5. HISTORICAL ANECDOTES OF THE LINEAGE HOLDERS

Chapters 5 and 6 contain diverse anecdotal accounts of the transmission of the One Hundred and Eight Guidebooks by earlier generations of lineage holders. Many peripheral texts associated with these cycles are also incidentally mentioned. References are generally found in the bibliography and in the notes to chapter 9.

Chapter 5, written by Kunga Drolchok, covers the anecdotal accounts of the first seventy-four guidebooks, commencing with Parting from the Four Attachments and concluding with The Kharamukha Cakrasaṃvara. The supplement by Tāranātha, which is contained in chapter 6, completes the remainder, from the seventy-fifth to the one hundred and eighth.

The introductory verses of chapter 5 are not balanced by any corresponding concluding verses, which may perhaps suggest that it was originally Kunga Drolchok’s intention to complete these anecdotes himself. Tāranātha, the acknowledged reincarnation, may have considered this task as a personal responsibility.

FORMAL TITLE

Historical Anecdotes of the Lineage Holders of the One Hundred and Eight Guidebooks1 {68}

INTRODUCTORY VERSES

OṂ SVĀSTI SIDDHAṂ

Respectful homage to the teachers and to the lord-protector Mañjughoṣa!

May the three precious jewels who have become a refuge

For living beings including the gods,

Along with Yongdzin Lama2 and his teachers

Endowed with the great compassion of the perfect conquerors, unsurpassed by others,

Grant protection to the beings of this world including myself!

Now I will briefly introduce the lineage holders who initiated the tradition—

The tradition concerning all essentials of instruction, most secret—

The secret disclosed in one hundred and eight modes of guidance—

The guidance profound that is embraced by numerous good auspices.3

Inspired by faithful, devout, and respectful requests,

Here I will write a partial historical account

Of the most saintly individuals of the past,

Who maintained the ways of learning and accomplishment

In order to benefit others of equal fortune.

I do not dare to write verbosely the detailed biographies of the lineage holders. Instead, I will introduce to some extent the authentic sources of these respective instructions.

THE FIRST GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the historical account of the guidebook entitled Parting from the Four Attachments: At the time when the teacher Sakyapa the Great, Kunga Nyingpo, was in his twelfth year, estimated from the death of his father [Khon Konchok Gyelpo],4 {69} the offerings presented on behalf of his deceased father were laid out near the main temple [of Zimkhang].5 Those entering the monastic seat in a single day were such that the things they left behind were said to be meritorious and bountiful, whereupon his mother said, “Since your father indeed had conviction in the teachings associated with the teacher Bari Lotsāwa that are not counterfeit, you should invite Bariwa!”

After he did so, Bari said, “You, the son of that venerable father, should study! For that you need discriminative awareness. This is why you should propitiate Mañjughoṣa!” Bari then bestowed upon him the doctrinal cycle of Mañjuśrī in the form Arapacana, and he engaged in that practice. When slight indications of an obstacle arose, Bari conferred the initiation of blue Acala, along with the water protection rite, so that Sachen was set free from these obstacles. When six months had passed, he had a vision of sublime Mañjuśrī, seated in an elegant posture upon the precious teaching throne—the central figure along with a retinue of two bodhisattvas. Mañjuśrī intoned the root verses [of Parting from the Four Attachments], and Sachen acquired the meditative stability of continuous flow and unforgettable retention. In consideration of that, {70} the Eulogy [to Sachen] speaks of him in the following words:6

Manifestly instructed by the speech of Lord Mañjuśrī,

Vast in knowledge perceiving all that is knowable,

Acting in accord with prophetic declaration and inspiration—

Homage to him of perfect reasoning and liberation!

Jetsun Rinpoché [Drakpa Gyeltsen] also said, “Speech that is favored by Mañjughoṣa is renowned among all living creatures” and “You should know that all convincing rational axioms and all doctrines without exception are said to be within the buddha mind.”7

All the lineage holders [in the familial descent from Sachen Kunga Nyingpo]—including Lopon Rinpoché [Sonam Tsemo], Jetsun Rinpoché [Drakpa Gyeltsen], Chojé Sakya Paṇḍita, Drogon Pakpa, and Chojé Lama Dampa [Sonam Gyeltsen]—were emanations and embodiments of Mañjughoṣa, as if the two retainers of Mañjughoṣa—Akṣayamati and Pratibhākuṭa—had emerged from an ancient painted scroll, and they were absolutely favored by him.

Arising from the basis of that conviction, this original instruction constituted the first guidebook to the sacred doctrine that I acquired in this lifetime.

THE SECOND GUIDEBOOK

Immediately after that, with regard to the guidebook entitled The Seven-Point Mind Training of the Great Vehicle: Over the period of one year and in the context of sessions of practice that were not interrupted for a single day during that twelve-month period, my elder brother Drungtsun Zangpo Tenpa pointed out its interconnections based on the memorandum of Drogon Pelden Yeshé, the senior disciple of Gyalse Chodzongpa [Tokmé Zangpo], and the five notebooks composed as a memorandum by Hor Kabzhipa [Sengé Gyeltsen] on this very teaching.8 He began by citing the following verses:9

When sixty aeons have passed after the conqueror Maitreya

Has set his mind on enlightenment,

The Sugata himself, setting his mind on enlightenment,

Will cherish others above self

And attain buddhahood in the age of degeneration.

Emphasizing the teaching of loving-kindness, {71}

His former lives as the daughter of a friend and so forth

Set the framing narrative for this pith instruction.

Jowojé Atiśa called out the names of his teacher Dharmarakṣita, who was actually capable of granting his own flesh to others, and in addition of [Mitrayogin], the yogin of loving-kindness. Consequently, he had two actual visions of Ajita Maitreya, the heir of the conquerors. In the first of these he received The Wheel of Sharp Weapons and The Peacock’s Neutralizing of Poison;10 and in the second he received The Adamantine Song of Chanting Meditation.11 Then crossing the Andaman Sea, he voyaged to the supreme sacred land of Sumatra, where he bowed at the lotus feet of a teacher known by the name of that very land[—that is, Serlingpa Dharmakīrti].12 Atiśa excellently requested the essence of the teaching of enlightened mind, exchanging self with others in the context of the preliminary practice of setting the mind on enlightenment, and his mind was perfectly satisfied.

There are eighteen factors that are to be carried on the path, in association with [Serlingpa’s] Stages of the Heroic Mind.13 In that regard, the most secret counsel is contained in the following verses:14

Adverse conditions are your spiritual mentor,

Spirits and demons are emanations of the conquerors,

Sickness is a broom for negative obscuration,

And suffering is the display of reality.

Having realized the essential instructions concerning the tarnish of the mind according to the Lesser Vehicle, it is said that whenever Atiśa recalled leaving the silver reliquary of his peerless teacher [Serlingpa Dharmakīrti], he would burst into tears; and whenever he said or heard that name, he would place the palms of his hands together on the crown of his head.

Without interrupting the power of his resolve and the continuity of his fervent devotion, Atiśa transmitted this instruction [in Tibet], commencing from Dromton, the three dharma siblings [Putowa, Chen Ngawa, and Puchungwa], as well as Sharawa and Chekhawa; and it was finally epitomized by the practical application and pointing-out instructions in accord with reality that Gyelsé Rinpoché [Tokmé Zangpo] received from Jangsem Sonam Drakpa.

Nowadays in the heartlands of Utsang, not even a trace of the conferral of this experiential guidance is extant; {72} and in the northern direction the major, mediocre, and minor teachers feign contentment simply when the transmission of the Compendium of Eloquence on Mind Training of the great bodhisattva Venerable Zhonu Gyelchok is conferred.15 But this may be refuted on the basis of the following words of Gyelsépa [Tokmé Zangpo], which are found in the latter work:

The fundamental nature of nonarising awareness is examined in the memorandum of Drogon Pelden Yeshé.16

There were also points that reflected my own ideas and accorded with Guidance on the View [of the Middle Way] by Tsongkhapa the Great that were not within the perceptual range of any proud scholars, or points in which I had conviction but did not understand, wondering whether they were false examples or not. By rectifying these, I brought this train of thought to its conclusion. I saw and heard my monastic preceptor, the [veritable emanation of] the transcendent Lord Mañjughoṣa, confer praises extensively and continuously on this guidebook that is the quintessence of Hor Kabzhipa; and it is certain that Khen Rinpoché himself was indeed distraught because he had not received it. It was in these circumstances that I acquired conviction from the depths of my heart that there is no means higher than this guidance on the path for attaining buddhahood.

