9   The Texts

INITIATION RITE

The ritual text of initiation that is translated in this book is the Mandala Rite of the Glorious Kālachakra: Illumination of the Thought (dpal dus kyi ’khor lo’i dkyil chog dgongs pa rab gsal) by Kay-drup-ge-lek-el-sang (mkhas grub dge legs dpal bzang, 1385-1438).¹¹⁵ Translated from that text are the sections on enhancement of the students and on the seven initiations authorizing practice of the stage of generation, the latter being written mainly for those doing self-entry into the Kālachakra mandala. Self-entry is performed by practitioners who have already received initiation, for the sake of purifying infractions of vows and so forth; practitioners themselves imagine all of the lama’s activities involved in entering into the mandala and receiving initiation.

Because the section on the seven initiations authorizing practice of the stage of generation was written mainly in terms of practitioners performing self-entry, it has been supplemented with material from the Initiation Rite of Kālachakra, Stated in an Easy Way (dus ’khor dbang chog nag ’gros su bkod pa) by o-sang-tsul-trim-en-ay-gyel-tsen (blo bzang tshul khrims bstan pa’i rgyal mtshan), a late nineteenth and early twentieth century scholar from Kam Province (khams) known also as re-wo Kang-ar-yap-gön Rin-o-chay (tre bo skyabs mgon khang gsar rin po che).¹¹⁶ This latter text was written solely for the sake of adapting the former text to conducting an initiation ceremony. The latter text does not contain the prior ritual of enhancement of the student and hence is not complete even in terms of what the initiator must perform for students. However, Kay-drup’s text covers all of the stages involved in an initiation ritual, ranging from the rite for taking over the land where the ritual is conducted to the greatly high initiations. Other aspects of the ritual are not complete in Kay-drup’s text but can be found in o-sang-tsul-trim-en-ay-gyel-tsen’s. For instance, Kay-drup’s Mandala Rite seldom gives full descriptions of deities, indicating these with ellipses; these, therefore, have been supplemented from o-sang-tsul-trim-en-ay-gyel-tsen’s Initiation Rite. Thus, the two texts together contain the entire rite.

However, since there are seven initiations with a great deal of repetition, both texts tend to cite in full only once material requiring repetition. To give a more complete picture of the process of initiation, in the translation here, all of these repetitions have been stated in full rather than merely indicated by ellipses.

The portion of Kay-drup’s Mandala Rite translated in this book concerns the initiations for the stage of generation and, specifically, those parts involving the student, not the preceding sections during which the lama is making preparations. Kay-drup’s text is divided into six parts, of which the sections in the sixth part concerned with authorizing students to practice the stage of generation are translated here. The six parts of the text are:

1   the qualifications of a master who confers initiation, 261.2

2   the qualifications of a student on whom initiation is conferred, 262.1

3   divisions of types of mandalas in which initiation is conferred, 262.7

4   the number and order of the initiations that are conferred, 264.2

5   the time of conferral, 265.7

6   the actual rite for conferring initiation, 266.1.

The first five topics are treated only very briefly in five pages.

The sixth topic is subdivided into two sections:

1   the student’s first making a supplication and [the master’s] taking him/her under his protection, 266.1

2   the stages of how a lama engages in the mandala rite, 266.3.

The first topic is handled in a single line of text. The second topic is again subdivided into four parts:

1   rite for the place, 266.3

2   rite of enhancement, 282.5

3   actual rite, 305.6

4   rite of conclusion.

Among many subdivisions of the rite of enhancement, the second topic, is the rite of enhancing, or preparing, the student (Kay 295.1/Bu 184.1).117 It is the first activity performed with the students who are to receive initiation, and thus the translation in this book begins here.

The enhancement of the student has six parts:

1   adjusting the motivation and conferring the internal initiation, Kay 295.1/Bu 184.1

2   making a supplication and causing [the student] to apprehend the doctrine, Kay 296.1/Bu 185.1

3   assuming the vows and blessing, Kay 296.6/Bu 185.6

4   casting the tooth stick and giving handfuls of water and so forth, Kay 298.4/Bu 186.7

5   setting the six lineages and evoking Vajrasattva, Kay 299.2/Bu 187.5

6   generating enthusiasm through explaining doctrine and giving advice on analyzing dreams, Kay 299.4/Bu 187.7.

Although in Kay-drup’s text there are other steps following the enhancement of the students, in practice those are done prior to the enhancement of the student so that the actual initiation ritual can be conducted immediately after the enhancement, on the next day.

