Vajrayāna off-limits in two apologetic works

After a long silence and too many bzhad gad entries let us look at two fascinating little works hiding deep in the bowels of the Tengyur.

The section between Tōh. 3707 and 3729 houses what I informally think of as the 'essayistic' part of the Canon. Some works here are better known than others, with famous items such as the Tattvasiddhi (a new and complete edition by Toru Tomabechi, forthcoming), the Gurupañcāśikā (of which we now have a new manuscript, see Szántó, forthcoming), and Jñānaśrī's *Vajrayānāntadvayanirākaraṇa (recently studied by Taiken Kyuma and Ryugen Tanemura in Genesis and Development of Tantrism). But there are other works here which merit the same attention, such as the oft-quoted Nayatrayapradīpa, the *Triyānavyavasthāna of Ratnākaraśānti [?], and the *Yoganiruttaratantrārthāvatārasaṃgraha of Śraddhākaravarman.

And there are yet others which are read only on rainy days such as these two: the *Tattvasārasaṃgraha (TSS) of *Dharmendra (Tōh. 3711), and the *Mantranayāloka (MNA) of Mtho-btsun btso-yags (Tōh. 3710). Note the inversion in cataloguing, which suggests that the Tibetan compilers haven't read them with due attention either. The two obviously constitute a pair, since the author of the MNA clearly states that he wrote in defense of a claim made by his master in the TSS. So to get the timeline right: we had *Dharmendra write his TSS, which became controversial, and his disciple wrote the MNA to straighten out things. Both works were translated by Rin chen bzang po (the TSS with Janārdana, the MNA with Padmākaravarman). Hence Mtho-btsun btso-yags is either earlier or contemporary with Rin bzang, and *Dharmendra preceded both. However, I cannot help suspect that master and disciple wrote much earlier, perhaps a century or so, for reasons I will give below.

What was *Dharmendra's controversial claim then? You have to read through the work to find it. The TSS flows neatly in a Q/A format discussing several intriguing questions about the Mahāyāna. The conscientious objector asks at the end (98a1-99a2): surely, if the Buddha said that the Vajrayāna is the most efficient way for enlightenment, why is it that you do not speak about it here?

*Dharmendra does not deny that the way of Mantras exists as a valid revelation. Instead, he states that there are simply no suitable people in our day and age to practice it. The Buddha knew this very well and he actually prohibited *lokottara (understand, antinomian) practices. To this effect he quotes an obscure work, the Gsang sngags kyi theg pa tshul:

| shes rab de ni mi shes {99a7} shing |

| ngar 'dzin dri mas spags pa rnams |

| de yi 'jig rten 'das spyod pa |

| dmyal bar 'gro ba kho nar zad |

These people do not know wisdom and

mix [their practices] with the defilement of egoism–

their practices 'transcending this world'

result in nothing else but going to hell.

And again, from the same work:

| thabs bzang rnam par spangs nas ni |

| 'gal ba'i dam tshig la sogs pa |

| gang zhig gzhan du byed pa dag |

| de ni {99b1} ngu 'bod dag tu 'tshed |

Those people who behave perversely,

who turned away from good practices,

and adopted contradictory vows and the such

will roast away in the Howling Hell (raurava).

| dper na 'di na rab 'bar mer |

| rtsva dang shing la sogs pa'i tshogs |

| bcug pa thal ba nyid 'gyur gyis |

| slar ni rab tu skye mi 'gyur |

Take as an example a roaring fire:

heaps of grass, wood, and the such

are reduced to ashes when thrown in,

and will never resume their form.

| de bzhin de nyid rnam bral bar |

| shin tu rmad byung las byed pa |

| ji srid nam mkha' gnas par du |

| shi nas {99b2} dmyal bar 'gro bar 'gyur |

In the same way, those who are bereft of Truth

and [adopt] these strange practices,

will die and and go to hell

for as long as the sky abides.

There are two more quotes more or less to the same effect. *Dharmendra closes his work saying that since the Buddha prohibited such practices, he will follow suit and not speak a word about Vajrayāna.

Well, it's easy to see how this succinct treatment of such a sensitive topic could have elicited outrage. And elicit outrage it did. Enter Mtho-btsun btso-yags (sometimes spelt mtso-yags, tso-yag):

| dus kyi bdag nyid ngan pa dang |

| 'gro ba 'ang skal ba med pa dag |

| gzigs nas bdag gi bla ma yis | {76a6}

| gsang sngags tshul bshad bkag pa yin |

My master saw that times are bad

and people are unqualified,

hence he prohibited explaining

the way of Mantras.

| 'di ltar de nyid kyis mdzad pa'i |

| De nyid snying po bsdus par ni |

| de[r] ma bshad pa'i rigs pa dang |

| dgongs pa yang ni bstan pa yin |

And he did so in his work,

the Tattvasārasaṃgraha.

