Geshe Tashi Tsering - overview of tantric paths and grounds.pdf

THE FOUNDATION of BUDDHIST THOUGHT

Part 6. An Overview of Tantric Paths and Grounds

Geshe Tashi Tsering

The Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition

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This book is the sixth of a set of six which accompany ‘The Foundation of Buddhist Thought’ an FPMT two-year course in basic Buddhist studies. The text of this book is also available in large print. Please contact Jamyang Buddhist Centre for details. Published by Jamyang Buddhist Centre 2003 The Old Courthouse, 43 Renfrew Road, London SE11 4NA, UK Edited by Gordon McDougall Illustrations by Grant Osman and Robert Beer Designed and produced by Veronica Wilton Printed by Formara Ltd. To see more about the Foundation of Buddhist Thought course, please visit: www.buddhistthought.org

Copyright © Geshe Tashi Tsering, Jamyang Buddhist Centre, Grant, Osman, Robert Beer

All rights reserved. Please note that all text and illustrations in this book are in copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

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CHAPTER ONE................................................................................................................... 10

THE UNIQUENESS OF TANTRA ................................................................................... 10 Materials ......................................................................................................................... 10 The Historical Evolution of Vajrayana ....................................................................... 11 1. A Brief History......................................................................................................... 11 3. The Rarity of Tantra................................................................................................ 12 The Unique Features of the Vajrayana Path.............................................................. 13 1. The Similarities Between the Perfection Vehicle and Vajrayana.......................... 13 i. no difference in terms of attainment........................................................................ 13 ii. no difference in terms of bodhicitta ....................................................................... 14 iii. no difference in terms of the six perfections......................................................... 14 iv. no difference in terms of the view......................................................................... 14 v. no difference in terms of the aim............................................................................ 14 3. The Unique Features of Vajrayana......................................................................... 15 4. The Four Complete Purities.................................................................................... 17 i. the complete purity of environment ....................................................................... 17 ii.

the complete purity of body................................................................................... 17

iii. the complete purity of resources ............................................................................ 18 iv.

the complete purity of activities ........................................................................... 18

5. Deity Yoga............................................................................................................... 18 6. Utilising Afflictive Emotions on the Path .............................................................. 20 Questions on Chapter One............................................................................................ 20

CHAPTER TWO.................................................................................................................. 22

ENTERING THE VAJRAYANA....................................................................................... 22 Entering the Vajrayana................................................................................................. 22 1. The Different Names for Vajrayana ....................................................................... 22 2. The Prerequisites for Entering the Vajrayana ........................................................ 22 3

The Four Classes of Tantra .......................................................................................... 24 1. Kriya Tantra ............................................................................................................ 24 2.

Carya Tantra ........................................................................................................... 24

3. Yoga Tantra............................................................................................................. 25 4. Highest Yoga Tantra ............................................................................................... 25 5. The Profundity of Highest Yoga Tantra................................................................. 25 i. praña yoga ................................................................................................................ 26 ii. generating the four types of joy.............................................................................. 26 iii. cultivating the state of non-conceptuality ............................................................. 26 Initiations ........................................................................................................................ 27 1. The Three Types of Initiations................................................................................ 27 2. Causal Initiations..................................................................................................... 28 3. The Mandala............................................................................................................ 29 4. The Qualities of the Vajra Master .......................................................................... 29 4. The Qualities of the Disciple .................................................................................. 30 Questions on Chapter Two ........................................................................................... 30

CHAPTER 3.......................................................................................................................... 32

THE LOWER TANTRAS................................................................................................... 32 1. Yoga with Sign and Yoga Without Sign ................................................................ 32 The Concentration of the Four Branches of Recitation...................................................33 1. Abiding on the Basis of Another ............................................................................ 33 2. Abiding on the Basis of Oneself............................................................................. 34 i. deity of emptiness .................................................................................................... 34 ii. deity of sound.......................................................................................................... 34 iii. deity of letter .......................................................................................................... 35 iv. deity of form........................................................................................................... 35 v. deity of mudra ......................................................................................................... 35 vi. deity of symbol....................................................................................................... 35 3. Abiding on the Basis of Mind................................................................................. 36 4

4. Abiding on the Basis of Sound ............................................................................... 36 5.

Combining the Branches........................................................................................ 36

i. bringing the life force under control........................................................................ 37 a. difference with regard to meaning .......................................................................... 37 b. difference with regard to time................................................................................. 38 c. difference with regard to purpose ........................................................................... 38 d. difference with regard to method............................................................................ 38 6. Two Types of Mantra Recitation............................................................................ 39 i. whispered recitation ................................................................................................ 39 ii. mental recitation...................................................................................................... 40 The Concentration of Abiding in Fire ............................................................................... 40 The Concentration of Abiding in Sound ............................................................................41 Bestowing Liberation at the End of Sound ....................................................................... 41 Another Way of Presenting the Path in Kriya Tantra.....................................................43 Questions on Chapter Three......................................................................................... 44

CHAPTER 4.......................................................................................................................... 45

THE GENERATION STAGE OF HIGHEST YOGA TANTRA .................................. 45 An Overview of the Generation Stage ............................................................................... 45 1. Father and Mother Tantra ....................................................................................... 45 2. Practising The Generation Stage ............................................................................ 46 How to Practise the Generation Stage in Connection with the Guhyasamaja

Sadhana ............................................................................................................................ Before the Actual Practice ............................................................................................ 48 2. The Main Preliminary Practice............................................................................... 49 During The Actual Practice .......................................................................................... 50 1. The Meditative Absorption of the Initial Engagement .......................................... 50 i. the way to be enlightened ........................................................................................ 50 5

ii. the generation of the deities, the form in which enlightenment takes place ......... 50 iii. deeds of the specially imagined deities................................................................. 51 2. The Meditative Absorption on the Supreme Victorious Mandala......................... 52 3. The Meditative Absorption on Supreme Activities ............................................... 52 Between Sessions ............................................................................................................ 52 Divisions of the Stage of Generation ..................................................................................53 1. Coarse and subtle yogas.......................................................................................... 53 i. coarse yoga ............................................................................................................... 53 ii. subtle yoga............................................................................................................... 53 2. The Four Levels of Achievement ........................................................................... 54 i. beginner’s level ........................................................................................................ 54 ii. slight dawning of wisdom....................................................................................... 54 iii. slight control over wisdom .................................................................................... 54 iv. perfect control over wisdom .................................................................................. 55 Questions on Chapter Four .......................................................................................... 55

CHAPTER 5.......................................................................................................................... 56

TAKING ORDINARY DEATH, INTERMEDIATE STATE AND REBIRTH INTO THE PATH............................................................................................................................ 56 Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth ............................................................................. 56 The Yoga of Taking Death as Dharmakaya into the Path........................................ 57 1. The Eight Dissolutions............................................................................................ 57 i. the first dissolution – the earth element dissolves into the water element ............. 58 ii. the second dissolution – the water element dissolves into the fire element.......... 58 iii. the third dissolution – the fire element dissolves into the wind element ............. 59 iv. the fourth dissolution – the wind element dissolves into consciousness ............. 59 v. the fifth dissolution – 80 conceptions dissolve into the white appearance ........... 60 vi. the sixth dissolution – the white appearance dissolves into the red increase....... 60 vii. the seventh dissolution – the red increase dissolves into the black nearattainment ...................................................................................................................... 60 6

viii. the eighth dissolution – the black near-attainment dissolves into the clear light ........................................................................................................................................ 61 2. The Basis of Purification, the Means of Purification and the Result of Purification .................................................................................................................... 61 The Yoga of Taking the Intermediate State as Sambhogakaya into the Path ....... 62 1. The Intermediate State ............................................................................................ 62 2. How the Yoga of Taking Intermediate State as Sambhogakaya into the Path is Done............................................................................................................................... 63 i. the clarification through suchness ........................................................................... 64 ii. the clarification through the moon ......................................................................... 64 iii. the clarification through the seed syllables........................................................... 64 iv. the clarification through the hand implements...................................................... 65 v. the clarification through the emergence into full form .......................................... 65 3. The Intermediate State Meditation at Base, Path and Resultant Levels................ 65 i. the sun, moon and lotus ........................................................................................... 66 ii. the three letters ........................................................................................................ 66 iii. the single moon ...................................................................................................... 66 iv. all animate and inanimate objects dissolving back into the moon disc................ 66 v. the seed syllables..................................................................................................... 66 vi. the vajra .................................................................................................................. 66 vii. transforming into the primordial buddha ............................................................. 67 4. The Basis of Purification, the Means of Purification and the Result of Purification .................................................................................................................... 67 The Yoga of Taking Rebirth as Nirmanakaya into the Path ................................... 67 1. Ordinary Rebirth ..................................................................................................... 67 i. the development of the substances from the father and mother ............................. 68 2. The Five Stages of Birth and the Five Dhyani Buddhas........................................ 68 3. How the Yoga of Taking Rebirth as Nirmanakaya into the Path is Done ............ 69 i. conversion of birth into the emanation body........................................................... 69 ii. generation of the Emanation Vajradhara................................................................ 70 iii. blessing the body, speech and mind ...................................................................... 70 7

iv. generation of the triple being................................................................................. 70 v.

sealing with the lord of the family......................................................................... 70

Questions on Chapter Five............................................................................................ 71

CHAPTER 6.......................................................................................................................... 72

THE COMPLETION STAGE (1) ...................................................................................... 72

THE NATURE OF THE BODY AND MIND .................................................................. 72 1. The Nature of the Body........................................................................................... 72 2. The Nature of the Mind........................................................................................... 73 Channels, Wheels, Winds and Drops .......................................................................... 73 1. Channels .................................................................................................................. 73 i. cleansing the channels.............................................................................................. 75 2. Channel Wheels....................................................................................................... 76 i. the crown channel wheel......................................................................................... 76 ii. the throat channel wheel ......................................................................................... 76 iii. the heart channel wheel ......................................................................................... 76 iv. the navel channel wheel......................................................................................... 76 v. the secret place channel wheel................................................................................ 77 3. Loosening the Knots ............................................................................................... 78 4. Winds....................................................................................................................... 79 i. the indestructible wind............................................................................................. 80 5. Drops........................................................................................................................ 81 i. the indestructible drop.............................................................................................. 81 6. The Basis of Samsara and Liberation..................................................................... 82 EMPTINESS AND BLISS................................................................................................... 82 1. The Meaning of E-VAM .......................................................................................... 82 2. The Initiations Related to the Completion Stage ................................................... 83 3. The Union of Emptiness and Great Bliss ............................................................... 83 Questions on Chapter Six.............................................................................................. 84 8

CHAPTER 7.......................................................................................................................... 85

THE COMPLETION STAGE (2) ...................................................................................... 85

THE SIX LEVELS OF COMPLETION........................................................................... 85 The Six Levels of the Completion Stage............................................................................. 85 Physical Isolation ........................................................................................................... 86 1. The Four Ways of Generating the Deities.............................................................. 87 i. the ultimate physical isolation of the hundred deities............................................ 87 ii. the ultimate physical isolation of the twenty-five deities ...................................... 87 iii. the ultimate physical isolation of the secret three families................................... 87 iv. the ultimate physical isolation of the great secret one family .............................. 88 2. The Actual Meditation of Physical Isolation.......................................................... 88 i. the meditation on a subtle drop............................................................................... 88 ii. the meditation on emptiness ................................................................................... 88 a. the four joys and the four empties........................................................................... 89 3. Tum-mo Practice ..................................................................................................... 91 Verbal Isolation .............................................................................................................. 92 i. the mantra drop meditation ...................................................................................... 94 ii. the light drop meditation......................................................................................... 94 iii. the substance drop.................................................................................................. 95 Mental Isolation.............................................................................................................. 95 1. The Two Levels Mental Isolation........................................................................... 95 i. the action seal ........................................................................................................... 96 The Illusory Body........................................................................................................... 98 Clear Light.................................................................................................................... 100 Union.............................................................................................................................. 101 i. learner’s union........................................................................................................ 101 ii. non-learner’s union ............................................................................................... 101 iii. the seven exalted features of the non-learner’s union ........................................ 102 iv. the correlations to the bodies of the buddha........................................................ 103 9

Questions on Chapter Seven....................................................................................... 105

SUPPLEMENTARY READING...................................................................................... 106 Comparison of the Course Book Outline of the Sadhana with Akhu Sherap Gyatso’s Outline of the Sadhana Divided into 36........................................................................... 106 The Rite of Remedy For Mantra Downfalls ................................................................... 108

Glossary .............................................................................................................................

Chapter One The Uniqueness of Tantra Materials 1/ Paths and Grounds of Guhyasamaja by Yanchen Gewai Lodoe published by The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 1995, ISBN: 81-85102-94-5 Although quite technical, this book has a very good explanation of Highest Yoga Tantra practice. Its two stages, the generation and completion stage, are explained in relation to the Guhyasamaja tantra. If we know this process then we can easily apply it to other deity practices, except for Kalachakra which has its own, slightly different explanation. Although it might seem overwhelming for someone who knows nothing about tantra, I would like you to try to read this book quite thoroughly, particularly the chapters on the generation and completion stage. It is translated from Tibetan and you can see the typical Tibetan style which is to divide it into different outlines. In Tibetan books you don’t find indexes, headings and contents, etc, normally but this book is good because it has been set out with these. 2/ An Overview of Buddhist Tantra by Panchen Sonam Dragpa published by The Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 1996, ISBN: 81-85102-99-6 This has a really quite good explanation on the four different systems of Tantrayana – Kriya, Carya, Yoga and Highest Yoga Tantra, particularly Kriya Tantra, which I think is quite important to understand. 3/ An Introduction to Tantra by Lama Thubten Yeshe published by Wisdom Publications, 1987, ISBN: 0-86171-021-5 Lama Yeshe’s book gives a very clear overview of tantric practice and how it works. It is written in very simple, non-technical language and it is very nice to read. Rather than trying to lead us to a deep understanding of the techniques of Tantra, it is an introduction which looks at how tantra and our human nature work together. 4/ Highest Yoga Tantra by Daniel Cozort published by Snow Lion Publications, 1986, ISBN 0-937938-32-7 10

Please visit Snow Lion’s website: www.SnowLionPub.com An excellent account of Highest Yoga Tantra, looking at both the generation and completion stages in some detail and comparing the Guhyasamaja and Kalachakra tantras.

The Historical Evolution of Vajrayana 1. A Brief History It is very difficult to talk precisely about the history of Vajrayana, the Vajra or Tantric vehicle. (There are many terms we can use but I will generally stick with Vajrayana.) Because the subject matter has been kept secret through many, many generations, there are neither accurate records of the evolution nor even a sense of chronology about the practices. And as you may know by now, I am not at all good at talking about historical things. Nevertheless, I thought it might be good to say a few words about the origins of tantra. As His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said, there are two main ideas about when the historical Buddha, Shakyamuni, taught Vajrayana. One maintains that he taught it a year after he taught the Prajnaparamita Sutra near Rajagriya on the top of Vultures’ Peak. Other scholars believe that he taught the Vajrayana teachings just one year before his Parinirvana, the time he passed away. Of course there has been a lot of debate about this but it seems the second date has more consistency and more historical backing than the first, so we can probably put the date of the Vajrayana teachings to a year before the Buddha’s death. Although there is no dispute at all in Tibetan Buddhism that the Buddha taught Vajrayana, there are different assertions about when, where and how he taught it. There are four kinds of tantra – Kriya, Carya, Yoga and Highest Yoga Tantra – and the various tantras within these four all have root texts which explain their origins. The texts all have a mystic quality to them, stating that the Buddha was in the form of the particular deity he was teaching about. The famous Kalachakra tantra, for instance, says he taught the Kalachakra root texts after arising in the form of Kalachakra with a consort. It seems that although most tantras were taught in the form of a deity, there are a few within the lower classes of tantra that the Buddha taught in his ordinary form as a fully ordained monk. So how they were taught differs from normal Buddhist teachings. There are also lots of discussions about where they were taught. For example, there is a quotation in the Kalachakra tantra root text indicating that he taught the Kalachakra teaching at a place called Amravati in a small town called Gundur near Madras in south India. It also seems that many Vajrayana teachings were not necessarily taught during the historical Buddha’s lifetime, but have been received through the extraordinary insight of highly realised individuals who had pure visions of the deity they were practising. So in some sense receiving tantric teachings happened at a very mystical level, not at the level on which we ordinary people operate. Therefore the notions of time and place are not necessarily as precise or rigid as modern historians have tried to establish. I think that this is quite important to know about. Not only was the Buddha in the enjoyment body aspect (Skt: sambhogakaya) when he taught the tantras, his audience were too. Ordinary people do not have the qualities to receive such high teachings or see that particular aspect of the Buddha, so the texts state that the disciples listening to the teachings were not ordinary monks, as in the normal teachings, but that they too had the particular deities’ appearances and unique features. Originally Vajrayana practices were secret and only for the individual. It was not until around the fourth and fifth centuries that they became more public, in terms of both the availability of the materials and the fact that they were more often practised in communities. With this came more commentaries and explanations on how to practise them and then much later the great Indian masters started to categorise them into the four kinds: Kriya, Carya, Yoga and Highest Yoga Tantra. The Vajrayana practices came to Tibet in two stages. Firstly, around the late seventh and early eighth century with Guru Rinpoche Padmasambhava and the Acharya Shankarakshita, and secondly when Lotsawa Rinchen Zangpo made new translations of the Guhyasamaja Tantra texts and the other tantras which came in the second period of transmissions. 11

2. The Care Needed in Teaching Vajrayana Although the four levels of tantra have differences and are therefore put into different groups, there are many similarities. One of the things we will be looking at is how all tantras have two stages. In the lower three tantras these are called ‘yoga with sign’ and ‘yoga without sign’; in Highest Yoga Tantra they are called ‘generation’ and ‘completion’ stages. They are different is in terms of the methods used and the profundity. The completion stage is a very advanced practice. In some sense it is beyond our ordinary concepts. We can use terms such as physical and verbal isolation, illusory body and clear light but really at this stage we have no idea what they actually mean. All the Highest Yoga Tantra deity practices have these two stages and I would like to really emphasise that the completion stage is utterly impossible without a thorough grounding in the generation stage. It is not like developing bodhicitta and emptiness where of course one helps the other but they can be developed separately. These two stages are two different levels of the same practice. I myself have received many initiations and teachings on this subject, but I do not feel at all qualified to talk about it. Very strictly speaking, to discuss this all parties must have received a Highest Yoga Tantra initiation, but as there are now many books available which anybody can read, maybe these days are exceptional. A breach of one of the fourteen Tantric root vows is to give tantric teachings to people who are not qualified, so I hope doing this will not cause any obstacles. If there are strong doubts in your mind or if you are hesitant about this subject, maybe it is better to read to the end of the chapter on Kriya Tantra and then leave it at that. On the other hand, if I can make it as clear as possible and you can study the course as openly and sincerely as possible, I don’t think there is any risk. My feeling is that so many Westerners are interested in tantra and there is so much spoken about it that it is better to receive detailed and accurate teachings on it than to be left with half-truths. 3. The Rarity of Tantra Not having enough information is one of the main problems when we try to practise Vajrayana, for Tibetans as well as for Western students. In our monastic programme we have tantric studies, but only at the very end after we have taken lots of initiations and commitments, even after the geshe studies. We take on commitments despite the fact that there is rarely enough information given during the initiation. Therefore it is important to try and read as much as you can about Vajrayana if you really want to practise it. The Vajrayana path is considered a secret one and in certain cases you are not allowed to read about a certain practice unless you have taken the initiation and had permission from the master. I feel this is more for people who are just reading out of curiosity. For people who are really, genuinely seeking correct information in order to practise Vajrayana, I think it is better to study it first, so that whatever practice we do is done with good understanding, rather than to take initiations without having read anything. And of course this all implies already having an excellent understanding of the common path of Sutrayana. In Sutrayana one realisation can help us develop another practice. Developing the wisdom realising emptiness can help us develop bodhicitta and vice versa, or renunciation can help us develop the realisation of emptiness and vice versa. However, there is not such a strong sense of progression as there is in tantric practice, where one stage leads to the next and if we miss one part of a sadhana then the practice is incomplete. With Vajrayana, all the points and topics are very interlinked and it is important to take it as seriously as possible. In the traditional explanations about the rarity of tantra we can find many sources saying that in this auspicious aeon there will be a thousand buddhas, of whom our present Buddha, Shakyamuni, who lived 2,500 years ago, was the fourth. And he is one of only three of those thousand who will teach Vajrayana. Therefore tantric practice is a very rare teaching, in terms of the buddhas who are going to teach in this aeon. It is also rare in terms of its practitioners. There are many more Sutrayana than Vajrayana practitioners who practise in a very hidden way. Even rarer are people who practise Highest Yoga Tantra. There are several Buddhist countries which have tantric practices but they only practise the first three: Kriya, Carya and Yoga Tantra, not Highest Yoga Tantra. As Lama Tsong Khapa says: 12

It is said “there are two vehicles For the journey to perfect enlightenment, The Transcendence Vehiclei and the deep Vajra Vehicle; And the Secret Tantras are very much superior To the Vehicle of the Transcendences!” This is as well known as the sun and the moon. Yet there are those, weighty with pretended wisdom, Who while verbally asserting the truth of that saying, Make no inquiry into the vehicle of the profound! If such as they are supposed to be intelligent, How could anyone else ever be thought dumb? Alas! It is amazing that any should repudiate Such an unexcelled path, so hard to come across! Therefore, I entered that deep treasury of twin accomplishments, The supreme vehicle of the Victors, the Vajra Vehicle, More rare even than the Buddha; And I worked hard at it, and studied it long.ii

The Unique Features of the Vajrayana Path 1. The Similarities Between the Perfection Vehicle and Vajrayana As you know, Buddhism is generally divided into two main vehicles or yanas, Theravada or Individual Liberation Vehicle (also called Hinayana), and Mahayana. Mahayana is further divided into Perfection Vehicle, Bodhisattva Vehicle and Vajra Vehicle. Although still part of the Mahayana, the Vajra Vehicle or Vajrayana is different from all these other vehicles in that it alone does not come from the three ‘bundles’ of sutras (Skt: tripitaka), but from ‘tantras’ taught by the Buddha. Within the Mahayana Buddhism which is taught in the sutras, Bodhisattvayana can be found in the sutras belonging to the second and third turnings of the wheel of Dharma concerning bodhicitta and the six perfections, and the Perfection Vehicle comes from the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. Although not identical, these two paths blend into each other in many areas and, as a bodhisattva needs wisdom and a practitioner realising emptiness need bodhicitta, for all intensive purposes we can refer to all non-tantric Mahayana as the Perfection Vehicle. Before we look at how Vajrayana and the Perfection Vehicle are different we will briefly look at how they are not different. You will see that there is: i. no difference in terms of attainment ii. no difference in terms of bodhicitta iii. no difference in terms of the six perfections iv. no difference in terms of the view v. no difference in terms of the aim. i. no difference in terms of attainment On the surface, Vajrayana seems very different from the Perfection Vehicle but there is absolutely no difference in terms of the attainment. The end result of both vehicles is full enlightenment. Unlike practitioners on the Individual Liberation Path, the hearers and solitary realisers, whose goal is liberation from samsara, those practising the Perfection Vehicle will eventually attain enlightenment with the two kayas: the truth body (Skt: 13

dharmakaya) and form body (Skt: rupakaya). In that, there is no difference whatsoever from the Vajrayana. (We will discuss the bodies of a buddha later.) Having said that, there is debate about whether the Perfection Vehicle can actually take us all the way. Some scholars maintain that before progressing very far on the five pathsiii the practitioner will become a Vajrayana practitioner. From the Theravadin point of view, Shakyamuni Buddha came into this world as an ordinary being and through different practices he attained all the qualities he needed and so became enlightened. But from the Mahayana point of view, he came into this world not as an ordinary samsaric being, but as an emanation body (Skt: nirmanakaya). In other words, he presented the aspect of becoming enlightened under the Bodhi tree in order to teach us, but in fact he was already an enlightened being long before his appearance in our world as Shakyamuni. Lama Tsong Khapa says that without depending on Vajrayana practice, especially Highest Yoga Tantra, enlightenment is not possible. His argument is that the final stage before enlightenment relies on Vajrayana practice. Whether it is true or not that we need tantra to become enlightened, the goal of the two vehicles is exactly the same. ii. no difference in terms of bodhicitta There is also absolutely no difference between the two vehicles in terms of needing bodhicitta. Without bodhicitta, progress within either vehicle is impossible. In terms of the bodhicitta itself, there is no superiority and inferiority; the mind of bodhicitta is the same mind whether the practitioner is engaged in the Perfection Vehicle or Vajrayana. iii. no difference in terms of the six perfections Both the Perfection Vehicle and Vajrayana practitioner must engage in the six perfections – patience, generosity, morality, concentration, joyous effort and wisdom. With respect to both the methods used and to the quality of mind developed, there is no difference at all in the way the six perfections are realised. iv. no difference in terms of the view But how about the realisation of emptiness? Is there a difference in that? As a minimum, to practise the Vajrayana path, the practitioner needs an understanding of the Cittamatrin view of emptiness. There were great Indian masters who practised Vajrayana, even Highest Yoga Tantra, based on the Cittamatrin view but how far it took them is debatable. There have been lots of arguments about whether the Cittamatrin view of emptiness is all we need for both the generation and completion stage of the Highest Yoga Tantra. Many scholars argue that to practise the complete Vajrayana path we need to have the Madhyamaka School’s view of emptiness, particularly that of the Prasangika Madhyamaka. With regard to the object that needs to be negated, there is no difference between the Perfection Vehicle practitioner and the Vajrayana practitioner. Both types of practitioner will initially realise emptiness conceptually and then directly, and the object of negation to be eliminated is identical in terms of its degree of subtlety. There is a difference, however, in the method used to realise that emptiness, as we will see below. v. no difference in terms of the aim Finally the aim is identical. For both vehicles, the aim is to benefit other sentient beings, and to achieve full enlightenment in order to do that. One of the great masters uses a very nice analogy. We want to attain enlightenment because we can see that sentient beings are suffering and we want to help them in the best way we can. That is like seeing that a person is thirsty. We want to give them water, but first we need a container to carry the water in. The path is the equivalent of searching for that container while achieving enlightenment is finding it. The main aim is to quench their thirst; the method is to find a container to carry the water to them. In that respect there is no difference at all between the Perfection Vehicle and the Vajrayana Vehicle. These two vehicles are not differentiated by the superiority or inferiority of their resultant attainments, because the result in both cases is entirely free of faults and replete with good qualities. The main goals are to benefit others and to achieve enlightenment. 14

So, in many important ways, the two paths are identical: in their aims and in their final attainments, in the bodhicitta needed, in the realisation of emptiness and in the six perfections that need to be practised. 3. The Unique Features of Vajrayana There are differences, however, between the Perfection Vehicle and the Vajrayana Vehicle. There are features which are unique to Vajrayana. If we can see clearly why it is unique and, because of that uniqueness, better suited to our needs than Sutrayana, it will help us to know how to practise it correctly. This will give us the motivation to put the required effort into our practice. In The World of Tibetan Buddhism His Holiness the Dalai Lama says:iv The unique feature of Tantra concerns the process of attaining the kayas, the embodiment of the enlightened beings, the form body or rupakaya and the truth body or dharmakaya. The unique feature of the Vajrayana practice is the process. It is not the result or the aim but how we actually attain that result. All Buddhist schools agree that to achieve results we must have causes and conditions. Without causes and conditions, we definitely cannot achieve the results. That is the basic philosophy in Buddhism, isn’t it? – karma or the law of cause and effect. The result both vehicles seek is full enlightenment with the two kayas, the dharmakaya (truth body) and the rupakaya (form body). To obtain that the causes to achieve those two bodies must be accumulated. Practitioners of the Perfection Vehicle would agree with that, but the key point we need to look at is how they accumulate those causes. The Perfection Vehicle has two categories, the practice of method (which can also be called ‘skilful means’) and the practice of wisdom. Everything Perfection Vehicle practitioners do fits into one of these two. The method side of their practice creates the cause for them to attain the form body, the rupakaya. The wisdom side of their practice, realising emptiness and impermanence, creates the cause for them to achieve the truth body, the dharmakaya. One of Nagarjuna texts, Ratnavali (The Precious Garland), summarises this by showing that the Two Truths is the base for the two bodies. Conventional truth serves as the base for the method side of the path – practising generosity, morality, patience, concentration, compassion, love etc – which leads to the form body, rupakaya. Ultimate truth is the base for the wisdom side of the path which leads to the truth body, dharmakaya. To attain full enlightenment, these two causes must be accumulated equally – realising emptiness will not take us all the way, nor will realising bodhicitta. However, the Perfection Vehicle sees these as two distinct practices, one supporting each other. The practitioner can combine these two sides of the practice – method and wisdom – but not within one mind. The mind realising emptiness cannot become the mind realising the method side of the practice and vice versa; the method side cannot become the wisdom side. It is impossible for them to become unified in a single mind before attaining enlightenment. During the path, however, these two minds can support each other, or become what is called ‘conjoined with each other’. For instance, meditating on emptiness just before practising generosity or ethics etc. will influence that mind and therefore the method side will become more effective. It is supported by (or conjoined with) the wisdom realising emptiness but it is not the wisdom realising emptiness. And it is the same the other way around. By meditating on bodhicitta just before meditating on emptiness, that meditation on bodhicitta will influence the emptiness meditation, and so it is said to be combined or conjoined with the meditation on bodhicitta. However, the mind itself which is realising emptiness is not bodhicitta. In the Perfection Vehicle, method and wisdom can support each other but before enlightenment can never become unified within a single mind. This is not so in the Vajrayana vehicle. Even before attaining full enlightenment, we can practise method and wisdom within a single mind. When practitioners of the Perfection Vehicle practise the method side there is not a strong link between their practices and the form body. Practising generosity, morality, patience, 15

concentration, compassion and the other practices of the method side are the causes and conditions to achieve bodhicitta and from that to attain enlightenment but they are not the direct causes and conditions for the rupakaya. In the Perfection Vehicle there is a practice that can be done when meditators reach a certain stage called ‘meditating on one’s own buddhafield’ (Tib: shin-tak jor-wa.) Here, the practitioner meditates to establish their own realm where they will finally attain full enlightenment. They are creating an environment within meditation similar to the state they will attain when they are enlightened. In the Perfection Vehicle practice there are also some other practices which are the direct cause to have a buddha’s body. A buddha’s golden colour, curly blue hair, long ears and ushinisha (crown protrusion) etc. are all the direct results of specific causes. Apart from that, however, there are not many causes and conditions being created on the path which are similar to the result, the rupakaya. In contrast, in the Vajrayana practice, particularly in the Highest Yoga Tantra practice, there is a very strong connection between the practice and the result, the rupakaya. By visualising him-or-herself as a particular buddha or deity, the practitioner is visualising the resultant state of the deity. This is called deity yoga, a deity being a visualised meditational enlightened being (a buddha) such as Chenrezig, Tara or Guhyasamaja. Deity yoga is in fact just this – by visualising ourselves as a deity, we are accumulating the causes to be that deity. Because of this, we refer to the Perfection Vehicle as the causal vehicle and the Vajrayana as the resultant vehicle. In Vajrayana, the cause is concordant with the result, which is why it is so powerful. Whereas there is no real difference between the causes and conditions to create the truth body in either vehicle, there is that big difference between the vehicles in how to create the causes and conditions for the form body. As Buddhajnanapada says in Engaging in the Means of Self-achievement: If the path does not possess characteristics similar to the Form Body, then it is not the unsurpassed method for attaining the Form Body. The profound Truth Body and the vast Form Body are attained by paths that accord with them. A similar thing is said in one of the main tantric texts, Vajra Tent: If emptiness were the method one would never become Buddha, since a result cannot be at variance with its cause, and the method is not emptiness.v It is saying that we cannot attain the form body through realising emptiness because the cause is not concordant with the result. To achieve the form body we need the method practice and the wisdom realising emptiness is not the method practice. In the next two lines it says: In order to reverse the self-grasping of others, who hold on to a view of self, and those who wish to turn away from false views, the conquerors have shown emptiness. For this reason the mandalas and deities have been shown as a blissful method by union with the pride of Buddhahood. Buddhahood is not far away.vi These lines say that the method of attaining a buddha’s form body in the Vajrayana practice is to visualise mandalas and the deities. These are the main causes to achieve buddhahood. If we meditate in that way, a buddha’s form body will not be that far away – it can be achieved in a short period. It continues: Because the 32 marks of the teacher and the 80 minor signs are the results attained by method, therefore method has the teacher’s form.vii It is generally said that a buddha’s body has 32 major and 80 minor signs or marks which are achieved by practising the method side of the path. This and other texts state very clearly that because Vajrayana practice has visualisations of mandalas and deities, it 16

uniquely creates causes and conditions to bring about a buddha’s form body. By bringing the result into the present through visualisation Vajrayana practice becomes a swift instrument for achieving enlightenment. We must remember that although in the Perfection Vehicle the truth body is achieved through meditating on emptiness and the form body though the practice of the method side of the path, when we attain buddhahood these are achieved simultaneously. There are not two separate entities, the truth body over here and the form body over there. There is no way, however, that they can be united before enlightenment. In Vajrayana, this is exactly what is happening. By using the visualisation of the deity combined with some understanding of emptiness, the practitioner is combining both wisdom and method. Therefore Vajrayana is described as the path characterised by the union of method and wisdom. This union of method and wisdom, creating the form body and truth body of a buddha is the ‘union of illusory body and clear light’ which you might have heard about. At the highest level of Vajrayana practice, the meditator can move all the winds or energies into the indestructible drop which resides at the heart. These winds are the vehicles which carry the mind. At this most subtle level, the winds are our most subtle body, the illusory body, and the mind is our most subtle mind, the mind of clear light. The illusory body is the direct cause of the form body of a buddha and the clear light is the direct cause of the truth body of a buddha. 4. The Four Complete Purities When you ask geshes who have trained in the monasteries what the difference is between Sutrayana and Vajrayana they will almost invariably quote the four complete purities (Tib: yongs dag-shi). They are: i. the complete purity of environment ii. the complete purity of body iii. the complete purity of resources iv. the complete purity of activities. These four complete purities are technically why tantric practice can bring results quicker than Perfection Vehicle practice in that they show the way in which Vajrayana practice is similar to the resultant state. i.

the complete purity of environment

The first one is the complete purity of environment. In almost all deity sadhanas (meditation manuals) in Vajrayana there is a section where through meditation we build the entire mandala of the deity we are practising. From the base, called the wind mandala, we create different mandalas until the deity’s mandala finally arises. What we are doing here is developing our own buddha field, the environment in which we will attain enlightenment. Although this is a visualisation, we are actually creating the causes and conditions to eventually arise in our own buddha environment. We visualise ourselves in that pure environment – something which does not exist in the Sutrayana path. By constantly imagining we are in a pure place, we build up a sense of purity and the feeling of ordinariness drops away, at first in meditation, but then later even when we are outside the meditation session. Although we are a long way off attaining enlightenment, by visualising the result we can come to really believe such an environment is attainable. ii.

the complete purity of body

The second purity is the complete purity of body. It is very common within Vajrayana deity yoga practice for the practitioner to visualise his-or-her own body in the form of the deity. Most sadhanas have what is called ‘self-generation’ where we generate our body into the body of the deity. Of course externally we are not really the deity and our body is not the deity’s body, but through such a visualisation we develop a strong sense of identity with the deity. Through that we can completely destroy our ordinary concepts and have a feeling our identity is transformed into that deity’s identity. In the Perfection Vehicle we slowly chip away at our delusions until we have finally purified them. Here, by imagining ourselves as a buddha, we lose that sense of 17

ordinariness that blocks our progress on the path, which is why it is so much quicker than the Perfection Vehicle. This is the same process as the first purity, but instead of seeing the environment as pure, we see our body as pure. We are taking the result – the body of a buddha – into the path which means we visualise we have actually achieved that result right now. iii. the complete purity of resources If you are already doing a Vajrayana practice, I think you will already know the importance of offerings to the ‘self-generation deity’. No matter how many sets of offerings we make or what they are – ordinary flowers, ordinary incense, ordinary perfume etc – when we actually make the offerings during the sadhana they are no longer ordinary. Through our meditation we visualise them as completely pure, what is called in the texts ‘divine’. Thus the resources we use while we are doing the Vajrayana practice are transformed into pure substances. Whatever we eat, drink or wear, everything we feel or sense – in fact everything our mind comes into contact with – is not seen as an ordinary object of the senses but as divine. In particular, if we have received a Highest Yoga Tantra initiation it is important to remember that during every single moment of our practice we are not in our ordinary form but we are the deity and whatever we have contact with is pure. Seeing all objects as extraordinary develops a strong potential to experience joy or bliss. This is a meditative state and far greater than any bliss we could experience in ordinary life. Sadhanas have an instruction during the offering section to generate bliss. That is what it means here – to see all the objects of offering as extraordinary, divine objects being experienced by the mind stream of a buddha. This is the complete purity of resources. iv.

