by>. ...Others who know those skills. . rtogs bshin: realized like that. . Evenly even = entirely without highlights: phyal phyal. . rjen par bud. . zang thal. . <itself>. . las rlung. . sa.msaaric appearance.
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. zhen pa log: cf. the meaning in the lower yaanas, revulsion with sa.msaara. Revulsion is the foot of meditation, as is taught..
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. <At all> non existent. True existence in maadhyamaka is taken to indicate a state of existence by nature that depends on nothing else. The basic nature of wisdom, insight-bodhicitta, is sometimes said from the viewpoint of the pure relative to exist in this way.
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. grangs mtha': Extremes of enumeration. . rang sar dag, and ff. . dgnos po rnams.
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. babs kyis grub. It does not mean that wisdom descends, as in the case of jaanasattvas. It occurs naturally and primordially.
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. 'du shes, the third skandha. . ...Fixating characteristics as conceptual reference points. . <Escapes>. 'das: goes beyond. . yug chen: Whole bolt or roll of cloth. . mtshan ma: Fixated characteristics, habitual stereotypes. . Space of the daylight.... . The second of the two obscurations, selfhood of objects.
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. KSTR: There are two styles. Both are beyond the conceptualizations of either appearance or emptiness. It can be said, though, that khregs chod, tregch, is concerned more with emptiness and thod rgal, thgel with appearance.
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. <Or any kind of conception... out of the sleep of>. . thog babs chen po: The great sudden occurrence. . 'chal med. . ngag 'khyal. . <Whatever..occur>. . gzugs, here = visual form. . yid dpyod . . <Who have done this...should>.
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. bzlog, OR eliminate. . de yang med par. . gting. . <Already>. This whole line = don: The meaning. . <Of itself>. . rang sangs. . rim bshin. . Because it is independence of conditionality. . nub, OR diminish.. . log. . Luminous radiance = gdangs. . yid. . 'du shes. . <Here in this realm of>. <That holds together everything>. The following explains the meaning of nail of space, gnam gzer. rang gi ngo bos spyi rgya rlabs kyis bcad. KPSR: rlabs kyis bcad = know the measure of. = Bodhicitta. rgya. ma chad. car phog. <Into anything else>. rdo rje sems dpa'i snying gi me long, pron. dorje sem p nying ki me long. skyol cig. mi rtog mi sems. OR are not thoughts and are not mind. <Characteristic>. <First>. and below <second>. spros. zang ka ma. bskyed. sems bzung.
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. . 851 . 852 . 853 . 854 . 855 . 856 . 857 . 858 . 859 . 860 . 861 . 862 . 863 .
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. har po. Such are all marks at this time. . Pristine etherial: sang nge. 866 . logs su bcad. <You>. 867 . rang sa na lhan ne rang babs. 868 . bshag. cf. logs su bcad, above. 869 . tsal pa dum bu. 870 . Cf. Kagy lineage chant: The nature of thoughts is dharmakaaya, as is taught. Whatever arises is fresh, the essence of realization. 871 . ha re: here not sudden but empty, vacant, unobstructed. 872 . Just ordinary. Not = tha mal gyi shes pa, as enlightened consciousness.. 873 . ha sa ra ki: All informants agree this is a nonsensical phrase spoken to confuse and stop the mind.. 874 . shod shod: Imperative of bshad. 875 . had de. 876 . sal le. 877 . shes pa sal le mi 'phro: KSTR read this as saying that awareness is vivid and does not emanate discursiveness. He did not think t was the emanations that were vivid. 878 . spro. It also means delight, which is likewise relevant. 879 . bud: revealed. No one is revealing it particularly. It just happens. 880 . nyams. 881 . sal le. 882 . <Separate>. 883 . Confusions: dzol sa. 884 . Meditational objects, dmigs gtad: Subjects of attention or contemplation. 885 . Characterizing: 'jal. 886 . Single totality: thams cad phyam gcig. 887 . Bought together: kha 'dums. 888 . <Soars>. gnas: dwells, abides. 889 . <In its flight>. 890 . <The garu.da>. 891 . = Trikaaya. KSTR. 892 . Existence of the great.... 893 . <Anything like that>.. 894 . ye. 895 . <Of buddhahood>. 896 . <Buddhahood>. 897 . <Any kind of>. 898 . <What they say>. 899 . All this = dpe ma len. 900 . rtags tshad. 901 . An explicitly hwa yen like passage. 902 . brtson 'grus: They work hard to achieve actionlessness.
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. See below. The teachings of the time of death are extensively presented in the bardo thdrl, The Tibetan Book of the Dead, acco of the six yogas like that of Garma Chang, etc. 904 . go bzlog. 905 . snang ba bshi. They are reversed in tregch from the usual presentation of thgel. 906 . tshad la phebs = attain the measure of, perfect. Eg. the third (second in reverse order) of the snang ba gshi is rig pa tshad ph reaching the sign/measure of insight or perfecting insight. 907 . skyong. 908 . Two lines condensed. 909 . mi snang rtog med. 910 . The karma is worn out, worked through etc. 911 . <When the vase is broken>. 912 . <Body and mind>. 913 . <Inside and outside of it>. 914 . rgyun chad du dengs. 915 . <Really>. Ie. it did not exist as separate. 916 . des phyir phul. 917 . Cutting off the breath, dbugs chad: In death this is literal. In yoga it can be done temporarily. It can also be used figuratively to cessation of karmic energy. 918 . <Alternately>. 919 . The lion posture is one of a group of three associated with this practice. KSTR said this was the posture the Buddha assumed a time of his death, lying on the right side. I have also heard it suggested that a somewhat frog-like crouching posture is known as the posture. 920 . yid tsam. 921 . This is mentioned in the realization of lesser ones. 922 . rim bshin bstan pa'o: KSTR says that there are two distinct styles whose details are being explained. It is not a matter of doing one the other in stages. 923 . gtan srid. 924 . sbubs. 925 . nam mkha' dag la kun kyang rtsol mi byed/ nam mkha' dag la kun gyis btsal bya ru: KSTR reads rtsol byed, as the subject and rtsol by the object. Space like the sky is beyond both. 926 . <Like...all>. 927 . <Here is realized as merely>. 928 . rang rig. 929 . Nothing to realize = byar med. OR ...to accomplish.. 930 . Is taught to transcend.... 931 . <All>. 932 . This line = mtshon byed. 933 . More literally perhaps: The eternal encompassing great perfection whose depth is limitless. 934 . It is neither understandable nor experiencable. 935 . dmigs yul. OR objects of perception, meditation. 936 . so so rang gi rig yul. 937 . 'dzin pa med. OR with no grasper, egoless.
432
. <All...every kind>. . All this line = spangs thob med do. 940 . <State of>. 941 . <Space of>. 942 . Understanding...disappears: go bzlog. 943 . phu thag 'khrus. 944 . OR there is really nothing other than..., as the snake is really only the rope. 945 . Free from reference point: ngos bzung med. 946 . gsal: explained as the unobscured fruition. 947 . Grounds, gshi: The primary meaning seems to be things which are confused. But reason for confusion is also relevant accordi the commentary. Moreover dharmakaaya is itself essentially empty and groundless, so it cannot support confusion. So confusion h ground in any sense of the term. 948 . ris. 949 . This line = ye babs lhun grub. 950 . KSTR read this as a double meaning. The first is given in the text. The second is, Ignorance and confusion, which are sa.msaara, d exist at all. The ultimate meaning is the same. 951 . od re gsal: luminosity-ized, enlightened. 952 . ma bskyed. 953 . bskyang. 954 . ...Expression by marks. 955 . <Free from>. view/ viewer: lta/lta byed. 956 . dmigs gtad gshol. 957 . Totality: phyam. 958 . spyod yul. 959 . don med. 960 . <Maintain it by...guard it by>. 961 . <Everywhere>. 962 . What has been called subtle mind and body does not truly exist. 963 . <To be found>. ...Exist. 964 . <Of all the various...that there are.>. 965 . <Already>. And ff. 966 . <Itself>. 967 . ...Of the phenomenal world of beings. 968 . <First there is the teaching of how>. 969 . <Either way>. And ff. Literally, if dharmas are liberated that is alright/suitable; if they are not liberated that is alright. And ff. 970 . <Totally>. 971 . ...No realization of the view. 972 . <Will be found>. ...Exist. 973 . Reading with DEGE 'das pas, for LT94B6 'das nga ra [?] 974 . <Things are>. 975 . Fixated dharmas = gtad so'i chos, OR reference points of dharmas. 976 . The one, gcig pu: single, alone.
