Text 11.3 (Commentary)

[Guhyagarbha-Tantra, Text section 11.3]

The limbs, sense-organs, and consciousness.
All are to be known on maturation as the syllable OṂ.
One meditates on them as the nature
Of the perfect maṇḍala.
Alternatively, one meditates on these
As the maṇḍala of wrathful deities. [3]

[Tibetan]

yan-lag dbang-po rnam-shes kun /
rnam-smin oṃ-du shes-par bya /
rdzogs-pa'i dkyil-'khor-nyid-du bsgom /
yang-na khro-bo'i dkyil-'khor bsgom / [3]

Commentary:

[Mandalas of Skillful Means and Discriminative Awareness of the Path which are to be Experientially Cultivated (384.1-419.1):]

The latter (see p. 890) concerns the maṇḍalas of skillful means and discriminative awareness according to the path, which is experientially cultivated. It has three parts, namely: the maṇḍala in which all that appears is pristine cognition; the maṇḍala of the displayed feast offerings; and the branches of its means for attainment.

[Maṇḍala in which All that Appears is Pristine Cognition (384.2-402.1):]

The first comprises both a general teaching on the maṇḍala in which appearances and mind are indivisible, and a particular exegesis on the maṇḍala in which the paths of sexual union and "liberation" are indivisible.

The former (384.3-386.1) has three aspects, namely the maṇḍala of the male consort who is the apprehending subject, the maṇḍala of the female consort who is the apprehended object, and the maṇḍala of their indivisible display.

[i. The first of these (comments on Ch. 11.3):]

There are two parts, of which (the first) concerns that which is to be known as the maṇḍala of peaceful deities. The five limbs (yan-lag) of the body, the sense-organs (dbang-po) including the eyes, and the aggregates of consciousness (rnam-shes) associated with them, are all (kun) ordinary forms which, on maturation (rnam-smin) of their individual characteristics, are to be known as (shes-par-bya) the syllable OṂ, the nature of the five pristine cognitions. To illustrate this, one meditates on them (bsgom) as the nature of the maṇḍala (dkyil-'khor nyid-du) of perfect (rdzogs) rapture, i.e., that of the five enlightened families who appear without inherent existence in the manner of the reflection on a mirror, and who are naturally expressed as the five male consorts, the eight male spiritual warriors, the four male gatekeepers, and the six sages.

Then, concerning that which is to be known as the maṇḍala of wrathful deities: Alternatively (yang-na), in accordance with the acumen of those to be trained or by one’s own volition, one should meditate (bsgom) on all these components, sense-organs, and consciousnesses as the essence of the five pristine cognitions in the maṇḍala of (-'i dkyil-'khor) the extremely wrathful deities (khro-bo).^[1]

[ii. The second aspect (of the general teaching in which the maṇḍala of appearances and mind are indivisible) concerns the maṇḍala of the female consort. (It comments on Ch. 11.4):]

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Footnotes and references:

[1]:

The procedures connected with the wrathful maṇḍala are explained below, Chs. 15-21.