The vision of a cloudless sky is the time of the
universal
void.
Thurman-Robert-a-F-Tr-Tsong-Khapa-Losang-Drakpa-Brilliant-Illumination-of-the-Lamp-of-the-Five-Stages
95 Thanks to David Kittay for helping me clarify the meaning of this line, with the help of Alarhkakala? ha's commentary.
? 3 1 6 ? And:
Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
As for teaching the reality of mantra, It illuminates the unperceivable stage, The cause of Vajrasattva himself, Possessing all the virtues of mantra,
The vow of body, speech and mind. Supreme wisdom generates that reality, Reality that concentrates the sense of all,
The reality of mantra which is unexcelled- Repeat it for six months, you will achieve [Accomplishments] ; otherwise no way.
Thus, it is very clearly stated that by practicing for six months through the lotus of the heart center the three-syllable reality of mantra and energy, you will achieve [accomplishments]. Therefore both the two- letter and three-letter vajra recitation are undoubtedly intended by the [Vajra Rosary] Tantra to open the channel knot.
As for how to open it, from the same text:
Having named the sound HOM and the drop HO/:l, By opening with the two wind-energies
You cause the opening of the ignorance-knot.
For example, just as when the chamber of a bamboo is blocked, putting a long spoon in there and pulling it in and out opens it up, the inhalation and exhalation of the energy also opens up [the knot] like that.
The same [text] states:
The being who is lacking the A HAM,
Is like a tree whose root is cut.
If you lack the knowledge of the definitive meaning of A HAM, it is like
having the root [of your practice] cut off. [It continues]:
A is explained as the life-energy wind,
And likewise the evacuative energy is said to be HAM.
As for those two becoming one, That is renowned as A HAM.
Chapter VI- Speech Isolation in Practice ? 3 1 7
That is what is stated [in the Vajra Rosary Tantra]. This method merges the vitalizing and evacuative wind-energies in the home of the heart center indestructible.
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'dTB"6"b"ii" - Showing how that release of the heart
Of the two ways [ - interpretable and definitive - ] of collecting the mantras of the three letters, 1 159bJ as for collecting the mantras of inter- pretable meaning: according to the Vajra Rosary fifteenth chapter, there are three [syllables], the first vowel which is A, the fifth vowel which is the letter U, and the last syllable of the last division of KA CA TA TA PA, which is MA; then from A and U comes 0, the U becoming non- manifest, and then, putting an 0 sign upon the MA letter you get OM.
Then, according to this Tantra's chapter on the essence of body, speech and mind, in place of U, 0 is written in all three translations, which is not correct; according to the commentary an U syllable is written, which is correct. At the beginning of the vowels there are two A's; and there is the warmth factor, which is the warmth [sibilant] division's last letter, HA; and as for the first two of three, with regard to similar syllables, the former becomes long, and the latter is erased, leaving one long A [with a visarga terminal If sound attached]. As for the H letter having no [vowel to give it] life, the commentary explains that it should be put in the place
of a strong [terminal] point; on two occasions the H letter is mentioned. The heat factor H letter, by being adorned with the sixth vowel- long 0-becomes HO. By adding the M letter which is the end of the PA
division as an anusvara terminal point above, there is HOM.
In the text of the commentary, "Having the last part of the heat [sibilant class]," Here, the commentary explains this indicates a crescent moon. In that way, you should interpret it according to the Integrated
Practices' statement that each of the three letters arises from three letters. As for the definitive meaning collection of the mantras, there are
? three .
the same [Vajra Rosary] Tantra it says:
As for the way of bringing together the definitive meaning OM, in
A abides in the lotus of the Dharma wheel, Pervading the wheel of wind-energy.
center channel knot is the principle channel knot releasel
3 1 8 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp Only this is the great wind-energy,
Everywhere it is called "the life-energy. "
Thus, as for the definitive meaning of the A letter of the three letters of the letter OM, is explained as the life-energy wind. [t60aJ In the transla- tion of the [Vajra Rosary] Commentary, [the last line of the verse] is given [in Tibetan] as:
The so-called life-energy collects everything.
It is explained that this means that all wind-energies are collected in it.
[The Vajra Rosary Tantra states:]
As for the [U in the]96 OM, it abides in the beatific wheel, With its likeness of fire and sun,
Home between the limits of throat and crown,
It pervades as the body of radiant energy.
This means that the definitive meaning of the U letter is that it pervades from the beatific wheel up to the great bliss wheel. Its color is like fire and like sunlight, and it is a body of blazing energy, its actuality shown to be the ascending energy. In the translations of the commentary, Zhiwa
Od and [the translator] Ra write U, which is correct. [The Vajra Rosary Tantra states:]
In the place called "the great bliss wheel" Is the MA letter, just as a drop.
Its height is twelve finger-widths.
It dwells in the place of a royal u? hr:ti? ha.
Thus, the definitive meaning of the MA letter is the spirit of enlighten- ment drop, located from the brow level measured twelve fingers up to the place of the crown protuberance. In Zhiwa Od's translation [of the Vajra Rosary Commentary] he writes:
As for its height, it is across twelve fingers, Dwelling within the U! ,ihr:ti? ha.
96 This should be "U," not "OM," as lhe following commentary indicates, since it explains lhe definitive meaning of lhe U in the middle of the OM. Derge printing has 0.
