Table Of ContentINTRODUCTION TO THE BUDDHIST
TANTRIC SYSTEMS
F. D. Lessing and A. Wayman
I N T R O D U C T I ON TO T HE
B U D D H I ST T A N T R IC S Y S T E MS
Translated From
MKHAS GRUB RJE'S
Rgyud sde spyihi mam par gzag pa rgyas par brjod
With Original Text and Annotation
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First Edition : The Hague, 1968
Second Edition : Delhi, 1978
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INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND EDITION
May I first explain that the brevity of introduction to the first edition of
Mkhas-grub-rje's tantra survey was because Professor F. D. Lessing had
passed away prior to the final preparation of the manuscript. I had
collaborated throughout with him on the translation, but had to supply
all the notes myself. Doubtless if Professor Lessing had lived, he would
have provided a fine introduction. Since that time I have published
two works myself on the Buddhist Tantras: The Buddhist Tantras; Light
on Indo-Tibetan Esotericism (Samuel Weiser: New York, 1973), and
Yoga of the Guhyasamdjatantra; the Arcane Lore of Forty Verses (Motilal
Banarsidass: Delhi, 1977). Being more familiar now with the back-
ground of Mkhas-grub-rje's work, I shall clarify this background by the
following considerations, necessarily brief.
The editor of the Kanjur and Tanjur (the Tibetan canon) was Bu-ston
(b. 1290), who broke off from the Sa-skya-pa sect to found the celebrated
school of Zha-lu. His collected works have been reprinted by Dr. Lokesh
Chandra in New Delhi, who kindly presented me with a set during my
visit to his International Academy of Indian Culture in December 1976.
From this edition I have perused Bu-ston's three survey works of the
Buddhist Tantra, as well as his survey work on the Yogatantra (the third
branch of Tantra). This enables me to say definitely now that Mkhas-
grub-rje must have had these works of Bu-ston as a source from which
he summarized various materials for his own introduction to the subject,
also incorporating a number of the reform Gelugpa positions of his imme-
diate teacher, Tson-kha-pa. For example, Mkhas-grub-rje's first chapter
on "How the Teacher Bhagavat became Abhisambuddha" is simply
drawn from the somewhat more extended account in Bu-ston's works.
It is well known that Bu-ston had classified the Kanjur Tantra section
of authoritative Tantras under the headings of four Tantra classes,
Kriya, Carya, Yoga, and Anuttarayoga. His three survey works cite
various explanations for these four classes. Of special significance is
the passage, repeated in all three—in the "small-sized" (Pha, 'bsdus po,s
2 INTRODUCTION
27b), in the "large-sized" (Ba,'rgyas pa,\45a-b), in the "medium-sized"
(Ba, %brih po,' 44a-b), classifying the four Tantra classes by the four
theory- ystems (siddhantd), which are the Vaibhasika, Sautrantika,
Yogacaia, and Madhyamika, as I translate:
1. According to the theory of the Vaibhasikas that external entities
(e.g. the four elements) are true and have a wordless nature, one
attracts the knowledge being onto the cloth one has arranged in front,
and disposes a mantra-garland in his heart, then with bathing and
ritual purity, reciting mantras, one takes siddhi (i.e. from that deity
in front)—so the Kriya Tantra.
2. According to the theory of the Sautrantikas that all appearances are
cognition and that there are the pair, apprehending and apprehended
object,one generates oneself into the 'symbolic being, attracts the know-
ledge being in front and disposes the mantra (garland) in his heart and
incants it, then takes siddhi from the god like a friend—so the Carya
Tantra.
3. According to the theory of the Yogaearas that while external entities
are not true, still introspection is tru# without the pair, apprehending
and apprehended object—one generates oneself into the'symbolic
being' and draws in the 'knowledge being'; one recites the mantra and
in conclusion dismisses the 'knowledge being'—so the Yoga Tantra.
