Media/Casey Kemp at the 2019 Tathāgatagarbha Symposium

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Casey Kemp presents an overview and analysis of Jigten Gonpo’s explanation of luminosity as outlined in his text 'Od gsal rnam lnga gcig tu bsre ba'i man ngag, a pith instruction on merging (bsre ba).

Abstract from the Author

The Luminous Basis for Buddhahood: ’Jig rten mgon po’s Pith Instructions for Merging the Nature of Mind with the Dharmakāya

This paper will present an overview and analysis of 'Jig rten mgon po’s (1143–1217) explanation of luminosity (prabhāsvaratā; 'od gsal ba) from his Mahāmudrā perspective in terms of basis, path, and fruit. This is most clearly outlined in his 'Od gsal rnam lnga gcig tu bsre ba'i man ngag, a pith instruction on merging (bsre ba), a genre of Bka' brgyud teachings generally associated with the nā ro chos drug tradition. While chos drug instructions on luminosity tend to focus on deep sleep tantric practices, this text outlines luminosity in terms of mind’s true nature, which is to be pointed out, recognized, and ultimately merged with the dharmakāya. 'Jig rten mgon po offers a five-fold typology of luminosity: the luminosity of the basis, the path, dream, the bar do, and the ultimate. In this text, he explicitly explains that the luminosity of the basis is the nature of mind, described in terms of buddha-nature, and is none other than the dharmakāya itself. 'Jig rten mgon po goes on to explain the process of “merging” this basis with the path luminosity by way of pointing out instructions, which subsequently merges with the dream and bar do states naturally through direct recognition. Finally, this (collective) recognition of the basis is to be merged with the ultimate luminosity, the dharmakāya. 'Jig rten mgon po thus offers a framework for how the different types of tantric and non-tantric luminosity as understood in the early Bka' brgyud Mahāmudrā tradition can be merged by taking the nature of mind as both the basis for Buddhahood and ultimately inseparable from the fruit of the dharmakāya.

Sources Mentioned

{{#arraymap: Laṅkāvatārasūtra;Ratnagotravibhāga Mahāyānottaratantraśāstra | ; | @@@ | | }}

BDRC

Jigten Gonpo: 'Od gsal rnam lnga gcig tu bsre ba'i man ngag

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A pith instruction on merging (bsre ba), outlining the concept of luminosity.

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BDRC

'Bri gung Bka' brgyud chos mdzod chen mo

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Massive collection of texts from the Drikung Kagyu, as well as some texts from other Kagyu orders. 151 volumes.

external link

BDRC

'Brug lugs chos mdzod chen mo

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Collection of important texts from the Drukpa Kagyu order. 101 volumes.

external link

WIKIPEDIA

Aṅguttara Nikāya

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The Aṅguttara Nikāya (aṅguttaranikāya) is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikāyas, or collections, in the Sutta Piṭaka.

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ADARSHA

Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā

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"Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines"; earliest of the Prajñāpāramitā sūtras and very early Mahāyāna scripture.

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BDRC

Nāropa: Dka' ba spyad pa'i gnad kyi yi ge phyi ma

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The Later Words on Key Points of Austerities, Volume 1, 281–286

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BDRC

Marpa Chökyi Lodrö: 'Od gsal don bzhi ma

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Four Meanings of Luminosity, in Marpa Chökyi Lodrö Collected Works, vol. 5, 229–230

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BDRC

Marpa Chökyi Lodrö: 'Od gsal gti mug rdo rje'i shog dril

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Vajra Scroll of Luminosity and Delusion, in Marpa Chökyi Lodrö Collected Works, vol. 6, 65–71

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BDRC

Marpa Chökyi Lodrö: Bsre ba'i man ngag

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Pith Instructions on Merging, in 'bri gung bka' brgyud chos mdzod chen mo, vol. 6, 266–76.

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BDRC

Gampopa: Bstan chos lung gi nyi 'od

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Gampopa's Collected Works, vol. 4, 99–192.

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Secondary Publications Mentioned

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BOOK

The Spitzer Manuscript, Link to Downloads

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Franco, Eli. The Spitzer Manuscript: The Oldest Philosophical Manuscript in Sanskrit. 2 vols. Verlag Der Österreichischen Akademie Der Wissenschaften, 2004.

