ODonovan, Siofra.

The Great Perfection of Non-Sectarianism:

rDzogs chen in the Bon and Buddhist Traditions of Tibet.
Tibet Journal [Dharamsala], vol. 29, no. 1 (Spring 2004), pp. 56-84.

The Great Perfection of Non-Sectarianism: rDzogs chen

in the Bon and Buddhist Traditions of Tibet
Siofra O'Donovan

INTRODUCTION
rDzogs chen is a teaching of both the Bon and Buddhist traditions of Tibet. In
this very fact one may see the value of rDzogs chen as a non-sectarian doctrine. In
unravelling its origins, lineage and transfonnations one gets a glimpse of the con
troversy that this doctrine evoked from orthodox scholars and religious kings from
the 10th century at the time of the Phyi dar, the Second Diffusion of Buddhism in
Tibet which took place in Western Tibet under the Gu ge-Pu hrang Kings.
What were the criteria for this teaching to be condemned as apocryphal? rDzogs
chen teachings had, according to orthodox Tibetan Buddhism, no traceable Sanskrit
origins and was frequently placed, during and after the phyi dar, under the rubric of
apocrypha along with many other rNying rna pa Tantras from the snga darl that
could not claim an original Sanskrit sources. rDzogs chen carne to be associated
with either with Ch'an Buddhism from China, (which had been supposedly evicted
from Tibet after the 8th c. Great Debate at Samye), with degenerate tantras that had
been in circulation during the Dark Period (9-1 Oth c.) after Giang dar rna, or with Bon
since it was the highest teaching of that tradition as it was of the rNying rna pa
tradition.
Tucci had pointed out' that the early development of Tibetan Buddhism was not
as simple as the orthodoxy would have us believe: "Only systematic research in the
history and beginning of the rDsogs e'en [sic] may permit one to judge the extent to
which the tradition must be revised as regards these events."
What was it that made these teachings so controversial-was it their actual doctri
nal content Or their association with unorthodox strands of Buddhism and non
Buddhism? Was the rDzogs chen doctrine truly apocryphal or was it a non-sectarian
gem, that was eventually sequestered by all the sects of Tibetan Buddhism? Per
haps because it was non-sectarian, it was appropriated by sects.

Acknowledgements: Sarnten Karmay, Tadeusz Skorupski, The Arts and Humanities Re

search Board, British Library scholars Sam van Schaik and Jacob Dalton, Isabelle Onians,
Philip Denwood, the Dzogchen Community of Britain (Maciek Sikora), Panchen btml
Rinpoche, Helmut Tauscher of Vienna University, Declan Kibcrd of University College
Dublin, Michael Morris, Gyalpo Tashi and Dr. Burnchung, Kerry McBride, Victor Langheld
of'Victor's Vlay', my parents Donal and Jenny O'Donovan, my sister Kristin who gave me
the shed to ',.\'fite this in, John Cunningham for proof-reading, the people ofSpiti Valley who
inspired me to these studies, Geshe-la Bon lama of Bon Community in Choglamsar, Ladakh,
HubertAquilliere for his generosity, O.P.Negi, HCNegi and the people ofNako and Dhankar
villages in Spiti, Himachcl Pradesh, India.
Dedicated to Ven. Panchen btrul Rinpochc

PART ONE: THE ORIGINS AND LINEAGES OF THE RDZ OGS CHEN TEACHlNGS
1.1 THE ORIGIN OF THE TERM RDZOGS CHEN
Because early translators in Tibet had no standard terminology, the etymology of
the word rDzogs chen is unclear. The tenn rdzogs pa chen po, the great perfection,
is not listed in the Mahavyutpatti which contains Sanskrit equivalents to Tibetan
words.' Scholars have claimed that with this omission it is implied that the term
rdzogs pa chen po has no Sanskrit original, and is therefore an indigenous Tibetan
word.4However, the term mahasanti appears in the ' Sanskrit' colophons of Tibetan
translations of rDzogs chen Tantras, but this is not Sanskrit according to Namkhai
Norbu Rinpoche, because the tantras of rDzogs chen were translated from Uddiyana
language and not Sanskrit. Therefore this must be a word from Uddiyana.5 Samten
Karmay has argued, on the other hand, that the term was adapted from the term
rdzogs chen in the Guhyagarbha tantra (Tib. gSang ba snying po, henceforth SNy),
a controversial tantra prevalent in the

9-11th

centuries which will be discussed

later' He maintains that the whole philosophy and meditative tradition of rDzogs
chen seemed to have grown out of the Mahayoga tradition. The confusion over the
tenn rDzogs chen indicates the greater confusion over the origins of its doctrine.

1.2 RDZOGS CHEN IN THE BON TRADlTlON OF TfBET

The Bonpo tradition of rDzogs chen teachings spread from Zhang zhung, an an
cient kingdom in Western Tibet whose capital \vas in Khyung lung ngul mkhar near
Mt Kailash.7 The religion of Zhang zhuug was Bon and later followers of Bon claim
their religious teachings came from sTag gzig8 to Zhang zhung and so it \vas from
there that rDzogs chen was transmitted to Tibet.9
Zhang zhung was annexed by King Srong brtsan sgam po (617-698) of the Yarluug
Dynasty in Central Tibet. Whether or not there was a definitive conflict between
Tibet and Zhang zhung constitutes an historical problem for some scholars.lo
Despite Khri srong Ide brtsan's championing of Buddhism in the 9th Century, Tibet
had by no means been fully converted to Buddhism by the latter half of the eighth
century. 'Recalcitrant forces'II played havoc with the erection of the first Buddhist
monastery at Samye (completed in 775 CE), and this may have been due to the work
of the indigenous priests who were threatened by the new religion. 'The difficulties
the promoters ofthe new religion faced were attributed to evil ministers and to Giang
Dar rna or to local gods ... In retrospect this opposition was identified with Bon. '12

The principal difference between Bonpo and rNying rna pa rDzogs chen is lin
eage, and for both traditions the rDzogs chen teachings are the pinnacle of their
respective Nine Vehicles" (theg pa rim dgu.) Some of the controversy surrounding
the rDzogs chen doctrine arises from the fact that it is also the highest teaching of
the Bon tradition, indeed the 'Supreme Way' (bla med theg pal which describes the
absolute, referred to as the basis (gzhi or SkI. alaya). The categories of insight, con
templation, practice and achievement are referred to as the teachings of the Great
Perfection, or rDzogs chen.

14

The Nine ways of BonIS encompass the whole range

of Tibetan religious practice except the scholastic way of the dGe lugs pas.
There are three transmissions of Bon rDzogs chen teachings: the A Khrid, rDzogs
chen and sNyan rgyud. The A Khrid16 form a fun meditative training. Bru chen (1242-

58 THE TIBET JOURNAL

1290) was responsible for its final codification

Khrid thun mtshans bco Ing. "

into fifteen main practices in the A

The second transmission, the rDzogs chen, is based on a textual cycle called the
rDzogs pa chen po yang rtse klong chen which is based on a set of teachings from
the sNga dar called bsgrags pa skor gsum, the Three Proclamations, (Henceforth
GKs) having been proclaimed in the realms of deities (lha), nagas (klu) and men (mi)
and are said to have been brought to Zhang zhung from sTag gzig and from Zhang
zhung to Tibet in the 8th Century when they were hidden during King Khri smng
Ide brtsan's so-called persecution of Bon. " The teachings were discovered by gZhod
ston dNgos grub grags pa behind a statue of Vairocana, a fact which will later be dis
cussed in relation to links between Bon and rNying ma pa traditions. These teachings
are predominantly theoretical.l?
The Zhang zhung snyan brgyud, (Henceforth ZhZh) however, is the most impor
tant lineage for Bon rDzogs chen. These originated from the Primordial Teacher (ye
nyid kyi ston pal Kun tu bzang po (the Primordial Buddha Samantabhadra, the ulti
mate Dhannakaya aspect of Buddhahood who transmitted the rDzogs chen teach
ing to Vajrasattva)20. This was then transmitted (dgongs rgyud) to 'Nine Well-gone
Ones' (bder gshegs dgu), received by 'the Twenty-four Individuals (gang zag nyi
shu rtsa bzhi) of Zhang zhung the last of which was Gyer spung sNang bzher slod
po (8th C.)21 who protected the Bonpo Zhang zhung texts when King Khri srong Ide
brtsan invaded Zhang zhung.
Another cycle of teachings in Bon rDzogs chen is the Ye khri mtha' sel (Yktha) by
Dran pa nam mkha' who was also a disciple of Padmasambhava, and said to have
converted from Bon to Buddhism, was no difference between Bon and Buddhism
and concealed the Bon teachings at the time of its persecution. Like the rNying rna
canon, the Bonpo canon, structured by gShen rab mi bo che, contains many gTer rna.
The Bon canon is grouped under four sections (sde) of mdo, 'bum, rgyud and mdzod,
the latter being the canon of rDzogs Chen."
In tracing the lineages of Bon rDzogs chen one does not become any clearer about
its origins. That the teachings came from sTag gzig may imply that Bon teachings,
which are so close to Buddhism, albeit heterodoxically, came from the Central Asian
Region along with Manicheism and Christianity." [t is possible, according to Namkhai
Norbu, that there was a Central Asian form ofBuddhism that embraced rDzogs chen
and Tantra which was introduced to Zhang zhung before the official introduction of
Buddhism to Tibet from India in the 7th-8th Centuries. Leading from that, it is also
possible that both lineages (of Bon and Buddhist rDzogs chen) originated in Ud
diyana. This would mean that before the Yarlung Dynasty there were close connec
tions between Zhang zhung and Uddiyana and sTag gzig." Others have speculated
that rDzogs chen came from Persian sources and was prevalenl in Tibet well before
Padmasambhava's arrival at Samye.25 Samten Kannay believes that this is mere specu
lation as there is no evidence for this.26 Yet he concedes that Namkhai Norbu could be
correcl in his assertion that the origin ofrDzogs chen meditation goes back to gShen
rab mi bo che, the founder of the Bon religion."
1.3
The

RDZOGS CHEN !-:--J THE RNYING MA PA TRADITION

Vairo '<ira 'bag (V db) gives a mythical account of the diffusion ofrDzogs chen.28

Chapter IV, 'the history of the doctrine of non-action in the world', narrates the

