The publication is an indispensable addition to any substantial library of Tibetan Buddhism.... Lama was a gift to the world who just keeps on giving, a wish-fulling tree that continues to fulfill the wishes of thousands of enlightenment trainees around the world.
In The Fourteen Dalai Lamas, author Glenn H. Mullin vividly brings to life the myth and succession of all 14 Dalai Lamas in one volume for the first time. The book contains a chapter on each Dalai Lama (except Dalai Lamas 9-12, who are covered in one chapter). Mullin has included characteristic excerpts from the Dalai Lamas’ teachings, poetry, and other writings that illuminate the principles of Tibetan Buddhism expressed in their lives.
The 14th Dalai Lama, spiritual and temporal leader of the Tibetans in exile, is well known, but the 600-year tradition to which he is heir is less familiar. From the birth of the first Dalai Lama in a cowshed in 1391, each subsequent Dalai Lama has been the reincarnation of his predecessor, choosing to take up the burdens of a human life for the benefit of the Tibetan people. For almost six centuries, the Dalai Lamas have served as the Tibetans’ spiritual leader and have held secular power for almost half that time. All the Dalai Lamas are revered as incarnations of Avalokiteshvara, the Buddhist deity of compassion, but each has been a unique individual with different abilities and temperaments. Over the ages, various Dalai Lamas have been poets, statesmen, builders, philosophers; most have been disciplined monastics, but one [the Sixth] was a lover of women. The potential of some was tragically lost when their lives were cut short, possibly the victims of political intrigue, while others lived long enough to shape entire eras of Tibetan history.
Glenn H. Mullin is an internationally known scholar and translator and the foremost Western expert on the lives and teachings of the Dalai Lamas. He lived for many years in Dharamsala, India, where he translated many books and monographs for the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives. Now based in the United States, he continues to write, travel and lecture widely. He is the author of the 10-volume series Teachings of the Dalai Lamas, as well as Death and Dying: The Tibetan Tradition, Mystical Verses of a Mad Dalai Lama, and Tsongkhapa’s Six Yogas of Naropa.
Extract
The Sixth Dalai Lama
[One tradition surrounding “Lhasa’s immortal lover”, the Sixth Dalai Lama,] is that he never passed away. Instead, just as Padmasambhava had done a thousand years earlier, he manifested the tantric siddhi of immortality. According to this legend, the “deaths” of the Sixth … were both hoaxes: the first while he was being held captive by the Mongols; and the second many years later as the elderly abbot of a provincial monastery.
In both of these cases he had feigned a death scene in order to assist disciples and trainees in their meditations upon impermanence and death, and to cultivate closer karmic ties with them so that he would be able to more effectively benefit them in their future lives. And in both instances he left them a shell of an emanated body for relics, so that they could collect merit by disposing of his remains.
In reality, however, in both instances he merely withdrew his spiritual presence from the scene, and manifested elsewhere.
According to this legend, he is still alive today, and continues to wander the world incognito in order to bring spiritual benefits and transformation to those who are ready. He shows up when least expected but most needed, and works his spiritual magic almost without being noticed.
This legend is quite popular with ordinary lay people, who speak of “Sixth Dalai Lama encounters” much like Americans speak of Elvis spottings.
The following article is from the Autumn, 1999 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.
Gems Of Wisdom From The Seventh Dalai Lama By The Seventh Dalai Lama Translated by Glenn H. Mullin
The Seventh Dalai Lama (1708-1757) stands as one of the most beloved Buddhist masters in Tibet's long and illustrious history.
One of his most popular works is Gems of Wisdom, a collection of spontaneous short verses that employ earthy metaphors to illustrate key points in the enlightenment tradition. His language is simple and direct, capturing the profound spirituality of his vision while avoiding any form of religiosity. Here we find all the teachings of the Buddha brought into the context of their implications for individual transformation, or training of the mind.
BUDDHISM REGARDS THE HUMAN WORLD AS A TRAINING GROUND FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT PROCESS.
THE PRESENT ERA IS CALLED KALIYUGA, OR THE DARK AGE, FOR IN IT WE ARE CONFRONTED BY FIVE HARSH CONDITIONS: LIFE-FORCE IS WEAK; DELUSIONS AND AFFLICTED EMOTIONS PREDOMINATE EVERYWHERE; THE TIMES ARE VIOLENT; THE LIVING BEINGS PRESENTLY INCARNATE ARE MOSTLY OF LOW CHARACTER; AND FALSE IDEAS AND ATTITUDES ARE MISTAKEN FOR TRUTH.
Buddhism regards the human world as a training ground for the enlightenment process. Living beings take rebirth here in order to learn and evolve. The conditions of the human environment change with the millennia in order to suit the needs of the trainees. Those riding the winds of positive karma are born as humans in a particular time and place in order to meet with those conditions most appropriate to their needs.
The present era is called kaliyuga, or the dark age, for in it we are confronted by five harsh conditions: life-force is weak; delusions and afflicted emotions predominate everywhere; the times are violent; the living beings presently incarnate are mostly of low character; and false ideas and attitudes are mistaken for truth. As a result, human civilization is filled with social structures, philosophical attitudes and behavioral norms that are in direct contradiction to and obstructive of spiritual growth.
HUMAN CIVILIZATION IS FILLED WITH SOCIAL STRUCTURES, PHILOSOPHICAL ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORAL NORMS THAT ARE IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION TO AND OBSTRUCTIVE OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH.
On the positive side, the smallest point of light is clearly visible simply because everything is so dark, just as a candle flame in the daylight is almost invisible but at night is clearly seen from a great distance. Similarly, those born in the kaliyuga who enter into the path of spiritual knowledge quickly achieve their goals, for the steps on the path are easily distinguished.
