Chapter 8 - Later Lineages (vii): Sangs rgyas ras pa

[Full title: The Dharmasvāmin zhig po’s disciple named sangs rgyas ras pa]

He was born at zhing tshigs of phu thang 'khun pa sa, and belonged to the 'brin clan. He was the last of the three sons of father mkha’ 'gro and mother srung skyid, and was born in the year Earth-Female-Hog (sa mo phag 1203 A. D.). In this year the ‘bri khung Dharmasvāmin reached his 61st year. This appears to be the year which preceded the coming to Tibet of the kha che (%) pan chen (Śākyaśrī).

From his childhood he remembered nothing but death. In his youth he met for a short while rgyal ba te ne. He obtained the lnga ldan (name of a system of ‘bri khung pa) from rje spyan snga of phag mo gru. When he saw zhig po on the road, returning from tsa ri, he felt faith born in him. At the age of 23, he came to him, and offered him all his possssions. Having taken up the upāsaka vows, he received the name of rin chen smon lam.

(Zhig po) foretold him that in future he would gather about a hundred disciples. He received the final monastic ordination (upasampadā) in the presence of the ācārya ston pa, a disciple of zul phu ba. He was then given the initiation and the exposition of the zhi byed system. For six months he performed the meditation of the "Purification of the Mind" (blo sbyong) and all the signs were complete. The spiritual merits of the different degrees having been properly produced in him, his Teacher became pleased.

He attended on his Teacher till the age of 21. After that he obtained (their respective) precepts from the following teachers: his elder brother the ācārya ston pa, the ācārya ston pa of mon 'gar ba, the ācārya yon btsun of bsam yas, dbon rin po che at ‘bri khung, khams sgom zhig po at ru mtshams chu bzangs, ko brag pa, khro phu ba, seng yes, the siddha of ti se (Kailāsa), the ācārya gur ston at lho brag, the ācārya ri khrod pa at mkhar chu, spyan snga gangs dkar ba, Śākya dge sbyong, the ācārya dpon sgom, gra pa ston gzhon, the ācārya sde snod pa of gru shul lha ri, the ācārya sgom pa of dmyal, the ācārya klu sgom, and the bla ma bzang mo ba.

The manner of his meditative practice: He was bound by a vow (given) in the presence of his Teacher, to practise meditation for 12 years. He practised it for three extra years. The localities where he practised meditation (sgrub pa'i gnas): Gangs dkar ti se (Kailāsa), a holy rock cave in spu rangs, the cave of spa gro stag tshang, gang bzangs, jo mo kha rag, la yag, gangs phug, mkhar chu, the Snows of cha lung, the Snows of gzhan lnga mda', gYag mtsho of mtsho snga, and lung stong (desert valley) of sa 'ug stag sgo.

Having crossed the Pass of la chen in mon (la chen in Sikkim), he arrived at a place called "The valley of Revatī" (Revati'i lung) and the lake Mu le gong which was said to be the residence of Revatī. In its neighbourhood there was great danger from wild animals. Then he saw the river Gaṇgā, and visited an Indian grass-hut village (rtsa'i spyil po can), and felt that it had been the place of his former birth. (He also visited) dags lha sgam po, skyo zur, situated near to his own village, and dgon dkar.

He had an unattached mental attitude towards his own merits. He was able to subsist on one breath per day, move through the Sky in a cross-legged posture, and cover long distances during his journeys. His other attainments he kept secret and did not speak about them (to others). In other words, he (had visions) which could not be described by words. Later he spent some time in looking after the welfare of others at the monastery of char ma. He manifested the appearance of passing into Nirvāṇa at the age of 78, in the year Iron-Male-Dragon (lcags pho 'brug 1280 A.D.). The above information I have condensed from his Life story (rnam thar) composed by his personal disciple named myang 'ban po Dharmasiṃha.

The Doctrines which belonged to the "Later" Lineage (of the zhi byed) were called "phyag rgya chen po dri med thigs pa phyag bzhes kyi skor", or "The Cycle of Methods of Drops of the Immaculate Mahāmudrā". (Here the term) Mahāmudrā denotes the Mahāmudrā doctrine of Maitrī-pa, because dam pa sangs rgyas had been a personal disciple of Maitrī-pa. (The term) "Immaculate" means the sayings of dam pa (sangs rgyas). (The word) "method" means the methods of the precepts which differed slightly from those of the other doctrines. These precepts by their nature belong to the Prajñāparamitā, but follow the Tantric system. In the Commentary on the de kho na nyid bcu pa^[1] by Maitrī-pa the system is explained as though it was a Prajñāparamitā doctrine, but had much in common with the Tantras in its practice, as mentioned in the Hevajra-Tantra.

He (Maitrī-pa) said:

"These precepts are not based on the meditation on deities, and do not follow the system of the four mudrās".^[2]

For this reason it is not classified in the Tantra. This agrees with the above statement by Maitrī-pa. This definition includes only the precepts known to the general public. Otherwise it is said that dam pa bestowed the initiation into the Kālacakra system on phyar chen and ‘ban gun rgyal,^[3] and that he had also bestowed on many/others/the precepts of the karma-mudrā (i.e. He preached all the four mudrās). Therefore it is wrong to say that the Doctrine of sdug bsngal zhi byed of dam pa (sangs rgyas) does not contain Tantric precepts.

Having been described as following on the Tantras, the "Ā-li Kā-li" initiation and other rituals (should be considered) as imitating the Tantras. But because they are not genuine (Tantric rites) one should not mistake them for true Tantras. The "Ā-li Kā-li" initiation should be considered to be similar to the exposition of the dhāraṇīs of 42 letters mentioned in the Prajñāparamitā-sūtra (which is not a Tantric work). In this system which consists of two sections the section of the ordinary doctrines (thun mong) and that of the extraordinary doctrines (thun mong ma yin pa'i chos), the section of "ordinary" doctrines contains the mdo, the Tantra together with their rituals, the bka’ babs with the "Oral Tradition," the "Immaculate" (dri med) together with the phra tig, and the dar tshags together with the bshad 'bum. Firstly, here mdo means the spyi mdo (General sūtra) chu klung mngon par rol pa'i mdo, and the dgos mdo (Special sūtra)—the shes rab snying po.^[4]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Skt. Tattvadaśaka-nāma, Tg. rgyud, No. 2236, (R).

[2]:

Skt. Dharma-mudrā, karma-mudrā, samaya-mudrā and mahā-mudrā.

Advayavajrasaṃgraha, ed. by Haraprasad Shastri, Gaekwad’s Oriental series, No. XL, p. X: dharma-mudrā—Absolute Nature;Karma-mudrā—female associate; samaya-mudrā—a deity mentally created/or the Tantric vows/; Mahā-mudrā—the Wisdom of the Absolute.

[3]:

this means that he preached the precepts basing himself on the meditation on deities, (R).

[4]:

Skt. Bhagavatī-prajñāparamitā-hṛdaya, "Catalogue du Fonds Tibétain. Les mdo mang", by M. Lalou,/Paris, 1931(P. 40, No. 101 The "General" Tantra —the sde snod gsal byed; the "Particular" Tantra, or sgos rgyud chu klung chen po; the ritual (phyag len): the Great and Medium dbang ‘khor (dbang 'khor che 'bring); the three lam rim, great and small; the bka’ babs snyan brgyud known as the Four bka’ babs (bka’ babs bzhi), and its lam slongs snyan brgyud bzhi (Four Oral Traditions of Practice).