Ice and Water: A Translation of Two Short Contemplative Texts in the Great Seal Tradition by Lord rGod-tsang

91 Pages·1977·32.231 MB·English

by  J. Jay R. Weil

ICE AcI�fDA :rEI{,
a tra:ls1e.tioofl1
I.d THE "GRE.ATS E.AL" TRADITI..{O.
OF TIBETA.N BUDDHISI:J[
by LORD rGOD-TSHAAG
A thesisb y
presentedt o
The]'acutly oft he
GraduateT heologiaaUln ion
in pa,.t.ial fu11111£18£1 t of the
1'"equi,..ementfsa ,.. tdheeg 1'"aeo f
Haste,.. oAfl"' ts
Be,..keleyC,a 1ifo�nia
6, 1977.
June
Table of CO:lt,,?rlts
Pa..,.,t 1 :
Preface- -----------------------��-----------p.1
IntroductiOl1:
autho-r---------------------p.3.
The life of the
Discussion of thet exst--------------------p-. .S
ProloGue------------------------------------p. 15.
Pa..,.,t 2, the T..,.,anslations:
the Seal'---p. 16.
'A Guide to Co-eme..,.,genUtn iono f the G..,.,eat
'
I The C""'al Inst""'uctionosn Even-flavorednes-s---------p. •2 7
.. . f'
.� _rneb S lgQl lcaace 0f nte' uruG- -----------------------3-5-.p .
Freezing---------------------------------------------4-p5..
le1lting----------------------------------------------p. 51.
68a/b.
Ch2,!'-t------------------..;,-------------------------p-.-
I,l.-a- p-- ----------- - ---------------- -- - - -- ----------- p. 68 c.
l�Totes:
69.
Part 1�--------------------------------------------.
p
Part 2------------------ ---------------- -----�----- .
p
Pa�t3 ----------..;,----------------------------------p. 76.
8j_b...:lli;2��X. -- -..-..-..- .--------..-..-. ---------------\I ----
P
I
Oali this saw again low"ih the sky
eveningI
The eve�ing sta�, at the beginning of winter, the star
That in spring will crown eve�y western ho�izon,
Again• • • • as if it came back, as if life cambea ck,
�ot in a late� son, a different daughte�, anothe� place,
But as if eveningf oundu s youngs,t ill young,
still j-;allci!ilo.g a preSetlto f our OrTn.
II
It was like sudden time a without time,
in world
world, this place, the street which was,
This in I
time: as that which has no time,
Without
Is not, or is of what there was, is full
silence before the armies, armies without
Of the
Either trwnpets or drums, the pommandersQ ute, the a�ms
ground, a profound defeat.
On the fixed fasitn
III
�ihath ad this staT' to do with the wo,.l.d it lit,
th skies ove,.. England,o veT Frnace
va the blank
And above the Ge�man camps? It looked apa,..t.
Yet it is this that shall rnaintainI-tself
Is time, apart f"'om nay past,a pa�t
From any the eve,..-livinga nd being,
futu�e,
and the constant fi,.e.,
The ever-b�eathing moving,
:IV
The p�esent close, the p,.e.sent ,.e.alized,
Not the symbol but that for which the symbol stands,
The vivid thing thien ai,..t hat neverc hanges,
the change. Only this evening saw it again,
ThoU5!! air I
At the beginnoifn wgi nter, and Iw alked and talked"
Again, anldi ved and was again, aud breathed again
ALId movaegda in andf lashed again, time flasheda gain.
Wallace Stevens
Ma�tial
Cadenza
Preface
(or
The 'Great Seal' 'Great Symbol') teachLlg,i s a con­
(
templativet radition p�eservedi n the bKa-brGyud 'oral transmis­
of
sion') sect Tibetan Buddhism. It indicates both a style
of practice, as well as its completiona s enlightenment.
extremelyl imited:
The ai� of this studyi s an annotated
two
translationo f shortt exts within thist radition,a nd a
brief examinationo f a few of the topics pivotal inf ollowing
the meaning of the text - i.e.,a n attempt to set the texts
context. The methodologya l ed is neither thatof�ana­
in pp i
lytioal philosophy nor that of anthropologyb,u t an attempt
to evoke a feeling for what the texts are trying to say.