THE GREAT PERFECTION OF NON-SECTARIANISM

59

legend of dGa' rab rdo tje and his birth in Uddiyana. Vairapani conveyed Atiyoga to
dGa' rab rdo rie, who had a memory that contained all the scriptures and the six
million four hundred thousand verses of the Great Perfection.29 Maiiiusrimitra then
studied the doctrine under him for 75 years and divided the six million four hundred
thousand verses of the Great Perfection into three classes: the Mind Series (sems
sde), the Space Series (klong sde) and the Upadesa or Secret Instruction Series (man
ngag gi sde) he then divided the most esoteric Upadesa known as the sNying thig,
the 'essence of the mind', into tvvo classes: the oral transmission (snyan brgyud)
and the explanatory tantras (bshad rgyud)." His testament encapsulates the es
sence of the rDzogs chen teachings and is known as 'The Three Phrases which strike
the Essential Point' (Tshig gsum gnad brdeg).
Srisimha and Buddhaiiiana were disciples ofMafiiusrimtra. Srisimha passed the
teachings down to Jfianasutra, Vimalamitra, Padmasambhava and Vairocana, the
Tibetan translator, but there are no references before the 13th Cll to Srisimha meeting
Vairocana in India." If he was a historical teacher who passed on the rDzogs chen
precepts to Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra and Vairocana, then, according to Kannay,
he would be the source of rDzogs chen in Tibet. But this may not be the case since
the stories are legendary and not historical. Karmay suggests that this points to the
fundamental problem that one faces with Tibetan history, which is the tendency of
hagiographers to push the sources of the Tibetan civilisation back to India in order
to authenticate i1.33
The second account of the origin of rDzogs chen in Tibet in the rNying rna pa
tradition concerns Padmasambhava. This too asserts an Indian origin of rDzogs
chen. The colophons of the text Man ngag Ita ba 'j phreng ba (the Rosary of Theo
ries, being the King of Precepts, HenceforthMtPh) refer to Padmasambhava as the
author and he wrote it before he left Tibet. Its principal source is the SNy, a Mahayoga
tantra translated into Tibetan in the 8th C. The MtPh is a bka' rna, an orally transmit
ted text as opposed to the other texts of Padmasambhava which are gter rna. Half of
the MtPh concerns the Great Perfection (mahasanti) presented as the third of the
'tantric vehicle of inner yogic means. '34
In the eighth century, rDzogs chen was not considered to be a separate, autono
mous vehicle which formed part oftheMahayoga cycle of tantras, of which the SNy
was one.35 Later, (9-1lth c.) rDzogs chen was considered as a separate vehicle to
enlightenment." Atiyoga or rDzogs chen is the highest of the rNying rna pa theg pa
dgu, or Nine Vehicles, three of which are the sutric paths of the sravaka, pratyeka
buddha and bodhisattva. The tantric consists of six levels, three outer tantras and
three inner tantras, of which rDzogs chen or Atiyoga is the highest.]7 Visualisations
and internal esoteric yoga are dispensed with the method is not of renunciation or
transformation as it is with the Sutras and Tantras, but the path of self-liberation
(rang grol lam).]8 The rDzogs chen Tantras in Atiyoga belong to the three series of
teachings which have been discussed above.
1.4 LINKS BET\.,,'EEN THE B01\' AND RNYING MA PA TRADITIO-:-JS OF TIBET
From Per Kvaorne's study of the Bonpo rDzogs chen A Khrid system, which origi
nated in gCang, it seems clear that it developed in close connection with the rNying
rna pa school, which may have been inevitable since the teachings are shared by
the two traditions." That the teaching is common to both Bon and rNying rna may

60 THE TIBET JOURNAL

be the greatest clue to the mystery of the Dark Period, the time at which both the
Bonpo and rNying rna pa sects were founded. The rDzogs chen doctrine emerged
from out of that period as a fonnulated doctrine." The three systems of meditatioo
in Bonpo rDzogs chen have their parallels in rNying rna pa Atiyoga and the Three
Series in that Vehicle." The A Khrid (the first system of meditation in the Boopo
rDzogs chen system), as we have said, developed in close connection with the rNying
rna pa school in the area of gCaog. Kvreme has found that the gTer stan mam thar
of the Rin chen gter mchjod [sic], the volume that contains biographies of the
principal rNying rna pa Treasure Discoverers (gter ston)," includes many Bonpo gter
ston, one of whom is A ya bon po Iha 'bum, a great gter stan of gcang. Kvreme further
states43 that the rDzogs chen system, the second system in Bonpo rDzogs chen,
and its group of texts rDzogs chen yang rIse klang, corresponds to the Buddhist
tradition of sems sde, the mind series. Finally the ZhZh, the most important system
of meditation in the Bonpo tradition, with its belief in the kun gzhi, (Primordial
Wisdom), corresponds to the man ngag gi sde, the third series rNying rna pa rDzogs
chen, otherwise known as the Upadesa.
I would suggest that Vairocana functions as a link between Bon and rNying rna.
What complicates Vairocana's historicity is that he is presented differently in the
Bon and Buddhist traditions: in the Buddhist tradition he was Khri srong Ide brtsan's
translator, but in the Bonpo tradition he was revered as a scholar who upheld both
Buddhism and Bon." The Treasury of Good Sayings says that the theg rim was
translated from Gilgit language by Vairocana. In this he declares that he entrusted
this Bon teaching to the king.'s Therefore it may not be coincidental that the Bonpo
GKs was discovered behind a statue of Vairocana.46 Furthennore, Vairocana \vas
originally a Bonpo called Ba gar g.yung drung gsas, a disciple of Dran pa nam mkha'.
Like his eclectic master he too converted in order to save the Bon teachings from
destruction.47 Some Bonpo works state that Dran pa nam mkha', the Bon master,
revised Bonpo works to align them with Buddhist theory and preached them to
Vairocana who embraced both faiths.48
Vairocana is supposed to have translated the 18 Sems sde texts (sems sde bco
brgyad), the first of these, the Rigpa 'i khu byug, (the 'Cuckoo ofIntellect', hence
forth RKby)'" does not however mention him in the colophons. It may have been
written in the later ninth century, being one of the Tun Huang Ms." In terms of the
links between Bon and Buddhism, the commentary to RKby is revealing. It explains
that the "Cuckoo of Intellect" is a metaphor (dpe) but the real meaning (don) is:
'The ornaments which are manifestations created by awareness" (rig byed snang
ba'i rgyan ni don).'l The Question is, why the cuckoo, which is a pervasive symbol
employed in the literature and lore of the Bon tradition, and is the sacred bird of
gShen rab mi bo, the founder of Bonpo who manifests himself as a cuckoo? The
blue colour of the cuckoo is a symbol of Bon teachings which are said to have come
from the sky. The Cuckoo for the Bonpo is 'symbolic both of revelation and knowl
edge. '52
The second of the nine Bonpo rDzogs chen texts is also called Rigpa 'i khu byug,
first taught by a Bonpo sage who transfonned himself into a cuckoo on ajuniper tree
and sang the 'Cuckoo of Intellect"; They are not identical; the Bonpos may have
borrowed the title from the early Dun HuangMS." However, the title of the rNying
rna pa text points to a link between the traditions.

THE GREAT PERFECTION OF NONSECTARIANISM

61

This leads to a more serious contention between Bon and rNying rna: blatant
plagiarism.55 Bonpo texts have been transformed into Buddhist ones by creating
Sanskrit titles to convince one of Indian origins.

This is just one of a few cosmetic

tricks employed to convince. However the content remained unchanged with no

contradictions ensuing on the philosophical level, which does in fact imply a com
mon source in the context at least of rDzogs chen. Karmay follows from this that the
critics of rDzogs chen have suspected the dominance of non Buddhist teachings in
rDzogs chen.56
The

rGyud kyi rgyal po gser gyi rus sbal rdo rje theg pa r[sa ba 'j rgyw:f7 from

the rNying rna pa canon the n\'ying ma'i rgyud 'bum, (NGb), a sems sdetext suppos
edly translated from Sanskrit (also by Vairocana) has its counterpart Bonpo text in
the GKs discovered behind the Vairocana statue in the 11th century.'" Like the
Buddhist version it has 30 chapters which are identical to the rNying rna pa texts
except for the proper names and terms. 59 It would seem that the rNying rna pa and
Bonpo traditions have a common source for rDzogs chen sems sde.60 I would suggest
that the link between Bon and rNying rna pa is rDzogs chen and the single greatest
difference between the two traditions is the contested origins of those teachings:
one tradition insists that sTag gzig is the place of origin, another that Uddiyana is.

PART Two: RDzOGs CHEN TN THE EARLY DIFFUSION OF BUDDl-llSll:! IN TIBET

2.1 THE GREAT DEBATE AT SAMYE
For some orthodox Tibetan Buddhists, rDzogs chen may be nothing but the left
overs of the doctrines of Hva Shang Mahayana which wereChinese Ch'an Bud
dhist (gcig car bal. Tibetan hagiographers such as Bu tson and 'Gos 10 tsa ba main
tain that the doctrine was banned after the Indian Buddhists had made a legendary
victory over the Chinese Buddhists at the Great Debate at bSam yas in the 8th
Century, which was presided over by King Khri srong Ide brtsan.61 Such interpreta
tions, reflect the urge they had to present the early stages of the conversion of
Tibet to Buddhism as the work ofindian Madhyamaka scholars and to discredit the
possibility of anyCentral Asian orChinese infu
l ence.
Santarakrita and Kamalasila [his student], wrote works in both the Madhyamaka
tradition and the tradition of Buddhist logic, Santarakrita was the monastic advisor
responsible for the founding of the fIrst Tibetan monastery at bSam yas and that
Kamalasila won a debate securing the dominance ofindian Buddhism in Tibet. It is
hard to know even today whether they are more justly venerated as logicians, Madhya
makas, or precursors of the long line of successful missionaries to the land beyond
the Hima!ayas.'62
The notion of a debate between Hva sang and the 'spontaneists' on the one hand
and Kamalasila and the 'gradualists' on the other, have haunted Tibetan Buddhist
hagiographers and fuelled controversy since the religion was said to have been
fIrst established in the 8thC, but more especially from the 10th century, the time of
the Phyi dar in Tibet.
If rDzogs chen was the Tibetan version ofCh'an, as it was according to some63
that was perhaps more heretical than its being an indigenous Tibetan Bonpo teach
ing, or a Hindu Vedanta teaching. Tucci deemed the origin of rDzogs chen to be
fromCh'an Buddhism and that both had their origins in the Mahasiddha tradition

62

THE TIBET JOURNAL

of India, the so-called Sahajayana64 and Stein" referred to 'the lineage of the
Dzokchen-pa[sic] order, which belongs to the Nyingma pa[sic] school that teaches
a form of Tantrism in which some material from Chinese Dhyana (Cha'an) [sic] is
preserved.'
It may be the case that the Chinese had not been 'defeated' and the whole legend

was rather less black and white than the Tibetan religious historians would have us
believe, as the undercurrent to the mythologised polemic of ' gradualist' and'spon
taneist' parties may have been political," with the principal Tibetan supporters of
the Indian schools being from the 'Ba' clan and on the other side from the 'Bro clan
from the eastern borders around Tun huang. Ruegg wonders if the Debate was a
Sino-Indian political controversy, or a rivalry between Tibetan magnates and their
families, and concludes that the controversy was neither between India and China,
nor between internal magnates, but a question of doctrinal traditions differentiated
according to region and lineage.67 He insists the debate was not a later fabrication
and insists that the rejection of all rNying rna pa rDzogs chen was not possible, that
there was in fact no 'conspiracy theory.''' I would suggest that if the Debate was
fabricated, it may have been an attempt to determine a symbolic expression of a
deeply rooted tension that had existed since Buddhism had come to China: be
tween the two approaches to enlightenment
Tucci certainly admitted that the rNying rna pas dogmatically supported the
followers of the gcig car ba method, and that they had a far larger influence than
orthodoxy maintained.69 Later revelations stemming from the manuscripts found
in the Dun Huang cave no.

