The Kingdom of Kosala & the Shakhya (563 BC)

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"Saka clans settled along the middle course of what is the Durand line (border between Afghanistan and Pakistan)....around 625 BC-Immediately after the end of the Saka Interregnum in Persia that is said to have lasted from 653-625 BC. "

"By the time of the Buddha (about 563 BC - 483 BC) .... the Śākya nation had been subsumed into the Kingdom of Kosala under King Pasenadi......Pasenadi (Sanskrit: Prasenajit) (c. 6th century BC) was a Aikṣvāka dynasty (a dynasty founded by King Ikṣvāku) ruler of Kosala. He succeeded his father Sanjaya Mahākosala. He was a prominent Upāsaka (lay follower) of Gautama Buddha "

"Kosala (Sanskrit: कोसल) was an ancient region of Northwest India.......according to the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya and the Jaina text, the Bhagavati Sutra. Originally mentioned in the Ramayana as a Janapada state dating from approximately 1000 BC, Kosala was one of the Solasa (sixteen) Mahajanapadas (powerful realms) in 7th century BCE and its cultural and political strength earned it the status of great power. However, it was later weakened by a series of wars with the neighbouring kingdom of Magadha and, in the 4th century BCE, was finally absorbed by it. The Kosala region had three major cities, Ayodhya, Saket and Shravasti and a number of minor towns as Setavya, Ukattha, Dandakappa, Nalakapana and Pankadha. According to the Puranas, Ayodhya was the capital of Kosala during the reign of Ikshvaku and his descendants. Shravasti was the capital of Kosala between 6th century BCE and 6th century CE......

"Historical Buddha....lived about 563 BC - 483 BC.....Born in Lumbini or Kapilavastu (today in Nepal), Died (aged 80) at Kushinagar (today in Uttar Pradesh, India)......Buddha was born in a royal Kshatriya family to King Śuddhodana, the leader of Shakya clan, whose capital was Kapilavastu, and who were later annexed by the growing Kingdom of Kosala during the Buddha's lifetime...."

"The mention of Kosala is not found in the early Vedic literature. It is mentioned as a region in the later texts of the Satapatha Brahmana and the Kalpasutras.....In the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Puranas the ruling family of the Kosala kingdom was descended from king Ikshvaku. The Puranas give lists of kings of the Aikhsvaka dynasty (the dynasty founded by Ikshvaku) from Ikshvaku to Presenajit (Pasenadi)..... A Buddhist text, the Majjhima Nikaya mentions Buddha as a Kosalan and Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism taught in Kosala. In the time of king Mahakosala, Kashi was an integral part of the kingdom. Mahakosala was succeeded by his son Pasenadi (Prasenajit). He was a follower of Buddha......

"The Kalpa Sūtra (Sanskrit: कल्पसूत्र) is a Jain text containing the biographies of the Jain Tirthankaras, notably Parshvanath and Mahavira, including the latter's Nirvana. Bhadrabahu I is considered the author of the text and it is traditionally said to have been composed about one hundred and fifty years after Nirvāṇa of Mahavira (traditionally 599 – 527 BCE)......The book is read and illustrated in an eight day long festival of Paryushan by Jain monks for general people. Only Monks can read this scriptures as in Jainism, this book has very high spiritual values.....In Jainism, a Tīrthaṅkara is a human being who helps in achieving liberation and enlightenment as an arihant. "

The ruins of the city walls of Shravasti, the capital of the Kosala kingdom ... Kosala was one of the Solasa (sixteen) Mahajanapadas (powerful realms) in 6th century BC

"Sravasti in the Buddha's time......Savatthi was located on the banks of the river Aciravati (now called the Rapti river). It was the capital city of the kingdom of Kosala, and its king was called Pasenadi, who was a disciple of Buddha. It is a beautiful city with vast amounts of agriculture and diversity. Buddhaghosa says that, in the Buddha's day, there were fifty-seven thousand families in Savatthi, and that it was the chief city in the country of Kasi Kosala ..... The Buddha passed the greater part of his monastic life in Savatthi."

"The Kingdom of Koshala in the Shakhya clan...Kosala (Sanskrit: कोसल) was an ancient region..... According to the Buddhist text Anguttara Nikaya and the Jaina text, the Bhagavati Sutra, ... Kosala was one of the Solasa (sixteen) Mahajanapadas (powerful realms) in 6th century BCE and its cultural and political strength earned it the status of great power. ...Shravasti was the capital of Kosala between 6th century BCE and 6th century CE......A Buddhist text, the Majjhima Nikaya mentions Buddha as a Kosalan...."

"Kshatriya, from (holder of) Kshatra (rule or authority), is one of the four varnas (social orders) in Hinduism. ....Shakya was an ancient Janpada of India and it was an independent kingdom in the foothills of Himalayas. The capital of Shakya was Kapilvastu. The Buddhist text, Mahavamsa (II, 1-24) traces the origin of the Sakyas to the Ishvaku clan of Ayodhya in which Shri Rama was born. The famous kshatriya muni Gautam Buddha was born in the Shakya clan....."...http://shakya.kshatriya.tripod.com/sainthwar/

"Shakya kshatriyas were considering themselves as the purest breed of kshatriya. To protect their purity, they were doing same Gotriya (Sagotriya) marriage which is prohibited in Hinduism. This sentiment lead to mass scale massacre by king of Kosala after one incident....Prasenjit (Pasenadi) was suryavanshi kshatriya king of Kosala with its capital at Shravasti. He was prominent follower of Gautam Buddha and built many Buddhist monasteries. After defeating Shakya republic, he asked for one Shakyan girl whom he will marry and make patrani (main queen). He also promised that the son born out of her would be the next king of Kosala.....Shakyas who were proud of the superiority of their blood took meeting in Santhagara at Kapilvastu. Santhagara decided that they would not give their girl even though she will be made patrani of Kosala. Then they decided that they would give the daughter of Nagmunda who was slave of Mahanaam Shakya, Uncle of Gautam Buddha. The slave girl, named Vasavkhattiya, was then given to king Prasenjit as Shakya girl. King married to Vasavkhattiya and gave birth to a boy who later became the Prince of Kosala. The name of prince was Virudhaka (Pali: Vidudabha).".....http://shakya.kshatriya.tripod.com/sainthwar/

Saheth-Maheth, was the site of Shravasti, an ancient Buddhist monastic estate.......Maheth is another important cluster of shrines in Sravasti. Though not as famous as Saheth, Maheth also has a cluster of shrines that are very popular among the tourists visiting Sravasti. In fact, Maheth was the actual site of the erstwhile Sravasti city. ....Spread across the area of near about 400 acres, Maheth was the site of numerous shrines and Stupas. In fact, Maheth has been identified with the remains of the city proper. Nevertheless, the site for long had remained abandoned and ignored. It was only in the early decades of 20th century when the excavation works were initiated that the site raised to prominence. Further excavation works have exposed the massive gates of the city, ramparts and also the ruins of other structures that testify to the prosperity of ancient Sravasti. ......Maheth is also the site for the ancient Sobhanath Temple. The temple has various replicas in India, Nepal and other Buddhist countries of the Indo-China region. The place also bears the onslaught of Gupta rulers during the era of the resurgence of Hinduism. It has been agreed upon that Pakki Kuti and Kacchi Kuti were probably Buddhist shrines before they were converted into Brahminical temples.

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Sakyas & the Caucasus Indicus Mountains (625 BC)

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"Saka clans settled along the middle course of what is the Durand line around 625 BC-Immediately after the end of the Saka Interregnum in Persia that is said to have lasted from 653-625 BC. "

"In the time of Alexander the Great, the Hindu Kush range was referred to as the Caucasus Indicus or the "Indian Caucasus" (as opposed to the Greater Caucasus range between the Caspian and Black Seas).....Some sources state that the term Hindu Kush originally applied only to the peak in the area of the Kushan Pass, which had become a center of the Kushan Empire by the 1st century AD. This mountain range was also called Paropamisadae by Hellenic Greeks in the late first millennium BC.... the Durand Line, established in 1893, continues on through mountainous regions to the Khyber Pass area. Beyond this point it rises to the crest of the Hindu Kush, which it follows eastward to the Pamir Mountains.."

"The Kushan Pass or Kaoshan Pass (el. about 4,370 m or 14,340 ft) is a mountain pass just west of the famous Salang Pass (3,878 m. or 12,723 ft.) in the Hindu Kush mountain range of northern Afghanistan. These two passes provided the most direct, if difficult, routes across the imposing east-west wall of the Hindu Kush mountains which divide northern Afghanistan or Tokharistan from Kabul province, which is closely connected to southern Afghanistan and Pakistan.....Alexander the Great took his troops across both the Khawak Pass and the Kaoshān or Kushan Pass."

"The Sākyas were one of a number of small tribes—Kāmāla, Malla, Vṛji, Licchavi, etc—who do not appear in the Ṛgveda. Pāṇini (ca 5th century BCE) knows the Mallas and Vṛji as desert tribes in Rajasthan, and Alexander's ambassadors met a tribe called Malloi in the same region. They appear to have entered India from the west some time after the Vedas were completed (ca. 1000 BCE) and then migrated east well before the time of the Buddha (ca. 480-400 BCE). .... An abrupt climate change ca. 850 BCE caused Western India to have an arid period which may have been what set off the migration. This also coincides with a moist period on the Central Asia Steppes and a massive expansion of the Sycthian culture from the region of Tuva westwards to the Black Sea."

"When the British were consolidating their empire in India, they were looking for the natural boundaries of India. In the east, there was the buffer state of Burma and the theoretically impenetrable jungles and hills of Assam, while in the north, the Himalayas were impassable. In the south, was the ocean which the British anyway dominated worldwide. However, while reading Indian history they noticed that for the last 4,000 years the northwest had acted as a corridor for the continuous invasions of India - the Highway of Conquests. Starting with the Aryans in 2500 BC other invasions followed by the Persians, Greeks, Sakas, Kushans, Turks, Mongols, Moghuls and finally the Afghans.....This was a route, which obviously had to be blocked, if the rulers were to sleep soundly at night. After their domination of the Punjab, the British, therefore, decided to extend their North West Frontier (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) to the natural boundaries of India, which they presumed to be the Hindu Kush as a continuation of the Himalayas, with Iran acting as a buffer state. As the Hindu Kush passes were too high to be continuously manned all the year round, a screen was envisaged along the Oxus. While this seemed eminently logical and easy on the map, on the ground it proved to be a policy that was practically impossible to maintain, due to a constraint which the British had so far failed to notice during their conquest of India i.e. the people of the country. The Afghans proved themselves to be a match for the British and handed them their first defeats in their endeavour to paint the global map red.".....http://www.nation.com.pk/columns/16-Nov-2010/Durand-Line-Geopolitical-issues

" Saka Interregnum in Persia....653-625 BC Madius - Scythian interregnum....Herodotus speaks in some detail of a period of Scythian domination, the so called Scythian interregnum in Median Dynasty history. His dating of this event remains uncertain but traditionally it is seen as falling between the reigns of Phraortes and Cyaxares and as covering the years 653 to 625 BC. .....Cyaxares or Hvakhshathra (Old Persian, Uvaxštra, Greek: Κυαξάρης; r. 625–585 BC), the son of King Phraortes, was the third and most capable king of Media. According to Herodotus, Cyaxares, grandson of Deioces, had a far greater military reputation than his father or grandfather.....By uniting the Iranian tribes of Ancient Iran and conquering territory, Cyaxares allowed the Median Empire to become a regional power. "

"India: The Shakyas were settled in the territory bounded by the Himalayas in the north, The Rohini (the present-day Kobana, a tributory of the Rapti) in the east and the Rapti in the south. Some Buddhist texts, Mahāvastu, Mahavamsa and Sumangalavilasini give accounts of the Śākyas......Indologist Michael Witzel has suggested that the similarity of the name Śākya and Śaka (the Indian and Persian name for the Scythians) is no coincidence. He thinks the Śākyas were "an early incursion of the Scythians" into India."