The actual rite of conferring the seven initiations has many sub-topics:

A.  Entering the mandala, Kay 317.5

      1.   Entering blindfolded, Kay 317.7

            a.   Entering outside the curtain, Kay 318.1/Bu 206.6

            b.   Entering inside, Kay 320.4/Bu 210.2

                  1)   Entering inside and paying obeisance while circling it, Kay 320.4/Bu 210.3

                  2)   Setting [the student] in the pledges, Kay 322.5/Bu 210.7

                  3)   Speaking the truth upon the descent of the wisdom being, Kay 323.5/Bu 211.6

      2.   Entering such that one comes to have the nature of seeing the mandala, Kay 325.5/Bu 213.4

B.  Conferring initiation on one who has entered, Kay 326.6/Bu 214.4

      1.   Conferring the seven initiations in the manner of childhood, Kay 326.6/Bu 214.4

            a.   The rites of the seven initations, Kay 326.6/Bu 214.4

                  1)   Making a supplication in common and purifying inauspiciousness, Kay 326.7/Bu 214.5

                  2)   Bestowing the seven initiations individually, Kay 327.4/Bu 215.3

                  a)   Water initiation, Kay 327.4/Bu 215.3

                  b)   Crown initiation, Kay 332.2/Bu 217.6

                  c)   Silk ribbon initiation, Kay 333.7/Bu 218.4

                  d)   Vajra and bell initiation, Kay 336.1/Bu 219.3

                  e)   Conduct initiation, Kay 337.3/Bu 220.1

                  f)   Name initiation, Kay 339.4/Bu 220.6

                  g)   Permission initiation, Kay 341.7/Bu 221.7

                        1*   Actual permission initiation, Kay 342.1/Bu 221.7

                        2*   Appendages, Kay 343.7/Bu 223.3

                        a*   Four branches appended – giving mantra and so forth, Kay 343.7/Bu 223.3

                        b*   Giving the master’s initiation, the main appendage, Kay 345.3/Bu 225.1

            b.   Understanding the time of attainment, Kay 348.6/Bu 230.7

            c.   Advice to abandon root infractions, Kay 349.2/Bu 231.4

RITES FOR DAILY PRACTICE

The first practice text is The Guru Yoga of Kālachakra In Connection With the Six Sessions In Completely Facilitating Form (thun drug dang ’brel ba’i dus ’khor bla ma’i rnal ’byor nag ’gros su mdzad pa), (Madison: Deer Park, 1981). At the behest of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the basic six session yoga was adapted to the practice of Kālachakra by his Senior Tutor, the ninety-seventh occupant of the throne of Gan-den, Tup-en-lung-ok-ñam-gyel-trin-lay (thub bstan lung rtogs rnam rgyal ’phrin las) known as ing Rin-o-chay (gling rin po che, 1903-1983). Since, as ing Rin-o-chay says, the Dalai Lama indicated “the nature of the contents and how to arrange the order” (see p.424), the authorship seems to be shared between them. (For a discussion of their borrowings from other works, see pp. 381-2 and the notes to that section).

The second practice text is the basic six session yoga that was written by the First Paṇ-chen Lama o-sang-chö-yi-gyel-tsen (blo bzang chos kyi rgyal mtshan, 1567?-1662). Untitled, it is found in the first volume of his Collected Works.118 Nowadays it is sometimes mistakenly ascribed to Pa-bong-ka (pha bong-kha, 1878-1941) who cites it in its entirety in his Extensive And Abbreviated Modes of Practicing the Six Session Yoga, Adorned with Quintessential Instructions For Easy Implementation (thun drug gi rnal ’byor rgyas bsdus nyams su len tshul ’khyer bde man ngag gis brgyan pa), (Kalimpong: Mani Printing Works, no date). Pa-bong-ka’s text has an additional review of the individual vows and three stanzas of prayer-wishes at the end, which are included here.

The final practice text is an untitled abbreviated six session yoga, formulated by o-sang-en-dzin (blo bzang bstan ’dzin), found in the back of the work by Pa-bong-ka just mentioned.¹¹⁹

TRANSLATION

During a one month research visit to India in the spring of 1980 sponsored by the American Institute of Indian Studies, I met with His Holiness the Dalai Lama to receive teachings on the Kālachakra system. He gave commentary on (1) the sections on initiation and the stage of generation in Gyel-tsap’s How To Practice the Two Stages of the Path of the Glorious Kālachakra: Quick Entry to the Path of Great Bliss, (2) the section on the enhancement of the student and the seven initiations authorizing practice of the stage of generation in Kay-drup’s Mandala Rite, and (3) the Kālachakra practice rite.

