Mipham's Sword of Wisdom

Khenchen Palden Sherab

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781614294283
• eBook ISBN: 9781614294405
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Eastern Philosophy

Presents the Nyingma-lineage understanding of valid cognition in Buddhism. Its core subject is the Buddhist view of the two truths—the relative truth of conventional appearances and the absolute truth of emptiness and buddha nature—and how the two truths are inseparable. The main questions posed are: How can we know the two truths and how can we be certain that our knowledge is accurate? "The great scholar and advanced spiritual master Jamgon Mipham's Sword of Wisdom is a classic work that explicates valid cognition. I am happy to see it now available in English with commentary and scholarly appendices that will be very helpful for serious students in understanding this profound and important text."— His Holiness the Sakya Trichen Mipham's Sword of Wisdom explores the Nyingma-lineage understanding of valid cognition in Vajrayana Buddhism. This translation, a clear and concise primer on higher realization through valid cognition in Buddhist philosophy, presents these ideas in English for the very first time and includes the sutra presentation of the two truths and the tantra teachings of the two truths as the purity and equality of all phenomena. When you've finished Mipham's Sword of Wisdom, you'll have

• rich insights into Nyingma teachings on valid cognition,
• a profound new understanding of the two truths and their inseparability,
• a solid foundation in valid cognition through direct perception and reasoning according to the traditional Indian treatises of Dharmakirti and Dignaga,
• and much more.

1

Prelude

PRELIMINARY VERSES OF HOMAGE

THE HOMAGE TO MAÑJUŚRĪ AND PADMASAMBHAVA IN UNION

Namo śrī vajra padma tīkṣṇaye

Homage to the glorious and sharp vajra lotus!

THE HOMAGE TO ŚĀKYAMUNI BUDDHA¹

With the chariot of the winds of the two accumulations,² you led the four divisions³ of the troops of the ten powers⁴ to victory in battle over the gods of desire.⁵

With the sharp fangs and claws⁶ of the four fearlessnesses,⁷ you swallowed all at once the elephant⁸ brains of antagonistic proponents of eternalism and nihilism.

By abiding on the snow mountains⁹ of knowing the nature and entire extent of phenomena, you destroyed the darkness of the two obscurations¹⁰ through the two yogic disciplines.¹¹

In the center of a thousand-spoke wheel, among humans you are exalted like a lion. You are called Siddhārtha, since you have accomplished all aims. Please bring forth auspiciousness!¹²

THE HOMAGE TO PADMASAMBHAVA¹³

Shining with a thousand luminous marks of deathlessness,¹⁴

you sprang forth from a lotus blossom in the center of a lake.¹⁵

Nangsi Zilnön,¹⁶ nirmanakāya who outshines all apparent existence,

please be the crown jewel that beautifies my head until I am fully enlightened.

THE HOMAGE TO MAÑJUŚRĪ¹⁷

On the tip of the anthers of a thousand-petal lotus of devotion,¹⁸

Lord of Dharma, I continue to reverently pay homage to you.

Mawé Sengé, ever-youthful Lion of Speech,¹⁹

please bestow the light of intelligence on all beings everywhere.²⁰

THE HOMAGE TO SARASVATĪ²¹

With a hundred thousand melodious words of the noble Dharma,

you beautify a garden of lotuses in full bloom — the throats of all the buddhas.

Sarasvatī, graceful swan glowing with the luster of moonlight,

playfully cruise at this time through the lake of my mind.

THE HOMAGE TO THE VIDYĀDHARAS OF THE THREE LINEAGES²²

With one gulp of discernment, you retained in the belly of your intelligence a hundred thousand streams of the definitive and secret three sections²³ of the tantras,

which you disgorged, like the learned one Agastya,²⁴ as excellent explanations having the eight qualities.²⁵

I praise you hundreds of times, genuine masters of awareness of the past.²⁶

THE HOMAGE TO LONGCHENPA²⁷

The teachings of the Buddha are like the Realm of the Thirty-Three Gods,²⁸ where many nonsectarian and learned authors assemble, like the vassal kings paying homage to Indra.²⁹

In their center, like Indra, you sit majestically on the supreme yāna of Dzokchen, which is like Sasung, the royal elephant,³⁰ and from there you survey all phenomena with your thousand shining eyes.³¹

Openly brandishing your thousand-pronged vajra³² of explanation, debate, and composition, you are crowned with the jewels of many scriptures.³³

Supremely learned lord Longchenpa, as renowned as Indra, never before has there been someone like you. Please victoriously crown the top of my head.