433
. Only an abstract designation: ming du btags pa bla dags.. . ...All obscuration. 979 . blo bde = one's mind is relaxed and confident. 980 . <Itself...all>. 981 . Self-existing buddhahood = rang sangs rgyas. 982 . The freedom of naturalness: rang yan. 983 . <At all>. 984 . LUS. It might also be saying There are the extremes of existence and non-existence. There is the mind of is and is not. Ther proclamations [sgrog] of the view and meditation. There are the strayings from dharmataa. There is insight of sa.msaara and nirvaa.na. 985 . Because there is natural freedom, even the conceptions of a net and liberation from it are extremes. 986 . rang babs. 987 . bltas pas. 1 24. glod. 989 . bar med: also "direct." 990 . car phog. 991 . 'gyu ba. 992 . It is not grasped, fixated, followed after etc. 993 . phyogs yan. 994 . kha yan. 995 . stong yal: LUS read this as subsiding into emptiness, vs. emptiness subsides. KSTR said that it is nothing so partial as appear vanishing, being seen as empty, or the experience of emptiness subsiding. I think the meaning is that this is the great emptiness be empty and non-empty. Naked experience, the great emptiness, and the fullness of vast and trackless evenness are pretty much the same. 996 . So there is nothing to liberate. 997 . spyod: Ie. act of practicing them. 998 . ngang med. 999 . 'bud: Let occur. 1000 . sgrog. OR proclamation. 1001 . shol 'debs. OR dissuade. 1002 . rang yan. 1003 . Without checking up on itself = rtsis med. 1004 . 'dre ldog = ru log. 1005 . phyal ba lhug pa gshi med zang ka ma: they are seen transparently = unobstructedly as they are, as mere empty form etc. This is watching a movie. The good and bad situations are not real, so they do not truly engage us. 1006 . gtad med za zi ban bun phyal ma phyol, KPSR. 1007 . Ego's desires: she 'dod. 1 43. ye sangs. 1009 . This line = bshin dang me long. 1010 . <The mirror>. no longer there and liberated: grol. However neither insight or appearances within it literally vanish, but are se manifestly empty. Grasper and fixation etc. vanish. 1011 . Truly existing duality and multiplicity are empty and unreal. 1012 . 'dzin pa'i yul = gzung ba. 1013 . 'gyu ba.
434
. "Let there be, and ff. chug. . nas. <These things that>. 1016 . Fundamentally: gshi la. 1017 . Single understanding = go gcig. It may also mean understanding as single [insight]. 1018 . Merely ordinary: rang babs tha mal. 1019 . ...Same as ordinary sa.msaaric people. 1020 . A fibrous herb with blue flowers and edible seeds.. 1021 . don byed nus pa. 1022 . This occurs in the Life of Naaropa. 1023 . <That is involved with>. 1024 . Paramount importance = gzengs pa ltar. 1025 . Superficial: phyi rol du 'gyur. They are outside, in the exoteric husk. 1026 . gzud: put forward, present. 1027 . spyod yul 'das. 1028 . tha mal rang babs kyis ngang la spyod. OR the self-occurring state is the action. 1029 . lhag gnas. 1030 . <Various...exist as>. 1031 . <Discursive...practice of>. 1032 . sgra chen brjod pa: Literally, expression of great sound. 1033 . don snying la sogs. ...fill the body etc. 1034 . thub. 1035 . It is possible to want money without having any. One cannot even desire enlightenment except by having realized it to some extent 1036 . OR are ceaseless realization. 1037 . When the path is practiced with effort, the three poisons arise. When what is done is an expression of self-existence it expresse five enlightened attributes: yon tan lnga. 1038 . dran pa. OR memory. 1039 . smon: aspire to. 1040 . The liberation is eternal. It is its arising that is instantaneous. 1041 . khong yangs pa: Literally, internally vast. 1042 . cer grol. 1043 . gtad so med. 1044 . blo bde. 1045 . phyam phyam. 1046 . gcig tu 'khyil. 1047 . dus kyis grol. 1048 . gdeng gis grol. 1049 . gshi med. 1050 . <Things...entirely>. 1051 . <Need to be>. 1052 . Directly in one step: cer grol. 1053 . <The possibility of>. Coming to a decisive conclusion: phu thag gcod.
435
. phyam gcig. . bzla sa'i yul. 1056 . bzla ba'i mkhan. 1057 . 'dir 'dug. 1058 . mtha' skyel skyel so. 1059 . rang sar grol. 1060 . yang dag nyid. 1061 . <Any kind of>. 1062 . gtan la 'bebs, LUS: nothing is resolved, nothing happens. 1063 . Great Space, vast Space.... 1064 . <Within that Space>. 1065 . <Separate...means>. 1066 . <Particular...always>. 1067 . dril. 1068 . All this = ye 'byams.. 1069 . rang las rnyed.
1070 1071 1072
. . 1073 . 1074 . 1075 . 1076 . 1077 . 1078 . 1079 . 1080 . 1081 . 1082 . 1083 . 1084 . 1085 . 1086 . 1087 . 1088 . 1089 . 1090 . 1091 .
<Of sa.msaara>.
sku, literally "bodies." But the meaning is ordinary statues, thangkas etc. 'od kyi gong bu: The source areas rather than the rays. har re . sangs. OR awakening into. lus gnad. bshag . gdangs .
<On that object>. gnas: rested. OR dwells. Thus, purposeful meditation and no-dwelling, gnas/mi gnas, are inherently incompati
<Meditation and samaadhi>. bar mtshams med. <The state of>. nor ra re .
<Naked>. ...Unobscured.
'khor lo: Literally, "circle ." KSTR says that dbang po here means the six senses and not, as in some other passages, one's general powers of understanding dbang po. KSTR.
ngo sprod snga ma, means verbal accounts here, rather than that they conceptualize a genuine transmission. The latter is an
problem. .
436
. ri bo chog gshag, rgya mtsho chog gshag, rig pa chog gshag, snang ba cer [cog] gshag. One sees both forms. KSTR. pron.
