Guhyagarbha Tantra (with Commentary)
by Gyurme Dorje | 1987 | 304,894 words
The English translation of the Guhyagarbha Tantra, including Longchenpa's commentary from the 14th century. The whole work is presented as a critical investigation into the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, of which the Guhyagarbhatantra is it's principle text. It contains twenty-two chapters teaching the essence and practice of Mahayoga, which s...
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Text 2.1 (Commentary)
[Guhyagarbha-Tantra, Text section 2.1]
Then the Transcendent Lord Samantabhadra, who is the active male subject and the indestructible intelligence penetrated the queen or passive female object 厂补尘补苍迟补产丑补诲谤墨, she who is positive with respect to all phenomena, with his indestructible reality, which is the natural posture of all (buddhas) without exception. Through this penetration, all the 罢补迟丑腻驳补迟补蝉 of the ten directions and four times without exception became indivisible in the nature of the unique one. So it was that the 罢补迟丑腻驳补迟补 himself uttered this meaningful expression to and for the 罢补迟丑腻驳补迟补 himself. [1] ...
[Tibetan]
de-nas bcom-ldan-'das byed-pa-po rdo-rje yid kun-tu bzang-po / thams-cad ma-lus-pa'i rang-bzhin-gyi tshul rdo-rjes / btsun-mo bya-ba-mo chos kun-tu bzang-mo-la 'jug-par gyur-to / zhugs-pas phyogs-bcu dus-bzhi'i de-bzhin gshegs-pa ma-lus-pa thams-cad gcig-gi rang-bzhin-du dbyer-med-pas de-bzhin gshegs-pa-nyid / de-bzhin gshegs-pa-nyid-la ched-du brjod-pa 'di brjod-do / [1]
Commentary:
The second aspect (of the natural 尘补峁囜笉补濒补 of the ground, see p. 331) discloses how all things are meaningfully expressed as primordial buddha-hood and how spirituality is aroused because there is no duality between the Teacher (Samantabhadra) himself and the naturally present pristine cognition of buddha-mind which arises as the five enlightened families. This is revealed in the manner of a discourse.
Now. the Teacher, the male and female consort (Samantabhadra) who is the buddha-body of reality, ascertains as a knowable object the naturally present pristine cognition of buddha-mind which appears as the buddha-body of perfect rapture. At that time, the awareness or subject which makes this ascertainment is described as the male consort Samantabhadra who is the indestructible reality of mind, and the object that is known is named the female consort 厂补尘补苍迟补产丑补诲谤墨, she who is the passive female object. This accords with the explanation given below in chapters (11-12) on the attainment of the feast-offerings that the object is the female consort and the subject the male consort.[1] The non-duality of the male and female consorts, when considered intellectually, refers to the unity of these two in the essence of awareness. It is as if, for example, when a mental image of Lhasa is perceived, the mind were the male consort (or subject). Lhasa were the female consort (or object), and the single savour of these two in one's own mind were non-duality.
Once this overview has been understood, there follows the Interlinear commentary on Chapter Two. It has two parts鈥攔espectively revealing the genuine Intention of the discourse and the arousal of spirituality for the sake of sentient beings who have not realised it.
[Genuine Intention of the Discourse (98.5-106.4)]
The former is threefold, comprising the intention of the male consort, that of the female consort, and that of their non-duality, which respectively give rise to the discourse.
[i. Intention of the Male Consort Which Gives Rise to the Discourse (98.5-101.5):]
This includes both the cause which induces his Intention to initiate the discourse and the actual discourse.
[The former (comments on Ch. 2.1):]
Once the Introductory scene had been revealed, then the Transcendent Lord (de-nas bcom-ldan-'das) Samantabhadra (kun-tu bzang-po), the active male subject (byed-pa-po) who objectively analyses the naturally present pristine cognition or buddha-mind of the central deity of the enlightened family, and is the indestructible intelligence (rdo-rje yid) non-dual in nature because he penetrates many objects without straying from the essential expanse. Intellectually penetrated ('jug-par gyur-to) the queen (btsun-mo) or passive female object (bya-ba-mo) 厂补尘补苍迟补产丑补诲谤墨鈥攕he in whom the nature of objects is established as primordial buddhahood and who is positive (bzang-mo) because with respect to all (kun-tu) phenomena (chos) of apparent existence, 蝉补峁僺腻谤补 and 苍颈谤惫腻峁嘺 without exception, everything is indeed primordial bubdhahood. This he did with his indestructible reality (rdo-rjes), unchanging throughout the three times, which is the posture (tshul) of the three natural (rang-bzhin-gyi) buddha-bodies without conjunction or disjunction, gathering the Intentions of all (thams-cad) the buddhas of the ten directions and four times without exception (ma-lus-pa'i).[2] Through this (-pas) intellectual penetration (zhugs), all the 罢补迟丑腻驳补迟补蝉 of the ten directions and four times without exception (phyogs-bcu dus-bzhi'i de-bzhin gshegs-pa ma-lus-pa thams-cad) became essentially indivisible (dbyer-med) in the nature of the unique one (gcig-gi rang-bzhin-du) Samantabhadra, the naturally present pristine cognition of buddha-mind. So it was that (-pas), without perceiving phenomena extraneous to his own nature, the 罢补迟丑腻驳补迟补 himself (de-bzhin gshegs-pa-nyid) uttered (brjod-do) this ('di) following meaningful expression (ched-du brjod-pa) to and for the 罢补迟丑腻驳补迟补 himself (de-bzhin gshegs-pa-nyid-la).
[The latter (his actual discourse, comments on Ch. 2.2):]
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Footnotes and references:
[1]:
See Ch. 11, pp. 897-898; Ch. 12, pp. 95" ff.
[2]:
As explained in Lo-chen Dharma艣r墨, gsang-bdag dgongs-rgyan. Ch. 2, pp. 98-104, this refers to the conferral of the secret empowerment (gsang-dbang). On this empowerment, see below. Ch. 9, pp. 801-804, Ch. 10, pp. 870-871; and on empowerment in general. Ch. 9, pp. 786-804 and Ch. 10, passim.