The only way to be able truly to do this and remove their
suffering
is to become enlightened yourself.
Wang-ch-ug-Dor-je-Mahamudra-Eliminating-the-Darkness-of-Ignorance
?
THE HAHAHIIJIJBA ELIMINATING THE DARKNESS OF IGNORANCE
("Phyag-chen rna-rig mun-sel")
by the Ninth Kar-ma-pa Wang-ch'ug dor~jc with commentary given orally by
Beru Khyentze Rinpoche
? lntrotluetion
I make sincere obeisance to the precious Ka-gyu line. Although you attained perfect Enlightenment countless cons ago, you still manifest in whatever bodies arc suited for taming those needing control. Hearing ~ven your name eliminates the fears of sams~ra.
Having:ptostrated to my Guru and his lineage, I sha1l say a little about Mahl[mudn:, the Great Seal of Voidness, the innermost essence of the Diamond- hard Vehicle, Vajray1tna, in order to encourage disciples desiring Liberation. It is the single path all Buddhas? have trod and has the undeclined warmth of blessings. from the whispered oral teachings passed down successively from the ? Sa:kyamuni Buddha to my root Guru. The essence of the minds of all the Buddhas of the three times, it ,js a method for achieving in a single lifetime the extraordinary enlightened, unified state of Vajradha:ra.
In order to listen to or study the Dharma teachings properly, it ia essential to haYe the correct motivation. Remembering how aU sentient beings hnve been your mothers in previous lifetimes and shown you . great kindness, you should develop compassion and the wish to repay them. The only way to be able truly to do this and remove their suffering is to become enlightened yourself. To have as your primary thought the wish to become a Buddha or, as in the
? 2 MAHAMUDRA
tantras, VajradhAra, in order to help others is known as the Enlightened Motive of Bodhicitta. Therefore with this highest motivation you should read, study and practise these teachings.
In a<! dition. there are three faults along the anahlgy of a vessel that you should eliminate. First, do not be like an upside-down vessel, that is closed-minded, so that the teachings do not penetrate. Nor should you be like one with a hole in the bottom, retaining nothing of what you learn. Furthermore, unlike a dirty vessel, you should be free of prejudices, preconceptions and strong delusions which might contaminate your mind-stream causing you to
be pre-occupied and misconstrue all you hear.
There are also six stains to be removed. The first is pride or closed-minded arrogance ; you must listen humbly if you are to learn anything. If you have no faith or arc hypercritical, you will be unreceptive. If you arc disinterested, you Jack motivation and thus need to reconfirm it. Do not be distracted by sense objects such as noise or crowds. but remain focused on the teachings. However, do not let yourself sink into such a deep concentration that you no longer pay attention and are inalert. Such concentration has its place in meditation, but can be a hindrance when listening or studying. Finally, do not indulge yourself in depression or become discouraged if you do not understand
at first reading. It will take time and the power of acquaintance.
Further, there are five types of incorrect grasping. Do not grasp only the words of the teachings and ignore their meaning, nor only the meaning but not the words. Nor should you consider both the words and their meaning equally unimportant. Also do not grasp at either an incorrect order d the teachings or at a wrong understanding.
If you regard yourself as a sick man, suffering from delusions, the Guru as your doctor and the teachings aa medicine, you are sure to benefit.
? P11rt One: PllELI_IIINABIES
? Refuge,
Prostration anti Botlhieitt11
The explanation of how to practise this M a h l t m u d n i o f t h e u~declined l i n e a g e o f t h e p r e c i o u s Ka-gyu is divided into three sections : the prelimina- ries, tho actual body of the practice and the
concluding material.
For the first of these, tbere is to start with going
for reft. Jge and developin$ an Enlightened Motive of Bodhi~itt~
There arc both common aod extraordinary preliminary practices. The common arc: to mcdit~te on the precious human robirth, death and impermaneocc, karma or the law of cause and effect, and the disadvantages of samsAra or cyclic existence. As a common-ground, they form the context for all Buddhist practice and h~lp set your motiva-
tion. The extraordinary preliminaries (ngon-dro) arc prostration while taking refuge. Vlijrasa. ttva purification, mar;t4ala offering and Guru-yoga.
There are many styles in which the latter set may be practised, but the most usual is to perform 100,000 repeti? tions of each in turn in one continuous effort. Another method is to do a certain portion of each every day as part
of your daily practice. The number of repetitions may vary and l. OlDc:tim~s yo~ ? re told ~9 keep count, while at otben m>t, but tQ contin\le until Y0\1 recc;ive signs of success. The set may be re. ,eated several times on different occasions or continued at a slower pace throushout your life. Further-
? 6 MtfHAMUDRA
more, the actual practices you do as preliminaries may vary as well. Your Guru will decide what is best for you. What follows is a general description of the standard preliminaries as practised in the Kar-ma Ka-gyU lineage. The specific, detailed instructions should be received from your Guru.
The purpose of preliminaries is to eliminate or purify yo1. 1rself of the obstacles that might hinder your practice and t<> accumulate the merit that will bring you success. Prostration and Vajrasattva meditation accomplish the former, whtle ma9. ,ala offering and Guru-yoga the latter. Thinking about the law of cause and effect and about all the non-virtuous actions you have committed in the past and bow you will have to experience suffering as their result, you should feel great regret and turn to the Three Jewels for refuge. These are the Buddhas o r Fully A wakened Beings, the Dharma or their teachings and the Saitgha or spirihaal community of those who realise them. Entrusting yourself to these three, you should offer prostration in order to cleanse yourself of unripened suffering.
Furthermore, you should realise how all sentient beings want only happiness and never to suffer, but 11e unawnre of how to bring this about. They do not know that virtuous, kind actions bring happiness, while cruel, non-virtuoua onea only pain. Therefore develop compa11sion for them and wish by your practice to purify them ns well. And. finally you should set your motivation as Bodhicitta, tho Enlightened Motive, wishing that by taking refuge and prostrating you will eliminate all obstacles so that you can attain the enlightened state of a Buddhn in order truly to be able to benefit all others.
In the space before you visualise a wish-granting tree with one trunk and dividing into five branches. On the central one is your Guru (in the form of Vajradh~ra), in front are the meditational deities, to his right the Buddhas, behind him Dharma scriptures and to his left the Sangha. Each is surrounded by a cluster of figures of his own dass. You should go for refuge (prostrating while) saying
? the appropriate verse and visualising yourself surrounded by a multitude of all motherly sentient beings with yourself in front as their leader and all of them joining you in a chorus taking refuge.
This visualisation is o f the field o f merit o r tree o f assembled Gurus. Imagine around you is a beautiful park, with soft grassy meadows and gentle animals. In the centre of an exquisite lake is a wish-granting tree as described above. Vajradhara or, in Tibetan Dor-jc ch'ang, is the form Buddha takes in the tantras. The meditational deities ,(yidams) include Vajrayogini, Heruka and so forth; the Buddhas are those of the past, present and future ; the Dharma is represented by the -scriptural te:tts of "The Three Baskets (Tripitaka)" and the Sangha by such Bodhi? sattvas as Avalokitdvara and Tara, as well as Pratyeka- buddhas and Sravakas such as Sariputra and so on. Around
the lower portion of the tree arc the Dharmapalas and protectors such as MahAkllla. I f you do not know what all these figures look like or cannot visualise them clearly, do not worry. At least have faith that they are there before you. Through familiarity and pictures you will learn to sec them.
