The Essential Teaching of Adi-Buddha: Part I
I. Forepractice
A. Foregoing Practice
The teaching is divided into two parts, the first of which is called the foregoing practice in which there are three divisions:
General Forepractice A human body with perfect conditions and enough time to practice is very difficult to get. Awareness that death may come at any uncertain time. Awareness of the law of cause and effect. Awareness of the pains of transmigration. These forepractices are common to esoteric and exoteric, Hinayana and Mahayana.
Tantric Forepractice Four refuges Development of Bodhicitta Confession with Vajrasattvas 100-word-incantation Offering of Mandala Destruction of ego by practicing almsgiving of ones own body, in visualization. Practice of Guru-yoga. All these are present in other books, so there is no need to go into detail here.
Special Forepractice of the Adi-Buddha Teaching a. To distinguish outwardly, there is the practice of body, speech and mind
One must go to a mountain where no person or beast passes by. Bring a little water and rice, bless it as good food, and throw it upwards to the sky as an offering to your Guru, Yidam, Dakini, Protector, and especially to the God of that mountain. Ask them to protect you from disturbances by man, beast, or unexpected obstacles. Take off all ones clothes and remain completely naked. First, think of your body as falling into the fire of hell and feeling very hot and painful. Develop Bodhicitta and say: I must help sentient beings who are suffering in this hell to attain Buddhahood. I am in this hell to take the pains of hellfire into my own body, to free them and let them be saved.
I go to the hell of ice, climb up the mountain of knives and the tree of swords. I become an animal and act like an animal including actually running around in addition to visualization, barking like a dog, meowing like a cat, bellowing like a bull, pig, lamb, chicken, dove. I feel all the pains these animals suffer and take this pain upon myself, such as the pain of the ox yoked to the field plow, and the horse being whipped by a master.
Now, think of myself as a man. Sometimes I am a rich man with many servants and in a comfortable room; other times I am poor man working 24 hours a day for cruel mistreating masters as in the camps of Mao. Sometimes I am old and unable to walk straight, or blind, or deaf, or with a crooked spine. Sometimes I am a body putting anything into its mouth. Sometimes a woman with all the pains of childbirth. Accumulate all the eight pains together. I become an Asura, which is less than a god but more than a man, easy to anger and fighting with the heavens. Now, I become the Gods, Jehovah, Brahma, Jesus suffering the crucifixion, or the God of great lust and power, Wang Chu Jan-Po. Each God has his crown and ornaments, enjoying his heavenly desires. Afterwards experience the five kinds of weakness of a God: (1) soiled dress, (2) flower garlands faded, (3) perspiration breaks forth, (4) bad smell, girl angels go away, (5) seat dissatisfied. Think of myself as Buddha sitting on the lotus, turning the Dharma Wheel, repeating the Prajnaparamita Sutra, sending white light outward to all Gods, Dragons, and all the eight departments. Do all this for two weeks until one feels it completely.
Go through the Ten Dharmadhatus with the three Karmas of body, speech and mind, separately or all together. Since the actual acting out of these things is tiring, one must rest either lying down or sitting. Meditate on the right view of the Great Perfection as shown in Evans-Wentzs edition of The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation, pages 207-237, and in Chens Booklet New No. 19. The above is the outward activity for distinguishing Nirvana and Samsara in the Special Forepractice.
b. Inwardly distinguish Samsara and Nirvana
The above practice of outward distinction touched only the surface. Because many seeds of past lives lie hidden in the mud of consciousness accumulated from such a long time in transmigration, an inward distinction of Samsara and Nirvana is needed as well as the outward one. It is written in the doctrine that there are six different seeds in the body arranged in the wheels or chakras of the body. Visualize AH in the head chakra; this is the seed of heaven. SU is the seed of Asura in the throat chakra. It is yellow-green in color. NI is in the heart chakra, light blue. It is the seed of man. Visualize DI in the navel chakra which is the seed of animal and is dark red in color. BRI is visualized in the private root chakra and is deep green and grey in color. This chakra is the hungry ghost seed. Visualize DU in the center of the sole of each foot. The right DU is the Hell of Fire, while the left DU is the Hell of Ice. Both are dark blackish grey.
These six seed syllables must be visualized in their proper places. The visualize OM AH HUM from the upper three chakras shining light downward to purify the 6 seeds of transmigration. These six seeds are totally burned. Repeat OM AH HUM 700,000 times. These three words become the Buddhas three holy Karmas.
If you dream during this time of bathing, urinating, defecating, bleeding on a snowy mountain, or in the sunshine, this shows you have reduced your Karmas of the six realms. Also, if you dream of your body as being quiet or light, this is very good.
B. Practice of Body, Speech and Mind This is the second part.
1. Purification of the Body
Purification of the body is divided into three sections: From the book entitled Great Perfection Victorious Wisdom, From the book of Nyandi, and from the Oral Instructions.
The Great Perfection Victorious Wisdom The Great Perfection Victorious Wisdom contains two parts: The Vajra Standing Position, and The Vajra Sitting Position.
