Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

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CITTAMANI TARA – EXTENSIVE COMMENTARY

Series: Vajrayana teachings - 5

CITTAMANI TARA Extensive Commentary

Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche teachings 1998-2007

This manuscript is only to be read by those with full initiation and full teachings of Cittamani Tara

Jewel Heart Transcripts 2008

Jewel Heart Transcripts are lightly to moderately edited transcriptions of the teachings of Kyabje Gehlek Rimpoche 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 1129 Oak Valley Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA Phone (1) 734.994.3387 Fax (1) 734.994.5577 www.jewelheart.org

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This is in the first pace the moderately edited transcription of the Cittamani Tara Teachings by Kyabje Gelek Rimpoche during the US winter retreat December 1998-January 1999. This earliest version of the transcript was available in the US at the 2004 Winter Retreat. Incorporated in this edition are the Development Stage teachings of Cittamani Tara from the US Winter Retreat February 2004, the teachings on the Twenty-one Taras according to the Atisha system from the US Summer Retreat 2005 and according to the Suryagupta system from the NL Spring Retreat 2006, and some additional information from the Cittamani Tara teachings Nijmegen November 2007.

Much of this teaching contains advanced material and a number of points remain to be clarified. Addi- tions in square brackets are by the editors. The transcription has been moderately edited. Please note that all section headings have been put in by the editors and are just intended to make the text easier to read. The section headings in bold type non- italic and numbered correspond to the [non-official] outline structure in the Appendix. All other headings are additional. Most Tibetan terms, for example, ke rim and zoh rim, are written in Rimpoche’s simplified form. For the sake of easy study a glossary, an index and a list of literature have been provided. The notes serve as references for study in detail, as clarifications for foreign words, and as account of the added information. A number of clarifying illustrations are to be found in the Appendices.

The earliest version of the transcript was transcribed by Hartmut Sagolla and edited by Anne Warren. The 2004 winter retreat was transcribed and incorporated in the earlier transcript by Hartmut Sagolla. The illustrations on channels and chakras were done by Steve Kronenburg. The painted frontispiece as well as the drawing of Cittamani Tara opposite chapter 7 are by Marian van der Horst. The ink drawings opposite the chapters 2, 4 and 8 are by Wivine Vervaeke. Cover design and template were taken care of by Piet Soeters. Further editing, organizing the material into its outlines and giving the transcription its final shape was done by me. Please note: The transcription has not yet been checked with Rimpoche. Any mistakes are due to lack of understanding from the editor’s side.

Jewel Heart, January 2008 Marianne Soeters

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 9

2. SOURCE AND LINEAGE OF THE TEACHING 35

3. HOW TO GUIDE THE DISCIPLES BY THE ACTUAL TEACHING 47

4. PRELIMINARY PRACTICES 59

5. ACCUMULATION OF MERIT 79

6. THREE-KAYA PRACTICE 85

7. THE TWENTY-ONE TARAS 115

8. MEDITATIVE STATE 161

9. MANTRA RECITATION 195

10. CONCLUSION 201

11. YOGA BETWEEN SESSIONS 211

12. SOME NOTES ON THE COMPLETION STAGE 225

13. APPENDIX 251

13. GLOSSARY 307

14. LITERATURE 317

15. INDEX 319

I. INTRODUCTION

Introduction to the teachings1 For the benefit of all beings, we would like to attain the state of buddhahood within this short life we have now, not in some future life sixteen lives from now. For this, we would like to really learn and practice. I want to talk with you about how extremely important learning is. When Tsongkhapa talked about his life story he always divided it into three categories. The first category is not how well he was born, how he was born, or who his father and mother were, but rather what he learned and what the subjects were that he learned. The second was his understanding; and the third, his practice. He divided his life story into these three categories. He did not talk about his youth and all that. Tsongkhapa says that he put a lot of efforts in, first, the total effort of learning; then secondly, gaining understanding through analyzing, and third, he practiced and meditated. That is the way Tsongkhapa shared his life for us. We have to do the same thing. Many people here really used to think that learning might not be necessary, and that you could just go on and meditate. A lot of people think that way; lots of people have even been taught that way. It sounds good, but what can you gain with that? What can that sort of practice deliver to you? To tell you the truth, virtually nothing, because if you try to do something when you don’t know or are not really sure what you are doing, you will just be fooling yourself.

Problem in our practice. One of the biggest problems in our practice is that, first of all, we don’t have enough interest. It is very hard to get the really good, deeply engaged interest, not just superficial interest. A superficial, Hollywood-type of interest really gets you nowhere. I know I am talking to a group of Va- jrayana practitioners and that’s why I can say this. Everybody has some kind of interest, everybody would like to do some kind of interesting, easy thing, just simply sit there and meditate ‘How wonderful it all is! If you just sit there, calm and quiet, and opening your eyes, looking into the air, things will appear!’ Yes, if you sit long enough watching and staring into the air, you will get all kinds of delusional im- pressions. You are definitely going to see white light; you are definitely going to see yellow; and green; you are definitely going to see all these jazzy-type of rainbow things. And what is that going to get you? Virtually nothing. Why nothing? If I don’t tell you the reasons, I’ll be just putting down certain types of practice. I have to tell you the reasons, so since you are all well educated, intelligent persons, you can judge by yourself. When we struggle on the spiritual path and, in particular, the Buddhist path, especially the Maha- yana, and even more so the Vajrayana Buddhist path, what are we trying to get? Nothing less than enlightenment. That is our total, our ultimate goal. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any other achievements in between where we are now and enlightenment. If you think that way, then you are foolish. I am talking about total enlightenment as our ultimate goal. Even if you don’t reach total enlightenment that doesn’t mean you are not going to get anything. Do you understand? There are lots of achievements in between.

1 This is the introduction Rimpoche gave in 1998. For the introductions to the outer and inner Cittamani initations, see Appendix. 10 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

What Tsongkhapa emphasized. For example one of the most important things Tsongkhapa introduced is the three principles of the path in our lives. The first principle is to get at least [the determination to seek] freedom. The second principle is to have love and compassion in our lives. Principle number three is to have the wisdom to deal with our lives. First, let’s look at freedom. What is the obstacle to our freedom? It is the ego or ego-grasping or ego projection, and ego itself which we normally call dag dzin2 in Tibetan. If you do nothing but sit and concentrate, is that going to harm the ego? No, it’s not going to have any effect whatsoever at that level. It will simply reduce the gross delusions such as anger or attachment because you are not thinking about the things that trigger those delusions while you are focusing. That doesn’t do any good for us when we are aiming at total freedom. To know that is extremely important. The problem is that, if you don’t know this, anybody can come and tell you that you can just simply meditate and be happy and uplifted, and bring yourself closer and closer to finally becoming God. You actually know you are not going to become God, but you can think that and fool yourself for a while. You half believe that if you keep on thinking that and doing nothing and sitting there like that, you will get all these rainbow visions and finally, you will become that. That is fooling yourself. Without putting in our own efforts, there can be no results whatsoever. There is no such thing as a free lunch anywhere! You know this, so don’t be fooled. This is why Tsongkhapa emphasized learning first. You don’t have to become a scholar; if you can, great, but that’s not the purpose. The purpose is that at least you should know what you are doing, where you are going, what your path is, where you have reached and what your aim is. Make sure that you are working with this much knowledge at least. This is why the third principle, wisdom, is so important. You cannot function in Vajrayana Buddhism if you are missing any of these three principles. If you do not desire to seek freedom, why you are wasting time sitting here? What are you doing? Better go and have a nice sleep and fun for the holidays! Without that determination to be free, there would be no reason for you to be here. If you don’t have love and compassion in your life as your principle, then you are not a Mahayana practitioner, so you are not a Vajrayana practitioner at all. And if you don’t know what you are doing, you are fooled. That’s why wisdom is necessary, so at least you can know what you are doing. I can say that most of you have established at least quite a good grounding in basic Mahayana Bud- dhism. For all these years, a number of people have put a lot of time in, while a number of other people have not put a lot of time in. However, by this way or that way, one way or another, you have built quite a good grounding in basic Buddhist practice. From the beginning of the guru-yoga onwards to the bodhicitta or bodhimind level, at least you have some understanding and you know what you are talking about. At least if you hear the words you will know, and at least somewhere, somehow you can figure out what this is talking about. More or less most of you have at least that much knowledge. We have a hundred people here and at least they have the basic establishment of their path. That in itself is a great achievement, very fortunate, but when we start talking about Vajrayana, to tell you the truth, with the exception of a couple of people, none of you know! I am not putting you down, I am not copying some other person you know who does that, but truly speaking, none of you can make head nor tail of it. None of you can tell what is ‘A’ and what is ‘Z’. You cannot figure it out, and that’s why you are here today. I am sorry to say this, but that is the purpose.

Reviewing the stages of the path through the Lama Chöpa Verse 493 Zhing choh dham pa jet sün la ma la… Precious lama, supreme field of good fortune, Root of all goodness and joy, my protector,

2 bdag ‘dzin - often translated as self-clinging or self-grasping. 3 These Lama Chöpa verses are numbered according to the August 2003 Jewel Heart Prayers. There is no standard numbering system for the verses.

