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Seventeen tantras

February 09, 2023

The Seventeen Tantras of the Esoteric Instruction Series (Tibetan: མན་ངག་སྡེའི་རྒྱུད་བཅུ་བདུན, Wylie: man ngag sde'i rgyud bcu bdun) or the Seventeen tantras of the Ancients (rnying-ma'i rgyud bcu-bdun) are an important collection of tantras in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.[1][2] They comprise the core scriptures of the "esoteric instruction series" (Menngagde) of Dzogchen teachings and are its most authoritative scriptures.[1][2]

Thangka of Vimalamitra, an Indian figure associated with the transmission of the Seventeen Tantras
This article contains Tibetan script. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Tibetan characters.

The Seventeen Tantras are part of the Vima Nyingthig ("Inner Essence of Vimalamitra"), a terma cycle of Dzogchen texts revealed by the treasure discoverer Zhangton Tashi Dorje (c. 1097-1127) and associated with the 8th century Indian monk Vimalamitra who is traditionally believed by the Nyingma school to have first brought these texts to Tibet.[3]

The Vima Nyingthig itself consists of 'tantras' (rgyud), 'agamas' (lung), and 'upadeshas' (man ngag).[4] The other texts are mainly exegetical literature on the material found in the Seventeen tantras.[5] The Seventeen Tantras explain the view (lta ba) of Dzogchen, the two main forms of Dzogchen meditation (sgom pa) - kadag trekchö ("the cutting through of primordial purity"), and lhündrub tögal ("the direct crossing of spontaneous presence") - and the conduct (spyod pa) of a Dzogchen practitioner, along with other ancillary topics.[6][7]

History

Contemporary Tibetologists like David Germano and Christopher Hatchell hold that the Vima Nyingthig was likely composed by its discoverer, the terton Zhangton Tashi Dorje (1097-1127).[8][9] Germano also holds that the first "historically attested" figure connected with these tantras is Chetsün Sengé Wangchuk (lce btsun seng ge dbang phyug, c. 11th century).[5]

Samten Karmay writes that while Vimalamitra is attested in the sources as a Buddhist monk, there is "a fair amount of uncertainty" about this figure (and likewise about his supposed student, Nyangban Tingzin Zangpo). Vimalamitra's name does appear in some Tibetan inscriptions however.[10] Karmay also notes that certain critics of Dzogchen claimed that it was Chetsün Sengé Wangchuk who authored the Seventeen Tantras.[10]

According to Bryan J. Cuevas, while the traditional Nyingma view is that the Seventeen Tantras were divine revelations received by Garab Dorje, these texts seem to have been "compiled over a long period of time by multiple hands."[11] Cuevas also writes that "the precise identity of these unknown redactors is a riddle that I hope may soon be solved. Whatever the case, we must accept that the collection in the form it is known to us today consists of several layers of history reflecting diverse influences."[11]

Germano also notes that from the time of Chetsün Sengé Wangchuk onwards, "we have datable [historical] figures" in what constitutes a lineage of the Seventeen Tantras. This lineage is as follows: Chetsün Sengé Wangchuk's disciple Zhangton Tashi Dorje (1097-1167), Zhangton's son Nyima Bum (1158-1213), Nyima Bum's nephew Guru jo 'ber (1172-1231), Jo 'ber's disciple Trulzhik Sengge Gyabpa ('khrul zhig seng ge rgyab pa, 1200s), Trulzhik's disciple Melong Dorje (1243-1303), and Melong's disciple Kumaradza (1266-1343), who was the root guru of Longchenpa (1308-1363).[12]

Traditional Nyingma history

In the Nyingma school, the Seventeen Tantras are traditionally said to be translations of Indian texts by figures of the Early Dissemination period, mainly the 8th-century Indian monk Vimalamitra, through his teacher Shri Singha. They are traced back to the quasi-historical figure of Garab Dorje (who is said to have received them from the Buddha Samantabhadra).[13][5] According to Germano the traditional account of the history of the Seventeen tantras can be found in the sNying thig lo rgyus chen po (The Great Chronicles of the Seminal Heart), a history found in the Vima Nyingtik, which was "possibly authored" by Zhangton Tashi Dorje.[14]

Erik Pema Kunsang outlines the basic traditional lineage as follows:

The first human vidyadhara in the Dzogchen lineage was Garab Dorje, who compiled the 6,400,000 tantras of the Great Perfection. He entrusted these teachings to his main disciple, Manjushrimitra, who then classified them into the Three Sections of Dzogchen: Mind Section, Space Section, and Instruction Section. The chief disciple of Manjushrimitra, the great master known as Shri Singha, divided the Instruction Section into The Four Cycles of Nyingthig: the Outer, Inner, Secret, and Innermost Unexcelled Cycles.[15]

According to Kunsang, traditional Nyingma accounts hold that Shri Singha brought these teachings from Bodhgaya to place Kunsang identifies as China.[16] Shri Singha is also believed to have transmitted the Eighteen Dzogchen Tantras (see below) to Padmasambhava.[17] Shri Singha is said to have hid these texts before his death.[18] The Dharma Fellowship (2009), drawing on the work of Lalou (1890–1967), holds the 'Five Peaked Mountain' which Kunsang and others have attributed to Mount Wutai in China is instead a mountain near the Kinnaur District associated with the historical nation of 'Zhang-zhung' (also known as Suvarṇadvīpa).[19]

