This article presents a brief biography of Lama Tsongkhapa (1357–1419), focused on his brush with death six years before he died, as an entry point for an investigation into how his writings and teachings relate to the topic of death from different perspectives. The article presents one perspective, based in the exoteric, sutra literature, that relates to Tsongkhapa’s famed exposition of the stages of the path to enlightenment (lam rim), and one perspective, based in the esoteric, tantric literature, that relates to Tsongkhapa’s extensive writings on unexcelled yoga tantra,1 particularly in relation to Yamāntaka, the slayer of death. This figure, the wrathful emanation of Mañjuśrī appearing as Yama, the lord of death, was a primary practice of Tsongkhapa’s from youth and was practiced assiduously by his disciples in order to avert his death when severe illness struck as foretold many years earlier. The thread of the article is the coordination of sutra and tantra practices as Tsongkhapa presents them in terms of lam rim and unexcelled yoga, respectively. The article discusses death in the context of both perspectives, presenting in much greater detail the understanding of mind and body in terms of unexcelled yoga, which would be unfamiliar to many readers. It explains how ordinary appearances are regarded as problematic from a tantric perspective and the ways in which Yamāntaka practice presents ordinary appearances in relation to death. Particular attention is given to the subject of deity yoga, the crux of tantric practice according to Tsongkhapa. The article then considers the role of the lama in different guises along the sutra-tantra path as presented by Tsongkhapa, with an emphasis on the relationships between lama and disciples, and finally returns to the events around Tsongkhapa’s brush with death to illustrate the relevance of these topics to death.
目次
Abstract 100 Introduction 101 Tsongkhapa’s Biography in Brief 102 The Historical Context for Tsongkhapa’s Coordination of Sutra and Tantra 105 Body-Mind Constituents in Sutra and Tantra 108 Death in Tsongkhapa’s Coordination of Sutra and Tantra 111 Death in Lam rim 112 Death in Unexcelled Yoga Tantra 114 Deity Yoga, Causality, and the Nature of Appearances 117 Transcending Death and Obstructions with Wisdom in Yamāntaka Practice 120 The Lama in Sutra and Tantra 123 Conclusion: Lama Tsongkhapa’s Brush with Death Reconsidered 125 References 133
