The Chapter on the Theory of the Elements (’byung

ba’i gnas) in Klong chen pa’s Treasury of the Supreme

Vehicle (Theg mchog mdzod)

Devin Zuckerman1

(University of Virginia)

T
his paper explores an account of the theory of the primary
elements (’byung ba) particular to the Great Perfection Heart
Essence (Rdzogs chen snying thig) tradition of the 14th
century, as presented within the Theg mchog mdzod (Treasury of the
Supreme Vehicle) by Klong chen pa (1308–1364). The longest text in
Klong chen pa’s Mdzod bdun (Seven Treasuries) collection, the Theg
mchog mdzod covers an extraordinary range of topics within the Great
Perfection Heart Essence universe of ideas. Functionally an
interpretive commentary on the Man ngag sde’i rgyud bcu bdun
(Seventeen Tantras of the Instruction Series), Klong chen pa’s text
systematically reorganizes and recasts these earlier texts. While many
14th century texts discuss the elements, most often within the context
of cosmology or human anatomy, the Theg mchog mdzod is distinctive
in its concentration of elemental ideas within a single chapter. This
essay offers translation and analysis of key aspects of the chapter – its
theoretical and philosophical content regarding elemental theory, as
well as its structural role within the project of the Theg mchog mdzod. It
also interrogates the role of elemental theory in this text, exploring the
ways that Klong chen pa’s interpretation of the elemental theories of
the Seventeen Tantras materials differs from the presentation of
elemental theory within the 12th century commentaries to those texts
attributed to Vimalamitra, raising questions about the implications of
those patterns of dissonance.

1
Many thanks are due to the organizers of the International Seminar of Young
Tibetologists in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2022, where an early version of this
article was presented. Thanks also to David Germano, David Higgins, Mingyur
Dorje, James MacNee, Erin Burke, Nyima Cape, Andrew Taylor, Miguel Sawaya,
and Naomi Worth, who read parts of the Theg mchog mdzod with me at various
points in time, and to those who contributed invaluable conversation and thought
about these materials including Pema Sherpa, Dondup Palden, Tulku Sangye,
Adam Liddle, and Nicholas Schmidt.
Zuckerman, Devin, “The Chapter on the Theory of the Elements (’byung ba’i gnas) in Klong chen
pa’s Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle (Theg mchog mdzod)”, Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines, no. 75, March
2025, pp. 233–254.
234
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines

1. Introduction

The theorization of matter in terms of the primary elements of earth,

water, fire, wind, and space is among the most enduring philosophical
and cosmological schemes in Buddhist history. Yet there has been little
discussion in contemporary Buddhist studies of the variety of
elemental theories belonging to diverse Buddhist traditions. This may
be a result of the prevailing belief that elemental discourses are mainly
the purview of the Buddhist materialist philosophies associated with
the Abhidharma traditions. A counter example to this assumption,
however, is found among the literatures of the Rdzogs chen snying thig
(“Great Perfection Heart Essence”) tradition, which has a rich history
of thematizing elemental ideas in its own distinctive philosophical
idiom, with the nature of elemental discourse evolving meaningfully
within the tradition over time.
Rdzogs chen snying thig is an esoteric transmission consisting of
proprietary philosophies, doctrines, and contemplative practices
associated with the Man ngag sde, or Instruction Series of Rdzogs chen
literature in the Rnying ma school of Tibetan Buddhism. Klong chen
rab ‘byams dri med ‘od zer, or Klong chen pa (1308–1364), is perhaps
the most widely recognized scholar of this tradition in its long history.
The fifteenth chapter of Klong chen pa’s Theg mchog mdzod (Treasury of
the Supreme Vehicle) is a particularly noteworthy example of Buddhist
philosophical engagement with elemental theories: While it is
common for texts of all Buddhist denominations authored during
Tibet’s 14th century “classical era” to discuss the elements to some
extent, most often within the context of cosmology, human anatomy,
embryology, or funerary practices, the Theg mchog mdzod is unusual in
that it contains a chapter that is entirely dedicated to the philosophy of
the elements. Though this is not the only place in the text where the
elements are discussed, the presence of a chapter devoted to the
elements indicates that, for Klong chen pa, elemental ideas were
simultaneously prevalent enough within the broader Rdzogs chen
snying thig universe of ideas to require their own space of analysis,
and homogenous enough that they could be sequestered from their
embedded role in other kinds of knowledge systems, for instance in
embryology, and still remain a coherent philosophy.
This article offers an account of this chapter, including a summary
and analysis of its theoretical and philosophical content regarding
elemental theories. In particular, the essay brings attention to the ways
that Klong chen pa interprets elemental ideas inherited from earlier
Rdzogs chen snying thig literature, namely, the text collection known
 235
The Chapter on the Theory of the Elements

as the Man ngag sde’i rgyud bcu bdun, the Seventeen Tantras of the
Instruction Series, colloquially known as Rdzogs chen rgyud bcu bdun
(Seventeen Great Perfection Tantras) or simply the Rgyud bcu bdun
(Seventeen Tantras). The chapter on the elements draws most frequently
from three texts in this collection: the Rig pa rang shar (the Naturally
Arisen Awareness Tantra), the Mu tig phreng ba (the Pearl Necklace
Tantra), and the Sgra thal ’gyur (the Unimpeded Sound Tantra). Focusing
on a set of prominent elemental motifs that emerge in Klong chen pa’s
writing, the essay examines how Klong chen pa integrates the
elemental ideas of these earlier works, blending distinctive Snying thig
concepts with classical Buddhist philosophies into a novel synthesis.
In this regard, the major questions underlying this essay concern
the drivers of change in elemental ideas over time, and how we might
account for patterns of dissonance expressed within a series of related
texts particular to a single contemplative-philosophical tradition. The
degree to which elemental ideas and their significance to the Rdzogs
chen snying thig tradition changed over the centuries is attested to in
the 18th century writings of ’Jigs med gling pa who, in the early pages
of his Ye shes bla ma, quotes a passage from the Sgra thal ’gyur
describing the critical role of the Sgra bzhi rnal ‘byor or “Yoga of the
Four Sounds [of the Elements]” to the wider Rdzogs chen snying thig
rubric for contemplative practice. He writes:

Even though this quotation indicates that one should do the

practice on the four sounds [of the elements], since these days
there are few who are established in this practice, it is acceptable
to omit it.2

This is to say, in effect, “no one does these practices anymore.” The
extent to which this statement speaks for the tradition broadly at this
time or previously is of course not entirely clear from this brief
quotation alone. But it does seem to point to an idea that’s represented
elsewhere in the literature, if only by absence. Namely, that at some
point in the centuries that elapsed between the era in which the Rgyud
bcu bdun were first popularized (11th century, tentatively), and the time
that ’Jigs med gling pa set out to write the Ye shes bla ma, practices of
meditation and of scholarship involving the elements which appear to
be so important to the early Rdzogs chen snying thig tradition,
evidenced by their prevalence in the Sgra thal ’gyur in particular,
ceased to be upheld in a significant way. Why that seems to be the case

2
ces sgra bzhi rnal ’byor du bya bar gsungs kyang / deng sang lag len la ’debs pa nyung bas
ma byas kyang rung ngo. Kun mkhyen ’Jigs med gling pa n.d.: 3. See also Kun
mkhyen ’Jigs med gling pa 2008: 20–21.
236
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines

is a driving question that underlies this essay, and the larger body of
research of which it is a small part. And while I do not expect to
provide definitive answers to that question here, a natural starting
place is with the work of Klong chen pa, whose Mdzod bdun have
become the authoritative sources on the Rgyud bcu bdun, exceeding in
popularity and common usage within Rnying ma monastic curricula
both the tantras themselves and their early commentaries attributed to
Vimalamitra, dated to the 12th century.3 This is, at any rate, the
rationale for such a study of the Theg mchog mdzod’s “Chapter on the
Theory of the Elements.”

