Reverberation of Sound
Encyclopedia
The Reverberation of Sound, or Drataljur , is the root tantra of the Seventeen Tantras
of the Upadesha-varga.
These Seventeen Tantras are to be found in the Canon of the Ancient School, the 'Nyingma Gyubum
' , volumes 9 and 10, folio numbers 143-159 of the edition edited by 'Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche' commonly known as Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (Thimpu, Bhutan, 1973), reproduced from the manuscript preserved at 'Tingkye Gonpa Jang' Monastery in Tibet.
' (Sanskrit: drishti) or 'conclusions' (Sanskrit: siddhanta
) on the nature of sound are very important in all Dharmic Traditions, traditions of Dharma
and dharma schools of thought. The nature of sound is of particular importance to the early Buddhadharma as it was one of the ways Shakyamuni differentiated his teachings from the prevailing views of his time which held the sounds of the Vedas
to be eternally authoritative. As a general rule, Buddhist systems emphasize that sounds do not of their own accord inherently express their meanings but are arbitrary conventions, socially determined and understood by consensus. Historically, Shakyamuni was reactionary to the status of the 'revealed authority' (Sanskrit: apauruṣeya) of the Vedas the ritual incantations and sounds of which were held as permanent and eternal. In the Vedic system, the sound and sign of the syllable or visible mantra was held to be none-other than what it communicated. This is understood in Linguistics
and Semiotic Theory as motivated language or appropriated language where the sign
ifier 'appropriated' the essence or quality of the sign
ified. For example, the sound, sign and signified were all the same in essence. Early Buddhardharma as a general rule ostensibly rejected such reified 'essences' (Sanskrit: svabhāva
) as it was such views that supported the notion of the 'self' (Sanskrit: atman
) which in turn supported the rigidity of the Varnashrama dharma
social system of caste that Shakyamuni challenged (Williams
1980, 1981). But this is not always the case in the Buddhadharma as the sound in the title of this tantra denotes the immutable, unconditioned, uncreated, 'primordial sound' (nada). It is in this notion that the Tantra of the Vajrayana and Mantrayana and that of Sanatana Dharma are in accord.
The exoteric and esoteric motifs of sound and speech as permutations and evocation of mantra
and bija
in the Buddhadharma and the wider tradition of Dharma is ubiquitous. For an entry into this discourse refer Three Vajras
. Sound is also to be understood as the 'nada', the primordial sound, the unmade sound, sound is a metaphor for spiritual energy, sound is a metaphor for the vibration of the luminosity of the Five Pure Lights
. The Lights are constituted by thigle. Light here is also a metaphor. All thigle are mala
or garlands, vajra-chains of spell-letters the oneness and unity of which is the mandala of reverberating spell-letters which is the Thirteenth Bhumi of Rongzompa. They are conceptual tools, all upaya
are tools, all tools are let go, released as they are but supports for mind.
of Madhyamaka
thought, pointing out an undesired consequence of a proposition or premise, those who made assertions or held such premises were given the name retrospectively, Svatantrika
. One such stock example was the nature of sound and in refuting the phyogs snga or the snga rgol phyi rgol gnyis la mthun snang grub nges kyi tshul gsum 'god pa'i ngag. That is, against maintaining sound is produced but permanent: the' dharmin sound', is unproduced, because it is permanent or, the dharmin sound is impermanent, because it is produced, phyogs snga sun 'byin par mi 'dod pa'i thal ba 'phen pa'am, rgol phyi rgol gnyis la mthun snang grub nges kyi tshul gsum 'god pa'i ngag dper na, sgra rtag par 'dod pa'i gang zag gi ngor, sgra chos can, ma byas par thal, rtag pa'i phyir, zhes pa lta bu sun 'byin pa dang, yang na, sgra chos can, mi rtag pa yin par thal, byas pa'i phyir, zhes pa lta bu tshul gsum tsang ba'i ngag go.
Western discourse has favoured the Gelugpa view of this debate, the champion of which is Chandrakirti who challenged Bhavaviveka
. As a general rule the Gelugpa favour the Prasangika. As a general rule the Nyingma
view does not foreground the Prasangika over the Svatantrika as this would be an extreme view, a fallacy and failing of the Gelugpa . Indeed, as an evocation of the Two Truths the continuum of Svatantrika-Prasangika interpenetrate and mutually inform and are both of value in pointing to an 'inconceivable' (samye
) truth.
