THE INSTRUCTION IN THE ESSENCE OF THE VAJRAYANA PATH OR THE SHORT - CUT TO THE PALACE OF UNITY - 9
At all times I bow to and take refuge in the lotus-feet of my venerable Gurus who are one with Vajradhara.
I pray that they will accept me with compassion.
White moonbeams from the toe-nails of the venerable Gurus Who relieve us from the fever of our infatuations When on us falls the light of their compassion, Have for ever entered the lotus of my heart.
I fold my hands devoutly before Ma:iijughoa
Who fills the sky with his vast benign and wrathful forms,
Who gives the aspirant the Wish-Fulfilling Gem that grants Boons high and low, thinking of him with love as if his son.
May the host of J;)akas in the three worlds watch Over me who fails not in my commitments Whilst I am guided to the palace of great bliss Where the treasures of Vajradhara lie concealed.
For a discriminative person who wants to achieve the aim of his next life, because he is not content with merely having a good time now, the single entrance to it is the precious teaching of the Buddha. Since the real gate to this teaching is taking refuge in the Three Jewels 1, intelligent persons first of all will take refuge in them with all their heart. However,
it is not enough merely to utter the refuge formula. Above all you have to feel disgusted with the world by thinking how you have been tormented
1 The Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. See note 3, p. 81.
for a long time by the three kinds of misery and have roamed about in this world with its three spheres without any independence because of the power of karmic actions and emotional upsets. Further, thinking that you will suffer this misery uninterruptedly until the emotional tendencies have been eliminated, you must feel frightened and terrified. Lastly, having become absolutely certain by way of clear reasoning that the power to save you from this misery rests with the Three Jewels, you must make your decision and take refuge in them with full confidence.
The graded practice of the path starts after having taken refuge. The compassionate Teacher has proclaimed many ways in view of the disposition and the intellectual acumen of the aspirants, but ultimately they are only a means to become enlightened. As is stated in the mTshan yang-dag-par brjod-pa :
By three ways comes disengagement, At the end of one lies rest.
In order to reach the citadel of Buddhahood we must have its causative experience which is the integral unity of fitness of action and intelligence. Otherwise the goal cannot be achieved, as I have shown in my 'Specific
Guidance to the Profound Middle View' 1 where I dealt with that which is common to both the Sutras and Tantras.
Mahayana has been said to consist of the Paramitayana as the cause and Vajrayana as the climax, and since the latter is the most profound and quickest way to reach the citadel of Buddahood, we must set out with certainty on the Mantrayana path after we have practised the common way. Tsong-kha-pa has said 2 :
If perfect Buddhahood you wish to gain
There are two paths of the profound
Yanas of Vajra and ParamiHi : but to the last
The Guhyamantrayana is far superior : 3 This like the sun and moon is known. But he who never tries to plumb
The profundity of this path, Just believing it is true,
Bears the burden of his learning.
Would it not be shameful for a clever man to leave This path unsurpassable, hard for the dull to find ?
1 See pp. 104 seqq. 2 Tskhp II 2, 63a. 3 This is another name for Vajrayana. See chapter Paramitayana and M antrayana in part I.
So when I took the oath of the Victorious One,
On the Vajrayana, more precious than the Buddha, I strove with all my might to win The treasures of the two attainments.
It was through you, Mafijughoa. priceless gem of knowledge, That I thought thus and found spiritual satisfaction.
The entrance into the Mantrayana fold is delineated, according to Tsong-kha-pa 1 :
By practising the common path I have won
Some worth. May I be favoured with an easy Entrance to the gate through which the fortunate Set out on the Vajrayana path supreme.
Thus we have to purify ourselves by means of the common path and acquire a stable feeling of disengagement from worldly affairs, of an enlightened attitude,
and of an unbiased outlook. Then we have to cultivate an enlightened attitude and, even if on our part we are inde
fatigable in working for others until Saf!1sara has become empty, firmly
implant the idea in our mind that we are coming nearer the goal whenever we remember that beings are frustrated by misery. In so doing we set out on the Vajrayana path, the profound short-cut that brings us quickly to the citadel of Buddhahood.
