The Practice of the Triumphant Ma Healing Practices Based on the Deity Tara

Gehlek Rimpoche

The Practice of the Triumphant Ma Healing practices based on the Deity Tara

Jewel Heart Transcript 2004

Jewel Heart Transcripts are lightly to moderately edited transcriptions of the teachings of Kyabje Gehlek Rinpoche and others teachers who have taught at Jewel Heart. Their purpose is to provide Rimpoche’s students, as well as all others who are interested, with these extremely valuable teachings in a way that gives one the feeling of being present at the teachings.

JEWEL HEART Tibetan Cultural and Buddhist Centers, 207 East Washington Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 USA Tel. (1) 313 994 3387 Fax: (1) 313 994 5577 www.jewelheart.org

Acknowledgement

This is the transcription of the teachings on White Tara, that Kyabje Gehlek Rimpoche gave during the spring retreat 1995 in Nijmegen, The Netherlands. A few details from later teachings have been added here and there. These are unique teachings. Never before in the West, a Tibetan teacher gave such a detailed explanation about special visualization techniques concerned with healing and self-healing. It is also unique in as far as that part of it comes from the secret treasure-chambers of tantra. Kyabje Gehlek Rimpoche modified those in a way that they can be used without having had the initiation. For those that have a full vajrayana initiation in at least a kriya tantra, a more exten- sive transcript that includes the vajrayana teachings on White Tara, is available. The basis of the teachings is A Prayer to the Noble Tara. Within that context all meditation techniques get their place. The prayer version used in 1995 has been adapted later, but because of the commentary following closely that first version, it has been maintained in the commentary. The new version is to be found in the chapter Texts. The transcript has Tibetan syllables transferred into Western syllable-symbols. Any mistakes that may occur are due to my limited understanding. Marianne Soeters

Jewel Heart Nijmegen, 5th edition, August 2004. © Ngawang Gehlek.

Contents

I Introduction 7

II Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 15

III Offering the Practice of the Seven Limbs 57

IV Tara and the eight fears 77

V The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 89

VI Fear and Fearlessness 127

VII Texts 139

VIII Notes 151

IX Glossary 153

X Literature 163

XI Index 165

Buddha Shakyamuni

I Introduction

Good morning everybody. We have come here to do a longevity and healing practice through Tara, or rather with the help of Tara, or maybe we should even say ‘within the sphere of Tara’s great energy’? The way in which the great masters of early generations have given this practice is not just to have longevity for the sake of living long, but in order to have a meaningful life, meaningful in the sense of helping ourselves and, if possible, helping others. I believe that is our purpose. As you know, in the West a lot of people say, ‘What is my mission in life? What is my purpose? What am I supposed to do?’ Your mission is helping yourself and, if you can, helping others. If you cannot help others, at least help yourself. For this you need longevity; for this you need a healthy life. That is why the earlier masters have given us this practice and that is how we should use it, too.

Basically, when I was a kid, I was taught two things: - What do you do at the beginning and why? In other words, what are your ideas and motivations? - What do you do at the end? These are the two most important things. They told us to have at the beginning a proper motivation, a good way of thinking. What that really means is to think, ‘Why am I doing this? What for?’ Whether your thoughts are good or bad, it is always good to correct your motivation. Whether you have a practice in general or this one in particular, it is always nice to think, ‘Hey, I am not doing this just 8 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma for the sake of doing it, I am doing this for the benefit of myself and others.’ Even if you have come for other purposes, you can think at this moment, ‘I am here for very important purposes.’ That is what it means to have a great motivation. You do not necessarily have to sit cross-legged and meditate and say, ‘I am correcting my motivation’, I do not think you need to do that. So step number one is: the purpose of what we are doing here is to help ourselves and to help other beings.

Step two. We do not have the power. Maybe we have it, but the power is not at our disposal. In one way we are very great, in another way we are helpless. So what do we do? We rely on another power. Basically a lot of people do that, rely on another power. You see a lot of healers in the world today rely on some spirits. A lot of people channel them, do all sorts of things. Whatever things are happening, they will go with that. Whatever will give you a shake and vibration, mentally, physically, psychologically or emotionally, people follow that in the world today. If you look around and see what is happening in the world today you see a group of people that is – let me put it nicely – ultra- scientific: nothing is acceptable to those people unless it is very scientific. And there is another group of people that believe there is an alternative power, too. I think all of us here are in that category. That does not mean we are against science. Spiritual power is not really scientific, because, if I understand correctly, scientific means: no matter who does it, where he does it, whenever you repeat it the correct way it should have the exact result. Spiritual power does not work that way, It is totally different to different persons. Though you may do it the same way, you approach it the same way, somehow the results are slightly different to each and every individual. It is like hand-made clothes in comparison to factory-made ones. You know what I mean? Individuality is there. Likewise spiritual results, I think, depend on the level of the motivation of the individual, the intensity of the individual, the luck or fortune of the individual and many different circumstances. Introduction 9

Criteria for spiritual reliability Among the spiritual powers that you invoke, are major differences. A lot of people will use any spirit they can get. Basically, non- human spirits always have clairvoyant power and some limited capability of healing, whether good or bad. That is the reason why Buddha insists that for any spiritual power you invoke, you make sure that the individual source is fully enlightened. Why? Because if that spiritual power is fully enlightened, then that spirit is free from all problems and all sufferings. Spirits that have some power but are not free from suffering themselves, have their own reasons for doing it. When they are fully enlightened they do not have a hidden agenda of their own. This is what makes the difference. Fully enlightened beings are not only free from suffering; they also know how to lead other people. Then the most important thing is: they have great compassion, compassion equal to everybody. So basically there are three most important reasons for invoking enlightened help: - the object or power that you invoke is free from suffering, - they know the best way of helping others, - they have great compassion.

Compassion and great compassion are two different things. Com- passion generally means to have compassion for somebody or for a few people, but great compassion means compassion equal to all beings. If you do not have great compassion, you will do some good to the people you know, your friend and the ones you like, and you do less good to people you do not know and that are not your friend; so there is the effect of closeness and distance. Greater compassion will not allow that. So basically the criteria of being an object of refuge, being a power to be invoked, are these three qualities. Though teachings in books, like e.g. Lamrim, will tell you a lot of qualities, it boils down to these three which, I think, are the most important ones.

Now the case of Tara. She is a fully enlightened being, which means she herself is free of all problems, she does have great compassion, and she does know the methods to help. So, the criteria are there. It 10 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma is not that we can judge who is great and who is not great, but at least we have means of looking at it. As I said earlier, in the West, the moment you get some kind of physical, mental, spiritual shake you will follow it, because you do not have criteria of looking at it. That is why a lot of people have problems. They say, ‘I hear a voice, the voice tells me to get up, to sit down, tells me that now I should eat and now I should not eat, the voice tells me I should go, the voice tells me I should jump into the water. People have that, and they just follow it because they have no way of judging. Good old Tibet, the Tibet that I used to belong to, is now being looked at as the world’s spiritual source. How fortunate I have been. Really true. By sheer luck I lived in that good old Shangri-La. It no longer is that way, in Tibet and in India it is totally different now. In that good old Tibet the environment was such that there was no room for those funny spirits to act. First of all you didn’t hear them. Secondly, even if they functioned, no one would entertain them. People would run away for miles! Nobody would listen to those voices. That does not mean that everything you hear from the voices is bad, but they should not be entertained until they prove themselves to be fully enlightened beings!

Who is Tara? The being Tara has been worshipped throughout the Buddhist world. Not only in Tibet, but also in traditional India, China, Japan, everywhere. Wherever Buddhism has traveled – whether as Sutra- yana alone or in combination with tantra – Tara has been worshipped. Even today in India we find the physical shape of Tara carved in stone or wood everywhere. She has become so popular that antiques-dealers throughout the world have those female figures. She may have a slightly different posture here and there, but that indicates she has been popular. Popular means commonly accepted. ‘Commonly accepted’ gives you one more criterion, because when a lot of people accept it, it cannot be wrong. It cannot be that everybody is wrong. In Tibet she is called Drolma, in China Kwan Yin or Kwan Shi Yin. In the Chinese tradition Avalokiteshvara and Tara are combined together and have become a female figure. In the Tibetan tradition and in the Sanskrit tradition in India Avalokiteshvara is seen as a Introduction 11 male figure and Tara as a female figure [both being the embodiment of the compassionate activities of all buddhas]. In Mongolia and the areas around half the Tibetan and half the Chinese way is followed; depending on whether it is outer or inner Mongolia. The Japanese tradition calls her Kannon. The Canon-company is named after Tara. They once invited the Dalai Lama to Japan and took him to their treasury house. The Japanese have so many strict rules! When they invited the Dalai Lama to the treasury house on the way a number of vice-presidents had to be dropped at the different doors. True! At each door the Japanese dropped a vice-president and they told the Tibetans that one of them must stay behind too. It is said that when they were inside, the only people that remained among the Japanese were the president and his executive director, and among the Tibetans His Holiness and his brother. Then they opened this huge safe and what was inside was an image of the secret Avalokiteshvara, red, with consort. And they said, ‘This is Kannon!’ So even in Japan she is very popular. All the Canon cameras throughout the world are named after her. Whether or not there is a division between the male, Avaloki- teshvara, and the female, Tara, I think is cultural. One thing about Buddhism is that it is always adaptable to the different cultures.

Where does this Tara come from? What is she? How does she function? There are a number of different stories by different masters but the most reliable and commonly accepted source is The Ori- gin of the Tara Tantra written by Taranatha1. That says: At first Avalokiteshvara was very active and busy helping beings. He got almost overwhelmed, worried to the extend of shedding tears. So he said, ‘I need help’. It is said in a Hindu-Buddhist mythological story that Avalokiteshvara seeking help and crying, pinched a tear out and threw it away and suddenly Tara appeared out of the tear- drop and said, ‘I am here to help you’. It is a long story, but that is what it boils down to. It is also told that Tara is a human being like we are, who has committed: a) to help other beings, b) to help through the physical form of a female, c) to remain a female throughout. Why did she choose to remain female? Because of the importance of the feminine energy and because a lot of cultures treat females as inferior, as 12 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma being of lower quality. That is true throughout the world, like it was true here in the West in the medieval period. I remember, the first year I came here late Hélène van Horn took me sightseeing in Holland and we visited a place where they used to weigh females and give you a certificate ascertaining that you had a certain weight, thus stating you were not a witch. That was done in your own country, just a couple of miles from here and a couple of centuries ago. It is like that in the east, in India, in China, in Tibet, everywhere. Somehow the world-culture in a certain period decided that the female body was inferior. Whatever the reason may be, culture or not, it is there. That is why Tara made the decision that she would like to remain a female and function as an enlightened being in female form. Maybe Tara was the first feminist. This is a very important point and it gives us two different messages; one: compassionate people like to take difficult tasks; two: liberation of the female can be done only through a female. (Is this a blind political statement?) In a way it is true; problems of human beings can only be solved by human beings. I don’t think the gods are going to solve the human problem. They can help. I also understand that the Tibetan problem has to be solved by the Tibetans; the others can only help. So male problems can only be solved by males, and the women can help, and vice versa, the female problems can only be solved by women, and the men can help. So, I am the only one that can solve my problem, and you people can help. Which means that each one of us can only solve his own problems, and the others can only help. That means that you are responsible for yourself. You see this when you look at the society and when you look at the individual. That is why Buddha said you are responsible for yourself.

So Tara is very special and particularly very effective. It does not take millions of years to have effect. The second verse of The Praise in Twenty-one Homages, a Praise to Tara2, you find, ‘Homage! Tara, swift, heroic! With regard like instant lightning!’ That is her quality of quickness, it does not need a million years to be effective. There- fore it is very special that we can work through Tara. There are different physical appearances of Tara; some are green, some are white, some are yellow, some are red and they carry Introduction 13 different implements. These are what we call manifestations of Tara. One of the twenty-one manifestations of Tara is called ‘Swift One’3. That does not mean she is the only manifestation that is swift, it means that each manifestation of Tara manifests a different quality. Why do we emphasize this? Whatever we do, almost always everything takes an extremely long time to effect. That is not the fault of the enlightened power, it is the fault of the individual. It is not the fault of the individual itself. It is the way in which he functions that makes things ineffective, taking time. Before any thing you do is able to materialize, obstacles have to be cleared and it has to be achieved and that takes time. People in Tibet used to make a joke on the protector Mahakala, saying: Mahakala takes three years to get up, three years to put his belt on, three years to put his shoes on. Tara is the opposite, she goes very fast. These different manifestations, Wrathful Tara, Powerful Tara, Peaceful Tara, etc, are all one Tara with different qualities and a different effect on the individual practitioner. This is why these manifestations are there. Red Tara, White Tara and Green Tara and so on are not separate personalities, but at the same time they are not the same personality either. It is the same Tara, but different aspects of her quality have taken different physical forms. We call these nir- manakayas, meaning manifestations and remanifestations and re- remanifestations. The word manifestation gives you the meaning and message of oneness as well as separateness. Take for example the big rivers. You have big rivers here, right? At some places they go together and at some places they are separate. When you look at them from a certain place you can say there are two different rivers – e.g. the Maas and the Waal – but in some areas you cannot say that this is the Maas and this is the Waal, because there they are going together. When two rivers join, like Maas and Waal join at Maasbommel, then from the point of view of the water you cannot really say: this is water of the Maas and this is water of the Waal; only when they separate you can identify them separately and they will function separately. This is a rough example, but it gives you an idea of a base and its manifestations.

White Tara II Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara

Today I am going to explain briefly all the things in the Prayer to the Noble Tara. After that you’ll have and idea and then we can do a guided practice together.

REFUGE I take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha until enlightenment. I like to give you a brief explanation on this. You may think: This is a Tara-practice, why should Buddha and Dharma come in? Refuge here indicates it is a Buddhist practice. In Vajrayana practices it is very hard to indicate the differences between Buddhism and Hindu- ism, very, very, hard. You need a great scholar-saint to make a real division. Normally we say that taking refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is the doorway to being a Buddhist.

The word refuge means ‘relying on’. That is not the same as submission! Refuge is not submission. We do not submit. We rely on, we seek guidance. That is even true in a practical way. When I was a refugee from Tibet and we took refuge to India, we did rely on In- dia, but we did not totally submit to the Indians. There is a big difference between submission and refuge. Submission is totally sur- rendering your rights, becoming a sort of slave. Taking refuge is different; you remain responsible for yourself and you have the right to do and say whatever you need to. 16 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

It may not be out of place to mention here the following. Here you say, ‘I take refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha until enlightenment’, but when you really look into Vajrayana – and this is a Va- jrayana-oriented practice – you find that we normally say, ‘Namo Gurubye, namo Buddhaya, namo Dharmaya, namo Sanghaya’. So we take refuge in the Guru, in the Buddha, in the Dharma and in the Sangha. We do take refuge in the Guru, but that doesn’t mean we submit to the gurus! I think there has been a misunderstanding about this in the West and that is why you had those guru-trips. In America in the sixties the guru-trips were very popular and a lot of people were involved. Still people think they have to submit to the guru and have to listen to whatever the guru says, as though one cannot say no; they take it literally. That is not true; it is perfectly all right to say no. There is nothing wrong with saying no, with reason or without reason. Also if you just don’t want it you can say no, that is fine. The problem in the West is that the qualities and benefits of following a guru-devotional practice have been taken literally, and the emphasis on the fact that it is all right to say no has been very little. The simple reason? In traditional Tibet it is well-known that it is all right to say no. Basically Tibetans are very tough persons; they know what they want and get it done by hook or crook. That is why one didn’t have to emphasize the possibility to say no. In the West you have a half understanding of Buddhism or any eastern religion and you take things literally! For that reason people had a lot of difficulties, difficulties that started voicing after the guru died, like was the case with swamis like swami Muktananda and Rimpoches like Trungpa Rimpoche. So, it is important to rely on, but it is also important to know it is all right to say, ‘No it doesn’t suit me’. That goes to Buddha, that goes to the dharma, that goes to the sangha, that goes to the guru. Buddha himself has said: Monks and scholars should well analyze my words, like gold [to be tested through] melting, cutting and polishing, and then adopt them, but not for the sake of showing me respect. Buddha gave the example of gold. Before you buy gold you cut it, you rub it, you burn it. And if you are satisfied you take it, otherwise Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 17 better throw it away. Don’t just buy it because Buddha said so. That is why refuge means relying on, that is why its doesn’t mean submission. You follow it because you don’t know the way. If you don’t like it, say it. If you don’t know how to say no, it is your fault. There are different ways, there are millions of different methods to pick and choose. They can suggest, they can guide, but whether the guidance is suitable or not suitable depends on the individual. That is what refuge means to me.

What do Buddha, Dharma and Sangha mean? I taught this a number of times, I am not going much into it now. Books and transcripts are available.4 Buddha. There are always two things: the historical buddha and the buddha that is connected with you. There is a difference. The historical Buddha is not necessarily the buddha that you take refuge to. The buddha that you take refuge to is two things: 1) the historical Buddha representing total enlightenment outside, and 2) inter- nally you make contact with your own result-oriented buddha. So there is always two kinds. That goes for the dharma too: historically people refer to dharma as something [the teachings of the Buddha], and there is your own dharma, i.e. spiritual development, as well. The same goes for the sangha. In the case of Tara, Tara’s body is sangha, Tara’s development is dharma, and Tara’s mind is buddha, [so you can take refuge to Tara.]. That’s how you can think of Bud- dha, Dharma and Sangha in one being. I think basically this much. How long do you take refuge? Until enlightenment. Why? Well, when you are enlightened, you don’t need any longer to rely on, because you have become capable yourself.

Visualization. When you say, ‘I take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha until enlightenment’, you can visualize a White Tara in front of you. Tara is your object of refuge. In reality she is all enlightened beings in the physical form of White Tara, inseparable from your own spiritual master, who’s body is sangha, who’s mind is buddha, who’s spiritual development is dharma. I rely on that until I do not need anymore to rely on. That is the Buddhist base. Thinking this way you say the refuge words. 18 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Refuge and the three yanas As we talked before, when taking refuge you visualize in front of you Tara inseparable from Guru, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. The difference between Mahayana refuge and Hinayana refuge is whether there is the influence of great compassion or not. This is a Vajrayana practice, therefore it has to be Mahayana. To know about Buddhism one doesn’t have to be a Buddhist at all. What does it really mean to be a Buddhist? In the West you do get the understanding it is something like being catholic or protes- tant. I don’t think the meaning of being a Buddhist is like that. Buddhism doesn’t demand from you to go every Sunday to church; Buddhism certainly doesn’t play with your guilt-feeling. The understanding of religion in the Western sense and becoming a Buddhist, is certainly something to think about. The principle of Buddhism is: avoiding negativity, building up positivity, and always being alert, watching yourself. Buddha himself said: Avoid negativity, build positivity and carefully watch your mind. This is Buddhism. I think it is interesting to translate that sentence, write it down prominently in a big bold letter, frame it and put it somewhere, so that people get an idea what Buddhism is all about. We don’t do that in Tibet, but I saw that His Holiness the Dalai Lama did it in Dharamsala. The practice of Buddhism is the practice of the Four Noble Truths, which absolutely is dealing with life, nothing else.

Talking about the three yanas, in the West people talk about Hinay- ana, Mahayana and Vajrayana. I don’t know who introduced that, maybe Trungpa Rimpoche. It’s not wrong, but originally in the Ti- betan and the Sanskrit tradition, they count the three yanas as: sravaka-yana, pratyekabuddha-yana and buddha-yana. In that division Hinayana is divided into two, sravaka-yana, which means those who listen and hear Buddha’s Mahayana teachings and just relay the message to others, without themselves practicing it, [e.g. arhats] and pratyekabuddha-yana, which means the ‘self-liberating ones’, those Hinayana buddhas that were in the world before Buddha Shakya- muni officially came in. Both of them are called Theravadin, meaning ‘the tradition of the elders’. They also are referred to as Hi- Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 19 nayana, meaning ‘small vehicle’, which they don’t like, so one has to be very careful about that.

Hinayana. The principle of the Hinayana or Theravada-yana, whether sravaka-yana or pratyekabuddha-yana, is self-liberation. It is not that they don’t have compassion, they do have very strong compassion, but the principle is liberating yourself. The question to them is, ‘How do I get free?’ That is their purpose; that is what they stick to. That is why it is called self-liberating vehicle.

Mahayana, also called buddha-yana, is supposed to go one step beyond that, saying, ‘All right, I may know how to liberate myself, but what about the persons I care for? How can I walk away?’ And that is extended beyond and beyond. To develop compassion to all beings means you first begin with the persons you care about, like your own family, your children, then extend it to your parents, aunts and uncles, relationships, friends and friends of friends and ultimately everybody is connected. Mahayana means: being totally dedicated to the benefit of others, yet seeking yourself liberation, total enlightenment. It is a two-pronged mind. Technically it’s called bodhimind. First prong: your mind is totally dedicated to the benefit of everybody. But when you’re totally dedicated to everybody then you raise the question, ‘How can I help everybody? What capability I have to be able to help others? I have already problems to help one person, that is myself. And I have even more problems to help another one, my companion. I can’t even talk to him or her because the message doesn’t come through. A tremendous defense comes from the other side, so it’s difficult’. We do know that. Whenever we have to talk to somebody, it is very hard to get the message come through. There are layers and layers of defense mechanisms from the other side: stubbornness, pride, and they think they know better than you do; layer after layer of defenses. Even you yourself have that. Look at yourself: first you shut down, you don’t want to hear about it, then secondly you may open up a little bit but you have a tremendous amount of doubt; at the third level the doubt may be a little bit reduced but you become tremendously suspicious, and finally you may be half open half shut. Then you may open but the focus is off, like an unfocused camera. 20 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Then with a lot of labor and insistence the focus will work. Still you take time to press the shutter-button. Since you have hesitated so long, then when you push the shutter-button you shake, so it still doesn’t work well. These are the internal layers of struggle. And very similar to the other and even more: pride. All of those. It is amazing, you have no idea, even in a person you think is absolutely wonderful, sympathetic and humble, you see to your surprise that if something happens all of a sudden pride comes up. When you see that at others, naturally you have the same thing yourself! Some- times it is almost a self-reflection. Now the second prong comes in. As it is very hard to get through even with a single person, you need the best tool you can get. That’s why you seek buddhahood. Buddhahood is all-knowing, enlightened, so it is the best level. That’s the relevancy of buddhahood as your goal.

Tibetan Buddhism introduced you to say, ‘My goal is to become a buddha’, but the relevancy of it really rises here now. Until here the relevancy really doesn’t rise. In the Theravada tradition they don’t tell you buddhahood is your goal, because their ultimate goal is nirvana. Nirvana means free of suffering, so freedom is their goal. In Mahayana buddhahood has become relevant because Mahayanists commit to help everybody. For helping everybody you need the best tool and you cannot get anything better than the enlightenment level. That is why Mahayana aims at buddhahood.

The differences between Mahayana and Theravada-yana: - from the object point of view Mahayana aims at buddhahood, Theravada-yana aims only at nirvana; - from the action point of view Mahayana is totally committed to helping others, Theravada is self-liberating; - from the method point of view Mahayana has a variety of methods, the Theravada principle is mostly self-discipline. Normally they say the doorway to being Buddhist is taking refuge to Buddha or someone else who is fully enlightened, and the doorway to Mahayana is having a bodhimind. Bodhimind is nothing but ultimate, unconditioned love, ultimate unconditioned compassion and seeking enlightenment. Is it clear to everybody? Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 21

Vajrayana. Mahayana is subdivided into two categories: non-tantric Mahayana or Sutrayana and tantric Mahayana or Vajrayana. The major practice applications in Mahayana are great compassion and wisdom. Vajrayana is wisdom-and-compassion based and on top of that you deal with different yidams. A yidam is a enlightened manifestation with mantra and mandala. The essence of Vajrayana are the tantras, the teachings shared by the Buddha in the form of different yidams. A yidam is a mind linked to a certain type of enlightened atmosphere. The figures and mandalas and mantras are described in the various tantras. What Buddha has shared in the tantras is about actually creating a completely different environment, called mandala, and completely different inhabitants, which we may – this is a big question – refer to as deities. It is actually creating a new environment and new inhabitants, i.e. the mandala and the persons in the mandala. The drawings that we see in books are the architectonic representations of that particular pure atmosphere. I can’t say pure land, that has a different meaning, again. These representations is what you see on calendars and in books. And also they explain you the doorways and roads etc. [of the mandala]. A mandala is nothing but a psychic map and an introduction to different persons. It represents an atmosphere and the aliens living in there. They don’t look like us, they look different. If a mandala appeared, no question we would identify them as aliens. Vajrayana has its own complete system of functioning, of how to admit you, its own orientation, its own way of living, its own way of meditating, its own way of language, its own sound, its own aim, its own purpose, its own hope, and its own obstacles too. That becomes Vajrayana. Did I bring the Vajrayana too low? The Tibetans refer to the deities in the mandala as yidam; yi refers to mind and dam refers to commitment. So it is something like a mental commitment, a mental commitments of your own, which has subject, object and action. Its physical representation becomes a sort of object we look at; the subjects are the commitments involved and the essence of the commitment involved is mantra, mantra meaning ‘protection of mind’.

The purpose of Vajrayana is the same as of Mahayana: to become enlightened. Theravada never refers to enlightenment as a goal; 22 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Mahayana refers to enlightenment as goal. Sutra-Mahayana or non- Vajrayana-Mahayana will say the first step is to generate bodhimind and the second step, the contemplation period, will be three countless eons. Vajrayana sees that as too long and wants to have something quick, as short as a lifetime. That is why Vajrayana is also called the quick path, the swift path. But the more quick it is, the more dangerous it is, too! You need not to worry; it is like flying by plane; quick but more dangerous. Whatever yana it may be, taking refuge to an enlightened being is the basic Buddhist norm. Commit- ting yourself to taking the actions of the six perfections is the Ma- hayana norm. Now you have a rough idea of what Vajrayana is and you know that Vajrayana is part of Mahayana, and that there is non-Vajrayana Mahayana, which will not talk about a separate atmosphere. This, I hope, is reasonable to get the message of the three yanas across.

GENERATING BODHIMIND By practicing generosity and the other positive actions my I attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. This is generation of the bodhimind in combination with dedication. The word bodhimind may be Greek to you. I have to explain it a little bit, because this is basically a Vajrayana practice and Vajra- yana practices, again, rely on wisdom and compassion. Bodhimind really means compassion, unlimited compassion. The moment you use the word compassion, I am not sure what picture you people get in your head or heart. It is a nice juicy word and people like it a lot. Everybody likes to be associated with it. Nobody will run away from compassion, everybody likes to identify with being a compassionate person. Is there anybody here who doesn’t identify him- or herself with compassion or kindness? I don’t see a single hand up, so everybody does. Is there anybody who says, ‘I am a mean person?’ [One hand goes up.] Congra- tulations! This is interesting. Even in here where we are with about sev- enty people, only one raises her hand, so the others identify themselves with being a kind person. Or they like to be so. Even the one who raises her hand will like to be a kind person, I am quite sure. But the point is, compassion or kindness should not remain a word, Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 23 it should associate with feeling. Compassion and kindness are felt at the heart. That is important. Some people, of course, have a tremendous problem being kind. They try to be kind, they try to be compassionate, but there is a big struggle. These struggles are coming from where? In one way you have an intellectual understanding of compassion being something good, kindness being something good. The intellectual understanding is there, yet your habitual pattern, your way of functioning, your emotional moods, take you a different way. That is why you have this internal pull and push. Almost everybody faces that. One of the problems is that the head says, ‘This is not good, no, no’ and the habitual pattern says, ‘Yeah, yeah’. So you pull yourself apart. Really true. You begin to see and think, ‘I should not do this, I did it nevertheless, how bad I am!’ And then people have sad feelings, cry, do all sorts of things, all because there is a struggle between the personality and the ideology. It is not the personality, it is the habitual way of functioning. From the personality point of view we a wonderful personality; from the habitual point of view we have mean actions. One person was brave enough to say, ‘I am a mean person’; she raises her hand, admits, and we all just keep quiet and laugh. But if you look into yourself, each one of us has mean ways of functioning, each and every single damned person in here has mean ways of doing. That is human nature, and if you don’t have it you are not a human being, you must be a god, or a cow.

As human beings we have both materials in us. Eastern and West- ern, Hindu-Buddhist and Judeo-Christian religions try to reach the inside of the human being. Somehow we have an intellectual understanding of kindness being good and meanness being bad. Also basic human instinct will tell you that you cannot harm others. Ani- mals go and jump and bite, human beings don’t. A basic human instinct tells us to be kind and gentle, but our habitual pattern takes us the other way. That is the struggle everybody goes through, with or without telling others. Some have a big struggle, some have it small, some would like to cry, some would like to yell and scream, some would like to shut themselves off. These are the human ways of re- leasing or relieving it. 24 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Now, what do you do? Think differently. Do not rely on the intellect alone, yet without intellect you can’t lead. So you definitely have to find ways and means of bridging the guts-feeling and the intellectual understanding. Isn’t that funny? There is a gap between our intellectual understanding and our guts-feeling; there is no proper linkage. And when there is no proper linkage you clash, you clash at your own expenses. So you must find a bridge in between. The bridge is the analytical meditation, trying to find out ways and means of how to function. Take for example attachment and compassion. If we don’t like the person, it is difficult to have compassion. If we like the person we are bound to be attached. We have very little capacity to like someone and yet not to be attached. If we like someone, we must have him, ‘He’s mine, mine only, under my control, under my thumb’. This is how we go, our mind takes us that way. So we simply say, ‘I love you’. Right? We can’t say, ‘I like to control you’. True. You know why? If you say, ‘I like to control you’, the other person will run away. So you say, ‘I love you’. But what you really say is, ‘I want you to be mine and mine alone, I would like to dictate you’. The control-issue comes up. And the other side has the same thing. Both want to say, ‘I like to control you’, but both will say, ‘I love you’. In reality they say, ‘I want to control you’. That’s why people fight all the time, keep on fighting each other. The families fight, husband and wife fight, girl-friend and boy-friend fight, children and parents fight; all because, ‘I want to control you, I want to control you’. So what is missing? The missing bridge between them is appreciation. If you appreciate the person and you appreciate yourself, you don’t have to control. You let the person be whatever he or she is, and you be whatever you are. Yet you can have a connection, you can have contact, you can be tied and bound. Appreciation is very important! Between love and affection on the one hand and control and attachment on the other hand there is something called appreciation. Don’t miss that! If you do, you will not have any compassion; you’ll have likes and then you go on to control, ‘I want to guide you, I want to make you right, I want you to do this, this, this, because this is the right way!’ That’s exactly how it goes. Even if it’s coming out of a good motivation, it becomes a control-issue. The other person is also a human being, with Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 25 an own mind, with own intellectual understanding, he has his own desires, his own wishes, and has his own rights too. So, that is the missing piece.

The six paramitas Just taking refuge alone is not enough. It is like saying, ‘Ha, I want to be good, good, good’ and you don’t do anything and then when you do something bad you feel bad. It’s not like that. So what do you do? You do something good. Generosity is one of them; morality is another one; patience is another one; enthusiasm is another one; meditation is another one and the last one is wisdom. These are called the six paramitas or the six perfections. Sometimes you find there are ten perfections; which means these six and four more on top. Basi- cally these perfections are meant to change the individual, to change the individual habitual way of functioning. If we look into our characteristics, our usual thinking, we have a problem of sharing things with people, because we want everything to be mine. We talked last night about me and my, our superiority and all these type of things that give problems5. In order to overcome that you practice generosity. Generosity itself also has generosity of generosity, morality of generosity, generosity of patience, generosity of enthusiasm, generosity of meditation and generosity of wisdom. All six paramitas work that way. Sharing itself is generosity of generosity. It doesn’t have to be money or wealth only; giving dharma or giving guidance is generosity, giving protection is generosity, protecting an animal, protecting the environment, protecting sick people, all these are generosity of generosity. Doing it constantly without getting corrupted is the morality of generosity. The moment it gets corrupted, you lose the morality of generosity. That gives you an idea what we talk about when we talk about morality. We may not be talking here about morality the way it has been emphasized in the Judeo-Christian tradition; when we talk about morality here it means honesty, straightforwardness, keeping your own commitments honoring your vows. I am talking now about morality on the basis of generosity. When you are giving protection constantly and you constantly try to help, you will be having patience. Taking care of someone very patiently is patience of generosity. We do have difficulties with 26 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma that, everybody does. When people who have been generous on something, and have to go on constantly doing that, they get fed up. And people who are working for the benefit of others, like in or- ganizations like this, get tired and lose their patience. Whatever the reason might be; it is lack of patience of generosity. Enthusiasm of generosity. Losing enthusiasm is almost the same as losing patience. Losing enthusiasm is, ‘Well, I got to do it, but I may not do it, maybe I let it go, maybe I’ll do it tomorrow’ and that tomorrow never comes. The laziness that takes over is weakening the generosity of whatever you do, whether sharing time, or giving guidance, or working for. That is lack of enthusiasm of generosity. Meditation of generosity of is thinking about it, planning, working, making sure it will benefit best, thinking what you can do best; it is concentration. And the wisdom of generosity one part on the basis of self and the other part on the basis of others. On the self part of it you analyze: what is the reality of generosity? What are the aspects of generosity? What is the result of generosity? How will it benefit others and how will it benefit me? This is the wisdom of generosity or the generosity of wisdom of looking into yourself. And the wisdom of generosity of looking towards others is: is this particular generosity going to be suitable for this particular person or not? For example, what is the generosity of a chocolate to a diabetic or whiskey to an alcoholic. You see, even though you committed yourself to be very generous and sharing, you have to say no in certain areas. That is how the wisdom of generosity works.

