PREFACE

In the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the Masters of wisdom through Helena Petrovna Blavatsky communicated to the world what we know as Theosophy. Theosophy is what in our times can be shared of the divine wisdom at the root of the world’s religions and philosophies ‐ or theosophia. Much of theosophia is ʺesotericʺ in the sense that it cannot be fully comprehended without following exacting moral discipline and mental preparation on the part of the disciple, and some of which would only be a danger to one not so prepared to assimilate it for the good of all humanity.

The worldʹs religions, drawing on more or less partial inspirations from and insights into thosophia, invariably degrade over time through concretizing intuitive symbols, dogmatizing universal teachings, reifying abstractions, and taking literally great spiritual concepts. Add to that the mixed motives of adherents from selfishness and self‐aggrandizement to power‐seeking and

exclusivity, and religious traditions tend to lose the golden thread that gave them their profound meanings.

Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha who founded the Buddhist

tradition, is said to have predicted that Buddhism would pass through just such stages of loss and degradation to the point of vanishing in about 2500 years, which would be our present time. It is also said that Buddhas before Gautama arose to restore the sacred teachings, and that such figures would appear again to restore the divine current of spiritual truth. The Great Master, known as the Maha Chohan, wrote a letter at the beginning of the modern Theosophical Movement declaring that ʺIt is time that Theosophy should enter the arena.ʺ In the same letter he said ʺBuddhism, stripped of its superstition, is eternal truth….ʺ Theosophy is as much of that eternal truth as can be shared with and assimilated by humanity today.

While not pretending to discern exactly what is encompassed by

the Great Master’s term ʺsuperstition,ʺ it is possible to examine the

ii TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II lives and contributions of those profound Buddhist teachers who sought to reform the practices and clarify the thinking of their days.

The articles in this volume constitute a selection of just such teachers.

Between 1975 and 1989, articles on great thinkers and teachers were published monthly in Hermes, the organ of the United Lodge of Theosophists in Santa Barbara, California. The articles in this voume consist of a selection of remarkable Buddhist teachers and promulgators of the Bodhisattva Path, the path of service to all humanity. There are many illustrious teachers of this path who have labored for the world in the last two and a half millennia, and this selection is designed to give a sense of the immense range and richness of the Indo‐Tibetan Buddhist tradition. This is the second volume in the collection of teachers from diverse spiritual schools of thought. The first volume presented those figures associated with the Seven‐Century Plan initiated by Tsong Kha Pa for the Western

world, culminating in the founding of the Theosophical Movement.

There Tsong Kha Pa was discussed in terms of this Plan and its esoteric meaning. In this volume, Tsong Kha Pa is presented as the Buddhist teacher who rejuvenated Buddhism in Tibet, creating the

Gelukpa Order, of which the Dalai Lamas are spiritual leaders. The third volume will focus on Chinese teachers—Confucian, Taoist and Buddhist—and Japanese Buddhist exemplars.

Since these articles were written, an enormous amount of

scholarship has emerged, especially regarding the teachers and schools found in this volume. Many Tibetan texts have been carefully translated into English by highly trained individuals and teams of translators, thanks to the spread of Tibetan centers across the globe. Much of this ocean of material is profound but quite technical. The articles in this volume can serve as a general introduction to what is rapidly becoming a vast library of Buddhist history, teaching and knowledge. And they intimate the deeper meanings of the Bodhisattva Path which become clear only as a student or disciple assimilates the Teachings over a lifetime of study, self‐examination, and self‐sacrifice.

PREFACE iii

In addition to the articles on these remarkable individuals, there are articles by the great Theosophical teachers Helena Blavatsky and Raghavan Iyer which place fundamental Buddhist ideas in a broad context. These include essays on the Bodhisattva Ideal, esoteric Buddhism, reincarnation in Tibet, and the soul of Tibet, among others.

Taken together, the intuitive reader will not only gain a sense of the magnificent heritage of Buddhist thought over 2500 years but also glimpse the deep spiritual impulse working its way in and through the strivings of humanity. Contemplation of the core ideas in these articles will nurture the deepest aspirations of each individual who is actively seeking Buddhaʹs Path to Enlightenment.

One’s perspective on the world and reality will be radically altered through a mature study and reflection on Buddhist thought in these essays.

Prof. Elton Hall

Ithaca, NY November 2018

**************************************

NOTE: All of the articles and readings in this work can be found in their original forms on the Theosophy Trust website at

https://theosophytrust.org

Editor, Theosophy Trust

TIMELINE OF INDIAN AND TIBETAN

BUDDHIST TEACHERS

Ashoka ............................................ c.304‐232 BCE

Nagasena ................................................ c.150 BCE

Ashvagosha ......................................... c.80‐150 CE

Nagarjuna .......................................... c.150‐230 CE

Aryadeva ....................................... 3rd Century CE

Asanga ........................................... 4th Century CE

Dignaga .............................................. c.480‐540 CE

Vasubandhu .............................4th‐5th Century CE

Buddhaghosa ................................ 5th Century CE

Dharmakirti ..............................6th‐7th Century CE

Chandrakirti ...................................... c.600‐650 CE

Shantideva ......................................... c.685‐763 CE

Shantarakshita .................................. c.725‐788 CE

Padmasambhava .......................... 8th Century CE

Atisha ............................................... c.980‐1054 CE

Marpa ............................................. c.1012‐1097 CE

Milarepa ......................................... c.1052‐1135 CE

Tsong Kha Pa ................................ c.1357‐1419 CE

First Panchen Lama ...................... c.1385‐1438 CE

Taranatha ....................................... c.1575‐1634 CE

Fifth Dalai Lama ........................... c.1617‐1682 CE

Seventh Dalai Lama .................... c.1708‐1757 CE

Seventh Panchen Lama ................ c.1782‐1853 CE

THE BODHISATTVA IDEAL

The attempt to understand and assimilate the central spiritual core of any religious tradition or collective religious heritage is most difficult. This is especially true of the Buddhaʹs man‐affirming doctrine that one must work out oneʹs own salvation with diligence, that one must assimilate teachings so that they manifest in practice.

The principle that there is no distinction between doctrine and practice constitutes the metaphysical underpinning of all Buddhist thought, no matter how much it may be lost in sectarian Buddhist

theologies. This doctrine emanates from and is utterly dependent upon the centrality of the possibility of enlightenment, and it lays bare our difficulty in assimilating the teachings of the Buddha.

The difficulty takes the form of a paradox: on the one hand, one

must pay careful attention to the scriptures, for one will never achieve salvation by blind belief nor will one achieve salvation by fuzzy

thinking,

being

constantly

victimized

by

maya.

Discrimination must be developed; Buddhi must be activated. On the other hand, mere scriptural analysis, higher criticism, pedantic argumentation over the origin and meaning of particular words and over the historical development of formulations of doctrine, will not in any sense lead one to true understanding or realization.

The need to develop discrimination is itself indicative of the necessity of handling the concepts taught by the Buddha, and applying them to our daily experience in such a way that we may

articulate the teaching in our own words, from our own experience.

Every doctrine, every scriptural point, is valid in a true Buddhist sense only to the extent that we ʹengageʹ it and embody it in our own learning, experience and illumination. The Sixth Patriarch went so far as to say of enlightened men:

Since they have their own access to highest wisdom through the

constant practice of concen tration and contemplation (dhyana and samadhi), they realize that they no longer need to rely on scriptural authority.

2 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II While he could say this of enlightened men, the rest of us have to be a good deal more cautious. Nevertheless, the point he is making is germane to every individual who wishes to assimilate the basic teachings of the Buddha. Religious experience will reveal itself neither to the scholar nor to the tea‐table conversationalist, but only to the man who makes the central conceptions of Buddhist thought

the basis of his mental activity and the subject of his deepest meditation.

This is paradigmatically the case with the Bodhisattva ideal.

Neither the nature nor the reality of the Brotherhood of Bodhisattvas, the grand fraternity which devotes its entire effort with one mind, one will and one overriding thought, to the welfare and liberation of all beings, can be grasped by other means. To assume that such a lofty conception as that of the Bodhisattva could be understood by the worldly mind would be to fall into the error of thinking that its subject could ever be understood in a realm where

samvrittisatya

(ʹrelative

truthʹ)

necessarily

reigns.

Nevertheless, if we put aside the rare case of the brilliant intellect which is refined by a fine attunement to its inner nature and warmed by a full devotion to the idea that there is no religion higher than truth, we may say that any man who continuously meditates on the ideal conception of the Bodhisattva can come to some understanding of the nature of such a being and its role in the world.

While the term ʹBodhisattvaʹ means a number of different things

and refers to various levels of spiritual attainment, we may take it that the Bodhisattva is reflected most archetypally in the Kwan‐yin pledge. Kwan‐yin is said to have been a Chinese princess who married a Tibetan king and led him to become a follower of the Buddha, but Kwan‐yin is also assimilated to Avalokiteswara, a Buddha of inexpressible stature. Kwan‐yin is said to have taken this pledge:

Never will I seek nor receive private, individual salvation; never will I enter into final peace alone; but forever and everywhere, will I live and strive for the redemption of every

THE BODHISATTVA IDEAL 3

creature throughout the world from the bonds of conditioned existence.

This noble pledge immediately reveals two things about the Bodhisattva. The pledge can only be authentically taken by a very high being who cannot use speech in the degraded and careless fashion that we do in making cavalier claims and commitments, for the Bodhisattva commits himself to a central focus of thought in action for life and for lifetimes. The Bodhisattva has understood the full meaning of the first verse of the Dhammapada, ʺAll that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts,ʺ

and he has taken on, in making such a vow or pledge, the highest

ideal conceivable to an individuated entity. For him, then, such ideal thoughts are more real than the maya of what we call everyday facts. Herein we find a paradox or mystery. The Bodhisattva sets for himself an ideal which cannot ever be fully attained and yet he throws his whole being into its achievement with a focus of interest, concern and total commitment unknown to the average man. The taproot of reality, then, is a plane of ideation so refined that it can never fully incarnate in this world.

But we also must notice that the Bodhisattva takes a pledge. A pledge must be taken to someone or something. The Bodhisattva, however, cannot take this pledge to human beings, for although they benefit greatly from the Bodhisattvaʹs activity, the Bodhisattva works for them whether or not they realize, understand or even care. So, since the pledge must be taken to something or someone that can hold the pledge‐taker accountable, we must rule out human beings. While the Mahayana is full of the most marvelous celestial and transcendental beings, it does not identify any sovereign God, does not teach any ultimate external source of accountability. Therefore, the Bodhisattva must take the pledge to something within himself, and yet to something higher than whatever set of forms he currently occupies or anything which he can fully manifest. Remaining true to the doctrine, ʹWork out your own salvation with diligence,ʹ the Bodhisattva holds himself

4 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II accountable to the highest in him for what he is pledged to do on the plane of thought in some form or rupa.

Just what is it the Bodhisattva wishes to do for all beings? While it is clear that he cannot save another, we might give the defining characteristic of the Bodhisattva in any level of spiritual attainment as constant attention to the true self‐interest of another. Thus the Bodhisattva sees that his own true self‐interest is bound up in serving others to the utmost. While, except for the psychic selfishness and blockage of the personality, it is easy to serve the apparent self‐interest of others, the Bodhisattva must have the supreme wisdom to know at any given time, in any particular context, what the true self‐interest of another is. This is perhaps why some sutras, such as the Gandavyuha, maintain that to arouse fully the desire for enlightenment is to have already gone a long way toward achieving it. Or, when applied to the Bodhisattva, we

might say that to be truly able to take the pledge of

Bodhisattvahood, the Bodhisattva must already have achieved a high state of spiritual knowledge, self‐control, devotion and illumination.

The Bodhisattva, then, is much more than a human being with an

exceptionally generous heart. In fact, in striving to achieve an ideal himself, the Bodhisattva becomes an ideal for us, since his life can be reflected in our lives. If, indeed, the Buddha‐nature is to be found in every man and universal brotherhood is thus a reality, then the Bodhisattvaʹs help is not simply a matter of abstract good will or localized assistance, but comes in part through his standing as a model or archetype for all human activities and relations.

Perhaps this is why the Mahayana has portrayed the Arhat ideal as being ultimately selfish and divisive, and not directly contributory to the spiritual evolution of mankind.

In D.T.Suzukiʹs commentary on the Gandavyuha Sutra, we find remarks made about what assists one in becoming a Bodhisattvic being. One element that is taken as important is the cultivation of good friends (kalyanamitra). Suzuki implicitly recognizes that we must ask the question, ʺWhat constitutes a good friend?ʺ Those who

THE BODHISATTVA IDEAL 5

are our friends because they can use us and exploit us for their own purposes cannot be counted as good friends; neither can those who are friends with us because of a kind of neurotic dependence and who attach themselves to us because they find a lack in themselves and need us to fill it. While this characterization is of course crude, it is clear that most interpersonal relations are of this kind. Plato, in his dialogue The Symposium, has Aristophanes say that at some time in manʹs past, he was slit in half so that each one of us is only half a whole human being. Thus it is that we rush about the world desperately clinging to various people whom we hope to see as our other half. This mythic characterization captures very well the substance of most human relationships. There is a desperation about them, a fulfilling of needs, which suggests that neither party is a whole independent being, a true individual on his own. To put it in the strongest possible terms, this kind of friendship is a mutual vampirization of one another. And good friends cannot engage in that.

Because the good friend cannot be an exploiter nor solely moved

by needs, he must, then, be one who can benefit and uplift his friend. The good friend leaves each one he meets with a little clearer intimation, a little stronger feeling of the essential nobility, the germ of Buddhahood within himself, and of the possibility of

transcending himself. Hence two or more good friends working together may generate a powerful current elevating both towards enlightenment. The good friend can do this only by recognizing the higher within himself and thereby recognizing the higher within others. Perhaps this is the meaning of the Christian assertion: ʺWhere two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I

in the midst of themʺ ( Matthew 18:20). Perhaps it lies behind Krishnaʹs words in the Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 9): ʺUnto thee who findeth no fault, I will now make known this most mysterious knowledge.ʺ

The good friend is one who always sees so much good in others,

who sees so many possibilities for the good, that he is capable of handling judgments of the limitations of others – an ideal

6 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II completely inverted in Kali Yuga where we are all capable of analyzing in great detail one anotherʹs faults, but are almost blind to the Buddha‐nature in ourselves and hence in others. Our judgmental excesses are naturally the result of forgetting our true heritage, our real nature and, thus, of succumbing to the pressures of corrupt social relationships. The good friend constitutes an emulation of the Bodhisattva on the terrestrial plane. Good friends working together form an earthly reflection of the Brotherhood of Bodhisattvas who work for all beings.

But the Diamond Sutra tells us that while the Bodhisattva vows to save every being, the Bodhisattva at the same time recognizes that there are no beings to be saved. Because of this kind of statement, and because of our discussion of the appeal to the higher in the Bodhisattva, we must ask the question, ʺWhat kind of view of the universe must the Bodhisattva have?ʺ The Bodhisattva must have a

profound realization of the essential unity of all things and must see that unity reflected on every plane of existence. Hence, while we see fragmented consciousness on the worldly plane, due to the

fragmentation of our own consciousness, the Bodhisattva sees the thread that unites all consciousness, and hence all beings, into one.

Where consciousness is fragmented, it may be united by law. The Bodhisattva therefore sees Karma not as an obstacle or a burden, but as the factual unity of all agents in maya. But further, the Bodhisattva has a reverential intimation of the one source of all differentiations, of all the worlds. This has been called divine or universal mind, the highest Ishwara, Alaya, undifferentiated consciousness.

From Alaya the Bodhisattva gets his sustaining compassion, for he sees that, ʺCompassion is no attribute. It is the Law of Laws,ʺ in the words of The Voice of the Silence. In the Bhagavad Gita the Krishna who says, ʺI established this whole Universe with a single portion of myself, and remain separate,ʺ (Chapter 10) is also the Krishna who says:

I am the sacrifice and sacrificial rite; I am the libation

offered to ancestors, and the spices; I am the sacred

THE BODHISATTVA IDEAL 7

formula and the fire; I am the food and the sacrificial

butter. . . (Chapter 9)

This suggests that all manifestation is a sacrifice, beginning with universal mind and ending with the smallest element of existence.

Properly understood, sacrifice and compassion are the same thing.

Hence the Bodhisattva sees the justice of Karma, for Karma is but sacrifice‐compassion reflected in maya.

Thus we are finally led to the question of the agony or suffering of the Bodhisattva. Since the full Bodhisattva has the option of entering into Nirvana and renounces it, we are inclined to think that he suffers. But he sees Nirvana as a flight from mankind. The desire for it may be the subtlest form of that very sense of separateness that he believes is the origin of suffering in the universe. On the other hand, in renouncing Nirvana, he definitely takes on limited forms of embodiment and action on the human plane. Even if he chooses to remain disembodied, he nevertheless must occupy some vehicles, no matter how refined, and thereby limit his own modes of operation. Thus the Bodhisattvaʹs

primordial sacrifice is that of impelling his consciousness into some level of incarnation, a vehicle, which is necessarily more limited than the full range of his consciousness. That is only part of the suffering of the Bodhisattva. In fact, it is probably presumptuous of us to call this suffering at all. For while the Bodhisattva is operating under limiting conditions, as are all beings who have Buddha-nature, the Bodhisattva has voluntarily and with full self‐awareness engaged in this activity, in his return to Platoʹs cave. Since he knows why he is limited, whereas we do not, his suffering is not the suffering of ignorance. Hence, insofar as we suffer because we do not understand the conditions in which we must operate, or because we cannot get what we want, or because others do not do

what we desire, we are not suffering the suffering of the Bodhisattva.

There is another kind of suffering, both more tragic and more noble, the suffering of others which we must helplessly observe, in the knowledge that people must learn for themselves and that

8 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II vicarious learning is impossible. This is akin to the suffering of the Bodhisattva who must stand by, without interfering with Karma, and watch countless humans destroy themselves and one another,

committing useless acts of physical and psychological violence, only to be swept away in the first great psychic vortex, incarnation after incarnation. He who would find no fault, who would usher every being into Buddhalands, must stand and watch this, and that surely is Bodhisattvic suffering. Yet the Bodhisattva is not caught up in psychic pressures and whirls as we are.

While he must see this all, he has a larger picture, a cosmic perspective, and he knows that all beings, suffering and to be saved, are, in the largest cosmic perspective, somewhat ʹunrealʹ – so he may appreciate the dance of Siva, the regenerator. He may in his perception transcend good and evil and see the fitness of all things in the Great Dance which has a nature and a value of its own, independent of any incarnated consciousness or limited

conceptions of what right and wrong must be. He stands as witness to seemingly perpetual personal degradation and yet sees the untouched purity of our Buddha‐nature. Such a being can throw himself into the world, seeking the true self‐interest of every sentient creature, remaining Krishna‐like in utter detachment from the world. To dwell on such an exalted conception, and to seek ceaselessly to embody it in daily living, is doubtless the noblest endeavor conceivable for any human being anywhere on earth. As

The Voice of the Silence, dedicated by H.P. Blavatsky to the few, teaches:

In Northern Buddhist countries, where the doctrine of

Nirmanakayas – those Bodhisattvas who renounce well‐earned Nirvana or the Dharmakaya vesture (both of which shut them out forever from the world of men) in order to invisibly assist

mankind and lead it finally to Paranirvana – is taught, every

new Bodhisattva, or initiated great Adept, is called the ʺliberator of mankind.ʺ

THE BODHISATTVA IDEAL 9

THE BODHISATTVA ORDINATION

Just as the earth and the other three elements, together

with space, eternally nourish and sustain all beings, so

may I become that source of nourishment and sustenance

which maintains all beings situated throughout space, so

long as all have not attained to Peace. When the Sugatas

of former times committed themselves to the Bodhichitta,

they gradually established themselves in the practice of a

Bodhisattva. So, I too commit myself to the Bodhichitta

for the welfare of all beings and will gradually establish

myself in the practice of a Bodhisattva. Today my birth

has become fruitful; my birth as a human being is

justified. Today I am born in the Buddha Family; I am

now a son of the Buddha. Now I am determined to

perform those acts appropriate to my Family; I will not

violate the purity of this faultless, noble Family.

Shantideva

Hermes, May 1975

Elton Hall

ASHOKA

King Priyardarshi says:

I commanded this edict on Dharma to be engraved twenty‐six years after my coronation.

It is difficult to achieve happiness, either in this world or in the next, except by intense love of Dharma, intense self‐examination, intense obedience, intense fear of evil and intense enthusiasm. Yet as a result of my instruction, regard for Dharma and love of Dharma have increased day by day and will continue to increase.

My officials of all ranks – high, low and intermediate – act in accordance with the precepts of my instruction, and by their example and influence they are able to recall fickle‐minded people to their duty. The officials of the border districts enforce my injunctions in the same way. For these are their rules: to govern according to Dharma, to administer justice according to Dharma, to advance the people ʹ s happiness according to Dharma and to protect them according to Dharma.

Ashoka

Pillar Edict I

Shakyamuni Buddha taught and guided his followers for fifty years after his Enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree. His

fundamental message was simply expressed in his first sermon, but the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path were of such spiritual simplicity that monks and laymen alike found them difficult to practise. The reality of dukha, suffering due to avidya, ignorance, and the possibility of its removal required nothing less than a total, if gradual, self‐transformation. Though the goal was clear, the way was beset by every obstacle that ignorance, passion and confusion could engender in mind, body and the psychic nature. Knowing this, the Buddha did not outline a creed, choosing rather to encourage and correct his disciples through dialogues

ASHOKA 11

focussed on the practical problems of spiritual striving. His answers, including his steadfast refusal to explore questions which ʺtend not to edificationʺ, turned his followers back upon their own resources even while providing them with everything they could use to be lamps unto themselves. In addition, he established the Sangha, the order which includes all humanity as spiritual aspirants but which sets apart those who have taken vows to achieve Enlightenment and to centre all their energies upon doing so. His teachings provided the wisdom needed, and his Sangha the

method required, to assure continuity of effort after his death.

Within a year of the Buddhaʹs Parinirvana, the Sangha gathered together its members and attempted to set down the public teachings of the Enlightened One. Ananda was requested to recite all he knew, since he had been the constant companion and personal attendant of the Buddha. His words, supplemented by the

recollections of others, engendered the earliest form of the Tripitaka, the three baskets of doctrine, discipline and exegesis, though probably the first two baskets alone were established at this time.

Many monks had received private instructions which were not included in the public teachings, and these constituted the sources of the Mahayana tradition. About a century after this first council, a second was called to resolve numerous questions regarding

doctrine and practice, and though the gathering resolved them, seeds of schism were planted. In time, eighteen schools would arise, not counting Mahayana viewpoints.

Within three years of the Parinirvana, Ajatashatru of Magadha conquered the neighbouring republic of Vriji, whose constitution the Buddha had approved, and soon afterward Koshala also came

under his rule. His son established his capital at Pataliputra (modern Patna). Around 410 B.C. the populace of the nascent empire revolted and placed Shaishunaga, a Vriji aristocrat, on the throne. He and his descendants extended the scope of their rule, established a rudimentary bureaucracy and made Pataliputra a major city. During the reign of his son Kalashoka (Ashoka the Black), the second Buddhist council convened at Vaishali, and he

12 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II was persuaded to support the more orthodox standpoint in the deliberations. The dynasty ended when Nanda, a minister close to

the last king, assassinated him and seized the throne. The Nandas developed an integrated monarchy, expanded the empire of

Magadha,

encouraged

agriculture,

established

a

sound

administrative system and accumulated vast resources of men and

money. Alexander of Macedonʹs invasion of northwestern India, coupled with the increasing unpopularity of Nanda rulers, led to their downfall. Tradition holds that in 326 B.C. a young man named Chandragupta Maurya met Alexander, who recognized in him the

potential for a great destiny, for Chandragupta alone understood the full meaning of the Chakravartin, the universal ruler who mirrors on earth the Mahapurusha.

While still a young man, Chandragupta overthrew the Nandas and assumed the throne with the help of Kautilya, who wrote a treatise on statecraft. After fighting Seleucus, Alexanderʹs general and successor in Persia, he concluded a treaty which relieved the empire from Graeco‐Persian threats and unwittingly assured

himself a respected place in subsequent Greek and Roman histories.

He took advantage of the administrative system nurtured by the Nandas, and used his status in the Hellenic world to establish close and amiable contacts with Babylon and lands farther west.

Recognized as a brilliant general with command of an army of well over half a million soldiers, he was revered as an equally brilliant king, who matched his genius in uniting India with wise restraint in not pushing beyond the subcontinent. Pataliputra became a

cosmopolitan centre of such enormous proportions that

Chandragupta created a special section of municipal officials to look after its welfare, and special courts were established to meet its judicial needs. Aelian wrote that Chandraguptaʹs palace exhibited an unequalled aesthetic refinement with which ʺneither

Memnonian Susa with all its costly splendour, nor Ekbatana with all its magnificence, can vieʺ. And Arrian indicated the exceptional character of the Mauryan empire when he noted that ʺthe Indians do not use aliens as slavesʺ.

ASHOKA 13

Though the Greeks knew Chandragupta as a devotee of

Brahmanical Hinduism, Indian tradition suggests that he restrained Brahmin power by favouring other religions. Jain records aver that he became a Jain in later life and even that he abdicated after a reign of twenty‐four years, placed his son on the throne, retired and fasted to death in ascetic Jain fashion. Bindusara followed his fatherʹs foreign policy, retained his chief ministers, including Kautilya, and ruled for at least a quarter of a century. He expanded the empire and consolidated the machinery of government. He was

fortunate in having a number of able sons, for he found himself in the awkward position of being personally popular even amongst peoples on the verge of revolt. Provincial ministers sometimes oppressed the populace, and in time they reacted strongly. Rather than suppress such outbreaks through the deployment of his enormous army, he dispatched his sons to act as viceroys in troubled areas. His son Ashoka first demonstrated his kingly skills as viceroy in Taxila. Though Bindusara followed the precepts of Vedic religion, he favoured the ascetic Ajivaka community, using Ajivaka sages as counsellors in the way his father had availed himself of Jain advisors. Though he could not secure an orderly succession to the throne, he guaranteed a continuity in effective government which survived a four‐year interregnum and contest for kingship.

The legends and traditions from India, Greece, Tibet, China and

Sri Lanka which becloud Ashokaʹs life also testify to the lustre of his rule and to his remarkable character. Although Ashoka left carved rocks and pillars throughout his empire, they were inscribed in the Brahmi script and in local dialects. The script was abandoned within three centuries, and the dialects were forgotten as well.

Ashokaʹs edicts remained unread until James Prinsep successfully deciphered an inscription in 1837. Stories of Ashoka flourished from the time of his death and grew more fanciful with the passing centuries. Even though the legends do not always agree with one another or with the edicts, together they afford considerable insight into his reign.

14 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Thus saith His Sacred and Gracious Majesty the King:

On the high roads, I caused banyan trees to be planted by me to shade cattle and men. I caused mango gardens to be planted and

wells to be dug at two‐mile intervals, rest‐houses were

constructed, many watering‐stations were established here and there, for the comfort of cattle and men. Slight comfort, indeed, is this. People have been made happy through various kinds of facilities for comfort by previous kings as well as myself. But this was done by me so that people might strictly follow the path laid down by Dharma.

Delhi‐Topra Pillar Edict

Ashoka, whose name means ʹfree from sorrowʹ, was born about 304 B.C., in the last years of Chandraguptaʹs rule. His childhood is unknown, though he must have been a brilliant child amongst remarkable siblings, for Bindusara strengthened his reign and the empire by dispatching his sons to serve as viceroys in distant provinces. Ashoka was sent to Taxila (Takshashila) to pacify a rebellion that Crown Prince Susima had been unable to quell. After successfully restoring order and gaining the good will of the people, Ashoka became viceroy of Ujjain. Though Buddhist legends

tend to blacken Ashoka before his conversion and to depict him as a saint afterwards – extremes not justified by other evidence, including the inscriptions – doubtless his resolve and strength of will manifested themselves distinctively in different phases of his life. Tradition avers that Ashoka was given to pleasures and enjoyments as a young man, and earned the semi‐derisive name Kamashoka. Nonetheless, the Taxila experience left a strong impression on Ashoka, convincing him that he alone would be able

to govern the Mauryan empire. When Bindusara fell ill, Ashoka assumed effective government from Ujjain, in part because Susima

was again in difficulties at Taxila. Ashoka seized the throne upon Bindusaraʹs death, but his brother and designated heir to the throne enforced his claim with his army. A violent struggle ensued, involving perhaps a number of brothers – though the legendary claim that Ashoka slew ninety‐nine male siblings is probably an

ASHOKA 15

exaggeration – and four years passed before Ashoka emerged as the undisputed ruler of the Mauryan empire.

Ashoka became emperor in about 272 B.C., but he postponed his

coronation (abhisheka) until he had consolidated power. Then he took the throne‐name of Devanampriya Priyadarshin and the title raja. Devanampriya means ʹdear to the godsʹ and Priyadarshin can be rendered ʹhe who looks benevolentlyʹ. He had inherited an empire which stretched from modern Afghanistan across Kashmir and included Nepal, subsumed the whole Gangetic plain and extended into Bengal. It crossed the whole of the Indian subcontinent and encompassed all of it save for the modern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The years of internecine struggle encouraged laxity and perhaps rebellion, and it appears that Ashoka worked to restore order in the empire. The Kalinga empire

to the south, sufficiently famous for Megasthenes, the Greek ambassador to the Mauryan court, to describe its military prowess, may have made incursions into Mauryan domains. Ashoka realized

that the future of Indian civilization lay with one or the other of these two mighty empires, and in the eighth year of his reign he determined to conquer Kalinga. The firmness of his rule and the harshness of the Kalinga war earned him the epithet Chandashoka

(Ashoka the Fierce). Within two years Kalinga was reduced to submission, but only at the cost of a hundred thousand deaths in battle, the slaughter of civilians, untold numbers of wounded and the deportation of another one hundred and fifty thousand men.

Though his singular victory secured the Mauryan empire peace on all sides and assured it of lasting influence in India – indeed, India was united for the first time in recorded history – Ashoka was horrified by the carnage. His nominal adherence to Vedic religion and his tolerant support of Jains and Ajivakas had not prepared him to confront and understand human suffering on such a vast scale.

Devanampriya, the conqueror of the Kalingas, is remorseful now, for this conquest is no conquest, since there was killing, death and banishment of the people. Devanampriya keenly feels

16 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II all this with profound sorrow and regret. But, what is worse than this, there dwell in that country Brahmanas, Shramanas and followers of other religions and householders who have the duty

of rendering due service to elders, to mother and father, and to gurus, of showing proper courtesy to friends, comrades, companions and relatives, as well as to slaves and servants, and firm devotion to Dharma. To these, injury, death or deportation may have happened. And the friends, comrades, companions and

relatives who still retain undiminished affection for those affected by

the

war

are

terribly

pained

by

this

calamity.

To Devanampriya, Dharmavijaya – conquest by Dharma – is the most important victory.

Rock Edict XIII

Whether Ashoka was transformed all at once, or whether the impact of his conquest affected him over time, it had two radical consequences. Spiritually, he became a follower of the

Buddhadharma, the Teachings of the Buddha. Politically, he renounced war and conquest as acceptable methods for preserving

the empire and sought to replace them with the inculcation of Dharma. He synthesized these two commitments in a threefold devotion to dharmapalana, dharmakarma and dharmanushishti, protection of Dharma, action according to Dharma and instruction

in Dharma. Rather than follow in the footsteps of his grandfather and renounce the world, his understanding of Dharma held him responsible for the welfare of all his subjects, and he translated this general duty into an attempt to exemplify dharmarajya, the rule of Dharma. Long after his specific policies and works were forgotten, Buddhist tradition revered him as the first and ideal Dharmaraja –

the Buddhist counterpart of the Hindu idea of the Chakravartin –

and bestowed upon him the name of Dharmashoka.

Ashoka was less concerned with the details of Buddhist doctrine

than with translating Buddhist standpoints into individual

exemplification and government policy. For him, this effort was compatible with cosmopolitan civility and religious tolerance. His court maintained friendly relations with the yavana (foreign,

ASHOKA 17

specifically Greek) king of Persia, with Ptolemy II Philadelphus of Egypt, Antigonus II Gonatas of Macedonia, Magas of Cyrene and Alexander of Epirus (or perhaps Corinth). Eventually, he sent Buddhist teachers – some of them from his own family – to those centres, though without lasting influence. More importantly, he formed a close and lasting friendship with Devanampiya Tissa, King of Sri Lanka. Tissa sent a mission to Ashoka, who in turn sent his favourite son, Mahendra, and grandson Sumana, both monks, to

Sri Lanka. Tissa was converted to the Buddhaʹs Teaching, and soon Ashokaʹs daughter, Sanghamitra, joined the mission to instruct the women of the royal household. She bore with her a branch of the Bodhi Tree, which took root and survives in Sri Lanka to the present day.

Dharmarajya, as Ashoka understood it, permitted him to be devoted to the Buddhaʹs Teaching and to revere and support the Sangha, but it required him as monarch to nurture and support all religious traditions in his realm. To this end, he inscribed edicts throughout the empire exhorting the people to practise Dharma, but kept the explicit content of that concept sufficiently universal to include Hindu, Jain, Ajivaka and other interpretations of it. Though he gave land, food and money to the Buddhist Sangha, he similarly supported the other spiritual traditions. Thus the Pillar Edicts mention gifts to the Sangha, and the Cave Inscriptions deed sites to the Ajivakas. Legend maintains that a third Buddhist council was convened in his reign and that he laboured intensely to preserve the unity of the Sangha – an effort that ultimately failed – but the Edicts speak only of purifying the order. Scholars tend to believe that no third council took place, or that Ashoka had little to do with it, but the absence of detailed testimony in the Edicts may only show that he saw no value in recounting publicly his role in the inner affairs of the Sangha.

Ashoka did not neglect public works or administration. Though he retained capital punishment for extreme offences, he devised a system of appeals to give every chance for a revised judgement that might replace execution with a fine. He reformed the tax system so

18 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II that each region and village could appeal for relief when harvests and commerce had declined, reorganized the bureaucracy so that individuals could not wield power arbitrarily, and devised a new class of official. The mahamatras, literally ʹgreat in measureʹ, were established to monitor the operations of government. They

travelled throughout the empire to ensure that officers and officials performed their duties efficiently, fairly and non‐violently. Some were assigned to look after the welfare of the Sangha, and they even journeyed outside the realm to do so. Others saw to the well‐being of other religious sects. Some reviewed the judicial administration, taxation department operations, municipal government and public

works. They reported directly to Ashoka, who took interest in the details of his empire. Ashoka established rest‐houses, dug wells, planted trees and founded hospitals along major roads. It seems that he even inaugurated a rudimentary social security system. He promulgated rules for the protection of cows, forbade animal sacrifices and abolished hunting for sport. He replaced the royal hunt with the royal pilgrimage and visited Bodh Gaya and many other sacred sites.

Both tradition and the Edicts suggest that Ashoka sent many of his trusted intimates on extended missions, and a large proportion of his family entered the Sangha. When his chief queen,

Asandhimitra, died, he was bereft of his strongest support.

Karuvaki, always less interested in Ashokaʹs aims, assumed this powerful position, and though she supported the Sangha, she insisted on proclaiming it in the Queen ʹ s Edict. The last chief queen, Tishyarakshita, is said to have grown so jealous of Ashokaʹs devotion that she attempted to destroy the Bodhi Tree, which Ashoka personally nurtured back to health. Whether or not the ageing emperor was held a virtual prisoner in his own palace, as tradition states, it seems that his last years were sad and lonely.

When he died about 232 B.C. after forty years of illustrious rule, the light went out of the Mauryan empire. Neither legend nor the scanty records which survive can agree on who succeeded him, or

when or in what order. Apparently several kings ruled in fairly

ASHOKA 19

rapid succession, and then the Mauryan line disappeared into oblivion.

Ashokaʹs empire soon passed out of memory. But the ideal he upheld as aryaputra (prince) and dharmaputra (son of the Dharma) increased in lustre with each passing epoch. Generations which could not recollect the Mauryans, nor point out the boundaries of their realm, nor even read the Edicts, nonetheless remembered the great king, ʺbeloved of godsʺ, who taught Dharma and lived what

he espoused, who had set the standard against which subsequent rulers were measured and often found wanting, and who had promulgated a simple yet fundamental doctrine of tolerance and civility based upon respect for the spiritual aspirations of all people to adhere to the Dharma. They recalled that there had been a minor golden age, and knew that it was possible for human beings to experience a golden age again.

There is no gift that can equal the gift of Dharma, the establishment of human relations on Dharma, the distribution of wealth through Dharma, or kinship in Dharma.

Rock Edict XI

Hermes, January 1985

Elton Hall

NAGASENA

The good man, O King, perfect in uprightness, is like a medicine to men and gods, an antidote to the poison of evil. He is like water to men in laying the dust and impurities of evil dispositions. He is like a treasure of jewels to men in bestowing upon them all attainments in righteousness. He is like a boat to men in conveying them to the further shore of the four swollen streams – of lust, egotism, delusion and ignorance. He is like a caravan owner to men in that he guides them beyond the sandy desert of rebirths. He is like a mighty rain cloud in that he fills their hearts with satisfaction. He is like a teacher to men in that he trains them in every good. He is like a skilled guide to men in that he points out the path of peace to them.

Nagasena

Milindapanha IV 4, 14

With the death of Ashoka, the ideal of dharmarajya – the rule of Dharma – passed quickly from Mauryan rule. Though the

descendants of Ashoka managed to retain the throne for another half a century, their internecine rivalries and periodic divisions and reunifications of the empire assured a precipitous decline in their fortunes. The last Mauryan emperor, Brihadratha, was deposed by

his commander‐in‐chief, Pushyamitra, who ruled under the title ʹgeneralʹ. At about the time of Pushyamitraʹs ascension, Bactrian Greeks seized Gandhara and conquered Vahika (the Punjab).

Although the succession of Greek kings was as confused as that of the later Mauryans, one monarch, Menandros (Menander to

Western historians and Milinda in Buddhist texts), earned a permanent place in the annals of history. As Pushyamitra aged, he supported Brahminical religion and ancient rituals, thereby effectively

ending

the

pervasive

influence

of

Ashokaʹs

magnanimous concept of Dharma. Menandros occupied much of

his territory and even marched as far as Pataliputra, where he remained long enough to build a great stupa. When he returned to

NAGASENA 21

his capital at Sakala (commonly assumed to be Sialkot in the Punjab), he took the ideal of dharmarajya with him. Buddhist principles became international, spreading from Bactria and the original capital of Menandros at Taxila to central Asia and beyond.

Menandros was admired by both his Greek and Indian subjects for his military genius, his ability to govern fairly, his even‐handed support of Greek, Buddhist, Hindu and Zoroastrian traditions, his preservation of economic prosperity and his devotion to the life of the mind. Known to the Greeks as basileus and the Indians as maharaja, he was acknowledged by both as Dharmaraja, the king of justice. His government was Hellenistic in structure, but even while he increased the prominence of the Greek cities originally founded by Alexander the Great, he ensured that the older Indian cities joined them in importance. In later life he cultivated a deep interest in philosophical discussion and reflection, frequently debating thinkers from different traditions and often confounding them with his urbane wit and penetrating insight. Menandros met Nagasena in the course of these debates, was convinced by him, and joined the Buddhist Sangha. He encouraged the dissemination of Buddhist

thought throughout his kingdom and built a monastery – the Milindavihara for Nagasena. According to the Milindapanha ( The Questions of King Menandros), Menandros renounced his kingdom in favour of his son, entered the monastic community and died an Arhat, having achieved nirvana. Plutarch wrote that he died in camp during a war, but both sources agree that he became a Buddhist. Near the end of his reign he sent a large delegation of monks from Caucasian Alexandria, his birthplace, to attend the consecration of the great stupa at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka.

According to the Milindapanha, Nagasena was the disciple of Dharmarakshita, the Greek disciple dispatched by Ashoka to Aparanta in western India. Only Nagasena was able to banish the kingʹs doubts and win him over to the Sangha. He was, however, no ordinary monk, for he had been called from transcendental realms to perform this task. The Milindapanha recounts how the king confounded monks and laymen alike and how his words fell

22 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II upon the mystic ear of Assagutta, an Arhat who dwelt high in the

Himalayas. Assagutta convened an assembly of Arhats on the summit of Mount Yugandhara to see if any could match wits with

Menandros. When all demurred, Assagutta proposed that they prevail upon the god Mahasena in the heaven of the Thirty‐Three.

By meditation, the Arhats vanished from Yugandhara and

appeared in Sakkaʹs celestial kingdom, and the king of the gods conveyed them to Mahasenaʹs dwelling. Although he initially resisted the request to incarnate in human form, he agreed to do so when it became clear that the principles of religion would be furthered through his Bodhisattvic sacrifice.

When the Arhats returned to their Himalayan abode, they chose

one of their number, Rohana, who had been lost in meditation and

unaware of the crisis, to act as their agent amongst men. Following their instructions, he journeyed to the village of Kajangala, wherein the wife of the Brahmin Sonuttara had conceived a child. The god Mahasena was born as the boy Nagasena ten lunar months later.

Each day for seven years and ten months Rohana begged for food

at Sonuttaraʹs house, only to be turned away. Finally the family relented – not knowing that doing so brought an end to Rohanaʹs penance for being lost in meditation when the crisis caused by Menandrosʹ wit had to be met – and the monk received a portion of food each day. At exactly this time Nagasena reached the age of seven and began to study the three Vedas. He penetrated their arcane meanings almost upon hearing them, mastered them and turned to meditation. When he discovered that he had not found the root of reality in his knowledge, Rohana ʺfelt in his mind what was passing in the heart of Nagasenaʺ.

Rohana met Nagasena and promised him the secret of reality.

Obtaining his parentsʹ consent, Nagasena began instruction under Rohana as a member of the Sangha. Rohana deliberately set the Suttanta (discourses) aside and took up the Abhidhamma (deeper meanings of the faith). When he mastered it in seven months, he was admitted into full membership in the Sangha. But Nagasena doubted the wisdom of his teacher in setting aside the Suttanta, and

NAGASENA 23

Rohana at once picked up the thought, which he derided in a thought sent back to the surprised Nagasena. He asked forgiveness, but his teacher withheld it, pending a confrontation with Menandros. Instead, he sent Nagasena to Assagutta for further instruction. Assagutta accepted Nagasena as an attendant and tested him by having him instruct others in the Abhidhamma. Both he and his hearers attained insight as he taught, and Assagutta knew it was time for him to fulfil his destiny. He sent Nagasena to the Ashoka Park in Pataliputra to meet Dharmarakshita.

Dharmarakshita taught Nagasena the outer and inner meanings of the Tripitaka – the three baskets of Buddhaʹs teaching – in six months. The last night of this period witnessed Nagasenaʹs enlightenment, and the earth thundered joyously while the heavens rained sandal dust and mandarava flowers upon the new Arhat.

Immediately the Arhats of the Himalayas summoned Nagasena, who vanished from Ashoka Park and appeared before them. They

asked him to face Menandros, then they all set out for Sakala, their yellow robes shimmering like lamps and drawing the scented zephyrs of the Himalayan heights along with them.

Nagasena and his illustrious retinue took up lodgings in the Sankheyya hermitage near Sakala, and he was made the chief of the Sangha there.

Learned, with varied eloquence, sagacious, bold,

Master of views, in exposition sound,

The brethren – wise themselves in holy writ,

Repeaters of the fivefold sacred word –

Put Nagasena as their leader and their chief.

Him, Nagasena of clear mind and wisdom deep,

Who knew which was the right path, which the false,

And had himself attained nirvana ʹ s heights.

Soon Menandros sent word that he would visit the Sankheyya grove and debate with Nagasena. When the king arrived, he immediately recognized Nagasena by his serene confidence.

24 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II At the sight of Nagasena, wise and pure,

Subdued in all that is the best subjection,

Milinda uttered this foreboding word –

ʺMany the talkers I have visited,

Many the conversations I have had,

But never yet, till now, today, has fear,

So strange, so terrible, oʹerpowered my heart.ʺ

Menandros did not fear for his safety, but he had a premonition

that he had met his match. Since he took his philosophical discussions seriously, he sensed that he would be compelled to accept Nagasenaʹs conclusions, a change of heart that would alter his life.

As soon as polite salutations had been exchanged, Menandros asked how the Thera (Elder) was known. ʺI am known as

Nagasena, O King. . .yet this is only a generally understood term, a designation in common use, for there is no permanent individuality involved in the matter.ʺ This answer brought a flood of questions from Menandros.

If, most reverend Nagasena, there be no permanent

individuality involved, who is it, pray, who gives to you members of the Sangha your robes and food and lodgings and necessaries for the sick? Who is it who enjoys such things when given? Who is it who lives a life of righteousness? Who is it who devotes himself to meditation? Who is it who attains to the goal of the Excellent Way, to the nirvana of the Arhat? And who is it who destroys living creatures? Who is it who takes what is not his own? Who is it who lives an evil life of worldly lusts, who utters lies, who drinks strong drink, who commits the five sins which work out their bitter fruit even in this life? If there be no permanent individuality, there is neither merit nor demerit, neither doer nor causer of good or evil deeds; there is neither fruit nor result of good or evil karma. If a man were to kill you, there would be no

murder. It follows that there are no real teachers or masters in your Sangha and that your ordinations are void.

NAGASENA 25

Thus began a discussion which covered every aspect of Buddhist

teaching, replete with rich examples and insights. The discourse as it has been preserved in the Milindapanha is doubtless a crafted compendium of Hinayana doctrine. Nonetheless, the logic of the dialogue and the nature of many of the illustrations suggest that the text may reflect the essence of an historic event, for Menandros is depicted as a skilled dialectician and Nagasena is portrayed as a master of Buddhist thought.

When Nagasena asked if the axle or the pole, the wheels or the frame, the ropes or the yoke, was the kingʹs chariot, he answered that it was none of these things nor all of them together. ʺIt is on account of having all these things that it comes under the generally understood term ʹchariotʹ.ʺ ʺJust soʺ, Nagasena explained, ʺdo I come under the generally understood term ʹNagasenaʹ.ʺ Generally expressed, a thing or individual is a temporary matrix of skandhas –

aggregates of elements – and therefore there is no metaphysical difference between general and proper nouns. Nagasena elaborated

the doctrine of dependent origination, using the example of the king and his shadow, to show that everything depends on

something else for its existence. Having won the kingʹs undivided attention, he laid down a requirement for further discussion. The king must discuss as a pandit, or scholar, and not as a king, for monarchs simply reject those who do not agree with them, whereas

scholars acknowledge errors and accede to superior reasoning.

Menandros agreed, and Nagasena undertook to come to Sakala regularly for discussions.

ʺLet our discussion be about the truthʺ, Menandros proposed, and then asked about the aim of the Sangha. ʺOur renunciation is to the end that sorrow may perish and that no further sorrow may ariseʺ, Nagasena explained, pointing out that not all monks joined the order with such lofty motives. Reincarnation could be avoided, he taught, only by reasoning and by wisdom, for ʺreasoning has comprehension as its mark, but wisdom has cutting off.... The recluse by his thinking grasps his mind and by his wisdom cuts off his failings.ʺ In addition, five other qualities have to be acquired:

26 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II good conduct (shila), faith (shraddha), perseverance (virya), mindfulness ( sati) and meditation (samadhi). Nagasena quoted Buddha to show that shila was the basis of the whole of the Path: Virtueʹs the base on which the man whoʹs wise

Can train his heart and make his wisdom grow.

