The Aggañña Sutra & the Origins of Human Society (1st century BC)

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"Aggañña Sutta is the 27th Sutta of Digha Nikaya collections ( the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism)..... The sutta describes a discourse imparted from the Buddha to two brahmins, Bharadvaja and Vasettha, who left their family and caste to become monks. The two brahmins are insulted and maligned by their own caste for their intention to become member of Sangha. The Buddha explains that caste and lineage can not be compared to the achievement of morality practice and the Dhamma, as anyone from the four castes can become a monk and reached the state of Arahant. Then, he explains about the beginning of the Earth, and the birth of social order and its structure, including the castes. "

"The Beginning of Life on Earth....Buddha tells the story of how the human beings came to dwell on Earth......The Buddha told that sooner or later, after a very long time, there would be a time when the world shrinks. At a time of contraction, beings are mostly born in the Abhassara Brahma world. And there they dwell, mind-made, feeding on delight, self-luminous, moving through the air, glorious — and they stay like that for a very long time. But sooner or later, after a very long period, this world begins to expand again. At a time of expansion, the beings from the Abhassara Brahma world, having died from there, are mostly reborn in this world. Here they dwell, mind-made, feeding on delight, self luminous, moving through the air, glorious—and they stay like that for a very long time.".....http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggañña_Sutta

"Shakyamuni Buddha..... the Agganna Sutra..... or "Discourse on Origins.".....This discourse is sometimes referred to as a "Buddhist Genesis." It should be understood in the context of Buddhist cosmology and timespan rather than mistaking it for a document on the beginning of all things or as a creation of any single being (i.e., intelligent design).".....http://wisdomquarterly.blogspot.com/2008/09/how-life-began.html

"Abhassara....a Brahma-world where live radiant devas from whose bodies rays of light are emitted, like lightning. It belongs to the Rūpaloka and is in the plane of second jhāna ....When inhabitants of the ābhassara-world are reborn as humans, their existence continues to be like that which they had in the brahma-world itself. As time goes on, however, they lose their qualities and develop the characteristics, both physical and mental, of human beings."....http://www.palikanon.com/english/pali_names/aa/aabhassara.htm

"Then the Buddha said to Vasettha: ‘Vasettha, you two are Brahmins born and bred, and you have gone forth from the household life into homelessness from Brahmin families. Do not the Brahmins revile and abuse you?’
‘Indeed, lord, the Brahmins do revile and abuse us. They don’t hold back with their usual flood of reproaches.’
‘Well, Vasettha, what kind of reproaches do they fling at you?’
‘Lord, what the Brahmins say is this, "The Brahmins caste is the highest caste—other castes are base; the Brahmin caste is fair, other castes are dark; Brahmins are purified, non-Brahmins are not, the Brahmins are the true children of Brahma, born from his mouth, born of Brahma, heirs of Brahma. And you, you have deserted the highest class and gone over to the base class of shave-ling petty ascetics, servants, dark fellows born of Brahma’s Foot! It’s not right, it’s not proper for you to mix with such people!" That is the way the Brahmins abuse us, lord.’
‘Then, Vasettha, the Brahmins have forgotten their ancient tradition when they say that. Because we can see Brahmin women, the wives of Brahmins, who menstruate and become pregnant, have babies, and give milk. And yet these womb-born Brahmins talk about being born from Brahma’s mouth…These Brahmins misrepresent Brahma, tell lies and earn much demerit.
‘There are, Vasettha, these four castes: The Khattiyas, The Brahmins, the merchants and the artisans. And sometimes a Khattiya takes life, takes what is not given, commits sexual misconduct, tells lies, indulges in slander, harsh speech or idle chatter, is grasping, malicious, or of wrong views. Thus such things as are immoral and considered so, blameworthy and considered so, to be avoided and considered so, ways unbefitting an Ariyan and considered so, black with black result and blamed by the wise, are sometimes to found among the Khattiyas, and the same applies to Brahmins, merchants, and artisans.

"King Pasenadi of Kosala knows: "The ascetic Gotama has gone forth from the neighboring clan of the Sakyans." Now the Sakyans are vassals of the King of Kosala."

"‘There comes a time, Vasettha, when, sooner or later after a long period this world contracts. At a time of contraction, beings are mostly born in the Abhassara Brahma world. And there they dwell, mind-made, feeding on delight, self luminous, moving through the air, glorious—and they stay like that for a very long time. But sooner or later, after a very long period, this world begins to expand again. At a time of expansion, the beings from the Abhassara Brahma world, having passed away from there, are mostly reborn in this world. Here they dwell, mind-made, feeding on delight, self-luminous, moving through the air, glorious— and they stay like that for a very long time."

"‘At that period, Vasettha, there was just one mass of water, and all was darkness, blinding darkness. Neither moon or sun appeared, no constellations or stars appeared, night and day were not yet distinguished, nor months and fortnights, nor years and seasons; there was no male and female, beings being reckoned just as beings. And sooner or later, after a very long period of time, savory earth spread itself over the waters where those beings were. It looked just like the skin that forms itself over hot milk as it cools. It was endowed with color, smell, and taste. It was the color of fine ghee or butter and it was very sweet, like pure wild honey."

‘Then those beings came together and lamented the arising of these evil things among them: taking what was not given, censuring, lying, and punishment. And they thought: "Suppose we were to appoint a certain being who would show anger where anger was due, censure those who deserved it, and banish those who deserved banishment! And in return we would grant him a share of the rice." So they went to the one among them who was the handsomest, the best-looking, most pleasant and capable, and asked him to do this for them in return for a share of the rice, and he agreed.......The People’s Choice" is the meaning of Maha-Sammata, which is the first regular title to be introduced. "Lord of the Fields" is the meaning of Khattiya, the second such title. And "He Gladdens Others With Dhamma" is the meaning of Raja, the third title to be introduced. This, then, Vasettha, is the origin of the class of Khattiyas, in accordance with the ancient titles that were introduced for them. They originated among the very same beings, like ourselves, no different and in accordance with Dhamma, not otherwise."

"Maha-Sammata..... The Name of the First King of the Solar Race and Ancestor, among others, of the Sakyan rulers (and hence of Gotama.)....Maha Sammata (Pali: Mahā Sammata; Mahasammata; lit. "the Great Elect") was the first monarch of the world according to Buddhist tradition. The chronicles of Theravada Buddhist tradition such as Mahavamsa and Maha Yazawin state that he was the founder of the Sakya dynasty, to which the historical Buddha belonged. He was the first of the eleven world monarchs named Maha Sammata, each of whom founded the eleven dynasties that existed from the beginning to the day of the Buddha......The future king was born "in the beginning of the world" in Jambudvipa, the only habitable continent on earth, to a family descended from the solar race.."....

"King Maha Sammata and his Queen Manikpala, the sister of Vishnu ..... the primeval monarch of the world... the first monarch of the world according to Buddhist tradition.....he was the founder of the Sakya dynasty, to which the historical Buddha belonged. He was the first of the eleven world monarchs named Maha Sammata, each of whom founded the eleven dynasties that existed from the beginning to the day of the Buddha."

‘Then some beings thought, "Evil things have appeared among beings, such as taking what is not given, censuring, lying, punishment and banishment. We ought to put aside evil and unwholesome things." And they did so. "They Put Aside Evil and Unwholesome Things" is the meaning of Brahmin, which is the first regular title to be introduced for such people. They made leaf-huts in forest places and meditated in them. With the smoking fire gone out, with pestle cast aside, gathering alms for their evening and morning meals, they went away to a village, town, or royal city to seek their food, and then they returned to their leaf-huts to meditate. People saw this and noted how they meditated. "They Meditate" is the meaning of Jhayaka, (jhāyaka : one who meditates.)....which is the second regular title to be introduced."