(1) The Vajra Standing Position is undertaken by placing the palms above the head, slightly apart in pyramid fashion. Trunk must be straight. Heels should be touching only with the toes on the ground. Knees are open wide. The upper triangular spokes symbolize three ideas: (i) entity is empty, (ii) nature is brightness, and (iii) great compassion pervades everywhere. The lower triangular spokes symbolize the three Kayas: Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya. The middle body symbolizes the connection of the upper body (torga) with the lower body (che-cho).
(2) The Vajra Sitting Position is undertaken with the arches of the feet placed together symbolizing karmic energy purified by the light of wisdom. Heels are touching the private root area symbolizing purification of lust-sorrow. The body should be kept straight and motionless symbolizing the purification of delusions. The palms are in the same position as the standing position. The chin should be against the Adams apple. Visualize blue flames emanating from the whole body.
Practice according to the Nyandi Doctrine Sitting or standing posture remains the same, but with the addition of visualization. The body becomes a white vajra emanating flames, with the upper part of the body touching the highest heaven and the lower body touching the golden wheel of the downstairs of the Dharmadhatu. From the big vajra is ejected many small vajras about the size of a grain. These small vajras pervade the whole universe of Dharmadhatu and can destroy all demons, calamities, and distresses without exception.
Next, visualize the small vajras returning to the big vajra, changing in color from white to blue, then yellow, red, and finally green. Now, the practitioner may lie down and rest with only a loincloth or naked.
Oral Instruction The sitting position is used. Visualize in front of you a point of light (bindu or teele) of five colors. In the center of the point is the naked Adi-Buddha or Padmasambhava in the standing vajra position. The practitioner should think clearly of him and pray for his blessing. Now assume the standing vajra position and visualize the Adi-Buddha or Padmasambhava and transform him into the blue HUM. Meditate on this HUM coming into the practitioners heart HUM. Hence, the Guru and the practitioner are without differentiation. Repeat AH AH SHA SA MA HA twenty-one times. After the repetition, the practitioner should abide in the no-differentiation samadhi. The whole body has become the blue vajra; then from the blue vajra emanates flames which destroy everything. When the practitioner becomes tired he may sleep and when refreshed may continue standing as before.
If the practitioner is diligent he will experience good feelings and signs such as trembling flesh and the body becoming light and calm. Finally the practitioners body can become the Vajra body.
There are several incantations which should be repeated twenty-one times also. The main one which has already been given is the Perfection Six-Word Mantra: AH AH SHA SA MA HA. There are four other mantras which must be repeated. One is the Natural Awakeness Great Mantra: MA MA COOLIN SA MAN TA. Another is the Incantation of the 5 Department of Buddhas: OM AH HUM SO HA. The Adi-Buddha Heart Mantra is the third: AH DHARMADHATU AH. The fourth is the Adi-Buddha 100 Deities Peaceful and Wrathful Totality Mantra: OM AH HUM BODHICITTA MAHA SUKHA JNANADATU AH HUM LURU LURU HUM JO HUM.
Yogi Chen adds that these five incantations actually belong to the Speech section. However, the original book from which this booklet is translated has included these incantations at the conclusion of the Body section).
2. Purification of Speech
There are four divisions of speech purification: Sealing Practice, Forcing Practice, Soft Practice, and Turning on the Path.
Sealing Practice is divided into inner and outer sealing. According to the book entitled The Great Perfection Victorious Wisdom, first sit in the lotus posture. Repeat many long HUMS and visualize the whole universe including mountains, rivers, and all the six realms of sentient beings as transforming into HUM; then let this HUM come into the practitioners own body. Inside the body, all four elements also transform into HUM. The HUM comes into the body through the six body openings and pores of the skin. The HUM pervades the whole internal body but the external body remains the human flesh body. For this visualization one should practice the deep breathing. As for the Nyandi practice, one should also sit in the lotus position. Visualize a blue HUM in the heart center. From this HUM is ejected out many small HUMs through the right nostril, pervading the universe and coming back through the left nostril, purifying the flesh body. This is the sealing practice.
The Forcing Practice is second. According to the book entitled The Great Perfection Victorious Wisdom, the force of HUM should be repeated in different degrees or force. Big objects require a loud forceful HUM, while a small HUM destroys small things. All become HUM. Big objects become big HUM and small objects become small HUM. HUM now comes back in a length larger than a forearm and occupies the internal body destroying all four elements, organs, six openings, and all flesh, blood, and nerves.
According to the Nyandi, one should visualize in the heart a blue-black HUM which has four kinds of force. First is the sword-shaped force, second is the force with lightning speed, third is a force like a ranging fire, and fourth is the bold force like thunder. The four forces come out from the right nostril and destroy everything in the universe, with nothing remaining, and then come back through the left nostril and destroy all flesh and blood elements, egoism of personality and that of Dharmas. All become voidness. By this way one can realize Sunyata and turn ones body into light.
The Soft Practice is third. According to The Great Perfection Victorious Wisdom, one should visualize a wooden stick in front of him at the height of a forearm. The Oral Instructions specify that a tree named "At Will?the top touching the highest heaven and the bottom the golden wheel of the Dharmadhatu be visualized instead. Visualize again many small blue-black HUMs shooting out from the heart encircling the tree or stick clockwise to the top of the stick, then counter-clockwise at the bottom and returning to the heart HUM. All the while the practitioner should be repeating HUM in a low voice.
