#Mahasiddha Virupa

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The great Tantric master (mahasiddha) Virupa, who is said to have lived in the seventh century, became a wandering yogi after being an abbot of India’s greatest Buddhist monastery.

This painting shows him seated with a raised hand forming a gesture of subjugation. Virupa’s gesture—a raised hand with a finger pointing up to the sun—refers to an episode when he was on an epic drinking spree and agreed with the tavern proprietor to settle the bill at sunset. He then used his great meditative powers to stop the sun in its course until after several days without night the local ruler, fearful of a possible drought, paid his tab. This story emphasizes the magical abilities Virupa gained from tantric practices, which he transmitted to his students.

We hope you celebrate today by remembering Virupa and enjoying the sunshine! ________ Mahasiddha Virupa; Gongkar Chode Monastery, U Province, Central Tibet; ca. 1659-1671; pigments on cloth; Rubin Museum of Art; C2004.14.1 (HAR 65340)

[Rubin Museum of Art]

* * * *

“36. The intellect and the Puruṣa (Ātman, Self) are totally different, the intellect existing for the sake of the Puruṣa, while the Puruṣa exists for its own sake. Not distinguishing this is the cause of all experiences; and by saṁyama on the distinction, knowledge of the Puruṣa is gained.

37. From this knowledge arises superphysical hearing, touching, seeing, tasting and smelling through spontaneous

38. These [superphysical senses] are obstacles to [nirbija] samādhi but are siddhis (powers or accomplishments) in the worldly pursuits.”

― Satchidananda , The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

[eastwestimage]

Mahasiddha Virupa, 15th century. Central Tibet. Bronze with inlaid silver.

"Virupa was born in Tripura in eastern India, but his main work went on in a monastery called Somapuri in southern India. A man of unorthodox habits, Virupa was a great devotee of Vajravarahi, whose cult was more prevalent in the east than in the south. He is noted for his supernatural powers and is said to be stopped the sun once when he was displeased with a barmaid in a tavern. Another story tells how he split a statue of Siva and converted the Sivaites to Buddhism."

From "Art of Tibet" by Pratapaditya Pal, published in 1983.

[mahayanapilgrim]

Sukhasiddhi was born into a poor family and was the mother of three sons and three daughters. She was a very kind and compassionate person who once gave away the only food in her house and was disowned by her own family. She went to Oddiyana, which was thought to be the land of dakas and dakinis, and met Virupa, a mahasiddha who became her guru. Sukhasiddhi attained complete realization very quickly, and he was the root teacher of the Tibetan yogi Khungpo Naljor.

[artschoolglasses]

The Mahasiddha Virupa, 1403-24

Victoria & Albert Museum, London

[arjuna-vallabha]

Mahasiddha Virupa, thangka detail, Nepal

[vajranam]

Without Self

who exist in things as they are, without self, not thinking, not achieving, am saved from the pit of nihilism by existential self-awareness, am saved from eternal heaven by absolute detachment. I live in consummate pure delight and perfect awareness.

— Mahasiddha Virupa

[ngakpakonchokdorjetsondonmystic]