Thus shall the strenuous bhikku, undeceived,

Unravel all the tangled skein of life.

If the mark of virtue is the presence of all good qualities, the mark of faith is tranquillity and that of perseverance is rendering support; that of mindfulness is recollection and presence of mind; that of meditation is being the leader which marshals the other qualities to one end or goal; and that of wisdom is both cutting off and enlightenment.

When wisdom springs up, O King, it dispels the darkness of ignorance; it causes the radiance of knowledge to arise; it makes the light of intelligence shine forth; and it makes the Noble Truths plain.

For Nagasena, intelligence is the same as wisdom, and so an individual who will not reincarnate again invariably knows it because he is aware of the cessation of the causes of rebirth, for only namarupa, name and form, suffers rebirth and the Arhat no longer identifies with either. Rupa includes everything that is gross and nama all that is subtle and mental. They arise together, and where they are found, time appears, and with time, reincarnation. The Arhat, free of rebirth, does not experience time, whose root is avidya, ignorance.

By reason of ignorance came the samskaras (forces or potentialities), by reason of the samskaras consciousness, by reason of consciousness namarupa, by reason of namarupa the six organs of touch (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and sensory mind), by reason

of them contact, by reason of contact sensation, by reason of sensation thirst, by reason of thirst craving, by reason of craving becoming, by reason of becoming birth, and by reason of birth old age and death, grief, lamentation, sorrow, pain and despair.

NAGASENA 27

In setting out the twelve nidanas, or links in the circular chain of dependent origination, Nagasena showed that there was no

apparent beginning or ending to the sequence. He used the example of the hen and the egg to illustrate his point. Since the chain cannot be exhausted, there is no immortal soul to be found within it. The chain must be broken by appeal to the ground in which it arises, and that is enlightenment.

Having been introduced to the Buddhist standpoint, Menandros

retired to study the scriptures and to ponder what he had been taught. His skill in and fondness for debate impelled him to test Nagasena by confronting him with apparently contradictory

doctrines and injunctions from the sacred texts. Nagasena

responded to some of these dilemmas by explication, some by argumentation, and some by showing that the statements had to be

understood in their context. Since Nagasena readily admitted a gap between the ideals of the Sangha and the practices of many of its members, Menandros refrained from formulating the chasm

between ideal and reality as a dilemma. On one occasion, Menandros confronted Nagasena with a text from the Jataka which enjoined non‐violence and another text which exhorted: ʺPunish him who deserves punishment, favour him who is worthy of favour.ʺ Nagasena patiently explained that the maxim of non-violence is derived from the nature of the Dharma, whereas the second passage has a specific application.

The proud heart, great King, is to be subdued, and the lowly heart cultivated; the wicked heart is to be subdued, and the good heart to be favoured; carelessness of thought is to be subdued, and exactness of thought to be nurtured.

Menandros was troubled by the Buddhist emphasis on feeling love for all beings, because he could think of numerous instances where love had resulted in tragedy for either the lover or the beloved. Nagasena explained that love which was focussed on an object could result in a variety of consequences – good, bad or indifferent – but that love without an object is universal and not the attribute of any individual.

28 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II The virtues of love are not attached to the personality of the one who loves, but to the actual presence of the love that one has invoked in his heart. . . . At the moment in which an individual has realized this sense of love, neither fire nor poison nor sword can do him harm.

Menandros posed eighty‐two dilemmas to Nagasena, who

responded to each to the satisfaction of the king. No longer did Menandros wish to debate for argumentʹs sake, nor to test Nagasenaʹs skill and knowledge. Rather, he wished to learn from a teacher whose wisdom was proven, and his questions became those

of a disciple who was open and receptive to understanding.

Nagasena developed an elaborate metaphor for the Sangha –

Buddhaʹs City of Righteousness.

The Blessed Oneʹs City of Righteousness, O King, has

righteousness for its rampart, fear of wrongdoing for its moat, knowledge for its battlement, zeal for its watchtower, faith for its pillars, mindfulness for the watchman at the gate, wisdom for the terrace above, the Suttantas for its market‐place, the Abhidhamma for its crossways, the Vinaya (law) for its judgement hall, and constant self‐possession for its chief street.

Its flower bazaar consists of the subjects for meditation, and its perfume bazaar is the virtues. Its fruit bazaar is composed of the results of each stage of its Path, whilst its antidote bazaar contains the medicaments of the Four Noble Truths. Its medicine bazaar holds the means of mindfulness and the powers of morality and wisdom; its ambrosia bazaar is meditation upon the Real. Its jewel bazaar contains the seven priceless gems of right conduct, meditation, knowledge, emancipation, insight, discrimination and

the sevenfold wisdom of the Arhats. The City can be seen by those who have cultivated eyes to see; it is both the foundation of the Sangha and the proof of the reality of Buddha.

Having shown the nature and meaning of Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, Nagasena offered one hundred and five similes of

the ideal monk and Arhat. For example, the bhikshu should be like

NAGASENA 29

the earth in remaining the same, being self‐perfumed, standing firm, never wearying, and being free of ill‐will towards others. Like water, he should be pure, refreshing, free from offence, much desired by the world and harmless. Like fire, he should burn away everything unnecessary and undesirable, show no pity towards his

inclinations, light up his heart into a purifying blaze, benefit all beings and dispel darkness. Like the wind, he should penetrate the groves of meditation, bend everything before his examination, be above all earthly concerns, bear good qualities along with himself and yet remain homeless in the world. Just as space cannot be grasped, so too the bhikshu should elude the grasp of every desire; like space, the effort of the bhikshu should know no limit; and like space, he should depend on nothing outside himself.

According to the Milindapanha, Menandros asked Nagasena three hundred and four different questions, which resulted in his complete acceptance of the Teachings of Buddha. Whether he became a monk near the end of his life, as the Milindapanha declares, or remained a lay disciple, as Plutarch implies, he ruled with a wisdom and detachment that earned him a unique place in

Greek and Indian history. Nothing is known of Nagasena after his

lengthy encounter with the king. This seems altogether appropriate, for he had been called into mortal existence for the sake of the Dharma, and, having performed his task, he vanished from the attention of history. Yet he left behind a method of explicating the Teaching of Buddha which became the archetype of subsequent elucidation. His subtle blend of metaphysics and ethics, argument and example, produced a model of useful discourse and an encouragement to practice. The Milindapanha is unique in being revered by Hinayana and Mahayana alike. Its depictions of the Path and the Goal have been relevant to every succeeding generation, for it is above all a portrait of the Arhat.

30 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II He strives with might and main along the Path, searches it out, accustoms himself to it; to that end does he make firm his self-possession, to that end does he hold fast in effort, to that end does he remain steadfast in love towards all beings in all worlds; and still to that does he direct his mind again and again, until gone far beyond the transitory, he gains the Real, the highest fruit. And when he has gained that, the man who has ordered his life aright has realized nirvana.

Milindapanha IV 8, 84

Hermes, February 1985

Elton A Hall

ASHVAGHOSHA

Whilst the essence of mind is eternally clean and pure, the influence of ignorance makes possible the existence of a conditioned mind. But in spite of the conditioned mind, the mind itself is eternal, pellucid, pure and not subject to change. Since its original nature is free from particularization, it knows in itself no change whatever, though it produces everywhere the various modes of existence.

When the oneness of the totality of things (Dharmadhatu) is not recognized, then ignorance along with particularization arises, and all phases of the conditioned mind are thus developed. But the significance of this doctrine is so profound and unfathomable that it can be fully understood by none save the Buddhas.

Ashvaghosha

Mahayana Shraddhotpada Shastra

When Kanishka, great Buddhist emperor of the Kushana

dynasty, rode out of the northwest and across central India, he conquered everything in his path. The ideal of Ashoka had inspired the religious and social policies of a succession of western Indian kingdoms, and his exemplary statecraft impelled them to seek a new Indian unity. Kanishka came to the gates of Pataliputra, and though its king resisted furiously, the city fell. Legend holds that Kanishka demanded nine hundred million gold pieces as

indemnity for the war. The king could not provide even a small fraction of that sum, but he went before the emperor like a defeated monarch prepared to come to terms. He offered Kanishka three treasures, each of which was worth a third of the amount demanded. The first was a fowl which was said to embody compassion. The second was a begging bowl which had belonged to the Buddha. The third was Bhikshu Ashvaghosha, a renowned playwright and master of Buddhist philosophy. Kanishka accepted

the three as full payment, and Ashvaghosha joined him in

32 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Purushapura (Peshawar) and became the spiritual counsellor for the court.

Ancient chroniclers differ on the details of Ashvaghoshaʹs birth and life. He is said to have been born in eastern, western or southern India – but not in the north – into a Brahmin family. His exceptional intelligence manifested almost from the beginning, for he excelled in every department of knowledge even as a young student. Fiercely Brahminical in his convictions, he enthusiastically and readily defeated the simple Buddhists he encountered in debate. Longing for more challenging confrontations, he journeyed to Magadha in central India, where he could dispute Buddhists in one of their strongholds. His dialectical eloquence is said to have silenced a bell in a vihara, and he sent a shock wave through the Buddhist world. His notoriety brought him to the attention of Parshva, the northern Buddhist thinker whom the Chinese call the

eleventh Indian patriarch. Parshva decided not only to debate Ashvaghosha but to convert him. He travelled to Magadha, where

Ashvaghosha enthusiastically accepted the challenge. Parshva proposed that the defeated individual should become the disciple of the victor, and Ashvaghosha accepted. He also deferred to the patriarchʹs age and permitted him to speak first.

To the surprise of the large assembly, Parshva did not burst into metaphysical discourse or an elaborate line of argumentation.

Rather, he asked just one question: ʺWhat shall we have to do in order to keep the kingdom in perfect peace, to have the king live long, to let the people enjoy abundance and prosperity, all free from evils and catastrophes?ʺ To their even greater surprise,

Ashvaghosha remained silent for a time, then bowed his head in submission to the patriarch. Thus, he became a shramana and began to study the Sutras. He was not immediately convinced of Parshvaʹs wisdom, of course, but when he demonstrated his integrity by submitting to the conditions of the debate without cant or conditionality, Parshva manifested himself in several luminous transformations. Then Ashvaghosha knew that his new Teacher was no ordinary human being, and he joyfully undertook the life of

ASHVAGHOSHA 33

the disciple. Parshva returned to the north, leaving his closest disciple, Punyayashas, to instruct Ashvaghosha. According to Taranatha, however, Ashvaghosha was defeated by Aryadeva in a

battle of mantramic magic. While wrestling with his bitter defeat, he happened to read a Buddhist text in which his conversion and destiny were prophesied by the Buddha, and he joined the Sangha

at once.

Ashvaghoshaʹs genius shone in many directions. He wrote plays

on Buddhist themes, though only the Shariputra‐prakarana (Play about Shariputra) survives save for scattered fragments. He developed the kavya style of Sanskrit poetry and became the father of Sanskrit drama, remaining its undisputed master until the advent of Kalidasa three centuries later. He composed epics, at least two of which survive, including the Buddhacarita, the first complete life of the Buddha. Chinese records tell of seven philosophical works attributed to him, including works which foreshadow the standpoint of Nagarjuna. Two of these are time‐honoured spiritual classics – the Mahalankarasutrashastra (Book of Great Glory), consisting of stories illustrative of retributive karma, and the Mahayanashraddhotpadashastra (The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana), a text fundamental to most schools of Mahayana thought. There is also a tradition that claims Ashvaghosha composed a musical score for voice and instruments around the theme of shunyata and the emptiness of worldly delusions. It is said that so many people, including a number of princes of Pataliputra, were moved by the piece to join the Sangha that the king forbade its performance out of fear that his kingdom might otherwise be depopulated.

Little is known of Ashvaghoshaʹs later life. After the death of Parshva, Punyayashas became patriarch, and upon his demise, Ashvaghosha received the title. During the reign of Kanishka, a fourth Buddhist council was organized by Ashvaghosha. He used his remarkable rhetorical skills to elucidate the arcane concepts and subtle logic of Mahayana metaphysics and ethics, winning northern Buddhist acceptance of them. This congregation did not have the

34 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II universal representation found in earlier councils, however, and southern Indian and Sinhalese monks did not attend. The Awakening of Faith may have been written for this occasion as an affirmation of the utterly transcendental nature of ultimate reality, which is both the goal and the means for reaching it. When Ashvaghosha disappeared from human history about A.D. 150, he left a sacred legacy which has served as the fountainhead of Buddhist schools and doctrines from Gandhara and Central Asia to China, Korea and

Japan.

In The Awakening of Faith, Ashvaghosha sought to free the receptive mind from every form of bias, ism and particularized viewpoint by using a few abstract and universal concepts in a philosophical dialectic to unfold spiritual consciousness. His clear rejection of philosophical dualism, pluralism, materialism and nihilism gives his teaching the superficial appearance of monism, though a thoughtful reading will show that his concepts are transcendental and open‐textured, perhaps more akin to spiritual therapeutics than epistemology. His text opens with an invocation and closes with a promissory exhortation and benediction. The sections between these two move from above below, beginning with the absolute unity of the One Mind, its two fundamental aspects and its three great features – essence, attributes and influences – then applies the teaching in terms of faith and, finally, efficacious practice. The text is traditionally mnemonically summarized as a discourse on ʺOne Mind, Two Aspects, Three Greatnesses, Four Faiths and Five Practicesʺ.

Beginning with an invocation of the Buddhas in the ten

directions, the Dharma and the Sangha, Ashvaghosha outlined the

contents of his text and indicated its purpose: to arouse faith in the Mahayana, banish doubts and nurture the seed of bodhichitta, the Buddha‐consciousness. For Ashvaghosha, ʹMahayanaʹ did not refer

to a body of doctrine and practice distinct from that of the Hinayana or Theravada, but rather to the essence of reality –

bhutatathata – without attribute or quality in itself and the ground of being as the One Mind. As bhutatathata, it is inconceivable and

ASHVAGHOSHA 35

indescribable suchness, but it manifests as samsara, the round of birth and death, in three aspects. The first is its quintessential nature, the second comprises its attributes, which are collectively Tathagatagarbha, the womb or matrix of the Tathagata, and the third is its activity, the impulse towards good which makes it Mahayana, the Great Vehicle. It is a vehicle – yana – because the Buddhas ride it, and Bodhisattvas who ride it will become Buddhas. It can be called the One Mind because it is the hridaya and chitta, the heart and mind, of all sentient beings, the ʺsoul of thingsʺ.

The One Mind is the Absolute, bhutatathata, expressed in the temporal order, samsara. As the Absolute, it is transcendental, but as the round of birth and death, it is phenomenal. Bhutatathata should not be conceived of as outside the temporal order like a rather abstract extra‐cosmic god, for it is coextensive with the kaleidoscope of phenomena. Bhutatathata and samsara are two dimensions of one reality, differing epistemologically but not ontologically. Meditation and right conduct constitute the raft which carries one across the sea of samsara to the infinite shore of reality, or, in an alchemical metaphor, the Alkahest or universal solvent which resolves sentient consciousness into its ultimate ground, the Absolute. Each human being lives at the nexus of these two dimensions, being essentially inseparable from the Absolute, yet through ignorance – avidya – an exile in the phenomenal realm.

Tathagatagarbha is the connecting point, the embryo of Tathagata, which is bhutatathata in man. It is the seed of the Dharmakaya – the body of Pellucid Truth or Pure Reality – which is the plank of salvation for human beings lost in the fickle currents of samsara.

Thus Tathagatagarbha is chittaprakriti, the essence of Mind, both parishuddha and prabhasvara, pure and radiant. The two aspects of the One Mind cannot be said to be identical, yet there is no duality involved. The Absolute suffuses the relative world of phenomenal consciousness as Alayavijnana, the universal treasury of mind, containing the seeds of ignorance as well as of Enlightenment.

Enlightenment is like Akasha, space, for it is Dharmadhatu, universal unity, and is therefore the Dharmakaya of the Tathagatas,

36 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II who are said to abide in it eternally. Because human beings are unenlightened, it is necessary to speak of Enlightenment as if it occurred at some time. Yet, since Enlightenment is not an event in the temporal order, but rather its timeless transcendence, such language is only a heuristic device. Ordinary people advance towards Enlightenment by renouncing the tendency to draw

conclusions. When shravakas, Pratyeka Buddhas and novice Bodhisattvas recognize personal perceptions for what they are, they free themselves from the snares of gross particularization and gain Enlightenment in appearance. Bodhisattvas who recognize the Dharmakaya but are not yet one with it achieve approximate Enlightenment. When they merge with the source of consciousness,

they attain true Enlightenment, and they realize that it appears in two aspects, pure wisdom (prajna) and incomprehensible activity (karma). Alayavijnana dissolves for them, and they realize that there is no Enlightenment in time.

Non‐enlightenment arose in Mind because of a disturbance –

ignorant action, avidyakarma – which resulted in a distinction between subject and object, and this distinction produced the pervasive condition of dukha, misery. Consciousness of a perceiver led to awareness of an external world – ego‐produced environment

– and six kinds of phenomena resulted: sensation, memory, attachment, ideas or names, deeds which produce a sense of individuality, and suffering that expresses the loss of freedom in consciousness. Ashvaghosha analysed this process in metapsychological detail and pointed to the process which sustains ignorance.

Ignorance becomes the raison d ʹ ître of all forms of defilement (impermanence). And this ignorance perfumes suchness, and by perfuming suchness, it produces smriti, subjectivity. This subjectivity in its turn perfumes ignorance. Because of this reciprocity, the truth is misunderstood. Because it is

misunderstood, the subjective world of particulars appears. And because of the perfuming power of subjectivity, modes of

ASHVAGHOSHA 37

individuation are produced. By clinging to them, deeds are done,

and we suffer as a result both mental and bodily miseries.

This spiritually soporific process can be reversed through discipline and effort which lead to nirvana, the condition of action without an actor.

As ignorance is annihilated, Alayavijnana is no more disturbed so as to be subject to individuation. As the mind is no more disturbed, the particularization of the surrounding world is annihilated. When in this way the principle and condition of defilement, their products, and the mental disturbances are all annihilated, it is said that we attain nirvana and that spontaneous activity is achieved.

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas incarnate in myriad guises to bring about the entrance of all beings into nirvana. They may use four methods of ʹentertainmentʹ – dana, giving; priyavacana, endearing speech; arthacarya, beneficial action; and samanartha, cooperation –

the six paramitas or any mode that aids in perfecting bodhi, wisdom.

Out of their boundless compassion, Mahakaruna, they do whatever is necessary to induce beings to tread the path to Enlightenment, whether by sudden or gradual means.

Ashvaghosha saw in the personalized concept of the Atman the single greatest block to Enlightenment. Whilst he affirmed the reality of the Mahayana, he argued that the aspirant must realize that there is neither a permanent personal self nor any permanent particular thing, that individuals and objects are neither rupa (form) nor chitta (mind), neither prajna (intelligence) nor vijnana (consciousness), neither abhava (non‐being) nor bhava (being).

Strictly speaking, they are inexplicable, although the Tathagata teaches by means of words and definitions as part of his skilfulness (upaya) in coaxing people to abandon delusion for tattvajnana, real knowledge. The Bodhisattva, who has renounced gross illusions yet still strives to merge with the Absolute through serving all beings, cultivates this skilfulness through practising truth, nurturing true repentance, strengthening the roots of merit (kushalamula) by

38 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II reverencing the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, and through

mahapranidhana, great vows.

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, despite their innumerable virtues, powers and skilful means, cannot help human beings who do not make themselves receptive to Dharma.

Tathagatas are only waiting to reveal Themselves to all beings as soon as the latter can purify their own minds. When a mirror is covered with dust, it cannot reflect images. It can do so only when it is free from stain. It is ever the same with all beings. If their minds are not clear of stain, the Dharmakaya cannot reveal itself in them. But if they be freed from stain, then it will reveal itself.

Human beings prepare their minds by arousing faith, shraddha, in themselves. This faith is ultimately in bhutatathata, and specifically in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. It is perfected through five kinds of action: dana (giving), shila (right conduct), kshanti (patience), virya (constant energy), shamatha (tranquillity) and vidarshana (insight). The first three deal with compassionate action and self‐restraint, which are nurtured by dauntless energy motivated by compassion. Shamatha is initially practised by withdrawal and meditation upon bhutatathata as alakshana, devoid of all attributes, uncreate and eternal. In time their consciousness will come to practise shamatha in all states of activity and withdrawal.

When the practiser by virtue of his samadhi (mental equilibrium) attains an immediate insight into the nature of the universe (Dharmadhatu), he will recognize that the Dharmakaya of all Tathagatas and the body of all beings are one and the same and ekalakshana (consubstantial). This is called ekalakshanasamadhi, the samadhi of oneness. By disciplining oneself in this samadhi, one attains infinite samadhis, because bhutatathata is the source of all samadhis.

Many individuals cannot readily sustain meditation upon

bhutatathata, attributeless reality, because they have insufficiently cultivated the root of merit over lives. They will be distracted by

ASHVAGHOSHA 39

visions both horrible and alluring, including visions of Bodhisattvas and Buddhas, by the crowd of memories or restless anticipation of the future. If the practitioner gains some facility in meditation, beings may appear to teach him supernormal powers, including clairvoyance, clairaudience, telepathy, memory of previous lives, miraculous abilities and the destruction of passions. He or she may drift into some state of static abstraction or enter a supercelestial realm of idealized pleasures. Although these marvellous powers come naturally to the enlightened Arhat, they are the poisonous serpents hidden under Maraʹs delusive flowers for those who have

not attained perfect wisdom. The aspirant should remind himself or herself that all the things of the world are nothing in themselves, and are in essence nirvana. Thus one should reject them as tempting mental hallucinations and turn towards the transcendent essence of Mind.

Meditation alone will not lead to the highest reality. Without clear intellectual insight, vidarshana, one will be estranged from compassion and seek the subtle selfishness of spiritual indolence.

To avoid this error, one should contemplate seven truths. First of all, one should think of the transience of all things.

One should contemplate that all things in the past are like a dream, those in the present are like the lightning, and those in the future are like clouds that spontaneously come into existence.

Thirdly, one should recognize that whatever has a body is impure, the lodging place of false views. One should see that ignorant minds take the unreal for the real. Whatever comes into existence should be thought of as a chimera, without reality.

Sixthly, one should realize that absolute truth, Paramarthasatya, is not a product of the individuated mind and that no reasoning or analogy can encompass it. Finally, one should dwell on the fact of suffering as the invariable result of ignorance. In addition to meditation and contemplation, the aspirant should take the great vow to renounce the whole process of samsara, should nourish in himself or herself the seeds of compassion for all beings.

40 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Those who follow this course of thought and action will be drawn inexorably, if gradually, to the Buddhakshetra, the Buddha-realm, wherein they may behold the World‐Honoured One and gain immeasurable spiritual benefit. Their feet will be securely placed on the path that leads to an Enlightenment which, however

distant it may seem in the future, is wholly out of time and therefore eternally present.

By practising this doctrine all Buddhas have attained the most excellent knowledge. . . . By practising this doctrine, Bodhisattvas in the past consummated, and Bodhisattvas in the future will consummate, pure and spotless faith in the Mahayana.

The world is overcome – aye! even here!

By such as fix their faith on Unity.

Shri Krishna

OM

Hermes, March 1985

Elton A Hall

NAGARJUNA

Those who speak with discretion

Are respected by humanity,

Like the sun, gleaming through the shadows,

Engenders warmth by its rays.

Though you suffer in the practice of Dharma

Let not your mind be anxious.

When the moon has been eclipsed,

Will is not shine freely again?

To garland the altar

Only full blossoms are gathered;

A gardener does not

Uproot the plant too soon.

Careless speech will get you caught

Like the parrot, the songster and the water‐hen

Man fails to catch the water‐duck,

Whose skill is his silence.

It is easy to live shouldering others ʹ loads,

And easy to don tree‐bark in the forest.

It is easier for men to die,

Than to pass their days in quarrelling.

Moral conduct, self‐restraint,

And total control of the mind –

What else does one ever need

Who perseveres in these?

Nagarjuna

The Staff of Wisdom

42 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Ashvaghoshaʹs efforts to demonstrate the underlying unity of diverse schools of Buddhist thought left a precious legacy in The Awakening of Faith. It did not, however, turn the tide of dogmatic sectarianism. The eighteen schools drifted ominously towards exclusivity, each claiming to have the only complete and correct formulation of the truth. Monks of differing persuasions continued to live together, and the gradual emergence of Nalanda as a centre of Buddhist studies encouraged this custom. Nonetheless, sectarian attitudes undermined the heart of the Buddhaʹs teaching and saddened those who had tread the Path of the Tathagatas. Since the philosophical basis for unity within divergence in respect to details had been laid, a method was needed to give the foundation vitality.

Nagarjuna provided a philosophical, psychological and magical method which could lead individuals to see far beyond their divergent perspectives to the universal horizon of Buddhadharma.

Mystery and legend surround every aspect of the life of

Nagarjuna, and even the oldest sources disagree about his birth, the time during which he lived and exactly what he wrote. There is universal agreement, however, that he was born in south India outside the highly developed Buddhist centres. Most likely, he was born into a Brahmin family sometime in the latter quarter of the second century A.D. According to many traditions, including Taranathaʹs history, astrologers determined that Nagarjuna would die at the age of seven. When the fateful year approached, Nagarjunaʹs parents could not bear to watch their remarkable son die, and so they sent him to a small Buddhist monastery whose monks were known for their compassion. His diligent study of Buddhist texts overcame his fate, and he survived by gaining the vajra or ʹdiamond bodyʹ. Some sources add that the Buddha Aparimitayuh aided him by encouraging him to revere the

Aparimitayurdharani in his devotions. Kumarajiva, however, wrote that Nagarjuna grew up as a Brahmin who learnt the secret of invisibility. With three companions, he would enter the royal palace and have his way with the women there. Even though invisible, the guards discovered their indiscretion and managed to kill

Nagarjunaʹs friends. Though he escaped, he saw that lust leads to

NAGARJUNA 43

sorrow, and he entered a monastery to discover the path to enlightenment and freedom from all desires.

Nagarjuna became the friend of kings, repaired monasteries and

stupas, and spread the teachings of the Buddha. His skill as an exponent of Dharma made him famous throughout India, and it attracted the Nagas, the guardians of wisdom who dwell in Nagaloka outside of Jambudvipa. They attended his discourses in the guise of young boys and were so deeply moved that the king of the Nagas invited him to visit their realm. This tradition holds that the Nagas were guardians of the Mahayana sutras, the arcane teachings of the Buddha, and scholars generally agree that these texts came out of south India, though their ultimate origin remains unknown. Nagarjuna persuaded the Naga king to allow him to take

some of the scriptures back to Jambudvipa, where he placed them

before the world. Another account avers that Nagarjuna was given

the Mahayana sutras by a sage who dwelt in the secret fastnesses of the Himalayas. Given the rich symbolism surrounding the Nagas, who are sometimes said to be high spiritual Initiates, both stories may tell the truth. Until this time, Nagarjuna had been known as Arjuna because his mother had given birth to him under an arjuna tree, thus recalling the birth of the Buddha, and ʹNagaʹ was prefixed to it because of his intimate friendship with the Nagas.

According to some accounts, Nagarjuna taught for a number of years at Nalanda, and though he personally did much to restore and maintain the sacred sites at Bodhgaya, the centre of Buddhist teaching gradually shifted to Nagarjunaʹs seat. Later in life he returned to southern India where he spread the Dharma in every direction. Having mastered the deepest teachings of the Mahayana, he acquired siddhi, riddhi and abhijna – psychic powers, magic and spiritual clairvoyance. Once, during a severe famine, he created gold out of base material and exchanged it for foreign grain, thereby sustaining the Sangha. It was said that he enlisted the aid of Yakshas and Nagas to build stupas and monasteries. He did not use his remarkable powers for himself, however, and employed them

44 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II only when ordinary means were unable to accomplish a necessary

task.

Some biographers said that he lived for a hundred years, basing

their assertion on the relative dates of kings and teachers whom he knew. Others, however, told a more remarkable tale. On his way to visit several classes of invisible beings, he saw some children playing together and predicted that one of them would become a king. When he returned twelve years later, he found that the boy had indeed become King Udayana. The two became close friends, and Nagarjuna taught him the secret of the elixir of life so that the king would not die before Nagarjuna renounced his vajra body.

Many years later, Sushakti, the kingʹs youngest son, discovered the reason for his fatherʹs longevity. Already mature and desiring the throne, he despaired because he knew that Nagarjuna could not be

killed and showed no inclination to leave his work. Nonetheless, Sushakti went to the Bodhisattva and explained his plight.

Nagarjuna remarked that he had once beheaded a man in a previous incarnation, and told Sushakti to cut off his head with a blade of kusha grass. He added that he would eventually return to use the vajra body again. Sushakti beheaded Nagarjuna and his father died soon afterward, but fearing that the Bodhisattva would return quickly, he interred the head and body in shrines placed four miles apart. The head split open, revealing five stone images of Avalokiteshvara, and the two shrines began moving gradually towards one another. It is said that they are now within hearing distance of each other and that Nagarjuna will return when they meet. In this account, Nagarjuna lived about four hundred years.

The impact of Nagarjunaʹs teaching is as awesome as the story of

his life. He was hailed as the father – and perhaps founder – of the Madhyamika or ʹMiddle Wayʹ school of Buddhist thought. He made accessible the great Mahayana scriptures, and especially the Prajnaparamita sutras, and wrote commentaries and explanations.

In addition, he composed verses which distilled the teaching of the Buddha in a way that disciples of every school could appreciate, and he wrote letters which set forth practical rules which kings

NAGARJUNA 45

could follow even while fulfilling their duties. He was one of ʺthe four suns which illumined the worldʺ, the other three being Ashvaghosha, Kumaralabdha and Aryadeva. In Tibet, Nagarjuna is

revered as an incarnation of Manjushri. Nagarjuna is honoured wherever Mahayana Buddhist thought prevails, and his works survive in Sanskrit, Tibetan and Chinese. When Buddhist thought was threatened by the delusion of sectarianism, the Indian Chronicle recorded, ʺWho but the two master‐workmen – Ashvaghosha and Nagarjuna – could set it right?ʺ

Building on the metaphysical doctrines delineated by

Ashvaghosha, Nagarjuna sought to abolish contention amongst the

schools by showing that assertions arising out of relative truth lead invariably to absurdity. Since absolute truth cannot be formulated, Nagarjuna could say, ʺI have no pratijna – proposition or position –

to defend.ʺ His fourfold negative dialectic reduced any standpoint to incoherence insofar as it claimed to embody the truth. But Nagarjuna did not aim to turn monks into sceptics, but rather to make them sceptical of the images and formulations of truth which they were tempted to convert into dogmas. Once stripped of the insidious belief that oneʹs deepest insights are somehow the absolute truth itself, one is open to authentic wisdom. Nagarjuna responded to the desire for spiritual knowledge by expounding the meaning of the Prajnaparamitasutra in its different forms. For those who were sufficiently grounded in their understanding of the arcane teachings, he provided methods of practice in his strict monastic disciplines, advice on living the spiritual life through his verses, and secret instruction in magic for those who were ready and could make spiritual use of such knowledge.

Nagarjuna insisted that all understanding must be rooted in a clear recognition that there are two levels of truth, relative truths which may be useful in a limited context but are illusory from a more inclusive standpoint, and absolute truth which is concealed by all relativities.

46 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Those who do not understand the distinction between these two

truths, do not understand the deep significance of the Buddhaʹs teaching.

If the distinction between the two kinds of truth is grasped, one will recognize that ultimate truth can be neither conceptualized nor formulated. In addition, however, every relative truth falls short of absolute truth by reifying entities and objects when, in fact, they are empty of independent reality.

One of the profoundest teachings of Mahayana is called

shunyata. If one can understand this doctrine, one can understand Mahayana and possess the six paramitas without hindrance.

Given the centrality of these doctrines, how could different schools dogmatize the teachings of the Buddha? For Nagarjuna, anupalambha, non‐contentiousness, was the heart of the Buddhaʹs message, and the tendency to make exclusive or absolute claims was a sad example of graha, clinging, a manifestation of tanha, the thirst for embodied existence. Thus, the very doctrine which could emancipate humanity had become yet another means of bondage.

Nonetheless, this unfortunate misapplication demonstrated the thirst in human beings for the Real, but without dharmanam bhutapratyaveka – right understanding – spiritual aspiration is inverted and becomes craving for concretion and form.

This error is the root of all conflict and suffering, and the first step towards its removal is a comprehension of pratityasamutpada, conditioned origination. If everything subject to name and form is dependent on something else for its existence – that is, if everything is caused by something else – no thing can have an independent reality or self‐nature. But the cause of everything is likewise dependent on something else for its existence, and in manifestation there is an infinite regression of dependencies. Therefore nothing subject to name and form is real in itself, and so no thing can in itself aid one in discerning Reality. Clinging to name and form distances one from Truth. Put in another way, the congeries of qualities and characteristics which constitute manifest objects of

NAGARJUNA 47

every kind is determinate, whilst ultimate reality is forever indeterminate. The indeterminate is the ground of the determinate, but, Nagarjuna insisted, it is not a separate entity but rather the ultimate nature of everything.

Each human being is determinate, conditioned, and as limited by

name and form as anything else. Yet, like everything manifest, man is not merely grounded in the Real, for his essential nature is the Real. The lack which human beings experience as aspiration arises from their essential nature. The ignorant imagination, however, mistakes the relative duality of manʹs determinate and

indeterminate nature for an absolute separation, and this gives rise to clinging and, eventually, to despair. The mind imprisoned in its own avidya, ignorance, is therefore its own enemy. Realization of this error – and, in time, of the truth – is possible because the mind can come to see the contradictions inherent in its false viewpoint.

Nagarjunaʹs analysis of categories, the elements of existence and of the understanding aimed to reveal the shunyata or void ness of conditioned existence and the voidness of shunyata itself. Through the reversal of clinging to form by cleaving to shunyata, it is possible to awaken the Real, to see the voidness of the seeming full and the fullness of the seeming void.

Nagarjunaʹs dialectic was not simply apophatic, because his negation of every standpoint did not simply prove them false but appreciated their relative truth without confining one to any particular formulation. ʺEverything holds good in the case of one who is in agreement with shunyataʺ, Nagarjuna taught. Prajna, the capacity to discern the degree and level of truth in every standpoint while recognizing the relative nature of them all, is the key to the Madhyamika or Middle Way. As the principle of comprehension, it

is that Way.

Ultimate truth cannot be taught except in the context of mundane truth, and unless the ultimate truth is comprehended, nirvana cannot be realized.

48 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II As oneʹs understanding increases through garnering the truth present in limited perspectives, the dualism which alienates the individual from himself gradually gives way before a dawning metapsychological integration that also reveals a harmony with the whole of Nature through a recognition of its divine ground, shunyata. As sectarian dogmas fall away, the aspirant discovers that Truth is no view yet underpins all views, just as they each reflect some aspect of it to a degree. The aim and purpose of the Madhyamika is to instil a sense of the Real through recognition that conditioned reality is based upon, rooted in and nothing but shunyata.

In the Dvadasadvarashastra (The Treatise of Twelve Portals) Nagarjuna delineated twelve portals through which one could pass

to understanding without residues of doubt. The first portal concerns causal conditions.

Things are produced from diverse conditions,

and therefore have no self‐nature (svabhava).

If they have no self‐nature,

how can there be such things?

A careful analysis of causation discloses that things which are caused – and all manifestation is caused – have no independent reality. In terms of what they seem to be, they are shunyata, empty.

The second portal addresses the problem of production.

If an effect is already present in a cause,

there can be no production.

If an effect is at the outset unreal in

respect to a cause,

there likewise can be no production.

If an effect is both real and unreal,

there can be no production.

How then can there be production?

Further, the third portal attests,

Briefly and broadly,

conditions do not contain effects.

NAGARJUNA 49

If there are no effects within conditions,

how can they come from conditions?

The first three portals teach that no ontological meaning can be given to the concept of causality. The fourth portal shows that the same analysis applies to characteristics or qualities of things, whilst the fifth portal demonstrates that the three universal characteristics of all things – origination, persistence and destruction – are themselves unreal, that is, empty. In the sixth portal, Nagarjuna holds one cannot prove either that an object is identical with its characteristics or that it is different from them. Since both standpoints are true in part and untrue in part, it is possible to move towards Truth through mundane truths so long as one adheres to this Middle Way.

The seventh portal attacks the seemingly fundamental distinction

between being and non‐being.

There cannot be being with non‐being,

nor can there be being without non‐being.

If there can be being with non‐being,

then being should always be non‐being.

Origination and persistence are characteristics of being, whilst decay and destruction belong to non‐being. Thus being and non-being can neither exist together nor separately. The eighth portal applies the argument regarding being and non‐being to Nature to show that since all things are in a condition of ceaseless change, there is no self‐nature in them. The ninth portal adds that since things cannot be understood in terms of their essential nature or from the process of causation, they are shunyata.

Since there can be no creation without cause and effect, as the tenth portal teaches, and since causality is empty, there is no creation. Nagarjuna applies this conclusion to the idea of suffering to show that even suffering has no real existence. The eleventh portal examines creation from the standpoint of time to

demonstrate that it cannot occur in the past, present or future, and so cannot occur at all.

50 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II ʹEarlier thanʹ, ʹlater thanʹ and ʹsimultaneous withʹ

– such events are impossible.

How then can events be produced by causes?

The twelfth portal uses the argument from time to show that nothing can be produced.

The effect already produced is not to be produced; that not yet

produced is not produced.

Without that which is already produced and that which is not yet produced, that which is being produced is not produced.

Although Nagarjunaʹs fame is due in large measure to his stunning dialectical paradoxes, he did not devise them for idle amusement. He was convinced that anyone who assiduously

meditated upon shunyata would possess the alchemical key which, when used to unlock the portals on the Middle Way, would lead one to the elixir of life. He gave a talisman for all aspirants in the Mahaprajnaparamitashastra:

There is realization of Reality, but not as it is imagined in any extremes. Neither anything nor nothing, devoid of all prapanca – conceptualization and elaboration – this is what is called realization of the Way. If one were free from extremes,

then prapanca itself would be the Way. Bodhi is itself the Way, the Way is itself bodhi.

Hermes, April 1985

Elton Hall

ARYADEVA

Even though Nagarjunaʹs Herculean effort to provide a

methodological foundation and philosophical basis for drawing together diverse Buddhist standpoints failed to achieve its aim, he gave an impulse for spiritual renewal that ramified in many directions. He founded the Madhyamika – the Middle Way – school

which worked to preserve a sense of fraternity amidst diversity.

With the emergence of the Madhyamika, the meta‐psychological and metaphysical power of the Mahayana made an enduring

impression on every aspect of Buddhist tradition. Those who resisted the suggestion that Gautama Buddha had imparted an arcane teaching to his most advanced disciples nonetheless freely borrowed Madhyamika methods and analogies to elucidate their own views. The tradition that Nagarjuna was head of the great university‐monastery of Nalanda testifies to the pervasive influence of his thought. Madhyamika nurtured itself in India and then spread to China and Japan, where it flourished in conditions quite different from those of its birthplace. It came to have its own offspring – the Yogacharya school of idealism – and eventually divided into two distinct emphases. In the fifth century

Bhavaviveka held that Madhyamika had a positive content of its own, whilst Buddhapalita sought to reduce all philosophical positions to absurdity in the belief that this would lead to the intuitive realization of Reality beyond all possible cognition.

Long before the Madhyamika expansion, however, Nagarjunaʹs

vision was consolidated with consummate dialectical skill by his chief disciple, Aryadeva, one of ʺthe four suns which illumined the worldʺ. Like his illustrious teacher, Aryadevaʹs life is thoroughly immersed in legend and hagiography. Biographers report that Aryadeva, born in the heart of a lotus, became the foster‐son of Panchashringa, King of Sinhala, which is generally believed to be the modern Sri Lanka. His natural grace and brilliance so impressed his father that he was declared Crown prince and enthroned as heir

52 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II apparent. He had already studied the Theravadin Buddhist

doctrines in depth, and the prospect of becoming king saddened him. Eventually he renounced the throne for the life of a monk, but the delicate political complications arising from the presence of a former Crown prince near the throne of another successor impelled him to travel to India. Having already learnt the arts and sciences in addition to Ceylonese Buddhist thought, he sought for a teacher who could guide him to the core of the Dharma.

In time Aryadeva met Nagarjuna and became his devoted

disciple for life. According to Hsuan Tsang, Aryadeva found Nagarjunaʹs dwelling and had himself announced. Rather than inviting Aryadeva to enter, Nagarjuna ordered that his begging bowl should be filled with clear water and taken to Aryadeva.

Upon receiving the bowl, Aryadeva dropped a needle into it and sent it back. Nagarjuna welcomed the newcomer, saying to his astonished pupils that the bowl filled with water represented his knowledge, and the needle signified that Aryadeva had penetrated

to its very bottom. Aryadeva was appointed the spiritual successor of Nagarjuna and eventually became head of Nalanda. He wrote a

number of texts, the most famous of which is Chatuhshataka (The Hundred Treatise), which survives in the Tibetan translation and in Sanskrit fragments. Taranatha related stories that Aryadeva established monasteries and performed a number of remarkable magical feats, though he added that he could not vouch for these traditions.

Aryadeva was sometimes called Nilanetra, ʹblue‐eyedʹ, because of

unique markings on his face, but the name may be associated with

his attainment of the ʹrainbow bodyʹ. He was also called Kanadeva, ʹone‐eyed deva ʹ , owing to a mysterious encounter with Shiva in his aspect as Maheshvara. While disputing with theistic Shaivites, he argued that a golden statue of Maheshvara was not the god himself, and to prove the point, he tore out the left eye of the image. When Maheshvara visited Aryadeva the next day, the monk tore out his own eye to show that he was not prideful, for the statue is not the god, and the body is not the perceiver within it. Though Aryadevaʹs

ARYADEVA 53

works suggest that he debated Jain philosophers, theistic

Vaishnavas and Shaivites, and the followers of numerous diverse Buddhist standpoints, his concern was to remove error rather than to compel every individual to adhere to exactly the same doctrine and practice. He marshalled his sublime dialectic with special enthusiasm in critical analyses of theistic traditions in which Deity was first personalized and then absolutized. He launched equally strong critiques against Theravadin systems which emphasized practice to the exclusion of understanding.

Above all, Aryadeva wished to alter the Theravadin tendency to

base spiritual practices and ethical norms on a psychological understanding of suffering, replacing it with ethical insight rooted in abstruse metaphysics. He saw that ethics without a firm grasp of metaphysics premised upon the doctrine of two truths –

paramarthasatya and samvritisatya, absolute and conditional –

strengthened practice while neglecting meditation. Mahayana

metaphysics, on the other hand, required the marriage of

meditation and ethical action like two sides of a coin. Despite the stringency of the path of emancipation, Aryadeva applied the standpoint of the Two Truths to include all receptive beings in the Dharma.

Love for the religion is prescribed by the Tathagatas for those who long for heaven; the highest truth, however, is prescribed for those seeking deliverance. One who desires religious merit cannot always speak of shunyata. Does not medicine turn to poison when wrongly used? Just as one can make a thing clear to a mleccha only by using his language, so one cannot explain anything to the common people save by using the common language.

Nonetheless, relativistic explanations are useful only to the degree that they guide one towards meditation on the fullness of the seeming Void, shunyata.

Tradition holds that Aryadevaʹs most challenging and

triumphant debate was with Matricheta, a great devotee of Maheshvara. He travelled as he taught and in time he came to

54 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Nalanda. Nagarjuna and Aryadeva were on retreat at Sri Parvata, and the monks were discomfitted by Matrichetaʹs powerful

argumentation. A message was sent to Nagarjuna, who tested his disciple and sent him to confront the threat. The four debates were conducted on two levels, dialectical and magical. Aryadeva won each dialectical exchange, but only by demonstrating his superior ability in magic through blocking Matrichetaʹs attempts to invoke invisible assistance. Matrichetaʹs disciples immediately entered the Sangha, but Matricheta himself held back until he had completed a profound meditation on his errors. Then he repented without reserve and eventually became a renowned Buddhist teacher.

Subsequently, Aryadeva retired to South India, where he continued to teach until his death. Some sources maintained that Aryadeva was stabbed by the angry disciple of a vanquished Tirthika, yet even as he lay dying he refused to allow his followers to pursue his assailant. ʺEverything is unrealʺ, he said. ʺReflect upon the true meaning of all things in the world of phenomena. Who is pierced or murdered? Who is a friend and who a foe? There is neither murdered nor murderer.ʺ Thus restraining his disciples, he afforded his attacker the opportunity to escape and perhaps repent and set his feet upon the path of emancipation.

Buddhist tradition reveres Aryadeva not only as a superlative exponent of Madhyamika teachings but even more as a Bodhisattva

who gave his life for the sake of humanity. He balanced uncompromisingly incisive analysis of mental confusion with positive guidance for the reorientation of consciousness towards the Bodhisattva Path. This dialectical equilibrium underlies the Chatuhshataka, Aryadevaʹs most honoured work. It opens with arguments for the elimination of erroneous preconceptions, namely that things are permanent, pleasant, pure or the self. The relativity of phenomenal existence and the First Noble Truth show that nothing in experience can be permanent, pleasant or truly pure. If this is understood, it is clear that there can be no self at this level.

Once spiritual reliance on the mundane world is abandoned through realization of its inherent impermanence, one is ready to contemplate those Bodhisattvic practices which lead to

ARYADEVA 55

Buddhahood. Thus one needs to eliminate the kleshas, defilements which hinder spiritual growth. To achieve this, one must seek out their cause in the many levels of enjoyment that arise from seemingly desirable objects of the senses. Only then is one ready to take up discipleship. Having made clear the requirements of the path of emancipation, Aryadeva added a vigorous analysis of the insubstantiality of all dharmas, constituents of existence, which are shown to be nothing but ciphers of shunyata. Beginning with the idea of a self, and including time, dogmatic opinions, the faculties of sense and their objects, doctrinal extremes (such as existence and non‐existence, identity and difference) and conditional reality, Aryadeva subjected the elements of phenomenal existence to the negation of the Shunyavada, the way of emptiness. He concluded with a discussion of the epistemological and logical problems involved in the teaching of shunyata.

Aryadeva also composed treatises which would appeal to a wide

audience of serious students. His Skhalitapramathana‐yukt‐hetu‐siddhi (The Dialectic Which Refutes Errors Establishing Logical Reasons) sets forth a variety of erroneous views and summarizes those doctrines which will aid the disciple in overcoming them and progressing towards Enlightenment. By coming to understand the depth and tenacity of psychic structures, one prepares oneself to consider the Dharma without blindness, bias or prejudice. The metaphysical expressions of the highest truths can then be used to break up the matrices of ignorance and delusion and transform consciousness.

Thus Aryadeva wrote the Dialectic to offer aid in ʺthis world of the five degeneraciesʺ – degenerations of life span, of understanding correct views, of afflictive emotions (greed, anger, ignorance, pride and their kin), of psychological stability of sentient beings and degeneration of this age of strife. Curiously, Aryadeva does not begin with denying the putative existence of the non‐existent; rather, he affirms the existence of that which some deny. Rejecting the argument that all things come to an end and therefore need no care today, he insists that whilst all things perish, they leave seeds for future growth. Nothing just happens, but is invariably caused.

Thus, only by cultivating those virtues which attack the roots of

56 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II dependent causation can one achieve freedom from an endless round of involuntary rebirths.

If our migration to high and low states

Were unrestricted and as free

As a bird flying without impediment,

Then no obstructions could exist.