According to Nyandi, the whole body is visualized as a black HUM as long as ones forearm. In front of the practitioner is a red HUM of the same height. Now the practitioner sends out many small HUMS in a long line encircling the red HUM in clockwise fashion then coming back and encircling the practitioners own body. Again the practitioner sends out the small HUMs encircling the red HUM and filling the universe. The red HUM ejects out many small red HUMs encircling the black HUM. Finally, the red and black lines of HUM encircle each other touching and dancing. The practitioner repeats HUM HUM HUM in a low voice sometimes visualizing HUM as big as a mountain, other times as small as a mustard seed.
Turning on the Path is the fourth division of speech purification. (1) According to the Great Perfection Victorious Wisdom, first visualize all psycho-physical processes of mind and energy concentrating into one point (tee-le). This point then transforms into a blue HUM and moves through out the universe like a moth. From ones house to the mountains, to the rivers, heavens, through earth, water, and air until it reaches the ten directions of the Buddhas Pure Land. There is no place where it has not left its trace.
(2) According to the Book of Nyandhi: Visualize oneself as becoming a white HUM, the length of a forearm. Repeating HUM audibly, visualize it traveling fast or slow, through mountains, water and heavens, until it arrives in the Ogmin Heruka Pure Land where it is foretold that you will become Buddha. Here one may gather great blessings, wisdom, and spiritual food.
Sometimes it goes to the higher heavens and enjoys delicious food and other five desires. It makes a tour of the ten directions of Buddhahood and makes offerings to all Buddhas. Sometimes it goes to Hell and sends out a great light of brightness to release the hell beings from their pain. It travels to all three heavens and six realms, through sea and air to local and foreign realms. This visualization should be practiced from one to seven days.
When the karma of speech is naturally purified, one can never fall into transmigration. Finally you become the vajra of speech because speech and energy are always identified. They are also harmonized. In dreams one can go everywhere and do what one wishes. One can meditate wherever he chooses. Now the repetition of mantra has power. You can benefit every person.
(3) Oral Instructions: One visualizes the HUM going to any Pure Land and becoming identified with the Buddhas mind, then returning to ones own body, and one becomes that Buddhas incarnation.
First, sit in the vajra lotus posture. Visualize in the heart a blue HUM. Second, visualize in front of you, suspended in space, a circle full of blue light. In this circle there is Adi-Buddha or Padmasambhava in the vajra lotus posture. (It does not indicate so in the book, adds Yogi Chen, but it is often neglected that Adi-Buddha should be completely naked).
The practitioner should earnestly ask his blessing. After the Guru (Adi-Buddha) hears your prayers he becomes a blue HUM and dissolves into your own heart. There is no longer any differentiation between you and the guru. With this kind of prayer we practice the above four kinds of practice, i. e., Sealing, Forcing, the Soft Practice and Turning on the Path. When repeating HUM in the above four methods there is some difference. During Sealing or Turning on the Path, we use five or seven successive HUMs. If the Soft Practice is utilized, where the HUM is dancing, we use seven consecutive HUMs. Lastly, during Forcing, two types of HUM are used: either three soft consecutive repetitions, or a series of sharp and penetrating single repetitions. This is the conclusion of the Speech section.
3. Mind Purification
The practice of the purification of the entity of Mind has three divisions: Minds place of production (location from where it arises), Minds place of abiding, and Minds place of destination (location of minds destination). These three divisions contain every karma within Body, Speech, and Mind. The karma of Mind is very heavy. Padmasambhava said, "Every dharma is manifested from the mind." The Guru called Natural Awakeness Vajra said, "Every dharma is manifested from the bright entity of mind." The mind is like the center or master of the five senses. The five organs of senses are like its servants.
Mind guides and directs all our activities. Speech is like a musical instrument; it is guided by the Mind and passes through the mouth. According to the theory of karmic causation, the body and speech should be purified, but the final liberation process lays most stress on the mind. We should get the full realization from the samadhi of the Mind. This is the ultimate attainment. Just as the body is mastered by the life-force, when the life-force is gone, the branches of the body are destroyed. One should therefore practice with the greatest emphasis on the mind, to discover the three aspects of Mind as given above, minds place of production, minds place of abiding, and minds place of destination.
a. Meditation Regarding Minds Place of Production
In front of oneself, suspended in open space, visualize Adi-Buddha (or Padmasambhava). Ask for his blessing and begin to meditate as follows: Is Mind produced from Haveness or Emptiness? If Mind is produced from Haveness, does it arise from inside or outside? Does it arise from sentient beings or inanimate objects? Does it come from earth, fire, water, wind, eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or parents? Or did mind arise by itself?
All of the above notions result from human volition. This volition is the cause of their suffering and is called Haveness. But none of the products of this volition really exist.