From the emic perspective of the Nyingma
and the lineages of oral instruction they venerate and according to the teachings of Namkha'i (1991) rendered into English by Vajranatha (1996: p.11), Mañjuśrīmitra
is held to have codified the indivisible Three Series of Dzogchen into the Mind Series
, Space Series and Instruction Series
; whereas Gyatso (1998: p.300, note 53) makes the salient observation that the earliest textual source of this triune so far documented is the Drataljur.
The Seventeen Tantras are quoted extensively throughout Longchenpa
's (1308 - 1364?) 'The Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding' rendered in English by Barron
and Padma Translation Committee (1998). This work is one of Longchenpa's Seven Treasuries
and the Tibetan text in poor reproduction of the pecha has been graciously made available online by Dowman and Smith
.
Barron et. al. (1998: pp. 208-209) render an embedded quotation of this tantra within their translation of Lonchepa's 'Way of Abiding' (Wylie: gnas lugs) that discusses a Dzogchen perspective of buddha-nature
(Wylie: sugata-garbha):
In the Inner Tantras or esoteric yana of the Nyingma
, the Mahayoga
-yana, the Anuyoga
-yana and the Atiyoga-yana; the buddha-nature is generally referred to as sugata-garbha rather than other renderings that denote other Buddhadharma schools of thought. 'Ordinary beings' is a rendering of 'sentient beings
' and does not just denote the human experience. 'Buddha' denotes the potential of the continuum of the base and not that of the waxing of the path and the fullness of the fruit. That said, due to the indivisibility of the Two Truths it also denotes Buddha-potential as well as Buddha-actuality or Buddha-fruition through the disciplines, sadhana
and skillful means of the Buddha-path. The continuums of base, path and fruit are a triune, interpenetrating and indivisible as the gankyil
. 'Samsara
' is to be understood more as a quality of the mindstream
and a dimension of experience rather than a location. 'Timeless awareness' is a gloss of 'jnana
'. 'Basic space of phenomena' is a rendering of 'dharmadhatu
'. 'Phenomena' is a gloss of 'dharmas'. 'Confusion' is a rending of avidya or marigpa which is not the absence of rigpa
but its adventitious obscuration.
Seventeen tantras
In Tibetan Buddhism, specifically in the literature and practice of Dzogchen, the seventeen tantras of the esoteric instruction cycle are a suite of tantras belonging to the textual division known as the "esoteric instruction cycle" .-History and tradition:The seventeen tantras, though not...
of the Upadesha-varga.
These Seventeen Tantras are to be found in the Canon of the Ancient School, the 'Nyingma Gyubum
Nyingma Gyubum
'Nyingma Gyubum' is the 'Collected Tantras of the Ancients', that is the Mahayoga, Anuyoga and Atiyoga Tantras of the Nyingma.-Canonization:The Nyingma Gyubum of the Nyingma was a dependent arising resulting from the 'normalization' of the Kangyur and Tengyur by the Sarma traditions which for the...
' , volumes 9 and 10, folio numbers 143-159 of the edition edited by 'Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche' commonly known as Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (Thimpu, Bhutan, 1973), reproduced from the manuscript preserved at 'Tingkye Gonpa Jang' Monastery in Tibet.
Nomenclature, orthography and etymology
- 'Reverberation of Sound', 'Direct Consequence of Sound Tantra', 'Penetration of Sound', 'Interpenetrating Vibration', 'Transcendental Sound',
- Drataljur (sGra-thal-’gyur chen po’i rgyud); Skt., Shabda maha prasamga mula tantra.
Parsing of the Sanskrit and analysis
- 'Shabda' (Devanagari: शब्द): 'sound', 'word' or 'speech'.
- 'MahāMaha-Acronyms:*MaHa, Nepali comedy duo, Madan Krishna Shrestha and Hari Bansha Acharya*Microangiopathic hemolytic anemia- Indian words :In Sanskrit and other Indian languages influenced by it, the prefix maha means "great".*Maha Avatar, Great incarnation...
