The Story of the First Masters: Manjushrimitra

Series: The Lineage

Manjushrimitra

Manjshrimitra (tib : Jampel Shenyen) was born in the Magadha region, west of Bodhgaya, in what would much later become India. The son of the Brahmin “Good Teacher” and his wife “Luminous Lamp,” the boy showed a brilliant intellect and a deep interest in the doctrine of causes and effects popular in the region at the time—namely Buddhism.

What was his relationship with his father when the latter initiated him into the teachings of the Vedas? Did Manjushrimitra become versed in Brahmanic rituals before taking the vows of a Buddhist monk?

No one knows. However we can reasonably assume that he studied both the Vedic and the Buddhist traditions in parallel with the four other traditional sciences [1], since these constituted the essential knowledge that every son or daughter of a noble family had to master to assume their responsibilities.

By the age of twenty, he became an expert in these five sciences and continues to study with the great pandits (scholars) of his time. It is said that he became the greatest of the five hundred greatest.

It was then that the enlightened being Manjushri, the bodhisattva of superior knowledge, appeared to him in a vision and said:

“Noble son! If you wish to become a perfectly awakened one in a single lifetime, go to Oddiyana, to meet Prahevajra!”

Manjushrimitra had heard about the young boy and his teaching beyond the law of causes and effects. Without delay, he gathered six panditas and set out to engage him in a debate.

As we now know, the child emerged victorious from the debate. Recognizing his pride in wanting to publicly defeat the holder of the ultimate teachings of the Great Perfection, Manjushrimitra drew his dagger and prepared to cut off his tongue.

The boy stopped him with a gesture and said: “If you wish to make amends, write a book gathering the teachings beyond the law of causes and effects instead.”

While the other pandits returned to Bodhgaya, Manjushrimitra remained with his new master and received the six million four hundred thousand verses of the Dzogchen tradition. Prahevajra introduced him to the primordial nature of his own mind through symbols [2], thus initiating the special transmission of the Vidyadhara—the Lords of primordial evidence.

After spending several decades with his master, when the latter rose into the sky in a mass of light and disappears, Manjushrimitra was filled with boundless sadness and devotion. He then received his master’s testament, the three aphorisms that target the crucial points.

The scholar continued his practice in the charnel grounds and structured the six million four hundred thousand verses of Dzogchen into three series, adapted to the three categories of beings:

• The Mind Series (Semde), for those attracted to the intellectual approach;
• The Space Series (Longde), for those attracted to effortlessness;
• The Essential Instructions Series (Men ngag de), for those attracted to both.

Finally, he divided this last series into two sets: the explanatory tantras and the oral transmission tantras. Unable to find an adequate disciple-vessel for the explanatory tantras, he hid the texts as a treasure in a large rock northeast of the Diamond Throne [3] at Bodhgaya.

He then continued his awakened activities in the charnel ground of Shoshadvipa until the time has come for him to depart in a great mass of light, like his master… without forgetting to leave his spiritual testament to his principal disciple…

…in the next episode: Śrī Siṃha!

[1] The five sciences are: the “inner” science (i.e., of dharma = of reality), the science of logic and argumentation, the science of language (grammar and literature), the science of medicine, and the science of arts and techniques.  BACK

[2] This can be a simple gesture, a glance, a posture, a single sound, a subtle movement… that symbolizes the natural and primordial movement of the Ground of the mind.   BACK

[3] The Diamond Throne (Skt. Vajrasana) is an epithet for the place where Buddha Shakyamuni attained enlightenment (in Bodhgaya, under the Bodhi tree). BACK

Sources :

• Master of meditation and miracles, Tulku Thondup, Shambahala, 1999
• A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems: Biographies of Masters of Awareness in the Dzogchen Lineage, Nyoshul Khenpo Jamyang Dorjé, Padma Publishing, 2005
• Supreme Source, Chögyal Namkhai Norbu & Adriano Clemente, Snow Lion, 1999
• The Nyingma School of Tibetan Buddhism, Dudjom Rinpoche, Wisdom, 2002