? Chapter VI- Speech Isolation in Practice ? 3 1 9
Just as the OM is placed on the crown in the interpretable meaning, in the definitive meaning three things-[namely] the vitalizing life-energy. the ascending energy, and the HAM drop - are collected in the interior of the channel knot of the dhati channel at the great bliss wheel.
As for the way of collecting the definitive-meaning A/:l letter, [the Vajra Rosary Tantra states:]
The letter A has already been explained; It is the supreme life-energy wind. . .
and:
A from the lotus of the Dharma wheel,
Becomes a double letter A at the throat. Life-energy itself and the evacuative energies, Are wholly bound by the HA letter
To dwell in the center of the throat [wheel] .
Thus, the heart center life-energy, [160bl combined with the throat center ascending energy, the two becoming a double A, is the [definitive] meaning of "long A. " The third, the evacuative energy, is the meaning of what is symbolized by HA. The meaning of the A/:l letter placed in the throat is said to be the collection [of these energies] inside the central channel of the channel knot of the beatific wheel.
As for how to collect the definitive-meaning HOM, [the Vajra Rosary Tantra states:]
As for HA, it is the energy named "evacuative. " It dwells in the center of the anal secret place. The [long] 0 letter is the wind going upward, Dwelling in the lotus of the throat.
The MA letter is the life-energy.
In the wind-wheel of the forehead
They become one. When in the heart center, They are declared the heart seed.
So here the meaning of HA is evacuative [energy], and the meaning of MA is the life-energy pervading the wind wheel in the interval from the heart center to the brow. The meaning of the [long] 0 is the upward-
going or ascending energy, the third [of these three wind-energies]. As the HOMsyllable is set in the heart center, it is said that it compresses
. no ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
[all three winds) within the dhati channel in the center of the Dharma wheel channel knot. Saying twice "they become one," [you should) apply this also in the same way to the definitive meanings of OM and A. /:1.
As for thus explaining the definitive meanings of the three letters, it indicates a merging of the life-energy, evacuative and ascending wind- energies within the dhati channel, having released the three wheels'
channel knots. To consecrate body, speech and mind by setting in the three places the three definitive meaning syllables OM A. /:1 HOM, as taught in many authoritative mantric treatises, that is the way to give a blessing.
In [response to] that statement [in the Vajra Rosary Tantra], Vajra- p8J). i [says]:
I understand the verbal meaning of three vajras And the opening of their places -
[Now,] who is the master in their center?
What does the Lord declare? " II6Ial
Thus, though he has understood the merging of the wind-energies as the definitive meaning creation of the three syllables by [each] uniting three syllables [and wind-energies], and also, where in the body's chan- nel wheels the mergings occur, he asks about what sort of master is there within the center of those three. In answer to that [the Lord declares] :
You ask for the hidden meaning
Of the supreme secret of secrets, Which is not taught in all the Tantras- I will fully explain; so do you listen! The master of the seed of the heart
Within it all, is mental-construct-free; Whereby the other [two] Lords
Will also be obstructed and removed.
The [Lord declares that], in the place of the released channel knots ofthe three channel wheels of heart, throat and crown, within the merged three wind-energies of life-energy, evacuative, etc. , "this is the great key point. " [It is] the point which is greatest secret of secrets, hidden within otherTantras. So [while I] explain this, you should listen. Within all three of those, the definitive meaning HOM syllable, the seed of the heart, is the master merger within the dhati channel [central chamber] of the
Chapter VI- Speech Isolation in Practice ? 32 1
released heart channel-knot. Why? The release of the heart channel knot is the freedom from mental constructions. It is the supreme of causes of cutting off [the instinctual constructs]; because, unless you hold the wind- energies there without moving, those wind-energies become the chief thing that moves the constructs to obscure and deprive [you of accom- plishments] .
Or else, as for the other Lords, the body and speech vajras other than the mind vajra, and the places of those two, their crown and throat channel knots are [automatically] destroyed by the release of the mind vajra channel knot, [161bl which you should understand is what is meant by "obstructed and removed. " This refers to the key point which is taught below that when you release the heart center channel knot, by the power of that the other knots are released. The commentary [says] that "among the three letters the HOM letter is chief, because all things depend upon the mind. " However, that explanation [is too simplistic, and] comes from not properly discovering the definitive meaning of the three syllables.
Then, [the Vajra Rosary Tantra] states:
Third, you, the yogi/ni, realize
The thought-free great miracle.
By stopping all wind-energies,
You realize [reality] in this very life.
As for the "third," it is the entry of the wind-energy into the place of the release of the heart center channel knot, which is the verbal meaning of the mind-vajra. As for "realize," that [mind-vajra] becomes manifest to the yogi/ni. At that time, the freedom from mental constructions is a miracle, and [you should] add that you generate the miraculous orgasmic
wisdom. "Realize reality" means that it is miraculous. As for the reason, it is because all wind-energies and thoughts cease, since you can collect them in the heart center indestructible. Here [Buddha Vajradhara] makes more explicit the reason previously explained that the heart seed is the master.
That shows that compressing the wind-energies in the heart center is the great vital key for ceasing all thought constructs and the wind- energies that move them, which shows that compressing them in other channel centers does not have that much power; since this [Vajra Rosary]
is the authoritative text that teaches the reason why compression in the heart center is the main practice. Then, it [goes on to] state:
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Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
In the center of the emanation and Dharma wheels, [The Buddha] said there are two lotuses;
One of sixty-four and one of eight petals,
Their blooms facing upward and downward. Relying on the above and the below,
Life and evacuative energies [ 1 62a] circulate. Just those two are clearly stated
To be the wind-energies of instinctual notions. The two essences of body and speech,
The Ialana and the rasana [channels] .
