Kadampa Mahāmudrā with or without "blessing"?

Screen capture, (Youtube Tse Chen Ling)

In the first decade of the 21st century (2006-2015), an important collection of texts was discovered in the Nechung Lhakhang of the 16 arhats, on the site of Drepung Monastery. The collection had been confiscated, and deposited there around 1642. The collection is one of Kadampa writings, referred to as “bKa’ gdams pa gsung ’bum, 2006–2015)” or “Bka’ gdams gsung ’bum phyogs bsgrigs[1]”, in English “the Collected Works of the Kadampas”. These texts are said to date from the eleventh to early fourteenth centuries. The Kadampa school was founded by Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna (982-1054), or rather his students, in the 11th century.

Screen capture, (Youtube Tse Chen Ling)

James B. Apple[2], an expert on Atiśa, follows the project closely, studied a selection of manuscripts and published their English translations, more specifically on the topic of Kadampa Mahāmudrā and “Pointing out” instructions (t. ngo sprod). I only discovered Apple's research work recently, and I am enthusiastic about his findings.

Apple has translated several works of the Kadampa Collection attributed to Atiśa, and wrote articles about it. Two examples.

Atiśa's Teachings on Mahāmudrā, 2017

“This paper examines the Mahāmudrā teachings of Atiśa Dīpaṃkaraśrījñāna (982-1054 CE) and his early bKa’ gdams pa (hereafter, Kadampa) followers based on previously unstudied canonical documents and manuscripts recently published in Tibet.” 

I don’t agree completely with the conclusion, because I think some materials may be later Kadampa (Kagyupa, or Gelugpa[3]) works attributed to Atiśa, and in particular the major part of the Great Seal Bestowed upon Gönpawa.

Pointing-Out Instructions in Sets of Five (Ngo sprod lnga tshoms) 2020

In his conclusion of Atiśa's Teachings on Mahāmudrā (2017), James B. Apple writes:

“Atiśa’s teachings on Mahāmudrā represent a teaching tradition stemming from Tilopa and supplemented with an exegesis, focused on Cakrasaṃvara and its explanatory tantras, influenced by his institutional base at Vikramaśīla monastery. His teachings consistently focus on meditating on clear light as the co-emergent nature of the mind. The teaching of clear light is often associated with instruction on Mahāmudrā and based on Yoginī tantras such as Cakrasaṃvara. Atiśa’s instruction on Mahāmudrā was initially structured along mainstream esoteric models of gradual progression through the creation stage followed by completion stage practices. He adapted his Mahāmudrā teachings to the contextual circumstances of his disciples in Tibet, providing instructions on the nature of the mind either as the culmination of the stages of the path or as a technique to recognize the coemergent mind as the dharmakāya.” (Apple, 2017)

Tilopa is a red flag for me, and always requires a closer look. I am not sure at all Tilopa was a historical figure, and if he isn’t, what is he, what does he stand for? In the Kagyu tradition Tilopa is presented as Nāropa’s teacher, who Marpa saw in a vision, like Śavaripa (a vision or apparition) was Maitrīpa’s teacher... Tilopa stands for the Nine cycles of instructions of the disembodied ḍākinī (t. lus med mkha' 'gro skor dgu S. ḍāka-niṣkāya-dharma), which he is said to have received directly from Vajravarāhī. These cycles and other aural transmissions entered the Kagyu tradition via Milarepa’s student Rechungpa, under the names Rechungpa’s aural transmission (t. ras chung snyan brgyud) and Cakrasaṁvara’s aural transmission (t. bde mchog snyan brgyud). We know this mainly through later hagiographic sources (15-16th century).

If we do indeed follow the hagiographic line and narrative of the Kagyu tradition, then an explanation is required why Atiśa, Advayavajra, Gampopa and others didn’t toe the Tantric party line as expected and came up with their own inventions… Why did they go “back” from a “Luminous dharmakāya” to a simple dharmakāya, from a Luminous Yogācāra-madhyamaka to a madhyamaka, adorned with the Guru’s (“Pointing-Out”) instructions?

