The Small Golden Key

128 Pages·1993·2.802 MB·English

by  Thinley Norbu

to the Treasure of
the Various Essential Necessities
of General and Extraordinary
Buddhist Dharma
<30
Thmley Norbu
OTHER BOOKS BY THINLEY NORBU
White Sail: Crossing the Waves of Ocean Mind
to the Serene Continent of the Triple Gems
Magic Dance: The Display of the Self Nature
of the Five Wisdom Dakinis
A Brief Fantasy History of a Himalayan
Gypsy Gossip
Echoes
TRANSLATIONS BY THINLEY NORBU
Patrul Rinpoche: The Propitious Speech from
the Beginning, Middle, and End
Sunlight Speech: Dispelling the Darkness of Doubt
T H E
SMALL
G O L D E N
KEY
to the Treasure of
the Various Essential Necessities
of General and Extraordinary
Buddhist Dharma
T h i n l e y N o r b u
Translated by
Lisa Anderson
S H A M B H A L A
Boston & London
1993
SHAMBHALA PUBLICATIONS, INC.
HORTICULTURAL HALL
300 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 021 I 5
C 1977, 1986, 1993 BY THINLEY NORBU
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 1
FIRST SHAMBHALA EDITION
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON ACID-FREE PAPER &
DISTRIBUTED IN THE UNITED STATES BY RANDOM HOUSE, INC.,
AND IN CANADA BY RANDOM HOUSE OF CANADA LTD.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGINC-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
THINLEY, NORBU.
THE SMALL COLDEN KEY TO THE TREASURE OF THE VARIOUS ESSENTIAL
NECESSITIES OF GENERAL AND EXTRAORDINARY BUDDHIST DHARMA /
BY THINLEY NORBU', TRANSLATED BY LISA ANDERSON.
P. CM. TRANSLATION FROM TIBETAN.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1977. INCLUDES INDEX.
ISBN O-87773-856-4 (PBK.)
I. RNIN-MA-PA (SECT) 2. TANTRIC BUDDHISM. I. TITLE.
BQ766.2.T46 1993 92*56459
294.3'923—DC20 cn*
Lama Padmasambhava La Chag Tshel Lo
H omage to G uru P admasambhava

CONTENTS
Preface to the Second Edition ix
Preface to the First Edition xiii
Introduction I
1. A Brief Account of the O rigins of Buddhism
in India 3
2. The N yingmapa Lineages 7
3. O rigins of Buddhism in Tibet 14
4. N yingmapa Kama and Terma 22
5. T he D ifferences between the Buddha ’s
HInayana , M ahayana , and Vajrayana
Teachings 24
6. T he Superiorities of M ahayana and Vajrayana 35
7. Great Emptiness 38
8. T he Two Truths 40
9. The Tripijaka and the T hree Trainings 47
10. D harma of Precept and D harma of Realization 50
11. The Four O bscurations 55
12. Empowerment 57
13. T he O bject of Refuge 64
14. D harmakaya 68
15. Sambhogak Aya 70
THE FIVE CERTAINTIES 70
THE PEACEFUL SAMBHOGAKAYA DEITIES 72
THE WRATHFUL SAMBHOGAKAYA DEITIES 8l
THE SEVEN BRANCHES OF CONJUNCTION 86
16. N irmanakaya 89
vii
C ontents
17. Carrying the Six Gatherings on the Path 94
18. The Stages of Dissolving 99
19. Om Ma Ni Pad Me Hum ioi
20. N gondro M editation Practice 102
Index no
v i i i
PREFACE TO
THE SECOND EDITION
A
CCORDING TO TRADITIONAL
Buddhist doctrine, all positive qualities of phenomena, from
small, instantaneous, substance qualities to vast, continuous,
intangible qualities, come from Dharma. Many different cate­
gories and aspects of Dharma exist in order to benefit all beings
who have either dull, intermediate, or keen faculties through
their general group phenomena and individual personal phe­
nomena. Any kind of Dharma, whether sutra or mantrayana,
which originates directly from the Buddha’s Dharma revealed
by the Buddha’s followers, is called sastra.
The sastras have many qualities, but all these can be synthe­
sized into two precious qualities. As Yig Ngen said, “The
sastras’ main qualities are to redeem or purify the enemy which
is the passions and to guide from the lower realms to enlight­
enment.” There are countless different sastras written by count­
less different followers of the Buddha. For those like me who
cannot write according to these two qualities, it seems unnec­
essary to write at all, especially when I remember Patrul Rin-
poche’s speech: “Even though hundreds of sublime and intelli­
gent beings have left countless writings and doctrines behind in
this world according to their points of view, still, all beings
who have infantile mind create more and more appearances of
contradictions from these teachings instead of benefitting from
Preface to the Second Edition
them—so if anyone writes more, the result will be just the
same.” Because of Patrul Rinpoche’s speech, a being such as
myself, with neurotic mind, became completely discouraged to
write anything.
But many sublime saints have said that even if beings do not
pay attention to you, you must still try to express even one
word of the name of Buddha Dharma. Although, momentarily,
beings may have bad conceptions due to their karma, ultimately
there is no question that all beings’ root circumstance Buddha
nature can blossom into enlightenment from the contributing
circumstance of their hearing. So, graced by Buddha in this
life, I have had the opportunity to express his speech through
previous karma, and also to speak freely according to the wishes
of individuals through general American democratic free speech
phenomena.
Since I came to the West for medical treatment in 1977, at
times when my energy was restored, I have written some books
in response to the questions of many different Westerners.
These books were written according to the capacities of their
minds, whether or not they were a benefit for them.
The Small Golden Key to the Treasure of the Various Essential
Necessities of General and Extraordinary Buddhist Dharma, which I
wrote in Honolulu, is predominantly very compact. In it, I
hastily synthesized the essence of different Dharma ideas ac­
cording to the three yanas.
Echoes contains what I taught in Boudhanath with many
international Dharma yogis and yoginls, using the traditional
method of question and answer to connect ordinary experience
with sublime Dharma in a flexible way.
After that, between East and West, I wrote Gypsy Gossip
because there was so much paranoia between the negative and
positive fashions of current spiritual ideas and between the
different religious habits of nihilists and spiritualists.