Kālacakra () is a polysemic term in Vajrayana Buddhism and Hinduism that means "wheel of time" or "time cycles".( + ) "Kālacakra" is also the name of a series of Buddhist texts and a major practice lineage in Indian Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. The tantra is considered to belong to the unexcelled yoga (anuttara-yoga) class.
Kālacakra also refers both to a patron tantric deity or yidam in Vajrayana and to the philosophies and yogas of the Kālacakra tradition. The tradition's origins are in India and its most active later history and presence has been in Tibet. The tradition contains teachings on cosmology, theology, philosophy, sociology, soteriology, myth, prophecy, medicine, and yoga. It depicts a mythic reality whereby cosmic and socio-historical events correspond to processes in the bodies of individuals. These teachings are meant to lead to a transformation of one's body and mind into perfect Buddhahood through various yogic methods.
The Kālacakra tradition is based on Mahayana Buddhist non-dualism, which is strongly influenced by Madhyamaka philosophy, but also draws on a wide range of Buddhist and non-Buddhist (mainly Hindu) traditions (such as Vaibhāṣika, Kashmir Shaivism, Vaishnavism, and Samkhya). The Kālacakra tradition holds that Kālacakra teachings were taught in India by Gautama Buddha himself. According to modern Buddhist studies, the original Sanskrit texts of the Kālacakra tradition "originated during the early decades of the 11th century CE, and we know with certainty that the Śrī Kālacakra and the Vimalaprabhā commentary were completed between 1025 and 1040 CE." Kālacakra remains an active tradition of Buddhist tantra in Tibetan Buddhism, being particularly emphasized by the Jonang tradition, and its teachings and initiations have been offered to large public audiences, most famously by the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso.
Sources The Kālacakra Tantra is more properly called the Laghu-kālacakratantra-rāja (Sovereign Abridged Kālacakra) and is said to be an abridged form of an original text, the Paramādibuddhatantra of the Shambala king Sucandra, which is no longer extant. The author of the abridged tantra is said to have been the Shambala king Manjushriyasas. According to Vesna Wallace, the Vimalaprabhā (Stainless Light) of Pundarika is "the most authoritative commentary on the Kālacakratantra and served as the basis for all subsequent commentarial literature of that literary corpus."
Sanskrit texts The Sanskrit text of the Kālacakratantra was first published by Raghu Vira and Lokesh Chandra in 1966, with a Mongolian text in volume 2. This 1966 edition was based on manuscripts from the British Library and the Bir Library, Kathmandu. A critical edition of the original Sanskrit text of the Kālacakratantra was published by Biswanath Banerjee in 1985 based on manuscripts from Cambridge, London and Patna.
A further planned volume by Banerjee containing the Vimalaprabhā appears not to have been published. The Sanskrit texts of the Kālacakratantra and the Vimalaprabhā commentary were published on the basis of newly discovered manuscripts from Nepal (5) and India (1) by Jagannatha Upadhyaya (with Vrajavallabh Dwivedi and S. S. Bahulkar, 3 vols., 1986–1994). In 2010, Lokesh Chandra published a facsimile of one of the manuscripts that was not used by Jagannatha Upadhyaya et al. in their edition.
Tibetan translations The Tibetan translation of the commentary Vimalaprabhā is usually studied from the 1733 Derge Kangyur edition of the Tibetan canon, vol. 40, text no. 1347. This was published by Dharma Publishing, Berkeley, US, in 1981.
David Reigle noted, in a discussion in the INDOLOGY forum of 11 April 2020, that, "the Tibetan translation of the Kālacakra-tantra made by Somanātha and 'Bro lotsawa as revised by Shong ston is found in the Lithang, Narthang, Der-ge, Co-ne, Urga, and Lhasa blockprint recensions of the Kangyur, and also in a recension with annotations by Bu ston. This Shong revision was then further revised by the two Jonang translators Blo gros rgyal mtshan and Blo gros dpal bzang po. The Jonang revision is found in the Yunglo and Peking blockprint recensions of the Kangyur, and also in a recension with annotations by Phyogs las rnam rgyal."
Chapters The Kālacakratantra is divided into five chapters.Kilty, G Ornament of Stainless Light, Wisdom 2004, The content of the five chapters is as follows: The first chapter deals with what is called the "outer Kālacakra" (the world system, loka-dhatu), which provides a cosmology based on Vaibhasika Abhidharma, Samkhya, the Puranas and Jain cosmology. The Kālacakra calendar, the birth and death of universes, the Solar System and the workings of the elements are expounded. The myth and prophecy of the kingdom of Shambhala is also discussed. The second chapter deals with "inner Kālacakra," which concerns human gestation and birth, the functions within the human body, and the subtle body aspects, mainly the channels, winds, drops and so forth. The potentials (drops, bindus) which give rise to these states are described, together with the processes that flow from them. The third chapter deals with the requirements and preparation for meditation, mainly, the initiations (abhiseka) of Kālacakra. The fourth chapter explains the sadhana and yoga (spiritual practices), both the meditation on the mandala and its deities in the generation stage, and the perfection stage practices of the "six yogas". The fifth chapter describes the state of gnosis (jñāna), which is the result or fruit of the practice.
