the myth and magic of vajrayana tibetan buddhism
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THE MYTH AND MAGIC OF VAJRAYANA
Tibetan Buddhism
Three Turnings of the Wheel
First Turning: in Deer Park, SarnathTeaching: 4 Noble TruthsBasic Vehicle/HinayanaPractitioners: Shravakas (Listeners) and Pratyekabuddhas
(Solitary Realizers); Fruition: Arhat (“Foe-destroyer”)Second Turning: at Vulture Peak Mountain, Rajgrih
Teaching: Emptiness (shunyata) and compassion (bodhichitta)Great Vehicle/MahayanaPractitioners: Bodhisattvas; Fruition: Buddha
Third Turning: at various times and placesTeaching: Mantra and buddha natureDiamond Vehicle/Vajrayana“Result vehicle”: Taking the result as the path
The Four Noble Truths
1. The Truth of Suffering (dukha)Birth, old age, sickness, and death
2. The Truth of the Origin of Suffering Karma and ignorance (avidya, marigpa)
3. The Truth of the Cessation of Suffering
4. The Truth of the Path
The Eightfold Noble Path
1. Right view 2. Right intention 3. Right speech4. Right action 5. Right livelihood 6. Right effort 7. Right mindfulness 8. Right concentration
Three Higher Trainings
Ethics:refraining from 3 physical non-virtues: killing, stealing,
sexual misconduct4 verbal non-virtues: lying, divisiveness, harsh
speech, meaningless chatter, 3 mental non-virtues: greed, wish to harm, and wrong view
Concentration/meditationShamatha (calm abiding): Analytical meditation
and resting meditationVipashyana (clear seeing)
Wisdom (Skt. prajna, Tib. sherab)
Tibetan
Canon:
“Kangyur”
The Words
of the
Buddha
Mahayana (Great Vehicle)
Second turning of the wheelKey teachings: Shunyata (emptiness or openness)
and bodhichitta (heart or mind of enlightenment)Practitioners: BodhisattvasThe path: The five paths and the ten levels (bhumis)Literature: Prajnaparamita (The Perfection of Wisdom)Fruition: Buddhahood
Two Types of Obscurations and Identity
Emotional obscurations Identity of the individual
selflessness of the person- Imputed self- Instinctive self
Cognitive obscurations Identity of phenomena (dharma)
identitylessness of things
Bodhichitta
“The heart of awakened mind”Def: The wish to attain enlightenment for the
sake of all sentient beings.Aspirational Bodhichitta:
The four immeasurables – love, compassion, joy, equanimity
Engaged Bodhichitta:The six perfections:
Generosity, discipline, patience, joyful diligence, meditation, wisdom
Four Immeasurables
Immeasurable love: wishing happiness and the causes of happiness
- Antidote to enmity (and attachment)Immeasurable compassion: wishing freedom from
suffering- Antidote to anger (and pity)
Immeasurable joy: wishing all sentient beings never to be separated from happiness
- Antidote to jealousy Immeasurable equanimity
- Antidote to indifference and prejudice (and clinging)
Samsara and Nirvana
Samsara (Skt.; lit. “wandering”) = Cycle of rebirthNirvana (Skt.; lit. “blowing out,
extinguishing”)
Spread of Vajrayana in Tibet
3rd-11th century development of Tantra in IndiaEarly transmission in Tibet: 7th cent.