the complete purity of activities

During the Vajrayana practice, the sadhana will instruct you to do many things to benefit sentient beings. These are the activities of that deity and, as you have visualised yourself as that deity, these are your activities. In Sutrayana we can practise generosity, but in Vajrayana the generosity we practise can be far more extensive, because we visualise ourselves as a deity giving objects – food, money, teachings etc – to all sentient beings. For example in the Guhyasamaja sadhana and in some Yamantaka sadhanas, there is a section called ‘activities’ where the practitioner, as the deity, emanates countless deities going to all the universes to benefit all sentient beings, then returning to dissolve back into him-or-herself. Those activities are not ordinary ones but divine ones. That is the complete purity of activities. These four purities – the mandala visualisation, self-generation, making offerings and doing activities – are common to all sadhanas but some sadhanas are quite short so they might not be explicit. Again, you will not find this in Sutrayana. It is one of the main reasons Vajrayana is unique. They serve as the main substantial cause to attain a buddha’s form body, the rupakaya. Although it is called a body it is not really a flesh-and-blood body like our current one. As I have mentioned, when someone attains enlightenment, the clear light mind becomes the truth body, the dharmakaya, and the wind which carries that clear light becomes the form body of the buddha, which can manifest as either the enjoyment body (Skt: sambhogakaya) or emanation body (Skt: nirmanakaya). It is mainly through the form body that buddhas are able to help sentient beings and it is only in Vajrayana practice that there is the practice to attain the form body very quickly. 5. Deity Yoga Deity yoga (Tib: hla-i nal-djor) itself is another unique feature of Vajrayana. Deity yoga is not just imagining buddhas; it is the practice which combines method and wisdom in inseparable unity. This is quite amazing when you think about it. Here is one practice 18

where one single consciousness can become both the method path as well as the wisdom path. Although in the Perfection Vehicle it is emphasised that the paths of method and wisdom should not be separated, this really means that we should not focus on just one path and exclude the other. In Vajrayana, however, method and wisdom are combined from the beginning in the practice of deity yoga. Because such a technique brings both method and wisdom into one single consciousness, Vajrayana is quite advanced. We will discuss deity yoga in more detail when we look at the generation stage, but I will mention it here briefly. There are several important aspects of deity yoga but three are said to be the most important:  divine pride  clarity  profundity. The first one is divine pride (Tib: hla-i nga-gyal). This is sometimes translated as ‘selfidentity of divine being’. This relates to the complete purity of body. It is seeing ourselves as an actual buddha and has nothing to do with our ordinary pride, which is an afflictive emotion. The second aspect is clarity (Tib: sel-nang) which refers to the need for really clear visualisations, specifically with regard to the deity’s environment and body. For deity yoga to be effective, the visualisations must be very vivid and strong. The third aspect is called profundity (Tib: zab-pa) and refers to the realisation of emptiness. We often combine these two in Tibetan, saying zab-sel – the zab referring to profundity and sel to clarity. With the strong, vivid visualisation of the deity and environment, there must be the understanding of emptiness. If you are doing a daily sadhana, you are probably already trying to visualise yourself as a deity. At one stage in the sadhana it will instruct you to dissolve your ordinary appearance and arise out of emptiness as the deity (such as Tara). That means that the deity has arisen from the fundamental nature of our mind, that ultimate, subtle mind which is empty of inherent existence. Tara, or whoever we are visualising, is not separate from our mind. She is not something outside ourselves that we are evoking or asking to come in. Nor is she newly arisen from nowhere. It is our own fundamental nature manifesting as that figure. Tara is the manifestation of the buddhas’ activities and by visualising ourselves as Tara arising out of emptiness, we are creating the causes to have Tara’s qualities ourselves. This is why this is the direct cause of both the form and truth body. Chenrezig is the manifestation of the buddhas’ compassion. It is not that there was a sentient being who went through practices and became a buddha called Chenrezig, but rather that the buddhas’ compassion manifests as Chenrezig. Similarly, Tara is the manifestation of the buddhas’ activities and the five Dhyani Buddhas are the pure state of our five aggregates. You often hear questions such as “Do the deities really exist?” or “Is there an external Tara out there?” There is no simple answer to questions like these. There is a legend of a princess who refused to become enlightened as a man but worked for an incredibly long time to become enlightened as a woman. It’s very inspiring, but whether it is true or not, I don’t know, and in fact I don’t really think that it is such a relevant question. Tara is the manifestation of the buddhas’ enlightened activities. Does that mean she exists externally? If we really explore how buddhas exist, they are all the same – they all share the same absence of true existence. You cannot find any distinction between the female deity and the male deity. But to arise into different forms needs different causes and conditions. I am not denying that there are external deities. What we are visualising, however, is not that external deity over there but rather our mind manifesting as a deity. In Vajrayana there is a strong teaching that our mind, the guru (our spiritual teacher) and the deity are one entity. This does not just refer to any kind of mind but to the subtle, fundamental clear light mind. Of course, there are external gurus from whom we receive teachings and initiations, but here it is referring to our internal guru, the fundamental clear light. (We will look at this term later.) So, in deity yoga practice these three aspects – divine pride, clarity and profundity – are very important, although of course bodhicitta is the key to everything. But why do we need divine pride? Only divine pride will directly activate our buddha nature, that fundamental purity that lies at the core of our being. All beings have buddha nature but that potential will not be activated unless the correct techniques are applied. At present we cannot see this; we are clouded by our delusions and afflictive emotions and trapped in our sense of ordinariness. By overcoming that sense of ordinariness, by seeing 19

ourselves as buddhas, we can really trigger this precious buddha nature and start to generate it in our lives. And to really get a strong and clear divine pride very much depends on the quality of our visualisations. The clearer, stronger and more stable our visualisations of the deity, mandala etc. are, the stronger our divine identity will be. I think this is very important to know as we look at the four kinds of tantra, from Kriya Tantra upwards. We visualise our body as the deity’s body and our environment as the deity’s environment and at the same time try to understand the emptiness of the body and environment. There is not a separate mind or action here. As we visualise, we see our visualisation as empty of inherent existence. This is where the two paths – method and wisdom – are conjoined. The method is the visualisation, the wisdom is the emptiness, conjoined in one single consciousness. That one single consciousness, therefore, is the cause for achieving both the form body and the truth body. That is the deity yoga. 6. Utilising Afflictive Emotions on the Path The Perfection Vehicle focuses on reducing and finally eliminating afflictive emotions. We must constantly strive throughout all our lives to abandon our afflictive emotions such as anger, attachment or jealousy. There is no suggestion that they have any use in our lives. However, when the Buddha taught the Bodhisattvayana path, he showed that there are occasions when afflictive emotions can be used temporarily. The eight, ninth and tenth links of the twelve links of dependent origination (clinging, craving and existence) are degrees of attachment. On certain occasions the Buddha taught that although eventually attachment must be eliminated, as a bodhisattva some degree of attachment to this body is needed in order to stay in this world system to help sentient beings. The analogy he used is manure. It is dirty and smelly and nobody wants it, but for a farmer to grow good crops it is a very useful fertiliser. In the same way, attachment, if we analyse it, is something we definitely do not want – it is dangerous and painful – but in order to really benefit sentient beings we need to be reborn in samsara again and again, so for the time being, attachment to a body is beneficial. Although the Buddha said this of attachment, in the Bodhisattvayana teachings he never made any exceptions for the afflictive emotions such as anger, hatred or jealousy. Afflictive emotions such as these must be abandoned without exception. Only in Vajrayana teachings does the idea of using negative emotions such as these arise. Within a Vajrayana practice it is possible to actually use hatred and anger in a positive way. As you might know, in Vajrayana practice there are deities which have very wrathful aspects. Hatred and anger – and even on certain occasions ignorance itself – can be like an ignition key we can use to manifest as that deity. That is the theory, although there is a lot of debate about this. In Vajrayana practice as well, especially in Highest Yoga Tantra, attachment such as sexual attachment is utilised on the path. Here we have to be very clear what this means. Sexual attachment in this context has nothing at all to do with ordinary sexual intercourse. The male and female practitioner, with a full understanding of emptiness and with a mind of clear light, engage in a meditation which utilises sexual energy. Having all the right qualities, a practice similar to ordinary sexual intercourse is used to trigger great bliss and to realise emptiness. There has been a lot of misunderstanding about this, so we should be very clear that although it might seem that ordinary intercourse is taking place, in reality the practice is very advanced mentally – the minds of the practitioners are full of the understanding of emptiness and clear light. If we start to have an idea of just how unique Vajrayana is, we will really come to appreciate its special qualities and that will increase our motivation to practise it as perfectly as we can.

Questions on Chapter One 1. Is enlightenment possible without Vajrayana? Explain your answer. 2. What are the similarities and differences between Vajrayana and Madhyamaka (Prasangika) paths in terms of realising emptiness? 3. What are the three most important aspects of deity yoga? 20

4. How can you tell if you are qualified to receive teachings on Vajrayana? 5. Outline the difference between Vajrayana Vehicle and Perfection Vehicle, and explain why the former is called ‘resultant vehicle’ and the latter is called the ‘causal vehicle’. 6. What are the four complete purities and how do they help us to become enlightened? 7. Why is Vajrayana practice ‘similar to the resultant state’? 8. After reading this chapter, what are your feelings about Vajrayana practice? 9. Practising Vajrayana means practising deity tantras. What are your feelings towards the great number of different deities in Tibetan Buddhism? What could be their “use”? Is the Buddha figure himself not sufficient?

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Chapter Two Entering the Vajrayana Entering the Vajrayana 1. The Different Names for Vajrayana It is worth looking very briefly at the many names we give to Vajrayana, as each gives a slightly different flavour. It can be called:  Tantrayana (or tantra)  Resultant Vehicle  Secret Vehicle  Mantrayana  Vajrayana Vajrayana is commonly called tantra but that is a very broad term and includes Buddhist as well as non-Buddhist practices. You will often see it referred to in Buddhist texts as Tantrayana, the tantric vehicle. It is also called the Resultant Vehicle. As we saw in the last chapter, it is unique in that by doing deity yoga we are taking the result into the path. We are not just slowly working towards being a buddha, we are imagining ourselves as a buddha now! We visualise ourselves as a buddha now, our environment as a pure land – the buddha’s resultant environment – and our activities as resultant activities, where we have reached the ultimate stage where we can constantly benefit countless sentient beings. In short, we visualise the result in the present which gives it the name ‘Resultant Vehicle’. Vajrayana is sometimes called the Secret Vehicle. Many of these teachings and practices should be done in a very secret way. If they are not made public in any way, but practised privately, achieving the result will be much quicker, and there will be less obstacles and difficulties. It is called Mantrayana. You probably often use the word ‘mantra’, but it is interesting to look at what this term actually means. It is a combination of two Sanskrit syllables, manas (mind) and tara (protect). Sutra teachings also protect our mind, but Vajrayana is Mantrayana because in Vajrayana there is a strong practice to counteract our ordinary appearance and concepts. It protects our mind from ordinariness in that we see ourselves and our environment not as ordinary and impure but as extra-ordinary and pure. It draws our mind away from the mundane concepts that keep it trapped in ordinary appearances. Then it is called Vajrayana. As we have seen, these practices are unique in that they combine method (in the visualisation of the deity) and wisdom (in an understanding of emptiness), inseparably within a single consciousness. This is where the term Vajrayana comes from. ‘Vajra’ (Tib: dor-je) has many different meanings. It is sometimes translated as ‘adamantine’ or ‘diamond’ but it is really closer to ‘indestructible’ or ‘inseparable’, and refers to the inseparability of these two aspects within one consciousness. 2. The Prerequisites for Entering the Vajrayana If we feel Vajrayana is the path we want to practise, we have to understand what is needed before we can enter such a path. What are the prerequisites or preconditions? The most important one is to have a good understanding of the basic Buddhist path which is far more than intellectual; it must come from the heart. You have probably read The Foundation of All Good Qualities. This is a beautiful prayer that sums up the teachings of the Gelugpa tradition. Lama Tsong Khapa starts it by summarising the lam-rim. Only after that does he ask to ‘enter the holy gateway’ of Vajrayana. 22

Having become a pure vessel by training in the general path, Please bless me to enter The holy gateway of the fortunate ones: The supreme vajra vehicle.viii So Vajrayana should not be entered until we have a good grounding in ‘the general path’ or what we would call the common path. In The World of Tibetan Buddhism, His Holiness the Dalai Lama explains: The practice of Tantra can be undertaken when a person has a firm foundation in the essential features of the path to enlightenment as explained in the sutra systemix. It can happen that when a person comes across tantra in this life they are ready to enter the path after only a brief study of Sutrayana. That is very much the exception, though. That person will have already trained in the common path in previous lives and already has the potential and all the qualifications. For the vast majority of us ordinary people, however, we definitely – definitely! – need to train in the common path first. And that common path, from the Gelugpa perspective, is:  renunciation  bodhicitta  the wisdom realising emptiness. We should be well advanced on each of these three paths. For renunciation we can use another word which I prefer, determination. We should have already developed a strong determination to be free from samara. If we want to enter into Vajrayana practice, it must involve much more than just a determination to be free from some particular suffering, but from the entire samsaric existence. Then of course we need bodhicitta. Without bodhicitta there is no way we can enter into Vajrayana practice. As a very minimum, I think we must have some experience of the mind of bodhicitta – maybe not complete spontaneous bodhicitta, but still with a strong sense of doing our practice in order to help all sentient beings in the best way we can. The third prerequisite is the right view or the correct understanding of emptiness, to use the Gelugpa’s terminology. Without some experience of emptiness how can we practise any deity yoga? Deity yoga is always done within an understanding of emptiness, where method and wisdom are inseparable in one consciousness. If there is no wisdom how can there be deity yoga practice? And without deity yoga practice it is not Vajrayana. These three trainings are the very basic prerequisites which are needed before we can even think about entering into the Vajrayana path. We must at least have some experience in our heart of renunciation, bodhicitta and an understanding of emptiness. If there is any clinging to our body, our possessions or to any aspect of samsaric life, it simply will not work. If there is any selfishness – if we are not doing it purely in order to help others – it will not work. And if we cling to appearances as real and concrete, then how can we feel we are actually a deity? Without these prerequisites Vajrayana is no more than a virtual reality game. It is a fantasy that will not ultimately mean very much at all. Of the three trainings, bodhicitta is the main trigger. In the Bodhisattvayana practice, the practitioner has a very strong determination to attain full enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings. Even if it takes the three countless great eons, as the sutras say, the Bodhisattvayana practitioner will stick at it. But if we really do have bodhicitta, waiting such a long time is unbearable. All those sentient beings are suffering now and yet we must wait three eons before we can really help them! That unbearable feeling of not being able to wait that long will lead the practitioner into Vajrayana practice, because in Vajrayana there is a practice for attaining full enlightenment within a short lifetime. In the Guru Yoga tsog offering, (Tib: Lama Chöpa) there is a section where we generate common bodhicitta and one where we generate uncommon bodhicitta. Common bodhicitta exists in Sutrayana. It is the altruistic mind which wants to attain full enlightenment for the sake of all sentient beings, even if it takes three aeons. Uncommon bodhicitta is the bodhicitta which cannot wait that long, which determines to attain full 23

enlightenment within this one short lifetime. You will not find this in the Sutrayana system. So bodhicitta is the key but here again we have to be very, very careful. Others are thirsty and we have the chance to get a glass to bring them water. That glass is enlightenment, but we want that water for others to drink, not for ourselves. To become a buddha is not the goal. To become a buddha in order to be able to most skilfully help others is. Even though both the Perfection and Vajrayana Vehicles bring the same result, enlightenment, in Tibetan Buddhism we consider Vajrayana supreme because it can bring enlightenment so quickly. Because it is so powerful, however, there is a great risk that unless our motivation is completely clear our entire tantric practice might be on the wrong track and just serve to increase our ego. The traditional texts have many warning stories of lamas who have been reborn in unfortunate rebirths because of this.

The Four Classes of Tantra There are four classes or levels of tantra, and it is useful, before we go into any detail about them, to have a brief overview of what they are. The four classes are: 1. Kriya Tantra (also called Action Tantra) 2. Carya Tantra (also called Performance Tantra) 3. Yoga Tantra 4. Highest Yoga Tantra (also called Anuttarayoga Tantra) In Tibetan Buddhism there are teachings on all four classes, but in actuality the first three are not as common as Highest Yoga Tantra. The way we classify these tantras varies slightly depending on the traditions. In the Nyingmapa tradition’s teachings on dzogchen, for instance, they talk about the nine yanas or vehicles. The first three are the three Sutrayana vehicles, then the lower three classes of tantra, with the Highest Yoga Tantra being divided into three yogas. The practices are basically the same; the only difference is in the way they are counted. What differentiates these four classes of Vajrayana? Each is suitable for a particular level of mind and the masters often explain it in terms of how the practitioner can use the normally negative emotion of attachment in a positive way. As I have already said, Vajrayana is unique in being able to utilise negative emotions. How powerful our minds are determines how well we can do this. Traditionally the suitability of a practitioner for each of the four classes of Vajrayana is measured by their ability to utilise on the path the sexual attachment they feel for a partner. 1. Kriya Tantra In Kriya or Action Tantra the emphasis is on external actions, such as ritual cleaning. We need to pay great attention to the cleanliness of the offerings as well as cleaning our body between sessions, wearing clean clothes and avoiding smelly food such as garlic, onions and meat. If we cannot shower between each session, we need to pay attention to the ‘five points’: the face, the two hands and the two feet. There are also lots of actions within the practices such as the mudras (hand gestures) which are a vital part of this tantra. In Kriya Tantra, if we do not do all the mudras correctly, we have not really completed the action. In Highest Yoga Tantra, there are also mudras but if we do not do them, it is not as important. Of course internal meditation is still important in Kriya Tantra, but there is more emphasis on external actions. Using the analogy of sexual attraction to a partner, Kriya Tantra is explained as being the equivalent of being able to use the desire that arises within the practitioner when they simply see someone they are sexually attracted to. Sexual attraction is energy and that energy can be used to fuel our meditation, but so easily it is our delusion which direct that energy. At this stage, seeing their partner, the practitioner has enough control over their desire to simply utilise it as a way of improving their meditation. Anything stronger however, such as touching their partner, would overwhelm them and they would not be considered capable of following the higher levels of tantra. 2.

Carya Tantra

Although there are still many external activities such as cleaning and mudras in the second class, Carya or Performance Tantra, these are not considered as important as in 24

Kriya Tantra. Here more emphasis is placed on inner yoga such as recitation. It is called Performance Tantra because there is an equal balance between the external and internal practices. When the masters compare Carya Tantra with using desire for a partner on the path, they say that Carya Tantra goes beyond the ability of Kriya Tantra practitioners. Not only can Carya Tantra pratitioners use the pleasure of seeing someone sexually attractive on the path, they must also be able to use the feelings that arise from laughing and smiling with their partner. 3. Yoga Tantra By the third class, Yoga Tantra, the emphasis has become very much focused on internal yogas. As the name implies, ‘yoga’, which is Sanskrit for union, is to do with a blending of external and internal actions. External actions are still there but not as emphasised as in the previous two levels. For Yoga Tantra, the practitioner must be able to utilise on the path the sensual feelings that arise through actually touching the body and hands of a partner. Whatever desire or feelings of bliss that arise through holding hands and feeling the body must not become afflictive emotions but must be used in the practice. 4. Highest Yoga Tantra The last class is called Highest Yoga Tantra (Anuttarayoga Tantra) because here the emphasis is even more on internal yoga, with more depth than with Yoga Tantra – depth in terms of the emphasis on trying to activate the fundamental innate clear light through utilising the winds and channels etc. When comparing the classes with the ability to use desire on the path, the masters say that the practitioner of Highest Yoga Tantra must be able to extend beyond seeing, smiling at and touching a partner to actual sexual activities. To be qualified to practise Highest Yoga Tantra, the practitioner must be able to utilise on the path whatever desire or bliss there is that arises during intercourse. Normally when we see an object of desire, the afflictive emotion of attachment arises. Our goal as a Buddhist practitioner is to reduce that attachment and finally eliminate it. The energy of attachment is only energy after all – it is our grasping on to the object that makes it negative. If we are advanced enough to take it and use it in a positive way, it can be very powerful. Some people can use that desire for a sense object, transforming it into desire for enlightenment. How much desire we can use positively like this is the demarcation of which of the four classes of tantra the practitioner is suited to. 5. The Profundity of Highest Yoga Tantra All four classes of tantra, Kriya, Carya, Yoga and Highest Yoga Tantra, have the unique features we looked at in the previous chapter. They all have deity yoga and visualisations of the mandala but there are features of Highest Yoga Tantra which the other three classes of tantra do not have which makes it even more profound than the others. It is called Highest Yoga Tantra because it alone has the complete technique to activate our fundamental innate clear light and develop the illusory body, which allows us to attain enlightenment in one short lifetime. The three lower Vajrayana classes are still far quicker than the Perfection Vehicle but they do not have the methods to achieve enlightenment so incredibly quickly. ‘One short lifetime’ here means starting the practice as an ordinary being, entering the common path, then the Vajrayana path and the Highest Yoga Tantra path and finally achieving full enlightenment. This is unique to Highest Yoga Tantra. There are three different techniques that make Highest Yoga Tantra so profound. They are: i. praña yoga ii. generating the four types of joy iii. cultivating the state of non-conceptuality 25

i. praña yoga Many Buddhist and non-Buddhist practices use the vital energy that runs through our body, but not to the same depth as Highest Yoga Tantra where there is a technique called praña yoga (the yoga of the wind). There are extensive teachings on the winds and how to use them. I am using the direct translation of the Tibetan word lung (Skt: praña) but it can also be translated in many different ways, as energy, vital energies, psychic energy etc. In particular, praña yoga is taught extensively in the Guhyasamaja tantra. At present we operate at a very gross level of wind but it is possible, through practices such as this, to train our mind and slowly bring it to a level that is more and more subtle, until we eventually come to understand and are able to use the subtlest wind, which is the vehicle of the fundamental innate clear light. This fundamental clear light, which is the subtlest mind, is carried by this subtlest wind and these two are inseparable. Praña yoga exists in Highest Yoga Tantra. It is the technique which allows us to understand and use the energies or winds, because these winds accompany all our consciousnesses. They exist within us and work together with the mind. Without them, the mind cannot function. The traditional analogy used is the blind man and the cripple. The blind man can walk but cannot see where to walk; the cripple can see but cannot walk. When they come together to help each other, they can go where they want to go, the blind man carrying the cripple who directs him where to go. The relationship between the wind and the mind is like that. The mind is only able to travel from one object to another because it is borne on the wind energy. The winds cannot function to experience an object – that is the work of the mind. To be able to understand this relationship and to be able to utilise the winds in praña yoga is a very advanced and very powerful tool on our path to enlightenment. ii. generating the four types of joy All classes of tantra talk about generating great bliss but again it is only in Highest Yoga Tantra that there are extensive teachings on generating and using great bliss in conjunction with the fundamental innate clear light. By meditation, all the winds or energies enter into central channel, into the heart channel wheel and then into the indestructible drop at the centre of the heart, abiding and then dissolving there. Due to that, great bliss is generated. This technique is called ‘generating the experiences of the four types of joy’. (Translators use either ‘joy’ or ‘bliss’. I will stick with ‘joy’.) It is particularly connected with the Chakrasamavara or Heruka teachings, where there are practices for generating the clear light and then experiencing the four types of joy within that clear light. The four types of joy are:  joy  supreme joy  special joy  innate joy These four types of joy are generated in the practitioner’s mind due to the melting of the ‘drops’, a substance which resides at various parts of the body, originally coming from the white and red drops of the father and the mother. The movement of the drops through the central channel successively triggers each particular bliss. We will discuss both the drops and the four joys in the chapters on the completion stage practices. iii. cultivating the state of non-conceptuality All Buddhist traditions talk about going beyond the conceptual mind, but practices such as dzogchen are unique to Highest Yoga Tantra. Although dzogchen teachings do not use the phrase ‘fundamental clear light’, they talk about ‘touching the nature of the mind with the bare hand’, which refers to reaching the non-conceptual nature of the mind without first going through the conceptual process. This requires a very forceful method. So dzogchen is really describing the state of being free from conceptuality, a completely pure, unadorned mind without the conceptual thoughts and emotions that usually fill it. Again I will discuss this in more detail when we get to the completion stage. 26

Even though there are many aspects to Highest Yoga Tantra that are missing in the lower tantras – winds, drops, channels – that does not mean we should immediately go to the Highest Yoga Tantra practices. Of all the unique tantric practices, it is the most profound but is it the one that suits us the most? We have to explore this.

Initiations For many of us, the first thing we know about Vajrayana is when a lama comes to our centre to give an initiation or empowerment. This is a special feature of tantra and yet we often have no idea what an initiation is. Taking an initiation is to advance to another stage in our spiritual training. There are various stages on the Buddhist path that we need to go through on the road to enlightenment. The most basic and fundamental one is taking refuge in the Three Jewels. This defines whether we are a Buddhist or not and whether our practice is a Buddhist practice. Of course that does not refer to the actual ceremony of taking refuge but to the internal state of mind where we do actually rely on the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. We are bodhisattvas only when we have actualised bodhicitta. Without bodhicitta in our hearts, even if we are doing all the other things that make up the Bodhisattvayana path, we are not bodhisattvas. That is another quite clear demarcation. When we have taken a Vajrayana initiation, we are on the Vajrayana path. But be careful here. Many of us have taken Bodhisattva vows. Does that mean we have bodhicitta? Many of us have been to initiations. Does that mean we have actually taken them? Having bodhicitta is having within us that mind which cherishes others genuinely, spontaneously and constantly. In the same way, being on the Vajrayana path means we have totally and fully taken a tantric initiation. It is not that easy to do. It is more than sitting in on an initiation; more than receiving the initiation substances; more than being able to meditate during it. It requires great commitment, great understanding and great participation during the ceremony. Without our active participation, we cannot really say that we have received the initiation. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama was asked at the end of the Kalachakra in New York how many of the thousands of people there actually received the initiation he said hardly anyone. And there were many high lamas on the stage! It also requires not only strong participation but also great determination to actually practise the commitment we have taken on. There are taking refuge and keeping the Bodhisattva vows for a start. These are the minimum requirements without which, even if we have participated in hundreds of initiations, we have still not actually received any. These are the base. Receiving an initiation means that, from the master’s side, he or she is fully qualified to perform the initiation, and that, from the disciple’s side, he or she is also fully qualified. Only when the rituals are performed perfectly and we participate in all the visualisations perfectly can we say that we have received the initiation. So, to participate in an initiation does not to automatically mean to receive it. If we have been to one, that does not mean we are on the Vajrayana path. Whether we have actually received it perfectly or not depends on the basic qualifications – refuge, bodhicitta, and keeping both the Bodhisattva vows and whatever commitment is given for that particular deity. If the initiation is from Highest Yoga Tantra, there will also be the Tantric vows, something the other three classes do not usually have. 1. The Three Types of Initiations The Sanskrit word abhishika (Tib: wang) is translated into English as ‘initiation’ or ‘empowerment’. In the Gelugpa tradition, there are three different types of initiations.  causal initiations  path initiations  resultant state initiations Causal initiations (Tib: min-je gyur-wang) are given to disciples to help ripen their mind streams. Min-je means ‘in order to ripen’. So a causal initiation is a preparation; it is given to make the practitioner’s mind ready to enter the Vajrayana path. The initiations we receive from the masters belong to this first category of causal initiation – the disciple has been given permission to practise the deity. 27

Path initiations (Tib: dol-je lam gyi-wang) are given once the disciple is on the path in order to liberate them. Dol-je means ‘in order to liberate’. When we are on the Vajrayana path there are times when we can take further initiations to move us on to the next stage of our practice, to strengthen our realisations. These are path initiations. Resultant state initiations (Tib: dol-wa dre-bu wang) come much later. Dol-war means ‘at liberation’ so these are the initiations we receive when we first become a fully enlightened being, like a welcome to a new member of the family. This is something that I think we don’t have to worry about for the time being. It’s not going to happen to us just yet! Besides the three types of initiations in the Gelugpa tradition, the Nyingmapa tradition has a fourth, called the base initiation (Tib: shi-wang) which is performed before starting a causal initiation in order to purify the fundamental innate clear light. (Again, this is a Gelugpa term, the dzogchen term is rig-pa.) 2. Causal Initiations It is important to know about these three but for us the first one, the causal initiation, is the most important one. Very generally, when we receive a causal initiation, we are allowed to visualise that deity, to read that deity’s root text and commentaries, to listen to teachings on that deity and we are allowed to do the practices. The causal initiation itself has four initiations: i. vase initiation ii. secret initiation iii. wisdom initiation iv. word initiation. Only Highest Yoga Tantra has all four. Kriya and Carya Tantra only have the vase initiation. There are various initiations associated with the vase initiation in Highest Yoga Tanta – flower garland, water, crown, vajra, bell and name – whereas in the lower tantras, particularly Kriya and Carya, the vase initiation involves only two initiations, the water and crown initiations. (Although in the Carya Tantra there is sometimes the initiation of the five Buddha families – the Dhyani Buddhas – as well.)x i. vase initiation When we receive a Kriya Tantra initiation such as the White Tara or the thousand-armed, eleven-faced Avalokiteshvara (Chenrezig) initiation, we only receive the vase initiation. Within this initiation we receive the water and crown initiation, no more than that. It is called the vase initiation because it is very much associated with an actual vase which the master uses, a highly ornate silver container a little like a teapot. A lot of the activities that go on during the initiation are performed with a vase. Having received the vase initiation, the practitioner is generally then allowed to visualise both the frontgeneration (the deity in front of them) and self-generation deity (themselves as a deity). This is the equivalent of the generation stage practice and the purpose is to purify the gross negativities and gross imprints of those negativities created by the body. ii. secret initiation The second one, the secret initiation, is given in order to purify the gross negativities of speech. Due to receiving a secret initiation, the practitioner is allowed to practise certain stages of the completion stage, in particular the meditation called ‘the impure illusory body’. (There is also the pure illusory body but the secret initiation only allows the practitioner to meditate on the impure one.) iii. wisdom initiation The wisdom initiation is given for the purpose of purifying the gross levels of negativities and imprints created by the mind. Having received the wisdom initiation, the practitioner is allowed to meditate on the completion stage practice called the ‘ultimate clear light’. iv. word initiations The last initiation is called the word initiation. It is given this name because no physical substances are associated with it as with the other initiations. Here, the vajra master introduces the disciples to what is called the ‘union of body and mind’ (Tib: ku-thuk zung-juk), so the main purpose of the initiation is to ‘give the word’ – to explain what the union of body and mind is and have the disciples meditate on it. When the disciples 28

manage to grasp the meaning, that is the initiation. There are no substances touched to the crown of the head, as in the other initiations. The word initiation is given in order to purify the subtle obscurations of the body, speech and mind together. Due to this initiation the disciples can purify the most subtle imprints which will allow them to really meditate on that union of body and mind. 3. The Mandala An initiation is always given in a specific mental environment called a mandala. You have probably seen mandalas, either as pictures or as sand mandalas. These are representations of the abode of the deity. ‘Mandala’ is sometimes translated in English as ‘celestial palace’. Besides painted, drawn and sand mandalas there is a third type of mandala, the concentration mandala, but that is very rare; it is really only for very advanced practitioners. It means that both the vajra master who is giving the initiation and the disciples who are receiving it can visualise the mandala vividly and clearly, without any mistakes. Only if there is an occasion where that is possible is it then permissible to give the initiation with the concentration mandala. Every initiation must have a mandala. In association with that mandala, the vajra master has to conduct the initiation. Big initiations like the Kalachakra have elaborate sand mandalas that take many days to create; others might be simple drawn ones. Particular initiations and particular lineages require particular mandalas. 4. The Qualities of the Vajra Master In order to have received an initiation we have to rely on somebody to give it. That person is called the vajra master and the texts state very clearly that the vajra master must be completely qualified. The qualifications as stated in Asvaghosa’s Fifty Verses of Guru Devotion are: Reliable, disciplined and intelligent, Patient, straightforward and without deceit, Knowing the application of mantra and tantra, Compassionate, an expert in the explanatory texts, Learned in the ten categories And skilled in drawing the mandala, The master must know the exegesis of mantra, Be full of faith and have his senses under control. xi These are the qualities that the vajra master needs. In particular they have to be very compassionate towards the disciples and must have their senses under control. That means complete control over all six sensory consciousnesses, from eye consciousness to mental consciousness. The vajra master must also know the sequences of the rituals of the initiation. If there is a mistake in the sequences the disciples will not have received the empowerment and if that is so and the disciples still do the practice then there is a great risk. So it is very important that the vajra master not only has these qualities but also that they take great care. A master who is giving a Highest Yoga Tantric initiation must have done a retreat on that particular deity, which does not just mean a weekend or a month. The mantra recitation commitment should be complete and that differs with different deities. It could be 400,000 recitations or it could be several million. They should also have done the fire puja at the end of the retreat, which is an elaborate ritual where many substances such as sesame seeds are thrown into a fire as the meditator visualises all their negativities being destroyed. The vajra master also has to have knowledge of the ten qualities (stated above in the quote) and be skilled in drawing the mandala. They must also have a clear visualisation of the mandala in order to be able to lead the disciples into it during the initiation. 29

Knowledge of the mandala includes knowledge of the exact measurements. The master must first perform the ritual of blessing the ground-breaking ceremony which is often performed for major initiations where the empowerment is given on the base of the sand mandala. And before the initiation the master must perform an extensive self-initiation. So it is not easy from the vajra master’s side.

4. The Qualities of the Disciple An initiation is given between master and disciple, so in many ways the qualities of the disciple are just as important as the qualities of the vajra master. If the disciple is not qualified the empowerment will not take place. These are stated in Vajra Garland as: Faithful and full of respect for the guru, Abiding always in the practice of virtue, With wrong view completely abandoned, Such a one must have received many teachings. Free of the faults of killing and harming, With his mind intent on liberating beings, Always diligent and very pure, These and others are the virtues he should have; But the best of all is strong faith.xii The disciple must have very strong conviction in the vajra master as well as in the deity of the empowerment. Practising tantra is very heavily dependant on conviction or faith but that does not mean blind faith. Faith really comes from the understanding of the Sutrayana practices, particularly from practising bodhicitta and the wisdom realising emptiness. With these two realisations our faith will be very strong and very firm. In Vajrayana we also need a strong conviction and unshakable faith in the vajra master and in the deity of the initiation, and for that we need good communication with and trust in the master. To do that we really need to understand the master giving the initiation – their background, character and experience. Lama Tsong Khapa in Fifty Verses says that we need to examine the master for up to twelve years before we reach a conclusion about them. Before the initiation, we need to check if our motivation is correct. Are we taking the initiation because of bodhicitta or not? That is the first preparation. The second is to check if we really can keep the commitments. Taking an initiation is a rare and precious opportunity. We need to have a clear motivation and take it very seriously.

Questions on Chapter Two 1. Describe the prerequisites for entering the Vajrayana path, and why is it risky to enter this path without them? Which is the most important prerequisite? 2. Each class of Vajrayana is said to be suitable for a particular level of mind. How are the different levels of mind traditionally described relating to each of the four classes? 3. What are the features of Highest Tantra Yoga that make it more profound than the other three classes (Kriya, Carya, Yoga)? 4. In relation to your own experience, why might a subjective experience of joy, happiness or bliss by useful during meditation practice? 5. Many people attend initiations, but what is required for an initiation to be actually received by a practitioner? Why do you think both the vajra master and the disciple need such profound qualifications? Is there any risk attending an initiation without them? 30

6. An initiation into a particular tantra practice can be seen as the beginning of a new phase in your way along the path. In your own life, have their been significant events that marked new phases in spiritual growth? What were they? 7. Why is patience a prerequisite to being a vajra master? And what is your understanding of “have his senses under control”?

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Chapter 3.

