Page 413 [413]
MA GCIG LAB SGRON Ma’s Many LIvEs
Rang byung rdo rje. Among his numerous works on the gcod teachings (including
practice manuals), the two texts entitled Commentary of the Great Sayings (Tib.
bKa’ tshoms chen mo’i ‘grel pa) and Outline of the Great Sayings (Tib. gCod bka’
tshoms chen mo’i sa bcad) respectively, are outstanding. ‘Jigs bral chos kyi seng ge,
the author of the Zhi byed chos ‘byung, praises him as the scholar who “has clari¬
fied the whole reversed gcod of Co lab sgron.””” Early in his life Rang byung rdo rje
was acquainted with gcod, when his family made a pilgrimage to Dingri Langkhor,
a site closely connected with Pha dam pa.*? His commentaries to Ma gcig’s exposi¬
tion of gcod have deeply shaped the later understanding of the practice well beyond
his own school tradition. First, as Michelle Sorensen has convincingly shown, he
legitimated gcod “by demonstrating how it is compatible with authoritative Budd¬
hist teachings.”* The “domestication”* of gcod he achieved through quoting from
established Indian Buddhist sources, thus incorporating and subjecting the gcod
teachings to well established Mahayana doctrines like the Prajnaparamita. Rang
byung rdo rje also connected gcod with the Mahamudra teachings, so that in later
times gcod was often subordinated to the Mahamudrä teachings and thus became
known as “Mahämudrä gcod” (Tib. Phyag rgya chen po’i gcod).* Also, with regard
to the body offering practices (Tib. Jus sbyin) it was he who started using the term
gzan skyur, “casting off [the body] as food,” whereas Ma gcig in her bKa’ tshoms
chen mo used the image of “bearing one’s body as a corpse” (Tib. rang lus ro).*7
The importance of Rang byung rdo rje as a key figure in the gcod transmission is
attested in numerous lineage texts.** ‘Jigs bral chos kyi seng ge lists him in the Zung
jug brgyud ‘dzin lineage of gcod, which also includes Sangs rgyas ston pa aka Kun
spangs brtson ‘grus seng ge, the alleged author of the biography included in the Ernst
Collection.” The same applies for a lineage text of the 15" century, the Ring brgyud
kyi gsol ‘debs ma gcig gis mdzad par ban sgar ‘jam dpal bzang pos kha bskang ba
[deb (composed by Ban sgar ‘jam dpal bzang po).*° Both lineage lists firmly establish
the connection between Ma gcig and the Karma pa lineage holders.°' The transmis¬
® ‘Jigs bral chos kyi seng ge: Zhi byed chos ‘byung, fol. 68v: rang byung rdo rjes co lab sgron gyi gcod
log thams cad bsal te. The “reversed gcod” includes practices like cannibalism. ‘Jigs bral chos kyi
seng ge: Zhi byed chos ‘byung, ff. 70v—73v, gives a lengthy account of the gcod log. Compare also
Gyatso: Gcod Tradition, p. 335.
dPa‘ bo gtsug lag phreng ba: Chos ‘byung mkhas pa’i dga‘ ston. Mi rigs dpe skrun khang, Beijing
1986, p. 925.
“Sorensen, M.: Making the Old New Again, p. 254.
#5 Compare Sorensen, M.: Making the Old New Again, p. 250.
See, for example, ‘Jigs bral chos kyi seng ge: Zhi byed chos byung, fol. 93v: gcod yul phyag rgya chen
po. Sorensen posits that in the 19" century rNam bshad chen mo redaction the attempt was made to
reverse this process and subsume Mahdmudra under the gcod praxis, thus reasserting its identity and
suggesting that Mahamudrd must be complemented with the gcod teachings (Sorensen, M.: Making
the Old New Again, pp. 264-265).
‘7 Sorensen, M.: Making the Old New Again, p. 241.
‘48 Sorensen, M.: Making the Old New Again, pp. 100-101.
“Jigs bral chos kyi seng ge: Zhi byed chos ‘byung, fol. 66r.
I did not find any information about him.
5! For a detailed discussion of this text see Sorensen, M.: Making the Old New Again, pp. 82-86. The
lineage list, although attributed to an author of the 15" century, continues centuries beyond him.
411