Contents
Buddha kyamuni
Guru Padmasambhava
Longchen Rabjam Drim zer
The Padmakara Translation Group gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Tsadra Foundation in sponsoring the translation and preparation of this book.
Shambhala Publications, Inc. 4720 Walnut Street Boulder, Colorado 80301 www.shambhala.com 2018 by the Padmakara Translation Group All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Shambhala Publications is distributed worldwide by Penguin Random House, Inc., and its subsidiaries. Jh.; inv. no. no.
IId 13769, Essen collection; Photographer: Omar Lemke Museum der Kulturen Basel, Switzerland; All rights reserved. L IBRARY OF C ONGRESS C ATALOGING - IN -P UBLICATION D ATA Names: Klong-chen-pa Dri-med-od-zer, 13081363, author. | Klong-chen-pa Dri-med-od-zer, 13081363. Sems nyid ngal gso. English. | Klong-chen-pa Dri-med-od-zer, 13081363.
Bsam gtan ngal gso. English. | Klong-chen-pa Dri-med-od-zer, 13081363. Sgyu ma ngal gso. English. | Comit de traduction Padmakara, translator.
Title: Trilogy of rest / Longchen Rabjam; translated by the Padmakara Translation Group. Description: First edition. | Boulder: Shambhala, 2017 | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2017009896 | ISBN 9781611805161 (hardback: v. 2) | ISBN 9781611805925 (hardback: v. 3) Subjects: LCSH : Rdzogs-chenEarly works to 1800. | BISAC : RELIGION / Buddhism / Tibetan. | RELIGION / Buddhism / Sacred Writings. | RELIGION / Buddhism / Rituals & Practice. | RELIGION / Buddhism / Rituals & Practice.
Classification: LCC BQ 7662.4 . K 5465 2017 | DDC 294.3/420423dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017009896 v5.3.2 a
F OREWORD
A LAK Z ENKAR R INPOCHE
Supreme among the vast array of pith instructions, Bringing into one epitome The crucial points without exception of the Tripitaka And the four classes of Tantra, These volumes are the summit of a myriad treatises That heal and that protect, A perfect chariot of teaching clear and unsurpassed, The supreme means whereby The minds of those who wander in the triple world, Find rest in freedom. Priceless in this universe, This scripture is the image of the speech of Longchen, Dharma king from Samy, who in times to come Will have the name of the Victorious Merudipa. It is a beauteous mirror formed of flawless crystal That reveals the sense of the essential lore Of the three yogas and nine stages of the Mahayana, Passed down by word of mouth and in the precious treasures, Rich patrimony of the line of knowledge-holders Of the Ancient Translations. Your aspiration first arose Upon the shoulders of the eastern hills And now your translation in a foreign tongue Shines like the day-creating sun Assisted by the light of publications wizardry. I celebrate its coming, The sweet friend of the lotus of the Buddhas doctrine.
From the smiling blossom of delight and happiness There falls such honeyed nectar of rejoicing That, not waiting for the songs of the applauding bees, I cannot help but pour out my congratulation. I who have grown old beneath this canopy of joy, This great refulgence of the sunlight Of the doctrine of the powerful Sage, Cannot but speak my praises of your wish To be of service to his teaching. Therefore may this lucid textual explanation, Indeed a health-sustaining herb For teachings of the Ancient Translation School And source of glorious sustenance for many beings, Increase a hundred, thousand, millionfold And be widely spread and propagated. With excellent aspiration and activity for the Buddhas doctrine in general and especially for the orally transmitted and treasure teachings of the Ancient Tradition of the Great Secret, the Padmakara translators have rendered into English the root texts of the Trilogy of Rest, which are now published together with their autocommentaries, the spotlessly clear exposition of the mighty Conqueror Longchen Rabjam. With joy and admiration, I, Thubten Nyima, join my hands at my heart and offer flowers of rejoicing.
T RANSLATORS I NTRODUCTION
F
INDING R EST IN I LLUSION and
The Chariot of Excellence form the concluding part of Longchen Rabjams celebrated
Trilogy of Rest. Their purpose, as the author himself declares, is to gather the entire teaching of Mahyna Buddhism into an essential point: the yoga of the two aspects of illusion defined and illustrated in terms of eight well-known examples taken from the Prajpramit scriptures.
T RANSLATORS I NTRODUCTION
F
INDING R EST IN I LLUSION and
The Chariot of Excellence form the concluding part of Longchen Rabjams celebrated
Trilogy of Rest. Their purpose, as the author himself declares, is to gather the entire teaching of Mahyna Buddhism into an essential point: the yoga of the two aspects of illusion defined and illustrated in terms of eight well-known examples taken from the Prajpramit scriptures.
The root text and its commentary are brief and pithy and their extraordinary profundity emerges only with slow, attentive, and repeated reading. They are replete with references to a wide range of scriptural sources, and the reader will soon discover that beneath their poetic surface lies an entire submerged continent of doctrine with which they may not be familiar. In the hope of being of some assistance, we have endeavoured to supply references to other texts where additional information may be found, notably Jigme Lingpas Treasury of Precious Qualities and its indispensable commentary by Kyabje Kangyur Rinpoche. Identified by its author as a teaching of the Great Perfection, Finding Rest in Illusion touches on deep matters of great subtlety, and there is no question of providing, in a brief translators introduction, an adequate account of Longchenpas thought. However, in an attempt to bring the text into focus and to provide a few bearings useful to the general reader, we offer, with all due reticence, the following summary. In introducing