2. The Theg mchog mdzod, or Treasury of the Supreme Vehicle

The Theg mchog mdzod, formally the Theg pa’i mchog rin po che’i mdzod,
is found among Klong chen pa’s seven-volume masterwork, the Mdzod
bdun, or Seven Treasuries, a massive interpretive and commentarial
project composed of seven individual works on various topics that,
together, seek to offer an exhaustive account of the Rdzogs chen
snying thig path. The Theg mchog mdzod is the largest single work in
the collection, with the A ’dzom edition of the text totaling 2,179 folia.
Organized into twenty-five overarching topics or chapters, it is a
systematic recasting and reinterpretation of earlier foundational
Rdzogs chen snying thig texts, namely, and with few exceptions, the
Rgyud bcu bdun.
There are numerous editions of the Theg mchog mdzod in circulation.
It is commonly found along with the other texts in the Mdzod bdun
collection in various editions of the Klong chen gsung ’bum, as well as
in free-standing editions of the Mdzod bdun.4 The translations and
analysis contained within this article are based upon versions of the
Theg mchog mdzod found within the A ’dzom, Sde dge, and Mang yul
Gung thang editions of the Mdzod bdun.5

3
These commentaries are found within the formulation of collected works known
as the Extensive Collection of the Spoken Transmission (Bka ma shin tu rgyas pa), in the
edition compiled by Khenpo Munsel (1916–1993). See: Vimalamitra 1999a.
4
Five editions of the Klong chen gsung ’bum are available in the Buddhist Digital
Resource Center’s library, a ten volume edition; a six volume dbu med edition; a
twenty-six volume “dpal brtseg” edition; a woodblock edition from Sde dge, and
a facsimile of this edition, which is said to have been edited by Rdzogs chen Mi
’gyur nam kha’i rdo rje (1793–1870). There are also seven independent editions of
the Klong chen mdzod bdun available.
5
My translations are based primarily upon a word-searchable copy of the A ‘dzom
edition of the Mdzod bdun that was created by Tsering Gyurme, and edited by
David Germano, Khenpo Ngawang Dorje, and Christopher Hatchel. I’ve also
consulted the Sde dge edition of the Mdzod bdun, and the Mang yul Gung thang
 237
The Chapter on the Theory of the Elements

As David Higgins has noted, the text is organized according to a

certain “architectural metaphor.”6 In the colophon to the text, Klong
chen pa describes the text as a “mchod rten,” a stūpa which “the author
has assembled and reverentially offered for the sake of preserving the
Snying thig teachings for posterity out of fear that they would
otherwise disappear.”7 Its twenty-five chapters are, accordingly,
described as “rim khang,” as stories or steps of the stupa, organized into
five overarching parts that are further broken down into five
subsidiary topics each.8
If we are to interpret Klong chen pa’s words in this way, clustering
the chapters into five topical sets of five, the chapter on the elements is
located at the conclusion of a section that deals with Rdzogs chen
snying thig characterizations of human experience, including the
creation of the physical body through karmic habituation, the creation
and use of the contemplative technologies of the subtle body including
the four wheels (’khor lo bzhi) and the four lamps (sgron ma bzhi), as well
as important Rdzogs chen-specific characterizations of Buddhist
categories such as mind (sems), primordial gnosis (ye shes), all-ground
(kun gzhi), and reality body (chos sku). Thus, the chapters break down
in the following order: the eleventh chapter deals with embryology
and the creation of the body (lus grub tshul).9 The twelfth chapter
describes the constitution of the energetic body in terms of the four
wheels.10 The thirteenth chapter describes the “four lamps which
depend upon primordial gnosis” (ye shes kyi rten sgron ma bzhi).11 And
the fourteenth chapter, the chapter on “distinctions,” describes the
distinctions between the “all ground and reality body” (kun gzhi dang

facsimile edition published with an introduction by Franz-Karl Erhard under the

title The Oldest Block Print of Klong-chen Rab ’byams-pa’s Theg Mchog Mdzod (2000).
Very few variations are noted between these three witnesses. There is, however,
meaningful variation between Klong chen pa’s quotations of the tantras and the
tantras themselves. This is largely due to the fact that the A ’dzom edition of the
tantras has been heavily edited. Where there are variations, I have included
references in the footnotes to those translations, emphasized in bold typeface. A
thorough account of the text-critical details of the Theg mchog mdzod relative to the
tantras is included in my forthcoming dissertation.
6
Higgins 2012: 296.
7
Gnas gzhan grub pa’i glang po gzims las de yi gzhung lugs mig zum la / gnas gzhan grub
pa’i gom tshugs ’khyor zhing zab mo’i gnad rnams ’thor dogs nas. Higgins 2012: 296 fn.
714; Klong chen pa 1999b: 593; 2000: 501a–501b; 1983 v. 4: 548:
8
Theg mchog mnyam pa’i sa gzhi la/ ’od gsal rdo rje snying po’i rtse / rim khang lnga phrag
lngas brgyan pa / zab cing rgya che’i bkod pas mdzes. Klong chen pa 1999b: 593; 2000:
501b; 1983 v. 4: 548.
9
As described by the summary of the previous chapter located at the beginning of
each chapter. Klong chen pa 1999b: 491.
10
See Ibid.: 491–554.
11
Ibid.: 555.
238
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines

chos sku), and “mind and primordial gnosis” (sems dang ye shes).12 The
cluster of topics that follows the chapter on the elements, chapters
sixteen through twenty, move into a discussion of distinctive Rdzogs
chen snying thig contemplative practices, culminating with the
nineteenth and twentieth chapters on breakthrough (khregs chod) and
direct transcendence (thod rgal) practices respectively, widely
considered to be the pinnacle contemplative practices of the Rdzogs
chen snying thig path.
Thus, according to Klong chen pa’s own description of the
organizational structure of the text, the chapter on the elements is
situated at the conclusion of a section on the body and embodied
technologies for contemplative practice and transformation, and a
section on the means of attaining that transformation. This is perhaps
an indication of the importance of elemental ideas specifically to
Rdzogs chen snying thig contemplative practices. To borrow another
common Buddhist informational paradigm, the chapter on the
elements forms a vital part of the “ground” relative to the “path”
described in chapters sixteen through twenty.

