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 3.23 (Commentary)
[Guhyagarbha-Tantra, Text section 3.23]
The Buddha-mind of emptiness, selflessness,
Primordial knowledge and Intrinsic awareness
Overpowers it through recollection.
Without objective or subjective reference.
It Itself is accordingly none other then
The wondrous buddha-bodies, speech, attributes and fields.
—Such were the secret words of indestructible reality which emerged. [23][Tibetan]
stong-nyid bdag-med ye-mkhyen rang-rig thugs /
dmigs-bya dmigs-byed med-par dran-dbang-sgyur /
ngo-mtshar sku-gsung yon-tan zhing-khams-las /
gzhan-na med-de de-nyid de-ltar yin /
—zhes rdo-rje gsang-ba'i tshig-tu'o / [23]
Commentary:
[Revealing the self-manifest nature of pristine cognition]
The Buddha-mind (thugs) is the naturally present pristine cognition, which possesses the emptiness (stong-pa-nyid) endowed with all supreme forms of phenomena,[1] and which is the nature of the primordial Buddha-hood of ²õ²¹á¹ƒsÄå°ù²¹ and ²Ô¾±°ù±¹Äåṇa, primordial knowledge (ye-mkhyen) and individual intrinsic awareness (rang-rig). It overpowers (dbang-bsgyur) (erroneous thought) through recollection (dran) of its pristine cognition, without (med-par) the duality of external objects or extraneous objective reference (dmigs-bya) to the phenomena which appear before it, and the internal mind or self of subjective reference (dmigs-byed). Because this overpowerins reality is superior to others it is devoid of individual characteristics and is present in none (med-de) other (gzhan-na) direction than (las) the self-manifest nature of the pristine cognition of Buddha-hood. It. in fact, includes the wondrous (ngo-mtshar) and marvellous three buddha-bodies (sku), their speech (gsung) of great pristine cognition which appears as the vehicles, the buddha-mind with its two kinds of knowledge,[2] the immeasurable enlightened attributes (yon-tan), the spontaneously accomplished enlightened activity, and the inconceivable Buddha-fields (zhing-khams). This pristine cognition is itself accordingly (nyid de-ltar yin) an inconceivable appearance of buddha-body, fields, activities, and so forth.
As is said in the Marvellous King (NGB. Vol. 2):
Pristine cognition itself appears
As the Buddha-bodies, pristine cognition, Buddha-fields,
Attributes and activities of pristine cognition.
As many as they are.
It is not extraneous but spontaneously present.
All things are therefore not extraneous, apart from being arrayed in this great self-manifesting nature. Such (zhes) were the words (tshig) of the secret (gsang-ba'i) tantra of natural indestructible reality (rdo-rje) which emerged (tu'o).
[iii. Synopsis of the Chapter (169-4-170.1)]
[The third part (see p. 492) is a synopsis or conclusion of this chapter (which comments on Ch. 3.24):]
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Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Tibetan rnam-pa mchog-dang ldan-pa stong-pa-nyid. This is the description of the continuum of the ground according to the Great Madhyamaka, on which see NSTB, Book 1, Pt. 3, pp. 77a-80b.
[2]:
Tibetan thugs mkhyen-pa gnyis. This indicates the pristine cognition which qualitatively knows the view (ji-lta-ba mkhyen-pa'i ye-shes) and the pristine cognition which quantitatively knows phenomena (ji-snyed-pa mkhyen-pa'i ye-shes). See above, pp. 60bff.; also Ch. 1, note 45.