= Nyingma School King Songtsen Gampo (609-649?) Trisong Detsen (754.797) Ralpachen (815-836)Second dissemination (from 978 onwards) Rinchen Sangpo, Atisha, (founder of Kadampa) = eventually Sarma (“New”) Schools
Later Dissemination
Ascent of Mongols in 12th century = priest-patron relationship with Sakya
1249 treaty Godan – Sakya Pandita1st Compilation of Kangyur and TengyurTsongkhapa (1357-1419)15th century: Gelukpa ascent to power1578 Sonam Gyatso meets Altan Khan =
establishment of Dalai Lama title5th Dalai Lama (1617-1682), “Great Fifth,” First
Dalai Lama to rule over a unified Tibet with Mongol protection
The 12 Links of Dependent Origination
Metaphor
1. Ignorance 2. Karma/formations 3. Consciousness 4. Name and form 5. 6 senses 6. Contact 7. Feeling 8. Craving 9. Grasping 10. Becoming 11. Rebirth 12. Old age and death
Blind man Potter Monkey Boat w/ 4 passengers House w/ 6 openings Couple kissing Man w/arrow in eye Man takes drink Man picks fruit Pregnant woman Childbirth Corpse
The Wheel of Life: The 12 Links
3 Kayas (Bodies)
Dharmakaya (“Embodiment of Truth”)Ultimate state of nirvana; no form
Sambhogakaya (“Embodiment of Enjoyment”)Form of light; not accessible to ordinary beings
Nirmanakaya (“Embodiment of Manifestation”)
Physical emanation
3 Types of Nirmanakaya
(acc. to Ray)1) Fully enlightened Buddha, e.g. Buddha
Shakyamuni2) Realized human being, e.g. tulkus3) Created objects, e.g. stupa
Philosophical system (tenet)
Drubtha (grub mtha’)siddhanta
“established/final conclusion”
Three Prajnas (or Wisdom Tools)
Wisdom of ListeningWisdom of ContemplationWisdom of Meditation
The Four Seals: What Makes You a Buddhist or Not a Buddhist
1. Everything compounded is impermanent.
2. Everything tainted is suffering.3. All phenomena are empty and devoid of self.
4. Nirvana is peace.
Four Buddhist Approaches
YANA SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY
KEY MASTERS
Hinayana Vaibhashika (Tib. chedrak mawa, Particularist)
Vasubandhu (4th century)
Hinayana Sautrantika (Tib. dodépa, Followers of Sutra):- According to scripture- According to reasoning
Vasubandhu
Dignaga (480-540 CE)Dharmakirti (7th century)
Mahayana Chittamatra (Tib. Sem tsampa, Mentalist)/Yogachara (Tib. naljor chöpa, Practitioners of Yoga)
Asaoga (4th century)Vasubandhu
Mahayana Madhyamaka (Tib. Uma, Middle Way)-Svatantrika (Uma rang gyüpa)-Prāsaogika (Uma tal gyurwa)
Nagarjuna (2nd century)Bhavaviveka (500-570)Sāntarakrita (700-785)Candrakirti (600-650)
The Two Truths
“The doctrines that Buddha taught are based upon two truths: Worldly conventional truths and truths that are ultimate
objects.Those who do not know the distinction between these two
truthsDo not know the profound suchness in Buddha’s teachings.”
Nagarjuna, Treatise on the Middle Way
Conventional truth (samvpti-satya, kundzob denpa)
Ultimate truth (paramartha satya, döndam denpa)
The Two Truths for the Vaibharika
“When objects are destroyed or mentally dissected,
They can no longer be identified by the mind.Such things like pots or water, are relative;All else besides is ultimately existent.”
Vasubandhu, Abhidharmakosha
5 Skandhas (Aggregates)
= What constitutes a personForm - Outer form: E.g. five elements: wind, fire,
etc. - Inner form: the body and its organsPerception: The sensory perceptionsFeeling: Positive, negative, or neutralFormation: mainly thoughts/concepts (51
types)Consciousness: 6 consciousnesses of eye, ear,
nose, tongue, touch, and mental perceptions
The Two Truths of the Sautrantika
“Here, what is genuinely able to perform a function
Is what genuinely exists.Everything else is seemingly existent.These are explained as specifically
characterized and generally characterized (chi dön) phenomena.”Dharmakirti, Commentary on Valid Cognition
Sautrantika (Followers of Sutra)
Relative truth: Generally characterized (concepts)
Absolute truth: Specifically characterized (the objects we directly perceive)
Concepts are not problematic in themselves – it is our confusion about them. We do not see concepts accurately, just as they are.
Sautrantika
Sautrantika following scriptureSautrantika following reasoning (Dharmakirti
and Dignaga)Perception is a two-step process: In the first moment, the senses perceive the object directly, without any concepts. In the second moment, concepts enter in and we label.