The biggest obstacle to enlightenment in the kaliyuga is the temptation to follow the norms of society, for society is mostly on the wrong track. Therefore when the eleventh-century Kadampa master Lama Drom Tonpa was once asked how best to follow the path of spiritual knowledge he replied,
The masses have their heads on backwards. If you want to get things right, first look at how they think and behave, and consider going the opposite way.
THE SMALLEST POINT OF LIGHT IS CLEARLY VISIBLE SIMPLY BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS SO DARK...
Who suffer most deeply of all the beings in the world? Those with no self-discipline who are overpowered by delusion.
Generally speaking a person is always in one of two types of mind states: shen-wang, or other-powered and rang-wang, or self-powered. The former refers to the times when we do not keep the mind in positive spheres, and consequently are driven by distorted emotional or cognitive states; the latter refers to when we keep the mind focused through the application of spiritual methods.
It could also be said that there are two types of living beings: those who are directed mainly by negative mind states, and thus are mainly other-powered, and those who are directed mainly by spiritual forces, and thus are mainly self-powered. The second of the two have eliminated the coarse delusions and afflicted emotions, and have aroused the innate seeds of wisdom. Thus they hold the reins of their destiny in their own hands.
THOSE WHO ARE DIRECTED MAINLY BY SPIRITUAL FORCES, AND THUS ARE MAINLY SELF-POWERED (AND) HOLD THE REINS OF THEIR DESTINY IN THEIR OWN HANDS.
Distorted mind states and afflicted emotions are the principal inner agents giving rise to external courses of action that create unhappiness for self and others. Due to anger, attachment, jealousy, prejudiced attitudes and so forth we misjudge the dynamics of the moment and mistake the flow of energies that constitute the transformations of body, speech and mind.
The remedy is the taming of the negative mind and the arousal of wisdom. However, these goals are not easily or quickly accomplished. Therefore those who have taken up the enlightenment path rely upon self-discipline. We cannot always have the wisdom to be free of anger, but through the will-power of self-discipline we can refrain from acts based on anger. Similarly, we may not yet have the wisdom that is free from prejudices, but we can discipline ourselves to mind our own business.
THE REMEDY IS THE TAMING OF THE NEGATIVE MIND AND THE AROUSAL OF WISDOM.
Undeveloped beings are almost always in a state of shen-wang. The more developed we become, the less time we spend in shen-wang states, and the more time in rang-wang, until eventually we achieve the transcendental wisdom that keeps us eternally in rang-wang.
Excerpt from Gems of Wisdom:
What is like a smelly fart that, although invisible, is obvious? One's own faults, that are precisely as obvious as the effort made to hide them.
Ordinary people try to hide their faults and show what they think of as their good qualities. However, the more we try to hide a fault the more pronounced it becomes. The only remedy is the transcendence of the fault. As long as it still holds sway over us it is definite that it will continue to manifest.
THE ONLY REMEDY IS THE TRANSCENDENCE OF THE FAULT. AS LONG AS IT STILL HOLDS SWAY OVER US IT IS DEFINITE THAT IT WILL CONTINUE TO MANIFEST.
The first step in overcoming our faults is the arousal of the determination to face and acknowledge them when they appear. Ordinary beings don't do this, and instead try to hide them from both self and others.
Of course, not everything that causes us embarrassment is a fault to be transcended. Ordinary social conditioning sometimes makes us ashamed of things of which we should be proud, and proud of things of which we should be ashamed. For this reason it is important to examine one's situation closely and not just take one's spiritual tradition for granted. But when it looks like a fault, smells like a fault and feels like a fault, most probably it is a quality to leave behind.
The early Kadampa lamas likened the Dharma to a mirror, and said that the practitioner should look at his or her face in this mirror and then clean it up in accordance with what is seen.
Excerpt from Gems of Wisdom: What is an auspicious omen in country and city dweller alike? Love, that seeks harmony amongst people, and that wishes only happiness for others.
The term that the Seventh Dalai Lama uses here for harmony is puntsun yitu ongwa, which literally means seeing one another with affection. The yitu ongwa segment of the expression literally means delighting the mind, and is likened to the way a mother reacts to seeing her only child. The mere sight of the child brings pleasure and joy to the mind of the mother.
THE PRESENCE OF LOVE IN THE MIND IMMEDIATELY PACIFIES WHATEVER NEGATIVE ENERGY IS PRESENT IN ONE'S ENVIRONMENT.
The quality of mind that always delights in the company of others, and that only wishes them well, is an auspicious omen in a person. Just as an auspicious omen seen in cloud formations, dreams or the like is a prophecy of good things to come, the quality of mind that always looks on others with affection and sympathy is an indication that the possessor of that mind is destined for happiness. When one has established the mind that always looks on others with love, one's experience of the world becomes more loving, peaceful and fulfilling.
The Buddha said, The presence of love in the mind immediately pacifies whatever negative energy is present in one's environment. The force of the delusions is weakened, and the iron grip of negative karma is loosened.
Excerpt from Gems of Wisdom: What is the one root of all goodness in samsara and nirvana? The clear light of one's own mind, which by nature is free from every stain.
The basis of all conscious life is the mind, with its twofold quality of radiance and knowing. On its most subtle level, the mind is pure luminosity, or primordial clear light. Maitreya likened this aspect of the mind to the sky; the clouds of distortion and the delusions move through the sky and sometimes even obstruct the light of the sun, but they cannot actually harm or stain the sky. When conditions change, the clouds disappear and the pure sky shines through in all its glory.
EVEN THE MOST SEEMINGLY EVIL PERSON HAS THE PRIMORDIAL CLEAR LIGHT MIND AT THE HEART OF HIS OR HER EXISTENCE.
