Mahāmudrā 2

continue from Mahāmudrā 1

The Kagyu tradition

The Kagyu lineage divides the mahāmudrāteachings into three types, "sutra mahāmudrā," "tantramahāmudrā," and "essence mahāmudrā," in a formulation thatappears to originate with Jamgon Kongtrul. Sutra mahāmudrā, as the namesuggests, draws its philosophical view and meditation techniques from thesutrayana tradition. Tantric mahāmudrā employs such tantrictechniques astummo, dream yoga, and clear light yoga, three of the six yogas of Naropa.Essence mahāmudrā is based on the direct instruction of a qualified lama, knownas pointing-outinstruction.

There have been many prominentpractitioners and scholars of mahāmudrā in the Kagyu tradition. TheThird Karmapa wrote 'Aspiration Prayer ofMahāmudrā'. The Ninth Karmapa wrote'Pointing Out the Dharmakaya' (Tibetan: Chos sku mdzub tshugs); 'AnOcean of the Definite Meaning' (Tibetan:Nges don rGya mtsho) and'Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance'. Tsele Natsok Rangdrol wrotethe 'Lamp of Mahāmudrā' and Dakpo Tashi Namgyal wrote'Clarifying the Natural State' and 'Moonlight of Mahāmudrā'.

The particular Kagyu propensity toblend sutric and tantric traditions of mahāmudrā was a point of controversy inTibet, with Sakya Pandita one of the most prominent critics thereof. As scholarKlaus-Dieter Mathes notes

Certain aspects of the Bka´ brgyud teachings on mahāmudrā, such asthe possibility of a sudden liberating realization or the possibility that abeginner may attain mahāmudrā even without Tantric initiation, became a highlycontroversial issue in the 13th century. For Sa skya Paṇḍita (1182–1251), suchteachings represented a new development stemming from a Sino-Tibetan influenceon Sgam po pa Bsod nams rin chen (1079–1153). Later Bka´ brgyud pas defendedtheir not specifically Tantric or sūtra mahāmudrā tradition by adducing Indiansources such as the Tattvadaśakaṭīkā or theTattvāvatāra. These belong to a genre of literature which the Seventh KarmapaChos grags rgya mtsho (1454–1506) called “Indian mahāmudrā-Works” (phyag chenrgya gzhung). . . . Dr. Mathes investigated the practice described in thesemahāmudrā works and found that it is not necessarily Tantric. In Saraha´s dohāsit is simply the realization of mind´s co-emergent nature with the help of agenuine guru. Maitrīpa (ca. 1007– ca. 1085) uses the term mahāmudrā forprecisely such an approach, thus employing an originally Tantric term forsomething that is not a specifically Tantric practice. It is thus legitimatefor later Bka´ brgyud pas to speak of Saraha´s mahāmudrā tradition as beingoriginally independent of the Sūtras and the Tantras. For Maitrīpa, the directrealization of emptiness (or the co-emergent) is the bridging link between theSūtras and the Tantras, and it is thanks to this bridge that mahāmudrā can belinked to the Sūtras and the Tantras. In the Sūtras it takes the form of thepractice of non-abiding and becoming mentally disengaged, while in the Tantrasit occupies a special position among the four mudrās.

The First Panchen Lama identifieda number of mahāmudrā lineages, according to their main practices for achievingmahāmudrā:

From the point of view of individually ascribed names, there arenumerous traditions, such as those of the simultaneously arising as merged, theamulet box, possessing five, the six spheres of equal taste, the foursyllables, the pacifier, the object to be cut off, dzogchen, the discursivemadhyamaka view, and so on.

In his teachings on the First PanchenLama's root text and auto-commentary the Dalai Lama XIV delineated the Kagyu practicelineages as follows:

§  The Karma Kagyu "Simultaneously Arisingas Merged" tradition - This is the tradition introduced byGampopa with a main practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa.

§  The Shangpa Kagyu "Amulet Box"tradition - This tradition came from KhyungpoNaljor and its main practice is the SixYogas of Niguma.

§  The Drigung Kagyu "Possessing Five"tradition - JigtenGonpo founded the school and mahāmudrā lineage whose mainpractice is devotion via Guru Yoga andpurification and merit collection practices.

§  The Drukpa Kagyu "Six Spheres of EqualTaste" tradition - Tsangpa Gyare founded this traditionwhich encompasses a range of practices, including the Six Yogas of Naropa.

§  The Dagpo Kagyu "Four Syllables"tradition - This is the tradition that derives from Matripa.The four syllables are a-ma-na-si which comprise the Sanskritword meaning 'not to take to mind' and passed through the Dagpo Kagyubranches, i.e. any that descend from the teachings of Tiloparather than those of Niguma,which in practice means all but the Shangpa Kagyu.

The Gelug tradition

The First and Second Panchen Lamas wrote important discoursesabout mahāmudrā from the Gelug perspective. The maintext of the First Panchen Lama is'A root text for the precious Gelug/Kagyu tradition of mahāmudrā: The Main Roadof the Triumphant Ones' (Tibetan:dGe ldan bka' brgyud rin po che'i phyagchen rtsa ba rgyal ba'i gzhung lam zhes bya ba) .

Sakyamahāmudrā

According to Alexander Berzin:

The Kagyu and Gelug/Kagyu traditions have both sutra andanuttarayoga tantra levels of the practice, while Sakya only an anuttarayogaone. In other words, Sakya mahāmudrā focuses only on the nature of clear lightmental activity, while the other two traditions include focus on the nature ofthe other levels of mental activity as well.

The practice of mahāmudrā meditation

The advice and guidance of aqualified teacher is considered to be veryimportant in learning and practicing mahāmudrā meditation. Most often mahāmudrā(particularly essence mahāmudrā) is preceded by pointing-outinstruction.

Before the 1955 invasion of Tibet, manyof the texts and information that are now available would have been esotericand restricted. The Dalai Lama has been influential in making public some ofthese formerly esoteric Tibetan teachings, while still some remain entirelyesoteric, available to a student only through a private guru-studentrelationship.

Some parts of the transmission are doneverbally and through empowerments and"reading transmissions". A student typically goes through varioustantric practices before undertaking the "formless" practicesdescribed below; the latter are classified as part of "essencemahāmudrā".

Ngondro is the preliminary practicecommon to both mahāmudrā and dzogchen traditions. According to one scholar,most people have difficulty beginning directly with formless practices and loseenthusiasm doing so, so the tantric practices work as a complement to theformless ones.

To be continued......