The Completion Stage
The Completion Stage
How to meditate on the completion stage
This has two parts:
1. Explaining some classifications of the completion stage of the Ārya system
2. Teaching in brief the completion stage of other highest yoga tantras
Now Ngawang Palden presents the completion stage,204 which has five levels according to the Guhyasamāja system of Ārya Nāgārjuna. There is no significant difference in the presentation of the completion stage between the Ārya system of Guhyasamāja and other mainstream tantras, but their terminology is often different. The Kālacakra tantra, which does have significant differences, is presented in a separate section.
Explaining some classifications of the completion stage of the Ārya system
The first has two sections:
1. Analyzing the definition
2. The meaning of each classification
The author first presents the definitions, but I think it will be easier to begin by first enumerating the five levels of the completion stage. The Guru Pūjā succinctly discusses the generation and completion stages, and we have already examined verse 110, which deals with the generation stage. The presentation of the completion stage in verse 111 lists the last three levels of the five levels of the completion stage explicitly but not the first two:
Bless us to manifest in this life the path
of the union of clear light and the illusory body
that arises when you, our protector, place your feet
at the center of the central channel within the eight petals of our hearts.
This passage explicitly states the third stage (the illusory body), the fourth stage (clear light), and the fifth stage (the union of both), though they are listed in reverse order. The two stages not mentioned are vajra recitation and observing the mind. Könchok Tsültrim in his Cloud of White Lotus Offerings lists all five stages in the order they are practiced:
The five stages are vajra recitation, observing the mind, illusory body, clear light, and union.
In the completion stage, we need to practice physical isolation, verbal isolation, and mental isolation; these are also called the stages of vajra body, vajra speech, and vajra mind. Within the five stages, physical and verbal isolation occur during the stage of vajra recitation, and mental isolation occurs in the stage of observing the mind. The way we practice observing the mind is mentioned in the last two lines of the Guru Pūjā verse above. We visualize the cakra at
our heart with eight petals, at the center of which is the central channel, and at whose center is the extremely subtle wind-mind. We contemplate that this mind abides indivisibly from the pristine wisdom of our root teacher in the aspect of the deity, who is at the very center of our heart cakra.
Jé Rinpoché states in Mantric Stages that there is
(1) the completion stage of the nature of the physical-isolation vajra body,
(2) the completion stage of the nature of the verbal-isolation vajra speech, and
(3) the completion stage of the nature of the mental-isolation vajra mind. Further there is the completion stage of the nature of the two truths, namely
(4) the completion stage of the relative-truth illusory body and
(5) the completion stage of the ultimate-truth clear light. Finally there is
(6) the completion stage of the union of the two truths.
The present text also follows the presentation of the completion stage in six levels.206
The specific bases that are purified in highest yoga tantra
Both the Perfection Vehicle and the Tantric Vehicle assert three essential phases of practice: basis, path, and result. The common basis of both sūtra and tantra are the two levels of truth. The common path of both sūtra and tantra is the combination of method and wisdom. The common result of both sūtra and tantra is the two resultant bodies—the form body and dharma body.
Highest yoga tantra also has a basis unique to tantra. Although in general basis may refer to relative truth such as the illusory body or ultimate truth such as clear light, this is not what is meant here. Rather the term refers to the subtle wind and mind and the presentation of the channels and cakras.207 From among the many thousands of channels in the human body, the central, right, and left channels are the three root channels, from which all remaining channels branch. The channel wheels, or cakras, form at points where the main channels cross. Similarly, though various winds circulate through the channels, the winds coursing through the central, right, and left channels are most important.
As mentioned previously, there are three levels of wind-mind: coarse, subtle, and extremely subtle. Each level has specific instances.
(1) The coarse wind is found within the human body, which is called the body of the elements since it is composed of the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind. A practitioner of the completion stage must purify the body of the elements.208 The coarse mind is the five types of awareness arising via the five gateways of sense perception—eye awareness, ear awareness, nose awareness, taste awareness, and tactile awareness.