The essential nature of mind is equally pristine in all living beings, from earthworms to Buddhas. However, those on basic levels of consciousness fall prey to the distortions and delusions because of misapprehending the nature of the self. Moved by these factors they engage in negative behavior and bring suffering to self and others. Even the most seemingly evil person has the primordial clear light mind at the heart of his or her existence. Eventually the clouds of distortion and delusion will be cleared away as the being grows in wisdom, and the evil behavior that emanates from these negative mindsets will naturally evaporate. That being will realize the essential nature of his or her own mind, and achieve spiritual liberation and enlightenment.
The Buddha said, The world is led by the mind. All good and evil deeds are created by it. It revolves like a fire wheel, moves like waves, burns like a forest fire, and widens like a great river.
As His Holiness the present Dalai Lama once put it, The clear light mind, which lies dormant in living beings, is the great hope of mankind.
The Second Dalai Lama now had a number of responsibilities revolving around an annual schedule. These included leading the Maitreya Festival in Lhasa toward the end of the year and also the various new year ceremonies, such as the torgya rite for exorcizing all negativities of the old year (performed on the last day of the year). Also as part of the new year rituals, there were religious ceremonies for opening the year auspiciously and thus encouraging prosperity and harmony in the months to come. After this came the Great Prayer Festival, celebrated by thousands of monks in the Jokhang Temple of Lhasa. He presided over this for two or three weeks in the first month of the year. He would then generally teach in Sera for a couple of weeks and also in either Drepung or Ganden. Thus his schedule from the late autumn to the first month of spring generally kept him in the Lhasa area. Following this he would often make teaching pilgrimages to various regions accessible from Lhasa, such as Tashi Lhunpo of Tsang or the Tolung area. Most years he returned to Chokhor Gyal in late spring and remained in retreat there during the summer. Again from here he would make several teaching pilgrimages each year to the outlying areas, such as Kongpo and southern Olkha.
His life was not without obstacles, however. For example, in the autumn of the Fire Bird Year (1537), hostile armies threatened to attack and destroy his monastery at Gyal. As Konchok Kyab puts it, “Evil demons had caused jealousy of the master’s great works to arise within the hearts of certain sectarian people. Numerous armies began to move toward Gyal from the east…Many negative signs appeared in the Lake of Visions.”
The Second Dalai Lama responded with yogic means. He retreated to the Lake of Visions and performed invocations of and prayers to the Dharmapala goddess Palden Lhamo, requesting her to release her spiritual force and restore peace and harmony. A great storm erupted, and the skies were filled with terrible sounds. Palden Lhamo had given them a sign; all would be well. The Biography continues by stating that, as an external condition to fulfilling Palden Lhamo’s magical works, King Nangso Donyopa of Droda suddenly swept down from nowhere upon the invading armies and routed them. Konchok Kyab concludes his account of the incident by saying, “As for the routed soldiers, many of them died in flight. Others died in battle on the way…Moreover, those of them who reached home carried many contagious diseases with them, thus disseminating their community’s population…Since that time, no one has dared to attack Gyal.”
In the above account Konchok Kyab is very careful to avoid giving the actual identities of the “invading armies” and the leaders behind them. This is quite typical of Tibetan biographical writings, in which it is thought that the best approach to malicious and violent people is to relegate them to historical obscurity in this way, rather than giving them immortality by listing their names. The incident is only included in the Biography in order to illustrate the Second Dalai Lama’s use of tantric ritual to pacify the forces of evil. Thus the names of the pacification rituals that he performed are given in great detail, yet not a mention is made of the names of the peoples at whom the “pacification” was directed.
In the Earth Dog Year (1538), there seems to have been something of a hot philosophical debate going on between some of the lama intelligentsia. The Kargyupa lama Karmapa Mikyo Dorjey (the Eighth Karmapa) had written a commentary to the Prajnaparamita Sutra that the senior monks of Sera monastery considered to be an utter misrepresentation and misinterpretation of the meaning of the Perfection of Wisdom scriptures. They approached the Second Dalai Lama with the request that he write a refutation to it. He accepted, but composed only a single verse.
The Buddhas teach in various ways; sometimes what they say is literally true, and sometimes they teach in metaphors when this is more appropriate to the minds of listeners. They speak indirectly when to do so directly would impair the understanding of those to be trained.
Thus he made it known that he himself greatly enjoyed the Karmapa’s philosophical text and was amused by the passionate controversy it had aroused in the Sera community.
From The Second Dalai Lama: His Life and Teachings by Glenn H. Mullin
The following article is from the Summer, 1997 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.
READINGS ON THE SIX YOGAS OF NAROPA
translated, edited and introduced by Glenn H. Mullin, 200 ppr #RESIYO $16.95 Available Now.
The Tibetan tradition known as the Six Yogas of Naropa is one of the most popular tantric systems with all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. Structured and arranged by the eleventh-century Indian masters Tilopa and Naropa from various Buddhist tantric legacies, this system of yogic practice was carried to Tibet by Marpa the Translator a generation later. These six yogasinner heat, illusory body, clear light, consciousness transference, forceful projection and bardo yogacontinue to be one of the most important living meditation traditions in the Land of Snows.
This collection of readings on the six yogas contains important texts on this esoteric doctrine, including original Indian works by Tilopa and Naropa, and Tibetan writings by Tsongkhapa the Great, Gyalwa Wensapa, the First Panchen Lama and Lama Jey Sherab Gyatso. Readings discusses the practices, their context and the historical continuity of this most important tradition, which is said to bring full enlightenment in one lifetime. (This book of teachings on the Six Yogas complements Tsongkhapa's Six Yogas of Naropa.)
