Treasury of the Fundamental Nature/Notes

Notes

Abbreviations TPQ, Book 1 TPQ, Book 2 Jigme Lingpa and Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rin- poche, Treasury of Precious Qualities, translated by Padma- kara Translation Group (Boston: Shambhala Publications, 2010). Jigme Lingpa and Longchen Yeshe Dorje, Kangyur Rin- poche, Treasury of Precious Qualities, Book 2, translated by Padmakara Translation Group (Boston: Shambhala Publi- cations, 2013).

1. 1. Note that the Tibetan titles all contain the word precious (rin po che): The Precious Treasury of Wish-Fulfilling Jewels and so on. For the sake of brevity, and following the common practice among Tibetan scholars, we have systematically omitted this element in the English titles.
2. 2. The possible exception to this rule is the brief explanations of certain aspects of The Treasury of the Wish-Fulfilling Jewels (Yid bzhin mdzod) composed by Mipham Rinpoche in connection with the edition he himself made of this text at the behest of his teacher Jamyang Khyentse Wangpo. Even though a few of these texts are elucidations of Longchen- pa’s meaning, they are not extensive commentaries in the sense intended here.
3. 3. We know, for example, that The Treasury of Tenet Systems predates The Trea- sury of the Dharmadhātu (composed in Gangri Thökar), which quotes it.
4. 4. While in Bhutan, Longchenpa built eight temple hermitages of which Tharpa Ling was the first and most important. Furthermore, in the fourteenth-century biography by Chödrak Zangpo, Longchenpa is said to have composed over 270 treatises, while Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche, in his Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems, raises this total to the vertiginous figure of 307. Most of these texts are said to have been composed during

Longchenpa’s exile, only to be lost on the journey home.

5. See Germano, “Poetic Thought,” p. 24. 6. Respectively, Yid bzhin rin po che’i mdzod and Grub mtha’ rin po che’i mdzod. 7. Man ngag rin po che’i mdzod. 8. Respectively, Chos dbyings rin po che’i mdzod and gNas lugs rin po che’i mdzod. 9. Theg mchog rin po che’i mdzod and Tshig don rin po che’i mdzod. 10. See TPQ, Book 2, p. 426n400. 11. See TPQ, Book 2, p. 205. 12. Ibid., p. 208. 13. In Tibetan, these stages are respectively, gnad bkrol ba, ’gag bsdam pa, chings su bcing ba, and la zla ba. 14. It should be noted that in The Treasury of Precious Qualities, Jigme Lingpa discusses the four samayas of nothing to keep in a slightly different order. 15. gNas lugs rang ’byung gyi rgyud. 16. sNang sbyang. 17. It is clear from the wording of the text that the author of the biography is referring to the well-known proverb that describes the beneficial effects of all connections, good or bad, with bodhisattvas: “If the connection is good, one gains buddhahood in a single life. If the connection is bad, samsara itself will have an end” (rten ’brel bzang po tshe gcig sang rgyas/ rten ’brel ngan pa ’khor ba mtha’ can). See Biography, p. 54. 18. Treasure revealers have occasionally appeared in other schools, one nota- ble example being the Fifth Dalai Lama. 19. The theoretical basis for the revelation of spiritual treasures and the man- ner in which this occurs has been discussed in great detail by Tenpa’i Nyima (1865–1926), the third Dodrubchen Rinpoche, in his Las ’phro gter brgyud kyi rnam bshad nyung gsal ngo mtshar rgya mtsho. See Tulku Thondup, Hidden Teachings of Tibet. 20. Ye shes bla ma. 21. Nges shes sgron me. 22. See TPQ, Book 2, p. 208. 23. This famous saying is often quoted. See, for example, Dudjom Rinpoche, Counsels from My Heart, p. 88. 24. See Tenpa’i Wangchuk’s reference to the story of Atiśa and the two monks, p. 260. 25. See p. 272. 26. See p. 122. 27. That is, the realization of the union of appearances and emptiness, the

