Essay name: Hevajra Tantra (analytical study)
Author:
Seung Ho Nam
Affiliation: University of Kerala / Faculty of Oriental Studies
This is an English study of the Hevajra Tantra: an ancient Sanskrit text that teaches the process of attaining Buddha-hood for removing the sufferings of all sentient beings. The Hevajratantra amplifies the views and methods found in the Guhyasamaja Tantra (one of the earliest extant Buddhist Tantras) dealing with Yoga and Mandalas.
Chapter 3 - Tantric Doctrine in Hevajra Tantra
17 (of 138)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
When one speaks of the two types of purity, the first type is the utter
purity of the nature, which is to say that the nature of mind, or the
element, the sugatagarbha, has been free from all defilements such as
the mental poisons and so on since beginningless time. From the
viewpoint of the
of the
essence,
essence,
gold contained in ore is also pure gold.
Corresponding to this example, the nature of mind is completely pure.
The second type of purity is freedom from the adventitious defilements.
This is comparable to the purity achieved through processing the ore and
removing the dross. Once the dross is completely removed there are two
types of purity, the first beings the purity that is also present while gold
is contained in ore, and the second being the purity achieved through the
complete removal of the dross.
As explained in the "Tath膩gata Essence S奴tra, the "Nirv膩峁嘺 S奴tra,
and so forth, Buddha speaks of a permanent, fully developed Buddha
existing in the continuum of each sentient being. The Pr膩sangikas say
that this teaching is an example of giving to the 'cause' the name of the
effect, for the emptiness of the mind of each sentient being is what
allows for change of that person's mind, and this emptiness being called
a fully developed Buddha. The emptiness of the mind, its lack of
existence by way of its own being or its dependence on causes and
conditions, is that most marvelous quality of the mind allowing it to be
transformed into the wisdom of a Buddha. This emptiness is not a fully
developed Buddha but is like a 'cause' of Buddhahood in that if the mind
did not lack inherent existence, it would be utterly static, unable to be
affected by practice of the paths.
Buddha praised this essential and marvelous 'cause' in order to lead
beings who were incapable of understanding emptiness correctly. The
basis in his thought was the existence of the Tath膩gata essence or
Buddha nature which is the emptiness of the mind not a fully
developed Buddha, which could never be obscured, dulled, or hidden by
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175 E. Obermiller, The Sublime Science of the Great Vehicle to Salvation Being A
Manual of Buddhist Monism (Acta Orientalia, IX, 1931), pp.99-100.
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