THE THIRD GUIDEBOOK

Distinct from that, the guidebook entitled The Heart of Dependent Origination derives from that same lineage. The transmission of this teaching, through which Bodong Rinchen Tsemo averted leprosy, descended from the yogin Chokyi Yungdrung and Nyemo Gyagom [also known as Nyipuwa Gyergom Zhikpo] to Nyenchen Sonam Tenpa. Immediately after receiving this instruction, Sonam Tenpa planted the victory banner of attainment, abandoning the concerns of this life, and after he passed away, the anthology of his teachings that contained the following root verses of pith instruction resounded:17

First you should cultivate loving-kindness,

And inquire whether it has arisen or not.

If it has arisen, you should cultivate compassion,

Avert [the distinction between] self and others,

And generate the mind of enlightenment.

Then from within this mountainous disposition of wisdom {73}

You should calm the diffusion and absorption of these cultivations!

THE FOURTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Carrying of Happiness and Suffering on the Path: Paṇchen Śākyaśrī of Kashmir imparted this many times to the official attendants of his nine lesser paṇḍitas,18 as well as to Indian nuns, invalids, and so forth. But, at the time when he was invited from Baiḍūr Tsongdu to Nezin in Pari, traveling uphill in a palanquin for almost half a month, Tropu Lotsāwa [Jampa Pel] and his disciples carried him with utmost care and responsibility, so that they were worn out. On that occasion, the following words of Paṇḍita Śākyaśrī imparted the guidance that introduces happiness and suffering as the three buddha bodies:19

When there is happiness,

I shall dedicate this happiness as the provision [of merit].

May the sky be filled with spiritual and temporal well-being!

When there is suffering,

I shall carry the suffering of all [beings].

May the ocean of suffering become dry!

This sacred doctrine was held, maintained, and mastered by the learned and accomplished masters of the Land of Snows in general and in particular by all those who became preceptors at the four monastic communities [of Śākyaśrī].20 It gained importance, was formulated as a guidebook, and was then conferred upon these communities as a group teaching, as a public teaching, and so forth. The transmission of this discursive discourse is undiminished at the present time.

THE FIFTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook [entitled The Mind Training according to Sumpa Lotsāwa], which is established in the distinctive teachings of Sumpa Lotsāwa Dharma Yonten: When Sumpa Lotsāwa was traveling back from India to Tibet, he refined the state of mind in which the physical elements are absorbed. He passed days and nights in a state of exhaustion, wondering if this were some premonition of impending death, or what he should do. Although the blessings of empowerment that he had received from his own teacher Paṇḍita Sergyi Bumpa and others were useful for focusing on the alleviation of disease, there was no benefit. At that time, he had a small amount of residual gold [for his travels], with which he sought out offering sacraments, including flowers, and then he went to make offerings to the Mahābodhi at Vajrāsana. In the sky above the inner sanctum {74} there were two women—one blue and one red. The blue one prostrated three times before the red one, saying, “Last night my mind was unhappy. It did not rest in the place where the mind should abide. I hope this is not some premonition about my death, for I am afraid of dying.” She asked this question four times, and then the red woman, looking directly toward Sumpa Lotsāwa, replied, “Madam! If you are content with whatever thoughts arise, whatever you do will bring happiness. Your mind suffers because you are not content with whatever arises. Madam! If your mind rests where it is placed, it will be content even though you travel. Your mind suffers because it does not rest where it is placed. Madam! If your mind turns toward the sacred doctrine, it will be easy even when you die. Your mind suffers because it is not turned toward the sacred doctrine. Madam! If you realize that your own mind is immortal, there will be no death. Your mind suffers because you have not realized that your mind is immortal.” As soon as Sumpa Lotsāwa heard these four replies, an extraordinary realization arose in his mind, and he said that these two women, blue and red, were none other than Vajravārāhī and Venerable Tārā.

All later spiritual mentors have esteemed this mode of guidance. Chojé Pelden Lama Dampa [Sonam Gyeltsen] is known to have conferred it when Gyelsé Chodzongpa [Tokmé Zangpo] requested of him an instruction that had been the quintessence of his contemplation and that would benefit his mind. The actual guidebook is also said to have been composed at that time. Then, during the time when Lachen Lodro Gyeltsen became the familial lineage holder of the Sakyapa, Gyelsé Rinpoché went to escort him as far as Lhasa, and there, while acting as chant master, he also imparted this instruction as a public teaching in the courtyard [of the Great Temple] of Lhasa. This incident is illustrative, since it is mentioned in the biography of Gyelsépa.

THE SIXTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Severance of Machik Labdron: There is a memorandum originating from India, composed by Āryadeva the Brahmin, of which greater and lesser verses are extant, {75} but it is not contained within the Tengyur [manuscripts] of Utsang.21 In Tibet this system was propagated extensively by the mother, Jomo [Machik Labkyi Dronma] herself.22

When a geshé went to meet Rinchen Gangpa Śākya Shenyen, the latter was staying in a room with four pillars. All around them it was filled to the brim with labeled books. When the gesheé asked what these books were, he replied, “They are exclusively Machik’s cycle on Severance.” The gesheé was astonished and asked whether all these books naturally belonged to [the cycle on] Severance, to which he replied, “If the books of Severance were gathered together, they would not fit within a single valley!” So that is illustrative.

Among the manifold recensions of such [teachings on Severance], I had supreme confidence in the new pronouncement composed by Lama Gyeltangpa Samten Ozer, which is a commentary on The Eight Appendices.23 From start to finish this work is excellently adorned with new revelations that were actually given to him by the mother Labdron, the secret ḍākinī of pristine cognition, and that are unknown in the earlier recensions on Severance. In addition, there is no higher teaching among those that sever the expanse of the four demonic forces than [the third of these appendices], the aptly titled Wish-Fulfilling Gem: An Instruction on the Inner Meaning. Manifestly disclosing the key points that directly reveal the nature of reality, this is indeed an expression of my inherited ancestral teachings.

THE SEVENTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Three Essential Points: Once upon a time there was a devout person in Tropu who heard someone say in a dream, “You should sweep your house clean each day! On this very day next year, Avalokiteśvara will come to rent a room.” {76} He swept and cleaned it each day, and others would ask him, “Why are you doing this?” to which he replied, “I am doing this in accordance with a prophecy I received in a dream.” And they would laugh because they did not believe this to be true. Then, when the great accomplished master Mitrayogin was invited by Tropu Lotsāwa, he arrived in Tropu and there was a commotion due to his fame. Thousands of gesheés with parasols gathered there from all directions of upper and lower [Tibet], and they were so many that they could not be accommodated. Some were properly housed, but some had to stay in the open plain. Seeing this, the great accomplished master Mitrayogin offered the lodgings where he was staying to them. Then he directly knocked on the door of that devout householder and said, “Do lend a room to this Indian!” Since this accorded with the circumstances of his earlier dream, the certainty arose within the devotee that this Mitrayogin was actually Avalokiteśvara. He at once offered the fields, house, and all possessions that he owned, and requested an essential instruction, saying, “Because I am old, I do not understand the extensive and manifold nuances of the sacred doctrine.” Thinking him to be worthy, with Tropu Lotsāwa translating, the great master taught him the root verses of the pith instructions, entitled The Fourteen Quatrains on Resting in the Nature of Mind,24 which are carried through this life, at the time of death, and in the intermediate state, which he had himself received from Jowo Khasarpaṇi [Avalokiteśvara]. It includes the following verse:25

Placing great compassion in front,

Always looking at it, without distraction,

Through the union of male and female deities,

The practitioner should come to rest.

