Tilopa

Tilopa ( Tib .: ti lo pa ; * 988 ; † 1069 ) was the most important Indian forefather of the Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism . He was probably born in Cittagong into a Brahmin family.

biography

Tilopa studied Buddhist texts at an early age and mastered them. After leaving the monastery and meditating for many years, he worked at night as an assistant to a prostitute and during the day as a sesame masher in a market in East India. It was from this activity that it got its name: Til means "sesame seeds" in Sanskrit.

His main teacher is considered to be the happy state of Buddha Dorje Chang . He received the transmissions of Buddhist Tantra directly from him in meditation. Since this was difficult to understand for his students, he wandered around India and collected all the transmissions from the ancient Mahasiddha lines again. Tilopa received the transmissions from four teachers from different directions.

The four streams of oral instruction

In accordance with Jonang Taranatha , the following teachings have been imparted to Tilopa:

• East:

Buddha Shakyamuni - Indra Bhodi - Visukapala - Saraha - Nagarjuna - Tilopa. The tantra here is the Guhyasamaja tantra (Sangwa Düpa), and the practice of the illusory body and clear light was transferred.

• North:

Shakyamuni - Indrabodhi - Sumati - Tanglopa - Shinglopa - Kanaripa - Dzalendaripa - Krishnacharia (or Chariapa) - Tilopa. Tantra: Mahamaya Tantra and Vajracaturpita Tantra, Exercise: Inner Heat ( Tummo ) and Phowa

• West:

Shakyamuni - Indrabodhi - Drombipa - Vinasa - Lawapa - Tilopa. Tantra: Hevajra , exercise: dream yoga

• South:

Shakyamuni - Ratnamati ( Manjushri ) - Sukhanata (Loving Eyes) - Saraha - Luipa - Tengipa - Darikapa - Sukhasiddhi (or Sukhadhari and Gantapara) - Tilopa. Tantra: Chakrasamvara -Tantra, Exercise: Inner Heat and Bardo

Marpa assigns in his life story about Tilopa the Tantra and the exercises slightly different to: So Tilopa received from Nagarjuna practice of the illusory body and the practices of the Phowa and Bardo, of Caryapa the dream yoga, of Lavapa the clear light and from the Dakini Kalpabhadra the Practice of Inner Heat.

Tilopa is represented as a realizer with bone ornaments and a fish in hand. The fish can be traced back to his encounter with Naropa, where he caught fish and pan-fried them to test Naropa's confidence.

student

Tilopa's main student was Naropa , who in turn passed the transmissions on to his main student Marpa .

Naropa formed the transmissions of the "Six Teachings of Naropa". They form the "path of method" of the Kagyu lineage and are still the main component of the Kagyu school, alongside the "path of insight" (from Maitripa to Marpa). The “meditation on the teacher” ( Guru Yoga ) is the essence of the “path of method” and the “path of insight”. All lead them to experience the Mahamudra (Great Seal or Great Symbol).

swell

• Chos-kyi bLo-gros Mar-pa: The Life of the Mahasiddha Tilopa. Dharamsala, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives . 1995.
• Manfred Seegers: Origins and Contents of the Karma Kagyu Lineage . Zurich 2001.
• Manfred Seegers and Tanja Böhnke: Space & Joy - Buddhist statues & ritual objects . Diamantweg Foundation e. V., Wuppertal 2003.
• The XIIth Khentin Tai Situpa: Tilopa (Some Glimpses of His Life) . Dzalendara Publishing, Langholm 1988.
• Jo Nang Taranata: The Seven Instruction Lineages . Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala 1983.
• Translation Team, Karmapa International Buddhist Institute: The Lineage Holders of the Karma Kagyu Tradition. Kagyü Life December 16, 1994 (6th year).
• www.karmapa.org
• Rinpoche Khenpo Karthar. The Life of Tilopa - Teachings at KDT, Woodstock . 1986.

Web links

• Literature by and about Tilopa in the catalog of the German National Library
• keithdowman.net: Tilopa's Mahamudra Instruction to Naropa in Twenty Eight Verses
• Tilopa's singing of Mahamudra (PDF, 11 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Wolfgang Poier: Tilopa. In: Buddhismus Today No. 51, (Summer 2012). Retrieved November 9, 2018 .