On the three
occasions
of practicing vajra recitation stated in the text, this refers to the latter.
Thurman-Robert-a-F-Tr-Tsong-Khapa-Losang-Drakpa-Brilliant-Illumination-of-the-Lamp-of-the-Five-Stages
b.
ii.
c'3'dTB"6"a"i" - Meditating life-energy control of the
The first has three parts, explaining: [i
control of the mantra drop at the heart center nose tip; (ii"] Meditating life-energy control of the light drop at the face nose tip; [iii "] Meditating life-energy control of the subtance drop at the secret nose tip.
mantra drop at the heart center nose tip]
The first has two parts, explaining: [A'") The way to meditate the
partial mantra drop; (B"'] The way to meditate the mantra wheel.
The way to meditate the partial
mantra drop]
As for the place where to meditate, it is according to the Vajra Rosary statement:
A person will achieve the chief of mantras
In a solitary, divine place, without demon problems, Free of piercing sounds, and far from crowds, Delightful to the fortunate, a peaceful pleasure grove, While enjoying the five desires, full of great bliss.
A "divine place" here means a chapel and so forth. 287
"
-
energy
? ? [VI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'dTB"6" -
The way to put speech isolation into practice[
lVI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'dTB"6"a"i"A'" -
188 ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
As for the (topics of the] vital points of the body, which conducts are useful for meditation. and the vital points of the wind-energies, they are. according to the same text:
The path of conduct is the place of great bliss, Whereby supreme accomplishment will develop; The practitioner sits upon a comfortable seat
And having aimed the two eyes to the nose tip And placed the nose in line with the navel, Keeps shoulders level, tongue pressed on palate, Teeth and lips left relaxed
Exhalation and inhalation loosened,
Bit by bit freed of control,
Breathing naturally,
And sits well in the spiritual hero posture. Maintaining such a path of conduct, r I44aJ
One should constantly recite the two letters.
Such statements made in the context of the two-syllable vajra recitation apply similarly to the three-syllable vajra recitation. Other translations have "the vajra [instead of 'spiritual hero'] posture. "
As for the key point of time, it is as previouslye explained.
As for the supporting embodiment, one should perform [vajra reci- tation] by visualizing [oneself] as the body isolation, great secret, single clan father-mother [in union]. In the Five Stages, quoting the Further Tantra, [Nagarjuna] states:
By visualizing the heart center, put the life-energy into dwelling in the drop.
The Illumination of the Lamp explains the meaning of this to be medita- ting on the indestructible drop in the heart center. And [other] Five Stages commentators also explain it as meditating the mantra drop in the heart center. Just after the Four Goddess Dialogue passage quoted in the Five Stages, such statements as "Supreme subtleness, the mere size of a split [pea]," like the above quotes, have the same meaning as the above refer- ence from the Further Tantra. In the Integrated Practices, [Aryadeva] also quotes a reference from the Vajra Mandala Ornament [Tantra], and states that the short A of the heart center indestructible and the indestruc-
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 289
tible [itself] are the places for compressing the wind-energies, in order to make the meditation on the heart-center indestructible understandable.
Further, in the Illumination of the Lamp Third Chapter, [Chandra- kirti] states:
The precious jewel of five colors with the nature of the five transcendent lords is reknowned as the indestructible, because it creates the precious jewel of buddhahood. It has the precise measure of a grain of mustard seed, because that is the form of the drop. "On the tip of the nose" indicates the hub of the heart center lotus. "Intensely" means that you should meditate constantly day and night by focusing on it and using the yogas of inhaling, holding, releasing, and compressing. l 144hl
Thus the text states that you should meditate the heart center indestruc- tible day and night through the yoga of inhaling and so on.
As for the sequence of the meditations of the indestructible and the vajra recitation, the following [Illumination of the Lamp passage, coming right after the one above, teaches, in commentary on a Root Tantra pas-
sage, namely,] "Having made the jewel stable, one radiates, and one does not radiate without its becoming stable"90-
"Stable" is constant. What is that? The indestructible. From it you should massively radiate "jewel," or five colored, light rays, and you should engage with it by inhaling, holding, and releasing. "Without its becoming stable" means that you should practice this yoga with [constant focus on] the realization of the thatness of the indestructible, and not otherwise.
The meaning of this is as follows. Meditating on the indestructible drop mentioned previously in the statement that "you should constantly meditate the indestructible by the yoga of inhaling and so on," you develop firmness. Thereby you should practice the yoga of making the
90 The Root Tantra passage and the commentary on it are in reverse order in the Tibetan texts, due no doubt to scribal error, so I have reversed the order back to make it clearer.
? 290 ? BrilliantIllumination oftheLamp
wind-energies enter. etc. within [the central channel]. Thus, by any other way than by having realized the natural experience of the thatness of the indestructible and developed stability in taking the indestructible as ob- ject, you should not perform this yoga of inhaling etc. Such being the meaning, first you must stabilize a constant and unchanging meditative indestructible, and after that you can practice vajra recitation.
This explanation is said by [Chandraktti in] the Illumination ofthe Lamp to be an ultimate [meaning] explanation. To that, a certain objector argues that this is the way of explaining the vajra recitation [only] for a person who has [already] embodied the ultimate communion. [145aJ Others do indeed explain the "indestructible" as the fourth stage clear light. However, from the extensive explanation of this point in the com- mentary on the [Root Tantra] Third Chapter, after explaining the wind-
energies of the four [elemental] spheres emerging from the indestruc- tible, the Chag translation has the statement:
By achieving such a body, speech, and mind, the body and so on are created; and "emerging from the vajra" refers to the creation of the divine circle which has the nature of the two realities arisen from clear light trans- parence.
Thus the explanation is said to be "ultimate" in terms of [its referring to] the objective of vajra recitation, which is the creation of communion by the wind-energies through the practice of vajra recitation. This is similar to the Seventeenth Chapter' s explanation of the three voids being called "ultimate. "
As for the place where the indestructible is meditated, its objective vital point is the hub of the heart center lotus; and it is the same in mean-
ing as the Vajra Rosary
hub of the eight-petalled Dharma wheel [of the heart center]. Lak? hmts statement that you should meditate within the center of the heart center's avadhati [channel] is good; and it does not mean the [same thing as] the Five Point' s mention of the black and white boundary in the heart, or the Four Point's mention of the empty space in the heart center. As for the dhati channel, it is stated in the Great Seal Drop and the Wisdom-Intuition Drop to be stabilized as the "staff of the life-energy wind" and the root of the life-energy wind. Since the hub of the heart center channel wheel is
'
s statement to meditate the mantra drop in the
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 291
in front of the life-energy wind channel at the height of. and in the center between, the two breasts, you should visualize it there.
In regard to such reasonable instructions as this [concerning] the meditations on the drops and so on as accurately penetrating the vital points of the body, if you know well the vital points of the body, when you aim the mind there, lt4Shl it will reach those vital points; and other- wise not.
As for the drop meditated in that place, the Vajra Rosary does not explicitly mention a drop other than the syllables, but the Illumination of the Lamp teaches the meditation on the indestructible in the form of a drop. In this context, some followers of the Go tradition wish to meditate the short A in the center of a drop which is an interlaced sun and moon. The Concise Five Stages teaches the meditation of the indestructible drop together with the short A In both of the personal instructions of Serding- pa, the drop is explained as white and the short A as black. In one, a half- white, half-black short A resides within a white drop; again in another a bar-shaped A resides within a half-black, half-white drop; yet another recommends meditating a white, reddish-tinged drop. As for a red-white- interfaced drop, it is in agreement with the great adept Kukuripa's state-
ment [in his Vajrasattva Sadhana] about the drop used as support for vajra recitation:
Visualizing in its hub
A sun disc, a drop, and a moon disc, Shaped like a closed [round] shrine-box, The sun of art, and the moon of wisdom.
However, here [in the Noble system], a syllable is used in place of the drop in the center of that [heart center]; the Personal Instruction explains it as a slightly reddish white. The heart center is explained to be the place where the between person's consciousness enters in the center of the semen and ovum of father and mother in the womb; and is also
explained as the support of the mind. And that is the key of the basic reality cultivation foundation of both those [Noble and Jfianapada] systems of meditation.
The measure of the drop is said to be just that of a mustard seed; for if you hold the mind on a subtle object, it is easy to eradicate thought constructions and compress the wind-energies.
292 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
As for the syllable, [146aJ the Vajra Rosary mentions both A and HOM as the syllable in the heart center, and the Integrated Practices mentions the A syllable; and they are meditated as representatives of the indestructible. Since there is something established there in the form of a syllable, there is indeed no certainty [about which one], so here one can meditate either A or HOM. In either case the color should be dark blue;
or the Vow Arisal also suggests white. Here, "wind-energy" stands for the indestructible, and the "white-red drop" stands for the indestructible enlightenment spirit. In this context the five-colored jewel is blazing with the five light rays, which is proper to connect with either syllable or drop. Other traditions explain the drop as being on top of a syllable itself located on a hand symbol; but here [in this Noble system] it is better as
above.
Thus one should focus the mind, practicing free of the faults of
holding the mind either much too tightly or much too loosely on the heart center indestructible.
This is highly praised in the Liberation Drop:
That brilliant form of the indestructible drop, Just the measure of a grain of mustard, Dripping and blazing with five light rays, Properly always stands in the heart center. Gazing on that, great wisdom will blaze up
In the yogi/ni in just an instant- There should be no doubt about it.
It is also praised in other Tantras, as in the Unexcelled Clear Articulation:
Always dwelling in the heart, Unchanging in the sole drop,
The person who meditates on that Will definitely generate wisdom.
And from that [Tantra's] meaning commentary [by Ghar:ttapada], called the Supreme Bliss Five Stages:
The mind which has the drop and the sound, 1146bl You should place it in the heart center:
This will dispel the fog of delusion -
You will become a master divine lord buddha.
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 293
Thus depending on the meditation of the indestructible drop in the heart center, the orgasmic [wisdom] that radically cuts off ignorance will arise. Also the Vow Arisal states:
The energy gone into the heart-center lotus,
In the likeness of a white HOM letter-
You should visualize and be entranced with that, And you will not be bound by objects.
The energy moving up into the life-cycle
Will progress downward into nirvana.
The totally non-local nirvana
Dwells in the heart-center lotus' anthers.
Thus, if you can collect, stop, and stabilize the energy - by the distinctive arts such as explained above-in the center of the heart-center channel- wheel, you cannot be bound any more by the mental constructions en- gaged with objects such as form and sound, and it will grant you the exalted state of nirvana not located in the extremes of existence and peace .
Again, as explained above, the twelve subject-object wind-energies are said to arise in the heart center. If you practice the art of penetrating the body's vital points and holding the mind therein, those wind-energies will compress back there, and by the key process of their dissolving there, you can easily cut off the constructions of subject and object. By such a procedure, you generate the great certitude about this that is praised in the many treatises of the great adepts and in many Tantras. Thus you
should strive to meditate the life-energy control of the mantra drop, the indestructible in the heart-center nose tip.
wheel]
The Concise Five Stages [attibuted to Naropa] states:
Since the various memories and mental constructions Arise from the mind as evolutionary actions,
Meditate the mantra wheel at the heart center, 1 147u]
The base where consciousness and life-energy converge.