Direct Perception (acc to Sautrantika)
as opposed to inference
Sensory perception (non-conceptual)Sense consciousnessSelf-awarenessYogic perception
Main Points (Sautrantika)
Consciousness is self-aware (rang rig) and other-aware (shen rig)
We perceive the external world indirectly through mental representations
There is a clear distinction made between perception and concepts
The three times are imputed.
Four Buddhist Approaches
YANA SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY
KEY MASTERS
Hinayana Vaibhashika (Tib. chedrak mawa, Particularist)
Vasubandhu (4th century)
Hinayana Sautrantika (Tib. dodépa, Followers of Sutra):- According to scripture- According to reasoning
Vasubandhu
Dignaga (480-540 CE)Dharmakirti (7th century)
Mahayana Chittamatra (Tib. Sem tsampa, Mentalist)/Yogachara (Tib. naljor chöpa, Practitioners of Yoga)
Asaoga (4th century)Vasubandhu
Mahayana Madhyamaka (Tib. Uma, Middle Way)-Svatantrika (Uma rang gyüpa)-Prāsaogika (Uma tal gyurwa)
Nagarjuna (2nd century)Bhavaviveka (500-570)Shāntarakrita (700-785)Chandrakirti (600-650)
Does the External World Exist?
Vaibhashika: The partless particle is real and the momentless moment is real.
Sautrantika: I perceive it, so it must exist.Chittamatra: Only mind exists, the external
world is illusory like a dream.Madhyamaka: Conventionally, there is no
argument with ordinary people. Ultimately, things are neither real nor unreal, but interdependent.
Something is ultimately real when it is
Permanent (takpa)Singular (chikpu)
Independent (rangwang)
Mind Only
“The … realms of existence are merely mind.”Buddha, in the Perfection of Wisdom
(Prajnaparamita) in 8,000 Verses
“The world is led by mindAnd drawn by mind.All phenomena are controlledBy one phenomenon, mind.”Buddha, in the Collection of Related Teachings
Refuting the Partless Particle
“When six other particles are joined to it,The subtle particle will have six parts.If the six all simply converge together,Then even compounds will be infinitesimal.”
Vasubandhu, Twenty Verses
Eight Types of Consciousness
1-5) Five types of consciousness of the senses:• Consciousness of the eye• Consciousness of the ear• Consciousness of the nose• Consciousness of the tongue• Consciousness of the body6) Mental consciousness7) Afflicted consciousness or emotional mind: the
subtle grasping which produces all the ignorance, destructive emotions and confusion of samsara.
8) Allground consciousness (alaya): it is neutral, neither positive nor negative.
Main Points of Chittamatra
No material objects can ultimately be established, only mind.
There is no duality between perceiver and what is perceived.
To establish all things as being the mind destroys the whole mechanism of samsara and thus leads to liberation.
Three Natures (Chittamatra)
Imputed nature (kun tag): the false, that which is labeled or projected, e.g. the self, “mine”, names, etc.e.g. Thinking Robert de Niro is really the Godfather
Dependent nature (shen wang): mind and mental events of the beings in the three realms,
the perception of the eight types of consciousnesses, sense objectse.g. The images, colors, movements on the screen
Ultimate nature (yong drup): the completely existentSelf-awareness, nondual cognition devoid of object and subject
e.g. The light bulb in the film projector that makes everything else appear
Chittamatra’s Two Truths
“Perceived objects and perceiving subjects’ duality is relative.
Consciousness that is empty of duality is genuine.
This is the presentation of the mind-only school.”
Jamgon Kongtrul, Treasury of Knowledge
“The whole purpose of Madhyamaka
is to provethat everything we think is
wrong.”
Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
No View, No Fault
“If I had a position,Then I would be at fault,But because I have no position,I can only be without fault.”
Nagarjuna, Refutation of Objections, Verse 29
Ten Questions the Buddha Answered With Silence
Is the universe eternal,not eternal,finite,or infinite?After death, does a Buddha continue to exist,not continue to exist,both,or neither?Are the body and the “self” the same entity,totally separate and different entities?
