On the Ṣaḍaṅgayoga and the Realisation of Ultimate Gnosis in the KālacakratantraAuthor(s): Giacomella OrofinoReviewed work(s):Source: East and West, Vol. 46, No. 1/2 (June 1996), pp. 127-143Published by: Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (IsIAO)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/29757258 .Accessed: 04/04/2012 09:06

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On the Sadangayoga and the Realisation of Ultimate Gnosis in the K?lacakratantra

by GlACOMELLA OROFINO

In the K?lacakra system the extraordinary (as?dh?rana, Tib. thun mong ma yin

pa) cause of the perfection that transcends the world can only be attained by means

of the practice of sadangayoga (Tib. yan lag drug gi rnal 'byor) i1). The final stage of this yoga leads to realisation of the ultimate truth, corresponding with realisation of

the Great Mudr? or supreme, blissful, immutable Gnosis.

In the first verses of the Vimalaprabhd (henceforth VP), Pundarika's detailed commentary to the Laghuk?lacakratantra (henceforth LKC) (2), we find the following concept that represents the heart of the esoteric mystical doctrine of the K?lacakratantra

and comprises the origin of a vast bulk of exegetical literature in Sanskrit and,

subsequently, in Tibetan:

Whoever has lost the right path of the Tath?gata cannot find the reality described

by the Tath?gata through the path of the various differentiated representations. The

only instrument of the absolute truth is the yoga of the accomplishment process

(utpannakrama) devoid of the generation process {utpattikrama) and of the various differentiated representations of the syllables Hum, Phat, etc.

Although always present in wood, fire is not seen however much one chops and cuts it; but due to its presence in wood, it appears when hands rub two sticks together.

i1) On the sadangayoga in the K?lacakra tradition see the works by G. Gr?nbold: Sadangayoga Ravisrijn?na 's Gunabharanin?masadangayogatippani mit Text, ?bers, u. literarhistor. Komm., Phil. Diss., M?nchen 1969; 'Materialien zur Geschichte des Sadahga-Yoga. III. Die Guru-Reihen im buddhistischen

Sadahga-Yoga', ZAS, 16, 1982, pp. 337-47; 'Der sechsgliedrige Yoga des K?lacakra-Tantra', Asiatische

Studien, XXXVII 1, 1983, pp. 25-45; 'Materialien zur Geschichte des Sadahga-Yoga, IV, Tibetische Literatur zum Sadahga-Yoga', WZKS, 21, 1983, pp. 191-99 and 'Materialien zur Geschichte des Sadanga

Yoga, II: Die Offenbarung des Sadahga-Yoga im K?lacakra-System', CA], 28, 1984, pp. 43-56.

(2) The first and second chapters of LKC and VP are published in: Vimalaprabh?tik? of Sri Pundarika on Sri Laghuk?lacakratantrar?ja by Sri Manjusriyasas (I and II chapters), ed. J. Upadhyaya, Bibliotheca Indo-Tibetica, Series 11, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi 1986; the third and fourth chapters are published in the edition by V.V. Dvivedi & S.S. Bahulkar, in Rare Buddhist

Texts, Series 12, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi 1994; the fifth chapter is published in the edition by V.V. Dvivedi & S.S. Bahulkar in Rare Buddhist Texts, Series 13, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath, Varanasi 1994. For the Tibetan version, I have consulted

the annotated translation by Bu ston of the five chapters in L. Chandra, ed., The Collected Works of Bu-ston, Parts Ka, Kha and Ga, New Delhi 1965 (henceforth Bu ston).

[1] 127

In the same way the light of the mind does not appear by means of differentiated

meditations, but rather here [in the mind itself] due to the union of lalan? and rasand, to the signs of smoke etc., to the control of the breath in the central channel, to the vow of chastity, to the vajra that always remains erect, to the seed directed upward. This is the path of the yoga by which the yogin achieves the supreme, immutable, innate bliss of all the Tath?gatas and all the Dakinis. (3)

Sadangayoga, however, is a practice that is also widespread in many Indian schools, both Hindu and Buddhist. The names of the six angas are very ancient, and have been handed

down over several centuries, starting from the Maitri Upanisad, but in the course of

the ages they have assumed different meanings according to the different traditions (4). The first text of the Buddhist tantric school where we find a detailed analysis of

sadangayoga is the Guhyasamdjottara (henceforth GSU) (5). Subsequently, in the

K?lacakratantra tradition this yoga became the nucleus of the doctrine of the so-called

'Transcendent K?lacakratantra', within the tradition that enacts a threefold division in

the K?lacakra: 'Outer', 'Inner' and 'Transcendent', according to a macrocosm-microcosm

pattern (6).

Large part of the Sekoddesa (henceforth SU), the longest fragment of the M?lak?lacakratantra or Param?dibuddha, the root tantra of the K?lacakra school, is

devoted to the practice of this yoga (stanzas 24-92) (7). This is probably the first formulation of sadangayoga according to the K?lacakra school.

In his Sekoddesatik? (henceforth SUT) (8) the most comprehensive commentary

(3) VP, I, p. 6. These stanzas are quoted also in Anupamaraksita's Sadangayoga. Cf. F. Sferra, ed.

and transl, The Sadangayoga by Anupamaraksita with Ravisnjn?nas Gunabharanin?masadangayogatippani,

forthcoming.

(4) For a comparative analysis of the names of the various angas in the different Hindu traditions see C. Pensa, 'Osservazioni e riferimenti per lo studio dello sadahga-yoga', AION, 1969, pp. 1-8; G.

Gr?nbold, 'Materialien zur Geschichte des Sadahga-yoga. I. Der Sadahga-yoga im Hinduismus', II],

25, 1983, pp. 181-90.

(5) The eighteenth chapter of the Guhyasam?jatantra which constitutes a synthesis and commentary to the esoteric doctrines of the Guhyasam?ja. See Guhyasam?jatantra, ed. B. Bhattacharyya, Gaekwad's

Oriental Series, LIII, Oriental Institute, Baroda 1931. Cf. also G. Tucci, 'Some Glosses upon the

Guhyasam?ja', Melanges Chinois etBouddhiques, III, Institut Beige des Hautes Etudes Chinoises, Bruxelles 1935, pp. 338-53; repr. in G. Tucci, Opera Minora, I, Studi Orientali, Roma 1971, pp. 337-48.

