Zhitro
Encyclopedia
In Tibetan Buddhism and Bön, Zhitro (Tibetan; Wylie
: zhi khro, alternate phonetic transcription: shitro, xitro) or Karling Zhitro (kar gling zhi khro, after Karma Lingpa
, the treasure-revealer who (re)discovered it) is the name of a genre of scripture and associated tantric
practices primarily concerned with the "Hundred Peaceful and Wrathful Deities". The best-known (though by no means only) example of this genre is "The Great Liberation by Hearing in the Intermediate State," better known in the west as "The Tibetan Book of the Dead".
, or practice text, is part of a group of bardo
teachings which are held in the Nyingma tradition to have originated with Padmasambhava
in the 8th Century and were rediscovered as terma
, or 'treasure teachings' in the 14th Century by the terton
Karma Lingpa
. The Zhitro mandala
teachings were found in the same terma collection as the Bardo Thodol
, a text well-known in the West as The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
The Dzogchen
practice of Zhitro involves viewing the body as a mandala
of both peaceful and wrathful deities
, the inclusivity promoting awareness in the practitioner of the universality of Buddha-nature
. As a subtle body
practice using yogic practices to manipulate the lung
, or subtle-winds, of the body, this is a completion stage
practice of the Inner Tantras
. The Lion's Roar Tantric Glossary describes the Zhitro mandala
practice:
Shugchang, et al. (2000) define and frame the Zhi-khro teachings in relation to the Inner Tantras
, Anuyoga
, Atiyoga, Guhyagarbha Tantra
, rigpa
, shunyata
, non-duality, kye-rim, dzog-rim and bardo
:
Gyatso (2006) relates how Zhitro was received by Yeshe Tsogyal
through the wang of a Vidyadhara
through the Bardo
of trance
:
Wylie
Wylie may refer to:* Wylie * Wylie , mononymous Aboriginal companion of Edward John Eyre during his crossing of the Nullarbor Plain in Australia* Wylie, Wylie Qua, Access Diving, Gabriola Island, B.C...
: zhi khro, alternate phonetic transcription: shitro, xitro) or Karling Zhitro (kar gling zhi khro, after Karma Lingpa
Karma Lingpa
Karma Lingpa , a great tertön, is embraced as a reincarnation of Chokro Luyi Gyaltsen , a great master, and accepted as the revealer of the so-called Tibetan Book of the Dead. Karma Lingpa took body in southeast Tibet as the eldest son of Nyida Sangye , the great Tantric practitioner...
, the treasure-revealer who (re)discovered it) is the name of a genre of scripture and associated tantric
Vajrayana
Vajrayāna Buddhism is also known as Tantric Buddhism, Tantrayāna, Mantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Esoteric Buddhism and the Diamond Vehicle...
practices primarily concerned with the "Hundred Peaceful and Wrathful Deities". The best-known (though by no means only) example of this genre is "The Great Liberation by Hearing in the Intermediate State," better known in the west as "The Tibetan Book of the Dead".
Exegesis
A prominent sadhanaSadhana
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...
, or practice text, is part of a group of bardo
Bardo
The Tibetan word Bardo means literally "intermediate state" - also translated as "transitional state" or "in-between state" or "liminal state". In Sanskrit the concept has the name antarabhāva...
teachings which are held in the Nyingma tradition to have originated with Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava ; Mongolian ловон Бадмажунай, lovon Badmajunai, , Means The Lotus-Born, was a sage guru from Oddiyāna who is said to have transmitted Vajrayana Buddhism to Bhutan and Tibet and neighbouring countries in the 8th century...
in the 8th Century and were rediscovered 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...
, or 'treasure teachings' in the 14th Century by the terton
Tertön
A tertön is a discoverer of ancient texts or "terma". Many tertöns are considered incarnations of the 25 main disciples of Padmasambhava. A vast system of transmission lineages developed...
Karma Lingpa
Karma Lingpa
Karma Lingpa , a great tertön, is embraced as a reincarnation of Chokro Luyi Gyaltsen , a great master, and accepted as the revealer of the so-called Tibetan Book of the Dead. Karma Lingpa took body in southeast Tibet as the eldest son of Nyida Sangye , the great Tantric practitioner...
. The Zhitro mandala
Mandala
Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
teachings were found in the same terma collection as the Bardo Thodol
Bardo Thodol
The Liberation Through Hearing During The Intermediate State , sometimes translated as Liberation Through Hearing or Bardo Thodol is a funerary text...
, a text well-known in the West as The Tibetan Book of the Dead.
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...
practice of Zhitro involves viewing the body as a mandala
Mandala
Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
of both peaceful and wrathful deities
Wrathful deities
In Buddhism, wrathful deities are enlightened beings who take on wrathful forms in order to lead sentient beings to enlightenment. They are a notable feature of the iconography of Mahayana Buddhism and of Tibetan Buddhism, and other Vajrayana traditions in particular. A wrathful deity is often an...
, the inclusivity promoting awareness in the practitioner of the universality 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...
. As a subtle body
Subtle body
A subtle body is one of a series of psycho-spiritual constituents of living beings, according to various esoteric, occult, and mystical teachings...
practice using yogic practices to manipulate the lung
Lung (Tibetan Buddhism)
Lung is a word that means wind or breath. It is a key concept in the Vajrayana traditions of Tibetan Buddhism and as such is part of the symbolic 'twilight language', used to non-conceptually point to a variety of meanings. Lung is a concept that's particularly important to understandings of the...
, or subtle-winds, of the body, this is a completion stage
Completion stage
The completion stage is one of the two stages of Anuttarayoga Tantra. Completion stage may also be translated as perfection stage or fulfillment mode...
practice of the Inner Tantras
Inner Tantras
The Inner Tantras are the final three divisions in the ninefold division of practice according to the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. They comprise the Mahayoga, Anuyoga and Atiyoga...