The emanation center has sixty-four petals, and the truth [Dharma] center has eight. In regard to the fourth line, the commentary aptly states, "they dwell like a jewel-sack," which means that the heart center lotus facing downward and the navel center lotus facing upward, as explained in the Samputa [Tantra], stand in a shape like a jewel-sack with its two halves joined together. These verses teach the condition of the heart and navel center wheels, and also that the circulation of the vitalizing and evacuative wind-energies located above and below produce the [eighty] instinctual notions. Thereafter, [the Vajra Rosary] continues:
[In] the supreme channel, the avadhiiti, Supreme supreme, central between those two, Lies the wind-energy free of instinctual notions, Always circulating. all-pervading.
The yogi/ni, whatever s/he attains,
Always can accomplish the aims of beings. The specific natural pattern of energy, Whichever prevails of the hundred and eight, At all times remains prevailing.
Not understood by the childish yogi/ni,
In one instant, manifestly perfect enlightenment Is attained thereby, according to this Tantra.
Instinctual notions are cut off when you inject the energy into the dhati that lies in the center of the two [side] channels. That channel is superior to the two side channels. A yogi/ni who attains that can benefit others, prevailing over the wind-energies that generate the hundred and eight notional patterns. This is not understood by a creation stage [yogi/ni],
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 323
Further, however you effect attainment, It is pronounced to be rational.
First the great yogi/ni,
Good-hearted one, meditates quiescence.
By the yoga of the creation stage, Having made the seal of ferocity, In the nine doors of the faculties, All of them are entirely bound.
Repeating HO M, perform the peerless, Supremely uninterrupted,
Practice for six months;
Afterward, you will attain in an instant.
Here the "seal" is the great seal, the deity body developed in the creation stage. The commentary calls the "ferocity seal" the "blazing seal," which refers to the creation stage's burning away conceptual notions of ordinariness. "Reciting HO M is one aspect of practicing the vajra recitation. Thereby, you compress within the wind-energies back from the eye and so on, the nine sense doors, which [process] is de-
scribed in the two lines from [the one with] "faculties. " Thereafter, it continues:
Wherefore, having recited that [HO kt.
The heart lotus [knot] is destroyed,
[And the navel center knot also], by gazing up. Then, though you performed the embrace
Of the lotus of the secret [center] ,
The two conceptual notion energies
Still go, along with their patterns.
Freedom from thoughts bestows the bliss - [Then,] you will attain by the reality of mantra, And you will stay in the avadhati stream.
that by injecting the two wind-energies into the dhati, l162bl in an instant, that is quickly, you are said to attain the clear light of manifest buddha- hood. In order to inject the wind-energies into the dhati, first you must perfect the creation stage, and then there is the stage where you must
practice the vajra recitation; [as the Vajra Rosary states:]
324 ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
Energy having opened the center of the brow, You attain - and the joy of such attainment Continuously arises and does not end.
Thus, the first two lines teach the destruction of the heart center channel knot by practicing the vajra recitation for six months. The trans- lation of the commentary by Zhiwa Od and [the translator] Ra says, "the heart center lotus goes by looking upward"; [163a] and Darma Tsondru translates it as above. The commentary explains that the meaning of "goes
by looking upward" is that the [jewel sack's two halves] break open their cover as they join together the [heart and navel] channel wheels, and that such opening, taking the "lotus of the secret [center]" as the emanation wheel, is the undoing of the binding of the jewel sack; so it does not seem to differ from the previous [translation. ]
The heart and navel wheels face downward and upward respec- tively, but are not united [forming an enclosure], so it is not a question of opening each of them individually.
In this Tantra's teaching of the six channel wheels, the secret [geni- tal] center wheel is not mentioned; yet in the verse "It manifests coming and going in the throat center, heart center, navel center, and secret lotus," a "secret lotus" is mentioned apart from the navel [center], which does not indicate the emanation wheel. This Tantra teaches that the vajra recitation "opens" the knot, "destroys" the knot, and "conquers" the knot;
here again it teaches the "destruction" of the knot by the vajra recitation; therefore "destroying the heart center lotus" refers to the releasing of the heart center channel knot. "Destroyed by looking upward" refers to the navel channel knot. In releasing the heart center channel knot, it must happen in the sequence of the death process. The Sheaf of Instructions explains that you reverse the heart lotus upward at the time of practicing [soul] ejection, and the Great Seal Drop states:
The life-energy wind in the heart center channel, When it does not function even for an instant,
Its lotus is turned upside down,
And in an instant it goes upward.
Thus, it seems the heart lotus must be reversed upward. In that Tantra, the navel seems not to be mentioned explicitly, (tfl. \h) and the heart center is widely recommended; or else, it is as mentioned the "navel of the heart
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 325
center lotus. " In some texts it reads "if you don't eliminate it for a mere instant. " supporting the interpretation that it means binding the life- energy wind there and stabilizing it. The "secret center lotus union" refers to the knot by the rasand and laland channels uniting around the central channel.
So, here it is taught that the navel and secret center's knots are released when the heart center channel knot is released. "The midbrow is opened by energy" shows that the wind-energies open the wheels' chan- nel knots, meaning that all the other channel knots are opened by open- ing that [heart center] knot. When the [heart] channel knot is released it cuts off the vitalizing and evacuating wind-energies' circulation in other channels. causing them to circulate only in the central channel dhati alone, giving rise to the unceasing stream of great bliss free of thoughts; thus it declares that the reality of mantra is realized by the vajra recitation.