' (Devanagari: महा): 'great', 'total', 'grand', 'complete', 'sublime' - Prasaṅga (Devanagari: प्रसङ्ग): event, happening, incidence, [logical] consequence, argument, conclusion, discussion of sacred works
- MūlaMula-Places:* Mula, Maldives, a city in the Maldives* Mula, Spain, a town in the autonomous community of Murcia, Spain* Muľa, a village and municipality in southern Slovakia* Mula, a drum used in Cuban music...
(Devanagari: मूल): Mula (astrology)Mula (astrology)Mula is the 19th nakshatra or lunar mansion in Vedic astrology and corresponds to the stars ε, ζ, η, θ, ι, κ, υ, λ, μ and ν Scorpii in the tail/sting of Scorpius. The symbol of Mula is a bunch of roots tied together or an 'elephant goad' and the Deity associated with it is Niriti, god of...
is symbolized by reticulated roots or an ankusha, roots, reticulum, foundation, base, (ruled by NirṛtiNirṛtiIn Hinduism, ' is the goddess of death and corruption, one of the dikpāla , representing the southwest . The name has the meaning of "absence of ṛta, lawless"...
, or the 'adharma' the lawlessness of nonduality the 'Primordial Dharma' (Sanskrit: asamskṛta-dharma)) - TantraTantraTantra , 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 ....
(Devanagari: तन्त्र): a weaving, a loom, a wyrd of warp and weft, web, net[work], matrice, matrix, matri*[arch] (continuum, mindstreamMindstreamMindstream 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"...
)
Sound
Generally in the Buddhadharma, sound as an object of discourse and a created 'phenomena' (Sanskrit: dharma) is 'impermanent' (Sanskrit: anitya) because of being a product, it is 'conditioned' (Sanskrit: samskṛta-dharma). Philosophical 'viewsView (Buddhism)
View or position is a central idea in Buddhism. In Buddhist thought, in contrast with the commonsense understanding, a view is not a simple, abstract collection of propositions, but a charged interpretation of experience which intensely shapes and affects thought, sensation, and action...
' (Sanskrit: drishti) or 'conclusions' (Sanskrit: siddhanta
Siddhanta
Siddhanta, a Sanskrit term, roughly translates as the Doctrine or the Tradition. It denotes the established and accepted view of a particular school within Indian philosophy.-Hindu philosophy:...
) on the nature of sound are very important in all Dharmic Traditions, traditions of Dharma
Dharma
Dharma means Law or Natural Law and is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. In the context of Hinduism, it refers to one's personal obligations, calling and duties, and a Hindu's dharma is affected by the person's age, caste, class, occupation, and gender...
and dharma schools of thought. The nature of sound is of particular importance to the early Buddhadharma as it was one of the ways Shakyamuni differentiated his teachings from the prevailing views of his time which held the sounds of the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
to be eternally authoritative. As a general rule, Buddhist systems emphasize that sounds do not of their own accord inherently express their meanings but are arbitrary conventions, socially determined and understood by consensus. Historically, Shakyamuni was reactionary to the status of the 'revealed authority' (Sanskrit: apauruṣeya) of the Vedas the ritual incantations and sounds of which were held as permanent and eternal. In the Vedic system, the sound and sign of the syllable or visible mantra was held to be none-other than what it communicated. This is understood in Linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
and Semiotic Theory as motivated language or appropriated language where the sign
Sign (linguistics)
There are many models of the linguistic sign . A classic model is the one by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. According to him, language is made up of signs and every sign has two sides : the signifier , the "shape" of a word, its phonic component, i.e...
ifier 'appropriated' the essence or quality of the sign
Sign (linguistics)
There are many models of the linguistic sign . A classic model is the one by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. According to him, language is made up of signs and every sign has two sides : the signifier , the "shape" of a word, its phonic component, i.e...
ified. For example, the sound, sign and signified were all the same in essence. Early Buddhardharma as a general rule ostensibly rejected such reified 'essences' (Sanskrit: svabhāva
Svabhava
Svabhava Pāli: sabhāva; Chinese: 自性 zìxìng; ) is intrinsic nature, essential nature or essence.The concept and term svabhāva are frequently encountered in Dharmic traditions such as Advaita Vedānta , Mahāyāna Buddhism Svabhava (Sanskrit: स्वभाव; IAST: svabhāva) Pāli: sabhāva; Chinese: 自性 zìxìng; )...
