Sa Pai:i thus criticized the
Bka ' brgyud pas
for propagating and practicing aMahamudra
doctrine that did not adhere to the orthodox Indian Tantric tradition taught by such Indian masters as Nagarjuna, Naropa, and Maitrlpa, and therefore regarded it as an entirely nonIndian system. If Sa Pai:i's critique has historical validity, it establishes a contrast between B sod nams rin chen's
Mahamudra
teaching and the Indian Tantric tradition, which consequently raises the questions of what the background and novelty of Bsod nams rin chen's teaching might have been as well as what motive he may have felt in formulating his new approach to
Mahiimudra.
Sa Pai:i's critique seems to have been right in at least some regards. It is true that there are several elements in the early
Bka ' brgyud Mahamudra
doctrines that are similar to Chanphyag rgya chen po bkag! /dbang bskur ba las byung ba yi! lye shes phyag rgya che rtogs na/ Ida gzad mtshan ma dang bcas pa 'ii /'bad rt sol kun la mi ltos sol.
85 For the identification of Sa Pal).'S quote from Nagarjunagarbha's Caturmudriinifcaya, see RHO
TON (2002 : 1 1 9, fn. 36). For a later Bka ' brgyud Mahamudrii text asserting Nagarjuna as a student of Saraha, see, e.g., Sgam po Bkra shis rnam rgyal's large Mahamudra treatise written in 1 565 or 1 577 (Ox year), entitled Nges don phyag rgya chen po 'i sgom rim gsal bar byed pa 'i legs bshad zla ba 'i 'od zer, TBRC W23447- 1 898, folio 1 05b, p. 2 1 0; English translation by LHALUNGPA ( 1 986: 1 1 7) .
86 Sa Pal).'s Clear Differentiation continues at this point with a longer criticism of using devotional practices for realizing Mahiimudra in the manner this was first taught by Bsod nams rin chen. This critique shall not be discussed here. For an English translation thereof, see RHOTON (2002 : 1 1 9- 1 20), verses 1 8 1 - 1 20.
Chapter 2: The Critical Reception of B sod nams rin chen's 63
of meditation practice and its notion of Awakening, although these similarities are be found in the very rigid doctrinal sense in which later Tibetans viewed and rejected teaching of Heshang Maheyan. Rather, it seems possible that some Bka ' brgyud terms and tropes may have roots in Chinese Chan, perhaps introduced to Bsod rin chen's teachings via the early traditions of Tibetan Rdzags chen.87
Nevertheless, it would be highly oversimplified to think that Indian Buddhists only the gradual approach to Awakening, whereas the instantaneous approaches exclu
were taught by Chinese Buddhists. To demonstrate the complexity and even of Buddhist doctrines in Tibet at the time when Sa Pa9 wrote his critique, a short
text attributed to the Indian master Sakyasribhadra will be considered next.
Sakya5nohadra (died ca. 1 225) was a Buddhist scholar-monk from Kasmir, who came to with a group of Indian monks in 1 204 at the invitation of the Bka ' brgyud teacher Phu Lotsa ba Byams pa'i dpal ( 1 1 72- 1 236). In 1 205, Sa Pa9 went to study with in particular to learn the Indian treatises on logic and epistemology (tshad pram{i!ia) . Sa Pai:i studied with him and his monks for several years and in
I
208 S a Pai:i received full monastic ordination from this Indian master (VAN DER KUIJP, 1 994:6 1 2). In Sakyasribhadra returned to Kasmir accompanied by Khro phu Lotsa ba. SakyasrIis thus an example of a Kasmirian teacher, considered Indian and therefore orthodox Tibetan eyes, who taught in Tibet in a number of different sectarian contexts, including
of the Bka ' gdams, Bka ' brgyud, and Sa skya traditions.
From the point of view of Sa Pal)'s criticism that non-Tantric instantaneous approaches are purely Chinese in their origin, it would be expected that Sakyasribhadra's teachings wholly gradualist. Nevertheless, the Bka ' brgyud pas have transmitted a text attributed Sakyasrlbhadra, which - although not a Mahamudra text per se - seems to be instanta
neous in its meditative approach.