"Brahmin (from Pali braahmaa.na): The brahmin (sometimes spelled brahman) caste of India has long maintained that its members, by their birth, are worthy of the highest respect. Buddhism borrowed the term brahman to apply to those who have attained the goal, to show that respect is earned not by birth, race, or caste, but by spiritual attainment. Used in the Buddhist sense, this term is synonymous with Arahant.".....http://www.dhammawiki.com

" Ajjhayaka.......brahmans were also known as ‘reciters’ (ajjhayaka) because they chanted the Vedas. The Buddha joked that they were really called this because they couldn’t meditate (ajhayaka, D.III,94).

‘However, some of those beings, not being able to meditate in leaf huts, settled around towns and villages and compiled books. People saw them doing this and not meditating.......‘Now "These Do Not Meditate" is the meaning of Ajjhayaka, which is the third regular title to be introduced. At that time it was regarded as a low designation, but now it is the higher. This, then, Vasettha, is the origin of the class of Brahmins in accordance with the ancient titles that were introduced for them."

‘And then, Vasettha, some of those beings, having paired off, adopted various trades, and this "various" is the meaning of Vessa, which came to be the regular title for such people. This then is the origin of the class of Vessas, in accordance with the ancient titles that were introduced for them."

‘And then, Vasettha, those beings that remained went in for hunting. "They Are Base Who Live By The Chase," and that is the meaning of Sudda, which came to be the regular title for such people. "

Sudda : a person of the Sūdra caste. (adj.), clean; pure; unmixed; simple."....http://www.dhammawiki.com

‘And then, Vasettha, it came about that some Khattiya, dissatisfied with his own Dhamma, went forth from the household life into homelessness, thinking, "I will become an ascetic." And a Brahmin did likewise, a Vessa did likewise, and so did a Sudda. And from these four classes the class of ascetics came into existence."

"Khattiya : a man of the warrior caste. (adj.),to belonging Khattiyas......khattiyā (f.), a woman of the Khattiya clan....Kshatriya (from kshatra, "rule, authority") is one of the four varna (social orders) of the Hindu society.....The Sanskrit term kshatriya is used in the context of Vedic society wherein members organized themselves into three classes: Brahmin, Kshatriya, and Vaishya. Traditionally, the kshatriya constituted the ruling and military elite. Their role was to protect society by fighting in wartime and governing in peacetime."

‘And a Khattiya who is restrained in Body, speech and thougth, and who has developed the seven requisites of enlightenment, will attain to parinirvana in this very life. So too will a Brahmin, a Vessa, or a Sudda......And, Vasettha, whoever of these four castes, as a monk, becomes an Arahant who has destroyed the corruptions, done what had to be done, laid down the burden, attained to the highest goal, completely destroyed the fetter of becoming, and become liberated by the highest insight, he is declared to be chief among them in accordance with Dhamma, and not otherwise."

"The Buddhist Creation Story........Creation was first described by Buddha more than 2500 years ago to his followers. Where did the world come from, they asked?....The world, as Buddha described it, began when the Earth and stars spontaneously formed on its own. Water and air then collected and became seas on the Earth. But life did not yet exist......And then came what is called the Phrom, or what are basically unfathomable ‘beings’ in what best can be described as another ‘dimension’ beyond and above heaven called Phromalok...... These Phrom supposedly came first...... The Phrom are ancient ‘beings’ which are the ‘evolved’ form of that which resides in heaven (angels and what not). So where did the angels come from? That which is in heaven came from humans that have reached enlightenment and nirvana......Humans came from both the creatures of Hell, and supposedly Phrom which have eaten the dirt of the Earth (because it smelled too good to resist, supposedly)....Phrom. The best way to describe them is like ‘light’. Heaven is ‘light’ to humans. And Phromalok is ‘light’ to heaven. Phrom have no emotions, but are capable of expressing emotions. They don’t consist of matter or energy, and cannot be seen by people..... They exist beyond the concepts of good and evil. While humans can only live a few decades, and angels can “live” for thousands of years, the Phrom can “live” for millions of years before they “expire”.".....http://blogs.transparent.com/thai/creation-according-to-buddha/

The Ta Phrom temple in Angkor Thom, Cambodia.....https://archive.org/details/Ta-Prohm-in-Angkor-Gods-and-Angels-in-Ruins

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….August 2014

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Dhanyakataka Stupa, Amaravati & the Krishna River Valley

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Ancient Dhanyakataka Stupa at Amaravati, Guntur district, India.....This is the oldest of all Kalachakra Stupas and the place where according to Vajrayana oral transmission the Kalachakra tantra was first revealed by the historical Buddha.

""On the full moon of March/April, the twelfth month counted from the time he [Shakyamuni] obtained buddhahood, the Buddha was teaching the Paramitayana at Mount Vulture Heap. At the same time he manifested another form inside the great stupa of Shri Dhanyakataka, which is near Shri Parvata in south India where he taught the Mantrayana. The great stupa was more than six leagues from top to bottom, and inside it the Buddha emitted two mandalas: below the mandala of Dharmadhatu Vagishvara, above the great mandala of the splendid asterisms. The Buddha was in the centre on the Vajra lion throne in the great Mandala of the Sphere of Vajra, the abode of great bliss. He was absorbed in the Kalachakra samadhi, and stood in the form of the Lord of the mandala."....http://kalachakranet.org

"The location where Buddha Shakyamuni taught the Kalachakra tantra lies near the ancient town of Amaravati, situated few kilometers away from Guntur on the south of the river Krishna. From the 3rd BCE to the 12th CE, the city was a flourishing Buddhist center.".....http://kalachakranet.org

"......the Buddha taught The Root Kalachakra Tantra in the ninth century BCE and that the First Kalki King of Shambhala compiled The Abridged Kalachakra Tantra seven centuries later. Only the latter text has survived....The Abridged Kalachakra Tantra was composed between the end of the ninth and the beginning of the tenth centuries CE, as a composite of different portions compiled in perhaps several areas in the region spanning eastern Afghanistan, Oddiyana (present-day northwestern Pakistan, including western Punjab and Swat), and Kashmir. It reflects the world situation in which Buddhists of that period in those regions lived."....http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/study/islam/kalachakra_islam/kalachakra_presentation_prophets_in/kc_pres_prophets_islam_full.html

"According to archaeologists, Amaravati stupa was built in the 3rd to 2nd centuries BCE Subsequent additions were made in the 1st-4th centuries CE under both Satavahana and Ikshvaku kings. The site lies close to the ancient Satavahana capital, Dhanyakataka."........http://kalachakranet.org

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"By tradition the Dhanyakataka Stupa is located at Amaravati, in south India, where the Dalai Lama gave a Kalachakra Initiation in January of 2006....His Holiness the Dalai Lama has kindly consented to bestow Kalachakra initiation in January 2006 at Amravati in Andhra Pradesh. The small town in southeastern India is holy for the Buddhists as it was the place where Lord Buddha gave the first Kalachakra root tantra on the request of King Dawa Sangpo (Suchandra).....This Kalachakra is the 30th and it significantly coincides with the 2550th anniversary of the passing away of Lord Buddha. His Holiness the Dalai Lama gave the first Kalachakra initiation in 1954 at Norbulingka in Lhasa, Tibet..".....http://tibet.net/2005/03/26/kalachakra-at-amravati-in-2006/