The ShAkya Lineage

THE SAKYA LINEAGE Sakya literally means “pale earth” and refers to an auspicious plot of land in south-western Tibet that in 1073 became home to an entire tradition of Buddhism. Guided by an unbroken family lineage of revered spiritual leaders, the Sakya tradition integrates a rich system of study and practice. The advent of Buddhism in Tibet began as early as the 5th century and by the 7th century it was the deemed the state religion. By 827, the first ordination of monks at the newly established Samye monastery in Yarlung valley by the pioneering scholar Shantarakshita took place and among the first seven monks to ordain was Nagendrarakshita, a member of the Khön family. Being distinguished Buddhist scholars and practitioners as well as direct disciples of Padmasambhava, Shantarakshita and Trisong Detsen, the Khön family members emerged as pillars of the early dissemination of Buddhism in Tibet. By the eleventh century, members of the Khön family were instrumental in the renaissance of Buddhism in Tibet, establishing their base at Sakya, a place marked by a patch of pale earth as foretold by the Padmasambhava and Atisha, and the namesake for the new tradition they founded. Maintaining several important practices entrusted to the Khön family by Padmasambhava, a new emphasis was given on the later transmission of Buddhist teachings to Tibet in Sakya, particularly the works of four great translators. Of these, the Lam-dre teaching (the Path that Includes the Result) that originated in India with the Mahasiddha Virupa and was first taught compressively in Tibet by Drogmi Lotsawa became the most important. Of the Khön family members that established the Sakya tradition, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-158) is regarded as the first of the founding masters. A peerless master of the sutra and tantra teachings, he received the renowned mind-training teaching known as “Parting from the Four Forms of Clinging” from the Bodhisattva Manjushri at the age of twelve. He later received the teachings of the four great translators, such as the vast kriya tantra teachings from Bari Lotsawa Rinchen Dragpa (1040-1111), the Cakrasamvara and Naropa’s Vajrayogini teachings from Mal Lotsawa Lodro Dragpa, and the teachings of Lochen Rinchen Zangpo and others. Two of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo’s four sons and spiritual heirs, Lobpön Sönam Tsemo (1142-82) and Jetsun Dragpa Gyaltsen (1147-1216) are revered as the second and third founders respectively, having composed celebrated works that became vital in the Sakya tradition. The fourth founder, Sachen Kunga Nyingpo’s grandson Kunga Gyaltsen Pal Zangpo (1182-1251), took full ordination as a monk from the Kashmiri scholar Shakyashribhadra and became the first Tibetan to earn the rank of a Mahapandita for his expertise. He thus became famed as Sakya Pandita, of the most important scholars in the development of Tibetan Buddhism. Through Sakya Pandita, a vigorous school of logic and reasoning took root in Tibet and a number of Indian sciences were introduced. His uncompromising emphasis on discriminative intelligence through rigorous intellectual standards was seminal and established the standard criteria for unbiased critical analysis and the development of knowledge in the whole Tibetan tradition of Buddhist education. Of his many brilliant works, “The Differentiation of the Three Vows”, “Illuminating the Muni’s Intent,” “The Treasury of Elegant Sayings” and “The Treasury of Reasoning and Valid Cognition” are the most well-known, the last of these being the only text of Tibetan origin to have been translated into Sanskrit, his reputation spreading like lightning throughout India as a result. In 1253, the Mongolian emperor of China Kublai Khan (1215-1294) invited Sakya Pandita’s nephew Chögyal Phagpa Lodrö Gyaltsen (1235-1280) to his court. The great Khan not only took the fifth founder of Sakya as his Imperial Preceptor, he gave political rule of the thirteen myriarchies that made up Tibet to him. Although he spent most of his life in China, where he bestowed many teachings and ordinations to people of diverse backgrounds, he returned to Tibet in 1265 and appointed a governor and thirteen ministers to centralise the Tibetan government the model of a spiritual leader overseeing a centralised government with the policy of religious pluralism that lasted until 1949, although it only remained in Sakya for just over a century. During Chögyal Phagpa’s lifetime, the great temple (Lhakhang Chenmo) was built in Sakya and what became the greatest library in Tibet. By the time of Lama Dampa Sönam Gyaltsen (1312-1375), political rule shifted from Sakya but Lama Dampa consolidated all the teachings of the five founders and Sakya’s spiritual influence continued to flourish, most of the greatest masters of his day in all traditions receiving teachings from him. After Lama Dampa, “Six Ornaments” are revered in the development of the Sakya tradition: Yagtön Sangye Pal (1348-1414) and Rongtön Sheja Kunrig (1367-1449), expert in the sutras; Ngorchen Kunga Zangpo (1382-1456) and Dorje Denpa Kunga Namgyal (1432-1496), expert in the tantras; and Kunkhyen Gorampa Sönam Sengge (1429-1489) and Shakya Chogden (1428-1507), expert in both. It is also after Lama Dampa that the Ngorpa and Dzongpa sub-schools of Sakya and later the Tsarpa emerged, with major Sakya monasteries built in the Amdo, Kham, and Ü-Tsang regions of Tibet as well as other Himalayan areas and Mongolia. Although the Khön family is continued by the male progeny, the female members of the family, known as Jetsunmas, are also highly respected teachers in the tradition, many of whom have furthered the Sakya teachings. During the time of the 22nd Sakya Throne Holder, Salo Jampai Dorje (1485-1533), who was a prolific author of Sakya teachings, political turmoil threatened the future of Sakya. However, due to the work initiated by him and carried out by his magnanimous nephew, the 23rd Sakya Throne Holder Ngagchang Kunga Rinchen (1517-1584), Sakya underwent a revival and its legacy was fully secured. After another period of unrest in the 17th century, the seat of power in Tibet shifted from Tsang to Lhasa and in forming a solid rapport with the new administration, the 27th Sakya Throne Holder, Jamgon Ameshab Kunga Sonam (1597-1659), who was an extraordinary polymath, peace envoy and spiritual master, aided Sakya’s continued development. Later, the 31st Sakya Throne Holder Sachen Kunga Lodrö (1729-1783) made tremendous efforts to preserve all the vast teachings of the tradition. His grandsons founded the two surviving branches of the Khön family in the 18th century named after their respective residences: the Dolma Phodrang and the Phuntsok Phodrang. Leadership of Sakya and its tradition has alternated between the two Phodrangs in more recent history. Since 1959, the families of both Phodrangs have lived outside of Tibet. H.H. the 41st Sakya Trichen (b. 1945) re-established the Dolma Phodrang as well as many monasteries and nunneries in India, ensuring the continuation of the Sakya tradition and spreading its teachings across the globe. The Phuntsok Phodrang, headed by the late Jigdal Dagchen Dorje Chang (1929-2016), relocated to Seattle in the USA but later established a base in New Delhi with the Sakya Heritage Society.