(6) 'Outer' corresponds to the elements of the external universe, 'Inner' consists of the

psychophysical aggregates ? the sensory and psychic capacities of the living beings, and 'Transcendent'

represents the metaphysical aspect of the Tantra, realised through the path of utpattikrama and

utpannakrama, including the yogic methods. See rGyal ba bsTan 'dzin rGya mtsho, dPaldus 'khor dbang skor gyi skor, quoted in G. Mullin, The Practice of Kalacakra, Ithaca-New York 1991, pp. 99-100.

(7) Edited in G. Orofino, Sekoddesa. A Critical Edition of the Tibetan Translations, SOR, LXII, Rome 1994, pp. 61-85.

(8) N?rop?, Param?rthasamgrahan?masekoddesatik?, in M. Carelli, ed., Sekoddesatik? of Nadap?da, Gaekwad's Oriental Series, no. 91, Baroda 1941 (henceforth C). Tib. dBang mdorbstan pa'i 'grel bshad don dam pa bsdus pa zhes by a ba, in T.D. Suzuki, ed., The Tibetan Tripitaka: Peking Edition, Tibetan

128 [2]

to the SU, N?rop? analyses these stanzas in detail, quoting passages from the GSU (stanzas

133-157), from the LKC (IV, 115, 116, 117, 120, V, 115, 116), from the VP and from the other two texts, Vajrap?ni's Laks?bhidh?noddhrtalaghutantrapind?rthavivarana and

Vajragarbha's Hevajratantrapind?rthattk?, that together with the VP form what is so known as the Bodhisattva trilogy, which was introduced into India together with the K?lacakra

doctrines (9). Another text where the sadangayoga of the K?lacakra school is fully analysed is

Anupamaraksita's Sadangayoga (10), a text that precedes N?rop?'s SUT, and the

Gunabharant (henceforth GBh), a later commentary to Anupamaraksita's Sadangayoga written in the 13th century by Ravisrijn?na (n).

To understand the procedure that leads to the realisation of the immutable

body of gnosis in the K?lacakra tradition it is necessary now a brief synthesis of

this six-limbed yoga.

* * V?

1) The first limb, withdrawal (praty?h?ra, Tib. so soy sdud pa) consists in the withdrawal of the external senses (eyes, etc.) from the external sense objects.

So called withdrawal is the non proceeding of the knowledge {vijndna) of the ten: the [five] senses and the [five] sense objects, but is instead the great proceeding of the alternative five sense organs, like the [divine] eye, etc., towards their objects, like the Empty Form (s?nyabimba, Tib. stong pa'i gzugs), etc. (12)

In N?rop?'s commentary, withdrawal corresponds to an Interiorisation {svavrtti, Tib. rang la yjug pa) of the senses and of the sense objects. Their ordinary activity ceases and they are turned in on themselves. In this way outer activity is stopped and the yogin sees everything in emptiness in a non-differentiated way. The result

of this is the apparition of ten signs (smoke, a mirage, fireflies, a lamp, a flame, the

Tripitaka Research Institute, Tokyo 1955 ff. (henceforth P), Vol. 47, no. 2068. Italian transl. in R. Gnoli & G. Orofino, Iniziazione (K?lacakra), Milano 1994.

(9) Vajragarbha, Hevajratantrapind?rthatik? by Vajragarbhadasabh?misvara, National Archives, Kathmandu, MS. C 128, Mf, C 14/6; tr 693, VI 230, Mf., A 693/11. Forthcoming edition by F. Sferra. Tib. Kye'i rdo rje bsdud pa'i don gyi rgya eher 'grel pain. P, Vol. 53, no. 2310. Vajrap?ni, Laks?bhi

dh?noddhrtalaghvabhidh?napind?rthavivarana (MS. Tucci, IsMEO, not in catalogue). Ed. by C. Cicuzza in La Laghutantrattk? di Vajrap?ni, Thesis, Universit? degli Studi di Roma, La Sapienza, Roma 1994. Tib. mNgon par brjodpa 'bum pa las phyung ba nyung ngu'i rgyud kyi bsdud pa'i don rnam par bshad pain, P, Vol. 48, no. 2117.

(10) Anupamarksita's Sadangayoga, Tibetan transl.: sByor ba yan lag drug pa in P, Vol. 47, no. 2102.

(u) Ravisrijfi?na, Gunabharani(S), MS. Royal Asiatic Society, ed. in Gr?nbold, op. cit., Tib.: rNal

'byor yan lag drug gi brjed byang yon tan gyis 'gengs pa in P, Vol. 47, no. 2103.

(12) N?rop? SUT, C, p. 36; Tib.: P, Vol. 47, no. 2068, fol. 291b.

[3] 129

moon, the sun, darkness, lightning (kal?), a great sphere (bindu)) followed by the Universal Form of clear light (visvabimbam prabh?svaram) (13). The apparition of the signs is also described in the sadangayoga of the Guhyasam?ja tradition, but in this tradition they are only five, listed in the following order: mirage, smoke, fireflies, lamp and a cloudless sky.

In the K?lacakra tradition the ten signs are likened to an image reflected in the

mirror of one's mind, comparable to the visions that appear in a magic mirror during a pratisen? divination rite (14). In the latter a virgin maiden, blessed by special mantra, tells the past or the future by looking into a mirror or another reflecting surface.

The images that appear in the mirror, visible only to the young maiden, are

different from all others and do not fall within the common categories of existence

and non-existence because their reality transcends ordinary perception In order to let the first signs appear, the yogin has to meditate in a closed place,

where no light must filter in. This yoga is called night yoga (rdtriyoga, Tib. mtshan mo'i mal 'byor) and yoga of space (?k?sayoga, Tib. nam mkha'i rnal 'byor). The other

signs will appear by engaging in day light yoga (divdyoga, Tib. nyin mo'i rnal 'byor) or the yoga of roofless space {abhyavak?sayoga, Tib. bla gab med pa rnal 'byor), that

is, a practice performed with one's back to the sun in a space surrounded by four

walls but without a roof, whereby the only things the yogin sees is the empty sky. During withdrawal, however, the yogin has to cast a particular gaze, the so

called 'wrathful gaze of Vighn?ntaka' that, according to the VP, corresponds to

Amrtakundalin. This consists in an upward gaze, towards the crown protrusion, with

the eyes immovably fixed (16). At the end of the appearance of the ten signs, from the central channel, also

called 'time channel', a black line arises whence rays of shimmering light emanate.

