84 mahasiddhis
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Buddha's Lions
Buddha's LionsThe Lives of the Eighty-Four Siddhas
The Translation Homage to the sacred gurusHerein is written the true account of the eighty-four
siddhas, Luyipa and the others: eighty men who gained
cear understanding and o!tained siddhi, and four womenwho achieved cear understanding and won i!eration" This
assem!y of eighty-four is indeed most wecome" #The yoginis
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$a"%&"i!hadra, $ehaa, (anahaa, and La~minkara
were o!)ects of devotion for five generations of (ing (un)i'sdescendents"
Luyipa*uru Liiyipa received his name !ecause he ate the
innards of fish" This is his story" +nce there was a ing as
weathy as (u!era, the god of riches" He not ony had a
paace decorated with )ewes, pears, god and siver, he aso
Lf%./ 01had three sons" 2hen the ing died, an astrooger was consuted
as to which of the sons woud inherit the ingdom" Mter the astrooger had made his cacuations, he announced:
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"If the midde son inherits the ingdom, the ream
wi !e sta!e and the peope wi !e content"3 So the middeson was given the ingdom"
The oder and younger !rothers, together with a the
su!)ects, crowned him as ing, even though he himsef didnot wish this" He attempted to escape the throne, !ut his
!rothers and su!)ects prevented him, and put him in chains
of god"The prince gave out god and siver as a !ri!e to his
guards and retainers" /t night, having dressed in patched
cothes and having given god to an attendant to accompany
him, the ing fed to 4amancivara, the city of (ing 4amaa"
There he gave up his cushion of si and too one of rough
coth5 having a!andoned the roya 6uarters, he now sept in
ashes" He was, however, so handsome to oo upon, thateveryone gave him food and drin, and he never aced for sustenance"
The prince then went to Bodhgaya where the 75ainis
cared for him and gave him instructions5 after that he went
to Saiputra, the residence of the ing" 11 He ate the food
peope gave him and too up his a!ode in a cemetery"
+ne day, whie on his way to a maret pace, he visited atavern" The tavern owner, who was actuay a wordy 75aini,
saw the prince and thought, 3He has thoroughy purifiedthe four caras, !ut he sti has a pe~-sized impurity: his
opinion of his socia status"3 Thereupon she poured rotten
food into a cay pot and gave it to him" 2hen the prince
threw it away, the 75aini !ecame angry and said, 3f you
have not a!andoned the conception of good and !ad food,
how can the 8harma come to you93The prince reaied that categories and distinctions are
o!staces to enightenment, so he rid himsef of them" Hetoo from the *anges the intestines of fish discarded !y the
fishermen, and he ate these during his tweve years of practice"2hen the fish-maret women saw him eating innards,
they caed him Liiyipa, '+d Fish *uts'" He was famous
everywhere as Liiyipa, and he o!tained siddhi under this
name" The rest of his story appears when teing ofTeigipa,and of 8aria, the man of the prostitutes"
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LiapaThere was a ing who sat upon a ion throne in southndia" / yogin from another and came into his presence,
and the ing said to him: 3ou must !e suffering greaty,wandering here and there in the ingdom"3 3 am not suf 26
fering,3 said the yogin" "It is you who are suffering"3 32hy
do you say that93 ased the ing" 3ou are afraid that you
wi ose your ingdom, and worried that your su!)ects may
!e discontented" That is why you suffer" Even if were to
)ump into a fire, woud not !um" Even if ate poison, woud not die" wi not suffer od age and death, !ecause
have the instructions of the achemists"3 The ing too faith and said, 3 cannot wander the ingdom ie you can,
!ut can meditate whie staying in my roya 6uarters" 2oud
you give these instructions to me93 The yogin, hearing this,
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gave him the initiation of Heva)ra and instructed him in
the samadhi of a singe-point"0The ing meditated on his ion-throne with its soft cushions
of si, surrounded !y his wife, his ministers, and
various inds of musica entertainments" He meditated ;
e,
venduring the night5 !ut !ecause of his sensuous en)oyments, he
was nown as Li:apa, 'the Sporting $an'"
<ontinuing to foow the instructions, he meditatedunwaveringy on the ring on the finger of his right hand"
Having done that, he visuaied the divine hosts of Heva)ra
there" He then )oined the 8eveoping Stage and the .erfecting
Stage and his perfect comprehension arose !y its own
power"=1 He o!tained the siddhi of $ahamudra and then
many 6uaities such as the supernowedges"
Therefore, if you coect these three together-the guru'steaching, your own effort, and the re6uisite previous arma-you can !e reeased even without giving up the good
things of the word" Lapa aided innumera!e sentient !eings
and then went to the ream of the =&aas"=>
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?irupa?iriipa was !orn in the East, in Tripura, the city of
(ing 8evapaa"ts There was, in south ndia, a vihara caed
Somapuri,=@ 'the <ity of the $oon': a 8harma-circe withthousands of mons, a verita!e ocean of them" Though he
was ony a novice, ?iriipa ased for initiation" n tweve
years, ?iriipa twice-over recited the mantra of?a)ravarahi=Aa miion times5 !ut not one sign of siddhi came to him
even in a dream" He !ecame despondent at this, tore up hisrosary, and threw it into the atrine" That evening, when he
customariy gave worship, it occurred to him that he was
without his rosary" / c5aini then appeared, put a rosary in
his hand, and gave him these words of encouragement:
3 worthy aspirant, do not despair for my !essing" .erformthe practice that a!andons a names and conceptions"3
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This pace of the natura mind
is the essence of?a)ravarahi"This is so for you as for everyone ese5
you are ineCperienced ie a chid"
The wishing
gem of the mindis not poished !y conceptuaiations"
To now the !est of practice is sufficient"
?irupa then practiced for tweve years, and o!tained
siddhi" His servant !ought meat and wine and !rought it to
him5 ?irupa then ied and ate the pigeons in the vihara"
2hen a the pigeons were gone, the mons ased, 32ho
among us woud eat pigeons9 Surey no mon woud do
such a thing"3 The mons then ooed in a the ces, aso
going to ?iriipa's room" /s they ooed in the window, theysaw him drining wine and eating pigeon meat" The monsthen assem!ed and decided to eCpe ?iriipa from the
vihara" So ?iriipa offered his mon's ro!es and !egging !ow
in front of an image of the Buddha, did reverence, and eft"
/s he was eaving, a mon said to him, 32here wi you go
now93 /nd ?iriipa repied, 3ou eCpeed me5 why shoud
you care93
Beside the vihara there was a arge ae" ?iriipa cut off aotus fower foating on the water and offered it to the
Buddha" Then, pacing his foot on a otus eaf at the edge of the ae, he waed across the water to the other shore" Those
who were in Somapuri deepy repented5 they grasped
?iriipa's feet, did reverence to him, and ased him, 3But
why did you i the pigeons93 3 did not i them,3 ?iriipa
said, and he tod his servant to !ring him the pieces of the
pigeon's wings" The master 18 snapped his fingers, and thefeathers !ecame pigeons again, which few off !igger and
!etter than !efore" This was seen !y everyone" From then
on, ?iriipa put aside the ha!it of a mon and too on theways of a yogin"
2hen ?iriipa came to the !an of the *anges, he
!egged food and drin from the *anges goddess, !ut she did
not give him any" The master !ecame angry, parted the
waters, and went to the other side"n the city of (anasati, ?iriipa !ought wine from a
tavern gir5 she gave him a gass of wine and a pate of ricewhich he greaty en)oyed" He continued eating and drining"
For the space of two days and a night, he prevented the
sun from moving and the ing, amaed, eCcaimed: 32ho is
it who performs such a mirace93 n answer, the goddess of
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the sun appeared to the ing in a dream and said, 3/ yogin
has pedged me as payment to a tavern gir"3 The ing andhis su!)ects paid the price of the wine, which came to a
miion gasses, and ?iriipa disappeared"
?iriipa then went to the and caed ndra in the countryof the idoators" n this pace, there was an image, eighty-one
cu!its high, of Siva as 'the *reat Lord' $ahesvara" The
inha!itants tod ?iriipa to do reverence to the image,whereupon ?iriipa repied, 3n no system does the oder
!rother do reverence to the younger !rother"3 The ing and
the others then said to him, "If you do not give reverence we
wi i you"3 But the master repied, 3t woud !e a sin to
give reverence to it5 so wi not !ow down"3 3Then et the
sin fa on me,3 said the ing"
2hen the master !rought his hands together and !oweddown, the great statue of Siva spit in haf" / voice comingfrom the sy caed forth: 3 vow to isten to you"3 /fter
taing the oath, the statue was restored to its previous condition"
The peope made the offerings of the statue of Siva to
the master, and were then converted to Buddhism" It is said
that the offerings sti eCist"
/fter that, the master went to the east of ndia to 8evi'otawhere the entire popuation of the country had !ecome
witches" If anyone stayed in their caste, they put aspe on him"
The master, having arrived at this pace of the witches,
found food in the town, !ut no pace coud he find odging"
He met with a singe Buddhist, a young Brahman, who tod
him that there were no humans eft in the and, that a had
!ecome witches, and they were doing great harm to everyone"The master and the Brahman !oy then proceeded to
the tempe where the master stayed" There the master initiatedthe Brahman !oy and gave him mantras"
/ the witches having gathered, they" said amongthemseves, 32hat is to !e offered: there are a inds of
meat here, !ut we have no human fesh"3 +ne of them spoe
up and said, 3 have two victims for youD3 3Bring them
hereD3 they a cried" But when the witch tried to !ring themhe was not a!e to do so, !ecause of the power of the
Brahman chid" She tried over and over again, !ut to no
avai"
The witches then saw ?irupa sitting on a faen tree"
They carried him away together with the tree5 !ut athough
they panned to coo him, ?iriipa dran up a the winethey were using as !roth" They then thought to i him
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another way: a the witches together made a hissing sound,
!ut ?irupa )ust aughed tweve fearfu aughs, and a thewitches fainted dead away"
Later ?iriipa !ound the witches !y oath: that from then
on, they woud tae the Buddhist refuges and woud notharm any who had faith in him" They were not to harm any
iving !eing, so they coud ony drin a handfu of !ood
from the !odies of those who had not taen the refuges or
who had not produced the thought of enightenment" If they !roe this oath, their necs woud !e cut off with his discus,
and the Yaksa of the orth woud drin their !ood" Evennow, the form of that discus and that Yaksa can !e seen in
the sy" He then !ound the witches !y oath and put them in
the retinue of the 8harma-protectors"
/gain ?iriipa returned to 8eviota" +n the road, Sivaand the goddess ma created for him a phantom city with
>G, inha!itants, and the gods of the thirty-three heavensand a the divine reams made him eCtensive offerings of
food" ?iriipa spoe to them in verse:
/s a novice and mon in Somapuri
faithfuy carried out the ?inaya,
and then, !y power produced !y previous arma,
gained fu initiation and teachings"
For tweve years meditate~ with conceptionsand nothing occurred, even in a dream5
my weary mind cursing, threw away my rosary"/fter that, a 8aini appeared to advise me:
!ecause of this, strengthened mysef
and righty understood the character of samsara"
From then on practiced without conceptions,
athough the mons !eieved was mis!ehaving"
So in order to destroy their misconceptions,
waed on water without sining" reversed the course of the *anges, and whie en)oyingmysef,
put up the sun as a pedge"
spit the ido of the idoators, !reaing its pride,
and in 8eviota, controed the witches,2hen Siva saw my many powers
he created a city to mae me offerings" ow, if did not do these miracuous deeds,
why woud peope prefer even the outer 8harma9
Then he went to the ream of the 8aas"
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8om!ipan the country of $agadha, there was a man of roya
!irth who had attained siddhi from Heva)ra" He had !een
initiated !y the guru ?irupa, and having !een granted the
instructions, he eCperienced their meaning" Though he re
garded his su!)ects as a father thins of his ony son, the
peope did not now that their ing had entered the door of the 8harma" But he was indy !y nature, so a the peope
unanimousy affirmed: 3This ing is indeed a pious man"3+ne day, the ing said to his minister: 3The peope are
suffering in our country" Thieves and ro!!ers are destroying property, and !ecause of the peope's itte merit, there are
increasing num!ers of the poor and indigent" To deiver the
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and from fear and poverty, hang a great !e on the trun of
a tree" If anyone witnesses a crime or sees poverty, et himstrie this !e"3 The minister did as he was tod, and fear
and poverty were !rought to an end in $agadha"
/ whie ater, a group of ow-caste singers came to thecapita, offering to sing and dance for the ing" +ne of the
singers had a tweve-year-od daughter who was very attractive"
She had a ovey face and a good compeCion5furthermore, she was unsuied !y wordy thoughts and
had a the 6uaities of a padmani . So the ing said to the
ow-caste singer, 32oud you give your daughter to me93
To this the singer repied, 3our ma)esty is a ing of
$agadha-you rue , cities" Because of your roya
weath, you do not have to wor for a iving" 2e are of ow
caste, denigrated and shunned !y other casses of peope" tis not fitting for you to mae such a re6uest"3The ing made his re6uest again, !ut in a more forcefu
way5 he too the gir, after giving her father a sum e6ua to
her vaue from the treasury" For tweve years, the peope did
not now that she was the ing's Tantric consort5 !ut eventuay
it was discovered" Soon it !ecame nown to everyone
throughout $agadha: 3The ing consorts with a ow-castewoman"3 So the ing a!dicated in favor of his son, and with
his ow-caste mistress, went into the forest" There he practicedfor tweve years"
But the fortune of the and diminished !y degrees, unti
finay the son and his peope were no onger a!e to hod the
country" The citiens assem!ed, and after conferring
among themseves, sought the former ing to offer him the
ingdom once again"/ deegation went to the forest where the ing was
residing: there they saw him sitting at the !ase of a tree,whie his woman went out to draw water" She stepped out
on a otus eaf on the surface of the ae and, withoutsining, drew water from a depth of fifteen fathoms5 she
then !rought it !ac to the ing" The men were so amaed
that they returned home to report what they had seen to the
popuace, who then sent an invitation to the ing to ca him !ac to the throne"
The ing and his consort came riding out from the forest
on a young tigress, using a poisonous snae as a whip" The
peope were astonished and said, 3Surey if you rue the
country everything wi prosper" 2i you pease tae the
ingdom93 But the ing repied, 3f am of ow-caste, howam fit to tae the ingdom9 /fter death, it no onger
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matters whether caste is good or !ad5 !urn us in the fire, and
when we are !orn again from it, wi do as you as"3 So the peope !urned the two, ing and consort, in a fire fueed
with sandawood: !ecause there was so much wood, the
fire !urned for seven days" But within the fire they caughtgimpses of the coupe transformed into Heva)ra and his
consort, in a sef-produced !ody, shining ie dew" 2hen
they saw this, the peope of $agadha too faith, and theing !ecame nown as the master +om!ipa, 'He of the
Low-caste +om!is'"
The ing then spoe to a his ministers and su!)ects: 3f
you are a!e to do as have done, wi rue you" f you
cannot, wi not !e ing"3 / of the peope were taen
competey !y surprise, and repied, 3How coud we do what
you ;have done93 /t this the ing decared, 3n this ingdom,there is itte of !enefit and much that is of faut5rather, wi rue a ingdom of the 8harma"3 From there he
went to the ream of the 8aas for the sae of sentient
!eings"
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Savaripa+n the mountain caed ?irama, in the mountains of
$anda, there was a hunter named Savaripa, who !rought
harm to many iving !eings !y iing many animas andeating their fesh" This was the way he made his iving"/vaoitesvara saw this hunter and !ecame fied with
compassion" n order to convert him, he transformed himsef
into a hunter ie Savaripa and went to where the hunter
resided" The hunter ased him, 32ho are you93 3 am
aso a savari," /vaoitcivara repied" 32here do you come
from93 ased Savaripa" 3From far away,3 was the repy"
3ou have ony one arrow" How many deer can you shoot
with ony one arrow93 32ith it can i three hundred
deer,3 the em!odied Bodhisattva said" /t this, SavaripaeCcaimed, 3 woud ie to see a demonstrationD3+n the neCt day, the manifestation too Savaripa to a
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great pain and showed him five hundred deer, a of which
had !een produced !y magic" /s soon as Savaripa saw them,he ased the em!odiment, 3How many of these deer wi
you i with your arrow93 3 wi i a five hundred,3
was the repy" But Savaripa said sarcasticay, 3Spare four hundred" t is enough to shoot one hundred deer"3 Thereupon
the manifested Bodhisattva shot one hundred deer with
the one arrow" He then ased Savaripa to retrieve one of thedead deer5 when Savaripa was ~ot a!e to ift it, the hunter's
pride was !roen" They returned home, and Savaripa asedthe Bodhisattva, 3Teach me how to shoot an arrow ie
that"3 /t this, the Bodhisattva repied, 3For this teaching,you must give up eating meat for one month"3 So Savaripa
gave up his ha!it of harming and iing iving !eings"
The em!odied Bodhisattva returned in seven days andased Savaripa, 32hat have you !een eating93 3$y wife
and have !een eating fruit,3 Savaripa repied" The manifestation
then instructed, 3$editate indiness and compassionfor a iving !eings"3
/fter a month, the Bodhisattva returned again" Savaripasaid, 3ow you have taught me the 8harma of etting the
deer escape"3 The $anifestation then produced a mandaa,
put fowers around it, and instructed Savaripa and his wife
to oo into the mandaa and to te him what they saw there"
They ooed within the mandaa and saw the eight great
hes, with the two of them !urning in it" They !ecameafraid5 they gasped, shuddered, and coud not spea"
The em!odied Bodhisattva ased them again what theysaw, and Savaripa finay repied, 3 saw peope )ust ie us
!urning in he"3 3/re you not afraid of !eing !orn there93
ased the Bodhisattva" 32e are indeed afraid,3 they repied"
3s there any way we can !e saved from such a fate93 3f
there is a method, woud you !e wiing to practice it93 32e
are wiing,3 they said" /nd so the Bodhisattva preached the8harma to Savaripa and his wife:
32hen you tae a ife, there are various inds of arma produced" ou wi !e re!orn in he" (iing gives rise to a
disposition to further taing of ife, with the inherent resut
that your own ife is short" The outer refection of a this is
that you wi !e very unattractive"3But if you refrain from taing ife, you may we o!tain
enightenment" 2hen you do not have the desire to i, theinherent resut wi !e a ong ife" The outer refection of a
this is that you wi !e !orn with considera!e persona
magnetism"3
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He preached to them the unpeasant resuts of the ten
non-virtuous actions,0 and the !enefits of the ten virtues"/nd Savaripa, now disgusted with samsara, o!tained a firm
and unwavering faith in the 8harma" /vaoitesvara gave
them further instructions, and then returned to the mountain8odanti"
Having meditated great compassion without conceptuaiing
for tweve years, Savaripa attained the superior siddhi of $ahamudra" He passed from the highest condition
of great compassion, and went !efore the hoy
/vaoitevara" The Hoy +ne highy praised the 6uaities
of Savaripa: 3 we-!orn son, the one-sided nirvana which
is ie a grass-fire going out is not the !est ind" ou shoud
remain in the word for the sae of sentient !eings, and
!enefit inconceiva!e num!ers of !eings"3So Savaripa returned to his own and, where he remained"He is caed Sri Savari" Because he cothes himsef