Visualise yourself in your ordinary form, with all your male relatives to your right and female to your left. Imagine you arc in an enormous crowd of people and animals, yourself as their leader, and all prostrating and taking refuge. Prostrate by touching clasped hands-palms together, fingers outstretched and thumbs ? tucked in. . . :. to the top of your head, mid-brow, throat and heart, then go down to the ground and stretch out fully with hands extended before you. Arise quickly. Da this while repeating
such verses as "I and all motherly sentient beings as vast as space. ? ? go for refuge in the holy venerable Gurus. We go for refuge in the Yidams and host of their mat}c;lala deities. We go for refuge in the Blessed Buddhas. We go for refuge in the Holy Dharma. We go for refuge in the Noble Sangha. We go for refuge in the host of Qakas, Qakinis, Dharmapalas and Protectors who have the eye of pristine
PRELIMINARIES 7
? 8 MAHAMUDRA
awareness. " Throughout maintain a strong state of con'--cn tration, faith and sincerity. These three-bowing, reciting and concentrating-are known as physical, verbal and mental prostration. You should repeat the verse and physical prostration 100,000 times, as well as begin any
meditation session with at least seven.
When prostrating you will experience much suffering. View this like the pain of an injection you are happy to endure in order to be cured of an illness. Your discomfort is proportionate to the amount of unripened suffering and negative karma you arc being cleansed of. When you ache, feel that you are not only eliminating, by experiencing now, the suffering you might have had in a more severe form in an unfortunate rebirth, but also that you are
taking away this suffering from others. lf you are hot or cold, pray that this eliminates that which the hell creatures. feel. Take hunger and thirst from hungry ghosts ar. d, if your mind becomes dull and blank with fatigue, imagine that animals arc freed from their stupidity. With strong faith and constantly reconfirmed motivation, you will ha? ! e no doubts about what you arc doing. Should thoughts arise to leave it and do something else, regard them as n jeering. crowd and pay them no heed.
You should also recite, "{I go for refuge untill am enlightened) to the Buddhas, the Dharma anci the Highest Assembly . . . '' and so forth while thinking, "Realising that all beings have been my mother and father, I shall go for refuge and develop an Enlight- ened Motive of Bodhicitta. " In addition you sh? outd meditate on the four immeasurables, "May all sentient beings he endowed with happiness and the causes for joy. . . " and so forth.
The stanza, "I go for refuge until I am enlighh:ned to the Buddhas, the Dharma and the Highest Assembly. From the virtuous merit that I collect by practising giving and
other perfections, may I attain the state of a Buddha to be able to benefit all sentient beings", is the most commonly rl"cited one for enhancing your development of Bodhicitta.
? The four immcasurables arc (I) love, wishing all beings to be endowed with happiness and the causes for joy, (2) compas- sion, wishing them to be parted from suffering and the causes for grief, (3) joy, wishing them never to be parted from the happiness they have and (4) equanimity, wishing that they be freed from all attachment and repulsion and from all notions of some being close and others distant.
At the conclusion you should meditate that the objects of refuge melt into Jight and dissolve into you and that your mind-stream has thus been purified.
When you have finished your prostration session, dissolve all the figures into the central one of your Guru as the Buddha Vajradhiira and finally him into yourself. Remain in a non-objectifying state of inseparable Voidness and clarity, not directed at any extreme mode of existence. Ja other words, do not make an}thing into a concrete, truly existent object. Rather, remain in the here and now, and feel you arc completely purified.
That is the first (preliminary practice), the medita- tions for going for refuge and developing an Enlight-
ened Motive.
PRELIMINARIES 9
? Yt1jrasattva JJieditation
Vajrasattva, or in Tibetan Dor-je sem-pa, is a form of the Buddhas dedicated to purifying and eliminating from others suffering, sickness and the unripened, unfortunate consequences of their previously committed non-virtue. He appears in many forms, peaceful or as Heruka Vajrasattva, either alone or with consort. His practice can be either more or less elaborate. What follows is a purification method with the solitary Vajrasattva.
On the crown of your head (visualise) your Guru as Vajrasattva, white in colour, with right hand holding a vajra sceptre at his heart and left holding a bell at his hip, and arrayed with the major and minor marks of a Buddha.
On the top of your head in your ordinary form visualisct a syllable PAM. This transforms into a white lotus and on it, from a syllable Al;l, appears a flat, full-moon disc. On top of it, a syllable HOM transforms into a five-pointed vajr" or diamond sceptre marked in the centre with a HOM. Light rays are emitted and re-absorbed twice, the first time making offerings to the various Duddhas and Bodhisattvas. and the second eliminating the suffering of all beings. The vajra then transforms into the solitary Vajrasattva, as describ- ed above. His left leg is on top of his right thigh and his. right leg is extended downwards. In his heart is a moon- disc with a. n upright, white syllable HOM in its centre.
Varjasattva has both a hundred- and a six-syllable mantra aud they may be arranged in several ways, either clockwise N counter-clockwise, revolving or stationary. In
? this particular meditation, his hundred-syllable mantra, which. you will be repeating 100,000 times, is arranged counter- clockwise along the outside rim of the moon-disc in his heart. The letters arew bite, upright, facing inwards and do not revolve.
After meditating like this, you should recite, "0 Guru-Vajrasattva, please cleanse me of all obstacles and unripened, unfortunate consequences of my previously committed non-virtuous actions" In addition, you should apply the (four) various (opponent powers) of declaring your previous non- virtue.
For this mtditation to be most effective it must be complete with the four opponent powers used in confession or declaring your previously committed non-virtuous actions. First you must . recall all your mistakes and feel sincere regret. The second is promising to try your hardest not to repeat them. Next you must rely on the basis or object against which your non-virtue bas been committed, namely your commitment to the refuges and Bodhicitta. Thus by again taking refuge and enhancing your Enlightened Motive,. you reinforce the foundation for your morality. Lastly you apply such purifying practices as those of Vajrasattva to remove all stains. If these four are incomplete, whatever purification you do will be only a temporary whitewashing. But with these four opponents and sincere conviction in their ability to cleanse you, there is no doubt they will work.
Then visualise white nectar falling from the large toe of Vajrasattva's (right) foot, entering through the crown of your head and filling your entire body All your obstacles and unripened consequences leave you and in their place you are entirely filled with nectar.
As you recite the hundred-syllable mantra, white lights. and purifying nectars are emitted from the moon-disc, seed- ayllable HUM and mantra at his heart, completely filling his.
PRELIMINARIES 1t
? 12 MifHAMUDRA
body, overflowing and entering you as above. lmagino that from the pores and orifices of your body obstacles and unripened, unfortunate consequences leave in the form or soot and black tar, sickness and disease as pus, blood, mucous and snot, and the harmful influence of malevolent spirits as snakes, scorpions, spiders and insects. All these dissolve into the ground and in their place you ar~ filled with white nectar and lights. Visualise this same process occurring for all sentient beings around you, with either each having his own Vajrasattva on the crown of his head or everyone sharing one large figure.
Pleased, your Guru (VajrasattvaI melts into light (and dissolves into you). You should meditate that your body, speech and mind and those of Vajrasattva have inseparably mixed and that you have been cleansed of all obstacles and unripened, unfortunate
? Consequences That is the second (preliminary practice): Vajrasattva meditation and mantra recita- tion.
? Mundal11 Ollering ? ?
Offerings in general are not made in order to please or bribe the object to whom they are presented. They are a aymbol of your total dedication to Enlightenment as re- presented by the Gurus and Three Jewels of Refuge, and are- offered in order to gain the merit that will bring you to their state. When you plant crops in a field, it is not the ground that benefits, but you yourself. Likewise, making offerings to- the assembled Gurus as the field of merit brings you to?
Enlightenment so that you can benefit all.