3. The Organization of the Chapter on the Elements

A comparatively short chapter, the chapter on the elements is a total

of 22 folio pages in the A ’dzom edition. The chapter is composed of
numerous quotations from multiple texts among the Rgyud bcu bdun
collection, with additional expository remarks by Klong chen pa of
varying degrees of detail. By far the most frequently quoted text in the
chapter is the Rig pa rang shar (The Naturally Arisen Awareness Tantra),
which is quoted sixteen times. After that, the Mu tig phreng ba (The Pearl
Necklace Tantra) is quoted a total of seven times, the Sgra thal ’gyur
(Unimpeded Sound Tantra) is quoted three times, and the Nor bu phra
bkod (Inlaid Jewels Tantra) is quoted once. In addition to these, the Thig
le kun gsal (Total Illumination of the Bindu) is quoted twice in the chapter,
and the Gsang ba spyod ba sa bon kyi rgyud (Seed of Secret Conduct Tantra)
is quoted once. The Thig le kun gsal is, like the Khros ma’i rgyud and the
Klong gsal bar ba’i rgyud, often closely associated with the Rgyud bcu
bdun collection. The Gsang ba spyod ba sa bon kyi rgyud is the core tantra
of the Gser yig division of the Bi ma snying thig (Heart Essence of
Vimalamitra). It is regularly quoted in Klong chen pa’s Mdzod bdun
collection.
The chapter consists of a detailed topical outline (sa bcad), the
primary division of which is between the “common” (thun mong gi dbye

12
Ibid.: 597.
 239
The Chapter on the Theory of the Elements

ba) and the “specific” (so so’i rang bzhin) characteristics of the elements.
Under the heading of the “common” are the qualities of the elements
that are common to, or shared among, all five elements. The “specific,”
by far the longer portion of the chapter, then deals with each of the
elements individually. Both topics are further divided by a distinction
between the “outer elements” (phyi’i ’byung) and the “inner elements”
(nang ’byung/nang gi ’byung). Generally speaking, the category of outer
elements refers to the material elements that comprise the structure of
the surrounding environment, while the category of inner elements
refers to the material elemental constituents of the human body. In
addition to its role as an organizing motif in elemental thought
broadly, this idea of outer and inner elements provides an important
occasion for material-philosophical discourse. I return to this matter
below.
Another notable informational paradigm within the sa bcad of the
chapter involves the analysis of the elements according to ten
distinctive analytical categories. These ten are a mix of intuitive and
somewhat opaque categories, including the elements’ “essence” (ngo
bo), “etymology” (nges tshig), “purpose” (dgos ched), “characteristics”
(mtshan nyid), “process” (las rim), “reality” (chos nyid), “metaphors”
(don sbyar), “the way in which they are free” (grol tshul), “distinctions”
(dbye ba), and “the way in which they are complete” (tshang tshul).
While nearly every chapter in the Theg mchog mdzod contains some
version of this list as part of its approach to discursive analysis of a
wide variety of topics, most commonly as a combination of the
categories of essence (ngo bo), etymology (nges tshig), and distinctions
(dbye ba), chapter fifteen’s list is unusually extensive and includes the
unique categories of “process” (las rim), “correlations” (don sbyar), “the
way in which they are free” (grol tshul), and “the way in which they
are complete” (tshang tshul)—analytical categories which are not found
elsewhere in the text.13 It appears to be the case that when these
unusual analytical categories are employed in the informational
paradigm, it’s because they are natural to discussions of the elements

13
In Chapter four we find a combination of ngo bo, nges tshig, dbye ba, dgos pa, ’bras bu.
Chapter five has ngo bo, nges tshig, dbye ba. Chapter six has ngo bo, nges tshig, dbye
ba. Chapter seven has ngo bo, nges tshig, dbye ba, rten, phan yon, nyes dmigs, bskang
thabs, bsrung thabs. Chapter twelve has ngo bo and nges tshig. Chapter thirteen has
ngo bo, nges tshig, dbye ba (and ngo bo, nges tshig, dbye ba, mtshan nyid, gnas, sgo, rang
bzhin, yul snang, tshad, sgron ma dngos, de nyams su len thabs, mthun dpe). Chapter
fourteen uses ngo bo, nges tshig, dbye ba. Chapter sixteen uses various combinations
of ngo bo, nges tshig, rang lus, mtshon dpe, rtags, snang ba, gnas, mtshan nyid, yul, and
dbye ba. Chapter seventeen has ngo bo, nges tshig, rang bzhin, chos nyid. Chapter
twenty-two uses a combination of ngo bo, nges tshig, dbye ba, mtshan nyid, ‘bras bu,
and ngo bo, rgyud, dbye ba, and ‘bras bu. Chapter twenty-three has ngo bo, nges tshig,
dbye ba. Chapter twenty-five has ngo bo, nges tshig, dbye ba.
240
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines

in the tantras, rather than second-order generic categories created by

Klong chen pa for the purpose of general exposition of diverse topics.
In almost every case, these sa bcad are populated by quotations from
the tantras with few to no expository comments from Klong chen pa
himself. In every case, the term, i.e. “process” (las rim), or “the way in
which they are free” (grol tshul), is in fact drawn from the quotation
under consideration. For instance, the “process” (las rim) of the
elements contains only the following quotation from the Sgra thal
‘gyur:

The process (las rim) of the inner elements is as follows:

Earth creates the foundation of the body
and, through generation, is asserted to ripen as flesh.

Water draws the entire body together

and, through generation, is asserted to ripen as blood.

Fire ripens the entire body

and, through generation, is asserted to ripen as heat.

Wind suspends the entire body

and, through generation, ripens as breath.14

“Process,” as such, refers to the process or stages of development of

the elemental body. Since the concept of “process” is not found
elsewhere in the Theg mchog mdzod as an organizational category, we
can conclude that it is being used as a term of art specific to elemental
ideas arising from the Sgra thal ’gyur. Similarly, the category of don
sbyar, translated here as “correlations,” has to do with the correlations
between the elements and their corresponding “meanings” or
“realities” (don) at the level of Rdzogs chen snying thig gnostic
metaphysics. In other words, the elements’ divine or “ultimate”
reality. This section includes two quotations from the tantras, the first
from the Rig pa rang shar, and the second from the Nor bu ’phra bkod.
The Rig pa rang shar quotation is as follows:

These are the correlations (don sbyar) of the elements: In the

sense that the essence of its nature never changes, the originally
pure Reality Body (chos sku) is the earth element. In the sense

14
nang ’byung las kyi rim pa ni / sas ni lus kyi gzhi byas te / bskyed pas sha yi smin sor ’dod
/ chos ni lus kun bsdud nas ni / bskyed pas khrag tu smin par ’dod / mes ni lus kun smin
byas te/ bskyed pas drod di smin par ’dod / rlung gis lus kun ’degs pa la / bskyed pas dbugs
su smin par byed. Klong chen pa 1999b: 7; 2000: 272a; 1983 v. 4: 108. This quotation
is found in the Sgra thal ‘gyur, see Anonymous 2000b: 45–46.
 241
The Chapter on the Theory of the Elements

that it engages the meaning, awareness-gnosis (rig pa’i ye shes)

is also the fire element. In the sense that it arrives in the expanse
unperturbed, awareness-gnosis is also the wind element. In the
sense that it draws together the three sheaths (sbubs gsum),
awareness-gnosis is also the water element. In the sense that it
dissolves into a state that is non-dual, empty, and clear, gnosis
is the element of space.15