) as it was such views that supported the notion of the 'self' (Sanskrit: atman
Ātman (Hinduism)
Ātman is a Sanskrit word that means 'self'. In Hindu philosophy, especially in the Vedanta school of Hinduism it refers to one's true self beyond identification with phenomena...
) which in turn supported the rigidity of the Varnashrama dharma
Varnashrama dharma
Varna refers to the categorization of the Hindu society by four castes, hypothesized by the Brahmins and their sacred texts.This quadruple division is not to be confused with Jāti or even the much finer division of the contemporary caste system in India....
social system of caste that Shakyamuni challenged (Williams
Paul Williams (British professor)
Paul Williams is Emeritus Professor in Indian Religions at the University of Bristol, England. He is also director for the University's Centre for Buddhist Studies....
1980, 1981). But this is not always the case in the Buddhadharma as the sound in the title of this tantra denotes the immutable, unconditioned, uncreated, 'primordial sound' (nada). It is in this notion that the Tantra of the Vajrayana and Mantrayana and that of Sanatana Dharma are in accord.
The exoteric and esoteric motifs of sound and speech as permutations and evocation of mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
and bija
Bija
In Hinduism and Buddhism, the Sanskrit term बीज bīja , literally seed, is used as a metaphor for the origin or cause of things and cognate with bindu....
in the Buddhadharma and the wider tradition of Dharma is ubiquitous. For an entry into this discourse refer Three Vajras
Three Vajras
The Three Vajras namely 'body', 'speech' and 'mind' are a formulation within Tibetan Buddhism and Bon which holds the full experience of the 'openness' of Buddha-nature, void of all bar the 'qualities' and 'marks' and establishes a sound experiential key upon the 'continuum of the path' to...
. Sound is also to be understood as the 'nada', the primordial sound, the unmade sound, sound is a metaphor for spiritual energy, sound is a metaphor for the vibration of the luminosity of the Five Pure Lights
Five Pure Lights
The Five Pure Lights are experiential manifestations in the Dzogchen tradition of Bön and Nyingma and are aspects of non-dual clarity and primordial luminosity of dharmakaya, kunzhi and/or emptiness...
. The Lights are constituted by thigle. Light here is also a metaphor. All thigle are mala
Buddhist prayer beads
Buddhist prayer beads are a traditional tool used to count the number of times a mantra is recited whilst meditating. They are similar to other forms of prayer beads used in various world religions; thus some call this tool the Buddhist rosary.-Mala:...
or garlands, vajra-chains of spell-letters the oneness and unity of which is the mandala of reverberating spell-letters which is the Thirteenth Bhumi of Rongzompa. They are conceptual tools, all upaya
Upaya
Upaya is a term in Mahayana Buddhism which is derived from the root upa√i and refers to a means that goes or brings one up to some goal, often the goal of Enlightenment. The term is often used with kaushalya ; upaya-kaushalya means roughly "skill in means"...
are tools, all tools are let go, released as they are but supports for mind.
The great debate of sound internalized in the Buddhadharma
There is an embedded irony in Thal 'gyur and Prasanga in that the 'consequence' in Prasangika dialectic, the reductio ad absurdumReductio ad absurdum
In logic, proof by contradiction is a form of proof that establishes the truth or validity of a proposition by showing that the proposition's being false would imply a contradiction...
of 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...
thought, pointing out an undesired consequence of a proposition or premise, those who made assertions or held such premises were given the name retrospectively, Svatantrika
Svatantrika
In the philosophy of Mahayana Buddhism, specifically in the Madhyamaka view, Svātantrika is a category of Madhyamaka viewpoints attributed primarily to the 6th century Indian scholar Bhavaviveka...
