Brilliant
Illumination of tht' Lamp
E \1\M.
E \1\M.
Thurman-Robert-a-F-Tr-Tsong-Khapa-Losang-Drakpa-Brilliant-Illumination-of-the-Lamp-of-the-Five-Stages
I have already explained that process elsewhere [in my Stages ofthe Path ofGreat Vajradhara].
Having become fit, how to purify vows and commitments]
During the time of initiation, one calls to witness all the mentors, buddhas, and bodhisattvas [35a] and undertakes to uphold the vows and pledges taken in their presence. So it is indispensible to know how to
[uphold them] and to have the experience of maintaining [them], before one can contemplate the path. . The procedure of doing that should be learned from the previous extensive explanations in the Mentor Fifty, the Vow Upholding, the Famous Treatise, and the Elucidation of the Root
Downfalls and Gross Infractions.
When one finds certitude in the fact that the practices concerning the pure initiations and the vows must begin to lead one into the two stages , one ' s preliminary practices such as mentor yoga, the hundred syllable [mantra-recitation], and the mandala [offering] come in the wake
? ? 93
- How to become a fit vessel for the path of the two stagesI
I'VI. B. 2. -
94 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
of that [initiation, as is proper. Otherwise,] if one finds that certitude only afterward, it seems that the realization possible through the previous prac- tices does not develop; so strive to understand this [importance of initia- tions and vows] beforehand.
[VI. B. 3. - Having purified vows and commitments, how to meditate]
The third has three parts: [a. ] Verifying the order of the two stages; [b. ] How to meditate the two stages in order; and [c. ] The conduct which is the method of bringing out the impact of the two stages.
[VI. B. 3. a. -
The person who aspires to the ultimate does not fail to meditate the creation stage. One follows the order of meditation by first thoroughly cultivating the creation stage and later entering the perfection stage. [Nagarjuna,] in the Five Stages, makes the order definite:
To those well situated on the creation stage And yet aspiring to the perfection stage, The perfect buddhas taught this method Just like the rungs of a ladder.
[Aryadeva adds] in the Integrated Practices, which extensively elucidates the intention of the Five Stages:
"Alienated individuals such as us, through our beginning- less habitual investment in the variety of outer [35bJ things, are involved in the habitual investment in conceptual thinking by the cause of the [reificatory] instincts for intrinsic realities in such [things] as existence and non- existence. one and many. duality and nonduality, neither existence nor non-existence, permanence and imperma- nence. Thus if they learn the samadhi of the perfection stages, must they practice according to the usual stages?
Or may they spiritually realize those instantaneously through the personal precept of the mentor? "
The Vajra Master replies, "Practice entering by stages, and not suddenly. "
? ? Verifying the order of the two stages]
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 95
Thus, when asked: if those who are engaged with objects under the influence of instincts beginninglessly invested in the four extremes should practice the perfection [stages] beginning gradually from the first stages, or should practice suddenly by means of a profound precept of a mentor, without needing such [a gradual procedure]? [Aryadeva] answers that, other than gradual practice, there is no door of sudden entrance. And he establishes that by quoting the authority of the Mission to Lan ka [Satra] and the Heroes ' March Samadhi Satra. Thus, even if it were thought that the finest, jewel-like disciple to enter this path would never [need to] have a beginner's stage, there would result the absurdity that one should be liberated from the beginning without requiring any path [at all]. It is essential that one accept [the inevitability of having] a beginner's stage. One must accept [Aryadeva's] statement in the Integrated Practices:
In order for beginner [36a] beings
To enter into the ultimate reality,
The perfect buddhas created this artful system, Just like like rungs of a ladder.
Here some protest that the sudden practice is taught thinking of some powerful persons who practiced the lower paths in many former lives, and so [in this life] do not need to be led through lower paths but are properly led through the higher paths. 40
This is like saying: when one investigates whether or not one needs first to go through the paths of accumulation and application to generate the insight path, one does not need any preliminary accumulation or appli- cation paths, giving the reason that one has already attained the insight
path. It is a ridiculous [because so obvious] objection. Thus, just as, although one can put one's boat aside when one gets across a river, one must still depend on it while crossing; so, although one can abandon the creation stage once one has attained the non-artificial, core realization of the perfection stage, the artificial creation stage is necessary in the process of attaining that. Thus for the beginner, the creation stage is very highly
recommended and very important. As the Vajra Angel states:
40 Here we encounter a definitive position taken in regard to the nowadays still controver- sial debate between sudden enlightenment and gradual enlightenment.
? 96 ?
Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
In order to realize the core yoga One should practice the artificial Meditation and recitation.
Once one realizes the core yoga, Since it is realized by going out Beyond the artificial yoga,
One should not practice any artifice. For example, one takes a boat
And goes across the water,
And then leaves it, once beyond. Artifices are like that:
Such rites as mandalas and so on,
Which are made with the [. 36bl artificial mind, Since they clear up one's [habitual] outer actions, Are recommended for beginners.
All those accomplishments are present here [in the
creation stage],
But not in the knowledge reality of the Victor.
The same points are made in the Liberation Drop and the Spring Drop. Also. as for the meaning of some statements in them that not liberation but only painful hardships will be attained by striving in the artificial practices, they mean that such will be the result if one only strives in such paths and does not [go on to] meditate the perfection stage [at all]. They do not mean that one who aspires to enlightenment should not employ those [artificial practices]. One can understand this by applying the meaning of the example of the boat. So do not make the statement about abandoning the boat on the other side of the water your grounds
for abandoning the boat on this side of the water!
Here one might object that it is all right to establish the definite-
ness in the order of the two stages by references from the Tantras, but how can references from So tras establish anything?
[SO tra references were also used here] to help us understand that, although there are differences of speed between So tra and Tantra, they are similar in that beginners need to enter gradually. As for the statements about the order of the two stages in the Tantras, the Vajra Rosary states:
Then, at the beginning, the yogi/ni who knows The six yogas achieves the supreme;
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 97 Then one should recite very extensively
The letter HA without any vowel.
Here, as for the six yogas: in the first application there are yoga, continu- ing yoga, and so on to make four; and then the mandala triumph and the evolution triumph to make six. Reciting the letters without vowels is explained as referring to the Vajra recitation.
As the Esoteric Accomplishment states:
In the glorious [37lt] Community,
The savior of beings taught very clearly Four things to be meditated,
On the higher than highest path.
First, one should establish the letter,
And abide on the stage of creation. Second, the lords of yoga should meditate. The very reality of the self.
Third, one meditates the wisdom seal The supreme divine substance. Fourth, proclaimed the highest,
One meditates the universal seal.
Misunderstanding the many texts such as the Enlightenment Songs (Dohas), which explain that, relying on a progression through such stages of the path in the context of meditating primarily the innate [orgasmic] wisdom, one ceases the elaborated meditations of the creation stage; it seems that [some] have [mistakenly] thought that the system of the Great
Brahmin was sudden and the system of Nagarjuna was gradual. Never- theless, the interpretation that asserts two paths, a gradual one for dull and mediocre intellects in the stage of first entering in this path, and a sudden one for the extremely sharp intellects, is contradictory to the Tantra and to all authoritative treatises. But I have already extensively explained
these interpretations in the Stages ofthe Path ofGreat Vajradhara. IVI. B. 3. b. - How to meditate the two stages in order]
The second has two parts: [i. ] The way to meditate the creation stage; and [ii. ] The way to meditate the perfection stage.
? 98 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp 1 \ " I . B . ? ? . b . i . -
First. if one must first meditate the creation stage, since it is the prior of the two stages. how does one Jearn the stages of what sort of creation stage?
To this there are two: [A '] The need to meditate what sort of crea- tion stage; and [8 '] How to learn that creation stage. 137bl
[\'I. B. J. b. i. A, - The need to meditate what sort of creation stage]
In the twelfth chapter of the Root Tantra, the creation stage is ex- plained in terms of the four branches of service and performance. And the meaning of this is explained by the Illumination of the Lamp, [includ- ing all stages of the path] from the meditation on the stage of wisdom to the end of the evolution triumph. The phrase from that very chapter:
Again, one should perform service
With firm discipline, by means of the four vajras. . .
indicates the creation stage; the Illumination ofthe Lamp explains that it refers to the summary creation stage. That is also explained as the mean- ing of the passage from the Further Tantra:
First, voidness and enlightenment; Second, the concentration of the seed; Third, the completion of matter itself; Fourth, the establishment of the letter.
When Naropa explains this as referring [to the path] from the meditation on the stage of wisdom up to the mandala triumph, he intends the exten- sive creation [stage] by means of the four vajras. Stating it in brief, it indicates [the process] from the wisdom stage up to the establishment of the letters in the vajra and the lotus. Again, it is merely stated directly.
After that, one must supply the subtle [yoga] and recitation, and so on. [Chandrakirti] explains in the eleventh chapter of the Illumination ofthe Lamp the single-minded [focus] on the six clans, from meditating the wisdom stage up to the triply nested heroes. He states that one's mental process develops when practicing that in four sessions; this has the same meaning as the concise performance. The treatises of the Noble father and sons teach no division of contemplative performance into
extended and concise other than this.
