A COMMENTARY ON THE KALACAKRA TANTRA Taught by Geshe Lharampa Ngawang Dhargyey Translated by Gelong Jhampa Kelsang (Allan Wallace) Coordinating Editor: Ivanka Vana Jakifi Presented at Sakya Tegchen Choling Seattle. Washington, U S A. April 3 - June 12. 1982 ONLY THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE KALACAKRA INITIATION ARE PERMITTED TO READ THIS MATERIAL LIBRARY OF TIBETAN WORKS & ARCHIVES Copyright © 19K5 by Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, Alan Wallace and Ivanka Vana Jakic Reprinted 1994 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, chemical, mechanical, optical, photo- copying. recording or otherwise. Restricted To Those Who Have Received The Kalacakra Initiation Published by the Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, Dharm- sala. Himachal Pradesh and Printed by Indraprastha Press (CBT). New Delhi, India. PUBLISHER'S NOTE Kalacakra belongs to the class of Highest Yoga Tantra and was originally given by Shakyamuni Buddha to the Dharma King of Shambhala, Suchandra. The lineage was maintained in Shambhala and later passed back to India and then to Tibet where it has been preserved until the present day. Recently the Kalacakra initiation has also been given not only to people from the West, but actually in the Western World. However, authentic publications concern- ing Kalacakra in English or any other Western language remain extremely rare, so we are particularly happy to be able to publish the present work. In 1983 LTWA's resident teacher, Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey was invited by some of his long-standing students in Seattle USA to give an explanation of the practice of Kalacakra. The present work is an edited translation of that teaching and contains advice concerning the various commitments and initial practices peculiar to the Kalacakra system within the context of Highest Yoga Tantra in general. The oral teaching was first translated from Tibetan into English by Gelong Jampa Kelsang (Alan Wallace) and the subsequent transcript was meticulously edited and prepared for publication under the able supervision of Ivanka Vana Jakic. The completed copy was then offered to Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey for review. We are most grateful to all who have contributed their efforts to this project, particularly to the teacher, translator and editor, and also to Venerable Dagchen Sakya Rinpoche and Dagmo Kusho who kindly offered a location for the teaching in their centre Sakya Tegchen Choling. Sale and distribution of this book is restricted. We urgently request that only initiates into Highest Yoga Tantra and preferably into the Kalacakra system itself should read it. This caution is customary to the tradition, but to disregard it can only be detrimental- That said we hope thai the work will be of benefit to those serious students interested in practising this impeccable path to Buddhahood for the welfare of living beings. Gyatso Tshering DIRECTOR Those who have received ihe Kalacakra initiation can obtain copies upon request from: Sakya Tegchen Choling 5042 lath Avenue N.E. Seattle. Washington 9KI05 U.S.A. Naropa Institute Bookstore 2011 - 10th Street Boulder, Colorado 81)302 U.S.A. Tharpa Choeling Centre des Hautes Etudes Tibetaines 1801 Mont-Pfclerin Switzerland, Europe R1GPA Tibetan Buddhist Meditation and Study Centre 44 St. Paul's Crescent London NW1 9TN England, Europe Library of Tibetan Works and Archives Gangchen Kyishong Dharamsala - 176215 Himachal Pradesh, India PREFACE The peerless supreme guide of all gods and living beings, his name in reality being the Omniscient Protector, is His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso Pal Zangpo The mere hearing of his name provides protection from the fears of existence and quiescence. As a result of his kindness. I who am his devoted disciple, Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, have received the complete initiation of Sn-Kalacakra, the King of Tantras, together with the scriptural reading and instructions. In 1982, at Sakya Tegchen Choling. in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.. I gave a series of teachings based on the Profound Instructions of Sri-Kalacakra, composed by Gyeltsab Choje, which is like an eye with which to perceive the meaning of the Tantra, and is unlike other traditions of explication of the King of Tantras. I hope that the transcript of those explanations, which has been prepared in book-form with altruistic intentions by Ivanka Vana jakic, and with which I am also pleased, will be of great benefit to many fortunate students. May all sentient beings, our own aged mothers filling all of space, quickly achieve the supreme attainment of Mahamudra, the state of empty form. Geshe Lharampa. Ngawang Dhargyey Library of Tibetan Works and Archives Dharamsala, India April 4, 1983 FOREWORD Between July 1981 and October 1982, for the first time on the North American continents approximately 3,000 people received the Kalacakra initiation from His