The Indian scholar Vimalamitra (fl. 8th century), a student of Sri Singha, is closely associated with the Seventeen Tantras in the Nyingma histories, and it is traditionally held that his student Nyangban Tingzin Zangpo transmitted and concealed these scriptures at Zha Lhakhang (zhwa'i lha khang, "Temple of the Hat") after Vimalamitra left Tibet.[10] The Seventeen Tantras are then said to have been discovered by Dangma Lhungyel (11th century), a caretaker monk of Zha Lhakhang, who then proceeded to transmit these teachings to Chetsün Sengé Wangchuk.[20][21]

Texts

 
Zhangton Tashi Dorje (1097-1127), the terton who revealed the Vima Nyingtik

According to Hatchell, the Seventeen Tantras "are stylistically quite similar" and all depict themselves as being taught by Buddhas in a question and answer dialogue with their retinue in various settings, such as space, volcanoes and charnel grounds. The dialogues discuss all the main Nyingthig Dzogchen topics, including the basis, cosmogony, the subtle body, buddha-nature, meditative techniques, mandalas, post-death states or bardos, as well as funerary and subjugation rituals.[9]

Kunsang provides the following list of the seventeen tantras:[15]

  1. 'The Reverberation of Sound Tantra' (Tibetan: སྒྲ་ཐལ་འགྱུར་, Wylie: sgra thal 'gyur, Skt: ratnākara śabda mahā prasaṅga tantra).[22] This is the root tantra of the Seventeen tantras and focuses on practices related to sound.
  2. 'The Tantra of Graceful Auspiciousness' (Tibetan: བཀྲ་ཤིས་མཛེས་ལྡན་གྱི་རྒྱུད་, Wylie: bkra shis mdzes ldan gyi rgyud, Skt: mahā svaccha suvarṇāpramāṇa śrī tantra).[23]
  3. 'The Mind Mirror of Samantabhadra Tantra' (Tibetan: ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་ཐུགས་ཀྱི་མེ་ལོང་, Wylie: kun tu bzang po thugs kyi me long, Skt: samantabhadra cittādarśa tantra).[24]
  4. 'The Blazing Lamp Tantra' (Tibetan: སྒྲོན་མ་འབར་བའི་རྒྱུད་, Wylie: sgron ma 'bar ba'i rgyud, Skt: svarṇṇa puṣpa kānti ratnāloka jvala tantra).[25][26]
  5. 'The Mind Mirror of Vajrasattva Tantra' (Tibetan: རྡོ་རྗེ་སེམས་དཔའ་སྙིང་གི་མེ་ལོང་, Wylie: rdo rje sems dpa' snying gi me long, Skt: vajrasatva cittādarśa tantra).[27]
  6. 'The Self-Arising Rigpa Tantra' (Tibetan: རིག་པ་རང་ཤར་གྱི་རྒྱུད་, Wylie: rig pa rang shar gyi rgyud, Skt: sarva tathāgata samādhi paribhāṣā jñāna samudāya sūtra mahāyāna guhyānuttara tantra sarva dharmākara sarva buddhānyaśayam mantraikajnāna mahāsandhyarthaprakatatantra vidyāsvodayamahātantranāma).[28]
  7. 'The Tantra of Studded Jewels' (Tibetan: ནོར་བུ་ཕྲ་བཀོད་, Wylie: nor bu phra bkod, Skt: sarva bhrānti pr̥ kara ratna dhūrta mata tantra nāma)[29]
  8. 'Direct Introduction Tantra' (Tibetan: ངོ་སྤྲོད་སྤྲས་པའི་རྒྱུད་, Wylie: ngo sprod spras pa'i rgyud, Skt: darśanopadeśa ratnācita kṣetra dhātu śāsana tantra).[30]
  9. 'The Six Spaces of Samantabhadra Tantra' (Tibetan: ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་ཀློང་དྲུག་, Wylie: kun tu bzang po klong drug, Skt: samantabhadrāvartta ṣaṣṭha tantra).[31]
  10. 'The Tantra Without Syllables' (Tibetan: ཡི་གེ་མེད་པའི་རྒྱུད་, Wylie: yi ge med pa'i rgyud, Skt: anakṣara mahā tantra nāma ratna dhvaja rāja saṃtati dr̥ṣṭi gagana sama mahā tantra).[32]
  11. 'The Lion's Perfect Expressive Power Tantra' (Tibetan: སེང་གེ་རྩལ་རྫོགས་ཀྱི་རྒུད་, Wylie: seng ge rtsal rdzogs, Skt: mahā siṃha parākrama pūrṇṇa tantra).[33]
  12. 'The Necklace of Precious Pearls Tantra' (Tibetan: མུ་ཏིག་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་ཕྲེང་བའི་རྒྱུད་, Wylie: mu tig rin po che'i phreng ba'i rgyud, Skt: ratna muṣṭi mūlā tantra).[34]
  13. 'The Self-liberated Rigpa Tantra' (Tibetan: རིག་པ་རང་གྲོལ་གྱི་རྒྱུད་, Wylie: rig pa rang grol gyi rgyud, Skt: mahā vidyā svamukti sarva ghaṭṭita tantra).[35]
  14. 'The Mound of Jewels Tantra' (Tibetan: རིན་པོ་ཆེ་སྤུང་བའི་རྒྱུད་, Wylie: rin po che spung ba'i rgyud, Skt: ratna kūṭa mahā guṇoddeśa tantra rāja).[36]
  15. 'The Shining Relics Tantra' (Tibetan: སྐུ་གདུང་འབར་བའི་རྒྱུད་, Wylie: sku gdung 'bar ba'i rgyud, Skt: śrī gagana śarīra jvala mahā tantra).[37]
  16. 'The Union of the Sun and Moon Tantra' (Tibetan: ཉི་ཟླ་ཁ་སྦྱོར་གྱི་རྒྱུད་, Wylie: nyi zla kha sbyor gyi rgyud, Skt: mahā sūrya candra ghana guhya tantra).[38]
  17. 'The Self-existing Perfection Tantra' (Tibetan: རྫོགས་པ་རང་བྱུང་གི་རྒྱུད་, Wylie: rdzogs pa rang byung gi rgyud, Skt: kāyālokoddiṣṭābhisiñca mahā svayambhū tantra).[39]

