Having requested many Secret Mantra empowerments from Bia ma Mar yul ba235 and Byang chub sems dpa', I practiced meditation and a good experience of tranquility236 arose.. Thinking I sho
Trang 1ka,234 receiving full ordination at once Having requested many Secret Mantra
empowerments from Bia ma Mar yul ba235 and Byang chub sems dpa', I practiced
meditation and a good experience of tranquility236 arose A flickering vision237
emerged like a rainbow A state of non-thought238 appeared, wherein [the differ
ence between] day and night was not recognized When I checked for how long it
had gone on, [I saw that] it had continued uninten-uptedly for thirteen days Since
then, I have [always] been good when it came to meditation
Thinking I should read about the conduct of bodhisattvas with the [various]
Bka ' dgams pa Dge bshes-s in Central Tibet239 in the north, I listened to [teachings
on] the stages of the path240 of perfection241 from Dge bshes Snyug rum pa and
Rgya Yon bdag.242
Since [this is how B sod nams rin chen]243 learned about the [bodhisattva]
perfections and internalized them, he [often] said that the fact that he had
[culti-233 Ms DK.A and its derivatives add the interlinear note, "in the monkey year" (spre 'u lo la), i.e., the wood-monkey year (sprel lo) of 1 1 04 The Western age 25 agrees with Bsod nams rin chen's birth in 1 079 The same age for Bsod nams rin chen's monasteric ordination was given in the first 'autobiographical' nan-ative
134 In ms DK.a, the toponym is given as rang ka In ms DK.A, it is spelled Dbrong ka
235 Bia ma Mar yul ba, i.e., Mar yul Bio ldan shes rab (dates unknown) The spelling is according
to ms DK.A; ms DK.a gives his name as Bia ma Mang yul ba
236 'Tranquility' (zhi gnas, *§amatha)
237 "A flickering vision" (snang ba ban bun) The word 'vision' could also be interpreted to mean 'perceptions' or 'appearances' in general, i.e., "flickering perceptions emerged like rainbows "
238 'Non-thought' (mi rtog pa, *nirvikalpa)
239 Central Tibet (Dbu ru)
240 "Stages of the path" (lam rims or lam rim)
241 The "path of perfection" (pha rol tu phyin pa 'i lam, "paramitiimarga) Judging from Bsod nams rin chen's manner of classifying the Buddhist teachings in other works in the Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum, it is evident that he uses the expression "the path of perfection" to signify the Common Maha yana teachings in general while distinguishing these from the teachings of the " Secret Mantra Vehicle" (gsang sngags kyi theg pa, *guhyamantrayiina)
242 Literally, " in the presence of Dge bshes Snyug rum pa and Rgya Yon bdag" (dge bshes snyug rum pa dang/ rgya yon bdag gnyis kyi spyan sngarl) For these two Dge bshes-s, see footnotes
1 66 and 1 67
243 Tibetan language usually omits personal pronouns and the subject o f sentences, leaving these implicit, unless they are needed for clarifying the meaning The subject is often implied merely by the form of the verb, where there is a choice between regular and honorific forms , and honorific forms cannot be used with reference to oneself In the present segment, the personal pronoun "I" (nga) was explicit in the first sentence, "To begin with, when I reached the age of sixteen " The first person pronoun (nga rang) occun-ed again in the sentence, "Since then, I have [always] been good when it came to meditation " In all other sentences, the subject "I" was implicit in Tibetan, though justified to insert into the English translation given the overall flow of the narrative and the author's choice of verbal forms However, in the present sentence which has no explicit subj ect, the narrative breaks away from this flow, because it uses an honorific verb and other honorific words to speak about B sod nams rin chen It also quotes a statement that seems to have been spoken by Bsod
Trang 2vated] the resolve for Awakening (bodhicitta) was [due to] the kindness of these
two [teachers]
Later [I] heard the name Bia m a M i l a and felt faith [in him] 244 I requested the