Introduction 11

By the power of my offerings, respect and prayers, Gladly bless me with your care. The importance of guru devotion. It is so important to go over at least the basic foundation. The first words here at the Lamrim level of the Lama Chöpa are zhing chok and I am sure the English translation says Supreme Field of Merit. Actually, chok means best, supreme, most important, and dampa also means great, best of all. In Tibetan, zhing chok dampa doubly emphasizes guru devotional practice. Who is the supreme field of merit, the most important field, the most important partner, the most important part and parcel of my practice? It is the guru, je tsun lama. Those people who are anti-guru have their own reasons and their own values and I have nothing against them: that’s their choice. How- ever, if they pick up that choice, there is no place in Vajrayana practice for them to make it through. Whether you look into Hindu tantra, or whether you look into Buddhist tantra, there is no place. That’s why there is this double emphasis and triple emphasis all the time. We are living in a great time in the United States, or at any rate, in the Western civilization, not only because we have material development, but we also have great spiritual development happening at this moment for lots of people. There is a lot of interest and movement; things are happening. At the same time people’s minds are such that their ego-power is equally powerful and pushing, so a lot of things are happening simultaneously. Critics are wonderful; you definitely do need critics. If you have somebody criticizing you with sincerity and telling you straightforwardly, it helps tremendously. But, critics who know nothing and who have no idea what they are talking about, and who just pick up information here and there because it is available in their language, can render tremendous disservice to a tremendous number of people. I am saying this not because we have any problems like that in Jewel Heart, but in the United States today, there is a group of people who are very strongly criticizing the basic principle of guru devotional practice. They are rightly pointing to abuses that have taken place by a number of real and fake gurus one after another, but then they go on to say, ‘That’s not important. You are going to get the information anyway. You don’t need a guru.’ If you say this, you are missing a big piece of the puzzle. The puzzle cannot be solved without that piece, so to say that there is no need for a guru does tremendous disservice to a tremendous number of people. I want you to be aware of this problem, and not only aware of it, but to be able to deal with yourself in your own practice.

Three reasons for guru devotion. Let me tell you why guru yoga is such a very important point. First, the guru is the connection between you and the yidam or buddha or deity. There is no by-pass. Believe me, there is no by-pass, and that’s why I cannot just make a deal with the Buddha and say to the guru, ‘To hell with you!’ I cannot do that. There is no way. That is why it is the important path. Second, what is the first step when you become enlightened? You do so in the nature of the guru’s mind, your mind in the nature of the guru’s mind. That means when you make a shift, that is where you are going to jump to and what you will land on. If you don’t have that ground, where are you going to land? That is the second important point. Third, the deities or yidams introduced to you are manifestations of the guru’s mind. There is no deity separate from the guru. Remember the story of Naropa.

Story of Naropa. Once when Marpa went to see Naropa in India, after Naropa’s death, somehow he found him in the Indian forest somewhere. They talked and sat and went to sleep. Early the next morning Naropa woke Marpa and said, ‘Hey, look, your yidam, the complete Hevajra mandala is before you in the air. Whom would you like to prostrate to first, to me, Naropa, or to your yidam over here?’ Marpa thought for a while and said to himself, ‘Now that I have found Naropa again, I can see him every day. This is a once in a blue moon opportunity to see the yidam, so definitely I’m going to prostrate to the yidam.’ With that he started prostrating to the yidam. But Naropa said, When there’s no guru there’s not even the name of the Buddha. The thousand Buddhas of this fortunate eon totally come out of the guru. The yidam is my manifestation!

12 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

After that he dissolved the mandala to his heart. So what could Marpa do? Put his finger in his mouth, right? Actually, in reality, it is not that Marpa had a problem with his guru Naropa, but this was done to give us a message, like us here today in the year 2000 and particularly in the new millennium. In one way, we develop spiritually very strongly with great enthusiasm, but equally the destruction of that great path is also going to develop. This is equally very strong at this moment within ourselves.

Dangers to this great path. You know, the worst destruction of the spiritual path is not going to come through criticism from scientists out there, but from us who claim to be practitioners, who claim to be interested in the spiritual path. It will come from people who claim or presume to have found something, from people who get delusions and even hallucinations to a certain extent and then think that they have discovered something. The destruction of our spiritual path is going to come from that angle, from within ourselves, not from scientists from Harvard or Yale, or from atheists, televangelists, or even from Mus- lims. It is going to come from within ourselves. That’s what you should be very much aware of. No one can destroy the great spiritual path from outside, only we ourselves can do that from within. Lots of people think that the Chinese destroyed Tibetan Buddhist civilization. I say, ‘No, they did not; we did it ourselves.’ On the other hand, you can see that we are still here and that Buddhism remains within the individual. The practice remains within individuals; I don’t think anybody outside can do anything about that. We have to be aware of this. If you make your own progress, that sort of destruction is going to pop up in your head also more than ever, because you will think that you are not getting there quick enough, you will probably think, ‘Oh, I should do this, I should do that; maybe that’s wrong, maybe that’s right.’ That is actually a second type of destruction. Anyway, I think I mentioned this well enough.

How guru devotion functions. The verse says By the power of my offerings, respect, and prayers… Mak- ing offerings and giving respect is the way guru devotional practice functions. That’s it! Is that enough propaganda? Offerings and respect, what else do you want? Because of that practice, the guru himself becomes the root of all goodness for me, the individual practitioner. It is like the throat. If you bottleneck there, you can completely bottleneck. If you want to choke, you can choke at the throat. If you want to breathe, you can breathe through the throat. It is like that. This is important, and it is a puzzle piece that you cannot miss. You can’t manage without it. Think more about the quality of having a guru and about having proper devotion, and about the disadvantages of not having a guru and having a wrong relationship with the guru. Traditionally, Tibetan Lamrim teachings would emphasize that very much, but over here, in the West, with the time and conditions the way they are, you cannot emphasize it so much because people are bound to misunderstand. If you talk about guru devotion at the beginning of the teachings these days, it becomes a disservice to people. It is interesting. In 1975 or 1976 I had a meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. He said to me, ‘Oh, it is very nice that you talking on the basic of the Lamrim but it would even be nicer if you could change the order a little bit and begin with the Four Noble Truths and then get round to the other subjects. It might be really useful.’ That’s what he said. Of course, since it was His Holiness who said it, obviously you say ‘Yes, Sir!’ At that time, in my heart I thought that maybe His Holiness was very modernized, but sure enough, he has been proven right. The more you come out here and deal with people, the more you realize that His Holiness is absolutely right. If you started by talking about what we are discussing now, ‘Hey, the guru is important; you cannot do without the guru,’ and so on, you would lose fifty percent of the people, so that becomes a disservice.

True skillful means. You know what skillful means is? People talk a lot about it. I don’t think skillful means is if someone knows how to drink and womanize, but it really means to know how to be of service to people. There was a geshe called Sherab Gyatso who wrote quite a lot of praises to Tsongkhapa, most of which I have forgotten. One that I remember almost sounds a little sectarian. He said,

Introduction 13

I have [no] great spiritual development but my hair has grown so long and made a knot up here.4 Tsongkhapa had no such signs like a hair knot of development on his head. He had no skillful way of how to maintain wine and women and no skull cup and dagger to hold. To the great monk of Dokri5, who had none of those things, I bow down. There are more than forty verses of beautiful poetry written in this manner by Geshe Sherab Gyatso. In the colophon of that work he said, ‘As requested by Trijang Rimpoche and his teacher.’ I asked Kyabje Trijang Rimpoche, ‘Did you ask him to write that?’ He said, ‘No, I didn’t.’ Geshe Sherab Gyatso was Trijang Rimpoche’s teacher, too, teaching him poetry and grammar. The Geshe kept on writing those shalokas, which means verses, scattered around here and there. One day he collected them all together and found there were forty or fifty of them, so he thought it would be better to publish them rather than leaving them to lie around everywhere. Then he said to Trijang Rimpoche, ‘I cannot just go on and say ‘I wrote this,’ so I better say that somebody requested it, and I am going to put you and your teachers’ names in as those who had requested this.’ And that is what he did.

Spiritual development is not physical appearance. Anyway, the very important point here is that the signs of spiritual development are not seen in the physical appearance. This is why I have been telling you people for years now, ‘Don’t keep wearing your malas like this and don’t try to look funny. Behave like other human beings do, and wear nice good clothes like everybody else.’ Today I am wearing a funny skirt myself.6 You know why? It is more comfortable when I sit cross- legged than wearing blue jeans, so that’s why I am wearing it. When I came down from my room this morning, Wei Lin looked at me differently. I thought I must look funny, and I asked her ‘Do I look funny?’ She said no. Okay, but then why did she look at me three or four times up and down? Actually I am wearing sweat pants underneath; it is easy to sit in them, but you can’t walk around like that. That’s why I am wearing that skirt over it. Anyway, let’s try not to dress differently than usual. If you are wearing funny clothes, then you become funny. There are lots of people funny dressed these days; lots of them look like half monk, half monkey! Everybody gets confused by that. Spiritual development is not signaled by malas or bones or any of that type of thing. People enjoyed wearing these sorts of things in the sixties, but that was the sixties. It is different now. Even at that time it was not a sign of spiritual development; it was just some kind of fashion going on within society and you sort of got mixed up with that. But if you do that today, it gives you a different message. If it looks like you want to signal your spiritual development either by the way you keep your hair, or by wearing a mala or dressing differently, it is not correct. That is why that poem said: It is not skillful means to handle wine and women. There are no signs of development in [tying up] the hair, and no signs of development in holding the implements of skullcup and dagger. But there is a poor little monk. To him I bow. Using skillful means for some kind of ego-service of personal gain is misusing the spiritual path, which is terrible. It is misleading people. That’s not good.

Be straightforward. If you know something, you can say that you know it. If you know it through your development, you can say ‘I know this for a fact.’ If you know it from a book or through information from a teacher or something, you say, ‘Yes, I heard So-and-So say this.’ Just be straightforward so that you are not misleading anybody. If you are not misleading people, you are better off. In one way, whatever help you are trying to give will actually help. Secondly, you are not creating any negativity, but gain lots of great positivity and that’s a good way of handling things. There are four negativities through speech; lying, harsh words, and so on. I don’t think the used car dealer’s lie counts as lying. What counts is the black lie, which in this case is pretending to be knowl-

4 Rimpoche adds: The sign of development is the hair knot, all tied together, on the top of the head. 5 Rimpoche adds: that is where Ganden Monastery is 6 Rimpoche wore a traditional Tibetan garment on this occasion.