Other tantras

The Seventeen Tantras are often grouped together with other tantras as a set.

They are designated as "The Eighteen Tantras" when the Troma Tantra ('Ngagsung Tromay Tantra', Wylie: sngags srung khro ma’i rgyud[40]) otherwise known as The Tantra of the Black Wrathful Shri Ekajati (dpal e ka dza ti nag mo khros ma'i rgyud) which deals with the protective rites of Ekajati, is appended to the seventeen.[41][15]

The "Nineteen Tantras" are the eighteen above along with the Tantra of the Lucid Expanse ('Longsel Barwey Tantra', Wylie: klong gsal bar ba'i rgyud[42]).[43] Samantabhadrī is associated with the Longsel Barwey and its full name is 'Tantra of Brahmā's Sun of the Luminous Expanse of Samantabhadrī' (Wylie: kun tu bzang mo klong gsal 'bar ma nyi ma'i rgyud).[44]

According to Germano, another tantra which is closely associated with the Seventeen Tantras is the Thig le kun gsal (Total Illumination of the Bindu).[45]

Sources, versions and variations

These Seventeen Tantras are to be found in the Canon of the Ancient School, the 'Nyingma Gyubum' (Tibetan: རྙིང་མ་རྒྱུད་འབུམ, Wylie: rnying ma rgyud 'bum), volumes 9 and 10, folio numbers 143-159 of the edition edited by 'Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche' commonly known as Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (Thimpu, Bhutan, 1973), reproduced from the manuscript preserved at 'Tingkye Gonpa Jang' (Tibetan: གཏིང་སྐྱེས་དགོན་པ་བྱང, Wylie: gting skyes dgon pa byang) Monastery in Tibet.[46]

Commentaries

The most influential commentator on the topics of the Seventeen Tantras is Longchen Rabjampa (1308–1364). Karmay 211 His numerous writings, including the Seven Treasuries and Lama Yangtig, comment on the major topics of the Seventeen Tantras and the Vima Nyingthig. According to Germano, Longchenpa integrated the doctrines and practices of the Seventeen Tantras "into the increasingly normative modernist discourses that had taken shape from the contemporary Indian Buddhist logico-epistemological circles, Madhyamaka, Yogacara, and tantric traditions of the late tenth to thirteenth centuries."[47]

English translations

  • The Self-Arising Rigpa Tantra is translated by Malcolm Smith in The Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra (vol 1) and The Self-Liberated Vidya Tantra (vol 2): A Translation of the Rigpa Rang Shar (vol 1) and A Translation of the Rigpa Rangdrol (vol 2) (Wisdom Publications, 2018). Chapters 39 and 40 translated by H. V. Guenther in Wholeness Lost and Wholeness Regained (SUNY Press, 1994).
  • The Self-Liberated Rigpa Tantra is translated by Smith in The Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra (vol 1) and The Self-Liberated Vidya Tantra (vol 2).
  • Excerpts from the fourth chapter of The Lion's Perfect Expressive Power are translated by Janet Gyatso in Buddhist Scriptures (Ed. Donald Lopez, published by Penguin Classics, 2004)
  • The Blazing Lamp Tantra and The Tantra Without Syllables is translated by Smith in The Tantra Without Syllables (Vol 3) and The Blazing Lamp Tantra (Vol 4): A Translation of the Yigé Mepai Gyu (Vol. 3) A Translation of the Drönma Barwai Gyu and Mutik Trengwa Gyupa (Vol 4) (Wisdom Publications, 2020).
  • The Blazing Lamp is translated by Christopher Hatchell in Naked Seeing: The Great Perfection, the Wheel of Time, and Visionary Buddhism in Renaissance Tibet (Oxford University Press, 2014), and translated in A Mound of Jewels.

Christopher Wilkinson has also translated several of the Seventeen Tantras in the following publications:[48]

  • Wilkinson, Christopher (2016). The Pearl Necklace Tantra: Upadesha Instructions of the Great Perfection
  • Wilkinson, Christopher (2016). The Lion Stops Hunting: An Upadesha Tantra of the Great Perfection
  • Wilkinson, Christopher (2017). A Mound of Jewels: Three Upadesha Tantras of the Great Perfection
  • Wilkinson, Christopher (2017). The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva: Two Upadesha Tantras of the Great Perfection
  • Wilkinson, Christopher (2017). The Six Spaces of the All Good: An Upadesha Tantra of the Great Perfection
  • Wilkinson, Christopher (2017). The Jewel Maker: The Great Tantra on the Consequence of Sound
  • Wilkinson, Christopher (2018). A Subtle Arrangement of Gemstones: Two Upadesha Tantras of the Great Perfection

The Seventeen Tantras are quoted extensively throughout Longchenpa's (1308 - 1364?) 'The Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding' (Tibetan: གནས་ལུགས་རིན་པོ་ཆེའི་མཛོད, Wylie: gnas lugs rin po che'i mdzod) translated by Richard Barron and Padma Translation Committee (1998).[49] This work is one of Longchenpa's Seven Treasuries. The Tibetan text is available in unicode at Tsadra’s digital Dharma Text Repository.[50] The Seventeen Tantras are also extensively discussed in Longchenpa's Precious Treasury of Philosophical Systems, also translated by Richard Barron, as well as in Vimalamitra's Great Commentary, translated in Buddhahood in This Life, by Smith.

