Oldal 412 [412]
OCR
KARENINA KOLLMAR-PAULENZ biographical details (parents, place and date of birth), the second with her decision to enter into a sexual relationship with the Indian Yogin Thod pa bha dra, and the third passage describes the spread of Phyag rgya chen po bdud kyi gcod yul (“The Demon-cutting gCod of the Mahamudra’) beyond the borders of Tibet and the reaction of the Indian panditas to this Tibetan teaching. The careful word-to-word comparison conclusively brought to light that on the one hand the text of the Ernst Collection and the text of the TBRC (which is also of Mongolian provenance) are identical, and on the other hand the Tibet House edition and the Zi ling edition are identical.” The versions ofthe Tibet House and the Zi ling edition respectively read like a shortened version ofthe longer redaction ofthe Ernst Collection and the TBRC text. Thus, we cannot talk of two different transmissions with regard to Ma gcig’s life story but rather oftwo strands ofthe same transmission. The differences between them are minor, but some prove to be important. All texts share a common vocabulary and a common story-line. The two texts of Mongolian provenance are lengthier, and they contain interesting additions. Whereas all four texts attest to the diffusion of the gcod teachings of Ma gcig lab sgron ma to the three regions of Tibet, mDo, dBus and Khams, the two texts of Mongolian provenance incorporate also China and Mongolia in the geographical diffusion of gcod teachings (Tib. rgya bod hor, “China, Tibet and Mongolia”) during Ma gcig’s lifetime. Such statements expanding the spatial realm of the gcod teachings to the Mongolian regions are probably late additions by the Mongolian editors of the texts. The Role of Rang byung rdo rje in the gCod Transmission Lineage Looking for the link that connects the gcod transmission to Mongolia, I suggest that we turn to the Karma pa, notably to Rang byung rdo rje, his successor Mi bskyod rdo rje and the bKa brgyud-transmission of gcod teachings which dates back to the late 13" and early 14" centuries. In the transmission of the gcod teachings the Third Karma pa Rang byung rdo rje played a crucial role.” First, the earliest extant commentary on the bKa’ tshoms chen mo, (“The great Sayings”),*' a key gcod text attributed to Ma gcig lab sgron ma herself, was composed by the Third Karma pa See the appendix. Janet Gyatso was the first to draw attention to the role of Rang byung rdo rje in the codification of the gcod teachings, see her remarks in Gyatso, Janet: The Development of the Gcod Tradition. In: Soundings in Tibetan Civilization. Ed. by Barbara Nimri Aziz — Matthew Kapstein. Manohar, New Delhi 1985, p. 335. More recently, Sorensen, M.: Making the Old New Again, explored Rang byung rdo rje’s impact on gcod. Her Ph.D. thesis includes the first English translation of the Third Karma pa’s commentaries on gcod. Full title: Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa zab mo gcod kyi man ngag gi gzhung bka’ tshoms chen mo. In: Gdams nag mdzod: A treasury of precious methods and instructions of the major and minor Buddhist traditions of Tibet, brought together and structured into a coherent system by ‘Jam-mgon Kon-sprul; edited from a set of the Dpal-spuns prints and published by the order of H.H. Dingo Chhentse Rimpoche. Lama Ngodrup and Sherab Drimey, Paro 1979, Vol. XIV, pp. 7-16. 410
