Constructing the Wheel of Time (Kālacakra)
Doctrinal and Practical Strategies
Francesco Sferra(Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”)
Dipartimento di Asia, Africa, Mediterraneo
Oslo Buddhist Studies Forum 22.05.2012
Sources for the traditional accounts of the early history of the system
1) Laghukālacakratantra (= Paramādibuddhoddhṛtalaghukālacakratantrarāja) by Mañjuśrīyaśas (first half 11th cent.)2) Vimalaprabhā by Puṇḍarīka (first half 11th cent.)3) Sekoddeśaṭīkā by Nāropā (d. 1040 or 1041)
4) Rin chen gces pa’i lde mig by Bu ston Rin chen grub (1290-1364)5) Dus ’khor ṭīk(ā) chen by mKhas grub rje dGe legs dpal bzaṅ po (1385-1438)6) Deb gter sṅon po by ’Gos lo tsā ba gŹon nu dpal (1392-1481)7) rGya gar chos ’byuṅ by Tāranātha (1575-1634)
Beginninga) Gautama Buddha’s preaching of the Kālacakra at Dhānyakaṭaka (776 BC = one
year after his awakening)
[On the date of the historical Buddha according to Buddhist tantric reckonings, see Günter Grönbold, “Das Datum des Buddha nach tantrischen Texten”, in Heinz Bechert (ed.), The Dating of the Historical Buddha - Die
Datierung des historischen Buddha, part. 1, Göttingen 1991, pp. 385-402]
Lineageb) The Mythical Preachers (7 Dharma Kings and 25 Kalkins) at Sambhala/Śambhala
Dharmarājas: 1) Sucandra (incarnation of Vajrapāṇi, born in the Śākya line from Sūryaprabha and Vijayā), 2) Sureśvara (incarnation of Kṣitigrabha), 3) Teji (incarnation of Yamāntaka), 4) Somadatta (incarnation of
Sarvanivaraṇaviṣkambhin), 5) Sureśvara (incarnation of Jambhaka), 6) Viśvamūrti (incarnation of Mānaka), 7) Sureśāna (incarnation of Khagarbha); Kalkins: 8) Yaśas (incarnation of Mañjuśrī/Mañjughoṣa [aka
Mañjuśrīyaśas]), 9) Puṇḍarīka (incarnation of Avalokiteśvara/Lokanātha), 10) Bhadra (incarnation of Yamāntaka), etc. => 25) Raudracakrin (incarnation of Mañjughoṣa).
[For a basic historical information on the Kālacakra system with a summary of the traditional accounts, see: 1) J.R. Newman, The outer Wheel of Time: Vajrayāna Buddhist cosmology in the Kālacakra tantra, Ann Arbor,
University Microfilms International (University of Wisconsin, Madison, Ph.D. Thesis) 1987, pp. 70-113; 2) J.R. Newman, “A brief history of Kālacakra”, in B. Simon (ed.), The Wheel of Time. The Kalachakra In Context,
Snow Lion Publications, Ithaca (N.Y.) 19912, pp. 51-90 (Deer Park Books, Madison, Wisconsin 19851).]
Provenance of the Early Kālacakra Masters
KashmirSomanātha (XI cent.)
BengalVibhūticandra (XII-XIII cent.)Vanaratna (1384-1468)
Suvarṇadvīpa/YavadvīpaPiṇḍo (a.k.a. Piṇḍa, Piṇḍi, Piḍo, Piṭo, etc.) (X-XI cent.)
Uncertain Places (Kashmir, Bengal, Uḍḍiyāna)Nāropā (a.k.a. Naḍapāda, Nāro, Nāropa, etc.) (956-1041)
The Mythical Region of Śambhala/SambhalaMañjuśrīyaśas (IX-X cent.)Puṇḍarīka (IX-X cent.)
Dates of Islamic Incursions
a) Sebüktegin and his son Maḥmūd of Ghaznī (r. 998-1030) arrived at Peśāvara in 987 after Rājā Jayapāla’s defeat and suicide.
b) Plunderings carried out by Maḥmūd of Ghaznī: Bhīmanagara (Nagarkot) (1008), Thāneśvara (1011), Lahore (1014), Mathurā (1018), Kannauj (1019), Somanātha (1025).
