The tantras of the Ancient Translation are the scriptures of the three inner vehicles: Mahāyoga, Anuyoga and Atiyoga. The six lower vehicles, those of the śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas and bodhisattvas and those of Kriyā, Upa and Yoga, are shared with the later schools. The three inner vehicles are the particular inheritance of the Nyingma.
According to the tantras themselves, their teacher is Samantabhadra, the primordial Buddha, who never moved from the expanse of reality. They came down through three transmissions. The mind transmission of the Victorious Ones passes from Samantabhadra without words. The symbolic transmission of the vidyādharas passes from Vajrasattva and Garab Dorje through signs. The oral transmission passes from master to disciple.
The tantras reached Tibet in the eighth and ninth centuries through Padmasambhava, Vimalamitra and Vairocana, with Buddhaguhya, Nyak Jñānakumāra, Ma Rinchen Chok, Nupchen Sangye Yeshe and other translators.
When the Kangyur was compiled in the fourteenth century, only a few of these tantras were included, in its section of Old Tantras. They are the All-Creating King, the Great Space of Vajrasattva, the Guhyagarbha with several tantras of the Magical Net, the Sūtra that Gathers All Intentions, and a tantra of Vajrakīlaya.
The tantras as a whole were preserved in the Nyingma’s own collection, the rNying ma rgyud ‘bum, the Collected Tantras of the Ancients. Ratna Lingpa first assembled it in the fifteenth century. Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa catalogued and arranged it for the Derge edition. The collection begins with Atiyoga, continues with Anuyoga and Mahāyoga, and ends with the tantras of the protectors.
Mahāyoga
Mahāyoga is the vehicle of the generation stage. Its view is that appearances and existence are the maṇḍala of the deities from the beginning. Its tantras fall into two sections: the Tantra Section, whose root is the Guhyagarbha, and the Sādhana Section, which contains the tantras of the Eight Great Sādhana Teachings.
The Tantra Section
The Tantra Section is summarised in the Eighteen Great Tantras.
The five root tantras correspond to enlightened body, speech, mind, qualities and activity:
the Union with the Buddhas (Sangs rgyas mnyam sbyor)
the Secret Moon Drop (Zla gsang thig le)
the Gathering of Secrets (gSang ba ‘dus pa)
the Glorious Supreme Primal One (dPal mchog dang po)
the Garland of Activity (Kar ma ma le)
The five tantras on sādhana practice:
the Display of Heruka (He ru ka rol pa)
the Display of the Supreme Horse (rTa mchog rol pa)
the Display of Compassion (sNying rje rol pa)
the Display of Nectar (bDud rtsi rol pa)
the Twelvefold Kīla (Phur pa bcu gnyis)
The five tantras on conduct:
the Mountain Pile (Ri bo brtsegs pa)
the Awesome Lightning of Wisdom (Ye shes rngam glog)
the Array of Commitments (Dam tshig bkod pa)
the One-Pointed Samādhi (Ting ‘dzin rtse gcig)
the Rutting Elephant (Glang chen rab ‘bog)
The two tantras that supply what the others leave out:
the Magical Net of Vairocana (rNam snang sgyu ‘phrul drva ba)
the Skilful Lasso (Thabs kyi zhags pa)
The eighteenth tantra, which contains the meaning of all the others, is the Guhyagarbha, the Secret Essence that ascertains reality as it is. In twenty-two chapters it teaches that the aggregates, elements and sense fields are by nature the forty-two peaceful and fifty-eight wrathful deities. The maṇḍala is not produced by meditation; it is the purity of what already is.
The Magical Net
The Guhyagarbha is also the root of the cycle of the Magical Net, sgyu ‘phrul drva ba. The commentators explain that “magical emanation” refers to the aggregates, which abide as the male buddhas. “Net” refers to the elements, which abide as their consorts.
The cycle is usually counted as the Eight Sections of the Magical Net:
the Guhyagarbha
the Forty-Chapter Magical Net, on activity
the Eighty-Chapter Magical Net, on qualities
the Eight-Chapter Magical Net, on the maṇḍala
the Superior Magical Net, on empowerment
the Supplementary Magical Net, on commitments
the Magical Net of the Goddess, on the display of reality
the Magical Net of Mañjuśrī, which is the Litany of the Names of Mañjuśrī
The Omniscient Longchenpa, in Dispelling the Darkness of the Ten Directions, counts four Magical Nets:
of Vajrasattva, which shows that saṃsāra and nirvāṇa are self-manifest and indivisible
of Vairocana, which teaches the rites and feast-offerings
of the Goddess, which shows the display of reality
of Mañjuśrī, which pervades the whole vehicle
To the Magical Net of Vajrasattva he assigns:
the Guhyagarbha
the Forty-Chapter, Eight-Chapter, Superior, Supplementary and Eighty-Chapter tantras
the Mirror of Vajrasattva, on the colours and emblems of the deities
the Oceanic Magical Net, on the generation stage
the Penetrating Magical Net, on the path of skilful means
Mipham the Great explains that the Magical Net teaches the view of Atiyoga together with the conduct of Mahāyoga. This is why the Nyingma tradition reads the Guhyagarbha in the light of the Great Perfection.
The Sādhana Section
The Sādhana Section contains the tantras of the Eight Great Sādhana Teachings, received by Padmasambhava and the eight vidyādharas at the Śītavana charnel ground.
