Tibetan Classic of Mahāmudrā.pdf

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THE JOURNAL
OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
BUDDHIST STUDIES
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Roger Jackson
Dept. of Religion
Carleton College
Northfield, MN 55057
USA
EDITORS
Peter N. Gregory
University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA
Alexander W. Macdonald
University de Paris X
Nanterre, France
Steven Collins
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Ernst Steinkellner
University of Vienna
Wien, Austria
Jikido Takasaki
University of Tokyo
Tokyo, Japan
Robert Thurman
Columbia University
New York, New York, USA
Volume 15
1992
Number 2
CONTENTS
I. ARTICLES
1. The
Heart Sutra:
A Chinese Apocryphal Text?
by Jan Nattier
153
2. Indian Altruism: A Study of the Terms
bodhicitta
and
bodhicittotpada,
by Gareth Sparham
224
II. TRANSLATION
1. A Twelfth-century Tibetan Classic of Mahamudra:
The Path of Ultimate
Profundity: The Great Seal Instructions of Zhang,
by Dan Martin
243
III. BOOK REVIEWS
1.
Mind Only: A Philosophical and Doctrinal Analysis of the
Vijnanavada,
by Thomas E. Wood (Paul J. Griffiths)
2.
Yuktisastika-vrtti: Commentaire k la soixante sur le
raisonnement ou Du vrai enseignement de la
causalit6 par le Maitre indien Candrakirti,
by Cristina Anna Scherer-Schaub (Jose* Ignacio Cabez6n)
320
325
328
IV. I.A.B.S. MEMBERSHIP LIST
II- Translation
A Twelfth-century Tibetan Classic of
Mahamudra,
The Path of Ultimate Profun-
dity: The Great Seal Instructions of Zhang*
by Dan Martin
Introduction
Zhang Rin-po-che, often known as Zhang G.yu-brag-pa
Brtson-'grus-grags-pa, or simply Bla-ma Zhang,
1
is surely one of the
most interesting and enigmatic figures in the early history of the
Tibetan Buddhist order known as the Bka'-brgyud-pa, founded by
Mar-pa the Translator.
2
Mar-pa based his teachings on those he
received in India from his tantric masters, Naropa
5
and Maitripa' in
particular. These teachings combined the Six Dharmas especially
connected with the name of Naropa and the Mahamudra or "Great
Seal"
5
teachings connected with both Naropa and Maitripa. Among
Mar-pa's followers, the most celebrated by far was Mi-la-ras-pa.
6
It
was a disciple of Mi-la-ras-pa, Dwags-po Lha-rje (Sgam-po-pa Zla-
'od-gzhon-nu, 1079-1153 A.D.) who made the yogic contemplative
teachings and practices of his predecessors enter the world of
monastic discipline by "joining the two streams" of Bka'-gdams-pa
teachings from AtiSa with his spiritual inheritance from Mi-la-ras-
pa.
7
Although some purists would take issue with this "mixing," and
we think in particular of Sa-skya Pandi-ta, it may be more apropos
to question whether, taken singly, each of the three traditions (Six
Dharmas, Great Seal, and Bka'-gdams-pa as well as Great Perfec-
tion) is Buddhist. If so, then it is an unremarkable case of mixing
apples with apples, even, we might add, if some of the apples could
have come from Chinese Buddhism. In the case of Zhang Rin-po-
che, who is linked to the Bka'-brgyud lineage through Dwags-po
243
244
JIABS VOL. 15, NO. 2
Lha-rje's nephew Sgom-tshul, the most immediate inspiration for his
work, as we will see, was an Orrisan Buddhist of the
siddha-type,
one who had recently spent some time in China.
The later controversies are not of much concern to us here,
1
and in fact there is a distinct danger of reading the early Bka'-brgyud-
pa literature, and particularly the literature of the Great Seal, through
the lenses of those controversies. If we nevertheless insist on
controversy, this should at least be postponed until we may justifia-
bly claim valid and well-founded insights into the tradition that
would be the object of contention. The very proper philological goal
of "tracing each tradition"
9
must be accompanied by a more
phenomenological goal of "knowing each tradition." If we were to
immediately take the critical approach of analyzing statements and
underlining perceived contradictions, we would risk setting up a
straw man opposition of our own making or, what is a more serious
matter, a closure in our ability to understand that would more than
likely be premature, particularly given the inherent problematics
involved in approaching a subject like Mahamudra which rebuffs in
no uncertain terms any such philological or phenomenological
advances on its citadel.
Therefore, in this brief discussion offered by way of introduc-
tion to a translation of a work by Zhang Rin-po-che,
The Path of
Ultimate Profundity,"
we have chosen to underline certain points
that are emphasized within the primary work itself. Our main
secondary work of reference will be a work of the same order
(although not the same genre) belonging to the same tradition, but
probably somewhat prior to the work by Zhang Rin-po-che, Sgam-
po-pa's
Responses to the Questions of Lord Phag-mo-gru-pa (Rje
Phag-mo-gru-pa*i Zhus-lan,
henceforth referred to as
Phag-gru
Zhus-lan)."
The title of Zhang Rin-po-che's work already indicates the
level of discourse that might be expected. The word "Ultimate"
(mthar thug)
indicates the Goal. In the
Phag-gru Zhus-lan
(p. 29.4),
a distinction is made between Path Mahamudra and Ultimate
Mahamudra. The latter is designated as
PATH OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY
245
a condition in which there is neither acceptance nor rejection, since the
Great Total Knowledge of the non-duality of
sams&ra
and
nirvana
has
been realized. Since this is the true intention of all
buddhas,
it is not to
be sought for in anything apart from Buddhahood itself.'
2
We might then presume that this ultimate viewpoint will be the one
consistently adopted in Zhang Rin-po-che's work as a whole.
However, in the very first line following the initial verse of
invocation, we are immediately forewarned that what we will find
there is "a mere peripheral indication"
(zur mtshon tsam zhig).
That this "ultimate Mahamudra" is characterized in the
preceding quote as a
realization (rtogs pa)
is a point of utmost
importance for our reading of the text as a whole. We should refine
our understanding of this "realization" by first recognizing that it is
neither an "understanding"
(go)
nor an "experience"
(nyams).
n
So
let us begin with "understanding" even if, as we will quickly come
to discover, it does not get us very far in this context.
In the
Dus-mkhyen Zhus-lan
(pp. 124-5), Sgam-po-pa says,
Generally speaking, there are two styles at work in religion.
These two are the "philosophical"
(mtshan nyid)
which is effective for
knowing/perceiving, and the "realizational"
(rtogs pa)
which is effective
for attainment. The activities of learning and pondering in themselves
constitute a method, but this must not turn into [a method for] facilitating
afflictive emotions. This would be to cut off the goal of knowing, and at
bottom it is of no help. Even those who have not cultivated themselves
in the path of the insights
(shes rab)
that come through learning and
pondering may yet be enabled to give birth to realizations if, after
encountering a reliable Lama, they carry out that Lama's advice. I need
not repeat that this involves a pure renunciation of this-worldly thoughts.
One needs to forget all the technical terms of the treatises
(bstan bcos kyi
tha snyad).
Those whose learning is extensive are acute in words, but
obtuse in meanings. Their talents turn into faults."
One's immediate reaction may be to discount Mahamudra as
something beyond understanding, thus effectively putting an end to
our phenomenological (but still, certainly, text-based) attempt at
understanding. We must at least be precise and clear about the sort

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