? ? The way ln mcdilalc lhc crcalion )\! agel
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 99
Therefore, in this system, without beginning from a solitary hero form such as Vajradhara [38nJ and stabilizing his clear vision and then proceeding to practice the rest of the performance - other than such a way of practice, just by meditating the deity as father-mother in union one cannot develop the root of virtue that produces the complete realization of the perfection stage. Therefore, as for what some advocates of the Marpa system say-that the meditation on the wheel of the mandala is [only] necessary to accomplish the variety of ritual deeds; that, as the prerequisite of the perfection stage, it is sufficient to meditate on the wisdom body made by a mere instantaneous creation of the father- mother deity from within the realm of voidness; and that just that is what
is indicated by "abiding well on the creation stage"41-this does not agree with any of the genuine treatises of the Noble tradition, and even contradicts their own [Marpa] system. As the Concise Five Stages Eluci- dation states:
Who vividly realizes the forms
Of this creation stage, the deity body
And the supreme mandala of perfect buddhas, And learns it thoroughly, that one will be fulfilled.
To assert that one must create a wisdom body preliminary to medi- tating the perfection stage disagrees with the Integrated Practices state- ment that the wisdom body is created from the magic body and there is no [actual] deity body from the creation stage up to the mind isolation.
And especially the division into the mantra body and the wisdom body on the creation stage is a notion that has no place in this system. In short, by knowing just what sort of meditation on the creation stage serves to develop one's spiritual process to produce a complete realization of the perfection stage, it is crucial to meditate something more than the mini- mal creation stage. [38bJ Further, the Root and Commentary [Tantra] Thir- teenth Chapters state that, in order to guard the mind of the beginner against distraction, one must meditate the protection wheel in four sessions.
? 41 PK, vs. 1. 2a.
100 ? BrilliantIlluminationoftheLamp ( VI. B. 3. b. i. B ? -
The stage of learning in the creation stage is stated in the Integrated Practices:
When learning the aspiration for the buddha-vehicle, one learns the samadhi of single-mindedness [of the new vehicle]. When learning that, one learns the yoga of imagination. When learning that, one abides in the
beginner's samadhi.
Here, the Integrated Practices Commentary's interpretation, that the single-mindedness [yoga] is the instantaneous learning of the creation stage and the imagination yoga is the learning through many moments, is incorrect; for the Illumination of the Lamp explains that the single- mindedness [samadhi] is the creation of Vairochana, and so on, from the five enlightenments.
Again, some people, basing themselves on the Illumination ofthe Lamp' s eleventh chapter explanation that the single-mindedness [samadhi] is the creation one by one of Vairochana, and so forth, interpret first the single-mindedness as learning a single deity; then, once one has learned that, [interpret] the learning of the yoga of imagination as learning the entire sadhana performance. This also is invalid, because in that expla- nation of the single-mindedness [samadhi] on Vairochana, and so on, [Chandrakirti] mentions the meditating on the mandala with holistic visualization.
Therefore, the "single" in single-mindedness does not indicate either that the mindfulness of the deity is [achieved] all in one move, or that one is mindful of only one deity, but rather that either one is singly mindful of deities or one is mindful of oneself as one with the deity. In general that can apply to meditation of the deities both at subtle and coarse levels, but J. WuJ here it refers to the deity yoga of the coarse habitat and inhabitant mandala.
Again, it is stated that one learns this path according to the proce- dure declared in the Integrated Practices: when learning archery, one learns first with a big target and only after having developed [skill] does one learn with a small one. So, when one learns the creation stage first, up to the mandala triumph, one produces the vivid vision of the coarse [deities]. Only having learned those does one then learn the yoga of
? How to learn that creation stage)
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 101
imagination, such as meditating on the mandala within a subtle drop, and so on. "Imagination" or "conceptualization yoga" is the general name of the creation stage, but here it is used as the general name of the yoga of the subtle, just as [in] the sixth chapter of the Illumination of the Lamp, [Chkndrakirti] refers to the meditation on the yoga of the subtle as the learning of the yoga of imagination.
The samadhi of the beginner is the yoga of the first stage: "to abide in that" is to stabilize it or to perfect it. In the creation stage, there are profound anticipatory relationalities [contributing to] the production of each realization of the perfection stage. It also has a great store of excel- lences, such as having one's spiritual continuum blessed by the victors and their offspring; being looked after through all one's lives by one's patron deity; never being apart from remembrance of the Buddha; being able to complete the stores easily through the [contemplative] practices of offering, praising, and so forth; not being affected by injuries from demons; and such as being able to achieve many ritual accomplishments such as peace, and so forth, in this very life. Therefore, it is extremely important to practice until it regularly happens that, whatever one's invited visualization of the habitat [39bJ and inhabitant mandala on the coarse and subtle levels, it dawns as one wishes and does not dawn as
one does not wish, and until one can abide one-pointedly upon it for a long time. And here I do not enlarge on other things [here] unexplained, as I have already explained them elsewhere. 42
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. - The way to meditate the perfection stage]
The second has three parts: [A'] Summary meaning of the two [syllables,] E VAM, the main subject of the perfection stage in general; [B'] Detailed explanation of the meaning of the two [syllables,] E VAM; and [c'] Explaining the perfection stage of this Tantra in particular.
42 Especially in the creation stage section of the Great Stages ofthe Path ofGreat Vajra- dhara. See Tsong Khapa, T. Yarnall, trans. , forthcoming.
? ? 1 02 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp [VI. B. 3. b. ii. A ' -
In general, all the keys of the import of Unexcelled Yoga Tantra are condensed into the meaning of the preliminary forty syllables such as E VAM. And further, the chief of those imports is condensed in the import of the first two syllables.
In that regard, the Vajra Rosary Tantra states:
Why is the first phrase of the Tantra,
"Thus did 1," and so on?
What is the detailed meaning
O f t h e fi r s t w o r d s , " T h u s [ E VAM] , " a n d s o o n ?
Here the first two lines ask how the meaning of the prefatory expression in Tantras, such as the Community, becomes the meaning of the two syllables E VAM. The last two lines ask what is the detailed meaning of each one, E, VAM, and so on. Of these two questions, in answer to the latter, a verse is put forth explaining each syllable. And in answer to the former, three meanings of EVAM are stated:
[ 1 ] T h e E VA M o f t h e g o a l , f r u i t i o n ;
[2] The EVAM of the path, the means of attainment; and
[3] The EVAM which is the sign (linga) which brings about that
[attainment].
[ I ] Of the first, the E means the support where the Teacher stays
and performs the teaching of the Dharma, [40al called in some Tantras the "secret," in some the "realm of space," or likewise the "vagina" (bhaga), the "source-triangle," the "lotus," the "lion's throne," and so on. The meaning of VAM consists of the names given the Teacher in the various Tantras such as "Vajri," "Vajrasattva," "Vajrabhairava," "Vajreitvara," "Heruka," "Kalachakra," " Adibuddha," and so on. As [the Vajra Rosary] states:
In ? , the secret, space-realm, Vagina, source, or lotus,
The yogi/ni sits in the lion ' s seat, Teaching the supreme miracle:
Called Vajrasattva, VAM Vajra, Vajrabhairava, Rtvara,
? Summary meaning of the two [syllables,] E VAM, the main subject of the perfection stage in general]
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 103 Heruka, Kalachakra,
And Adibuddha.
Here, further, the definitive meaning of "secret" and so on is void- ness, and the definitive meaning of "Vajrasattva," and so on, is great com- passion; thus, this [EVAM] indicates the indivisibility of voidness and compassion. As [the Vajra Rosary] states:
EVAM is the seal of the transcendent buddhas, The indicator of nonduality,
The indivisibility of void and compassion, Wherefore, it expresses that reality.
There, the seal of the transcendent buddhas, Showing nondual intuitive wisdom,
Is stated in the opening of all Tantras.
[2] Now the second E [of the path] means wisdom voidness, VA means liberative art of great compassion, and the drop [anusvara = M-sound] means the indivisible union of that art and wisdom. That very thing is declared to be the seal stamping the great king of Dharma, abbreviated into its chief [40b] meaning pervading the 84,000 forms of Dharma. As is stated in the Vajra Rosary:
E is declared to be voidness,
Likewise, VA to be compassion,
The M-drop the product of their union: The supreme miracle of their union.
Pervading the 84,000 Dharma groups, It is summarized as the Dharma seal; The very seal of the great king,
Stated first in the Tantras.
That intuitive wisdom of such nonduality, expressed in whatever Tantra, that very thing is supreme, and its teaching is indispensible. As [the Vajra Rosary] states:
Condensed meaning of all Tantras,
Voidness and compassion indivisible, Wherein that same is proclaimed,
That is the seal of the transcendent buddhas.
1 04 ?
Brilliant Illumination of tht' Lamp
E \1\M. the two syllables- Where those two are not. There is no thatness.