Additionally, an explanatory tantra (Skt: vyākhyātantra) of the Seventeen Tantras named Total Illumination of the Bindu (Tib: thig le kun gsal) has been published in a translation by Keith Dowman in the book Everything Is Light (Dzogchen Now, 2017).

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b Cuevas (2005), p. 61-62.
  2. ^ a b Germano (1994), pp. 302–303.
  3. ^ Hatchell (2014), p. 53-54.
  4. ^ Rigpa Shedra (August, 2009). 'Vima Nyingtik'. Source: [1] (accessed: Saturday October 17, 2009)
  5. ^ a b c Germano (1994), pp. 269.
  6. ^ Smith (2018), pp. xvi.
  7. ^ Schmidt, Marcia Binder, ed. (2002), The Dzogchen Primer: Embracing The Spiritual Path According To The Great Perfection, p. 38. London: Shambhala Publications, Inc., ISBN 1-57062-829-7
  8. ^ Germano & Gyatso (2001), p. 244.
  9. ^ a b Hatchell (2014), p. 54.
  10. ^ a b c Karmay (2007), pp. 210.
  11. ^ a b Cuevas, Bryan J. (2003). The Hidden History of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-515413-9.Source: [2] (accessed: Wednesday October 28, 2009), p.62
  12. ^ Germano (1994), pp. 272.
  13. ^ Karmay (2007), pp. 211.
  14. ^ Germano (1994), pp. 271.
  15. ^ a b c Rangdrol (1993), p. 87-90.
  16. ^ Vimalamitra's Great History of the Heart Essence, translated in Erik Pema Kunsang (translator) : Wellsprings of the Great Perfection. Rangjung Yeshe Publications, Hong Kong, 2006. pp. 136-137
  17. ^ Kunsang (2006), p. 158.
  18. ^ Dharma Fellowship (2009). Biographies: Sri Simha, the Lion of Dzogchen. Source: [3] (accessed: Sunday April 11, 2010)
  19. ^ Dharma Fellowship (2009). Biographies: Sri Simha, the Lion of Dzogchen. Source: [4] (accessed: Sunday April 11, 2010)
  20. ^ Gyatso, Janet (1998). Apparitions of the Self: The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary; a Translation and Study of Jigme Lingpa's 'Dancing Moon in the Water' and 'Ḍākki's Grand Secret-Talk'. Princeton, New Jersey, USA: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-01110-9 (cloth: alk. paper). Source: [5] (accessed: Sunday April 11, 2010), pp.153-154
  21. ^ "Dangma Lhungyel". The Treasury of Lives. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  22. ^ Source:[6] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  23. ^ Source:[7] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  24. ^ Source:[8] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  25. ^ Source:[9] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  26. ^ Hatchell, Christopher (2009). Naked Seeing: The Great Perfection, the Wheel of Time, and visionary philosophy in renaissance Tibet. University of Virginia, p. 373
  27. ^ Source:[10] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  28. ^ Source:[11] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  29. ^ Source:[12] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  30. ^ Source:[13] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  31. ^ Source:[14] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  32. ^ Source:[15] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  33. ^ Source:[16] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  34. ^ Source:[17] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  35. ^ Source:[18] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  36. ^ Source:[19] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  37. ^ Source:[20] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  38. ^ Source:[21] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  39. ^ Source:[22] (accessed: Monday March 6, 2018)
  40. ^ Aro Encyclopaedia (2010). 'Ngak Srungma Ekajati'. Source: [23] (accessed: Sunday April 11, 2010)
  41. ^ Thondup, Tulku & Harold Talbott (Editor)(1996). Masters of Meditation and Miracles: Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Shambhala, South Asia Editions. ISBN 1-57062-113-6 (alk. paper); ISBN 1-56957-134-1, p.362
  42. ^ Aro Encyclopaedia (2010). 'Ngak Srungma Ekajati'. Source: [24] (accessed: Sunday April 11, 2010)
  43. ^ Source: . Archived from the original on 2008-01-18. Retrieved 2007-12-12. (accessed: Sunday April 11, 2010)
  44. ^ Source: [25] (accessed: Sunday April 11, 2010)
  45. ^ Germano (1994), pp. 301.
  46. ^ Guarisco, Elio (trans.); McLeod, Ingrid (trans., editor); Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye, Kon-Sprul Blo-Gros-Mtha-Yas (compiler) (2005). The Treasury of Knowledge: Book Six, Part Four: Systems of Buddhist Tantra. Ithaca, New York, USA: Snow Lion Publications. ISBN 1-55939-210-X, p.520
  47. ^ Germano (1994), pp. 274.
  48. ^ "Namse Bangdzo Bookstore". www.namsebangdzo.com. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  49. ^ Barron, Richard (trans), Longchen Rabjam (author): Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding. Padma Publishing (1998) ISBN 1-881847-09-8
  50. ^ Source: https://rywikitexts.tsadra.org/