. rang gnas chen po, thog babs chen po, rgya 'debs chen po; pron. rangn...thokpap...jdep chenpo. . This seems to be the reversal of the usual order, perhaps due to presentation in terms of experience and not of view or the approa tregch vs thgel. Cf. the presentation of the snang ba bshi, in this text. Backwards presentation of lists is often found in ati. 1095 . sang[s] se. 1096 . Fixation: dzin pas.. 1097 . ...And will not go beyond. 1098 . ltos: Look. KSTR. 1099 . ...All production. 1100 . chos la 'brel ma chags. 1101 . KPSR did not think this referred to the text called Yig Mpa and similarly snang ba phra khrid, below. 1102 . <To oneself>. 1103 . sems 'dzin . 1104 . <Dwell...state of>. 1105 . <Is not> song: which has not become . 1106 . <Of that kind>. 1107 . In particular this sounds like tantric visualization practice. 1108 . lu gu rgyud, pron. lu gu gy. 1109 . But here refers to tregch, the main focus of this treatise. 1110 . sang nge . 1111 . OR Without the bonds of desire there is only mere experience, self-experience etc: rang snang. 1112 . Literally, no exclusion of distinction or clearing away. 1113 . Reading sa le la, for sa la la, at some places. 1114 . ...Arising of the. <Appearance of the> ...Apparent objects . 1115 . <Also along with that>. 1116 . Without fear: ya nga med. 1117 . rang gis rang grol: self-liberated by itself. 1118 . shen pa'i blo: mind of attachment. 1119 . Conceptualized fantasy: nying 'khrul. 1120 . Middle way: bar du. 1121 . The dog would notice if it were meat. 1122 . Very relevant: shin tu 'brel. 1123 . Is always naturally: ye nas...rang babs. 1124 . ye byams: eternally universal, all pervading. 1125 . Because everything changelessly manifests as dharmataa, they seal the certainty of realization. 1126 . spyi blugs. 1127 . <Of that state>. 1128 . Lucidly vivid: sal le hrig ge. 437
. dgongs pa'i don lung bstan. . <Being concerned about>. 1131 . OR Not a non-thing. 1132 . <Make an attempt to>. 1133 . Two lines inverted.. 1134 . spyod . 1135 . bya byed. 1136 . lhug par. 1137 . KSTR preferred DEGE lding ba, soar, float to LT's lhing ba. VCTR was known to say things like, Well mostly I just float. Jschke
1138 1139
lhing ba = lings pa: quite [round]. Goldstein lists lhing po: calm and tranquil. ES lists lhing lhing: gently. Das has lhing ba: strong, st There are a number of plausible readings here .
. rdo rje legs pa, but not the protector deity so named, = Vajrasadhu. . <Perfect>. 1140 . <Need for these to be>. 1141 . sang nge ba . 1142 . <Particular>. 1143 . gud du dpyod . 1144 . 'dzin . 1145 . <In that way ... completely>. 1146 . gnas pa, ...state of existence of [OR resting in] mind and its objects . 1147 . <The first, the recognition of>. 1148 . Stillness: lhan ne. 1149 . Awakened state of insight: rig ge sang nge ba. 1150 . Intellectualize: yid byed. 1151 . Limpid clarity: dwangs. 1152 . Quasi-happenings: gya ma gyu. 1153 . Wind horse: lung rta. T hey arise from its karmic energy. This is not the same as the wind horse or lungta of Shambhala tradition 1154 . Functional talking: ngag bsdam. 1155 . dran bsam yid 'gyu OR of the mind of memory and thought. 1156 . These are three progressively less conceptualized stages of meditative progress. 1157 . ngo la mi blta: OR do not be mindful of them. 1158 . mi 'jog. 1159 . <Only>. 1160 . rang bshag: Stay as they are . 1161 . <Recognized>. 1162 . dgnos, OR things and non-things. 1163 . <Various>. 1164 . phyogs mtshams: Partialities and limits . 1165 . <That it has arisen is>. 438
. <What need is there here for any>. . gnas pa'i tshe na mnyam gnas: At the time of existence, existence is equal. Likewise ...Liberation below. 1168 . ...What now rises . 1169 . Element: dbyings. 1170 . Own place: rang mal. 1171 . Happens: bshengs. 1172 . rdo rje gur. 1173 . Follow the past and pursue the future: sdun bsu dang rjes bsnyags. 1174 . <Rises>. 1175 . ma nges . 1176 . rang shar. 1177 . Bound by its being tightened up = dam du ma bcings. 1178 . The numbers in the text do not add up in any obvious way. Longchenpa claims there are six knots (associated with five libarati five ties plus three; and five ornaments, and that these total twenty-two. Yet that gives eighteen, or twenty-four if the liberations are cou There are twenty-nine verse sections in all. So the answer is not so simple as that there is one passage of verse for each sub Seven ties plus three seem to be explicitly identified as such. That gives twenty-one. One obvious possibility is that the tota miscopied. The subheading numbers do not occur in the original. Therefore, it is possible that some of the headings are meant sub-headings of others. 1179 . By being certain of the key connections, one ties the eternal knot of the ultimate meanings: mdo cings nges pas 'gag bsdams. Et
knot is not literal, but an attempt to convey the multiple implications through an image whose implication is somewhat similar. (see glos KPSR and LUS agree that on the most literal level this means something like summary of the ultimate points. But the following ma makes it clear that there is a also a connotation of binding everything together as the ma.n.dala of realization. Cf. klong gzer, etc.
<Outwardly...inwardly>.
Bind with the ties of: chings su bcing. Whole line = cog gshag.
Two senses of 'gag: cessation which is the ultimate meaning. Bound in the endless knot: bsdam (in context).
<Ultimate goals>. This is an attempt to render the double sense of 'gag: Whatever miracles of mind and intellect appear are 'gag. bsdam, Bound between freedom from dharmas and intellectualizations of mind. 1186 . rang shar rang sa zin: Or is already self-arisen in its own place etc.
Very stuff: rang dbyings, OR its own element. And ff. thug phrad.
'gag = cessation and ultimate point. Appearance and awareness are the 'gag which is bsdam. OR Eternally pure of characteristics .
Obstruct = 'gegs. [Both texts] One might have expected 'gags from the corresponding passages. Then it would mean play i
ultimate point/cessation of the objects of the three encounters, The knot of this is tied unwaveringly....
439
saddle. Sometimes a number of animals are tied together for restraint, milking etc. in such a way that a single tug will release all the knots.
