Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s1.t10: thi byed Sect
Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s1.t10
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thi byed Sect
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Thi Byed Sect (Xi Jie Sect) is one of the sects of Tibetan Buddhism in China. It was set up by Pa Danbasanje (pha damba sangje, unknown-1117), a famous eminent monk and mahasiddhas from the south India, in the middle of the 11th century CE.
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“Xi Jie” (thi byed) is from Tibetan Language that means “still quiescence” or “to quench”. Its Tibetan full name is “Du A Xi Jie” (sdug bsng thi byed) that means “to perish the pain”. It is said that studying the doctrines and arguments of Xi Jie Sect can quench or eliminate all the troubles and pains in the world, hence it got the name “Xi Jie Pai”. From the 11th-15th centuries CE, this sect had ever had a great impact in Tibet. But later its impacts gradually faded away.
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The doctrines and arguments of Xi Jie Sect are based on the Prajna Paramita and combine the Asceticism of Yoga which aim at quenching or eliminating all the pains and troubles. Xi Jie Sect believes that Ben Zong Sect concentrates six kinds of Prajna inheritance of Pa Danbasanje that is the essential inheritance inheriting from Tushita Palace, the Dragon King’s Palace, Wu Zhangna (Ougran), East India’s Pangalo (Phan Kiara) and South India’s Bedara (bedhala) and the south of Candanavana. At the same time, this Sect absorbed Pa Danbasanje’s four kinds of inheritance of Shastras which are the secret key to the inheritance of Yidam, the common inheritance of the 54 male and female Yoga practicers, the fantastic inheritance of the 36 mahatmas and the special inheritance of Dakini XinSui. All those as the secret teachings and simple methods of freeing from *samsara*, constitute the distinctive characteristics of Xi Jie Sect.
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The source of the right views or thoughts of Xi Jie Sect can be originated back to Prajnaparamita,and all thoughts or sutras are in accordance with the Nagarjuna. The right views of Xi Jie Sect are not beyond those of Madhyamika. It takes the understanding of the nature, wisdom and mind as the basic idea and understands the objective things according to this basic idea, so as to cut off or put out all the pains and troubles. But Xi Jie Sect does not escape and negate the reality but transform the bitter troubles in real life into the things that can be used in Buddhism by understanding their meanings and mind, and finally cut off all troubles and achieve the Buddhist result. Xi Jie Sect thinks that the external objective phenomena and all things lie within the wise hear, so all things the heart shows are distinguished. If you can understand the heart and distinguish the doubtful heart, the Wudu that causes people to worry will become Wuhui or Wuzhi that is the thought of enlightenment.
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*Aryasta-sahasrika-prajnaparamita-sutra* in Tibetan
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Xi Jie Sect is a sect that focusses on Buddhist practice and cultivation, and it requires that each practitioner that “body, following three doctrines. Road, into the ascetic. Result, altruism”. The practice of religious doctrines and arguments should be clear and that is the condition and quality that the practitioners must have. Pa Danbasanje thought the carriage cannot run on the road without being treated clearly; the water cannot flow in the winding and rugged channels; the dirty water is difficult to show images; the burnt pots are water-proof and if the root is not clean the merits and virtues will not appear. Therefore, Xi Jie Sect requires the practicers to practice in order. First of all, to cultivate the “Savaka Curse” in accordance with the guru’s Buddhist thoughts. Second, to pursue solitary enlightened one and cultivate “the Curse of Solitary Enlightened One”. Third, to enlighten the compassion and practice “Bodhisattva Duozhi Curse”. To cultivate in order, to understand the nature of heart with altruism and without differentiation and to put out all the troubles and pains are very important for Xi Jie Sect.
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The practicer of Xi Jie Sect often cultivate in the barren hills and forests, the snow-capped mountains and the cemeteries. The famous “Cultivating Method of Yoga in Cemeteries” is a kind of secret method to cultivate in the cemetery. They think that cultivating in the cemetery is good for understanding the change and bitterness of life and can remove the “Avidya”. So Xi Jie Sect advocates penance and transforms all the troubles or wrong things into the path to Buddhism or helpful friends. It also advocates the understanding of the nature of mind and the empty nature of things. Therefore, people can abandon greedy thoughts and the troubles of Avidya, and quench pains to attain enlightenment. Xi Jie Sect always stresses the “empty self-nature” so as to reflect the thought of Prajna or Madhyamika.