in peacoc feathers, he is aso caed 'the .eacoc-wing
2earer', and !ecause he aways stays in the mountains, he is
caed 'the $ountain-dweing Hermit'" These are the three
names !y which he is nown" He teaches the fortunate !y
song and sym!o, and wi remain on the continent of %am!udvipain this !ody unti the coming of $aitreya the
future Buddha"
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SarahaSaraha, the son of a dakin'i, was !orn a Brahman in a
city caed 4oi in a particuar part of 4a)ii, in the east of
ndia" Though he was a Brahman, he had faith in the
8harma of the Buddha, and !ecause he had istened to the
8harma from innumera!e masters, he had trust in theTantric doctrine" 8uring the day, he practiced the Hindu
system5 at night, he practiced the Buddhist system" He asodran wine"
There came a time when this was discovered !y the
Brahmans, who then attempted to have him !anished" They
went to (ing 4atnapaa and said to him, 3ou are the ing"s it proper for you to aow a disreputa!e system of reigion
to !e practiced in your country9 Even though Saraha, 'the/rrow-shooter', is chief of fifteen thousand residences in
4oi, he has owered himsef in caste !y drining wine, and
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therefore must !e eCpeed"3
The ing, not wanting to eCpe a man who controedfifteen thousand househods, went to Saraha and said, 3ou
are a Brahman5 it is not fit that you drin wine"3 But Saraha
repied, 3 do not drin wine" *ather a the men and thoseBrahmans here, and wi tae an oath to that effect"3 /fter
they had gathered, Saraha stated, 3f have !een drining
wine, et my hand !urn" If have not !een drining, may itnot !urn"3 He then put his hand in !oiing oi, and it was not
!urnt" 3n truth, he does not drin wine,3 the ing said" But
the Brahmans said, 3But truy he does drin wine"3
So Saraha spoe as !efore" He dran moten copper and
was not !urnt" 3He sti drins,3 the Brahmans maintained"
Saraha then said, 32hosoever sins when entering the
water, he is the one who drins" If he does not sin, he doesnot drin"3 So he and another Brahman !oth entered thewater" Saraha did not sin, !ut the other one did, so they
finay said, 3Saraha does not drin"3
Simiary, Saraha was weighed on a scae: 32hoever is
heavier does not drin,3 he said" They put three iron weights
on the scae, each as heavy as a man, and sti Saraha was
heavier than the weights" He was heavier than even siC of those weights" Finay the ing said, "If anyone who has
powers ie these drins wine, then et him drin"3The ing and the Brahmans !owed to Saraha and ased
for his instructions" Saraha then sang to the ing, the 6ueen,
and a the su!)ects, of the three cyces of 8oha" 0= The
Brahmans a a!andoned their own system and !ecame
Buddhists" The ing with a his retinue attained siddhi"
Saraha married a fifteen-year-od house gir, eft hishome, and went into another and" He setted in a soitary
pace, where he practiced the 8harma whie the gir wentout !egging for his food" +ne time, he ased her to prepare
some radishes for him" She miCed some radishes in yogurtand too them to him, !ut he was sitting in meditation, so
she went away without distur!ing him"
Saraha remained uninterruptedy in meditation for
tweve years" 2hen he finay arose, he ased, 32here aremy radishes93 The serving gir repied, 3How coud eep
them9 ou have not arisen from meditationa trance for
tweve years" t is now spring, and there are no radishes"3
Saraha then said to the gir, 3 wi go to the mountains to
meditate"3 But the gir repied, 3/ soitary !ody does not
mean soitude" The !est soitude is the mind far away fromnames and conceptions" ou have !een meditating for
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tIveve years, yet you have not cut off the idea of radishes"
2hat good wi it do to go to the mountains93 Sarahathought, 3This is true"3 /nd so he a!andoned names and
conceptions"
By eCperiencing the essentia meaning, he o!tained thehighest siddhi of $ahamudra, and furthered the aims of
iving !eings" He, together with his woman, entered the
ream of the 8aas"
(anaripaThere once was a ow-caste househoder of $aghahura
who married a woman of the same caste" ECperiencing the
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taste of domestic peasures, he cared ony for the things of
this word, and did not direct his mind, even a itte, to thevirtues which are the path of i!eration" Then arma ripened
for his wife, and she died" He too his wife's !ody to
the cemetery, and then was not a!e to eave the corpse" He )ust stayed !eside it, weeping" / yogin of good understanding
came up to him and ased, 32ho are you and what are
you doing in the cemetery93 The househoder repied, 3yogin, do you not see my condition9 am a !ind man
whose eyes have !een torn out" $y good fortune is eChausted
without my wife" s there anyone in the word worse
off than 93 The yogin then said to the househoder:
3The end of !irth is death" The end of composition is
separation "" / composite things are impermanent" Since
everyone who ives in samsara suffers, do not grieve over theword's painfu nature" 2hat do you accompish !y guardinga corpse that is ie a ump of cay9 ou can end your
suffering ony !y means of the 8harma"3
3f there is a method that woud i!erate me from the
misery of !irth and death in the word, pease give it to me,3
said the househoder" n repy the yogin said, 3 have the
guru's instructions which wi !ring a!out i!eration"33Then as for them,3 said the househoder" /nd the yogin
proceeded to initiate him and to give him the instructions onthe essence of egoessness"
The househoder then ased, 3How sha meditate93
The yogin repied, '3To get rid of the notion of your dead
wife, meditate on your wife, devoid of sef, as the nonduaity
of emptiness and !iss"3 Then he set the househoder to
meditating"Finay, after siC years, the househoder shed the ordinary
concept of his wife in emptiness and !iss" He cearedaway the stains of the mind, and he eCperienced the inner
eCperience of the pure ight and great )oy" He purged the poison of ethargy, and he awoe from ignorance" Having
ceared away his error and deusions, he saw the unmistaen
truth, and he o!tained siddhi" He !ecame famous in a
directions as the yogin (anaripa, and having preached the8harma to many peope in his own country of $aghahura,
he went to the ream of the 8aas in this very !ody"
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$inapa$inapa's country was in eastern ndia, and his castewas that of the fishermen" His guru was $ahadeva, and the
siddhi which he o!tained was wordy siddhi" n an ocean
caed ta in (amariipa, every day the fishermen woudfish and then se their catch in the maret" +ne day a
certain fisherman fastened his hoo with a cotton thread,
and after !aiting it with meat, threw it into the water" /huge fish too hod of it, tugged and )ered away, and pued
the fisherman into the water" The fish then swaowed thefisherman, !ut !y the power of the man's arma, the fisherman
did not die"
ow at that time, the goddess ma was asing
$ahadeva a!out the 8harma" $ahadeva said to her, 3$y8harma is not to !e eCpressed to )ust anyone" It is very
secret, so et us erect a house under the ocean"3 Having thus
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spoen, it was done accordingy, and in the dweing under
the ocean, he preached the 8harma to the goddess ma"/t this time, the fish who had swaowed the fisherman
swam under the house" ow, during the eCpication of the
8harma, rna had faen aseep, so when $ahadeva asedher if she understood, the fisherman answered, 3 understand"3
/nd so he heard the 8harma"
/fter the 8harma was preached, and when the *oddesshad ended her seep, she ased for the teaching, and
$ahadeva said, 3 have )ust spoen it"3 The *oddess repied,
3 heard ony up to the midde" was then overcome
!y seep, and heard no more"3 3Then who was it who answered
' understand'93 3 did not spea those words,3
said the *oddess"
$ahadeva then ooed out with his superior sight andsaw that the one who had heard the 8harma was a man inthe stomach of a fish which had swum !eneath his house"
Since the fisherman had !ecome his pupi, $ahadeva
thought, 32e are now of the same commitment"3 So he gave
the fisherman initiation, and the fisherman meditated in the
!ey of the fish for tweve years"
/t this time, a fisherman in the and ofSritati caught thefish and anded it" The fisherman thought, 3How heavyD n
the !ey of this fish there must !e god, siver, and manyother precious things"3 But when he cut open the !ey of the
fish, there appeared a man who tod him, when ased, that
he had !een a fisherman at the time of ing such-and-such"
3This fish guped me down and !ore me off"3 2hen the
peope counted up the years and arrived at the figure of
tweve years, they were eCtremey surprised, and the fishermanthus !ecame famous as the yogin $inapa" *iven
offerings !y everyone, $inapa danced a over the and, hisfeet never imprinting the ground" +nce, however, he danced
on a stone and his foot san into it as if it were mud"Everyone was amaed" There he stood and sang from the
stone:
ow am free of my previous arma5now re)oice in the 8harma"
The precious 6uaities arose in this way5
wonderfu my precious mindD
Thus he sang for five hundred years for the wefare of a
iving !eings" He hed the name $inapa, and the name?a)rapada, and the third name /cinta, 'ot <ontained !y
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Thought'" Having first o!tained a the wordy powers of
siddhi, he graduay progressed through the path and went !odiy into the ream of the 8aas"
*orasan a country of eastern ndia, there ived a ing named
8evapaa who had ony one son" 2hen the prince was
tweve years od, his mother !ecame ill and was near death"
%ust !efore she died, the mother gave her ast testament toher son: 3/ the happiness and misery of iving !eings arises
from virtuous and nonvirtuous deeds" Even if it means you
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ose your ife, do not do anything non virtuous"3 Then she
died" The citiens of that and a advised the father, theing, to marry a 6ueen from another country, and so he did"
/ few days after he married this 6ueen, the ing went into
the forest to dispe his grief" The 6ueen then went to thetower of the paace and ooed out" Seeing the young prince,
ust arose in her, and she sent him a message, which said:
3.ease come to me"3 But the prince refused"The 6ueen, em!arrassed, thought to hersef: 3He hods
me in contempt"3 She grew more !itter toward the prince
than toward an enemy, and she thought to hersef, 3 must
find some means to destroy him"3 She tod her foowers to
i him, !ut they refused, saying: 3t woud not !e right to
i the prince, the son of a ing, a hoy person"3
/fter they had refused, the 6ueen carried out a deception:She cut hersef a over her !ody unti the !ood fowed,and then she ay naed on her !ed" 2hen the ing returned,
he 6uestioned her: 32hat terri!e misfortune has !efaen
you93 3our ma)esty's son has mistreated me in the way of
a man,3 she repied, 3and then eft me in this fashion"3
The ing, in anger, said to her, 3f this has !een done to you
as you say, the prince wi !e ied"3 The ing then gaveorders to the two eCecutioners: 3Tae the prince into the
deep forest and cut off his hands and feet"3The eCecutioners considered: 3t is not right to i the
prince" 2e wi save him !y iing one of our own sons instead"3
The eCecutioners then reveaed their pan to the
prince, saying, 32e dare not i our Highness5 we wi i
one of our own sons for your sae"3 But the prince re)ected
this, saying, 3That surey is not right" (i me" n her asttestament" my mother said, '8o not do anything evi, even to
save your !ody or your ife"' <arry out the orders of myfather"3 So the two eCecutioners set the prince down at the
foot of a tree, cut off his hands and feet, and then returnedhome"
ow, in that country there was a great yogin named
/cinta who had initiated the prince and given him instructions"
The yogin went among the herdsmen who wereworing a!out a iometer distant from the prince, and the
yogin said to them, 3There is a man with his im!s cut off at
the !ase of a tree a!ove which the vutures are circing"
2ho is wiing to go to him93 / sma !oy, the son of an
incense seer, said, 3 am wiing to do it5 !ut whie carry
out your tas, you must do mine"3/nd so he gave over the catte he was watching to the
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yogin, and using the circing vutures as a andmar, he went
to the tree" /fter seeing the man at the foot of it, he returnedto the yogin and said, "It is as you say"3
The yogin then ased the cowherd, 32hat do you have
to eat and drin93 The !oy repied, 3 stay with the master of the herdsmen, and he gives me enougJ: to eat and drin5
wi tae haf to that man"3 3*ood,3 said the yogin" 3ow
tae care of him" His name is <auraigi"3 So the !oy made aroof of eaves around the tree, and after giving food to the
prince, ceansed the impure things from the prince's wounds
with his hands" He heped in this way for tweve years"
Then one day the !oy arrived and saw the prince
standing" /maed, he ased how this coud !e, and the
prince answered, 3/ hoy guru, sied in means, !rought me
to reaie emptiness" How wondrous it is to now the onetrue nature of eCisting things and so to !e without peasureand painD n accordance with reaity, my hands and feet
have grown again"3 Then he rose up in the air, saying to the
cowherd, 3ou have !een given instructions !y me5 now
practice them"3
But the herdsman repied, 3 do not wish instructions"
have a master who ased me to mae offerings to you, and have acted accordingy"3 Having said this, he turned around
and returned to guard his herd" 2hen the yogin /cintacame again to the cowherd, the herdsman tod of his eCperience,
and the yogin re)oiced" /cinta then initiated the cowherd
and gave him instructions" He then eft for another
and"
The cowherd meditated and o!tained the siddhi of
$ahamudra" 2hen this happened, the guru returned, andsaid to him, 38o not depart from this word unti you have
awaened to enightenment a hundred times a hundrediving !eings"3 Thereupon the herdsman initiated every iving
!eing who came to him"$ahadeva chided him, saying, 3ou shoud not initiate
everyone who comes to you" It is not fitting to teach those
who ac discernment or faith" *ive initiation ony to those
!eings who mae the proper re6uest"3 The cowherd thendid as he had !een counseed"
Since he was a cowherd, he !ecame famous everywhere
as *orasa" Even now, if you have pure arma, you may !e
initiated !y him-you wi then !e a!e to hear the sound of
his drum on specia days though others wi not hear it"
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<aurangiThe story of how <auraigi received his name '$em!er
of the 4o!!er's *ang' is as foows: /s was said !efore, the prince, whose im!s had !een cut off, ay at the foot of a tree"
/cinta had given him initiation and instructions concerning
the vase-!reathing techni6ue, and had tod him, 32hen you
o!tain siddhi, your !ody wi !ecome as it was !efore you
were harmed"3 /fter /cinta had given these instructions, he
eft" <auraigi then meditated as he had !een tod"Tweve years ater a group of roya merchants !earing
god, siver, gass, and other precious things, traveed
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through that particuar area-which was nown for its ro!!ers
and thieves" ight came, and the prince, having returnedto the foot of his tree, heard the sounds of footsteps"
32ho is it93 he ased, and the merchants, thining him to
!e a thief or a ro!!er, repied, 32e are coa deaers"3 The prince repied simpy, 3So !e it"3
2hen the merchants arrived home they saw to their
horror that their god and other precious things had turnedto coa" They tried to thin how this coud have happened5
they were very confused" Then one of the more thoughtfu of
the merchants said, 32hen we were traveing at night,
someone ased us: '2ho are you9' o dou!t that person has
the power to spea words that come true" Let us return to
him and see if that is indeed the case"3
The merchants returned to the woods, and seeing a manwith his im!s cut off sitting underneath a tree, tod their story to him" They then ased the prince to remove his words
of truth" The prince repied, 32hat happened was not what
had intended" But since it occurred, et there !e whatever
precious things there were !efore"3
The merchants returned home and saw that their precious
things had indeed !ecome as !efore" They wonderedat this, and returned to the prince with gifts and to te him
what had occurred" The prince tod them a!out the words of his guru, and then said, 3Let my !ody resume its former
state"3 /nd it was so"
Having attained a the powers of siddhi, the prince
performed miracuous things" But hoding his doctrines to
!e too important to give to men, he gave them instead to his
tree" The tree !ecame immorta, and it sti eCists, so it issaid" This ends the story of the immorta <auraigi"
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?inapa?napa, whose name means 'the $an 2ho .ays the
?na', came from the country of *hahuri, and was !orn of
roya famiy" His guru was Buddhapa, and he o!tained hissiddhis from Heva)ra"VInapa was the only son of the king of Ghahuri, and his
parents and the people were very fond of him. He was
rought up y eight nurses, ut he preferred always to sit in
the !ompany of the musi! masters. "hen the prin!e played
the vina, he e!ame totally involved with the sound of the
musi!, and !ogni#an!e of the other things of the world
simply did not enter his mind. His father and mother, the
assemly of ministers, and the people dis!ussed the matter$
%The prin!e is the heir&apparent to the throne, and yet he isnot interested in the affairs of the kingdom he is interested
only in the vina. "hat should e done(%
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"hile this dis!ussion took pla!e, a well&e)perien!ed yogin,
Buddhapa, !ame efore the prin!e. The prin!e took
faith in him. *ir!umamulating and giving reveren!e to the
yogin, he spoke sin!erely with him. The yogin remained in
the !ompany of the prin!e for only a little while efore he
saw the time had !ome to train him. He then said to the
prin!e, %+ prin!e, would you not like to pra!ti!e the
harma(% The prin!e replied, %+ yogin, I !annot give up
my instrument. If there e)ists a method of a!!omplishing the
harma without giving up the vina, I will pra!ti!e it.% The
yogin, upon eing asked, then gave him the initiation whi!h
ripens the unripened !auses, and the following instru!tions
for meditation$ %Give up distinguishing the sound of the
vina from the hearing of it. -editate so as to make the
two&the e)perien!e of the sound and the idea of it&into
one.%
The prin!e meditated in that way for nine years, and
purified the stains of the mind. Having produ!ed the inner
e)perien!e whi!h is like the pure light of a lamp, he otained
the -ahamudra, and generated in himself the many auspi!ious
ailities, su!h as !lear understanding and others.
Be!oming known in all dire!tions as the yogin VInapa, he
taught countess doctrines to the assem!ed citiens in the
cities of *hahuri" Finay, having narrated his eCperiences,
he went in that very !ody to the ream of the 8aas"
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Santipa8uring the time when (ing 8evapaa hed dominion
over the cities of $agadha, there was a great mon and
teacher of Brahman caste in ?iramaGia named 4atnaarasanti"He had mastered the five fieds of earning and had
!ecome a great and very highy respected schoar, his famespreading in a directions"
There was aso at that time a ing of <eyon, (a!ina !y
name, who !y his merit did not ac any desira!e 6uaity"
Though the teachings of the Buddha had not !een previousy
nown in <eyon, he had heard good things a!out
the Buddha 8harma from men who had come from ndia"
As of that time, he had not met with anyone who coud
teach the 8harma, !ut he heard that there ived in $agadhaa great master, a teacher named Santipa" So ing(a!ina and the peope of <eyon sent out a messenger to
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trave towards that city aong a "road where they woud meet
no man for seven days" They had traveed aong the road for ony four days, when they met with the fortunate Togcepa,
whose story of initiation is tod in another pace"
Finay, Santipa and his circe arrived at ?iramasia"The master had !ecome very od and !ind, and his !ody
coud no onger function propery" His discipes fed him with
yogurt and sugar, for he had to give up rough food andcoud eat ony sma 6uantities" The master was now aready
a hundred years od"
For tweve years, Togcepa had meditated without conceptions,
whie Santipa had remained in the ream of conSA.