TSONGKHAPA'S SIX YOGAS OF NAROPA
translated, edited and introduced by Glenn H. Mullin. 276 pp. #TSSIYO $18.95
Anyone who has read more than a few books on Tibetan Buddhism will have encountered references to the Six Yogas of Naropa. These six yogas represent one of the most popular Tibetan Buddhist presentations of yogic technology. Given by the Indian sage Naropa to Marpa, these teachings gradually pervaded thousands of monasteries and hermitages throughout Central Asia regardless of sect. Tsongkhapa's discussion of the Six Yogas is regarded as one of the finest on the subject to come out of Tibet. His treatise has served as the fundamental guide to the system as practiced in the more than three thousand Gelukpa monasteries, nunneries and hermitages across Central Asia over the past five-and-a-half centuries.
offers as clear an explanation as possible.Booklist, published by the American Library Association
The following article is from the Summer, 1999 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.
Meditations to Transform the Mind
By The Seventh Dalai Lama Translated and edited by Glenn H. Mullin
The Seventh Dalai Lama is often considered to be one of the greatest of the early Dalai Lamas. He wrote extensive commentaries on the Tantras, and over a thousand mystical poems and prayers.
His Meditations to Transform the Mind is a highly valued collection of spiritual advice for taming and developing the mind. These inspired writings are an outpouring of Himalayan spirituality, a unique presentation that appeals to the heart as well as head.
The Seventh Dalai Lama's rich spiritual writings are direct and arresting, giving clear advice on the essence of Buddhist practice.
"inspiring of immense importance to all the major Tibetan Buddhist sects." —Prof. Janice D. Willis, Wesleyan University
In this book, Glenn Mullin provides valuable and fascinating introductions to each piece, making them even more accessible. Also included is a biography of the Seventh Dalai Lama.
The following excerpt from the book is a song which the Seventh Dalai Lama wrote at the request of one of his disciples, Changkya Rinpochey, better known as the third incarnation of the Changkya Tulku.
As author Glenn Mullin points out in the introduction to this section, the song is very tantric in nature, and therefore makes use of a specialized and esoteric language,
"I suspect that some of it will float over the heads of non-initiates. Nonetheless, as the Tibetan saying goes,
'If you don't have any teeth, at least you can work on it with your gums.'
For those with a background in tantric literature it perhaps will be appreciated as one of the most profound and powerful pieces in the volume."
Song of the Tantric Path
Homage to Jey Rinpochey, a second Buddha, Manifestation of Vajradhara, lord of all buddhas, In whose body reside the awakened ones past, present, and future, As well as their retinues and buddhafields.
Homage to the feet of my own root guru, Who is in true nature inseparably one with Father-Mother Heruka, The wheel composed of all objects of knowledge, Whose essence is great bliss, clear as the autumn sky.
In the hands of one's spiritual master Lie the roots of every mystical experience. All happiness and suffering from now until enlightenment Are his responsibility alone.
See the physical world as the guru's body; Take sounds as the guru's teachings; Mix thoughts and memories with his bliss and insight; Rely on this practice, king of all paths.
Fortunate are they who meet with the doctrine Of all-kind incomparable Tsongkhapa, Who showed as precepts all sutras and tantras. Fortunate indeed an opportunity obtained but once.
Yet breath, like mist, is delicate; And life, seemingly strong, is ever near to passing. Quickly pluck the essence of Dharma, For definite it is you will die at the hands of the great enemy Death.
Have not the three doors stood open to negativity? Then the inconceivable misery of the lower realms Certainly will fall upon you, And, if still weak, you will not be able to bear them.
Some look, and see; in the innermost way they turn To a guru-deva, an embodiment of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. With attentive concentration they focus On cultivating the white and dispersing the black.
Reveling in objects of greed and attachment Is drinking poison mistaken for nectar. The luxuries, securities, and comforts of the world Are like dramas enjoyed in a dream.
No lasting happiness can be found In any samsaric position, And how foolish to sit complacent In a hole filled with misery.
Turn the horse of the mind upward, Rein him with the three higher trainings, Strike him with the iron whip of fierce effort, And cut unto the open road of liberation.
All beings, mothers who lovingly have nurtured us, Are floundering in the seas of confusion. The son who cares not for their anguish, Are the waters of his heart not bitter?
Wholly discarding selfish thoughts, Hold close the ways that better the world And strive to live the six perfections That yield buddhahood, ultimate benefit for all.
Sever the mind from chaotic wandering; Fix it firmly on its object with mindfulness. Without falling prey to agitation or dullness, Train in meditation blissful and clear.
The manifold things we perceive Are deceptive projections of deluded thought. When we search for their ultimate essence, Emptiness free of an essence appears.
The things that manifest also fade And only footprints of names remain; The other side of this is called dependent arising. What else need be known?
The teachings of Nagarjuna and his disciples Aryadeva, Buddhapalita, and Chandrakirti Were thus by Jey Rinpochey understood A most wondrous view free from extremes.
Having first trained in these foundation practices, Seek out a tantric master, embodiment of Buddha Vajradhara, Lord of the Paradise Beneath None; Gain the four ripening initiations And enter into the mystic circle.
The body transforms into a great vajra-mandala, And, in the inconceivable mansion of joyful repose, The real deitythe subtle mind held between the Kiss of the male and female drops Manifests as the blood-swilling Father-Mother.
The dakas and dakinis dance a blissful dance In the mystic channels and secret drops; Mundane perception is severed from consciousness And all emanations become ultimately pure.
Visualize yourself as Heruka with consort, Luminous yet void, body empty, Energy channels of three qualities vibrating within; At your heart a Dharma wheel with eight petals
Bears the indestructible drop in the form of HUM Between the sun of method and the moon of wisdom. Mind firm on this, tremulous misconceptions are cut, And the clear light, sheer as the autumn sky, arises.
The outer consort, in nature fire, Melts the life-drops that course Through the 72,000 channels, Bringing them into the central channel, Giving rise to the four ineffable joys.
