THE INDIAN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BUDDHIST STUDIES, vol.

16 (2015), pp193-214

The Four Joys in the Teaching of

Nåropa and Maitr¥pa

Julia Stenzel ∗

Introduction
Buddhist tantric yogins developed systematized descriptions
of the tantric path toward buddhahood, which includes personal
liberation from suffering and rebirth as well as the acquisition of
buddha bodies (Skt. kåya, Tib. sku) so as to be able to act for the
welfare of sentient beings. The tantric path toward that goal begins
with four consecrations (caturabhiΣeka, dbang bzhi) that the
disciple receives from a qualified guru. The purpose of the
consecrations, or empowerments, is to stimulate an ever more
subtle understanding of the reality of mind, and thus of all
phenomena. The progression of such understanding is expressed in
terms of sets of four, namely the four joys (ånanda, dga’ ba), the
four seals (mudrå, phyag rgya), and the four moments (kΣaˆa, skad
cig ma). A great number of Indian tantric masters, such as Saraha,
Ratnåkaraßånti, Maitr¥pa, Naropa, Någårjuna, Karopa,1 and others,
have explained ways in which these sets of four correspond to one
another. Their attempts to build a coherent system have led to
different results. They do not always agree on the order of the joys
and seals, or their exegesis. The role of co-emergent joy
(sahajånanda, lhan skyes dga’ ba) and of the great seal
(mahåmudrå, phyag rgya chen po) receives special attention, since
∗
McGill University, Faculty of Religious Studies, Birks Building, 3520
University Street, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2A7.
Email : [email protected]
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Professor Lara Braitstein and
Professor Roger Jackson for their suggestions and for patiently reviewing
this article.
1
See for example Mathes 2009: 99n54.
194 The Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 16, 2015

they came to stand for the final realization, but they are sometimes
listed only at the penultimate position. The correct meaning of
empowerments, seals, and joys continued to be a topic of debate
among masters in Tibet; even as late as in the fifteenth or sixteenth
century the Tibetan master of the Kagyü (Bka’ brgyud) School,
Shamar Chökyi Drakpa Yeshé (Zhwa dmar 04 chos kyi grags pa ye
shes, 1453–1524) was prompted to write an explanatory
commentary, Harmonizing the Statements on Empowerment by the
Accomplished Masters Nåropa and Maitr¥pa (Mkhas grub nå ro
mai tri dbang gi bzhed pa mthun par grub pa) (NM).2 In this text,
the author attributes two approaches to the four joys to Nåropa
(1016–1100) and Maitr¥pa (1007–1085), respectively, the former
via the four empowerments, the latter via the four seals. With
numerous quotes from tantric literature, he sheds some light on the
complexity of the matter, revealing the tensions that were created
by the exegesis of the Indian source texts. Shamar Chökyi Drakpa
not only explains how these two different models can be
harmonized, but also defends them against criticism from others.3
My aims in this article are first, to elucidate the two interpretations
of the four joys in their respective contexts and second, to analyze
their convergences and divergences. For this presentation, I will
draw mainly on Shamar Chökyi Drakpa's commentary and
complement it with other sources, when necessary. I also will
attempt to draw conclusions from each model for an understanding
of tantric soteriology. I wish, as well, to explore the hermeneutical
tools that Shamar Chökyi Drakpa employed to refute criticisms and
to harmonize incoherencies.

1. Two Interpretations of the Four Joys

1.1. Nåropa
Nåropa is introduced by Shamar Chökyi Drakpa as a
commentator on yogin¥tantra or yoganiruttaratantra, who follows
2
Chos grags ye shes. Mkhas grub nå ro mai tri dbang gi bzhed pa mthun par
grub pa. In gsung ’bum/Chos grags ye shes, W1KG4876, pp. 800–850. Pe
cin: Krung go’i bod rig pa dpe skrun khang, 2009. Abbreviated in the
following as NM.
3
The critics are identified mainly as Drakpa Gyaltsen (Grags pa rgyal
mtshan) (1374–1432) and Sakya Paˆ∂ita (Sa skya paˆ∂ita Kun dga’ rgyal
mtshan) (1182–1251) of the Sakya School.
 The Four Joys in the Teaching of Nåropa and Maitr¥pa 195

these tantras of the highest yoga class in his exposition of the four
empowerments, four joys, and four moments:
The master [Nåropa] teaches the empowerments and the four
joys according to the explanations of the unexcelled yoga.
Among these, he composed A Brief Explanation of
Empowerment 4 and a commentary on the [Hevajra] root
tantra, Two Segments, this latter being the Commentary on
Difficult Points of the Summary of the Essence of the Vajra
Words.5
In this commentary on the Hevajra Tantra, Nåropa states
the following order of the empowerments:
[t]he master-, secret-, wisdom-, and the fourth
[empowerment]. 6 The essence of the result [derives] from
these. How is it possible to develop misunderstanding? (NM,
800, 8)
Nåropa distinguishes between the three first
empowerments, which produce mundane results, and the fourth,
which gives access to a supra-mundane level. To understand how
the fourth is a result of the three previous empowerments, he adds,
one has to rely on the instructions of a teacher. (NM 802, 1).
Also, with regard to the four joys, Nåropa distinguishes
between the first three, which belong to a mundane, dualistic level,
and a fourth, which transcends dualism. He gives their order as joy
(ånanda, dga’ ba), supreme joy (paramånanda, mchog dga’),
special joy (viramånanda, khyad dga’), and coemergent joy
(sahajånanda, lhan cig skyes dga’) (NM 802, 6), thus implying that
the so-called coemergent joy belongs to a supra-mundane level.
The question of how exactly the four joys relate to the four
empowerments is answered with a certain amount of ambiguity.