"The Sākyas appear to have retained features that have other Indic or Vedic precedent such as burial mounds (stūpas), which are referred to in the Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa as "demonic" (ŚB 12.8.1.5), and are similar to the Kurgan mounds in Central Asia. Witzel has also suggested, informally, that the idea of being judged on the basis of your actions in life comes into India from Zoroastrianism. Certainly karma has no Vedic precedent, and Johannes Bronkhorst has argued that Brahmins were assimilating the idea of karma from another possible connection with Iran is the division of the person into body, speech and mind by Buddhists, which has no Vedic precedent but is prominent in Zoroastrianism. However by the time we know of them the Śākyas have been thoroughly Indianised......"

"By the time of the Buddha the Śākya nation had been subsumed into the Kingdom of Kosala under King Pasenadi."

"King Suchandra had miraculously come from Shambhala, and he requested the Kalachakra for the entourage of listeners: the ninety-six emanated satraps of the ninety-six great lands within Shambhala........".....http://www.dalailama.com/teachings/kalachakra-initiations

"Dawa Zangpo was the first of the seven "SHAKYA" kings of Shambhala.(Bryant:Wheel of Time Sand Mandala)...Sucandra died two years after receiving the Kalachakra teachings. The six religious Kings of Shambhala were descended from the Shakya clan......"The father of Sucandra was Shakya Shambha" (Bernbaum:1980..pg 285)......"King Dawa Zangpo (Sucandra) (Zla-ba bZang po) (Lord of Humanity)..(Kongtrul: 1995..pg 276)..."King Suchandra compiled the Kalachakra Tantra in its long form, said to be 12,000 stanza. This version no longer being extant. Suchandra was from Shambhala, near the Tarim river." (Hopkins 1985..pg 60)

"Sakya (Shakya): derived or descended from the Sakas, from whom the historical Buddha came, whence his honorific Sakymuni. "Sage of the Sakyas." Many people of the Sakya tribe followed the Buddha after his enlightenment.

"The Śākyas are mentioned in later Buddhist texts as well including the Mahāvastu (ca. late 2nd century BCE), Mahāvaṃsa and Sumaṅgalavilāsinī (ca. 5th century CE), mostly in the accounts of the birth of the Buddha, as a part of the Adichchabandhus (kinsmen of the sun) or the Ādichchas (solar race) and as descendants of the legendary king Ikṣvāku (Pāli: Okkāka)....

"The Mahāvastu (Sanskrit for "Great Event" or "Great Story") is a text of the Lokottaravāda school of Early Buddhism. It describes itself as being a historical preface to the Buddhist monastic codes (vinaya). Over half of the text is composed of Jātaka and Avadāna tales, accounts of the earlier lives of the Buddha and other bodhisattvas.......The Mahāvastu contains prose and verse written in mixed Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit. It is believed to have been composed between the 2nd century BCE and 4th century CE."

"The Buddhist text Mahavamsa (II, 1-24), traces the origin of the Sakyas (Śākyas) to king Okkaka (Ikshvaku) and gives their genealogy from Mahasammata, an ancestor of Okkaka. This list comprises the names of a number of prominent kings of the Ikshvaku dynasty, which include Mandhata and Sagara. According to this text, Okkamukha was the eldest son of Okkaka. Sivisamjaya and Sihassara were the son and grandson of Okkamukha. King Sihassara had eighty-two thousand sons and grandsons, who were together known as the Sakyas. The youngest son of Sihassara was Jayasena. Jayasena had a son, Sihahanu, and a daughter, Yashodhara (not to be confused with prince Siddhartha's wife), who was married to Devadahasakka. Devadahasakka had two daughters, Anjana and Kaccana. Sihahanu married Kaccana, and they had five sons and two daughters, Suddhodana was one of them. Suddhodana had two queens, Maya and Prajapati, both daughters of Anjana. Siddhartha (Gautama Buddha) was the son of Suddhodana and Maya. Rahula was the son of Siddhartha and Yashodara (also known as Bhaddakaccana), daughter of Suppabuddha and granddaughter of Anjana."

"King Suddhodana (Sanskrit: Śuddhodana; Japanese: 浄飯王 Jōbon-ō) was the father of Gautama Buddha. He was a leader of the Shakya people, who lived in Kapilvastu and was a righteous king......There lived once upon a time a king of the Śākya, a scion of the solar race, whose name was Śuddhodana. He was pure in conduct, and beloved of the Śākya like the autumn moon. He had a wife, splendid, beautiful, and steadfast, who was called the Great Māyā, from her resemblance to Māyā the Goddess."

"Asha is not Karma. Karma is a mechanical retribution for actions. Asha is an aspect of the Nature of God and works to promote Haurvatat. Thus Asha has no such thing as the concept of 'Karmic Debt" which is totally foreign to Zarathushtra's teaching of free will....Asha (aša) is the Avestan language term (corresponding to Vedic language ṛta) for a concept of cardinal importance to Zoroastrian theology and doctrine. In the moral sphere, aša/arta represents what has been called "the decisive confessional concept of Zoroastrianism." The opposite of Avestan aša is druj, "lie."

The significance of the term is complex, with a highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right(eousness)', 'order' and 'right working'.......Its Old Persian equivalent is arta-.[c] In Middle Iranian languages the term appears as ard-.[a].......The word is also the proper name of the divinity Asha, the Amesha Spenta that is the hypostasis or "genius" of "Truth" or "Righteousness". In the Younger Avesta, this figure is more commonly referred to as Asha Vahishta (Aša Vahišta, Arta Vahišta), "Best Truth".[b] The Middle Persian descendant is Ashawahist or Ardwahisht; New Persian Ardibehesht or Ordibehesht. In the Gathas, the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism and thought to have been composed by the prophet himself, it is seldom possible to distinguish between moral principle and the divinity. Later texts consistently use the 'Best' epithet when speaking of the Amesha Spenta, only once in the Gathas is 'best' an adjective of aša/arta."

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Asha, āśā, Ashe

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The significance of the term Asha is complex, with a highly nuanced range of meaning. It is commonly summarized in accord with its contextual implications of 'truth' and 'right(eousness)', 'order' and 'right working'.......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha

"Asha defined: The first among Gathic concepts (enumerated earlier) is ASHA. It is an Aryan concept, shared by Hindus, as well as by Persians. In archaic Sanskrit, it is Rta/Rita, and the Law of the Universe. In both Sanskrit and Gathic Avestan, it literally means "what fits", in any and every situation; in every physical, emotional, ethical, mental, material and/or spiritual relationship....Asha is the Ordering Principle of the Universe."......http://www.zoroastrianism.cc/asha.html

Heaven, Earth, and Man, Calligraphy in Korean hangul script; ink and color on paper, ...JUNG Do-jun (born 1948), Korean; Republican period, 2006,

"Ashe..... the mark Chogyam Trungpa used in the Shambhala teachings to symbolize primordial wisdom, which he called the Ashe stroke." ......http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=3423

"Ashe (Tibetan: primordial or first stroke. Pronounced ah-shay). In the Shambhala teachings, A-, primordial or first, is the open space of mind before the first thought, or first gesture; that first thought or gesture is -she. Ashe is the power to express basic goodness and is also know as "the essence of life." Ashe symbolizes primordial confidence and compassion. The execution of the stroke of Ashe is the practice that expressed and nourishes those qualities."......Jeremy Hayward, 'Warrior - King of shambhala - Remembering Chogyam Trungpa. - Wisdom Publications, 2008

"Asha is not Karma. Karma is a mechanical retribution for actions. Asha is an aspect of the Nature of God and works to promote Haurvatat. Thus Asha has no such thing as the concept of 'Karmic Debt" which is totally foreign to Zarathushtra's teaching of free will....Asha (aša) is the Avestan language term (corresponding to Vedic language ṛta) for a concept of cardinal importance to Zoroastrian theology and doctrine. In the moral sphere, aša/arta represents what has been called "the decisive confessional concept of Zoroastrianism." The opposite of Avestan aša is druj, "lie."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asha

"Etymology....... Avestan aša and its Vedic equivalent ṛtá both derive from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ṛtá- "truth", which in turn continues Proto-Indo-European *h2r-to- "properly joined, right, true", from the root *h2ar. The word is attested in Old Persian as arta.

Asha....In Middle Iranian languages the term appears as ard-......

Asha...."The word is also the proper name of the divinity Asha, the Amesha Spenta that is the hypostasis or "genius" of "Truth" or "Righteousness". In the Younger Avesta, this figure is more commonly referred to as Asha Vahishta (Aša Vahišta, Arta Vahišta), "Best Truth".

"The Middle Persian descendant is Ashawahist or Ardwahisht; New Persian Ardibehesht or Ordibehesht. In the Gathas, the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism and thought to have been composed by the prophet himself, it is seldom possible to distinguish between moral principle and the divinity. Later texts consistently use the 'Best' epithet when speaking of the Amesha Spenta, only once in the Gathas is 'best' an adjective of aša/arta."

"Vedic usage.......The kinship between Old Iranian aša-/arta- and Vedic ŗtá- is evident in numerous formulaic phrases and expressions that appear in both the Avesta and in the RigVeda. For instance, the *ŗtásya path-, "path of truth", is attested multiple times in both sources. (e.g. Y 51.13, 72.11; RV 3.12.7, 7.66.3). Similarly "source of truth," Avestan aša khá and Vedic khâm ṛtásya (Y 10.4; RV 2.28.5)......The adjective corresponding to Avestan aša/arta- "truth" is haiθiia- "true". Similarly, the adjective corresponding to Vedic ŗtá- "truth" is sátya- "true". The opposite of both aša/arta- and haithya- is druj- "lie" or "false". In contrast, in the Vedas the opposite of both ŗtá- and sátya- is druj- and ánŗta-, also "lie" or "false".......However, while the Indo-Iranian concept of truth is attested throughout Zoroastrian tradition, ŗtá- disappears in post-Vedic literature and is not preserved in post-Vedic texts. On the other hand, sátya- and ánrta- both survive in classical Sanskrit........The main theme of the Rig Veda - "the truth and the gods" - is not evident in the Gathas. Thematic parallels between aša/arta and ŗtá- do however exist, for instance in Yasht 10, the Avestan hymn to Mithra: there, Mithra, who is the hypostasis and preserver of covenant, is the protector of aša/arta. RigVedic Mitra is likewise preserver of ŗtá-."....Schlerath, Bernfried (1987), "Aša: Avestan Aša", Encyclopaedia Iranica 2, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul: 694-696

"Asha is primarily Truth and Order and Righteousness......Truth is not in the sense of not lying, not that we encourage lying, but its more in the sense of Reality, as opposed to lllusion. Order is in the sense of harmony and concert. It carries a secondary, but strong meaning of artistry, balance, beauty and precision...Asha can also be understood in terms of other religious concepts. It is somewhat like the Tao, in that it rules and sustains the Cosmos, and it includes a Law of the Mean, which tends to balance things out. It is like Karma, in the sense that it includes a law of just returns. It is also, like Dharma, the way of right actions..".....http://www.zoroastrianism.cc/asha.html