ceptuaiation" n that tweve years, Togcepa had perfected
the highest 8harma-nature" Because of this, whie Santipa
had to !e cared for !y his discipes, a the gods and 75ainisgave reverence to Togcepa, pouring am!rosia over hishead-which contented him greaty" The gods and 75ainis
reverenced him as the actua ?a)rasattva, and through his
spiritua efficacy, the auspicious o!)ects which constitute the
weath of the gods !egan to increase" Togcepa said: 3nti
o!taining the instructions of the guru, dug ony in the
outer mountain" /fter o!tained them, dug in the mountainof the mind and o!tained siddhi"3
ndra and the gods of the thirty-three heavens theninvited Togcepa to the divine a!odes, !ut Togcepa refused,
saying to them, 3 wi give reverence to my teacher, for my
guru is inder than even a Buddha"3 Then Togcepa arrived
at ?irama"Sia in a moment, though ooing with the eye
of nowedge, one coud see it was a siC months' )ourney
!etween cities" n his menta !ody, Togcepa !owed down tohis guru, though he was unseen !y his teacher's retinue"
Togcepa then reveaed himsef in his actua physica !odyand did measureess reverences"
2hen Togcepa put his head to the master's feet, Santipaased, 32ho are you93 3 am a student of yours,3 Togcepa
repied" 3But have had num!eress students,3 said Santipa,
3and do not recognie you"3 3 am Togcepa,3 was therepy,
and the two masters recognied one another and )oyfuyset to conversing"
Santipa said to his student, 32hat a!iities and 6uaities
have you o!tained9'9 /nd Togcepa answered, 3Having eCperiencedthe instructions of my teachers, have truy o!tained
the most eCceent 8harma-!ody of $ahamudra"3The guru Santipa then said, 3Though have spoen much,
have not practiced very much and have not met with the
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actua meaning" Since you have chiefy practiced and have
not spoen, you have encountered the meaning directy" have forgotten that gave instructions to you5 now you must
instruct me" 2hatever factors and 6uaities there are, teach
them to me"3So, in a 6uiet pace, Togcepa reveaed the many 6uaities
of the 8harma-!ody to his guru" /nd the guru, 4atnaara"
Santi, carried out his own previous instructions, and intweve years attained the highest siddhi of$ahamudra" Having
aided the aims of iving !eings, he went to the ream of
the 8aas"
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Tantipan the city of Sandhonagara, there ived a weaver with
many sons" Through his weaving, he !ecame possessed of
immeasura!e weath, and married wives of good famiy toa his sons" He continued to ive with them, and the entire
famiy of this weaver prospered without measure" The wifeof the weaver died when the weaver himsef was eighty-nine
years od and had !ecome aged, decrepit, and infirm in
!ody" He woud eat successivey with each of his daughtersin-
aw, !ut everyone aughed and made fun of the !ehavior
caused !y his age"
The daughters a met together, for they saw that peopewere turning away from seeing their od father-in-aw, and
they were accumuating evi" 3Let us !uid aKthatched hut inthe garden,3 they said, 3and feed him there"3 They a
agreed to this, and acted accordingy"
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/fter returning indoors, they said among themseves,
3This is not human-it must !e the wor of a demon"3 But !y the neCt morning, the news had spread, and a the
peope of Sandhonagara came and gave reverence to the
weaver" He then came forth, transforming his !ody into thatof a siCteen-year-od youth" $easureess rays of ight arose
from his !ody, and none coud !ear to oo upon him" His
!ody was ie a poished mirror, and everything appeared asight"
The od weaver !ecame famous everywhere as Tantipa,
and he did measureess deeds for the !enefit of iving !eings"
Finay, he went !odiy to the ream of the :+aas, together
with an uncounted number of iving !eings from Sandhonagara"
By having faith and devotion and istening to the instructions
of the guru, this od man was a!e to gain the successof$ahamudra in this very ife"
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<amaripaThe name <amaripa means 'the Shoemaer'" n the
city of Visunagara there were eighteen different artisan
castes, and <amaripa's caste was that of the shoemaers" He practiced his trade on od and new shoes, and his time wascompetey taen up in woring" +ne day, a yogin happened
!y" <amaripa !roe off immediatey from his wor, puthis hands to the feet of the mon, and spoe to him saying, 3
am disgusted with samsara and woud ie to practice the
8harma" But since have not met with a spiritua friend,
have not even entered the door of the 8harma" as you to
te me the 8harma for the !enefit of !oth this ife and the
neCt"3 The yogin answered, "If you are a!e to practice the
8harma, wi give it to you"3 The co!!er then ased theyogin if he woud eat food in his ow-caste home, and theyogin repied, 32hen return tonight, wi do so"3 /fter
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this, the co!!er announced the arriva of the yogin to his
wife and her hepers"2hen the yogin returned that night, the shoemaer aid
out a seat, washed the yogin's feet, and offered him various
nourishment" The wife and daughter offered him a thenecessities, and massaged him with oi" Then the yogin,
!eing peased, initiated the co!!er and his wife and gave
them these instructions:
Let the menta distortions and conceptions !e the
eather"
+n the !oard of friendiness and compassion,
with the dri of the guru's instructions,
sew propery with the cords
of giving up the eight wordy concerns"Then a shoe, a miracuous resut, wi appear"This wondrous shoe of the 8harma-!ody
wi not !e understood if you hod to wrong views"
3*ive up the peasant and the unpeasant !y the thread
of non-grasping" Let a the mars and conceptions !ecome
the eather" $editate on maing the marveous shoe of the8harma-!ody !y sewing the eather with the thread of your
own eCperience and the guru's instructions"332hat eCperiences wi arise when meditate in this
way93 ased the shoemaer" The yogin repied: 3First a feeing
of disgust with samsara wi arise" Then graduay the eements
wi merge into the 8harma-nature"3 /fter saying these
words, the yogin disappeared"
The shoemaer then eft his od house and went to a6uiet pace, where he meditated" Later, the signs arose progressivey
)ust as the guru had said" Through the anaogies of his craft, the shoemaer came to understand the siC root
distortions and the ignorance that underies them5 he produceda cear understanding, and made the shoe of the
guru's instructions" He practiced for tweve years, traversing
the entire ream of ignorance"
2hen <amaripa ceared away a the stains of ignorance,he o!tained the siddhi of $ahamudra" 8uring those
tweve years, he meditated without distinguishing the words
of his guru and the maing of shoes, and too no notice of
day and night" / the shoe craft was done !y ?isvaarman,
so it was not nown in Viisunagara that he had attained
success in meditation and in the accumuation of 6uaities"+ne day, however, one of the men of his guid came to
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visit him, and was amaed when he saw the shoemaer
meditating and ?isvaarman woring" +ne !y one, otherscame to see, unti everyone had seen this" They then gathered
together and ased the shoemaer for instruction"
He taught the !enefits of reying on the guru" Then, after having preached many doctrines to iving !eings in Visnunagara,
he !ecame nown everywhere as the yogin <amaripa"
Having wored for the !enefit of immeasura!e iving !eings, he went in that very !ody to the ream of the 8aas"
(hadgapa
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(hadgapa, 'the $an with a Sword', came from the
country of $agadha" He was of ow caste, his guru was theyogin <arpati, and he o!tained the sword siddhi which is
one of the eight shared powers" (hadgapa's father had !een
a farmer, !ut (hadgapa gave up this wor to !ecome athief" 8ay and night, his thoughts were directed toward ony
one thing-steaing" /t one time, this thief went into a city of
$agadha in order to stea, !ut he returned empty-handed"+n his way home, he passed through a cemetery and came
upon <arpati" He ased him what he was doing there,
sitting ie that, and <arpati repied, 3 am practicing
meditation, for fear !irth and death in samsara"3 32hat
good wi come of practicing meditation93 ased the thief"
To which the yogin repied, 3Since the yogin attains high
!irth as the resut of his meditation and can even attain thathappiness which is the fruit of the fina good, woud not evenyou ie to practice the 8harma93
3/dmira!e though the 8harma may !e, since must
continuay !e ro!!ing, do not have the eisure to sit meditating
in a cemetery" 2hat do you thin am, a ing's minister9
as for a power !y which can tae what want when
am ro!!ing a house, and not get caught !y anyone, evenif there is a strugge"3
So the yogin gave the ro!!er initiation and instructions:3n the and of $agadha, in the city of *orisamara, there is
a structure with the outer form of a stiipa" 2ithin it there is
a chape5 within the chape there is a statue of /vaoite-
vara, fied with spiritua power" <ircumam!uate the statue
for three wees without sitting down either day or night" Even
eat whie standing" Then, when you see a snae come outfrom under the foot of the figure, fearessy gra! its head"
Then you wi o!tain power"3 2ith these words, the yoginset him to practicing" The ro!!er too the instructions to
heart, and practiced accordingy"n twenty-one days, a great !ac snae came out from
under the foot of /vaoitesvara" The ro!!er gra!!ed its
head, and the snae changed into a sword: thus he hed the
shining sword of nowedge in his hands" He then purifiedhimsef of the menta stains of steaing, and o!tained the
siddhi of the sword" He !ecame famous under the name of
the yogin (hadgapa, and having purified himsef of a
deusions of !ody, speech, and mind, preached the 8harma
to everyone in $agadha for twenty-one days" Having eCpained
his cear understanding, he went !odiy into theream of the 8aas"
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agar)una agar)una ived in a pace caed (ahora, a section of (anci in eastern ndia" He was of Brahman caste, and he
o!tained siddhi from Tara" There were =,G cities in (ahora,
and a of them had !een pundered and despoied"
The Brahmans gathered together and decided to eave the
strife-torn and and go to another country" The master heard
this and sent a messenger to these Brahmans, counseingthem not to go to another and, for they woud find suffering
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in those paces as we" Then he gave them a his property
and weath" /fter this, the master eft (ahora, and havingcome to aanda, on the other side of the Sitavana, he !ecame
a mon"
$astering the five sciences, agar)una arrived at the pinnace of nowedge" Then, !ecoming disgusted with )ust
preaching, he set himsef to practicing, and saw Tara face to
face" He then a!andoned the home and sustenance of aanda-where a!ide the hundred assem!ies of the 8harmacirce-
and !egged ams in another city" 2hen again he
returned to his home, he thought to himsef: 32ith such a
menta attitude as now have, wi not !e a!e to accompish
the !enefit of iving !eings"3
n order to o!tain the 6uaities to !enefit iving !eings,
agar)una went to 4a)agrha" +n the first day of recitingmantras, tweve demonesses of the principa order of demonsshoo the earth" +n the second day, they caused water to
food" Fire appeared on the third day, and on the fourth,
a great wind" +n the fifth day, a rain of weapons fe, and
on the siCth, a rain of stones" +n the seventh day, a the
demonesses appeared in their own form and threw things
around, !ut they did not frighten the master out of hismeditation"
Then these demonesses of the orth came to him andsaid, 32hat can we do to serve you93 3Serve me enough to
sustain me5 need nothing more,3 agar)una said to them"
So every day from then on, they gave him four handfus of
rice and five vegeta!es" The master ate these and practiced
for tweve years" 8uring this time, one hundred and eight
demonesses gathered under his power, and his thoughtswere on doing !enefit for iving !eings"
agar)una then went to the mountain *hadhaSia andconsidered transforming that mountain into god for the
!enefit of iving !eings" He made the mountain first intoiron, and then into copper" But then the hoy $afi)usrr
counseed him that the god woud !ring a!out a great
6uarre among the peope, and evi woud accumuate"
Hearing this, agar)una a!andoned further effort" et tothe du-witted *hadhaa sti appears as a copper-coored
ump"
/fter this, agar)una traveed south toward Sriparvata"
0@ /ong the way, he came to the shores of the Brahmaputra
where he met a group of cowherds" He ased them
a!out a passage across the river, anci they showed him an inauspiciousway which was fied with ravines and crocodies"
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But another cowherd came aong who cautioned him a!out
the river and showed him a !etter pace to cross" /nd thecowherd set out across the river carrying the master on his
!ac"
n the midde of the river, agar)una caused crocodiesand other fearfu things to appear, !ut the herdsman continued
on, saying, 3ou need not !e afraid whie am sti
aive"3 The master then did away with the apparitions"Then they came to the shore, the master said, 3 am the
/rya agar)una" 8o you now me93 3 have indeed heard
ta of you,3 said the herdsman, 3!ut did not recognie
you"3 3et you have saved me from the river" 2hat can
give you as a reward93 The herdsman was eated" 3 woud
ie a method to !ecome ing,3 he said" So the master
ceared away some ground, sprined water on the trun of asaa tree, and it immediatey turned into an eephant" 3Thatwi !e your vehice,3 said agar)una" 2hen the herdsman
ased him if he woud need an army, the master repied, "If
the eephant trumpets, an army wi appear"3 It occurredeCacty as was said: the cowherd !ecame (ing Saa!handa,
his 6ueen was caed Sindhi, and he rued over the eCtraordinary
city of Bhahitana" nder this ing there were eight
hundred taC-paying cities of =, peope"
The master went south to Sriparvata, and he remained
there practicing meditation" But (ing Saa!handa missedhis guru" He went to Sriparvata, gave reverence to agar)una,
and circumam!uated him" 3Since my ingdom hassma vaue and arge pro!ems, my unhappiness is increasing"
do not need a ingdom" as ony to sit !efore the eyes
of the master"3
38o not desert your ingdom,3 repied agar)una" 3Let
the precious rosary !e your master" 4ue the ingdom, and
wi give you the eiCir which removes fear of death"3 The
ing was chagrined" "If it is necessary to rue the ingdom atthe same time as o!tain the eiCir, then wi do so" But
hope it is not necessary"3/though the ing did not want to return to his ingdom,
!ut ony wished to remain in that pace, the master gave him instructions to practice in his own country" The
ing then accompished the achemica art, and for one
hundred years he rued the ingdom" 8uring that time, the
peope !ecame weathy, and even the !irds and wid animasin the mountains ived happiy"
/fter one hundred years, the ing had reason to go againto agar)una, who was woring to eCtend the teachings of
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the Buddha" The evi spirit Sunandesvara had grown )eaous
and was producing various misfortunes and disruptiveomens" The moon and the sun had !ecome dim and without
uster5 a the fruit was rotting spontaneousy5 the rain did
not fa at the right time5 and famine was afficting the peope" Sicness and war increased" The trees and forests
were drying up, and various other unfortunate signs were
appeanng"(ing Salabhanda refected on this, thining that these
portents were a sign that harm had come to his guru" He
gave the ingdom to his son <andhiumara and together with ony a few of his foowers, he went to Sriparvata to the
presence of the master, who ased him, 3$y son, why haveyou come93 The ing repied:
Either and the peope have eChausted our fortune,or the <on6ueror's teachings have decayed"
+r the darer haf has !ecome the victor5
or the great compassion white ie the moon,
has !een covered !y demons ie raincouds"2i the hoy guru who is ie a diamond
foow the nature of compounded things9 have come !ecause these signs have occurredout
of your compassion, pease remain in the word"
The master repied, 3/ that is !orn must die" / compounded
things must disintegrate" / accumuations are
spent" Since a compound things are impermanent, why are
you unhappy9 Tae the eiCir for yoursef and go"3
3The eiCir is there in front of the guru" If the guru wi
not remain in the word, what need of die eiCir93 /nd so
the ing remained" Then the hoy master made gifts of a his property" 2hen the god Brahma appeared as a Brahman
and !egged for his head, agar)una agreed to give it to him"The ing, Saa!handa, coud not !ear suffering the death of
his teacher, and aying his forehead to the foot of the master,he died" Everyone turned on the Brahman and !amed him
for this"
The master then gave his head" However, no one coud
sever it5 so he finay had to cut off his own head, which hedid with a sta of usha grass" 2hen he then gave his head
to the Brahman, a the trees withered, and the peope'smerit degenerated" Eight of his yaksis were set to guarding
the master's !ody5 they are sti there"
/ ight then entered aga!odhi, the guru's successor,
and emanated for a!out a month during the year in whichight emanates" t is said that the !ody of the master wi rise
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in the future, and wi aid iving !eings when the Buddha
$aitreya appears"
KanhapaThe master (anhapa is aso nown as the master Krsnacari He ived in Somapuri, his guru was %aandhari,
and he was of the scri!e's caste" (anhapa was a mon of
the vihara of Somapuri, which had !een !uit !y (ing
8evapaa" Having !een initiated and given the instr:uctionsof Heva)ra !y the guru %aandhari, (anhapa practiced for tweve years" +ne day, the earth shoo, and he saw the
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divine hosts of Heva)ra" /t this he !ecame very happy" But a
daini said to him, 3 we-!orn son, since these signs do nothave any specia vaue, you shoud not fee !oastfu5 you
have not reaied the truth"3
et when (anhapa stepped up onto a stone and san hisfootprint into it, he !ecame very proud" He ignored what the
daini had said, thining that he had o!tained every power
of siddhi" /nd when he was a!e to raise himsef so that hisfoot did not touch ground !y a cu!it's height, his pride grew
even greater than !efore" Soon seven um!reas and seven
drums came down from the sy to accompany him5 when he
heard the characteristic sounds of the eements, he considered
that he had o!tained the powers of siddhi !y his own
means"
Then he said to his students: 3Since have o!tained such powers of siddhi, et us go to the demonic ream of Lana,the and of rasasas, to wor for the sae of iving !eings"3
He set out at once with an entourage of three thousand
students" 2hen they came to the ocean, (anhapa went on
without sining into the water, thining in his heart: 3Even
my guru does not have the a!iities have"3 His pride grew
greater, whereupon his powers eft him, and he san into thewater" /s the waves showed him his end, he ooed up and
saw his guru %aandhari appear in the sy" 32here are yougoing, (anhapa,3 ased %aandhari, 3and what are you
doing93 (anhapa !ecame ashamed" 3 was setting out to the
demon's ream of Lana" Beieving my powers to !e greater
than my guru's, my powers eft me" Because of my pride,
san into the water"3, 3This wi not do,3 said his guru" 3n
my country of Saiputra, where a righteous ing named8harmapaa resides, there ives a discipe of mine, a weaver"
*o to him and do whatever he says"32hen (anhapa decided he must act according to his
guru's instructions, he regained a his former a!iities" Hisfeet did not touch the ground5 um!reas and drums
appeared in the sy5 he eft his footprints in stone" Together
with his circe of three thousand discipes, he went to Saiputra"
Leaving his discipes in one pace, the master went insearch of the weaver" He met many weavers on the road and
eCamined them cosey, !ut they a needed toos to spice
together yarn that had !een cut" Finay Kanhapa came to a
pace at the outsirts of town where a weaver ived" He tested
him, and saw that he, of a the weavers, was a!e to spice
cut yarn" Having determined that he was certainy the rightweaver, Kanhapa circumam!uated him and did reverence"
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32i you isten to what te you93 the weaver ased"Kanhapa agreed to do so" They then went to a cemetery"<oming upon a corpse, the weaver said to Kanhapa, "If you
are a!e to eat that meat, then eat it"3 Kanhapa too out his
nife, and !egan to trim the fesh" 3%ust eat itD3 said theweaver, and so Kanhapa transformed himsef into a wof
and ate the fesh"
3ou can ony toerate eating fesh when you tae another shape,3 said the weaver" Then the weaver made three
peets of great odor and offered one to Kanhapa, saying:
3Eat itD3 Kanhapa refused, saying, 3.eope woud scorn me"3
Then the weaver ate one peet5 the gods of heaven carried
away one, and the nagas from !eow carried away the other"
/fter that, !oth Kanhapa and the weaver returned to
town" The weaver !ought food and wine with five pennies,saying: 3*o summon a your foowers, and assem!e themin a circe"3 Kanhapa thought, 3This food wi not satisfy
even one man5 how can it feed three thousand93 But he
assem!ed his students"
By the miracuous power of the weaver-yogin, the vesses
!ecame fied with rice-paste and other deicious things" The
foowers coud not consume the a!undance of good thingseven in seven days" 3our food and drin are ie an ocean
which cannot !e eChausted,3 said (anhapa" Then, when(awapa and his foowers were a!out to eave, the weaver
spoe:
Listen" Those yogins
who separate wisdom and means
!ring themseves downie chidish peope"
t wi do you no goodto go to another pace"
3The parasos and drums are trivia achievements" ou have
not reaied the 8harma-nature, so continue to practice"3
(fu:J:apa did not ie to hear this, so he went to a pace
caed Bhandoora, a city a hundred mies from the viharaofSomapuri in the East" As he was approaching the city, he
saw a gir at the foot of a tree, whose fruit is caed ychee"
3*ive me a fruit,3 (anhapa ordered the gir" She did not
want to give him one, so the master, !y his manner of gaing,
caused a fruit to drop" However, the gir, !y her manner
of gaing, caused the fruit to !e refastened to the tree" (anhapa !ecame enraged, and !egan to utter mantras against
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the gir" Boo6 dripped from a the gir's im!s, and she fe
to the ground" The peope !ecame indignant" 3Those whoca themseves Buddhists have great compassion" ogins
do not iD3 they said"
So (anhapa camed his mind, eCtended his thoughts of compassion to the gir, and withdrew the spe" But in doing
so, he dropped his own protection, and the gir cast a spe on
him" (awapa !ecame very sic, vomiting !ood and asoosing it from !eow" He said to a dain'i named Bandhe:
3n the South, on the mountain Sr'iparvata, there is a medicine
which is good for this vomiting of mine" *et it and
give it to me"3 n one day Bandhe arrived in Sr'iparvata,
athough the road she too ordinariy taes siC months to
trave5 and she o!tained the medicine"
Seven days aong the return road, Bandhe came uponthe same gir as !efore, who had now transformed hersef into an od woman and was sitt)ng !eside the road, crying"
32hy are you crying93 ased Bandhe" 32hy shoudn't
cry93 the woman repied" 3The yogin Kanhapa is dead and
am destitute"3 Bandhe thought, 3The medicine is of no use
now"3 So she threw it on the ground, and the od woman
carried it off" The dain'i then hurried to the house where(anhapa was staying, and she saw that he was not dead"
32here is the medicine93 ased (anhapa" Bandhe tod her story: /as, she was without it"
Then, for seven days (anhapa eCpained the 8harma to
his assem!y of students and gave them the instructions of
?arah'i 'with the cut-off head'" The master then dropped off
this !ody of ripened arma and went to the ream of the
8aas"The dain'i Bandhe grew angry and went ooing for the
girl" She coud not find her in the reams of the gods a!ove,or in the ower reams of the nagas, or in the midde ream of
men-!ecause the gir was hiding within a tree caed theShim!hia" The dain'i found her, cast a spe, and ied the
tree"
+ne shoud now that pride and )eaousy are hindrances"
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(arnaripa(arnaripa was !orn of a miracuous !irth from among
the four possi!e modes of !irth" He went to the monastery
of Sri aanda, where he was made master of a the monsand where he had a hundred thousand pupis" But though
he sought instructions from many masters, reaiation didnot come forth" +ne day he heard that the great master
agar)una was residing in the South, and with considera!efaith and )oy, he set out on the southern road"
+n the shore of a great ocean, the hoy $an)usri appeared
in the form of a fisherman" (arnaripa saw him, gave
reverence to him, and presented a mandaa to him" 3 am
going to the southern ands where the master agar)unaa!ides" .ease show me the way,3 he said" 3agar)una iveswithin the thic forest over there, practicing achemy,3 said
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the fisherman"
(arnaripa went to the forest and he saw that the master,having coected the necessary materias for achemica
operations, was preparing them" 8oing reverence, (arnaripa
made his re6uest" agar)una cared for him and gavehim encouragement" (arnaripa was initiated into the mandaa
of *uhyasama)a, and having !een given instructions,
he sat down to meditate in front of the master" ot far from this thic forest, there was a city where
the two masters woud go to !eg ams" (ari;aripa received
sweets as his ams, !ut the master agar)una did not" 3Because
these ams of yours were given !y a ustfu woman,
they are not sweet,3 said agar)una" "It is not auspicious for
you to o!tain sweet food" eCt time, do not put it on the top
of the arge eaf you use to coect food, !ut tae it up on the point of a neede"3 (arnaripa then accepted a itte ricegrue, which he ate instead"
The neCt day, the women made wheatcaes and put a
sorts of sweets on top of them" (ari;aripa too them up on
the point of a neede and, in tum, served them to his guru"
agar)una then ased him, 3How did you o!tain this93 3
too it )ust as my guru had said shoud do,3 (arnariparepied" 3From now on,3 said agar)una, 3you are not to go
into town" Stay inside the house"3arnaripa oeyed and remained there, ut while he was
there, a tree goddess appeared in her true form and served
him many sweet foods. /he gave him reveren!e and praised
him. He took these alms and served them to his guru, who
asked, %0rom whom did you get these(% %1 tree&goddess
rought them,% arnaripa replied.
The holy master went out to the tree goddess to dis!over
the truth. He looked for her, ut he did not see her in her
true form he saw only an arm up to the shoulder. %2ou
showed your true form to my student,% the master said.%"hy is it that you do not show it to me(% %2ou have not
aandoned a portion of your mental distortions,% said a
voi!e from the tree. %2our dis!iple has aandoned su!h
mental distortions without remainder and so he saw me.%
Both the master and the student !onsidered these words.
%It is ne!essary to take the eli)ir of the al!hemists,% 3agar$
4una said. He gave it to 1ryadeva 5as arvaripa was now
!alled6 and he himself also took some. Then arnaripa
smeared the eli)ir on a arren tree and the tree grew leaves.
"hen the master saw this, he smiled. %If you .smear myal!hemi!al eli)ir on a tree, !ome ring some of the eli)ir to
me.% %I will serve it as you wish,% said arnaripa. He then
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put his own water into a full water&vessel and stirred the
water with a sti!k. It e!ame as the essen!e of the al!hemists.
Then he pi!ked up the eli)ir and offered it to his master.
3agar4una dis!arded the eli)ir on a arren tree, and the tree
grew. In this way, the master determined whether or not his
student's reali#ation had grown.