(2) The subtle body is the entire network of larger and smaller channels along with their winds and white and red drops that exist within the basis of the coarse body.210 The subtle mind is the mental awareness and its retinue of eighty natural conceptions that are present during the experience of white appearance, red increase, and black near-attainment.211 (3) The extremely subtle wind refers to winds that act as the mount of the four empties.212 The extremely subtle mind is the mind that is one in nature with the extremely subtle wind.
Analyzing the definition
Paṇchen Chögyen states that the definition of the completion stage is “the yoga in the mental continuum of a learner derived from causing the winds to enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel due to meditation.”214 [15a] But I think this definition refers to the general completion stage of highest yoga tantra.
The author made a similar point when presenting the definition of the generation stage posited by Paṇchen Chögyen. Such definitions apply in general to highest yoga tantras such as the two systems of Guhyasamāja, but they cannot be applied to all highest yoga tantras, and in particular they cannot be applied to the completion stage of Kālacakra.
It is not logically necessary that completion stage yogas are derived from causing the winds to enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel, because in the Kālacakra system both individual withdrawal and absorption precede the winds entering the central channel.
Individual withdrawal and absorption are meant to cause the winds to enter the central channel, a process that occurs naturally at the time of death. In the death process, first the coarse wind-mind dissolves, meaning the four elements weaken and coarse sense awareness supported by them subsides. Then the subtle wind-mind dissolves and the inner visions of white appearance, red increase, and so on appear. Then the extremely subtle wind-mind manifests, enters the bardo, and takes a new rebirth through the force of karma and afflictions.
In the completion stage we strive to make the winds enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel through the power of meditation, in a way similar to how they dissolve in natural death, so that what finally remains is just the extremely subtle wind that is the mount of the extremely subtle mind. When the extremely subtle mind becomes manifest, it has the power to comprehend emptiness if it is made to engage emptiness, and such realization eliminates the two types of obscuration and generates the two resultant bodies.
The author concludes that this definition does not apply to Kālacakra tantra, for the winds do not enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel during the practice of individual withdrawal and absorption, for in Kālacakra these two practices necessarily precede these three phases. A further distinction is that the mainstream tantras assert that the completion stage possesses five levels while Kālacakra asserts six levels. However, the six levels of Kālacakra are subsumed by the five levels of the completion stage of the Guhyasamāja tantra.215 In Tibetan these six levels are often listed in three pairs.216
Some debate on the definition of the completion stage
One says: It follows that it is not logically necessary that yoga in the mental continuum of a learner derived from causing the winds to enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel due to meditation constitutes completion-stage practice.
The author has already shown that completion-stage practices are not necessarily derived from causing the winds to enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel because individual withdrawal and absorption in Kālacakra do not follow this sequence. On this basis an opponent denies that a yoga derived from the winds entering, abiding, and dissolving in the central channel is necessarily a completion-stage practice. He then posits reasons for this: This is because a generation-stage practice with such qualities exists. For yogas with such qualities exist in the mental continua of practitioners of the generation stage because the four joys derived from causing the winds to enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel exist in their mental continua. Reply: That is not logically necessary.
Just because the four joys exist in the mental continuum of a practitioner of the generation stage does not make them generation-stage practices, says the author.
The reason is established because Illuminating Lamp states:
One who has completed the subtle generation stage might possibly cause the winds to enter the central channel (avadhūtī). And, through knowledge of the technique of converting union with an external consort into vitality exertion, he may generate the four joys through dissolving the winds in the central channel in dependence on that. However, if these two do occur during the generation stage, they must nonetheless be posited as paths of the completion stage.