But by virtue or through wrongdoing,

Our path is made for weal or woe.

These have the power for joy or sorrow,

Here godsʹ power counts for nothing.

Having affirmed the efficacy of right action because of the impermanence of all things – and not because anything can be said to remain the same – Aryadeva then denies that any conceivable notion of an individual self can be valid.

It is like, for example,

The oft‐made mistake

Of beholding a rope as a snake.

The phenomenon of the rope

Is not seen for what it is,

But is seen as possessed of a self.

Yet as the rope a snake can never be,

So phenomena are never self.

Similarly, those who are tempted to reduce the phenomenal world to some permanent material substratum are equally in error.

These elemental things – fire and water,

Earth and wind – cannot exist in themselves,

For they are compounded of smaller things,

Subatomic parts ( p ʹ a‐ra‐rab dul), and so

Even the most minute particle

Can be divided six ways.

Thus ʹsmallest partʹ cannot exist,

And likewise every substance

ARYADEVA 57

Can never permanent be

And threefold its destruction is.

To those who see in the present order of things the lineaments of permanence, believing that one is naturally reborn in the same race or gender, social position or personality, Aryadeva warns:

Just as gold or silver will to the moulds conform–

Be they lions, horses or bulls –

Just so does the spirit – the mental continuum –

Conform through the impulsion of desire

In colour and form and structure of consciousness

Like figures that are moulded in the fire.

When one begins to realize the deceptive nature of all

phenomena, however, a tendency can arise through which one believes that if one only understands the nature of all the kinds of phenomena that appear, one will somehow discern the Real within

them. This is the subtle error of confusing exact classification with spiritual insight.

If high states are attained

By knowing this way

Of making enumeration,

Then things like precious gold

Should be compelled to appear

By the counting of sticks and stones.

Thus we must in fairness say

That this kind of logic

Is by common sense refuted,

Not to mention by ultimate truth.

It is as if a hungry man

Said that he was full

After listing all his favourite foods.

For Aryadeva, the fundamental error in the misperception of Reality arises from a failure to recognize the egolessness or lack of inherent nature of all things. When some inherent substantiality or

58 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II reality is granted to phenomena, one then fails to grasp the truth of dependent origination at its root. This misunderstanding is the direct cause of the five afflictions – desire, hatred, ignorance, arrogance and doubt – and these five ensure the relevance of the First Noble Truth. Metaphysically, the error can be explained with relative ease, but it cannot be understood without great effort. To grasp the voidness of the seeming full and the reality of the seeming void, one has to penetrate and break up the patterns of misperception and misunderstanding that pervade every level of embodied consciousness. Thus the pure metaphysics of the

Shunyavada – way of the Void – must be translated into the Madhyamika, the Middle Way, which avoids all extremes and excess. The Bodhisattva Path, along which one journeys by stages through progressive awakenings to the real nature of things and the gradual stripping away of false conceptions of the self, is the only way to perfect knowledge and full Enlightenment. The Middle Way, which has been characterized as ʹzerologyʹ – the study and practice of shunya – is trod by penetrating learning and also reducing oneself to a zero while joining oneself to the whole –

shunyata – through selfless service and meditation on fundamentals.

Aryadeva is called a Bodhisattva because he fused clarity of insight with compassionate action in the unwavering conviction that all could tread the path of emancipation.

Arjuna! if a man sees everywhere –

Taught by his own similitude –one Life,

One Essence in the Evil and the Good,

Hold him a Yogi, yea! well‐perfected!

Shri Krishna

OM

Hermes, May 1985

Elton Hall

ASANGA

Whoever thoroughly experiences Samsara as it really is, circles in Samsara with an undefiled mind. And whoever has a mind which is unwearied by the aspects of impermanence, suffering and egolessness of Samsara, such a one does not quickly enter Nirvana.

And whoever has a mind which is unfrightened by Nirvana stores up equipment for it, and though beholding the good qualities and benefits in Nirvana, nonetheless does not yearn for it, and so does not quickly enter Nirvana. This is the bodhisattva ʹ s great means for attaining perfect Enlightenment. This means is well grounded in that firm conviction in supreme shunyata. Therefore, for the bodhisattva who has well taken hold of shiksha marga, the Path of Instruction, cultivating conviction in supreme shunyata, is said to be the Mahan Upaya, the Great Means, for reaching knowledge of the Tathagata.

Asanga

Bodhisattvabhumi

Tradition teaches that there have been three revolutions of the wheel of Dharma. The first was inaugurated by Gautama Buddhaʹs

public Teachings, enshrined in the doctrines of eighteen schools collectively called Hinayana or Lesser Vehicle, and surviving today in the Theravada, the way of the elders. The second was initiated by Buddhaʹs esoteric doctrines, emerging as the Mahayana or Great Vehicle, which is the source of the diverse schools of Tibet, Mongolia, Korea, China and Japan. The third revolution

commenced with Asanga and the Yogacara school, a branch of the

Madhyamika which emphasized meditation as a fundamental

aspect of Buddhist practice. H.P. Blavatsky suggested that this complex history contains a deep mystery. Asanga, also known as Arya Asanga or Aryasanga, has been confused with another

60 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II teacher, Aryasangha, a direct disciple of Buddha, who is the true founder of the first and ever secret Yogacharya school. In conflating the earlier teachings of the arcane Yogacharya school with elements of tantric and magical practices, Asanga compromised his

exceptional brilliance and insight. Since the pure Yogacharya books

– Narjol chodpa in Tibetan – have never been made public, one must cautiously examine Asangaʹs encyclopaedic Yogacarabhumi, of which the Bodhisattvabhumi is a part, for it contains ʺa great deal from the older systemʺ, according to H.P. Blavatsky.

Asangaʹs birth is shrouded in legend. Taranatha wrote that Asangaʹs mother had been in a previous life a monk with a mastery of the Tripitaka, the Three Baskets of the Theravadin canon. Once, when arguing with a monk, he deeply hurt the feelings of his opponent by accusing him of having a female brain.

Avalokiteshvara, to whom the offender was pledged, predicted that he would live a number of lives as a woman to understand the utter injustice of the remark. Sometime in the fourth century this monk was born as Prakashashila in the city of Purushapura (modern Peshawar) in Gandhara. Though a Brahmin, she first married a Kshatriya and gave birth to Asanga. Sometime later she married a

Brahmin and had two other sons, Vasubandhu and Virinchivatsa.

Though Asanga was considerably older than his half‐brothers and would be expected to take up the duties of a warrior and leader, Prakashashila told him that he was destined for other service and encouraged him to enter the Sangha.

Asanga entered the Sangha and spent a year serving the

upadhyaya, the acharya and the Sangha, and then he studied the sacred texts, including the Tripitaka and the Mahayana sutras, for five years. As a blue‐robed Mahishasaka monk, he learnt advanced

methods of meditation. When his understanding equalled that of his teacher, he received a secret initiation and withdrew to a cave on a mountain called variously Kukkutapada, Gurpaparvata and Gurupada. There he meditated upon Maitreya, to whom he

dedicated himself. After three years, however, he had failed to behold his celestial preceptor and made ready to leave his rocky

ASANGA 61

abode. As he stepped outside the cave, he saw that the wings of birds had gradually worn down the rocks around their nests, and thinking, ʺI have lost assiduityʺ, he returned to his meditations.

Disappointed after another three years, he again made ready to leave, but he noticed the effect dripping water had had on the stones on which it fell, and he returned to his contemplation. A third time he left his cave and came across an old man rubbing a piece of iron with a fine cloth to make needles out of it, and he returned to his meditation. But in the twelfth year he gave up all hope and left his mountain fastness.

Heavy‐hearted, he made his way towards the city of Achintya, where he saw a dog infested with worms. Realizing that the poor creature would die of the infestation, but not wishing to destroy the worms, he determined to give them flesh cut from his own body.

No sooner had he made the sacrifice of his physical form than the dog vanished and in its place stood Maitreya, resplendent in a halo of lakshanas, divine graces. Asanga could not contain himself.

Weeping, he asked why the vision had not occurred before, but only now when he was in too much physical pain to have wished

for it. Maitreya explained that he had always been present, but that Asangaʹs own blindness had prevented him from seeing. Once his great insight – prajna – had been matched by compassion – karuna –

his eyes became clear. Maitreya asked what Asanga truly desired, and he replied, ʺTo spread the Mahayana.ʺ Thereupon Maitreya took Asanga into the Tushita realm, Maitreyaʹs celestial abode.

There he was taught the deepest meanings of the Prajnaparamita sutras and was instructed in the five works of Maitreya. When Asanga returned to terrestrial existence six months – some say twenty‐five years – later, he began an energetic career in rejuvenating Buddhist thought and practice in India.

The Tibetans call this form of history rnam thar, sacred biography, which is essential for understanding the path to Enlightenment and is therefore less concerned with the exact details of external events than with the inner significance of the life recounted. Asanga began by founding viharas, monastic communities, and since he had

62 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II mastered the abhijnas, supernormal powers, he could travel as far in one day as the average monk could cover in nothing less than a month. Since he could read the minds of others, he matched his teachings to the understanding of his hearers. Eventually his great erudition brought him to the attention of King Gambhirapaksha, who became his patron and generously financed much of Asangaʹs

work. In time Asanga wrote down the five books of Maitreya and wrote commentaries on them, including the Uttaratantra, a work which Tsong‐Kha‐Pa said was not a Yogacara but a Madhyamika text. In addition, Asanga wrote commentaries on the Prajnaparamita sutras as well as his own expositions, including his enormous Yogacarabhumi (Stages of Yoga Practice). Late in life he persuaded his brother Vasubandhu to join the Yogacara school, and Vasubandhu

successfully laboured to make Asangaʹs doctrines accessible to the general population. Asanga, his work thus secured by his brother, retired to Rajagriha – the site of the First Council after the Buddhaʹs Parinirvana – and died. His disciples built a chaitya, a reliquary, in his honour.

Despite the tremendous spiritual impulse Nagarjuna had

imparted to the Mahayana, his sheer dialectical brilliance had frightened many followers. He had steered a middle course between the tendencies to take the world of phenomena as real in itself and to reject all existence as unreal. Between naive realism and nihilism, Nagarjuna placed the doctrine of shunyata as Tathata, the Void, as the essential nature of all things. Recognizing the metapsychological proclivity to hypostasize shunyata itself as a ʹthingʹ

alongside other phenomena, he taught the principle of

shunyatashunyata, the emptiness of the Void. At the same time, he insisted that shunyata was not a mere nothing, for ʺif all this were not shunyata, there would be no creation and no destructionʺ.

Shunyata is not another category of phenomena, and yet it is the sine qua non of all phenomena. Nonetheless, many who followed the Madhyamika found this doctrine too subtle and drifted into a depressing nihilism, whilst those of other schools found their doctrines shaken by Nagarjunaʹs devastating dialectic.

ASANGA 63

Asanga attempted to counter these tendencies, while remaining loyal to the spirit of Nagarjunaʹs teachings, through a variety of upaya or methods. He modified the ancient formula of ʺtwo truthsʺ, Paramarthasatya and samvritisatya, absolute and relative truth, into the trilakshana or ʺthree naturesʺ standpoint. In this view, phenomena have three natures: parikalpita, which is a mental construct and in that sense imaginary and corresponding to samvritisatya; paratantra, a nature independent of the mind yet subject to dependent origination; and parinishpanna, absolute nature corresponding to Paramarthasatya. This perspective is not so much a denial of the ancient doctrine of two truths as a practical means to avoid nihilism on the path towards Enlightenment. As the mind frees itself from its self‐imposed constructs, it does not drop into an abyss of nothingness, but rather discovers that things‐in‐themselves exist, though dependent for their existence on other things and therefore not absolutely real. The root of this intermediate existence is shunyata, the Void. The schema fills the gap between the mindʹs freedom from its own delusions and the supreme realization of Paramarthasatya.

In conjunction with the threefold doctrine of truth, Asanga also posited an eightfold classification of consciousness. Consciousness, vijnana, under the impulsion of karma, hypostasizes the duality of appearances, though such duality has no real existence.

Consciousness evolves eight aspects to present the world as the ordinary individual experiences it. Five of these aspects correspond to the five sense‐organs, and the sixth is mental perception. Seventh is the defiled mind, that is, the mind deluded by the notion of a self as a real entity. The eighth aspect of consciousness is alayavijnana, the universal storehouse of all impermanent experience. Over time it gathers the seeds of karma and thus reflects both all that has been done and all that will unfold in the fruition of karma. Alayavijnana is not, however, ultimate reality: it is chitta, mind, in its most universal sense, and as such it is part of the skandhas, aggregates out of which a persona is formed. The skandhas are anitya, dukha and anatma, impermanent, suffering and without self. Just as alayavijnana draws upon the mindʹs experience of the world, so the

64 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II mind is affected by alayavijnana. What arises out of alayavijnana, therefore, is not shunyata.

For Asanga, the world is chittamatra, ʹmind‐onlyʹ, but not in the absolute sense suggested by some scholars and even by late Yogacara writers. Asanga borrowed the term from the practice of meditation wherein any image which comes into the mind is said to be chittamatra, ʹmind‐onlyʹ. Such images, however splendiferous, are entirely creations of the mind and do not constitute a direct transcendental experience of shunyata. Similarly, Asanga argued, the famous passage in the Dashabhumika Sutra, ʺchittamatram idam yad idam traidhatukamʺ (ʺthese three realms are nothing but mindʺ), means that the experiences one has of the three realms, kamaloka, rupaloka and arupaloka – the worlds of desires, forms and formlessness – are all like the images held in meditation. They are creations of the mind and are not the lineaments of reality. Though the

Lankavatara

Sutra

identifies

alayavijnana

with

the

Tathagatagarbha, the world of the Tathagata, Asanga rejects the equation. Tsong‐Kha‐Pa later wrote that the doctrines of the Lankavatara were provisional, that is, suitable as medicine for most minds but requiring inner interpretation for those ready to achieve insight. Hinting at a deep mystery in regard to Tathagatagarbha, Tsong‐Kha‐Pa supported Asangaʹs view that alayavijnana is not ultimate reality. Once one achieves such purity of consciousness in meditation that any sense of subject and object utterly vanishes, one witnesses shunyata and then recognizes the true meaning of calling the world ʹmind‐onlyʹ. But in that indescribable exaltation one is not other than shunyata.

That is called reality which is the sphere of cognition completely purified of the obscuring force of defilement. What is that reality?

The Four Noble Truths – suffering, its origin, the cessation and the path leading to its cessation. It is that knowledge which arises in those having clear comprehension who, after thorough

investigation, arrive at the understanding of the Four Noble Truths.

What is the reality which is the sphere of cognition completely purified of the obscurations to the knowable? . . . It is the domain

ASANGA 65

and the sphere of cognition that belongs to the Buddha‐Bhagavans

and bodhisattvas who, having penetrated dharmanairatmya, the non-self of dharmas, and having realized, because of that pure understanding, the inexpressible nature of all dharmas, know the sameness of the essential nature of verbal designation and the non-discursively knowable. That is the supreme Tathata, real nature, there being none higher, which is the supreme limit of the knowable and for which all analyses of the dharmas are undertaken, and which they do not surpass.

Since Tathata, ʹsuchnessʹ or ʹreal natureʹ, is shunyata, the Void, the nature of names or designations of things and the things themselves have the same nature, for sameness, samata, is also equivalent to shunyata. Thus the neophyte on shiksha marga, the Path of Instruction, comes to realize that dharmanairatmya, the non‐self of all dharmas, and knows that no dhamma or element of existence has any independent nature or self, that it has no expressible nature, and therefore that it cannot allow attribution. Thus dhammas do not exist as they are generally thought or expressed. For Asanga, this explains the meaning of Buddha when he taught that he came for the redemption of all beings although he knew that there are no beings to be redeemed. Reality, for the Enlightened Ones, transcends both being and non‐being, but Reality is not somehow a third thing apart from them. Rather, Reality is both being and non-being simultaneously. Dharmas exist, but not as they are thought or designated, and yet both the phenomenal and noumenal aspects of

dhamma have the same essence, for the essential nature (svabhava) of all dharmas is shunyata.

Freedom from the delusion of discursive thinking necessarily comes in stages, for the eight aspects of consciousness, though a functional unity, are not all one. Each aspect has to be understood for what it is, emptied of its false claims to an independent nature, and put in its place. For example, the three kleshas or defilements of consciousness – lust, hatred and delusion – are often depicted at the centre of the Wheel of Samsara on Tibetan banners. From a psychological and ethical standpoint they can be considered the

66 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II basis of dukha, suffering. From a metaphysical viewpoint, however, the three ashravas would be thought of as the ʹgates to hellʹ. They are ʹoutflowsʹ associated with sense‐desire, love of existence and ignorance. For Asanga, unlike most Buddhist thinkers, these perspectives are deliberately conflated, so that the ashravas are the kleshas, the same forces present in different aspects of eightfold consciousness. If one truly eradicated the kleshas, Asanga held, one would have removed the ashravas as well. The bodhisattva who reaches that lofty plane of knowledge where mental defilements are purged and Reality is understood has freed himself from every vestige of discursive thought. But this means that the various modes of delusion are as deeply rooted as consciousness itself when conceived apart from shunyata. The kleshas have to be removed at every level right up to alayavijnana.

Thus that one, with such mastery, is the best of and incomparable amongst all beings. And you should understand that the bodhisattva has five superior benefits which govern all circumstances. They are that he attains supreme peace of mind, having gained the tranquil stations and not through pacifying defilement; that his knowledge and vision with respect to all the sciences are unimpeded, utterly pure; and perfectly clear; that he is unwearied by his circling in Samsara for the sake of all beings; that he understands all speech of the Tathagatas that has veiled meanings; and that, because he is self‐reliant and does not depend on others, he is not led away from his zealous devotion to the Mahayana.

Such a sublime accomplishment does not allow the bodhisattva to retire from the world of anguish and ignorance, however, for the bodhisattva cultivates a profound compassion commensurate with his wisdom and insight. Each benefit he has garnered from his journey along the Path of Instruction is matched by concomitant action undertaken on behalf of all living beings. Since his mind is truly tranquil, he dwells always in a state of happiness, a state appropriate to a bodhisattva who knows the way to Enlightenment and the yoga that removes the weariness of mental and physical exertion. His supreme knowledge of the sciences impels him to

ASANGA 67

nurture the Buddhadharmas – the knowledge, attainment, method and teaching of Buddha – amongst all beings. His freedom from weariness in circling through Samsara allows him ceaselessly to nurture and encourage the evolution of beings, each at its own level and each within the karmic limits of its incarnation and mode of existence. His ability to understand the speech used with veiled meaning by the Tathagatas permits him to remove the doubts and

difficulties of serious disciples who want to follow the Path he has trodden. It also gives him the power to discern saddharma, the true Dharma, from its subtle but fictitious resemblances, so that he can uphold the Teaching which is otherwise undermined by shadowy inversions. Finally, his complete self‐reliance guarantees that he will never fall into error and thus mislead others and that he will remain faithful to his vow and thereby be a worthy example.

The five activities appropriate to a bodhisattva strengthen him even as they help others. They are called karaniyas or bodhisattva duties, because in them the distinction between prajna and karuna dissolves, as does the distinction between self and others, and even that between Nirvana and Samsara.

According to Taranatha, the Mahayana had suffered great decline

before Asanga came to spread its teachings. During his long lifetime he vigorously disseminated the Dharma to tens of thousands of individuals who entered the Sangha. He came to be called Arya, ʹnobleʹ, and Maitreyanatha, ʹone devoted to Maitreyaʹ, and it is said that though he taught for well over ninety years, he never looked a day older than he did on the day he beheld Maitreya near Achintya. Though all his works were eventually translated into Chinese, the sage Dharmakshema was so moved by the

Bodhisattvabhumi that he translated it immediately after its composition. It became one of the six basic texts of Atishaʹs school in Tibet (which was later reformed as the Gelukpa order by Tsong-Kha‐Pa), where it remains an essential part of Mahayana studies.

Traditional sources agree that Asanga attained the third of the ten stages associated with the Bodhisattva Path, that of Prabhakari, the ʹLight‐givingʹ, where the bodhisattva ʺdiffuses the great light of the

68 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Teaching amongst all living beingsʺ. Asanga the Light‐Giver is revered as the perfected practitioner of meditation and an exemplar of selfless service to humanity.

The subtle Soul sits everywhere, unstained:

Like to the light of the all‐piercing sun

Which is not changed by aught it shines upon

The Soul ʹ s light shineth pure in every place;

And they who, by such eye of wisdom, see

How Matter, and what deals with it, divide;

And how the Spirit and the flesh have strife,

Those wise ones go the way which leads to

Life!

Shri Krishna

OM

Hermes, June 1985

Elton Hall

DIGNAGA

I salute him who is Logic personified,

Who attends to the welfare of living beings,

The Guru, the Blessed One, the Protector,

And to demonstrate the ways of Logical Proof,

I shall draw together under one head

The different fragments from my other writings.

Dignaga

Pramanasamuccaya

When Dignaga had written this on a rock with a piece

of chalk, the earth shook, a light blazed forth and a

thunderous sound was heard.

Taranatha

History of Buddhism in India

The philosophical traditions of India have always honoured logic, the art of reasoning. Hindu, Buddhist and Jain sages alike look beyond the limits of reason and conceptualization, but they insist upon the crucial role played by clarity of thinking in self-transcendence and spiritual realization. Like Plato and unlike Aristotle, Indian thinkers paid more attention to the logic of concepts and principles of inference than to the topology of categories. Nagarjuna raised logic to the recondite level of compelling dialectic, and those who came after him refined various aspects of his crucial work. Vasubandhu in particular addressed the need for precise dialectic, because debate was neither a mere intellectual game nor an occasion for mutual hostilities. The spiritual seriousness of argumentation is evidenced by the fact that an individual defeated in a thorough and exhaustive exchange was

honour‐bound to accept the victorʹs standpoint, even if this meant

70 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II changing religious allegiances. Whilst logic had been a dominant concern of many thinkers and teachers, Dignaga turned his whole mind to the topic and refounded the art of reasoning in the service of Truth.

Sometime in the early years of the fifth century, Dignaga (also known as Dinnaga) was born into a Brahmin family in Simhavakta

near Kanchi (Kanchipuram). Nothing is known of his early years except that he took as his Upadhyaya, spiritual preceptor, Nagadatta of the Vatsiputriya school. This branch of Buddhist thought espoused the view that there existed a kind of real personality independent of the elements or aggregates composing it. Though Dignaga learnt the whole of the Tripitaka, the Three Baskets of non-Mahayana Buddhist wisdom, he was not satisfied with

Vatsiputriyan attempts to deny the eternality of self whilst affirming its continuity through a series of lives. When his preceptor enjoined him to search for the ʺindescribable selfʺ, the principle of ʹIʹ which is neither identical with nor different from the skandhas, he opened all the windows of his dwelling by day and filled every corner of it with lamps by night. Stripping himself naked, he repeatedly examined himself from every angle. Soon other monks noticed his bizarre behaviour and reported it to Nagadatta. When asked why he carried on in this way, he replied that he failed to understand what he had been instructed to seek and so had bared himself to see if it might be uncovered.

Recognizing a challenge to his doctrine, Nagadatta grew angry and ordered Dignaga to leave his vihara or monastic community.

Dignaga left in silence. He knew that he could demonstrate the untenability of Nagadattaʹs doctrines, but he was profoundly aware of the wrongness of attacking the teachings of oneʹs Upadhyaya. His efforts to indicate a fundamental problem indirectly had only angered Nagadatta, and Dignaga departed with a heavy heart. In time, however, he encountered Vasubandhu, who fully understood

Dignagaʹs insights, and willingly undertook to teach him Yogachara thought. Vasubandhu explained five hundred sutras to Dignaga, including all those belonging to the Mahayana and Hinayana

DIGNAGA 71

traditions, as well as the mysterious dharani sutras. He mastered the science of vidya mantra and refined the art of debate. Nonetheless, he felt that he was a worthless student because of his inability to persuade his first teacher to reconsider his doctrines. Once when he was in a state of spiritual depression, Manjushri, the sword-wielding Bodhisattva of supernal wisdom, appeared to him in a vision, brought him to his senses and instructed him at great length in the Dharma. Dignaga was spiritually regenerated and took up his work with a zeal that never waned for the rest of his life. He retired to a cave in the Bhotashela hill near Odivisha (Orissa), where his intense meditation bore the inexpressible fruit of samadhi.

A few years later, a great debate was arranged at Nalanda. As in

most monastic communities, Buddhists of diverse schools dwelt peacefully together. Even while they vigorously debated the merits of their differing doctrines, they were bound together in the brotherhood of the Dharma. Nalanda not only hosted every shade

and hue of Buddhist thought, but also housed numerous non-Buddhist teachers and students. Dignaga was invited to debate a group of remarkable tirthikas, non‐Buddhist instructors, renowned for their dialectical agility. Dignaga defeated each one in turn so decisively that they all joined the Sangha. He tarried for some time at Nalanda, where he taught the sutras and wrote many volumes on Yogachara doctrine and on logic. Eventually he returned to his cave near Odivisha and devoted himself to meditation. While there, he resolved to compose the Pramanasamuccaya, aphorisms on pramana, valid knowledge.

According to Taranatha, he wrote the beginning lines of this great treatise with a piece of chalk on a rock. When he took his begging bowl and went out for his morning round, a Brahmin called Krishnamuniraja came upon these words, realized their portentous

significance, and erased them. The next morning Dignaga began again, but once more the words were eradicated in his absence. On the third morning Dignaga wrote the same words, but added the sentence ʺKnow this to be extremely importantʺ and challenged the defacer to a debate. Reading this challenge, Krishnamuniraja sat

72 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II down and waited for Dignaga to return from gathering alms. When

Dignaga came back to his dwelling, the two engaged in a ferocious debate. When Dignaga emerged victorious, he invited the tirthika to accept the Dharma, but Krishnamuniraja threw a magic powder which ignited the belongings of Dignaga, and then fled. Once again, Dignaga fell into a spiritual depression, blaming himself for failing to convert his opponent. But Manjushri appeared to him and remonstrated with him, warning that ʺwrong ideas result from evil companyʺ. Assuring him that no one would bring harm to his treatise, Manjushri promised to remain Dignagaʹs kalyana‐mitra, true spiritual friend, until he attained full enlightenment.

Dignaga composed his treatise in peace and returned to his meditations. Once he grew ill. After his mendicant rounds, he returned to the forest and fell fast asleep. While he slept, he had visions of numerous glorious Buddhas who instructed him.

Meanwhile, the king, out in the forest for recreation, came across the sleeping monk. Celestial deities were raining flowers upon Dignaga, the forest plants were bowing in his direction, and elephants stood quietly over him to afford him shade. When the king awoke him with the sweet sounds of musical instruments, he

asked, ʺAre you Dignaga?ʺ ʺSo I am calledʺ, the monk replied. And the king prostrated before his feet. Tradition records that Dignaga journeyed south and restored damaged viharas. The king of Odivisha and the royal treasurer helped build monasteries, and Dignaga continued to draw opponents into the embrace of the Dharma. He performed a number of wondrous feats, including restoring a precious tree to life by chanting over it. Though he had many followers, he refused to have attendants, preferring to live alone. He died alone in the verdant forests of Odivisha, having lived a life dedicated to meditation and teaching others to clarify consciousness for the sake of Truth.

Dignaga set himself a monumental task. He sought on the one hand to produce a definitive treatise on the principles of logic which could be used to understand the fundamental meaning of ideas and ideals. On the other hand, he wanted to show that diverse

DIGNAGA 73

standpoints could be understood, communicated, assessed and reconciled. Some resisted his teaching, for it demanded rigorous mental training, the renunciation of bias and a desire to bring all oneʹs mental faculties to peak awareness. Some thought he was a quibbler and a hair‐splitter, but such judgements confuse the careful, even ponderous, quality of his work with the fiery spirit which infuses it. Despite the stringent dialectical requirements of the Pramanasamuccaya, it rapidly assumed importance for Buddhists of every school, and Hindus, Jains and Zoroastrians alike felt the need to grasp its contents not only for debates like those held at Nalanda but also as an aid in understanding their own spiritual inheritance. It was translated into Chinese in the second half of the sixth century, and it remains the foundation stone of the ʹnew logicʹ, fulfilling the prophecy of Manjushri that ʺin later times this Shastra will become the sole eye of all the Shastrasʺ.

The first chapter of the Pramanasamuccaya takes up the question of pramana, valid knowledge. A number of dialecticians treated perception, logical inference, the testimony of others, authority and scripture as independent means to truth and implicitly endowed them with equal epistemological status. Dignaga did not question the value of these sources of knowledge and opinions, but he clarified their relationship to one another and delineated their ranges of application. For him there are only two means to knowledge – pratyaksha and anumana, perception and inference.

Dignaga offered no definition of perception, in part because it is common knowledge and in part because it cannot be defined save

through itself. Pure perception is free from preconception of any kind and is therefore unconnected with name, genus, species and conceptualization. This suggests that most of what is ordinarily called perception is in fact tainted by the mental constructs and habits which mediate and obscure the function of the senses. Thus, when one mistakes a rope for a snake, the error does not occur because of misperception but rather because of preconception based on fear, previous experience or memories of frightening encounters recounted by others in the past. Given this characterization of perception, it is possible for the man of meditation to perceive

74 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II supramundane realms of objects and planes of being inaccessible to untrained consciousness victimized by the kleshas and caittas enumerated by Vasubandhu.

Perception, never susceptible to categorization, is in every case unique. Thus perception is invariably of individual characteristics or ʺinfinite peculiaritiesʺ. In attempting to convey to another what one has perceived, one invokes class descriptions, communicating a generalized phenomenon – a cow, book or whatever – rather than the unique perception one experienced. Inference, however, is quite another matter, for inferential knowledge is general and can be expressed by name, genus, species and all the categories of thought and language. Dignaga cannot say that perception involves the interaction of senses with their objects, because such a claim could be established only by invoking the elements of inference. Thus, Dignagaʹs conception of perception is the epistemological correlate of chittamatra, Mind‐only. Those pairs of opposites which give value and tone to perceptions – pleasure and pain, for example – are not objects of knowledge but rather colorations of consciousness.

Anumana, inference, is of two kinds: svarthanumana and pararthanumana, inference for oneself and inference for another.

Inference for oneself is knowledge of a thing derived from its distinctive marks or characteristics. The mark might be the effect of the thing inferred, as one infers fire from smoke which is its effect.

It might be essential identity, as an acacia is identical with a tree.

And it might be absence of perception signifying the non‐existence of what is not perceived. Non‐perception of a pot, for instance, permits the inference that no pot exists here where one is looking.

Pararthanumana, inference for the sake of others, is more complex, for it is concerned with what one can demonstrate to another on the basis of what one can infer for oneself. In addition to the inference, one must show its validity by some parallel example to another. For instance, in the assertion that

This sound is non‐eternal,

Because it is a product of effort

Like a pot, unlike akasha

DIGNAGA 75

the reason for the non‐eternality of this sound is that it is the result of effort. The parallel example or homologue is a pot, which is also the product of effort, and the non‐parallel example or heterologue is Akasha, which is not the product of effort.

Dignaga devised a list of nine reasons which can link subject and predicate, centering on non‐eternality, being produced or a product of something else, audibility and tangibility. Depending on whether the reason is wholly present in, partially present in or absent from the homologue and the heterologue, Dignaga created a table of validity, which was the first attempt of its kind to systematize logical inferences. Though its structure is logical, the nature of his reasons requires basic knowledge of the world in order to determine the truth of arguments. As in Aristotelian syllogisms and in modern propositional logic, the conclusions are true if and only if the premisses are true and the logical form is valid. The reason (hetu) can be either affirmative or negative. It is affirmative when it is always accompanied by whatever is given in the predicate: the hill is fiery because it is smoky, smoke being the reason. It is negative when what is declared absent in the reason is absent in the predicate: the hill is not smoky because it is not fiery. Dignagaʹs ʺlaw of extensionʺ requires that one who wishes to convince another of his own conclusion has to state both subject and predicate as well as the reason which connects them, along with suitable examples which illustrate the linkage between the reason and the predicate.

For Dignaga, comparison is not an independent source of

knowledge, because recognizing the similarity between two objects is an act of perception. Similarly, the testimony of others depends upon either the credibility of the individual or the credibility of the fact itself. In the first case, inference is involved, whilst the second is a case of perception. Even though Dignaga reduced the means to knowledge to only two, he showed that the traditionally accepted sources of understanding do not have to be rejected, since they can be understood as special instances of perception and inference. He also discussed the importance of the use of analogy and sought to

76 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II distinguish between acceptable and far‐fetched analogues. The basic schema of Dignagaʹs system of logic left a variety of issues unresolved, many of which he took up in other treatises. In addition to extensive discussions of subjects and predicates (minor and major terms) and the use of example, he compiled illustrated collections of fallacies. He also warned against theses or propositions which one must reject out of hand because they are incompatible with perception, contradict inference, reject

overwhelming public opinion, deny oneʹs belief, are self‐

contradictory (e.g., ʺMy mother has always been barrenʺ), or use terms incomprehensible to the system of thought under discussion.

He added that one cannot prove a thesis which is universally accepted (for example, ʺFire is warmʺ) precisely because of its universal acceptability.

Demonstration and refutation together with their fallacies are useful in arguing with others; and perception and inference together with their fallacies are useful for self‐understanding.

Dignaga established a three‐step method of proof when one reasons with oneself, and a five‐step method for convincing others.

Since all that one experiences short of Enlightenment is chittamatra, merely consciousness, clarity of thought is crucial at every stage of the Bodhisattva Path. For Dignaga, logic is not an end in itself but rather an invaluable aid in transforming the processes of consciousness. He elevated debate out of the murky plane of polemic into the realm of dispassionate discourse and became the founder of medieval Buddhist logic. In later centuries he was given the name Tarkapungava, Fighting Bull, for his formidable

dialectical skills. Unfortunately, subsequent generations lost something of the sacred vision that brought Dignaga face to face with Manjushri and retained only the logic. Thus his pioneering work became the backbone of an uninspiring scholasticism and the

tool of those who take greater delight in quibbling than in meditation. Nonetheless, his work was a valuable aid not just for the Yogachara school, but for all Buddhists and numerous Hindu

DIGNAGA 77

traditions as well. His efforts have been honoured by the fact that all who have known them have used them freely.

Life is – of moving things, or things unmoved,

Plant or still seed – know, what is there hath grown

By bond of Matter and of Spirit: Know

He sees indeed who sees in all alike

The living, lordly Soul; the Soul Supreme,

Imperishable amid the Perishing:

For, whoso thus beholds, in every place,

In every form, the same, one, Living Lord,

Doth no more wrongfulness unto himself

But goes the highest road which brings to bliss.

Shri Krishna

OM

Hermes, September 1985

Elton Hall

VASUBANDHU

The Supreme Truth of all dharmas

Is nothing save tathata,

Forever true to its own nature.

The sole truth of chittamatra, Mind‐only.

When the root of conditionality is removed,

Along with all limiting conceptions,

The plane of chittamatra is reached,

As the six sense‐organs and objects are voided.

Without grasping and beyond all thought,

Abides the transcendental Wisdom,

And when the fruits of karma and the senses are

renounced,

Relative knowledge recedes before perfect Wisdom.

This is the realm of passionless purity,

Indescribable, yet fruitful and enduring,

Wherein one resides in freedom, serenity and joy.

This is the Law of the Great Buddha.

Vasubandhu

Trimshika

Some years after the birth of Asanga, his remarkable mother, Prakashashila, married a learned Brahmin and gave birth to two sons. The eldest, Vasubandhu, was born around the time of Asangaʹs ordination as a Buddhist monk. Unlike Asanga, whose father was a Kshattriya, Vasubandhu was raised a Brahmin and instructed in the three Vedas, but when he attained maturity he decided to become a Buddhist monk. By then his brother Asanga was far away, already formulating and teaching the Mahayana

VASUBANDHU 79

doctrines that came to be known as the Yogachara. When

Vasubandhu received his own ordination at Nalanda, he studied the Tripitaka, the Three Baskets of teachings of the non‐Mahayana schools, of which the Theravada is the only surviving

representative. Whilst his remarkable brilliance and penetrating insight rivalled those of his brother, he did not follow Asangaʹs path of intense solitary meditation.

Instead, he journeyed to Kashmir, where he came under the beneficent influence of Samghabhadra, who encouraged him to master the teachings of the eighteen non‐Mahayana schools as well as all the branches of exoteric knowledge. Taranatha wrote that Vasubandhu also extensively studied the six systems of Hindu philosophy and mastered its methods of debate. Upon completing his studies he returned to Nalanda, according to Bu‐ston. Taranatha adds that he lived for a number of years in Magadha, the literary home of the Pali tongue. While residing in Magadha, Vasubandhu

read his brotherʹs Yogacharabhumi but found the Mahayana doctrines too recondite. He doubted the widespread belief that Asanga had actually received instruction from the Bodhisattva Maitreya, and tradition holds that he exclaimed: ʺAlas! Asanga meditated for twelve years in the forest, but instead of attaining success he has composed a work fit to be an elephantʹs load.ʺ His sardonic remarks came to the ears of Asanga, who was not offended, but simply said, ʺIt is time to convert him.ʺ

Asanga devised a thoughtful strategy and trained two monks, having each one memorize a specially chosen Mahayana sutra.

Then he sent both to call upon Vasubandhu. In the evening the first monk recited his sutra, outlining the Mahayana standpoint.

Vasubandhu saw the logic of the system but wondered if it might not encourage indolence. In the morning, however, the second monk recited the Dashabhumisutra, which sets forth the ten stages of the Bodhisattva path as the fusion of theory and practice.

Vasubandhu was overwhelmed. Great sadness and regret came

upon him for the disrespect he had previously shown for his brotherʹs path. He contemplated cutting out his tongue in penance

80 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II for his disparaging remarks, but the surrounding monks restrained him from rash self‐injury and insisted that he seek his brotherʹs advice on how best to atone for his wrong. Vasubandhu went to Asanga, embraced the Mahayana and recanted his discourteous remarks. Asanga instructed Vasubandhu to refrain from harming himself and to do penance by applying his formidable skills and eloquence to learning and teaching the Mahayana doctrine. Asanga

taught Vasubandhu sutra and mantra, and his willing disciple soon mastered the sacred texts and became proficient in meditation.

When debating with his brother, Vasubandhu was quick‐tongued but Asanga usually won. Others saw this as a paradox, but Asanga

explained that he was slower because he borrowed his ideas from Maitreya, whereas Vasubandhu worked them out on his own. It is

said that Vasubandhu thoroughly learnt each sutra by heart after listening to Asanga recite it only once. When Vasubandhu entered

the Mahayana, a great number of monks joined him. He assisted Asanga for a number of years and helped spread Yogachara Teachings.

Upon the death of Asanga, Vasubandhu is said to have become the Upadhyaya, chief preceptor, of Nalanda. He spent most of the remainder of his life at Nalanda, where he performed his duties with vigour and precision. He produced more than fifty

commentaries on Mahayana and other sutras, composed expositions of Asangaʹs works and wrote a number of original treatises. He was an effective dialectician and eloquent expositor of Buddhadharma, and he conscientiously performed the daily duties of a teacher at Nalanda. Every morning he would recite an appropriate text and expound its meaning. Throughout the day he would advise and counsel younger monks, guiding them by his own example in discharging with great care the duties of a monk. In the evenings he would listen to debates and resolve differences of standpoint by clearly summarizing the essence of the doctrine. Taranatha declared that he was visited by his deity in deep sleep and thus received instruction in arcane spiritual wisdom.

VASUBANDHU 81

Once he accepted an invitation to discourse in Gauda, east of Nalanda, and while he explained the sutras there, deities showered golden flowers upon the attentive citizenry. On another occasion he visited Odivisha, and during a short period of relaxation he revealed no less than five separate clusters of precious gems. When people showered him with gifts, wise monks noticed that nagas, yakshas and other non‐human intelligences joined them in paying homage to him. On one occasion, when an uncontrollable fire broke out in Rajagriha, Vasubandhu extinguished it with an invocation, just as he once brought a plague in Janantapura under control through a mantram. It is also said that his vast vidyamantra, knowledge of sacred syllables, allowed him to control ageing and determine the time of his own death. Late in life he was called to Nepal to restore the purity of the teaching. After reorganizing the Buddhist community there, he bade farewell to his disciples, uttered a particular mantram thrice backwards, and died. A caitya was erected in his memory in Nepal. He had lived between eighty

to a hundred years, the majority of them spent in disseminating Yogachara teaching. According to Taranatha, his death was ʺthe setting of the sun of the Dharma for the time beingʺ, and Paramartha added that ʺall who study the Mahayana and the Hinayana in India use the productions of Vasubandhu as their text-booksʺ.

Vasubandhu laboured to make Asangaʹs teaching accessible to a

wide range of minds. Perhaps his finest surviving work is the Trimshikakarikaprakarna (Treatise of Thirty Verses), a succinct digest of Yogachara thought. Vasubandhu announced the root perspective of

Yogachara in the first verse of the text: conceptions of self (Atman) and conceptions of elements of reality (dharmas) do not entail that either exist. Rather, their inherently fictitious character gives rise to the whole phenomenal world. As mere phenomena, they arise as the manifestation of ceaselessly changing states of consciousness.

The kinds of consciousness capable of manifestation fall naturally into three types distinguishable by function: Alayavijnana is the universal storehouse of ideation, characterized by the maturation of its activity over time; Manas is that consciousness which is capable

82 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II of cognition and deliberation; Manovijnana is the coordinating centre of the five senses, each of which involves a kind of consciousness commensurate with sensation. There are in sum three types and eight kinds of consciousness.

Alayavijnana, the eighth and highest consciousness, is sometimes called vipakavijnana, or retributive consciousness, because its fruits (karma) ripen at different times. It is also called sarvabijakavijnana because it carries within itself all the bijas or seeds which will sprout as karmic effects. Alayavijnana is, therefore, the repository of the results of action, the treasury of karma yet to be expended.

Alayavijnana cannot be fully defined because its basis – and therefore its contents – cannot be entirely known. Nor can it be assigned place or location since it is the basis of all other kinds of consciousness. Its root powers of perception and discrimination must remain forever a mystery. It can, however, be associated with the five caittas or attributes: sparsa (mental contact), manaskara (attention), vedana (sensation), samjna (conception) and chetana (volition). It is always associated with upeksa, the sense of indifference. Manifesting itself like a relentless torrent, it is renounced only by the Arhat who attains Nirvana.

Manas, the seventh consciousness, evolves from Alayavijnana, which it takes as its basis and support because the universal storehouse is the true object of manasic consciousness. Manas is characterized by cognition and intellection, and is invariably accompanied by the four kleshas or sources of affliction and delusion: atmamoha (self‐delusion), atmadrishti (belief in a self), atmamana (self‐conceit) and atmasneha (love of self) – as well as by the five caittas. Since Manas operates in the realm in which beings are born, it ceases in the Arhat. It is paralysed in the higher states of meditation on the transcendental path. If Alayavijnana is thought of as neither defiled, obscured nor defined, Manas is undefined but defiled. Neither ʹgoodʹ nor ʹbadʹ can be predicated of either of them, as they can of the remaining six forms of consciousness.

Together, these remaining kinds of consciousness constitute Manovijnana, the third evolute of mind, distinguished by perception

VASUBANDHU 83

and discrimination of objects. In addition to their association with the caittas and the kleshas, they are also involved with special and secondary forms of both. These special caittas include chanda (desire), adhimoksha (resolve), smriti (memory), samadhi (meditation) and prajna (discernment). Beneficial caittas encompass shraddha (belief), hri (shame) and apatrapa (integrity), as well as alobha (non-covetousness), advesa (non‐anger), amoha (non‐delusion), virya (diligence), prashrabdi (mental composure), apramada (watchfulness), upeksa (equanimity) and avihimsa (harmlessness). The kleshas appear in Manovijnana and the five forms of sense‐consciousness as covetousness, anger, delusion, conceit, doubt and false views, as well as the twenty secondary troublesome mental qualities: fury, enmity,

hypocrisy,

vexation,

envy,

stinginess,

deception,

fraudulence, harmfulness, pride, shamelessness, lack of integrity, restlessness, torpor, unbelief, indolence, idleness, forgetfulness, distraction and thoughtlessness. Remorse and drowsiness are indeterminate mental qualities because they carry no moral valence, and vitarka and vicara, reflection and investigation, can be beneficent or maleficent, depending upon the way they are used.

Whilst the five sense‐consciousnesses manifest in various ways determined by cause and condition, Manovijnana is always active except in beings who have no objective thoughts, either because they have transcended them because they are deep in meditation beyond thought, or they are mindless.

Once Vasubandhu had shown that consciousness manifests in

two ways – as perception or as the object of perception – he drew the unavoidable conclusion that neither Atman (a separate and permanent self) nor dharmas (independent elements of reality) exist.

Thus, the whole of manifestation is chittamatra, merely consciousness. Vasubandhu did not absolutize this fundamental formulation any more than his brother Asanga did, since he understood that rigid judgements arise too readily from restrictive and dogmatic conceptions of consciousness. Vasubandhu denied the independent reality of the external world but just as vigorously rejected views which made the universe the subjective fantasy of

84 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II individuated objective mind. As an objective idealist, he explained how mind gives rise to the kaleidoscope of manifestation.

Since Alayavijnana contains all bijas or seeds, from time to time different kinds of transformation occur, and since dharmas intersect and conjoin, distinctions are engendered which can be perceived, recognized and sorted in diverse ways. The seeds of previous deeds manifest as karma, that aspect of apprehension in which results are the objects of perception. At the same time, the capacity for further conception is brought to what is already thus conceived. Like all other action, both conceiving and conceived leave bijas which will sprout in the future. Even as previous seeds come to fruition, new seeds are deposited which will eventually bear fruit of their own.

The

inertial

process

of

reduplication

is

reflected

in

parikalpitasvabhava, the self‐reproductive imagination. What is imagined has no inherent nature of its own. The nature of all things is either paratantra, dependent on others, or parinishpanna, ultimate reality. Dependent nature consists of discriminations and

conceptions which are themselves the result of causality and conditionality. Ultimate reality is forever free from any degree of dependence, and therefore it is free of the operations of the objectivizing imagination. The nature of ultimate reality cannot be said to be either the same as or different from the nature of dependence on others, just as impermanence is neither the same as nor different from impermanent dharmas. This means that one who has not directly perceived the nature of ultimate reality cannot perceive the nature of dependent origination.

Vasubandhu used his terse discussion of the nature of existence as the basis for an explanation of the triple aspects of nihsvabhava, non‐existence, a teaching intimated by the Buddha in his statement that dharmas have no self‐nature. The first aspect is lakshananihsvabhava, non‐existence in respect to appearances, for all distinguishable characteristics are dependent products of the imagination and have no existence independent of it. The second is utpattinihsvabhava, non‐existence in respect to innate nature or origination, since even origins are the products of mental

VASUBANDHU 85

discrimination. The third is paramarthanihsvabhava, non‐existence in respect to absolute truth. This is far removed from anything based on objectivizing imagination, where the conceptions of Atman and dharmas arise. Dharmaparamartha, the supreme truth about all dharmas, is bhutatathata, absolute reality, ever immutable and therefore always abiding in its own nature. And this is

vijnaptimatrata, the true nature of consciousness itself, the state sometimes referred to as ʹMind‐onlyʹ. Consciousness transcends even the subtlest distinction of subject and object, perceiver and perceived. Patanjali spoke of the Spectator without a spectacle.