4
Dbang dor stan pa’i ’grel pa; Skt. Sekoddeśat¥kå, by Ācårya Nåropada.
Nåropa's commentary to The Treatise on the Initiations, the only section of
The Kalachakra Root Tantra to have survived intact, is regarded as one of
the most authoritative Indian texts on the nature of the Kålacakra path. See
Mullin 1991: 336.
5
Paˆ chen nå ro pa’i kye rdor ’grel pa; Skt: Vajrapadasårasa∫grahapañjikå.
Other title: Rdo rje’i tshig gi snying po bsdus pa’i dka’ ’grel.
6
Skt: åcårya, guhya, prajñåjñåna, caturtha. Tib: slob dpon, gsang ba, shes
rab ye shes, bzhi pa.
196 The Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 16, 2015

Some quotes from tantric literature seem to link each joy to one
empowerment:
Master, secret, wisdom, and
Fourth are likewise in this [order].
By counting the empowerments in this way
One knows the stages of joy, etc.7
However, the detailed descriptions of how the four
moments and the four joys are generated—these two latter sets
being always closely correlated—focus on the sexual practice
related to the wisdom-awareness empowerment alone. In the
Hevajra Tantra, for example, the first stage, joy, is explained as
the blissful experience that results from the first moment, called
variety (vicitra, rnam par sna tshogs), because it involves various
types of physical contact, such as embracing, kissing, etc. (Snellgrove
1959: 94–95). More specifically, the first joy is produced from the
contact of the yogin’s vajra with the consort's lotus.8 In the words
of the Guhyasamåja Tantra, as cited by Nåropa, “having placed the
li∫ga excellently into the bhaga, do not emit bodhicitta.” 9 The
experiences and realizations that derive from sexual practice are
expressed in terms of the subtle body, describing the human being
in its psycho-physical aspects, such as cakras, or energy centers
(cakra, ’khor lo), channels (nådi, rtsa), winds (pråˆa, rlung), and
drops (bindu, thig le). Through sexual union and meditation,
bodhicitta, the vital essence that resides at the crown of the head,
descends through the main channel in the form of drops, and four
progressive experiences are produced at the four cakras. These are
called the four joys in descending order. The process then is
reversed, producing again jour joys in ascent. The first level of joy
relies on “desire for contact” (Snellgrove 1959: 76). The meditator
produces heat in the emanation cakra at the navel, which in turn
provokes the melting of bodhicitta at the crown, in the great bliss
cakra. The Hevajra Tantra describes the resultant experience as

7
NM 804, 9–10. The source of this quote is not identified by Shamar Chökyi
Drakpa.
8
Snellgrove 1959: 76. Lotus and vajra are ritualized terms used to designate
the female and male sexual organs.
9
NM 800, 19. “bha gar ling gar ab bzhag nas // byang chub sems ni spro mi
bya.” Bodhicitta is here a multivalent term, including the meanings of
semen, vital essence, and awakening mind.
 The Four Joys in the Teaching of Nåropa and Maitr¥pa 197

“some bliss,”10 i.e., bliss of an inferior intensity. Supreme joy, the

second stage, is the “experience of blissful knowledge” of the
second moment, called maturation (vipåka, rnam smin). In terms of
the subtle body, it is the descent of bodhicitta to the enjoyment
cakra at the throat. Supreme joy is an increasingly blissful
experience that leads to an appeasement of discursive conceptual
activity. The third level of joy is special joy, associated with the
moment of consummation (vimarda, rnam nyed),11 and is attained
when the vital essence has descended to the dharma cakra at the
heart level. The descent of bodhicitta to the emanation cakra at the
navel produces coemergent joy, which the Hevajra Tantra defines
as ineffable, possessing “neither passion nor absence of passion,
nor yet a middle state.”12 The fourth moment is called absence of
characteristics (vilakΣaˆa, mtshan nyid dang bral ba).
For Nåropa, the fourth and highest joy is thus the
coemergent joy, an experience inseparable from the realization of
emptiness. He corroborates his position with a quote from the
eighth chapter of the Hevajra Tantra: “the final [stage after] the
special joy is the coemergent. This alone should be clearly
realized” (NM 802, 9–10). He explains the term coemergent joy as the
joy that is born in the very instant that the subtle “special
attachment” inherent in the “special joy” is transcended (NM 802, 16).
At that level, the term coemergent becomes equivalent with
wisdom, also defined as “the empty and non-empty Heruka, which
refers to emptiness and compassion inseparable—that is called the