14 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary edgeable, pretending that you know, pretending to be somebody when you are nobody; pretending to have spiritual development when you have nothing. These are what we call really black lies, the major downfalls. I really don’t think they are talking about the used car dealer telling you, ‘This is the best car available in this model and perfectly maintained!’ and all that type of thing. Just remember, be kind to yourself and particularly if you have the quality within you, you don’t have to blow your horn; it will come out. We all know that. If you don’t have the quality, then no matter how much propaganda you make, there’s nothing in there. People will listen to you, people will talk to you and listen to you, and find no value in there. They sort of really see the depth of the person. When the gold is in the ground, the light shines in the sky. Don’t pretend to have knowledge and understanding you don’t have: that becomes a black lie. Carrying a mala around with you, unless you are actually saying mantras, falls also in that category. That’s the reason why I strongly urge everybody not to do that. If you don’t do things right from the beginning, this is the kind of society we will find in the next fifty years: people wearing malas round their necks, or even a human skull-hat on their head or something! There is every possibility of that sort of thing happening, so, it’s better not to do that from the beginning. Audience: You said that when you become enlightened you become the nature of the guru’s mind. I am not getting that. Rimpoche: If you are going to jump or shift from this ordinary level to the extraordinary level, the focal point for the other side you are jumping to is the guru’s mind. If you don’t have that, you’re gone. Did you get it? If you are physically going to jump from this mountain to that mountain, you have to have a point where you can land, some ground. Without ground, you cannot. In the case of meditation, you can sit, and if the ground is not there you can sit on a chair, right? But if there’s no ground, where are you going to put the chair? Just joking.7 But that’s what it is. There would be no point.

Verse 50 Knowing that life’s liberties and opportunities Are found but once and quickly lost, Inspire me to grasp life’s essential meaning And not be distracted by pointless activities. This is talking about our great life. Only once - that is the important point here, because it is through an accident that we are here, absolutely by accident! You may think, ‘I came here by my own choice,’ but actually it was a karmic accident. It is a good accident that we had, really, a good one! It is almost impossible, from every angle because traditionally Indian Buddhists, and the Tibetans who followed them would have called a country like ours a land of barbarians. That is what we are, barbarians! Within the land of barbarians and among barbarians like ourselves, (I am included because I am an American citizen too, don’t forget that!) to have such a life is totally an accident. It is not supposed to happen, but it did happen. Not only has it happened, but we have an interest and we have also found somebody who can sort of lead us. Although it may be the blind leading the blind, at least somebody is leading you.

To practice Vajrayana is extremely rare. Not only that, whether real or not, but at least some sort of mandala has been created and initiations have been done and, and at least we have been very fortunate to be able to read and understand and learn in this path, which is totally secret, not open anywhere else. That is why this development is only happening to a minority in the world. This language is spoken by so few people. This reading, this writing, is accessible only to a very few people, and those who can read and understand it are even fewer. That’s why it is rare. It is important and very valuable, shared by a very small number of very fortunate people. That’s why this [coming together here] is such a good accident. It happened to happen only once.

7 Rimpoche is referring to a poem by Allen Ginsberg titled Do the Meditation Rock.

Introduction 15

This also tells you that you are not going to find it again if you don’t make it this time. Whether you make it or don’t make it depends on yourself completely. You have the information, you have the ways to do it, and you are authorized, so it is up to you. If you think this opportunity is everlasting, you are mistaken. It is definitely not everlasting. Every one of us here will think, ‘I am okay, I am well, good, fine. Thank you. But in reality, if you really think about it, each and every one of us is just like a person who has a fatal disease. It is simply that a doctor or scientist has not told us, ‘Hey, your diagnosis is that you only have three weeks left.’ In reality, we are totally earmarked for dying. We are not earmarked for living. We are going to die. It is just like we have some kind of fatal disease. It is the way that we think that makes the difference. In reality, sooner or later we all are going to go; you are going to go, I am going to go. We are all going to go. None of us will be here in a hundred years; not a single person. That’s what it is, in reality. If we look at our own group, we are a very young group, less than ten years old, and even within our group, how many of us are gone? Even right here there was Gelong-la who passed away, remember? He even demonstrated it right here, in this very place. From amongst ourselves, at the end of the Mahamudra retreat, he went, just like that. John was with him. John is still here. If you really think about it, we are all on that level. Many people who have aids or cancer or something like that can live much longer than some healthy people. You can go just like that. Pop out! Really, Gelong-la died right over here. Then Lex Hixon has gone, Allen Ginsberg has gone. Norm has gone and Helen has gone, so many of them. Even in this little young group so many have gone already, and we are all in that same boat. The Seventh Dalai Lama said, How sad when I look at my friends. From the moment you are born, you don’t have a single minute to stay. You are running like a galloping horse towards death. We may call you living beings but you are all on death row8. How sad it is, but in reality it is absolutely true. Don’t get depressed, okay! But that is the truth. Take advantage of it at once, so that when people try to harm you and do a tiny little thing, try to push your buttons – don’t bother about it, it is not worth it. They are on death row; we are on death row. Don’t get upset. Have an understanding that they don’t understand. Have some compassion; get in touch with compassion, and let it go. That is important. We are all on death row. Remember that.

Don’t waste time. The main point here is not to waste your time. As verse 50 of the Lama Chöpa says, ‘Inspire me to grasp life’s essential meaning And not be distracted by pointless activities’. Ninety percent of our activities are pointless or meaningless. There are two ways of looking at pointless, the traditional orthodox way and the open, intelligent way. This is important because some people may think, ‘Oh, I am wasting my life, so I got to do something.’ That can make things difficult in your dealing with everyday life. I don’t want to boil your water, you know what I mean? Don’t do that. The traditional orthodox explanation is that everything is a waste of time except for positive Dharma practice. We can’t have that these days because we have to make a living, we have to pay our bills, we have to have fun in our life; we have to have sorrow and sadness in our life; we have to have happiness and joy in our life. Otherwise life is meaningless. It becomes like lukewarm water; you don’t want that. If you don’t have all these things, it will be so boring. That’s why Buddha said if you take rebirth in a samsaric god realm, it is a waste of time because it is so boring. There is no pain but pleasure, pleasure, pleasure, , like remaining high all the time. It is like topping up the chemicals in your body; maintaining that high, remaining above the clouds all the time until that state completely collapses once and for all. That’s boring and a true waste and truly pointless and meaningless. That’s why intoxication is no good. I am not denying that it may have a certain positive side to it, but basically, intoxication is not good, whether it is the alcohol, marijuana, or even prescription drugs. It will just pump you up. That is a true pointless activity.

8 The Seventh Dalai Lama, Gyawa Kalsang Gyatso, Songs of Spiritual Change, p. 136: Melancholy Visions of Imperfection: ‘From very birth, life pauses not for a moment, But races onward toward the great Lord of Death. Life is a walk down a wide road to death: A melangcholy scene, a criminal being led to his execution.’

16 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

That is also why many teachers criticize ‘Love and Light’. People just want to look at wonderful, beautiful things. We have a saying in Tibetan, Even if the temple is burning and on fire, you sit down and say, ‘Eh, ah9‘, and then if the dogs are running in and eating the offerings, you say, ‘Eh ah,’ and that’s it. That is ‘Love and Light’ right? That is the number one meaningless activity. It can come not only from chemical intoxication but also from watching TV too much and also from pure concentration without wisdom. You know why? By concentrating without wisdom you are actually creating a karmic cause for taking rebirth in the formless realms. There are four formless realms10. One of them is called chi yang me11 which means ‘I have nothing.’ You are actually creating the cause for taking rebirth in that area. That’s why I said that any practice that does not hurt or cut the ego is useless. Concentration without wisdom is another meaningless activity. Especially for persons like us who happen to be here in this life accidentally, it would be such a waste to spend our time like that. We seek blessings to grasp life’s essential meaning. It is not only meaning but essential meaning, which means either getting free from samsara or developing great wisdom and compassion.

Verse 51 Ngen song duk ngel bar wei… Aghast at the searing blaze of suffering in the lower realms, I take heartfelt refuge in the three jewels. Inspire me to intensify my efforts To practice virtue and abandon vice. Let’s say we waste our life and then one day we are going to die. Death is going to happen for sure, whether we waste our life or not. Our life is limited, since the physical body on which we base our life has a manufacturer’s defect. That’s it, but you cannot return it, because you don’t have anything left to give back. Remember this body is like a rented apartment that will be eventually without water, without heat, without a roof. You will have to get out! When you get out, what will happen? One of only two things, either something good or something bad. You cannot have anything in between; there is no grey area , there is only black or white. (I’ve been accused of not allowing grey for many years. I learned a lot through that, so nowadays, lots of grey comes out.)

Causes for taking refuge. We are scared of the searing blaze of suffering in the lower realms. That is the true cause for us to take refuge. In this verse ngen song really refers to the lower realms and duk ngel is sufferings; the lower realms with their sufferings. You know, you could just simply say, ‘Can I take refuge with you?’ and I could say, ‘Oh, yeah, by all means,’ and then we say NAMO GURUBHYA, NAMO BUDDHAYA, NAMO DHARMAYA, NAMO SANG- HAYA three times and, ‘Congratulations!’ But you don’t become a Buddhist by just doing that. That doesn’t work, truly speaking. That’s what we do, but the reality is that the reason why you want to take refuge is that you are afraid. You want to make sure that you are not subject to falling into the lower realms where the sufferings are burning. ‘I want to help myself, I want to make sure that won’t happen, but I am not able to help myself right now, so I must turn to somebody who can help me. There’s a story about how not to do it.

