Wylie:Bka' yang dag pa'i tshad ma zhes bya ba mkha' 'gro ma'i man ngag
བཀའ་ཡང་དག་པའི་ཚད་མ་ཞེས་བྱ་བ་མཁའ་འགྲོ་མའི་མན་ངག་
bka' yang dag pa'i tshad ma zhes bya ba mkha' 'gro ma'i man ngag
Truly Valid Words: The Esoteric Instructions of the Ḍākinī
Truly Valid Words is Tilopa’s account of teachings he received from Vajradhara. This text is mostly known through the very common quotations of some of its verses, which are found frequently in Kagyu texts and commentaries (where it is also referred to as the Earlier Authoritative Text).[1] Pema Karpo calls it “the root text of the entire [Kagyu tradition],”[2] and wrote a lengthy commentary on it, Clarifying the Thought of Vajradhara, which is the basis for this translation.
The text opens with some of its most famous verses about the gradual and instantaneous types, the abiding states of body and of mind, and a little later gives Tilopa’s renowned instructions on six ways to rest:
- Don’t reflect, don’t think, don’t analyze.
- Don’t meditate, don’t speculate—rest naturally settled.[3]
The majority of the instructions for the instantaneous type belong to the perfection process: caṇḍālī, karmamudrā, illusory forms, dreams, luminosity, bardo, transference, and entering a body. Thus, this text contains eight perfection-process practices, two more than the six that later became known as “the six dharmas of Nāropa” (caṇḍālī, illusory forms, dreams, luminosity, bardo, and transference). In the section Pema Karpo calls instructions for the gradual type, there are only four perfection-process practices: entering a body, transference, dream, and bardo. All these perfection-process instructions are found in various father and mother tantras cycles, some of which are identified by Pema Karpo (see outline below).
The edition of Truly Valid Words contained here is related to an anonymously authored text of the same name included in the Derge and Cone Tengyurs (Toh. 2331). However, this paracanonical edition has 998 lines, or 249½ four-line verses, whereas the Tengyur redaction has 222 lines, or 55½ four-line verses. In other words, only 23 percent of the DNZ Truly Valid Words is contained in the Tengyur text redaction: lines 9–808 of DNZ Truly Valid Words are not in the Tengyur redaction. And only 6 random lines and 1 four-line verse of the Tengyur redaction are not contained in DNZ Truly Valid Words. As can be seen from the topical outline provided by Pema Karpo below, the lines not included in the Tengyur redaction represent the part of DNZ Truly Valid Words that describes the path for those who engage instantaneously. The Tengyur redaction only contains the instructions for those of the gradual approach.
Truly Valid Words was not included in the canon catalogs of Chomden Raldri or Butön Rinchen Drup and is only included in the Derge and Cone Tengyurs, not the Peking, Gaden, or Narthang, which are based on the nonextant Jingwa Taktse Tengyur.[4]
Much of Truly Valid Words seems to be drawn from various tantras (Hevajra Tantra, Sampuṭa Tantra, Catuṣpīṭha Tantra, Cakrasaṃvara Tantra, and probably others), and its lines are also found in other texts, such Nāgārjuna’s Five Processes; unfortunately, a thorough analysis of its antecedents is beyond the scope of this work. Truly Valid Words (or its sources) is also a source for texts by Nāropa, starting with Nāropa’s Authoritative Texts in Verse (DNZ 7:16)*[5] and including his Concise Illumination of the Five Stage, which contains at least ten identical, or corresponding, lines, only two of which are found in his Authoritative Texts in Verse.[6]
Pema Karpo begins his commentary with the following account of the transmission of these instructions, as he says, to inspire confidence in the sources. Vajradhara, who resides in Akaniṣṭha, manifested as the supreme nirmāṇakāya Buddha Śākyamuni in this impure world. Surrounded by innumerable heroes and ḍākinīs, the Buddha spoke these vajra words out of his love for future disciples. They were collected by Guhyapati Vajragarbha, placed under seven seals in a dharma vault in Oḍḍiyāna and entrusted to the ḍākinīs. Later on, parts of those teachings were brought to India through the kindness of the collector.
The mahāmudrā instructions were received by Saraha and then passed to Lūyipa, who gave them to Dārikapa and Ḍeṅgipa. The instructions related to the father tantras were bestowed by the divine son Ratnamati on Nāgārjunagarbha, who gave them to Mātaṅgīpā. The mother tantra instructions were given by Sumatī Subhaginī to Medhini (Tanglopa), *Parṇa (Shinglopa), and Vajraghaṇṭa, who resided on Mount Karṇa. The instructions on luminosity and other practices were given by Ḍombi Heruka to the yoginī Vinasavajra (or Bhinasavajra) and those were heard by Kambala of Oḍḍiyāna. Then, Tilopa, having received a directive from the vajra queen in Oḍḍiyāna, relied on Dārikapa and his brother (Ḍeṅgipa), Vajraghaṇṭa, Mātaṅgīpā, and Kambala as his gurus.
