Trophu Lotsāwa’s Instructions on the Fivefold Mahāmudrā

Trophu Lotsāwa Jampé Pel (1173–1225) was the translator of the Indian Mahāpaṇḍita Śākya Śrī Bhadra (~1127–1225) in Tibet and afterwards related the story that Śākya Śrī had received the prophecy from Tārā that Jikten Sumgon was a rebirth of Nagārjuna.

Śākya Śrī said that Tārā was his special deity, and she had told him that Nagārjuna had been reborn in Tibet as Jikten Sumgon. When, at one time, one of the lesser Panḍitas named Vibhūticandra badmouthed Jikten Sumgon, Śākya Śrī was shocked and related that prophecy. He also said that Jikten Sumgon was a Buddha without error and that Vibhūti should go to him, confess, and request his Dharma teachings. Moreover, Tārā told him that Vibhūti should construct a Samvara temple to purify his sin, which he did.

Having been born three decades after Jikten Sumgon, Trophu must have received the Fivefold Mahāmudrā teachings from the Drikungpa or one of his close disciples. However, he traces the teaching back to Gampopa in the present instruction. In fact, the way he introduces mahāmudrā here, especially in 4.2., “Introducing thoughts as clear light,” is very reminiscent of Gampopa’s teachings.

Interestingly, Trophu Lotsāwa presents the branches of deity practice and guru yoga in reverse order, as did later the Drikungpa Trinlé Zangpo, the second Kyabgon Chetsang. in his short manual for daily practice. Trophu did not specify a deity, but in most cases, we find Cakrasaṃvara as the deity of the Fivefold Path.

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Instruction Manual of the Fivefold Mahāmudrā from the Throphu Kagyu
by Throphu Lotsāwa Jampé Pel

I pay homage to the excellent gurus!

The heart essence of the great guru Nāropa, the introduction of the Fivefold Mahāmudrā, has five parts:

1. Cultivating the resolve for supreme awakening
2. Practicing guru-yoga
3. Practicing the pride of the deity
4. Introducing the nature of mind as the Buddha
5. Dedicating the root of virtue to complete awakening

1. Cultivating the resolve for supreme awakening
Practice up to three times with strong love and compassion from the depth of your heart the preliminary resolve for awakening and its actualization.

2. Practicing guru-yoga
During the day, cultivate the notion of your root guru as the Buddha by practicing him clearly visible with the mudrā of equipoise on a seat with the three layers of a lion throne, a lotus, and a moon on the crown of your head. At night, hold this notion in your heart. Pray intensely.

3. Practicing the pride of the deity
Cultivate the pride of your own body, the root mandala that is the deity. Recite the mantra one hundred and eight times.

4. Introducing the nature of mind as the Buddha
The fourth part has two sections:

4.1. Introducing the uncontrived innate state
4.2. Introducing thoughts as clear light

4.1. Introducing the uncontrived innate state

With the dhyāna mudrā, relax the mind by loosening it without modifying it. Rest serenely. Let go completely. ^{♦ 1} Eliminate the impediments of the four sidetracks^{♦ 2} and the three traps. ^{♦ 3} Remove the obstructions through drowsiness, agitation, and mental fabrication.

4.2. Introducing thoughts as clear light
By looking directly at whichever thought arises from that state, that which is nothing to be looked at will be self-liberated. Thereby, that thought that is caused to arise as an appearance conditioned by various objects is called “self-awakening primordial wisdom conditioned by sight and sound.” By looking directly, nothing is found that could be looked at, and that is called “knowing by its own nature the primordial wisdom as primordial wisdom.”

5. Dedicating the root of virtue to complete awakening
All three preliminaries are the accumulation of merit. ^{♦ 4} The fourth—the actual practice—is the accumulation of primordial wisdom. Thus, since the two fruits of “awakening” and “expanding” arise through these two accumulations, you dedicate them as they arise: “May I accomplish through these roots of my virtue Buddhahood for the sake of beings.” Recite this three times.

The oral instruction of the venerable Dagpo Rinpoche (Gampopa) is complete.

Thus, it appears in the Hundred Pith Instructions [of] Throphu Lotswa Nub’s scriptures.

[Translated by Jan-Ulrich Sobisch on 31.1. and 1.2.2009 in Hamburg. Revised on 15.2.2024 in Schneverdingen.]

Notes
^{1. []↩}Read: phyam gyis btang ngo.
^{2. []↩}Four sidetracks: (1) by a contrieved emptiness, (2) artificial nothingness, (3) conceptual antidote, and (4) dualistic sealing. See Gongchik 6.9.
^{3. []↩}Three traps: The realms of (1) desire, (2) form, and (3) formlessness. See Gongchik 6.9.
^{4. []↩}The “three preliminaries” refers here to the first three practices of (1) producing the resolve for awakening, (2) practicing guru yoga, and (3) practicing the pride of the deity.