Direct Wisdom-Mind Transmission

The Jewel Rosary History

by Longchen Rabjam

Homage to glorious Samantabhadra!

Primordial protector, resplendent in perfect majesty,
Regents of the five families, victors and retinues,
And the sublime guides—to all such noble gurus,
Successive conveyors of the teachings, devotedly I bow.

Beginning with the original victor’s attainment of clear light,
This account of how the Dharma-bringing sun arose,
I shall here set forth as a Jewel Rosary of History
For those who now follow the sublime vidyādharas.

This history of the secret heart-essence of the Great Perfection, the vehicle of the luminous vajra essence, has three parts: 1) the direct wisdom-mind transmission of the victorious ones, 2) the symbolic transmission of the vidyādharas, and 3) the oral transmission of individuals.

1. Direct Wisdom-Mind Transmission

a. Dharmakāya

Our teacher, the transcendent conqueror, glorious Samantabhadra himself, awakened in the primordial space of the ground. There he remains without moving from the realization in which kāyas and wisdoms are beyond union and separation. At this phase of the inwardly luminous dharmakāya, essence, nature and compassionate resonance abide as the three kāyas of basic space and do not interact with the objective domain. All-knowing wisdom is therefore luminous by its very nature.

At that time:

• the perfect location is the dharmakāya realm;
• in which the perfect teacher is Samantabhadra;
• the perfect retinue is an oceanic accumulation of primordial wisdom;
• the perfect time is that of the dharmatā beyond transition or change;
• and the perfect dharma is the natural Great Perfection, intrinsic, spontaneously present luminosity.

b. Sambhogakāya

Without there being any movement from such a state, the self-manifest sambhogakāya emerges spontaneously. Based on a natural capacity for manifestation, the utterly pure, blissful dimension of Ghanavyūha emerges from the natural radiance of the five primordial wisdoms. It has no above or below, no cardinal or intermediate directions. In well-arranged palaces of light and precious substances, the buddhas of the five families are each surrounded by their own particular maṇḍala clusters, inexpressible in number. Here, there is no one to be tamed and no tamer, simply a natural emergence through the force of self-manifestation and spontaneous presence.

Countless, unimaginably vast numbers of buddhas of the five families emanate by means of this capacity for manifestation. Everything that manifests is perfectly situated, like a display of silk brocade. Blazing lights in five colours arise from the boundless radiance of the six syllables that emerge from the maṇḍalas of mouths and tongues.

At that time:

• the perfect location is the naturally manifest Ghanavyūha;
• in which the perfect teachers are the buddhas of the five families;
• surrounded by the perfect retinue of the infinite maṇḍalas of buddhas;
• the perfect dharma is the realization of luminous wisdom;
• and the perfect time is that of the inconceivable dharmatā reality, when this intrinsic realization of luminosity is revealed without expression.

c. Nirmāṇakāya

It is from this dimension that the nirmāṇakāya emanates, manifesting naturally as radiant light through the power of those to be tamed, like the reflection of the moon in water. At such a time, beings of the six classes—above, below, and in the cardinal and intermediate directions—experience, through the force of their delusion, their own particular habitats and feelings of pleasure and pain. In realms throughout the ten directions, natural emanations belonging to the five families appear and provide benefit to the bodhisattvas of the first to tenth bhūmis. Meanwhile, countless transcendent, accomplished sages turn the wheel of Dharma in the realms of the six classes of beings, providing benefit there too.

Consider how such emanations appear in this Sahā world.

1. Supreme Blessing Emanations

Of the two major types of emanation that appear from the naturally manifest Ghanavyūha, the supreme blessing emanation is itself of three kinds.

(1) A statue appears, formed of one hundred precious substances and equal in size to the physical form of the particular class of beings in which it appears. It liberates beings through the unfolding of various miracles.

(2) A great text, The Single Child of the Teachings, appears, naturally formed from precious substances. It provides benefit by spontaneously pronouncing all manner of teachings in a way that defies description.