Source: Avikrita.org

[wonderlanephoto]

“Danny, who is I am?” - H.H. Trinley Narwang Sakyapa Rinpoche by Wonderlane Via Flickr: “Danny, who is I am?” - H.H. Trinley Narwang Sakyapa Rinpoche "I am a contemplative Priest. My meditations are centered on understanding, admiring, loving and living the human existence (this time). As a Priest I am also a chaplain, I pray, observe, and perform rituals daily. With this path my goal is to put all grievances aside and gain the “Boon” of compassion and equanimity. My practicing religious life is guided by the Lamas of the Sakya tradition. Said tradition is of the Tibetan Religious systems of Vajrayana Buddhism. I have been under the tutelage of the Sakyapa Lamas since 1976. My Order’s teachings are of the Hevajra Tantra. This teaching school possesses the”…. four authenticities and the four criteria of the ear-whispered teaching of the Lord Buddha Shakyamuni.” This system “…. [Is] a pure, unbroken realization teaching of the great Indian Mahasiddha Virupa.” My cohort and I received our instructions and vows in 1990. The rites and rituals were disseminated over a course of 4 weeks, at the Tharlam Sakya Monastery, Kathmandu, Nepal. The Great Patriarch of the Sakya Khon Lineage, His Holiness: Jigdal Dagchen Sakya turned the Wheel of Dharma for us and all sentient beings. So, I am obligated. They say,” The path of least resistance is the best.” I am not lazy." D. E. Reyes 10/13/11

[garywonghc]

Without thinking of existence or non-existence, rest in non-distraction. Bringing to mind anything at all, even the absence of extremes, is to fail to abide in the reality of the nature of existence, and it is a great distraction. -- Mahasiddha Virupa

[enlightenverse]

Without Self

who exist in things as they are, without self, not thinking, not achieving, am saved from the pit of nihilism by existential self-awareness, am saved from eternal heaven by absolute detachment. I live in consummate pure delight and perfect awareness.

— Mahasiddha Virupa

[ani-tsultrim-wangmo]

Intellectualising reality, attachment to meditation experience, cultivating and meditating on the actual true state are causes of deviation. Because attachment and aversion arose towards conducive conditions, one is bound.

~ Mahasiddha Virupa

將現實知識化、執著於禪修的體驗、對實際真實狀態的培養與禪修是產生偏差的原因。因為對有利的條件生執著與厭惡，所有一個人就此被束縛。

~ 大成就者畢魯巴

[abhayam-dada]

Happy Dakini Day!

"The naked state of illusory, self-manifesting appearances,

is luminous awareness without reference point.

there remains the inexpressible sphere;

the vividly, flickering Great Bliss."

---Jetsun Taranatha

HH 14th Dalai Lama's favourite quote from Taranatha, which he cites extensively in his teachings about Jonang masters. See here: https://dakinitranslations.com/kalacakra-2/hh-the-14th-dalai-lama-on-jonang-shentong-and-kalacakra-six-yogas/

Image: Sukhasiddhi. Sukhasiddhi (flourished 11th Century) was an Indian mahasiddha teacher of Vajrayana Buddhism, a yogini and master of meditation. "Sukhasiddhi arrived at tantric Buddhism late in life. She lived as an impoverished housewife and mother of six children until the age of fifty-nine. She was thrown out of her home by her husband and children, who were irate at what they considered her misplaced generosity to a stranger who came begging at their door. She wandered westward to Oddiyana (Swat Valley in modern Pakistan), where she acquired a measure of grain, with which she made alcohol. Her business proved a modest success, and she allowed herself to again be generous, this time to a female adept referred to as Avadhuti-ma, who regularly bought alcohol for her companion, an adept in retreat. Sukhasiddhi’s gift of free alcohol intrigued the adept, Virupa, who asked whether his surprising benefactor wanted to receive Buddhist teaching. She did. Sukhasiddhi’s story relates that she brought as offerings to Virupa two containers of alcohol and some pork. Although this meeting predates the Muslim domination of India, pork and alcohol were far from what would have normally constituted suitable offerings for spiritual teaching, even to tantric masters. Nevertheless, Virupa was no normal master, and Sukhasiddhi would prove an exceptional disciple.

