Garab Dorje

   

PersonType	Category:Classical Indian Authors
MainNamePhon	Garab Dorje
MainNameTib	དགའ་རབ་རྡོ་རྗེ་
MainNameWylie	dga' rab rdo rje
MainNameSkt	Prahevajra
SortName	Garab Dorje
AltNamesTib	སྤྲུལ་སྐུ་དགའ་རབ་རྡོ་རྗེ་
AltNamesWylie	sprul sku dga' rab rdo rje
bio	Known as the first human teacher of Dzogchen (Ati Yoga). Often referred to as Prahevajra or other Sanskrit reconstructions such as Vajraprahe, Pramodavajra, Surativajra, or as argued in the 1986 article by Hanson-Barber, the name Ānandavajra. However, these appear to be academic speculations without substantial textual evidence. This person has complex naming and dating issues, but traditional accounts may have him living in the 500s. Modern scholarship has not found clear manuscript evidence for this person, who may be more a legend or a mythical figure than a historical one. Jean-Luc Achard's comments are instructive: "....The first human master in the Buddhist lineage of rDzogs chen is known as dGa' rab rdo rje, a very shadowy figure whose legend is filled with allegories and visionary experiences. dGa' rab rdo rje was born to a virgin princess of Oddiyana and at still quite an early age, he received teachings directly from the Sambhogakaya deity Vajrasattva. Later he defeated numerous pandits in a debate held at the court of the King and his keen intelligence gained him fame. He appears to have spent most of his life in charnel grounds (dur khrod) where he gave tantric and rDzogs chen transmissions to non-human beings and where he is said to have compiled all the instructions of the Great Perfection. At the end of his life, he reached the ultimate stage of the path of rDzogs chen, the Rainbow Body ('ja' lus), a sign of his total mastery over the teachings of the Great Perfection. At the time of his parinirvana, he transmitted his ultimate testament (zhal chems, 'das rjes) to Mañjushrimitra, his main disciple." (Source: "The Tibetan Tradition of The Great Perfection", Unpublished Paper.) See relevant scholarship for more details, such as Jean-Luc Achard's paper "The Tibetan Tradition of The Great Perfection" and other sources: Tarthang Tulku. Crystal Mirror Volume V. CA: Dharma Publishing, 1977, page 182-186. H. Guenther, “Early Forms of Tibetan Buddhism”, p. 86 Hanson-Barber, A. W. "The Identification of dGa' rab rdo rje." Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 9, no. 2 (1986): 55-63. Germano, David Francis. "Poetic Thought, the Intelligent Universe, and the Mystery of Self: The Tantric Synthesis of rDzogs Chen in Fourteenth Century Tibet." PhD diss., University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1992. Achard, L'Essence Perlée du Secret, pp. 31-33. Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études Section des Sciences Religieuses 107. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 1999. Valby, J. The Great History of Garab Dorje, Manjushrimitra, Shri Singha, Jnanasutra and Vimalamitra, pp. 15-21. Shang Shung Edizioni, 2002. Nyoshul Khenpo, A Marvelous Garland of Rare Gems, pp. 37-38. Translated by Richard Barron. Junction City, CA: Padma Publishing, 2005.
TeacherOf	Mañjuśrīmitra
BDRC	https://www.tbrc.org/#!rid=P0RK998
IsInGyatsa	No
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