Shunyata
Def: emptiness of inherent existence Three fundamental principles to prove
shunyata:a) Impermanence and changeb) Lack of unitary existence (nothing is just
one, self-contained entity, everything is composed of many parts and particles)
c) Lack of independent existence (for example, things are defined in relation to each other)
Beyond Existence and Non-existence
“Existence” is the view of permanence,“Non-existence” is the view of extinction,Therefore, the wise do not abideEither in existence or in non-existence.Nagarjuna, Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle
Way
Wisdom
“When real and unreal bothAre absent from before the mindNothing else remains for mind to doBut rest in utter peace, from concepts free.”
Shantideva, Way of the Bodhisattva
The Five Great Madhyamika Arguments
The investigation of the essential nature: ‘neither one nor many’
The investigation of causes: the diamond splinters (or vajra slivers)
The investigation of results: refuting existent or non-existent results
The investigation of both causes and resultsThe investigation of interdependence
The Four Extremes
“There is no existence nor non-existence,Neither both nor not both.Those who are free from the four extremesAre referred to as “Madhyamikas”.”
Ornament of the Middle Way
Interdependence
“There is not a single thingThat does not arise interdependently.Therefore there is not a single thingThat is not emptiness.”
Nagarjuna
Arising: Examining the Cause
If things truly exist,they have to be produced, or arise, either
from themselves,from something other than themselves,from both of these, orWithout a cause.
Refutation
“Not from self, not from other,Not from both and not from neither—Not from any entity at all anywhere,Is there ever any production.” Nagarjuna, Fundamental Verses of the Middle Way
“Since things do no arise from self, other, both, nor without cause,
They have no inherent nature at all.”Chandrakirti
Shunyata = Possibilities
“If emptiness is possible,Then everything is possible,But if emptiness is impossible,Then nothing else is possible either.”Nagarjuna, Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle
Way
Divisions of Madhyamaka
SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY
KEY MASTERS
Madhyamaka “Middle Way” Nagarjuna (2nd cent)Aryadeva (3rd cent)
SUBSCHOOLS
Prasangika “Consequentialist” Buddhapalita (6th cent)Chandrakirti (600-659)Shantideva (8th cent)
Svatantrika “Autonomous School” Bhavaviveka (500-570)
Rangtong “Self-Empty”
Shentong “Other-Empty”
Yogachara Synthesis of Chittamatra and Madhyamaka
Shantarakshita (700-785)Kamalashila
Why Holding on to a Self Leads to Suffering
“When there is a self, one believes there is other.
From these images of self and other come attachment and aversion.
As a result of getting wrapped up in these,All possible faults arise.”
Dharmakirti
Perfection of Wisdom
“Form is emptiness,Emptiness is form.Form is no other than emptiness,Emptiness is no other than form.”
From the Sutra of the Heart of Transcendent Wisdom
Interdependence: Beyond 8 Extremes
“Everything that arises interdependently isUnceasing and unborn,Neither non-existing nor everlasting,Neither coming nor going,Neither several in meaning nor with a single
meaning.”Nagarjuna, Introduction to Fundamental
Verses of the Middle Way
Fruition
“What is without abandonment, without attainment,
Without annihilation, without permanence,Without cessation, and without arisingIs said to be nirvana.”Nagarjuna, Fundamental Treatise on the
Middle Way
Divisions of Lineages
LINEAGE KEY MASTERS
Bon
Nyingma “Ancient” or “Old Translation”
Padmasambhava
SARMA “New Schools”
Kadam Atisha (arrived in Tibet 1042)
Kagyü “Oral Lineage” Tilopa (988-1069), Naropa (1016-1100)Marpa, MilarepaKarmapas
Sakya “Gray Earth” Virupa (9th or 10th C), DrogmiSakya Panditas
Gelug “Way of the Virtuous” Tsongkhapa (1357-1419)Dalai Lamas
RIMÉ “Non-sectarian” Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Tayé
Separation from the Four Attachments
If you are attached to this life, then you are not a Dharma practitioner.