I heard that the scholars Yagdé Paṇchen and Rongton Sheja Kunrik, who possessed the eye of the sacred doctrine, also experientially cultivated this guidebook themselves and subsequently inaugurated the enlightened activity of teaching it to others. {77}

THE EIGHTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled Resting in the Nature of Mind: Immediately after explaining [The Three Essential Points], the great accomplished master Mitrayogin actually displayed a cubit-sized image of Jowo Khasarpaṇi upon the maṇḍala in front, and he then taught the twenty-five verses of Resting in the Nature of Mind in tandem with twenty-five meditative stabilities that are mentioned in the sublime Sutra of the Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines. He established three metaphors indicative of nondistraction from the essential points of experiential cultivation—namely, an expert swordsman in battle, a wise person finding a bull without looking for it, and a bird flying aimlessly over a boat. The omniscient Buton Rinchen Drub, a percipient lineage holder who experientially applied these metaphors, also esteemed this guidebook, and it is said that he imparted his innermost thoughts on it to all his senior disciples.

THE NINTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the profound teachings of Kadam, Ra Yonten Pelzangpo (fl. fifteenth century) stayed for three years at the great seminary of Nartang where these were all conferred upon him in the presence of Pelden Dondrub, who was renowned as an emperor among the accomplished monastic preceptors of Nartang. In this regard, he firstly received the guidebook entitled The Three Sorts of Person. Jowo Atiśa had transmitted this to Ngok Lekpei Sherab, he to Drolungpa Lodro Jungné, and the spiritual mentor Tsangnak Tsondru Sengé received it, in turn, from him. In his presence, Tumton Lodro Drakpa, the founder of the seminary of Nartang, received it.

Geshé Sharawa had offered alms three times to Tumton’s community, and on the last of these occasions he said to Tumton, “You should acquire a monastery in the direction of Tsang. It will bring great benefit to living beings. These donations offered by my patron, the nāga king who provides all my necessities, will be dispatched henceforth to you.” On the way up [to Nartang], directly above the road on which Tumton was traveling, there appeared a bee with tiger stripes and a large, coarse body, {78} making a loud buzzing sound. During the night it circled within his alms bowl. Then on reaching exactly the place where the courtyard of Nartang is now located, the bee vanished into a tree that still stands there today. Thinking this to be the place prophesied by the lama Sharawa, he founded a monastery there.

There are six renowned texts of the Kadam tradition—namely, Garland of Birth Stories and Collection of Aphorisms, which are texts concerning faith; Level of the Bodhisattvas and Ornament of the Sutras of the Great Vehicle, which are texts concerning conduct; and Compendium of Lessons and Introduction to the Conduct of a Bodhisattva, which are texts concerning the view. Later, Chimchen Namka Drakpa composed his annotations and tables of contents to these texts, so that the ancient oral transmissions might not degenerate. Chomden Rikpei Reldri composed a supplement to the Tales of Past Lives, entitled Flower Ornament of the Tales of Past Lives. In this way the transmission was definitively conferred from the mouths [of the masters] upon the ears of the disciples.

THE TENTH GUIDEBOOK

In addition, the guidebook entitled The Sequence of the Buddhist Teaching, which Tumton received from his spiritual mentor Sharawa in person, was also extensively propagated. Its oral transmission, later established by Chimton Lobzang Drak, is itself maintained by all those endowed with the clear eye of the sacred doctrine. Hor Kabzhipa said that the basis of the composition of his two doctrinal collections, large and small, was modeled on this alone.26 It is said that at the end of his life, Tumtonpa returned to his native place in the northern direction, where he nurtured enlightened activity at the place known as Cholung Kunra, and then passed away.

THE ELEVENTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Sameness of Existence and Quiescence: Droton Dutsi Drakpa from the monastic seat of Tumton[—that is, Nartang—]received this from Mumenpa [Dutsi Charchen], a disciple of Geshe Jayulwa Zhonu O.

THE TWELFTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Great Middle Way: Jangsem Dawa Gyeltsen received this from the Newar Penyawa [Ratnabhadra], a lineage holder of the teachings that had descended from Nāgārjuna the father and Ᾱryadeva the son. He transmitted the instruction to Dzilungpa Ozer Drakpa, and Droton Dutsi Drak (1153–1232) requested it from him and then propagated it.

Though there are some who hold that this guidebook also accords with the lineage of the Guidance on the View of the Middle Way, which Venerable Remdawa [Zhonu Lodro] propagated from the highland region of Ngari, that is not certain, because it represents the original Mādhyamika texts—the old tradition where Prāsaṅgika and Svātantrika are not differentiated. {79} It is simply the case that the distinctions introduced by Remdawa accord with the adherents of the texts of Candrakīrti that uphold consequential reasoning.

THE THIRTEENTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Hidden Guidance of Kadam: Mumenpa Dutsi Charchen received this from Geshé Shawo Gangpa in person, and he conferred it upon Drotonpa Dutsi Drak.

These aforementioned four guidebooks entitled The Three Sorts of Persons, The Sameness of Existence and Quiescence, The Great Middle Way, and The Hidden Guidance of Kadam are known as the “four great guidebooks of the Kadampa.”

THE FOURTEENTH TO SEVENTEENTH GUIDEBOOKS

With regard to the guidebooks concerning the four deities of Kadam: At the time when Sangyé Gompa Chenpo [Sengé Kyab] came to Utsang in the entourage of Jowo Atiśa, he went directly to Langtang and received these teachings from Geshé Zhangpa [Chokyi Lama] at the monastic seat of Geshé Langri Tangpa.

As far as these guidebooks concerning the four deities [of Kadam] are concerned, there have been some later individuals with the title “master of the Kadampa teaching” who failed to understand that the Cornucopia of Avalokiteśvara’s Attributes is associated [not with this guidebook on Avalokiteśvara but] with The Direct Guidance of Avalokiteśvara according to the Tradition of Candradvaja. They also seem to have juxtaposed and conflated the guidebook on Acala with the higher tantras that concern fierce inner heat, illusory body, dream yoga, luminosity, and so forth. In this context, however, the guidebook on Acala is the foremost instruction on the attainment of the yogic gaze of Acala, whose right and left eyes exclusively focus upward and downward. It is known as such because it originated from the ancient account of Geshé Neuzurpa Yeshé Bar who, after meditating in that manner, by gazing upward is said to have seen what a shepherd was doing on the cliff above, and by gazing downward saw a buddha field below. Similarly, with regard to the guidebooks on Munīndra and Tārā, the method of cultivating calm abiding and the establishment of protection from the eight fears are never secured apart from these instructions concerning the corresponding deities.

THE EIGHTEENTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Parables of Potowa: this is an unsurpassed and supreme method of transforming the minds of beginners, based on worldly tales and orally transmitted stories concerning the three sorts of persons. {80}

THE NINETEENTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Sixteen Spheres of the Heart according to Kadam: All the sutras and mantras that are the legacy of the lineage of experiential cultivation and blessing include the peerless profound sacred doctrine whereby, in a single seated posture, one concentrates intently and focuses on the sphere of the heart cakra. Yet there are proud gesheés, responsible for abandoning the sacred doctrine, who insistently exclude this from the perspective of the Riwo Geden tradition, [saying] that there is no such lineage of this doctrine that derives from Venerable Tsongkhapa and his heirs. Indeed, they seek to make revisions, saying that it contains terms that are outside their view, such as pure in the expanse (dbyings su dag pa) and absence of pointed focus (’dzug gu gtad sa mi gda’ ba).

THE TWENTIETH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Six Descents of the Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom: As mentioned in the guidance on the transcendent perfection of wisdom by Venerable Rongton Sheja Kunrik, the transcendent lord Buddha appointed the noble Kāśyapa to preside over his actual monastic succession, and he was followed, in turn, by Ānanda, Śāṇavāsika, Upagupta, Dhītika, and so on, up to and including the arhat Siṃha[bodhi]. In this way the transmission was successively maintained at Vajrāsana through twenty-four successive hierarchs of the teaching.27 Afterward, following subjugation by the Turuṣka army, the transmission of study and exegesis was interrupted. A heretical beggar propitiated the sun god utilizing the means for attainment of Sūrya, and consequently the great Buddhist temples were mostly incinerated.28 Collections of scriptures comprising words, phrases, and letters were even turned into heaps of ashes.

