Wylie:Thun mong gi le lag brgyad pa
The three sets of eight appendices or “chapters” (le lag) are attributed to Machik Lapdrön wherever they are mentioned. Though the three are sometimes listed in different order, the specific titles given for each of the twenty-four individual appendices are nearly identical.
But that is far from the end of the story. A collection of Severance texts called Practices of the Severance Collection and So Forth contains an altogether different set called The Thirteen Appendices and a variant but still recognizable set of The Eight Common Appendices.[1] This gives the impression that, as with the other three sets of teachings attributed to Machik called “Bundles” (bKa’ tshom, Yang tshom, and Nying tshom), variant versions were in circulation and were not codified, perhaps even up to the time of Jamgön Kongtrul. Further research on this is required.
Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, in his commentary to The Great Bundle of Precepts, classifies the Appendices as instructions from the “sugata precept lineage” (referring to the source scriptures), consisting of Machik’s own personal experiences, written in four versions of outer, inner, meaning, and secret. Of those, the Appendices are the inner pointing-out instructions.
The Eight Common Appendices is written in rather cryptic verse and contains the following headings: (1) resting uncontrived in suchness; (2) not using antidotes; (3) effort; (4) the arising of spiritual powers through practice; (5) recognizing Buddha in one life; (6) scolding that cuts off pitfalls; (7) heart essence; and (8) practical guide to the practice. One would guess that this is the original set of advice originating with Machik and recorded by disciples that did not fit into any other of the original sources, not even the bundles.
Notes
- ↑ The Thirteen Appendices (Le lag bcu gsum pa) (pp. 45–57) and The Eight Common Appendices (pp. 58–66) in Practices of the Severance Collection and So Forth. Gcod tshogs kyi lag len sogs: A Collection of Gcod Texts Representing the Ancient Practices of the Adepts of the Tradition. Reproduced directly from a rare manuscript from Limi, Nepal (Bir, Himachal Pradesh, India: D. Tsondu Senghe, Bir Tibetan Society, 1985). TBRC W23390.
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