If you are attached to existence (samsara), then you do not have renunciation.
If you are attached to your own interests, then you do not have the mind of enlightenment (bodhichitta).
If there is grasping, then you do not have the view.
Künga Ningypo (1092-1158)
Tantric Initiation
Vase initiation (found in all tantra sets)Secret initiation (only in highest tantra)Wisdom initiationWord initiation
= relation to 4 vidyadhara states= purpose to attain the 4 kayas (Dharmak.,
Sambhogak., Nirmanak., Svabhavikakaya)
4 CLASSES OF TANTRA
Action Tantras: Outer activities, purification rituals, e.g. fasting
Performance Tantras: Emphasize external activities and internal yoga, view of oneself as companion of deity
Yoga Tantras: visualizing oneself as actual deity. Emphasizes internal yoga.
Highest Yoga Tantras: Generation and completion. Subtle energies, winds, channels.
5 Buddha Families
Buddha Vajra Ratna (Jewel) Padma (Lotus) Karma (Action)
Name Vairochana Akshobya Ratnasambhava Amitabha Amoghasiddha
Color White Blue Yellow Red Green
Poison Ignorance Anger Greed Desire Envy/jealousy
Wisdom All-pervasive Mirror-like Equanimity Discriminating All-accomplishing
Position Center/East East/Center South West North
Mudra Teaching Earth touching Generosity Meditation Fearlessness
Symbol Wheel Vajra Jewel Lotus Double Vajra
Consort Tara Mamaki Lochana Pandaravasini Samayatara
Skandha Form Consciousness Sensation Perception Formation
Element Space Water Earth Fire Air
Bild durch Klicken auf Symbol hinzufügenTwo-armed Avalokiteshvara (Chenresig)
Bild durch Klicken auf Symbol hinzufügenThousand-armed Avalokiteshvara
The Fourteen Dalai Lamas
1st: Gyalwa Gendun Drubpa 1391-1474 2nd: Gyalwa Gendun Gyatso 1475-1542 3rd: G Sonam Gyatso 1543-1588 4th: G Yonten Gyatso 1589-1617 5th: G Ngawang Lobzang Gyatso 1617-1682 6th: G Tsangyang Gyatso 1682-1706 7th: G Kalzang Gyatso 1708-1757 8th: G Jampel Gyatso 1758-1804 9th: G Lungtok Gyatso 1805-1815 10th: G Tsultrim Gyatso 1816-1837 11th: G Khedrub Gyatso 1838-1856 12th: G Trinley Gyatso 1856-1875 13th: G Thubten Gyatso 1876-1933 14th: G Tenzin Gyatso *July 6, 1935
Bild durch Klicken auf Symbol hinzufügenThe Fifth Dalai Lama
(1617-1682)
Bardo (Inbetween States)
Acc. to The Tibetan Book of the Dead (lit. “Liberation by Hearing While Inbetween”):
The natural bardo of this lifeBardo of dyingBardo of suchness, which features the
experience of visions of various Buddha formsBardo of becoming, or rebirthBardo of dhyana (meditation)Bardo of dream (the dream state during
normal sleep).
The Bardo of Dying: Dissolution of the Elements
1. Outer dissolution: Earth and skandha of form dissolves into Water Fire Air Space2. Inner dissolution White and red element meet, natural
luminosity dawns
Phowa: Transference of Consciousness
Spread of Vajrayana
India: Vajrayana flourished in India until the 11th century. China and countries with Chinese influence (e.g. Taiwan):
began first half of the 7th century CE (close to Shingon). Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet and Himalayan region (Bhutan,
Sikkim, Ladakh)Japan: In 804 CE, the Japanese monk Kukai founded the
Shingon school of Vajrayāna Buddhism, which has continued to the present time. Also Tendai sect (Vajrayana influences).
Indonesia and Malaysia: established in the late 8th century, driven out by Islam in the 13th century.
Mongolia: began during the 13th century (Prince Godan), but revival in the 17th century and 20th century.
Nepal: Newari BuddhismRussia: especially Kalmyck region, currently revival.
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