"The chant to raise wind-horse, which represents a connection between earth and sky, and its manifestation in a person...
KI KI SO SO ASHE LHA GYAL LO TAK SENG KHYUNG DRUK DYAR KYE!
by Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche from our Teaching Library ...... http://www.shambhala.org/teachings

Asa...... Arabic عصاء (ʿaṣāʾ).......scepter

Sanskrit आशा (āśā, “hope”).... āśā आशा

"Shah......Šâh ...... (/ˈʃɑː/; Persian: شاه‎, [ʃɒːh], "king") is a title given to the emperors/kings and lords of Iran a.k.a. Persia. In Iran (Persia and Greater Persia) the title was continuously used; rather than King in the European sense, each Persian ruler regarded himself as the Šâhanšâh (King of Kings) or Emperor of the Persian Empire. In Pakistan and India, the title was used by Mughal rulers. The word descends from Old Persian Xšâyathiya "king", and is derived from the same root as Avestan xšaΘra-, "power" and "command", corresponding to Sanskrit (Old Indic) kṣatra- (same meaning), from which kṣatriya-, "warrior", is derived. The full, Old Persian title of the Achaemenid rulers of the First Persian Empire was Xšâyathiya Xšâyathiyânâm or Šâhe Šâhân, "King of Kings" or "Emperor".....The word "shah" was first used during the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 B.C.).....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah

"Through a beautiful Persian legend, handed down through the ages as the tales of the 10th.century Persian poet Firdausi .... the ancient Art of Asha is linked with what we know as chess today, referred to throughout history as "the game of kings and the king of games." But while today's chess is only a game, the ancient Art of Asha is not a game; it is a profoundly complex and intricately-woven microcosm within the macrocosm of Life- a complete universe within itself....The word chess derives from the Persian "Shah," meaning King, which originally was "Asha," the Cosmic Order. ....Chess was introduced to Persia from India and became a part of the princely or courtly education of Persian nobility. In Sassanid Persia around 600 the name became chatrang, which subsequently evolved to shatranj, due to Arab Muslims' lack of ch and ng native sounds, and the rules were developed further. Players started calling "Shāh!" (Persian for "King!") when attacking the opponent's king, and "Shāh Māt!" (Persian for "the king is helpless" – see checkmate) when the king was attacked and could not escape from attack.".... Murray, H. J. R. (1913). A History of Chess. Oxford University Press.

Schlerath, Bernfried (1987), "Aša: Avestan Aša", Encyclopaedia Iranica 2, New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul: 694-696

Kuiper, Franciscus B. J. (1964), "The Bliss of Aša", Indo-Iranian Journal 8 (2): 96–129, doi:10.1007/BF00156211.

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The Durand Line (625 BC): Pakhtia and the Eastern Satrapies

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"Saka clans settled along the middle course of what is the Durand line around 625 BC-Immediately after the end of the Saka Interregnum in Persia that is said to have lasted from 653-625 BC. "

" Saka Interregnum in Persia....653-625 BC Madius - Scythian interregnum....Herodotus speaks in some detail of a period of Scythian domination, the so called Scythian interregnum in Median Dynasty history. His dating of this event remains uncertain but traditionally it is seen as falling between the reigns of Phraortes and Cyaxares and as covering the years 653 to 625 BC. ....."

"The Sākyas appear to have entered India from the west some time after the Vedas were completed (ca. 1000 BCE) and then migrated east well before the time of the Buddha (ca. 480-400 BCE)......Indologist Michael Witzel has suggested that the similarity of the name Śākya and Śaka (the Indian and Persian name for the Scythians) is no coincidence. He thinks the Śākyas were "an early incursion of the Scythians" into India."

"King Suchandra had miraculously come from Shambhala, and he requested the Kalachakra for the entourage of listeners: the ninety-six emanated satraps of the ninety-six great lands within Shambhala........".....http://www.dalailama.com/teachings/kalachakra-initiations

"Pakhtia...Pakthas are an ancient people that find reference in Sanskrit and Greek sources as a people living in the region which includes south-eastern Afghanistan and Northern parts of Pakistan. In the Rigveda, the Kurram is mentioned as "Kruma"....The Pakthas were one of the tribes that fought against Sudas in the Dasarajna the Battle of the Ten Kings (dāśarājñá), a battle alluded to in Mandala 7 of the Rigveda (RV 7.18.7).........Heinrich Zimmer connects them with a tribe already mentioned by Herodotus (Pactyans), and with Pashtuns in Afghanistan. The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned a people called Pactyan living on the eastern frontier of the Achaemenid Arachosia Satrapy as early as the 1st millennium BCE......The area of the Gandhara has been associated with the Pakta or Pakthas......"The description Gandhara can be found in the Rigveda and it is also known as the Peshawar valley and the people of the area were known as Paktha."....."The History of Herodotus Chapter 7, Written 440 B.C.E, Translated by George Rawlinson".

"The Durand Line (Pashto: د ډیورنډ کرښه‎) refers to the 2,640 kilometers (1,640 mi) long porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan......The area in which the Durand Line runs has been inhabited by the indigenous Pashtuns since ancient times, at least since 500 B.C. The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned a people called Pactyans living in and around Arachosia as early as the 1st millennium BC..... The Baloch tribes inhabit the southern end of the line, which runs in the Balochistan region that separates the ethnic Baloch people........Arab Muslims conquered the area in the 7th century and introduced Islam to the Pashtuns. It is believed that some of the early Arabs also settled among the Pashtuns in the Sulaiman Mountains........"

"The area in respect of which negotiations between the Amir and Mortimer Durand took place has for long been inhabited by the Pakhtuns. The ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, referred to the land they occupied (between the Oxus and Indus rivers) as Pakhtia. The late Prof. A.H. Dani, a well-known Pakistani historian and archaeolo- gist, wrote that closer to our time the term ‘Pakhtunkhwa’ has been occurring in Pushto literature since the 15th century. It has appeared in numerous writings, including those during the reign of Emperor Shahabuddin Ghauri, and more recently in poems composed by Akhund Darwazeh (d.1838) and Ahmad Shah Abdali.......

"The Greek historian, Herodotus in his book, the Persian Wars, talks of a people who wear animal skins, fight with bows and arrows and speak a strange Persian language and call themselves from Paktuike, Pakticus and Paktika." .....http://www.afghanwiki.com/en/index.php?title=Afghanistan

"....a fragment of the geographer and chronicler Hecataeus of Miletus,writing in about 500B.C.,even earlier than Herodotus,but in the form(Kaspapuros).Moreover Hecataeus states that his Kaspapuros IS IN Gandhara,as Herodotus places his Kaspaturos in Paktuike--an interesting clue to the identity of Gandhara with Paktuite......The divergence between the Herodotean Kaspaturos and the Hecataean Kaspapuros is not substantial........At Naqsh-i-Rustam,by the rock-tombs of Darius and his line, American archeologists of the Chicago Oriental Institute have recently uncovered a fascinating bilingual inscription in the name of Shapur 1,the second emperor of the Sassanid line...This inscription,in Parthian and Greek,gives a place named Pshkbur/Paskiboura as the limit of the Sassanian Empire to the east....the inscriptions of Darius,recorded earlier on rocks or slabs of dressed stone.Among a number of recitations,instinct with a prode and vain-glory ,are detailed lists of the satrapies of the Empire......The eastern satrapies are given as Aria(Herat), Bactria(Balk), Chorasmia(Khwarezm or Khiva), Sattagydia(uncertain), Dogdiana(between the Oxus and Jaxartes), Arachosia(Kandahar), Gandhara(Peshawar valley), and India.The old Persian actually used for the three satrapies most relevant to our present enquiries is THATAGUSH (Sattagydia), GADARA (Gandhara), and HINDUSH (India).......".... http://indiaculture.net/talk/messages/128/10232.html?1060579515

".....there exists an intricate web of Iranian branches which spread along the Oxus from the Panj river and the Vakhan corridor in the Pamirs to the southern coast of the Caspian Sea somewhere between 1500 BC to 500 BC. It's also important to understand that the Oxus is the main water artery in the region and could metaphorically bear the name of the "Great Iranian River", serving as the most important and sometimes the only route for the migration across Central Asia for thousands of years.".....http://indo-european-migrations.scienceontheweb.net/map_of_indo_european_migrations.html

"....Indian epics routinely refer to the conflicts between the Devas and the Asuras in ancient times. In all probability it was Iran where the two Aryan tribes fell out..... If the Devas or, according to Thapar, the "Indo-Aryan speakers living in the Indo-Iranian borderlands and the Haraxvati (Sarasvati) area of Afghanistan gradually migrated to the Indus plain," then they might well be called the first batch of Parsis, although the concept of Persia was not prevalent at the time which is 1500 BC. In the Avesta, there are references to these migrations from Iran to the hepta hindu/sapta sindhu areas as a result of pressure on the land because of an increase in human and animal populations.".....http://archive.worldhistoria.com/ancient-aryan-civil-war_topic6239.html

"....Although the current frontier between Afghanistan andPakistan (the Durand Line) was only settled by treaty in 1893, the question of where borders should be laid down in the area goes back thousands of years. Afghanistan, in the words of the late Professor Arnold Toynbee, is a ‘roundabout of empires’. It is the spot in Central Asia where three great empires – the Persian in the west, theTurkic/Mongol/Russian in the north, and the Indian in the south-east – met......"....http://www.bijanomrani.com/?p=Rethinking%20the%20Durand%20Line

"..."The name Hindu Kush is usually applied to the whole of the range separating the basins of the Kabul and Helmand rivers from that of the Amu Darya (or ancient Oxus), or more specifically, to that part of the range to the northwest of Kabul which was called the (Indian) Caucasus by the Greeks of Alexander. Another Greek name was"Paropamisos". .....The origin of the term "Hindu Kush" (and whether it translates as "Hindu Killer") is a point of contention. The earliest known use of this name was by the famous Arab traveller, Ibn Battūta c. 1334, who wrote: "Another reason for our halt was fear of the snow, for on the road there is a mountain called Hindūkūsh, which means "Slayer of Hindus," .....alternate possibilities for its origin: that the name is a corruption of "Caucasus Indicus." In modern Persian, the word "Kush" is derived from the verb Kushtan - to defeat, kill, or subdue. .....That the name refers to the last great 'killer' mountains to cross when moving between the Afghan plateau and the Indian subcontinent, named after the toll it took on anyone crossing them; that the name is a corruption of Hindu Koh, from the (modern) Persian word Kuh, meaning mountain. Rennell, writing in 1793, refers to the range as the "Hindoo-Kho or Hindoo-Kush"..."

"The Hephthalites (or Ephthalites), also known as the White Huns, were a nomadic confederation in Central Asia during the late antiquity period. The Hephthalite Empire, at the height of its power (in the first half of the 6th century), was located in the territories of present-day Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, India and China. The stronghold of the Hephthalite power was Tokharistan on the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush mountains, present-day northeastern Afghanistan.

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Mahasiddha Kṛṣṇapāda, the Great & Rongzompa

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Atiśa (980–1054) considered Rongzompa to be an incarnation of the Indian ācārya Kṛṣṇapāda, the Great.

