:Tilopa
{{Short description|Indian philosopher}}
{{redirect|Talika|the village in Iran|Talika, Iran}}
{{use Indian English|date=March 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
Tilopa (Prakrit; Sanskrit: Talika or Tilopadā; 988–1069) was an Indian Buddhist tantric mahasiddha who lived along the Ganges River.{{cite book |last= Nydahl|first= Ole|date= 2019|title= The Four Foundational Practices of the Great Seal|location= Ontario WI|publisher= Diamond Way Press|page= 117}} He practised Anuttarayoga Tantra, a set of spiritual practices intended to accelerate the process of attaining Buddhahood. He became a holder of all the tantric lineages, possibly the only person in his day to do so. In addition to the way of insight and Mahamudra, Tilopa learned and passed on the Way of Methods (today known as the Six Yogas of Naropa) and guru yoga.{{cite book |last= Nydahl|first= Ole|date= 2019|title= The Four Foundational Practices of the Great Seal|location= Ontario WI|publisher= Diamond Way Press|page= 119}} Naropa is considered his main student.
Life
Tilopa was born into the priestly Brahmin caste of Bengali origin in Eastern India.{{cite book |last1=Quintman |first1=Andrew |title=The Yogin and the Madman: Reading the Biographical Corpus of Tibet's Great Saint Milarepa |date=5 November 2013 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-53553-3 |pages=41, 72 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=laxAAQAAQBAJ&dq=Tilopa+bengali&pg=PA41}}{{cite journal |last1=Lopez |first1=Donald |title=Tilopa |journal=The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism |date=2013 |isbn=978-0-691-15786-3 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780190681159.001.0001/acref-9780190681159-e-4530}} He adopted the monastic life upon receiving orders from a dakini{{cite book |last=Mar-Pa |first=Chos-Kyi Blo-Gros |editor-last=Cayley |editor-first=Vyvyan |translator1-last=Torricelli |translator1-first=Fabrizio |translator2-last=Naga |translator2-first=Acharya Sangye T. |year=1995 |title=The Life of the Mahasiddha Tilopa |publisher=Library of Tibetan Works and Archives |pages=28, 43–44 |isbn=978-81-85102-91-7}} (female buddha whose activity is to inspire practitioners) who told him to adopt a mendicant and itinerant existence. From the beginning, she made it clear to Tilopa that his real parents were not the persons who had raised him but instead were primordial wisdom and universal voidness. Advised by the dakini, Tilopa gradually took up a monk's life, taking the monastic vows and becoming an erudite scholar. The frequent visits of his Dakini teacher continued to guide his spiritual path and close the gap to enlightenment.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}
He began to travel throughout India, receiving teachings from many gurus:
- from Saryapa he learned of inner heat (Sanskrit: caṇḍalī, Tib. tummo, inner heat);
- from Nagarjuna he received the radiant light (Sanskrit: prabashvara) and illusory body (Sanskrit: maya deha, Tib. gyulu) teachings (Cakrasaṃvara Tantra), Lagusamvara tantra, or Heruka Abhidharma;
- from Lawapa, the dream yoga;
- from Sukhasiddhi, the teachings on life, death, and the bardo (states between lives and consciousness transference/phowa);
- from Indrabhuti, he gained wisdom (prajña);
- and from Matangi, the resurrection of the dead body.
As advised by Matangi, Tilopa started to work at a brothel in Bengal for a prostitute called Dharima as her solicitor and bouncer. During the day, he was grinding sesame seeds for his living.[http://www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/lineage/kag02.php Kagyu Lineage History: Tilopa] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130228050913/http://www.kagyu.org/kagyulineage/lineage/kag02.php |date=28 February 2013 }} During a meditation, he received a vision of Vajradhara and, according to legend, the entirety of mahamudra was directly transmitted to Tilopa. After receiving the transmission, Tilopa meditated in two caves and bound himself with heavy chains to hold the correct meditation posture. He practised for many years and then met the mind of all buddhas in the form of a Diamond Holder Vajradhara. He is considered the grandfather of today's Kagyu Lineage. Naropa, his most important student, became his successor and carried and passed on the teachings. On the premises of Pashupatinath Temple, regarded as the greatest Hindu shrine in Nepal, there are two caves where Tilopa attained siddhis and initiated his disciple Naropa.{{Cite web |title=Lhundrup Tsek (Pashupati, Kathmandu Valley) |url=https://www.nekhor.org/padmasambhava/nepal/lhundrup-tsek |access-date=15 August 2024 |website=Nekhor |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=17 December 2022 |title=Tilopa Cave, Pashupatinath, Kathmandu, Nepal - Sannidhi The Presence |url=https://sannidhi.net/sannidhi/tilopa-cave-pashupatinath-kathmandu-nepal/ |access-date=15 August 2024 |language=en-US}}
Teachings
=Six Precepts or Words of Advice=
Tilopa gave Naropa a teaching called the Six Words of Advice, the original Sanskrit or Bengali of which is not extant; the text has survived through its Tibet
According to Ken McLeod, the text contains exactly six words; the two English translations in the following table are attributed to him.