Outside, all sensory movement of mind and energy ceases; Inside, mundane views, ignorance, and darkness disperse. Thus by yoga even sleep is transformed Into the nature of Dharmakaya's clear light.
By cultivating these yogic methods, We can in general see through all distorted appearances And in particular know the body as dreamlike, Thus building the dancing form of an endowed deity And maintaining the according emanations.
By mentally reciting the secret mantras of the vajra dharmas Of entering, resting, and dispersing energy at the heart While controlling the life-drop made of five clear essences, The knots of ignorance are easily untied.
The tip of the vajra is placed firmly in the lotus And mind as the syllable HUM is brought into the central channel; One drinks and drinks the essence of nectars And goes mad with innate joy unmoving.
By thus settling the mind in the subtle vajra letter And bringing the drop to the four chakras and sensory gates, One directly sees all aesthetic objects Found throughout the three worlds.
Thus one opens the windows of the six miraculous powers, Sees the faces of innumerable deities, Masters the meanings of the words of the teachings And gains the delightful company of an immortal lover.
In the tip of the vajra between the eyebrows, The light of the sun, moon, and stars swirls in the drop. By bringing mind and energy to that point, The white bodhimind is forever increased.
Then with the fine brush of samadhi paint A masterpiece incorporating all beauties of life, One gains the aid of a fully qualified consort And one's experience of the blisses blazes higher and higher.
Mind fixed on the bliss and mudra of the consort, A rain of innate joy pours down. Again and again seducing the beautiful one, Symbol of the mind embracing reality itself, One melts into the sphere of spontaneous bliss.
From the center of the navel chakra where meet the three energy channels, Shine lights from white and red pyramids. Looking through the nucleus of five drops therein, The mind's nature is seen as five buddhas.
White and yellow energies shape into a vase And the all-destroying fire rages. The letters AH and HAM flare, fall, and vibrate, Transporting one to the end of the primordial path of great bliss and wisdom combined.
Lights from the mystic fire flash into the hundred directions, Summoning the blessings of buddhas boundless as space. Once again the five natures of mind arise as sounds, Releasing a rain of ambrosial knowledge.
The apparitions of people and things Dissolve into light, and the waves Of misconception are stilled. No longer is the radiance of clear light obscured. Even post-meditation mind maintains immaculate view.
In the sphere of semblant and innate Mahamudra, Empty images appear as rainbows. Flawless method emanates phantom circles, Erecting the perfect mandala of deities and abodes.
The illusory body merges with clear light Like clouds dissolving into space. The fires of innate wisdom arise And consume the seed of grasping for self.
This great union of the radiant vajra body With the vast clear light of mind Is called "the samadhi moving magnificently," A stage not touched by the ordinary intellect.
This consciousness, purified of all transient stains, Gazes clearly and directly at the sphere of truth. Like a magic gem it manifests the Beatific Body Of Heruka Chakrasamvara for the sake of others And sends out countless emanations, Each in accord with the needs of the world.
Thus in this age of short life span, Buddhahood is swiftly and easily attained By turning lust for sensual objects Toward the friend who instills great bliss.
Think: "By studying, contemplating, and meditating Upon the flawless Vajrayana teachings, The highest path, the esoteric way of all tantric Adepts of the past, May I in this very lifetime attain with ease That point most peerless and supreme.
And if in this life ultimate power is not found, At my death may the dakas and dakinis protect me And lead to the rainbow palace of Vajrayogini In the pure land Kajou Shing, there to enjoy clouds of transcendent offerings.
May I and all practitioners of this tantra Soon complete the esoteric path of secrets And, within ourselves ever perfecting the practices Of the sutras and tantras taught by the Buddha, May we master this mysterious way.
Until then, may the mighty dakas and dakinis Who dwell in the twenty-four Heruka grounds Care for us in every time and situation As a mother watches over her only child.
The following article is from the Spring, 1989 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.
SECRET VISIONS OF THE FIFTH DALAI LAMA by Samten Darmay Serindia Publications, London
For centuries Tibet has served the planet as a nation dedicated to spiritual art, literature and practice. In an era when Europe was busy sending its armies around the world to pillage, rape and colonize, Tibet was engaged in studying, cataloging and eulogizing the stages of enlightenment and the varieties of mystical experience. Its GNP was not measured in materialistic terms alone, but in the number of yogis and sages that blossomed forth from within its precincts.
Thus when in 1642 the saintly Fifth Dalai Lama rose to become both spiritual and secular chieftain of the Tibetan nation, echoes of a destiny fulfilled rang throughout the mountains and valleys of Central Asia.
The Fifth Dalai Lama (1617-1682) stands as perhaps the singularly most striking figure in Tibetan history. He was one of those rare men who seem bigger than life itself, a superman who accomplished in one short lifetime the deeds of a thousand ordinary heroes. From the literary viewpoint he was colossal, writing as much as all other Dalai Lamas put together. As a builder he left us with numerous marvels that can compare with the world's greatest architectural achievements, the Potala of Lhasa being perhaps the most well-known of these. His poetry is considered by Asian intellectuals to be among the most inspired verse ever composed in the Tibetan language; and his reputation as a philosopher, historian, artist, doctor and teacher far exceeds that of anyone else of the period. Moreover, he was not some mere artist, intellectual or mystic; his work as a statesman laid the very foundations for the emergence of Classical Tibet, the Tibet that rapidly came to serve as the cultural grandparent to all Central Asia.
Yet he did not accomplish all this without giving rise to some controversy. In the fulfillment of his dreams and ideals, much of the old and stagnant had to be swept aside in order to make way for the new; and although he was a man of great compassion, he was never one to hesitate on the borders of apathetic sentimentalism. His gentleness in no way rendered him indecisive or impotent, and in sculpting his image of a new Tibet he did not fear to strike with the political artist's chisel wherever and whenever it seemed appropriate.
