Articles by alphabetic order
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 Ā Ī Ñ Ś Ū Ö Ō
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0


Physical Isolation

From Tibetan Buddhist Encyclopedia
(Redirected from Physical isolation)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
1171.jpg




Physical Isolation


The meaning of each of the six levels of the completion stage

When you classify the completion stage of the Ārya system of Guhyasamāja, there are said to be six levels:


(1) physical isolation,

(2) verbal isolation,

(3) mental isolation,

(4) illusory body,

(5) clear light, and

(6) union.


This does not contradict saying there are five levels, or four levels, or six branches of application, since these are alternate classifications.


The text continues with the actual enumeration of the levels of the completion stage and its possible variations. The completion stage is described as the phase of the three isolations and the two truths. If the three types of isolation are enumerated individually, there are six levels in the completion stage. If physical isolation is combined with verbal isolation under the name vajra recitation, then the six levels are reduced to five. It is also possible to subsume the six yogas of the completion stage of Kālacakra tantra within these levels.


If the meaning of each is explained briefly, there are two parts:


1. Concentrations pertaining to the three isolations

2. Concentrations pertaining to the two truths


Concentrations pertaining to the three isolations


The first has three divisions:


1. Physical isolation that is concentration producing the vajra body

2. Verbal isolation that is concentration producing the vajra speech

3. Mental isolation that is concentration producing the vajra mind


The completion-stage concentrations pertaining to the three isolations refers to concentrations producing the three vajras. We attain the vajra body, vajra speech, and vajra mind of the resultant state of Buddha Vajradhara through first meditating on corresponding causal states in the generation stage. Then, in order to arise as the divine body of Guhyasamāja with his consort, we must isolate—or separate—ourselves from the ordinary appearances and conceptions of our body. This is achieved by meditating on the emptiness of the ordinary body as it appears conventionally, and such yoga is called physical isolation.

Similarly, in order to obtain the vajra speech of the resultant state of Guhyasamāja, we must isolate, or separate, ourselves from the appearances and conceptions of our speech as ordinary by meditating on verbal isolation. Finally, to obtain the vajra mind of the resultant enlightened state we must isolate, or separate, ourselves from the appearances and conceptions of our mind as ordinary by practicing mental isolation. This explains the use of the term isolation.


Physical isolation that is concentration producing the vajra body


The nature of completion-stage physical isolation is “a completion-stage practice generated by a yogi who has completed the coarse and subtle levels of the generation stage of this system. It begins from the generation of pristine wisdom of the empties derived from causing the winds to enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel due to meditating on the subtle drop at the lower opening. It extends up to but not including the generation of pristine wisdom derived from the dissolution of the upper and lower winds [17b] in the central channel at the heart.”

The definition of physical isolation describes the thresholds of the practice from its generation to its conclusion. It begins when a yogi is capable of generating the pristine wisdom of the four empties through causing the winds to properly enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel through focusing on a drop at the lower opening.225 This location applies especially to Guhyasamāja tantra. Alternately, those who follow Heruka tantra focus on the navel, while those practicing Kālacakra tantra focus between the eyebrows. The differences in the practices should be seen not as contradictory but as reflecting the varying needs, predispositions, constitutions, and so on of different practitioners.

When the winds dissolve naturally in the central channel at the time of death, the minds of white appearance, red increase, black near-attainment, and clear light serially manifest. A practitioner of completion-stage yoga uses meditation to achieve this dissolution of winds and its resultant manifestation of the four empties. He or she utilizes the fact that each of the four minds is associated with its respective wind, that each instance of wind-mind is progressively

more subtle than the former, and that these four in general are more subtle than the five sense awarenesses and their respective supportive winds. Then, due to meditation, the first empty appears when the mind of white appearance and its associated conceptions and winds dissolve, the second empty appears when the mind of red increase and its associated conceptions and winds dissolve, and so on.

This process continues until all four empties appear and the extremely subtle mind alone remains. Practitioners familiar with emptiness use this opportunity to meditate on emptiness. Physical isolation extends to the point of being able to cause the upper and lower winds to dissolve in the central channel at the level of the heart. But once this point is reached, the practitioner progresses to the level of verbal isolation.