10
Ibid. The very succinct explanations given by Shamar Chökyi Drakpa are
completed by Jamgon Kongtrul's Commentary on the Hevajra Tantra 31b4–
32a4, cited in Kongtrul 2005: 423.
11
The spellings in the text are given as rnams nyid (804, 8) and rnam par nyed
pa (806, 23). The Sanskrit vimarda seems to overlap with the Tibetan in one
meaning, “rubbing.” I follow here the translation in Kongtrul 2005 (423),
without being able, however, to trace the source and reasoning of this
translation, which does not correspond to any dictionary entries at my
disposal.
12
HT I.x.17, in Snellgrove 1959: 82. Snellgrove mentions that the HT refers
twice to a sequence of four joys where coemergent joy is in the third
position, followed by joy of cessation (dga’ bral, absence-of-joy, or as
translated by Mathes: joy of no-joy). According to Snellgrove, this
incoherence indicates the merging of two traditions in the HT. Dharmak¥rti
confirms the existence of two traditions and identifies Maitr¥pa as a
proponent of the view of coemergent as the third. See Snellgrove 1959: 35.
198 The Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 16, 2015

Heruka, and that is the coemergent that has become the result” (NM
803, 23).
Even though Shamar Chökyi Drakpa’s explanation cites
many ambiguous passages from tantric literature, it becomes clear
that, in his view, Nåropa understands the coemergent as the result
of the fourth empowerment; it cannot be the result of the wisdom-
awareness empowerment. In later parts of the text, Shamar Chökyi
Drakpa introduces the reader to criticism of Nåropa's view by the
Sakya master Drakpa Gyaltsen (Grags pa rgyal mtshan) (1374–
1432), who explains “coemergent wisdom to be the result of
bodhicitta abiding in the center of the jewel” (NM 832, 2–3), a
reference to the brief moment during sexual embrace within the
third empowerment when the drop of bodhicitta has descended to
the tip of the jewel (i.e., the gland of the male organ) but is not
being ejected. Shamar Chökyi Drakpa criticizes this position as
that of “some uneducated people” who consider the wisdom that
results from the first three empowerments to be genuine wisdom
(NM 832, 10). According to Nåropa's view, the first three
empowerments only produce contrived, worldly results, the supra-
mundane results being reserved for the fourth empowerment. “If it
is accomplished before, what sense does it make to bring it out
once again?” (NM 801, 18–19) he asks rhetorically, implying that if
supra-mundane results had been achieved already during the first
three empowerments, the fourth empowerment would be
superfluous. In his presentation of Nåropa's system Shamar Chökyi
Drakpa does not clearly state what exactly constitutes the fourth
empowerment. Harunaga Isaacson (1979: 23–49), in his article
“Tantric Buddhism in India”, sketches the historical development
of the ritual of abhiΣeka, explaining the progressive expansion
from one to four empowerments. He gives scriptural evidence for
the elusiveness of the fourth, which was sometimes interpreted as a
continuation of a sexual ritual, but came to mean, in mainstream
tantric Buddhism, an empowerment by the instructions of the guru,
hence its alternative name, word empowerment (Tib. tshig
dbang). 13 Shamar Chökyi Drakpa mentions the fourth as a word
empowerment in a later section of his treatise (NM 836), without,
however, discussing the outer form of the fourth itself. I take this

13
Isaacson points out that the corresponding Sanskrit term is nearly absent in
Indian tantric literature. He notes that he found, however, the term
vacanamåtråbhiΣeka in the text SaµkΣiptåbhiΣekavidhi by Vågiśvarak¥rti.
 The Four Joys in the Teaching of Nåropa and Maitr¥pa 199

absence as an indication that the fourth was commonly accepted as

a word empowerment, i.e., as the oral instructions of the guru, who
would explain both the ultimate nature of reality and the deeper
meaning of the experiences of the third empowerment, thus
enabling wisdom to arise in the student's mind.14
As to the topic of the four seals, Harmonizing the
Statements on Empowerment’s section on Nåropa contains merely
a quote from his Commentary on Difficult Points of the Summary of
the Essence of the Vajra Words,15 in which Shamar Chökyi Drakpa
refers to the result of the highest empowerment as the great seal:
A disciple who seeks earnestly to train in mundane siddhis
needs the seven empowerments and [one who seeks to]
accomplish the mahåmudråsiddhi [needs] the highest
empowerment [dbang gong ma]. (NM 800, 13).
Other than this reference, mentions of the four seals are
strangely absent.
In sum, Shamar Chökyi Drakpa elucidates Nåropa's
understanding of the relationship between the four empowerments
and the four joys. Whereas the first three joys belong to the
mundane, i.e., dualistic level and are a result of the third
empowerment, coemergent joy, being the fourth and highest level
of joy, is the result of the fourth empowerment. The result of this
empowerment is also called mahåmudrå; thus, the coemergent is
equated with the great seal.
The exact turning point between mundane and supra-
mundane level is not clearly stated. Instead, the author admits, “if
someone asks, [how] from the mundane the supra-mundane
empowerments [are derived], [the answer is that] even though it is
taught, it is not being clarified” (NM 802, 1).