! fhere are many types of maQc;lalas. One classification is the celestial mansions in which the meditational deities. dwell. These are three-dimensional structures, the ground- plans of which are depicted in maoc;tala paintings. Another type is the one used in offerings, consisting of a plate-like base, rings, a crown and rice, grain or jewels and is symbolic of the universe.
The only way to be able truly to do this and remove their suffering is to become enlightened yourself. To have as your primary thought the wish to become a Buddha or, as in the
? 2 MAHAMUDRA
tantras, VajradhAra, in order to help others is known as the Enlightened Motive of Bodhicitta. Therefore with this highest motivation you should read, study and practise these teachings.
In a<! dition. there are three faults along the anahlgy of a vessel that you should eliminate. First, do not be like an upside-down vessel, that is closed-minded, so that the teachings do not penetrate. Nor should you be like one with a hole in the bottom, retaining nothing of what you learn. Furthermore, unlike a dirty vessel, you should be free of prejudices, preconceptions and strong delusions which might contaminate your mind-stream causing you to
be pre-occupied and misconstrue all you hear.
There are also six stains to be removed. The first is pride or closed-minded arrogance ; you must listen humbly if you are to learn anything. If you have no faith or arc hypercritical, you will be unreceptive. If you arc disinterested, you Jack motivation and thus need to reconfirm it. Do not be distracted by sense objects such as noise or crowds. but remain focused on the teachings. However, do not let yourself sink into such a deep concentration that you no longer pay attention and are inalert. Such concentration has its place in meditation, but can be a hindrance when listening or studying. Finally, do not indulge yourself in depression or become discouraged if you do not understand
at first reading. It will take time and the power of acquaintance.
Further, there are five types of incorrect grasping. Do not grasp only the words of the teachings and ignore their meaning, nor only the meaning but not the words. Nor should you consider both the words and their meaning equally unimportant. Also do not grasp at either an incorrect order d the teachings or at a wrong understanding.
If you regard yourself as a sick man, suffering from delusions, the Guru as your doctor and the teachings aa medicine, you are sure to benefit.
? P11rt One: PllELI_IIINABIES
? Refuge,
Prostration anti Botlhieitt11
The explanation of how to practise this M a h l t m u d n i o f t h e u~declined l i n e a g e o f t h e p r e c i o u s Ka-gyu is divided into three sections : the prelimina- ries, tho actual body of the practice and the
concluding material.
For the first of these, tbere is to start with going
for reft. Jge and developin$ an Enlightened Motive of Bodhi~itt~
There arc both common aod extraordinary preliminary practices. The common arc: to mcdit~te on the precious human robirth, death and impermaneocc, karma or the law of cause and effect, and the disadvantages of samsAra or cyclic existence. As a common-ground, they form the context for all Buddhist practice and h~lp set your motiva-
tion. The extraordinary preliminaries (ngon-dro) arc prostration while taking refuge. Vlijrasa. ttva purification, mar;t4ala offering and Guru-yoga.
There are many styles in which the latter set may be practised, but the most usual is to perform 100,000 repeti? tions of each in turn in one continuous effort. Another method is to do a certain portion of each every day as part
of your daily practice. The number of repetitions may vary and l. OlDc:tim~s yo~ ? re told ~9 keep count, while at otben m>t, but tQ contin\le until Y0\1 recc;ive signs of success. The set may be re. ,eated several times on different occasions or continued at a slower pace throushout your life. Further-
? 6 MtfHAMUDRA
more, the actual practices you do as preliminaries may vary as well. Your Guru will decide what is best for you. What follows is a general description of the standard preliminaries as practised in the Kar-ma Ka-gyU lineage. The specific, detailed instructions should be received from your Guru.
The purpose of preliminaries is to eliminate or purify yo1. 1rself of the obstacles that might hinder your practice and t<> accumulate the merit that will bring you success. Prostration and Vajrasattva meditation accomplish the former, whtle ma9. ,ala offering and Guru-yoga the latter. Thinking about the law of cause and effect and about all the non-virtuous actions you have committed in the past and bow you will have to experience suffering as their result, you should feel great regret and turn to the Three Jewels for refuge. These are the Buddhas o r Fully A wakened Beings, the Dharma or their teachings and the Saitgha or spirihaal community of those who realise them. Entrusting yourself to these three, you should offer prostration in order to cleanse yourself of unripened suffering.
Furthermore, you should realise how all sentient beings want only happiness and never to suffer, but 11e unawnre of how to bring this about. They do not know that virtuous, kind actions bring happiness, while cruel, non-virtuoua onea only pain. Therefore develop compa11sion for them and wish by your practice to purify them ns well. And. finally you should set your motivation as Bodhicitta, tho Enlightened Motive, wishing that by taking refuge and prostrating you will eliminate all obstacles so that you can attain the enlightened state of a Buddhn in order truly to be able to benefit all others.
In the space before you visualise a wish-granting tree with one trunk and dividing into five branches. On the central one is your Guru (in the form of Vajradh~ra), in front are the meditational deities, to his right the Buddhas, behind him Dharma scriptures and to his left the Sangha. Each is surrounded by a cluster of figures of his own dass. You should go for refuge (prostrating while) saying
? the appropriate verse and visualising yourself surrounded by a multitude of all motherly sentient beings with yourself in front as their leader and all of them joining you in a chorus taking refuge.
This visualisation is o f the field o f merit o r tree o f assembled Gurus. Imagine around you is a beautiful park, with soft grassy meadows and gentle animals. In the centre of an exquisite lake is a wish-granting tree as described above. Vajradhara or, in Tibetan Dor-jc ch'ang, is the form Buddha takes in the tantras. The meditational deities ,(yidams) include Vajrayogini, Heruka and so forth; the Buddhas are those of the past, present and future ; the Dharma is represented by the -scriptural te:tts of "The Three Baskets (Tripitaka)" and the Sangha by such Bodhi? sattvas as Avalokitdvara and Tara, as well as Pratyeka- buddhas and Sravakas such as Sariputra and so on. Around
the lower portion of the tree arc the Dharmapalas and protectors such as MahAkllla. I f you do not know what all these figures look like or cannot visualise them clearly, do not worry. At least have faith that they are there before you. Through familiarity and pictures you will learn to sec them.
Visualise yourself in your ordinary form, with all your male relatives to your right and female to your left. Imagine you arc in an enormous crowd of people and animals, yourself as their leader, and all prostrating and taking refuge. Prostrate by touching clasped hands-palms together, fingers outstretched and thumbs ? tucked in. . . :. to the top of your head, mid-brow, throat and heart, then go down to the ground and stretch out fully with hands extended before you. Arise quickly. Da this while repeating
such verses as "I and all motherly sentient beings as vast as space. ? ? go for refuge in the holy venerable Gurus. We go for refuge in the Yidams and host of their mat}c;lala deities. We go for refuge in the Blessed Buddhas. We go for refuge in the Holy Dharma. We go for refuge in the Noble Sangha. We go for refuge in the host of Qakas, Qakinis, Dharmapalas and Protectors who have the eye of pristine
PRELIMINARIES 7
? 8 MAHAMUDRA
awareness. " Throughout maintain a strong state of con'--cn tration, faith and sincerity. These three-bowing, reciting and concentrating-are known as physical, verbal and mental prostration. You should repeat the verse and physical prostration 100,000 times, as well as begin any
meditation session with at least seven.
