Guhyasamāja tantra
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Guhyasamaja tantra , (tib.:gSang-'dus rtsa-rgyud) (Sanskrit: "Treatise on the Sum Total of Mysteries" English: "Root Tantra of the Secret Assembly") , also called Tathagataguhyaka ("The Mystery of Tathagatahood [Buddhahood]") is an important tantra whose practice is important to many schools of Tibetan Buddhism, in particular the Gelug and Kagyu traditions.
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[edit] Origin of the tantra
The Guhyasamaja, or "Secret Assembly," Tantra was developed at an early date in history to aid the Buddhist practitioner in understanding and practicing Tantric Buddhism to attain enlightenment.These are the basic texts of the Tantric—an esoteric and highly symbolic—form of Buddhism, which developed in India and became dominant in Tibet.
The Guhyasamaja Tantra is part of the anuttara-yoga-tantra class of texts and probably dates to as early as the fourth century C.E. This tantra is often known as the supreme and king of all other Highest Yoga Tantras because it is taught to students of Tantric Buddhism first; it is their mastery of this yogic path that allows them to study other tantras.
[edit] Iconography
His consort is called Sparshavajra or Adhiprajna. The consort Adhiprajna is consubstantiated with Guhyasamaja, who she encircles, and possesses the same attributes. She has three faces: red, light blue, and white. Her original hands embrace the (yab) at the back, the upper hands hold the flaming jewel and wheel, while the lower ones carry the sword of wisdom (prajna-khadga) and lotus. Both the deities are adorned with the costumes and ornaments of a Bodhisattva.
[edit] Practices
One of the methodologies employed by the devotee's guru, or spiritual teacher, in understanding the "transformative" nature of Heruka deities is the meditational process. In essence, the Guhyasamaja Akshobhyavajra Mandala is intended to teach the Buddhist practitioner to visualize him or herself as the central paired-deity in the meditational process, in this case Guhyasamaja Akshobhyavajra and Sparshavajri. Further, the goal of this tantric meditational mandala is for the devotee to realize that he or she is the generator and the emanator of this particular system, and is therefore considered to be the paired-deity in the center of the painting. It is the "transformation" deity, or Heruka deity in the center of the painting that leads the practitioner to enlightenment. Moreover, the practitioner acquires the wisdom and the compassion of the central deity, the four jina, or "victor" Buddhas and their Prajnas, when following this explicit path of the Guhyasamaja Akshobhyavajra cycle.
Tsongkhapa left to the world 18 volumes of collected teachings, with the largest amount being on Guhyasamāja tantra. These 18 volumes containing hundred of titles relating to all aspects of Buddhist teachings and which clarify some of the most difficult topics of sutrayana and mantrayana teachings. among them "The Clear Exposition of the Five Stages of Guhyasamaja (gSang-'dus rim-lnga gsal-sgron)"
[edit] The Gelug-Kagyu Tradition
In Tibet, Akshobhyavajra is particularly favoured by the Gelug Order, most likely for the antiquity of his texts. The Guhyasamaja Tantra, translated in the 8th century A.D., was one of the first Sanskrit works to be translated into Tibet.
According to the Guhyasamaja-Mahakalparaja, the central deity of the mandala of Akshobhyavajra is Vajradhara, the cosmic consciousness, spotless brightness, which owing to its inner law, must expand into manifold universe, gradually disintegrating in the process, but finally returning to initial unity. Vajradhara in the mandala is Akshobhyavajra who multiplies and irradiates in five ways, symbolically arranged in a mandala with a centre and four cardinal points.
Tibetan and Sanskrit Titles:
The Guhyasamaja Root Tantra; cf., The Guhyasamaja Tantra.
The Guhyasamaja Tantra (Guhyasamaja Tantra; gSang-'dus rtsa-rgyud).
- "A Lamp for a Compendium of Practices," A Commentary on the Meaning of the Five Stages [of the Guhyasamaja Complete Stage] (Caryamelapaka-pradipa; sPyod-bsdus).
- Buton (Bu-ston Rin-chen grub), An Explanatory Discourse on [Chandrakirti's] "An Illuminating Lamp [for 'The Guhyasamaja Root Tantra']" (sGron-gsal bshad-sbyar).
- An Illuminating Lamp [for "The Guhyasamaja Root Tantra"] (Pradipoddyatana; sGron-gsal).
- A Lamp to Clarify the Meaning of the Generation Stage of Guhyasamaja (dPal gsang-ba 'dus-pa'i bskyed-rim-gyi don gsal-bar byed-pa'i sgron-me).
- Sershul (Ser-shul dGe-bshes Blo-bzang phun-tshogs), Notes on the Five Stages [of the Guhyasamaja Complete Stage] (Rim-lnga zin-bris).
- A Lamp for Clarifying the Five Stages [of the Guhyasamaja Complete Stage] (Rim-lnga gsal-sgron).
- Precious Sprout, Deciding the Difficult Points of (Chandrakirti's) "An Illuminating Lamp [for 'The Guhyasamaja Root Tantra']" (sGron-gsal dka'-gnas-kyi mtha'-gcod rin-po-che'i myu-gu).
- The Pure Stages of the Yoga of Guhyasamaja (gSang-'dus rnal-sbyor dag-rim).
- A Treasury of Commentaries on the Five Stages [of the Guhyasamaja Complete Stage] (Rim-lnga 'grel-mdzod).
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