/eeing that arnaripa's e)perien!e of reali#ation had
arisen, 3agar4una spoke$ %o not stay in samsara.% Immediately
upon hearing this, arvaripa prepared to go into the
sky, ut suddenly a woman who had followed him, did
reveren!e to him. %"hy do you want to do reveren!e to
me(% arnaripa asked. %I must have your eye,% the woman
answered" 3 am !ound !y attachment to your eye5 nothing
ese is necessary for me"3 The master too out his right eye
and gave it to her" /nd he !ecame nown as /ryadeva,
'2ith +ne Eye'"
/ryadeva #(arnaripa& then mastered the instructions
of agar)una" He purified the stains of his mind and wascompetey freed from a !onds" He praised the words of
his guru, and rising seven taas into the air, he preachedthe 8harma to many iving !eings, causing them to !e
free of !onds" 2ith his hands foded, !ut with his feet up
in the air and his head !eow, he did reverence to his guru
sitting !eneath him"
Then /ryadeva went to the top of the heavens wherethe gods of the height caused a rain of fowers" /fter thathe !ecame invisi!e"K This ends the story of the master
/ryadeva, who has the second name, the guru (arnaripa"
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ThaganapaThaganapa means 'the $an 2ho /ways Tes Lies'5
this is his story" Thaganapa ived in the east of ndia, and as
a resut of his arma, he made his iving as a man of owcaste" +ne day, whie sitting on a tree trun, he entered into
thought, considering in what ways he coud te ies to others"
/ we-discipined mon came near him and ased, 32hatare you doing here93 3our reverence, do not want to say,3
he said" 3Te me without ying,3 said the mon" 3f you ie,there are various inds of arma produced" ou may !e
re!orn in he" ou wi want to ie and others wi not trust
you" The resut refecting the cause is that a !ad sme wi
come from your mouth and you wi spea deviousy" The
predominant resut wi !e that in the future state, your
tongue wi !e ie a pow in a rocy fied, producing fruit of
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itte vigor"3
Thaganapa had never reaied what resuts woud comefrom his ying" Having heard these words, he !ecame very
afraid, and spoe truthfuy to the mon: 3our reverence,
am caed Thaganapa" am aways ying and have not spoeneven a hundredth part of a hair of the truth" 2hat can
do a!out my ying93
32i you practice the 8harma93 ased the mon" "If
your reverence wi preach the 8harma to me" But since have !een accustomed to ying from eary on, may not !e
a!e to give it up so easiy"3 3There are instructions which donot re6uire giving up ying,3 said the mon" pon hearing
this, Thaganapa !ecame happy and said, 32oud you
indy grant me that 8harma93
The mon initiated him in a way appropriate to his !odiy constituents, mind, and dispositions" He instructed
him that )ust as one uses water to remove water from the ear,so ying can !e the antidote to ying" He tod Thaganapa to
meditate on things !eing fase from the very !eginning5 andhis menta stream !ecame fuy mature" The essence of the
teachings is as foows:
3/ eCisting things which are o!)ects of nowedge are
from the !eginning, fase" Everything eCperienced !y the siC
sense facuties and the siC o!)ects-your seeing and hearing
and so forth-is fase" So meditate on everything as onyfasehood"3
/s for the eCisting things of this word of appearances,what is not nown to !e true is seen as fase"
ndeed, nowing and the o!)ects of nowing are a fase5
so if the siC senses and their o!)ects are fase,
where do you find the truth9
/nd so you remain in the misery of samsara"
chid, if you do not recognie the fase as fase,
you tae it as true5 and ie a waterwhee,you are ost again and again in samsara"Therefore you shoud actuay meditate on the faseness
of a eCisting things"
%ust as words are fase,
so aso are the physica forms and such"So grasping this, meditate on the fase"
Having !een instructed in this way, Thaganapa meditatedon a the data of consciousness as fase" n seven years,
the reaiation arose that this word of appearances indeed
appears fasey5 and he reaied that a eCisting things are
fase" Because of this, he turned away from hoding them as
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rea" /gain the guru came and eCpained: 3The eCisting
things are not efficacious, even as fasehoods" Since their verynature is empty, these eCisting things are neither created nor
destroyed" $editate now in this way"3
Thaganapa came to reaiation in that way" He too conceptuaiation as his path, and he o!tained siddhi" n a
directions, he was nown as the guru Thaganapa" He gave
instructions to many fortunate ones, and in this very !ody,he went to the ream of the 8aas"
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aropa aropa came from a famiy of wine-seers, !ut he himsef
gave up this famiy profession" n Saiputra, in eastern
ndia, he earned his iving !y gathering wood" ow, aropa
heard it tod that there ived, in Visnunagara, a very wiseman named Tiopa" Thereupon aropa eCchanged his oad
of wood for a !ac anteope's pet, too up the ha!it of ayogin, and finay set out in search of the yogin Tiopa"
He came to Visnunagara and ased for the yogin, !ut themaster had gone off, eaving everyone !ereft" aropa wandered
through the and, !ut did not find him" Finay, after a
ong search, he met Tiopa on the road" aropa did reverence,
and circumam!uated Tiopa saying, 3 guru, are you
in good heath93 3 am not your guru and you are not my
student,3 said Tiopa" /nd in anger he !egan to thrash aropa, !ut aropa's faith ony increased"
aropa then gathered ams in a cay pot and presentedthem in front of his guru-who !ecame angry and !eat him
as !efore" aropa's faith increased even more" He ate the
remaining food and made circumam!uation" aropa
!rought ams again in the evening, and the neCt morning he
went out for more" n this way, for tweve years, he did
reverence !efore the guru without despairing, athough the
guru did not spea any words to him eCcept in anger"+ne day, aropa was !egging ams where a weddingwas taing pace" He received great amounts of food of
rriany different inds and a 6uantity of a very tasty dish
caed 'green patasa' which had eighty-four different ingredients"
He gave this dish to his guru" The guru ate it and wasso peased that he said: 3$y son, where did you get such
food9 2ho gave it to you93 aropa fet the eCtraordinary )oy that is o!tained in the
first Bodhisattva stage" He thought to himsef: 3For tweve
years stayed near my guru and he did not even say '2ho
are you9' ow he has said '$y son'"3 /s he refected on this,
aropa !ecame very happy" 3Son,3 said Tiopa, 3go get me
some more of this deicious dish"3 Four times aropa wentto get the food, and everyone in the house was gad to give it
to him" The fifth time, aropa was ashamed to as again, !ut fet that if he did not get it, the guru woud !e dispeased"
So he ;went to as once more5 seeing that a the
guests of the househoder were distracted, he stoe the pot
fu of food and carried it away" 2hen he presented it to hisguru, the guru was most peased" aropa was initiated with
!essings and given the instructions of ?a)ravarahi" /fter
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meditating for siC months, he o!tained siddhi and !ecame
famous everywhere under the name aropa" From everydirection, peope came to mae offerings to him, and a ight
arose from his heart that was visi!e for the distance of a
month's trave" /fter woring for the !enefit of countess !eings, he finay went to the ream of the 8aas"
ShaipaThe name Shaipa means 'the 2of-man'" Shaipa5who was of ow caste, ived in the city of ?ighasura near a
cemetery where pacs of woves howed at night" 8ay and
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Tiopan the and of Bhigunagara, there ived a very earned
master named Tiopa" He was the o!)ect of the ing's devotion
and worship and was given a su!sidy of five hundredgod coins every day" +ne day he !ecame distur!ed whie
preaching the 8harma to the measureess circe of students
that surrounded him" He refected on the meaningessness of his ife, and fied with this thought, desired to sip away" His
foowers tried to prevent him from doing so, !ut when he
was aone, the master put aside his monastic gar! and
dressed himsef in patched cothing" He wrote a etter andeft it in his house: 3 wi not return again" 8o not come
after me"3 8uring the night, he eft"
Tiopa setted down in a cemetery in the city of (anci,where he too food and provender and practiced" aropa
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came to him and offered food, and whie iving ie this,
Tiopa purified the stains without remainder" /fter practicingfor ten years, he o!tained the success of $ahamudra"
Having gone to the ream of the gods, Tiopa was given
food offerings !y the deities" Having o!tained the successfu powers of !ody, speech, and mind, he !ecame famous in a
directions as Tiopa" He set measureess num!ers of persons
on the path, and wored for the !enefit of iving !eings"Finay, in this very !ody, he went to the ream of the 8aas"
<atrapa
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<atrapa, 'the Beggar 2ho <arries a Boo', ived in
Sandhonagara, and though he was a !eggar, he carried asma dictionary in his hand" +ne day he met with a wediscipined
yogin who ased him, 32hat are you doing93 3
am !egging for my iveihood,3 <atrapa repied" The yoginthen ased him, 38o you not need the path for your neCt
ife93 But the !eggar ased the yogin, 3How shoud regard
such a path93 The yogin then initiated him into Heva)raand gave him these instructions:
<onfess a your sins5
meditate )oy a day and night"
Loo to your !ody for what you have done !efore5
what wi happen ater depends on your mind"
2hen you have meditated thisK way for a ong time,the signs wi arise progressivey,and you wi o!tain Buddhahood
in this very ife"
But <atrapa did not understand the meaning of this"
The guru eCpained:3 'Sin' means ignorance, and from it a
sorts of deusions arise" But if you hod to the view that reaiesthat the word of appearances is $ahamudra, your sins
wi !e purified"3 '$editate )oy, day and night' means that if you meditate
compassion continuousy, the !iss of the 8harma-nature
wi arise !y itsef" If one does not hod the deeds of pastand future as a!soute, the mode of iving which arises from
inner power wi !e perfect"
3'2hat wi occur ater' means a your happiness and
misery arise from your mind" It depends on whether or not
you are sti cinging to your attachments"
3 'n this way for a ong time' means you shoud cutivate
vigor and eCamine the mind undistractedy" f you meditatein this way, you wi turn away from the mind's deusions-and as a resut, you wi o!tain Buddhahood in this very
ife"3
$ter the guru had given his instructions in this way,
<atrapa meditated in Sandhonagara" n siC years, he o!tained the siddhi of $ahamudra" /nd !eing famous in a
directions as the guru <atrapa, together with a circe of fivehundred, he went to the ream of the 8aas"
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So get out"3
3That is not impurity,3 said the yogin" 32hen the !ody,speech, and mind contain unvirtuous 6uaities, that is impurity"
By washing the !ody, you do not purify the defiements
of the mind" That which ceans the stains of the mindare the guru's instructions-which are pure from the very
!eginning"3 /nd he continued:
Those of the $ahayana famiy are the highest,Ksatriya or Brahman are not as good"
2hie it is not good to have a dirty !ody,
merey !athing with water wi not mae you pure"
+ny the instructions of a we-6uaified guru
can wash you competey cean"
The highest food and drin are without attri!utions5rice and mi cannot accompish that"
2hen the yogin had spoen this and more, the Brahman
too faith, and ased the yogin to give him instructions" The
yogin answered, 32e, wi do as you as if you give me
food"3"If you teach me the 8harma here in my home,3 said the
Brahman, 3my househod and friends wi !e suspicious"
wi go to where you ive" 2here are you staying93 3 ive in
a cemetery,3 the yogin repied" 3<ome there, !ringing wineand por"3 3f it is improper for a Brahman even to pronounce
the words 'wine' and 'por', how can it !e proper tocarry them with me93 But the yogin repied, 3Bring them if
you want the instructions"3 3 cannot as for these things !y
day,3 said the Brahman, 3so wi come to you at night"3
The Brahman, disguising himsef, went to the maret
and !ought the wine and por, after which he went to the
cemetery and presented them to the yogin" The yogin ate
some himsef and gave some to the Brahman" He then gavethe Brahman the initiation which transfers spiritua power,and the Brahman offered a mandaa"
The yogin then made the Brahman sweep the house to
!rea his pride in caste, after which he eCpained the sym!os
of right understanding" He had the Brahman paster the was, and then he eCpained the sym!os of proper
activity: 3The coor of the paster is the sym!o of meditation"The con)unction of the three-the wa, the paster, and
the act of appying it-is the sym!o of the resut"3
The Brahman, reaiing the meaning of these sym!os,
understood that the word of appearances is the pro)ection of
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iusion" He a!andoned a conception of caste, and he !ecame
a yogin" n siC years of meditating, he o!tained thesiddhi of $ahamudra, and !ecame famous everywhere as
the yogin Bhadrapa" He wored for the !enefit of iving
!eings, and finay, with a circe of five hundred foowers, hewent to the ream of the 8aas in this very ife"
(handipa
(handipa or 8huandi, if transated, means 'He 2ho$aes Two into +ne'" He was of the sweepers caste, and was
a !eggar in the city of*ha"%&apura" He made his cothes !y
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coecting scraps from the gar!age pies and sifuy
patching them together" +ne day, a we-discipined yogincame aong and ased him how he coud ive in such misery
and poverty" 32oudn't you rather practice the 8harma93
The !eggar repied, 32ho woud teach the 8harma to me933 wi teach you,3 said the yogin, and initiated the !eggar
into <arasamvara" He gave him instructions on the
8eveoping Stage, the .erfecting Stage, and their Tota ntegration"The !eggar tried to meditate, !ut found himsef thining
a!out sewing cothes, and did not want to continue" 3
do not want to meditate this morning,3 he said to the yogin,
3!ecause have distracting thoughts"3 The yogin then gave
instructions which woud tae these thoughts as path:
ECisting things are in suchness5
there is no sewing or things to !e sewn"The gods and mantras are ie that5
and the reaiation of this is the 8harmadhatu"2hen the !eggar meditated accordingy, he ost the
thoughts of sewing cothes, even osing the gods and mantrasin the ream of the 8harma-nature" He reaied the 8eveoping
Stage, the .erfecting Stage, and their Tota ntegration"
n tweve years, he o!tained the siddhi of$ahamudra"
He wored for the !enefit of countess iving !eings and
went to the ream of the 8aas"
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/)oipaThe name /)oipa means 'the Lay Bum'" n the city of
Saiputra, there was a son of a househoder, who was very
fat" +f the four modes of action-ying down, sitting, standing,and waing-his most common mode was the first" His
parents and reatives chased him out, saying, 32hat good isa son ie this93 He came to a cemetery, and there he ay
down" / yogin happened aong, and upon seeing the !oy,
compassion arose in him"
ow, the yogin had o!tained food and drin in the city,
which he then gave to the young man" But the !oy did not
even get up to eat the food" "If you wi not get up to eat,3said the yogin, 3what in the word can you do93 3$y parents
got rid of me !ecause coud do nothing,3 /)oiparepied" 3<oud you not use the 8harma whie you are ying
there93 ased the yogin" 3 coud indeed,3 said /)oipa, 3!ut
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who woud teach the 8harma to one ie me93 3 wi give it
to you,3 repied the yogin, and he gave him the initiation of Heva)ra" He gave instructions on the stages of the Lesser
<onsummation:
3n the meditation of the pper 8oor5 meditate condensingthe three word systems into a drop, the sie of a
white mustard seed, on the tip of your nose"3 /)oipa then
ased, 32hat signs wi occur during this meditation933$editate and you wi now them,3 was the yogin's repy"
/)oipa meditated in this way, and having dissoved the
image of the three word systems and the mustard seed into
emptiness, he produced the reaiation of $ahamudra" He
meditated for nine years, and he o!tained the siddhi of
$ahamudra" /fter woring for the !enefit of iving !eings,
he went in this very !ody to the and of the 8aas"
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of sef and other into the reaiation of the 8eveoping Stage,
the .erfecting Stage, and the ntegration of the two, heacted according toK the spontaneous !ehavior arising from
inner power" The peope of 4a)apura a caed him a cray
man, !ut he said:
Some things are hed as sef, some appear as other:
These two appear to have an a!soute nature"
If the wise understand these correcty,the divine hosts of conceptuaiations
within the etter /
dissipate ie the rain!ow in the sy"
/rising, duration, and cessation
no onger pertain to me, the <ray +ne"
$y !ehavior arising from non-dua power is !issDThe cear unceasing reaiation is !issD
$editating unceasingy on the siC assem!ies is !issDThe effortess resut is !issD
He then rose seven taas in the sy and dispayed various
miraces" From then on, he was caed the guru (aapa"
Later he went to the ream of the 8aas"
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indeed,3 they repied"
The yogin then initiated the two men into <arasamvara"He gave them the instructions, and !essed them with
mantras, mudras and samadhis" They meditated for tweve
years, purifying their !odies !y mudras, their speech !ymantras, and the stains of their minds !y samadhi" This is
the essence of their instructions:
By the scading water of mudras,
the stains of the !ody are ceansed5
!y the water of vowes and consonants,
the stains of speech are purified"
%oining the hero and heroic ady,
the stains of the mind are wiped away"
They accordingy performed the mudras and recited themantras" Having meditated on the mind as insepara!e
from the 8eveoping and .erfecting Stages, they purified
the stains of !ody, speech, and mind" 2hen they o!tained
the siddhi of$ahamudra, the cothes were ceansed !y themseves
without the men having to wash them" The peope
saw this, and reaied that the washermen had perfectedthese 6uaities" They !ecame famous in a directions as
8hom!ipa5 they wored for the !enefit of sentient !eings,
and after a hundred years, went to the ream of the 8aas"
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(am!aan the and of (anarama, there was a ing who rued
some ,>, cities" He had two sons" 2hen this ing died,
the edest son, due to his peasing nature, was consecrated as
ing !y the subjects. Because of the ing's virtues, the inha!