. The Lion's Roar Tantric Glossary describes the Zhitro mandala
Mandala
Maṇḍala is a Sanskrit word that means "circle". In the Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions their sacred art often takes a mandala form. The basic form of most Hindu and Buddhist mandalas is a square with four gates containing a circle with a center point...
practice:
Zhi-khro is a practice of Tibetan Buddhism involving visualizing the body as a composite of the 108 peaceful and wrathful deities. In the practice, the deities are first visualized in mandalas of 58 peaceful and 42 wrathful deities centered in the heart, throat and crown chakra, and then in all the channels and nadis of the body.
Shugchang, et al. (2000) define and frame the Zhi-khro teachings in relation to the Inner Tantras
Inner Tantras
The Inner Tantras are the final three divisions in the ninefold division of practice according to the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. They comprise the Mahayoga, Anuyoga and Atiyoga...
, 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...
, Atiyoga, Guhyagarbha Tantra
Guhyagarbha tantra
The Guhyagarbha Tantra is the main tantra of the Mahayoga class and the primary Tantric text studied in the Nyingma tradition as a key to understanding empowerment, samaya, mantras, mandalas and other Vajrayana topics....
, 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 ....
, shunyata
Shunyata
Śūnyatā, शून्यता , Suññatā , stong-pa nyid , Kòng/Kū, 空 , Gong-seong, 공성 , qoγusun is frequently translated into English as emptiness...
, non-duality, kye-rim, dzog-rim and bardo
Bardo
The Tibetan word Bardo means literally "intermediate state" - also translated as "transitional state" or "in-between state" or "liminal state". In Sanskrit the concept has the name antarabhāva...
:
The zhi-khro, which translates as the peaceful and wrathful deities, is considered part of the inner tantra. It is actually a condensed teaching based upon the essential
meaning of the Guhyagarbha Tantra combined with the views expressed in the anu and ati yoga teachings. Many great masters have said that the zhi-khro teachings are the inner tantra of the inner tantra. In this case we're not making distinctions among the various inner tantras, nor between the creation and completion stages, but joining them all together. This is the union of rigpa and emptiness, the oneness of birth, death, and life experiences. There is no basis for discriminating because all are aspects of one true nature. Nothing is rejected or exclusively accepted. This teaching is known as the one that unifies everything into a single state.
Gyatso (2006) relates how Zhitro was received by Yeshe Tsogyal
Yeshe Tsogyal
Yeshe Tsogyal , was the consort of the great Indian tantric teacher Padmasambhava, the founder-figure of the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Nyingma tradition considers her equal in realization to Padmasambhava himself. The meditational practices related to her, stress her enlightened...
through the wang of a Vidyadhara
Vidyadhara
Vidyadhara are a group of supernatural beings in Hindu mythology. They possess magical powers and dwell in the Himalayas. They also attend God Shiva, who lives in the Himalayas. They are considered as Upa-devas, semi-gods.-In Hindu epics:...
through the Bardo
Bardo
The Tibetan word Bardo means literally "intermediate state" - also translated as "transitional state" or "in-between state" or "liminal state". In Sanskrit the concept has the name antarabhāva...
of trance
Trance
Trance denotes a variety of processes, ecstasy, techniques, modalities and states of mind, awareness and consciousness. Trance states may occur involuntarily and unbidden.The term trance may be associated with meditation, magic, flow, and prayer...
:
After succeeding in a variety of feats, including beheading a tiger, she gains access to an elaborate palace where she receives esoteric initiations from several vidyādharas and buddhas. She returns to Chingpu and after a year is robbed by seven bandits whom she then converts to Buddhist practice. She proceeds with the bandits on a magic carpet to the place Oḍḍiyāna where they all receive peaceful and wrathful deity practice (zhitro) initiations from a vidyādhara, who gives her the secret name Kharchen Za and cavorts in bliss with her.
See also
- BardoBardoThe Tibetan word Bardo means literally "intermediate state" - also translated as "transitional state" or "in-between state" or "liminal state". In Sanskrit the concept has the name antarabhāva...
- Six realmsSix realmsThe desire realm is one of three realms or three worlds in traditional Buddhist cosmology into which a being wandering in may be reborn. The other two are the form realm, and the formless realm The desire realm (Sanskrit kāma-dhātu) is one of three realms (Sanskrit: dhātu, Tibetan: khams) or...
- Reality in BuddhismReality in BuddhismBuddhism evolved a variety of doctrinal/philosophical traditions, each with its distinct ideas of reality. The following are still regularly studied in some branches of the Buddhist tradition: Theravada, Vaibhashika, Sautrantika, Jojitsu, Madhyamika, Yogacara, tiantai, Huayan...
- Tantra techniques (Vajrayana)Tantra techniques (Vajrayana)Tantra techniques in Vajrayana Buddhism are techniques used to attain Buddhahood. Vajrayana partially relies on various tantric techniques rooted in scriptures such as tantras and various tantric commentaries and treatises...
- Guru-shishya traditionGuru-shishya traditionThe guru-shishya tradition, lineage, or parampara, denotes a succession of teachers and disciples in traditional Indian culture and religions such as Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism. It is the tradition of spiritual relationship and mentoring where teachings are transmitted from a guru...
External links
- Shitro 100 Deity Practice: Prayers for the Dying and Understanding the Bardo
- The True Foundation of Practice: By Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
- Significant detail and listing of the Hundred_peaceful_and_wrathful_deities with their Wylie transcription
- The death ritual as guidance through the Bardo. "Secret Doctrienes of the tibetan book of the dead", Detlef Ingo Lauf, Shambala 1977