In
general,i t should b�n otedt hat the nature of this work is
explorat ory;t his is as much a Ib eginner's i-vork'(l as -dang- po)
as the texts translated,a nd any conclusionse merging from it
are tentativea nd amenable to correction.
equivalentse xcept vTherea given term
I omit Sanskrit
has t",ea accepted in general English usage, aldl translate
directlyi nto Engliwshhe n this is not possible;i .e.,
of
'Buddha'i nstead 'EnlightenedO ne' (Tib. sangs-rGyas),
'karma'i nstead of 'acotni' (lTasi)b, .'a n attituded irected
towardsf ull enlightenment'( or its equivalent)f or 'bodhi­
(Tib.
citta' byang-chub-sem)s. In cases where both Sanskrit
and Tibetan terhmasv e been accepted in Engliussahg e, as in
San8kri� 'guru' - TibeltanLa ma,'I use the Sanskrsiot
as to reoainc onsistent. Personal naandm ensa,me s of lo­
simply Tibetan
calitiesa re transliteratefdr om the where
2
t�ey
occur, with ouly au. occasionaelf fort at translation.
The systemo f t�ansliteratuisoead is that of TuDrrr.e ll
W;ylie, witthw o modificationst:h e 'T'adical letter eaicnh
syllablise capitalizeedx,c eptw hen iotc curs as the initial
(i. -pa);
le t tar of sytlhlaatb le e. , dGe-l ugs folloY-lintghe· u sage
of Dr. Beyer, thte1- Tenty-thilredt tero f thTei betana lphabet,
is Otlly indicated avpTpheean:- sai st a silent
pre-initial lettverrh,i chi s transcribeads an apostrophe
(i.e'.d zin)w,h en
precedingt he radical letter or it functions
as � subordi.a.tai ugm arker bet'YrneOeUilnS and/aodj"t' ecvtesi w here
(i. .chos).
it is als0 �t'f'anscrib:eads ana post rophe e. dam-pa' i
Sincet his work is inno dangero f being inflictoen dt he
including
generalp ublic, I -refrfarionm a. guidet o pT01ll.lllciation.
In C108i tlg, v-TIo ul1di ke to thank KennaLridp man, 'YTe hos
classi n the 'Great Sedaolc't rinesi nspired mteo under-
t:::,ket hist ralls1ation, a2dS teDprh.a iBle yer,,,(· rt1h out� 'Those
patienta ssista�lcien i'Tadi::J.tgh rough the tetxhtess et rans-
lati.ons 1·ro.nuelvder have beenc ompleted,
3
PART I:L URODUCTIOl.'J
I)
life
Ou the of the authIolro,r dr God-Tshang:
hagio­
His life historyf ollows tuhseu alp attern of the
in
referred
graphyo f Tibetan sail1.ts.1 This genret,o Ti�
tetaaa s 'completel iberation'( riiam-par-otfhtBerri- ba),
varies in the descripttihoen l ioffe styleso f the sub-
jects, the
but certairne gularp.a tterns tetnod re-occur:
saint;
early precociotfy the future his beingd eeplym oved
by meetingw ith or hearing of his ftuetaucrhee r;l eaving home
to enter the religiousl ife; attendanceo n the teacehr and even-
and
tual initiatiionnt o his teachings; years of retrtehaet prac-
tice of austerities; achievingg oatlh eB ad returntion gt he
teach
world to in his turn.
�u-cung-gi-khra' :;:I
He was bora at in lho-braga� ,p rovince
'aarth-female-
of SouthT ibet bordering dn Bhuitna n,t he
(sa-mo-ybeyaar1),1 8 9A .D., the the
hen' year aftsr death
'
of'gLing-ras-pa, his ftuetaucrhee rs teacherB nd thfeo unde-r
qf the the
'dragon' subsect obfK a-brGyud ordtero, w hich he
ilould eventuallbye long., His father' s uame was mcOChlu--ch!?,)�
gras and tha.t ohfi s motherz ag-rna dPal-l�Gyahni;s given name
was ruGen-po dPal, 'Glorious Lord.'
(lam-m�)i
In his youthhe studied th'eS tageso f the Path'
(the
of thbeKa -gDan;.s-pas ect forerunnerosf the dGe-lugs-pa
)
orde r, to which tDhael aiL ama beloL lgS, texts, of rt [-lihded l e
(dBu-illa),
View· system the "Enteringi nto the Practiceo f the
. ,
B.odhisattva1a (sPays owde-l'l a.jsu mga)n,y othert exts. He
acteda s a teacher whilhee was stillv e'l:"'Y youag; iist said
tha th e was a ble to masta T a philos ophi.(; f tthe:.3.x tt. , is to
me�orize and understand" it, after having lisotnelnye d to it
once.
Once,i n hisv illage,d urinag w irlec eremO[lhY e heardf our
singers from gTsangp rovinces ing praises of the holinesso f
rGya-ras (gTsanyge--spheas rDo-rje,1 161-12A1.1D .).