Vijnaptimatrata is the highest consciousness, beyond the scale of individuation, differentiation and degree, where consciousness knowingly abides in itself. It sows no seeds and therefore has no harvest to reap. In itself consciousness dwells outside of time and events, free of action and reaction. But until consciousness abides in its true nature, the dual power of apprehension – conceiving and being conceived – will exert itself and mind will be ensnared by attachment and drowsiness. So long as an individual perceives any object as an object (even if he believes that it is chittamatra, only consciousness), he is not really residing in vijnaptimatrata, for the eight forms of consciousness are still active. If, however, he surveys the realm of objects without even conceiving the idea of an object, his wisdom is that of vijnaptimatrata, because both object and its apprehension are absent.

Without perception, inconceivable and incomprehensible,

This is transcendental supramundane wisdom.

Because of the abandonment of the dross of these two barriers,

Inner transformation into perfect wisdom is achieved.

This is pure dhatu, undefiled, without obscuration, devoid of parameters, inconceivable and incomprehensible, yet both

intrinsically good and enduring. This transcendental ground of consciousness and being is undivided by distinctions or degrees, and having no internal or external relations, it is called bliss. In

86 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II that holy unconditioned ground, the enlightened being abides in vimuktikaya, the body of emancipation.

This is the Law of Great Silence, Mahamuni, the Dharmakaya, Realized by the great Buddha, Shakyamuni.

Asanga and Vasubandhu were always considered together, not just because they were brothers and equally articulate spokesmen for Yogachara thought, but owing to their remarkable

complementarity. Asanga turned inward through rigorous

meditation and expounded what he had discovered and verified by

direct inner experience. Vasubandhu saturated himself in the philosophies of the eighteen non‐Mahayana schools and in his brotherʹs own teaching. He turned outward, seeking to explain to others in comprehensible terms the heart of Yogachara doctrine. He wrote careful analyses of differing viewpoints within and outside the Buddhist tradition, and taught and debated wherever and whenever he was needed. Taranatha wrote that there were sixty thousand Mahayana monks in India at the time of his death, a tremendous increase from the time of Asanga just a few years before. Bu‐ston reported that Asanga confided to Vasubandhu that

he had been drawn to the philosophical life in all his five hundred immediately previous incarnations. Not surprisingly, when these luminous dialecticians of the divine departed from the earth, it was said that the sun of the Dharma had set for the time being.

Hermes, August 1985

Elton Hall

BUDDHAGHOSA

The spectacular rise of the Great Vehicle after the dissemination of the Mahayana Sutras overshadowed the evolution of other schools. Buddhists who focussed on non‐Mahayana texts remained

active and produced an enormous literature in Pali, the literary and textual language of non‐Mahayana Buddhist thought. They did not,

however, produce a teacher of comparable stature to Nagarjuna, Aryadeva or Asanga. Consequently, their numbers waned and

many texts were lost in India before the Mahayana crossed the Himalayas into Tibet. Yet one man stood out, in part because he chose to go to Sri Lanka and preserve the work begun there by Mahendra, the son of King Ashoka. The response to his efforts invigorated the Theravada, which is the only non‐Mahayana school

which has survived to the present day and which spread

throughout Southeast Asia. Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa gathered

all the sources he could find and composed definitive expositions of Theravadin doctrine and practice, deliberately subordinating his considerable originality to faithfulness to his revered tradition.

Though a modern edition of Buddhaghosaʹs works fills thirty volumes, little is known of his life and activities. The first great impulse of Buddhist thought, initiated by Buddha and culminating

in the formation of the Tripitaka, the Three Baskets of teachings, spread to Sri Lanka with the arrival of Mahendra and a cutting from the original Bodhi Tree under which Buddha achieved

Enlightenment. There the sacred texts were preserved in Pali but elucidated in Sinhalese, though Buddhist thought drifted towards stagnation in the first centuries of the common era. The Great Monastery (Mahavihara), founded in Mahendraʹs time, flourished under royal patronage, but the Mahayana tendencies of the rival Abhayagiri Monastery produced a reaction that resulted in a stultifying concern for orthodoxy. Meanwhile, Indian Buddhists eventually embraced the Great Vehicle and left Sri Lanka virtually isolated, the preserver of texts and materials neglected by the rest of

88 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II the Buddhist world. Buddhaghosa was born during this period of Theravadin decline around A.D. 400 in Ghosa near Bodh Gaya, according to a very late and perhaps imaginary legend. Amongst the sparse details that he gives about himself, he declared that he once lived in Kanchipuram and in Morandacetaka, which some historians identify with Mylapore near Madras.

According to the Mahavamsa, the chronicle of Sri Lanka, Buddhaghosa was born a Brahmin and became a devoted student of Patanjaliʹs Yoga Sutras. Once in the course of reciting the Sutras aloud, he was overheard by a Buddhist monk named Revata, who

proceeded to explain each passage fully. When Buddhaghosa asked

after the source of the monkʹs wisdom, he pointed to the Enlightened One, and Buddhaghosa joined the Sangha. Because his

speech – ghosa – was deep and resonant, carrying far like the word of Buddha, he received the name by which history knows him.

After a serious study of the Tripitaka, he sought insightful commentaries on its treatises, but Revata told him that only Sri Lanka had kept them pure. Upon his teacherʹs suggestion,

Buddhaghosa journeyed to Anuradhapura, the royal capital of Sri Lanka, and established himself in the Great Monastery within sight of the sapling of the Bodhi Tree. When he announced his intention to translate the Sinhalese commentaries into Pali for the benefit of his Indian co‐disciples, the elders tested him by giving him two verses for a complete commentary. The result was the

Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification). No sooner had he completed it, however, than a group of deities hid the work, and he had to undertake the task again. These deities repeated the theft, but Buddhaghosa compiled a third commentary. When the elders came to view the finished treatise, the deities produced the first two versions, and when everyone saw that the three were identical in every respect, an elder said, ʺsurely this is the bodhisattva metteyya.ʺ

Buddhaghosa was entrusted with all the revered literature of the

Great Monastery, and rather than simply translating it into Pali, he created a number of compendia which gathered all the relevant literature under a schematized list of subjects. He thus produced a

BUDDHAGHOSA 89

kind of encyclopaedia of Sinhalese Buddhist thought. Since almost all the sources he used have been lost to history, his selfless effort saved for posterity the efflorescence of Ashokaʹs great missionary undertaking. His labours also inspired a renewal of Theravadin creativity both in Sri Lanka and in South India. This renaissance continued until it blossomed yet again in Burma, which helped Sri Lanka keep Buddhaʹs message alive after it had disappeared from its original home. Though nothing is known about the length of Buddhaghosaʹs stay in Anuradhapura, history suggests that he eventually returned to India and probably took part in the resurgence of Pali Buddhist thought there. His last years and death are secrets of silent time.

The Visuddhimagga is perhaps Buddhaghosaʹs greatest work.

Beginning with a description of sila, virtue, and its purpose, fruition and benefits, it passes on to an extensive discussion of samadhi, concentration or meditation, leading to vipassana, insight, and a full understanding of the Four Noble Truths. After a lengthy theoretical exposition of panna, understanding, practical applications are brought to bear on meditation experiences. Finally, advanced stages of realization leading to nibbana are delineated. For Buddhaghosa, the four stages of the spiritual Path are marked by distinct perfections. One who has ʺentered the streamʺ as well as one who

has but one life remaining before Enlightenment is marked by perfection in sila. An individual who will not be subject to involuntary incarnations in the future exhibits perfection in samadhi, and one who has become an arahant and experienced the supreme culmination of realization is perfect in vipassana. Virtue involves the volition of one who follows the path of purification, for it requires both the fulfilment of duty and deliberate self‐restraint. Virtue (sila) composes (silana) the individual through consistent self-coordination and through upholding edifying thoughts and

intentions, and so virtue is like the head (siras) of the body, directing all its members, and it is cool (sitala), calming every impulse.

90 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Who would dare to circumscribe

The benefits that virtue brings,

Without which clansmen

Find no footing in the Teaching?

No Ganges, no Yamuna,

No Sarabhu or Sarassati,

Nor flowing Aciravati

Nor noble Maul River,

Can wash away the stain of things

That breathe in this world.

Only sila ʹ s waters

Cleanse the stain in living things.

In addition to virtue as a positive force generated through practice and restraint, it forms the basis of dhutanga, ascetic practice, which purifies motives and the powers of character. The thirteen forms of withdrawal are not to be understood as ways of escaping

from the temptations of worldly involvements. Although retiring from the teeming thoroughfares of daily life can reduce external distractions, an individual takes his world – the tropism of consciousness – wherever he goes. Dhutanga aims to simplify oneʹs desires and redirect oneʹs motives, producing a contentment of mind and blamelessness of deed which allows one to take delight in treading the path of purification. Sila and dhutanga together provide the ethical and psycho‐physical foundations for meditation. For Buddhaghosa, concentration and meditation can take myriad

forms, but those which aim towards realization and nibbana are those which nurture cittass, ekaggata, unification and one-pointedness of mind. In his careful survey of Pali texts, Buddhaghosa discerned forty subjects suitable to this kind of meditation.

Ten kasinas, totalities, can be used: earth, water, fire and air, blue, yellow, red and white, light and local space. Ten kinds of foulness can also be helpful, including the bloated, the livid, the festering, the cut, the scattered and the bleeding. There are ten kinds of recollection – of Buddha, Dhamma and Sangha; of virtue,

BUDDHAGHOSA 91

generosity, the deities and death; of mindfulness in respect to the body, mindfulness in respect to breathing, and recollection of peace. One can also take as a subject for meditation one of the four brahma‐viharas, sublime abodes – metta, karuna, mudita and upekkha, love, compassion, joy and equanimity – providing that one extends these to include all beings. Four immaterial states can be used for meditation: boundless space, limitless consciousness, nothingness and the state of neither perception nor non‐perception. Finally, one perception, the repulsiveness of food, and one analysis, that of the four elements, can be employed. These forty subjects for meditation constitute a pharmacopoeia for diverse temperaments, in which an

individual can use what he needs to achieve the basic plane of concentration required to undertake the stages of meditation. Those stages are reached in two ways, access and absorption, for an individual may touch a higher degree of unified consciousness long before being able to maintain continuity in it.

When the mind is fully concentrated and free from distractions, it is capable of entering the first stages of meditation, known as the rupa jhanas, or meditative states cognizant of form. In the initial rupa jhana one experiences vitakka and vicara, samadhi, sukha and piti –

reasoning, investigation, inner seclusion, pleasure and joy. Here the mind is active in every respect, though focussed upon a single ideal subject of meditation. Passage to the second rupa jhana occurs when both reasoning and investigation are stripped away and one experiences the pleasure and joy of inner seclusion. As one ceases to be bound by the cruder forms of pleasure and pain, one reaches the third rupa jhana, characterized by joy and inner seclusion. When the root polarity that gives rise to the pairs of opposites (including pleasure and pain) is removed, one dwells in the fourth rupa jhana, inner seclusion and equanimity. Once this highest of the states which admit of form has been attained, one is prepared to look deeply into the brahma‐viharas, the sublime abodes, beginning with metta.

He should first pervade himself with love. He can recollect such

gifts, kindly words, and so on, as inspire love and endearment,

92 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II and such virtue and learning as inspire respect and reverence met with in a teacher or preceptor, developing love towards him in the way beginning, ʹMay this good man be happy and free from suffering.ʹ With such a person, of course, he attains absorption.

Karuna cannot be readily aroused by concentrating on those one likes, dislikes or is indifferent to.

First of all, on seeing a wretched man, unlucky, unfortunate, in

every way a fit object for compassion, unsightly, reduced to utter misery. . .compassion should be felt for him in this way: This being has indeed been reduced to misery; if only he could be freed from this suffering! . . . Having aroused compassion in this way, compassion can be aroused for a person dear to one, indifferent to one, and hostile to one, respectively.

Contrary to the method for nurturing compassion, mudita or joy can be engendered on behalf of the good fortune of one closest to oneself, a boon companion. Then that joy can be extended to those who are emotionally and psychologically neutral in respect to oneself, and finally, towards those who are hostile. Upekka, or equanimity, is best aroused initially towards a neutral party, then extended to include those dear to one, those hostile to one, and, lastly, towards oneself. Insight is the product of realizing the four sublime abodes, but one must be careful not to succumb to the near enemy or come to fear the far enemy of each. The simulacrum of love is greed, since, like love, it appreciates virtues, and the far enemy is ill will, frighteningly alien to love. The near enemy of compassion is grief, for both witness human failure, and its opposite is cruelty. Joy rooted in the settled and comfortable life of the home is the near enemy of universal joy, and aversion or boredom is its distant foe. The ʹblissʹ of ignorance is the near enemy of equanimity, since both overlook faults, and it is opposed by greed and resentment.

These ways of abiding are best in being the right attitude towards beings. And just as Brahma‐gods abide with pure and

BUDDHAGHOSA 93

pristine minds, so the meditators who associate themselves with these brahma‐viharas dwell on an equal footing with these deities.

Each distinct plane of consciousness is correlated with a level of being or matter, and just as there are immaterial and transcendental levels of being, so there are transcendent states of consciousness.

From the terrace of the highest rupa Jhana, the man of meditation may gain access to the four arupa or formless jhanas. By ignoring the material realms and dwelling upon the infinitude of space, the yogin achieves akasanancayatana, the formless realm of infinite space, space without limits, qualities or objects of any kind. Meditation upon infinite space leads consciousness to realize its own infinitude (for it can entertain infinite space and not just some abstract conception of it as an object of meditation), and the realm of vinnanancayatana, infinite consciousness, is attained. This realization leads naturally to the recognition that nothing is present to the awakened consciousness, and the third formless realm, that of akincannayatana, or nothingness, is reached. The meditator can now step to the limit of mundane existence with the realization of sanna-n ʹ asannayatana, neither perception nor non‐perception. The fourfold stages of both the rupa and arupa jhanas unfold naturally to the persistent practitioner of meditation. Tradition holds that Buddha was taught how to attain the last two degrees by two of his teachers, Alara Kalama and Uddaka Ramaputta. For Buddha,

however, discovering the outermost limits of terrestrial

consciousness was not enough, just as it was not the end of Buddhaghosaʹs commentary.

The cultivation of meditation opens the way for the unfoldment of supernormal capacities which nonetheless belong to the highest development of mundane consciousness. These abhinnas or higher forms of knowledge begin with the iddhis or supernormal powers.

An individual may learn to project numerous non‐physical doubles

of his body and thus appear simultaneously in more than one place.

This mind‐formed body can pass through walls, levitate, walk on water and perform marvellous feats. Though the manomaya form is not the physical body, it marks a perfect control of the constituents

94 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II of the body, elements of which can be used for the benefit of the world by Bodhisattvas. The second abhinna is dibba‐sota or divine ear, which is the perfection of clairaudience. The third, parassa cetopariya‐nana or knowledge of other minds, includes telepathy in all its forms, including the instantaneous understanding of each human heart. Pubbe‐nivas anu‐sati is the detailed and deliberate remembrance of former births, a capacity which can safely be used only by those who have attained a high degree of self‐knowledge and detachment. The fifth abhinna, dibba‐cakkhu or divine eye, is more than clairvoyance, for it allows its possessor to witness the continuity of individual consciousness through the destruction and rebirth of different forms. The sixth abhinna is not mundane, but transcendental, because it involves the destruction of the asavas, cravings for sensuous pleasure, for embodied existence and ignorance – the ʹthree gates of hellʹ.

Some aspirants attain the transcendental path, lokuttara magga, by passing through the various jhanas and destroying the asavas.

Unfortunately, many get caught in one superconscious state or another and fail to gain the insight that emancipates one from involuntary incarnation in the ocean of samsara. Others follow the safer way of Buddha, using the full concentration achieved to contemplate dukkha, anicca or anatta, the painful, the transitory or the egoless. If the fundamental condition of differentiated existence is suffering, then meditation upon this condition will reveal the aimlessness of the world, that is, its incapacity for exhibiting eternal truths. If everything in the universe is impermanent, meditation upon transitoriness will show that the world is signless, unable to sustain the meaning of reality in its appearances. And if everything in the world is without essential nature, meditation upon egolessness will demonstrate that appearances cannot delineate reality. If any one of these three lines of meditation is pursued to its end, realization of transcendental wisdom is inevitable. This is the way of direct insight. Thus the process which had its source in sila, virtue, and flowed together into the mighty stream of samadhi, meditation, eventually reaches the boundless ocean of panna, wisdom.

BUDDHAGHOSA 95

The power of concentration brought to the precise focus implicit

in the art of meditation yields knowledge of samsara and realization of nibbana. The enlightened man, arahant, knows the world of relative truth as well as the indescribable truth of reality. He has fully developed panna, understanding.

With dreadful thump the thunderbolt

Annihilates the boulder.

The driven, fire‐whipped wind

Annihilates the wood.

The radiant orb of solar flame

Annihilates the darkness.

And developed understanding, too,

Annihilates the tangled overgrowth

Of inveterate defilements,

The source of every woe.

Yet its blessing even in this life

A man himself may know.

Buddhaghosa collated Theravadin wisdom in ways which made

it accessible and readily transmitted. Though meditation waned as a central practice in Sri Lanka and South Asia, his work was preserved and revered. In the twentieth century, however, monks have awakened to the lasting importance of his message, and once

again concentration is becoming the beacon‐light of the Theravadin path.

I will declare to thee that utmost lore,

Whole and particular, which, when thou knowest,

Leaveth no more to know here in this world.

Shri Krishna

OM

Hermes, July 1985

Elton Hall

DHARMAKIRTI

The general run of mankind is addicted to platitudes and has no interest in subtlety. Not caring for profound sayings, they are filled with hatred and the filth of envy. So I do not write for them, for my heart has found satisfaction in my work and through it my love for deep continuous meditation over every well‐spoken word has been fulfilled.

None in this world will easily grasp the deep utterances in this work.

It will be absorbed by and perish in myself just as a river is absorbed and lost in the ocean. Even those endowed with a tremendous power of reason cannot fathom the depths. Even those with exceptional intrepidity of thought cannot perceive its highest truth.

Dharmakirti

Pramanavartika

Eighth century India witnessed the final efflorescence of

Buddhist insight and creativity on the subcontinent. Although Nalanda continued as the pre‐eminent Indian Buddhist centre for another four centuries, before being destroyed in the Muslim invasions, it became increasingly isolated. India turned to its multivalent Hindu roots, whereby devotional and theistic modes won over the populace and Vedanta attracted philosophical

thinkers. Nalanda along with lesser Buddhist schools became scholastic and defensive, and by the time of Dharmakirti an amorphous but pervasive pessimism had begun seriously to affect

Indian Buddhists. At the same time, the message of Buddha began

to penetrate Tibet and flowed along the ocean trade routes to South Asia. It had already entered China, where a host of translators laboured to render Mahayana sutras and philosophical writings into Chinese, and the first translations into Tibetan were attempted. By the time the Buddhist tradition was virtually forgotten in India, the works of Nagarjuna, Asanga, Vasubandhu, Dignaga, Chandrakirti,

Shantideva and Dharmakirti had become foundation stones of a Buddhist renaissance and expansion in strange and alien lands, where it has remained vital until the present.

DHARMAKIRTI 97

Dharmakirti was born into a Brahmin family in Trimalaya

(perhaps Tirumalla) and from early childhood was recognized as a

boy of exceptional intellect. He studied the arts and sciences, was deeply immersed in the Vedas, and by the age of sixteen was accepted as a mature scholar. Then, when he took up some Buddhist texts and studied them thoroughly, to the surprise and distress of the orthodox community he decided to don the yellow robe. After resisting the persuasive arguments of local Hindu scholars, he was forced to leave his home. Making his way to Nalanda, he was brought into the Sangha by Dharmapala and formally made a pupil of Vasubandhu, who was, however, too old

to undertake the strain of conducting Dharmakirtiʹs spiritual education. Eventually he came under the guidance of Ishvarasena, a pupil of Dignaga, who saw to his training and read him Dignagaʹs

works on logic and dialectic. On his first reading of Dignagaʹs famous Pramanasamuccaya, Dharmakirti understood it. On his second reading he assessed its inadequacies, and on his third he boldly proclaimed his critique. Many would have held this to be irreverent, but Ishvarasena was delighted and instructed

Dharmakirti to compose a commentary on his mentorʹs great work.

After deep meditation he had a vision of Heruka, the fierce protective emanation of the Buddha Akshobhya, who blessed him with three mystic sounds. Then Dharmakirti began to write, producing the greatest works in the history of Buddhist logic.

Owing to his vast knowledge of non‐Buddhist doctrines, he willingly restricted his debating activities to tirthikas. Though his dialectical skills and impeccable fairness were deeply appreciated at Nalanda, his writings were received with indifference because none could fully understand them. Eventually he travelled to debate in courts and scholarly centres throughout the land. When he came to Kalinga, he built a monastery and remained there, teaching a large group of disciples until he died. Gradually his greatness as a thinker became clear to the spiritual descendants of his own disciples. In time he was seen as perhaps the only Buddhist dialectician who equalled even Shankaracharya, and an apocryphal

legend arose that he had actually vanquished the philosopher in

98 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II debate. It is possible, given scanty evidence, that he debated and converted the son of Bhatta Acharya, who was believed to be a reincarnation of Shankara. According to Taranatha, after

Dharmakirti died, a shower of flowers fell during the cremation ceremony and sweet celestial music was heard for seven days thereafter. His bones spontaneously formed into a crystal orb, which was preserved at Kalinga for many years.

Dharmakirti composed seven works which came to be known as

the ʺSeven Treatisesʺ, the quintessential survey of logic for Tibetan Buddhists. His philosophical neutrality made his views compatible with a variety of doctrines, and they were readily inserted into the teachings of Chandrakirti and Shantideva. Dharmakirtiʹs self-engendered conversion convinced him that Buddha is the ultimate

source of all knowledge, leading him to try to unravel the inner logic of the Teachings. His methodological scepticism compelled him to reject the authority of Buddhist scriptures except when they withstood the same rigorous dialectical examination to which he subjected non‐Buddhist texts. Though he accepted Dignagaʹs view that perception is a form of knowledge, he added that it had to be unerring. For him, the transience of the external world did not mean that it was simply unreal, but rather that one had to understand the nature of its reality. Perception is of fleeting moments, instants in time and space, and the seeming continuity given to objects of perception is produced by the mind. Pure perception itself is of reality and is instantaneous, but what is perceived is necessarily thought of and expressed in terms of cognitive relationships, which are an illusion. Only inference can deal with universals, and thus the objects of perception and inference are quite different from one another. Logic cannot be wholly separated from epistemology, and so logic leads naturally into a dialectic which, as Nagarjuna taught, inevitably undermines positive beliefs and formulations. Without meditation and

discipline, dialectic tends towards sceptical pessimism, but with them, it provides a purifying way of life not dependent on false claims to know.

DHARMAKIRTI 99

His Pramanavartikakarika is a sweeping commentary on Dignagaʹs great text, and it is condensed in his Nyayabindu (The Drop of Logic), long preserved in Tibetan but recently recovered in a Sanskrit manuscript found in a Jain temple. In the first chapter Dharmakirti held that all the ends sought by human beings are attained through knowledge, which must not only be valid but also perfect. Such knowledge is gained through pratyaksha and anumana, perception and inference. Perception, however, must be free from

preconception and error. For Dharmakirti, preconception is not merely the crude surcharge of perspectives and conclusions imposed upon what one perceives. These have to be purged before

one can even begin to speak of perceiving. Rather, preconception is in essence the throwing up of false images which are then erroneously thought to be objects of perception, as when one mistakes the shadow of a tree for the tree itself or a rope for a snake.

Error tends to occur when the context of perception is not sufficiently taken into account. For instance, one will not see clearly in darkness, or, when one travels downstream on a boat, the trees on the river banks will appear to be moving upstream.

Although examples drawn from sight are the most accessible illustrations of perception and preconception, Dharmakirti insisted that perception through the five senses is only one kind of perception, and not the most important. There is also perception by the mind, encompassing the objects of dreams and contemplation.

Perhaps the most readily recognized but most difficult to describe mode of perception is that of self‐consciousness. Finally there is the noetic perception of the accomplished meditator. It is

incommunicable to one who has no commensurate experience save

by analogy and correspondence, for it reflects the perceptive mysteries. Perception differs from inference, for the object of inference is like any other object in its class (samanyalakshana), whilst the object of perception is only like itself (svalakshana). A cow which is seen is unique and cannot be replaced by another cow without altering the perception. The cow that is inferred, however, belongs to a class, and any member of that class can be substituted by any other. Perceptual knowledge is, therefore, of particulars and

100 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II inferential knowledge is general. Objects of perception consist of instantaneous moments given seeming duration through an act of the mind which blurs perceptions together. Similarly, the false sense of self is formed by assuming continuity on the basis of a contiguity of moments. When objects of perception are stripped of these superadded mental accretions, so that they remain purely svalakshana, they are paramarthasat, absolutely real. From this standpoint the highest Enlightenment is pure perception. Negative perception, perceiving that something is not, has some

epistemological relevance but played no logical role in

Dharmakirtiʹs system. Enlightenment involves shunyata, the Void, but it is in no sense negative perception.

Dharmakirti, like Dignaga, distinguished between inference for oneself (svarthanumana) and inference for the sake of others (pararthanumana), for though both involve the middle term or reason, inference for others requires that the reason be stated in convincing words. Inference for oneself involves a kind of syllogism in which the reason must meet three requirements. In the example

The hill has fire,

Because it has smoke,

Like a kitchen, but unlike a lake

the middle term (ʹsmokeʹ) must abide in the minor term (ʹhillʹ), that is, there must indeed be smoke on the hill. Secondly, the middle term (ʹsmokeʹ) has to abide only in cases which are homologous with the major term (ʹfireʹ). Thus, smoke is in a kitchen, and a kitchen is homologous with things that contain fire.

Thirdly, the middle term (ʹsmokeʹ) must never abide in cases which are heterologous with the major term (ʹfireʹ). Smoke never occurs in a lake, which is heterologous with things that contain fire.

Besides having to meet these three conditions, the middle term has to be one of three kinds. It could bear a relation of identity to the major term, including what modern logic would call being a subset, as in the statement ʺThis is a tree, because it is a shimshapaʺ, since the shimshapa is a kind of tree. The minor term could be an

DHARMAKIRTI 101

effect, as in ʺThere is fire, because there is smokeʺ, since smoke is an effect of fire. Dharmakirti added a broad class of relationships all called non‐perception, such as non‐perception of identity (ʺThere is no smoke here, because it is not seenʺ), or of effect and of container (ʺThere is no shimshapa here, because there is no tree here whatsoeverʺ). Under non‐perception he included perception

contrary to identity (ʺThere is no cold here, because there is fireʺ), perception of opposite effect, perception of contrary connection between cause and effect (including multiple causation), perception contrary to the effect, and perception contrary to the container.

Finally he distinguished non‐perception of the cause, perception contrary to the cause, and perception of an effect contrary to the cause, to complete a list of eleven forms of non‐perception.

Inference for the sake of others requires putting the argument in words acceptable to all concerned, for though words themselves are not knowledge, they can educe it when rightly used. All inference is either affirmation or denial, linking terms in ways which produce statements or theses. A thesis is false if it is incompatible with perception, inference, conception or oneʹs previous statements.

Fallacies of the middle term occur when any of the requirements it must meet are unproven, uncertain or contradictory. For example, ʺSound is eternal, because it is visibleʺ is rejected as unproved, since no one will grant the visibility of sound. ʺTrees are conscious, because they die if their bark is removedʺ is unproved if the opponent points to types of trees that survive the removal of bark.

The argument ʺSound is non‐eternal, because it is knowableʺ is uncertain, for the category of the knowable includes eternal as well as non‐eternal members. And the thesis ʺSound is eternal, because it is a productʺ must be rejected because ʹproductʹ is not

homogeneous with ʹeternalʹ, that is, the middle and major terms are contradictory.

In inference for the sake of others, examples already familiar to the listener are offered to illustrate and support the inference drawn. In the argument that there is fire on the hill, the examples were ʹlike a kitchenʹ and ʹunlike a lakeʹ. The first is homogeneous,

102 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II being the same as the hill, for both have smoke. The second is heterogeneous, because, unlike a kitchen, it does not have smoke.

Homogeneous examples can be fallacious, that is, render the ʹsyllogismʹ untenable, when they fail to support the thesis. For instance, in the argument ʺSound is eternal, because it is incorporeal, like actionʺ, action is not a viable example, since it is not eternal and is therefore excluded from the minor term. In ʺThis man is not omniscient, because he is passionate, like the person in the streetʺ, the example fails because it is moot whether the person in the street is passionate and also questionable whether he is or is not omniscient. In Dharmakirtiʹs strict system, refutation (dushana) consists in pointing out any of these fallacies. Refutation does not necessarily prove that a thesis is wrong, but only that it is unsupported or unclear.

Unlike Dignaga, Dharmakirti did not recognize any difference between a contradiction, in which two terms are opposed, and an implied contradiction, in which the terms are opposed if one of them is taken in a certain sense. For Dharmakirti, each term in an argument must be restricted to one meaning. Hence, if a

contradiction appears, it will invariably be of the first kind. Since words may carry multiple denotations, the context determines the single relevant meaning. Whilst such an approach cannot exhaust the richness and resonance of scripture, Dharmakirti held that sacred texts are not patently transparent. Their meanings are matters of progressive contemplation which must be tested and clarified through inference for oneself. Ultimately, the meaning of the Teachings will be fully understood through the highest perception. Logic is an aid, but it deals with exposition, both to oneself and to others, and not directly with pure insight. Insight will be clouded, however, if the dialectical basis for knowledge by inference is unsound. These concerns led Dharmakirti to reject Dignagaʹs non‐erroneous contradiction as a fallacy of uncertainty. It arises when opposing conclusions are drawn from syllogisms acceptable to differing schools of thought. For Dharmakirti, the opposition arises from differing, and perhaps hidden, assumptions and has nothing to do with inference. Mere appeal to scripture as

DHARMAKIRTI 103

authority is useless, for it implies that oneʹs understanding of scripture is perfect and therefore authoritative.

Despite his rigorous focus on logic and dialectic, Dharmakirti saw these as tools to aid oneself and others along the Bodhisattva Path and not as ends in themselves. He expressed disappointment

that his work was unappreciated, not because it was challenged –

for it was not – but because so few seemed to understand it or recognize its value. Whilst Dharmakirti did not live to see his work widely respected, generations of Buddhists after his death did take it up. Due to the decline of Buddhist tradition in India, however, it was left to Hindu thinkers to advance Indian concerns with logic and dialectic. Dharmakirti would eventually be forgotten in his homeland, though his thought was reflected in subsequent Hindu logical treatises, but he was revered in Tibet, China and southeastern Asia. Although the Buddhist tradition survived in India until the thirteenth century, Dharmakirti knew that he stood at the beginning of the final illustrious chapter in the story. More important for the future, he also stood at the beginning of the magnificent unfolding of the Tibetan tradition, a story entering a dramatic new phase in the late twentieth century.

Hermes, December 1985

Elton Hall

CHANDRAKIRTI

Shravakas and solitary realizers

Spring from the kings of Munis.

Buddhas spring from Bodhisattvas.

The compassionate mind, non‐dual awareness,

And the altruistic mind of Enlightenment

Give rise to jinaputras, children of Conquerors.

Mercy alone is perceived as the seed

Of a Conqueror ʹ s abundant harvest,

As water for growth, and as

Fruition in long enjoyment.

Thus I hail compassion at the beginning.

Homage to compassion for gatis,

Powerless migrators, like buckets dropped in a

well,

First clinging to some self, an ʹ I ʹ ,

Then growing attached to things – ʹ Mine ʹ .

Homage to compassion for gatis,

Evanescent and empty of inherent existence.

Like the moon in the rippling water.

Chandrakirti

Madhyamakavatara

Once Buddhaghosa consolidated non‐Mahayana teaching in Sri

Lanka and the followers of Nagarjuna elaborated Mahayana

doctrines and methodology, the luminous burst of creativity which marked the birth and growth of the Indian Buddhist tradition began to wane. The tradition remained robust, and its focus shifted from discovering hidden dimensions of Buddhadharma to

CHANDRAKIRTI 105

transmitting the Teaching to others. During those centuries Nalanda became the undisputed centre of Buddhist education and

scholarship, so dominating Indian Buddhist life that when it was destroyed in the Muslim invasion of India, Buddhist thought virtually disappeared from the subcontinent. But if India looked back to its ancient Vedic heritage, the doctrines of Buddha followed the Silk Road and other routes of commerce north and east, dominating Tibet and Mongolia, Southeast Asia, China, Korea and

Japan, where it remains to the present day. Several Indian Buddhists exercised far greater influence outside than within India.

Chandrakirti was born in Samanta (or Samana) in southern India

sometime in the seventh century. He quickly mastered the

knowledge taught in his day and was ordained a monk in the Sangha. After learning the texts revered by various schools, he concentrated on the works of Nagarjuna and attained such pre-eminence as a scholar that he was installed as Upadhyaya of Nalanda. Whilst he governed this great monastic university, a lay follower of the Bodhisattva ideal called Chandragomin arrived in the area. When Chandrakirti learnt of his presence, he requested that Chandragomin enter Nalanda with public honours. Since such

a reception was technically impossible because Chandragomin was

not an ordained monk, Chandrakirti arranged instead for a ceremonial procession in honour of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva who wields the sword of wisdom. It is said that when Chandragomin sang the praises of Manjushri, the statue turned to listen. Later writers mark this moment as the beginning of a seven‐year contest of wits between ʺthe two Chandrasʺ, but Chandrakirti and

Chandragomin treated one another with the greatest respect and enjoyed a deep friendship. Chandrakirti represented the monastic ideal and the fullest control of the mind, ʺthe great Slayer of the Realʺ, whilst Chandragomin represented the generosity of heart which arises from devotion to the Bodhisattva vow, though both men mingled profound intelligence and selfless service.

Even though Chandrakirti assumed the onerous burden of

overseeing Nalanda, he acquired remarkable powers associated

106 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II with deep meditation. Taranatha wrote that he could milk a picture of a cow to give others nourishment, and many saw him put his hand through a stone pillar. Nonetheless, after many years of teaching and tending to the welfare of monks, he retired to a life of intense contemplation. Journeying south to Konkuna, he spread Buddhist teachings through discourse and debate. When he

reached a hill known as Manubhanga, he withdrew into a long period of meditation. According to a tradition associated with those proficient in mantras, Chandrakirti gained the highest siddhis and attained the rainbow body, passing from this world into self-conscious immortality. Philosophically, Chandrakirti returned to the teachings of Nagarjuna and attempted to restate the

Madhyamika or Middle Way standpoint.

Sometime in the fifth century Buddhapalita and Bhavaviveka formulated opposing views of the nature of Madhyamika

philosophy. Whilst Buddhapalita held that Madhyamika

methodology wholly consisted in prasanga, reducing the assertions of others to contradictions or absurdities, Bhavaviveka contended that Madhyamika dialecticians should propound and defend

positive doctrines. Chandrakirti understood that Nagarjunaʹs dialectic could lead the intellectually unwary into philosophical nihilism, but he believed that the fundamental insight of Nagarjunaʹs approach was the recognition that no formulation could be true, and that any affirmation of doctrine is ultimately misleading and a hindrance on the path to Enlightenment. For Chandrakirti, the Yogachara system was unsatisfactory, as its concept of vijnana, consciousness without an object, was actually the idea of an Atman in disguise. The difference between Yogachara and Prasangika Madhyanilka is found in their responses to astitva and nastitva, ʹisʹ and ʹis notʹ. Whilst the Yogachara accepts ʹisʹ and ʹis notʹ, Prasangika Madhyamika, as formulated by Chandrakirti, rejects both. Chandrakirti shunned every positive formulation of Truth not because he denied its reality, but rather because he doubted the possibility of providing any formulation of it.

CHANDRAKIRTI 107

If formulations of the Truth mislead, however, nihilism is even more in error. The first invites the delusion that belief brings one closer to Enlightenment. The other encourages the delusion that demonstrating the lack of independent existence of phenomena is the same as proving the non‐existence of existence, implying that nothing need be done to attain Enlightenment. For Chandrakirti, the denial of the reality of phenomena is not the denial of phenomena, just as the recognition that some collective activity is only a game is not the discovery that there is no activity at all.

Rather, discerning things for what they are is part of the process of freeing oneself from their grip on consciousness. Understanding the illusory nature of the world is part of emancipation from illusion, though a number of steps are required to achieve it. Since Buddhas arise from Bodhisattvas, one who would be truly free of the endless round of Samsara must ascend the ten grounds (dashabhumi) of the Bodhisattva Path. Such an effort depends less on belief, which can at best offer only provisional and temporary support, than on cultivating three practices which radically reorient consciousness and perception: compassion (karuna), non‐dual understanding (gnyis med kyi blo) and the mind of Enlightenment (bodhichitta).

Of these three, compassion is the cause of the other two. In compassion one comes to identify with others at a level distinctly beyond the opposites of attraction and repulsion (which make others mere mirrors of the likes and dislikes of oneʹs own false ego), and this identification aids in the integration of understanding.

Compassion is the basis of the awakening of bodhichitta, for in wanting to be of true service to others, one yearns to know the Truth. Thus Chandrakirti began his Madhyamakavatara (Supplement to the Middle Way) by paying homage to compassion, the signature of the Bodhisattva and the Archimedean lever which moves one from stage to stage along the Bodhisattva Path. He likened the ignorant individual to a bucket in the well of Samsara. The bucket falls easily, clattering against the sides of the well and crashing on the rocks below. Thus it descends, damaging itself, from the realm of the gods at the top of the well to the region of hellish beings at the bottom. The uncontrolled mind gives the windlass free reign to

108 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II drop the bucket, and the gravity effect of desire, hatred and ignorance pulls it downward. Without compassion, one is

indifferent to this state insofar as it describes the condition of others, but one feels it intensely when it results in harm to someone with whom one is intimate. Compassion involves engendering this

sense of intimacy with all sentient beings, devoid of mere sentiment which tinctures personal relationships, so that the condition of every living being affects oneʹs own consciousness and impels one to seek to rectify it. Only meditation will stimulate a selfless sense of solidarity with all beings.

If an individual is determined to tread the Bodhisattva Path through each of its ten stages, he will necessarily develop compassion. As karuna arises from deep meditation upon the condition of living beings, compassion can assume three aspects corresponding to three levels of Samsara. The first type, sattvalambana karuna, is compassion in observing nothing but sentient beings. In this phase there is no concern with the transience of every being or with ultimate Reality. Rather, one realizes at this level that all beings share one common characteristic – suffering, dukha. Like buckets in a well, beings rise and fall according to the whim of the windlass, the uncontrolled mind. Dharmalambana karuna, compassion in observing beings as phenomena, is the realization that beings have no independent nature but are only phenomena, aggregates (skandhas) temporarily gathered together into the mind‐generated illusion of entities. Analambanalambana karuna is compassion in recognizing the inapprehensible, through which one realizes that shunyata, voidness or emptiness, is the distinguishing characteristic of all beings.

Two practical means of arousing threefold compassion are

preserved in the Tibetan tradition. One, taken from Maitreya, is to contemplate the possibility that, over myriad lives and countless millennia, every person one encounters could have been oneʹs mother. This is to think of having once been nurtured in the womb of every other human being. The second means, inspired by Manjushri and taught by the present Dalai Lama, is to equalize and

CHANDRAKIRTI 109

switch oneself with others. Think honestly of oneself and oneʹs deep longings for happiness, and then think of the fact that others desire the same. In this fundamental respect, all beings are equal. In addition, one contemplates the fact that those who are ʹotherʹ to oneself are ʹselfʹ to themselves. Each individual is both ʹselfʹ and ʹotherʹ in senses which are symmetrical from a standpoint outside of humanity but which seem to be asymmetrical from any and every individualʹs perspective. When these two means are adopted, oneʹs longing for Enlightenment can be transmuted into an aspiration on behalf of all beings. True meditation and study are marked by the conviction they produce, for conviction alone can nurture the mental and moral action essential to treading the Bodhisattva Path.

Though the Path of Renunciation has ten stages or grounds (and

eleven if Buddhahood is included), the first five are perhaps the most critical, since without an understanding of them, the remaining stages are beyond comprehension.

The mind of a jinaputra, filled

With compassion to emancipate gatis,

Consecrated with Samantabhadraʹs aspirations,

Abiding in joy, is called the first.

The mind of a child of the Conqueror, a spiritual son or daughter of Buddha, is overwhelmed with compassion for gatis, those caught in the cycle of reincarnation. It dedicates itself to Samantabhadra, the Bodhisattva associated with kindness and auspiciousness, and it is the first supramundane mind, consciousness corresponding to the first stage of the Bodhisattva Path. The continuity of consciousness

(samtana) of this stage is characterized primarily as joy (pramudita).

Born in the Tathagata lineage,

He utterly renounces the three links.

The Bodhisattva attains unsurpassed joy

And can vibrate a hundred world‐systems.

As the fledgling Bodhisattva directly recognizes selflessness, he sees through the three links: false views of transience, doubt which pollutes and distorted ethics. They will not affect him again.

110 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II From stage to stage advancing he ascends,

His paths to lower incarnations are blocked,

All levels of ordinary beings are closed to him.

Any being who attains the first level of this road to emancipation finds that his growing compassion is naturally translated into dana, giving. He may have little to give, but he knows what others have yet to discover:

Even for beings with little compassion,

Brutally intent on their own ends,

Coveted resources arise from giving,

And cause the end of suffering.

Even if a person thought of nothing but his own happiness, if he

were also intent on dana he would in time encounter a true Arya, a superior being, who could show him how to cut the continuum of

cyclic existence and achieve the emancipation of Nirvana. For the Bodhisattva, giving opens the way to hitherto unimagined

possibilities for effective service. Therefore, Chandrakirti taught, dana is profoundly important alike to those with compassion and those without it. For a jinaputra, however, the very thought of giving brings happiness. In time, such a being will recognize the levels of giving.

Giving void of gift, giver and receiver

Is called a supramundane perfection (lokottara

paramita).

But when attachment to these three arises,

It is called a mundane perfection.

The joyous mind which arises from giving is secured in the second stage, which is called stainless (vimala) and is marked by proper ethics (shila). The Bodhisattva who purifies ethics does not think in lesser terms even in dreams. Shila involves the renunciation of seven actions: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, divisive speech, harsh words and senseless chatter. These seven

impediments to harmonious conduct, four of which have to do with

speech and therefore directly with thought, are eradicated through

CHANDRAKIRTI 111

the motivating influence of desirelessness, harmlessness and freedom from wrong views. Speaking of the Bodhisattva who has attained the shila stage, Chandrakirti wrote:

Like an autumn moon he is ever pure,

Beautified by shila, serene and radiant.

But at the same time, he pointed to the problem of unconscious self‐righteousness, the false sense of having completed a task which remains unfinished.

If he views his shila as inherently pure,

Then its purity will not be complete.

For Chandrakirti, the problem of ethics is not that people have no ethical sense, but rather that they tend to absolutize a faulty, insufficient, or distorted ethical sense. The Bodhisattva realizes that any perception stained with so much as a minute remnant of ignorance or attachment throws a cloud upon ethical clarity, and so he strives to perfect shila far beyond the moral demands of the world. Thus his actions assist all beings in ways hardly comprehensible to those who have yet to follow in his footsteps.

Like the light of an autumn moon,

The stainlessness from the moon of a jinaputra,

Unworldly, yet the glory of the world,

Removes the mental distress of gatis.

The third stage of the ten‐stepped Bodhisattva Path is prabhakari, the luminous, whose sigil is kshanti, patience. It is called luminous because here the fire of wisdom consumes the objects of knowledge in an orange light, a coppery conflagration that consumes discursive thought like the dawn light dispels darkness. In using this analogy, Chandrakirti also made a veiled allusion to the pervasive orange light that appears to the contemplative when he has attained meditative equipoise. Its seal is patience because the Bodhisattva sees that every form of impatience, all of which are aspects of resentment, are useless to his self‐assumed task and an obstacle to its fulfilment.

112 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II If you grow angry with one who harms you,

Does your resentment eradicate the harm?

Resentment is utterly useless here,

And unfavourable for future lives.

How can one justify oneself,

Who longs to erase effects of previous action,

To spread broadcast the seeds of suffering,

Through hating and harming others?

Even a moment of hating by a jinaputra

Destroys virtues from dana and shila

Garnered over a hundred aeons.

There is no sin worse than impatience.

The cultivation of kshanti removes the inversions of virtue, gives one a luminous beauty, makes the holy dear, nurtures skill in discerning right from wrong, and leads to exalted future births. The Bodhisattva who secures himself at this stage discovers that the eradication of desire and hatred allows mastery in concentration and the natural development of clairvoyance.

Archishmati, the radiant, is the fourth bhumi, whose hallmark is virya, effort. This effort, ʺdauntless energy that fights its way to the supernal TRUTHʺ, is the gateway to every conceivable attainment,

for it brings the whole being into harmony or resonance with Enlightenment. Tsong‐Kha‐Pa listed thirty‐seven ways in which the Bodhisattva is brought into harmony with Enlightenment through virya, including mindfulness in respect to body, feeling, mind and phenomena; renunciation of both vice and virtue; manifestation of aspiration, effort, thought and meditation; emergence of faculties and powers; harmonization of the branches of Enlightenment, including joy, pliancy and equanimity; and perfection in the Noble Eightfold Path. All this is possible, Chandrakirti wrote, because ʺwhat is related to the view of a self is extinguishedʺ.

CHANDRAKIRTI 113

The fifth bhumi is called sudurjaya, difficult to overcome, because the dhyana or concentration which distinguishes this level is so powerful that neither earthly distractions nor the hosts of demons from the astral plane can affect it.

This great being on the ground sudurjaya

Cannot be vanquished even by all the demons.

His dhyana excels, he gains great skill

In knowledge of subtle truths of the good‐minded.

Since, according to Chandrakirti, Nirvana is not different from ultimate Truth and extinction of conditionality and falsehood, including false conceptions of the self, perfection in dhyana is the threshold of Nirvana. A person who seeks Enlightenment for himself alone has no farther to go. The next step is into the refulgent presence of utterly transcendental prajna, the Flame of which cannot be touched because the seeker becomes it. The Bodhisattva refuses to take that final step, however, because he has consecrated himself to enter the Flame only after all sentient beings have been helped to do so. For him, the Path continues through four more stages, whose names can hardly suggest the states to which they point, culminating in the eleventh stage, which is no stage at all but rather is the mystery of the Buddha, He who stands beyond space and time yet can enter into both for the welfare of all beings.

For Chandrakirti, the Path begins and ends in compassion.

Compassion is a point drawn out into a line by the effort of the aspirant who eventually realizes that he is the Path himself.

Chandrakirtiʹs views, together with the writings of Nagarjuna which he did much to preserve, survived the fall of Nalanda and the dispersion of its schools of thought, and when Tsong‐Kha‐Pa revitalized the Buddhist tradition in Tibet and founded the Gelukpa or Yellow Hat order, he made the works of Nagarjuna and Chandrakirti the heart of his spiritual philosophy. If Nagarjuna was the progenitor of the Madhyamika, Chandrakirti was the

undisputed scion of Prasangika Madhyamika, the Middle Wayʹs most rigorous and sublime expression.

114 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II He who with equanimity surveys

Lustre of goodness, strife of passion, sloth

Of ignorance, not angry if they are,

Not wishful when they are not: he who sits

A sojourner and stranger in their midst

Unruffled, standing off saying – serene –

When troubles break, ʺThese be the Qualities.ʺ

He unto whom – Self‐centered – grief and joy

Sound as one word; to whose deep‐seeing eyes

The clod, the marble, and the gold are one;

Whose equal heart holds the same gentleness

For lovely and unlovely things, firm set,

Well pleased in praise and dispraise; satisfied

With honour or dishonour; unto friends

And unto foes alike in tolerance,

Detached from undertakings – he is named

Surmounter of the Qualities.