440
. gnas . . <Buddhas> ...Victorious ones . 1235 . <The state of>. 1236 . shi: Nirvana. 1237 . spyod . 1238 . mal. 1239 . Definitely fixated: phyang ma chad par. 1240 . This verse rather freely translated. 1241 . <Brought to the state of>. 1242 . cings. 1243 . <There are the ties that bind> cings su bcing ba, or just bcing ba. 1244 . <At all>. 1245 . Resting in non-meditation. 1246 . <In the least>. 1247 . Never artificial: bcos sa med. 1248 . This line actually comes at the end of the Tibetan. 1249 . Established bshag: to go, be put, rest. 1250 . Scope: grangs. 1251 . Marks of the objects.... 1252 . <When one is trying to remove it>. 1253 . <Thinking it can be done>. 1254 . Excludes nothing: ris med. 1255 . <Any kind of>. 1256 . Released: gyin 'da'. 1257 . ...I the ground of dharmataa. 1258 . Examine: gzheg. 1259 . Thinking in terms of: dngos 'dzin. Not making them into reference point, not fixating things in relation to them. 1260 . LT illegible: gang [nang?] 'ga'i yul. DEGE : gang dga'i yul. 1261 . <Mounted> literally, has. Its energy makes it move swiftly, like someone riding a horse. 1262 . Wakefulness: sang nge. 1263 . Clearing away of obstacles: 'phrang bsal. 1264 . A simile by the Buddha: Meditation requires a certain amount of effort an application, but not too much. In that way it is like tun stringed instrument. The strings must be neither too loose or too tight. 1265 . Reading rgya yan with DEGE. Freely and free-ranging below are also rgya yan. 1266 . All thoughts . 1267 . Radiate: shor ba, OR be lost. 1268 . The realm of concept and memory: dran rtog yul. OR possibly memory, concept, and object; objects of concept and memory . 1269 . <The experience of>. 1270 . A suutra. ting nge 'dzin tshogs dam pa, pron. tingne dzin tsok dampa. 441
. Adulteration: lhad ma . . Limitless non-obstruction: gra zang nge. DEGE: <nge> ...De. gra = grwa: Corner, fence, yard, school, section. zang nge = zan LUS thought this might = grwa bzang de: One's proper dwelling place. 1273 . <Conceptual>, ...Path of concepts and characteristics . 1274 . This and above line inverted. 1275 . ...Supremely cut. 1276 . this whole line = mi 'gal, not contradicted. 1277 . The essential heart of things: snying po. 1278 . <Try to>. 1279 . When realization of.... 1280 . This line = dris pa las . 1281 . Both abandoning.... 1282 . Every dharma next line. 1283 . rtsal chen yon tan rdzogs pa'i lung, pron. tsalche yn ten dzok p lung.. 1284 . Why it says five I don't know. 1285 . Three ties that bind, does not occur here but does in the final summary of this section. 1286 . unobscured: rnyog med. 1287 . Grasping the level: sa gzung. LUS compared this to taking the high ground. 1288 . <Energies of> These colors in tantra, in the three naa.diis etc. symbolize basic duality, masculine/feminine, inner/outer, and so f No particular yogic practice is involved to here . 1289 . <Itself>. 1290 . <Called>. 1291 . rgya grol. 1292 . dpang bstod. 1293 . Arouse vastness: rgya bskyed. 1294 . rgya bskyed. 1295 . rgya yan. 1296 . Brightly sparkling evanescence of transparency: san seng khral khrol zang thal. 1297 . phyal phyal. 1298 . Ornament: 'phyang. OR pendent. 1299 . <Of the world>. 1300 . <Completely>. 1301 . <By that>. 1302 . <Are utterly non-existent, ...the... of the sky> . 1303 . <The state of>. 1304 . Reaching: thug 'phrod. OR Encountering. 1305 . All is universal Space which.... 1306 . Highest: mchog. OR Supreme.. 1307 . zhar la bral: KSTR preferred this to subsequently, or defect. 442
. <Manifests>. . Nature: chos nyid . 1310 . <Empty>. 1311 . Not harmed: mi tshugs. 1312 . <Of anything at all>. 1313 . 'phags pa dkon mchog brtsegs pa'i mdo, pron. pakpa knchok tsekp do. 1314 . ...Emptied from then on. 1315 . <Known as> essence: snying po. 1316 . Do this time and time again: dar re dar re'i rgyun mthud. 1317 . byang chub sems 'grel, pron. changchub semdrel. 1318 . rtsal rnams . 1319 . Neutral: lung ma bstan. 1320 . Reach out and touch their objects: phar 'phro . 1321 . Unobstructed: zang ka . 1322 . Instead: dod du. 1323 . kun gshi. 1324 . Cf. a slightly different account TT 212, taken from Longchenpa's tshig don mdzod. 1325 . Body includes the light body of the form realm and the absorption body of the formless realm. TT212.. 1326 . TT212 includes factors that bind one to a conditioned nirvana. 1327 . TT212 explains this as non-recognition of insight that is primordially c-emergent with it like gold and its ore . 1328 . Pure relative: yang dag. 1329 . TT212 lists a fourth division bag chags sna tshogs kun gshi, the aalaya of various vaasanaas, a neutral state which is the aspe various dormant actions of the mind and mental events that create the (births) in sa.msaara . 1330 . <All> And f. 1331 . 'od gsal rin po che'i mdzod, pron. sel Rinpoche dz. . 1332 . Abiding in the ground: gshi gnas, here not shamatha but ultimate realization. 1333 . ji lta and ji snyed. 1334 . Characteristic: nges tshig . 1335 . Mind itself: sems nyid . 1336 . <Raging>. 1337 . <Limitless> mtshungs: Equal. 1338 . Guided: 'grel. 1339 . Cf. the divisions above. 1340 . theg mchog rin po che'i mdzod. 1341 . Nonsense: khyal. 1342 . OR as CYD rtsal nyid las. LT and DEGE have "la" for "las ." 1343 . Grammatically this looks like a partial listing of the ten natures as discussed in chapter V. KPSR and KSTR say this is not the case 1344 . Lokaayatas: rgyang 'phen. 1345 . 'phags pa rin po che yongs su sdud pa'i mdo, pron. pakpa rinpoche yongs dp do.. 443
. This appears to be more regarding the last of the five distinctions. It is conceivable though that it is a sixth distinction, making u total of twenty-two key points. 1347 . gshis . . Vision sees: dgongs pa. What one sees then is realization of the essence. essence: rtsi, literally, juice. . ...The nature, gshis . 1350 . rdzogs pa chen po. 1351 . Confusions: 'chol. 1352 . Comes forth as something external: phyir shor. LUS did not think lost was the sense here . 1353 . Key points: mdo cings. 1354 . Dharmas of binding: sdom pa'i chos. 1355 . <Any kind of ground or>. 1356 . <State of things>. 1357 . ...No other way. 1358 . ...Going beyond the realization of dharmataa. 1359 . <The fruition>. 1360 . Summarized: phyogs gcig tu here = give a summary or simplified account.
1348 1349 1361 1362
. . 1363 . 1364 . 1365 . 1366 . 1367 . 1368 . 1369 . 1370 . 1371 . 1372 . 1373 . 1374 . 1375 . 1376 . 1377 . 1378 . 1379 . 1380 . 1381 . 1382 . 1383 . 1384 .
mkha'. Nail of space: gnam gzer. mkha' mnyam. <That are found in the ... realm>. rtsis gdang med. <Its own object>. rang gdangs, OR natural manifestation. rkyen ngan. thog tu 'bab. yid. tsha. <Results>. sbyang: discipline. Also train in in the lead in to this passage. rang babs phyam gcig. <One should come...to a state of...>. dmigs: conceptualized or dualistic perceptions. Luminous clarity: dangs. sems phyogs . dangs. <...Also...at that time>. phyogs yan, OR free from partiality. rang bshag: rest itself. khong rdol 'byung. <Revealing itself>.
444
. zang ka. . <Establishing by...totally>. 1387 . <To be produced>. 1388 . <When things arise>. 1389 . <Very>. 1390 . goms: one does not need to become familiar or adept. 1391 . dga' yal. 1392 . dangs. 1393 . babs: occurrence of the>. 1394 . yid. 1395 . <At that time>. 1396 . mal. 1397 . This line = rang bshin bar ma. 1398 . dbye bsal med. 1399 . do phur. 1400 . khal do. 1401 . rang dwangs. 1402 . sa. 1403 . ma bzhugs. 1404 . nges med. 1405 . <Particular style of form>. 1406 . From being things: dgnos por OR as real. 1407 . As they really are: rang babs. 1408 . <Then one should...of that state>. 1409 . <Every>. 1410 . sbyang. 1411 . spros pa rnams. 1412 . gzung. 1413 . By non-attachment. 1414 . Lying on the right side, as the buddha did at the time of his death. LUS. 1415 . je phrar song. 1416 . gdangs. 1417 . nye 'khor. 1418 . Bliss, luminosity, and non-thought. 1419 . nges pa. 1420 . <itself>. 1421 . brjed ngas. 1422 . <Degree in which they possess the>. 1423 . gshung, OR fundamental, the main point. 1424 . <To be dreams>. 1425 . tshad la phebs: reaching the measure (of these levels).