When prostrating you will experience much suffering. View this like the pain of an injection you are happy to endure in order to be cured of an illness. Your discomfort is proportionate to the amount of unripened suffering and negative karma you arc being cleansed of. When you ache, feel that you are not only eliminating, by experiencing now, the suffering you might have had in a more severe form in an unfortunate rebirth, but also that you are
taking away this suffering from others. lf you are hot or cold, pray that this eliminates that which the hell creatures. feel. Take hunger and thirst from hungry ghosts ar. d, if your mind becomes dull and blank with fatigue, imagine that animals arc freed from their stupidity. With strong faith and constantly reconfirmed motivation, you will ha? ! e no doubts about what you arc doing. Should thoughts arise to leave it and do something else, regard them as n jeering. crowd and pay them no heed.
You should also recite, "{I go for refuge untill am enlightened) to the Buddhas, the Dharma anci the Highest Assembly . . . '' and so forth while thinking, "Realising that all beings have been my mother and father, I shall go for refuge and develop an Enlight- ened Motive of Bodhicitta. " In addition you sh? outd meditate on the four immeasurables, "May all sentient beings he endowed with happiness and the causes for joy. . . " and so forth.
The stanza, "I go for refuge until I am enlighh:ned to the Buddhas, the Dharma and the Highest Assembly. From the virtuous merit that I collect by practising giving and
other perfections, may I attain the state of a Buddha to be able to benefit all sentient beings", is the most commonly rl"cited one for enhancing your development of Bodhicitta.
? The four immcasurables arc (I) love, wishing all beings to be endowed with happiness and the causes for joy, (2) compas- sion, wishing them to be parted from suffering and the causes for grief, (3) joy, wishing them never to be parted from the happiness they have and (4) equanimity, wishing that they be freed from all attachment and repulsion and from all notions of some being close and others distant.
At the conclusion you should meditate that the objects of refuge melt into Jight and dissolve into you and that your mind-stream has thus been purified.
When you have finished your prostration session, dissolve all the figures into the central one of your Guru as the Buddha Vajradhiira and finally him into yourself. Remain in a non-objectifying state of inseparable Voidness and clarity, not directed at any extreme mode of existence. Ja other words, do not make an}thing into a concrete, truly existent object. Rather, remain in the here and now, and feel you arc completely purified.
That is the first (preliminary practice), the medita- tions for going for refuge and developing an Enlight-
ened Motive.
PRELIMINARIES 9
? Yt1jrasattva JJieditation
Vajrasattva, or in Tibetan Dor-je sem-pa, is a form of the Buddhas dedicated to purifying and eliminating from others suffering, sickness and the unripened, unfortunate consequences of their previously committed non-virtue. He appears in many forms, peaceful or as Heruka Vajrasattva, either alone or with consort. His practice can be either more or less elaborate. What follows is a purification method with the solitary Vajrasattva.
On the crown of your head (visualise) your Guru as Vajrasattva, white in colour, with right hand holding a vajra sceptre at his heart and left holding a bell at his hip, and arrayed with the major and minor marks of a Buddha.
On the top of your head in your ordinary form visualisct a syllable PAM. This transforms into a white lotus and on it, from a syllable Al;l, appears a flat, full-moon disc. On top of it, a syllable HOM transforms into a five-pointed vajr" or diamond sceptre marked in the centre with a HOM. Light rays are emitted and re-absorbed twice, the first time making offerings to the various Duddhas and Bodhisattvas. and the second eliminating the suffering of all beings. The vajra then transforms into the solitary Vajrasattva, as describ- ed above. His left leg is on top of his right thigh and his. right leg is extended downwards. In his heart is a moon- disc with a. n upright, white syllable HOM in its centre.
Varjasattva has both a hundred- and a six-syllable mantra aud they may be arranged in several ways, either clockwise N counter-clockwise, revolving or stationary. In
? this particular meditation, his hundred-syllable mantra, which. you will be repeating 100,000 times, is arranged counter- clockwise along the outside rim of the moon-disc in his heart. The letters arew bite, upright, facing inwards and do not revolve.
After meditating like this, you should recite, "0 Guru-Vajrasattva, please cleanse me of all obstacles and unripened, unfortunate consequences of my previously committed non-virtuous actions" In addition, you should apply the (four) various (opponent powers) of declaring your previous non- virtue.
For this mtditation to be most effective it must be complete with the four opponent powers used in confession or declaring your previously committed non-virtuous actions. First you must . recall all your mistakes and feel sincere regret. The second is promising to try your hardest not to repeat them. Next you must rely on the basis or object against which your non-virtue bas been committed, namely your commitment to the refuges and Bodhicitta. Thus by again taking refuge and enhancing your Enlightened Motive,. you reinforce the foundation for your morality. Lastly you apply such purifying practices as those of Vajrasattva to remove all stains. If these four are incomplete, whatever purification you do will be only a temporary whitewashing. But with these four opponents and sincere conviction in their ability to cleanse you, there is no doubt they will work.
Then visualise white nectar falling from the large toe of Vajrasattva's (right) foot, entering through the crown of your head and filling your entire body All your obstacles and unripened consequences leave you and in their place you are entirely filled with nectar.
As you recite the hundred-syllable mantra, white lights. and purifying nectars are emitted from the moon-disc, seed- ayllable HUM and mantra at his heart, completely filling his.
PRELIMINARIES 1t
? 12 MifHAMUDRA
body, overflowing and entering you as above. lmagino that from the pores and orifices of your body obstacles and unripened, unfortunate consequences leave in the form or soot and black tar, sickness and disease as pus, blood, mucous and snot, and the harmful influence of malevolent spirits as snakes, scorpions, spiders and insects. All these dissolve into the ground and in their place you ar~ filled with white nectar and lights. Visualise this same process occurring for all sentient beings around you, with either each having his own Vajrasattva on the crown of his head or everyone sharing one large figure.
Pleased, your Guru (VajrasattvaI melts into light (and dissolves into you). You should meditate that your body, speech and mind and those of Vajrasattva have inseparably mixed and that you have been cleansed of all obstacles and unripened, unfortunate
? Consequences That is the second (preliminary practice): Vajrasattva meditation and mantra recita- tion.
? Mundal11 Ollering ? ?
Offerings in general are not made in order to please or bribe the object to whom they are presented. They are a aymbol of your total dedication to Enlightenment as re- presented by the Gurus and Three Jewels of Refuge, and are- offered in order to gain the merit that will bring you to their state. When you plant crops in a field, it is not the ground that benefits, but you yourself. Likewise, making offerings to- the assembled Gurus as the field of merit brings you to?
Enlightenment so that you can benefit all.
! fhere are many types of maQc;lalas. One classification is the celestial mansions in which the meditational deities. dwell. These are three-dimensional structures, the ground- plans of which are depicted in maoc;tala paintings. Another type is the one used in offerings, consisting of a plate-like base, rings, a crown and rice, grain or jewels and is symbolic of the universe.
You should meditate that (before you) is a ma:r;u;lala mansion with five clusters of figures within. In the centre is your Guru (as Vajradhar<l), before ? him the meditational deities, to his right the Buddhas, behind him the Dharma scriptures and to his left the Sangha. This is the ma:r:u;lala realised before
you.
In general, maQc;lala mansions are square with a ground ftoor and steeple-like structure. In the centre of each wall is a door, entrance-corridor, porch and archway, the latter of which is flanked on top by two deer and a Dharma wheel.
? 14 MAHAMUDRA
The exact architectural structure and proportions differ slightly for each meditational deity and can be very complex.
In the centre of such a transparent building, made of light and visualised before you, is your Guru in the form of Vajradhara. He is on a throne supported by lions with a lotus and moon-cushion seat. Above him are all the lineage Gurus, from Vajradhara himself through Ti(opa, Naropa and so forth down to his own root Guru. Around him are four groups of figures as above, similar to the refuge and prostration visualisation. This is your field of merit to whom you make offe1ings.
