12. VAJRAYANA

THE THIRD DALAI LAMA

These are the practices common to the Sutra and Tantra Vehicles. Once you have gained solid experiences of them, you should cast aside all doubts and enter into the way of secret mantra, the Vajrayana. The gateway to this secret path is an appropriate initiation, gained from a fully qualified tantric master in order to ripen your mindstream. At the time of initiation one pledges to carry out certain practices and to avoid certain modes of conduct that contradict tantric attainment, and these pledges should be honored. If you gain initiation into any of the three lower divisions of tantra—Kriya, Charya, or Yoga—you should go on to practice their systems of “yoga with symbols” and then “yoga without symbols.” If you are initiated into the highest division of tantra—Mahanuttarayoga tantra—you should first master the generation stage practices and then those of the completion stage.

To quote Jey Rinpoche,

Having generated experience in these practices

common and fundamental to the two

Mahayana vehicles—

Sutrayana’s “Cause Vehicle” and Vajrayana’s

“Result Vehicle”—

Rely upon a wise guide, a tantric adept,

And enter into the ocean of tantras.

Then, basing yourself upon the complete oral

teachings,

Give meaning to the human birth you have

gained.

I, a yogi, practiced like that;

You, O liberation seeker, should do likewise.

All the subjects discussed so far in the Essence of Refined Gold—from cultivating a relationship with a spiritual friend up to developing meditative concentration with emptiness as the object of absorption—belong to the Sutrayana classification of doctrine. These Hinayana and Mahayana practices are called the common or general path because they generate the basis for higher tantric training within the mind of the spiritual aspirant. Thus they are shared in common with the Vajrayana. Anyone wishing to approach the Buddhist tantras must first refine and mature his or her mindstream through gaining experience in the Sutrayana methods, which is done not merely by reading a few books or mumbling a few prayers; rather, what is required is an inner experience in each of the meditational topics.

The four great sects of Tibet—Nyingma, Sakya, Kagyu, and Geluk—all hold more or less identical views concerning the Sutrayana trainings. There are minor differences in certain terminologies used, in details of how the various practices are arranged, and so forth, but all four Tibetan traditions teach all the above Hinayana and general Mahayana trainings as preliminaries to entering into the secret Vajrayana. The Kagyu speak of them as “the four ways to turn the mind,” the Sakya as “separating from the four attachments,” and so forth, but the subject, nature, and aim are the same in each case. Milarepa’s principal disciple, Gampopa Lhaje, himself wrote a Lam Rim text [The Jewel Ornament of Liberation] that is studied by most Kagyupa trainees even today.

There are a number of ways to classify the various tantric lineages. The new sects [Sakya, Kagyu, and Geluk] mostly speak of four classes of Tantras, whereas the Nyingma further subdivide these into six. The Essence of Refined Gold follows the fourfold division into Kriya or action tantras, Charya or performance tantras, Yoga or union tantras, and Mahaanuttarayoga or great highest yoga tantras. This division becomes twofold by classifying the first three as “lower tantras.” Once one has progressed through the Sutrayana trainings, one can consider taking up a Vajrayana method from among these four divisions.

Which classification of the Vajrayana we should practice and, within that classification, which specific tantra is to be determined by the nature and disposition of our body, mind, karmic background, and so forth. Within Highest Tantra, the nature of our bodily energy channels, mystic pressure points, vital energies, genetic impulses, and so forth are important factors to be taken into consideration. These are topics to be discussed with one’s teacher before adopting a tantric method.

Once one has ascertained which tantric system would be most suited to one’s needs, one should enter the doorway to the Vajrayana by gaining the complete initiations from a fully qualified holder of the lineage. Because the basis of all attainment is the guarding of the pledges and commitments made at the time of initiation, one should be mindful of these at all times. For example, in the two lower classifications of tantra one takes the refuge and bodhimind pledges, and as well makes various commitments such as not eating meat and other black foods. In yoga tantra the nineteen commitments of the five buddha families are added to these, and in order to enter Highest Tantra one must also cherish the twenty-two tantric pledges as well as various commitments of practice associated with the specific tantra one is pursuing. Practitioners of Mother Tantra, for instance, should begin all movements from the left, and, on the tenth and twenty-fifth days of the lunar cycle when the dakas and dakinis perform their mystic dance within the channels, drops, and pressure points of the body, they should make the secret offering symbolizing the union of male and female energies.

