Atiyana - A brief introduction to the principles and history
This article presents a very brief and simple introduction to principles and history of the ancient and profound spiritual tradition of Mahasandhi or Atiyoga.
The spiritual tradition known as Great-Perfection (Sanskrit. Mahasandhi, tibetan Dzogchen), also known as Atiyoga (yoga of primordial knowledge), is a an ancient mystical non-duality tradition originating from the Indian Yogic Saint and Mahasiddha Prahevajra in the ancient kingdom of Oddiyana.
Mahasandhi, or the Great-Totality/Great-Perfection, in itself means the real state of the mind, the true condition. In this respect the word Mahasandhi does not refer to some type of spiritual teachings or practices, but refers directly to the ultimate state of reality. The spiritual tradition of Mahasandhi by itself is beyond religious form and doctrine, it points directly at the essence of mind and reality, it is formless and strongly experiential. From this point of view we can even say that it is the heart-essence of all religions. On the other hand, as a spiritual view and approach, it can stand on its own as an independent spiritual tradition or it can adapt itself to bring a context into other religious system, because it is the essence of the mind itself. So on one hand, as a spiritual view, Mahasandhi refers directly to the primordial state of Being; On the other hand, as a complete spiritual tradition that stands on its own, is offers a complete set of teachings, explanations, practices, meditations, i.e. a spiritual path, and in this aspect I usually refer to it as Atiyana, the Primordial Path.
The teachings of Atiyana explain that the entire apparent, and illusory, world arise within the fundamental Basis, the original pristine state that 'Is-as-it-is', suchness, before the arisal of living beings and all phenomena. All that manifests, both the confused living beings or fully awakened beings, manifest in a non-dual mode within this fundamentally pure Basis, as the liveliness of the basis. By not knowing the nature of self and all appearances as inseparable, and of the same nature as the Basis, living beings are confused. The conceptual thinking mind is itself both the manifestation of the basis, and the delusion that prevents the recognition of the true state. The essence of the Atiyoga teachings is the recognition of the aspect of mind's nature referred to as 'Vidya', a cognition that is self-knowing, uncreated, not-a-thing, independent of any object, non-dual and unobstructed. This 'Vidya' as primordial wisdom can fully and directly know the nature of the Basis and all manifestation. This Vidya itself is inseparable from the ground, and as manifestation is spontaneous great love and compassion; as the root of all manifestation is spontaneous appearance. In other words it is the pure-knowing aspect of the ultimate nature that can know itself as-it-is and all the diversity of appearance as inseparable from the pure Basis.
The non-duality principle in Atiyana is not the view of a truly existent 'oneness-thing' where all things are the same in that 'oneness-thing'. The non-duality means, in very simple terms, that in the Basis which is the source and ground of all manifestation, all phenomena are inseparable, it is a great inconceivable inseparability where we cannot say that it is One, or Two - Not one, Not two. The goal is then the full recognition of our own true nature, the ultimate condition of reality, which is the supreme source of all, the Pure Basis itself. The Basis is not an object, is not a 'thing' or an entity. It is inconceivable and beyond words or thoughts and can only be known directly by the direct wisdom of Vidya. In the Basis everything is self-perfected, all the qualities of awakening, such as Pure Love, Pure Compassion, Pure Wisdom and so on are fully and self-perfected within the Basis. In the view of Atiyoga there is no pure qualities that need to be developed by the personal limited mind, it is only our own nature that needs to be recognized and fully actualized and everything is self-perfected - that is why the name is Great-Perfection.
The main understanding of Atiyana as a path is best described by the last words and testament of Prahevajra:
- Direct introducing to one's own nature
- Removing any doubts about the unique ultimate condition
- Integrating all into that state
As a path then, Atiyana relies on the crucial aspect of transmission, without the transmission of the state of our own mind from a spiritual friend that has direct knowledge and abides in that state, it is very difficult to come to that discovery - that is the first point as taught by Prahevajra. The approach is simple, and yet very complete. It always starts with 'transmission'. In Atiyana there is a complete set of teachings, methods and forms of applications and integration in order to come to the discovery of this state and total awakening.
The first human teacher to present the teachings of Mahasandhi was Prahevajra (tib. Garab Dorje).This original set of teachings is called today the 'Mind Teachings' of Mahasandhi. Even though we have texts, a clear line of students and a clear historical tradition, due the highly dynamic spiritual landscape of that period, the exact period in which Prahevajra was born and taught is unclear. The time period where Prahevajra would have been born varies in different accounts, there is a wide range of time based on different sources. I do not present here a detailed account of all the many stories about the life of Prahevajra, but just a brief account of the main point. As for the date of his birth, the dates found in the ancient texts and oral tradition place him as early as the year 55 CE up to somewhere in the mid 6th century. Personally from my own research I feel that the most likely period would be somewhere between the early 6th century and mid 7th century. In traditional accounts, in the Kingdom of Udiyana, there was an island where an order of nuns lived. One of the nuns was the daugther of the king, king Uparaja. She was named Sudharma.