Apple’s theory about Atiśa’s Mahāmudrā is based on texts attributed to Atiśa, where “Mahāmudrā” is the topic. Amongst others:
- Abhisamayavibhaṅga (mngon par rtogs pa rnam par ’byed pa. Tôh. no. 1490. Dergé Tanjur)
- Essential Condensed Summary on the Special Instructions of Co-emergent Union (Lhan cig skyes sbyor gyi gdam ngag mdor bsdus snying po)
- Stages of the Path to Awakening (Byang chub lam gyi rim pa, *Bodhipathakrama), 2020[4]
- Great Seal Bestowed upon Gönpawa (Jo bo rjes dgon pa ba la gnang ba’i phyag chen), 2016

James B. Apple suggests[5] that the references by Jamgon Kongtrül (1813–1899) (in Shes bya kun khyab) and the third Karmapa Mikyöd Dorje (1507–1554) to the “Phyag chen lhan cig skyes sbyor” composed by Lord Atiśa and “the esoteric instruction of The Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, renowned as Coemergent Union of the great Geshé Dromtönpa and Geshé Gönpawa” could fit Pointing-Out instructions contained in “Stages of the Path to Awakening”, the “Great Seal Bestowed upon Gönpawa” and the “Special Instructions of Co-emergent Union”.

That may very well be the case. It is not excluded that these texts, included in the “Collected Works of the Kadampas”, confiscated and stored away around 1642, may have been written by Kadampa, Kagyu or Gelugpa apologists, trying to recapture elements of Tilopa’s “lineage of blessing”. On the other hand, if Karmapa Mikyöd Dorje distinguishes Atiśa’s or Gampopa’s mahāmudrā from “the authentic power [siddhi] of [Tantric] mahåmudrå” in “the lineage from the dharmakåya great Vajradhara to the great glorious Nāropa” etc., then he seems to think that what Atiśa’s Mahamudra/”lhan cig skyes sbyor” is lacking is that very “siddhi”. So if the above mentioned texts do indeed correspond to what the eighth Karmapa had in mind, why are they said to have the following "siddhi" "lineage of blessing":

“This Essential Condensed Summary of the Special Instructions on Co-emergent Union was written down by the Śākya monk Kumara. The lineage was transmitted successively from Vajradhara, Tilopa, Nåropa, Ḍombheruka, Lord [Atiśa], Gönpawa[6], [Geshe] Tönpa, Sharwapa (shar ba pa), and Tapkhawa (stabs kha ba). [Later, came] the great master Jamnyak (’jam nyag), the spiritual teacher Drakgyalwa (grags rgyal ba), then myself [Śākya monk Kumāra].”

The lineage of another "Kadampa" text called “General Meaning of the Stages of the Path” (Byang chub lam rim gyi spyi don), a brief work that is part of the Stages of the Path to Awakening, is also called a “lineage of blessing”.

“This lineage of blessing mentions that the teachings come from Tilopa, Nāropa, and then Atiśa. From Atiśa the teachings went to Gönpawa Wangchuk Gyaltsen (dgon pa ba dbang phyug rgyal mtshan, 1016-1082), Gya Chakriwa (rgya lcags ri ba, eleventh century), then Gampopa, and then Pakmo Drupa (phag mo gru ba, 1110–1170 CE). This lineage closely replicates the lineage given in the final text of our survey for Atiśa’s Mahāmudrā teaching, the Essential Condensed Summary on the Special Instructions of Co-emergent Union.” (Apple, Atiśa’s Teachings on Mahāmudrā, 2017)

Why would "siddhi" and "blessings" lack in lineages alledgedly descending directly from Tilopa? If the instructions of these lineages attributed to Atiśa did indeed carry Tilopa’s "blessing" or “authentic siddhi”, then what was all the later fuss about the three sorts of Mahāmudrā? I think the addition of these "lineages of blessing" may have taken place later, i.e. when the lack of siddhi and blessings became a burning topic.

Let’s have a closer look at the Great Seal Bestowed upon Gönpawa (Jo bo rjes dgon pa ba la gnang ba’i phyag chen) that is said to have come down via Tilopa and Nāropa, and Lama Drakgyalwa (grags rgyal ba), “a Kagyu figure from the fourteenth century”. It starts like this.

“The teacher previously stated: what is called co-emergent union is an extremely profound special instruction that Atiśa bestowed upon Gönpawa, to the effect that the co-emergent mind itself is the dharmakāya and co-emergent appearance is the light of the dharmakāya[7].”