As the Oral Transmission explains, such innate states that arise during the empowerment before meditating on the path are included in the completion stage.217 One who is still on the generation stage may experience entry of the winds in the central channel, giving rise to the four joys, but such an experience is still considered part of the completion stage. This passage also indicates that such experience is rare; it may occur in some individuals, but it is certainly not common. The experience of the four joys may arise at the end of the generation stage due to the constitution of a practitioner who possesses a unique
arrangement of channels or elements or who experiences the joys by relying on an external consort. Still, according to Illuminating Lamp, the practitioner belongs to the generation stage while his experience belongs to the completion stage. It is even possible that one who has not yet entered the path may experience the four joys through the winds dissolving in the central channel when receiving empowerment. I think the Oral Transmission referred to here is a text by Jñānapāda on the completion stage of Guhyasamāja.
Your assertion is unacceptable because, though the path derived from causing the winds to enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel exists in the mental continuum of one on the generation stage, it arises due to completing the generation stage and through union with an external consort. However, he does not transfer to the completion stage, since this path does not arise due to meditating on the special method of penetrating vital points in the body.
The author does not argue that such paths do not occur in the generation stage, but he seeks to distinguish the means by which the winds are caused to dissolve in the central channel. In this instance one on the generation stage may cause the winds to dissolve through relying on a consort and through completing the generation stage. If, however, we are asked whether such paths in the mental continuum of a practitioner on the generation stage were the completion stage,
then we must answer that they are not the completion stage, for this would contradict the definition of the completion stage that affirms that the winds enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel due to meditation. Care must be taken when addressing this issue, for such paths may be said to be completion-stage paths while the individual experiencing them has not yet transferred to the completion stage. This issue is not completely settled so the debate continues:
One says: Take such a path; [15b] it follows it belongs to the completion stage because the previously quoted text states that it is a completion-stage path. Reply: Though it is a realization typical of the completion stage, it is said to be either
(1) a path that belongs to neither the generation nor the completion stage or
(2) a completion-stage path existing in the mental continuum of one on the generation stage. This should be analyzed.
The author responds to this assertion by stating that such paths do not belong to the completion stage but are instead paths that are realizations typical of the completion stage. He suggests two ways of interpreting them. First we may hold them to be paths that are neither the generation stage nor the completion stage. Alternately we may hold them to be a completion-stage path existing in the mindstream of a practitioner of the generation stage. This issue is not settled easily and requires careful analysis, especially if we need to respond to questions on this issue.
The meaning of each classification
This has two parts:
1. The enumeration and definitive order of the five levels
2. The meaning of each
This part of the text establishes that there are five levels in the completion stage and that these levels include all the practices of the completion stage. Moreover we do not require more levels of practice to attain enlightenment, and we cannot attain enlightenment with fewer. Their order is definite since the later levels rely on earlier levels of practice for their manifestation.
(1) The first level is vajra recitation, and this includes physical and verbal isolation.
(2) The second level is observing the mind and includes mental isolation.
(3) The third level is the illusory body and includes two phases, namely the impure and the pure illusory bodies.
(4) The fourth level is clear light and includes three phases, namely semblant clear light, actual clear light, and clear light of the final continuum. The term final continuum refers to the last moment in the continuum of a sentient being before the first moment of buddhahood.
(5) The fifth level is union and includes two phases, namely the union of a learner and the union of a non-learner.
The enumeration and definitive order of the five levels
First you require common and uncommon paths to establish the final goal, but you do not require other paths not included here.
The ultimate object of attainment is the state of Buddha Vajradhara. In order to achieve this, we must rely on certain common and uncommon paths.
To establish non-learner’s union as explained in the general highest yoga tantras, you must first establish learner’s union combining both the actual clear light and pure illusory body.
Non-learner’s union is the state of Buddha Vajradhara, and prior to attaining this we must establish learner’s union. This is the union of actual clear light—from either semblant or actual clear light—and the pure illusory body—from either the impure or pure illusory body. To establish learner’s union you must first establish the pure illusory body, because if the pure illusory body is not first established it is impossible to obtain such union.