1.2. Maitr¥pa
Shamar Chökyi Drakpa opens the section on Maitr¥pa's
exposition, just as the previous one on Nåropa, by stating his
scriptural sources. Maitr¥pa is the author of the Definite Teaching
14
Isaacson 1979: 12. NM 834, 2: The bliss of ejecting is not the fourth
empowerment according to Nåropa, Maitr¥pa and Marpa.
15
See above, note 4.
200 The Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 16, 2015

on Empowerments,16 which figures among the Twenty-five Texts on

Unthinking,17 a text collection on Måhamudrå attributed to him. In
the Definite Teaching on Empowerments, which, according to
Shamar Chökyi Drakpa follows the Hevajra Root Tantra, as well
as the Succession of the Four Seals by the tantric Någårjuna, 18
Maitr¥pa explains the joys from the perspective of the four seals.
The four seals are four different approaches to bring about the four
joys and the corresponding realizations of the nature of reality
(Kongtrul 2005: 423n11). According to Maitr¥pa, their order is action
seal (karmamudrå, las kyi phyag rgya), doctrine seal
(dharmamudrå, chos kyi phyag rgya), great seal (mahåmudrå,
phyag rgya chen po), and commitment seal (samayamudrå, dam
tshig gyi phyag rgya). It would be tempting to attribute each of
these mudrås to one of the joys, as David Snellgrove (1959: 137)
does in the explanations of his translation of the Hevajra Tantra.
Snellgrove bases this attribution on Maitr¥pa's Caturmudropadeßa
(Phyag rgya bzhi’i man ngag); a close reading of that text,
however, reveals a more complex relationship between the two sets
of four. Maitr¥pa gives a detailed explanation about how the first
two seals—the action and the doctrine seal—both contain all four
joys, albeit possessing different qualities.
To be precise, at the end of his text he does mention
alternative attributions, such as the four joys corresponding directly
to the four seals, as Snellgrove had cited; or else, the attribution of
all four joys to each of the four seals, thus totaling sixteen joys.
Maitr¥pa's main exposition, however, does not reflect either of
these two relations, but discusses the four joys solely within the
context of action and doctrine seal—and this is also the position
that Shamar Chökyi Drakpa expounds. According to this view, the
four joys are first produced by means of the action seal, that is,
through sexual practice with a consort, who is also called “the
outer seal.” This practice contains the previously mentioned four

16
Sekanirdeśa (Dbang skur nges par bstan pa).
17
Yid la mi byed pa nyi shu rtsa lnga. See R. Jackson 2008: 163–166.
18
See above, note 9: Phyag rgya bzhi gtan la dbab pa. Translation follows
Klaus Dieter Mathes. Skt: Caturmudrånvaya. An alternative translation is:
Establishing a Definite Understanding of the Four Mudrås. Mathes explains
that the attribution to Någårjuna was contested by several scholars. Mathes
2008: 99–100.
 The Four Joys in the Teaching of Nåropa and Maitr¥pa 201

distinct moments that stimulate the four corresponding joys, albeit

in a different order.
Through division of the action seal into the moments, the
distinct joys will be born. The bliss-awareness (bde ba ye
shes) that knows the moments abides in evaµ. The four joys
are joy, supreme joy, coemergent joy, and absence-of-joy
(dga’ bral). […] The four moments are variety, maturation,
absence of characteristics, and consummation.19
This quote, drawn from the Hevajra Tantra, is qualified by
Maitr¥pa as referring to the forceful empowerment (dbang btsan
thabs), an empowerment conferred by means of a consort; and
therefore, only the “results corresponding to the cause will be
obtained”(NM 807, 5). Maitr¥pa likens these results to mirror
reflections, thereby illustrating that they are inferior and not yet
real accomplishments. The practice with a consort, being mixed
with satisfaction and attachment, can only produce “fabricated”
(bcos ma) joys; and even coemergent joy, in other contexts
referring to a state beyond duality, is here merely a “coemergent of
fabricated nature” (NM 807, 10). The four joys then have to be
repeated by means of the doctrine seal, which Shamar Chökyi
Drakpa describes as a subtle yoga, involving the central (avadhËt¥,
dbu ma), left (lalanå, rkyang ma) and right (rasanå, ro ma)
channels—without, however, explaining details. As Maitr¥pa
elaborates in his Caturmudropadeßa, the action seal operates
within the generation stage (utpattikrama, bskyed rim) and the
completion stage (sampannakrama, rdzogs rim), whereas the
doctrine seal operates only within the very subtle completion stage
(yong su rdzogs pa'i rim pa).20 Even though the difference between
the two completion stages is not clarified by the author, this
passage seems to be yet another indication that the action seal
contains a coarser level of practice, involving dualism and
conceptuality, whereas the doctrine seal consists of practices of a
subtler level, which demand an understanding of emptiness and
non-duality.

