Buddhism : Critical Concepts in Religious Studies, Vol. VI

A CRITICAL TANTRISM

The Lord answers:

"Well done! My son!

The aspect of the continuation of mind, which is the highest stage of

the Great Vehicle,

is the most excellent of the secrets of the perfectly enlightened ones.

It can not be known by any of the people who thinks of things logically.

Concentrate your mind and listen to me. I will tell you the whole

truth".^22

Thus, the Lord Vairocana begins to relate the whole process of the progress-
ing grades of minds ('t.'<"¥f.Q)~~ ). In the beginning, Vairocana mentions the
eight stages of mundane minds (i:!tra,i\'L') in which the real existence of Iitman
is upheld. Subsequently after these eight, so to speak, 'vertical' mundane minds,
the sixty, so to speak, 'horizontal' mundane minds out of a total of one hundred
and sixty minds are enumerated.
VajrapaJ:.li asks a question, in which the two words abovementioned, viz. sems
kyi khyad par and sems kyi rgyud, correspond.

beam !dan f:tdas sems kyi khyad par de dag bsad du gsof2^3

"0 Reverend Lord! Tell me those various minds!"

The Unrevised Longer Commentary of Buddhaguhya gives following quota-

tion:

beam !dan f:tdas sems kyi rgyud de dag bSad du gsof2^4

"0 Reverend Lord! Tell me those minds as continuations!"

The Lord answers to this question and enumerates sixty minds:

"0 the chief of guhyakas! Listen to the characteristics of various minds.

0 the chief of guhyakas! Those minds are: the mind of desire (:ft,C.'),

the mind without desire ( ~J{'C..' ), the mind of wrath (DJ(,r::,, ), the mind of

friendliness ( ~~t.'), the mind of foolishness (lt~C.'), ......

What is the mind of desire then? It is (the mind) of a person who has

desire coming into contact with an object. What is the mind without

desire? It is (the mind of) a person who is free from desire coming into

contact with an object. What is the mind of wrath? It is (the mind of a

person) who has wrath coming into contact with an object. What is the

mind of friendliness? It is (the mind of) a person who has friendliness

coming into contact with an object. What is the mind of foolishness?