I shall now teach the unstated but intended

meaning and the reasoning behind [this claim].

| gang yang blo dman kha cig ni |

| der des ma rtogs pa nyid dam |

| phrag dog yin par {76a7} dogs byed cing |

| rmongs pa yis kyang de brnyas byed |

Some people of low intelligence

either did not understand what he said there,

or they were just jealous and thus objected,

and deluded ones even spoke ill of him.

| de spang sdig pa'i me nang du |

| phye ma leb ltar ji srid ni |

| ltung bar ma gyur de srid du |

| de skyob pa la bdag 'bad do |

Our endeavour then is to refute this

and save them from the fire of sin,

lest they should fall in it like a moth.

The work goes on to criticize in detail these practices he and his master found unacceptable. The verses drip with sarcasm which in itself makes it a pretty enjoyable read, but what is most interesting for our immediate purposes is the prima facie view he quotes as reported by his adversaries:

«'on te de nyid rnal 'byor pa |

| bdag cag la ni kha zas {76b5} dang |

| spyod lam sogs kun ci dga' bar |

| Rnal 'byor rgyud las skyob pas gnang |

But for us, yogins of the Truth / true yogins,

the Lord allowed in the Yogatantras

to take food, adopt conducts,

and so on as we please.

«de yang 'di ni gsal nyid du |

| Zla gsang thig le la sogs las |

| rnal 'byor ba yis mi bya ba |

| ci yang med ces gsungs pa yin |

This is clearly stated in texts

such as Guhyendutilaka, to wit:

there is nothing that a yogin

is not allowed to do.

Well now, this is intriguing. Yogatantras and the Guhyendutilaka to justify antinomian practices? Why not yoginītantras? It doesn't get any more antinomian than that! And where have we seen this combination before? Yes, the prize goes to anyone who said Tattvasiddhi first. Could we be looking at the same environment?

The continuation of the rebuttal is just as exciting, but this is pretty much all I wanted to say to whet your appetite for reading these two texts. A couple of more interesting points to be noted: one of the punishments the author of the MNA has in view is that of temporal rulers–

| phyin ci log gi las byed na |

| re zhig 'jig rten smod byed la |

| de bzhin rgyal po la sogs kyi |

| chad pas rmongs pa 'jig par 'gyur |

If you perform perverted deeds

you will not only elicit scorn from the public,

but your delusion is sure to be cured

by the punishment of the king and others.

And just to give you an idea about the author's arguments:

| bkres skom tsha grang rmugs pa dang |

| gnyid sogs kyis rab gdungs gyur pa |

| snang na de ru khyod kyi ni |

| dngos po med pa gang du song |

[Everything is immaterial you say,]

but when hunger, thirst, hot, cold,

depression and torpor hit you

where is your 'immateriality'?

To wrap up, it should also be noticed that the MNA is not quite so dismissive as his master's work. He simply calls yogins to examine their attitude and their practices better.

PS: all translations were made ad hoc and without much thought. Suggestions are welcome.

Gade and the Mickey Buddha

So if it worked one way, why not the other way around? Meet Gade...

Worn or nicked?

The link above will take you to the highly interesting report submitted by Haraprasād Śāstrī to the relevant authorities in 1911. This paragraph on page 5 caught my attention:

When the manuscript [of the Haramekhalā] was first shewn to me, the unusual thickness of the last leaf roused my suspicions. I dipped it in water, and with a little manipulation found that two leaves were glued together into one. The glued pages contained a panegyric on Pratāpa Malla. The inference was irresistible that some one stole the manuscript and, to prevent detection, glued together those pages which would reveal the name of the real owner.

Let us consider another irresistible inference: sure, the first and last folios are the first to go on account of wear and tear, but how come the rest of many manuscripts are in a surprisingly good condition? Could it be that the last folio was sometimes conveniently lost together with the name of the scribe/owner?

In the window of a sweet shop

The rather pompous National Mission for Manuscripts is like a sweet shop which will never open, but will distribute leaflets about how great their candies and pastries are. Furthermore, they will have a small sample in the window you can drool at. Then the only thing you can do is walk away in frustration after seeing the perennial 'opening soon' sign. The owner will never pick up the phone and if he does he will be full of promises. In fact, he will pretend that the store is open, and you're some kind of idiot for failing to notice this fact.


I don't know if anyone had noticed this before (if so, I sincerely apologize), but this particular piece here is a sample of that huge and rather delicious cake which is the Mañjuśriyamūlakalpa. A gut feeling tells me that this is none other but the Trivandrum manuscript, or at least the right half of three of its folios (the first corresponds to a portion in chapter 36). I sincerely hope that the thing is still joined with its left half which was perhaps left out here for effect. The sad truth is, however, that in Cochin I saw astrological manuscripts sawn in half (or third) so that tourist sahab looking for nice coffee table item could carry it out easier, and for the antique dealer to make double/triple profit.