Works cited

  • Cuevas, Bryan J. (2005). The Hidden History of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. USA: OUP USA.
  • Germano, David F. (Winter 1994), "Architecture and Absence in the Secret Tantric History of rDzogs Chen", The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 17 (2): 203–335
  • Hatchell, Christopher (2014), Naked Seeing The Great Perfection, the Wheel of Time, and Visionary Buddhism in Renaissance Tibet, Oxford University Press
  • Kunsang, Erik Pema (tr.) (2006). Wellsprings of the Great Perfection. Hong Kong: Rangjung Yeshe Publications.
  • Karmay, Samten Gyaltsen (2007), The Great Perfection (rdzogs chen). A Philosophical and Meditative Teaching of Tibetan Buddhism, Brill
  • Rangdrol, Tsele Natsok (1993), The Mirror of Mindfulness: The Cycle of the Four Bardos (Third Edition), Shambhala
  • Smith, Malcolm (2018), The Self-Arisen Vidya Tantra, A Translation of the Rigpa Rangshar, Wisdom Publications

February 09, 2023
seventeen, tantras, seventeen, tantras, esoteric, instruction, series, tibetan, མན, ངག, བཅ, བད, wylie, ngag, rgyud, bdun, ancients, rnying, rgyud, bdun, important, collection, tantras, nyingma, school, tibetan, buddhism, they, comprise, core, scriptures, esote. The Seventeen Tantras of the Esoteric Instruction Series Tibetan མན ངག ས འ ར ད བཅ བད ན Wylie man ngag sde i rgyud bcu bdun or the Seventeen tantras of the Ancients rnying ma i rgyud bcu bdun are an important collection of tantras in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism 1 2 They comprise the core scriptures of the esoteric instruction series Menngagde of Dzogchen teachings and are its most authoritative scriptures 1 2 Thangka of Vimalamitra an Indian figure associated with the transmission of the Seventeen Tantras This article contains Tibetan script Without proper rendering support you may see question marks boxes or other symbols instead of Tibetan characters The Seventeen Tantras are part of the Vima Nyingthig Inner Essence of Vimalamitra a terma cycle of Dzogchen texts revealed by the treasure discoverer Zhangton Tashi Dorje c 1097 1127 and associated with the 8th century Indian monk Vimalamitra who is traditionally believed by the Nyingma school to have first brought these texts to Tibet 3 The Vima Nyingthig itself consists of tantras rgyud agamas lung and upadeshas man ngag 4 The other texts are mainly exegetical literature on the material found in the Seventeen tantras 5 The Seventeen Tantras explain the view lta ba of Dzogchen the two main forms of Dzogchen meditation sgom pa kadag trekcho the cutting through of primordial purity and lhundrub togal the direct crossing of spontaneous presence and the conduct spyod pa of a Dzogchen practitioner along with other ancillary topics 6 7 Contents 1 History 1 1 Traditional Nyingma history 2 Texts 2 1 Other tantras 2 2 Sources versions and variations 2 3 Commentaries 3 English translations 4 References 4 1 Citations 4 2 Works citedHistory EditContemporary Tibetologists like David Germano and Christopher Hatchell hold that the Vima Nyingthig was likely composed by its discoverer the terton Zhangton Tashi Dorje 1097 1127 8 9 Germano also holds that the first historically attested figure connected with these tantras is Chetsun Senge Wangchuk lce btsun seng ge dbang phyug c 11th century 5 Samten Karmay writes that while Vimalamitra is attested in the sources as a Buddhist monk there is a fair amount of uncertainty about this figure and likewise about his supposed student Nyangban Tingzin Zangpo Vimalamitra s name does appear in some Tibetan inscriptions however 10 Karmay also notes that certain critics of Dzogchen claimed that it was Chetsun Senge Wangchuk who authored the Seventeen Tantras 10 According to Bryan J Cuevas while the traditional Nyingma view is that the Seventeen Tantras were divine revelations received by Garab Dorje these texts seem to have been compiled over a long period of time by multiple hands 11 Cuevas also writes that the precise identity of these unknown redactors is a riddle that I hope may soon be solved Whatever the case we must accept that the collection in the form it is known to us today consists of several layers of history reflecting diverse influences 11 Germano also notes that from the time of Chetsun Senge Wangchuk onwards we have datable historical figures in what constitutes a lineage of the Seventeen Tantras This lineage is as follows Chetsun Senge Wangchuk s disciple Zhangton Tashi Dorje 1097 1167 Zhangton s son Nyima Bum 1158 1213 Nyima Bum s nephew Guru jo ber 1172 1231 Jo ber s disciple Trulzhik Sengge Gyabpa khrul zhig seng ge rgyab pa 1200s Trulzhik s disciple Melong Dorje 1243 1303 and Melong s disciple Kumaradza 1266 1343 who was the root guru of Longchenpa 1308 1363 12 Traditional Nyingma history Edit In the Nyingma school the Seventeen Tantras are traditionally said to be translations of Indian texts by figures of the Early Dissemination period mainly the 8th century Indian monk Vimalamitra through his teacher Shri Singha They are traced back to the quasi