At that time, for the sake of the Buddhist teaching, there was a brahmin nun named Prakāśaśīlā who, through union with a kṣatriya, gave birth to the sublime Asaṅga, and on consorting with a brahmin youth, gave birth to the master Vasubandhu. Asaṅga instantaneously arrived in Tuṣita, where he sojourned for fifty human years and received twenty doctrinal collections as a follower of Maitreya. {81} Thereafter he propagated those teachings extensively. The younger brother Vasubandhu committed to memory the entire meaning of the Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines, and he would recite it aloud while submerged in a pool of sesame oil from the neck downward. Throughout the early and later parts of his life, he extensively propagated the approaches of the sacred doctrine, according to both the Great and Lesser Vehicles.29

[In Tibet,] it was Rongton the Great (1367–1449) who synthesized the essentials of experiential cultivation on these teachings concerning the Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom.

In earlier times, at a place known as Yumta Yulma in the uplands of Gyel in Penyul, someone requested Dampa Sangyé to consecrate a manuscript of Extensive Mother [which is the Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom in One Hundred Thousand Lines]. Dampa then sat upon the pile of books, and the supplicant took a negative view of that. Immediately the pages were all carried away into the sky by a strong wind that naturally arose, and they surged high into space. Dampa scattered consecrated barley upon them and recited the following offering verse from Refutation of Disputed Topics:30

Homage to Munīndra

Whose speech is peerless and supreme,

Through whom auspicious circumstances

Are of identical meaning in the Middle Way!

Thereupon, the pages descended onto their books in the correct order. Later, when Rongton saw that manuscript of Extensive Mother, the following words resounded from the formless dawn sky:31

In the essential meaning there is no essence.

Without essence is the essence.

If you seek the essence, at Dingri

The pacification of suffering will ensue.

In accordance with this prophetic declaration, the master [Rongton] and his disciples set out for the sake of the doctrine and arrived without impediment at Dingri Langkor in Lato. There Rongton received the cycle of the Six Descents from Venerable Lodro Gyatso and wrote down a memorandum, which is this guidebook, extant at the present day.

THE TWENTY-FIRST AND TWENTY-SECOND GUIDEBOOKS

With regard to the guidebook concerning the direct guidance on The Five Paths of Pacification: {82} it is said that Dramen Chikpa32 Sherab Zangpo (1411–1475) received this instruction [from Pelchen Kunlhunpa] and experientially cultivated it.

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Three Stages of MeditationBeginning, Middle, and Conclusive, which is the work of Kamalaśīla: this is the essence of the teachings of Rongton, the marvelous tradition of the path that is the illustrative basis of the Svātantrika Mādhyamika.

THE TWENTY-THIRD GUIDEBOOK

[With regard to this guidebook:] Among The Five Doctrines of Maitreya, it is clear that the Distinction between Phenomena and Actual Reality and the Supreme Continuum of the Great Vehicle were not extant at the time when the master Haribhadra (late eighth century) was alive. This is understood because in his Great Commentary on the Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines, he repeatedly cites Ornament of Clear Realization, Ornament of the Sutras of the Great Vehicle, and the Distinction between the Middle and Extremes, but he does not even mention the titles of the Distinction between Phenomena and Actual Reality and the Supreme Continuum of the Great Vehicle.

On an auspicious occasion, Lord Maitrīpā the Great restored a dilapidated stupa on which a ray of light shone. He saw a rainbow emerge from the gap formed by a crack, and inside found an old manuscript inscribed on bark. He then prayed one-pointedly to Maitreya to request its transmission, without focusing on any other object. Consequently, Maitreya revealed his visage from within the clouds of the sky and bestowed upon him its transmission, instruction, and further instruction. These texts became well known to all the paṇḍitas of India, and among them there is an unbroken lineage that was propagated in Tibet by Tsen Khawoché.33

THE TWENTY-FOURTH GUIDEBOOK

[With regard to the guidebook entitled The View of Intrinsic Emptiness:] At the time when Patsab (b. 1055) roared the lion’s roar that was the enlightened intention of glorious Candrakīrti, this was comprehended by all his contemporary scholars [in Tibet]. Above all, gesheé Sharawa sent a letter to Patsab Lotsāwa, asking certain questions. Patsab offered in reply his own explanation—Abridgement of the Essentials of the Root and Commentary of the Introduction to the Middle Way—under the headings view, meditation, and conduct. When it reached Sharawa, who was presiding over a molasses feast, {83} as soon as he saw Patsab’s writings, tears flowed uncontrollably, and with his hand he scattered the molasses in front of him into the ten directions, saying, “This is an offering to Nāgārjuna, father and son! This is an offering to Candrakīrti! This is an offering to Patsab Nyima Drakpa! He understands the enlightened intention of Lord Nāgārjuna.” In that very row of monks he proclaimed, “I will send a hundred young intelligent monks to study under Patsab.” Patsab had studied in India under the paṇḍita Tīlakakalāśa and others.

Afterward, when Patsab went out one day for recreation in the midst of a forest, he met a paṇḍita wearing a black robe, with a light-bluish complexion, exuding the fragrance of supreme sandalwood, and walking with two monastic boots on his hands.34 He paid homage and requested a blessing, whereupon the paṇḍita placed his two hands on his head and said, “You need not stay long in cyclic existence.” When Patsab related this incident to other scholars, they encouraged him in one voice, saying, “You have great fortune. That paṇḍita is Candrakīrti. You met him while he was engaged in the conduct of the ascetic discipline of awareness.” Henceforth it is said that Patsab could convey an extraordinary certainty concerning the essential points of the view.

Jowojé Atiśa also remarked that their views were identical, and indeed on that account praised Patsab greatly, saying, “For every hundred persons who have not set out on the path, there is one who has set out on the path…. For every hundred who propound the middle way between extremes, there is only one who propounds consequential reasoning.” [Elsewhere] it is said in his biography that Patsab himself was also the reincarnation of Jowo Atiśa.

THE TWENTY-FIFTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The View of Extraneous Emptiness: It says in the words of Tsen Khawoché, “The paṇḍita Sajjana of Kashmir has made the following most significant remark, ‘The Conqueror turned the wheel of the sacred doctrine three times—teaching the four noble truths in the first turning, the absence of defining characteristics in the second, and the excellent analysis [of all buddha attributes] in the final promulgation. Among these, the first two did not differentiate between the real and the imputed, whereas the final turning did determine the ultimate truth. On that occasion, therefore, the Buddha taught the distinction between the middle way and extremes, and between phenomena and reality. {84} The original manuscripts of the Distinction between Phenomena and Actual Reality and the Supreme Continuum of the Great Vehicle were simply lent out [to Maitreya].35 Indeed, if these two texts had vanished, it would have denoted Maitreya’s passing away into bliss.’ ”

In this regard, there is an ancient memorandum entitled Hook of the Lotus, composed by Tsen Khawoché, forewarning against the later allegation that the term extraneous emptiness was unknown in India but appeared in Tibet through the omniscient Dolpopa. You may also investigate that in a response to questions composed by the all-knowing Buton Rinchen Drub, it says that there was an earlier philosophical tenet of Tanakpa Rinchen Yeshépa that was later enhanced and maintained by Dolpopa.36

THE TWENTY-SIXTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Elucidation of the Concealed Meanings [of Yogatantra]: The essentials of this teaching were bestowed by Lord Vajrasattva at the entreaty of the transcendent lady Vajravārāhī. The essence [of this guidebook]—an enumeration [of two hundred and thirty instructions] associated with the original text of Summation of the Real—was brought forth [by Bodongpa].