The “correlations” of the elements thus involve the analogy of each of

the elements to a corresponding meaning within an “ultimate” or
divine dimension characterized in Rdzogs chen snying thig
contemplative metaphysics: the earth element to the reality body (chos
sku), and the remaining elements to properties of gnosis—specifically
fire, wind, and water to the intrinsic, self-conscious quality of
awareness-gnosis (rig pa’i ye shes), and space simply to gnosis (ye shes)
itself. These comparisons, the quotation concludes “are the don sbyar
of the elements.”16
The second quotation under the heading of “don sbyar” is from the
Nor bu ’phra bkod which uses the related phrases “dang sbyor,” and
“dang sbyar” meaning more literally to “connect with.” The implication
however appears to be the same, namely, that each of the elements is
“connected” metaphorically to an aspect of gnosis. The Nor bu ’phra
bkod quotation is as follows:

15
’byung ba’i don sbyar ’di lta ste / chos sku gdod nas dag pa’i rang bzhin la / ngo bo ’gyur
ba med pas ’byung ba sa yang yin / rig pa’i ye shes don la spyod pas ’byung ba me yang
yin / rig pa’i ye shes ma bskyod dbyings su gshegs pas ’byung ba rlung yang yin / rig pa’i
ye shes sbubs gsum gcig tu ’dril bas ’byung ba chu yang yin / ye shes stong gsal gnyis med
ngang du thim pas ’byung ba nam mkha’ yin. Klong chen pa 1999b: 7–8; 2000: 272a;
1983 v. 4: 109. There are some notable discrepancies between the version of this
quotation that appears in the A ’dzom edition of the Theg mchog mdzod and the A
‘dzom edition of the Rig pa rang shar, namely, in the line “rig pa’i ye shes ma bskyod
dbyings su gshegs pas ‘byung ba rlung yang yin” the Rig pa rang shar has shes pa instead
of gshegs pa; in the following line “rig pa’i ye shes sbubs gsum gcig tu ’dril bas ’byung
ba chu yang yin” the Rig pa rang shar has sku gsum rather than sbubs gsum; and in the
final line “ye shes stong gsal gnyis med ngang du thim pas ‘byung ba nam mkha’ yin” the
Rig pa rang shar omits the initial ye shes. A translation of this quotation according to
the Rig pa rang shar would thus read: “The metaphor of the elements is like this: In
the sense that the essence of the nature of the originally pure Reality Body never
changes, it is the earth element. In the sense that it engages the meaning,
awareness-gnosis is also the fire element. In the sense that it apprehends the
undisturbed expanse, awareness-gnosis is also the wind element. In the sense that
awareness-gnosis draws together the three Enlightened bodies, it is also the water
element. In the sense that emptiness-clarity dissolves into a state of non-duality, it
is the space element. These are the metaphors of the elements.” See Anonymous
2000c: 465.
16
Klong chen pa 1999b: 8; 2000. 272b; 1983 v. 4: 110.
242
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines

All the elements which appear externally are connected with

(dang sbyor) awareness-gnosis, and are therefore ordinary
phenomena (thun mong gi chos). To distinguish among them:
since the main characteristic of earth is hardening, it’s
connected with the aspect of awareness-gnosis that is free from
creation and destruction. Since the main characteristic of air is
suspension, it’s connected with the aspect of awareness-gnosis
that is unobstructed. Since the main characteristic of fire is
burning, it’s connected with the aspect of awareness-gnosis that
is not coming under the influence of the afflictions. Since the
main characteristic of water is moisturizing, it’s connected with
the aspect of awareness-gnosis that is omnipresent. Since the
main characteristic of space is vastness, it’s connected with
(dang sbyar, sic.) the aspect of awareness-gnosis that is
expansiveness.17

As with the quotation from the Rig pa rang shar, the “dang sbyor” of the
Nor bu ’phra bkod involves a series of comparisons between each of the
“externally appearing” elements as material phenomena to the
distinctly Rdzogs chen snying thig contemplative-philosophical
concept of intrinsic gnosis, that is, awareness-gnosis (rig pa’i ye shes).
Again, like the category of “process” (las rim), the concept of
connections (“don sbyar,” or “dang sbyor”) between the elements and
gnosis appears to be original to the tantras. Klong chen pa’s creation
of the analytical category “don sbyar” functions to piece together these
related ideas.
The category of grol tshul, the “way in which [the elements] are free”
includes a single quotation from the Mu tig phreng ba:

Because space is empty even within its pervasiveness,

It is freed as substantiality.

Because wind appears in the absence of any object of

apprehension,
It is freed as the activity of drawing entities together.

17
phyi ’byung ba lnga nyid thun mong rang rgyud kyi chos yin te / phyir snang ba’i ’byung
ba thams cad rang gi rig pa nyid dang sbyor bas na thun mong gi chos yin te / de yang dbye
ba ’di lta ste / sa’i mtshan nyid sra bar byed pa nyid kyang / rig pa’i ye shes skye ’jig dang
bral bar sbyor ro / rlung gi mtshan nyid ’degs par byed pa nyid kyang / rig pa’i ye shes
thogs pa med pa dang sbyor ro / me’i mtshan nyid bsreg par byed pa nyid kyang / rig pa’i
ye shes nyon mongs pa’i dbang du ma song ba nyid dang sbyor ro / chu’i mtshan nyid rlan
par byed pa nyid kyang / rig pa’i ye shes yul kun la ’jug pa dang sbyor ro / nam mkha’i
mtshan nyid yangs pa nyid kyang / rig pa’i mtshan nyid rgya ma chad pa dang sbyar bar
bya’o. Klong chen pa 1999b: 8; 2000: 272a–272b; 1983 v. 4: 109–110.
 243
The Chapter on the Theory of the Elements

Because fire consumes offerings in a ripening way,

It is freed as movement, separating the pure from the stale.18

Because earth generates and supports,

It is freed as a limitless voidness lacking substance.

Because water is wet in a way that draws things together

It is free as burning, as the activity of ripening.19

This quotation indicates that each of the elements becomes free into
qualities and activities which represent the opposite of their standard
qualities. Thus, space is free as substantiality (dngos po), earth is free as
emptiness (stong ba), water is free as burning (bsreg pa), and wind is
free as cohesion (sdud pa), a characteristic usually associated with
water in elemental literature. 20 The theory at play in this example is
that each material element becomes free in the inversion of its ordinary
qualities. This quotation appears within the Mu tig phreng ba’s fourth
chapter which deals broadly with the concept of “natural freedom”
(rang grol), one of five kinds of ontological freedom that are classically
discussed in Rdzogs chen snying thig literature, along with primordial
freedom (ye grol); naked freedom (cer grol); unbounded freedom (mtha’

