8. THE EXTRAORDINARY PRELIMINARY PRACTICES

The more advanced visualizations of the extraordinary preliminaries outlined here are practiced in the contexts of taking refuge, setting the mind on enlightenment, ritual purification, and offering the body maṇḍala. These finally enable the practitioner to settle into the physical posture appropriate for calm abiding, and thence to undertake the main practices of the One Hundred and Eight Guidebooks that follow in the next chapter.

FORMAL TITLE

The Extraordinary Preliminary Practices of the One Hundred and Eight Guidebooks¹ {122}

INTRODUCTORY VERSES

OṂ SVĀSTI SIDDHI

Respectful homage to my teacher and to Lord Mañjughoṣa!

Of the two approaches leading toward the practice of the consecutively arranged one hundred and eight guidebooks, distinct and profound, the ordinary preliminaries have already been explained. There now follows an elucidation of the practical guidance that constitutes the extraordinary preliminaries.

Once the mindstream has been refined by means of the general preliminary practices in the above manner, you should imagine your residence as a pure land, with the words:

May the terrain in every way be pure,

Transformed into the exquisite nature of aquamarine,

Smooth like the palm of the hand,

Without gravel and so forth!²

In the midst of this pure land, upon a wish-granting tree with extensive fruits and foliage that brings forth all that is desired, you should visualize in the manner of a dense cloud an assembly that includes the teachers of the fundamental lineage, an apparition that is essentially the source of all spiritual accomplishments; the meditational deities associated with the four classes of tantra, an apparition that essentially comprises the deities amassing your own past actions; the buddha bodies of perfect resource, an apparition that is essentially the nonarising buddha body of reality; the volumes of sutra and tantra, an apparition that is essentially the truth of cessation; {123} the bodhisattva heirs of the conquerors, an apparition that essentially comprises sublime beings abiding on the levels; and the doctrinal protectors and guardians, an apparition that is essentially the truth of the ten powers.³

You should visualize that, just like you, all sentient beings—an apparition that essentially comprises your gracious parents—respectfully seek refuge with body, speech, and mind; and then you should repeat one hundred thousand times the following words:⁴

I go for refuge to the teachers.

I go for refuge to the buddhas.

I go for refuge to the sacred doctrine.

I go for refuge to the monastic community.

I go for refuge to the deities of the maṇḍala.

I go for refuge to the doctrinal protectors.

Then, as before, you should cultivate love for the realms of sentient beings. You should repeat many times “SARVASATTVA KĀRUṆIKA—O you who are imbued with compassion for all beings!” And then,

Oh! Sentient beings are a field of suffering,

Fixated on conceptual thoughts.

To subdue their conceptual thoughts

I should attain perfect buddhahood!⁵

Upon the crown of your head and those of all other sentient beings, arising from a sword marked with the letter KHAṂ that rests on a lotus and moon disk, you should visualize the transcendent lord Samayavajra, his body green in color, with one face, his two hands holding a sword and a bell, {124} embracing the female consort Samayatārā, who resembles him. Seated respectively in the adamantine posture and the lotus posture, they are united in equipoise. They each have three eyes and a tuft of matted hair, and they are each adorned with silks and precious gems, slightly wrathful in demeanor, and wearing a crown indicative of successful accomplishment. Their foreheads, throats, and hearts are marked respectively with the letters OṂ, ĀḤ, and HŪṂ, and within their hearts, light rays are diffused from the sword that is marked with the letter KHAṂ.

All the buddhas of the ten directions then appear in the form of Samayavajra:

OṂ VAJRA SAMĀJA JAḤ HŪṂ VAṂ HOḤ

I pray that the transcendent lord Samayavajra might refine and purify

All the mass of negative deeds, obscurations, downfalls, and stains

That I and all sentient beings have accumulated in cyclic existence, without beginning!⁶

Visualize that from the letter KHAṂ within the heart a stream of nectar is exuded, filling the bodies of the male and female deities, and that from their point of union the downpour of nectar enters through the crown of your own head. Your entire body is cleared and purified, and negative obscurations and their propensities emerge in the form of smoke from the soles of the feet, the rectum, and the urethra.

