The Characteristics and Essential Ideology of Tibetan Buddhism
A Talk Given at Shaanxi Normal University
Afternoon of November 9, 2011
Today the faculty members and students at Shaanxi Normal University are holding an academic symposium. I find it an honor to be invited, although I am hardly a learned person and I do not possess much wisdom. I say this not to feign modesty but to make an honest assessment of my own limited knowledge. Nevertheless, I have always enjoyed participating in academic forums, and it is my great pleasure to meet with you to discuss Buddhist topics.
I have been asked to speak on “The Characteristics and Essential Ideology of Tibetan Buddhism.” The scope of this topic is indeed so vast that I had to scramble just to find a starting point. After all, the doctrines in Tibetan Secret Mantrayana are voluminous; its impressive breadth and depth make it impossible to review it all in the short time of an hour. Therefore I can at best make a brief introduction that will give you a glimpse.
I. A Brief History of Tibetan Buddhism
To many people, the esoteric Buddhism of Tibet and Han China are alike in that they both flourished only briefly before they died out and disappeared from history. This notion, I am afraid, is not quite correct. From day one of Buddhism’s arrival in Tibet until now, through the turmoil of many generations, the Secret Mantrayana in Tibet has been completely and faithfully preserved in all aspect of history, exposition, ritual, and practice. Therefore, it is incorrect to equate Tibet’s esoteric Buddhism with that of the Han.
Still others call Tibetan Mantryana “Lamaism,” as it is practiced by Tibetan lamas. This is a misnomer. The word “lama” infers to someone who has taken the monastic ordination. Yet practitioners of Mantrayana are not limited to ordained monastics only, many are actually lay householders.
In fact, Tibetan Buddhism is one of the three main branches of Buddhism in the world. Just like the other two traditions—Theravada and Han Buddhism—Tibetan Buddhism is an authentic Buddhist lineage. Buddhism was founded by Buddha Shakyamuni in India. After its introduction to Tibet, it was assimilated into Tibetan culture and developed into a massive religious system, now called Tibetan Buddhism. Likewise, when Buddhism was introduced to Han China, it melded with Chinese culture and evolved into Han Buddhism. Hence Tibetan Buddhism is not a religion indigenous to Tibet, nor does it encompass only the Secret Mantrayana.
Many of you sitting here are history scholars, and must be familiar with the historical aspects of Buddhism. In the very early days, there was no Dharma in Tibet. Around the 3rd century during the reign of the Tibetan King Lha Thothori Nyantsen, some of Buddha’s images, relics, and Buddhist scriptures (among them the Karandavyuha Sutra) fell from the sky and landed on the roof of the palace. The king also obtained a prophecy to the effect that the meaning of these auspicious objects would be disclosed after five generations. This episode thus marks the first arrival of Buddhadharma in Tibet.
But some historic accounts state that these Dharma treasures did not fall from the sky, rather, they were brought over by learned Buddhist scholars (panditas) from India. Old events like this are not easy for us to define now. The academic circle, in all its tradition, will acknowledge only the version supported by archaeological findings. However, Buddhists like us tend to go one step further in that we will recognize mystic phenomena which, incidentally, are completely incomprehensible from scholastic perspectives. The historical authenticity of this event, like some other incidents, remains unresolved.
Five generations later, King Songtsen Gampo [1] believed to be an emanation of Avalokiteśvara,
was born. He took as his queens two Buddhist princesses, Princess Wen Cheng of China and Princess Bhrikuti of Nepal, who brought as their dowry the two foremost statues of Buddha Shakyamuni, one depicting Buddha at the age of 12 and the other at 8, respectively. These two statues are now housed at Jokhang Temple and Ramoche Temple in Lhasa. According to history, Princess Wen Cheng was proficient in geomantic art, and she encouraged the king to build not only the famous Jokhang Temple but also other temples such as Thadul and Yangdul Temples at strategically important sites across the length and breadth of the land. Thus during King Songtsen Gampo’s reign, Buddhism in a way had begun to take root in the snowy highland, although a formal introduction of Buddhist canons was yet to come.