17 reveal that there seemed to be no evidence for any

persecutions, but reveal an ecunemical King who was a fierce investigator of doc
trines." It is interesting to note from Snellgrove that Jfianendra, the Abbot of bSarns
yas, himself a devoted scholar of the Madhyarnaka-yogacara school, met with
opposition from Myang Ting nge ' dzin who practised rDzogs chen in the rNying rna
pa tradition and was the teacher of the future king Sad na legs. The Indian Buddhist
'contingent' was not as united as historians maintain. Vairocana \\fas also sup
posed to have been in contlict with the Abbot over doctrinal concerns which may
have been to do with his connection to the older tantras and rDzogs chen; he was
then sent into exile.71
That Hva Shang school continued in Tibet seems to be evident.72 The question
however remains whether this school was a) the origin of rDzogs chen in Tibet, b)
the greatest influence on rDzogs chen, or c) a strong influence, but one of many
including the Bonpo tradition and the Mahayoga tradition.
2.2

SPO TANEOUS AND GRADUAL E1\'UGHTENMENT

The debate between gradualism and spontaneism was already an old one to the
Chinese, from the 4th or 5th Century, when 'Gradualism' had taken root in North
China and 'Subitism' in the South,n Hva Shang would have corne to the Debate, if
there was one, well versed in the rhetoric required for a discussion on gradualism and
spontaneisrn. That he was challenged could well be true, and he may well have had
his case accepted by the King" and went back to Dun Huang a happy man,
The two approaches to enlightenment are ofren described in older Tibetan texts
as 'rim gyis pa' for Karnalasila's gradual school and 'gcig carba' forHva Shang's

THE GREAT PERFECTION OF NON-SECTARIANISM

63

'subitist' or 'sudden' school." The 'Gradualist' procedure is described as a pro

gressive ascent lowards the peak of a mountain and the'Simultaenist' with an eagle's
sudden descent to the top of a tree from the sky, or above." rDzogs chen has been
referred to as 'the doctrine of spontaneity' (slsol med kyi btsan pal by Tibetan
scholars since the 13th Century and Western Scholars from the 20th Century," but
this does not allow one to conclude that is all that it consists of, and this is already
clear from Part One in which the links between the Bon and rNying rna pa tradi
tions of rDzogs chen have been outlined (albeit historically and not doctrinally).
Sang rgyas ye she's bSam gtan mig gi

bsam gtan (SM, sometimes known as rNal

'byor mig gi bsam gtan), which is the earliest (8th-9th c.) commentary on rDzogs
chen by a Tibetan author," contains within it a chapter devoted to the subject of
Gradualists and Simultaneists. Later rNying rna pas represent him as a tantric black
magician (ngag sngags) who frightened GIang Dar rna with his black magic and wrote
SM to purify his bad kanna accumulated through magic practice.79 Leaning on
Karmay, I would suggest that the rNying rna pas chose to disassociate themselves
from gNubs Sangs rgyas yes shes because of the tendency of rDzogs chen critics
to accuse the rNying rna pas of presenting works of gNubs Sangs rgyas ye shes as
works ofIndian origin.go This text will be discussed in greater detail in section 2.4, in
the context of the relationship between rDzogs chen and Ch'an,
2.3

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RDZOGS CHEN AND CH' At-: BUDDHISM

Western critics have also seen rDzogs chen as not only parallel to Ch'an but an
actual survival or remnant of the Ch'an that was prevalent in 8th Century Tibet.
Tucci's premise that Ch'an never disappeared from Tibet but survived in the form
of rDzogs chen,s, has been pervasive in western studies of rDzogs chen. Yet he did
not investigate this claim: he does not demonstrate the actual simHarities between

the two doctrines in Minor Buddhist Texts . David Germano maintains that rDzogs
.

chen stemmed from Buddhist tantra (Mahayoga) and Ch'an and obscure indig
enous elements in Tibet." Although Ch'an thought manifests in the Sems sde, the
sources of the Great Perfection are mainly tantric. The influence of Ch'an could
have, he concedes, taken place outside Tibetan cultural domains 150 years or so
before SM was composed.He proposes a middle ground between the 'Tuccists'
and those who reject the influence of Ch'an on rDzogs chen altogether.83
From the 13th Century on, accusations of rDzogs chen as the teaching ofHva
Shang were prevalent."' The disappearance of the gCig car ba tradition after the
'persecution' spurred the Sa skya pa and the dGe lugs pa schools on to assume that
rDzogs chen was gCig car ba masquerading as a doctrine of Indian origins.S) Did
the tradition of gCig car ba cease to exist as soon as it was banned? SM says it
survived until the time of Giang dar ma.86 gNubs chen Sangs rgyas ye shes's dis
course on rDzogs chen and this tradition shows that he could see clearly the
difference between Ch'an and rDzogs chen. In this context, SM is a very important
text. gNubs chen Sangs rgyas ye shes saw the need to clarify the doctrinal differ
ences between the two traditions.B7
gNubs chen Sangs rgyas ye shes was evidently aware of subtle philosophical
distinctions between Mahayoga and rDzogs chen and does not appear to merit the
accusations later made by the likes of Pho brang Zhi ba 'od" that he falsely pre
sented rNying rna pa texts as Sanskrit translations.

64 THE TIBET JOURNAL

When Reynolds asked Dudjom Rinpoche what was the difference between rDzogs
chen and Ch'an," he replied that the main difference lay in the fact that Ch'an
emphasises the realisations of emptiness through a non-gradual method, whereas
rDzogs chen and Mahamudra place an equal emphasis on emptiness (stong pa nyid)
and luminous clarity (gsal bal. According to him, in the state of contemplation,
emptiness and clarity are inseparable (gsal stong dbyer med). Ch'an emerged out of
the Sutra system which culminates

in the realisation of sunyata, but rDzogs chen

emerged out of the tantric context which was concerned not only with emptiness
but also with luminous clarity. Ch'an does not employ visualisations and transfor
mations of energy.
There have been many accusations against the rNying rna pas that they were
followers ofHva Shang. Sa skya Pandita Kun dga' rgyal mtshan (1181-1251) accused
rDzogs chen of being a Chinese doctrine (rgya nag gi chos) that came from Ch'an.
He railed against the doctrine of Mahamudra and rejected the notion of sudden
enlightenment in the sDom gsum rab dbye (Sa skyo bka' 'bum, Tokyo, volA, no.
132, pJ09-2-5). Sa pan claims that sGam po pa" portrayedrDzogs chen as parallel to
Mahamudra.9l The five titles that Sa skya Pandita or Sa pan attributed to Hva Shang,
were used as evidence that the rDzogs chen teachings had originated in Ch'an." Sa
pan says that Hva Shang composed the third title, mDo sde bryad cu'i khungs,
('The 80 sutras as scriptural sources') as scriptural evidence for his argument during
the Great Debate, but we cannot really be sure that Hva Shang was the author of
these texts. He claimed that after the collapse ofthe old Tibetan kingdom, texts were
circulating (i.e. rDzogs chen texts) that were based on the Upadhaya of China which
refers to Hva shang.93
If there is some truth that Ch'an influenced rDzogs chen, then we must ask what
influences are evident on the Ch'an school itself. The Yogacara (Mind Only) school
and such Sutras of the Third Turning of The Wheel of the Dharma as the Lan
kavatara Sutra had a significant influence on Ch'an Buddhism and also on rDzogs
chen.94 Yogacara emphasised the importance of meditation practice over analysis.
In the Lankavatara Sutra there are references to the doctrine of the luminous quality
of mind.95 Ch'an, when it first came to China, was linked with the LankavataraSutra.
Like Tantra and rDzogs chen, Ch'an approaches sunyata directly and experientially,
and rejects the analytical approach of Madhyarnaka. Gareth Sparham96 is convinced
that the origins of rDzogs chen are in the older Buddhism of Yoga car a which took
root in China as Ch' an which is marked by characteristics of anti-intellectualism and
a stress on religious praxis. 'In China, in combination with the non-action ideal (Ch.
Wu-wei) of Taoism led to stress on the development of stable, transcendental plane
of mental awareness ... this spread into Tibet from the Sichuan (SE) province of
Tibet.' But he admits this is not the only source of rDzogs chen, that the Yogacara
Madhyamaka philosophy prevalent in 8th c. Buddhism ofSantarakrita also had its
part to play: 'It would be surprising were rDzogs chen to have been completely
uninfluenced by [Yogacara-madhyamaka] since it presented an ideology tailor made
for the distinctive praxis of rDzogs chen ... thought seeking within itself for its own
transcendental nature.'"' He also refers to the influences of Bon and of the Indian
Mahayoga tradition, especially the SNy which will be further discussed below.
The teachings that were prevalent in the 8th-9th Centuries were based on
Mahayana sutras and treatises, especially of the Yogacara school, and these would

THE GREAT PERFECTION OF NON-SECTARIANISM

65

have been prevalent in the Dun huang area." The term 'Kun gzhi,' (Skt. alaya), the
Basis, is pivotal to rDzogs chen, but this may not have the sarne meaning that the
Yogacaras had ascribed to it. The Basis is not a store-house for karmic imprints as
it was for the Yogacaras, it was the 'receptacle and source of all phenomena of
transmigration and the state of transcending suffering'99It is the primordial condi
tion which has always been pure (ka dag) and spontaneously accomplished (lhun
grub), the very source from which all things manifest. The basic condition is per
sonified as Kun tu bzang po (kun tu bzang po'i ngang), who is the Primordial Teacher
(ye nyid kyi ston pal. He is the dharmakaya Samantabhadra, the 'All good', who is
identified with the nature of reality.'oo It is devoid of inherent nature (rang bzhin med
pal but is imbued with potential (rtsal) and manifests in many ways. It is in the
terminology that rDzogs chen, or the stylistic elements, that rDzogs chen seems to
stray from orthodoxy. That the word kun gzhi is employed and is common to both
rDzogs chen and Yogacara but imbues it with an entirely different meaning, shows
just how complex a tradition that rDzogs chen is.
If we see it in a historico-political context, what we are perhaps witnessing at this
point in the history of rDzogs chen is the struggle of one independent, more yogic
tradition in the face of the regal mission to establish an institutionalised, monastic
form of Buddhism. The later period of the Tibetan Yarlung Dynasty, under the reign
ofKlui srong Ide brtsan, Sad na legs and Ral pa chan, three indisputably Buddhist
kings, involved the propagation of Sutric Buddhism which was embodied by the
monastic establishments they tried to recreate in the style ofOdantapuri, Nalanda,
Vikramashila and so on.'O] They had no interest in promoting rDzogs chen and Tantrie
Buddhism as this ran counter to their interests, which were they that they needed
communal support for the monasteries. ]02 Lay yogis would have posed a seeming
threat to this newly emerging orthodoxy.
Finally, it must be remembered that religious councils in the history of Buddhism
are revised by historian-hagiographers to suit their own aims in propagating the
one 'true' religion as superior to others.103 Lamotte wrote about this in the context
of the Indian Buddhist Councils:
;1n order to assess the value of this tradition [the conciliar tradition], it is necessary not
only to examine the account itself, but also to compare the various narrations which
have been handed down to us.' The same problems are encountered in the effort to
determine the true events and recitations at the Councils of Vaishali and Rajagrha and
the canonicity of the sutras. One may never know what the Buddhavacana '\-vas. 'It goes
without saying that the ancient revelation has not come down to us in its entirety. There
was a loss of the original recitation' and many sutras disappeared. 104 Sa pan had declared
that the sravakas alone had heard the Buddhavacana and that even the Mahayana
teachings were not the declarations of the Buddha.llIs Taken literally then, there has
been no authentic Buddhist teaching since the Buddha's Parinirvana. Kapstein offers
that the Buddhavacana cannot be determined by such narrow criteria, but can be
'recognised owing to the coherence of a certain body of tradition and doctrine. '10(,

