View source for The Great Bundle of Precepts. The Source Esoteric Instruction on Severance, the Profound Perfection of Wisdom

<center>
<span style="font-size: 12pt">The Great Bundle of Precepts<br>
The Source Esoteric Instruction on Severance,<br> 
the Profound Perfection of Wisdom</span>
<ref> Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa zab mo gcod kyi man ngag gi gzhung bka' tshoms chen mo. In Source Texts of Severance of Evil Object, the Profound Meaning of the Perfection of Wisdom (Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa zab don bdud kyi gcod yul gyi gzhung). gDams ngag mdzod, vol. 14 (pha) ff. 4a3-9a1 (pp. 7-17).  Other editions: Ma gcig gi bka’ tshoms. In Longchenpa’s Collected Works (Kun mkhyen klong chen rab byams kyi gsung ’bum), vol. 26, pp. 291-300 (partial); Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa zab mo gcod kyi mang nag gi gzhung bka’ tshoms chen mo, Sean’s edition, pp. 97-113. shes ra <br>
	According to The Religious History of Zhije and Chöd (gCod chos byung), this was taught in one day to the three Indians who arrived by swift foot to check up on Machik's authenticity Also see Machik's Complete Explanation 94, where she explains the name "bunch of pecepts" as meaning that it is based on the long, middle-length, and short precepts of the Buddha Shakyamuni, which she had studied previously. </ref><br>
</center>
<br><br>
== Introduction ==
Introduction to Machik’s Great Bundle of Precepts

:The Great Bundle of Precepts on Severance is considered a source text (gzhung) of the Severance tradition attributed to Machik Lapdrön (1055-1149), the founder of the lineage.  According to The Religious History of Pacification and Severance by Khamnyön Dharma Senge (19th c.), it was taught in a single day to a large crowd, which included the three Indians who arrived instantly in Tibet by means of the practice called “swift foot” to investigate the authenticity of Machik and her increasingly popular teachings (30b). As a woman and the originator of a “new” teaching tradition, Machik Lapdrön was under considerable suspicion and often had to prove her worth. In Machik’s Complete Explanation, she explains the meaning of the name “bundle of precepts” as meaning that it is based on the long, middle length, and short precepts of the Buddha Shakyamuni, which she had studied previously (94). In other words, she maintained that the teachings contained herein are nothing other than the authentic words (bka’) of the Buddha.

:The commentary and outline are by Rangjung Dorje (1284-1339), the Third Karmapa hierarch, who was an important figure in the Severance tradition. His many works on Chöd are considered authoritative in the Kagyu lineage. The text translated here as found in Kongtrul’s Treasury of Precious Instructions appears under the simple title “Outline”, although it also contains a commentary as a separate text, bearing the Sanskrit name ṭīkā, usually translated into Tibetan as rnam par bshad pa, “Complete Explanation”. It is unusual and quite edifying for a Tibetan author to actually separate out the outline from the commentary, although it does present a few extra problems of consistency. Nevertheless, Rangjung Dorje’s work exhibits his usual precision and brilliance. The text is also found in his Collected Works. The words in parentheses after the headings in the Outline were included by Rangjung Dorje to indicate the beginning word[s] of each verse, and they are repeated in the commentary. However, due to the differences in English grammar, it was not always possible to keep them at the very beginning of each verse in translation, but they will appear somewhere in the first line.

== Translation ==
Homage to the unspeakable, unthinkable, unimaginable state;<br>
basic space beyond objects, without reference.<br>

This Great Bundle of Precepts on Severance<br>
is written in hopes of benefiting a few.<ref> According to Rangjung Dorje's commentary, this line is actually part of the following quatrain. In the poem here it seems better to include it with the statement of the title. Also, in the Longchenpa edition, these two lines are in a four-line verse as follows: “[In] This Great Testament of Severance, “Severance” (gcod) is to naturally sever discursive thought, "Word" (bka') is explained as collection of explanations. It has been written in order to benefit beings.” (p. 292) </ref><br>

The root devilry is one's own mind.<br>
The devil lays hold through clinging and attachment<br>
in the cognition of whatever objects appear.<br>
Grasping mind as an object is corruption.<br>

Devils are classified as four:<br>
tangible devil<ref> Interlinear note: "based on the outer object"</ref> and intangible devil,<ref> Interlinear note: "based on inner mental designation" </ref><br>
the devil of exaltation<ref> Interlinear note: "based on attachment to the reality of qualities"</ref> and the devil of inflation.<br>
All are included in the devil of inflation.<br>