Several dynasties passed before another Chinese peace-making princess, Princess Jincheng, gave birth to a son, Trisong Detsen, who ascended to the throne at the age of 13 and brought Buddhism to its zenith in Tibet during his reign. At his young age, King Trisong Detsen was exposed to Buddhist scriptures such as the Sutra of Ten Virtues, the Grass Stalk Sutra (Dao Gan Sutra) and the Diamond Sutra, and had aroused in himself a strong faith in Buddhism. Later, King Trisong Detsen invited Master Padmasambhava, Abbott Shantarakshita, and many other panditas in India to come to Tibet. In addition, he also established an integrated program to translate the Buddhist classics into Tibetan, sending translators to India to receive training and bringing together teams of Indian scholars and Tibetan translators. Under his auspices, Buddhist canons were extensively translated into Tibetan and the Dharma spread widely. His time indeed was once the most glorious periodsof Buddhism.
After Master Padmasambhava left Tibet and Shantarakshita passed away, King Trisong Detsen invited a Chinese Zen master, Moheyan, from Dunhuang to Tibet to transmit the Dharma. However, the view Moheyan held of Zen was very incongruent with that of Tibetan Buddhist schools. Moheyen proclaimed that all clouds, whether black or white, obscured the sky; and a shackle, whether made of gold or plain rope, remained a shackle all the same. He concluded that any deed, whether virtuous or sinful, was a form of clinging and thus must be given up. Swayed by Moheyen’s view, many people began to abandon the discernment of good and evil, and no longer exerted themselves in practicingvirtue and eliminating non-virtues. The situation became so poor that even the long-held tradition of butter lamp offerings at the shrines of Samye Temple and Jokhang Temple died away. Tibetan Buddhism was flung into total confusion.
At this juncture, King Trisong Detsen recalled the prophecy given by Master Shantarakshita:”In the future, should conflict and confusion arise in the Buddhadharma, you must seek the advice of an Indian pandita called Kamalaśīla[2] to resolve the clash.” Thus the Indian master Kamalaśīla was invited to Tibet for the famous philosophical debate with Moheyan on “sudden or gradual enlightenment.”
According to history, Kamalaśīla defeated Moheyan mainly through the apt use of analogy. Moheyan considered himself as having the highest view in that he clung neither to virtue nor to non-virtue, and likened himself as the legendary big bird, the roc, soaring in the vast sky, free from any impediments. Kamalaśīla asked Moheyan: “When the roc flies, does it take off to the sky from the ground? And in the end, does it land back on the ground?” At these, Moheyan had no other choice but to accede..
Kamalaśīla continued: “This analogy says that even the highest state of realization must rely on the foundation of causality; one must be scrupulous about what to do and what not to do in accordance with the karmic law.” Challenged point by point, Moheyan lost the debate and was required to leave the country by royal decree. He returned to the Han area but, as the legend goes, left one of his shoes in Tibet, which some speculated was leaving a vestige of his ideas in Tibet. For instance, a few practitioners of Nyingma’s Great Perfection or Kygyu’s Mahamudra stilltend to advocate that one should cling to nothing even right at the onset of practice. As they do not bother to secure a sound foundation first, this proposition has been severely criticized by many Sakya masters. [3]
To be sure, the notion of total non-attachment is not wrong in and of itself. The Omniscient Longchenpa says in his Seven Treasures: “There is nothing unsound in the essential meaning of Moheyen’s viewpoint, except that it was not readily accepted by practitioners whose meditation is still at the stage of investigating and scrutinizing.” However, given that the majority of spiritual practitioners still lack a necessary sharp and keen faculty, a practice that ignores discernment between virtue and non-virtue at the onset may prove to be quite misleading. And I do have concerns of my own on this matter. These days many people—tantric practitioners in Tibet, Zen aspirants in the Han area, and the academic circle in general—equate spiritual practice to becoming unattached to all things and dismiss the prerequisite of building a good foundation. Such an approachis quite treacherous, to say the least.
In sum, Tibetan Buddhism traces its roots to India and is an authentic and pure Buddhist lineage. Far from a minor, obscure belief confined to a small region, it has been the official state religion patronized and venerated by a succession of Tibetan emperors until the time of the anti-Buddhist King Langdarma.
II. The Relationship between Secret Mantrayana and Han Imperials
Besides nourishing sentient beings of the snowy Tibetan highland for centuries, Tibetan Buddhism also is deeply connected with the Han area. During the time of the Tang Dynasty, Tibetan King Trisong Detsen invited many learned scholars from the Han region to help collate the Buddhist Tripitaka. When Tibet was ready to establish the monastic order and had selected the first seven monks-to-be, [4]the king had many eminent Elders of Han Buddhists as guests to witnesses of the ordination.