Story on refuge. Once a very wealthy family invited this lama to go to teach at a distant village. His attendant told him, ‘Look, you’ve been invited to go there, so I’m going to go ahead three days before you and tell everybody that they have to make a big arrangement, put up a big throne and have a big welcome with everything; not only the family but the whole village will be there. You have to come three days

9 Editor: This must be Tibetan for ‘Oh , wow!’ 10 See Glossary: Realms 11 chi yang med pa also translated as nothingness.

Introduction 17 later, in a very very nice, dignified way; whatever the best way you can.’ The lama asked, ‘All the best way I can?’ The attendant said, ‘Yes, whatever you can.’ So the lama agreed to that and the attendant went ahead with his plan. On the third day they were waiting for the lama to come but he never showed up. What had happened? The lama had looked around for the most attractive thing and found a carpet. He put the carpet on his head and so he couldn’t see anything. Then he went round and found a big cow. He said to himself, ‘This has big horns and looks very nice. I can ride the cow and wear the carpet.’ So he rode the cow and wore the carpet, and went to the village. But, naturally what did the cow do? It went into toilet and started digging. When the lama didn’t show up, the attendant came back and looked for him and found him sitting on the cow which was digging in the toilet. The attendant said, ‘I told you to come in a nice way, what are you doing!?’ The lama replied, ‘I found this most attractive carpet so I am wearing it, and this cow is bigger than the horse and has very nice horns, so I thought I would ride that. I did it the best way I could, as you told me to.’

So, you don’t just take refuge in whatever looks most attractive! Take refuge in somebody who is him or herself free, who knows how to get free and who is able to share that and who has compassion. That’s how we choose our objects of refuge. The cause of refuge is the dread of falling into the lower realms. Then you take refuge. Actually, instead of saying NAMO GURUBHYA, NAMO BUDDHAYA at the beginning of your daily practice, if you are meditating right over here you can then say lama dampa nam la kyab su chio, sangye namla kyab su chio,12 etc.., hundreds and thousands of times. If you can do that, it is great. That becomes true refuge. Otherwise, repeating a couple of times NAMO GURUBHYA, NAMO BUDDHAYA is no big deal, really; it sounds nice and everybody enjoys it and we have sound vibrations, but that’s about it. I am not criticizing the way we do our chanting. Don’t get me wrong. Then we seek blessing from the Three Jewels to intensify my efforts to practice [the entire collection of] virtue and abandon vice. Wow! You know why they say entire collection of virtue? Because no single little thing can deliver you to enlightenment. Taking refuge is great but that will not be able to deliver you to enlightenment. It may be able to protect you from the lower realms if you follow the advice! Taking refuge alone is not even capable of delivering true freedom. Sometimes people think that Buddhism is complicated. Of course it is complicated because our neuroses are so complicated! To counter them we need complicated methods; otherwise it is not possible to overcome them. If it were so simple everybody would make it easily, just like you can flip over a hamburger. Actually the essence of Buddha’s teachings is to avoid negativities and build up positivities as much as possible. Buddha himself has said: Commit not one unwholesome deed, Gather a wealth of virtue. Subdue your mind in its entirety. This is the teaching of the Buddha. That is the real essence of Buddhism right here, in that little verse.

Verse 52 Violently tossed by waves of addiction and karma, Devoured by three sea dragon sufferings, Inspire me to develop the fierce determination to be free From this endless fearsome ocean of samsara.

12 This is a slightly expanded version of refuge, in Tibetan rather than in Sanskrit: lama dampa nam la -to the great lamas, kyab su chio - I go for refuge; sangye namla - to the buddhas, kyab su chio - I go for refuge. Then for the Dharma: dam chö namla kyab su chio and for the Sangha: gendun namla kyab su chio.

18 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

This verse introduces you to nirvana as goal. In other words, in samsara, whatever you do, good or bad, in the end is going to be suffering. That is samsaric nature. That’s why Buddha introduced samsara as suffering and nirvana as peace. This is how nirvana comes into the picture. Naturally, whenever there is a problem in one place, you would like to be somewhere else, but you can’t see that as a different place like here is different from over there. It is all within ourselves. Nirvana is within ourselves. We do say, ‘This is samsara, it is a problem; that is nirvana, it is peace.’ Yet, both that nirvana and this samsara are also within ourselves. It is a matter of shifting ourselves within, not shifting physically, externally.

Verse 53 Zö ka tsön ra dra wei khor wa dhi… Having ceased to view this unbearable prison Of cyclic existence as a pleasure grove, Inspire me to raise the victory banner of freedom, By practicing the three higher trainings, the treasure of extraordinary beings. If you really look at those Tibetan words, they are so rich. Zö ka means difficult to bear, unbearable. It is because constantly we bear every pain, every suffering that we have. One good quality we human beings have is that we can really bear it. We don’t freak out, we really bear it. If you look at that as a quality, it is a great quality. Look at those women who are abused by men. I have recently heard of a couple of incidents. Really, they bear so much. No matter how much the men go on and drink and abuse and bully them, whatever they do, the women bear it. Not only women bear it, some men do, too. Still, sometimes it is even unnecessary; we don’t know where to set the limits. So in a way it is a quality, but in another way, it is a terrible disadvantage. Buddha is telling us that we don’t have to bear all these sufferings because we can get free. We simply need to recognize this is as suffering. No matter whatever you do in samsara, it is going to bring suffering. We always hope to get the best thing happening to us, and it never happens and then we get disappointed all the time. That is lack of understanding. As long as we are reborn into samsara, there are bound to be those sufferings. Within samsara, you cannot escape. If you change your partner, it may give you a temporary pleasure for two months. If you indulge in drinking, it gives you pleasure for five minutes. If you indulge in drugs, it gives you pleasure for ten minutes and suffering for twenty minutes. That’s exactly what’s happening. It is simply the lack of recognition of samsara. And if you really want peace and freedom, look for nirvana. Don’t look anywhere else.

The three higher trainings. The method for getting freedom is indulging in the three higher trainings of morality, concentration and wisdom. In other words, these are our three keys. Buddha did not say, ‘Hey, nirvana is great, samsara is suffering. Try to get over there. Bye bye!’ He didn’t say that. He advised us to use the mind of the higher trainings to get there. That is why it is most important to keep every commitment that you have. We are not talking about the commitments of saying your sadhanas, but about your refuge vow commitment, your bodhisattva vow commitments, you vajrayana vow commitments. People are rightly afraid of having big sadhana commitments. That’s fine, you are right. You can skip the sadhana commitment; it’s no big deal. But you cannot break your vows. That is a very big deal. It is so important to learn what the commitments of refuge taking are; what our commitments of the Bodhisattva vows are, what we can and cannot do. We have to know what our commitments in Vajra- yana are, what are the downfalls, what are the root downfalls, and so on. You learn these and if you maintain your vows, then even if you don’t do anything else, you are okay. And on top of that you have concentration and wisdom. That’s what you call topped with cream; your black forest cake is topped with cream, and a cherry on top of that!13

13 Tibetans like to say, ‘Butter on the meat!’

Introduction 19

This verse takes us as far as seeking freedom. We introduced nirvana as problem-free, and samsara as full of difficulties.

Verse 54 Nyam thak dro wa dhi kün dhag gi ma yang yang drin gyi kyang pei tsül sam nay dhug pei bu la tse wei ma zhin du chö min nying je kye war jin gyi lop Recognizing all suffering beings as my mothers, Who have raised me in kindness again and again, Inspire me to develop authentic compassion Like a mother’s love for her only child. In Tibetan nyam thak is poor, here translated as suffering; dro wa is being(s); dhi kün dhag gi ma means all of them are my mom. That’s so simple, you know. All these poor beings are my mom. This is about people who are suffering, and not necessary only people, but all beings like insects, animals, birds, outside in winter who cannot get under the ground, who cannot come into this warm room, who are stuck and are dying in the cold, unable to breathe. Lots of them are dying outside now in the winter cold. We are simply talking about what we personally see right in front of ourselves. Look at all the little cockroaches that are being tortured and killed by being squeezed or smashed or sprayed with Raid. All those are suffering. Who are they? Moms. If you simply tell yourself that the cockroach you just sprayed is your mom, you are not going to get it. You will get frustrated, but if you spend time and keep on thinking about who these people and these beings are, then you will get very interested in who and what we are. It is one of our American spiritual goals to find out who we are and what we are doing here. It seems to be a very important goal for a lot of people. If you start by asking ‘Who am I?’ and then ask who is this being whom you just sprayed, or just squeezed or smashed with a napkin or whatever, if you keep thinking in that way, then ultimately you will think correctly that it is one of your moms. If you really think carefully, you will find that it is true. If you don’t think about it, then it doesn’t work. Simply saying,, ‘I just sprayed my mom!’ doesn’t work. That’s why in this verse yang yang is emphasized; it means again and again, and that goes both ways. In one way, you can translate They helped and protected me, again and again. But, at the same time it also tells you If you keep on thinking again and again. If you do that, after a little while your mind that thinks, ‘That’s not my mom,’ that sort of rough mind that does not want to acknowledge that all beings have a connection with you, will be softened. If you don’t think about it again and again, then you will say, ‘My family includes my children, my two kids, and well, maybe their wives and their husbands.’ But what about your mom? ‘Well, yes, I guess she is family.’ Often you don’t even want to include your own mother or your father or your siblings! ‘Oh, yes, we are supposed to be related to those people,’ in that manner you brush them off. That shows you how we can narrow our mind and become very limited. You can also look at it from the mothers’ angle. They will never exclude their children. From the children’s angle, they will often more or less exclude their mothers. That’s basically human nature, and that shows us how good we are at separating and rejecting all beings. That in a way is genuine, it is true; it is reality, it is perfect in a way, but on the other hand, it is a rejection from our mind. It is very common in this society that children reject their parents. When we ourselves become parents, we will feel the rejection from our own children. You may not realize that when you were young you did the same thing to your parents and you are getting it back now.