The text in question is entitled "Nine Jewel Pebbles of lnstruction" (Gdam ngag rin chen 'bru dgu).88 According to its colophon, the text was composed by Sakyasrlbhadra.89 After presenting some preliminaries, the text instructs that the practitioner should go to a remote place free from distractions and relax the body and mind. Then the meditator should pray to the guru and to the meditational deity (yi dam) in order to form a strong resolve for attaining Awakening. The meditator should contemplate death, karman, and suffering to produce a sense of renunciation. Thereafter, the main meditation is explained in the follo
wing words:
87 See David P. JACKSON ( 1 992) for an article that has initiated such a course of investigation.
88 The text is found in Nges don phyag rgya chen po 'i khrid mdzad, edited by Zhwa dmar pa Mi pham chos kyi blo gros , New Delhi 1 997, TBRC W23447, vol. 2
(A(1),
folios 44b-48b (pp. 88-96).89 The colophon mentions no date, place, or circumstance for its composition. It only says: "The Nine Jewel Pebbles of Instruction composed by the great scholar of Kasmir Sakyasribhadra is finished." Folio 48b5 : !gdam ngag rin chen 'bru dgu ::,he bya ba kha che 'i pa!ic/i ta chen po shakya shrf bha dras mdzad pa rdzags sol/.
64 Chapter 2: The Critical Reception of B sod nams rin chen's MahZimudriJ
When letting whatever is perceived just be, accomplishment happens spontaneous
ly without acting. When perceiving the essence of all that arises, awareness becomes liberated by itself. When cutting off the trace of movement, thinking subsides in space. Since these three are the nature of the mind, cultivate them as the main meditation.90
These verses explain what appears to be an instantaneous approach to A wakening. This becomes especially clear when the explanatory prose section, which follows in the text, is taken into consideration. One of the given prose explanations states that "the uncontrived awareness itself is
buddha" (ma bcos pa 'i rig pa nyid sangs rgyas yin)
and it is said that the meditator should practice compassion and insight instantaneously(cig car du)
in unison, like the two wings of a bird. It is also instructed that emptiness and compassion are to be perfected as being of one taste(ro gcig, *ekarasa) :
The uncontrived awareness itself is buddha. [The meditator] should never become distracted from [this] object [of meditation] . When he focuses attentively on the instruction of recognizing awareness in this manner, then - as [the meditator] gains familiarity therewith - any form of awareness that appears will become liberated in and of itself. . . . In spite of having meditated on emptiness combined with engendering compassion toward those without reali-zation thereof, most practitioners do not know how to make [this experience] continuous. Lacking a strong continuity in the practice with [proper] understanding of the method [for proceeding] in this [manner] , it is [quite] difficult to complete the Mahayana path . . . . As long as these two aspects [of compassion and insight] have not been cultivated, the less competent meditator should cultivate these in unison by alternating [between them] . Thereafter, letting the meditation become relaxed, he should practice them instantaneously in unison, like the [two] wings of a bird. In general, a crucial key point [of the practice] is to mix emptiness and compassion as much as possible until they become perfected as being of a single taste and then rest in a meditative absorption therein.9 1
Several key terms in the passage, including "uncontrived awareness"
(ma bcos pa 'i rig pa,
*ak!trimavidyii),
"instantaneously"(cig car du, *yugapad),
and " one taste"(ro gcig,
*eka-90 Gdam ngag rin chen 'bru dgu, folio 46a (p. 9 1 ) : cir snang rang sar gzhag na bya bra! lhun gyis grub/ /gang shar ngo bo gzung na rig pa rang sar grol/ /'gyu ba 'i rtsad rjes chod na dran rtog dbyings su ya!/ !'di gsum rang sems gnas lugs yin pas dngos gzhir bsgom/.
