..续本文上一页t what to do and what not to do in accordance with the karmic law.” Challenged point by point, Moheyan lost the debate and was required to leave the country by royal decree. He returned to the Han area but, as the legend goes, left one of his shoes in Tibet, which some speculated was leaving a vestige of his ideas in Tibet. For instance, a few practitioners of Nyingma”s Great Perfection or Kygyu”s Mahamudra stilltend to advocate that one should cling to nothing even right at the onset of practice. As they do not bother to secure a sound foundation first, this proposition has been severely criticized by many Sakya masters. [3]
To be sure, the notion of total non-attachment is not wrong in and of itself. The Omniscient Longchenpa says in his Seven Treasures: “There is nothing unsound in the essential meaning of Moheyen”s viewpoint, except that it was not readily accepted by practitioners whose meditation is still at the stage of investigating and scrutinizing.” However, given that the majority of spiritual practitioners still lack a necessary sharp and keen faculty, a practice that ignores discernment between virtue and non-virtue at the onset may prove to be quite misleading. And I do have concerns of my own on this matter. These days many people—tantric practitioners in Tibet, Zen aspirants in the Han area, and the academic circle in general—equate spiritual practice to becoming unattached to all things and dismiss the prerequisite of building a good foundation. Such an approachis quite treacherous, to say the least.
In sum, Tibetan Buddhism traces its roots to India and is an authentic and pure Buddhist lineage. Far from a minor, obscure belief confined to a small region, it has been the official state religion patronized and venerated by a succession of Tibetan emperors until the time of the anti-Buddhist King Langdarma.
II. The Relationship between Secret Mantrayana and Han Imperials
Besides nourishing sentient beings of the snowy Tibetan highland for centuries, Tibetan Buddhism also is deeply connected with the Han area. During the time of the Tang Dynasty, Tibetan King Trisong Detsen invited many learned scholars from the Han region to help collate the Buddhist Tripitaka. When Tibet was ready to establish the monastic order and had selected the first seven monks-to-be, [4]the king had many eminent Elders of Han Buddhists as guests to witnesses of the ordination.
In the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, as early as the era of Genghis Khan, Tibetan Mantrayana saw a tremendous boom and strong influence in the inner royal court. Genghis Khan is noted for his military accomplishments and has made numerous military raids into Euro-Asia regions. When he ruled the Han China area, he was eyeing the takeover of Tibet and the invasion of India. To that end he dispatched massive troops en route to Tibet, posing imminent threats to many monasteries to the utter terror of Tibetans. But according to some accounts, Genghis Khan met with and requested teachings from a master of the Sakya lineage, Kunga Gyaltshan. After having been bestowed Dharma transmissions, the Khan dropped his attempt to conquer India.
When Mongka Khan was on the throne, the Karmapa was revered as the Imperial Master and was presented with a black crown with a golden rim. When Kublai Khan took the helm, he also strongly advocated Tibetan Buddhism, and sent an envoy to invite Nyingma terton master Shijiaguang to his palace. Although the master did not make the trip personally, he did offer to the Khan the longevity amrita from Guru Rinpoche”s terma treasure. Kublai in turn provided Tibetan tantric yogis plenty of favorable services, generously offering parcels of land for monastery sites and honoring Shijiaguang as “Baxie,” a title that commanded the same honor as that of a Cour…
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