In order to attain the learner’s union of a pure illusory body and the actual clear light, we must first attain the pure illusory body. Therefore unless the pure illusory body has been established, we cannot accomplish the learner’s union. The learner’s union also has two aspects: realization and abandonment. To obtain mere union you do not need to first establish the pure illusory body because the pure illusory body and ordinary union are necessarily obtained simultaneously. To obtain the pure illusory body you must first establish the actual clear light because the pure illusory body is derived from its substantial cause, the extremely subtle fundamental wind that is the mount of actual clear light.
The obtainment of actual clear light necessarily precedes the pure illusory body. Actual clear light is a mind of pristine wisdom mounted on the extremely subtle fundamental wind that is one in nature with it. Since the fundamental wind that acts as the mount of actual clear light acts as the substantial cause of the pure illusory body, it must precede the establishment of the pure illusory body.
To obtain actual clear light you must first establish the accumulation of merit and wisdom for three countless eons or its equivalent, the illusory body of the third level.
The obtainment of actual clear light mounted on its fundamental wind must be preceded by the accumulation of merit and wisdom for three countless eons in accordance with the Perfection Vehicle. This period of accumulation may even extend up to twelve countless eons, depending on the capacity of the person. Alternately a practitioner may establish the impure illusory body that is equivalent to accumulating merit and wisdom for three to twelve countless eons. There are two types of illusory body, impure and pure. The impure illusory body arises first and is called the illusory body of the third level. The illusory body that arises after the third level is the pure illusory body.
Many of these levels are subdivided into two phases. Thus from the two types of illusory body, the impure illusory body is attained first and the pure illusory body follows. Similarly, from the two types of clear light, semblant clear light is attained first and actual clear light follows. In terms of union, learner’s union is attained first and non-learner’s follows. Again within learner’s union, learner’s union of realization is attained first and then learner’s union of abandonment follows.
For if either of those two are not first established, then the actual clear light that possesses the capacity to quickly exhaust the extremely subtle obscurations cannot manifest, and such obscurations cannot be abandoned by other paths.
It is only after the illusory body of the third level has been obtained that the actual clear light capable of quickly abandoning extremely subtle knowledge obscurations may manifest. A practitioner does not possess the capacity to abandon subtle obscurations prior to the attainment of the actual clear light.
To obtain the illusory body of the third level you must first establish actual mental isolation or an equivalent completion-stage practice.
Obtainment of the illusory body of the third level, or the impure illusory body, must be preceded by the final mental isolation that is by nature semblant clear light. This is also known as the level of observing the mind. Alternatively it must be preceded by a completion-stage practice equivalent to it.
For if due to such meditation on the completion stage, you do not first dissolve [16a] all karmic winds in the indestructible drop at the heart according to the stages of death, you cannot obtain an illusory body conforming precisely with the intermediate state.
At the time of ordinary death we experience entry, abidance, and dissolution of the winds in the central channel due to the power of karma and affliction. Although these experiences are not the results of one’s practice, they are still realizations typical of the completion stage. At the time of practicing the path and perfecting the completion stage, we cause the elements of earth, water, fire, and wind to dissolve due to the power of meditation. We thus experience
the visions of white appearance, red increase, black near-attainment, and clear light that are similar to the visions that arise naturally at death. As we advance in our meditation we are able to cause the winds to enter, abide, and dissolve in the indestructible drop within the central channel.
To obtain actual mental isolation or an equivalent completion-stage practice you must first establish the completion-stage practice of verbal isolation that is a branch of vitality exertion called vajra recitation or an equivalent practice.
As mentioned, the latter paths manifest in dependence on earlier paths. Thus the illusory body is obtained after mental isolation, and mental isolation is obtained after verbal isolation. Verbal isolation has different levels, and the text specifies that actual mental isolation must be preceded by the stage of verbal isolation known as vajra-recitation vitality exertion.218 This is necessary because the aim of one’s practice is to loosen and release the knots affecting the main channels.
In the presentation of the basis of purification in tantra there are four main cakras: the crown, throat, heart, and navel cakras. There are six if we include those of the forehead and secret place. The central channel passes through the center of these cakras, while the right and left channels constrict it by forming knots at points along its length. Channel knots are found in all of the cakras and are formed by the three main channels.