In the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, as early as the era of Genghis Khan, Tibetan Mantrayana saw a tremendous boom and strong influence in the inner royal court. Genghis Khan is noted for his military accomplishments and has made numerous military raids into Euro-Asia regions. When he ruled the Han China area, he was eyeing the takeover of Tibet and the invasion of India. To that end he dispatched massive troops en route to Tibet, posing imminent threats to many monasteries to the utter terror of Tibetans. But according to some accounts, Genghis Khan met with and requested teachings from a master of the Sakya lineage, Kunga Gyaltshan. After having been bestowed Dharma transmissions, the Khan dropped his attempt to conquer India.
When Mongka Khan was on the throne, the Karmapa was revered as the Imperial Master and was presented with a black crown with a golden rim. When Kublai Khan took the helm, he also strongly advocated Tibetan Buddhism, and sent an envoy to invite Nyingma terton master Shijiaguang to his palace. Although the master did not make the trip personally, he did offer to the Khan the longevity amrita from Guru Rinpoche’s terma treasure. Kublai in turn provided Tibetan tantric yogis plenty of favorable services, generously offering parcels of land for monastery sites and honoring Shijiaguang as “Baxie,” a title that commanded the same honor as that of a Court Master. Later, Kublai appointed Chögyal Phagpa of Sakyapa as his Imperial Preceptor. Another royal tie was Prince Godan’s Dharma teacher Sakya Pandita, who at the age of 70 entered paranirvana in the city of Gansu.
Fifteen emperors presided over the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. Although they were Mongolians, they all took Tibetan Buddhism as their religion and observed Buddhist rituals in the palace regularly. Yuan Emperor Wuzong invited Master Yungdun Dorje, a Great Perfection adept of the Nyingma School, to the palace to watch vajra dance performances. The master also conferred empowerment and pith instructions of the Great Perfection to the emperor, the empress, and other fortunate ones upon the emperor’s request.
In the Manchu Qing Dynasty, eminent masters such as the Panchen Lama and the Dalai Lama of the Gelupa School all had close contact with the Han area and were highly revered by the emperors. For instance, Emperor Shun Zhi sent envoys to invite His Holiness the 5th Dalai Lama to visit the capital. In a procession accompanied by Qing dignitaries and an entourage of 3,000, His Holiness left Lhasa for Han land.
More remarkably, Gelupa’s Master Zhang Jia always maintained deep ties with emperors of the Qing Dynasty: The 2nd Zhang Jia was the Court Master of Emperor Qianlong; the 3rd Zhang Jia was the Court Master of Emperors Yongzheng and Qianlong; the 4th Zhang Jia, the Court Master of Emperor Daoguang; the 5th Zhang Jia, the Court Masterof Emperor Tongzhi; and the 7th Zhang Jia, the Court Master of Emperor Guangxu. (For the 6th Zhang Jia there is no historical record.)
With the all-out patronage of these Qing emperors, traditional Tibetan Buddhist teachings, especially those on Kalachakra, Hayagriva, and Great Perfection of the Mantrayana, received the highest esteem throughout the country. The emperors also bestowed dignified titles to the leaders of schools such as “Karmapa,” “Dalai”, “Panchen” and “Baxie.” Ming Wuzong, the 11th emperor of Ming Dynasty, even went as far as to grant eight “His Holiness” titles to lineage holders.
Hence, it is only fair to understand Tibet Mantrayana from historical perspectives; otherwise, one’s view may become severely distorted from the truth. As we all know, Buddhism has suffered epic destruction and demolition since the Cultural Revolution; many originally commendable events became twisted by political motives or propaganda and no longer can be appreciated by the public in their true colors. Even in today’s movies or TV shows, the Tibetan tantra is being portrayed in a deliberately distorted way, misguiding the public.