One night while sleeping she had a dream that a luminous white man came to her and placed a crystal vase at the crown of her head and light emanated from the vase three times. Soon she became pregnant while still a virgin, and gave birth to a boy. By the time he was seven years old he was already defeating the great scholars of the temple in debate with a clear and visionary knowledge of all topics of reality. There are also many accounts of miracles and other incredible feats since an early age. Very early on he renounced his heritage and palace and left to the mountains where he spent 32 years in meditation. Later on eventually he traveled to Bodhgaya where he taught and remained the rest of his life. Even though the exact historical details of Prahevajra's life are shrouded in the mists of time, there is a clear line of students, teachings and root texts. Whether we take the traditional accounts of his life has factual or hagiographical, we know a lot more about his students and the lineage that followed him, and that remains unbroken to this day, all referring back to Prahevajra. But most importantly, the clear power of this tradition and teachings which have produced countless awakened and realized beings until today.
His main student and heir was Manjushrimitra, who trained under Prahevajra from 75 years. Manjushirmitra was indian born, somewhere close to Bodhgaya, and was already a great scholar of the cittamatra and yogacara schools before he met Prahevajra. Manjushrimitra in turn transmited the Mahasandhi teachings to Sri Simha. According to one scholar (A.W. Barber) Sri Simha took the Mahasandhi lineage to south India, transmitted to others who later took it to Tibet and China. This transmission from Sri Simha is then passed on, among many others surely, to Jnanasutra and Vimalamitra. This is a very brief account of the old transmission lineage, and the names of many masters are not here mentioned but can be found in more complete sources.
In this account I must bring focus to the unbroken oral transmission of Sri Simha. The great importance is that the tradition of Mahasandhi that remains alive, and unbroken today stems directly from him, because it was Sri Simha who gave the transmission of these teachings to the Tibetan Vairotsana. In the 8th century Vairotsana was chosen by the King of the time to be trained in Sanskrit language and in the art of translation, already with the intention that he would then travel to Udiyana in order to obtain the transmission of the Atiyoga teachings. It was Vairotsana who received the complete transmission directly from Sri Simha. Vairotsana remained with Sri Simha for a long time, receiving all the transmissions and instructions, and at the end he realized the state of self-liberation, his conceptual mind dissolved and he realized the ultimate condition of his mind, Mahasandhi. Upon his return to Tibet he started to translate the root texts of the Mahasandhi Mind-Teachings, which are the root, the original teachings of Prahevajra, which are today known as the 5 original translations : The Cuckoo of Awareness, The Great Potency, The Flight of the Garuda, Pure Golden Ore, The Victory Banner that does not wane. Later on 13 other texts were translated, culminating on the great reference work of the Mahasandhi original Mind-Teachings, known as the Kulayaraja Tantra - the All-Creating King Tantra.
This profound, inconceivable, formless lineage of transmission of Mahasandhi seems to have disappeared in India at a later date, but it was kept alive in Tibet, and is alive today, with an unbroken oral transmission since its origins. I do not mention here the later developments that occurred within Tibetan Buddhism that resulted into what I refer to as the Tibetan Dzogchen, which was the result of attempts to justify and embed the Mahasandhi tradition within the Tantric Buddhism and gradualist ortodoxy of the time. As I mentioned at the start, Mahasandhi is the ultimate nature of mind and reality, beyond any religious form. Also as the path of Atiyana, it stands on its own, it does not require any other religious structure as it offers a complete path. On the other hand, if so desired, it can 'fit' into any religious form and that was done very elegantly in Tibet, not just by the Buddhists, but also by the Bon religion who have their own version of the Mahasandhi teaching.
My main concern, the lineage of transmission and practice that concerns me, is the essence and root of this tradition as mentioned in this brief account, and not the later forms that resulted in adapting it into a Tantric gradualist Buddhist model.
From my point of view, of the highest important in our current times is this original transmission of Mahasandhi, the 'Mind Teachings', the essence of mind's nature, and the path of Atiyana to come to fully achieve this realization. The understanding and upholding of this path as it stands fully alive, independent of religious orthodoxy and ritualism. Atiyana stands fully on its own, offering the very essence of the espiritual nature, a complete path from preparation, maturation and full realization of the absolute. On the other hand, the core principles and approach, being the very essence of Being can benefit and bring great power and assistance to spiritual practitioners of any religion!
with Love
Aja Das