2.4

THE DUN HUANG MANUSCRIPTS

Dun huang had been an important Buddhist centre with numerous monasteries
governed by Tibetans during the 8th and 9th centuries.l07 Because of the discovery
in the 20th century of the Dun Huang manuscripts in caves which had been sealed
up since the 10th Century, scholars are better equipped to discern the possible

66 THE TIBET JOURNAL

influences of Ch'an on rDzogs chen. Those orthodox critics who attacked rDzogs
chen for being of theHva shang legacy have had their accusations closely exam
ined. It is still questionable whether rDzogs chen should be considered to be of
Indo-Tibetan origin, and Ch'an must be studied separately as another tradition.IO'
gNubs Sangs rgyas ye shes's lOth Century SM had encouraged a distinction bet
ween Mahayoga, Ch'an and rDzogs chen, but as we have seen he was later discred
ited as a scholar. The extant rDzogs chen texts at DunHuang prove the existence of
rDzogs chen in Tibet

in the 10thCentury'09, and they convey the most ancient rDzogs

chen teachings which reflect the oral traditions of the Sems sde and can be found
with a commentary in the British Library,110 In these texts, the terms Atiyoga, and
rDzogs chen are found, thus proving that rDzogs chen was prevalent in the early
period of Tibetan Buddhism. Recent research at the British Library has confirmed
that the dark period was a crucial stage in the Tibetan assimilation of Buddhism"',
a time when they could develop their own Buddhist traditions, drawing on the tradi
tions of China, India and their own indigenous culture.
We have already seen how the RKby in Part One reveals, as an oralSems sde text,
links between the Bon and Buddhist traditions.ll2 Karmay claims that rDzogs chen
only developed in the 10thCentUl)' in the rNying rna and Bon traditions, but Namkhai
Norbu, taking theSM, the KG, thesBas pa

i rgum chung (Buddhagupta) and RKby

'

as examples, all of which refer to the terms Atiyoga and rDzogs chen, claims that
rDzogs chen was already a developed doctrine by the 8th and 9th centuries.lll Karmay
does not believe the latter two texts dated from that time. As we have seen gNubs
Sangs rgyas had differentiated Mahayoga and rDzogs chen in the SM.'l4 Karmay
goes on to say that because ofSM, rDzogs chen was established by the 10th century,
but only as a side development of tantra. gNubs Sangs rgyas was also responsible
for transforming the MtPh into a rDzogs chen doctrine.'" In P admasambhava's
time, rDzogs chen had been part of the whole Mahayoga tradition and was not a
separate vehicle at all.1l6
Carmen Meinert writes about two manuscripts from DunHuang,'17S. Tib.689- 1
and its commentary P. Tib.699. The root text is an instruction on the nature of mind
as is transmitted in the Ch'an traditions ofHva Shang and the commentary, she
argues, reflects the local religious situation in Dun Huang, disclosing a Tibetan
understanding ofCh'an and how Ch'an concepts were woven in with rDzogs chen
ones.1l8 Meinert lists the eccentricities of the tenninology of this root text and com
mentary, which show the continuity ofCh'an thought and rDzogs chen terms.'l9She
also states that gNubs chenSangs rgyas ye shes had criticised this kind of melange
(prevalent in Inner Asian Buddhism), as he said this wasn't genuine rDzogs chen."o
She concludes that the author of the commentary resides in 'an intermediary
space between the Chinese Chan heritage and the not yet systematically formulated
Tibetan rDzogs chen system.'2' The commentary closes with a statement about the
ultimate achievement in which 'one attains the adamantine-like samadhi the bhumi
of the Buddha, [that of] all--encompassing light (kun du 'od ).' 1 22
British Library scholars are now cataloguing the DunHuang manuscripts, l2J and
are concluding that this commentary and root text reveal a mixture of Mahayoga and
Ch'an rather than rDzogs chen and Ch'an. The overall structure seems to be in the
style of Mahayoga texts. They have grouped the P.Tib.699 together with four other
manuscripts that reveal the same style and the indeed the same handwriting."4

THE GREAT PERFECTION OF NON-SECTARIANISM

67

However there is no doubt the writer was aware of rDzogs chen, meaning in this
context that he understood 'a system of immediate access to enlightenment derived
from the Mahayoga tantras. But the scholars maintain thatP.Tib.699 is a Mahayoga
commentary on a Ch'an text.'" The colophon ofP.Tib.699 uses the term Atiyoga
and describes three kinds of teachers-the Atiyoga teacher, the Sutra teacher and
the Tantra teacher:
'What is the master v,iho teaches Atiyoga like? [Like] the great garuda who cuts through
the sky yet is aware of all living beings, he clarifies the vehicles individually, yet cuts
through space .... He draw forth the greatness of the meaning. 'What is a master who
teaches the sutras like? He tcaches the divisions of the paths which one should traverse."
a master who teaches the meaning of the tantras cuts directly to the blissful union of the
words. He teaches to be appropriate that which is inappropriate for inferior scholars
... with a mind like a hidden tortoise.126

Thus the Atiyoga teacher teaches from above and simultaneously transcends
and distinguishes all the differences, the sutra teaches the gradual path. the tantric
the mundane albeit with 'secret majesty' ,127
Daisun Ueyarna128 has also done a considerable amount of work on the Dun Huang
manuscripts and has used these to clarity the Council of Tibet and the Tibetan
translation of the Buddhist canon. He found a number of Tibetan manuscripts about
Ch 'an in which Hva Shang's name appears. He focuses on P.Tib.116 which had a lot
ofCh'an material in it. He concludes thatCh'an, which had been seen as typically
Chinese, was translated into Tibetan and taught in Tibet and that Ch'an doctrine,
which was to have been banned after the Council, continued to be expounded in
Tibet. But in Tibet, theCh'an school was transformed under the influence of Madhya
maka and tantra. He stresses the need to clarity the unique deve]opment ofCh'an in
Tibet at this early period, butl29 does not refer to the connection with Mahayoga.
Such studies do clarity the Ch'an strain that met with rDzogs chen in Tibet, (as
Meinhert's study shows), but do very little to determine the actual origins of rDzogs
chen as an independent tradition in Tibet that traced its origins back to Uddiyana
or sTag gzig.Contemporary scholars such as those at the British Library reject any
possibility of the influence of indigenous Bon religious culture on rDzogs chen;
they see it as it emerged out of the dark period, and left its traces in Dun Huang.
The sems sde text RKby by Vairocana seems to indicate that there indeed was inter
influence between Bon rDzogs chen andCh'an, as does the very fact that Vairocana
was the source of rDzogs chen in the rNying rna. Current research on the Dun
Huang manuscripts, as that at the British Library, focuses on the links between
Ch'an and Mahayoga, or Ch'an and rDzogs chen. It ignores Bon theory of the
origin of rDzogs chen and the fact that it is the rDzogs chen teachings, through
Vairocana, that constitute a direct link between the rNying rna pa and Bonpo tradi
tions. To ignore this is to ignore a full and ancient tradition of Tibet.
PART THREE:

RDZDGSC HE N [N THE SECOND DIFFUSION OF BUDDI-l.lSM IN TIBET

3.1 THE DARK AGES (842- 1000)

From the time of Khri srong Ide brtsan in 8th century to Ral pa can in 9th century,
Buddhist monasteries like bSams yas grew in size and wealth. Under Ral pa can
(815-836CE) monks were taken into the government as ministers who competed with

68 THE TIBET JOURNAL

the lay nobility, although both were from the same land owning class,''" Resent
ment grew over this ecclesiastical interference in state affairs and King Ral pa can
was assassinated (838CE) by an anti-clerical faction,GIang dar rna, his brother took
the throne and the persecution was installed, whereby the monastic system was

entirely dismantled and secular and military power was reinstalled, 131

It is rDzogs chen literature that could reveal a deeper understanding of the con
fusion that followed Giang dar rna's death in Tibet from the 9th to the I I th Centu
ries,
'It was during the following period, before other powerful protectors had ap
peared on the scene, that the religious enthusiasts, later known as Bonpos and
rNying rna pas, must have continued the elaboration of their teachings, free of any
king of centralizing [sic] control, lacking the support that was always needed for
building temples and monasteries, and the scholarly guidance such institutions
usually encouraged.' 132
Although they would have been aware of higher Buddhist teachings, lower prac
tices such as astrology, oracle work and shamanism would have been prevalent at
this time. (and are to this day, as I have observed, practised in the Himalaya). Later
rNying rna pas made clear distinctions between Buddhist and non-Buddhist prac
tises and attached themselves to more scholarly traditions that had been estab

lished in the 8th Century. III The rNying rna pas were threatened by the phyi 'dar as
they were uncomfortably questioned about the authenticity of their scriptures, and
whether or not they had bona fide Sanskrit originals to prove that they were.134 They
thus sought the authority of Padmasambhava. He came to be represented, through
different versions of his life story, as the infallible authority of their tradition. 135
Many of their texts had survived through the dark ages but more were gler rna, which
were recovered in the early 11 th century. gTer rna are 'treasure-texts' which are con
cealed and later found by treasure-finders (gter ston) at opportune times, and are
contrasted to bka' rna which constitute those scriptures that originated in the 'well
stated speech' (SkI. subharitapravacana) of the Buddha.136
The gter rna are were hidden from the time ofGlang dar rna's persecution. They
have been officially dismissed as apocryphal not only by Tibetan scholars through
the centuries but also by western scholars.ll1 Tucci referred to the rNying rna pa
texts as magical, as ones that had been revealed by the mKha' 'gro rna [dakini]138 and
perpetuated by lay exorcists (khyim sngags) on the basis of an unorthodox tradi
tion that contained many Bon elements.
During the period

(842-1000)

the tantras that had been banned during the snga

dar by the Religious Council, and had flourished again after thal.1J9 Out of this grew
both the rNying rna pa and Bonpo traditions. Although the rNying rna pas could
not often produce Sanskrit originals, there can have been no break in transmission
between the first and second diffusions of Buddhism in Tibet, but as there had been
no controlling authority during the period of Dark Age, their works were certainly
considered dubious by the orthodoxy.l40
In summary, the official scholastic tradition ended in

842 but the tantric tradition

continued.Giang dar rna has been blamed by Tibetan historians for the breakdown
of religious establishment, held up as the demon ofthe Dark Age. He may not have
been anti Buddhist, in fact, 141 but the responsibility for the collapse of the monastic
enterprise fell on him as a historical burden for him to carry.