445
. ...All complexities. . cha: ...the aspect of. 1428 . KSTR's reading. 1429 . <Included>. 1430 . rang snang. 1431 . nyams. 1432 . gzeg dang bcos. 1433 . rang gzugs. 1434 . sangs. 1435 . <To a pack saddle>. 1436 . Clarify water that one wishes to be clear. 1437 . 'dang. 1438 . <To me>. 1439 . <Kleshas>. 1440 . <Kleshas>. 1441 . rnal 'byor, is not yoga here. 1442 . <State>. rang shar. 1443 . <Made>. 1444 . snying po. 1445 . Inverted with previous line. 1446 . rnal 'byor. OR who is joined to that. 1447 . Peace of shamatha: shi ba nyid. This is because of association with lhag mthong, as in shi lhag, shamatha and vipashyanaa. 1448 . phyi phyir. 1449 . Is like.... 1450 . <Kleshas>. 1451 . KSTR says that self-resting is not the fruition of actions involving effort, but the way one does this. By doing that one realizes the of eternal non-effort.. 1452 . <But here>. 1453 . zang kar. 1454 . skye grol du grol. 1455 . blo rim. 1456 . rang sar gshag. 1457 . tshad. 1458 . goms. 1459 . <Other>. 1460 . Great<est>. 1461 . rtogs: realizing. 1462 . <These teachings> don rnams: The meanings. 1463 . mngon sum rig: manifestation will be apprehended. 1464 . <Person>. 1465 . <Will be liberated>. ...As for the liberation. Without doubt occurs only once in the next line.
446
. gnyen po bzang byas: Good antidotes that have been produced, OR good deeds which are antidotes. . <State of the>. 1468 . bang mnyam, can also just mean equal. "Fly," literally "race." 1469 . <The kingdom of> These three verses freely translated. 1470 . <And so it>. 1471 . bang mnyam. OR the concepts of objects. 1472 . da lta med. OR though now without the view they appear. 1473 . ...Wishes to seek. This could conceivably mean that if one seeks for the limits of space one does not find them. Likewise the las the passage could be saying that the extremes of knowables do not exist. However, ultimately the non-existence of extremes of knowab non-limitation of the space beyond knowables. 1474 . <Their>. 1475 . gdung rabs. 1476 . 'chal. 1477 . Supremely secret.... 1478 . ...Taught and entrusted . 1479 . gtad so. 1480 . 500 dpag tshad, each about 2400 feet in length. 1481 . <Teachings>. 1482 . <Divisions of>. 1483 . <Of those from whom it should be kept>. 1484 . <In that way>. 1485 . <If this is told>. 1486 . rdol thabs, might mean the manner of its being revealed. But elsewhere in the text rmongs pa rdol thabs is as here. 1487 . Those of partial ordination who want full ordination as monks and nuns cannot attend the ritual until the proper time, and so for those directly involved attend it. 1488 . gsong, can also mean deal straightforwardly or sincerely. 1489 . bka' chad. 1490 . <Because>. And in the verse below. 1491 . <Should be kept>. 1492 . lus kyi gnad. 1493 . Others who do not have the appropriate permission blessings etc. 1494 . Someone whose teaching is always spontaneously perfect and appropriate for the hearers and occasion etc., like the Buddha. 1495 . 'og ma rnams: Lower ones. 1496 . dpa' bo lung. 1497 . <By which one is empowered>. 1498 . <At all>. 1499 . <Concludes>. 1500 . bka' srung, pron. kasung.. 1501 . <In the fire>. 1502 . ...Meaning of the great perfection. 1503 . <Still>. 1504 . mi gnas: Does not exist.
447
. Non-men and bhutas: Unfriendly spirits. . grub thob: Those who have accomplished siddhi. 1507 . <Diminish and>. 1508 . dam pa mi bskur: On whom holiness has not been bestowed. 1509 . yongs 'phel: Perfect increase. 1510 . <Indulging in>. 1511 . <Ati>. 1512 . 'chol = misuse above. 1513 . DEGE rigs rgyud med cing dang [ngang?] rgyud med. <breeding> purity of being or character. LT: ngang [rang?] LUS and KPSR rang was likely. rigs.rgyud means family lineage. It can be taken in a spiritual sense to mean spiritual lineage or having the basic capa buddha nature of the gotra. KPSR read this as in effect a metaphor: As a person of no breeding, one from an inferior caste, fam background will be of inferior character, a person without the good fortune of genuine connection to a spiritual lineage will be without personal qualities resulting from such a connection. 1514 . Kindness in particular.... 1515 . rang gi rigs rgyud brjod pa dang. It is not clear if one's family lineage or spiritual lineage or both are meant here. The point seems m same in any case. Being boastful is LUS's interpretation of brjod pa, literally just express or talk about.. 1516 . As good as useless: don med phyal. 1517 . Examination to see whether they are worthy vessels. 1518 . <By which they are to be recognized>. 1519 . <Of the teachings>. 1520 . don 'grus. 1521 . dam tshig sdom ldan: they have the samaya vow, and the next instance below. <la bstan: it is taught to...>. 1522 . Great can = worthy vessels. See also the verses below. It is also true in the usual sense. Great persons who can be brought to will have the greatest opportunity to help others. Cf. "Kings must become philosophers, or philosophers kings." 1523 . brtson 'grus. 1524 . zhing: the field. 1525 . rjes su 'dzin. 1526 . Ultimate ...meaning: don. 1527 . <Suitable>. 1528 . <The proper>. 1529 . <Persons>. 1530 . snying po'i don: OR ultimate benefit. 1531 . Give the teaching of.... 1532 . <The students'>. 1533 . longs spyod: Not just material possessions, but everything. 1534 . <These offerings>. 1535 . <In turn>. 1536 . <Divisions>. 1537 . <Of accomplishment>. 1538 . rang rgyud. 1539 . <Properly>. 1540 . ...Secret tantras.
448
. <Such teachers> They.... . rdzogs: perfect, accomplished. 1543 . <Literal>. 1544 . LUS: They probably have received the abhisheka but not properly. In particular, the great teachers actually see the deity when they abhisheka, or later in practice. 1545 . Perhaps they answer without really knowing the truth, in order to seem learned. They may give answers designed primarily to enha personal situation. Rudras, charlatans, and perverters of the teachings certainly exist. However, we should recall that the true mo enlightened people are often very difficult to understand. One example is the seeming mixture of generosity with greed and selfishness i of Marpa. Nor should we forget that the kagy and nyingma lineages were founded respectively by a pimp and a mass murderer. Th simple-minded yardstick for determining who is a genuine teacher. 1546 . <In the proper way>. 1547 . <Great>. 1548 . brtul shugs. 1549 . dal: Not speedy nervous and impulsively irritated, they are precise and dignified. Also = dignified below. 1550 . lhug pa glen pa'i lhod: The highest praise! 1551 . <Any kind of>. 1552 . nag: Black. 1553 . thags bzangs of good texture. Perhaps, regular. 1554 . dkar la 'dril. 1555 . Red eyes may indicate (spiritual) intoxication, as with some of the figures of the Ajanta caves. 1556 . Clockwise in relation to a clock on their heads facing upwards. 1557 . shugs 'byung. 1558 . <Transmit> ...Teach. 1559 . <Signs>. 1560 . rigs: class of. Also = caste below. Presumably the original version was Indian, where everyone would have some caste. In T would be understood in terms of one's social station in general. 1561 . 'jug. 1562 . As it is: cog gshag/rang babs. 1563 . rang sar. 1564 . <Exactly> and f. 1565 . dgnos. 1566 . 'gag med. 1567 . <Very>. 1568 . LT has las, karma, for lus, body, and self-proliferate, rang ches, for one's own dharmas, rang chos. 1569 . Mind = bodhicitta. 1570 . <Indeed>. 1571 . ltad re . 1572 . soms, imperative of sems pa. 1573 . <All>. 1574 . phyags mas btag. 1575 . spar gyis 'dzin. 1576 . <They were dwelling>.