In this line the Omniscient Form (sarvajnabimba, Tib. kun mkhyen gzugs) will manifest, like the sun in water, without hindrances, full of colour, possessing all aspects as one's own mind without any consideration of an object (17). This final sign, which embraces

the vision of the entire universe, is also described as the Buddha Form (buddhabimba, Tib. sangs rgyas gzugs) and corresponds to the realization of the Sambhogak?ya.

2) The second limb of the yoga consists in contemplation (dhy?na, Tib. bsam gtan)

(13) Du ba smig rgyu mkha snang dang / sgron ma 'bar ba zla nyi ma / mun can cha dang thig le che sna tshogs gzugs brnyan 'od gsal ba // (Dh?mamaricikhadyotadipajv?lendubh?skaraih / tamah kal? mah?bindur visvabimbam prabh?svaram //). Cf. SU, 26, edited in Orofino, Sekoddesa, cit., pp. 62-63, 133.

(14) On this magical rite of mirror divination see G. Orofino, 'Mirror Divination. Observations

on a Simile Found in the K?lacakra Literature', Proceedings of the 6th Seminar of the International Association

for Tibetan Studies, Fagerness 1992, Oslo 1994, pp. 612-28.

(15) 'Di la dngos po dngos med 'gyur / dngos po stong pa'i don mthong phyir / dngos po dngos med don

yod pa I sgyu ma rmi lam mig 'phrul bzhin / SU, 30 in Orofino, Sekoddesa, cit., pp. 64-65.

(16) LKC and VP, IV, 120.

(17) LKC and VP, V, 116.

130 [4]

that serves to stabilize the manifestation of the Empty Form. In the SU the description of this stage starts from stanzas 27.

With the eyes half open, half closed, the yogin should meditate continually on that non-differentiated form that appears in emptiness, like a dream. (27)

For yogins this meditation on the immaterial form is not a meditation. In the mind there is neither being nor non-being because in emptiness undifferentiated

reality appears. (28)

Contemplation is distinguished into five different aspects: examination (vitarka),

analysis (vic?ra), joy (priti), pleasure (sukha), one pointed concentration (cittaik?grat?). Examination comprises non differentiating perception of the form of the all

corresponding to the vision of the three worlds. Analysis comprises the perception of the various apparitions in their individuality. It is the arising of the manifestations

of the forms that allows the yogin to realise their substantial emptiness. Joy is the

mental tranquillity that pervades the yogin who applies vitarka and vic?ra, and is

followed by a condition of mental and physical relaxation that generates a sensation

of pleasure (sukha). The fifth phase, concentration of the mind, is concentration

characterised by the absence (s?nyat?) of perceiver and percept. In the mind there

manifests a universal apparition based on emptiness (18). In N?rop?'s commentary this Empty Form (s?nyabimba, Tib. stong gzugs) kindled

by withdrawal and established by contemplation is not a mental construct because

there is a cessation (uparama, Tib. nye bar zhi ba) of ordinary perception and an

apparition (pratibh?sa, Tib. rab tu snang ba) that embraces the three worlds (19). 3) The third limb, breath control (pr?n?y?ma, Tib. srog rtsol ba) is the branch

of sadangayoga most emphasised in the Sekoddesa, it is explicated from stanzas 35 to 56.

In this tradition of yoga, in the same way as in Hindu yoga, the body is lined

by 72,000 channels (n?di) through which the pr?na passes to its outermost parts. Of

these energy channels six are the most important: the avadh?ti, also called susumn?

and tamini, where the energy of Rahu (20) flows, is situated at the centre of the body and goes from the crown of the head (usnisd) to the navel. Along this central channel

there are six cakras like lotus flowers. They are located in the usnisa: green with four

petals (dala); in the forehead between the eyebrows: white with sixteen petals; in the

throat: red with thirty-two petals; in the heart: black with eight petals; in the navel:

(18) Vajrap?ni and Pundarika list the five characteristics in a different way: prajn?, vitarka, vic?ra, rati, acalasukha. In this case the first characteristic, prajn?, corresponds to the vision of the forms.

(19) SUT, C, p. 48, Tib.: P, Vol. 47, no. 2068, fol. 306a. Stanzas 29-35 of the SU are analysed to explain this concept of the apparition. For a translation of the stanzas see Orofino, 'Mirror

Divination...', cit., p. 612.

(20) In other texts, such as in Vajrap?ni's Laghutantratik? we find it associated also with K?l?gni. Cf. Cicuzza, Vajrap?ni, cit., p. 32.

[5] 131

yellow with sixty-four petals; in the genital area: blue with thirty-two petals (21). On the right and left side of the avadh?ti there are two channels, the rasan?, or

pingal?, where the solar energy flows, and the lalan?, or idd, the course of the lunar

energy. They cross over and knot at the level of the various cakras. The three upper channels, avadh?ti, rasan? and lalan?, form a knot at the navel

cakra and then descend into the lower part of the body where they regulate the emission of the seed and the excretion of the urine and faeces. The avadh?ti bends below the navel to the right and, under the name of sankhini or khagamukh?, it serves for the emission of the seed. The upper right channel, rasan?, becomes the left channel below and governs urination, while the upper left channel, lalan?, is central in the lower part of the body where if governs defecation. Each of the six channels is related to an

element and to a Tath?gata, as can be seen in the table below (22): The vital breath, called pr?na in the upper part of the body, is called ap?na (Tib.

thur sei) when it flows through the three lower channels. As we find in the SU, 40:

[As these channels are] connected with body, speech and mind, above and below they are the six Families. In fact they abide in all corporeal beings composed of wisdom and means.