91 Op.cit: 46b-47b (pp. 92-94): ma bcos pa 'i rig pa nyid sangs rgyas yin/ yul dus nam yang de las ma g.yos sol Ides na rig pa ngos 'dzin gyi man ngag dran pas bzung la/ de bsgoms pas gang shar gyi rig pa thams cad rang gis rang nyid la rang grol du 'gyur ro/ I . . . ls grub pa po phal cher gyis stong pa nyid bsgom pa 'i zhor la de ma rtogs pa 'i yul la snying rje skyes kyang/ de don du mi gnyer bas rgyun mthud mi shes/ der thabs shes kyi nyam !en shed ma mthud pas theg pa ch en po 'i lam mthar than par dka ' ba yin/ . . . goms pa zhan pa mams kyis de gnyis ma goms pa !tar re mos kyis zung 'jug dang/ goms pa klod du gyur pas bya 'i gshog pa !tar cig car du zung 'jug tu nyams su blang/ spyir stong nyid snying rje ro gcig tu mthar phyin par 'gyur ba ci nus kyis bsre zhing mnyam par 'jog pa 'i gnad gal che/.
Chapter 2: The Critical Reception of B sod nams rin chen's 65
are highly reminiscent of corresponding
Bka ' brgyud Mahiimudrii
formulations. Even the text never actually employs the wordMahiimudrii,
it may be observed that it teaches a meditative approach that is quite similar to the system introduced by B sod namschen and his successors.
The text's similarity to
Bka ' brgyud Mahiimudrii
obviously raises the question whether it all was composed by Sakyasribhadra, as its colophon suggests, or whether it is an apopseudepigraph wrongly attributed to him.92 The text was never accepted widely enough for it to gain canonical status by being included in the
Bstan 'gyur,
unlike so many other works by S akyasribhadra now found in the Tibetan canon.93 TheBka ' brgyud pa
s, however, seem to have considered it an authentic work, because the seventh Karma pa grags rgya mtsho ( 1 454- 1 506) included it along with three other short texts ascribed Sakyasribhadra in his three-volume compilation entitled "The IndianMahiimudrii
Treatises "(Phyag rgya chen po 'i rgya gzhung).94
The other three texts by Sakyasribhadra in Chos grags rgya mtsho's compilation are of less consequence to the present analysis and need not be considered here.9592 It may, for example, be noted that David P. JACKSON ( 1 994:68-70) in a different context has suggested that S akyasrTuhadra held a negative opinion about Bka ' brgyud Mahiimudrii, but JACKSON
not offered any textual proof for this claim.
93 The Beijing and Sde dge Bstan 'gyurs contain at least fifteen works authored by him.
94 On the seventh Karma pa Chos grags rgya mtsho being the editor of this compilation, see folio 3a2_4 of the compilation's dkar chags entitled Gnas lugs phyag rgya chen po 'i rgya gzhung glegs bam gsum yi ge 'i 'byung gnas su ji !tar bkod pa 'i dkar chags bzhugs byang mdor bsdus pa sgrub brgyud grub pa 'i ma rgyan. According to its colophon (folio 42a, p. 83), the dkar chags was written by Karma Bkra shis chos 'phel (b. nineteenth century) in the vicinity of Dpal spungs monastery in Sde dge. Karma Bkra shis chos 'phel's dkar chags is a redaction of an earlier work first written in the eighteenth century. It was possibly produced in connection with the Dpal spungs printing of the seventh Karma pa's compilation, a print which the dkar chags mentions was made at the occasion of
a teaching and recitation-transmission (bklags lung) performed at Dpal spungs monastery by 'Jam mgon Kong sprul Blo gros mtha' yas ( 1 8 1 3- 1 899) . Meanwhile, the Dpal spungs print of the seventh Karma pa's compilation has recently been incorporated as a facsimile into a larger compilation of both Indian and Tibetan Mahiimudrii works entitled Nges don phyag rgya chen po 'i khrid mdzod (TBRC W23447, see fn. 8 8 above) edited and published by the fourteenth Zhwa dmar pa Mi pham chos kyi blo gros ( 1 952-20 1 4) . The Indian treatises (rgya gzhung) make up the first three volumes of this new compilation bearing the sub-title Phyag rgya chen po 'i rgya gzhung. As a digression, it may further be remarked that Karma Bkra shis chos 'phel's dkar chags does not include Sakyasrlbhadra's text in his listing of the contents of the second volume (A(1) on folio 23a6 (p. 45), but on folio 26b1 (p.