The COLLECTED WORKS of the Fifth Dalai Lama is comprised of twenty-eight bundles of texts, and contains more than a thousand titles. These twenty-eight are divided into three categories Outer, Inner, and Secret with twelve bundles in the first of these categories, eight in the second and eight more in the third. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama points out in his Foreword to the volume under review, traditionally only the first two categories of works were ever printed in Tibet. Generally the texts in the Secret category were only available to high initiates, and were not allowed to be mass-produced or openly marketed; anyone wanting a text in this category would have to request special permission to have a hand-copy made.
Secret Visions of the Fifth Dalai Lama by Samten Karmay is a study of one of these eight Secret Volumes. The Tibetan text of the volume contains sixteen individual titles, the first of these being the Fifth Dalai Lama's catalog of the numerous visions that he experienced during his life.
The edition by Serindia Publications is remarkable in that it is based upon an original and priceless manuscript prepared during the lifetime of the Great Fifth Dalai Lama himself, with hundreds of exquisite color illustrations executed under the Fifth's direct supervision. The Serindia edition, as well as carrying high-quality reproductions of all the illustrations, contains a reducted photographic reprint of the entire Tibetan manuscript. Thus as well as being an excellent work on classical seventeenth century Tibetan art, it is a valuable addition to the library of any Tibetan scholar.
Samten Karmay's contribution is his brief Summary of the contents of the Tibetan texts, and an Introduction that provides the reader with a general picture of Tibetan history and the Fifth Dalai Lama's life.
Although his Summary deals with all sixteen Tibetan texts, the bulk of his commentary focuses on the first of these, Secret Visions itself. The remaining fifteen texts-ritual and liturgical works mainly of an exorcistic nature are given only a paragraph or two each.
A disappointing feature of the Summary is that Mr. Karmay satisfies himself with merely listing the various 'beings' (gurus, buddhas, bodhisattvas, tantric deities, etc.) whom the Fifth saw in his visions, and does not deal with any of the prophetic (and highly poetic) conversations that ensued, nor with the meaning or significance of the visions. By cutting the material to a mere skeleton of events, we are left with something that reads almost like a list or diary of daily appointments. However, it may be argued that for him to attempt to take the material further would have opened a whole other dimension to the work, and would have expanded the volume prohibitively.
Secret Visions of the Fifth Dalai Lama is an elegant and enticing edition. Undoubtedly it is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the complex character of the Fifth Dalai lama, and to the many facets of his personality. It could stand as a landmark work merely on the strength of its artwork, just as it could for the Tibetan texts that it contains, it is the type of publication that does not need to be read to be admired and appreciated; merely holding it and letting one's eyes flow over its pages suffices to bestow upon the beholder the sense of being in the presence of beauty, greatness, the mystical and the very sublime.
The following article is from the Spring, 1950 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.
The Science and Lore of Tibetan Medicine
by Dr. Yeshi Dhonden translated and edited by B. Alan Wallace 214 pages, #HEFRSO $16.95 Available Now!
Review by Glenn H. Mullin
In 1642 the great Fifth Dalai Lama became spiritual and temporal head of a newly formed Tibetan nation. A few years later he established the Mentsikhang, or Medical Academy, on Iron Mountain in Lhasa. Prior to this era the traditional healing arts of Tibet had largely been passed through privately owned clinics and hospitals, usually run as small family enterprises, and with medical knowledge being passed from parents to children.
From the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama until the Chinese takeover of Tibet forty years ago the Mentsikhang served as the most important medical school in the country, dedicated to training young doctors in the traditional healing arts. It quickly developed into the basis of a national medicare system; student doctors would come from all over Central Asia, train for a dozen or so years, and then return to their homelands, where they would operate a small clinic for the people. Within a few decades the network of facilities born from the activities of Lhasa's Medical Academy extended to Tibet's furthermost borders and beyond. Family clinics continued to offer training programs for aspiring young doctors, as well as offer medical care to the sick, but the prestige of the Mentsikhang soon eclipsed them all. A graduate degree from the Mentsikhang was held in a higher stead than one from any other institution.
Dr. Yeshi Dhonden, whose transcribed lectures form the body of Healing from the Source (subtitled The Science and Lore of Tibetan Medicine) is one of the few doctors trained in Lhasa's Mentsikhang to escape into India after the Chinese crackdown of 1959. He therefore was regarded by the Tibetan refugees in India as an embodiment of the highest knowledge of traditional Tibetan medicine. Consequently in the early 1960s when His Holiness the present Dalai Lama wanted to establish a Tibetan Medical Academy in exile, he turned to Dr. Yeshi Dhonden. Dr. Dhonden helped establish this important institution, and also served as the Dalai Lama's private physician for almost twenty years. Some readers will be familiar with his name; his earlier book with Snow Lion Publications, Health Through Balance, has become something of a primer on Tibetan medicine; and also the spin-offs from his various lecture tours in Europe and Americaappearances in several documentary films and television specials, as well as interviews published in newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals (one such article even finding its way onto the pages of Reader's Digest)have made him something of an ambassador not only of Tibetan medicine but also of the Tibetan people in general.
As Dr. Dhonden points out in Healing from the Source, the Tibetans consider the historical Buddha to be the ultimate source of the Tibetan medical system. The earliest Tibetan medical texts are said to be translations of Indian Sanskrit works. Readers therefore will notice a distinct similarity between the language of Tibetan medicine and that of Indian ayurveda, the traditional healing system of India. Dr. Dhonden states, as do all Tibetan texts, that the Buddha taught ayurveda (perhaps best translated as knowledge of life) when he expounded The Ambrosial Heart Tantra for Healing. The rest of the Indians (i.e., the Hindus, Jains, etc.) acquired the system from later Buddhist monk doctors.