18
The A ’dzom, Sde dge and Mang yul editions of the Theg mchog mdzod have “bskyod
cing dangs brnyings ’byed par grol.” The A ’dzom edition of the Mu tig phreng ba has
“bskyod cing dangs snyigs ’byed par grol” indicating, I suspect, a correction in the A
’dzom edition of the tantra. A fuller examination of the philological details of this
line, with reference to additional variants of both the Theg mchog mdzod and the
Rgyud bcu bdun, is included in my forthcoming dissertation. See the following
footnote for the complete transliteration of this passage in both texts.
19
nam mkha’ nyid ni khyab stong pas / nam mkha’ nyid ni dngos par grol / rlung ni gzung
yul med snang bas / dngos po sdud pa’i las su grol / me ni smin byed byin za bas / bskyod
cing dangs brnyings ’byed par grol / sa ni skyed byed ’degs pas na / dngos med mtha’ yas
stong par grol / chu ni sdud byed rlan pas na / sreg byed smin pa’i las so grol. Klong chen
pa 1999b: 8–9; 2000: 272b; 1983 v. 4: 110: See also Anonymous 2000a: 448–449, nam
mkha’ nyid ni khyab stong pas / nam mkha’ nyid ni dngos par grol / rlung ni gzung yul
med snang bas / dngos po sdud pa’i las su grol / me ni smin byed byin za bas / bskyod cing
dangs snyigs ’byed par grol / sa ni skyed byed bdegs pas na / dngos med mtha’ yas stong par
grol / chu ni sdud byed rlan pas na / sreg byed smin pa’i las so grol. The primary difference
between these two editions is found in the line “bskyod cing dangs brnyings ’byed par
grol.”
20
A verse from the Guhyagarbha Tantra describes the dissolution of the material world
in the context of the attainment of the mandalas, as such: “Space will emerge solid
as indestructible reality. That will burn, and then the fire too will be incinerated.
Turning into water, it will cascade in the appropriate way. This world-system will
be dispersed – All will be emptied and will collapse.” Klong chen pa’s Phyogs bcu
mun sel commentary to this verse offers a similar rationale to that which we find in
the Mug tig phreng ba, in particular, that “space” will resolve as solid. See Dorje
1987: 608–609.
244
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines

grol); and unique freedom (gcig grol).21 The Mu tig phreng ba devotes
significant discussion to the natural freedom of the elements in this
chapter which, in making the argument for the ontological freedom of
both the material world of the container (snod) and its contents (bcud,
i.e., sentient beings), postulates that the five elements, as the most
fundamental constituents of that material reality, are themselves
effortlessly and naturally free.22
The final category in this section discusses “the way in which [the
elements] are complete” (tshang tshul). It contains a somewhat more
elaborate set of subsequent sa bcad and a greater amount of exposition
compared with the other "unique" categories discussed above. All
quotations in this section are derived from the Mu tig phreng ba’s
seventh chapter which, according to the chapter’s colophon, deals with
“the perfection of all phenomena of cyclic existence and transcendence
in oneself” (’khor ’das kyi chos thabs cad rang la rdzogs par bstan pa).23
Some of the quotations that Klong chen pa references in the chapter
use the word “tshang ba” while others use the synonym “rdzogs pa”
following the Mu tig phreng ba chapter seven colophon. Each of the
quotations used by Klong chen pa refer to the idea that the apparent
phenomena of both the relative and ultimate existential domains,
construed as cyclic existence (’khor) and transcendence (’das), are
present in ordinary aspects of human experience. This includes the
physical realities of the body and environment, the mental realities of
cognition and affect, and the contemplative reality of awareness (rig
pa). The following quotation from this section is expressive of this idea:

Awareness is precisely as follows:

The sun and the moon are wisdom and method;
birth is the ground,
women, the path.

Planets are the pinnacle of realization, stars are phenomena,

clouds are all-pervasive compassion;
trees are phenomenality, the expansive path;
mountains are the view, unchanging;
crags are the reality body, created but free from degradation.

Roots are the common basis of all phenomena;

branches are the limbs of enlightenment;
the trunk is the single taste of emptiness.
21
This list is present in multiple tantras but can be found in the The Pearl Garland
Tantra (Mu tig phreng ba’i rgyud). See Anonymous 2000a: 445–446.
22
Ibid.: 436–454.
23
Ibid.: 520.
 245
The Chapter on the Theory of the Elements

Petals are the pervasive expanse of reality;

flowers are the light of primordial gnosis;
fruits are the self-perfected three bodies.

Sound is the sensory domain of the nature of reality;

smell is Buddha’s speech resounding;
taste is the taste of the bliss of experience;
touch is great meditative absorption.

Musical instruments are the perfect mandala of the five lights;

ribbons are creative luminosity manifesting as color;
canopies are protective wisdom;
parasols are the key points of instruction (man ngag);
victory banners are realization, manifest enlightenment.

To the nature of mind, all things

exist in a manner spontaneous and primordial.
So it follows that rational thought and all manifest phenomena
are merely symbols.24

Additional quotations in this section continue the metaphor, drawing

connections between the outer world and the physical and sensory
features of the yogic body as it is implicated in religious experience.
This idea is summarized at the conclusion of this section as follows:

The phenomena which display going beyond suffering

abide completely within the body and mind.

If you ask what is the essence of self-evident awareness,

it is the perfection of reality, however it appears.25

Like the categories of “process” (las rim), “metaphors” (don sbyar), and

24
rig pa nyid la ’di lta ste/ nyi ma zla ba shes rab thabs/ skyes pa gzhi la bud med lam / gza’
ni rtogs tshad skar ma chos / sprin ni thugs rje kun la khyab / shing ni chos nyid rgyas pa’i
lam / ri ni lta ba ’gyur ba med / brag ni chos sku skye ’jig bral / rtsa ba chos kun rgyu gcig
pa / yal ga byang chub yan lag nyid / stong pa stong par ro gcig ste / ’dab ma khyab byed
chos kyi dbyings / me tog ye shes sgron ma nyid / ’bras bu sku gsum rang rdzogs so / sgra
ni chos nyid yul gyi sgra / dri ni sangs rgyas gsungs du grags / ro ni nyams myong bde
ba’i ro / reg ni bsam gtan chen po’o / rol mo ’od lnga’i dkyil ’khor rdzogs / ’phan ni kha dog
gsal ba’i gdangs / gdugs ni skyob pa shes rab ste/ bla bre man ngag che ba’i gnad / rgyal
mtshan rtogs pa mngon sangs rgyas / sems nyid ngo la chos rnams ni / ye nas lhun grub
tshul du gnas/ de phyir blo dang dngos po yi / chos rnams thams cad btags pa tsam. Klong
chen pa 1999b: 14–15; 2000: 274b–275a; 1983 v. 4: 114–115.
25
myang ’das mtshon pa’i chos de rnams / lus dang sems la rdzogs par gnas. Klong chen pa
1999b: 14; 2000: 274b; 1983 v. 4: 114.
246
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines

“the way in which they are free” (grol tshul), the “way in which they
are complete” (tshang tshul) also appears to be drawing on ideas that
are distinctive of and original to the tantras. These become analytical
categories in Klong chen pa’s list, less as a matter of second-order
analysis of the philosophy of the elements, and more as a way of
faithfully capturing and reproducing salient ideas as they appear in
the tantras.
Thus, despite there being relatively few expository remarks from
Klong chen pa in this chapter overall, a great deal of contextual
meaning is borne out through its organizational structure. Indeed,
through the sa bcad we can begin to see the kind of curatorial work that
Klong chen pa is engaged in, including the systematic reorganization
of ideas from the tantras, and the incorporation of elemental concepts
and terms of art into the text’s elaborate sa bcad. While this kind of
curatorial activity is rather characteristic of the Theg mchog mdzod and
the Mdzod bdun broadly, it is also through these organizational
categories that the unique aspects of the text’s elemental theory begin
to emerge. The remainder of the essay examines two organizational
motifs in the chapter and the philosophical propositions they entail.