itants a prospered5 they ived in uCury, eating from pates
of god"
/fter !ecoming ing, the prince, who had not seen hismother for many months, ased, 32here has my mother gone9 2hy does she not come to see me anymore93 3She is
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grieving for your father,3 was the answer"
/fter a year had passed, his mother came to him crying"32hy is my mother crying93 he ased" 3 am crying !ecause
am not happy that you are sitting on the )eweed throne,
ruing the ingdom"3 So the prince said to his mother,32hat if were to set my younger !rother to ruing the
ingdom and entered the monastic order9 2oud my mother
then !e happy93 3That woud !e the right thing to do,3she said" So he gave the ingdom to his younger !rother, entered
the order, and remained in a vihara together with a
circe of three hundred mons" But again his mother came to
him weeping"
He greeted her and said, 3$other, why are you crying93
3 am sti not happy,3 she said" 3Though you are in the
monastic order, you are )ust ie a ing in the midst of a !usting crowd"3 32hat then shoud do93 ased the prince"3/!andon this !uste for an isoated pace,3 she repied" So
he gave up the vihara, and he sat at the foot of a tree in an
isoated pace, getting his provisions !y !egging ams"
/gain his mother came to him and wept" The son
greeted her, and said, 32hat shoud do now93 /nd his
mother said, 32hy are you hoding on to those senseessmonastic impements of iveihood93 So he discarded his
mon's ro!e and !ow and such and too up the ha!it of ayogin" He went into another country and, on the way, his
mother, who was a daini, initiated him into <arasamvara
and eCpained the 8harma"
The son sept in the ashes of the cemetery and practiced
for tweve years" He o!tained the siddhi of $ahamudra,
and went to the heavens" His mother, together with many"ainis, foowed him to the heavens and said to her son,
3+f what use is this great wonder, this waing in the sies, if you do not wor for the !enefit of sentient !eings9 If you are
a!e to do so, wor for the !enefit of iving !eings"3So the master set out for the west to $aapura in
""iyana, a city of 0G, inha!itants" n a pace caed
(ar!ira, in an isoated pace in Banava, he sat in a cave
caed 'The +pening at the Top of the Taas'"The witches of the area noticed his presence" +ne witch
informed another, and the 6ueen of the witches, admadevi,
together with her entourage, went to o!struct him"
The master, wearing a !ac woo coa, went to !egams in the town" +n the road, he met with a witchgir, who
came up to him saying, 32e have prepared food for you5 pease come into our house"3 3 do not eat inside houses,3 the
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He !ecame famous under the name (am!aa or Lvapa"
For countess years he wored for the !enefit of iving !eings, and in that very !ody, he went to the ream of the
8aas"
TengipaTengipa was a Brahman, a minister of (ing ndrapaa
of Saiputra" He and the ing !ecame disgusted with samsara,so they !oth went to the cemetery where Luyipa ived,
and noced on the door of his hut" 32ho is there93 ased
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the master" 3The ing and his minister,3 they repied"
Liiyipa then wecomed them in, and after they had firstsu!mitted their !odies as an initiation fee, initiated them
into the mandaa of <arasamvara"
They went into a foreign and, +dissa, and there thethree, master and students, !egged ams" t was there that
the ing was sod, as is tod in the story of 8aria"
The two, the master Liiyipa and the Brahman minister,arrived a wee ater at %intapura, the pace of a Buddhist
ing" They went to the residence of a wine-seing woman,
and finding the chief wine-seer at home, Liiyipa said to her,
3 Lady, wi you pease !uy him93 From the inside, she
repied, 3 wi !uy him" How much do you want93 3Three
hundred god coins wi do,3 he said" She paid the price, and
too the Brahman away" /s the master was eaving, he said,3For such a price, may he seep aone5 and et him go whenyour money is regained"3
The Brahman was very happy carrying out his duties as
a wine-seer, and eventuay he !ecame the chief of the
woman's whoe househod" Then one day, athough he had
finished his day's wor at the inn, he was not !rought his
food" 2hen night came, he went to seep in the garden, !utsti the wine-seing woman had not sent food" 2hen finay
she remem!ered and sent food to him, those who !roughthim his food saw five-hundred divine maidens maing
offerings to the Brahman, whose !ody was shining" They
reported this to the woman, and she repented of what she
had done"
She said to the minister, 3 have sinned for maing you
wor these tweve years" .ease, to mae up for this, woudyou consent to !e my o!)ect of reverence for tweve years9
wi mae offerings to you and honor you"3He did not accept the offer, !ut instead, after preaching
the 8harma to the wine-seing woman and the peope of %intapura, he gave them instructions for practice" He then
went to the ream of the 8aas with a retinue of seven
hundred"
Because he performed the wor of a rice-huser, he !ecamenown as Teigipa, and so it is said in this verse:
Teigipa who recited the ?edas
too up the idea of husing rice"
He aways hused the rice carefuy,
gathering it into pies !y hand"He !eat the rice grains !y the guru's instructions5
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the dar rice grains he !eat"
/t first, he pounded sin with virtue, !y the peste of va)ra nowedge"
He shone ie the sun and the moon,
in the emptiness of the mortar"He pounded ac6uiring and renouncing into nonduaity,
and churned his conceptions with the sound of HUNG
The pure !utter of great )oy arose,and he tasted the favor of non-duaity"
Teigipa was sod to the wine-seing woman !ecause of
his considera!e attachment to his !eing a Brahman5 the
wine-seing woman, having taen him in, cut down his
pride in caste"
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mmeasura!es as methods of yogic protection"
Having produced the fruits of compassion, happiness,friendiness, and e6uanimity in meditation, he purified a
the poisons of deusions and wrong views" He o!tained the
$ahamudra siddhi, and !ecame famous in a directions asthe yogin Bhandhepa" 2hen ?isvaarman in6uired of him,
he repied:
?ision without perceptions,
meditation without cutting the fow,
deeds ie mother and father,
and resuts ie the sy"
These are the four see without distinction"
How can one succeed !y hoding things wrongy9
Behod, one shoud aways rey' on a guruwho is a master of wonders"
For four hundred years Bhandhepa spoe in this wayand wored for the wefare of measureess iving !eings in
the siC great reams of Sravasti" Then, together with four
hundred foowers, he went to the ream of the 8aas in thisvery !ody"
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TandhepaTandhepa, 'the 8ice-payer', was a person of ow caste
in the and of(ausam!i Having eChausted a of his weath
!y continuousy paying dice, he was soon penniess" Hecontinued to compusivey pay dice, !ut since he had ost a
of his money, everyone avoided him" He !ecame so de)ectedthat he went to a cemetery and remained there"
/ yogin came aong and said to him, 32hat are youdoing here93 Tandhepa repied, 3 ove to pay dice, !ut
have ost my entire fortune" Both my !ody and mind are
tormented, and so am staying here"3 The yogin then ased
him, 32oud the 8harma !e of use to you93 To which Tandhepa
repied, 3 cannot give up dice-paying" But if there
is a teaching which woud not mae me give it up, then coud use it"3 3There is such a one,3 said the yogin, and he
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gave him initiations and instructions:
3$editate on the three words !eing emptied )ust asyour purse is emptied when you pay dice" $editate on the
mind itsef !eing empty, as empty as the three words"3
%ust as you can get rid of a fortune at dice,
you can get rid of conceptions !y the dice of nowedge"
ou shoud pound the conceptionsinto the 8harma-!ody
)ust as you are now pounding on yoursef"
%ust as surey as you seep in this cemetery,
you wi rest in great )oy"
Tandhepa meditated according to the way he was
taught, dissoving the conceptuaiations of the three wordsinto the 8harma-nature" n this way, he ac6uired thenowedge arising from the cear understanding that everything
is without sef-nature" Having o!tained the fruit of
$ahamudra, he said:
f at first distress did not arise,
then how coud enter the path of i!eration9If had not taen recourse to my guru with faith,
how woud have entered the highest siddhi9
/fter he had spoen, he rose in the sy, and in that very
!ody, he went to the ream of the 8aas"
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ukkuripa+nce there was a Brahman from (apia"Saru who too
faith in the mantra vehice" Taing up the practices of a
yogin, he went a!out !egging for provisions" +ne day, hecame across a starving femae puppy on the road that eadsto the city of Lum!ini" Feeing compassion for her, he intended
to tae her with him to the city" /fter ooing aaround, he found an empty cave where he eft the puppy
whie he o!tained provisions" He then decided to practice in
that pace"
/fter tweve years, he o!tained the wordy siddhis such
as cairvoyance and other powers5 he therefore was invited
to the heavens of the thirty-three gods" /nd so he went there,
eaving the dog in the cave !y hersef" Left without the man,she dug into the earth5 water and food arose, and so sheremained in the cave"
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The gods made offerings to the yogin,K !ut then he
remem!ered his dog of former times" 2hen he started toreturn, the gods tried to prevent him, saying, 3Having o!tained
your a!iities, it is not right to hod ideas such as that
of a dog" ou shoud remain here"3 They repeated this againand again, hoding him !ac"
However one day, he did not isten to them, and returned
to the cave with its stream" 2hen he patted the dog,she !ecame a "aini, who said:
2e done, we done, you are a son of good famiyD
ou did not remain in those powers that hinder"
ou wi attain the higher siddhi"
The previous powers can deceiveyou
have purified your wrong views"Having these a!iities is not such a wonder"The mother wi !estow the hoy siddhis,
the highest of great )oys without impurity"
Speaing in this way, she gave him the teachings of the
sym!os which unite wisdom and method, and he o!tained
the highest siddhi" The menta outoo which is pure andunchanging arose, and from then on, everyone in Lum!ini
caed him the guru (uuripa" He worked for the !enefit of
iving !eings, and together with an assem!y of peope from
the city of(apia"Saru, he went to the ream of the 8aas in
that very !ody"
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$ahipa, 'the Braggart', was a man of ow caste who
ived in the and of $agadha" He had great !odiy strength, !ut was aways under the power of his pride, for he thought
he coud su!due any man or indeed any iving !eing" +ne
day a yogin came !y and seeing him, said, 32hat are youthining a!out9'' 3 am not thining of anything,3 $ahipa
repied" 32e then, what a!out 'there is nothing cannot
overpower'9 2hat do you consider that93 Thereupon $ahipa !ecame a !eiever and did reverence to the yogin,
saying, 3 give you most respectfu greetings"3 The yogin, in
repy, tod him to purify the stains of his arrogance" 3.ease
teach me how,3 said $ahipa" The yogin said he woud
teach him, and gave him the initiation which transfers spiritua
power:
ou shoud now that appearances are in the mind, !ut the mind is empty-not produced, not destroyed"
$editation is hoding to that without distractionas
a resut, the mind !ecomes the vast eCpanse"
But $ahipa answered, 3 do not understand this"3 So
the yogin then continued:
Since you are powerfu,there is nothing you cannot su!due"
These three-appearances, !reath, and wisdomyou
must hod to !e ie the sy's eCpanse"
$ahipa was taught the instructions which tae contradictions
as path" Thining, 32hat is the difficuty in that93he hed to the path and persevered" Since he coud not find
an o!)ect, he was no onger conscious of !eing "the su!)ect" Bythe emptiness which is ie the eCpanse of sy, he o!tained
siddhi"For three hundred years, he gave powerfu instructions
to countess !eings to !e converted in the country of $agadha,
and with a circe of 0G foowers, he entered the
ream of the 8aas in this very !ody"
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/cintan the city of 8hanariipa, there ived a man of the
wood-seer caste whose name was /cinta, which means 'He
2ho s Beyond Thought'" He was very poor and onged dayand night for weath5 he had no other interest in the word
than how he coud o!tain money and fortune" But since
these were ony daydreams, he !ecame discouraged andwent off to a deserted pace to !rood"
The yogin (am!aa came aong, saw this woodseer,and said, 3ou are aone and sient in this oney spot" 2hat
is it that you are thining a!m=t, sitting here93 3 am depressed,
yogin, for my heart dwes on money and wordy
fortunes" cannot thin a!out anything ese"3 3f there were
instructions to find weath and fortune, coud you practice
them93 ased the yogin" 32ithout a method, cannot practice
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anything,3 the man said" /nd he re6uested instruction"
The yogin then initiated him into <arasamvara and gavehim these instructions on the profound .erfecting Stage:
How can you o!tain weath !y )ust wishfuthining9
*ive up these daydreams,
which are ie the son of a !arren woman"The !est !ody has the nature of the sy"
<ontempate that your mind is as !right as the
many stars,
and you wi !ecome ie the god of weath himsef"
2hen these things !ecome evident,
then everything you desire wi arise"
The wood-seer meditated accordingy" He fused hisideas a!out weath and fortune with the stars, and dissoved
these stars into the nature of the sy" /nd in this way, he
!ecame devoid of conceptions"
Then his guru came again and said, 3Having spoen
with no conceptions whatsoever, you have !ecome free of
them"3
Since your nature has !ecome ie the sy,did you use it as an o!)ect, or what9
If you meditate free of coor and shape,
in what way can you desire things9
Having reaied the meaning of this, the wood-seer
o!tained the siddhi of $ahamudra" He !ecame famous as
the guru /cinta, and instructed others on the rea nature of
Kthings, woring for the !enefit of iving !eings for three
hundred years" Then with a circe of foowers measureess in
eCtent, he went in that very !ody to the ream of the 8aas"
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Ba!hahiThe meaning of Ba!hahi is 'the $an 2ho *ets $i
from 2ater'" n the and of8han)ura, there ived a man of
ksatriya
caste, who was attracted to a the advantages of ingship" / we-discipined yogin came to him asing for
food and provisions" The ksatriya offered him food and
drin, and then too faith and ased for the 8harma"
The yogin said, 3Faith is the root of the entire 8harma"
The guru is the root of a siddhi"3 Then he gave him the
initiation which transfers spiritua power and gave instructions
on the nadis, prana, and bindu, in this way 5
2ith that specia !ody possessing method,
miC the semen with the great ocean of !ood,and hod it in the mandaa of the vuva"
2hen you have carried it to its proper pace,
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you wi cast away the is of samsara,
and wi tae the great )oy of i!eration" aina meditated accordingy" %ust as the otus grows
from the mud !ut is not covered with the mud from which itarises,
the four )oys of meditation manifested themseves inthe four caras" $editating, he was no onger enmeshed in
the is or conceptions of samsara"
n nine years, reaiing the meaning of his meditations,he purified the stains of his deusions" +!taining the siddhi
of $ahamudra, for four hundred years he wored for the
!enefit ofiving !eings in Saiputra" Together with GG of his
foowers, he went in this very !ody to the ream of the
8aas"
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BhusukuBe!ause Bhusuku, who was of the kl(atriya !aste, appeared
to have an auspi!ious !hara!ter, he was a!!epted as a
monk in the monastery of 3alanda. 1t this time, evapalawas king, and he provided food and drink for the group of
seven hundred mons in the 8harma-circe of aanda5 the
a!!ot of the ordinary section of the four sections of theSangha had a!out three hundred students" By their diigence,
they had a !ecome sifu in the five sciences, eCcept
for this ksatriyamon, who was very ethargic in his studies"
$oreover, each morning he ate five fu !ows of rice !ecausehis appetite was ie a raging fire" (ing 8evapaa said
of him, 3This person is a husuku, a ay !um"3 /nd so the
mon !ecame nown !y the name of Bhusuu !ecause hedid ony three things: eat, seep, and wander around"It was the genera practice in aanda to have those
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in the 8harma-circe recite the Siitras in turn" The a!!ot,
speaing for the entire pace, said to Bhusuu, 3Since youwi not tae your turn reciting the Siitras, pease go esewhereD3
But Bhusuu repied, 3 have not !roen any of the
rues"It
is not right to throw me out" t is )ust that have nouc in earning academic su!)ects"3 So he was permitted to
stay"
But when it was again time for Bhusuu to recite theSiitras, the mons tod him to prepare we, !ecause this
time he woud have to tae his turn" He accepted that he
woud have to do it, and a the mons ofaanda panned
to come to hear him and augh at him"
The a!!ot said to Bhusuu, 32hen you shoud have
!een studying, you were eating or seeping instead of
preparing the Siitras for the master of aanda"3 Bhusuurepied, 3 wi recite the Siitras"3The a!!ot then said to him, 3f you cannot recite the
Siitras, you wi !e eCpeed"3 Bhusuu said he understood"
But he sti coud not do it, so the a!!ot taught him the
mantra of the hoy $an)usri'-/-4/-B/-TS/-/-and tod him
to recite the mantra during the night without seeping" He
set Bhusuu to reciting the mantra with a meditation cordaround his nec and nee to prevent his doing"
As Bhusuu was reciting the mantra, the hoy $aft)usri
appeared to him and said, 3How are you doing, Bhusuu93Bhusuu repied, 3n the morning, it wi !e my tum to recite
the Sii"tras" t is a!out this that am maing a re6uest tothe hoy $aft)usri3 The hoy one said, 38o you not recognie
me93 3o, sir, do not,3 he answered" 3 am $aft)usr"3
3+hD3 said Bhusuu" 3$aft)usri, pease, want the siddhi
of the most eCceent wisdom"3 3.repare your Sii"tra in the
morning,3 said $aft)usr" 3 wi give you the nowedge"3
Then $aft)usri disappeared"
+n the morning of the Sii"tra-recitation, the mons, themass of peope, and the ing arrived at the assem!y ha, ateing each other how they had come to oo at Bhusuu"
The impements of offering, the fowers, and so forth were
then carried in, and the assem!y setted down, ready to
have a good augh"Bhusuu, having re6uested the mon's paraso, went to
the throne of the vihara without apprehension5 when he satdown, he !ecame eCtraordinariy radiant" Even though
there was a curtain in front of Bhusuu, everyone was wondering
what was happening"
3Shoud recite the Sii"tras in the way they have !een
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done !efore, or shoud eCpain them in a way that has not
!een done !efore93 ased Bhusuu"The schoars a ooed at each other whie the ing and
the peope aughed" The ing said, 3ou have deveoped a
method of eating that has never !een seen !efore, and amethod of seeping and stroing a!out that has never !een
seen !efore" ow preach us the 8harma in a way that has not
!een done !efore"3Bhusuu proceeded to eCpain the essence of the ten
divisions of the Bodhi!ary!watara, and then rose up into the
air" The five hundred schoars of aanda, (ing 8evapaa,
and the crowds of peope a too faith and threw fowers
that neary covered Bhusuu up to his nees" 3ou are not a
husuku,% they said" 3ou are a master"3
The ing and a the schoars caed him Santideva,'.eacefu 8eity', !ecause he 6uieted the pride of the ingand schoars" The assem!ed schoars re6uested him to mae
a commentary" 2hen that was done, they ased him to
!ecome the a!!ot" But he did not agree to that"
He paced in the tempe his most precious !eongings as
a mon, the mon's ro!es and the !egging !ow, and to the
surprise of the a!!ot and the mons, he eft the vihara"Eventuay he came to the city of fifty-thousand inha!itants
caed 8eira" Hoding a git-handed wooden sword in hishand, he went to the ing and said: 3t is seemy that !e
your swordsman"3 /nd so he made his iving in this way, and
was given ten times ten god coins a day" For tweve years he
was a swordsman, yet he never deviated from his no!e aim"
Then one day in autumn, the swordsmen, incuding
Santideva, made offerings to an image of the *oddess ma"2hie they were a washing their swords, one of the men
saw that Santideva's sword appeared to !e of wood, and hereported this to the ing"
The ing said to Santideva, 3Show me your sword"3 ButSantideva repied, "If showed it to you, it might !ring you
harm"3 3Even if it were to harm me, so !e it,3 said the ing"
3Then cover your eyes,3 said Santideva" He then drew the
sword from its sca!!ard5 its ight was so !right the peopecoud not endure it" They !egged him to put the sword
away, for even their covered eyes were !inded" Santideva
then anointed them with his tears, and their sight was restored"
/maed, they ased him to remain and !e an o!)ect
of veneration, !ut he woud not stay"
Santideva went up onto a rocy mountain, where he wasseen iing wid animas !y his magic power" He was aso
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seen eating their fesh, and this was reported to the ing" The
ing and his court went to the mountain and 6uestionedSantideva: 3+nce you were an ascetic, chief of those at
aanda" There you eCpained the 8harma5 here" you demonstrated
that you coud cure !indness" 2ith such a!iities,how can you !ear to do an in)ury, et aone tae ife93
But Santideva said, 3 have not ied anything"3 He
then opened the door of his hut" They a ooed out uponthe mountain and saw that the wid animas had !een
restored to ife, and had even dou!ed in num!er" Soon the
animas eCtended over mountain and vaey" 2hen the animas
finay disappeared in the distance, and the ing and
the fortunate others were again aone, they reaied that a
eCisting things are iusory, ony a dream" Then, reaiing
that things are not rea from the very !eginning, they set outupon the spiritua path" Santideva spoe:
These animas which ied
in the !eginning did not come from anywhere"
n the duration, they did not stay anywhere"
n the end, they were not destroyed into anything"
From the outset, eCisting things are not rea,so how can the iing and the ied !e rea9
Behod, sti having compassion for iving !eings,Bhusuu has said this"
4eciting this, manifesting his a!iities to a, he hum!ed
the ing and a the others and instructed them in the
8harma" He o!tained the siddhi of $ahamudra, reaiing
the unity of !ody, speech, and mind" The 6uaities of the8harma arose in him instanty5 finay, after a hundred
year s, he went in that very !ody to the ream of the 8aas"
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ndra!hutiThere were G, cities in ddiyana, and these cities
were rued !y two ings" ndra!huti rued the 0G, cities
in Sam!oa, and (ing %aendra rued the 0G, citiesof Lanapura"ndra!huti, the ing of Sam!oa, had a seven-year-od
sister named "aksminkara! He offered her in marriage to the
young son of %aendra, ing of Lanapura" But when (ing
ndra!huti met with his ministers, they counseed him that
since %aendra did not practice the 8harma, he shoud
consider someone ese" So ndra!huti ended the agreement,teing %aendra's messenger that since those who practice
the 8harma and those who do not have itte in common,the coupe shoud not marry"
But a year ater, %aendra's son came to Sam!oa and
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met with "aksminkara! They seemed to !e compati!e,
when the prince set out for his own country, ndra!huti sentwith him horses, eephants, and many men !earing god and
siver as presents" 2hen the son returned to his own and, his
father ased him a!out his young wife, and the princerepied, 3 did not !ring her with me !ecause she is too
young" But a is we"3
ow ndra!huti had many wives, and a of them hadfaith in the 8harma" The guru (am!aa had initiated and
given instructions to a those no!e adies as we as to the
princess, and they a endeavored toward accompishment"
The princess was siCteen years od when (ing %aendra
sent a messenger for her5 !ut when she was siCteen years od
she had aready turned her mind from samsara" 51s is eCpained
in the story a!out the princess hersef, she finayaccompished her aim and, aong with a sweeper, she few upinto the sy"& (ing %aendra sent a messenger to ndra!huti
concerning the ife-stye of the princess: 3That the ady has
attained a high eve of accompishment is a good thing,
!ut it has not !rought a!out my own peace of mind-and
that is not good"3
Then it occurred to (ing ndra!huti: 3$y sister isworing for the !enefit of iving !eings" $y ingdom gives
me itte !enefit and great concern: shoud give it up and practice the 8harma"3 So the ing gave his ingdom to his
son, and having practiced in the paace for tweve years, he
o!tained the siddhi of $ahamudra" His entourage, however,
did not now this" +ne day, the son and the courtiers
were ooing for the ing and they were a!out to open his
door, when a voice from the sy said: 38o not open the door, am here"3
2hen they heard this, they ooed up and saw (ingndra!huti sitting in the sy" pon seeing this, they were as
happy as if they had o!tained the first Bodhisattva-eve"The roya father remained sitting there for seven days,
preaching from the sy to those who honored him in their
faith" To the son and the courtiers, he tod of the great,
profound, and inconceiva!e 8harma, and then, with sevenhundred foowers, in that very !ody, he went to the ream of
the 8aas"
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$eopan the and of Benga, there was a person of the foodseer's
caste who aways gave provisions to a certain yogin"
+ne day, the yogin ased him, 32hy are you giving reverenceto me93 3Because need provisions for the path to my
future ife,3 the food-seer repied" 32e then, are you a!e
to accompishK such provisions93 The man said he coud, so
the yogin gave him the initiation which transfers spiritua
power5 he aso gave him instructions which introduced himto the nature of the mind itsef"
To the ordinary mind,
even though it is )ewe-ie,
samsara and nirvanaappear to !e different"
t depends on whether or not
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(otai(otai, who was aso nown as Togcepa, ived in theand of 4amesvara unti he went to ive in a and four days
)ourney distant, where he hoed the mountain fieds for aiving" The master Santipa, who had !een invited to Sinhaa
!y the ing, happened !y the mountain fied on his way to
$adhyadesa, and ased (otai, 32hat are you doing93
(otai respectfuy greeted him, and said that he was hoeingthe mountain" He went on to say, 3Evi ings have destroyed
the and, and everyone is suffering" cannot get and in4amesvara, and so have come to this mountain area to
wor"3 Santipa then ased him, 3f had $antric instructions
for powing the mountain, coud you use them93 3
coud,3 (otai answered, and so Santipa said:
8eeds ie those you are doing
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wi tire the !ody
and so those deeds are very !ad"These are the siC mistaen deeds"
But truy, powing the and is charity,
and moraity, such as not harming others"It is the patience which endures pain,
and the vigor which accompishes"
It is the unwavering mindfuness,and the wisdom which nows these"
By the siC true deeds,
one a!andons the mistaen deeds"
?enerating the guru is charity5moraity is guarding your own menta stream"
.atience is the endurance of the mind itsef"
?igor is meditation5mindfuness is unwavering,
and wisdom is that which nows these things"
$editate aways on these"
But Togcepa said, 3.ease eCpain the meaning of this"3The master repied, 3?enerate the guru, since a peasure
and pain arise from one's own mind" $editate on the primanature of one's own mind, for the prima nature of the mind
is unchanging ie the mountain" By uminous nowedge
which cannot perish, dig as if you were hoeing" These two
efforts, meditating and hoeing, are ie the right and eft
hand" ou shoud hoe without separating them"3
2hen he understood what the verses actuay meant,Togcepa said:
.easure and pain arise from the mind5
wi hoe the mountain of the mind with these teachings"
2hen one ony hoes the physica mountain,
+ne cannot reaie the great !iss of the prima nature"
$editating accordingy, he o!tained siddhi in tweveyears" He performed many !enefits for iving !eings, and in
that very !ody, he went to the ream of the 8aas"
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(arpparipan the and of Saiputra, (a6=paripa, 'the Smith',
wored hard at the profession of his caste" Then one day, a
yogin came to the pace where he was woring" 32hat areyou doing93 the yogin ased" 3 am simpy doing the wor of my caste,3 (arpparipa responded" 38o you en)oy your
wor93 ased the yogin" 38o oo happy93 ased thesmith" 3The fire, spars, and heat a torment me" must
suffer )ust to mae a iving"3
The yogin then ased for food, and as he ate, the smith
and his wife said to him, 32e offered you ams, and it isamaing that you tae food from the hands of ow-caste
peope" 2e are most happy at this"3 The yogin then ased
them, 38on't you practice the 8harma93 32e are of suchow caste-who woud instruct us93 they repied" "If you
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have faith in the 8harma,3 said the yogin, 3and are a!e to
practice, wi give you instructions"3 They were eated"They peased the yogin with their veneration and many
offerings, and then ased for the instructions" The yogin,
having given the initiation which transfers spiritua power,aso gave them instructions on the visuaiations of the three