? The way to meditate the mantra
lVI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'd'i'o"6"a"i"B"' -
294 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
Thus [it is explained that] the various mental constructs arise from the mind, and the place where the energy and mind gather together is the heart center, so the meditating of the mantra wheel should penetrate the vital [point] in the heart center. Further [the Concise Five Stages states] :
As for the wheel of mantra syllables; First, contemplate an eight petaled lotus Containing rows [of letters] ,
I n a pattern of outer, inner, and secret.
[This explains] the meditation of an eight-petaled lotus with three rows [of letters on it] in the heart center.
Further [the Concise Five Stages states]:
The outer row is marked by wisdom-vowels, The middle row by the art-consonants,
And the nondual letters stand within-
This samadhi of rows in cardinals and quarters, Has the nature of the three yogas,
With the indestructible drop in the center,
With its A-syllable which becomes life-energy, Essence of all, radiating and gathering back.
Thus, this teaches that you should meditate the outer [row on the] eight petals of the lotus as marked with the twelve vowels [which are] the actu- ality of wisdom; the middle [row on the] eight petals as marked with the consonants which are the actuality of art; and the inner [row] with the four neuter letters [. 8, 8, {. , Ll. which are the actuality of art and wisdom non- dual; and the center as the indestructible drop, together with a short A. 91
In this regard, three [texts by Serdingpa] explain that you should meditate the mantra wheel as a preliminary of the vajra recitation: the Five Point, the Wheel Endowed, and the Five Stages Single Session.
91 The way this commentary is written, one could think that this eight-petallede heart lotus is actually 24-petalled, since it seems as if the three rows are marked each on a different row of petals. 1 believe thut is because in the short-hand way of dictating, Tsong Khapa assumes everyone know the heart lotus has only eight petals, and the letters are arar nged in three rows on the eight petals, vowels near the tips of the petals, consonants in the middle, and the four neuter semi-vowels on the base of the four directional petals.
? Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 295
three texts.
tions of the Marpa tradition, it is explained that on the channel having a
center for the drop which is the support of the vajra recitation, Kukuripa says that that lotus should be thought of as having the nature of the four elements, with four white petals and four red petals. This is to think of them as being the actuality of the four channels of the directions of the heart center. From some other treatises also, on the occasion of the per- fection stage, the lotuses in the navel etc. , whereon are established the drop and the letters etc. , are explained as "channel-petals," and that is how one should take them, or else one can also visualize that the lotus petals themselves are the actuality of the channels.
There being uncertainty about the color of the heart-center lotus, and there being many explanations of the eight-petaled [lotus] of the channel-wheel, it appears that there are two explanations; and a third explanation is not often found elsewhere. If you visualize it like a lotus- flower petal, then there is no point in [visualizing it] like a raised mirror. Serdingpa has the consonants established on the outer [rows on the] petals and the vowels on the middle [rows]; but this does not accord with the Root Text [of the Concise Five Stages]. Therefore, you should establish
[them] according to what appears elsewhere in the Marpa tradition, which accords with the Root Text, [Naropa 's Clarification of the Concise Five Stages], which says that the vowels are luminance, the consonants radi- ance, and the neuter syllables are imminence. That being the case, it is good if you make the outer letters white, the middle letters red, and the inner letters blue or black. The Root Text says "Twelve letters having d r o p s . . . , " m e a n i n g t h a t o n t h e e l e v e n v o w e l s , e x c l u d i n g t h e fo u r n e u t e r s . there is a drop, 1 14Hal so you should place a drop on the head of those
Though the Four Point [by Serdingpa] explains this in the context of mind isolation, in the Root Text [of the Concise Five Stages, attributed to Naropa] it explains that you do the vajra recitation after previously medi-
Serdingpa said that the lotus petals should be red, the shape should be [convex] like an upheld mirror. l 147b1 From some of the other instruc-
tating the mantra wheel; so you should do it according to the previous
form like a lotus and which is white with a reddish tinge, the letters are white. With regard to the lotus which is the place established in the heart
296 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
eleven. 92 It does not mean that you should accept that you place the drop in front of them, [or that] you establish them with no drop.
As for the way of setting the [syllables] up, you begin from the east; and in the four directions you put two-two, then starting from the south- east in each four quarters you do one each, or else you arrange them in continuous order from the east, according to Serdingpa's instruction. The
consonants are also like that.
As for setting up the consonants, the Root Text says:
From KA up to HA,
leaving out KSHA, having four.
This [is explained by some to] mean that one should start from the east, on five petals, and place the five sets [beginning with] KA CA TA TA PA. Then, on three petals put the YA and SHA sets [on two of them] , and then, on the last petal, put the four letters KLA BLA SLA SHLA, these four being called the "hidden," or "the four tongue-rooted letters. " But that comes from not knowing the meaning. What the text [actually] means is [that] on each of eight petals, leaving out KSHA from KA to HA, you put four. In this way, the five sets of four KA CA TA TA PA, the NGA NYA /:lA
NA set of four, and the two YA and SHA sets of four are eight [sets in total]. The MA letter is the drop on the vowels.
On the inner lotus petals of the four cardinal directions, 8 8. 1,. . L are placed, and the quarter petals are left empty. When you put them on the channel [of the] petals, and the letters are not alone [on that part of the petal], you set [the four consonants] sequentially in the channel [of the petal] from outer to inner, and have them standing up. If you set them in
the [circular] plane of the petal itself, put them in the form of the arrange- ment ofa garland. [14Hbl
As for setting the indestructible in the center together with its A, it is as already explained.
The Root Text says:
Present in the center of the realm of space,
You should visualize the brilliant mandala.
92 Tsong Khapa interprets the statement about twelve letters as referring to eleven letters, apparently meaning that the short A is in the center and not repeated in the outermost row.
? Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 297
As for the meaning of this stated in the context of the mantra wheel. it does not mean, as some people assert, to meditate that. from within void- ness, awareness arises as a mere nada [channel] and transforms into the moondisk of the heart center. With regard to the definitive meaning of that statement in the Root Tantra, the Illumination of the Lamp says that the realm of space means clear light transparence and the moon disk which stands in its center is said to be the indestructible. That very [explanation] is to be applied here. because by that it is shown that the supporting body of the vajra recitation is the indestructible [drop].
As for meditating the mantra wheel in this way, except for the per- sonal instruction of Naropa. it does not occur in the treatises together with the personal instructions of the Noble tradition. In some of the instructions of the lineage from Jfianakara to Nagtso there are things disagreeing with this. Even in the instruction [manuals] of the Marpa tradition, dissimilar things sometimes appear. What is explained above, [coming from Naropa], is correct.
In regard to what Serdingpa says-that the Revelation ofthe Hidden Intention quotes cited in the Five Stages, "Five having truly five," and "Four definitely attached in threes," and "Sixteen abiding in parts, and so on," show the ways of establishing the letters on the petals - that is not what they mean; because, although those letters-OM A. Ij HO? are collected from the vowels, they do not show how you meditate when you place the vowels on the lotus petals.
In other Tantras there are statements [to the effect that one] sets up many letters in the wheels and then meditates; [ 1 49a l [thus,] they are taught in order to compress the wind-energies there; here it is similar. Thus, if, for the sake of compressing the wind-energies in the heart center, you
visualize setting up letters there in the cardinal and quarter directions, you do so in order to collect the wind-energies gradually into the inde- structible; so this is just the personal instruction for doing that.
In that context, first you visualize the lotus petals, and then gradually from without, in sequence, you visualize the letters of the directions and quarters and hold the mind [on them, until] the energy is collected in the indestructible. In this way, [the energies] easily go closer and closer [to the center]-that is the key to the way they teach. It is not definitely nec-
essary for the mantra wheel to be very elaborate. Just as in the five stages instruction manuals of the Marpa tradition there are explanations of prac- ticing vajra recitation by establishing no wheel at all, [by visualizing] the
2Q8 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
triply-nested spiritual heroes. all three simultaneously without any mantra wheel. [or visualizing) the indestructible drop with the short A and setting up the HOM syllable-according to [whichever of) these explanations, [you can perfonn) the vajra recitation.
Nevertheless, it is definitely necessary to meditate the indestruc- tible drop together with [its] letter as explained above, [but] whether the mantra wheel is necessary depends on whether one does it extensively or
briefly. For example
letters and petal letters in the four wheels, [although] a second way is [also] explained which requires the four letters only in the centers [of the wheels].
.
in the SheafofInstructions you establish both hub
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'd'i'B"6"a"ii" - Meditating life-energy control of the light drop at the face nose tip)
The second has two parts: [A"') In what place and with what wind- energy does one practice the vajra recitation; and [B"') The way of uniting wind-energy and mantra, showing the way to differentiate [various types of] vajra recitation.
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'dTR"6"a"ii"A'" -
energy does one practice the vajra recitation]
Thus you meditate either the indestructible together with the man- tra wheel, or the indestructible together with the letter, [until you] become stable without vacillating; relying on that you should practice vajra recitation. Now, if the perfection stage practitioner performs the vajra recitation for the sake of the ritual actions of either pacification, prosperity, [I49bl dominion, or destruction, s/he performs them with the four root wind-energies; and if this perfection stage practioner performs the vajra recitation for the sake of the five higher knowledges of "divine eye" etc. , then s/he should do it with the five branch wind-energies. If the body isolation has preceded, and if one practices the vajra recitation for the sake of achieving the [four] voids of the mind isolation, first [you practice with] the four root wind-energies; and from the point when you discover the power there, you then practice with the five branch wind- energies.
On the three occasions of practicing vajra recitation stated in the text, this refers to the latter.
? ? In what place and with what wind-
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 299
Here, one might inquire, "If that is the way you practice vajra reci- tation with regard to such-and-such wind-energies, is it certain or not about the place in the body about which one might say 'you should practice through this spot which is the vital point in the body"'?
In this regard, most people, except for their mere making the energy enter in and go out of the nostrils from the inner hollow of the body, have no certitude that they should practice from such and such a spot in the channel wheels of the body. Again, some people say that the four root wind-energies should be understood as residing in the four elemental spheres in the four [wheels], the throat, and so on.
In regard to the first of these [two opinions] : although it allows that there exist the union of the three letters with the three [processes] of the energy - exhaling, inhaling and abiding - if you lack the personal instruc- tion which says that "you should practice in this vital channel wheel of the body," however much you strive, it will not happen that the four voids will develop through the dissolving of the energy injected into the dhati. Otherwise, [if that were not the case,] you could not avoid the logical absurdity that by counting the exhalations and inhalations of the wind-energy as explained in the Disciples' Stages, you would get the same result.
In regard to the second opinion, though it has the idea that there is a mere penetration of the vital point of the channels, it has not discovered the import of the key of how the vajra recitation of this system penetrates the vital point in the body. Therefore, in our own system, the three- inhaling, exhaling and holding - are done from the I t SOa J indestructible drop, along with its letter, itself in the center of the heart.