449
. <All>. . srid pa. 1579 . <Develop...body of...one...other>. 1580 . dbang rnam par phye ba, pron. wang nampar chewa. 1581 . Superficial and temporary: 'phral, generally = superficial but here = glo bur LUS. It is the opposite of phug: innermost, deep, penetrating. 1582 . don du phug. 1583 . Non-exclusive equality: ris mnyam, similar to ris med. 1584 . <Then they will be found> and f. 1585 . gdung. 1586 . <They abide>. 1587 . chu'i ri mo. Presumably = ripples and water as previously. 1588 . <Attachment>. 1589 . kres: a particular fiber. 1590 . bugs. 1591 . gshis: ...All things. 1592 . rigs. 1593 . <All>. 1594 . <Various>. 1595 . <Itself>. 1596 . sku. 1597 . <Have the equal fortune of>. 1598 . Center and limit of my ma.n.dala: dkyil dang 'khor. 1599 . <Existence...all>. 1600 . mi 'gags. OR is unobstructed. 1601 . <Various>. 1602 . <Let us...such>. 1603 . blo rtsal. 1604 . rjes su 'dzin. 1605 . gnam gzer...gdab. gdab is used also for piercing with a phurba etc. 1606 . chos nyid rang babs. 1607 . Thus <all>. 1608 . thong. LUS. 1609 . <Anything>. 1610 . rang shar. 1611 . Pron. dorje sempa nyingki melong. 1612 . gong ma: literally, superior according to LUS, but it can mean emperor. 1613 . State of great bliss.... 1614 . snying po. 1615 . Literally, Not the sphere of fixation, existing as everything.
450
. mdo mdud: Knot that ties together a necklace, string of beads, etc. similar to mdo chings, something that ties something together o
it.
1617 1618
. <The string of beads of>. . <Expression by>. 1619 . snying po. 1620 . <Nature>. de'i phyogs. 1621 . rgya ma chad. 1622 . 'dris. 1623 . phyi phyir. KSTR preferred this to therefore, or further and further.' 1624 . <The various different kinds of>. 1625 . gtso bo. 1626 . bsam gtan gnad gsum: KSTR thought form-meditation, dharmadhaatu and union or thgel, tregch, and union might be poss inclined to trikaaya qua enlightened version of body, speech, and mind. KPSR also thought that the meaning was trikaaya, as associated meditational process of the three gazes, lta stangs gsum. 1627 . <When one exists...the state of>. 1628 . <That arise in one's experience>. 1629 . <Regarding that which is meant by>. And ff. 1630 . snying po, and ff. 1631 . <Therefore...can>. Cutting through: thad kar gcod. 1632 . 'gag med. <itself>. 1633 . Depths of the pit: dong. <Which is called>. 1634 . <All>. 1635 . chos dbyings rnams. In mahaayaana there is only one dharmadhaatu, the basic space or nature of all dharmas. In the abhidharma, h dharmadhaatu refers to the objects of the mental sense. In ati all the fragmentation of conceptualized perception of separate realities, co grasped objects and fixating subjects is collected into one, as the nature of the single reality. This is the one actual dharmadhaatu. 1636 . cham 'bebs. 1637 . <Host of the>. Repelled and neutralized: bzlog. 1638 . snyoms par byed. 1639 . <Vanishes>. Utterly eliminated: gtir nas bzlog. 1640 . yang thig. 1641 . <Having attained>. 1642 . <Thereby attained> and ff.. 1643 . <Having>. 1644 . <Resting within>. 1645 . <Enlightened>.
glang. LUS read it as = glang chen, elephant. LT has sogs bar snang. LUS preferred DEGE, sogs pa snang.
chos nyid .
451
. phyam: Usually all-pervading, but LUS thought the sense was more like this . . bar ma: Here, what is between bliss and sorrow. 1655 . mkha' mnyam. 1656 . dag gshi: Things that are pure . 1657 . Pure of the conditions.... 1658 . <A crowd of>. 1659 . yong mi snang. 1660 . yum bar ma . 1661 . rab 'byor. 1662 . snying po. 1663 . Recitation of mantra.... 1664 . gleng brjod. 1665 . <And analyzed>. 1666 . <Should be known as being>. 1667 . snying po. 1668 . bsam gtan. 1669 . sgyur byed. 1670 . chings. 1671 . Ie. buddhadharmakaaya = dharmakaaya. 1672 . rang la rnyed pa'i. ...Possessed by oneself. 1673 . bltas pas: Viewing. 1674 . Dharmas = elements of exis tence would also be workable here. 1675 . skad cig rnam gsum. KSTR thought this might be the three times. LUS wasn't sure. I would guess it was some aspect of the fruit
as trikaaya; enlightened body, speech, and mind; or essence, nature, and comp assion. These can all be mapped onto each other, so let be the answer. My reasoning is that if there were falling into sa.msaara, and sa.msaara truly existed, that would establish that the three t exist, and disestablish the fruition.
. pha rol. . ...Unobscured by anything. 1678 . brda chen. Not the same as mahaamudraa, phyag rgya chen po. 1679 . skar bung bka'. 1680 . sangs . 1681 . ...Three lower realms . 1682 . <Attaining>. 1683 . Space of the blaze.... 1684 . kha nas sde snod chos chad cing/ las su.... 1685 . ya re cha. 1686 . 'dzin . 1687 . phyag mas btab. 1688 . drungs nas phyung .
1676 1677
452
phye: Revealing or distinguishing the sight... If one makes a distinction of light and dark, that is itself darkness, since all is bodhici ...Conceptual extremes . Energies rtsal, elsewhere power. phyogs yan . kha yan. rang gis rang snang . drungs thon .
<Of insight>. Supplied from context . Gathered: gtibs, typically of clouds etc.
Its trunk is composed of onion-like layers of leafy material with a hollow center. shog la .
Two nearly identical phrases condensed. yang dag dge ba . skye: Literally, arises.
yangs pa can OR Vaishalii, a city and district in India where also monkeys are said to have offered honey to the Buddha.
Without existence: gnas med. OR there is no place where they are . glod pa. phan chad . Of both.... No such thing as: med. <Completely> and f. 'bad cing rtsol. The standard definition of dharma . thad pa dgod pa...don med. Act and strive.... yang dag .
rtsol ba'i bya ba dang sgrub pa'i byed pa gnyis. Not root verses .
453
sdeb 'byor rin chen byung gnas, pron. depjor rinchen jungn. ngo bo . bcud . gnas .
These concern the topic of the vajra chains, or rdo rje lu gu rgyud, literally the "vajra chain of lambs." They are discussed in a gen in VCTR's Vajradhaatu seminary transcripts for 1973-4. One is using external light to bring out certain features of one's perceptual sys relate to the teachings. It is generally considered inappropriate to discuss the details of this practice before one actually does it. Fortuna saves me from having to reveal my ignorance of the subject.
. . 1741 . 1742 . 1743 . 1744 . 1745 . 1746 . 1747 . 1748 . 1749 . 1750 . 1751 . 1752 . 1753 . 1754 . 1755 . 1756 . 1757 . 1758 . 1759 . 1760 . 1761 . 1762 . 1763 .
1739 1740
Ngo sprod spros pa'i rgyud. Pron. Ngotr Trp Gy. <Lesser>. 'bring po: Intermediate ones . <Which is like> And ff. ser bu. 'gag med. 'od lnga. gshis . Clear purity: dwangs. thug: They reach or cover this, are the main point. <Itself>. ...For self and others . gsal gdangs . mtshon.
<Words>. Verbal characteristics . rang od gsal ba nyid = rang gsal. me long ye shes . sgo ldog par. phu bkru ba. phyam log. khrigs.
454
Literally, by who and why was this done? gdeng . <Things>. blo bde. la. shor.
phyogs yan .
go gdal.
gar song cha med kyi yul. yal ma yol. ra ma ri. phyang chad . bar snang. gang na 'dug. ma 'gags. ltos.
Fifteen syllable verses . He is addressing a bodhisattva named gsung gi rdo rje: Vajra Speech. bsgral.
mi stong pa'i stong pa dgnos can. The tibetan is somewhat ambiguous. ...Dharma of mind = blo . nges cha .
khra lam lam. phyal phyal. khrol khrol. rjen yer yer. go ra .