THE GREAT PERFECTION OF NON-SECTARIANISM 69

Whether or not religious degeneration was as rampant as the historians would

have us believe, literary activity in both the Bon and rNying rna pa traditions was
vast and continued well into the 10th century at Tun Huang.'42 rDzogs chen was
developing as a doctrine and many texts were being written about it, but no rDzogs
chen texts appear in the IDan dkar rna catalogue which lists translated Buddhist
texts of the early period. Despite this, two rDzogs chen texts were found in Dun
Huang, this is probably because the lDan dkar rna catalogue was compiled after the
Great Debate at bsams yas.'43 Furthermore, Mahayoga texts were found such as the
SNy and tantras ofthe Mayajala Tantra cycle (the most significant cycle of rNying
rna pa oral tradition).'44 Because these Mahayoga tantras are closely associated
with the rNying rna pas, this would surely indicate why their tantras were so contro
versial and why they had to relegate their tantras to their own canon the NGb,
outside the official bka' 'gyur. The rDzogs chen texts also fell into this category
'unofficial'. Thus we do not find Mahayoga or rDzogs chen texts in that catalogue
of the Early Diffusion.
rDzogs chen, as we have seen above, is found the very early text the MtPh, attri
buted to Padmasambhava. The SNy was the source of the MtPh.'45 and was trans
lated into Tibetan in the eighth century. If MtPh is the original source that gave
birth to rDzogs chen, it could be said that it eclectically grew out of the controver
sial SNy, sems sde and the cig car ba tradition.'" The MtPh may represent that time
at which rDzogs chen separates from Mahayoga tantra, and comes into its own.
Whether this is the case or not, its associations with this tantra would evoke condem
nations from the missionary Kings of Gu ge-Pu hrang.147

3.2

RDZOGS CHEN AND THE TANTRAS

From the time of the phyi dar, when the criteria for authenticity of a teaching was to

have a Sanskrit original, the rDzogs chen doctrine was condemned as apocryp hal
by the Gu ge-Pu hrang missionary kings.'4B Later, high-ranking dge lug pa and sa
skya pa lamas did the same up to as late as

1921, when Pha bong ka Rin po che

chub lam sgran rna (A Lamp for

condemned it as inconsistent with Atisa's Byang

the Path to Enlightenment, Henceforth ByLg), the seminal text of the Lam rim tradi
tion in Tibet.149
The contention was that rDzogs chen was not an authentic teaching of the Bud
dha. Scholars flung a medley of accusations at the doctrine, asserting that its
origins were tainted by Ch'an, Hindu Vedanta and Bon.'so The thrust of the contro
versy was over its origins, and not so much about its doctrinal content and the
question of dubious practice.
It is an irony, however, that rDzogs chen should have been so controversial since
it is less explicit in its visual imagery than the tantric tradition in general. When we
consider how explicit the imagery of tantras could be, rDzogs chen seems tame in
comparison. But those higher tantras-the Hevajra, the Kalachakra and the Guhya
samaja tantras-which during the

10-11th Centuries were referred to as Anuttara

yogatantra, or the Highest Yoga Tantra-were included in the bka ' gyur because
they had Sanskrit originals, and despite their being, as Snellgrove calls them, 'gro
tesque' .151 Snellgrove goes on to defend the rNying rna pas, asking how spurious
their tantras actually were when we see the very unorthodox assertions of the Higher
Yoga Tantra.152

70 THE TIBET JOURNAL

Gennano refers to the dark impulses of Mahayoga, of the practices of sbyor and
sgroi, (that is, sexual union and sacrifice) and contrasts this with rDzogs chen, which
'represents an aestheticised brand of tantra' . 15] 'Whereas other tantric discourses
are dominated by violent impulses, the Great Perfection seems instead to be driven
by a stronger intuition of an underlying positive force ... with the capacity to simply
dissolve these forces.'154
The associations that rDzogs chen had with the SNy had great repercussions in
the phyi dar. Chapter IX ofSNy describes the practices of sbyor (sexual union) and
sgroI (sacrifice) which became the focus ofthe highly influential edict of Gu ge King
Lha bla rna Ye shes 'od in the I I th century. ISS Because rDzogs chen was associated

with SNy, the doctrine became'guilty by association' during the phyi 'dar.
By the end of the 10th Century, when the practices of Mahayoga were the nonn,
Lha bla rna Ye shes 'od, the King of Gu ge-Pu hrang, saw the need to declare a bka'
shog, (the equivalent of a papal encyclical). He sought to outlaw the teaching and
practice of tantra, accusing adberents of this tradition of engaging on sbyor and
sgroI.156 The SNy was one of the main texts expounding these methods. 'Neverthe
less, the expression of these techniques in the Guhyagarbhatantra appears to have
a particularly subtle intention when contrasted with the overt sexual and macabre
descriptions found in other tantras.'157
SNy became the most controversial tantra in Tibet and the controversy only ended
when the Sanskrit original turned up in bsams yas in the 13th century.

ISS

Ye shes

'od's edict was issued to contend with degenerate practices. The first part gives a
summary of Buddhism, the second contains criticism on tantric practices and the
consequences of those, the third is a prohibition of the practices 'couched in warm
hearted words of advice'l 59. The SNy was the target of the edict.
False doctrine called rDzogs chen is flourishing in Tibet. [45]
The views of this doctrine are mistaken.
Heretical tantras, pretending to be Buddhist, are also spread in Tibet.
These have brought harm to the kingdom in the following ways:
As 'deliverance' has become popular the goats and sheep are affiicted.
As 'sexual rite' has become popular the different classes of people are mixedl60.161

Sog zlog pa blo gros (17th c.) interpreted line 45 on rDzogs chen as: 'Many perverse
religious practices are flourishing under the name or rDzogs chen.' Therefore, accord
ing to him, the king was not actually condemning rDzogs chen itself. No particular
rDzogs chen text is referred to, and nor is any tantra.162 Later Ye shes ' od's nephew
does mention KG specifically along with other tantras.16]
3.3 ' THE KING \\IBO DOES EVERYTHING' (KUN BYED ROYAL po)
KG is the main canonical work of rDzogs chen after the Dark Ages.164 It is the author
ity of the and sems (referring to the group of rDzogs chen teachings, whose main
text is KG). It is the only rDzogs chen text in the bKa' 'gyur, yet it was not listed in
the lDan dkar catalogue mentioned above.165
In KG ('The King who does Everything'), the Primordial Basis (Kun byed) is
described as the creator (byed pa po) of the world. The Primordial Basis is emphasised
as the creator and this echoes the prakpti of Samkhya philosophy166 and is doctri
nally not quite Buddhist.16' This emphasis is found especially in the Bonpo rDzogs

THE GREAT PERFECTION Of NON-SECTARIANISM 7 1

chen in the ZhZh (as seen above), and because of this the doctrine was deemed
heretical.
Because it was an old tantra, its authenticity was called into question, and Pho
brang Zhi ba 'od's 'Open Letter to the Buddhists in Tibet" " condemned KG as
heretical. In the 15thCentury, Sum pa mkhan po Ye shes dpal 'byor (1704-1788)
dismisses the work as false (rdzun rna) and maintained that Zhi ba 'od believed
rDzogs chen resembled the Vedanta doctrine of the Hindus (mu stegs rtag Ita ba
'The Etemalist View of the Tirthikas').169 By the 11 thCentury, rDzogs chen was being
held to answer for the authenticity of its source and the validity of its doctrine.
'This official polemic against Mahayoga tantra and against Dzogchen culminated
in the inviting of the illustrious Indian master and scholar Atisa to Guge in 1042.' ,70
Eva Dargyay is a modem critic who has questioned the authenticity of KG , specu
lating that the text conjures up a sort of Buddhist theism influenced by Shaivism.'71
While it may be true that the distinctive characteristic of rDzogs chen, the 'Ja' Ius,
(Rainbow Body), may contain echoes of the 'Luminous Body' of The Nathasiddhas
of Shaivism,172 reading Shaivism into KG implies a very limp reading of the text. She
claims that the KG makes it clear that 'the Vajrayana formulated a philosophically
defined concept of the Absolute in theistic language'173 But as Reynolds'" has
pointed out, the term kun byed rgyal po does not mean 'God'. It denotes the
primordial state of each individual. '75
It is possible then that the texts were deemed inauthentic because their style was
misinterpreted, as we have just seen. It has been astutely observed by Gyurme
Dorje that rNying rna pa tantras, especially Atigyoga, reveal that 'the ancient trans
lations appear to have their own distinct terminology and a literary style between
suite to the Tibetan language than the rigid formalism of the later translations." 76
3.4 AIlSA IN THE LAND OF APOCRYPHAL TEXTS
There is a resemblance between the problems of the Great Debate and the contro
versies over false doctrines in the Phyi dar in Western Tibet. Atisa was called, in
1042 by the Gu ge King to put an end to dubious religious practice and what he
implemented became the foundation of orthodox Tibetan Buddhism.'" In the con
text of the problem of the tantras in Tibet, Byang chub 'od, the grand-nephew of Ye
shes 'od, asked Atisa seven questions about Buddhism as it was practised in
Tibet,'" such as whether Buddhist monks could practice certain tantric teachings.
To this Atisa replied with his profoundly influential work, ByLg,' 79 The Lamp/or
the Path to Enlightenment, stated that monks must practise the tantras without
breaking their vows. He stressed, above all, both prajlla and upaya should be prac
tised in unison, in the sarne way as Kamalasila had outlined that there should be a
gcig car 'jug pa (simultaneous operation) of Means and of Wisdom in the path to
B uddhahood .'"0
'Wisdom and means were transmitted as two distinct lineages, even though the
masters practised them in union. It was Atisa who unified the two, and the profound
view and vast practice were transmitted together from then on.1 S J
One might ask, then, where that left the rDzogs chen teachings? This is revealed
when we look at the criticism by Sa pan, the first critic of the rNying rna pa's Nine
Vehicles, of rDzogs chen.'i' He maintained that the four groups of rNying rna pa
tantras could not be considered to constitute four theg pa like as in Kriya, Carya,

72 THE TIBET JOURNAL

Yoga and Mahayoga of the sngags gsar rna (New Translations). Atiyoga itself was
Enlightenment, was the result and therefore could not be a means to enlightenment.
Proposing it as a separate vehicle perverted the Mahayana dyad of wisdom and
means, prajfiaiupaya.ISJ
3.5 THE EFFECT OF CRITICISM ON THE RNYING MA PA TRADITION
It was not in the interests of the bonpos to defend their teachings, since they were
not attempting to align themselves with the Buddhist orthodoxy, and therefore had
no reason to prove their teachings came from India, as opposed to sTag gzig. Natu
rally the rNying rna pas saw the need to defend themselves . New definitions of what
was canonical and what was apocryphal had emerged in the phyi dar and this
affected them directly. I" However, where the Pali Tipitaka is canonical for Theravadin
Buddhists, the bka' 'gyur is canonical for the Tibetan Buddhists,Canonicity is not
exempt from relativity. For the rNying rna pas, the gter rna are canonical, where they
are apocryphal as far as their opponents are concerned. I SS
Rong zorn Pandita was the first to write a defence of rDzogs chen in his Theg pa
chen po'i tshulla 'jugpa (ThCh), 'The Entering into the Mahayanic System'.I S6 He
is said to have met Atisa. The rDzogs chen master A ro ye shes 'byung gnas (11th
c.), wrote a similar work, the Theg pa chen pa 'i mal 'byor and Atisa is said to have
read this with admiration. I"' In the ThCh Rong zorn stated that the critics of rDzogs
chen imposed two necessities: the need to prove the authenticity of rDzogs chen
with Sanskrit originals and whether it could be aligned with orthodox Buddhist
logic. I .. He attempts to put rDzogs chen in line with general Buddhist teachings to
prove the validity of the doctrine. It is not possible within the confines of this work
to analyse his findings. I"
Klong chen rab 'byams pa attempted to link rDzogs chen to the tantric Buddhist
movements, and tried to develop a system of study and practice, aligning rDzogs
with the New Schools.190 In his Ngal gso skor gsum, (ThreeCycles on Relaxation)
he avoids the theoretical details of later developments and focused on the sems sde
so that he could disseminate rDzogs chen intellectually, in a 'trans sectarian way' . 191
He identifies the three main rNying rna tantric systems of Mahayoga, Anuyoga and
Atiyoga with the later three inner tantras (father, mother and non -<iual). In this new
system he treats SNy as a unique tantra in just the same manner as the dGe lug pas
treat the Kalacakra.ln
After Klong chen rab 'byams, rNying rna monasticism began to flourish and in
those monasteries, the intellectual traditions of the rNying rna pa developed. I" The
tradition started to produce great scholars such as ' Jigs med gling pa ( 1 729-1798),
founder of the klong chen snying thig tradition of rDzogs chen. 1 9' Later, the great
scholar Mi pham Rin po che, (1846-1912) author of the 'Beacon ofCertainty' ,19' was
a great figure of the Ris med movement, a non-sectarian movement that had been
initiated by, among others, the Bonpo teacher Shar rdza bKra shis rgyal mtshan
(1858-1935) 1 96 Mi pham supported this trend and was not influenced by political
agendas that threatened it, of aristocratic factions who favoured one or other Tibetan
Buddhist traditions. dPal sprul Rinpoche was another great rNying rna pa scholar
who was also very involved in the ris med movement. He was thought to be an
incarnation of Santideva, author of the Bodhicaryavatara, (sPyod 'j ug) 'The Guide
to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life', a quintessentially Mahayana text, which dPal
sprul Rinpoche devoted his life to teaching in eastern Tibet.197

