Tsong kha pa's definition of man ngag (upadeśa)

Ever wondered what those mysterious "oral teachings" are? Are they things that are never ever revealed anywhere in writing? Apparently not, at least that is what Tsong kha pa seems to think.


de'i phyir man ngag ni | rtsa rgyud rnams kyi don bshad rgyud kyi rjes su 'brangs nas phyin ci ma log par bshad de slob ma'i rgyud la go ba bde blag tu skyed pa'i thabs la zer bas zhal las shes lugs kyang de ltar du go bar bya yi | rgyud rnams su bri bar phangs nas de dag tu ma bkod par rna khung du rim pa bzhin brgyud pa la mi gzung ngo ||

Sngags rim chen mo (Mtsho sngon ed., p. 436)

Ganden (Dga' ldan) in 2006

Tsongkhapa vs. Nepalese vajrācāryas

This rather catty remark comes from the fifth chapter of the Sngags rim chen mo (p. 192)*:

phyag dang sems bskyed pa'i yul gyi sems can so so ba rnams dang nga rgyal gzung ba dang bka' bsgo ba'i yul la sogs pa la so so'i nyams bton pa'i gar mang po byed pa Phreng ba'i lugs su 'dod pa ni| Phreng ba dang Man snye dang Kha sbyor gyi 'grel pa gzhan gnyis dang Sgyu dra'i 'grel pa gnyis la sogs pa'i gzhung khungs thub sus kyang ma bshad pas| spros pa la dga' ba'i bod [pa] 'ga' zhig gis bal po'i sngags pa mi mkhas pa kha cig la brten nas rang gi blos btags pa tsam du zad do|| 

*Rgyal ba khyab bdag rdo rje 'chang chen po'i lam gyi rim pa gsang ba kun gyi gnad rnam par phye ba, Mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang 1995, based on the Sku 'bum Byams pa gling blocks.