The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva () is numbered amongst the '

Seventeen Tantras The ''Seventeen Tantras of the Esoteric Instruction Series'' () or the ''Seventeen tantras of the Ancients'' (''rnying-ma'i rgyud bcu-bdun'') are an important collection of tantras in the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism. They comprise the cor ...

Menngagde In Tibetan Buddhism and Bon, Menngagde (, sa, upadeśavarga), is the name of one of three scriptural and lineage divisions within Dzogchen (''Great Perfection'' ). Dzogchen is itself the pinnacle of the ninefold division of practice according ...

' () within

Dzogchen Dzogchen (, "Great Perfection" or "Great Completion"), also known as ''atiyoga'' ( utmost yoga), is a tradition of teachings in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and Yungdrung Bon aimed at discovering and continuing in the ultimate ground of existence. ...

discourse and is part of the textual support for the

Vima Nyingtik Vima Nyingthig (), "Seminal Heart of Vimalamitra", in Tibetan Buddhism is one of the two "seminal heart" () collections of the menngagde cycle Dzogchen, the other one being "Seminal Heart of the Dakini" (''mkha' 'gro snying thig''). Traditionally ...

. The ''Continuum of Vajrasattva's Heart-Mirror'' conveys how the 'lamps' () are the self-display of awareness. It furthermore lists twenty-one pointing-out instructions appropriate for people with different propensities and proclivities along with four key points and practice instructions. These Seventeen Tantras are to be found in the Canon of the Ancient School, the '

Nyingma Gyubum ''Nyingma Gyubum'' () is a collection of Tantra, esoteric Tantric texts reflecting the teachings of the History of Tibetan Buddhism, New Translation lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. It comprises the Classes of Tantra in Tibetan Buddhism, Inner Tant ...

' (), volumes 9 and 10, folio numbers 143-159 of the edition edited by 'Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche' commonly known as

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche Tashi Paljor, Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche () (c. 1910 – 28 September 1991) was a Vajrayana master, scholar, poet, teacher, and recognized by Buddhists as one of the greatest realized masters. Head of the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism from 198 ...

(Thimpu, Bhutan, 1973), reproduced from the manuscript preserved at 'Tingkye Gonpa Jang' () Monastery in Tibet.

Nomenclature, orthography and etymology

*'The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva' ()

Mirror

The

Melong (; sa, ādarśa, darpaṇa, italic=yes) is a Tibetan term that means "mirror", "looking glass". The is a symbol, divine attribute, and quality of the enlightened mindstream or . Meaning and significance The mirror is an ancient symbol thr ...

is an important polyvalent symbol and potent teaching tool in Dzogchen.

English translations

This tantra has not as yet has been completely rendered into English nor made generally available. The Seventeen Tantras are quoted extensively throughout

Longchenpa Longchen Rabjam Drimé Özer (), commonly abbreviated to Longchenpa (1308–1364, an honorific meaning "The Vast Expanse") was a Tibetan scholar-yogi of the Nyingma school ('Old School') of Tibetan Buddhism. According to tibetologist David Germ ...

's (1308 - 1364?) '

The Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

' () rendered in English by Barron and Padma Translation Committee (1998). This work is one of Longchenpa's ''

Seven Treasuries The Seven Treasuries (, THL: ''Dzö Dün''), are a collection of seven works, some with auto-commentaries, by the Tibetan Buddhist teacher Longchenpa (1308–1364). They constitute his most influential scholarly output and together provide a sys ...

'' and the Tibetan text in poor reproduction of the pecha has been graciously made available online by Dowman and

Smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

. Barron ''et al.'' (1998: p. 136) render an embedded quotation of this tantra within their translation of Lonchenpa's 'Way of Abiding' (Wylie: gnas lugs):

"Understand all aspects of awareness to be free of ordinary consciousness, which involves concepts of identity. Similarly, bring this understanding to the point of understanding that all phenomena are unceasing. Bring the understanding of what is unceasing to the point of understanding that it manifests in any way whatsoever. Bring the understanding of what manifests in any way whatsoever to the point of understanding that it is unborn. Bring the understanding what is unborn to the point of understanding that it does not come and go. Bring the understanding of what does not come and go to the point of understanding that it is nondual. Bring the understanding of what is nondual to the point of understanding that it is absolutely free of limitations. Similarly, bring this understanding to the point of not conceptualizing or thinking about any phenomenon in any way. Bring this understanding of all phenomena to the point of experiencing their essence lucidly and without distraction."Barron, Richard (trans), Longchen Rabjam (author): Precious Treasury of the Way of Abiding. Padma Publishing (1998) , p.136

Primary resources

''The Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva'' in Wylie @ Wikisourceརྡོ་རྗེ་སེམས་དཔའ་སྙིང་གི་མེ་ལོང་གི་རྒྱུད in Tibetan Script (Uchen) Unicode @ Wikisource

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mirror of the Heart of Vajrasattva Dzogchen texts Nyingma texts Nyingma tantras