Some say that the right and left channels are coiled around the central channel and are intertwined like rope coiled to form knots. Others say that the channels are not intertwined but rather the right and left channels press against the walls of the central channel, reducing its diameter so that the free flow of winds in the central channel is no longer possible.
It is said that for some individuals, the winds flow in the central channel for a few minutes after birth, but soon afterward this flow stops. For most people, however, the winds do not flow in the central channel during ordinary existence, and it is only at the time of death that the winds enter the central channel automatically due to the force of karma and affliction. Still here we are primarily concerned with yogic practices that cause the winds to enter, abide, and dissolve in the central channel consciously, according to one’s wish.
In general it is said that the winds flowing in the right channel—the channel through which mainly blood circulates—are associated with the sun. The winds flowing in the left channel—the channel through which mainly semen circulates—are associated with the moon. Due to this association, when a sun or moon eclipse occurs externally, the related channels are affected. During an eclipse the right or left channels that tightly restrict the central channel slightly relax, permitting a limited flow of wind in the central channel.
Practitioners are advised to intensify their practice on such days. A lunar eclipse typically coincides with the fifteenth day of the Tibetan calendar while a solar eclipse occurs on the twenty-ninth or the thirtieth day. It is said that due to the flow of wind in the central channel during a day of lunar eclipse, the merit of a single virtuous act is multiplied 100,000 times, while during a solar eclipse it is multiplied 700,000 times. Jé Rinpoché has commented that this phenomenon may occur in some individuals, but it is not a general experience. Therefore practitioners are advised to examine carefully the flow of their winds during the days of eclipse. If a practitioner is actually affected, he or she should be able to detect a change in his or her wind flow.
For you cannot generate actual mental isolation or an equivalent completion-stage practice without completely releasing the channel knots at the heart by such a completion-stage practice.
Our aim is to loosen the knots at the various sites along the central channel, but the channel knots at the heart are the most difficult to undo.219 However, unless they are loosened by the yogas of verbal isolation, we will not be successful in generating actual mental isolation. To completely loosen the channel knots at the heart through such yoga in easy steps, you must first establish actual physical isolation or a completion-stage practice of similar type.
Again the successful obtainment of verbal isolation must be preceded by physical isolation. As such the order of generation of the three isolations is to first establish physical isolation, then verbal isolation, then mental isolation.
For it is more difficult to loosen the channel knots at the heart than the other channel knots, and it is easier to gather the winds in other places than to gather them at the heart.
Even though the channel knots at the heart are more difficult to undo compared to the knots in other sites, once the knots formed by the right and left channels are loosened, the winds are able to gather in the central channel. A practitioner therefore causes the channel knots at the forehead, throat, navel, and secret place to loosen through the force of meditation permitting some flow of winds in the central channel. This also permits the extremely subtle mind to engage and comprehend emptiness, even if the channel knots at the heart are not yet released.
To fully generate such a completion-stage practice in your mental continuum, you must first cultivate the coarse and subtle generation stages in four daily sessions; for this definitely matures the mental continuum so that you may generate complete comprehension of the completion stage . . . The completion stage consists of five levels that must be generated in the prescribed order. This is preceded by the generation stage and the serial development of the coarse and subtle levels of generation. We first develop familiarity with the practices of the coarse generation stage in four daily
sessions, and then we progress to the subtle level and then the completion stage. Although this text states that we must complete the generation stage before meditating on completion-stage practices, many past masters advise that we may meditate on the completion stage while still on the generation stage. But this does not mean that one on the generation stage is practicing both the generation and the completion stages at the same time; rather such a practitioner is establishing imprints of the completion stage while still perfecting the generation stage. Thus while we are advised to cultivate the generation stage in four daily sessions, we may dedicate the first three sessions to generation-stage practices while dedicating the fourth to becoming familiar with the completion stage.