Those explanations, just as the Vajra Rosary repeatedly states "you will achieve by means of the reality of mantra alone," and also [as] the Noble father and sons [teach], do not explain any other explicit yoga of meditation of wind-energy, but explain the vajra recitation itself. Thus it seems to be the indispensable method that grants the great certainty; and so I have explained it extensively.
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'dTB"6"c" - Having meditated life-energy control, the stage of generating experience]
The third has two parts: [i"] How to produce experience by medi- tating on the heart center indestructible; and [ii''] How to produce expe- rience by meditating on the other life-energy control practices.
tating on the heart center indestructible]
As explained above, it is taught that by gathering the energy into the heart center, clear light arises. In the Illumination of the Lamp it is stated that, before entering into clear light, the process of dissolving earth into water, etc. , [164aJ gives rise to the five signs, mirage, etc. And it states that this happens not only on the occasion of entry into objective clear
light, but also on all occasions of the arisal of the four voids, after the energy has been collected into the dhati channel and has dissolved there.
? ? How to produce experience by medi-
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'd'i'R"6"c'T' -
326 ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
Thus. meditating on the indestructible in the heart center gives rise to the five signs.
In the Persona/ Instruction it says:
You should set the mind in the drop. Holding your faculty there,
The earth element enters into water; In tum, that water enters into fire;
Then the fire enters into the wind,
And the wind enters into the [subtle] mind.
When your mind just enters into nondual wisdom,
The signs [of dissolution] ensue.
Because Vajrasattva enters [your central channel] , The five signs arise, appearing
Mirage-like, like smoke,
Like a candle and like fireflies,
And like a cloudless sky.
Also, Kukuripa says [in his Vajrasattva Sadhana] :
With the intention of great effort, Regard the drop of shape itself. Again, entering into that,
The five or eight signs will emerge. Then you will abide in clear light, Abiding as long as you like,
A day, a month, a year, etc.
Then all your activities such as the aims of beings Will effortlessly be accomplished.
The five signs are the [usual] five, mirage, etc. The eight signs add the three luminances, [with signs of] moon, sun, and darkness, onto those. Since Vaidyapada explains that there are three signs [within each sign], as the false earth etc. are ready to be eliminated, slightly elimi- nated, and totally eliminated, [164bl you must understand that there are many degrees of these signs.
It is taught that these signs become more clear [as you progress] from the earlier to later [stages], being mirage-like, etc. However, among the three opinions of various persons, expressed as "It is not that they arise seeming just like them," "The consciousness which has the signs
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 327
has various degrees of stability or variability," or "The smoke-like, etc. , visions arise," the latter one is best.
Further, the visions of [the signs] like moon, sun, and darkness happen at the very time of the [states of] luminance, radiance, and immi- nence.
The vision of a cloudless sky is the time of the universal void. The signs such as mirage-likeness, etc. , are the preliminary signals of the wisdoms of the four voids being produced in your mind-stream.
In the Tantras, infinite praises are lavished on the clear light of the universal void and the orgasmic joy, which, as explained above, is the yoga of bliss and void practiced by one who is expert in the way of indi- visibly uniting bliss and voidness. As for the first development of such distinctive bliss, it is definitely necessary that you gather the left and right wind-energies and dissolve them into the dhati channel.
As for that [development], you will never produce it no matter how long you practice, if you lack the direct meditation on the wind-energies in paths of outer and inner life-energy control, which is the art of pene- trating the vital points in the body, and the yogas of the drops, etc. , even though you have incisively determined the view of voidness and know how to cultivate it unerringly. Thus, you need definitely to meditate on what is taught in the authoritative treatises about the art of penetrating the vital points in the body. When you meditate on that, if you are one of those who wish your meditation to reach the vital point unerringly, you must definitely experience the signs which are the preliminary signals of the production of the orgasmic joy or the universal void wisdom. [16Sal
And that is the key point of why so much praise is lavished on those signs.
However, you should bear in mind that even when you practice only the settling of the mind in nonconceptuality, some simulation of those signs will arise. Thus it is extremely difficult to tell precisely the difference between such [simulations] and the signs which arise by medi- tating on the art of penetrating the vital points in the body - [so] you
must be skillful! As for the [genuine] signs which arise from penetrating the vital points in the body, they begin with the signs from the initial slight inward reversal of the wind-energies, which [usually] move totally outward from the doors of the senses, from their [actual] slight reversal. from their being slightly injected into the central channel. and so forth. There are many stages of distinctive [energyJ reversal signs and actual [energy] reversals on the occasions when the path has become advanced.
328 ? BrilliantllluminationoftheLamp
So do not be content with thinking [wrongly] that all of the benefits explained for the true [signs] fully function with the [merely] simulated signs, and, even though you have the real signs, do not be content with just having found the tip of the nose [of the full experiences]. But, under- standing clearly the lower and higher stages, you must seek the distinc- tive excellences of the highest stage.
