Great Perfection.pdf

the legend of vairocana 37
it is this master who lends his spiritual guidance to Kong-sprul in carrying
out the Eclectic Movement. The revelation of the existence and history
of this movement which is now well known is due to the studies of
E.G. Smith. 63 If ’Jam-dbyangs mkhyen-brtse has written a biography of
Padmasambhava according to the Bonpo tradition in which Padmasambhava
is a son of Dran-pa nam-mkha’ and the twin brother of Tshe-dbang rig-
’dzin, and adopting a Bonpo name, Mi-shigs g.yung-drung ’byung-gnas, 64
it is because of the circumstances in which his illustrious disciple, Kongsprul,
is now the embodiment of Vairocana and both the master and disciple
were in the process of endeavouring to establish the Ris-med
Movement. 65
If Vairocana’s role is of special importance in spiritual life, he is very
rarely represented either in the form of an image or in painting compared
to other religious figures in Tibet. 66
There does not seem to be any doubt that Vairocana had a real existence
and that he was a lo-tsà-ba living in the latter part of the eighth
century. However, the existence of the Tun-huang manuscript version of
the Rig pa’i khu byug, 67 the first of the eighteen Sems sde texts which do
not bear Vairocana’s name cautions us not to take too seriously the traditional
account of Vairocana being the translator of the “Five early translations”.
On the other hand, Vairocana’s association with rDzogs chen is
nevertheless attested in works, like SM, and therefore goes back to the
tenth century. However, Professor Tucci’s suggestion that Vairocana was
in all probability a follower of the Ch’an, but that the orthodoxy had covered
it up, remains highly hypothetical. 68
63 Introduction to Kongtrul’s Encyclopaedia of Indo-Tibetan culture, Delhi 1970, pp. 1–78.
64 For a most lucid and revealing study of the biography, see Blondeau 1985.
65 ’Ju Mi-pham rnam-rgyal (1846–1912), the prominent disciple of Kong-sprul and so
closely connected with the movement also has a Bonpo name, Mi-shigs g.yung-drung ’oddkar
and has composed several Bonpo works, such as the Srid-pa ’phrul gyi ju thig gi dpyad
don snang gsal sgron me (Derge edition, 407 folios).
66 Two images of him are reported to have existed in bSam-yas, bSam yas dkar chag, SPS
Vol. 14, pp. 128, 140.
67 See pp. 56–59.
68 MBT II, pp. 110–115.