These channels are interconnected in a relationship of wisdom and means, related to the male and female essence, semen and menstrual blood, in their turn differentiated into the standard Tantric Buddhist threefold division of body, voice and mind {k?ya, vak, citta), that is, from the most tangible to the most subtle level. Moreover, following a mandala pattern, in their sublimated dimension each of them represents a Tath?gata of the six families, related to the six aggregates, the six elements, the six senses organs, the six senses objects, the six action senses and the six actions. In this way the

representation of the inner channels reflects a universal vision of microcosmic existence

that is symmetrical with the outer macrocosm (23). The third limb of sadangayoga consists in stopping (nirudh) the two courses of

the solar and lunar breath in the right and left channels and bringing the breath into the central channel by means of a specific breathing exercise called vajraj?pa, adamantine

recitation, based on inhalation (p?raka) reciting the syllable Om, holding the vital breath

(21) Cf. VP, II, p. 182; III, p. 23.

(22) This schema finds its first description in the SU from 46 to 56. (23) Cf. also VP, II, 47. For a description of the outer cosmos in relationship with the body, see

LKC, I, 5, 6, 7, 8 translated in J. Newman, The Outer Wheel of Time: Vajray?na Buddhist Cosmology in the K?lacakra Tantra (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International), Ph. D. Thesis, University of Wisconsin, Madison 1987, pp. 427-70.

132 [6]

UPPER PART OF THE BODY

RTGHT Centre Left

rasari?, pifigat? sun

fire Ratnasambhava

prajn? speech of blood

Right

sankhini **

semen (blood) gnosis

Vajrasattva prajn?

mind of blood

avadhUti, susumn?, taminl *

Rlhu

emptiness Aksobhya

upaya mind of semen

LOWER PART OF THE BODY

Centre

vinri?di feaces earth

Vairocana

prajn? body of blood

lalari?, Ida moon

water

Amitabha

upaya body of semen

Left

m?tran?di urine wind

Amoghasiddhi upaya

speech of semen

Computer graphic by C. Cicuzza.

(*) See SU, 56. During the menstrual period this channel is called dombtm women as it is the one where the blood flows. See N?rop?, SUT, C, p. 52, Tib.: P, Vol. 47, no. 2068, fol. 310a.

(**) In women it conducts blood and is named cand?li. In men it conducts the semen and is named

khagamukh?.

[7] 133

(kumbhaka) reciting the syllable Hum, and exhalation (recaka) reciting the syllable ?h (24).

In this way the five mandalas of the aggregates: body (r?pa), feeling (vedan?), perception (samjna), impulses (samsk?ra), and consciousness (vijn?na) that flow in the

left nostril, and the five mandalas of the elements: earth, water, fire, air and ether, that flow in the right nostril, are unified in the central channel, where the pr?na flows into the sixth mandala, the mandala of gnosis (jn?na).

The dissolution of the five mandalas undergoes an upward process when the

breath is in the right channel, with the earth element dissolving into the water

element, water into fire, etc. and a downward process when the breath is in the left

channel, until the breath enters the mandala of gnosis. There it dissolves in emptiness, and thence it reaches the All-Embracing Universal Form. At this moment the yogin achieves knowledge of supreme immutable bliss, the great perfection of wisdom, source of all the siddhis and of complete mastery over the three worlds (25).

Yogins who have perfectly balanced their breath live 100 years: the last three

years and three fortnights represent the crucial period in which death ascends the

central channel. In cases in which the strength of the flow of the breath is excessive, in people in whom it is not in perfect equilibrium, it is possible to forecast premature death by examining how much longer the breath flows in one channel or the other.

This examination of the signs heralding premature death [arista, Tib. chi has) is

analysed in detail in stanzas 70-76 of the SU.

The fourth chapter of the LKC indicates a forceful method [hathayoga, Tib. stobs kyi mal }byor) that has to be applied by a yogin who is not capable of complete control over his vital breath and who therefore, after having seen the Empty Form, does not experience supreme immutable bliss. This yoga consists in forcing the vital

breath into the central channel and blocking the bindu of the bodhicitta in the lotus of wisdom (the female partner) through the exercise of sound (n?d?bhy?sa, Tib. n?da goms pa) (26). This exercise, described in LKC IV, 196-97, is not commented by Pundarika, but is analysed by Ravisrijn?na in his GBh (p. 38). The vital breath is

pushed into the central channel from the navel cakra to the crown cakra and from

there, after the solar and lunar breaths have been blocked, it is pushed forcefully into

the supreme residence, (parapura, Tib. mchog gi grong khyer) (27). In this way, Ravisrijn?na comments [GBh, p. 38), the gnosis of supreme immutable

(24) See Cicuzza, Vajrap?ni, cit., p. 139 and N?rop?, C, p. 38; Tib.: P, Vol. 47, no. 2068, fol. 294b.

(25) Cf. LKC, V, 122 and VP.

(26) Ndda, in this context, is the nasal sound represented by a semicircle above of the phoneme.

(27) This exercise is very similar to the practice of *samkr?ntiyoga Cpho ba'i mat 'byor), the transference of the vital principle, one of the six yogas of N?rop?. Ravisrijriana relates it to the practice of parapurapravesa, of reanimation of a corpse, of which, according to Tibetan tradition, Marpa was the

last lineage holder. See D.I. Lauf, Secret Doctrines of the Tibetan Books of the Dead, Boulder-London 1977, p. 46. Bacot, La vie de Marpa, Paris 1937, pp. 55-57.

134 [8]

pleasure awakens and the mind enters the state in which perceiver and percept are

reunified, obtains the five supreme knowledges and is unified with the condition of Mah?mudr?.

4) Retention {dh?ran?, Tib. 'dzin pa) represents a stage of progression of the

previous yoga, and is described in stanzas 77 to 92 of the 517. The key point of this stage is the unification of the vital breath with the bindu, the subtle energy. In SU 77 and 78 we find:

[The yogin] has to insert the vital breath into the bindu and, with the avadh?ti as his bases, will meditate on the supreme immutable [gnosis]. (77) He must always keep his vajra erect, suppressing the two solar and lunar paths, otherwise the vital breath will not enter the avadh?ti. (78) (28)

In his commentary to these stanzas, N?rop? gives the following instructions: in

the cross-legged position (paryanka) the yogin must exhale forcefully from the right nostril, having pressed his right breast with his right fist. In this way the breath, together with the five mandalas, will flow out of the right nostril and will be inhaled in the left nostril. Doing so the excessive breath that causes the solar arista will be re-balanced. Then he repeats this exercise the other way around, breathing out from

the left nostril and balancing the lunar arista. After these exercises the yogin has to

meditate on a white lotus with sixteen petals at the centre of his forehead. This constitutes the key-point of the dh?ran?: the penetration of the vital breath into

the bindu.

