Background

THE PLACEMENT OF THE KĀLACHAKRA TANTRA IN THE BUDDHIST VEHICLES

Buddha, a teacher skilled in method, taught eighty-four thousand bundles of doctrine in accordance with the dispositions and interests of trainees. As Maitreya’s Ornament for the Great Vehicle Sūtras (theg pa chen po’i mdo sde rgyan, mahāyāna-sūtrālaṃkāra, XI.a)¹ says, “The scriptural collections are either three or two.” Buddha’s many scriptures can be included into the three scriptural collections – sets of discourses, discipline, and manifest knowledge – or into the scriptures of the two vehicles – the Lesser Vehicle of Hearers and Solitary Realizers and the Great Vehicle of Bodhisattvas. The differentiation between these two vehicles is by way of vastness of thought, that is, of motivation; due to it there is a difference also in path, or method; due to that there is, in turn, a difference in the fruit that is attained. This is how the two vehicles are distinguished.

Concerning the Great Vehicle or Vehicle of Bodhisattvas itself, its sub-divisions – the Perfection Vehicle and the Mantra Vehicle – both require the motivational attitude of altruism and the practice of the six perfections, and both lead to the attainment of the fruit, which is unsurpassed enlightenment. Nevertheless, the two sub-divisions of the Great Vehicle – Sūtra and Mantra – are posited as separate vehicles by way of the profundity of the means for attaining unsurpassed enlightenment; the two thereby differ in the body of the path for attaining the omniscience of Buddhahood. From between these two vehicles, what is being explained here is the Mantra Vehicle.

With regard to mantra, according to the Vajrapañjara Tantra, an explanatory tantra, there are four sets of tantras, although other texts speak of various divisions of the tantras into six sets, five sets, and so forth. When four are described, they are Action, Performance, Yoga and Highest Yoga Tantra. Among the four tantra sets, Action Tantra is so called because in its practice of yoga there is more emphasis, relative to the other tantra sets, on external activities of ritual bathing and maintaining cleanliness even though internal meditative stabilization is indeed cultivated. Performance Tantra is so called because of there being equal performance of external activities and internal yoga. Yoga Tantra is so called because between external activities and internal yoga, the latter is principally emphasized. Highest Yoga Tantra [literally, Unsurpassed Yoga Tantra] is so called in that since it exceeds even Yoga Tantra in terms of principally emphasizing internal yoga, there is nothing superior to it. What is being explained here in this initiation is Highest Yoga Tantra.

In general, all the tantra systems have as their basis the attitude of altruistic mind generation and the deeds of the six perfections, which are described in the Perfection Vehicle. The distinctive feature of the Secret Mantra Vehicle comes in terms of additional techniques for quickly developing the meditative stabilization that is a union of calm abiding and special insight – one-pointed meditative stabilization realizing emptiness. This mainly is achieved through deity yoga.

From one point of view, tantra is more powerful than sutra in terms of collecting merit in that yoga is sustained within visualizing one’s body as divine. From another point of view, there also is a difference between the Perfection and Mantra Vehicles in terms of the subject, or substratum, the selflessness of which one is realizing in meditation. For, here in Mantra, one realizes the emptiness not of a gross phenomenon such as an ordinary body but rather of a subtle phenomenon that is appearing to one’s internal mind – a divine body. This mode of procedure of the path in which there is a yoga of non-duality of the profound and the manifest – the manifest being imaginative observation of a circle, or mandala, of deities and the profound being the wisdom realizing suchness – is the general path in the three lower tantras – Action, Performance, and Yoga Tantras.

Highest Yoga Tantra, in addition to all these features of the Perfection Vehicle and the three lower tantras, has special techniques for concentrated focusing on important points of the body, through which more subtle levels of mind are manifested and transformed into entities of the path. The uncommon profound distinction of all types of Highest Yoga Tantra texts – the distinctive feature in terms of which the uncommon potency of the Highest Yoga Tantra path is developed – is in the explanation of practices for generating the fundamental innate mind of clear light as an entity of the path.

As techniques for manifesting the fundamental innate mind of clear light, some Highest Yoga Tantra texts speak of concentrated focusing on the winds [or internal currents] of the body; some put emphasis on the four joys; and others speak of merely sustaining non-conceptual meditation. The Guhyasamāja Tantra, for instance, speaks mainly of putting concentrated focusing on the winds; the Chakrasaṃvara Tantra and the Hevajra Tantra speak mainly of the four joys; and the technique of manifesting the clear light by way of non-conceptual meditation is mainly found in the great completeness (rdzogs chen) of the ying-ma Order and the great seal (phyag rgya chen po, mahāmudrā) tradition of the a-gyu-a Order. All of these are modes of practice described in valid and reliable source-texts within Highest Yoga Tantra.