The Lower Tantras The difference between the three lower tantras – Kriya, Carya and Yoga Tantras – and Highest Yoga Tantra extends beyond initiations. There are differences in the actual practices. Only Highest Yoga Tantra has the generation and completion stages because it alone has practices associated with the death process. In Highest Yoga Tantra there are practices for taking the three stages of the ordinary death process – death, intermediate state (Tib: bardo) and rebirth – and using them by visualising them as the resultant states of the three bodies of a buddha: the truth body (dharmakaya), the enjoyment body (sambhogakaya) and the emanation body (nirmanakaya). Visualising these three kayas is one of the main practices of the generation stage of Highest Yoga Tantra which is the preparation for the completion stage. The lower tantras do not have this and so cannot have anything like the completion stage. In the same way, the lower tantras do not have practices where the practitioner visualises the channels, winds and drops, or mixing the four joys and four empties, so there is not the skilful means of utilising those energies. Being able to control our channels, winds and drops is another prerequisite for completion stage practice of Highest Yoga Tantra. Nor do the lower tantras have any practices where the practitioner visualises his or her own body as an illusory body. 1. Yoga with Sign and Yoga Without Sign What the lower tantras do have, however, are the two stages called ‘yoga with sign’ and ‘yoga without sign’. Yoga with sign is equivalent to the generation stage and yoga without sign is roughly equivalent to the completion stage. Because of the reasons I have just given, however, the results achieved during yoga with and without sign are not the same as the results achieved in Highest Yoga Tantra practices during the generation and completion stages. Putting it very simply, yoga with sign is the practice of the lower tantric deities done without a realisation of emptiness whereas yoga without sign is the practice done with a realisation of emptiness. ‘Sign’ here refers to the concepts the mind still clings to before a practitioner has directly realised emptiness. That is not to say that yoga with sign has no concept of emptiness at all. From the start we need a good understanding of emptiness, but not an actual realisation; rather, our understanding will still be at the conceptual, intellectual stage. At a deeper level, however, the visualisations of the deities, palaces and mandalas done during deity yoga still have the appearance of being inherently existent to the meditator. ‘Without sign’ on the other hand, means that the meditator’s mind has gone beyond conceptualisation, self-grasping and grasping at inherent existence. Each of the stages of the deity yoga we do requires a good understanding of emptiness – we dissolve into emptiness, the deity arises out of emptiness, etc. It becomes yoga without sign when the conceptual mind (i.e. ‘with sign’) is transcended and we have a direct realisation of emptiness. Yoga with sign is done in three steps: i. the concentration of the four branches of recitation 32

ii. iii.

the concentration of abiding in fire the concentration of abiding in sound

The Concentration of the Four Branches of Recitation

I will take Kriya or Action Tantra as a model for the other two lower tantras. Any practice of this type will be based upon deity yoga using a meditation manual called a sadhana and that meditation session using the sadhana can be broken into two main parts. They are:  the preliminary rites  the main practice The preliminary rites refer to general Vajrayana practices such as taking refuge, generating bodhicitta and making offerings. Making offerings at this stage means either to the merit field which is visualised, or to the refuge field of the deity being practisedxiii. For instance, in a Kriya Tantra practice, the central deity then all the other spiritual beings of the mandala are visualised and then all the other practices, such as the seven limbs, are done. These three practices – taking refuge, generating bodhicitta and making offerings – are a very important part of the preliminary rites. All these things must come first. Usually, for example, if we are doing a one-hour session of deity practice, I would say that half, if not more, should be spent on the preliminary practices, particularly taking refuge and bodhicitta. If we do the preliminary practices well there will be less risk of disturbance when doing visualisations. Only after we have fully completed the preliminary rites should we go on to the actual main practice, which involves a clear visualisation of the deity (either as front- or selfgeneration) and the mantra recitation. Front generation means visualising the deity in front of us; self generation means visualising ourselves as the deity. There are different views as to whether we can do self-generation in Kriya Tantra. Some great masters say we can, but some say no. The first stage or concentration in yoga with sign is the ‘concentration of the four branches of recitation’. (In fact not all of these branches involve recitation, this is simply the term used.) The sequence of the four branches is: 1. abiding on the basis of another 2. abiding on the basis of oneself 3. abiding on the basis of mind 4. abiding on the basis of sound. The sequence explained in traditional texts is different, with ‘abiding on the basis of oneself’ first, and ‘of another’ second, but in actuality, visualising the deity for the preparatory practice (abiding on the basis of another) will almost always come first, followed by the main, more extensive visualisation of the deity (abiding on the basis of self). 1. Abiding on the Basis of Another Abiding on the basis of another is associated with almost all the preliminary practices. There are in fact four stages we need to go through in abiding on the basis of another before we can say we are doing a complete deity practice. They are:  visualising the divine palace (the mandala)  inviting the principal and other deities and the wisdom beings  visualising the offerings  refuge, generating bodhicitta and so forth. When we are doing a sadhana these preliminary practices are all there, one after the other. First we visualise the deity’s palace or mandala, then we invite the actual deity or deities. Then we invite the wisdom beings and visualise vast amounts of offerings in front of them, which we purify before offering to them. Then we take refuge, generate bodhicitta, confess our negativities, rejoice in the buddhas’ abiding there and request them to stay long –- in other words, the seven-limb practice. Finally we recite the four immeasurable thoughts prayer. Abiding on the basis of another is a very important part of the sadhana. You will usually see it called ‘Accumulating Merit and Purifying Negativities’. No matter whether it is done in a very short or very elaborate way, without it our deity meditation is incomplete. 33

There are some sadhanas where this is the key section and it is incredibly extensive, such as in some Vajrasattva practices, but it must be included in any sadhana we do. Once we have visualised the deity in front of us – abiding on the basis of another – and performed the preliminary practices, we are ready to move to the second branch, abiding on the basis of oneself. 2. Abiding on the Basis of Oneself Abiding on the basis of oneself is the first branch in the traditional list, but the second branch we practise in a normal sadhana. Again it is to do with visualising the deity, although, as this is within the main section of the sadhana, the visualisation is more elaborate and is usually done in six steps. There are two ways we can visualise the deity, either as self-generation, where we visualise ourselves as the deity, or as front-generation, where we visualise the deity in front of us. The six steps involved in visualising the deity in Kriya Tantra are: i. the deity of emptiness ii. the deity of sound iii. the deity of letter iv. the deity of form v. the deity of mudra vi. the deity of symbol. The more effectively we follow those six steps, the easier it will be for us when we move to Highest Yoga Tantra. i. deity of emptiness The first step can either be translated as the ‘deity of emptiness’ or the ‘ultimate deity’. When we have completed all the visualisations and practices of abiding on the basis of another, we should then pause and meditate on emptiness. This is what the deity of emptiness really means. We should take at least fifteen minutes to do this first meditation. We bring whatever understanding of emptiness we have into the meditation. At the initial stage it will only be a rational understanding of emptiness. We need to use the reasons we have learnt to investigate how the deity, the mantra etc. is completely empty of inherent existence. At first it is an investigation of whether the deities exist from their own side or not, using all the reasons we have learned and going as deeply as we can. That is the deity of emptiness. Slowly, however, as our meditation deepens and becomes firmer, we will be able to focus on the object of our meditation, emptiness, and place our entire mind there. Having explored this rationally, we should try to generate as strong a feeling as possible for emptiness and hold on to that feeling with our mind for as long as we possibly can. If we can do that then the next steps – the deities of sound, letter, form, mudra and symbol – will all come very purely from that first understanding, pure in terms of being free from concepts of inherent existence. ii. deity of sound The deity of sound refers to the sound of the deity’s mantra. For instance, if we are meditating on Chenrezig, this will be OM MANI PADME HUM. Within that understanding of emptiness, there is the sound of that mantra OM MANI PADME HUM. From that realisation that all things and events, including the meditational deity, ourselves as meditator and the path, are all empty of inherent existence, within that atmosphere there is the sound of the deity’s mantra. Normally it will be our conceptual mind which imagines the sound OM MANI PADME HUM but if we can slowly move that mind which is concentrating single-pointedly on emptiness to the sound of the mantra, that sound will be very pure. Although the aspect is the sound, the manifestation is in the nature of the deity. So it is very important to start with an understanding of emptiness and then, without disturbing that understanding, to gradually transform that mind into the sound – the mantra – of the deity we are practising. That is the deity of sound. 34

iii. deity of letter With the deity of the letter, the sound of the deity’s mantra, still diffused with the understanding of emptiness, gradually transforms into the letter, the seed syllable or mantra garland. We visualise our own mind, which is realising emptiness and is inseparable from the deity’s mind, in the form of a moon disc. On that disc the sound gradually transforms into the syllable or syllables, HRI or OM MANI PADME HUM or whatever. Although naturally enough the sadhanas do not mention this, I think that holograms are a good model to help us picture what the moon disc and mantra garland look like. Imagining a three-dimensional hologram can really help with the visualisation. The colour of the syllables of the mantra is very important. The mantra must not be solid. Its syllables must be composed of very bright, completely transparent light. Although each deity has its own colour, at the initial stage, particularly when the meditator is still developing shiné, it is good to visualise that they have a really bright colour. Commentaries often say that we should visualise them as a pure golden colour. iv. deity of form Then the syllables, which are standing on the top of the moon disc (which is in the nature of our own and the deity’s mind), gradually transform into the deity of form, the actual body of the deity. To do this we visualise rays of light radiating out from the syllables on the moon disc, going out in all the directions, reaching out to all the buddhas and bodhisattvas and meditational deities and bringing back their blessings and inspiration. Again, we are luckier than the meditators of previous generations, who only had their own imagination. Now we can see laser beams shooting out in movies and in firework displays. They are a really good model for the beams of light that shoot out from the letters. Some sadhanas say that when the beams of light come back to us, they do so in the forms of the deities themselves, of all sizes and all types of meditational deities. For instance, if we are meditating on Chenrezig, we imagine millions of different-sized Chenrezigs coming back from the buddha, bodhisattvas and meditational deities. When those deities reach the syllables and moon disc they dissolve into them. From the seed syllable or the letters of the mantra the actual form of the deity appears. In the case of the Chenrezig sadhana, first we imagine the sound of the mantra OM MANI PADME HUM, then we see the letters of the mantra, then from them Chenrezig himself appears. v. deity of mudra The fifth step is called either the deity of mudra or the deity of seal. When we have a complete visualisation of the deity, we visualise the three syllables OM AH HUM – OM at the crown, AH at the throat and HUM at the heart. There are also far more elaborate visualisations where we can imagine different syllables at various parts of our body, such as our eyes, shoulders, brow etc. With the visualisation of each syllable we do a particular mudra (hand gesture). This is the deity of the mudra or seal. vi. deity of symbol With the deity of symbol, we take the syllables we have visualised at the various parts of our body and generate a strong sense of divine pride or divine identity, feeling that we ourselves are that deity. These six steps are very important to follow in order to get clear and vivid visualisations of the deity. Whether we do self-generation or front-generation in our practice, they will help us greatly in creating clear and strong visualisations. In Kriya Tantra this is called the six deities, not because there are six different deities, but because there is a six-part process of visualising the deity. Through each of these six steps, a firm understanding of emptiness and a strong sense of divine identity are so important. Without them, it is just daydreaming. It should be like when we go to the movies. As the cinema darkens and the film comes on the screen we lose all sense of our own identity and we become absorbed in the action of the film. When the action is in some fantastic imaginary country we are there with it. That is how 35

we should feel when we are doing the sadhana. When we enter the mandala we should feel that we really are a deity entering a beautiful celestial palace. In fact mandalas assume even more importance when we go on to Highest Yoga Tantra, where they represent our entire practice. For example, the four doors of the palace represent the Four Noble Truths. Everything about the mandala, the walls, the surroundings, the deities within, are all symbolic of our various realisations. There is an excellent section describing the Kalachakra mandala in Kalachakra Tantra Rite and Initiationxiv by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Jeffrey Hopkins. 3. Abiding on the Basis of Mind After the first two branches, abiding on the basis of another and of oneself, the third branch, abiding on the basis of mind, is really an intermediate step before the mantra recitation. It comes after we have generated ourselves as the deity and visualised a moon disc at our heart. Abiding on the basis of mind means that although we visualise the aspect of a moon disc, this is in fact our own mind. Of course it is not our ordinary dualistic mind but the mind realising emptiness manifesting as the moon disc. This applies to both the moon disc at our own heart, as the self-generation deity, and the moon disc at the heart of the front-generation deity, if that is our practice. To do this as self-generation, we should visualise ourselves as the deity with all the aspects of that deity (e.g. one face, two arms, etc.). On the moon disc at the heart there is almost always a seed syllable such as a HUNG or a TAM with a mantra garland around it. With some deities there is just one syllable at the centre of the moon disc, with others there is both the syllable and the mantra garland. Although the seed syllable is in the form of a letter, it is important to understand that it represents the nature of our own mind. Our own mind has manifested into the syllable. When this visualisation is very clear we should then do the vase breathing (see below). It may seem very difficult to do all these things simultaneously, but when we get used to the practice we will be able to hold the entire visualisation with divine pride – not just the aspect of the deity, but also the moon disc, seed syllable and mantra garland. The practice needs to be done in stages. At first the visualisation will be quite crude, but eventually it will become stronger and more detail can be added. This is what is meant by practising tantra. This meditation, which comes after the visualisation of the deity and before the mantra recitation, is a very important step. 4. Abiding on the Basis of Sound The fourth branch of recitation is abiding on the base of sound. We use the same visualisation that we have built up during the previous three branches. This time, however, we do not think that the seed syllable is the nature of our mind but that it is a divine sound. If the seed syllable is a HRI, then we think that it is making that sound. We should try to have a very strong feeling that this is a divine sound, or that the deity is sound. We are not reciting the sound, we are imagining that we are hearing the sound, in the same way that if we think of the sound of a bell, it is the bell making the sound in our imagination, not us. Here, if the mantra garland is OM MANI PADME HUM then the sound we hear is OM MANI PADME HUM which is coming from the letters. 5.

Combining the Branches

The last two branches, abiding on the basis of mind and of sound, can be done in conjunction with the first two, abiding on the basis of another and of oneself. If we do self-generation, we visualise ourselves as the deity of the practice we are doing, with the moon disc and its seed syllable at our heart and see this as the nature of our own mind. If we do the last two in conjunction with abiding on the base of another, we should not stop the session in that front-generation ‘mode’, but move the visualisation back to ourselves as self-generation, then stop the session. 36

Some sadhanas have both front- and self-generation. If that is so, we should always do self-generation first, then front-generation. If we have moved our visualisation from self to front-generation, before we finish the session we must bring the visualisation back to the self-generation. This is a very useful practice for when we go on to Highest Yoga Tantra. There are certain times when we have to visualise swapping the mantra at our own heart to the deity’s and back again. In that case, although there are two separate deities visualised, in terms of divine pride we are also that front-generation deity. i. bringing the life force under control An important part of mantra recitation is called ‘bringing the life force under control’ (Skt: prañayama, Tib: tsog-sol dom-ba). This name exists in all the levels of tantra, but the practice differs depending on the level. In Overview of Buddhist Tantra, (p.36) Panchen Sonam Dragpa says: By stopping the movement of winds to the outside and through the power of keeping them inside, one’s conceptual mind is forced to cease wandering towards objects and becomes, instead, firmly fixed upon the clear appearance of the deity. In this way, through the practice of prañayama, one generates the clear appearance of the deity and then performs the mental recitation and the whispered recitation. In the three lower classes ‘life’ refers to the winds (which is generally taken as our normal gross breathing), ‘force’ refers to our conceptual mind, and ‘under control’ means trying to stop these two. How do we do this? Normally if we stopped our winds, our breathing, we would die. The act of breathing and the winds associated with it are all very gross and the connection between the two is very strong. There are techniques in the lower tantras, however, such as ‘holding the winds in a vase’ which we will look at later, which enable us to temporarily stop our inhalations and exhalations. The term ‘bringing the life force under control’ is also used in Highest Yoga Tantra. We can understand how the term is used differently by looking its meaning in both tantras. Panchen Sonam Dragpa explains on page 35: Although we speak here of ‘bringing the life force [prañayama] under control’ and also in Highest Yoga class of tantra ‘bringing the life force under control’ is explained, although the same term is used in both cases, the words are understood differently [in the two systems] with regard to their meaning, time, purpose and method.

a. difference with regard to meaning In the Kalachakra Tantra ‘life’ means wind and refers not to the air we breath but the more subtle psychic energy that circulates throughout our body. There are three main channels that this energy runs through, the central channel just in front of our spine and the right and left channels which run either side of it. ‘Force’ in this sense is explained as that which stops the movement of air or wind within the right and left channels and concentrates it within the central channel. So, ‘bringing the life force under control’ is not an actual wind, but an action – the action of forcing the winds which abide normally in our right and left channels into our central channel. In the Guhyasamaja Tantra there is another meaning where ‘life’ refers to the general wind and ‘force’ to the particular wind or energy which prolongs our life. Here, in Kriya Tantra, ‘life’ refers to wind and ‘force’ means conceptualisation, so it refers to the action of bringing the winds to one spot in order to stop our conceptual thoughts.

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b. difference with regard to time The second difference is with regard to time. In the Highest Yoga Tantra, the practice of bringing the life force under control is done at quite an advanced stage. It is done when the practitioner has already managed to develop the union of calm abiding and special insight and has reached the completion stage. Only when they have very vivid visualisations and a realisation of emptiness is this attempted. In Kriya or Action Tantra as well as Carya Tantra, however, this practice is done at quite an early stage. The practitioner does not have calm-abiding nor vivid visualisations of the deity or divine palace and, of course, is still a long way from the realisation of emptiness. The time of the practice is different and that is because the purpose of the practice is different. c. difference with regard to purpose In Highest Yoga Tantra, the purpose is to gather all the different types of wind and energy into the central channel. The ultimate goal is not only for them to abide in the central channel, but to actually have them dissolve into the indestructible drop at the centre of the central channel. This can happen naturally at certain times such as death but here the practitioner is able to do it through meditation. So it is a very advanced practice. (We will look at channels, winds and drops when we look at the completion stage.) The purpose of this practice in Kriya and Carya Tantra is much more modest. Here, the practitioner is doing it simply to temporarily stop conceptual thoughts. The practitioner has not yet achieved shiné and bringing the winds under control is one method to develop it. The winds do not go into the central channel, as in Highest Yoga Tantra, but they are made to stay at a point in the body – usually near the concentration of energy at the navel called the navel channel wheel. d. difference with regard to method And of course the method of ‘bringing the life force under control’ is different in the different classes of tantra. In the Highest Yoga Tantra, it is done by manipulating the various energies that are in our body. Principally, the practitioner controls the downwardand upward-moving energies through visualisation. By playing with these two winds the meditator is able to move them and all the other winds into the central channel. In Kriya Tantra, the winds we are dealing with are much grosser. They are in fact our ordinary in-breath and out-breath. By temporarily stopping both our inhalation and exhalation, we can control our life force, which here refers to our conceptualisation. Using the correct technique, if we stop our breath for a long enough period our conceptual mind will temporarily stop too. It is important to make these distinctions between the different levels of tantra. ‘Bringing the life force under control’ is a common term in all the tantras, but the actual practices are quite different. ii. holding the winds in a vase The actual practice of bringing the life force under control in Kriya Tantra is usually a technique with a much more descriptive name, ‘holding the winds in a vase’ or ‘vase breathing’. With this technique we can actually control and stop our breathing (‘life’) for quite a long time and because of that our conceptual thoughts (‘force’). Like swimming under water it is something we need to develop over time. We need to slowly learn to control our breathing and thoughts for longer and longer periods without damaging our body or our inner systems. The first thing we need to have is a very good body posture. This is very important. Then, a good preliminary step to the actual ‘vase breathing’ is the nine-round breathing meditation. That is three rounds of breathing in through the right nostril while visualising white light flowing in through the right channel, then exhaling from the left nostril, visualising black smoke pouring out of and purifying the left channel. Then the three rounds are reversed, breathing in through the left nostril and out through the right, then three rounds where we breathe in through both nostrils, visualising white light flowing in through both channels and the central channel being purified during the out-breath. (For a more complete description of the nine-round breathing meditation used in the completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra, see chapter six, page XX) 38

Having prepared ourselves like this, we breathe in through the nose (never the mouth) then gently bring the upper wind (Tib: deng-lung) – the in-breath – down while at the same time tensing our lower stomach muscles slightly. This has the effect of forcing the lower wind – the psychic energy that abides in our abdomen – to rise. This should be done very gently. With the upper wind coming down and the lower wind rising, they should meet at around the navel. We focus our entire mind on the meeting of these two winds and hold them there consciously as if they are being cupped between the muscles above and below. This becomes the vase for containing the winds. We should hold those winds at the navel for as long as we can. Then, when we need to breathe again, we very gently breathe out through the nostrils while relaxing the lower part of our body. By repeating this and slowly increasing the time we can hold the winds, we will gradually be able to bring our life force under control. What happens is that inside the vase the conceptual mind will cease. Initially it will be just our ordinary conceptual mind which ceases for very a short period but with training, when we do this as part of our sadhana, our conceptual mind will vanish and our divine appearance will become incredibly clear. Wind and mind have a very strong connection. Here we are not just talking about the gross wind – our breathing – but the subtle winds or energies that flow within our body which carry all our conceptual consciousnesses. By stilling the winds we are also automatically stilling the conceptual mind. We should have already developed a strong sense of divine pride. When we hold the winds in the vase, that divine identity increases, which resembles special insight, and conceptual thoughts cease, which is an approximation of shiné. It is said that this technique is unique to Vajrayana. If you seriously want to practise this in a retreat, it is good to mention here that for people who are inexperienced it is not advisable to do it more than ten times. After that, you should just relax and focus more on your own divine identity and the visualisation you have already established. After you have done this for a while and are more relaxed, then you can return to the vase breathing. Alternating like this gives a good balance and reduces the chances of your mind becoming too tight. Tantric practice is very powerful but very easy to misuse. Vase breathing can really boost our practice but if we are not ready for it, it can quite seriously disturb our mind. It is because of the power of practices like this that we have to be very careful. For example, when we have achieved the third concentration on abiding in sound, we have definitely achieved certain realisations and certain powers and we can control some external elements. If any trace of ego remains at all it is so easy for this power to be used solely for our own benefit and to increase the ego. 6. Two Types of Mantra Recitation With a strong sense of divine identity and a very clear visualisation as the deity, we recite the mantra. The mantra can be recited in two ways:  whispered recitation  mental recitation Normally if we are doing a particular deity practice, we would recite either silently or in a whisper, rather than chanting aloud as we might do in a puja. Whichever type of recitation we do, whispered or mental, the four branches of the recitation must be there: abiding on the basis of another, of oneself, of mind and of sound. As I said earlier, some sadhanas do not have front generation. If that is the case it seems we are missing the branch of abiding on the basis of another. Even if there is no front generation, however, it must have the merit field which we have visualised in the preliminary section. At this stage, we bring it into stronger focus. Within the merit field there will be the deity we are practising, so we bring that deity more vividly into the picture. i.

whispered recitation

When we do the whispered mantra recitation, while we are reciting the mantra we visualise either the front-generation (or the deity from the merit field) and self-generation deity very clearly. We also need to visualise a moon disc at the front generation’s heart 39

which is in the nature of our own mind. Then, on top of that moon disc the mantra which we are going to recite appears. These are the four branches of recitation which we keep clearly in our mind – aiding on the basis of self (self-generation), of other (front generation), of mind (the moon disc) and of sound (the mantra). These make up are the whispered recitation. The whispered recitation is just that. We say the mantra very quietly but very clearly to ourselves, with each syllable distinct. This is to establish the mantra very firmly in our mind. When we are reciting the mantra while using the front-generation deity there are three things we focus on: the actual deity, the syllable or syllables on the moon disc at the deity’s heart and the sound of the mantra coming from the syllables. So there are many factors operating together when we do mantra recitation. As we recite the mantra, the focus of our meditation is important. Often in retreats the visualisation during the mantra recitation is of nectar flowing from the heart of the deity into us in order to receive the deity’s blessings. What we have been looking at until now has been more to do with developing shiné and special insight. So where we focus depends on the purpose of our meditation. It is good, if you can, to visualise all the mantras of the deity standing upright around the moon disc. The moon disc itself is almost always flat, not standing upright like a mirror. (There are one or two exceptions in Highest Yoga Tantra.) Some masters say the moon disc has a slight bump at the middle but most say it is simply flat. The mantras stand around the edge in a clockwise direction. Where there are more syllables than can fit around the edge, then they spiral inwards towards the centre. At the very centre is always the seed syllable of the deity, for instance a HRI for Chenrezig or a TAM for Tara. ii. mental recitation When we have done a round of the mala of whispered recitation (i.e., said the mantra 108 times) we can go on to mental recitation. To do that we should once again bring the life force under control and then, when our breathing has stopped and the upper and lower winds are held together, our mind should simply focus on the sound of the mantra. So, although it is called mental recitation there is no actual reciting. The recitation is the sound of the mantra coming from the mantra garland at the front-generation deity’s heart. Again, we must have the four branches of recitation in our mind. When we do the mental recitation associated with the front generation, the front generation’s body must be very clear, which is the first branch. Then at the heart of the front-generation deity is the moon disc and on top of that the mantra we recite. As we are holding the wind we need to mentally recite the mantra. When we cannot hold the wind any longer, we slowly let the breath go and, at the same time, let the mind start to focus on the front-generation’s body. As we do this we stop doing the mental recitation. This should be repeated again and again. Mental recitation can also be associated with self-generation. The first thing we need to visualise is the front-generation deity which should not be very far from ourselves and a little bit higher than us, with the moon disc at the heart and the mantra on the moon disc. Just before controlling the life force, on the in-breath we imagine the mantra moves from the front-generation deity to the top of the moon disc at our own heart. At the same time the breath is controlled and we do the mental recitation. When we cannot hold the breath any longer, we breathe out, imagining the mantra held on the breath is also breathed out and placed on the moon disc of the front-generation’s heart. We repeat this again and again. Although we can do the whispered mantra recitation without controlling the life force, with the mental recitation this practice must be done.

The Concentration of Abiding in Fire There are many parts and sub-parts to deity yoga and it can become quite confusing. So, to summarise, the three main divisions of the sadhana are the concentration of the four branches of recitation, which we have just covered, the concentration of abiding in fire and the concentration of abiding in sound. In Overview of Buddhist Tantra (page 37) Panchen Sonam Dragpa defines the concentration of abiding in fire as: 40

The concentration of one’s mind upon the sound of the mantra that emanates from the midst of a lamp-like brightness upon the moon at the heart of oneself clearly visualised as the deity. This technique should not be attempted until you can maintain strong divine identity and keep the life force under control for quite a long time. There is a progression to this whole meditation and the concentration of abiding in fire forms part of the next stage of that process. Without the concentration on the four branches of recitation this concentration cannot work. Although it has some similarities with the well-known practice in Highest Yoga Tantra called tum-mo or inner heat meditation, where the practitioner can develop actual heat in the body, this technique is nowhere near tum-mo. We move to this stage after the whispered and mental mantra recitation. If we are doing it in association with a meditation on self-generation, we visualise a moon disc at our own heart and on the moon disc there is a very bright light, shaped like a candle flame with a rounded bottom coming to a peak at the top. The flame is tiny and incredibly bright and it has no movement at all, like a candle on a completely still night. We imagine that this is our own mind realising emptiness manifesting as that flame and then concentrate on the flame. The external sign that this meditation is becoming more established is that we become less dependent on food and drink. We are able to meditate for long periods without hunger or thirst. Internally, there is a sense of great bliss or joy. The Tibetan word is dedod, which has the connotation of bliss with a feeling of warmth. Success in this practice does not mean that we have developed pure shiné. There is still the need to revert back again and again to bringing the life force under control in order to eliminate subtle forms of the conceptual mind.

The Concentration of Abiding in Sound

The third concentration, the concentration of abiding in sound, is even more advanced than the second. Panchen Sonam Dragpa defines it as: The concentration of one’s mind upon the sound of the mantra situated on the moon at the heart of oneself clearly visualised as the deity.xv This concentration is very similar to the previous one, abiding in fire. The difference is that here, on the moon disc at the self-generation deity’s heart, is another deity. It is in the same form as the self-generation, such as Chenrezig or Tara, but very tiny. And at that deity’s heart is a tiny, bright flame and in that flame (in the same way as in the previous concentration) is our own mind realising emptiness which manifests into the sound of the mantra. Here our mind just focuses on the sound which is inside the flame, not on the flame as with the previous one. The sign of being successful in the concentration of abiding in sound is that we will see the main deities’ colour, hand instruments etc, much clearer than if we were actually looking at a picture of the deity with our own eyes. The visualisation is very clear and very precise. We will also constantly hear the sound of the mantra, not like when we recite the syllables one-by-one, but the entire mantra sounding simultaneously. And it is very clear, like listening to a top-quality CD player, with every instrument crystal clear. When we say “hear”, however, it is very much a mental “hearing”, rather than through our ears. These three concentrations – of the four branches of recitation, of fire and of sound – belong to the yoga with sign. The concentration we will look at next, bestowing liberation at the end of sound, belongs to yoga without sign.

Bestowing Liberation at the End of Sound The final concentration is called the ‘concentration of bestowing liberation at the end of sound.’ The previous three concentrations have involved mantra to some degree, whether 41

it is whispered or mental recitation. Up until now the main meditation has been to establish calm-abiding through those practices but they still do not have the power to cut the root of samsara. At the end of the concentration of abiding in sound, freedom from samsara (liberation) will only be achieved if the meditator has gained the wisdom realising emptiness so they must focus on emptiness without a conceptual mind. This stage, therefore, is called bestowing liberation at the end of sound because they have now gone beyond conceptuality. At this stage the practitioner has already gained calm-abiding but that calm-abiding is no longer focusing on the deity’s body or the mantra or any other of the other conventional objects of meditation. Here, through analytical meditation on emptiness, the meditator mainly progresses to attaining single-pointed meditation on it. Through that, the union of calm-abiding and special insight realising emptiness is established. This brings the result, which is the aim of the last stage of yoga without sign, bestowing liberation at the end of sound. From the point of view of the lower tantras, by developing through the yoga with and without sign, a practitioner of Kriya and Carya Tantra will gain common and uncommon siddhis. Common siddhis are things such as clairvoyance or longevity; the uncommon siddhi is realising the union of body and mind, which is enlightenment. According to Highest Yoga Tantra, however, it is not possible to attain enlightenment relying solely on the lower tantras. It is called ‘bestowing liberation at the end of sound’ because the practitioner has gone beyond mantra recitation etc., and has realised emptiness by the union of calm-abiding and special insight. This is also what ‘yoga without sign’ means – the practitioner has transcended reliance on things such as mantra and visualisations and the conceptual realisation of emptiness – the signs. ‘Bestowing liberation’ here refers to that union of calm-abiding and special insight conjoined with visualising the divine form which leads to the meditator actually achieving the state of the deity they have been meditating on. If the practitioner is doing Chenrezig practice they will eventually achieve the qualities of Chenrezig. What we have looked at so far in studying the three lower classes is the structure of Kriya and Carya Tantra in connection with yoga with sign and yoga without sign. Having a good understanding of this process in the lower tantras is very important when moving to the Highest Yoga Tantra. As Lama Tsong Khapa says: Seeing clearly that if I do not understand The methods of the paths and the three lower Tantras, My decision that the Unexcelled Yoga Tantra is best of all, Would be no more than an unsupported assertion, So I enquired deeply into general and specific Three types of Action Tantra...xvi The lower tantras’ two stages, yoga with and without sign can be divided like this: Yoga With Sign 1.

The Concentration of the Four Branches of Recitation i. abiding on the basis of another  visualising the divine palace, (the mandala)  inviting the principal and other deities and the wisdom beings  visualising the offerings  refuge, generating bodhicitta and so forth ii. abiding on the basis of oneself  the deity of emptiness  the deity of sound  the deity of letter  the deity of form  the deity of mudra 42

 the deity of symbol iii. abiding on the basis of mind iv. abiding on the basis of sound 2. The Concentration of Abiding in Fire 3. The Concentration of Abiding in Sound  whispered recitation  mental recitation Yoga Without Sign Bestowing Liberation at the End of Sound.

Another Way of Presenting the Path in Kriya Tantra Vajrayana is a very skilful and powerful vehicle because it uses meditations where we take the result into the path. That means that, while we are still on the path, developing wisdom etc., we visualise ourselves as the deity, imagining that the result has already been achieved. Kriya or Action Tantra does this in three ways:  actualising enlightened body  actualising enlightened speech  actualising enlightened mind. The path of actualising the enlightened body is through visualising the deity; the path of actualising the enlightened speech is through mantra repetition; and the path of actualising the enlightened mind is through the concentration of bestowing liberation at the end of sound. Actualising the enlightened body refers to the six steps of visualising the deity, either as front-generation or self-generation: the deity of form, sound, mudra etc. Actualising the enlightened speech refers to mantra recitations at all the stages of the practice, with the four branches, with whispered and mental recitation, the concentration of abiding on fire and the concentration of abiding on sound. Actualising the enlightened mind comes with the last practice, bestowing liberation at the end of sound. Specifically, this is by gaining the union of calm-abiding and special insight realising emptiness. Normally when we meditate we can concentrate on clear visualisations or we can concentrate on developing the single-pointed mind. There is really no sequence where we must do one first followed by the other. In Kriya Tantra there is. Developing a clear appearance – here the clear appearance of the deity – is the first stage. The single-pointed mind will come later. It does not necessarily have to be of the entire deity; it can be a part such as a hand or a face, but maintaining that clear appearance for a long duration is very dependent on our concentration. The more focussed our mind is the longer we can keep that clear appearance. In order to have a clear appearance of all the features of the deity we need to go step by step. For example, when meditating on ourselves as Tara, if we have a clear appearance of even one single strand of hair we can build upon that bit by bit. To have the clear appearance of the face, we need to take each feature at a time: an eye, the mouth etc. Then when we have the face we can start to build up the clear appearance of the whole body. If we always try to visualise the entire body, we will never get anything clear. It is like when you have a small photo on the computer. You click on it to make it bigger and bigger, and the larger it gets the fuzzier it is. I talked to Peter Griffin who was creating a digital image of the prototype of the Maitreya statue. He said that although the model looks perfect when small, when you digitally enlarge it to the equivalent of 500 feet (151 metres) the slightest fault is huge, so they have to take every tiny section pieceby-piece and work on the computer image of it. When I heard that I thought of how similar it was to building a visualisation in tantra. In order to get a clear appearance of the deity we need to build it up step by step otherwise we will never get a clear appearance of the entire body. Tantra is very complex. If you look at the recommended reading book Overview of Buddhist Tantra you will see that there are many lists which talk about many deities with different mantras and environments and practices. There are instructions on doing retreats, such as how many millions of mantras are needed to complete a retreat where the deity’s mantra is less than thirteen syllables and how many hundreds of thousands if the mantra is over thirteen. I have not gone in to those sorts of details because it varies so much with the particular buddha family you are practising and it is not the purpose of this course book to give you 43

instructions on doing retreats. What I have tried to do is give you an overview of the processes, such as visualisation and bringing the life force under control. If you can start these on a reasonably simple level and continue to develop them, it will help so much when you practise Highest Yoga Tantra and will definitely be instrumental in developing shiné. This chapter has been about Kriya Tantra but as Kriya and Carya Tantra are so similar, we will not be looking at Carya Tantra.

Questions on Chapter Three 1. What are the main differences between the three lower tantras and Highest Yoga Tantra? 2. What steps do we need to take to ensure that our deity visualisation is more than just daydreaming? 3. What do you understand by ‘divine pride’ in Vajrayana practice? 4. What are the three steps of ‘yoga with sign’? 5. What are the six steps involving the visualisation of a deity in Kriya Tantra? 6. In what way is mantra ‘protection for the mind’? 7. “Although the seed syllable is in the form of a letter, it is important to understand it represents the nature of our own mind.” What is the meaning of ‘represents the nature of the mind’?

