Secret Map of the Body
Secret Map of the Body
Visions of the Human Energy Structure
consisting of
The Great Mirror: Praise-Biography of the Precious One from Lhadong
by Chen Ngawa Rinchen Den
and
The Hidden Description of the Vajra Body
by Gyalwa Yangönpa
Translated from Tibetan and Annotated by Elio Guarisco
Foreword
I am very glad that here, the biography and an important work of Gyalwa Yangönpa have been translated into English. Yangönpa was an exceptional yogin of the Drugpa lineage, known for his high realization, who left an indelible imprint on the teaching of generations of Tibetan masters of different traditions. On the table beside my pillow, I keep old handwritten books by Yangönpa and by his teacher Götsangpa that were brought from Tibet to save them from destruction.
Reading these teachings is a great inspiration and support for practice. Every word is a living Dharma that shines with their realization: reading them is like exploring the beautiful vast space.
Drugu Choegyal Thutob Yonten Gyatso
Preface
I came across Gyalwa Yangönpa’s Hidden Description of the Vajra Body (rdo rje lus kyi sbas bshad) in 1998, while translating for a Tibetan doctor who was giving a three-month course in Tibetan medicine at Shang Shung Institute in Conway, Massachusetts. Having inserted a few sections of Yangönpa’s text into a book he had prepared for his classes, the doctor pointed out to me its particular relevance to Tibetan medicine. This sparked my curiosity, and I eventually decided to translate it in order to study its content and make it available in English. I have since come to realize that the Hidden Description of the Vajra Body is a unique work whose importance far exceeds its scanty notions of traditional Tibetan medicine.
Reading through the Hidden Description of the Vajra Body, I became curious about the person behind the book, and convinced that the eventual publication of the translation would be more meaningful if it included the author’s biography. So I ventured to translate The Great Mirror (me long chen mo), the most extensive and complete biography of Yangönpa, written by his main disciple, Chen Ngawa Rinchen Den (b. 1202?).
The translation of the text on the vajra body was undertaken at different moments over the last ten years, as my understanding of its content developed. The text is straightforward. Its language is not particularly difficult to grasp, but the principles and reasons behind many of Yangönpa’s explanations are not easy to understand. Their clarification would be the task of a complete commentary that does not yet exist.
Nowadays, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find Tibetans who are able to fully comprehend these ancient texts. Lacking such support, in translating this text I relied principally on the knowledge I acquired during the many years I worked in Darjeeling on the translation of Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye’s Encyclopedia of Indo-Tibetan Knowledge. However, to avoid falling into erroneous personal interpretations, I have always tried to discuss difficult points and concepts with my colleagues.
I have provided an introduction that will hopefully assist the reader to approach Yangönpa’s personage and text. Any inconsistencies or errors will, I am sure, be corrected by future writers.
Reading through Willa Blythe Miller’s 2013 dissertation, Secrets of the Vajra Body: Dngos pa’i gnas lugs and the Apotheosis of the Body in the Work of Rgyal ba Yang dgon pa, has been very interesting and useful.
I wish to express my gratitude to those who helped me with this project. In particular, Oliver Leick, the director of the Shang Shung Institute of Austria, tirelessly worked to secure financial donations so that I did not have to worry about livelihood issues. I wish to thank Adriano Clemente, with whom I often consulted on the translation, and whose advice certainly improved its accuracy. The editorial work of Judith Chasnoff has surely enhanced the overall quality of this book. I thank the staff of Shang Shung Publications for their constant and inspired work, and the Padmakara Translation Group for allowing me to use some passages from the Treasury of Precious Qualities.
Drugu Choegyal Rinpoche graciously allowed his beautiful watercolor of Garab Dorje to be used on the front page of this book, and its owner, Giorgio Dall’Orto, an expert in Tibetan art and literature, gave permission for its photographic reproduction. Choegyal Rinpoche also provided the foreword.
I wish to thank Chögyal Namkhai Norbu, renowned incarnation of Drugpa Ngawang Namgyal, for being a constant inspiration for my life and work. Chögyal Namkhai Norbu personifies the knowledge and behavior of the exemplary human being and amazing spiritual practitioner that was Yangönpa.
After several years of intermittent work on this project, I am happy to now be able to bring to light something of the amazing life and thought of an extraordinary yogin, whose legacy has penetrated the teachings of the masters of all the lineages that succeeded him.
