The Drikung Kagyu Mahamudra lineage can be traced according to the “far-lineage”
as well as the “near-lineage.” The “far-lineage” is traced from the current holders of
this profound lineage back all the way to the historical Buddha Shakyamuni. The
“near-lineage” on the other hand is traced from the current holders back to the Indian
Mahasiddhas such as Saraha, Maitripa, Tilopa and Naropa
who received Mahamudra teachings directly from Buddha
Marpa
Vajradhara. However, it should be pointed out that although
these Indian Mahasiddhas received Mahamudra teachings directly from
Buddha Vajradhara (and hence is part of the “near-lineage”) they are also
holders of the “far-lineage” as they also received Mahamudra teachings from
human teachers who were holders of this “far-lineage.” Hence, the Mahamudra
lineages that are currently held by the various Kagyu lineages are both of the
“far” as well as “near” lineages. It should be pointed out that Mahamudra
lineages are also found in the Gelug tradition as several past masters of this Milarepa
tradition also received Mahamudra instructions from holders of the Mahamudra in the Kagyu
tradition.
Most of Kagyu Mahamudra lineages stem from the Mahamudra teachings that were given by Gampopa
(1079-1153) to his students. Gampopa himself received Mahamudra from his root-teacher Milarepa
(1052-1135) who in turn received it from his root-teacher Marpa (1012-1096). Marpa was a Tibetan
who traveled to India and Nepal and received many teachings from the Indian Mahasiddhas – the most
important being Naropa and Maitripa who transmitted to Marpa the complete Mahamudra ground, path
and fruition. Gampopa himself combined the profound teachings of Mahamudra with the graduated
approach of practice as taught by the Kadam tradition. The Indian pandit Atisha founded the Kadam
tradition in Tibet. Gampopa was a monk in the Kadam tradition before he became Milarepa’s disciple.
Although there are many scholarly debates in Tibetan Buddhist history over the status and types of
Mahamudra, Gampopa seemed to have mainly advocated two possible approaches to Mahamudra.
According to Gampopa, Mahamudra can be approached via the way of sutra as well as via the way of
tantra. Hence, there is sutra-Mahamudra and tantra-Mahamudra. Sometimes it is said that Gampopa
also taught a third approach to Mahamudra which is neither sutra-based nor tantra-based.
In the Drigung Kagyu, the main Mahamudra system is that known as the “Fivefold Profound Path of
Mahamudra” or also known as the “Possessing Five.” Although Gampopa himself also taught this
particular approach of Mahamudra, its name was given by his successor Phagmo Drupa (1110-1170)
who was the root-teacher of the founder of the Drigung Kagyu, Kyobpa Jigten Sumgon. Although this
system of the Five-fold Profound Path is chiefly held by Drigung Kagyupas, Phagmo Drupa himself
also authored a text on this system known as “Verses on the Fivefold Path.” Masters of Trophu Kagyu
(this particular Kagyu lineage no longer survive as an independent lineage) and Taglung Kagyu have
also written on this particular system. Gyalwa Yang Gonpa, a teacher of the Drukpa Kagyu wrote the
“Drop of Nectar: the Fivefold Path.” The Omniscient Pema Garpo of the Drukpa Kagyu also wrote
about this system in his “Kernel of Mind.” Situ Chokyi Jungne also wrote extensive commentaries on
the Fivefold Profound Path. In his “Preface” to Khenpo Konchog Gyaltsen Rinpoche’s book “The
Garland of Mahamudra Practices,” (a translation of Gyalwang Kunga Rinchen’s [1475-1527]
“Clarifying the Jewel Rosary of the Fivefold Profound Path.”) His Holiness Drigung Kyabgon
Chetsang Rinpoche points out that these days those who rely on this system mostly follow the
commentaries given by Drigung Dharmakirti. Many other Drigung Kagyu teachers of the past also
wrote extensive commentaries on this system of the Mahamudra. It goes without saying that Kyobpa
Rinpoche himself also wrote several texts and many songs on this subject.