"Archaeological findings indicate that very little was added to the stupa after the 3rd century CE. It seems that the structure was maintained, although interest in Buddhism declined from that time onwards. When the Chinese monk Hsuan Tsang visited the area in the 7th century, the stupa was already decrepit and Hinduism had revived in the region. Nevertheless, he observed about twenty Buddhist monasteries in the area with about one thousand monks in residence, mostly belonging to the Mahasamghika School.".......http://kalachakranet.org

"Shambhala or "bde 'byung" in Tibetan, means "The source of happiness"......The Kingdom of Shambhala takes a central place in the Kalachakra teachings. Not only did the historical Shakyamuni Buddha teach the Kalachakra tantra at the request of King Suchandra of Shambhala, also the teachings are said to be preserved there. It is predicted that a few centuries from now, a spiritual revival of the world will come from Shambhala.... 3 Shambhalas. 'Outer Shambhala' exists as a kingdom in the external world, the 'Inner Shambhala' lies hidden in the body and mind, and the 'Other Shambhala' is the Kalachakra mandala with all its deities. "..........http://kalachakranet.org

"Amaravati, 6 January 2006 - His Holiness the Dalai Lama began the Kalachakra 2006 yesterday. Thanking the state government of Andhra Pradesh for extending infrastructural facilities for the Kalachakra, the 70 year-old Tibetan leader said that the Kalachakra in Amaravati holds a special significance as it is believed to be the place where Buddha gave the first Kalachakra Initiation.....The Dalai Lama said that the leaders of Andhra Pradesh are very concerned about the Kalachakra and Buddhism in Andhra Pradesh and that he had extended his gratitude to them for their efforts.....The Tibetan leader also said that Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are popular Buddhist pilgrimage destinations in India and that Andhra Pradesh has joined them. He also said that the state government is putting all its efforts to make Andhra Pradesh an important destination for Buddhists all over the world. "....www.phayul.com

"Amaravati is a town in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also referred as Amareswaram, for its famous Amareswara temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, which is one of the famous Pancharamas.....It was formerly known as Andhra Nagari. Krishna River passes through the east side of Amaravati......The recorded history of Amaravati and nearby Dharanikota dates to 2nd century BCE. It was the capital of Andhra Satavahanas who ruled from 2nd century BCE to 3rd century CE......The region between Krishna and Godavari rivers was an important place for Buddhism from the 2nd century BCE with Amaravati being one of them. Buddhist stupa was built during the reign of Ashoka in 200 CE, was carved with panels that tells the story of Buddha.....During the period of the decline of Buddhism, this stupa was also neglected and it was buried under rubble. There is a 14th-century inscription in Sri Lanka which mentions repairs made to the stupa and after that it was forgotten. The stupa is related to the Vajrayana teachings of Kalachakra, still practiced today in Tibetan Buddhism. Dalai Lama of Tibet conducted a Kalachakra initiation at this location in 2006."....Early Buddhist Architecture in Context: The Great Stūpa at Amarāvatī (ca. 300 BCE-300 CE) by Akira Shimada, Brill, 2012

"Art historians regard the Amaravati art as one of the three major styles or schools of ancient Indian art, the other two being the Gandhara style and the Mathura style. Some of the Buddhist sculptures of Amaravati betray a Greco-Roman influence that was the direct result of the close trade and diplomatic contacts between South India and the ancient Romans. Indeed, Amaravati has itself yielded a few Roman coins. "......Sculptures from Amaravati in the British Museum, D. Barrett, 1954,

"Amaravati is also known as 'Punyakshetra'. When Subramanya killed the demon Tarakasura, the Shivalingam in his throat broke and fell in five different spots, which became the Pancharama kshetras. The foremost of these is Amareswara at Amaravati where Indra and the Devas are believed to have worshipped Shiva. Amareswaram is considered sacred because of three things, the Krishna River, an important 'Kshetra' with a 'Sthalamahatyam' and the 'Sri Mahalinga Murthy', which are three sacred principles embodied in one. It was also the capital of Satavahanas, the first great Andhra kings who ruled from the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century CE, after the downfall of Maurya empire.".....http://guntur.nic.in/amaravati_temple.html

"Amravati or Amareswaram is regarded holy because of the presence of the Krishna river, Sthalamahatyam, a vital Kshetra and the Sri Mahalinga Murthy. Five different forms of Lord Shiva are called 'Pranaveswara', 'Agasteswara', 'Kosaleswara', 'Someswara' and 'Parthiveswara'. Lord Shiva, present in the form of a 15 ft. high white marble Shiva lingam. the temple is surrounded by four high gopuras built in typical Dravidian style.....Original Shivalingam is said to have been held in worship by the seven rishis - Kasyapa, Atri, Gowtama, Kousika, Bharadwaja, Vasishta and Jamadagni. These rishis are believed to be present in the seven tributaries of Godavari.".........http://guntur.nic.in/amaravati_temple.html

"Gautama is one of the Saptarishis (Seven Great Sages Rishi). He was one of the Maharishis of Vedic times, known to have been the discoverer of Mantras -- 'Mantra-drashtaa', in Sanskrit.......Gautama was also the author of Dharma-sutra known as Gautama Dharma sutra..... It is in fact the earliest Dharma Sutra. It contains 28 chapters with 1000 aphorisms. Almost every aspect of the observances of Hindu dharma - including the rules for the four Ashramas, the forty sanskāras, the four varnas, kingly duties, the punishments for various offences, the obsequies for the dead, do's and don'ts of food consumption, the dharmas of women, the rules for Praayaschitta (atonement for sins), and the rules of succession of property. In this sense Gautama's Dharma Shastra may perhaps be considered the oldest law book of the world."...... Introduction to Gautama The Sacred Laws of the Âryas, translated by Georg Bühler (1879), Part I: Âpastamba and Guatama. (Dharma-sutra).

"Little more than a village on the banks of the Krishna, 33km from Vijayawada, AMARAVATI is the site of a Buddhist settlement formerly known as Chintapalli, where a stupa larger than those at Sanchi was erected over relics of the Buddha in the third century BC, during the reign of Ashoka. The stupa no longer stands, but its size is evident from the mound that formed its base......

"The Krishna River is one of the most important peninsular rivers in central-southern India. The Krishna River is the third longest river in India after the Ganges and the Godavari...... the Krishna River is denoted as Krishnaveni..... The river functions as a source of irrigation for Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.....This river is revered by Hindus as sacred.....

Buddhism in the Krishna River Valley of Andhra......edited by Sree Padma

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Ancient Dhanyakataka Stupa at Amaravati, Guntur district, India.....This is the oldest of all Kalachakra Stupas and the place where according to Vajrayana oral transmission the Kalachakra tantra was first revealed by the historical Buddha.