It is important that whoever we may be, we should recount history in accord to what really happened, without bias. Those in search of personal gains may have other agendas, but hopefully this is rare in academic circles. Therefore it is only sensible for you intellectuals to examine Tibetan Buddhism’s past and current situation objectively from various angles. In fact, this approach applies to eva luating the history of Han China as well, since some of that history may not be as grotesque as depicted by later generations. For instance, the emperors of the Mongols Yuan Dynasty were usually portrayed as utterly ruthless and tyrannical. [5] But this is not quite true, because some of them did possess worthy qualities to be promoted which, unfortunately remain unknown to many.
In the same vein, the contemporary opinions held by many people about Tibetan Buddhism are not necessarily valid. They incriminate Tibetan Buddhism for its practices of sexual union, killing animals, and eating meat. And they keep berating Tibetan Buddhism like this everywhere; it is just terrible. Of course, Han Buddhists’ pledge to a vegetarian diet, which Tibetan Buddhists do fall short of due to geographic and climate factors, is something we admire and would like to follow. However, there are also reliable accounts that not all Tibetan practitioners are meat-eaters. As I have mentioned in my article “Tibetan Vajrayana’s View on Vegetarianism,” scores of eminent Vajrayana masters have promoted and practiced vegetarianism. Therefore, one should never make presumptuous comments or criticize Tibetan Buddhism recklessly out of ignorance. Without conducting due diligence and an in-depth and extensive investigation, one is likely to draw erroneous conclusions.
Tibetan Buddhism has a number of branchesand each holds its own profound tradition, which I can’t possibly elaborate one by one today. The best way to learn its entirety is by way of theoretical understanding and actual practice. As to the former, initially you should get to know the history and then study the five major Buddhist treatises—the tantric teachings of kriya, carya, the yoga tantras, and the unexcelled-yoga tantra. It is a process not unlike the acquisition of worldly knowledge in higher educational institute. In regard to learning by actual practice, it means to personally experience the state as taught in the texts. You should first grasp the theoretical aspect and then exert yourself in traditional meditation practices. Only through this kind of a two-pronged approach will the essence of Tibetan Buddhism be fully revealed to you. Merely perusing one or two books will never do the magic for you.
III. The Connection of Unexcelled Great Perfection to the Han Area
The Great Perfection of the Nyingma School is in fact the most sublime, but this is barely apparent via the written word. All tantras including the 17 main tantric teachigrngs of Tibet have not been compiled in the Dege’s Tibetan Tripitaka—rather, they are standalone volumes. Why? The fear of secret being let out is the main reason. Secrecy here does not imply inherent fault to hide from others, but the profundity of the teaching which is unsuitable to people lacking requisite capacity.
Thetextcontaining the Great Perfection teaching,if read like a book, may seem ordinaryandquite similar to the tenet of Chittamatrin and Madhyamaka schools. However, in the Mantrayana lineage tradition, if one relies on an authentic teacher reverently and carries out the instructions persistently, one can attain inconceivable realization with much ease.
Incidentally, while I was on my way here yesterday, I recalled that this place has had auspicious connections withthe Great Perfection lineage. Both the Han esoteric tradition and Nyingma’s Great Perfection have always given considerable weight to lineage transmission. Regarding the Han, initially Vairochana bestowed the teachings to Vajrasattva; later Nagarjuna opened the Nantian Iron Pagoda and received the transmission from Vajrasattva; Nagarjuna then passed the Dharma to Longzhi who transmitted it to Shan Wuwei and Jingang Zhi. During the Tang Dynasty, Shan Wuwei and Jingang Zhi, together with Amogha came to the Han land to spread esoteric Dharma; they are venerated as “the Three Mahasattvas of Kaiyuan.”