52) he instead enumerates all four of SakyasrTuhadra's works when listing the contents of the compilation's third and last volume (Hudi), including the above-cited work. It is therefore concei
vable that it was Bkra shis chos 'phel's intention that all the four works by S akyasrlbhadra found in this compilation ought to have been kept together in the third volume, instead of being scattered across the second and third volume as is now the case.
95 These works are: ( 1 -2) two short non-canonical sets of verses supposed to have appeared mira
culously out of the sky during Sakyasrlbhadra's funeral entitled "Verses that Appeared in the Sky"
66 Chapter 2: The Critical Reception of B sod nams rin chen's Mahclmudrii
Further, there seems to have existed another text attributed to Sakyasr!bhadra, which contained explanations on an instantaneous approach. This is a text referred to in other sources under the title "The Nine Golden Syllables"
(Gser gyi yi ge 'bru dgu pa).
It has not been possible to locate this work anywhere, but the seventh Karma pa gave the following reference to it in one of his own works entitled "AMahamudrii
Instruction given by the Seventh Rgyal ba [Karmapa] "(Rgyal ba bdun pas stsal ba 'i phyag rgya chen po zhal gdams) :
There are very many authentic treatises [that praise non-analytical meditation as the highest] . . . such as [the writings by] the great scholar Sakyasrl[bhadra] , who in
"The Nine Golden Syllables" said that analytical meditation relying on various forms of reasoning, such as [the Madhyamaka argument of] neither being one nor many, is a practice [intended] for those of mediocre capacity, whereas uncontrived meditation, wherein whatever arises is left uncon-trived, is a practice for those of the highest capacity.96
This reference likewise indicates a
Bka ' brgyud
interpretation or transmission of an instantaneous approach taught by Sakyasr!bhadra.Given the limited circulation and non-canonical status of these texts attributed to Sakyasrlbhadra as well as the extant text's use of what appears to be
Bka ' brgyud Mahii
mudrii
terminology, the works may be suspected of being pseudepigraphs that were not actually taught by the widely respected Indian master Sakyasr!bhadra. In fact, there is currently no philological evidence for their authenticity other than the above-cited colophon found in "The Nine Jewel Pebbles of Instruction." Nevertheless, there are two arguments that should be considered as weighing in favor of the authenticity of the two cited texts.First, if these texts were forged by some
Bka ' brgyud pa
writers in order to lend support to the notion that a highly acclaimed Indian master, Sakyasribhadra, taught an instantaneous approach, it would be expected that the texts would be sufficiently explicit on this point to warrant such support. Nevertheless, "The Nine Jewel Pebbles " never uses the actual wordMahamudra,
which weakens its support for claiming any Indian origin for theBka ' brgyud
(Nam mkha ' la byon pa 'i tshigs su bead pa) and " [A Poem] with Seven Branches that Appeared from a Rumbling Cloud" (Chu 'dzin gyi nga ro las byung ba 'i yan lag bdun pa) found in Nges don phyag rgya chen po 'i khrid mdzad, vol. 2
(A(1),
folios 48b-50a, pp. 96-99; and (3) two verses explaining the inseparability of emptiness and compassion entitled "Instruction in the Pure View and Conduct" (Lta spyod mam dag gi man ngag, *Vi§uddhadar.fonacaryopade.fo) found in vol. 3 (Hitdi), folios193b-1 94a, pp. 470-47 193b-1 ) said to have been translated by Khro phu lotsa ba at Khro phu monastery in the presence of S akyasrlbhadra himself. The l atter short text was included in the Tibetan Bstan 'gyur (Q3292, D2464) and thus enjoys canonical status.
96 Rgyal ba bdun pas stsal ba 'i phyag rgya chen po zhaZ gdams, contained in Nges don phyag rgya chen po 'i khrid mdzod, vol. 1 1 (Nya), folio 7b-8a, pp. 408-409: . . . pa7:1 chen shiikya shrfs! gser gyi yi ge 'bru dgu par! gcig du braZ sags rigs pa 'i mam grangs du mas dpyad nas bsgom pal blo 'bring gi nyams Zeni mi bcos par gang shar bcos med du nyams su Zen pa nil bZo rab kyi nyams Zen du gsungs pa 'i gzhung tshad ldan shin tu mang ngo!!