Physical isolation is classified in two types:


1. Individual withdrawal in post-equipoise, where all functional phenomena such as objects, sense faculties, and so forth appear as the manifestation of bliss and emptiness

2. Absorption where the deities appear as the manifestation of bliss and emptiness


There are two types of physical isolation, one that occurs during post-equipoise when not engaged in meditation and one that occurs during equipoise when engaged in meditation. Although individual withdrawal 226 is listed as part of physical isolation, the term is used differently in the Guhyasamāja and

Kālacakra systems. In the Guhyasamāja system each of the sense consciousnesses individually engages its respective object. Since the sense consciousnesses are drawn to their respective objects, it may be said that they withdraw there. Still each of these objects appears to be inherently existent to the sense consciousness that naturally engages it.


Individual withdrawal in post-equipoise


In the first, individual withdrawal, everything that appears is sealed by the recollection of the bliss and emptiness of equipoise. During equipoise, or meditation, we focus on the appearance of the maṇḍala and its resident deities and ascertain their emptiness. Due to having meditated in this way in equipoise, we may later recall their emptiness in post-equipoise, when not in meditation. Through such recollection, we are able to seal everything with bliss and emptiness.

For when you have completed the analysis of view, you know that emptiness is the essence of that object which is the empty basis, and that object is the representation of that emptiness. This knowledge is common to both sūtra and tantra.

It is important to note that such knowledge arises when the analysis of the view has been completed. Prior to this the correct view may not manifest, and even if it does arise briefly, it lacks stability, and what first appears to be correct view may prove to be false after analysis. But when we have properly completed the analysis of view after repeated meditation, we establish fully qualified, stable, correct view within our mental continuum. At that time,

emptiness is comprehended to be indivisible from the basis that is empty, and this empty basis is comprehended as a manifestation of emptiness.227 This is succinctly stated in the Heart Sūtra: “Form is empty, emptiness is form.” In this example “form” is a specific basis of emptiness, and the emptiness of form is the nature of form indivisible from that form. This presentation is common to both sūtra and tantra.

Here, due to your conviction that bliss and emptiness possess the same taste, objects are established by the power of conviction to be the appearance of bliss just as they are established as the appearance of emptiness.

It is important to emphasize that at this point everything depends on the power of our resolution and conviction. Although things do not actually appear as the manifestation of bliss and emptiness, still the meditator steadily and resolutely holds the thought “they are manifestations of bliss and emptiness.”228


For when practicing the path of great bliss, it is imperative that whatever appears fans the flames of bliss, through the power of cultivating that conviction. The author suggests that the reason for this is that for one who is familiar with this conviction, any appearance may serve to increase the experience of bliss. And this ability is absolutely necessary for those who train to take all appearances as a path of great bliss.


Absorption where the deities appear


Absorption has five types:


1. Investigation that meditates in a coarse way on the bodies of the deities, which are objects of indivisible bliss and emptiness

2. Analysis that meditates on them in a detailed way

3. Mental bliss concordant with229 the pristine wisdom of indivisible bliss and emptiness

4. The bliss of pliancy concordant with that mind

5. The concentration of single-pointed mind


In general such information on absorption is found in the sūtra presentation of calm abiding.230 Absorption by nature is the mental factor of concentration included within the fifty-one mental factors listed in Abhidharma. From the five types of absorption, investigation and analysis are two mental factors that assist in the development of concentration; joy and bliss are by nature feeling; while single-pointed concentration is the very nature of absorption itself.


Investigation that meditates in a coarse way Here investigation is a type of meditation that focuses on the bodies of the deities and examines them in a coarse way. As such the deities are observed in a general manner without distinguishing their main and secondary limbs.231


Analysis that meditates in a detailed way

Analysis is a type of meditation that focuses on the bodies of the deities in greater detail. It observes the head, arms, and other limbs of the deities, as well as their postures, expressions, and so on. Thus it examines its focal object in more detail than investigation.


Mental bliss and the bliss of pliancy


Both joy and bliss are by nature the mental factor of feeling. Although they are similar in being feeling, they occur in the retinue of, or accompany, different main minds. As such they constitute two types of bliss. The first type accompanies mental awareness and is called joy.232 The second accompanies physical awareness and is called bliss of pliancy.

Here joy specifically refers to the mental bliss that is concordant with the pristine wisdom of indivisible bliss and emptiness. In other words by focusing on the deities and ascertaining their non-inherent existence, the pristine wisdom of emptiness that is indivisible with bliss manifests. The mental feeling of

bliss that is concordant with that pristine wisdom is known as the feeling of joy that accompanies pristine wisdom. Mental joy and the bliss of pliancy are also associated with calm abiding, which arises after progressing through the nine stages of mental placement. Such joy that is concordant with the pristine wisdom of indivisible bliss and emptiness is the mental joy that arises in the mind after the ninth mental placement has been achieved.