So, to first establish this point with the [statements from] the Illu- mination of the Lamp; compared to the previous Illumination of the Lamp quotation, giving the meaning of the passage that you should medi- tate by the yoga of inhaling, exhaling and holding, the later passage makes it more clear, and states that it is from within that indestructible
drop that one should perform the exhaling, inhaling and holding of a mass of five colored light rays. Also the Illumination of the Lamp third
,
chapter
"you should draw a moon disc standing in the center of space. "" and "standing in the center of the sphere of clear light transparence, you should vizualise a wheel mandala and a lotus mandala and a jewel man- dala," and "you should draw a yoga mandala," Iit identifiesI "the sphere
when it explains the defin-itive meaning of the statements that
300 ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
of clear transparence" as the indestructible, "standing in the center," and as arising from that; and it states that you should know the four elemental spheres that arise from that as the emerging four wind-energies of the four spheres of water, fire, earth, and wind, in that order. Again, in com- ment on the [Root] Tantra sixth chapter statement that you should medi- tate the four discs as standing in the middle of the realm of space-sun, clear light transparence, jewel, and light discs, "the realm of space" is the indestructible, ''standing in the middle" [means] emerging from there, and the four discs that are emerging are explained as, in order, the wind- energies of the four elements. [ISOb] It says that in those you should
practice the vajra recitation of the three letters, and also that you should command with vajra recitation the Vajrasattva who dwells in the heart center.
As for the explanation of the vajra recitation of the four wind- energies which is taught in the [Root Tantra] third chapter, [the Illumina- tion ofthe Lamp] explains it by quoting the Explanatory Tantra Revelation of the Hidden Intention. Especially to eliminate doubts arising from the Vajra Rosary's statement that you should perform going and coming of
the four wind-energies from these four places, "at the adam's apple, the heart center, the navel, and the lotus of the secret [center], manifest coming and going"; the Four Goddess Dialogue states that "the going and coming of the wind-energies" is from the indestructible of the heart, which fits with the above-explained meaning of the Illumination of the
Lamp; therefore you should understand that from the detailed analysis in the [Lamp 's] subcommentary.
From the Integrated Practices, it says:
In the context of the vajra recitation of the three letters, mantras such as "the snake," and so on, are those that arise from the vowels and consonants. The reality of those is the three letters that arise from the indestructible.
This also means that the recitation of the three mantras of the vajra reci- tation should be recited by the method of coming [in and out] of the inde- structible. It does not mean that one should recite by the method of caus- ing them to enter and exit from the [central] places of the four chakras. As for the reason of needing to do it that way: as explained above, the four voids emerge from the compression of the wind-energies in the inde- structible, and the vital key of vajra recitation is that it is the means of
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 301
compressing the wind-energies into the indestructible of the heart center; because the principle method of causing the entrance of the three explained above such as entering, [holding, and coming out] etc. 115luJ is the vajra recitation. Therefore, Ekadashanirgho? ha explains:
Coming out from the indestructible drop, which abides in the center of the lotus in the heart-center, is the exhalation, HOM. entering inhaled there is OM and held abiding there is the nature of Al:f. These depend on the color white etc. having the characteristic of the elemen- tal spheres of water etc. They occur with the process of [normal breathing] through the superficial right nostril etc. Thus you do the vajra recitation which effortlessly accomplishes the activities of pacification etc. , and effects the purification of all previous dobscurations.
Also, from Bhavyakirti's Five Stages Difficult Point Commentary, he correctly explains that you should do the vajra recitation of the triple process of having all four elemental spheres leave, enter, and hold within the indestructible drop.
In the Root Text it is explained that in the central indestructible, the essence of the whole body, wind-energies etc. are first radiated and then finally gathered back, so that is how you should do the vajra recitation, as it is a repetition of the [natural] process of all things arising from the indestructible [in the first place]. The Four Point explains that from that indestructible abiding in the center of the heart, you should do the recita- tion connecting the letters with the entering, leaving, and standing still of
the five root wind-energies radiating in their five colors of light. That is the meaning of the Root Text, and also it is the ultimate key point of the practice of vajra recitation. Nevertheless, it seems there are still those who do not understand the good explanations in those texts, mainly because of their not understanding the need to know well the vital point of the
heart center in this system.
Some others of the Marpa tradition [ 1 5 1 bl claim that, by visualizing
in order from the outside the letters in three rows on the lotus petals, you should do the vajra recitation of the three wind-energies of entering, abid- ing and exiting in those ranks; thinking that is the meaning of the phrase, "the nature of three kinds of yoga. " But that is incorrect, because the meaning of [the passage from Naropa's Concise Five Stages]:
302 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
The samadhi of the rows in cardinal and quarter directions
Has the nature of the three kinds of yoga.
is the actuality of the three yogas which practice the three samadhis visu- alizing three rows [of letters] in the cardinal and quarter directions. Kuku- ripa teaches that you should practice the vajra recitation of exhaling and inhaling from within the kiss of the [two halves of the] drop set in the heart center. Although the Persona/ Instruction [ofMaiijushrr] teaches [variously] that you should practice the vajra recitation by meditating the three vajras in the center of the two breasts, in the heart center, in the throat and in the crown, [by meditating] the three letters abiding in the moon in the center of the elemental spheres of wind, water, fire, and earth standing in order in the symbol in the heart center of the meditated
wisdom hero, and [by meditating] the seed-syllable of your own deity; nevertheless, you should not do it through the heart center of each individ- ual deity, but through the indestructible [in your own heart]; as [Jfiana- pada] says, "you should do the actual vajra recitation of the indestructible
drop by these [various] procedures. "
Therefore, when the Liberation Drop says that you should practice
the vajra recitation of the four wind-energies which emerge from the upper nostril as light rays radiating from the four [element] letters, [meaning that] the right side wind [element] is the body-vajra, the left side water element is the speech-vajra, and the both-together fire element is the mind-vajra, and the both-together earth element is the nature of all deities, it is explaining in that way wishing to show that those four wind-energies
are the wind-energies of the four elements, and l 1 52a J not that you do the vajra recitation by having the entrance, exit and holding go from there. It is just like [the way you should understand] the explanations, in both this text, [that you should do vajra recitation] in the nostrils with the elemen- tal wind-energies,] and in the Personal Instruction, that [you should do vajra recitation as] the inhalation, exhalation, and holding of the wind- energies as the four letters set in the heart center of the deity, and [the many other explanations elsewhere that you should do vajra recitation], apart from those two [ways]. [At least] those [two texts] are mentioning [procedures] that correspond with this [Noble] system, while other sys- tems teach that you should practice vajra recitation in the navel center.
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 303
lYI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'dTB"6"a"ii"B"' - The way of uniting wind-energy and mantra. showing the way to differentiate (various types of) vajra recitation]
As for the way of uniting wind-energy and mantra, while there is the teaching of the Illumination of the Lamp that the white OM, [red A /:f. and blue HOM], having certain forms, shapes and colors, and being established in the places of the body, are [identical with] the wind- energies' being inhaled, held, and exhaled, and the symbolic meaning of the three letters is these [movements of the] three wind-energies, never- theless, it is not the case that those [symbolic] meanings of the [three letters as placed in the body etc. ] are to be meditated as the [movements of the] three wind-energies. Also, this is not in the context of the vajra recitation.
? In the context of the vajra recitation, in [the literature] of the Noble tradition and from the Tantra, it seems that there is no explicit teaching of any sound or form of the three letters and, in regard to the reality of the energy connected with them, [no clear mention of] which energy and which tone. Although Master Go gave [an explanation] of the resonance of the sound, he did not give [an explanation] of the syllable as a shape, and so skilled persons who follow this [Noble system] also accept [the
OMA/:1 H0t4fin that way. Many Marpa followers assert that the energy is like a rosary-cord and the syllables are arranged like rosary-beads, having that form if you drew them. In the Root Tantra seventh chapter, it is said, "Do not recite while eating alms-food," and the ultimate meaning of that statement is given in the Revelation of the Hidden Intention, as quoted in the Illumination ofthe Lamp:
A separate syllable is the alms-food, and to recite those [syllables] is to eat. That is accepted as [the meaning of] "eating alms-food. "
This passage explains that practicing recitation with wind-energy and mantra being different is the opposite of vajra recitation; [ IS2bl so that means you must understand them as not being different. Here, the [San- skrit] word for "alms-food" is bhilcyha and by way of etymological analysis, bhinna means "different," and ak$hara means "syllable. " So to recite with
energy and syllable as different is "to eat alms-food. " Even when you practice dividing energy and mantra in two, the mantra is pronounced as
. l04 ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
a sound: it is not taught that you should think about its written form. Therefore, when you take energy and mantra as non-different, you must take the mantra's sound as what is non-different [from the wind-energy], but you do not take the mantra's form as non-different from the energy. Though it is a sound. if it is recited as a word, it becomes an outer speech; this is not [what Aryadeva means] in the Integrated Practices, by saying it is an inner word. Even when it is not spoken as a word, it is not a
sound that is mentally thought in the form of a spoken word. Therefore, the natural sound of the three wind-energies which enter, abide and exit are here taken as the three syllables. The meaning of the expression "uniting energy and mantra indivisibly" is that indivisible union of the
sound of the mantra with just the natural sound of the wind- energy. When you recognize that your wind-energies sound like the sound of the three letters, aiming the mind without distraction towards that [recogni- tion], you are practicing this [vajra-]recitation. And on this, even though the Illumination ofthe Lamp refers to it as "mental recitation," you should make a clear distinction, since it is very different from the "mental recita- tion" which is the mental imagining of the form of the pronunciation of a word by the efforts of the palate and tongue. The meaning of "wind-
energy and mantra indivisibly united" must be that they arise as one in mental experience; but if you do it as above, they will not arise as the same in mental experience.
Concerning the Private lnstruction93 statement, "When the energy abides within, you should make it longer each time"; certain scholars state [criticisms] with reference to the intention of the [Root] Tantra commentary [ 1 53aJ "you should leave the energy just as it is, without any artificial effort! " Their statement is incorrect: because there would be no
practice of the vajra recitation of exiting, entering and abiding, since it is taught that there are no more than 2 1 ,600 [breaths] per day, taking inha- lation and exhalation as one [breath], so if you were to leave it [as natural] without any artificial effort, there would be no abiding, which is neither inhalation nor exhalation. Therefore, if you practice according to the statement of the vajra recitation of just the two letters, it would be suffi- cient to do it without any special effort, nevertheless, in the personal
93 1ib. gdams ngag, not elsewhere cited as a text name in this way by Tsong Khapa.
? Chapter VI- Speech Isolation in Practice ? 305
instructions of both Marpa and Go, you must practice with a special intention to hold the breath in between, to fit with the [practice with] three letters. For the Personal Instruction [of Manjushrr] explains four times to "hold gently at the time of abiding with the nature of A/:1. "
Though many people desire to hold it a long [time] inside, apart from when one is exhaling or inhaling. it is good to [do it] according to Master Go who maintains that all three should be equal. The Personal Instruction says that when you exhale the energy, you purify all things and they become elixir, and reaching the nature of OM when inhaling you purify the instincts of your own inner process, and by the nature of A/:1 you purify your inner process. The Liberation Drop says:
With a HOM, when you emanate buddhas etc. , you achieve [the perfection of] all inanimate phenomena. With OM at the time of collecting all buddhas, you achieve [the perfection of] all animate things. With the letter A/:1 at the time of upholding the buddhas etc. , you cause the entry into nondual wisdom of all things animate and inanimate.
