The Lotus Peaceful and Wrathful Deities (Padma zhi-khro)

1) Natural Liberation of Rebirth: A Teaching Revealing the Natural Expression of Virtue and Negativity, through the Introduction to the Intermediate State of Rebirth (Srid-pa bar-do'i ngo-sprod dge-sdig rang-gzugs ston-pa'i gdams-pa'am me-long srid-pa rang-grol), contained in the Delhi offset edition of the Great Liberation by Hearing in the Intermediate States, pp. 499-533. See Chapter 13, Part One.

Appendix Two: Symbolism of the Mandala of the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities The maala represents a perfected state of being, and the central deities within it symbolise the perfected states of the meditator's own awareness, psycho-physical aggregates, elemental properties, and sensory and mental processes. The peaceful deities represent the quiescent natural purity of these fundamental components of our being and the wrathful deities represent the transformative aspects of these energies, which bring about the natural transformation of the most enduring and deep-seated expressions of our mundane perceptual states. Last, the outer deities of the maala represent the modes of activity of an enlightened being.

The exact mapping of this symbolism does vary according to the lineage and cla.s.s of the practice. In the chart presented below, the correspondences are based on Chapter 5 of the present work, supplemented by correspondences taken from other texts within the cycle, with certain common variances noted.

The Forty-two Peaceful Deities The male and female primordial buddhas: Samantabadra and Samantabhadr in union represent the indivisible union of pure awareness and emptiness The five female buddhas: kadhtvvar, Buddhalocan, Mmak, Paravsin and Samayatr, represent the natural purity of the five elements The eight male bodhisattvas: Kitigarbha, Maitreya, Qamantabhadra, kagarbha, Avalokitevara, Manjurk.u.mrabhta, Nivraavikambhin and Vajrapi, represent the eight cla.s.ses of consciousness N.B. According to th Guhyagargha Tantra, they also symbolise the four senses and four sense organs.

The eight female bodhisattvas: Lsy, Mmy, Dhp, Gt, lok, Gandh and Nart, represent the four sense objects and the four phases of conceptual thought (past, present, future and indeterminate), or alternatively the eight objects of consciousness The four male gatekeepers: Trailokyavijaya, Yamntaka, Hayagrva and Amtakualin, represent the natural purity of the four extreme views and four aspects of enlightened activity The four female gatekeepers: Aku, P, Spho and Gha, represent the natural purity of the four types of birth and the four immeasurable aspirations The Fifty-eight Wrathful Deities The six peaceful male buddhas: Samantabhadra, Vairocana, Aksobhya-Vajrasattva, Rtnasambhava, Amitabha and Amoghasiddhi are in their wrathful aspects respectively: Mahottara Heruka, Buddha Heruka, Vajra Heruka, Ratna Heruka, Padma Heruka and Karma Heruka, who represent the natural transformation of the six dissonant mental states.

The six peaceful female budhas: Samantabhadr, kadhtvvar, Buddhalocan, Mmak, Pndaravsin and Samayatr in their wrathful aspects respectively are Krodhevar, Buddhakrodhevar, Vajrakrodhevar, Ratnakrodhevar, Padmakrodhevar and Karmakrodhevar, who represent the natural transformation of mental constructs a.s.sociated with the six objects of consciousness The eight Mtarah: Gaur, Caur, Pratmoh, Vetl, Ghasmar, Candl and man, represent the natural transformation of mental constructs a.s.sociated with the eight cla.s.ses of consciousness The eight Pic: Simhamukh, Vyghrmukh, glamukh, Kakamukh, Kkamukh and Ulkamukh, represent the natural transformation of mental constructs a.s.sociated with the objects of the eight cla.s.ses of consciousness The four Female Gatekeepers manifest as Vajratejas, Vajrmogh, Vajralok and Vajravetl, respectively representing the closing of the doors to the four types of birth and the four immeasurable aspirations Twenty-eight Ivar, represent the purification of the aggregates of bewildered mental constructs and the enactment of enlightened activity

Notes.

List of Abbreviations

Derge Derge Parkhang xylographic editions, of the Kangyur, Tengyur and Collected Tantras of the Nyingmapa (NGB).

Disc. gTer-ston, discoverer of concealed teachings (gter ma).

DR Zab-chos zhi-khro dgongs-pa rang-grol, 3 vols. The most extensive and accurate version of Karma Lingpa's revelations (64 texts, 764 folios), a ma.n.u.script of Katok provenance, from the library of the previous Dudjom Rinpoche, published in photo-offset form (Delhi: Sherab Lama, 1975-76), reproduced on CD-ROM by TBRC, New York, Ref: 2330-2332.