Constantly maintaining the disciplines of the tantra that one has adopted, one applies oneself to the yogas of the two tantric stages. In the lower tantras, these are the yoga with symbols and the yoga without symbols. In highest tantra division, these two levels of yoga are called the generation and completion stages. These are the paths walked by the great Buddhist yogis and mahasiddhas of the past. The principal method that they ascertained and applied—the stages of deity yoga—is particularly powerful because it is something that can be effectively applied every moment of our lives.

In order to apply the tantric techniques, one first must be personally qualified by having a free spirit of renunciation, the Mahayana mind of great compassion, and a correct understanding of the doctrine of emptiness. Without the free spirit of renunciation one will be too constricted by sensual grasping and overpowering biological impulses to be able to maintain the tantric disciplines. This prerequisite of renunciation is particularly important in Highest Tantra, which is expressed in very sexual imagery.

The presence of the second quality mentioned by Tsongkhapa, the bodhimind’s great compassion, is necessary in order to transform the practice into a cause of omniscience. Also, as much of the imagery in Highest Yoga Tantra is violent, a practitioner not saturated with great compassion could easily get the wrong idea.

The third quality, an understanding of the doctrine of emptiness, is fundamental to tantric practice. Every sadhana begins with, is structured around, and ends with meditation upon emptiness. To practice Vajrayana without the wisdom of emptiness can be very dangerous. For example, a main tantric technique is the cultivation of a subtle divine pride, a confidence that one is an enlightened tantric deity, the Lord of the Mandala. One’s mind is the Wisdom Body of a Buddha, one’s speech is the Beatific Body, one’s form is the Perfect Emanation Body, and the world and its inhabitants are seen as a mandala inhabited by the various forms of tantric deities. Thus we have to utterly change our sense of “I.” To do so involves the subject of emptiness. To practice the yoga of divine pride without an understanding of emptiness will not only be useless, but could lead to identity problems and other undesirable psychological effects. Therefore it is said that although the Vajrayana is a quick path when correctly practiced on the proper spiritual basis, it is dangerous for the spiritually immature. This type of danger area is one of the reasons why the Vajrayana must be practiced under the supervision of a qualified vajra acharya.

If one does not yet have the three qualifications—the free spirit of non-attachment, the great compassion of the bodhimind, and the wisdom understanding the emptiness of our concepts of reality—then one should cultivate the practices of the Sutrayana for some months or years until they arise as stable, inner forces. However, we should hope to be able to practice the Vajrayana as quickly as possible and should strive with great zeal to qualify ourselves. The Sutrayana methods divorced of Vajrayana aids will not be able to bring us to full enlightenment in one lifetime, whereas application to the Vajrayana within the framework of a mind that has extracted basic spiritual stability and experience from the common Sutrayana can bring enlightenment within the space of a few years. There are many examples of Indian and Tibetan yogis who have attained enlightenment in one lifetime. The reason Tibetans repeatedly mention the name of Milarepa is not because he was the only Buddha we produced. There are books with the lists of names of yogis who have attained full realization in one lifetime. Milarepa is just especially close to our hearts and tongues because he was the people’s Buddha. His exchanges with the populace during his many wanderings are something we love to remember and to speak about. To us, Milarepa embodies the spirit of spontaneous individuality that we Tibetans so love and prize as a national characteristic.