The Mantrayana method is quicker and more profound than the
Paramitayana because it provides for the special instruction by which the goal itself is made the path, a procedure and technique not found in the Paramitayana. Further, in the Mantrayana it is the Anuttarayogatantra that has the power to make us realize the dual pattern of existence in a single mental act by meditating on no-thing-ness, and in particular it is a short-cut because it produces the special awareness so necessary for overcoming that straying of the mind which becomes the belief in
The method of making the goal the path is as follows : You have to purify and transfigure whatever appears as the world and its beings, within which you ordinarily become involved by your appetance, by thinking of them as a pure environment and its inhabitants. That is to say, no longer preoccupied with your physical aspect you think of it as being Vajrasattva 2 and the same with your environment until it becomes
1 Tskhp II 2, 3a. 2 See note 2, p. Ioo.
transfigured into a realm of purity. Similarly your communications become sacred vessels of worship, manifesting themselves in their true nature, and your actions assume the character of Buddha-activities. The Mantrayana path in general and the Anuttarayogatantra path in particular are quick ways because, by thinking of unlimited purities in the manner detailed above, your two piles of knowlegde and merits approach perfection more and more every moment. You then become capable of quickly removing the heavy stains of your karmic actions ; you develop the power of having the favour of the Buddhas and their spiritual sons always present. In the Anuttarayogatantra path, in addition, there is a special co-emergent awareness on the subjective side, through the power of which the latent disposition of the mind to stray into the belief in things as existing in truth is quickly overcome. On the objective side, however, it is not different from the other paths, taking no-thingness or the existentiality of all that is as its objective reference. Thus by a single mental process the operational patterns 1 as well as the cognitive one 2 are simultaneously realized. This Vajrasattvayoga, effecting a complete fourfold purity 3 and uniting fitness of action with intelligence in an indivisible manner, is also called Vajrayana, Phalayana, and Guhyamantrayana.
1 These are in the technical language of the Tantras the Sambhogakaya representing the communicative norm, the being with others, and the Nirmal).akaya or the being in the world. See also note r, p. 95· 2 Dharmakaya.
3 Vajrasattvayoga may be translated in view of the meaning of Vajrasattva as elucitaded in note 2, p. 95, as 'an attempt to live up to man's existential norms'. The analysis of the humain individual, which is particularly penetrating in Buddhist Tantrism, shows that man is not a selfenclosed substance with certain relations incidentally attached to it. Man's whole being is intentional in structure and how he orders his life and the world he lives in depends on his becoming aware (or remaining unaware) of these norms which are not determinate traits or properties but ways of being that are active and dynamic. The better these norms are understood the better is man's relation to others and the more significant are his actions. Thus sound insight into the nature of man and action in the light of his knowledge reinforce each other. The same is true of their opposites. In the religioussymbolic language of the Tantras this means that when we become aware of our existential norms the drabness of our ordinary life, which may be said to be an absence from one's norms, is transfigured. These four 'purities' then are : {I) the world we live in and which so often we are accustomed to decry as a vale of tears, becomes a Buddha-realm of infinite beauty; (n) man himself instead of being looked at and dealt with as a thing, becomes a subject, a 'god' (which is by no means a deification of man, for such deification is but a confusion of the divine
Among the Vajrayana Tantras there are the Kriya-, Carya-, Yoga-, and Anuttarayoga-tantras 1• The best among them, since it shows the short-cut which leads to the citadel of Buddhahood in a single short
lifetime during this evil age, is the Anuttarayogatantra. Tsong-kha-pa tells us how to set out on it 2 :
When by practising the common path you are a worthy vessel,
Then the four initiations will empower you to practise
The Two Stages which abolish the four kinds of impurity And impart the (needed) power to live up to the four norms 3.
From a competent Guru you have to obtain the four initiatory empowerments and whilst receiving them you have to guard your commitments 4 and restraints 5 like the apple of your eye. In particular it has been said that it is very difficult for virtue to grow in us when we are polluted by not keeping our commitments and that therefore we should stake our life on not becoming defiled by violating them. If, on the other hand, the commitments and restraints are kept firmly we will certainly attain enlightenment in less than sixteen re-in-carnations. In our earnest striving we have to make the observation of our commitments and restraints the basis of all our endeavour. By discarding them our efforts, however great they may be, will all come to nought. It would be like expecting fruits to grow on a tree that has been cut at the root. All saintly sages say the same.