If you understand all of those procedures well, in the many treatises of the great adepts, such as the Personal Instruction of His Holiness [Maiji ushri], [and the treatises of] Nagarjunapada, Kukuripa, GhaQta- pada, etc. , there are statements regarding the perfection stage which explain the art of penetrating the vital points in the body such as energy,
drop, and letter visualizations, statements that you must definitely gener- ate wisdom meditating on the drop in the heart center, and statements that there is no doubt that you will blaze with wisdom. Finding the mar- vellous certitude from these, [I6SbJ you will develop the resolve from your heart to make these practices your essential [purpose]. People of inferior discrimination who don't understand this accurately, do not understand the key points of the Tantras by means of the instructions of the great adepts, practice the perfection stage as a partial meditation on voidness, and even though they might try out numerous samadhis properly described in those [treatises], they tend to think that "This is not the supreme perfection stage," and then, [tragically,] they take a false
path as the essence of their lives.
Therefore, since the unerring voidness is extremely difficult to real-
ize, and the Tantras and adepts' treatises are very deep when it concerns the extraordinary bliss, very hard to subtly understand, it seems that uniting bliss and void is extremely difficult. Nevertheless, if you know their vital points roughly and do not mistake their distinctive arts, you will correctly develop great bliss by the power of cultivating them. Even meditating only that is an extremely wondrous samadhi, very different from other things claimed to be profound.
About the vision of the cloudless sky, the fifth sign, two types arise; one from the meditation which depends on the personal instruc- tions on how to penetrate the vital points in the body and another from mere one-pointed samadhi meditation without those [instructions]. This is very difficult to differentiate for those unskilled in the key points of the Tantras. Even as for what is taught in the Tantras, there is one version [of the cloudless sky samadhi] explained in other Tantras concerning [its
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 329
arisal on] the occasion of slightly withdrawing the wind-energies within, and another here. [Here,] when we talk about the fifth sign, we are talking about the time of the universal voidness clear light that is the last of the four voids. Before that, it is necessary for there to be the three states of luminance, radiance and imminence which arise with the signs of moon- like, sun-like, and dark-like, and those can only arise by dissolving the wind-energies into the central channel. Thus, the meanings [of the two types of arisal] are different. I I M11 )
Now some followers of the Marpa school have said that there is no certainy about the precise arrangement of the eight signs and the aware- nesses holding the signs. Nevertheless, the intention of the treatises is that they should arise in a certain way. And it seems that they do arise in that way for those who have incorporated the vital points of the art of compressing the wind-energies. Now if you understand well the key point of meditating the indestructible in the heart center and you meditate on it for a long time, from the time when you first generate the wisdom of the four voids, it is called the "simulated mind isolation. " Thus from that point of view, though it is fine to call it "mind isolation," it is not mind isolation true to its definition.
Further, as for that, there are the two arisals of the four voids, in the emergent order and in the reverse order; and of those, the former is easier and the latter is a bit harder. As for that [arisal] of the four voids, you must let [the process run its course], just as long as you stay steady in each [void]. When you arise from them, you visualize your embodi- ment as before [you entered], which is to perceive [yourself] as just a drop. As Kukuripa says [in his Vajrasattva Siidhana]:
At the time you arise from that samadhi,
Do not think of some other thing,
But always hold [yourself as] that same drop.
By that artful method, once you compress the wind-energies and dissolve them into the dhati channel, you get the ability to generate the four voids. When you visualize [yourself as] a drop, compressing the wind-energies is very easy; without spending a long time at it, you are able to develop the four voids. By the very holding of the mind aimed at
the visualization of [yourself as] the drop, and so on, in the most greatly vital point of the body, you compress the wind-energies into the dhati channel and generate the orgasmic wisdom; and this seems to be the
330 ? BrilliantIlluminationoftheLamp
extremely wondrous point which fascinates the wise. So you should understand the qualities of the extremely great differences involved when you use forceful methods of compressing the wind-energies, such as being capable or not and being stable or not, depending on whether you [know well or] do not know well this key point of the wind-energy yoga-[I66bl which is not even [slightly] rivaled by any other ways of
holding the mind.
How to produce experience by medi-
The second has three parts: [A "'] How to generate month-by-month experience by practicing vajra recitation; [B'"] How to make the wind- energies dissolve into the central dhati channel by vajra recitation; and [c'"] How to make the furor-fire ignite.
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'dTB"6"c"ii''A'" - How to generate month-by-month
When you have completed coarse and subtle creation stages and have practiced the body isolation, as for how you should practice vajra recitation in the first month, the Vajra Rosary states:
First, exhalations and the inhalations, Having the definite count of twenty-one Thousand and six hundred
In the course of a day and a night, Focusing 'til you achieve that count
Throughout twenty-seven days - That continuous yoga
Is considered [successful] counting.
As for the last part of this verse, the Zhiwa Od translation says "you should consider the number again and again. "
In a single day [and night], counting inhalations and exhalations as one, you have 2 1 ,600 breaths. Then, over twenty-seven days, until you gain the certainty of the count of just how much the wind-energies move in a day and night, it is taught that you should count them again and again, and that, during the count of each day and night period, you should keep [inhalation and exhalation] even, without increase or decrease, excluding
? ? ? [VI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'dTB"6"c"ii" -
tating on the other life-energy control practices]
experience by practicing vajra recitation !
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 331
holding [the breath]. When the breaths of each time period are even, the great elements of the body become equalized, and when that happens, the virtues produced depending on the body are easily produced - that is the necessity [of this practice].
As for the way of practicing the second month, [the Vajra Rosary states] :
Then after that you should recite accordingly, [With] the vital life-wind-energies
In each session and break;
You should mark [your] control of them. l l67al Then, counting 2,700 [breaths],
You should hold them truly.