Basically these six perfections make every single damned thing you do, perfect. If you do those sort of things, what happens? Our habitual way of working will change. Our basic habitual way is negative, actually. We do it because we are so used to it; it is like an ad- diction. An addicted drug-user has to have his drugs, he can’t live without. And addicted alcoholic has to have alcohol, otherwise he’ll shake; addicted coffee-drinkers have to have coffee, otherwise they can’t wake up, get a headache. We do have these negative patterns; it’s nothing bad, it is the way it is. When you put in a little discipline and you work with these six different frameworks, it will make a change to every functioning in your daily life. Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 27

You need to know one thing: you can not leave the six perfections over-there somewhere and say, ‘Oh yes, this is generosity, that’s morality, that’s patience, that’s enthusiasm, that’s meditation, that’s wisdom’. If that is there and I am here, there is a big gap. it is a problem, it doesn’t affect me, it is almost like visiting a museum. If you take these perfections, don’t leave them in the museum, put them into your own life. How does it affect me? Then it becomes a living tradition, it will work and make a difference to you.

Buddhist teachings are not meant to be looked at, they are for looking in. Looking in means, again: with every single thing you do, you try to have those paramitas with you. For example, if you give a little time, the time you give is generosity; if the time you give has discipline, it will be morality; if during the time you give you don’t get fed up but try to work with patience, it is time-sharing patience; if the time you share, you share enthusiastically rather than ‘I have to be here’ is time-sharing enthusiasm; focusing on your responsibility at the time given is concentration; and thinking and analyzing, making best use of it, making the right decision, making the right selec- tion, is wisdom. Is this enough example to have the six perfections within your life? If not I can give you more. I can give them on food, I can give them on drink, I can give them on going to toilet; really true, I am not joking. Think about it; there are even six perfections in going to toilet. In other words: in every part of your life you can bring them together, merge them, blend them. If you blend the six perfections in every part of your life, then in everything you’ll have awareness, you’ll have mindfulness. Everything is in there. The six perfections not necessarily always work the positive way, they can also work the negative way, too. It is a tool; whether you use it in the positive or in the negative way depends on the individual. If you look into the Italian Mafia, how they function, you find the six perfections in there; they have their generosity, they have their morality, they have tremendous discipline; they have their patience, they have their enthusiasm, they think a lot, and they know what to do. You see, in the negative way it can also function. If you apply them they give you a better result, whether positive or negative. That is why the Mafia is always two steps ahead of the police. Here we talk from the positive point of view. 28 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

This is what you do till you become enlightened. The particular wisdom is the wisdom that we talked about last night; and the particular concentration is the concentration on the nature of the mind. That concentration on the nature of the mind will blend with the wisdom and show you the primordial mind. And when you see the primordial mind, the nature of the mind, the wisdom of the mind, it means liberation. And of course enthusiasm, patience, discipline and generosity go with it. So, ‘Whatever big or small, perfect or imperfect [perfections] I have, may I because of that be able to obtain enlightenment’; that is what you think, a sort of combination with praying as well.

Visualization. You visualize Tara in front of you. Don’t visualize Tara as a posture or painting, but as a wonderful woman, with qualities of body and mind, and emotional qualities; and living, not an image or drawing, but actually someone with flesh and bones, ready to talk, or even talking. In reality she is Buddha, she is Dharma, she is Sangha, she is your own spiritual master. With a total idea of relying on, and committing how you’ll work – which is in the way of the six perfections – totally aiming towards enlightenment, you say three times, ‘I take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha until enlightenment. By practicing generosity and other positive actions May I attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings’. That is what you meditate, that’s what you think, that’s what you do. That doesn’t mean you have taken refuge and have become a Buddhist; don’t misunderstand. This is a practice you can do yourself. If you have taken refuge before, if you are already a Buddhist, then for you it is what we in Tibet call ‘the butter on the meat’. which means you already have the meat and now you put butter on top, so it becomes more tasteful. This shows you Tibetans eat meat and butter like you Dutch eat cheese.

PRACTICE OF THE FOUR IMMEASURABLES May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness Now you have said you’re going to practice the perfections till enlightenment, what are you going to do? Here are your aims now: Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 29 may all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. Actually you’re wishing that everybody will not only be happy but also have the causes of happiness. Only being happy is a temporary happiness, it goes away, it is change, everlasting change, impermanence. You need the causes of happiness in order to have everlasting happiness. Just being happy will be changed by the next mood. Getting the causes of happiness means that happiness can go the long way. That is my aim. So what am I going to do? I am going to bring last- ing happiness to all beings. When people say to each other, ‘I love you’ it really should be expressing, ‘I want to give you happiness and the causes of happiness’ rather than, ‘I like to control you’. When you love somebody you care for that person. What does caring mean? Making the other one happy, whatever that happiness might be, not necessarily my interpretation of happiness. This is a basic problem in the Western society. Parents have a projection of happiness and the kids have a separate projection of happiness. The parents try to bring their projection onto the kids, in the name of training, in the name of guidance, in the name of trying to shape a good personality, whatever excuse you may use. Actually what you are really doing is trying to put your projection of happiness on the other one. All parents really do care a lot for their children. It’s not that they don’t. When I say children, don’t think of five, six or ten years old children. I’m thinking of teenage kids and twenty year olds, even thirty year olds… I am not talking about three or four years old ones; whatever you tell them, they will do. The young ones don’t have much choice, at the most they can bite you or break something, which actually is their expression of dis- pleasure. But you may take that as a revolt and you do something more, and then you have a big ‘war’ going on.

The day before I came here, we had a three days Tibetan art festival in Ann Arbor, where I saw a friend. They have a little kid and I saw mother and kid battling. She did not agree with what he wanted and he was not agreeing with what she wanted. The boy was ten or eleven. I saw them going in the corner of somewhere and behind the window curtain a big fight between mother and kid went on, a big war. I saw the kid looking out of the window and not turning around for two hours. Then she turned the kid around, he turned 30 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma back, she turned him and he turned back and... This is just an example. With the elder ones, the teenagers, you can’t do that; their rebel- lion will be more strong and then you have a problem. It is one thing to teach what is good and what is bad, and it is another thing to pay attention to their likes and dislikes. I am sure it is very hard and I think it needs a little wisdom.

Happiness is such a thing that my happiness, where I’m looking, might not necessarily be where you look. You have a projection of happiness, but at the same time you also have to know who is more important, yourself or the person you care for. That is love. It goes between boyfriend and girlfriend, between husband and wife, between the families, I think it goes everywhere, between colleagues, between friends, and between dharma-sisters and -brothers. Caring is so important! Caring for what? You may think something is great but the other one may think it is horrible. So ‘May all beings be happy and have the causes of happiness’ is really a relative statement. There also is ultimate happiness. The ultimate happiness is something that, when experienced, everybody will like, nobody will reject. No one will say it is no good. That is what in Sanskrit is called prajna, wisdom. What is prajna? The definition is: something that can not be contradicted by direct experience. Addicted people, those who are smoking and those who are drinking, enjoy that, but what they refer to as happiness actually is a kick. That ‘happiness’ will directly be contradicted, even by your own mind; even you yourself know it is not good for you. It directly contradicts you, that is why that happiness is not prajna-happiness. Ultimate happiness no direct mind will contradict. When the direct mind contradicts it you lose your point. Did you get it or is it too philosophical? Some people got it, some don’t.

There is a traditional very famous example, called ‘the multicolored rope’. There is not so much light and you see it from a distance. You say, ‘Oh, there is a snake!’ You see it as a snake, you label it as a snake, then it almost becomes a snake to you and you get scared, you don’t want to go nearby, you don’t want to step over it, you don’t want it to bite you. We do that all the time, right? But then Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 31 you go there and you really see that it is not a snake, but a rope. You touch it, you shake it, you pull it till you are fully satisfied that it is a rope, and not a snake. The earlier mind projecting that as a snake has at that time disappeared, is no longer there. So the base you called a snake has been totally refuted by your direct perception. When after that anybody else tells you it is a snake, even though they insist you know it is not. That is called prajna-wisdom. It is wisdom with understanding ground, which holds on stable and which the direct mind can not refute. May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering At the ultimate enlightened level there is true happiness, true joy. When true joy is there you want to wish that those you care for and everybody may experience that true joy. In order to experience that true joy one has to be free from suffering. That is where the compassion comes in; compassion wants to make them free. Get it? Love makes them happy, compassion makes them free from pain; that’s the difference. It is one mind with two aspects: love on the one side and compassion on the other side. The text says, ‘May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering’. Not just the word, but also the feeling of it you need. Let’s put it this way. Both compassion and love are focused on a being, wanting the person to be happy and free of suffering. The feeling is different; compassion feels the pain that the person is going through, and having that understanding, has the desire to make him free of it. Get it? In love as well as in compassion and particularly in compassion the feeling is absolutely important! What the mind of compassion is and what it thinks is one thing; but how the individual feels is another thing. Compassion must have feeling; if you don’t feel it, it becomes lip-service, as good as the talk of a parrot: when you give him nuts they parrot will say whatever you teach him, but it doesn’t mean anything. The feeling of compassion you need is the feeling of the pain that the person experiences, the unbearable condition. Let us look at ourselves. Say we’re watching the street, a car comes by and a dog is run over. The dog is wounded, but the lower part only, not the upper part; so the dog knows exactly what’s going on. The dog is experiencing the pain; yet at the same time it wants 32 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma to move the body away from the street; so the upper part of the body is pulling the lower part of the body, trying to get it off the road. It is shaking, it is afraid of being hit by another car, and it is experiencing pain, it is wounded, blood is dripping. When you look at it, what do you feel? Now, if that being on the street is not a dog, but a human being, then how do we feel? If it is not only a human being but a human being we know, then how much will we feel? If not only somebody we know but our family-member, then how much will we feel? And if not only a family-member but even yourself, how much will you feel? This feeling represents the intensity of the compassion. Strong or weak, good or bad, is judged according to the feeling, not according to the understanding. This is not knowledge, this is feeling. That is what compassion means. And when you don’t have that feeling, it is a parrot-compassion; the parrot saying, ‘I like you, I love you, I care for you’. Sad.

Visualization. You visualize the people that you care for, people that are close to you. Don’t think of all beings from the beginning, though you say it. It weakens. Love must be developed with the persons that you care about, compassion must develop with the persons that you care about and with yourself. Like the Americans say: charity begins at home. So you meditate love and compassion on yourself, your family and the persons that you care. That is where you begin. And then expand it. Do not visualize all beings from the beginning! Though every book, every teacher including myself will tell you that you are leading all sentient beings, that all sentient beings surround you and you pray all this, do not do it! It will be nameless, faceless dots that we label as all sentient beings. These nameless, faceless dots will listen to whatever you tell them, but one day you are not going to deal with nameless, faceless dots, you’ll have to deal with persons with a name and a face, who have feelings and will say, ‘Oh no, I don’t want it that way’. So what are you going to do? Freak out, saying, ‘You’re not supposed to say that, you are suppose to do this way!’? This is a problem more faced by senior practitioners than by begin- ners. We do have a lot of senior Buddhist people who became very learned and good, but at the same time very righteous, ‘This is the way it should be, you can’t do it that way’, very arrogant. That is be- Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 33 cause of this problem. Your meditation is based on nameless, faceless dots, so whenever a name and a face says something back, you freak out. It is good to begin with a name and a face, begin with a person that you care about, your own children, your own boyfriend or girlfriend or your parents. That last suggestion may be a problem, it depends. You have to be your own judge in this. May all beings never be parted from joy Not only you think: may they be happy, but: may they also remain in joy, not only being comfortable but really enjoying. In this case it is ‘joy that never knows suffering’, meaning going beyond being comfortable, really enjoying it. May all beings experience equanimity The question of equanimity is very big. It is actually dealing with wisdom. Basically you can think of not too righteous and not too much of wrongness, equally balanced. The bottom-line is: not everything can be right; we keep on making mistakes. If we wouldn’t make mistakes we would be perfect. We’re not perfect, therefore we keep on making mistakes. When you make a mistake you have to have understanding, you can’t be hard on yourself, you can’t be hard on others who make mistakes. You get it? There are right and there are wrong things, but you have to know that it cannot always be right. It is all right for people to make mistakes, it is natural; it is all right that your friend gets sick, it is all right that people die. I am particularly referring to the doctors, who may think when people die, ‘I am a failure, I failed because the person died’. People die, it is all right they die, they did not die because of you. And parents get sick, it is okay they get sick; children get sick, it is okay they get sick. That is the point of balancing It is not so much equanimity – though that word is used – it is more a point of balance. It is okay if people have difficulties, it is okay if your girlfriend has emotional difficulties; it is okay your boyfriend has emotional difficulties. Really true. That is called understanding. People sometimes say, ‘Oh, she always has a problem, well, bye bye’. It is the suffering of the world, it is there. It is okay to have emotional problems, it is okay to get sick, it is okay to die, but at the same time we are understanding it. That is the beginning of, 34 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

‘May all beings experience equanimity’. Equanimity goes way beyond that, but this is the beginning of it.

At all these thoughts, you draw a little conclusion. The conclusion for the first immeasurable thought is expressing the caring; for the second it is expressing the feeling of pain, going over it and wishing to make them free from it; for the third it is expressing and bringing joy; for the fourth it is expressing understanding. With this idea you say three times, ‘May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all beings never parted from joy. May all beings experience equanimity’. That is what you say and that is what you meditate This is what you can do all the time, whenever you have time, in your house, in a parking-house while waiting for somebody, standing at the bus waiting for the bus to come, in the grocery-store waiting in the line. Think about it, feel about it, focus on your companion, children, family-members and then gradually expand it. And then sometimes even nameless, faceless dots will fill the space too.

GENERATION OF WHITE TARA

OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHAH SARVADHARMAH SVABHAVA SHUDDHO HAM Nature empty, everything’s pure, naturally pure, that’s what I am! This is the mantra of reality. Translated it becomes: all is empty. That means every phenomenon that you see, yourself and the things that you deal with are empty of self-existence. Up to here you had the object of refuge, in this case White Tara, in front of you. You either can here dissolve the object of refuge or you can leave the object of refuge there and dissolve yourself and all others into emptiness.

The whole idea of dissolving into emptiness is to recreate. In order to recreate you need to touch the original source. The original source means the true reality, which, again, means the fundamental principle of where things have come from, the fundamental principle of how things have existence. We may use the word true reality, but the understanding we should really get is: the nature of the source somehow deep-down. Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 35

Basically when you say the mantra OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHAH SARVADHARMAH SVABHAVA SHUDDHO HAM, meaning ‘all is empty’, the person can go back to the nature of reality in a process that I am not going to talk about because it is not the right thing to be in here. In the normal Vajrayana teachings we explain the way to come to ‘all is empty’, how even the consciousness itself reaches to the subtle level. Death is one of the very strong and an extremely important example, of impermanence, of changing which is part of reality. Those who do not have a Vajrayana background, may not really understand that much here. The moment you say ‘all is empty’, it doesn’t mean it is not there. It means to really touch deep down in the personality, arriving at a very great spaciousness, where you really can have room for everything, in which everything can disappear and in which everything can function. Something like that is ‘the nature of reality’, touching deep down.

From here people who have a maha-anutara-yoga tantra initiation can meditate themselves in the form of a yidam, here Tara. Those of you who did not have such initiations, cannot meditate themselves in the form of a yidam; you meditate Tara in front of you. I am going to talk from now on the basis of the majority, that is the non- Vajrayana practitioners.

Visualization. Wherever you are going to meditate, [on the basis of yourself or in front of you]6, that area has to dissolve into the nature of reality. All becomes empty. You think that there is nothing, that nothing is existing, it is like space, huge, with nothing, no house, no buildings, nothing. As a simple visualization you can use just space- like empty, the physical world and everything gone, not there.

Now what do you raise out of this emptiness? Within the sphere of emptiness appears a white lotus. The moment you say this, suddenly in that open space [in front of you] appears a huge, wonderful, white lotus. Everybody knows what a lotus-flower is. Don’t think of a single, small, tiny, weak flower of a normal size. It is a huge thousand-petaled lotus, crispy fresh. Above it is a moon disc... 36 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

At the center of the lotus is a flat moon-disc, like a CD-disk. When you say ‘moon’ you do not bring down the moon from the sky. In reality you bring in the nice, cooling, gentle, soft and romantic qualities of the moon, in the form of a flat – not thin! – moon-disc. In Tibetan Buddhism you very often find the question of sun-disc and moon-disc or -cushion. I don’t think they are sitting on the celestial body sun or moon. The moon represents compassion, bodhimind. So there is a message behind it. Why they use the moon? Because of its cooling effect7, its softness and gentleness. The gentle cooling effect represents Tara’s compassion; she is compassion-oriented.

What do lotus and moon together mean? The lotus means purity and it represents the wisdom; the moons means compassion. So even at the cushion-level you have the combination of wisdom and compassion, together. … and upon that, the love and compassion of the enlightened appears as the seed syllable TAM This is telling what in reality Tara is. Tara is nothing other than love and compassion. Tara is also known as the goddess or the embodiment of the activities of the enlightened beings. What is the activity of the enlightened beings? The compassion-oriented work they do. How they do it? They act from their very wisdom nature. That is how the activity of the enlightened beings is a combination of wisdom and compassion.

Vajrayana works a lot with symbolism. The symbol we have here is the seed-syllable TAM. You find here an English equivalent of the Tibetan letter TAM. When the original seed syllables were translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan, a Tibetan letter-form came out. As one cannot use all the time Tibetan letters in roman-lettered areas, we tried to work out how the TAM could best be translated into Eng- lish. It had to be one character. For the TA we took the small t with the flat part of the capital T on top. Above that you have a crescent moon and on top of that a zero, which is the M. Everywhere M is MA, which is mother and represents the source [of being]; therefore M, represented by a zero, is the symbol of reality. On top you have a squiggle or nada. For every part of the letter there are reasons. Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 37

The whole idea is to have a seed-syllable which you can visualize [and work with]. It has to be one character. If you don’t like it and you just want to visualize the letters T-A-M go ahead, doesn’t matter, but it won’t be a seed-syllable. Light radiates from the TAM, and transforms and purifies the environment and its inhabitants.... This is the Vajrayana way: you produce, you reduce, you produce, you reduce. That corresponds with our life: we are born, we die, we are born, we die; that is what it is. And it is more than that: the process of creating and dissolving is the actual process through which we process the emotions. In Vajrayana there is a lot of talk about transforming, like transforming anger into something, transforming jealousy into something. That is not a magician’s way of transforming, simply turning things round; it is a process of transformation. The process of transformation is nothing but the process of creation and dissolution, dissolving and creating. What happens is, you come in, you touch reality and you come out slightly different. It is not necessarily better; it can be better or it can be worse, that is our own responsibility. The process is: taking birth, dying, taking rebirth, dying; transforming really is going through this process. We don’t talk about that process here, but that is what it is. This is not just changing the reality, but changing it for the better. In this first transformation it is not the letter TAM itself that transforms; light goes out from the TAM and whatever the light touches – whether beings or environment – gets transformed and becomes purified. That is the activity of the light coming from the seed-syllable TAM. This is a mental exercise. The light makes offerings to the enlightened, gathers their blessings, and dissolves back. Also the light brings offerings to the enlightened beings, to those who are already purely transformed. There it gathers their blessings and then dissolves back into the letter TAM. I don’t know what kind of understanding you have of the word blessings. If you think of some meaningless and feelingless yet accepted concept, you’re getting the wrong picture, which is of no 38 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma use. Blessing is nothing else than the basis on which miracles can work. It is a miracle if we are able to overcome our anger, our attachment, any other negativities or our restlessness. That’s how blessing works. A great blessing becomes a miracle, a second class blessing can provide the basis on which miracles can work, a third class blessings provides at least positivity to the individual. What is really collected of all enlightened beings, is: their love, their kindness and compassion, and their capability to connect me to my positive karma so that its results can effect me. Providing the conditions within me is really what collecting blessings means. Ac- tually blessings are providing the missing piece between our effort and the materialization of the effort. That is how sometimes you get a better understanding, or a better feeling, or a better effectiveness in life. I’m sure in Pabongka’s Liberation in the Palm of your Hand Tsongkhapa is quoted8, saying: When you try to practice but you don’t feel like doing it, when you force yourself but nothing happens, when you try to remember but you don’t remember anything, when you try to listen, but you don’t understand, when you meditate but nothing is developing, then what do you do? Rely on the missing piece, the blessings. Blessings have a purpose, blessings have feeling, blessings are real. That is why I say it is the missing piece.

All that I’m telling you just now, you can visualize and practice. You don’t have to read or do the practice every day. Whenever you do this practice, all this is there. I am giving you the material to work with it. The TAM transforms into the Noble Wishfulfilling Tarema. Now the TAM itself transforms. What does it become? It becomes the noble wish-fulfilling Tarema. The ‘ma’ indicates the female principle. Here I don’t need to explain much. The TAM transforms and becomes Tara, which you can visualize like ‘turn-around’ or whatever you want to. She sits on a lotus and moon cushion, with a luminous moon halo at her back. Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 39

Now Tara is described9. The moon halo is not at her back, it is around her body. She has seven eyes. Three in the face, two in the palms of the hands and two on the sole of the feet. The body of Tara we don’t have to explain, she is beautiful enough. And you don’t have to think of Tara as an oriental girl; she is everywhere, so she changes [according to the people’s culture]. During Buddha’s lifetime somebody made a drawing of a bodhisattva and asked Buddha, ‘What should he look like?’ Buddha said, ‘Go down to the market, look for the most beautiful person and draw that face’. This is the principle in Buddhist art, that is how the artists draw the images. When the artist is a Tibetan, certain measurements are made and that will give a Tibetan face. Indian artists have measurements that will give an Indian face, Chinese artists draw Chinese faces and I hope Western artists will draw Western faces. They have to. The Tara picture you see on this book is drawn by a Scandinavian lady. She wanted to draw a thangka of Tara for me and I insisted it would have a Western face. After a long negotiation we came to the settlement of a Middle-eastern, Armenian, face. So when you visualize don’t search for an oriental face. Her hair is long, down to the waist. She sits with crossed legs. She has all the signs of an enlightened being. Her right hand gestures an invitation to those fortunate ones who seek liberation. This mudra is actually an invitation. That is the interpretation of this gesture, normally called ‘the supreme mudra of giving’. The First Dalai Lama says in his prayer to Green Tara: Homage to she whose delicate right hand Like a turquoise tree spreading its branches, Stretches into the mudra Supreme Generosity, As though inviting sages to a festival of supreme siddhi. A Crown Ornament for the Wise; a praise of Green Tara, vs 5. It is an invitation to the wise, the learned ones, the fortunate ones, to all of us; if we can accept it. It is an invitation from Tara to come and share the great quality of supreme joy. Here it is called festival of supreme siddhi; in other words the mudra is giving you an invitation to 40 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma join the great achievements of the enlightened beings. If you like Tara and you want to work with Tara, you need to know all this. The right hand invites and gives. The left hand shows what she gives. Her left hand indicates the Three Jewels, giving courage and assurance to those who are dominated by fears, entreating them: Unburden yourself and rely on me. The left hand is in the protection mudra. It points with three fingers. The three fingers indicate to those who are afraid, those who are under a tremendous pressure of fear, ‘Do not be afraid, I have a method here to protect you, join with me.’ The three fingers represent the three jewels, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, the three protectors, protecting you from whatever you are afraid of, in particularly protecting you from fears like the eight nightmares of the spiritual practitioner. ‘Rely on’ refers to the protection; ‘me’ refers to the three jewels. The First Dalai Lama says: Homage to she whose left hand is in the mudra bestowing refuge, Which, symbolizing the Three Jewels, seems to call out: ‘O you who see a hundred terrors, fear not, For I will quickly protect you.’ A Crown Ornament for the Wise; a praise of Green Tara, vs 6. Tara is resplendent in exquisite beauty. The meaning here is that you should not visualize Tara a an ordinary nice and wonderful being, but more than that, in exquisite beauty, whatever you want to project on that. The First Dalai Lama says about the beauty of Tara’s body Homage to she adorned with ornaments That embody each and every beauty Of celestial wish-fulfilling gems Made by the craftsmen Merit and Wisdom. Like an emerald mountain clothed in rainbows The upper part of her body is draped in celestial silks And a panchalika skirt hugs her thin, supple waist; To her I bow down. Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 41

The consorts of Vishnu, Indra and Ishvara And thousands of other enchanting, immortal goddesses, Must compete in beauty merely with your servants; To the form of the exquisite goddess I bow down A Crown Ornament for the Wise; a praise of Green Tara, vs 9, 10, 13. These verses show you the beauty, the quality and the measurement of beauty of Tara’s body. Even her jewel ornaments are not ordinary jewels; when you collect all the wealth of the gods, even then you can’t compare it. The well-known Hindu-Buddhist mythological gods are form the beauty point of view not suitable to even be Tara’s attendants. Tara is a perfect, wonderful, youthful, young woman that is a buddha. She is always sixteen, never gets older; she refuses to get older, therefore she remains sixteen. So does Manjushri. Manjushri is another one that refuses to get older, he is an always sixteen-year old boy. She holds an utpala flower, reminding us not to be satisfied with worldly happiness, but to aspire to the perfect joy of liberation. The flower that Tara carries is an utpala, not a lotus, like people think. You don’t have utpala flowers here. It is a very funny little flower. It occasionally blooms at the back of Drepung monastery, 18,000 feet high in the midst of the rocks. When you go up the mountain behind Drepung monastery, you are told to keep completely quiet and when you walk quietly around in the midst of these rocks all of a sudden in a little corner you see this beautiful little flower. I wanted to pick one and take it to the monastery, but they said, ‘Don’t do that, it doesn’t work’. His Holiness said he took it a number of times from the mountaintops, but whenever you come down it dies, because of the altitude. It is a very fresh and crispy high-altitude cold-air flower, growing in the midst of the rocks. The flower is drawn as three flowers on one branch. The central flower is in full bloom, one is at the fruit-level and the third one is a bud about to open. They represent past, present and future.

This is basically Tara’s body. Also, what is not mentioned here, is that she wears a beautiful silk dress, which is not supposed to touch 42 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma the body; it is at a little distance. She is youthful, a completely beautiful female body, decorated with a lot of jewel ornaments. Artists that draw fewer jewels on Tara’s body are said to get financial difficulties. That is why in earlier drawings she is fully covered with jewels so that you can’t even see the body, which is also not very nice. So the meditator should meditate her with a lot of jewels, which makes it easier to pay our bills (joke). The First Dalai Lama says: Homage to she with hands adorned with blue lotus flowers That act as an inspiring whip, as though saying: ‘Be not attracted to samsaric pleasures, But enter into the city of great liberation.’ A Crown Ornament for the Wise; a praise of Green Tara, vs 7. The blue lotus-flower here actually is an utpala-flower, so wonderful that you can’t let it go. When you can’t let it go you got to work. So it’s like a whip. But instead of hitting it is inspiring; it makes you work for it. It is the whip of enthusiasm. The message over here is, ‘Do not have attachments to the normal samsaric pleasures, what you have as attachment is nothing compared to the supreme joy. Don’t be lazy; don’t you see here is something else? Come and join the great liberation’. Inviting everybody to join her in the supreme joy, is the invitation she makes. She has the syllables OM at the crown, AH at the throat and HUM at the heart. The letters OM AH and HUM are the seed-syllables of body, speech and mind of the enlightened beings.

OM is also known as the jewel-mantra. The reason why it is called so is that one single word or sound is able to express, to combine, to perceive, receive or present every existence. The way and how it works? OM is A-O-M combined into one syllable. The combination of these three represent the union of body, mind and sound. In this English version of the OM you see the M within the O and also within you see [the indication of] a crescent moon, drop and squiggle. This OM again is not a letter; it is a seed-syllable; that is why everything is made in one symbolic character. A seed-syllable means that one character represents the whole seed. Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 43

Body, mind and sound is the basis of every existence. Look anywhere, at any existence. Whether it is a person, a thing or an environment, the first and foremost what is established is the perceiving mind. This mind will look outside and label, and by labeling something we perceive it. That is the reason why a lot of people say that all exists because of our mind and that there is nothing else ex- ternally existing; that whole idea is based on this. There is even a Buddhist philosophical school that gives you that sort of ideas; it is called Chittamatra, ‘Mind-only’ school. OM symbolizes the ability to express everything. And what you are able to express, you’re able to establish. In normal Judeo- Christian terminology we say God is everywhere, don’t we? I don’t know the reason why they say that, but I do understand how from the Buddhist background you can say God is everywhere; it is because of this reason [the mind being the basis of everything]. We buddhists say that on our ordinary level the energy we use and the mind we have, function together. But the body we have and the mind we have can function separately. There is a very strong connection, but they can function separately. However, when you reach a certain very high level, enlightenment, you have gone beyond the separation. That means that body and mind have become a union. Normally they talk about the problem of dualism, but when body and mind become a union, oneness, you go beyond dualism; there is no separation, they have become oneness. When they have become oneness, the frequency on which they function changes; not only the frequency changes, but on that level the body is mind and the mind is body. That is why whatever the mind knows the body knows and whatever the body knows the mind knows. The enlightened mind knows everything so the body is there too because it is perceiving. That is how that body and mind become pervasive, and that is why it is everywhere. That is from the Buddhist point of view saying God is everywhere. The OM expresses that; that is why it is called jewel- mantra. On the forehead of Tara it represents all the bodies of the enlightened beings.

AH represents the sound. AH is the source of all sounds. If you don’t know how to say ‘ah’ you can’t make any sound.

AH comes from the abdomen rather than from the throat. AH has neither growth nor death. AH cannot say or express any- 44 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma thing by itself. You cannot say a word without AH but AH alone cannot express anything. On the other hand AH makes everything clear: without ‘a’ you cannot say ‘ma’, without ‘a’ you cannot say ‘o’ or ‘u’ or ‘e’, so every single word is made clear by ‘a’. That is the reason why the seed-syllable AH represents the sound.

At her heart is the seed-syllable HUNG. In the English version you have a small-letter H, a letter U, a head of the letter, and a crescent moon, sun and squiggle on top. Why do we make the HUNG this way? Because like in the Tibetan letter HUNG you need six parts [for the Vajrayana practice]: U, HA, HA-head, moon, sun and squiggle. Those parts correspond in your visualization to the dissolving stages of the dying process, which has eight stages: the dissolution of the environment, the dissolution of the body and then dissolving the seed-syllable in six stages. These are the eight stages of how human beings disconnect their consciousness from the body. HUNG or HUM. In writing it is HUM, Tibetans pronounce it as HUNG; in the West you find it written both ways.