In Nyingma’s Great Perfection, initially the Dharma was transmitted from Samantabhadra to Vajrasattva, and in this world realm, Vajrasattva imparted it to Garab Dorje; then Garab Dorje to Manjusrimitra; and Majusrimitra to Sri Simha. It turned out Sri Simha was of Han origin. During the early Tang Dynasty, Sri Simha went to India to follow Manjusurimitra and received from him the totality of the profound Great Perfection. Upon returning to the Han area, Sri Simha resided at the Cool Charnel Ground which is said to be in today’s Wutai Mountain. [6]
At that time Vimalamitra and Jnanasutra were studying Five Sciences in a city of India. One day, while they were taking a walk in a garden near the Vajra Seat, Bodhisattva Vajrasattva suddenly appeared to them, saying, “Both of you have been learned panditas for the past 500 lives, yet you have not attained enlightenment. If you do not want to miss the chance again this life, you should set off right away to the Cool Charnel Ground in the Han land.” Hearing this, Vimalamitra immediately took a trip to the Han area where he followed Sri Simha and received many pith instructions of the Great Perfection. He stored away a portion of what he had learned at Jixiang Gate, which is located right here in your city Xian. [7]
Returning to India, Vamilamitra related his experience to Jnanasutra who then followed in the same footsteps to the Cool Charnel Ground to request teachings from Sri Simha. Following his master for a longer time period, Jnanasutra attained the highest state of Great Perfection realization. When Sri Simha was entering paranirvana, he conferred to Jnanasutra the Pith Instruction of Seven Definitive. Jnanasutra then returned to India’s Basam Charnel Ground, bringing with him also all the hidden scriptures he had retrieved from Jixiang Gate.
Vamilamitra requested an audience with Jnanasutra and besought teachings. When Jnanasutra was entering paranirvana, he transmitted to Vamilamitra the Teachings on Four Abiding. Vamilamitra imparted the pith instructions to Guru Padmasambhava who later came to Tibet…. Now this is the transmission history of Nyingmapa’s Great Perfection. We could see that the origin of esoteric lineage is Tathagatha Samantabhadra. Buddha Shakyamuni in his life also personally transmitted a number of tantras, including Kalachakra and Mañjuśrī-Nāma-Saṃgīti. But there are other tantric teachings which began to appear only after Buddha Shakyamuni’s paranirvana.
People who know neither the historical aspect nor the meaning of extraordinary lineage are likely to be opinionated, which is somewhat excusable. The transmission of the “Symbol Lineage of Vidyadharas,” for example, is incomprehensible to ordinary beings. Actually it works in a way very similar to Zen’s mind-to-mind transmission, in which the student can achieve realization by the teacher’s pointing out through a gesture or a koan. Similarly in Vajrayana, Guru Pinpoche may simply point to his students where the space resides; those with a suitable capacity will see the nature of the mind instantly. This, then, is the so-called Vidyadhara mind stream lineagetransmission. However, as such state transcends all mortal senses, academic research, an investigation based on six faculties, is in no way to reach into its subtleties. Frankly, without faith and devotion,no amount of examination will be productive, which is not unlike the result obtained by blind men’s patting of an elephant.
Nowadays people often remark: “What is the big deal of having a lineage? It’s all much ado about nothing!” But a conclusion deduced from external appearance while discounting the inner quality can hardly be called sound. Master Hong Yi once pointed out that what’s inside could be more crucial than what is out there. Drawingnational flags as an analogy, he says that a national flag was but a piece of ordinary fabric before it gets sewed into a flag.However, as the national flag is being raised, it commands respect from everyone in the ceremony. Can we call this behavior toward a piece of fabric superstitious? Of course not. Similarly, as the Buddhist scriptures seemingly are composed of common vocabularies, the academic viewpoint sees no difference between them and worldly articles. Nonetheless, the scriptures are indeed imbued with extraordinary blessings which can only be perceived by the mind, not by naked eyes.
IV. Rainbow body accomplishment in Han History
Furthermore, the “rainbow body” achievement of Tibetan Vajrayana also has baffled academic circles greatly. Although they find it impossible to accept, such incidents indeed existed in Tibet. Moreover, it has antecedents in the Han area.
For instance, in Chinese history the first fully ordained Bikhuni was named Jin Jian of the Jin Dynasty. At the age of 70, she left this world by flying to the sky and headed directly to Buddha’s Pureland in her very body of flesh and blood. This is a feat no less amazing than that of the highest rainbow body accomplishment in Vajrayana. Such an incident was a true event which later was compiled in the Biography of Bikhuni by the eminent monk Baochang of Liang Dynasty. Master Lung Lian, in his teaching on The Heart Sutra, also referred to this episode. Now, should people question the authenticity of rainbow body achievement in Tibetan Mantrayana practice, how can this account in Han Buddhist history be explained?
A contemporary Bhikhu Zhu Shihang was known as the first fully ordained monk in China. In his lifetime, he took tremendous effort to translate the Illuminating Praja Sutra (also called the abridged Sutra of Rainbow Sublimation). By dint of his years’ diligent endeavor, he understood the profound essence of rainbow body practice, and when he died, there appeared many miraculous signs attesting to his achievement in this respect. Bhikhu Zhu Shihang’s story also has been cited in my recent teaching on Summary of Prajna Sutra.