If we can accomplish both generation and completion stage yogas of Highest Tantra, enlightenment in one lifetime in this body is definite. Even should we only complete the generation stage yogas, all purposes of this life become fulfilled and great attainment is still possible at the moment of death or in the after-death state. In the generation stage one practices the deity yoga of divine pride and radiant appearance mainly in relation to the meditative process known as “taking the clear light of death, the after-death state, and rebirth respectively as the Wisdom Body, Beatific Body, and Perfect Emanation Body of a Buddha.” This practice prepares one’s mind for the sophisticated tantric yogas of the completion stage and plants the seeds of the three perfect kayas of a Buddha. Application to the completion stage yogas will later cause these seeds to ripen and mature into the actual three spheres of a Buddha. Should we not have time to complete the second stage before death falls upon us, then our generation stage training in taking the clear light of death as the Wisdom Body, the after-death state as the Beatific Form, and the rebirth as the Perfect Emanation Body will provide us with three occasions for gaining great realization and controlling our future evolution. Moreover, once we master the generation stage yogas, we are able to perform many of the various tantric activities of the mandala in order to benefit living beings. The practice of deity yoga is both vast and profound, encompassing all teachings given by Buddha and all types of situations that may come to us.

Competence in the generation stage yogas is like a certificate permitting one to register with the school of completion stage yogas. Even if we cannot develop the subtle level of generation stage mandala meditation techniques, at least we should gain stability in the coarse generation stage meditations before seriously attempting the completion stage practices. There is also a tradition of performing certain completion stage meditations throughout generation stage training in order to develop familiarity with the material and to lay instincts upon the mindstream that will prove useful later when we engage in intense application to the completion stage yogas.

The highest tantras, such as Heruka, Guhysamaja, Kalachakra, Hevajra, Yamantaka, and so forth, teach a full range of tantric techniques of body-based meditations in which the vital energies of the body are brought under control and directed into the central energy flow. These energies are then focused upon mystic pressure points of the body where the various energy channels meet, with the aim of untying the knots that hinder the free flow of vital currents. Here one must gain control over the primordial drop composed of male and female genetic substances from which our body was originally formed and draw this through the pressure points in order to purify and stimulate them. This is the process called tsa-tig-lung, or “channels, drops, and vital energies.” In the tantric view of things, the vital energies of the body are the vehicles of the mind. When the vital energies are pure and subtle, one’s states of mind will be accordingly affected. By transforming the bodily energies we transform the state of consciousness.

How does one use the tsa-tlig-lung technique? One directs the vital energies into the central energy flow and withdraws the primordial male and female drops from their seats in the pressure points at the crown and the navel respectively, bringing them into union at the pressure point at the heart. The very subtle level of energy that is produced gives rise to a very subtle level of consciousness. We then encourage this special level of consciousness to arise in the nature of the wisdom of emptiness. The benefits of one day of meditation from within the sphere of this extraordinary level of mind and supporting physical energy exceed those of years of conventional meditation, and therefore it is said that in the Vajrayana one can achieve in a few years what would take lifetimes by the conventional Sutrayana methods.

In order to attain omniscient buddhahood, we must gain the causes of both a Buddha’s mind and form. In the Sutrayana, the cause of a Buddha’s form is the practice of method as explained earlier in the discussion of the six perfections, and the cause of his or her Wisdom Body is meditation upon emptiness. This is all done within the framework of a conventional physical and mental state. In Highest Tantra one generates the subtle energy basis of an illusory body and the subtle consciousness of a clear light mind; then the subtle energy upon which the mind rides and also the images on which we focus the subtle consciousness in meditation become causes of the Rupakaya, or manifest, form of a Buddha, and the subtle consciousness and our absorptions upon emptiness become cause of the Dharmakaya, or Wisdom Body. We let the subtle energy arise in the form of an illusory rainbow body and then direct the subtle consciousness that it produces into awareness of only thatness. This is the purpose of the teachings on the tsa-tig-lung. The crux of gaining great attainment in this lifetime through tantric practice lies in actualizing the primordial subtle mind. With this primordial subtle mind of clear light as the basis, buddhahood in one lifetime can easily be attained through exclusive tantras such as Kalachakra or popular tantras such as Heruka and Guhyasamaja. We can even attain the state of enlightenment without remainder, in which one’s ordinary physical aggregate transforms into the mystic rainbow body. There are many stories of great tantric yogis who attained this state. When they died, their bodies turned into rainbows and disappeared, usually leaving behind only hair and nails.