About union. HUNG is union, again. Earlier, when discussing the OM we talked about the union of body and mind. Now let’s talk about a different union, the union of primordial mind and subtle body. Those of you who are in Vajrayana, have to pick up things like this sometimes; it may not necessarily be consistently taught in the Va- jrayana teachings. Normally people talk about primordial mind, clear light and so on, but if you really look very carefully the primordial mind is not different from the mother-like clear light. When you refer to primordial mind you refer to the actual source or origin of mind, the basis of pure mind or pure mind itself, which is inseparable from the big mother-like clear light. When an individual dies, the dying mind becomes a very subtle mind. That extreme subtle mind, free of all created mental faculties or emotional effects, you actually encounter at the death stage. Some people think that is the real nature of mind, but I don’t think so. That very subtle mind of the individual is in the Buddhist texts referred to as son-like clear light. When that son-like clear light joins the basic mother-like clear light, I believe the primordial mind is Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 45 touched, the real clear light, the pure part of the consciousness or mind or being or soul. This is the ultimate wisdom too. When you say union, that is one part of it. The other part is love-compassion etc, also brought down to a very subtle level. Not only has the love-compassion fully developed and become unlimited and unconditional, but it is further processed and becomes a very subtle level [of love-compassion energy]. That very subtle energy level of understanding, acknowledged by, recognized by, encountering and getting combined with the mother-like clear light is represented by the HUNG. When you normally talk about union, free of dualism, you basically talk about these two kinds of union: the energy- [or body-] and mind union and the subtle-energy and primordial-mind union level. You may simply call it body-and-mind union or method-and- wisdom union, but the message deeper down I think is this. Maybe this is too much of Vajrayana. I am sorry I am probably boring those who are not very much in Vajrayana, but on the other hand, when you come across certain things like this it is also time to share it. So it balances.

INVITING THE WISDOM BEINGS AND EMPOWERING DEITIES

Light radiates from the syllable HUNG, inviting the wisdom beings and the empowering deities. Here is a little complication. At Tara’s heart-level you are supposed to have a letter TAM. So where do you put the TAM and where do you put the HUNG? Sometimes the HUNG is visualized inside the drop of the TAM and sometimes the other way round, the TAM inside the drop of the HUNG. This is invitation light, an invitation card. You have created a body of Tara in front of you and that body needs a soul. So now you invite the soul from its natural abode, a pure place. The invitation is done by light. It is a light and liquid activity instead of depending on a post- or telegraph service. It is also much faster, it is light speed. The invitation goes out from Tara generated in front of you, rather than from yourself. The light radiates from the seed-syllable HUNG. It goes out infinitely, beyond our imagined seeing, beyond 46 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma our comprehension, going to the pure land Potala, part of [buddha Amitabha’s] Western Paradise and the abode of the actual Yishin Khorlo10. Yishin Khorlo herself, the wisdom-being, and the empowering deities are invited. (Don’t think of Potala in Tibet, that palace has been named after the pure Potala.) What does wisdom-being actually mean? Like we said earlier God is everywhere, Buddha is everywhere, Tara is everywhere. They are there; when you create the base, they are there. But to satisfy our rational mind we invite them. We here think we invite them from their pure land or wherever they are residing, their natural abode. In your visualization the light goes and invites them. The wisdom beings unite inseparably with Tara. The real Tara – separate from what you have pictured – comes in and dissolves into the Tara you have pictured in front of you. What you created is called commitment being, what you invite is called wisdom being. The word commitment-being [ Tib. dam tshig] means: the mentally projected base or vessel for the wisdom. Or: a committed relationship between us and the enlightened ones. The way and how it dissolves likens to using a camera with man- ual focusing. When the focus is not right, you sometimes see two pictures. In that manner the wisdom being first comes above your pictured being, then merges with it, then suddenly they fit together and like when your focus is right, you only see oneness. The empowering deities anoint her, confer initiation, and with the overflowing nectar a Buddha of Infinite Life appears on her crown. This is a pure Buddhist ritual, which is not that much relevant to us. It is called abisheka in Sanskrit. The Buddha of Infinite Light, Amitabha, and the Buddha of Infi- nite Life, Amitayus, are two separate buddhas as well as one buddha. In reality they are one, but they are pictured in different aspects. When pictured with a begging bowl it is buddha Amitabha, when pictured with a life pot it is buddha Amitayus11. All buddhas are in reality one, but particularly these two are very interchangeable. The First Dalai Lama says: Homage to she who can conquer the Lord of Death; For by Buddha Amitabha, radiant as a ruby, is she crowned; Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 47

His hands, in the meditation posture, bear a bowl of ambrosia To bestow the siddhi of immortality. A Crown Ornament for the Wise; a praise of Green Tara, vs 8 Though the buddha on the crown of Tara is called here buddha Amitabha [the buddha of Infinite Light], the quality of buddha Amitayus [the buddha of Infinite Life] is explained. It is the same person, expressing a different quality. When you are working with longevity and health buddha Amitabha becomes buddha Amita- yus12.

MANTRA RECITATION, LONGEVITY PRACTICE & HEALING ACTIVITIES

Brilliant light emanates from the syllable TAM within her heart, reaching infinite universes and collecting back the essence of in-exhaustible vitality and the powerful blessings of the wisdom mind. First light goes from the seed-syllable at Tara’s heart and reaches to every existence. It collects your own life and life-energy that somehow has been taken away from you, your health that got weakened, your life-strength that somehow has been overpowered by different spirits or different illnesses, that has been stolen, grabbed or snatched from yourself or that was just lost. All of them are collected back to Tara in the form of white light. This energy streams forth from Tara’s heart and body, and I completely absorb the nectar of light, cleansing and revitalizing my body and mind. Then from Tara the white light and liquid comes and is poured into and showered over us, inside and outside our body. It is in reality our own life-strength, which has been separated from us. The white light and liquid are received by us and fill up our body completely. It overflows the body and all body outside is completely washed. Any obstacles, illnesses, not functioning properly, all of them are purified and rejuvenated and anything external is also washed away from our body completely. Any broken commitments and unhealthiness are purified and you obtain the siddhihood of longevity and health. 48 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

We meditate and say the mantra together. Meditation is one power, mantra is another power, the wisdom in front of you is the third power. It is that three powers: the enlightened power, your own meditation power and the mantra-power, that are now applied together. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE MAMA AYUR PUNYE JNANA PUSHTIM KURU YE SOHA OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA is Tara’s mantra; within that are the words MAMA AYUR PUNYE JNANA PUSHTIM KURU YE. These extra words mean: May my life -referring to yourself as my [mama] - my strength, my energy, my health [all ayur], my luck, merit and my fortune [punye] and my knowledge [jnana] increase [pushtim kuru]. With this in mind we sing the mantra for a while. You say the mantra by mouth [speech-activity], meditate the visualization [mind- activity] and concentrate [body-activity]. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA Explanation of the mantra. I give you a brief meaning of the mantra, because saying the mantra hour after hour without knowing what you are saying, may be a problem, in particular for young persons. Sometimes the young mind can be very bright and wonderful and sometimes the young mind can be very impatient, especially if you are nineteen, you know, the end of the teenage. (I am just joking.) The shorter mantra actually has the same meaning as the longer one. OM, basically A-O-M, the same one we explained earlier, is in this case body, speech and mind of Tara and body, speech and mind of the individual who is saying the mantra. TARE. Tare means or represents ‘the one who liberates from suffering’. This is very interesting. We call this mantra a mantra, but it actually it carries the four Noble Truths13. Tara liberates from suffering and that is the first noble truth: the truth of suffering. TUTTARE means ‘the one who liberates from the eight fears’. That refers not so much to what we usually mean by fears, but to the eight nightmares14 of a spiritual practitioner, which are the emotional states of mind: attachment, anger, jealousy, miserliness, doubt, pride, wrong view and ignorance. Those are called the afflic- tive emotions, I usually call them delusions. They are the causes of Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 49 suffering, which means the second noble truth: the truth of the causes of suffering. TURE means ‘the one who liberates from the illnesses’. There are original or chronic illnesses and temporary physical, mental and emotional illnesses. Liberating from the temporary physical, mental and emotional illnesses is done by the healing activities. The chronic illness is, again, the influence of ignorance, the trouble that creates samsara. Liberating from that is the fourth noble truth: the truth of the path [that leads to the cessation of suffering] You pray to Tara. The name Tara itself means liberation. That refers to the third noble truth: the truth of the cessation of suffering. So these few words give you the total teaching of the Buddha on the basis of the four Noble Truths. It also is the total life-structure of the individual: how the individual keeps running in this circular continuation of life, death, bardo and life again, technically called samsara, how actually you get in into this running, and how you get out. SOHA means ‘lay the foundation’. So: A-O-M represents body- mind-speech of the protector, Tara, and body-mind-speech of ourselves, then you have the name in between, and then you have the SOHA meaning, ‘May you, Tara, put the foundation of your pure body-mind-speech in my body-mind-speech, so that my body will become a pure body like yours, my speech will become pure speech like yours, my mind will become a pure mind like yours’. All this is in the mantra OM TARE UTTARE TURE SOHA. You can also say this in a short praise: TARE MA, Mother who liberates from samsara; TUTTARE, You who liberate from the eight fears; TURE, You who liberate from all sicknesses; To you, the Great Liberating Mother, I prostrate. If you make the practice brief and leave it there, fine. But if you don’t leave it there, you basically have the whole of the path that Buddha shared, in here. The total Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajra- yana are in this mantra: the wisdom is there, the love-compassion is in there. It is not in there as such, but these words are expressing all that. You see, when Tara chose here name, she didn’t simply choose a name because it sounded good. 50 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Tara is in principle the four Noble Truths. That means Tara is buddha, and Tara is dharma. Therefore, talking about a buddha you don’t have to think of a yellow-colored guy in India, or a Tibetan lama.

This shortest practice does not give you the dissolving system at the end. Here you just leave it. When you focus it is there, when you do not focus it is not there. That is how this system works. If there is a little time you can dissolve Tara into light and have the light dissolve into yourself. That is an easy way to do. Some people are worried about not letting Tara go, thinking they keep her for themselves. You don’t have to worry about that, you are not going to tap anybody.

DEDICATION By consistently practicing the path of Noble Tara [Tib. Yishin Khorlo], may I be able to see the signs of premature death and become a vessel worthy of receiving the powerful blessings of immortality. Death is such a thing. According to the Tibetan tradition people normally die because of a number of reasons. It can be through obstacles; that means you may have an original karma of living so and so long, but some obstructions may come up and cut that lifespan short. Sometimes you still have karma to continue living, but your vital energy is so exhausted that you can no longer live. Sometimes some kind of unforeseen accident happens. All those sort of things are called premature death. Some people do get sometimes a signal of death, for example through dreams, through a change of character, through a change of right-left air movement functioning. There can be all types of funny signs; these are called signs of premature death. It means there is a possibility of something happening. For example, they say for me there is a danger this year and that is why a lot of people in the different countries are saying Tara mantras for me. Then follows the dedication: By this virtue Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 51

may I quickly attain the essence of the Noble Tara and secure every being without exception in that state.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS About healing Audience: With healing you are thinking of a long life and health. Wishing someone a good health and a long life is not spiritual. When I want to do the healing for someone else, is there within the healing a possibility to give someone else a spiritual benefit? Rimpoche: A very good question. It depends. What really spirituality is depends on the way and how you look. Some people say longevity and health might not be spiritual. Maybe you are right. Other people say something else; a guy I know thinks that eating brown rice and drinking wheat-juice is spiritual. Spirituality is just a word; it almost has become a buzz-word. And of course we all take refuge under that word. Remember what I said about the word compassion; it is very much the same with the word spiritual, it depends on what you really mean by the word. If you understand spirituality being equal to dharma, then whatever you try to do, to help others, heal them, is dharma work. But can you give dharma with your healing? I don’t think there is a blanket answer for that. I think it depends on the person who is giving the healing. If you have a highly developed Vajrayana level you may have the capability to do something. Some people have the capability of just being present. The Dalai Lama is sometimes referred to as: ‘[the one] just being present’. Such a one becomes worthwhile for your Dharma development. There are a lot of masters that have functioned in that manner, for example the late His Holiness Gyelwa Karmapa. One of his methods was just being there; that’s all. He didn’t really teach much. He used to sit down on his throne and sometimes put his black hat on. That was his way of giving something spiritual. I think it very much depends on the person. If the person is developed, the techniques have come along. I don’t think it is a technique which can be taught, like you learn a meditation technique. When you have the bodhimind within you, then no matter whatever is done you are giv- 52 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma ing others dharmic benefit; not dharmic development but dharmic benefit. It is said in the Bodhisattvacharyavatara: I bow down to the body of him In whom the sacred precious mind is born. I seek refuge in that source of joy Who brings to happiness even those who harm them. Shantideva, The bodhisattva’s way of life I, 36. That means, any connection, even if it is a connection of harming, brings joy. The bodhisattva-mind has that benefits. Bodhisattvas have a special way of functioning. So if you are a healer and you are a bodhisattva, it makes a hell of a difference.

Audience: I’m a therapist; if I treat people how can I apply this healing practice? Rimpoche: You do the practice in the morning before you go and then that is okay for the whole day. And then, if you want, during the day you can say straight-away the mantra before treating people. But don’t do it while you are treating people, some people may think you are doing black magic. Recently I did a death-and-dying workshop in New York. A lot of health-care professionals were there, doctors and nurses from hospitals and hospice-people. They said we would like to do this and that but we can’t do it in the hospital and also the family will object, not feel comfortable with a Buddhist practice. So you really have to be very careful with this. What you do in your home is your free choice; after that do whatever you do mentally. In the case of holistic practices it usually is a little easier, because they have their own practice at home, but when you work in institutions you have to be careful. Creating difficulties does not serve any purpose; it is neither going to bring benefit to yourself nor the other one. There is another way of doing it, without carrying a mala and mumbling mantras; you can do a lot from your heart, and that is what you have to do, I think.

About Hinayana-Mahayana-Nirvana Audience: (about having reached nirvana.) Rimpoche: There are two points. Theravada will say you become and arhat and that is the end of it; as long as you still have your body Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 53 you remain here, the moment your body is gone you are gone [no rebirth]; A Theravada sutra divides nirvana into two kinds: nirvana with left-over and nirvana without left-over. With left-over means that as long as you have this physical body, which is part of the first noble truth being suffering, you have nirvana with left-over [suffering]; one day, when you die after you had become an arhat, you lose your physical part too and that is the end of everything, like a candle- light blown out; the wax has melted and the wick has been burned down, nothing left. The sutra says: When there is no collection left, even the consciousness has left. That is the Theravada own view. But Mahayana will say: that is not the end; after that buddhas and bodhisattvas will appear to them and gradually they will enter the Mahayana path; out of the five Mahayana paths they will join at the third path, the path of seeing. Why? Because they already encountered emptiness, therefore they jump in at the third level. Audience: So, Theravada is a delusion? Rimpoche: No, it is not. It has its limitation. Delusion is one thing, limitation is another thing. When you have a limitation it does not mean it is a delusion. Audience: If Hinayana says the end is here at nirvana and you as Mahayana say it goes on, then Hinayana actually does not exist. Rimpoche: Very good thinking! A nice analyzing mind. That is right. You know, each sutra has its own little system. It goes to a certain level and drops there, like every book, play and every movie go to a certain end, happy or sad, where things are left. That does not necessarily mean the story is totally ended, as far as that play or movie is concerned it is ended. You may pick up another part of the story and continue. Saying that you may think: how come, is there another story to be picked up after enlightenment? That is not known to us. But as far as ever presented in eastern and Western religions, the ultimate level is enlightenment. Nobody has shown anything beyond that yet, but who knows?

Audience: Isn’t that a bit sad for those in nirvana? Rimpoche: Sadness and happiness are the sauces in the food of life, sometimes it is Tabasco-sauce, sometimes sweet sauce, sometimes sour, sometimes hot, sometimes bitter. But each one gives us a dif- 54 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma ferent taste to satisfy our senses and sometimes people can not live without.

Audience: It still sounds like a misconception, because if – as the Theravadin say – everything stops at nirvana, even consciousness, what can go on? Rimpoche: We are on a journey, a journey from the present level today to our destination, enlightenment. We go and on the way there is a stop-over; the stop-over is the Theravadin enlightenment level [nirvana]; it is even referred to as ordinary enlightenment. And if you are too tired, you can stay there, the story is too long, a new chapter comes up. When they say the consciousness disappears, you cannot take that literally. The meaning of disappearing here is that you don’t come back with another gross flesh thing. Losing your separate identity is what they refer to, but whether you really lose the separate identity, is again a different question. Here comes the philosophical problem of identifying. Mahayana says we continue, so disappearance of identity is some kind of big openness energy where you merge into, not the absolute top-quality but a sort of mediocre level. How you merge? You become part of it, like a cloud mixing with and into other clouds, or milk mixing with other milk, or water in water; it is there but difficult to point out. From our capacity of consciousness and senses it is hard to separate that, like we do have a problem to separate by hand water from milk. However, a tortoise can separate them and so can machinery. So we can’t say it is misleading, it is a delusion, but it is there.

Explanation of the Prayer to the Noble Tara 55

Amitayus, Buddha of Infinite Life III Offering the Practice of the Seven Limbs

It is not that the enlightened beings need our offerings; the whole idea of making offerings is that it is a act of generosity. Generosity is a perfection; we talked about that.15 The offering is also done for ourselves, to accumulate merit. We make the offerings so that they will be linked up to our good karmic ripening. We make a seven- limbs offering16, appreciating the activities of the great mother Tara, as well as appreciating the activities of all enlightened beings. The point in the prayer to do that is just after having invited the wisdom beings and initiation deities. We’ll use the short form.

1. GIVING RESPECT I bow down in body, speech and mind. You express your appreciation through giving respect by body- gesture. You say, ‘I bow to you’. I bow to you does not really make much sense; the words do not convey the actual meaning of the body-gesture. The bowing gives you the idea of the old Chinese system of bowing or soldiers saluting the generals. Here it is not. The word is in Tibetan chag tsel. Two words. Chag is giving respect; whether you do a long prostration or a short prostration or fold your hands or stand up, it is the bodily expression of appreciation. At the same time there is a message in it, the tsel, ‘I appreciate the qualities you have, I like them and want the same for me. I want those qualities’. This message you cannot give with the Chinese bowing or the saluting system. So bowing here is the expression of admiring the qualities and wanting them. You say, ‘I appreciate the qualities of Tara and all enlightened beings, I express my apprecia- 58 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma tion through mind, through body and I praise through speech, yet at the same time I send my signal, my message, that I admire those qualities and like to have them too’. One of the habitual patterns that we have to change, particularly in the West, is the following. If you like something you immediately want to posses it and consolidate it. But what we do not know is how to appreciate and take the qualities, yet not to control the person. Do you see the gap? That pattern we need to change. This is important to notice. So the first one of the seven limbs is expressing appreciation.

Yesterday we did some verses of a praise to Tara by the First Dalai Lama, A Crown Ornament for the Wise, a praise of Green Tara. We talked about the praise of Tara’s body.17 The next verse praises Tara regarding her speech: From the billowing clouds of your compassion Resounds the thunder of teachings sweet to hear, Seizing disciples in a rain of eight branches; To she the wise in raining [teachings] I bow down. The next verse praises Tara regarding her mind: Ocean-like treasure of qualities who sees all things Who can describe you as you really are? For you unimpeded mind possesses ten powers. To she gone to the end of knowledge I bow down. The next verse is about her compassion: Although having found peace she is moved by compassion And with arms of compassion quickly carried [to peace] The beings sinking into an ocean of misery. To she gone to the end of compassion I bow down. It says: You have obtained enlightenment, yet through your kindness, your compassion for others who are suffering you are active, working, leading them by your hand. That praises her ultimate compassion; her completion of compassion.

The next verse is about her completion of activities: peaceful activities, activities of prosperity, activities of power and wrathful activi-

Offering the Practice of the Seven Limbs 59 ties18. Whatever is needed is always there, like waves of the ocean, always on time. Her activities of pacifying, increasing, overpowering and destroying Like tides of the ocean pause not for a moment But spontaneously roll on in an unbroken flow. To she gone to the end of action I bow down. So the praise done so far was first praising the qualities of the body, the beauty of it. The second praise was the praise of speech, the quality of speech is to be able to express the dharma according to the needs of the person. The third one is the praise for the mind; the work of the mind is to know, to experience, that quality. Then praising the compassion. The essence of compassion is to feel the people’s pain and sufferings and working for them to be free; therefore the praise says, ‘Though you have achieved your own purpose, peace, you didn’t go for picnic, you have been actively working’. The following verse was praising her activities, the essence of activity being peaceful, prosperity, power and wrathful and on top of that being on time.

The next verse praises her capability. What is her capability? To be able to free from the eight great fears, the fears of delusions and the imprints of delusions. Merely by remembering her feet one is protected From the eight terrifying agents and evil ghosts And from terrors such a obstacles to liberation and omniscience; To she gone to the end of power I bow down. Thus: body [Tib. ku,] speech [Tib. sung] and mind [Tib. tuk]; mind being combined with knowledge [kyen], compassion [tze], and capability – these are the qualities of enlightenment. Enlightened beings have a different body, a different speech, a different mind; they have different knowledge, different compassion, a different capability. This is how the First Dalai Lama praises Tara.

2. MAKING OFFERINGS I present offerings both actually arranged and mentally created.

60 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

That very offering is in the different forms of offering: water for the mouth, water for the feet, flowers, incense, light, perfume, food and music; form, sound, smell, taste, touch19.

3. PURIFICATION I purify all deluded actions That is purification, purifying all our negativities. Purifying our negativities is extremely important. It is great that our negativities can be purified. The earlier masters used to say, ‘Negativities have one good quality, they can be purified’. Buddha says you can purify anything, whatever you’ve done. There are millions of different stories of incidents that have taken place where people have been able to purify. It is so important to notice that negativities can be purified. In the West a lot of people may believe that negativities can be purified, but they also think that if you did something wrong, you are stuck with it. So you feel bad and you can do nothing; you try to take that deep inside and you keep a heavy sense of guilt. You cry about it and you bury yourself under it. And a lot of people play a guilt-trip with you, because that is your soft spot. Unfortunately. You can’t do that with me, because I don’t believe in guilt. I will not entertain the word guilt for a second. If people try to play a guilt-trip with me I sit there and laugh. I am not simply saying that, I have a very good reason for it. You can’t really get stuck. You know why not? Because everything is impermanent. The principle of impermanence is such a thing! Everything changes. Every damned thing that we deal with will change. Our face will change, our hair-color will change, our personality will change, the person itself will change, relationships change, even the ‘permanent’ big art- works in town change. This is Buddha’s principle: everything that is created collectively is impermanent. Buddha had four points, called the four Buddhist seals: 1. Every that is created is impermanent; 2. Everything contaminated is suffering. 3. Every phenomenon is in the nature of emptiness 4. Nirvana is peace. So every phenomenon is impermanent. You can’t get stuck with it. That is why I don’t believe in guilt, not even for a minute. But you

Offering the Practice of the Seven Limbs 61 can’t tell that to people who have habitually built up guilt. When they are crying you have to sit with them and try to reason them, try to help them. You can’t just say, ‘There is no guilt, get out of it.’ You can’t say that because it is a human feeling. In the Judeo-Christian tradition there is a word called forgive- ness. Where does that come from? That itself indicates that things can be purified. Purification is very important, because we keep on doing the wrong things. We do it because we are human beings. If we would not make mistakes we would be enlightened beings. We do make mistakes, but the solution is to keep on purifying them. And, please, do not create a heavy load on you by carrying an unnecessary thing called guilt. That is unnecessary, unreasonable, absolutely illogical and very unscientific. From the logical point of view we change all the time. If you don’t think you change, look in he mirror and look into a two years old picture and you’ll see how much you changed. The way and how we approach the world, the way and how we approach our friends, the way and how we approach everything, changes.

Discussion about guilt Audience: Now it sounds to me like guilt is something permanent. Rimpoche: I am not talking about guilt itself, I am talking about the feeling of guilt, ‘I made a mistake, I can’t undo it, I am stuck with it’. Shantideva, a great guy from the seventh century, said, Why be unhappy about something If it can be remedied? And what is the use of being unhappy about something If it cannot be remedied? The Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, .VI, 10 So he says: If there is something to be corrected, why don’t you correct it, what are you crying for? And if there is nothing to correct, why are you worrying and putting an additional burden on yourself? His statement is directed against guilt. To make it short, purification has been given to every part of the world. Even in the Judeo-Christian tradition you do have purification, at least in the catholic church. During Buddha’s lifetime there was a guy, Angulimala, who killed nine hundred and ninety-nine human beings in a short period,

62 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma collected their thumbs and wore them as a necklace. Also he has been purified and became an arhat. This is a true story. Unfortu- nately it did not happen yesterday, but it did happen, two thousand five hundred years ago. Buddha had one advantage, he had all these living incidents that he could show and we, the followers, can’t show something like that. Purification is a little complicated too. It is not just saying, ‘Please, forgive me’. That won’t do; there is a little more to it.

Guilt itself is an emotion. It is not created by religion. Religion might have contributed, religion might have used it. Not only the religion, but we all play guilt-trips: the husband to the wife, the wife to the husband, the parents to the children, the children to the parents. Everybody does it, just to get a little advantage. Even kids say, ‘Mam, you are a good mother, aren’t you? Give me.....’.That itself is a little bit of a guilt trip played by a child. How heavy this emotion is going to be for the individual depends on how good an understanding you have. Guilt itself is neither positive nor negative. It is an emotion. It influences the mind. Whether it has any positive or negative consequences I don’t know, but from the point of view of the emotion itself it is neither positive nor negative.

Audience: Suppose you are driving a car while drunk and you run over a child. The feeling that stays after that we call unbearable guilt. How would you approach that? Rimpoche: I would feel extremely sorry for the kid. I would wish I hadn’t drunk. I would I had not driven the car. What do I feel? It no question that I would have a tremendous regret. At the same time I may have some understanding. I’m visualizing it: I drive a car, hit a kid and run it over, I pull aside, stop and try to save the kid, I try to do whatever. Then I realize it is too late, it is too bad..... What will go on in my mind? Three things come up in my head: a) a tremendous regret; b) fear of the police; c) the karmic consequences. Now what are you going to do? First, what can one do about the regret? The regret is there, but you can not bring the child back. So, if you are not applying dharma things, if you are simply sitting there, only the time can heal. If you apply dharma things you try to help

Offering the Practice of the Seven Limbs 63 the person by doing lots of different things: you dedicate your positive karmas to that person; you perform rituals; you do a lot of generosity activities, being of service, building a temple, building an image, all type of things. From the dharma point of view there is also purification of yourself. Karmic consequences and regret work together, so probably that is how you can take care of that. From the legal point of view the thing will take its own course; we need not discuss that, we know it. Therefore, again, the feeling of guilt as a feeling of being stuck, is not there, because it was heavily substituted by other activities and you try to take care of karmic balancing. That is not a point of bringing the person back, but the karma which you created, will be purified and balanced. So you do whatever you can do, and after a little while you feel, ‘Well, I have done the best I could.’ Feel fully satisfied you did everything; that satisfaction together with the time passing will make the sad feelings to fade. Since something can be done, you don’t feel stuck. And that is why you don’t feel guilt. I don’t think this is much of a religious point; the point of impermanence is the really true point.

Audience: I miss the other people that are involved, like for example the parents of the child. Wouldn’t it be good, also in spiritual sense, to show your regret towards the parents? Rimpoche: Yeah, you have to show regret to the parents; that is a moral obligation. But how much you can really do for the parents, is another issue.

Audience: (discussion continues and shame is brought in] Rimpoche: In Buddhism shame is used as a preventive measure against doing wrong. Buddhism uses two kinds of shame: 1. Being ashamed or embarrassed by means of using others, ‘How can I show my face to the others again if I act this way?’ 2. Using embarrassment within yourself: even though nobody knows what you did, you will be embarrassed with yourself if you act like this. We use shame strongly as a preventive measure, rather than actually making people ashamed. If a member of the family does something wrong, the family feels bad and hits him a little bit, but at the same

64 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma time the individual is much more important than the whole family. Very often you see parents tell with a big voice to a child that never listens, ‘You are now no longer our child’, however they will keep the feeling and connection.

What did spending time talking on guilt, bring us? It helps you to get another view. And that other view is not some crazy person’s thought, it is the view of a person like Buddha who carried this attitude for the last two thousand five hundred years. So it is another window. And as for the karmic consequences, I don’t think Eastern people have different karmic consequences from Western people.

Now let us go back to the job we are supposed to do. You know, I had a teacher in Drepung monastery, who was invited to our house to give a teaching on a certain particular subject. He was going to talk about that subject for ten days. The whole Loseling class, about forty-five people, came together and talked gossip. I had an attendant who used to beat me all the time. He looked very respectful, carried my clothes and things around and when he gave them to me he would underneath pinch me, ‘Behave yourself’. His concern was to make sure that I turned out to be a good one. So, no abuse, but a good intention. However on the third or fourth day he began to poke his head through the door, because he could hear outside what was said inside. And then this teacher said, ‘Let us do some work, otherwise the attendant will come and beat all of us.’ So if we are not going to do our work now the time will beat us all.

The question really rises: Is there any negativity which cannot be purified? Buddha’s answer to that is: No, not at all. He demon- strated this by the story of Angulimala, the man who killed nine hundred ninety nine human beings. He was Buddha’s living proof. After Buddha, throughout the lineage a number of purifications have been done by a number of people. For example, in India Naropa went through a hard time by Tilopa. And the difficulties that Marpa had with Naropa, and Milarepa’s hardship with Marpa are all well-known.

Milarepa. The reason why Milarepa had to go through such a hardship was that he was a black magician before. On insistence of his

Offering the Practice of the Seven Limbs 65 own mother Milarepa got involved in black magic and killed about thirty people. The problem was revenge. His father died early, and instead of leaving his heritage to the mother, he left it to the uncle and aunt in order for them to take care of the kids and the mother. That uncle and aunt took total care! Through this Milarepa and his mother came in great hardship. So the mother wanted revenge. She sent her child to learn all sorts of black magic. Then Milarepa did some kind of black magic and the roof of his uncle’s house collapsed while his uncle’s family was having a marriage. Finally, when the house collapsed, the mother took an old piece of dirty clothing she was wearing, put it on a stick and shouted victory from the roof. This is an old Tibetan nomadic rite, whoever wins a fight puts a flag in top and shouts and screams. She didn’t have any piece of flag to put in top , so she put an old dirty piece of clothing in top and shouted, ‘I have taken revenge!’ Such an action would make the job of the FBI easier. Anyway, Milarepa did a lot of black magic and when he finally regretted what he had done, he wanted to achieve something. He went to see Marpa. Marpa realized that Milarepa needed to be purified from his negativity of killing all these people. Anyway, Milarepa was able to purify it, and today we see Milarepa as one of the greatest masters in the lineage, accepted by all different Tibetan schools, not only by the Kagyu, also by the Nyingma, the Gelug and the Sa- kya tradition. He became a great person even after having killed thirty-four people. He became a great master and a great teacher. So it is always possible to purify; that is my main point.

Purification activities, as cleaning the house, sweeping the floor, cleaning the temple, making offerings, have been done by many great masters until their high ages. In Pabongka’s Liberation in the palm of your hand is mentioned that all the Dalai Lama’s [did so]. Af- ter the Fifth Dalai Lama the Dalai Lama’s were the total head of Tibet, both temporal and spiritual, which means they really had total power over state and church together. If you look to them as spiritual and temporal head it looks very nice and wonderful, but looked at from another way, it was somebody who had all power in hand, of state and the church together. But if you look in the Tibetan government treasure box you find the brooms that were used by each Dalai Lama to sweep the floor. The brooms were wrapped in

66 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma brocade. Thirteen or fourteen Dalai Lama’s did this. A person who has both church and state power doesn’t have to sweep his floor, but the reason why they did it was for purification. Their brooms were so short, used up till the end!

And look at Tibet today. People come from the far east of Tibet all the way to the center of Tibet prostrating on the road. You have seen them in the videos, you have seen them on photo’s in the magazines. Not only they prostrate lengthwise, they do it breath- ways along the road too! Coming all the way from Amdo to the center of Tibet that way, takes three or four or maybe even five years to arrive. And you see a lot of circambulations going on in Lhasa. In front of the temple in Lhasa people are prostrating day and night. The same in Bodh Gaya in India. I thought once of doing one hundred thousand prostrations in Bodh Gaya, but after ten- or fifteen-thousand I stopped.

All of those are for purification. The main point is: what are you trying to purify? Not your body fats. It is not for your diabetics or for your high blood pressure; it is not. Nor is it to wash the body. It is to purify something else. The whole purpose is to try to purify negativity. There must be an ability to purify, because not everybody can be wrong since the time of the Buddha. What do they purify? The negative deeds. You don’t want to purify the positive deeds -you try to build them up- nor are you going to purify neutral things, so what else is left? Therefore negativities can be purified. And if one negativity can be purified the others can be purified also; why not? If one person knows how to speak, other persons know how to speak, unless you are dumb. If one person has rights another person has the same rights, unless you are no citizen. This indicates that negativity can be purified. Therefore on anything you do wrong, you don’t have to feel stuck.