V. How to grasp the essential ideology of Tibetan Buddhism
Hence, the misconceptions on Vajrayana should be dispelled to one’s best effort. Should you desire to understand Vajrayana more deeply,two approaches can be taken: the first is to read the texts, and the second to engage in personal practice.As only fromprogressive practicewill bring a heart-felt understanding of its essence, therefore, actual practice is far superior to learning the texts alone.
If some of you here aspire to practice Vajrayana, the proper way is to start from the Preliminary Practices of the Great Perfection. In the tradition of the Great Perfection, the preliminary is comprised of two aspects: common and extraordinary. The former pertains to contemplating the rarity and preciousness of human existence, the impermanence of all phenomena, the suffering nature of samsara, and the infallible law of cause and effect. These studies can only be accomplished under the guidance of a spiritual teacher. Moreover, the most crucial point in undertaking the spiritual practice is to have a deep faith. Otherwise, you are liable to become a person impervious to the Dharma—that is, you would not experience a genuine realization even if you were to become well-versed in all the sutras and shastras and be able to expound them impressively.
In Tibet, it is well known that a book written out of mere academic research is in no way comparable to the one flowing out purely from a realized mind. Many eminent masters, with their immense merit compounded in past lives, need neither special effort nor much brooding to pour out words of wisdom spontaneously. Such attainment is beyond the reach of ordinary beings.
In this respect, my most-revered guru, His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche, is a perfect example. In my life I had the fortune of relying on him for almost 20 years and have held my highest respect and admiration in him. At home and abroad I have met many Dharma masters who are brilliant and compassionate, yet in my mind His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok Rinpoche’s realization is simply without equal. In making this statement, I do not mean to extol my own teacher; rather, I’ve taken an objective and fair position.When composing a book, ordinary people like us must do extensive research on information and think it over for a long time. His Holiness, on the other hand, absolutely needed no such preparation. Whatever he wrote was done in a single stroke in a short time period. His wisdom mind is like the headstream of a brook, forever running lively.
I recall during a trip to India in 1990, His Holiness Jigme Phuntsok suffered an ailment in eyes and could not read any written words. Yet when he gave a discourse at a prestigious Buddhist academy, he gave copious recitations of many Buddhist scriptures like the Avatamsaka Sutra and theLotus Sutra, which were quoted almost verbatim from the sutras, as a few of us disciples confirmed later with the original texts.
This kind of wisdom is referred to as the “mind-stream treasure,” or ”terma” in Tibetan Buddhism, which is unattainable by ordinary people in a short time, no matter how much effort has been exerted. Have you have ever looked into it? Terma is something very unique to Tibet,and it is utterly supreme. In Boston and Washington, D.C. of the United States, a number of doctorates once were engaged in a specific investigationinto it but regrettably, few Chinese archives deals with this topic.
In theterma tradition,Guru Padmasambhava, in order to benefit future generations, concealed with his mystic power deep teachings and sacred objects of tantra in sacred mountains, lakes, or in the sky and prophesied that certain future masters were to retrieve them later. These terma-revealers, usually realized practitioners called tertons, were to arrive at the predestined time and place to recover the hidden treasures, which usually appeared as tiny caskets. At the prompting of sparsely encoded dakini language in it, the terma concealed in the midstream of the terton was revealed and the terton spontaneously composed sadhanas and Dharma teachings that could fill dozens of book volumes by today’s standards. These teachings are completely unlike those written with a mundane discursive mind, and the practices they prescribed are equally superb. Therefore,the state reached by realized Dharma masters versus that of academia is just as different as night and day.
As I have just mentioned, if you really want to appreciate Tibetan tantras, the first thing to do is to practice the Preliminaries, starting from the contemplation of the rarity of having a human existence and the impermanence of all phenomena, etc. Having completed the common preliminaries, you must continue to the uncommon ones— taking refuge, generating bodhichitta, performing repentance and purification, making mandala offering, practicing guru yoga and phowa (the transference of consciousness). All these preliminaries will take you years to accomplish.Only by having established a firm foundation with the Preliminaries, then shall you move up to the practices of higher levels—the Generation Phase, the Completion Phase, Mahayoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga.