GGFTC G. Dorje, The Guhyagarbhatattvavinicayamahtantra and its XIVth Century Tibetan Commentary Phyogs bcu mun sel. 3 vols. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of London, 1987. See also The Guhyagarbha Tantra: Dispelling the Darkness of the Ten Directions (forthcoming).

MTTWL P. Pfandt, Mahyna Texts Translated into Western Languages. Cologne: In Komission bei E. J. Brill, 1983.

NA Not available, not extant.

NGB The Derge xylographic edition of the Collected Tantras of the Nyingmapa (rNying-ma'i rgyud-'b.u.m) in 26 vols.

NK Collected Teachings of the Nyingmapa (rNying-ma'i bka'-ma), compiled in 120 vols. by Khenpo Jamyang, Katok (1999).

NSTB Dudjom Rinpoche, The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its Fundamentals and History, translated by G. Dorje and M. Kapstein, Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1991. This volume contains two texts, Gangs-ljongs rgya-bstan yongs-rdzogs-kyi phyi-mo snga-'gyur rdo-rje theg-pa'i bstan-pa rin-po-che ji-ltar byung-ba'i tshul-dag-cing gsal-bar brjod-pa lha-dbang gYul-las rgyal-ba'i rngabo-che'i sgra-dbyangs (short t.i.tle: rNying-ma'i chos-'byung), and the gSang-sngags snga-'gyur rnying-ma-ba'i bstan-pa'i rnam-gzhag mdo-tsam brjod-pa legs-bshad snang-ba'i dga'-ston (short t.i.tle: bsTan-pa'i rnam-gzhag).

Redisc. Rediscoverer of twice-concealed teachings (yang-gter).

SDGG Lochen Dharmar, gSang-bdag dgongs-rgyan, NK, Vol. 76.

T A Complete Catalogue of the Tibetan Buddhist Canons, ed. H. Ui et al., Sendai: Tohoku University, 1934. This is a catalogue to the Derge xylographic edition of the Kangyur and Tengyur.

TBD Tibetan Book of the Dead (Bar-do thos-grol chen-mo).

TBD Amdo edition Bar-do thos-grol chen-mo, 303 pages, recently compiled by Khenpo Dorje and published in Hong Kong, in Qinghai Buddhist Texts Series, Vol. I (n.d.).

TBD Delhi reprint Bar-do thos-grol chen-mo, 550 pages, Delhi (1985). Reproduced from a print of the Bhutanese Rinpung Dzong xylograph through the agency of HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche.

TBD Varanasi reprint Bar-do thos-grol chen-mo, 122 pages, ed. Kalsang Lhundup, Varanasi (1969). Handwritten print based on the xylographic edition of HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, housed at Engon Monastery in Sikkim.

1 Natural Liberation of the Nature of Mind

1 Tib. gSang-sngags rdo-rje theg-pa'i chos-spyod thun-bzhi'i rnal-'byor sems-nyid rang-grol.

2 Tib. Zab-chos zhi-khro dgongs-pa rang-grol.

3 The practices concerning death ('chi-ba) are the a.n.a.lytical meditations on the nature of impermanence (anitya). See e.g. Paltrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, pp. 39-59; Sonam T. Kazi (trans.), Kun-zang La-may Zhal-lung, pp. 56-82; and Sgam.po.pa/H. V. Guenther (trans.), The Jewel Ornament of Liberation, pp. 41-54. The expression 'starting with' (sogs-la) implies that this will lead on to the other a.n.a.lytical meditations concerning past actions (karma) and the sufferings of cyclic existence (sasra). On the application of the meditation on death by hermit buddhas who frequent charnel grounds in order to meditate in reverse on the twelve links of dependent origination (prattyasamutpda), see Dudjom Rinpoche, NSTB, pp. 228-9.

4 This description of phenomena accords with the account given by Ngrjuna at the beginning of his Root Stanzas of the Madhyamaka ent.i.tled Discriminative Awareness (Prajn-nma-mlamadhyamakakrik). See the translation by D. Kalupahana, Mlamadhyamakakriks, Ch.1.

5 i.e. lacking in skilful means, on which see glossary.

6 For a description of the eight freedoms (dal-ba brgyad) and the ten opportunities ('byor-ba bcu), see glossary.

7 On the dissolution of the physical environment (lokadhtu) by fire and water at the end of an aeon, see L. Pruden (trans.), Abhidharmakoabhya, Ch. 3, The World, pp. 475-7, 489-95.

8 The 'Lord of Death' ('chi-bdag) is an epithet of Yama Dharmarja. See glossary.

9 The expression 'irreversible path' (phyir mi-zlog-pa'i lam) refers to the stras of the second and third turnings of the wheel of the sacred teachings, which expound the definitive meaning. See glossary under definitive meaning.

10 Lit. 'acc.u.mulations' (Tib. tshogs). This refers to the acc.u.mulation of merit (bsod-nams), as opposed to the acc.u.mulation of pristine cognition (ye-shes). See glossary.