historical figure of Garab Dorje who is said to have received them from the Buddha Samantabhadra 13 5 According to Germano the traditional account of the history of the Seventeen tantras can be found in the sNying thig lo rgyus chen po The Great Chronicles of the Seminal Heart a history found in the Vima Nyingtik which was possibly authored by Zhangton Tashi Dorje 14 Erik Pema Kunsang outlines the basic traditional lineage as follows The first human vidyadhara in the Dzogchen lineage was Garab Dorje who compiled the 6 400 000 tantras of the Great Perfection He entrusted these teachings to his main disciple Manjushrimitra who then classified them into the Three Sections of Dzogchen Mind Section Space Section and Instruction Section The chief disciple of Manjushrimitra the great master known as Shri Singha divided the Instruction Section into The Four Cycles of Nyingthig the Outer Inner Secret and Innermost Unexcelled Cycles 15 According to Kunsang traditional Nyingma accounts hold that Shri Singha brought these teachings from Bodhgaya to place Kunsang identifies as China 16 Shri Singha is also believed to have transmitted the Eighteen Dzogchen Tantras see below to Padmasambhava 17 Shri Singha is said to have hid these texts before his death 18 The Dharma Fellowship 2009 drawing on the work of Lalou 1890 1967 holds the Five Peaked Mountain which Kunsang and others have attributed to Mount Wutai in China is instead a mountain near the Kinnaur District associated with the historical nation of Zhang zhung also known as Suvarṇadvipa 19 The Indian scholar Vimalamitra fl 8th century a student of Sri Singha is closely associated with the Seventeen Tantras in the Nyingma histories and it is traditionally held that his student Nyangban Tingzin Zangpo transmitted and concealed these scriptures at Zha Lhakhang zhwa i lha khang Temple of the Hat after Vimalamitra left Tibet 10 The Seventeen Tantras are then said to have been discovered by Dangma Lhungyel 11th century a caretaker monk of Zha Lhakhang who then proceeded to transmit these teachings to Chetsun Senge Wangchuk 20 21 Texts Edit Zhangton Tashi Dorje 1097 1127 the terton who revealed the Vima Nyingtik According to Hatchell the Seventeen Tantras are stylistically quite similar and all depict themselves as being taught by Buddhas in a question and answer dialogue with their retinue in various settings such as space volcanoes and charnel grounds The dialogues discuss all the main Nyingthig Dzogchen topics including the basis cosmogony the subtle body buddha nature meditative techniques mandalas post death states or bardos as well as funerary and subjugation rituals 9 Kunsang provides the following list of the seventeen tantras 15 The Reverberation of Sound Tantra Tibetan ས ཐལ འག ར Wylie sgra thal gyur Skt ratnakara sabda maha prasaṅga tantra 22 This is the root tantra of the Seventeen tantras and focuses on practices related to sound The Tantra of Graceful Auspiciousness Tibetan བཀ ཤ ས མཛ ས ལ ན ག ར ད Wylie bkra shis mdzes ldan gyi rgyud Skt maha svaccha suvarṇapramaṇa sri tantra 23 The Mind Mirror of Samantabhadra Tantra Tibetan ཀ ན ཏ བཟང པ ཐ གས ཀ མ ལ ང Wylie kun tu bzang po thugs kyi me long Skt samantabhadra cittadarsa tantra 24 The Blazing Lamp Tantra Tibetan ས ན མ འབར བའ ར ད Wylie sgron ma bar ba i rgyud Skt svarṇṇa puṣpa kanti ratnaloka jvala tantra 25 26 The Mind Mirror of Vajrasattva Tantra Tibetan ར ར ས མས དཔའ ས ང ག མ ལ ང Wylie rdo rje sems dpa snying gi me long Skt vajrasatva cittadarsa tantra 27 The Self Arising Rigpa Tantra Tibetan ར ག པ རང ཤར ག ར ད Wylie rig pa rang shar gyi rgyud Skt sarva tathagata samadhi paribhaṣa jnana samudaya sutra mahayana guhyanuttara tantra sarva dharmakara sarva buddhanyasayam mantraikajnana mahasandhyarthaprakatatantra vidyasvodayamahatantranama 28 The Tantra of Studded Jewels Tibetan ན ར བ ཕ བཀ ད Wylie nor bu phra bkod Skt sarva bhranti pr kara ratna dhurta mata tantra nama 29 Direct Introduction Tantra Tibetan ང ས ད ས ས པའ ར ད Wylie ngo sprod spras pa i rgyud Skt darsanopadesa ratnacita kṣetra dhatu sasana tantra 30 The Six Spaces of Samantabhadra Tantra Tibetan ཀ ན ཏ བཟང པ ཀ ང ད ག Wylie kun tu bzang po klong drug Skt samantabhadravartta ṣaṣṭha tantra 31 The Tantra Without Syllables Tibetan ཡ ག མ ད པའ ར ད Wylie yi ge med pa i rgyud Skt anakṣara maha tantra nama ratna dhvaja raja saṃtati dr ṣṭi gagana sama maha tantra 32 The Lion s Perfect Expressive Power Tantra Tibetan ས ང ག ར ལ ར གས ཀ ར ད Wylie seng ge rtsal rdzogs Skt maha siṃha parakrama purṇṇa tantra 33 The Necklace of Precious Pearls Tantra Tibetan མ ཏ ག ར ན པ ཆ འ ཕ ང བའ ར ད Wylie mu tig rin po che i phreng ba i rgyud Skt ratna muṣṭi mula tantra 34 The Self liberated Rigpa Tantra Tibetan ར ག པ རང ག ལ ག ར ད Wylie rig pa rang grol gyi rgyud Skt maha vidya svamukti sarva ghaṭṭita tantra 35 The Mound of Jewels Tantra Tibetan ར ན པ ཆ ས ང བའ ར ད Wylie rin po che spung ba i rgyud Skt ratna kuṭa maha guṇoddesa tantra raja 36 The Shining Relics Tantra Tibetan ས གད ང འབར བའ ར ད Wylie sku gdung bar ba i rgyud Skt sri gagana sarira jvala maha tantra 37 The