Toh 386 — Equal to the Sky
Khasama
Translated by the Dharmachakra Translation Committee under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha
The Glorious King of Tantras
Equal to the Sky
F.199.aHomage to the Glorious Great Well-Gone One! F.199.b
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in the bhaga of the vajra queen—the awakened body, speech, and mind of all thus-gone ones. At that time, present among the assembly were the sky-dwelling, earth-dwelling, and subterranean ḍākinīs. Smiling at these three, the Blessed One gave this teaching on the secret topic:
With faith, compassion, and a one-pointed mind,
Fix your body and your speech; set your mind toward others’ benefit.
Endeavoring toward fearless yogic discipline,
With zeal for the profound path—listen well!
Ḍākinīs, to you I will explain
Your distinctive characteristics.
Sky dweller is the winds of the upper gate.
Earth dweller is the drops of the middle gate.
Subterranean dweller is the lower gate of śukra.
These three gates are awakened body, speech, and mind.
First, the distinctive characteristics of the sky-dwelling ḍākinī
Should be known as being of three types:
The physical wind, the cognitive wind,
And the wisdom wind, which has the quality of all.
To elaborate on this brief explanation in sequence:[1]
The nondual wind is neither male nor female.
When in union, it is the wind of method and wisdom.
When it flows upward and enters,[2] it is awakened body, speech, and mind.
It then spreads throughout the body: the heart, sacrum,
Mouth, throat, and navel.
The five families’ winds then abide all-pervasively.
The physical wind has four circulatory movements.
Divided into pure or defiled, there are a total of eight.
Each of these corresponds to one of eight three-hour periods.
Each three-hour period can be divided into two circulations.
The circulations of wind are sixteen in number.
Each circulation takes two hours.
In each hour, there are two daṇḍas.
In terms of the winds, the daṇḍas number sixty-four.
Similarly, there are thirty-two hours,
Which can be divided into twenty-one thousand six hundred and so forth.[3]
These winds are a mix of mental and nonmental.
In its coarse and subtle aspects,
The wise should take hold of the mount of the mind,[4]
The steed of the mind—concepts of grasper and grasped.
When these two—grasper and grasped—have ceased, the winds come to rest at the center.
By itself, this is the wind of vajra wisdom.
When divided it has two aspects, method and wisdom.
It is the nature of the sky-dwelling ḍākinī.
This should be studied by those who know the pith instructions.
By means of their qualities, faults, and indications,
One must know the distinctive characteristics of the winds, F.200.a
Along with all their supports.
There is the “curved one” along with the one on the left.
These have the shape of a bow.
They are the paths of the physical wind.
Through the paths of direct sensory perceptions,
One should strive diligently to understand
The various geographical features—Mount Sumeru and the four continents;
The sun and moon in the north and west, orbiting to the south;
The cycling of method and wisdom, and so forth—
These are stabilized by the physical wind.
Due to the cataracts of ignorance,
The jewel of the mind has become stained.
This is the conceptual wind;
This wind is itself the path.
There are the right channel and left channel,
Their forms similar to a coiled snake.
For one who focuses on yoga,
The conceptual winds cease in their place.
Self-awareness, which is primordially unarisen,
Is itself the wind of vajra wisdom.
Supported by the channel in the center,
Caṇḍālī is like its chariot.
The domain of its activity is the wisdom of self-awareness.
One who strives to remain there will apprehend self-awareness.
Because the sky-dwelling ḍākinī has the nature of these winds,
They are themselves the vajra path.
Next, I will explain the earth-dwelling ḍākinī.
One who desires the wisdom of self-awareness
Should investigate the divisions of caṇḍālī.
First is the natural caṇḍālī.
Second is the inner heat caṇḍālī.
Third is the caṇḍālī of union.
Likewise, there is the naked caṇḍālī.[5]
These categories are also subdivided as follows:
There are naked inner heat, extreme inner heat,
And the perfect inner heat of union with another.
These should be applied to all the above categories.
There are naked, very naked, very nakedly naked, and so forth;
All of these should be applied to each.
Divided, there are twelve aspects
And branches, forty-eight in number.
This is the nature of earth-dwelling ḍākinī,
Seventy-two thousand, and so forth.
Mere fierce fire produced from elsewhere
Is the antithesis of this subtle inner heat.
The tips of one hundred twenty hairs
And the tips of thirty-two hairs,
The five pairs and the three main ones:[6]
The place where these three unite is the size of a mustard seed.