19
NM 806, 18–20. This passage is similar to HT II.3,5: “Knowing the
moments, blissful wisdom which is based in the syllable evaµ [arises]”
(translation Mathes 2008: 99.)
20
Maitr¥pa, Phyag rgya bzhi’i man ngag, 601, 2. The term yong su rdzogs pa’i
rim pa is not common. It could also be translated as “utterly completed
stage.” I cannot determine its meaning and Sanskrit origin at this point.
202 The Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 16, 2015

The resultant realization of the doctrine seal is said to be the

understanding of the nature of coemergent joy, which becomes the
cause for the ensuing great seal (NM 808, 4–5). This great seal,
mahåmudrå, has no direct relationship to the four joys or the four
moments, according to Maitr¥pa. “Since mahåmudrå is complete
buddhahood in one moment, there are no divisions into four
moments and four joys.” 21 The great seal is the “dimension of
compassion without reference point, possessing the nature of great
bliss” (NM 808, 10).
I bow to [the mind] that is not examined by
conceptualizing;
the mind that absolutely does not abide,
that is without remembering (dran pa) and without mental
engagement (yid byed),
that is without reference point. (NM 808, 11–12).22
Maitr¥pa explains the remaining seal, the pledge seal, as
“the aspects of enjoyment body (sambhogakåya) and emanation
body (nirmaˆakåya); the essence of purity 23 for the benefit of
sentient beings, the vajra-holding Heruka.” 24 The pledge seal
manifests as the emanation of Vajradhara (rdo rje chang), the
embodiment of buddhahood. Shamar Chökyi Drakpa does not,
however, mention that in the Caturmudropadeßa Maitr¥pa evokes
briefly the possibility of defining the pledge seal again in terms of
four joys, this time as the compassionate expression of the
divinities’ circle (maˆ∂ala, dkyil ’khor) for the benefit of beings.
Here, he does not explain them, but simply lists the four

21
Maitr¥pa, Phyag rgya bzhi’i man ngag, 605, 1.
22
This verse is cited in The Progression of the Four Seals (Phyag rgya bzhi’i
gtan la dbab pa)
78b, in Maitr¥pa, De bzhin gshegs pa lnga’i phyag rgya rnam par bshad pa,
121b; and in Maitr¥pa, Yid la mi mi byed pa ston pa, 139a. Here is a
translation from “Les sceaux des cinq tathagata.”
(https://sites.google.com/site/advayavajra/projets-continus/les-sceaux-des-
cinq-tathagatas): “En ne concevant rien à travers l'imagination
(avikalpitasa∫kalpa) / Ce mental, qui ne se fonde sur rien (apratiΣṭhita), /
Sans remémoration ni engagement mental (asmṛtyamanasikåra), /
Insaissable (nirålamba), à lui je rends hommage.” This verse is also cited by
Pema Karpo in the Phyag rgya chen po man ngag gi bshad sbyor rgyal baʼi
gan mdzod. (= Phyag chen gan mdzod). vol. 21, no. I, 38.5.
23
dang ba. This term can also be translated as “joy.”
24
NM 808, 15 and 817, 7.
 The Four Joys in the Teaching of Nåropa and Maitr¥pa 203

expressions that would require the elucidation of a master. These

are “the delight of the goddess's center, the melting of the drop’s
form in sun and moon, the exhortation of the goddess's voice, and
the result: becoming the vajra holder.”25
What could be the reason for Shamar Chökyi Drakpa's
omission of the four joys of the pledge seal? Perhaps he considers
this teaching too profound to be understood by ordinary scholars,
since he concludes his section on Maitr¥pa's position on the pledge
seal with a quote from the Definite Teaching on Empowerments
that emphasizes the necessity of receiving instructions from a
genuine meditation master:
For as long as you have not touched
the dust of the feet of the chief mountain hermit,
you will not understand the four seals
and the four moments. (NM 808, 18–19)26

1.3. Analysis of Convergences and Divergences between the

Two Systems
A comparison between the standpoints of Nåropa and
Maitr¥pa through the perspective of Shamar Chökyi Drakpa
reveals, first of all, the difficulty in comparing these two systems.
In the Nåropa section, a discussion of the four seals is absent, 27
whereas in that on Maitr¥pa, it takes center stage. The four
empowerments, important to Nåropa, do not receive much
attention in the Maitr¥pa section. The area of convergence is thus
the set of four joys. Among these, coemergent joy takes a special
role, since it indicates, or is even equated with, the realization of
mahåmudrå, the great seal. Thus, in Nåropa's system, the
coemergent—which is often not even used as an adjective with