Then with the form of determination, Over twenty-seven days,
Dividing into the four wheels,
With certainty day and night . . .
Thus, in the second month, in each of eight time periods, you should keep [your breaths even] , using the procedure of [counting the] moving of the 2700 wind-energies. The former month's practice was easy; this one is difficult. Now the commentary explains that in each of the sessions there is a set of 900 breaths multiplied by three as they are inhaling, hold- ing or exhaling, that being how it derives 2700; but that is not a good [interpretation]. 97 Because then the [valid] teaching that in one day there are 24 [sets of] 900 breaths would be incorrect; because there are only eight sessions. 98 "You should make it definite in 27 [days]" means that you should practice the vajra recitation with the four wind-energies that
emerge from the four wheels.
As for the way of practice in the third month, [the Vajra Rosary
states] :
97 The correct interpretation is that each of the 2700 breaths include inhalation, exhala- tion, and retention.
9B This means that 900 times 24 is 2 1 ,600 and so each hour has 900 breaths, and each of the eight sessions is three-hours.
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By making effort staying with that, You should attend to it differently.
By moving in the channel wheel Ascertaining inhalation and exhalation, By the yoga of certain holding
You should investigate the channel wheel, And by opening the wheel channel During twenty-seven days . . .
From that kind of equalizing the energy in sessions, by the art of ascer- taining the moving of the energy of exhalation and inhalation in the channel wheel, the place where the energy moves, you should analyze the differences in the channel wheels during the 27 days. This means that you should clearly see individually the channels within the channel wheels.
Now the way of practicing in the fourth month, [the Vajra Rosary states] :
Then, you should discern the true sign
By the opening of its places,
And to the places which are individually noted, [167bJ You should strongly move 108 times.
The supreme practice that is thought-free,
Its nature being the abandoning of thought, Master of the natural instincts of all things, Move it strongly 108 times.
This is truly the supreme yoga,
Through which, during 27 days,
The yogi/ni who meditates its nature, Meditates intensely as it stands.
This states that, having individually determined the channels, the yogi/ni meditates the nature of the wind-energies as they stand, sees the 108 wind- energies moving in the channel in the fourth month, and so they are ascer- tained.
This teaches the supreme yoga of the vajra recitation that is the means of cutting off habitual thoughts, the art of entering into clear light
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 333
that abandons notions of the instinctual natures of all things, while men- tioning "conceptual thoughts" three times, and "this" once. 99
states]:
The yogi/ni who has instinctual thoughts, Then turns the yoga away from them, And the great energy of thoughtlessness Is moved into the channel wheel.
Then, having been fully bound by the addictions, S/he determines the ultimate reality [of energy], And during the twenty-seven days,
The intelligent [yogi/ni] should eliminate
The practices of the beginners.
Zhiwa Od's translation reads, "The intelligent one, through elimi- nating. . . . "
In the fifth month, depending on the consummation of the vajra recitation, the wind-energy yogas posited as [for] beginners are given up by intelligent yogi/nis, along with the wind-energy-driven instinctual thoughts, and they then make the great wind-energy that develops in- stinctual thoughtlessness move in the channel wheel. And this is the occasion when you begin to reverse the wind-energies [168aJ into the place of the indestructible.
As for "the ultimate reality of energy," you should add that the ascertainment of reality eliminates being driven by the binding addictions. As for the way of practice in the sixth month, [the Vajra Rosary
states] :
99 Tsong Khapa is perhaps suggesting here that the mention of "conceptual thoughts" (rnam rtog) three times (I can only count two in this quote, unless we take rang bzhin as rang bzin rtog pa) refer to the three states of the subtle mind - luminance, radiance, and imminence-and "this" to the clear light transparence.
Then those purifications,
By the power of true yoga,
Those conceptual notions of life-energy control Are totally abandoned,
? As for the way to practice in the fifth month, [the Vajra Rosary
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The reality of energy moves,
And you should meditate the supreme yoga. By this supreme nondual yoga,
During the twenty-seven days,
You stabilize the reality of energy.
And the vacillating mind is purified.
In the sixth month, by the power of meditating vajra recitation which has stability in its moving of the reality of energy, you abandon instinctual thoughts and the life-wind-energies and controls. And you also purify the mind bound by its instinctual thought, which gets distracted towards objects. As for those [procedures of the sixth month] they are
given the designations of [ 1 ] counting, [2] conforming, [3] notions of the difference of places, [4] notions of the difference of times, [5] reversal of the wind-energies, and [6] total purity.
As for [this statement about] the complete release of the heart center channel knot at the end of practicing the six months of vajra recitation, it is intending the disciple of extremely sharp faculties.
In many contexts in this Tantra, [the Buddha] does not mention holding [the breath], as other than just exhaling and inhaling. But when he mentions "teaching coming and going," the commentators explain that it refers to the going and the not going [of the breath]. Nevertheless, they [go on to say] cleary, "The yoga of the perfection stage is entering, hold- ing, and exiting. "
According to Master Go, the criterion for completing the training of the coarse wind-energies is the clarity of their movement; ( 168bJ which [amounts to] the clarity of the sense-faculty direct experience of the forms of the colors [of the wind-energies], the clarity of the lack of confusion and error in regard to the forms of the counting, the clarity in
the nature of the sounds of the form of the three letters [OM Al:l HO t:f, and the clarity about the nature of the places [in the body], and the degrees of subtlety, speed and of weight. The sign of completing it is that no sudden illness can occur.
The criterion of completing the training of the subtle wind-energies is that you become able to mix external and internal [worlds] by causing the wind-energies of the outer universe to enter through the hair-pores of your skin and fit within your body, and by causing the the inner wind-
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 335
energies to go out fill the universe; and that you feel contact and bliss by the mere touch of the outer wind-energies.
The criterion of completing your training of the branch wind- energies is said to be that you become able to project [all] your sense faculties through each sense door, and to bind them [there] in freedom from any harm, according to the system of Abhijiia. When the four wind- energies of wind, fire, earth and water move, and you bind them within without allowing them outside, respectively then, without any harm to yourself, you will fly in the sky, you will not be hurt by outer cold, you will not be pushed around even assaulted by a champion wrestler, and so on; and finally you will not be hurt by fire, etc.
How to make the wind-energies
As already explained, when you practiced the recitation that indi- visibly connects mantras and wind-energies, you experience not mere imagination, but an intense mind-transforming feeling where in your mind the wind-energies' tones resound as the three sylllables? just as, for example, [169aJ the creation stage practitioner first has to accustom him- self or herself to meditate by imagining the deity, but later his or her mind does not have to be expressly contrived but naturally transforms itself into the pride of the deity. When that happens [in vajra recitation], you can terminate both perception and conception of the difference between energy and mantra; and furthermore, having recited with the entry, exit
and holding at the level of the center of the dhati channel, by the key [practice] of the energy and mind functioning in unison, you can make the wind-energies move directly through the dhati channel. Here again, while first you have to construct this on purpose and make the wind- energies enter and exit in such a way, when you become accustomed to it, conditioned by your vajra recitation, you have experienced the properly defined injection of the wind-energies there [in the central dhati channel].
As for the sign of that [happening], when you have not practiced vajra recitation, the [wind-energies] move in each of the left and right nostils. When you practice vajra recitation, before very long the wind- energies definitely begin to be drawn into an equal flow, as the vajra recitation merely injects the wind-energies there [in the central channel].
You should understand that this also [happens] when you meditate on the
? [VI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'd'i'B"6"c"ii"B"' -
dissolve into the central dhuti channel by vajra recitationI
336 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
subtle [drops] in the lower [genital center] door and in the heart center. Although thus you may have the mere ability to inject the wind-energies into the dhati channel, the problem with having only a slight bit of practice is that before long it will migrate to each of the left or the right nostrils. If you have a practice. as already explained, of injecting [the energies there] and making them enter and exit, and the heart center channel knot little by little has become slightly looser, then finally you
become able to release the heart channel knot.
Now here you might suspect, "well, although it can happen that the
vajra recitation practiced within the dhuti channel depending upon the vital point of the heart center can allow the wind-energies to be injected into the dhati channel and the channel knot to become looser, the vajra recitation is incapable of stopping the energy in the central channel; because vajra recitation i s set u p a s having the function making the wind- energies go in and out without stopping. [169hl Therefore, if you lack the stopping of the exit and entry of the wind-energies by holding them compressed together within, your vajra recitation is unable to cause the
energy to dissolve into the dhuti channel. "100
It is true that such doubts arise for those who are satisfied with
some biased [understanding] of the perfection stage, who in general do not understand how to compress the wind-energies by the yogas of the drop etc. as explained in the authoritative treatises, and in particular who do not know the literature of the Community which explains all the keys of that [dissolution process] emphasizing vajra recitation. However, there is no such fault [in this system of vajra recitation]. When, as already
explained, you have become accustomed to the vajra recitation which equalizes the three [movements], entering, holding, and exiting, of the wind-energies, though you do not purposely cause them to hold still at a certain threshold, the wind-energies stand still on their own momentum. Their [stillness] gets longer and longer, and then, though you do not purposely block the inhalation and exhalation of the wind-energies, they become shorter and shorter. So when you first practice, in the process of
100 This refers to the vase breathing called kumbhaka. What it means is you take the up- ward energy and the lower energy and unite them at the navel center or heart center or wherever and hold them there, one pressing up and one pressing down in the central channel.
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breathing naturally you do not need to purposely lengthen exhaling and inhaling, but still, anyway, when you work on vajra recitation, the in and out movement of the wind-energies will eventually stop completely and [the wind-energies will] stay within.
declares:
By [such a] sign, [wind-]reality stays [all] three, The nature of natural recitation;
Nameless and inexpressible,
This is supreme enlightenment spirit.
Those very three become one, And neither go nor come.
This teaches that, after having practiced the recitation as wind-energies of the spirit of enlightenment, with the realities of mantra and energy indivisibly united, being the natural recitation inexpressible in naming words, the three [energy-movements], inhalation, exhalation and holding still, [I70aJ become a single experience without any separation; and then there are no more going out and coming in of wind-energies.
In that [same] Tantra, it states that "the spirit of enlightenment becomes wind-energy," and this means that here the spirit of enlighten- ment is wind-energy. In that Tantra, it states that the reality of wind- energies entering, exiting, and abiding becomes of one experiential taste,
and thus the other [Tantras] have a similar meaning. The Vajra Rosary also states:
By practicing vajra recitation,
Knowing its own nature,
You cut off the instinctual wind-energies.
This means that the vajra recitation stops the movement of wind-energies. And again:
At the nine sense doors,
All of them are totally bound,
Repeating HOM, become incomparable !
This states that vajra recitation binds the wind-energies within, not letting them move out from all doors such as the upper and lower nostrils, etc.