".......... ‘lanka’ villages: The Krishna River’s lanka villages (situated on the river channels and close to the mouths of the river) are highly vulnerable to both riverine and coastal flooding. These villages should be relocated to suitable and safe locations nearby, to keep human settlements out of the flood path. As in the case of Godavari River’s lanka villages, agricultural activities could however be permitted to continue in these fertile but, low-lying and flood prone areas.".....http://news.loksatta.org/2009/10/drjps-letter-to-pm-on-flood-relief-help.html

"References to Lanka in the Mahabharata.....are found in sage Markandeya's narration of the story of Rama and Sita to king Yudhishthira.......Presence of the King of Lanka in Yudhisthira's Rajasuya......Lanka king is listed as present in the conclave of kings present in Pandava king Yudhisthira's Rajasuya sacrifice........ The Vangas and Angas and Paundras and Odras and Cholas and Dravidas and Cheras and Pandyas and Mushika and Andhakas, and the chiefs of many islands and countries on the seaboard as also of frontier states, including the rulers of the Sinhalas, the barbarous mlecchas, the natives of Lanka, and all the kings of the West by hundreds, and all the chiefs of the seacoast, and the kings of the Pahlavas and the Daradas and the various tribes of the Kiratas and Yavanas and Sakras and the Harahunas and Chinas and Tukharas and the Sindhavas and the Jagudas and the Ramathas and the Mundas and the inhabitants of the kingdom of women and the Tanganas and the Kekayas and the Malavas and the inhabitants of Kasmira ... (3:51)."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanka

Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volume 51

"....Before its appearance in the Kalachakra texts, “mleccha” was used in early Hindu literature to refer to the Macedonian Greek invaders, led by Alexander the Great in the third century BCE. Hindu literature also applied the term to subsequent foreign invaders, such as the Shakas, Kushans, and White Huns (Hephthalites).....An early appearance of the term in Buddhist literature prior to Kalachakra is in Nagarjuna’s Friendly Letter (Tib. bShes-pa’i spring-yig, Skt. Suhrllekha), written, in the second century of the common era, to King Udayana, a Shatavahana ruler of Andhra, South India."......http://www.berzinarchives.com/web/en/archives/study/islam/kalachakra_islam/kalachakra_presentation_prophets_in/kc_pres_prophets_islam_full.html

"Ukkala (or Okkala) is the ancient name of Orissa. The Mahabharata mentions the Ukkalas several times in the lists of ancient tribes. But Ukkala of the Buddhist texts which is co-related with names like Asitanjana, Adhisthana, Pokkharavati and Kamsabhoga (said to be native country of caravan leaders Tapassu and Bhalluka, specifically placed in Uttarapatha), therefore, must be located not to the east but to the west of Prithudaka (or Pehova). The territory therefore, inevitably tends to get connected to Pali Pokkharavati (Sanskrit Pushkalavati), which is now known as Charasaddha and is located in north-west frontier province of Pakistan above the confluence of Swat and Kabul rivers."......The Iranian Words in Buddhist Traditions, Indian Archaeology: New Perspectives: Proceedings of the XI Annual Congress of the Indian Archaeological Society, VI Annual Congress of the Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies, India, 1982, p 282-83

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"Some writers locate Kamsabhoga in Bahlika (Bactria), while others identify Asitanjana with Pokkharavati (Sanskrit Pushkalavat) and locate it to the north of river Kabul and to the south of Hindukush mountain range in the Gandhara-Kamboja area."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamsabhoga#cite_ref-21

"Theragatha Commentary (Vol i.48) informs that the birthplace or residence of Tapassu and Bhalluka (or Bhaliya) was Pokkharavati in Ukkala. The sons of the caravan leader (Satthavaha) started journey from Pokkharavati and their destination was Rajagaha (Rajagriha), and according to the Jataka, they on their way to Majjhimadesa (middle India), where they had met and offered food to the Buddha and become his first lay devotees"......Bhalluka, Bhaliya in: Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, 2003, pp 330, 991, G. P. Malalasekera.

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….August 2014

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Kalachakra: The Vulture Peak Mountain

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"Thus it has been said when Shakyamuni Buddha was in Grdhrakuta mountain, he twirled a flower in his finger and held it before his congregation. Everyone was silent. Only Maha Kashapa wholeheartedly smiled. Buddha said, 'I have the eye of the true teaching, the heart of Nirvana, the formless form, the mysterious gate of Dharma. Beyond the words and beyond all teachings to be transmitted, I now pass this on to Maha Kashapa.'".....http://sped2work.tripod.com/vulturespeak.html

"One of the most important of all associations with a "place" in the life and teachings of the Buddha, other than the Bodhi Tree and Deer Park, is with Vulture Peak, a small mountain just outside the city of the ancient city of Rajgir, India. Here, sixteen years after his Enlightenment, he set forth the second turning of the wheel of Dharma to an assembly of 5,000 monks, nuns and laity, as well as innumerable bodhisattvas. This collection of teachings, which extended over twelve years, includes the Saddharmapundarika Sutra and the Surangama Samadhi Sutra, as well as many Prajna-paramita Sutras, which, as the Buddha himself told Ananda, contain the very essence of all his teachings".........http://sped2work.tripod.com/vulturespeak.html

"Griddhraj Parvat (also called, Gridhra-kuta Hill or locally known as Giddhaila Pahar) (English: Vulture Peak, Hindi: गृद्घराज पर्वत), which literally means the hill of vultures, is a hill of religious, archeological and ecological importance situated in Devrajnagar village of tehsil Ramnagar in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh, India. It is located at a distance of 8 km from Ramnagar town and 65 km from Satna in south direction. Its latitude and longitude are 24°18' North and 81°15' East. The altitude of the hill is 2354 feet. The hill is situated between Kaimur Range in the north and Maikal hills in the south. The place is of archeological importance. There are four caves on the hill in which Rock painting and mural paintings are visible......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griddhraj_Parvat

"The Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, Fa-hien, probably visited a different Buddhist holy place with the same name (possibly Vulture Peak in Rajgir). He notes visiting Gridhra-kuta Hill in Chapter XXIX of his travelogue, A Record of Buddhist Kingdoms:......"Entering the valley, and keeping along the mountains on the south-east, after ascending fifteen le, (the travellers) came to mount Gridhra-kuta. Three le before you reach the top, there is a cavern in the rocks, facing the south, in which Buddha sat in meditation. Thirty paces to the north-west there is another, where Ananda was sitting in meditation, when the deva Mara Pisuna, having assumed the form of a large vulture, took his place in front of the cavern, and frightened the disciple. Then Buddha, by his mysterious, supernatural power, made a cleft in the rock, introduced his hand, and stroked Ananda's shoulder, so that his fear immediately died. The footprints of the bird and the cleft for (Buddha's) hand are still there, and hence comes the name of "The Hill of the Vulture Cavern."......http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griddhraj_Parvat

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In Hindu mythology....."Griddhraj Parvat is of great religious importance in Hindu mythology. It has been mentioned in Skanda Purana as ‘Griddhanchal Parvat’. It is believed to be the birthplace of ‘Sampati’, the brother of Griddhraj ‘Jatayu’ mentioned in Ramayana." .....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griddhraj_Parvat

"The Gijjhakuta, the Vulture Peak, was the Buddha’s favorite retreat in Rajagaha and the scene for many of his discourses. According to the commentaries this place got its name because vultures used to perch on some of the peak’s rocks.......The several rock shelters around the Gijjhakuta, its fine view across the valley, and its peaceful environment made it the perfect place for meditation. Climbing the steps that lead to the top, the pilgrim passes a large cave. This is the Sukarakhata (the Boar’s Grotto) where the Buddha delivered two discourses, the Discourse to Long Nails and the Sukarakhata Sutta. It was here too that Sariputta attained enlightenment. The Sukarakhata seems to have been formed by excavating the earth from under the huge rock that forms the grotto's roof, an impression confirmed by legend. According to the Pali commentaries during the time of Kassapa Buddha a boar rooting around under the rock made a small cavity which was later enlarged when monsoon rains washed more earth away. Later, an ascetic discovered the cave and, deciding it would be a good place to live in, built a wall around it, furnished it with a couch, and ‘made it as clean as a golden bowl polished with sand.’....http://dhammawiki.com/index.php?title=Vulture_Peak

"First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma......The First Turning of the Wheel was at Sarnath, in the king's deer park. This was Shakyamuni Buddha's Discourse on the Four Noble Truths ("the truth of suffering ...") that he gave particularly to the five companions with whom he had been practicing various austerities. It forms the motivation or basis for all Buddhists."......http://www.khandro.net