The above meditation belongs to Hinayana, but Hinayana still holds the haveness at the atomic level. It believes that the tiny atom exits. The Mahayanists maintain that the atom is also of non-self and can be further divided into six parts: up, down, and the four directions. Also, these smaller-than-atomic particles may be divided into six parts and so on ad-infinitum. Therefore, the Idealist School of Mahayana states that the atomic haveness of the Hinayana is not true because atomic particles are empty, and the mind which views the atomic particles is also empty. Yet the idealist further maintains that the mind can know the emptiness. On the other hand, the Madhyamika (Middle Way School) maintains that the Mind itself is also emptiness, because such a view is based on the dualistic subject-object dichotomy. It asserts that the moon reflected in the water and the image reflected in the mirror are simultaneously empty.
One can see that the idealists have the haveness of Mind. The Madhyamika has the haveness of the middle-way. Both of these are not the final complete truth. Likewise brightness is not the truth, nor is emptiness. If something is empty how could it become haveness? Since by nature the fruit is connected with the seed, an empty seed could never produce haveness.
One should reject all ideas of mind, will, thought, heart, perception, and conception. When all these have been exposed as illusion and then rejected, we discover the great perfection. It transcends the ideas of the three previous schools. Thus, everything is now released. This is the true Dharmakaya.
b. The Meditation Regarding the Abiding Place of Mind.
Mind does not abide in external phenomena such as mountains, rivers, houses, or other inanimate objects because they are like maya and have no real entity.
If Mind abides within the body, then it must abide within the four elements, but since the four elements are continually changing, Mind could find no permanent place in which to abide. Yet, still a Mind very clearly appears. Mahayanists call this the Alaya or eighth consciousness. However, Alaya is just a volition and not the final truth.
The boat of consciousness (Alaya) floats on the water, but when the boat is destroyed, how could it abide in the water? Hence, outer, inner, and void, in none of these three does the mind abide.
We say the abiding place of consciousness; this idea contains the subject of consciousness and the object of place. This is a false view for there is no real entity of consciousness. If there is a real entity of consciousness, then what color is it? What form does it have? What function does it have? These things we cannot point out.
Sometimes mind feels clear, but this is like a picture produced on water. Its manifestation and destruction occur simultaneously. All entities are like this. The same is true for all clearness and brightness of mind. Likewise, the delusions of mind have no entity.
The Great Perfection Victorious Wisdom says to meditate from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head. Imagine a sharp object poking all parts of your body from head to foot. Wherever you touch the mind feels pain. If pain is in the feet, does mind abide there? Likewise, when the pain is in the head, can we say that the mind abides in the head? Can we say that the mind abides where pain is? The feeling of pain is our delusion. It was gathered from our past lives. If you do not cling to it the clear and purified entity will feel no pain. Such an entity if attacked by 100 enemies with spears would not be afraid, nor would it feel pain. The reason is simply that there is no entity. Because you cling to such a false entity you fall into transmigration. When you know the nature of the purified mind, you will attain the realization of Dharmakaya. By practicing no-abiding you obtain the realization of Sambhogakaya.
c. Meditation Regarding Minds Destination
The deluded mind continually feels that it must go someplace. It continually indulges in the self-deception of the mind wanting to go and wanting some place where it can go. This is the fundamental confusion of the subject-object dichotomy. Actually, all places both near and far have no entity. Therefore there is no place to go. The mind which wants to go has no form or color. We cannot find it. It is like a cloud in the sky; the place where it begins and the place where it ends cannot be found. This is Maya. It has no place to go. The mind has no entity. Nowhere can one find a place to go, but still many things have been manifested. This is Nirmanakaya.
Conclusions: Regarding the three methods of meditation used above (Minds place of production, abiding, and destination), all of them are like the sky. None has an entity. They are ideas which arise and disappear in a short time. Their production and extinction is just the nature of the mind. However, when the idea is destroyed this does not mean the Mind is destroyed. Likewise when the idea is produced this does not mean that the Mind is produced. Thus, the Heart Sutra asserts that there is no production and no destruction.
Every mountain, river, earth, form, color, in short, all appearances, are like manifestations in the sky. Thus, the mind is void but can manifest all phenomena. Voidness and manifestation are not two things. Voidness is form and form is voidness. Every dharma spontaneously arises from specific conditions, but no abiding entity, self, nor ego can be found. Transmigration and Nirvana are one and the same, their nature being like that of empty sky. This is why the Heart Sutra says that in the emptiness there is no form, no creation, no destruction, no wisdom, and no attainment. They are all void in their entity. They are equally of non-dualism. They are all of non-attainment.
To recognize the Sunyata of body, speech, and mind, one will get freedom and achieve the Great liberation. Here, within production, abiding, and destruction, one will recognize the real mind, the Sunyata with which ones volition of Dharma will be purified. By this Samadhi one can get The Vajra Mind, and Tathagatahood will be obtained.
C. The Great Perfection The above three methods of meditation are just the common practice. Additionally, there is a special meditation of the Great Perfection. Therefore, the above practice is only temporary. The special practice deals with the element of contradiction. The method is one of no-practice. Everything is accomplished with no effort. It is not necessary to be diligent, practicing meditation. This practice is divided into two parts or steps: Return to Nature, and Return to Origin.
