The Three Levels of Spiritual Perception: A Commentary on The Three Visions : (nang sum) of Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrub

632 Pages·35.556 MB·English

by  Kunga Tenpay Nyima ,  Jared Rhoton (Translator)

Front Cover: "Viriipa Arresting the Sun," Tibet, first half of the thirteenth century; ink,
opaque watercolor, and gold on cloth.
The mahasiddha Viriipa is the seventh-century progenitor of the Path with Irs Result
(/am-dre) teachings, on which The Three Levels of Spiritual Perception, Deshung
Rinpoche's commentary on The Three Visions, is based. He is shown here in the famous
episode where he arrested the movement of the-sun in the sky after being granted
drinking privileges until noon at a tavern. Previously an abbot of royal birth at Nalanda
University, the greatest seat of learning in India at the time, he resigned after beginning
to act in an extremely unconventional manner. Actually, he had achieved the highest
attainments in tantric meditation, and his acts were an expression of his pure vision.
Removing his monk's robes, he donned a flower garland and roamed India as a "mad"
yogi; the tales of his enlightened exploits are many. Surrounding the main scene are
vignettes depicting the other eighty-three of the Eighty-Four Mahasiddhas. The inscrip
tion on the verso of the painting includes the Buddhist creed of interdependent origina
tion and a historic statement that the tangka was consecrated by the great Tibetan sage
Sakya Pandita (1182-1251).
Photograph by fohn Bigelow Taylor, courtesy oft he Kronos Collection.
THE THREE LEVELS OF SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION

The Venerable Deshung Rinpoche III

nJhree Levels
of
Spiritual Perception
An Oral Commentary on
The Three Visions (Nang Sum) ofNgorchen Konchog Lhtindrub
by
HIS EMINENCE DESHUNG RlNPOCHE,
KUNGA TENPAY NYIMA
TRANSLATED by ]ARED RHOTON
Edited, witb an Introduction, by Victoria R. M. Scott
WISDOM PUBLICATIONS • BOSTON
in association with tht Vikramalila Foundation
WISDOM PUBLICATIONS
361 Newbury Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
Introduction © 1995 Victoria R M. Scott
English translation© 1995 Victoria R. M. Scott and Michael E. Roche
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including phococopying, recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system or technologies now known or later developed,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library ofC ongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kunga Tenpay Nyima, Deshung Rinpoche, 1906-1987.
The three levels of spiritual perception : an oral commentary on The three visions (nang sum) of
Ngorchen Konchog Lhundrub I Kunga Tenpay Nyima; translated by Jared Rhocon; ediced by Viccoria R.M.
Scoct.
p. em.
Translated from Tibetan.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-86171-101-7.-ISBN 0-86171-069-X (pbk.)
l. Dkon-mchog-lhun-grub, Nor-chen, 1497-1557. Lam 'bras srion 'gro'i khrid yig snari gsum mdzcs rgyan.
2. L~-'bras (Sa-skya-pa) I. Rhoton, Jared, 1941-1993. II. Scott, Victoria R. M. III. Dkon-mchog-lhun
grub, Nor-chen, 1497-1557. Lam 'bras srion 'gro'i khrid yig snari gsum mdzes rgyan. English.
BQ7672.4.D55535 1995
294.3'44-dc20 95-1490
ISBN 0 86171 069 X (pbk)
ISBN 0 86171 101 ?(cloth)
00 99 98 97 96
6 5 4 3 2
Photographs: Cover courtesy of the Kronos Collection; frontispiece by Richard Barron;
other photos courresy of Dagmo Kusho, Moke Mokoroff,
Jim and Meg Smarr, and the Sapan Fund.
Typeset in Truesdell and Diacritical Garamond font families by L-JSAWLit', Boston.
Designed and produced by: LJSAWLit'
Wisdom Publications' books arc printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of
the Comminee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevicy of the Council on Library Resources.
Pri11ttd in th• Unitd Staus ofA maica.
This volume is decUcated
to the memory of the Venerable Deshung Rinpoche,
and with great respect to His Holiness Sakya Trizin.
It is also dedicated with gratitude to Jared Rhoton,
translator and interpreter extraordinaire.