THE TWENTY-SEVENTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Guidance of Amitāyus, which was imparted to Siddhirājñi: It is certain that, starting from Rechungpa Dorjé Drak (1085–1161), who offered this to Milarepa, and continuing down to the supreme emanation Barawa Gyeltsen Pelzang (1310–1391), the line of transmission was from mouth to ear, maintained in a single succession as a sealed precept. Although there were also different teachers who extensively propagated the discourses of Siddhirājñi, even the names of their “single-deity single-vase” transmissions are unknown.37

The original source of the guidebook of Barawa Gyeltsen Pelzang, this supreme incarnation, was also previously unknown in the Land of Snows. In the latter’s secret biography, it mentions that while he was focusing on this very practice at a hermitage in Paro Drang-gyé, he wrote down the instruction of the aural lineage, based on a prophecy he received from the glorious ḍākinī Guhyajñānā, and afterward he conferred the empowerment in a large public gathering.

Nowadays, whatever philosophical systems of the Sakya, Kagyu, and Geluk {85} are espoused, there is no one at all who performs this ritual that is beneficial to others. The long-life empowerment that is the foundation of this guidebook is, however, still conferred in the context of an empowerment rite. I have recited with my tongue many tens of thousands of times the liturgy of this empowerment rite, so I am convinced that if any empowerment is to be conferred, there will be no greater blessing that there is in this.

THE TWENTY-EIGHTH AND TWENTY-NINTH GUIDEBOOKS

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Guidance of White Tārā: this denotes the tradition of Jowojé Atiśa, with which all the renowned Kadampa gesheés previously had a connection.

With regard to the guidebook concerning the secret Guidance of White Amitāyus that was conferred on Mitrayogin by Devaḍākinī: This in later times became known as the “secret path of Maitrīpā.” It directly emphasizes the practical application [of the perfection stage], having abandoned the empowerments, deity meditation, and so forth.

THE THIRTIETH TO THIRTY-THIRD GUIDEBOOKS

All of these guidebooks entitled The Direct Guidance of Avalokiteśvara respectively accord with the tradition of the nun Lakṣmī, which Jowojé Atiśa conferred upon Tonpa Yolgom Chowang; [the tradition of the bodhisattva Candradhvaja,] which Zhang [Ring] Kyitsa Ochen requested from the bodhisattva Candradhvaja; [the tradition of Drubchen Tsembupa,] which the accomplished master Tsembupa actually received from Nairātmyā; and [the tradition of Kyergangpa,] which Lama Kyergangpa received from Chegompa [Sherab Dorpa] at Lupuk Karchung in Lhasa. These are four distinct lineages but, other than that, they constitute a single path.

THE THIRTY-FOURTH AND THIRTY-FIFTH GUIDEBOOKS

Later, when Gyelsé Chodzongpa [Tokmé Zangpo] stayed for some three years in central Tibet, he guided his disciples at Jang Radeng and so forth through his definitive work, Direct Guidance on All the Meditational Deities in General. Then he gave teaching, commenting separately on each of the following methods of direct guidance: [The thirty-fourth guidebook, entitled The Direct Guidance of Cakrasaṃvara,] which is based on the master Ghaṇṭāpāda’s short treatise entitled Innate Cakrasaṃvara; and [the thirty-fifth guidebook, entitled The Direct Guidance of Hevajra,] which is based on Ānandavajra’s Sanskrit text concerning Innate Cakrasaṃvara and Hevajra. On that occasion, all the meditational deities were transformed into their unsurpassed forms. The glorious Lama Dampa [Sonam Gyeltsen] is also said to have approved of this, and actually it puts to rest the notion that Gyelsépa [Tokmé Zangpo] never taught the way of Secret Mantra. {86}

THE THIRTY-SIXTH AND THIRTY-SEVENTH GUIDEBOOKS

With regard to the guidebook concerning the perfection stage of Vajrapāṇi in the Form Mahācakra: The lineage descended gradually from Lama Mar[ton Chokyi Gyeltsen]. There is also [a line of transmission] from Buton the Great, who purposefully propagated it.

With regard to the guidebook entitled Vajrapāṇi in the Form Caṇḍa: This denotes the perfected experiential cultivation of Sangak Drubchen [Jodenpa]. Later, however, in this northern direction, the application of this fierce guidance of Guhyapati Vajrapāṇi, which is inconceivably secret, appears to have been superficial.

THE THIRTY-EIGHTH AND THIRTY-NINTH GUIDEBOOKS

With regard to the guidebook concerning yellow Vārāhī in the Form Kurmapādā: this denotes the profound and uncommon sacred doctrine associated with the lineage of Chak Lotsāwa [Rinchen Chogyel].

With regard to the guidebook concerning the outer and inner Secret Guidance of Kurukullā: this denotes the wondrous and marvelous [Sakya and Ngorpa transmission], but there are some people who, without paying attention to that, boast deceitfully and spuriously of engaging in the practice of the fierce inner heat and the four cakras with reference to Hevajra.

THE FORTIETH, FORTY-FIRST, AND FORTY-SECOND GUIDEBOOKS

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Six-Branch Yoga of Kālacakra: Although there are many independently written commentaries extant throughout India and Tibet, here I have counted the Commentary [Entitled Taintless Light], which accords with Somanātha and the questions addressed to Somanātha, and in which word and meaning are indivisible. Having investigated the commentary on the tantra itself, I acquired conviction in it.

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Aural Lineage of Kālacakra according to Menlung Guru [Sonam Pel]: This later merged with the Great Perfection, so that it is hard to differentiate them. This method is incomplete when one is engaging in the path that explores the structure of the subtle body, and it employs the terms disposition (ngang) and self (rang) instead of the term this (’di). For these reasons it resembles the threshing stick of a blind man.

For a long time I was left without finding any method based on the practice of its ritual service and attainment or its guidance. Later on, however, my paternal uncle, who had previously received this along with my father, the great translator,38 from Chojé Khewang Rinchen Chowang at Tsetang and had become a great master of this doctrine, came to Drakhar in U to confer a connection with this teaching on me. When I questioned him about it, he said Hūṃchen Namka Neljor and Hūṃchen Lhundrub Rinchen had modified [the terminology] because they had formerly doubted the additions and deletions made by Menlungpa himself, who distinctively added certain unrelated terms from Tantra of Heruka Galpo here.39 He, however, was satisfied [with the original] because he had acquired certainty in the term disposition (ngang) and also in the term mine (nga’i nga), {87} understanding these to denote the purification of the seven aspects of consciousness, including the afflicted mental consciousness.40 He also said that his name had originally been Rinchen Zangpo. Since he and my father had the same name, I was contented, thinking of him with gratitude. This illustrates that when one has never tested a guidebook at all, one should persist in examining precisely the actual source of the lineage from which it originated.

[With regard to the forty-second guidebook, entitled Ritual Service and Attainment of the Three Adamantine Realities according to Orgyanpa: there is no mention of this here in these historical anecdotes].

THE FORTY-THIRD GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Path and Its Fruition: Firstly, Drokmi [Lotsāwa] and later Gyijo Dawa Ozer received this from the paṇḍita Gayādhara.41 Fifteen major traditions evolved from Drokmi, along with their twenty-three offshoots, but they number only twelve when arranged according to those that are still extant.42 Sachen Kunga Nyingpo received the long lineage from Seton Kunrik and Zhangton Chobar; and, in addition to the lineage of Drokmi, he also received it from Virūpa in person, forming a close lineage that is virtually unbroken at the present time.43

As far as the [distinct] tradition of Zhama is concerned, only the transmissions of the Instruction Manual and Dispelling of Obstacles Entitled Ocean-Like Visualizations of Ha, which were composed by Kodrakpa, are extant. I understand that Mar[ton] made an accurate investigation [of this transmission], although Gyijo had told him not to propagate it. But Gyijo did teach it to Khorewa Okyi Gyeltsen, and thereafter his transmission naturally continued down to Bardingpa Namka Gyeltsen.