Upon receiving empowerment and instruction from Virupa, Sukhasiddhi, then a sixty-one-year-old, attained full enlightenment that very evening. Like Niguma, her body became rainbowlike. Niguma is remembered as a wrathful, dark-brown woman who wore bone ornaments, whereas Sukhasiddhi is portrayed as a peaceful, light-skinned sixteen-year-old.

Niguma’s teachings make up the bulk of the Shangpa Instruction Lineage’s meditation practices, yet it is Sukhasiddhi who occupies the center of the sacred circle when Kyungpo Naljor’s masters are recalled."

https://sukhasiddhi.org/about/sukhasiddhi-story/

[mahayanapilgrim]

"The relative phenomena of the world however they appear are without essence, mere names, mere sounds, mere designations,

not the slightest bit of difference between names and meanings exists,

innate from the beginning, not to be sought elsewhere.

The nature of the mind, without a name, mahamudra free from proliferation,

it is equivalent with the nature of space, without a name from the beginning, non-arisen by nature,

free from the proliferation of signs, all-pervading, unmoving and unchanging like space, empty throughout all time and always selfless, not the characteristic of concept, like a mirage of a river, not bound, not liberated,

having never moved from the original state."

~ Mahasiddha Virupa

[budaenlayerba]

Ayer terminé de subir el último capítulo del ciclo que me había propuesto hacer: Iluminaciones Rebeldes, sobre les 84 Mahasiddhas. 

Como sé que a veces en el canal de la Sangha Sin Nombre tiene varios podcasts, armé una lista de Spotify para que puedan acceder más fácilmente: 

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5peUluiaN5xsRDmS2gY7sZ?si=7g_tTSjCQ0iVTWE7yO0LZg

Antes que nada ¡gracias a todes les que me acompañaron! Fue todo un proceso: tuve que aprender a grabar podcasts, cosa que nunca había hecho y a editar. Por otro lado, cambié de formato (tendría que haber pensado que hay Mahasiddhas que no tienen mucho detalle) y empecé otros podcasts como Kalapa, etc. 

¿Qué aprendí, puntualmente?

-Tengo que tener más claro como combinar contenido + formato

-Les Mahasiddhas, especialmente aquelles que tienen historias disruptivas, son mucho más interesantes que aquelles que afirman la narrativa

-El tema del lenguaje inclusivo sigue siendo un gran detector de tendencias reaccionarias

-Les 84 no son conocides, en comparación a Milarepa, Padmasambhava, etc.

¿Cómo seguimos, entonces?

Voy a estar armando otro Podcast para dentro de unos meses, pero probablemente haga un Bonus Track de iluminaciones Rebeldes, que se centre en aquelles Mahasiddhas que no están en la lista, pero son más conocides. Les que pensaba abordar son:

-Virupa

-Padmasambhava

-Milarepa

-Machig Labdron

-Tsongkhapa

-Drukpa Kunley

-Ra Lotsawa

-Dudjom Lingpa

El formato sería similar, pero con capítulos más espaciados y largos, dado que cada Mahasiddhe de les nombrades tiene más información y detalle, en general, que les 84.

¿Hay algune otre que quisieran que cubra? Por favor, háganmelo saber.

Y de nuevo, en serio ¡Muchas gracias!

[vajranam]

Rebel Mahasiddhas

“I who live in spontaneous reality... exist in things as they are.”

Virupa

Thanks very much for all your support, so many of us would like to have met Mila, Tilo, Naro and more because we romantise the mahasiddhas.

If you been in India particularly not for visited but doing ground work, like I did well you will know that any mahasiddhas are far from what we expect.

Milarepa was know for his nakedness, mahasiddhas look for true nature of mind, politics, fashion or anything it’s like children games for them.

If Milarepa where in our time he will have broke so many rules, but that exactly that be a siddha, knowing what is dharma is more value for a siddha than Tv for example.

In my time down to India well the rinpche who I had follow down there who is a Siddha talk me very much about my own potential.

In our time today we try so much to be correct that we become fake and yes anyone can become a siddha, Siddha can meditate in the middle of the central station and remain calm.

It’s all about the mind, like said yesterday about what method we use and how we use it’s not a big deal contrary its let go of everything siddha let go, even if we talk ill of then the laugh because they are beyond that.

[dharmadao]

MAHASIDDHA VIRUPA - THE UGLY ONE