The progress of the mind through the nine stages of mental placement is also likened to an elephant being led along an ascending path by a monk holding a lasso in his left hand and an iron hook in his right. The elephant represents the mind, the lasso represents mindfulness, and the iron hook represents introspection. The taming of the elephant as it progresses along the path represents the taming of the mind as it progresses along the nine stages. The color of the elephant is black in the beginning when untamed, and this gradually changes to white when the monk is able to mount it. When the elephant is fully tamed the monk is depicted as flying, and this represents the attainment of the ninth mental placement when mental joy is experienced. Physical pliancy that is experienced as unprecedented physical bliss is induced due to the attainment of such mental joy and is present when the practitioner attains calm abiding.


Single-pointed concentration


When concentration is developed fully, we have complete control over the mind, and it is possible to remain single-pointed on our focal object effortlessly. This is the fifth type of absorption, known as single-pointed concentration.234 The three states of individual withdrawal, investigation, and analysis are the physical isolation of post-equipoise; the three states of joy, bliss, and concentration are the physical isolation of equipoise meditating on the ultimate deity.


The author now refines the descriptions of physical isolation presented so far. Therefore (1) individual withdrawal plus (2–3) the first two of the five types of physical isolation are said to occur during post-equipoise. The remaining three types of physical isolation—(4) joy, (5) the bliss of pliancy, and (6) concentration—occur during equipoise. Since the first three occur during post-equipoise they are classified as meditation on the relative deity, while the remaining three that occur during equipoise are classified as meditation on the ultimate deity. Thus physical isolation is held to possess six different types.


The four lineages


Physical isolation is classified into:


1. The physical isolation of one hundred pure lineages

2. The physical isolation of just five lineages

3. The physical isolation of three secret lineages

4. The physical isolation of one extremely secret lineage


This fourfold classification indicates that physical isolation may be practiced with varying degrees of elaboration. Therefore those who desire to practice in a detailed way may practice the one hundred pure lineages, those who wish to abbreviate this practice may practice five lineages235 or three,236 and those who seek an extremely abbreviated practice may engage just a single lineage.237 Conversely, those engaging in the extremely contracted practice of a single lineage may practice in a more elaborate way by expanding to three, five, or one hundred lineages.


Physical isolation of one hundred pure lineages

Firstly, the hundred lineages consist of the twenty coarse phenomena, namely (1–5) the five aggregates, (6–9) the four elements, (10–15) the six bases such as the eyes and so on, and (16–20) the five objects such as form, sound, and so on, which are differentiated into five aspects each and meditated on as (1–5) the five tathāgatas, (6–9) the four consorts, [18a] (10–15) the six bodhisattvas such as Kṣitigarbha and so on, and (16–20) the five goddesses such as Rūpavajrā and so forth, for each of the five lineages.

The practice of one hundred lineages relies on the twenty coarse phenomena : the five aggregates of form, feeling, discrimination, formation, and consciousness; the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind; the six bases of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind; and the five types of objects—forms, sounds, aromas, flavors, and tactile objects.

The twenty coarse phenomena also form part of a larger classification that includes the five types of pristine wisdom. The five types of pristine wisdom occur at the time of the basis, path, and result and are associated with the five aggregates.

As such

(1) mirror-like pristine wisdom is associated with the form aggregate.

(2) The pristine wisdom of equality is associated with the feeling aggregate and equalizes or balances feelings that can instigate strong like or dislike.

(3) The pristine wisdom of individual analysis is associated with the discrimination aggregate. It is discrimination that allows us to individually recognize and separate different entities. It is like the white canvas of a painter that clearly reveals all the strokes of color, blue, red, yellow, and so forth. The whiteness of the neutral medium allows us to distinguish individual colors.

(4) The pristine wisdom accomplishing activities is associated with the aggregate of formation. Finally

(5) the pristine wisdom of the sphere of dharma is associated with the consciousness aggregate.

In general awareness is classified as either main minds or mental factors and each possesses many levels of subtlety. But in this context consciousness refers to the main mind that comprehends the emptiness that pervades all phenomena. Such emptiness is considered to be the mother of all phenomena since all phenomena are manifestations of emptiness. However, this use of the term “mother” differs from how it is applied to the Prajñāpāramitā texts in the Perfection Vehicle. The twenty coarse phenomena are purified at the time of the path when a practitioner meditates on their emptiness and then visualizes them as the five male

tathāgatas, the four female tathāgatas, the six male bodhisattvas, and the five female bodhisattvas. Such meditation permits a practitioner to stop ordinary appearance and conception in relation to his or her body. By seeing each part of the body as a deity, the practitioner substitutes ordinary appearance and

conception with pure appearance and conception. Mantric Stages states that by stopping ordinary appearance and conception we actually abandon true appearance and grasping at the true appearance of dharmas. Seeing our physical body as divine acts to bless the body. This blessing combined with purification establishes the twenty coarse phenomena as actual deities at the time of the result.