Chapter 2: The Critical Reception of B sod nams rin chen's Mahclmudr;r,i 67
doctrines. Secondly, if the texts were forged in order to support an Indian for
Bka ' brgyud Mahiimudrii,
it would be expected that the texts would have been in the extensive doctrinal defenses ofBka ' brgyud Mahiimudrii
that are found in seveapologetic passages in sixteenth-century
Mahiimudrii
works, such as those written by mkhyen Padma dkar po( 1 527- 1 592)
or Sgam po Bkra shis mam rgyal( 1 5 1 3- 1 5 87).97
it may be tempting simply to write off Sakyasrlbhadra's texts as being inauthentic pseudepigrapha given that they fit so poorly into the simple exegetical schematics presented Sa Pai:i, it is, in fact, not entirely inconceivable that Sakyasr!bhadra may have taught different approaches in different sectarian contexts and could have been inclined to teach an instantaneous approach to someone like his personal translator Khro phu lotsa ba. After all, phu lotsa ba was aBka ' brgyud Mahiimudrii
practitioner in his own right and he was Sakyasr!bhadra's main host and translator in Tibet.If it is accepted that the Indian master Sakyasrlbhadra taught a non-Tantric instanta
neous approach resembling
Bka ' brgyud Mahamudrii
- and, granted, this may be a very big- these teachings suggest a much more complex situation than that depicted by Sa Pai:i.
teachers, who visited Tibet and who were thereby themselves exposed to Tibetan doctrines on instantaneous approaches to A wakening, may have felt inclined to give their own non-Tantric teachings on instantaneous meditation. Examples of such teachers might include Sakyasr1bhadra and, somewhat earlier, Pha dam pa Sangs rgyas (eleventh-twelfth centuries) who likewise is known to have taught
Mahiimudrii
in Tibet. While such Indian attestations do not exempt B sod nams rin chen's teachings from all the points raised in Sa Pai:i's critique claiming that his teaching was a novelty which had not been taught within the orthodox Indian Tantric traditions, they at least indicate that the doctrinal situation in thirteenth-century Tibet when Sa Pai:i wrote his criticism was far from a simple and clearcut dichotomy between Indian authenticity versus less-authentic Chinese derivation. Rather, it seems that a number of instantaneous contemplative approaches had developed independ
ently in different Buddhist contexts and localities in India, China, and Tibet from the eighth and ninth centuries onwards.
While it is possible to discuss the origin or sources of inspiration for Bsod nams rin chen's
Mahamudra
in terms of the complexity and hybridity of the religious trends in twelfth-century Tibet, it must at the same time be kept in mind that theBka ' brgyud
tradition perceived itself as being of wholly Indian origin, including itsMahiimudrii
97 Padma dkar po defended the Indian origin of Bka ' rgyud Mahiimudrii especially in his "Repo
sitory of Mahiimudra" (Phyag chen gan mdzod); see BROIDO ( 1 987). Sgam po Bkra shis rnam rgyal did so in "Mahiimudra Moonlight" (Phyag chen zla zer) ; see the English translation by LHALUNGPA ( 1 986, especially pp. 1 05- 1 09). For information on the author Sgam po Bkra shis rnam rgyal, see KAPSTEIN ( 1 990) and David P. JACKSON (2008). The author's year of death in 1 5 87 is based on information provided in the abbatial history of Dags Iha sgam po (Gangs can 'dir ston pa 'i rgyal tshab dpal sgam po pa 'i khri gdung 'dzin pa 'i dam pa rnams kyi gtam bai ¢urya 'i phreng ba, folio 83b2, S0RENSEN & DOLMA, 2007 :229) stating that Bkra shis rnam rgyal passed away at the age of 75.
I am here not following JACKSON's (op.cit. :20 1 ) suggestion that he may have died in 1 596.
68 Chapter 2: The Critical Reception of B sod nams rin chen's Malulmudril
transmission.
Bka ' brgyud
masters of the twelfth-thirteenth centuries claimed their tradition to have been derived from the some of the most respected masters of IndianTantra,
espetransmission.