Then construct another mar:u;lala with its mounds and offer it with the stanza ''. .
("Phyag-chen rna-rig mun-sel")
by the Ninth Kar-ma-pa Wang-ch'ug dor~jc with commentary given orally by
Beru Khyentze Rinpoche
? lntrotluetion
I make sincere obeisance to the precious Ka-gyu line. Although you attained perfect Enlightenment countless cons ago, you still manifest in whatever bodies arc suited for taming those needing control. Hearing ~ven your name eliminates the fears of sams~ra.
Having:ptostrated to my Guru and his lineage, I sha1l say a little about Mahl[mudn:, the Great Seal of Voidness, the innermost essence of the Diamond- hard Vehicle, Vajray1tna, in order to encourage disciples desiring Liberation. It is the single path all Buddhas? have trod and has the undeclined warmth of blessings. from the whispered oral teachings passed down successively from the ? Sa:kyamuni Buddha to my root Guru. The essence of the minds of all the Buddhas of the three times, it ,js a method for achieving in a single lifetime the extraordinary enlightened, unified state of Vajradha:ra.
In order to listen to or study the Dharma teachings properly, it ia essential to haYe the correct motivation. Remembering how aU sentient beings hnve been your mothers in previous lifetimes and shown you . great kindness, you should develop compassion and the wish to repay them. The only way to be able truly to do this and remove their suffering is to become enlightened yourself. To have as your primary thought the wish to become a Buddha or, as in the
? 2 MAHAMUDRA
tantras, VajradhAra, in order to help others is known as the Enlightened Motive of Bodhicitta. Therefore with this highest motivation you should read, study and practise these teachings.
In a<! dition. there are three faults along the anahlgy of a vessel that you should eliminate. First, do not be like an upside-down vessel, that is closed-minded, so that the teachings do not penetrate. Nor should you be like one with a hole in the bottom, retaining nothing of what you learn. Furthermore, unlike a dirty vessel, you should be free of prejudices, preconceptions and strong delusions which might contaminate your mind-stream causing you to
be pre-occupied and misconstrue all you hear.
There are also six stains to be removed. The first is pride or closed-minded arrogance ; you must listen humbly if you are to learn anything. If you have no faith or arc hypercritical, you will be unreceptive. If you arc disinterested, you Jack motivation and thus need to reconfirm it. Do not be distracted by sense objects such as noise or crowds. but remain focused on the teachings. However, do not let yourself sink into such a deep concentration that you no longer pay attention and are inalert. Such concentration has its place in meditation, but can be a hindrance when listening or studying. Finally, do not indulge yourself in depression or become discouraged if you do not understand
at first reading. It will take time and the power of acquaintance.
Further, there are five types of incorrect grasping. Do not grasp only the words of the teachings and ignore their meaning, nor only the meaning but not the words. Nor should you consider both the words and their meaning equally unimportant. Also do not grasp at either an incorrect order d the teachings or at a wrong understanding.
If you regard yourself as a sick man, suffering from delusions, the Guru as your doctor and the teachings aa medicine, you are sure to benefit.
? P11rt One: PllELI_IIINABIES
? Refuge,
Prostration anti Botlhieitt11
The explanation of how to practise this M a h l t m u d n i o f t h e u~declined l i n e a g e o f t h e p r e c i o u s Ka-gyu is divided into three sections : the prelimina- ries, tho actual body of the practice and the
concluding material.
For the first of these, tbere is to start with going
for reft. Jge and developin$ an Enlightened Motive of Bodhi~itt~
There arc both common aod extraordinary preliminary practices. The common arc: to mcdit~te on the precious human robirth, death and impermaneocc, karma or the law of cause and effect, and the disadvantages of samsAra or cyclic existence. As a common-ground, they form the context for all Buddhist practice and h~lp set your motiva-
tion. The extraordinary preliminaries (ngon-dro) arc prostration while taking refuge. Vlijrasa. ttva purification, mar;t4ala offering and Guru-yoga.
There are many styles in which the latter set may be practised, but the most usual is to perform 100,000 repeti? tions of each in turn in one continuous effort. Another method is to do a certain portion of each every day as part
of your daily practice. The number of repetitions may vary and l. OlDc:tim~s yo~ ? re told ~9 keep count, while at otben m>t, but tQ contin\le until Y0\1 recc;ive signs of success. The set may be re. ,eated several times on different occasions or continued at a slower pace throushout your life. Further-
? 6 MtfHAMUDRA
more, the actual practices you do as preliminaries may vary as well. Your Guru will decide what is best for you. What follows is a general description of the standard preliminaries as practised in the Kar-ma Ka-gyU lineage. The specific, detailed instructions should be received from your Guru.
The purpose of preliminaries is to eliminate or purify yo1. 1rself of the obstacles that might hinder your practice and t<> accumulate the merit that will bring you success. Prostration and Vajrasattva meditation accomplish the former, whtle ma9. ,ala offering and Guru-yoga the latter. Thinking about the law of cause and effect and about all the non-virtuous actions you have committed in the past and bow you will have to experience suffering as their result, you should feel great regret and turn to the Three Jewels for refuge. These are the Buddhas o r Fully A wakened Beings, the Dharma or their teachings and the Saitgha or spirihaal community of those who realise them. Entrusting yourself to these three, you should offer prostration in order to cleanse yourself of unripened suffering.
Furthermore, you should realise how all sentient beings want only happiness and never to suffer, but 11e unawnre of how to bring this about. They do not know that virtuous, kind actions bring happiness, while cruel, non-virtuoua onea only pain. Therefore develop compa11sion for them and wish by your practice to purify them ns well. And. finally you should set your motivation as Bodhicitta, tho Enlightened Motive, wishing that by taking refuge and prostrating you will eliminate all obstacles so that you can attain the enlightened state of a Buddhn in order truly to be able to benefit all others.
In the space before you visualise a wish-granting tree with one trunk and dividing into five branches. On the central one is your Guru (in the form of Vajradh~ra), in front are the meditational deities, to his right the Buddhas, behind him Dharma scriptures and to his left the Sangha. Each is surrounded by a cluster of figures of his own dass. You should go for refuge (prostrating while) saying
? the appropriate verse and visualising yourself surrounded by a multitude of all motherly sentient beings with yourself in front as their leader and all of them joining you in a chorus taking refuge.
This visualisation is o f the field o f merit o r tree o f assembled Gurus. Imagine around you is a beautiful park, with soft grassy meadows and gentle animals. In the centre of an exquisite lake is a wish-granting tree as described above. Vajradhara or, in Tibetan Dor-jc ch'ang, is the form Buddha takes in the tantras. The meditational deities ,(yidams) include Vajrayogini, Heruka and so forth; the Buddhas are those of the past, present and future ; the Dharma is represented by the -scriptural te:tts of "The Three Baskets (Tripitaka)" and the Sangha by such Bodhi? sattvas as Avalokitdvara and Tara, as well as Pratyeka- buddhas and Sravakas such as Sariputra and so on. Around
the lower portion of the tree arc the Dharmapalas and protectors such as MahAkllla. I f you do not know what all these figures look like or cannot visualise them clearly, do not worry. At least have faith that they are there before you. Through familiarity and pictures you will learn to sec them.