"Second Turning of the Wheel of Dharma......The Second Turning of the Wheel took place at Vulture Peak outside Gaya and includes the discourse on compassion and Emptiness. It is exemplified by the Prajnaparamita literature -- a condensed form is the Heart (Skt : hridya) Sutra: "Form is Emptiness; Emptiness [is] Form." All Mahayana Buddhists have this teaching as the basis for their consideration of other beings.".........http://www.khandro.net

"Third Turning of the Wheel of Dharma......The third turning was also delivered to an audience of bodhisattvas in Shravasti and other Indian locations (e.g. in Kusinagara, to Bodhisattvas and onlooking Buddhas, in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra) – or even in transcendental Buddhic realms (in the Avatamsaka Sutra).".....The Third Turning of the Wheel was at Vaishali and some other places. It comprises the elucidation of "Emptiness" and its relation to Buddha Nature. The Mahaparanirvana Sutra and such Mahayana commentaries as the Uttaratantra Shastra address this. Not all Mahayana Buddhists have the same view of these texts.".........http://www.khandro.net

"Fourth Turning of the Wheel of Dharma........Tantric Buddhism traces its origins to Buddha Sakyamuni's fourth "Turning of the Wheel," which is believed to have occurred at the stupa of Sri Dhanakosha near Amravali in Andhra Pradesh, India, in the year of His Enlightenment. All the high tantras such as Chakrasamvara, Guhyasamaya, and Kalachakra, derive from this. "..........http://www.khandro.net

"Kalachakra.....According to one interpretation, the Kalachakra Tantra was first spoken by the Teacher Sakyamuni Buddha, at the time of the full moon in the third month of the year after his having shown the manner of becoming completely and perfectly enlightened. According to another interpretation, Sakyamuni, having showed the manner of becoming completely and perfectly enlightened, turned the three wheels of doctrine, and then one year before his passing away set forth the Kalachakra Tantra." ............http://www.khandro.net

"According to Alexander Berzin, the system as taught by the Dalai Lama has three sources:.....First, Buddha Shakyamuni taught it to an Indian audience that included Suchandra, the King of Shambhala. He, with his entourage of 96 others, flew home to set down what they had heard in The Root Kalachakra Tantra.....

"According to tradition, while the Buddha was in his physical body here at Vulture’s Peak delivering the Prajnaparamita an emanation of the Buddha appeared at the same time in south India, at a place called the Dhanyakataka Stupa, and taught the Kalachakra, or Wheel of Time, doctrine to Suchandra, the King of Shambhala, who had traveling to India from his kingdom somewhere in the north specifically to receive these teachings.:......http://www.doncroner.com/2005/12/india-rajgir-vultures-peak-kalachakra.html

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Ancient Dhanyakataka Stupa at Amaravati, Guntur district, India.....This is the oldest of all Kalachakra Stupas and the place where according to Vajrayana oral transmission the Kalachakra tantra was first revealed by the historical Buddha.

"Ukkala (or Okkala) is the ancient name of Orissa. The Mahabharata mentions the Ukkalas several times in the lists of ancient tribes. But Ukkala of the Buddhist texts which is co-related with names like Asitanjana, Adhisthana, Pokkharavati and Kamsabhoga (said to be native country of caravan leaders Tapassu and Bhalluka, specifically placed in Uttarapatha), therefore, must be located not to the east but to the west of Prithudaka (or Pehova). The territory therefore, inevitably tends to get connected to Pali Pokkharavati (Sanskrit Pushkalavati), which is now known as Charasaddha and is located in north-west frontier province of Pakistan above the confluence of Swat and Kabul rivers."......The Iranian Words in Buddhist Traditions, Indian Archaeology: New Perspectives: Proceedings of the XI Annual Congress of the Indian Archaeological Society, VI Annual Congress of the Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies, India, 1982, p 282-83

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"Some writers locate Kamsabhoga in Bahlika (Bactria), while others identify Asitanjana with Pokkharavati (Sanskrit Pushkalavat) and locate it to the north of river Kabul and to the south of Hindukush mountain range in the Gandhara-Kamboja area."....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamsabhoga#cite_ref-21

"Theragatha Commentary (Vol i.48) informs that the birthplace or residence of Tapassu and Bhalluka (or Bhaliya) was Pokkharavati in Ukkala. The sons of the caravan leader (Satthavaha) started journey from Pokkharavati and their destination was Rajagaha (Rajagriha), and according to the Jataka, they on their way to Majjhimadesa (middle India), where they had met and offered food to the Buddha and become his first lay devotees"......Bhalluka, Bhaliya in: Dictionary of Pali Proper Names, 2003, pp 330, 991, G. P. Malalasekera.

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….August 2014

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Kalachakra Cosmology: The Trilokya

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"Trailokya (Skt., त्रैलोक्य trailokya; Pali, tiloka; Standard Tibetan: khams-gsum (Wylie)) has been translated as "three worlds,".... "three spheres,"...... "three planes of existence,".... "three realms" and "three regions."..... These three worlds are identified in Hindu and early Buddhist texts, have counterparts in Brahmanical sources.....

"Buddhist cosmology.....In Buddhism, the three worlds refer the following karmic rebirth destinations: Kāmaloka:world of desire, typified by base desires, populated by hell beings, preta, animals, ghosts, humans and lower demi-gods.
Rūpaloka:world of form, predominately free of baser desires, populated by jhana-dwelling gods, possible rebirth destination for those well practiced in jhanic absorption.
Arūpaloka:world of formlessness, noncorporal realm populated with four heavens, possible rebirth destination for practitioners of the four formlessness stages.
......Fischer-Schreiber, Ingrid, Franz-Karl Ehrhard, Michael S. Diener and Michael H. Kohn (trans.) (1991). The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen.

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"Kalachakra cosmology, from Gyatso, Khendrup Norsang (2004) Ornament of Stainless Light: An Exposition of the Kalachakra Tantra.......As with other ancient and cultural cosmologies, the Tibetan universe is composed of the classic elements fire, earth, air, and water. These four elements exist and function through a fifth element, space."

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"Brahmanical system......Bhuvanatraya is the brahmanical fourfold division of worlds. These systems can be juxtaposed in the following manner:
1. Bhur, earth....... World of desire, Kamadhatu or Kamaloka.
2. Bhuvah, atmosphere, air ......World of matter, Rupadhatu.
3. Swar, sky, space.......The purely formal, or matter-less world, Arupadhatu.
4. Mahar, eternal luminous essence.
Monier-Williams, Monier (1899, 1964). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. London: Oxford University Press.

The History of India from the Earliest Ages: The Rámáyana and the Brahmanic ...by James Talboys Wheeler

"The Rupadhatu (Pali: Rupaloka; Tib: gzugs.kyi khams) or "Form realm" is, as the name implies, the first of the physical realms; its inhabitants all have a location and bodies of a sort, though those bodies are composed of a subtle substance which is of itself invisible to the inhabitants of the Kamadhatu. According to the Janavasabha Sutta, when a brahma (a being from the Brahma world of the Rupadhatu) wishes to visit a deva of the Trayastrimsa heaven (in the Kamadhatu), he has to assume a "grosser form" in order to be visible to them."....http://www.wisdomlib.org

"The beings of the Form realm are not subject to the extremes of pleasure and pain, or governed by desires for things pleasing to the senses, as the beings of the Kamadhatu are. The bodies of Form realm beings do not have sexual distinctions......Like the beings of the Arupyadhatu, the dwellers in the Rupadhatu have minds corresponding to the dhyanas (Pali: jhanas). In their case it is the four lower dhyanas or rupadhyanas.......The devas of the Rupadhatu have physical forms, but are sexless and passionless. They live in a large number of "heavens" or deva worlds that rise, layer on layer, above the earth. These can be divided into five main groups:
The Suddhavasa
The Brhatphala
The Subhakrtsna
The Abhasvara
The Brahma
Each of these groups of deva worlds contains different grades of devas, but all of those within a single group are able to interact and communicate with each other. On the other hand, the lower groups have no direct knowledge of even the existence of the higher types of deva at all. For this reason, some of the Brahmas have become proud, imagining themselves as the creators of their own worlds and of all the worlds below them.......because they came into existence before those worlds began to exist."........http://www.wisdomlib.org

"Time cycle......Division of time as envisaged by Jains........According to Jainism, time is beginingless and eternal. The Kālacakra, the cosmic wheel of time, rotates ceaselessly." .....

