Mantrayana. The first three stages: accumulation, application and vision
Mantrayana is more sublime due to four special qualities: skillfulness (mkhas pa) of methods; abundance of methods; simplicity of methods; [she is for people] with a developed mind. Therefore, even if Sutra and Mantra are similar in the main part (dngos gzhi) of the path, Mantrayana is special in terms of simplicity (bde skyob) and speed (myur skyob) of methods.
It doesn't matter how many stages of the path there are - here, in the context of the Vajrayana, precisely because of its special unimaginable methods of maturation and liberation, it is faster and higher than the path of the paramit.
In this context, one should be aware that in general the practices of the Secret Mantra [follow three approaches: by practicing] the path of discarding the foundations, the path of transmuting the foundations, and taking the foundation itself as the path.
Since the first includes means opposite to what should be discarded and [false] ways of perceiving, by means of them the kleshas, aspects of the imagination, are discarded. By means of the last two, the co-born aspects, both gross and subtle, are removed.
These methods can be illustrated by meditating on the four close placements of mindfulness (dran pa nyer bzhag) on the lower [levels] of the path of accumulation, and they are known in the Paramita yana, as well as [described] below - meditation on impurity [of the body], on suffering, impermanence, and lack of self as [appropriate] antidotes to seeing the body as pure, sensations as pleasant, mind as permanent, and phenomena as having an identity of their own.
The second path where the foundations are transformed] includes, for example, meditation on the four ways of falsely perceiving [things] as pure, etc., where they are presented as the four dakinis of the environment of Chakrasamvara.
In the third path, where the ground itself is taken as the path] the activity of body and mind is linked, so that the subtlest body becomes an empty form, sensations become great bliss, the mind becomes self-awareness, and the nature of all phenomena becomes a great unity. Such is the nature of the four close placements of mindfulness.
From these and other examples, it should be understood that [there may be] many such approaches. The Annotations describes a different approach: “It is also said that when the body arises as the deity, the deity as the mind, [the mind] as emptiness, and emptiness as great bliss, [thus] awareness of the body is cultivated, sensations, mind and phenomena. Path of accumulation
Pupils do the [stage of] approach, [practice] divided into sessions - four sessions, etc., and their the practice [should] be diligent, uninterrupted, and associated with sojourn in distant places. Those who possess such [qualities] are on the path of accumulation. Way of application
When, in addition to the previous [practices, bodhisattvas] properly learn how to link the key points of the channels, winds and bindus, then the flow of the primordial wisdom of example (dpe’i ye shes) which is the experience of the completion stage is continuously maintained, and this is the behavior of Samantabhadra.
By following it, they achieve experiences of bliss, clarity and thoughtlessness, which are characterized by the signs of heat and other things, being on the path of application (sbyor ba), which is the immediate cause (nye rgyu) connecting (sbyor ba) with the path of seeing.
Concerning the meaning of the terms, "the path of application" is so called because it actually prepares for the path of seeing. "Heat" is so called because it shows the potential to quickly generate the way of seeing. Here the heat is described by other signs from the Twofold Hevajra Tantra:
"Fear, madness, and also suffering,
The torments of misfortune and grief ... ",
– i.e. when all this does no harm, this is a sign of a small fever.
"Passionate affection, anger and dullness
Don't make the practice suffer."
– i.e. when the afflictions generated by the main [unfavorable] conditions do no harm, this is a sign of medium heat.
“Fruit arises from benefit and harm,” i.e. the achievement of the fruit of samadhi (clairvoyance, miracle-working, etc.) is a sign of the highest heat.
At this time, when the heat is reached, two behaviors are applied for advancement and purification: with details (spros bcas) and without complications (spros med). Behavior with details includes mingling with external conditions, relying on the first three mudras, as well as vidya (karma mudra), decisive yogic behavior.
By applying such behavior and gradually passing the path of application, one passes (sbyor ba) to the path of seeing. The tantras say that if there is no desire to apply these details, then, relying on mahamudra, i.e. inner behavior is completely beyond complications, one can train in preparation for the path [of seeing].
The basis of the features of the application path is the following. This is predominantly the path of oral instructions about pratyahara, i.e. detachment from thoughts, and oral instructions about dhyana, i.e. one-pointed concentration of the mind.
This is the practice of the instructions (khrid) on the separation of the physical body, the vajrakaya. Since [this pathway] is predominantly a means of binding channel activity, it is called the "channel clearing pathway". [For this purification] it is necessary to penetrate the key points through the pranayamas associated with through the paths of the channels, which also includes the practices of breath control (srog 'dzin), the Vajra of Speech. It is said that by bringing the branches of dhyana to completion through meditation, five causal eyes and five or six superpowers are attained. In "Kalachakra, the king of the tantras" it says:¨
"The lords of people who are purified by applying dhyana will achieve the five superpowers." Since it is predominantly [a path] for purifying the channels, which in the context of the three mandalas of Body, Speech and Mind is the entry into the mandala of the body, from the point of view of the path it is known as the nirmanakaya, or Body vajra.
Further, applying the control of vital energy,
They are preparing (sbyor bar byed) for the path of seeing.
"By the power of constant retention
Truly one attains ('jug) Vajrasattva."
Having reached the path of application, further for the purification of prana, exercises in the control and retention of vital energy are used, which are called the gates to the Speech mandala. Based on the complete purification of the incoming and outgoing prana in the channel chakras yogis are able to stop one of the twelve lagna that occur in one day, and at the same time they can bind the same amount of bindus at the lower end of the shankhini channel, in the secret chakra, without expiration, thereby purifying 1800 thought processes, [turning them] into primordial wisdom.
Commentary by Ngotro Rabjampa: “[Is it] the practice of pratyahara and dhyana that prepares bodhisattvas for the path of seeing? No. By applying, in addition to these two, the control of vital energy and delays, bodhisattvas prepare for the path of seeing.
Exercises in the control of vital energy stop the pranas (i.e. winds) in rasana, lalana and the central channel. The delays link the entry and exit of the pranas (such as the life holder wind and downward clearing) at the center of each chakra. They stop 1800 pranas arising during the twelve lagna of one day and stop the movement of the same number of bodhichittas at the lower end of the shankhini.
In the end, they master the superpowers and miraculous powers of thousands of world spheres and more - these are the highest qualities achieved on the path of vision. By meditation on the path of application (sbyor) one attains the path of seeing, which has the qualities just described - such is the [meaning] of the expression "they are preparing sbyor)".
The reason for this is that yogis, constantly relying on pranayama, keep bodhichitta from flowing out, and Vajrasattva is truly achieved by the power of this, i.e. the inseparability of prana and mind in the chakras of the channels, and its affirmation in them. This is called the final fruit of the yoga of prana, or the control of vital energy, the attainment of the primordial wisdom of thoughtlessness. This corresponds to the Kalachakra Root Tantra system.
Further, at the end of the [stage] of retention [of prana] and at the beginning of the solitude of the mind, the vision of truth opens, and through this vision of truth [the path of seeing begins], as explained in the Caryasangrahapradipa Aryadeva based] on the Bhadrapala-paripriccha-sutra" .
Since this path leads into the mandala of Speech, from the point of view of the path it is called the vajra of Speech and the perfect sambhogakaya.
Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye, "Deep Inner Meaning"
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