In the spring of 1981, Jam-el-shen-pen Rin-o-chay, who was visiting the Center For South Asian Studies at the University of Virginia, taught me the same sections of Kay-drup’s Mandala Rite, while I was translating it in preparation for the Kālachakra initiation in Madison in July, 1981. Also, his commentary on the section on the Kālachakra system in Ngaang-bel-den’s (ngag dbang dpal ldan, born 1797) Illumination of the Texts of Tantra, Presentation of the Grounds and Paths of the Four Great Secret Tantra Sets (gsang chen rgyud sde bzhi’i sa lam gyi rnam bzhag rgyud gzhung gsal byed) was particularly helpful.

Jam-el-shen-pen Rin-o-chay was born in Ba in the Kam Province of Tibet; he is a Ge-luk-a ge-hay from Gan-den Monastic University who became abbot of the Tantric College of Lower Hla-a during the difficult period of its resettlement in Hunsar in South India. In 1984 he was appointed head of the Ge-luk-a order. Though his speciality is the Guhyasamāja Tantra, he prepared for our work by reading a great deal of Kay-drup’s four volume commentary on the Kālachakra Tantra and on Kulika Puṇḍarīka’s Great Commentary on the “Kālachakra Tantra”, the Stainless Light. Not only were his explanations of the Kālachakra helpful, but also the general background that I gained from his wide experience with tantric ritual was especially helpful.

Just before the initiation in Madison, the Dalai Lama answered a number of questions about the ritual and then during it gave extensive commentary on the initiation process. Afterwards, during 1984 and 1985, I checked the translation of Kay-drup’s Mandala Rite against the Tibetan while listening to the tapes of the Dalai Lama’s and Jam-el-shen-pen Rin-o-chay’s explanations, inserting into Kay-drup’s text the Dalai Lama’s commentaries from the Madison initiation and from our private meetings. The combination of text and commentary (clearly differentiated with the former indented and the latter at the margin) removes much of the obscurity that surrounds tantra by showing how the ritual is actually used and interpreted.

The same process of translation, re-checking against the Tibetan, and insertion of commentary was followed with respect to the Kālachakra daily practice rite. The commentary, mainly from the Dalai Lama but also from Jam-el-shen-pen Rin-o-chay, is in notes at the bottom of the page.

The translations have benefitted greatly from the contextualization and explanation received from these two very distinguished and learned lamas. Frankly, the task could not have been attempted without their help; though not guaranteeing that the translations are error-free, the process of consultation has greatly reduced the number of gross errors.

Also, since Kay-drup relied heavily on the works of Bu-ön Rin-chen-drup, I have made liberal reference to Bu-ön’s:

1   Mandala Rite of the Glorious Kālachakra: Source of Good Qualities (dpal dus kyi ’khor lo’i dkyil chog yon tan kun ’byung)

2   Easily Understandable Annotations For the Condensed Glorious Kālachakra Tantra, Great King of Tantras Arisen from the Supreme Original Buddha (mchog gi dang po’i sangs rgyas las phyungs ba rgyud kyi rgyal po chen po dpal dus kyi ’khor lo’i bsdus pa’i rgyud kyi go sla’i mchan)

3   Commentarial Explanation of the “Initiation Chapter” [of the Kālachakra Tantra], Annotations to (Kulika Puṇḍarīka’s) “Stainless Light” (dbang gi le’u ’grel bshad dri med ’od kyi mchan)

4   Means of Achievement of the Supramundane Victor, the Glorious Kālachakra: Fruit Cluster of the Wish-Granting [Tree] (dpal dus kyi ’khor lo’i sgrub thabs dpag bsam snye ma).

Frequent reference is also made to the Seventh Dalai Lama’s Means of Achievement of the Complete Mandala of Exalted Body, Speech, and Mind of the Supramundane Victor, the Glorious Kālachakra: the Sacred Word of Scholars and Adepts (bcom ldan ’das dus kyi ’khor lo’i sku gsung thugs yongs su rdzogs pa’i dkyil ’khor gyi sgrub thabs mkhas grub zhal lung) and to a particularly helpful explanation of the initiations by o-sang-tsul-trim-en-ay-gyel-tsen (see Bibliography).

Very helpful also was Dr. Edward W. Bastian’s sixteen and a half hour archival video series on the Madison initiation.