"In Hinduism, the asuras (Sanskrit: असुर) are a group of power-seeking deities related to the more benevolent devas (also known as suras). They are sometimes considered nature spirits. They battle constantly with the devas.......In early Vedic texts, both suras and asuras were deities who constantly competed with each other, some bearing both designations at the same time. In late-Vedic and post-Vedic literature the Vedic asuras became lesser beings while in the Avesta, the Persian counterpart of the Vedas, the devas began to be considered lesser beings.....According to the Vishnu Purana, during the Samudra manthan or "churning of the ocean", the daityas came to be known as asuras because they rejected Varuni, the goddess of sura "wine", while the devas accepted her and came to be known as suras."

"Hindu Cosmology upholds the idea that creation is timeless, having no beginning in time. Each creation is preceded by dissolution and each dissolution is followed by creation. The whole cosmos exists in two states - the unmanifested or undifferentiated state and the manifested or differentiated state. This has been going on eternally. There are many universes - all follow the same rhythm, creation and dissolution (the systole and diastole of the cosmic heart).".....

"According to the Zoroastrian story of creation, Ahura (Asura) Mazda existed in light in goodness above, while Angra Mainyu existed in darkness and ignorance below......Ahura Mazda first created seven abstract heavenly beings called Amesha Spentas, who support him and represent beneficent aspects, along with numerous yazads, lesser beings worthy of worship.... Ahura Mazda created the floating, egg-shaped universe in two parts: first the spiritual (menog) and 3,000 years later, the physical (getig). Ahura Mazda then created Gayomard, the archetypical perfect man, and the first bull.".....Cavendish, Richard; Ling, Trevor Oswald (1980), Mythology0-8478-0286-8

Triloka: Three Realms......Triple Realm........The realms of desire (our world), form (realms of the lesser deities) and formlessness (realms of the higher deities).

The Western Pure Land is outside the Triple Realm, beyond samsara and retrogression.

Sanskrit word is Triloka. It is Buddhist metaphysical equivalence for the triple world of earth, atmosphere and heaven....The three levels within samsara: the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm. ...

1. Realm of Sensusous Desire (Sanskrit word is Kamadhatu) of sex and food. It includes the Six Heavens of Desire, the Human World and the Hells....The desire realm is the environment of hell beings, hungry spirits, animals, human beings, demi gods, and the gods who enjoy the five objects of desire.....Beings of the desire realm have powerful delusions.....Buddhists consider being born as a human to be the most fortunate state. Because they are not suffering as heavily as those in the other realms, yet are not in lengthy bliss like the gods, humans have the best chance of enlightenment.

2. Realm of Form (Sanskrit word is Rupaadhatu) of matter which is substantial and resistant. It is a semi material conception. It is above the lust world and contains bodies, places and things, all mystic and wonderful. It consists of 18 heavens, including the Heavens of Four Zen (Sanskrit word is Brahmalokas)....The form realm is the environment of the gods who possess form....beings of the form realm have more subtle delusions.....

3. Realm of Formlessness (Sanskrit word is Arupadhatu) of pure spirit, where there are no bodies and matters to which human terms would apply, but where the mind dwells in mystic contemplation; its extent is indefinable, but it is conceived of in Four Stages/Places of Emptiness in the immaterial world. It has four heavens, in which the Sphere/heaven of neither perception nor non perception is the highest... The formless realm is the environment of the gods who do not possess form......beings of the formless realm have very subtle delusions.

Mimaki, K, "A preliminary comparison of Bonpo and Buddhist cosmology," In New Horizons in Bon Studies.

Blondeau, A. M., "The mKha' klong gsang mdos: Some questions on ritual structure and cosmology," In New Horizons in Bon Studies.

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….August 2014

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Kalachakra Cosmology: The Arupyadhatu

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"Arūpa-loka, (Sanskrit and Pāli: “world of immaterial form”), in Buddhist thought, the highest of the three spheres of existence in which rebirth takes place......The other two are: rūpa-loka, “the world of form,” and kāma-loka, “the world of feeling”."

"The Arupyadhatu or Arupaloka .......(Tib: gzugs.med.pai khams)..... "Formless realm" would have no place in a purely physical cosmology, as none of the beings inhabiting it has either shape or location; and correspondingly, the realm has no location either. This realm belongs to those devas who attained and remained in the Four Formless Absorptions (catuh samapatti) of the arupadhyanas in a previous life, and now enjoys the fruits (vipaka) of the good karma of that accomplishment. Bodhisattvas, however, are never born in the Arupyadhatu even when they have attained the arupadhyanas."....http://www.wisdomlib.org

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Kalachakra cosmology, from Gyatso, Khendrup Norsang (2004) Ornament of Stainless Light: An Exposition of the Kalachakra Tantra.......As with other ancient and cultural cosmologies, the Tibetan universe is composed of the classic elements fire, earth, air, and water. These four elements exist and function through a fifth element, space.

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"Three Worlds and Devalokas.......Vedic literatures describe three intertwined dimensions of existence, triloka, the physical world, the world of our ancestors and the light-filled world of the Gods as the primary hierarchical division of the cosmos. The First World is the Bhuloka "Earth world," the physical plane universe; the Second World is Antarlok, "Inner or in-between world," the subtle or astral plane or mental plane of existence in which the devas, angels and spirits live and this plane is also referred to as devaloka or deva loka; and the Third World is the causal plane Shivaloka, "World of Shiva," and of the Gods and highly evolved souls, also called Karanaloka which is the spiritual universe of the Mahadevas, "great shining beings," the Hindu Gods."....http://www.scribd.com/doc/44713199/Three-Worlds-and-Devalokas

Arupadhatu....(arupa-dhatu); realm of formlessness. Arupadhatu or Formless World where beings have no form (arupa) and exist in a dimension of cosmic consciousness.

Upper World (Udharva loka) is divided into different abodes and are the realms of the heavenly beings (demi-gods) who are non-liberated souls.......Upper World is divided into sixteen Devalokas, nine Graiveyaka, nine Anudish and five Anuttar abodes. Sixteen Devaloka abodes are Saudharma, Aishana, Sanatkumara, Mahendra, Brahma, Brahmottara, Lantava, Kapishta, Shukra, Mahashukra, Shatara, Sahasrara, Anata, Pranata, Arana and Achyuta. Nine Graiveyak abodes are Sudarshan, Amogh, Suprabuddha, Yashodhar, Subhadra, Suvishal, Sumanas, Saumanas and Pritikar. Nine Anudish are Aditya, Archi, Archimalini, Vair, Vairochan, Saum, Saumrup, Ark and Sphatik. Five Anuttar are Vijaya, Vaijayanta, Jayanta, Aparajita and Sarvarthasiddhi....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jain_cosmology

Ariyapariyesana Sutta - "'This Dhamma (of Alara Kalama) leads not to disenchantment, to dispassion, to cessation, to stilling, to direct knowledge, to Awakening, nor to Unbinding, but only to reappearance in the dimension of nothingness.'"