Holiness Tenzin Gyalso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, in Madison, Wisconsin, and from the Venerable Kalu Rinpoche, in New York and San Francisco. Through this act of generosity especially extraordinary because it has manifested at a time when the possibility of a nuclear war threatens all life on our planet with extinction, the masters have bestowed upon initiates the timeless legacy of method and wisdom by which Ultimate Goodness can be attained. For reasons apparent and unknown, the Kalacakra tradition is making its way to the West. With this awareness and with the motivation to benefit those who have received the initiation, 1 requested the basic teachings on the Kalacakra Tantra from His Holiness and the Venerable Geshe Lharampa Ngawang Dhar- gyey. With the encouragement of His Holiness, Geshe Dhargyey graciously consented to give a series of lectures on the subject in the Spring of 1982, while he was in Seattle as a Visiting Professor at the University of Washington. We were fortunate that Gelong Jhampa Kelsang (Alan Wallace) accepted the difficult task of acting as interpreter, and that the ideal environment of the Sakya Tegehen Choling was made available through the kindness of its founders, the Venerable Jigdal Dagchen Sakya Rinpoche and Dagmo Kusho. The twelve teaching sessions offered between April 3 and June 12. 1982 were transcribed from thirteen ninety-minute tapes. Long before the initial typing was completed, it was decided thai the material should not be presented simply as rough unauthorized class notes. To make ahsotutely certain that no omissions or misinterpretations occurred, ail tapes had been transcribed twice before a copy was sent to Gelong Jhampa Kelsang for approval. During a subsequent discussion, both of us agreed that the vii teachings would be presented as a practical manual, the imple- mentation of which presupposed some reorganization of the word-for-word transcrip', and that I would be responsible for outlining and organizing the material. Since Geshe Dhargyey did not only follow Gyeltsab Je's commentary on the Kalacakra Tantra but also drew from the vast treasury of oral transmissions received from his own masters, there was some initial difficulty in organizing the material. However, most of the titles that appear within the major headings of the present manual were given by the Venerable Geshe himself, and the outline that has finally emerged seems to have done so naturally and of it own accord. Because the teachings represent a vast exposition on a complex subject, they have been arranged into a more manageable and sequential form to make them readily accessible from the standpoint of actual practice. Due to this consideration of changes in organization, the twelve original teaching sessions have been consolidated into ten sections. Once this rough outline was conceived, I made a journey to Vajrapani Institute (Boulder Creek, California) to consult with the Venerable Geshe about the proposed changes. His full approval and encouragement have been the source of Inspiration and have provided the energy necessary to carry this idea through to its completion. Geshe Dhargyey's exposition flows readily from one teaching session to the next and it has been organized according to the format given in the Table of Contents. To facilitate a better overall understanding, material has been shifted, in some cases, from one section to another. An example of such reorganization is found in the instructions on vows and pledges. In the second week of the course, Geshe Dhargyey taught the fourteen root tantric downfalls in accordance with the Kalacakra system and the twenty-five modes of behaviour. Later, during the latter part of the tenth and the entire eleventh session, he gave extensive commentary on the fourteen general root tantric downfalls, the eight secondary tantric downfalls, the commitments of the nineteen pledges, and so forth. All of these teachings have been brought under one heading and can be found in Sections Two and Three. The most important change has been made by shifting the viii practical instructions on the vajra recitation and the vase-like meditation. They were originally taught in the seventh session as a part of the explanation on the ten energies, the four drops, and the importance of guru devotion. However, from the functional point of view, and in this particular context, the two meditatianal practices represent an integral part of the exposition on the third branch of the practice on the stage of completion called 'life- effort,'* For this reason, the reader will find them in Section Nine of this volume. Since the presentation was oral, a great deal of wordiness, naturally prevalent in spoken language, was conscientiously edited by Richard Baldwin and Bill Johnson who took special care to preserve the original atmosphere of the teaching situation without obstructing the natural flow of the written language. For this reason alone, the current volume is slightly smaller than the original transcripts.