After we have made the commitments and restraints our foundation we then must set out on the path of the Two Stages 6• We must practise
with the human. In the end it serves merely as a means to despise all others and to insist on their thingness) ; (rn) whatever one possesses or uses becomes the vehicle of worship; and (rv) whatever one does is authentic action, not an escape from ones obligations.
1 These four kinds of Tantras each deal with certain developmental aspects as the proceed from an 'outer' form of ritual acts and ways of acting to an 'inner' form of pure philosophy as a means of organizing one's whole life.
2 Tskph II 2, 274b.
3 The four norms are Nirmaakaya, Sambhogakaya, Dharmakaya, and Svabhavikakaya. As to their meaning see note I p. 95, and notes 2 and 3, p. 97· Each initiatory empowerment relates to one of these norms and aims at removing those obstacles which prevent the individual from living up to his norms.
4 There are nineteen commitments which are distributed over the five 'Buddhafamilies' or leitmotifs, value and action patterns.
5 There are two kinds, those of a Bodhisattva in general and the fourteen restraints incumbent on every follower of the Tantric discipline. As to the latter see note I, pp. 99 seqq.
6 Developing Stage and Fulfilment Stage.
ttem by having learned them from true spiritual friends who are well versed in the matter and whom we have served properly. In the beginning, we have to attend to the Developing Stage and have a vivid experience of it. Afterwards we can practise the Fulfilment Stage. Tsong-kha-pa has declared that without having the experience of the Developing Stage, the Fulfilment Stage will not be realized, even if we attempt to practise it. In order to create a disposition for it it is of the utmost importance
again and again to attempt the Two Stages. When at the phase of the Developing Stage we have become mentally conversant with the means of transmuting birth, death and the intermediate state into the three Buddha norms , we must master completely the elements of the realization techniques which competent saints and sages have explained as the intention of the Yogatantra. Within the circle of a ma1J¢ala complete in every respect, we have to feel the divine pride and have a clear vision of the deity. Through having a strong interest in this process, thereby experiencing vividly the non-duality of clarity and
profoundness, many stains of karmic actions are wiped clean and countless merits accumulated. Further, by first practising the Developing Stage it becomes a special power for maturing all that is necessary for the profound Fulfilment Stage, so that the latter is easily attained and develops perfectly. While starting with the practice of the Fulfilment Stage, after we have mastered the Developing Stage, it is of the greatest importance to know how to immerse ourselves in our existentiality by illumining the three structural ways with their four focal points when
making the Guruyoga the way to it. Although the various Tantras and the saintly sages in their instructions have described this technique differently they all agree that the concentration center is in the heart focal point, of which Ghal}tapada spoke from the beginning. It has been said that all understanding in the Fulfilment Stage must stem from immersion in one's existentiality, which must take place mainly in the heart focal point. This is because the essential feature of the Fulfilment Stage, the realization of both the apparitional existence and the radiant light (the fact of no-thing-ness and its cognition), depends on unravelling the 'knots' in the heart.
The Fulfilment Stage, which has come about from this immersion in one's existentiality, comprises five steps. Through the experience of this fivefold process one reaches the goal or unity which is the citadel of Vajradhara. While this goal unity need not be studied further since the pure act of existing (the apparitional being) and the pure noetic power (the real radiancy) have found their ultimate unity, the causes for realizing the operational norms in the act of existing and for the realization of the cognitive norm are an awareness in which bliss unites indivisibly with no-thing-ness. To attain these operational norms the follower of the Paramitayana must accumulate merits for three 'countless aeons'. In the case of a follower of the Anuttarayogatantra it is the power of this apparitional being that perfects the accumulation of merits in a single
lifetime. Further, a follower of the Paramitayana must gather knowledge for many 'countless aeons' in order to disperse his intellectual fog, while a follower of the Anuttarayogatantra achieves this by the power of his awareness in which bliss is indivisible from no-thing-ness. Because of this double power the Anuttarayogatantra path is a very quick one. Inasmuch as the realization of an apparitional being depends on the awareness in which bliss unites indivisibly with no-thing-ness, this awareness is the core of the path and the ultimate short-cut to becoming enlightened in a single short lifetime during this evil age. Even so, since certainty about the ultimate nature of this bliss and no-thing-ness is very rare, few have travelled the path to its end, although many believe in it, and those few are like a star in the noon sky.