In the practice of physical isolation of one hundred pure lineages, each of the twenty deities is further subdivided into five, making a total of one hundred. When practicing the Guru Pūjā, we establish our lama in the aspect of Guru Vajradhara, the main figure of the field of accumulation, while the thirty-two deities of Guhyasamāja are visualized within his body:


Your five pure aggregates are the five sugatas,

your four constituents the four consorts,

your bases, channels, sinews, and joints

are actually bodhisattvas.


According to this verse, each of the five aggregates is associated with one of the five male tathāgatas. T

Therefore

(1) Akṣobhya is the purifying agent of the aggregate of consciousness,

(2) Vairocana is the purifying agent of the aggregate of form,

(3) Ratnasambhava is the purifying agent of the aggregate of feeling,

(4) Amitābha is the purifying agent of the aggregate of discrimination, and

(5) Amoghasiddhi is the purifying agent of the aggregate of formation.


The four elements are associated with the four female tathāgatas. The four elements are often expanded into the six constituents, which includes space, but this is not done here.


Therefore

(1) Locanā is the purifying agent of the earth element,

(2) Māmakī is the purifying agent of the water element,

(3) Pāṇḍaravāsinī is the purifying agent of the fire element, and

(4) Tārā is the purifying agent of the wind element.


In the Guhyasamāja tantra, Akṣobhya is coupled with Dharmadhātuvajrī while the remaining four male buddhas are coupled with the above four female deities. The aggregates and elements should be understood at the time of the basis and path but meditated on in the aspect of deities of the resultant state. “The time of the basis” refers to the aggregates and the four elements existing in our body at the time prior to entering a path. “The time of the path” refers to the

aggregates and elements from the time that we have attained the path. The sense bases are associated with the six male bodhisattvas. Thus the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind at the time of the basis and path are visualized in the aspect of the resultant male bodhisattvas who act as their agents of purification.

From the normal list of eight bodhisattvas,

Mañjuśrī and

Maitreya are omitted leaving six who correspond to the six bases, namely

Kṣitigarbha,

Vajrapāṇi,

Ākāśagarbha,

Avalokiteśvara,

Sarvanīvaṇaviṣkambin, and

Samantabhadra.


The objects held by sense awareness are forms, sounds, aromas, flavors, and tactile objects. When these five impure sense objects existing at the time of the basis are completely purified by pristine wisdom at the time of the path, they attain their resultant aspects of the five female bodhisattvas,

namely Rūpavajrā, Śabdavajrā, Gandhavajrā, Rasavajrā, and Sparśavajrā. The aim of this practice is to isolate or separate ourselves from ordinary appearances and conceptions of the twenty coarse phenomena, and replace them with the pure appearances and conceptions of the deities.

Moreover each list of twenty is repeated for the five buddha lineages of Akṣobhya, Vairocana, Ratnasambhava, Amitābha, and Amoghasiddhi. 240 We meditate by starting with the aggregate of consciousness that is purified by Akṣobhya and visualized as Akṣobhya. Then we visualize the aggregate of consciousness as Vairocana, and then as Ratnasambhava, Amitābha, and Amoghasiddhi respectively. This process is then applied to the remaining aggregates. Then we repeat the

process with the four elements, first visualizing the element earth as Akṣobhya, then as Vairocana, Ratnasambhava, Amitābha, and Amoghasiddhi, and likewise for the remaining elements. Then we apply the same process respectively to the six bases and the five objects. By again subdividing each group into method represented by the five male buddhas and wisdom represented by the five female buddhas, the practice of physical isolation would involve two hundred pure lineages.

The Guru Pūjā describes the generation of the main figure of the field of accumulation as Lama Losang Thupwang Dorjechang according to the Akṣobhya system of Guhyasamāja that includes thirty-two deities. Still the Root Tantra of Guhyasamāja does not mention all of these thirty-two deities. The author makes this point in the following paragraph:

From the thirty-two deities, the ten wrathful ones plus Maitreya and Samantabhadra are not mentioned here since they are not clearly and explicitly stated in the Root Tantra. However, in general there are thirty-two deities of physical isolation because the complete thirty-two deities are stated in the context of physical isolation and implicitly explained in the introduction. This is understood from the Annotations.