Visualise yourself in your ordinary form, with all your male relatives to your right and female to your left. Imagine you arc in an enormous crowd of people and animals, yourself as their leader, and all prostrating and taking refuge. Prostrate by touching clasped hands-palms together, fingers outstretched and thumbs ? tucked in. . . :. to the top of your head, mid-brow, throat and heart, then go down to the ground and stretch out fully with hands extended before you. Arise quickly. Da this while repeating
such verses as "I and all motherly sentient beings as vast as space. ? ? go for refuge in the holy venerable Gurus. We go for refuge in the Yidams and host of their mat}c;lala deities. We go for refuge in the Blessed Buddhas. We go for refuge in the Holy Dharma. We go for refuge in the Noble Sangha. We go for refuge in the host of Qakas, Qakinis, Dharmapalas and Protectors who have the eye of pristine
PRELIMINARIES 7
? 8 MAHAMUDRA
awareness. " Throughout maintain a strong state of con'--cn tration, faith and sincerity. These three-bowing, reciting and concentrating-are known as physical, verbal and mental prostration. You should repeat the verse and physical prostration 100,000 times, as well as begin any
meditation session with at least seven.
When prostrating you will experience much suffering. View this like the pain of an injection you are happy to endure in order to be cured of an illness. Your discomfort is proportionate to the amount of unripened suffering and negative karma you arc being cleansed of. When you ache, feel that you are not only eliminating, by experiencing now, the suffering you might have had in a more severe form in an unfortunate rebirth, but also that you are
taking away this suffering from others. lf you are hot or cold, pray that this eliminates that which the hell creatures. feel. Take hunger and thirst from hungry ghosts ar. d, if your mind becomes dull and blank with fatigue, imagine that animals arc freed from their stupidity. With strong faith and constantly reconfirmed motivation, you will ha? ! e no doubts about what you arc doing. Should thoughts arise to leave it and do something else, regard them as n jeering. crowd and pay them no heed.
You should also recite, "{I go for refuge untill am enlightened) to the Buddhas, the Dharma anci the Highest Assembly . . . '' and so forth while thinking, "Realising that all beings have been my mother and father, I shall go for refuge and develop an Enlight- ened Motive of Bodhicitta. " In addition you sh? outd meditate on the four immeasurables, "May all sentient beings he endowed with happiness and the causes for joy. . . " and so forth.
The stanza, "I go for refuge until I am enlighh:ned to the Buddhas, the Dharma and the Highest Assembly. From the virtuous merit that I collect by practising giving and
other perfections, may I attain the state of a Buddha to be able to benefit all sentient beings", is the most commonly rl"cited one for enhancing your development of Bodhicitta.
? The four immcasurables arc (I) love, wishing all beings to be endowed with happiness and the causes for joy, (2) compas- sion, wishing them to be parted from suffering and the causes for grief, (3) joy, wishing them never to be parted from the happiness they have and (4) equanimity, wishing that they be freed from all attachment and repulsion and from all notions of some being close and others distant.
At the conclusion you should meditate that the objects of refuge melt into Jight and dissolve into you and that your mind-stream has thus been purified.
When you have finished your prostration session, dissolve all the figures into the central one of your Guru as the Buddha Vajradhiira and finally him into yourself. Remain in a non-objectifying state of inseparable Voidness and clarity, not directed at any extreme mode of existence. Ja other words, do not make an}thing into a concrete, truly existent object. Rather, remain in the here and now, and feel you arc completely purified.
That is the first (preliminary practice), the medita- tions for going for refuge and developing an Enlight-
ened Motive.
PRELIMINARIES 9
? Yt1jrasattva JJieditation
Vajrasattva, or in Tibetan Dor-je sem-pa, is a form of the Buddhas dedicated to purifying and eliminating from others suffering, sickness and the unripened, unfortunate consequences of their previously committed non-virtue. He appears in many forms, peaceful or as Heruka Vajrasattva, either alone or with consort. His practice can be either more or less elaborate. What follows is a purification method with the solitary Vajrasattva.
On the crown of your head (visualise) your Guru as Vajrasattva, white in colour, with right hand holding a vajra sceptre at his heart and left holding a bell at his hip, and arrayed with the major and minor marks of a Buddha.
On the top of your head in your ordinary form visualisct a syllable PAM. This transforms into a white lotus and on it, from a syllable Al;l, appears a flat, full-moon disc. On top of it, a syllable HOM transforms into a five-pointed vajr" or diamond sceptre marked in the centre with a HOM. Light rays are emitted and re-absorbed twice, the first time making offerings to the various Duddhas and Bodhisattvas. and the second eliminating the suffering of all beings. The vajra then transforms into the solitary Vajrasattva, as describ- ed above. His left leg is on top of his right thigh and his. right leg is extended downwards. In his heart is a moon- disc with a. n upright, white syllable HOM in its centre.
Varjasattva has both a hundred- and a six-syllable mantra aud they may be arranged in several ways, either clockwise N counter-clockwise, revolving or stationary. In
? this particular meditation, his hundred-syllable mantra, which. you will be repeating 100,000 times, is arranged counter- clockwise along the outside rim of the moon-disc in his heart. The letters arew bite, upright, facing inwards and do not revolve.
After meditating like this, you should recite, "0 Guru-Vajrasattva, please cleanse me of all obstacles and unripened, unfortunate consequences of my previously committed non-virtuous actions" In addition, you should apply the (four) various (opponent powers) of declaring your previous non- virtue.
For this mtditation to be most effective it must be complete with the four opponent powers used in confession or declaring your previously committed non-virtuous actions. First you must . recall all your mistakes and feel sincere regret. The second is promising to try your hardest not to repeat them. Next you must rely on the basis or object against which your non-virtue bas been committed, namely your commitment to the refuges and Bodhicitta. Thus by again taking refuge and enhancing your Enlightened Motive,. you reinforce the foundation for your morality. Lastly you apply such purifying practices as those of Vajrasattva to remove all stains. If these four are incomplete, whatever purification you do will be only a temporary whitewashing. But with these four opponents and sincere conviction in their ability to cleanse you, there is no doubt they will work.
Then visualise white nectar falling from the large toe of Vajrasattva's (right) foot, entering through the crown of your head and filling your entire body All your obstacles and unripened consequences leave you and in their place you are entirely filled with nectar.
As you recite the hundred-syllable mantra, white lights. and purifying nectars are emitted from the moon-disc, seed- ayllable HUM and mantra at his heart, completely filling his.
PRELIMINARIES 1t
? 12 MifHAMUDRA
body, overflowing and entering you as above. lmagino that from the pores and orifices of your body obstacles and unripened, unfortunate consequences leave in the form or soot and black tar, sickness and disease as pus, blood, mucous and snot, and the harmful influence of malevolent spirits as snakes, scorpions, spiders and insects. All these dissolve into the ground and in their place you ar~ filled with white nectar and lights. Visualise this same process occurring for all sentient beings around you, with either each having his own Vajrasattva on the crown of his head or everyone sharing one large figure.
Pleased, your Guru (VajrasattvaI melts into light (and dissolves into you). You should meditate that your body, speech and mind and those of Vajrasattva have inseparably mixed and that you have been cleansed of all obstacles and unripened, unfortunate
? Consequences That is the second (preliminary practice): Vajrasattva meditation and mantra recita- tion.
? Mundal11 Ollering ? ?
Offerings in general are not made in order to please or bribe the object to whom they are presented. They are a aymbol of your total dedication to Enlightenment as re- presented by the Gurus and Three Jewels of Refuge, and are- offered in order to gain the merit that will bring you to their state. When you plant crops in a field, it is not the ground that benefits, but you yourself. Likewise, making offerings to- the assembled Gurus as the field of merit brings you to?
Enlightenment so that you can benefit all.