As for "achieve," the commentary explains that it means "purify. " The Noble tradition fl53bl does not teach that way of practicing it. Though some people want to [think that it is saying] "from the Five Stages, the verse 'The HOM letter truly radiates living beings,"' that's
not the meaning. The Five Point says [words to the effect that], "Practice just twenty-one vajra recitations of the three letters each time. When you count more than that, as for the actual vajra recitation, when you feel well and it is easy to hold the energy, the upper energy is pressed down by OM, the lower energy is drawn up by HOM, and you should practice visualizing the kiss of the wind-energies in the heart center. " In the Four Point it is taught that "When by doing the vajra recitation of the three letters the energy enters into the central channel and no longer flows, you should do it up to the perfection of the vajra recitation where you generate the experience of bliss-void. " In the Wheel Endowed also it explains that by doing the vajra recitation again and again one hundred
and eight times, and so forth, the five signs arise.
Thus, the first of those [three passages supposed to be from Ser-
dingpa], which seems to disagree, presents the vajra recitation of the three letters as practiced only a bit more than twenty-one times etc. That appears to be a great error, which contradicts the Root and Explanatory
306 ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
Tantras and the treatises of the father and sons. And, the explanation of the vajra recitation as the holding of the energy in an [inner] kiss appears to be just a fabrication. Our own system contradicts many [of others'] claims about the energy yogas of the mind isolation. Therefore you must practice according to the Four Point teaching, and interpret the Wheel Endowed as in agreement.
In the Condensed [Sadhana], quoting the Four Goddess Dialogue as authority, it is explained that at the time of eating one uses this kiss [of the two wind-energies]; but except for some commentaries which do teach this as a kiss [of wind-energies], it is not so taught in any Indian
treatises of the Noble tradition. Even if you use personal instructions, if you interpret them in accord with the other personal instructions of our own system's teaching in the context of the mind isolation, it will agree with our system. [t54al
In regard to the vajra recitations, if we divide them according to their objects, the wind-energies, there are the two kinds of vajra recita- tions, focusing [respectively] on root and branch [wind-energies]; and
each of those also can be divided into four and five [respectively]. To divide them according to the recited mantras, the Vajra Rosary teaches both the vajra recitation of the two letters HOM and HO and the vajra recitation of the three letters. The Revelation of the Hidden Intention and
the Further Tantra teach the vajra recitation of the three letters. Lak$hmiand Kalden Drakpa et al. teach eleven [types of] six-clan,
fierce, three-poison, and neuter vajra recitations, claiming that to be the meaning of the root text and commentaries of the [Root Tantra] Thirteenth Chapter.
As for the intention of the Illumination of the Lamp, you should understand its meaning by analysing the thatness of the three letters; [Chandrakrti] teaches the vajra recitation of the body, speech and mind. Then there are the "jewel recitation" and the "unobstructed recitation," said to be the main vajra recitations.
Therefore, just the previous three do not constitute the full-fledged vajra recitation. They teach those [previous three] vajra recitations to be mental recitations, and teach the fierce recitation to be a verbal recitation: so it is very clear that these do not constitute the vajra recitation. As for the three-poison recitation, this is taught as a visualization of all beings possessing the three poisons as being placed in clear light; but this is not a wind-energy recitation. As for the neuter recitation, it seems to be
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 307
interpreted as a meditation on clear light transparence, so this also is not a wind-energy recitation, and those are also not said to be vajra recitations.
Declaring the principle vajra recitation, the {Root} Tantra says:
Recitation following the [ultimate] meaning, ( t 54hl Through the goodness of realitylessness, Discerning the three times buddhas -
This is taught as the jewel recitation.
The buddhaverses everywhere,
Radiating clouds of embodiments,
Inviting them back and forth is the meaning of "vajra" - That is called the unobstructed recitation.
For the second line, the Chag translation has "Through the good- ness of reality itself," which is better. As for the meaning of those, the recitation that follows after the three-inhalation, exhalation, and retention-as the meaning of the three letters, is said to be the recitation following the meaning. By the goodness which arises from the reality of the indestructible means that by that cause which radiates uninterruptedly one discerns the buddhas which arise in the three times to be [identical with] the three-fold [wind-energy control], inhalation, exhalation and retention. In that regard, this means that one comes to realize that which
is the actuality of all the transcendent buddhas is the reality of the inde- structible drop. That is what is called the "jewel recitation. " This is explained in accord with the good translations of the commentaries. And that means that the vajra recitation compresses the wind-energies into the indestructible.
Thus compressing them, they dissolve there; and when you exhale from the buddhaverse, your own heart-lotus indestructible, you gush forth everywhere, through all the doors of your eye sense-medium etc. , clouds of [buddha-]embodiments and invite them back within; and all of this radiation, which has the nature of what is meant by "vajra," standing
within [the indestructible], is the "unobstructed recitation. "
As for calling the previous one the "jewel recitation," it intends that the vajra recitation of the root energy brings the energy into the jewel of the indestructible, and does not indicate a recitation related to Ratnasambhava of the five clans. [lSSuJ Similarly, the "unobstructed reci- tation" is called that because, having developed the ability to compress
the wind-energies, it practices the branch energy vajra recitation, entering
308 ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
without obstruction the door of each sense faculty; it does not indicate a recitation related to Amoghasiddhi. From a quote in the Five Stages the former are called vajra recitations. Except for the Illumination of the Lamp, in the treatises of the father and sons and the Concise Five Stages etc. there is no teaching of the branch energy vajra recitation. After that previously indicated boundary, if you then practice the recitation of the branch wind-energies, then you must recite by way of emerging from the
indestructible of the heart center; and by doing it that way, Master Go maintains that it serves as an ancillary cause for bliss to bum in the per- ception of all objects. This seems to be the supreme intention of the Vajra
Rosary.
Now in regard to the verbal meaning of vajra recitation, though certain Tibetans and Indians seem to explain various things, the Illumi- nation ofthe Lamp says:
Their meaning is the three syllables. Reciting them, it is the three, entering etc. Their existence is symbolized by the indivisible three vajras. And that is called the " vajra recitation of their reality. "
Therefore, "vajra recitation" is the reality of the indivisible union of the three sounds of the three wind-energies with the three syllables of the three vajras. Therefore, in trance meditation, from within the experi- ential reality of having [in mind] the four vital points, the above taught points of the body etc. , getting rid of all faults which could turn into depression or elation, by the enthusiastic force of seeing well the excel- lences of both the wind-energy yogas and the recitation yogas, l 1 55bl you should properly learn how to have the sound of the three wind-energies arise as mantras; and you should also keep on learning in the aftermath states. [You should practice] according to the Revelation of the Hidden Intention statement:
In every kind of activity,
By staying aware of this yoga, even sleeping, etc. , Always recite, leaving the three times,
The nameless and inexpressible.
As for the meaning of the latter two lines, Shraddha explains that it means that you recite in all three times the three syllables, free of any nominal or verbal expression.
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 309
? [First,] although the Vajra Rosary mentions that "the meditation on the drop involves holding the enlightenment spirit without emitting it in the boundary where there is the meeting of the consort's lotus nose-tip and your vajra's lotus nose-tip," it is not the case that you meditate by visualizing the form of a drop there. The Illumination ofthe Lamp states, when explaining the Further Tantra, that meditating by visualizing the drop is "when the wind-energy emerges with the form of a drop from the hole of your vajra and is imagined with the form of a drop in the nose-tip of the lotus of the consort. " Now clearly that is inside the wisdom seal, and moreover, that is meditated at the boundary where the two nose-tips meet, so it is not the same as meditating on the nose-tip of each one.
In general, in meditating relying upon the wisdom seal, there are three main types of meditation explained in the literature of the Noble tradition. These three are: a creation of bliss by uniting with that [wisdom seal]; a meditation upon the mandala [environment] within the drop which is settled within the lotus [of the consort] , which is the objective spirit of enlightenment that [melts down ] though uniting with that [consort]; and a meditation visualizing the drop at the juncture of meeting of the two nose tips of the secret places of the father and mother. Here, the latter [is under discussion] . [ t 56al
While the need of that [practice] is for the sake of compressing the wind-energies into the dhati channel, it does not mean that you can compress [through this practice the energies] you were previously unable to compress in the dhati channel; because when you learn the body isolation you gain the ability to compress the wind-energies. Therefore, the meditation of the life-energy control in this context is the means of
compressing [wind-energies] you were not able to compress in the heart center by the two previous [methods]. Thus, this [vajra recitation] serves as a way of heightening the impact of compressing [the wind-energies] in
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. c '3 'd TB "6 "a "iii " - subtance drop at the secret nose tip]
Meditating life-energy control of the
There are two parts to meditating on the substance-drop at the nose-
tip of the secret center.
3 1 0 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
the heart center. 94 On other [subsequent] occasions also, you should apply
the same reasoning.
tion ]
The uncommon function of vajra recita-
? The second has two parts: (i"] Showing how the vajra recitation releases the channel knot at the heart center; and [ii"] Showing how that release of the heart-center channel knot is the principle channel-knot release.
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'dTo"6"b"i" - Showing how releases the channel knot at the heart center]
the vajra recitation
? Thus, the reason why it is necessary to practice vajra recitation through the indestructible in the center of the heart center wheel is clearly stated in the Vajra Rosary:
Abiding in the center of the uma,
The drop is truly taught as wind-energy, And is opened through the reality of mantra. The yog1niupon releasing the [heart] knot, Knows the reality of wind-energy;
[But] to apply a distinctive opening,
[If] the yoga itself is not understood;
This yoga of holding the wind-energy,
For those who see wrongly and unclearly, Transcends expression and expressible, Lacks contemplation and meditative object, And is hard even for buddhas to attain.
Yet by the kindness of the yoginl
It endures transmitted face to face.
As for the import of the first two phrases, same text says:
opening the indestructible, and creating the magic body.
? 94 Here we can see why Tsong Khapu considers that the Esott>ric Community and its Noble tradition of investigation and practice is said to be unparalleled in the Father Tantra context
of unraveling the heart knot
,
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. c '3 'd TB "6 "b " -
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 3 1 1
The A dwells in the Dharma wheel lotus, And pervades the wheel of wind.
This only is the great wind-energy "Life-energy" is thus declared.
By stating that there is a six-petaled wind wheel at the place of the uma-tuft in between the eyebrows, l l 56bl this shows the dhati channel as the abode of the life-wind-energy, which pervades up to there from the heart center.
Here, in regard to [the knot] that is opened through the reality of mantra and energy, "mantra" is the one [mentioned]. Another [one men- tioned] is the yoga of the opening of the knot of the dhati channel. But if you do not understand the distinctive means of opening, which comes from having the reasoning of the reality of [both] mantra and wind- energy, that objective will be hard to achieve by the yoga of holding the wind-energy. That is the meaning additionally supplied in the section of the verse from "energy" up to "hard [even for buddhas] to attain. "
The translation by Zhiwa Od:
If you did not also know that yoga
By the yoga of supreme differentiation,
is better, and there he also translates, "Understanding the reality of wind- energy. "
As for not being able to understand that meaning without the per- sonal instructions of the mentor, [it is because] "it transcends expression and expressible. " "Unclearly" means that you will not understand it clearly.
