The Little Red Volume
Published by Michael Sheehy on 05 Jan 2010
After a recent request, we thought to draw attention to a collection of early writings by Sakya Lam bras masters. This work is the Lam ‘bras Po ti dmar ma, also known as the Pu sti dmar chung or “The Little Red Volume.”
This collection was compiled by Ngor chen Kun dga’ bzang po, and an index was written by his nephew, Rgyal tshab Kun dga’ dbang phyug who was the fourth abbot of Ngor Monastery. Texts by Ngor chen and Mus chen Dkon mchog rgyal mtshan were then added at the end of the original grouping of texts.
As Cyrus Stearns writes in his study on the early masters of the Lam bras tradition, the Po ti dmar ma was compiled by Ngor chen to include many of the minor esoteric instruction texts that were not included in the previous Sakya Pod ser or the Pod nag collections so that they would not be lost or forgotten (Stearns, 38). Like the Yellow Volume and the Black Volume, the Po ti dmar ma is said to have gotten its name from the color of cloth in which it was originally wrapped.
Because of the similarity in abbreviated titles, one of the historical problems with identifying this collection is that it is often confused with Dmar ston Chos rgyals commentary on the Rdo rje tshig rkang of Virupa known as the Gzhung bshad Dmar ma (Stearns, 72). Although there are several works by Sa skya Pandita and his student Dmar ston in the actual Po ti dmar ma collection, the attribution of Dmar ston Chos rgyal is incorrect. This confusion is then further reified with the 1985 reproduction of Dmar ston’s commentary titled the Lam ‘bras Po ti dmar ma.
Another aspect that contributes to misidentifying this text is that although it is not technically a slob bshad work, it was published as part of the Lam bras Slob bshad (vol. 13) collection in India. Historically, the tshogs bshad / slob bshad distinction did not occur until the time of Tshar chen Blo gsal rgya mtsho in the mid-sixteenth century, over a hundred years after the Po ti dmar mas original compilation.
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Stearns, C. Luminous Lives: The Story of the Early Masters of the Lam bras Tradition in Tibet. Wisdom Publications, 2001.
Thanks to Cyrus Stearns for his explanations.