! fhere are many types of maQc;lalas. One classification is the celestial mansions in which the meditational deities. dwell. These are three-dimensional structures, the ground- plans of which are depicted in maoc;tala paintings. Another type is the one used in offerings, consisting of a plate-like base, rings, a crown and rice, grain or jewels and is symbolic of the universe.
The only way to be able truly to do this and remove their suffering is to become enlightened yourself. To have as your primary thought the wish to become a Buddha or, as in the
? 2 MAHAMUDRA
tantras, VajradhAra, in order to help others is known as the Enlightened Motive of Bodhicitta. Therefore with this highest motivation you should read, study and practise these teachings.
In a<! dition. there are three faults along the anahlgy of a vessel that you should eliminate. First, do not be like an upside-down vessel, that is closed-minded, so that the teachings do not penetrate. Nor should you be like one with a hole in the bottom, retaining nothing of what you learn. Furthermore, unlike a dirty vessel, you should be free of prejudices, preconceptions and strong delusions which might contaminate your mind-stream causing you to
be pre-occupied and misconstrue all you hear.
There are also six stains to be removed. The first is pride or closed-minded arrogance ; you must listen humbly if you are to learn anything. If you have no faith or arc hypercritical, you will be unreceptive. If you arc disinterested, you Jack motivation and thus need to reconfirm it. Do not be distracted by sense objects such as noise or crowds. but remain focused on the teachings. However, do not let yourself sink into such a deep concentration that you no longer pay attention and are inalert. Such concentration has its place in meditation, but can be a hindrance when listening or studying. Finally, do not indulge yourself in depression or become discouraged if you do not understand
at first reading. It will take time and the power of acquaintance.
Further, there are five types of incorrect grasping. Do not grasp only the words of the teachings and ignore their meaning, nor only the meaning but not the words. Nor should you consider both the words and their meaning equally unimportant. Also do not grasp at either an incorrect order d the teachings or at a wrong understanding.
If you regard yourself as a sick man, suffering from delusions, the Guru as your doctor and the teachings aa medicine, you are sure to benefit.
? P11rt One: PllELI_IIINABIES
? Refuge,
Prostration anti Botlhieitt11
The explanation of how to practise this M a h l t m u d n i o f t h e u~declined l i n e a g e o f t h e p r e c i o u s Ka-gyu is divided into three sections : the prelimina- ries, tho actual body of the practice and the
concluding material.
For the first of these, tbere is to start with going
for reft. Jge and developin$ an Enlightened Motive of Bodhi~itt~
There arc both common aod extraordinary preliminary practices. The common arc: to mcdit~te on the precious human robirth, death and impermaneocc, karma or the law of cause and effect, and the disadvantages of samsAra or cyclic existence. As a common-ground, they form the context for all Buddhist practice and h~lp set your motiva-
tion. The extraordinary preliminaries (ngon-dro) arc prostration while taking refuge. Vlijrasa. ttva purification, mar;t4ala offering and Guru-yoga.
There are many styles in which the latter set may be practised, but the most usual is to perform 100,000 repeti? tions of each in turn in one continuous effort. Another method is to do a certain portion of each every day as part
of your daily practice. The number of repetitions may vary and l. OlDc:tim~s yo~ ? re told ~9 keep count, while at otben m>t, but tQ contin\le until Y0\1 recc;ive signs of success. The set may be re. ,eated several times on different occasions or continued at a slower pace throushout your life. Further-
? 6 MtfHAMUDRA
more, the actual practices you do as preliminaries may vary as well. Your Guru will decide what is best for you. What follows is a general description of the standard preliminaries as practised in the Kar-ma Ka-gyU lineage. The specific, detailed instructions should be received from your Guru.
The purpose of preliminaries is to eliminate or purify yo1. 1rself of the obstacles that might hinder your practice and t<> accumulate the merit that will bring you success. Prostration and Vajrasattva meditation accomplish the former, whtle ma9. ,ala offering and Guru-yoga the latter. Thinking about the law of cause and effect and about all the non-virtuous actions you have committed in the past and bow you will have to experience suffering as their result, you should feel great regret and turn to the Three Jewels for refuge. These are the Buddhas o r Fully A wakened Beings, the Dharma or their teachings and the Saitgha or spirihaal community of those who realise them. Entrusting yourself to these three, you should offer prostration in order to cleanse yourself of unripened suffering.
Furthermore, you should realise how all sentient beings want only happiness and never to suffer, but 11e unawnre of how to bring this about. They do not know that virtuous, kind actions bring happiness, while cruel, non-virtuoua onea only pain. Therefore develop compa11sion for them and wish by your practice to purify them ns well. And. finally you should set your motivation as Bodhicitta, tho Enlightened Motive, wishing that by taking refuge and prostrating you will eliminate all obstacles so that you can attain the enlightened state of a Buddhn in order truly to be able to benefit all others.
In the space before you visualise a wish-granting tree with one trunk and dividing into five branches. On the central one is your Guru (in the form of Vajradh~ra), in front are the meditational deities, to his right the Buddhas, behind him Dharma scriptures and to his left the Sangha. Each is surrounded by a cluster of figures of his own dass. You should go for refuge (prostrating while) saying
? the appropriate verse and visualising yourself surrounded by a multitude of all motherly sentient beings with yourself in front as their leader and all of them joining you in a chorus taking refuge.
This visualisation is o f the field o f merit o r tree o f assembled Gurus. Imagine around you is a beautiful park, with soft grassy meadows and gentle animals. In the centre of an exquisite lake is a wish-granting tree as described above. Vajradhara or, in Tibetan Dor-jc ch'ang, is the form Buddha takes in the tantras. The meditational deities ,(yidams) include Vajrayogini, Heruka and so forth; the Buddhas are those of the past, present and future ; the Dharma is represented by the -scriptural te:tts of "The Three Baskets (Tripitaka)" and the Sangha by such Bodhi? sattvas as Avalokitdvara and Tara, as well as Pratyeka- buddhas and Sravakas such as Sariputra and so on. Around
the lower portion of the tree arc the Dharmapalas and protectors such as MahAkllla. I f you do not know what all these figures look like or cannot visualise them clearly, do not worry. At least have faith that they are there before you. Through familiarity and pictures you will learn to sec them.
Visualise yourself in your ordinary form, with all your male relatives to your right and female to your left. Imagine you arc in an enormous crowd of people and animals, yourself as their leader, and all prostrating and taking refuge. Prostrate by touching clasped hands-palms together, fingers outstretched and thumbs ? tucked in. . . :. to the top of your head, mid-brow, throat and heart, then go down to the ground and stretch out fully with hands extended before you. Arise quickly. Da this while repeating
such verses as "I and all motherly sentient beings as vast as space. ? ? go for refuge in the holy venerable Gurus. We go for refuge in the Yidams and host of their mat}c;lala deities. We go for refuge in the Blessed Buddhas. We go for refuge in the Holy Dharma. We go for refuge in the Noble Sangha. We go for refuge in the host of Qakas, Qakinis, Dharmapalas and Protectors who have the eye of pristine
PRELIMINARIES 7
? 8 MAHAMUDRA
awareness. " Throughout maintain a strong state of con'--cn tration, faith and sincerity. These three-bowing, reciting and concentrating-are known as physical, verbal and mental prostration. You should repeat the verse and physical prostration 100,000 times, as well as begin any
meditation session with at least seven.