The first has three parts, explaining: [i
control of the mantra drop at the heart center nose tip; (ii"] Meditating life-energy control of the light drop at the face nose tip; [iii "] Meditating life-energy control of the subtance drop at the secret nose tip.
mantra drop at the heart center nose tip]
The first has two parts, explaining: [A'") The way to meditate the
partial mantra drop; (B"'] The way to meditate the mantra wheel.
The way to meditate the partial
mantra drop]
As for the place where to meditate, it is according to the Vajra Rosary statement:
A person will achieve the chief of mantras
In a solitary, divine place, without demon problems, Free of piercing sounds, and far from crowds, Delightful to the fortunate, a peaceful pleasure grove, While enjoying the five desires, full of great bliss.
A "divine place" here means a chapel and so forth. 287
"
-
energy
? ? [VI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'dTB"6" -
The way to put speech isolation into practice[
lVI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'dTB"6"a"i"A'" -
188 ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
As for the (topics of the] vital points of the body, which conducts are useful for meditation. and the vital points of the wind-energies, they are. according to the same text:
The path of conduct is the place of great bliss, Whereby supreme accomplishment will develop; The practitioner sits upon a comfortable seat
And having aimed the two eyes to the nose tip And placed the nose in line with the navel, Keeps shoulders level, tongue pressed on palate, Teeth and lips left relaxed
Exhalation and inhalation loosened,
Bit by bit freed of control,
Breathing naturally,
And sits well in the spiritual hero posture. Maintaining such a path of conduct, r I44aJ
One should constantly recite the two letters.
Such statements made in the context of the two-syllable vajra recitation apply similarly to the three-syllable vajra recitation. Other translations have "the vajra [instead of 'spiritual hero'] posture. "
As for the key point of time, it is as previouslye explained.
As for the supporting embodiment, one should perform [vajra reci- tation] by visualizing [oneself] as the body isolation, great secret, single clan father-mother [in union]. In the Five Stages, quoting the Further Tantra, [Nagarjuna] states:
By visualizing the heart center, put the life-energy into dwelling in the drop.
The Illumination of the Lamp explains the meaning of this to be medita- ting on the indestructible drop in the heart center. And [other] Five Stages commentators also explain it as meditating the mantra drop in the heart center. Just after the Four Goddess Dialogue passage quoted in the Five Stages, such statements as "Supreme subtleness, the mere size of a split [pea]," like the above quotes, have the same meaning as the above refer- ence from the Further Tantra. In the Integrated Practices, [Aryadeva] also quotes a reference from the Vajra Mandala Ornament [Tantra], and states that the short A of the heart center indestructible and the indestruc-
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 289
tible [itself] are the places for compressing the wind-energies, in order to make the meditation on the heart-center indestructible understandable.
Further, in the Illumination of the Lamp Third Chapter, [Chandra- kirti] states:
The precious jewel of five colors with the nature of the five transcendent lords is reknowned as the indestructible, because it creates the precious jewel of buddhahood. It has the precise measure of a grain of mustard seed, because that is the form of the drop. "On the tip of the nose" indicates the hub of the heart center lotus. "Intensely" means that you should meditate constantly day and night by focusing on it and using the yogas of inhaling, holding, releasing, and compressing. l 144hl
Thus the text states that you should meditate the heart center indestruc- tible day and night through the yoga of inhaling and so on.
As for the sequence of the meditations of the indestructible and the vajra recitation, the following [Illumination of the Lamp passage, coming right after the one above, teaches, in commentary on a Root Tantra pas-
sage, namely,] "Having made the jewel stable, one radiates, and one does not radiate without its becoming stable"90-
"Stable" is constant. What is that? The indestructible. From it you should massively radiate "jewel," or five colored, light rays, and you should engage with it by inhaling, holding, and releasing. "Without its becoming stable" means that you should practice this yoga with [constant focus on] the realization of the thatness of the indestructible, and not otherwise.
The meaning of this is as follows. Meditating on the indestructible drop mentioned previously in the statement that "you should constantly meditate the indestructible by the yoga of inhaling and so on," you develop firmness. Thereby you should practice the yoga of making the
90 The Root Tantra passage and the commentary on it are in reverse order in the Tibetan texts, due no doubt to scribal error, so I have reversed the order back to make it clearer.
? 290 ? BrilliantIllumination oftheLamp
wind-energies enter. etc. within [the central channel]. Thus, by any other way than by having realized the natural experience of the thatness of the indestructible and developed stability in taking the indestructible as ob- ject, you should not perform this yoga of inhaling etc. Such being the meaning, first you must stabilize a constant and unchanging meditative indestructible, and after that you can practice vajra recitation.
This explanation is said by [Chandraktti in] the Illumination ofthe Lamp to be an ultimate [meaning] explanation. To that, a certain objector argues that this is the way of explaining the vajra recitation [only] for a person who has [already] embodied the ultimate communion. [145aJ Others do indeed explain the "indestructible" as the fourth stage clear light. However, from the extensive explanation of this point in the com- mentary on the [Root Tantra] Third Chapter, after explaining the wind-
energies of the four [elemental] spheres emerging from the indestruc- tible, the Chag translation has the statement:
By achieving such a body, speech, and mind, the body and so on are created; and "emerging from the vajra" refers to the creation of the divine circle which has the nature of the two realities arisen from clear light trans- parence.
Thus the explanation is said to be "ultimate" in terms of [its referring to] the objective of vajra recitation, which is the creation of communion by the wind-energies through the practice of vajra recitation. This is similar to the Seventeenth Chapter' s explanation of the three voids being called "ultimate. "
As for the place where the indestructible is meditated, its objective vital point is the hub of the heart center lotus; and it is the same in mean-
ing as the Vajra Rosary
hub of the eight-petalled Dharma wheel [of the heart center]. Lak? hmts statement that you should meditate within the center of the heart center's avadhati [channel] is good; and it does not mean the [same thing as] the Five Point' s mention of the black and white boundary in the heart, or the Four Point's mention of the empty space in the heart center. As for the dhati channel, it is stated in the Great Seal Drop and the Wisdom-Intuition Drop to be stabilized as the "staff of the life-energy wind" and the root of the life-energy wind. Since the hub of the heart center channel wheel is
'
s statement to meditate the mantra drop in the
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 291
in front of the life-energy wind channel at the height of. and in the center between, the two breasts, you should visualize it there.
In regard to such reasonable instructions as this [concerning] the meditations on the drops and so on as accurately penetrating the vital points of the body, if you know well the vital points of the body, when you aim the mind there, lt4Shl it will reach those vital points; and other- wise not.
As for the drop meditated in that place, the Vajra Rosary does not explicitly mention a drop other than the syllables, but the Illumination of the Lamp teaches the meditation on the indestructible in the form of a drop. In this context, some followers of the Go tradition wish to meditate the short A in the center of a drop which is an interlaced sun and moon. The Concise Five Stages teaches the meditation of the indestructible drop together with the short A In both of the personal instructions of Serding- pa, the drop is explained as white and the short A as black. In one, a half- white, half-black short A resides within a white drop; again in another a bar-shaped A resides within a half-black, half-white drop; yet another recommends meditating a white, reddish-tinged drop. As for a red-white- interfaced drop, it is in agreement with the great adept Kukuripa's state-
ment [in his Vajrasattva Sadhana] about the drop used as support for vajra recitation:
Visualizing in its hub
A sun disc, a drop, and a moon disc, Shaped like a closed [round] shrine-box, The sun of art, and the moon of wisdom.
However, here [in the Noble system], a syllable is used in place of the drop in the center of that [heart center]; the Personal Instruction explains it as a slightly reddish white. The heart center is explained to be the place where the between person's consciousness enters in the center of the semen and ovum of father and mother in the womb; and is also
explained as the support of the mind. And that is the key of the basic reality cultivation foundation of both those [Noble and Jfianapada] systems of meditation.
The measure of the drop is said to be just that of a mustard seed; for if you hold the mind on a subtle object, it is easy to eradicate thought constructions and compress the wind-energies.
292 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
As for the syllable, [146aJ the Vajra Rosary mentions both A and HOM as the syllable in the heart center, and the Integrated Practices mentions the A syllable; and they are meditated as representatives of the indestructible. Since there is something established there in the form of a syllable, there is indeed no certainty [about which one], so here one can meditate either A or HOM. In either case the color should be dark blue;
or the Vow Arisal also suggests white. Here, "wind-energy" stands for the indestructible, and the "white-red drop" stands for the indestructible enlightenment spirit. In this context the five-colored jewel is blazing with the five light rays, which is proper to connect with either syllable or drop. Other traditions explain the drop as being on top of a syllable itself located on a hand symbol; but here [in this Noble system] it is better as
above.
Thus one should focus the mind, practicing free of the faults of
holding the mind either much too tightly or much too loosely on the heart center indestructible.
This is highly praised in the Liberation Drop:
That brilliant form of the indestructible drop, Just the measure of a grain of mustard, Dripping and blazing with five light rays, Properly always stands in the heart center. Gazing on that, great wisdom will blaze up
In the yogi/ni in just an instant- There should be no doubt about it.
It is also praised in other Tantras, as in the Unexcelled Clear Articulation:
Always dwelling in the heart, Unchanging in the sole drop,
The person who meditates on that Will definitely generate wisdom.
And from that [Tantra's] meaning commentary [by Ghar:ttapada], called the Supreme Bliss Five Stages:
The mind which has the drop and the sound, 1146bl You should place it in the heart center:
This will dispel the fog of delusion -
You will become a master divine lord buddha.
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 293
Thus depending on the meditation of the indestructible drop in the heart center, the orgasmic [wisdom] that radically cuts off ignorance will arise. Also the Vow Arisal states:
The energy gone into the heart-center lotus,
In the likeness of a white HOM letter-
You should visualize and be entranced with that, And you will not be bound by objects.
The energy moving up into the life-cycle
Will progress downward into nirvana.
The totally non-local nirvana
Dwells in the heart-center lotus' anthers.
Thus, if you can collect, stop, and stabilize the energy - by the distinctive arts such as explained above-in the center of the heart-center channel- wheel, you cannot be bound any more by the mental constructions en- gaged with objects such as form and sound, and it will grant you the exalted state of nirvana not located in the extremes of existence and peace .
Again, as explained above, the twelve subject-object wind-energies are said to arise in the heart center. If you practice the art of penetrating the body's vital points and holding the mind therein, those wind-energies will compress back there, and by the key process of their dissolving there, you can easily cut off the constructions of subject and object. By such a procedure, you generate the great certitude about this that is praised in the many treatises of the great adepts and in many Tantras. Thus you
should strive to meditate the life-energy control of the mantra drop, the indestructible in the heart-center nose tip.
wheel]
The Concise Five Stages [attibuted to Naropa] states:
Since the various memories and mental constructions Arise from the mind as evolutionary actions,
Meditate the mantra wheel at the heart center, 1 147u]
The base where consciousness and life-energy converge.