Seeing our interconnectedness. It is reality because that’s how society has been built up to foster inde- pendence. It is time for us to cut that out, to understand the interdependence, the interconnection of all individual beings. Unless you think about this very often, and unless you put in lots of effort, it is difficult to build a connection, because of our self-interest, because of our selfishness and our self-serving attitude.

20 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

The ego is so powerful. It is the big automatic controller inside us that dictates every moment we experience, every thought we think and every function we carry out. It does so without thinking, without putting efforts in. It is sort of well-trained; it is automatic. Society also supports that, saying that you are a good person if you behave like that and a bad person if you don’t. Society gives you that projection. That makes it even harder for any individual to really think along the lines of non-selfcenteredness. It takes tremendous effort again and again to think that way. Forget about all the little insects or birds dying out there: just thinking about people around us is very hard. Well, we are all Americans. We think that we are better because we are Americans, because Ameri- can life has more value than anybody else’s. If sixty-five Iraqis die, it is not so bad, but if we lose two American pilots in a battle it is terrible: that is how we project. Our mind is turning that way. Excuse me, I am not anti-American, but really this is how people project. This is our fault and our problem. The people dying are all also human beings – people dying in Bosnia, people dying in Somalia, people dying in the Congo where there is fighting around this new guy Kabila. We hear that there is somebody dying, there’s some African dying, or some Middle Eastern people dying, or some Eastern Europe- ans or Koreans dying, but we don’t really feel or understand that it are human beings dying. If you really look, we almost have that kind of attitude and that attitude is further reinforced by commentators like Peter Jennings as well as the guys in CNN and so on. They somehow confirm and reinforce our feelings towards that. This is definitely a problem of not seeing our interdependence. Forget about insects and other animals; human beings can’t even see equality among human beings! Right now, this is our state of mind. When you have that, it is almost impossible to have what is called great love and great compassion, the unlimited compassion of bodhimind.

Building equanimity. Now at least we can see how far we are in that process. I think that’s our reality. Those Iraqis are human beings and these Americans are also human beings. When one of our family members is dying we feel very different from when a person that we don’t know is dying, but that is also a human being dying. We don’t perceive it that way because we have no equanimity. We don’t acknowledge the equality of human beings. Very clearly, that is the problem. When we are training our mind, before we even talk about all mother sentient beings we really have to talk and think and train our mind at least to look all the human beings as equal beings, equally precious, equally important, whether they are black, white, yellow or green. Also, you must see them as equally important. From their point of view, they have the same importance and the same preciousness in their lives as we do. From our point of view, we see them on a different level. We say, ‘Yes, that man died, but he is not American.’ Luckily nowadays we see that way much less than we used to. It used to be, ‘Yes, he is American but African-American, not Caucasian-American.’ Now we still make a difference between an American dying and somebody else dying. When we hear it was not an American it is a relief. That shows the unequalness of value based on our judgment, which is not based on anything. There is no valid reason, it is simply our judgment so that is where you can see inequality. If you can’t see that there is no valid reason to judge, it will be very hard for you to make your family and their family equal. We accept that in theory, but the importance of our family is our concern, their family is their concern. It is a little difficult to work on this, but it is not bad to look at how we make judgments about American life and Eastern European or Middle-Eastern life. From there we can begin. We can see the projection in our own mind and then turn to the other side, look at them. Both of them have a nose, two eyes, a mouth, and both are somebody’s father or mother or son or daughter, or husband or wife. Then turn around and see why you have made such a differentiation. When we look back, maybe there is a chance for us to see a beginning point here. Maybe we can at least build a perception of human beings being equal. We may by able to generate a sense of equanimity and then gradually we can take it further. Within the Tibetan Buddhist tradition it is very easy to talk about all mother sentient beings. We sit there focusing on all mother sentient beings and nameless, faceless dots in front of us come to mind,

Introduction 21 which is not very helpful. In one way, the tradition teaches you how to do that, but on the other hand, that depersonalizes the individual beings and that is a problem. When that happens, the compassion that you are trying to generate becomes artificial. Maybe it is not totally artificial but halfway it is, because the basis on which you really develop the mind which looks like compassion is nameless, faceless dots and therefore it cannot stand any test. If any difficulties come, it is easy to give up and run away. You cannot stand behind it because it is not established properly. If you really want to establish compassion, first look into equanimity. We have to look at the judgments we make about these different human beings, the value of life that we project. There is no reason apart from the fact that somebody happens to be not American, or she or he happens to be American. That’s the only difference; there is nothing else. That tells you it is a wrong projection of our mind. Maybe we have an opportunity to train our mind on that level. A funny thing happened when I saw my little five-year-old niece in Washington. Her mother was helping her to read some book about colors and was saying the word ‘violet.’ The problem is that her English is not very good. She doesn’t even speak English as well as I do, so she was saying, ‘v’let,v’let,’ and the little girl was looking at the book and then at her mother, then at the letters, and then at her mother. Finally she said, ‘Mom, violet! Violet! Not v’let, v’let!’ That little girl had been looking at the mother, then at the book, then at the mother again, then at the letters in the book and she finally figured out that what the mother said was not right. She got it. We have to do the same. We have to look at the other objects, and look at our mind, back and forth, and figure out where we get our projections from. Then we understand, ‘It is the same human being, damn it!’ All right, that’s it. That is how we can begin, I think. Anyway, to see all beings as mother sentient beings is a very long shot. Actually in the passage duk pei bu la tse wei ma zhin du, the word duk pei bu actually means the mother who has only one child. This translation here says authentic compassion like a mother’s love for her only child. Actually a mother has tremendous amounts of love and compassion and caring for her children, and if she has only one child, it is even different from other mothers. If you have two or three, the love must be divided, but if you have only one, it is a big difference. This is used as an example. We are expected to generate that much caring and compassion to all beings equally! That is a long shot for us, but if you make the attempt the long shot becomes at last a reality. If you don’t make any attempt, and keep on saying that it is a long shot, then it will remain a long shot for all time. If you keep on making attempts, the long shot will become tangible, then it will become practical and finally you may be able to do it. It is true that it is a long shot but don’t throw it away, saying it is a long shot. You can do that in the beginning of your practice, but now, no longer. Now you have to make the attempt, otherwise it will remain a long shot throughout your life. You will always back off, thinking that it is a long shot. That is not good.

Verse 55 No one wants even the slightest suffering Or is ever content with the happiness they have. In this we are all alike. Inspire me to find joy in making others happy. Actually this is true, absolutely true. No one wishes for even the slightest suffering, unless they think that suffering is joy, then it is possible. People very often perceive pain as joy. Why? Because whatever we consider as pleasure does not satisfy them, so then they go to the extent of getting pain, and hoping it becomes pleasure. Audience: You are thinking it is sexual, right? Rimpoche: Yes, a very gross level. People do things like that because they get dissatisfied with whatever feelings they have and want them to be more intense. In reality they are producing more pain, but even then they think it is pleasure. That is how the mind works, that is how powerful mind is. These feelings will be treated as pleasure for a while, even though they make holes in every sensitive area of the body and pull all of them together. How painful it is, but they perceive this as pleasure and it will work that

22 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary way for a while. This tells you how the power of mind can overpower matter. Really it is reality. I am not making jokes. This is reality. In absolute reality it is pain, right? But the mind can do that much. In other words, you can have tremendous patience for suffering. You keep thinking it is pleasure, and somehow you associate your experience with that, so you start releasing some extra brain chemicals. It is a body chemical, but it is also subject to the mind control. That can be the case very often. That’s why even when people who hypnotize you, it works sometimes. People can even operate under hypno- tism. This also tells you how powerful your mind really is. It is such a powerful tool, whether in creating pain or pleasure. It is the most important, powerful tool you have. I think the Buddha mentioned somewhere that everything we do is either done through body, through speech or through mind, but body and speech are totally controlled by mind. Mind dictates, so any positive or negative experiences, good or bad, suffering or pleasure, all of them are mind’s creation. The mind is capable of even projecting pain in your body as joy. At this moment we have the opportunity to work once and for all with our total mind and achieve a total benefit for all our lifetimes. If we cannot handle this powerful tool, then we don’t have a meaningful life. Remember earlier we talked about finding life’s essential meaning and not being distracted by pointless activities. In this verse, the Lama Chöpa says, No one wants even the slightest suffering or is ever content with the happiness they have. Within that principle there is no difference between myself and others: in this we are all alike. This is exactly what I feel and exactly what you feel. There is no difference, but I am making a difference. I am making myself more important, but I can really see that what you want and what I want is the same thing; there is no difference in that.

Verse 56 Seeing that the chronic disease of self-cherishing Is the cause of my unwanted suffering, Inspire me to put the blame where blame is due And vanquish the great demon of clinging to self. We don’t yet realize that the chronic disease of cherishing myself is what gives rise to unwanted suffering. Because of that chronic disease I always want to win and always want you to lose. Then I try to make that happen, and exactly when I try to destroy somebody else, I get destroyed. Really true. If you do not try to harm others, you are not going to get harmed at all. If you do not try to get the President impeached, you are not going to lose two speakers one after another!14

Verse 57 Cherishing beings and securing their happiness Is the gateway that leads to infinite excellence. Inspire me to hold others more dear than my life, Even when I see them as enemies. This verse tells you even more. Not only do I see cherishing others as the gateway to infinite good qualities, but I wish that I may be able to cherish others as more important than my own life. Even though everybody turns out to be my enemy, may I cherish them as more important than my own life. It is not only cherishing others and seeing their point of view as more important than our own, but even as more important, more dear than your life. That is the Bodhisattva’s way of functioning. For us, again, it is a long shot, but occasionally we should think about it, and occasionally we should do something about it. Don’t leave it there as a long shot!

