Book Review Emerging Perceptions in Buddhist Studies

Book Review Emerging Perceptions in Buddhist Studies, no.18 Mahamudra and Atiyoga by Guiseppe Baroetto; Translated from Italian into English by Andrew Lukianowicz; Published by D.K. Printworld (P) Ltd., New Delhi; ISBN 81-246-0322-7; Price Rs.350 (US $17.50) Hardbound; Pages 186. Reviewed by Kanchi Vijay Srinath Buddhism has the characteristic of assimilating the religious practices, customs and techniques of the regions wherever it has been taken to for propagation, and so has unique flavors in different parts of the world. It has imbibed Taoist principles in China and Shintoism has its influence on Japanese Buddhism. Similarly Buddhism as practiced in Tibet and other regions north to Himalayas has the influence of the native Bon religion and admits existence of God, and hence known as Iswarika Buddhism, while regions south of great Himalayas practice atheistic, Pragna Swabhavika form of Buddhism. Influence of Hindu religion on Buddhism is also undeniable; particularly both religions believe in Tantrism as a short and effective means for attaining the supreme ideal. However, Hindu Tanta lost much of its charm and significance after Adi Sankara, and survived only as a vestige and vamachara, while Buddhist Tantra never lost its footing. Buddhism was brought into Tibet in the Eighth Century A.D. by an Indian teacher named Padmasambhava who is also reverentially called Guru Rimpoche. Followers of the Nyingma school in Nepal and Tibet regard him in high esteem as “the Second Buddha”. He was invited to the country by King Trisong Deutsen and Padmasambhava gave the land ‘Vajrayana’, the diamond path, the only path which can bestow salvation to its practitioners in one single life. This “short and quick path” is considered as a secret doctrine, which was communicated by Buddha to a select few. (It is a well known fact that Buddha taught his disciples his wisdom in different methods to suit the capacity of the receiver.) Buddhism, particularly Vajrayana Buddhism has an immense collection of esoteric Buddhist Texts written in Tibetan Language by the Buddhist Mystics and Tantric teachers and only a small part of that great heritage is ever translated into English and other popular world languages. Much of the written knowledge of the Tibetan people was destroyed and consigned to flames by the Chinese, when Mao’s people’s army invaded the land. Fortunately, however, a good number of teachings still survive and Dzogchen (Atiyoga) doctrine of Padmasambhava and Mahamudra doctrine of Tilopa are among the fateful scriptures which escaped that dastardly destruction. The present volume titled “Mahamudra and Atiyoga” is an English translation to the Italian rendition of the above Tibetan scriptures by Guiseppe Baroetto. The English translation is carried out by Andrew Lukianowicz. Just as the Tibetan Buddhism has a mystic aura around it, the original Italian translation also has some uncanniness attached to it. The first part of the book ‘Mahamudra’ is a transcription of the oral instructions received by the author in October 1989 from a Tibetan teacher, Lhundrup Tenzin, in Nepal at Swayambhunath, near Katmandu and his meeting this preceptor took place in a queer way. At that time, the author narrates, was translating the two texts by Tilopa from their Tibetan versions, without obtaining the instruction and permission, as is mandated by the tradition. On finishing his circumambulation of the stupa at Swayambhunath he found an elderly Tibetan monk standing still before him and staring. As he nodded a greeting, the monk smiled and sang “I pay homage to the teacher of the Great Seal (Mahamudra)”. The author continues, “After a few seconds of amazement and confusion, I realized that he had penetrated my presumptuousness. Evidently, he was a teacher of what I was laboriously trying to understand with my intellect. I immediately thought of asking the Lama whether he would be willing to explain the meaning of the Great Seal to me, but, without even giving me time to speak, he told me: “I am Lhundrup Tenzin. You have met me because you were seeking me. If you want the transmission and explanation of Tilopa’s advice, then follow me”. And so he did. The Lama entered a temple, sat on the ground, and after bidding the author to do the same, started giving the oral transmission of the Tibetan texts, chanting them by heart with a slow, harmonious melody, followed by his commentary emphasizing the most meaningful and essential aspects “with a language that was simple and at the same clear and precise”. His words flowed unhurriedly, intermitted by long pauses, probably intended to give the author time to transcribe them as accurately as possible. Thus what we have in the first part of the book is a faithful transcription of Mahamudra doctrine, originally ascribed to Tilopa (928-1009), and the commentary as rendered by the preceptor Lhundrup Tenzin to the author elucidating the subtleties of the great doctrine. What is Mahamudra or the Great Seal? It is stated that consciousness without reference points is the Great Seal. Mahamudra is also defined as the phenomenal existence without attachment or rejection. Having got used to this state, it is stated, one obtains supreme awakening. It is claimed in Mahamudra that the vision of the clear light is obscured by our dogmatism. Being without fixations is freedom from dogmatism. When one is free of dogmatism by no longer clinging to a conclusion, one beholds the true meaning of all the teachings. “The supreme view is to transcend subject and object.” “Not being distracted is the supreme meditation and the supreme conduct is the absence of effort. The ultimate attainment is when one leaves the phenomenal reality as it is, without affirming or denying.” After all the ultimate aim is to let the mind regain its natural state of awareness. Couple of techniques in achieving this is also mentioned. By controlling the breath, and fixing the gaze and concentrating the thoughts one can learn to be free of shackles and remain in unaltered state. “Just relax, where you are, the way you are- natural”- this is the essence of Mahamudra doctrine. The Mahamudra teaching was originally imparted to the ‘worthy and intelligent’ Naropa (956-1040), the pundit from Kashmir, on the banks of Ganges who ‘while facing hard trials patiently bore suffering with utmost devotion to his guru’ Tilopa, the celebrated Indian mystic, who initiated him into the ultimate meaning of the Great Seal. It is said that when Naropa met his preceptor, he wanted to have greater and deeper knowledge of the feminine aspect of the life known as Vajradakini or the Diamond Fairy. Vajaradakini ‘is the feminine expression of the