Text 6.11 (Commentary)

[Guhyagarbha-Tantra, Text section 6.11]

This great assembly which emanates light-rays
Is encircled by a blazing ring.
Pervasive without extremes or centre.
It is an unthinkable, spontaneously present maṇḍala. [11] ...

[Tibetan]

'od-zer 'phro-ba'i tshogs chen-po /
'bar-ba'i phreng-bas 'khrigs-ba-ste /
mtha'-dbus med-par khyab-pa-yi /
dkyil-'khor bsam-yas lhun-gyis grub / [11]

Commentary:

[vi. The sixth aspect (of the maṇḍala of the supported deities) concerning their emanation of light-rays (comments on Ch. 6.11):]

This great assembly (tshogs chen-po) of light-rays which emanates ('phro-ba'i) countless billion-billions of light-rays ('od-zer)^[1] in the ten directions from the six great energy-centres within the bodies of these deities and from all their pores too, is visible without limitation. Now, the six centres are those of the crown, the point between the eyebrows, the throat, the heart, the navel, and the soles of the feet. Therefrom are emanated the light-rays which are of six colours, namely, blue, yellow, red, white, madder, and crystal. Madder is scarlet or light-red, while crystal is bluish-white in colour and translucent. The nature of the buddha-body’s inner radiance is such that it emanates these six (colours from) the six respective (centres) into the ten directions, along with a bllllon-blllion concomitant rays of light.^[2]

The male & female gatekeepers are present in an awesome guise in the midst of this throng, which is encircled ('khyil-ba-ste) in the ten directions by a ring (phreng-bas) of fire in the midst of a blazing ('bar-ba'i) expanse, like the conflagration at the end of an aeon. Because it appears in this way, pervasive (khyab-pa-yi) in the expanse of space without extremes or centre (mtha'-dbus med-par), it is a maṇḍala (dkyil-'khor) of contemplation, a beyond number and measure, unthinkable (bsam-yas) and spontaneously present (lhun-gyis grub) in nature. Meditating thereon. one becomes extensive in the manner of reality's expanse, and turns to the essence of genuine pristine cognition.

The latter aspect (of the contemplative maṇḍala of the path: 243.2-257.2) is an exegesis of the resultant maṇḍala accomplished thereby. It comprises an overview and an interlinear commentary.

[Overview (243-2-248.4):]

The overview has three aspects, namely, the structure of the supporting buddha-body, the structure of the supported pristine cognition, and the structure of deeds or enlightened activity.

i. The Buddha-body is fivefold, among which the buddha-body of reality is free from all extremes of conceptual elaboration.

Concerning it, this text (Ch. 6, 19) says:

The buddha-body of reality is inestimable and inexpressible.

The buddha-body of perfect rapture is a treasure-store in which all enlightened attributes are spontaneously present (Ch. 6.19):^[3]

The buddha-body of perfect rapture is an inexhaustible precious treasure.

The emanational body teaches each in accord with his or her needs (Ch. 6.19):

There are inconceivable billions of emanational bodies.

The body of awakening is the Buddha-hood in which all things are equally and perfectly united (Ch. 6.22):

The Buddha-body of sameness indivisible in all respects.

And the unchanging body of indestructible reality is the nature of Buddha-body and pristine cognition, without conjunction or disjunction (Ch. 6.22):

The awareness-holding buddha-body of indestructible reality.

ii. The second (the structure of the supported pristine cognition) is fivefold. including the pristine cognition of reality's expanse. Concerning these (Ch. 6.22) speaks of:

The buddha-body of pristine cognition which knows all things.

iii. The third. the enlightened activities. include both the buddha-body’s manifestation and doctrinal teaching on behalf of those to be trained, and its resulting array of maturation and liberation.

As to the former: The teachers who grant their respective instructions to ordinary living beings diversely appear. and teach the doctrine in which virtue is outlined. Then, to pious attendants and self-centred buddhas they appear as an arhat and teach the doctrine which satisfies them. Although self-centred buddhas do not teach the doctrine verbally, they do teach symbolically.

As is said in the Ornament of Emergent Realisation (T. 35 3786, Ch. 2, v. 7):^[4]

This means that to those respective persons
Who require training.
Whatever they wish to hear.
The respective meanings just appear.
Without even a sound being uttered.

Similarly, there is the instruction granted by the supreme emanational body, as when buddhas such as Śākyamuni perform acts of benefit and teach the doctrines of diverse vehicles.

