Vimalamitra
Encyclopedia
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...
practice. He lived equally in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Oddiyana
Oddiyana
', a small country in early medieval India, ascribed importance in the development and dissemination of Tantric Buddhism. The physical location of is disputed and open to conjecture. Possible locations that have been identified are:...
and Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
, but was known as the "Sage of Kashmir". According to tradition, he was born in Western India
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...
and travelled to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
to become a disciple of Shri Singha in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. He was also a student of Buddhaguhya
Buddhaguhya
Buddhaguhya was a Vajrayana Buddhist scholar-monk. Vimalamitra was one of his students. Apart from his commentary on the Maha-Vairocana-Abhisambodhi Tantra, we know little of Buddhaguhya. A major commentary by Buddhaguhya of the Mahavairocana Tantra was written in 760 and is preserved in...
. Upon his return to India, he was invited to Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
by emissaries of King Trisong Detsen
Trisong Detsen
Trisong Detsän or Trisong Detsen ཁྲི་སྲོང་ལྡེ་བཙན , was the son of Me Agtsom and one of the emperors of Tibet and ruled...
where he established himself as a teacher and translator of Dzogchen texts and an important teacher within what centuries later came to be known as 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...
pa.
Nomenclature, orthography and etymology
"Drime Shenyen" and in devotion by the contracted "Vima" . Orthographic renderings of the Sanskrit differ eg. Vimilamitra and Vimalamitra.Seventeen Tantras and assorted Nyingtig
Gyatso (1998: pp.153-154) relates how the Seventeen TantrasSeventeen 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...
though not considered treasure
Terma (Buddhism)
Terma are key Tibetan Buddhist and Bön teachings, which the tradition holds were originally esoterically hidden by various adepts such as Padmasambhava and his consorts in the 8th century for future discovery at auspicious times by other adepts, known as tertöns. As such, they represent a...
proper share in the treasure tradition as they are associated with literature first transmitted in the human realm by Vimalamitra (fl. 8th century) whose disciple, Nyangban Tingzin Zangpo, concealed them subsequent to Vimalamitra's journey to China, particularly Mount Wutai, for later discovery by Neten Dangma Lhungyal in the Eleventh Century:
By the eleventh century, both Bonpos and Buddhists were presenting texts they claimed to have unearthed from the place where those texts had been hidden in the past. Among the earliest Buddhist materials so characterized were the esoteric Nyingtig, or "Heart Sphere", teachings, including the seventeen Atiyoga tantras, which were associated with Vimalamitra, an Indian Great Perfection master invited to Tibet, according to some accounts, by Trisong Detsen in the eighth century. Vimalamitra's Tibetan student, Nyangban Tingzin Zangpo, was said to have concealed these teachings after the master went to China. The discoverer was Neten Dangma Lhungyal (eleventh century), who proceeded to transmit these teachings to Chetsun Senge Wangchuk, one of the first accomplished Tibetan Buddhist yogins, and to others. The Nyingtig materials were at the heart of the Great Perfection Buddhism and had considerable influence upon Jigme Lingpa, who labelled his own Treasure with the same term.
Vimalamitra united two disparate aspects of the Nyingtig teachings: the explanatory lineage with scriptures, and the hearing lineage without scriptures and elementally concealed them as terma
Terma (Buddhism)
Terma are key Tibetan Buddhist and Bön teachings, which the tradition holds were originally esoterically hidden by various adepts such as Padmasambhava and his consorts in the 8th century for future discovery at auspicious times by other adepts, known as tertöns. As such, they represent a...
to be revealed as the Vima Nyingtig and as the Secret Heart Essence of Vimalamitra .
Translations
Vimalamitra also translated, together with Ma Rinchen Chok, important Nyingmapa texts such as the Guhyasamaja TantraGuhyasamāja tantra
The Guhyasamāja Tantra is one of the most important scriptures of esoteric Buddhism. In its fullest form, it consists of seventeen chapters, though a separate "explanatory tantra" known as the Later Tantra is sometimes considered to be its eighteenth chapter...
and the Guhyagarbha (Tib., gSang-ba snying-po, "The Secret Heart", or "Essence of Secrets").
Vimalamitra, according to the Nyingma tradition, was a pupil of Buddhaguhya and Lilavajra, as was Vairotsana
Vairotsana
This article is about the Tibetan translator. For the primordial Buddha Vairocana, please see VairocanaVairotsana of 'Pagor' was a Tibetan translator living during the reign of King Trisong Detsen...
who received 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....
(Māyā-jāla Cycle) transmission from Buddhaguhya.
Vimalamitra lineage
One tradition of Dzogchen was directly transmitted to VajrasattvaVajrasattva
Vajrasattva is a bodhisattva in the Mahayana, Mantrayana and Vajrayana buddhist traditions...
, an aspect of the Sambhogakaya
Sambhogakaya
The Sambhogakāya is the second mode or aspect of the Trikaya. Sambhogakaya has also been translated as the "deity dimension", "body of bliss" or "astral body". Sambhogakaya refers to the luminous form of clear light the Buddhist practitioner attains upon the reaching the highest dimensions of...
, to 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,...
(b. 55 CE), the Nirmanakaya. Garab Dorje transcribed this teaching which he transmitted to his disciple Manjushrimitra. Mañjushrīmītra classified the teaching into three cycles:
- SemdeSemdeSemde 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...
(mind class/cycle); - LongdeLongdeLongde 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...
(space class/cycle); and - MenngagdeMenngagdeIn Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Menngagde , , is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within Dzogchen, teachings...
(oral instruction class/cycle),
and this classification determined the exposition of the Dzogchen teachings in the following centuries. Mañjushrīmītra’s student Shrisimha re-edited the oral instruction class/cycle, and in this form the teaching was transmitted to Jñānasūtra and Vimalamitra (sometimes Vimilamitra). Vimalamitra took the Menngagde
Menngagde
In Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Menngagde , , is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within Dzogchen, teachings...
disciplic teaching to Tibet in the 8th Century.
Works
Vimalamitra was responsible for authoring the Vima Nyingthig or "Secret Heart Essence of Vimalamitra". This cycle of texts belongs to the Secret Instruction or MenngagdeMenngagde
In Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Menngagde , , is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within Dzogchen, teachings...
division of Atiyoga.
In regards to the Nyingtig Yabshi
Nyingtig Yabshi
Nyingtig Yabshi . One of the most famous collections of Dzogchen scriptures. Vimalamitra united the two aspects of Innermost Unexcelled Section — the explanatory lineage with scriptures and the hearing lineage without scriptures — and concealed them to be revealed as the Nyingtig teachings Vima...
, Vimalamitra united the two aspects of Innermost Unexcelled Section — the explanatory lineage with scriptures and the hearing lineage without scriptures — and concealed them to be revealed as the Nyingtig teachings Vima Nyingtig.