The principle of purification is two things: to compensate the bad things you did and to apply wisdom. To apply wisdom is the real truth path. That is where we talk about emptiness. We don’t really get that at this level. To understand it better we look towards impermanence. Impermanence means change. That means the nega-

Offering the Practice of the Seven Limbs 67 tive can change! So can the positive. Don’t think only the negative can change and the positive always remains locked and sealed in the safelocks of the bank. It also changes; that is the principle of impermanence. That it will change doesn’t mean it becomes the other. Positive does not become negative and negative does not becomes positive. The value and the power of the negativity lose. So do the value and the power of the positivity. It is like sleep. Sleep itself is neither positive nor negative; it is physiological and psychological functioning. In itself it is neither positive nor negative, but it can become positive or negative. Like that everything you have is changeable. So the nature of the negative doesn’t become positive, but the negativity loses power and value and then you can gain positivity with another process. That is what I mean by: it can change. Don’t think the negative can ‘boom’ change and become positive; I don’t think so. That is a very important point. Have I convinced the people who think there is [permanent] guilt?

How to purify? The four R’s The way and how we can purify. The first and foremost problem we face is the denial. This is funny in the West; you either deny completely or you feel guilty. People are scared of feeling guilty, so they refuse to accept. They like to take a sort of shelter, to hide. The denial is a big deal here; I don’t know particularly about the Nether- lands, but in the West in general. A lot of people look very angry, however they tell you: I’m not angry, but it is my duty to tell....’ and a big blah blah blah will come. A big statement comes ahead and says, ‘I’m not angry but ...... ’ Or they say, ‘I don’t particularly care, but this is the situation.’ That actually means you are denying, denying your anger, denying your attachment, denying your hatred. People say, ‘It is none of my business but you shouldn’t do this and this’, which means you are denying attachment. Things like that people do all the time. It serves a very good purpose for the negativities. The number one shelter for the negativities is the denial, because if you keep on denying you are not going to work with it! At the same time it is bothering you all the time; it is on the back of your mind somewhere. You may keep on denying but it is absolutely there. Maybe it is better than to feel guilty, I don’t know.

68 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Purification begins with recognition: to recognize I’m angry, recognize I have a problem; recognize I’m attached; recognize I’m jealous. Don’t say, ‘I’m not jealous, but.... Recognition is number one! Nothing can ever work without recognition. Buddha says that the direct antidote of anger is patience, but patience never works against your own anger unless you recognize you are angry. To help reduce attachment Buddha recommends meditation on impermanence. But I don’t think that the impermanence meditation can immediately or easily affect the attachment without giving it recognition plus appreciation. For purifying anything you first have to see what you are going to purify, to recognize it. This is the first R; the R of recognition. When you recognize ‘I have done something wrong’, when you are convinced, you do something: if you did something against an enlightened one you take refuge; if against a non-enlightened one you meditate on love and compassion. That is how you recognize. Not only you have to recognize that you did something wrong, by recognizing you should do something for the other one too. Like in the example you gave, the child run over by drunken driving20, there is something that you can do and that is generating great compassion. Generating compassion is itself doing something. It is not that you can do nothing. The idea of ‘I will not be able to bring it back’ is basically a wrong idea, because what you can do does not necessarily have to be bringing it back in the same old level. Moreover, it is not true that you cannot bring [the child] back, you can bring it back with reincarnation. You will not be able to bring it back looking the same way, with the same parents, the same age. No, that is not possible. But you can bring the person back much more bright, more beautiful, more handsome. That all is possible. If you are going to shut your eyes for that, it will be your own choice. That is the recognition.

The second R is regret. If you don’t regret, there is no reason to purify. It won’t work. Both recognition and regret reduce a lot of the power of anger. Please, do this exercise with yourself and find out within yourself how it works with these 2 R’s. Just shut your door, sit by yourself and think about it. If you don’t have a room where you can shut the door, go to the bathroom and think about it. Then

Offering the Practice of the Seven Limbs 69 you will know. These are things we can experience by ourselves. That will give you a better ‘grasp’ then reading about it or being told. My job as a spiritual friend here is to point out and inform you. Your job as a practitioner is to feel and to experience. That is how we work. You may be wondering how we work. Well, this is one of them: when you are angry take these 2 R’s and go to the bathroom and find out!

There is a third R too: non-repetition. If you have a strong regret – I still go on the same example we had – you’re not going to drive while drunk or you’re not going to drink again.

And then the fourth R is the antidote, re-direction. You give your emotions a new direction. Redirection is turning round the energy that went the negative way. You regret and you do a positive action. When you redirect your actions, you do something. Thinking it will never be good enough, is also not right. Sometimes it can be far better. If you are going to think that only what you can see directly with your eyes is good enough, it is limited to the period between birth and death only. But if you take a little bit of a bigger view, a little bit of an open mind, you’ll know you can do a lot.

The other day I met a very, very hard-core scientific doctor; who wrote the book How we die. He told me, ‘I understand that of all religions, Buddhism is very close to the scientific explanation of dying. I do understand the concept of reincarnation, I don’t accept it. I do get incidents where I can not explain anything. I have seen people with the memory of past lives. I have seen the memories coming, I can read them, I can talk to them, I can get through with some kind of very sophisticated machinery, but I can not explain it. And until I have an explanation I’m not going to accept it. This is the scientific principle. I’m not going to accept the bardo until I meet somebody who came back and shakes hands with me. So far I haven’t met anybody who came back from the bardo therefore I do not accept that concept. But I have a lot of incidents. I consider them as incidents, because if I try to repeat the same thing with other persons, it doesn’t work and so it is not scientific.’ We should be open-minded persons, when looking in that direction. Even the very rigid scientist will also now look in that direc-

70 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma tion. The doctor here was telling me yesterday that they have found certain genes that make it possible for humans to live until about two hundred fifty years; so this can definitely go on to probably ‘permanent’ living. I wouldn’t be surprised, because the Buddha said it can definitely be found. Buddha said that whatever is spiritually possible, can also be achieved materially. Spiritually it is possible to extend one’s life to two or three hundred years. There have been many incidents. So scientifically they will definitely find it too. Whether you call it immortality or not, prolonging life will go on.

So, redirecting is the antidote action. Do something positive. Medi- tation on emptiness, or rather seeing emptiness, is considered the best. Seeing emptiness is called ‘the one medicine that cures hundred different illnesses’. Meditating on and developing the bodhimind is the second best action. Shantideva says: Hence virtue is perpetually feeble, The great strength of evil being extremely intense, And except for a Fully Awakened Mind By what other virtue will it be overcome? The Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, I, 6 It says, bodhimind has an tremendous capacity for purifying any negativity. What action could destroy such powerful negativity besides the great bodhimind,? Then there are, a class below, that actions as saying mantras, doing prostrations, doing circambulations and so forth. Equal to those are saving a life and action of generosity. This is redirecting your emotion.

When you haven taken these 4 R’s it may become a Rolls Royce, a good, perfect, luxurious vehicle. Then things will roll like a Rolls Royce.

In short, what you purify are your negativities. How you purify is through recognition, regret, redirection and non-repetition. With the application of these four powers, when you do it strongly, consistently, with enthusiasm things will change for the better. Apply the six paramitas on it, because you need to be consistent, you need patience, you need discipline, you have to be generous,

Offering the Practice of the Seven Limbs 71 you have to concentrate, you have to apply wisdom. The four powers joined with the six perfections will work. This is not the traditional way of talking about this. Traditionally we talk about the application of the four powers over here and about the six paramitas somewhere else, but if you look really carefully, this is how you work. This is a part of your daily life. So even for purification you apply the six paramitas. People may say the six paramitas are the bodhisattva’s activity and the four powers of purification are even available in Hinayana, but you don’t have to worry about that. This is how you can apply it in your daily life. One good thing in Tibetan Buddhism is it is applicable to everybody’s life.

4. REJOICE I rejoice in all pure activities. Rejoice is redirecting the negative energy of jealousy. Jealousy means you don’t appreciate. Appreciation is a very important thing in one’s life. It is important for your spiritual work, it is important for your mundane daily and family life. It is important between parents and children, it is important between husband and wife, between girlfriend and boyfriend and is important between friends. Our habitual patterns will not let us appreciate; they will let you compete, so it becomes a control issue and competition. We can see this every day. Husbands don’t like their wives to be more capable than themselves, and sometimes wives don’t like their husbands to be more capable than themselves. You want to do better than your friend. You want to have better quality things than your friends have, instead of appreciating what they have. This is what our habitual patterns are, if you watch yourself. If instead of that you appreciate, ‘It is wonderful that my wife can work better than me’ and, ‘It is wonderful that my husband can work better and brings more money in than I can’, then there is peace in the house, then half the problem is solved, in the house and likewise everywhere! The concept of openness, the concept of appreciation and the concept of cooperation are much more important and valuable in people’s life than jealousy and competition. However, if you use competition to bring a better concept, and if you know where to cut it, it might not be bad.

72 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

From the Buddhist point of view Buddha said, ‘Rejoicing is one of the best ways to accumulate merit. You don’t have to work, you appreciate and you get double the benefit.’ True. It is a risk-free profitable investment. And cost-free too. This is very true. But we don’t do it. We always want to do a business with a lot of risk and difficulties. Rejoicing is something you can do very easily; it is risk- free spiritual business; free investment. That is rejoice. See how it works in your life. We are making this as offering, ‘I’ll live my life jealous-free, I’ll appreciate life. This is the wonderful way, I offer this to the great mother Tara and to the Buddha.’ You are not offering your life, but you are offering the way and how you conduct your life, which they will appreciate and enjoy. That’s how we make offerings.

5. REQUEST FOR GUIDANCE AND HELP FOR ALL BEINGS I request wise and compassionate guidance. We make a request for guidance and help for all beings, on whatever level suitable to them. Guidance should always be suitable. When Buddha was alive there was a prince who killed his father Bimbisara. This prince was a friend of Buddha’s cousin. The prince and Buddha’s cousin decided that the prince would kill the king and the cousin would kill the Buddha. And then they would run the whole thing; Buddha’s cousin would run the spiritual issue and the prince would become king. So on one evening the prince overthrew the king, arrested him and put him in jail. While in jail the king became an arhat. Just before the king died – I cut the story short – the prince, who was now king, had regret about how he treated his father. He realized his father had been kind to him, so he decided to release the old king. All ministers were very happy about that, so happy that they all ran to release him. The king in jail thought, ‘There are a lot people running on the rooftop, they are coming to kill me. I better die before they kill me’. So he died. This new king had done a double limitless negativity: killing his father and killing an arhat. He was very sad and worried, so he went to the Buddha and asked, ‘What can I do?’ You know what Buddha told?

Offering the Practice of the Seven Limbs 73

Father and mother should be killed, and if you, king, destroy all your retinue and country you'll liberated. This sutra is known as The regret-solving sutra of king Ajatashatru. Peo- ple consider this as a very wise method of the Buddha. This is called skillful means. If Buddha would have told this king, ‘You are terrible, you killed your mother and father’ he would not have been helping him, he would have made him suffer more. Instead of that Buddha said father and mother should be killed. So the king has been thinking, ‘Is Buddha trying to insult me or what? What is he talking about?’ It was an opportunity for him to think and have a conversation with himself. If Buddha would have shut him down and had been heavy on him, it wouldn’t have helped him at all. This is not a sutra to be taken literally; it is a sutra to be inter- preted. However, it is talked on a level [suitable to the disciple] so [the message] has been able to be communicated. Communication is important, it should not be talk overhead. I am sure there will be a lot of questions on this, especially the young ones will be boiling…

6. REQUEST TO REMAIN FOREVER I request you to remain until enlightenment. This is making a request to remain forever.

7. DEDICATION I dedicate my merit for the benefit of all beings. Dedication is important. It earmarks your good karma for whatever purpose you destine it to be.

This basically is the structure of the seven-limbs practice. You can do this by yourself by saying, by meditating, by doing it, which is the best. In general, offering means a number of things. We may think offering is just making physical gifts like money, flowers, incense and so on only. Probably not. All of those are outer or external offerings. There are also inner offerings, which I don't want to explain.

74 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Practice offering There is also the offering of your spiritual practice, which is really the best offering, because the buddhas have only one desire: to be able to help. When you try to do something the positive way, when you try to do a practice, try to think that way, they really appreciate it; so that’s the best offering. Milarepa said may times: I have no food or wealth to give, but I pay my guru’s kindness by my practice. A story comes up in my head. About ten or more years ago, quite in the beginning, His Holiness the Dalai Lama came to Europe, to a place where there was a geshe. Some westerns people came to offer His Holiness a silk shawl and an envelope with money. His Holi- ness looked at the geshe and said, ‘How did they in Europe learn this old Tibetan system of offering an envelope? The geshe replied, ‘No no, it is because Your Holiness is here, I usually get flowers and incense’. So, do not only offer material offerings.

So, the best offering is the offering of your practice: perfect morality is the great lake in which the wish-fulfilling tree of love and compassion grows; by great learning you root your views perfectly; by thinking and analyzing your flower of understanding starts blooming, you get the perfect understanding no other flower can compete; the three principle paths are the dew-drops on the flowers and the twenty-two different fruits of the bodhimind are hanging on the tree. Such a flower is a great flower to be offered. This is how you can make your practice offerings.

You can do these offerings by sending light to your guru which is inseparable from Tara. Actually this is one of the best spiritual exercises you can do.

Green Tara

IV Tara and the eight fears

THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

As I told you before the mantra of Tara OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA contains the four Noble Truths21. They are called ‘noble’ because they are dealing with our life. The first one is the truth of suffering. That we all have. Our mental, physical and emotional pains are true reality. Buddha discovered that. As a prince he was leading a very artificial life, and he always was wondering what was behind it. When he had an opportunity to explore and he went outside the artificial life, the first things he encountered with were sickness, aging and death and he discovered that he himself would also be subject to that. That is why it is called the first noble truth.

I recently virtually went round the world and on this trip I saw so many people, I saw their faces and each and everybody put up a nice face, but behind the nice face you could see the pain, see the suffering, the dissatisfaction. Some have it very heavy, some have it less, some people’s sufferings can’t be helped, some just torture themselves, but in total you see suffering in the faces of everybody, whether in the East or the West. It is important to recognize that you are suffering. And everybody is seeking a solution for it. In Ma- laysia I gave an initiation to over thousand people, who came by, one by one, and looking in their face you could see there was pain they tried to get rid of. That is what they came for. They think that is the solution. 78 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

The second question Buddha dealt with is: can I get away from it? Is there a way out or am I stuck? The answer is: there is a way out. How does the way out work? Buddha said: Deal with the cause! What are the causes? One cause is the karma. A lot of people think that when it is karma, you can do nothing. That is not true, that is absolutely false. Why? Karma is dependent arise. Karma is not some kind of fixed, unchangeable structure, karma depends on conditions. Without conditions karma will not be able to function. Also karma is not permanent, it is impermanent, it is changeable, you can purify it. The good karmas can grow bigger, the bad karmas can grow bigger; the good karmas can disappear, the bad karmas can disappear, because they are impermanent, because it is dependent arise. Karma does not have a heavy hand pushing on your shoulder. Buddha says that suffering has the karmic cause and the delusion cause. The sufferings are mostly coming from the delusion cause. The delusion cause is worse for us than the karmic cause. Karma we create; it is in our control. The delusions are not under our control; we are under the control of the delusions. Anger controls us, attachment controls us, jealousy controls us; we don’t control them. That is our struggle; we try to control them, but we are controlled by the delusions and that makes us sometimes cry. So the second truth is the truth of the cause. The way out of suffering is dealing with the truth of the cause. The cause of suffering is our negative emotions; dealing with that is the true reality of Buddha’s second noble truth. Did you get it? That is why I say this is very spiritual. Though we try to give you a completely non- religion oriented talk, it is however very much spiritual, Buddhism- oriented. Buddha says: when you don’t want suffering, try not to have the cause of suffering; that is the way you get out. When you look at the suffering it looks overwhelming, it looks like a huge lake, but when you can stop the water coming in from its sources, no matter how big the lake is, it will go, it will dry up. So there is always a way out. The way and how you deal with the negative emotions is the truth of the path, the fourth noble truth. Naturally the result of that is the third noble truth, the truth of the cessation of suffering.

Tara and the Eight Fears 79

The four Noble Truths are very much relevant in our daily life. Suf- fering is part of life, the cause of suffering will make sure the suffering continues, and working against the causes of suffering -the truth of the path- will deliver the freedom, the cessation of suffering. Whether you are Buddhist or not the four Noble Truths are absolutely relevant for our life. The purpose of the first noble truth is to recognize and acknowledge the pains, rather than being afraid of it. The purpose of the second noble truth is to work with it. The purpose of the fourth noble truth, the way and how you work, is to make sure you get freedom, which is the third truth. This is Bud- dha’s gift of how to handle your life.

TARA AND THE EIGHT FEARS22 In the praise to the Tara by the First Dalai Lama, A crown ornament for the wise, a praise of Green Tara a requests is made to Tara to be protected from fear, fear of illnesses, obstacles, untimely death, bad dreams, bad signs etc. Therefore, O Worthy Refuge, I beseech you Protect living beings from diseases, ghosts, demons, Untimely death, nightmares, evil omens, And every cause of error. Tara has something special: protection from the eight fears. These are not necessarily fears like what we acknowledge as fears, it are the nightmares of the spiritual practitioners. Most of the fears and difficulties we experience, what I call negative emotions, are a result of delusions,. Out of all the different delusions, eight negative emotions, eight nightmares, have been presented here in metaphors.

The first nightmare is pride. Protect us from the terrifying lion Pride Who dwells in the mountain of wrong views; And who is an inflated mentality holding itself better than others And yielding a claw to degrade the worlds. What does pride do? The metaphor used here is the lion, who is supposed to have a tremendous amount of pride: ‘I am the king of all animals’. What does the lion do? He mostly remains either in the bushes or in the mountains and doesn’t mix with the other animals.

80 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Why not? He thinks he is superior and therefore cannot mix; so he leads a lonely life. Similarly our pride will make us to remain alone, and also to remain locked within the control of ignorance. That is true; if you are able go out of the ignorance, the pride will lose everything, will lose it basis. Pride will make sure you remain in ignorance. It makes you think you are different and better. Why? If somebody tells you you are wonderful, you like it. We all do. That is why the buttering business works. To get little gains, whether politically or economically, people butter each other. That is cash in for the pride. You know, politicians do things wrong all the time; the reason is not that they want to do things wrong, but that so many people are buttering them. Because of buttering so many things go wrong. Politics is the largest scale, but on a smaller scale it is like that in your own company, in your own office and even in your own home, within your own family. Our pride functions that way. So, in reality it is harming you, but you enjoy it, because someone is flattering you. That way pride functions within you as a lion. Recognize when it comes, and be not happy with buttering. You know, when people butter you, they make you do things you don’t want to do and you get into trouble.

We ask Tara to protect us from pride like that of a lion ‘who dwells in the mountain of wrong views’. I’m not sure if it is wrong view. The Tibetan texts says jig tsog la tawa; you can call that wrong view but more precisely it is referring to the ego-grasping mind. Ego- grasping is the actual source of all the different things that grow within us. The lion symbolizes an inflated mentality. Remember the fairy-tale story: the rabbit goes to the lion and tells him: ‘There is another one just like you’. The lion says: ‘There can’t be another one like me’. The rabbit then leads the lion to the lake and says: ‘Down there he is’. The lion looks down, sees his mir- rored face, growls at it and jumps into the lake. That shows what pride does.

The proud mind not only thinks ‘I am better and greater than others’, but simultaneously this very mind insults others, looks down on others. That is where the lion uses his claws, thinking that by his claw he can hit anybody, even an elephant.

Tara and the Eight Fears 81

To have pride is a nightmare for a practitioner. The earlier Ti- betan teachers used to say: ‘Look at the mountains; where does it become green first, at the peak of the mountain or lower down in the valley?’ Naturally the low land gets green first, because it is warmer, it doesn’t get frozen and also it maintains the moisture. Another example is: if you are heavy with wheat crop, your stalk bends down; if you are empty, you stand up. So pride is not good. That doesn’t mean you have to look down on yourself. You don’t have to have self-insult, and you don’t have to have self-pity; these are not wanted. But don’t think: ‘I am a lion’. Pride is the combination of two things: a) thinking I am greater, others are under my power; b) I can look down on them, if I hit once they are gone. That attitude takes your opportunities away; it takes away the opportunity of learning, the opportunity of practice, the opportunity of getting benefited, all those, and you become some funny one. A lot of the self-styled new-age gurus are in that category; many of them have information from here and there, from everywhere, but nothing is solid. Let’s not talk about others; my apologies.

The second nightmare is ignorance. Protect us from the terrifying elephant Ignorance Who is not tamed by the sharp hooks of mindful alertness; and who From confusion caused by drinking the alcohol of sensual indulgence Leads us down wrong paths to the sharp fangs of pain. The metaphor for that is the elephant, a wild elephant that is not tamed, and that is also drunk. When an elephant gets drunk it is a big problem. It will not go straight on the road, no way! The elephant goes on the wrong road and will not hesitate to kick out anyone who comes on his way. With a mind of harming he puts his tusks out ready to harm anybody, has his trunk ready to catch anybody, puts his legs out ready to smash anybody. That is what ignorance does to us: you couldn’t care less what happens to other people; as long as you can lock them out, smash them out, get them out of your way, you’ll do it. Ignorance gives shelter to the pride. A lot of our emotions are actually grown out of ignorance.

82 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

What makes something a negativity? What a positivity? Any action that causes pain for the other person or yourself, is negative. Any action that causes help for the other person or for yourself, becomes positive. In one way, what is good and what is bad is a very difficult subject; in a way it is easy too. The ignorance here is not really not-knowing, but perceiving wrongly. It is the wrong perception of: ‘I couldn’t care less; harming others doesn’t really matter, it is not in my consideration as long as I can get away with it; as long as I can get my way I don’t care. That is the wild drunken elephant.

When you have that attitude coming up within you, remember the wild, drunken elephant, and use a hook. Elephant trainers use a hook on the elephant’s ear to tame and lead him, make him turn the right way. Our mind is like a wild elephant, and to make it stable, to make it do what you want it to do, two mental faculties can help you: remembrance and awareness, or – as they are called here – mindfulness and alertness. Remembrance is the mindfulness. You also need alertness. When you don’t have mindful alertness, you don’t know what you are doing. An elephant is very powerful. If elephants do something useful it is very, very useful; if they do something bad it is terrible. Our mind is like an elephant; if it is tamed and used for good purposes, it works very well, if it is used for wrong purposes it is terrible. These metaphors give you an idea about how they function within you. Don’t look outside for a wild elephant, but think how you are behaving. Not only that. Ignorance even goes beyond that. Not only you are a wild elephant and drunk; you are totally intoxicated by the samsaric pleasures. It is almost like you are a drug-addict; if you are a heroin-addict and a powerful person with no control, you can do all sorts of wrong things. Likewise here is said: when this intoxicated elephant goes on the wrong path, that elephant has no hesita- tion to step on anything or anybody that comes on his way. An intoxicated elephant is not going to sleep on the path; he will make a tremendous amount of noise and stamp on anything that is on his way, killing beings by his feet. That is what ignorance does to us: drunk of samsaric pleasures it leads us on the wrong path. So we seek protection from Tara for our own ignorance.

The third nightmare is anger or hatred.

Tara and the Eight Fears 83

Protect us from the terrifying fires of Anger Which incite the wind of improper mental activity And amidst swirling smoke-clouds of wrong action Have power to burn the forest of goodness. The metaphor for that is fire. Anger is a fire; the uncontrolled fire of a forest, which meets the wind from the wrong direction, and so naturally produces a lot of smoke. This is interesting: the fire of the hatred is influenced tremendously by the wind of wrong-doing. When the wind blows, the fire goes up. The wind of wrong doing, of wrong actions, the actions created by the wild elephant, will give strength to the fire, will cause it to burn more. Not only that, when the fire is burning a tremendous amount of smoke is created, the smoke of misbehaving. We have a saying: ‘Where there is smoke there is fire’. People misbehave because of anger; all these wrong things we do and which are unexpected for human beings, like killing, stealing, lying, cheating, raping -men and women both- beating up, those type of things are actually coming out of anger. That misbehaving is a signal that the person has hatred. When someone has hatred against you, always some signal is given. No matter how much you try to deal with it, things can never be totally settled, because hatred is there. Within that smoke of misbehaving, moved by wind from a wrong direction, you get another problem, the biggest problem. The biggest problem is that the hatred burns all your positive karma. The fuel for the hatred is the positive karma; the positive karma gets burned by the hatred. Buddha says: ‘There is no negativity so heavy as hatred’. Anger and hatred combined together, that is the problem.

The fourth nightmare is jealousy. Protect us from the terrifying snake Jealousy Who, attached to its nest of ignorance Is unable to bear seeing the wealth or prosperity of others And instantly infects everything with poison. The metaphor for that is the snake, a poisonous snake. A poisonous snake likes to hide in the darkness, in the swamp. Jealousy likewise likes to hide in the shelter of ignorance. It thinks it unbearable when someone is doing better. When someone is doing better, you don’t

84 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma like it, you think: ‘I should be the one who is doing that’. That is because your ‘queen-ant’23 is getting angry. When you dislike others doing something good, what do you do? You have poison within you, and you throw that poison as fast as you can to your environment. Right or wrong? Definitely you do. When someone is doing something good and you don’t like it, you spread rumors, you do all sort of things that could harm the other one. That is how jealousy functions, like the poisonous snake, who when it doesn’t like some other being, throws his poison.

The fifth nightmare, maybe a Buddhist item, is called wrong view. Protect us from the terrifying thief Wrong View Who created the dreadful wilds of inferior discipline And the stark deserts of eternalism and nihilism And destroys the towns and hermitages of virtue and joy. The metaphor for wrong view is a thief. What does a thief do? Take your valuables away. Likewise a wrong view takes away any positive karma that you have, anything good you can do. It is simple. Let’s take karma as an example. Wrong view will say: ‘Well, karma is bull- shit; there is no thing called karma, what are you talking about?’ Or you begin to worry: ‘Maybe there is no karma; this may totally be a Buddhist trip. Well, I really don’t care, let me enjoy myself, get jealous, throw a few poisons here and there, behave like a small wild elephant, kicking out everyone who is on my way.’ When you do that, what do you lose? You lose your positiveness. That is what is why is said wrong view takes away your valuables.

The sixth nightmare is stinginess or miserliness. Protect us from the terrifying shackles of Miserliness That holds us in a lock of attachment difficult to spring And bind living beings helplessly In the unbearable prison of cyclic existence. Stinginess is against generosity. We all know generosity is great. Nobody raises a question about that, everyone accepts generosity as something positive. Stinginess is the opposite of that; its metaphor is an iron chain. When you are taken to jail, they put your hands across at the back and put a chain on it. Likewise stinginess makes the individual to be not generous, not to do something positive. It

Tara and the Eight Fears 85 ties your hands behind you, ties up your whole body and tries to keep you hopelessly in the prison of samsara. Your hands and body not only are tied, but also locked. The lock here is attachment. Whenever you want to be generous, attachment will come up and say: ‘No, no no, you can’t do that. I’ll be needing it’ or ‘ I still have a use for that’ or ‘I need it for myself’. That is how attachment functions as a lock on the chain of stinginess.

The seventh nightmare is attachment. Protect us from the terrifying waters of Desire, That carry us in the current of samsara so hard to ford And that, conditioned by the winds of karma, Toss in waves of birth, sickness, old age and death. The metaphor is the water. What does water do? Take you away. You know that, you had a flood several times. Anything that gets in the water is taken away to the sea, or wherever. Attachment will make sure that you will remain in the continuation of suffering. You know, we all seek freedom, we all seek liberation, however we cannot get it, because the attachment makes us stick to something. Buddhist teachings tell you that attachment is the glue of samsara. Attachment makes you hold on to samsara. So it is like a river that carries you away. Not only that; during that journey in the river sometimes the wind will shake and you get huge waves and storm. The winds here are karma and the delusions. The waves here are birth, illness, aging and death. So what is happening is, not only you are taken towards the continuation of samsara, but even the journey is very rough. That is what attachment does. But attachment gives you nice little feelings too. People enjoy attachment, because on the surface attachment makes you think there is great fun in it. But what you forget is that the wave will change, that it can change any minute. That is how attachment is like a river.

The eight nightmare is the doubt. Protect us from the terrifying ghost Doubt, The malignant spirit who moves in the space of ignorance, Attacking those with interest in ultimate aims And disturbing the life of freedom.

86 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Its metaphor is the ghost. What do ghosts do? They function in the darkness, we see that in the movies. Vampires won’t operate in day- light, they will only operate during the night. Do you get the message? The message is: if there is no ignorance they cannot function. You find that often in Buddhist poetry: ‘In the darkness, where no light comes in…’ It really shows the ignorance is the main cause. A vampire tries to harm innocent people, bite them and suck life out of them. Likewise doubt can destroy the life of liberation. Now please pay a little attention: in one way you should never have blind faith. You must carefully check and counter-check what you want to do for your spiritual development. But once you find a good path, you should not have much doubt in it. Because if you keep on doubting all the time, your life is going to become very doubtful in life and before the doubt is over you die. That way doubt destroys the life of liberation. [Rimpoche relates an incident of someone doubting a long time and when he had finally decided, it was only two weeks before he died]. So, if you are over-suspicious, over-doubtful, it is a problem. If you are not suspicious at all, you may fall into blind faith, which is even worse. One has really to know how to balance. That is how one should go in the spiritual path. If you overfeed the doubt, it becomes a vampire.

Basically these are the eight nightmares of spiritual practitioners, with their metaphors. The metaphor are given is to help recognizing them within yourself.

Now the question is: if you recognize those negative behaviors within you, what can you do? There is a general solution and there are individual solutions. Each one of those negative emotions has its direct opponent and each one of the negative emotions has its own tools. All negative emotions are very strongly connected with laziness. Also one of their biggest points is to hide under the ignorance. By hiding under the ignorance we don’t get acknowledgment or recognition. By not getting recognition you give room for denial. So you say: ‘I am not angry, but.... I am not jealous, but….’ and you go on with blah blah blah talk. Negative emotions really function very well under denial, and the ignorance is very good in giving

Tara and the Eight Fears 87 room to that denial. So the best general solution is to attack them on the ignorance: which is with wisdom. Buddha gave as answer: emptiness. Emptiness is the most important wisdom that you can apply in general on all these emotions. The ‘queen-ant’ is the subject to be refuted. The recognition of a not existing queen-ant is the real, true emptiness. That is the general solution. The queen-ant is not really there, but we think it is there and we will be working for that. So emptiness here means: being empty of the queen-ant, of the ego.

White Tara V The Practice of Healing and Self-healing

This healing and self-healing through White Tara is a Vajrayana- oriented Buddhist practice. The way it functions is through the framework of a very short practice of White Tara: that has front- generation of Tara, as well as the ritual and mantra-practice. That is the major way of working. It is not healing by touching people; it is not done that way. You need to work with a lot of visualizations and you need to say a lot of mantras. That does not mean you are made a Buddhist. I just like to make that clear first.

WHO IS TARA Before we go to the Tara practice with the Tara mantra, take a look at her picture. She is really sitting there – a wisdom being, not a poster. All the images and paintings are in reality wisdom beings and it depends on the individuals how they perceive it. If you perceive her as a wisdom being, a real, actual Tara, you get the value and the blessing and the help of the true wisdom being Tara. If you perceive it as an expensive painting, you get the blessing and the value of an expensive painting. If you perceive this as a cheap 50 cents poster, you get the blessings and value of a cheap 50-cent poster. This is the mystery of perception and value. It is to our own benefit to perceive her as a true wisdom being rather than a cheap 50-cent post card. In true reality Tara is a great wisdom being, the feminine principle of Buddha. She is the Lady Buddha who generated a pure motivation in the Lady’s form, who accumulated all the merits in the Lady’s body, who purified and took hardship and difficulty in a female body, and who obtained the final stage of buddhahood, the 90 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma stage of no more learning, in the physical form of a female. She is the Lady Buddha who insisted to help and carry out all the activities in female form, though that was not an easy job in the old Indian society where there was a lot of male domination and male hierar- chy. Even under those circumstances she insisted to function as a female buddha. Not only that. She is also the embodiment of the activities of all enlightened beings in many different manifestations, such as White and Green Tara, the 21 Taras or the 108 Taras24. From the time of the Buddha until today she carried out great activities in every part of the world. She functions sometimes as Tara, sometimes as Kwan Yin, sometimes as Kannon. I call her the feminine-principle Bud- dha. Tara has a very special activity, which is the protection of life as well as healing. What we are going to do through Tara will be meditation exercises and these should be carried out as seriously as possible. The value is for you, not for her.