. One such stock example was the nature of sound and in refuting the phyogs snga or the snga rgol phyi rgol gnyis la mthun snang grub nges kyi tshul gsum 'god pa'i ngag. That is, against maintaining sound is produced but permanent: the' dharmin sound', is unproduced, because it is permanent or, the dharmin sound is impermanent, because it is produced, phyogs snga sun 'byin par mi 'dod pa'i thal ba 'phen pa'am, rgol phyi rgol gnyis la mthun snang grub nges kyi tshul gsum 'god pa'i ngag dper na, sgra rtag par 'dod pa'i gang zag gi ngor, sgra chos can, ma byas par thal, rtag pa'i phyir, zhes pa lta bu sun 'byin pa dang, yang na, sgra chos can, mi rtag pa yin par thal, byas pa'i phyir, zhes pa lta bu tshul gsum tsang ba'i ngag go.
Western discourse has favoured the Gelugpa view of this debate, the champion of which is Chandrakirti who challenged Bhavaviveka
Bhavaviveka
Bhavyaviveka was the founder of the Svatantrika tradition of the Mādhyamaka school of Buddhism. Ames , holds that Bhavyaviveka is one of the first Buddhist logicians to employ the 'formal syllogism' of Indian Logic in expounding the Mādhyamaka which he employed to considerable effect...
. As a general rule the Gelugpa favour the Prasangika. As a general rule the Nyingma
Nyingma
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
view does not foreground the Prasangika over the Svatantrika as this would be an extreme view, a fallacy and failing of the Gelugpa . Indeed, as an evocation of the Two Truths the continuum of Svatantrika-Prasangika interpenetrate and mutually inform and are both of value in pointing to an 'inconceivable' (samye
Samye
The Samye Monastery or Samye Gompa is the first Buddhist monastery built in Tibet, was most probably first constructed between 775 and 779 CE under the patronage of King Trisong Detsen of Tibet who sought to revitalize Buddhism, which had declined since its introduction by King Songtsen Gampo in...
) truth.
Themes
The Drataljur states that the theoretical view of Ati Yoga coincides with the Madhyamaka Prasangika and that there is no contradiction between them.From the emic perspective of the Nyingma
Nyingma
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
and the lineages of oral instruction they venerate and according to the teachings of Namkha'i (1991) rendered into English by Vajranatha (1996: p.11), Mañjuśrīmitra
Mañjusrimitra
Mañjuśrīmitra was an Indian Buddhist scholar, the main student of Garab Dorje and a teacher of Dzogchen.-Nomenclature and etymology:...
is held to have codified the indivisible Three Series of Dzogchen into the Mind Series
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...
, Space Series and Instruction Series
Menngagde
In Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Menngagde , , is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within Dzogchen, teachings...
; whereas Gyatso (1998: p.300, note 53) makes the salient observation that the earliest textual source of this triune so far documented is the Drataljur.
Primary resources
- Drathalgyur: three extant manuscripts in Wylie compared line by line in a .doc format on Scribd
- Drathalgyur in Uchen (Tibetan Script), Unicode @ Wikisource
English translations
This tantra has not as yet has been completely rendered into English nor made generally available.The Seventeen Tantras are quoted extensively throughout Longchenpa
Longchenpa
Longchen Rabjampa, Drimé Özer "Longchenpa" was a major teacher in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Along with Sakya Pandita and Je Tsongkhapa, he is commonly recognized as one of the three main manifestations of Manjushri to have taught in Central Tibet...
's (1308 - 1364?) 'The Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding' rendered in English by Barron
Richard Barron
Richard Barron is a Canadian-born translator who specializes in the writings of Longchenpa. He has served as an interpreter for many lamas from all from all four schools of Tibetan Buddhism, including his first teacher, Kalu Rinpoche...
and Padma Translation Committee (1998). This work is one of Longchenpa's Seven Treasuries
Seven Treasuries
The Seven Treasuries are a collection of seven works, some with auto-commentaries, by the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Longchenpa.-Texts of the Seven Treasures:...
and the Tibetan text in poor reproduction of the pecha has been graciously made available online by Dowman and Smith
E. Gene Smith
E. Gene Smith was a scholar of Tibetology, specifically Tibetan literature and history.-Biography:Ellis Gene Smith was born in Ogden, Utah to a traditional Mormon family...
.
Barron et. al. (1998: pp. 208-209) render an embedded quotation of this tantra within their translation of Lonchepa's 'Way of Abiding' (Wylie: gnas lugs) that discusses a Dzogchen perspective of buddha-nature
Buddha-nature
Buddha-nature, Buddha-dhatu or Buddha Principle , is taught differently in various Mahayana Buddhism traditions. Broadly speaking Buddha-nature is concerned with ascertaining what allows sentient beings to become Buddhas...