THE HOMAGE TO JAMGÖN MIPHAM RINPOCHɳ⁴

Your arrogant and vicious opponents, like a thousand elephants,

are overpowered, even without study or contemplation,

by your laughing roar of reasoning, O Lion of Speech.³⁵

Mipham Choklé Namgyal, may you be victorious.

THE HOMAGE TO THE ROOT TEACHER³⁶

With the sharp vajra weapon of scripture and reasoning

you overpower your opponents, who resemble arrogant, jealous gods.

Gracious teacher who kindly helps me see the excellent, genuine path,

like the king of the gods, may you be ever victorious.

These verses of homage are offered like the welcoming gesture of strewing fresh, white lotus petals. It is as the Root Mañjuśrī Tantra states:

The letter A, the great nature itself,

holds the teachings of the teacher in the highest esteem.

THE QUALITIES OF JAMGÖN MIPHAM

Before going further, I want to discuss Mipham Rinpoché, the author of the root text, who was predicted in several terma scriptures. First, there is a prediction of him in a terma discovered by Drodul Sang-ngak Lingpa:³⁷

The emanation of Nupchen³⁸ named Mipham

will come forth as an especially powerful lord of mind terma.

Another prediction of Mipham Rinpoché comes from the terma discovered by Terchen Traktung Dudjom Trolö Tsal:³⁹

Mipham Gyatso will turn back the flood of invading armies,

conquer the tenet systems of mistaken views,

and make the Vajrayāna teachings shine brilliantly, like the sun.

There are other predictions of Mipham Rinpoché, particularly in the vajra predictions of the King of the Sages, Buddha Śākyamuni himself, as well as the vajra predictions of Orgyen Padmakara, the Second Buddha of our time.⁴⁰ They greatly praise Mipham as the very embodiment of the wisdom of all the buddhas, or in other words, as Jetsun Mañjuśrī, the Lion of Speech, appearing in the form of a spiritual friend.

Being a master of the eight great treasures of confidence⁴¹ and the four right discriminations,⁴² Mipham Rinpoché wrote outstanding commentaries on the countless entrances to the common and uncommon scriptures, particularly the profound and vast intentions of the sūtras and tantras, which had been perfectly expounded by the Bu...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• More praise for Mipham’s Sword of Wisdom
• Contents
• Translator’s Introduction
• The Sword of Wisdom That Ascertains Reality by Jamgön Mipham
• The Radiant Light of the Sun and Moon by Khenchen Palden Sherab
• 1. Prelude: Preliminary Verses of Homage
• 2. The Validity of the Teachings and the Teacher
• 3. The Two Truths
• 4. An Explanation of Causality through Interdependent Appearances
• 5. Overview of the Four Reasonings and the Reasonings of Causal Efficacy and Dependency
• 6. The Six Causes, Five Effects, and Four Conditions
• 7. The Reasoning of the Nature
• 8. Valid Cognition
• 9. Direct Perception
• 10. The Reasoning of a Valid Proof: Inference Based on Evidence
• 11. Correct Signs and False Signs
• 12. The Ways Inference Is Presented
• 13. Conventional and Ultimate Valid Cognition
• 14. The Four Reliances
• 15. The Definitive Meaning: The Eight Intentions
• 16. The Definitive Meaning in the Vajrayāna
• 17. Rely on Wisdom to Reach the Eight Great Treasures
• 18. Conclusion
• Appendix A. Jamgön Mipham’s Annotated Verses: The Sword of Wisdom That Ascertains Reality
• Appendix B. Outline of Jamgön Mipham’s Verses
• Appendix C. Outline of Khenchen Palden Sherab’s Commentary
• Notes
• Glossary of Sanskrit and Tibetan Terms
• Bibliography
• Sources Cited in the Commentary
• Index
• About the Author
• What to Read Next from Wisdom Publications
• About Wisdom Publications
• Copyright