Lord
Ha viag 1 isteaed stoon g otnhee e , he vias fille d Ttllhi a s tro ng
feelingo f devotton. Havlngg otten his fatherp'esr mission,h e
set o�t for Lord rGya-ras'm onasterya t ra-lung, vail lage two
days' journey on foot east of rGyal-rTsei n gTshanag ,pr ovince
of c.entraTli bet. Rvia-lunwga s the last of the three major
monasteriefso undedb y Lord rGya-ras,f ollowingt he wishes
of his teacher,g Ling-rasp a-d:vrar Do-rJe (1128-11A8.8D .).
The firswtas called kLong-rDol and the second,'Brug,
'thunder'o r 'dragon'w hicha lso became the name for the
sub-sectt hath e established. The name derives from the fact
thatL ord rGya-rasw as surprisedb y extremely violentth under
and lightningw hen he laid the foundationfso r this monastery.
Upon arrivinga t rwa-lung,h e receivedt he minor ordination
(
of a novicmeo nk dGe-tshul) and the religiounasm e of mGo�-
po rDo-rJe' DiamondL ord'. He was well receivedb y Lord
rGya-raB,e nd served hiass personala ttendant whilep racticing
meditatioanc cording to his instructions.D uringt his time he
textisn,c l.uding
hea�d Cll.,.rfJerouse xpositionosf contemplative
the'C c-'E'HUergUenllito n'( lhan-csiKgye s-sByor), a,ld t'hE"vee a­
(ro-sdyoQs
ob,jects'
flavoredc.ess of ID8.ay mental kyi dHigs-l)a
rnaL1g�.pa).
HaVingC' btainedm any sigD.osf the purification of
defl1eme�lt.sh,e lefTtw a-luac;a nd jou!'neyteod t he northo f d.E'l
prov:LGce 2�sntdu died\-l ith the most impo"cta,nt bKa-bm-reGdSiTttadt ion
(particularly Bub-se.c.t)
masters there from the 'bri-gung After
5
Twa-lung guru'
some time hTee turnedt o to see his 'root
(rTsa-bbLaa'-im a),
shortly after
who died his return.
A year afttehre death of· htiesac her,h e again set out
on t.her oad and 1;istie d many places� includingh is native'
(lvJ:ou.nt
gans-ti-rTse
district of lho-brag, Kailash,w here
.i\1:i-la-sr-apa battled the Bon so)r,c aesr ewrell as Kashrni,...
and Jalahdha-r.a in IndHiea .l ivedt he life of a vlandering
ascetics,t opping
only to meditate in solitar-y apnlda .tcoe s
take part ce'l"'emoniesw ith yoginis. He practiced
in tantric
(bLa­
gur� yogam,e ditatingo n the divinef orm of hist eacher
rna sGrub, the visions urvives the decaoyf the flesh)F.r om
stay manifested
his at mKhar-chu in Iho-brago nwardsh e mallY
achievement.
sigaso f spiritual
Returnign to rwa-lung,h e met dBon-rasd ar-rna seng-ge,
rGya-ras' as
Lord nephewa nd succeSSor abboto f rwa-lunagn d
strict
'brugm Dnasteriesw,h o advisedh im to go into retraet
at phom Iha-khab.A cceptingt his advice he medits.tone dh is
for practiced
teache�" there threey ea�s ina· smalhlu t and
·
(dKa-thub).
aus tari etsi One dayw h,ile he was practicing,.
lake
the wete",f!"r om !30n earby overflowedf,l oodingt he hut.
In spit e of the fact thatw a ter covered the pIam-i.,.e.rto f
hifJ body,h e refusedt o break etrreat and continued to prac­
tice moving s�b-
meditation without his body while the water
si.ded.H is food consistedo f the dead bodies of aaimals viho
had dieodf naturalc auses by the lakaen, d he sometimes sub-
sisted fopre riods of time on nothign but 't-TaterO.n e night
•
his
he dreamedt hat all his intestines had foaf llen out
bellY1 a siga of depeupr ification,a nd after thahti s medi-
tativc�o ncentratiownas considerabldye epened.