This sounds very much like the “Pointing-Out” instructions, such as they were given at Gampo (t. dwags lha sgam po), e.g. by Gampopa’s nephew Gomchung (Shes rab byang chub 1127-1171).

“The precious Gomchung stated: once the meditation of the pointing-out instructions of Mahāmudrā has been planted, natural consciousness (sems nyid lhen cig skyes pa) is dharmakāya and the appearances are the light of dharmakāya[8].”

Gomchung’s instructions (sNying po'i ngo sprod don dam gter mdzod) also contain the instruction to not track the past, nor anticipate the future and "let your perception of the present evolve entirely and authentically as it comes, without even focusing on the present perception”[9]. The actual Pointing-out instructions are very similar, but the instructions attributed to Atiśa are much more than a Ngo sprod. They explain the four yogas ("one-pointedness", "one taste", "bereft of proliferations" and "nonmeditation"), and then explain the transformation of the ordinary body and its “inner mind” (nang du sems), or rather the other way round. It could have been inspired by Milarepa’s song “Having Confidence in the View” composed by Tsangnyön Heruka in the 15-16th century.

“People call me a human, but
I am the son of the great snow lioness.
In my mother’s womb, I perfected three powers.”

“People call me a human, but
I am the son of the garuda, king of birds.
While inside the egg, I developed my wings[10].”

Then the “Great Seal Bestowed upon Gönpawa” goes into explaining the progressive dissolution of the elements at the moment of death, and we are instructed in the Bardo teachings (Karma Lingpa 1326–1386).

“...wind dissolves into consciousness, and when both wind and the mind enter into the central channel, they naturally ascend to the place where gnosis is co-emergent with reality (dharmatā). In this way, a person who is already familiar [with this] through the power of meditation recognizes it upon encountering it, and when the natural clear light and the clear light of meditation meet, one gains the accomplishment of the Great Seal.”

This is not all, because the disembodied Luminous “Great Self” after having reunited with the "Divine Light", then takes on the form of a deity for the benefit of sentient beings.

“Then, [878.5] having taken up a deity’s body unified from within the state of empty clear light [t. gsal stong pa’i ngang las zung ’jug lha’i skur langs nas], anyone trained in this who manifests such a body produces benefit for sentient beings, and further helps others through taking up an illusion-like mental body consisting of uncontaminated karma. If one does not meditate in this way, the natural clear light [t. rang bzhin gyi ’od gsal ba] will not be recognized."

If the “clear light” of the “The Luminous Bardo of Dharmatā” (t. chos nyid 'od gsal gyi bar do), or the clear light of Dharmatā (t. chos nyid kyi ‘od gsal) is not recognized, then the "Great Self" will end up wasted in another ordinary saṃsāric body[11]. The Luminous Bardo of Dharmatā is a later addition to earlier sets of intermediary states (bardo). See Henk Blezer, Kar glin Źi khro: A Tantric Buddhist Concept, 1997.

It is clear to me that this is a patchwork of instructions", attributed to Atiśa perhaps in order to “prove” that Atiśa knew Tilopa, and his instructions, and that he was also aware of Bardo yoga, Bardo teachings, the Luminous Bardo of Dharmatā, and everything else needed to continue to benefit sentient beings in Luminous divine forms. Remember that the path of mantrayāna is a path of "blessings" and "siddhi", and that Gampopa’s Path of direct perception (mngon sum lam du byed pa) is said to be different from the Sūtric epistemic “path of inference” (t. rjes dpag lam du byed pa) and the Tantric “path of blesisngs” (t. byin rlabs kyis lam s. anugraha). The first part of the “Great Seal Bestowed upon Gönpawa” attributed to Atiśa are very similar to Gomchung's Pointing-Out instructions, and can be considered as a path of direct perception, but the rest is clearly later Tibetan Tantric material. Does this really correspond to Atiśa’s teaching in the 11th century?

***

[1] Wangchen Lhamo (Dbyangs can lha mo), et al., eds. 2006-15. Collected Works of the Kadampas. Bka’ gdams gsung ’bum phyogs bsgrigs bzhugs so. 120 vols. Chengdu: Si khron Dpe skrun Tshogs pa, Si khron mi rigs dpe skrun khang.