Tangible devils are numerous, however<br>
judging the appearances that arise to our senses,<br>
negating or affirming them, is the tangible devil.<br>
Grasping them as definite binds us to samsara.<br>
<br>
Form is empty of the essence of form.<ref> Extra line in Longchenpa edition: gzugs la dngos por ma bzungs bas (by not grasping to form as definite). </ref><br>
Do not attach to form, meditate on it as empty.<br>
Lacking attachment to form as definite<br>
is release from the devil of fixation on permanence.<br>
Not meditating on emptiness mentally {8}<br>
is definite liberation from the devil of nihilism.<br>
The appearance of form cannot be stopped,<br>
[but] without definite grasping it is lucid self-appearance.<br>
Sound, smell, taste, tactile sensation,<br>
mentation and so forth are similarly released.<br>
Mentation is the intangible devil,<br>
but when it arises through the sense doors<br>
it is taught as the tangible devil.<br>
With an attitude of self-liberation, <br>
directly cut through all that appears to the sense perceptions. <br>
It becomes inseparable great stupidity.<ref> For an explanation of this unusual statement see Rangjung Dorje's commentary, p. 00. </ref><br>
<br>
Intangible devils occur in this way:<br>
Good and bad sensations<ref> Taking byung tshul here as byung tshor based on Rangjung Dorje's commentary and the Drime Ozer edition. </ref> [of] mental objects<br>
that are distinguished by one's own thoughts<br>
are revealed as the intangible devils.<br>
Apart from being products of naturally arising mind,<ref> rang byung sems las ma gtogs pa, but in Longchenpa: rang byung sems nyid ma rtogs pas (By not realizing that they come from naturally arising mind). </ref><br>
fixating on good gods as gods,<br>
fixating on bad demons as demons,<br>
and all the thought-provoking mental hopes and fears<br>
are one's own devils rising up to oneself.<br>
<br>
From the realm of phenomena's great expanse of clarity,<ref> chos dbyings klong chen ngang gsal la[s]. Drime Ozer edition: sems nyid klong chen dang gsal la (The mind itself's great expanse and clarity). </ref><br>
any thoughts and memories whatsoever may arise.<br>
For example, like the arising of waves and so on<br>
from the unmoving ocean.<br>
Thus a person with realization<br>
rests on their own ground without altering it.<br>
Help and harm do not occur, liberated in space.<br>
Self-arising from the space of phenomena's nature,<br>
jealous acts and acceptance and rejection do not apply<br>
in self-occurring mind unengaged with acceptance or rejection.<br>
<br>
The devil of exaltation occurs in this way:<br>
common devils and supreme devils <br>
come from the mind of deluded cognition<ref> The DNZ (and Sean’s edition) read rigs 'khrul (deluded types), which might have been understood as confusing the two types of devil, common and supreme. However, the Longchenpa edition has rig 'khrul (deluded cognition or awareness) which corresponds better with Rangjung Dorje's commentary as rang rig 'khrul pa las byung pa yin (it comes from one’s own deluded cognition). </ref><br>

In haunted places, [when] demons do not affect you, <br>
arrogance arises and becomes the devil of exaltation.<br>
[When] signs of blessing and ability occur,<br>
the merit and material wealth are the devil of distraction.<br>
Wealth, fame, friends, and foes<ref> dgra gnyan (friends [and] foes). Longchenpa: snyan grag (reputation). </ref> are the devil of delight.<br>
Gods and demons bestow spiritual powers,<br>
children and relatives gather as entourage<br>
causing joy (dga') and conceit (brod): the devil of exaltation (dga' brod).<br>
<br>
Whatever qualities occur, whatever arises,<br>
an attitude of nondual object and mind<br>
does not grasp at those qualities [as the self].<ref> Insertion based on Longchenpa edition yon tan bdag (rather than dag) tu me gzung bar </ref><br>
As with the objects in dreams,<br>
engage without attachment to their nature.<br>
Like the beauty produced by a lovely face, {9}<br>
self-occurrence adorns itself—<br>
there is no cause for arrogance.<br>
If it does arise, fixating in deluded cognition corrupts.<br>
<br>
<br>


== Bibliography ==









==Notes==
<references />