Union of the Sun and Moon Tantra Tibetan ཉ ཟ ཁ ས ར ག ར ད Wylie nyi zla kha sbyor gyi rgyud Skt maha surya candra ghana guhya tantra 38 The Self existing Perfection Tantra Tibetan ར གས པ རང བ ང ག ར ད Wylie rdzogs pa rang byung gi rgyud Skt kayalokoddiṣṭabhisinca maha svayambhu tantra 39 Other tantras Edit The Seventeen Tantras are often grouped together with other tantras as a set They are designated as The Eighteen Tantras when the Troma Tantra Ngagsung Tromay Tantra Wylie sngags srung khro ma i rgyud 40 otherwise known as The Tantra of the Black Wrathful Shri Ekajati dpal e ka dza ti nag mo khros ma i rgyud which deals with the protective rites of Ekajati is appended to the seventeen 41 15 The Nineteen Tantras are the eighteen above along with the Tantra of the Lucid Expanse Longsel Barwey Tantra Wylie klong gsal bar ba i rgyud 42 43 Samantabhadri is associated with the Longsel Barwey and its full name is Tantra of Brahma s Sun of the Luminous Expanse of Samantabhadri Wylie kun tu bzang mo klong gsal bar ma nyi ma i rgyud 44 According to Germano another tantra which is closely associated with the Seventeen Tantras is the Thig le kun gsal Total Illumination of the Bindu 45 Sources versions and variations Edit These Seventeen Tantras are to be found in the Canon of the Ancient School the Nyingma Gyubum Tibetan ར ང མ ར ད འབ མ Wylie rnying ma rgyud bum volumes 9 and 10 folio numbers 143 159 of the edition edited by Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche commonly known as Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche Thimpu Bhutan 1973 reproduced from the manuscript preserved at Tingkye Gonpa Jang Tibetan གཏ ང ས ས དག ན པ བ ང Wylie gting skyes dgon pa byang Monastery in Tibet 46 Commentaries Edit The most influential commentator on the topics of the Seventeen Tantras is Longchen Rabjampa 1308 1364 Karmay 211 His numerous writings including the Seven Treasuries and Lama Yangtig comment on the major topics of the Seventeen Tantras and the Vima Nyingthig According to Germano Longchenpa integrated the doctrines and practices of the Seventeen Tantras into the increasingly normative modernist discourses that had taken shape from the contemporary Indian Buddhist logico epistemological circles Madhyamaka Yogacara and tantric traditions of the late tenth to thirteenth centuries 47 English translations EditThe Self Arising Rigpa Tantra is translated by Malcolm Smith in The Self Arisen Vidya Tantra vol 1 and The Self Liberated Vidya Tantra vol 2 A Translation of the Rigpa Rang Shar vol 1 and A Translation of the Rigpa Rangdrol vol 2 Wisdom Publications 2018 Chapters 39 and 40 translated by H V Guenther in Wholeness Lost and Wholeness Regained SUNY Press 1994 The Self Liberated Rigpa Tantra is translated by Smith in The Self Arisen Vidya Tantra vol 1 and The Self Liberated Vidya Tantra vol 2 Excerpts from the fourth chapter of The Lion s Perfect Expressive Power are translated by Janet Gyatso in Buddhist Scriptures Ed Donald Lopez published by Penguin Classics 2004 The Blazing Lamp Tantra and The Tantra Without Syllables is translated by Smith in The Tantra Without Syllables Vol 3 and The Blazing Lamp Tantra Vol 4 A Translation of the Yige Mepai Gyu Vol 3 A Translation of the Dronma Barwai Gyu and Mutik Trengwa Gyupa Vol 4 Wisdom Publications 2020 The Blazing Lamp is translated by Christopher Hatchell in Naked Seeing The Great Perfection the Wheel of Time and Visionary Buddhism in Renaissance Tibet Oxford University Press 2014 and translated in A Mound of Jewels Christopher Wilkinson has also translated several of the Seventeen Tantras in the following publications 48 Wilkinson Christopher 2016 The Pearl Necklace Tantra Upadesha Instructions of the Great Perfection Wilkinson Christopher 2016 The Lion Stops Hunting An Upadesha Tantra of the Great Perfection Wilkinson Christopher 2017 A Mound of Jewels Three Upadesha Tantras of the Great Perfection Wilkinson Christopher 2017 The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva Two Upadesha Tantras of the Great Perfection Wilkinson Christopher 2017 The Six Spaces of the All Good An Upadesha Tantra of the Great Perfection Wilkinson Christopher 2017 The Jewel Maker The Great Tantra on the Consequence of Sound Wilkinson Christopher 2018 A Subtle Arrangement of Gemstones Two Upadesha Tantras of the Great PerfectionThe Seventeen Tantras are quoted extensively throughout Longchenpa s 1308 1364 The Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding Tibetan གནས ལ གས ར ན པ ཆ འ མཛ ད Wylie gnas lugs rin po che i mdzod translated by Richard Barron and Padma Translation Committee 1998 49 This work is one of Longchenpa s Seven Treasuries The Tibetan text is available in unicode at Tsadra s digital Dharma Text Repository 50 The Seventeen Tantras are also extensively discussed in Longchenpa s Precious Treasury of Philosophical Systems also translated by Richard Barron as well as in Vimalamitra s Great Commentary translated in Buddhahood in This Life by Smith Additionally an explanatory tantra Skt vyakhyatantra of the Seventeen