25
Maitr¥pa, Phyag rgya bzhi’i man ngag, 605, 4–6.
26
The chief mountain hermit is a reference to Maitr¥pa’s guru, Śavaripa.
27
The absence of a discussion of the four seals by Nåropa seems to be choice
made by Shamar Chökyi Drakpa. According to Lhalungpa (1993) Naropa
discusses them in his commentary on the Hevajra-tantra: “They are the
female consort, the inner consort of manifest awareness, the great seal, and
the spiritual commitment. Each of them is necessary: first as a condition for
perceiving the lucid awareness [of one's stream-being], second as
contemplation, third as inner realization, and fourth as consolidating it
without impairment.”
204 The Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 16, 2015

“joy,” and sometimes used as an adjective with “wisdom” (ye shes)

or as a stand-alone noun—figures at the fourth and final position
among the four joys.28 It stands for the ultimate fruit of the tantric
path. In Maitr¥pa's system, however, coemergent joy appears only
at the penultimate position, as does the great seal, to which it is
related. Shamar Chökyi Drakpa harmonizes this divergence by
giving a broad view of the goal of the tantric Buddhist path. For
both masters the highest realization is a dimension of “non-dually
interfused bliss and emptiness” (bde stong zung ’jug) (NM 849, 4),
or “the body of great bliss” (bde ba chen po’i sku) (NM 849, 9). This
body produces then the pledge seal, which Nåropa sees as an
aspect of meditative absorption (ting nge ’dzin gyi yan lag), and
Maitr¥pa as the two form bodies that result from the great seal
(phyag rgya chen po’i ’bras bu sku gnyis). (NM 849, 12 ff).
In the next section, I will discuss possible interpretations of
these two different systems, especially in regard to an
understanding of their underlying soteriology.

2. Discussion of Tantric Soteriology

The following reflections on the soteriological meaning of
these two models, even though based on Shamar Chökyi Drakpa’s
text, are not a translation of his words. They are my own attempts
to make sense of his presentations, and therefore must be taken
with caution. I am aware of Harunaga Isaacson’s warning about the
impossibility of making general remarks about tantric Buddhism:
“It is evident that Indian tantric Buddhists even at any one
particular point in history did not agree with each other on all
matters, and that in the course of time many changes and
developments took place in tantric Buddhist ideas and practice.”29
The present case of Nåropa and Maitr¥pa's approach to the joys and
seals exemplifies this statement very well.
My first observation pertains to the different descriptions of
the spiritual goal of the tantric path. It is probably safe to say that

28
On the meaning of sahaja, i.e., the coemergent, see Kvaerne 1975; and
Davidson 2001.
29
Isaacson (1979: 10ff.) discusses the difficulty of ascertaining the meaning of
the fourth empowerment/ consecration due to lack of sufficient source
material.
 The Four Joys in the Teaching of Nåropa and Maitr¥pa 205

in any soteriological system, the last stage must be reserved for

what is considered the ultimate result of the spiritual path. For
Nåropa, this goal is attained with the actualization of the
coemergent [joy], or the great seal; for Maitr¥pa, the tantric
practitioner has to go further and actualize the two form-bodies of
the pledge seal. Borrowing from the teachings contained in the
Adamantine Songs of Saraha, the pledge seal has two levels of
meaning, the first one being the altruistic mind of bodhicitta, the
second, a pledge to uphold the vajra pride of one's meditation
deity, which refers to a complete immersion in the reality of the
deity's maˆ∂ala, “instead of one's own egocentered identity”
(Braitstein 2014: 81). I do not mean to claim that for Nåropa, the
altruistic mind of bodhicitta was unimportant. Maitr¥pa's and
Saraha's inclusion of bodhicitta as the final stage in a fourfold
model seems, however, to demonstrate these masters' opinion that
without altruistic activity, the spiritual path cannot be considered
complete.
Secondly, I would like to add a reflection on the role of
empowerment that we can deduce from the two models. As
mentioned previously, the presentation of Maitr¥pa's position is
silent on the four empowerments. That is not surprising, since
Maitr¥pa is renowned for his teaching on amanasikåra (yid la mi
byed pa), which stands for a direct, non-analytical approach to the
empty and luminous nature of reality. According to this approach,
tantric empowerments can be dispensed with on the spiritual path
to the great seal, but the guru's guidance on the spiritual path is
crucial for success. It is interesting, however, that Nåropa also had
reservations in regard to the empowerments. Large parts of the
debates in Shamarpa's text that, due to restrictions in space and
scope, I could not discuss in this article, deal with the question of
what exactly can be the expected result of empowerments. For
Nåropa it is evident that empowerments were not liberating in
themselves, but only reflections, or shadows, of the genuine
realization of meditation practice. Even though Nåropa discusses
empowerments that involve the practice with a female consort,
these kinds of rituals are referred to as forceful empowerments; the
ensuing realizations cannot be understood as final. An exception is
the fourth empowerment: Nåropa attributes to the guru the power
to evoke a realization that utterly transcends the conventional
realm. This could be an indication that Nåropa considered the guru,
more than any tantric ritual, to be the decisive factor in bringing
206 The Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 16, 2015

about the student's spiritual maturation. Here, then, we could see a

strong resemblance between Nåropa's and Maitr¥pa's view of the
crucial role of a guru.

