1   Structure

           ADVICE ON DREAMS

Yesterday, it was explained that you were to analyze the slight signs occurring in your dreams in the fourth portion of the night, around dawn. In general, if, from among the four constituents of earth, water, fire, and wind, the earth constituent is particularly thick in the body, there are cases of not having clear dreams. If a dream did occur, experiencing fright or mental discomfort is considered to be slightly negative. Also, even though finding many flowers in a dream brings pleasure, if the flowers are red, then it is not good; however, there are exceptions, such as when performing rites to achieve certain activities. Also, even though you may have come upon a temple, if it was not brilliant but decayed, dirty, or dilapidated or, even though you may have come upon an image, if it was not magnificent but covered with dust, these are bad.

On the other hand, dreams of things that please the mind are better. Still, it is said that even if you had a good dream, you should not develop pleasure in it that involves attachment. Similarly, even if you had a bad dream, you should not be too concerned about it. If you had no dreams, it is neutral.

There are ways of overcoming bad dreams; the main technique is to meditate on emptiness, but also, in situations of fright and discomfort, it is important to take specific cognizance of the object – the person or being who is the source of the fright or displeasure – and then cultivate compassion and love. This is the best method of overcoming the problem. The being who is trying to harm you is like yourself in wanting happiness and not wanting suffering. Thus, the best protection is to think, “Just as I want happiness, so this being wants happiness. May this being attain happiness, may this being come to possess happiness!”

According to my own experience, reciting mantra and doing visualizations do not have much effect during a nightmare, but as a last resort, remembering compassion and altruism toward that object brings immediate peace. The best protection is to protect ourselves – this means to protect ourselves from anger, hatred, and fear by remaining always with the courage and determination of compassion.

Now as an additional means to overcome bad dreams, I will scatter water, simultaneously reciting the mantra oṃ āḥ hūṃ hoḥ haṃ kṣhaḥ. During this, visualize that all bad effects are cast away by the force of the mantra and the wisdom understanding emptiness.

STRUCTURE OF THE INITIATION

For an initiation to occur, there are many things that the lama must perform and many that the student must do. What have I done? First I have cultivated self-generation as Kālachakra using the full mandala rite of exalted body, speech, and mind. Then, the vases were transformed [into deities who then reappeared as vases] after which I did generation of the deity, Kālachakra, in front. There are two varieties of generation or imagination of the deity in front – one with the deity as the same entity as oneself and the other with the deity as a different entity. This being the Kālachakra Tantra, the Kālachakra as whom one is imagining oneself and the Kālachakra imagined in front are seen as different entities.

Then, to refurbish vows that have been taken, one performs self-entry into the mandala; if the Dalai Lama had been stupid [and transgressed a vow], he would have restored the vows by performing the rite of self-entry into the mandala. Next are a supplication for the sake of the student and an expression of the power of truth. Then, there is a giving of food-offerings to obstructing spirits who might interrupt the initiation, and there is meditative cultivation of a wheel of protective deities. Those are what the lama must do. I now am maintaining conception of myself as the principal deity of the mandala, Kālachakra; after performing self-entry into the mandala, I have maintained the “pride” of being the principal deity.

The students have to make obeisance, rinse their mouths, and then make mandala-offerings, these having just been done. Now, just as yesterday, imagine that you are outside the three-tiered mandala, outside the level of exalted body. Think that from there you make [another] mandala-offering.19

To the lama, personal deity, and Three Jewels I offer in visualization

The body, speech, mind, and resources of myself and others,

Our collections of virtue in the past, present, and future,

And the wonderful precious mandala with the masses of Samantabhadra’s offerings.

Accepting them through your compassion, please bless me into magnificence.

Idaṃ guru-ratna-maṇḍalakaṃ niryātayāmi. [I offer this jewelled mandala to the guru.]

To enter the Kālachakra mandala and receive initiation, as mentioned yesterday, it is important to listen within having adjusted well your motivation to be an altruistic intention to become enlightened and within the correct view of the emptiness of inherent existence.

HISTORY OF THE KĀLACHAKRA TANTRA

According to one interpretation, the Kālachakra Tantra was first spoken by the Teacher, Shākyamuni Buddha, at the time of the full moon in the third month of the year after his having shown the manner of becoming completely and perfectly enlightened.²⁰ According to another interpretation, Shākyamuni, having showed the manner of becoming completely and perfectly enlightened, turned the three wheels of doctrine, and then one year before his passing away set forth the Kālachakra Tantra. About this, the root Kālachakra Tantra says:

Just as the Teacher [set forth] the mode of the Perfection of Wisdom at Vulture Peak

So at the stūpa of Dhānyakaṭaka (’bras spungs) he set forth all the modes of [this] Secret Mantra.

A literal reading of this passage indicates that just as, for example, Shākyamuni set forth many styles of teachings such as the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtras at many places – Vulture Peak and so forth – so at Dhānyakaṭaka he turned a wheel of doctrine of Secret Mantra with the Kālachakra Tantra as the principal tantra.

