Mañjusrimitra
Encyclopedia
Mañjuśrīmitra was an India
n Buddhist
scholar, the main student of Garab Dorje
and a teacher of Dzogchen
.
-garbha" and "Samvara
-garbha"; and his mother's name was Kuhanā.
from a village to the west of Bodh Gaya, was initially schooled at home. Later he was a resident at Nalanda University where he became a respected Yogācāra scholar and practitioner.
text Mañjuśrīnāmasamgīti.
He was the person who divided the Dzogchen
teachings into three series of Semde
, Longde
and Manngagde.
In the Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayana tradition, Mañjuśrīmitra is held to have transmitted the Dzogchen teachings to Sri Singha
. The "Six Meditation Experiences" (Tibetan: Gomnyam Drukpa) concealed in a jewelled casket was Mañjuśrīmitra's "quintessential testament" to Sri Singha, his principal disciple.
One of the main works of Mañjuśrīmitra is Gold refined from ore.
Manjushrimitra discusses the Mindstream
(Sanskrit: citta-santana) in the Bodhicittabhavana, a seminal early text of Ati Yoga: "The mental-continuum (citta-santana) is without boundaries or extension; it is not one thing, nor supported by anything." In this work, Manjushrimistra counters and tempers the Madhyamaka
of Nagarjuna
into what developed into the Mindstream Doctrine. Manjushrimitra makes it clear that intellectualism
, philosophy
and logic
do not lead to realization and that "Those who seek the Truth must turn to direct yogic experience, should they hope to acquire realization."
Vajranatha (2007) contextualises Manjushrimitra and mentions Dzogchen
, Chittamatra, Yogachara, Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma
, and Garab Dorje
:
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
scholar, the main student of Garab Dorje
Garab Dorje
Garab Dorje was the semi-historical first human teacher of the Ati Yoga or Great Perfection teachings according to Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Prior to Prahevajra, the Nyingma hold that the Dzogchen teachings had been expounded only in celestial realms and the 'pure lands' of the Buddhas,...
and a teacher of Dzogchen
Dzogchen
According to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of the mind, and a body of teachings and meditation practices aimed at realizing that condition. Dzogchen, or "Great Perfection", is a central teaching of the Nyingma school also practiced by...
.
Nomenclature and etymology
Mañjuśrī-mitra was his ordination-name—before ordination he was named "SiddhiSiddhi
is a Sanskrit noun that can be translated as "perfection", "accomplishment", "attainment", or "success". The term is first attested in the Mahabharata. In the Pancatantra, a siddhi may be any unusual skill or faculty or capability...
-garbha" and "Samvara
Samvara
Samvara is one of the tattva or the fundamental reality of the world as per the Jain philosophy. It means stoppage—the stoppage of the influx of the material karmas into the soul consciousness. The karmic process in Jainism is based on seven truths or fundamental principles of Jainism which...
-garbha"; and his mother's name was Kuhanā.
Birth and early life
The exact location of Mañjuśrīmitra's birth is unknown. Mañjuśrīmitra, the son of an upper class BrahminBrahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
from a village to the west of Bodh Gaya, was initially schooled at home. Later he was a resident at Nalanda University where he became a respected Yogācāra scholar and practitioner.
Works
Many of Mañjuśrīmitra's works deal with a tantricTantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
text Mañjuśrīnāmasamgīti.
He was the person who divided the Dzogchen
Dzogchen
According to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of the mind, and a body of teachings and meditation practices aimed at realizing that condition. Dzogchen, or "Great Perfection", is a central teaching of the Nyingma school also practiced by...
teachings into three series of Semde
Semde
Semde translated as "mind division", "mind class" or "mind series" is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within Atiyoga, Dzogchen or the Great Perfection which is itself the pinnacle of the ninefold division of practice according to the Nyingma school of Tibetan...