Shri Krishna

OM

Hermes, October 1985

Elton Hall

SHANTIDEVA

Just as the stem of a banana tree does not exist when it has been divided into parts, the ego likewise becomes unreal when examined reflectively.

One might think that because no being can be discovered, there are none on whom to bestow compassion, but what is done even in confusion is because of a purpose.

If, however, there is no being, whose is the purpose? The effort is illusory, but because it serves to tranquillize sorrow, this delusion is not forbidden.

When, through my effort and by raising a cloud of merit, may I make tranquil those who are troubled in the fire of sorrow?

When, by zealous and meritorious deeds for the unveiling of the truth, may I point towards shunyata those who see only fantasies?

Shantideva

Bodhicaryavatara

Chandrakirti laid the foundations and initiated the Prasangika Madhyamika school of Buddhist thought, but Shantideva provided

it with mystic vision and ecstatic fervour. Born in the eighth century, he was a son of the ruler of Saurashtra, a small kingdom in modern Gujarat. While still a child, he was vouchsafed a vision of Manjushri, the Bodhisattva of wisdom, and the vision was repeated near the time for his accession to the throne. Manjushri declared that he was Shantidevaʹs alyanamitra, spiritual friend, and warned him not to take the throne of Saurashtra. At about the same time, Shantideva had a dream in which Tara, the feminine aspect and counterpart of Avalokiteshvara, appeared to him in the guise of his mother and consecrated him. In an act reflecting the renunciation of Buddha, he fled the kingdom and wandered in a forest for twenty-one days. He came upon a woman who offered him sweet water

116 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II and led him to a yogin who initiated him into Buddhist doctrine and meditation. He soon attained samadhi and recognized the woman and the yogin as Tara and Manjushri. From that moment, the vision of Manjushri remained with him throughout his life.

In time he came to Nalanda, where he received ordination and the name Shantideva from the upadhyaya Jayadeva. Since he ate large quantities of rice and seemed to sleep much of the time, many monks suspected that he was a spiritual fraud. To unmask his pretensions, they set up a recitation of the sutras from memory, expecting him to fail when his turn came around. When it was his

time to recite, he asked if they would like to hear an old sutra or something wholly new. They chose the latter, and he at once began to utter the Bodhicaryavatara (Entering the Path of Enlightenment), a poetic and philosophical discourse on the Bodhisattva Path. When he began to utter the verse (IX, 35), ʺWhen existence and non-existence cease to be present to the mind. . . ʺ, he rose into the air and became invisible, though his voice could be clearly heard.

There was no more gossip in Nalanda regarding Shantidevaʹs routines, and reverence for him was so great that he joined Chandragomin as one of the select few to whom Taranatha gave the

sacred title acharya in his history of the Buddhist tradition in India.

While

at

Nalanda,

Shantideva

also

composed

the

Shikshasamuccaya, a compendium of Buddhist doctrines, which drew together citations from a vast number of sutras and texts. It emphasizes the moral dimension of the Bodhisattva Path, whilst the Bodhicaryavatara focusses on the Path from the standpoint of consciousness. Shantideva also engaged in dialectical debates, advocating a mystical view of the highest doctrines and insisting that logical clarity serve the ends of intuitive insight. According to tradition, he travelled south to a now unknown place to debate a number of tirthikas who rejected the teachings of Buddha. He won a great number of them over with his dialectical skills, and though many attested to his magical powers, his memorable ʺseven wonderful actsʺ emphasized the conversion of different groups of opponents. Sometime late in the seventh century he disappeared

SHANTIDEVA 117

from history, which remains silent on the time, place and manner of his death.

For Shantideva, the key to the Bodhisattva Path is bodhichitta, the seed or thought of Enlightenment, and therefore the Bodhisattva is the paradigm of the path to Enlightenment. Because the

Bodhisattva pauses at the threshold of becoming a Buddha, who assumes the Dharmakaya glory but is cut off from giving aid directly to human beings still mired in the illusion and delusion of samsara, he is suspended between the relativity of illusions and the certitude of Reality. He reaches down from the realm of pure thought to help all those willing to attempt to tread the path he has trodden. Whilst the Arhat and the Bodhisattva are the same in their ultimate natures, the Arhat seizes the Enlightenment he has earned and becomes an example for others to follow. The Bodhisattva holds back in some mysterious way, inexplicable to ordinary

consciousness, and actually reaches out to help those who would walk the Path. The unfathomable mystery of this aid is bound up with bodhichitta, that spark of consciousness which, when activated, turns the aspirant towards bodhi, Enlightenment. The difference between Arhat and Bodhisattva is to be found less in states of consciousness than in the linkage between that realm and the world of transient phenomena.

Since bodhichitta is not only the idea of bodhi or Enlightenment, but also its suffusion through the whole of consciousness as well as the force it exerts in impelling one along the Path, it is Buddhanubhava, the gesture of Buddha, which turns consciousness, even if only for a moment, to the good. Like a thunderbolt in the night sky, it permanently transforms oneʹs perception of the world, giving new valence and orientation to everything in samsara. Since dukha, suffering, is the defining characteristic of temporal existence, bodhichitta is the inexplicable infusion of a higher reality into the otherwise seamless fabric of ignorance. Bodhichitta is therefore an event which falls outside the causality of ordinary mind and nature, a kind of grace from Buddha or from an enlightened Guru. It is as if

118 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II shunyata, the Void, calls to the Void, and the arising of bodhichitta within one is its echo.

This merit – seed of the worldʹs joy, medicine for the worldʹs sorrow, jewel of chitta, the mind – how can it be measured?

Bodhichitta contains the potency necessary for the entire pilgrimage to Enlightenment, and it is the womb of karuna, compassion. With it goodness can vanquish evil, knowledge can surmount ignorance, and insight can subdue suffering. The arising of bodhichitta completes oneʹs birth as a human being, for one becomes a Buddhaputra, a Buddha‐son, a member of the Buddhakula, the Buddha family.

Because karuna is born from bodhichitta, the ray of shunyata activated in human consciousness, it is not a property of the individual or an instrument for the redemption of the individual alone. It is the alchemical source of universal purpose, the ground of mahartha siddhi, the great work, and the force within jagad dhitartha, the work of the worldʹs well‐being. For Shantideva, it is less important that one grasp the ten stages on the Bodhisattva Path than that one understand that the activation of bodhichitta compels a twofold practice. Bodhipranidhichitta, the thought of the vow of Enlightenment, spontaneously arises with the advent of bodhichitta, and it is immediately followed by bodhiprasthanachitta, the departure upon the road to realization. When one comes to the fortunate condition in which one can take the great vow, mahapranidhana, before a spiritual guide, kalyanamitra, one has not only come to an irreversible turning point in this life, but one has affected the entire cycle of samsara. The great vow is the Pledge of Kwan‐Yin, and the aspiration to achieve Enlightenment cannot be separated from the Enlightenment of all beings. Bodhichitta is thus the spark of the Bodhisattva in every being, and once it is truly aroused, it becomes a consuming fire which may have setbacks but

which expands without limit and can never be extinguished.

Rejoicing in the seemingly miraculous manifestation of bodhichitta within oneʹs deepest consciousness leads naturally to an

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overwhelming sense of gratitude, which Shantideva expressed in terms of the Tathagatas, the Jewel of the True Dharma and all the Buddha‐sons, that is, to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha mystically transfigured in the light of bodhichitta. Shantideva calls upon all the great beings represented in these Three Jewels to take possession of him, for he is prepared to enter the strict servitude demanded by the bhakti, devotion, which has arisen in him. He recognizes that neither bodhichitta nor refuge in the Three Jewels excuses the aspirant from the self‐engendered effort which is required on every step of the Path. For Shantideva, the first step after being caught up in spontaneous gratitude is a self‐conscious act of purgation through papadeshana, the confession of sins.

Papadeshana is no guilt‐ridden indulgence in regret over oneʹs past misdeeds, which at best would amount to an inadequate empirical

review dependent on partial memory. Rather, it is a reflection upon the evil in the world and the recognition that, given innumerable previous incarnations, one dare not presume to dissociate oneself from any of it.

Whatever evil, on the endless wheel of samsara or just right here, whatever evil was committed by me or was caused to be committed by me, and whatever was enjoyed foolishly, ending in

self‐destruction, that evil I confess, stricken with remorseful feeling.

Once oneʹs past deeds and oneʹs connection through karma with

every other living being has been honestly faced, one can authentically rejoice in everything that is good, punyanumodana, the mirror image of papadeshana. With these two comes the capacity to begin fulfilling the Bodhisattva Vow by renouncing whatever meritorious karma one might have or will receive for the uplift of all beings. Together, these form the basis and substance of bodhichittaparigraha, seizing the seed of Enlightenment and retaining its efficacious radiance throughout the whole of consciousness, so that at every moment it suffuses thought, permeates intention and manifests in deeds.

120 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Today my birth is completed, my human nature is fulfilled.

Today I have been born into the Buddha family and I am henceforth a Buddha‐son. It is now for me to behave according to

the customs of this family, so that there may be no stain put upon its spotlessness.

Each step on the path to Enlightenment is distinguished by the predominance of a paramita, virtue or quality of character, which synthesizes all the virtues from a particular standpoint. Though Shantideva followed the traditional Mahayana list, consisting of dana, shila, kshanti, virya, dhyana and prajna, he depicted them primarily in terms of transformations of consciousness rather than of deeds. Thus dana, love identified with giving, becomes bodhichittapramada, vigilance in the thought of Enlightenment.

Noting the fact that ʺinnumerable Buddhas have passed, seeking all beingsʺ, he lamented his self‐engendered condition: ʺBecause of my own fault, I have been beyond the reach of their medicine.ʺ Because of oneʹs own past actions on the plane of consciousness, one has developed attractions and repulsions which are readily expressed in joys and fears, friends and enemies, pleasures and pains. Desire, hatred and anger are oneʹs real enemies, but since they have no power in themselves, they cannot enslave one without oneʹs own cooperation. ʺYet they are dwelling within my own mind and thus

smite me at their ease.ʺ Ultimately, one can neither claim to be overpowered by them nor pretend that one does not have the resources to banish them. ʺI am stupid only because I make no effortʺ, Shantideva wrote, In striving for prajna, wisdom, one can overcome maya, illusion, and this requires vigilance in the thought of Enlightenment.

For Shantideva, dana and shila, as ethical principles, are on occasion potentially in opposition. From the plane of the mind, however, which is the root of ethical discrimination, they are at one.

Shila, harmonious conduct, can be undertaken only if one follows shiksha, a discipline or rule of life, and this is possible only to the extent that one cultivates samprajanyarakshana, complete mental awareness or presence of mind. Since all oneʹs enemies and fears

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are lodged in consciousness, anger comes easily to one who has not developed considerable mental equipoise. If anger can be

eradicated, Shantideva taught, all oneʹs fears and enemies will vanish. Thus awareness is shila in consciousness, and all who would walk the Bodhisattva Path must strive for it, though those who have the indescribable good fortune of association with a Guru will find themselves immensely aided. The ability to discern when the dictates of love for all beings requires one to ignore conventional morality, and when dissipative circumstances indicate that oneʹs giving should be checked, is developed through the performance of duty. For the performance of duty to be an effective means of treading the Path, one has to bring oneʹs whole attention to each act undertaken. In addition, one needs to shift attention from self-interested concern with the body to protecting the mind. By strengthening awareness and guarding consciousness from

distractions and illusions, one makes oneself an instrument of service in the cause of universal welfare.

Kshanti, patience, implies forbearance, forgiveness and tolerance at the broadest possible level. It is patience in respect to oneself and oneʹs imperfections, to karma which is exact, relentless and just, and to others. All levels of patience have hostility as their opposite, and hostility of any kind undermines what one has garnered from

the arising of bodhichitta and works against the Vow one has taken to help redeem all beings from the bonds of conditioned existence.

For Shantideva, the dialectical paradoxes familiar to Madhyamika thought and the theme of the Prajnaparamita Sutras are powerful levers for the permanent reorientation of consciousness. Though one wishes to help all beings reach Enlightenment, one also knows that no independent beings actually exist. Rather than

appropriating this doctrine to justify inaction, one should recognize that if it is so, there is no one and nothing towards which one need be hostile. If, as Buddha taught, the fundamental condition of samsara is dukha, then patience is critical to nurturing bodhichitta in the world. Through patience, one can come to endure a modicum of

suffering without having to flee it or become obsessed with it. That degree of indifference can be extended gradually until neither

122 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II pleasure nor pain of any intensity can divert one from the self-selected Way. Kshanti is therefore the best tapas, purgative discipline, and it allows one to take the Bodhisattva Vow at a new level of understanding and dedication.

Let this, then, be my vow: the honouring of the Tathagata, the complete fulfilment of my own well‐being, the destruction of the sorrow of the world.

To the extent that one has secured the foundations of patience, one can begin to manifest virya, which for Shantideva is effort, heroism and a kind of pride. Self‐mastery, aiming at courage and attainment of strength, identity of self and others, and likewise, exchange of self and others, are all aspects of virya.

Oneʹs tolerance and patience must not be allowed to lull one into complacency. Rather, they should prepare one for a fierce and unrelenting struggle to achieve the goal. Having learnt to face karma and suffering, one should gain the strength to do something about them. Though Shantideva was well aware of the disease of separative pride, which destroys if not itself destroyed, he saw that even it is only a pitiful reflection of a virtue. True pride, mana, is a will to persevere on behalf of all. One should so solidly identify with all beings that one is too proud to labour for the separative and false ego, or to allow distasteful work to be done by others, or even to permit the thought of giving up to cross oneʹs mind. One should think too much of oneself as a being ultimately not different from all the beings in existence to shun ruthless examination of oneʹs faults and fearless correction of oneʹs mistakes.

As cotton is obedient to the coming and going of the wind, so one should proceed in obedience to oneʹs resolution. Thus riddhi, the wonder‐working power, is utterly triumphant.

The practice of virya as a mental activity manifests as wakefulness, heedfulness and concentration, and it is sometimes called ʹunbounded industryʹ. At the same time, it is a

commensurate tranquillity of mind. The energy released by this combination provides the basis for dhyana, contemplation, reflection

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and abstraction, which culminates in samadhi, full meditation.

Shamatha, alert tranquillity, opens the way to vipashyana, clear vision. Although vision is possible long before this stage is reached, the recurrence of (or even the potential for) passionate attraction and revulsion discolours it. In dhyana one can gain from oneʹs visions the assurance that, though they will be partial revelations of Truth, they will not be distorted or inverted. Vipashyana is the recognition of things as they are, and this supreme clarity of mind results in total detachment and renunciation of the fruits of action.

Having vowed from the beginning to serve the spiritual welfare of all beings, and making real through detachment the ultimate equality of all beings, the Bodhisattva participates in a great alchemical mystery through dhyana, the efflorescence of quiet consciousness.

Whoever wishes quickly to rescue himself and another, should

practise the supreme mystery – the exchanging of himself and the

other.

Ethically, this is the recognition of the virtues in others and the faults in oneself, followed by an exchange in which one seeks to emulate those virtues by exalting and not stealing them. On the plane of clear mind, it is the realization that one is not separate from others and that karma is understood fully only at the collective level. Psychologically, it is the willingness to assume the suffering of another and replace it with oneʹs own bliss. But on a deeper, occult plane which does not exclude other levels, it is the alchemical magic of lending oneʹs consciousness and insight to another, giving invisible strength through meditation without removing the

responsibility of another for his or her condition. This is the mysterious wonder‐working power which Buddha called the

highest magic, easily misunderstood as vicarious atonement, but in fact the fundamental force at the root of all the siddhis or supernormal powers. Thus the Bodhisattva becomes a pillar of the

world, uplifting the whole of humanity, though unseen and unknown to most beneficiaries.

124 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Secure in dhyana and beyond the possibility of retreat on the Bodhisattva Path, the traveller finds himself at the threshold of prajna, perfect wisdom beyond all conceivable formulation. Relative truths, many of which have been helpful, like a raft crossing a river, are left behind once the raging waters are crossed, and one stands before paramartha, ʺthat which is beyond the veiledʺ. Truth, satya, is seen to be shunyata, a void into which all relativities and partialities are dropped, an emptiness in which there are no attitudes but a universal orientation. In its ineffable radiance one sees that which is beyond form and formlessness, and one rejoices in the realization that there are no beings to be redeemed, though one will labour without cessation to redeem every being. The Bodhisattva now knows, and though that knowledge cannot be communicated to others but only intimated through symbol, metaphor and analogy,

he can act on it while not seeing himself as the actor. The fusion of perceiver, perception and perceived is as complete as it is inexplicable. The Bodhisattva now bears that revered designation in its highest meaning, and his signature is selflessness His radical identification with all beings restrains him from disappearing in the release of Nirvana. Rather, in parinamana, that unspeakable consummation which is attaining the Goal, he now breathes and thinks for humanity, his every word a living balm and every act a benediction.

As Manjushri walks in ten directions and to the skyʹs

edge for the increase of the prosperity of all beings, let

my work be like his. As long as there is space and as

long as the world exists, for that long let my existence

be devoted to the worldʹs sorrows.

Wherever is found the sorrow of the world, may it

come to fruition in me, and may the world be

comforted by the glorious host of Bodhisattvas.

As the only medicine for the worldʹs sorrow, the only

cause of happiness and success, may the Teaching –

honoured everywhere – endure for long aeons.

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I pay homage to Manjughosha by the favour which

makes the thought beautiful. I honour the kalyanamitra,

the good friend, by the favour which he has thus

increased.

Shantideva

Regard as true Renouncer him that makes

Worship by work, for who renounceth not

Works not as Yogin. So is that well said:

ʺBy works the votary doth rise to saint,

And saintship is the ceasing from all worksʺ;

Because the perfect Yogin acts – but acts

Unmoved by passions and unbound by deeds,

Setting result aside.

Shri Krishna

OM

Hermes, November 1985

Elton Hall

SHANTARAKSHITA

The deputy of the Buddha, the holy Shantarakshita,

And the superior master of incantations, the ascetic

Padmasambhava,

Kamalashila, the crest jewel of the wise, And Trhisong Detsen. of surpassing thoughts – Through these four, like sunrise in the dark land of Tibet, The light of holy religion spread even to the frontiers.

These holy men of unwavering kindness

Tibetans will all forevermore revere.

Tibetan Song

The history of the Land of Snows is as mysterious as its awesome

landscapes, as secret as its fastnesses. It reaches back from chronicle to legend and then to myth, beyond which an impenetrable veil hides the distant past. Ringed by lofty mountains, Tibet was for millennia isolated from the political intrigues of its neighbours to the south, east and west. Chinaʹs cultural insularity ensured that its historians paid scant attention to Tibet, and the great northern peoples, including the Mongolians, remain almost as enigmatic and remote as the Tibetans themselves. Trans‐Himalayan culture was deeply rooted in the oral tradition, and the Tibetan people kept no ordinary written records until the advent of Buddhaʹs teaching.

According to the Tibetans, the first human beings were as radiant and ethereal as the original earth. Gradually the earth condensed and the bodies of men grew dense as well, until both reached their present condition. Sometime during this long evolution

Avalokiteshvara in the form of a monkey mated with a terrestrial demoness of the rocks, and their offspring became the ancestors of the Tibetans. Avalokiteshvara gave his children six kinds of grain, and over time this race evolved from a monkey‐like appearance into modern human forms. At the same time, society evolved, though disputes over food formed the basis of all the inequities and

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injustices that sprang up with social progress. Six races emerged, to which a seventh race, directly descended from the primordial egg of heaven, was added. Seven ages of human development

culminated in the emergence of the first heavenly king. The first five periods were characterized by the appearance of various classes of lesser deities, and the sixth was marked by the rule of the twelve minor kings. These chieftains were not strong enough, individually or collectively, to rule Tibet and to protect it from the great powers at the four cardinal points – China, India, Iran and Gesar – but they were wise enough to discern the need for a mighty ruler.

Having come together and worshipped the holy mountain, the twelve kings sent messengers up the mountain to heaven to petition for a single monarch. According to ancient scrolls found in the Tun-huang caves, ʺThe divine king of Great Tibet, of magical power, came from the gods as ruler of manʺ, and the seventh age began.

This line of seven divine kings ruled the earth by day but returned to their natural abodes at night by ascending the dmu, a rope whose name means ʹskyʹ. When the first kingʹs son reached the age of thirteen, the kingʹs body dissolved into the dmu and the rope returned to heaven. Each successor followed the same practice, and so there are no tombs for the divine kings save for the dmu tombs, the celestial vault. Trigum, the last king in the line, was an exception, however. Though still of celestial origin, he had an arrogant personality and he once challenged all comers to a duel in magic. Only one man dared to accept the challenge, and in their ferocious contest first near Mount Kailas and, later, renewed southwest of Lhasa, the king accidentally severed his dmu. The rope rose to heaven and Trigum became the first king to leave a corpse.

Though one of his sons, Rula‐kye, later overthrew the challenger and ascended the throne, the line of divine kings had come to an end.

Rula‐kye built mountain fortresses, baled hay, introduced

charcoal and the smelting of metals, and taught the people to make ploughs and yokes. For the first time, Tibetans had ploughed fields

128 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II and built bridges over otherwise impassable waterways and a system of channels for irrigation. According to tradition, the Bon religion in its pure form entered Tibet at this time from Iran, or from Gilgit or Gurnawatra (northwest India). The art of religious story‐telling and that of singing genealogies and riddles also appeared during this period. Rapid social and agricultural progress initiated by Rula‐kye continued under the six human kings of the Lek dynasty, but the eight kings of the succeeding De dynasty focussed their attention upon the development of law and the political order. With the death of the last De king, the queens of Tibetan monarchs ceased to be incarnate goddesses, and the subsequent kings of the Tsen dynasty married among their subjects, at once diluting and sharing the divine inheritance. When the fifth and last Tsan king ascended the throne, a casket descended from heaven containing two Buddhist sutras and a golden stupa. Though no one could read the sacred texts, they were preserved and revered as the ʺMysterious Helperʺ, and the king was vouchsafed a prophecy that during the fifth reign after his, the meaning of the heavenly casket would be known.

The fifth king of the prophecy was the great Songtsen Gampo, who gave Tibet a firm and unified political structure and accepted the Buddhadharma. Born about A.D. 569, he ascended the throne at age thirteen. Establishing legal codes throughout Tibet, he subjugated the petty chieftains and formed a single army of a hundred thousand men. He brought water mills, silkworms and mulberry trees, paper and ink, from China and adapted the Chinese calendar, but he turned to India for a system of writing. Marrying a Nepalese princess, he accepted her Buddhist faith and built temples in Lhasa for the images she brought to Tibet of Akshobhya, Maitreya and Tara, and the image of Akshobhya survives into the present. Songtsen Gampo also married a Chinese princess who was

a Buddhist, and she brought an image of Gautama Buddha,

originally made in Magadha, and a temple was built for it. He built the first structures of the Potala in Lhasa and founded a number of monasteries which were not successful. His stunning invasion of India and China made Tibet an Asian power that could not be

SHANTARAKSHITA 129

ignored. Diplomats and soldiers came to Lhasa, trade flourished, China and Nepal paid annual tribute to the king, and some sacred

texts were translated into Tibetan. Within two or three decades Tibet became a literate nation, a military power and nominally a Buddhist country. When Songtsen Gampo died in 650, Tibetans had

already come to believe that he was an incarnation of

Avalokiteshvara. His Nepalese wife was recognized as the green Tara, whilst the Chinese princess was seen to be the white Tara (Kwan‐Yin).

Though Buddhist thought and practice waned and fell into

degradation after the death of Songtsen Gampo, traditions hint at a much older stream of Bodhi Dharma, the secret Wisdom Religion, that had abided in the Himalayas and the Gobi Desert from the beginning of manʹs spiritual awakening. Perhaps this is why the most arcane teachings of Gautama Buddha rooted themselves in Tibet when the Good Law came there. For the time being, however,

a succession of rulers had to fight just to preserve the integrity of Tibet against Chinese incursions, North Indian revolts and internecine disputes. In 742 a Chinese wife of the reigning king gave birth to Trhisong Detsen, who ascended the throne in 755.

Tibetʹs dwindling fortunes were now reversed. The Pala kings of Bengal became tributaries of Tibet, and Trhisong Detsen extended his borders to the Ganges, where he set up an iron column to mark his frontier. He invaded China and even enthroned a new emperor

who ruled briefly, and he generally secured Tibet against the outside world. Then he turned his attention to Buddhaʹs teachings and decided to adopt the religion and make it the religion of his country. His lifelong labours for Buddhaʹs teaching led to his being recognized as an incarnation of Manjushri, Bodhisattva of wisdom.

Trhisong Detsen knew that Bon priests opposed most aspects of

the Buddhist tradition, and so he did not attempt to force acceptance upon the people. Quietly, he sent emissaries to Nalanda to seek help. Tibetan tradition holds that at that time Shantarakshita was Upadhyaya of the great university and monastic community, though he was met by the Tibetans in Nepal. Shantarakshita may

130 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II have been born in Bengal, the son of a king of Zahor, and though nothing is known of his early life, he was an ordained monk who combined a remarkably logical mind with a deep understanding of

tantric magical practices. He had written the Tattvasamgraha, a sweeping analysis from the Yogachara standpoint of every known Buddhist and non‐Buddhist philosophical tenet. The Tibetan

emissaries who interviewed him were deeply impressed by his intelligence, erudition, energy and will. Lengthy discussions followed in which Shantarakshita came to a full understanding of the possibilities and limitations of working in Tibet. Despite his immense learning and renowned skill in dialectical disputations, he was determined to explain the fundamentals of Buddhaʹs teachings

to Tibetans. Trhisong Detsenʹs ministers, however, were sharply divided over the importation of Buddhist doctrines. Some strongly supported the king, whilst others backed the Bon resistance to any change in Tibetan culture. Shantarakshita patiently waited in Nepal until the balance of opinion shifted to the kingʹs party, and only then he made the arduous journey to Lhasa in response to a royal

invitation.

Shantarakshita, who is called in Tibet Shiba‐ʹtsho, Shantijiva and, simply, Bodhisattva, was warmly received in Lhasa. The king, however, wished to be assured that his choice had been wise before supporting the monkʹs proposed programmes. He knew that the monks surviving from Songtsen Gampoʹs time were lax in respect to practices and austerities and often shockingly dissolute. He did not want to infect Tibet with another of that breed. The deputies sent to interview Shantarakshita did not understand his language and considerable consternation resulted. Eventually, Ananta of Kashmir offered his services as interpreter, and soon the deputies could report that Shantarakshita ʺwas virtuous and had no obscene thoughtsʺ. He was invited to the palace and received by the king.

According to one Tibetan historian, when Shantarakshita was asked about his doctrine, he replied:

SHANTARAKSHITA 131

My doctrine is to follow whatever proves correct

under examination by reason, and to shun all that does

not agree with reason.

The king was convinced of the soundness of his decision by Shantarakshitaʹs keen mind and impeccable moral conduct. He gave him freedom to preach and to teach in Tibet and offered to support any undertaking the monk might advise.

Perhaps more than the remarkable work Shantarakshita was

about to undertake, the stupendous testament to his character might be the change in approach he initiated in his own consciousness. The most brilliant dialectician of his day, he realized that the recondite disputations of which he was the unchallenged master were utterly meaningless to a people who had hardly heard

of the Enlightened One and who had discovered the written word

barely a century before. He laid aside all his sophisticated learning and undertook basic education in Buddhadharma. With the help of the interpreter Ananta, he spent four months teaching Trhisong Detsen and his court. Beginning with the Four Noble Truths –

suffering, its cause, its cessation and the Noble Eightfold Path – he proceeded to explain the six and ten virtues, from dana to the highest attainment of the Bodhisattva. He taught the king about the eighteen states of corporeal existence and expounded the eight fundamental prohibitions.

Then Shantarakshita turned to the twelve nidanas which form the links in the circular chain of conditioned existence. Sentience leads to consciousness (vijnana), and consciousness gives rise to name and form (namarupa). Namarupa in turn produces contact (sparsa), and this in turn leads to emotion (vedana). Feelings arouse thirst or desire (trishna), which produces attachment and revulsion (upadana). The ceaselessly changing tension between attraction and repulsion initiates the condition of existence (bhava), and this makes necessary birth (jati). Birth is the ultimate cause of death, since whatever comes into being must necessarily perish. From old age and death, the inevitable end of all embodied existence, come grief, lamentation, pain, depression and misery. Thus, Shantarakshita

132 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II taught, the endless chain can be broken only through Buddhaʹs way of Enlightenment. This was the justification of Buddhist practices from meditation and morality to the austere life of the monk.

For the first time, the basic message of Gautama Buddha was taught in Tibet, and the Bon priests felt directly threatened by Buddhaʹs doctrine. In particular, the code of conduct expounded by Shantarakshita came into uncompromising conflict with some Bon practices. Besides bringing considerable political pressure to bear on the king, the Bon priests employed their formidable magical powers. In the words of Bu‐ston, they ʺbrought the malignant deities of Tibet into a fury. Phan‐than was carried away by a flood, lightning struck Mar‐po‐ri, and diseases fell upon men and cattle.ʺ

Soon the people, cunningly guided by the Bon priests, cried out against Shantarakshita, and the kingʹs ministers urged Trhisong Detsen to expel him. When the king discussed the deteriorating situation with Shantarakshita, he expressed concern for the monkʹs safety. Though he was loath to give up his effort to make Tibet a Buddhist country, he thought it wise to send Shantarakshita away.

Shantarakshita saw no value in imposing the Buddhadharma on Tibetans through force, but he devised a plan to preserve and expand the gains already made. He left Tibet for Nepal, and upon

his suggestion Trhisong Detsen invited the great tantrist

Padmasambhava to Tibet.

Padmasambhava accepted the invitation, understood the

situation in Tibet, and engaged in magical combat with the aroused demons. His victories over Bon machinations were softened by his

skill in absorbing some Bon traditions into the framework of Buddhist thought and practice. The custom of giving a place to the Bon chief priest in the Dalai Lamaʹs governing council may ultimately date back to Padmasambhavaʹs work. Before long

Shantarakshita was able to return in safety to Tibet. Together he and Padmasambhava established the great Samye monastery some

thirty miles southeast of Lhasa. Taking the then modern monastery of Odantapuri as a model, they constructed a number of buildings

before any monks were chosen. Bu‐ston wrote that Shantarakshita

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ʺmade a plan containing the forms of Mount Sumeru, the twelve continents, both the sun and the moon, and these surrounded by a

circumference of ironʺ.

Samye was built about 787; its upper portions were constructed in Chinese style, its middle in Indian style and its foundations in the Tibetan manner. Named ʺthe academy for obtaining the heap of

unchanging meditationʺ, Samye became the repository of many Indian texts brought by Shantarakshita, and a number of them survive today. Though Padmasambhava left shortly after Samye was built, Shantarakshita remained for thirteen years and made it into the first full‐fledged monastery in Tibet, complete with provisions for resident monks and for teaching and training. Samye naturally became the first important centre for Buddhist learning in Tibet, and it served as a platform from which to promulgate the Good Law across the land.

In the few years left to him, Shantarakshita initiated two lines of work which profoundly affected the subsequent history of Tibet.

On the one hand, he trained a group of scholar‐monks who could translate Buddhist sutras into Tibetan. At the same time, he persuaded a number of Indian Buddhists to come to Tibet and join

in their labour. Difficult as it is to imagine under the adverse circumstances of the time, within a few years Shantarakshita had overseen the translation of most of the over forty‐five hundred texts which came to constitute the Tibetan canon, the Kangyur and the Tengyur, the scriptures and the commentaries. On the other hand, Shantarakshita took twelve novices and tested them thoroughly, choosing from them seven for ordination. These revered ʺseven selected onesʺ became the core and foundation of Tibetan

monasticism. Though there had been ascetics among the adherents

of the Bon tradition and even Buddhist monks of a kind, Shantarakshita saw to it that his disciples followed the proper vinaya rules.

Shortly before he died Shantarakshita foresaw a gradually

developing conflict within the ranks of the Tibetan monks.

Knowing that their disagreements would eventually centre on the

134 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II nature of the path to Enlightenment and therefore upon the validity of the disciplines he had established, Shantarakshita prophesied that his own Indian disciple, Kamalashila, would come from across the Himalayas and settle the dispute before the king himself.

Though he was still healthy, his immense self‐sacrifice in the cause of the Buddhadharma in Tibet was finished. He had renounced an ascetic but comfortable existence at Nalanda, where many disciples could appreciate his exceptional intellectual gifts, and like Buddha among the masses, had come to an alien land to raise the edifice of the doctrine and discipline from the beginning. Despite adversity and danger to himself, he had accomplished his chosen mission in a few years, and suddenly one day he was accidentally kicked by a horse and died.

Kamalashila came to Tibet on the invitation of the king and in fulfilment of his teacherʹs prediction. Even though Chinese Buddhists had supported Trhisong Detsenʹs attempts to bring Shantarakshita to Tibet, they inclined to a lackadaisical view of monastic discipline and angrily resented the monks who followed Shantarakshita. When Kamalashila challenged them to debate, the king himself chose to preside over it. The Chinese monks argued that all action produces karma and that it is better to do nothing rather than perform good deeds. By abstaining from all deliberate action, Enlightenment is at once assured. Kamalashila replied that discursive wisdom is essential to meditation, the source of prajnaparamita or transcendent wisdom. Studied inaction is a denial of discriminative wisdom, and without it, meditation is little more than a swoon. Without real meditation and the ethical disciplines that support it, Enlightenment is impossible. Having stated his view, the king and chief ministers ruled decisively in favour of Kamalashilaʹs standpoint, and Shantarakshitaʹs teaching became the official doctrine of the Buddhist tradition in Tibet.

There is a stupa in Nepal associated with the central figures in Shantarakshitaʹs life. It is called Bya‐rung‐kha‐shor, which means, ʺItʹs all right to do it, he said.ʺ Legend says that once Avalokiteshvara wept at the sight of the uncounted multitudes

SHANTARAKSHITA 135

floundering in the ocean of Samsara. He dedicated his tears to the service of humanity. Two of them became daughters of Indra, but one fell out of heaven and was reborn as the daughter of a chicken-keeper in Nepal. Eventually she had four sons, all of whom became moderately prosperous, and late in life she determined to build a shrine. Since she was a humble keeper of chickens, she sought the kingʹs approval and he readily gave it, saying, ʺItʹs all right to do it.ʺ

She and her sons began to build the stupa but she died before it was complete. Following her wish, the four sons finished her stupa and placed the relics of the former Buddha Kasyapa in it. Owing to their fidelity to their vows, they were reborn together. One became Trhisong Detsen, another was born as Shantarakshita, the third as Padmasambhava and the fourth as Trhi‐shʹer of Ba, who took charge of Shantarakshitaʹs translation program. Thus was mankind, and Tibetans in particular, served by a tear shed from the divine eye of Avalokiteshvara.

Hermes, January 1986

Elton Hall

PADMASAMBHAVA

Some people believe that I revealed myself upon the pollen heart of a lotus in the Dhanakosha Lake in Uddiyana, and some believe that I was born a prince there. Others believe that I came in the flash of a thunderbolt to the Namchak hilltop. Many are the beliefs of different people, for I have appeared in many forms. Twenty‐four years after the Parinirvana of Buddha Shakyamuni, Amitabha, the Adi‐Buddha of Boundless Light. conceived of bodhichitta, the thought of Enlightenment, in the form of Mahakaruna, and from the heart of Mahakaruna, I, Padmasambhava, the Lotus‐Born Guru, was

emanated as the syllable Hri. I came like falling rain throughout the world in innumerable forms to those who were ready to receive me.

The actions of the Enlightened Ones are incomprehensible. Who is to define or measure them?

Terma of Yeshe Tsogyal

Life of Padmasambhava

When Shantarakshita went to Tibet, he soon realized that

resistance to the Teachings of Buddha was strong. The metaphysical and psychological content of Buddhadharma was of little concern to the indigenous religion, but the prospect of an association of self-disciplined individuals bound by vows and their allegiance to a spiritual preceptor promised to initiate a powerful new social and political force in Tibet. The Bon priests and ministers made common cause in two directions against Shantarakshitaʹs plan to construct Samye Monastery. The ministers argued against the alteration of tradition and the introduction of a new political entity in Tibet, and the priests employed their skill in magic to create diverse ominous omens which they claimed showed the

unhappiness of local gods and spirits with Shantarakshitaʹs presence. Trhisong Detsen was not an absolute monarch, and when

he felt compelled to forestall his plans to establish the Buddhist

PADMASAMBHAVA 137

tradition in Tibet, Shantarakshita proposed that he himself withdraw and that Padmasambhava be invited to Lhasa.

The myriad classes of elementals and Nature spirits were well known to the Tibetan people. Bon priests had learnt the modes of magic used to manipulate them, whilst keeping secret the means for doing so, and many of the people had become superstitious about

the potencies of the gods and demons and of the priests who could propitiate and pacify them. Shantarakshita decided that an individual who was accomplished in magic as well as in Buddhist

doctrine and ascetic discipline would have to confront Bon resistance on its own ground, and Padmasambhava excelled in all three.

Padmasambhavaʹs life is immersed in a medley of elaborate legends, and little is known of the historical individual outside them. He was not a composer of doctrinal texts or commentaries, and his remarkable feats in subduing the deities of Tibet were celebrated in tales which grew richer with repetition. The repression of Buddhadharma and the monasteries under King Lang Darma and also the disintegration of a unified Tibet into numerous chiefdoms together destroyed most historical records. The lives and activities of early Buddhist teachers survive in terma, documents said to have been hidden away and discovered centuries later by tertons or treasure finders, often monks who came upon hidden manuscripts, compiled old records, or wrote what they learnt from deep meditation upon and union with a mandala devoted to a teacher. Termas expounding the life of Padmasambhava – or Guru Pema, as he was sometimes called – abound, for the ʹold schoolʹ

reveres him as the second Buddha. These revealed accounts are namtars, life stories told in ways which aid disciples on the path to emancipation, and they do not claim to be literal.

According to several stories, Padmasambhava, the Lotus‐Born, was the son of King Indrabhuti of Uddiyana and husband of Mandarava, Shantarakshitaʹs sister. It is said that Amitabha, Lord of Boundless Light, sent a manifestation of himself in the form of a red ray of light flashing like lightning into the sacred lake of Uddiyana.

138 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II There King Indrabhuti discovered a great white lotus open to the morning sun, and on its petals sat a handsome boy eight years old, luminous like a god and holding a sceptre. Hence he was called Lotus‐Born. He evinced wondrous powers as he grew up, but he renounced the throne of Uddiyana for a life of meditation. When he accepted the invitation to travel to Lhasa, only Mandarava of his many wives chose to journey with him. Other stories say that he was born in Zahor, where Shantarakshita was the son of the king.

Whilst the location of these kingdoms is a matter of scholarly disagreement, many place them in Bengal, seat of early tantric practices. Uddiyana was renowned for its magicians and Zahor was

a centre of Buddhist tantra, and all sources agree that

Padmasambhava excelled in both magic and tantra.

In Tibet the tension between Hinayana and Mahayana forms of Buddhaʹs Teachings was resolved by invoking a hierarchical understanding of their relationship. Hinayana doctrine and practice is suitable for all aspirants and leads the individual who follows it faithfully to individual Enlightenment. In this sense it is the path of the Pratyeka Buddha, who achieves emancipation for himself. The

Mahayana is the path of the Bodhisattva, who wants Enlightenment

only for the sake of helping all beings and who renounces the fruit of emancipation in order to work in the world for the redemption of humanity. To these is added Vajrayana (the diamond vehicle) or Mantrayana (the mantra vehicle), which is the secret way to highest Truth and ever remains secret to one whose mind has not become

that Truth itself. The Shriguhyagarbhamahatantraraja teaches: ʺThe dharma which is the utmost secret is the intrinsic secret behind manifold manifestation, utterly secret through self‐existence, than which there is nothing more secret.ʺ Since absolute Truth is sui generis, consciousness must necessarily transcend all habitual, discriminative and differentiated modes of activity to behold it.

Wisdom, jnana, is incognizable and yet is hidden within the stream of consciousness. It is the source of every good quality, but just as light radiating from the sun veils the orb which is its source, so too the qualities pouring forth from the fount of jnana hide their point of origin.

PADMASAMBHAVA 139

Put in another way, Hinayana constitutes the public teachings of

Buddha, Mahayana consists of his instructions to pledged disciples, and Vajrayana is the discipline he taught as guru to those who had fully prepared themselves for the undertaking. Precisely because Vajrayana is potent and involves the totality of an individualʹs life and being, it is dangerous. Like a ship crossing a stormy sea, where the slightest divergence from its plotted course will cause it to perish on the rocks rather than enter the calm harbour, Vajrayana requires total self‐mastery and precision in thought, feeling and act.

The possibilities for abuse through misunderstanding and desire for personal glorification and the chances of terrible spiritual and psychological damage are so great that Tsong‐Kha‐Pa in the fourteenth century based his sweeping Buddhist reform on the principle that one had to master Mahayana before entering into Vajrayana. His reformed order, the Gelukpa or Yellow Hat school,

is the tradition of the Dalai Lamas, and though the ʹold ordersʹ, and especially the Nyingma, did not accept the reform, they nonetheless quietly assimilated many of its elements. Even in modern times, H.P. Blavatsky found it necessary to warn against attempting tantric practices, for anyone who cannot ʺslay the lunar form at willʺ would be subject to misunderstanding from the start, and if persistent, would end in perversion and even soul destruction.

Since the incognizable Truth can only be alluded to, one has to be wholly detached in regard to the colourful and creative, violent and erotic, imagery used in Vajrayana to point to the depths of the mystery of being and becoming. Vajrayana is never taught in books, save in code language; its meaning is imparted by guru to chela, tailored to the nature and needs of the consciousness of the disciple.

Vajrayana deals with the fusion of prajna and upaya, insight and means, doctrine and discipline. According to the Kangyur this confluence of meditation and action occurs on four levels. The first deals with disciples still attached to and involved with outer action, including ritual and magnetic purification. This is Kriya Tantra and is represented by laughing deities. Carya Tantra is for those who enjoy outer and inner action in equal measure, and it is represented by gazing deities. Intertwined deities represent Yoga Tantra, used

140 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II by those accomplished in meditation to overcome their attachment

to the life of the mind. Anuttara Tantra is for those wholly absorbed in inner yoga and who delight in it, and it is depicted by deities in complete embrace. Tsong‐Kha‐Pa found it necessary to remind monks that the imagery corresponds to transcendent psychological

and inexpressible metaphysical states and not to entities, just as the occult physiology of the human form does not refer to physical anatomy and physiology. In the subtle vestures are to be found three nadis or channels, rasana, avadhuti and lalana, corresponding to the Hindu pingala, sushumna and ida, to the right, middle and left of the spinal column. Along the central channel are chakras, or centres of force and energy, which correspond to states of consciousness.

According to Tsong‐Kha‐Pa, the waking consciousness finds mind in the navel, the nirmana centre which the Hindus know as manipura. In dreams consciousness rises to the neck, the sambhoga centre, called by the Hindus vishuddha. In dreamless deep sleep the mind abides in the heart, or dharma centre, known in the Upanishads as the anahata. When all the polarities are united in consciousness, it rises to the mahasukha (ajna) centre in the head. Total control of consciousness within the subtle vestures prepares the disciple for the transfer of the guru ʹ s wisdom‐light in initiation.

No one knows the levels of prajna or kinds of upaya Padmasambhava found it appropriate to teach, but all the stories of his life extol his unequalled attainments as a yogin and a siddha who had mastered the supranormal faculties. He was informed by Shantarakshita of the resistance to the Buddhadharma in Tibet, and he entered the country with a plan to face the Bon priests as their superior by their own criteria and yet to win their allegiance by making them protectors of the Teaching. When Padmasambhava entered Tibet, he did not go straight to Lhasa, but rather roamed the plateaus and valleys in search of local spirits and deities. In a terma ascribed to Yeshe Tsogyal, Padmasambhava recounted the story of

his life and listed the demons he faced:

On the banks of the Nyimakhud Lake in Tibet, I subdued the cruel mountain gods and barbaric cannibal spirits: all these were

PADMASAMBHAVA 141

bound under oath to the Dharma. On the Khala Pass I subdued the twelve guardian protectresses of the White Mountain. . . . I subdued all the lords of the earth of the northern regions. In Tsang I subdued the pestilential spirits of Oyug: all these were bound under oath to the Dharma.

The elaborate Padma Ka ʹ i Thang (Life and Liberation of Padmasambhava), a terma also ascribed to Yeshe Tsogyal, explained how Padmasambhava managed to win over his invisible and

visible antagonists by making them responsible for the safety of the Teaching:

In the autumn, Padma came to the castle of Mang Yul. A demoness of the region of Zhang Zhung, Jamun the eminent enemy, thought she could crush the guru between two stone mountains. But he rose up in the sky, and the humiliated demoness offered the heart of her life. As her secret name was Debt of Turquoises and Diamonds, the guru gave her a great treasure to watch over.

In regard to all the entities Padmasambhava encountered,

including priests, magicians, sorcerers and shamans, he first subdued them by evading their traps and snares and then by offering them something precious to protect. Each treasure was symbolically illustrative of an aspect of the Buddhadharma. He also altered the meaning of signs and omens:

On Mount Kailas, I bound the Stellar Forces of the Lunar Mansions, and on Targo I brought the dark Planetary Forces under the control of Dharma.

When Padmasambhava eventually met King Trhisong Detsen, he

did not mince words:

I am the Buddha who is Lotus‐Born, possessing the precepts of

highest insight. Skilled in the fundamental Teachings of Sutra and Tantra, I elucidate the Buddhist Ways without confusion.

142 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II I am the Dharma which is Lotus‐Born, possessing the precepts

of progressive practice. Outwardly I don the saffron robes of a monk; inwardly I am the highest of Vajrayana yogins.

I am the Order which is Lotus‐Born, possessing the precepts which unite insight and practice. My knowledge is higher than the heavens.

Soon Padmasambhava exorcised the site of Samye Monastery,

and Shantarakshita was recalled from his voluntary retreat in Nepal to oversee its construction and consecration. Once novices were trained and monks ordained, Shantarakshitaʹs stupendous

translation programme began. Bon ministers of the king still resisted the work of Shantarakshita and Padmasambhava, but the priests gradually adopted a different mode. They built their own monastery, and the sagely among them adapted various Buddhist tenets and practices to the Bon religion. Thus Reformed Bon emerged and eventually became deeply involved with Nyingma or

ʹold schoolʹ traditions. Tsepong Ze, one of the kingʹs wives, attempted to undermine Buddhist efforts by destroying the

translation programme. Though she could not easily attack the Indian and Chinese translators, she managed to force some of the Tibetans into exile. Accusing Vairotsana of rape, a charge the king did not believe, she forced him into banishment, though he remains to this day one of the most revered of the first monks of Samye. She exiled Namkhai Nyingpo, but he went to Bhutan and became famous for spreading the Buddhadharma there. Tsepong Zeʹs worst fury, however, was reserved for Padmasambhava and his disciples.

Padmasambhava was exiled to Turkhara in Turkestan for seven years, and when he returned, his opponents waited for some pretext on which to force him to leave Tibet again.

