Three Vajras

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The Three Vajras, namely "body, speech and mind" are often mentioned in Vajrayana and Buddhist discourse, particularly in relation to samaya.

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[edit] Nomenclature and etymology

The Three Vajras is an English rendering of gsang ba gsum (Tibetan); which has variously been rendered as: Three Secrets, Three Mysteries, Three Seats and Three Doors. Another Tibetan orthography that explicitly mentions Vajra (Tibetan: rdo-rje) is: rdo rje gsang ba gsum. The full Tibetan title may be rendered into English as 'the three secrets of the noble ones' (Tibetan: phags pa'i gsang ba gsum) which are: body (Tibetan: sku); voice/speech (Tibetan: gsung) and mind (Tibetan: thugs). Another full title: sku gsung thugs mi zad pa rgyan gyi 'khor lo may be rendered as "Inexhaustible adornment wheel of Body, Speech and Mind" where the term 'khor lo is the Tibetan term for chakra (Sanskrit).

[edit] Vajra Body

The Vajra Body (Tibetan: rdo rje'i lus; sku rdo rje; ). In explicating the term rdo rje'i lus, the Dharma Dictionary states that it denotes: "The human body, the subtle channels of which resemble the structure of a vajra."[1]

[edit] Vajra Voice

The Vajra Speech/Voice (Tibetan: rdo rje'i gsung; gsung rdo rje). In elucidating the term, the Dharma Dictionary states that it denotes: 'vajra speech', 'vajra words'.[2]

[edit] Vajra Mind

The Vajra Mind (Tibetan: thugs rdo rje; Sanskrit: citta-vajra) is defined by the Dharma Dictionary as: mind vajra, vajra mind.[3]

[edit] Exegesis

The Three Vajras are often employed in tantric sadhana during the refuge, guru yoga and yidam process of the visualization, ideation and "imaginal"[4] construction of the refuge tree, where the mindstream of yidam, ishta-devata, tutelary deity and/or guru and the sadhaka are conflated and unified.

Speaking for the Tibetan Nyingma tradition, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche perceives an identity and relationship betwixt the Buddha Nature, Dharmadhatu (essence of all phenomena and the noumenon), the Dharmakaya, Rigpa (the "awakened state") and the Three Vajras, saying:

"Dharmadhatu is adorned with dharmakaya, which is endowed with dharmadhatu wisdom. This is a brief but very profound statement, because 'dharmadhatu' also refers to sugata-garbha or buddha nature. Buddha nature is all-encompassing ... This buddha nature is present just as the shining sun is present in the sky. It is indivisible from the three vajras [i.e. the Buddha's Body, Speech and Mind] of the awakened state, which do not perish or change."[5]

Robert Beer (2003: p.186) states:

"The trinity of body, speech, and mind are known as the three gates, three receptacles or three vajras, and correspond to the western religious concept of righteous thought (mind), word (speech), and deed (body). The three vajras also correspond to the three kayas, with the aspect of body located at the crown (nirmanakaya), the aspect of speech at the throat (sambhogakaya), and the aspect of mind at the heart (dharmakaya)."[6]

[edit] Kukkuraja's instruction to Garab Dorje

Kukkuraja's instruction to Garab Dorje entailed a teaching of the Three Vajras in relation to Vajrasattva, Atiyoga and Kulayaraja Tantra:

"Everything without exception is the Divine Body-Speech-Mind," he had said. "The Divine Body-Speech-Mind is all-encompassing. Thus know your ultimate identity to be Vajrasattva, the Divine Body-Speech-Mind." As the Tibetan text of the Kulaya-raja Sutra (Kun.byed.rgyal.po'i .mdo) states: "When everything is seen as the Great Self-identity (bdag.nyid.chen.po), it is known as Atiyoga."[7]

[edit] Five fundamental aspects of an enlightened being

The Three Vajras are subsumed within the 'Five fundamental aspects of an enlightened being'. Namkhai Norbu et al. (2001: p.176) lists the English rendering with the associated Tibetan language term:

The body (sku), voice (gsung), mind (thugs), qualities (yon tan) and activities (phrin las) represent the five fundamental aspects of an enlightened being.[8]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Dharma Dictionary (2007). Source: [1] (accessed: January 5, 2008)
  2. ^ Dharma Dictionary (2007). Source: [2] (accessed: January 5, 2008)
  3. ^ Source: Dharma Dictionary (2007) [3] (accessed: January 5, 2008)
  4. ^ A contraction of imagination and internal coined by Jean Houston and employed in the discourse of transpersonal psychology.
  5. ^ As It Is, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, Rangjung Yeshe Books, Hong Kong, 1999, p. 32
  6. ^ Beer, Robert (2003). The Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols. Serindia Publications. ISBN 1932476032 Source: [4] (accessed: December 7, 2007)
  7. ^ Dharma Fellowship (2005). Biographies: Pramodavajra, Regent of the Divine. Source: [5] (accessed: November 15, 2007)
  8. ^ Norbu, Namkhai (author, compiler); Clemente, Adriano (translated from Tibetan into Italian, edited and annotated); Lukianowicz, Andy (translated from Italian into English) (1999, 2001). The Precious Vase: Instructions on the Base of Santi Maha Sangha. Second revised edition. Shang Shung Edizioni.

[edit] References

  • Urgyen, Tulku (1999). As It Is. Hong Kong: Rangjung Yeshe Books. ISBN