THE GREAT PERFECTION OF NON-SECTARIANISM

73

rDzogs chen, in response to accusations of heresy, began to take a different turn,

Its ritual became more intricate and tantric as it perhaps needed a more 'conven
tional' mould in which to present itself so that the terminology and presentation of
the teachings underwent profound change in order not to be written off as apocry
pha, However, it is my view that the dialectical discourse of rDzogs chen that
emerged from the 11th century contradicts the premise that rDzogs chen is not
understood through reason or discrimination.
CONCLUS10N
The rNying rna pa tradition is marked by its diversity of interpretations, It is a tradition
that encompasses the transition from a non-Buddhist to a Buddhist Tibet The inher
ent conflict at the root of the tradition arose from its trying to maintain an orthodox
tradition while harbouring controversial teachings like rDzogs chen and Tanlras
with no Sanskrit origin,
It is possible that there was aCentral Asian form of Buddhism that embraced
rDzogs chen and Tantra which was introduced to Zhang zhung before the official
introduction of Buddhism to Tibet from India in the 7th-8th centuries and it is also
possible that both lineages (of Bon and Buddhist rDzogs chen) originated in Ud
diyana, Nobody has so far been able to prove anything about the origins of rDzogs
chen, But if it is true that Vairocana was originally a Bonpo called Ba gor g,yung
drung gsas who was a disciple of Dran pa nam mkha', this would imply a deeply
intertwined link between the Bon and rNying rna pa traditions, and that rDzogs chen
was the source of that link The single greatest difference between the two traditions
is the contested origins of those teachings: one tradition insists that sTag gZig is
the place of origin, another that Uddiyana is,
rDzogs chen may well have been a mixture ofCh'an and Mahayoga at the cross
roads that Dun Huang was, but that is not all that it was, To disregard the links
between Bon and rNying rna via rDzogs chen is to perpetuate the prejudice against
Bon scholarship and teachings, Until Bon scholars and Dun Huang scholars em
bark on a dialogue with each other, there can be no hope of determining the true
origins of rDzogs chen,
There is a problem in Buddhism, or perhaps in any religion, and that is that the
urge to locate the origin of a teaching in order to authenticate scriptures causes the
compilers of the canon to employ criteria that are contradictory when implemented,
The condemnation of rDzogs chen as 'spurious' and the acceptance of Anuttarayoga
tantras which themselves transgressed Buddhist parameters but were accepted
because they had Sanskrit originals reflects this very problem, None of the 'censors'
were willing to consider that rDzogs chen texts were translated from Uddiyana by
Vairocana, not Sanskrit
rDzogs chen was never really an integrated part of orthodox Tibetan Buddhism,
because of its links to other strands of foreign and indigenous elements. Its challenge
to orthodoxy was its ability to transcend sectarianism.
'[rDzogs chen] is the name given to that spiritual tradition in Buddhism that
emphasizes a holistic approach and rejects all partial perspectives as but local and
temporal fluctuations within the atemporally abiding, non-localizable mystery that
is Being as SUCh.' 198

74 THE TIBET JOURNAL

Notes
1.

The rNying rna pas, 'The Ancient Ones' are the oldest school of Tibetan Buddhism and
follow the Old Tantras translated during the First Diffusion of Buddhism from the 7th
to the 9th centuries-see The Golden Letters: The Three Statements o/Carab Dorje, the
first teacher ofDzogchen, together with a commentary by rDza dPal sprul Rinpoche
entitled "The Special Teaching of the Wise and Glorious King", Foreward by Narnkhai
Norbu Rinpoche, Trans. and Comm. by John Myrdhin Reynolds, Snow Lion, Ithaca,
1 996, P.24 and n.8 p.346: These Tantras were not included in the bka' 'gyur (the
translation ofthe Word), were gathered later by Ratna gling pa ( 1 403-1 479), gTer bdag
gling pa ( 1 634- 1 7 1 4) and others into the rNying ma'i rgyud 'bum

2,

See Per Kva:me, Bonpo Studies: The A Khrid System ofMeditation, Kailash, Yol. l , 1 973
No. 1 , p.22 quotes: Giusseppe Tucci, Die Religionen Tibets, Stuttgart 1 970, p. 1 9

3.

The Mahavyutpatti was sanctioned by King Sad na legs i n the early 9th c . Interpreted
by David Snellgrove in IndoTibetan Buddhism (Serindia, London, 1987) as "Essential
Etymology" on p.441 and in n. 1 1 0 p.441 he refers to Tucci's Tombs of the Tibetan
Kings in which Tucci pointed out that the Mahavyutpatti may go back even to the time
of Khri Srong Ide brtsan in the snga dar, the First Diffusion of Buddhisrn in Tibet

4.

John M)'rdhin Reynolds, The Golden Letters, The Three Statements ofGarab Dorje,

the first teacher of Dzogchen, together with a commentary by Dza Patrul Rinpoche
entitled "The Special Teaching ofthe Wise and Glorious King", Fonvard by Namkhai
Norbu Rinpoche, Translation, Introduction and Commentary by John Myrdhin
Reynolds, Snow Lion, Ithaca, New York, 1 996, p,265
5.

Ibid: oral communication between John M . Reynolds and Namkhai Norbu, p.265 n.4

6.

Sarnten G. Karma)" The Great Perfection: A Philosophical and Meditative Teaching of

Tibetan Buddhism, J.Brill, Leiden, 1988, p, I I
Chogyal Namkhai Norbu, Dzogchen, The Self-Perfected State, ed. Adriano Clemente,

7.

trans. by John Shane, Snow lion, Ithaca, New York, 1 996, p. 1 33 n.8
8.

For further insight into the geographical location o fsTag gzig, see David L . Snellgrove,

IndoTibetan Buddhism: Indian Buddhism and Their Tibetan Successors, Serindia,

London, 1 987, pAOO, n.40
9,

Snellgrove, Ibid" pJ88

lO, Ibid" p,388

1 1 . Reginald A. Ray, Secret ofthe Vajra florid-The Tantric Buddhism ofTibet, Shambhala,
Boston, 200 I , pJO
1 2, Snellgrove, Ibid. , pJ89
13. Tenzin Namdak, Bonpo Dzogchen Teachings, trans. by John Reynolds, Bonpo Trans
lation Project, Freehold and Amsterdam, 1 992, p,5
14. David Snellgrove, The ,Vine Ways ofBon, London Oriental Series Vo1 . 1 8, Oxford Univ.
Press, 1 967, p . 1 2
1 5 . The Shen o fprediction (phyva gzhen theg pa), the way of the Shen of the visual world
(snag gshen theg pa), the way ofthe Shen of illusion (phrul gShen theg pa), the way of
the shen of existence (srid gshen theg pa), the way of the virtuous adherers (dge bsnen
theg pa), the way ofthe great ascetics (drang srong theg pa), the way of pure sound (A
dkar theg pa), the way of the primeval shen (ye gshen theg pa) and the Supreme way
(bla med theg pal, Snellgrove, Nine Ways ofBon" pp.9- 1 1
16. Translated by Per Kvrerne as "The teachings (khrid) concerning the Unconditioned (aY'
in The A Khrid System of Meditation, Kailash Journal of Himalayan Studies, YoU ,
1 973, no. 1 -4, p p . 1 9-50
17. Donatella Rossi, The Philosophical View ofthe Great Perfection in Tibetan Bon Reli

gion, Snow Lion, Ithaca, New York, 1 999, p.26

1 8 , Rossi, Ibid., p,27
1 9. Ibid" p27

THE GREAT PERFECTION OF NON-SECTARIANISM

75

20. John Reynolds, Ibid., p.23

2 1 . Rossi, Ibid., pp.22-28
22. Karmay, Ibid., p.93. For a history of the Textual Treasures see 1 1 6- 1 3 1
23. Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, p.400
24. Namkhai Norbu, The Necklace ofgZi, Narthang Publications, Dharamsala, 1 989, p . 1 5
25. Internet resource: Manichaeism and rDzogs chen, Order ofNazorean Essences, 13/07/03
26. Personal Correspondence with Sarnten Kannay, June 2003
27. Introduction, The NeckJace ofgZi, p.ix Norbu pinpoints the problem of attributing the
origin ofthe rDzogs chen teachings to dGa' Tab fdo Jje in Uddiyana is geographical as
\.,,-ell as historical. No scholar is certain as to the whereabouts ofUddiyana and he offers
the possibility that the rDzogs chen propounded by Shenrab Miwo gradually developed
into the Uddiyana rDzogs chen. It is clearly recorded in the Bon rDzogs chen Zhang
zhung snyan rgvud that after the 1 2th tineage of the disciples from Lord Shenrab Miwo,
there came a rDzgos chen teacher called Zhangzhung dGa rab who may well have been
dGa rab rDor je. See pp. 16- 1 7
28. Chapter IV (f. 2 I a3-24b2), see Karmay. The Great Perfection, p. 1 9
29. Dudjom Rinpoche, likrel Yeshe Dorje, The !v);ingma School of Tibetan Buddhism: Its

