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Tilopa's Wisdom

Aka Tilopa's Ganges Mahamudra

Also called the Mahamudra Practice Instruction (*Mahamudra Upadesha*)

Doha

Vajradhara

INTRODUCTION (55ff.)

ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་

Wylie: phyag rgya chen po

Approx. pronunciation: chak-gya chen-po

Sanskrit: mahāmudrā — महा-मुद्रा

Mahamudra (Sanskrit)

phyag gya chen po (Tibetan; pronounced: chak gya chen po)

Maha/chen po = great

Mudra = a seal. phyag gya = vast

Hence, the Great Seal.

phyag — ཕྱག་

Literally “hand,” especially in honorific or elevated usage. It can also mean “gesture,” “seal,” or “mark” in compounds. In Buddhist contexts it often corresponds to Sanskrit mudrā, especially when joined with rgya.

rgya — རྒྱ་

A rich word meaning “seal,” “stamp,” “expanse,” “vastness,” “extent,” “India,” or “pattern,” depending on context. Here, in the compound phyag rgya, it means seal or mudrā.

phyag rgya — ཕྱག་རྒྱ་

This is the Tibetan translation of Sanskrit mudrā. Literally it suggests something like “hand-seal” or “gesture-seal.” A mudrā can mean a ritual gesture, a symbolic seal, a mark of authenticity, or a sign that “seals” meaning.

chen po — ཆེན་པོ་

“Great,” “large,” “vast,” “supreme.”

chen means “great” or “large”; po is a nominal/adjectival suffix that completes the expression. Together, chen po translates Sanskrit mahā, “great.”

One of the implication of phyag gya is that the true nature of phenomena, the emptiness of all phenomena, is vast and unfathomable.

phyag rgya chen po ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ་

Skt. mahāmudrā; Eng. “Great Seal.” A Tibetan Buddhist term, especially central to the Kagyu tradition, referring both to the ultimate nature of mind and to the meditative realization of that nature. The compound breaks down as phyag rgya, “seal” or “mudrā,” and chen po, “great.” In doctrinal usage, it indicates that all phenomena are “sealed” by emptiness, luminosity, and nonduality.

In commentaries, the first syllable of the Tibetan word phyag gya also means "emptiness"—phyag refers to the emptiness that is to be realized.

The second syllable, *gyu *(which itself could simply mean "a sea" or "vastness"), refers to the wisdom that realized emptiness.

What is being pointed out in phyag gya is that the two are not separate from each other—Mahamudra is the inseparability of emptiness and wisdom or the inseparability of space and wisdom, which is indicated by the Tibetan word chenpo, which mean "great."

The wisdom of emptiness is the key to all suffering and its cause.

It is emptiness itself that is the stable clarity of Mahamudra.

The word chenpo also implies the nonduality of emptiness and the wisdom that recognizes emptiness, which indicates the all-pervasive quality of this realization.

The Importance of the Upadeshas

Aka Tilopa's Ganges Mahamudra

Also called the Mahamudra Practice Instruction (*Mahamudra Upadesha*)

The great siddhas of Tibet emphasized studying the commentaries (Skt. *shastra*) of the Buddha's teachings and not the original teachings. Since the commentaries contained the condensed essence of the Buddha's teachings, it was more convenient to study and implement.

Of the commentaries, the ones with the greatest importance are those called "practice instructions."

Cf. generation stage, completion stage, etc.

The realization of Vajradhara in one lifetime.

The Importance of Tilopa's Doha

Mahasiddhas

The Eighty-Four Mahasiddhas.

Tilopa's dohas are most esteemed because he met Vajradhara face to face and received the Mahamudra transmission directly from him.

The Ganges Mahamudra is perhaps the most important upadeshas on Mahamudra.

Who or what is Vajradhara?

The historical Buddha Shakyamuni: attained buddhahood at Bodh Gaya; turned the first wheel of the Dharma at Varanasi; passed into parinirvana at Kushinagara.

Although Buddha Shakyamuni's died at 80, his mind and wisdom did not—wisdom, compassion, and ability—will never change.

This unchanging wisdom mind of the Buddha is called the "dharmakaya".

What passed away at Kushinagara is called a "supreme nirmanakaya."

The dharmakaya does not stop and does not change.

The dharmakaya is permanent.

This is way dharmakaya is called Vajradhara.

Vajra = permanent

Dhara = "that which holds"

The dharmakaya Vajradhara is the:

Because ordinary human beings cannot directly experience dharmakaya, it must display itself in a different form and this form is called "nirmanakaya". The Buddha was called the "supreme nirmanakaya".

To realized beings, the Buddha can present in the form of Sambhogakaya (which is a pure environment or pure realm available to those with purified perception).

The Vajradhara depicted in paintings as being blue in color, holding a vajra and bell crossed in front of him, dressed in fine clothes, and sitting cross-legged on a lotus is the sambhogakaya Vajradhara.

The sambhogakaya form is the display of the dharmakaya Vajradhara in a pure environment.