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Chapter 4. The Generation Stage of Highest Yoga Tantra

An Overview of the Generation Stage

For the rest of the course book we will be looking at Highest Yoga Tantra and its two levels, the generation and completion stage. The purpose of the practice of the generation stage is to ripen the practitioner’s mind for the completion stage. It is really a rehearsal for the more advanced stage where the practitioner meditates on the things that will actually happen during the completion stage, such as the winds or energies dissolving in the central channel. We pass from the generation stage to the completion stage by bringing our imaginative vision to such a height of clarity and power that our imagination starts to become real. Death, intermediate state and rebirth are also imagined. It is a time to really understand each process and do the meditations on the three embodiments of the enlightened resultant state of buddhahood, where the dharmakaya, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya are equated with the resultant states of death, intermediate state and rebirth. These are the things we will be looking at in the next three chapters. Yangchen Gawai Lodoe in Paths and Ground of Guhyasamaja (page 19) defines the generation stage as: a yoga classified as being a meditation newly contrived or visualised to accord with any of the aspects of death, intermediate state or rebirth. It is also a factor for ripening one’s mental continuum by its resultant state, the completion stage, and it does not arise through the [actual] meditation practice of the winds entering, abiding and dissolving in the central psychic channel. This definition states that the generation stage is a practice leading to the resultant or completion stage. We imagine the winds entering, abiding and dissolving in the central channel and, due to that, the clear light occurring, but at this stage it is still imagination. Because of this, it has some synonyms. They are:  imputed stage  contrived yoga  yoga of the first stage. 1. Father and Mother Tantra Within Highest Yoga Tantra, certain tantras belong to father tantra, certain to mother tantra and there is even a category called non-dual tantra. According to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in The World of Tibetan Buddhism: Within the four classes of tantra there are many subdivisions. Highest Yoga Tantra consists of certain categories, such as Father Tantra, Mother Tantra, 45

and, in addition, according to some scholars, Non-Dual Tantra. Great scholars such as Taktsang Lotsawa Sherab Rinchen divide Highest Yoga Tantra into these three categories on the basis of the three initiations that ripen the various faculties of the trainee towards the realizations of the Completion Stage. From this point of view, tantras emphasizing the secret initiation are categorized as Father Tantras, those emphasizing the wisdom-knowledge initiation, as Mother Tantras, and those emphasizing the fourth initiation, as Non-Dual Tantras. This manner of defining the three divisions has profound significance.xvii Lama Tsong Khapa explains it in a slightly different way. He says that father tantra refers to the Highest Yoga Tantra practices which emphasise the attainment of enlightenment through the realisation of the illusory body, whereas for mother tantra the emphasis is on the attainment of enlightenment through the realisation of the clear light. So, although all Highest Yoga Tantra practices have the practice of illusory body and clear light, there are different emphases. These can also be called method tantra and wisdom tantra, method tantra being the same as father tantra in emphasising the illusory body, and wisdom tantra being the same as the mother tantra in emphasising clear light. In non-dual tantra, method and wisdom are equally emphasised. Method here refers to pristine cognition, which is the union of great bliss and wisdom realising emptiness. Because of this Lama Tsong Khapa states that, in one sense, since all the unsurpassed yoga tantra texts must have as their subject matter the union of indivisible bliss and wisdom realising emptiness, all the Highest Yoga Tantra practices are by definition nondual tantras. 2. Practising The Generation Stage To practise both the generation and completion stages of Highest Yoga Tantra, the human body is the perfect instrument. It is said that to do Highest Yoga Tantra the practitioner needs a particular physical body which is composed of six vital constituents or elements. These six are:  the three obtained from the father: bones, marrow and regenerative fluids  the three obtained from the mother: flesh, skin and blood. This kind of body is not only important for the generation and completion stage but also acts as a basis of purification where ordinary death, the intermediate stage and rebirth can be turned into the path to enlightenment. The actual generation stage practice is done with three meditative absorptions:  the absorption of initial engagement  the absorption of the supreme victorious mandala  the absorption of the supreme activities. Within the first one, the absorption of initial engagement, we meditate on the three kayas (bodies). This is where we take the meditation on the three processes of death, intermediate state and rebirth into the path. During the generation stage, the experiences of these three processes occur only within our imagination, not as actual experiences. But during the completion stage, as the practitioner advances, they progressively gain deeper and deeper experiences of these processes until they are able to experience the actual dissolution experiences in meditation, and especially the experience of the subtlest clear light like that which occurs at the actual time of death. In the generation stage death process meditation, at the point where we are experiencing the clear light at an imagination level, we should engage in meditative equipoise on emptiness. This is the meditation on the truth body (dharmakaya) and that process purifies ordinary death. Just as an ordinary person after experiencing the clear light of death enters into the intermediate state and assumes a subtle intermediate state body, the generation stage practitioner, after arising from the meditative equipoise on emptiness, imagines assuming a subtle body. This is the meditation on the enjoyment body (sambhogakaya). And that factor purifies the ordinary intermediate state. Then, just as the ordinary being leaves the intermediate state and assumes a gross physical body, thus taking rebirth in a new life, in the same manner the generation stage practitioner imagines arising from the enjoyment body, which is a subtle body during the 46

intermediate state visualisation, and assuming the emanation body (nirmanakaya). This meditation on the emanation body is the factor which purifies ordinary rebirth. (illustration of Guhyasamaja – full page – to coincide with the start of this section)

How to Practise the Generation Stage in Connection with the Guhyasamaja Sadhana

The generation stage is practised using a deity sadhana (meditation manual). I am going to use the example of the Guhyasamaja deity sadhana. Here, although we will see many sections in the generation stage, the main practice is taking death, intermediate stage and rebirth as the three bodies (kayas) of a buddha:  death: dharmakaya (truth body)  intermediate state: sambhogakaya (enjoyment body)  rebirth: nirmanakaya (emanation body). During the generation stage the practitioner is not ready to actually take their real death, bardo and rebirth as the three bodies. The main practice here is imitating these three processes and imagining them transforming into the three kayas. That practice is done with many different combinations of meditations and recitations. So, here I will explain the outline of the full Guhyasamaja sadhana, which I hope will help people who want to do a generation stage practice based on a deity sadhana. If we get a clear understanding of how to do the generation stage practice based on the Guhyasamaja sadhana, then we can easily transpose it to other Highest Yoga Tantra deities such as Yamantaka or Heruka. The Vajramala Tantra mentions some conditions we need before we start a generation stage practice. Firstly, our mental continuum must be very rich in the knowledge of the common path – in other words, renunciation, bodhicitta and emptiness. On top of that, we must have received the full initiation in the mandala from the vajra master, plus we must keep whatever commitments we have taken during the initiation very purely. We must have also received the permission from the vajra master to practise the sadhana. There are also conditions concerning where the generation stage should be practised. Again, to quote from the Vajramala Tantra (chapter 12) it should be a place where we feel very safe physically, and mentally we must feel calm and have very few distractions. We must also have all the necessities to do the practice, such as a meditation cushion. The final condition is knowing how to practise the generation stage. This is where an understanding of the outline is needed and this is what this chapter is all about. The sadhana has three main sections:  what to do before the actual practice  what to do during the actual practice  what to do between sessions. The actual outline of the Guhyasamaja sadhana is quite complex and can be confusing so below is an outline, which it might be worth referring back to from time to time. Can this table fit on a full page with bullets and indents as similar to this as possible Outline of the Guhyasamaja Sadhana what to do before the actual practice 1. what to do at the beginning of the session i. generating oneself into the deity (1) ii. blessing the vajra and bell and the inner offering (2) and (3) iii. offering the preliminary torma (ritual cake) (4) iv. blessing the self-generation’s offering (5) v. practising the Vajrasattva practice (6) 2. the main preliminary practice i. accumulating merit  offering (7)  prostration  purification of negativities  rejoicing & dedicating all virtues  taking refuge  generating bodhicitta  making pledge to practice the path ii. eliminating obstacles  meditating on ultimate protection (emptiness and divine pride)

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meditating on the protection wheel o generating the principal deity of the protection wheel (8) o generating the wrathful retinues. o stabbing the obstacles by use of a phurbha (9) o meditating on the vajra fence (10) what to do during the actual practice 1. the meditative absorption on the initial engagement i. the way to be enlightened  meditation on the ground of pristine cognition (11)  meditation on the vajra ground (12)  meditation on the celestial mandala (13) ii. generation of the deities  generation of the specially imagined deities (14)  withdrawal of the specially imagined deities into the body iii. deeds of the specially imagined deities (15) (16)  the yoga of specially imagined class, taking the dharmakaya into the path (17)  generation of the primordial lord, the yoga of taking the intermediate state of sambhogakaya into the path (18)  the yoga of taking birth as nirmanakaya into the path (19) o generation of emanation body of Vajradhara o visualising the mandala on its body (20) o blessing the three doors (21) o generation of the triple being (22) o sealing with the lord of the family (23) and (24)  the rite of union with a consort o seeking the consort (25) o blessing of the secret places (26) (27) 2. the meditative absorption on the supreme victorious mandala (28) and (29) 3. the meditative absorption on the supreme activities i. the subtle yoga (30) ii. mantra recitation (31)  vajra recitation  speech recitation iii. songs of evocation (32) iv. offerings prayers (33) v. tasting of nectar (34) vi. meditation on dissolution. (35) what to do between the sessions (36) 1. making torma offerings 2. the yoga of eating 3. the yoga of sleeping 4. the yoga of waking 5. the yoga of washing 6. the yoga of enhancing one’s body

The numbers in brackets refer to the list of 36 activities of the sadhana from Akhu Sherap Gyatso’ss commentary on Guhyasamaja, The Sacred Words of Lord Akshobhya. For those of you using that commentary, I have included a table in the supplementary reading, comparing it with the outline above.

Before the Actual Practice The sadhana starts with the preliminary practices which have two sections: 1. what to do at the beginning of the session 2. the main preliminary practice. What to do at the beginning of the actual session has five parts: i. generating oneself into the deity 48

ii. blessing the vajra and bell and the inner offering iii. offering the preliminary torma (ritual cake) iv. blessing the self-generation’s offering v. practising the Vajrasattva practice. i. generating oneself as the deity Here we generate ourselves as the deity with a very strong devotion towards the direct and indirect lineage masters, make a strong prayer or request and then through that we are generated into the deity – in the case of Guhyasamaja it is Krodha Vajra (Diamond Anger) with consort, Sparsha Vajra (Diamond Touch). There should be a very strong divine pride as well as a very strong appearance of the deity. ii. blessing the vajra and bell and the inner offering There are many different ways of blessing the vajra and bell but here it is mainly by remembering their significance. The second part of this section is blessing the inner offering. The inner offering is visualised as five ‘meats’ and five ‘nectars’ – impure substances such as rotting flesh etc. – which represent our afflictive emotions etc. We cleanse these substances, purify them and generate them into the specific things, then make the blessing. We actually cleanse the substances by reciting the action mantra OM AH VIGHNANTAKRT HUM/OM SHUNYATA JNANA VAJRA SVABHAVA ATMAKO HAM and by remembering the substances are empty of inherent existence. By repeating OM SUNYATA, the emptiness mantra, all the substances in the inner offering turn into clear light. iii. offering the preliminary torma (ritual cake) This is what we call nyondro torma, the preliminary torma offering. Torma is a ritual cake offered to the deities. First we bless the six or seven offerings on our altar then we need to bless the actual torma itself, which is a separate offering. We next need to invoke the protectors of the ten directionsxviii, offer the torma offering and make requests to them. iv. blessing the self-generation’s offering Again, with the understanding of emptiness, we cleanse the offerings by saying the action mantra, purifying them with the emptiness mantra (OM SUNYATA). Inside capalas (skull bowls) which arise from an AH, each offering is marked by a syllable – the first Sanskrit letter of the name of that offering. Then with strong concentration, we say the mantra of each offering while doing that offering’s mudra (hand gesture). This is the same as the previous blessing for the preliminary offering and preliminary torma. v. practising the Vajrasattva meditation The Vajrasattva meditation comes into all sadhanas and is practised in order to purify negativities. 2. The Main Preliminary Practice From ‘what to do at the beginning of the session’ we have now moved to ‘the main preliminary practice.’ This has two major parts: accumulating merit in order to have the conditions to practise the sadhana, and eliminating obstacles by meditating on the protection wheel. i. accumulating merit in order to have the favourable conditions to practise In order to have the right conditions to practise the sadhana, with great compassion, understanding that all samsaric beings are in samsara under the power of ignorance and delusion, we generate love, great compassion and bodhicitta. Then, within those great minds we invoke the merit field and do the Seven-Limb Practice which consists of:  offering  prostration  purification of negativities  rejoicing & dedicating all virtues  taking refuge  generating bodhicitta  making a pledge to practise the path. ii. eliminating obstacles by meditating on the protection wheel This has two sub-sections: meditating on ultimate protection (emptiness and divine pride) and meditating on the protection wheel.

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 meditating on ultimate protection (emptiness and divine pride) We meditate on the ultimate protection by meditating on emptiness. In that way, we place our own mind in the dharmakaya, and through that have strong divine identity or divine pride.  meditating on the protection wheel Then we meditate on the actual protection wheel and the protectors inside the wheel which has four sub-outlines: o generating the principal deity of the protection wheel on the centre cushion o generating the wrathful retinues o stabbing the obstacles by use of a phurbha – a sharp stake with a protector or body handle and a long blade o meditating on the vajra fence (the fire wall and the entire protection wheel itself). Now we have finished the necessary steps, which we normally call preliminary practices, before the main part of the practice.

During The Actual Practice Now we have reached the actual practice. It has three sections: 1. the meditative absorption on the initial engagement 2. the meditative absorption on the supreme victorious mandala 3. the meditative absorption on the supreme activities. These three are the main practice of the sadhana. Within these three, the first one – the meditative absorption on the initial engagement – is the main practice and within it there is the practice on taking death, intermediate state and rebirth as the buddhas’ three bodies. The masters have said that this part is the most important part, so if we do the sadhana we should never miss it out. The second and third parts, the meditative absorption on mandala and supreme activities, can be missed if we are very busy, although there are important parts in them. But the most important part in the generation stage practice is the first one, the meditative absorption on the initial engagement. 1. The Meditative Absorption of the Initial Engagement This first section of the main practice has three main sub-sections: i. the way to be enlightened ii. the generation of the deities, the form in which enlightenment takes place iii. deeds of the specially imagined deities i. the way to be enlightened In the first one, the way to be enlightened, there are three sub-headings:  meditation on the ground of the pristine cognition which shares parallels to an empty aeon following the dissolution of an earlier universe  meditation on the vajra ground which shares a parallel to the evolution of the next universe  meditation on the celestial mandala on the centre of the double vajra. To do the first one, we need to understand the shared parallel, to understand the dissolution of an earlier universe, then to understand similarities in the process on the dissolution of an earlier universe and then meditating on the ground of the pristine cognition. In Tibetan this is literally ‘the ground of wisdom’ and refers to an understanding emptiness of inherent existence so we seal the meditation with this understanding. ii. the generation of the deities, the form in which enlightenment takes place The second part, the generation of the deities, has two sub-headings:  generation of the specially imagined deities  withdrawal of the specially imagined deities into the body. 50

In the first sub-heading, the generation of the specially imagined deities (i.e., the deities associated with that mandala), it says that within the specially imagined deities’ mandala the specially imagined deities are generated in a split-second and then gradually visualised, which is similar to the earlier evolution of the universal beings and how they came into existence. iii. deeds of the specially imagined deities Under the third heading, deeds of the specially imagined deities, there are four outlines:  the yoga of specially imagined class, taking death as the dharmakaya into the path  generation of the primordial lord, the yoga of taking the intermediate state as sambhogakaya into the path  the yoga of taking birth as nirmanakaya into the path So, now we have reached the essence of the sadhana. I will gloss over it now as we will be looking at it in detail in the next chapter. The third one, the yoga of taking birth as nirmanakaya into the path, has five sections: o generation of emanation body of Vajradhara. That is taking the primordial lord which we have visualised in the intermediate state into the emanation body as Vajradhara o visualising the mandala on its body This has two processes: the body as resident mandala and the aggregates as the resident deities. In the meditation on the aggregates as resident deities, the body parts have to be taken as the basis of generation and they should serve as the material cause of the actual deities. When this happens, our body and the deities become indivisible in the manner of a red-hot iron becoming one with the fire. Certain aggregates generate into certain deities – female deities, wrathful deities and so on. o blessing the three doors The consecration of the three doors is the consecration of the body, speech and mind. That means blessing our body into vajra body, blessing our speech into vajra speech and blessing our mind into vajra mind. o generation of the triple being That means stacking the three beings, one inside the other. The triple being is the commitment being, wisdom being and concentration being. The commitment being is ourselves as Vajradhara. The wisdom being is the being evoked from the ten directions who sits at the heart of Vajradhara. At the heart of the commitment being on a moon cushion is a blue five-spoked vajra. The concentration being is a blue HUNG at its hub. o sealing with the lord of the family. Here, we visualise the lord of the family, which at this stage is ourselves as Vajradhara, and then do an extensive visualisation of the mandala on his body.  the rite of union with the consort The rite of union with the consort indicates that attachment of triple-embodiment is dependent on the path of desire. It has two processes: seeking the consort and blessing the secret places. o seeking the consort Here we are engaging in the placement of the 32 deities on our body with ourselves as the emanation of Vajradhara. (There is an explanation of the 32 deities in the next chapter.) This is a meditative practice derived from father tantra. At this point we should visualise that there arises from our heart the consort corresponding to the visualised buddha family. o blessing of the secret places The secret places of the principal deity and his consort should be dissolved into emptiness and generated into a vajra and lotus which appears from outside as male and female organs respectively. Through the central spoke of the vajra and at the hub of the lotus are the passages in the form of a straw of light with each entrance blocked by the yellow letter PHAT. This is the main practice of the generation stage. This is where we should really be focusing on taking the process of death, intermediate state and rebirth into the path. It is so important to know the normal death process itself and the last dissolution of ‘arising into clear light’, and from that light trying to realise emptiness within that experience of clear light by imagining it as the dharmakaya. 51

2. The Meditative Absorption on the Supreme Victorious Mandala In the actual practice of self-generation, of three major outlines the meditative absorption of initial engagement is the means of realising one’s own interests and both the meditative absorption of the supreme victorious mandala and the meditative absorption of supreme victorious activities are the means of realising the fulfilment of others’ interests. So far we have just looked at the first one, the meditative absorption of initial engagement. With the meditative absorption on the supreme victorious mandala, the main meditation involves visualising that the entire mandala or celestial palace and the resident deities of the mandala are generated at the consort’s lotus. After that the deities descend in order to purify the environment and the sentient beings. To do this the resident deities are emanated from the consort’s lotus, purifying all the sentient beings’ negativities and obscurations. Then the mandala is emanated from outside the consort’s lotus which purifies all the obscurations of the external environment. 3. The Meditative Absorption on Supreme Activities In this practice, the process is: i. the subtle yoga ii. mantra recitation iii. songs of evocation iv. offerings prayers v. tasting of nectar vi. meditation on dissolution. The subtle yoga is not really in the sadhana, but here we are mainly practising the lifesupporting praña, praña yoga, which we will discuss briefly in the completion stage. Just to mention it here, the subtle yoga meditation focuses the visualisation of the tiny hand instruments at the certain parts of the deity’s body and the meditation on the tiny drop visualised on the tip of the nose. Mantra recitation has two steps:  vajra repetition  speech recitation. Again, we will come across the mantra recitation in a little more detail in the completion stage. With the songs of evocation, just as the Buddha engaged in numberless deeds by manifesting and dissolving countless emanations in infinite world systems, so too the principal deity, which is actually ourselves visualised as the deity with the four goddesses, does the same. So this meditation is called by its short title, songs of evocation. With offering prayers and tasting the nectar, the meditation is a similar procedure to that of receiving the Buddha by singing his praises, our making offerings and his acceptance of the offerings through conferring the blessings. Here, also we manifest into the five Dhyani Buddhas and make offerings. Meditation on the dissolution really depends on whether we have previously completed the body mandala visualisation and the visualisation of the meditative absorption of the victorious mandala. As I have mentioned, in the actual practice there are three sections – meditative absorption on the initial engagement, on the mandala and on the supreme activities – and of course it is good if we can do all three sections, but if we do not have time and leave the last two, the masters say that does not mean our meditation is not complete. But if we do those two, when we reach here the dissolution needs to be done according to our visualisation.

Between Sessions Then if we go back to the first outline, there are three main sections: what to do before the meditation session, what to do during the meditation session and what to do between the sessions. Between sessions we need to do several things such as: 1. making torma offerings 2. the yoga of eating 3. the yoga of sleeping 52

4. the yoga of waking 5. the yoga of washing 6. the yoga of enhancing one’s body.

Divisions of the Stage of Generation 1. Coarse and subtle yogas The generation stage itself has several divisions or levels of practice. The first division is between coarse and subtle yogas. Because this is the generation stage everything is still done on an imaginary level but within that there are huge differences in the levels of practice. i. coarse yoga Gross or coarse yoga is the earlier part of the generation stage, where a meditator is still not able to generate a clear appearance. Making the transition from coarse to subtle yoga involves going from crude and spasmodic visualisations to being able to hold very detailed visualisations of each of the deities and the entire mandala at the same time. During the coarse yoga stage the practitioner can visualise the grosser details of the deity’s body but not subtler ones. Even so, if the mandala has thirty-two deities, they still need to have a powerful visualisation to include all thirty-two! At the gross level of visualisation the deities are still imagined quite big, taking up a large area, although of course here we are not referring to physical space. Not only does the entire retinue take up a lot of mental space, but it is impossible to get a clear picture of the details of the deities: the eyes, the hand mudras, the clothes etc. The visualisation of the mandala during the coarse yoga is sometimes called the ‘yoga of single-mindedness in the gross generation stage’. This is because during this stage the practitioner focuses intensively on the mandala, building up a mental image of it and the various deities, their ornaments and features and so on. So the main focus is really on the bigger picture, building up all the parts of the deities and the mandala step by step rather than focusing on the very tiny details such as the deities at the sense organs etc., which will be done in the subtle generation stage yoga practice. The entire visualisation is practised every session which means doing the sadhana from beginning to end. During the later part of the coarse yoga, the meditator will be able to visualise the entire gross mandala with all its deities (all their arms, legs and most minor features) but not that clearly. There might be some sense of them there, but there will be no clear visualisation. That is why this is called ‘coarse yoga’. As they refine their visualisations, not only will the details they can visualise become finer and stronger, but they will be able to imagine all the features within a smaller and smaller space. They will slowly move from the coarse to the subtle yoga when they will be able to visualise the deities and the entire mandala inside a sesame seed.

ii. subtle yoga How can we differentiate between the final, most subtle stage of the gross yoga of singlepointed mindfulness and subtle yoga? While the practitioner is still practising gross yoga, they still visualise the deities and mandala taking up quite a lot of space. To try to visualise them in a small space might mean a loss of concentration or clarity. It becomes subtle yoga when they are able to visualise everything within an extremely small space. A synonym is ‘the yoga supremely involved within.’ Yangchen Gawai Lodoe explains: For example, within a spot of light on the tip of the nose a practitioner can visualise both the residence and the resident mandalas.xix As you can see on pages 42 to 44 of The Paths and Grounds of Guhyasamaja this visualisation is incredibly complex, so therefore being able to perfectly visualise it within a spot of light or within a sesame seed at the heart is a really advanced practice. 53

The aim of Vajrayana practice is to gradually bring calm-abiding and special insight together. When the meditator visualises a mandala in such great detail, they are actually developing special insight because they are analysing the many details of the mandala step by step. And to focus on the entire mandala is developing calm-abiding. 2. The Four Levels of Achievement There are various levels the meditator moves through in the generation stage. They are: i. beginner’s level ii. slight dawning of wisdom iii. slight control over wisdom iv. perfect control over wisdom. i. beginner’s level At the ‘beginner’s level’, it is very important to get a sense of the whole scheme of the sadhana. The practitioner should not try to hold the entire visualisation at one time, which would be impossible anyway at this stage. When the sadhana describes Guhyasamaja’s face they concentrate on that; when it describes a hand they move to that, and so on. When they do the sadhana four times a day in a retreat, at the beginners level, they are not supposed to break the sadhana in the middle but should go all the way, right to the end of the sadhana. This is so that they can really get a good picture of the entire thing. At the beginner’s level the meditator is seriously trying to build up the various parts of the image at one time while performing the entire visualisation in every session. ii. slight dawning of wisdom The second level is the ‘slight dawning of wisdom’, which is more advanced. The difference is that by the slight dawning of wisdom the practitioner can hold the visualisation of the deity and the mandala for a whole day, starting from the morning right through to evening session. So not only can they visualise some details in the deity’s features, they can hold that visualisation for an extended period. At the beginner’s level, these things were built up step-by-step; here the practitioner can hold the entire visualisation with some degree of clarity, but the details of the deities are still missing. They are still unable to clearly visualise the subtle elements of the deities and the mandalas such as the tiny deities residing in the sense organs of the principal deity or the intricate details of the decorations of the mandala. ‘Slight dawning’ means we have some control over the visualisation but to get more detail still needs a lot of effort. iii. slight control over wisdom When the practitioner has reached the third stage, ‘slight control over wisdom’, they can visualise the mandala and the principal deity easily – including the hand gestures and symbols etc. – instantaneously, within one moment. Not only that, they can hold the tiny deities and the intricate decorations of the mandala with great clarity. For example, the principal deity of the Guhyasamaja mandala has various deities at each sense organ and joint etc. The meditator can visualise all these on the principal deity clearly and vividly. In terms of the size of the visualisation, at this third level the practitioner can not only visualise all the gross and subtle deities and details of the mandala but they can do this within a very tiny drop or a hand-held symbol such as a vajra or a lotus. Here when we say ‘slight control over wisdom’ it refers to the ability of the practitioner to visualise the deity and mandala created from the wisdom realising emptiness. At this stage, the practitioner is able not only to realise emptiness, but is becoming expert at visualising the wisdom realising emptiness and great bliss manifesting into the deities and mandala. They can develop not only the single-pointed mind of shiné but also special insight. Furthermore, based on the meditation on the deities and mandala, the meditator can gain the union of calm-abiding and special insight. Unlike the Sutrayana practitioner, where calm-abiding and then special insight needs to be developed separately, the Vajrayana practitioner, by using the unique meditation on the deities and mandalas with all the subtle points of visualisation, can develop both calm-abiding and special insight simultaneously. This is called the union of calm-abiding and special insight through deity yoga conjoined with great bliss and emptiness. 54

iv. perfect control over wisdom At this fourth level, ‘perfect control over wisdom’, the practitioner has attained actual the clear light. They have managed to realise emptiness through experiencing the clear light and here they have a direct realisation of emptiness which is the actual antidote to obscurations to liberation. Although the fourth level of achievement, perfect control over wisdom, is technically included in the generation stage, by this stage the practitioner will usually have already commenced the completion stage. That means through meditation the winds will enter, abide and dissolve in the central channel causing the four empties to occur, the last of which is all-empty, which is clear light. (We will look at the four empties later.) That clear light realises emptiness, but not as yet directly. The union of calm-abiding and special insight referred to in the perfect control over wisdom is a particular kind of union. It is the union of calm-abiding and special insight gained from the visualisation of the deities within their mandala which arises from the realisation of emptiness and great bliss. The entire visualisation of the deities and the mandala, with all the gross and subtle features, are all in the nature of emptiness and great bliss. Focusing on that kind of object and developing the union of calm-abiding and special insight is the kind of union referred to here. This is what I will mean whenever I use that term later on. By meditating on this union of calm-abiding and special insight, the practitioner can achieve a more subtle level, such as being able to visualise the deities and mandalas within a tiny drop or hand symbol at a particular place such as the opening of the central channel and so on. Through this, the practitioner’s channels are opened and winds enter into the central channel, abiding at the centre of the heart channel wheel and finally dissolving in it, gaining that realisation. In Paths and Grounds of Guhyasamaja on page 47, it says: This is an occasion where after having completed the generation stage, one has gained the ability [to fulfil] the completion stage. Practitioners on this level have not only perfected the gross and the subtle yogas of the generation stage, but have also achieved an ability to fulfil the completion stage. This level, therefore, belongs to the completion stage.

Questions on Chapter Four 1. Broadly speaking, what do you understand by the generation stage in Vajrayana practice? How does the generation stage prepare us for the completion stage? 2. Why is the human body the best instrument in which to practise Highest Yoga Tantra? 3. What are the three parts of the actual practice of the generation stage and which of those is the most important? Why? 4. Describe the progression from coarse to subtle yoga in generation stage practice. 5. What might the benefits be of such clear detailed and complex visualisations in the generation stage? In general, in your own life, are you good with complex details and subtleties?

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Chapter 5. Taking Ordinary Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth into the Path Death, Intermediate State and Rebirth

There are many reasons why we need to understand what happens when we die. Even if we do not mean to use it in Highest Yoga Tantra practice, to meditate on the three stages of the death process – death, the intermediate state (Tib: bar-do) and rebirth – is important. Usually at the time of death we experience great fear and many difficulties, so understanding what is actually happening to us will definitely help us lessen our fears so much. And it is the same with the bardo and the rebirth process. During a normal bardo experience, we not only have fears, many illusions also rise up to disturb our mind The reason we are looking at these three stages here is more than that, however. We all possess basic clear light, which normally only manifests at the final moment of death when the mind is completely free of conceptual thoughts. This fundamental clear light is called the ‘mother clear light’ but normally we cannot recognise it and it is of no help to us. This practice is to help us really understand and recognise the clear light we pass through in the last stage of the death process. If we can clearly meditate on it, it is called the ‘son clear light’. Within an understanding of emptiness we visualise the death process, the final stage of which is the clear light. Initially this is just imagination; it is our conceptual mind at work. But slowly, as our understanding of emptiness deepens and our meditations strengthen, that son clear light goes beyond the conceptual. When we can directly perceive the son clear light, what occurs is a merging with the innate clear light which we possess but which is never manifest. This is called the ‘meeting of the mother and son clear light’. We all have the mother clear light but it has not realised emptiness. It is just the pure nature of mind, completely free from all conceptualities and all gross levels of the mind. It does not only occur at the final moment of death, it actually occurs in our life – when dropping off to sleep, when we sneeze and during a sexual climax. But it is almost impossible to recognise because there are always gross minds operating at those moments. For us, the last moment of death is the best chance we have to seize this mind of clear light and to introduce to that mind the understanding of emptiness called the son clear light. This meditation on the process of death, intermediate state and rebirth, done in connection with the generation stage of the Vajrayana practice, is always based on a sadhana (meditation manual). As in the previous chapter, where I went over the entire outline of how to practise the Guhyasamaja sadhana, I will again use the Guhyasamaja sadhana as a model. As outlined in the last chapter, the second part of the sadhana, the actual practice of selfgeneration, had three major outlines:  meditative absorption of initial engagement  meditative absorption of the supreme victorious mandala  meditative absorption of the supreme victorious activities. Sometimes those terms are used slightly differently but here I have mainly used the commentary translated by Geshe Jinpa, so I will stick with these terms. From these three major outlines, the first one, meditative absorption of initial engagement, has three main sub-outlines: 56

i. the yoga of taking death as dharmakaya into the path ii. the yoga of taking the intermediate state as sambhogakaya into the path iii. the yoga of taking rebirth as nirmanakaya into the path. The idea is that we take the three processes that happen in our normal existence, death, intermediate state and rebirth, and use them as tools to achieve the three bodies of a buddha. On the path, death is used to achieve the truth body (dharmakaya), intermediate state the enjoyment body (sambhogakaya) and rebirth the emanation body (nirmanakaya). These three sections are what we are looking at in this chapter.

The Yoga of Taking Death as Dharmakaya into the Path 1. The Eight Dissolutions In the Guhyasamaja sadhana, before doing the yoga of taking death as dharmakaya into the path there is a section called ‘the generation of the deities of the “specially imagined class”’ followed by ‘withdrawal of the “specially imagined class” into one’s own body’. In this case the ‘specially imagined class’ are the 32 deities which we visualise, first within the mandala and then withdrawing into our own body. This is not the body mandala meditation. It is simply the 32 deities which we earlier visualised now being placed at specific parts of our body. These are the 32 deities that are drawn onto the body from the mandala. As I have already said, this is not the body mandala. It is called ‘withdrawal of the “specially imagined class” into one’s body’. This visualisation is a very important part of this particular sadhana in connection with the death meditation. The location on the body, their colour and what they signify can be seen in the following table. again it would be very good to have this table on a full page as close to this as possible deity colour location significance Vairochana white crown to the hairline reality of the form aggregate Amitabha red hairline to the throat reality of the conceptual aggregate Akshobhya blue throat to the heart reality of the consciousness aggregate Ratnasambhava yellow heart to the navel the reality of the feeling aggregate Amoghasiddhi green navel to the groin the reality of the aggregate of emotion Lochana white navel earth element Mamaki blue heart water element Pandaravasini red throat fire element Tara green crown air element Kshitigarbhas white eyes reality of the eye organs Rupavajras white doors of the eyes reality of visual forms Vajrapanis yellow ears reality of the ear organs Shaptavajras yellow doors of the ears reality of sound Akashagarbha yellow nose reality of the nose organ Gandhavajra red door of the nose reality of the sense of smell Lokeshvara red tongue reality of the tongue sense Rasavajra green door of the mouth reality of taste Manjushri red heart reality of the mind or mental sense Sarvanivarnaviskambhini, green door of the vajra reality of the body organ Sparshavajra blue door of the vajra reality of textures Samantabhadra green joints reality of the joints Maitreya white crown reality of the nerves and sinews Yamantaka black right hand reality of HUNG Aparajita white left hand reality of HUNG Hayagriva red mouth reality of HUNG Vignatakrt black vajra reality of HUNG Achala black right shoulder nerve reality of HUNG Takkiraja black left shoulder nerve reality of HUNG 57

Nilandanda Mahabala Ushinishachakravarti Sumbharajas

blue blue blue blue

right knee left knee crown two foot-soles

reality of HUNG reality of HUNG reality of HUNG reality of HUNG

When we reach this stage in the sadhana, the meditation on the yoga of taking death as dharmakaya into the path, all these deities which we have visualised in our body dissolve. The text clearly says that “the deities of the body dissolve into clear light in sequence”. i. the first dissolution – the earth element dissolves into the water element Factor Dissolving earth element aggregate of forms eye sense colours, shapes basic mirror-like wisdom (our ordinary consciousness that clearly perceives many objects simultaneously)

External Sign body becomes very thin, limbs loose; sense that the body is sinking under the earth limbs become smaller, body becomes weak and powerless one cannot open or close eyes lustre of body diminishes; one’s strength is consumed sight becomes unclear and dark.

Internal Sign

appearance of mirages

Deities Dissolving Vairochana Lochana Kshitigarbha Rupavajra Maitreya Yamantakrit Achala

With the first dissolution, the earth element dissolves into the water element, and with that the first set of deities, Vairochana, Lochana, Kshitigharbha, Rupavajra, Maitreya, Yamantakrit and Achala. Vairochana is the reality of the form aggregate. Dissolution here means that they dissolve in stages into clear light. While visualising the earth element dissolving in the water element, as we recite the names the deities associated with the form aggregate (Vairochana etc.) we need to visualise them dissolving with the earth element, as well as the form aggregates, forms such as colours and shapes and the eye sense. The external sign is that our body becomes weak and thin; the internal sign is the appearance of a mirage. This shows that this first set of elements and senses ‘dissolve’, meaning that they are weakening and deteriorating and the next element, the water element and its accompanying senses etc., is becoming more manifest and obvious. This is what the practitioner on the generation stage has to visualise. ii. the second dissolution – the water element dissolves into the fire element Factor Dissolving water element aggregate of feelings

ear sense sounds basic wisdom of equality (our ordinary consciousness mindful of pleasure, pain and neutral feelings)

External Sign saliva, sweat, urine, blood and regenerative fluid dry greatly body consciousness can no longer experience the three types of feelings that accompany sense consciousness one no longer hears external or internal sounds sounds in ears no longer arise one is no longer mindful of the feelings accompanying the sense consciousness.

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Internal Sign

appearance of smoke

Deities Dissolving Ratnasambhava Mamaki Vajrapani Shaptavajra Aparajita Takkiraja

With the second dissolution the water element dissolves into the fire element. The deities which dissolve in the second round are Ratnasambhava, Mamaki, Vajrapani, Shaptavajra, Aparajita and Tikkiraja. Ratnasambhava is the reality of the aggregate of feeling. You can see that each deity from this group represents the water element, ear sense, ear organ and sound, so when we recite their name, the second round of deities dissolve in stages into clear light along with the associated elements. The water element dissolves, in that it becomes weaker and deteriorates and along with it, the aggregate of feeling, the ear sense and sense organ and sense consciousness and the object of that consciousness, sound, all weaken. The external signs are that our body consciousness cannot experience the three types of feelings etc., and the internal sign is the appearance of smoke. So again with the dissolution of the water element, feeling, ear organ etc., these elements weaken and the elements of the next dissolution become more manifest. iii. the third dissolution – the fire element dissolves into the wind element Factor Dissolving fire element aggregate of discriminations nose sense odours basic wisdom of analysis (our ordinary consciousness mindful of the individual names, purposes and so forth of persons close to us)

External Sign one cannot digest food and drink one is not mindful of affairs of close persons inhalation weak, exhalation strong and lengthy one cannot smell one can no longer remember the names of persons close to us

Internal Sign

Deities Dissolving

appearance of fireflies or sparks within smoke

Amitabha Pandaravasini Akashagarbha Gandhavajra Hayagriva Niladanda

Amitabha, Pandaravasini, Akashagarbha, Gandhavajra, Hayagriva and Niladanda all dissolve along with the deterioration of the fire element and the other aspects of this dissolution: the discrimination aggregate, the nose sense organ etc. The internal sign of this dissolution is that we will experience the appearance of fireflies or sparks within smoke. Amitabha is the reality of the aggregate of discrimination and the other deities represent the other aspects such as the fire element and so forth. All these deities dissolve, the appearance ceases and we acknowledge that the next dissolution will occur. iv. the fourth dissolution – the wind element dissolves into consciousness Factor Dissolving wind element aggregate of compositional factors tongue sense and body sense

tastes and tangible objects basic wisdom of achieving activities (our ordinary consciousness mindful of external activities, purposes and so forth)

External Sign the ten winds move to heart; inhalation and exhalation ceases one cannot perform physical actions tongue becomes thick, short; root of tongue becomes blue and also one cannot experience smoothness or roughness one cannot experience tastes and tangible objects one is no longer mindful of external worldly activities, purposes and so forth.