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People Mentioned

{{#arraymap: Jikten Gönpo;People/Nāropa;Fabrizio Torricelli;Milarepa;Marpa Chökyi Lodrö;Gampopa;People/Karmapa, 1st;Franco, E. | ; | @@@ |

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Related Texts

• 'Od gsal 'dzin thabs bstan pa

About the video

Featuring	{{#arraymap: Kemp, C.	;	@@@		,  }}
Creator	{{#arraymap: University of Vienna; Tsadra Foundation	;	@@@	@@@	,  }}
Event	Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia (18 July 2019, University of Vienna, Austria)
Related Website	Buddha-Nature Project
Video Web Location	Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia
Creation Date	18 July 2019
Citation	Kemp, Casey. "The Luminous Basis for Buddhahood: ’Jig rten mgon po’s Pith Instructions for Merging the Nature of Mind with the Dharmakāya." Paper presented at the University of Vienna Symposium, Tathāgatagarbha Across Asia, Vienna, Austria, July 2019. Video, 41:36. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7VQkhK1CE0.

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prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

dharmakāya - "Truth body" or "true being" — One of the three bodies of a buddha. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, it often refers to a kind of fundamental principle or the true nature of reality itself. Skt. धर्मकाय Tib. ཆོས་སྐུ་ Ch. 法身

prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

Mahāmudrā - Mahāmudrā refers to an advanced meditation tradition in Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna forms of Into-Tibetan Buddhism that is focused on the realization of the empty and luminous nature of the mind. It also refers to the resultant state of buddhahood attained through such meditation practice. In Tibet, this tradition is particularly associated with the Kagyu school, although all other schools also profess this tradition. The term also appears as part of the four seals, alongside dharmamūdra, samayamudrā, and karmamudrā. Skt. महामुद्रा Tib. ཕྱག་རྒྱ་ཆེན་པོ།

dharmakāya - "Truth body" or "true being" — One of the three bodies of a buddha. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, it often refers to a kind of fundamental principle or the true nature of reality itself. Skt. धर्मकाय Tib. ཆོས་སྐུ་ Ch. 法身

sems nyid - Commonly found in Dzogchen and Mahāmudrā literature, this term denotes the true, natural state of mind as it is. Often used in these traditions as a synonym for buddha-nature. Skt. चित्तत्व Tib. སེམས་ཉིད་

Descent into Laṅka Sūtra, a very influential text in East Asia and Nepal.

These are the root verses of the Uttaratantra attributed to Maitreya by the Tibetan tradition.

prabhāsvaratā - In a general sense, that which clears away darkness, though it often appears in Buddhist literature in reference to the mind or its nature. It is a particularly salient feature of Tantric literature, especially in regard to the advanced meditation techniques of the completion-stage yogas. Skt. प्रभास्वर Tib. འོད་གསལ་ Ch. 光明

āgantukamala - Mental stains that are not inherent to the nature of the mind but are temporarily present as the residue of past actions or habitual tendencies. It is sometimes iterated as adventitious defilements (Skt. āgantukakleśa, Tib. glo bur gyi nyon mongs), which references the fickle and temporary nature of disturbing emotions that lack an ultimately established basis for existence. Skt. आगन्तुकमल Tib. གློ་བུར་གྱི་དྲི་མ་

tha mal gyi shes pa - A Mahāmudrā term for the basic state of consciousness that has not been fabricated or altered in any way. Tib. ཐ་མལ་གྱི་ཤེས་པ་

prabhāsvaracitta - The luminous aspect of mind that is often contrasted with its empty aspect. It is often used figuratively to reference the cognizant, or knowing, aspect of mind and sometimes more literally as the natural luminosity of mind and luminous wisdom that is experienced in meditation. Skt. प्रभास्वरचित्त Tib. འོད་གསལ་གྱི་སེམས་ Ch. 光明心

Kagyu - The Kagyu school traces its origin to the eleventh-century translator Marpa, who studied in India with Nāropa. Marpa's student Milarepa trained Gampopa, who founded the first monastery of the Kagyu order. As many as twelve subtraditions grew out from there, the best known being the Karma Kagyu, the Drikung, and the Drukpa. Tib. བཀའ་བརྒྱུད་