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"There are four types of Arupyadhatu devas, corresponding to the four types of arupadhyanas:
Naivasamjnanasamjnayatana or Nevasannanasannayatana (Tib: du.shes.med du.shes.med.min) "Sphere of neither perception nor non perception". In this sphere the formless beings have gone beyond a mere negation of perception and have attained a liminal state where they do not engage in "perception" (samjna, recognition of particulars by their marks) but are not wholly unconscious. This was the sphere reached by Udraka Ramaputra (Pali: Uddaka Ramaputta), the second of the Buddhas two teachers, who considered it equivalent to enlightenment.
Akimcanyayatana or Akincannayatana (Tib: ci.yang.med) "Sphere of Nothingness" (literally "lacking anything"). In this sphere formless beings dwell contemplating upon the thought that "there is no thing". This is considered a form of perception, though a very subtle one. This was the sphere reached by Arada Kalama (Pali: Alara Kalama), the first of the Buddhas two teachers; he considered it to be equivalent to enlightenment.
Vijnananantyayatana or Vinnananancayatana or more commonly the contracted form Vinnanancayatana (Tib: rnam.shes mtha.yas) "Sphere of Infinite Consciousness". In this sphere formless beings dwell meditating on their consciousness (vijnana) as infinitely pervasive.
Akasanantyayatana or Akasanancayatana (Tib: nam.mkha mtha.yas) "Sphere of Infinite Space". In this sphere formless beings dwell meditating upon space or extension (akasa) as infinitely pervasive.

· Dhatu Element; property, impersonal condition. The four physical elements
· Arupa Absence of matter.
· Arūpa-loka Pali for ārūpyadhātu
· Rūpadhātu The Rupadhatu (Pali: Rupaloka; Tib: gzugs.kyi khams) or "Form realm"
· Ākāsa-dhātu 'space element'
· Vāyo-dhātu 'wind-element'
· Pathavī-dhātu 'earth-element'. or 'solid element'. It is cognizable through the senses
· Tejo-dhātu 'fire-element, heat-element'
· Āpo-dhātu 'water-element'
· Viññāṇa-dhātu Consciousness element (viññāṇa-dhātu): Described as "pure and bright"
· Dhatu Sutta 1. Dhatu Sutta - On the diversity in dhatu - e.g., the dhatu of eye, of visible
· Dharma Dhatu The Law doctrine that is the reality behind being and non being.
· Arupa Bhava States of Formlessness;
· Dhamma Dhātu mind-object-element (s. dhātu).
· Mano Dhātu 'mind-element', is one of the 18 elements

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"The Rupadhatu (Pali: Rupaloka; Tib: gzugs.kyi khams) or "Form realm" is, as the name implies, the first of the physical realms; its inhabitants all have a location and bodies of a sort, though those bodies are composed of a subtle substance which is of itself invisible to the inhabitants of the Kamadhatu. According to the Janavasabha Sutta, when a brahma (a being from the Brahma world of the Rupadhatu) wishes to visit a deva of the Trayastrimsa heaven (in the Kamadhatu), he has to assume a "grosser form" in order to be visible to them.......The beings of the Form realm are not subject to the extremes of pleasure and pain, or governed by desires for things pleasing to the senses, as the beings of the Kamadhatu are. The bodies of Form realm beings do not have sexual distinctions.......Like the beings of the Arupyadhatu, the dwellers in the Rupadhatu have minds corresponding to the dhyanas (Pali: jhanas). In their case it is the four lower dhyanas or rupadhyanas. However, although the beings of the Rupadhatu can be divided into four broad grades corresponding to these four dhyanas, each of them is subdivided into further grades, three for each of the four dhyanas and five for the Suddhavasa devas, for a total of seventeen grades (the Theravada tradition counts one less grade in the highest dhyana for a total of sixteen). The devas of the Rupadhatu have physical forms, but are sexless and passionless. They live in a large number of "heavens" or deva worlds that rise, layer on layer, above the earth.".....http://www.wisdomlib.org

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….August 2014

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Sangyé Yeshé: Lamp for the Eye in Contemplation (9th c. AD)

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Hui-neng noted that no tradition is sudden or gradual, and that these adjectives should be applied to students rather than to teachings or schools, for some students , 'Awakening' or 'Instantaneous Breakthrough' is more “sudden” than others......

Photo: http://www.treasuryoflives.org/biographies/view/Nubchen-Sanggye-Yeshe/4626

Sangyé Yeshé........Nupchen Sangyé Yeshé (Tib. གནུབས་ཆེན་སངས་རྒྱས་ཡེ་ཤེས་, Wyl. gnubs chen sangs rgyas ye shes) — one of the twenty-five disciples of Guru Rinpoche. He is said to have lived for 113 (or 130?) years. He brought the Anuyoga teachings to Tibet and translated many tantras. He also was a student of Vimalamitra and many other great masters.......Legend has that it was due to his miraculous powers that King Langdarma spared the lay tantrikas when persecuting Buddhist followers in Tibet.

"Nubchen Sangye Yeshe (9th century) was one of the twenty-five principal students of Guru Padmasambhava, founder of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Nubchen Sangye Yeshe is considered an important figure in the development of the White Sangha of lay yogis (ngagpas).....

"As well as his fame as one of the 25 principal disciples of Padmasambhava, Nubchen Sangye Yeshe is held in different sources to have been a direct disciple of Shri Simha, Vimalamitra, Kamalashila, Dhanadhala, Tshaktung Nagpo, Shantigarbha, Dhanasamskrita, Shakyadeva, Dhanarakshita, the Brahman Prakashalamkara, Dharmabodhi, Dharmaraja, Tsuglag Pelge, Vasudhara, Chetsenkye, Nak Jñanakumara, Sogdian Pelgi Yeshe and Gyelwei Yönten."....Capriles, Elías (2003). Buddhism and Dzogchen: The Doctrine of the Buddha and the Supreme Vehicle of Tibetan Buddhism. Part One Buddhism: A Dzogchen Outlook.

"Nubchen Sangye Yeshe wrote Armor Against Darkness (Wylie: mun pa’i go cha), a major commentary on The Six Tantras Clarifying the Six Limits (Wylie: dgongs pa ’dus pa’i mdo), the central tantra of the Anuyoga tradition......Armor Against Darkness (mun pa'i go cha)— Munpey Gocha; commentary on Anu Yoga in more than 1,400 pages by Sangye Yeshe of Nub, according to an original tantra known as the Scripture of the Great Assemblage. The Armor has since been published in Delhi, India, as part of Dudjom Rinpoche's monumental publishing effort to preserve the early teachings of the Nyingma school. It is in volume 50–51 of his Nyingma Kahma edition."........http://rywiki.tsadra.org

"Lamp for the Eye in Contemplation ......the Samten Migdron (Tib. bSam-gtan Mig-sgron.)..........discovered in 1908 at Tun-huang by Paul Pelliot.........."this book was entombed in the ruins of Tun-huang, where it remained from the eleventh or twelfth century CE until 1908, when French Sinologist Paul Pelliot explored the cave temples that a local farmer discovered accidentally at the turn of the twentieth century. Therefore, its authenticity is beyond question."