union of awareness and emptiness, and the union of luminosity and emptiness. 28. Pronounced Neluk rinpoche’i dzö chejawa. 29. Skt. nāma, Tib. ces bya ba. This is the traditional manner of indicating that the words in question are the title of a book. 30. See TPQ, Book 2, pp. 240–41. 31. A vajra is said to be impossible to cut, indestructible, truly existent, solid, stable, invincible, and unobstructible. 32. In the present context, this term refers to the samayas of nothing to keep. See TPQ, Book 2, pp. 205–8. 33. In the expression “Natural Great Perfection,” the term natural (rang bzhin) refers to the fact that the “face” or “likeness” (bzhin) of ultimate reality, or dharmatā, is shown exactly as it is without modification or elaboration. 34. This final element simply corresponds to the practice in Sanskrit and Tibetan literature of placing titles at the end of the sections, chapters, or texts that they refer to. 35. The eight conceptual extremes are arising and cessation, permanence and annihilation, coming and going, and identity and difference. 36. This and the following paragraph are taken from the autocommentary to The Treasury of the Fundamental Nature. 37. That is, they are without intrinsic existence. 38. The following quotation, which in the Tibetan is said to be taken from the autocommentary to The Treasury of the Dharmadhātu, is in fact taken from the autocommentary to the present work. 39. One of the twenty-five principal disciples of Guru Padmasambhava. 40. See TPQ, Book 2, pp. 205–8. 41. A translator and minister of King Trisong Detsen who became a disciple of Guru Rinpoche. He is said to have attained the rainbow body. 42. See note 31. 43. ngo bo’i rig pa. 44. thugs rje’i rig pa. 45. Shabkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol (1781–1851) was a celebrated nonsectarian master of the Nyingma school and yogi of the Great Perfection. 46. See TPQ, Book 2, p. 256. 47. These factors are described here as impure because, compared with the Great Perfection, they belong to an inferior view. 48. The enumeration here differs from the list given in TPQ, Book 2, pp. 351, 447n660. 49. That is, whatever is born will die, whatever is high will be brought low,

whatever comes together will be separated, and whatever is accumulated will be dispersed. 50. The three impurities are clouds, mist, and dust. 51. The nine activities are: outwardly, the deluded activities of body, speech, and mind; inwardly, prostrations, prayers, meditative concentration, and so on; and secretly, all physical movement, utterances of speech, and thought processes. 52. The term translated here as “understood” is chinlab (byin brlabs), which normally means “empowered” or “blessed.” 53. “Self ” refers to inherent existence. 54. That is, perceiving everything but without focusing on anything in particular. 55. Here and later, spontaneous presence is referred to as “precious” in the sense that it was described as an all-providing, or wish-fulfilling, jewel in the first stanza of this section. 56. In this context, beings to be trained referred to as pure are the buddhas and the bodhisattvas on the grounds of realization. Those referred to as impure are ordinary beings who have not yet reached the path of vision. See TPQ, Book 2, p. 282ff. 57. See TPQ, Book 1, pp. 431–35. 58. See TPQ, Book 1, p. 391. 59. See TPQ, Book 2, pp. 238–39. 60. That is, without specific focus. 61. See TPQ, Book 2, p. 238. 62. This is a reference to the “five days of meditation” in which a “day” cor- responds to the period of time a practitioner is able, while still alive, to remain in the state of luminosity. It is said that this experience can last for as much as five “days.” 63. See TPQ, Book 2, pp. 240–41. 64. This is rig pa ’bras bu cog bzhag, the fourth of the four states of “leaving as it is” (cog bzhag bzhi). 65. The autocommentary to The Precious Treasury of the Fundamental Nature. 66. That is, “nyingtik” (snying thig), the teachings of the Great Perfection in their most essential and refined form. 67. Mkha’ ’gro snying thig. 68. See Root Stanzas on the Middle Way, XV, 7. An account of the Buddha’s conversation with Kātyāyana (Kaccāyana) is found in the Samyutta Nikāya. See Bikkhu Bodhi, The Connected Discourses of the Buddha, 544. 69. According to the Nyingma tradition, six levels or grounds, the result of

the practice of the inner tantras, are added to the usual ten. The sixteenth ground, titled Unsurpassed Wisdom (Ye shes bla ma’i sa), corresponds to the “ever-youthful vase body,” the ultimate attainment of Atiyoga. 70. See TPQ, Book 2, p. 205. 71. This is taken from a prayer for the preservation of the Nyingma teachings The Teachings Pleasing to the Dharma King (sNga gyur bstan pa’i smon lam chos rgyal dgyes pa’i zhal lung). 72. kLong chen snying thig. 73. This is also referred to as the Four Parts of Nyingtik (sNying thig ya bzhi). 74. Respectively, mKha’ ’gro snying thig, Bi ma snying thig, mKha’ ’gro yang tig, and bLa ma yang tig. 75. Zab mo yang tig. 76. khregs chod. 77. thod rgal.