Even though some ministers sought the downfall of

Padmasambhava, King Trhisong Detsen was drawn into his circle of intimate disciples. When he asked to be initiated into Vajrayana,

PADMASAMBHAVA 143

Padmasambhava placed him on a yearʹs probation, and the king took the time to devise the gift he would give his guru. Yeshe Tsogyal was born a princess of Kharchen, and while still young she married Trhisong Detsen. She had been drawn to the Buddhadharma and to the teachings of Padmasambhava, and when the time came

for the kingʹs initiation, she willingly allowed herself to be given to her teacher. Offering a princess and wife of a king as a disciple and companion to a wandering ascetic violated the social traditions of the time. Tsepong Ze and the Bon ministers were incensed, and many others were scandalized and remained silent when there was

a clamour for Padmasambhavaʹs exile. Fearing that both his guru and Yeshe Tsogyal might be murdered, the king acceded to the demand for banishment, but instead of sending them to the distant regions decreed as their places of separate exile, he saw to it that they secretly retired to Tidro to meditate.

Guru and disciple remained together in Tidro for a number of years. According to the termas, including The Secret life and Songs of the Tibetan Lady Yeshe Tsogyal, the princess excelled in meditation and successfully passed through a number of initiations. She became one in consciousness with Padmasambhava and was

eventually sent by him to Nepal, where she visited the ancient E

Vihara. Though long gone, this monastic community is believed to

have existed on the site of the Kashthamandapa temple in Katmandu. Shaivite yogins resided there from the twelfth century until recently, but a small group of tantrikas still perform ancient Buddhist rites there. Nearby is the cave where Padmasambhava is

said to have attained Enlightenment before his sojourn in Tibet, and the area is as sacred as Bodh Gaya to Nyingma monks. When Yeshe

Tsogyal returned to Tidro, she brought disciples with her.

Events after this retreat are confused. The king recalled Padmasambhava and his disciples to Lhasa. For a time religious and social peace was restored to the kingdom, and Trhisong Detsen

144 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II felt confident enough to disperse trained monks throughout Tibet.

The wise Drenpa Namkha Wongchuk was invited to Samye, and he

provided a bridge between Buddhist and Bon standpoints, since he

knew and practised both. When Kamalashila, Shantarakshitaʹs disciple, led the great Samye debate between Chinese and Indian perspectives, the Indian modes were secured for Tibet. Trhisong Detsen, however, was careful to see that the retiring Chinese monks were treated with reverence and honour. It is said that Yeshe Tsogyal played an important role in resolving the debate. When Trhisong Detsen died, court intrigue threatened to destroy the unity of Tibet. Tsepong Ze poisoned her own son, Mune Tsenpo, shortly

after he ascended the throne, in part because his Buddhist beliefs led him to propose a programme of land redistribution. His brother was crowned as Mutik Tsenpo and ruled for a decade. Though Yeshe Tsogyal stopped the internecine war and persuaded the ministers to renounce schism, Tsepong Ze exiled her.

Padmasambhava decided his work was completed in Tibet and announced his intention to travel south, where he disappeared from history and remains a mystery in long‐standing tradition.

Shantarakshita died and Kamalashila became the second abbot of Samye. When King Repachan ascended the throne, Yeshe Tsogyal returned to pay homage to Shantarakshitaʹs chorten at Samye and died shortly afterwards. Repachan revered her memory and

declared her parinirvana in about AD. 817.

The termas tell of Padmasambhavaʹs departure. The king and many disciples followed him to the top of a great pass. There he took his leave and rose into the sky, speeding southward and leaving a rainbow trail in the sky. Then they sat in meditation and ʺthey saw him like a ray of the sun, passing beyond India without touching upon Uddiyana; they saw him reach the top of Mount Jambuza and alight. . . . Near the Fire City, he sat in the cool shade

PADMASAMBHAVA 145

of a celestial magnolia tree.ʺ Yeshe Tsogyal spoke for all of the disciples when she lamented.

Alas! The Precious One of Uddiyana,

The luminous circle of the sun which gave us light has gone.

The crystal moon which relieved suffering has disappeared.

The stem of the poison‐curing plant has gone dry.

The father has withdrawn his impartial mercy.

The friend who saved us from the ocean of Samsara has taken leave.

The flame of the torch dispelling the night of ignorance is

extinguished. . . .

Broken is the calyx of power of the one who cultivated those ready to become pure vessels.

Departed is the Lotus‐Born, adept in all methods.

The Lama who revealed his soul in pure essence has gone.

The Lama adorned with the three vows has departed. . . .

Since the virtues of the guru are ineffable,

May future beings revere the image of Padmasambhava.

Hermes, February 1986

Elton Hall

ATISHA

One who neglects the branches of tranquillity

(shamatha),

Even though he struggles mightily to meditate

For millennium upon millennium,

Never will attain concentration (samadhi).

When the tranquillity of yogins is attained,

So too are the transcendental faculties (abhijna).

Nonetheless obscuration is not destroyed

Without the perfection of insight (prajnaparamita).

Sacred texts teach that bondage arises when

Insight (prajna) is severed from means (upaya),

And means is cut off from insight as well.

Therefore, never neglect this union.

Atisha

Bodhipathapradipa

Repachan, the grandson of Trhisong Detsen, was the last

Buddhist king of Tibet. His devotion to Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha is alluded to under his informal name, which refers to the matted locks (re‐pa) of ascetics. Like Ashoka a thousand years before him, Repachan developed a foreign policy centered upon peace. Having defeated the Chinese in a lengthy battle, he drew up a permanent peace treaty which invoked as protectors the Three Jewels, the host of arhats, the sun, moon, planets and stars. Earlier, peace had been made with the great caliphate to the west, and both treaties held firm until the fall of the monarchy. At the same time, Repachan inaugurated a revision of the Tibetan translations of Sanskrit texts. Since the original translators had devised a technical Tibetan vocabulary to accommodate the subtleties of Sanskrit, even literate Tibetans could read the sutras only with great difficulty.

ATISHA 147

Repachan commissioned translations which were both accurate and

in ordinary language, and it is said that he was responsible for half the texts in the Kangyur and Tengyur, the vast Buddhist canon in Tibet.

Though Buddhadharma spread across Tibet during the reign of Repachan, and though he was sufficiently popular and powerful to

keep opposition out of his councils, the aristocracy saw its independence threatened. Those who were not followers of Buddha

by conviction joined forces with the Bon priesthood, and eventually they found in the kingʹs younger brother someone whom they could use for their own ends. Sometime around A.D. 840 Repachan,

already considered by many to be the incarnation of Vajrapani, was assassinated. His queen, whose honour was mercilessly slandered,

committed suicide, and his son, already a monk, was banished.

Then the throne was taken by Lang Darma, who was sympathetic to Bon.

Though allied with an aristocracy which saw in the rise of monks

and monasteries the diminution of its own wealth and power, Lang

Darma seems to have been a passive supporter of the anti‐Buddhist movement during the first years of his rule. Buddhist nobles and monks could not exonerate him from the persecution they

experienced, and after a few years they managed to depose him.

Returning to the throne a year later, Lang Darma launched a violent retaliatory offensive. Monks were dispersed, translators killed or banished, shrines attacked and the Buddhist aristocracy routed.

Though he ruled for only a year after the persecution began, he managed to destroy the structure of the Tibetan Sangha. Ironically, the disruptions caused by this forceful reassertion of Bon produced exactly those results which the Bon priests had prophesied if Buddhadharma were allowed in Tibet. When Lang Darma died, the monarchy collapsed along with Tibetan unity. Descendants of the royal line and petty chieftains seized territories for themselves, imperial territories revolted, and China looked again to the possibility of conquering Tibet. Only those rulers who migrated to Western Tibet near Mount Kailas remained faithful to the Teachings

148 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II of Buddha. But until King Khorre of Ngari abdicated in favour of his brother and took the monkʹs robe as Lha Lama Yeshe , the Buddhist tradition in Tibet would not experience its first great renaissance. When Yeshe sought to purify and renew the Good Law

in Tibet, he discovered that Atisha alone possessed the training, dedication and energy to undertake the enormous task of reform and dissemination.

Atisha was born in 982 to King Kalyanashri and Queen

Shriprabha of Zahor in Bengal. Tibetan authorities hold that he was born in Vikramapura to the royal lineage which had produced Shantarakshita two centuries earlier. The middle of three sons, he was called Chandragarbha and enjoyed the duties and privileges of royalty. He received an education suitable to a prince, married five wives while still young and fathered nine children. One day he went hunting in a local forest and happened upon the ascetic Jetari.

When he showed him homage, the ascetic surprised him by

rebuking him for his pride. Rather than take offence, Atisha declared that he wished to renounce the world and become a disciple of Jetari. The ascetic recognized Atishaʹs potential but, instead of accepting him as a disciple, instructed him to go to Nalanda. By the tenth century the tantric tradition had so infused Indian Buddhist institutions that the preceptor who welcomed Atisha to Nalanda soon sent him to the Black Mountain for tantric initiation under Rahulagupta. Although the early portion of his life as a Buddhist is not well chronicled, it is evident that he rapidly became an enthusiastic initiate whose knowledge served him well in his later work. His skill in tantra did not weaken his mental agility, and after a few years he sought the metaphysical and spiritual knowledge without which such practices and rituals tended towards meaningless excesses and psychic delusion.

According to Tibetan historians, Atisha was associated with the four great monastic centres of his day. Having mastered the tantras at Uddiyana and finding them lacking, he became a novice at Nalanda and was eventually ordained under the name Dipamkara

at Odantapuri or Vajrasana (Bodh Gaya). Though he learnt both

ATISHA 149

Pali and Sanskrit Buddhist texts, mastered the Tripitaka and the sutras and studied under the best teachers of his time, he was dissatisfied with what he found. Some scriptures had already been lost, the tradition of study was waning and few individuals cared for anything but tantric practice. Indian Buddhist tradition had strayed so far from the pure Mahayana teachings that the few disciples who wanted them had to go elsewhere for instruction.

Like them Atisha turned to the Far East. At that time, the greatest Buddhist scholar was Dharmakirti, the namesake of the illustrious Indian logician, who resided in Suvarnadvipa (Sumatra). Many of the eminent Buddhist teachers of Atishaʹs time had studied under him, and Chinese monks travelling to India were advised to stay with him for two years, since they would learn Sanskrit more thoroughly there than they could hope to do in Buddhist India.

Atisha set out on the difficult journey to Suvarnadvipa, and it took him almost a year to arrive there. He was delighted to find that Dharmakirti was a brilliant exponent of the Mahayana, firmly rooted in the tradition of Nagarjuna, Maitreya and Chandrakirti.

During the twelve years he remained with Dharmakirti, Atisha mastered the abstruse and arcane doctrines of the Mahayana and cultivated a mature insight into the pure forms of practice and the Bodhisattva Path. Though he never rejected tantra, he discerned numerous ways in which its expressions had obscured

Buddhadharma, and he longed for a radical reform that looked improbable in India. He knew that Muslim incursions into his homeland, the decline of the monastic communities and the growing disinclination to meditate upon the sutras meant that the path of Buddha was disappearing in India. Nonetheless, despite the natural enticement to remain in the golden glow of Sumatra, he took leave of his beloved guru and returned to work in the monasteries as Dipamkara Shrijnana, renowned teacher and

scholar.

Atisha was over forty years of age when he returned to India.

Though he was entitled to retire with a few of his best disciples to a quiet life of teaching, he launched a programme of monastic

150 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II renewal. King Nayapala of Magadha invited Atisha to become high

priest of Vikramashila and he spent most of his time there. He wrote a philosophical treatise at Nalanda and assisted in administrative functions at Odantapuri and Somapuri. During the fifteen years he devoted to these activities, he became known as the greatest Indian monk and scholar of his time. The remarkable combination of dialectical and administrative skills with a synthesis of sutra and tantra gave him an authority far beyond that of the offices he held. He collected texts threatened with destruction, wrote commentaries, trained monks, established criteria for tantric practices and even expelled dubious monks and unregenerate tantrists. These activities brought Atisha to the attention of the devout King Yeshe .

Although Yeshe had abdicated in favour of his brother and had entered the Sangha, he remained the real ruler of Western Tibet.

Convinced that the pot‐pourri of Buddhist practices around him were impure and debased, he sent twenty‐one carefully selected young men to India to learn the pure doctrines. Yeshe did not know that Vajrayana had almost totally eclipsed Mahayana, and he was surprised when the two sole survivors of the mission returned with new tantric practices. Nonetheless, seeing that the new tantra was superior to the old forms, he supported the tremendous

reorganization launched by Rinchen Sangpo, one of the two survivors. After a number of years, however, Yeshe decided to seek out an Indian teacher who could promulgate the purest doctrines.

When he decided to invite Atisha to Tibet, the great scholar was around sixty years old, and Yeshe sought to amass a great quantity of gold with which to persuade Atisha to undertake the arduous journey into the Land of Snows. During one of Yesheʹs sojourns near Lake Manasasarova, he was captured by some dynastic

enemies and held for ransom. When his nephew offered to make the gold already collected available for this purpose, Yeshe refused and begged him to take the gold to Atisha instead. Atisha eventually heard of Yesheʹs self‐sacrifice, and he was so deeply moved that he renounced his natural reluctance to undertake a dangerous mission to Tibet. He agreed to go there for three years.

ATISHA 151

Atisha delayed his journey long enough to secure peace in the conflict between his friend King Nayapala and the Hindu King Karma. Both were permanently reconciled and became friends of Atisha. He dispersed the gold he was given among the monasteries

and made arrangements for their good management. Then, after a visit to Bodh Gaya, he set off for Tibet sometime around 1040. He spent about a year in Nepal and gradually made his way northwest

from Katmandu, past Annapurna and Dhaulagiri to Jumla. From there he made his way to the Karnali River and along it to Khocharnath and Taklakhar; then he turned north to Manasasarova

and followed the Sutlej River to Toling (ʹhigh flyingʹ) Monastery.

Despite the enormous hardships of the journey, Atisha remained cheerful and even optimistic, as if he felt himself entering upon his real work in life. It is said that Atisha so enjoyed his first cup of Tibetan tea that he declared, ʺSo excellent a beverage must have originated from the moral merits of the monks of Tibet.ʺ Tibetans still possess a poem he is alleged to have written in praise of tea.

Atisha was received with a joy and warmth that surprised him.

Though he found the rituals and practices of the western Tibetans degenerate, he discovered an unusual willingness to learn and an openness to reform which had been sadly absent in his homeland.

Only Rinchen Sangpo, who had brought the new tantra to Tibet and was now eighty‐five years old, was a little annoyed at Atishaʹs devaluation of tantra. Atisha visited him at his own residence at Toling and spontaneously composed an exquisite verse for each of

the deities represented in the shrine, and he taught Rinchen Sangpo the magic mirror of Vajrayana, in which all the tantras can be mystically synthesized in a single meditative practice. Rinchen Sangpo recognized that Atishaʹs proposed reforms were not based

on any prejudice against tantra, but rather represented a diamond-like penetration of its true essence in the light of the best teachings.

At once he became Atishaʹs devoted disciple and, despite his great age and seniority, threw himself into Atishaʹs projects of translation and instruction in the Mahayana.

152 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Amidst the hectic activity inaugurated at Toling and around Mount Kailas, Atisha found time to compose his seminal

Bodhipathapradipa (Lamp for the Path of Enlightenment), consisting of a quintessential presentation of the path to Enlightenment in sixty-eight eloquent verses and a detailed auto‐commentary filled with statements from Mahayana sutras and great Teachers. By weaving monastic practice and the Bodhisattva ideal into a seamless garment dyed with the pure colours of the exalted mystical Vajrayana, Atisha created the model for Tibetan spiritual literature.

These lam‐rim instructions or aids in the gradual steps on the Bodhisattva Path became the foundations of the Kadampa Order, which was organized by Atishaʹs chief Tibetan disciple and of which Atisha was the founder. When Tsong‐Kha‐Pa initiated his great reform, he based the ʹnew Kadampaʹ or Gelukpa Order on his

own vast lam‐rim teaching which repeatedly invoked Atishaʹs message. Kadampa means ʹinstructed by the wordʹ rather than by ritual and stresses the need for understanding and mental and moral purity in the unfoldment of spiritual potentials and powers in human beings.

Atisha began the Lamp with obeisance to the Buddhas, the Dharma and the Sangha. In the dedicatory verse of his

commentary, he paid homage to Tara (Kwan‐Yin) and Manjushri, Chakrasamvara (a tantric deity) and Lokeshvara (who is

Avalokiteshvara and Shiva), and to the gurus Maitreya, Asanga and Dharmakirti of Suvarnadvipa, as well as Manjughosha, Shantideva

and Bodhibhadra. ʺThe instruction I give hereʺ, Atisha wrote, ʺcame like drops of honey and nectar to me from the holy gurus Dharmakirti and Bodhibhadra . . . I am going to gather up those drops of individual guidance I received and follow what my gurus gave me and what the sutras and texts teach.ʺ Atisha divided all human beings into three distinct types. The inferior individual ʺseeks but the pleasure of Samsaraʺ and is therefore wholly egotistical. The mediocre individual renounces wrongdoing and is indifferent to pleasure, but is concerned with his own peace of mind. The superior individual ʺseeks a complete end to the entire suffering of others because their suffering belongs to his own

ATISHA 153

samtana, stream of consciousnessʺ. Since only the latter type possesses the purity of consciousness required to sustain an authentic aspiration for highest Enlightenment, Atisha addressed his instructions to superior individuals.

One makes aspiration practical through worship, which begins with images to which offerings can be made but soon passes into meditation. The first phase of meditative adoration is sevenfold, including homage, offering pleasing objects, admission of faults and wrongdoing, rejoicing in the virtues, desiring the Doctrine, seeking the blessing of Buddha, and offering whatever merit one has attained to others. The second phase of meditation ʺis contemplation with prajnaparamita, perfection of insight: there is no object of worship, no worshipper, no substances for worshipʺ.

Atisha repeated Buddhaʹs words in the Prajnaparamita Sutra: Whoever sees me as form or knows me as a voice, that person sees me falsely. He does not see me. The Buddhas are the Dharmakaya, the vesture of Truth, and those who are guided have studied that Truth. Yet its true nature is not to be seen, and no one can be conscious of it as an object.

When one nurtures a mind that does not turn back, the heart of

Enlightenment is reached, for that heart is the essence of Truth.

According to the Gaganaganja Sutra, ʺThe Heart of Enlightenment is Space; Enlightenment has the characteristic of Space.ʺ If one has taken refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha, one is prepared to engender the thought of love.

Because the thought of love

For all creatures is essential,

One looks upon the whole world,

Suffering in death, in transmigration,

And in rebirth in the triple evil destiny.

Beholding that suffering, one suffers,

And whosoever, to liberate the world

From the very cause of its sufferings,

154 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Must beget the thought of Enlightemnent

That is pledged never to turn back.

This pledge can be realized only if one follows the inner disciplines of the monk, which include self‐restraint, self-forgetfulness and service. But such discipline is possible only if one is willing to take vows which embody the possibility of progress towards perfection. When that is done, one is prepared for the Bodhisattva Vow.

One takes the Vow from a good guru

Who has the requisite characteristics.

One who knows the rites of the Vow,

And lives the Vow he has taken,

And in compassionate forbearance

Will impart it – he is the good guru.

If one is truly ready to take the Bodhisattva Vow, even if one cannot find a proper guru, one can take the vow in oneʹs heart, where the inner guru is always available to hear and to instruct the disciple. When one meditates upon the Bodhisattva Vow and the vast array of correlates it entails, one will nurture and perfect sambhara, virtue and knowledge, the equipment needed to attain Enlightenment.

When one is strong in self‐mastery, one‐pointedness of

consciousness and unconditional love, one can safely use the six abhijnas or transcendent faculties to speed oneʹs way towards Enlightenment. Divine sight, divine hearing, awareness of othersʹ

thoughts, remembrance of oneʹs previous lives, supernormal

powers, and overcoming all obscurations are valuable to the yogin who is faithful to the Bodhisattva Vow, but they are a menace to all others. Shamatha, calmness, must be cultivated, and it will allow one to develop all transcendent faculties save the last: to overcome obscurations, one must nurture prajnaparamita, the perfection of insight. Thus prajnaparamita must be fused with upaya, skilful means, which include dana, shila, kshanti, viraga, virya and dhyana.

ATISHA 155

Prajna, insight, is distinct because it recognizes shunyata, the voidness of all things.

Not to perceive some intrinsic nature

In any phenomena whatever

Is to contemplate its anatman.

The same is contemplation with prajna.

The world of change springs

From conceptual thought, its very nature;

The uttermost removal of such

Thought is the supreme nirvana.

Only when oneʹs feet are firmly set on the Path and one is well advanced in the union of virtue and knowledge, means and insight, can one practise the Mantrayana and Vajrayana. For that, however, one must be initiated by a guru who knows the initiations, and he will bestow his blessing and guidance only on one whose mental and moral nature is purified to the degree of ʺfalling snowʺ.

Towards the end of his third year in Tibet, Atisha made plans to

return to India. But a brief war on the Nepalese frontier prevented him from crossing over the border, and Atisha read the karmic indication that he should accept invitations he had received to visit other areas of Tibet. He journeyed to Lhasa and was pleased to find some followers of Buddha there. When he visited Samye

Monastery, founded by Shantarakshita and Padmasambhava, he

was delighted to find a few monks in residence, but he was amazed to discover Sanskrit sutras and Tibetan translations of texts which had been lost in India. Atisha realized that Tibet would continue to revere what it had received from Mother India long after the subcontinent had let these treasures perish. Altogether he spent eighteen years in Tibet, carrying his reforms across the entire land.

He died near Lhasa when he was well into his seventies, and the place of his death remains to this day a centre of pilgrimage. Atisha, whom the Tibetans also called Joborje, the Noble Lord, renowned in India, became the most illustrious of Indian teachers in Tibet. He is praised even as he taught others to invoke Buddha:

156 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II O Omniscient One, epitome of wisdom,

Purifier of the Wheel of Life,

I have no refuge in any Lord,

Except at your lotus feet.

O Hero of creatures! May the Mahaguru

Bestow his kindness upon me.

May that Holy One grant to me

The supreme thought of Enlightenment.

Hermes, March 1986

Elton Hall

MARPA

Fixated neither on Samsara nor Nirvana,

Free of both acceptance and rejection,

Not hoping for fruition from others,

With mind free of preoccupation and complexity,

Avoiding all of the four extremes,

Non‐meditation and non‐wandering,

Free from thought and speech,

Beyond any analogy whatsoever –

Through the kindness of the Guru, I realized these.

Since these realizations have dawned,

Mind and mentation have ceased,

And space and insight are inseparably one.

Faults and virtues neither increase nor decrease;

Bliss, shunyata and luminosity are unceasing.

Therefore Light arises beyond coming and going.

Marpa

Kagyü Gurtso

Viharas or monastic centres preserved the inextinguishable presence of Buddha and the vitality of the Dharma in India for fifteen centuries. They were also the bases from which Buddhaʹs teaching spread along royal highways to the northwest, across silk routes north and then east, and over sea lanes to Southeast Asia, China and Japan. The Sangha or Order was the community of committed disciples who had taken vows to practise and propagate

the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path through realization and service. Over the centuries the Order gradually formalized its monastic functions and emerged as the preserver and interpreter of the sacred texts. Lay disciples always had a place in the Buddhist tradition, however, as was shown by the enthusiastic welcome extended to Chandragomin at Nalanda by the great monk

158 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II and teacher, Chandrakirti. Nonetheless, the greatest monastic centres were not free of the vulnerabilities of religious and educational institutions, and they suffered from ossification of venerable practices and from scholastic aridity.

The rise of tantric systems first threatened the traditional relationship of monastic and lay communities by drawing lay disciples away from the broad umbrella of monastic influence. But in time the monastic community absorbed tantra and helped fashion it into Vajrayana, the diamond vehicle, for which it provided texts, techniques and commentaries. Though Vajrayana infused the viharas with new vigour, many individuals still found that the heavy hand of scholasticism impeded their efforts to realize Buddhaʹs message in the core of their own being. By the tenth century the tradition of tantric adepts who mastered their practices independently of the formal Sangha had grown to include monks who were trained in the viharas and who had left them to deepen their own insights under the guidance of a teacher who set his own rules and based his instructions on the lineage of teachers to which he belonged. On the positive side, the monastic community provided continuity for Buddhadharma, whilst the tradition of independent lineages of teachers broadened and redefined the idea of the Sangha. Both cast shadows: the monastic community

sometimes violated the spirit of Buddhaʹs teachings by engaging in such technical disputations over their dead letter that monks sacrificed spiritual striving to cerebration, and lineages not subject to the consensus or guidance of the community could drift into psychic delusion or even black magic. Nevertheless, the Vajrayana tradition gave potent meaning to the guru‐chela relationship and invoked one critical aspect of Buddhaʹs own activity. Both traditions entered Tibet with Shantarakshita and Padmasambhava and have remained there until the present day.

Marpa was born into a wealthy landowning family in Lhotrak in

A.D. 1012. Lhotrak lies almost due south of Lhasa near the border with Bhutan, and its Buddhist contacts were not lost during the persecution of Lang Darma and the subsequent disintegration of

MARPA 159

the Tibetan empire. Marpa was hearty and dynamic to a degree which led his parents to decide to educate him as a Buddhist. He began his education at the age of twelve and soon mastered reading, writing and the teachings available in the region, receiving the name Chökyi Lodrö (Dharma Mind). His thirst for the teachings was countered by an inability to control his temper – one of the most difficult tasks, according to Buddha in the Dhammapada – and his parents agreed to send him to Western Tibet for advanced training.

In 1054, when he was already middle‐aged, Marpa came to the Nyugu Valley, where Drogmi had established a monastic

community the year after Atisha entered Tibet. Drogmi had studied in India and had brought valuable texts to Tibet, where he translated them. They found their way into the Tibetan canon, and Drogmi became the philosophical parent of the Sakya tradition in Tibet. Marpa remained with Drogmi for three years, learning Sanskrit along with Buddhist teachings, and prepared himself so well for his own work as a lotsawa or translator that he is sometimes known to history as Marpa the Translator. Although he made great

strides in self‐discipline, his thirst for Buddhadharma was unassuaged, and he decided to follow the familiar but treacherous route to India. After winning the approval of his reluctant parents, he converted his possessions to gold and set out on the journey which was to mark the real beginning of his spiritual odyssey.

Marpa made the hard journey far to the west into the Kungthang

region above Nepal, and then he descended along the Trisuli River Valley into the cis‐Himalayan kingdom. Since Tibetan wayfarers had always found the descent into the plains of the subcontinent hazardous to their health, Marpa chose to remain in Katmandu for

three years in order to adjust to the climate. There he met Chitherpa and Paindapa, disciples of Naropa, his future guru. Never for a moment did he think that the encounter was by chance; for him, it was the re‐establishment of an ancient connection. He studied under the Nepalese disciples and prepared himself to meet their teacher, and then he made his way across dangerous territory to

160 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Phullahari near Nalanda, where Naropa lived. Naropa immediately

received him, declaring that he would hold the lineage in Tibet, for his own teacher, Tilopa, had prophesied the appearance of Marpa and his worthiness as a disciple.

Tilopa has been enshrined in human memory as one of the eighty‐four mahasiddhas, fully enlightened adepts of Vajrayana.

After practising meditation as an ordained monk at Somapuri for twelve years, he left the vihara and worked at secular occupations for another twelve years whilst perfecting his meditation and fusing it with his daily round. Thereafter he became a wandering teacher whose renown spread throughout Bengal. Tradition holds that Tilopa received his quintessential spiritual knowledge from no embodied guru but from Vajradhara, the pure essence of Buddhaʹs mind, which is Enlightenment itself. It is also said that he had received the transmitted teachings of a number of important lineages, which included in their lines Vajrapani, Saraha, Nagarjuna and Indrabhuti. Tilopa accepted Naropa, who is also one of the mahasiddhas, as the disciple to whom he passed the entire lineage.

Naropa began as a monk and eventually occupied the

distinguished and responsible position of academic gate keeper at both Nalanda and Vikramashila. Despite his remarkable

attainments, Naropa realized that without Enlightenment all else was valueless, and he left the monastic community in search of a teacher who could speak from experience. When he met such a teacher in Tilopa, he was subjected to twelve trials of his worthiness, and these tests have been given such epic proportions by tradition that it is said his teacher had to restore him to physical health after each one. Naropa was in the end successful, and in combining learning with yoga, he became a teacher worthy of his guru ʹ s full confidence. He left Tilopa and moved to Phullahari to teach and await the arrival of Marpa.

Even though Naropa assured Marpa of his eventual success, he insisted that Marpa must earn his wisdom. It is impossible to specify the exact nature of the teachings passed on to Marpa, for the tantric texts do not constitute spiritual transmission. They may be

MARPA 161

given to a disciple, but it is the oral instruction of the guru which brings them to life and which illumines the discipleʹs

understanding. In addition, the guru gives his chela suitable abhishekas or initiations which empower the disciple to practise the teachings transmitted. In doing so, the disciple is linked with various deities – peaceful, mildly wrathful and wrathful – including the yidam or personal deity of the disciple. These deities are simultaneously aspects of the Buddhas and therefore pure

representations of the Buddha‐mind; the active fusion of insight and compassion, prajna and karuna; the awakened nature of the disciple himself; and the path to realization of which the guru is the link, threshold, portal and guide. For the disciple, the guru is the awakened mind of the disciple, and only he who totally fuses his mind with that of the guru is worthy to receive the whole of the guru ʹ s mind or teaching. The lineage which the disciple enters, in being given one or more abhishekas, is a direct translation of Buddhaʹs relationship with his Arhats. The unswerving faith in the first of the Three Jewels thus becomes unshakeable faith in the guru, receptivity to the Dharma becomes total acceptance of the guru ʹ s instruction, and the mutual support of the Sangha becomes the discipline imposed by the initiation. Marpaʹs yidam was Hevajra, a mildly wrathful deity of energy, skilful means and bliss. His initiation introduced him to the Vajrayana doctrine that the world itself is sacred, bound him to the path of realization of the sacredness in every thought, word and deed, and set him upon his

way through devotion to the guru.

Though Naropa could teach Marpa everything, he followed the tradition of sending his disciple to other teachers who were adepts in particular Vajrayana practices. Among others, he went to Maitripa, who had once taught Atisha to learn the skill of singing dohas, spontaneous songs which express the essence of oneʹs insight and experience. Marpaʹs dohas inaugurated the doha tradition in Tibet in the form which has persisted to the present day. Although the inner teachings of the lineage cannot be recorded in writing, Marpaʹs dohas show the significance, value and effect of what he assimilated. Maitripa also gave Marpa the great mahamudra

162 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II teaching. Mahamudra literally means ʹgreat gestureʹ or ʹgreat sealʹ, but according to the mysterious Chakrasamvaratantra, mu represents the wisdom of shunyata, Voidness; dra refers to emancipation from Samsara, the ocean of illusion and cyclic existence; and maha signifies their ultimate indivisibility. When one sees with a pellucid mind that reality is free from illusion, it becomes the self‐validating symbol of Enlightenment. The ground of existence is dharmata, unchanging, indestructible, unceasing reality, best represented by empty space. Realization of this ground is perfect insight, self-luminous and therefore capable of manifesting anything and everything. Mahamudra, the union of dharmata and prajna beyond even the intimation of duality, is thus the seal of that spiritual alchemy in which the fusion of Nirvana and Samsara is both understood and lived out. Upon assimilating this teaching, Marpa sang:

This unceasing dharmata

Is self‐luminous insight without obstruction.

Within innate insight, unity,

Spontaneous wisdom is the view. . . .

The essence of realization is nowness,

Occurring all at once, with no plus or minus.

Self‐emancipation, innate great bliss,

Is the fruition free from hope or fear.

Marpa returned to Naropa, who confirmed the instructions he had received from other teachers, and after twelve years he began the journey back to Tibet. After numerous adventures, many of which tested his hard‐won knowledge, he settled down in his native Lhotrak, took a wife, and began to teach disciples even while he raised a family. In one sense, Marpaʹs life in Lhotrak was unexceptional for a farmer and family man with all the duties of a landowner and a householder. In another sense, his behaviour, especially with his disciples and in the performance of magic, was quite unusual. In time Marpa made a second trip to India, which took six years and followed the pattern of his first sojourn. When he

MARPA 163

took leave of his guru for the second time, however, Naropa sang an enigmatic song in code language and promised special instruction on his return. Back in Lhotrak, Marpa farmed and waited for the disciple Naropa had told him about – Milarepa. Since Milarepa had been impetuous in the use of psychic powers, Marpa compelled him to undergo a number of trials which seemed designed to inflame his ego and ignite his impetuosity, yet aimed to purify his whole nature. During this time, Marpa ordered Milarepa to build stone towers for no very clear purpose. Remnants of these constructions survive to support the story of Milarepaʹs labours.

When Milarepa was ready to receive Marpaʹs teaching and to go into retreat to master them, Marpa suddenly understood Naropaʹs cryptic song and hastened to return to India.

When he reached the vicinity of Phullahari, he made a horrifying

discovery. Naropa had taken up an extremely advanced stage of Vajrayana practice called spyodpa la gshegspa – entering the action –

in which one abandons any fixed abode and encounters the world

directly. Like a Taoist Immortal, Naropa was glimpsed everywhere

but found nowhere. The geography of Marpaʹs journeys had

become unconscious reference points in the mind, presumed

certitudes which have no place in enlightened consciousness. All such reference points, mental, psychological, moral and physical, were torn from Marpa during his desperate search of eight months

for his guru. When he finally met Naropa, he joyously thrust the gold he had brought as a gift into Naropaʹs hand, but his teacher cast the gold into the forest, as if the traditional offering were meaningless. Then he touched the earth, and where his fingers felt the ground, the earth became gold. He said, ʺAll the world is gold for meʺ, and at once the innermost meaning of the mahamudra, the actuality of the great seal, arose in Marpaʹs mind. He no longer thought of the world as sacred, because he now saw that it was so.

And so he was ready for the highest teaching, arcane truths which could be put in no ordinary tongue nor traced with pen on paper.

Rather, they were written with the diamond stylus of insight on Marpaʹs spiritual heart.

164 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Yet one final test was given to Marpa. Naropa magically formed

the mandala of Marpaʹs yidam in the sky. When Marpa beheld Hevajra in the vault of the heavens, he prostrated before it rather than before his guru, forgetting that it was only through the guru that such a marvel could come to be. He corrected himself but became terribly ill. When his sickness eventually passed, Naropa explained that it was the immediate purgation of the karma which

produced and was generated by that fateful, if momentary, error.

Restored to wholeness by this final realization, Marpa returned to Tibet for the last time, sad in heart at leaving his guru but aware that his guru was one with him for all the days of his life. In addition, Naropa told Marpa that Milarepa would be his successor

in receiving the entire lineage and that he in turn would give rise to four related noble lineages which would preserve the teaching.

Marpa had hoped to pass his teaching to his own son, Tarma Dode,

but the youth died in an accident. His death deeply affected Marpa, his wife and his circle of disciples and became the focus of their understanding that nothing in manifest existence is permanent and worthy of being considered real.

The sublime and arcane teaching which Marpa passed on to his disciple can no more be put into ordinary words than can the instructions given to Marpa by Naropa, Maitripa and eleven other

adepts. When the disciples gathered as a group, however, Marpa often answered general questions by singing a doha. Many of these were preserved in the Kagyü Gurtso, a collection of such songs from the whole Kagyü tradition, and in a biography of Marpa. Their expression of the fruits of insight and understanding are meant to provide inspiration for disciples and to serve for meditation and reflection. On one occasion Marpa sang:

The three worlds are primordially pure.

Ultimately, there is naught more to understand.

Absence of negation, unceasing continuity,

Unchanging – such is the view.

Innate essence is by nature luminous.

MARPA 165

Unconditioned, meditation is unceasing.

Free of negation, beyond loss and gain,

Without desire or attachment – such is meditation.

Arising from natural coincidence,

The play of illusion is unhindered.

Free of negation, all things

Are unpredictable and sudden – such is action.

Mind shines as bodhichitta,

The three kayas of Buddha are not attained.

Free of negation, beyond hope and fear,

Groundless and without root – such is fruition.

Besides providing guidance, orientation and focus for disciples, Marpa sometimes provided commentaries on difficult and

confusing doctrines in his songs. For example, in addition to the mysterious conception of the three kayas of Buddha – Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya – Marpa spoke of the Svabhavikakaya, the essential unity of the three kayas, and of the Mahasukhakaya, the indivisibility of the other four kayas. When asked about the teachings of Maitripa at a sacred feast in honour of the gurus, Marpa declared, ʺThere is no harm in revealing some aspects of Maitripaʹs intention in a song.ʺ Then he expounded the doctrine of the kayas:

The Dharmakaya, like the sky,

Is Buddha, the great Vajradhara.

The thick rain clouds of wisdom

Are the two Bodhisattvas. . . .

Self‐luminous unchanging insight

Is characterized as unborn Dharmakaya.

Unceasing self‐born wisdom

Is described as the manifold of

Nirmanakaya.

166 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II These two fused in coemergence

Are described as Sambhogakaya.

And these three, free from origination,

Are called the Svabhavikakaya.

All these, transcending conditions,

Are the Mahasukhakaya.

These are the five ultimate kayas.

O friends of the heart! Are your minds

gladdened?

Marpa repeatedly reminded his disciples of the centrality of devotion to the guru, for the union of the receptive mind of the disciple with the omniscience of the guru ʹ s mind alone permits the full transmission of the Dharma. Paradoxically, the spiritual submission of the chela awakens his real consciousness, so that he begins to grow into his innate nature, increasing understanding and attracting those spiritual forces – the Sangha – which support striving towards realization.

The merit of praising the guru

Is equal to offering to the Buddhas.

Through praising the masters,

May all beings serve spiritual friends.

When Milarepa returned from his secluded meditations, Marpa gathered his disciples together and gave them the full transmission of the teachings he had received from his gurus. True to Naropaʹs prophecy, which was also a command, Milarepa received the most

advanced doctrines. Then Marpa sent them on to their own work while he himself retired to his farming duties. Save for his effortless display of magical powers, he lived out an ordinary life in the world, for his real life was on planes of consciousness inconceivable to unawakened minds. Though the Kagyü lineage traces its origin to Vajradhara and Tilopa, Marpa was its founder in Tibet and his disciples organized the Kagyü Order, which survived the tumults

MARPA 167

of Tibetan history and has recently spread to India, Europe and America. Its strange and easily misunderstood rituals and practices cannot be penetrated without the perspective provided by Marpa in his spontaneous dohas, sung to his disciples.

If I explain all of my realization,

Some of you would not be able to hold it in your mind.

If I were to explain just an aspect, it would be this:

Confidence in luminosity

Is perception free from bias or partiality.

Meditation is continuous, like the flow of a vast river.

By refusing to limit meditation to the four periods,

And by renouncing even the vestige of hypocrisy,

There is no distinction between meditation and what

comes after it.

By gaining the power of prana and mind,

The fear of Samsara disappeared long ago.

This is my realization.

Hermes, April 1986

Elton Hall

MILAREPA

The Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha

Are the three outer Refuges.

In taking them as my shelter,

By putting my whole trust in them.

I gain joy and fulfilment.

Fortune will come, if you take refuge here.

The Guru, the Patron Buddha and the Dakinis

Are the three inner Refuges.

In taking them as my shelter,

By putting my whole trust in them,

I gain joy and fulfilment.

Fortune will come, if you take refuge here.

The Nadis, Prana and Bindu

Are the three secret Refuges.

In taking them as my shelter,

By putting my whole trust in them,

I gain joy and fulfilment.

Fortune will come, if you take refuge here.

Form, Voidness and Non‐distinction

Are the three real Refuges.

By putting my whole trust in them,

I gain joy and fulfilment.

Fortune will come, if you take refuge here.

If you do not look to the Refuges,

Who will shield you from eternal suffering?

Milarepa

Mila Grubum

Vajrayana, the ʹthird streamʹ of Buddhist thought closely allied with Mahayana, is mysterious and often alien to outside observers.

Arising independently of the Buddhist monastic tradition, its rituals and practices can seem bizarre, especially to those who have not

MILAREPA 169

learnt to discern the fine line between fact, symbol and that unseen reality to which symbols point. Perhaps the most mysterious of Vajrayana lineages is that which began with Tilopa and passed to Naropa and his disciple Marpa, who took it to Tibet. And Marpaʹs

chief disciple, Milarepa, is the most enigmatic figure in the line. His life is a summation of the heights to which the human spirit can rise and the depths to which it can plunge. It draws together vivid contrasts that the mind prefers to see kept separate, and it shows how intermingled good and evil, insight and perversity, white and black magic, can become. If Milarepaʹs life is a study of degradation made larger than life, it is equally a story of unsurpassed spiritual triumph.

According to the namtar or life story composed to help individuals towards Enlightenment, Milarepa was born in A.D.

1052, a descendant of the Khyungpo clan and the Josey family. His ancestors included the son of a Nyingmapa lama who was

esteemed in Upper Tsang for his capacity to subdue demons, and his father was a trader who had become affluent in Kya Ngatsa far to the west of Lhasa in Gungthang, above the Tsangpo River (which becomes the sacred Brahmaputra when it flows into India). His father named him Good News because he had heard of his birth whilst engaged in trading business at Tiger Point. Milarepa grew up in a warm and loving family, replete with the relatively luxurious life of country gentry. Although his upbringing and education were ordinary, his childhood and early youth were marked by precocious psychic sensitivity, a keen mind and a deep

devotion to his parents. He also possessed a marked spiritual inclination which remained largely latent but was never wholly obscured. Even as a child he was aware that, though his family was respected, their prosperity was envied by those who were jealous of the success of people who had moved to Kya Ngatsa from

elsewhere. When Milarepaʹs father discovered that he was dying of a wasting disease, he established a trust for his wife and son, making his brother and his wife trustees.

170 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Milarepaʹs father died and soon the bereft family discovered the

enormity of the hatred in those who were less affluent. His aunt and uncle provided little support in the name of preserving the trust, and former servants began to mock them. Greed conquered whatever worthy impulses the trustees may have had, and

eventually they claimed that all Milarepaʹs inheritance had always been theirs, given on loan to Milarepaʹs father while he lived.

Rather than stoop to throwing herself on the mercy of her husbandʹs relatives, Milarepaʹs mother determined to take up the life of a beggar, but her own relatives managed to provide enough for her to maintain a small homestead by spinning and weaving.

But she resolved not only to survive and to provide for her children, but also to avenge the wrongs she had suffered. Whilst Milarepaʹs sister, Peta, spun and wove and begged when

circumstances compelled it, he was sent to a renowned monk to learn reading.

Milarepaʹs first teacher was a magician of the Nyingmapa or Ancient Order, which traces its origins to Padmasambhava. He possessed the serpent powers of the Eight Nagas, which include the capacity to change oneʹs form at will, to communicate exactly what one wishes, to maintain full awareness and to expand the mind to

include many worlds, and to serve all living beings. Milarepa thus gathered some sense of the mystery and depth of meditative practices while he learnt to read. When he returned to his mother, she sold half her little homestead and bought turquoise and a white horse for Milarepa, and then she commanded him to seek out a teacher of magic. After some travel and enquiry Milarepa went to the region of Ü, sold his turquoise and horse for gold and sought out Yungton Trogyel, who lived in the region of Yarlung. Offering everything to Yungton Trogyel, Milarepa became his disciple. In time, the lama learnt his story and was moved by his determination to serve his mother. Although concerned about Milarepaʹs strong will and his motherʹs immense hatred, he sent Milarepa to Yonten

Gyatso, who lived in Nub Khulung, where he learnt the magical art of destruction.

MILAREPA 171

Milarepa undertook a two‐week retreat for spells and

incantations. Just as his greedy aunt and uncle had filled their house with guests for the wedding of their son, the house was torn apart by elemental forces and collapsed, killing thirty‐five people and sparing only the heartless couple. Terrified villagers recognized the power of malevolent magic and suspected its source, and they

prevented the pair from seeking revenge, instead giving Milarepaʹs mother additional land to pacify her. She was not to be placated, however, and so she sold the land for gold and sent it to Milarepa with the demand that he do more damage. He went back to Yungton Trogyel, gave him the gold and learnt to control the weather. Then he made his way back to his village, and from a cave in which he secreted himself he brought down a fierce hailstorm upon the fields just before the beginning of harvest. Escaping with some difficulty, he made his way back to his teacher.

Nothing could be the same for Milarepa thereafter. He had fulfilled his motherʹs wishes and thereby discharged what he had perceived as his duty, but despite his moral blindness and warped sense of justice, he understood the inexorable working of the Law of Karma. He saw that evil begets evil and that his own actions, however he might rationalize them, were unspeakably terrible and

would rebound on him.

I was filled with remorse for the evil I had done by magic and

by hailstorms. My longing for the Dharma so obsessed me that I forgot to eat. If I went out, I wanted to stay in. If I stayed in, I wanted to go out. At night sleep escaped me. I dared not confess

my sadness or my longing for emancipation to the lama. While I remained in his service, I ardently asked myself again and again how I might practise the true teaching.

During this period his teacherʹs wealthiest patron died and his teacher fell into a deep reflection upon Karma and the Dharma.

When he told Milarepa that he had decided to retire and begin working to reverse his own black karma, Milarepa asked for help.

Yungton Trogyel told him to seek out Rongton Lhaga for

instruction.

172 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II When Milarepa met Rongton Lhaga, he confessed his whole life and threw himself upon the lamaʹs compassion. Rongton Lhaga told him that the deepest meditation involved direct insight and release from all hindrances, provided oneʹs karma permitted its perfect practice. So exhilarating was Milarepaʹs sense of having escaped a fatal burden that he ignored the caveat and went to sleep believing that he was already a Bodhisattva. The next morning, however, Rongton Lhaga summoned him and explained that he knew his would‐be discipleʹs mind and, because of such thoughts,

he could not teach him. He told Milarepa to journey to Lhotrak and find Marpa the Translator. The two were connected by ancient bonds of karma, he said, and only Marpa could instruct him in the Dharma. Milarepa set out, and Marpa divined in a vision that his greatest disciple and most difficult challenge were approaching.

When Milarepa found Marpa, he threw himself in desperation at Marpaʹs feet, but his teacher seemed cold and hard, offering him either food and shelter or the Teaching, but not both. Milarepa chose the Teaching, but then Marpa demanded that he exercise his

magic to qualify: he was to send hail on the fields of those who persecuted Marpaʹs disciples and sow discord amongst the

mountaineers who robbed them. Milarepa quickly did both and then asked Marpa to teach the Dharma. Marpa replied:

Ha! Is it to reward your many crimes that I went to India at the

risk of my life? . . . Restore the harvest and heal the mountaineers.

After that I will teach you. But never come back if you cannot do this.

Thus Milarepa discovered that instruction in the Dharma is not

easy.

Rather than comforting Milarepa or assuring him that his fresh intentions would overcome his wilfulness, emotional intensity and perversity, Marpa brought them to the surface, where they had to be confronted. He had Milarepa build a round tower from stones he gathered, but then ordered the half‐constructed edifice torn down –

and the stones replaced where they had been found – on the

MILAREPA 173

grounds that he had not sufficiently considered the matter. Next he had his disciple construct a semicircular tower in another place, only to be demolished because Marpa had supposedly been

intoxicated when he gave the order. Then he gave instructions for the building of a triangular tower, only to rescind them when the tower was half built, this time denying that he had any memory of giving them. Finally, he had a nine‐storey tower built, which after numerous false starts was almost completed. Before it was finished, Marpaʹs actions, reminiscent of extreme forms of Zen instruction, convinced Milarepa that he would never receive the Teachings. Not once did he blame Marpa, but rather thought that his frustration was entirely due to his own past deeds. With a heavy heart Milarepa left to find instruction under one of Marpaʹs disciples.