Verse 58 In short, the naive work for their aims alone,

14 Referring to political turmoil in the US House of Representatives at the time of the impeachment of President Clinton.

Introduction 23

While buddhas work solely to benefit others. Comparing the faults against the benefits, Inspire me to be able to exchange myself for others. Actually the difference between Buddhas and ourselves is that we always have ‘Me first’ somehow deep inside, whatever we do. Even our spiritual practice is also really truly directed to help ourselves; we have to begin it that way. There is no other way; we can’t help it, but at this level, we are no longer seeking freedom. Here it becomes a point of criticism if we are doing things for ourselves alone. Now is the time to destroy that job which we worked so hard at, that attitude which says, ‘I need to be freed,’ ‘I need to be this and not that.’ The time to destroy that is now. We have to see that our childish work, our rather stupid way of helping ourselves first and foremost is keeping our own interest somewhere deep inside and everything is built around that. We are trying to make me the most important thing, which has to materialize and become enlightened or become the best of all. Every other thing you do is built around that, even seeking freedom, even taking refuge, even saying a prayer, even saying a sadhana. All of these are used to somehow protect ‘Me’, or to uplift ‘Me’ or to get ‘Me’ to move quicker or make ‘Me’ more important or to prop ‘Me’ up.

No personal agenda. Whatever we have been doing so far has been the job of a silly goat. Did you get me? When we look at enlightened beings like Buddha, there is no personal interest at all. There is nothing for him to build up, nothing. He is not building up his own name, he is not building up his retinue; he’s not building anything. He has no personal agenda, no personal interest whatsoever, and not only Buddha, all those great masters from Buddha until now, all of them, one after another. Even great human beings who are not Buddhist spiritual teachers, like Mahatma Gandhi, were without personal agenda. Maybe Gandhi had the agenda of a free independent India, but that was not personal. The same with the Dalai Lama: he may have the agenda of building a free Tibet but that’s not personal. Mother Teresa truly had no personal agenda whatsoever, not even building a country or anything for that matter. Buddha was like that too, and so are all the great beings, all the outstanding great human beings. And we who have our own agenda, and are manipulating and doing all kinds of things, we turned out to be this silly person. Naïve, immature or childish: that’s what we are.

What exchanging self and others means Exchanging ourselves with others is not meant literally, like you are sitting here and I am sitting there, or I am sitting here and you are sitting there; it is not meant that way. Nor do we exchange our color or blood or anything like that, but we may be able to change the point on which we are focusing and the point on which they are focusing. That is the point of exchange. The focal point, our object, our major goal, our major purpose, our major mission that is changing. Whenever you say exchange myself for others, it is not you and I switching round and changing our clothes, like I am wearing a skirt today, nor is it changing the sitting place. It is the change of the focal point. It is about what you consider more important and what you consider less important. These two focal points are changed. These two purposes are changed within you. That is what this exchange means. It is not US dollars changed to Singapore dollars and Singapore dollar changed to US dollars or Dutch guild- ers. That’s not the exchange we are talking about, but rather the change of the focal point.

Verse 59 Since cherishing myself is the doorway to all downfalls And cherishing others is the foundation of everything good, Inspire me to practice from my heart The yoga of exchanging self and others. If you keep on thinking, ‘I have not been treated properly, I deserved it, I should have it, I am this, I am that,’ you will never have peace. ‘I deserve better than this, I worked so hard, I should have this, I should get that. What happened to me, why didn’t I get it?’ As if it was your birthright! All of those searching

24 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary thoughts will disappoint you, make you unhappy, miserable. ‘I have been looked down on, I have not been respected at all!’ As long as you keep thoughts like that in mind, even if somebody puts you on a big throne and carries you on their heads like Indian coolies, even then you are going to be hurt all the time. That’s what this is saying. Cherishing myself is the doorway to all downfalls, but if you keep on having concern for others, then even if they are your enemies it becomes very hard for them to harm you.

A Kadampa geshe. There is a story of a great Kadampa teacher in the early days of the Kadampas in Ti- bet. Many local spirits were not so friendly at first with these Kadampa lamas who meditated a lot on bodhimind. The spirits had a meeting and said, ‘Hey there is some guy up there on the mountain. We better destroy him quickly, otherwise he will develop and will get us in trouble. Before he does that, we better destroy him.’ You know in Tibet those ghosts had lots of meetings in the good old times, really true; absolutely true. Believe me, I am not even joking. I used to have a little retreat area on the way from Drepung to Sera a little bit up in the mountains. As a kid I used to sit out there and in the evening, the ghosts would very often have their meetings. How do I know? There was a big old tree, a huge old oak tree or something in the village at the foot of the hill. As I sat in the cave and looked down, the meeting would start. A little fire would come, some little flame. I could see only fire, not beings or faces or anything, it would come like candlelight. Then another two or three would come, and in the end maybe thirty, forty or fifty would sit around the tree. We called that the ghost meeting. Sometimes I made tsoh offerings and threw out the leftovers. At that time you could hear them running near the door. It sounded like three or four or five people running up and down, pushing each other. One day in the middle of it when one of them came through, I got up and looked and all these little flames were running to where I had thrown the leftovers, all of them went down there. While I was fin- ishing the Lama Chöpa, they all got leftovers and then got back to their meeting. Anyway, that geshe was in his cave and the ghosts decided to destroy him. One of them volunteered to take care of it, since the cave was close to where he lived. When he went there he found that this practitioner was crying. He wondered, ‘What is this guy crying for? Why is he so sad? He is doing quite good but why is he so sad about it?’ He found out that he was worrying about the suffering of all beings, meditating on compassion and crying about the sufferings other beings experienced. So this ghost thought, ‘Oh my god, he’s worrying about me. How can I harm him?’ This happened a couple of times. At the next ghost meeting somebody asked, ‘The guy is still up there, what happened?’ This ghost replied, ‘Look, I went there a couple of times and every time he was worrying and crying about us; so I couldn’t do it.’ This story is the example. If you are caring and worrying about the other person, even if it is your enemy, even if it is his job to harm you, it will not be easy for them to harm you. The line in verse 59 cherishing others is the foundation of everything good is actually saying that cherishing, caring and worrying about other beings is the gateway to bring about all good qualities.

Verse 60 Therefore supremely compassionate lama Inspire me to take the bad deeds, imprints and sufferings Of all beings to ripen upon me right now And to give to them my happiness and virtue So that all beings may be happy. This is tonglen; whether we call it taking and giving or giving and taking. You give other beings your good qualities and take their sufferings. Beginning tonglen Can I actually do it? No. Then, how do I begin? I begin by taking my own sufferings. Right now I would like to give my own joy, happiness and virtue to myself in the future, not to others. I also take all of tomorrow’s sufferings away today. Every time I breathe in, I feel that they all come to me in the form of undesirable color and liquid. I breathe them in, take them inside, deeply within me. I will not hesitate, I will not worry about breathing that in because it is all my own things. It is much easier than taking yours. It is my own, I take all that in deep down into me, thinking ‘Whatever I have to suffer

Introduction 25 today let me suffer today; let me feel good tomorrow.’ You first practice give and take between today’s me and tomorrow’s me. In other words I am taking my future sufferings now and I’m saving today’s joy for tomorrow’s benefit. This is something we all do anyway. We save everything for tomorrow: our food, our money our medicine. That’s no big deal for us. In the same way you can keep on doing this giving and taking between today’s me and tomorrow’s me, and next year’s me and this year’s me. When you are able to do that, then you begin to focus on your wife, husband, children, your nearest and dearest: take their sufferings and wish them to be free. Take the sufferings in the form of undesirable colors that you don’t like or as dirty laundry water. Visualize what you are giving in pure form, pure color: pure white, pure gold, pure yellow, pure red, pure green, pure emerald like colors, pure black, or whatever. Anything that is in pure form, give it without hesitation, give it with no strings attached. Give without hesitation and take everything without hesitation, without fear or doubt. Unless you have trained your mind, it is very hard to do. Particularly for those of you who are physical healers, whether you are a physiotherapist or massage therapist or whatever, this tong len, this give and take is extremely helpful before you do anything else. It is also important that you don’t develop any physical attractions to the person for whom you are doing tong len or physical healing or giving medicine or even meditating. If you have the slightest physical attraction, then that tong len doesn’t work. Audience: Do you mean attachment? Rimpoche: Not only attachment, even attraction, just thinking, ‘Oh, it’s beautiful,’ or something, some kind of physical attraction. If you get any slight feeling of that sort, it doesn’t work. It is very important to take care of that. So, briefly speaking, that is the essence of tong len.

Verse 61 Even if the world and its beings, filled with the results of negative actions, Pour down a rain of unwanted suffering, Inspire me to take these miserable conditions as a path, Knowing that this burns away my negative karma. I don’t know why the translators have to say, though the world and its beings. Actually it means the environment and inhabitants, but I guess the shorter the better. In Tibetan it says both the world and the beings are filled with the results of negativities. Unwanted suffering pours down like rain. It sort of pours down a shower of suffering. But even so, this verse says, This is a chance to exhaust the effects of negative actions. Actually this is a good opportunity to purify the negative karmic consequences and negative karma itself. Inspire me to take these miserable conditions as a path. I don’t know whether the language is actually correct but kyen ngen actually means the obstacles to good causes or something like that. In other words, when you have bodhimind, as a Bodhisattva on this level, you sort of develop such an attitude. It is not uncaring or not refusing to bother, not a lukewarm attitude, but it means that no matter whatever happens to you, it kind of does not bother you. It is not that you are not taking responsibility. You have to draw the line here. You could just be a bum and not care about anything that happens, big or small, but that would be ir- responsible. Yet, on the other hand, you can be very responsible, very concerned, very caring, but still no matter how many bad things happen to you, they can’t disturb you. You have sort of gone beyond that. You sort of develop something like an immunity to that.

