Tilopa (Prakrit;Sanskrit:Talika orTilopadā; 988–1069) was an Indian Buddhist tantricmahasiddha who lived along theGanges River.[1] He practisedAnuttarayoga Tantra, a set of spiritual practices intended to accelerate the process of attainingBuddhahood. He became a holder of all the tantric lineages, possibly the only person in his day to do so. In addition to the way of insight andMahamudra, Tilopa learned and passed on the Way of Methods (today known as theSix Yogas of Naropa) and guru yoga.[2]Naropa is considered his main student.
Tilopa was born into the priestly Brahmincaste inEastern India.[3][page needed] He adopted themonastic life upon receiving orders from adakini[4] (female buddha whose activity is to inspire practitioners) who told him to adopt amendicant anditinerant existence. From the beginning, she made it clear to Tilopa that his real parents were not the persons who had raised him but instead were primordial wisdom and universal voidness. Advised by the dakini, Tilopa gradually took up a monk's life, taking the monastic vows and becoming an erudite scholar. The frequent visits of his Dakini teacher continued to guide his spiritual path and close the gap to enlightenment.[citation needed]
He began to travel throughout India, receiving teachings from many gurus:
As advised by Matangi, Tilopa started to work at a brothel in Bengal for a prostitute called Dharima as her solicitor and bouncer. During the day, he was grinding sesame seeds for his living.[5] During a meditation, he received a vision ofVajradhara and, according to legend, the entirety ofmahamudra was directly transmitted to Tilopa. After receiving the transmission, Tilopa meditated in two caves and bound himself with heavy chains to hold the correct meditation posture. He practised for many years and then met the mind of all buddhas in the form of a Diamond HolderVajradhara. He is considered the grandfather of today'sKagyu Lineage.[2]Naropa, his most important student, became his successor and carried and passed on the teachings. On the premises ofPashupatinath Temple, regarded as the greatestHindu shrine inNepal, there are two caves where Tilopa attainedsiddhis and initiated his disciple Naropa.[6][7]
Tilopa gaveNaropa a teaching called the Six Words of Advice, the originalSanskrit orBengali of which is not extant; the text has reached us in itsTibet a translation. In Tibetan, the teaching is calledgnad kyi gzer drug[8] – literally, "six nails of key points"; the aptness of the title becomes clear if one considers the meaning of the English idiomatic expression, "to hit the nail on the head."
According toKen McLeod, the text contains exactly six words; the two English translations in the following table are attributed to him.
| First short, literal translation | Later long, explanatory translation | Tibetan (Wylie transliteration) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don't recall | Let go of what has passed | mi mno |
| 2 | Don't imagine | Let go of what may come | mi bsam |
| 3 | Don't think | Let go of what is happening now | mi sems |
| 4 | Don't examine | Don't try to figure anything out | mi dpyod |
| 5 | Don't control | Don't try to make anything happen | mi sgom |
| 6 | Rest | Relax, right now, and rest | rang sar bzhag |
Watts-Wayman translation
An earlier translation circa 1957 byAlan Watts and Dr.Alex Wayman rendered Tilopa's "Six Precepts" as
In a footnote, Watts cited a Tibetan source text at partial variance with McLeod's in sequence and syntax, namely:
Based on an "elucidation" provided by Wayman, Watts explained that
Watts had studied Chinese, and Wayman was a Tibetologist and professor of Sanskrit associated with UCLA and later Columbia University.
Tilopa also gavemahamudra instruction toNaropa by means of the song known as "The Ganges Mahamudra,"[10][page needed] one stanza of which reads:
One of the most famous and important statements attributed to Tilopa is: "The problem is not enjoyment; the problem is attachment."[12]
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