The second part of stanza 77 has to be applied meditating on a white syllable Am in the centre of the navel cakra with sixty-four petals yellow petals while

controlling the breath. While doing so the yogin must keep his vajra erect preventing, anyway, the moon from issuing forth. In this way there is an interruption of the

lunar and solar breathing, the prdna enters the bindu and is stopped and fixed in the

central cakras that lie along the avadh?ti: at the navel, at the heart, at the throat, at the forehead and at the crown of the head. As far as the apdna is concerned, it

has to be directed into the sankhini. In this way premature death is avoided (29). 5) In the fifth limb, subsequent mindfulness (anusmrti, Tib. rjes su dran pa), the

bindu at the crown is aroused by the heat or fire of desire (k?m?gni) engendered by the presence or by the representation of a woman. The energy of lust hypostasised as a feminine power lying in the navel cakra is called cand?li (Tib. gtum mo). This canddli naturally flares up and with its heat it starts to melt the moon of the bodhicitta or seed that gradually flows down from the head. The descent of the seed is effected

(28) Srog ni thig ler gzhug par by a / abadh?tVi zhabs brten nas / mchog tu mi 'gyur bsgom par by a j 77 rtag tu rdo rje bslang bar bya / zla nyi bgrod pa 'joms pa las / gzhan du kun 'dar yan lag la I srog gi rlung ni 'jug pa med //. SU, IS, in Orofino, Sekoddesa, cit., pp. 80-81.

(29) 'Og tu 'ang dung can ma thur sei j de ma zhugs las 'chi bao. SU, 79sl, b, ibid.

[9] 135

through four stages, each characterised by different and ever-increasing sensations of

joy (?nanda, Tib. dgay ba). The first, called initial pleasure [pratham?nanda, Tib. dang

po'i dga' ba)y takes place during the descent of the seed from the centre of the lotus of the crown to the lotus of the forehead. The second, called supreme joy (param?nanda, Tib. mchoggi dgay ba), manifests when the seed descends from the lotus of the throat

to the lotus of the heart. The third joy is the multiform one [viram?nanda, Tib. khyad par dga' ba), and occurs when the seed descends from the centre of the navel cakra to the centre of the secret cakra. The fourth, that is experienced in the lotus at the

centre of the vajra, is innate, spontaneous joy [sahaj?nanda, Tib. lhan cig sky es pa'i

dgay ba). This process of descent of the seed from the crown to the lotus of the vajra is likened to the waxing of the moon from the first day to the fifteenth day (kal?). These fifteen lunar days are divided into three successive groups of five, respectively called nand?, bhadr?, jay?, rikt?, p?rn?. The first three joys last five days each, and every last day corresponds to the culminating moment of each joy [p?rn?), thus the

descending process has three p?rn?. At the end of the descending process, on the

sixteenth day, that concludes the waxing moon fortnight, the seed reaches the tip of

the vajra [vajr?gram?rdhaga) (30). If, at this point, the seed is emitted there is a period of satiety and disgust (vir?ga) that is likened to the fifteen day period of the waning moon. This process is also divided into four phases, characterised by the same delights but in reverse order. The last day of the waning moon is the absence of the moon

[nastacandra, Tib. zla ba nyams pa) (31). The process of emission is the factor that

governs and perpetuates sams?ra, which in fact is the alternation of these two periods. The task of the yogin is to interrupt this process and thus eliminate the phase of absence

of lust, the dark fortnight. The interruption of the samsaric process takes place during this fifth phase

of the yoga, in which the yogin does not emit his seed but instead transforms it

into spiritual energy. The seed ascends to the cakra of the head, and in this way, in the following and final phase of sadangayoga, the yogin realises baseless nirvana

[apratisthitanirv?na) the great blissful, immutable Lord (32).

During the anusmrti phase the yogin experiences a blissful condition, that in the

VP, IV, 126 is compared to the ten states of Kama: 'fixation, desire, fever, pallor of the face, loss of appetite, trembling, folly, dizziness, mental confusion, complete

insensibility'. For the yogin, however, these states correspond to the ten visions of

smoke etc., which are not limited only to the 'withdrawal' phase and are now repeated. Then the deity the yogin has been visualising appears like a reflected image beyond distinct representations, an Empty Form (sunyabimba, Tib. stonggzugs) which culminates

(30) Khu ba zla 'char gtsug tor du / rdzogs pa gsang ba'i mtsho skyes la / bcu drug cha gang de nor bu'i

I padmar rdo rje'i rtse mor gnas. SU) 83, ibid. pp. 82-83.

(31) The entire process is described in SU, 84-86, ibid.

(32) Rah gnas mya ngan 'das pa min j chags chen mi 'gyur khyab bdag po {apratisthitanirvdnam mahdrdgo 'ksarah prabhuh). SU, 82a, b, ibid.

136 [10]

in a radiant luminous mandala {prabhdmandala, Tib. dri med 'od kyi dkyil }khor) (33) prevading the whole universe.

6) As mentioned above, the final stage, concentration (samddhi, Tib. ting nge 'dzin), is the realisation of apratisthitanirvdna where immutable gnosis is accomplished (34). The yogin attains the pure body (suddhakdya, Tib. dag pa'i sku) by dissolving the 21,600 impure samsaric breaths of one day and night cycle. At the end of the Param?ksarajn?nasiddhi (henceforth PAJS), 'The Realisation of Supreme Immutable

Gnosis', a brief independent text inserted by Pundarika in the VP as a commentary to stanza 127 of chapter V of the LKC (35), we find a quotation from chapter V of the M?lak?lacakratantra that describes this process, and thus also the very essence

of the six-fold yoga:

Tc realise Supreme Immutable Gnosis through his meditation, the yogin, who has realised the signs of smoke etc., must stop his mind moving and so purify the central channel.

Having fixed his vajra in the lotus, he should let the vital breath enter into the

bindu, the bindus into the various cakras and stop the movement of the bindus in the vajra.