What is this ultimate bliss and no-thing-ness ? Well, how can a simpleton like me know discursively what is a thoroughly mystic experience ? When I discussed that which is common to the Siitras and Tantras I stated the ultimate nature of the profound or no-thing-ness in a manner easy to understand, according to that which I have learned from my Gurus. But this great bliss, the subjective factor, is more secret than the secret and more subtle than the subtle, to say nothing of how it develops in us. Even as an object of thought it is most difficult to understand.
When through full concentration the mind has become stable, it has a feeling tone of relaxed contentment. The moment this has been achieved, the vibrations permeating the body from head to heel become supple and the body feels pleasantly at ease. Due to this there is an intense feeling of bodily pleasure and mental delight. But such pleasure and delight are nothing in comparison with that which has been termed 'co-emergent great bliss' in the Anuttarayogatantras. This concentration involving bodily ease and mental delight is common to both outsiders and insiders; the former use it to feel on top of the world, the latter to scale the higher spiritual levels within the three courses. In this way such a concentration with its feeling of ease and delight is a common feature of the worldly and transworldly paths. The fact, however, that the coemergent great bliss has been derived from immersion in one's existentiality when one practises the Fulfilment Stage (following one's mastery of the Developing Stage on the highest Mantrayana path which, in turn, is based on the completion of the journey along the common path)
marks this as being a very high way within the Mantrayana. Hence it is as different from the previously mentioned ordinary concentration as are heaven and earth. Although it has been said that intense ease and delight are felt when one practises breath-control as detailed in the Sravakabhumi and the Abhidharma , or when one concentrates on the deity of one's choice by gathering the vibrations within instead of letting them become dispersed into the without as described in the Dhyanottarapatalakrama and the V airocanabhisambodhitantra and other Kriya- and Caryatantras, this also is as nothing in comparison with the co-emergent bliss of the Anuttarayogatantras. The reason is that however deep the
understanding of the Paramitayana and of the three lower Tantras may be, there is not a single instruction in them about the practice of the Two Stages, the commitments and restraints and the initiatory empowerments making a person suited for experiencing the sublime Fulfilment Stage spoken of in the Anuttarayogatantras. Therefore, the difference between the concentration with its special feeling of ease and delight as explained in the Paramitayana and the three lower Tantras, and the concentration with the co-emergent bliss feeling a3 spoken of in the Anuttarayogatantras, is as big as that between the sky and the palm of your hand. This is still not the last word. It has been stated that when after long practice we directly and without internal warping intuit the existentiality of all that is, no-thing-ness, a most marvelous feeling of serene happiness is born. Above that, when one reaches the first spiritual level 'The Joyful One' of the Mahayanist path of seeing even this serene happiness is not the co-emergent bliss of the Anuttarayogatantras. It may be pointed out that this first spiritual level is called the Joyful One because on it a most marvelous feeling of ease and delight is felt.
In this connection it has been said that even the. Buddha-sons, who have become masters of the ten spiritual levels by having travelled the Paramitayana path through accumulating knowledge and merits during many 'countless aeons', when they finally approach enlightenment, must enter the Anuttarayoga path, receive instructions from a competent Guru and realize this co-emergent great bliss. Therefore the moment we learn of this unique short-cut to the citadel of Buddhahood in this brief life and evil age, we have to prepare the ground by thinking of this shortcut of which it is difficult to hear in countless aeons. What, then, is its secret ? It has been said that by immersing ourselves in our existentiality the outward projections of the motor activities cease and all vibrations move towards, continue, and dissolve in the central path of the existential structure. Because of this the 'fire' in the navel and sex regions is kindled and the H A¥ in the head region begins to melt • In connection with this there arises a wondrous feeling of happiness
which is proportionate to and simultaneous with the feeling of the mind being gradually emptied of its contents when the mind-moving forces cease to operate. What is the meaning of uniting bliss with no-thing-ness in an indivisible manner ? It does not mean to bring bliss and its no-thing-ness together. Since any thing is the indivisibility of its no-thing-ness and factuality ever since being this or that thing, the yogi need not bring the two together. If bliss and no-thing-ness are separate entities from the
beginning, the yogi will never be able to unite them indivisibly; and if they are indivisible from the beginning, the yogi can never separate them, however much he may try. In view of this fact the Prajnaparami
tasutras many times have asserted :
Not as two existing and not to be divided into two.
Neither does it mean to seal bliss with no-thing-ness and vice versa.
The statement that the good of liberality and other virtues is to be 'sealed with seeing', means that in order to quiet the tendency to believe in the goodness of an action we have to investigate its nature and see that it is not something with a being of its own. But this does not lead to the indivisibility of bliss and no-thing-ness.
Nor does it mean to make an affectation of seeing. This happens when someone starts a certain mood and out of this affected feeling that everything is of an apparitional nature distributes gifts, observes ethics and manners and engages in other activities. Now, liberality is a readiness to give ; to see no-thing-ness is the cognition that all things do not exist by virtue of a principle through which they are what they are. In no way does the readiness to give become the seeing of no-thing-ness.
Lastly, first to develop a point of view and then seal it with bliss would split the mind into a previous and subsequent part and there is no reason why the two parts should become single and indivisible. Therefore the great Saraha has said :
They talk of it in every house,
Yet they know not where the great bliss dwells.
reason. Together the two letters form AHAJI(.I which is the Sanskrit word for 'I'. Ordinarily there is a split between feelings and thoughts. Their unity forms the 'I', but this does not mean that now a new 'I' is brought into the picture after one has taken all the trouble to show that there is no 'I' existing as such. These symbols are merely operational counters. In going along a way or a path man must have an idea of where he is going and he traverses the path in the light of his projects. On this interpretation of the 'I' see also Tskhp VI 3, 23b seq.
Thus, when such knowledge is already very rare, what are we to say of the way this co-emergent great bliss and no-thing-ness grow in us ? A proper understanding seems to be something very exceptional.
What, then, is to be understood by the union of bliss with no-thingness ? Although simpletons like me cannot say that it is ultimately this or that, yet according to bLo-bzang rdo-rje-'chang chen-po it is like this. When we practise that which happens when the great bliss makes the ultimate no-thing-ness its objective constituent, we achieve that which is meant by uniting bliss with no-thing-ness in an indivisible manner. To give an example : When we speak of practising faith we mean that our mind becomes of the nature of faith. Similarly, to unite bliss with no-thing-ness means that our mind which is this great bliss becomes a mind which understands no-thing-ness • This is also said to be like pouring water into water. Thus, in order to reach the citadel of Vajradhara, the goal unity, a study of this unity must precede its realization ; and in order to reach this goal the experience of the real radiant light must be had earlier. Before this there must be the realization of apparitional existence, before this the semblance light or the union of bliss with no-thing-ness by immersing ourselves in our existentiality, before this the practice of the coarse and subtle forms of the Developing Stage, before this the initiatory empowerments and the proper observation of all commitments and restraints, before this the purification of ourselves by traversing the common path, and before this the service of spiritual friends as the source of the acquisition of all that is positive.
This condensation of all the essential features of both the Siitras and Tantras into a single path, beginning with the service of spiritual friends and ending with the attainment of integral unity, is the unfailing means to win enlightenment in this short life of ours in an evil age by a man who
is like a precious jewel 1• This is what my Gurus have told me.
May I ever be watched over by Mafijughoa who can cross the ocean of the Tantras swelled by Kriya-, Carya-,
Yoga- and Anuttara-yoga, the four great Tantric rivers that flow down from the snow mountain of non-dual teaching,
Enriched by treasures of instruction, commitment and restraint, while the
Two Stages rest upon the earth of the gem-like mind,
They are most hard to fathom because they are stirred up by many words, the six confines and the four ways of explanation .
