Guhyasamāja Tantra
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The Guhyasamāja Tantra (
: rgyud phyi ma), Toh 443, is sometimes considered to be its eighteenth chapter. Many scholars believe that the original core of the work consisted of the first twelve chapters, with chapters thirteen to seventeen being added later as explanatory material.The Guhyasamāja-tantra is not to be confused with the Mahayana sutra titled
In India, it was classified as a Yoga or Mahāyoga Tantra. In Tibet it is considered an Unexcelled Yoga Tantra (rnal ’byor bla med rgyud). It develops traditions found in earlier scriptures such as the Compendium of Reality (Sanskrit: Sarva-tathāgata-tattva-saṃgraha; De bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi de kho na nyid bsdus pa (Toh 479)) but is focused to a greater extent on the
antinomian aspects characteristic of the later Buddhist Tantras. Naropa and Aryadeva considered the Compendium of Reality to be a root tantra in relation to the Guhyasamaja Tantra. The Guhyasamaja Tantra survives in Sanskrit
manuscripts and in Tibetan and Chinese translation.
The Guhyasiddhi of Padmavajra, a work associated with the Guhyasamaja tradition, prescribes acting as a Saiva guru and initiating members into
sexual relations with many women, both beautification and warning statues or paintings were created. The beautified one is Yab-Yum, and the warning one is Citipati.[4][5][6]
Origin
According to one tradition, the Guhyasamāja
Oddiyana
, also called King Dza.
As with most tantras, there are different traditions and transmissions. Perhaps the oldest surviving lineage is the
Ārya
tradition as a template for interpreting all the other tantric traditions.
Iconography
Ming China, the Asian Art Museum (San Francisco)
.There are two main commentarial traditions on the Guhyasamāja Tantra, the
Ārya Tradition and the Jñānapada
tradition.
In the practice of the
dhyāni buddhas. Akṣobhyavajra holds a vajra and bell (ghanta) in his first two hands, and other hands hold the symbols of the four other tathāgathas: wheel of Vairocana and lotus of Amitābha in his rights, and gem of Ratnasambhava and sword of Amoghasiddhi in his lefts. The maṇḍala
consists of thirty-two deities in all.
In the
Maṇjuśrī, with nineteen deities in the mandala. Mañjuvajra has three faces—the right one is white and red one on the left—and six arms. The three faces may represent the three main channels of the subtle body, the three stages of purification of the mind or the illusory body, light, and their union.[7]
Mañjuvajra holds in his hands a sword and a book, and two of his other hand a bow and arrow represent skillful means (upāya).
See also
- Vajrayana
- Dakinis
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Guhyasamaja.
- ^ Chandra, Lokesh, and Ratnam, Perala (Editors). Studies in Indo-Asian Art and Culture, Volume 5 International Academy of Indian Culture, 1977, pp. 114-115.
- S2CID 163276534.
- ^ Sanderson, Alexis. "The Śaiva Age: The Rise and Dominance of Śaivism during the Early Medieval Period." In: Genesis and Development of Tantrism,edited by Shingo Einoo. Tokyo: Institute of Oriental Culture, University of Tokyo, 2009. Institute of Oriental Culture Special Series, 23, pp. 144-145.
- ^ True Enlightenment Education Foundation, Taiwan. "The Secret Sexual Consort of a Tibetan Buddhist Lama—the first Kalu Rinpoche" Published:2012/06/25.
- ^ "Making the Old New Again and Again: Legitimation and Innovation in the Tibetan Buddhist Chöd Tradition", Michelle Janet Sorensen. Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013.
- ^ "VERY FINE ANTIQUE TIBETAN CITIPATI MASK" Strange Import.
- ISBN 9781932476019)
Further reading
- Guhyasamaja Practice in the Arya Nagarjuna System, Volume One, Shambhala Publications, 2019, ISBN 978-1559394857
- Fremantle, Francesca (1971), A Critical Study of the Guhyasamāja tantra (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-08-26, retrieved 2014-08-23
- Wedemeyer, Christian K. 2007. Āryadeva's Lamp that Integrates the Practices: The Gradual Path of Vajrayāna Buddhism according to the Esoteric Community Noble Tradition. New York: AIBS/Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780975373453
- Geshe Tashi Tsering p. 78 of 240 July 3, 2012. Tantra: The Foundation of Buddhist Thought Volume 6. London: Wisdom Publications. ISBN 9781614290117
- Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp of the Five Stages, Columbia University Press, 2011, ISBN 978-1-93-501100-2
- A Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages, Library of Tibetan Classics, 2013, ISBN 0-86171-454-7