Passage

'khor ba dang mya ngan las 'das pa'i so mtshams ni/ 'khor ba zhes bya ba gcig nas gcig tu brgyud cing 'khor ba'o/ mya ngan las 'das pa zhes bya ba 'khor ba'i gdos thag chad pa'o/ de rgyud la 'gel ba'i dus/ rang gi sems nyid gzhi las dngos po'i skyon gyis ma gos par skye med rang byung mthong bas 'khor ba'i sa med/ 'khor ba ka nas dag pa la mya ngan las 'das pa zhes bya/ 'khor ba mya ngan las 'das par/ rang sar dag pa'i gnad do//

Note

In discussing the interface between saṃsāra and nirvāṇa (second of thirty-two) Padmasambhava defines each. He defines saṃsāra as the chain of events or cycle leading from one thing to another and nirvāṇa as breaking the chain of saṃsāra. He then shows how saṃsāra dissolves automatically upon seeing that it is only a projection of mind which, in itself, has always been pure and undefiled by flaws. (See also 711.2 and 715.4 pha rol and tshu rol.)

by David Higgins

Passage

'khor ba nyid kyi don rtogs na
mya ngan 'das zhes yod ma yin/ zhes dang/

Note

In this passage, 'Jigs med gling pa quotes the Mu tig phreng ba {115636} in the context of discussing the five-fold path of Rdzogs chen (see under the term thun mong ma yin pa'i lam lnga).

by David Higgins

Passage

2. dris lan gnyis pa [107.2]

['das pa'i tha ma gang gis bzung]
'khrul pa'i rtog pa kun zad pas
'khor ba'i byed snang med tshe na
rtog zad 'khrul pa rang snang bas
'das pa gzhag phyir sems can khams
rang bzhin du yang 'di nyid yul
gzhan dbang ma yin yongs su grub
kun brtags las dang brjod pas stong
mtha' ldan phye ba ma yin no
gnyis gnyis 'jug dang kun tu khyab
las dang dbang po blo rnams yul
'jug pa'i las ni thad ka'o/

Note

The responses to the first two questions of chapter two of the text (on central topics relating to Rdzogs chen) concern the onset of saṃsāra (see under rten 'brel) and its termination in nirvāṇa (1. sems can 'khor ba'i thog ma gang; 2. 'das pa'i tha ma gang gis bzung). The following passage is the terse response to question two.

by David Higgins

Passage

mdor na rnam rtog ni 'khor ba mi rtog pa mya ngan las 'das pa yin pas/ rnal 'byor pa 'du 'dzi dang g.yeng ba la gnas pa ni/ 'khor ba zhes bya'o/ tha ma yud tsam zhig mi dmigs pa la mnyam par bzhag kyang de'i bar du mya ngan las 'das pa yin no/ 'khor ba'i rgyu rnam rtog je zhi je phrang gyur nas/ rnam par mi rtog pa'i ye shes lhun gyis grub pa ste/

Note

In this passage, Padmasambhava views saṃsāra as discursiveness and nirvāṇa as non-discursiveness. He writes that as the divisive notions which are the momentum behind saṃsāra grow weaker, the non divisive ye shes unfolds spontaneously. (See also 710.4)

by David Higgins

Passage

rgyu gcig pa dang yig 'bru'i tshul
byin gyis brlab dang mngon gsum par [byin rlabs stobs]
rab tu rtogs pa rnam bzhi yis
thams cad mngon rdzogs rgyal po che/

Note

In this passage, Yon tan rgya mtsho takes up four modes of understanding from the Rdo rje sems dpa' sgyu 'phrul drva ba rtsa ba'i rgyud to establish the indivisibility of sems and ye shes in the context of the rang rig lta ba'i lta ba.

by David Higgins

Note

The first, "single cause", is applied to the notion of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. Yon tan rgya mthso examines four arguments and conclusions to determine whether saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are pure or impure. The conclusions are that saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are pure as: rang bzhin skye med, rol pa 'gags med, ngo bo dbyer med, and mtshan nyid blo bral. The author also notes [89.3 f] that such arguments do not lead to existential understanding but rather enable one to gain the certitude, by way of inference, necessary to cultivate the Mantrayāna path leading to immediate existential understanding rooted in authentic abidingness.

by David Higgins