Also the Esoteric Accomplishment praises the actual meaning of the two syllables as the essence of the path of enlightenment:
? And:
Abiding in the beginning of the Tantra, Supreme quintessence of the essence, That very thing the Great Bliss Savior Called the "Secret Thatness. "
Source of the happiness of buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and all beings,
King of Tantras of secret imagination, It abides in the Glorious Community. To the pure syllables E VAM
All three realms reverently pay homage.
In that so-called "realm of space," Appearing like a full sesame pod, Transcendent buddhas are everywhere
As numerous as grains of Ganga's sands. Having served the reality of those syllables, By that artful performance,
The buddhas and bodhisattvas Attain the [41al unexcelled state.
Therefore, from that same text [the Esoteric Accomplishment] :
Here, if the two syllables,
Are not at the start of a Tantra, It is unacceptable.
It states that the two syllables are definitely necessary at the starting pre- face of all Unexcelled Tantras. [Yet] here the intention is that even though the syllables E VAM are not explicitly present, their definitive meaning must be present.
[3] Of the third, the E [of the sign] means the support, the vagina (bhaga) of the Mother, the VA means the Father's phallus which depends
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 105
on it, and the M-drop which abides in that dependent phallus is the ground of all the bliss such as the great bliss of Vajrasattva which manifests the various emanations [as the Vajra Rosary states]:
E has the character of the vagina, Know it as the supporting lotus. VA is the supported phallus,
And the form of drop abides there Held by the supported phallus, Causing the various emanations, Abode of ground of all bliss,
The univeral bliss of Vajrasattva.
That [passage] indicates the liberative art that develops the E VAM of the path from the union of the E and the VAM, the signs of Father and Mother. Further, this E VAM of the signs, which are the vital points of the body, [along with] the liberative art that develops the path - EVAM through penetrating those vital points within one's own body, is also pro- claimed in the Sampufa [Tantra]:
The E syllable truly abides
In the wheels at the crown and navel; Likewise, one wants the VAM syllable Truly staying at heart and throat.
The meaning of EVAM here is explained as the abiding of the E as the triangular shape in the crown and navel channel-wheels l4tb] and the VAM syllable as the round shape in the heart and throat channel-wheels. Here "sign" refers to the sign which is the mark of shape.
Thus, if one desires to attain the goal-EVAM by understanding it thoroughly, one understands its art: the process of the union of both E and VAM of the path according to the teachings in both [Father and Mother] Tantras. Then, as the art of developing that [path-EVAM], one
becomes expert in the external sign-EVAM-the union with the consort: and in the internal sign-EVAM-the process of penetrating the vital points of the channel-wheels. There, in the use of the art of developing that path, all the vital keys of both (Father and Mother] Tantras are con- densed, and thus one can understand thoroughly how all Tantras become the meaning of the two syllables E VAM and its components. Then, one
? I 06 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
can well understand the many praises in the Tantras of the import of the
two syllables as being the [most] vital import of all.
E VAMJ
The second has two parts: [1 '] Detailed explanation of definitive meaning of both E and VAM; and [2 '] Showing how, to produce that, one must penetrate the vital points in the body through the entry of the sign E VA M .
Eand VAMJ
One may think, "If the chief import of all Tantras is the import of EVAM, and its definitive import is voidness and compassion, the mean- ings of those two must be explained. "
This has two parts: [a '] Explaining the meanings of the voidness and compassion involved in bliss-void-indivisibility; and [b'] Explaining the meaning of the voidness and compassion involved in the two-reality- indivisibility.
lVI. B. 3. b. ii. B'l 'a' - Explaining the meanings of the voidness and com- passion involved in bliss-void-indivisibility]
As the letter E and the shape of the reality-source ? 42aJ are triangu- lar, they symbolize the suchness of selflessness. At the same time, the tri- angle also symbolizes the three doors of liberation. Thus, the symbolic meaning of the syllable E is voidness, signlessness, and wishlessness; [those three] being the voidness of intrinsic reality of things as entities, causes, and effects, [respectively]. Therefore, if one's view of voidness is
not perfect, the meaning of the syllable E will not be complete[ly under- stood]. Even though one has that [perfect view], if one lacks the great bliss arisen from penetrating the vital points of the external and internal body, the meaning of the syllable VA will not be complete[ly understood]. And even if one has both of those, if one does not know how to conceive the view of voidness in that melted state and how to unite bliss and void- ness by having turned voidness into objectivity and great bliss into sub- jectivity, realizing the former unerringly with the latter, then; the meaning of the M-drop will be incomplete[ly understood]. Therefore, if one wants
? ? ? IVI. B. 3. b. ii. B' - Detailed explanation of the meaning of the two [syllables. )
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. B'l ' - Detailed explanation of the definitive meaning of both
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 107
to understand the meaning of the EVAM as the indivisibility of bliss and voidness, one must understand [all] those things.
This has three parts: [i'] Explaining the import of voidness; [ii '] Explaining the import of bliss; and [iii '] Explaining the process of union of bliss-void-indivisible.
? The first has three parts: [A "] Identifying the root of the life cycle; [B"] Teaching the corresponding system of investigating the view of self- lessness, which terminates that [life cycle]; and [c"] Refuting positions
which differ [from that] .
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. B'1 'aTA" - Identifying the root of the life cycle] [Aryadeva] states in the Integrated Practices:
Thus, persons without a spiritual teacher, not under- standing the full insight into the reality of their own minds, constructing their vain and hollow "I"-habit and "mine"-habit and so deeming things to be good and evil, and so on, experience suffering [42b] in the beginningless life cycle.
Thus, by the power of confusion due to the truth habit which does not know the reality of the mind, relying on the habits of personal self and its property, they wander in the life cycle. This is supported by references from Su tras, such as the Eight Thousand and the Purification of Evolu- tionary Obstructions. [In the Integrated Practices, Aryadeva] states that
its meaning was taught by the Savior Nagarjuna:
If in actuality all this is
Voidness and non-production,
How does evolution move one through this life-cycle Of engagement in pleasure and suffering?
As soon as the childish begin to claim a self,
Because of taints such as desire,
They become dependent through imagination; [And they are afflicted by suffering. ]
But all these are but merely mind.
? Really emergent in the form of illusions,
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. B'l'aT - Explaining the import of voidnessI
108 ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
And thus through virtuous and nonvirtuous acts,
One is born in happy and wretched migrations.
Further, Anailgavajra, the disciple of the Savior Mahasukhanatha [Padmavajra], declared [in his Accomplishment Ascertaining Wisdom and Art] that one wanders in the life cycle by the power of the truth habit that invests the truthless with truth[-status]; and that one will not be liberated from the life cycle as long as one maintains the materialism of the truth-
insistence:
From them there is the great increase
Of such as birth and death,
For those whose minds insist on the untrue,
The life cycle of extreme suffering happens. As long as they keep the great materialism, So long do those of such feeble intelligence Reside in the prison of existence.
This [point] is similar to that [made by the master Nagarjuna] in the Precious Rosary, that if one does not cease the truth-habit regarding the aggregates then one will not terminate birth driven by the power of evo- lutionary action and affliction:
As long as there is the aggregate-habit
There will be the "1"-habit concerning it.
As long as there is the "1"-habit, there will be evolution; And from that there will be rebirth. (43al
cydc))
Therefore, not only must one realize voidness, realizing the non- reality of the aggregates, in order to purge completely the instinct for the truth-habit, the root of the life cycle, but the wisdom realizing non-reality is indispensible for cutting the bonds of wandering in the life cycle under the influence of evolution and addictions. And that import has already been contemplated by those disciples and hermit buddhas who have cut the bonds of the life cycle. These [points] have been extensively explained
? IYI. B. 3. b. ii. H'l'aTil" -
Teaching the corresponding system of investi-
gating the view of selflessness, which terminates that (samsaric life
Chapter II- Learning the Tantric Path ? 1 09 elsewhere. As [NAgArjuna] stated in the Disclosure of the Spirit of En-
lightenment:
Those who do not know voidness, Have no basis for liberation,
And they will wander in confusion Imprisoned in life in the six migrations.
And as Anailgavajra states [in his Accomplishment Ascertaining Wisdom andArt]:
Thus, [some]one with a spiritual teacher Wishing to eliminate the habitual error Of wanting to enjoy the three migrations,
Should abandon the habit of materialism. Therefore, not only when enter- ing the philosophical vehicle, but also on the Vajra Vehicle, one must seek the understanding of the view which realizes selfless voidness and medi- tate upon its import in order to eliminate the materialism at the root of the life cycle. Likewise, the Vajra Essence Ornament Tantra says:
A certain yogi/ni understands one thing,
Goes into solitude and strives there,
Purifies sins, achieves buddhahood in this life. Meditating on objective selflessness, [43b]
S/he realizes omniscience.
Thus here, when a yogi/ni understands and meditates in solitude, s/he will attain buddhahood in this life. Such a yogi/ni is explained as meditating on objective selflessness. There are a great many [passages] like that.