The yogin should always remain in a state of erection, he should always have his seed turned upwards, and thanks to union with the mudrd, he will be overtaken

by diamond rapture, and, Oh! Great King!, filled with 21,600 movements of the

Supreme Immutable Gnosis, he will become diamond being (Vajrasattva) in

person. (36)

In the K?lacakra, as in other Indian yoga traditions, in twenty-four hours an

ordinary person breathes 21,600 times, each breath (inhalation and exhalation) lasting four seconds. As we have seen, the yogin's task lies in stopping the breathing that

takes places in the lunar (lalan?) and solar (rasand) channels and inserting the breath into the central channel, trying to prolong the suspension of the breath (kumbhaka) as long as possible. In this way karmic breathing is completely eliminated, and the

body becomes filled with 21,600 movements that are no longer karmic breathing but

correspond to the complete purification of the coarse body into its ultimate and true

reality. This progressive elimination of the breaths coincides with the realisations of

the various bh?mh or spiritual levels, that in the K?lacakra tradition are twelve and thus diverge from the standard list of ten bh?mh of the M?hay?na tradition. Realisation

(33) LKC, V, 118, 119.

(34) Following a different system of division based on the Guhyasam?jatantra, the six limbs are

alternatively grouped in a fourfold arrangement: 1) practice (sev?) comprehending praiy?h?ra and dhy?na; 2) sub-realisation (upas?dhana) comprising pr?n?y?ma and dh?ran?; 3) realisation (s?dhand) that coincides with anusmrti, and 4) great realisation (mah?s?dhand) corresponding with sam?dhi.

(35) The PAJS has been translated by R. Gnoli (RSO, Supplementi, forthcoming). (36) VP, V, 127, fol. 206b. Bu ston, Ga, fol. 215.

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of each bh?mh involves arresting 1,800 karmic breaths and replacing them with the same number of instants of immutable bliss. In the ascending phase of immutable

gnosis from the tip of the vajra to the crown of the head, at each cakra, 3,600 karmic breaths are suppressed and two bh?mh are realised (37).

The attainment of these bh?mh is determined by the moments of great immutable

bliss, born of attraction by wisdom. The first bh?mh is obtained through 1,800 immutable moments. On the basis of this number, all twelve bh?mh will be obtained due to the 21,600 immutable moments, until the twelve links of conditioned

interdependent origination are stopped. On stopping the twelve asterisms, the 360

days are stopped. On stopping the 360 days the 21,600 ghatik?s (38) are stopped. In this way, the same number of breaths will be arrested within the body as of

ghatik?s in the outer world. Therefore, on stopping the breaths the [coarse] body will be suppressed due to the moments of immutable bodhicitta. (39)

At the end of this alchemical process the thirty-six coarse and impure elements

of the physical body ? the six aggregates, the six elements, the six organs, the six

sense objects, the six action senses, and the six actions ? are completely purified and

transmuted into their immutable condition, corresponding to the thirty-six deities of

the six families (40) which coalesce in a single essence (ekasamarasibh?t?ni, Tib. gcig tu ro mnyam pargyurpa) and manifest through the state of enlightenment accomplished in a single instant (ekaksandbhisambodhi, Tib. skad cig gcig gis mngon par rdzogs par byang chub) in the condition called bindu vacuity (bindus?nya, Tib. thig le stong pa).

(37) See VP, V, 112, fol. 185a. The bh?mis, listed by Pundarika, are also quoted by Vil?savajra in his comment to the Manjusrin?masamgiti (MS. of the Cambridge University Library, Bendall, 1883, 203, Add. 1708, fol. 16a), by Ravisrijn?na in his Amrtakanik? and by Vibhuticandra in his sub-commentary, Amrtakanikodyota. Cf. Aryamanjusnn?masamgiti with Amrtakanik?-tippani by bhiksu Ravisrijn?na and

Amrtakanikodyota-nibandha of Vibhuticandra, ed. B. Lai, Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Bibliotheca Indo-Tibetica, No. XXX, Sarnath 1994, pp. 18 and 136. Cf. also Ravisrijnana's Amrtakanik?, Tibetan version, in P, Vol. 48, no. 2111, fol. 56b. They are: 1) samantaprabh? (kun tu 'od), 2) amrtaprabh? (bdudrtsi'i 'od), 3) ?k?saprabh? (nam mkha' 'od), 4) vajraprabh? (rdo rje 'od), 5) ratnaprabh? (rin chen 'od), 6) padmaprabh? (padma 'od), 1) buddhakarmakari (las kyi 'od or sangs rgyas phrin las byed pa), 8) anupam? (dpe med), 9) nirupam? (dpe brat), 10) prajn?prabh? (shes rab 'od), 11) sarvajnat? (thams cad khyen pa nyid), 12) praty?tmavedy? (so so'ibdag nyid rig pa). However in Pundarika's text, for the ninth bh?mi, we find the reading upam?, a reading accepted by N?rop? in his SUT as well as by the Tibetan translators who rendered it as dpe Idan. Cf. VP, V, 127, fol. 190a. Bu ston Ga, fol. 121. I have accepted here the

original lectionem: nirupam?. On this very old corruption cf. Gnoli & Orofino, Iniziazione, cit., p. 335.

(38) One ghatik? (Tib. chu tshod) corresponds to 24 minutes. In 24 hours there are 60 ghatik?s. In one lunisolar year of 360 days there are 21,600 (= 60 x 360) ghatik?s.

(39) VP, V, 127, fol. 202b; Bu ston, Ga, fols. 192-93.

(40) The following table is based on the detailed description given by Vajragarbha in the Hevajratantrapind?rthatik? (ed. in Sferra, op. cit., p. 104, [with the kind permission of the author] and by S?dhuputra Sridhar?nanda in the Sekoddesatippani (Ms. 10744 Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, 6b 7a. The two texts concur in all the correspondences apart from the actions (kriya). In Vajragarbha's

138 [12]

According to LKV, IV 118-119 and VP, at this stage the yogin remains in a condition free of differentiated representations and is purified by a luminous mandala

(prabh?mandala) that shines forth from the jn?nabimba or s?nyabimba and also radiates from the pores of his own body.