When prostrating you will experience much suffering. View this like the pain of an injection you are happy to endure in order to be cured of an illness. Your discomfort is proportionate to the amount of unripened suffering and negative karma you arc being cleansed of. When you ache, feel that you are not only eliminating, by experiencing now, the suffering you might have had in a more severe form in an unfortunate rebirth, but also that you are
taking away this suffering from others. lf you are hot or cold, pray that this eliminates that which the hell creatures. feel. Take hunger and thirst from hungry ghosts ar. d, if your mind becomes dull and blank with fatigue, imagine that animals arc freed from their stupidity. With strong faith and constantly reconfirmed motivation, you will ha? ! e no doubts about what you arc doing. Should thoughts arise to leave it and do something else, regard them as n jeering. crowd and pay them no heed.
You should also recite, "{I go for refuge untill am enlightened) to the Buddhas, the Dharma anci the Highest Assembly . . . '' and so forth while thinking, "Realising that all beings have been my mother and father, I shall go for refuge and develop an Enlight- ened Motive of Bodhicitta. " In addition you sh? outd meditate on the four immeasurables, "May all sentient beings he endowed with happiness and the causes for joy. . . " and so forth.
The stanza, "I go for refuge until I am enlighh:ned to the Buddhas, the Dharma and the Highest Assembly. From the virtuous merit that I collect by practising giving and
other perfections, may I attain the state of a Buddha to be able to benefit all sentient beings", is the most commonly rl"cited one for enhancing your development of Bodhicitta.
? The four immcasurables arc (I) love, wishing all beings to be endowed with happiness and the causes for joy, (2) compas- sion, wishing them to be parted from suffering and the causes for grief, (3) joy, wishing them never to be parted from the happiness they have and (4) equanimity, wishing that they be freed from all attachment and repulsion and from all notions of some being close and others distant.
At the conclusion you should meditate that the objects of refuge melt into Jight and dissolve into you and that your mind-stream has thus been purified.
When you have finished your prostration session, dissolve all the figures into the central one of your Guru as the Buddha Vajradhiira and finally him into yourself. Remain in a non-objectifying state of inseparable Voidness and clarity, not directed at any extreme mode of existence. Ja other words, do not make an}thing into a concrete, truly existent object. Rather, remain in the here and now, and feel you arc completely purified.
That is the first (preliminary practice), the medita- tions for going for refuge and developing an Enlight-
ened Motive.
PRELIMINARIES 9
? Yt1jrasattva JJieditation
Vajrasattva, or in Tibetan Dor-je sem-pa, is a form of the Buddhas dedicated to purifying and eliminating from others suffering, sickness and the unripened, unfortunate consequences of their previously committed non-virtue. He appears in many forms, peaceful or as Heruka Vajrasattva, either alone or with consort. His practice can be either more or less elaborate. What follows is a purification method with the solitary Vajrasattva.
On the crown of your head (visualise) your Guru as Vajrasattva, white in colour, with right hand holding a vajra sceptre at his heart and left holding a bell at his hip, and arrayed with the major and minor marks of a Buddha.
On the top of your head in your ordinary form visualisct a syllable PAM. This transforms into a white lotus and on it, from a syllable Al;l, appears a flat, full-moon disc. On top of it, a syllable HOM transforms into a five-pointed vajr" or diamond sceptre marked in the centre with a HOM. Light rays are emitted and re-absorbed twice, the first time making offerings to the various Duddhas and Bodhisattvas. and the second eliminating the suffering of all beings. The vajra then transforms into the solitary Vajrasattva, as describ- ed above. His left leg is on top of his right thigh and his. right leg is extended downwards. In his heart is a moon- disc with a. n upright, white syllable HOM in its centre.
Varjasattva has both a hundred- and a six-syllable mantra aud they may be arranged in several ways, either clockwise N counter-clockwise, revolving or stationary. In
? this particular meditation, his hundred-syllable mantra, which. you will be repeating 100,000 times, is arranged counter- clockwise along the outside rim of the moon-disc in his heart. The letters arew bite, upright, facing inwards and do not revolve.
After meditating like this, you should recite, "0 Guru-Vajrasattva, please cleanse me of all obstacles and unripened, unfortunate consequences of my previously committed non-virtuous actions" In addition, you should apply the (four) various (opponent powers) of declaring your previous non- virtue.
For this mtditation to be most effective it must be complete with the four opponent powers used in confession or declaring your previously committed non-virtuous actions. First you must . recall all your mistakes and feel sincere regret. The second is promising to try your hardest not to repeat them. Next you must rely on the basis or object against which your non-virtue bas been committed, namely your commitment to the refuges and Bodhicitta. Thus by again taking refuge and enhancing your Enlightened Motive,. you reinforce the foundation for your morality. Lastly you apply such purifying practices as those of Vajrasattva to remove all stains. If these four are incomplete, whatever purification you do will be only a temporary whitewashing. But with these four opponents and sincere conviction in their ability to cleanse you, there is no doubt they will work.
Then visualise white nectar falling from the large toe of Vajrasattva's (right) foot, entering through the crown of your head and filling your entire body All your obstacles and unripened consequences leave you and in their place you are entirely filled with nectar.
As you recite the hundred-syllable mantra, white lights. and purifying nectars are emitted from the moon-disc, seed- ayllable HUM and mantra at his heart, completely filling his.
PRELIMINARIES 1t
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body, overflowing and entering you as above. lmagino that from the pores and orifices of your body obstacles and unripened, unfortunate consequences leave in the form or soot and black tar, sickness and disease as pus, blood, mucous and snot, and the harmful influence of malevolent spirits as snakes, scorpions, spiders and insects. All these dissolve into the ground and in their place you ar~ filled with white nectar and lights. Visualise this same process occurring for all sentient beings around you, with either each having his own Vajrasattva on the crown of his head or everyone sharing one large figure.
Pleased, your Guru (VajrasattvaI melts into light (and dissolves into you). You should meditate that your body, speech and mind and those of Vajrasattva have inseparably mixed and that you have been cleansed of all obstacles and unripened, unfortunate
? Consequences That is the second (preliminary practice): Vajrasattva meditation and mantra recita- tion.
? Mundal11 Ollering ? ?
Offerings in general are not made in order to please or bribe the object to whom they are presented. They are a aymbol of your total dedication to Enlightenment as re- presented by the Gurus and Three Jewels of Refuge, and are- offered in order to gain the merit that will bring you to their state. When you plant crops in a field, it is not the ground that benefits, but you yourself. Likewise, making offerings to- the assembled Gurus as the field of merit brings you to?
Enlightenment so that you can benefit all.
! fhere are many types of maQc;lalas. One classification is the celestial mansions in which the meditational deities. dwell. These are three-dimensional structures, the ground- plans of which are depicted in maoc;tala paintings. Another type is the one used in offerings, consisting of a plate-like base, rings, a crown and rice, grain or jewels and is symbolic of the universe.
You should meditate that (before you) is a ma:r;u;lala mansion with five clusters of figures within. In the centre is your Guru (as Vajradhar<l), before ? him the meditational deities, to his right the Buddhas, behind him the Dharma scriptures and to his left the Sangha. This is the ma:r:u;lala realised before
you.
In general, maQc;lala mansions are square with a ground ftoor and steeple-like structure. In the centre of each wall is a door, entrance-corridor, porch and archway, the latter of which is flanked on top by two deer and a Dharma wheel.
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The exact architectural structure and proportions differ slightly for each meditational deity and can be very complex.
In the centre of such a transparent building, made of light and visualised before you, is your Guru in the form of Vajradhara. He is on a throne supported by lions with a lotus and moon-cushion seat. Above him are all the lineage Gurus, from Vajradhara himself through Ti(opa, Naropa and so forth down to his own root Guru. Around him are four groups of figures as above, similar to the refuge and prostration visualisation. This is your field of merit to whom you make offe1ings.
Then construct another mar:u;lala with its mounds and offer it with the stanza ''. .
