Kulayarāja Tantra

The Kulayarāja Tantra (Tibetan phonetically: Kunjed Gyalpo, bo|t=ཀུན་བྱེད་རྒྱལ་པོའི་རྒྱུད་|w=Kun-byed Rgyal-po'i Rgyud; English translation: "All-Creating King") is a Buddhist Tantra extant in Tibetan which centers upon the direct teachings of the primordial, ultimate Buddha (Adibuddha), Samantabhadra. Samantabhadra is presented as "bodhi-citta", the Awakened Mind, the "mind of perfect purity".

Nomenclature, orthography and etymology

The full title of the original work in Sanskrit is the Sarvadharma Mahasandhi Bodhichitta Kulayarāja Tantra; in Tibetan (rendered phonetically) it is Chö Tamched Dzogpa Chenpo Changchub Kyi Sem Kunjed Gyalpo.

ummary

In the Kulayarāja Tantra, Samantabhadra tells of how he, the 'All-Creating King', is the essence of all things, beings and all Buddhas and that to know him, the Awakened Mind, is to attain the essence of Reality:

"I am the existential ground ("gnas" "chen") of all Buddhas" and "... the root of all things is nothing else but one Self ... I am the place in which all existing things abide." ["The Sovereign All-Creating Mind", tr. E. K. Neumaier-Dargyay, Sri Satguru Publications, Delhi, 1993, p. 61]

For a being to recognise their own Bodhicitta or Samantabhadra Buddha (eternally existent) is to be liberated. Because sentient beings and all other phenomena arise because of Bodhicitta or the Mind of Perfect Purity, Samantabhadra refers to them in his teaching as his "children". Samantabhadra Buddha states:

"Oh all you sentient beings of this threefold world [i.e. the entire universe, both visible and invisible] ! Because I, the All-Creating Sovereign, have created you, you are My children and equal to Me. Because you are not second to Me, I am present in you ... Oh all you sentient beings of this threefold world, if I were not, you would be non-existent. ... Because all things do not exist outside of Me, I firmly declare that I am all - the All-Creating One." ["The Sovereign All-Creating Mind", tr. E.K. Neumaier-Dargyay, Srisatguru Publications, Delhi, 1993, p. 111.]

Samantabhadra also insists: " ... everything is Me, the All-Creating Sovereign, mind of perfect purity ... I am the cause of all things. I am the stem of all things. I am the ground of all things. I am the root of all things ... There is no other Buddha besides Me, the All-Creating One." ["The Sovereign All-Creating Mind", tr. E.K. Neumaier-Dargyay, Srisatguru Publications, Delhi, 1993, pp. 101, 105.]

It belongs to the nature of the unconditioned primal Awareness of Awakened Mind that it is eternal, indestructible and radiant with light: "The characteristic of the self-originated pristine awareness is indestructibility, which is known as 'the place where all is light' ["kun tu 'od kyi sa"] ". Also: "The three aspects of My nature are to be known as follows:(1) unborn, (2), without termination, and (3) the source for the wonder of ceaseless creation ... My own-being ["svabhava", essence] is the sole Reality." ["The Sovereign All-Creating Mind", tr. by E. K. Neumaier-Dargyay, Sri Satguru publications, 1993, pp. 111, 157 and passim]

This ultimate basis of reality, Samantabhadra Buddha, also on occasion termed rigpa, is taught to reside in all beings and to be realisable - it is wisdom, the immortal essence, that is beyond thinking and which permeates the nature of mind and all things. It is the spontaneous, thought-transcending instant presence of all-encompassing awareness. It might be linked to the notion of Tathagatagarbha, which (e.g. in the Angulimaliya Sutra) is stated to be the pure essence at the very heart of mind. However, all figures, i.e Samantabhadra, Vairochana, Vajradhara etc. are traditionally understood to be personifications of emptiness, the true nature of all phenomena (although emptiness is not a major theme of this particular tantra). This being is the personification of Shunyata or emptiness; that all phenomena lack true existence yet still appear, this basis that is found in all phenomena.Fact|date=February 2007. Other Tibetan traditions (notably those of the Jonangpa School of Tibet) envision this tantra in quite a different manner and see not a negative emptiness, but a fullness and all-fulfilling perfection of Buddhic Mind and virtue as constituting the heart of all that is.

Samantabhadra Buddha states:

"From the three aspects [i.e. the Unborn; no ending; source of the wonder of ceaseless creation] of My nature, i.e. that of the All-Creating One, [comes] the fullness which fulfills all needs." And: "What is known as the revealed Buddha is this evidence of My own being. Because it has the centre, the central vigor, it is the Self of everything. As it does not need any deeds, it is the Buddha since the beginning. As it is free of striving and achieving, it is since the beginning known as great. The Great Self is known as the Great Buddha. This evidence which is unborn and non-conceptual is the dimension of Reality ["dharmadhatu"] ...". ["The Sovereign All-Creating Mind", p. 97]

This Reality is utterly unconditioned, non-dependent, and full of bliss. It alone knows itself:

"There is not one thing which is dependent on another. This great self-perfected bliss will intuitively be understood by the strength of the Self which is incomparable pristine awareness." ["The Sovereign All-Creating Mind", p. 121]

In this recondite realm, all speculation and conceptualisation is inadequate, and only direct perception of Samantabhadra Buddha can disclose the ultimate Truth:"All that exists is My own being. The entirety of the animated and inanimated world is My own being. Outside of My own being, nothing is, therefore the root of all things consists in Me. Not one thing exists that does not consist in Me." ["The Sovereign All-Creating Mind, op. cit. p. 84.]

Critique of English translation

*Skora, Kerry Martin (1996). "A Review of 'The Sovereign All-Creating Mind－The Motherly Buddha: A Translation of the Kun byed rgyal po'i mdo'", by E. K. Neumaier-Dargyay (1992). SUNY Series in Buddhist Studies. Albany: State University of New York Press. The Review was published within "Philosophy East and West". Vol.46 No.1. January 1996. University of Hawaii Press. pp.107-116. Source: [http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-PHIL/ew027217.htm] (accessed: Sunday July 6, 2008)

Notes

See also

*Anunatva-Apurnatva-Nirdesa
*Buddha-nature
*Mahaparinirvana Sutra
*Srimala Sutra
*Tathagatagarbha
*Tathagatagarbha Sutra
*Shunyata

Sources

*"The Sovereign All-Creating Mind", tr. by E.K. Neumaier-Dargyay (Sri Satguru Publications, Delhi, 1992), p.111 and passim
*"The Supreme Source", C. Norbu, A. Clemente (Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca, NY, 1999)
*Skora, Kerry Martin (1996). "A Review of 'The Sovereign All-Creating Mind－The Motherly Buddha: A Translation of the Kun byed rgyal po'i mdo'", by E. K. Neumaier-Dargyay (1992). SUNY Series in Buddhist Studies. Albany: State University of New York Press. The Review was published within "Philosophy East and West". Vol.46 No.1. January 1996. University of Hawaii Press. pp.107-116. Source: [http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-PHIL/ew027217.htm] (accessed: Sunday July 6, 2008)