3. Reflection on Hermeneutics
In the last section of my article I would like to add briefly a
few observations on some of the hermeneutical tools that Shamar
Chökyi Drakpa uses. With these observations, I hope to elucidate
to a certain degree how the author develops his particular exegesis
of coemergent joy in order to harmonize Nåropa's and Maitr¥pa's
viewpoint with that of the rest of tantric literature. As previously
mentioned, the author is less concerned to discuss the agreement
between Nåropa and Maitr¥pa. Instead, a large part of his text, but
particularly the third chapter, called “Demonstration That There is
No contradiction in Meaning” (NM 842, 13), is dedicated to showing
evidence that Nåropa's and Maitr¥pa's positions are in harmony
with authoritative tantric literature. This point seems to be more
urgent and important to prove than the harmony between the two
masters. I identify two steps that Shamar Chökyi Drakpa employs
in his hermeneutical argument. First, he deconstructs to a certain
degree the authority of scripture by demonstrating the relativism of
its language. Second, he establishes the ontological authority of his
own position by using the model of the two truths.
As the first step of his argument, Shamar Chökyi Drakpa
points out that in Indian tantric literature, there was no fixed
nomenclature regarding the four joys and the four seals. With
several quotations from the Hevajra Tantra and related
commentaries, he demonstrates that at times, supreme joy or
absence-of-joy are used interchangeably with coemergent joy, and
that the latter can stand for a description of the great seal. He
quotes, for instance, the Hevajra Tantra verse to the effect that
“supreme joy is without meditation and without meditator” (NM
843, 16), and explains that these instructions are given at the
moment of the fourth empowerment and refer to coemergent joy,
instead of supreme joy, which is generally listed as the second of
the four joys. He states, furthermore, that “the coemergent is called
absence-of-joy in the expositions of Indian and Tibetan
commentaries far and wide” (NM 843, 18), indicating that these two
terms also can be synonyms. Citing from chapter six of the
 The Four Joys in the Teaching of Nåropa and Maitr¥pa 207

Commentary on Difficult Points of the Hevajra Commentary, he

also gives evidence that the great seal and coemergent [joy or
wisdom] were used occasionally as synonyms, in that both refer to
“the attainment of bliss from the vajra not ejecting in the lotus”
(NM 843, 12). With these examples, Shamar Chökyi Drakpa argues
that terminology alone is not sufficient to determine the intention
and philosophical standpoint of a master, but that the actual
meaning of the words employed has to be examined.
Secondly, the author employs a hermeneutical tool not
unknown in Buddhist philosophy—that of explaining reality in
terms of the two truths: conventional and ultimate truth. This
concept, first fully expressed by Någårjuna in chapter 24 of his
Root Verses of the Middle Way (MËlamadhyamakakårikå),
acknowledges the fact that individuals’ perceptions of the world
vary according to their karmic propensities. Conventional truth
refers to the reality that is perceived via the sense organs and
conceptually distorted by the deluded mind. Ultimate truth
generally refers to ßËnyatå, emptiness, the absence of own-being
(svabhåva) and of duality. It can only be apprehended by a mind
devoid of obscurations.
Shamar Chökyi Drakpa applies this concept of two truths to
the term coemergent joy, which is, as we have seen, a crucial and
bridging term in the systems of Nåropa and Maitr¥pa. He argues
that coemergent joy exists in two aspects, namely on the level of
conventional truth and the level of ultimate truth. As conventional
truth, coemergent joy is the blissful experience of sexual union to
which an initiand is introduced with the third empowerment. On
the level of ultimate truth, he refers to it as the coemergent, i.e. as a
state of realization or wisdom, rather than coemergent joy, and he
defines it with a long list of negations, reminiscent of the Heart
SËtra: “not an entity, not a non-entity, unborn, unceasing, not
secret, not wisdom, not arisen from wisdom, not saµsåra, not
nirvåˆa” (NM 845, 17 ff), and so on. According to Shamarpa, Nåropa
intended to talk about the conventional coemergent when he
explained: “accomplish bliss within the jewel,” but referred to the
ultimate aspect when he wrote in praise of the embodiment of the
supra-mundane coemergent in the form of a goddess:
Starting at the forehead, ending at the vajra jewel,
totally filled with the joys,
the one that is born once filling has been fulfilled—
208 The Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 16, 2015

to that goddess I pay homage. (NM 844, 4–7)

Even though this quote does not give any direct indication,
the author ascertains that the goddess stands for the ultimate
coemergent, a state that is (a) freed from all cognitive and
emotional obscuration, (b) for the moment called “free from
characteristics,” and (c) the great seal itself (NM 844, 8–9). With this
hermeneutic tool, the author broadens the meaning of
“coemergent” to such a degree that it can encompass both Nåropa’s
and Maitr¥pa’s interpretations of the final goal of the tantric path,
as well as all the various meanings expressed in tantric literature.