Thus to abandon truth habits and realize selflessness, one must refute the object [seemingly] held by the self habits and realize its non- existence; it is not sufficient to merely withdraw the mind, not allowing it to move out toward the object of the truth habits. As the Lord of Reason-
ing [Dharmakirti] declared:
Without refuting its object [the presumed self], one cannot eliminate [the self habit] .
And Aryadeva says:
1 1 0 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
When you see all objects as selfless,
You will destroy the seed of [samsaric] existence.
And in the Introduction to the Central Way, [Chandrakirti] also declares:
Seeing intellectually that all faults of addictions
Arise from the futile views [of self and property], And having realized that it is the self that is its object, The yogi/ni effects the negation of the self.
The method of first generating a precise understanding of the view of selflessness is explained in the Tantric and Centrist treatises without any difference. As [Nagarjuna] explains in the Disclosure of the Spirit of Enlightenment:
Those bodhisattvas who engage in practice through the door of secret Mantra, having thus conceived the superfi- cial spirit of enlightenment, whose nature is willing, then should generate the ultimate spirit of enlightenment by the power of meditation. Therefore, one must describe its nature.
After having said that, [Nagarjuna] determines selflessness: by negating the personal self advocated by the outsider schools; [44al [by negating] the objective self advocated by the Buddhist monastic schools as truly existent subject and object; and [by negating] the [more subtle objective self) advocated by the Experientialists as the true mind devoid of sub- stantial subject-object-dichotomy. For he states that, before the Tantric practitioner (canj generate the ultimate spirit of enlightenment by the force of meditation, (s/he must learn] the method of investigating the view of seltlessness according to the treatises of the central way. While the two realist schools of the individual [vehicle] advocate true subject and object, none of the noble disciples and hermit buddhas (still ) hold such a position. It should be understood that these two patterns [of philoso- phical realism only] express the view of the (still) alienated individuals who are embarked on their (Individual Vehicle) path.
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 1 1 1 [VI. B. 3. b. ii. B'l 'aTe" - Refuting positions which differ (from that)]
Concerning this, a certain someone advocates his own view, quot- ing the Summary Teaching:43
The voidness come from analysis of the aggregates, Is essencelessness, like a plantain tree,
But that does not serve as the voidness
Endowed with supremacy in all aspects.
arguing that the meditation on the voidness determined by analysis with discriminating wisdom of the object of the self habit, is not the [voidness used in the] system of Tantra. 44
[We reply:] "You are very discerning. You assert that the medita- tion on the meaning of selflessness, having been well ascertained and determined by references and reasons, is a meditation on essencelessness! " As for the meaning of the reference [from the Summary Teaching] , the fifth chapter of the Great Commentary Stainless Light states:
43 The rather generic title Summary Teaching (mdor bstan pa) is used for a number of texts. In this case this passage is from the anonymously written text Srrman-vimala- prabhli-tantrlivatlira? r-va. dacala-hrdayaloka (dpal /dan dri ma dang bra/ ba'i 'od kyi rgyud Ia 'jug pa 'i bshad sbyar mi gyo ba 'i snying po snang ba) (Toh. 1 349).
44 The phrase "voideness endowed with supremacy in all aspects" (rnam pa thams cad mchog /dan pa 'i stong nyid) in this verse seems to be a rendition of the technical term rnam pa kun [gyi] mchog /dan pa 'i stong pa nyid, which is a Tibetan translation of the term sarva-llka. ravara-upeta-sanyatll. This expresses the idea that various absolutists (such as Dolpopa) seized upon. As D. S. Ruegg explains: "[This] expression was used earlier as an epithet of the Sambuddha, e. g. at the end of the Mahtiparinirvti? asatra. . . . In the Ratnagotravibhliga . . . and elsewhere . . . [this expression] occupies a prominent place in the theory of absolute reality. " (Literature ofthe Madhyamaka: 84n) However, elsewhere (Buddha-nature, Mind and the Problem of Gradualism in a Comparative Perspective: 1 84, 1 90) Ruegg also explains Kamalailila's and Sba. ntarak? hita's Centrist understanding of this term. In brief, they consider that just as vipashyanll mu st be conjoined with shamatha (as prajiiiJ must be with charytl), so shanyattl must be conjoined with liberative art (upaya). They then maintain that - in opposition to a "one [-sided] method" (ekanaya) which views emptiness alone as a self-sufficient method (shanyatanaya) - it is this
? ? emptiness conjoined with liberative art that is
qualities" (sarva-akaravara-upeta-. ? hanyattl). (Thanks to T. Yarnall for this note. )
"
emptiness endowed with all excellent
1 1 2 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Le? mp
The voidness resulting from the analytic [dissolution) of
things ha
ent than an annihilative voidness.
v ing the nature of masses of atoms is far differ-
Accordingtothis. 1-"'bl ifonehasnotwellidentifiedtheparametersofthe Centrist's rational negandum, one might come to understand that, "The meaning of realitylessness, reached through rational analysis of aggre- gates and so on, is the disestablishment of everything such as birth and cessation. and so on. " [But this] is the thought behind the cessation [pre- sumed to be a] nihilistic voidness, and is not the universal cessation achieved by the analysis of discriminating wisdom. If that were not so,
then the quote from the second chapter Stainless Light states:
That consciousness ultimately exists
Is not asserted by the wise;
It is like a lotus of the sky,
Free from the natures of unity and plurality.
The nonreality of the consciousness aggregate is discerned by the reason of freedom from unity and plurality and the example of the sky flower. It is stated:
and:
That very fact is realized by the Centrist
It is established as selfless and so on. This is declared sum- marily, you should realize it in detail from the expansive Sotras.
Thus, selflessness is briefly stated in that text, and it is said one must look extensively in the texts of the Centrists. And this would be contradicted [by your position above]. Furthermore, from the Great Commentary [Stain- less Light]:
The "vajra" is the great unbreakable and uncuttable; and that same thing being a vehicle, it is the Vajra Vehicle; and the Tantric way and the transcendence way become mixed in one as nature of effect and cause.
Here the view of voidness of the transcendent wisdom, the causal vehicle, and the great bliss of the Tantric vehicle, the fruitional vehicle, are said to
Chapter II- Learning the Tantric Path ? 1 1 3
be mingled in union. And therefore, it is a great philosophical mistake to assert that the Time Machine system has a way of determining 14SuJ the view that is different from the view determined in the transcendent wisdom vehicle.
Thus, although there are many contexts in the Root Tantra where the view of voidness is determined, when Vairochana states in the second chapter:
Being free from all things;
Abandoning aggregates, elements, media, And the object and subject [dichotomy]; Through the equality of objective selflessness, One's own mind primally unproduced-
That is the reality of voidness.
Thus, in the Disclosure ofthe Spirit ofEnlightenment, [Nagarjuna] accom- plishes the determination of the void aspect [of what is] taught to be the spirit of enlightenment. Therein, the first phrase refutes the self that is imagined by the fundamentalists. Then next two lines refute the true subject-object-dichotomy imagined by the realist schools. The remainder refutes the truth of the mind imagined by the idealists.
After that, [the Disclosure continues] :
"Something" is a construct; Constructlessness is voidness. Wherein constructs become apparent, How can voidness be [realized] there?
The mind with the aspects of construct and construction Is not beheld by the transcendent buddhas.
Wherein there are construct and construction,
Therein there is no enlightenment spirit.
Herein "construct" refers to the three con. structs such as the construct of the personal self, and it does not refer to all kinds of constructs. The same text states:
The buddhas always assert the spirit of enlightenment As of the nature of voidness,
1 1 4 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
Unobscured by the constructs of the ideas
Of self, aggregate, and so forth. [4Shl
To elucidate the import of the statement that all things are like a dream in the fifteenth chapter of the Root Tantra, [Naga:rjuna] declared the stage of self-consecration. Regarding the process of analysis by indi- viduating wisdom, in comment on the ninth chapter of the Root Tantra,
the Explanatory Tantra Revelation of the Hidden Intention states that an effect coming from a cause is to be individually analyzed by the follow- ing procedure: though it occurs when unanalyzed, it abides nowhere at all when analyzed. And the Vajra Rosary states in its sixteenth chapter that one should analyze the three times by differentiating three times in each of them. The Vajra Essence Ornament Tantra, a corresponding art Tantra, states that voidness is determined by analyzing the directional facets in atoms of material things and by analyzing mind-instants each into three [periods]. Thus, they [all] explain the method of seeking the
understanding of the [realistic] view as in the Transcendence Vehicle. It is stated in the Esoteric Accomplishment:
And :
One analytically discerns the actuality of this three-realm world
As free of intrinsic reality in terms of unity and multiplicity.
If one analytically investigates through the path All these three realms
Up to the peak of existence,
The aggregates do not exist in truth.
Who is it who analytically investigates? Here, what is to be investigated? Thatness, just that alone, by striving, As long as one investigates,
So long all is clear light.
l46ul This does not refer to the occasion of merely seeking preliminary understanding but rather to the subsequent occasion of meditation. How- ever, this should not be taken as a repeated investigation by discriminat- ing wisdom at the time ofjoining bliss and void after orgasmic joy-the
Chapter 1/-Learning the Tantric Path ? 1 15
fourth joy-and clear light-the fourth void-have dawned. [Rather.