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+Six Words of Advice | |||
| First short, literal translation | Later long, explanatory translation | Tibetan (Wylie transliteration) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1
| Don't recall | Let go of what has passed | mi mno | |
| 2
| Don't imagine | Let go of what may come | mi bsam | |
| 3
| Don't think | Let go of what is happening now | mi sems | |
| 4
| Don't examine | Don't try to figure anything out | mi dpyod | |
| 5
| Don't control | Don't try to make anything happen | mi sgom | |
| 6
| Rest | Relax, right now, and rest | rang sar bzhag |
Watts-Wayman translation
An earlier translation circa 1957 by Alan Watts and Dr. Alex Wayman rendered Tilopa's "Six Precepts" as
:No thought, no reflection, no analysis,
:No cultivation, no intention;
:Let it settle itself.
In a footnote, Watts cited a Tibetan source text at partial variance with McLeod's in sequence and syntax, namely:
:Mi-mno, mi-bsam, mi-dpyad-ching,
:Mi-bsgom, mi-sems, rang-babs-bzhag.
Based on an "elucidation" provided by Wayman, Watts explained that
:Mi-mno is approximately equivalent to the Zen terms wu-hsin (無心) or wu-nien (無念), "no-mind" or "no thought." Bsam is the equivalent of the Sanskrit cintana, i.e., discursive thinking about what has been heard, and dpyad of mimamsa, or "philosophical analysis." Bsgom is probably bhavana or the Chinese hsiu (修), "to cultivate," "to practice," or "intense concentration." Sems is cetana or szu (思), with the sense of intention or volition. Rang-babs-bzhag is literally "self-settle-establish," and "self-settle" would seem to be an almost exact equivalent of the Taoist tzu-jan (自然, pinyin: zì rán), "self-so", "spontaneous", or "natural".{{cite book |last=Watts |first=Alan |year=1999 |orig-year=First published 1957|title=The Way of Zen |publisher=Vintage Books |page=79 and n. 3}}
Watts had studied Chinese, and Wayman was a Tibetologist and professor of Sanskrit associated with UCLA and later Columbia University.
=Mahamudra instructions=
Tilopa also gave mahamudra instruction to Naropa by means of the song known as "The Ganges Mahamudra,"{{cite book |last1=Thrangu |first1=Khenchen |title=Tilopa's Wisdom: His Life and Teachings on the Ganges Mahamudra |year=2019 |publisher=Snow Lion |location=Boulder, Colorado |isbn=978-1-55939-487-1 |page=58}} one stanza of which reads:
:The fool in his ignorance, disdaining Mahamudra,
:Knows nothing but struggle in the flood of samsara.
:Have compassion for those who suffer constant anxiety!
:Sick of unrelenting pain and desiring release, adhere to a Guru,
:For when his blessing touches your heart, the mind is liberated.[http://www.keithdowman.net/mahamudra/tilopa.htm Keith Dowman / Tilopa's Instruction to Naropa]
=Attachment and enjoyment=
One of the most famous and important statements attributed to Tilopa is: "The problem is not enjoyment; the problem is attachment."{{Cite web |last=Institute |first=Garchen |title=Tilopa {{!}} Garchen Buddhist Institute |url=https://garchen.net/tilopa-988-1069/ |access-date=6 August 2023 |language=en-US}}
See also
- Erdne Ombadykow, as Telo Tulku Rinpoche, supposed reincarnation of Tilopa
- History of Tibet
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|last1=Rinpoche|first1=Chökyi Nyima|last2=Nyima|first2=Rinpoche Chokyi|title=Union of Mahamudra and Dzogchen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E8C3_VZr-QsC&pg=PA51|year=1994|publisher=Rangjung Yeshe Publications|isbn=978-962-7341-21-5}}
- {{cite book|last1=Blo-Gros|first1=Mar-Pa Chos-Kyi|last2=(Na-ga.)|first2=Saṅs-rgyas-bstan-dar|title=The Life of the Mahāsiddha Tilopa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BCALAAAAYAAJ|year=1995|publisher=Library of Tibetan Works and Archives|isbn=978-81-85102-91-7}}
- {{cite book|last=Rinpoche|first=Sangyes Nyenpa|title=Tilopa's Mahamudra Upadesha: The Gangama Instructions with Commentary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W7lJAwAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=Shambhala Publications|isbn=978-0-8348-2974-9}}
External links
- [http://www.keithdowman.net/mahamudra/tilopa.htm An English translation of "The Ganges Mahamudra"]
- [http://www.naturalawareness.net/ganges.html Several English translations of "The Ganges Mahamudra"]
{{wikiquote}}
{{S-start}}
{{succession box
| before = Dorje Chang
| title = Kagyu school
| years =
| after = Naropa
}}
{{S-end}}
{{Buddhism topics}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:10th-century Buddhists
Category:11th-century Buddhists
Category:Indian scholars of Buddhism
Category:Indian Buddhist monks
Category:10th-century Indian monks