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Internal Sign

Deities Dissolving

appearance of a sputtering butter-lamp going out

Amoghasiddhi Tara Lokeshvara Rasavajra Sarvanirvaranaviskhambini Sparshavajra Samantabhadra Vighnatakrt Mahabala

Here, in the sadhana, the group of deities dissolving is Amoghasiddhi, Tara, Lokeshvara, Rasavajra, Sarvanirvaranaviskhambini, Sparshavajra, Samantabhadra, Vighnantakrt and Mahabala. Amoghasiddhi is the reality of the aggregate of compositional factors. When we do the recitation we imagine the wind element dissolving in consciousness and with that the other aspects of the dissolution: the aggregate of compositional factors, the tongue sense and body sense etc., all dissolve. The internal sign is the appearance of a sputtering butter lamp going out. At the same time we think that the next dissolution will come, which is the 80 conceptions dissolving in the white appearance. v. the fifth dissolution – 80 conceptions dissolve into the white appearance Factor Dissolving 80 conceptions and basic wisdom of the nature of phenomena

External Sign winds to the right and left channels above heart enter channel at the top of the head

Internal Sign at first, burning butter-lamp, then clear vacuity filled with white light

Deities Dissolving Ushinishachakravartin

Now we need to think that the entire 80 conceptions dissolve into the white appearance. The long Guhyasamaja sadhana lists the last three deities together, Ushinishachakravartin, Sumbharaja and Manjushri, but it seems that they dissolve separately with each of the last three dissolutions, Ushinishachakravartin with the white appearance, Sumbharaja with the red increase and Manjushri with the black nearattainment. In this dissolution, we visualise Ushinishachakravartin dissolving in clear light and as we recite that, we think that the 80 conceptions are dissolving in the white appearance. At this stage the internal sign begins as a sputtering butter lamp which then becomes a very clear vacuity filled with white light. Either that kind of appearance will occur due to the strength of our meditation or we need to imagine it strongly. ‘Into the white appearance’ is not talking about the actual white appearance itself, but about the winds or energies which carry the 80 conceptions dissolving in the winds or energies which carry the white appearance. We need to have a vivid image of the clear vacuity filled with white light. Sometimes slightly different terms are used, such as the appearance like moonlight in an autumn sky. At this time we think that now the next dissolution will occur. vi. the sixth dissolution – the white appearance dissolves into the red increase Factor Dissolving mind of white appearance

External Sign winds in the right and left channels below heart enter central channel at base of spine

Internal Sign

Deities Dissolving

clear vacuity filled with red light

Sumbharaja

Again, ‘the white appearance dissolves into the red increase’ means that the winds which carry the white appearance dissolve into the winds or energies which carry the red increase. The sadhana now refers to the second deity in the last group, Sumbharaja, who dissolves into clear light. We should either have this experience due to the strength of our meditation or imagine it strongly. At the same time, there is the internal sign which is a clear vacuity filled with red light, caused by the dissolution of the winds carrying the white appearance consciousness. Some translators say it is the appearance of sunset in a clear autumn sky. While we are visualising this, we should think that the next dissolution will occur. vii. the seventh dissolution – the red increase dissolves into the black near-attainment Factor Dissolving mind of red increase

External Sign upper and lower winds gather at heart; then winds enter drop at heart 60

Internal Sign at first, vacuity filled with thick darkness; then, as if swooning unconsciously

Deities Dissolving Manjushri

unconsciously In the sadhana, the deity of the last group, Manjushri, dissolves and the winds which carry the red increase dissolve into the winds which carry the mind which experiences the black near-attainment. The internal sign in the earlier part of the dissolution is the appearance like thick darkness in a clear autumn night sky. We should experience a great sense of darkness very vividly when the energies which carry the red increase dissolve into the energies which carry the mind of black near-attainment. As before, as we imagine that internal sign, we think that the next dissolution will occur. viii. the eighth dissolution – the black near-attainment dissolves into the clear light Factor Dissolving mind of black nearattainment

External Sign all winds dissolve into the very subtle life-bearing wind in the indestructible drop at the heart

Internal Sign very clear vacuity free of the white, red and black appearances; the mind of the clear light of death

Lastly, the energies which carry the mind of black near-attainment dissolve or deteriorate and that brings the clear light, the actual mind of death. In the sadhana, it says “and then the lord also dissolves in stages into the clear light”. The lord refers to the principal deity which here is Guhyasamaja. This is the most important stage, where we should imagine that the clear light actually occurs and we need to seize that clear light. Actual death occurs when the clear light appears and we should not just recognise it, leaving it as an ordinary visualisation, but through that recognition try to understand emptiness. The main point here is seizing that clear light and channelling it to realise emptiness, recognising that it is empty of inherent existence. The clear light is the subject and its emptiness of inherent existence is the object of the meditation. The clear light which understands emptiness is our dharmakaya or resultant unenlightened mind and with that we generate a very strong sense of divine identity or divine pride, a sense that ‘this is really me’. At this stage these two – the mind which is the clear light and the object which is emptiness – are indivisible and not only that, the mind which is clear light is also in the nature of great bliss. We think, “This clear light experience of great bliss (the subject) which realises emptiness (the object) are of indivisible nature which is my resultant dharmakaya, and that resultant dharmakaya is me.” We need to meditate on this as long as we can. In the texts it sometimes says that this is the actual meditation of the yoga of taking the dharmakaya into the path. At the generation stage, however, this is very much at the imagination level. Meditating in this way will purify ordinary death. The clear light which normally occurs at death will be purified in terms identifying its emptiness and meditating on how that mind which experiences great bliss and its emptiness are indivisible and their nature is the dharmakaya. It is very important to understand what is meant by ‘purifying ordinary death’. As we discussed earlier, if we do the deity yoga meditation of the sadhana, combining the dissolution of the aggregates with that of deities becomes the essence of the generation stage practice. As it is the generation stage, however, it will of course still be very much at the imagination level. 2. The Basis of Purification, the Means of Purification and the Result of Purification When the practitioner reaches the ‘isolation of mind’ in the completion stage, they will have gone beyond imagination and actually experience these things. Although it is still imagination during the generation stage, it is very important to make it feel as real as possible, to see the signs of dissolution as clearly as possible. This will help when we actually undergo the death process. Maintaining a degree of visualisation whilst dissolving deities such as Vairochana, will help the virtuous mind to manifest during death and therefore benefit the next life. 61

Deities Dissolving The Lord (Guhyasamaja)

This meditation is not just to aid our actual death but also our spiritual path. During the dissolutions within the completion stage the ‘four empties’ will occur – empty, very empty, great empty and all-empty. These four empties are associated in ordinary death with the last four stages of the dissolution, the white appearance, red increase, black nearattainment and clear light. In the generation stage, imagining these four empties will leave a great imprint on our mind but so that when we reach the level of the mind of isolation in the completion stage we will actually be able to experience them. In the ordinary death process, after the clear light occurs the intermediate state will take place. But at the completion stage level of the mind of isolation, after all-empty occurs at the time of the clear light, we will be able to arise into the illusory body. If that happens, then we will attain full enlightenment in that very lifetime. So taking death as dharmakaya into the path is such an important meditation in that it creates the propensity to achieve the actual dharmakaya. The basis of the purification is our ordinary death. What purifies this ordinary death is the metaphor and meaning clear light. (I will explain these terms later.) That is the path which purifies the base of the ordinary death and the result is the dharmakaya. So when we do the meditations on the death process, it is very important to understand three things: the basis of purification, the means of purification and the result of purification.

The Yoga of Taking the Intermediate State as Sambhogakaya into the Path 1. The Intermediate State In the previous stage, the yoga of taking death as dharmakaya into the path, we paralleled our practice with our ordinary death, meditating that we achieve the dharmakaya using the same process as our ordinary death. It is similar here, when the ordinary bardo or intermediate state is paralleled in our meditations on taking the sambhogakaya into the path. The first thing we need to know is the nature of the bardo or intermediate state because that is the basis of purification. In ordinary people, after the clear light of death occurs, that clear light mind acts as the cooperative cause to bring about the mind of the bardo being, with the wind or energy which serves as the vehicle to carry the clear light acting as the main or substantial cause of the bardo body. As soon as this happens, the reverse order of the death process starts to occur. The first stage after the clear light is the black near-attainment. At that time the bardo being actually comes into existence. As soon as that occurs, the karma of our previous body is finished and a new body is established. Although it is called ‘body’ it is not a physical body, but a ‘wind body’ in that it comes from those two causes, the wind which carries the clear light and the clear light itself. That body is exactly the same as the body the person will be born into in the next life, in terms of its features. Then, after black near-attainment, the other appearances follow: red increase, white appearance, the appearance like a sputtering butter lamp, the appearance like fireflies, the appearance like smoke and the appearance like a mirage. That bardo state being is called ‘spontaneously born’ because all the faculties and all the limbs spontaneously come together. It is not a body like our physical body; it is merely established by that wind and that mind. Wherever that bardo being travels there are no physical obstructions such as mountains or walls. The being is said to arise from the mind because its body does not come from the mother’s egg and father’s sperm. Another name for it is ‘searcher for existence’ because during the intermediate state it is searching for its next rebirth. It is also called a ‘smell eater’ because its main food is smell. It searches for and eats smells. And it is called an ‘intermediate state’ being because it occurs after the previous life’s death but before the next life’s rebirth. It can see its previous body, home and environment, but other beings such as its relatives cannot see it. Only other bardo beings or people who have some kind of clairvoyance can see it. The appearance of the bardo being is directly related to where it is going to be born. For example, if it is going to be born as a human being, the bardo being will have all the features of a human being. The orientation of its body as it travels from one place to another depends on where its next rebirth will take place. If it is going to be born in the lower realms it travels upside down, with its head down and legs up. A bardo being who is going to be born in the upper realms such as the god or human realms of the desire realm moves horizontally. Bardo beings who are going to be born in the form realm move in an upright position. 62

Beings who are going to be born in the formless realms do not pass through the intermediate state. For them, when the actual death occurs, they move from the clear light straight to the next rebirth. For those capable of seeing it, the bardo being has a different appearance depending on which realm it will be born in. If it is going to be born in the lower realms it has a dark appearance, if in a fortunate rebirth it has an appearance like moonlight. There is also a difference in the colour; bardo beings going to be born in the hell realms are very dark like a tree trunk burnt by fire; those going to be born as hungry ghosts have the colour of water; those going to be born as upper realm beings have the colour of moonlight. The lifespan of the bardo being is seven days. In Tibetan the term is chi-chung, which means that after seven days it will die very briefly and then be born again. That can only happen seven times which means before 49 days it will have found its next life. If the bardo being’s form is that of a lower realm being, does that mean it will definitely be born in the lower realms? According to the Abhidharmakosha the being will definitely take rebirth in the realm indicated by its bardo being’s body. But according to the Abhidharmasamakaya it can be changed. For example if the bardo being has a lower realm body, and hence is destined to be born in the lower realms, but the relatives or the being itself manage to generate very strong virtue, this might change the future of the being, allowing it to be born in the upper realms. So there are different ideas about this. This brief explanation about the bardo or intermediate state, with the colours and the ways it travels etc., comes mainly from the Abhidharmakosha by Vasubandhu, where it saysxx: Intermediate existence, which inserts itself between existence at death and existence at birth, not having arrived at the location where it should go, cannot be said to be born. Being similar to the series of rice, existence does not reproduce itself after having been interrupted. The existence of the reflection is not proved; should it be proved, the reflection is not similar; hence it does not serve as an example. For two things do not exist in the same spot. For it does not form a series. For it arise from two causes. The intermediate state being is called by its name. It is the Gandhavara. An intermediate state being is proved by the text relative to the five. And by the Sutra of the gatisxxi. Being projected by the same action that projects the purvakalabhavaxxii, and intermediate state being has the form of this being, that is, the being of rebirth to come after his conception. This is before death, after conception. He is seen by the creatures of his class, and by the divine eye. He is filled with impetus of the supernormal power of action. His organs are complete. No one can resist him. He cannot be turned away. It eats odours.

2. How the Yoga of Taking Intermediate State as Sambhogakaya into the Path is Done This practice is done with what is called the five clarifications. They are: 63

i. the clarification through suchness ii. the clarification through the moon iii. the clarification through the seed syllables iv. the clarification through the hand implements v. the clarification through emergence into full form. Through the process of these five clarifications the primordial lord or buddha is generated. i. the clarification through suchness The first clarification we need to look at is the clarification of suchness or emptiness. Just after the clear light of death, there is a meditation using the mantra OM SHUNYATA JNANA VAJRA SVABHAVA ATMAKO HAM, which roughly translates as ‘the mind of clear light experiencing great bliss which realises emptiness, and this indivisible nature is me as my resultant dharmakaya’. ii. the clarification through the moon The Guhyasamaja long sadhana says: Upon the central seat from the HUM a solar disc arises and in its centre from OM a moon disc and upon that from AH an eight-petalled red lotus, and in its centre stacked up are OM AH HUM. These merge and become a single moon disc. It admits light rays and all animate and inanimate objects gather and dissolve into the moon. OM DHARMADATU SVABHAVA ATMAKO HAM

By this stage, all the deities have been dissolved. There are different traditions, but generally they say that all the seed syllables have also been dissolved except the seed syllable of the principal deity. At the central principal deity’s seed syllable we visualise a letter HUM which transforms into a solar disc with, in its centre, a letter OM which transforms into a moon disc. On top of that moon disc is a letter AH which transforms into an eight-petalled red lotus. We next stack up the three letters OM AH HUM on top of the red lotus, the bottom is OM, the middle is AH and the top is HUM. The sun disc, moon disc and red lotus represent the reverse order of the death process at the start of the intermediate state: black nearattainment, red increase and white appearance respectively. The six letters represent the six winds: the first three which became the seats represent the three winds which carry the minds of black near-attainment, of red increase and of white appearance; the other three represent each of the three winds which arise as a result of those previous winds. Then the three syllables OM AH HUM and the three seats merge together to become a single moon disc. This signifies that the ordinary intermediate being is a result of the subtle wind and subtle mind, which are the three letters and three seats. From the moon disc, light is emitted which reaches all universes and all sentient beings and then draws back all animate and inanimate objects into it. That signifies that all the animate and inanimate objects are the result of the subtle wind and subtle mind. ‘The clarification through the moon’ means identifying oneself strongly with the moon. When we recite OM DHARMADATU SVABHAVA ATMAKO HAM, this means ‘I am the appearance of the moon whose mere energy and mind is the root of all beings and things.’ We need to meditate in this way, having that kind of strong identity. iii. the clarification through the seed syllables After that meditation, the sadhana says: Upon the moon, like water bubbles bursting from water are white OM, red AH and blue HUM. They emit light rays and invite infinite masses of Five Clans and their 64

retinues from the ten directions. They dissolve and completely transform into a white five-pointed vajra marked at the centre with OM AH HUM. On the top of the moon disc we visualise a blue HUM. At its right there is a red letter AH and at the left a white letter OM. From these three letters light rays go out in all directions and invite the countless numbers of buddhas of the five families, who slowly dissolve into these three letters. Then slowly the two side letters, the red AH and the white OM, dissolve into the central blue HUM. Due to that dissolution, the colour of the HUM changes from blue to white. We need to meditate on that white HUM. That meditation is the third clarification, the clarification through the seed syllables. iv. the clarification through the hand implements We then meditate on the five-spoked vajra marked with the three letters OM AH HUM, which comes in the sadhana with the mantra VAJRA AMATKO HUM. As we do, we have to feel strongly that the vajra is ‘me’. The meditation on the vajra marked with the three letters is the ‘clarification through the hand implements’. v. the clarification through the emergence into full form After that meditation, the sadhana says: The vajra together with its letters completely transforms into myself, the white Primal Protector [or Buddha]: three faces, white, black and red; six arms holding vajra, wheel and lotus in the rights and bell, jewel and sword in the lefts. Adorned with precious jewels and various robes of silk. From that we emerge into the Primal (or Primordial) Buddha with three faces and six arms and with hand implements and so on. That meditation is the fifth clarification, the clarification through the emergence into full form. The Primordial Buddha is white because this is the natural colour of the subtle wind, so this represents the fact that this buddha has come into existence from the subtle wind. This is the intermediate state meditation through the five clarifications. At the beginning we meditate on emptiness and clear light and their indivisible nature which is the dharmakaya or truth body: the clarification through suchness. Then we visualise that the single moon disc emerges from those three letters and sun, moon and lotus: the clarification through the moon. We next visualise the three syllables on top of the moon disc, with the OM and AH dissolving in the HUM which becomes a white colour: the clarification through the seed syllables. After that we visualise the five-spoked white vajra with the three syllables at its hub: the clarification through the hand implements. Then, finally, we visualise that from the white vajra emerges the white Primordial Buddha: the clarification through the emergence into full form. In some Highest Yoga Tantra practices such as Yamantaka, the first clarification, suchness, is not counted. Instead there is a practice called ‘clarification through the sun’. The meditation talks about the ‘Primordial Buddha’ because when a sentient being attains full enlightenment, it is said to first happen in the Akanishta realm, where that buddha (which is the sambhogakaya) is called the Primordial Buddha. In the Yogacharyatantra it also says that when a sentient being first attains full enlightenment, at their heart the fivespoked vajra appears which is the nature of ultimate bodhicitta. This is called the ‘primordial vajra’. 3. The Intermediate State Meditation at Base, Path and Resultant Levels This meditation on the yoga of taking the intermediate state as sambhogakaya into the path has three levels: the base or ordinary level, comparable to the ordinary bardo state; the path level, comparable to what the meditator experiences during the completion stage; and at the resultant level, which relates to what actually happens when the meditator actually gained full enlightenment. 65

i. the sun, moon and lotus At the ordinary level the sun, moon and lotus represent the three appearances which occur when the person comes out of the clear light of death and moves towards the intermediate state, starting with black near-attainment, then red increase and finally white appearance. On the path it is no longer imagination; these appearances actually occur. Here the sun. moon and lotus represent white appearance, red increase and black near-attainment which precede the dawning of the metaphor clear light and meaning clear light at the level of mind isolation. The terms metaphor and meaning clear light refer the clear light realising emptiness with conceptuality and directly – metaphor clear light still has conceptuality whereas meaning clear light realises emptiness directly. We will look at this in the completion stage. At the resultant level, they represent the white appearance, red increase and black nearattainment that occur just before the attainment of the dharmakaya – that is just before the person actually attains enlightenment. ii. the three letters At the ordinary level, the three letters, OM AH HUM, which transform into the sun, moon and lotus, represent the winds which carry the mind of the three appearances. On the path, these three appearances occur just before the metaphor clear light and meaning clear light. At the resultant level, they occur just before attaining full enlightenment. iii. the single moon In the meditation on the clarification through the moon, OM AH HUM and the sun, moon and the lotus merge and become a single moon. At the ordinary level, this signifies that the consciousness and the wind are united in one nature when the person moves into the intermediate state. On the path it represents the three appearances that occur at the level of mind isolation moving into the metaphor and meaning clear light. At the resultant level, it represents the wisdom mind or dharmakaya. iv. all animate and inanimate objects dissolving back into the moon disc In the meditation, we visualise that light rays are emitted from the moon disc and reach all animate and inanimate objects which then dissolve back into the moon disc. At the ordinary level, that represents the fact that the entire universe and all the sentient beings within the universe have originated from the subtle consciousness and subtle wind. Dissolving everything into the moon disc signifies that the root of all phenomena is the very subtle consciousness and subtle wind. v. the seed syllables With clarification through the seed syllables, we visualise a white OM, red AH and blue HUM above the moon disc. These three letters come after the previous appearance of the OM AH HUM and sun, moon and lotus have merged. Coming from the single moon, they appear ‘like water bubbles bursting from water.’ At an ordinary level they represent the speech of an intermediate state being; on the path they represent the speech of the illusory body being; on the level of resultant they represent the exalted speech of the sambhogakaya buddha. From the moon disc and OM AH HUM, light rays are emitted and invite an infinite mass of buddhas of the five families and their retinues which dissolve back into the moon disc. This represents the activities of the intermediate state being as well as the enlightened activities of the sambhogakaya. On the path it represents the activities of the illusory body being. vi. the vajra The next meditation is the clarification through the hand implements. When the five Dhyani Buddhas have completely dissolved into a white five-spoked vajra, at the ordinary level the vajra represents the mind of the intermediate state being; on the path it 66

represents the mind of the illusory body being; and at the resultant level it represents the mind of the sambhogakaya buddha. The five spokes of the vajra represents the five wisdoms, or as Geshe Jinpa translates it in the Guhyasamaja commentary, the five pristine cognitions. At the hub of the vajra, we visualise the three letters OM AH HUM which represent the Sambhogakaya’s body, speech and mind. vii. transforming into the primordial buddha In the meditation of the last clarification, the clarification through emergence into full form, the vajra and letters completely transform into ourselves as the white primordial buddha. At the ordinary level, this represents the completely formed intermediate state being; on the path it represents the pure and impure illusory bodies; and at the resultant level it represents the sambhogakaya itself. The intermediate being at the ordinary level originates from the subtle mind and subtle wind, which come from the clear light. The subtle wind radiates five colours. Similarly, the Primordial Buddha is the embodiment of the five pristine wisdoms. In addition, the intermediate state being possesses a subtle mental body, as we have already discussed. Similarly, the Primordial Buddha possesses an extremely subtle body, often called a rainbow body. 4. The Basis of Purification, the Means of Purification and the Result of Purification We can summarise what we are doing by taking the intermediate state as the sambhogakaya into the path like this. At the ordinary level, after actual death has occurred and all the dissolutions have finished, the process of becoming an intermediate state being starts. That process is in the reverse order to the process which takes place during death. This is meditated on with the five clarifications. Through the five clarifications, when we have reached the final one, emergence into full form, we visualise emerging as the sambhogakaya and feeling that this being is ‘me’. Doing that kind of meditation purifies the ordinary intermediate state process. As in the previous meditation, it is very important to know the basis of purification, the means of purification and the result of purification. The basis of purification is our ordinary intermediate state, what naturally occurs after we ordinary people die. It is purified by the meditations on the five clarifications. At the end of the fifth clarification we really feel that the enjoyment body (sambhogakaya) which emerges is actually ‘me’. If we do the meditation while we are alive, the purpose of doing this is that, when we die and the ordinary intermediate state occurs, there is hope that we will be able to turn this into the path through the meditation process. If we do the meditation this will also accumulate the cause to bring about the pure and impure illusory body during the completion stage, as well as leaving an imprint to attain the enjoyment body at the resultant level.

The Yoga of Taking Rebirth as Nirmanakaya into the Path We have now reached the third stage, which is the yoga of taking rebirth as nirmanakaya into the path. Again, as with the previous two meditations, it is important to first of all know how we move from the intermediate state to the next stage of being reborn, from the Buddhist point of view, in order to clearly know the basis of purification and how it corresponds with this meditation. 1. Ordinary Rebirth To understand how this ordinary birth can be taken into the path as nirmanakaya, we must know what actually happens in the ordinary process of rebirth. So, we will look at the process as it is described in a sutra called Entering into the Womb Sutra. The sutra describes three favourable conditions that need to be there and the three obstacles that need to be absent in order to move from the intermediate state being to the next life. The three favourable conditions are:  the female must have the monthly cycle  the male and female have sexual attachment and are engaged in sexual union 67

 the intermediate state being is close by. The three obstacles which must be absent are:  the male and female do not have the karma to be the parents of that intermediate state being and the intermediate state being does not have the karma to be the child of those parents  the physical womb is deformed in some way  the male and female substances do not come together (due to time differences, birth control or one party being infertile). All these conditions must be met. The intermediate state being, being close to two people it has karma with, sees them engaged in sexual intercourse and enters the womb of the mother, which is fertile and not deformed in any way, and it is at the right time of the menstrual cycle so the sperm and egg come together. If the favourable conditions are all there, while the mother’s 72,000 channels are filled with pleasure due to the sexual act, then the intermediate state being enters her womb, either through the mouth or the crown. An intermediate state being who is going to be born as a male has a strong sense of dislike towards the father but attachment for the mother, whereas if it is going to be born as a female it has a strong dislike for the mother but some kind of attachment towards the father. The combination of that aversion and attachment really acts to end the bardo existence, forcing the being to move from the intermediate state to its next rebirth. When that happens the death process starts to occur in the same order as we have discussed before – appearances like mirage, smoke, fireflies up to black near-attainment dissolving in clear light. With the last process, that clear light enters the mother’s womb and then the reverse order starts, from the clear light to black near-attainment up to the appearance like a mirage. i. the development of the substances from the father and mother With the coming together of the sperm and egg, traditionally it is said that the embryo is formed from two substances, the white substance from the father and the red one from the mother. There are five stages of development related to these two substances which are generally explained separately, but in fact they occur simultaneously. These are equivalent to the stages of development of the foetus. The first stage of development related to the white substance from the father is when the outside of the substance is thick like a cream but the inside is still liquid. This is called mer-mer-pa in Tibetan. The second stage is when both the inside and outside become thick, which in Tibetan is called bar-po. Then the third stage is when the substance turns flesh-like but if it were touched it would still move like jelly. This is called gor-go-po. The fourth stage, called tar-ta-po, is when the substance becomes firmer so if we were to press it, it would have the resilience and elasticity of meat. Then the fifth stage is when the limbs start to emerge, which is called in Tibetan yam-lak-gu-pa. The first stage of the development of the red substance from the mother is when the substance is liquid. In Tibetan this is called shu-wa which refers to melted butter. With the second stage it starts to solidify, (in Tibetan kom-bu) which refers to becoming solid. The third stage is called mar-po which means becoming coloured, here meaning taking on a reddish meat colour. The fourth stage is called tar-ta-po, the same name as the fourth stage of the substance obtained from the father. The fifth stage is called yung-dakpa-gyu-wa. After the five stages there are explanations about the general process of how long the child will stay in the mother’s womb and its positions during those nine months indicating whether it will be a son or daughter. For example, the sutra explains that a son will lie in a different position to that of a daughter and so on. The rebirth process is the basis of purification. We have looked at it from an ordinary level. At the path and resultant level it corresponds to the nirmanakaya or the emanation body, so it is important to understand this in order to understand the yoga of taking rebirth as nirmanakaya into the path. 2. The Five Stages of Birth and the Five Dhyani Buddhas These five stages of development of the two substances correspond to the five Dhyani Buddhas. All buddhas are associated with one of the five ways the primal energy divides, traditionally represented by the five buddha families or the five Dhyani Buddhas: 68

Vairochana, Amitabha, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava and Amoghasiddhi. This is further linked to the five aggregates and, here, to the development of the embryo. At first, the white and red substances are quite thick on the outside and liquid on the inside, mer-mer-pa in the white and shu-wa in the red. This first stage corresponds to Akshobhya. The second stage of the white substance is bar-po and the red substance is kom-bu. This corresponds to Ratnasambhava. The third stage of the white substance is gor-go-po and the red substance mar-po which corresponds to Amitabha. The fourth stage of the white and red substance is called tar-ta-po and corresponds to the buddha Amoghasiddhi. The fifth stage of the white substance is called yam-lak-gu-pa and the red substance is called yung-dak-pa-gyu-wa, ‘completely mixed or merged’. This stage corresponds with the buddha Vairochana. There is a very clear purpose for linking the ordinary five stages of birth with the five Dhyani Buddhas. In ordinary existence, when a person is conceived in the mother’s womb that person’s subtle mind and wind are inseparable from these five stages. Similarly in enlightenment when the emanation body emanates into countless deities, they are all inseparable from the five Dhyani Buddhas. No matter how many emanations or what an emanation manifests as, it will always be associated with one of the five Dhyani Buddhas. Moreover, the first process in ordinary existence, (mer-mer-pa for the white substance and shu-wa for the red) corresponds with Akshobhya because, as we will see in the later meditation, the Primordial Buddha enters into Askhobhya after which the process takes place in the emanation body. That corresponds in ordinary rebirth to the intermediate state being moving from the intermediate state to ordinary rebirth. 3. How the Yoga of Taking Rebirth as Nirmanakaya into the Path is Done Having discussed what is to be purified in ordinary birth and how it corresponds with the emanation body, we are now going to look at the meditation of the yoga of taking birth as nirmanakaya into the path. i. conversion of birth into the emanation body The long Guhyasamaja sadhana says: From their natural abode the male and female Transcendents embrace in union, creating streams of enlightenment spirit which suffuse all the realms of space with hosts of Akshobhyas in order to tame all beings. This is where the meditation starts. In the meditation, inside the mandala just under the roof, there is a beam called the circular beam. Under this, we visualise Akshobhya in union with his consort which is indivisible in nature with the body, speech and mind of all buddhas who have all emanated from their nature abodes. This meditation corresponds in ordinary birth to the mother and father engaging in sexual intercourse. Then, from the place where Akshobhya and his consort meet, countless streams of bodhicitta are released which radiate out to the entire universe and transform into countless Akshobhyas, the same number as there are sentient beings. This corresponds in ordinary birth with all of the mother and father’s 72,000 channels being filled with the white and red substances during sexual intercourse. Then the sadhana continues: They bless all beings to experience uncontaminated physical and mental bliss. All the Akshobhyas bless all the sentient beings. This means that all the sentient beings not on the spiritual path are drawn into it, those who are on the path attain liberation and those who have already attained liberation go on to attain full enlightenment. ‘Blessing’ all beings can also be thought of as Akshobhya leading all sentient beings to the state of the union of bliss and emptiness. In the ordinary birth process this corresponds to the great pleasure the father and mother experience due to their channels being filled with the white and red substances. 69

ii. generation of the Emanation Vajradhara The sadhana continues: Then the Akshobhyas merge together into one blue Akshobhya in the Mandala Palace. All those emanated Akshobhyas, who are the resultant state of all the sentient beings who have become enlightened, merge into one Akshobya (not with a consort). We visualise this Akshobhya under the circular crossed beam of the mandala palace. At this stage we still visualise ourselves in the form of the Primordial Buddha at the centre of the mandala seated on a cushion. Then, that Primordial Buddha lifts up into space to just below the circular beam where Akshobhya was sitting and Akshobya moves down to that cushion where the Primordial Buddha was sitting. So we visualise that the two buddhas change places. Then, slowly the Primordial Buddha moves down and enters into Akshobhya’s crown. This visualisation corresponds to the intermediate state being’s consciousness entering the crown or mouth of the father while the father and mother are in sexual intercourse, emerging through the sex organ into the mother’s womb and the white and red drops meeting so the being develops into the full form. In the sadhana the blue Akshobhya is now called the Emanation Vajradhara or Emanation Vajrasattva but he still has the features of Akshobhya: three faces, blue, white and red; six arms, holding vajra, wheel and lotus in the right hands, and bell, jewel and sword in the left hands; adorned with precious jewels and various robes of silk. This corresponds at the ordinary level with the actual birth of the child, when the child comes out of the mother’s womb. This meditation purifies the actual rebirth which will take place in our samsaric process. The base which is purified in the completion stage is our ordinary birth; by this meditation pure and impure illusory bodies create the gross emanation body (nirmanakaya); and the result is that, due to this meditation, while we are in the form of the enjoyment body (sambhogakaya) we can emanate countless nirmanakayas according to the sentient beings’ mental dispositions. In the meditation our five aggregates transform into the five Dhyani Buddhas and the four elements we all possess in our ordinary form transform into the four consorts or female deities. We then visualise the other attributes of our ordinary body as also being transformed: our eye organs transform into bodhisattvas, the five objects of sense consciousness transform into the five vajra dakinis and our joints and limbs into wrathful deities. iii. blessing the body, speech and mind Blessing the body in the practice corresponds at the ordinary level to the body being fully formed. Blessing the speech corresponds at the ordinary level to the organs of speech (the tongue etc.) being completed. Blessing the mind corresponds at the ordinary level to the completion of the mind when the person is born. iv. generation of the triple being In the sadhana we now visualise the triple being: the commitment being (the main deity), the wisdom being (a tiny deity at the main deity’s heart) and the concentration being (a seed syllable at the wisdom being’s heart). Visualising the commitment being corresponds at the ordinary level to the ordinary person being completed. Although body, speech and mind are all complete by this stage, this consecration is important to feel that our own body, speech and mind are indeed divine. Visualising the wisdom being corresponds at the ordinary level to the person’s subtle innate body. Meditating on the concentration being corresponds at the ordinary level to the subtle mind. v.

sealing with the lord of the family

After that comes the meditation on sealing with the Lord of the Family. The Lord of the Family is generated and the male and female deities enter into union and we are initiated with streams of nectar flowing from this union. At the crown of ourselves as Vajradhara 70

we visualise a white Vajrasattva, who is the nature of our guru. He or she holds a bell and vajra and embraces the consort Vajradhatveshvari (Queen of the Vajra realm) who is his or her own resonance. We visualise that we are empowered by the streams of nectar, which flow from the union of male and female deities, purifying all our negativities. This meditation corresponds at the ordinary level with the time the new-born child is seen by others – the child is the object of the eye consciousness of others. This is a brief explanation of the first part of the actual generation stage practice, the meditative absorption on the initial engagement of taking the three kayas into path. As we have seen, it falls into various stages:  the main meditation of the yoga of ‘specially imagined class’: the yoga of taking death as dharmakaya into the path  the generation of the Primordial Lord: the yoga of taking the intermediate state as sambhogakaya into the path  the yoga of taking birth as nirmanakaya into the path o transforming into the emanation body of Vajradhara placing the mandala within the body (i.e., the body mandala) o blessing the body, speech and mind o the meditation of the triple beings’ form o sealing with the Lord of the Family. Although there are another two main stages done during the actual practice – the meditation on the supreme victorious mandala and the meditative absorption celebrating the supreme victorious activities – this first part is the most important. Lama Tsong Khapa’s prayer in the long Guhyasamaja sadhana says: May the yoga of the creation stage be achieved Which purifies all percepts and concepts of the ordinary In the process of birth, death and between, By gradually generating in the spiritual process, The supreme Vajra of proper practice of death as the Body of Truth, the between as the Beatific Body And of birth as the Body of Emanation – the supreme technique To realize the exaltation of the Three Bodies!

Questions on Chapter Five 1. In what way do you think that the practice of Highest Yoga Tantra can help us face ordinary death? 2. What are the main stages of the death process and how do they relate to the meditational sadhana? 3. Why are the last four stages of the death process called the ‘four empties’? 4. What conditions do we need to move from intermediate state to rebirth? 5. What is the purpose of doing the meditation of taking the intermediate state as sambhogakaya into the path? 6. How might it be possible to develop an ability to be aware of the eight dissolutions at the time of going to sleep, sneezing or orgasm? Is it worth trying to do this? Why or why not? If you wished to try, which of there three would you choose and why? 7. What is the difference between mother and son clear light and what does the ‘meeting of mother and son clear light’ mean? 8. What do the “five clarifications” clarify?

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Chapter 6. The Completion Stage (1) The Nature of the Body and Mind By the time the practitioner has reached the final level of the generation stage they already have a very strong understanding and experience of the subtle yogas. They are able to hold a clear appearance of the entire mandala – the principal and other deities as well as the mandala itself – inside a tiny space such as a point of light visualised at the secret place at the base of the spine. They can also vividly visualise the death process up to and including the clear light, and the bardo where the entire process is reversed. Only then is the practitioner ready to move to the next stage of the practice, the completion stage. In fact the demarcation between the two stages is not very clear-cut because the practices and realisations that make up the final part of the generation stage and those that make the initial part of the completion stage are very similar. The main difference between the two stages is that whereas in the generation stage the entire practice is done from beginning to end each time, now in the completion stage, each part of the practice is to be done individually, one part at a time. Only after a section has been done again and again until a certain realisation is achieved should the meditator move to the next section. This is because in the completion stage the practices are no longer just imagination; they are real. The practitioner now actually makes happen in the body and mind what was previously only visualised. Therefore, without gaining experience in the first step it is difficult to gain experience in the second and so it is pointless to move on. 1. The Nature of the Body Because we are working with our body and its substances in the completion stage, it is important to first have a good understanding of the body from a Vajrayana perspective. In Buddhism, especially in Highest Yoga Tantra, we refer to three types of body:  the coarse body  the subtle body  the very subtle body. The coarse or gross body is what we would normally refer to as the body. We can touch and see it; we feed it and clothe it; it consists of flesh, bone, blood etc. The subtle body is the network of channels, the winds or energies and the drops. The very subtle body (Tib: shin-du ta-wa lung) is made up of the particular winds which act as a vehicle – they ‘serve as a mount’ – to carry the mind which experiences the four empties, (of white appearance, red increase, black near attainment and clear light). The wind which carries the clear light is our subtlest energy and is sometimes translated as the ‘very subtle fundamental wind’. Just as our normal conceptual mind needs winds or energies to move upon, so does the very subtle mind, and this is what the very subtle body does. This very subtle fundamental wind is sometimes called the ‘permanent body’. It is not permanent as in not being reliant on causes and conditions but permanent meaning that it is that which passes from life to life, and will even remain after we have attained Buddhahood. It exists as long as we exist and it stays as long as we stay. Of course it is impermanent in the normal way we use this term; it changes momentarily as does every phenomenon, it is dependent on causes and conditions. All these three bodies are very important in Vajrayana, particularly in Highest Yoga Tantra. We need gross substances such as blood, bone, flesh etc, to do Highest Yoga Tantra practices and we need to understand how the gross body co-exists with the subtle and very subtle bodies in order to utilise these bodies in our practice. This becomes very important as we get more advanced.