(3) A dharmatā vajra, of a size that matches the hands of human beings from the very first age, brings about a rain of teachings and material goods catering to the needs of those to be trained and bringing liberation.

(The text is not monolingual, but is heard in each and every language.)

These emanations send rays of light throughout the ten directions of the six worlds, carrying out the activity of liberating countless beings, naturally and effortlessly. They are known as the three great naturally arisen emanations of enlightened body, speech and mind.

2. Sublime Wisdom Emanations

The sublime wisdom emanations provide benefit by appearing as the chief figures for particular beings. Thus, the great nirmāṇakāya Vajradhara manifested spontaneously from the inexhaustible adornment wheels of the enlightened body, speech and mind of all the victorious ones in the naturally manifest Ghanavyūha. He spontaneously appeared in sambhogakāya attire and upon a lotus in this realm during the first aeon called Joyous Multitude. He then spontaneously conveyed the realization of the natural Great Perfection, which transcends words and syllables, to Vajrasattva and Vajrapāṇi.

At that time:

• Vajradhara himself spontaneously manifested as the perfect teacher Youth of Inconceivably Sublime Light.
• To the perfect retinue of the thousand buddhas of the Fortunate Aeon,
• he spontaneously taught the perfect dharma of the seventeen tantras of most secret luminosity, the Word-Transcending Root Tantra and the rest,
• at the perfect time, the time of self-manifesting primordial wisdom.

Although there is no separation between teacher and retinue, they appear separately through the intention of guiding beings. How? The buddhas in this aeon appear in distinct phases—at different times, with different names, and employing different teachings to guide others. In this context, the lineage is said to begin with Vajradhara teaching Vajrasattva and Vajrapāṇi. Thereafter, further nirmāṇakāya emanations appeared:

• After the teacher Youth of Sublime Light appeared in Joyous Multitude during the first aeon,
• the teacher Youthful Unwavering Light came to the Sahā world.
• Then the teacher Saviour from Fear appeared in the realm Mass of Light,
• Teacher Youthful Disportment appeared in the realm Womb of Conception,
• Teacher Vajradhara appeared in the Garden of Life-Sustaining Youth on the southern side of Mount Meru,
• Teacher Youthful Mighty Warrior appeared in the charnel ground Great Secret Display,
• Teacher Wrathful Kingly Sage appeared in the place Possessed of the 'Rulu' Sound of the Rākṣasas,
• Teacher Sublime Golden Light appeared at Vulture Peak Mountain,
• Teacher Playful Intelligence appeared in the place Turquoise-Browed Sokpo,
• Teacher Kāśyapa the Elder appeared at Vulture Peak,
• Teacher Truly Perfected King appeared at the Vajra Seat,
• and the teacher Śākyamuni appeared in Kapilavastu.

Thus have these teachers spontaneously appeared as sublime guides to beings from the period when human lifespan was immeasurable until the present age when it averages a hundred years. Such teachers will likewise appear and steer beings in the future, from the advent of Maitreya until the coming of Adhimukta, the final buddha of this age.

These victorious ones manifest spontaneously at various times out of the essential nature of Samantabhadra. Since they merely seem to arise in succession while never in fact straying from the nature of realization, this is known as the direct wisdom-mind transmission of the victorious ones.

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Tsadra Foundation, 2025.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

klong chen rab 'byams pa dri med 'od zer. "lo rgyus rin po che’i phreng ba" In snying thig ya bzhi. 13 vols. Delhi: Sherab Gyaltsen Lama, 1975. Vol. 1: 84–91 (4 folios)

Secondary Sources

Nyoshul Khenpo. A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems. Translated by Richard Barron. Junction City, California: Padma Publication, 2005.

Kunsang, Erik Pema. Wellsprings of the Great Perfection: Lives and Insights of the Early Masters in the Dzogchen Lineage. Boudhanath: Rangjung Yeshe Publications, 2006.

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