Each of the guru’s hands holds a flower by the stem; on the right flower is a sword and on the left a scripture. The sword, blazing with flames, represents the wisdom discriminating the nature of phenomena. The scripture on the left flower, according to some explanations, is called The Emanated Scripture of the Ear-Whispered Transmission. Although it might be very sacred, irrespective of whether such a scripture exists now or not, I do not think there is anything special in a scripture which is not mentioned in the eighteen volumes written by Lama Tsongkhapa himself. When Lama Tsongkhapa analyzed and set forth the meaning of tantra, especially of Guhyasamaja, he said that one has to unravel the intent of the root tantras by using the explanatory tantras, using the key of the guru’s instructions. Instructions here refers to treatises such as Nagarjuna’s Pancha-krama (Five Stages), Pindikrita Sadhana, and so forth. Lama Tsongkhapa himself said that instruction is not something which cannot be written down and which must be handed down orally. If one holds these oral kinds of instructions as too valuable and is obsessed by them, there is a danger of neglecting the great treatises which were written with great compassion and great purpose. Lama Tsongkhapa, in the opening remarks of the Lam-rim Chenmo, refuted the view that there are two types of scriptures, one for scholastic studies and one for actual practice. Such a view is mistaken. Lama Tsongkhapa himself said that if Lamrim Chenmo becomes a book for solely intellectual study, that will be the cause for the degeneration of the doctrine. For some, hearing that there is such an emanation scripture might be very inspiring, but I think there may not be such a scripture apart from the eighteen volumes. But it is possible that there might be certain emanated scriptures one might be able to see when one reaches certain levels of realization; that is a different matter. However, one should not have the attitude that because the eighteen volumes are actually printed and we can read them anytime, we should first seek out these mysterious scriptures. Such an attitude is greatly mistaken. HH Dalai Lama The Union of Bliss and Emptiness, p69
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 02:47:27 +0000
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