The relative widths of the central, right, and left,
And the twofold distinctions should all be known.
There are places where they naturally reside
As channels that are clear, and those that are impure.
Also, the channel knots, similar to letters: F.200.b
These are known as the primordial sound.
They are the nature of the earth-dwelling ḍākinī.
Learn their locations and so forth from other sources.
These instructions are a precious jewel;
Everything arises in dependence on them.
There are mistaken lineages, mistaken placements, and mistaken measurements,
Shapes, colors, numbers, and so forth.
There is no attainment from mistakes.
The nature, which is free from those mistakes,
Is the attainment of the earth-dwelling ḍākinī.
She is the support for them all.
Next, the nature of the subterranean ḍākinī
Will be correctly and excellently explained.
There are three types of awakening mind.
The first is the suchness mind.
This is beyond the scope of expressible knowledge.
The second is the self-aware awakening mind.
Like a crystal, its appearance is conditioned.
The third is the physical awakening mind;
Sandalwood and camphor.
These are described in two ways: ultimate and conventional.
What moves by way of karmic winds and karmic fires
Is conventional awakening mind.
What moves by way of wisdom winds and wisdom fires
Is the ultimate awakening mind.
They have these stages, pure and impure.
They should be distinguished
Through shapes and through colors.
Not moving through the karmic winds,
Not burning through the karmic fires,
Its attributes are similar to snow;
The indestructible drop has the form of haṁ.
Like a jasmine-colored gem,
Glossy-white and resplendent,
It arises as the body of great bliss.
This is the ultimate awakening mind.
As for the red one, naturally clear,
There are four common distinctions.
These are wisdom, awakening mind,
And the two inferior ones, which are their opposites.
The latter two abide at the lower door; they give rise to cyclic existence
When they are spurred to movement through negative conditions.
Therefore, the attributes of the drops
Must be known in their ultimate and their conventional aspects.
There is no attainment from mistaken causes,
Nor, likewise, from mistaken conditions.
These can be known from the teacher’s words.
The ultimate is not an object engaged by the mind.
The conventional has the feeling of bliss as its object.
Its nature is the subterranean ḍākinī.
She is the unshakable meditation on the three vajras.
She, herself, is Vajrasattva.
The meaning of the letters, the branches, F.201.a
The condensed meanings, the general meaning,
The hidden meaning, and the ultimate meaning;
The varieties of conventional phenomena
Arise from the mind. Like a jewel and like a cymbal,
The varieties of ultimate phenomena
Arise on the basis of nonconceptual awareness.
The āli and kāli, along with the neuter phonemes,
Should be analyzed through these six modes.
The letter marking the final sound[7] is inconceivable.
There are three types of branch:
Cause and result, signifier and signified,
And expression and expressed.
To briefly explain their opposites:
There are three vehicles; the rest is the mundane.
These should be understood as common.
These divisions should be known for oneself.
The hidden comprises the classifications of initiations and mantras.
There are four types of mantra and two kinds of initiation.
Dharmas are of two types, general and particular.
All these attributes
Should be known from the mouth of the guru.
The types of fit and unfit vessels
Should also be well analyzed by the guru.
When suchness is correctly realized,
There is no teacher, and nothing is taught.
Concentration and so forth become unceasing,
And buddhas arise in various forms.
They turn the various wheels of the Dharma,
Performing the twelve deeds and so forth.
For the lesser disciples, there is Action Tantra.
For the rest, there is Actionless Yoga.
After that, Yoga is also taught.
Inner yoga is for the rest.
After that there is Yoginī Tantra.
Using the churning stick of method and insight,
With the essence of wisdom at its tip,[8]
The nondual awakened mind is churned;
From it comes nectar of twenty-four tastes.
This is known as the flow of precious jewels.
From this, all mundane and supramundane
Attainments will arise.
Just as unchurned milk
Will not give rise to what is desired,[9]
Likewise, neither from many years of effort,
Nor suddenly, will attainments arise.
Therefore, there are twenty-four jewels,
Which taste like nectar and have the form of a lion.
Their sacred sites are also twenty-four,
Blessed by awakened body, speech, and mind.
Entrusted to twenty-four ḍākinīs,
They were sealed with four seals,
Carefully concealed and carefully disseminated.
If the seals are broken, the sacred vows are corrupted.
The natures of the mantras, visualized forms, and realizations F.201.b
Are the natures of awakened body, speech, and mind.