mystic veins in this way:
3$editate within yoursef that you see the !eows, fue,fire, and the hammering of iron, )ust as you do in the eCterna
word" $ae the two veins, lalana and rasana, the !eows"
<onsider the centra vein, the avadhuti, as the anvi" Let
the consciousness !e the smith" gnite the fire of nowedge
and mae conceptuaiations the coa5 then hammer the iron
of the three poisons" 2hen the great )oy and the non-dua
8harma-!ody ripen as a resut, there wi !e ight"3
Let your inner acts of meditation
!e ie those deeds you do outwardy"
The lalana and rasana, right and eft,
et those two !e the !eows"
Let the avadhuti the anvi5
et the consciousness !e the smith"Let the conceptions !e the fue,
and investigation and nowedge !e the shining fire"Hammer the iron of misery and the three poisons:
the resut wi !e the stainess 8harma-!ody"
The smith, having generated faith within himsef,
meditated, and in siC years he o!tained the siddhi of
$ahamudra" 2ithout eCertion he accompished a sortsof things in their proper manner" The smith then said to the
inha!itants of Saiputra that he had o!tained a the 6uaitiesof the 8harma, and they were amaed" Everywhere he
was nown as the guru (arp" pari, and he accompished !enefitsfor iving !eings" /fter narrating his eCperiences, he went
to the ream of the 8aas"
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%aandhari%aandhari, 'the $an 2ho Hods a et', was a Brahman
who ived in the city of Thod-tha" He had !ecome
disgusted with the things of the word, and so he went to acemetery" 2hie sitting at the !ase of a tree, he eCperienced
the !iss of nowedge" / "aini appeared in the sy, and avoice said: 3 no!e son, you shoud now that your mind is
the nature of reaity itsef"3 n his )oy, the Brahman prayed
over and over again" The "aini of nowedge then showed
hersef in her true form, !estowed upon him the initiation of
Heva)ra, and gave him instructions on the .erfecting Stage
in this way:3ncude a the iving and noniving things of the three
words into the three veins, and )oin the two veins into thedhuti. 2hen various concepts and memories have gone out
from the pace of Brahma at the top of the head, meditate
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in that centra vein on the insepara!iity of emptiness and
appearance"3
*ather without remainder,
eCisting things, inner and outer"%oin them into the three:
!ody, speech, and mind"
%oin the right and eft veins into the avadhiitf,
and a of this to the pace ofBrahmathen
emptiness and the highest )oy wi arise
from the nature of pure yoga"
nderstand in your meditation
the tota integration of )oy and emptiness"
Having !een granted the .erfecting Stage in this way, hemeditated, and in seven years, he o!tained the siddhi of $ahamudra" He then narrated his eCperiences, and wored
for the !enefit of countess iving !eings" Together with a
circe of three hundred, he went to the ream of the 8aas"
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4ahua4ahua, 'He 2ho Has *rasped 4ahu', was !orn ofow
caste in (amariipa" 2hen he !ecame an od man and una!e
to contro his !odiy functions, a his reatives a!usedhim" He was very unhappy at !eing despised-so, thining
of his neCt !irth, he went to a cemetery" / yogin came aong
and ased him: 32hat are you doing here in this cemetery93
/nd the od man answered:
The moon of my youth has !een ecipsed
!y the 4ahu-dragon of od age"$y sons and others a!use me,
so remain here, happy to die"
The yogin repied:
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meditate a conceptuaiations as !utter"
$editate your consciousness as fue5then meditate the fashing fire of nowedge"
nto the vesse-a eCisting things without eCceptionpour
the !utter of conceptuaiations"Let the fire !urn the fue of thoughts,
and the )ewe of the mind itsef wi appear"
For five years he recited mantras and practiced the precepts
which deveop into reaied nowedge" 2hen the reaied
nowedge occurred, to the astonishment of the peope,
his !ody !ecame ie that of an eight-year-od" Then
he said:
How can the coection of causes and conditions, !eing empty, give rise to any resut9But unti you possess an enightened mind,
you must eCert effort"
He wored for the !enefit of iving !eings unti finay,
having narrated his eCperiences, he went to the ream of the
8aas"
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.erfecting Stage in this manner:
8hoaripa, you who carry a pot:
.ut a the sustenance of reaiation
inside the vesse of the 8harmaand meditate these two as insepara!e"
He meditated in this way5 he understood the meaning,and in three years he o!tained siddhi" /fter this, when he
was seen carrying his pot around, the peope woud as him,
3 guru, what do you carry there93 /nd he woud answer:
I carry the vesse of the *reat Emptiness:
am coecting the fruit of the *reat Biss5
8hoaripa has what he desires"
s this not nown !y the fortunate9
He wored for the !enefit of many !eings and finay,having narrated his eCperiences, he !ecame famous as
8hoaripa, and went in this very !ody to the ream of the8aas"
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$edhina$edhina, 'the $an of the Fied', was a ow-caste manof Saiputra" +ne day, whie a!oring in the fieds, he )ust
stopped and stood there" / yogin came aong and asedhim, 32hat are you doing, )ust standing there93 3 have
stopped doing fied wor,3 he repied" 32oudn't you ie to
get away from this pain and suffering93 ased the yogin"
3The 8harma can accompish that"3 3But who woud giveme the 8harma93 3 wi give it to you if you are a!e to
practice it,3 repied the yogin, and $edhina indicated hewas a!e"
The yogin then gave him instructions on the 8eveopingStage and the .erfecting Stage, and then set him to meditating"
But the thoughts of his fied wor continuay interrupted
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him, and $edhina ost his desire to meditate" He
went !ac to his guru, who gave him instructions that weremore consistent with his thoughts:
$ae your thoughts into a pow,and mae peasure and pain into oCen"
<ontempate your !ody as the fied,
and contempate the fruit, the !iss of the 8harmanature,coming forth night and day"
$ae your concepts into a pow,
your feeings of peasure and pain into oCen"
Sow the seeds of the eements
to ripen on the fied of your !ody"
ECerting yoursef on that fied,
wor day and nightDThe fruit, the !iss of the 8harma-naturewi never end"
He meditated accordingy for tweve years, and having
stopped the various inds of wordy conceptions, he o!tained
siddhi" He ascended a tree which grew seven taas up
into the sy, and from there he narrated his eCperiences"He wored for the !enefit of countess !eings in the city
of Saiputra, and then went to the ream of the 8aas inthis very !ody"
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.ana)a
.aia)a, the son of a Brahman, was caed .aia)a !ecause he was !orn from a otus in his parents' peacefugarden of otuses" His siddhi came from /vaoitevara" /
short whie after his !irth, an image of /vaoitevara was paced near the pond of otuses" ow, it was customary in
that area to reverence $ahadeva, and for tweve years,
.aia)a made offerings to the image, !eieving it to !e
$ahadeva" n accordance with oca custom, he madeofferings of fowers three times a day, pacing them on top of
the head of the image"+ne day, whie .aia)a was maing an offering, the
master agar)una came and offered a fower" The image
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accepted it and paced it upon its own head" K.aia)a !ecame
angry at this, and thought to himsef, 3For tweveyears, made offerings and the image did not accept them"
He made ony one offering, and the image received it and
responded"3 Then out of the mouth of the image came thesewords: 3our thoughts were not pure" was not peased with
your actions"3
/t this, remorse arose in .aia)a, and he prostratedhimsef !efore the master agar)una and respectfuy ased
to !ecome his pupi" agar)una initiated him and instructed
him in the integration of vision and activity:
ou cannot !e successfu with faith aone
or with )ust the !iss of compassion"
ou must see truy without distinctions )ust as do the /ryans themseves"
nderstanding this, .aia)a practiced, and in seven
days he o!tained siddhi" He !rought many !essings to iving
!eings !y his compassionate gae and !y his instructions
on method" Finay in this very !ody, he went to the ream of
the 8aas"
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*handhapa#handlhapa, who too the vows of a mon at Sri aanda,did not transgress them" 2hen he mastered the five
sciences, his fame spread in every direction5 as a master,
he wored for the !enefit of sentient !eings in every and"There was a ing, 8evapaa !y name, who !y the power
of his merit !rought great prosperity to his country" Theweath of his ingdom was immeasura!e: his own cities
num!ered =,,5 there were M, in (amari, >,
in Benga, and in addition, over 1,=, pedged featy to
him" +ne day, the master came to Saiputra, the seat of (ing 8evapaa, !egging ams" He too his pace at the foot
of a tree and ived there"
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ow (ing 8evapaa, !eing a reigious man, had countess
o!)ects of devotion" +ne night, the ing too counsewith his wife: 3/ compound things are impermanent" /
wordy things are painfu" ECisting things have no su!stance"
If am to rue a ingdom, !oth now and in thefuture, and if we are to remain hus!and and wife, we must
accumuate merit as provision for the future ife !y maing
worthy men our o!)ects of reverence" That indeed woud !e
the right thing to do"33ou have revered countess men !efore,3 the 6ueen answered,
3!ut there now ives at the edge of the city an /ryanwho is superior to a the others" He is truy an o!)ect of
reverence" He hods to the monastic rue5 he coects ams,
wears mon's ro!es, and ives on meager provisions" ou
shoud tae food and drin to him-the eighty-four vegeta!es,and the five drins such as grape-)uice and so on" ou
shoud offer the ight of )ewes instead of the ight of a amp5give him a the desira!e things of the ingdom"3 3That is
certainy the right thing to do,3 said the ing" So the neCtday he sent severa of his circe to !ring the master to him5
!ut they returned without the mon" The ing and his
retinue then went themseves and !owed to the master, who
ased them" 32hy have you come here93 3 have come out
of faith, to invite the master to !e my o!)ect of reverence,3
the ing repied" 3 wi not go with you,3 said *ha:gc5hapa,3for the ingdom of a ing is an evi thing"3 /t this, the ing
said, 3Even if you do not stay permanenty, come for at eastone year"3 The ing insisted, !ut sti the master refused"
n the same way, the ing ased again and again: 3For
siC months93 3For three months93 3For one month93 3For
two wees93 Finay, he ased, 3For )ust one day93 To a of
this the master repied, 3 wi not come, for your nature is
whoy evi" ou practice harmfu modes of action"3
For forty days the ing urgenty peaded, over and again, !ut the master sti woud not come" The ing and his peope !ecame angry, and the fire of hatred famed in their hearts"
The ing made a genera procamation: 32hoever is a!e to
cause this mon to a!andon his purity, wi give him haf
the ingdom and a ton of god"3There was a woman in that and, a most cever prostitute,
who tod the ing that she coud accompish what hedesired" 32e then, do itD3 eCcaimed the ing" 38o it with
si and energyD3
ow, the prostitute had a tweve-year-od daughter, so
!eautifu she did not even appear to !eong to this word"
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mother5 instead, she went out to get food and drin for !oth
hersef and the mon" They ived together for a year, and ason was !orn to them"The king was always pestering the prostitute aout how
things were progressing, ut she was not ale to give the
desired answer. Then, after three years had passed, the prostitute
said to the king$ %+ great king, the intent of your
-a4esty's de!ree has een fulfilled. 3ow may your heart e
happy.% The king answered, %"ell then, in three days, ring
this monk here and !all your daughter.% 1nd the king and
the people of /aliputra prepared to e)amine the monk.
The monk asked the girl, %/hould we stay here, or should
we go somewhere else(% %If we stay,% the girl said, %all these
people will revile us for doing sinful deeds. "e !an e happy
even if we wander away from the haitations of men!,$' The
girl took up the !hild and a ottle of wine, and the two
!ompanion&lovers left. They then met with the king in the
middle of the road. He dismounted from the a!k of his
elephant, saying, %"hat is that inside your monk's !lothes(
"ho is this woman with you(% %Inside these !lothes are a
!hild and a ottle. The woman is my wife,% said Ghandhapa
%I rememer on!e you said you would not go into the
presen!e of a sinner. 3ow, what aout your wife and !hild(
2ou yourself are a sinner.% %There has een no wrong&doing
here, so do not slander me,% the master said."hen the king repeated what he had said, the master
threw the !hild and the ottle to the ground. The earthgoddess
was frightened, the earth split, and water gushed
out. In the water, the !hild turned into a va4ra, and the
ottle into a ell. The master e!ame *akrasamvara, and
his woman e!ame Va4ravarahi. In the sky aove the king
and his entourage, *akrasamvara and Va4ravarahl, in yayum
position, appeared holding a va4ra and ell.
The king and the rest looked up and made reveren!e to
the master as a prote!tor, ut the monk would not end hissamadhi of va4ra&anger. The king and his retinue were
sinking in the water whi!h was gushing from the split
ground, and were nearing death" n an instant, the hoy
/vaoitevara appeared and, with his foot, !oced the
water from the spit ground" (ing 8evapaa and the others,having !een saved, again made apoogies to the guru" The
master spoe the sya!e HUNG and a the water disappeared"/n image of the hoy one was formed out of the roc itsef,
and it is said that a itte stream sti fows out from under the
foot" Then the master gave instructions to the ing and theothers in this way:
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%ust as medicine and poison
can !e identica in themsevesand yet give rise to two different effects,
so one is avoided and the other is readiy taen,
athough they have one nature5there is no difference"
The masters who reaie this do not renounce things"
Those who are not masters must do so,for acing reaiation, they wander in samsara"
The ing and the peope ceased to sander the mon" n
one accord, they too faith, and num!eress iving !eings
were set on the path" The master !ecame nown as *hand
hapa, and he grew famous in a directions"
8espite the fact that in this ife she was an impedimentto moraity, the woman had !een prepared in siC previousives !y the master" The master, removing a conceptuaiations
of hoding to duaity in the nature of 8harmahood,
consummated the path !y the power of maturing his stream
of consciousness" Both the son, ?a)rapa&"i, and the woman
purified their stains !y the !enefits of veneration" Then, !eing
endowed with the hoy 6uaities, the master *handhapaand his partner !oth, in that very !ody, went to the ream
of the 8aas"
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of $ahamudra" He tod of his understanding, and for
five years he aided the various purposes of Fving !eings"Then, in that very !ody, he went to the ream of the 8aas"
*aluki<aui ived in $angaapura5 he was of ow caste, and
his guru was $aitripa" <aui was a great seeper: awaysunder the power of seep" He was not even a!e to !egin
effort" ow at one time, he conceived the notion that sam
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sara was evi, and he too his pace at the foot of a tree" /
yogin came to that spot and ased him, 32hat are youdoing here93
<aui repied, 3 had thought to practice the 8harma
to free mysef from the word, !ut have not met with amaster who woud teach the doctrine to me" $y nature is
ethargic5 am a great seeper, and am not a!e to !egin the
effort" ou may !e a!e to give the 8harma to me, !ut if youdo not give me a method to diminish my need for seep, the
instructions wi not wor"3
3f initiate you,3 said $aitripa, 3you wi !e a!e to free
yoursef from the word !y diminishing your need for seep"3
The yogin then initiated <aui into <arasamvara" He
gave him the instructions of the vita !reath and the mystic
veins, and of the eementary .erfecting Stage in this way:3/ssimiate a appearances into your own !ody, speech,and mind" Bind the lalana, the eft vein, and the rasana, the
right vein, to the midde vein, the avadhuti. <ontempate the
!odiy avadhuti as an ocean5 then contempate your nowedge
as a goose" /fter that, contempate the goose fying
over the ocean of essence" /s your need for seep aso diminishes,
the vita !reath wi !e )oined to the avadhuti andthe condition of !eing without conceptions wi arise !y its
own power"3<aui meditated in that way for nine years and, cearing
away the stains, he successfuy attained the siddhi of
$ahamudra" He coected a appearances of the word into
his !ody, speech, and mind, and then these three were
coected into su!)ect and o!)ect and the fower-and the
two veins were then coected into the center" By attainingdiscriminating nowedge, he won siddhi which was ie the
goose eCtracting the essence from the ocean" He tod of hiseCperiences, and he went in that very !ody to the ream of
the 8aas"
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*orura
*orura, the 'Bird-man', was of the !ird-catcher caste-that is to say, he carried a net and captured !irds" ow, at
one time a yogin came aong and ased him: 3ou there, sir,
what are you doing93 *orura repied, 3 accumuated evi in
a former ife, so was !orn into the caste of the !ird-catchers"
n this ife mae my iving at taing ife, and so am despondent"3/nd the yogin repied:
Because arma is piing on arma here,
you wi suffer in this ife and in the neCt"
The hoy 8harma is aways )oyfu"
2hy not practice it9
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32hat guru woud have compassion and give instructionto a man of such ow caste93 ased the !ird-catcher" 3/s
a resut, am una!e to practice"3
So the yogin gave *orura the initiation which transfersspiritua power, and instructions which woud conform to
his own character: 3<ontempate that a the sounds of the
word are ie the sounds of !irds" %oin the two-your consciousthought and the sounds of!irds-into one" Then again,
free the mind of sound"
Listen for the song of the cucoo:
The many sounds !ecome one sound"
Then grasp the sound itsef as sound,
and contempate the 8harma-naturespreading everywhere"
*orura meditated accordingy and eCperienced the
emptiness of sound without differentiation" For nine years
he purified his mind and he o!tained the siddhi of $ahamudra"
He remained in the word a hundred years, narrating
his eCperiences and woring for the immeasura!e !enefit of iving !eings" Then, together with three hundred
foowers, in this very !ody, he went to the ream of the 8aas"
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Lucia
Lucia, 'the $an 2ho Stood p after Sitting', was aBrahman who ived in the eastern part of Benga" 2hen hecame to reaie the universaity of death, his mind had a
revusion against samsara, and so he went to a 6uiet pace,
intending to practice the 8harma" But he was without instruction
and did nothing !ut thin sady that he had not
met with a guru who coud instruct him in the 8harma"
ow one day, a yogin came there-which made him veryhappy" He gave reverence to him, and the yogin said, 32hat
do you want that you give reverence to me93 3 have a
revusion against samsara,3 Lucia repied, 3and have intendedto practice the 8harma" et have not met a guru
who coud give me instructions" ow that have finay met
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with a guru, as for instructions"3 /nd so the yogin gave
him initiation into <arasamvara and gave him instructionson the 8eveoping Stage and the .erfecting Stage"
Lucia eCerted himsef and meditated" n tweve years,
he was a!e to )oin the 8eveoping and the .erfecting Stagesand thus attained siddhi" He !ecame famous as Lucia and
spoe thus:
see no distinction
!etween samsara and nirvana"
et i!eration is great !iss,
for when you hod to ow things,
it is difficut to cross over"
n this very !ody, he went to the ream of the 8aas"From the sy he narrated his eCperiences and then disappeared"
iguna iguna, 'the $an without uaities', was the son of a
ow-caste househoder in the country of .iirvadea" 2hie he
was !eing !rought up, he was very ay, and did not thin at
a of the affairs of the word, !eing indifferent to what others
considered good or evi" If he saw a fruit he ied, he woud
thin it good5 !ut if he coud not reach it without effort, he
woud curse it as evi" n such a state of mind, he went to a
6uiet pace"
/ yogin came aong and said to him, 3<ome, et us getams in the city"3 But iguna repied, 3But what if we don't
get anything93 /nd he did not even get up from the ground"The yogin, out of compassion, gave food to him and said,
38on't you have any good 6uaities93 3ogin,3 iguna
repied, 3if someone has !een given the name 'iguna' then
he is without good 6uaities"3
As iguna ate the rest of the food, the yogin ased
him, 38oesn't death frighten you93 3ndeed it does,3 iguna
repied, 3!ut have no way to dea with it"3 3f you can practice
it, wi give you a method,3 said the yogin" 3Then wi practice during the time seep,3 said iguna" /nd so theyogin gave him initiation" He then gave him instructions on
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con)oining emptiness and appearances:
Su!)ect and o!)ect have no reaity whatsoever,
yet !eings are not enightened"
Suffering, they are pitifu in their torment,which from the !eginning, has no reaity"
/ppearances are insepara!e from emptiness5
the pure ight is continuay present"/nd though you act ie a cray man,
you wi enter into the pure city"
The yogin spoe in this way and iguna, gathering
ams, practiced" 2hen he produced the reaiation of Tota
ntegration and the cear ight, he attained siddhi" He wandered
in a directions, asing: 32ho are these men932henever he saw peope, he woud say, 3 pity men such astheseD3 and weep" For those to !e trained, he demonstrated
the path which does not spit appearance and emptiness"
Then, ie a ship on the ocean, he wiped out a the mars of
deusion" /ttaining the siddhi of $ahamudra in this very
!ody, he went to the ream of the 8aas"
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%ayananda%ayananda was a Brahman minister to the ing of
Benga" He foowed the reigion of the Brahmans !ut then,
secrety, he !egan to practice the 8harma of the secret mantras,
and though !essings arose, no one witnessed them"In the course of time, however, he !egan to mae many
torma offerings" The other ministers, finding this unendura!e,
reported it to the ing" So the ing had him caspedin irons" %ayananda peaded with the ing, 3Set me free
from these chains" have not aowed even haf a handfu of
your $a)esty's weath to !e wasted"3 But the ing woud notisten"
Later, at the time the Brahman was accustomed to
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give torma offerings, many !irds appeared-not finding
the offerings, the !irds gathered on the ing's paace" 2hiethe sodiers tried to remove them, the peope watched and
wondered" /s the gathering of the !irds increased, a man
who had the a!iity to understand the voices of !irds heardthem say: 3That Brahman, who was ie a mother and
father to us, has !een condemned !y the ing"3
He reated this to the ing, and the ing repied, "If thatis so, wi pardon him if he agrees to remain in a oney
pace" /s the !irds to eave"3 The man gave the message to
the !irds, and they eft" The ing too faith, and every day
he gave the Brahman twenty !ushes of rice as materias for
torma offerings" From then on, the minister was nown as
the guru %ayananda" He spoe in this way:
The nowedge of the n!orn has !een truy reaiedthrough the indness of the guru"
have !ecome the minister of greatest !iss,
and remain no more in the whir of samsara"
The (ing, the cear and natura state,
has con6uered the enemies of su!)ect and o!)ect
and does not ust after the deights of the word"Behod, unenightened !eings"
cry out and say: '%ayaD ?ictoryD'
/nd so he wored for the !enefit of !eings, and after
seven hundred years, he went to the ream of the 8aas"
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.acari
.acari was from the and of <ampaa and his caste wasthat of the pastry-seers" He was so poor he did not even
have cothes of cheap cotton" He woud o!tain pastries froma rich househoder, coo them in !utter, and se them" He
then repaid the househoder and ived on the profits" +ne
day, as he had not yet sod them, he too haf of the
pastries to eat himsef" /vaoitesvar:a, taing the form of a
mon, went to him" .acari, taing faith, did him reverence
and gave the mon the other haf of the pastries" The mon then ased, 32here did you get these93 2hen .acari answered
truthfuy, the mon said, 32e now, we !oth mustoffer payment" wi give something to my donor"3 /nd so
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he made a mandaa offering and offered fowers" The manifestation
then gave .acari the spiritua power which producesthe thought of taing the refuges, and aso gave him
the instructions of the SiC Sya!es" +ut of devotion, .acari
gave his ife over as an offering"/t the time .acari attained siddhi, the pastry-master of
!efore came aong and ased for his money" 3But do not
have any,3 .acari repied" pon hearing this, the pastrymaster !eat him" .acari then said, 3 did not eat them aone"
The master and !oth ate them-!ut you are ony !eating
me"3 Then, to !oth of their amaement, a voice spoe out
from the was, saying the same thing" The pastry-maer
said, 3So tae my pastries and go,3 and then reeased him"
.acari went to a tempe where there was an"image of his
patron deity" He then gave a hundred god coins to thehousehoder as a price of the pastries, thus purifying hisformer sin, even though it was trifing"
It then occurred to .acari that his guru was the Hoy
+ne, and so he set off for the .otaa mountain" /ong theway, whie traveing through a forest, a thorn entered his
foot and he suffered great pain from it" He cried out the
*reat $antra to the Hoy +ne, who then appeared to him
in his true form" He said, 3 am your guru" ou shoud not
!e interested in securing ony your own !enefit" Turn !ac
and wor to guide those to !e trained"3Becoming very happy, .acari ascended into the sy and
descended again in <ampaa" Everyone who saw him was
amaed" He gave instructions on the insepara!iity of emptinessand appearances, and in that very !ody, he went to
the ream of the 8aas"
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<ampaa
There is a and caed <ampaa which received itsname from the fower" Living in that and was a prince who
did not ac for any of the en)oyments or any of the weath of
the ingdom" He was so captivated !y his peasures and his
pride in these things that he did not thin a!out the future"The prince had a fower-house sifuy !uit in his peasure
garden of campaas" n the garden there were seats andcushions made of campaas-fowers of a goden coor with
sweet perfume-and he ived there in the garden"
+ne day, a yogin came to the garden, !egging ams" The
ing washed the yogin's feet, !rought him a seat, and madehim comforta!e" He then gave the yogin food and drin,
after which, as the yogin preached to him, the ing and his
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entire court sat !efore him and made him an o!)ect of
reverence"The ing then said, 3/s a yogin, you must have gone
through many ands" Have you ever seen such fowers or
such a ing as me93 The yogin repied, 3The scent of thecampaa fowers is eCceent, !ut it is not so with the smes
of your !ody" our $a)esty's ingdom may !e superior to
other ingdoms, !ut when you die, you wi have to gowithout it"3
The ing, recogniing this fact, turned away from his
fondness for his own !ody, and ased for instructions" The
yogin first taught him a!out the cause and effect of arma,
then gave him initiation and the instructions for the 8eveoping
and the .erfecting Stage" But the ing's thoughts
turned to the fowers and he did not want to meditate" Sothe yogin gave him instructions which too his conceptionsas path:
Since appearances themseves are empty,
consider the guru's instructions as a fower5
mae the sandhas and your own mind the ground"
<ontempate as having one naturethe three rivers of pure nectar,
and the great !iss wi arise as a resut"These are the words of the great ?a)radhara5
so meditate with conviction"
The ing meditated for tweve years, and having reaied
that the precepts, his eCperience, and the origina state of his
own mind were insepara!e, he o!tained siddhi" From thenon, he !ecame nown as <ampaa" He eCpained the
8harma to his 6ueen aong with innumera!e foowers, andfinay went to the ream of the 8aas in this very !ody"
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Bhisana
%hiksana, 'the $an with Two Teeth', ived as a man of ow caste in Saiputra" /s he aced !oth weath and fortune,
he went !egging from town to town" +ne day, not having
o!tained anything and feeing very disheartened, he went to
a oney pace" / daini came to him and ased him what hewas doing there" He tod her the truth: "If there is some way
of ac6uiring what desire, reay want it,3 he said" 32ethen, what wi !e my payment93 ased the daini" He then
!it together his upper and ower teeth, and offered them"
nderstanding that he had an unwavering mind, she gavehim initiation and instructions on the con)oining of wisdom
and method"
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He meditated in such a way, and in seven years he
eCperienced the truth" Stainess 6uaities arose in him" Hewent from town to town narrating his eCperiences for the
!enefit of those to !e trained, and !ecame famous under the
name of%hiksana!