. . . and you must obtain the pure empowerment in its entirety and properly protect the commitments and vows. The foundation of all the practices of the generation and completion stages is the obtainment of the four types of empowerment and the protection of our vows and commitments.
To fulfill the definition of being a vessel protecting the commitments and vows, you must train in the stages of the shared path of the practices of the two bodhicittas and their branches.
The basis qualifying us to guard the vows and commitments taken at the time of the empowerment is both ultimate and relative bodhicitta. This is an important point that is emphasized during the empowerment ceremony. Again we become a qualified basis to hold the two types of bodhicitta by properly training in the shared stages of sūtra practice that are subsumed in the three principal aspects of the path.
Practices that enhance, and such practices that are exemplified by external vitality exertion, are understood to be fixed in number for all paths, and fixed in their order.
With this statement the section of the text explaining the definitive number and order of practices that make up the completion stage is completed. The author has shown that the completion stage consists of five levels. More levels are not required, for these five include all the practices of the completion stage. Fewer levels are not feasible, for otherwise the entire range of practices necessary for attaining enlightenment would not be included. The order of the five levels is also fixed for one relies on earlier levels to generate the later levels.
Points of debate
Exceptions to this order in Kālacakra
Now the author introduces some debates about issues raised. The first issue deals with the nature of tantric union, the last of the five levels of the completion stage. It has two divisions, the union of a learner and the union of a non-learner. Here the union of a non-learner refers to the stage of Buddha Vajradhara.
One says: To obtain non-learner’s union you must first obtain learner’s union combining both the clear light and the illusory body because that is how it is explained in mainstream highest yoga tantras.
Reply: That is not logically necessary, [16b] but the reason is easily established.
It is not logically necessary that non-learner’s union must be preceded by yoga combining the illusory body and clear light, though that is logically necessary for mainstream highest yoga tantras.
Your assertion is unacceptable because it is said that to obtain non-learner’s union in the Kālacakra system you must first establish the branch of concentration combining both the body of empty form and immutable great bliss, and it is not said that you must first establish union combining both clear light and the illusory body.
Again an example from the practices of the Kālacakra tantra is given to disprove the assertion of the opponent. Although the terms illusory body and clear light are used in mainstream highest yoga tantras, they are not found in the Kālacakra system. Thus non-learner’s union is not obtained in the Kālacakra system in dependence on a learner’s union combining the illusory body and clear light. Rather it is obtained in dependence on a learner’s union combining the body of
empty form and immutable great bliss—the practice of the yoga of concentration, the sixth level of the completion stage of Kālacakra. However, this debate is formulated as a subject of investigation for those with analytical wisdom, and it is not to be taken as a final position. The author concludes that this debate is an aid to analysis and does not present a final position on the issue. If we attain the state of a non-learner through
following Kālacakra tantra, we will obtain the union of the body of empty form and supreme, immutable bliss. Conversely if we attain the state of a non-learner through following the paths of other mainstream tantras, we will obtain the union of the illusory body and clear light. Thus we cannot hold that union solely refers to a combination of the illusory body and clear light as a final position in this debate. Such debates are raised to develop and sharpen our analytical skills.
Practitioners who are not of definite tantric lineage
One says: It would follow that to obtain the actual clear light you must first obtain the impure illusory body because Illuminating Lamp states:
A person who perceptually engages clear light must have previously generated the illusory body.
Reply: That is not logically necessary because this is explained as the way those of definite highest yoga tantra lineage progress on the path. “Those of definite highest yoga tantra lineage” are practitioners who do not enter other vehicles or classes of tantra before entering the tantric path of accumulation of highest yoga tantra. If we are such a practitioner, we will necessarily first obtain the illusory body and then the actual clear light. But those who are not of definite highest yoga tantra lineage will not necessarily obtain the illusory body before obtaining clear light.
