Harding, Sarah - Machik's complete explanation_clarifying the meaning of chod

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Machik’s Complete Explanation

8 From RH, fols. 421-22. This passage was first translated by Harding in 1988. The whole text has been translated into German by Kollmar-Paulenz (1993). 9 shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa, (Skt. prajñ›p›ramit›). I have conformed with the translation of the title of these texts—made popular by Edward Conze in his many studies—as Perfection of Wisdom. However, in other places I have used “transcendent knowledge” or sometimes “intelligence” to translate shes rab when it is not part of a title. Also, most translators agree that “perfection” is not adequate for pha rol tu phyin pa, literally, “to arrive at the other side,” but I haven’t found a good alternative. 10 Conze 1967, 124 and 1973, xi. 11 Conze 1967, 125. 12 Ibid., 125. 13 Translated by Conze 1973, 172-73. 14 For something of a counterargument to this view that prajñ› alone engenders enlightenment, see Cabezón (1992a). Here you will find the delightfully welcome statement: “much more dangerous than Greeks bearing gifts is the patriarchy bearing female symbols” (189). 15 Kongtrul 1996, 47. 16 Conze 1967, 243-68, including an inventory of images. Also in Conze 1960, 2223. 17 Conze 1967, 125. 18 Simmer-Brown 2001, 84. 19 From Dgongs gter sgrol ma’i zab tig las: man dal cho ga tshogs gnyis snying po, fol. 3, from a blockprint printed in Dvags he mi rgod tshang sgrub sde. 20 Simmer-Brown 2001, 51. 21 Harding 1990, 271. 22 Klein 1985, 124-25. 23 Edou 1996, 3. 24 See Williams 1989, 20-33: “reference to worshipping the sÒtras themselves, an extremely reverential attitude to the Mah›y›na sÒtras, indicates that early Mah›y›na was centered on a number of book cults, groups of followers who studied and worshipped particular sÒtras. In the sÒtras themselves worshipping the text is specifically contrasted with the stÒpa cult, to the detriment of the latter” (22).


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