Tantric Techniques (58 page)

Because of very pure objects of observation, The power of aids, and also deeds,

The vehicle of the intelligent

Is renowned as the greatest of the great.

[How N
ā
g
ā
rjuna Divides the Perfection and Mantra Vehicles]

Furthermore, the Foremost Elder [Atisha’s]
Compilation of All Pledges

says:
c

Bodhisattvas who have entered the door of Mantra are to understand as follows. This great of the Great Vehicles surpasses the lower [vehicles]. How? The Superior N
ā
g
ā
rjuna

a
theg pa gsum rnam par bzhag pa
,
triy
ā
navyavasth
ā
na;
P4535, vol. 81. The passage quoted below is cited in
Tantra in Tibet,
134.

b
Cited in
Tantra in Tibet,
134.

c
dam tshig thams cad bsdus pa, sarvasamayasa
ṃ
graha;
P4547, vol. 81, 209.4.8-209.5.5. The citations from N
ā
g
ā
rjuna through Samayavajra come from Atisha’s
Compilation of All Pledges;
they are mostly consecutive with the exception that Atisha cites Tripi
ṭ
akam
ā
la and Ratn
ā
karash
ā
nti, while Bu-tön omits these passages at this point, since he has already given them earlier.

Bu-tön Rin-chen-drup’s Stimulating Catalogue
241

says, “Through realizing all as the Body of Attributes, [everything] is implanted with the seal of the all-good.
a
Through being treated as an object of service
b
by the great worldly gods who have pledges [to help tantric practitioners, and so forth] as well as by their retinues, one is blessed into a magnificent state. Through being mentally cared for and blessed by the Buddhas of the three times [past, present, and future] as well as their Children, feats are [achieved] more quickly. Through having the same sphere of activity as Ones-Gone-to-Bliss, one becomes separate from the frights of cyclic existence and bad transmigrations, and rests. Through possessing the vajra mind of enlightenment and the indivisibility of body, speech, and mind, there is no interference at all. Through believing that all external and internal [phenomena] are naturally pure, pledges do not deteriorate, and even if they do deteriorate, they are naturally restored. There are these distinctive features [of the Mantra Vehicle].”

[How Indrabh
ū
ti Divides the Perfection and Mantra Vehicles]
c

Also, the great master Indrabh
ū
ti says, “[Mantra] is superior by way of seven features: guru, vessel, rite, activity, pledge, view, and behavior.”

[How Jñ
ā
nap
ā
da Divides the Perfection and Mantra Vehicles]
d

The great master Jñ
ā
nap
ā
da says, “The Mantra Vehicle is uncommon in three ways: practitioner, path, and fruit.”

[How
Ḍ
ombh
ī
heruka Divides the Perfection and Mantra Vehicles]
e

The master
Ḍ
ombh
ī
heruka also says:

About this, the Mantra Vehicle is superior

a
kun tu bzang po
,
samantabhadra
.

b
Read
bkur
gnas
for
bkur
ste nas
at 31.4 in accordance with the
Medium-Length
version, 640.6.

c
Atisha’s
Compilation of All Pledges,
209.5.5-209.5.6.

d
Ibid., 209.5.6-209.5.7.

e
Ibid., 209.5.8-210.1.1.

242
Tantric Techniques

By way of the feature of vessels, The doctrine making vessels,
a

The features of texts and paths, and the feature of fruits.

[How Vajragha
ṇṭ
ap
ā
da Divides the Perfection and Mantra Vehicles]
b

Furthermore, Vajragha
ṇṭ
ap
ā
da says:

The Mantra Vehicle is the great of the Great Vehicles, for it has the feature of the persons who are the bases, the feature of the paths that are the means of entry, the feature of the fruit which is the finality, and the feature of definite emergence.

[How Samayavajra Divides the Perfection and Mantra Vehicles]
c

My lama, the foremost venerable Samayavajra, said:

This Vehicle is higher than the Perfection Vehicle; it is superior by way of guru, initiation, pledges, quintessential instructions, and effort.

The meaning of these is to be understood through the reasonings explained earlier, as appropriate.

a
Most likely this is initiation.

b
Atisha’s
Compilation of All Pledges,
210.1.1-210.1.2.

c
Ibid., 210.1.3-210.1.4.

1. Long-chen-rap-jam’s Dramatic Evocation
   

   The Nyingma master Long-chen-rap-jam,
   a
   1308-1363, whose writings are to much of Nyingma as Tsong-kha-pa’s are to Ge-luk (despite not being its founder), gives a presentation of the difference between the Perfection Vehicle, also called the Definition Vehicle, and the Mantra Vehicle in his
   Precious Treasury of Tenets: Illuminating the Meaning of All Vehicles.
   b
   Though he cites several of the same sources as Bu-tön, the appeal is different; his creative comments and psychologically evocative style show that the primary concern is not with providing a partially explained catalogue, like that of Bu-tön. The basic thread of discourse is the evocation of an experience of the tantric path and result through the usage of special, experientially oriented vocabulary.
   

   Long-chen-pa begins by giving a highly interpretive rendition of Tripi
   ṭ
   akam
   ā
   la’s four features distinguishing the Mantra Vehicle from the Perfection Vehicle, an explanation by no means bound by Tripi
   ṭ
   akam
   ā
   la’s own commentary, as Bu-tön’s was. Then, he lists five features:
   

   1. objects of observation
      

   2. accompaniers
      

   3. view
      

   4. behavior
      

   5. achievement of the nature
      

and cites Ratn
ā
karash
ā
nti’s three features:

1. very pure object
   

2. the power of aids
   

3. deeds.
   

He also gives extensive commentary on the fifteen distinctive features found in the
Tantra of the Inconceivable Ra-li:

a
klong chen rab ’byams
.

b
theg pa mtha’ dag gi don gsal bar byed pa grub pa’i mtha’ rin po che’i mdzod
(Gangtok: Dodrup Chen Rinpoche, 1969?), 258.1-275.2; for a translation of the entire text see Albion Moonlight Butters, “The Doxographical Genius of Kun mkhyen kLong chen rab ’byams pa,” Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 2006, 298-707. The corresponding section in Long-chen-pa’s
Precious Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle (theg pa’i mchog rin po che’i mdzod
) (Gangtok, Dodrup Chen Rinpoche, 1969?) is much shorter (128.5-130.2).

244
Tantric Techniques