4. Outer and Inner, Greater and Lesser Elements

Two dichotomies form the primary structural organization of the

chapter. These are, firstly, the distinction between outer and inner
elements, followed closely by the distinction between “greater” and
“lesser” elements. The distinction between the outer and inner
elements is as old and venerable a concept as the elements themselves
in Buddhist thought. Some of the earliest references to this idea in
Buddhist literatures are found among the oldest known texts of the
Pāli Suttapitaka.26 In these contexts, as well as that of the subsequent
Abhidharma literatures, some of which had popular continuities in
Tibet, the distinction between the inner and outer elements defines the
domains of personal and environmental kinds of matter as they are
experienced by a human subject: The “interior” and “exterior” forms
of a given element are understood as dual manifestations of what is in
fact a continuously experienceable material quality. Thus, earth’s
solidity, water’s fluidity, fire’s temperature, and wind’s motility,
manifest alternately as external material and meteorological
phenomena in the surrounding environment, and internally as bodily

26
The Mahāhatthipadopamasutta (MN28), Mahārāhulovādasutta (MN62), and
Dhātuvibhaṅgasutta (MN140), describe the internal and external elements in
virtually uniform detail. See Bhikkhu Nanamoly and Bhikkhu Bodhi 1995.
 247
The Chapter on the Theory of the Elements

tissues, fluids, metabolic and respiratory processes.27

Klong chen pa elaborates on these conventions regarding the outer
and inner elements paradigm by describing the distinction between
the two in terms of support relations. Early in the chapter, he writes
“The five outer form (gzugs) elements originate as the appearing of the
environing world and the basis [for the existence of] sentient beings.
The five actual (dngos) inner elements originate as the basis for mind
and awareness.”28 This quote introduces a series of symmetries which
define the mode of relationship between the outer and inner elements
to one between “form” (gzugs)—the outer material elements as the
environing world in which sentient beings operate—and the “actual”
(dngos) inner reality of the elements which are the basis for the
operation of “mind” and “awareness,” in other words, the physical
body. The “form elements,” Klong chen pa continues, “are the
presently externally appearing earth, water, fire, wind, and space. The
actual elements are the five bodily properties of ‘hardness’ and so forth,
which create the support conditions for the five inner elements.”29
Klong chen pa’s rearticulation of the outer and inner elements
paradigm, which up until this point is consistent with earlier Buddhist
renderings, is thereafter complicated by a second distinction made
between “great” (‘byung ba chen po) and “lesser” (’byung chung)
elements. In the same passage as the above, Klong chen pa writes,

There is no such thing as the sentient being or Buddha who does

not rely upon these two [inner and outer elements]. Sentient
beings operate within the space (dbyings) of straying (’khrul ba)
with respect to the elements, but they innately possess the Great
Elements (’byung ba chen po). Buddhas reside in the space of the
elements beginning with ‘earth lacking firmness’ and they
experience the total exhaustion of that which shrouds the five
Great Elements.30

The term “Great Elements” (mahābhūta or ’byung ba chen po) is of course

27
See Vasubandhu 1982b: 31b–32a; Vasubandhu 1990: 68–70.
28
phyi ’byung gzugs lnga ni sems can gyi rten snod kyi snang bar chags pa / nang ’byung
dngos lnga ni sems dang rig pa’i rten du chags pa ste. Klong chen pa 1999b: 5; 2000:
271a; 1983 v. 4: 107.
29
’byung ba dngos ni lus kyi chos sra ba sa la sogs pa lnga ste nang ’byung gi rten di gyur
pa lnga’o. Klong chen pa 1999b: 3–4; 2000: 270b–271a; 1983 v. 4: 107.
30
’di gnyis la ma brten pa sems can dang sangs rgyas gang yang med de / sems can rnams
’byung lnga ‘khrul pa’i dbyings la spyod cing / ’byung ba chen po rang chas su ldan
/sangs rgyas rnam don dam dag po’i ’byung lnga sa sra ba med pa la sogs pa lnga’i
dbyings la bzhugs shing / ’byung ba chen po lnga’i dri ma shin tu zad pa la spyod do /
de’ang ’byung ba chen po ni ’od gsal ba’i ye shes kha dog lnga ldan yin la. Klong chen
pa 1999b: 3; 2000: 270b; 1983 v. 4: 106.
248
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines

not original to Klong chen pa’s oeuvre. Indeed, the definition of the
elements as “great” is a matter of concern in Buddhist literatures as
early as Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośabhāṣya (Chos mngon pa’i mdzod
kyi bshad pa) where the elements are defined as “great” because they
are the primary matter out of which secondary forms of matter are
derived.31 For Klong chen pa, instead, the Great Elements represent a
distinct ontological category. He writes, “moreover, the Great
Elements possess the five colors of wisdom illumination; the lesser
elements are the quintet of earth, water, fire, wind, and space.”32 Thus
for Klong chen pa the Great Elements are also equivalent to the five
lights (’od gsal lnga), which are both present in the “lighting up of the
ground” and correspondingly implicated in the contemplative
phenomenon known as “rainbow body,” wherein the coarse bodily
elements are resolved into their ultimate nature as light. This appears
to be what is meant, in the earlier quote, by the phrase “earth lacking
firmness,” as well as the idea that Buddhas experience the exhaustion
of “that which shrouds the Great Elements.” Elaborating on this, Klong
chen pa writes “having purified the five confused elements, you arrive
at the space of the five lights and meet with the internal expanse. This
is equivalent to the Great Elements, which are [in reality] the
manifestation of the [Ground’s] spontaneous presence (lhun grub).”33
That Klong chen pa would proffer his own creative etymology of
’byung ba, or ’byung ba chen po, however, is not particularly unusual or
innovative in the Rdzogs chen snying thig context. There are numerous
instances among the Rgyud bcu bdun and their early commentaries of
the creation of original definitions of ’byung ba. The Mu tig phreng ba
commentary, for instance, addresses the etymology of ’byung ba,
writing, “when we call them emergent elements (’byung ba), out of what
do they emerge (’byung)? They emerge from the basic state of reality,
thus they are ‘emergent’ elements.” Here the etymology plays on the
literal sense of ’byung ba, an intransitive verb meaning “to come
about,” or “to be created,” in a way that reappropriates its
conventional usage in service of advancing a distinctive Rdzogs chen

31
See Vasubandhu 1982b: 31b: “The four great elements are so called because they
are the support of all other form” (’byung ba chen po bzhi rnams zhes bya ba ni ’di dag
gzugs gzhan thams chad kyi rten nyid du rigs pa’i phyir na chen po nyid do). See also
Vasubandhu 1990: 68–69: bhūtāni pṛthivīdhāturaptejovāyudhātavaḥ / ityete catvāraḥ
svalakṣaṇopādāyarūpadhāraṇād dhātavaścatvāri mahābhūtāny ucyante / mahattvameṣāṃ
sarvānyarūpāśrayatvenaudārikatvāt.
32
de’ang ’byung ba chen po ni ’od gsal ba’i ye shes kha dog lnga ldan yin la / ’byung chung
ni sa chu me rlung nam mkha’ lnga’o. Klong chen pa 1999b: 3; 2000: 270b; 1983 v. 4:
106.
33
’khrul ’byung lnga dag nas ’od gsal lnga klong du phebs te nang dbyings la thug pa dang
/ lhun grub kyi snang ba’i ’byung chen dang pa bzhin no. Klong chen pa 1999b: 3; 2000:
270b; 1983 v. 4: 106.
 249
The Chapter on the Theory of the Elements

philosophical idea.34 Rather than being “emergent” in the sense of

“that out of which secondary forms of matter emerge,” here the
elements themselves emerge from the basic state (gnas lugs). A similar
definition is found in the Sgra thal ’gyur commentary:

