Dakini teachings : Padmasambhava's oral instructions to Lady Tsogyal PDF
Preview Dakini teachings : Padmasambhava's oral instructions to Lady Tsogyal
Dakini Teachings PADMASAMBHAVA'S ORAL INSTRUCTIONS TO LADY TSOGYAL Recorded and concealed by YESHE TSOGYAL Revealed by NYANG RAL NYIMA OSER and SANGYE LINGPA 'Ji-anslated by ERIK PEMA KUNSANG SHAMBHALA Boston & Shaftesbury 1990 Shambhala Publications, Inc. Horticultural Hall 300 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02115 Shambhala Publications, Inc. The Old School House The Courtyard, Bell Street Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 8BP © 1990 by Erik Hein Schmidt All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 I First Edition Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Distributed in the United States by Random House and in Canada by Random House of Canada Ltd. Distributed in the United Kingdom by Element Books Ltd. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Dota Nan-ral Ni-ma-'od-zer, 1124-1182. IJo mo Ia gdams pa'i chos skor. English! Dakini teachings: Padmasambhava's oral instructions to Lady Tsogyal /revealed by Nyang Ral Nyimey Oser and Sangye Linpa; recorded and concealed by Yeshe Tsogyal; translated by Erik Perna Kunsang.-lst ed. p. em. Translation of: Jo mo Ia gdams pa'i chos skor. ISBN 0-87773-546-8 (alk. paper) l. Spiritual life (Buddhism)-Riiin-ma-pa authors-Early works to 1800. 2. Riiin-ma-pa (Sect)-Early works to 1800. I. Padma Sambhava, ca. 717-ca. 762. II. Sans-rgyas-glin-pa, Gter-ston, 1340-1396. Ill. Ye-ses-mtsho-rgyal, 8th cent. IV. Kunsang, Erik Perna. V. Title. HQ7662.6.N36 1990 89-43403 294 .3' 4448----dc20 CIP "Descend with the view while ascending with the conduct. It is most essential to practice these two as a unity." -PADMASAMBHAVA Contents Translator's Preface 1x A Short Biography of Padmasambhava by JAMGON KONGTRUL THE FIRST xv Introductory Teaching by VEN. TULKU URGYEN RINPOCHE xxv First of All Taking Refuge 10 Bodhicitta 29 The Ten Foundations of Secret Mantra 59 The Vajra Master and the Yidam Deity 101 Vajrayana Mind Training 113 The Crystal Garland of Faultless Practice 135 The Refined Essence of Oral Instructions 153 Glossary 159 Translator's Preface Dakini Teachings is a collection of advice selected from several revealed "treasure teachings," or (terma). It contains Guru Rinpoche's (Padmasambhava's) oral instructions on Dharma practice given dur ing his stay in Tibet in the ninth century. This advice was recorded by his chief disciple, the dakini Yeshe Tsogyal, the princess of Kharchen. According to Jamgon Kongtrul the First's Lives of One Hundred Tertons, 1 Yes he Tsogyal was a dakini and an emanation of the female buddha Lochana, the consort of Buddha Ratnasambhava, as well as of Vajra Yogini appearing in the form of a woman. She served Guru Rinpoche during his stay in Tibet and afterward practiced with tremendous perseverance so that she finally became equal to Guru Rinpoche himself. Her compassion is matchless and her blessings are unceasing. Yeshe Tsogyal wrote these oral instructions down in a secret code language called "dakini script" and concealed them as precious terma treasures to be revealed by tertons many centuries later. Guru Rinpoche himself predicted the arrival, names, and periods of the revealers. The teachings they would receive, in actuality or in visions, would be appropriate for the people in their own and in following generations. Almost every chapter in this book mentions that these teachings were given for the benefit of practitioners of future gener ations and includes the words: "May this meet with all worthy and destined people in the future!" Dakini Teachings is based on the revealed termas of the twelfth- I. Also called The Precious Garland of Lapis Lazuli. x 7i·anslator's Preface % century terton Nyang Ral Nyima Oser. The manuscripts that I have used were kept in the Royal Danish Library, having been brought back from a Mongolian monastery by an explorer of central Asia many decades ago. When His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse visited the library in 1976, he asked to be shown all the original handwritten manuscripts and decided to have photocopies made of six volumes of books that were unavailable at that time in India. Among these six was a collection of some of Nyang Ral's termas called fomo Shulen, "The Questions and Answers of the Lady" (Tsogyal). This volume was later reprinted in its original form by Sherab Drimey, His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse's printer in New Delhi. When later I presented Ven. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche with the book, he expressed great delight in reading it and gave me much encouragement in preparing this translation. He also pointed out another similar collec tion of Nyang Ral's termas called Nyang-gyi Martt·i, "The Direct Instructions of Nyang." Jamgon Kongtrul had found this text impor tant enough to include in the sixtieth volume of the Rinchen Terdzo. In comparing these two manuscripts, I found that both contained invaluable advice by Padmasambhava that was sometimes identical and sometimes totally different. They were obviously from two entirely different sources, the first of which had not been available to Jamgon Kongtrul when preparing the Rinchen Terdzo. It is now about eight hundred years since Nyang Ral Nyima Oser lived, and over these many years quite a few omissions and spelling mistakes crept in each time the manuscripts were hand copied. Even the mistakes were not the same in the two versions. Therefore I relied on a third collection of termas by the fourteenth-century master Sangye Lingpa. Parts of this collection were almost identical in wording with the terma of Nyang Ral Nyima Oser. The reason for the duplication is that both masters, in their former lives, were present when Guru Rinpoche gave the teaching. Nyang Ral Nyima Oser was the reincarnation of King Trisong Deutsen, and Sangye Lingpa was the reincarnation ofTrisong Deutsen's second son, Murub Tseypo. There was enough material in these three collections to fill four additional books of English translation, so I selected what seemed to be most appropriate for the present day and age.
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