Then, after reciting one hundred thousand times OṂ ĀḤ KHAṂ HŪṂ PHAṬ SVĀHĀ, you should confess all violations of the primary and ancillary commitments of buddha body, speech, and mind with the words:

May the transcendent lord Samayavajra

Purify all my downfalls in respect of the commitments!

May he purify my violations of the commitments,

And may he cleanse my commitments!⁷

I pray that all the mass of my downfalls and stains might be purified and purged!

You should then visualize that the deities on the crown of your head dissolve into you, and that your body becomes translucent, like crystal.⁸

Then you should mentally tally the outer, inner, and secret [offerings].⁹ That is to say, the mighty terrain of gold should be conflated with your physical frame covered with skin and blood, the substratum should be conflated with the moisture of your generative fluid, Mount Meru with the spinal bone, the root of the sacred doctrine with the mind, the four continents with the four arms, {125} the four immeasurable aspirations with the solar and lunar channels and the red and white vital essences, and the seven insignia of royal dominion with the five solid viscera and the six hollow viscera—seven along with the genitalia.¹⁰ The seven aspects of sublime spiritual wealth are conflated with an uncultivated harvest,¹¹ the three naturally arising buddha bodies with the uninterrupted flow of enlightened activities, and the wish-granting cow with the uvula. The altruistic mind should be conflated with the wish-granting tree; the treasure vase with sacraments, clothing, and all resources without exception; and the channels, winds, and vital essences with the buddha bodies, pristine cognitions, and enlightened activities. Then you should make this maṇḍala offering with the words:

In this pure land, I offer to the teachers and buddhas

Mount Meru at the center and the four continents,

Adorned with the five desirable attributes of the senses,

And encircled by sun and moon,

Along with the resources and excellences of gods and humans,

The seven insignia of royal dominion and seven precious things,

The wish-granting cow, the wish-fulfilling tree,

Uncultivated harvests, gold, silver,

Excellent grain, inconceivable resources,

And exquisite, abundant material things.

May I attain perfect buddhahood!

OṂ GURU BUDDHA BODHISATTVA MAṆḌALA PŪJĀ MEGHA SAMUDRA SPHARAṆA SAMAYE HŪṂ¹²

You should make this offering as many times as possible.

After that, your mind should visualize your root teacher in the guise of Vajradhara, seated at the center of the objects of refuge; and then say:

I confidently offer to you, my teacher,

My enemies, relatives, and resources,

And indeed all the virtuous acts that I have accumulated through the three times.

Please receive them with your loving heart!

To the teacher who grants precious accomplishments,

Embodiment of all the buddhas of the three times,

I respectfully grant this sacred offering—

The nectar of pristine cognition.

Please receive this with love!

From the three seed syllables in the teacher’s body, speech, and mind,

Three light rays of nectar are excellently diffused {126}

And the obfuscations of my body, speech, and mind are purified.

Please bestow the buddha level, manifesting the three buddha bodies!

After reciting this, let the objects of refuge dissolve into yourself, and then with legs crossed in the adamantine posture, place your hands four finger widths below the navel in the gesture of meditative equipoise, with the two thumbs properly positioned. Straighten your spine like a stack of disks, bend your head like a swan, let your tongue rest against the palate, and fix your eyes directly in front without contrivance. Having made the body into a worthy vessel for meditative concentration, you should then practice in accordance with each of the one hundred and eight guidebooks in succession, or else you may excellently guide your mind in whichever of them you prefer, and finally that itself will lead you to the supreme path.

CONCLUDING VERSE

By virtue of propagating in a supreme written form

This extraordinary preliminary practice for all the guidebooks,

Giving rise to delight and causing [beings]

To enter the path of liberation,

May experiential cultivation be rendered free from obstacles!

MAṄGALAṂ

Let virtue prevail! {127}