Having become fit, how to purify vows and commitments]
During the time of initiation, one calls to witness all the mentors, buddhas, and bodhisattvas [35a] and undertakes to uphold the vows and pledges taken in their presence. So it is indispensible to know how to
[uphold them] and to have the experience of maintaining [them], before one can contemplate the path. . The procedure of doing that should be learned from the previous extensive explanations in the Mentor Fifty, the Vow Upholding, the Famous Treatise, and the Elucidation of the Root
Downfalls and Gross Infractions.
When one finds certitude in the fact that the practices concerning the pure initiations and the vows must begin to lead one into the two stages , one ' s preliminary practices such as mentor yoga, the hundred syllable [mantra-recitation], and the mandala [offering] come in the wake
? ? 93
- How to become a fit vessel for the path of the two stagesI
I'VI. B. 2. -
94 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
of that [initiation, as is proper. Otherwise,] if one finds that certitude only afterward, it seems that the realization possible through the previous prac- tices does not develop; so strive to understand this [importance of initia- tions and vows] beforehand.
[VI. B. 3. - Having purified vows and commitments, how to meditate]
The third has three parts: [a. ] Verifying the order of the two stages; [b. ] How to meditate the two stages in order; and [c. ] The conduct which is the method of bringing out the impact of the two stages.
[VI. B. 3. a. -
The person who aspires to the ultimate does not fail to meditate the creation stage. One follows the order of meditation by first thoroughly cultivating the creation stage and later entering the perfection stage. [Nagarjuna,] in the Five Stages, makes the order definite:
To those well situated on the creation stage And yet aspiring to the perfection stage, The perfect buddhas taught this method Just like the rungs of a ladder.
[Aryadeva adds] in the Integrated Practices, which extensively elucidates the intention of the Five Stages:
"Alienated individuals such as us, through our beginning- less habitual investment in the variety of outer [35bJ things, are involved in the habitual investment in conceptual thinking by the cause of the [reificatory] instincts for intrinsic realities in such [things] as existence and non- existence. one and many. duality and nonduality, neither existence nor non-existence, permanence and imperma- nence. Thus if they learn the samadhi of the perfection stages, must they practice according to the usual stages?
Or may they spiritually realize those instantaneously through the personal precept of the mentor? "
The Vajra Master replies, "Practice entering by stages, and not suddenly. "
? ? Verifying the order of the two stages]
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 95
Thus, when asked: if those who are engaged with objects under the influence of instincts beginninglessly invested in the four extremes should practice the perfection [stages] beginning gradually from the first stages, or should practice suddenly by means of a profound precept of a mentor, without needing such [a gradual procedure]? [Aryadeva] answers that, other than gradual practice, there is no door of sudden entrance. And he establishes that by quoting the authority of the Mission to Lan ka [Satra] and the Heroes ' March Samadhi Satra. Thus, even if it were thought that the finest, jewel-like disciple to enter this path would never [need to] have a beginner's stage, there would result the absurdity that one should be liberated from the beginning without requiring any path [at all]. It is essential that one accept [the inevitability of having] a beginner's stage. One must accept [Aryadeva's] statement in the Integrated Practices:
In order for beginner [36a] beings
To enter into the ultimate reality,
The perfect buddhas created this artful system, Just like like rungs of a ladder.
Here some protest that the sudden practice is taught thinking of some powerful persons who practiced the lower paths in many former lives, and so [in this life] do not need to be led through lower paths but are properly led through the higher paths. 40
This is like saying: when one investigates whether or not one needs first to go through the paths of accumulation and application to generate the insight path, one does not need any preliminary accumulation or appli- cation paths, giving the reason that one has already attained the insight
path. It is a ridiculous [because so obvious] objection. Thus, just as, although one can put one's boat aside when one gets across a river, one must still depend on it while crossing; so, although one can abandon the creation stage once one has attained the non-artificial, core realization of the perfection stage, the artificial creation stage is necessary in the process of attaining that. Thus for the beginner, the creation stage is very highly
recommended and very important. As the Vajra Angel states:
40 Here we encounter a definitive position taken in regard to the nowadays still controver- sial debate between sudden enlightenment and gradual enlightenment.
? 96 ?
Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
In order to realize the core yoga One should practice the artificial Meditation and recitation.
Once one realizes the core yoga, Since it is realized by going out Beyond the artificial yoga,
One should not practice any artifice. For example, one takes a boat
And goes across the water,
And then leaves it, once beyond. Artifices are like that:
Such rites as mandalas and so on,
Which are made with the [. 36bl artificial mind, Since they clear up one's [habitual] outer actions, Are recommended for beginners.
All those accomplishments are present here [in the
creation stage],
But not in the knowledge reality of the Victor.
The same points are made in the Liberation Drop and the Spring Drop. Also. as for the meaning of some statements in them that not liberation but only painful hardships will be attained by striving in the artificial practices, they mean that such will be the result if one only strives in such paths and does not [go on to] meditate the perfection stage [at all]. They do not mean that one who aspires to enlightenment should not employ those [artificial practices]. One can understand this by applying the meaning of the example of the boat. So do not make the statement about abandoning the boat on the other side of the water your grounds
for abandoning the boat on this side of the water!
Here one might object that it is all right to establish the definite-
ness in the order of the two stages by references from the Tantras, but how can references from So tras establish anything?
[SO tra references were also used here] to help us understand that, although there are differences of speed between So tra and Tantra, they are similar in that beginners need to enter gradually. As for the statements about the order of the two stages in the Tantras, the Vajra Rosary states:
Then, at the beginning, the yogi/ni who knows The six yogas achieves the supreme;
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 97 Then one should recite very extensively
The letter HA without any vowel.
Here, as for the six yogas: in the first application there are yoga, continu- ing yoga, and so on to make four; and then the mandala triumph and the evolution triumph to make six. Reciting the letters without vowels is explained as referring to the Vajra recitation.
As the Esoteric Accomplishment states:
In the glorious [37lt] Community,
The savior of beings taught very clearly Four things to be meditated,
On the higher than highest path.
First, one should establish the letter,
And abide on the stage of creation. Second, the lords of yoga should meditate. The very reality of the self.
Third, one meditates the wisdom seal The supreme divine substance. Fourth, proclaimed the highest,
One meditates the universal seal.
Misunderstanding the many texts such as the Enlightenment Songs (Dohas), which explain that, relying on a progression through such stages of the path in the context of meditating primarily the innate [orgasmic] wisdom, one ceases the elaborated meditations of the creation stage; it seems that [some] have [mistakenly] thought that the system of the Great
Brahmin was sudden and the system of Nagarjuna was gradual. Never- theless, the interpretation that asserts two paths, a gradual one for dull and mediocre intellects in the stage of first entering in this path, and a sudden one for the extremely sharp intellects, is contradictory to the Tantra and to all authoritative treatises. But I have already extensively explained
these interpretations in the Stages ofthe Path ofGreat Vajradhara. IVI. B. 3. b. - How to meditate the two stages in order]
The second has two parts: [i. ] The way to meditate the creation stage; and [ii. ] The way to meditate the perfection stage.
? 98 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp 1 \ " I . B . ? ? . b . i . -
First. if one must first meditate the creation stage, since it is the prior of the two stages. how does one Jearn the stages of what sort of creation stage?
To this there are two: [A '] The need to meditate what sort of crea- tion stage; and [8 '] How to learn that creation stage. 137bl
[\'I. B. J. b. i. A, - The need to meditate what sort of creation stage]
In the twelfth chapter of the Root Tantra, the creation stage is ex- plained in terms of the four branches of service and performance. And the meaning of this is explained by the Illumination of the Lamp, [includ- ing all stages of the path] from the meditation on the stage of wisdom to the end of the evolution triumph. The phrase from that very chapter:
Again, one should perform service
With firm discipline, by means of the four vajras. . .
indicates the creation stage; the Illumination ofthe Lamp explains that it refers to the summary creation stage. That is also explained as the mean- ing of the passage from the Further Tantra:
First, voidness and enlightenment; Second, the concentration of the seed; Third, the completion of matter itself; Fourth, the establishment of the letter.
When Naropa explains this as referring [to the path] from the meditation on the stage of wisdom up to the mandala triumph, he intends the exten- sive creation [stage] by means of the four vajras. Stating it in brief, it indicates [the process] from the wisdom stage up to the establishment of the letters in the vajra and the lotus. Again, it is merely stated directly.
After that, one must supply the subtle [yoga] and recitation, and so on. [Chandrakirti] explains in the eleventh chapter of the Illumination ofthe Lamp the single-minded [focus] on the six clans, from meditating the wisdom stage up to the triply nested heroes. He states that one's mental process develops when practicing that in four sessions; this has the same meaning as the concise performance. The treatises of the Noble father and sons teach no division of contemplative performance into
extended and concise other than this.