Practising in this way, in three years and three fortnights the yogin accomplishes the perfection endowed with a Body of Gnosis {jn?nadeha, Tib. ye shes lus) and so becomes a Bodhisattva. In Vajragarbha's Hevajratantrapind?rthatik? we find an

interesting description of this process, which results in the complete transmutation

of the coarse body:

By virtue of the suppression of cause and effect the Jinendras possess a different body, speech, mind and bliss. Their body and heaps of aggregates are different. Their

elements, earth etc., sense objects and faculties are also different. Their action senses as well the actions they perform are different. (41)

?k -k "k

As we have seen above, the whole transmutation is brought about by the sublimation of sexual desire and the realisation of supreme immutabe bliss is attained

through union with a mudr?. In his commentary to stanza 93 of the SU N?rop? specifies that the yogin of lower

texts the action of urine is associated with the Aksobhya family while in S?dhuputra's text it is connected to the Vajrasattva family. More concisely N?rop?, in his SUT, gives a different correspondence for the six sense objects and the six actions. See N?rop?, C, p. 7. Tib.: P, Vol. 47, no. 2068, fol. 264b.

6 Aggregates (skandha)

6 Elements (bhata)

6 Sense Organs (indriya)

6 Objects of the senses (yisaya)

6 Senses of the 6 Actions Actions (kriy?) (karmendriya)

vijn?na (Aksobhya)

samsk?ra (Amoghasiddhi)

vedan? (Ratnasambhava)

samjn? (Amit?bha)

r?pa (Vairocana)

jn?na (Vajrasattva)

?ktea (Vajradh?tvisvari)

v?yu (T?r?)

(P?ndar?)

toya (M?maki)

prthivl (Locan?)

jn?na (Prajn?p?ramit?)

Srota (Vajrap?ni)

gfir?na (Khagarbha) caksus (Ksitigarbha)

jihv? (Lokesvara)

usnisa (crown)

lal?ta (forehead)

kantha (throat)

hrdaya (hearth)

k?ya (Sarvanivaranasviskambhin)

manas (Sam antabhad ra)

n?bhi (navel)

gLihya (secret place)

dharmadh?tu (Dharmadh?tuvajr?)

spa?a (Sparsavajr?) rasa (Rasavajr?)

r?pa (R?pavajr?)

gandha (Gandhavajr?)

tobda (Sabdavajr?)

upastha (Usnisacakravartin)

v?c (Vighn?ntaka)

p?ni (Padm?ntaka)

p?da (Prajn?ntaka)

p?yu (Yam?ntaka)

divyendriya (S\imbhar?ja)

m?trasr?va (Raudr?ksi)

vitsr?va (Ativlry?)

gati (Jambhl)

?d?na (M?minI)

?l?pa (Stambhini)

sukracyuti (Atinil?)

(41) Any ah k?yo jinendr?n?m phalahetunirodhatah / v?k cittam ca sukham c?ny ah [k?yajh skandhasam?hakah // prthivy?didh?tavo 'py anye visay? indriy?ni ca / karmendriyakriy?s c?ny?s tath?

karmendriy?ni ca. MS. C 128. Mf. C 14/6, National Archives Kathmandu. Ed. in Sferra, op. cit. (with the kind permission of the author).

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capacity obtains this bliss through union with an action mudr? (karmamudr?), that is, a real woman, 'with breasts and hair'. She is the cause of pleasure connected with

the world of desire {k?madh?tu) and is the source of an experience of pleasure characterised by movement (ksara). N?rop? derives the etymology of word mudr? from

the fact that she gives (r?ti) pleasure (mudam). The yogin of average capacity, on the other hand, enhances his knowledge of

immutable bliss by means of the mudr? of knowledge (jn?namudr?) that is created by the imagination and is personified by the various goddesses of the mandala. She is

the cause of a pleasure connected with the world of subtle form (r?padh?tu) and is the source of an experience of pleasure characterised by vibration (spanda).

The practice of the yogin of higher capacity involves the great mudr?, mah?mudr?, that confers the final gnosis of supreme immutable bliss that never abandons its state

of plenitude and is characterised by an experience of clear light and by the state of union {yuganaddha, Tib. zung 'jug) of all the Buddhas in their primordial purity.

This immutable gnosis is obtained when the yogin gradually abandons the karma

mudr? and jn?namudr? that belong to the discursive imagination, and meditates only on the mah?mudr?, a condition that is unique, stainless, immutable, ethereal, free from

darkness, all-pervading, similar to m?y? and that illuminates the three worlds with

refulgent splendour. This state of absolute reality is realised by abandoning movement, i.e., the emission

of the seed. To assert this concept, in his Param?ksarajn?nasiddhi Pundarika quotes stanza 182 (42) of chapter V of the LKC:

That pleasure itself that is the ruin of sentient beings is the liberation of the Protectors. What sentient beings guard jealously at every moment is what the protectors give away But that secret joy in the profound heart which sentient beings give away is what the Protectors guard jealously. In fact it is extremely difficult for gods, nagas, and asuras to emulate the behaviour of the Protectors. (43)

In his commentary to this stanza, Pundarika states that, precisely through this contact the impulse activated by the desire for a woman can be converted into its opposite, and to illustrate this he uses an alchemical analogy quoting stanza

232 of chapter IV of the LKC (44) which states that, just as mercury cannot be stabilised without fire and that without this stabilisation the transmutation of elements into gold cannot take place, just so the yogin's mind is stabilized through the energy that is activated by contact with a woman and that without this stabilization the

(42) Bu ston in his translation refers to it as stanza 199. Cf. Bu ston, Ga, fol. 160.

(43) VP, V, 127, fol. 196a. Bu ston, Ga, fol. 160.

(44) VP, V, 127, fol. 196a Bu ston, Ga, fol. 161. In Bu ston's translation it corresponds to stanza 224.

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condition of supreme bliss (paramasukha, Tib. than skyes bde bd) cannot be accomplished. This final stage is identified with the Mah?mudr?, that is clear light by its very nature, that manifests as innate delight, is free of differentiated representations, transcends the nature of atoms, is similar to a magical image appearing in a mirror, whose nature

is supreme immutable bliss and whose essence is supreme immutable gnosis. Furthermore it should be noted that Pundarika, quoted by N?rop? in the SUT,

on the basis of the double meaning of the Sanskrit word aksara (immutable and phoneme) identifies the supreme immutable with the phoneme A (45). This phoneme corresponds to Vajrasattva, the innate body (sahajak?ya) endowed with knowledge and knowable, in its turn identified with K?lacakra, the plane of supreme immutable

gnosis. It corresponds to the dharmadh?tumandala, the adamantine womb of the

Victorious Ones, the birthplace of all the Buddha, the essence of spiritual merit and

knowledge (46). Paraphrasing stanzas 28 and 29 of the Manjusrin?masamgiti (henceforth

NS), Pundarika continues thus (47):

The Buddha, the completely awakened One, born from the phoneme A. The phoneme A is the foremost of all the phonemes, the great meaning, the supreme immutable

[the supreme syllable]. (48)

Moreover Pundarika, quoting the Param?dibuddha, asserts that the ultimate

meaning of this supreme immutable gnosis, of this instant of non-emission, is Time,

(45) For a discussion on the evolution of the post-Vedic development of the speculation about the Word in Indian religious thought, mainly in Kashmirian Saivism, see A. Padoux, V?c: The Concept of the Word in Selected Hindu Tantras, Albany 1990; on the phoneme A, cf. pp. 235-43.