History
Origins According to the Kālacakra tradition, Sakyamuni Buddha manifested as the Kālachakra deities and taught the Kālachakra root tantra at a stupa in Dharanikota (near modern Amaravathi, Andhra Pradesh).Bryant, Barry (2003). The Wheel of Time Sand Mandala: Visual Scripture of Tibetan Buddhism, p. 61. Snow Lion Publications He did this while supposedly bilocating (appearing in two places at once) at the same time as he was also delivering the Prajñāpāramitā sutras at Griddhraj Parvat in Bihar.
Along with King Suchandra, ninety-six minor kings and emissaries from Shambhala were also said to have received the teachings. The Kālacakra thus passed directly to the kingdom of Shambhala, where it was held exclusively for hundreds of years. Later Kings of Shambhala, Mañjushrīkīrti and Pundarika, are said to have condensed and simplified the teachings into the Śri Kālacakra or Laghutantra and its main commentary, the Vimalaprabha, which remain extant today as the heart of the Kālacakra literature. Fragments of the original tantra have survived; the most significant fragment, the Sekkodesha, was commented upon by Naropa.
Mañjuśrīkīrti is said to have been born in 159 BCE and ruled over Shambhala and 100,000 cities. In his domain lived 300,510 mleccha barbarians with heretical beliefs in Nimai sinta (sun). He expelled all these heretics from his dominions but they accepted Buddhism and pleaded that they be allowed to return. He accepted their petitions and taught them the Kālacakra teachings. In 59 BCE he abdicated his throne to his son, Puṇḍārika, and died soon afterwards, entering the saṃbhogakāya of Buddhahood.Das, Sarat Chandra (1882). Contributions on the Religion and History of Tibet. First published in: Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol. LI. Reprint: Manjushri Publishing House, Delhi. 1970, pp. 81–82;
There are currently two main textual traditions of Kālacakra in Tibetan-Buddhism, the Ra lineage () of Ra Lotsawa and the Dro lineage () of Drolo Sherap Drak.Ringu Tulku (2007). The Ri-Me Philosophy of Jamgon Kongtrul the Great: A Study of the Buddhist Lineages of Tibet, pp. 152. Shambhala Publications In both traditions, the Kālacakratantra and its related commentaries were returned to India in 966 CE by an Indian pandit. In the Ra tradition this figure is known as Chilupa, and in the Dro tradition as Kālacakrapada the Greater. Chilupa is said to have set out to receive the Kālacakra teachings in Shambhala, along the journey to which he encountered a manifestation of Mañjuśrī, who gave him the Kālacakra initiation.Gen Lamrimpa, Wallace, B. Alan (1999) Transcending Time An Explanation of the Kalachakra Six-Session Guruyoga, p. 2. Wisdom Publications. He then disseminated the Kālacakra teachings in India.
According to Vesna Wallace, the propagation of the Kālacakra teachings in India date to the 11th century.
Spread to Tibet
According to Tāranātha, seventeen distinct lineages of Kālacakra that came from India to Tibet were recorded and compiled by the Jonang master, Kunpang Chenpo.see https://www.shentongkalacakra.com/kalacakra-2/the-seventeen-lineages-of-the-six-vajra-yogas-by-jetsun-taranatha/ The main two lineages of these that are practised today are the Dro lineage and the Ra lineage, both lineages were founded by disciples of an Indian master named Nalandapa.
The Ra lineage became particularly important in the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism, where it was held by such prominent masters as Sakya Pandita (1182–1251), Drogön Chögyal Phagpa (1235–1280), Butön Rinchen Drup (1290–1364), and Dölpopa Shérap Gyeltsen (1292–1361). The latter two, both of whom also held the Dro lineage, are particularly well known expositors of the Kālacakra in Tibet, the practice of which is said to have greatly informed Dölpopa's exposition of shentong philosophy. A strong emphasis on Kālacakra practice and exposition of the shentong view were the principal distinguishing characteristics of the Jonang school that traces its roots to Dölpopa.
Today, Kālacakra is practiced by all schools of Tibetan Buddhism, although it is most prominent in Gelug and Jonang. It is the main tantric practice for the Jonangpa, whose school persists to this day with a small number of monasteries in Kham, Qinghai and Sichuan.
Views The philosophical view of the Kālacakratantra is undoubtedly that of the Mahayana Buddhist Madhyamaka school, and the text attempts to refute all other Buddhist and non-Buddhist systems. As noted by Wallace, the Kālacakratantra holds that "only Madhyamikas who assert the nonduality of compassion and emptiness avoid philosophical failure."
The Kālacakratantra summarizes its fundamental doctrines in the following passage: Identitylessness, the maturation of karma, the three realms, the six states of existence, the origination due to the twelve-limbed dependence, the Four Truths, the eighteen unique qualities of the Buddha, the five psycho-physical aggregates, the three bodies and the Sahajakaya, and animate emptiness. The system in which these are taught is the clear and definite instruction of the Vajri.
Transformation of body and mind According to Vesna Wallace, the Kālacakra tradition has a unique interpretation of emptiness which is not just a mere negation of inherent existence (svabhava), but also refers to "the absence of material constituents of the individual's body and mind." This "aspect of emptiness" (sunyatakara), or "form of emptiness" (sunyata-bimba), is, according to Wallace: a form that is empty of both inherent existence and physical particles. It is a form that is endowed with all the signs and symbols of the Buddha. That form of emptiness, also known as the "empty form," is also regarded as the "animate emptiness" (ajada-sunyata). Due to being animate, this emptiness is the cause of supreme and immutable bliss (paramacala-sukha). The non-duality of the cause and effect is the essential teaching of this tantra.
The unique Kālacakra path and goal is based on this view. Its goal is: