The Preliminary Practices of Kālachakra Practice (Edward Henning Collection)
After these meditations come what are sometimes called the special preliminaries (thun mong ma yin pa'i sngon 'gro). First is the contemplation of refuge, the very basis of the path of Buddhism. Next is the development of the enlightened attitude, the basis of the Mahāyāna path on which one acts not only for oneself, but is motivated by the wish to bring all beings to enlightenment. Next is purification by means of Vajrasattva (rdo rje sems dpa') meditation, the intention being to purify the results of harmful acts committed in the past, to remove the resulting obscurations, defilements and dispositions. The path is often described as consisting of the development of the two accumulations, of merit and understanding, and this is the purpose of the next preliminary, the maṇḍala offering. Finally, there is guruyoga (bla ma'i rnal 'byor) meditation, to develop the true inspiration of the Vajrayāna path.
These practices usually entail the repetition of 100,000 verses or mantras within each meditation, including performing 100,000 prostrations with the meditation on refuge. In specific Kālacakra preliminaries a further practice on the two-armed form of Sahaja Kālacakra is also included.
Although there are many variations, most traditions consider such a set of practices to be the minimum before yidam practice is commenced. Some add, for example, two or three additional guru yoga practices, and many place considerable emphasis on the development of silent meditations such as samatha (zhi gnas) and vipaśyanā (lhag mthong). Completing these preliminaries is not the end of such practice. The importance of these preliminaries cannot be overstated.
One point that should be emphasised very clearly is that one never stops performing preliminary practices – they are not something to be gone through and then you get onto the "serious stuff". In the Karma Kagyu tradition, for example, after yidam practice when the practitioner is practising the Six Dharmas of Nāropa, each session starts with a set of preliminary practices, refuge, etc.
In the Jonang Kālacakra tradition, the preliminaries are considered to be preliminaries to the perfection process meditation, the Six Yogas. The terminology is a little different, in that there are five ordinary preliminaries: refuge, development of the enlightened attitude, Vajrasattva, maṇḍala and guruyoga; there are then two special preliminaries: the generation process of two-armed Sahaja Kālacakra and the "three freedoms" (dben pa gsum). This Sahaja Kālacakra meditation can be used as the approach (see below) for the yidam practice.
Once yidam practice has been started, with Kālacakra there are several different scales of practice. Many entail a maṇḍala with 24-armed Kālacakra in the centre. The Gelug tradition has a particularly interesting guruyoga which focuses on 24-armed Kālacakra, and can be considered to fall within the preliminary category.
For daily practice, many would continue to use a two-armed Kālacakra practice, or something like a nine-deity maṇḍala practice, in which 24-armed Kālacakra is surrounded by the eight śaktīs (nus ma brgyad) and four emblems (see the image on the right). The next most extensive form of practice is a mind-maṇḍala practice, in which the central lotus is surrounded by four buddhas and their consorts, six bodhisattvas and their consorts, and certain wrathful deities and offering goddesses. This could be used as a daily practice, but is mainly used as a retreat practice.
Finally, there is the full triple body, speech and mind maṇḍala practice of Kālacakra, entailing the full maṇḍala of 636 or 722 deities (depending on tradition). This is usually only used for major rituals and initiations. Naturally, all of these practices have associated with them various offering rituals and Tsog (tshogs) rituals that can also be performed.