Marpa finished the tower and then summoned his disciples and Milarepa to its consecration. There he forbade anyone to teach Milarepa, and this broke the reformed sorcererʹs heart. Only when he was on the verge of killing himself did Marpa appear to relent.

With Milarepa prostrate before his feet, Marpa explained that his seemingly arbitrary actions and simulated anger were devices used to initiate Milarepaʹs initial purification. The magician had proved himself worthy to be a disciple.

Marpa had the Chakrasamvara mandala set up, the yidam or tutelary deity of which represents transcendental wisdom in the form of shunyata, or the voidness of luminous clarity. He then initiated Milarepa through this mandala and at a critical moment pointed to the vault of the sky, where the deity appeared in the living Akasha, space. Milarepa was given the initiation name Pal Zhepe Dorje – Resplendent Laughing Vajra – by the yidam Chakrasamvara. And in him was awakened the fire of tummo, which is hidden in the tsa‐u‐ma (sushumna) in the psycho‐spiritual nerve channels. Milarepa went into secluded meditation for eleven months, after which he confessed to his teacher:

I understand that in this body lies the vital choice between profit and loss, relating to eternal happiness or misery on the border between good and evil. Relying upon your power of

174 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II compassion as the venerable guide of sentient beings, I am hopefully endeavouring to achieve emancipation from the ocean of existential bondage, from which escape is very difficult. . . .

From this point, progressively ascending the Path, it is

necessary to observe oneʹs vows as carefully as one guards oneʹs eyes. Even in failure, remedies must be employed. By not seeking

oneʹs own liberation on the path of Hinayana, one develops bodhichitta, which seeks to work towards the liberation of all sentient beings.

Even though the namtar which gives the life of Milarepa explains his efforts in meditative absorption at considerable length, little of the inner realm of experience is intimated. Milarepa had entered that subtle path which leads far beyond the reach of descriptive language and the range of discursive consciousness.

Eventually, Marpa held a great ritual feast at which he gave each of his chief disciples a particular charge and teaching. Milarepa was given the teaching of the fire of tummo, whose danger is as great as its promise, and both match the extreme energies Milarepa had already summoned in the wrong direction. Milarepaʹs will,

originally cultivated to a remarkable degree of intensity, had to be channelled along a path equal to it despite the risks involved.

Marpa sent his disciples across the high Tibetan plains and mountain fastnesses, but Milarepa remained near him in secluded meditation for some months. Then, as Marpa prepared to visit his teacher, Naropa, in India, Milarepa felt the need to return to his village. His journey was not a happy one, for when he arrived he found that his mother had died in wretched poverty and that his sister, Peta, was disinherited and impoverished. His greedy uncle and aunt tried to kill him, the villagers hated him and he had to threaten – though he resolved not to use – sorcery to make them withdraw. After meditating to the point of starvation near his motherʹs abandoned house, which was now his, he was visited by

his sister. Enjoining her to follow the way of Dharma, he gave his small inheritance to his aunt and then decided to leave. Though befriended by his original tutor and nourished by his admiring

MILAREPA 175

sister, his homecoming served only to teach him the utter delusion of Samsara and of all attachments. Whilst meditating upon this insight, he found various supernormal powers released in him, and so he flew to the Cave of the Eagleʹs Shadow for total privacy.

Having discerned the range and limit of his inestimable powers, he flew back to Horse Tooth White Rock near his village and decided

to enter the world for the sake of sentient beings.

Suddenly his yidam spoke to him:

Devote yourself wholly to meditation in this life, in accordance

with Marpaʹs instructions. There is nothing greater than serving the teachings of Buddha and thereby saving sentient beings through meditation.

Milarepa realized that he could never touch the feet of his teacher in dwelling without distraction in the external world. Yet through meditation he could serve all beings in a way that would honour Marpa. Thus, it is said that Milarepa knew he could never be as great as his teacher, though he is also revered for his greatness in a different direction. Milarepa remained near his village and was periodically tended by his sister, who, though admiring him, was inconsolable regarding her lot and had little sympathy for Dharma.

In the end Milarepa won her over and she became detached from the world and, more importantly, from her own bitter memories.

When Milarepaʹs uncle died, his aunt was filled with remorse for the life she had lived. She sought out Milarepa and begged his forgiveness, and eventually he instructed her in Dharma and she became a yogini renowned for her meditation.

Having completely righted the relationships which had been so twisted in his youth, Milarepa now freely renounced all concern with the world and entered a series of retreats for meditation. His luminous powers of absorption became so strong that numerous disciples were attracted to him, and he instructed each according to his capacities and his karma. Knowing from experience that the interplay of the forces of knowledge and light with the demonic forces of ignorance and evil was precarious and intense, he

176 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II focussed attention on the boundary between them. Where ordinary

consciousness would recognize nothing at all, Milarepa realized that in the interstices between light and darkness was to be seen the reflection of the highest truth. He instructed his famous disciple Gampopa by assimilating this insight to the language of the bardo, the intermediate state between death and rebirth.

Sentient beings in Samsara

And all Buddhas in Nirvana

Are equal in nature, the same in essence:

Son, this is the bardo of view.

The manifesting red and white (positive and

negative) forces

And the indescribable essence of mind

Are the true non‐differentiated state:

Son, this is the bardo of practice.

The myriad forms of illusion

And the non‐arising mind itself

Are one, not two, in the Self‐existent:

Son, this is the bardo of action. . . .

The five tainted skandhas

And the pure Buddhas in the five directions

Are one in the yoga of perfection,

The state of non‐discrimination.

Son, this is the bardo of the Path.

Self‐benefit is reflected in changeless

Dharmakaya,

Altruism in Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya,

Yet in their primordial state they are one:

Son, this is the bardo of Trikaya.

MILAREPA 177

The impure body which comes from the womb

And the pure form of Buddhaʹs body

Are one in the great light of bardo:

Son, this is the bardo of attainment.

The highest reality, briefly experienced in the post‐mortem state, is everywhere present but unnoticed so long as one is even minimally caught in the pairs of opposites.

After instructing a number of disciples over the years, Milarepa felt that his mission was finished. A monk, Geshe Tsakpuhwa, took pride in his learning and mocked the humble ascetic when they met at a feast. Milarepa responded with a song, which ran in part:

Having meditated on my lama,

I forgot those who are influential and powerful.

Having meditated on my yidam,

I forgot the coarse world of the senses.

Having meditated on the teaching of the secret

tradition,

I forgot the books of dialectic.

Having maintained pure awareness,

I forgot the illusions of ignorance. . . .

Having made a monastery within my body,

I forgot the monastery outside.

Having embraced the spirit rather than the letter,

I forgot how to play with words.

The monk was furious and planned to kill Milarepa. He prepared

a draught of poison and paid a woman to give it to the ascetic.

Milarepaʹs clairvoyance revealed all to him, but he initially refused the drink, forcing Geshe Tsakpuhwa to pay her a handsome sum to

try again. Only then did Milarepa accept the drink, but he told the woman that he knew of the plot. When in remorse she begged to be

allowed to drink the poison herself, he refused, saying that the time for leaving the world had come, and drained the cup while swearing her to silence until he had died. He also told her to keep

178 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II the monkʹs bribe and to seek out the Dharma. Then Milarepa called his disciples together and gave them instruction:

Strive unceasingly for purification,

Banish ignorance and gather merit.

Doing so, you will not only see

The Dharma‐loving gods come to listen,

You will even perceive within yourselves

The Dharmakaya, holiest and highest of all

gods.

Seeing that, you will then behold

The whole truth of Samsara and Nirvana

And you will free yourselves from karma.

The wicked monk came to see that Milarepa was indeed enlightened

and, prostrating before him, confessed his evil deed. Milarepa

instructed him in the Dharma and sent him away to work to reverse the karma that no hand can still.

When Milarepa announced his impending death, he added,

ʺThere is no reality in my sickness; there is no reality in my deathʺ, and explained that he simply manifested both. He sent his most energetic monks ahead to Chuwar, but both those who

accompanied him and those who went ahead found that he had preceded them, though they were with him at all times. Thus he showed the illusory nature of all form. When all his followers had gathered in amazement at Chuwar, he delivered his final

instructions:

The practice of the secret path is the shortest way.

Realization of emptiness engenders compassion.

Compassion abolishes difference of self and other.

If there is no duality between oneself and others,

One fulfils the aim of sentient beings.

He who recognizes the need of others will discover me.

He who finds me will achieve Enlightenment.

To me, to Buddha and to the disciples,

You should pray as one, thinking of them as one.

MILAREPA 179

Entering a state of profound meditative absorption, he passed into Nirvana at the age of eighty‐four.

Though many signs and wonders followed his passing, and

certain classes of gods and goddesses appeared, there was no marvel as great as the life he had lived and offered to others as an example of what one should not do and of what should be done. He

embodied the spirit of his teaching to his closest disciples:

Samsara and Nirvana are a single reality

In the state of ultimate awareness.

To perceive ultimate reality,

I mark everything with mahamudra, the great

seal of emptiness.

This is the quintessence of non‐duality.

Hermes, May 1986

Elton Hall

TSONG‐KHA‐PA

Dhyana is the kingly faculty of the mind. One‐pointed, it remains immovable like a mighty Mount Meru. Projected, it permeates any virtuous object at will. It leads to the exhilarating bliss of applying body and mind to any task. Knowing this, the yogins of mental control have devoted themselves continuously to one‐pointed concentration which overcomes the enemies of mental wandering.

I, the yogin, have practised just that. If you would also seek emancipation, cultivate the same.

Prajna is the eye with which to behold profound shunyata and the path by which to uproot ignorance, the source of cyclic existence. It is the treasure of genius exalted in all the scriptures and is renowned as the supreme lamp that eliminates the darkness of the closed mind.

Knowing this, the wise who have wished for emancipation have advanced along this path with every effort.

I, the yogin, have practised just that. If you would also seek emancipation, cultivate the same.

Tsong‐Kha‐Pa

Lam‐rim Bsdus‐don, 19‐20

Just as the creative ferment in ancient Greek thought had prepared the way for Plato, and the Buddhist reformation in India had provided the context for Shankaracharya, so too the Buddhist renaissance and proliferation of schools in Tibet laid the groundwork for the remarkable Tibetan teacher, the great

synthesizer Tsong‐Kha‐Pa. Despite the influx of diverse streams of Buddhist teaching at various times and from different parts of India, Khotan and China, there persisted a singular unanimity regarding Buddhavachana, the Word of Buddha. But whilst the Sangha stagnated in India through loss of contact with lay people and owing to its emphasis upon intellectual rigour to the neglect of ethics, it was retarded in Tibet by its laxity in discipline. This was in

TSONG‐KHA‐PA 181

part due to divergences of practice in the various lineages and in part due to a growing gap between theory and practice under the harsh conditions of Tibetan life. The political entanglements of the monasteries, undertaken in the prolonged search for patrons and aggravated by the increasing concern for wealth, power and prestige, contributed to a pervasive corruption in self‐discipline.

Continuity of the Buddhist tradition in Tibet had been ensured despite formidable cultural and religious obstacles, radical differences in language, significant alterations in Tibetan political modes and ambivalent magical practices. The price paid had been considerable laxity, distortion and inversion in the monastic orders, whilst the threat of irreparable damage from within rose in direct proportion to the diminution of external influence.

Tsong‐Kha‐Paʹs parents were blest by a variety of unusual dreams before his birth. His mother dreamt that a statue of Avalokiteshvara as huge as a mountain appeared before her and gradually diminished in size until it entered her through the brahmanda or crown opening. Tsong‐Kha‐Paʹs father dreamt of Vajrapani, who sent a vajra or lightning‐bolt sceptre from his celestial realm into his wife. These and other symbolic dreams indicated that Tsong‐Kha‐Pa was the emanation of both

Avalokiteshvara and Manjushri. In time, he would be recognized as the boy who Buddha had told Ananda would be reborn in Tibet as

Sumati Kirti – ʹglory of wisdomʹ – Losang Drakpa in Tibetan. When he was born in the onion country of Amdo in eastern Tibet, an auspicious star appeared in the heavenly vault. Choje Dondrup Rinchen, Tsong‐Kha‐Paʹs first teacher, was returning to Amdo from Lhasa when Tsong‐Kha‐Pa was born. Divining the descent of an emanation of Manjushri, he hurried back and presented sacred gifts to Tsong‐Kha‐Paʹs father. At the age of three Tsong‐Kha‐Pa took laymanʹs vows from Rolpay Dorje, the Fourth Karmapa, and then entered into such profound communion with Vajrayana deities –

Heruka, Hevajra and Yamantaka – that he was ready to receive the

vows of a novice at the age of seven. Choje Dondrup Rinchen then

took charge of Tsong‐Kha‐Pa and watched over him until his

182 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II sixteenth year, when he travelled to the great cathedral in Lhasa to take the Bodhisattva vow before the image of Buddha.

Knowing that he would never again return to Amdo, Tsong‐Kha‐

Pa accepted his first teacherʹs parting advice to meditate on Yamantaka for continuity of practice, Vajrapani for freedom from distraction, Manjushri for wisdom and discrimination, and

Amitayus for long life, amongst others. Then he set out to master the teachings of all the lineages. His travels would require a book merely to catalogue, though the pattern they followed was simple: in every case, he went to the best teachers of a particular school or doctrine, or to those who alone knew a particular text or treatise. As a little boy he went to Drikung Monastery, whose head lama of the Kargyu Order imparted to him the teachings of bodhichitta – the altruistic seed of Enlightenment – mahamudra – the great seal of perfection – and medicine. By the age of seventeen Tsong‐Kha‐Pa had become a proficient doctor of medicine. Moving on to Chodra

Chenpo Dewachen Monastery, he rapidly learnt the Prajnaparamita Sutras and the works of Maitreya, and by his nineteenth year he was renowned as a scholar. He debated at Samye Monastery, received the Heruka initiation at Zhalu and took his examinations in the Prajnaparamita at Sakya. Then he met Rendawa Zhonnu Lodro, who was to become a lifelong spiritual companion, and received from him the essence of the Madhyamika or Middle Way

philosophy. Here he inaugurated a method which was to provide the foundation of his reform. He became a disciple to Rendawa in

some respects and his teacher in others. His application of dialectics to the guru‐chela relationship eventually led to his recognition as the undisputed master of all the lineages and teachings.

Taking up the works of Chandrakirti – the Mahayana version of

the philosophical Abhidharma – of Vasubandhu and Dharmakirti, he began to teach Buddhist philosophy. His reputation spread rapidly, and soon he was invited to various monasteries to instruct senior monks in the highest subtleties of the Buddhavachana. Whilst at Choday in northern Tibet he was initiated into a number of tantric practices. Upon his return to Lhasa he found an entire delegation

TSONG‐KHA‐PA 183

from Amdo waiting to plead with him to come home. He felt that

such a journey would interrupt his studies dedicated to the welfare of all beings, and so he renounced the offer, but he sent his mother a portrait of himself which spoke to her when she opened it. Later, he refused an invitation to become imperial tutor for the emperor of China. Journeying to Narthang, he consulted the complete texts of the Kangyur and the Tengyur and studied the treatises of Nagarjuna. Then he returned with Rendawa to Sakya, where he finished his examinations. Tsong‐Kha‐Pa had become a powerful dialectician, in large measure because of his utter calm and fair-mindedness in the midst of heated and intense debates. People were both fascinated and awed by him, but in his presence they were soon put at ease. His respectful and patient treatment of every sincere question infused teaching and learning with a sanctified joy that regenerated listeners and motivated them to uphold their vows and persevere on the Path.

Although his matchless intelligence and depth of mystical insight amazed those who came into contact with him, his utter selflessness and transparent morality demonstrated a seemingly effortless translation of sublime ethics into the visible arena of daily activities.

This led many monks and laymen to recognize in Tsong‐Kha‐Pa one of those great beings who choose their incarnations for the sake of universal Enlightenment. When he began to write at the age of thirty‐two, many who had known him only by reputation could benefit from his teachings. Tagtsang, a monk and translator who had previously been critical of Tsong‐Kha‐Paʹs eclectic doctrines, was stunned by his Golden Garland of Eloquent Teaching. Writing to Tsong‐Kha‐Pa, he confessed, ʺAs your sun of wisdom rises, my flower of arrogance disappears.ʺ During this period Tsong‐Kha‐Pa

was ordained, received the teachings which had been preserved by

the lineage founded by Marpa, and undertook an extensive study of the kalachakra tantra cycle, the heart of which is Shamballa conceived as a spiritual, mental and physical centre of reality.

Though his outward movements can be traced for the remainder of

his life, his arcane practices and secret activities cannot. He cultivated the super normal siddhis, including the meditation

184 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II wherein the body can be made to generate and radiate remarkable

amounts of heat. He travelled north and south from Lhasa to give

initiations, and also, with Rendawa, performed initiations on Potala hill, where the palace of the Dalai Lamas would later be built.

Tsong‐Kha‐Pa now made a systematic study of the four levels of

the Vajrayana, involving deep understanding of the mysteries of Sarasvati, the Black Manjushri, Manjushri Dharmachakra and the Guhyasamaja, ʹking of tantras ʹ He then entered upon an intensive retreat during which he determined the course of the remainder of his life. It may have been during this period that he took the decision to inaugurate a seven‐century plan in which Bodhisattvas would take incarnation in the Western world to relight the Mystery fires there and to help receptive human beings free themselves from deadly dogmatism and growing materialism. It is said that when he emerged from this retreat, he was thereafter able to question Manjushri at will, consulting him and receiving guidance from him in all important matters. From this time onward Tsong‐Kha‐Pa alternated extended retreats with his disciples, during which many mystic visions occurred, with very specific meetings and religious activities. He assimilated, for example, the Kadampa tradition founded by Atisha and made it the basis of his own reform. When

he met the Nyngma lama Khenchen Namkha Gyaltsen, there was an instantaneous mutual recognition. Khenchen saw Tsong‐Kha‐Pa as

Manjushri, and Tsong‐Kha‐Pa recognized him as Vajrapani. When Tsong‐Kha‐Pa thought of going to India, Vajrapani advised against it, not only because of the difficulties involved in such a journey, but also because Tsong‐Kha‐Pa, with his mystic powers, would be

of greater service by remaining in Tibet. He did so and used the time he would otherwise have spent in travels to write his great lam‐rim treatise, the Great Exposition on the Stages of the Path.

Tsong‐Kha‐Pa took the spirit of Nagarjunaʹs dialectic and applied it to Atishaʹs teaching (which he felt expressed the methodology of Buddha) to create the lam‐rim teachings. A vision in which Maitreya appeared confirmed his intuition. Beginning with Guru Yoga as the basis for all spiritual growth and advancement, he explained the

TSONG‐KHA‐PA 185

path to Enlightenment in terms of gradual stages and progressive awakenings. Such a conception, which subordinates the radical methods of insight of the Vajrayana, requires a balanced

development of the whole individual and places meditation on the

foundation of morality. Integral to this approach – a fusion of doctrine and method, theory and practice – is a strict understanding of the disciplinary rules for monks. Where self‐mastery through self‐restraint is ignored, attempts to deepen insight are rapidly inverted or distorted into psychic excesses. The growth of the whole being towards the Bodhisattva goal requires a dedication to self-control in thought, feeling, word and deed. When he completed this Exposition, Sarasvati approved it and Manjushri told him that he need not seek advice on the nature of reality, since his own powers of insight – prajna – were sufficient for any task. Shortly thereafter, Tsong‐Kha‐Pa entered into a full understanding of shunyata.

By the time he was forty Tsong‐Kha‐Pa was ready to devote all his time to teaching. He visited the monastic centres of various orders and taught every form of Buddhist practice. Having mastered all doctrines and practices, he was able to insert his reform into each of the orders without giving offence or generating resistance. Everyone wanted to claim him as their own because he

was the unexcelled master of every discipline and he backed his words by his own conduct – the quintessence of the method of upaya, skilful means. In 1409 he realized one expression of his religious reform by inaugurating the Great Prayer Festival at Lhasa in which eight thousand monks participated. The twenty‐one‐day event, which draws all the orders together, continues even at present in Dharamsala under the auspices of the Dalai Lama. When

the festival ended, Tsong‐Kha‐Pa decided to remain in one place and chose Dongri (Nomad Mountain) as the site for the monastery.

Called Ganden, the Tibetan word for Tushita, the celestial abode of Maitreya, its construction was placed in the hands of Gendun Drub, who would posthumously become the First Dalai Lama.

During his last years Tsong‐Kha‐Pa composed many valuable

commentaries on various texts while continuing his teaching. In

186 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II 1419 he was invited to Drepung Monastery, where he taught the most advanced disciples. One day he halted his discourse halfway

through a text, saying that he would continue another time.

Everyone present knew the significance of this act: to stop midway through a cycle of teachings indicated the intention of resuming the discourse with those who were worthy in a future incarnation. He

returned to Ganden and left it again only to consecrate the ground for Sera Monastery. At the age of sixty‐two he gathered his chief disciples together, gave his last instructions, assumed the lotus posture, passed into high meditative states and ceased to breathe.

After his funeral he appeared to various disciples a number of times. Even his closest disciples found it hard to believe that such a Great Teacher had lived in their midst. He seemed to have spent his whole life writing, so numerous were his treatises. But it also seemed that he devoted himself exclusively to meditation, so constant was his practice. Yet he spent his life in almost ceaseless discourse to monks and disciples. He had done the work of three exceptional men at one time, even if his most arcane activities are left out of account.

Unlike many other teachers, Tsong‐Kha‐Pa did not offer his own

life as an example to be emulated, for no one could hope to do so.

Nonetheless, he spoke of his life in terms of the various stages of study, practice and attainment he had experienced, thus showing others what can be done and enjoining them to take what they can

use. Advising his disciples to ʺseek transcendence first of allʺ, he wrote in The Three Principles of the Path:

By constant meditation, your mind will let go

Of desires even for lifeʹs successes,

And your aim, day and night, will be

emancipation.

Transcendence without bodhichitta

Cannot yield the supreme bliss

Of unexcelled Enlightenment.

Therefore the Bodhisattva conceives supreme

bodhichitta.

TSONG‐KHA‐PA 187

Warning that efforts at transcendence can easily get off track because residues of ignorance, selfishness and preconception plague the aspirant at every stage, Tsong‐Kha‐Pa set forth the inner spirit of the Middle Way:

Appearance as inevitably relative

And shunyata as free of assertions –

When these are understood as separate,

Buddhaʹs intent remains unknown.

When they are simultaneous and not altered,

The mere sight of relativity

Becomes sure knowledge free of objective habits. . . .

While appearance eradicates absolutism,

Shunyata eliminates nihilism,

And you know shunyata manifest as causality,

And are freed from extremes in views.

Tsong‐Kha‐Pa held that an individual was supremely privileged

to have gained a human form, from which alone the path to Enlightenment can be entered. But that form has to be made ideally receptive to spiritual growth, and this requires the cultivation of a fundamental ethical sensitivity which is accurately translated into moral practice. In addition, one has to take a positive line of action regarding oneʹs karmic inheritance through self‐purification and the restoration of vows broken in this and in previous lives. One needs to meditate upon suffering as the universal human condition – but not in terms of oneʹs own dissatisfactions and delusions – so that one can come to understand whatever happens to oneself in light of the whole of humanity.

All these disciplines, which are taken up together and deepened

by stages, have as their pivot bodhichitta, the seed of Enlightenment manifest as altruism.

Ever enhancing your enlightened motive of bodhichitta is the mainstay of the path of the supreme yana. It is the basis and foundation for the great tide of altruistic conduct. Like an elixir which produces gold, it turns everything into the two treasures of

188 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II merit and insight, forming a storehouse of merit gleaned from infinitely collected virtues. Knowing this, the Bodhisattvas have held this supremely precious bodhichitta as their innermost mental bond.

Cultivation of the paramitas and meditation conjoined with one-pointedness, when connected by a rigorous dialectical logic, can cut the grip of Samsara. The unpractised, however, will marvel at the possibility of a total fusion of complete mental tranquillity and unlimited spiritual insight, but nothing less will be successful.

Having reached this union, meditate on the shunyata of empty space while absorbed in one‐pointed meditation, and meditate on the shunyata of illusion when in the world. By doing this, your union of method and insight will be perfecting the conduct of the Bodhisattvas. They have made it their custom never to be content with partial paths.

Tsong‐Kha‐Pa was aware of the myriad ways in which one may

drift away from balanced practice. In his Letter of Practical Advice on Sutra and Tantra, he warned a disciple and friend:

Suppose we were to take as our foundation the self‐deception of

having only a partial and intellectual understanding of the stages of the path and then heard, thought and meditated on this basis. . .

. Despite our noble claims, I think the way our mind will probably have been working will have been nothing other than aiming for

benefits in this life, or for certain pleasurable results of cyclic existence to which we have given the name ʹEmancipationʹ, or for

some partial end for ourselves which is not Enlightenment at all.

Tsong‐Kha‐Pa dared to see why the path to Enlightenment is trodden by so few, and he knew that even after the kaleidoscopic distractions and self‐rationalizing temptations of the world have been firmly set aside, the difficulties of the path only begin to manifest themselves. He knew in exact detail every possible pitfall along the way, and yet he was not for an instant discouraged, either for himself or in respect to humanity. He was firm in his faith that any and every human being could attain Enlightenment if only

TSONG‐KHA‐PA 189

motive, persistence and renunciation of expectation were

combined. This indescribably noble and profound conviction was as natural to him as breathing, and it is why he is considered to be Tibetʹs greatest Bodhisattva.

When Tsong‐Kha‐Pa and Rendawa first met, they became at once

intimate spiritual friends. Rendawaʹs pure response to Tsong‐Kha-Pa has become the mantram by which his blessing is sought by the sincere aspirant and devotee:

Avalokiteshvara, mighty treasure of immaculate love,

Manjushri, lord of stainless knowledge,

Vajrapani, destroyer of the demonic host,

O Je Tsong‐Kha‐Pa, Losang Drakpa,

Crown jewel of the sages of the Land of Snow,

Humbly I request your blessing.

Hermes, July 1986

Elton Hall

THE FIRST PANCHEN LAMA

I bow down to Prince Shakyamuni, all‐knowing,

God of gods, who drew the great ones to follow him,

Who subdued the inner and outer demons four

And gathered to the utmost merit and wisdom. . . .

I bow down to him who, conquering darkness

By unfathomable wonderful marvels,

Led innumerable beings to the heights of Man or God.

To emancipation and the path of perfect Buddhahood.

I dedicate all merit accumulated by expressing

The merest atom of these wondrous deeds

From the jewel mountain of the Teacher ʹ s knowledge,

That I might gain omniscience for the benefit of all.

The Tathagata ʹ s form,

His attendants, life and sphere,

And his extraordinary marks –

These attributes may I and others attain.

Since the Teacher visited this world,

His Teachings illumine like the solar rays.

By brotherly accord between disciples of the Teaching.

May there be good fortune that the Teaching remain long.

The First Panchen Lama

Tsong‐Kha‐Paʹs immense visible and invisible reforms cannot readily be classified as social, political or religious. Whilst he vowed to rejuvenate Buddhaʹs Teaching in Tibet, he initiated a mission for the spiritual regeneration of all humanity. Its mysterious force has reverberated through seven centuries, culminating in the present.

THE FIRST PANCHEN LAMA 191

The dynamics of his universal vision and the efforts made by lineages of adeptic Teachers to translate it into practice cannot be encompassed by what is ordinarily called history. For Tibetans and many others who sense the living presence of wise beings in the affairs of humanity, the chain of Teachers and Guides passes beyond the world of the five senses into invisible realms accessible only to spiritual vision. Tsong‐Kha‐Pa himself is held by many to be an incarnation of Sangyas, Shakyamuni Buddha, a manifesting aspect of Amitabha, supreme spiritual intelligence.

From the beginning of Tsong‐Kha‐Paʹs work his reforms had spiritual, ethical, social and political ramifications. By founding the great monasteries – Ganden, Sera and Drepung – in the vicinity of Lhasa, he made it the focus of a unified Tibet. When his disciple Gedun Truppa founded Tashilhunpo near Shigatse, the whole of central Tibet came under Gelukpa influence. Yet just as the religious reforms of Tsong‐Kha‐Pa slowly suffused all Tibetan orders over time, so their social and political analogues gradually spread throughout Tibetan culture. Although Sonam Gyatso, the Third Dalai Lama and the first recognized by that title, consolidated the political structure of Gelukpa reform, it was only Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, the ʹGreat Fifthʹ, who secured it firmly. His brilliant statesmanship and remarkable intellect reveal him as a ruler of almost superhuman capacities, but he was equally a monk

of luminous spirituality who took upon himself the responsibility of transmitting tantalizing intimations of the work inaugurated by Tsong‐Kha‐Pa. It was the Great Fifth who initiated the line of Panchen Lamas.

Gedun Truppa, who would later be called the First Dalai Lama, looked after Gelukpa affairs from Tashilhunpo, which was founded

in AD. 1447. Gedun Gyatso, the Second Dalai Lama, served in succession as abbot of Drepung, Tashilhunpo and Sera monasteries.

Sonam Gyatso, the Third Dalai Lama, travelled as far as Mongolia

to spread Gelukpa reforms. Yonten Gyatso, the ‐Fourth Dalai Lama, was the Mongolian great‐grandson of Altan Khan and ruled from Drepung. By the time the Fifth Dalai Lama ascended the sacred

192 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II throne, Tibetans recognized him as the fourth reincarnation of the original Dalai Lama. But they must have realized much more, for when he ventured to acknowledge that he and his predecessors were incarnations of Chenrezi (Padmapani or Avalokiteshvara), he

was accepted as such with enthusiasm. Perhaps because of the faithful and joyous response he received, he felt free to release a terma, a hidden text, which showed that his teacher, Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen, the abbot of Tashilhunpo, was the latest in a succession of incarnations going back to Khetrup, a great disciple of Tsong‐Kha‐Pa. These incarnations, the terma showed, were aspects of Amitabha, the Buddha of Infinite Light. From this standpoint, Amitabha blesses and renovates the world through three great lines

– that of Buddha and Tsong‐Kha‐Pa, that of Avalokiteshvara through the Dalai Lamas, and that represented by the Panchen Lamas who reside at Tashilhunpo.

Traditional accounts of lives of the Panchen Lamas are complex,

arcane and relatively inaccessible, especially in English. Scholars have attempted to explain the relationship between the Dalai Lamas and the Panchen Lamas without meditating upon the idea of

spiritual hierarchies, concepts of individuality which have no reference to empirical dimensions of personality, or upon the nature of compassion and universal causation. All of these are inextricably involved in the idea of voluntary reincarnation and commitment to a particular kind of selfless sacrifice over lifetimes.

Opinions as to which of the two Lamas is the higher incarnation, the more spiritual, the more senior, or any other such comparisons, cannot be more than ignorant and, at best, irreverent speculation.

Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen was born in the region of Tsang in the

Iron Horse year, 1570, half a century before the birth of the Fifth Dalai Lama. When he was a young monk, the Third Dalai Lama died and his reincarnation, the Fourth, was discovered in Mongolia.

Whilst the Fourth Dalai Lama strengthened Tibetan‐Mongolian relations and laboured to secure Gelukpa authority throughout the land, Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen studied and sought to exemplify the spiritual orientation indicated by Tsong‐Kha‐Pa, combining

THE FIRST PANCHEN LAMA 193

meditation and ethics in a synthesis of the sutras and tantras. After the Fourth Dalai Lama died in 1616, it took only a year to find his reincarnation, the Great Fifth, and Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen, now senior in the Gelukpa Order, became his teacher. The profound mutual respect which arose between them is shown in the effects the teacherʹs instruction had on his disciple and the high honours the student bestowed on his former teacher. When the Fifth Dalai Lama built the Potala in Lhasa and settled there, the First Panchen Lama remained in Tashilhunpo, which was refurbished for his work. Between them, Tibet received a powerful spiritual and temporal guidance that kept the lineages strong for three centuries.

When Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen died in 1662, the Water Tiger year, the Fifth Dalai Lama saw that he was interred with great ceremony, and he personally supervised the search for his reincarnation. The Second Panchen Lama, born a year later, was educated by the Dalai Lama. Since that time the elder of the two Lamas has been the teacher of the younger.

Despite the onerous burdens of looking after the welfare of the Gelukpa Order, encouraging reforms in the other orders, managing

the extensive holdings of Tashilhunpo and seeing to the welfare of its lay citizens, as well as serving the Great Fifth as teacher and acting as a ruler in his own right, the First Panchen Lama sought to provide Gelukpa monks with the quintessence of Buddhadharma as formulated in the sutras and in the writings of Tsong‐Kha‐Pa. His writings reveal a profound experiential understanding of

meditation and an equally deep insight into its pervasive connection with every arena of waking life. He wrote poems, each

of which encapsulates some aspect of Buddhaʹs Teaching in vivid, memorable form whilst intimating arcane meanings to the sensitive and receptive disciple. He also wrote synoptic texts which allowed monks to grasp the architectonics of the sutras and tantras even while threading their way through essential details of theory and practice. In his writings the First Panchen Lama emerges as a consummate teacher and guide in the spiritual quest.

194 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II There is a story, found in the Damamurkhanama Sutra in the Tibetan Kangyur, which tells of Buddhaʹs confrontation with six Indian pandits. So vast was their learning that when they taught what they knew, their discourses took the form of seemingly miraculous phenomena. Buddha, in response, raised dialectic to alchemy and replied with magic. In his poem on Buddhaʹs fifteen-day response, the First Panchen Lama showed the nature of this magic rising to the highest spiritual degree, passing beyond phenomena as ordinarily conceived. On the first day Buddha placed a tiny stick into the ground which grew into a wish‐fulfilling tree, satiating the desires of men and gods. On the second day he caused jewel mountains to rise up around the place where he was

sitting, and they burgeoned with succulent foods for humans and cattle. The third day witnessed a change in Buddhaʹs reply: rather than satisfy desires rooted in the senses, he formed a lake ʺon which bloomed lotuses of laughing, radiant lightʺ. And the next day he manifested a pool from which eight streams flowed in a circular path, creating sounds which emitted the doctrine of the three vehicles

–

Shravakayana,

Pratyekabuddhayana

and

Bodhisattvayana.

Having gained the enraptured attention of every mind present, Buddha again changed the level at which he manifested marvels.

On the fifth day Buddha allowed his smiling countenance to radiate a golden light which suffused the three thousand worlds, purifying those far from Enlightenment and giving them a foretaste of samadhi. On the sixth he granted them the power of faith by enabling them to read one anotherʹs minds and to see clearly their own dark and pure thoughts, making it possible on the seventh day for each individual present to experience existence as would a universal sovereign in possession of the seven magical jewels. And on the eighth day he completed this dimension of his Teaching by

sending forth Vajrapani and five demons, who subdued the six pandits and freed their followers. Beginning with the ninth day he disclosed something of his own nature – that realization towards which all beings strive – by expanding his form to the limits marked by the heaven of Brahmā and manifesting all the virtues of

THE FIRST PANCHEN LAMA 195

Nirvana and Samsara within it. And on the tenth day the luminosity of his form encompassed Samsara, forming a cloud from which a rain of happiness showered on all beings.

Buddha remained unmanifest on the eleventh day, but he

expounded the Dharma with the voice of Sarasvati. Then,

meditating on love throughout the twelfth day, he caused all beings to love one another as parents love their children. On the thirteenth day two rays of light emanated from his navel, and at the end of each was a Buddha from whose navel came forth more rays of light.

This pattern repeated until the whole universe was filled with Buddhas of light. He took flowers offered by Udrayana on the fourteenth day and transformed them into bejewelled chariots which graced the three worlds. Then, on the fifteenth day, he shared the ambrosia of the gods with all beings and radiated from his fingertips streams of golden light which brought joy to beings in even the lowest hells. In his poem the First Panchen Lama characterized each day of marvels in such a way that the intuitive disciple can see each as a mystical stage on the path to Enlightenment and the Bodhisattva quest. Such Teaching, he warned, remains accessible only so long as it is followed in a spirit of universal brotherhood.

Two monks known for their persistent spiritual striving

petitioned the First Panchen Lama to write an introductory text to mahamudra practice. Mahamudra, sometimes called the Great Seal of Voidness, constitutes the fulcrum of Tsong‐Kha‐Paʹs teaching and is essential to an understanding of Mahayana and Vajrayana thought.

The First Panchen Lama provided an overview of its nature and complexity in a short treatise, where, having made obeisance to mahamudra itself and to his guru, he defined mahamudra as ʺthe all-pervasive nature of all things, the indistinguishable single nature of both objects of the Void and of the Void itselfʺ. Rather than restate the available written accounts of mahamudra, he combined the essentials of the sutra and tantra doctrines of mahamudra with the oral transmissions of Gelukpa and Kagyupa teachings.

196 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II In order to enter the gateway and framework of Buddhaʹs

Teachings in general, and specifically those of the Mahayana, it is essential for you to take refuge and develop an enlightened attitude of bodhichitta sincerely from your heart, not merely from your mouth.

Since realization of shunyata, the Void, depends both upon merit and the removal of obstacles, one may prepare oneself through prostrations and mantramic invocations. (Both Marpa and Tsong-Kha‐Pa followed this practice before the thirty‐five Buddhas.)

Then you must make repeated heartfelt requests to your root guru, whom you recognize as inseparable from the Buddhas of the past, present and future, to be able to realize shunyata.

Although one may approach the mahamudra teaching in many ways, these can all be placed under two heads – sutras and tantras.

To follow the tantra system, one must successfully complete the difficult task of concentrating attention on the nadis or psycho-spiritual energy channels in oneʹs vajra or diamond body, focussing on the central nadi. This can only be done under the direct guidance of a qualified teacher, and, when successful, it leads to the attainment of the clear light of shunyata, approached only through anuttara yoga, the controlled exercise of the highest purified consciousness. Such a method requires degrees of knowledge, access to a teacher and levels of self‐control beyond the resources of most individuals. The First Panchen Lama therefore turned to the sutra method, which is within the reach of everyone. According to him, Nagarjuna held that outside these two approaches, there is no way that leads to Enlightenment.

The sutra method involves meditating upon shunyata in ways prescribed in the Prajnaparamita Sutras and expounded by an unbroken line of gurus. Their teachings involve methods of meditation which have received a variety of names, among them ʹsimultaneous production and unionʹ, ʹthe four lettersʹ and ʹthe great encompassmentʹ. In ʹthe joined amulet boxʹ, meditation involves combining bliss, ananda, and the Void, shunyata, like the two halves

THE FIRST PANCHEN LAMA 197

of a closed amulet box. The ʹsix equal tastesʹ method involves transforming six generally adverse conditions into modalities of wisdom. The six adverse conditions are distorted conceptions, moral defilements and mental delusions, sickness, harm from gods

and spirits, suffering, and death. Transformation of distorted conceptions, for instance, involves altering whatever one hears into a mantra, whatever one sees into a deity worthy of meditation and so on. The ʹprofound Madhyamika theoryʹ is the method devised by

Tsong‐Kha‐Pa and based on the teachings of Nagarjuna. Whilst these oral instructions bear different names, a yogin experienced in meditation will readily see that they are complementary and aim at a full understanding of shunyata.

Whichever approach one might adopt, there are two general ways to practise mahamudra. The first begins with a preliminary understanding of the conception of shunyata and then seeks one-pointed concentration upon that understanding. The second

reverses the order, beginning with tranquil one‐pointedness of concentration and using it to strive for an understanding of shunyata. In this, one should select a suitable place reserved for meditation and settle in a comfortable but erect posture, the lotus position being preferred. The grossest irrelevant thoughts can be dispelled with a few breathing exercises. When dull states of mind have been put aside and clarity remains, one takes refuge in the thought of bodhichitta with a pure motive. Then one should meditate upon the guru, and with intense devotion imagine the guru dissolving into oneself. Now one is ready to concentrate on a wholly unstructured and undetermined state of mind.

This is a state of mind devoid of any preconceptions, doubts, wishes or aspirations for either temporary or ultimate purposes concerning past or future. This does not mean, however, that you

should cease all conscious attention as if you were asleep or in a swoon. Rather, you should fix your unwavering memory firmly on the task of watching your mind from a distance and keep yourself constantly prepared with mental alertness to sense any mental wandering.

198 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II When equilibrium has been achieved, one can turn oneʹs

attention to the nature of mind itself as an impermanent phenomenon which is capable of clear and valid knowledge. Now

attention should be ʹtightenedʹ, and one should try to see the bare nature of the mind with stark clarity. If extraneous thoughts arise, one should either recognize them for what they are or cut them off as soon as they appear. With the mind focussed and clear, one should maintain meditation in a relaxed manner without letting memory slacken.

Another method of settling the mind is not to block whatever extraneous thoughts arise, but to concentrate on the nature of the train of thought that has arisen and try to comprehend it. What happens is like the example of a caged pigeon released from a ship in mid‐ocean. As the scripture says, ʹA bird that has flown from a ship in mid‐ocean, after flying here and there, must inevitably land back on the ship from which it left.ʹ

This practice of meditation, undertaken with patience and

persistence, brings the mind to a state of clarity without obstruction or predisposition.

Although this state of mind lacks any form or structure, and in

this way is as bare as space, yet it is precisely on this mind, as on a mirror, that whatever arises to consciousness appears vividly.

Although you can behold this nature of the mind most obviously,

you can never hold onto or point to any particular thing as ʹmy mindʹ.

The First Panchen Lama notes that most meditators claim that, having attained this stage, one can now realize whatever oneʹs mind turns to, and that this is henceforth an easy path to Enlightenment. He suggests, however, that at this stage one has merely settled the mind, and he then goes on to expound the oral teachings of his own root guru.

From the stance of one‐pointed, clear consciousness, one should,

ʺlike a small fish swimming through clear undisturbed waterʺ, explore the identity of the meditator. Who is this meditator? One

THE FIRST PANCHEN LAMA 199

will find that it is not the gross or subtle matter of the body, not the space it occupies and not consciousness. Given this, one will realize that the person who is ordinarily said to exist is only a label in the realm of the senses. Seeing that one has no ultimate or independent existence, one should proceed to meditate on that discovery. ʺIn this way you cultivate the placement of one‐pointed concentration on shunyata which is like space.ʺ Now one should concentrate on the stream of continuous clarity which is the mind until one realizes that this continuity is not a thing or particular existence but a modality beyond the ordinary categories of existence. This is the beginning of the dawning of shunyata. If one can concentrate one-pointedly on that, one will have achieved a wondrous feat.

When the period of meditation is over, one should return to the

world of the senses systematically. First of all, one should dedicate the virtue gained from meditation to attaining Enlightenment for the sake of all beings. Secondly, one should closely examine the objects of sense which come to hand so that one will see their bare mode of existence. Thus one will see that they are not what they appear to be and should not be grasped. By nurturing

understanding in this way, one can begin to realize that all things in Samsara and Nirvana share a single ultimate nature – shunyata.

Thus in your formal meditation session, when you concentrate

one‐pointedly on shunyata according to proper methods, you will become convinced that all things in Samsara and Nirvana, whether validly existent or not, are void of independent existence, which is only a mental fabrication. Moreover, when you rise from your meditation session and make further analysis of things, you will then be able to witness the unmistakable operation of independent origination based merely on the way the mind labels things. In this way things will naturally appear to you as similar to dreams and hallucinations, like mirages and the reflection of the moon in water.

The First Panchen Lama wrote such works to bring sincere disciples in line with Buddhadharma and the Bodhisattva Path. By respecting tradition while subtly pointing to the distinctions

200 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II between belief and knowledge, ritual and effort, venerable tradition and direct experience, he sought to purify the ascendant Gelukpa Order and alchemize every aspect of transmission of eternal wisdom. The tone he set has reverberated throughout Tibet until the present day.

Hermes, September 1986

Elton Hall

TARANATHA

Long ago, in an age before which there was nothing else, the Jina, the Tathagata Dundubhishvara [some say Amoghasiddhi] came into existence and was known as the Light of the Various Worlds. The princess Jnanachandra, ʹMoon of Wisdomʹ, had the highest reverence for his Teaching, and for ten million and one hundred thousand years she made offerings to this Enlightened One, to his shravakas and to the countless host of the Sangha of Bodhisattvas. . .

. Finally, after all this, she awoke to the initial steps of bodhichitta.

At that time some monks said to her, ʺIt is as a result of these, your roots of virtuous actions, that you have come into being in this female form. If you pray that your deeds accord with the Teaching, then surely you will change your form to that of a man, as is befitting.ʺ

After much discourse, she replied, ʺIn this life there is no such distinction as ʹmaleʹ and ʹfemaleʹ, neither of ʹself‐identityʹ, ʹpersonʹ

nor any perception of such, and so attachment to ʹmaleʹ and ʹfemaleʹ

is quite worthless. . . . Therefore may I, in a female form, work for the welfare of beings right until Samsara has emptied.ʺ. . . Then the Tathagata Dundubhishvara prophesied, ʺAs long as you can possibly continue to manifest such supreme bodhi, you will be exclusively known as Goddess Tara.ʺ

Taranatha

The Origin of the Tara Tantra

The Teachings of Buddha entered Mongolia long before they influenced Tibet. Travelling along the silk and trade routes through Kashmir and Afghanistan, crossing the great northern deserts and following the sea lanes of Southeast Asia into China and then westward, a rich variety of Buddhist views vitalized Mongolian culture. During the period of Tibetan unity under Buddhist kings, however, the foundations of Tibetan Buddhist orders were firmly

202 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II established, and the resurgence of Buddhadharma inspired by the succession of remarkable teachers from Shantarakshita to Tsong-Kha‐Pa gradually gave the orders temporal responsibility to match their spiritual authority. From the thirteenth century the Mongol political rule in Tibet grew, whilst the Tibetan Buddhist orders undertook the spiritual guidance of Mongolia. The great Mongol emperor Kublai Khan, who founded the Yüan Dynasty as Chinaʹs first Mongol emperor, gave the rulership of Tibet to the Sakyapa Order.

Tsong‐Kha‐Pa, the founder of the Gelukpa or ʹSchool of the Virtuousʹ Order in Tibet, reformed Buddhist practice and purified the Teachings from centuries of superstitious dross and diverse accretions. Having established Ganden Monastery near Lhasa in A.D. 1408, over the next fifty years his disciples founded Drepung and Sera monasteries, also in the Lhasa region, and mysterious Tashilhumpo in Tsang. Tashilhumpoʹs first spiritual head would come to be known as the First Dalai Lama. After the death of Bu-ston in 1364, Sakyapa influence was eroded by internal difficulties, and even as the Mongolians withdrew their favour, Gelukpa monks

extended their teaching missions into Mongolia and secured the confidence of its rulers. Altan Khan, King of Thumed Mongolia, met the Third Dalai Lama and immediately became convinced that

the spiritual head of the Gelukpas was a reincarnation of Phagpa, the remarkable Sakya head who had instructed Kublai Khan two centuries earlier. Since Altan Khan saw himself as Kublai reborn, he readily declared the Gelukpa abbot as Talé (Dalai) – one whose wisdom is as vast as the ocean – and placed the government of Tibet in his hands.