Dr. Yeshi Dhonden with B. Alan Wallace (photo by Sony a Sones)
This is a refreshing and challenging assertion; Indian ayurveda today as well as most Western academics would have us believe that the cross-fertilization went the other way, i.e., that the Buddhists borrowed the ayurveda system from the Hindus. If Dr. Dhonden is right, the probable scenario is that the Hindus borrowed ayurveda from the Buddhists somewhere in the third century BCE, when the Buddhist king Ashoka ruled an empire that covered all of north India and modern-day Pakistan, from the bay of Bengal to the foothills of Afghanistan. King Ashoka spent a large portion of the national surplus on building and maintaining not only Buddhist temples and monuments, but also hospitals, health care and rest centers along remote highways, and educational institutions, including those dedicated to the training of young doctors. Modern day India uses one of the heads from a pillar created by Ashoka as its national emblem; this appears on coins and paper currency, as well as on stamps and seals, bearing testament to the impact that his rule had on Indian history.
Tibetan medicine also shows some similarities with traditional Chinese medicine. Dr. Dhonden states that this came about as a result of the high status given to Tibetan doctors during the Mongolian and Manchurian rulerships of China. Known respectively as the Yuan and Ching Dynasties, the emperors who ruled much of the Far East during these periods were largely Tibetan Buddhist by spiritual persuasion, and kept Tibetan doctors in their courts, as did much of their aristocracy. Marco Polo, the thirteenth-century Italian adventurer who stayed in the court of the Yuan emperor Kublai Khan for some months, mentions how well the emperor treated the Tibetans in his court.
Because of the similarities between Tibetan medicine and the medical traditions of India and China, Healing from the Source will be fairly easy reading for anyone familiar with either of these two systems. Newcomers to the Asian healing arts will perhaps have to make more of an effort to penetrate the material. The lectures on which the book is based were delivered to a group of health care professionals at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, and thus don't presume specialized knowledge of oriental medicine. There is therefore much in Healing from the Source that will be of interest to the general reader. Dr. Dhonden's frank discussion of his work with cancer and AIDS patients, and of Tibetan medical ideas on the treatment of these and other modern afflictions, provides considerable food for thought. His presentation of the fundamental principles of Tibetan medicine is succinct and clear. In addition, Dr. Dhonden packs his discussion with anecdotes from his own medical training and practice, thus providing a glimpse into the world of Tibetan medicine as a living tradition.
"Tsongkhapa's treatise on this system of tantric practice ... became the standard guide to the Naropa tradition at Ganden Monastery, the seat he founded near Lhasa in 1409. Ganden was to become the motherhouse of the Gelukpa school, and thus the symbolic head of the network of thousands of Gelukpa monasteries that sprang up over the succeeding centuries across Central Asia, from Siberia to northern India. A Book of Three Inspirations has served as the fundamental guide to Naropa's Six Yogas for the tens of thousands of Gelukpa monks, nuns, and lay practitioners throughout that vast area who were interested in pursuing the Naropa tradition as a personal tantric study. It has performed that function for almost six centuries now.
Tsongkhapa the Great's A Book of Three Inspirations has for centuries been regarded as special among the many. The text occupies a unique place in Tibetan tantric literature, for it in turn came to serve as the basis of hundreds of later treatments. His observations on various dimensions and implications of the Six Yogas became a launching pad for hundreds of later yogic writers, opening up new horizons on the practice and philosophy of the system. In particular, his work is treasured for its panoramic view of the Six Yogas, discussing each of the topics in relation to the bigger picture of tantric Buddhism, tracing each of the yogic practices to its source in an original tantra spoken by the Buddha, and presenting each within the context of the whole. His treatise is especially revered for the manner in which it discusses the first of the Six Yogas, that of the 'inner heat.' As His Holiness the present Dalai Lama put it at a public reading of and discourse upon the text in Dharamsala, India, in 1991, 'the work is regarded by Tibetans as tummo gyi gyalpo, the king of treatments on the inner heat yoga.' Few other Tibetan treatises match it in this respect."
The following article is from the Spring, 1997 issue of the Snow Lion Newsletter and is for historical reference only. You can see this in context of the original newsletter here.
Translated, edited and introduced by Glenn H. Mullin 200 pp. #RESIYO$ 16.95 May
This collection of readings on the six yogas contains important texts on this esoteric doctrine, including original Indian works by Tilopa and Naropa, and Tibetan writings by Tsongkhapa the Great, Gyalwa Wensapa, the First Panchen Lama and Lama Jey Sherab Gyatso.
The following text by Tilopa is the earliest known work on the Six Yogas of Naropa.
THE ORAL INSTRUCTION OF THE SIX YOGAS
by the Indian Mahasiddha Tilopa
Translator's Preamble
The Indian master Tilopa is regarded as the formulator of the Six Yogas system. He was born in 988 in Bengal to a brahmin family and as a youth helped support his family by tending buffaloes. This work gave him plenty of spare time, and as he sat in the fields with his herds he passed the hours first by learning to read and write, and then by studying and memorizing many of the great Buddhist scriptures. By the time he reached his teens he had become self-educated in the classics.
After he reached adulthood he journeyed to Oddiyana (the present-day Swat Valley of Pakistan), where he received numerous transmissions from a group of female mystics. Later he traveled widely and studied under many different Buddhist masters. He spent years in the intensive practice of meditation and eventually achieved enlightenment.1
His biography states that the main lineages he received and emphasized in his personal practice were the Madhyamaka doctrines and the Guhyasamaja Tantra transmissions descending from the mahasiddha Nagarjuna; the clear light and bardo doctrines of the mahasiddha Lawapa; the Heruka Chakrasamvara lineages descending from the mahasiddha Luipada; the Mahamudra lineages of the mahasiddha Shavari; and the inner heat doctrines of the Hevajra Tantra as transmitted through Krishnacharya.