To become fully enlightened as a Buddha, it is necessary to practice Mantra and, within Mantra, Highest Yoga Mantra; otherwise, it is not possible to attain Buddhahood. The reason for this is that to actualize the effect state of the two bodies of a Buddha – Form Body and Truth Body – it is necessary meditatively to cultivate a path that accords in aspect with those two bodies. Even in the Perfection Vehicle, it is necessary to achieve a cause that is concordant with the effect. The main point is that in order to attain the Form Body of a Buddha it is necessary to have a substantial cause of similar type for a Form Body; also, for the Truth Body it is necessary to have a substantial cause of similar type. Since this is the case, our coarse body, which is a fruition [of past karma], cannot serve as a substantial cause of similar type for a Buddha’s Form Body. Also, the mentally imagined divine body that appears to a yogi practicing Yoga Tantra, Performance Tantra, or Action Tantra cannot serve as a substantial cause of similar type for a Buddha’s Form Body, nor can even an actual body achieved, for instance, through the practice of Yoga Tantra.

What can serve as such a substantial cause of a Form Body? A Buddha’s body is one undifferentiable entity with that Buddha’s mind; the form [or body] that is of one undifferentiable entity with a Buddha’s subtle mind cannot be a coarse form. The Form Body that is of one undifferentiable entity with a Buddha’s subtle mind is itself a very subtle entity, and thus as its substantial cause of similar type a body that has a very subtle nature must be achieved at the time of the path. In Highest Yoga Tantra, this is achieved (1) in the Guhyasamàja system by way of an illusory body, (2) in the Kālachakra system by way of empty form, or (3) in mother tantras by way of a rainbow body of light. Without such a mode of achieving a subtle body at the time of the path, a Buddha’s Form Body cannot be achieved.

Hence, a mode of achieving even the substantial cause of a Buddha’s Form Body is not set forth in the three lower tantras or in the Perfection Vehicle, and a mode of achieving the uncommon substantial cause of a Buddha’s mind is also not set forth in the three lower tantras or in the Perfection Vehicle. The reason for specifying “uncommon substantial cause” for the latter is that a common substantial cause of a Buddha’s mind, a coarse wisdom consciousness realizing emptiness, is set forth in the three lower tantras and in the Perfection Vehicle. Thus, it can be said that they have a mere cause of a Buddha’s omniscient consciousness; however, the uncommon substantial cause must be the mind of clear light, and the three lower tantras and the Perfection Vehicle do not set forth a means of achieving the fundamental innate mind of clear light.

Therefore, without depending in general on Mantra and in particular on Highest Yoga Mantra, Buddhahood cannot be attained. Similarly, the nirvana that is the extinguishment forever of all adventitious defilements in the sphere of reality through the power of their antidotes is the Buddhist interpretation of liberation, of peace, and those defilements must be extinguished in the sphere of reality only through the technique of ascertaining emptiness and meditating on it. Therefore, the liberation explained in Buddhist texts can be attained only through a Buddhist path. Moreover, among the Buddhist systems, the actual Buddhist liberation can be attained only through relying on the view as explained in the Consequence School.

As Nāgārjuna’s Fundamental Text Called “Wisdom” (dbu ma rtsa ba’i tshig le’ur byas pas shes rab bya ba, prajñānāmamūla-madhyamakakārikā, XVIII.5a) says, “Through extinguishing [contaminated] actions and afflictions, there is liberation.” Through meditating on the reality of the emptiness of inherent existence, actualizing it, and again and again familiarizing with the meaning of reality that has been directly perceived, the adventitious defilements are extinguished forever in the sphere of reality. That sphere of reality – into which the adventitious defilements are extinguished forever – is itself liberation, nirvana. This can be achieved only by one who has perceived the meaning of the reality of the emptiness of inherent existence. Even within Buddhist schools, those of the Great Exposition School, the Sūtra School, the Mind Only School, or the Autonomy School cannot actualize this. In this light, it is said that a Foe Destroyer as explained in the systems of manifest knowledge (chos mngon pa, abhidharma) is not a Foe Destroyer. Therefore, just as to attain Buddhahood Highest Yoga Tantra is needed, so to attain liberation from cyclic existence the view of the Consequence School is needed.