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2. The Nature of the Mind Again in Buddhism, the mind is divided into three categories:  the coarse mind  the subtle mind  the very subtle mind The coarse or gross mind refers to the normal minds we are aware of: our sensory consciousnesses, feelings and conceptual thoughts etc. Of course, within these minds, there are degrees of grossness – some very gross, some not – but compared with the next two types of mind, they are all gross. The subtle mind refers to the 80 conceptual thoughts which we have already looked at which cease to function during the sixth, seventh and eighth cycles of simultaneous dissolution. Their dissolution gives rise to the various appearances which the person has at the time of death: the white, red and black appearances. The very subtle mind is the clear light mind. As I have already said, this only occurs to a normal person at the last moment of death or at certain times such during a sneeze or an orgasm when it is too brief and subtle to be apprehended. For the meditator, however, it is possible in meditation to move all the winds into the central channel and into the heart channel wheel and actually experience the clear light. That is the very subtle mind.

Channels, Wheels, Winds and Drops 1. Channels In the Vajrayana system there are said to be 72,000 channels in our body. Some commentators refer to them as the psychic nervous system and say that they run parallel with the physical nervous system. These channels are the intricate network of energy lines that run throughout our entire body, branching out again and again, starting from centres of energy called channel wheels or chakras situated within the main three channels. Generally however, in Vajrayana practice we deal with the three main channels. They are:  the central channel (Skt: avadhuti)  the right channel (Skt: rasana)  the left channel (Skt: lalana) Ordinarily, while we are alive the central channel does not really function, because the winds travel through the right and left channel, effectively squashing it. It is important to understand how the channels actually exist in our bodies because very often in meditation the visualisations we do will be slightly different at different times for a variety of reasons and so we could easily become confused. (illustration of channels possibly 2/3 page fitted here or nearest convenient place) The central channel starts between our two eyebrows; the right and left channels start from our nostrils. Although where they begin is different, the rest of their route is the same. All three go up to our crown to just under the actual scalp then curve over and run down the body. The central channel runs down the exact centre with the right and left channels either side. They run just in front of the spine and start to curve up at the base of the spine, coming together at the tip of our sexual organ. The central channel is said to be red inside and white outside although this varies slightly depending on which commentary we read. Some masters say that it is ‘reddish’ or simply ‘red and white’; some say they do not think there is a very distinctive colour. The central channel has four attributes:  it is very straight from the crown to the navel chakra, like a trunk  its inside is very oily and red in colour, like pure blood  it is clear and transparent. (The text says like the flame of a butter-lamp using very pure butter)  it is very soft and flexible. (The example given is like a plant that has just sprouted). The central channel is also called the ‘mind channel’ because the winds, the essence of the mind, flow through it at the time of death and it is the goal of the completion stage to move the mind carried by the winds into it through meditation. Another name for it is the ‘two abandonments’ referring to the fact that through meditation, when the winds enter it, they dissolve and because of that the two obscurations are abandoned – the obscuration to the achievement of clear light and the obscuration to the achievement of liberation. 73

The right channel, which is red, is called the ‘speech channel’ because red bodhicitta substance, the essence of speech, flows through it. Another name for it is the ‘sun channel’. It can also be called the ‘channel of the subjective holder’ because the main function of the winds which flow through it in our everyday life is to make our consciousness go towards objects. Thus, with the relationship set up between the subject (our consciousness) and the object, a degree of subjectivity is established which hinders us from knowing the object directly. The left channel, which is white, is called the ‘body channel’ because white bodhicitta, the essence of the body, flows though it. Its other names are the ‘moon channel’ or the ‘channel of the held object’ because one of the main functions of the winds which flow in it is to hold the object, such as form or sounds. Below is a table showing the channels, colours, names and which substances flow from them, but it is very general. There are different interpretations and differences from deity to deity. Some explanations are given according to the channels’ actual existence and some according to visualisations done during meditations where colours and shapes etc. can differ. Here we are following Guhyasamaja system. channel central channel right channel

colour red inside, white outside red

left channel

white

other names mind channel the two abandonments speech channel sun channel channel of the subjective holder body channel moon channel channel of the held object

what flows in it the winds at the time of death red bodhicitta winds which move our consciousness to objects white bodhicitta winds which hold objects

Although these descriptions may seem very physical, that does not mean that the channels are material things that we can see and touch, flesh-and-blood things like veins or muscles. In our ordinary day-to-day lives all our various consciousnesses occur due to the winds flowing in these two side channels. If we could empty them, the ordinary consciousnesses associated with these winds would stop which is one of the main aims of the completion stage. A very important point about the right and left channels is that although they run parallel with the central channel they are not completely straight. At the channel wheels or chakras they twist due to the conceptual thoughts travelling through them. These twists are usually called knots but they are not really like a knot in a piece of string. They are more like kinks or twists, to the left, a curve around and then back to the right again or vice versa, constricting the central channel and stopping any winds from moving within it. During a normal person’s life these knots will always be there, restricting the central channel and stopping it from functioning at all. In Tibetan we describe them as ‘blind’. In an ordinary person it is only at the very last stage of the death process that the side channels loosen and allow the winds inside them to flow into the central channel, allowing the clear light to become active. It is of course the goal of the completion stage to move the winds into the central channel and activate it. Of the 72,000 channels that run though our body, the ones that branch directly from the channel wheels or chakras are the ones we need to concentrate on in our visualisations. They are:  the 32 starting from the crown channel wheel  the 16 starting from the throat channel wheel  the 8 starting from the heart channel wheel  the 64 starting from the navel channel wheel  the 32 starting from the secret place channel wheel. It is mainly through these channels that the winds and the red and white bodhicitta drops travel. Generally however, it is the central and the left and right channels that we need to focus on. Of those, the central channel is the most important because great bliss is generated when the winds are moved into it. Within the central channel, moreover, the area around the heart is the most important part to visualise as clearly as possible. That is because during our ordinary death and birth it is within the central channel, at the hub of the heart 74

channel wheel at the heart of the central channel, that our ordinary consciousness enters when we take a new birth and departs when we die. Similarly on the path, when the practitioner is on the completion stage meditation of the metaphor and meaning clear light, they start at the centre of the heart channel wheel. Therefore, within these three channels, the central channel is the most important and within the central channel, the heart channel wheel is the most important place to get a very clear visualisation of. i. cleansing the channels I would like to describe a practice called clearing or cleansing the channels (Tib: tsa-lam shang-pa). It is a practice that helps to activate the central channel and protects our mind from possible harm during the practice. It is best to do this in association with deity practice. In the generation stage the meditator would have done very elaborate visualisations, imagining themselves as such-and such a deity with so-many arms and faces, with a consort and all sorts of divine things. But that is no longer necessary in the completion stage. For instance, in the generation stage practice of Guhyasamaja, Guhyasamaja has six arms, three faces and is with a consort. In the completion stage he only has two arms and one face. One of the reasons that the visualisations are so complex in the generation stage is that they are a tool for the mediator to generate calm-abiding and special insight. Practitioners of the completion stage already have this, so they do not need to do such elaborate visualisations. But in order to cleanse the channels properly they must have deity yoga – with divine pride and clarity and a strong identity as a deity (in this case Guhyasamaja with one face and two arms). It is very important for the meditator to seek the blessing of the lineage masters and their spiritual masters before starting to cleanse the channels because here it is no longer imagination; they are actually experiencing the channels. So, after making sure they have a good body posture, the meditator visualises the three channels slightly differently from the way they actually exist. The central channel starts between the eyebrows as it really does and curves just below the crown, then goes really straight, to end four finger-widths below the navel. Again the right and left channels start where they actually start in real life, at the right and left nostrils, following the path of the central channel around the crown and down. At the bottom, however, they end four finger-widths below the navel coming together to fit inside the central channel. Their colours are the same as above, right channel red, left channel white and central channel red inside and white outside. The next part of the practice is the nine-rounds breathing meditation. a. the first to third rounds First the meditator cleanses the left channel. They should breathe through the right nostril, not the mouth. This is usually done by placing a finger at the side of the left nostril, closing it. They breathe in deeply visualising the air or winds moving down through the right channel and passing into the left one. They then close the right nostril with a finger and as the air passes up the left channel they imagine all imperfections are purified, straightening the knots. Then they think, “The obstacles which exist in the left channel are cleansed.” This is done three times. For each breath, they breathe very gently at the beginning, quite forcefully in the middle and again very gently at the end. This is the same for all of the nine rounds: the three breaths through the right nostril, the three through the left and the three from both nostrils. b. the fourth to sixth rounds Now they do the same for the right channel, by breathing through the left nostril and visualising the winds going down the left channel and into and up the right channel, cleansing any impurities there. Again, they think, “The obstacles which exist in the right channel are cleansed.” c. the seventh to ninth rounds Then they take three long breaths through both nostrils, visualising the winds going down both channels then entering and moving up the central channel, thinking, “From both right and left channels, the energies are moving through the central channel and cleansing all the obstacles that exist there. They are all cleansed.” With the last three breaths of the nine-round breathing, they also take some air through the mouth and breath quite forcefully, really feeling that all obstacles are being pushed out by the air. 75

Cleansing the channels is a practice we do before we visualise the channel wheels. Although it is not a difficult practice, there is a big warning here, for this practice and all the practices that follow it. If you try to do this without the proper preparation (which means a thorough grounding in the graduated path) and not in the context of a stable deity practice, you will lose your mind. I mean that quite literally. This is a very common problem. You will really lose your mind. There are many meditators who have gone completely crazy because they have not to followed the practices exactly or have taken short cuts. Vajrayana can seem very exciting and simple, but in reality it is neither simple nor straightforward. It is very powerful and so our motivation has to be very pure. Practices like this are very advanced and so we really need to know what we are doing, otherwise all sorts of things start to happen with the mind. If the energies move into a wrong area, moving them back again is so difficult. The mind goes berserk like a wild horse. 2. Channel Wheels At the various places where the right and left channels twist around the central channel there are concentrations of energy where lines of energy radiate out, multiplying and spreading throughout our bodies. Because they resemble the spokes of wheels, these places are called channel wheels (Skt: chakra Tib: tsa-khor) and the lines of energy are called spokes. They can also be called ‘petals’ as the radiation of energy can resemble a flower but in fact it is more like a tree with large branches dividing into smaller branches etc. The number of channel wheels we have in our body depends on the number of knots we have in the right and left channel. For the purposes of meditation the number also varies. For some meditations there are five channel wheels, for some there are six – certain meditations even have ten channel wheels. Generally it is said that there are five larger channel wheels and three smaller ones. Here we will look at the five larger ones but just to mention them, the three smaller channel wheels are:  between the eyebrows: the wind channel wheel which has 6 spokes  between the throat and heart: the fire channel wheel which has 3 spokes  in the middle of the sex organ: which has eight spokes. We will look at the five main channel wheels. They are located at: i. the crown ii. the throat iii. the heart iv. the navel v. the secret place (the lower end of the spine). i.

the crown channel wheel

The crown channel wheel is called ‘great bliss channel wheel’. Although the white bodhicitta which helps to increase great bliss exists in different channels and channel wheels, its main location is in the crown channel wheel, so the name comes from that. ii. the throat channel wheel The throat channel wheel is called the ‘enjoyment channel wheel’ because it is through our throat that food and drink pass, which are things we enjoy. Here, however, we are not really talking about normal eating and drinking but the offerings of food and drink we make during our deity practice. iii. the heart channel wheel The heart channel wheel is called the ‘phenomena channel wheel’ because it is the abode of the indestructible drop (the very subtle body) and clear light (the very subtle mind) which are the root of all external and internal phenomena, samsaric as well as enlightened. iv. the navel channel wheel The navel channel wheel is called the ‘emanation channel wheel’ because during the completion stage practice heat is generated – or emanated – from this wheel. This melts 76

the white bodhicitta at our crown and causes it to start to flow down, generating great bliss. v. the secret place channel wheel The secret place channel wheel is called the ‘utilising great bliss’ channel wheel. This is because in the completion stage meditation when the four empties and four joys are experienced, there is a particular meditation called the ‘innate great bliss meditation’ which is practised in forward and reverse order at the secret place. Although some commentaries use different names, the way they describe the shapes of the channel wheels are all similar. They are:  crown wheel: triangle  throat: circle  heart: circle  navel: triangle  secret place: circle. The triangle is always backward facing with the point at the back and the flat surface facing the front. It is not really like a mathematical triangle however, with exact or deadstraight lines. The channel wheels are not completely flat. They either bend slightly downwards or upwards. So the crown wheel is a triangle whose corners droop slightly downwards whereas the throat wheel is a circle which is slightly raised at the edges. The directions which the channel wheels bend are:  crown wheel: down  throat: up  heart: down  navel: up  secret place: down. The numbers of spokes at each channel wheel are:  crown wheel: 32 spokes  throat: 16 spokes  heart: 8 spokes  navel: 64 spokes  secret place: 32 spokes. There are thirty-two spokes at the crown channel wheel. Here, the right and left channels twist around the central channel forming a knot or coil between the brain and the scalp. The right channel twists to the left around the central channel and the left channel twists around it to the right before they both realign and move down – four twists in all. It is here that the spokes begin. The four spokes each divide, becoming eight, which then each divide in turn becoming sixteen and then 32. The throat channel wheel is located between the neck bone and the voice box. It divides in the same way, the four spokes caused by the knots in the side channels becoming eight and then sixteen. (illustration of throat channel wheel taken from large illustration of chakras, maybe 1.5 – 2 cms high) The heart channel wheel is not where our physical heart is, but in the exact middle of our chest. Some texts say that there is one knot at the heart, others that there are three. Whichever it is, the wheel divides once to become eight spokes. In the same way, the navel wheel does not exactly coincide with our actual navel but is one or two finger-widths below it – it can differ from individual to individual. Here the number of spokes is 64 – four becoming eight, becoming 16, becoming 32, becoming 64. The secret place has 32 spokes, divided in the same way as the crown. Although they are called spokes or petals, that is not really a good description of their shape. They are more like a soft plastic straw blocked at one end and blown through until it bulges slightly. Although it varies slightly depending on the practice, the colours of the channel wheels are:  crown wheel: white  throat: red  heart: white  navel: red  secret place: red. 77

So to summarise, here is a description of the channel wheels. channel wheel name shape crown great bliss triangle throat enjoyment circle heart phenomena circle navel emanating triangle secret place utilising great bliss circle

direction down up down up down

number 32 16 8 64 32

3. Loosening the Knots We looked at cleansing the channels above. Now we can consider a practice to loosen the channel wheel knots. Obviously such practices are completion stage practices and come only after completing the generation stage. i. visualising the deity as transparent During this practice, whatever deity is their main practice – Guhyasamaja, Yamantaka or Kalachakra etc. – the meditator visualises him- or herself as that deity with one face and two arms. The deity’s entire body is visualised as being completely transparent, like a resin statue which we can see right through. Every detail is clear – nails, strands of hair etc. – but they are all completely transparent. In Tibetan this is called tong-ra gom-pa ‘one’s own body completely empty’. ii. visualising the channels After establishing the visualisation really well, the practitioner concentrates on the channels, starting with the central channel. In the Guhyasamaja practice this is white on the outside and red on the inside. It starts at the place between the eyebrows, moves up to the crown then curls down in front of the spine to the tip of the sexual organ. After that the meditator does the same with the right and left channels. Although in reality these are the ones which are active and the central channel is ‘blind’ or inactive, they are visualised it as if it were the other way around, with the side channels flat and inactive and the central channel really full. iii. visualising the heart channel wheel Then they visualise the channel wheels. For this, the Guhyasamaja practice says you should start at the heart because that is the most important wheel and the hardest one to loosen the knots around. At the heart wheel three knots are visualised. From the second knot the spokes of the channel wheel start to spread out, four and then eight, turning slightly downwards as they do. iv. visualising the other channel wheels The other channel wheels are visualised in the same way. After that, the meditator needs to take time to really establish the visualisation, going up and down the central channel making sure the wheels are visualised clearly. v. preparing the path of the channels The next step is called ‘preparing the path of the channels’. In the second of the three knots of the heart wheel a tiny drop is visualised as white but with a reddish hue. The meditator thinks that this drop is the essence of their root masters, the principal deities and their own three doors of mind, body and speech. If this sounds impossible, remember that by this stage they will have already gained shiné and so will be used to visualising such minute details. vi. entering the drop The next stage is called ‘entering the drop’. In this visualisation, the meditator visualises their mind entering into the drop and the mind and the drop becoming one. (In reality, of course, their mind is not that drop.) The mind enters the drop at the centre of the heart wheel, then that drop which is one with the meditator’s mind circles around, starting from the front and then to the right and left. It looks through the channels and spokes which start from the heart channel wheel and sees them as being hollow and without any obstructions. That is the meditation. Then, when their mind, which is inseparable from the drop, sees the channel and spokes are free from any obstructions, they move to the next stage. This involves looking down from the heart channel wheel to the navel channel wheel and then down to the secret channel wheel. After that the meditator looks upwards in the same way, examining the throat channel wheel and the crown channel wheel. In some sense the meditator is checking that the path is completely hollow and free from obstructions. For me, it feels 78

colour white red white red red

like we have a really powerful torch and we are looking up this hollow transparent tube and are able to see everything. vii. checking the throat channel wheel Now they move up through the channel wheel, riding up the central channel to the centre of the throat channel wheel. As with the heart wheel, they start by making a full circle around it, examining everything: the colour, the way the knot is formed, the way spokes radiate out – everything. viii. checking the crown channel wheel After that, the meditator moves to the crown channel wheel, circles it and comes to rest at its centre. After inspecting the entire wheel, they look at how it rests right at the very end of the central channel. In fact it bulges out, half in the central channel and half out. We are not talking about the physical body here, but if we were the channel wheel would protrude slightly from the crown. It is as if you have come to the top of a high tower, you can look out from it and see the entire mandala with all the attendant deities before you. ix. moving down through the wheels Then again, the meditator gently moves their mind from the crown wheel back through the central channel, looking down at the throat wheel then moving to it, then moving to the heart wheel, the navel wheel and the secret place wheel. By doing this, they are loosening the knots at each of the channel wheels. This is a very exacting meditation. It is recommended that if you get tired, you stop for a while and do some prayers and dedications. As I have said before, the completion stage is to be done step-by-step. Only when a practitioner has completely mastered the meditation on cleansing the channels will they go on to this practice of loosening the knots, and this needs to be perfect before going on to the next.

4. Winds The winds are what move through the channels. ‘Wind’ is a direct translation from the Sanskrit praña (Tib: lung). You might also know the Chinese term for it, chi. They are the energies in our body. They cause all movement, both external bodily movement and the internal activity of organs and muscles, the circulation of blood and air etc., and the movement of things such as urine and waste. Because the winds are another substance we need to utilise in Vajrayana practice it is important to understand them. The winds are also used in the practices in three lower levels of tantra – remember the technique of controlling the life force called ‘holding the wind in a vase’ – but that is very crude compared to the ones used in Highest Yoga Tantra. Here it is much more than stopping the winds from escaping outside in order to still our conceptual thoughts, it is trying to move the winds into the central channel and then dissolving them into the centre of the central channel wheel where the indestructible drop and clear light are. The first stage of the completion stage, physical isolation, involves connecting with the winds. This comes before we can control them and make them enter, abide and dissolve in central channel. But even connecting with them is far more advanced than the vase breathing we saw in the lower tantras. There are five major or root winds and five secondary or branch ones. The major winds are: i. life-supporting (or vitalising) ii. downward-voiding iii. upward-moving iv. equally-abiding v. pervading. (There are different translations for these in English.) If you want to know about the branch winds in more detail see Kalachakra Tantra Rite and Initiation by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Jeffrey Hopkins. When studying the winds there are different things we should know about each one, which can be summarised in the following chart.

buddha family

lifesupporting Akshobhya

downwardvoiding Ratnasambhava 79

upwardmoving Amithaba

equallyabiding Amoghasiddhi

pervading Vairochana

colour element seat

white water heart

yellow earth navel

red fire throat

function

to support and maintain life

to retain and release urine, faeces, semen, blood, etc.

to speak, swallow, etc.

direction

from both nostrils, gently downwards

from both nostrils, horizontally forwards heavily

from the right nostril, violently upward

green wind the two lower doors: the anus and the sexual organ to cause the blazing of the inner fire, digest food and drink, etc. from the left nostril, moving to the left and right from the edge of the nostril

pale blue space both the upper and lower parts of the body, mainly the 360 joints to enable the body to come and go; to allow movement, lifting and placing this wind does not flow through the nostrils except at the time of death

Each wind is associated with a particular colour and Dhyani Buddha. For example, the life-supporting wind is white and associated with Akshobhya, the downward-voiding wind is yellow and associated with Ratnasambhava etc. This becomes important when we do the body mandala where each wind turns into a particular Dhyani Buddha. The winds are also associated with a particular element: the upward-moving wind with fire, the pervading wind with space etc. And although certain winds, like the pervading wind, can be situated anywhere in the body, most have a location. For instance, the lifesupporting wind at the heart, the upward-moving wind at throat, etc. The functions you can see on the chart are gross generalisations but it is still very interesting to look at them. The function of the life-supporting wind (also called vitalising wind) is just that, to support and maintain life. There are certain practices in Vajrayana using the life-supporting wind to extend our life in order to complete the practices. For example, it is said that how long we are going to live depends on how much of this lifesupporting wind we have and this in turn is due to our previous karma. We can actually calculate our lifespan from the rate of our breathing. The downward-voiding wind’s function is retaining and releasing urine, water and substances like that. The upward-moving wind assists speaking, swallowing and so on. The function of the equally-abiding wind is to cause the inner fire to blaze as well as to digest food and so on. And the pervading wind enables the body’s movements. It is very easy to think of these winds as somehow entirely different from the air we breathe. They are in fact the same type of element but, as with all of these substances we are looking at, there are various degrees of subtlety. Obviously, the air that moves through our nostrils and that which is we use in ‘holding the wind in a vase’ is gross whereas winds such as pervading wind are much subtler, but it is wrong to think of them as totally different things. The direction of each wind given in the chart might seem a bit strange. At present we breathe and that seems to be it. We cannot determine whether our breath is moving gently downwards from both nostrils, like the life-supporting wind, or horizontally forward heavily like the downward-voiding wind. These are only of academic interest until we reach that stage in our practice where the direction of the winds does actually come into the scope of our meditation. However, whether we are aware of them or not, all these winds are operating. The pervading wind alone does not flow through the nostrils until the time of death. Out of all the winds, by meditation or even during the natural process during death, the hardest wind to dissolve is the pervading wind which pervades our entire body, although its main abode is our joints. The significance of all five major winds, and where they abide and their functions, is important to know for completion stage practice, particularly when we reach the level of speech isolation. i. the indestructible wind It might seem strange that the indestructible wind, the subtle wind which carries the subtlest mind of clear light, is not included in this list. The life-supporting wind has two 80

levels, gross and subtle, and the indestructible wind is the subtlest life supporting wind. The life-supporting wind itself abides at the heart, but this indestructible life-supporting wind abides at the very centre of the heart channel wheel. This indestructible wind can be thought of in several different ways: as the subtlest white and red drops which abide at the heart channel wheel; as the wind which carries the ordinary clear light which occurs at the time of death; or as the subtlest life-supporting wind which carries the subtlest mind. This subtlest life-supporting wind is called:  the indestructible wind  the clear light wind  the innate wind. So the wind itself has different names which carry different connotations. It is called the indestructible wind because, although it is impermanent in that it changes momentarily, it cannot be destroyed by any other thing. It is called the clear light wind because it is always there. It is there at the ordinary level, during the path and at the resultant stage when we reach enlightenment. At the ordinary level, all the gross winds and minds are dissolved into it at the time of death. During the path the clear light occurs from it, and at the resultant stage the dharmakaya occurs from it. It is also called innate wind because it is inseparable from the subtlest mind. 5. Drops Another kind of substance that it is important to know about is the drops, (Skt: bindu, Tib: tig-le). Because their origin the indestructible drop which itself originates from is the male and female’s white and red drops, the drops themselves are of two types, white and red. They are also called ‘bodhicitta drops’ or simply ‘bodhicitta’. Although they originate at the centre of the heart channel wheel, most texts say that the white drops which evolve from the original white drop abide at the crown and the red drops which evolve from the original red drop abide at the navel. In reality, however, the drops pervade our entire body and this distinction is made to help meditation. The ones at the crown and navel that the texts talk about are gross; the ones pervading our body are subtler. In the meditation the white drop at the crown is signified by a HAM and the red drop at the navel by an OM. Although we mainly hear about two drops, we can also come across four drops referred to. They are described according to when they are produced and where they are located. They are considered to be drops we produce:  during the time of sleep  during the time of dreaming  during the time of being awake  during the time of sexual intercourse. The drops which we produce during very deep sleep are produced at the heart and the centre of the sex organ. The drops which we produce during the time of dreaming are produced at the throat channel wheel and the secret place channel wheel. The drops which we produce during the time of being awake are produced at the crown channel wheel and the navel channel wheel. The drops which we produce during the time of sexual intercourse are produced at the crown channel wheel and the secret place channel wheel. i. the indestructible drop The indestructible drop, which is the origin of all the drops, itself originates from the father’s white drop the mother’s red one. It is said these are the essence or the male and female combined to become the basis for the physical body. We talk of the indestructible drop as one entity but in fact it consists of two elements. Generally, when we say indestructible drop we mean the ‘indestructible drop of this life’. This is a very subtle material object which is destroyed at the end of our life. Within that there is also the ‘eternal indestructible drop’ which is the very subtle wind and mind. It is the first consciousness that enters our mother’s womb and the last consciousness when we separate from our body. When our mind enters into the union of sperm and egg of our parents, there is already a consciousness – it hasn’t come from nowhere – and that consciousness has needed an energy or wind to travel on. That consciousness and its wind is the eternal indestructible drop. 81

Our clear light mind will separate from the body riding on that drop. It is called eternal because of the continuation which is always there, not because it is unchanging. In a sense the two indestructible drops are the container and the mind and wind inside are the contents. Mind and wind depend on each other – without mind there can be no wind and without wind there can be no mind – but it is container of the indestructible drop which holds them together.

6. The Basis of Samsara and Liberation Mind and body co-exist. When we look at the subtle and very subtle body – the winds or energies which carry the consciousnesses, we see that gross minds, such as anger and attachment, and the gross winds co-exist, that the subtle minds such as the 80 conceptual thoughts co-exist and are carried on the subtle winds and that the very subtle minds and winds operate together. The winds and the minds carried on those winds are interdependent. Furthermore, the very subtle wind (the very subtle body) is the energy which carries the clear light (the very subtle mind) and these two are inseparable and are sometimes called ‘the basis of samsara and liberation’. This concept is very important because whereas for us this inseparable very subtle mind and wind are the basis of samsara, utilising them in the right way will bring liberation. In both generation stage and completion stage practice, the subtlest mind and wind arise as the pure and impure illusory body and through that process the practitioner can gain the enjoyment body. In the same way, this inseparable subtlest mind and wind used by an unskilful mind leads to samsara. This is why it is called the basis of both samsara and liberation. In the enlightenment process, the subtlest wind is the substantial cause for the form body (Skt: rupakaya) and the present subtlest mind is the substantial cause for the truth body (Skt: dharmakaya). The inseparability of these two is the substantial cause for the union of form body and wisdom body which is enlightenment. Therefore it is very important to understand the different levels of subtlety of the basic body and mind we all have: gross, subtle and very subtle.

EMPTINESS AND BLISS 1. The Meaning of E-VAM It is said that the whole of Highest Yoga Tantra is captured by the two-syllable word EVAM. Not only does this word contain the whole meaning of the completion stage practice, in some sense it also condenses the meaning of the entire Highest Yoga Tantra as taught in the scriptures. (illustration of a Sanskrit e-vam maybe 1.5 to 2cms high) It can be discussed at three different levels:  the E-VAM which corresponds with the base  the E-VAM which corresponds with the path  the E-VAM which corresponds with the resultant. The word E-VAM is made up of two syllables: the E and the VAM with the VAM made of two sounds, the main body of the syllable being the WA with the MA as a circle above it. At the base or ordinary level, the E represents the crown and navel channel wheels which are triangular; the WA represents the heart and throat channel wheels which are round and the MA represents focusing on these channel wheels using the right methods. By doing this, great bliss is generated by the melting bodhicitta being drawn down from the crown and up from the secret place. That union is represented by the MA and the inseparable nature of great bliss and emptiness is E-VAM. With the meaning of the E-VAM associated with the path, the syllable E represents the wisdom realising emptiness during the path; WA represents experiencing great bliss during the path and the vowel MA represents the inseparable nature of these two during the path. So the whole word E-VAM during the path represents the inseparable nature or wisdom realising emptiness and the experience of great bliss. With the E-VAM which corresponds to the resultant, the first syllable E refers to the direct realisation of emptiness by the wisdom of a buddha; the lower part of the second syllable WA symbolises the great bliss of the wisdom of a buddha; and the inseparability of great 82

bliss and the realisation of emptiness in the wisdom of a buddha is symbolised by consonant MA, the circle above the WA. E-VAM represents another union corresponding with the resultant: the union of two truths. Here, the first syllable E represents the inseparable nature of a buddha’s wisdom and great bliss. The base letter of the second syllable, the WA, represents a buddha’s form body (rupakaya) and the circle, the MA, represents the one nature of body and mind. In other words a buddha’s realisation of emptiness and experience of great bliss and a buddha’s body are one entity. So, E-VAM symbolised these two truths where ultimate truth refers to the inseparable nature of a buddha realising emptiness and experiencing great bliss and the conventional truth is a buddhas’ form body. 2. The Initiations Related to the Completion Stage Just as there are two stages in Highest Yoga Tantra, the generation and completion stage, there are also different initiations which are the corresponding ripening factors for these two stages. The initiation which empowers the practitioner to practise the generation stage is the first, the vase initiation. The second initiation, the secret initiation, empowers the practitioner to engage in the practice of the illusory body which is part of the completion stage. The path of the illusory body also includes the three isolations: physical, verbal and mental isolation (sometimes called meditative stabilisation of the isolated body, speech and mind.) The third initiation, the wisdom knowledge initiation, empowers the practitioner to undertake the meditation on the clear light which purifies the illusory body into clear light. The fourth initiation, the word initiation, empowers the practitioner to undertake the meditative practices of the union. 3. The Union of Emptiness and Great Bliss As we have seen, there are two unions we encounter in Highest Yoga Tantra: the union of the two truths and the union of emptiness and great bliss. We have already seen the meaning of E-VAM in terms of the union of the two truths so I would now like to look at the very important union of emptiness and great bliss, in particular the type of emptiness and great bliss connected with Highest Yoga Tantra. There are four different types of emptiness taught in the Buddhist philosophical schools. As we have seen in our previous module, there is the emptiness or selflessness asserted by the schools below Svatantrika Madhyamaka which is being empty of substantial existence. The Cittamatra School explains emptiness as the absence of duality of appearance of subject and object. Then there is also emptiness explained in the Svatantrika School which is being empty of existing from its own side, without depending on the mind. Finally, there is the emptiness asserted in the Prasangika Madhyamaka, which is being empty of existing inherently. There are no teachings in Vajrayana on the union of great bliss based on the first emptiness, the emptiness of substantial existence. But there are teachings about the union of great bliss with the emptiness asserted by the Cittamatra and Svatantrika Madhyamaka Schools. However, in Highest Yoga Tantra practice, particularly when we are talking about the practice of the ‘jewel-like practitioner’ – the highest level of meditator – the union of emptiness and great bliss specifically refers to the last definition of emptiness, the emptiness of inherent existence as asserted by Prasangika Madhyamaka. So, this is the level we are talking about when we use the term ‘emptiness’. The other side of the union, bliss, also has different levels. We can experience bliss when we gain actual calm-abiding (shiné). There is a second level, called uncontaminated bliss, which we will experience when we realise emptiness directly. In the three lower classes of Vajrayana, Kriya, Carya and Yoga Tantra, a meditator who successfully does the vase breathing meditation based on deity yoga also experiences another level of bliss. Yet another type of bliss is experienced during consort practice, when the practitioner mentally or actually embraces the consort. Due to this, when the bodhicitta moves down from the crown channel wheel but is blocked by the meditation, the practitioner will experience bliss. However, this bliss is not due to the winds entering and dissolving in the central channel. 83

The last type of bliss is the great bliss experienced in the completion stage, when the winds actually enter, abide and dissolve in the central channel. That bliss is called innate great bliss. That is the bliss referred to when we discuss the union of great bliss and emptiness. To summarise, there are four different types of emptiness we can realise and there are many different types of bliss we can experience. In Highest Yoga Tantra, however, whenever we refer to the union of emptiness and great bliss we are always talking about the innate great bliss generated during the completion stage practice when the winds enter, abide and dissolve in the central channel. The emptiness is always the realisation of the Prasangika’s definition of emptiness, being empty of inherent existence. This union refers to the indivisible union between wisdom realising emptiness and the profound experience of great bliss. In such a union, the previously gained wisdom is generated within a blissful state of mind, and these two – wisdom and bliss – are experienced within a single unity of consciousness. This is a unique practice within Highest Yoga Tantra. Which of these two comes first? There are two possibilities. Practitioners who have gained a realisation of emptiness based on the teachings of the Cittamatra or Svatantrika Schools might experience great bliss due to the meditation of the winds and drops dissolving in the central channel. That original understanding of emptiness ignites the inner heat which allows the winds to enter, abide and dissolve in the central channel and from that experience of great bliss they will slowly, naturally move to the highest understanding of emptiness asserted by the Prasangika Madhyamaka, as opposed to their original realisation of emptiness. For most practitioners in Highest Yoga Tantra, however, the sequence works the other way around. They first gain the wisdom realising emptiness of inherent existence and then the experience of great bliss.

Questions on Chapter Six 1. What are the main differences between the generation stage and completion stage in terms of practice and realisations? 2. How do you conceive the relationships between the gross body and subtle/very subtle bodies and the gross mind and subtle/very subtle minds? 3. What is the correlation between ordinary death and the completion stage? 4. If we cut our body open we would not be able to physically see the channels, winds or drops, not even under the microscope. Describe how you personally see or understand the channels, winds and drops. 5. The very subtle fundamental body is sometimes called the permanent body. It is said to pass from life to life and remain even after attainment of Buddhahood. Does this invalidate the Buddhist teachings on impermanence, emptiness, and no soul? Would you see this body as the essence of a person? What do you visualise the very subtle body to look like? 6. The heart channel wheel is also called ‘the phenomena channel wheel’, because it houses the very subtle body and very subtle mind which are “the origin of all existing phenomena”. Explain how the indestructible drop and clear light can be the root of all existing phenomena in your opinion. 7. How can we “loosen the knots” of something that is not a physical entity?

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Chapter 7. The Completion Stage (2) The Six Levels of Completion In our previous chapter we looked in some detail at the body and mind, and within the mind the gross, subtle and very subtle mind, as well as the drops and so forth. In this chapter we are going to look at the actual practice of the completion stage. Although there are many different practices, I will again be taking the Guhyasamaja tantra as a model. Most other Highest Yoga Tantra completion stage sadhanas have a similar outline although the Kalachakra tantra is slightly different. See Daniel Cozort’s Highest Yoga Tantra for an interesting comparison between the two.

The Six Levels of the Completion Stage

All the practices within the completion stage are a gradual refining of the meditations on the winds, where the meditator is actually moving the winds with more and more skill, getting them to enter first the central channel, then the heart channel wheel and finally the indestructible drop. This process which happens during ordinary death before the intermediate state commences is mimicked in the generation stage. Now it is actually experienced through meditation. The goal is to have all the winds dissolve in the indestructible drop and so experience great bliss which realises emptiness. Through that process the illusory body is actualised. The main practice of the completion stage again concerns the death process. During the generation stage, the death process was an elaborate visualisation. Now the practitioner is doing much more than that. They have gone beyond imagination and are actually trying to experience the process, particularly the last four stages of the dissolution, the four empties, which occur during the minds of white appearance, red increase, black nearattainment and clear light. The four empties are actually experienced in their mental continuum as the winds are made to enter, abide and dissolve in the central channel by the power of the meditation. At the same time, the different levels of bliss are experienced. In the generation stage, these processes were just imagination, although during the last part of the generation stage some practitioners can generate the deity through the mind realising emptiness and experience bliss. This is not considered a completion stage practice, however, because the winds still have not entered and dissolved into the central channel. This can only be done in the completion stage where the practitioner experiences great bliss which is generated into the deity. That in fact is the definition of the completion stage: a yoga in the mindstream of a trainee which has arisen from the winds entering, abiding and dissolving in the central channel by the power of meditation.xxiii (This and the subsequent definitions come from The Paths and Grounds of Guhyasamaja.) As you know, all the winds will naturally enter, abide and dissolve in the central channel during the death process. But the definition says by the power of meditation. That is accomplished by the two meditations we looked at earlier, cleansing the channels and loosening the knots. There are different ways of counting the stages of the completion stage according to the Guhyasamaja practice but I will divide the practice into six, as in the Guhyasamaja root tantra and the sixth chapter of the commentary by Chandrakirti, The Clear Lamp, which is the main commentary on the Guhyasamaja tantra. (In other parts of his text he divides 85

the completion stage into five, adding the generation stage and counting all the isolations as one.) Using Chandrakirti’s commentary, there are six levels within the completion stage: 1. physical isolation 2. verbal isolation 3. mental isolation 4. illusory body 5. actual clear light 6. union Some other texts, on the other hand, divide the completion stage into five levels, with physical and verbal isolation counted as one.

