The Sekanirdeśa of Maitreyanātha (Advayavajra) with the Sekanirdeśapañjikā of Rāmapāla. Critical Edition of the Sanskrit and Tibetan Texts with English Translation and Reproductions of the MSS. Edited by Harunaga Isaacson and Francesco Sferra. With Contributions by Klaus-Dieter Mathes and Marco Passavanti

The Sekanirdeśapañjikā, a commentary by Rāmapāla (11th century) on the Sekanirṇaya (aka Sekanirdeśa) (“Explanation of Consecration”) by the celebrated siddha Maitreyanātha (aka Advayavajra, Maitrīgupta and Maitrīpāda), is edited and published in this book for the first time. It is a rich and in some places difficult commentary that can be said to be of considerable importance for the understanding of the teachings of Advayavajra/Maitreyanātha, one of the most famous and influential teachers of tantric Buddhism in the eleventh century. Rāmapāla was a direct student of his. The Sekanirdeśapañjikā sheds light on some of the major controversies that were debated by Indian tantric masters of the eleventh century. The text starts with an explanation of the mystical word evam and its Tantric symbolism. Then it continues with an explanation of the Four Moments (kṣaṇa) and the related Blisses (ānanda) that are to be experienced during the higher phase of the initiation. The text and in particular the commentary refer to a debate between different Buddhist traditions regarding the sequence of the Blisses and the nature of their experience, and its significance. Rāmapāla quotes several stanzas from the Pramāṇavārttika by Dharmakīrti and many passages from other Mahāyānic and Tantric works (in particular from the Hevajratantra). In the mūla text we find stanzas even from early Śaiva sources.