The Features of Yoga Tantra

To succeed in practicing any form of tantra, it is necessary first to train in developing the altruistic intention to become enlightened.

I tong-ka-ba says that this needs to be done "in accordance with the quintessential instructions," these being found in his Great Exposition of the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment.'

Specifically, such an altruistic intention is generated by way of the seven cause and effect quintessential instructions or the equalizing and switching of self and other.

To do those, it is necessary to identify what liberation is and to develop an awareness seeking liberation, for which it is necessary to reflect on the three types of suffering and develop an intention to turn away from over-emphasizing the appearances of this life and then to turn away from over-emphasizing the appearances of future lives, developing an intention to leave such cyclic existence entirely, whereupon it is possible to reflect on how others suffer and develop compassion.

Done continuously over a long period of time, at best one should develop a fully qualified altruistic intention to become enlightened, and at least one should develop such an intention from the depths of the heart.

With such altruism as your basic motivation it is possible to receive initiation and take the pledges that lay out a type of behavior conducive to enlightenment.

Sometimes people mistakenly look on vows and pledges as if these were a type of punishment, but this is not at all the case.

For example, just as we follow certain methods of eating and drinking to improve our health and certainly not to punish ourselves, so the rules that Shakyamuni Buddha formulated are for controlling counter-productive ill-deeds and ultimately for overcoming afflictive emotions, because these are self-ruinous.

Thus, to relieve oneself from suffering, one controls the motivations and deeds producing suffering for one's own sake.

Realizing from his own experience that suffering stems from one's own afflictive emotions as well as actions contaminated with them, he set forth styles of behavior to reduce the problem for our own profit, certainly not to give us a hard time.

Hence, these rules are for the sake of controlling sources of harm.

Otherwise, it seems that nowadays some people look on the practice of religion as if it were something that causes them to lose their freedom.

Opposite to this, these rules are for the sake of utilizing your freedom to develop the limitless qualities of Buddhahood, in the quest for which you should never be satisfied.

Toward material things, which necessarily have a limit, it is best to be satisfied with what you have, but with regard to the limitless development of spiritual qualities, you should never be satisfied with a mere portion, but continually seek higher development.

The rules themselves make your mind conducive to such progress, so there is no reason to be uptight about them.

YOGA TANTRA

All four classes of Buddhist tantra involve the practice of deity yoga in which the wisdom realizing emptiness appears itself as an ideal, compassionately effective being.

Those that, when performing deity yoga, put particular emphasis on external activities such as bathing are Action Tantras.

Those that put equal emphasis on performing external activities and internal yoga are Performance Tantras.

Those that, between external activities and internal yoga, put particular emphasis on internal yoga are Yoga Tantras-our topic here.

==What is yoga?--

In general, yoga (rnal 'byor) is the joining (byor) of the mind to a natural, pristine, actual (rnal) meaning.'

This mainly is the undifferentiable joining of method and wisdom, which is identified as the undifferentiable joining of the mind of enlightenment and the perfection of wisdom realizing emptiness.

Here it seems that the "mind of enlightenment" is not only the altruistic intention to become enlightened; rather, since the altruistic intention to become enlightened aims at enlightenment, and specifically Form Bodies, in order to be of service to others,

the object of observation includes Form Bodies, and thus divine body-the body of a deity-within the exalted mind and exalted body of Buddhahood, and thus "method" comes to indicate deity yoga.

Thereby, "yoga" here refers to the union of deity yoga and the wisdom realizing emptiness.

Tantras, in general, teach such a yoga of the undifferentiability of method and wisdom.

Among texts teaching such a union, some mainly teach method, whereas others mainly teach wisdom, due to which Bu-don Rin-chen-drupb says that Yoga Tantras are divided into -

:two types-method

or father tantras and wisdom, or mother tantras.

The root Yoga Tantra, the Compendium of Principles Tantra, mainly teaches the ten principles of Yoga Tantra and thus is a father, or method tantra;

the ten principles are:

mandala'
mantra'
seal'
self-protection and place protection'
rite of invitation'
repetition'
meditation
external and internal burnt offerings
withdrawal'
having made offering, requesting departure.'

The Shr param,4dya Tantra." on the other hand, emphasizes the teaching of wisdom, due to which it is a mother, or wisdom, tantra. The term "tantra" means continuum; as the Guhyasamaja Tantra says:' Tantra is renowned as "continuum."

It is asserted as of three aspects.

The explanatory tantra of the Compendium of'Principles tantra-'- called the Vajrashekhara ' says that:

the basic tantra' refers to sentient beings, since all have the matrix-of One-Gone- Thus the fruit tantra is Buddhahood itself the continuation-tantra' is the means by which you pass beyond or cross over cyclic existence-a guru.

In another way, the Vajrashekhara Tantra says that the "continuation tantra" is nirvana, and "tantra" is cyclic existence.

The meaning here is that the single continuum of our basic constituent, the matrix of One Gone to Bliss, luminous and cognitive mind, while together with the defilements of afflictive emotions, is cyclic existence, and when defilement's have been utterly abandoned and one is endowed with the good qualities of having so separated, is nirvana.

Thus, tantra has the sense of being included within the continuum of consciousness, or within the continuum of a sentient being, in terms of which cyclic existence and nirvana are posited.

A continuum of words that are a means of expression (a word-tantra) that takes this meaning-continuum as its topic of expression is designated with the name "Tantra."

With respect to Yoga Tantras that are means of expression, one needs to know how the Teacher Buddha initially set them forth and the history of their exposition in India and in Tibet, for which you should consult the works of Budon;' Dzong-ka-ba does not treat these topics.