Dge bshes's permission [to leave] and then traveled for forty days to reach [my
destination in] Gtsang province.245
At the age of thirty one,246 I met Bia ma Mid la.247 When I presented him with
my former meditation experience, he said, "That [experience] of yours is medita
tion, but it is not the path of the Buddhists "248
[Later on] , there was a period when I could not meditate properly due to in
tense lethargy, and he said, "You should practice breathing exercises "249 When I
had practiced breathing exercises for a year, all the qualities of the winds250 arose
perfectly, and he said to me, "I think from now on there will be no difficulty for
you to bring about bliss-heat and meditative concentration "
When I had stayed thirteen months with the Bia ma,251 I went down.252 At that
time, [Bia ma Mi la] placed a large gtor ma253 on my head and gave me an
em-nams rin chen himself, which does not appear to be a quotation from one of his teachers Thereby, the author, who is not Bsod nams rin chen, reveals himself, stepping away from the 'autobio-graphical' character of the narrative
244 Ms DK.A strengthens the sentence by saying " [my] mind became exceedingly faithful "
245 The duration o f his travel from Central Tibet to Gtsang i n the present story i s much shorter than the four months the journey was said to have taken in the first 'autobiographical' narrative, where B sod nams rin chen was delayed by the illness of his companion 'Gong ston It is in general notable that 'Gong ston, who figured prominently in the first narrative, is entirely absent in the present story
246 Ms DK.A and its derivatives add the interlinear note, "the ox year" (glang lo), i.e., the earth
ox year (sa glang) corresponding to 1 1 09 CE This year agrees with Bsod nams rin chen's birth-year
of 1 079 and his Western age of 30
247 Ms DK.a uses the spelling Mi la in the preceding sentence and Mid la in the present sentence
Ms DK.A and its derivatives consistently use Mi la
248 Ms DK.A changes the sentence to: " but it is not the path for becoming a buddha "
249 Cf fn 1 7 8 The second 'autobiographical' narrative here echoes the wording o f the first narra tive, or vice versa
250 'Winds' (rlung, *vayu) refer to the inner breath or energies of Tibetan yoga, which are said to circulate in an internal bodily system of psychic channels (rtsa, *nadi)
25 1 Literally, " in the presence of the Ela ma " The number of thirteen months that Bsod nams rin chen is said to have stayed with Mi la ras pa agrees with the thirteen months mentioned in the first narrative
252 That is to say, he went down from the mountain pass where Mi la lived Ms DK.A and its deri vatives add the interlinear note, "in the tiger year" (stag lo la), " i.e., the iron-tiger year (lcags stag) corresponding to 1 1 1 0 CE
253 A gtor ma ( *bali) is a ritual figure usually made out of dough, which is used for making ritual offerings to deities, protectors, and various mundane spirits, or it is used as a symbolic ritualistic representation of a Tantric deity The latter seems to be the case here, since the gtor ma is used for bestowing a Tantric empowerment
Trang 3powerment to the tjakin!s and Dhanna protectors.254 At the end of it, he said, "It
seems you will bring much benefit to sentient beings " When I asked him how that
might be, he said: "When you first arrived here, there appeared a special sign indi
cating that there would be [much] benefit for sentient beings I dreamt that while
you were staying here, you and I competed in a foot race Since you came in first,
it seems to indicate that you will bring about bigger benefit for sentient beings than
I will Also, once I dreamt that I threw a boulder larger than a tent to another land,
but when you struck it with both your hands it turned into a pile of dust [The
dream] shows that since your bodily strength is better than mine, there will be no
difficulty for your abilities and you will have no fear of outer things."