In the country of Shambhala, Shākyamuni Buddha set forth specifically this tantra for many trainees – both gods and humans, illustrated by King Suchandra (rgyal po zla ba bzang po). The Kālachakra Tantra itself has twelve thousand stanzas; King Suchandra composed a commentary sixty thousand stanzas in length.

Occasional citations of the root tantra in Kulika Puṇḍarīka’s Great Commentary on the “Kālachakra Tantra”, the Stainless Light (dri med ‘od, vimālaprabhā) and in other commentaries and the Brief Explication of Initiations (dbang mdor bstan, shekhoddesha) were translated into Tibetan, but the root tantra itself was not translated. Then, after seven religious kings, King Mañjushrīkīrti (’jam dpal grags pa) allowed many trainees such as Sūryaratha (nyi ma’i shing rta) to enter the mandala and thereby to be ripened, blending all of these persons into one vajra lineage; hence from that point, the religious kings were given the title kulika (rigs ldan), “one who bears the lineage”. It was indicated in the root tantra itself that in the future someone named “Kīrti” would make a shorter version of the tantra, and, just so, Kulika Mañjushrīkīrti condensed the main points of the tantra into the present one of five chapters having over one thousand stanzas, called the Condensed Kālachakra Tantra. Since his doing this was prophesied in the root tantra itself, the Condensed Kālachakra Tantra is accepted as an actual tantra.

Later, Kulika Puṇḍarīka composed a commentary on the Condensed Kālachakra Tantra, called the Stainless Light, which is twelve thousand stanzas long. These two, the Condensed Kālachakra Tantra and Stainless Light, were translated into Tibetan, and explanations of the Kālachakra Tantra are based mainly on these two texts. Among commentaries by Tibetan scholars, the commentaries of annotations on the tantra itself and on Kulika Puṇḍarīka’s Stainless Light by the a-ya scholar Bu-ön Rin-chen-drup (bu ston rin chen grub, 1290-1364) are the best.

Two translations of the tantra were made into Tibetan, one by the Translator Ra Dor-jay-drak-a (rva lo tsā ba rdo rje grags pa) and one by the Translator Dro Shay-rap-drak (’bro lo tsā ba shes rab grags). The main transmissions of explanation are from Ra and Dro, these being combined in Bu-ön Rin-o-chay. The oral transmission of the tantra that I have is this one, which was passed down from Bu-ön Rin-o-chay to the present to my kind root lama, ing Rin-o-chay. I received the transmission of the explanation of the tantra from er-ong Rin-o-chay, who has two different transmissions of explanation. I am still a student of the Kālachakra Tantra, an elder student perhaps.

TOPICS OF THE TANTRA

With respect to the subjects of the five chapters of the Condensed Kālachakra Tantra, first, what is Kālachakra – “Wheel of Time”? What is “time”? What is the “wheel”? “Time” refers to immutable bliss, and “wheel” to various empty forms. In the Kālachakra Tantra, two types of emptiness are described – aspected and unaspected. The unaspected emptiness is exactly the emptiness described in the treatises of the Middle Way School (dbu ma pa, mādhyamika) – the emptiness of inherent existence. The mind of clear light that takes this emptiness as its object probably is also called an unaspected emptiness. This is like, for example, the usage of the term “concordant ultimate” for a wisdom consciousness that realizes emptiness.21

“Aspected emptiness”, on the other hand, refers to empty forms. Hence, whereas the object of negation of unaspected emptiness is inherent existence, the object of negation of aspected emptiness is material phenomena composed of particles. Therefore, “aspected emptiness” refers to various forms, or physical objects, that are beyond materiality.

On the basis of what are these various empty forms achieved? They are achieved in terms of the mind. In the Kālachakra Tantra, wind yoga is described, but there is not an emphasis on wind yoga as there is in the Guhyasamāja Tantra and the Heruka Tantra [also called the Chakrasaṃvara Tantra], for empty forms are not achieved by way of wind.

Thus, taken together, the term “Kālachakra” refers to a union in one entity of immutable bliss and empty form. This explanation is primarily in terms of the effect stage of Buddhahood, the time of the final object of attainment. Since, to actualize such an effect through paths of practice, it is necessary to have a basis in dependence upon which the paths are practiced, there come to be external, internal, and alternative Kālachakras.

The external Kālachakra refers to all of the environment – the mountains, fences, homes, planets, constellations of stars, solar systems, and so forth. The internal Kālachakra refers to the person’s body having a nature of channels, winds, and drops of essential fluid. The alternative Kālachakra refers to the methods for purifying the impure factors of the external and internal Kālachakras – these being the bases of purification – and thereby bringing about transformation into a Kālachakra of the effect state of Buddhahood. Again, within the alternative Kālachakra – the path – there are the divisions of (1) the stage of completion, which brings the path to completion and is comprised of the six-branched yoga; (2) the stage of generation, which matures one for the practice of the stage of completion, and (3) the initiations authorizing one to listen to, think about, and meditate on such paths of the stages of generation and completion.