11 Tib. mnyam-rdzogs klong-yangs chen-po'i rang-bzhin. This expanse of sameness and perfection is synonymous with the Buddha-body of Reality. See Dudjom Rinpoche, NSTB, pp. 251-2.

12 Name and form (nmarpa) together comprise all the five psycho-physical aggregates (pancaskandha) of which the mind-body complex is formed, viz. form (rpa), consciousness (vijnna), feeling (vedan), perception (sajn), and motivational tendencies (saskra). See glossary under aggregates.

13 The seed-syllable HU is that of Vajrasattva, symbolising buddha-mind. On its composition, see Paltrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, p. 272.

14 For an ill.u.s.tration depicting the crown fontanelle in its relation with the three main energy channels and ancillary vessels, see Tibetan Medical Paintings, p. 34.

15 See glossary under Hundred-syllable Mantra.

16 'Vajra Holder' (vajradhk; Tib. rdo-rje 'dzin-pa), here referring to the deity Vajrasattva, is a t.i.tle generally given to accomplished exponents of the Vehicle of Indestructible Reality (Vajrayna).

17 This prayer for total union with the deity is repeated below, p. 21, at the end of the section on union with the spiritual teacher (guruyoga). As to the specified indications of this union, the body size (kya; Tib. sku'i tshad) and lifespan of Vajrasattva (yu; Tib. tshe) are those of a buddha, on which see P. Williams, Mahyna Buddhism, pp. 181-4; his retinue (parivra; Tib. 'khor) comprises male and female bodhisattvas, on which see Ch. 5, p. 68; and his field (ketra; Tib. zhing-khams) is Abhirati on which see Ch. 11, p. 239. For the significance of the thirty-two major marks (dvtriasanmukhpurualakaa; Tib. skyes-bu dam-pa'i mtshan-bzang sum-cu rtsa-gnyis), which are displayed on the buddha-body of form (rpakya), see glossary.

18 The initial mantra of the external mandala of offerings: O VAJRA BHUMI A HU indicates that the foundation or base of the symbolic mandala is of the nature of indestructible reality (vajra; Tib. rdo-rje). Simultaneously, the pract.i.tioner sprinkles consecrated substances upon it. See Paltrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, p. 287; and Sonam T. Kazi (trans.), Kun-zang La-may Zhal-lung, p. 400.

19 The foundation of the maala is considered to be an immensely thick indestructible circle of wind, resting upon s.p.a.ce, and surmounted by a circle of water and a sphere of gold. See L. Pruden (trans.), Abhidharmakoabhya, Ch. 3, The World, pp. 451-2.

20 The second mantra of the mandala of offerings: O VAJRA REKHE A HU indicates that the cakrava or 'perimeter wall' of the maala is of the nature of indestructible reality. Simultaneously, the pract.i.tioner makes a clockwise circular motion with the right hand, and places a flower blossom on the surface of the maala, followed by the outer ring. See Paltrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, p. 287; and Sonam T. Kazi (trans.), Kun-zang La-may Zhal-lung, pp. 400- 401.

21 On the perception of the sun (srya; Tib. nyi-ma) and moon (candra; Tib. zla-ba) from the perspective of Abhidharma, see L. Pruden (trans.), Abhidharmakoabhya , pp. 460-62; and R. Kloetzli, Buddhist Cosmology, pp. 45- 6. Rhu (sgra-gcan) and Ketu (dus-me) are identified as the ascending and descending phases of the moon.

22 The syllables O A HU respectively symbolise buddha-body, speech and mind, for which reason, in the context of the present work, they frequently appear at the beginning of verses as an invocation. See Ch. 5, pp. 67ff. The three verses which follow respectively concern the outer, inner, and secret maala of offerings which are made respectively to the Buddha-body of Emanation (nirmakya), the Buddha-body of Perfect Resource (sambhogakya ), and the Buddha-body of Reality (dharmakya). On the construction of these three maalas, see Paltrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, pp. 288-95; and Sonam T. Kazi (trans.), Kun-zang La-may Zhal-lung , Pt. 2, pp. 403-4.

23 The ultimate nature of mind (sems-nyid) is identified with the Buddha-body of Reality (dharmakya). For a detailed introduction to the nature of mind, within the context of the present work, see Ch. 4, pp. 38-57.

24 The concluding mantra of the mandala of offerings O A HU MAHA GURU DEVA DAKINI RATNA MAALA PUJA MEGHA A HU indicates that a cloud of offerings is presented to the precious maala of the spiritual teachers, meditational deities, and dkins.

25 The spiritual teachers of the core lineage who are connected with this transmission ('brel-tshad don-ldan rtsa-brgyud bla-ma-rnams) are those in successive generations who have maintained the lineage of our text from the time of Nyinda Ozer down to the present. See 'A Brief Literary History', pp. x.x.xvi- xlviii.