Thus, further, the Revelation of the Hidden Intention [Tantra]
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As for the meaning of those Vajra Rosary statements, the Per. mnal
fm;truction IofMaiijushrTJ states:
Then you exhale with HO M.
Collect with OM, hold with AH,
And holding still the reality therein,
You discover the intuitive wisdom,
Free from inhaling, exhaling and holding, And you need have no doubting ambivalence.
Thus it very clearly states that by practicing vajra recitation from the dis- solution of the wind-energies getting free of the threefold inhaling, ex- haling and holding, you attain wisdom, and about that there need be no doubt or ambivalence.
Here you might wonder, "Well, how do you get the energy to dis- solve within by the vajra recitation of two letters? "
By practicing that [vajra recitation], injecting the energy into the dhati channel and releasing the channel knot is similar to [the same pro- cess with] the three letters. So then the energy finds the path to go to its own root place, [I70bl and it enters into its own place, as in the time of death. The Tantra explains the two kinds of vajra recitation, while the Noble father and son set forth the vajra recitation with the three letters
just as an example. The Personal Instruction states that not only can you be liberated from both inhalation and exhalation, but also you are liber- ated from holding; what that means is that you need first to reverse the moving of the exhalation and inhalation and to hold the energy within, and then you have also to dissolve the holding within.
By practicing recitation of exiting and entering you reach the non- moving of energy, and since there is a type of non-moving under the influence of depression, you must be able to tell them apart. When you stop the nostril movement of energy, if it stays within without dissolving [into the central channel], then the body will seem to be inflated; but this is eradicated when it dissolves. As already explained, when the definite signs of the energy entering the dhati channel by its own force occur, and the energy naturally stays within for a long time and then dissolves into the dhati channel, what arises is like what is taught about [the four] voids. On dissimilar occasions, although there is an inner dissolution, it is not a dissolution into the dhati channel, and so [the experience] will
not match what is taught about the voids. In order for the wind-energies
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 339
to dissolve into the actual indestructible heart center, you need to have loosened the channel knot of that [heart center]; before that, even if you [seem to] compress [the energies] into the dhati channel by means of the art of compressing [energies] into the heart center, that is a dissolution into the near-dhati channel, but not into the dhati itself. 101 Similarly, although it can happen that your energy can dissolve into the dhati channel, you are unable to make it come and go from the dhati channel in the [exact] place of the channel knot. As the Vajra Rosary says: "Little by little, free of effort" - and what is meant there is that you should not make a strenuous effort [to force] the wind-energies to enter and exit [the heart center]. [t7ta]
The Personal Instruction also says that when you cause the energy to abide within, you should hold it very gently. The vajra recitation [should be] performed gently with the three, exhaling inhaling, and abid- ing wind-energies, as it is highly critical that, when the wind-energies begin slightly to stop, the elements of the body are not disturbed and remain balanced. The production of those excellent virtues which must be produced [only] through penetrating the vital points in the body is different from other [kinds of] productions. 102
Thus [penetrating the vital points precisely] is extremely necessary for extreme power in developing the voids, for ease of gaining greatly increasing impact from the moment of the first time of developing the voids, and for the great stability of your bliss and [furor] heat, and so on. Therefore, when you have had a whiff of the experience of the blaze of bliss and heat and have become enthusiastic and see the need for the ability etc. to cultivate positive practice, even if you practice even the system of cultivating forcefully, you must keep at it until you have achieved the
101 So there is a way of dissolving the energies into the dhati channel under or above the very central part of the heart center where the indestructible is, without them dissolving right into the indestructible, because that is still sealed off by the knot.
102 To be able to inject the energy and make it enter into the central channel in the navel or heart center, you have first to have a clear visualization of exactly where that center is and put your focus right on the spot in the various strategic places. Doing that is "pene- trating the vital point," and energy-pressure focused there produces the true dissolution experiences. Pressure aimed vaguely nearby can seriously disrupt the nervous system.
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purpose [of penetrating the vital point precisely]; and if you follow the teaching of the treatises, it is [even more of] a joy.
Here also, though there is a bit of intensity [used in practicing] the wind-energy yoga of vajra recitation and in cultivating by aiming your visualization at the drop etc. , if you use the forceful yoga for such as meditating energy compression, it is said to cause untimely death. And
though it seems to have the benefit of slightly greater speed, you should be careful to keep it within bounds. 103 I previously quoted Kukuripa say- ing that the signs arise from meditating on the heart center drop, intend- ing the signs of the vajra recitation, so here the signs such as mirage will arise.
Until you have well released the heart-center channel knot, l17tbl you will not attain the actual voids of mind isolation. Nevertheless, it seems that those on lower stages will definitely experience voids con- forming to [those of the] mind isolation; so you should carefully differen- tiate these [two kinds, actual and conformative]. If you do not distinguish between them, you might hold the three voids developed by vajra recita- tion on the lower stages to be the actual mind isolation, the fourth void to be the fourth stage clear light, and the two arisals in deity bodies after
those two to be, [respectively,] the third stage magic body and the fifth stage communion body. Thus you will become excessively proud of such attainments when you have not really attained any of their excellent qualities, and you will lose your drive to attain the higher excellences not already attained. Then, since you have none of the distinctive transforma- tions coming from them, some of you might generate a false view and think, "I attained a path such as this, but did not experience any sort of benefit of that atainment such as light rays; so these teachings are just words!