? ? The way ln mcdilalc lhc crcalion )\! agel
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 99
Therefore, in this system, without beginning from a solitary hero form such as Vajradhara [38nJ and stabilizing his clear vision and then proceeding to practice the rest of the performance - other than such a way of practice, just by meditating the deity as father-mother in union one cannot develop the root of virtue that produces the complete realization of the perfection stage. Therefore, as for what some advocates of the Marpa system say-that the meditation on the wheel of the mandala is [only] necessary to accomplish the variety of ritual deeds; that, as the prerequisite of the perfection stage, it is sufficient to meditate on the wisdom body made by a mere instantaneous creation of the father- mother deity from within the realm of voidness; and that just that is what
is indicated by "abiding well on the creation stage"41-this does not agree with any of the genuine treatises of the Noble tradition, and even contradicts their own [Marpa] system. As the Concise Five Stages Eluci- dation states:
Who vividly realizes the forms
Of this creation stage, the deity body
And the supreme mandala of perfect buddhas, And learns it thoroughly, that one will be fulfilled.
To assert that one must create a wisdom body preliminary to medi- tating the perfection stage disagrees with the Integrated Practices state- ment that the wisdom body is created from the magic body and there is no [actual] deity body from the creation stage up to the mind isolation.
And especially the division into the mantra body and the wisdom body on the creation stage is a notion that has no place in this system. In short, by knowing just what sort of meditation on the creation stage serves to develop one's spiritual process to produce a complete realization of the perfection stage, it is crucial to meditate something more than the mini- mal creation stage. [38bJ Further, the Root and Commentary [Tantra] Thir- teenth Chapters state that, in order to guard the mind of the beginner against distraction, one must meditate the protection wheel in four sessions.
? 41 PK, vs. 1. 2a.
100 ? BrilliantIlluminationoftheLamp ( VI. B. 3. b. i. B ? -
The stage of learning in the creation stage is stated in the Integrated Practices:
When learning the aspiration for the buddha-vehicle, one learns the samadhi of single-mindedness [of the new vehicle]. When learning that, one learns the yoga of imagination. When learning that, one abides in the
beginner's samadhi.
Here, the Integrated Practices Commentary's interpretation, that the single-mindedness [yoga] is the instantaneous learning of the creation stage and the imagination yoga is the learning through many moments, is incorrect; for the Illumination of the Lamp explains that the single- mindedness [samadhi] is the creation of Vairochana, and so on, from the five enlightenments.
Again, some people, basing themselves on the Illumination ofthe Lamp' s eleventh chapter explanation that the single-mindedness [samadhi] is the creation one by one of Vairochana, and so forth, interpret first the single-mindedness as learning a single deity; then, once one has learned that, [interpret] the learning of the yoga of imagination as learning the entire sadhana performance. This also is invalid, because in that expla- nation of the single-mindedness [samadhi] on Vairochana, and so on, [Chandrakirti] mentions the meditating on the mandala with holistic visualization.
Therefore, the "single" in single-mindedness does not indicate either that the mindfulness of the deity is [achieved] all in one move, or that one is mindful of only one deity, but rather that either one is singly mindful of deities or one is mindful of oneself as one with the deity. In general that can apply to meditation of the deities both at subtle and coarse levels, but J. WuJ here it refers to the deity yoga of the coarse habitat and inhabitant mandala.
Again, it is stated that one learns this path according to the proce- dure declared in the Integrated Practices: when learning archery, one learns first with a big target and only after having developed [skill] does one learn with a small one. So, when one learns the creation stage first, up to the mandala triumph, one produces the vivid vision of the coarse [deities]. Only having learned those does one then learn the yoga of
? How to learn that creation stage)
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 101
imagination, such as meditating on the mandala within a subtle drop, and so on. "Imagination" or "conceptualization yoga" is the general name of the creation stage, but here it is used as the general name of the yoga of the subtle, just as [in] the sixth chapter of the Illumination of the Lamp, [Chkndrakirti] refers to the meditation on the yoga of the subtle as the learning of the yoga of imagination.
The samadhi of the beginner is the yoga of the first stage: "to abide in that" is to stabilize it or to perfect it. In the creation stage, there are profound anticipatory relationalities [contributing to] the production of each realization of the perfection stage. It also has a great store of excel- lences, such as having one's spiritual continuum blessed by the victors and their offspring; being looked after through all one's lives by one's patron deity; never being apart from remembrance of the Buddha; being able to complete the stores easily through the [contemplative] practices of offering, praising, and so forth; not being affected by injuries from demons; and such as being able to achieve many ritual accomplishments such as peace, and so forth, in this very life. Therefore, it is extremely important to practice until it regularly happens that, whatever one's invited visualization of the habitat [39bJ and inhabitant mandala on the coarse and subtle levels, it dawns as one wishes and does not dawn as
one does not wish, and until one can abide one-pointedly upon it for a long time. And here I do not enlarge on other things [here] unexplained, as I have already explained them elsewhere. 42
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. - The way to meditate the perfection stage]
The second has three parts: [A'] Summary meaning of the two [syllables,] E VAM, the main subject of the perfection stage in general; [B'] Detailed explanation of the meaning of the two [syllables,] E VAM; and [c'] Explaining the perfection stage of this Tantra in particular.
42 Especially in the creation stage section of the Great Stages ofthe Path ofGreat Vajra- dhara. See Tsong Khapa, T. Yarnall, trans. , forthcoming.
? ? 1 02 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp [VI. B. 3. b. ii. A ' -
In general, all the keys of the import of Unexcelled Yoga Tantra are condensed into the meaning of the preliminary forty syllables such as E VAM. And further, the chief of those imports is condensed in the import of the first two syllables.
In that regard, the Vajra Rosary Tantra states:
Why is the first phrase of the Tantra,
"Thus did 1," and so on?
What is the detailed meaning
O f t h e fi r s t w o r d s , " T h u s [ E VAM] , " a n d s o o n ?
Here the first two lines ask how the meaning of the prefatory expression in Tantras, such as the Community, becomes the meaning of the two syllables E VAM. The last two lines ask what is the detailed meaning of each one, E, VAM, and so on. Of these two questions, in answer to the latter, a verse is put forth explaining each syllable. And in answer to the former, three meanings of EVAM are stated:
[ 1 ] T h e E VA M o f t h e g o a l , f r u i t i o n ;
[2] The EVAM of the path, the means of attainment; and
[3] The EVAM which is the sign (linga) which brings about that
[attainment].
[ I ] Of the first, the E means the support where the Teacher stays
and performs the teaching of the Dharma, [40al called in some Tantras the "secret," in some the "realm of space," or likewise the "vagina" (bhaga), the "source-triangle," the "lotus," the "lion's throne," and so on. The meaning of VAM consists of the names given the Teacher in the various Tantras such as "Vajri," "Vajrasattva," "Vajrabhairava," "Vajreitvara," "Heruka," "Kalachakra," " Adibuddha," and so on. As [the Vajra Rosary] states:
In ? , the secret, space-realm, Vagina, source, or lotus,
The yogi/ni sits in the lion ' s seat, Teaching the supreme miracle:
Called Vajrasattva, VAM Vajra, Vajrabhairava, Rtvara,
? Summary meaning of the two [syllables,] E VAM, the main subject of the perfection stage in general]
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 103 Heruka, Kalachakra,
And Adibuddha.
Here, further, the definitive meaning of "secret" and so on is void- ness, and the definitive meaning of "Vajrasattva," and so on, is great com- passion; thus, this [EVAM] indicates the indivisibility of voidness and compassion. As [the Vajra Rosary] states:
EVAM is the seal of the transcendent buddhas, The indicator of nonduality,
The indivisibility of void and compassion, Wherefore, it expresses that reality.
There, the seal of the transcendent buddhas, Showing nondual intuitive wisdom,
Is stated in the opening of all Tantras.
[2] Now the second E [of the path] means wisdom voidness, VA means liberative art of great compassion, and the drop [anusvara = M-sound] means the indivisible union of that art and wisdom. That very thing is declared to be the seal stamping the great king of Dharma, abbreviated into its chief [40b] meaning pervading the 84,000 forms of Dharma. As is stated in the Vajra Rosary:
E is declared to be voidness,
Likewise, VA to be compassion,
The M-drop the product of their union: The supreme miracle of their union.
Pervading the 84,000 Dharma groups, It is summarized as the Dharma seal; The very seal of the great king,
Stated first in the Tantras.
That intuitive wisdom of such nonduality, expressed in whatever Tantra, that very thing is supreme, and its teaching is indispensible. As [the Vajra Rosary] states:
Condensed meaning of all Tantras,
Voidness and compassion indivisible, Wherein that same is proclaimed,
That is the seal of the transcendent buddhas.
1 04 ?
Brilliant Illumination of tht' Lamp
E \1\M. the two syllables- Where those two are not. There is no thatness.
Also the Esoteric Accomplishment praises the actual meaning of the two syllables as the essence of the path of enlightenment:
? And:
Abiding in the beginning of the Tantra, Supreme quintessence of the essence, That very thing the Great Bliss Savior Called the "Secret Thatness. "
Source of the happiness of buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and all beings,
King of Tantras of secret imagination, It abides in the Glorious Community. To the pure syllables E VAM
All three realms reverently pay homage.