Red tape chokes Hungarian Oriental Studies

Hungarians are a funny sort. Whereas most normal languages express things with particles, agglutination is a national sport. We have our surnames in front. When the post-communist world was trying to pick up the pieces amidst chaos, Hungary was the wonderchild of Eastern Europe. When the neo-European countries were booming, we suddenly discovered that the economy is about to collapse. Then we have an unusual knack for screwing up things that work and pumping money into things that don't and never will, to wit, soccer.

So it was high time for the glorious red tape to choke some of the good things still left in the country. This year the all-powerful Hungarian Accreditation Committee decided that studies concerning about half of the planet is totally useless beyond a BA. Kind of ironic for a nation of less than ten million. Thus, beginning from next year the following disciplines will not offer MA courses at ELTE University: Indian Studies, Chinese Studies, Mongolian Studies, Korean Studies, and Japanese Studies (Tibetan was successfully wiped out earlier).

Well, fine and dandy, a small country can't afford such 'luxuries'. Never you mind that Tibetan studies should be on the list of national treasures since it was sort of invented by a Hungarian. To hell with India and China which happen to be on the way to becoming superpowers of this century. Japan is going down anyway. Mongolian? Oh well, 50 years of spearheading research should not bother us.

Surprise, surprise, however: Turkic studies, Arabic studies, Hebrew studies, Assirian studies, Iranian studies, and Altaic studies (in Szeged) passed. I'm not saying that they don't deserve it, they are just as valuable as all the above if not more. Surely, it's only a fortunate coincidence.

I think that members of the accreditation committe deserve our thanks and appreciation for taking this burden off the country's shoulders. I'm sure that the process was long and exhausting, hence I would be glad to pay them a long vacation to discover some of the more obscure parts of Xinjiang Uighur. One way tickets will suffice.

Insured against God?

It's a psychological condition I guess. I have to read everything that comes into my field of vision, especially if it's a boring bus trip back from London. This time it was the 'AppleCare Protection Plan' (75% discount if you are a student). Get a life you might say, but it actually paid off since encapsulated in the legal mumbo-jumbo which at times sounds like the Pañcarakṣā mantras there are some hidden gems.

If you live in the Netherlands, then: "Apple is in particular not responsible for the plan being apt for your purposes." So, if it's good for me, it's not their problem.

If you live in Italy: "Without prejudice to any other applicable legislation, Articles 1519bis - 1519-nonies [sic] of the Italian Civil Code apply to this Plan, [...]"

In Belgium, France and other Catholic countries you are entitled to 'repent' according to the Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act of 14 July 1991. The end is truly nigh.

But this one takes the cake: "The Plan does not cover: [...] (ii) Damage to the Covered Equipment caused by accident, abuse, neglect, misuse [...], unauthorized modification, extreme environment [...], extreme physical and or electrical stress or interference, fluctuation or surges of electrical power, lightning, static electricity, fire, acts of God or other external causes;"

Hence I've decided to introduce the following scheme: should you feel uncomfortable about your computer not being insured against the whims of the Almighty, drop me a cheque of say 20 quid per annum and I guarantee I will replace your equipment, whatever it was, however much it cost, provided that you bring irrefutable evidence. After all, getting a Nobel for a lousy 17" MacBook Pro is not a bad deal. And if it's good for you, it's not my problem.

Dhūmrapān niṣedh

[The 'smoking temple' in Pilgrims, Thamel]

India has finally banned that most disgusting and filthy habit: smoking in public spaces. Pan-chewing and its attractive trails of red spit actually add some colour to the streets (it's also good for your teeth)- but those cigarette butts littered all over are a nasty sight, especially that there are rubbish bins every fifty feet or so all over the country. Indians will awake tomorrow to the natural scents of rose-water and sandalwood emanating from the countryside into the cities, cigarette smoke shall pollute the public sphere no more. Citizens of Delhi and other cities will now be able to walk briskly to work in the refreshing morning air, taking large puffs of rich oxygen. The number one menace to your lungs removed, large sums of the National Health Service will be rerouted to other sectors badly in need of funds: government jeeps and nuclear warheads. Cigarette vendors can finally pack up and/or close shop and go home and look after their stocks and other investments. Those number one selling face masks can now be dropped off at your local Red Cross/Crescent agency to be exported to such still obstinate and backward places as Austria (not to mention Hungary and Romania). We salute the Government for this highly original and no doubt popular move. India is now truly on her way to becoming a glorious Westernized nation.

IsIAO

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