Foundations and History, Val One: The Translations, trans. and ed. by Gyurme Dorje
and Matthew Kapstein, Wisdom, Boston, 1 99 1 , p.493
30, Namkhai Norbu, The Cycle ofDay andJllight: An Essential Tibetan Text on the Practice

ofContemplation, trans, and ed. by John Reynolds, Station Hill Press, New York, 1987,
p.30
3 1 . Apart from the 1 1 th century edict of King Zhi ba 'od which refers to Sriisimha: see
Kannay: An Open Letter by Pho brang Zhi ba 'od, M,Aris et S,Aung San, ed" Tibetan
Studies in Honour of Hugh Richardson, Wanni nster, Aris and Phillips, 1 980, pp.1 50-60
32. See Samten Karmay, "A Discussion on the doctrinal position of rDzgos chen from the
1 0th to 1 3th Centuries," Journal Asiatique, Rome CCLXII, 1 -2, 1975, p.I49
33. Based on personal correspondence with Karmay, 5th August 2003
34. Karmay, The Great Perfection, p.147
35. See Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, p.463 where he observes that i n the 11th
Century, many tantras were still referred to as prajFia or dakini tantras, and the more
esteemed Tantras such as Guhyasamaja and Kalacakra are designated as mahayoga
tantras of which the Guhyagarbhatantra was one
36. Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, p.405
37. HH Dalai Lama, Dzogchen: The Heart Essence afthe Great Perfection, trans, by Geshe
Thupten linpa and Richard Barron, Ed. Patrick Gaffney, Rigpa/Snow Lion, Ithaca, 2000,
p.47 and for a slightly different version ofthese nine Ways see Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan
Buddhism, p.463 in which he lists the nine "'lays as found in the Guhyagarbhatantra,
38, Norbu, The Cycle ofDay and Night: An Essential Tibetan Text on the Practice of

Contemplation, trans. and ed. by John Reynolds, Station Hill Press, 1 987, p , 2 1
39. Per Kvceme, The A Khrid system ofMeditation, 1973, p.22
40. Ibid., p.22
4 1 . For a more detailed study on this see B.L. Bansal, Encounter ofBon with Buddhism in

Tibet, Paramita, Delhi, 1999, p.79 and Samten Karmay, A Genera/ Introduction to the
History and Doctrines alBan, Memoires of the Research Dept. ofToyo Bunko, no, 33,
Tokyo, Toyo Bunko, 1975, pp. 1 7 1 -2 1 8
42. See Tulku Thondup Rinpoche, Hidden Teachings ofn-bet: A n Explanation a/the Terma

Tradition ofthe :Vying rna School ofBuddhism, Wisdom, London, 1986, p. 1 3

43. Kvrerne, Ibid., p.23
44, Samten Karmay, The Great Perfection, pp, 1 7- 1 8
45. Samten Karmay, The Treasury of Good Sayings: A Tibetan History a/Bon, London,
Oxford University Press, 1 972, p.23

76 THE TIBET JOURNAL

46. Rossi. Ibid., p.27

47. Karmay, Great Perfection, p.35
48. Ibid., p.36
49. Found in the r!Vying rna 'i rgyud 'bum (Vol.Ka. Fol. 4 1 9) and also in the 3 1 st chaptet of
the Kun byed rgyalpo (Henceforth KG) with the title rDo rje tshig drug, 'The Six Vajra
Verses', KG is one of the Major works on rDzogs chen from before the l I the C.
50. lOLl Stein 647
5 1 . Reynolds, Golden Letters, p.232
52. Ibid., p.232
53. Kamay, Great Perfection, p.44
54. Ibid.. p.44
55. Ibid.. p.2 1 9
56. Ibid., p.2 1 9
57. Kaneko no. 18, Bairo rgyud 'bum volA. No.5
58. Rossi, Ibid., p.2? and for information on dating the textual discovery see n.46
59. For more detail on these see Karmay, Great Perfection, pp.220221
60. Ibid., p.223
6 1 . See Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, p.396 for detail on Bu Tson's bKa ' 'gyur and
the Blue Annals Deb ther sngon po by gZhon flU dpaJ known as 'Gos La tsa ba ( 1 3921 4 8 1 ) . Also see here sBa Bzhed (The sBa Inscription), an account of events of the
foundations ofbSam yas and the legend surrounding it.
62. Malcolm David Eckel, Jiianagarbha on the Two Truths,: An Eighth Century Handbook

ofAladhyamaka Philosophy, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, Delhi, 1992, p.5:

63. Sarnten Karmay, A General Introduction to the History and Doctrines ofBon, Memoires
of the Research Dept. of the Toyo Bunko, no. 33, Tokyo, Toyo Bunko, 1 975, p.203 also
see The Arrow and the Spindle: Studies in History, Myths, Rituals and Beliefs in Tibet,
'vIandala Book Point, Kathmandu. 1998, p. 1 5 4
64. Tucci, Ibid., p . 1 03
65. RA Stein, Tibetan Civilization, Faber and Faber, London, 1972, p.73
66. Hugh Richardson, High Peaks, Pure Earth: Collected Writings on Tibetan History and

Culture, Ch. 26: Political Rivalry and the Great Debate at Bsam-yas, (p.203-206), Ed.
Michael Aris, Serindia, London, 1999
67. David Seyfort Ruegg, Buddha-Nature, Mind and the Problem of Gradualism in a

Comparative Perspective: On the Transmission and Reception ofBuddhism in India

and Tibet, SOAS, Univ. London, 1989, pp.126-128
68. Ibid., p.91
69. Tucci, Ibid., p.I52
70. Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, p.426
7 1 . Snellgrove, Ibid., pp.422-432 and Tucci, Ibid., pp.41-42
72. Paul Demieville, Le CondIe de Lhasa,: Une Controverse sur Ie Quietisme entre Bouddhtstes

de L 'Inde et de fa Chine au VIIJe Sieele de L 'Ere Chretienne, Bibliotheque de L'Institut

des Hautes Etudes Chinoises, Yol.Vn, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1952,
p.42, n . 1 70
73. Chinese philosophers, even though they were Buddhist, still held their interest in
Taoism (such as Hsieh Ling yun (385-433) and Seng chao (374-414) autor ofChao lun.
see RA Stein: Sudden Illumination or Simultaneous Comprehension: Remarks on Chi

nese and Tibetan Terminology, From: Sudden and Gradual: Approaches to Enlightenment
in Chinese Thought, Ed. Peter N. Gregory, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1 987, p.41
74. Snellgrove, Ibid., p.4J3-5
75. Karmay, The Great Perfection. p.86
76. Ruegg, Ibid., p.98
77. Such as Tucci in Aiinor Buddhist Texts, Part II. This will be discussed belmv.

THE GREAT PERFECTION OF NON-SECTARIANISM

77

78. Reynolds, Golden Letters, Ibid., p.248

79. Karmay, Great Perfection, p. l 00
80, Ibid., p . 1 00
8 1 . Tucci, Ibid., p.60
82. David Germano, "Architecture and Absence in the Secret Tantric History of the Great
Perfection, " JIABS, Vo1. l 7, no.2, 1994, p.205
83. Ibid., pp.216-17
84. Samten Karmay, "The Doctrinal Position of rDzogs chen from the 1 0th to the 13th
Centuries," Journal ASiatique. Tome CCLXIII, 1-2, 1075. 147-56)
85. Karmay, Great Perfection, p.89
86. Ibid., p . 1 00
87. In Chapter Four he outlines (Tsen man rim gyis 'jugpa 'igzhung bstanpa 'j Ie 'u, pp.651 1 8) deals with the gradualist Mahayana and Sutra system, (that is the Madhyamaka
Yogacara synthesis ofSantarakrita, as is outlined in the Bhavanakrama ofKamaJasila).
Chapter 5 (sTan mun cig ar jugpa 'j lugs bshadpa 'j le 'u, pp.1 18-1 86) outlines the Sutra
system expounded by Hva Shang and other 'Masters ofCh'an'. Chapter 6, (rNal 'byor
chenpo 'i gzhung bshadpa 'i Ie 'u, pp.1 86-290) outlines the Tantra system ofMahayoga
(which came to be the corpus ofrNying rna pa school). Chapter 7 (rDzogspa chen po 'i
gzhung rgyas par bkod pa 'i Ie 'u, pp.290-494) outlines the rDzogs chen system.
88. Karmay, "An Open Letter by Pho brang Zhi ba 'od," The Tibet Journal, VIII, Dharamsala, 1 980, pp 1-28
89. Reynolds, Golden Letters, p.223
90. Founder of the bKa' brgyud pa order and first disciple of Milarepa
9 1 . Reynolds, Golden Letters, p.221
92. Karmay, Doctrinal Position ofrDzogs chen etc., p. 153
93. Kannay, Ibid., p. 1 5 3
94. Reynolds, Golden Letters, p.284-285
95. Ibid., p.285
96. Khamtul Rinpoche, Dzog Chen Aleditation, trans. and annat. by Gareth Sparham,
Bibliotheca Iodo-Buddhica Series 00.133, Sri Satgurul Indian Books Centre, Delhi,
1 994, p.2-3
97. Ibid., p.3
98. Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, p.4S6
199. Rossi, Ibid., p.52
100. Rossi, ibid., pp 50-52 and Anne Klein, Authenticity, effortlessness, delusion andspon

taneity in The Authenticity ofOpen Awareness and related texts, New Horizons in Bon
Studies, Bon Studies 2, Semi Ethnological Reports 15, Eds. Samten G. Kannay, Yasuhiko
Nagano, Nat. Mus. Ethnology, Osaka 2000, pp.1 93-223
1 0 1 . Reynolds, Golden Letters, p.269
102. Snellgrove, lndo-Tibetan Buddhism, p.4 1 0
103. Etienne Lamotte: History ofIndian Buddhismfrom the Origins to the Saka Era, trans,
Sara Webb-Boin, Uoiv. Catholique de Louvain, Institut Orientaliste Louvain la Neuve,
\988, p . 1 28, par. 140
1 04. Ibid., p. 163, par. 179
105. Matthew Kapstein, "The Purificatory Gem and its Cleansing: A Late Tibetan Polemi
cal Discussion of Apocryphal Texts," History of Religions, VoL28, noJ, Feb.1989,
pp.2 I 7-244
106. Kapstein, Ibid., p.2 1 9
107. Snellgrove, Ibid., p.444
J 08. Karmay, A General Introduction to the History and Doctrines olBon, p.155, in which
he claims rDzogs chen is of Indo-Tibetan origin, but Sam van Scaik and Jacob Dalton of
the International Dunhuang Project at the British Library have stated in their

78 THE TIBET JOURNAL

article[forthcoming, catalogue to Silk Road Exhibition British Libraryl British Museum
20041 Where Chan and Tantra meet: Tibetan Syncretism in Dunhuang, Int. Dunhuang

Project
109. Reynolds, Golden Leiters, p.230
1 1 0. Norbu, Golden Letters, p.230
I l l . Sam van Schaik and Jacob Dalton, Where Chan and Tantra meet: Tibetan Syncretism in

Dunhuang [forthcoming], Int. Dunhuang Project, The British Library, Silk Road Exhi
bition Catalogue, British Museuml British Library, Spring2004 [forthcoming, as yet no
page numbers]
1 1 2. Kannay, The Great Perfection pp.41 45 and see rDzogs chen in its Earliest Text: A