[2] “James B. Apple is full Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Calgary. He received his doctorate in Buddhist Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His current research focuses upon the critical analysis of Mahāyāna sūtras and topics within Indian and Tibetan Buddhist scholasticism.” Academia.edu

[3] Roger Jackson, “Assimilating the Great Seal: The Dge lugs pa-ization of the dge ldan bka ’brgyud Tradition of Mahāmudrā, Mahāmudrā in India and Tibet, Edited by Roger R. Jackson Klaus-Dieter Mathes, 2020

[4] Revue d'Etudes Tibétaines, no. 56, Octobre 2020, pp. 170-262

[5] Atiśa Teaching on Mahāmudrā, 2017

[6] Gönpawa is Gönpawa Wangchuk Gyaltsen (dgon pa ba dbang phyug rgyal mtshan, 1016-1082)

[7] "slob dpon pa’i zhal snga nas/ lhan cig skyes sbyor bya ba jo bos dgon pa ba la gnang ba’i gdam ngag shin tu zab pa yin gsungs/ de yang sems nyid lhan cig skyes pa chos kyi sku dang/ snang ba lhan cig skyes pa chos kyi sku’i ’od gnyis po de/"

[8] “rin po che sgom chung gi zhal nas/'o na phyag rgya chen po ngo sprod sgom pa 'di tsug yin pas/sems nyid lhan cig skyes pa chos kyi sku dang*/snang ba lhan cig skyes pa chos sku'i 'od/”

[9] 'o skol gyi blo rnam rtog snga ma'i phyir mi 'brang ba yin/ma 'ongs pa'i sngun mi bsu zer tsa na/'o skol gyi blos rnam rtog phyi ma'i mdun mi bsu ba yin/da ltar gyi shes pa rang gar rnal mar tsen gyis bzhag zer tsa na/da ltar gang du yang mi dmigs pa la zer ba yin/

[10] "This single cycle has three different names: “The Attack of Bhinayaka, King of Obstructing Spirits,” “The Six Remembrances of the Guru,” and “The Red Rock of Chonglung.”

Great Seal Bestowed upon Gönpawa:

"dper na gcan gzan gyi rgyal po ma’i khong du rtsal gsum rdzogs kyang ma’i lus kyi rgyar ’thum pa’am/ khyung sgong nga’i nang du gshog gru rgyas kyang sgong nga’i rgyas ’thum pa dang ’dra ste/"

 

Milarepa: mi nga dag nga rang mi zer te// nga ni dar seng dkar mo'i bu// a ma'i mngal nas rtsal gsum rdzogs// phru gu'i lo la tshang du nyal// thong ba'i lo la tshang sgo bsrungs// dar ma'i lo la gangs stod 'grims// nga gangs bu yug 'tshubs rung ya mi nga// brag g.ya nga sa che rung bag mi tsha//

mi nga dag nga rang mi zer te/nga ni bya rgyal khyung gi bu/sgo nga'i nang nas gshog sgro rgyas/phru gu'i lo la tshang du nyal/thong ba'i lo la tshang sgo bsrungs/khyung chen dar ma'i lo la nam 'phangs bcad/nga gnam kha zheng che rung ya mi nga /sa lung sul dog rung bag mi tsha/

 

From The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa: A New Translation, by Tsangnyön Heruka, translated by Christopher Stagg. Shambhala Publications, 2017.

[11] Dzogchen Ponlop, Mind Beyond Death (Ithaca: Snow Lion Publications, 2006), Ch.6 'Egoless Journey: The Luminous Bardo of Dharmata'.

Blezer in his conclusion of cited work: "Several more or less distinct strands of bar do speculations seem to exist. Though a 'chi kha'i bar do (or an equivalent, the nomenclature is not always consistent or at all extant) and a sridpa'i bar do do appear in all traditions and texts, a chos nyid bar do appears to be a late development, not present in all of them. The (bKa' rgyudpa-)siddha-s, for instance, do not distinguish a chos nyid bar do (notwithstanding the reference to a chos nyid bar do in one of Na ro pa's biographies, which does not seem to pertain to a separate bar do there). The Bar do lnga'i ngo sprod from the Ka dag rang 'byung rang shar-cycle does not mention a chos nyid bar do either."