How to go about with visualizations – problems that may occur It might not be out of place here to mention something. When you visualize Tara, you try to meditate a sitting image and if that suddenly gets up or if one image becomes two, or small becomes big, or big becomes small and particularly when it starts moving, it is a problem. It is not an achievement! You may think: ‘I am great, my object of refuge is coming towards me!’ But remember in such a case that you are getting a problem and not the blessing of the object of refuge. The next thing that will happen is that the image will move and talk to you and you will hear the voice in your ear and that also is not necessarily good. If you know what you are doing, then it’s fine. If you don’t know what you are doing, you become cuckoo. So for your own benefit it is much better to stop from the beginning. Bet- ter stay on the ground than being in the air, better stay solidly grounded. You may hear some interesting voices, read some funny books, learn some interesting method and you think you are moving towards a positive direction, but in reality you are doomed and leading people to doom. I am not saying that everybody who is hearing a voice is wrong. Do not misunderstand me. There are some people who have been used as mediums by enlightened beings and there are also people

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 91 that have been used by the negative forces, forces that cause you to do something bad. As always is the case, there are frauds as well. When you try to do something, sometimes the first thing you are going to get will be negative rather than positive forces.

Many of the great Tibetan lamas who had visions of enlightened beings were reluctant. They had real visions, not dreams or imagina- tions but real visions that appear person to person, looking eye to eye, talking directly and giving correct answers to difficult questions – even then they were very careful. The great Tsongkhapa had visions of the 35 purification Buddhas, of Guhyasamaja, Chakrasam- vara, Tara, you name it, but he refused to accept acknowledge them, refused to accept them totally. He ignored them all, including Man- jushri. And finally Manjushri had to appear to one of his teachers and told him: ‘Please, send a message to Tsongkhapa and tell him that whatever he is seeing is the true Manjushri. If he does not believe you, let him ask me any difficult question, whatever he wants to.’ This teacher, Lama Umapa, happened to be in East Tibet, far away, so he had no way to communicate with Tsongkhapa. There was no telephone, no walkie-talkie, and only the good old method of sending a messenger on horseback. It took nearly a month to get the message across. Then after getting the message, Tsongkhapa began to put forward questions. He never asked questions he did not know the answers of. If you ask questions you don’t know the answers of, you won’t know whether they are going to tell you the truth or not. Therefore if you start to hear voices, ask them questions for which you know the answers. But if your knowledge is very limited, they will also know the answer. Then you have to find somebody else to ask questions on your behalf. Incidentally, Tsongkhapa had a disciple called Tokden Jampel Gyatso. He also started to receive the visions... Tsongkhapa advised him to ignore them as well. Finally, as the visions of Manjushri kept appearing, Tsongkhapa put a few questions to Jampel Gyatso who in turn questioned Manjushri. Tsongkhapa was satisfied with the answers Jampel Gyatso got. Only then he accepted that it was the true Manjushri. I think Jampel Gyatso had those visions even before Tsongkhapa, while they were in retreat. This is how you treat visions. You have to be careful!

92 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

When you visualize Tara in front of you, it could just be a green or white lump that you get. That’s okay. Stick to that, whatever it is. Sticking to it is important. Also hold it tight. If it is cloudy, it is a problem. That happens when you do not hold the object tight enough. Although not losing the object, you get the subtle sinking mind. And that will decrease your intelligence; you become more forgetful, you start to lose your memory. Then you have to review what you are doing; otherwise you become more and more stupid. Meditation is beautiful and peaceful, but there are problems. Many meditation masters in the west present the beauty and the wonderful atmosphere, but they don’t mention the problems. So you try to have a clear picture and try to see an actual living being and hold it there. Then you pray strongly, drawing the attention and kindness of Tara.

MEDITATION 1: GUIDED TARA-PRAYER You visualize right in front of you White Tara, one face, and two hands. Tara is youthful, radiating light from her body, and she has the hand-gestures as described earlier25. In reality she is buddha, in reality she is dharma, in reality she is sangha. She is all enlightened beings. Whenever we say ‘Buddha, Dharma and Sangha’, you don’t have to have the narrow view of looking at the historical buddha only. The word buddha means enlightened. Whoever is enlightened, man, woman or child, is a buddha. Whatever is object of refuge to you, whether it is a Buddhist buddha or a Judeo-Christian buddha, it is an enlightened being and so from the Buddhist point of view referred to as buddha. That is what it is. First you rely on, and then all your actions get somehow dedicated to achieving this state of perfection. With that in mind we say three times the refuge formula: I take refuge in buddha, dharma, and sangha until enlightenment By practicing generosity and other positive actions. May I attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. By visualizing and praying that way, the object of refuge melts in the form of light and dissolves to you. With their blessings and with your own great enthusiasm, your deeds

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 93

and your power, light starts radiating from your body, goes out and reaches to every existent realm, to all existence. First we focus on the three higher realms, the realms of the gods, of the demi-gods and especially the human realm. Light from our body touches all beings and wishes that all may have happiness and the causes of happiness. We say three times: May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. Now we change the focus from the human realm to the lower realms, in particular to the hell realms. When the beings are touched by the light, may by the power of this light every being down in the hell realm be freed from its suffering, to the extent that this realm gets completely emptied and closes its doors. And we say three times: May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. Of the lower realms now we focus more on the hungry- ghosts realm and animal realm. As before: emptying this realm and wishing that every being will have some kind of joy or relief. We say again three times: May al beings never be parted from joy. The last round we’ll focus on the human level, as well as on the whole of existence in general. We focus on equanimity. Here we are not referring to the equanimity that equals enemy and friend; that may not work with us right now. We refer to the equanimity that we talked about before,26 from the ground, the zero level of equanimity; we begin there. Of course great equanimity is our aim, but we begin here. With that mind: We particularly focus on the human mind, because a human beings we have a lot of emotional problems. The lower realms have too much of physical pains, there is no room for emotional pain. The upper realms have too much joy, there is no question of emotional pains rising. Human beings have the largest emotional problems. Human beings who have a lot of physical problems as well as eco- nomic problems -look at the third-world nations- may not have the opportunity to have emotional problems, but in the

94 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

west we have every opportunity to have emotional problems because of competitiveness, dislike, dissatisfaction and the time-pressure we have. This is a great place to have emotional problems, it is the right place to grow them a lot; there is good soil, and heat and moisture, the right conditions for growing emotional difficulties. By understanding that and by using appreciation we try to reach equanimity. Understanding is a big word, we have difficulties to understand people, to honor them, to acknowledge them. Nevertheless, this is how we begin equanimity within ourselves, between ourselves and others, between human beings and the environment. So there we focus on. With these thoughts we say three times: May all beings experience equanimity It is not only wishing and praying. With the powerful blessings that you received from the object of refuge, light is going out from your body, and this light works. Just by the touch of this light all beings in general, particularly all human beings and in particular those known to you, your close friends and you yourself, experience equanimity, a balanced mind. You should also develop joy within you. At least you try to think that you developed joy within you, joy because you have been able to do something. You did some great work, so be happy and joyful. Next will be the emptiness. Whatever understanding of emptiness you have you apply here. Maybe you can think of whatever I told you the last few days, the meaning of emptiness ultimately boiling down to the impossibility to say: this is it. There is no pair-less or non-dual point which you cannot divide any further. If you can think of it that way, it is good. That doesn’t work for outward looking, it works for inward looking. For example, having a problem is the link between the person who is having the problem and the external or internal [giver or instigator of the problem]. A problem is happening by the combination of causes and conditions. There is no that thing you can pinpoint at: ‘this is the problem, this is the receiver of the problem, and this is the problem-causer’; subject and object [and the action or link itself] are all in nature empty. If you

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 95 can’t think that way, you think that every single thing is empty like space. That will do. Think: everything has become empty. In this case you can focus on the difficulties you face, the problems that you encounter. Focus on the problems of every existent being and in particular on the personal problems that you individually have. Focus on them and let them disappear in the nature of reality. The bottom-line is: the problem itself, the giver of the problem and the receiver of the problem, all is emptiness. OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHAH SARVADHARMAH SVABHAVA SHUDDHO HAM. Think that every single thing has been touched in its nature of reality and therefore is not there. With this we have provided space. Space where we can function, where we can create a pure environment. In that spacious space in front of you, you generate Tara: Within the sphere of emptiness appears a white lotus. Above it is a moon disc, and upon that, the love and compassion of the enlightened appears as the seed syllable TAM. Light radiates from the TAM, and transforms and purifies the environment and its inhabitants. The light makes offerings to the enlightened, gathers their blessings, and dissolves back. The TAM transforms into the Noble Wish-fulfilling Tarema. She sits on a lotus and moon cushion, with a luminous halo at her back. Her right hand gestures an invitation to those fortunate ones who seek liberation. Her left hand indicates the Three Jewels, giving courage and insurance to those who are dominated by fears, entreating them: Unburden yourself and rely on me. Tara is resplendent in exquisite beauty. She holds an utpala flower, reminding us not to be satisfied with worldly happiness, but to aspire to the perfect joy of liberation.

96 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

She has the syllables OM at the crown, AH at the throat and HUM at the heart. Light radiates from the syllables, inviting the wisdom beings and the empowering deities. The wisdom beings unite inseparably with Tara. The empowering deities anoint her, confer initiation, and with the overflowing nectar a Buddha of Infinite Life appears on her crown. Brilliant light emanates from the syllable TAM within her heart, reaching infinite universes and collecting back the essence of inexhaustible vitality and the powerful blessings of the wisdom mind. This energy streams forth from Tara’s heart and body, and I completely absorb the nectar of light, cleansing and revitalizing my body and mind OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA (...x) While we say the mantra we focus on the light going out from the seed-syllable at Tara’s heart-level or from the body of Tara, reaching to all enlightened beings. Their blessings, their knowledge, their qualities and their spiritual development are collected in the form of light and liquid and dissolve into Tara in front of us. Through the filter of Tara it is then poured onto ourselves. That way we receive with the help of Tara, in the form of light and liquid, the total knowledge, the total quality, the total spiritual development of all enlightened beings. Think that our body is completely filled up with that blessing nectar and light that with the help of Tara was collected from all enlightened beings. It has rejuvenated your life-energy, your life-strength, your health and everything.27

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 97

MEDITATION 2: VASE-LIKE BREATHING – HOLDING THE AIR A little exercise, which you can do straight after the previous meditation or after having meditated the Prayer to the Noble Tara up to the mantra: You sit either cross-legged, which is fine, or on a chair, which is probably okay too. Try to keep your spine straight and your head slightly down as usual in meditation. Your hands are either in the meditation-posture or put on your knees, whatever is convenient for you. The first thing you do is clearing the dirty or rather rotten air or energy inside. You do that by blowing out strongly through the nostrils. By blowing out you clear the dead energy and you clear every undesirable thing within you. Just blow it out in powerful short air blows, two, three or seven times. If you really want to blow out much you can do it twenty-one times, but that is a lot. After that you breathe in through both nostrils, you press the air down to the abdominal level and hold it there. Then you slightly suck in air from your lower doorway at the back, bring it up to the abdominal level and hold it there. That pressing down and holding up is called the vase-like breathing – holding the air. While holding the [upper and lower] air together you concentrate on: Tara, the light radiating from her body, collecting all your lost life-energy, and dissolving it into you. When you are no longer able to hold the air, gradually let it go from the nose. Repeat that about seven times.28 Some people can hold it long, some people can only hold it shorter, doesn’t matter, you do it your own way; this you can’t do unani- mously together. It can create a little discomfort at the stomach. Don’t force yourself, just hold the air very gently as long as you can and then let it go. And take a rest in between. This is a watered- down version of the technique called vase-like breathing.

What is the whole idea behind this? I mentioned to you the mind and the energy travel on the same frequency. The air represents the

98 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma energy and is called the horse or the vehicle of the mind. The mind is likened to the horseman who travels by the ‘horse of air’ or the vehicle of energy. Holding the vehicle together helps to focus. By consistently practicing the path of Noble Tara, may I be able to see the signs of premature death and become a vessel worthy of receiving the powerful blessings of immortality. By this virtue may I quickly attain the essence of Noble Tara and secure every being without exception in that state.

MEDITATION 3: HEALING OF THE ELEMENTS You do the Tara prayer as usual: I take refuge... and go up to the mantra of Tara. Then: Again you visualize Tara right in front of you. Tara is a light body, a live body, but not with organs etc, like us. Inside, at Tara’s heart-level, there is a moon-disc, again. The moon-disc is relative existence. How to explain that? We exist, don’t we? We exist in two different ways. One is the relative way: there is an object that you can label and a mind that grasps and acknowledges that and puts a label on it, thus identifying it. That is relative existence. The other one is absolute existence; that means it does not depend on the relativity. We have been telling earlier that going down to the origin, there is not something you can point out as ‘this is it’. No matter how subtle you go into the item, you can always divide it, it is always a pair. I believe even the scientists say so; you cannot say, ‘this is the ultimate thing, there is nothing beyond that’, you cannot; there will at least remain directions. If you would find something there, you would find absolute existence. That way of looking is called the absolute way; that way of existence is called absolute existence. The moon-disc represents the relative truth. Above that, in the center of the moon-disc is the seed-syllable TAM. Right in the front of this TAM stands a seed-syllable OM. Around the TAM you see on the moon-disc clockwise the mantra mala OM TA RE TU TA RE TU RE MA MA A YUR PU NYE JNA NA PUSHK TIM KU RU YE SO HA, standing. It is supposed to be the

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 99

long mantra, but if you have a problem with the long mantra, make it the short mantra OM TA RE TU TA RE TU RE SO HA, that is okay. Just now here Tara is generated in front. When as a Vajrayana-practitioner you say a sadhana and you yourself are in the form of Tara, then you go into this TAM and read the mantra-mala from within. These are transparent light letters. This is the source where the light comes from, the light-activities. In your visualization the mantras are living mantras. That is, they are Taras in the form of mantras. The moment you start chanting or praying the mantra, you are sending a signal to Tara, making a great request. It is the telepathic message sent to Tara for action. The action that Tara does is generating light from the seed-syllable TAM and the mantra-mala on the moon-disc. She does the activities of healing of the elements, which we are going to do. Why healing of the elements? What does it mean that we are alive? We are alive because the mind or consciousness or soul remains in the physical body. As long as this physical body is synchronized with the mind we call it life. When it is disconnected we call it death. The synchronization of mind and body together depends on both parts, the health of the mind and the health of the body. Health of the mind is the balanced mind. If you lose the balance you become cuckoo or a vegetable. The body-part needs not only to be balanced with the mind but in itself too.

What you balance in the body itself is the elements. The earth- element; that is the bones and flesh of the body. Then you have the fluids in the body; that is the water-element. Then you have the heat-element; that sustains the digestion system, if you don’t have the heat-element you can’t digest. Then you have the air-element, the circulation; air circulates and if the air doesn’t go, doesn’t go to your toes, the circulation is not good and it becomes stale, dies off. The definition of air is lightness and movement, so it applies to the blood-circulation, the oxygen, the energy, the pumping etc. Then there is the element space, otherwise everything inside would be smashed. So the body is composed of five elements. The healing what you are going to do is healing your elements. Almost all physical problems we have, are due to imbalance of the

100 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma elements. These are our internal elements. There are also the external, universal, general elements. There is a tremendous connection between these two, again. Basically what we do is rejuvenating our elements by redirecting or reconnecting.

It begins with the earth element. You take the energy from the earth-element and rejuvenate your own earth-element in your body. Some people feel bad about this, they think they are taking the energy away from the earth. That is a genuine concern, we appreciate that people think that way, however, the earth-energy is inexhaustible to the earth. If it were not inexhaustible, we would not have been here today, the earth would have burst already by the way and how we pollute the earth today. All of those elements have their own little power to rejuvenate. No matter how much you pollute the water, the water has a certain capacity to purify itself, but if you put in too much it goes beyond the water’s capability. So does the air, so does the fire, etc. Besides that, if we take a little earth-energy it is of no comparison to the American factories dumping their things. Moreover the individual’s internal elements and the external elements help each other too; there is a connection. Almost all the native American religions are based on that. First we focus on the earth-element of our body. The respectful telepathic message addressed to Tara is the request to rejuvenate our earth-element. Tara in turn sends healing light from the mantra-mala in her heart, which is golden-colored. You know why? Because the essence of the earth is gold. So light goes out from the mantra-mala at Tara’s heart, through the body of Tara, reaches to the ten directions, not only of this universe, but also of the multi-galaxies of the universe. Each one of them has a Mother Earth and just by the touch of the light of Tara’s body and the mantra-mala all negativities of the earth-element over there get purified, rejuvenated. The strength and life and capability of the energy is collected back from them, and that power comes in golden-colored light and golden-colored liquid and dissolves into the body of Tara and Tara’s mantra-mala. From there it again comes out as like a snowstorm stream of golden light and liquid, which comes to us. Just by the touch

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 101 of that on and in our body, by receiving this light and liquid, all our earth-element oriented problems, physical problems like heart-problems, kidney-problems, etc. get purified; all physical points in general and in particular those we strongly focus on. Not only to ourselves it works. If you want to do it especially for some other person, you can visualize the person with you, receiving the same thing. Then you say the mantra, while focusing on the earth-element, in the form of golden- yellow light and nectar.

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. (....x) We now visualize that our body is completely filled up with golden light and liquid and that the golden-colored light and liquid has rejuvenated our physical earth-elemental body- parts completely. Now we focus on the water-element in our body. Like before we make a strong request to Tara. In turn Tara sends out powerful white light, which reaches to the great sources of the water-element, the oceans, the great lakes and so forth. All moisture power, the capability and energy of the fluids, is collected back in the form of white milk-like light and nectar. That dissolves into Tara and comes out of her body in the form of white light and liquid, multiple like a snowstorm, falls on and dissolves into our body and is received by our own element of moisture, re-strengthening and rejuvenating the water-element within our body. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. (...x) We visualize that a lot of white milk-like light and liquid has flown from Tara’s body – in reality the water- or moisture- element from the great sources –, and just by receiving it our body has been filled up with the water element. By that the fluid element in our body has been re-strengthened and rejuvenated completely. Next is the fire-element or heat-element. The same procedure. The color we use is bright orange-red light. The light goes from Tara’s heart and reaches to the ultimate firepower, that

102 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

is the fire that will finally at the end of an eon destroy the whole world; it is known as the ‘fire-body of the eon’. From there it collects the fire-element in the form of bright orange- red light which dissolves into the body of Tara. In turn the bright orange-red light and liquid is sent out by Tara towards us. By receiving it, the fire-element in our body gets re- strengthened and rejuvenated completely. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. (...x) Think that by receiving this the fire-element in our body has been re-strengthened completely. The air-element, the air-energy. The universe is based on the air-mandala. Basically air is the fundamental basis on which you build everything. We again make a request to Tara. The light, fresh green colored light, goes out from Tara’s heart, reaches to the basis source of movement, the air, which is the fundamental base of the universe, collects the energy of air back to Tara and from Tara it comes in the form of green-colored light and liquid to us and rejuvenates the air-element within us. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. (...x) By receiving this, the air-element in our body now has been re-strengthened and rejuvenated completely. The space-element. Space is two things. You do need space within your body otherwise everything will be smashed; that is from the physical point of view. The most important point here however is the spaciousness, the capacity to have room for everything, room for every mood, room for every moment, room for everybody to show different things. That capacity of the individual needs to be rejuvenated. When you have space you can have everything, you can have cows and buffalo’s and pigs and angry persons, you can accommodate them; if you don’t have space you can’t. Spaciousness is the capacity to accommodate everything. Because we are in such a world that we are bound to have long faces and smiling faces, bound to have crying eyes and twinkling eyes, we need adaptability. Be spacious.

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 103

That space-energy is the energy to accommodate. The color is blue, light, very bright blue. All these colors have to be very light, not heavy, light and bright and fresh like they reflect in a crystal or in a diamond. Light goes out from Tara’s heart, reaches to the sources of space, which is the infinite space -far beyond the satellites-, collects back the space-energy which dissolves into Tara and from Tara it streams out as crystal-blue light and nectar towards us, dissolves into us and rejuvenates the space-element within ourselves. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. (...x) Now think that all elements have been rejuvenated. You should not doubt that. At least for the purpose of good omens, in order to make it work, you think so. It may not work immediately. In order to make it work you have to think for a while that it did rejuvenate, it did heal, it did balance, it did this! Think that for a while. Now a shortcut for all five elements together. In case you don’t have time to do all this separately, we do the earth-, water-, fire-, air- and space-element together. The sources are the same, the colors at the same, but combined, so it becomes rainbow-colored. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA (…x) Think that it has happened. Thus we have completed the way and how we work with the healing of the elements within our body. You close with the dedication prayers.

What I tried to introduce here is something you can after this workshop do every time by yourself in your homes. When you do it, you don’t have to chant, you can just recite the mantra. You also don’t have to do everything. Here we learn and do everything together. Once you learned it you can do whatever you want to, it needs not be everything because that will take a long time. And there is a lot more. You use whatever you want to use, wherever and whenever

104 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma you need it. First you learn everything and then you choose the right things for you.

MEDITATION 4: COLLECTION OF BLESSINGS Visualize in the space before you the beautiful, wonderful White Tara. In reality she is the Buddha, she is the Dharma, she is the Sangha, she is my own spiritual master. That builds a connection between me and my future Tara within me. It builds a connection between the ability of my pure being to become Tara and the Tara already established. Not only do I take refuge. All my activities hereafter will be totally dedicated for the benefit of others and ourselves to able to obtain the ultimate state of buddha Tara. Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are not just the historical Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, neither the Buddhist Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, but are all enlightened beings, their spiritual developments and their way of contemplating, all together in one physical form.

The way you meditate is as follows. When I am saying this you are getting the message. When you understand it, you either read the message by your mind’s eye and convince yourself, or you think: ‘This is what it is, I am going to do it’, putting all energy towards that. That is what meditation really means. Sometimes people don’t understand the message; sometimes people do understand the message but don’t understand what it means to put it into the meditative state. Meditative state here really means: either you get the message and you agree with it, or you put a torch on it with your whole consciousness behind it, trying to take the essence of the message and mix your thoughts with that. That is what meditation is all about. We give you the subject and you put your thoughts and attention on the subject. Then you say: I take refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha until enlightenment By practicing generosity and other positive actions. May I attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 105

The object of refuge dissolves into us. Light emanates from our body, reaches to all the people and just by the touch of the light frees them from suffering and the causes of suffering. Whatever understanding of compassion you have, you apply here. Particularly focus on the lower realms. Acknowl- edge their suffering, feel it, feel it strongly in your heart. Feel how much you would be able to take that when you would be in that situation. Then think: ‘Fortunately I am only imagining, I am not in there yet, I am free of those sufferings. May I be able to do something [for them]. May I be helped by the enlightened beings to do something. I commit myself to become able to help them.’ Giving messages one on top of the other make the commitment stronger. Then light emanates from your body and frees the people. With that we say: May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering May al beings never be parted from joy. May all beings experience equanimity. Though an individual as myself does not have the capability of freeing all these people, by the power of the enlightened beings, by the power of my pure motivation, by the power of the truth, and by the power of the interdependent relationship as true existence, may all the wishes I have expressed be fulfilled. The beings are freed from their sufferings. The beings remain in joy and happiness. The beings experience equanimity as balancing point. I am happy. I am happy that I could do something. I appreciate the opportunity. I am joyful, I am happy. I like to remain in and concentrate on this joyful happy moment for a while … … … Now the second step: providing the basis of creation, which is the nature of reality; emptiness. Apply whatever understanding of emptiness you have: either you see the emptiness as being free from [ordinary]

106 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma perceiving and projecting or – if you don’t have any other understanding of emptiness – just, imagine that all is empty like the space. OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHAH SARVADHARMAH SVABHAVA SHUDDHO HAM. Every single existing thing, whether a being or a phenomenon, is in reality in the nature of emptiness. That very emptiness is represented by the big spacious void. I am within that. There is no more me. My body is no more. There are no walls. There is nothing. Only a very open spacious void. The floating energy is only like space. That is me. That is you. That is all existence. It is natural. Suddenly: Within the sphere of emptiness appears a white lotus. Above it is a moon disc, and upon that, the love and compassion of the enlightened appears as the seed syllable TAM. Light radiates from the TAM, and transforms and purifies the environment and its inhabitants. The light makes offerings to the enlightened, gathers their blessings, and dissolves back. The TAM transforms into the Noble Wish-fulfilling Tarema. She sits on a lotus and moon cushion, with a luminous halo at her back. Her right hand gestures an invitation to those fortunate ones who seek liberation. Her left hand indicates the Three Jewels, giving courage and insurance to those who are dominated by fears, entreating them: Unburden yourself and rely on me. Tara is resplendent in exquisite beauty. She holds an utpala flower, reminding us not to be satisfied with worldly happiness, but to aspire to the perfect joy of liberation. She has the syllables OM at the crown, AH at the throat and HUM at the heart. Light radiates from the syllables, inviting the wisdom beings and the empowering deities. The wisdom beings unite inseparably with Tara. The empowering deities anoint her, confer initiation,

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 107

and with the overflowing nectar a Buddha of Infinite Life appears on her crown. In the visualization the Buddha of Infinite Life or Infinite Light is a red-colored buddha, actually representing Tara’s own guru. Brilliant light emanates from the syllable TAM within her heart, reaching infinite universes and collecting back the essence of inexhaustible vitality and the powerful blessings of the wisdom mind. This energy streams forth from Tara’s heart and body, and I completely absorb the nectar of light, cleansing and revitalizing my body and mind. Light goes out from the heart-level and reaches the various enlightened beings, collects their blessings in the form of white light. The [white] light and liquid dissolve into the body of Tara. From Tara’s body light and liquid comes to ourselves and fills up our body completely with wonderful cleansing, pure, cooling, effective light and nectar. It fills our body completely. Just by the touch and the feeling of the light and nectar all our negativities, obstacles, illnesses, and negativities get purified. Not only that; the nectar overflows, out of our mouth, ear, eye, and crown, not a little bit but tremendously. It washes away even external difficulties, any illnesses or any problems that you have on your skin, between skin and flesh, of the flesh, the bones or the inside organs, whatever you have inside will be purified. And we ourselves become excellent, pure, wonderful illumi- nated light-nature beings.

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE MAMA AYUR PUNYE JNANA PUSHTIM KURU YE SOHA (7x)

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA (108x) You really have to say this mantra, because it is the mantra-power you invoke, it is the mantra-power and the meditative power and the spiritual power combined together. That is why saying the mantra with the visualization is necessary.

108 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

In case you can’t or don’t want to say this mantra, then you do the visualizations as I told you earlier: holding the air at the abdominal level, sucking up the lower air and pushing down the upper air, covering them together, closing in, and as long as you are holding the air visualize those things and when you can’t hold the air any longer let it go. Then you pick up the air again and visualize. Again we make a strong request to Tara. Multicolored light goes out from Tara’s heart-level. That rainbow type of light reaches out to every existing universe, collects the essence of the elements and the various energies or qualities, in the form of rainbow-shaped multi-colored light and liquid. That dissolves into Tara. Tara in turn pours a huge amount of energy as an energy-stream to ourselves, multi-colored. In essence it is the energy of the elements plus the qualities of Tara. It dissolves to ourselves and rejuvenates the elements within ourselves. Our physical body get re-strengthened and it becomes a perfect human body, which can achieve the ultimate enlightenment level. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA (…x) You have to think that the collection of the energies is completed, that all your problems have been cleared, that you have become healthy, perfect, spiritually developed, an individual with better characteristics, with all sorts of enlightened qualities. By consistently practicing the path of Noble Tara, may I be able to see the signs of premature death and become a vessel worthy of receiving the powerful blessings of immortality. By this virtue may I quickly attain the essence of the Noble Tara and secure every being without exception in that state.

MEDITATION 5: THE SIX LIGHT SHIELDS OR SHELLS You do the Tara prayer as usual and go up to the mantra of Tara.

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 109

You visualize that from inside the heart of Tara, where the essence of the pure being is, a tremendous amount of white light radiates. The way and how the white light radiates? Sometimes you can see on the water, on the ocean, or from the high mountains steam or clouds coming. In that manner a beautiful pure, clean, wonderful, crystal-looking, very fresh white cloud is coming out from Tara’s heart, from the TAM and the mantra mala. How to build up the visualization 1. The light coming from the heart of Tara, is beautiful, crystal-looking, fresh white light. It gets to yourself. Your body, every part of it, even the inside of the organs, gets completely filled with that pacifying, relaxing, wonderful, smooth, soft, gentle, fresh, crystal-white light. It purifies your negativities in general and particularly the negativities of killing and so on, negativities that cause shortage of life and disturbance of life. All of them get purified, cleared. After purifying your body is completely filled up with fresh white energy. Similarly the powerful light hits your illnesses, the physical problems that you have, blockage of nerves. It clears the channels. It wakes up the sleeping organs, purifies the organs that have become impure and repairs the organs that were not functioning well. You can focus especially on wherever you have a problem visualize the sweet, gentle white light going there. Everything is rejuvenated, functioning like brand- new mature, perfect organs. Not only the present illness has been healed, but the causes of those illnesses, such as negative karma. Likewise the mental and emotional part; any unwanted emotions are driven away, disappear like darkness is dispelled by the sun rising from the eastern mountains. Every mental, emotional and physical problem has been pacified, either cleared or repaired or revitalized or remobilized or balanced; whatever was necessary has been done. It works on the physical level as well as the karmic level. It purifies both ways.

110 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Thus is completed your personal purpose of pacifying. (The meaning of the Tibetan word that is translated as pacifying is not only bringing peace, but also clearing.) The light is continuously pouring from Tara’s body and also begins to get out of your body. You have to think you are directly under Tara; when Tara’s light comes out you are covered and also yours is going out and when the light expands Tara and you both are in the center of the light. So you begin to generate light out of your heart or of your body pores, and so does Tara. The light moves together, it moves away from your body to the outside and forms a sort of white shell, which covers both you and Tara. Don’t think of a small little light; the measurement [of the total of the six shields together] is six body lengths, and the body length is not the length of an ordinary body, it can be a huge body, an enlightened body, which is far bigger than a Viking. The shell is a one-piece shell there is no joining. They look like an egg, but not fragile like an egg; it is very strong, stable; even hurricanes or the ultimate wind at the end of an eon will not be able to destroy it. By the formation of this shell you’ll be able to work the same way for the benefit of others. Thus is completed the purpose of others of pacifying. Now think that this has happened. And focus on it.

2. While you look back to Tara as well as to yourself, you still generate a tremendous amount of white light. This white light begins to blend a little bit with orange and becomes yel- lowish orange color, yellow-gold light, almost the color of liquid gold. That golden colored light fills up your body completely. The white light had pacified; the work of the yellow light for yourself is rejuvenating. It builds up your life, it builds up your strength, your vital energies. It rejuvenates and builds up your broken commitments, your broken vows. The light fills up every part of your brain cells, so that you can use your brain capacity completely. It builds up your capacity of learning, your capacity of analyzing and your capacity of meditating. Also the capacity of expressing your thoughts and ideas through art, through writing, through teaching, through con-

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 111 versation, through debate, as well as through practice. And finally it builds up your capacity of attaining enlightenment. It also builds up the complexion of your body, and anything that should be built up for the self-purpose of increase. You have to think all this has been done within you. To be able to do the same thing to others, you begin to generate light out, just like you did with the white light. Along with Tara, you begin to extend it out to all the directions. The light cuts through the white shell, on a deity-body length, and forms a completely new yellow-golden shell. Thus you develop the capability to do the same thing for the others.

3. Looking back to Tara at the center, there is a tremendous amount of golden light generating. This golden-yellow color begin to pick up red-orange color, and it becomes more and more orange-red light, bright Chinese red. This color fills up your body completely. That bright red light gives the power to be able to overcome your negative emotions as a cause of suffering, to overcome your ego as source of negative emotions, to overcome the consequences of negative actions, the suffering. It is power in the sense of capability, the capability to be able to concentrate, the capability to develop, to strengthen. In all these a power or capability is developed, to the fullest level one can develop. Thus we have completed the generation of power for the purpose of self. We begin to extend the light out of the body; it cuts through the white and through the yellow shell and at another body- length you develop an orange-red shell. Thus you’re developing the capability to help and serve, to do the same thing for the others.

