Four joys: Difference between revisions
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The '''four joys''' (Skt. ''catvārimuditā''; Tib. དགའ་བ་བཞི་, ''gawa shyi'', [[Wyl.]] ''dga' ba bzhi'') are four increasingly subtle experiences of bliss-emptiness connected with the advanced practices of [[tsa-lung]]; they transcend ordinary feelings of joy or pleasure. They are: | The '''four joys''' (Skt. ''catvārimuditā''; Tib. དགའ་བ་བཞི་, ''gawa shyi'', [[Wyl.]] ''dga' ba bzhi'') are four increasingly subtle experiences of bliss-emptiness connected with the advanced practices of [[tsa-lung]]; they transcend ordinary feelings of joy or pleasure. They are: | ||
#joy (Skt. '' | #joy (Skt. ''ānanda''; Tib. དགའ་བ།, ''gawa'', Wyl. ''dga' ba''), | ||
#supreme joy (Skt. '' | #supreme joy (Skt. ''paramānanda''; Tib. མཆོག་དགའ།, ''chok ga'', Wyl. ''mchog dga'''), | ||
#special joy (Skt. '' | #special joy (Skt. ''viramānanda''; Tib. ཁྱད་དགའ།, ''khyé ga'', Wyl. ''khyad dga''; also དགའ་བྲལ་གྱི་དགའ་བ, ''gadral gyi gawa'', Wyl. ''dga' bral gyi dga' ba''') and | ||
#innate joy (Skt. '' | #innate joy (Skt. ''sahajānanda''; Tib. ལྷན་སྐྱེས་ཀྱི་དགའ།, ''lhenkyé kyi ga'', Wyl. ''lhan skyes kyi dga' ba''). | ||
They are experienced when the white bodhichitta drop, (also called [[white essence]]), ascends from the lowest [[chakra]] to the navel, heart, throat, and crown chakras. | They are experienced when the white bodhichitta drop, (also called [[white essence]]), ascends from the lowest [[chakra]] to the navel, heart, throat, and crown chakras. | ||
[[Eight joys]] and [[sixteen joys]] may also be enumerated in the [[tantra]]s.<ref>Robert Beer, The handbook of Tibetan Buddhist symbols.</ref> | [[Eight joys]] and [[sixteen joys]] may also be enumerated in the [[tantra]]s.<ref>Robert Beer, The handbook of Tibetan Buddhist symbols.</ref> | ||
The locus classicus for the four joys is the [[Hevajra Tantra]]. Their order was disputed in Indian scholastic scholasticism: according to [[Maitripa]], [[Ratnakarashanti]], and a few others, innate joy is experienced in the third position, whereas according to [[Naropa]], [[Abhayakaragupta]], and followers of the [[Kalachakra]] system, their order is as presented above. | |||
Because of the ambiguity of the Sanskrit word ''viramānanda'', some, including the translator of the [[Hevajra Tantra]], interpreted the name of the third joy to mean "joy without joy". One may also, perhaps more naturally, interpret the term to mean "joy of cessation". | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 01:29, 10 November 2020
The four joys (Skt. catvārimuditā; Tib. དགའ་བ་བཞི་, gawa shyi, Wyl. dga' ba bzhi) are four increasingly subtle experiences of bliss-emptiness connected with the advanced practices of tsa-lung; they transcend ordinary feelings of joy or pleasure. They are:
- joy (Skt. ānanda; Tib. དགའ་བ།, gawa, Wyl. dga' ba),
- supreme joy (Skt. paramānanda; Tib. མཆོག་དགའ།, chok ga, Wyl. mchog dga'),
- special joy (Skt. viramānanda; Tib. ཁྱད་དགའ།, khyé ga, Wyl. khyad dga; also དགའ་བྲལ་གྱི་དགའ་བ, gadral gyi gawa, Wyl. dga' bral gyi dga' ba') and
- innate joy (Skt. sahajānanda; Tib. ལྷན་སྐྱེས་ཀྱི་དགའ།, lhenkyé kyi ga, Wyl. lhan skyes kyi dga' ba).
They are experienced when the white bodhichitta drop, (also called white essence), ascends from the lowest chakra to the navel, heart, throat, and crown chakras.
Eight joys and sixteen joys may also be enumerated in the tantras.[1]
The locus classicus for the four joys is the Hevajra Tantra. Their order was disputed in Indian scholastic scholasticism: according to Maitripa, Ratnakarashanti, and a few others, innate joy is experienced in the third position, whereas according to Naropa, Abhayakaragupta, and followers of the Kalachakra system, their order is as presented above.
Because of the ambiguity of the Sanskrit word viramānanda, some, including the translator of the Hevajra Tantra, interpreted the name of the third joy to mean "joy without joy". One may also, perhaps more naturally, interpret the term to mean "joy of cessation".
References
- ↑ Robert Beer, The handbook of Tibetan Buddhist symbols.
Alternative Translations
- Four delights (Dorje & Kapstein)
- Four ecstasies