Explanation of the Title

Pandita

The Ganges Mahamudra was delivered to Naropa by Tilopa at the banks of the Ganges River.

The Title

Sanskrit: Mahamudra Upadesha [the text was originally received in Sanskrit]

Tibetan: phyag rgya chen po'i man ngag

The Homage

Homage to Vajradakini!

The other common edition says:

Homage to glorious coemergence [I like this version]

The homage to Vajradakini means it is to Mahamudra or the Prajnaparamita, where Vajradakini is the mother of all buddhas, one could say, the realization that produces all the buddhas.

A Brief Explanation of the Text

The commentary followed by this commentator was composed by the Third Gyalwa Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje.

Mahamudra cannot be taught. It is beyond words or concepts.

Absolute reality is not an object of the intellect because intellect itself is an object of conventional reality.

—Shantideva

Why?

Naropa has strong faith and devotion.

Devotion means you believe and the teaching and apply yourself accordingly.

Suffering is not a prerequisite for awakening, yet Naropa and Milarepa (from Marpa) both endured inconceivable suffering. This was a test of their trust and confidence in their guru.

Naropa's trust that if he received instruction from Tilopa he would attain full enlightenment in his lifetime.

"Do this with your mind."

Austerities are not required to recognize the nature of the mind, but they might be to fully recognize the nature of the mind.

Remember, any degree of realization is worthwhile.

The View of Mahamudra in Six Metaphors

Overview of the Text: a common order of topics

Rangjung Dorje presents seven main topics (although other versions may differ):

  1. the view of Mahamudra
  2. the conduct of Mahamudra
  3. the meditation of Mahamudra
  4. the samaya of Mahamudra
  5. the benefits of practising Mahamudra
  6. the problems of not practising Mahamudra
  7. the practice of Mahamudra itself

The View of Mahamudra (#1)

The view is to reveal "the ground" or "the foundation."

The Ground

Six Metaphors for the Ground

That space is used in the first, second and fourth examples shows the true doha. A doha is a spiritual song, a spontaneous composition that once uttered is not changes as one would do with a poem or other literary work.

First Metaphor: Space as an Example of the Absence of Solidity

For example, in space, what is resting on what?

In one's mind, Mahamudra, there is nothing to be shown.

Rest relaxed in the natural state without attempting to alter anything.

If this fetter of thought is loosened, there is no doubt that you will be liberated.

If nothing can be shown and nothing said about "the ground," "the space," what to do?

🔥🔥🔥

WE DO NOT NEED TO HAVE IT POINTED OUT TO US BY A TEACHER. **

The only thing we need to do is "rest relaxed in the natural state"—meaning that we should rest in the nature of our mind without making any alteration to it.

"In one's mind" means our mind just as it is.

Saraha had said, "Homage to the mind that is like a wish-fulfilling jewel."

"Not altering the mind" means that we simply rest in our mind as it is.

If our mind is something, rest in that something.

If our mind is nothing, rest in that nothing.

To rest in the mind as it is, we will realize Mahamudra.

Maybe it is easy to rest our mind in a relaxed way in its own nature without altering it. But maybe it is very difficult to do so.

Because we normally take what we experience—for example, strong disturbing emotions, confused thoughts, and so forth, to be solid and real.

If this fetter of thought is loosened, there is no doubt that you will be liberated.

The last two lines of this verse tell us that this is an incorrect belief because believing that these experiences truly exist and are solid and real is exactly what binds us or puts us in bondage.

IF WE CAN LET GO OF THIS INCORRECT BELIEF, THEN AUTOMATICALLY WE WILL EXPERIENCE LIBERATION.

Second Metaphor: Space as an Example of Practicing Mahamudra (Verse 3)

For example, it is like looking in the middle of the sky and not seeing anything.

In the same way, when your mind looks at your mind, Thoughts stop and you will attain unsurpassable awakening.

In the previous verse, space/sky is used to show that Mahamudra as no solidity. In this verse sky is used to show what happens when Mahamudra is practiced.

When we look at a cloudless sky:

When we look at the ground (literal ground):

From a logical point of view it makes no sense that our mind is looking at our mind. It's like a sword cutting itself or standing on one's shoulders.

Yet, in actual experience, it is not only quite possible for mind to look at or observe mind; IT IS NOT THAT DIFFICULT.

🔥 The reason we can do this:

By using experience, we can see the mind directly, and yet we will not see anything. [Remember, the mind is not an object but pure subject—confirm this is true.]

How can looking at the mind cause thoughts to dissolve or stop?

There was an important terton called Yonge Mingyur Dorje (1641–1708) who discovered a practice or sadhana called Sampopang ("Proper Container").

In that liturgy, he talks about the nature of anger and makes the point that anger is meaningful only if it is outwardly directed.

We can't have anger that is not outwardly directed, which means that if we turn anger in on itself, if we look directly at our anger, then it doesn't seem to be anything. We can't find where the anger is.