THE FORTY-FOURTH TO FIFTY-FIRST GUIDEBOOKS

With regard to these guidebooks, which are collectively entitled Eight Further Cycles of the Path: There are six that engage with the perfection stage of the three meditational deities—Cakrasaṃvara, Hevajra, and Guhyasamāja—and two that comment on the tantras in general.44 Among them, Ḍombipā’s The Attainment of Coemergence and Saroruha’s The Nine Profound Methods pertain to the commentarial tradition of Hevajra and the actual perfection stage of the Saroruha tradition. The Perfection of the Path of Fierce Inner Heat and The Straightening of Crooked Posture pertain to Cakrasaṃvara. The Attainment in Proximity to a Stupa [or The Determination of Mind] pertains to Guhyasamāja in the form Akṣobhya, and The Great Seal Devoid of Letters pertains to Guhyasamāja according to the Buddhajñānapāda tradition. The Inconceivables and the cycle of the path of Indrabhūti [entitled The Path of the Female Mudra] are both unquestionably practiced in the perfection stage of all the unsurpassed tantras without exception. {88}

Here, in the practical transmission that is perfectly implemented, The Attainment of Coemergence and The Nine Profound Methods are not conferred through their own individual maturational empowerments, which would respectively be the maṇḍala rite of Ḍombipā and the inaugural maṇḍala rite of Nelingma. Rather, the maturation of each of the Eight Further Cycles of the Path is exclusively rendered efficacious through the empowerments associated with the instructional tradition of Hevajra. Following this line of reasoning, it is unquestionable that the maturational empowerments of all the mantra-related sections of all the one hundred and eight could be performed according to the instructional tradition of Hevajra alone! The essential point here, however, is that although the lineages of maturational empowerment and liberating path coincide in both the aforementioned traditions of Ḍombipā and Saroruha, they have diverged in the other six. For example, in The Perfection of the Path of Fierce Inner Heat and The Straightening of Crooked Posture, the empowerment accords with the Kāṇha tradition of Cakrasaṃvara, whereas The Attainment in Proximity to a Stupa adopts the empowerment of Guhyasamāja in the form Akṣobhya, and The Great Seal Devoid of Letters adopts [the empowerment of Guhyasamāja in the form] Mañjuvajra. The Inconceivables and the cycle of the path of Indrabhūti [entitled The Path of the Female Mudra] adopt the maturational empowerment of the Tantra of the Vital Essence of Union. And yet, although the empowerments [of these six guidebooks] manifestly correspond to their respective tantras, since the lineages of their maturational empowerment and their liberating path have diverged, the maturational empowerment is best performed according to the instructional tradition [of Hevajra] alone, with that empowerment functioning as their inaugural rite. For the lineages of instruction in addition to that empowerment, however, one cannot find any method apart from their individual applications.

THE FIFTY-SECOND TO FIFTY-SEVENTH GUIDEBOOKS

With regard to these guidebooks, which are collectively known as The Spiritual Connections with the Six Gatekeepers: there are many instructions that stem from the Nine Cycles of the Path, including the Path and Its Fruition, but these six are illustrative.

THE FIFTY-EIGHTH AND FIFTY-NINTH GUIDEBOOKS

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Three Purities: This is said to be a term that is not at all found in The Path and Its Fruition. Formerly, at Mutso, the glorious lord of the sacred doctrine Gyelwa Bum first delivered an essential teaching on Parting from the Four Attachments. Afterward, when he taught at Jonshing, he gave teachings on the [absolute] setting of the mind on enlightenment, which is nonarising and indeterminate; and then he conferred empowerment in the commentarial tradition that accords with the maṇḍala rite of Ḍombipā. He began with the guidebook entitled The Three Purities, next he bestowed the related instruction entitled The Inconceivables, and finally he bestowed The Twenty-Nine [Essential] Visualizations of Self-Consecration. There is an actual detailed account of Ngari Ulekpa, the monk Aba Drakpa, and the others who were his disciples at the time when they acquired the title of “one who had reached the Path and Its Fruition of the Hevajra commentarial tradition.” {89}

THE SIXTIETH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Exegesis of the Concealed Path: The portal of this teaching was opened through the transformative empowerments of the profound path, exclusively in the palace of Akṣobhya—the adamantine reality of buddha mind. Jetsun Drakpa Gyeltsen alludes to this in his Analysis of Empowerment.45 This guidebook concerns the application and symbolism of yogic exercises that constitute the guidance of the five celestial palaces [of the body], according to the concealed exegesis.

The root verses of the concealed exegesis were originally in hybrid Sanskrit and Prakrit, as follows: AIKE JARAHUMARAHAMARAHU| AṂKE MUDRATUTRA AṂ BINTUDARBA| IKE APARAŚŪNYATĀSAGATI| AṂGE PARAŚUKRADHANU IBATĪṢṬA|. When translated into Tibetan, the word AṂKE [and its variants] indicate the vocative. The other expressions respectively mean “blazing, dynamic, and steadfast,” “propitiate the mudra and retain the vital essence!,” “realize that the self is empty!,” and “manifest like an overpowering bow!”

With these words, Virūpa symbolically taught seventy-two tantras to Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, and in the same manner he also taught him the four profound doctrines [in secret], without going beyond the boundary wall [of his hermitage].46 Sachen wrote down the elucidation of their meaning in a concordance of bilingual examples.47

THE SIXTY-FIRST GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Elucidation of the Symbolic Meaning: Sachen Kunga Nyingpo revealed this in a pure vision to Jetsun Drakpa Gyeltsen. He explained the essentials of the Path and Its Fruition by means of making symbolic signs on the white rock upon which he sat. It brings together extensive, middling, and concise visualizations. Later on, certain proud scholars said of this that its root verses had been deliberately distorted following the interpretation of the six-branch yoga of Hevajra according to the class of mother tantra, which Ga Lotsāwa had given to Sachen Kunga Nyingpo.

THE SIXTY-SECOND AND SIXTY-THIRD GUIDEBOOKS

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Five Stages of the Secret Assembly: The commentarial writings of Serdingpa Zhonu O on [Nāgārjuna’s] Five Stages were extensive.48 When [the exposition of this instruction] had become corrupted, {90} he composed his own exegesis that reestablished the [meaning of] the Guhyasamāja, according to his view, based on three scrolls of Go Khukpa Lhetsé that came into his possession.

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Vital Essence of Liberation: this comprises the six-branch yoga of the Guhyasamāja, as enunciated in the Subsequent Tantra of the Secret Assembly.

THE SIXTY-FOURTH TO SIXTY-SIXTH GUIDEBOOKS

As for the guidebook entitled The Unelaborate Practice of Red Yamāri: I acquired conviction in the tradition of Lowo Lotsāwa.

The guidebook entitled The Four-Stage Yoga is also based on the writings of Lowo Lotsāwa. Later, Ārya [Kanaśrī] from Upper Nyang and others made a false claim concerning a yogin named Karṇaripā, dissimulating that he had stayed for twelve years standing on one foot alongside [an image of] Khasarpaṇi, and in consequence of that actually obtained this instruction from Virūpa. This needs to be investigated since it is indeed a false assertion.

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Mental Focus on the Horns of Bhairava that accords with the Kyo tradition, and the associated Nocturnal Motion and The Erect Penis [of Bhairava]: These are authentic, and there are extant Sanskrit memoranda attributed to the Indian masters Amoghavajra, Lalitavajra, and Mañjuśrīmitra. [In addition], the Riwo Gedenpa composed a supporting text on the Guhyasamāja, which was arranged according to the great accomplished master Śrīdhara’s Four-Stage Yoga of Red Yamāri and Śāntipa’s The Inner Yoga of the Communal Offering.