The five transcendent deities and their principal tantras:
Yamāntaka, for enlightened body, with the Yamāntaka tantras
Hayagrīva, for speech, with the Display of the Supreme Horse
Yangdak Heruka, for mind, with the Heruka Galpo
Chemchok, for qualities, with the Display of Nectar
Vajrakīlaya, for activity, with the Twelvefold Kīla and the root section of the Vidyottama
The three worldly classes, each with its own tantras:
Calling and Dispatching the Mātaraḥ
Offering and Praise to the Worldly Gods
Wrathful Mantra and Curses
The eight are practised together in the Assembly of the Sugatas (bKa’ brgyad bde gshegs ‘dus pa), the treasure revealed by Nyang Ral Nyima Özer.
Anuyoga
Anuyoga is the vehicle of the completion stage. Its view is that the expanse, the maṇḍala of Samantabhadrī, and wisdom, the maṇḍala of Samantabhadra, are inseparable. The union of the two is the child of great bliss.
Its scriptures, which often bear the name of sūtras, are grouped as four root sūtras, six tantras clarifying the six limits, twelve rare tantras and seventy literary scriptures.
The four root sūtras:
the General Sūtra that Gathers All Intentions (sPyi mdo dgongs pa ‘dus pa), the principal scripture of Anuyoga, in seventy-five chapters, translated by Nupchen Sangye Yeshe with Chetsenkye of Drusha
the Sūtra of All-Gathering Awareness (Kun ‘dus rig pa’i mdo)
the Awesome Lightning of Wisdom
the Play of the Cuckoo in the Charnel Ground (Dur khrod khu byug rol pa)
The six tantras clarifying the six limits:
Samantabhadra’s Greatness Abiding in Itself
the King of Empowerment
the Supreme Samādhi
the Seven Occasions of Application
the Meaningful Effort
the Array of Commitments
The Sūtra that Gathers All Intentions presents all nine vehicles within a single system, and its empowerment confers the entire Nyingma path.
Atiyoga
Atiyoga, the Great Perfection, is the summit of the nine vehicles. Garab Dorje received it from Vajrasattva. Mañjuśrīmitra divided it into three series:
the Mind Series, for those who rely on the mind
the Space Series, for those free from activity
the Pith Instruction Series, for those beyond effort
The Mind Series
The root tantra of the Mind Series is the All-Creating King, Kun byed rgyal po. In it the mind of awakening speaks in its own voice as the source of all buddhas, beings and worlds. Its explanatory tantras include the Great Space of Vajrasattva and the Ten Sūtras.
With it stand the Eighteen Major Scriptures of the Mind Series. Vairocana translated the first five:
the Cuckoo of Awareness
the Great Potency
the Soaring Great Garuḍa
Refining Gold from Ore
the Unwaning Victory Banner, also called the Great Space
Vimalamitra and Yudra Nyingpo translated the remaining thirteen:
the Supreme Peak
the King of Space
Jewel-Studded Bliss
the General Bond of Perfection
the Essence of Bodhicitta
Infinite Bliss
the Wheel of Life
the Six Spheres
the General Cutting of Perfection
the Wish-Fulfilling Jewel
All-Gathering Awareness
the Supreme Lord
the Meditation that Accomplishes the Goal
The Space Series
The Space Series teaches that all phenomena are ornaments of the expanse of Samantabhadra, never separate from it. View, meditation, conduct and fruit are taught as four spaces: white, black, variegated and infinite.
Its root tantra is the King of Infinite Vast Space, Klong chen rab ‘byams rgyal po. With it stand:
the Great Space of Samantabhadra
Vajrasattva Equal to the Limits of Space
the Wheel of Various Instructions
the Array of the Noble Path
the Jewel Wheel
Perfect Wisdom
Secret Wisdom
the Radiant Vajra of Bodhicitta
the Arising of Awareness’s Own Dynamic Expression
The lineage of the Vajra Bridge, which Vairocana passed to Pang Mipham Gönpo, belongs to this series.
The Pith Instruction Series
The Pith Instruction Series is divided into four cycles: outer, inner, secret, and innermost unsurpassed secret. The innermost cycle contains the Seventeen Tantras:
the Reverberation of Sound, sGra thal ‘gyur, the root of all of them
Auspicious Beauty
Adorned with Direct Introduction
Self-Arising Awareness
Without Letters
the All-Illuminating Sphere
Self-Liberated Awareness
the Heap of Jewels
the Blazing Relics
the Heart-Mirror of Samantabhadra
the Heart-Mirror of Vajrasattva
the Pearl Garland
the Array of Jewels
the Perfected Lion’s Power
the Union of the Sun and Moon
the Six Expanses
the Blazing Lamp
The Blazing Black Expanse of Clarity, the tantra of Ekajaṭī, guardian of the Heart Essence, is counted as the eighteenth.
These tantras teach the primordially pure ground, its spontaneous presence, the direct introduction to rigpa, the lamps, the path of Trekchö and Thögal, the bardos, and the fruit. Vimalamitra transmitted them in the Vima Nyingthig, and Padmasambhava in the Khandro Nyingthig. The Omniscient Longchenpa gathered their meaning in the Seven Treasuries and the Four Branches of the Heart Essence. Rigdzin Jigme Lingpa, through the visions of the Omniscient One, brought it together again in the Longchen Nyingthig.
Kama and Terma
All these tantras belong to the kama, the long transmission that has passed from master to disciple without interruption since the time of the first translations. Alongside the kama is the terma, the teachings that Padmasambhava and Yeshe Tsogyal concealed, to be revealed by the tertöns at the right time.
Among the treasures are tantras of all three inner vehicles. Examples are the Assembly of the Sugatas of Nyang Ral Nyima Özer, and later revelations of the Eight Great Sādhana Teachings and of the Great Perfection. Later editions of the Collected Tantras include a number of these alongside the kama tantras.