Then, to bodhisattvas of the tenth level, they appear in Akaniṣṭha as the glorious Vairocana who dispels the obscurations of the ten levels. The latter too reveals the doctrine of Buddha-body without teaching by means of Buddha-speech.

As is said in the Sūtra of the Awakening of the Doctrine And its Rapture (chos-dang longs-spyod mngon-par byang-chub-pa'i mdo):

The master of Akaniṣṭha, lord of doctrine.
Transcendent lord Vairocana,
Through meditative equipoise
That is unwavering and unspoken...

The Buddhas’ deeds are inconceivable. For example, in the Buddha-field of Gandamādana (spos-kyi yongs-gang brtsegs-pa) when bodhisattvas draw near the great Tree of Perfume, the contemplation of the approach to liberation arises in the mental continuum of these Bodhisattvas just through the sensation of that tree’s scent.^[5]

Similarly, it is found in the Pagoda of Precious Gems (T. 45-93):

In certain world-systems the buddhas’ deeds are furthered by the eating of food, in some by the wearing of religious robes, in some by the spectacle of the buddha-body, in some by the dreaming of dreams and so forth. This is inconceivable.

Therefore, the Buddha-body of perfect rapture manifests and acts on behalf of bodhisattvas of the tenth level. The supreme emanational body does so on behalf of pious attendants, selfcentred buddhas, and those on levels experienced through volition (adhimuktibhūmi).^[6] The ordinary forms and so forth appear and act on behalf of sentient beings of impure deeds.

The latter, i.e. the resultant activities which are an array of maturation and liberation on behalf of those to be trained, have three aspects: those activities arrayed as a support for the path, those arrayed as the path, and those arrayed as the result of the path.

The first are those which guide one from evil destinies, and establish one on the rank of celestial gods and human beings.

The second, activities arrayed as the path, are threefold, namely, those arrayed on the path of pious attendants, on the path of self-centred buddhas, and on the path of the greater vehicle. The greater vehicle also comprises both the causal vehicle of dialectics and the resultant vehicle of secret mantras. in the former case. after the two kinds of mental attitude have been cultivated and the (paths of) provision and connection (have been traversed), the ten levels are refined through the ten perfections on the two paths of Insight and meditation. Thus renunciation is depicted as the abandoning of (the path of) insight and the abandoning of (the path of) meditation.^[7] In the latter case. through maturational empowerment and liberating meditation according to the creation and perfection stages, one abides on the provisional levels of the three kinds of awareness-holder.^[8]

The third, activities arrayed as the result of the path, refers to the enlightened activities or deeds which are arrayed on the six (higher) levels of Universal Light, Lotus Endowed, Great Cyclical Mass of Syllables, Supreme Bliss, Holder of Indestructible Reality, and Undifferentiated Samantabhadra.^[9] These are the names applied to aspects of enlightened attributes, including the appearance. emptiness, and pristine cognition of the buddha-level, but they are not traversed in a hierarchical gradation of distinct and different (levels). Universal Light is so called because thereon the emanational body performs acts of benefit through qualitative and quantitative knowledge. Lotus Endowed is so called because the buddha-body of perfect rapture appears. Great Cyclical Mass of Syllables is so called because the cloudmass of syllables is emanated. Supreme Bliss is so called because one is present in the expanse of supreme bliss. Holder of Indestructible Reality is so called because it is the highest of all conclusive goals: and Undifferentiated Samantabhadra is so called because all these (levels) are indivisible. The expression "beyond the level of Universal Light" is intended simply with reference to the buddha-body of form. over and above the buddha-body of reality, which manifests and performs acts of benefit.

Incidentally, the appendices ('phyong) are explained as follows: It is held that in this sixth chapter (of the Tantra of the Secret Nucleus) there is the appendix of Buddha-body in thirteen pādas beginning with the verse The supreme great seal of Buddha-body (Ch. 6.12). in the seventh chapter there is the appendix of buddha-speech in twenty-one pādas beginning with the verse From the Magical Net, supreme among tantras (Ch. 7.19). In the eighth chapter there is the appendix of buddha-mind in four pādas beginning with the verse If the supreme provision of the great seal is encountered (Ch. 8.20). in the eleventh chapter there is the appendix of attainment in twenty-two pādas starting from the verse For genuine accomplishment, the mantrin...onwards (Ch. 11.24). And in the twentieth chapter there are twenty-four pādas known as the appendix of enlightened activity, beginning from the line The main part of the rite in which the wrathful deities are attained is this which follows (Ch. 20.16-20).