Apprehend = 'dzin. It could conceivably mean the ultimate place for grasping to go. lung ba.
455
456
. cha med. . <They will be...the appearances of>. 1844 . thug . 1845 . A thief within one's household = 'dre rkun. 'dre, = demon makes less sense. 1846 . <The way of>. 1847 . shong . 1848 . yid byung. 1849 . ras yug. 1850 . rnam kun. 1851 . <The space of>. 1852 . Primordially occurring, from next . 1853 . Reading with DEGE rtog pa kha 'byams, vs. LT rtogs.... 1854 . gnad med sdug skur. 1855 . <Samantabhadra>. 1856 . rngoms par sgrags. 1857 . lus kyis mi theg khur khur. 1858 . ri bo rked par khregs. 1859 . shugs 'byung rang gnas . 1860 . chags 'dzin: fixated desire, but clarified below. 1861 . nges 'jog. 1862 . Bird: mkha' 'gro, usually .daakinii. Snare: snyi. 1863 . rnam bshag. 1864 . <Non-existent subject of>. 1865 . The pure appearance of sacred outlook: dag [par] snang. 1866 . gshed stong . 1867 . <Its own>. ...Of insight. 1868 . mkhas pa dag. 1869 . <At all>. 1870 . 'dag. 1871 . Reading with DEGE sog pa. LT has sogs. ...Subject and so forth. 1872 . rgyud. 1873 . thag gcod. 1874 . phu ma khrus. 1875 . kha brag: branching. 1876 . dga' rab rdo rje . 1877 . Lead one to the kleshas: nyon re mongs. re is a verbalizing particle. similar constructions follow: yi re mug, thang re chad, yong re 1878 . <Only>. 1879 . snyems byed. 1880 . 'dogs. 457
. <Let it be free from bias>. . 'dzin pa. 1883 . <Conceptual>. 1884 . <Then it should be known that...the work of>. 1885 . <Wade>. 1886 . <Overcome>. 1887 . A lis t of ordinary activities like reading suutras. LUS. 1888 . <Conceptions> ...partialities . 1889 . dbyings. 1890 . klong. 1891 . dbyings, klong. 1892 . This sentence was added for clarity. 1893 . <Various>. 1894 . <When they appear is dharmataa>. 1895 . Fully ordained monks and nuns, and those of a lesser rank. 1896 . khang bu brtsegs pa. KPSR/ES . 1897 . byang chub sems . 1898 . <Found>. 1899 . <The mind> And ff. 1900 . ...Going and vanishing. 1901 . grol: liberated. 1902 . <The single dot of>. 1903 . nges . 1904 . <Dharmataa>. 1905 . Sentence omitted: Variety is not real. . 1906 . nges . 1907 . KSTR. The text gives no source. 1908 . Our copy of the original tantra says sdug bsngal nyid, suffering, instead of gnyis, two sufferings, LT: Such a list does exis
human realm there are three sufferings, those of change, conditioned existence [such as attempting to maintain decomposing structures skandhas, and actual pain, 'gyur ba, 'du byed, sdug bsngal. The god realm has only two sufferings, as there is no overt pain among the is conceivable that this passage is supposed to be saying that in ati there is physical pain but not neurotic pain. But the mess enlightenment transcends the suffering of sa.msaara seems more likely .
1909 1910
. Pron. dzok pa rang jung chu b rgy. . This line is not repeated in the original. 1911 . sku gdung 'bar ba'i rgyud pron. kudung barw gy. sku gdung means either a corpse or a reliquary in which it is placed. Sku is h and hence the translation buddha relics. The same term would be used for any important lama, however. 1912 . <All the>. 1913 . dbang rdzogs pa rang byung chen po'i rgyud, pron. wang dzokpa rangjung chen p gy.
458
459
. Always: rtsa. OR fundamentally . . LT has de: that (is liberated). DEGE has da: it is now (liberated). 1955 . gar song cha med. See commentary below. This line could mean, They turn into a dance in the clear and partless sky, a typical a But the commentary rules this out as a primary meaning. 1956 . nyi ma nyid la thug: Part of the sun itself. 1957 . Effort: brtson 'grus. The statement is superficially paradoxical. But if one considers the biographies of the great lineage holders, i for great effort to be involved in realizing the final effortlessness of enlightenment. 1958 . rang snang. 1959 . rten 'brel. 1960 . <All>. 1961 . sgra tshig. All next = ming, names . 1962 . <Applied to it>. 1963 . ltos gshi. 1964 . <These names...by anyone>. 1965 . <Whatsoever>. 1966 . rgya. 1967 . <Garu.da's>. 1968 . <That maturity>. 1969 . Defilement is gone: zag 'bras lhag bcas . 1970 . This line = kun bzangs klong du. 1971 . <Emerges>. 1972 . sbubs . 1973 . mtha la . 1974 . This line = 'byung ba bshin . 1975 . <Such a yogin then>. Handful of beings: tshig bu re'i. 1976 . <Total>. 1977 . <Called>. 1978 . <Various>. 1979 . Performed for sentient beings. 1980 . <Its intrinsic>. 1981 . 'byeng. 1982 . bskrun = bskyed: emanate, go forth. 1983 . <In part>. 1984 . The karma of the good aspirations of sentient beings: DEGE las smon dag pa; [cf. root verses just below]. LT las 'phro dag p
emanations of self-existing compassion and the karma of sentient beings. 1985 . byed pa med. <Completely>.
1986
. Literally rang gis byas pa, is not produced by itself [ie. purposefully for some special purpose that might include some beings and . <That dwells who are to be tamed.>.
460
. rab rib dang skra shad dang dung ser. . <That are seen along with the aspect of the>. 1990 . phyogs gcig tu. 1991 . <As real>. 1992 . <By becoming a buddha>. 1993 . The self-nature of apparent form: rang ngo gzungs snang. OR one's own nature and the appearance of form. 1994 . Explained: 'doms . 1995 . goms pas ring. 1996 . Really be as they are: don la gnas . 1997 . The first cuts off benefit for others and the second benefit for oneself. 1998 . This line = chad pas . 1999 . <The nature of>. 2000 . rang shar. 2001 . zla gsang thig le'i rgyud, pron. dasang tikl gy. 2002 . ris su bcad. 2003 . kho na, as explained by verses below. 2004 . theg pa bsdus pa, pron. thekpa dpa. 2005 . gnas tha dad . 2006 . <Are born>. 2007 . <By the mind>. Pointed out: rtse gtod. 2008 . 'o skol. 2009 . rgyud sde. 2010 . brtan pa, as in rten dang brtan pa, the environment and inhabitants . 2011 . gleng gshir. 2012 . sprul pa po = nirmaa.nakaaya. 2013 . gshis . 2014 . bshengs. 2015 . sgyu 'phrul rgya mtsho, pron. gyutrl gyamtso. 2016 . <Sambhogakaaya buddha>. Immense Ocean = gang chen tsho, great full ocean. AKA rnam snang gang chen mtsho. KSTR says t
personified he is a version of Vairochana who occurs widely in the ati scriptures, eg. like Samantabhadra. KPSR: This is also the nam buddha field of Vairochana, containing millions on millions of pure lands. The texts say that this land is like an immense ocean or lake middle of the ocean is a lotus with a hundred pistils. In the center one of these hundred are twenty-five pure lands. Our world, Jambu said to be within the thirteenth of these, which is even with the heart of Vairochana.
Self-appearing: rang snang. shin tu phul tu 'byung. ltos. ded dpon dam pa. mnyam du mdzad. bzhugs.
461
rnam nges: complete certainty. Way of being: 'dug tshul. <All of>. rim pa.
This line = shar snang blo rim. mtsho: literally, lake. sbubs: here it is positive = field, nature, realm. spyod yul. dmigs.