The city of joy. In other words you care, you love, you’re concerned a lot, but no matter how harsh the difficulties are that happen to you, they don’t bother you personally. In case of others, yes, you are concerned, but not in your own personal, individual case. That’s why the land of Bodhisattvas is called the city of joy. Actually it is like when you are tickling children and one of them isn’t ticklish. So, what are you going to do? The person is not ticklish, you can’t do anything. No matter how much you tease the person by

26 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary tickling that person doesn’t get bothered. You keep on doing all sorts of things, all kinds of monkey tricks, but that person doesn’t get bothered. That’s the way of the Bodhisattva, like a person who isn’t ticklish. No matter how much anyone tries to tickle that person, he won’t be affected. You have to think that way. Bodhisattvas are very responsible; they really care. But with any suffering that comes, they really don’t get it. When I say they don’t get it, that may sound a little bit funny, but really, these sufferings can’t catch them; Even if you don’t have the power to transform the sufferings into joy, like in the Little Buddha movie where the maras started throwing weapons at Buddha and they all changed into flowers, even if you don’t have that power, at least the sufferings won’t hit you. Remember Ram Dass’s story? On one of his acid trips, he miscalculated the day and it turned out to be a special day where he had to visit his family before he came down from the LSD. He shaved and cut himself and drove like a snake and all that. To make a long story short, finally he arrived at his parents’ house for dinner, and sat down. His brother was sitting across the table and Ram Dass said he started shooting arrows at him like little darts. Ram Dass however, started picking them up and put them on his plate. Probably his brother was having an argument with him. He was shooting arrows from the mouth. Ram Dass saw the arrows coming, picked them up and put them on the plate. Maybe it was just the acid; maybe it was his spiritual development, who knows? But that’s what I am talking about, that is the Bo- dhisattva’s attitude. No matter how much it is coming, you keep what the Tibetans call a thick ear lobe. In English it is thick-skinned, right? Audience: It means you can’t be insulted. Rimpoche: Okay, thick-skinned.

Two kinds of immunity to unfortunate circumstances. You are not bothered. In other words, no matter what sufferings you get, they do not get you on the following two points. Number one, they do not to stimulate your negativity or neuroses. Number two, you don’t get disappointed. So they don’t catch you. You think, ‘I have lots of negativities and I hope and I pray that not only mine but the negativities of all these people that I am concerned about may be washed away by this.’ You see this as exhausting the negative karma, and you think or pray that these unfortunate events may become helpful. Right at this moment you actually cannot do it, so you simply pray. The next verse continues this.

Verse 62 In short, whether conditions seem favorable or unfavorable, Inspire me to make a habit of happiness, By increasing the two kinds of bodhimind Through the practice of the five forces, essence of all the dharmas. I don’t remember the five forces now but if you want to know you can read the Lama Chöpa transcripts; it is in there.15 And then, the four techniques will come under that as well.16 So you really don’t need much explanation here. The two bodhicittas are absolute bodhicitta and relative bodhicitta. Relative bodhicitta is the true bodhicitta. Absolute bodhicitta is bodhicitta with the understanding of emptiness. That way it becomes a more superior bodhicitta. The real bodhicitta is the relative bodhicitta. We call it kun dzob jang sem in Tibetan.

How to maintain happiness. The verse says, Inspire me to make a habit of happiness. This is important. If whatever difficulties you face and their consequences don’t bother you and do not raise your neuroses, then what are you going to have? Only happiness. Our biggest problem is that when we are okay and

15 The names of the five forces are: power of the white seed, power of determination, power of familiarity, power of repudiation and power of prayer. See p. 92 of this transcript for how to apply the five forces at the time of death. Also see Rimpoche’s Guru Devotion; how to integrate the primordial mind, commentary on verse 63. 16 These are not the four powers of purification, but rather accumulating merit, purification, making offerings to the Dharma protectors and giving ritual cakes to spirits. See Rimpoche’s Guru Devotion; how to integrate the primordial mind, commentary on verse 64.

Introduction 27 everything’s fine, we can be quite good Dharma practitioners, but when everything goes wrong, that is the time when you can really judge how good you are. That is the time when you will try to give up. Gungtang Rimpoche, the great Amdo Lama Gungtang Jambelyang, said, When your stomach is filled up with good food and you are warm with the sunshine, then you look like a great dharma practitioner. But when you have difficulties you are worse than somebody who doesn’t know any dharma at all. That shows you what kind of person you are, what your spiritual level is. That happens because we are not able to handle ourselves in the sense of always making a habit of happiness. We are unable to do that, because certain circumstances push us. If you are a great practitioner, circumstances are just events that take place. A great practitioner is like a rock under running water. The events are the water rushing through. Sometimes it is strong, powerful, and muddy. Sometimes it is nice, clean and clear. Sometimes there is no water left, but the stone remains there. You remain there, and let events take place. You simply observe them, let them go, and don’t get bothered by them, although they may be running over your head or over you, even then, that is supposed to be the way to maintain your life. If we really want to maintain a happy mind only, the first and foremost thing to do is this: We have to recognize that events are events, they are passing by. They are not your nature; they are not part of you, they are not parcel of you. You happen to be witnessing them going through. You happen to be even instrumental for them to function, but even then, don’t let them get you, whether they are happy events or sorrowful events. You know yesterday somebody was joking with somebody else and that somebody wanted a chair. They bribed me with a Diet Sprite to get the chair. So, I said, ‘Two naughty people want to sit together,’ and the guy said, ‘No, not two naughty people, but two sorrows,’ meaning two sorrowful people. Then I said jokingly, ‘George Soros17 and somebody else!’ It was a joke but today I am using the same words again. The next verse continues this.

Verse 63 Whatever happens, may I use meditation at once, Applying the skillful methods of the four techniques. Inspire me to take advantage of this fortunate life By practicing the commitments and precepts of training the mind. Recognize events and don’t let them get to you. Even if you are participating in them, recognize that they are not forever but just passing events. That is important. If you submit yourself to the control of the sour or sorrowful events, you become sour or a sorrowful person, you become a Sorrow. If you could become George Soros you would be lucky! But you do not become that. You become some different Sorrow. Anyway, whatever events happen, good or happy, suffering or miserable, take the essence of that, take advantage of it, try to use it to help you; then you will benefit. Now, I don’t really have to go through the Lama Chöpa text much:

Verse 64 ‘Give and take’ mounted on the breath is the magic device That brings love, compassion and the special mind. To save all beings from this world’s great ocean Please bless me to awaken true bodhimind. That is about tong len and generating bodhimind. You understand that now.

Verse 65 Restraining the mind with bodhisattva vows

17 International stock market investor.

28 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Is the one path traveled by buddhas of all three times. Inspire me to strive sincerely to practice The three moral disciplines of the mahayana. If you look at Panchen Lozang Chogyen’s work in Tibetan you see how fantastic it is. I seek your blessings to strive sincerely on the one path traveled by buddhas of all three times. The translation is correct, but it loses some value here. What it tells you here is that all the buddhas of the three times, past, present, and future, have followed the only path through which one can get liberated, and that is the three moral disciplines of the Mahayana. Now we are getting to the six paramitas. In teachings like this, we are supposed to give you a very long introduction called ngön dro chö shes which means Explaining through the stages of the path. Nor- mally it goes up to the level of developing bodhimind, so we have completed that just now on the basis of the Lama Chöpa. Next we now have the six paramitas, the six Bodhisattva activities. Maybe I should go through these briefly, otherwise, if I leave them out, you may think that they are unimportant. They are not.

Verse 66 Inspire me to perfect transcendent generosity Through improving the mind which gives without attachment Transforming my body, wealth and virtues from all times Into whatever each being desires. If you become a Bodhisattva, you have bodhimind. You have built up tremendous concern for others and. because of that you can utilize any incident that takes place, but will that be enough? No. You have to have generosity. You need three kinds of generosity, the generosity of the spiritual path, the generosity of giving food, medicine, shelter, etc.., and the generosity of protection from fear. These are the three most important kinds of generosity. Not every bodhisattva is rich, so, what do they give? They give their body, mind, wealth and virtue accumulated throughout the three times. That shows you they do not hold back anything. They give all the positive karma that they have already collected, are collecting now and will collect in the future. This is very important.

