Vajrayāna treatise

This text exists in three other Dunhuang manuscript versions, all of which have been compared and discussed in. Unfortunately, Imaeda swapped the catalogue numbers of420and421based on a mistake in the manuscript volume concordance. Here we have opted to maintain the integrity of thenumbers. Therefore Imaeda'sI.O. 420is equal toIOL Tib J 421and hisI.O. 421is equal toIOL Tib J 420

All four copies of thedug gsum 'dul badiffer in some respects. The textsIOL Tib J 420/1(complete) and37/1(incomplete) share many similarities and may represent one version. All versions contain many irregularities in orthography.

The text begins with a discourse on the inevitability of impermanence and death. It then turns to rebirths resulting from good and bad actions, in the god realms and hell realms respectively. It states that certain rituals for the dead involving sacrifice (probably a reference to pre-Buddhist Tibetan rituals) will lead to bad rebirths, unlike the "white religion" ( 2r.8dkarpa'i [sic for /po'i ]chos ). There follows the main topic of overcoming the three poisons. First, desire is overcome with the followingdhāraṇī:Oṃ ña na a ba lo ki te/ sa man ta spa ra na/ ra myi ba ba sa ya/ ma ha ma ni/ /du ru du ru he tha ya dza la ni hum/. Second, anger is overcome with the followingdhāraṇī:Na ma sa rba dur ga ti/ pa re sho da ra tsa ya/ tad ta 'ga ta ya/ a re ru de sam yag sam bud ya/ a ba re na ya byi sho te swa hwa/. This is adhāraṇīof theSarvadurgatipariśodana-tantra(116). Third, ignorance is overcome with themantra:Oṃ ma ma ni pad me/ hum mye/. Note that the last mantra, a version of the six-syllable mantra ofAvalokiteśvara, is explicitly associated with the deity here.

References

ritual manual

This text is separated from the previous one by a sketch of a doublevajra. The mantra lettersAandHaare written underneath it.

This is agtor maritual "for obstructing forces" (bgeg)-compareIOL Tib J 570. It begins with a invitation (drangs) addressed to various classes of gods and spirits. This begins on the themes of the difficult-to-obtain "leisures and endowments" (dal 'byor) of a favourable rebirth, and the inevitability of impermanence and death. The invitation goes on to make injunctions to the spirits to come (to the place where the ritual is being performed) while avoiding the three poisons (cf. Item 1) and to adopt an attitude of compassion.

After the recitation come the instructions on the actual practice of the ritual (12v.2). First a general offeringgtor ma(mchodsbyin [sic for /spyi ]gi gtor ma ) is offered. Then a ransomgtor ma(glud gtor chen po) is offered up for all the debts of past lives of all beings including "blood debts" (sha mkhon). A mantra is recited, then all creators of harm and obstruction are conquered. The final part is an aspirational prayer (13v.3) which appears to have been left unfinished.

notes

Roughly scribbled notes, which seem to be some kind of account, naming amounts taken from three different people or places with non-Tibetan names.