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The classics of Xi Jie Sect were written by Pa Danbasanje’s disciples according to his dictation. Because Pa Danbasanje taught disciples according to their aptitude and an uncountable number of people, the classics of this sect are numerous and complex. His disciples also added a lot of classics according to Pa Danbasanje’s thoughts. That not only formed many different thoughts and also formed various classics of inheritance branches.
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The inheritance of Xi Jie sect can be divided into early, mid-term and late inheritances and some small or fragmented inheritance branch. The early inheritance began when Pa Danbasanje went to Tibet for the second and third time and the main successor is Chane Bernard Gu Haya (Dznyvan gu hya) in Kashmir. In that year when Pa Danbasanje passed through Kashmir, he gave The three Books of Xi Jie Ming Deng, The Cultivating Method of Yamantaka and The Sixteen Classics to Chane Bernard Gu Haya and the inheritance was formed after him and spread in Tibet. That was called the early inheritance by Tibetan Buddhism.
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The mid-term inheritance compromises three big branches and a number of small branches which began when Pa Danbasanje went to Tibet for the fourth time. The representatives of the three big branches are Magon Cogihige (ma chos kyisherab) in Yar lung, Sojo Gantownbel (sochung dge vdun vbar) and Wofgang Yasitenza (skam yeshe gyaltshan). After they respectively got the knack from Pa Danbasanje, they created their own inheritance of thoughts and had ever had a certain of influence on the history of Xi Jie sect. All these three representatives have many classics. The main classics of Magon Cogihige include Top 64 Stones Introduction with Xu Method, Deveioubg Bidgucukka, Make a Detour to Practice,
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The Outline of the Overall Doctrines, Scatter-Gather, The Mutual Touching of the Mouth and Nose and The Later Wideness; the main classics of Sojo Gantownbel include The Teaching of 54 Male and Female Siddhas, The 51 Edge-removing Teaching Method, The Doctrine Biographies of 32 Gurus, The Biographies of 17 Sages, The Classification of the Method to Open Eyes, The Classification of the Method to Dakini, The Teaching of Timer and Microtimer, 106 Cognitive Methods, Not Covered, Peace and Quiet, Dorje Sattva Tunnels, and The Big and Small Dhyana Seiza Methods; the classics of Wofgang Yasitenza include Respectively Using of Doctrines along with Paramita, Eight Characteristics of Abhisamaya, Paramita *Sutra*, The First Characteristic of Morality, To Teach People to Quite Catur-satyas, and Practicing the Scattering. The representatives of the small branches are Gussie Orizaba (bge bshes graw ba), Gussie Djerba (bge bshes lce ba) and Jiang Gadams (ljang bkav gdams pa). The main classic of Gussie Orizaba is Nine Kinds of Methods to Extinct the Bright Torch. The main classics of Gussie Djerba include The Common and Different Paramita, The Common and Different Esoteric Buddhism and other 108 kinds of teaching methods. The main classic of Jiang Gadams is The No-character Teaching of Paramita etc.
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The late inheritance is called “the Secret and oral inheritance of Xi Jie Sect” and also called “the Three Gurus’s Only Inheritance” which began after the construction of Xi Jie Sect’s basic dojo –Lang Kuo Temple (glang vkhor). The successor is Jiangqu Sanhua Gongga (1062-1124) who is one of the disciples of the four Yoga sects. His main classics include The Mahamudra of MoZhu ba, Amala (the teaching of Pa Danbasatngjie), The Essence of the Points of Ming and The Practical Cultivation, including common teaching methods like The Practice Xian Mi Jing Xu, Pro Training and Ear Teaching, Essence of Amala, All Volumes of Juanluo and different teaching methods like The Overall Outline of Tantra Gyu, The Guide for Abhisheka Gradual Path, Three Secret Libraries and Eight Aquarius.
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The three big branches and some small branches have ever been spread in the entire Tibetan area. In the later 16th century, Xi Jie Sect gradually declined and its thoughts and sadhana drubtab were also brought into the Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya and Deluk of Tibetan Buddhism. And many classics about Xi Jie sect have been lost.
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(*Deji zhuoma*)
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*Wooden block-printed edition of Buddhist Sutras*