? The way to meditate the mantra
lVI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'd'i'o"6"a"i"B"' -
294 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
Thus [it is explained that] the various mental constructs arise from the mind, and the place where the energy and mind gather together is the heart center, so the meditating of the mantra wheel should penetrate the vital [point] in the heart center. Further [the Concise Five Stages states] :
As for the wheel of mantra syllables; First, contemplate an eight petaled lotus Containing rows [of letters] ,
I n a pattern of outer, inner, and secret.
[This explains] the meditation of an eight-petaled lotus with three rows [of letters on it] in the heart center.
Further [the Concise Five Stages states]:
The outer row is marked by wisdom-vowels, The middle row by the art-consonants,
And the nondual letters stand within-
This samadhi of rows in cardinals and quarters, Has the nature of the three yogas,
With the indestructible drop in the center,
With its A-syllable which becomes life-energy, Essence of all, radiating and gathering back.
Thus, this teaches that you should meditate the outer [row on the] eight petals of the lotus as marked with the twelve vowels [which are] the actu- ality of wisdom; the middle [row on the] eight petals as marked with the consonants which are the actuality of art; and the inner [row] with the four neuter letters [. 8, 8, {. , Ll. which are the actuality of art and wisdom non- dual; and the center as the indestructible drop, together with a short A. 91
In this regard, three [texts by Serdingpa] explain that you should meditate the mantra wheel as a preliminary of the vajra recitation: the Five Point, the Wheel Endowed, and the Five Stages Single Session.
91 The way this commentary is written, one could think that this eight-petallede heart lotus is actually 24-petalled, since it seems as if the three rows are marked each on a different row of petals. 1 believe thut is because in the short-hand way of dictating, Tsong Khapa assumes everyone know the heart lotus has only eight petals, and the letters are arar nged in three rows on the eight petals, vowels near the tips of the petals, consonants in the middle, and the four neuter semi-vowels on the base of the four directional petals.
? Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 295
three texts.
tions of the Marpa tradition, it is explained that on the channel having a
center for the drop which is the support of the vajra recitation, Kukuripa says that that lotus should be thought of as having the nature of the four elements, with four white petals and four red petals. This is to think of them as being the actuality of the four channels of the directions of the heart center. From some other treatises also, on the occasion of the per- fection stage, the lotuses in the navel etc. , whereon are established the drop and the letters etc. , are explained as "channel-petals," and that is how one should take them, or else one can also visualize that the lotus petals themselves are the actuality of the channels.
There being uncertainty about the color of the heart-center lotus, and there being many explanations of the eight-petaled [lotus] of the channel-wheel, it appears that there are two explanations; and a third explanation is not often found elsewhere. If you visualize it like a lotus- flower petal, then there is no point in [visualizing it] like a raised mirror. Serdingpa has the consonants established on the outer [rows on the] petals and the vowels on the middle [rows]; but this does not accord with the Root Text [of the Concise Five Stages]. Therefore, you should establish
[them] according to what appears elsewhere in the Marpa tradition, which accords with the Root Text, [Naropa 's Clarification of the Concise Five Stages], which says that the vowels are luminance, the consonants radi- ance, and the neuter syllables are imminence. That being the case, it is good if you make the outer letters white, the middle letters red, and the inner letters blue or black. The Root Text says "Twelve letters having d r o p s . . . , " m e a n i n g t h a t o n t h e e l e v e n v o w e l s , e x c l u d i n g t h e fo u r n e u t e r s . there is a drop, 1 14Hal so you should place a drop on the head of those
Though the Four Point [by Serdingpa] explains this in the context of mind isolation, in the Root Text [of the Concise Five Stages, attributed to Naropa] it explains that you do the vajra recitation after previously medi-
Serdingpa said that the lotus petals should be red, the shape should be [convex] like an upheld mirror. l 147b1 From some of the other instruc-
tating the mantra wheel; so you should do it according to the previous
form like a lotus and which is white with a reddish tinge, the letters are white. With regard to the lotus which is the place established in the heart
296 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
eleven. 92 It does not mean that you should accept that you place the drop in front of them, [or that] you establish them with no drop.
As for the way of setting the [syllables] up, you begin from the east; and in the four directions you put two-two, then starting from the south- east in each four quarters you do one each, or else you arrange them in continuous order from the east, according to Serdingpa's instruction. The
consonants are also like that.
As for setting up the consonants, the Root Text says:
From KA up to HA,
leaving out KSHA, having four.
This [is explained by some to] mean that one should start from the east, on five petals, and place the five sets [beginning with] KA CA TA TA PA. Then, on three petals put the YA and SHA sets [on two of them] , and then, on the last petal, put the four letters KLA BLA SLA SHLA, these four being called the "hidden," or "the four tongue-rooted letters. " But that comes from not knowing the meaning. What the text [actually] means is [that] on each of eight petals, leaving out KSHA from KA to HA, you put four. In this way, the five sets of four KA CA TA TA PA, the NGA NYA /:lA
NA set of four, and the two YA and SHA sets of four are eight [sets in total]. The MA letter is the drop on the vowels.
On the inner lotus petals of the four cardinal directions, 8 8. 1,. . L are placed, and the quarter petals are left empty. When you put them on the channel [of the] petals, and the letters are not alone [on that part of the petal], you set [the four consonants] sequentially in the channel [of the petal] from outer to inner, and have them standing up. If you set them in
the [circular] plane of the petal itself, put them in the form of the arrange- ment ofa garland. [14Hbl
As for setting the indestructible in the center together with its A, it is as already explained.
The Root Text says:
Present in the center of the realm of space,
You should visualize the brilliant mandala.
92 Tsong Khapa interprets the statement about twelve letters as referring to eleven letters, apparently meaning that the short A is in the center and not repeated in the outermost row.
? Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 297
As for the meaning of this stated in the context of the mantra wheel. it does not mean, as some people assert, to meditate that. from within void- ness, awareness arises as a mere nada [channel] and transforms into the moondisk of the heart center. With regard to the definitive meaning of that statement in the Root Tantra, the Illumination of the Lamp says that the realm of space means clear light transparence and the moon disk which stands in its center is said to be the indestructible. That very [explanation] is to be applied here. because by that it is shown that the supporting body of the vajra recitation is the indestructible [drop].
As for meditating the mantra wheel in this way, except for the per- sonal instruction of Naropa. it does not occur in the treatises together with the personal instructions of the Noble tradition. In some of the instructions of the lineage from Jfianakara to Nagtso there are things disagreeing with this. Even in the instruction [manuals] of the Marpa tradition, dissimilar things sometimes appear. What is explained above, [coming from Naropa], is correct.
In regard to what Serdingpa says-that the Revelation ofthe Hidden Intention quotes cited in the Five Stages, "Five having truly five," and "Four definitely attached in threes," and "Sixteen abiding in parts, and so on," show the ways of establishing the letters on the petals - that is not what they mean; because, although those letters-OM A. Ij HO? are collected from the vowels, they do not show how you meditate when you place the vowels on the lotus petals.
In other Tantras there are statements [to the effect that one] sets up many letters in the wheels and then meditates; [ 1 49a l [thus,] they are taught in order to compress the wind-energies there; here it is similar. Thus, if, for the sake of compressing the wind-energies in the heart center, you
visualize setting up letters there in the cardinal and quarter directions, you do so in order to collect the wind-energies gradually into the inde- structible; so this is just the personal instruction for doing that.
In that context, first you visualize the lotus petals, and then gradually from without, in sequence, you visualize the letters of the directions and quarters and hold the mind [on them, until] the energy is collected in the indestructible. In this way, [the energies] easily go closer and closer [to the center]-that is the key to the way they teach. It is not definitely nec-
essary for the mantra wheel to be very elaborate. Just as in the five stages instruction manuals of the Marpa tradition there are explanations of prac- ticing vajra recitation by establishing no wheel at all, [by visualizing] the
2Q8 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
triply-nested spiritual heroes. all three simultaneously without any mantra wheel. [or visualizing) the indestructible drop with the short A and setting up the HOM syllable-according to [whichever of) these explanations, [you can perfonn) the vajra recitation.
Nevertheless, it is definitely necessary to meditate the indestruc- tible drop together with [its] letter as explained above, [but] whether the mantra wheel is necessary depends on whether one does it extensively or
briefly. For example
letters and petal letters in the four wheels, [although] a second way is [also] explained which requires the four letters only in the centers [of the wheels].
.
in the SheafofInstructions you establish both hub
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'd'i'B"6"a"ii" - Meditating life-energy control of the light drop at the face nose tip)
The second has two parts: [A"') In what place and with what wind- energy does one practice the vajra recitation; and [B"') The way of uniting wind-energy and mantra, showing the way to differentiate [various types of] vajra recitation.
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'dTR"6"a"ii"A'" -
energy does one practice the vajra recitation]
Thus you meditate either the indestructible together with the man- tra wheel, or the indestructible together with the letter, [until you] become stable without vacillating; relying on that you should practice vajra recitation. Now, if the perfection stage practitioner performs the vajra recitation for the sake of the ritual actions of either pacification, prosperity, [I49bl dominion, or destruction, s/he performs them with the four root wind-energies; and if this perfection stage practioner performs the vajra recitation for the sake of the five higher knowledges of "divine eye" etc. , then s/he should do it with the five branch wind-energies. If the body isolation has preceded, and if one practices the vajra recitation for the sake of achieving the [four] voids of the mind isolation, first [you practice with] the four root wind-energies; and from the point when you discover the power there, you then practice with the five branch wind- energies.
On the three occasions of practicing vajra recitation stated in the text, this refers to the latter.
? ? In what place and with what wind-
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 299
Here, one might inquire, "If that is the way you practice vajra reci- tation with regard to such-and-such wind-energies, is it certain or not about the place in the body about which one might say 'you should practice through this spot which is the vital point in the body"'?
In this regard, most people, except for their mere making the energy enter in and go out of the nostrils from the inner hollow of the body, have no certitude that they should practice from such and such a spot in the channel wheels of the body. Again, some people say that the four root wind-energies should be understood as residing in the four elemental spheres in the four [wheels], the throat, and so on.
In regard to the first of these [two opinions] : although it allows that there exist the union of the three letters with the three [processes] of the energy - exhaling, inhaling and abiding - if you lack the personal instruc- tion which says that "you should practice in this vital channel wheel of the body," however much you strive, it will not happen that the four voids will develop through the dissolving of the energy injected into the dhati. Otherwise, [if that were not the case,] you could not avoid the logical absurdity that by counting the exhalations and inhalations of the wind-energy as explained in the Disciples' Stages, you would get the same result.
In regard to the second opinion, though it has the idea that there is a mere penetration of the vital point of the channels, it has not discovered the import of the key of how the vajra recitation of this system penetrates the vital point in the body. Therefore, in our own system, the three- inhaling, exhaling and holding - are done from the I t SOa J indestructible drop, along with its letter, itself in the center of the heart.