THE SIXTY-SEVENTH AND SIXTY-EIGHTH GUIDEBOOKS

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Central Channel Dependent on the Male Deity Cakrasaṃvara: This denotes the teaching of Jetsun Drakpa Gyeltsen entitled Elixir of the Buddha Mind of Nāropā. The guidebook entitled The Central Channel Dependent on the Female Deity Vajravārāhī—in which the “referential basis” is established as the male deity who enters into union with the female deity, or “referential object”—is contextualized by Mu Konchok Gyeltsen as follows:49Vārāhī Khecarī of the Generation Stage and The Central Channel of the Perfection Stage had been taught sequentially, but the two had not been taught together. It was the glorious Lama Dampa Sonam Gyeltsen who conferred instruction on Chojé Zung50 that combined The Central Channel with Nāropā’s Khecarī and this is said to have been his own formulation. It represents our own tradition—the guidance of the concise and cherished pith instructions of inner Pullahari.” And, “Though Jetsun [Drakpa Gyeltsen] did explain them, integrating the three channels with the two structures of the body, in his Catalog he still refers to them [separately] as ‘Khecarī, The Central Channel, and so forth.’ ”51 {91} In addition, the Venerable Dorjé Chang [Kunga Zangpo] speaks of “the yoga of Khecarī, the profound generation stage, and the yoga of the central channel of the perfection stage.”52 There is therefore no authentic basis for conflating them. On the other hand, when glorious Lama Dampa Sonam Gyeltsen received guidance on the central channel from Drakpukpa Sonam Pelwa, over seven days he did perfect the power of the fierce inner heat. Since this is mentioned in the Biography [of Lama Dampa Sonam Gyeltsen] composed by the great translator Jangchub Tsemo, [his differing opinion] should be properly considered.

THE SIXTY-NINTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Five Stages according to Ghaṇṭāpāda: There is an extensive exegesis on this composed by Tsongkhapa in respect of which I never obtained the blessing of the preliminary practice.53 There is also the insightful commentary by [Taktsang Lotsāwa] Drapa Sherab Rinchen for which I acquired the blessing and empowerment.54 As far as my own tradition is concerned, I have confidence in the teaching of Jetsun Drakpa Gyeltsen, which is an injunction of Vajradhara, so how could I follow naive chatter?55 Although there is also an instruction composed by Pakpa,56 in this context I count the text of Tsokgompa [Kunga Pel], which was definitively written. It is the experiential guidance through which Tsokgompa acquired a precisely flowing and clear meditative stability while cultivating this instruction under Sakya Paṇḍita. There are also definitive notes on that by Zhang Dodé Pel.57

THE SEVENTIETH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Four Stages according to Kṛṣṇacārin: Mal Lotsāwa, Purang Lochung [of Kashmir], and Mardo [Chokyi Wangchuk]—those three—were generally similar in that they composed instructions that were later comparable to The Perfection of the Path of Fierce Inner Heat.58

Gungru Sherab Zangpo and others also composed tables of contents entitled A General Description of the Four Stages and A Particular Exegesis of the Vital Essence of Spring.59 Then he came to know that the Instruction Manual Entitled Oral Discussion is mistaken in teaching that the Vital Essence of Spring illustrates only two cakras because the Sanskrit text of the Vital Essence of Spring absolutely does have an extensive exegesis of four cakras.60

Also, with regard to Inciting the Path of the Four Stages, it is said that the teaching transmission of Purang Lochung was committed to writing by Mar Chokyi Gyeltsen, and a definitive memorandum on Marpa Dopa’s Oral Discussion was definitively recorded by Chokro Chokyi Gyeltsen. {92} Then there was Venerable Sachen Kunga Nyingpo’s [Commentary on] Inciting the Path of the Four Stages. All three could withstand revisions and are reliable because they are in harmony with the pith instructions of Nāropā.

Nowadays all the most dignified gesheés of the Sakyapa school proclaim with trepidation that the four stages of the path are extremely dangerous, but there is no basis for Kṛṣṇacārin’s Four Stages of the Path being dangerous for the Sakyapas. The reason why it is widely reported that this instruction is very dangerous is that formerly when Chokro Chokyi Gyeltsen set out from Kham, all his relatives sent much gold. In particular, his mother sent a golden spoon inlaid with turquoise in order to sustain his acquisition of the sacred doctrine. On reaching Utsang, he stayed a long time at Yamdrok, where for twelve years he sat pillow to pillow with Mardo Chokyi Wangchuk. He received all the tantras and pith instructions pertaining to Cakrasaṃvara, and also wrote an exegetical commentary on the tantra according to the teachings of Mardo. Buton later praised that treatise immensely, saying among the indigenous Tibetan commentaries on Cakrasaṃvara, that one was excellent. Venerable Tsongkhapa was also attracted to that commentary.

At that time when Chokro Chokyi Gyeltsen was contented with the teachings he had received, Mardo’s son José Namka-o saw that golden spoon in the hand of Chokro and said to him, “You are contented with those oral instructions, but you have not received the direct guidance on implementing the Four Stages [of the Path], which is the essence of the instructions. You should offer this golden spoon to the lama and request that!” So Chokro prepared an excellent communal offering, on top of which he offered the golden spoon inlaid with turquoise and requested Inciting the Path of the Four Stages. Marpa Dopa rose on his teaching throne {93} and said, “No one at all knows the name of this doctrine. Who told you about it?” Chokro replied that José had told him, whereupon he looked at José and said, “Greedy! Is your vital channel of life made of diamond! Now, even if your life is cut off, there is an auspicious circumstance indicating that the continuity of this instruction will not be interrupted in the future.” Mardo Lotsāwa conferred the instruction, and as soon as he had done so, he passed away. And as his son got dressed in order to make the funerary offerings, thieves launched a nighttime raid and pierced his body with weapons, so that he also died after eleven days. Throughout the country this was taken as an indication that the instruction was dangerous. Nowadays, the transmission that Mardo imparted to Chokro is no longer extant, but the text that Chokro composed survives.

THE SEVENTY-FIRST GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Guidance of White Cakrasaṃvara: This was supreme among the four extraordinary and special instructions through which Śākyaśrī, the paṇḍita of Kashmir, attained enlightenment. Although dissimilar to the exegetical methods of the Indian masters Abhayākaragupta, Atiśa, and paṇḍita Vibhūticandra, Śākyaśrī said that Vajravārāhī actually conferred this upon him.

Formerly white Cakrasaṃvara was the principal meditational deity of all the monastic preceptors of the four communities [established in Tibet by Śākyaśrī]. Considering that, Rongton Sheja Kunrik later traveled to Ngor to request Dorjé Chang Kunga Zangpo for instruction on white Cakrasaṃvara. The letter of request that he made at that time is even now kept in a relic box at Ngor. But he did not have an opportunity to receive it.

THE SEVENTY-SECOND GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Four Adamantine Seats: The profound gradation of guidance on The Four Adamantine Seats is extremely rare. When Buton Rinpoché was teaching this instruction, he would confer it in the same way as his teacher, facing in the same direction, and exactly at the same time of day, neither earlier nor later.

THE SEVENTY-THIRD GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Great Magical Emanation: Here I refer exclusively to the tradition that maintains the texts and lineage of Ngok Choku Dorjé. {94} It is said that Buton also requested this and never acquired it, but that later he eventually did receive it from Jamkya Namka Pelden. Khyungpo Lhepa [Zhonu Sonam] received it from Buton, the lama Tashi Rinchen received it from him, and Dorjé Chang [Kunga Zangpo] received it from the latter.

Later on, some years after Dorjé Chang had founded Ngor Monastery, a great monastic preceptor known as Rongchung Sherab Pelden came to attend upon him. He and Chojé Rongpo both had the same birthplace, and there was not the slightest difference between them in their erudition or learning. Even so, Rongchung said, “Taking our physical stature into account, you are known as Rongchen and I am Rongchung. Previously, apart from following the causal vehicle of defining characteristics alone, I have never heard a single teaching on the way of mantra. Confronted by death in my old age, I feel sad even though I have listened to exegeses. In this last part of my life, I think I should engage in some experiential cultivation. So, O Lama, since you are a master of the tantras, I request you to confer upon me a maturational empowerment, liberating path, or supporting tantric exegesis of the way of Secret Mantra that is brief and concise, easy to understand, and absolutely easy to carry [on the path]—for I have not trained in the way of Secret Mantra.”

