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Offered by VenerabilisOpus.org Dedicated to preserving the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of humanity. DLonTantra_Interior 8/31/09 2:18 PM Page i The Dalai Lamas on Tantra DLonTantra_Interior 8/31/09 2:18 PM Page ii The First Dalai Lama DLonTantra_Interior 8/31/09 2:18 PM Page iii The Dalai Lamas on Tantra Translated, edited, and introduced by Glenn H. Mullin Snow Lion Publications ithaca, new york • boulder, colorado DLonTantra_Interior 8/31/09 2:18 PM Page iv Snow Lion Publications P. O. Box 6483 Ithaca, NY 14851 USA (607) 273-8519 www.snowlionpub.com Copyright © 2006 Glenn H. Mullin All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced by any means without prior written permission from the publisher. Printed in USA on acid-free recycled paper. Illustrations on the indicated pages are by the following: Chris Banigan 22, 158, 254, 290, 318; Brian Beresford 176; Sidney Piburn 202; Kevin Rigby 84; Saki Takezawa ii, 68, 324, 334 ISBN-10 1-55939-269-X ISBN-13 978-1-55939-269-3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Dalai Lamas on tantra / translated, edited, and introduced by Glenn H. Mullin. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN-13: 978-1-55939-269-3 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-55939-269-X (alk. paper) 1. Tripit.aka. Su¯trapit.aka. Tantra—Criticism, interpretation, etc. 2. Tantric Buddhism—China —Tibet. 3. Dge-lugs-pa (Sect)— Doctrines. I. Mullin, Glenn H. BQ2147.D35 2007 294.3'85—dc22 2006019861 Designed and typeset by Gopa & Ted2, Inc. DLonTantra_Interior 8/31/09 2:18 PM Page v Table of Contents Preface vii Introduction 1 Chapter One: The Thirteenth Dalai Lama’s A Brief Guide to the Buddhist Tantras 21 Chapter Two: The Seventh Dalai Lama’s Instructional Poem on the Stages in Practice of the Heruka Chakrasamvara Tantra 67 Chapter Three: The Second Dalai Lama’s Treatise on the Six Yogas of Niguma 83 Chapter Four: The Third Dalai Lama’s The Tantric Yogas of the Bodhisattva of Compassion 15 Chapter Five: The Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s Concerning the Kalachakra Initiation 175 Chapter Six: The First Dalai Lama’s Notes on the Two Yogic Stages of Glorious Kalachakra 201 Chapter Seven: The Fifth Dalai Lama’s Hayagriva-Sealed-in-Secrecy Methods for Healing (as read by the Great Thirteenth) 253 DLonTantra_Interior 8/31/09 2:18 PM Page vi vi : the dalai lamas on tantra Chapter Eight: The Second Dalai Lama’s The Two Yogic Stages of the Vajrabhairava Tantra with a commentary by Lama Lobzang Chinpa 289 Chapter Nine: The Second Dalai Lama’s Living on the Essence of Flowers 317 Chapter Ten: A Tantric Prayer by the Eighth Dalai Lama 333 Notes 341 Suggested Reading 349 DLonTantra_Interior 8/31/09 2:18 PM Page vii Preface ver the past two decades I have published almost a dozen Obooks with Snow Lion on the lives and works of the early Dalai Lamas. As most readers will know, the present Dalai Lama, who was born in 1935, is the fourteenth in this line of illustrious reincarnations. When I first started this project, almost nothing was known in the West about these extraordinary men. Coverage of them had been limited to a paragraph or two, or a page or two at best, in academic books on Tibetan cultural and political history. Even though many of these incarnations had written dozens of works on Buddhist phi- losophy, meditation, mysticism, and other enlightenment-related topics, and had also written hundreds of songs and poems, no signi- ficant text by any of them had ever been translated into English. With each of these books I usually incorporated a traditional biog- raphy and a selection of their most accessible writings. Usually the selection would be on diverse subjects, in an attempt to convey the range and depth of these Buddhist teachers, from mystical poems to works on philosophy and tantric practice. Most of these titles have been out of print for over a decade now. Sidney Piburn, my editor at Snow Lion, thought that it would be use- ful to bring out an anthology of some of the tantric works that I had used in that series. Tantric Buddhism is becoming better known in the West these days, but there is still a paucity of authentic transla- tions from classical sources. The great popularity achieved by the DLonTantra_Interior 8/31/09 2:18 PM Page viii viii : the dalai lamas on tantra early Dalai Lamas was due in part to the clarity and power of their tantric writings, so Sid’s suggestion did not seem unreasonable. This volume is the result. On the technical side, I have tried to keep footnotes to a bare min- imum so as to allow the reader to enjoy the mood of the originals, rather than create the distraction of a constant barrage of “whispered asides.” Moreover, I have also presented