Pañcaniyata
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pañcaniyata (T. nges pa lnga; C. wu jueding 五決定), or the “five certainties,” are five definite features of a Sambhogakaya Buddha.[1]
The order and detail of these features are described differently in different sources.[2]
Tsepak Rigdzin presents the five certainties as follows:[1]
- 1. གནས་ངེས་པ། certainty of place; that they always reside in the richiy adorned Buddha-field called 'Heaven-below-non'
- 2. སྐུ་ངེས་པ། certainty of body; they are always adorned with thirty-two major and eighty minor marks
- 3. དུས་ངེས་པ། certainty of time; that they will live for as long as saṁsāra is not emptied of sentient beings
- 4. ཆོས་ངེས་པ། certainty of teachings; that they always teach the greater vehicle doctrine
- 5. འགོར་ངེས་པ། certainty of disciples; that they always teach to a circle of ārya Bodhisattva disciples.
Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang presents the five certainties as follows:[3]
- The certain place is the unexcelled buddhafield of the Dense Array.
- The certain teacher comprises the buddhas of the five families, the five Hemasagara Buddhas. Each of these is surrounded by an entourage of five subfamilies: wherever there is space, it is pervaded by the dharmakaya, and whatever is pervaded by the dharmakaya is pervaded by the sambhogakaya for the purpose of benefiting the pure beings.
- The certain teaching is that of the Great Vehicle, which cannot be expressed with sounds or words.
- The certain assembly consists of bodhisattvas on the tenth level.
- The certain time is the ever-revolving wheel of eternity. Here it is not that time is permanent by nature but that the passing of time never ceases.
In the Words of My Perfect Teacher, Patrul Rinpoche refers to the five certainties as the "five perfections" (phun sum tshogs pa lnga).[4]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
nges pa lnga, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
- ↑ Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. pañcaniyata.
- ↑ Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang 2011, Part II, Chapter 1.
- ↑ Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang 2011, footnote 133.
Sources
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University
Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang (2011), A Guide to the Words of My Perfect Teacher, translated by Padmakara Translation Group, Shambhala
Further reading
- Khenpo Ngawang Pelzang, A Guide to the Words of My Perfect Teacher, translated by Padmakara Translation Group (Shambhala, 2011), pages 32-34, 332
- Patrul Rinpoche, The Words of My Perfect Teacher (Boston: Shambhala, Revised edition, 1998), pages 9-10.
- Thinley Norbu, The Small Golden Key (Shambhala Publications, 1999), pages 70-72.
- Tulku Thondup (1999), Masters of Meditation and Miracles, Boston: Shambhala