4. You are still generating the same orange-red light, so much that it begins to pick up the bluish light, like in a sharp fire you see at the end blue light. This dark-bluish light develops the capability within you to be able to express the things that you don’t want to do, in other words to be able to say ‘no’ and further make sure it becomes no indeed. So the capability for wrathful purposes if necessary, is developed within

112 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

you. Thus you have completed your own purpose of necessary activities or wrath. To be able to do that for others, you also extend the light out. It cuts out through the white, the yellow and the orange- red shell and forms a light blue shell. All the shells are made of one piece, strong, powerful, stable, transparent as light.

5. If you begin to look to those from inside you still are generating this royal-bluish light. It begins to pick up the green- ish light, so it becomes more and more green light and finally it becomes very powerful attractive, transparent, wonderful, clean, clear looking emerald green. It fills up your body completely, and gives you power to be able to execute any activity that you need to carry out and which is not specifically mentioned above. In other words anything you need to do. That includes bringing to enlightenment, which encompasses all paths and stages, compassion, wisdom, fitness to be a vajrayana practitioner, to receive vajrayana initiations and accom- plish both vajrayana stages. Thus you have developed the capability to be able to do that. Thus you have completed your own purpose of activity. Extending light out for the purpose to be able to do the same thing for the others, you generate light out. It cuts through the white, the yellow, the red-orange and the blue shell and forms a green shell.

6. While you’re looking back there is still a lot of green light coming out. It begins to pick up a brownish color on top of the green and produces a mustard color or rusty light, because brown and green are mixed. What does the mustard color do inside? Whatever achievements you have, it stabilizes them. Thus it serves your own purpose. Then it generates out for the purpose of doing the same thing for the others. The rusty light cuts through the white, the yellow, the red, the blue and the green shell and then forms a rusty shell.

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 113

The TAM with the mantra mala does not continue radiating rusty light. It gradually stops. The work is done. All the six shells are of light-nature. They looks like an egg, made of one piece, strong, stable, extremely powerful. In between the light-shells there is open space. All these spaces are filled up with freshly blooming crystal utpala flowers. Each one of these utpala-flowers will remain fresh forever; the freshness will never go away. It looks like a flower, it is a flower, and it serves the purpose of flowers for us. However, it is also a powerful weapon. If anyone with an undesirable wrong motivation comes around, it cuts and destroy that one, cuts them in pieces actually. Mantra-recitation. With that visualization we say the mantra. Either say the mantra or hold the air like I showed you before. Both ways work. We focus on the white light first, which serves the purpose of yourself. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA (108 x) Light radiates out now forming your white shell outside you for the benefit of others. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA (… x) Now we begin to look at the golden-yellow light inside ourselves. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA (... x) The light goes out and forms a golden-yellow shell for the purpose of others. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. (... x) Now we focus on the red light inside. OM TARE … (... x) Focus on the red light shell outside. OM TARE … (... x) Now focus on the blue light. OM TARE … ( ...x) Focus on the blue shell. OM TARE… (...x) Now focus on the green light inside. OM TARE… (...x) Focus on the green shell. OM TARE … (....x) Focus on the rusty-colored light inside. OM TARE… (..x) Focus on the rusty shell now. OM TARE … (...x) Now focus on all six rims together. OM TARE … (...x)

114 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Checking the visualization. About this point you will like to see how it looks. For that purpose [your mind in the form of] a duplicate of yourself is coming out of your body and begins to look. You see Tara, you look at yourself in whatever form you may be and then you see the white shell over there. You reach to the white shell, sit on the white shell and look back towards your body and to whatever is there, and you see Tara and yourself. You look outside and you see the yellow shell. Between the white and the yellow shell you see a sea of air- energy floating and in that utpala-flowers are roaming. When you look at them, near you you see a more white reflection, more whitish utpalas and a more whitish energy flow [while towards the yellow shell the reflection gets more yellow]. You go over to the yellow shell and you see near you more golden-yellow flowers. When you look back you see the white shell, when you look in front you see the red shell as well as the energy-flow and the utpala-flowers between the yellow and the red shell. Acknowledge, notice the yellow shell and the red shell, and acknowledge yourself on the yellow-golden shell. Then move over to the red shell, look back, see the golden shell, look in front and see the blue shell, notice the flow of air and the flowers. Fly over to the blue shell, acknowledge the red shell at the back and the green shell in the front, you’re on the blue shell. Also notice the energy-flow and the flowers which each are reflecting the shells. Move over to the green shell. Acknowl- edge it as the green shell, look back and see the blue shell and look in front and see the rusty shell. Acknowledge the rusty shell, be over-there and turn back now onto the green, onto the blue, onto the red, onto the golden, onto the white and yourself and Tara. What are these shells made of? It is nothing but the perfection of the mental faculty of the yidam itself. The reasons why we accumulate [relative and absolute] merit now is not only to serve people, but to get the perfection of compassion, which becomes the body, and the perfection of wisdom, which becomes the mind [of the yi-

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 115 dam you are going to become]. The compassion and wisdom and the comtemplatative work you have built become those shields. That [built up qualities] is what the mandala is made of! Meditation on the characteristics of the deity. Now while you’re there inside concentrate on Tara, Tara’s body, her head, the three eyes on the face, the four other eyes in the palms of her hands an soles; these are the seven eyes. Tara has a youthful, beautiful body, majestic. Look at the hand gesture, the right hand in the giving mudra, giving in the sense of offering enlightenment, so it is an invitation, acknowledge that. Look at her left hand, three fingers held up which represents the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. That is the historical Buddha, the historical Dharma and the historical Sangha and it gives you also the message that Tara herself has all qualities of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. Not only Tara has the qualities of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, Tara herself is Buddha, is Dharma and is Sangha. The body represents the Sangha, the spiritual development represents the Dharma, and her mind represents the Buddha. Thus Buddha, Dharma and Sangha is the perfect refuge all in one. That is why it is a protection mudra. Tara is capable of protecting, giving refuge. Tara is not only capable of giving refuge, but Tara herself is object of refuge. Tara also gives you a message. She carries a beautiful un- common, wonderful fresh flower, which represents unprecedented, never experienced great joy, ultimate uncontaminated joy. Ultimate uncontaminated joy can only develop if we cut off the contaminated joy. This is the message. Tara herself is in reality the four Noble Truths. Out of all Buddha’s teachings the four Noble Truths physically appeared as Tara. So focus on Tara, get the message of Tara, and remember Tara. Don’t think of anything else. Just focus, from the head, to the heart, to every part.

Vase-like breathing – holding the air. Then take breath in from the lower part, take breath in from the nostrils, join them at the navel level and hold it. Focus on Tara and hold the air, focus on Tara, hold on, focus. Don’t force yourself. When

116 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

you can’t hold it any longer let the air go slowly from the nostrils. Take a breath again, press the upper breath on the navel, take the lower breath in and hold it together, focus on Tara. Let it go when you can’t hold it anymore take a rest for a couple of breaths. Begin again; focus on Tara, take a breath in, press it down to the navel, take lower air up, combine them at the navel level, hold the air, and focus on Tara. Let it go slowly, take a rest. Take breath in again, put it down to the navel level, take air up, hold them together and focus on Tara. Let it go. Take breath in from the nostrils, put it down to the abdomen, take the lower breath in, and combine them together, focus on Tara. What you see is Tara, the physical appearance is Tara, and you acknowledge that this is in the nature of emptiness. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA (...x) This is how you do this exercise. It is recommended to do the air- holding exercise twenty-one times or seven times or whatever you can.

The yoga of the inseparability of the vast and the profound Holding the physical appearance of the deity and acknowledging that it is in the nature of emptiness is called ‘the clear and the profound, no separation’29. I just showed you a glimpse of it in this meditation. This is the main thing. When finally focused on the mind, it cuts the ignorance and so it cuts samsara. Particularly in this tantra [that is possible].

Purification of mistakes After that we normally say here the purification mantra, [the hundred-syllable mantra], but necessary it is not. If you have it, you can say it here. This short version, which I put it into English, is totally based on Pabongka’s shortest practice of White Tara and that doesn’t have that.

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 117

O great courageous one OM PADMASATTVA SAMAYA whose holy mind is the lotus nature MANU PALAYA of all buddhas, and who holds the samaya pledge, lead me along the path you took to enlightenment, VAJRASATTVA DENOPA to be closer to the vajra holy mind. TISHTA DRIDO ME BHAWA Please, remain firm in me. SUTO KAYO ME BHAWA Please, be pleased with me. May I be in the nature SUPO KAYO ME BHAWA of the highly developed great bliss. ANU RAKTO ME BHAWA Please, be loving towards me. SARWA SIDDHI ME PRAYATCHA Please, grant me all the actual attainments. Please, grant me all the virtuous actions. SARWA KARMA SUTSA ME Please, grant me your glorious qualities. TSITAM SHRIYAM KURU HUNG [Hung: seed syllable of vajra mind. Ha ha ha ha ho HA HA HA HA HO symbolizes the 5 transcendent wisdoms, 4 immeasurables, the 4 empowerments, the 4 joys, the 4 kayas] BHAGAWAN O blessed one, who has destroyed every obscuration, SARWA TATHAGATA attained all realizations and passed beyond suffering, PADMA MA ME MUCHA all those who have gone in the space of emptiness ‘just as it is’, do not abandon me. PADMA BHAWA Grant me realization of the lotus nature. MAHA SAMAYA SATTVA O great courageous one holding the pledge, the samaya-vow, make me one with you. AH HUNG PHAT.

If you want to, you dissolve the shells back to you. Then Tara dissolves into light and this light dissolves into you. If you just let the visualization be, it is also okay because Pabongka did it that way. Close with the two last verses of the Prayer to the Noble Tara.

MEDITATION 6: PRACTICE OF CLARITY AND STABILITY We visualize Tara in front of us and take refuge: I take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha until enlightenment By practicing generosity and other positive actions May I attain enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. Light goes out from Tara’s body, reaches to all beings and fulfills the following: May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all beings never be parted from joy. May all beings experience equanimity.

118 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

When you do this sort of fast work, like ready-made dinner, the way and how you visualize is: the light goes out and does its work and with that sort of mind you say the words; that will serve the purpose. Fast food may not be the most healthy food, but it is food, you know. You need both, time is such that sometimes you’ve got to do that. OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHAH SARVADHARMAH SVABHAVA SHUDDHO HAM Within the sphere of emptiness appears a white lotus Above it is a moon disc, and upon that, the love and compassion of the enlightened appears as the seed syllable TAM. Light radiates from the TAM, and transforms and purifies the environment and its inhabitants. The light makes offerings to the enlightened, gathers their blessings, and dissolves back. The TAM transforms into the Noble Wish-fulfilling Tarema. She sits on a lotus and moon cushion, with a luminous halo at her back. Her right hand gestures an invitation o those fortunate ones who seek liberation. Her left hand indicates the Three Jewels, giving courage and insurance to those who are dominated by fears, entreating them: Unburden yourself and rely on me. Tara is resplendent in exquisite beauty. She holds an utpala flower, reminding us not to be satisfied with worldly happiness, but to aspire to the perfect joy of liberation.

Over here you can concentrate on the image of Tara and try to get clarity and stability as much as you can. Sometimes you have that a certain part is clear and a certain part is not so clear. You can focus on whatever comes clear to you. That doesn’t mean that the parts that are not clear are not there. You simply think everything is there but your major focus will be on the clear part, whether it is the face or the

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 119 eyes, one eye, the three eyes, a hand, the mouth, the legs, or even a hand-implement like the utpala flower. You also can keep on focusing around: think of the head, think of the hands etc., go from upwards down or vice versa. The problem with that is that you will not be able to really have a stable focus. The major point here is the clarity. Stabil- ity is also important. Whatever you get, focus on it. She has the syllables OM at the crown, AH at the throat and HUM at the heart. Light radiates from the syllables, inviting the wisdom beings and the empowering deities. The wisdom beings unite inseparably with Tara. The empowering deities anoint her, confer initiation, and with the overflowing nectar a Buddha of Infinite Life appears on her crown. Brilliant light emanates from the syllable TAM within her heart, reaching infinite universes and collecting back the essence of inexhaustible vitality and the powerful blessings of the wisdom mind. This energy streams forth from Tara’s heart and body, and I completely absorb the nectar of light, cleansing and revitalizing my body and mind.

OM TARE TUTTARE TURE MAMA AYUR PUNYE JNANA PUSHTIM KURU YE SOHA (… x) OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA (… x) Like we told you before, you visualize the light going out from Tara’s heart, collecting your own lost strength and life- energies, collecting the blessings of the buddhas and bodhisattvas, the luck and fortune of the great beings and the five elemental energies either individually or collectively; you keep on meditating, visualizing and collecting them into Tara, then re-pouring them to yourself, getting yourself healed and rejuvenated. Close with the two last verses of the Prayer to the Noble Tara.

120 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

MEDITATION 7: DUPLICATES OF TARA Do the Tara prayer as usual and go up to the mantra of Tara. While you recite Tara’s mantra you focus on Tara right in front of you. While saying the mantra at each mantra – one bead on your mala – a duplicate Tara comes and dissolves into you. It serves all purposes, purifying, healing, obtaining blessing, whatever. That does not mean you have become Tara, but you have obtained the blessings. Close with the two last verses of the Prayer to the Noble Tara.

Advice for practice The last couple of days we have given you various visualizations to begin with light going out from the heart of Tara, collecting your life, strength, energy, all of them, dissolving to the Tara’s body, dissolving to yourself, rejuvenating yourself, purifying everything, as well as collecting the elements individually or collectively, or individually as well as collectively. All this you can do yourself whenever you have time and you feel like doing it.

When you are saying Tara’s mantra, you do the visualizations. The order does not really matter, doing the five elements first and then collecting blessings, fine; take the order you like. You can always do whatever you want to do; there is a lot of freedom in that. You can at different times do whatever you want to do. Please do remember that you don’t have to do everything every time.

There is no commitment to the Tara practice and the mantras. Whether you take the initiation tomorrow or not, it is not a commitment. It is a recommendation. It is recommended is to say the long mantra with a minimum of hundred times and the short mantra with a minimum of thousand times. If you are short in time, you can do twenty-one long ones and hundred short ones, or three short ones and hundred long ones. Particularly for those of you who do physical healings, or who are holistic healer, this [practice with mantra saying] is very useful; and it is very good for yourself too. Excellent!

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 121

During the mantra-saying it is good not to have any other sound in between, that means it is better when you don’t have to speak during the session.

I am happy with the way we chant this mantra OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. The tune of the mantra I have found about nine years ago in a friend’s garage in Cleveland, when we were about to start a White Tara workshop in the Omega Institute in New York. I am very happy with it and I do hope Tara will like it and enjoy it. Actu- ally I came to the Netherlands, even before I went to America. It is exactly ten years ago I that I came here for the first time, to be exact in the month of April 1985, at Easter. Okay. If anybody has questions, this is the opportunity.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS About visualization Audience: Can I join the initiation if I can’t visualize that well? Rimpoche: Yes, you can. The initiation we are going to have is more a longevity blessing than an initiation in the usual sense. But, in this initiation can you visualize yourself as Tara? No. Will the initiation help you to meditate on Tara? Maybe. This initiation this week is more healing and obtaining blessings. In Tibet we do this very often to individuals or groups and particularly for sick people we may do it hundred times. So it is more invoking blessings [a blessing-initiation] than a normal initiation, which means entering into a mandala. The word initiation is often not really identified for what it really is. Audience: How big or small you visualize Tara? Rimpoche: If too big it is not very convenient; if too small it is not so easy. So you choose whatever is reasonable to you to project; there is no set measurement. Don’t make it a mini Tara nor a giant Tara. Audience: (about visualization, seeing the lotus clearly and the rest being a mental construction) Rimpoche: Visualization is nothing but a mental construction. I don’t think your problem is a problem at all, it takes time to build up. A lot of people can’t even see a part clearly. And certain people

122 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma cannot visualize at all. It is interesting however, that you see the lotus more clear than the body, maybe you like flowers. Audience: (about building the shields) Rimpoche: You can build the shields before saying the mantras, like we did; you can also build them while doing the mantras.

Miscellaneous Audience: What is the difference between praying to Tara without having obtained a blessing-initiation and praying to Tara with having obtained the blessing-initiation? Rimpoche: With blessing-initiation you come a little bit closer to Tara. It is like the difference between an unknown and a known face.

Audience: As space is always the base for the other elements to function, a pre-requisite for anything, how can it diminish in yourself? Rimpoche: The space-element has the capability of providing that things do not block; it provides the possibility of free movement. It has its own energy. If there is no space, also air cannot go through and everything will become static. Though space is the base of everything, it also has its own purity and energy, its quality. The philosophical definition of space is: the freedom of anything that touches or blocks. The principle of space also corresponds with the mind, being the ability to accept. In the case of the mind it is adaptability, spaciousness, openness. We talked about the openness of space. That very space I think we do have within ourselves, even between the organs and between the inside and outside. We do need space; without it I don’t think we can function. If there is no space, you can’t move, you can’t even breathe. You can’t do anything.

Audience: We have been talking about tantra the past few days, but in the West the word or the idea of tantra is known in more ways than just the Buddhist way. You also see that workshops are given under the name of tantra, in which people practice several techniques, like kundalini, in order to develop their personality, to develop their experience in relationships of sexuality, to become more

The Practice of Healing and Self-healing 123 successful in their work. What can you say about this from your Buddhist point of view? Rimpoche: It is not only here, it is in every part of the western world. Kundalini is definitely a part of the Vajrayana practice. The way and how it is used in some groups in the West is to have better sex. The simple use for that purpose is not the purpose of Vajrayana. The purpose of kundalini in Vajrayana actually is to have an extraordinary experience, by allowing the movement of the energy and the red and white drops in the geographic center of the psychic body, an unprecedented, inexperienced special experience. Kunda- lini is supposed to bring that and when that is brought in, it is not to have sex and fun, but to be able to utilize that very moment to grasp the wisdom. It provides extraordinary concentration at that very moment. Like we talked before, when you hold the upper and lower air together and you don’t focus outside, you can definitely put a one-pointed focus on whatever subject you want to. In kundalini it is not just the breath that is hold, but the real energy is moving at the center of the center of the psychic body. It is an extraordinary experience, no doubt, and utilizing this extraordinary experience to grasp the wisdom is basically how you use kundalini in a spiritual way. That is what I know of it.

Audience: What can happen to people who practice it immature? Rimpoche: A: It does not even work; they pretend it to work. B: They get burnt out.

Audience: What does wrathful activities mean? Rimpoche: Wrathful really means to be able to say ‘no’. There are a variety of wrathful activities, but the beginning for us is to be able to say ‘no’. You know, sometimes we are so polite and so gentle, we can’t say ‘no’, we have to say ‘yeah’ to everybody and then you can’t get your promises fulfilled. I think it begins there, by being able to say ‘no’. Also the blue color is, I think, some kind of capacity like space, room to do anything you want to; it gives you spaciousness. When you look into the wrathful deities, many of them are blue-colored; not all but the majority. And, of course, blue is beauty too. Yellow is prosperity, gold and earth, it is the color of stableness, solidity. Manjushri is golden-orange, the essence of wisdom. Be-

124 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma tween the internal elements and external elements is a lot of connection. When you look into the five skandhas30, the five wisdoms and the five buddhas, they’re all connected with the external and internal elements, very much connected. All that is much deeper than what we talked. But we did what we needed to do.

CONCLUSION OF THE WORKSHOP Well, I don’t have anything else to say except to say: thank you so much. I am very happy to have spent time with wonderful people like you. When you go back to your homes remember two things: One: the motivation is important. Two: whatever action you take, whatever practice you do, make sure that you are doing it for the purpose of helping all beings. That includes yourself, don’t exclude yourself. When you have compassion, have compassion for others, sure, but have compassion to yourself too. You are a human being; you are part of all sentient beings. A joke. Stephen Batchelor told me that when he was studying with the Geshe Rabten, there was always ‘all sentient beings’ coming in. After a little while they developed a system: if anybody gives you trouble, you say: ‘Get out of my way, you are not all sentient beings, you are only a sentient being. [Laughter] So you shouldn’t do that. All sentient beings means including yourself, don’t get yourself out of the way. If you do some practice of Tara, whether you are Buddhist or not a Buddhist, remember she is so wonderful, and among all Taras White Tara is particularly great; in the sense that you can feel very close and the practice is always very effective, it is quick, and it’s wonderful. You will learn that yourself by practicing it. And if you want to keep it simple, practice it the small, easy way, it is also very nice.

Eight symbols of good fortune: the right-turning conch-shell, the victory sign, the golden fishes, the parasol, the treasure vase, the lotus, the glorious endless knot, the wheel.

VI Fear and Fearlessness

Public talk the evening before the workshop I’m very happy to be here and very happy to see everybody, and a lot of new faces too. The subject of tonight is fear and fearlessness, right? Fear itself is an emotion to me. It is an emotion that blocks the individual to achieve whatever he wants to achieve. Basically we’re very afraid; we’re really afraid; everybody is scared of one thing or another. People are worried about: ‘I am going to get hurt, I’m not going to be successful, I’m going to make a mistake, I’m going to do the wrong thing’. So much fear people have, and we don’t know exactly what we are afraid of. Why we are afraid? Because we have lost so many times. We have lost our life, lost the things that belong to us. We have lost a lot of times. I’m telling you this is on the background of reincarnation. Reincarnation is such a thing; you change life. Changing itself is not comfortable for us and when something is uncomfortable, we’re afraid of it. We’re scared of changing anything. It is the same thing with being afraid of death. People are afraid of dying, which boils down to fear of the unknown. You get it? Why do we have that fear of the unknown? It is our experience that a number of times, we not only lost what we had, but also we encountered pains and suffering. That is one type of fear we have to deal with, we have to talk about. Then there is another type of fear. When we talk about fearlessness, we’re not talking about not having to worry, or not having to be afraid of certain types of people in the slums-area of New York. 128 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

We’re not talking about that. People misunderstand a lot. The moment you say fearless they think: ‘I’m not afraid of anybody, I can walk by myself, I don’t have to worry about other people going to mug me or attack me.’ I don’t think we’re talking about that fear or fearlessness. Then there is another fear, of which I had some personal experience during my childhood in Tibet. We were afraid of ghosts all the time. Yeah true. We were really afraid of someone going to come out of our closet, or some evil spirit going to attack you when walking at night, or some ghost going to appear and frighten you. We can call that silly or childish fear, but it is also fear and I used to be afraid. I even am so now sometimes, if I have to walk through an unknown place in the darkness. There is again another type of fear, what we call the nightmares of a spiritual practitioner. That is the fear of anger, the fear of hatred, the fear of attachment, etc. That is the real fear. That makes you suffer, that makes you uncomfortable. That is our biggest problem.

I-the-most-important-one Of all fears, the main point is the feeling, how you personally experience it. If you look how they are experienced, you find that all of them have: ‘I am going to be hurt, I am going to be miserable, I am going to be in difficulty’. It is always lead by I. That’s where all the emotions are coming from. So much over-emphasis on the I, the ego-grasping point of I-the-most-important-one. Look carefully; if somebody else is sick or is dying, the feeling you have is different from the feeling you have when I am sick, I am dying. There is a big difference. The reality is this: if someone is sick, a human being is sick; if somebody is dying, a human being is dying, if I am sick, a human being is sick; if I am dying, a human being is dying. But, how do we feel? We don’t want anybody to be dying or to be sick, that is not acceptable. However, if someone else is dying, you feel sad and miserable, but it is very easy to adapt. But when we think: ‘I am going to die, I’m going to get sick’, we freak out. That is because of so much ego-grasping we have, the I becoming so important. An earlier great Indian master, called Chandrakirti, has said: Where do all the fears come from? All come from ego-grasping.

Fear and Fearlessness 129

If all of those fears are coming from the point of ego-grasping, what should we do? Chandrakirti advised the yogis to destroy the self. When we say ‘destroy the self’, it does not mean you have to damage yourself, it doesn’t mean you destroy your body, it doesn’t mean you destroy your existence. It means, the way and how we grasp to ourselves as I, has to be carefully observed and looked at.

Then the question rises: How do we grasp our ego, our self? How we grasp is the most important. That’s why I gave you earlier the example, if someone has died, it is bad but acceptable but if I’m going to die it is not acceptable. I am the most important one. When you really look at it: how do we see ourselves? The moment we say self or I, what kind of projection do we get? We’re not only getting in mind our face, our body, the perceptions of our consciousness or our sense-perceptions, but we get the projection of some permanent, outstanding, sort of everlasting, important being. Something like that we get. If you just look at yourself, you will probably not agree; you will say: ‘I don’t think I’m permanent’; you will also say: ‘I don’t think I’m important’. Theoretically we accept that we are not permanent, but practically we don’t. Practically we plan to live; we make our plans for next week, for next month, for next year and the years after that and now maybe for the next century. We’re constantly making plans, I’m quite sure we do. If you don’t think you go on living, why are you making all these plans? When you look deep down you know that you plan to live, and that is why we subconsciously or unconsciously perceive a permanent me. We also subconsciously or unconsciously accept an independent me. When having this permanent, independent self, it becomes an untouchable, very important I. When it has become an untouchable, independent I, it then becomes a superior I, and then my things become superior. Believe it or not, every human being has that; every nation has it, every race has it. It is a sort of deep down ‘I’m the most important one’. Then it also extents to ‘my group’, ‘my caste’, ‘my nation’ and ‘my world’; all these become superior to the others. When you discard what is distant to you, you finally keep yourself. Because of that we have protection for the my’s and we have hatred for that which is ‘against my’. That is basically how we have grown our emotions: it is the attachment and it is the hatred. The divisions among the groups, the divisions among people, the

130 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma divisions in and amongst families, the division between nations, are also coming from here: ‘my group’ and ‘their group’, and my attachment and their hatred. Do you get the basic picture? So, just because of self-importance and regarding others as less important, we have divisions. That’s why we have attachment, that’s why we have hatred. And as a result of that you get fear of losing, and fear of not getting. This is our basic structure, and basically the human problems are coming from here.

Interdependent existence That’s why Buddha said: there is no self. That’s why Buddha keeps on saying that emptiness is the most important subject in his teaching. Buddha does not say there is no I. Buddha simply says there is no independent I. Buddha is saying there is an interdependently arising I. So, dependent existence is really the true principle of our existence. Did you get me? Dependent existence. By not knowing that we get all these problems. I’m sure you people have heard talking about dualism, dualistic problems and so on. All of those ideas are really basically coming from here.. Mind you, this is not saying that there is no difference between I and others. We’re not saying that at all. I and others are definitely different; I have hair on my head and others don’t have hair on their head, which shows you that I and others are different. Right? What we are saying is: I depend on the other and the other depends on me. You can’t have I without the other; you can’t have east without having west, you can’t having this side without having that side. If you really looked into it, you see it is very dependent. People begin to pick up these days that our world is dependent. Even politically or economically people talk about it now. Because people think about politics, about economics, they begin to see it. But people don’t think about existence, people don’t think about ‘my existence’ and people don’t think about ‘my relation with others’. This is the problem. If you would think about my relation, about my existence and your existence, about our relationships, then these big divisions of I, my and my side and you and your side, east and west, south en north, black and white, would be much smaller. This is basically the way and how we transcend fear. That is one of Buddha’s most important gifts. A great master, called Tsongkhapa, wrote a praise to Buddha that says:

Fear and Fearlessness 131

I bow down to him whose insight and speech Make him unexcelled as sage and teacher; The victor, who realized [ultimate truth], Then taught us it as relativity [dependent arising]. The Essence of Eloquent speech; praise to the Buddha for teaching profound dependent arising, vs 1. Tsongkhapa praised the Buddha saying: you are the one who really has seen the situation, and you expressed what you realized by knowing, by seeing; that’s why you speak about interdependent relationships, and that is why I call you a great teacher.

If you have the time, and if you have the energy, you should really think about this. You should really think about every single thing: ‘How do I approach this?’ How do I as individual approach the things that I deal with? How do I deal with other human beings? How do I deal with myself, with my friends? How do I deal with my food, with my health, with my environment? How do I approach all them? How do I perceive them? What difference does that make to me? Religion or no religion, Buddhism or no Bud- dhism, attachment or no attachment, I think the bottom-line really is: ‘How do I perceive? And by perceiving in such a way, what feelings do I get? And having those feelings, how do I entertain these feelings? And how do I react after entertaining my feelings?’ I think that’s the bottom-line. So really think carefully of how you perceive. Let us say you see something beautiful, then what reactions do you get? If you get nice feelings from the senses think: How does my eye-consciousness work? How does my body-consciousness work? Seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting and touching or bodily awareness? Of each one of these senses when inter-reacting with others, what do you get? You get a feeling. The feeling you get is: either you are going to enjoy it or you’re going to hate it or you don’t really care. Right? When you get a nice feeling, for example when you touch, then that very feeling will give you a desire, you want to touch more, until you get hurt [laughter]. And when you touch and you don’t like it, you want to have nothing to do with it, you want to get away.

Basically this is the underlying principle for creating karma. I think every single damned thing that we do is because of this: like-dislike,

132 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma attachment-hatred. Do you see it? This is our problem. This is where it comes from. This is how we deal with things. And we can’t walk away from that, because as long as we live, we have to see , we have to hear, we have to smell, we have to taste, we have to touch. Some religions may tell you: ‘You can’t touch, you can’t look, cut it off, put yourself in a box’. Some religions say: ‘Oh no, there is a nice way of handling that; you can transform it and make it nice’. Why? Because this like-and-dislike makes you do different. things. This is basically how our life is functioning. Basically our fears are coming from there, basically our attachment is coming from there, basically our hatred is coming from there.

Now the question rises: Should I not feel? Should I not look? No. We have to live, we have to be in life. So then, what do you do? This is our problem. Then we are told to have no attachment, to have no hatred. To put your hand in luke-warm water is nice, but I don’t think it will work. People do have attachment, people do have hatred. Where is that coming from? It is coming from the continuation of how we deal with these external things. Therefore Buddha tells us: ‘You have never experienced the greatest feeling, the real joy, and that is why you have this problem.’ Which means Buddha had a different way of perceiving things. And I wish we would know it. Really true, we don’t know. We talk a lot; we say: ‘Buddha says this, Buddha says that, Buddha did this and blah blah blah’, but we don’t know what Buddha really experienced, or for that matter any saint, siddha and scholar. We really don’t know what that different experience is. That different experience is something we have to gain by ourselves, I believe. When you gain that, I presume, there is a different way of perceiving things. That different way of perceiving we call unity. Unity of what? Unity of subject and object, unity of body and mind, unity of male and female, again a lot of blah blah blah-talk. What are we working for? What are we looking for is a different experience of perceiving things from outside and a different experience of me perceiving, different from what we do now. That is why we talk about practice, that is why we talk about dharma, that is why we talk about Vajrayana, that’s why we talk about accumulation of positive karma, that’s why we talk about purification, that’s why we

Fear and Fearlessness 133 talk about contemplation; all of them are searching for a different way of perceiving, perceiving external and internal feelings.

Buddha tells: ‘The wisdom of the understanding of reality, the wisdom of emptiness, is the only thing that will be capable of delivering these goods.’ This is a very famous Buddhist subject. It doesn’t tell you how to say Om mani padme hum, it doesn’t tell you how to sit and meditate, but it tells you what reality really is: empty. What does that mean, emptiness? That means you cannot go down to a point where you can say: this is it. What does that mean? Everything is divisible; no matter how much subtle you go down, you can divide it. Whether it is mind or physical, you will not reach a point where you cannot divide anymore. That’s why buddhists say there is no independent self or atman, and that is why all is dependent. When something is dependent, there is two. When there is two, it shows there is not one. Therefore from the religion’s point of view there is no point in having attachment, there is no point in having hatred, because there is no one, there is always two, or more. When with this understanding you look at fear, what do you see? You don’t see that fear as a huge monster anymore. That is Bud- dha’s wisdom. That is the way you deal with all your emotions, how you deal with your anger, how you deal with your attachment. All right?

Head or heart There is another point to mention here. You should not think from your head, but think from your heart, from your guts, focus deep down inside. The problems that you approach from thinking from your head, and the problems that you approach from your heart, differ. That is not because of the problems itself, but because the way and how you approach them is different. And I believe this is the difference in approach between east and west; maybe I’m wrong. All eastern religions, including Buddhism, will tell you how to think from the heart. Dealing with people, dealing with things, you do from the heart. And in the west you deal with a lot of things from the head.. In the west you even say the consciousness is in the head; in the east we say the consciousness re- sides in the heart. I really don’t know where the consciousness is, because it is very pervasive. If you pinch your arm you know it,

134 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma and if you pinch your big toe you know it, unless you have no circulation. So it is pervasive. For the way and how you approach things, it doesn’t matter where the consciousness is. The main point is the coordination, coordination between the physical body and the mind, and how to approach others. If you change the way and how you approach people, just change from the head to the heart, just change from head to navel; it makes a difference. We know that very well, don’t we? If you think of sex only on the head, your not going to have good sex at all; that’s the example. However, you cannot function only guts too. Again you need unity, unity between head and heart. That’s how you can change your approach to life. And if you look carefully into it, you’re going to find how to overcome negativities, whether it is anger, or attachment, or jealousy or hatred or fear or whatever it might be.