Elio Guarisco
Lake Como 2015
Contents
Foreword
Preface
PART ONE. Translator’s Introduction
This Book
Yangönpa’s Time
Yangönpa’s Early Life
The Hermit of Ko Cliff
The Vulture’s Nest Yogin
Visionary Encounters with Lama Shang
The Crown Jewel of Tibetan Scholars
His Most Cherished Teacher
Other Transmissions Received
Accomplishments
Yangönpa’s Passing
Yangönpa’s Writings
Yangönpa’s Spiritual Legacy
Yangönpa’s Vision of the Vajra Body
The Hidden Description: Opening Verses
The Fundamental Nature of Things
The Fundamental Nature of the Body
The Channels
The Three Main Channels
The Vital Essence of Bodhichitta
Unclean Substances
Thought
The Fundamental Nature of the Voice
The Central Role of the Life-Sustaining Wind
Karmic Wind and Wisdom Wind
Energy-Wind as Sound
The Fundamental Nature of the Mind
Vital Essence
Daily Cycle
Monthly Cycle
Yearly Cycle
Life Cycle
Great Bliss
Wisdom, Non-Thought, and Contemplation
Inseparability of Body, Voice, and Mind
The Naturally Accomplished Spiritual Path
The Naturally Present Final Fruit
Concluding Verses of Yangönpa’s Hidden Description of the Vajra Body
Yangönpa’s Syncretic Approach
PART TWO. The Great Mirror: The Remarkable Life of the Shri Mountain Hermit
The Brief Praise-Biography of the Great Gyalwa Yangönpa
The Praise-Biography of the Great Gyalwa Yangönpa
Birthplace
Family
Childhood and Early Training
Spiritual Development, Teaching, and Altruistic Works as a Lay Practitioner
Meeting Kotragpa and Receiving Monastic Ordination
Meeting Götsangpa, the Vulture’s Nest Dweller
Experiences in Retreat
Inspiration for the Hidden Description of the Vajra Body
Dreams and Visions
Demonstrating Clairvoyance
Giving the Dharma to Humans, Nonhumans, Ḍākinīs, and Local Deities
Protecting the People from the Mongol Invasions
The Great Torma and Other Great Offerings
Resolving Conflicts in Troubled Times
Meeting Shang Rinpoche in Dreams and Visions
Meeting the Great Sakya Pandita
Wondrous Experiences in Lhasa
Yangönpa’s Spiritual Father: The Drigung Lama
Coming of Age as a Great Spiritual Teacher
Yangönpa’s Passing
Lhadongpa’s Letter of Testament
Invocation for Pacification of the Age of Turmoil, and for the Welfare of Tibet, by Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Thaye
PART THREE. The Hidden Description of the Vajra Body
Homage and Introductory Remarks
The Base: How All the Phenomena of the World and of Its Transcendence Exist as the Fundamental Nature of Body, Voice, and Mind
Introduction
The Fundamental Nature of the Body, the Vajra Body of All Enlightened Beings
How the Body Is Formed through the Five Manifest Awakenings
The Five Outer Manifest Awakenings
The Five Inner Manifest Awakenings
How the Fundamental Nature of Channels Exists
Introduction on the Channels and the Four Chakras
Extensive Explanation of the Fundamental Nature of the Channels
The Central Channel
The Right and Left Channels: Rasanā and Lalanā
The Eight Channels That Branch Off from the Head Chakra of Great Bliss
The Eight Channels That Branch Off from the Chakra of Enjoyment at the Throat
The Eight Channels That Branch Off from the Chakra of Phenomena at the Heart
The Eight Channels That Branch Off from the Chakra of Emanation at the Navel
The Fundamental Nature of the Channels of the Four Chakras
The Channels of the Crown of the Head Chakra
The Channels of the Throat Chakra
The Channels of the Heart Chakra
The Channels of the Navel Chakra
The Channels of the Chakra of the Secret Place
Other Peculiar Channels
The Channels of the Provocations
The Channels of Sorrow
The Six Undesirable Channels
The Male, Female, and Neuter Channels
The Vital Essence of Bodhichitta
The Unclean Substances
Thought
The Fundamental Nature of the Voice, the Vajra Voice of All Enlightened Beings
The Energy-Winds of the Five Elements
The Coarse Energy-Winds
The Ten Energy-Winds (Root and Branch)
The Types of Energy-Winds
The Flow of the Energy-Winds
The Colors and Spans of the Energy-Winds of the Four Elements
The Variation in Flow of the Energy-Winds by Day and by Night
The Chief of All Energy-Winds
The Subtle Energy-Winds and the Wisdom Energy-Wind
The Syllables
Vocal Resonation
Coordination
Words
The Fundamental Nature of the Mind, the Vajra Mind of All Enlightened Beings
The Vital Essence of Bodhichitta
The Pure Essences
The Seven Organic Components
The Fundamental Nature of the White and Red Constituents
Cycles of the Vital Essences
The Vital Essence Cycle during a Solar Day
The Vital Essence Cycle during a Lunar Month
The Vital Essence Cycle during a Year
The Vital Essence Cycle in the Course of a Human Life
Great Bliss
The Five Wisdoms
Non-Thought
Contemplation
The Fundamental Nature of the Body, Voice, and Mind as Inseparable: the Vajra of the Wisdom of the Inseparability of Body, Voice, and Mind of All Enlightened Beings
The Path: How the Aspects of the Path Are Complete by Establishing That Body, Voice, and Mind Inseparable Are the Method and Knowledge
During Formation, Forming as Method and Knowledge
While Living, Living as Method and Knowledge
While Dying, Dying as Method and Knowledge
Formation of the Body as the Creation Phase
Living as the Completion Phase
The Fruit: How the Qualities of the Final Fruit Are Complete by Ascertaining That Body, Voice, and Mind Inseparable Is the Perfect State of an Enlightened Being
During Formation, Forming as a Perfect Enlightened Being
While Living, Living as a Perfect Enlightened Being
The Dimension Endowed with Seven Features
While Dying, Dying as a Perfect Enlightened Being
Conclusion
Concluding Verses
Colophon
APPENDIX ONE. Collected Works of Gyalwa Yangönpa
APPENDIX TWO. Unpublished Works and Spoken Words of Yangönpa
APPENDIX THREE. Five Outer and Five Inner Manifest Awakenings
APPENDIX FOUR. Stages of Embryonic and Fetal Development, and Birth
APPENDIX FIVE. Five Root and Five Branch Energy-Winds
APPENDIX SIX. Classification of the Energy-Winds
APPENDIX SEVEN. Colors and Spans of the Energy-Winds of the Five Elements
APPENDIX EIGHT. The Thirty-Two Channels of the Four Chakras and Sacred Places
APPENDIX NINE: The Channels of the Five Chakras
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Available from the webshop of Shang Shung Publications
Related Posts
Tags
Share This