In his later life Tilopa manifested countless miraculous activities in order to inspire and enlighten trainees. He could stop the sun in its path, shape-shift by changing himself into animal forms, fly through the sky, and visibly manifest tantric mandalas in space. Sometimes he lived quietly as a monk, and at others dwelled with corpses in charnel grounds. To provide conditions by which beings could collect merit he sometimes sustained himself by begging for alms, sometimes by operating a whorehouse.
Tilopa's name, in the colophon to our text spelled Tillipa, means Sesame-seed Man. He earned this name because as a part of his enlightenment path he worked as a pounder of sesame seeds for producing oil, taking his work as a metaphor for how the oil of enlightenment is extracted from the seed of mundane experience. He had many disciples, but the greatest of all was Naropa, to whom he transmitted the Six Yogas that he had formulated.
Several short texts on the Six Yogas that are attributed to Tilopa exist in Tibetan, but only the verse work herein translated was considered authentic beyond question, and therefore was the only one to be included in the Tibetan canon of Indian commentaries, the Tengyur.
Tilopa's text is only a few verses in length but is nonetheless important in that it is the earliest known work on the Six Yogas. It mentions four important lineage masters from whom the Six Yogas had come to him: Krishnacharya, Nagarjuna, Lawapa and Sukhasiddhi. These four are the sources of the longer list given above, as gleaned from his biography.
In the translation I have added subheads giving the name of each of the six yogas. This may perhaps break the flow created by Tilopa's continuous style, but as compensation clarifies the ideas embodied in the work.
Tilopa's arrangement of the Six Yogas seems to be slightly different from that which became popular in Tibet in the Pakmo Drupa Kargyu school and subsequently in the Geluk. He lists them as (1) inner heat yoga from Krishnacharya, whom he refers to as Charyapa; (2) illusory body yoga from Nagaijuna; (3) dream yoga from Lawapa; (4) clear light yoga, also from Nagarjuna; (5) bardo yoga from Sukhasiddhi; and finally (6) the consciousness transference and forceful projection yogas, also from Sukhasiddhi. My subheads indicate how they are grouped in the Pakmo Drupa Kargyu and Geluk schools.
The Oral Instruction of the Six Yogas
by the Indian Mahasiddha Tilopa
Homage to Glorious Chakrasamvara.3
Take advantage of the karmic process4
And extract the essence of the human potential.
Inner Heat Yoga
The yogic body, a collection of energy channels,
Coarse and subtle, possessing the energy fields,
Is to be brought under control.
The method begins with the physical exercises.
The vital airs [i.e., energies] are drawn in,
Filled, retained and dissolved.
There are the two side channels,
The central channel avadhuti,
And the four chakras.
Flames rise from the chandali fire5 at the navel.
A stream of nectar drips down
From the syllable HAM at the crown,
Invoking the four joys.
There are four results, like that similar to the cause,
And six exercises that expand them.
This is the instruction of Charyapa.6
Illusory Body Yoga
All animate and inanimate things of the three worlds
Are like the examples of an illusion, a dream and so forth.
See this at all times, both in movement and in stillness.
Contemplate an illusory deity reflected in a mirror;
Take a drawn image of Vajrasattva, and consider
How the reflected image vividly appears.
Just as that image is an illusory appearance,
So it is with all things.
The yogi thus contemplates the twelve similes
And sees the reality of how all things are illusory.
This is the instruction of Nagarjuna.7
Know dreams as dreams, and constantly
Meditate on their profound significance.
Visualize the seed syllables of the five natures
With the drop, the nada and so forth.
One perceives buddhas and buddhafields.
The time of sleep is the time for the method
That brings realization of great bliss.
This is the instruction of Lawapa.8
Clear Light Yoga
The yogi working with the central channel
Places the mind in the central channel
And fixes concentration on the drop at the heart.
Visions arise, like lights, light-rays, rainbows,
The sunlight and moonlight at dawn,
The sun, the moon, and then
The appearances of deities and forms.
In this way the myriads of worlds are purified.
This most wondrous yogic path
Is the instruction of Nagarjuna.
Bardo Yoga
The yogi at the time of death withdraws
The energies of the senses and elements, and
Directs energies of sun and moon to the heart,
Giving rise to a myriad of yogic samadhis.
Consciousness goes to outer objects, but
He regards them as objects of a dream.
The appearances of death persist for seven days,
Or perhaps as much as seven times seven,
And then one must take rebirth.
At that time meditate on deity yoga
Or simply remain absorbed in emptiness.
After that, when the time comes for rebirth,
Use the deity yoga of a tantric master
And meditate on guru yoga with whatever appears.
Doing that will arrest the experience of the bardo.
This is the instruction of Sukhasiddhi.9
Yogas of Consciousness Transference and Forceful Projection
By means of these yogas, at the time of transference
And also of forceful projection into another body,
The yogi can utilize the mantric seed syllable of the deity
And train in the deity yoga practice in conjunction
With the exhalation and inhalation [of the breath], long and short,
And project consciousness to wherever is desired.
Alternatively, those desiring to transfer to a higher realm
Can apply themselves to two syllables of YAM, and also
HI-KA, and HUM-HUM.
Consciousness is thrown to the heart
Of the deity inseparable from the guru,
And from there to whatever buddhafield is desired.
This too is the instruction of Sukhasiddhi.
The colophon: Written from the words of the Mahasiddha Tillipa; translated by the Indian sage Pandit Naropa and Marpa Lodrakpa Chokyi Lotru at the Kashmiri holy site known as Mount Pushpahara.