4. According to the Madhyamikas accepting in a conventional sense
the pair, apprehending and apprehended object, while completely
denying them in the absolute sense—one generates the 'symbolic
being', draws in the 'knowledge being'; and omits the ritual of dis-
missing (the knowledge being)—so the Anuttarayoga Tantra,
Bu-ston mentions that while the foregoing description was set forth
by certain Tanjur authorities, such as the tantric Nagarjuna, and repeated
by some Tibetan gurus, his own school finds no supporting information
for it. Observe that this correlates the two 'Hinayana' systems with the
first two Tantra classes, and the two 'Mahayana' systems with the last two
Tantra classes. The Gelugpa rejects the correlation, preferring to include
the entire Tantra system in the Mahayana, with the 'Prajnaparamita' por-
tion of the Mahayana as a basis. When Mkhas-grub-rje refers to this
fact as the Prasangika Madhyamika position underlying all the Tantra,
he probably means simply the Madhyamika emphasis on voidness,
especially of all the natures (dharma) arising dependency, avoiding the
extremes of existence and non-existence.
The correlation of the four theoiy-sy stems with the four Tantra classes
may well have been a reason for the neglect by the older Tibetan gurus
of the firsi two Tantra classes (the cHinayana' two) as cults to be followed
INTRODUCTION 3
in their own right, and the emphasis instead on the last two Tantra classes
(the 'Mahayana' two), since Tibetan Buddhism was prevalently of the
Mahayana variety. A further circumstance fostering this preference
was the fact that the main Tantras of the first two classes were translated
in the first period of Tibetan Buddhism, with lineages of these works
largely lost during the period before the revival which became known
as the Second Diffusion of Buddhism in Tibet. In contrast, most of the
third and fourth Tantra classes and their voluminous commentaries were
translated in the second period along with continuation of lineages of
'permission' to evoke the deities, and initiations that prepare for
study and practice of the individual Tantras. A third reason, taken from
Bu-ston's writings and incorporated into M khas-grub-rje's first chapter, is
that only the Yoga Tantra and the Anuttarayoga Tantra have the tradi-
tions of how the Buddha obtained his full enlightenment. For those
various reasons it was thought that the Yoga and Anuttarayoga Tantra
were alternate ways of becoming a Buddha in this life (the quick path of
the Tantra), while all four divisions of the Tantra could be used for evoca-
tions of deities for inferior siddhis. Thus, among the older Tibetan lamas
there was a tendency to downgrade the Kriya and Carya Tantras. The
restoration of these two lower* Tantra divisions to their justified impor-
tance was begun in Bu-ston's tantric surveys and editing of the tantric
portions of the Kanjur and Tanjur by way of the four Tantra classes.
Bu-ston, while himself an auhority on the Yoga Tantra (the third class)
and the Katacakra-tantra (in the fourth class), has numerous and
long citations from the Kriya Tantra work Manjusri-mula-tantra and
from the Carya Tantra work VairocqndbhisambodhL The Gelugpa
further promoted the importance of these two Tantra classes in Tsori-
kha-pa's Shags rimchen ma. That is why Mkhas-grub-rje has a generous
treatment of the Kriya Tantra and refers to "the steps of the path of
becoming a Buddha by way of the Kriya Tantra."
Another topic that needs introduction is that of initiation (abhiseka).
