Chapter 5 - Severing the Samsara Stream (Great Seal system)

[Full title: Severing the Samsara Stream [Great Seal system] (‘khor ba rgyun gcod kyi skabs). {Chandra 922;Chengdu 1208; Roerich 1039}.]

Further, the phyag rgya chen po ‘khor ba rgyun gchod (The Mahamudra which cuts the stream of Samsara): A group of five Ḍakiṇīs [Ḍākinīs?] came forth from the miraculous great kun sngag^[1] (Samantabhasa) caitya of the country of Dharmaganja % (chos kyi mdzod) in Oddiyana, and preached this doctrine to Śrī Saraha, who taught it to Mitra. The latter bestowed the chings gsum (the There Summaries), the Five Specials (khyad par lnga), and the Twenty Commentaries (‘grel pa ni shu) ending with the bsngo ba (Good Wishes), to ma gcig sangs rgyas re ma. She imparted it to mtshan ldan ‘khrul zhig chen po on the Mount Don mo. He was a native of zangs ri, and was ordained in his youth at Thel. He practised meditation in many sacred places, such as, the Kailasa (ti se), and others. He stayed at jo nang, and there met ma gcig, who bestowed on him the precepts of the rgyun gcod^[2] . He also met Mitra and developed excellent merit. He lived for more than eighty years. He imparted the doctrine to the siddha zhwa dmar pa grags pa seng ge, who bestowed it on mkhas grub rgyal ba. The latter on the Dharmasvamin mkha spyod pa, and wrote a Guide (on the doctrine).

Further, ‘khrul zhig pa expounded it to mdzes ma at ‘on. Mdzes ma was born in Upper gtsang. She met many siddhas. In her youth she came to Gangs dkar chu kha in ‘on. Being an expert in the prānnayāma (rtsa rlung), she could not be tempted. Whenever some one attempted to tempt her, she would draw all his well being into herself, and her complexion would assume a shining appearance, while the other would look like a dying man. She composed many books on her mystic experience, and passed away at the age of about seventy. (After the cremation of her remains), her heart and both the eyes were left unburnt. One of the eyes was (preserved) at gangs dkar, the other at rgya gar% of do po sgan, and the heart was preserved inside the pad spuns caitya at dpal ri.

Mdzes ma bestowed (the Doctrine) on bya bral chen po, who was a native of yar klungs. Most of the time he stayed in kong po. He died at ‘On. In the beginning he used to be a very cleanly person, and disliked others, but afterwards he achieved emancipation independently (of others), used to eat his own excrement and applied it to his body. At times he offered it to the Ratna, at times to demons^[3] , and imitated insanity (smyon spyod). He was a priest of thel. He met {(15b)} Mitra at sar brag. He also met lha rje (Dags pa lha rje) at sgam po. He met mid la at ‘ol kha. He passed away at mtsho phyi man khang of ‘On, aged seventy.

He bestowed (the Doctrine) on sangs rgyas ri pa, whose native place was Yar kluns. At the age of 20, he met spyan snga chos bzhi pa and followed after every good Teacher. He heard the ‘khor ba rgyun gchod (the doctrine of Mitra). He acted as Vajradhara for five years at Kailasa. He became the Teacher of dbOn po deal ldan grags and of Upper hor (stod hor)^[4] and received the title of Imperial Preceptor (Ti Śrī Ti shih).

Having come to Kong po he practised the ‘khor ba rgyun gcod at the monastery of sar.

He founded a monastery on the summit of spe ra in ‘on, and called it dpal ri. He had numerous visions of tutelary deities. He died at the age of 79, and was reborn in gtsang.

He bestowed (the Doctrine) on sprul sku blo ldan, who was born at yar klungs rnam rgyal%. He was ordained by chos bzhi gsar ma pa in his youth. At the age of 20, he successfully propitiated Vajrapānni. From the age of 20 to 24, he laboured for the welfare of others, and then proceeded to the Alakavati^[5] .

The latter bestowed (the Doctrine) on the bla ma bdag pa, who belonged to the shud clan. He was born as the son of a Tantric. Endowed with great faith, he promised in the presence of Kar ma pa to recite a 100,000,000 times the Mani formula. Till twenty, he lived the life of a householder. Between twenty and fifty, he made a round of hermitages, and practised meditation. At the age of 22, he took up ordination under kun spangs pa. At the age of 35, he took up the final monastic ordination in the presence of the mahaupādhyāya bkra shis seng ge, and listened to about a hundred expositions (of sacred texts), such as the Doctrine of the Great Achievement (rdzogs chen), and others. He visited about a hundred hermitages, including chu bar and others.

In brief: he was born in the year Earth Female Sheep (sa molug 1199 A. D.). At the age of 16, he met kar ma pa. At the age of 20, he took up the upāsaka vows in the presence of lho pa rin po che. He died at the age of 82 in the year Iron Dragon (lcags 'brug 1280 A.D.). There appears to exist a numerous Lineage. The spiritual Lineage of the yogini named chos ldan ‘bum seems to exist in the East and West. This (doctrine) must be recognized as being profound.

The Chapter on ‘khor ba rgyun gchod.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Chengdu edition has kun spang, probably a misprint. {EP}

[2]:

or ‘khor ba rgyung gchod) {R}

[3]:

of the rgyal po and ‘gong po class) {R}

[4]:

Moghulistan {R}

[5]:

lchang lo chan, the Paradise of Vajrapānni, originally Vajrapānni was believed to have been the son of Vai Śravana residing in Alakavati on the southern slope of Mount Meru {R}