So, to first establish this point with the [statements from] the Illu- mination of the Lamp; compared to the previous Illumination of the Lamp quotation, giving the meaning of the passage that you should medi- tate by the yoga of inhaling, exhaling and holding, the later passage makes it more clear, and states that it is from within that indestructible
drop that one should perform the exhaling, inhaling and holding of a mass of five colored light rays. Also the Illumination of the Lamp third
,
chapter
"you should draw a moon disc standing in the center of space. "" and "standing in the center of the sphere of clear light transparence, you should vizualise a wheel mandala and a lotus mandala and a jewel man- dala," and "you should draw a yoga mandala," Iit identifiesI "the sphere
when it explains the defin-itive meaning of the statements that
300 ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
of clear transparence" as the indestructible, "standing in the center," and as arising from that; and it states that you should know the four elemental spheres that arise from that as the emerging four wind-energies of the four spheres of water, fire, earth, and wind, in that order. Again, in com- ment on the [Root] Tantra sixth chapter statement that you should medi- tate the four discs as standing in the middle of the realm of space-sun, clear light transparence, jewel, and light discs, "the realm of space" is the indestructible, ''standing in the middle" [means] emerging from there, and the four discs that are emerging are explained as, in order, the wind- energies of the four elements. [ISOb] It says that in those you should
practice the vajra recitation of the three letters, and also that you should command with vajra recitation the Vajrasattva who dwells in the heart center.
As for the explanation of the vajra recitation of the four wind- energies which is taught in the [Root Tantra] third chapter, [the Illumina- tion ofthe Lamp] explains it by quoting the Explanatory Tantra Revelation of the Hidden Intention. Especially to eliminate doubts arising from the Vajra Rosary's statement that you should perform going and coming of
the four wind-energies from these four places, "at the adam's apple, the heart center, the navel, and the lotus of the secret [center], manifest coming and going"; the Four Goddess Dialogue states that "the going and coming of the wind-energies" is from the indestructible of the heart, which fits with the above-explained meaning of the Illumination of the
Lamp; therefore you should understand that from the detailed analysis in the [Lamp 's] subcommentary.
From the Integrated Practices, it says:
In the context of the vajra recitation of the three letters, mantras such as "the snake," and so on, are those that arise from the vowels and consonants. The reality of those is the three letters that arise from the indestructible.
This also means that the recitation of the three mantras of the vajra reci- tation should be recited by the method of coming [in and out] of the inde- structible. It does not mean that one should recite by the method of caus- ing them to enter and exit from the [central] places of the four chakras. As for the reason of needing to do it that way: as explained above, the four voids emerge from the compression of the wind-energies in the inde- structible, and the vital key of vajra recitation is that it is the means of
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 301
compressing the wind-energies into the indestructible of the heart center; because the principle method of causing the entrance of the three explained above such as entering, [holding, and coming out] etc. 115luJ is the vajra recitation. Therefore, Ekadashanirgho? ha explains:
Coming out from the indestructible drop, which abides in the center of the lotus in the heart-center, is the exhalation, HOM. entering inhaled there is OM and held abiding there is the nature of Al:f. These depend on the color white etc. having the characteristic of the elemen- tal spheres of water etc. They occur with the process of [normal breathing] through the superficial right nostril etc. Thus you do the vajra recitation which effortlessly accomplishes the activities of pacification etc. , and effects the purification of all previous dobscurations.
Also, from Bhavyakirti's Five Stages Difficult Point Commentary, he correctly explains that you should do the vajra recitation of the triple process of having all four elemental spheres leave, enter, and hold within the indestructible drop.
In the Root Text it is explained that in the central indestructible, the essence of the whole body, wind-energies etc. are first radiated and then finally gathered back, so that is how you should do the vajra recitation, as it is a repetition of the [natural] process of all things arising from the indestructible [in the first place]. The Four Point explains that from that indestructible abiding in the center of the heart, you should do the recita- tion connecting the letters with the entering, leaving, and standing still of
the five root wind-energies radiating in their five colors of light. That is the meaning of the Root Text, and also it is the ultimate key point of the practice of vajra recitation. Nevertheless, it seems there are still those who do not understand the good explanations in those texts, mainly because of their not understanding the need to know well the vital point of the
heart center in this system.
Some others of the Marpa tradition [ 1 5 1 bl claim that, by visualizing
in order from the outside the letters in three rows on the lotus petals, you should do the vajra recitation of the three wind-energies of entering, abid- ing and exiting in those ranks; thinking that is the meaning of the phrase, "the nature of three kinds of yoga. " But that is incorrect, because the meaning of [the passage from Naropa's Concise Five Stages]:
302 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
The samadhi of the rows in cardinal and quarter directions
Has the nature of the three kinds of yoga.
is the actuality of the three yogas which practice the three samadhis visu- alizing three rows [of letters] in the cardinal and quarter directions. Kuku- ripa teaches that you should practice the vajra recitation of exhaling and inhaling from within the kiss of the [two halves of the] drop set in the heart center. Although the Persona/ Instruction [ofMaiijushrr] teaches [variously] that you should practice the vajra recitation by meditating the three vajras in the center of the two breasts, in the heart center, in the throat and in the crown, [by meditating] the three letters abiding in the moon in the center of the elemental spheres of wind, water, fire, and earth standing in order in the symbol in the heart center of the meditated
wisdom hero, and [by meditating] the seed-syllable of your own deity; nevertheless, you should not do it through the heart center of each individ- ual deity, but through the indestructible [in your own heart]; as [Jfiana- pada] says, "you should do the actual vajra recitation of the indestructible
drop by these [various] procedures. "
Therefore, when the Liberation Drop says that you should practice
the vajra recitation of the four wind-energies which emerge from the upper nostril as light rays radiating from the four [element] letters, [meaning that] the right side wind [element] is the body-vajra, the left side water element is the speech-vajra, and the both-together fire element is the mind-vajra, and the both-together earth element is the nature of all deities, it is explaining in that way wishing to show that those four wind-energies
are the wind-energies of the four elements, and l 1 52a J not that you do the vajra recitation by having the entrance, exit and holding go from there. It is just like [the way you should understand] the explanations, in both this text, [that you should do vajra recitation] in the nostrils with the elemen- tal wind-energies,] and in the Personal Instruction, that [you should do vajra recitation as] the inhalation, exhalation, and holding of the wind- energies as the four letters set in the heart center of the deity, and [the many other explanations elsewhere that you should do vajra recitation], apart from those two [ways]. [At least] those [two texts] are mentioning [procedures] that correspond with this [Noble] system, while other sys- tems teach that you should practice vajra recitation in the navel center.
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 303
lYI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'dTB"6"a"ii"B"' - The way of uniting wind-energy and mantra. showing the way to differentiate (various types of) vajra recitation]
As for the way of uniting wind-energy and mantra, while there is the teaching of the Illumination of the Lamp that the white OM, [red A /:f. and blue HOM], having certain forms, shapes and colors, and being established in the places of the body, are [identical with] the wind- energies' being inhaled, held, and exhaled, and the symbolic meaning of the three letters is these [movements of the] three wind-energies, never- theless, it is not the case that those [symbolic] meanings of the [three letters as placed in the body etc. ] are to be meditated as the [movements of the] three wind-energies. Also, this is not in the context of the vajra recitation.
? In the context of the vajra recitation, in [the literature] of the Noble tradition and from the Tantra, it seems that there is no explicit teaching of any sound or form of the three letters and, in regard to the reality of the energy connected with them, [no clear mention of] which energy and which tone. Although Master Go gave [an explanation] of the resonance of the sound, he did not give [an explanation] of the syllable as a shape, and so skilled persons who follow this [Noble system] also accept [the
OMA/:1 H0t4fin that way. Many Marpa followers assert that the energy is like a rosary-cord and the syllables are arranged like rosary-beads, having that form if you drew them. In the Root Tantra seventh chapter, it is said, "Do not recite while eating alms-food," and the ultimate meaning of that statement is given in the Revelation of the Hidden Intention, as quoted in the Illumination ofthe Lamp:
A separate syllable is the alms-food, and to recite those [syllables] is to eat. That is accepted as [the meaning of] "eating alms-food. "
This passage explains that practicing recitation with wind-energy and mantra being different is the opposite of vajra recitation; [ IS2bl so that means you must understand them as not being different. Here, the [San- skrit] word for "alms-food" is bhilcyha and by way of etymological analysis, bhinna means "different," and ak$hara means "syllable. " So to recite with
energy and syllable as different is "to eat alms-food. " Even when you practice dividing energy and mantra in two, the mantra is pronounced as
. l04 ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
a sound: it is not taught that you should think about its written form. Therefore, when you take energy and mantra as non-different, you must take the mantra's sound as what is non-different [from the wind-energy], but you do not take the mantra's form as non-different from the energy. Though it is a sound. if it is recited as a word, it becomes an outer speech; this is not [what Aryadeva means] in the Integrated Practices, by saying it is an inner word. Even when it is not spoken as a word, it is not a
sound that is mentally thought in the form of a spoken word. Therefore, the natural sound of the three wind-energies which enter, abide and exit are here taken as the three syllables. The meaning of the expression "uniting energy and mantra indivisibly" is that indivisible union of the
sound of the mantra with just the natural sound of the wind- energy. When you recognize that your wind-energies sound like the sound of the three letters, aiming the mind without distraction towards that [recogni- tion], you are practicing this [vajra-]recitation. And on this, even though the Illumination ofthe Lamp refers to it as "mental recitation," you should make a clear distinction, since it is very different from the "mental recita- tion" which is the mental imagining of the form of the pronunciation of a word by the efforts of the palate and tongue. The meaning of "wind-
energy and mantra indivisibly united" must be that they arise as one in mental experience; but if you do it as above, they will not arise as the same in mental experience.
Concerning the Private lnstruction93 statement, "When the energy abides within, you should make it longer each time"; certain scholars state [criticisms] with reference to the intention of the [Root] Tantra commentary [ 1 53aJ "you should leave the energy just as it is, without any artificial effort! " Their statement is incorrect: because there would be no
practice of the vajra recitation of exiting, entering and abiding, since it is taught that there are no more than 2 1 ,600 [breaths] per day, taking inha- lation and exhalation as one [breath], so if you were to leave it [as natural] without any artificial effort, there would be no abiding, which is neither inhalation nor exhalation. Therefore, if you practice according to the statement of the vajra recitation of just the two letters, it would be suffi- cient to do it without any special effort, nevertheless, in the personal
93 1ib. gdams ngag, not elsewhere cited as a text name in this way by Tsong Khapa.
? Chapter VI- Speech Isolation in Practice ? 305
instructions of both Marpa and Go, you must practice with a special intention to hold the breath in between, to fit with the [practice with] three letters. For the Personal Instruction [of Manjushrr] explains four times to "hold gently at the time of abiding with the nature of A/:1. "
Though many people desire to hold it a long [time] inside, apart from when one is exhaling or inhaling. it is good to [do it] according to Master Go who maintains that all three should be equal. The Personal Instruction says that when you exhale the energy, you purify all things and they become elixir, and reaching the nature of OM when inhaling you purify the instincts of your own inner process, and by the nature of A/:1 you purify your inner process. The Liberation Drop says:
With a HOM, when you emanate buddhas etc. , you achieve [the perfection of] all inanimate phenomena. With OM at the time of collecting all buddhas, you achieve [the perfection of] all animate things. With the letter A/:1 at the time of upholding the buddhas etc. , you cause the entry into nondual wisdom of all things animate and inanimate.