/fter many years, he went in this very !ody to the ream of the 8aas"
TeopaTeopa made his iving in the city of Saiputra as an oi
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merchant" Since he was a!e to se his oi at a good price, he
!ecame very rich" /s his good fortune continued, he !ecameas weathy as (u!era, the god of weath" He en)oyed his
prosperity, eating the eighty-four vegeta!es, the tweve
foods, and the five drins )ust ie a ing" Then one day theschoar Bahana came !y and preached to him the sorrow of
samsara and the means to escape it" The merchant too faith
and, asing for the 8harma, he made reverence to the yogin"The yogin Bahana, seeing T eopa preparing the oi, said to
him, 3our weath is due to good fortune, !ut it wi not
produce i!eration"3 The merchant answered, 3 guru,
pease then te me the method which wi produce i!eration"3
So the yogin gave him initiation and instructions on
how to produce his own radiance in the darness of night:
Free the oi of your conceptuaiationsfrom the ernes of sesame seeds, your own !ody,and then fi up the vesse
which is your own mind"
The wic is the insepara!iity
of emptiness and appearances5
if you appy the fire of nowedge,
you wi dispe the darness of ignorance"n the highest )oy of i!eration,
you wi ive in stainess !iss"The merchant piousy meditated, and in siC years, when
he )oined the 8eveoping Stage and the .erfecting Stage, he
o!tained siddhi" Light streamed from his !ody and fied the
area a around"
+thers saw this and reported it to the ing" The ing
ased, 3<an this !e so93 /nd he saw that it was" The ingaso en)oyed stainess !iss, and the others, though they did
not have an e6ua )oy, too faith" The merchant then gaveinstructions, speaing a!out their word and its emptiness"
/fter many years, together with a arge circe of foowers, hewent to the ream of the 8aas"
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(umaripa(umaripa, 'the .otter', ived in the country of %omanari,where he made his iving !y maing pots" Becausehe had time for nothing !ut wor, he !ecame 6uite despondent"
/ yogin then came and !egged ams from him" The pot
ter !rought food to him, saying, 3 guru, wor strenuousy
at my tas !ut no great !enefit comes from it" am disheartened
!ecause the wor is never competey finished" am disheartened
!ecause there seems to !e no end to it"3Thereupon the yogin answered, 3 !enefactor, do you
not understand9 The iving !eings of the word have peasureony with suffering" / few do not have any peasure at
a" From !eginningess time, even without woring, the
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pain aone has no end" ou have reason to !e depressed"3
The potter too faith and ased from his guru a method of i!eration" Thereupon the yogin gave the potter initiation
and instructions on the 8eveoping Stage and the .erfecting
Stage:
4emove the mud of misery and conceptions
from the cay of ignorance"By the whee of the word,
form the pots of the siC Tantric famiies5
then fire them !y the fires of nowedge"
By these words, the potter understood the instructions
which ceared away his misconceptions" Having meditated
for siC months, he purified himsef of the stains of wordydeusions, and o!tained siddhi" 2hie he sat in meditation,the potter's whee turned !y itsef and the pots were formed
as he desired" 2hen the citiens of the city saw that he had
the 6uaities oftheTantric famiies, he !ecame nown as the
guru (umaripa" Having narrated his eCperiences, he went
in this very !ody to the ream of the 8aas"
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<aparipan a certain city in $agadha, there was a herdsmanof immeasura!e weath who owned a thousand !uffao
and horses, and sheep without num!er" 2hen his od father
died, he gave a arge wae-arger than had ever !een seen
!efore" He invited a the peope of the and, and much food
and drin was given out for many days" +ne day, these
peope went to !athe in the 4iver *anges, whie the herdsman'swife stayed at home with their three-year-od daughter
to watch over things" /t this time, the guru <aparipasuddeny appeared and ased for food"
2hen the woman taed to him honesty and with itte
artfuness, <aparipa said to her, "If your hus!and or the
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others !ecome angry, then come to me" wi !e up in the
forest maing a fire" But if they do not get angry, it wi !e aright to stay" So you must give me food and drinD3
She istened to the guru, and when he returned to the
forest, she was in a very reaCed frame of mind" 2hen theothers returned, her mother-in-aw, who came aso, saw that
she had given away most of the food, so that there was itte
eft" She famed up and fought with her" n anger, thewoman, carrying her chid on her !ac, fed to the yogin"
2hen she arrived, the yogin said, 3?ery goodD3 He then
sprined them with mantra water, and !oth mother and
chid turned into stone-so that they woud not need food or
anything ese any more"
2hen her hus!and returned home he ased, 32here did
she go93 The peope did not now" Hurrying around, asinga!out her everywhere, finay he went to the yogin and todhim what had happened" He too was sprined with mantra
water and !ecame what his wife and chid had !ecome"
/ pace was made avaia!e for the three of them"
The reatives then came one !y one, foowing the others"
There were a!out three hundred of them, who came !eating
ie !uffao caves5 and everyone met with the sametreatment"
The chid of that woman had certain 6uaities: from hisscrotum came the siddhis of the 8aas" From his penis came
the power to transform things into god" From his anus came
the eiCir of immortaity" From his eye, the eight great siddhis:
waing on air and the others"
This famiy !ecame famous everywhere, and the ing
of <ampaa came with !uffaoes and other animas" Theing, out of faith, !uit a tempe to the three: the chid, and
the hus!and and wife" He then !uit a tempe to the other three hundred caed '$any-named'" Those who have !ad
thoughts cannot enter that tempe5 if they do, the imageswi !eat them or worse"
This tempe has !ecome a center of practice, and it is
said that even now there are many yogins who reside there"
/t that pace practice has 6uic resuts" ou can attain thewordy siddhis there, and whie waiting for the appearance
of the ?ictorious +ne, $aitreya, you can !e woring for the
!enefit of iving !eings"
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taen the guru as my support and am woring toward
i!eration" So hit me """ wi tae that as path"3Her parents !eieved this to !e a trifing matter, and so
they said nothing more" But she meditated on the instructions
of the guru and in her mind gave up a the resuts of arma" She practiced for one year, and then her hus!and
came for her and too her !ac with him" /t his house, she
did the deeds and duties of the word as they are usuaydone5 she spoe peasing words and was restrained in !ody
and speech"
Eventuay she gave !irth to a !oy and two girs" Then as
things happen, one day whie she was taing her son for a
!essing, she met with her guru" Tweve years had passed"
She went to draw water and was returning home when
she tripped at the foot of the tree and !roe her water pot"She )ust stood there, ooing at the !roen pot" /t noon,when she did not return, her hus!and went out and saw her
there" If anyone said anything to her, she did not seem to
hear" She ony stared" Then she finay said, 32hat are yousaying9 /re you a possessed93 /nd at sundown she said:
Living !eings without !eginning,
!rea the pot of the !ody"
2hy shoud return home9
$y pot is now !roen" wi not return to my home in samsara5
now wi go to the great !iss"Behod, guru, a great wonder:
desiring great !iss, have recourse to you"
Then she rose up in the air, and for twenty-one days she
gave instructions to those in /gartse" Then she went to the
ream of the 8aas"
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$ehaaThere was a househoder in 8eviota who had twodaughters" There was aso a great merchant who had two
sons-and the two famiies were to !e )oined" But everyone
gossiped a!out the two girs-even though they had not done
anything wrong" The younger of the two said to her sister,
3.eope are taing a!out us without cause" 2e shoud go
somewhere ese"3 But the eder daughter repied, 3Even if wewent esewhere, it woud not mae any difference, since we
do not have a good accumuation of arma"3The guru (anhapa then came to that area with a circe
of seven hundred yogins and yogin'is" He manifested num!eress
prodigies such as um!reas suspended over his head
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and the ceaseess resounding of the damaru" The two sisters
said to themseves, 3Since the townspeope have gossipeda!out us !oth, we shoud as for instructions from the guru
and practice them"3 So they tod their stories to him and
ased for instructions" The guru granted their re6uest andgave them initiation" He aso Kgave them instructions of
?a)ravarah'i regarding seeing, meditation, practice, resuts,
and Tota ntegration"These two practiced energeticay, and in tweve years
attained siddhi" They then went !ac to their guru and
presented offerings to him" But he responded !y asing,
32ho are you9 do not now you"3 So they gave an account
of what had happened previousy" 32e then,3 he said,
3you must give me my fee"3 3 guru, we wi give as fee
whatever you re6uest,3 they repied" 3Then,3 said the guru,3give me your heads, !oth of you"3 32e wi give what theguru re6uests"3 +ut of each of their mouths came a sharp
sword of nowedge" They then each cut off their own head
with their own weapon and then presented the heads to the
guru, saying, 32e are repaying the words of the guru"3
2e have cut off the iusionof samsara and crossed over
!y the Tota ntegrationof the 8eveoping and .erfecting Stages"
2e have cut off the iusion(//(H/L/
of ac6uiring and renouncing
!y the Tota ntegration
of vision and activity"2e have cut the iusion
of sef and other !y the Tota ntegration
of nowedge and space"
2e give you the iusioness
with this gesture"
Having said this, as they !egan to dance with their heads
in their hands, Kanhapa eCcaimed, 3Behod, two great
yoginisD ou are happy !ecause you have attained most
eCceent 6uaities" But to remain merey in your own tran6uiity
is the inferior way" ou shoud wor for the !enefit of
iving !eings"3 Saying this, he restored their heads without
eaving any trace of a wound, at which everyone wasamaed"
These two sisters, foowing in the steps of (anhapa,
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!ecame famous" They attained the siddhi of $ahamudra
and after woring for the !enefit of iving !eings for manyyears, they went to the ream of the 8aas"
(anahaaShe was the younger of the two sisters who, foowingthe guru (fu:""apa, cut off their own heads as is tod in the
previous story" The younger sister !ecame nown as the
yogini (anahaa"
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(aaaa(aaaa, 'the <hatter!oC', was !orn of a ow-caste
famiy in the city of Bhiira" /s a resut of arma in a
previous ife, (aaaa was very taative" The townspeope
a found him o!noCious, and therefore ostracied him" He !ecame very downhearted and finay went to ive tn a
cemetery"
2hie he sat there in his misery, a yogin came aong"
32hy are you in this cemetery93 he ased" (aaaa tod the
yogin truthfuy a!out how his ife had !een, and the yogin
said in repy, "If you are depressed, coudn't you use a
method of i!eration from the misery of the word93 32ho
woud as if needed it93ased (aaaa" The yogin indicated
he woud !e the one to as" /fter the chatter!oC didreverence and made offerings, the yogin initiated him into
the *uhyasama)a and gave these instructions for i!erationfrom appearances:
$editate as having one nature, without distinction,
the sound of sef and other as sound itsef"Then, during meditation, your own voice wi !e the
soundof thunder in the sy-and fowers wi rain down"
ECerting himsef, (aaaa meditated and ost the sound
of other peope's anger in the sound of his own voice5 his own
voice was ost in a rain of fowers5 he ost the idea of fowers
in the emptiness of the sy5 and the $ahamudra of aappearances arose" Having i!erated himsef from a appearances,
he attained siddhi, and in a directions he !ecamenown as guru (aaaa" arrating his eCperiences, he
wored for the !enefit of many of those to !e trained" Then,
together with a circe of three hundred foowers, he went to
the ream of the 8aas"
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she ased" 3 cannot uness am shown how,3 he repied" So
she initiated him into Heva)ra" She instructed him on theimmeasura!es, the oga of the *uru, and the 8eveoping
Stage of yoga" et whie meditating, he !ecame conscious of
his sewing" 2hen the c5aini returned again, she gave himinstructions as to how to tae his conceptions as path:
$editate sewing together emptiness and appearances
with the neede and thread
of nowedge and mindfuness"
2hen you have sewn these cothes
with the neede of compassion,
meditate cothing
the !eings of the word"
$editating in this way, he reaied that a eCiStmg
things are empty" 8eveoping great compassion for a unenightened
!eings, he o!tained Tota ntegration and the siddhi
of $ahamudra" Becoming famous everywhere as the
guru (antai, he wored for the !enefit of iving !eings, and
finay, having narrated his eCperiences, he went to the reamof the 8aas"
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hahuli
There ived a man of ow caste in 8haara, who madehis iving !y maing rope out of grass" +ne day, whie he
was roing up and tying the ropes, a arge !ister appeared
on his hands" t !ecame so painfu that he )ust stood there
waiing" / yogin came aong and said, 32hat ais you93
The rope-maer tod him what had )ust occurred, and the
yogin repied, "If you cannot endure this much pain now,what wi you do when you are re!orn into an unpeasant
destiny in a ater ife93 3 guru,3 ased 8hahui, 3is therea method to free mysef from that93 The yogin then gave
him the initiation which transfers spiritua strength, and
then tod him these instructions for practicing the path of
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reaiation:
From the !eginning
there is no intrinsic nature
in either the usha grassof accustomed appearances
or in the things
which tie appearances together"So meditate
with increasing energy"
For tweve years he meditated with faith and vigor on
what he had !een tod" Having reaied that a !inding
notions are without foundation, and having reaied that
the power of other things is dependent, and the essentianature is the space of the 8harma, he o!tained siddhi" He
!ecame famous everywhere as the yogin 8hahui, and for
seven hundred years, he wored for the !enefit of many
iving !eings" Then, together with a foowing of five hundred,
he departed for the ream of the 8aas"
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7dhelidhei, 'He 2ho Fies', was a no!eman of the and of evota, who, as a resut of his charity in former ives, was
very rich" +nce, whie he was Kiving in his paace and en)oying
his peasures, couds of five different coors gathered
in the sy" /s he ay gaing at them, the couds appeared totae the shapes of various iving things" +ne ooed ie a
goose fying in the sy, and he refected, 3, if coud onyfy ie thatD3
2hie he was refecting a!out !irds, the guru (arnaripa
came !y asing for food" /fter giving him food and water,
the t:to!eman !owed down to him and said, 38o you have a
method for fying in the sy for one who gives ams to
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yogiris93 3ndeed have,3 said the yogin" /nd he gave the
no!eman the initiation of the <atupithamahayoginitantra"/nd these were the instructions:
3n the twenty-four great paces, there are twenty-four
medicines" *o to each of these paces and recite a thousandtimes the mantra of each daini" 2hen you have recited
them, then tae the medicines"3 3+nce have done that,
then what shoud do93 ased the no!eman" 3First pour themedicines into a copper vesse, then into a vesse of siver,
and then pour them into a vesse of god" Then you wi !e
a!e to go into the sy,3 was the yogin's repy"
n tweve years the no!eman competed the admiCture
of medicines, and having done as instructed, he few into the
sy" He !ecame famous everywhere under the name dhei,
and having narrated his eCperiences, he went in this very !ody to the ream of the 8aas"
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(apaapa(apaapa, which means 'the $an with a Su', was aman of ow caste in the country of 4a)apuri who had fivesons" Because of previous arma, his wife died" He carried
the corpse to the cemetery, and as he was standing there
grieving, he was tod that his five sons had aso died" He
!rought their !odies to the cemetery as we, and remained
to grieve even more"
The yogin Krsnacari came up to him and said, 32hat
are you doing here93 3 have ost my wife and sons, yogin"
am torn !y misery" )ust stand here, una!e to forget these
!odies"3 To which Krsnacari repied, 3Everyone in theI
word is in the same condition, and you are not aone" But
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I
!eing misera!e is of no !enefit from the standpoint of the8harma" /re you not afraid of !irth and death in samsara93
3 indeed fear ife and death,3 said (apaapa" 3/nd if you
have a method of escaping it, pease give it to me"3 So the
yogin initiated him into the mandaa of Heva)ra and gavehim instructions on the 8eveoping and .erfecting Stages5
then he set him to practicing"The man made siC sets of ornaments from the !ones of
his sons, and !y spitting the head of his wife, he made a cup"This su cup was the 8eveoping Stage5 that it was empty
inside the su showed him the .erfecting Stage" n nine
years, he achieved the Tota ntegration, and having attained
siddhi, he then spoe to those to !e trained:
am the yogin of the su"The nature of a eCisting things
now to !e ie this su"So !ehave according to my inner power"
He danced in the sy, and the peope a too faith in
him" He !ecame famous as the guru (apaapa5 he then
narrated his eCperiences and wored for the !enefit of iving
!eings for five hundred years" Then, with a circe of siC
hundred, he went to the ream of the 8aas"
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(irava
n the city of *rahara, there was a ing as weathy as(u!era, who en)oyed an eCtensive domain" But that did not
satisfy him-he had to piage the reams of other ings and
en)oy them as we" /t one time, he ed his army into another
and5 a who were a!e to fee did so, !ut the women werenot a!e to get away" 2hen the ing heard the women
waiing, he ased his minister a!out it" The minister spoe tohim straightforwardy, and the ing grew very sad" <ompassion
arose in him, and he said, 3Let the women !e
reunited with their fathers and hus!ands"3
The minister carried out the ing's instructions, and sothe men a ieturned to their homes" The ing decreed a
great !e for gift-giving, and gave many gifts to those who
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3s it part of the secret practice to say nothing93
ased the master Saroruha" 3 have a method of aeviatinghunger"3
He coected a arge amount of rice and made a torma
!eside a river" He stirred up the eight great nagas !y meditatingon their sym!os and mantras5 he then !rought these
nagas overhead !y the power of his thoughts" 32e are here,3
said the nagas" 32hat do you wish to !e done93 3There has
!een no rain in %am!udvipa,3 said the guru" 3.eope are
dying and it is your faut" Therefore on the first day, rain
down food" +n the second day, grain" +n the third day, raindown )ewes" /fter you have done that, rain down water"3
peope were freed from their sufferings" Thoughts a!out theyogin pervaded every direction: 3This was done through the
power of Saroruha,3 the peope said" /nd everyone too
faith in him"
Saroruha then initiated his former servant, whose name
was 4ama, and gave him instructions where!y he o!tained
the wordy powers of siddhi" The guru then said, 3Since youhave !een given the instructions for the 8eveoping and the
.erfecting Stages of Heva)ra, do not )ust go into the sy, !utwor for the !enefit of iving !eings" *o to the Sriparvata
and do what you need to do"3
The guru went to the ream of the 8aas" 4ama !roughtthe daughter of a ing to the neigh!orhood of the Sriparvata
!y his power" They !oth !uit tempes and finay went to
the ream of the 8aas themseves"
Sarva!hasaSarvabhaksa, whose name means 'the $an 2ho Eats
Everything', was !orn of ow caste, a su!)ect of (ing Sinhacandra
in the city of /!hara" He had an enormousy argestomach, and whatever was put !efore him, he ate" +ne day,
he coud find nothing to eat, so he wandered off to another pace where he )ust sat, thining a!out nothing !ut food"
Saraha came aong and ased him, 32hat are you doing
here93 Sarvabhaksa repied, 3$y stomach !urns with agreat fire and cannot find enough food to satisfy me" Today
cannot find anything to eat at a, and so suffer"3 "If you
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cannot endure hunger for such a short time, what wi it !e
ie when you are re!orn as a preta, a hungry ghost93 Theman ased what a preta was ie, and the yogin, saying
3Loo thereD3 pointed one out" 3ou wi !e re!orn as a
!eing )ust ie that"3 4ecogniing that indeed this was so,Sarvabhaksa !egged the guru for a method of i!eration"
The guru first gave him initiation and then taught himthe Bodhicaryavatara of Santideva" He gave instructions as
foows:
<ontempate that your stomach is as empty as the sy"
Let the fire !urn as when you are hungry"Let a the visi!e word !e edi!e and drina!e,
and et it !e consumed as you eat it"Sarvabhaksa meditated with such devotion that the sun
and moon !ecame afraid and hid themseves in the vaey of $ount $eru" Everyone cried out in one voice, 3/as, the
ight is going outD3 /roused !y the dainis, $aha!rahma
came down to Sarvabhaksa and said, 3ou have eaten a
the food5 now meditate without it"3 So Sarvabhaksa did"
The sun and moon reappeared, and everyone was again
happy"
4eaiing the integration of appearances and emptiness,Sarvabhaksa attained siddhi" He narrated his eCperiences