Your assertion is unacceptable because that being belonging to the same mental continuum as our Master did not first establish the impure illusory body before obtaining the actual clear light. As Illuminating Lamp states:
Those who are conferred the last two empowerments without being previously conferred the vase and the secret empowerment, and those who generate the last two levels without having previously generated the illusory body of the third level and below, should be understood as exceptions.
Here “exceptions” refers to those who do not enter the tantric path of accumulation from the very beginning of their path. An example of such a being is Buddha Śākyamuni, who entered the tantric path in the end of his final existence as a sentient being. Although he attained enlightenment by relying on the tantric path, he is not a person of definite tantric lineage. This passage from Illuminating Lamp also
indicates that when Prince Siddhārtha entered the tantric path, he did not need to receive the first two empowerments—the vase and secret initiations—but was bestowed just the last two empowerments—the pristine wisdom and word initiations. Moreover he did not need to train in the practices of the generation stage nor the first three levels of the completion stage. But such cases should be recognized as rare.
These two debates establish exceptions to the standard presentation of the order of the levels. The first exception is that of practitioners of Kālacakra tantra who attain a non-learner union that does not combine the illusory body and clear light. The second exception is that of beings, such as Śākyamuni, who obtain the actual clear light without previously obtaining the impure illusory body.
Practitioners of mother tantras
One says: To obtain the impure illusory body, you must first establish mental isolation because Illuminating Lamp states:
The wind and mind that are the basis for establishing any such illusory body . . . are the mind generating the three types of pristine wisdom of mental isolation and the wind that is its mount. Therefore mental isolation must precede the illusory body.
Reply: That is not logically necessary because the statement that mental isolation must precede the illusory body and that vajra-recitation verbal isolation223 must precede mental isolation is [17a] made from the perspective of how a disciple of Guhyasamāja tantra in particular progresses on the path.
It is clear from the answer given by the author that the requisite order of the levels of the path that has been explained so far reflects the sequence of practices in Guhyasamāja tantra.
It does not necessarily describe the way disciples of mother tantra progress on the path. For, as Illuminating Lamp states: The yoga of caṇḍālī is an alternative to the winds of vajra recitation inducing mental isolation. The four joys, which are great bliss derived from the winds penetrating and dissolving in the central channel dependent on cultivating caṇḍālī, are an alternative to mental isolation. These two occur in Yoginī tantra.
The author now makes a distinction between the practices of father tantras such as Guhyasamāja and mother tantras such as Vajrayoginī and their different presentations of the five levels. The descriptions of the five levels in Guhyasamāja tantra do not necessarily apply to the [[mother
tantras]]. The author also quotes a passage from Jé Rinpoché’s Illuminating Lamp that introduces the terms caṇḍālī and four joys, which describe alternate levels of practice in mother tantra. The practice of caṇḍālī—sometimes referred to as “inner heat” or by the Tibetan word tumo—can loosen cakra knots, induce movement of the winds above and below the heart, generate heat, initiate the melting of substances, induce bliss through their descent, and cause the subtle mind to engage emptiness.
An alternative to practices inducing mental isolation, caṇḍālī may be likened to electricity. Just as electricity can be used for heating or cooling, material construction or deconstruction, so too caṇḍālī can be used for heating the body, but here it is used for meditation on emptiness.
How paths of various tantras relate to each other
Therefore when Yangchen Galo states in his Principles of Grounds and Paths that other highest yoga tantra paths are subsumed in nature within the five levels of Guhyasamāja, he does not state they actually are those levels. He meant only that they are subsumed through serving a similar function.
Yangchen Gawai Lodrö states in his Ford of the Fortunate that the paths of tantras other than the Guhyasamāja are subsumed within the five stages of the Guhyasamāja due to their nature but not through actually being those levels. Therefore certain completion-stage paths of the mother tantras, or those of the Lūipa and Drilbupa systems of Heruka, or those of the Red, Black, and Terrifying Yamāntaka, and even some of the six practices of the completion stage of Kālacakra tantra, may be subsumed within the five levels of the Guhyasamāja completion stage, but only as possessing similar functions and thus serving as viable alternative practices.