After going down, I studied the instructions of Dfpamkarasrfjfiana255 in great
detail with Dge bshes Sgre pa,256 Dge bshes Lcags ri ba,257 and Dge bshes Bya yul
ba n258
The monks then asked, "Please tell us259 the way in which [realization] was
born in your mind "
[Bsod nams rin chen said] , "The meditative experience o f resting [inwardly]
would occur whenever I meditated on bliss, presence, and non-thought,260 but it
would not be there when I did not meditate The experience261 of one-pointed
ness262 also arose, although it differed during the four types of daily activities.263 A
lucid state of being fully present264 would appear whenever the meditative focus
was applied I was able to lead my meditation into a state, where I would think,
"This is it ! "
Sometimes when cognition was without moisture,265 I would have to ask my
self whether there actually ever was anything to be developed.266 Sometimes [the
254 pakin!s (mkha ' 'gro) and Dharma protectors (chos skyong, *dharmapiila) are female and male guardian deities of the B uddhist Tantric teachings
255 I.e , the Bka ' gdams teachings from Atifa
256 Dge bshes Sgre pa (dates unknown) Cf fn 1 96 See SHERPA (2004:64)
257 Dge bshes Lcags ri ba (dates unknown) SHERPA (ibid.) suggests his full name to be Lcags ri gong kha ba Byang chub dpal
258 Dge bshes Bya yul ba Gzhon nu 'od ( 1 075- 1 1 38) (SHERPA, 2004:64)
259 When the text here mentions "the monks" (gra pa rnams), the sentence is quite similar to the parallel passage in the first narrative, where Dge bshes Sgre pa poses a question to Bsod nams rin chen before he begins to tell about his inner experiences Notably, Dge bshes Sgre pa was just mentioned in the present narrative, not as posing a question but as being one of the dge bshes-s with whom B sod nams rin chen studied after having stayed with Mi la ras pa
260 'Bliss' (bde ba, *sukha), 'presence' (gsal ba, *vyakta), and 'non-thought' (mi rtog pa, *nirvi-kalpa) The terms will be clarified in further detail below in the book's third part
261 'Experience', i.e., 'meditative experience' (nyams, *anubhiiva)
262 'One-pointedness' (rtse gcig, *ekiigratii)
263 "The four types of daily activities" (spyod lam, *!ryiipatha) These are traditionally listed as moving, walking, sitting, and lying down ( Yogiiciirabhumi, Sriivakablnimi D4036 l 3 l a6f.)
264 "A lucid state of being fully present" (gsal sing ba)
265 The expression "cognition without moisture" (shes pa rlan dang bra/ nas) may be difficult to understand and is, to be sure, not frequent in Buddhist literature Yet, generally speaking, metaphors
Trang 4feeling] also arose that nothing had been developed [to begin with] 267 Sometimes
no [feeling] arose of anything having been developed.268 Since reali-zation had not
[yet] been achieved, I had only a trifling sense of inner certainty
Since the root is the mind, it is like the moon on the first day of the lunar
month.269 Being the beginning of knowledge,270 the first step of the path had been
discerned Later, knowledge emerged truly
In my case, I had a good dream and not long thereafter the self-nature of
knowledge was seen vividly, like meeting a person I knew from before When
cognition itself turned into the meditation, there was no object of meditation and no
one meditating The mind, being without support, emerged as both present and
empty.27 1 I felt from the very beginning of this, that there was a moment of
recognition All phenomena turned into an outer shell Yet, as soon as thoughts272
arose, I felt unpleasant, and I felt it would be better if such conceptuality273 were
not there When there was no conceptuality, the presence and emptiness became
uninterrupted and I felt, "That's it ! " These [experiences] appeared in Se ba valley in
Gnyal.214
Having moved to upper B ag rong,275 realization was born [in me] Before I felt
bad whenever thoughts arose and good when thoughts did not arise At upper Bag
rong, thoughts themselves emerged as presence.276 Hence, whenever thoughts arose,
it was like light shining into light
of moisture are well-known in mystical literature of all world religions and seem to relate to com mon nuances of mystical experience
266 " Anything to be developed" (bsgom, *bhiivayitavya), or "anything to be meditated upon," or
"anything to be cultivated "
267 "Nothing had been developed" (ma bsgoms, *abhiivanii or *abhiivita), or "nothing had been meditated upon , " or "nothing had been cultivated "