[See M. Bernardini, Storia del mondo islamico (VII-XVI secolo). Volume secondo. Il mondo iranico e turco dall’avvento dell’Islàm all’affermazione dei Safavidi, Piccola Biblioteca Einaudi, Storia e geografia 252, Torino, 2003, pp. 82-85; A. Wink, Al-Hind. The Making of the Indo-Islamic World. Vol. II. The Slave Kings and the Islamic Conquest. 11th-13th Centuries, Brill Academic Publishers, Boston-Leiden 19961 (20022), pp. 120-135, 328-333]
YoginītantraHevajratantraLaghuśaṃvaratantra (a.k.a. Cakrasaṃvara)CatuḥpīṭhatantraSaṃvarodayatantraBuddhakapālatantra
YogatantraGuhyasamājatantra (with its last chapter named Samājottara)
Other Important WorksMañjuśrīnāmasaṅgītiPañcakrama
The category of mūlatantra (root-tantra)
1) Ādibuddha (a.k.a. Paramādibuddha) [the mūlatantra of the Laghukālacakratantra]2) Pañcalakṣahevajra [the mūlatantra of the Hevajratantra]
saṃvartaḥ –
uktena kapilenaivaṃ padmākhyena mahātmanā |
uditaṃ yan mahacchāstraṃ tat sarvaṃ prabravīmi te || 31 ||
sārdhakoṭipramāṇena brahmaṇā keśavāc chrutaṃ |
kapilāya dadau brahmā lakṣāṇāṃ pañcakaṃ punaḥ || 32 ||
kapilo ’pi ca padmāya pradadau lakṣamātrayā |
padmo ’pi dattavān mahyam ayutagranthasaṃkhyayā || 33 ||
yasmāt padmopadiṣṭeyaṃ tasmāt sā pādmasaṃhitā |
mokṣaikaphaladaṃ dharmam ādyam asmin prajāpate || 34 ||
(Pādmasaṃhitā, Jñānapāda 1.31-34)
Keśava (15.000.000 stanzas) => Brahmā
Brahmā (500.000 stanzas) => Kapila
Kapila (100.000 stanzas) => Padma
Padma (10.000 stanzas) => Saṃvarta
Scriptural Nucleus of the System1) Mūlatantra (= Ādibuddha a.k.a. Paramādibuddha) (the longest fragment is the
Sekoddeśa) written by Sucandra2) Laghutantra (= Laghukālacakratantra) written by Mañjuśrīyaśas
Important Works Incorporated into the System1) Cakrasaṃvaratantra2) Hevajratantra3) Mañjuśrīnāmasaṅgīti4) Samājottara (the stanzas dealing with the Sixfold Yoga)
“Bodhisattva Corpus” (byaṅ chub sems dpa’i skor) (early XI cent.)1) Laghutantraṭīkā by Vajrapāṇi (ad Cakrasaṃvaratantra 1.1-11ab)2) Hevajratantrapiṇḍārthaṭīkā by Vajragarbha (ad Hevajratantra 1.1-5)3) Vimalaprabhā by Puṇḍarīka (comm. on the Laghukālacakratantra)
Hermeneutical Criterion
hevajreṇa hi cakrasaṃvaram idaṃ jñeyaṃ catuḥpīṭhakaṃhevajraṃ khalu cakrasaṃvarapadair jñeyaṃ catuḥpīṭhakam |hevajraṃ laghucakrasaṃvaram idaṃ jñeyaṃ catuḥpīṭhakairnītārthaḥ punar ādibuddhavacanair jñeyo mahāsaṃvaraiḥ || (Hevajratantrapiṇḍārthaṭīkā 1.76)
ye paramādibuddhaṃ na jānanti te nāmasaṃgītiṃ na jānanti ye nāmasaṃgītiṃ na jānanti te vajradharajñānakāyaṃ na jānanti ye vajradharajñānakāyaṃ na jānanti te mantrayānaṃ na jānanti ye mantrayānaṃ na jānanti te saṃsāriṇaḥ sarve vajradharabhagavato mārgarahitāḥ | evaṃ paramādibuddhaṃ mokṣārthibhiḥ sacchiṣyaiḥ śrotavyaṃ sadguruṇā deśayitavyam iti ||(Vimalaprabhā, vol. 1, p. 52)
Supremacy of monks
avandyā bhikḥavaḥ sarve śīlasaṃvaradhāriṇaḥ | sitavastrā vayaṃ vandyāḥ svayaṃ vajradharā bhuvi ||
mudrāmaṇḍalamantrādyair deśayiṣyanty anāgatāḥ | buddhatvaṃ vajrasattvatvam ācāryā mārakāyikāḥ ||ato bhikṣur mahāyāne deśako vajradhṛk smṛtaḥ |yānatrayaparijñātā dharmasaṅgrahavedakaḥ ||
(Hevajratantrapiṇḍārthaṭīkā, 1.11, 57-58)
Four Sattvas
VajrasattvaBodhisattvaMahāsattvaSamayasattva
vajrasattvo bhavet kena bodhisattvo bhavet katham |mahāsattvo bhavet kasmāt samayasattvaḥ kathaṃ bhavet ||abhedyaṃ vajram ity uktaṃ sattvas tribhavasyaikatā |anayā prajñayā yuktyā vajrasattva iti smṛtaḥ ||bodhau vyavasthitaḥ sattvo bodhisattvaḥ sa ucyate |mahājñānarasaiḥ pūrṇo mahāsattvo nigadyate |nityaṃ samayasaṃsthityā samayasattvo ’bhidhīyate ||
(Hevajratantra 1.3-5 according to Hevajratantrapiṇḍārthaṭīkā, section 3)