(Wylie: sugata-garbha):
"Moreover, owing to their circumstances, among ordinary beings
there is not a single one who is not a buddha.
Because their nature is in harmony with naturally occurring timeless awareness,
samsara is never something existent.
Therefore, each being is naturally a buddha.
Once one realizes what the process of birth really is, abiding in the womb is the basic space of phenomena,
the coming together of body and mind is the conneciton between basic space and awareness,
and abiding in the body is the three kayas.
Aging is the falling away of phenomena and the end of appearances based on confusion,
illness is the experience of the nature of phenomena,
and death is emptiness, impossible to identify.
Therefore, ordinary beings are buddhas."
In the Inner Tantras or esoteric yana of the Nyingma
Nyingma
The Nyingma tradition is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism . "Nyingma" literally means "ancient," and is often referred to as Nga'gyur or the "old school" because it is founded on the first translations of Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Tibetan, in the eighth century...
, the Mahayoga
Mahayoga
Mahayoga is the designation of the first of the three Inner Tantras according to the ninefold division of practice used by the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism....
-yana, the Anuyoga
Anuyoga
Anuyoga is the designation of the second of the three Inner Tantras according to the ninefold division of practice used by the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism...
-yana and the Atiyoga-yana; the buddha-nature is generally referred to as sugata-garbha rather than other renderings that denote other Buddhadharma schools of thought. 'Ordinary beings' is a rendering of 'sentient beings
Sentient beings (Buddhism)
Sentient beings is a technical term in Buddhist discourse. Broadly speaking, it denotes beings with consciousness or sentience or, in some contexts, life itself. Specifically, it denotes the presence of the five aggregates, or skandhas...
' and does not just denote the human experience. 'Buddha' denotes the potential of the continuum of the base and not that of the waxing of the path and the fullness of the fruit. That said, due to the indivisibility of the Two Truths it also denotes Buddha-potential as well as Buddha-actuality or Buddha-fruition through the disciplines, sadhana
Sadhana
Sādhanā literally "a means of accomplishing something" is ego-transcending spiritual practice. It includes a variety of disciplines in Hindu, Sikh , Buddhist and Muslim traditions that are followed in order to achieve various spiritual or ritual objectives.The historian N...
and skillful means of the Buddha-path. The continuums of base, path and fruit are a triune, interpenetrating and indivisible as the gankyil
Gankyil
The Gankyil[Tibetan:དགའ་འཁྱིལ་] is a symbol and ritual tool in Tibetan Buddhism, Bön, Himalayan Shamanism and Korean Buddhism. In Bön and Nyingma Dzogchen lineages, the Gankyil is the principal symbol and teaching tool: it is symbolic of primordial energy and represents the central unity and...
. 'Samsara
Samsara
thumb|right|200px|Traditional Tibetan painting or [[Thanka]] showing the [[wheel of life]] and realms of saṃsāraSaṅsāra or Saṃsāra , , literally meaning "continuous flow", is the cycle of birth, life, death, rebirth or reincarnation within Hinduism, Buddhism, Bön, Jainism, Sikhism, and other...
' is to be understood more as a quality of 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"...
and a dimension of experience rather than a location. 'Timeless awareness' is a gloss of 'jnana
Jnana
Jñāna or gñāna is a Sanskrit and Pali word that means knowledge. It has various nuances of meaning depending on the context. The idea of jnana centers around a cognitive event which is recognized when experienced...
'. 'Basic space of phenomena' is a rendering of 'dharmadhatu
Dharmadhatu
Dharmadhatu may be defined as the 'dimension', 'realm' or 'sphere' of Dharma and denotes the collective 'one-taste' dimension of Dharmata.-Nomenclature, orthography and etymology:...
'. 'Phenomena' is a gloss of 'dharmas'. 'Confusion' is a rending of avidya or marigpa which is not the absence of rigpa
Rigpa
Rigpa is the knowledge that ensues from recognizing one's nature i.e. one knows that there is a primordial freedom from grasping his or her mind . The opposite of rigpa is marigpa ....
but its adventitious obscuration.