1. Return to Nature:
According to the Great Perfection Victorious Wisdom, one should visualize the body to be like that of a skeleton found in a forest grave. The body should remain motionless. It has no volition regarding good surroundings. A skeleton does not discriminate whether or not it occupies pleasant or painful surroundings. The speech should be like a violin without strings. We always remain silent; we have a mouth but no tongue. Do not think. Do not meditate. Do not discriminate. Nyandi Doctrine: Nyandi doctrine states that activities should be discontinued in the following ways: (1) All social graces, such as saying thank you and shaking hands, should be stopped.
(a) Outwardly, the body rejects social action. (b) Inwardly, the body rejects religious acts such as prostration and pilgrimage. (c) Secretly, the body remains in the seven postures of meditation without moving and renounces the action of meditation.
(2) Reject all functions of speech and worldly or religious talk.
(a) Outwardly, there is no engagement in worldly talk. (b) Inwardly, no religious talk. (c) Secretly, no HUM, no mantras.
(3) Reject all functions of the psychological-psychic mind.
(a) Outwardly, no worldly thinking. (b) Inwardly, no visualization of Buddhas or Mandala. (c) Secretly, no meditation of Mind and philosophy.
We should continue the above practice for 3, 5, 7 or 21 days, remaining in the natural abiding.
Oral Instruction: Visualize in the space in front of you a blue Tee-le (point). Within it resides Adi-Buddha or Padmasambhava. In the Gurus mind is a white AH. The Gurus body dissolves into this AH and enters the practitioners heart. Repeat AH three times, then abide with the mind calm and quiet. 2. Return to the Origin.
The Great Perfection Victorious Wisdom: (1) Hinayana posture (with seven conditions) but the eyes gaze at the tip of the nose. Every kind of delusion can be destroyed.
(2) Bodhisattva sitting posture (the seven conditions are the same, but the eyes gaze at a point on the ground about 16 fingers away) The mind should abide there without thinking.
(3) Wrathful vajra posture, standing posture. Right leg is bent with the left leg extended. Both feet flat on the floor. The right hand is held up in a mudra (the two inner fingers are folded over the thumb with the thumb against the palm. The outer fingers are stiff). The left hand is in front of the chest with the same mudra. This is the posture of Vajrapani. The mantra chanted is HA HA, HI HI, HA HA, HI HI. HA-HA is the wrathful vajra laugh of the Heruka. HI-HI is the wrathful vajra laugh of the Dakini.
The Nyandi Doctrine: The Hinayana posture hopes to abide where it cannot abide. The Bodhisattva posture hopes to confirm what it can already abide in. The wrathful vajra liberates the volition of wanting to confirm the abiding.
In the Hinayana sitting posture, you can mediate on an object such as ice, stone, wood, or brass. You are mostly concerned with samatha practice with a little no-object meditation. They are of short duration but practiced often. One gradually tames the delusions of mind. It is like holding a horse gently from the side, rather than forcefully from the front.
Bodhisattvas sit for longer period with the mind farther away. In the Vajrayana posture the time should not be too long. When the practitioners mind is sleepy or disturbed, open the eyes widely and stare at the sky. By this posture you will be liberated.
Oral Instructions: The sitting posture is the same but the mind should abide without thought. If the mind is plagued with many disturbances, visualize your body as a large diamond cube. If you feel sleepy, visualize a transparent white AH in your heart, then visualize your whole body becoming AH. If still sleepy, visualize your body as a large bright lamp. If still sleepy stand in the vajra standing position. Yogi Chen adds: "By adopting the posture of Vajrapani and yelling HA HA, HI HI, the sleepy mind will be purified."
d. Non-Born Vajra Repetition: Besides the Nyandi Doctrine there is another method called Non-Born Vajra Repetition. Sit in the seven conditions posture. Visualize that all the Buddhas energy enters into your own body symbolized by a white OM. You vomit the OM out along with all dirty energy. Now, inhale and imagine the OM coming into the nasal passages. Imagine the sound OM during inhalation. The OM is inhaled to the point four fingers below the navel. Then push down the upward flowing energy and pull up the downward flowing energy and concentrate them at this point below the navel. Imagine all Buddhas speech concentrated here in the form of a long red AH. The mind should meditate here with the bright Sunyata force. Hold the inhalation as long as possible, then exhale. This exhalation is visualized as a blue HUM shooting out of the nasal passage pervading the whole universe in the form of multi-colored light rays saving all sentient beings. You may practice the vajra repetition when walking or sitting. You should hear the sound of AH-HUM just by imagination after two or three cycles of OM-AH-HUM, i.e. if the visualization is clear you drop it and just concentrate on the sound.
The best time to practice is when the breath flows evenly through both nostrils.
Yogi Chen adds: "If the breath is greater in the right nostril, you should not practice because this will shorten your life. However, if the breath is slightly greater in the left nostril, this will prolong life. One should practice the vajra repetition for 7 to 21 times. In a period of 24 hours a person takes 21,600 breaths, therefore the vajra breathing has merit and promotes health and long life."
II. Main Practice
A. To Know Reality and the Root of the Truth
1. The root is, but the reality is not.
For example, in a Lhasa temple there is a Buddha image. It symbolizes that form and voidness are in non-dualism. But this is just the theory, one must still get the experiential realization.