Tantras named Total Illumination of the Bindu Tib thig le kun gsal has been published in a translation by Keith Dowman in the book Everything Is Light Dzogchen Now 2017 References EditCitations Edit a b Cuevas 2005 p 61 62 a b Germano 1994 pp 302 303 Hatchell 2014 p 53 54 Rigpa Shedra August 2009 Vima Nyingtik Source 1 accessed Saturday October 17 2009 a b c Germano 1994 pp 269 Smith 2018 pp xvi Schmidt Marcia Binder ed 2002 The Dzogchen Primer Embracing The Spiritual Path According To The Great Perfection p 38 London Shambhala Publications Inc ISBN 1 57062 829 7 Germano amp Gyatso 2001 p 244 sfnp error no target CITEREFGermanoGyatso2001 help a b Hatchell 2014 p 54 a b c Karmay 2007 pp 210 a b Cuevas Bryan J 2003 The Hidden History of the Tibetan Book of the Dead Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 515413 9 Source 2 accessed Wednesday October 28 2009 p 62 Germano 1994 pp 272 Karmay 2007 pp 211 Germano 1994 pp 271 a b c Rangdrol 1993 p 87 90 Vimalamitra s Great History of the Heart Essence translated in Erik Pema Kunsang translator Wellsprings of the Great Perfection Rangjung Yeshe Publications Hong Kong 2006 pp 136 137 Kunsang 2006 p 158 Dharma Fellowship 2009 Biographies Sri Simha the Lion of Dzogchen Source 3 accessed Sunday April 11 2010 Dharma Fellowship 2009 Biographies Sri Simha the Lion of Dzogchen Source 4 accessed Sunday April 11 2010 Gyatso Janet 1998 Apparitions of the Self The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary a Translation and Study of Jigme Lingpa s Dancing Moon in the Water and Ḍakki s Grand Secret Talk Princeton New Jersey USA Princeton University Press ISBN 0 691 01110 9 cloth alk paper Source 5 accessed Sunday April 11 2010 pp 153 154 Dangma Lhungyel The Treasury of Lives Retrieved 2022 01 06 Source 6 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 7 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 8 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 9 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Hatchell Christopher 2009 Naked Seeing The Great Perfection the Wheel of Time and visionary philosophy in renaissance Tibet University of Virginia p 373 Source 10 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 11 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 12 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 13 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 14 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 15 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 16 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 17 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 18 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 19 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 20 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 21 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Source 22 accessed Monday March 6 2018 Aro Encyclopaedia 2010 Ngak Srungma Ekajati Source 23 accessed Sunday April 11 2010 Thondup Tulku amp Harold Talbott Editor 1996 Masters of Meditation and Miracles Lives of the Great Buddhist Masters of India and Tibet Boston Massachusetts USA Shambhala South Asia Editions ISBN 1 57062 113 6 alk paper ISBN 1 56957 134 1 p 362 Aro Encyclopaedia 2010 Ngak Srungma Ekajati Source 24 accessed Sunday April 11 2010 Source Seventeen Tantras Archived from the original on 2008 01 18 Retrieved 2007 12 12 accessed Sunday April 11 2010 Source 25 accessed Sunday April 11 2010 Germano 1994 pp 301 Guarisco Elio trans McLeod Ingrid trans editor Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Taye Kon Sprul Blo Gros Mtha Yas compiler 2005 The Treasury of Knowledge Book Six Part Four Systems of Buddhist Tantra Ithaca New York USA Snow Lion Publications ISBN 1 55939 210 X p 520 Germano 1994 pp 274 Namse Bangdzo Bookstore www namsebangdzo com Retrieved 2022 01 07 Barron Richard trans Longchen Rabjam author Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding Padma Publishing 1998 ISBN 1 881847 09 8 Source https rywikitexts tsadra org Works cited Edit Cuevas Bryan J 2005 The Hidden History of the Tibetan Book of the Dead USA OUP USA Germano David F Winter 1994 Architecture and Absence in the Secret Tantric History of rDzogs Chen The Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 17 2 203 335 Hatchell Christopher 2014 Naked Seeing The Great Perfection the Wheel of Time and Visionary Buddhism in Renaissance Tibet Oxford University Press Kunsang Erik Pema tr 2006 Wellsprings of the Great Perfection Hong Kong Rangjung Yeshe Publications Karmay Samten Gyaltsen 2007 The Great Perfection rdzogs chen A Philosophical and Meditative Teaching of Tibetan Buddhism Brill Rangdrol Tsele Natsok 1993 The Mirror of Mindfulness The Cycle of the Four Bardos Third Edition Shambhala Smith Malcolm 2018 The Self Arisen Vidya Tantra A Translation of the Rigpa Rangshar Wisdom Publications Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Seventeen tantras amp oldid 1105684298, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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