DEGE: mtshan ma ris can, partial characteristics. The characteristics are not ris can but ris med contrasting this line and the next mtshan ma rig can: characteristics of ignorance. In support of this, just above it says that the individual aspects (ris can) of the ka wisdom are hardly non-existent.
. Can not in truth be called a unity: gcig tu nges med. . <In truth>. 2042 . This is in fourteen syllable stanzas, and the next verses in nineteen and twenty. 2043 . <To the experience>. 2044 . Primordial: thog ma'i. 2045 . <Countless>. 2046 . <On the level of>. 2047 . The signs of perfecting: tshad. 2048 . <Belonging to>. 2049 . gnyer bya. 2050 . lus. dharmakaaya, chos sku, literally means body of dharma. 2051 . dbyings. 2052 . Virtuous buddha qualities: yon tan. 2053 . Usually teacher, teaching, retinue, place, and time . 2054 . 'dun pa. 2055 . rtag pa ma yin . 2056 . rgya ma chad. 2057 . Fresh and relaxed: lhang nge lhan ne. 2058 . Spoken and written names: sgra tshig ming. 2059 . shugs 'byung = rang 'byung. 2060 . rang lus. 462
mtshan nyid 'dzin pa'i ye shes. shes bya'i ye shes . <Its liberated state>.
Reading dag pa smin par byed. LT and DEGE both read dag pa min par byed, There is the production of that which is impure. T Fixated: nges . dangs 'byed .
not make much senses and does not fit the commentary. .
grangs: array, number of different conditions. yul dang yul can. <As things are>. nges med.
yul dag. This can be read its objects are pure. Since in this case object has a different sense, the ultimate meaning is the same. dag yul, cf. yul dag above. rang gnas lhun grub. <Moreover, as for>. bdag nyid . Source of arising: 'char ba'i sgo = 'char gshi. Unproduced: mi mdzad, honorific equivalent of mi byed. ma 'gag 'gag pa med: It has not been obstructed/made to cease and it is without obstruction/cessation. Literally, like the sun and its rays. <The solar>. cha: as for the aspect of. mnga' bdag.
double senses continue with 'gag med, ceaseless, unobstructed (qua empty) and rdzogs perfected/exhausted. .
. . 2075 . 2076 . 2077 . 2078 . 2079 . 2080 . 2081 . 2082 . 2083 . 2084 . 2085 . 2086 . 2087 . 2088 . 2089 . 2090 .
2073 2074
LT has rang bshin rdul bral dag pa las. DEGE has rang bshin tsam du gnas pa las: But except for its mere presentation as the nature
The usual five wisdoms, the mirror-like wisdom etc. sku = kaaya. longs spyod rdzogs pa'i sku .
As listed below, five dharmas times three divisions. The last phrase is a translation of the meaning of Vairochana's name in Tibetan, rnam par snang mdzad. He is transparent. The primary meaning is not that he is luminous, or seems lighted from inside if one is outside and vice verse. KS
In Hindu-Buddhist cosmology that the billion worlds of the universe are formed into twenty-one levels, almost like stories of KSTR. KPSR: These are associated with twenty-one knots in the central channel of the body. These are released in the course of atta eleven bhuumis. These twenty-one are also associated with twenty-one pure lands. They are a different version of the twenty-five men the discussion of Vairochana above. This comes from another text .
2091 2092
. Different essential characteristics: mtshan nyid ngo bo tha dad. . Reading with DEGE rigs for rig, insight, in LT . 2093 . Gathering and proliferation: 'du ba mched. 2094 .22 bde ba can, possessing great bliss, and lcang lo can, possessing willow trees, respectively the western buddha field of Amitaa the northern one of Amoghasiddhi. 463
<Teachings>. <All>.
yul dgnos dag pas me long ste: OR The real pure object is the mirror. chos dbyings ye shes . <Space of>. <Equally>.
Eg. bar do thos grol, The Tibetan Book of the Dead on the second day of the chos nyid bar do, the bardo of dharmataa. The pure mnyam nyid ye shes, pron. nyam nyii y sh. LT rtog. DEGE rtogs, realized. so sor rtags pa'i ye shes . <All>.
the skandha of consciousness, the mirror-like wisdom, will shine as a bright radiant white light from the heart of Vajrasattva. EW109
. . 2107 . 2108 . 2109 . 2110 . 2111 . 2112 . 2113 . 2114 . 2115 . 2116 . 2117 . 2118 . 2119 . 2120 . 2121 . 2122 . 2123 . 2124 . 2125 . 2126 . 2127 . 2128 . 2129 . 2130 . 2131 . 2132 .
2105 2106
bya ba grub pa'i ye shes , pron. jawa drup y sh <Wisdom> . <All>. Self-liberated from two lines up. <Other>.
<What is needed by>. bya ba rdzogs pa'i sprul sku . bya ba byed pa'i sprul sku . bzo, skye, mchog. <Without remainder>. See sprul sku gsum. <Nirmaa.nakaaya according to>. stong gsum.
These are various episodes from the buddhas life. It is taught that all buddhas experience them. bsnyed par rdzogs. ji lta ba'i ye shes . <All the>.
ji snyed ye shes . <Just as it is>. To bring benefits. Pure experience and sacred outlook both = rang snang dag pa'i.
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tshad .
ye yod dang po'i sangs rgyas . Longchenpa frequently had such experiences. tshad: the standard. <Experience>. like space, mkha' dra. <As explained below>. The twenty-one root texts of the collection of mind. <For the following reasons>. <How it should be done>.
Brought to Tibet by Vimalamitra and the translator Vairochana, [cf.TT32, f179A4]. rig pa'i khu byug, rtsal chen spyags pa, khyung chen lding ba, rdo la gser zhun, mi nub pa'i rgyal mtshan. 2142 . The thirteen later tantras translated by Vimalamitra, Nyag Jaanakumara and gyu sgra snying po: rtse mo byung rgyal, nam mkha'i rgyal po, bde ba 'phrul bkod, rdzogs pa spyi chings, byang chub sems thig, bde ba rab 'byams, srog gi 'khor lo, thig le drug pa, rdzogs pa spyi gcod, yid bshin nor bu, kun 'dus rig pa, rje btsun dam pa, bsgom pa don grub. 2143 . kun byed rgyal po, rmad byung rgyal po, mdo bcu.
2144 2145
. man ngag sde rgyud bcu bdun. DEGE rigs, family of the seventeen tantras, LT rig pa, summary of insight in the seventeen tantras. . rig pa rang shar and rang grol rang byung nyid the rtsal rdzogs and mdzes ldan dag and phra bkod and mu tig phreng and yi ge med snying gi me and thugs kyi me Nyi zla kha sbyor, ngo sprod spras. sku gdung 'bar and rin chen spungs. sgron ma 'bar and klong chen drug;. 2146 . pad ma can. 2147 . klong chen rab 'byams . 2148 . gang ri thod dkar gyi mgul. ...The throat mgul of the white-peaked snow mountain. Longchenpa composed most of his writings
there. At that time it was not covered with snow, but with rocks, pure streams, and medicinal herbs. On the south side, in a juniper grove, radiant cloud grove, sticking out like the neck of a peacock was the retreat place of ur gyan ling. TT154. This section of the root text is not in the commentary, but is being commented upon. 2149 . ...Extensive nature of the.
This name was given by Yeshe Tsogyal through a vision. dri med 'od zer. This name was received in a vision of Padmasambhava.
Line omitted: "These limitless connections have been made..." . <Of all the many teachings ...sacred>.
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thod dkar. This line does not occur in the original. <Be known to them. All the next line = lhun grub. <Until the end of time.> Line omitted: "And may it continue dwelling in this world." . This line does not exit in the original.
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