26 The biographies of the important figures in the lineage of the oral transmission (bka'-brgyud) related to the teachings of the Nyingma school, are outlined in Dudjom Rinpoche, NSTB, pp. 601-739.

27 The strict vows made in the past (sngon-gyi dam-bca' gnyan-po) are those taken by buddhas and bodhisattvas in former lives pertaining to the propagation of the Buddhist teaching and the bodhisattva vow to remove the sufferings of all beings. See e.g. P. Williams, Mahyna Buddhism, pp. 49-54.

28 Listed among the eighty minor marks (astyanuvyanjana), the Brahm-like voice (tshangs-pa'i gsung) refers to one of the six modes of buddha-speech. See Longchen Rabjampa, GGFTC, pp. 703-4.

29 On the concept of cyclical time, see L. Pruden (trans.), Abhidharmakoabhya , Ch. 3, The World, pp. 475-95; R. Kloetzli, Buddhist Cosmology, pp. 73-5. Each great aeon (mahkalpa) of cyclical time is said to comprise the four eras of creation (vivartakalpa), duration (vivartasthyikalpa), dissolution (savartakalpa), and non-duration (savartasthyikalpa). The expression 'final era' (dus-mtha') refers to the period of dissolution.

30 On this conferral of the four empowerments, namely: the vase empowerment (b.u.m-dbang), the secret empowerment (gsang-dbang), the empowerment of pristine cognition (shes-rab ye-shes-kyi dbang) and the fourth empowerment of indivisible coemergence (dbyer-med lhan-skyes dbang bzhi-pa) which respectively confer the accomplishment of buddha-body (sku-yi dngos-grub), the accomplishment of buddha-speech (gsung-gi dngos-grub), the accomplishment of buddha-mind (thugs-kyi dngos-grub), and the combined accomplishment of buddha-body, speech and mind (sku-gsung-thugs-kyi dngos-grub), see Paltrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher, pp. 329-30; and Sonam T. Kazi (trans.), Kun-zang La-may Zhal-lung, Pt. 2, pp. 462-5.

2 A Prayer for Union with the Spiritual Teacher

1 Tib. sKu-gsum bla-ma'i rnal-'byor gsol-'debs dug-gsum ma-spang rang-grol.

2 Tib. Zab-chos zhi-khro dgongs-pa rang-grol.

3 The specific blessing which arises from the Buddha-body of Reality (chos-sku'i byin-rlab) is 'primordially pure' (ka-dag), indicating that in this context the Buddha-body of Reality is directly realised through the Atiyoga practice called 'Cutting through Resistance to primordial purity' (ka-dag khregs-chod), on which see Ch. 4; also Dudjom Rinpoche, NSTB, pp. 335-7.

4 This blessing is 'spontaneously present' (lhun-grub), indicating that the Buddha-body of Perfect Resource is directly realised through the Atiyoga practice called 'All-surpa.s.sing Realisation of spontaneous presence' (lhun-grub thod-rgal). See Dudjom Rinpoche, NSTB, pp. 337-45.

5 The pristine cognition of the Buddha-body of Perfect Resource, here referred to as 'naturally liberated in supreme bliss' (bde-chen rang-grol), comprises the mirror-like pristine cognition (darajnna), the pristine cognition of sameness (samatjnna), and the pristine cognition of discernment (pratyavekanajnna ). See glossary under pristine cognition.

6 The pristine cognition referred to here is the pristine cognition of the Buddha-body of Emanation, otherwise known as the pristine cognition of accomplishment (ktyupasthnajnna). See glossary under pristine cognition.

7 The natural pristine cognition (rang-byung ye-shes) of the three buddha-bodies in union refers to the unity of all the five aspects of pristine cognition (pancajnna ).

8 On the bodhisattva's altruistic aspiration not to enter nirva until all sentient beings have been liberated from cyclic existence (sasra), see P. Williams, Mahyna Buddhism, pp. 49-54.

3 Root Verses of the Six Intermediate States

1 Tib. Bar-do rnam-drug-gi rtsa-tshig. These verses are reiterated in the context of other chapters of this cycle, e.g. Ch. 10, p. 205, and Ch. 11, pp. 235 and 288.

2 Chs. 1-7 of the present text relate to the intermediate state of living, including the intermediate states of dreaming and meditative concentration.

3 Chs. 8-10 of the present text relate to the intermediate state of the time of death.

4 The intermediate state of reality is the subject of Ch. 11.

5 The intermediate state of rebirth is the subject of Chs. 11 and 13.

4 Natural Liberation through Naked Perception

1 Tib. Rig-pa ngo-sprod gcer-mthong rang-grol.