Bu-ston treats the matter in the 'medium-sized' survey (Ba, going from
21a to' 25b), discussing especially remarks of Atlsa in his Bodhipatha-
pradipa and Self-commentary, e.g. Ba, 25a: There are two kinds of
'initiations'—those based on homelife, and those based on the pure life
(brahmacarya. The ones based on the home are all of them, to the ex-
tent stated in the Tantras. The ones based on the pure life omit among
them the Secret Initiation and Insight-Knowledge Initiation (see herein
Chapter Nine). The question is raised: Why omit-those two ? Atisa's
answer is that only the pure life is consistent with the Buddha's Dharma,
while those two initiations violate the pure life; and he adds that there
is no fault in knowing the situation. Bu-ston mentions that some persons
4 INTRODUCTION
understood from Atisa's remarks that one could understand the lower
and higher Tantras, listen to them and explain them to others, without
'initiation' (abhiseka); that it suffices to have taken the vow of enlighten-
ment and have entered the Bodhisattva path. Bu-ston takes this as an
insult to Atisa, and a complete misreading of his position. It would mean,
for example, that one would recite mantras that were personally chosen,
not imparted by the guru during initiation; that this is said to lead to
disaster. But Bu-ston did not clarify an important issue, which can be
stated this way: The morality of Buddhism requires the stipulations of
conduct to be accepted literally. But read literally, the higher initiations
appear to violate morality. Did Atls"a allow all initiations to be taken
by lay persons, who would read the Tantra in a literal way, while persons
in the 'pure life' could take the higher initiations of the Anuttarayoga
Tantra, provided the Tantra be read in a non-literal manner according
to precepts of the gurus ? In this connection, the Gelugpa insists that
the fourth Tantra class, the Anuttarayoga, is preeminently inner samddhi;
and so the references to male and female are understood as combinations
of forces within the yogin or yogini.
Then, what does this teaching of Buddhist Tantra, especially the Anut-
tarayoga Tantra, have to do with the mysterious force called Kundalini
on which Pandit Gopi Krishna has written at length ? The Buddhist
tantric teaching set forth herein (Chapter Nine) in the treatment of the
'Secret Initiation' concerns making the 'winds' enter, dwell, and dissolve
in the central channel of the b6dy, in fact the 'subtle body'. This process
would presumably arouse forces loosely referred to as 'Kundalini' in the
Hindu tantric books. The meaning of the Buddhist tantric method is
stated at length in my new book Yoga of the Guhyasamajatantra. Here
may I say only briefly that the method is attended with the dangers made
clear in Gopi Krishna's writings as long as the candidate has not first
strengthened the subtle body so that it can withstand the unusual forces
that are thus aroused.
Finally, what can be said of Mkhas-grub-rje's book as a whole ? It
seems that in preparation for writing his large commentary on the Kala-
cakra-tantra, he first wrote this survey work on the Tantras and then his
commentary on the Hevajra-tantra. The survey work reveals his striking
ability to seize the main points of a vast literature and present them in
orderly fashion. On the other hand, it should be conceded that he has
accordingly so abbreviated as to afford scant intimation of the actual
involved ritual in its true amplitude. To see this, one must resort to the
specialized treatises, for example, as he himself recommends at the con-
tusion, Tson-kha-pa's Shags rim chen mo.
April, 1978, New York City ALEX WAYMAN
CONTENTS*
Introduction . . 11
Chapter One 17
I. How the Teacher Bhagavat became Abhisambuddha (lb-2) 17
A. Position of the Sravakas (lb-3) . . . 17
B. Position of the Mahayana (2b-5) 21
1. Teaching of the Paramita school (2b-?5) 21
2. Teaching of the Mantra school (4a-1) . . . . . .. 25
a. Teaching of the Yoga school (4a-2) . . . . . . 25
(1) Position of the Sakyamitra and Buddhaguhya
(4a-3) Y. .. 27
(2) Position of Anandagarbha (4b-4) . . . . .. 27
(3) The Five Abhisambodhi (5a-2) 29
b. Teaching of Anuttara school (7a-2) . . . . .. 35
Chapter Two 41
II. The method of setting the^ Wheel of the Law into motion
(8b-2) 41
A. The method of setting the Wheel of the Law of the Para-
mita-yana into motion (8b-3) 41
1. The Promulgations (9b-6) 43
2. Assembling the Promulgations (14b-l) 53
a. The first council (14b-2) 59
b. The second council (16b-5) . . . 63
c. The third council (18a-l) . 67
- [d. A note concerning the Mahayana scriptures] (19a-3) 69
3. Commentaries on the Promulgations (19b-2) . . .. 71
* The contents, under each chapter, show the folio numbers of the Labrang edition
where the respective material begins.