2. Reality is, but the root is not.
You observe the Buddha altar and see the image but you do not know its name or mudra.
3. The root and reality are both non-existent.
For example, you can read the sentence that dharma is non-egoism, but you merely recite it like a parrot. You do not really understand the root and reality.
4. The root and reality are both known.
This is the Great Perfection Realization. It has two parts: Che-Cho and Torga. Che-Cho: Everything is fundamentally without entity (egoism). Through no practice yoga one realizes the Great Liberation in its self manifestation. Torga: Proceeding from the foundation of Che-Cho, it is practiced with six kinds of light which produce the full Enlightenment.
B. Through Tantra of the Consequence Position or Practice of the Vajra-Mind One Recognizes the Entity of Enlightenment. First practice Che-Cho, then there are two types of guides, common and ultimate:
1. Common Guide:
All Dharmas are created by the mind. They are only consciousness. They are Sunyata. This view can only destroy the human mind. If we further point out the Sunyata of the entity of Mind, we can destroy the volition of Dharma. Mind is the brightness. Brightness and Sunyata are both non-dualistic. This destroys the volition of Hinayana based upon the self nature of purity. It rids every kind of cure because what is there to cure? Remedies and cures are for the lower wisdom practitioner.
When the practitioner has a sleepy mind, or the practitioner sleeps soundly, or abides in the samadhi of everything destroyed, or an outsider abides in the samadhi of no thinking, or the Gods abide in a heaven called "No-Thinking"; all these five are the realm of no-thinking, but the external environment still exists. For example, during sleep we do not think but all things in the room exist. When given a precious gem in a dream, it is no longer there upon awakening. We can say that the gem is manifested by the mind, but not the mind manifested by the gem. The gem appears from specific conditions, but this does not imply there is something one can hold onto as reality. Actually, the deluded mind is not separate from the natural mind. From the natural mind manifests the external environment, but to hold it as reality is a mistake of the deluded mind. The mature disciple is guided by the Guru in detail until all such mistaken ideas are completely finished.
Some say every dharma in the victorious truth is void, but according to worldly truth they are Haveness. In this way the Haveness and Sunyata are mistaken as separate things. To regard them as one thing is also a mistake. Rather, the conception of this very moment is the non-dualism of manifestation and Sunyata. This is the genuine non-dualism of manifestation and Sunyata. This is the genuine non-dualism, harmonization, and Sunyata of the entity itself. The entity is not different from Sunyata. Our natural mind is empty and bright. The external forms we see are delusions not created by the mind, but by other conditions.
2. Ultimate Guide
The following is a synthesis of the Great Perfection Victorious Wisdom, the book of Nyandi, and oral instructions.
First, sit in the vajra sitting posture. Visualize a circle of light containing the Adi-Buddha or Padmasambhava suspended in the space in front of you. This is your Guru. Yogi Chen adds: "You may visualize your own personal Gurus face here, since you have not really met Adi-Buddha." He is encircled by the entire lineage of Gurus. Ask them to bless you. The purpose is to recognize the naturally purified entity of Enlightenment. Visualize all the Gurus dissolving into your root Guru, who in turn dissolves into light and enters your heart. Sit in the vajra lotus posture with hands in the samadhi mudra. Expel all dualistic thinking from the mind. Next, you hear your Gurus thunderous voice yell PEH. It destroys your egoismall is liberated. Then he asks, "What is your mind?" You can now see the brightness of the entity of Enlightenment. Like a naked person who has no cover, the entity of Enlightenment suddenly and nakedly appears. This is the Adi-Buddha realization. This is what the Guru guides you to learn. This is the entity of Enlightenment.
Padmasambhava and his consort Yeshe Tsogyal have three sentences of oral instructions: (1) The Truth is brightness itself, (2) Every manifestation of the world is the truth itself manifested, (3) All conceptualization of right and wrong, good and evil, along with all other discriminations are merely transformations of the mind and must be gotten rid of.
This is the pure entity of Enlightenment. Completely pure, as if you came to an entire continent where everything is made of gold. Whatever you take is gold, so when delusions appear, immediately you are liberated. The lower three tantras are useless.
Water when changed to ice will melt to liberate itself and become water again. Likewise, the Wisdom-Light will appear by itself. It is not necessary to grasp or reject it. If you ask "How should I practice?" I would answer, "No need to practice, but I am never apart from it."
Yogi Chen says: "The reason for not needing to practice is because you abide in the entity of Enlightenment. If you are apart from this naturally appearing entity of Enlightenment, your no-practice is merely a delusion and you will fall into worldly transmigration."
When Karchimbo practiced the Great Perfection someone asked, "Do you always practice the great perfection?" and he replied, "You see what I practice." "You mean you never practice?" Karchimbo then said, "Does it look like I am disturbed?" Thus, one may conclude that for non-practice it is necessary to remain undisturbed. This is the real victorious Practice of no-practice.
Gampopa scolded a disciple practicing the Great Symbolism Mahamudra. The disciple always talked to Gampopa about his meditative light experience. The disciple felt dejected and said, "Maybe I will not practice anymore." Gampopa said, "Non-practice is quite right, but you must still practice." The disciple began to realize this no-practice practice.