and !rought great !essings to a iving !eings for siChundred years" Then, with a circe of a thousand, he went to
the ream of the 8aas"
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aga!odhi
+nce when the hoy agar)una was iving in the hermitageof Suvarna, there came from the west of ndia a
Brahman who was a thief" He ooed at the guru throughthe door and saw him eating uCurious food from a goden
pate" The thought came into his mind to stea the pate, !utthe guru recognied the thought and threw the goden pate
out of his room onto the ground"
32hy did he do that93 thought the thief" He went into
the house and spoe hum!y" 3 was thining of steaing the
goden pate, !ut now you have made that unnecessary"
2hy did you throw it to me933$y name is agar)una,3 the guru answered" 3/ my
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These eight powers wi !ring whatever is desired"
34emain on the Sriparvata,3 said agar)una, 3teachingand woring for the !enefit of iving !eings"3 Then agar)una
eft him there" It is said he wi ive for two thousand
years"
8arian the and of Saiputra, there was a ing named
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ndrapaa" +ne day when he was out hunting, at a!out
noontime he came upon a group of peope gathering for themaret" He saw the peope a giving reverence to the yogin
Liiyipa sitting there" The ing said to the yogin, 3/ man
such as you with such good appearance and good famiyshoud not !e eating fish-guts, which are uncean" wi give
you whatever you need to eat, and whatever ese you want"If you want my ingdom, wi give it to you"3
The guru answered, "If you have a method of i!eration
from od age and death, that can use" But if you do not,
even your ingdom and your daughter woud !e of no use to
me"3 32hy not93 ased the ing" 3The ingdom !rings itte !enefit and is a great hindrance" have renounced everything,3
Liiyipa said"
Thereupon (ing ndrapaa himsef grew weary of hisingdom and said to his Brahman minister, 3 wear a crown
in this word, !ut for what9 Let us go to the 8harma" There
is sufficient food and cothing for my wife, and can give the
ingdom to my son"3 The minister saw that such a course
woud !e fitting, and so the ing gave the ingdom to hisson"
Both the ing and the minister went to the cemeterywhere Liiyipa ived and noced on his door" 32ho is
thereD3 caed the master" 2hen the ing and his minister
answered, the master said, 32e then, come inD3 /nd they
entered" The master then initiated them !oth into the
mandaa of <arasamvara, and the two offered themseves
as the initiation fee"Then the three of them went to another and, +rissa,
and there they stayed and !egged ams" /fter that, theywent to the and of Bhirapura to a city caed %intapura" n
the city, they went to the house which !eonged to the
woman in charge of the three hundred dancing girs who
gave service in the tempe"Liiyipa ased at each of the three hundred doors,
32oud not your mistress ie to !uy a servant93 3.erhaps may !uy him,3 said the madam" She opened her door and
ooed out, and when she saw that he was a handsomeman, she wanted him and ased, 32hat is his price93 3Five
hundred god coins,3 the master answered" 2hen she
!ought the prince the master said to her, 38o not et anyone
seep with him at night, and do not chain him" He is worththe price you paid for him"3 Then he and the Brahman eft"
The prince wored for tweve years in the house of the prostitute, washing the women's feet and massaging their
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!odies" However, he did not forget the words of his guru"
/ong with a his other wor, he too on wor that was !eing negected" / the other servants of the pace greaty
admired him for that"
+ne day, a ing named %anapa, aso nown as (ing(un)i, came to the house with five hundred god coins which
he intended to spend on wordy peasures" 2hen the master
served him, (un)i gave him seven god coins as payment"Then (un)i spent the entire day in )oy and in fiing his
stomach5 as a resut of his overeating, he got indigestion" He
was pacing !ac and forth in the midde of the night, when
he noticed a peasant aroma coming from a ighted pace
within the garden" He went to investigate, and there he saw
the servant sitting on a throne, !eing venerated !y fifteen
maidens" The ing was 6uite amaed"He retraced his steps to the house, and tod the madamwhat he had seen" They !oth went out into the garden and
saw the same scene as !efore" The madam !ecame penitent
and prostrated hersef !efore the master, saying, 32e poor
sous have made an error5 we did not now that you had
these a!iities" have incurred a great sin !y treating you as
my servant" 2e !eg you to !e patient with us" wi maeyou an o!)ect of reverence for tweve years"3 2hen the
master assented to this, the madam and (ing (un)i ased to !e his students" He rose in the midde of the air and came
down a!ove the town, saying:
/ wordy ing has a parasoand sits on an eephant throne"
$y ingdom is more distinguished
and my position more eCated"
have the paraso of i!eration
and ride the $ahayana"
8aria en)oys himsef on the throne of the three words"
%ecause he was the servant of a prostitute, he was nown
as 8aria" Later, with a circe of seven hundred, he went tothe ream of the 8aas"
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.utai
+ne day, a guru yogin came and !egged ams from aman of ow caste who made his home in Benga" The man
!rought the yogin food and drin and, taing faith in him,
too him as guru" He was initiated into Heva)ra and given
instructions" The yogin aso gave him a thana of Heva)ra,
a!out which the yogin said, 3.ractice and use the thana asyou !eg ams from city to city"3 .utai practiced accordingy
for tweve years and attained siddhi, though he did not havea compete reaiation"
+ne day, .utai went to the ing's paace" The ing saw
him as he was putting each god in its pace on the thana,and the ing revied him, saying, 3This is not a painting"
+ny icon-painters mae proper paintings"3 The yogin repied,
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3These are the genuine gods" $y gods are highest !ecause
they have taen the pace of your gods in the thana"3The ing, thining that may!e this was true, summoned
his icon-painter" The yogin said to him, 3Even if you paint
your god in the pace of my god, how can it !e right9332hat wi happen93 ased the ing" 3$y god wi !ecome
the god of godsO' the yogin repied" 3How can we demonstrate
that93K ased the ing" 3.aint the ing's god a!oveand pace the Buddhist deity !eow" Soon the Buddhist
god wi !e on top,3 the yogin said""If that occurs,3 said the ing, 3 wi accept your system
and !ecome a Buddhist"3
The yogin refected on these words" Later, when they
ooed at the painting, the ing's god had eft its pace and
the other one was there instead" The ing was astonished" Hetoo the yogin as guru and entered the 8harma" The yogin
!ecame famous as the guru .utai, and for five hundred
years he wored for the !enefit of iving !eings" Having
narrated his eCperiences, finay, with siC hundred foowers,
he went to the ream of the 8aas"
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.anaha
.anaha, whose name means 'the Bootmaer', was aman of ow caste in Sandhonagara who supported himsef
!y maing !oots" +ne day, the !ootmaer saw a yogin whohad great magica powers !egging ams" He too faith in
that yogin and foowed him into a 6uiet cemetery" 32hydid you come here93 ased the guru" 3 have come to as for
the 8harma,3 the !ootmaer repied" /nd so the yogin
preached the misery of samsara and the !enefits of i!eration"
The !ootmaer !ecame very despondent a!out samsara,
and ased, 3 guru, pease give me a method of i!eration
from samsara"3 /fter the yogin gave the initiationwhich transfers !essings, he gave these instructions to tae
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desira!e o!)ectives as the path:
.ut on the ornamented !oots5
hasten aong in your waing and a sound wi arise"
<oncentrate on this sound aone5 then meditatethat the sound and emptiness are insepara!e"
.anaha understood the meaning and meditated on it"$ter nine years he purified the stains which o!struct the
path of sight, and attained siddhi" Becoming famous as the
guru .anaha, he narrated his eCperiences" Having wored
for the !enefit of iving !eings for eight hundred years, he
went to the ream of the 8aas with a circe of eight
hundred"
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(oaipa
+nce there was a ing in the city of <ampara whocoud not endure the heat" So he stayed in the shade of a
grove of asmra trees, near a stream of cear water where theregrew sweet-smeing !righty coored fowers and fruits of a
varieties" Here the princes and no!iity did him reverence"
/nd, of course, the ing had many young maidens to serve
him-some fanned him, some sang, some danced for him,
whie others scattered fowers"
2hie he was en)oying his ingdom-which did not ac for any deights-a true mon came to the garden" There
were three hundred doors to the peasure grove, and he didnot now which one to enter" The ing himsef heard him,
caed 3come inside,3 and had the mon admitted"
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The ing gave the mon food and provisions and then
ased him, 3<an your 8harma !e as happy as my 8harma933From the point of view of a chid, you are very
happy,3 said the mon" 3But from the point of view of the
wise, a this is poison"3 3How can you say poison93 ased theing" The mon then eCpained to the ing a!out the three
poisons" 3The ingdom is a composite of these poisons,3 said
the mon" 3t is destined for an unpeasant end" t is !ynature painfu5 it is ie a man who eats and drins deicious
food that had !een aced with poison"3 The ing, a person of
spiritua incinations, too this mon as guru and re6uested
instructions" He was initiated into <arasamvara and was
shown the path"
The ing then a!dicated in favor of his son" But though
he was a!e to renounce his previous mode of ife, the soundof the cucoo !irds in the asmra trees distracted him, so heased to !e instructed in a way that woud free him competey
from distractions" The mon said to him:
%ust as in the empty sy,
the thundercouds gather5
and when the rainfa occursthe sap eCtends through to the fruit,
iewise in the emptiness of the ear,the 'thunder' of the cucoo sounds,
and from the couds of concepts and perceptions
comes the poisonous rain of misery
Kwhich maes the eaves of o!session grow"
The wise man cuts off his chidish nature"
From the empty nature of the mind itsef,the thunder of the insepara!iity of sound
and emptiness,the couds of unstained great !iss coect,
and from the rainfa of the radiant true nature,the fruit of the five now edges grows"
Behod such a wonder for one who understands"
He meditated on these words and attained siddhi in siCmonths" He !ecame famous as the guru (oaipa, and
woring for the !enefit of iving !eings, he went to the ream
of the 8aas in this very !ody"
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/nanga/naiga was !orn a person of ow caste in the and of
*ahura" Because he had meditated on patience in a previous
ife, he was very handsome, and !ecause everyone was
aways gaing at him, he !ecame very proud" / discipinedmon who practiced the appropriate !ehavior came to
where he ived, asing for food" 3<ome in,3 /naiga said" 3wi serve you every day"3 /nd he ased the mon to return"
/naiga washed the mon's feet, paced cushions for him
to rest on, and satisfied him with food and drin" 3our reverence,3 he said, 3it is very difficut to !eg ams and food"
2hy do you do it93 3Since am afraid of samsara, wish a
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method of i!eration from it,3 the mon repied" 3our
4everence, what is the difference !etween the support wetwo have93 3There is a great difference,3 the mon repied"
3The 8harma does not arise from the pride which is your
support" $easureess good things arise from the faith whichis my Ksupport"3 3our 4everence, what is the 6uaity of
faith93 /naiga ased" /nd the mon repied, 3Those whose
support is the practice of the 8harma are not hindered !yeither human or non-human forces" They attain the !ody of
a Buddha and cross over from word to word"3
/naiga then ased the mon to give him a method to
o!tain such 6uaities, and the mon repied, 3/re you a!e
to give up wordy activities such as dressing and cooing93
3/ny man can do that,3 /naiga responded" 32e then,
having first done that, can you meditate93 3 can,3 said/naiga, and so he was initiated into <arasamvara andgiven these instructions on how to carify the siC sense fieds:
/ various appearances
have the nature of the mind"
othing whatsoever
eCists apart from it"/rrange the o!)ects of the siC senses
in their own pace5 penetrate to their indestructi!e nature
without usting for them"
He meditated, and having attained siddhi in siC months,
he !ecame nown as the guru /naiga" He wored for the
!enefit of iving !eings and finay went in that very !ody to
the ream of the 8aas"
Lasminara"aksminkara was the sister of (ing ndra!hiiti who
rued over the 0G, cities of Sam !oa in ddiyana" From
her youth, she had en)oyed the many advantages of her
no!e cass" She earned doctrines from the great siddha(am!aa, and she new many of the Tantra coections"Her !rother, (ing ndra!hiiti, had given her in marriage to
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the son of %aendra, (ing of Lana" 2hen the messenger
arrived to tae her to Lana, she carried her stainess weath
with her, her great nowedge a!out the 8harma"
2hen she arrived at the city of Lanapura, "aksminara
!ecame very sad, for a of the many peope she sawwere non-Buddhists" Because it was said that the stars wereunfavora!e, she was not permitted to enter the ing's paace"
So she stayed in town" The entourage of the prince,)ustreturning from a hunt and carrying much meat with them,
came into her presence and greeted her"
32hat is a this93 ased the princess" 32here did these
animas come from9 2ho ied a of them93 The huntersanswered, 32e have )ust come !ac from the hunt" our
hus!and, the prince, went into the wids to hunt and i"3The princess fet a great revusion at the ta of the hunt
and of eating )ust to stuff their !eies" She thought to hersef,
3$y !rother is a ing who protects the 8harma" <an
permit mysef to !e married to someone who is ie a pagan93
Thereupon she fainted" /fter she recovered from her
faint, she gave her weath to the citiens of the city and her ornaments to her retinue" She then returned to the pace
where she was staying" *iving orders that she woud notreceive anyone for ten fu days, she remained inside the
house" She cut her hair and stripped hersef naed5 then shesmeared ashes and coa on her !ody" /though she acted
demented, she unwaveringy set a!out her heart's aim"
The ing and his court were oppressed !y sorrow" They
sent for a doctor who prepared medicines for her, !ut shestruc out at a who came near her, tossing !rass ornaments
in the air" /though they sent a message to her !rother a!out this turn of events, she remained very unhappy"
The princess considered pans for escape, for she had
turned her heart from samsara" She acted ie a demented
ascetic" Escaping from Laiapura and staying in a cemetery,she consummated her heart's aim" n seven years she
attained siddhi" / sweeper of the ing did reverence to her,and she gave him instructions" He attained some of the
necessary 6uaities and was woring to eCperience the others
when (ing %aendra and his entourage came !y one day on
a hunt"The ing ost his way and wandered a!out5 una!e to
find his way out of that wid pace, he ooed for a pace to
rest" He came to the cave where "aksminkara sept" Thiningto himsef, 32hat is the cray woman doing93 he
ooed in "" There was a !right ight inside, and in a directions
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he saw num!eress divine maidens who were doing
reverence and maing offerings" Though he went !ac to his paace, a pure faith arose in the ing, and he returned to that
pace and did reverence"
32hy do you do reverence to a woman ie me93"aksminkara ased" The ing then ased for instructions,
!ut she said:
/ !eings who dwe in samsara partae of pain"
There is no happy or !issfu state of !eing"
Birth, od age, and death5 even the gods,
chief among !eings, are not free !ut are stricen !y
them"
The three evi destinies are painfu in themseves"
Though you eat here and there, you wi aways !ehungry"ou are tormented !y fire and frost endessy"
ing, see the !iss of i!eration"
Then she said, 3ou cannot !ecome my pupi" our
sweeper is my student, and wi !e your teacher" He has )ust
attained siddhi and wi !e your auspicious friend"3 3Sincethere are so many sweepers,3 said the ing, 3how wi now
him93 3The right sweeper wi !e giving food to the peope"*o to him at night"3
2hen the ing saw the proper sweeper he checed him
carefuy" He then put him on a throne, did him honor,
ased for instructions, and was given the initiation which
transfers spiritua power" Finay the sweeper and the princess
manifested many miraces in Laiapura, teaching the8eveoping and .erfecting Stages of ?a)ravarahi" Finay,
in this very !ody, they went to the ream of the 8aas"
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Samudra
n a and caed Sarvatira, there ived a man of owcaste who gained his sustenance !y coecting things from
the sea" +ne day he found nothing, and growing depressed
a!out his ife, he sat down in a cemetery" The yogin /cintacame aong and ased him, 32hat are you doing here93 The
man tod him what had happened previousy, and eCpressedhis unhappiness"
3/ sentient !eings in the word have measureess misery,3
the yogin said" 3ou wi find the ;previous misery
unendura!e, !ut more pain wi come, and you may not
find even a word of peasure"3 3 yogin,3 the man said, 3
as for any method of !eing i!erated from misery"3 The
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yogin then initiated him, and gave him instructions on the
Four nner %oys and the Four +uter mmeasurea!es:Friendiness, compassion, )oy, and e6uanimity,
are the Four mmeasurea!es"
Happiness wi fow from the center and from wordy things in e6ua measure"
The four caras are the four )oys"
Happiness and emptiness are 6uite insepara!e"
If you meditate correcty,not ony wi you have undefied !iss,
!ut there wi not !e a word of misery"/fter he understood what was said, the man meditated
and in three years attained siddhi" He !ecame famous in a
directions as the guru Samudra" Having narrated his eCperiences,
he wored for the !enefit ofiving !eings and witha circe of eight hundred, went to the ream of the 8aas"
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?yai
n a pace caed /patrara, there ived a weathyBrahman named ?yai who made many eCperiments inorder to mae the eiCir of ife" He !ought a ot of mercury
and many drugs5 he then puveried the drugs and miCedthem together" But he coud not find the ey to the eiCir"
2hen nothing resuted from a this, and as no signs of
progress had appeared, in a fit of rage he threw his !oo into
the river *anges and gave up his efforts"/fter woring for tweve years on the eiCir, and having
used up a of his weath, he went as a !eggar to the citywhere the vihara of (ing 4ama was situated" n that same
city, a prostitute went to the !ans of the *anges to !athe,
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found the !oo the od Brahman had thrown away, and
showing it to him, ased, 32hat is this93 He saw that it washis od achemy !oo, and tod her of his previous attempts
to produce the eiCir" "If had a itte !it more god, woud
!e a!e to do it,3 he said" She then gave him money, !utunder the same deusions as !efore, he foowed the same
procedures" He was poweress" He !ought a ot of mercury
and practiced again for a year, !ut since he did not now
a!out the red Syurura, theKsigns of transformation did notoccur"
+ne day, whie the prostitute was !athing, a fower which was sef-formed attached itsef to her finger" /s she was
pucing it off, a partice of the fower fe into the miCture of
su!stances, and immediatey the signs of transformation appeared"
The Brahman ased the woman what had gone intothe miCture, !ecause he was himsef carefu not to aow
foreign su!stances into it" 32hat caused this93 he ased"3The signs of success are here" The eight mars of good
fortune have arisen"3 They indeed had great fortune"The prostitute put a drop of the eiCir into the Brahman's
food and, served it to him" +n previous days when
they had added drops to food and drin, he had not detected
any difference" But this day he did" The prostitute had
accompished what he had not"
The Brahman, the prostitute, and a horse a ate theeiCir, and a three attained the successfu power of iving
without death" But the Brahman had a very sefish nature,and he wanted to go where he woud not have to give the
eiCir to anyone" He went to the reams of the gods, and even
the gods did not now he had it" He then went to the
country of a ing named (iam!e and ived there"
There was a roc a mie high and ten shouting distances
in eCtent surrounded !y a swamp" +n the top of it, there was
a tree" The Brahman ived in the secuded shade of this tree,where he woud not have to revea the recipe for the eiCir toanyone"
ow the hoy agar)una, after attaining the successfu
power of going through the air, came to that pace, wearing
a pair of magic shoes" He did reverence and ased for instructions"3How did you get here93 ased ?yai" agar)una
showed him the power of the magic shoes, and eCpainedhow he had got them" ?yai gave him the recipe for the eiCir
and then said, 3*ive me those !oots for a fee"3 agar)una
gave him one shoe, and with the other went !ac to %am!udvipa"
agar)una competed his practice on the Sriparvata
8/12/2019 84 Mahasiddhis
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/84-mahasiddhis 184/184
and he wored for the !enefit of iving !eings"
agar)una then said, 3/ttachment to god is an eviuness you are a!e to attain the proper 6uaities" f you are
not a!e to produce these 6uaities, you shoud see the
spiritua counse of a guru5 you wi then !ecome a greatman"3
The fruit, the !iss of the
8harma-nature,wi never end"
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