supreme divinity, of that which is unconditioned and unaltered and which constitutes the true way of being of all existence’. Understanding the feminine aspect is of paramount importance in Tantric Buddhist tradition of Vajrayana. Tradition holds that even the precious teacher Guru Rimpoche’s main disciple was the Tibetan queen Dakini Yeshe Tsogyal, who later became his consort, and the first female lineage holder in Tibet. Guru Padmasambhava is claimed to have performed certain supernatural feats such as flying in the sky on the back of his consort after transforming her into a tigress, with the help of the occult powers he attained by the Tantric practices. Thus, it is maintained by the Vajrayana sampradaya that one of the gross forms of human ignorance results from the failure to realizes the feminine aspect of the prakriti in its originality and totality. Vajrayana recommends usage of various symbols, images and postures for the realization of non-dual awareness and Tantric sexuality is one of the essential tools in it. It is maintained that we suffer from certain wrongly conceived notions on various subjects including the state of nirvana and this dogmatism is mainly responsible for our ignorance. Most people live in constant distraction, absorbed and conditioned by what they perceive, because they have no self awareness. “If you turn your attention within, then you can understand”. Tilopa says “Remain relaxed in the natural unaltered state, do not strive, do not try to adjust your body, your speech, your mind, or to change the place where you are. Just relax and relieve yourself from the shackles. There is nothing new to achieve. Everything is already there, but unfortunately it is conditioned by our intellect”. Once we learn to relax in totality, which means giving space to oneself as well as to others, all our problems dissolve in that space. Struggling with thoughts in order to eliminate them is like seeking to still water by stirring it; in this way, we only obtain the opposite results. Tilopa says “it is enough to turn your attention on yourself, to remain present to yourself; when you view your consciousness as if you were observing the centre of space, the wave of mental images dissolves”. Thus Mahamudra aims to liberate the practitioners from the fetters of mental images. The book contains innumerable points worth mentioning, and one would be at fix as to which points to highlight and leave which of them unquoted in a review article such as this. Every line and every sentence in the book is a master piece and the commentary that follows each translation, illuminates the intricate nuances which may be missed out by the uninitiated. The second section of the book deals with the Atiyoga doctrine. Atiyoga teachings of Vajrayana as first taught by Guru Rimpoche are in the form of a compendium of brief instructions and aphorisms. They were commented and developed to perfection by various teachers, in the past twelve to thirteen hundred years. Acclaimed as the most complete system of “self help” that the world has ever seen, this highly developed form of Mahayana Buddhism as initially taught by the “precious Guru” is still practiced and perfected in Tibet to the present day. This ‘Great Completeness Doctrine’ or in Tibetan ‘the Dzogchen doctrine’ of Padmasambhava is in line with the Buddha’s teaching of “Atma dipo bhava” or “Be ye lamps unto yourselves and hold fast to the Truth”. This part of the treatise teaches that one needs only to look within oneself to find the Truth. Individuals who do not know the mind, do not know themselves. One mind embraces the whole Sangsara and Nirvana eternally, ever clear, radiant and not visible. Sacred Scriptures, otherwise contain but few words relating to knowledge of the mind and the fit way of applying it practically. Without mind, it is revealed, that there would be no world as humans experience it. In the True State of Primordial Essence of Eternity ‘the pluralistic Universe does not seem to exist’. Even pundits go astray if they have not tasted the One Mind, the Primordial Essence and hence do not know It . Hence explanations from blind leaders are quite unnecessary. “Seek concise and profound, exceedingly vast Wisdom, and heed the own naked Deep Mind inside”. As one English scholar put it “Today, as the Jungians delve deeper into understanding the nature of the unconscious, it becomes obvious that the Tibetans had an understanding of human psychology that we are only now appreciating in the West; an understanding that is not as evident in any other forms of Buddhism.” (Christine Hall, www.alternativeapproaches.com) A quick perusal of the techniques mentioned in the book make us realize that translation and interpretations contained in the book on Atiyoga doctrine exhibit great scholarship. The methods advocated in the book are designed with one purpose in mind: to help the practitioner to overcome personal obstacles in order to become a complete and whole human being. The commentary that follows the translation of Padmasambhava’s text is rendered by Lama Rangdrol Naljor, whom the author met in Delhi in 1989, while he was waiting to return to his Himalayan hermitage. The Lama, on learning that the author was trying to translate the text by Padmasambhava and also keen on studying Tantra, placed the texts on the author’s head , chanting some verses in Tibetan, and told him that with this rite, the texts were transmitted to the author. Queer as it seems! There have already been dozens of translations on Atiyoga doctrine available in the market. What makes this volume special? The specialty lies in the explanatory commentary presented to the author by the Buddhist preceptor who in the own words of the author has “realized the complete extinction of dualistic mind”. When you have a compendium of such masterly commentary on the subtleties of the subject, you really have a great book in your hands. The book has English transliteration of the above Tibetan texts as appendices at the end of the book adding further value to the book. The author Giuseppe Baroetto, who undertook extensive study of Tibetan Buddhism with Prof. Namkhai Norbu, interacted with various Buddhist and Bonpo masters and published translations of some significant original texts with translations and commentaries, as received from his masters. Mahamudra and Dzogchen were so influential on him that he established in 2003 the Ati Rime School, with the aim to study and practice Atiyoga with a fresh approach of renewed openness. This volume will not only be useful to all students and scholars of Buddhist studies, but also prove to be most inspiring for those who understand the meaning and significance of realization of non-dual awareness.