I have translated the sadhanas of these practices into Chinese and clearly stated that they should not be distributed openly. Still these texts have found their way onto the black market. Actually it doesn’t matter. In the absence of authentic transmission, especially to those devoid of faith, getting hold of a copy does nothing special—the sadhana will appear just as ordinary as the others. For instance, anyone can read the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch if they feel like it, but the experience of reading it varies vastly. Those with no karmic connection may feel the same as reading the Dao De Jing by Laozior the Bible. On the other hand, those who are karmically inclined may well attain enlightenment the moment they read the Platform Sutra
From my own years’ of observation, the Great Perfection of the Nyingma School is indeed a practice that can directly cut off our afflictions and in no uncertain terms reveal the Buddha’s intended meanings. It is something as rare as the morning star for one to encounter in this age of spiritual degeneration. Should you aspire to practice it, you must first receive the requisite empowerment and also complete all the preliminary practices. Having established a solid foundation, if you exert yourself under the guidance of an authentic teacher with strong faith, you will attain the subtle realization with ease.
In recent years, due to the barriers of language, transportation, or historical record, many college students have held erroneous views toward Tibetan Buddhism, especially the Secret Mantrayana. When I was at the China University in Hong Kong, I had spoken frankly at the occasion of critiquing their Buddhist essays: “It is commendable that you as college students today have some faith as well as interest in the Dharma. But regrettably you do not know enough of Tibetan Buddhism and your understanding is kind of shallow. For instance, your descriptions on the thangka culture, the charnel ground, and the human bone ritual implement in the essays are done out of curiosity alone; you have not grasped the profound meaning behind them.”
I believe that any historical account or practice of Tibetan Buddhism can completely withstand the closest scrutiny, as they are backed by ample scripture evidence and have been validated by many lineage masters. It is absolutely nothing like folk religions that deal with the mysterious power of ghosts and spirits. If you truly want know Tibetan Buddhism thoroughly, then please do not stop short as dilettantes, dig in deeply into its many facets.
Really, my talk today is sort of impromptu, as I have not done much preparation. In the remaining time, let’s discuss together the questions you may have.
[1]According to some historic account, King Songtsen Gampo in his reign communicated with monks of the Tang Dynasty and discussed the Dharma with them.
[2] Kamalaśīla was an Indian Buddhist of Nalanda Mahavihara. He and Shantarakshita, also from the Nalanda, are scholars of Svatantrika Madhyamaka.
[3] Those who truly understand the meaning of the Great Perfection or Mahamudra will not practice this way but instead will build a solid foundation first and then move on higher practices gradually.
[4] Shantaraksita was requested by King Trisong Detsen to preside over the ordination of Tibet’s first seven monks and gave them vows according to Sarvāstivāda Vinaya. The so-called seven men who were tested were:: Ba Trizhi (rba khri gzigs), also known as Nanam Dorje Dudjom (sna nam rdo rje bdud ’joms); Ba Selnang (sba gsal snang); Pagor Vairocana; Ngenlam Gyelwa Choyang (rgyal ba mchog dbyangs); Khonlui Wangpo Sungwa (’khon klu’i dbang po srung ba); Ma Rinchen Chog (rma rin chen mchog); and Lasum Gyalwa Jangchub (la gsum rgyal ba byang chub). Other different names were also found in Tibetan Buddhist literature.
[5]Wei Yuan, an idealistic torchbearer, politician and litterateur of Qing dynastywhoonce made the proposal “to conquer foreign countries, first learn the advanced technologies from them” had this critique onthe emperors of Yuan Dynasty:” Each of them is brave and stately, open-minded and generous; though the majority did not live to old age, they carry themselves with aristocratic bearing. And: “The Yuan Dynasty is remarkable. Its vast land, riches, military power, and material resources surpass those of the Han and Tang Dynasties. Its seven emperors ruling the Han land are all heroic and majestic; none of them are fatuous tyrant.”
[6] The Cool Charnel Ground is said be located at the present day Wutai Mountain.
[7] As the time was in the remote past, no explicit information on the location of Jixiang Gate can be found in the Han archives. Deducing from historical accounts and the teachings from past masters, the location should correspond to present-day Xian city.