Mahasiddha Khanapa… Kānhapa / Krsnācharya (nag po pa): “The Dark Master”/”The Dark-Skinned One”....Kṛṣṇācārya, Kṛṣṇāpāda, Kānhupāda, Kānphā, Kaṇha-pa, Kāṇha, ācārya Caryāpa, Kaniphanāth, Kānarī-nāth?, Kānupā....Kanhapa (Krishnacharya), the "Dark Siddha";

The Mahasiddha Kanhapa (Krsnacarya), The Dark Siddha......The Legends of the Eighty-four Mahasiddhas (Grub thob brgyad bcu tsa bzhi'i lo rgyus) by Mondup Sherab orally dictated by Abhayadatta Sri (12th c.) and Vajra Songs: the Heart Realizations of the Eighty-four Mahasiddhas (Grub thob brgyad bcu rtogs pa'i snying po rdo rje'i lu) by Vira Prakash, translated by Keith Dowman with Bhaga Tulku Pema Tenzin; introduction and commentaries by Keith Dowman; cover and 20 line drawings by H. R. Downs; published by the State University of New York Press, Albany, NY., 1985,

"Kanipa Nath.......The great Siddha yogi Kanipa was one of most remarkable personalities amongst the Māhasiddhas of the Tantrik traditions of India and Tibet. In different stories he appearing under various names, as Kṛṣṇācārya, Kṛṣṇāpāda, Kānhupāda, Kānphā, Kaṇha-pa, Kāṇha, ācārya Caryāpa, Kaniphanāth, Kānarī-nāth?, Kānupā and more. It is seems as the established historical fact that he was the chief disciple of the Natha Siddha Jalandhar Nath, and live at the same period of time with the Guru Goraksh Nath, whom he have met few times. He appeared as the remarkable and powerful yogi in the Indian Śaiva tradition of the Nātha yogis and in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of the Vajrayana Māhasiddhas. The both traditions agree that he was prominent Siddha yogi and at the same time paṇḍita (highly learned man), and had lot of disciples.".....The Great Natha Siddhas

"Guru Goraksh Nath......Gorakshanath (also known as Gorakhnath) was an 11th to 12th century Hindu Nath yogi, connected to Shaivism as one of the two most important disciples of Matsyendranath, the other being Caurangi.....Traditionally, Guru Gorakshanath is believed to have been born sometime in the 8th century, although some believe he was born hundreds of years later. He traveled widely across the Indian subcontinent, and accounts about him are found in some form in several places including Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Punjab, Sindh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Assam, Bengal, Kathiawar(Gujarat), Maharashtra, Karnataka, and even Sri Lanka......

"Judith Simmer-Brown (2001: p. 127), in her exposition of the charnel ground conveys how great mahasiddhas in the Nath and Mantrayana Buddhadharma traditions such as Tilopa (988–1069) and Gorakṣa (fl. 11th – 12th century) yoked adversity to till the soil of the path and accomplish the fruit, the "ground" (Sanskrit: āśraya; Wylie: gzhi) of realization....."..... (2001). Dakini's warm breath: the feminine principle in Tibetan Buddhism.

"The Nath tradition is a heterodox siddha tradition containing many sub-sects. It was founded by Matsyendranath and further developed by Gorakshanath. These two individuals are also revered in Tibetan Buddhism as Mahasiddhas (great adepts) and are credited with great powers and perfected spiritual attainment......The establishment of the Naths as a distinct historical sect purportedly began around the 8th or 9th century.....

"There exist three principal legends about him considerably different from each other, one which was circulating as oral tradition amongst the Nātha Yogis and in the form of folklore tales, and second was presented in the book Caturaśīti-siddha-pravṛitti amongst the stories of eighty-four Mahasiddhas under number 17. The third variation of his biography was presented by Lama Taranatha in two of his books ‘The Seven Instruction Lineages’ and ‘The Live of Kṛṣṇācārya/Kāṇha’. ".....https://sites.google.com/site/nathasiddhas/kanipa-nath

"Most extensive account of his life was given by the famous Tibetan historian Lama Tara Natha in two his works, ‘The Seven Instruction Lineages’ and ‘Live of Kṛṣṇācārya/Kāṇha’, which vary in details from above mentioned. In the book The Seven Instruction Lineages author says that popular belive existed at his time among Tibetans was that Kṛṣṇācāri was born in the country called Karṇa, while in accordance with the oral tradition existed amonst Natha Yogis at that time, he was born in the city Pādyanagar, which also was called Vidyānagar (Vijayanagar). ‘Furthermore, as Vidyānagar is quite close to Karṇa, the early Tibetan accounts appear to be quite similar to the Indian oral accounts’. In accordance with old traditions of Indians he was of the Brāhmana caste, and old Tibetan tradition says that he was of Ārya (noble) family.".....The Great Natha Siddhas

"Tara Natha says that there was even existing prophesy of Buddha about the incarnation of Kṛṣṇācāri. In accordance with it, he would be born in country Uruvica (Uruviśa), which is in accordance with Taranātha’s guru Buddhagupta Nātha, the same with Odivica, the country which close to Bengal (modern Urissa). Prophesy further saying that there was not yogi equal to him in Jambu-dvīpa (the Indian sub continent) before, not it will happen in future. It says that he would have six disciples, which would trancend the existence of their bodies and attain Mahāmudrāsiddhi. Few letters of his name were also predicted by that prophesy. Names of those six disciples it is said were Bhadrapāda, Mahila, Bhadala, the novice Tshem.bu.pa, Dhamapa and Dhumapa. Some say that Bhadala, Bhadra or Bhadrapāda were identical. Instead of them they add Eyalā or yoginī Mekhalā and Kamakhalā or Bande. In his other book Five historical Works of Tāranātha, the author gives more detailed biography of Kānhapā. It is said that his birth place to be in Eastern India, in the Kinghdom of Gaura in an area called Oruviśa, near Bengal. .....In accordance with book Śrīnāthatīrthāvalī, composed by Raja Mansing of Jodhpur in 19th century, there exist place situated on Kalaśācal mountain in Rajastan, connected with his name. It is told that he performed his penance there. His twelve years long penance were mentioned in Caturaśīti-siddha-pravṛitti, but without defining the exact place where it has taken place."

".... the Vajrayana tradition of Tibet and Sahaja tradition of Bengal place him quite high in the list of their acaryas (teachers) and reverently call him ‘Paṇḍit-ācārya’and ācārya Caryāpa. .... First list shows the lineage of transmission which was accepted by Sakyapa sect of Tibetan Buddhism, in accordance with the book ‘History of Buddhism in Tibet’ by Sumpa-mkhan-po-Yeshes. In accordance with it, first stands name of (1)Dorje Chang, who also known as Deity Vajradhara, after him comes (2)Vajrapāni, who is another celestial Guru. Then comes (3) Mahasiddha Saraha, folloved by names of (4) Nāgārjuna, (5) Śavari, (6) Lūipa, (7) Vajraghaṇtā, (8) Kacchapāda, (9) Jālandhara, (10) Kāṇha, (11) Guhya, (12) Vijayapāda, (13) Tilopa, (14) Nāropa, (15) A newar Phum-mthing the greater, (16) Ngag-dVang-Grags-pa or Ngag-dVang-Phyūg, (17) Ngag-gi-dVang-phyug, (18)gLag-Skya-Shes-rab-brtregs, (19) Sakyapa Hierarh Phag-pa...."

"On the basis of existing historical evidence, some researches have expressed the view that there was existing not only one Kṛṣṇācārya, but two or even three of them. In accordance with some of Tibetan sources, Kṛṣṇācārya shown as being direct or indirect disciple of Kānhupā. Lama Taranatha also mentioned existence of ‘yonger Kṛṣṇācāri’."

" In the lineage of Hevajra transmission, in accordance with Taranatha, first comes name Śākyamuni, then Indrabhūti, Mahāpadmavajra, Anaṅgavajra, Saroruha, Indrabhūti younger, Jālandhara, Kāṇha, Bhadrapa, Tilopa and Naropa...."

" The most puzzling question about these two yogis is: ‘How is it happened that they became famous as being two of the most prominent Śaiva yogis and Vajrayana Mahasiddhas at the same time?...It seems that key point to settle this matter can be found in the Hevajra Tantra, the practices of which both of them were practicing. The text of this tantra presently available in form of many different manuscripts, few of which were published by different scholars. One of most famous of them is the text of Hevajra Tantra, with commentary by Kanhupa called Hevajra-pañjikā or Yoga-ratnamālā, which was published in 1959. After closely examining it, one can see that this Tantra, although being Buddhist by declaration, in reality included many Śaiva elements of worship, and those of them which were related to Kapalika practices in particular. ".....https://sites.google.com/site/nathasiddhas/kanipa-nath

Chinnamasta: The Awful Buddhist and Hindu Tantric........By Elisabeth Anne Benard

The Legends of the Eighty-four Mahasiddhas (Grub thob brgyad bcu tsa bzhi'i lo rgyus) by Mondup Sherab orally dictated by Abhayadatta Sri (12th c.) and Vajra Songs: the Heart Realizations of the Eighty-four Mahasiddhas (Grub thob brgyad bcu rtogs pa'i snying po rdo rje'i lu) by Vira Prakash, translated by Keith Dowman with Bhaga Tulku Pema Tenzin; introduction and commentaries by Keith Dowman; cover and 20 line drawings by H. R. Downs; published by the State University of New York Press, Albany, NY., 1985,

The Great Natha Siddhas .....https://sites.google.com/site/nathasiddhas/kanipa-nath

Vajrayogini: Her Visualization, Rituals, and Forms.....by Elizabeth English

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Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo (1012–1088 A.D.) & Primordial Purity

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"....we then begin to get the sense that purity and divinity are something to be discovered rather than conjured.... Both Mipham and Rongzom stress that purity and divinity have always been the case...."

"Though he is tremendously venerated, it seems that Rongzom is not very widely studied in modern Nyingma colleges."

"Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo ... (Tibetan: རོང་ཟོམ་ཆོས་ཀྱི་བཟང་པོ, Wylie: rong zom chos kyi bzang po) (1012–1088) ... widely known as Rongzom Mahapandita or simply as Rongzompa, was one of the most important scholars of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Together with Longchenpa and Ju Mipham, he is often considered to be one of the three "omniscient" writers of the school. His elder contemporary Atiśa (980–1054) considered Rongzompa to be an incarnation of the Indian ācārya Kṛṣṇapāda, the Great. The Tibetan historian Gö Lotsawa (1392–1481) said of Rongzom that no scholar in Tibet was his equal."

"A.W. Barber writes that Rongzom was the first to receive the entire Dzogchen teachings of both Vimalamitra and Vairocana after the time of those two masters. According to the Blue Annals, Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo ... received the Semde (sems sde) teachings of the Dorje Dudjom transmission line.".....

David Germano writes "In the eleventh century, Rongzom Chokyi Zangpo was without doubt the greatest Nyingma author, with extensive exoteric and esoteric commentaries."

"Establishing the Divinity of Appearances (Tibetan: སྣང་བ་ལྷར་བསྒྲུབ, Wylie: snang ba lhar bsgrub) – a short text that presents the logical grounds for the pure view of Buddhist tantra. This text has been translated into English (Köppl, 2008)."

"Establishing Appearances As Divine: Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo On Reasoning, Madhyamaka, And Purity ........by Heidi I. Koppl......Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo's concise treatise, Establishing Appearances as Divine, sets out to prove the provocative point that everything that appears is actually the deity manifest. Transformation of both one's identity and the environment is an important principle of Tantric Buddhist philosophy. In Tantric scriptures, one is instructed to visualize oneself as a deity, a divine identity who resides in a perfect sphere. By repeatedly training in this visualization, one perfects the transformation and ultimately becomes the deity itself.

"Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche always stresses the importance of pure perception, explaining that all progress on the path of secret mantra depends on our ability to discover and maintain pure perception......'We then begin to get the sense that purity and divinity are something to be discovered rather than conjured'.... Both Mipham and Rongzom stress that purity and divinity have always been the case.......Heidi Koppl on the Importance of Rongzom...... by SHAMBHALAPUBS......http://blog.shambhala.com/2013/09/18/heidi-koppl-on-the-importance-of-rongzom/

"According to a catalog of the commentaries he codified, the collected works of Rongzompa amounted to over 100 volumes, the majority of which are no longer extant. In the 19th century, Ju Mipham, who was particularly influenced by Rongzompa's writings, attempted to gather the surviving works together."

"Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo (Wyl. rong zom chos kyi bzang po; Skt. Dharmabhadra) aka Rongzompa lived in the 11th century. His dates have been given as 1012-1088. He was born in Tsang rong and met Atisha in his youth. He mastered the teachings of both Nyingma and Sarma traditions. He translated many works on secret mantra, some of which are preserved in the Kangyur and some of which did not survive. Likewise, many of his original writings have sadly been lost, but among those which are still to be found today are his commentary on the Guhyagarbha Tantra, his introduction to mahayana called Introduction to the Way of the Great Vehicle (theg pa chen po'i tshul la 'jug pa) and his famous Establishing All Appearances as Divine (snang ba lhar sgrub). His commentary on The Secret Essence Tantra begins with the line: “The nature of the Three Jewels is the enlightened mind,” and so it became known as The Jewel Commentary. As well as his remarkable scholarship, he also manifested many signs of his deep realization. The historian Gö Lotsawa said of him: “In this snowland of Tibet no scholar has appeared who has been his equal.”......http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Rongzom_Chökyi_Zangpo

"U-Tsang - the Cradle of Tibetan Culture......The name "U-Tsang" is a of place names. The word "U" refers to"Centre"in Tibetan, generally recognized as the area of Lhasa River Bank."Tsang" means"river"and as such refers to the extensive area from the west to the north of Shigatse. People in "Tsang" call themselves "Tsangpa", and those in "U" call themselves "Upa". "

"The Nyingma or “Ancient” school of Tibetan Buddhism, like the Bön, has the unusual distinction of basing its major tantric systems upon scriptures largely excluded from the Kangyur. The Nyingma response was to consolidate their tantras within their own compilation known as the Nyingmé Gyübum, or the Ancient Tantra Collection, a process that achieved increasing maturity in the fifteenth century. In its fullest editions, this collection nowadays includes around one thousand works, in about thirty-five thousand folios, or seventy thousand pages. The provenance and authenticity of the Nyingma tantras has been questioned in various ways from the turn of the eleventh century until the present day. Some considered them translated from Sanskrit, hence authentic; others considered them Tibetan compositions, hence inauthentic. Yet others, including the famous eleventh century Nyingma sage Rongzom Chökyi Zangpo, seemed to accept the possibility that they were compiled in Tibet, yet nevertheless deemed them authentic.5 Either way, the Nyingma tantras have had, and continue to have, a very powerful influence on Tibetan religion.".....http://www.thlib.org/collections/texts/jiats/#!jiats=/05/mayer/b2/

".......later Nyingma voices argued that these texts were indeed verbatim translations from Sanskrit originals from the reign of Tri Songdeutsen. By contrast, much (not all) modern scholarship locates them somewhat later, mainly after the collapse of empire around 842. Interestingly, the criterion of Indian provenance used by the compilers of the Kangyur to judge the authenticity of a tantra was not always fully accepted by Nyingmapa scholars, such as the influential Rongzompa. As Dorji Wangchuk puts it (Dorji Wangchuk, “An Eleventh-Century Defence of the Authenticity of the Guhyagarbha Tantra,” in The Many Canons of Tibetan Buddhism, edited by D. Germano and H. Eimer [Leiden: Brill, 2002], 282), “Rong zom pa’s response… does not categorically rule out the possibility of the tantra being a compilation or a composition by a Tibetan scholar… but rather addresses his opponents from a stance of spiritual ethics, trying to persuade them that in spite of such a possibility, one should approach the text with reason and respect on the basis of its scriptural coherency.” Wangchuk presents some passages from Rongzompa’s work; perhaps most pertinent is the point that the Buddhas need not be restricted by time or place, or to superior Buddha-like bodies, but arise in response to the needs of sentient beings. Thus (in Wangchuk’s translation), “even if tantric treatises are taught with overlaps and so on, and even if it is possible that they were compiled and composed by [Tibetan] Upādhyāyas, they should not be considered objects of doubt, for the ways the blessings of the tathāgathas appear are not restricted” (rgyud kyi gzhung ldab bu la sogs par ston pa dang / gal te mkhan po rnams kyis bsdus shing sbyar ba srid na yang / de bzhin bshegs pa’i byin gyis rlabs byung ba la tshul nges pa med pa yin pas the tshom gyi yul du bya ba ma yin no/; Wangchuk, “Eleventh-Century Defence,” 283-284).........http://www.thlib.org/collections/texts/jiats/#!jiats=/05/mayer/b2/#ixzz2zYt8MN7j

Germano, David (2002). "A Brief History of Nyingma Literature".

Roerich, George N.; Gö Lotsawa Zhönnupal (1949). The Blue Annals

Barber, A. W. (1990). "The Unifying of Rdzogs Pa Chen Po and Ch'an". Chung-Hwa Buddhist Journal 3: 301–317.

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Samantabhadra, Saman.bhadra, Sam.bhala

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In the introduction to an English translation of selections from the Bonpo Book of the Dead, John Myrdhin Reynolds says, "The Homage, with which the Tibetan text opens, Kuntu bzang-po rang-rig gsal-bar ston la phyag 'tshal-lo, invokes the Primordial Buddha Kuntu Zangpo (...Skt. Samantabhadra) as being the Self-Awareness (rang-rig) which clearly reveals itself (gsal-ba 'iston) at the heart or core of every single individual sentient being.

"Basic goodness is fundamental to the Shambhala tradition. It was a primary focus of the Vidyadhara Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche’s teaching..... there is one important dzokchen term that seems to be closely linked to basic goodness, a connection that the Vidyadhara pointed to during his presentations of vajrayana at the Vajradhatu Seminary: künsang, or “all good.” In its expanded form, küntu sangpo, it refers to the primordial buddha Samantabhadra; in its abbreviated form it points to the principle that Samantabhadra represents."......http://nalandatranslation.org/offerings/choosing-the-right-word/done-sangwa-basic-goodness-and-kunsang-all-good/

“In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, particularly the Nyingma school, Dharmakaya Samantabhadra (not the bodhisattva of the mahayana) is considered the most Primordial Buddha, akin in status to Vajradhara for the Sarma traditions. Samantabhadra appears in the Vajrayana tantric text the Kunjed Gyalpo Tantra, as the Primordial Buddha, the 'embodiment' (Sanskrit: kaya) or 'field' (Sanskrit: kṣetra) of 'timeless awareness, gnosis' (Sanskrit: jñāna) awakened since before the very beginning. Therefore in Tibetan Buddhism the Nyingma, or 'Old Translation' school, the Sakya and the Bön schools view Samantabhadra as the Primordial Buddha. In the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayana, Samantabhadra is considered a primordial Buddha in indivisible yab-yum union with his consort Samantabhadri. However, the Kagyu and Gelug schools use Vajradhara to represent the Primordial Buddha.”

“Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche following the Nyingmapa Dzogchen tradition qualifies the nature and essence of Samantabhadra, the Primordial Buddha, as the origin-less wellspring of the timeless and unbounded Atiyoga teachings, and honours the converse view entertained by some interested parties which hold that the Dzogchen teachings originated with either the Bonpo tradition or the Chinese monk Moheyan.”

“Samantabhadra is not subject to limits of time, place, or physical conditions. Samantabhadra is not a colored being with two eyes, etc. Samantabhadra is the unity of awareness and emptiness, the unity of appearances and emptiness, the nature of mind, natural clarity with unceasing compassion - that is Samantabhadra from the very beginning.”

'The Mirror of the Mind of Samantabhadra' (Tibetan: ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་ཐུགས་ཀྱི་མེ་ལོང, Wylie: kun tu bzang po thugs kyi me long) is one of the Seventeen Tantras of Dzogchen Upadesha.”

“The 5th century BC ….Fire Temple @ Balkh was known as 'Sam-i-Bala’….. 'Elevated Candle’…..Elevated/raised/divine is Old Persian: Bala/Bhala …… Sham/Sam is Old Persian: candle/light/Sun God.”

“Saman…. in Sri Lanka. The name Saman means "the rising morning sun".
bhadra …. sanskrit term meaning good

Sri Lanka……..Saman (deity)……..”Sri Lankan people venerates Samantabhadra Bodhisatva as Saman (also called Sumana, Samantha, Sumana Saman, Sinhalese: සුමන සමන් ‍දෙවි). The name Saman means "the rising morning sun". God Saman is considered one of the guardian deities of the island and Buddhism. His main shrine is located in Ratnapura, where there is an annual festival held in his honor. .”….The Gods & Deity Worship in Sri Lanka".

“According to Mahavansa, the great chronicle of Sri Lanka, Sri Pada mountain (also called Sumanakuta,Samangira,Samanthakuta and Samanalakanda) bears the impression of the Buddha's left foot, which he left on his third visit to the island (Mhv.i,77ff.). Some say that the name Samanthakuta means the "Peak of the God Saman". ……The Theravada Buddhists of Sri Lanka later made god Saman the guardian of their land and their religion. With the rise of Mahayana Buddhism, Saman was identified as Samantabhadra, one of the four principal bodhisattvas of Mahayana. Like Samantabhadra, Saman is usually depicted crowned and bejewelled, holding a lotus in his right hand and accompanied by a white elephant.”

“Kuntu Zangpo is better understood as the Primordial Buddha from which Lord Shenrab was emanated and took a human body for the benefit of all sentient beings. He is also referred to in Sanskrit by the name "Samantabhadra." The name Kuntu Zangpo means "that which is most excellent and present in all places." Thus the ancient texts refer to Kuntu Zangpo as being "Self-Awareness", "True Self" and "Source of the Self”.”

Samantabhadra’s Offering Mantra:
nama sarva tatagaté bayo bisho mukhebé sarva takham udgaté saparana imam gagana kham soda

The religion of Sham (Sam) was considered "pagan" by the early Christians and Muslims......the cult of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun), the worship of the divine spirit by whom the whole universe is ruled, the spirit whose symbol is the sun.....also the Solar Cosmology of Mithra……..Assyrian sun god.....Sham -ash, Ash-Sham.......rises from the mountains with rays out of his shoulders. He enters and exits the underworld through a set of gates in Mt. Mashu guarded by scorpion-people……..Ash-Sham in Syriac means "goodness"

Wonders of the Natural Mind: The Essence of Dzogchen in the Native Bon ...By Tenzin Wangyal

Original Sanskrit Texts on the Origin and History of the People of India ...edited by John Muir

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The Riwo Sangchö (Mountain Smoke Offering)

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Click Here to View the Main Index

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“Riwo Sangchö (Tib. རི་བོ་བསང་མཆོད་, Wyl. ri bo bsang mchod), or literally ‘Mountain Smoke Offering’, is a terma that was hidden by Guru Rinpoche and revealed in the seventeenth century by the great yogin and tertön Lhatsün Namkha Jikmé (1597-1653), who brought the Dharma to Sikkim, as part of the profound Dharma-cycle of Rigdzin Sokdrup, ‘Accomplishing the Life-Force of the Vidyadharas’. It is the most famous practice of sang offering in Tibetan Buddhism. From the many ways, elaborate or condensed, of doing this practice, Dudjom Rinpoche composed an abbreviated version for daily practice, this is what is followed by the Rigpa sangha.”