Physical Isolation Because of the unclear distinction between the last part of the generation stage and the first part of the completion stage, there are some differences in the assertions of the commentaries. Some say that the entire physical isolation practice comes within the subtle yoga of the generation stage, whereas others put it entirely in the completion stage. Some practitioners assert that physical isolation falls into both generation and completion stages. This is the assertion I will follow, that within the several different stages of the realisations which count as physical isolation, some belong to the generation stage and some to the completion stage. The physical isolation which belongs to the generation stage again belongs to different stages of the practice according to different levels of capability. During the first level the practitioner can generate into the deity purely from the realisation of emptiness, not by the meditation on bliss at all. Another slightly more advanced practice is by the generating into the deity through the experience of bliss realising emptiness. This bliss, however, is not due to the winds entering, abiding and dissolving in the central channel, but due to certain meditations. This level of physical isolation also belongs to the generation stage. The last one is bliss realising emptiness which is generated by the winds entering, abiding and dissolving in the central channel. Due to that, the bodhicitta melts and the practitioner experiences great bliss. Through that the meditator realises emptiness and then that understanding is generated into the deity. This type of physical isolation belongs to the completion stage. This is what we are talking about in the definition. The definition of physical isolation is: The isolated body of the completion stage is a yoga such that while in equipoise one meditates on the wisdom of bliss and emptiness arising from the winds dissolving in the central channel. Waking up from that in the post-meditation period, all objects that appear are sealed by bliss and emptiness and arise in the aspects of deities, such as those of the hundred [Buddhas’] families. The isolated body is so called because it is a yoga that seals the body [the basis of isolation] composed of the aggregates, constituents, sources and so forth within one’s mindstream, by the bliss and emptiness of the completion stage. Having isolated the body from ordinary appearances and grasping, it appears in the aspect of pure deities. In general, the isolated body contains parts of both the generation and completion stage.xxiv An analogy which some practitioners us about this stage is how using one colour such as blue an artist can draw many different pictures. Another is how within a single opera or play a performer wearing different masks and performing different roles can appear as many different figures. It is the same thing here. Due to the meditation on the winds entering, abiding and dissolving in the central channel and the meditator experiencing great bliss, that single mind itself can manifest as many different deities. This level of practice belongs to the completion stage physical isolation. The term physical isolation comes from the fact that at this stage we are isolating the twenty-five ‘physical’ aspects of the gross body and mindxxv. These are not all physical, some are minds, such as the five basic wisdoms. They are called ‘gross’ and ‘physical’ 86

because they all have collective features. These twenty-five gross phenomena are the basis of the physical isolation, the objects which are actually turned into the deities by that single mind experiencing great bliss while actually realising emptiness. ‘Isolation’ means we are eliminating any sense of ordinariness in these twenty-five physical things; they will no longer appear as ordinary but as the twenty-five deities of the body mandala. When the practitioner meditates on physical isolation, the winds enter, abide and dissolve in the central channel and due to that dissolution great bliss is experienced and then that mind realises emptiness. It is that mind which is generated into the deity. In the case of Guhyasamaja there are four ways of doing this, differentiated mainly in terms of how elaborate they are, i.e., whether they use many deities or just a single one. 1. The Four Ways of Generating the Deities There are basically four levels of complexity when visualising the deities. The practitioner can visualise 100, 25 or six deities or a single deity. The four levels are: i. the ultimate physical isolation of the hundred deities ii. the ultimate physical isolation of the twenty-five deities iii. the ultimate physical isolation of the secret three families iv. the ultimate physical isolation of the great secret one family. i.

the ultimate physical isolation of the hundred deities

The first one is called the ‘ultimate physical isolation of the hundred deities’. In it 100 deities are generated from the elements of the practitioner’s body. Each of the five aggregates is generated into the five Dhyani Buddhas (which makes 25 deities), then the four elements are generated into four consorts with each consort generated for each of the five Dhyani Buddhas (making 20). Then the six sources (eye sense, ear sense, nose sense, tongue sense, body sense, mental sense) are generated into six bodhisattvas, one set for each Dhyani Buddha (making 30). Finally the five sense objects are generated into the five offering dakinis for each Dhyani Buddha (making 25). So that makes 100 deities altogether. 5 aggregates = 5 x 5 Dhyani Buddhas = 25 4 elements = 4 consorts for each Dhyani Buddha = 20 6 sources = 6 bodhisattvas for each Dhyani Buddha = 30 5 sense objects = 5 offering dakinis for each Dhyani Buddha = 25. ii. the ultimate physical isolation of the twenty-five deities The second one, the ‘ultimate physical isolation of the twenty-five deities’, is a little less elaborate. Here the four elements and consciousness (which constitute the five phenomena within us) are visualised as the five Dhyani Buddhas, making 25. This is done using the same process as above. The practitioner visualises the winds entering, abiding and dissolving in the central channel and due to that the bodhicitta melts and great bliss increases. Through the experience of bliss that mind realises emptiness and from that the mind is generated into the five deities using the four elements and consciousness. The air element generates into Vairochana, the water element generates into Ratnasambhava, the fire element generates into Amitabha, the wind element generates into Amogasiddhi and the consciousness generates into Akshobhya. This is the second most elaborate practice of physical isolation. iii. the ultimate physical isolation of the secret three families The third one, the ultimate physical isolation of the secret three families, uses the same process. This time the mind experiencing great bliss and realising emptiness uses the three doors of body, speech and mind to generate six deities. The body is generated into Ratnasambhava and Vairochana as vajra body; the speech is generated into Amoghasiddhi and Amitabha as the vajra speech; and the mind is generated as Vajradhara and Akshobhya as the vajra mind. 87

iv. the ultimate physical isolation of the great secret one family In the last one, the ultimate physical isolation of the great secret one family, using the same process, the practitioner visualises the three doors of their body, speech and mind transformed into the three doors of Vajradhara. In each of these four methods the process is the same. The difference comes after the inseparability of great bliss and emptiness has been achieved, when that realisation is generated into different deities and different numbers of deities according to the practitioner’s level. 2. The Actual Meditation of Physical Isolation There are three divisions: i. the meditation on a subtle drop ii. the meditation on emptiness iii. maintaining meditative equipoise on emptiness during the post meditation session. i.

the meditation on a subtle drop

The first division is the meditation on the subtle drop, used to draw the winds are into the central channel. The practitioner who has achieved both the gross and subtle generation stage realisations generates him- or herself into Vajradhara and has a strong sense of identity as Vajradhara. They then meditate on the subtle drop which is almost the continuation of the subtle drop meditation in the generation stage practice. Here the difference is that the meditator generates him- or herself into Vajradhara by means of the winds entering, abiding and dissolving in the central channel, then experiencing great bliss and through that realising emptiness. Then, at the lower end of the central channel at the tip of the sexual organ, they visualise a subtle tiny drop or a very tiny hand instrument. Within that they visualise the entire mandala and its deities and the representations of all kinds of objects within it. Concentrating very intensely on that point, because the mind and the winds work together, the winds will start to be drawn into that place. Then the lower part of the central channel will open, and due to that, the winds will enter into it. The texts sometimes say ‘as if entering your mind into that tiny drop or hand instrument.’ That kind of meditation will help to draw winds into that place and open the central channel and through that process the winds will actually enter the central channel. Usually when we breathe, the wind passing through the right nostril is a bit more forceful than through the left, but when the winds enter the central channel the breathing will become very balanced, with no one side more forceful than the other. And the sign of the winds abiding in the central channel is that the winds which normally pass through our nostrils will stop altogether. When the winds dissolve in the central channel, as we have discussed in the death process, the signs will occur like a mirage, black smoke, fireflies and all the appearances. ii. the meditation on emptiness The second division of physical isolation is the meditation on emptiness which generates bliss due to the winds entering, abiding and dissolving in the central channel. When the winds enter into the central channel, the downward voiding wind, whose seat is normally the lower abdomen just below the navel channel wheel, moves upwards. It is located in the place where heat, called tum-mo (sometimes translated in English as ‘fierce woman’) is generated. The movement of the downward voiding wind ignites this heat and due to that the subtle substances (the white and red drops) melt. That melting and flowing to various spots in the body brings the practitioner an intense feeling of bliss. The consciousness which experiences that blissful feeling is a really powerful mind and it can be used to realise emptiness. In Guhyasamaja this practice of generating heat at the navel channel wheel area through the melting of the two substances is done by the wind entering the central channel and 88

igniting the heat. It is similar to tum-mo practice but it is not called that. Tum-mo comes into other practices such as Heruka. Although obviously this feeling of bliss we are talking about comes through meditation, it can also occur to the non-practitioner in an ordinary orgasm in sexual intercourse. In this ordinary pleasure, however, the white drop melts and flows but not into the central channel and it is very temporary. The great bliss that we experience through meditation where the central channel opens and the winds enter, abide and dissolve in it is much more powerful than the ordinary pleasure experienced during ordinary intercourse. a. the four joys and the four empties Through this meditation the meditator experiences different levels of bliss or joy. (Translators use either joy or bliss so I will use joy.) Due to the winds dissolving in the central channel, the white bodhicitta drop melts and moves down from the crown to the throat, to the heart, to the navel and finally to the secret region. At each of these four stages four different types of joy are experienced. They are:  joy – when the bodhicitta moves from the crown to the throat  supreme joy – when the bodhicitta moves from the throat to the heart  special joy – when the bodhicitta moves from the heart to the navel  innate joy – when the bodhicitta moves from the navel to the secret place. The four joys can be experienced not only when the white drop descends from the crown to the secret place but also when the red drop moves from the secret place upwards to the crown. Although the joys experienced at each of the four places on the way up are given the same four names, it is in fact always innate joy. This is because the joy experienced during ascent of the red drop is far more powerful than that during the descent of the white drop. Until the knots at the heart channel wheel are loosened, there are some similar experiences but it is not the complete experience of the four joys. From the entering, abiding and dissolving of the winds in the central channel, the bodhicitta drop descends and the four joys are induced, but something else happens as well. With the four joys, the four empties are experienced. For some scholars the four empties and the four joys are the same thing, going under the name ‘the four empties’. Although these four empties are called the ‘exulted wisdom of emptiness’, this is not the wisdom realising the emptiness of inherent existence which is the normal meaning of the term. Here emptiness refers to the subtle consciousnesses experienced during the dissolution or by meditation: the white appearance, the red increase, the black nearattainment and the clear light, occurring not due to normal death but by the meditation on the winds entering, abiding and dissolving in the central channel. The four empties are:  empty – white appearance  very empty – red increase  great empty – black near-attainment  all empty – clear light. By now you already know that these four empties occur during the last part of our ordinary death process, but here we are talking about the actual experience of them through meditation; it is no longer imagination. The first empty occurs for the meditator with the mind of white appearance when, from above the heart, all the winds from the right and left channels enter into the central channel and the white drop located at the crown melts and drips down. When the drop arrives at the top of the heart, the practitioner’s mind is filled with a brilliant white appearance like moonlight, which is why it has the name ‘white appearance’. At this stage the ‘empty’ will occur, so called because all the 80 conceptual thoughts and the winds that carry them all dissolve. The second one, ‘very empty’, occurs when the winds from the right and left channels from the area between the heart and the secret place enter into the central channel. That brings the red drop located at the navel up towards the heart. When it touches the lower part of the heart channel knot, the practitioner experiences a reddish appearance like sunset therefore it is called ‘red increase’. It is also called ‘very empty’ because at this stage the mind is not only devoid of all the gross conceptual minds and their winds, but it is also devoid of the previous mind of white appearance and the wind which carries it. The third one, ‘great empty’ experienced with black near-attainment, occurs when the winds from above and below the heart start to come closer. The heart channel knot loosens and at the centre of the heart channel wheel the indestructible drop starts to move. 89

As they come closer and closer to the indestructible drop during the earlier part of this stage, the practitioner experiences vacuity or blackness like a clear autumn night sky. It is called ‘near-attainment’ because it is getting closer to clear light. This mind is called ‘great empty’ because it is not only devoid of all gross minds and winds but also of the previous two subtle minds of white appearance and red increase and the winds which carry them. The fourth empty, ‘all-empty’, refers to the mind of clear light. This occurs when all the winds dissolve in the indestructible drop. The white substance from above and the red from below dissolve in the indestructible drop in the centre of the heart chakra and all the winds dissolve in it. From that, the subtlest or primordial wind and the mind of clear light become manifest. In other words the actual clear light will occur, totally filled with nondualistic appearance of mere vacuity, free from white, red and black appearances. It is completely devoid from all the subtle and gross minds and winds, which is why it is called ‘all-empty’. Because it is very important I would like to repeat, this ‘empty’ does not refer to the emptiness of inherent existence but to the particular thing which each stage is devoid of: the first empty is empty or devoid of all the 80 conceptual minds and their winds; the second empty, very empty, is devoid not only of them but also the white appearance and the wind which carries that mind; great empty is empty or devoid of not only these previous two but also of the mind of red increase and the winds which carry those minds; the last one, all-empty, is not only devoid of the others – red increase, white appearance and the 80 conceptual minds – but is also completely devoid of all the subtle and gross minds and their winds. The time for doing this practice is important. Although the four empties and four joys are practised together, the focus sometimes changes. Some practitioners focus on the four empties and then the four joys and some do it the other way around. The time when the focus is on the four empties is dawn, just as daylight is starting to show. If the practice is more on the four joys then it should be done at dusk, after the sun has set but before it actually gets dark. At a certain stage these two must be practised together. Meditating on the inseparable nature of emptiness and great bliss, that mind is generated into the aspect of the single deity. Of the four ways of generating into the deity this is the last, the ultimate physical isolation of the great secret one family. Here it is just ourselves visualised as the inseparable nature of great bliss and emptiness generated as one deity, Vajradhara. Meditating on that is called ‘concentration’ and during that meditation three aspects are experienced:  mental bliss  the bliss of pliancy  single-pointed meditative stabilisation. These three, mental bliss, the bliss of pliancy and single-pointed meditative stabilisation, are all experienced within the single mind which is inseparable from great bliss and emptiness. That is the meditation on meditative equipoise. This is what the practitioner does in the main meditation session during the physical isolation stage. iii. maintaining meditative equipoise on emptiness during the post meditation session There are three main activities during the post-meditation period:  withdrawal  individual investigation  analysis. To the meditator during the post-meditation period, all phenomena appear equally empty of inherent existence by mere label and mere imputation. All these phenomena, however, appear as they do in our normal existence in all their variety of shapes and sizes. Although all are equally empty of inherent existence there are countless appearances so the Tibetan saying is ‘one taste appears as many different forms’. And vice versa, all the many different forms that phenomena take still appear to the meditator as empty of inherent existence, so the expression here is ‘many different forms appear as one taste’. During that post-meditation time, the practitioner needs to constantly remind him- or herself of what happened during the time of meditative equipoise, where they combined the realisation of emptiness with the experience of great bliss. Remembering that helps them see all phenomena as a manifestation of bliss and emptiness. The meditator restrains from any other mental activities apart from the appearance of all phenomena as a manifestation of bliss and emptiness. Stopping other appearances is 90

called ‘the practice of withdrawal’. This is a mental consciousness rather than a sensory consciousness. Although the practitioner is not actually in the meditation session, when they start to focus on certain things such as the subtle phenomena or on emptiness and great bliss, all the sensory consciousnesses naturally withdraw from the object, which is why this practice is called ‘withdrawal’. There is also a practice called ‘individual investigation’, which we have already discussed, when the practitioner meditates on the 25 gross phenomena, seeing them as manifestations of bliss and emptiness, the same as all other phenomena and perceives them as the different deities we have already discussed – 100, 25, six or a single Vajradhara. This way of seeing is called ‘individual investigation’ because it investigates the identity of the deities and sees them as an expression of bliss and emptiness. Another post-meditation practice is ‘analysis’ which is very similar to the previous one of individual investigation but more thorough. Whatever phenomenon appears to the practitioner (such as the 25 gross phenomena) is experienced in the inseparable nature of bliss and emptiness, which causes them to enter into a state of meditative equipoise. By the object appearing as a manifestation of bliss and emptiness, either the mind experiencing bliss triggers a realisation of emptiness or the other way around, the mind realising emptiness triggers bliss. In some sense, when we have reached this stage, it is quite difficult to differentiate the actual meditation and the post-meditation session. Here we can see something very unique. The mental activities of the post-meditation session help the meditator go into meditative equipoise. 3. Tum-mo Practice Tum-mo practice is not emphasised in father tantras such as Guhyasamaja but when the winds enter, abide and dissolve in the central channel generating heat at the navel, the result is similar to tum-mo. Tum-mo or inner heat practice is a technique used in mother tantra. As it is a term many of you will have heard of, I think it is useful to give a very brief explanation of the practice. i. visualising the crown wheels At the crown there is a HUM. The moon disc is flat and the HUM is upside down below it, looking as though it is wearing the moon as a hat. Although it is in the shape of a letter, it is the actual white drop. The crown channel wheel itself is a little bit like a dome, curving down. And the moon disc, where the HUM is situated, is in the very centre of the channel wheel. At the throat is the letter AH, this time the right way up, and red, like blood, the nature of the red drops. The channel wheel itself is curved a little bit upwards. In other words, the crown and throat channel wheels form two umbrellas. At the heart channel wheel is the letter HUNG, blue in colour, hanging down from the moon disc as if it is wearing a hat. The channel wheel’s petals are curved down a little bit. Then at the navel is the short letter AH, what in Tibetan is called an AH tung. It is used when writing to lengthen the AH sound in Sanskrit consonants and is just a horizontal line. It is not considered a Tibetan letter. It has the nada (dot) and tigli (flame). It is red, but not blood red, more like a flame, very hot and reddish in colour. It is also on a moon disc. Although the main meditation will be on the AH tung at the navel, it is very important to visualise all the mantra syllables very clearly at the beginning. When we visualise this short AH, we must again visualise our entire mind, ourselves, our personal deity and our spiritual master and the entire environment as being inseparable from it. It is the nature of all these things. It is very bright and reddish and has an intense heat although at this stage it is not really blazing, but the heat is in the short AH itself. Feel that it exists there. Because the knots have already been loosened in the previous meditation, (see the meditation on ‘clearing the paths and channels in chapter six) the heat will definitely travel through the central channel, and because of that, the four joys will be experienced. a. engaging in vase breathing We discussed vase breathing in the Kriya Tantra chapter. It is very similar here, but there are a few differences. To do this meditation, we have to take long breaths from the nostril, not from the mouth. There are three steps. 91

The first one is to imagine winds moving a little bit upwards from the lower part of our body. This is just imagination. They move up through the central channel to the bottom of where the short AH is. Then we take long gentle breaths through the nostrils and imagine that it passes through the central channel, the breath moving down to above the short AH, effectively trapping it between the two winds. We then strengthen this by tensing our bottom muscles a little. This further constricts the space and increases the tension around the short AH. Then we swallow a small bit of saliva, without any sound, feeling it further press down on the vase at our navel, making the heat being generated by the short AH even more intense. There are only two entrances to the central channel, at the secret place and at the crown, but Lama Tsong Khapa says that if we practise this technique with strong concentration it will definitely make a new opening in the central channel at the navel channel wheel and the winds will definitely enter. Not just that – it will also cause the short AH, which is the nature of heat, to become hotter and in fact start to burn. During the vase breathing meditation it will flare up and die out, flare up and die out. It will not stay continuously. b. igniting the flame of inner heat To ignite the flame of inner heat using the vase breathing meditation, and to really experience the heat that is there, we need to prolong that experience of heat. The short AH completely becomes the flame which is hot enough to start melting the drops above which in turn increases the heat. Due to the melting of the upside down HUM at the crown channel wheel, in the nature of a white drop, we have the experience of the four joys as it descends through the channel wheels. Within the four joys, it is the last joy, innate joy, we need to employ to understand emptiness. Lama Tsong Khapa’s prayer from the long Guhyasamaja sadhana says: May I attain the profound path of the five stages, Together with the three careers of yogis, Which includes completely the six branches, Withdrawal, contemplation, vitality control, Stabilisation, verification, and samadhi! May the downward and upward four ecstasies be produced, Brought forth by the stages of reversal and emergence, Of the stems of nectar when the sun melts, down the moon, Relying on the mind in the subtle drop in the jewel tip! Arising from that, amid all the appearances that dawn, May I perfect the body isolation of withdrawal and contemplation, By the samadhi of the Diamond Body, arising As one hundred, five, three and one classes! If you want to study this particular tum-mo practice there is a good commentary in Glen Mullin’s translation of Lama Tsong Khapa’s Six Yogas of Naropa. Tum-mo practice should never be done before this stage in the practice, otherwise it could cause serious problems.

Verbal Isolation The second stage of the six levels of the completion stage is verbal isolation. The mode of transference from isolated body to isolated speech: 92

By relying on the Vajra repetition for the manifestation of the winds entering, abiding and emerging to resonate (naturally) with that of the three syllables (OM AH HUM), the channel knots above and below the heart are loosened. Due to this the winds above and below the heart dissolve into the heart channel and consequently the wisdom of appearance arises. When that happens one is transferred from the isolated body to the isolated speech. Etymological explanation of the isolated speech: It is so called because of its being a yoga that isolates the most subtle wind, the source of speech, from its ordinary flow and combines it inseparably with mantra.xxvi from THE PATHS AND GROUNDS OF GUHYASAMAJA by Yangchen Gawai Lodoe The main practice in verbal isolation is vajra repetition which involves the winds. We have already discussed the five main winds, the buddhas and elements they are associated with, and so on, so I won’t repeat this here, but I will briefly mention the types of winds. Although all the five main winds and branch winds are used at this stage, the main wind for this practice is the life-supporting or vitalising wind. This wind has two types, gross and subtle and it is the subtle wind that we use in verbal isolation. The subtle lifesupporting wind is also called indestructible drop. Just as ‘indestructible drop’ has many meanings (the two tiny drops at the centre of the central channel, the base clear light we all have as well as this subtle life-supporting wind) this wind has many names:  the indestructible wind  the clear light wind  the innate wind  the inherently-generated wind. It is called the indestructible wind because it cannot be destroyed by any force. It is called the clear light wind because at the base level (in a normal sentient being’s life) as well as on the path and in the resultant stage, all the gross and subtle minds and winds dissolve into this wind and arise from it. It is called the innate wind because it is inseparable from the clear light. The practitioner needs to know how the five main winds and the five branch winds operate at the ordinary level, on the path and at the resultant stage. At the ordinary level they are the cooperative cause for sentient beings to remain in samsara because they serve as the vehicle to carry self-grasping, attachment, anger and so forth. They also have gross functions such as maintaining inhalation and exhalation and all the other bodily activities. It is also very important to know what these winds do during the path and how to utilise them. By using the five main winds during the path the practitioner can attain the illusory body and so attain enlightenment in this lifetime. From the generation stage, through physical and verbal isolation up to the illusory body and the union of learning, all the stages have the practice of vajra repetition. In verbal isolation it is mainly done with the subtle life-supporting wind in order to loosen the knot at the heart channel wheel. The purpose is to move to the next stage of mental isolation. In the verbal isolation stage there are three practices:  the mantra drop meditation  the light drop meditation  the substance drop meditation. Although all three must be done, the most important is the second one, the meditation on the light drop. Associated with the vajra repetition, it is the one which will help loosen the knot at the heart channel wheel. The first and third, on the mantra drop and substance drop, are not actual verbal isolation practices because they do not really involve the winds. They do, however, support the second meditation, on the light drop, and as such are still important.

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i. the mantra drop meditation The first stage of verbal isolation is to meditate on the mantra drop. There are two types of mantra drop, a syllable such as HUNG or what we call a short A, or an entire mantra garland. Here we will just discuss the short A. It is in the shape of a Tibetan punctuation mark. This needs to be visualised at the centre of the heart channel wheel where the white and red drops of the indestructible drop abide. During the physical isolation practice the practitioner has generated him- or herself into Vajradhara, with both a clear appearance and a strong identity. At the centre of the indestructible drop, they visualise this short A, the size of a sesame seed. Due to strongly focusing on this, the winds enter, abide and dissolve in the central channel. Although at this stage the knot at the heart channel wheel has not yet loosened, the mind can still enter the central channel and the practitioner can experience all the four empties and four joys as well as generating the wisdom of the inseparability of bliss and emptiness. By using this method lots of obscurations will be overcome. ii. the light drop meditation As I have already said, the light drop meditation mainly involves vajra repetition and it is the main practice of the verbal isolation stage because this is the one which will loosen the knot at the heart channel wheel. To do this, again the practitioner has to generate into Vajradhara with all the visualisations but the vajra repetition practice is particularly centred around the practice of holding the wind at the heart. (It is suggested, however, that when this practice is first done, focusing on the navel is less risky.) The actual practice is done at the heart, but it also involves meditating on a tiny light drop at the tip of the nose and the three syllables OM AH HUNG which have the potential of a buddha’s body, speech and mind. So these three aspects are involved: the winds, the light and the three letters. The vajra repetition practice has three phases, linked to the phases of our breathing: inhalation, holding the breath and exhalation. Although we are never normally aware of it, when we breathe there is some kind of vibration. That vibration has a certain natural sound and it is said that the sound coincides with the sounds OM AH HUNG. It is neither the written words OM AH HUNG, nor the mental perception of the sound, but a natural vibration. When we inhale, in that vibration there is a sound of OM; when we hold the breath, in that vibration there is a sound of AH; and when we exhale, in that vibration there is a sound of HUNG. The meditator combines the light drop meditation with vajra repetition by imagining the tiny light drop at the tip of their nose whilst breathing in. With the in-breath they singlepointedly concentrate on the vibration OM passing through the central channel, forcing it past the knots in the channel. The reverberation of the OM starts to force the knots to loosen. It is as if we have a bundle of wires so twisted that we need to insert something into the middle to prise them apart. It is not the mental sound OM, but a natural vibration that travels with the light drop through the knots of all the channel wheels. When the mind really focuses on it, certain types of energy move which actually loosens the knots. At the end of the in-breath, when the practitioner holds their breath, there is a vibration AH. That stabilises whatever has happened with the OM during the in-breath. Then, when they exhale, they observe the vibration HUNG rising with the light drop, back through all the channel wheels, again forcing through the knots and further loosening them. Vajra repetition enables the wind in the central channel to actually move backwards and forwards, forcing the knots to loosen. It needs to be done again and again until all the knots, particularly the knot at the heart channel wheel, are loosened. Due to the vajra repetition meditation the knot at the heart channel wheel will loosen and the winds, particularly the subtle vitalising wind, will enter the indestructible drop, abide there and then dissolve. From that the practitioner experiences the four empties and four joys and due to this they experience the inseparability of great bliss and emptiness. This experience is a much higher and more profound realisation than the previous one. Before the winds just entered the central channel whereas now they are actually entering the heart channel wheel. 94

At this stage the practitioner needs to learn what is called ‘mixing the three rounds’ which means learning to meditate while awake, asleep and dreaming. What will happen then is that the dissolutions which the practitioner can achieve while awake will continue while they sleep and even during dream time. iii. the substance drop The third meditation within verbal isolation is the substance drop meditation. It enhances the process of drawing the winds into the indestructible drop. Here the meditator imagines a white-and-red drop, the substance drop, residing at the point where their own central channel’s lower end and the (real or imagined) consort’s meet. It is important that before they start this meditation the channel knots are opened with vajra repetition so that the drops, particularly the indestructible drop, can move through the channels. Until now the meditator has been visualising him- or herself as a deity with consort. Now they focus on either the union with a wisdom (visualised) consort or with an actual consort, that is, a real person. We will discuss this later in mental isolation. In this meditation, with the knots loosened, due to embracing the visualised or actual consort, the winds start to really enter into the central channel and the four joys arise again. This time, though, because the practice is more advanced and the concentration is stronger, each of the four joys will be correspondingly more intense. When they occur due to the meditation, the white and red substances of the indestructible drop from the male and female deities’ hearts move downward towards the sexual organ where the two deities’ central channels meet, but no substance is released outside because the channels are joined. By focusing intensely on this, the meditator really makes the earlier result – the opening of the knots – far more stable. Until now they have gathered the winds in the central channel and there has been some movement as the knots loosened, but with the substance drop meditation the meditator is able to hold the knots open and so have a clear channel to move the winds through. Lama Tsong Khapa’s prayer from the long Guhyasamaja sadhana says: By concentrating the king of drops, the best mantra drop, on the tip of the lotus of the heart, May the twelve energies that generate All notions of subjects and objects Dissolve into the indestructible drop! The vibration of the drop of light at the nose-tip By dawning as the uncontrived three vajras, By samadhi of speech isolation speech vajra, May I break free from my heart’s eggshell of ignorance!

Mental Isolation 1. The Two Levels Mental Isolation By relying upon an internal condition of Vajra Recitation of the pervasive wind and an external condition of the Vitality and Exertion of a consort, channel knots at the heart are completely untied. Due to this a part of the pervasive wind along with the primary and secondary winds dissolves into the indestructible drop at the heart, which produces the wisdom of appearance. Whenever that happens one is transferred from the isolated speech to the isolated mind. 95

It is so called because of its being a yoga that isolates the mind [which is the root of everything in cyclic existence and the state beyond] from the indicative conceptions and the winds which serve as their mounts and the mind appears in the entity of indivisible bliss and emptiness.xxvii from THE PATHS AND GROUNDS OF GUHYASAMAJA by Yangchen Gawai Lodoe During verbal isolation the practitioner does the three types of meditation: on the mantra drop, the light drop and the substance drop, but particularly on the light drop. This involves vajra repetition which serves to loosen the channel wheel knots particularly at the heart channel wheel. By these practices which loosen the knot the practitioner moves into the next stage, mental isolation. The four empties and four joys are experienced during all the ‘isolations’ but the more advanced the practice the more intense and clear they are. If the winds simply enter the central channel but do not abide in a particular location, which is what happens in physical isolation, the experience will not be as intense as when the winds actually abide in the central channel wheel. In mental isolation the winds not only enter the central channel wheel but also into the indestructible drop, which will only happen when the heart channel wheel knot is loosened due to vajra repetition. Therefore the experience of the empties and joys is even clearer and more intense. At the earlier stage of mental isolation, however, some but not all of the winds enter, abide and dissolve in the indestructible drop. The pervasive wind, in particular, does not enter it. There are two conditions needed to complete the mental isolation stage:  the internal condition (vajra repetition)  the external condition (relying on a seal). The internal condition is vajra repetition which we have already discussed and the external condition involves the practice with a consort (seal). There are also two levels of mental isolation:  mere mental isolation  final mental isolation. During mere mental isolation, the meditator continues with vajra repetition while at the same time, in order to advance, they practise with a wisdom seal – a visualised consort. Due to the visualisation of themselves in union with the wisdom consort, bliss increases which causes the winds to gather in the central channel at the heart level. There is even a chance that they will enter the indestructible drop. However, the goal of this stage is to achieve the illusory body and this cannot be done with a visualised consort. For that they need to either rely on an actual consort if they wish to achieve the illusory body in this very lifetime, or they can wait until the death process, when the final mental isolation can be done. i. the action seal An action seal is a real consort. They are called ‘seal’ for the same reason the basic tenets of Buddhism (‘All compounded phenomena are impermanent’ etc.) are called seals. There is no argument about the Four Seals. We need to understand them and accept them to really be called a Buddhist. In the same way this is something unarguable. There is no other way to make all the energies enter, abide and then dissolve in the indestructible drop, apart from death. A visualised consort can only take us to a certain stage. In order to actually achieve the illusory body, particularly the pure illusory body in this lifetime, the practitioner needs to depend on a real consort. The definition of a seal is: A seal is the sexual consort that assists one to achieve a bliss consciousness that realises emptiness. This sexual union, real or imagined, causes the substance drop to appear at the tip of the sexual organ, but the drop is not emitted, being wilfully held in place.

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During the union with the consort, although great bliss occurs and the white and red drops both function and move to the place of union of the central channels of the male and female deities, they are never released. This is in fact a Tantric vow commitment. It is not until this stage in mental isolation that it is safe to use a consort. Before that the practitioner is not ready and it is very, very dangerous. Although I am sure there was no risk at all to Lama Tsong Khapa from this practice, as an example to his followers he never sought a consort but attained the union of clear light and illusory body during the death process. If you read his life story you will see this stated quite clearly. Other masters have done the same. If they had taken a consort during their lifetime they would have achieved the union of clear light and illusory body, but they chose not to do so because that might have given the wrong message to their followers. That shows how dangerous this practice is if we do it before we are ready. For the practitioner who has reached this stage but does not want to seek the level of illusory body in this lifetime by the means of an action seal, the only occasion they can achieve it is at the time of their death. Then they can use the vajra repetition practice to slowly draw all the winds into the central channel and into the indestructible drop and from there, when all the appearances, all the joys and all the empties occur, with the last empty, all-empty, which is the clear light, they can then move to the illusory body instead of moving to the bardo body as in normal death. Choosing a consort is a very complex business and I don’t really think I need to go into it in detail here. The consort has certain qualities depending on the Dhyani Buddha family the practitioner belongs to and the main deity practice they are doing. They should be practising at the same stage as the practitioner or they should have at least received the initiations which the practitioner is practising (at least to the fourth initiation) and keep all the vows and commitments very purely. If they have not reached the completion stage the consort must have an established practice in the generation stage. At this stage there is a practice called ‘blessing the two openings’. Embracing either a visualised or actual consort – the father and mother in union – great bliss is increased because the winds move down and increase the heat. When the drops reach the end of the sexual organ the fourth joy, innate joy, and the fourth empty, all empty (or clear light) will occur. With the mind of clear light, the practitioner meditates on emptiness. If the consort is a wisdom or visualised consort then that realisation of emptiness will still be conceptual because the very act of visualising the wisdom consort means there must still be a trace of conceptuality. If the meditator relies on a real consort then the clear light will be without any conceptuality and then that triggers a direct realisation of emptiness. This is called the ‘metaphor clear light of the mental isolation stage’ and it occurs as the practitioner starts to move to the next stage. The metaphor clear light is the cooperative cause of the impure illusory body and the wind which carries it is the main cause to bring it about. When this happens with an actual consort, the practitioner is then actually free from the physical body. Even though they still possess the physical body they have cut all connection with it. They are now free from all delusion and karma which means that, according to the sutra system, they are liberated from samsara. They are still not enlightened but no longer dependent on this physical body. This does not happen by relying on a wisdom consort. The activities which the meditator performs with an actual consort also have stages, as they move to the later part of mental isolation after attaining all the realisations associated with the earlier part. These activities are called:  elaborate  non-elaborate  very non-elaborate. The first of these is called ‘elaborate’ because the practitioner and the consort perform activities such as wearing special masks and clothes and calling and responding to each other and so forth. Non-elaborate deeds involve less activities, but still include wearing masks and clothes but not the calling and responding. Very non-elaborate only involves the sexual union. Lama Tsong Khapa’s prayer in the long Guhyasamaja sadhana says: By meditating vitality control of the substance drop, At the root of technique, wisdom, and mystic channels, 97

Clearing away the darkness of superstition energies, May the clear light sun dawn in the centre of my heart! By meditating vitality control of the three drops At the three nose-tips, by the lights of moon and sun And the dark of gloom in the cloudless sky, May the mind isolation of the three voids arise!