These are constantly misconstrued as having an essence.
There are two kinds of mantra, two kinds of realization.
Visualized forms should be similarly understood in two ways.
The classifications and the divisions
Of each should be learned from the guru.
Outer, inner, hidden, and final—
These are the four seals of all tantras.
This classification should be analyzed by the wise.
When these are understood,
The yogi possesses tantra,
And hindrances are transcended.
This is natural caṇḍālī.
There are twenty-four sacred sites,
Blessed by the three channels.
In these twenty-four sacred sites,
To twenty-four ḍākinīs, twenty-four tantras were entrusted:[10]
Puru—very fierce secret vajra.
Jaru—fierce eye, the secret is severed.
Oru—the bright one not pervaded by thought.
Āru—the tip of the nose is equal to space.
Goru—teaching the great space of the intellect.
Raru—the body, speech, and mind of a dwarf.
Deru—Laṅka, jewel garland.
Maru—dark woods, great vow.
Karueru—great power.
Oru—terrifying secret wisdom.
Triru—powerful winds, wisdom garland.
Koru—beer is consumed, wisdom blazes.
Karuśyāma—garland of the moon.
Laru—blazing with wealth and appeal.
Karu—horse-ear, the wheel of the sun.
Herukhakha—victorious wisdom.
Preru—secret place of ḍākinīs’ strength.
Grīrukhaṇḍa—secret, blazing with fire.
Saurushoṇḍi—secret nectar.
Suru—the wheel ornamented with a cemetery.
Naru—very heroic victorious vajra.
Siru—great power and victorious wisdom.
Maru—this area confers victory over attachment.
Kuru—enthusiastic ḍākinīs assemble.
These are the places of entrustment; they should be sought out well.
Regarding inner caṇḍālī, twenty-four were entrusted.
The first is secret, as is the second.
These are the nature. Next comes empowerment.
Last is conditions. So it was said.
These are the specific natures of the ḍākinīs.
Any desired attainments will be bestowed.
One who wants the supreme attainments
Should receive initiation and sacred vows.
With horses, elephants and so forth,
One’s children and wife,
One’s wealth and jewels,
One should honor and serve the guru.
From ra and li, which are the taste of nectar,
One attains realization from the instructions of the guru;
Remember to hold them in mind!
Following this discourse, all the gathered assemblies that were present rejoiced.
This completes the glorious king of tantras “Equal to the Sky,” which has the nature of F.202.a awakened body, speech, and mind.Colophon
This was translated and edited by the paṇḍita Gayādhara and the monk Śākya Yeshé.
Notes
The “sequence” being followed is not clarified, but based on the content that follows, it may refer to the three ḍākinīs. It may also refer to the sequence of completion-stage practices.
backThe text does not specify what is being “entered,” but based on the context it could be the central channel, from which the wind would then diffuse to the areas mentioned in the following lines.
backSee #UT22084-079-013-15 and #UT22084-079-013-16.
backThe Choné, Lithang, Peking, and Yongle Kangyurs read “the wise should apprehend the ground of the mind” (Tib. mkhas pas sems kyi gnas par gzung).
backKongtrul’s Treasury of Knowledge cites this section while explaining gtum mo practice in the Marpa Kagyu tradition. This is translated in Esoteric Instructions, pp. 159–60.
backThe number of hair-tips refers to the size of the relatively larger central channel vs. the smaller side channels. The five pairs are the five cakras.
backThis refers to the anusvāra, the mark that indicates nasalization of the syllable it marks.
backThis translation follows the Kangxi, Peking Yongle, and Stok Palace versions in reading rtser gyur pa (“at its tip”). Degé reads brtser gyur pa (“kind”).
backI.e., butter, curd, and cheese.
backFor these twenty-four sacred sites the text gives cryptic syllables and a brief (and equally cryptic) description. The names given for the corresponding sites in the Cakrasaṃvara Tantra are as follows (Gray 2007, p. 67 and pp. 329–37): Pullīramalaya, Jālandhara, Oḍḍiyāna, Arbuda, Godāvarī, Rāmeśvarī, Devīkoṭa, Mālava, Kāmarūpa, Oḍra, Triśakuni, Kośala, Kaliṅga, Lampāka, Kāñcī, Himālaya, Pretapuri, Gṛhadevatā, Saurāṣṭra, Suvarṇadvīpa, Nagara, Sindhu, Maru, Kulutā.
back