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Excerpts of Riwo Sangchö, the Mengak from Lhatsün Namkha Jikme’s ‘Rigdzin Sokdrup’, as arranged by Dudjom Rinpoche.....translated by Lotsawa House… a growing library of free Tibetan Buddhist texts.

Full Text at: Lotsawa House ..Click here to view the English/Tibetan original text.

Riwo Sangchö (Sang Offering)

Making an auspicious fire in a clean vessel or burner, burn aromatic woods, resins, medical plants, the three white and three sweet substances, (yogurt, milk and butter; sugar, molasses and honey) and all kinds of incense and powder—whatever you have available, and sprinkle it with pure water.

The heart essence of all sources of refuge of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, who are as vast as space,
Powerful and wrathful vidyādhara, Padma Tötreng Tsal;
(Padma Tötreng Tsal (padma thod phreng rtsal)....name of Guru Rinpoche meaning ‘Powerful Lotus of the Garland of Skulls.’
Within your body, all that appears and exists is the perfect buddha maṇḍala:
In order to liberate all beings from saṃsāra, I take refuge in you!

In the ground of the luminous tiklé of supremely secret wisdom,
May the three obscurations of all beings be purified, and
With the four visions spontaneously perfected in the tiklé of the wisdom body, speech and mind,
May all beings be liberated into the youthful vase body! For this, I generate the heart and mind of bodhicitta.

To the primordial, unaltered nature of rigpa, I pay homage!
The luminosity, transcending limits and dimensions, I offer!
In the expanse of sameness of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa, I confess!
In the great exhaustion of all dharmas, beyond the ordinary mind, I rejoice!
Turn the wheel of the teachings of the spontaneously perfect Dzogpachenpo!
(Dzogchen or Dzogpachenpo (Wyl. rdzogs pa chen po; Skt. Mahāsaṅdhi or Atiyoga) — the ‘Great Perfection’, or ‘Great Completeness’)
Stir the depths of saṃsāra, I pray!
In the absolute state, free of subject, object or activity, I dedicate!

From the dharmakāya space of primordial purity, arising as its unobstructed play, is
Padma Tötreng Tsal, white with a tinge of red, in the full beauty of youth,
In dazzling splendour, with the major and minor marks, holding a vajra and skullcup,
Majestic, complete with all ornaments and robes,
Samayasattva and jñānasattva indivisible, his form is all the buddhas in one
The great embodiment of all saṃsāra and nirvāṇa.

5. Purification and Blessing of the Sang Offering
(Sang offering (Wyl. bsang mchod) is a practice of offering fragrant incense smoke. The most popular version of the practice is Riwo Sangchö, the Mountaintop Smoke Offering.)
Purify the ingredients of the sang offerings with: raṃ yaṃ khaṃ

Raṃ is the seed of the fire of wisdom, which burns the impurities of the offerings. It is red.
Yaṃ is the seed of air or wind, which disperses the impurities of the offerings. It is green.
Khaṃ is the seed of water, which purifies the offerings. It is white.
Out of emptiness appear the ingredients of the sang offering, transformed into the wisdom nectar free of any impurity, from which arises an ocean-like cloud of sensual stimulants, spreading out to fill the whole of space.

Bless the sang offering with the three syllables oṃ āḥ hūṃ and ‘Samantabhadra’s Offering Mantra’:
(Samantabhadra (Skt.; Tib. ཀུན་ཏུ་བཟང་པོ་, Kuntuzangpo; Wyl. kun tu bzang po) — In the Dzogchen teachings, our true nature, that state of the Ground, is given the name the 'Primordial Buddha'. Sogyal Rinpoche writes, "[Kuntuzangpo] represents the absolute, naked, sky-like primordial purity of the nature of our mind".)
om ah hung

Oṃ is the seed of the body of the buddhas, which purifies the offerings.
Āḥ is the seed of the speech of the buddhas, which multiplies the offering to become as vast as the whole universe.
Hūṃ is the seed of the mind of the buddhas, which trans­mutes the offering into the nectar and ambrosia of wisdom.

i. Blessing the Offering Substances
Bhrūṃ! In the vast lustrous vessel, made of the essence of various jewels,
The samaya substances, all the desirable objects in worldly existence, are
Transformed into the nectar of wisdom through the blessing of the three seed syllables oṃ āḥ hūṃ,
So that all that appears and exists becomes an offering of all that is desirable.

ii. The Recipients of the Offering
This I offer to the lamas, yidams, ḍākinīs, dharmapālas and
All the mandalas of the buddhas of the ten directions,
To the local deities of this world, beings of the six realms and the guests to whom I owe karmic debts,
And especially to those who would steal my life and deplete my life force,
To the malicious jungpo demons who inflict sickness and obstacles,
(traditional histories believe that Lang Darma was possessed by an evil spirit. A jungpo (‘byung po) is one kind of spirit, but in fact Butön tells us it was another kind, a dön (gdon).)
Bad signs in dreams and all types of evil omens,
The eight classes of negative spirits, the masters of magical illusions,
And those to whom I owe karmic debts of food, place and wealth,
To forces that bring obscuration and madness, to the shades of men and women dead,
To all the spirits, terangs, ghouls and female ghosts!

iii. How the Offering is Made
Now all my karmic debts are paid, burnt in the scarlet flames.
Whatever each one desires, may the objects of their desires rain down:
For as far and as long as space exists,
I dedicate an inexhaustible amount of sensual stimulants!
May my negative actions and obscurations accumulated in past, present and future,
And misuse of the offerings made to the Three Jewels, in devotion and for the dead,
Be purified in the fire of this sang offering!
Let its flames fill the entire universe and every minute particle of flame
Become an inexhaustible cloud of offerings like Samantabhadra’s
Pervading throughout all the buddha realms!
May these flames, offering-rays of five-coloured lights of wisdom,
Pervade throughout the six classes of beings, down to the Avīcī Hells,
The three realms of saṃsāra be liberated into the rainbow body,
And all sentient beings awaken into the heart of enlightenment!

All is purified into the three kāyas: the environment, a heavenly palace where
Dharmakāya, saṃbhogakāya and nirmāṇakāya—the forms and aggregates of phenomenal existence,
Melt into nectar, flooding the whole expanse of the sky with rainbow light.
Saṃsāra is liberated into nirvāṇa; this essence of immaculate nectar
I share with all those who, from beginningless time until now,
Have been guests in worldly existence.

Having attained all the noble qualities of the stages, paths and fruition,
And dispelled all obstacles in view, meditation and action,
Within the sky-like space of Samantabhadra’s wondrous wisdom mind,
May we seize the stronghold of the youthful vase body!
And when at last the great ocean of saṃsāra is emptied;
May all beings attain buddhahood in the Lotus Net of Akaniṣṭha!
The sang offerings of the aggregates and elements blaze in vivid, brilliant splendour!
The sang offerings of red and white bodhicitta blaze in bliss and emptiness!
The sang offerings of emptiness and compassion fill the dharmadhātu!
Upon the ground of five-coloured vajra light of phenomenal existence, saṃsāra and nirvāṇa,
I offer the sang offering of spontaneously accomplished perfect buddhahood.
May all my karmic debts from the past be purified!
In the present so they do not remain in my mindstream, I confess them!
And in the future, may I never be drawn into the wheel of obscuration!
All impairments of the vows of individual liberation, bodhisattva precepts,
And samayas of the vidyādharas,
Conscious or unwitting, I openly admit.
May illness, harmful influence, obscurations and impurities be purified!
May this age of plague, famine and warfare be pacified!

May the attacks of invaders be repelled!
May obstructing forces that cause the spiritual teacher to depart be averted!
May inauspicious bad omens for the whole world and the land of Tibet be averted!
May the planetary forces, nāgas and arrogant king-like spirits, who cut short the breath of life, be repelled!
May the eight great fears and sixteen lesser fears be overcome!
For me and all those round me, may all that is inauspicious be averted!
May the powers and strength of samaya-breakers and gongpo demons be averted!
May all inauspicious bad omens for the whole Rigpa saṅgha, Lerab Ling and Dzogchen Beara be averted!

May all the buddhas be pleased with this offering!
May the solemn promise of the protectors be fulfilled!
May the wishes of the six classes of beings be satisfied!
May the enmity of karmic debtors be assuaged!
May we complete the accumulation of merit and wisdom!
May we purify cognitive and emotional defilements, and karmic traces!
May we attain the dharmakāya and rūpakāya, for the benefit of self and others!
Through the power of this vast act of generosity
May we spontaneously attain buddhahood for the benefit of beings!
All those who were not liberated by the buddhas of the past,
Through this act of generosity, may they be liberated!
May all the spirits gathered in this place,
Be it on the earth or in the water or in the sky,
Always show goodwill and kindness to all beings,
And practise Dharma day and night!
Through the positivity and merit of this, may all beings
Complete the accumulation of merit and wisdom,
And from this merit and wisdom,
May they attain the dharmakāya and rūpakāya, for the benefit of self and others!
Untainted by effort and exertion
A wish-fulfilling jewel, a wish-granting tree,
May I fulfil the hopes of sentient beings
And may all be auspicious to accomplish their desires!

Make everything positive and well with auspicious prayers such as these. From the many ways, elaborate or condensed, of doing this practice, I Jñāna (Dudjom Rinpoche), an old yogin, composed this abbreviated version for daily practice.

http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/lhatsun-namkha-jigme/riwo-sangcho

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Mountain Smoke Offering (Riwo Sangchö)…… a translation of the original revelation of Riwo Sangchö, meaning ‘Mountaintop Offering of Sang (Fragrant Incense Smoke)’. This practice was revealed as a terma by Lhatsun Namkha Jikmé, who is also credited with opening the hidden land of Sikkim. This practice was later expanded by Kyabjé Dudjom Rinpoche, who added a section on visualizing oneself as Guru Rinpoche, and prayers of dedication at the end.

“In accordance with an earlier prophetic declaration of the dakinis, the famous cycle of terma teachings called Rigdzin Sokdrup, ‘Accomplishing the Life-Force of the Vidyadharas’, emerged in a pure vision while he was in retreat in the cave of Lhari Rinchen Nyingpuk at Drakkar Tashiding. These teachings, of which Riwo Sangchö forms the mengak or innermost instruction, are unsurpassed instructions on Dzogchen Atiyoga.

“Through his practice of Riwo Sangchö, Lhatsün was able to remove all human and non-human obstacles to the Dharma in Sikkim, opening it as a ‘secret land’ of the teachings. Because of this, he was able to teach Dzogchen very widely in Sikkim in the remaining years of his life, establishing a vibrant and unbroken lineage that continues to this day, known simply as ‘Sikkim Dzogchen’…….More than two hundred of Lhatsün Namkha Jikmé’s writings have survived. Accomplishing the Life-Force of the Vidyadharas and The Spontaneous Song of the Clouds have continued to be transmitted and practised throughout Tibet and particularly in Sikkim right up to the present day without any decline. His incarnation, Jigme Pawo (1682-?) continued his work in Sikkim. His later incarnations include the Khyentse lineage; Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö states in his autobiography that he had clear memories of his past life as Lhatsun Namkha Jikmé, and that he had been shown the tantric disciplines by Lhatsün in a vision.