, Longde
Longde
Longde is the name of one of three scriptural divisions within Atiyoga, also known as Dzogchen or the Great Perfection which is itself the pinnacle of the ninefold division of practice according to the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism.The name Longde is translated as 'Space Division' or 'Space...
and Manngagde.
In the Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayana tradition, Mañjuśrīmitra is held to have transmitted the Dzogchen teachings to Sri Singha
Sri Singha
Shri Singha was a principal disciple and dharma-son of Manjushrimitra in the Dzogchen lineage.Vajranatha contextualises Sri Singha in relation to the Nyingma, Manjushrimitra, Tantra, Brahman, Garab Dorje, Uddiyana, Vimalamitra, Samye and Yogachara:According to the Nyingmapa tradition of Tibetan...
. The "Six Meditation Experiences" (Tibetan: Gomnyam Drukpa) concealed in a jewelled casket was Mañjuśrīmitra's "quintessential testament" to Sri Singha, his principal disciple.
One of the main works of Mañjuśrīmitra is Gold refined from ore.
Manjushrimitra discusses the Mindstream
Mindstream
Mindstream in Buddhist philosophy is the moment-to-moment "continuum" of awareness. There are a number of terms in the Buddhist literature that may well be rendered "mindstream"...
(Sanskrit: citta-santana) in the Bodhicittabhavana, a seminal early text of Ati Yoga: "The mental-continuum (citta-santana) is without boundaries or extension; it is not one thing, nor supported by anything." In this work, Manjushrimistra counters and tempers the Madhyamaka
Madhyamaka
Madhyamaka refers primarily to a Mahāyāna Buddhist school of Buddhist philosophy systematized by Nāgārjuna. Nāgārjuna may have arrived at his positions from a desire to achieve a consistent exegesis of the Buddha's doctrine as recorded in the āgamas...
of Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna was an important Buddhist teacher and philosopher. Along with his disciple Āryadeva, he is credited with founding the Mādhyamaka school of Mahāyāna Buddhism...
into what developed into the Mindstream Doctrine. Manjushrimitra makes it clear that intellectualism
Intellectualism
Intellectualism denotes the use and development of the intellect, the practice of being an intellectual, and of holding intellectual pursuits in great regard. Moreover, in philosophy, “intellectualism” occasionally is synonymous with “rationalism”, i.e. knowledge derived mostly from reason and...
, philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
do not lead to realization and that "Those who seek the Truth must turn to direct yogic experience, should they hope to acquire realization."
Vajranatha (2007) contextualises Manjushrimitra and mentions Dzogchen
Dzogchen
According to Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Dzogchen is the natural, primordial state or natural condition of the mind, and a body of teachings and meditation practices aimed at realizing that condition. Dzogchen, or "Great Perfection", is a central teaching of the Nyingma school also practiced by...
, Chittamatra, Yogachara, Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma
Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma
The Three Turnings of the Wheel refers to a framework for understanding the sutra stream of the teachings of the Buddhism originally devised by the Yogachara school...
, and Garab Dorje
Garab Dorje
Garab Dorje was the semi-historical first human teacher of the Ati Yoga or Great Perfection teachings according to Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Prior to Prahevajra, the Nyingma hold that the Dzogchen teachings had been expounded only in celestial realms and the 'pure lands' of the Buddhas,...
:
Moreover, in terms of content, it is quite clear that the early Dzogchen Movement of the eighth and ninth centuries did not teach the Chittamatra doctrine of the Yogacharins, even though it borrowed some of the terminology of the earlier school. But it understood these terms in a different manner than did the Yogacharins. The precepts of Dzogchen are found in the Dzogchen Tantras of Atiyoga and not in the Mahayana Sutras of the Third Turning of the Wheel of the Dharma, although later Lama scholars in Tibet noticed the existence of certain similarities in terminology between Dzogchen and Chittamatra. This may be due to the activities of the scholar Manjusrhimitra who wrote a book on Garab Dorje's teaching from the Yogachara perspective.