4. Conclusion
The focus of this article has been the role of the four joys in
the teachings of the Indian tantric masters Nåropa and Maitr¥pa, as
presented by the Kagyü master Shamar Chökyi Drakpa in his
treatise, Harmonizing the Statements on Empowerment by the
Accomplished Masters Nåropa and Maitr¥pa. Both Indian masters
employ the tantric terminology of the sets of four—four
empowerments, four seals, four joys and four moments—albeit
with different emphases. In Shamar Chökyi Drakpa’s presentation,
the four joys stand out as a bridging concept between the two
masters’ systems. I focused on them here because of their capacity
to connect the two models; I do not mean to say that they stand out
as an independent concept. In fact, the four joys cannot be
discussed without addressing the tantric path as a whole. In Shamar
Chökyi Drakpa’s treatise, Nåropa is said to approach the four joys
as results of empowerments, Ma¥tripa as experiences of the four
seals. The two masters’ expositions thus converge on the topic of
the four joys, in that these are stages of subtle blissful experience
that are produced by the sexual practice related, chiefly, to the
wisdom-awareness empowerment and to the action- and doctrine
seals. The two masters further agree on identifying mahåmudrå, the
great seal, and the related coemergent joy (in its ultimate aspect) as
the highest realization on the tantric path, designating it as an
understanding of emptiness that is beyond duality and
conceptuality. It also transcends the joys of sexual union that still
contain elements of worldliness and duality.
Maitr¥pa’s exposition differs from Nåropa’s in that it adds a
fourth seal, the pledge seal, after the great seal. This difference is
 The Four Joys in the Teaching of Nåropa and Maitr¥pa 209

not as important for the discussion of the four joys as for an

understanding of tantric soteriology as a whole. Shamar Chökyi
Drakpa explains the pledge seal as the two form-bodies that
manifest out of the realization of mahåmudrå. This addition
indicates, in my own interpretation, the great importance that
Maitr¥pa attributes to altruistic activity as part of the tantric
Buddhist path. Shamar Chökyi Drakpa’s text is a complex treatise
that addresses a much wider range of subtle points of the tantric
path than I was able to discuss. For the purpose of this article, apart
from the topic of the four joys and related concepts, I was most
interested in the author's use of hermeneutics to explain the
fundamental harmony in systems that outwardly do not agree. In
regard to the exegesis of coemergent joy, I identified two
hermeneutic tools: first, a relativism of language, and secondly, the
hermeneutic device of the two truths. By means of these two, the
author manages to weaken somewhat the authority of scripture,
thereby allowing him to choose and determine the importance of
certain passages on coemergent joy as ultimate truth, at the same
time relocating other explanations to the conventional level. Thus,
seemingly contradictory passages can be attributed to two different
levels of truth.
 30

210
It is, of course, reversed for ascending order. Appendix : Schematic Diagram of Nåropa’s System
Empower Results Joys Moments Cakras Position

The Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 16, 2015

abhiΣeka ånanda kΣa˜a cakra khor lo of cakra
Dbang dga’ ba skad cig ma (The corresponding
energy center, in
descending order30)

1 Master Mundane joy variety great bliss cakra crown

ånanda vicitra mahåsukha cakra
dga’ ba rnam par sna du bde chen gyi
tshogs ’khor lo
2 Secret mundane supreme joy maturation enjoyment cakra
throat
paramånanda vipåka sambhoga cakra
mchog dga’ rnam smin longs spyod kyi
’khor lo
3 Wisdom mundane special joy consummation dharma cakra
heart
viramånanda vimarda dharmacakra
khyad dga’ rnam nyed chos kyi ’khor lo
4 Fourth supra-mundane, coemergent joy absence of emanation cakra
navel
mahåmudrå sahajånanda characteristics nirmåˆacakra
lhan cig skyes vilakΣaˆa sprul pa'i ’khor lo
dga’ mtshan nyid
dang bral ba
 Schematic Diagram of Maitr¥pa’s System
Seals mudrå phyag rgya Joys ånanda dga’ ba Moments kΣa˜a skad cig ma

The Four Joys in the Teaching of Nåropa and Maitr¥pa

1 action seal fabricated four joys, corresponding [1] variety vicitra rnam par sna
karmamudrå to the cause, “mirror tshogs
las kyi phyag rgya reflections”: [2] maturation vipåka rnam smin
[1] joy ånanda dga’ ba [3] absence of characteristics
[2] supreme joy paramånanda vilakΣa˜a mtshan nyid dang
mchog dga’ bral ba
[3] coemergent joy sahajånanda [4] consummation vimarda
lhan cig skyes dga’ rnam nyed
[4] absence-of-joy viramånanda
dga’ bral
2 doctrine seal genuine four joys, cause for the four moments as above
dharmamudrå ensuing great seal: four joys
chos kyi phyag rgya as above
3 great seal no direct relationship to the four
mahåmudrå joys or the four moments
phyag rgya chen po
4 commitment seal four joys as the compassionate
samayamudrå, expression of the divinities’

211
dam tshig gyi phyag rgya circle
212 The Indian International Journal of Buddhist Studies 16, 2015

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