Dorjé Chang replied, “In that case, I will offer you this sacred doctrine through which our predecessor the lord-protector Chogyel Pakpa dispatched the Kadampa Namka Bum to the realm of the sky-farers.” In the southern castle [at Ngor], in a public exegesis, he conferred upon Rongchung the empowerments and guidance of Cakrasaṃvara and the Great Magical Emanation, based on the Vajragarbha Ḍākinī. Rongchung stayed there for about eleven months and a supreme joy was born within him. He then returned home and took up residence within a grass hermitage at the foot of the palace known as Nub Cholung’s Cakrasaṃvara Chapel.61 There he nurtured his liberating career, planting the victory banner of attainment without distractions. {95}

When some three years had passed, a vulture fell down upon the residence of the Governor Norzang of the Rinpung Estate.62 Astrologers and others predicted that “this hare year there will be a great disaster that cannot be averted by any longevity rites and so forth. It is certain that the Drungchen will die.” Many random teachers of the Rong area and the Shong area also said that such signs had occurred in their dreams. So Drungchen Norzang was despondent. They said, “Since death is certainly approaching at this time, having in the past accumulated most severe negativity through your governorship, there will be nowhere at all for you to go but the hells. So, before the movement of your life-breath expires, you have no choice but to receive empowerments of Sarvavid Vairocana from a lama who knows the way of Secret Mantra. Nowadays there is no one in the Tsang area other than Ngorpa Dorjé Chang Kunga Zangpo who is adorned with the practical applications of Secret Mantra. You should invite him!”

An invitation duly arrived at Ngor Evaṃ Choden, outlining the reason for this request. At that time, Dorjé Chang had finished teaching the three appearances according to the Path and Its Fruition,63 and it was the day on which he was conferring the vows of setting the mind on enlightenment. Learned persons from each of the residential houses within the monastery assembled, and they said, “If you go at this time, it will not be auspicious. Since this is the high point of the teaching that you are conferring, it will indeed be difficult to achieve anything.” On the other hand, since he would be censured [if he did not go there] before the governor passed away, Dorjé Chang said, “The master Konchok Gyeltsen who has not actually come [to this meeting] should confer upon the community of practitioners the empowerment of Nairātmyā in a maṇḍala of colored sand, and after that, seated upon a cushion in front of the teaching throne, he should deliver an extensive exegesis on the indivisibility of cyclic existence and nirvana.” Then Dorjé Chang directly set out on horseback.

At Rinpung he conferred upon the governor an elaborate ritual on cheating death according to the Sanskrit text of Jetāri,64 and in association with a hundred long-life empowerments. {96} In that manner, the obstacles of that year were dispelled, and thereafter it is said that he would virtually make an annual visit [to Rinpung].

On the way back up [to Ngor], just above Soldro Jetang in Nub Cholung, they set up their fireplace, and Chojé Rongchung went there from his retreat hermitage to meet him. After the others had set out from Soldro, Rongchung stayed alone for a while in the presence of the Venerable Dorjé Chang, offering many prostrations and suggesting some reasons [for leaving his hermitage], but the lama was displeased.

The lama and his disciples were then invited to the palace, where they had excellent sweet tea. At the break of dawn when the horizon was still pale, Gugé Paṇḍita, who was the attendant at that time, went to disturb Venerable Dorjé Chang with an offering of some black tea. At that time the sky was entirely filled with light. Inspecting this in detail, he saw that the grass hermitage of Rongchungpa was shrouded by a seven-layered umbrella of rainbow light, its upturned staff in the form of a tube fashioned of five-colored rainbow light. In astonishment he went inside and reported this, but the lama did not say anything at all. At sunrise, the attendant of Rongchung arrived there and said that although Rongchung’s complexion had not shown any signs of illness and the like, when he went to bring him morning soup he had already passed away. The lama then said, “Over the last three years he has increased his meditative commitments. Reaching the essential point, he has departed without impediment for the realm of the sky-farers. Since we are responsible for the funeral ceremony, we will stay for three days, after which you may cremate the body.” Since Rongchung’s mortal remains had dissolved into light owing to the rites of the Great Magical Emanation that the Venerable Dorjé Chang the Great had himself bestowed, the valley was permeated with a shower of flowers, a symphony of music, and an exquisite fragrance. He presented gifts at the crematorium and said they should not open it for seven days. Then he set out on the way back to Ngor. {97} When the crematorium was opened on the eighth day, they found that he had been invited by the ḍākinīs, leaving behind not even a single bone relic the size of a fingernail or a spoonful of funerary ash. When they asked if they should build a small brick reliquary stupa at the place where he had departed, no one said anything in reply. When they looked for a quantity of earth to make one, they did not find even the slightest trace.

THE SEVENTY-FOURTH GUIDEBOOK

With regard to the guidebook entitled The Kharamukha Cakrasaṃvara: This is a wondrous and marvelous profound teaching that had never previously been translated in Tibet. Dorjé Chang Kunga Zangpo visited Ngari Lowo [Khenchen Sonam Lhundrub] on three occasions. On the last occasion, at a place called Netsedrum in the connecting lower valley (bar tshigs lung thur) of Lowo, there was a lama named Samten Ozer who had received the empowerments and oral instructions of Kharamukha Cakrasaṃvara from the Newar Mahābodhi. He had practiced the generation and perfection stages of meditation without interruption and had completed seven hundred million recitations of the seven-syllable mantra and eighty thousand recitations of the Litany of the Names of Mañjuśrī in Sanskrit. Immediately after that he had lived as a hidden yogin, selling yeast for brewing ale.

Venerable Dorjé Chang summoned Samten Ozer to Drakar and also gave him precise training in the tradition for the conferral of empowerment, after which Samten Ozer was due to offer the empowerment the next morning. That evening, however, Samten Ozer ran away and entered the temple of Lower Rongting. Venerable Dorjé Chang then said, “If he cannot confer the empowerment on me, since otherwise the transmission of this teaching will be interrupted and ruined, let him confer it on these three disciples of mine!” The three—Chojé Peldenpa of Jampeling, Gugé Paṇḍita [Drakpa Gyeltsen], and Lama Gyelsé—then requested it, and Samten Ozer bestowed it upon them, after which he was sent on his way with inconceivably fine donations. As commanded, Samten Ozer took care when conferring the empowerment. He conferred the preparatory rite, and the following day, during the exegesis on the empowerment, he detailed the hierarchy of the five [downfalls], from the killing of life to sexual misconduct, and of the ten nonvirtuous actions; and then he continued with a teaching on the eight freedoms and ten advantages.65 {98}

When those three returned into the presence of Venerable Dorjé Chang, he examined them in detail, asking about the practical application at the time when these empowerments were conferred. Drung Peldenpa reported it naturally, just as it had happened, so that the lama was pleased. Gugé Paṇḍita said, “I have offered a quatrain in praise of it.” “That’s right!” he replied. The glorious and precious root guru Lama Gyelsé then said, “He excellently taught the definitive order of the ten nonvirtuous actions, and then continued with the eighteen aspects of freedom and endowment. Let’s pray to you, Transcendent Perfection of Wisdom!” It is said that the master and his disciples all laughed.

The transmission was not propagated by two of these teachers, but Gugé Paṇḍita did confer it upon Lowo Khen Rinpoché [Sonam Lhundrub] and Chojé Namka Tenpa. These two propagated it extensively, so that its transmission is indeed unbroken at the present time. Gugé Paṇḍita also composed an arrangement for the visualization maṇḍala, concluding with the words, “The perfection stage of that which is called the oral transmission of the hidden and great accomplished yogin Samten Ozer, disciple of the cakravartin Mahābodhi who belonged to the class of accomplished masters blessed by Vajravārāhī, concerns the yoga of subtle vital essence, and is also reckoned to include his memorandum on the words of the Tantra of Clear Expression, and an exegesis on the fierce inner heat of the blazing fire of kuṇḍalinī according to The Kharamukha Cakrasaṃvara,66 which pertains to The Four [Adamantine] Seats. Since these are without error, it is said that in these sacred texts it appears that we encounter the Indian and Newar paṇḍitas themselves.”

MAṄGALAṂ

Let virtue prevail! {99}