In the non-practice, there is no disturbed mind which would run away to pursue worldly things. One must abide in the enlightened entity which rejects all healing remedies, play-words, curse, etc. Like a cowboy who guides his herd with much effort, one must not keep the Mind too tight or too relaxed.
In India, a Maharaja asked the Marshall of the Sword and the Marshall of the Arrow to have combat. The winner would get his opponents entire fortune and family as reward. The Marshall of the Arrow knew that he could not defeat the Marshall of the Sword, so, he devised some strategy. His wife was beautiful, so he had her groom herself to look especially beautiful and seductive. This caused a portion of the Master of the Swords awareness to be diverted to her during the combat. Consequently, the Master of the Arrow was enabled to mortally wound his opponent. His final comment was, "Its not that my art is not skilled, but in a careless moment, I looked at his wife and was defeated." Likewise, we must continually abide in the entity of Enlightenment and never forget.
Saraha comments: "Any type of volition must be swept away. Even a tiny sesame seed may be a subtle obstacle and should be swept away. When the entity is bright you abide there, when it is not bright, you abide there also. Do not discriminate nor hold anything outside, but abide in the natural entity of Enlightenment." This sound like the doctrine of the Idealist School, but actually it is not the same.
Yogi Chen says, "There are two types of Bodhisattvas. Stage Bodhisattvas and Human Bodhisattvas. The former is one who has attained one or more of the ten stages of the Bodhisattva path. The latter is a human being with good bodhicitta to work for others, but who lacks supernatural power. For example, when a Stage Bodhisattva sees a mountain, immediately he recognizes it as the entity. The Human (non-stage) Bodhisattva sees a mountain first, then secondly, recognizes it to be the entity of non-duality. The Stage Bodhisattva is like a baby. The Human Bodhisattva is like a boy who sees an image on a temple wall with discrimination but the baby is pure without discrimination. This is the Che-cho practice and all six paramitas should be performed in this manner."
The Guru called Refuge of the World said, "You must always watch. There is no practice, but this watching should not be stopped even for a moment. The truth is naturally vast, bright and pervading. It cannot be gotten by meditation or practice, but is already here. Do not forget this!" This is the Che-cho.
(Yogi Chens comment: "From this practice some feeling will come that there is emptiness, but this is still a delusion and not the natural Sunyata of the entity. If you feel the sky is vast without an edge, this is also a subtle delusion. For the deepest realization, one must get rid of three wheels: subjective feeling, objective-sky, in-between the meditation. The above three wheels are Sunyata. There is no need to hold the dharma. All worldly things have been destroyed.")
Tilopa told Naropa: "Everything outside appears, but cannot prevent us from experiencing the entity of Enlightenment. Only the volition of our self mind could obstruct this view of the entity of Enlightenment."
The Brahmin called Victorious Mind said it takes six kalpas of paramita to become accomplished, but just one samadhi of the Great Perfection will suffice. (Yogi Chen says, "This means that just one genuine meditation of the Great Perfection is like six kalpas of paramita practice.") The Great Perfection corresponds with the paramitas as follows:
(1) non-formgenerosity paramita (2) non-abidingvinaya paramita (3) non-practicepatience paramita (4) non-conductdiligence paramita (5) non-thinkingdhyana paramita (6) non-meditationwisdom paramita
There are also some precepts given by the Great Perfection Victorious Wisdom:
(1) viewlike the king of the mountain (2) practicelike the great ocean, calm and without waves (3) conductaccording to the oral instructions (4) resultentirely devoid of all types of prayer or cure
When one abides in this manner our five kinds of energy will peacefully manifest.
The Book of Nyandi gives three kinds of abiding:
(1) Body should abide like Mount Sumeru (non-moving.) (2) The eyes should not move but focus on the sky. (3) The mind should be without any correction, adjustment, repair, cure, etc.
In this manner the wisdom-light can appear in the sky. From the exoteric schools one gets the ten stages of a Bodhisattva. In the Tantra one gets the Great Perfection. Che-Cho has now been completed.
Next, follow Yogi Chens comments and corrections of the original texts based upon his own experience.
The fundamental thing of Che-cho is to discover the entity of Enlightenment. This kind of discovery has no method which can be followed.
Hinayana develops the method of seeing the Minds place of abiding, departure, and arising, are merely methods the Hinayana utilizes to discover Minds voidness. They should not be included in a Tantric treatise. Even outsiders have such kinds of practice. They certainly dont belong in the Great Perfection.
In some instances, the text gives doctrines like that of the Idealist School but says that it is not the Idealist School. But actually it is, despite their disclaimers.
From the Tantric point of view, there can never be a one-sided view of Mind. The Tantra does not categorize Mind as being either matter or energy, material or spiritual, physical or mental. Tantra is based upon the non-dualism of matter and mind. It abruptly destroys all dualistic volitions, conceptualizations, etc. Tantra functions within the truth of non-entity. It completely exposes those seemingly sophisticated doctrines of scientists, psychologists, politicians, and theologians as immature. By dancing in the truth, tantra rips the facade from these ego-pampering and self-aggrandizing doctrines, which are impotent and cannot free man from the transmigration. They all claim to have altruistic manifestation, but in fact they are too feeble to do anything but pat themselves on the back.
