The Oral Instructions of Ras-chung-pa: Ras-chung-pa'i Zhal-gdams རས་ཆུང་པའི་ཞ&
The Oral Instructions of Ras-chung-pa is a profound Tibetan Buddhist treatise preserving the essential teachings of Ras-chung-pa Dorje Drakpa (1084-1161), one of the closest and most authoritative disciples of the great yogi Milarepa. As a principal holder of the Mahāmudrā and Six Yogas of Nāropa lineages, Ras-chung-pa transmitted instructions that emphasize direct meditative realization and experiential certainty rather than philosophical abstraction. This text stands as a rare and invaluable articulation of those instructions, carefully preserved in a scholastic form without losing their living, contemplative force.
Structured as a systematic exegetical work, the text explores the nature of Ultimate Truth (paramārtha-satya) by harmonizing multiple doctrinal presentations found throughout the Buddhist Sūtras. Rather than treating these teachings as contradictory, the work demonstrates that diverse expressions-such as non-intrinsic nature, thorough purity, luminous clarity, non-separateness, and spontaneous accomplishment (lhun-gyis grub-pa)-all point to a single, indivisible reality. Through this approach, the text safeguards practitioners from fragmenting the ultimate into separate negating and affirming truths.
Although rooted in oral transmission, the work is presented in a refined prakarana-style format, organized into chapters that employ a question-and-answer method. Scriptural citations are introduced to represent the Buddha's intention, followed by concise syntheses that establish their definitive meaning. This methodical structure allows the text to clarify subtle doctrinal distinctions while maintaining its primary focus on realization. The treatise belongs firmly to the Kagy tradition and reflects its characteristic integration of emptiness and luminosity as inseparable aspects of awakened awareness.
The central doctrinal exposition unfolds most clearly in the chapters devoted to complete purity, dedication, and spontaneous accomplishment. These sections demonstrate that realization through emptiness and realization through luminous clarity are not two different ultimate attainments, but one unified truth experienced without conceptual fabrication. The text repeatedly affirms that the Kāya does not waver from the Dharmadhātu, emphasizing the indestructible and non-dual nature of realized reality.
Preserved in formal Uchen (dbu-can) script and referenced through a series of folio plates, the text reflects careful historical transmission and textual integrity. Its enduring significance lies in its clear defense of non-duality, preventing the reification of emptiness as mere absence and revealing ultimate reality as the inseparable unity of emptiness and luminous clarity. The Oral Instructions of Ras-chung-pa thus stands as a foundational work for understanding the highest view of Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna Buddhism, offering both scholars and practitioners a direct window into the heart of the Kagy realization tradition.
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