The author observes that though the total number of deities presented in this system is thirty-two, not all are mentioned in the Root Tantra and the sādhana. Disciples of sharp intellectual faculty, however, understand the number of deities to be thirty-two when studying the Root Tantra. Still the full list of deities is stated in the Explanatory Tantra that complements the Root Tantra for the sake of those of medium or dull intellectual faculty. In brief the omission of specific deities does not necessarily mean they are not included in a particular system. This issue is clarified in Tsongkhapa’s Annotations to the four commentaries.


Investigation and analysis in the various lineages


The next paragraph discusses in greater detail the essential nature of the practice of physical isolation. It was mentioned earlier that physical isolation at the time of post-equipoise is meditation on relative deities while physical isolation at the time of equipoise is meditation on the ultimate deities. These issues are now raised in relation to the physical isolation of the one hundred pure lineages:

I wonder whether the hundred pure lineages shouldn’t be primarily classified as analysis because individual withdrawal does not meditate on deities with faces and hands; the three states of joy, bliss, and concentration possess ultimate objects; and investigation prefers the five lineages through condensing the bases of purification to five or Vajradhara alone, without associating the twenty coarse phenomena with each of the twenty deities.

The author asserts that the practice of the hundred lineages primarily consists of fine analysis rather than coarse investigation even though some practices belong to other categories. He then posits reasons why the other categories of physical isolation are not the main practice. Firstly individual withdrawal is not the main practice since it is a type of meditation where we see the deities in their entirety without focusing on specific limbs and so on, such as the

head, legs, and arms. Joy, bliss, and concentration are not main practices for they meditate on the ultimate nature of the deities since they occur at the time of equipoise. Finally investigation is not the main practice since it does not associate the twenty coarse phenomena with the twenty deities because it condenses the bases of purification into five, or even one lineage.

For, as Gyaltsap Jé’s Notes on the Five Stages states:

Investigation prefers the aspect of Vajradhara alone, while analysis is detailed contemplation that associates each deity with their individual object and sense faculty.

To support his assertion, the author quotes a passage from Gyaltsap Rinpoché’s Notes on the Five Stages that distinguishes investigation and analysis. It is obvious from this passage that the nature of investigation is narrower while the nature of analysis is much more detailed since it associates the twenty bases, such as the five objects, the six sense faculties, and so on, with the twenty deities.

The Later Guhyasamāja Tantra states:

The three secret states are investigation...242

Illuminating Lamp states:

Investigation means investigating the five lineages divided into three groups of five for each of the three secret states, namely the sense faculties, sense objects, and sense awarenesses.

The Later Guhyasamāja Tantra and Rinpoché’s Illuminating Lamp present investigation as having three or five subdivisions of lineages, while Gyaltsap Jé’s Notes on the Five Stages states that investigation pertains to a single lineage. The Later Guhyasamāja Tantra refers to material found in the fourteenth chapter of the Root Tantra of Guhyasamāja, which is not considered to be in the main part of the Root Tantra. Therefore Sun Illuminating the Profound Meaning states:

The branch of investigation investigates the nature of the deities. The branch of analysis analyses in detail the face, hands, and so on.244 Finally the author quotes a text composed by Paṇchen Chögyen called Sun Illuminating the Profound Meaning, which is a commentary to the five stages of Guhyasamāja. It defines investigation as a type of meditation that apprehends the nature of the deities, while analysis is a type of meditation apprehending the face, arms, and other limbs of the deity.

This should be analyzed.

Different scholars have defined investigation and analysis in different ways, and it is not easy to conclusively present the final meaning of each term. Therefore we should be prepared to examine this issue further.


Meditation on subtle objects


Meditation on a subtle object is a means of gathering the winds. Melting the substances through gathering the winds is a method of generating bliss. Through these you establish the four joys and the four empties.

When we meditate on the completion stage, we may either meditate in a general and nonspecific way on the deities and the celestial mansion, or we may meditate through focusing on a subtle drop at either the upper or lower opening of the central channel. This passage refers to the second type, where we focus on a subtle drop or a subtle hand symbol at a specific site within the body, causing the winds to gather, the substances to melt, and the four joys and four empties to arise.

A yogi who has completed the coarse and subtle generation stages of this system through meditating on the subtle drop at the lower opening causes the [18b] winds to gather where the mind is held. This is due to the key point that the wind and mind share the same point of engagement.