6
this
returned
Following he to rwa-lu3g, whearfet,e �r eceiv-
(dGe-sLong),
ing fulolr dinationa s a Buddhist monk dBon-ras
offeredh im a position as assistant teacihne ra cknowledgement
position,
of his contemplativaec complishments. He refused the
another years. the
and returned to retreat for six During last
threey ears of this pe-riod, at l(hyung-dKar, hteo ok a VOH, say­
ing: IIl Si-Tear,I shall medi t at e ti ll the nameso f me, the mBn,
of y'.o..1., the vulture,a nd of that rock becomeo ne.,,I3t vlsa
at this time that hfee lli ll with a disease causedb y lice
Howeve�,h e to dispose
infestation. refused of a singlleo use,
bound by hviosw s of compassioans a bodhisattva,n d alookedu pon
perspective
the diseaes f�omt he of the GreatS eal teaching.
disease, beingj ustan other
The tranSitorpyh enomenons,o on
t:l. gained
pa.sesd aVJay,a nd his realiza 0 n in depth.
He left retreat
this at the age of thirty-elghta,n d s}:en.t
the rest of hisl ife wandering,p racticing, teachi.nagn d
monasteries,
founding finallyd yinga t the age soefv entya t
!'Do-reJ-gIJingi n Bhutani n the earth-male -horse (sa-pho-rTa)
calendar,1 258
year of the Tibetan A.D.
There is a Tibetsaany ing: "Halfo f the people 9.-re tDragonsI ,
half of the 'Draagroen swa't lderinags cetics,h alf of twhane-
"
deriaga scetics rea saints. In many �1ayst his ordel"c O:1tinued
the Simplea usterel ifestylee xemplifiebdy Mi-la-�as-pa.
,�Jhiltfh�e fT'uit thoifs �va.nde"·iHat1sg the establisflTI':ent maorLYf
foundatirins, IDTagon'
moaastic the followerso f the lineage
ter1dedt o -resistt he inevitabloes sificatiol1 l..8,is lettot led
ecclesiastical instituttihoe ns;uc cesso�s to �Gya-�as co�tlnued
to prefer the contemplatitvoe thlei ofnee �ous dutieso f
"{
me.Gastiaed minist-ratlon.
'gos-lo-tsa-bsea.y s: "k. he1"'mit
't"iho tot heI b ")"ug�pa sect,
beloilged did l10tp articipatiel l
debates of sects,
and did not discustse netthse va1"'ious
and
was of a humblec O.:1duct." 4
The li.:1eages pliti nto a numbe1'" of branches foltlhoewi ng
death of tfhoeu nde1"', the three most impo1"'tant stemmifn1"'gom
LO-1"'as-pa,a fellow student of 1"'God-tsang-paas, thken own
d!"agon' (sTod-'b1"'ug); the
'uppe1'" direct lineage of -rGya-1"'as'
nephew, (bar-m'ablruig ),
da-r-ma-seng-ge, knaosw 'nm iddled ragon'
(sHad-
himself, d-ragon'
and that of rGod-tsang-pa knol';'"U as 'lorTer
.
S
'bru.g..)
It be use tree of
may of to sketcho ut a partialf amily
theb Ka-brGyud 6
transmisiso a:
{
rDo-re-'c hang- a non-histo1"'icafli gure,c onsidered to
personify for
I ' 'absolutEeu ddhahaod' the
new
translations!e cts.
ti,L1o -pa
I
·na:-ro-pa
I
1012-1096
ma1"'-pa, tthera nslator, A.D.
mi�a-raS-Da, 1040-1123
A.D.
-
��- --------=-
.A�as-cung-pa
E'Ga:;mo;--pa1 079-1153
,_ __ L_ ________ ._________ I • ----------------------------{- --
phag·-mgo1"' ub-pa1 110-1170 I jig-rTmeGno n-po dus-'gSurmn Khyen-pa
I J,. 1110-1193
b--�UJ.' .�-'--J' �i'.".0s) -.--F �i:;!. 1.•�l _,-0,J�-Au S- Ib ri-gungs ec t ka-T'Has ee t
i
g�saag-pa
1161-1211
rGya-�as
1
____ _
- } --- --r------�-------·---------·-·r
.Lo-ras �'l)a dar-rna seng-ge rGod-tsang-p�
1-.. _,'" l-,.. ';r..r_ ·..,. '" ,.L. ")J". .' .'" ., ��)"-". j tm iddled ragonI Ild9-1253
ru ppe r d raga'a 'lowedrr ago[l'
It
is saiodf rGod-Tsaagt hat:
Th�pugh thper acticeo f rites, wahse �ble to attain
whateverh e desired. HiG tho�ghtsf ollowedo n each
othorf or two moments onlayf,t eara tdh e thi1"'dm oment
he was able to t1"'8nsforffi tihnetmo a mind concent�atioQ
ae cOr'idn g to the l"Iaha:1"'nau, da nd s top thfel ow of thought