Why are they called [emergent] elements (’byung ba)? Because,

on the basis of inert matter (bem po), the capacity for awareness
(rig bcas) emerges. And on the basis of the outer elements, the
internal bodily elements emerge. On the basis of the internal
bodily elements, the direct experience of awareness-gnosis
emerges. On the basis of the direct experience of awareness, the
fruition of Buddhahood emerges. Thus, we call them emergent
elements.35

This definition, which also plays on the verbal sense of the term ’byung
ba, offers a rationale for how the materiality of the body becomes
serviceable to the soteriological goals of contemplative practice: How,
through a series of support-relations, even inert matter (bem po) is
constitutive of Buddhahood. Klong chen pa’s most important
influence in this regard, however, appears to be the Rig pa rang shar.
The following etymology is quoted directly by Klong chen pa:

The etymology of the elements (’byung ba) is as follows:

They do not emerge (ma byung) through being formed—
they are the spontaneously present (lhun gyis grub)
elements.
They create all—thus they are Great elements (’byung ba
chen po).
Thoroughly pervading sentient beings, they are Great
Elements.
Arising instantaneously, they are Great Elements.
Existing unto themselves (rang la yod pa), they are Great
Elements.
Having no source (’byung ba med pa), they are Great
Elements.
Perceived collectively, they are Great Elements.

34
The Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo has “’thob pa dang/ yong ba/ skye ba/ ’bab pa” as
synonyms. See Krang dbyi sun, ed. 1985.
35
’byung ba zhes pa ni gang ’byung bar byed na / bem po la rten nas rig bcas kyi mtshan
nyid ’byung bar byed la / phyi rol gyi ’byung ba bzhi la brten nas / nang lus kyi ’byung
ba bzhi ’byung bar byed na / ’byung ba zhes bya la / nang lus kyi ’byung ba bzhi la brten
nas / rig pa’i ye shes mngon sum du ’byung bar byed pas na / ’byung ba zhes bya la / rig
pa mngon gsum la brten nas sangs rgyas kyi ’bras bu thogs pa med par ’byung bas na
’byung ba zhes bya’o. Vimalamitra 2009 v. 107: 144.
250
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines

This is the etymology of the Great Elements.36

This quotation contains both motifs that are present in Klong chen pa’s
etymology of the elements, namely, the play on the verbal sense of
’byung ba which reverses the conventional definition of elements as
productive of secondary forms of matter, as well as the use of the
modifier “great” (chen po) to frame the elements according to
proprietary Rdzogs chen snying thig ideas. In this regard, as we’ve
already established, it is not particularly surprising that Klong chen pa
draws upon a reservoir of previously established ideas and distinctive
informational practices arising from the tantras, since the Theg mchog
mdzod is functionally a commentary to those texts. The innovation on
the part of Klong chen pa with respect to the ”great elements” is rather
the creation of a “lesser elements” category, which thereby establishes
a theoretical hierarchy of matter corresponding to different registers of
actualization: the Great elements being equivalent to clear light (’od
gsal) itself, and the lesser elements—the material process of earth,
water, fire, wind, and space that sentient beings interact with at the
level of ordinary perception—merely that which “shrouds” them.

5. Elemental Contemplative Practices

By way of concluding, I would like to return momentarily to the issue

of elemental contemplative practices—those that ’Jigs med gling pa
described as “acceptable to omit.” References to these practices known
as “yogas of the four sounds [of the Elements]” (sgra bzhi rnal sbyor),
which are discussed at length in the Rgyud bcu bdun, and particularly
in the Sgra thal ’gyur, are conspicuously all but entirely absent from the
fifteenth chapter of the Theg mchog mdzod. They are referred to only
once by Klong chen pa in the chapter, who simply writes that “the Sgra
thal ’gyur discusses attaining ordinary siddhis by training on the sounds
and meanings of the elements,” followed by brief quotations from the
Sgra thal ’gyur and Gsang ba spyod pa sa bon gyi rgyud.37

36
’byung ba’i nges tshig ’di lta ste / byas pas ma byung lhun gyis grub / skyed par byed pas
’byung ba yin / ’gro ba yongs la khyab pas ’byung ba chen po yin / cig car skye bas ’byung
ba chen po yin / rang la yod pas ’byung ba chen po yin / ’gyur ba med pas ’byung ba chen
po yin / mthun par snang bas ’byung ba chen po yin / ’byung ba chen po’i ches tshig de
bzhin no. Anonymous 2000c: 464.
37
Klong chen pa 1999b: 10; 2000: 273a; 1983 v. 4: 111. Klong chen pa also includes
two brief quotations on the sgra bzhi rnal ’byor, one from the Sgra thal ’gyur which
reads: de yi sgra don bye brag gis / spyi yi rnam pa nges bstan pa / gzugs la bslabs pas
lus zad ’gyur / sgra yis skad rnams shes par ’gyur / dris ni bcud kyis len pa ’grub / ros ni
dngos po bdud rtsir ’gyur. A second quotation from the Gsang ba spyod pa sa bon gyi
 251
The Chapter on the Theory of the Elements

However, elemental contemplative practices are discussed at

greater length elsewhere in the Theg mchog mdzod: The seventeenth
chapter, which describes itself as the chapter on “the gradual path
which involves taking an object of meditation” (dmigs pa yul gyi blo rim
can), consists in a compendium of all the associated Rdzogs chen
snying thig practices which make use of a referential object as the locus
of meditation. Here the elemental practices are included as part of the
repertoire of twenty-one practices which “focus the mind” (sems
’dzin).38 There is also a discussion of a kind of “extracting the essence”
(bcud len) practice that is described as “equalizing the tastes of the
elements” (’byung ba ro snyoms pa).39 They are also referenced in the
eighteenth chapter which deals with the topic of direct transcendence
(thod rgal) practices, where they are included as preliminary practices
(sngon ’gro), preceding the practices for distinguishing cyclic existence
and transcendence (’khor ’das ru shan).40 There, the elemental practices
are entitled “guidance to the three enlightened bodies” (sku gsum gyi
sna ’khrid).
To readers who are sensitive to such elemental matters, or who are
familiar with the tantras and their contents, it is odd that an entire
chapter devoted to the elements should include so little information
about these practices which appear so frequently in the very texts that
Klong chen pa so expressly seeks to preserve. I think that there is a
rationale for this: Klong chen pa’s organizational strategies situate the
practices of engaging with the elements, perhaps narrowly, within the
topic of contemplative practices rather than the topic of human
embodiment, which characterizes chapters eleven through fifteen of
the Theg mchog mdzod. While such a strategy is consistent with Klong
chen pa’s general approach to organization and the synthesis of
Rdzogs chen snying thig ideas broadly, it also functionally extracts
and isolates the elemental contemplative practices from the broader
domain of elemental ideas in which they appear to be so
foundationally situated in the earlier tantras. While such a minor
difference is, understandably, easily overlooked by modern readers of
Rdzogs chen, it’s nevertheless significant. In the context of the Sgra thal
’gyur and its accompanying commentary, where the elemental
contemplative practices are most elaborately fleshed out in Rdzogs
chen snying thig literature, the elements function as both material and
informational categories governing knowledge of time, seasonal
change, medicine, and physiology. In each of these contexts,