When a yogi training in the Ārya system of Guhyasamāja completes both the coarse and subtle generation stages, he then enters meditation on the completion stage. His focal object is a subtle drop inside the lower opening of the central channel. Since the mind is always accompanied by its supporting wind and they

possess the same object and place of engagement,245 when the yogi concentrates single-pointedly on the subtle drop at the lower opening, its supporting winds also proceed there. For those training in the system of Heruka, the subtle drop is visualized in the central channel at the navel. For those training in the system of Kālacakra, it is visualized at the upper opening of the central channel, between the eyebrows.

In dependence upon that, the winds enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel, and the four empties together with their signs arise.

As winds from the upper and lower parts of the body gather at the focal site, they enter the central channel. Proper and fully qualified entrance of the winds at this location is followed by their proper and fully qualified abiding and dissolution. The sign of the winds entering the central channel is that the flow of winds through both nostrils equalizes. The sign of the winds abiding in the central channel is that the movement of wind through both nostrils stops.

Regarding the signs of the winds dissolving in the central channel, first the visions of a mirage, smoke, fireflies, and butter lamp arise when the coarse elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and consciousness dissolve. Then the visions of white appearance, red increase, and black near-attainment arise when the eighty natural conceptions dissolve.

When the subtle winds supporting these subtle minds dissolve, the four empties occur naturally. It is beneficial for those who have realized emptiness to direct their minds to emptiness at this point in order to generate the pristine wisdom of the four empties. From prior familiarity they will recall emptiness easily. Ordinary beings unfamiliar with emptiness, however, will experience merely a vacuity or absence and nothing more. Others say emptiness will appear to their minds but they will not ascertain it.

When the winds enter the central channel, the downward-voiding wind reverses in the central channel, igniting the caṇḍālī. This causes the white substance to melt and the stream of bodhicitta to descend and drip, and from this the four descending and ascending joys are generated. As the winds enter the central channel, the downward-voiding wind that normally flows downward reverses its flow, causing the fire of caṇḍālī to ignite. This causes the white substance to melt and descend, producing the four descending and four ascending joys respectively.246


Presentation of winds


Of the five main winds, the

(1) life-sustaining and

(2) equally abiding winds are considered more important, while the

(3) ascending,

(4) downward-voiding, and

(5) pervading winds are considered less important. The life-sustaining wind has two types, coarse and subtle.


The subtle life-sustaining wind has existed from beginningless time and will continue until we reach the state of enlightenment.247 The coarse life-sustaining wind dissolves into the subtle life-sustaining wind at the time of death. The function of both the coarse and subtle life-sustaining wind is to support and sustain life and consciousness.

At the time of conception, the consciousness of the bardo being enters the ovum, the red substance received from the mother, which has been fertilized by the sperm, the white substance received from the father. Then, as the fetus develops, the five main winds are established in the first five months of fetal development. The coarse life-sustaining wind is established in the first month, and the remaining four main winds are serially established in the next four

months. The five secondary winds are progressively established in the remaining four and a half months. The secondary winds are the moving wind, fully moving wind, correctly moving wind, intensely moving wind, and definitely moving wind.248 By the time the five secondary winds are established, the fetus is fully developed in the womb.249


The functions of the main winds


Each of the five main winds possesses a specific function both at the time of the basis, when an ordinary individual has not yet entered the path, and at the time of the path itself. (1) In general the life-sustaining wind functions to lead other winds to the doors of the senses and performs other life-related activities such as sustaining and prolonging life. (2) The equally abiding wind is established during the second month and functions together with the life-

sustaining wind. When solid or liquid substances are consumed, this wind separates the subtle substances that are necessary for our well-being from substances that should be discarded from the body and distributes them throughout the body. (3) The ascending wind enables the upward movement of wind when breathing or

vocalizing. This particular wind is also involved in eating and drinking. (4) The downward-voiding wind is responsible for evacuating substances such as urine and excrement through the lower part of the body. (5) The pervading wind is responsible for the proper distribution of winds and the white and red substances so that they pervade the entire body. It also aids physical movement, such as coming and going and so forth. These are the individual functions of the five main winds at the time of the basis.


The four joys


Further, it is stated in the Vajra Garland [[[Explanatory Tantra]]] that when bodhicitta descends from the crown to the throat, from there to the heart, from there to the navel, and from there to the secret place, the four joys are generated.