In that so-called "realm of space," Appearing like a full sesame pod, Transcendent buddhas are everywhere
As numerous as grains of Ganga's sands. Having served the reality of those syllables, By that artful performance,
The buddhas and bodhisattvas Attain the [41al unexcelled state.
Therefore, from that same text [the Esoteric Accomplishment] :
Here, if the two syllables,
Are not at the start of a Tantra, It is unacceptable.
It states that the two syllables are definitely necessary at the starting pre- face of all Unexcelled Tantras. [Yet] here the intention is that even though the syllables E VAM are not explicitly present, their definitive meaning must be present.
[3] Of the third, the E [of the sign] means the support, the vagina (bhaga) of the Mother, the VA means the Father's phallus which depends
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 105
on it, and the M-drop which abides in that dependent phallus is the ground of all the bliss such as the great bliss of Vajrasattva which manifests the various emanations [as the Vajra Rosary states]:
E has the character of the vagina, Know it as the supporting lotus. VA is the supported phallus,
And the form of drop abides there Held by the supported phallus, Causing the various emanations, Abode of ground of all bliss,
The univeral bliss of Vajrasattva.
That [passage] indicates the liberative art that develops the E VAM of the path from the union of the E and the VAM, the signs of Father and Mother. Further, this E VAM of the signs, which are the vital points of the body, [along with] the liberative art that develops the path - EVAM through penetrating those vital points within one's own body, is also pro- claimed in the Sampufa [Tantra]:
The E syllable truly abides
In the wheels at the crown and navel; Likewise, one wants the VAM syllable Truly staying at heart and throat.
The meaning of EVAM here is explained as the abiding of the E as the triangular shape in the crown and navel channel-wheels l4tb] and the VAM syllable as the round shape in the heart and throat channel-wheels. Here "sign" refers to the sign which is the mark of shape.
Thus, if one desires to attain the goal-EVAM by understanding it thoroughly, one understands its art: the process of the union of both E and VAM of the path according to the teachings in both [Father and Mother] Tantras. Then, as the art of developing that [path-EVAM], one
becomes expert in the external sign-EVAM-the union with the consort: and in the internal sign-EVAM-the process of penetrating the vital points of the channel-wheels. There, in the use of the art of developing that path, all the vital keys of both (Father and Mother] Tantras are con- densed, and thus one can understand thoroughly how all Tantras become the meaning of the two syllables E VAM and its components. Then, one
? I 06 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
can well understand the many praises in the Tantras of the import of the
two syllables as being the [most] vital import of all.
E VAMJ
The second has two parts: [1 '] Detailed explanation of definitive meaning of both E and VAM; and [2 '] Showing how, to produce that, one must penetrate the vital points in the body through the entry of the sign E VA M .
Eand VAMJ
One may think, "If the chief import of all Tantras is the import of EVAM, and its definitive import is voidness and compassion, the mean- ings of those two must be explained. "
This has two parts: [a '] Explaining the meanings of the voidness and compassion involved in bliss-void-indivisibility; and [b'] Explaining the meaning of the voidness and compassion involved in the two-reality- indivisibility.
lVI. B. 3. b. ii. B'l 'a' - Explaining the meanings of the voidness and com- passion involved in bliss-void-indivisibility]
As the letter E and the shape of the reality-source ? 42aJ are triangu- lar, they symbolize the suchness of selflessness. At the same time, the tri- angle also symbolizes the three doors of liberation. Thus, the symbolic meaning of the syllable E is voidness, signlessness, and wishlessness; [those three] being the voidness of intrinsic reality of things as entities, causes, and effects, [respectively]. Therefore, if one's view of voidness is
not perfect, the meaning of the syllable E will not be complete[ly under- stood]. Even though one has that [perfect view], if one lacks the great bliss arisen from penetrating the vital points of the external and internal body, the meaning of the syllable VA will not be complete[ly understood]. And even if one has both of those, if one does not know how to conceive the view of voidness in that melted state and how to unite bliss and void- ness by having turned voidness into objectivity and great bliss into sub- jectivity, realizing the former unerringly with the latter, then; the meaning of the M-drop will be incomplete[ly understood]. Therefore, if one wants
? ? ? IVI. B. 3. b. ii. B' - Detailed explanation of the meaning of the two [syllables. )
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. B'l ' - Detailed explanation of the definitive meaning of both
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 107
to understand the meaning of the EVAM as the indivisibility of bliss and voidness, one must understand [all] those things.
This has three parts: [i'] Explaining the import of voidness; [ii '] Explaining the import of bliss; and [iii '] Explaining the process of union of bliss-void-indivisible.
? The first has three parts: [A "] Identifying the root of the life cycle; [B"] Teaching the corresponding system of investigating the view of self- lessness, which terminates that [life cycle]; and [c"] Refuting positions
which differ [from that] .
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. B'1 'aTA" - Identifying the root of the life cycle] [Aryadeva] states in the Integrated Practices:
Thus, persons without a spiritual teacher, not under- standing the full insight into the reality of their own minds, constructing their vain and hollow "I"-habit and "mine"-habit and so deeming things to be good and evil, and so on, experience suffering [42b] in the beginningless life cycle.
Thus, by the power of confusion due to the truth habit which does not know the reality of the mind, relying on the habits of personal self and its property, they wander in the life cycle. This is supported by references from Su tras, such as the Eight Thousand and the Purification of Evolu- tionary Obstructions. [In the Integrated Practices, Aryadeva] states that
its meaning was taught by the Savior Nagarjuna:
If in actuality all this is
Voidness and non-production,
How does evolution move one through this life-cycle Of engagement in pleasure and suffering?
As soon as the childish begin to claim a self,
Because of taints such as desire,
They become dependent through imagination; [And they are afflicted by suffering. ]
But all these are but merely mind.
? Really emergent in the form of illusions,
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. B'l'aT - Explaining the import of voidnessI
108 ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
And thus through virtuous and nonvirtuous acts,
One is born in happy and wretched migrations.
Further, Anailgavajra, the disciple of the Savior Mahasukhanatha [Padmavajra], declared [in his Accomplishment Ascertaining Wisdom and Art] that one wanders in the life cycle by the power of the truth habit that invests the truthless with truth[-status]; and that one will not be liberated from the life cycle as long as one maintains the materialism of the truth-
insistence:
From them there is the great increase
Of such as birth and death,
For those whose minds insist on the untrue,
The life cycle of extreme suffering happens. As long as they keep the great materialism, So long do those of such feeble intelligence Reside in the prison of existence.
This [point] is similar to that [made by the master Nagarjuna] in the Precious Rosary, that if one does not cease the truth-habit regarding the aggregates then one will not terminate birth driven by the power of evo- lutionary action and affliction:
As long as there is the aggregate-habit
There will be the "1"-habit concerning it.
As long as there is the "1"-habit, there will be evolution; And from that there will be rebirth. (43al
cydc))
Therefore, not only must one realize voidness, realizing the non- reality of the aggregates, in order to purge completely the instinct for the truth-habit, the root of the life cycle, but the wisdom realizing non-reality is indispensible for cutting the bonds of wandering in the life cycle under the influence of evolution and addictions. And that import has already been contemplated by those disciples and hermit buddhas who have cut the bonds of the life cycle. These [points] have been extensively explained
? IYI. B. 3. b. ii. H'l'aTil" -
Teaching the corresponding system of investi-
gating the view of selflessness, which terminates that (samsaric life
Chapter II- Learning the Tantric Path ? 1 09 elsewhere. As [NAgArjuna] stated in the Disclosure of the Spirit of En-
lightenment:
Those who do not know voidness, Have no basis for liberation,
And they will wander in confusion Imprisoned in life in the six migrations.
And as Anailgavajra states [in his Accomplishment Ascertaining Wisdom andArt]:
Thus, [some]one with a spiritual teacher Wishing to eliminate the habitual error Of wanting to enjoy the three migrations,
Should abandon the habit of materialism. Therefore, not only when enter- ing the philosophical vehicle, but also on the Vajra Vehicle, one must seek the understanding of the view which realizes selfless voidness and medi- tate upon its import in order to eliminate the materialism at the root of the life cycle. Likewise, the Vajra Essence Ornament Tantra says:
A certain yogi/ni understands one thing,
Goes into solitude and strives there,
Purifies sins, achieves buddhahood in this life. Meditating on objective selflessness, [43b]
S/he realizes omniscience.
Thus here, when a yogi/ni understands and meditates in solitude, s/he will attain buddhahood in this life. Such a yogi/ni is explained as meditating on objective selflessness. There are a great many [passages] like that.
Thus to abandon truth habits and realize selflessness, one must refute the object [seemingly] held by the self habits and realize its non- existence; it is not sufficient to merely withdraw the mind, not allowing it to move out toward the object of the truth habits. As the Lord of Reason-
ing [Dharmakirti] declared:
Without refuting its object [the presumed self], one cannot eliminate [the self habit] .