I have elucidated and not been fanciful
About the nectar flowing from the lotus-mouth
Of all-knowing Tsong-kha-pa in the accustomed manner
1 The Vajrayana path is open to the 'superior individual' who has traversed the common path and by having had the experience of that which is involved with the lower stages of the inferior and mediocre individuals, has built himself a solid foundation. Buddhism has always been aware of the intellectual differences and capacities of human individuals, because it addresses itself to the concrete man and not to an abstraction. So also among the superior individuals different people are to be found. There are five types of them which are known by the designations of 'blue lotus', 'white lotus', 'red lotus', 'sandal wood', and 'precious jewel'. This classification which is found in Candrakirti's commentary on the Guhysama/atantra, the Pradipoddyotana-nama-fika, has been commented upon by Tsong-kha-pa in Tskhp IV r3ab as follows : A man who understands the meaning whilst studying, but easily forgets what he has learned, is like a 'blue lotus', because as long as it stays in the water it is extremely fragrant, but as soon as it is taken out of the water it fades and loses its fragrance. A man who is learned but fails to transmit his knowledge is like a 'white lotus', because this flower keeps its fragrance within its centre and does not disperse it. A man whose mind opens when he studies but with whom knowledge does not last long, is like a 'red lotus' which opens when the sun rises but soon after loses the dew-drops resting on it. A man who is very proud of his learning even if it does not amount to much and brags a lot, is like 'sandal wood', because the sandal wood tree bears no fruit, has but little fragrance and is full of thorns. A man, however, who strictly observes that to which he has committed himself and studies deeply so as to transmit his knowledge to others, is like a 'precious jewel', difficult to find.
Of the Gurus of the spiritual tradition.
Since the Anuttarayoga has no room For simpletons like me infatuated,
If I have stated something wrong or betrayed a secret Too plainly, I confess my sin to Vajradhara. May all beings who suffer like my mother By the nectar of great bliss be satisfied
Through any good I may have written Due to the favour of my Gurus. From the friends that I have made on this path supreme I will never separate in the times to come.
Soon will I reach the citadel of Him who has ten powers , for I Will realize and tread the path auspicious on which one may not err. INDEX
Absolute 57, I33 n. 2, I46 n. 2 acceptance, patient 44
of truths 48
action 34. 57. 58, 59. 6I, 82, 84, I02, I05 n. 3, I29, I39, I39 n. 3, I45
authentic 59
cause and effect of Io seqq. , I8, 3I
karmic 62 three gates to 87
v. fitness of action
agent, external 64
aharJ2 I44 n. 3 Akanitha-heaven 57 Akobhya 70
anger-hatred 79 n. I Anuttarayogatantra 27, 54, 59, 62, 64,
66, 93, 93 n. 2, I03, I38, I39, qo, 142,
I43· I44, I47 apparition 97, 125
appearance 70, JI, 94 n. 2, 96, IOI, IIJ, II8, I22, I23, I3o, 132, I33 unity of - and nothingness 90
appetance 49, 68, 70, 71, 94 n. 2, I I8,
I29 n. I, I38 Arhant 41 assiduity 97 Iitman theory 4 7 attainments 39 n. r attitude 68, JI
v. enlightened attitude A valokitesvara 32 aversion-hatred 79 n. r, 82
avidity 88, 88 n. 2, 90, 90 n. 2 awareness 57, 59, 62, 99, 133, 142
co-emergent I 39 composure 47, 48 continual 47, 48
mystic-intuitive 9
awareness
non-dichotomic 92 of nothingness 54 special I38 spiritual 104
transcending 32, 36
v. knowledge
bdag-med I I
Being 1 12 apparitional 142
beings, six kinds of 4, 37 belief in concrete existence I 3 I
in an 'I' I I6, 120, 132, 134 in things I I9, 122, I39
belief-in-an-ens 83, 83 n. 2, 84, 89, I02, I03, IIO, I I3, I I4, I I5, I I6, II], I l9,
I20, I29 belief-things I20 bewilderment 79 n. I, 82 bindu Io8 n. 2 birth(s) 62, 99, I02, I4I, I4I n. I
cycle of 84 gates to evil 8I
bliss 39, 54> 6o, 93, I28, 142, 145 great 39 n. 2, I33, I43, I46 n. 2 co-emergent great I43, I44, 146
Bodhisattva 5I, IOJ, II I n. 3 Bodhisattvayana 4 body I I4, I2I, I30, I32 body-image Io8 n. 2 'bras-bu 54 breath-control I43 bskyed-rim 67, 94 n. 2
Buddha r6, 8o n. 3, 8I n. 3 activity 39 n. r, I03, I39 awareness I ro families qo n. 4