Highest Yoga Tantra itself is divided into father and mother tantras, and certain scholars also speak of non-dual tantras, citing the Kālachakra Tantra as an illustration. However, according to others who do not assert non-dual tantras that are not included among father and mother tantras, the Kālachakra Tantra is a mother tantra, the reason for this being as follows. The Kālachakra Tantra has as its main object of discussion the six branched yoga [individual withdrawal, concentration, stopping vitality, retention, subsequent mindfulness, and meditative stabilization], among which the immutable bliss of the sixth branch, meditative stabilization, is the final object of achievement. Because the Kālachakra Tantra emphasizes just this immutable bliss, it is called a mother tantra.

Again, the reason why the first group calls the Kālachakra Tantra a non-dual tantra is that they identify as its main object of discourse the state of union – a combination of empty form and immutable great bliss, immutable great bliss being induced by way of an empty form of the Great Seal. This state of union, or non-dual body and mind, is described in a very clear way in the Kālachakra Tantra, unlike its hidden description in the Guhyasamāja Tantra, and thus they say that the Kālachakra Tantra is a non-dual tantra.

The Kālachakra Tantra has many such unique profound distinctive features. In general, Highest Yoga Tantras speak of a stage of generation and a stage of completion, of which the latter is primary. Within the stage of completion itself, there are two levels – one involved with withdrawing the winds or inner energies into the central channel and the other occurring in dependence upon having accomplished that withdrawal. In the Kālachakra system, the initial branches of the six branched yoga are mostly means of withdrawing the winds inside the central channel, and thus, given this emphasis on the phase of withdrawing the winds, the Kālachakra Tantra provides profound techniques for the preliminary levels.

Moreover, the Kālachakra Tantra has a special connection with a country, Shambhala, as its general religion and thus from this viewpoint also is unique. For, other Highest Yoga Tantras have their origin in relation to individual persons or adepts, as was the case with the Guhyasamāja Tantra and the King Indrabhuti. The Kālachakra Tantra, however, has been intimately connected with the country of Shambhala – its ninety-six districts, its kings, and retinue. Still, if you lay out a map and search for Shambhala, it is not findable; rather, it seems to be a pure land which, except for those whose karma and merit have ripened, cannot be immediately seen or visited. As is the case, for example, with the Joyous Pure Land (dga’ ldan, tuṣhita), Sky Territories (mkha’ spyod), the Blissful Pure Land (bde ba can, sukhāvati), Mount a-la, and so forth, even though Shambhala is an actual land – an actual pure land – it is not immediately approachable by ordinary persons such as by buying an airplane ticket. Perhaps, if, in the future, spacecrafts improve to the point where they can proceed faster than light, it might be possible to arrive there, but the tickets might be expensive! In fact, we can consider the tickets to be meritorious actions, and thus it takes someone rich in merit to arrive there.

PREPARATION FOR INITIATION

Although conferral of blessings does not necessarily require a mandala, an initiation must be conferred in dependence upon a mandala. The Kālachakra initiation for the stage of generation must be given in connection with a mandala of colored particles, and since this is the case, the area where the mandala is to be constructed must initially be made serviceable. To do this, the area first is analyzed; then, if it is suitable, it is set off, cleansed, and taken over. Such steps are included in the rite of taking over the area, after which come the stages of preparation.

During the preparation, vases are needed; thus, there is a preparation or enhancement of the vases. Similarly, since there are the mandalas of the residence and the resident deities, a preparation or enhancement of the deities is done. After that, there is a preparation or enhancement of the students, making the continuums of the students fit to be vessels for the conferral of initiation. All of these constitute the topics of the stages of preparation. In practice, the enhancement of the students is, for convenience, put just before the actual conferral of initiation. The past few days [here in Madison, Wisconsin] I have been performing the stages of establishing and activating the mandala and making offerings to the deities. Thus we are now ready for the stages of enhancement of the students.

RITE FOR ENHANCING THE STUDENTS

The presentaton of the third topic, the rite for enhancing [or preparing] the student, has six parts: adjusting motivation and conferring the internal initiation; making a supplication and causing [the student] to take up the doctrine; assuming the vows and being blessed into magnificence; casting the tooth-stick and giving handfuls of water and so forth; setting the six lineages [in the student] and invoking Vajrasattva; and generating enthusiasm through explaining [the greatness of] doctrine and giving advice on analyzing dreams.