The practice of caṇḍālī involves first visualizing the syllable āḥ and activating the winds at the navel cakra. This causes the internal fire to ignite within the central channel at the navel, and when the flames reach the heart it releases the channel knots at the heart. This causes the white bodhicitta to melt and descend from its seat at the crown like melted butter. This in turn causes the flames to flare even more, and as the melted bodhicitta drips from the crown to

the throat, the practitioner experiences the bliss called joy. The melted bodhicitta then descends from the throat to the heart, where a second level of bliss called supreme joy is experienced. Then it descends to the navel, inducing even greater bliss called special joy. Then it descends until it reaches the sex organ, where it generates the highest level of bliss, innate joy.

The last type of joy is called innate because it is innate in those who are born from the womb and endowed with the six substances inherited from their parents. It is also called innate to indicate that it is not fabricated. A practitioner should direct this naturally occurring joy toward emptiness for such joy is extremely potent. Such practice is called bringing bliss into the path, where the first three types of joy are considered steps leading to innate joy. The methods of generating such joy are discussed in various texts such as the Vajra Garland Explanatory Tantra, and in other texts composed by Ārya Nāgārjuna.

Also Drop of the Great Seal states that in accordance with the descent of white bodhicitta, sixteen joys are derived by classifying each of four such joys into four parts each.

Further, each of the joys mentioned above is subdivided into four types from the perspective of the descent of white bodhicitta, resulting in sixteen types of joy.

And in accordance with the decent of the red drops there are twelve joys through classifying them as three each. This is the method of the four descending joys.

To understand the descent of white and red bodhicitta, first consider the way the consciousness of the bardo being is trapped within the fertilized ovum containing the white substance received from the father and the red substance received from the mother. The fertilized ovum, or seed, is the site where the heart of the fetus forms. As the fetus develops, both white and red substances, but a greater part of white substance, separate from the substances at the

heart, evolving “upward” to form the sites of the throat and crown cakras. Similarly both white and red substances, but a greater part of red substance, separate from the substances at the heart, evolving “downward” to form the sites of the navel and secret-place cakras. In an adult sixteen types of joy are generated when white substance is caused to descend from the crown to the secret place, while twelve types of joy are generated when red bodhicitta descends.

The four ascending joys are generated through bodhicitta moving from the secret place to the navel, from there to the heart, and so forth, and the method of generating the sixteen and twelve joys is similar.

There are also the four ascending joys that are divided similarly into sixteen or twelve parts. When the melted bodhicitta progresses to the tip of the secret organ, it is not released but rather its flow is reversed. The bodhicitta then moves from the secret organ to the navel, from the navel to the heart, from the heart to the throat, and from the throat to the crown. Each time the bodhicitta reaches a specific cakra, a specific ascending joy is generated. These four ascending joys are also subdivided into sixteen and twelve respectively.


The difference in superiority between descending and ascending joys


It is said that the ascending joys are far superior to the descending joys and all the ascending joys must be innate joy. Drilbupa’s Explanation of the Five Stages also states that at times the bliss of the first three descending joys is innate bliss.

In general, the ascending joys are considered superior to the descending joys. Further, the mahāsiddha Drilbupa, who is known for his commentaries to mother tantra, has said that the first three descending joys may also be innate joy. It is possible, though rare, for some practitioners to experience all descending joys at the level of innate joy since the way the channels form and the quality of the drops differs slightly from person to person. This statement found in Explanation of the Five Stages occurs in Rinpoché’s Lamp Illuminating the Five Stages.


Variations in the generation of the four joys


It is not logically necessary that all means of generating the four joys accord with the previous explanation of the stages of descent of bodhicitta because it is said that the four joys are generated from the convergence of melted bodhicitta in the heart from above and below, once caṇḍālī is ignited by vajra recitation.

The Five Stages explains a means of generating of the four joys that is applicable in most cases. Still there are exceptions, such as the possibility mentioned above that all four descending joys are described as innate joy. Also there are other ways of generating the four joys that differ from the standard presentation, such as generating the four joys in verbal isolation through drawing bodhicitta to the heart when vajra recitation has ignited the heat of caṇḍālī.

There are many issues requiring analysis, but these will be explained in brief in the context of mental isolation. We have now seen different classifications and ways of generating the four joys, but the extensive literature on this subject covers many other issues. The

purpose of this text is to give an overview of the entire tantric path, and for this reason the author cannot pursue all the relevant issues nor review all the relevant sources. Still these points are important, and the author will discuss them in brief in the context of mental isolation. Serious students should investigate in depth all the source materials.


Relation between the four joys and the four empties


In general the four joys are not posited as the four empties [19a] since it is said that some beings generate the four joys without dissolving the winds in the central channel.