And Aryadeva says:
1 1 0 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
When you see all objects as selfless,
You will destroy the seed of [samsaric] existence.
And in the Introduction to the Central Way, [Chandrakirti] also declares:
Seeing intellectually that all faults of addictions
Arise from the futile views [of self and property], And having realized that it is the self that is its object, The yogi/ni effects the negation of the self.
The method of first generating a precise understanding of the view of selflessness is explained in the Tantric and Centrist treatises without any difference. As [Nagarjuna] explains in the Disclosure of the Spirit of Enlightenment:
Those bodhisattvas who engage in practice through the door of secret Mantra, having thus conceived the superfi- cial spirit of enlightenment, whose nature is willing, then should generate the ultimate spirit of enlightenment by the power of meditation. Therefore, one must describe its nature.
After having said that, [Nagarjuna] determines selflessness: by negating the personal self advocated by the outsider schools; [44al [by negating] the objective self advocated by the Buddhist monastic schools as truly existent subject and object; and [by negating] the [more subtle objective self) advocated by the Experientialists as the true mind devoid of sub- stantial subject-object-dichotomy. For he states that, before the Tantric practitioner (canj generate the ultimate spirit of enlightenment by the force of meditation, (s/he must learn] the method of investigating the view of seltlessness according to the treatises of the central way. While the two realist schools of the individual [vehicle] advocate true subject and object, none of the noble disciples and hermit buddhas (still ) hold such a position. It should be understood that these two patterns [of philoso- phical realism only] express the view of the (still) alienated individuals who are embarked on their (Individual Vehicle) path.
Chapter 11-Learning the Tantric Path ? 1 1 1 [VI. B. 3. b. ii. B'l 'aTe" - Refuting positions which differ (from that)]
Concerning this, a certain someone advocates his own view, quot- ing the Summary Teaching:43
The voidness come from analysis of the aggregates, Is essencelessness, like a plantain tree,
But that does not serve as the voidness
Endowed with supremacy in all aspects.
arguing that the meditation on the voidness determined by analysis with discriminating wisdom of the object of the self habit, is not the [voidness used in the] system of Tantra. 44
[We reply:] "You are very discerning. You assert that the medita- tion on the meaning of selflessness, having been well ascertained and determined by references and reasons, is a meditation on essencelessness! " As for the meaning of the reference [from the Summary Teaching] , the fifth chapter of the Great Commentary Stainless Light states:
43 The rather generic title Summary Teaching (mdor bstan pa) is used for a number of texts. In this case this passage is from the anonymously written text Srrman-vimala- prabhli-tantrlivatlira? r-va. dacala-hrdayaloka (dpal /dan dri ma dang bra/ ba'i 'od kyi rgyud Ia 'jug pa 'i bshad sbyar mi gyo ba 'i snying po snang ba) (Toh. 1 349).
44 The phrase "voideness endowed with supremacy in all aspects" (rnam pa thams cad mchog /dan pa 'i stong nyid) in this verse seems to be a rendition of the technical term rnam pa kun [gyi] mchog /dan pa 'i stong pa nyid, which is a Tibetan translation of the term sarva-llka. ravara-upeta-sanyatll. This expresses the idea that various absolutists (such as Dolpopa) seized upon. As D. S. Ruegg explains: "[This] expression was used earlier as an epithet of the Sambuddha, e. g. at the end of the Mahtiparinirvti? asatra. . . . In the Ratnagotravibhliga . . . and elsewhere . . . [this expression] occupies a prominent place in the theory of absolute reality. " (Literature ofthe Madhyamaka: 84n) However, elsewhere (Buddha-nature, Mind and the Problem of Gradualism in a Comparative Perspective: 1 84, 1 90) Ruegg also explains Kamalailila's and Sba. ntarak? hita's Centrist understanding of this term. In brief, they consider that just as vipashyanll mu st be conjoined with shamatha (as prajiiiJ must be with charytl), so shanyattl must be conjoined with liberative art (upaya). They then maintain that - in opposition to a "one [-sided] method" (ekanaya) which views emptiness alone as a self-sufficient method (shanyatanaya) - it is this
? ? emptiness conjoined with liberative art that is
qualities" (sarva-akaravara-upeta-. ? hanyattl). (Thanks to T. Yarnall for this note. )
"
emptiness endowed with all excellent
1 1 2 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Le? mp
The voidness resulting from the analytic [dissolution) of
things ha
ent than an annihilative voidness.
v ing the nature of masses of atoms is far differ-
Accordingtothis. 1-"'bl ifonehasnotwellidentifiedtheparametersofthe Centrist's rational negandum, one might come to understand that, "The meaning of realitylessness, reached through rational analysis of aggre- gates and so on, is the disestablishment of everything such as birth and cessation. and so on. " [But this] is the thought behind the cessation [pre- sumed to be a] nihilistic voidness, and is not the universal cessation achieved by the analysis of discriminating wisdom. If that were not so,
then the quote from the second chapter Stainless Light states:
That consciousness ultimately exists
Is not asserted by the wise;
It is like a lotus of the sky,
Free from the natures of unity and plurality.
The nonreality of the consciousness aggregate is discerned by the reason of freedom from unity and plurality and the example of the sky flower. It is stated:
and:
That very fact is realized by the Centrist
It is established as selfless and so on. This is declared sum- marily, you should realize it in detail from the expansive Sotras.
Thus, selflessness is briefly stated in that text, and it is said one must look extensively in the texts of the Centrists. And this would be contradicted [by your position above]. Furthermore, from the Great Commentary [Stain- less Light]:
The "vajra" is the great unbreakable and uncuttable; and that same thing being a vehicle, it is the Vajra Vehicle; and the Tantric way and the transcendence way become mixed in one as nature of effect and cause.
Here the view of voidness of the transcendent wisdom, the causal vehicle, and the great bliss of the Tantric vehicle, the fruitional vehicle, are said to
Chapter II- Learning the Tantric Path ? 1 1 3
be mingled in union. And therefore, it is a great philosophical mistake to assert that the Time Machine system has a way of determining 14SuJ the view that is different from the view determined in the transcendent wisdom vehicle.
Thus, although there are many contexts in the Root Tantra where the view of voidness is determined, when Vairochana states in the second chapter:
Being free from all things;
Abandoning aggregates, elements, media, And the object and subject [dichotomy]; Through the equality of objective selflessness, One's own mind primally unproduced-
That is the reality of voidness.
Thus, in the Disclosure ofthe Spirit ofEnlightenment, [Nagarjuna] accom- plishes the determination of the void aspect [of what is] taught to be the spirit of enlightenment. Therein, the first phrase refutes the self that is imagined by the fundamentalists. Then next two lines refute the true subject-object-dichotomy imagined by the realist schools. The remainder refutes the truth of the mind imagined by the idealists.
After that, [the Disclosure continues] :
"Something" is a construct; Constructlessness is voidness. Wherein constructs become apparent, How can voidness be [realized] there?
The mind with the aspects of construct and construction Is not beheld by the transcendent buddhas.
Wherein there are construct and construction,
Therein there is no enlightenment spirit.
Herein "construct" refers to the three con. structs such as the construct of the personal self, and it does not refer to all kinds of constructs. The same text states:
The buddhas always assert the spirit of enlightenment As of the nature of voidness,
1 1 4 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
Unobscured by the constructs of the ideas
Of self, aggregate, and so forth. [4Shl
To elucidate the import of the statement that all things are like a dream in the fifteenth chapter of the Root Tantra, [Naga:rjuna] declared the stage of self-consecration. Regarding the process of analysis by indi- viduating wisdom, in comment on the ninth chapter of the Root Tantra,
the Explanatory Tantra Revelation of the Hidden Intention states that an effect coming from a cause is to be individually analyzed by the follow- ing procedure: though it occurs when unanalyzed, it abides nowhere at all when analyzed. And the Vajra Rosary states in its sixteenth chapter that one should analyze the three times by differentiating three times in each of them. The Vajra Essence Ornament Tantra, a corresponding art Tantra, states that voidness is determined by analyzing the directional facets in atoms of material things and by analyzing mind-instants each into three [periods]. Thus, they [all] explain the method of seeking the
understanding of the [realistic] view as in the Transcendence Vehicle. It is stated in the Esoteric Accomplishment:
And :
One analytically discerns the actuality of this three-realm world
As free of intrinsic reality in terms of unity and multiplicity.
If one analytically investigates through the path All these three realms
Up to the peak of existence,
The aggregates do not exist in truth.
Who is it who analytically investigates? Here, what is to be investigated? Thatness, just that alone, by striving, As long as one investigates,
So long all is clear light.
l46ul This does not refer to the occasion of merely seeking preliminary understanding but rather to the subsequent occasion of meditation. How- ever, this should not be taken as a repeated investigation by discriminat- ing wisdom at the time ofjoining bliss and void after orgasmic joy-the
Chapter 1/-Learning the Tantric Path ? 1 15
fourth joy-and clear light-the fourth void-have dawned. [Rather.