Outline of Truly Valid Words
An abbreviated version of Pema Karpo’s topical outline in Clarifying the Thought of Vajradhara is provided here as an overview of the contents of this text.*[7] Line numbers are included in parentheses. I. The individuals (1–8) II. The path
- A. The path engaged instantaneously
- 1. The summary (9–10)
- 2. Establishing the realizations
- a. The abiding state of entities
- i. The abiding state of the body entity (11–19)
- ii. The abiding state of the mind entity (20–32)
- b. The process of the path
- i. The maturing abhiṣekas (33–35)
- ii. The liberating path
- A) The general explanation of the meditation approach of the two processes (36–41)
- B) Establishing the specific realizations
- 1) The generation process (42–43)
- 2) The perfection process
- a) The overview (44–64)
- b) The detailed explanation
- i) Caṇḍālī: The foundation of the path
- (A) The caṇḍālī of action
- (1) Establishing the details of caṇḍālī (65–166)
- (2) An overview of explanations in the tantras
- (a) An explanation from the Hevajra Tantra (167–70)
- (b) An explanation from the Sampuṭa Tantra (171–78)
- (c) An explanation from the Catuṣpīṭha Tantra (179–90)
- (d) An explanation from the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra (191–98)
- (B) The caṇḍālī of experience or blazing (199–252)
- (C) The caṇḍālī of great realization (253–86)
- (A) The caṇḍālī of action
- ii) Karmamudrā: The enhancement of the path (287–371)
- iii) Illusory forms: The life-force pole of the path (372–432)
- iv) Dreams: The assessment of progress on the path (433–72)
- v) Luminosity: The heart of the path (473–532)
- vi) Bardo: Arriving at the end of the path through recollection (533–612)
- vii) Transference: The escort on the path (613–90)
- viii) Entering a body: The extender of the path (691–720)
- i) Caṇḍālī: The foundation of the path
- a. The abiding state of entities
- 3. The process of development of the result
- a. Ground unification (721–35)
- b. Path unification (736–59)
- c. Resultant unification (760–802)
- B. The path engaged gradually
- 1. The trainings in keeping with the common yānas (803–7)
- 2. The guidance on the path of the great yogas
- a. The generation process (808)
- b. The perfection process
- i. The process of vajra repetition (809–10)
- ii. The process for observing mind (811–13)
- iii. The path of self-blessing
- A) The overview (817–21)
- B) The detailed explanation
- 1) The process of realization (822–26)
- 2) The process of self-consecration
- a) Transference: Awakening without meditation
- i) Transference using the mode of the generation process (827–45)
- ii) Transference of the actual illusion (846–57)
- iii) Transference into luminosity (858–71)
- b) A branch of transference: Entering a body (872–80)
- c) Dreams: Awakening through purifying latent tendencies (881–963)
- d) Bardo: Awakening through recognizing the nature
- i) Awakening in the first bardo for those of highest abilities and who have trained (964–69)
- ii) Awakening in the bardo where excellent qualities are complete for those with intermediate training (970–78)
- iii) Awakening in the bardo of illumination, darkness, and light for those with basic training (979–98)
- a) Transference: Awakening without meditation
Transmission lineage received by Jamgön Kongtrul. Vajradhara to Jñānaḍākinī, Vajrapāṇi, Tilopa, Nāropa, Marpa, Milarepa, and Rechungpa, who passed it to both Gyalwa Lo and Sumpa Repa and to Burgom. Pakmo Drupa received it from the latter and passed it to Ling Repa, who also received it from both Gyalwa Lo and Sumpa Repa. Ling Repa bestowed it on Tsangpa Gyare, from whom it passed to Önre Dharma Senge, Zhönu Senge, and Nyima Senge. Ön Dorje Lingpa received it from the preceding two, who were uncle and nephew, and it passed to Pökyawa Senge Rinchen, Senge Gyalpo, Kunga Senge, Dorje Rinchen, Lodrö Senge, Sherap Senge, Yeshe Rinchen, Namkha Palzang, Sherap Zangpo, Chöje Kunga Paljor, Ngakwang Chökyi Gyalpo, and Jamyang Chökyi Drakpa, from whom both Avadhūtipa and Ngaki Wangchuk Drakpa Gyaltsen received it. They both then passed it to the omniscient Pema Karpo, from whom it passed to Lhatse Ngakwang Zangpo, Paksam Wangpo, Yongdzin Kunga Lhundrup, Chökyi Wangchuk, Gelek Zhepa, Jamgön Gyepa, Jampal Pawo, the all-seeing Chökyi Nangwa, Gyalwang Tekchok Dorje, the omniscient Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo, and Jamgön Kongtrul.[8]
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- Other notes
- Genre from Richard Barron's Catalog
- Instruction manual
- Genre from dkar chag
- gzhung rtsa 'grel
- BDRC Link
- VolumeI1CZ3969
- BDRC Content Information
- No note on contents
Information about Unicode Tibetan and the digitization of this text
As the only available unicode Tibetan text at the time, Nitartha International's version of the Gdams ngag mdzod Paro Edition of the gdams ngag mdzod is provided here. However, note that it has not been thoroughly edited and that there may also be mistakes introduced through the conversion process. Eventually we will provide a fully edited version of the entire Shechen Edition, entered and edited multiple times by Pulahari Monastery in Nepal, but as of fall 2017 that project has not been finished. Note that the folio numbers that appear throughout were added by Nitartha Input Center at the time of input.
Provided by Nitartha International Document Input Center. Many thanks to Person:Namdak, Tenzin and Person:Wiener, G. for help with fonts and conversion.
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