The standard mode of generating the four joys begins with the entering, abiding, and dissolving of the winds in the central channel, then the melting and descending of bodhicitta, and finally the serial generation of the four joys. Yet, there are exceptions, for some individuals generate the four joys without causing the winds to dissolve in the central channel.

Nevertheless, the four joys are generated in the nature of the four empties because many scholars explain this point in accordance with Drop of the Great Seal, which states that the four joys are the four empties.

Different assertions regarding the generation of the four empties

In this context Muniśrī explained that the four empties are serially generated when the bodhicitta reaches the root of the jewel, the neck of the jewel, the center of the jewel, and the tip of the jewel. Illuminating Lamp states this to be a serious departure from the standard presentation.

The Root Tantra of Guhyasamāja explains that the four joys are generated as melted bodhicitta descends from the crown to the throat, then to the heart, the navel, and the secret place. Yet scholars such as the Indian master Muniśrī state that the four joys are generated from the movement of bodhicitta along the secret organ. He identifies four points of the jewel—the base, neck, center, and tip—and describes the serial generation of the four joys as the bodhicitta reaches these points. Rinpoché states in Illuminating Lamp that this is a major departure from the standard presentation.

Rinpoché has frequently stated that those who assert that all pristine wisdom of the four empties is the four joys derived entirely from bodhicitta descending from the crown to the secret place and ascending back to the crown have not yet comprehended the important points of this system.

It has been emphasized many times that the four joys will not always be associated with the four empties, nor will the four joys always be generated in a linear fashion through bodhicitta descending from the crown to the secret place and ascending again to the crown. Since there are many exceptions, we cannot assert that the four joys are the four empties nor that they are always generated in that particular order.


Uniting bliss with emptiness


Thus when you are able to generate innate bliss during descent and ascent, you should meditate in equipoise on the emptiness that is the lack of inherent existence through uniting the object and subject.

The aim of our practice is to generate innate bliss realizing emptiness. Therefore we seek to generate a type of awareness—namely the intense bliss of innate joy—that comprehends the object emptiness. Such innate bliss is not fabricated and possesses the nature of extremely subtle wind-mind. When we enter equipoise on emptiness, we direct this extremely subtle awareness to engage emptiness, and in post-equipoise we recall this blissful ascertainment of emptiness.

When you arise from equipoise due to the movement of winds, you recall the bliss and emptiness of equipoise, and you seal whatever appears with that. If you restrain inappropriate attention, all appearing objects arise as bliss. After that, sense awareness withdraws from its objects when the winds engaging objects through the doors of the senses reabsorb due to the increase of bliss. Therefore, as stated before, bliss is generated through the winds dissolving.

There are five types of consciousness associated with the sense faculties. When bliss is ignited, the winds withdraw inward and sense awareness withdraws from the sense faculties. Once coarse sense consciousness withdraws, the very subtle wind and mind manifest naturally. Winds that withdraw inward eventually remain and dissolve in the central channel. This dissolution of winds results in the generation of genuine bliss.


Etymology


Regarding the etymology of the term physical isolation, the physical basis of isolation is the twenty coarse objects and so on, what is isolated is ordinary appearance and conception, and the purpose of isolation is to meditate on those as the appearance of bliss and [19b] emptiness or as deities.

These twenty coarse phenomena were explained in the context of the hundred lineages. Since the twenty coarse phenomena are a condition for ordinary appearance and conception, we should “isolate” them, so that by stopping ordinary appearance and conception we may generate the nature of pure appearance and pure conception. The twenty coarse phenomena exist prior to entering the path, but they also continue, from the moment we enter the tantric path of accumulation

until we reach the tantric path of no-more learning. When they are purified at the time of the result, they become the five buddha lineages. Knowing that their purified nature is the different buddha lineages, we meditate on them as having that aspect. This is how the etymology, cause, and meaning of physical isolation are explained.

Physical isolation does not necessarily fully conform to this etymology, and that which fully conforms with the etymology of physical isolation is not necessarily physical isolation because from the stage of verbal isolation on, you meditate on everything that appears as sealed by bliss and emptiness. Verbal isolation conforms with the etymology of physical isolation but it is not physical isolation. But it is not logically necessary for something that

conforms with the etymology of a specific state to be that state and vice versa. For example a synonym of the lotus is “water-born,” and the etymology of water-born is that which is born in water. But there are many types of lotuses that are not born in water, and there are many things born in water that are not lotuses.



Source