Guhyagarbha Tantra (with Commentary)
by Gyurme Dorje | 1987 | 304,894 words
The English translation of the Guhyagarbha Tantra, including Longchenpa's commentary from the 14th century. The whole work is presented as a critical investigation into the Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, of which the Guhyagarbhatantra is it's principle text. It contains twenty-two chapters teaching the essence and practice of Mahayoga, which s...
Text 6.3 (Commentary)
[Guhyagarbha-Tantra, Text section 6.3]
On a four-spoked circle with its rim.
With an interior courtyard adorned by four corners.
And (forming) an entire quadrangle (is the palace)
With its embrasured gates. [3] ...[Tibetan]
'khor-lo rtsibs bzhi mu-khyud-bcas /
gru-chad bzhis brgyan bar-khyams-dan /
kun-tu gru-bzhi sgo-khyud-ldan / [3]
Commentary:
[Concerning the celestial palace]
Now, there is a four-spoked circle ('khor-lo rtsibs-bzhi) symbolising that ignorance has been cut through by the four pristine cognitions; along with (bcas) its rim (mu-khyud) which is white and circular, symbolising that ignorance Itself is the pristine cognition free from conceptual elaborations. Outside that, there is an interior courtyard (bar-khyams-dang) surrounding it on all sides which symbolises that pristine cognition is not limited or biased; adorned by four corners (gru-bzhis brgyan) to symbolise the four immeasurables. Around that, is the celestial palace forming an entire quadrangle (kun-tu gru-bzhi), indicating the extensive enlightened attributes of greatness.
It is endowed with embrasured gates (sgo-khyud-can) which symbolise the four kinds of liberation, and tiered pediments with eight units which represent the eight kinds of liberation exemplified in the former (four). in this context, the maṇḍala of the peaceful deities is clearly constructed with double gateways, as is disclosed in the words:[1]
With an interior courtyard adorned by four corners,
(Forming) an entire quadrangle with embrasured gates.
The shapes of both the outer and inner walls are thus indicated.
Strictly speaking, this (double wall) is visible because the buddha-body of perfect rapture appears within the gates while the emanational body appears in the outer courtyard. It is Indeed necessary for these maṇḍalas to be distinct. Otherwise the maṇḍalas of the buddha-body of perfect rapture which manifests in and of itself and that of the emanational body which appears to others would be confused, and the class of the maṇḍala could not be determined. Such flaws would occur.[2]
[ii. The second (concerning the ornaments, comments on Ch. 6.4):]
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Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Ch. 6, section 3. On the "four Immeasurables" and "four kinds of liberation," see above. Ch. 1, pp. 378-381.
[2]:
The point is that, if there was a single courtyard in which both sambhogakāya and nirmāṇakāya appeared, the maṇḍala could not be considered in terms of rang-snang and Ghanavyūha Akaniṣṭha.