Takdrol Tantra Commentary

Commentary on the Essence of Liberation Through Wearing

from the Khandro Nyingtik

Homage to the vast expanse of Samantabhadra, the confident realization of self-awareness.

There are three parts to the Tantra of the Essence of Liberation Through Wearing, the Consummate Fruition: (1) the meaning of the introduction, (2) the meaning of the main part, and (3) the meaning of the conclusion.

1. Introduction

This has three parts: (1) the correspondence between languages, (2) the meaning of the title, and (3) the homage.

1. Correspondence

It is by translating the title from the language of Oḍḍiyāna, in which it is Praddhakānīra, that we get the name of the tantra in Tibetan: btags grol (Liberation through Wearing).

2. Title

The title indicates that it is by investigating[1] the fundamental nature of one’s own mind and realizing this unerringly that one finds liberation. Alternatively, it shows that one may be liberated by writing copies of this tantra and simply keeping them about the body.

3. Homage

The text says, "The clear and empty tila without centre or periphery." This refers to the all-pervasive single and all-embracing awareness, which is Samantabhadra and consort. The text says: "Homage to the self-arisen dhātu." This means that since the single, all-embracing awareness has always been spontaneously present throughout the whole of the self-arisen dhātu, or basic space, we pay homage to it.

2. Main Part

This has four parts: (1) which teacher taught, (2) in which place, (3) to which retinue, and (4) what was taught as the actual message of the tantra.

1. Teacher

The text says, "The teachers, Samantabhadra and Samantabhadrī…" This means the teacher is the dharmakāya, which resists any form of reification.

2. Place

These teachers taught the self-originated, self-arisen tantra from the heart of the radiant dharmadhātu expanse.

3. Retinue

They taught this all-pervasively to the retinue of awareness.

4. Message

The text says, "Truly, the root of existence is self-grasping…" This means that the minds of all beings are in essence empty, lacking concrete reality. This subtle clarity, which is empty by nature and manifests in a variety of ways, is not recognised as emptiness and clarity. There is thus a subtle form of self-grasping, through which eighty-four thousand types of affliction proliferate within one’s mind. This functions as the root of conditioned existence, based on which we wander through the three realms and six classes of beings.

The text says, "Thoroughly examined outside and inside—primordially empty and free." This means that however much we might examine the subtle self-grasping that is the root of the afflictions to determine its place of origin—whether in the external environment or among its inhabitants, inside or outside the body, in the head or the tail, and so on—or its destination, or where it resides in the meantime, we find that it does not arise from anywhere, does not go anywhere, and does not reside anywhere. Since it is not in any way detectable, even when we look into the awareness that is looking and investigating, we find that it lacks even so much as a scintilla of true reality. By remaining in this natural emptiness, self-grasping is freed there and then.

It is certain that when self-grasping is thus liberated right away, all that develops from the root of self-grasping, such as the eighty-four thousand types of affliction, is automatically liberated too, just as foliage also falls when a tree is cut down at its roots. The Union of the Sun and Moon says:

For whoever realises that apparent objects
Lack true reality,
Appearance and emptiness are non-dual.
Sixfold perception is free and unconstrained.

The Luminous Expanse says:

As variety is the expressive play of rigpa,
It is liberated within the emptiness of rigpa,
In a manner akin to subjects and sovereign.

The text says, "Clear and empty, the doors to fivefold luminescence are open." This means that the nature of that emptiness that is the essence of awareness is fivefold primordial wisdom, radiantly clear. Within the hollow of the body made of the four elements that derive from unknowing, this wisdom resides in the immeasurable palace of the precious heart (citta). The Pearl Necklace says, "Located at the heart, in the centre of the citta, is the empty essence, clear nature and unceasing responsiveness."

Self-Arisen Awareness says:

Primordial wisdom, utterly pure in essence,
Has three elements: essence, nature and responsiveness.

The Array of Studded Jewels says:

The essence of the dharmatā itself
Is the threefold fundamental nature.

The door is within the channel that is like a white silk thread rising from the heart. The Pearl Necklace says, "The course is the four channels through which energy moves." The actual door appears from the visual faculties.[2] The same text says, "The doors of arising are the eyes and so on."

The text says, "Tila, clear and empty, free from any limitations." This refers to the light spheres (tiklé), clear and empty, beyond the extremes of permanence and nihility, which are directly visible to the sensory faculty. Self-Arisen Awareness says, "Beyond the two extremes of permanence and nihility." Self-Liberated Awareness says, "It is naturally cleansed of the stains of the two extremes."

The text says, "Without condition, rest freely and effortlessly." This means that the transparently lucid primordial wisdom which is directly perceptible to the senses is free from the conditionality of objects. It also means that in an elevated location, one should let go of physical, vocal or mental activity and settle comfortably and relaxedly, at ease and uninhibited—and that one should not part from such a state. The Luminous Expanse says: "Abide continuously in the essence itself."

3. Conclusion

This has three parts: (1) demonstrating how this tantra brings liberation through being worn and kept, (2) the number of verses, and (3) the seals.

1. Liberation

The text says, "The three—essence, nature and compassion—are awakened as liberation through wearing." This means that through the examination based on the method involving these three set out earlier there is awakening into self-liberation, in which the essence is awakened as kāyas, the nature is awakened as light, and responsiveness is awakened as radiance. As the Word-Transcending says:

Since it essentially free, effort and exertion fade away.
Since it is originally free, there is no need for repetition.
Since it is spontaneously free, there is no remedy.
Since it is directly free, it has vanished at the point of sight.
Since it entirely free, it is pure in its own place.
Since it is free from temporality, there is no need to meditate.
Since it is naturally free, it involves no artificiality.
"Freedom" here is merely a convention.
Who could be affected by realization or its absence?
To whom might "freedom" apply?
How could there be involvement in the three realms?
Dharmatā is free from the confines of the conditioned.

The text says, "This quintessential tantra in seven lines, when investigated and held, empties saṃsāra."[3] This means that investigating and understanding the meaning of this seven-line tantra, or writing it and wearing it, will bring about liberation. The Luminous Expanse says, "Buddhahood is accomplished through seeing, hearing or retention."

2. Number

Text says, "This concludes the Seven-Line Tantra of the Essence of Liberation Through Wearing, which spontaneously arose from the expanse of Samantabhadra and Samantabhadrī." That is to say, this tantra arose spontaneously from the dharmakāya expanse, and the essence of everything is contained within the tantra’s seven lines. The Word-Transcending says, "The essence of all is contained within this."

3. Seals

The text says, "It bears the seal of enlightened body, the seal of enlightenment speech, and the seal of enlightened mind." This signifies secrecy from unsuitable vessels. The Luminous Expanse says:

Transmitting instructions to unworthy vessels
Brings about a fall into Vajra Hell.

May this commentary on the Essence of Liberation Through Wearing, the Consummate Fruition, in which the essence of its meaning is clarified, meet with the destined one.

Samaya. Gya. Gya. Gya. Ithi.

| Translated by Adam Pearcey with the generous support of the Tsadra Foundation, 2025.

Bibliography

Tibetan Edition

"btags grol snying po’i ti ka" In snying thig ya bzhi. 13 vols. Delhi: Sherab Gyaltsen Lama, 1975. Vol. 10: 25–32 (4 folios)

Version: 1.0-20250328