TANTRIC BUDDHISM (INCLUDING CHINA AND JAPAN)Gnosis; it is also the triratna of the dharmatii of absolute-Meaning (don dam
chos iiid kyi dkon mchog gsum ); it is the divine-Assembly of the non-duality of
'noema' and 'noesis' which exists penetrating everything static and mobile
(brtan g-yo kunIa khyab par biugs pa 'i dbyins rig dbyer med kyi lha tshogs);^49 it
is identical with the sugatagarbha, the Lineage existing by Nature, and the
hundred Families (kula) etc. mentioned in the Tantras. It has been explained in
detail how it resides in the continuum of the non-duality of Ground and Result;
how it exists in the three conditions (gnas skabs) of the dharmakiiya;^50 [Sa] and,
since it is considered that it never appears (snan ba) in the vijiiiina despite the
fact that it always resides in the Ground, how it~the Existential-Nature of
Foundation (gii 'i gnas tshul)-is the immediate-apprehension of the dharmatii-
Body of Result through the gradual practice of the six Yogas.^51 It is stated that
this is clearly expounded in the Tathiigatagarbhasiitra, the Mahiibherlsiitra, the
JiiiiniilokiilaJTlkiirasiitra, the SrlmiiliidevlsifTlhaniidasiitra, the Aniinatviipiin:wt-
vanirdesa, the Mahiiparinirviil)asiitra, the AvataJTlsaka, the Ratnakiita, and
the Suvarl)aprabhiisottamasiitra. And this has been set forth in detail in the
Uttaratantra and its Commentary, where the intention of the last Cycle of
the Teaching is explained, as well as in the dBu rna Ia bstod pa^52 of Arya-
Nagarjuna, etc.
The explanation given by the great masters, the realization-in-meditation of
the great Y ogins, and the doctrines taught by the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas
of the ten directions of Space are all without error. But all that which belongs to
the Relative (safTlvrti)~the doctrines of the Void-of-Own-being (ran stan), the
Void of destruction (chad stan) and the Void of negation (dgag stan) which are
the Partial (priidesika) Void and total non-existence (ye nas med pa)^53 -must be
rejected in all their forms by those seeking Liberation. Such is the teaching of
the Nes don rgya mtsho.
- Proof that this doctrine is wrong
It is established by his reputation that the great Omniscient Dol bu pa was an
excellent and inconceivable being; and a foundation for an intentional statement
having a special motive (dgons gii dgos pa khyad par can) may indeed exist in
accordance with an occasional declaration by Bhagavat which is intended for
certain disciples ( vineya) and according to which a pudgaliitman exists [ 5b].
However, the system which accepts the doctrine literally appears quite compara-
ble to the these of the heterodox (firthika).
In fact, the firthika proponents of the Word-brahman (sabdabrahmaviidin)
state that there is a transformation (yons su 'gyur ba) of the brahman which is
free from the spatial differentiations of east, west, etc., which is unproduced and
indestructible, and which is the proper-nature of Word; the aggregate of entities
of form etc. is just this [transformation]. The Sabdabrahmavadins thus state:
"The brahman without beginning and end is the Word-essence and the Syllable:
in it is produced the world construction, and it transforms itself into the world of