any Sanskrit and Tibetan terms that are used in a simplified “phonetic style” for ease in read- ing. For example, “Khedrup” looks far more palatable to me than does “mKhas-grub,” and “Lobzang” seems more accessible than “bLo- bzang.” Scholars should be able to easily reconstruct the more formal spellings if they wish to do so, whereas these formal spellings are irrel- evant to the general enthusiast. With Tibetan text titles, however, a system of easy phonetics would be inadequate. Therefore here I have used the formal system of transliteration. Most Dalai Lamas wrote extensively on Tantric Buddhism. The material chosen for this anthology is intended as a mere sampling of their contribution, with the intent to give the reader a sense of the authentic tradition. Glenn H. Mullin Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, March 7, 2006 DLonTantra_Interior 8/31/09 2:18 PM Page 1 Introduction The Legacy from Buddha Shakyamuni uddha traveled and taught widely for some forty-five years Bafter his enlightenment, and his audiences were diverse. Even though India at the time was a highly literate society, nothing of what he said was written down during his lifetime. Instead, various indi- viduals were entrusted with memorizing the gist of each discourse. The work of transcribing his words took place only with the passage of generations. Tibetans believe that this reluctance on the part of the Buddha and his immediate followers to commit the enlightenment teachings to paper, and instead to preserve them as oral traditions, was a purpose- ful strategy gauged to maintain the maximum fluidity and living power of the enlightenment experience. It only became necessary to write things down when the darkness of the changing times threatened the very survival of the legacy. An oral tradition becomes lost to history should its holders pass away without first passing on their lineages. This intended fluidity, and the according safeguard against the establishment of an “enlightenment dogma,” is perhaps best demon- strated by a verse that the Buddha himself said shortly before his death: Do not accept any of my words on faith, Believing them just because I said them. DLonTantra_Interior 8/31/09 2:18 PM Page 2 2 : the dalai lamas on tantra Be like an analyst buying gold, who cuts, burns, And critically examines his product for authenticity. Only accept what passes the test By proving useful and beneficial in your life. This simple statement empowered future generations of Buddhist teachers to accept and reject at will anything said by Buddha himself as well by his early disciples. If something that was said by them did not pass the test of personal analysis, one could simply discard it as being limited in application to particular times, people, or situations, and therefore as only contextually valid. 1. Buddha’s Legacy of Exoteric and Esoteric Transmissions In his A Brief Guide to the Buddhist Tantras (translated in Chapter One of this volume) the Thirteenth Dalai Lama quotes two verses from the writings of the incomparable Lama Tsongkhapa: There are two Mahayana vehicles For traveling to complete buddhahood: The Prajnaparamitayana and the profound Vajrayana. Of these, the latter greatly surpasses the former. This is as well known as the sun and moon. There are many people who know this fact And pretend to carry the tradition of the sages, Yet who don’t search for the nature of the profound Vajrayana. If they are wise, who is foolish? To meet with this rare and peerless legacy And yet still to ignore it: How absolutely astounding! DLonTantra_Interior 8/31/09 2:18 PM Page 3 introduction : 3 As readers familiar with Tibetan spiritual culture will know, Lama Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) was the root guru of the First Dalai Lama (1391-1475). These verses, therefore, are relevant to the approach to Buddhism taken by all subsequent Dalai Lamas. And because the Dalai Lamas became Central Asia’s foremost incarnation lineage, ascending in 1642 to the throne of combined spiritual and temporal leadership of Tibet, it could be said that the approach outlined above by Lama Tsongkhapa is now a hallmark of all schools of Tibetan Bud- dhism. The term Prajnaparamitayana literally means “Perfection of Wisdom Vehicle,” and refers to the ordinary, or exoteric, path to en- lightenment as taught by the Buddha. Vajrayana literally means “Dia- mond Vehicle,” and refers to the esoteric path. The present volume brings together various works by the Dalai Lamas on the latter of these two paths. The former of the two is sometimes also referred to as the Sutra- yana, or “Way of the Public Discourses,” and the latter as the Guhya- mantrayana, or “Way of Secret Mantra Practice.” Here the words “mantra” and “tantra” have the same meaning.