Gampopa Before one can begin to engage in the practices laid out in this system, one
first needs to focus on the foundational practices. Practice of the first “fold”
assumes the prior completion of what is known as the “foundational practices” (Tib. ngondro). These
foundational practices are divided into the outer and inner. The outer foundational practices refer to the
“Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind” taught by Gampopa. These are establishing in one’s mental-
continuum the four realizations of
After a firm foundation on these four thoughts has been established in one’s
mental-continuum, one can begin to engage in the inner foundational practices. These are:
1) going for refuge which confirms and establishes one’s commitment to the Triple Jewel,
2) Vajrasattva purification practice for the eradication of one’s negative karma and karmic imprints,
3) mandala-offering for the profound accumulation of merit necessary for attainment of complete
Buddhahood and
4) guru-yoga for the inspiration-blessings of the root and lineage teachers.
Only after these practices have been “completed” (100,000 practices of each of the four) does one
properly begin the first fold of the Five-fold Profound Path – bodhicitta.
It is said that loving-kindness is the feeling that one gets when one
sees a newborn child. When we see a small child, we often
automatically think kind and friendly thoughts towards the child.
We spontaneously wish that the child be safe, happy and protected
from all harm. There is nothing as soothing as the sight of a soundly
sleeping child. It is that warmth and unconditional love that we are
trying to generate for all sentient beings. We try to regard all
sentient beings as our own children whom we love unconditionally.
We pray for their well-being, safety and protection and are willing
to give up our own lives for their sakes. When we are able to feel
this way towards all sentient beings, we will naturally be able to
generate compassion. Compassion is the feeling of wanting to free
others from suffering and the causes of suffering. It is the feeling
that we get when we encounter someone suffering from a terrible
disease or undergoing intense physical and emotional pain. We want
to be able to help and to ease that pain; that suffering. Having thus
Kyobpa Jigten Sumgön
generated and cultivated both loving-kindness and compassion, we
can then arrive at the point when we are ready to truly generate
bodhicitta.
As defined earlier, bodhicitta is the “altruistic intention to free all sentient beings from samsara.”
Realizing that sentient beings are completely under the power of samsaric suffering, we come home to
the powerful recognition that only by arriving at the state of complete Buddhahood can samsaric
suffering be conquered once and for all. Although there are many ways to ease the suffering of
sentient beings, they are all temporary and non-final. Only by completely uprooting the cause of
suffering are we then thoroughly free from suffering. And this is the state of ultimate liberation; of
complete Buddhahood. This knowledge – the knowledge of the faults, cause, end of and path to the
end of samsara is wisdom. Hence, bodhicitta is the resolve that arises from loving-kindness and
compassion on the one hand and wisdom on the other hand. When these two aspects come together,
bodhicitta is generated.
The second section of the Five-fold Profound Path is the practice of Yidam. Yidam practice refers to
the generation and completion practices of the highest yoga tantra and in this particular case in the
highest yoga tantra system of the Chakrasamvara cycle of teachings. Although the principal yidam of
Marpa was Hevajra, his teacher Naropa predicted that Marpa’s lineage would eventually rely on
Chakrasamvara as their main yidam. Hence, it was the practice of Chakrasamvara that Marpa
transmitted to his main disciple, Milarepa.
Chakrasamvara
There are many different forms of Chakrasamvara appearing with
different number of faces, hands, and number of surrounding retinues. In
the Drigung Kagyu lineage, the most popular and common Chakrasamvara
deity practice is in the form of the Five-deity Chakrasamvara. The Five-
deity Chakrasamvara includes the central deity of the two-armed, single-
faced male Chakrasamvara deity in union with the female Vajravarahi
deity (these two in union are taken as a single deity) and four surrounding
dakinis in the four directions.
The third section of the Five-fold Path is the practice of Guru-yoga or the
practice of attaining union with the wisdom mind of the Teacher (guru).