The way I talked to you today is very unconventional, I think, but it is the bottom-line, even in Vajrayana, the ultimate approach in Bud- dhism, which works with energy and chakras. The next few days in the Tara-workshop we will touch that. If I have disappointed anybody I’m sorry. You may have been expecting a very holy lecture, but you got a very funny one. But if you think this funny way, you’ll find how your life- approach is. And once you find how your life-approach is, then you can make a change. You can not change until you have found the way and how you are approaching. That is why some people work very hard, try to do their best, work hard and hard and boom, boom, but get nowhere, keep on fighting within themselves. Basi- cally, I strongly believe, that is because you did not dig deep down into how you approach your life. I’m recalling my trainings at childhood. For example, as a kid I was told everything is impermanent and I was told that impermanence means change. So I had to struggle between change and impermanence, because I was not told that impermanence means that things do not remain here, are getting old, get torn, will break or will die. If something like that had said, things would have been easier. The same thing is happening to you people. The eastern religions, like Buddhism, come in and you hear philosophical talks and Buddha’s way of dealing with emotions. They tell you things like

Fear and Fearlessness 135 emptiness, meaning wisdom and being empty, and they also don’t tell you what is meant by empty. Things like that. So I tried to share with you a Buddhist teaching in everyday’s life dealing. I tried to share with you how the wisdom really works. And I also tried to tell you where the bottom line really lies. The bottom-line, once again, it is the connecting point between the person and the external world - persons or things-, and the perceiving point thereafter. So, how you connect and how you perceive thereafter.

Any religion will tell you anger is bad, attachment is bad, hatred is bad. And then you think: ‘Anger, yeah, I’m getting angry, it’s bad, I cannot get angry’ or ‘Oh, I’m getting attached, attachment is bad, I should not be attached’. And then you know, your feelings will come out, your feeling of anger will come out and bursts a little bit and you try to shut your mouth and put it down a little bit, but you can’t. Likewise attachment will come out, your hands will go, your eye will go, but then you say: ‘it is not good’. That’s where the struggle comes. If you look a little further down into how the approach comes in, where the feeling come from, how it does go, if you look little bit more into it, it will be a little bit easier to manage than by say saying: ‘no good, no good, no good.’ I think then the struggle will go down. A lot of people say: ‘Oh I’m not doing good, so I’ll say mantra’s.’ And a lot of them will say: ‘I have to do a lot of prostrations’. A lot of them are going to say: ‘Don’t talk to me about it, I’m going to shut up.’ That is internal withdraw. Some of them go wild: ‘I don’t care whatever happens’. Those are all wrong approaches. When you have those problems, think from the head, think from the heart and feel the difference. I think that will be real good dharma. Because Buddha himself says: Avoid negativities, build up positivities, watch your mind; this is Buddhism.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Audience: What is the best way to watch your mind? Rimpoche: Get some binoculars. That’s what it is. The way and how you watch your mind is as follows: from a little distance you sort of constantly watch your mind, using a mental faculty called

136 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma remembrance as well as another mental faculty which is a sort of watcher that looks whether you are focused or not, whether you have awareness or not. Awareness itself is watching from a distance through a permanent pair of binoculars, which are remembrance and acknowledgment, keep them focused together and watch [your mind] from a distance. That works. And I must also share with you here, I asked one of my late masters: ‘How is the understanding of emptiness, capable of delivering enlightenment; if I know my cup is emptiness, and how does that deliver the enlightenment to me? His answer was: ‘The main point is emptiness on mind, that is capable of delivering enlightenment’. That’s why a lot of people tell that every existence depends on the mind, that the mind itself is everything, that the mind is the creator; it’s all because of that. Whether my mind creates the external things or not, when I look for myself, my mind is the most important; if my mind is not there, I cannot perceive anything. That’s why mind is more important than matter. And again, maybe, that is a difference again between the Eastern and the Western approach. I don’t think we are talking about every existence, I think we are talking about: me and my world, how I perceive my world, how I live in my world, how I experience my world.

Audience: I feel a conflict between letting go of ego, of self, the idea of independent self on one hand, and being responsible for my own development, spiritual and personal development on the other hand. Rimpoche: That’s not you only. Everybody will have that problem. I think it is a problem, because if we try to destroy that I, after destroying it we have to substitute something else and we haven’t done that. This is a big problem; when you destroy that independent I, and you substitute it by a kind of ‘I’ that is a collection of many things together, then whether that is again an I, is a big problem. But problem or no problem, the responsibility lies with the person. And who that person, who is carrying the responsibility, really is, is a different issue. That person who is carrying responsibility is me. And who is that me? How does that me come into existence? What kind of things are involved in that? That is a totally different issue. Whether it is a different issue or not, I am responsible for my own deeds, we cannot escape that. I think, these sort

Fear and Fearlessness 137 of difficulties you keep on dealing with and solving, and when you have solved one you’ll get another one, you try to solve that and you’ll get another one, and so on. And when you finally sort this problem out, you will be enlightened, I really think that’s what it is. This is more difficult than overcoming attachment or anger. Be- cause for attachment or anger you do have some kind of definition; you can point it out, you can identify it, and then you work on it and cut it. But this is something that continuously goes on and is a sort of mystery in the depth of life. It goes after layer, layer after layer, and ultimately we come to what we call primordial consciousness. That is only a word. I can’t really tell you what primordial consciousness is, it is still only a word we’re playing with. Among the Tibetan Buddhist followers, some will tell you it is dzog chen meaning that every existence is completely collected as some kind of great wavelength. Some people call it mahamudra, because it is sort of an every moment existence. They give you various names and defini- tions, but still you’re playing with words. Some people will call it ordinary mind, some people will tell you it is rigpa, clarity. All words, but in reality we really don’t get a grasp of it. You know, when you say the word you have to have something inside, and that you don’t get till you become enlightened. That’s my belief. That’s why it is a very important question. It is everybody’s problem.

I think we can call it a day. Thank you.

White Tara VII Texts

PRAYER TO THE NOBLE TARA by Kyabje Gehlek Rimpoche

Refuge and bodhicitta I take refuge in Buddha, Dharma, Sangha and Tara. May I reach enlightenment for the benefit of all. (3x) Four Immeasurables May all beings have happiness. May they be free from suffering. May they find the joy that has never known suffering. May they be freed from attachment and hatred. Generation of Tara In the space before me appears a white lotus. Upon it is a moon cushion and upon that, the love and compassion of all the enlightened appear as the seed syllable TAM. Light radiates from the TAM and transforms into the Noble Wish-fulfilling Tara. She sits on the lotus and moon with a luminous aura surrounding her. Youthful and radiant, her right hand gestures an invitation to liberation. Her left hand indicates the three jewels, giving courage and assurance to those dominated by fears. At her crown is a white OM, at her throat a red AH, at her heart is the white TAM marked by a blue HUM. Inviting the wisdom beings and initiation deities Light radiates from the syllables, 140 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma inviting the wisdom beings and empowering deities. The wisdom beings unite inseparably with Tara. The empowering deities anoint her, confer initiation and with the overflowing nectar a Buddha of Infinite Life appears on her crown. Seven limb prayer I bow down in body speech and mind. I offer the best I have to give, both real and imagined to fill the space between us. I regret and purify all transgressions. I rejoice in all virtues. I request you to remain until total enlightenment. I request wise and compassionate guidance. I dedicate my merit for the sake of all beings. Mantra recitation and healing activities Brilliant light emanates from the syllable TAM within her heart, reaching infinite universes and collecting back the essence of inexhaustible vitality and the powerful blessings of wisdom mind. The energy streams forth from Tara’s heart and body and I completely absorb this nectar of light, cleansing and revitalizing my body speech and mind. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA (..x)

Optional: Praise TARE MA liberates from samsara; TUTTARE liberates from the eight fears; TURE liberates from all illnesses; To you, the Great Liberating Mother, I prostrate. Dedication If foreseeing signs of premature death, by consistently practicing the path of Noble Tara, may I become a vessel worthy of receiving the powerful blessings of immortality. By this virtue may I quickly attain the essence of Noble Tara and secure every being without exception in the state.

Texts 141

A GEM TO INCREASE LIFE AND WISDOM A PRAISE OF WHITE TARA by Gyalwa Gendun Drub, First Dalai Lama (1391-1474)

Homage to the Female Buddha beautiful with youth, Who sits on seats of white lotus and moon in nature Spreading with stainless compassion and knowledge, Who captures the radiance of snow mountains.

Homage to the Youthful One with budding breasts, Who has one face and two arms, sits in the vajra posture, Is bold with grace and calm, has a full moon as backrest And is filled with great bliss.

Homage to the Ultimately Generous One whose right hand, Showing the mudra Supreme Giving, easily releases Boundless karmas of peace, increase, power and wrath As well as the eight siddhis and even supreme buddhahood.

Homage to the Spiritual Mother who gives birth to Buddhas Past, present and future; whose left hand Supporting a blue lotus, grants protection From lions, elephants, fires and all eight terrors.

Homage to the Refuge of the World, who has eyes In hands and feet gazing at the four doors of freedom, And who leads all living creatures Toward the isle of blissful liberation.

Homage to she whose face unites The beauty of a million autumn moons, Whose wide eyes gaze with compassion, Whose joyous mouth smiles equally on all.

Homage to she with head adorned by Amitayus, Boundless Life, The mere thought of whom grants life and wisdom, Whose hands, in the contemplative mudra Hold a vase filled with ambrosia of immortality.

142 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Homage to the All-Beautiful One whose crown steals the light of sun and moon, whose sapphire hair is half knotted on top and half falling freely over her shoulders. Homage to the Majestic One of precious ornaments blazing, whose crown, earrings, necklaces, arm-bands, bracelets, anklets and belt so elegantly arranged, surpass the ornaments of men and gods. Homage to she of celestial raiment whose shoulder-sash and skirt hug her body like rainbows hug the crystal mountains. Homage to the goddess before whose lotus feet Vishnu, Indra, Shiva, Brahma, the antigods, spirits, men, semi-human and all the world submit themselves in devotion. Merely by reciting your mantra, those who make offerings at your lotus feet gain immortality, wisdom and merit and attain all desired siddhis; to you I bow down. The knowledge, compassion and perfect actions of all buddhas appear in the form of the beautiful goddess. I take refuge in you and offer you my prayers; pray, eliminate all my obstacles and fulfil all my aims. Quickly release your perfect action of peace, calming all interferences to my practices for enlightenment: interferences such as the eight terrors, sickness, demons and other harmful agents, inner and outer. Quickly release your perfect action of increase, which multiplies all good qualities, such as life, merit, unapprehending compassion, the stainless wisdoms of learning, contemplation and meditation and the three higher trainings.

Texts 143

Quickly release your perfect action of power, which causes gods, men and spirits to humbly bow before you and which fulfils all wishes of the mind.

Quickly release your perfect action of wrath which with punishments befitting the evils done destroys demons, interferences and hindrances hatefully opposing buddhadharma and its holders.

Pray, bestow quick and easy attainments of siddhis such as the magic sword, mystic eye-medicine, fast walking, the food pill and the precious vase, and even mahamudra, the highest siddhi.

In brief, from now until enlightenment I respectfully make offerings at your lotus feet. I need seek no other refuge. Out of compassion gaze upon me and quickly grant protection.

By the meritorious energy of this practice may the transcended, perfect Tara look upon me forever with pleasure and never leave me, even for a moment.

May all sentient beings after death take rebirth before Amitayus in Sukhavati, Land of Pure Joy. May they live in the ways of the great bodhisattvas and come to equal Avalokiteshvara, Lord of Compassion.

May I realise the oceans of sutras and tantras to be able to pass them on to others. And until samsara be emptied may I strive to uphold the victory banner of practicing exactly as taught. transl. Glenn H. Mullin

144 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

A CROWN ORNAMENT FOR THE WISE A PRAISE OF GREEN TARA by Gyalwa Gendun Drub, First Dalai Lama (1391-1474)

To Arya Avalokiteshvara I bow down.

Homage to exalted Tara, at whose lotus feet Vishnu, Brahma, Vrihapati, Ganesh, Ishvara, Surya And the other crown ornaments amongst the many gods Most reverently offer worship.

By the magical power of Avalokiteshvara's compassion, The knowledge, mercy and strength of Buddhas past, present and future Manifest in the form of the beautiful Goddess of Action; At the feet of Tara, who protects from poverty, I bow down.

Upon a pure lotus and moon symbolizing knowledge and voidness Sits the emerald goddess having one face and two arms. Homage to she bounding with youth, whose right leg outstretched And left withdrawn symbolize wisdom and method conjoined.

Her bulging breasts are a treasure of non-samsaric bliss, Her moon-like face smiles brightly And her wide, compassionate eyes gaze in serenity; Homage to the beautiful one of the Rosewood Forest.

Homage to she whose delicate right hand Like a turquoise tree spreading its branches, Stretches into the mudra Supreme Generosity, As though inviting sages to a festival of supreme siddhi.

Homage to she whose left hand is in the mudra bestowing refuge, Which, symbolizing the Three Jewels, seems to call out: 'O you who see a hundred terrors, fear not, For I will quickly protect you.'

Homage to she with hands adorned with blue lotus flowers

Texts 145

That act as an inspiring whip, as though saying: 'Be not attracted to samsaric pleasures, But enter into the city of great liberation.'

Homage to she who can conquer the Lord of Death; For by Buddha Amithaba, radiant as a ruby, is she crowned; His hands, in the meditation posture, bear a bowl of ambrosia To bestow the siddhi of immortality.

Homage to she adorned with ornaments That embody each and every beauty Of celestial wish-fulfilling gems Made by the craftsmen Merit and Wisdom.

Like an emerald mountain clothed in rainbows The upper part of her body is draped in celestial silks And a panchalika skirt hugs her thin, supple waist; To her I bow down.

And homage to the goddess at her right side, Marici, Peaceful in countenance, and emanating lights the colour of the sun; And also to the goddess at her left, Ekajati, Wrathful, lustful, radiant and the colour of the sky.

Homage to she whose skies are filled With myriads of goddesses skilled in dance and the six types of song, Who hold up countless offerings such as white umbrellas, Peacock fans, stringed instruments and flutes.

The consorts of Vishnu, Indra and Ishvara And thousands of other enchanting, immortal goddesses, Must compete in beauty merely with your servants; To the form of the exquisite goddess I bow down.

From the billowing cloud of your compassion Resounds the thunder of teachings sweet to hear, Seizing disciples in a rain of eight branches; To she the wise in raining [teachings] I bow down.

146 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Ocean-like treasure of qualities who sees all things Who can describe you as you really are? For your unimpeded mind possesses ten powers. To she gone to the end of knowledge I bow down.

Although having found peace she is moved by compassion And with arms of compassion quickly carries [to peace] The beings sinking into an ocean of misery. To she gone to the end of compassion I bow down.

Her activities of pacifying, increasing, overpowering and destroying Like tides of the ocean pause not for a moment But spontaneously roll on in an unbroken flow. To she gone to the end of action I bow down.

Merely by remembering her feet one is protected From the eight terrifying agents and evil ghosts And from terrors such as obstacles to liberation and omniscience; To she gone to the end of power I bow down.

Therefore, O Worthy Refuge, I beseech you, Protect living beings from diseases, ghosts, demons, Untimely death, nightmares, evil omens, And every cause of terror.

Protect us from the terrifying lion Pride Who dwells in the mountain of wrong views; And who is an inflated mentality holding itself better than others And yielding a claw to degrade the worlds.

Protect us from the terrifying elephant Ignorance Who is not tamed by the sharp hooks of mindful alertness; and who From confusion caused by drinking the alcohol of sensual indulgence Leads us down wrong paths to the sharp fangs of pain.

Protect us from the terrifying fires of Anger Which incite the wind of improper mental activity And amidst swirling smoke-clouds of wrong action Have power to burn the forest of goodness.

Texts 147

Protect us from the terrifying snake Jealousy Who, attached to its nest of ignorance Is unable to bear seeing the wealth or prosperity of others And instantly infects everything with poison. Protect us from the terrifying thief Wrong View Who created the dreadful wilds of inferior discipline And the stark deserts of eternalism and nihilism And destroys the towns and hermitages of virtue and joy. Protect us from the terrifying shackles of Miserliness That holds us in a lock of attachment difficult to spring And bind living beings helplessly In the unbearable prison of cyclic existence. Protect us from the terrifying waters of Desire, That carry us in the current of samsara so hard to ford And that, conditioned by the winds of karma, Toss in waves of birth, sickness, old age and death. Protect us from the terrifying ghost Doubt, The malignant spirit who moves in the space of ignorance, Attacking those with interest in ultimate aims And disturbing the life of freedom. By the power of this praise and supplication to you May conditions opposing Dharmic practice be quelled And may all conducive circumstances, such as long life, Merits, glory, and prosperity be produced. May all beings be cared for by Buddha Amithaba, And led to the pure land Sukhavati; And without the hundredfold difficulty May they quickly touch the ground of enlightenment. May I always remember my previous lives; May I never be separated from the enlightened attitude; And firmly as a river flows may I persevere In seeking the vast ways of the bodhisattvas.

Never hoping to benefit myself alone

148 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Solely for others may I absorb myself in the quest; And may I produce the conditions that actually benefit others; Such as mystic vision, clairvoyance, skill in teaching, and patience.

May I never be faint in furthering through infinite fields The holy teachings of the Victorious Ones And in order constantly to fulfil the needs of beings May I quickly and easily gain the stage of a Buddha. transl.: Glenn H. Mullin

PRAISE TO THE TWENTY-ONE TARA’S

To Arya Avalokiteshvara, treasure of compassion I bow down OM, to the Venerable Arya Tara I bow down. 1 Homage to Tara, the swift and fearless, whose eyes flash like lightening, born from a lotus in an ocean of tears of Avalokiteshvara, Lord of the Three Worlds. 2. Homage to she whose face is made of one hundred full autumn moons and blazes with the dazzling light of a thousand constellations. 3. Homage to the golden blue one, whose hands are adorned with a lotus born from water. She is giving and joyous effort, patience and austerity bringing peace, calm abiding and the wisdom gone beyond. 4. Homage to she who crowns the heads of all buddhas, whose action is victorious without limit. Possessing every transcendent perfection, the bodhisattvas themselves rely upon her.

5. Homage to she who with TUTTARE and HUM fills the sky with all things good; who holds the power to invoke all forces and treads the seven worlds under her feet.

Texts 149

6. Homage to she who receives the offerings of Indra, Agni, Brahma, Vayu and Ishvara, lord of the world. All the masses of demons and ghosts, the scent-eaters and the living-dead sing praise before her.

7. Homage to she who crying TRÄT and PHAT Thoroughly shatters magicians designs, left leg outstretched and right leg withdrawn, wrathful one amidst blazing fire.

8. Homage to TURE, who destroys the great fears and vanquishes the lord of devils; with a wrathful glare of her lotus face she slays all foes. 9. Homage to she exquisitely adorned by the hand mudra ‘three jewels’ at her heart; her glorious wheel fills all directions with an overwhelming burst of light. 10. Homage to she brilliant with joy, with radiant crown a garland of light; with pure laughter and the sound TUTTARE she overwhelms devils and gods of the world. 11. Homage to she with power to invoke all the armies of local protectors; with fierce wrinkled face and vibrant HUM she brings freedom from every poverty. 12. Homage to she crowned by a crescent moon, all her ornaments exceedingly bright; from her hair knot buddha Amitabha constantly beams forth streams of light. 13. Homage to she who dwells within a garland of flames like the aeon-ending fire; right leg outstretched and left withdrawn joy of her followers and scourge of their foes. 14. Homage to she whose feet pound and palms of hands press upon the earth;

150 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

with a wrathful glance and the sound HUM she subdues the seven dimensions. 15. Homage to the blissful, virtuous, pacified one, whose actions go beyond suffering and peace; with the pure sounds SVAHA and OM She crushes even the greatest evils. 16. Homage to she all encircled with joy who utterly conquers the bodies of enemies; the ten sounds upon her heart’s wheel and the knowledge letter HUM bestow liberation.

17. Homage to TURE, she with stamping feet, the essence of the seed letter HUM; she causes Meru, Mandhara, Vindhya, and the whole three worlds to quake. 18. Homage to she who holds in her hand a moon resembling a celestial lake; saying TURE twice and the sound PHAT she dispels all poisons entirely. 19 Homage to she upon whom all gods, their king and all spirits rely; her armor radiating joy to all she soothes quarrels and nightmares. 20. Homage to she whose two eyes like sun and moon are brilliant; saying HARA twice and also TUTTARA The most fearful plagues she quells. 21. Homage to she whose body, speech and mind Are perfect with serene strength, Who crushes the masses of devils, zombies and ghosts, O TURE, the most exalted of the supreme! With this praise of the root mantra twenty-one (times I’ve paid) homage.

VIII Notes

1 Jonan Taranatha, The origin of the Tara tantra, LTWA, 1981. Also to be found in Martin Wilson, In praise of Tara, pg. 33-36, 178-206. 2 See page 141. 3 See page 141 for a picture as well as for other small pictures of different manifestations of Tara. Literature: Martin Willson, In praise of Tara, pg. 105- 166. This work contains a number of other praises and practices on Tara. 4 Gehlek Rimpoche, The Three Principles of the Path to Enlightenment; Gehlek Rim- poche, Odyssey to Freedom, Gehlek Rimpoche, Lam Rim Teachings. 5 See chapter V: Fear and fearlessness. 6 Technically called self-generation and front-generation. 7 This symbolism originates from a hot country, India. 8 Pabongka Rimpoche, Liberation in Our Hands, vol I, pg. 167. 9 For pictures of White Tara see opposite the Chapters II, V and VII. 10 Tib. yid bshin ‘khor lo Skt. Cintachakra Tara, Engl. Wisfulfilling Jewel Wheel. An epiphet for White Tara, as protector of longevity. She is found at the beginning of Rimpoche’s long-life prayer, together with the two other longevity deities, Buddha Amitayus and Ushnishavijaya, who is also called Perfect Vic- tory. 11 For a picture see opposite Chapters IV. 12 At this point one can insert the Offering of the Seven Limbs. See chapter III. 13 Literature: Dalai Lama, Four Noble Truths. 14 See page 79. 15 See page 25. 16 Also called seven-branch offering. 17 See page 40. 18 Also called the four tantric activities. 19 The first eight are outer offerings; the next five are called sense offerings.

152 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

20 See page 62. 21 See pg. 48. 22 For a detailed commentary on the eight fears see: Gehlek Rimpoche, Trans- forming Negativity into Positive Living. For meditations on Green Tara, see: . Glenn Mullin, Meditations on the lower tantras, pg. 104-107 and Kathleen McDonald, How to meditate, pg. 118-120, 171-177. 23 Rimpoche’s metaphor for ego. 24 See M. Willson, In praise of Tara, pg. 98-104. 25 See page 39. 26 See page 33. 27 If you leave it here, close the practice by doing the dedication. 28 While doing this practice you don’t recite the mantra. 29 Also called the yoga of the non-dual profundity (realization of emptiness) and manifestation (appearance as a deity). 30 For the five skandhas, see Chögyam Trungpa, Glimpses of Abhidharma, and Lama Anagarika Govinda, Foundations of Tibetan Mysticism, Part II, § 6.

IX Glossary

Abisheka Initiation or blessing. Amithaba (Tib. Öpame) The manifestation of the aggregate of discrimination of all buddhas. He has a red-colored body. He is one of the five Tathagatas or Dhyani buddhas. The buddha of infinite light who presides over the Western Paradise, Sukhavati. He is associated with infinite compassion and is the teacher of Arya Avalokiteshvara. Arhat (Skt; Tib. drachompa) ‘Enemy destroyer’ or ‘foe destroyer’. One who has overcome the forces of karma and delusion and attained liberation from cyclic existence and thus has obtained arhatship, the spiritual ideal of hinayana Buddhism. It is the culmination of the four stages of perfection: in succession one becomes stream-enterer, once-returner, non-returner, arhat. The arhat has achieved nirvana, but not buddhahood, because he does not return out of compassion to teach others as the mahayana bodhisattva does. Arya (Skt; Tib. pakpa) Title meaning ‘noble one’. It indicates one who has attained the third of the five paths, the path of insight/seeing (Tib. tong lam) and so through an understanding of emptiness, has gone above the world. Atisha Dipamkara Sri Jnana. Also called Jowo Palden Atisha [982-1055] (Tib. Marme dze) A great Indian pandit, perhaps the last of the universally ac- claimed masters of Indian Buddhism. He spent the last seventeen years of his life in Tibet, bringing many important teachings. Well-known is his short treatise Light on the Path to Enlightenment (Skt. Bodhipathapradipa; Tib. Lam drön) which points out in a concise manner the path to enlightenment. This work became the foundation for what was to become the Lamrim literature. The followers of Atisha became known as the Kadampa school. Avalokiteshvara (Tib. Chenrezig) The great bodhisattva of compassion, chief disciple of Amitabha. Of great importance in Tibet as special protector of the religious life of the country. The Dalai Lama is considered to be a incar- nation of Avalokiteshvara. In China he is (in combination with his female counterpart Tara) known in female form as Kwan Yin. Bardo (Tib; Skt. anubhava) Intermediate state. The state of consciousness between death and rebirth. It begins the moment the consciousness leaves the body and ceases the moment the consciousness enters the body of the next 154 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

life. One remains in that state anywhere from a moment to forty-nine days. Blessing (Tib. jin lab) The transformation of our mind from a negative state to a positive state, from an unhappy state to a happy state, or from a state of weakness to a state of strength through the inspiration of holy beings such as our spiritual guide, buddhas, and bodhisattvas. Bodhimind (Skt. bodhicitta; Tib. jangchub-kyi sem) ‘The awakened mind’, ‘the awakening mind’ or ‘mind of enlightenment’. Bodhimind or bodhicitta is the altruistic motivation of a bodhisattva: a mind that is directed towards the attainment of buddhahood, for the sake of all living beings; the fully open and dedicated heart. Once one has generated the bodhimind, one enters the first of the bodhisattva paths, the accumulation path. The bodhimind is of two main types: relative or conventional and absolute or ultimate. The former is also of two types: that which aspires to highest enlightenment as a means of benefiting the world, and that which engages in the practice leading to enlightenment. Ultimate bodhimind is the latter of these placed within an understanding of emptiness. Bodhisattva (Skt; Tib. jangchub sempa) Also referred to as ‘child of the Bud- dha’, ‘spiritual hero’, or ‘fortunate one’. A bodhisattva is a living being who has produced the spirit of enlightenment in himself and whose constant dedication, lifetime after lifetime, is to attain the unexcelled, perfect enlightenment of buddhahood for the sake of all living beings. The term bodhisattva refers to those at many levels: from those who have generated as- piration to enlightenment for the first time to those who have actually en- tered the bodhisattva path, which is developed through the ten stages (Skt. bhumis) and culminates in enlightenment, the attainment of buddhahood. Those who have embarked on the path but have not yet gained direct perception of the meaning of emptiness are called ordinary bodhisattvas; those who have attained the path of seeing and can in meditation directly perceive emptiness are called extra-ordinary or superior bodhisattvas or arya bodhisattvas. Brahma Creator-lord of a universe, there being as many as there are universes, whose number is incalculable. Hence, in Buddhist belief, a title of a deity who has attained supremacy in a particular universe, rather than a personal name. A king of the gods who dwells in the form realm. At the time of Buddha Sakyamuni, Indra and Brahma requested Buddha to turn the wheel of dharma for the sake of all sentient beings. Buddha Sakyamuni ‘Sage of the Sakyas’, name of the buddha of our era, who lived in India 563-483 BC. He was a prince from the Sakya clan. He taught the sutra and tantra path to liberation; founder of what came to be known as Buddhism. His mundane name was Siddharta Gautama. Buddha Sakyamuni is the fourth of one thousand buddhas that are to appear in this world age. Also see: Buddha. Buddha (Tib. sang-gye) Lit. ‘awakened one’. Title of one who has attained the highest attainment for a living being. It refers to one who has completely purified (sang) all the defilements, the two obscurations, and completely ex-

Glossary 155

panded (gye) or perfected his mind to encompass all excellences and knowl- edges. A fully enlightened being is perfect in omniscience and compassion. Every being has the potential to become a completely enlightened buddha. There are countless buddhas. Buddha’s bodies (Skt. kaya; Tib. ku) There are several divisions. If three kayas: (1) dharmakaya or truth-body or ultimate body, (2) sambhogakaya or enjoyment-body or beatific body, (3) nirmanakaya or emanation-body or incar- national body. The last two ones together are called form-body or rupa-kaya. If two kayas: (1) truth-body or dharmakaya and (2) form-body or rupakaya. If four kayas: truth-body divided into (1) svabhavikakaya or nature-body and (2) jnanakaya or wisdom-body; the form-body divided into (3) sambhogakaya or enjoyment-body and (4) nirmanakaya or emanation-body. Chandrakirti (ca. sixth-seventh century C.E.) The most important madhyamika philosopher after Nagarjuna and Aryadeva. He is regarded the ‘ultimate’ disciple of Nagarjuna as he is the elucidator of the essence of Na- garjuna’s message. He wrote famous commentaries on Nagarjuna’s work, such as Guide to the Middle Way (Skt. Madhyamikavatara). So he is considered one of the highest authorities on the subject of the profound nature of reality. Clarity Generally, any clear appearance of an object of meditation to the concentration focused on it. More specifically, a vajrayana practice whereby the practitioner, having generated himself or herself as a deity and the environment as the deity’s mandala, tries to attain clear appearance of the whole object to his or her concentration. It is the antidote to ordinary ap- Clearpearance. light (Tib. ösel) The subtlest state of mind, which becomes manifest only when all the gross minds have ceased their active functions. This state is experienced by ordinary beings naturally at the time of death, though it may not be and cannot be recognized by those not trained to do so. With the mind of clear light -and the pure illusory body- the full awakening of buddhahood can be achieved. The clear light is potentially with everyone; its full development in order to sustain the spiritual path is aimed at in highest tantra yoga practice. Commitment being (Skt. samaya sattva Tib. damtsik sempa) A visualized buddha or ourselves visualized as a buddha. Also called symbolic being. Commitments (Skt. samaya, Tib. dam tsik) Promises and pledges taken when engaging in certain spiritual practices. Compassion [Skt. karuna] The wish to free others from their suffering. Dalai Lama Spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet, recognized as the human embodiment of Avalokiteshvara, the buddha of compassion. The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was born in 1935 and is the fourteenth of his line. The first Dalai Lama lived in the fifteenth century. The name Dalai Lama first came up at the time of the Third Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Sonam Gyatso, by whose learnedness and spirituality the Mongol khan was so im- pressed that he called him dalai, Mongolian for ocean. So the name means: ocean of wisdom.

156 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Dedication Refers to the bodhisattva’s constant mindfulness of the fact that all his actions of whatever form contribute to his purpose of attaining enlightenment for the sake of himself and others, i.e. his conscious dedicat- ing, offering, giving away of the merit that comes from any virtuous actions as he eschews immediate reward in favour of ultimate enlightenment. Deity See yidam Delusion (Skt. klesha, Tib. nyong mongs) A thought, emotion or impulse that is pervaded by ignorance, disturbs the mind and initiates actions (karma) which keep one bound within cyclic existence. That which makes the mind impure. Delusions are mental factors. The three root delusions or the three poisons: ignorance, attachment and hatred; from these many others arise. Desire Can be either negative, like in the meaning of attachment to worldly pleasures, or positive, in the meaning of striving for enlightenment. Dharma (Skt., Tib. chö) Buddha’s teachings and the realizations that are attained in dependence on them. One’s spiritual development. ‘That which holds one back from suffering’. Also, any object of knowledge. Enlightenment (Tib. jangchub) Full awakening, buddhahood. The ultimate goal of Buddhist practice, attained when all limitations have been removed from the mind and all one’s positive potential has been realized; a state character- ized by unlimited compassion, skill and wisdom. Eternalism or existentialism or (Tib. tak-ta) Belief in an unchanging ego or self-nature in either persons or phenomena. One of the two extremes to be avoided; the opposite of nihilism. Field of Merit (Tib. tsok ching) In general a field of merit is any basis on which one can collect merit, like a field of earth is the basis on which you can grow crops, the crops depending on the field. A supreme field for accumulating merit are the holy beings, to which we can offer the seven limbs of our practice, the holy beings acting as a field in which we plant and nourish our seeds of virtue. Five buddha families There are five main buddha families or castes, the families of Vairochana, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha, Amoghasiddhi and Ak- shobhya. They are also called the five Dhyani buddhas or the five Tathaga- tas. They represent the five purified aggregates or skandhas, the aggregate of form, feeling, discrimination, formative elements or volition and consciousness respectively. And the five exalted wisdoms: the mirror-like wisdom, wisdom of equality, wisdom of individuality or discrimination, wisdom of accomplishing activities, wisdom of dharmadhatu (Skt.) or true nature, respectively. Five skandhas. (Skt; Tib. pungpo) Aggregates. Literally meaning ‘pile’ or ‘heap’ which has the connotation of an utter lack of internal structure. The body- mind organism is made up of innumerable elementary constituents, called ‘dharmas’, which are grouped into five. The five compulsive aggregates are the five basic constituents of psycho-physical existence, of great importance as a scheme for introspective meditation in the abhidharma. They are: (1) matter or form (Skt. rupa), (2) feeling or sensation (Skt. vedana), (3) percep-

Glossary 157

tion or discernment or discrimination or intellect -the sense of verbal, conceptual intelligence (Skt. samnja), (4) volition, motivation, habits, compositio- nal factors, formative elements or conditioned activities (Skt. samskara) and (5) consciousness or primary mind or pure awareness (Skt. vijnana). Associ- ated together they make up most living beings. Five wisdoms The five wisdoms of a Buddha: the mirror-like wisdom, the wisdom of equality, the wisdom of individual analysis, the wisdom of accomplishing activities, and the wisdom of dharmadhatu, i.e. the wisdom of the dharma sphere. Four tantric activities. Common attainments are of four principal types: pacifying attainments (the ability to purify negativity, overcome obstacles, and cure sickness), increasing attainments (the ability to increase dharma realizations, merit, life span, and wealth), controlling attainments (the ability to control one’s own and others’ minds and actions), and wrathful attainments (the ability to use wrathful actions where appropriate to benefit others). Su- preme attainments are the special realizations of a Buddha. Four anti-dote powers. Four practices of purification used to counteract the karmic imprint of negative actions. 1. Power of the base: if enlightened being then take refuge; if non-enlightened being then meditate love-compassion. 2. Power of action: generally any virtuous [anti-dote] action. 3. Power of regret. 4. Power of repentance or promise. Four immeasurables Immeasurable equanimity, immeasurable love, immeasurable compassion, immeasurable joy. These are called immeasurables because we practice them by taking as our observed object all living beings whose number is immeasurable. Four Noble Truths (Skt. catuh-arya-satya, Tib. pakpei denpa zhi) 1. The truth of suffering; 2. The truth of the causes of suffering. 3. The truth of the cessation of suffering. 4. The truth of the path to the cessation of suffering. They are called ‘noble’ truths because they are supreme objects of meditation. Through meditation on these four objects we can realize ultimate truth directly and thus become a noble, or superior being. Guru (Skt; Tib. lama) See Spiritual master Highest yoga tantra (Skt. maha-annuttara-yoga tantra) The fourth and supreme division of tantric practice, consisting of generation and completion stages, capable of leading the practitioner to full enlightenment within one lifetime. Hinayana. Sanskrit term for ‘Lesser Vehicle’. The Hinayana goal is to attain merely one’s own liberation from suffering by completely abandoning delusions. I or self or ego (Skt. atman, Tib. nga) Buddhism does not accept the existence of an independent, self-existent, unchanging ego or self, because if such were to exist, a person would be unchanging and would be unable to purify himself of fettering passions and attain buddhahood. Rimpoche often refers to this one as ‘I Rimpoche’, ‘the Big Boss inside’, the ‘Queen Bee’ or ‘Dicta- tor I’. There is acceptance of a relative, impermanent, changeable, conscious

158 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

entity, which is the continuation of life, linking one’s former life to this life, and this life to future lives. Ignorance (Skt. avidya Tib. marikpa) The root cause of cyclic existence; not knowing the way things actually are and misconstruing them to be permanent, satisfactory and inherently existent. The delusions that gives rise to all other delusions and the karma they motivate. Ignorance can be eradicated by the wisdom of emptiness. Indra A desire-realm god who abides in the Land of the Thirty-three heav- ens. At the time of Buddha Sakyamuni, Indra and Brahma requested Bud- dha to turn the wheel of dharma for the sake of all sentient beings. Interdependent existence or interdependent origination or dependent arising or inderdependent relationship (pratityasamutpada). Any phenomenon that exists in dependence upon other phenomena is a dependent-related phenomenon. All phenomena are dependent-related because all phenomena depend upon their parts. Sometimes dependent-related is distinguished from dependent-arising with the latter meaning arising in dependence upon causes and conditions. However, the two terms are often used interchangeably. Ishvara A god who abides in the highest level of the desire realm. He has limited, contaminated miracle powers which make him more powerful than other beings in the desire realm. He bestows limited benefit, such as in- creased wealth, upon those who follow him, but he is an enemy of those seeking liberation. Karma (Skt.; Tib. le) Deeds. Term referring to actions and their effects. Through the force of intention we perform actions with our body, speech, and mind, and all of these actions produce effects. The effect of virtuous actions is happiness and the effect of negative actions is suffering Lam Rim (Tib.) Stages on the spiritual path to enlightenment in sutrayana. In tantrayana the stages of the path are called Nag Rim. Lama Chöpa (Tib.) A tantric guru-yoga practice. Liberation (Skt. moksha, Tib. tharpa) Release from the bondage of samsara, cyclic existence. Freedom from compulsive karmic patterns and the mental and para-mental obscurations. Maha annuttara yoga tantra (Skt) See Highest yoga tantra Mahayana (Skt., Tib. tegchen) 'The great vehicle', called 'great' because it carries all living beings to enlightenment or buddhahood. It is distinguished from hinayana, which only carries each person who rides on it to their own personal liberation. It is the vehicle in which refuge is taken in the scriptures re- vealed after Buddha's death (and propagated by masters such as Nagarjuna, Asanga, etc.), as well as in the earlier scriptures accepted by hinayana. Also, unlike the hinayana, whose basis is renunciation, the basis of the mahayana is great compassion; and its aim, rather than personal nirvana, is fully omnis- cient buddhahood. The practises of a bodhisattva. Mahayana includes both the vehicle of perfections (paramitayana) and vajrayana

Glossary 159

Maitreya (Tib. Jampa) The embodiment of the loving-kindness of all the Buddhas. At the time of Buddha Shakyamuni he manifested as a Bodhi- sattva disciple. In the future he will manifest as the fifth universal Buddha. Mandala (Skt.) A circular diagram symbolic of the entire universe. The abode of a meditational deity, understood as the emanation of the wisdom of that deity. Figuratively, one’s personal surroundings seen as a reflection of one’s state of mind. Manjushri (Tib. Jampelyang) Male meditational deity. The eternally youthful crown prince, the embodiment of the wisdom of all enlightened beings. From Manjushri the lineage of the profound view of emptiness was handed down to Nagarjuna. Manjushri incarnated in human form is called Manjuna- tha (‘Jam mgon), an epithet for Tsongkhapa. Mantra (Skt.; Tib. ngak) Literally, ‘mind protection’. Sanskrit syllables recited in conjunction with the practice of a particular meditational deity and embodying the qualities of that deity. Mantra protects the mind from ordinary appearances and conceptions. Marpa Lotsawa [1012-1092] A great Tibetan yogi of the eleventh and twelfth century, disciple of Naropa and teacher of Milarepa. Founder of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan buddhism. Meditation (Skt. bhavana, Tib. gom) Literally ‘getting used to’. The process of controlling, training and transforming the mind that leads one to liberation and enlightenment. The process of becoming thoroughly familiar with bene- ficial states of mind through both analytical investigation and single-pointed concentration. Merit The wholesome tendencies implanted in the mind as a result of committing skillful actions. That positive wholesome tendencies or energy has the power to create happiness and good qualities. Milarepa, Jetsun (1040-1123) A Tibetan yogi who achieved buddhahood in one lifetime. He was the foremost disciple of Marpa, famous for his intense practice, devotion to his guru attainment of enlightenment and his many songs of spiritual realization. His biography is a favorite example of hardship undertaken in order to attain enlightenment. Mind (Tib. shepa) That which is clarity and cognizes. Mudra (Skt.; Tib. chakgya) Generally, the Sanskrit word for ‘seal’, as in Maha- mudra, the ‘Great seal’. More specifically, ‘mudra’ is used to refer to , and to hand gestures used in Tantric rituals. Nectar (Skt. amrita; Tib. dütsi) Transcendental substance emanated by enlightened deities, which confers such benefits as purification, realizations, long life etc. according to the type. Nirvana [Skt., tib. myangde] The unconditional peace that is realized through becoming liberated from cyclic existence. Generally refers to the hinayana attainment of arhatship, or personal liberation from samsara, but can also include full buddhahood. In the former case, delusions and their instincts are destroyed, giving freedom from cyclic compulsions; in the latter, the innate

160 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

tendency of the mind to grasp at inherent existence is destroyed as well, granting omniscience. Pabongka Rimpoche Je Pabongkhapa Vajradhara Dechen Pael Zangpa or Pabongka Rimpoche Jampa Tenzin Trinley Gyatso [1878-1941] He was an emanation of the great scholar Jankya Rolpai Dorje [1717-1786]. He is regarded the most influential Gelugpa teacher of this century. He was the root-guru of both the Senior and Junior Tutors [Kyabje Trijang Rimpoche and Kyabje Ling Rimpoche] of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and holder of many sutra and secret mantra lineages. Pure Land An environment free from true sufferings which appears to a pure mind. A state of existence outside samsara in which all conditions are favorable for becoming fully enlightened. Examples include: Tushita or Joy- ful land, the pure land of Maitreya; Sukhavati, the pure land of Amithaba; Dakiniland, the pure land of Heruka and Vajrayogini. Refuge Taking refuge is turning one’s mind towards a valid source of protection from the sufferings of samsara. In Buddhism this involves entrusting oneself to the three jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Sadhana (Skt.) Method of accomplishment. The step by step instructions in vajrayana for practicing the meditations related to a particular meditational deity. A method for attainment associated with a Tantric Deity Samsara [Skt.] Life as experienced by living beings under the influence of ignorance. The unliberated condition in which one is propelled from one state of birth to the next through the forces of karma and delusion. There are six states of birth within cyclic existence: as a god, a titan or demi-god or jealous god, a human being, an animal, a hungry ghost, or a hell-being. Sangha (Skt.) As object of refuge it is the community of arya beings or saints, those who have achieved spiritual aims -have attained a direct realization of emptiness- and are able to help. According to the vinaya any community of four or more fully ordained monks is also a sangha. Any being, lay or ordained, who has taken bodhisattva vows is also a sangha. In daily life we regard the community of those on the spiritual path as a sangha. Seed-syllable In tantric visualizations, a Sanskrit syllable arising out of emptiness and out of which the meditational deity in turn arises. Also called sacred syllable. Self-existence The mistaken conception that things exist independently from their own side rather than being dependent upon causes, conditions, parts and the process of conceptual imputation; the wisdom of emptiness is the understanding that all things lack, or are empty of, even an atom of such self-existence. Sentient Being (Skt. sattva, Tib. semchen) Any being who possesses a mind that is contaminated by delusions or their imprints. Both ‘sentient being’ and ‘living being’ are terms used to distinguish beings whose minds are contaminated by any of the two obstructions from Buddhas, whose minds are completely free from these obstructions.

Glossary 161

Shantideva (687-763) A great Indian Buddhist teacher, meditator and scholar, most famous for his masterpiece, Bodhisattvacharyavatara, Guide to the Bodhi- sattva’s Way of Life. Siddha Accomplished practitioner. Siddhi Achievement, attainment. These are of two types: common attainments and supreme attainments. Six paramitas Six perfections of the bodhisattva. The perfections of giving, moral discipline, patience, effort, mental stabilization, and wisdom. They are called perfections because they are motivated by bodhicitta. Spiritual master (Skt. guru, Tib. lama) A spiritual guide or teacher. One who shows a disciple the path to liberation and enlightenment. A direct guru is any spiritual guide from whom we have received teachings in this life, a lineage guru is any spiritual guide who has passed on the lineage of teaching received by our own direct gurus. One’s principal spiritual guide is also known as one’s root guru (Tib. tsewei lama). In tantra, one’s teacher is seen as inseparable from the meditational deity and the essential nature of one’s mind. Sutra (Skt.; Tib. do) The teachings of Buddha that are open to everyone to practice. This pre-tantric division of Buddhist teachings stresses the cultiva- tion of bodhicitta and the practices of the six perfections. Sutrayana The pre-tantric vehicle or path of Buddhism, leading to the attainment of full enlightenment over three countess eons through the practice of the six perfections; hence also called the perfection vehicle (paramitayana) Tantra (Skt., Tib. gyu) Literally ‘thread’ or ‘steam’ or ‘continuity’, the ‘stream’ or ‘tread’ of innate wisdom embracing all experience. Another name is: secret mantra. The texts of the secret-mantra teachings of Buddhism. The eso- teric teaching of Buddha. The essential practice of tantra that distinguishes it from sutra is bringing the result into the path. The practice involves identification of oneself with a fully enlightened deity. The tantric stages of the path are called nag rim. Tantrayana The post-sutra vehicle of Buddhism, capable of leading to the attainment of full enlightenment within one lifetime. Also called ‘the diamond vehicle’, i.e. vajrayana, or mantrayana. Tara [Tib. Drolma] Female meditational deity. ‘She who can free us’. Compas- sionate savior goddess. She was born from a tear of Avalokiteshvara and vowed to help him to liberate all beings from samsara. Referred to as the mother of the buddhas of the past, present and future. She is Atisha’s pa- troness and because subsequently a favorite goddess in Tibet because of At- isha’s introducing her devotion. There are twenty-one Tara forms. Tathagata An epithet of Buddha ‘One who has thus gone’. Ten directions The four cardinal and the four intermediate directions, and the directions above and below. As a conventional formula it means ‘all directions’.

162 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

Theravada ‘Vehicle of the Elders’. Tradition of Buddhism following its earlier style of practice and understanding of scripture. Sometimes called hinayana. Its final goal is arhatship. Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) Lit. ‘The man from the union land (Tsong)’. Je Tsongkhapa was a great fourteenth-century scholar and teacher who reform- ing the Kadampa tradition restored the purity of Buddhadharma in Tibet, thus founding the Gelug tradition. His many treatises finalized the work be- gun by Atisha of clarification and synthesis of the vast body of Indian scriptures and schools of practice into a unified exposition of sutrayana and tantrayana paths. He wrote several lamrims, the most well-known one is Great exposition on the Stages of the Path, Lam rim chen mo. On the stages in tantra he wrote the Great exposition of secret mantra, sNgags rim chen mo. He is regarded a full enlightened being and along with Longchen Rabjampa (1308-1363) and the Sakya Pandita (1182-1251 an emanation of Manjushri. That is why he is called Jamgon, ’gentle lord’, indicating that he and the deity Manjughosa -form of Manjushri- are of one essence. He is regarded as the synthesis of Manjush- ri, Avalokiteshvara and Vajrapani and therefore regarded as the embodiment of the wisdom, compassion and power of all the buddhas. Vajra (Skt.; Tib. dorje) Diamond scepter. Generally the Sanskrit word ‘vajra’ means indestructible like a diamond and powerful like a thunderbolt. In the context of tantra it means the indivisibility of method and wisdom. Vajrasattva (Tib. Dorje Sempa) Diamond Being. Male meditational deity; a major tantric purification practice for removing obstacles created by negative karma and the breaking of one’s vows. Vajrayana (Skt.) Secret mantra vehicle. The advanced means to quickly achieve buddhahood -within one lifetime- for the sake of all sentient beings. Its method is bringing the result into the path. It is also called: tantrayana. It is part of the mahayana, which is divided into sutrayana and tantrayana Visualization The use of creative imagination in meditation. Despite the term used it is not limited to vision, but involves the full creative sphere of one’s imaging abilities Wisdom being (Skt. jnana-sattva; Tib. yeshe sempa) An actual Buddha, especially one who is invited to unite with a visualized commitment being. Wisdom (Skt. prajna, Tib. sherab) The sixth of the six transcendences or paramitas. The unmistaken understanding of things; specifically the insight into emptiness: the actual way in which things exist; Wisdom is the antidote to ignorance. It is symbolized by Manjushri. Yidam (Tib sometimes lha) Also called meditational deity. A male or female figure embodying a particular aspect of the fully enlightened experience and used as the focus of concentration and identification in tantra. Yoga (Skt.; Tib. neljor) Spritual practice. For the glossary we made use of: Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Essence of Vajrayana; Lama Yeshe, Introduction to Tantra; Robert A.F. Thurman, The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti.

X Literature

Beyer, Stephan, The Cult of Tara; magic and ritual in Tibet. University of Cali- fornia Press 1978. Blofeld, John, Compassion Yoga; the mystical cult of Kuan Yin. London, Unwin Paperbacks 1977. Blofeld, John, Mantras, sacred words of power. London, Unwin, 1977. Dalai Lama, Deity Yoga, in action and performance tantra. Snow Lion 1987 (earlier published as Yoga of Tibet) Dalai Lama, Four Noble Truths, London, Thorsons, 1997 Gehlek Rimpoche. Ganden Lha Gyema; The hundreds of deities of the Land of Joy. 1991, revised 2002. Gehlek Rimpoche, Transforming Negativity into Positive living. 1994. Gehlek Rimpoche, Three Principles of the Path by Je Tsongkhapa, 1994 Gehlek Rimpoche, Odyssey to Freedom; in sixty-four steps. 20012 Gehlek Rimpoche, Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, Chap- ter-volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 2000-2003. Guenther, Herbert. The Creative Vision, Lotsawa 1987. Landaw, J. and Andy Weber, Images of Enlightenment. Ithaca, Snow Lion, 1993. Mc.Donald, Kathleen, How to Meditate, London, Wisdom Publ. 1984. Mullin, Glen. Meditations on the Lower Tantras, Dharamsala, LTWA 1983. Sogyal Rimpoche, The Tibetan book of Living and Dying, Str Francisco, Harper 1992 Taranatha, Jonan. The origin of the Tara tantra. Dharamsala, LTWA 1981. Trungpa, Chögyam. Journey without Goal, the tantric wisdom of the Buddha. London, Shambhala 1981. Trungpa, Chögyam. Glimpses of Abhidharma, prajna Press 1978. Willson, Martion. In Praise of Tara; sons to the Savioress. London, Wisdom Publ. 1986. Yeshe, Lama. Introduction to Tantra. Wisdom Publ. 1987. 164 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

XI Index

AH, 43 and Sangha, 15, 104 eight symbols of air buddhahood, 20, 89 good fortune, 126 holding, 97, 115 chag tsel, 57 elements, 98 Ajatashatru, 73 Chandrakirti. g emptiness, 34, 87, 94, Amitayus, 46, 150 quoted, 128 133, 136 Amithaba, 46, g channels, 109 enlightenment. g anger, 82 clarity. g qualities of, 59 Angulimala, 61, 64 clear light, 44, g equanimity, 33, 94 arhat. g son- and mother, 44 eternalism, 84, g arya. g commitment being, example Atisha. g 46, g multi-colored rope, attachment, 85 commitments. g 30 and compassion, 24 compassion, 9, 22, existence Avalokiteshvara, 10, 31, 32, g interdependent, 130 11, 148, g consciousness, 133 relative and bardo, 49, 69, g Dalai Lama, 51, g absolute, 98 blessing. g death, 35, 50 faith, 86 blessings, 38, 104 stage, 44 fear, 128 bodhimind, 20, g death stage, 44 fear and fearlessness, generating, 22 dedication, 50, 73, g 127–34 visualization, 28 delusion, 48, 53, 59, Field of Merit. g bodhisattva, 52, g 78, 79, 85, g five buddha families. body and mind desire, 74, 85, 131, g g union, 43, 44, 45 Dharma. g five elements, 99 Brahma, 149, g dissatisfaction, 77 five skandhas, 124, g Buddha. g dissolving, 44, 50 five wisdoms. g historical, 17 Dorje Sempa. Zie four anti-dote quoted, 16, 18, 72, Vajrasattva powers. g 135 doubt, 85 four Buddhist seals:, result, 17 dualism, 43 60 Shakyamuni, 126 ego, 87, 136 four immeasurables, Buddha bodies. g ego-grasping, 80, 128 28–34, g Buddha, Dharma eight fears, 48 visualization, 32 166 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma four Noble Truths, love and compassion, motivation, 7, 8 18, 48, 50, 77, g 32, 36 mudra. g four tantric activities, maha anuttara yoga. giving, 39 151, g g protection, 40 freedom, 20 Mahayana, 18, 19 nectar. g generation of Tara, and Theravada, 20 negative emotions, 34–47 Maitreya. g 86 generosity, 25, 26 mandala, 21, g negativities, 70 guidance, 72 Manjushri, 91, g nightmares of guilt, 60, 61, 62 mantra, 21 spiritual Guru, 16, g explanation, 48 practitioner. See habitual pattern, 23 recitation, 113 eight fears happiness, 29, 30 three powers, 48 nihilism, 84 head or heart, 133 mantra of reality, 34 nirvana, 20, 52, g healing, 7, 9, 47, 49, mantras. g offerings, 59 51, 52, 89, 90, 121 Marpa, 65, g practice, 74 healing meditations. meditation. g seven limbs, 57–73 See meditations characteristics of the to the enlightened, healing of the deity, 115 37 elements, 98–103 clarity and stability, OM, 42, 48 health, 47, 48, 51, 96, 117 OM TARE TUTTARE... 99, 131 collection of explanation, 48 highest yoga tantra. g blessings, 104 Pabongka Rinpoche. Hinayana, 18, 19, g duplicates of Tara, g HUNG, 44 120 paramitas, 25–28 I, 129, g guided Tara prayer, patience, 25 ignorance, 81, 87, g 92 practice advice, 120 Indra. g healing of the practice offering, 74 initiation, 122 elements, 98–103 praise, 49, 58, 148 interdependent six light shields, Praise of Green Tara, existence, 130, g 108–16 144 Ishvara. g vase-like breathing, Praise of White Tara, I-the-most- 97 141 important-one, 128 meditative state, 104 Prayer to the Noble jealousy, 83 merit. g Tara, 150 joy, 33, 34, 39, 52, 93 Milarepa, 64, 65, g explanation, 15–51 contaminated, 115 quoted, 74 pride, 79 of liberation, 41 mind, 43, g profound and vast, Kannon, 11 and body, 43 116 karma, 78, 131, g and energy, 97 pure land, 46, g kundalini, 123 primordial, 44 purification, 60, 61, Kwan Yin, 10 subtle, 44 65, 66 Lam Rim. g mindfulness, 82 and Dalai Lamas, 65 longevity, 7, 47 miserliness, 84 the four R's, 67 longevity practice, 47 mission, 7 qualities of lotus, 35, 36, 38 moon, 36, 38, 98 enlightenment, 59 love, 24 moon halo, 39 questions and

Index 167

answers, 51–54, three reasons for transformation, 37 121–24, 135–37 evoking, 9 Tsongkhapa, 91, g quotations spiritual reliability quoted, 38, 130 Buddha, 16, 18, 72, criteria, 9 union, 44, 45 135 suffering, 31, 77 body and mind, 43 Chandrakirti, 128 sutra. g subtle body and Milarepa, 74 sutrayana. g primordial mind, Shantideva, 52, 61, symbolism, 36 44 70 TAM, 36, 38, 45 utpala, 41, 42, 113 Tsongkhapa, 38, tantra. g vajra. g 130 tantrayana. g Vajrasattva, 116 recognition, 68, 86 Tara, 10–11, g Vajrayana, 18, 21, g refuge, 15–17, g [front]generation purpose, 21 the three yanas, 18 of, 34–47 vase breathing, 97, visualization, 17 and eight fears, 77 115 regret, 68 and four Noble vast and profound, rejoice, 71 Truths, 48, 77 116 respect, 57 body, 17, 40 visions, 91 sadhana. g description, 39, 89 visualisation Sakyamuni buddha. g feminine principle, checking, 114 samsara. g 89 visualization. g sangha. g first feminist, 12 all becomes empty, seed-syllables. g Green, 76 35 self. g mantra, 48 building up, 109 self-existence. g meditation on the difficulties, 90 sentient being. g characteristics, 115 four immeasurables, seven limbs offering, praise, 49, 58, 79 32 57–73 Praise to the twenty-one generating shame, 63 Tara's, 148 bodhimind, 28 Shantideva. g Prayer to Noble Tara, refuge, 17 quoted, 52, 61, 70 15–51 wisdom, 25, 31, g siddha. g refuge, 15–17 wisdom being, 45, siddhi. g several 46, g six light shields, 108– manifestations, wrathful activities, 16 148, 149 123 six paramitas, 25–28, White, 138 wrong vieuw, 84 g Tathagata. g Yi Zhin Khorlo, 50 space, 122 Theravada, 19, 53, g yidam, 21, 35, g spiritual master. g Three Jewels, 40 yoga. g spiritual power, 8 three yanas, 18

168 The Practice of the Triumphant Ma

About Gehlek Rimpoche

Born in Lhasa, Tibet, Kyabje Gehlek Rimpoche was recognized as an incarnate lama at the age of four. Carefully tutored by Tibet’s greatest living masters, he received specialized individual teaching at Drepung Monastery, the nation’s largest monastery. In 1959, Gehlek Rimpoche was among those forced into exile, fleeing the Communist Chinese who had occupied Tibet since 1951. While in India, Rimpoche as a member of a group of sixteen monks, was chosen to continue spe- cific studies with the great masters who had escaped Tibet, including the Dalai Lama’s personal tutors. At the age of twenty-five, Rimpoche gave up monastic life. In the mid- 70’s, Gehlek Rimpoche was encouraged by his teachers to begin teaching in English. Since that time he has gained a large following throughout the world. Coming to the U.S. in the mid-80’s, Rimpoche later moved to Ann Arbor, MI and in 1987 founded Jewel Heart, an organization dedicated to the preservation of Tibetan culture and Bud- dhism. Today, Jewel Heart has chapters throughout the U.S. and in Malaysia, Singapore and the Netherlands. A member of the last generation of lamas to be born and fully edu- cated in Tibet, Gehlek Rimpoche is particularly distinguished for his understanding of contemporary society and his skill as a teacher of Buddhism in the West. He is now an American citizen. Gehlek Rim- poche’s first book, the national bestseller, Good Life, Good Death, was published in 2001.

About Jewel Heart

Jewel Heart is an educational and cultural center whose doors are open to all. Its purpose is to transmit the essence of Tibetan Buddhism in an authentic and accessible form. Jewel Heart provides guidance and practical methods to anyone interested in spiritual development, as well as to those who wish to follow the traditional Buddhist path.

The name Jewel Heart was chosen to represent the organization because the heart is the essence of the human being, and the jewel something of great value – considered precious. Through embracing the preciousness of our life and developing our qualities, inner peace will grow, and our actions will be influenced by compassionate concern for others. It is to this end that Jewel Heart dedicated its efforts. The Jewel Heart logo contains three graphic elements: the spinning jewel wheel, the lotus, and the flame. The central wheel symbolizes the three jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. The Buddha represents our potential for enlightenment. The Dharma is the spiritual development within each individual. The Sangha is the community of those individuals, who have developed wisdom, act as guides. In nature, the lotus rises from the mud, yet remains pure. Similarly, we are capable of rising above ordinary conceptions and putting love and compassion into action in daily life. The flame that surrounds the jewel wheel represents the fire of wisdom, consuming all obstacles and bringing insight.

JEWEL HEART Chapters are to be found: • USA: in Ann Arbor, Chicago, Cleveland OH, Lincoln NE, New York and San Francisco. • The Netherlands: in Nijmegen, Den Bosch, Tilburg, Arnhem, Utrecht. • Malaysia: in Kuala Lumpur, Gerik and Panang, and in Muar. • Singapore JEWEL HEART P.O BOX 7933 ANN ARBOR, MI 48107 www.jewelheart.org

Jewel Heart Transcripts

1. Gehlek Rimpoche. Ganden Lha Gyema; The hundreds of deities of the land of Joy.* 1991, revised 1999. A commentary on guru yoga in the tradition of Je Tsongkhapa. 2. Gehlek Rimpoche. Karma; actions and their consequenses. 1991; revised 20044, half- size format.. An introduction to the concept of karma and how to deal with it in daily life. 3. Gehlek Rimpoche. Love and Compassion. 1992; revised 1997. The altruistic mind and the Six Perfections 4. Denma Lochö Rinpoche. The Wheel of Existence. 1992; revised 1997 half-size format.. Explanation of the cyclic nature of existence following from ignorance and neurotic patterns. 5. Gehlek Rimpoche. Six-session Guru Yoga.* 1 992; 3rd and extended edition 2003. The guru yoga as a requirement for the practice of Highest Yoga Tan- tra. 6. Gehlek Rimpoche. Self and Selflessness. 1993; third edition 1998 The nature of the Self in Buddhist philosophy. 7. Gehlek Rimpoche, Lam Rim Teachings; teachings 1987-1991, 4 volumes. 1993; revision in action. Comprehensive teachings on the Graduated Path to Enlightenment in the tradition of Je Tsongkhapa. 8. Gehlek Rimpoche, Transforming Negativity into Positive living. 1994. half-seize format 2004. Practical advice on how to deal with negative emotions in daily life. 9. Gehlek Rimpoche, The Three Principles of the Path by Je Tsong Khapa,1994; 3rd revised edition 2001. Detailed Commentary on the Three Principles of the Path: Determination to be free; Altruism, the Perfect View. 10. Gehlek Rimpoche, The Three Principles in a short commentary. 1995. Weekend seminar on the Three Principles of the Path. 11. Gehlek Rimpoche, Healing and Selfhealing through Tara * 1996; revised & extended 1999. Healing practices based on the deity Tara, a manifestation of the active aspect of the compassion of all enlightened beings. 12. Gehlek Rimpoche, Three main short vajrayana practices.* 1997; 2nd and extended edition 1999. Commentaries on: Six session yoga, Short sadhana of Solitary Hero Yamantaka, Short sadhana of Vajrayogini.

13. Gehlek Rimpoche, Guru devotion: How to integrate the primordial mind.* 1997, revision in action. Commentary on the Lama Chöpa – the Offering to the Spiritual Master 14. Gehlek Rimpoche, Solitary Yamantaka teachings on the generation stage.* 1997; 2nd edition 1998. Comprehensive commentary on the Generation Stage of the Solitary Hero Vajrabhairava, including reviews and discussions. 15. Gehlek Rimpoche, Odyssey to Freedom; in sixty-four steps. 1998; 2nd edition 2001; revision/extension in action. The Graduated Path to Enlightenment in easy- to-practice form. 16. Gehlek Rimpoche, The Perfection of Wisdom Mantra. 1998. The Perfection of Wisdom Mantra and the Five Paths of the Mahayana 17. Tarab Tulku, Nearness to oneself and openness to the world. 1999. Four selected topics. 18. Gehlek Rimpoche, Lojong, training of the mind in eight verses. 2000. Commentary on Mind Training based on the root text by Langri Tangpa. 19. Gehlek Rimpoche, Lojong, training of the mind in seven points. 2000. Commentary on the Mind Training based on the root text by Geshe Chekawa. 20. Gehlek Rimpoche, Vajrayogini Teachings* 2000; 3rd revised and extended edition 2003. Comprehensive commentary on the Generation stage of Va- jrayogini. 21. Gehlek Rimpoche, Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, Chapter- volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 2000-2003. Detailed Verse by Verse Commentary on Shantideva’s Famous Work 22. Gehlek Rimpoche, The Practice of the Triumphant Ma. 1996, revised half-size edition 2004. Healing practices based on the Deity Tara, a manifestation of the active aspect of compassion of all enlightened beings. This transcript can be read by the general public, no requirement of an initiation 23. Gehlek Rimpoche. Ganden Lha Gyema; The hundreds of deities of the land of Joy. 1991, revised 2002. A guru-yoga practice for the general public. No requirement of an initiation. 24. Tarab Tulku, Unity in Duality. 2003.

* Must have Highest Yoga Tantra Initiation to Read. If you like to read the restricted transcripts and be able to understand them properly, it is important that you receive a Highest Yoga Tantra initiation from a qualified teacher.