Damtsig

Damtsig (dam tshig, samaya in Sanskrit): oath-bound promise, words of honor, sacred vow, indestructible pledge , obligations of Vajrayana. The word "dam" means: brave, loyal, excellent, real, solid, dependable. The word "tshig" means inflection, words, phrase, statement.

Since confusion about the nature of the Vajrayana and the role of the vajra master has been cultivated in certain quarters, these non-partisan pages exist to provide clarification from authentic sources. Damtsig provides space for all schools and lineages of Vajrayana to present a clear understanding of these subjects, each according to their tradition. Damtsig seeks to address the particular misinformation which exists and to allow those who maintain the sacred honor of their Vajrayana vows to speak out in unequivocal terms.

Throughout history, comprehension of Dharma, like all other streams of orally transmitted knowledge, has occasionally fallen into distortion. The current situation is no different. The term Buddhism, as it has come to be used, particularly in connection with the phrase or movement, "Western Buddhism," is often no longer an accurate or appropriate translation of the Sanskrit word Dharma, or of its Tibetan equivalent, Chö. It is natural for words to acquire new meanings and for traditional meanings to fade over time. Perhaps the current trend is inevitable. Nevertheless, there are elements of Dharma which are not subject to re-definition. Comprehension of the Vajrayana (i.e. the non-Sutric Buddhist vehicles) is impossible without understanding its underlying principles.

Although Sutrayana Buddhism bears some resemblance to the isms with which we in the West are familiar, the vehicles of Vajrayana are of a specifically different character. These in no way represent a body of factual information whose authenticity can be established through intellectual perusal of historical documents. Their interpretation is not subject to academic or philosophical methods which may be in vogue. However, even if we do approach them through a systematic examination of source material, we will nevertheless discover that these systems rely unequivocally on the transmission of lived experience from master to disciple.

In the tantric tradition, the sense of the guru plays an extremely important part. The reason why the guru plays an important part is that you are desperate. And when you commit yourself into a more involved situation like tantric discipline, the guru's word is regarded as absolute supertruth, not just ordinary old truth, but vajra truth, truth with power behind it. If you reject such a truth, you can get hurt, you can be destroyed. So you commit yourself to the guru in a threefold way. The form of the guru is regarded as a self-existing manifestation of the truth in the search for the basic sanity of vajrayana. The speech of the guru is regarded as a mantra, a proclamation; anything from him on the sound or intellectual level is absolutely accurate. If you doubt that, you can get hurt, destroyed, your intuition can get cut down. And the mind of the guru is cosmic mind. If you doubt his mind, again you can get hurt, because you could end up suffering from insanity, a fundamental freak-out of ego.

Chögyam Trungpa, The Lion's Roar, p. 180.

Any interpretation of the teachings of Vajrayana that attempts to obscure or deny this central principle is incoherent on those grounds. Although common secular speech and literature are not necessarily bound by this requirement, language purporting to be teaching or lineally-sanctioned explanation must not seek to undermine the basis of its own authority. Such a radical misinterpretation of the teachings is neither modern nor misunderstood; there have always been those who disregarded the authentic basis of Vajrayana, and this case is specifically addressed by the teachings. Therefore, such a distortion should not be treated as profound, and those who endorse it should not be viewed as reliable.

Having heard the vajrayana teachings, instead of becoming awakened, you become deaf and dumb to the teachings. The medicine turns into poison. And there's nothing one can do for such a person. The only thing is to imprison them in a vajra den, which is vajra hell. It's like you have a prison cell made out of books about the vajrayana all around you. They imprison you.

Chögyam Trungpa, The Lion's Roar, p. 68.

Science is held to the scientific method. Mathematics is bound by its fundamental axioms. Art is judged according to aesthetic criteria and traditional formulas. Philosophy is evaluated by its linguistic and conceptual coherence. Like all other areas of knowledge, religion is defined by certain core tenets. Upon this foundation, a continually shifting collection of living traditions arises and disintegrates. Damtsig has no desire to promote sectarianism in any form, or to make comment on the authenticity or personal approach of individuals. The purpose of Damtsig is to establish a forum in which voices from all corners may be heard, so that no misunderstanding as to the fundamental nature of Vajrayana may persist. Our concern is solely to communicate, in applicable terms, those elements that are the sine qua non of Vajrayana.