As for "achieve," the commentary explains that it means "purify. " The Noble tradition fl53bl does not teach that way of practicing it. Though some people want to [think that it is saying] "from the Five Stages, the verse 'The HOM letter truly radiates living beings,"' that's
not the meaning. The Five Point says [words to the effect that], "Practice just twenty-one vajra recitations of the three letters each time. When you count more than that, as for the actual vajra recitation, when you feel well and it is easy to hold the energy, the upper energy is pressed down by OM, the lower energy is drawn up by HOM, and you should practice visualizing the kiss of the wind-energies in the heart center. " In the Four Point it is taught that "When by doing the vajra recitation of the three letters the energy enters into the central channel and no longer flows, you should do it up to the perfection of the vajra recitation where you generate the experience of bliss-void. " In the Wheel Endowed also it explains that by doing the vajra recitation again and again one hundred
and eight times, and so forth, the five signs arise.
Thus, the first of those [three passages supposed to be from Ser-
dingpa], which seems to disagree, presents the vajra recitation of the three letters as practiced only a bit more than twenty-one times etc. That appears to be a great error, which contradicts the Root and Explanatory
306 ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
Tantras and the treatises of the father and sons. And, the explanation of the vajra recitation as the holding of the energy in an [inner] kiss appears to be just a fabrication. Our own system contradicts many [of others'] claims about the energy yogas of the mind isolation. Therefore you must practice according to the Four Point teaching, and interpret the Wheel Endowed as in agreement.
In the Condensed [Sadhana], quoting the Four Goddess Dialogue as authority, it is explained that at the time of eating one uses this kiss [of the two wind-energies]; but except for some commentaries which do teach this as a kiss [of wind-energies], it is not so taught in any Indian
treatises of the Noble tradition. Even if you use personal instructions, if you interpret them in accord with the other personal instructions of our own system's teaching in the context of the mind isolation, it will agree with our system. [t54al
In regard to the vajra recitations, if we divide them according to their objects, the wind-energies, there are the two kinds of vajra recita- tions, focusing [respectively] on root and branch [wind-energies]; and
each of those also can be divided into four and five [respectively]. To divide them according to the recited mantras, the Vajra Rosary teaches both the vajra recitation of the two letters HOM and HO and the vajra recitation of the three letters. The Revelation of the Hidden Intention and
the Further Tantra teach the vajra recitation of the three letters. Lak$hmiand Kalden Drakpa et al. teach eleven [types of] six-clan,
fierce, three-poison, and neuter vajra recitations, claiming that to be the meaning of the root text and commentaries of the [Root Tantra] Thirteenth Chapter.
As for the intention of the Illumination of the Lamp, you should understand its meaning by analysing the thatness of the three letters; [Chandrakrti] teaches the vajra recitation of the body, speech and mind. Then there are the "jewel recitation" and the "unobstructed recitation," said to be the main vajra recitations.
Therefore, just the previous three do not constitute the full-fledged vajra recitation. They teach those [previous three] vajra recitations to be mental recitations, and teach the fierce recitation to be a verbal recitation: so it is very clear that these do not constitute the vajra recitation. As for the three-poison recitation, this is taught as a visualization of all beings possessing the three poisons as being placed in clear light; but this is not a wind-energy recitation. As for the neuter recitation, it seems to be
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 307
interpreted as a meditation on clear light transparence, so this also is not a wind-energy recitation, and those are also not said to be vajra recitations.
Declaring the principle vajra recitation, the {Root} Tantra says:
Recitation following the [ultimate] meaning, ( t 54hl Through the goodness of realitylessness, Discerning the three times buddhas -
This is taught as the jewel recitation.
The buddhaverses everywhere,
Radiating clouds of embodiments,
Inviting them back and forth is the meaning of "vajra" - That is called the unobstructed recitation.
For the second line, the Chag translation has "Through the good- ness of reality itself," which is better. As for the meaning of those, the recitation that follows after the three-inhalation, exhalation, and retention-as the meaning of the three letters, is said to be the recitation following the meaning. By the goodness which arises from the reality of the indestructible means that by that cause which radiates uninterruptedly one discerns the buddhas which arise in the three times to be [identical with] the three-fold [wind-energy control], inhalation, exhalation and retention. In that regard, this means that one comes to realize that which
is the actuality of all the transcendent buddhas is the reality of the inde- structible drop. That is what is called the "jewel recitation. " This is explained in accord with the good translations of the commentaries. And that means that the vajra recitation compresses the wind-energies into the indestructible.
Thus compressing them, they dissolve there; and when you exhale from the buddhaverse, your own heart-lotus indestructible, you gush forth everywhere, through all the doors of your eye sense-medium etc. , clouds of [buddha-]embodiments and invite them back within; and all of this radiation, which has the nature of what is meant by "vajra," standing
within [the indestructible], is the "unobstructed recitation. "
As for calling the previous one the "jewel recitation," it intends that the vajra recitation of the root energy brings the energy into the jewel of the indestructible, and does not indicate a recitation related to Ratnasambhava of the five clans. [lSSuJ Similarly, the "unobstructed reci- tation" is called that because, having developed the ability to compress
the wind-energies, it practices the branch energy vajra recitation, entering
308 ? Brilliant Illumination ofthe Lamp
without obstruction the door of each sense faculty; it does not indicate a recitation related to Amoghasiddhi. From a quote in the Five Stages the former are called vajra recitations. Except for the Illumination of the Lamp, in the treatises of the father and sons and the Concise Five Stages etc. there is no teaching of the branch energy vajra recitation. After that previously indicated boundary, if you then practice the recitation of the branch wind-energies, then you must recite by way of emerging from the
indestructible of the heart center; and by doing it that way, Master Go maintains that it serves as an ancillary cause for bliss to bum in the per- ception of all objects. This seems to be the supreme intention of the Vajra
Rosary.
Now in regard to the verbal meaning of vajra recitation, though certain Tibetans and Indians seem to explain various things, the Illumi- nation ofthe Lamp says:
Their meaning is the three syllables. Reciting them, it is the three, entering etc. Their existence is symbolized by the indivisible three vajras. And that is called the " vajra recitation of their reality. "
Therefore, "vajra recitation" is the reality of the indivisible union of the three sounds of the three wind-energies with the three syllables of the three vajras. Therefore, in trance meditation, from within the experi- ential reality of having [in mind] the four vital points, the above taught points of the body etc. , getting rid of all faults which could turn into depression or elation, by the enthusiastic force of seeing well the excel- lences of both the wind-energy yogas and the recitation yogas, l 1 55bl you should properly learn how to have the sound of the three wind-energies arise as mantras; and you should also keep on learning in the aftermath states. [You should practice] according to the Revelation of the Hidden Intention statement:
In every kind of activity,
By staying aware of this yoga, even sleeping, etc. , Always recite, leaving the three times,
The nameless and inexpressible.
As for the meaning of the latter two lines, Shraddha explains that it means that you recite in all three times the three syllables, free of any nominal or verbal expression.
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 309
? [First,] although the Vajra Rosary mentions that "the meditation on the drop involves holding the enlightenment spirit without emitting it in the boundary where there is the meeting of the consort's lotus nose-tip and your vajra's lotus nose-tip," it is not the case that you meditate by visualizing the form of a drop there. The Illumination ofthe Lamp states, when explaining the Further Tantra, that meditating by visualizing the drop is "when the wind-energy emerges with the form of a drop from the hole of your vajra and is imagined with the form of a drop in the nose-tip of the lotus of the consort. " Now clearly that is inside the wisdom seal, and moreover, that is meditated at the boundary where the two nose-tips meet, so it is not the same as meditating on the nose-tip of each one.
In general, in meditating relying upon the wisdom seal, there are three main types of meditation explained in the literature of the Noble tradition. These three are: a creation of bliss by uniting with that [wisdom seal]; a meditation upon the mandala [environment] within the drop which is settled within the lotus [of the consort] , which is the objective spirit of enlightenment that [melts down ] though uniting with that [consort]; and a meditation visualizing the drop at the juncture of meeting of the two nose tips of the secret places of the father and mother. Here, the latter [is under discussion] . [ t 56al
While the need of that [practice] is for the sake of compressing the wind-energies into the dhati channel, it does not mean that you can compress [through this practice the energies] you were previously unable to compress in the dhati channel; because when you learn the body isolation you gain the ability to compress the wind-energies. Therefore, the meditation of the life-energy control in this context is the means of
compressing [wind-energies] you were not able to compress in the heart center by the two previous [methods]. Thus, this [vajra recitation] serves as a way of heightening the impact of compressing [the wind-energies] in
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. c '3 'd TB "6 "a "iii " - subtance drop at the secret nose tip]
Meditating life-energy control of the
There are two parts to meditating on the substance-drop at the nose-
tip of the secret center.
3 1 0 ? Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp
the heart center. 94 On other [subsequent] occasions also, you should apply
the same reasoning.
tion ]
The uncommon function of vajra recita-
? The second has two parts: (i"] Showing how the vajra recitation releases the channel knot at the heart center; and [ii"] Showing how that release of the heart-center channel knot is the principle channel-knot release.
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. c'3'dTo"6"b"i" - Showing how releases the channel knot at the heart center]
the vajra recitation
? Thus, the reason why it is necessary to practice vajra recitation through the indestructible in the center of the heart center wheel is clearly stated in the Vajra Rosary:
Abiding in the center of the uma,
The drop is truly taught as wind-energy, And is opened through the reality of mantra. The yog1niupon releasing the [heart] knot, Knows the reality of wind-energy;
[But] to apply a distinctive opening,
[If] the yoga itself is not understood;
This yoga of holding the wind-energy,
For those who see wrongly and unclearly, Transcends expression and expressible, Lacks contemplation and meditative object, And is hard even for buddhas to attain.
Yet by the kindness of the yoginl
It endures transmitted face to face.
As for the import of the first two phrases, same text says:
opening the indestructible, and creating the magic body.
? 94 Here we can see why Tsong Khapu considers that the Esott>ric Community and its Noble tradition of investigation and practice is said to be unparalleled in the Father Tantra context
of unraveling the heart knot
,
[VI. B. 3. b. ii. c '3 'd TB "6 "b " -
Chapter VI-Speech Isolation in Practice ? 3 1 1
The A dwells in the Dharma wheel lotus, And pervades the wheel of wind.
This only is the great wind-energy "Life-energy" is thus declared.
By stating that there is a six-petaled wind wheel at the place of the uma-tuft in between the eyebrows, l l 56bl this shows the dhati channel as the abode of the life-wind-energy, which pervades up to there from the heart center.
Here, in regard to [the knot] that is opened through the reality of mantra and energy, "mantra" is the one [mentioned]. Another [one men- tioned] is the yoga of the opening of the knot of the dhati channel. But if you do not understand the distinctive means of opening, which comes from having the reasoning of the reality of [both] mantra and wind- energy, that objective will be hard to achieve by the yoga of holding the wind-energy. That is the meaning additionally supplied in the section of the verse from "energy" up to "hard [even for buddhas] to attain. "
The translation by Zhiwa Od:
If you did not also know that yoga
By the yoga of supreme differentiation,
is better, and there he also translates, "Understanding the reality of wind- energy. "
As for not being able to understand that meaning without the per- sonal instructions of the mentor, [it is because] "it transcends expression and expressible. " "Unclearly" means that you will not understand it clearly.