"Samten Migdrön (Tibetan: བསམ་གཏན་མིག་སྒྲོན, Wylie: bsam gtan mig sgron; alternate nomenclature Wylie: rnal 'byor mig gi bsam gtan) is a Tibetan text of historical importance for the historical relationship of Dzogchen and Zen as well identifying the view of its author, Nubchen Sangye Yeshe.......Namkhai Norbu et al. (1986: p. 23) identify Nubchen Sangye Yeshe as the author of a treatise, Samten Migdrön (Tib. bsam gtan mig sgron)........Dalton (2003: unpaginated) in his introduction to the Anuyoga literature of the Nyingma states that: 'Nubchen Sanggyé Yeshé is renowned for having preserved a number of tantric lineages through the so-called “dark period” of Tibetan history (roughly 842-978 C.E.), when state-supported monastic Buddhism fell into decline. Nubchen authored many works, including the Lamp for the Eye in Contemplation (bsam gtan mig sgron), an extensive discussion of early Tibetan contemplative systems......Samten Gyaltsen Karmay also wrote on the Samten Migron."

"In the Samten Migdrön....... Nubchen Sangye Yeshe establishes a salient distinction within the Mahayana between:
the 'Gradual Vehicle of Bodhisattvas' (Sanskrit: Bodhisattvayana); and the 'Sudden Mahayana' corresponding to the Dhyana, Ch’an or Zen school.......The 'suddenness' is further explicated and contextualised by Capriles (2003: p.246) who mentions Huineng:....'In his sutra, Hui-neng noted that no tradition is sudden or gradual, and that these adjectives should be applied to students rather than to teachings or schools, for no doubt some students are more “sudden” than others (Wong Mou-Lam and A. F. Price, translators, 1969); however, the term is used to refer to the Ch’an or Zen School insofar as in it Awakening is not posited as the result of a gradual development through paths and levels, but as an instantaneous breakthrough......For 'instantaneous breakthrough' and 'awakening' refer kensho (Japanese) and satori (Japanese), respectively."....Capriles (2003: p.194)

Sangye Yeshe of Nub, Nubchen......(gnubs sangs rgyas ye shes)......"One of the twenty-five disciples of Padmasambhava, he was the chief recipient of the Anu Yoga teachings as well as the Yamantaka of Mahayoga. In addition to Guru Rinpoche, his other teachers were Traktung Nagpo and Chogyal Kyong of India, Vasudhara of Nepal, and Chetsen Kye from the country of Drusha. He visited India and Nepal seven times. When the evil king Langdarma attempted to destroy Buddhism in Tibet, Sangye Yeshe instilled fear in the king by causing an enormous scorpion, the size of nine yaks, to magically appear by a single gesture of his right hand. Through this, Langdarma lost the courage to persecute the Vajrayana sangha who dressed in white robes and kept long hair. Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche is considered one of his reincarnations. Sangye Yeshe means 'Buddha Wisdom.'......from the Glossary in Advice from the Lotus-Born.".....http://www.rangjung.com/authors/Sangye_Yeshe_of_Nub.htm

"There are extensive biographies of Nupchen Sangye Yeshe, including his autobiography. One account of his life can be found in The Hundred Tertons by Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thaye. We know that Nupchen Sangye Yeshe lived for a very long time and his life extended into the reign of Langdarma, the king who was the grandson of Trisong Detsen and who attempted to destroy the Buddhadharma in Tibet. It was Nupchen Sangye Yeshe who prevented that destruction from being complete. At that time Nupchen was the leader of a large community of tantrikas (or lay tantric practitioners). In fact, he was given the title Leader of Thousands of Kila-Wielding Tantrikas. That activity was in violation of the king’s edict that all Buddhism be suppressed. He was, therefore, summoned into the presence of Langdarma, and Langdarma said to him, “Who are you?” Nupchen Sangye Yeshe replied, “I’m a Buddhist tantrika.” Langdarma ask, “Well, what power do you have?” In response, Nupchen Sangye Yeshe extended the forefinger of his right hand and produced, according to some, one scorpion, and according to others, nine iron scorpions, each of which had nine heads and eighteen pincers. Each of those scorpions was the size of a mid-size yak, and they shot around the room. The king was intimidated and said, “OK, I’ll leave you alone.” Nupchen Sangye Yeshe then said, “That’s not all,” and from his finger he shot lightning bolts that zoomed all around the palace, and so on. So the king said, “I’ll leave your lineage alone too.” At that point Nupchen was satisfied.".....http://www.kunzang.org/lineage-nupchen-sangye-yeshe.html

"The Buddha on the Silk Road: "The way of the Mahāyāna has been sought by the accomplished in the auspicious places where our Teacher placed his feet, such as the Vajra Seat, the Vulture's Peak, and the Shady Willow Grove of Khotan.".......From Nub Sangyé Yeshé's Lamp for the Eyes of Contemplation (early 10th c.)....http://earlytibet.com

The “Shady Willow Grove of Khotan” (li yul lcang ra smug po) mentioned by Sangyé Yeshé? It does appear in a few other later Tibetan sources, including a pilgrims’ guide to the Khadrug temple, which includes a story of how the temple’s statues were obtained from Khotan by the Tibetan army, during the reign of Songtsen Gampo. Later, when the real location of Khotan had largely been forgotten in Tibet, the Shady Willow Grove came to be identified with one of the tantric holy sites known as pīṭha – pilgrimage sites in India associated with parts of the body. The place associated with Khotan was Gṛhadevatā, a problematic site unlocateable in India. On the divine body, Gṛhadevatā represented the anus, a rather ignominious place for the Willow Grove to end up."....http://earlytibet.com

"The White Sangha (white robed) Ngagpa.......The ordained Nyingma Sangha is divided into the Red Sangha (monastic Vinaya) and the White Sangha (not celibate) whose vows based on the Tantric Vows to avoid the 14 root downfalls and of course adhere to the Vows involved. These White Sangha are regared as fully ordained, but not monastics. 'White' as in wearing white robes. Their practice is shamanistic but with the Bodhisattva ideal at its heart."......http://www.freesangha.com/forums/nyingma/the-white-sangha-(white-robed)-ngagpa/

"The Total Sphere in Six Aspects.....
In the Samten Migdron, the 'Total Sphere' (thig le chen po) is described as having six aspects:
'Sphere of the Ultimate Dimension' (dbyings kyi thig le)
'Sphere of the Purity of the Ultimate Dimension' (dbyings rnam par dag pa'i thig le)
'Sphere of Dharmata' (chos nyid thig le)
'Wisdom Bindu' (ye shes thig le)
'Sphere of the All-Beneficent (Samantabhadra)' (kun tu bzang po'i thig le)
'Sphere of Spontaneous Presence' (lhun kyi[s] grub pa'i thig le)
Dalton, Jake (2003). 'Anuyoga (ཨ་ནུ་ཡོ་ག).....The Nyingma Tantras Research Database.....University of Virginia

"....the historical process behind the separation of the Great Perfection from Mahāyoga (in the form of the vehicle of Atiyoga), and argued that Nupchen Sanggyé Yeshé (a strong influence on the Zur tradition) was instrumental in this movement...... The earliest reliable source for the idea that Mahāyoga and Atiyoga are each independent vehicles with their own scriptures and their own formulations of the view is Nupchen’s A Lamp for the Eyes of Contemplation.......Nupchen, as I have previously suggested, presented in this work a somewhat artificial corpus of Atiyoga scripture, both describing and perhaps creating an emergent scriptural category. Nupchen’s use of the term “vehicle” in rather haphazard in this work, and it is interesting that in his other extant major work, Armor against Darkness (Mun pa’i go cha), Nupchen treats Mahāyoga, Anuyoga, and Atiyoga as “modes” within a single vehicle, intended for trainees of low, middle, and high capacities respectively....".....The Sweet Sage and The Four Yogas......Sam van Schaik, The British Library........JIATS, no. 4 (December 2008),

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Email....okarresearch@gmail.com

John Hopkins.....Northern New Mexico….July 2014

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