Kindly bent to ease us: From the Trilogy of finding comfort and ease = Ngal-gso skor-gsum

186 Pages·1975·7.856 MB·English

by  Klon-chen-pa Dri-med-od-zer

Kindly
Bent to Ease Us
Part Three: Wonderment
Longchenpa
'Iianslated and Annotated by
Herbert V. Guenther

Kindly Bent to Ease Us
Klong-chen rab-'byams-pa
Part Three: Wonderment
sGyu-ma ngal-gso
from
The Trilogy of Finding Comfort and Ease
Ngal-gso skor-gsum
Translated from the Tibetan and annotated by
Herbert V. Guenther
~
DHARMA PUBUSHING
-4
TIBETAN TRANSLATION SERIES
Calm and Clear
The Legend of the Great Stupa
Mind in Buddhist Psychology
Golden Zephyr
Kindly Bent to Ease Us, Part One
Kindly Bent to Ease Us, Part Two
Kindly Bent to Ease Us, Part Three
Copyright© 1976 by Dharma Publishing
Printed in the United States of America.
All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced in any form without written
permission. For information address:
Dharma Publishing, 5856 Doyle St.,
Emeryville, California 94608
Illustrations:
Frontispiece: rDo-rje sems-dpa (Vajrasattva),
the embodiment of the five Dhyani Buddhas
Page 2: 'Jigs-med gling-pa: Great Nyingma lama
known as the second Klong-chen-pa
Page 76: Ral-gcig-ma (Ekajati), a Dharmapala
Page 172: Stupa, a symbol
of the Mind of the Buddha
ISBN: 0-913546-44-5;0-913546-45-3 (pbk)
Ubrary of Congress Number: 75-29959
Typeset in Fototronic Elegante and printed by
Dharma Press, Emeryville, California
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Tarthang Tullcu Rinpoche

Contents
Foreword vii
Preface ix
Introduction 3
One: Dreaming 33
Two: Wizardry-Enchantment-Wonderment 50
Three: Illusion 63
Four: Mirage 70
Five: The Reflection of the Moon
in Water 75
Six: Echo 83
Seven: Ooud Land 91
Eight Phantoms 97
Epilogue 109
Notes 112
Index 137

Foreword
ngchenpa (1308-1363) was recognized as a supreme
isionary by all the schools of Tibetan Buddhism, par
ticularly the Nyingma. Through his erudite writings,
he has made available a most comprehensive understanding
of the way to enlightenment The depth of his exploration
and knowledge of Dharma texts exceeded all of his prede
cessors in Tibet, and like the Mahayana masters of India, his
contributions were a milestone for the intellectual tradition
of Buddhism. Through his writings, he carefully explains the
essence of the Buddha's teachings by integrating an incon
ceivably wide variety of teachings in order to more clearly
delineate the path to enlightenment He has accomplished
this not by philosophizing, but by giving illuminating de
scriptions based upon practical experience.
Like the Lam-rim literature of other schools, this trilogy
is basically a discourse on how to enter the enlightenment
path. It is not necessarily written from the highest viewpoint,
as are the other volumes of Longchenpa's 'Seven Treasuries',
yet it consists of the nectar or essence of literally thousands
of texts. For the Nyingma, this series has the purpose of pre
paring the student for the higher teachings of Maha, Anu, and
Atiyoga. In our tradition, such a preparatory stage is called
sngon-'gro. The purpose of the sngon-'gro is to explain how to
enter the path consisting of the starting-point (gzhi), path
(lam), and goal ('bras-bu). Wherever a person is along the
path, these texts demonstrate that the nature of reality is
unchanged.
During my study in Tibet, before I had to leave the area
of Golok and travel to the central provinces, I was fortunate
to intensively study and practice these texts with some of
the most learned living masters of the Nyingmapa, such as
Tarthang mChog-sprul and A-'gyur Rinpoche, as well as the
second 'Jam-dbyang-mkhyen-brtse'i-dbang-po, Chos-kyis
1
blo-gros. These lineages of oral-transmission pass through
Longchenpa and continue uninterrupted to Padmasambha
va, and ultimately to the Adibuddha, Kun-tu bzang-po.
This translation by my dear friend Dr. Guenther is a most
successful way of presenting to the Western world these
valuable writings. In the past, there have not been very
many acceptable translations of Buddhist psychological
terms because of the lack of a suitable conceptual language.
Perhaps in the future more accurate translations will occur,
when the internal experiences described in these texts
have been made more alive in the West.
Finally, I would like to dedicate this book to all of my
friends who have been so supportive and who have given
me the opportunity to bring my own tradition of Tibetan
Buddhism to this country. The completion of this trilogy
makes me particularly joyous, for now we have the Oral
transmission Lineage and the translated texts. The seeds
have been planted. For the last seven years while in America,
I have hoped that this dream-of making these fundamental
Buddhist teachings available-would come true. Without
Dr. Guenther's dedication or the stamina of the workers at
Dharma Press, this project would never have been possible.
To them I am forever grateful.
Nyingma Institute TARTHANC TuLKu RINJ·m·m:
Berkeley, California