We can't discover what shape it has or what color it is or discern any other substantial quality that it has. IF ANGER HAS NONE OF THESE SUBSTANTIAL QUALITIES, THEN WHAT DOES IT HAVE? What could it possibly be?

What we think of as being "anger" is merely the appearance of anger and not really anything at all.

It's like looking for the wind in an empty sky—we can't see anything.

So if we look at our own anger, we won't see it, and that pacifies the anger.

In the Foundation Vehicle, this same experience is described as the selflessness, or egolessness, of persons.

In the Mahayana Vehicle, this is described in terms of emptiness.

Whether this was taught by the Buddha or not, when we look at our mind, we can directly experience the mind's essential emptiness.

This insubstantiality, or emptiness, is true not only for anger but for ALL so-called positive and negative thoughts and emotions.

Whatever form a thought takes, if we look directly at it, we will see that in its nature it is nonexistent, and that recognition pacifies the thought, or causes it to cease.

If we rest in Mahamudra, the incessant stream of negative (and positive) thoughts all stop.

In the same way, when your mind looks at your mind, Thoughts stop and you will attain unsurpassable awakening.

Regardless of what is arising in your mind, if you look directly at it, it will dissolve.

Anywhere in the thought process, if you nonconceptually look at a thought, it will dissolve [or self-liberate].

If you cultivate this practice again and again, then gradually it will lead to liberation from the bondage of thought, which is unsurpassable awakening.

Third Metaphor: Mist Illustrates the Way Thoughts Dissolve

For example, just as the vapor that arises from the earth becomes clouds and dissolves into the expanse of space,

Not going anywhere else and yet not continuing to abide anywhere,

In the same way, the agitation of the thoughts that arise from the mind and within the mind is calmed the instant you see the mind's nature.

Within samsara there is mental and physical suffering.

Physical and mental suffering can be prevented through the practice of Mahamudra.

Mind's nature or "original mind" (Tib. thamel gyi shepa) is luminous clarity because the agitation of thoughts that come out of the mental sixth consciousness is calmed by this luminous clarity.

The verse distinguishes original mind from all the different thoughts, conceptualizations, mental formations, and experiences that we undergo that arise from the mind.

Fifty-one types of mental factors.

Tranquility Mediation

We are trying to weaken the power of our thoughts.

By making these thoughts less strong and influential in our thinking, we begin to relax into a state of tranquility.

In the practice of Mahamudra, these thoughts are not suppressed or weakened, rather they are purified.

This is done by examining the direct experience of our mind, which is that it has no substantial existence but definitely has this definitely has this innate cognitive clarity.

Innate cognitive clarity, often called (neither exists or does not exist):

It is a genuine and direct experience that causes the waves of discursive thought to naturally dissolve.

Mahamudra is an alternative to forcefully (if that's even possible) stopping the seemingly ceaseless flow of thoughts, kleshas, and suffering. Its is a means of transcending them.

As hard as we might, thoughts (emotions, etc) do not have a shape, size or substance.

KEY: Thoughts do not have tangible characteristics because they are by nature pure.

Recall the Saraha quote that the mind is like a wish-fulfilling jewel.

A wish-fulfilling jewel is completely flawless and always beneficial.

The mind is not inherently miserable but is flawless and inherently free of misery.

In the song of instructions that Milarepa gave to Paldarbum that is found in "The Rain of Wisdom," he gives an image:

Look at the depths of the ocean, and meditate. Look at the mind, and meditate without thought."

In response Nima Paldarbum asked Milarepa, "I can look at the ocean, but what do I do with all those waves? I can look at my mind, but what do I do with all those thoughts?"

Milarepa response was, "If you can meditate on the ocean, then you will experience that the waves on the ocean's surface are merely the expression of the ocean itself. If you can meditate on the mind, then the thoughts that arise are nothing other than the expressions of the mind."

If we see our mind, than what we see is the mind's essence or emptiness.

When we see that, we will also see that the nature of whatever thoughts arise in the mind are also emptiness.

When this is experienced directly, these thoughts dissolve in their own place—right here.

With this practice thoughts are not driven our nor go somewhere else, they simply dissolve naturally.

Tilopa practiced like this while pounding sesame seems for a living.

There is no excuse not to practice.

Fourth Metaphor: Space as an Example of Not Being Obscured (Verse 5)

For example, just as the nature of space transcends color and shape,

And therefore is unaffected and unobscured by the various colors and shapes that occur within it,

In the same way, the essence of your mind transcends color and shape,

And therefore is never affected by the various colors and shapes of virtue and wrongdoing.

Vasubandhu

Abhidharmakosha

Abhidharma

Blue sky is called ornamental space, to distinguish is from "empty space."

The Issue of Ultimate vs Conventional Truth or Reality

Conventional Reality (Tib. kunsop): we talk about how we experience our mind being filled with lots of thoughts of happiness, suffering, etc.

Rangtong School

Shentong School

Ultimate Reality (Tib. dondam):