There are many types of teachers – our parents as our first teachers, our
grade school teachers who taught us to read and write, teachers in the
secular arts and sciences, spiritual teachers who gave us the Refuge vows, those who gave us the lay or
monastic vows, the Bodhisattva-vow preceptors, Vajra-teachers who conferred tantric empowerments
on us and finally those teachers who introduced to us the nature of our mind. In a sense, the Teacher
referred to here in the practice of guru-yoga is all of them; all of these teachers. However, it is not so
much a practice directed at a particular individual or person whom we call our “Teacher” but the basic
wisdom-mind within all these teachers who have taught us. By having confidence in and relying on
this basic wisdom-mind that we locate within our teachers (and in particular in the teacher(s) who
introduced to us the nature of our mind), we strive to recognize this same wisdom-mind that is
inherent in us. In particular, we need to rely on an authentic and experienced teacher who has him/
herself recognized his/her own nature of mind and can help us recognize ours as well. The practice of
Guru-yoga is extolled in the tradition as the most direct and profound method to the quick recognition
of the nature of mind. Many Kagyu teachers have taught that the quickest and surest way to recognize
the nature of mind is a mind filled with devotion. When devotion is present, recognition of the nature
of mind is not far. Kyobpa Rinpoche sang,
The Guru-yoga practiced as the third section of the Fivefold Profound Path is slightly more involved
and detailed than the Guru-yoga practice found in the set of practices found in the inner foundational
practices (ngondro). Specifically, the Four-kayas Guru-yoga” is practiced here. These four kayas or
“bodies” refer to the Emanational body (Skt. nirmanakaya, Tib. trul-ku), Enjoyment body (Skt.
sambhogakaya, Tib. long-ku), Reality body (Skt. dharmakaya, Tib. cho-ku) and Nature body (Skt.
svabhavikakaya, Tib. ngowo nyi-ku) which is the inseparability of the first three bodies. Within this
context, the first three bodies are considered relative truth and the fourth body is ultimate truth. A
practitioner will first practice the Emanational body Guru-yoga practice where the Teacher is visualized
in the form of Shakyamuni Buddha (herself in her ordinary form). She then meditates on the Teacher
on the Enjoyment body level as Vairochana (and herself as the yidam) Buddha and for the Reality body
in the form of Vajradhara Buddha. Finally, when she arrives at the Nature body level of guru yoga
practice, the Teacher meditated on without any form, color, name or shape.
Finally, there is the section on Dedication as the fifth section of the Fivefold Profound Path.
Dedication is one of the most distinctive features of Buddhist practice – a practice that is done
at the end of all practices be it of the hinayana or mahayana (both sutra and tantra levels). By
dedicating the merit of one’s practice for the welfare of all sentient beings’ complete liberation
from all suffering and the causes of suffering one ensures that one’s practice remains pure and
beneficial. As with most practices, there are relative and ultimate aspects (and it is important to
remember that one does not privilege one aspect over the other but rather perfectly practice on
both levels as they are in reality inseparable). On the ultimate level of Dedication – Dedication
in the context of Mahamudra – one dedicates the merit with the understanding of the emptiness
of oneself, the merit dedicated and the dedication itself; the threefold emptiness.
The Five-fold Profound Path of Mahamudra is a complete path to the attainment of perfect
enlightenment within one lifetime. Many practitioners in the past have taken this Path and
arrived at the other shore of complete peace. At the present, there are also many sincere
practitioners of this Path practicing under the expert and compassionate guidance of the lineage
teachers of the Drigung Kagyu lineage. There are also many other sincere practitioners of
Mahamudra tradition of Gampopa following the different Mahamudra traditions that have
developed out of Gampopa’s basic Mahamudra system. Furthermore, aside from the purely
Kagyu Mahamudra lineages, there is also the Mahamudra practice lineage within the Gelug
lineage. Mention should also be made of the “union” of Mahamudra and Dzogchen practices
derived from some lineage masters of the Kagyu and Nyingma.
Recommended Reading:
“The Practice of Mahamudra” by Drikung Kyabgon Chetsang Rinpoche, great little manual
“Mahamudra and Related Instructions: Core Teachings of the Kagyu Schools (Library of
Tibetan Classics,” translated by Alan Roberts
Masters of Mahamudra: Songs and Histories of the Eightyour Buddhist Siddhas (Suny
Series in Buddhist Studies) by Keith Dowman and Abhayadatta
Links:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahamudra