The Thirteen Golden Dharmas of Sakya

The Thirteen Golden Dharmas are said to derive from the time of Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (1092-1158) when he received initiations and teachings that were considered so precious that only gold could be offered to the Guru. There are several ways of enumerating the Thirteen and when all of the initiations are counted there can be as many as sixteen or more in total. Different traditions and monasteries specialized in different practices. Gongkar Dorje Den monastery specialized in the Dakini Simhamukha. The Khon family especially practiced the Three Great Red Ones (Marpo Kor Sum). The Tsar branch school also held the Thirteen to be very special. Everybody practiced the Three Red Ones (Vajrayogini). The initiations for the Thirteen are either given as a group over several days or they can be given individually at different times for various reasons depending on the teacher and the donor. Some of the initiations are a simple ‘Permission’ (body, speech, mind) while others are ‘Blessings’ which means an abbreviated initiation based on the recipient having already received a ‘Major Empowerment’ (wangkur). If the Thirteen are given at one time then the teacher will often give the Two Day Chakrasamvara or the Hevajra Empowerments first as a mandatory requirement for the students prior to receiving any of the other initiations. This is actually necessary because many of the Thirteen Golden Dharmas belong to the Anuttarayoga classification of Tantra.

The Thirteen are an odd assortment of practices and do not naturally belong together as a set. They do not come into the Sakya Tradition as a single group through only one early Lotsawa or siddha. Nor do the Thirteen arise from a common text or set of Tantric literature. In fact the Thirteen are all very different and arise from a number of Tantras. It is true that a few come from the Chakrasamvara cycle of Tantras, but that in itself is a very large collection of literature with at least eleven important main Tantras, not counting all of the minor related Tantras. It might be best to think of the Thirteen Golden Dharmas as the Swiss Army Knife of the Sakya Tradition. They are a collection of practices for reaching enlightenment quickly (Marmo Kor Sum), practices for power and domination (Marpo Kor Sum), practices to take care of specific power and wealth needs (Marchung Kor Sum and Red Jambhala). There are miscellaneous practices to overcome sickness and naga related diseases (Shabala Garuda, Simhanada), environmental and psychological issues (Black Manjushri, Dakini Simhamukha) and finally longevity and lifespan extension (Nine-deity Amitayus Buddha and Amaravajradevi). These Thirteen are considered the best support and specialized practices along the path to reaching complete enlightenment. Each of these practices are accompanied by many colourful narratives relating how the great Indian and Tibetan practitioners of the past overcame natural and spiritual obstacles by relying on these various practices.

It is sometimes said that the Thirteen came down from the lineage of Mal Lotsawa to
Sachen, but this is not accurate. Some of the initiations and practices did come through Mal Lotsawa but not all. For some of the practices there are different traditions of initiation and choices of ritual texts. For example the initiation of Simhanada Lokeshvara is found in the Sadhanamala (Drub Thab Gyatso), the Bari Gyatsa, and in other sources. The Dakini Simhamukha of Bari Lotsawa is counted as one in the Thirteen Golden Dharmas, however Bari Lotsawa taught the solitary Simhamukha, the Three Deity Simhamukha and the Five Deity Simhamukha, not to mention the red form, amongst others. Who is to say which of these is the Golden Dharma? Or are they all Golden Dharmas? I don’t know when the term Thirteen Golden Dharmas was first used and recorded in literature, but it does appear to be early. The earliest recorded sets of Golden Dharmas in Sakya of any type are related to the Lamdre Tradition. The four most important teachings given by Virupa and received directly by Sachen are called the Four Golden Dharmas of Virupa: Lamdu, Lamsap, Birsung and Vajravidarana. These however are not related to the set of Thirteen Golden Dharmas.

The Golden Dharmas are divided into three sets of three and then four miscellaneous
initiations added giving it the name Thirteen. The three sets are standard for all enumerations of the Thirteen. The first set of three is the Three Red Ones commonly referred to as the Marmo Kor Sum, or Kachod Kor Sum (Cycle of Three Khechara). They are (1) Vajrayogini of Naropa, Naro Khechara, (2) Vajrayogini of Indrabhuti, Indra Khechara and (3) Vajrayogini of Maitripa, Maitri Khechara. These three practices all arise from the Chakrasamvara cycle of Tantras. For each of these it is believed that Vajrayogini appeared in person before the Mahasiddha that the tradition is named after. It is not historically clear which Maitripa or Indrabhuti is being referred to, nor is it clear in the Indrabhuti lineage if the Virupa is the same as the Lamdre Virupa.

The second set of three is the Three Great Red Ones (Marpo Kor Sum): (4) Kurukulla of the Hevajra Tantra from the lineage of Sahaja Lalita, (5) Takkiraja of the Guhyasamaja Tantra and (6) Maharakta Ganapati associated with the Chakrasamvara Tantra.

The third set is the Three Small Red Ones (Marchung Kor Sum): (7) Kurukulla-Tara of the Vajrapanjara Tantra, (8) Red Vasudhara of the Chakrasamvara cycle of Tantras and (9) Tinuma, the activity form of Vajravarahi, also of the Chakrasamvara cycle.

The four standard remaining deities are (10) Black Manjushri from the lineage of the siddha Jetari, (11) Shabala Garuda from the Kalachakra Tantra and the lineage of Naropa, (12) Simhanada Lokeshvara from its own tantra and (13) Red Jambhala from the Chakrasamvara Tantra and the lineage of mahasiddha Virupa.

Alternates are the dakini (14) Simhamukha associated with the Chakrasamvara Tantra, (15) Amaravajradevi also of the Chakrasamvara Tantra and (16) the Nine-deity Amitayus Buddha from his own Tantra.

The Thirteen Golden Dharmas are often depicted in Tibetan and Himalayan style art. The Three Red Ones and the Three Great Red Ones are commonly seen in Newar art and early Tibetan art from Sakya Monastery to Gyantse and Shalu in the 14th century. Later, the Thirteen became popular with the various Gelug traditions and artistic representations can be found from Mongolia to China. From the 17th to 19th centuries very fine paintings depicting all thirteen deities were created in the Imperial Palace workshops in Beijing. Some of these works still remain in the collection of the Imperial Palace Museum.