Lamas, Shamans and Ancestors: Village Religion in Sikkim….. By Anna Balikci

Root text: Mountain Smoke Offering, revealed by Lhatsün Namkha Jikmé from Accomplishing the Life Force of the Vidyadharas

http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/lhatsun-namkha-jigme/mountain-smoke-offering

http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/lhatsun-namkha-jigme/riwo-sangcho

http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Lhatsün_Namkha_Jikmé

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Sikkim Dzogchen: Tertön Lhatsün Namkha Jikmé (1597-1653)

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Dzogchen Explorations

Okar Research

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Lhatsün Namkha Jikmé … tertön Lhatsün Namkha Jikmé (1597-1653), who brought the Dharma to Sikkim

“Lhatsün Namkha Jikmé (Tib. ལྷ་བཙུན་ནམ་མཁའ་འཇིགས་མེད་, Wyl. lha btsun nam mkha' 'jigs med) (1597-1653) was an incarnation of both the great pandit and Dzogchen master Vimalamitra, who attained the rainbow body (Tib. འཇའ་ལུས་འཕོ་བ་ཆེན་པོ་, ja lü phowa chenpo), and of the omniscient Longchenpa.”…http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Lhatsün_Namkha_Jikmé

“He was born in 1597 at Jaryül in southern Tibet. At birth, the space between his eyebrows and the tips of his tongue and nose were all very clearly marked with the seed-syllable AH, ཨཱཿ…….He was ordained as a novice by Tulku Orgyen Paljor at the hermitage of Sungnyen, and given the name Kunzang Namgyal. At first, he studied at the shedra of Thangdrok, where he received empowerments and teachings on many profound practices, and instructions from many accomplished masters. He particularly practised the Kagyé (the ‘Eight Great Herukas’) and Lama Gongdü, completely mastering all the accomplishments and enlightened activities of these practices….. He then studied for seventeen years with the Dzogchen master Sonam Wangpo, receiving the complete instructions of Nyingtik, the essence of the Dzogchen teachings, through which he ‘plumbed the depths of realization’.”

“From Ngawang Mikyö Dorje he also received thorough instruction on the profound and secret yogic practices known as ‘the path of skilful means’ (Tib. ཐབས་ལམ་, tab lam), and its attendant activities known as ‘the disciplined conduct of awareness’.”

“He spent many years practicing in some of the most remote and sacred pilgrimage places of central and western Tibet, perfecting his accomplishment. Through this he was able to completely unravel the knot of the energy channels in the throat centre; afterwards every word he spoke was always refined and full of meaning. He subdued an extremist heretical king in India and established him in the Dharma. In central Tibet, he was able to enlist the help of all the local deities to assist him in restoring the temple of Samyé. At Tsari, he stopped a huge avalanche simply by gazing at it while making the ‘threatening mudra’. During his retreats in Tibet he experienced many extraordinary ‘pure visions’. From one of these emerged one of the greatest of his termas, the Dorje Nyingpo Tringyi Tollü Chökor (The Spontaneous Song of the Clouds: the Nucleus of Indestructible Reality), which is particularly revered as a condensed summation of the inner teachings of all terma lineages. It is said that to see, hear or even just think of this teaching establishes the seed of liberation. He passed this on to just a few extraordinarily fortunate disciples.”

“Rigdzin Sokdrup (Wyl. rig 'dzin srog sgrub) or 'Accomplishing the Life-Force of the Vidyadharas' — a cycle of teachings revealed by Lhatsün Namkha Jikmé after a pure vision he had while meditating in the Cave of the Heart of the Deity to the north of Drakkar Tashiding in Sikkim. The cycle includes the famous practice of Riwo Sangchö.”….http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Rigdzin_Sokdrup

“Tashiding is considered to be the center of a sacred geometry in Sikkim and the great mahasiddhi, Guru Rinpoche, spent time meditating in caves in the four directions surrounding the monastery. These magical places served as his abode and consequently are sanctified by his auspicious being. Naturally, I want to visit them in person. I’m always fascinated with caves and ponder the reality of the lamas and nuns who spend up to several years meditating in them. I’ve visited a few caves in the Spiti Valley in Himachel Pradesh and in Ladhak, but by comparison the caves in Sikkim are massive and very mysterious. They are nestled in the heart of the Himalayan Range and are bequeathed with spellbinding beauty and exceptional grandeur. The four sacred caves attributed to Guru Rinpoche are: The Great Secret Cave (Shar-chok Bé Phug) in the East. The Secret Cave of the Dakinis (Lho Khandro Sang Phug) in the South. The Cave of Great Bliss (nub bde chen phug) in the West. And to the North, is the Cave of God’s Precious Heart (byang lha ri snying po).”…..http://www.eltonyoga.com/vajrayogini/s-i-k-k-i-m-part-7-guru-rinpoche-caves/

The Cave of the Heart of the Deity (Cave of God’s Precious Heart)…..in the North (Wyl. byang lha ri snying po) — one of the four sacred caves of Sikkim, and the one to the North of Tashiding…..Located in North Sikkim (tourists need a special permit to go there)

“The mountain Kanchenjunga (alternative spelling Khangchendzonga) which is 8,586 metres (28,169 ft) tall, the third-highest peak in the world.

“His most important teachers were the two great vidyadharas and tertöns Jatsön Nyingpo and Düddul Dorje. At their urging, following a prophecy that to do so would be of great benefit for the Dharma throughout the Himalayas, in 1646 Lhatsün went on foot to Lhari Ösel Nyingpo in Sikkim. Here he founded a temple and hermitage, establishing it as one of the most sacred places of pilgrimage in the Himalayas.”

“In accordance with an earlier prophetic declaration of the dakinis, the famous cycle of terma teachings called Rigdzin Sokdrup, ‘Accomplishing the Life-Force of the Vidyadharas’, emerged in a pure vision while he was in retreat in the cave of Lhari Rinchen Nyingpuk at Drakkar Tashiding. These teachings, of which Riwo Sangchö forms the mengak or innermost instruction, are unsurpassed instructions on Dzogchen Atiyoga.

“Through his practice of Riwo Sangchö, Lhatsün was able to remove all human and non-human obstacles to the Dharma in Sikkim, opening it as a ‘secret land’ of the teachings. Because of this, he was able to teach Dzogchen very widely in Sikkim in the remaining years of his life, establishing a vibrant and unbroken lineage that continues to this day, known simply as ‘Sikkim Dzogchen’…….More than two hundred of Lhatsün Namkha Jikmé’s writings have survived. Accomplishing the Life-Force of the Vidyadharas and The Spontaneous Song of the Clouds have continued to be transmitted and practised throughout Tibet and particularly in Sikkim right up to the present day without any decline. His incarnation, Jigme Pawo (1682-?) continued his work in Sikkim. His later incarnations include the Khyentse lineage; Jamyang Khyentse Chökyi Lodrö states in his autobiography that he had clear memories of his past life as Lhatsun Namkha Jikmé, and that he had been shown the tantric disciplines by Lhatsün in a vision.

“Lhari Ösel Nyingpo…In the Nyingmapa tradition, Samantabhadra (the Buddha-Body of Reality) is explained in accordance with the uncommon transmission of the Indestructible Nucleus of Inner Radiance (Osel Dorje Nyingpo), ….The Indestructible Nucleus of Inner Radiance ('od-gsal rdo-rje snying-po, Sanskrit Prabhasvaravajragarbha) is the dimension or buddha-field of the buddha-body of reality, Samantabhadra, which cannot be limited in space and time. The teachings of the Great Perfection [Dzogchen] which pertain to this level are referred to as the vehicle of the Indestructible Nucleus of Inner Radiance…..His Holiness Dudjom Rinpoche from The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism…Wisdom Publications

Lamas, Shamans and Ancestors: Village Religion in Sikkim….. By Anna Balikci

Root text: Mountain Smoke Offering, revealed by Lhatsün Namkha Jikmé from Accomplishing the Life Force of the Vidyadharas

http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/lhatsun-namkha-jigme/mountain-smoke-offering

http://www.lotsawahouse.org/tibetan-masters/lhatsun-namkha-jigme/riwo-sangcho

http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Lhatsün_Namkha_Jikmé

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rDzogs chen Terms in Chinese

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Dzogchen Explorations

Okar Research

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“rDzogs chen is a Tibetan term corresponding to the Sanskrit Mahåsandhi and is usually translated as Great Perfection. In Chinese it has been translated as Dayuan- man 大圓滿. “…..….Monica Esposito…Pg 491

“Monica Esposito (1962 – 2011) was one of the world's foremost scholars of Chinese religion specialized in the history, texts, and practices of Daoism (15th to 20th centuries)….Focuses of Monica Esposito's research were Ming and Qing Daoism, inner alchemy (neidan), the interaction between Daoism and Tantrism, Buddhism of the late imperial period, and Tibetan Buddhism (rDzogs chen). Her life was tragically cut short by a pulmonary emboly.”

“….rDzogs chen or Great Perfection (Ch. Dayuanman 大圓滿)…..According to the Dayuanman guanding (13b), Fahai Lama explains: (p. 496 instantaneous breakthrough)…. The meaning of qieque [khregs chod] is "instantaneous cut-off" (dunduan ...) also called "desire for enlightenment." For those who have realized it, the body returns to emptiness, becoming invisible. ... For Fahai Lama (1920-1991) the abyssal space of the body-mind characterizes khregs chod while…….the experience of the transformation of the flesh-body into rainbow light as described in the same text (13b) refers to thod rgal :…..The meaning of tuoga ... [thod rgal] is "instantaneous transcending" (dunchao ...). For those who have realized it, the flesh body is transformed into rainbow light, becoming an indestructible diamond body."...…..….Monica Esposito…Pg 496

“The transmission of Fahai Lama focuses on yang ti (yangdi). Yang ti is the Tibetan term for one of the three divisions of the Great Perfection Section of Esoteric Precepts or Section of Secret Instructions (Tib. man ngag sde, Ch. koujue bu 口訣 部), i.e., A ti (Ch. adi 阿的/低), sPyi ti (Ch. jiedi 借的) and Yang ti…. The Tibetan term yang ti is translated in different ways into Chinese: yangdi 仰的 or yangdui 仰兌 (following the Tibetan phonetics), xinsui 心髓 (lit. the marrow of heart, the innermost heart), or xinzhongxin 心中心 (the heart of the heart/quintessence). At the same time yang ti is often confused in Chinese with the term snying thig (Ch. ningdi 寧的, ningti 寧體, or xinyao 心要, heart essence, quintes- sence) and yang tig. ”….Monica Esposito…Pg 494

“According to the Dayuanman guanding (13b), Fahai Lama explains: (p. 501 the 3 skies)…….”The three skies are:
1. the secret sky (Ch. mi xukong ..., Tib. gsang ba’i nam mkha’), i.e., the mind;
2. the internal sky (Ch. nei xukong ..., Tib. nang gi nam mkha’), i.e., the Crystal Duct (see below pp. 509-511);
3. the external sky"...…..….Monica Esposito…Pg 501

“According to the Dayuanman guanding (13b), Fahai Lama explains: (p. 507 "crippled genuine mind”)….
Breath-vital energy (qi) originally dwells in the lungs;
the deluded mind is like a crippled man, and
the breath-vital energy is like a blind horse.
From the heart to the lungs there is a connecting vessel (maiguan), thin like a wheat stalk. In its empty center resides breath-vital energy."

“….qi is not responsible for this seduction: its chaotic flow spontaneously arises from the separation of One into Two and happens every time man fails to rec- ognize the inherent unity of the genuine mind (zhenxin).100 From this fundamental misunderstanding, the phantasmagoric-solidified world appears. It is created from the chaotic progress of the “crippled genuine mind” (zhenxin ru bozou zhe 真心如 跛走者) and the “breath-vital energy (qi) of the body that is like a blind untamed horse” (shen zhong zhi qi ru mang liema 身中之氣如盲劣馬).”…. ….Monica Esposito…Pg 507

“According to the traditional man ngag sde (Ch. koubu 口部) division adopted in rDzogs chen, the Great Perfection practic- es are divided into:
(1) The extraordinary or special preli- minaries (Ch. bugong jiaxing 不共加行, tebie jiaxing 特別加行, jiaxing 加行 or qianxing 前行, Tib. khyad par gyi sngon ’gro or simply sngon ’gro)
(2) khregs chod or Instantaneous Breakthrough or Cut off
(3) thod rgal or Instantaneous Transcending or Going Beyond”
Monica Esposito…Pg 496

"Quoting from the Jinzhu jing .. or Tantra of the Golden Pearls (Tib. gSer phreng), Fahai on the basis of the Dayuanman guanding (82a) explains thus : (pp. 509-10 visionary anatomy : crystal duct)….
From the Jewel Palace of the Heart (xin baogong) to the Ocean of the Eyes [yanhai, i.e., the pupils] there is a connecting vessel which is called in Tibetan "Kati." It is opalescent, transparent, and soft. Empty in its interior (neikong), it is not engendered by the mother’s red blood and the father’s white semen (fumu hongbai jingxue), which "some people call sun and moon." ...…..….Monica Esposito…Pg 509

“Fahai Lama then explains this passage as follows (Dayuanman guanding, 83a….p. 510):…..From the heart to the eyes there is a connecting vessel-path (maidao). It is the most secret duct (ji mimi guan) like crystal whose name is Kati. ...This Crystal Duct is a vessel-path linking the heart to the eyes and is qualified as li ..., "a principle absolutely free from any error"…..….Monica Esposito…Pg 510

"Quoting from the Jinzhu jing .. or Tantra of the Golden Pearls (Tib. gSer phreng)…(pp. 510-5 visionary anatomy : lamps)…
"From the point of view of the incorporation of this dynamic, the Far-reaching Water Lamp is a vessel that from the navel wheel passes through the heart and opens into the eyes. From the back of the brain it divides into two branches which look like wild ox horns (below the brain it becomes a single root). ... The smooth and luminous tip of this horn-like branch is the pupil; it is "like the light on the surface of clear water allowing light to move and reflecting objects; this is why it is called Vessel of the Far-reaching Water Lamp ... ." It is at the same time a synonym of the Crystal Duct, the "principle" which links the four following vessels (Ch. qimai ...) :
(1) Kati—The Great Golden Vessel (Ch. gadi／jiadi da jinmai ..., Tib. ka ti gser gyi rtsa chen) located inside the central channel and linking this channel to the center of the heart;
(2) The White Silk Thread Vessel (Ch. baisixian mai ..., Tib. dar dkar skud pa) enclosed in the Kati Vessel and going through the Brahmå Cavity (Ch. fanxue ..., Tib. tshang bu). This is the path for the practice of transferring consciousness (Ch. powa ..., kaiding fa ..., Tib. ’pho ba);
(3) The Subtly Coiled Vessel (Ch. xixuan mai ..., Tib. phra la ’dril ba) located inside the four wheels of navel, heart, throat, and sinciput;
(4) The Crystal Duct Vessel (Ch. jingguan mai ..., Tib. shel sbug can), a synonym of the Vessel of the Far-reaching Water Lamp, is the channel which links the heart to the eyes and supports the manifestations of countless luminous spheres and bright strands (Ch. wushu mingdian lianxi guangming ...).

“ Gangs dkar rin po che…..Every thought is essential (the awareness-mirror of the luminous essence of the mind [i.e., rig pa]) because in its genuine essence thought is nothing other than meditation (the twin streams of ßamatha and vipaßyanå). If the practitioner during his meditation reflects every thought as a mirror, he cannot be distract- ed even for an instant. The wisdom of original awareness [Ch. benjue zhihui, Tib. rig pa’i ye shes, lit. wisdom of rig pa] is primordially complete without need of grasping; it is spontaneously luminous and all-pervading. There is nothing which can be obtained through contemplation, can be brought through prac- tice and can be seen through conceptualization and discrimination. That is the wisdom of Samantabhadra which is originally pure; that is the quintessence of cheque practice [khregs chod].”….Monica Esposito…pg 498

“Following the Dayuanman guanding, Fahai Lama explains (p. 511) that while the ordinary view coming from the element water is unable to see the realm of the Three Bodies, the view released by the Vessel of the Far-reaching Water Lamp can see it. "This realm appears in the form of four kinds of auspicious lamps" which, according to their order of manifestation in the front of the practitioner’s eyes, are :
(1) The Far-reaching Water Lamp (Ch. yuantong shuiguang ..., Tib. rgyang zhangs chu’i sgron ma) : it is in the center of the eyes, i.e., the pupils, where the all-pervading four elements are born); it is the door through which one can see far into empty space by joining the Lamp of the White and Soft Vessel [Ch. bairuo maiguang, Tib. dkar ’jam rtsa’i sgron ma] with the Vessel of Wisdom. …
(2) the Lamp of Pure Space (Ch. jie qingjing guang ..., Tib. dag pa dyings kyi sgron ma or dbyings rnam dag gi sgron ma). …
(3) The Lamp of Empty Spheres (Ch. yuankong guang ...) which appears like the eye of a peacock feather (ru kongqueling yan ...) is also called the Lamp of Luminous Empty Spheres (Ch. mingdian kongguang ..., Tib. thig le stong pa’i sgron ma). It represents the luminous manifestation of wisdom in its spherical and five-colored form. In fact, Fahai Lama on the basis of the Dayuanman guan ding (81b) explains that this lamp "is the Lamp of originally awakened Wisdom which appears inside the Lamp of Pure Space ... ." It is also said that it appears "like the concentric ripples arising from casting a stone into water”.
(4) The Lamp of originally awakened Wisdom (Ch. benjue zhiguang ... or benjue zhihui zhi guang ..., Tib. shes rab rang byung gi sgron ma), represents the luminous essence, i.e., rig pa (mingti ...). It is regarded as "the original essence (yuanti ...) of the Lamp of the Empty Luminous Spheres, which is hidden in the flesh-heart and endowed with the three qualities of emptiness, brightness, and energy." Thanks to the support of the Lamp of the Empty Luminous Spheres, the Lamp of originally awakened Wisdom progressively manifests itself in four stages of visions. …
Thanks to these four lamps, reality appears in its visionary aspect as a circular or mandalic form which is the realm of the Three Bodies. In fact, these lamps are said to "produce visions of mandalas and the forms of divinities."

“Following the Dayuanman guanding, Fahai Lama explains (p. 516-519) The Visions……
(1) The Vision of Self-Manifesting Reality (Ch. xianjian faxing xianxian ..., Tib. chos nyid mngon sum gyi snang ba). This vision appears in the blue halo of the Lamp of Pure Space like a rainbow light or like the eye of a peacock feather (i.e., the Lamp of Empty Luminous Spheres of five colors). At the beginning it is as small as a fish eye, but with practice it increases to the size of a thumb or an index finger. Its form resembles the concentric ripples arising when one casts a pebble into a pool, small and large. They are often composed of three circles that merge into one. They tend to exhibit the pattern of threads, fine-meshed nets (xianwen ...), luminous spheres or sparkles (Ch. mingdian ..., Tib. thig le), and adamantine strands (Ch. jingang lian ..., Tib. rdo rje lu gu rgyud). The latter are the most important because they represent the direct experience of the nature of mind in terms of luminous essence (Ch. mingti, Tib. rig pa), "strands which link to the manifested appearance of the nature of mind" (cilian ji xi zixin zhi xianxiang ...). They are like two or four knots tied into a horse’s tail (mawei jiejie ...), like a string of pearls, like a garland of flowers, etc. . The vision of adamantine strands characterizes this first vision, the first manifestation of Reality.
(2) The Vision of Increased Experiences (Ch. jueshou zengchang xianxian ..., Tib. nyams snang gong ’phel gyi snang ba). It appears under the form of five-colored luminous spheres which are horizontally and vertically distributed, every one containing different forms like lotus flowers, tassel-shaped ornaments (yingluo ...), precious pagodas (baota ...), conches, spear-points, and so on. Their form undergoes infinite changes and progressively increases to the size of a bowl or a mirror, wheel or shield. These visions "shoot straight upward from the eyebrow" within luminous spheres (Ch. mingdian, Tib. thig le) or outside them and also "go to the side, and sometimes even appear as a triangle." …
As one practices, the visions take on certain structures, and at the center of the luminous spheres various images of divinities may appear. At first, only a headdress or bust may appear, or only a hand or a foot; but later, the whole figure manifests . While at the outset a certain divinity may appear without consort and without ornaments, with practice it will become more elaborate and appear with a consort. The manifestation of forms of deities characterizes this second vision.
(3) The Vision of Reaching Culmination of the Luminous Essence [i.e., rig pa; awareness] (Ch. mingti jinyi xianxian ..., Tib. rig pa tshad phebs kyi snang ba). In this stage everything that appears is luminous and pervaded with rainbow light. The luminous spheres merge into a single sphere at whose center five luminous spheres appear. Inside them, the five Buddha families (wufang fo ...) appear in complete form and in union with their consorts. At this stage one also sees pure lands, Buddha’s palaces, nets of adamantine strands, precious and encircled mandalas, etc. The manifestation of the Buddha’s palaces, pure lands, and the five families with their consort characterize this third vision. ... All that is seen is of rainbow light color. It is also stressed that at this stage the practitioner develops extraordinary powers or siddhi. As Fahai Lama explains, the manifestation of these powers ... is comparable to the thaumaturgical powers of Daoist immortals and Buddhas ... .
(4) The Vision of Exhausting Reality (Ch. qiongjin faxing xianxian ..., Tib. chos nyid zad pa’i snang ba). The preceding visions of the luminous dynamism of wisdom come to an end. The luminous spheres of Buddhas, their palaces, pure lands and so on merge down into the nature of mind. This absorption is compared with the image of the black moon which, though it does not appear in the sky, still is there.”

“Following the Dayuanman guanding, Fahai Lama explains (p. 519) … thod-rgal attainments by means of qi-gon the irreversible secret manifestations (buzhuan mimi xianxiang ...) of thod rgal practice are put in relation with the attainments described in Daoist texts dealing with the search for immortality. According to the Chinese translation of the Ye shes bla ma (Dayuanman shenghui, 56), Fahai Lama presents these attainments as follows :
The body is light like cotton, its skin color is replenished, the face is without wrinkles, the hair is not white or getting longer, and the finger and toe nails do not grow anymore. In the body there appears the image of the five Buddha families, some in form of their emblems (samaya) or mantra-syllables. The appe[a]rance of some becomes youthful, their white hairs return to black color, their missing teeth grow again, and so on, and the body is light and calm without any disease. […] As the mind is constantly in a state of meditative concentration (chanding), clothing and food are not necessary anymore, every séance of meditative concentration will last months or years and the flow of breath-vital energy (qi) will be under your control."

Monica Esposito : "rDzogs-chen in China : from Chan to "Tibetan Tantrism"

E’COLE FRANC,AISE D’EXTRE^ME-ORIENT, E’TUDES THE’MATIQUES 22 = Monica Esposito (editrix) : Images of Tibet in the 19th and 20th Centuries. 2 Voll., continuously paginated. Paris, 2008. pp. 473-548 (in 2nd Vol.).

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