Then, there are some who hold that the three appendices of buddha-body. speech and mind derive from the sixth, seventh and eighth chapters respectively, that there is an appendix of enlightened attributes in eight pādas derived from the ninth chapter which begins with the verse and manifestly perfect throughout the ten directions and four times (Ch. 9.33-34). that there is an appendix of enlightened activities in five pādas derived from the thirteenth chapter beginning with the verse In the maṇḍala which is perfect in pristine cognition (Ch. 13.14). and that there is an appendix of commitments in four pādas derived from the nineteenth chapter which begins with the verse These commitments are most amazing (Ch. 19.20).

There are also some who hold that. in addition to the five appendices of Buddha-body. speech, mind, attributes and activities, there is an appendix of offerings in four pādas derived from the ninth chapter which begins with the verse In the Palms of the great seal (Ch. 9. 2-3).

Now. certain persons hold that these appendices are absent in this root tantra (of the Secret Nucleus) but were extracted from other texts in the cycle of the Magical Net and inserted into their respective chapters by rMa Rin-chen-mchog. and that (the versions of the text) were divided by gTsug-rum Rin-chen gZhon-nu into those which have appendices and those which do not.

Again, there are some who hold that the version without the appendices was translated by gNyags Jñānakumāra, and that the version with appended passages had them inserted into the translation by rMa Rin-chen-mchog. There are even some who say that rMa himself concealed them out of envy at La-gsum rGyal-ba Byang-chub. But the truth of the matter is that the appendices are lacking in both the earliest translation made by Buddhaguhya and Vairocana, and in the intermediate translation which was made by Vimalamitra, gNyags Jñānakumāra, and rMa Rin-chen-mchog. Therefore it is clear that the Sanskrit manuscripts themselves had a number of redactions. Should anyone wish to know that this is the case, the Transcendental Perfection of Discriminative Awareness in Eight Thousand Lines (T. 8) itself had a number of manuscripts, extant in the three redactions of the parivrājika gZo-sbyangs, 'Preng-ba-can, and sDe-can; and in certain texts such as the Sitātāpatrā (T. 592) a number of redactions is similarly found. Therefore it is not certain that these (variant passages) were inserted by the Tibetans. One should know that the discrepancies in the translations of this tantra were to be found in the Sanskrit manuscripts. Numerous redactions of Sanskrit manuscripts occur because there is a distinction between those (versions) in which the meaning is clearly expressed and those in which it is not.

[Interlinear Commentary (248.4-257.2):]

The interlinear commentary (on the resultant maṇḍala—see p. 657) has four parts: The arising of the resultant buddha-body; the performance of enlightened activity derived therefrom; the liberation of living beings thereby; and the appearance of wondrous omens.

[i. The first (comments on Ch. 6.12):]

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Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Tibetan 'od-zer bye-ba khrag-khrig.

[2]:

These brilliant purificatory colours diffused from the six centres of the deities are distinguished from the lustreless colours of the seed-syllables within the corresponding centres of sentient beings, which are respectively dull white, yellowish green, pale blue, dark red, smoke grey, and black. See 'Jigs-med gLing-pa, khrid-yig ye-shes bla-ma. p. 6b.

[3]:

On the different readings for this verse, see above, p. 203, note 34.

[4]:

On this verse, see also NSTB, Book 1, Pt. 3, P- 126b, and below, pp. 667-668.

[5]:

Cf. the description of Gandhamādana and its tree (aśokavṛkṣa) in Divyāvadāna, p. 157.

[6]:

I.e. the paths of sambhāramārga and prayogamārga. See above. Ch. 1, note 39. Ch. 3, pp. 506-507 & note 5.

[7]:

I.e. the aśaikṣamārga, surpassing these two paths, is reached through the causal vehicles. On the pañcamārga. see Sgam.po.pa, The Jewel Ornament Liberation, pp. 232-238; also see above, pp. 506-513 and corresponding notes; and NSTB, Book 1, Pt. 3

[8]:

The three provisional kinds of awareness-holder are those of maturation (rnam-smin), power over the lifespan (tshe-dbang), and the great seal (phyag-chen). See also below, pp. 810-811, 959-974, 1247-1248.

[9]:

Tibetan kun-tu 'od, padma-can, yi-ge 'khor-lo tshoga-chen, bde-ba chen-po, rdo-rje 'dzin-pa, and kun-tu bzang-po dbye-ba med-pa'i sa. The last of these or sixteenth buddha-level is also known as ye-shes bla-ma, on which see p. 141, note 51. On these higher or resultant levels, see also below, pp. 672-673. 964-968.