Although the Gelukpas enjoyed the patronage and protection of

the most important Mongolian ruler, different orders sought protection from various clans that constituted a ceaselessly changing Mongol confederacy. Early in the fourteenth century, a Tibetan with the Sanskrit name of Digvijayi broke with Sakyapa tradition and founded a new order in Jonan, about a hundred miles northwest of Tashilhumpo. These Jonanpas, close to the Sakyapas

TARANATHA 203

in doctrine but equally close to the Gelukpas in spiritual practice, eventually allied themselves with the Chogthu Mongols of

Kokonor, established a great monastery known as the Perfect and Eternally Firm Island and built a printing press. They produced a number of excellent scholars, the greatest of whom was Taranatha.

Shortly after Taranathaʹs death, however, the Chogthu patron was assassinated by Gushri Khan, a Qoshot Mongol, in 1642. The Fifth Dalai Lama, known to history as the ʹGreat Fifthʹ, was profoundly aware of the necessity of uniting Tibet politically and spiritually if its integrity was to prove a bastion for the Buddhist tradition. He was distressed by the divisiveness inherent in Chogthu patronage of the Jonanpas, and though he did not act so long as Taranatha lived, he subsequently took the occasion of Chogthu reversals to absorb the Jonan monasteries into the Gelukpa Order. Thus the Jonanpas disappeared as a distinct order, but the historical writings of Taranatha were preserved and venerated under Gelukpa

auspices.

Almost nothing is known about the life of Taranatha. Although he wrote a spiritual autobiography which has survived, it is so rich in metaphorical and symbolic language that no scholar has yet felt competent to render it in a foreign tongue. For Taranatha, the so-called empirical facts of everyday life are nothing more than a veil cast across noumenal realities and arcane causality. Though they might provide sufficient hints and intimations for one with some spiritual insight to read them aright, they mislead the ignorant and unwary. Life as ordinarily lived and understood is a diversion and delusion, for the workings of karma and the significance of events can be understood only on the plane of the purified mind illumined by bodhichitta, the seed of Enlightenment. Born in 1575 , Taranatha entered the Jonanpa monastic community at Jonan, where he emerged as a lama of exceptional insight and brilliance whose interests covered every aspect of Buddhist tradition. His

unconditional love of Buddha effortlessly overflowed as

unqualified reverence for the Dharma and deep respect for the Sangha. For Taranatha, the Three Jewels constituted a noumenal unity, every aspect of which deserved the fullest attention. Though

204 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II he became the most famous scholar of his day and the beacon light of the Jonanpa Order, he was also Tibetʹs greatest historian and one of its chief exponents of esoteric wisdom.

Taranatha became the student of Buddhagupta, an Indian teacher

who travelled extensively in the subcontinent before coming to Tibet. Taranatha seized every opportunity to assimilate

Buddhaguptaʹs knowledge of the history of the Buddhist tradition in India and to learn many stories of particular teachers and monastic centres. Taranatha studied the Buddhist scriptures and all the major commentaries on them and then wrote commentaries of his own which demonstrated a thorough grasp of diverse points of

view, including the distinctive Jonan standpoint. He was drawn to the mysterious Kalachakra philosophy, upon which Tsong‐Kha‐Pa had based much of his own teaching, because it intimates the secret causality and continuity behind the play of events and succession of states of consciousness. The exceptional care Taranatha took in distinguishing and tracing the various lineages associated with the siddhas – men of knowledge, insight and power who transmitted the spiritual heart of Buddhadharma in the form of tantra – revealed a remarkable sensitivity to the delicate refinement and unbreached secrecy required to assure an unsullied continuity of oral teaching.

His histories sought to demonstrate the spiritual vitality and essential unity of Buddhist tradition within various currents distinguished by philosophical perspectives, ritual modes and organizational structures.

Even without knowing the details of Taranathaʹs life, it is clear that he was much more than a scholar. The quality of his insights into philosophical and historical issues shows that he practised the system he described. At the same time, he was active in the affairs of his order, personally seeing to the renovation of at least two temples in his district. Late in life he journeyed to Mongolia, where he taught and worked. He remained in Urga, the region of ancient

Mongolia known for its mysterious manuscripts and centres, where

tradition holds that he died sometime before the middle of the seventeenth century. His remains were eventually interred in a

TARANATHA 205

silver chorten in a temple at Dzingji, east of Lhasa, where they remained at least until 1949. Taranatha so deeply influenced the Mongolian Buddhist community that he is believed to reincarnate in Jetsun Dampa, the reincarnating lama of Urga.

The Jonan Order to which Taranatha belonged was similar to the

Kagyupas and the Gelukpas but was known for its distinctive view

of shunyata, the Void. All the orders agreed that shunyata refers to the voidness of all phenomena, the fact that no phenomenon has any independent reality or existence. This standpoint is the natural complement of Buddhaʹs doctrine of dependent origination, in which each individual, thing, quality and event is seen as dependent upon something else for its existence. In the fourteenth century the venerable founder of the Jonanpa tradition, Digvijayi, enunciated a doctrine of a second shunyata, He argued that in addition to what might be called ordinary shunyata, which is merely the absence of qualities and inherent nature, there is an absolute voidness, utterly unqualified and indescribable, which is reality in itself. This view, akin to that suggested in The Voice of the Silence in the phrase ʺthe fullness of the seeming voidʺ, could be traced through antecedents to Nagarjuna and beyond. But it was generally shunned in Tibet because it seemed close to Tirthika perspectives, especially as found amongst some philosophical Hindus.

Nonetheless, Tibetan schools recognized that the Jonan teaching, though unorthodox, was defensible and could not be declared outright heretical. Tsong‐Kha‐Pa, who had studied under a

renowned Jonan teacher, understood the Jonan standpoint

completely. Intriguingly, despite his myriad refutations of biased, partial and inadequate views, he never once raised his voice against the Jonan view of shunyata. Rather, he remained completely silent regarding it. The speculation of some later scholars that the Fifth Dalai Lama absorbed the Jonan Order into the Gelukpa school in order to abolish its supposedly heretical doctrines seems unlikely.

Political turmoil and the need to unify Tibet under a strong spiritual and temporal authority more likely dictated the decision.

Taranatha, the last distinguished Jonanpa, was honoured by the Gelukpa Order and his works were carefully saved for posterity

206 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II after the close of the Jonan press. Thus, his name was entered in the roll of illustrious Tibetans who sought to uphold Buddhadharma in trans‐Himalayan Asia.

Taranatha did not compose histories out of curiosity about the past. He thought that historiography was a mode of meditation upon the inner meanings of events and the Teachings of Buddha.

Just as an individual, if he intends to understand his own life, must examine himself dispassionately from the standpoint of the soul, so too the history of the Dharma and the Sangha could illumine the essential core of Buddhaʹs Enlightenment, the path to it and the pitfalls along the way, revealing the secret of its vitality in all circumstances.

Thus,

he

recorded

Buddhist

history

straightforwardly without presuming to sort out actual events from hagiographical embellishments. Where the account of some event seemed impossible under the circumstances, he noted the difficulty, and where different accounts conflicted, he pointed out the problems involved and occasionally suggested solutions. In

general, however, he let tradition speak for itself, since even legendary happenings can reveal profound meanings to those who

are able to meditate wisely upon them.

He wrote The Origin of the Tara Tantra in 1604 almost as a prelude to his monumental History of Buddhism in India. Tara is the active compassionate aspect of Avalokiteshvara Tradition teaches that when Avalokiteshvara shed a tear over the plight of humanity, it fell to earth and formed a crystalline lake. A lotus rose from its shimmering surface and opened to reveal Tara in its heart. The Chinese and Nepali wives of the first king of Tibet are believed to have been incarnations of Tara. The Chinese princess embodied Sitatara, the White Tara, who holds the opened lotus of purity eternal. When she is depicted with the Third Eye on her forehead and with eyes on her palms and feet, she is the Tara of the Seven Eyes. The Nepali princess was an incarnation of Syamatara, the Green Tara, the consort of Avalokiteshvara and holder of the closed blue lotus. Together they represent ceaseless divine compassion

TARANATHA 207

working by day and night to mitigate suffering and eventually to bring it to an end.

According to Taranatha, the Tathagata Dundubhishvara

conferred the name Tara on the princess Jnanachandra before the world appeared in its present recognizable form. In the subsequent aeon, named after the Tathagata Vibuddha, she subdued all of Kamadevaʹs

demons

and

received

from

the

Tathagata

Amoghasiddhi the names Saviouress, Mainstay, Swift One and Heroine. When in the era called All‐Pervading a monk named Radiant Pure Light became Avalokiteshvara, Tara was born from his heart. They descended together to earth in the form of a monkey and a demoness and created the ancestors of the Tibetan people. In the aeon called Vastly Good, Tara was reborn from the sky, and in the Asanka era the Buddhas collectively transformed themselves into Tara as supreme Mother. All of this happened before time began.

In the aeon which includes the present, Avalokiteshvara

stationed himself at the centre of the world on Potala Mountain, a secret mountain in South India, after which the palace of the Dalai Lamas in Lhasa is named. There Avalokiteshvara intoned the Tara

tantra and mantra in a form appropriate for each of the four yugas or ages. In Kali Yuga that intonation takes the form of a thousand Tara verses. Thus Tara fills all space with light from ʺthe space between her eyebrowsʺ whilst abiding in the heart of bodhi. When she saw Buddha and the Tathagata Akshobhya become one, she taught her

tantra to transcendental beings. Then, retiring to Potala Mountain, she gave this wisdom to the Bodhisattva Vajrapani, the guardian of Secret Teachings, who became King Indrabhuti of Oddiyana and created a Dharma Treasury of arcane wisdom. Tara tantra arose in

the world, however, about three centuries after Buddhaʹs

Parinirvana. Out of South India there appeared to various celestial beings the volumes of the great Avatamsaka Sutra. In confirmation of its spontaneous appearance and divine source, eight Mahatmas and

five hundred Yogachara adepts beheld Avalokiteshvara, Manjushri

– the Bodhisattva of Wisdom – and Maitreya, the Buddha to be.

208 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II From this celestial source all the divisions of the secret tantras arose.

Having given a tantalizingly enigmatic account of the

transmission of wisdom, Taranatha then tells a series of stories which illustrate the multiple guises under which Tara protects humanity.

A twelve‐year‐old girl was gathering flowers in the forest, when

Kuni, a fierce elephant, confronted her. He seized her in his trunk and threatened to crush her. Remembering Taraʹs name, the girl called upon her for help, and Tara at once restrained the elephant.

The elephant placed the girl on a stone outcropping and saluted her with his trunk. He took her to the local townʹs marketplace, council chambers and temple, and then circumambulated the palace. The king heard of this girl and her stock of merit and he took her as his queen.

Once at Vajrasana, an elderly lady constructed a Tara temple in which the Tara image faced outwards. When the temple was complete, the lady grieved because the image faced away from the

Mahabodhi shrine, thinking it inauspicious to do so. Suddenly the image spoke: ʺIf you are not happy about this, then I will look on the Mahabodhi shrine.ʺ At once the image looked around, and from

then on was known as ʹTara of the Turned Faceʹ.

Taranatha reminded his readers that Tara had encouraged

Nagarjuna to attain perfection, had protected Chandragomin on two occasions, and that she had told numerous others edifying tales and given assistance to many siddhas, including Tilopa and the disciples of Naropa. He refrained, however, from setting down the detailed teachings of the Tara tantra, for that belongs to the oral instruction passed from guru to chela. He nonetheless showed why a dedicated disciple should seek its eternal wisdom.

In 1608 Taranatha composed his History of Buddhism in India. He originally called it That Which Fulfils All Desires to indicate that it was no mere history but rather an auspicious undertaking.

Taranatha attempted to speak about every notable figure in the

TARANATHA 209

history of Buddhist tradition, but rather than writing a chronicle exclusively in terms of divergent and sometimes conflicting schools, he chose to treat the whole history in phases delineated by the reigns of famous kings, such as Ajatashatru, Ashoka, Kashyapa and Shila. When representative kings could not be found, he marked the passage of the centuries by the greatest teachers of the times –

Nagariuna, Aryadeva, Asanga, Dharmakirti, among others. Whilst recognizing differing movements, he preferred to delineate the flavour of a period to suggest distinctive phases of development.

He warned, however, that ʺeven the learned chroniclers and historians, when they came to discuss India, exhibited with their best efforts merely their poverty, like petty traders exhibiting their meagre stockʺ. Within this framework he deftly mingled putative fact with events which seemed miraculous. For Taranatha, the visible world of everyday life and the marvellous happenings associated with Arhats, Bodhisattvas, kings and abbots are mixed at every point. Since it is impossible to give out the true, secret history of spiritual events, the most useful alternative is to provide an account which can lead the contemplative aspirant towards real knowledge of the operation of eternal Truth in the ocean of Samsara.

Wherever Taranathaʹs sources can be examined or his work can be compared with other accounts, he has proven to be accurate. He seems to have had a carefully considered view of history which succumbed neither to a blind belief that Buddhadharma would prevail under some principle of historical inevitability, nor to a depressing conviction that the Good Law was doomed to be lost in

the world of men, He knew that the deeds of men and women – at

the levels of thought and meditation, will, feeling, word and act –

released Buddhaʹs Teaching in the world or obscured it. Yet he also recognized that there is an inner power to the Buddhavachana – the Word of Buddha – that no being in mortal form can stay. History is the vast field where the aspirant must struggle and come to terms with both forces, the one promising freedom and bliss beyond comprehension, the other degrading and destructive. For

Taranatha, the history of humanity is not simply an account of events, nor even a resume of changing economic and social

210 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II conditions overlaid with political motivation: true history is the story of inner heroism, the manifestation of that in humanity which is changeless, unfettered and ever striving to be spiritually free.

Jonan Taranatha, the last great representative of one of the sparkling streams of wisdom from which Tsong‐Kha‐Pa drank, saw

the voidness of the seeming full because he saw the fullness of the seeming void. For him, history is a magnificent tapestry woven of threads which shimmer with the noumenal light of bodhi, and embroidered with the lives of those who made heroic efforts to blazon forth that light for the world to behold.

Hermes, August 1986

Elton Hall

THE FIFTH DALAI LAMA

By the clear compassion of Maitreya,

May we reap the rich harvest of victory.

And cool the sufferings of karma and

delusions.

O Maitreya, Incomparable Lord,

This fortunate aeonʹs fifth Buddha,

Inspire me and every sentient being

With the touch of your arm of compassion.

In the presence of the Master,

Whose eyes blaze with light,

I kneel down, hands joined, and pray

That the promise of the Throne,

Like a carving in adamant,

May never perish,

And the fruit of reciting your mantra

May be experienced.

O Protector, you emancipate

From the worldʹs boundless sufferings.

I constantly seek refuge in you,

My able captain.

The Fifth Dalai Lama

Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, the Fifth Dalai Lama, was the first to

be known as the ʹGreatʹ. Whilst tremendous reverence was shown to all the Dalai Lamas throughout Tibetan history, he alone held that appellation until the Great Thirteenth, the immediate predecessor of the present Dalai Lama. And in circumstances that seem to echo the times of the Great Fifth, some Tibetans have begun

212 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II to speak of the Great Fourteenth. The Fifth Dalai Lamaʹs historical eminence is due to the exceptional insight, skill and discipline he brought to his reign, despite the peculiar and complex conditions in which he exercised his authority. He secured the smooth spiritual transmission of Tsong‐Kha‐Paʹs reforms and established a stable political foundation for Tibet which survived three centuries of invasion, duplicity and betrayal. He inspired in the Tibetan people a trust and confidence that has never wavered, a feat unmatched by priests, popes, kings or presidents elsewhere in the world.

When the ʹreligious kingsʹ ruled Tibet and the Teachings of Buddha poured into the Land of Snows from India and, to a lesser

extent, from China, there existed no monastic tradition. Beginning with Shantarakshita and Padmasambhava, monasteries were built but distinct orders did not emerge until much later. During this period there was a clear though not rigid distinction between political and spiritual authority. In retrospect, the persecution of Buddhadharma and its fledgling Tibetan institutions during the rule of King Lang Darma was disastrous. Whether Lang Darma really despised the Buddhist tradition, as many Tibetan histories aver, or whether he merely accommodated the Bonpa leanings of the

aristocracy to secure his throne, as some sources suggest, the consequences were tragic. Central kingship vanished in the ceaseless strife of kinglets and warlords, while monks were isolated in little (and sometimes clandestine) groups to continue as best they could. When the ʹsecond foundationʹ was established by Atisha and others, Tibet stood in great need of spiritual reform at a time when the Indian sources of renewal were exhausted and prone to corruption. The initial emergence of the Tibetan monastic orders provided continuity for the religious community, and Tsong‐Kha-Paʹs reforms consolidated the spiritual life of the country. The Fifth Dalai Lama seized the opportunities afforded by his time to unify Tibet politically.

By the time the Third Dalai Lama had received the title ʹDalaiʹ

from Altan Khan, Mongolian intervention in Tibet had become customary, since Tibet was a strategic piece in a complex game

THE FIFTH DALAI LAMA 213

played out between Mongolia and China. The Buddhist orders had

sought the patronage of local rulers and over time had been drawn into political intrigues. Once the Mongolian presence was firmly established, the orders sought to ally themselves with strong tribes amongst them. First the Sakyas dominated, and then the Karmapas

gathered strength even as the Third Dalai Lama won the support of Altan Khan. His reincarnation, the Fourth Dalai Lama, was Altan Khanʹs great grandson. Mongolian influence, however, centred in Kokonor and only sporadically extended west and south to Lhasa and beyond. With the help of the kings of Tsang, the Karmapas persecuted the Gelukpas, as did the Bonpas and other older orders on good terms with them. Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen, who would

become the First Panchen Lama, was enthroned as the abbot of Tashilhumpo in 1600. As the most prominent lama after the Dalai Lama, he looked after the daily affairs of the Gelukpa community in the south, whereas the Fourth Dalai Lama, who ruled from Drepung, gave much of his attention to northeastern Tibet and Mongolia.

After the Fourth Dalai Lama died in 1616, Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen supervised and confirmed the discovery of the Fifth Dalai Lama in 1617. Even during the reign of the Fourth Dalai Lama, the rulers of Tsang had attempted to exploit divisions amongst the Mongolian tribes and rivalries within the Tibetan Buddhist orders.

Now that the Dalai Lama was a child, they redoubled their efforts.

An attempt was made to assassinate him, and though he escaped, his mother was murdered. Lobsang Choekyi Gyaltsen protected his

young lord and inaugurated an intense programme of education.

He instructed the Dalai Lama in every aspect of the sutras and tantras and nurtured his inherent propensities for devotion and meditation. At the same time, he trained the Dalai Lama for rulership, showing by word and example that soaring spirituality and scrupulous ethical conduct are compatible with wise and effective leadership. By the time Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso

assumed the full powers of the office of Dalai Lama, he fully understood the potentials and precariousness of his position.

Knowing that every action would have enormous consequences for

214 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II good or ill, he reflected carefully and then moved boldly. Beginning with total trust and faith in his Teacher, he gave him supreme authority over the region around Tashilhumpo and turned his own

attention to resolving conflicts in Tibet as a whole.

Tsang rulers attacked Sera and Drepung, slaughtering hundreds

of monks, and handed over smaller monasteries to the Karmapas.

Knowing that he could not prevent such activities on his own, the Fifth Dalai Lama looked to the fragmented Mongols for assistance.

Part of his genius as a leader was revealed in his capacity to recognize the karma of leadership in others. He began quiet negotiations with Gushri Khan of the Qoshot Mongols, a man of uncommon political ability and genuine sympathy for Buddhist teaching and Gelukpa practice. Gushri Khan launched an effort to conquer the whole of Tibet, defeated the king of Tsang, killed the head of the Karmapa Order, subdued eastern Tibet and marched west to the Ladakh border. By 1642, when the Great Fifth was twenty‐five years old, Gushri Khan had brought the whole of Tibet under one ruler. To the surprise of many, but not of the Fifth Dalai Lama, Gushri handed over all spiritual and much temporal

authority to him. Retaining the title of Po‐Gyalpo, King of Tibet, he appointed a regent to work with the Dalai Lama, but he refrained from involving himself in the internal affairs of the reunified country save to assure its military protection.

The Fifth Dalai Lama embarked on a variety of activities to strengthen Tibet and the Buddhist tradition. He prompted the orders to enter the Gelukpa fold and induced the great orders to initiate those reforms which would acknowledge his spiritual authority, withdraw them from independent political alliances with external powers and restore their inner integrity. In doing so, he diffused the spirit of Tsong‐Kha‐Paʹs reforms throughout the orders, whilst honouring the traditions of each and protecting their spiritual independence. In 1645 he began the construction of the Potala, the great palace in Lhasa which is the seat of the Dalai Lamas. Choosing the site of the ancient palace of the great ʹreligious kingʹ Songtsen Gampo, he created an edifice which became one of

THE FIFTH DALAI LAMA 215

the architectural marvels of the world and the symbol of Tibetan unity. Naming it after the secret mountain abode of Chenrezi (Padmapani or Avalokiteshvara) in South India, he prepared the way for startling revelations. Meanwhile, he managed so delicately to balance his increase in authority with excellent relations with Gushri Khan and his regent that within a century even the title ʹKing of Tibetʹ had disappeared. Simultaneously, he cultivated warm relations with the new Manchu dynasty in China, thereby lessening threats from the east. When Gushri Khan died in 1655, the Fifth Dalai Lama deftly secured the right to appoint the Tibetan regents of the Mongol king of Tibet. He selected as regent his nephew Sangye Gyatso, a man of remarkable talents, and instructed him to complete a census of all monasteries and to revise the system of taxes and revenues. Sangye Gyatso also supervised the

continuing construction of the Potala, a task which took a total of forty‐four years.

Although Tsong‐Kha‐Pa had abolished the traditional principle of monastic continuity through hereditary succession of abbots when he enforced celibacy upon Gelukpa monks, the alternative principle of governance by reincarnated abbots had its own problems. Despite the overall secrecy which had veiled the doctrine of rule by reincarnation, the idea had become partly exoteric when Altan Khan saw in the Third Dalai Lama the reincarnation of the great Sakya Pandita. The Great Fifth chose to reveal much more: whilst confirming that the same being had reincarnated in each Dalai Lama from the First, he added that each had been and would

continue to be a personification of Chenrezi, the Bodhisattva who protected Tibet. Thus the reigns of the Dalai Lamas were not only wise but also hallowed. Further, he declared that his Teacher, the abbot of Tashilhumpo, was not merely a reincarnation of a close associate of Tsong‐Kha‐Pa, but indeed the embodied presence of the celestial Buddha Amitabha. The moral and spiritual effect of these revelations has been joyous and profound, for they have meant that the continuity assured by the reincarnations of the Dalai Lama has been preserved in the complementary reincarnations of the Panchen Lamas, who have transmitted the arcane tenets of

216 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Tibetan Buddhism. When his Teacher died, the Fifth Dalai Lama oversaw the discovery of his reincarnation as the Second Panchen Lama, and since then the older of the two lamas has supervised the studies of the younger.

According to some accounts, the Fifth Dalai Lama ruled actively

for only two years before entering a prolonged retreat for meditation. Whether or not this claim is strictly accurate, all sources agree that he did retire in his later life, appearing only for certain ceremonial occasions and in order to take fundamental decisions.

During the Fifth Dalai Lamaʹs long withdrawal from public view, Sangye Gyatso administered the affairs of Tibet. By the time the Great Fifth died in 1682, Tibet was a land unified politically and spiritually. Sangye Gyatso was well aware, however, of the fragility of Tibetʹs accomplishments. The Mongols had once again taken a political interest in Tibet and the Chinese were looking for ways to extend their influence in Tibet as a way to check Mongol expansion.

In the face of these dangers, Sangye Gyatso proved to be as bold as his lord. Whilst taking only the most senior abbots and palace officials into his confidence, he initiated a successful secret search for the Sixth Dalai Lama. He found an old monk who resembled the

Great Fifth and hid him in the Potala. For thirteen years no announcement was made of the Dalai Lamaʹs demise. The old monk disguised himself as the Great Fifth and appeared

occasionally at ceremonies dressed in concealing vestments.

Although the Chinese eventually suspected that they had been deceived, Sangye Gyatso managed to consolidate the Dalai Lamaʹs

rule and finish the Potala palace before announcing the death of the Fifth and the imminent succession of the Sixth Dalai Lama in 1695.

Some historians hold that the regent was greedy and ambitious, whilst others see him as fulfilling the programme of the Fifth and serving the interests of the line of Dalai Lamas. In view of the enigmatic brilliance of his mentor, it may be that he and the Fifth Dalai Lama planned this course of action in advance of the Fifthʹs death.

THE FIFTH DALAI LAMA 217

A new Mongol alliance used the Sixth Dalai Lamaʹs unusual behaviour as an excuse to declare him an impostor – an accusation firmly rejected by Tibetans then and now. Marching into Lhasa, Lhapsang Khan of the Qoshot Mongols killed Sangye Gyatso and captured the Sixth Dalai Lama. He was sent to Peking to meet the

Manchu emperor in 1706 but he died under mysterious

circumstances while on the way. Many believe that Lhapsang Khan

had arranged for his assassination. However that may be, Lhapsang Khan imposed his own candidate on the throne of Lhasa, but though he remained there for a decade, he was not accepted. When

the Manchus invaded Lhasa in 1720 and pushed the Mongols out of

Tibet permanently, the true Seventh was installed. Although neither the Great Fifth nor the First Panchen Lama nor the regent Sangye Gyatso could prevent the confusion and turbulence of the early 1700s, the unquestioned firmness of the institution of the Dalai Lamas is testimony to the brilliance of their work. Of the silver tombs of the Dalai Lamas outside the Potala, that of the Fifth has always been the most deeply venerated.

Events ensured that the Fifth Dalai Lama would be remembered

by historians as an accomplished statesman. He himself, however, placed greater emphasis on cultivation of the Bodhisattva Path and the development of meditation and universal compassion integral to it. Having become proficient in the four levels of tantra, all of which require initiation by a guru, he wrote numerous works to assist meditators involved in the lower tantras, that is, the first three levels. Though there are practices which involve no symbols, the sutra and tantra traditions are bridged by a yoga of symbols, a means of transforming consciousness through meditation by a disciplined use of symbols that has been called Deity Yoga. The symbols invoked include detailed visualizations and specific mantras which transform intellectual understanding of the sutras into immediate cognition of aspects of oneself as corresponding to aspects of the cosmos. These practices lead, under the watchful eye of the guru, to the highest yoga tantras, such as the Heruka and Kalachakra tantras, but they remain suitable for daily practice throughout a lifetime, regardless of the level of attainment in

218 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II meditation. Recognizing the importance of right beginnings, the Fifth Dalai Lama wrote a number of texts to give direction in the practice of meditation.

In ʺ A Meditation Upon Orange Manjushri ʺ, the Fifth Dalai Lama made obeisance to Tsong‐Kha‐Pa as the embodiment of Manjushri,

the Bodhisattva of Wisdom. Reminding the disciple to begin by taking refuge in the Three Jewels – Buddha, Dharma and Sangha –

by generating bodhichitta, the altruistic thought of Enlightenment, and by contemplating the immeasurable thoughts of love,

compassion, joy and equanimity, he instructed the disciple to visualize an unfolding set of symbols:

At my heart is my mind in the shape of an egg, its point upwards. Inside the egg on a full moon disc is an orange letter DHIH, from which an infinite amount of light emits. It fills the whole of my body, purifying all my negativities and removing all

my obscurations accumulated since beginningless time. The light rays then leave through my pores and become offerings to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The lights then become offerings for the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, thereby delighting them. This causes the blessings of the body, speech and mind of these holy beings to dissolve into light that destroys the darkness of ignorance of all sentient beings, thus placing them in wisdomʹs illumination.

The rays then re‐collect into the syllable DHIH. It changes into

light, my ordinary perception and my clinging thereto vanish, and I emerge as the Venerable Manjushri, orange in colour, with one face and two arms.

My right hand brandishes a Sword of Wisdom in the space above me. At my heart between the thumb and ring fingers of my

left hand I hold the stem of an utpala lotus. Upon its petals in full bloom by my left ear rests a volume of the Prajnaparamita Sutra.

I sit in full lotus posture and am adorned with precious ornaments for my head, ears, throat and shoulders, as well as bracelets and anklets. I am draped in a flowing mantle and skirt of exquisite silks; my hair is tied up in five knots and coils anti‐

THE FIFTH DALAI LAMA 219

clockwise. Bearing an entrancing and serene smile, I sit amidst a mass of light radiating from my body. The letter OM marks the crown of my head, AH my throat, and HUM my heart.

HUM emits rays of light that invite the Wisdom Beings from the

inconceivable mansion of their own pure lands. They resemble the

Manjushri described above and are surrounded by hosts of

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

JAH HUM BAM HOH: they absorb into me and thus we

become one.

Having completed this visualization, culminating in a union of consciousness with the vision it invokes, mental offerings are made to Manjushri, who is conceived as a graceful youth of beautiful speech.

O Manjushri, I make obeisance to your mind

Wherein is illuminated the entire tapestry of the

myriad objects of knowledge.

It is a tranquil ocean of unfathomable profundity,

Of immeasurable breadth, boundless like space itself.

The disciple then visualizes a yantra which contains a mantra of sacred syllables. They are imagined to contain collectively every level of wisdom attained by Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, shravakas, Pratyeka Buddhas and ʺthe wise and learned masters of all the Buddhist and non‐Buddhist traditionsʺ. This universality of inclusion is matched at the end of the meditation period by an equally universal aspiration:

By the virtue of this practice, may I soon

Accomplish the powerful attainments of Manjushri,

And then may I lead all beings without exception

To that same supreme state.

The imagery of this yoga of symbols saturates the mind, yet its richness of forms has nothing to do with fantasy or pleasant dreamlike states. Its precision in every detail is rooted in a

220 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II profound and arcane knowledge of colours, sounds and numbers, their correspondences and their permutations.

In ʺ The Fasting Practice of Eleven‐Faced Avalokiteshvara ʺ, the meditation follows a pattern similar to that of ʺ A Meditation Upon Orange Manjushri ʺ, with the addition of a fast and the taking of precepts. The Fifth Dalai Lama warned that the practice must be taken seriously – a fast means a total fast and vows are not to be taken lightly. Noting that there were many ʺpropounders of a false type of fasting retreatʺ who did not clearly distinguish between sutra and tantra or even between Mahayana and Hinayana, he pointed out that the intimate interrelation of all things should not be an excuse for confusing them. If distinct entities are muddled together, the correspondences between them and their connections

with various states and aspects of consciousness are lost. Regarding those who teach facile methods, he laughed, ʺThey, upon surveying the suffering of the six types of beings, proceed to count radishes as things having mindsʺ. He emphasized the importance of being guided by a preceptor and of studying the works of great scholars, including those of the Second Dalai Lama.

The force and beauty of his ʺSadhana Focussing on the Bodhisattva Maitreya ʺ, Buddha of love and futurity, included a meditation which invoked the spirit of Maitreya in oneʹs consciousness.

Having developed the supreme bodhichitta,

I will take care of all sentient beings as my guests;

I will follow the excellent ways of the Bodhisattvas;

For the sake of all beings,

I will attain Enlightenment.

Once the mind is purged, purified, collected and one‐pointed, the meditator visualizes Maitreya:

In the sphere of emptiness, my own mind appears as a yellow syllable MAIM, from which light radiates. It pleases the

Enlightened Ones by bringing them offerings. Then it purifies the negative karma and obscurations of all sentient beings. The light collects back into the MAIM, which transforms into the syllable

THE FIFTH DALAI LAMA 221

PAM. This in turn transforms into a lotus marked by AH. This AH

becomes a moon cushion, on top of which I arise as three‐faced Arya Maitreya. My main face is yellow, saffron‐like in colour. My right face is black, and my left, white. Each face has three eyes; each is peaceful and smiles. My dark hair is tied up in a knot. The first two of my four hands are at my heart, in the mudra expressing the turning of the Wheel of Dharma. My lower right hand is in the mudra of Supreme Generosity, and my lower left hand holds a fragrant dark‐yellow flower. I am adorned by eight

precious ornaments: head ornaments, ear‐rings, a neckband,

armbands, bracelets, anklets, shoulder‐belts, and long crystal necklaces. Heavenly silks cover the upper half of my body, and I

wear a panchalika skirt. A full moon is my backrest, for I am seated in the Sattvasana, in the centre of a halo of light. My forehead is marked by the syllable OM, my throat by AH, my heart by HUM. At my heart stands a yellow MAIM on a moon-disc. It radiates light, inviting the Wisdom Beings, who are similar to myself, from their actual abodes: VAJRA SAMAJAH, JAH

HUM RAM HOH: They merge and become non‐dual with me.

The offering made in this sadhana on Maitreya included an invocation which represents the spiritual confidence and selfless service that marked the Life and labours of the Great Fifth:

The fire of Great Love burns the fuel of anger,

The light of Wisdom clears the darkness of ignorance.

I bow down to you, King of the Dharma,

Abiding in Tushita, who protects all beings.

Hermes, October 1986

Elton Hall

THE SEVENTH DALAI LAMA

The higher you climb in Samsara,

the higher the cliff where you perch;

The more the possessions you own,

the tighter you are bound.

The dearer someone is held by you,

the greater the chance he will hurt you;

The faster you conquer your foes,

the faster their numbers increase. . . .

Therefore no position in the world

Is worth the effort of gaining it.

Renounce that which only weighs you down:

The unburdened mind is joy supreme.

The highest of aims is to follow this path:

Body, speech and mind kept stainless

with pure self‐discipline.

Mind in samadhi, both blissful and clear,

And wisdom, seeing the reality of every

situation.

The Seventh Dalai Lama

When Lobsang Khan invaded Lhasa in 1705 and seized the Sixth

Dalai Lama, he unleashed forces beyond his comprehension and control. He slew the regent Sangye Gyatso, took the Dalai Lama to the Manchu emperor of China and placed a monk of his own choice

in the Potala. Just before leaving under armed escort for China, the Sixth Dalai Lama gave a farewell message to his people:

White bird in the sky,

Lend me but one great wing

That I too may soar eastward.

THE SEVENTH DALAI LAMA 223

Soon I shall return from Lithang,

And return your wing to you.

After he died on the road to China, some said that he was assassinated, but others held that he had seated himself in the posture of meditation and consciously abandoned his body to seek

another. The Tibetan people, faced with these events, readily rejected Lobsang Khanʹs choice for the throne of Lhasa and happily accepted the news that the Seventh Dalai Lama had been born in Lithang, just as his predecessor had promised.

Gyalwa Kalsang Gyatso was born in 1708 in Lithang near the Tubchen Jampa Ling Monastery in the Amdo region of eastern Tibet. His luminous intelligence and profound spiritual inclination were evident almost from the moment of his birth. When he was four years old he received a vision of Buddha surrounded by the sixteen arhants, and in the following year he had a vision of Tsong-Kha‐Pa, who instructed him to take up his duties in central Tibet.

Although he preferred to study and meditate in seclusion, he followed the dictates of his dharma and involved himself in the turmoil of the world. At the age of six he placed himself under Ngawang Lobsang Tempa, who became his Teacher, and within a year he yielded to requests to offer an Avalokiteshvara mandala initiation. So rapidly did his study of the sutras and the tantras progress that by his eighth year he was invited to visit and bless monasteries all over eastern Tibet. He travelled to Kumbum, the great monastery founded by the Third Dalai Lama at the site of Tsong‐Kha‐Paʹs birth, and there he sat on the Dalai Lamaʹs throne and gave discourses to a large assemblage of monks.

While at Kumbum, Gyalwa Kalsang Gyatso shaved his head and

received ordination as a monk. Placing himself under Chuzang Nomohan, he took up an intense study of Buddhist dialectics, the doorway to Buddhaʹs five great themes. He studied Dharmakirti for pramana, right thought and perception; Maitreya and Asanga for prajnaparamita, perfection of wisdom; Nagarjuna, Aryadeva and Chandrakirti for madhyamika, the Middle Way doctrine of shunyata or the Void; Vasubandhu for metaphysics; and Gunaprabha for

224 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II vinaya or monastic discipline. Having immersed himself in the sutras and the tantras, taken all the vows of a monk and mastered both dialectics and the broad divisions of Buddhist teaching, Gyalwa Kalsang Gyatso turned his attention to Lhasa.

In 1717 the Dzungar Mongols invaded Tibet with the declared aim of deposing the pretender and placing the Seventh Dalai Lama

on the throne. They succeeded in entering Lhasa, killed Lobsang Khan and removed his pretender to the throne. But they could not

make good on their promise to install the true Dalai Lama, for he had come under the ʹprotectionʹ of the Manchu emperor. When the

Dzungars subsequently began to loot the temples and houses of Lhasa, the Tibetans looked to the Chinese for assistance. In 1720

Kʹang Hsi invaded Tibet, drove the Dzungars out and oversaw the

enthronement of the Seventh Dalai Lama. The price of this service was the Chinese foothold he established in Tibet. In 1720 Gyalwa Kalsang Gyatso was welcomed into the sacred city as the Seventh Dalai Lama. He proceeded to the Great Temple, where he

discoursed to an enormous number of monks and lay people. Then

he went to the Potala, where he was greeted by Lobsang Yeshe, the Second Panchen Lama, and received ordination at his hands. In keeping with the tradition founded by the Fifth Dalai Lama, he declared his desire to study under the Panchen Lama and

submitted to his discipline.

Since Lhasa had become peaceful when the Dzungars had been driven out and the Seventh Dalai Lama entered the city, the Chinese withdrew their military forces and established diplomatic relations with the Dalai Lamaʹs government. For the next few years the Seventh Dalai Lama studied under the Panchen Lama and other

illustrious teachers. First, he took up Tsong‐Kha‐Paʹs Lamrim chenmo, the exposition of the stages of the Path, and listened to the Panchen Lamaʹs discourses on it. In addition, he received initiations into the Vajrabhairava Tantra and learnt the highest forms of Yoga Tantra. Then he moved to Drepung Monastery, where he reviewed all that he had learnt in logic and studied Dharmakirtiʹs Seven Treatises on Pramana, as well as Nagarjunaʹs texts, the works of the

THE SEVENTH DALAI LAMA 225

Madhyamika school and Tsong‐Kha‐Paʹs commentaries. Returning

to Lhasa, he was ordained by the Panchen Lama and assumed the

full authority of his office. Despite his onerous duties as the Dalai Lama, he spent long periods of time within the sanctity of the Tushita Chamber of the Potala, where the Panchen Lama gave him

numerous initiations into the Guhyasamaja and Heruka Tantras, along with Tsong‐Kha‐Paʹs Teachings concerning them. He also devoted a great deal of time to Abhidharma metaphysics.

In 1727 the Seventh Dalai Lamaʹs father was involved in political intrigues that led to brief civil strife between factions of the aristocracy. By the time the Chinese arrived in Lhasa, the capital was calm, but their suspicion that the Dalai Lama had been involved – a conclusion for which there is no evidence – induced them to send him into exile for seven years. Rather than succumb to defeatism or despair, he seized this opportunity to enter upon a retreat accompanied by excellent teachers and to intensify his study and meditation. He visited various monastic communities and discoursed on the Teachings of Buddha, Tsong‐Kha‐Pa and

previous Dalai and Panchen Lamas. Concluding his exile with a grand tour of central Tibet, he returned to the Potala amidst a joyous welcome and began to give ordination to neophytes. He requested that the Panchen Lama return to Lhasa and sit at his side, but the old monk declined because of fragile health. Once the Dalai Lama had ordered affairs in Lhasa, he made the hard journey to Tashilhumpo Monastery to be with his chief teacher. There the two companions in wisdom and selfless service had daily conversations, and the Dalai Lama studied the Panchen Lamaʹs Direct Path and looked after his Teacherʹs needs. The great monasteries of Tibet sought his presence, however, and in time the Dalai Lama was compelled by his office to travel to Drepung, Sera and a host of other centres. When the Second Panchen Lama died in 1737, the Dalai Lama mourned his loss but continued to travel, teach and initiate monks while waiting for the Panchen Lamaʹs reappearance.

Once Palden Yeshe, the Third Panchen Lama, was old enough to

make his will known, he asked for instruction from the Dalai Lama.

226 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II Effortlessly, the two companions renewed their friendship and reversed their roles. The Third Panchen Lama showed the same profound reverence for the Seventh Dalai Lama that the Seventh had shown for the Second Panchen Lama. Despite his devotion to meditation and study, the Dalai Lama became increasingly active in later life. In addition to tutoring the young Panchen Lama, he regularly visited monasteries to teach, preach, reform and initiate.

Although the Chinese had placed Phola, a powerful military officer, in Lhasa after the revolt of 1727, the Dalai Lama had quietly reorganized and strengthened the Tibetan government. He did not

challenge Phola, but he gradually made him irrelevant to the administration of Tibet.

When Phola died, his son, Gyurma Namgyal, an impulsive man

who had witnessed the subtle divestment of Pholaʹs authority, sought to restore by force of arms the power of the office he inherited. A new revolt broke out and the Manchus sent an army into Lhasa, but, by the time they arrived, total order had been restored and all issues had been settled by the Dalai Lama himself.

Embarrassed by their over‐reaction, the Chinese realized that the Dalai Lama was better able to govern Tibet than any agent they might select, and so his temporal authority was accepted and the army withdrew. Though remembered as the most scholarly of the Dalai Lamas, the Seventh was also an adept in meditation and an able ruler.

He persuaded one of his teachers to gather and master materials

on the Kalachakra Tantra, especially everything Tsong‐Kha‐Pa had written and taught concerning it. Synthesizing all that could be found, he restored the great Kalachakra initiation, which intimates the mysteries of Shamballa. He established the Kashag, a cabinet of ministers to oversee the operations of government, and reorganized the departments of state. He also built the most famous landmark in Lhasa after the Potala, the Norbulingka or Jewel Park summer palace. The procession of the Dalai Lama from the one to the other became the central festival of the Tibetan year, during which the population greeted their spiritual guide and temporal ruler with

THE SEVENTH DALAI LAMA 227

joyous abandon. When the Seventh Dalai Lama died in 1757, he left a legacy that survived more than a century of vicissitudes and aided the Thirteenth Dalai Lama in his efforts to restore the political dignity and spiritual vitality of Tibet.

The Seventh Dalai Lama was beloved in his lifetime, and his amazing knowledge of the scriptures was matched by his deep spiritual insight. Once when he performed the Vajrabhairava Tantra for a thousand monks, flowers fell from the clear sky and advanced practitioners of meditation witnessed the manifestation of mystical forces. Despite his extensive travels from monastery to monastery, he found time to compose spiritual songs and poems. When he visited Ganden, founded by Tsong‐Kha‐Pa, he was overcome by reverential feeling and poured out a profusion of songs. His attainments won the respect of spiritual Teachers of all lineages, and his natural humility and simplicity of life endeared him to his subjects. Among the common people he was remembered as the Lama who never forgot them. If he recognized the face of a peasant from his village or from some town he had visited, he would invite him into the Potala or Norbulingka Palace for tea and a brief discourse on Buddhadharma. To every monk he gave the advice he offered to the young Third Panchen Lama when his period of study

had ended:

Listen to and study the vast ocean of scriptures, just as did the incomparable master Lama Tsong‐Kha‐Pa, until you gain a

profound understanding of the intent of Buddha. Then you

should listen well to the special oral transmission teachings on the sutras and tantras and draw a direct experience of them into your heart. Finally, you should generate the thought of turning the Wheel of Dharma for the benefit of living beings near and far.

In a poem which he wryly called a ʺdry log of a thingʺ, the Seventh Dalai Lama indicated the immense seriousness of the spiritual Path. Bowing to Tsong‐Kha‐Pa, he taught:

Most wondrous is this opportunity found but once,

This foundation with eight freedoms and ten

228 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II endowments.

Yet it is impermanent, like a rainbow,

For who can be certain that even today

Consciousness will not leave his body?

We die, young and old alike, and in the end,

Who meets not with death?

Noting the abyss between the illusory search for happiness in a transient world and the behests of Buddhaʹs teaching, he deplored the delusion of people in general:

Practice of the ten virtues is the fuel of sandalwood,

But today people burn black coals of vulgarity.

Meaningless transient pleasures deceive the masses,

And divert their faces from things of lasting joy.

In language reminiscent of the Dhammapada and the Udanavarga, he expressed horror at the myriad ways the same delusion creeps unchecked into every effort to live the spiritual life:

ʺSuffering is the method of attaining liberationʺ, they say,

And they don the robes and talk religion.

But even while they preach, five poisons rule their minds.

Qualities they feign and faults they hide:

Corruption flourishes everywhere, it would seem.

The Seventh Dalai Lama was revered for his gentleness and kind‐

heartedness, but he was neither sentimental nor compromising.

Encouraging every sincere aspirant, he had no sugary words for those who deluded themselves about their spiritual progress or sought to impress others:

ʺWhatever I see is beheld in the light of shunyataʺ, they say, Yet they cannot bear the slightest upsets and become like

lost owls

In inner fires of explosive frustration.

Theirs is not the path to freedom.

It is impossible, the Seventh Dalai Lama taught, to find oneʹs way unaided when oneʹs own thinking can betray oneʹs best aspirations.

THE SEVENTH DALAI LAMA 229

Yet help cannot be taken at random without the likelihood of being misled by others just as blind as oneself:

Therefore the root of every accomplishment

Depends on correctly following a guru,

A spiritual friend.

Rely upon a perfected teacher,

One of control, peace of mind and every excellence.

If one is blest with the good fortune of fruitful guidance from a true spiritual friend, one has to practise faithfully what one has been taught. Even though the Seventh Dalai Lama knew all the major Tantras, he did not advise aspirants to focus upon them. The basis for any assault on the deceptions of consciousness and illusions of the world is ethical thought and action, not fragmentary flashes of insight or sombre rituals:

Subdue attachment and aversion

And generate an attitude moist with love

That looks on all with delight.

Develop compassion that wishes to see

All beings freed from misery.

Develop the special attitude that carries

The weight of the welfare of the world.

The effort to shed delusion and shun attachment is not conducted

only in respect to others. Besides reorienting oneself in relation to the world, learning to speak and act on a radically different basis from that recommended by the worldly, one has to confront oneʹs mental dynamics as well:

Work day and night on the elephant of the unaware mind.

Strike it with sharp hooks

Of attention, mindfulness and negations of negativity.

Guard self‐discipline as you would the pupils of your eyes.

The inner and outer practices which lead towards spiritual emancipation and universal compassion are summed up in the six

paramitas: dana or kindly generosity, shila or calm self‐control,

230 TEACHERS OF THE ETERNAL DOCTRINE – VOL. II kshanti or serene patience, virya or steadfast perseverance in meditation and service, dhyana or uninterrupted meditation, and prajna or transcendental wisdom:

Think, ʺNow that I have a human mind,

And have tasted the unsullied Dharma,

Embraced in the fatherly compassion of a spiritual guide,

May I practise well and generate

Never‐ending joy in the flow of consciousness.ʺ

For the Seventh Dalai Lama, the Bodhisattva Path is the only means worth thinking about or considering. Treading this Path of several stages demands a tremendous effort of self‐development, but never for the sake of self, however subtly conceived. The only thought which is fundamental enough to be at once the essence of

consciousness, the mode of Bodhisattvic thinking and the means to its own fruition is bodhichitta, the seed of wisdom‐ consciousness. In a poem he declared:

The sole thought on everyoneʹs side,

The precious mind aiming at Enlightenment

as the way to further the world,

Was seen by Buddha to be

The highest Spiritual means.

Bodhichitta, ʺthe elixir which transforms gross beings into Buddhasʺ, is the innermost secret of spiritual alchemy. The world could not contain its qualities if they were all made manifest simultaneously, and not even Buddha tried to describe ʺthe ocean of beneficial effects of bodhichittaʺ.