Today when people are engrossed in their political revolutionism, seduced by technological gadgetry, adamant in their religious mania, and puffed up like toads with their psychological discussions, Tantra sees only insects fluttering in the dung. These insects are not different from those maggots which throughout history have made sugary promises upon which the deluded gorge themselves in rapidly accelerating sorrow, misery, and confusion. No person of altruistic nature could fall for this gross charlatanism; thus he would not purchase any of their snake oil remedies which feign salvation. And certainly the Tantra, only seeing what is, would not be interested in their product. But it might take delight in the "miracle" of such horrendous confusion.
In Tibet, ever since the time of Padmasambhava, many have mistaken notions regarding Mind. In Tantra, Mind is not only the Psychical Mind, but is the Truth and includes both mind and matter. Many texts treat Mind as only mental (mind). But do not be mistaken. The Great Perfection Mind includes both mind and matter. Mind alone is not the truth. The truth is the non-dualism of mind and matter. So be aware, the mental, psychical mind is not the truth but only one-sided delusion. Go to a psychologist and he will tell you about the psychological mind, but he probably knows nothing of the truth.
The fundamental practice of Che-cho must recognize the entity of Enlightenment. The Great Perfection does not use the methods of the Hinayana and Mahayana. It can only be imparted by a Guru who has experienced this truth himself. Nowadays many students follow teachers who talk the Great Perfection doctrine but who have no direct experience. Such disciples can never hope for success.
But if the Guru is a true Guru, by serving him and opening your heart to him with great diligence, he may by the wink of an eye or the pointing of a finger, point out the entity of Enlightenment to you. This is the only method of transmission. All texts, rituals, etc., are only methods of the Hinayana and Mahayana. They are just play-words to me. I got the entity of Enlightenment from my Guru. So I know the texts are not the real method to get the entity of Enlightenment. Just completely devote yourself to taking care of the Guru. Keep continually relating with him and at all costs do your best to please him. Then when conditions are ripe, the bolt of lightning will flash. I was very careful to care for my Guru. It was very difficult. I had done my best and at least got his blessing, so I can guarantee you that I have already seen the entity of Enlightenment. It is difficult to get the realization of this kind. So do whatever will make your Guru like you and maybe you will get it very easily. It could take many years, it depends on your past lives. If your Guru has the experience, you can get the entity of Enlightenment. But if he has no experience, you can never get it. Unfortunately, nowadays many Gurus take advantage of their students?time and money to glorify their own organization and make themselves famous and comfortable. They say they want to save the dharma, so they must build many things which take a lot of money. But without actual realization of the entity of Enlightenment there can be no dharma. At best they might be building some nice social clubs glorified by their large number of members.
But the real Dharma is dying. The realization of the enlightened entity has nothing to do with building up anything. There is no shortage of books, buildings, land, and food, but where can we find even a few students who have experienced the entity? Where in America are even a few Gurus who have realized the entity of Enlightenment? Such individuals are very rare, indeed. So be honest with yourselves. It really doesnt matter how many texts youve translated or meditation centers youve founded. This is all delusions. Begin to work now on the truth!
III. Torga
Torga means transcendent. It is rarer than Che-cho. If you only practice Che-cho, you cannot see the ten directions of the Buddhas Pure Land perfectly. You cannot save sentient beings fully. You cannot dissolve the inner and outer five elements of the flesh body to transform them into the five wisdom lights. In other words, you could not use your meditative power to change your flesh body into a light body (literally). But Torga can do it automatically.
For example, Padmasambhava, Tilopa, and Naropa all attained the wisdom rainbow-body of light. They all achieved the perfect Nirvana. If you only practice Che-cho you can get some wisdom light, but this kind of light is of the inner mind or the inner heart or the consciousness transformed into light. It does not have the power to completely sublimate all the flesh into light. But Torga has such a technique to get this highest attainment.
Now if you want to know the principles behind this Torga practice, you must know the following text:
All sentient beings Minds are connected with their own energy. These two are non-dualistic; because sentient beings hold the volition that Mind and Energy are separate (dualistic) they cannot harmonize them, and they see two things. But in truth the mind of sentient beings and their wisdom energy fundamentally are in oneness. The natural wisdom light always abides in the flesh heart. But sentient beings are deluded and ride on the disturbed energy which penetrates to the lungs.
This is like a man who has no feet and rides a horse which has no eyes. Mind and Energy cannot rely upon each other so they run without direction. Hence, the six organs of sense and their six objects create many, many delusions, and many, many sorrows, and they suffer many, many times in the transmigration.
If you can mediate and are skilled in samatha, and can stop all the running mind and the running karmic energy, then your mind and energy will return to their original wisdom. If you can meditate on the wisdom energy to attain the first stage of a Bodhisattva, your wisdom is increased and all the practices of Tantra will be very easy to recognize.
So one should know that the entity of wisdom and the natural wisdom light originally abide in the flesh heart. Through the special methods and the Gurus oral instructions, one may naturally make the connection with the six kinds of light and make them to be manifested perfectly.