Manuscript from Dunhuang, B.N. Aziz and M. Kapstein, ed., Soundings in Tibetan
Civilisation, New Delhi: Manoha, 1 985. pp.272-82 and also in A rrow andSpindle, etc.,
pp.94- 103 and Reynolds, Golden Letters, pp.230-6
1 1 3. Norbu quoted by Reynolds in Golden Letters, etc., p.230 n . l
1 1 4. Kannay, Great Perfection, p. l l
1 1 5. Kannay, Great Perfection, p.142
I 1 6 . Reynolds, Golden Letters, p.268
1 1 7. Carmen Meinert: Chinese Chan and Tibetan rDzogs chen: Preliminary remarks on
Two Tibetan Dunhuang Manuscripts, Religion and Secular Culture in Tibet, Tibetan
Studies II, PlATS 2000: Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the
IATS, Leiden, 200, Brill's Tibetan Studies Library, ed. Henk Blezer, Alex McKay,
Charles Ramble, Vol . 2/2, Leiden, 2000, pp.289-307
1 1 8. Ibid., p.290
1 1 9. Ibid., pp.300-2
1 20. Ibid., p J O I
1 2 1 . Ibid., pJ03
122. Zhignas thag mrhong cha snyomspa las rdo rje Ita btl ting nge 'dzin sangs rgyas kyi sa

kun tu 'od skad cig fa sbyor roll P.Tib.699: f.4h.2f. Translated by Jacob Dalton i n the
British Library as:

[Suddenly] '''ithin the sameness of samatha and vipasyana. unite with the Vajra
like samadhi, the 'Universal Light' bhumi of buddhahood.
1 23 . Sam van Schaik and Jacob Dalton are currently digitalizing and cataloguing the tantric
Dun Huang manuscripts of the Stein Collection at the British Library.
1 24. van Schaik and Dalton, Ibid., no Page numbers as explained above in n.87a
1 25. Ibid., no page number
1 26. Translation by van Scaik and Dalton, Ibid.: P.Tib. 699.5r:

ali yoga 'chadpi slobs don ci Ita bu zhe nw'khyung chen narn par gcod kyang skye
'gro rna Ius shes/ theg pa so sor gsal yang spyi rgya rlabs kyis gcod/ gsal la rna
'dres chepi don stonpal 'khas [ding khyung lar dongi che ba 'byinlmdosde 'chad
pi slobs pan ci fta bu zhe na/ 'gradpar bya ba 'j lam gi bye brag fal ngang pi rgyal
po myi 'gyog gcas su gcod! de bzhin slobs dpon rgyud kyi don 'chadpa Itshig gi bde
sbyor myi 'khyog gcas su gcod I smad pi rna bu brag la 'dzag pa 'il myi tsham
tsham bar 'chadpas!skyon nyidyon btan yin!mangpo 'dus pi nang na/ chos 'chad
pal skad byings don dang ladan basi khong bdrar go/ ru sbal skungs pa Ita bu'i
blos 'chad pal gab pa 'i sbas pa de shes slobs dpon yon yin/ zhes byung ngo
1 27. ban Schaik and Daltion, Ibid., no page number
1 28. Daisan Ueyama: The Study a/Tibetan Ch 'an Manuscripts Recoveredfrom Tun-huang:
A Review Ofthe Fieldandits Prospects, from: Earlyeh 'an in China and Tibet, ed. Wbalen

Lei and Lewis R.Lancaster, Berkeley Buddhist Studies Series/ Motilal Banarsidass,
Delhi, 1983, 327-349

THE GREAT PERFECTION OF NON-SECTARIANISM

79

129. Ibid., pp.343-344

130. Reynolds, Golden Letters, p.252
1 3 1 . Ibid., p.252
132. Snellgrove. Indo-Tibeton Buddhism, p.404
1 3 3 . Ibid., p.489
134. Snellgrove, Ibid., p.397
1 3 5 . Ibid., p.397
136, Janet Gyatso, The Logic a/Legitimation in the TI"betan Treasure Tradition, History of
Relgions, VoJ.33, no.2, No. 1993, p.IOO
137. Ibid. . p . 1 02
138. This is quoted from Tucci's Tibetan Painted Scrolls (Rome, La Libreria della Stato,
1948. Vo. I p.88) in Eva K Dargyay 'sA Rnin-mo Text: The Kun Byed rGyolpo'i mDo,
Soundings in Tibetan Civilization, ed. Barbara Nimri Aziz, and Matthew Kapstein,
Manohar 1985, pp.283-291
139. Karmay, The Great Perfection, p.9
140. Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, p.399
1 4 1 . Ibid., p.460
142. Ibid., p.461
143. Reynolds, Golden Leiters, p.268
144. See Gyurme Darje, The Guhyabarbhatattvaviniscayamah (antra, Ph.D., London, SOAS,
407345, 1988, pp.37-4 1 . The tantra texts of Mayajala comprise two complete vol
umes of the NGb.
145. Kannay, The Great Perfection, p . 1 39: According to Rang zorn, AltPh was composed as
a note to chapter XIII of SAly.
146. Karmay, The Great Perfection, p.2 1 6
147. Karmay, The Ordinance ofHa Bla rn a Ye shes 'od, Eds. Aris & Aung Sang, Tibetan
Studies in Honour of Hugh Richardson, Warminster, Aris and Philips, 1980 pp.1 50
160 and An Open Letter by Pho brang Zhi ba 'ad, The Tibet Journal, V.3, Dharamsala,
1980, pp.I-28
148. See n. 1 1 5d
149. See p.627 Pabongka Rinpoche, Liberation in the Palm of Your Hand: A Concise Dis
course on the Path to Enlightenment, Ed. Trijang Rinpoche, Trans. Michael Richards,

Wisdom, Boston, 1 9 9 1 , p.627

150. Reynolds, Golden Letters, p.274
1 5 1 . Snellgrove, Ibid., p. 1 88 and see Reynolds on this in Golden Letters, as he refutes the
charge that these tantras were degenerate since their philosophy was consonant with
Madhyamaka teaching. P.272
1 52. Snellgrove, Ibid., p.457
1 53. Germano, Ibid. . pp.230-1
154. Ibid., p.232
155. Karmay, The Ordianance, etc., and Reynolds, Golden Letters, p.273
156. Gyurme Dorje, The Guhyagarbhatantra, etc. p.62
157. Ibid., p.62
1 5 8 . Samten Karmay, The Ordinance oflHa Bla rna Ye shes 'ad, Mr. Aris and S. Aung Sang
Ed., Tibetan Studies in Honour of Hugh Richardson. Warminster, Aris and Phillips,
1 980, and also in Arrow and Spindle, pp.3- 1 6
159. Ibid., p.8
1 60. trans. Samten Karmay, Ibid., pp.9-I 3 and see n.44 p. I 0 and n.45-49 p. I I for the retorts
by Sog zlog pa
161.

rdzogs chen ming btags chos log bod dur darl

Ita ba phyin ci log gi sar thogs pal
chos par ming btags sngags log bod du bar!

80 THE TIBET JOURNAL

de yis ryal khams phung ste 'di itar gyur!
sgroi ba dar bas ra lug nyal thaga bead!
sbyor ba dar bas rui rigs 'ehol ba 'dres!
162. Samten Karmay, The Doctrinal Position oJrDzogs chenfrom the Tenth to the Thirteenth

Centuries, lA, Tome CCLXIII, 1 -2, 1975. p p . 1 47-6 and also Arrow and Spindle,
pp.69-76, here p . 1 5 1 (JA)
163. "An Open Letter by Pho brang Zhi ba 'od," The Tibet Journal, Vol 3 , Dharamsala,
.

1 980, pp.I-28
164. Germano, Architecture and Absence, etc., p.232
165. Ibid., p.148
166. For an explanation of prakpti and the non-Buddhist Samkhya School, in contrast to
Madhyamaka, see HH Dalai Lama, Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment: A Commen

tary on Alisa Dipamkara Shrijnana s A Lampfor the Path to Enlightenment and Lama
Je Tsang Khapa' Lines of Experience, Trans. Geshe Thupten Jinpa, Ed Novick and
Ribush, Lam Yeshe Wisdom Archive, I Thubten Dhargye Ling, 2002, p . 1 6
167. Karmay, A Discussion on the Doctrinal Position oJrDzogs chen, p . 1 5 4
1 6 8 . Karmay. "An Open Letter b y Pho brang Zhi b a 'ad t o the Buddhists in Tibe" Tibet

Journal, VoI.V, NoJ, Autumn 1 980, pp.I-28

169. Ibid., p.Reynolds, Golden Letters, p.274
170. Ibid.
1 7 1 . Eva Dargyay, A rNing rna Text: The Kun Byed rGyal po 'i mDo, Soundings in Tibetan
Civilization, eds. Aziz and Kapstein, Manohar, Delhi, 1985, p.292
1 72. Karmay, A Discussion, p. 1 5 5
1 73. Eva Dargyay, Ibid., p.292
174. Reynolds, Golden Letters, p.237
175. Namkhai Norbu, The Supreme Source, p.93
176. Gyurmc Dorje, Guhyagarbha etc., p.62
177. Karmay, Great Perfection, p. 1 2
178. Karmay, The Ordinance, p.8
180. T Bol. 103, no. 5343, p.21-5-1)
180. Ruegg, Ibid., p.96
1 8 1 . HH Dalai Lama, Illuminating the Path, etc., p.35
1 82. See Karmay, Great Perfection, p . 1 46-7
1 83. Ibid., p . 1 47-8
1 84. Snellgrove, Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, pJ97
185. Norbu, The Self-Perfected State, etc., p. 1 7
1 86. Karmay, Great PerJection, p. 125
1 87. Ibid., p . 1 26
188. Ibid, p . 1 27
1 89. For a detailed study see Karma)" The Great Perfection, pp. 1 27-133
190. For an edited version ofhis work see Longchen Rabjam (ie Klang chen rab 'byams), The

Practice ojDzogchen, trans. Tulku Thondup, Snowlion, Ithaca, 2002

1 9 1 . Germano, Architecture and Absence, etc., p.246
192. The Practice oJrDzogs chen, by Long chen Rabjam, Intro.& trans. by Tulku Thondup,
Ed. Harold Talbott, Snow Lion, Ithaca, 2002, pp.24-25
193. John W. Pettit, Af-ipham 50 Beacon oJCertainty: iliuminating the r7ew ojDzogchen, the

Great Perfection, Wisdom, Boston, 1 999, p.97

1 94. The Dzog chen Preliminary Practice ofthe Innermost Essence, the Long chen Nying thig

Ngon dro, original root text composed by the Knowledge-Bearer Jig me Ling Pa,
trans.&comm. Tulku Thondup, ed. Brian Beresford, LTWA, Dharamsala, 1 982
195. Ibid., p. I -2
1 96. Bansal, Encounter ofBon with Buddhism in Tibet, pp. 1 04-5

THE GREAT PERFECTION OF NON-SECTARIA'JISM

81

197. Reynolds, Golden Letters. pp.299-300

J 98. Herbert Guenther quoted in Gareth Sparham's introduction to Dzog Chen .Meditation,

(rdor ses thugs kyi sgrub pa 'i khridyig rab gsal snang ba) by Kharntul Rinpoche, Sri
Satgurul Indian Books Centre, Delhi, 1994, p.2

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Primary Source
Pelliot Tib. 699: rDzogs chen root text and commentary (courtesy of the British Library)

Abbreviations
GKs:
ByLg:
KG:
MtPh:

bsgrags pa skor gsum

Byang chub lam sgron rna
Kun byedrgyalpo
Afan ngag Ita ba 'iphreng ba

l,;'Gb:
RkBy:

rnying ma'j rgyud 'bum

SM:

bSam gtan mig gi bsam gtan

SNy:
ThCh:
Vdb:

gSang ba snying bo

ZhZh.

Zhang Zhang snyan bryud

Rig ba'i khu byug

Theg pa chen po'i tshul la 'jug pa

Vairo ' dra ' bag