268 "Anything having been developed" (bsgoms, *bhiivanii or *bhiivita), or "anything having been meditated upon," or " anything having been cultivated "
269 Or, "like the new moon " The meaning is that while these these unstable meditative experi ences are not full Awakening, they equally pertain to the nature of the mind, just like the new moon
is also the moon even though it does not yet shines as brightly as the full moon
270 " Knowledge" (ye shes, *jiiiina), or "wisdom "
271 'Present' (gsal, *vyakta) and 'empty' (stong, *siinya)
272 'Thoughts' (mam rtog, *vikalpa)
273 'Conceptuality' (rtog pa, *vikalpa)
274 1.e., in B sod nams rin chen's home valley, where he went to perform meditation retreats after his journeys to central and southern Tibet
275 Upper B ag rong (bag rong phu) The spelling of the toponym is according to ms DK.a Ms DK.A and its derivatives give the toponym as Dbrong phu The syllable rong in Bag rong means " a ravine o r narrow gorge "
276 'Presence' (gsal ba, *vyakta), sometimes translated into English as 'clarity', 'lucidity', or 'vivid ness' While the Tibetan term gsal ba literally means 'clear' or 'clarity', the Sanskrit term vyakta literally means 'before the eyes', i.e., to be lucidly present and exceedingly mindful of everything The translation 'presence' or 'present' is an attempt to capture that sense The term is often contrasted with the semi-opposite, 'empty' (stong pa, *siinya), i.e., 'present' yet 'empty'
Trang 5I had the thought that neither death nor non-death exists for yogis of the Secret
Mantra [tradition] and that the visions of the interim also do not arise.277 The vene
rable Bla ma278 has said: "One [who] rests in the stream of presence will not see the
city of the interim " I think this [is what] happened to me When one is not hm1 by
thoughts and remains in presence, one is not vulnerable to anything When the
stream of presence is stable, it arises in presence and emptiness [inseparable] like
the flow of a river
Later when I had moved to Byar rkog,279 [my experience] was free from any
perceiver of presence and there was not the slightest need for performing any men
tal operation The mind as such became dharmakaya Thereafter I moved to Zangs
lung280 and in the year that passed28 1 I recognized the manner in which the three
kayas emerge "
So spoke [Bsod nams rin chen] I_thi
The second 'autobiographical' narrative begins by telling about B sod nams rin chen's early Buddhist education in his home region of Gnyal, differing slightly from the first narrative with regard to the names of the teachers listed and the teachings received It also leaves out
the first narrative
Providing fewer details, it then recounts Bsod nams rin chen's study with the Bka ' gdams teachers Snyug rum pa and Rgya Yon bdag in Central Tibet
In its third part, it describes his apprenticeship under the yogi Mi la ras pa Bla ma Mi la's reaction to B sod nams rin chen's former meditation practice differs considerably from the first narrative, since Mi la here rejects his Bka ' gdams practice, saying it was unsuccess ful In general, the present narrative does not emphasize B sod nams rin chen's Bka ' gdams ties in the same positive vein as seen in the first narrative
277 "The visions of the interim" (bar do 'i snang ba), i.e., the experiences that a normal person is said to encounter in the afterlife between death and rebirth (bar do, *antarabhava)
278 "The venerable Bla ma" (bla ma rje btsun) is not identified in the text but the phrase here seems to refer to one of B sod nams rin chen's teachers, probably Mi la ras pa who is often referred to
as "venerable" (rje btsun)
279 The toponym's spelling is according t o m s DK.a M s DK.A spells i t Byar lkog
280 The spelling is according to ms DK.a Ms DK.A and its derivatives spell this toponym Zang lung Zangs lung, meaning "Copper valley," is located near Mt Dags Iha sgam po and is mentioned
in later descriptions or guides to this hermitage as a retreat place found near the hermitage
28 1 From the Tibetan text ( 'da ' ba 'i lo la), it is not clear whether one or more years are meant SHERPA (2004:74) has suggested that the phrase 'da ' ba 'i lo la, "in the year that passed," alternatively could be taken as meaning " in the year of [the Bla ma's] passing", thereby becoming an argument for accepting 1 1 23 as the year in which Mi la ras pa passed away DUFF (20 1 1 :95) interprets the same phrase as meaning "in his year of passage" , taking it as referring to 1 1 5 3 when Bsod nams rin chen died Neither of these interpretations has been adopted here