rgyud reads: sa chu me rlung ’byung ba bzhi’i / sgra don rnams la goms pa yi / rigs drug
rnams kyi rang skad kyi / mngon shes ’char ba ’dis ’grub bo.
38
Klong chen pa 1999b: 86; 2000: 302a; 1983 v. 4: 164.
39
Klong chen pa 1999b: 90; 2000: 303b; 1983 v. 4: 167.
40
Klong chen pa 1999b: 136–144; 2000: 321b–324a; 1983 v. 4: 200–205.
252
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines

knowledge of the elements, and of elemental body typologies and

elemental time-keeping practices which are thereby derived, are
theorized as having direct implications for how practitioners approach
contemplative practices involving the elements, and arguably the
entire repertoire of practices included in the Rdzogs chen snying thig
path. The elements, in this sense, comprise something like a total
system. This is all to say that, while much of the elements and
elemental theories from the earlier tradition ultimately found
expression in the Theg mchog mdzod, a great deal more, evidently, did
not.
In this regard, it is very possible that these vaster elemental
knowledge systems, of which the “four sounds” practices were a key
part, were already on the margins of Rdzogs chen snying thig
scholarship by Klong chen pa’s time, at least one century after the Sgra
thal ’gyur commentary is theorized to have begun circulating. Indeed,
the trajectory of the declining popularity of these contemplative
practices in Rdzogs chen snying thig thought over the course of
multiple centuries remains, perhaps unsurprisingly, unclear. I think
we can say, however, that the relative absence of the broader context
of elemental knowledge systems—namely, knowledge of elemental
physiology, elemental time, and the correspondences between the
two—in the work of Klong chen pa is undoubtedly among the
conditions of possibility for ’Jigs med gling pa’s statement that “there
are few at present who are established in these practices.” At the very
least this raises an important question, best left to future studies, of the
extent to which the four sounds of the elements practices could remain
present in the tradition independent of the ambient cultures of
elemental thought in which they appear to have first originated, like
fire without air.

Bibliography

Anonymous. 2000a. Mu tig phreng ba in Rnying ma’i rgyud bcu bdun (A

’dzom par ma), 3: 308–427. Dkar mdzes bod rigs rang skyong khul,
dpal yul rdzong: A ’dzom chos sgar.

———. 2000b. Sgra thal ’gyur. In Rnying ma’i rgyud bcu bdun (A ’dzom
par ma), 1: 2–205. Dkar mdzes bod rigs rang skyong khul, dpal yul
rdzong: A ’dzom chos sgar.

———. 2000c. Rig pa rang shar. In Rnying ma’i rgyud bcu bdun (A ’dzom
par ma), 2: 2–467. Dkar mdzes bod rigs rang skyong khul, dpal yul
rdzong: A ’dzom chos sgar.
 253
The Chapter on the Theory of the Elements

Bhikkhu Nanamoly and Bhikkhu Bodhi, translators. 1995. The Middle

Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Mjjhima Nikaya.
Somerville: Wisdom Publications.

Dorje, Gyurme. 1987. “The Guhyagarbhatattvaviniścayamahātantra

and its XIVth Century Tibetan Commentary Phyogs-bcu mun-sel”
PhD Dissertation, SOAS University of London.

Higgins, David. 2012. “The Philosophical Foundations of Classical

rDzogs chen in Tibet: Investigating the Distinction between
Dualistic Mind (sems) and Primordial Knowing (ye shes).” PhD
Dissertation, Université de Lausanne.

Klong chen pa. 1983. Theg pa’i mchog rin po che’i mdzod in Klong chen
Mdzod bdun (Sde dge par ma). 6 Volumes. Gangtok.

———. 1999a. Theg pa’i mchog rin po che’i mdzod in Mdzod bdun (A
’dzom par ma), 5: 1–697. A ’dzom: A ‘dzom chos sgar.

———. 1999b. Theg pa’i mchog rin po che’i mdzod in Mdzod bdun (A
’dzom par ma), 6: 1–601. A ’dzom: A ’dzom chos sgar.

———. 2000. The Oldest Block Print of Klong-chen Rab-‘byams-pa’s Theg

Mchog Mdzod: Facsimile Edition of Early Tibetan Block Prints with an
Introduction by Franz-Karl Erhard. Lumbini: Lumbini International
Research Institute.

Krang dbyi sun, editor. 1985. Bod rgya tshig mdzod chen mo. 3 vols. Pe
cin: Mi rigs dpe skrun khang.

Kun mkhyen ’jigs med gling pa. N.d. Rdzogs pa chen po klong chen
snying thig gi khrid yig ye shes bla ma. 1 vol. Gser rta rdzong: gSer
thang bla rung lnga rig nang bstan slob gling.

———. 2008. Yeshe Lama. Translated by Lama Chönam and Sangye

Khando. Ithaca: Snow Lion.

Vasubandhu. 1982a. Chos mngon pa’i mdzod kyi tshig le’ur byas pa (The
Treasury of Metaphysics). In Sde dge Bstan ’gyur (Tibetan Buddhist
Canon Printed at Degé), edited by Zhu chen tshul khrims rin chen,
translated by sKa ba dpal brtsegs, 140: 3–51. Delhi: Delhi Karmapae
Choedhey, Gyalwae Sungrab Partun Khang.
254
Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines

———. 1982b. Chos mngon pa’i mdzod kyi bshad pa (The Auto-commentary
to the Treasury of Metaphysics). In Sde dge Bstan ’gyur (Tibetan Buddhist
Canon Printed at Degé), edited by Zhu chen tshul khrims rin chen,
translated by sKa ba dpal brtsegs, 140: 54–191. Delhi: Delhi
Karmapae Choedhey, Gyalwae Sungrab Partun Khang.

———. 1990. Abhidharmakośabhāṣyam of Vasubandhu, Volume 1.

Translated by Louis de La Vallée Poussin and Leo Pruden. Berkeley:
Asian Humanities Press.

Vimalamitra. 2009. Sgra thal ’gyur rtsa rgyud ’grel in Snga ’gyur bka’ ma
shin tu rgyas pa. Computer Input Edition of the Bka’ ma by Tshe ring
rgya mtsho 107 : 1–592. Chengdu: Tshe ring rgya mtsho.

———. 1999a. Sgra thal ’gyur rtsa rgyud ’grel in Bka’ ma shin tu rgyas pa,
edited by Kaḥ thog Mkhan po ’Jam dbyangs, 110 : 5–708. Chengdu:
Kaḥ tog mkhan po ’jam dbyangs.

———. 1999b. Sgra thal ’gyur rtsa rgyud ’grel in Bka’ ma shin tu rgyas pa,
edited by Kaḥ thog Mkhan po ’Jam dbyangs, 111 : 5–958. Chengdu:
Kaḥ tog mkhan po ’jam dbyangs.