The Illusory Body In the ordinary body, after death occurs the intermediate state commences but now, due to the internal condition of the vajra repetition and the stages of withdrawal of the two concentrations and the external condition of vitality lengthening involving a seal, the practitioner achieves the illusory body. At this stage in the meditation they bring not just some of the winds into the central channel but all of them, including the pervasive wind, and not just into the central channel but into the indestructible drop. This causes the experience of the four empties conjoined with the four joys with last joy realising all-empty actually being the clear light. Once all the winds have dissolved into the indestructible drop the practitioner starts to experience the dissolutions in the reverse order and the illusory body commences. Its main cause is the wind which carries the clear light which realises all-empty and the cooperative cause is the clear light itself. That wind is called the ‘wind with five rays of light’ and that clear light is called the ‘metaphor’ clear light or ‘example’ clear light. As I have said before, when the practitioner reaches this stage there are only two ways to gain the illusory body, by seeking an actual consort or by waiting until the actual death occurs and using the process to experience the four joys and empties. In The Paths and Grounds of Guhyasamaja, Yangchen Gawai Lodoe talks about the mode of transference from the isolated mind to the illusory body: As one begins to wake up from the exemplary clear light of the final isolated mind, which has been explained, [its] wind is slightly stirred, due to which the mind of near-attainment of the reversal [process] is accomplished. Along with it, like a fish leaping out of water, an illusory body characterized by the noble signs and auspicious signs is literally accomplished as distinctively separate from the coarse body precipitated by ripening [actions]. The wind with five rays of light as the mount of the clear light serves as the substantial cause and the clear light itself serves as the cooperative condition. Thus, to accomplish an illusory body, both the coarse and subtle bodies have to be distinguished from each other by the power of meditation, though they need not be accomplished on different [physical] bases (go sa)… The Lamp Illuminating the Five Levels also says: “As stated earlier, for [an illusory body] to be separated from the old body, it is not absolutely necessary for it to abandon the basis (go sa) of the old body to exist. The same thing can be understood from the Bright Lamp which states that the pure illusory body exists within the vessel of the old aggregates and so forth.”xxviii As this quotation says, the illusory body is gained when the practitioner reaches the final mental isolation due to the practice of vajra recitation and the action seal. All the winds, including the pervasive wind, dissolve in the indestructible drop and the last empty is realised by the last joy. From there, when the wind starts to move and the reverse order of the dissolution process begins, then the illusory body is accomplished, ‘like a fish leaping out of the water’. It is as if there is nothing on the surface of the water, and then suddenly a fish appears. In the same way, this is not gradual. As soon as the reverse order commences, the illusory body occurs. 98

The illusory body which the practitioner arises into is not just a body but a divine body. From the beginning of the generation stage, the practitioner has visualised a divine appearance, held divine pride and performed divine activities, but here the actual divine body occurs. For example, a Guhyasamaja practitioner will arise as Guhyasamaja, with the body adorned with all the 32 major and 80 minor marks and the entire Guhyasamaja mandala. Because the main cause is the wind called the ‘five rays of light’ this body is entirely unobstructed. It is like a dream body or a mirage, never being hindered by other things. Although in both the generation and completion stage meditations, the deity has many faces, colours and arms, at this stage the illusory body is only white with one face and two arms. In order to arise into the illusory body, which is a very subtle body, it is necessary to separate from the gross body. In the ordinary death process the subtle consciousness of clear light and its wind separate from the gross body. Here the process is exactly the same. However, the practitioner is not doing this through ordinary death but through meditation. Without separating from the gross body it is impossible to arise into the illusory body. This separation does mean that the illusory body is located in a completely different place from the gross body. It is within the gross body. Different masters have different interpretations on this. In Vajrayana, there are two types of practice to separate the subtle clear light and its winds from the gross body. The first one is the practice of transference of consciousness at the time of death such as the Six Yogas of Naropa in order to gain rebirth in the highest pure land. In this case, although the practice can separate the subtle mind and wind from the gross body, it does not attain the illusory body. It is also possible to use the meditation of the final isolation to separate the subtle body from the gross body, which causes all the winds to enter, abide and dissolve in the indestructible drop with the help of an actual consort. This technique will lead to the attainment of an illusory body. When the practitioner initially arises into the illusory body at the end of the final mental isolation practice, it is within the heart channel wheel of the gross body. This is called the ‘inner awakening of the illusory body’. At this initial stage the practitioner cannot abandon the gross body because it is the result of previous karma so that karmic connection is still there. Until that previous karma is cut, the gross body cannot be abandoned. There is also the ‘outer awakening of the illusory body.’ This means that the illusory body occurs in a separate location from the previous gross body. While the practitioner has not abandoned all the afflictions, although they arise into the illusory body it is called the impure illusory body. Once they have abandoned all the afflictions, it becomes the pure illusory body. The pure illusory body is the body that they attain enlightenment with. In The Paths and Grounds of Guhyasamaja, (pages 73, 74) there are twelve examples which illustrate the illusory body. They are: 1. like an illusion: Just like an illusory person created by a magician from a magical substance and an incantation of mantra appears a real person, an illusory body of Vajradhara with complete characteristics arising from the most subtle wind and mind appears as a real deity. 2. like the reflection of the moon: Just as the reflection of the moon in a body of clear water, the pure and impure illusory bodies also appear to those who have the suitable disposition to see them [like the clarity and stillness of open water]. 3. like a shadow: Just as the shadow of a body has the shape of the body but lacks flesh and bone, similarly an illusory body has a complete form but no flesh or bone because it is a wisdom body. 4. like a mirage: Just as mirage appears and disappears instantaneously, when its necessary conditions are gathered, an illusory body can also appear and disappear instantly. 5. like a dream body: Just as a dream body, an illusory body can leave the coarse body of a yogi, go elsewhere to perform various activities, and return to the old body afterwards. 6. like an echo: Just like an echo made by shouting into an empty cave, an illusory body exists distinctly from the old body, which arose from previous ripening actions, although the two bodies belong to the same mental continuum. 99

7.

8. 9. 10. 11.

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like a spirits’ town: Just as a town of Gandharvas (ethereal beings known as smell eaters) come into existence miraculously wherever they are born by the power of their karmic actions, similarly the residence and the resident mandalas of an illusory body are accomplished miraculously. like a hallucination: Just as in a hallucination; e.g. the moon appearing as two moons to a defective perception, so an illusory body can also appear as a multitude of deities. like a rainbow: Just like a rainbow, an illusory body has many colours. like lightning amidst clouds: Just as lightning occurs from amidst the clouds, an illusory body also occurs from within the old body, and is precipitated by ripening karmic action… like bubbles in water: Just like bubbles bursting from water, the impure and the pure illusory bodies arise from the stirring of the subtle winds of the exemplary clear light of the final isolated mind and the meaning clear light of the fourth level. like the reflection in a mirror: Just like an image in a mirror, an illusory body has complete form.

Clear Light From the illusory body, the practitioner moves to the actual clear light. The Paths and Grounds of Guhyasamaja quotes the root text on this as such: The mode of transference from the illusory body to the meaning clear light: An impure body engages in any of the three types of conduct (spyod pa) for [periods] such as six months. Consequently, when the signs appear indicating quick attainment of the meaning clear [light], the yogi enters into union with a seal [consort] and meditates repeatedly on the two types of concentrated dissolution process. Consequently, the [minds] of appearance, increase, near-attainment and clear light dawn. At the time when the spontaneous blissful clear light ascertains emptiness directly, the meaning clear light of the fourth level is actualized. At the time there is the cessation of the impure illusory body, attainment of the uninterrupted path of seeing as a direct antidote to the obstructions to liberation, attainment of the first ground of Highest [Yoga Tantra], and becoming an Arya or a Superior. Moreover, this meaning clear light of the fourth level is attained at dawn when the sky is free of its three faults – sunlight, moonlight and darkness. From this point of view, it is considered as an external perfect realization. And also, from the point of view of its being actualized at the time when the mind within has transcended its three faults of white, red and black [appearances], it is considered as an internal perfect realization. Therefore, if anything is the meaning clear light of the fourth level it must necessarily be both external and internal perfect realizations. In [this context] the Clear Light Illuminating the Five Levels says: “During the exemplary clear light, there is an objective appearance like that of the clear sky but there is no such appearance for the meaning clear light since for it even the subtlest dualistic appearance has disappeared and [therefore] space [itself, not its appearance] is taken as an example to illustrate its being free of the stains of fabrication.”xxix The clear light which occurs in the previous stage, from the final part of mental isolation up to moving into the illusory body, is called ‘metaphor clear light’. It is so called because although it is a subtle mind realising emptiness, it still uses a mental image to do this rather than realising emptiness directly. ‘Meaning clear light’ is the clear light which realises emptiness directly. When the practitioner, with the illusory body, practises with an actual consort and through that experiences the four empties, the last stage is innate great bliss which realises emptiness directly without any conceptualisation. That is meaning clear light. At that stage all the afflictions are abandoned and the practitioner has become an arya being and their body is a pure illusory body. There are three types of clear light:  basic clear light 100

 path clear light  resultant clear light. The basic clear light is the clear light we all possess, path clear light is the clear light which occurs through meditation and resultant clear light is the clear light which occurs when through meditation we attain a buddha’s mind. The basic clear light which all sentient beings possess does not have any object to realise, it is just the mind which is free from all conceptual thoughts. But the clear light which we are trying to manifest during the path is the mind which realises the emptiness of inherent existence, so it does have an object to realise. And obviously there are different levels of that clear light. There is the clear light which realises emptiness conceptually and that which realises it directly but is not stable, so that we lose it when we come out of meditation. There is also the clear light which we have when we achieve enlightenment. That clear light realises emptiness forever and is resultant clear light. With resultant clear light there is no occasion which can be called meditative, nonmeditative or post-meditative clear light. When we have attained full enlightenment, there is no time when our clear light does not realise emptiness. So that is again different from the clear light during the path.

Union Union is the last of the six levels of the completion stage. Here we are talking about the union of clear light and the illusory body. The two causes of both are the same, the subtle wind and the clear light, but their roles change. For the illusory body the main cause is the subtle wind and the co-operative cause is the clear light, but for the clear light, the main cause is the basic mind and the co-operative cause is the subtle wind. The mind we are talking about here which is the main substantial cause for the clear light is the basic mind which experiences the third empty, great empty. That mind acts as the substantial cause for the clear light. Then when the dissolution process begins in the reverse order, the clear light mind acts as the substantial cause for that basic mind. At this point the illusory body is accomplished and the mind becomes the clear light mind. The texts talk about the two stages of union:  learner’s union  non-learner’s union. Learner’s union means that during meditation the practitioner can have the illusory body and clear light together, but this does not happen outside the session. Non-learner’s union is a buddha’s body. i. learner’s union Through meditation we move from learner’s union to non-learner’s union. There comes a stage when in meditation the abandonment of obstacles starts to cease. When the meditator experiences the meaning clear light for the first time, realising emptiness directly, they start to move from the meaning clear light through the reverse order of the dissolutions. At that stage, because they have abandoned all the afflictions and karmic seeds and all the subtle conceptualisations of cyclic existence (also called the subtle obscurations to liberation), the reverse order of the appearances or empties will occur. The abandonment of all the obscurations to liberation and the illusory body is the ‘union’ here. It is not, however, the union of no-more-learning because although the obscurations to liberation have been abandoned, there are still very subtle obscurations – those blocking the meditator from full enlightenment – which need to be overcome. The texts say that this union happens within one meditation session. But that does not mean that after the first meditation session in the learner’s union the practitioner will immediately move to non-learner’s union. When they meditate on learner’s union which is illusory body and clear light, the tendencies or seeds in the mind stream decrease more and more. ii. non-learner’s union When those potentials stop completely, the next step is the non-learner’s union. So what the texts mean is that, although it might take a long time to destroy the subtle delusions that remain as seeds on the mind stream, the final part of the process happens very quickly. It is sometimes said that the meditation might start at dawn, move through the 101

stages during the day and turn into complete enlightenment at dusk. To move from learner’s union to non-learner’s union, the practitioner needs to have four vajras. The first vajra is the joining of the ends of the two central channels of the practitioner and consort while they are embracing. This is called the channel vajra. When the two sexual organs of the male and female deities meet, the winds, particularly the downward-moving winds, are constantly at the place of meeting. That is the wind vajra. Then, due to the channels being joined, the energy moves and the drops descend, increasing the bliss and further increasing the number of drops coming together at the joining of the two central channels. This continuous coming together of the drops is the drops vajra. And due to the moving of the drops, there is the experience of great bliss realising emptiness, which is the vajra of great bliss and emptiness. Lama Tsong Khapa’s prayer in the long sadhana says: Becoming expert in the key points of the complete secret instruction Of the nine mergers, three to each of three, Illusory body of Beatitude, Clear Light Body of Truth, And the variegation of the Bode of Emanation, May I perfect the holding of the absolute clear light, By means of the relative Illusory Body, The reverse order verification practice, The samadhi of integration, and the three careers, constructed, unconstructed and extremely unconctructed.

iii. the seven exalted features of the non-learner’s union When the non-learner’s union has finally been reached – i.e., when the practitioner has become a buddha – there are seven features that show this. They are: i. their complete enjoyment body has the 32 major and 80 minor marks of a buddha ii. their complete enjoyment body is embracing a wisdom seal iii. their mind always remains in a state of great bliss iv. that bliss is always mixed with the cognition of emptiness v. their mind never wavers from great compassion for all sentient beings vi. the continuum of their body never ceases vii. their emanations pervade the universe ceaselessly performing activities for the benefit of others. The first one is that the person has the complete enjoyment body of a buddha with its 32 major and 80 minor marks. They would have had many of these signs during the learner’s stage but there is a difference between an actual buddha’s body and the body we have while we are on the path. It is only when we reach buddhahood that there will be all these major and minor marks. The second feature is that the complete enjoyment body embraces the wisdom seal. The non-learner’s body is constantly in union with the consort which represents the fact that the enlightened being is all the time inseparable from the wisdom realising emptiness. The third feature is that the mind always remains in the state of great bliss. There is no time great bliss is not experienced and it is always mixed with the cognition of emptiness, which is the fourth feature. The fifth is that the mind never wavers from great compassion for all sentient beings and the sixth is that the continuum of the body never ceases. After attaining the union of illusory body and clear light, at no time does that particular body cease because the causes to have this body are not those that determine what body the person has. Ours deteriorates due to causes and conditions; a buddha’s body never will. The final feature is that the emanation pervades the universe ceaselessly performing activities for the benefit of others. Although the person is constantly in the meditative 102

state realising emptiness which experiences great bliss, there are countless emanation bodies covering entire universes going out to benefit sentient beings. iv. the correlations to the bodies of the buddha Correlations to the Bodies of the Buddha body of buddha

entity of body

truth body complete enjoyment body

actual clear light pure illusory body

emanation body

emanated forms

correlation to ordinary states clear light of death intermediate state

correlation to single day

correlation to path

correlation to sleep

correlation to death

deep sleep

actual clear light impure illusory body

mind of clear light dream body

conception

waking

re-enter coarse body

re-enter coarse body

mind of clear light illusory body in place of intermediate state body emanation body used to complete path

dreaming

If you look at the bodies of the buddha in the chart, you will see there are three, truth body (dharmakaya), complete enjoyment body (sambhogakaya) and emanation body (nirmanakaya). The next column, entity of the body, shows the cause of that body. So the truth body comes from actual clear light, the enjoyment body from the pure illusory body, and the emanation body emanates from these two. In the third column, the Buddha’s body is correlated to the ordinary states. So the truth body and the actual clear light have very similar features to that of the clear light during the death process. The complete enjoyment body and pure illusory body have similar features with the appearance we have during the intermediate state. And the emanation body and the emanated forms are similar to our concepts because just as our conceptual mind goes everywhere and thinks many things, so does the emanation body which occurs wherever it is needed to benefit sentient beings. The correlation to a single day is: what happens in deep sleep is very similar to the truth body, or clear light; dreaming is similar to the enjoyment body and pure illusory body, and waking is very similar to the emanation body because it is when we are awake that we perform all our activities. Then the correlation with the path: the actual clear light will occur while we are alive through meditation, the impure illusory body is also possible during the path and the emanated forms correlate to our mind re-entering into a gross body. As we have seen, when the practitioner stops meditation the mind which is in clear light reverts back to the ordinary body, then performs the activities. The correlation to sleep: the mind of clear light is quite similar to the mind during deep sleep, the impure illusory body is similar to the dream body and the mind which leaves the bardo and enters another body is similar to the state of waking up. Stages

Levels of Stages

buddhahood

non-learner’s union (buddhahood)

completion stage

learner’s union actual clear light

Dissolution of Winds in Central Channel

Correlation With Sutra Paths path of no more learning

at indestructible drop path of meditation at heart (all winds) path of seeing

impure illusory body path of preparation mental isolation at indestructible drop at heart (some winds) verbal isolation at heart 103

physical isolation

at lower opening

subtle stage of generation

imaginary path of accumulation dissolution coarse stage of generation *Solid lines = distinct categories, broken lines = overlapping or equivalent categories (Read from the bottom up) generation stage

The last thing I would like to look at is the chart showing the general system for Highest Yoga Tantra which is quite interesting. Looking from the bottom up we can see the generation and completion stage and the result, buddhahood. The next column shows the divisions – for the generation stage there are coarse and subtle yogas and for the completion stage there are the six stages we have just looked at, from physical isolation to union, finishing with non-learner’s union which is actual buddhahood. The third column shows the stages of the dissolution of the winds from imaginary dissolution in the generation stage, through the early completion stages where the winds simply enter the central channel, to the final stages where they actually enter, abide and dissolve in the indestructible drop. The last column shows the five sutra paths. During the generation stage the meditator is on the path of accumulation. That really means they have renunciation and wisdom. A practitioner can be in the generation stage with quite similar capability, can have the clear visualisations and all those things, but still not have bodhicitta or renunciation, so here it is talking about a practitioner who has bodhicitta. The six levels of the completion stage fit into the next three paths: preparation, seeing and meditation and buddhahood, of course, is the path of no-more-learning. And with the actual practice, the dissolution of the winds into the central channel, with physical isolation, the meditator is really focusing on trying to open the lower end of our central channel. With verbal isolation the focus is at the heart, using vajra repetition and other techniques, and with mental isolation the main focus is dissolving all the winds into the indestructible drop. The illusory body and clear light during the stage of learner’s union correlates to the path of preparation in the sutra path, which means, from a Sutrayana perspective, that the practitioner has already attained the direct realisation of emptiness. So you see how that ties in nicely with the completion stage description. Similarly, during the learner’s union the practitioner is meditating on emptiness to abandon all the innate obstacles which correlates to the path of meditation. I have really just touched the surface of Vajrayana practice. Each practice can be explained very thoroughly, in a lot of detail. It is difficult on one hand to explain the meanings of the terms such as mental isolation and what kind of practices are involved and on the other hand to explain how those practices should be done. It is quite a dilemma how to put those two together. There are books available explaining the technical side, and although I have not really seen books with step by step guides on how to do the meditations, I think there are some books on this. But bringing together these two – the technical explanations and how to actually engage in the meditations – is difficult. For us, the difficulty actually is engaging in the meditations. We learn a bit here and a bit there but when we really start to do the actual meditation we do not know how to start. The generation and completion stages need to be approached slightly differently. In the generation stage we really need to get an overall understanding, but in the completion stage we need to take it step by step. Then, of course, there are variations within each practice and the methods we use for them. For example, we can talk about how channels actually exist in our body but when we meditate on them, for various reasons, we visualise them slightly differently, so we need to get this right in order not to misunderstand such things. The texts I have taken my explanations from are condensed texts. It would be impossible to go through the elaborate ones because of space. They are so complicated. What I have been able to say in this book is very, very little. So if you really want to do the practice, you definitely need to search for more information and take more teachings. I feel that I have explained the most important 104

parts, things we normally would not get during a commentary after an initiation because of the shortage of time. Vajrayana is such a complicated subject and I have tried to cover it as best as I can, but I really don’t know how much I have succeeded. I myself haven’t studied Vajrayana in anywhere near the detail that I’ve studied the Sutrayana teachings so I feel that I lack depth of understanding and knowledge. Therefore I’m not sure how much I have managed to convey to you. So, we have now finished all six modules of the Foundation of Buddhist Thought but that doesn’t mean you have finished! Hopefully the material which you have studied over the last two years has been useful to you. I think that the six subjects do actually form a foundation for all of the Buddha’s teachings, but it is just a foundation. It’s now up to you to continue. How much progress you make on the path depends on how much effort you are willing to put into it in the future. That effort, of course, can take many forms: getting involved with a Dharma centre, studying and meditating at home, integrating what you have learned into your everyday life. Whatever form it takes the important thing is to build on what you have learned over these two years. The vital point is not how profound our intellectual understanding of a Dharma subject is, but how much we have integrated Dharma into our life. By sincerely taking the teachings of the Buddha into our hearts we can really transform our lives and make ourselves better people. At this stage I really don’t think it is important whether or not we are able to obtain the mind of clear light. I feel the most important thing is to train our mind, to do something with it to make ourselves gentler, more loving, more caring – more sincere towards ourselves as well as others. I think that is what is both most effective and most needed at this stage.

Questions on Chapter Seven 1. Are we in a position now to even get a glimpse of what it might be like to attain the union of great bliss and emptiness? Explain them in simple terms, as if you were talking someone who has just heard the terms for the first time. 2. What are your feelings about the practices of Highest Yoga Tantra that mirror ordinary sexual intercourse? What is the purpose of such practices? 3. What is meant by the ‘illusory body’ and ‘clear light’? 4. Although we are a long way off practising the completion stage, do you think it has helped your practice to know the technicalities? What do you think you have gained from this study (if anything)? 5. What is meant by metaphor clear light and meaning clear light and how important are they in the completion stage?

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Supplementary Reading Comparison of the Course Book Outline of the Sadhana with Akhu Sherap Gyatso’s Outline of the Sadhana Divided into 36 Outline of the Sadhana

Akhu Sherap Gyato’s 36 Divisions

what to do before the actual practice 1. what to do at the beginning of the session i. generating oneself into the deity ii. blessing the vajra and bell and the inner offerings iii. offering the preliminary torma (ritual cake) iv. blessing the self-generation’s offering v. practising the Vajrasattva practice 2. the main preliminary practice of the actual practice i. accumulating merit  offering  prostration  purification of negativities  rejoicing & dedicating all virtues  taking refuge  generating bodhicitta  making pledge to practice the path ii. eliminating obstacles  meditating on ultimate protection (emptiness and divine pride)  meditating on the protection wheel o generating the principal deity of the protection wheel o generating the wrathful retinues. o stabbing the obstacles by use of a phurbha o meditating on the vajra fence what to do during the actual practice 1. the meditative absorption on the initial engagement i. the way to be enlightened  meditation on the ground of pristine cognition  meditation on the vajra ground  meditation on the celestial mandala ii. generation of the deities  generation of the specially imagined deities  withdrawal of the specially imagined deities into the body iii. deeds of the specially imagined deities

 the yoga of specially imagined class, taking the dharmakaya into the path  generation of the primordial lord, the yoga of taking the intermediate state of sambhogakaya into the path

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1. instantaneous self-generation 2. consecrate vajra and bell 3. consecrate inner offering 4. make torma offerings 5. consecrate self-generation offering 6. engage in Vajrasattva meditation and recitation

7. offerings to merit field

8. visualise the uncommon protection circle of the ten wrathful deities 9. drive the stakes 10. visualise the parameter fences and tent

11. you wear the protective armour 12. meditate on the ground of pristine cognition 13. generate the elemental mandalas 14. generate the deities

15. visualise the activities of the ‘specially imagined class’ 16. place upon the body the deities of the ‘specially imagined class’ 17. meditate on taking death into the path as dharmakaya 18. meditate on taking intermediate state as sambhogakaya

 the yoga of taking birth as nirmanakaya into the path o generation of emanation body of Vajradhara o visualising the mandala on its body o

blessing the three doors

o o

generation of the triple being sealing with the lord of the family

 the rite of union with a consort o seeking the consort o

blessing of the secret places

2. the meditative absorption on the supreme victorious mandala

3. the meditative absorption on the supreme activities i. the subtle yoga ii. mantra recitation  vajra recitation  speech recitation iii. songs of evocation iv. offerings prayers v. tasting of nectar vi. meditation on dissolution. what to do between the sessions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

19. meditate on taking birth as nirmanakaya

20. visualise your body as the mandala residence and your elements as the deities within 21. consecrate both individually and collectively your body, speech and mind 22. meditate on the generation of the triple being 23. seal yourself with the lord of the family 24. recite the 100 syllable mantra as a yoga to enhance one’s body, speech and mind 25. visualise the consort through the three-staged generation procedure and place deities on her body 26. consecrate the [consort’s] ‘space’ and the [deity’s] secret place 27. enhance great attachment and maintain identification with this 28. generate the deities of the ‘supreme victorious mandala’ 29. imagine they engage in enlightened activities and are withdrawn 30. one should encompass all into the yoga of the subtle drop 31. mental and verbal mantra recitations

32. 33. 34. 35. 36.

making torma offerings the yoga of eating the yoga of sleeping the yoga of waking the yoga of washing the yoga of enhancing one’s body

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sing songs of evocation sing the praise verses make offerings of inner, outer, secret and suchness undertake dissolution meditation during sessions, yogas of torma offerings, eating, sleeping, waking, washing, and enhancing your body.

The Rite of Remedy For Mantra Downfalls (Make three prostrations, stand and say): All buddhas and bodhisattvas, dwelling in the ten directions, and community of knowledge-holders, please listen to this rite of remedy for measureless transgressions I have committed in violation of the vajra vehicle discipline from what are described as grounds for defeat, and grounds for gross misconduct. (The vajra master replies): Please proceed in accordance with the teachings and the discipline. (Squat down and recite): All buddhas and bodhisattvas dwelling in the ten directions and community of knowledge-holders please consider me. I, knowledge-holder, (secret name), have committed measureless transgressions in violation of the vajra vehicle discipline from what are described as grounds for defeat: I have committed measureless transgressions which are gross misconducts with incomplete branches and approximations of them, that belong to the class of fourteen root downfalls: such as disparaging the master, taught as the first root downfall, because of which Vajradhara said: “Attainment comes from following the master,” etc. I have committed measureless transgressions in violation of the vajra vehicle discipline from what are described as grounds for gross misconduct: I have committed measureless transgressions which are actual downfalls belonging to the class of gross misconduct and approximations of it: the eight gross misconducts such as taking a wisdom consort by force, taking its nectar by force, etc.; not properly performing the preparations; teaching secrets to the unfortunate; teaching the physical mudra to a mudra who is not an expert; performing mandala activities without having properly performed the approach retreat, etc.; unnecessarily transgressing the two vows of Pratimoksha and Bodhisattva, etc. Furthermore, I have committed measureless transgressions that are actual downfalls and approximations of them in violation of commitments and vows of the five families in general and individually, which I have sworn to protect. I have committed measureless transgressions of actual downfalls and approximations of them in violation of what I have sworn to protect, such as the twenty five ascetic practices; in particular, not recollecting six times daily the meaning of the commitments and vows of the five families in general and individually; not enumerating six times daily the root and branch commitments and vows; not conforming to the way of serving the spiritual guide as explained in “The Fifty Verses of Devotion to the Spiritual Guide;” stepping over things of divine significance, old ritual substances, etc.; breaking the six sessions yoga of vowed intention; not making an effort in four session yoga, the torma offering of the last session, the yogas of sleeping, rising, washing, and eating; and not meditating on whatever appears as divine sport. Furthermore, not praising the deity and the spiritual guide with the “Eight-legged Praise;” not meditating on, prostrating to and circumambulating women; not making an effort in the left side practice, and the offering of the tenth day. In brief, I have committed measureless transgressions in violation of the vajra vehicle discipline. I, (your secret name), with the title of knowledge-holder, confess these transgressions of mine before all the buddhas and bodhisattvas dwelling in the ten directions, and the community of knowledge holders; I reveal them, I do not conceal them; henceforth I take up restraint. If I reveal and confess them, I will live in happiness; but if I do not reveal and confess them, that will not happen. (Repeat 3x). Conclusion (Vajra master): Do you see these as transgressions? (Others): I do. (Vajra master): Henceforth, do you properly restrain yourself? (Others): I will keep up most restraint in accordance with the teachings and the discipline. (Repeat 3x). (Vajra master): This is the way. (Others): It is well. 108

(Then another bhikshu puts the questions to the vajra master) (Make three prostrations, stand and say): All buddhas and bodhisattvas dwelling in the ten directions, and community of knowledge-holders, it is very kind of you to listen to this rite of remedy for measureless transgressions I have committed in violation of the vajra vehicle discipline from what are described as grounds for defeat and grounds for gross misconduct. (The vajra master replies): It is most wonderful that you act in accordance with the teachings and the discipline. The pratimoksha is a bridle With hundreds of sharp spikes, suited to The horse of the mind, so hard to steer And always driven with effort. The Pratimoksha Sutra

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Glossary Abhidharma action seal aggregates, the five arhat arya Avalokiteshvara bardo Bodhisattvayana calm-abiding capala cyclic existence damaru dharmakaya deity deity yoga Dhyani Buddhas divine pride dorje dharmakaya (truth body) drops (bodhicitta drops) dzogchen emanation body example clear light five paths five pristine wisdoms form body front-generation fundamental clear light Gelug / Gelugpa geshe Guru Puja illusory body impure illusory body individual liberation practitioner Lama Chöpa lung mandala mantra mantra garland

one of the three “baskets” of teachings from the sutras – the one on metaphysics actual consort (as opposed to wisdom seal – visualised consort) also “five heaps” – the traditional division of body and mind up. They are form (body), feeling, discrimination, compositional factors and consciousness (mind) a practitioner who has achieved the state of No-More-Learning in the individual liberation vehicle a ‘superior’ being, one who has gained a direct realisation of emptiness (Tib: Chenrezig) the deity of compassion intermediate state of existence between death and rebirth the ‘vehicle’ of the bodhisattva — the path they follow meditative stabilisation, also called shiné (Tib) and samatha (Skt) offering bowl made out of, or in the shape of a human skull samsara, the state of being constantly reborn due to delusion and karma small hand drum with two weights on strings struck by rotating truth or wisdom body: the aspect of buddhahood attained when the mind is completely purified. (see also: rupakaya, the aspect of buddhahood that comes from the winds) enlightened energy in the form of a being (such as Chenrezig), used as a tool in meditation a meditation or yoga where the meditational deity is used – either as self-generation (where the meditator imagines him- or herself as a deity) or as front-generation (where the deity is visualised in front) the five Buddha families, representing five primordial energies. They are: Vairochana, Amitabha, Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amoghasiddhi the sense of self as a deity, also called divine identity (Tib) (Skt: vajra) meaning indestructible, usually refers to small four- or five-pronged object, symbolising method and held in hand with bell one of the two bodies achieved when a being attains enlightenment. This is the result of the wisdom side of the practice. one of the types of substance in the body, either white or red, coming from the indestructible drop and pervading the body, also called bodhicitta or bodhicitta drops a forceful means of going beyond the conceptual mind used in the Nyingma tradition Skt: nirmanakaya. the aspect of the form body (rupakaya) of a buddha which is able to emanate in countless forms in order to benefit beings (metaphor clear light) the clear light which still holds a trace of conceptuality in the Sutrayana, the path of accumulation, preparation, meditation, seeing and nomore-learning (also called the five wisdoms or five pristine cognitions). The basic energies in their purified form, relating to the five aggregates. They correspond to the five Dhyani Buddhas (Skt: rupakaya) the body of a buddha resulting from the winds (as opposed the truth body from the mind) visualisation of deity in front of self the innate nature of the mind, carried by the most subtle wind, beyond all conceptuality. This corresponds to the ‘mother clear light’ founded by Lama Tsong Khapa, one of the four traditions within Tibetan Buddhism. The others are Sakya, Ningma and Kargyu. title of a teacher in the Gelugpa sect who has completed the extensive training at a monastery (Skt) (Tib: Lama Chöpa) extended prayers and ritual honouring the guru – usually for Gelug, Lama Tsong Khapa body attained when winds dissolve in indestructible drop at the heart illusory body obtained with a wisdom (visualised) consort, with still a trance of conceptualisation a practitioner on the path to liberation (as opposed to universal liberation practitioner, one on the path to enlightenment) (Tib) see Guru Puja (Tib) wind or praña (Skt) – the life energy that runs through us the environment of the deity that which holds – usually a series of syllables said over and over again the mantra made of light and standing around the rim of the moon disc 110

meaning clear light merit field metaphor clear light mother clear light mudra nirmanakaya (emanation body) Perfection Vehicle praña Prasangika primordial lord principal deity pure illusory body refuge field rupakaya (form body) sadhana sambhogakaya (enjoyment body) seal self-generation shiné son clear light special insight specially imagined class triple being truth body tsog vipasana winds wisdom seal

the clear light which is without trace of conceptuality, resulting from a direct realisation of emptiness the buddhas visualised during the preliminary practices of a sadhana (also called example clear light): the clear light achieved which still has a trace of conceptuality (as opposed to meaning clear light which comes from a direct realisation of emptiness) the innate clear light we all possess which manifests at the time of death, so called because the contrived clear light gained in meditation (son clear light) can be conjoined with it hand gesture Of the two bodies of a buddha, this is the form body (rupakaya) which can be seen by ordinary beings The Mahayana path from the Sutras, i.e., not Vajrayana (Skt) (Tib: lung) wind or energy within the body the Consequence School — the higher of the two sub-divisions of Madhyamaka. (The other is Svatantrika) Vajradhara, the most fundamental aspect of a tantric deity the principal deity visualised (e.g., within a Guhyasamaja session it would be Guhyasamaja) illusory body obtained through using an action (actual) consort and hence without conceptualisation visualisation of buddhas done in the main part of the practice one of the two bodies a buddha gains on enlightenment. (The other is dharmakaya.) This is the result of the method side of the path. meditation manual of the two bodies of a buddha, this is the form body (rupakaya) which can be seen by arya beings a consort the visualisation of oneself as a deity (Tib) calm-abiding (Skt: samatha) the meditative state of single-pointed concentration the clear light gained through meditation – to be conjoined with the innate clear light called mother clear light (Skt: vispasana) deep insight into a subject (usually emptiness) gained through meditation the 32 main deities of the Guhyasamaja practice the three parts of a visualisation done a one stage of a sadhana: the commitment being (the meditation deity), the wisdom being (a small deity at the heart) and the concentration being (the seed syllable at that deity’s heart) (Skt: dharmakaya) the aspect of a buddha’s body resulting from the purification of the mind (as opposed to rupakaya – form body) the offering substances (usually in a puja) special insight – the mind that conjoins with calm-abiding to really know an object (Tib: lung Skt: prana) the life force within one’s body visualised consort

i

i.e., the Perfection Vehicle from Destiny Fulfilled by Lama Tsong Khapa, taken from the Life and Teachings of Tsong Khapa, (page 42) (edited by Prof. R. Thurman) 1982, published by the Library of Tibetan Work and Archives ISBN 81-85102-16-3 iii the five paths in Mahayana are the path of accumulation, preparation, meditation, seeing and nomore-learning iv The World of Tibetan Buddhism (page 97) by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Wisdom Publications, ISBN 0-86171-097-5 © Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama 1995. ©  Geshe Thupten Jinpa, English translation 1995. Reprinted from The World of Tibetan Buddhism with permission of Wisdom Publications, 199 Elm St., Somerville MA 02144 U.S.A, www.wisdompubs.org v quoted in Overview of Buddhist Tantra by Panchen Sonam Dragpa, page 19 ii

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ibid ibid viii from the FPMT Prayer Book, Volume One ix The World of Tibetan Buddhism (page 93) by His Holiness the Dalai Lama x Yoga Tantra also has the whole vase initiation as in the Highest Yoga Tantra and the secret initiation but generally not the wisdom and word initiations, although there are some deities within Yoga Tantra that have the wisdom initiation. In some Yoga Tantra initiations Tantric vows are given, which does not happen with the lower two classes. xi from Overview of Buddhist Tantra (page 67) xii from Overview of Buddhist Tantra (page 68) xiii the merit field is the visualisation of the deities, their attendants and the environment done at the beginning of a meditation session in order to take refuge. The refuge field is the visualisation (often more extensive) during the main part of the session. xiv Wisdom Publications, 1985, ISBN 0-86171-028-2 xv Overview of Buddhist Tantra (p. 37) xvi from Destiny Fulfilled by Lama Tsong Khapa, taken from the Life and Teachings of Tsong Khapa, (page 42) xvii The World of Tibetan Buddhism (page 105) by His Holiness the Dalai Lama xviii the ten directions are north, south, east, west, the intermediate directions (NE etc) and the zenith and nadir xix The Paths and Grounds of Guhyasamaja (page 42) xx an extract from the Abhidarmakosabhasyam by Vasubandhu, translated into French by Louis de La Vallée Poussin and into English from the French and Sanskrit by Leo M. Pruden. Published 1991 © by the Asian Humanities Press, an imprint of Jain Publishing Company, Inc. www.jainpub.com. . ISBN 0-89581-913-3 xxi gatis = realm of rebirth xxii purvakalabhava = future rebirth xxiii taken from The Paths and Grounds of Guhyasamaja (page 51) All the subsequent definitions are translations in the book from the root text, An Eloquent Presentation for the Fortunate Ones to Enter the Paths and Grounds of Mantra According to the Glorious Guhyasamaja of the Arya Tradition. xxiv taken from The Paths and Grounds of Guhyasamaja (page 53) xxv the 25 gross objects of dissolution are: four elements (earth, water, fire, wind), five aggregates ( form, feelings, discrimination, compositional factors, consciousness), six sources (eye sense, ear, sense, nose sense, tongue sense, body sense, mental sense), five objects (colours and shapes, sounds, odours, tastes, tactile objects), five basic wisdoms ( mirror-like wisdom, wisdom of equality, wisdom of analysis, wisdom of achieving activities, wisdom of nature of phenomena). xxvi taken from The Paths and Grounds of Guhyasamaja (page 54) xxvii taken from The Paths and Grounds of Guhyasamaja (pages 54 and 59) xxviii taken from The Paths and Grounds of Guhyasamaja (pages 63, 64) xxix taken from The Paths and Grounds of Guhyasamaja (pages 75, 76) vii

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