(46) VP, V, 127, fols. 186b-187a. Bu ston, Ga, fol. 103.

(47) Tadyath? bhagav?n buddhah sambuddho 'k?rasambhavah j ak?rah sarvavarn?gryo mah?rthah

param?ksarah // NS, 28. The NS has been translated and edited by R. Davidson, The Litany of Names of Manjusrf, in Tantric and Taoist Studies in Honor of Professor R.A. Stein, ed. M. Strickmann, vol. 1,

MCB 20, Bruxelles 1981, pp. 1-69. See also A. Wayman, Chanting the Names ofManjusn, Boston-London

1985.

(48) yP) Vj 127, fol. 187. Bu ston, Ga, fol. 104. Quoted by N?rop?, SUT, C, p. 69, Tib.: P, Vol. 47, no. 2068, fol. 331a. Note that, in one of the most widespread Tibetan translation of NS, Rinchen

bzang po renders param?ksara, yi ge dam pa, while in the Tibetan translation of the SUT, the NS text

quoted by N?rop? is congruent with the meaning it assumes in the exegesis of the K?lacakra and param?ksara is translated with the Tibetan term mi'gyur ba. Bu ston, nevertheless, in his translation of the VP renders

it yi ge dam pa. On the incongruity on Bu ston's NS translation within the K?lacakra context see below

n. 52. It is also worth noting in this regard that, in his commentary to Padmasambhava's Man ngag Ita ba'iphreng ba, the great 19th century scholar Kong sprul Bio sgros mThas yas (1813-1899) suggests 'great accumulation of the immutable non dual mandala' Cpho 'gyurgnyis su medpa'i dkyil 'khorgi 'khor to tshogs chen po), as a possible interpretation of the Tibetan term yi ge 'khor lo tshogs chen gyi sa, that defines the final bh?mi of the practice of rDzogs chen, where the term yi ge can mean, and thus can be substituted with 'pho 'gyur gnyis su med pa, referring specifically to the commentary in the VP to NS 28. See 'Jam mgon Kong sprul Bio sgros mThas yas, gDams Ngag mDzod, Delhi 1971, I, fol. 76.

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is the Diamond Gnosis that transcends all discursive thoughts and thus also the creative

process of generation of the deity [utpattikrama). This concept lies at the heart of stanza 127 of LKC, V, that as we have seen

is the foundation of the PAJS:

The union of A and Ka, of sun and moon, is not the seat of the possessor of the vajra, There is no need of any symbol, of the syllable H?m itself or of any colours or forms

emanating from it; Because He is the supreme completeness of all the senses, He originates from

immutability, He has achieved the exhaustion of mutability, He is the holder of all illusions, the King, Lord of all the bindus, the possessor of all the aspects. (49)

Pundarika correlates his discussion of the Realisation of the Supreme Immutable

Gnosis, that is also the central topic of chapter V of the lost Param?dibuddha, with his analysis of all the stanzas of the NS, a text that he deemed embraced the essential

teaching on ultimate gnosis as it was conceived in the K?lacakra tradition. In fact he concludes the PAJS with the following verses:

These 162 stanzas [of the NS] contain the description of supreme immutable bliss, that shines everywhere, brimming with pure gnosis, noble and profound, whose nature is clear light, without beginning or end, free of any blemishes arising from the differentiation of I and mine, of perceiver and percept, that has never been stained, that knows the self nature of all Dharmas...

This supreme immutable blissful gnosis, that is revered by the three worlds and is directly known by the yogin's wisdom, this is what the yogin must never forsake. (50)

As is well-known, the NS became one of the most popular canonical texts of the

Vajray?na and is also a fundamental text in the K?lacakra tradition (52).

(49) LKC, V, 127 ff. 186b, Bu ston, Ga, fol. 101.

(50) LKV, V, 127 and VP, fols. 206a-206b. Bu ston Ga, fols. 214-15.

(51) It is sufficient to observe that 214 texts concerning the NS are preserved in the Tibetan bstan 'gyur, not to mention the later Tibetan exegeses.

(52) The innumerable quotations found in VP alone suffice to render it one of the most highly venerated texts in the K?lacakra tradition. N?rop?, too, quotes copiously from it as do all the exegetes of the SU. K?lacakrap?da, one of the first exponents of the K?lacakra school, wrote a commentary on

the discussion of its benefits, the ?rya Manjusrin?masamgi?-anusams?vrtti, extant in Tibetan (P, Vol. 48, no. 2110). One of the most frequently quoted commentaries on the NS is the Amrtakanik? by Ravisrijn?na, a text whence many of Bu ston's annotations to the verses of the NS, quoted in the VP, are drawn.

Nevertheless most of Ravisrijn?na's commentary to the NS (and, by extension, Bu ston's), are irrelevant

within the context of the K?lacakra tradition, as already observed by Newman on the basis of mKas

grub rje's Dus 'khor tik chen. Cf. Newman, op. cit., p. 342.

142 [16]

Moreover, several authors have written commentaries on it, including some of

the foremost exponents of the Tibetan Ancient school (rNying ma pa) who were also

prominent authorities within the rDzogs chen tradition, such as Vimalamitra, dGa'

rab rDo rje and Manjusrimitra. This text thus became a kind of common ground where speculations on ultimate

gnosis, as conceived in the Anuttaratantras of the gSar ma pa schools and in the Attyoga tradition of the rNying ma pa, met and gave rise to that exegetical literature which

was to play such an important role in later centuries in Tibet.

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