Rdo rje tshig rkang

rdo rje tshig rkang (pron. Dorje Tsikang). "Vajra Verses". A tantric text which forms the basis for the Lamdre teachings of the Sakya lineage of Tibetan Buddhism.

According to tradition, the Indian mahāsiddha Virupa received these teachings in a vision from the deity Nairatmya.

Virūpa transmitted these teachings to his disciple Kāṇha, who taught them to Ḍāmarupa. They were passed to Avadhūti and then to the master Gayadhara (d. 1103), who traveled to Tibet in 1041 and transmitted the teachings to Drokmi Lotsawa (regarded as the founder of the Sakya lineage).

Drokmi Lotsawa transmitted the teachings to Sachen Kunga Nyingpo, who put the teachings into written form for the first time.

Malcolm Smith states:

Although the title of the text might lead one to believe that the text is composed in metered didactic verse, the text is written in prose throughout, apart from a single citation of the first line of a passage found in Chanting the True Names of Mañjuśrī. The content of The Vajra Verses, composed of terse statements that are often grammatically incomplete and difficult to understand without a commentary, primarily focuses on completion stage instructions and is notable for its detailed account of the varieties of yogic experiences that arise on the path, both below the path of seeing and on the path of cultivation. This focus on the experiential appearances of the path is directly related to the narrative of Virūpa’s frustration with Cakrasaṃvara practice and his eventual encounter with Nairātmyā. Another key feature of The Vajra Verses is its presentation of the path in four interwoven themes: the four empowerments, the five paths, the thirteen stages, and the thirty-seven factors conducive to awakening, the last of which grounds the practitioner in the classical scheme of progress common to all Buddhist schools. Additionally, the text is divided according to three overarching themes: the path common to samsara and nirvana, the mundane path, and the transcendent path.

The Vajra Verses is included in all editions of the Tibetan Tengyur, "but lacks both a Sanskrit title and a colophon indicating where and by whom it was translated."

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 
• Jamgön Kongtrül Lodrö Thayé (2022), Sakya: The Path with Its Result, Part One, Treasury of Precious Instructions, Volume 5, translated by Malcolm Smith, Snow Lion 

Further reading

• Vajra Verses, Rigpa Shedra Wiki