These three Kālachakras – external, internal, and alternative – are the subjects discussed in the five chapters of the Condensed Kālachakra Tantra. The full meaning of the external, internal, and alternative Kālachakras is contained in the ten letters of the root mantra of Kālachakra, haṃ kṣhaḥ ma la va ra ya. The mantra is called the powerful one having ten aspects (rnam bcu dbang ldan). In haṃ kṣhaḥ ma la va ra ya, there are the seven letters – h, kṣh, m, l, v, r, and y – as well as the visārga [in kṣhaḥ which appears as a half moon], the anusvāra [in haṃ], and the vowel a which is the “life” [of the consonants], thereby making ten. Also, there is an eleventh symbol, the nāda [a wiggly line rising from the dot on top].

The explanations of the formation of the mantra and of its meaning are complicated, but in brief, when these ten letters are associated with the external Kālachakra, they symbolize the four elements, Mt. Meru, sun, moon, and so forth. In the Kālachakra system, there are thirty-one categories of cyclic existence, which, in turn, are condensed here into eleven categories through abridging the levels of gods.

When the ten letters are associated with the internal Kālachakra, they symbolize the practitioner’s four internal elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, the spinal column, the channel center at the secret region, the central, right, and left channels, and bliss.

When the ten letters as well as the nāda are associated with the alternative Kālachakra and, within that, with the initiations that ripen trainees, they symbolize the eleven initiations. In the more extensive enumeration of the initiations, there are fifteen, but these are included in eleven types. Of these, the first seven initiations are those in the pattern of childhood:

  1   water initiation

  2   crown initiation

  3   silk ribbon initiation

  4   vajra and bell initiation

  5   conduct initiation

  6   name initiation

  7   permission initiation.

Then, there are the four high initiations:

  8   vase initiation

  9   secret initiation

10   knowledge-wisdom initiation

11   provisional word initiation.

And then the four greatly high initiations:

12   vase initiation

13   secret initiation

14   knowledge-wisdom initiation

15   definitive word initiation.

To re-classify these fifteen as eleven, the vase initiation, secret initiation, and knowledge-wisdom initiation from among the greatly high initiations are included in the similar ones in the high initiations, and the provisional word initiation from among the high initiations is included in the knowledge-wisdom initiation in that same group, leaving the definitive word initiation as the eleventh. [Thus the eleven initiations are:

Seven initiations in the pattern of childhood

  1   water initiation

  2   crown initiation

  3   silk ribbon initiation

  4   vajra and bell initiation

  5   conduct initiation

  6   name initiation

  7   permission initiation.

Four high initiations

  8   two vase initiations (8 and 12 from above)

  9   two secret initiations (9 and 13 from above)

10   two knowledge-wisdom initiations and the provisional word initiation (10, 14 and 11 from above)

11   definitive word initiation (15 from above).]

When the ten letters as well as the nāda are associated with the alternative Kālachakra and, within that, with the stage of generation, they symbolize the mandalas [i.e., spheres] of the four elements, Mount Meru, the inestimable mansion on top of Mount Meru, the three seats of rāhu, sun, and moon as well as the circle of deities – [i.e., the mandala meditated in the stage of generation]. Similarly, when the ten letters as well as the nāda are associated with the alternative Kālachakra and, within that, with the stage of completion, they symbolize the channel centers and so forth. In this way, the powerful mantra of ten aspects indicates the bases, paths, and fruits of the Kālachakra system – all of the external, internal, and alternative Kālachakras.

DETAILS OF THE OCCASION

The mandala in which the initiations will be conferred is a mandala of colored particles. Except for certain exceptional circumstances, the seven initiations in the pattern of childhood must be conferred in dependence upon a mandala of colored particles.

The vajra master who confers initiation in dependence upon such a mandala must, as is said in the Kālachakra Tantra, have attained initiation, be maintaining properly the pledges and vows, be skilled in the tantra and activities of the mandala, have done prior approximation [of the state of the deity] and thereupon received permission to confer initiation, and so forth. There are many such qualifications. We will say that I am just in the process of coming to have the minimum qualifications.

The students, also, should have faithful interest from the depths of their hearts in the altruistic intention to become enlightened and in the correct view of the emptiness of inherent existence. Even if they do not have experience of these, they should have the thought – from the depths of their being, “These are really needed; these are really good.” In addition, the students must have faithful interest in Mantra.

The place where initiation is to be conferred is this fully qualified area in Wisconsin – isolated, clean, and quiet. And if you are hungry, you can go over to the corn field and eat some corn!

The time is preferably at the full moon of the third month of the Kālachakra system (thus to know this system well, it is necessary to know astrology – the houses, constellations, and so forth); otherwise, it can be the full moon period of any of the twelve months. Tomorrow is the full moon of the fifth month. Usually, in Hla-a the fifteenth day of the fifth month is a day of celebration of the general prosperity of the world. Although we did not plan it this way, it is a happy coincidence.

The initiations being conferred are those ripening the continuum for the stage of generation – the seven initiations in the pattern of childhood. I think that there need be no rush for the high and greatly high initiations. When done properly, the initiations are given in estimation of what is needed at the particular time, whereas when treated just as a public ceremony they are all given at one time. The process of the seven initiations in the pattern of childhood is in two parts; on this particular occasion, the first day is for the topics involved in entering the mandala, with the second day being for conferring initiation upon having entered the mandala.