Training the mind of giving. Giving is of course great generosity, no question, but most important is the mind of giving. I think when you practice, you are not practicing giving itself, but you practicing to be able to think, so that you are able to manage the mind of giving. You are training yourself in the idea of giving, thinking, ‘I should be able to give everything. I should be able to give, even if I only have a single shirt.’ You need that sort of mind, even if you can’t at this time give parts of your body and all that. Bodhi- sattvas say that you should be able to give parts of your body as if they were the yellow vegetables from your refrigerator. We cannot do that right now, and it’s not just that we can’t do it, there are also very strong objections to doing that right now. For us, training our minds to be able to give is itself extremely important and wonderful. This training should develop into the idea of being able to give anything without any attachment, without any hesitation, without any reason even. Of course, in society, when you give anything, you have to know why you are giving, where it is going, for what purpose. That is definitely a part of the functioning of society and there is nothing against that, but when you are training yourself in generosity, you don’t care where it goes or whether it brings anything bad to you or not. If you have any hope of return, any hope of gaining something, then it is not true generosity. In American society, people are very generous, extremely generous. This is a great credit to the Judaeo Christian tradition, yet that generosity has a problem. The problem is that we are seeking something to look back to, like a memorial hospital, or this or that memorial. If that is done by the people who administrate your estate, that’s fine. But if I die, for example, and plan to have a hospital built in my

Introduction 29 name, that is a problem. That’s a big problem because your generosity does not become true generosity, but sort of a problem, even though the giving itself is tremendous. True generosity should be open, straightforward. You have to think, ‘I am giving this for the benefit of this and for this purpose,’ and once you have given, it is given. You have nothing to look back to [or be attached] to after you die. A great teacher wrote: Even when people die, they hope to look back, they hope to return back, so they try to leave something. What do they leave? Some leave children, students, disciples. Some people build monasteries, or Buddha images with their names on them. The fourth verse says, Some people will leave collections of this and that; beautiful buildings like houses and so on. This does not become pure and helpful even for your future life. It does not become perfect, good generosity. It has some twists and turns, there are strings attached. You are really not letting it go, there is some kind of hangover. The author of that quote goes on to say, I, who have neither Dharma nor wealth, a beggar, don’t have all these things, but I ate so much human food, and to pay for that, I am leaving this little book for you. It might not be out of place to mention here that in one way it is important to see to it that your work, your contribution to society, will continue. However, if everything that you have left behind just serves to build or continue your work or whatever it is, then .it might not be very helpful to you, the individual who is passing on. If you look into the teachings on phowa, verse 77 in the Lama Chöpa mentions the five powers. One of them [the power of the white seed] means that you have to completely detach yourself and cut your association completely from all your material possessions. That is an important point. Here we are cultivating the mind of giving without attachment. We practice to transform my body, my enjoyment and my virtues amassed throughout three times into whatever each sentient being desires. You can simply visualize that you give everything, but don’t dedicate it. If you dedicate it, it is no longer yours. This is a very tricky part. If I as a practitioner say, ‘I dedicate this magazine for you,’ then this magazine belongs to you. It no longer belongs to me. Even if I didn’t actually give it to you, it’s yours. If I continue to use it for my own purposes, I would get a downfall. It would be like misusing somebody else’s property, because I have dedicated it. That is where you draw the line. If you didn’t dedicate it and somebody took it from you, that would be either stealing or robbery. But when you dedicate something, and then you misuse it or use it for something else, it is misusing others’ property. That is very tricky on this point. There are lots of tiny lines you have to draw distinctions in this way. So, develop the mind of giving but don’t dedicate. If you dedicate your body to somebody and then somebody else uses your body, it would be a big problem. So that’s why you don’t dedicate in this situation.

Verse 67 Inspire me to perfect transcendent moral discipline By keeping, even at the cost of my life, My self-liberation, bodhisattva and vajrayana vows And by collecting good deeds and helping others. There are three most important moralities, but lets not count them now.18 The morality point of view is very important. If you don’t have morality, then even if you have bodhimind, it becomes useless. These are the methods how to maintain your bodhimind. Actually, generosity helps to develop and to maintain bodhimind. Morality is also maintenance, nothing else but maintenance.

18 As the verse says, the three moralities are avoiding negative actions by keeping all the vows, performing good actions to collect merit, and helping other beings.

30 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Verse 68 Inspire me to perfect transcendent patience Even if all the beings of the world Become abusive, critical, threaten or even kill me, Undisturbed I will work for their benefit. This verse gives you the maximum example. Everybody is angry with you, trying to beat you, cut you, and kill you! Even then, have great patience and just sit there. That is the greatest way of doing it. Do not use this as creating another negativity for others. You could maintain your cool and the other person gets more and more angry. That is passive aggression, not patience. You are getting back at the person in another way. It’s like using a knife and cutting or piercing a silk cloth. Passive aggression is not patience but definitely a kind of violence. People say, ‘I maintained my cool and he got more and more angry; but I stayed cool and didn’t lose it,’ and they are enjoying that. That is passive aggression, not patience. You are using anger as anti-patience, not patience, since patience here means not harming. Every real kind of patience is non-violent. Passive aggression is violent, it hurts someone, and therefore it is not patience.

Verse 69 Inspire me to perfect transcendent joyous effort, By striving with tireless compassion for supreme enlightenment, Even if I must remain for many eons In the deepest hell fires for the sake of each being. Now it says forget about all sentient beings, even for the sake of a single one, for the sake of each and every one of them, if I have to remain for hundreds of eons in a burning hell, I’ll still be able to maintain patience and endure it with joyous efforts. Where will you get the fuel and ability to do that? Only from compassion. This shows you that compassion is an even more powerful force to fight for social injustice than anger. This is the way to do it. For example, if your actions are based on anger and you start fighting for social justice, and if you get very angry with the House of Representative and with the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee, you are not going to get through. They will have casualties, they lose two speakers, but at the same time Clinton gets also damaged. Clinton joins the Andrew Jackson party19, so, that doesn’t work. The source of the real patience [and joyous effort or enthusiasm] is compassion. If you are able to fight social injustice on the basis of compassion , then it works. Gandhi fought British imperialism through non- violence. The British had conquered the whole world: the sun never set on the British empire. Gandhi’s way of fighting that huge empire power was through compassion, mixed with nationality feeling. It was non-violent in the sense that everybody tied up their hands at the back and went to the police, and got beaten up, and was wounded and fell down. Then the next batch of four or eleven or twelve came and that went on day after day, week after week. That’s how they fought, right?20 The police beat them and beat them until they fell, and a group of women would pick them up, and the next group would go in. That continued for months and years together and was happening in every part of India, in Punjab, in Calcutta, in Bengal, in the south and in the north. One day, the British even got fed up, because how many times could they continue to beat up that many people? That was Gandhi’s satyagraha [peaceful civil disobedience]. In one way it looks like violence, hurting the people, but it was done in the principle of non-violence. For all of those, where are you going to get the fuel, the energy for joyous effort? The fuel is through the compassion.

Verse 70 Inspire me to perfect transcendent concentration, By abandoning mental sinking, wandering and excitement, And meditating in single-pointed absorption

19 Andrew Jackson was the only other US president to be impeached. 20 The movie Gandhi shows this happening.

Introduction 31

On the true nature of reality – emptiness. This verse is on meditation. Since I am going to talk about this meditation level quite in detail as part of this Cittamani Tara teaching on the basis of Vajrayana, I am not going to talk about it here.

Verses 71 and 72 Inspire me to perfect transcendent wisdom, Through practicing space yoga in equipoise on the ultimate, Joining the bliss of supple ecstasy With the insight that discriminates what is. Inspire me to complete the perfection of illusion-like aftermath, Realizing that inner and outer phenomena lack true existence, Yet still appear, like an illusion, a dream, Or a reflection of the moon on a clear lake. We will be talking about that during the actual Cittamani teachings a lot as well, so I am going to skip over these points in the Lama Chöpa.

Verse 73 Inspire me to understand Nagarjuna’s meaning, That there is no contradiction, but rather harmony Between the unfailing interdependence of cause and effect And lack of inherent existence in this world and beyond. This is a very interesting point. It is the same as the in the Three Principals of the Path, where it says that appearance will prove non-existence; and emptiness will prove existence and that if you can understand that, you are getting to understand the desire of the Buddhas.21 All these have the same meaning. Any- way, more on this will come later.

Verse 74 Inspire me to embark on the swirling ocean of tantra through the kindness of my navigator, the vajra-holder. And to cherish more than my life, My vows and commitments, roots of my attainment. This verse brings us up to the Vajrayana level. Since I am giving an informal teaching, you don’t necessarily have to visualize according to the normal Vajrayana rules22. You should, but you don’t have to. Buddhism is so vast, so many different things are there, we don’t exactly know. If you just keep on reading the sutras, to tell you the truth, you will not be able to make head nor tail of it. In the Chinese tradition it is great that they make a big deal of reading the sutras, but I don’t know how much they understand. Their great monks do understand, yet maybe a lot of people don’t. Even in the Tibetan tradition system we do read or hire monks to read the Collected Works of the Buddha. In the monastery they have to do that this year for me. You hire monks to read to read the hundred or hundred and five, or hundred and three volumes. The number depends on the different editions. They read the whole thing, but the question is, do they under-

21 From Gelek Rimpoche’s translation of Je Tsongkhapa’s Three Principles: Interdependent appearance—infallible. Emptiness—inexpressible reality. As long as these two seem separate, Buddha’s insight is not understood. Perceived simultaneously without alternation, Seeing infallible interdependence Destroys objective identity.With this, the analysis of wisdom is complete. Further, appearance eliminates the extreme of existance. Emptiness eliminates non-existance. Emptiness itself is cause and effect. Understanding this protects from these extremes. . 22 In a formal Vajrayana teaching, one visualizes the place as the mandala of the yidam, oneself in the form of the yidam without ornaments, and the lama giving the teaching as inseparable from the yidam.

32 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary stand? Probably not. Maybe they will not be able to figure it out, but even if they could figure it out, it is not going to be easy for one individual to make that amount of material into a smooth practice. That’s why the great Tibetan masters have been so kind and their contributions are immeasurable. We can just simply read the Foundation Of All Perfections, and you have all the parts lined up one after another. For that matter, we have Odyssey To Freedom for ourselves. These are all really the combined essence, because they are absolute necessary mind training steps collected and put together.

The real essence of the Sutrayana. Traditionally, the real essence of the Buddha’s teaching or Buddhism is two: one is the essence of the vast teaching, and the other is the essence of the profound teaching. Even Buddhism as a practice for the individual is also divided into those two, vast and profound, or sometimes people say method and wisdom. In general or sutra level Buddhism, the essence of the vast teaching is the development of bodhimind. This is the basic, most important thing. The essence of the profound teaching is the understanding of emptiness. It is not only the teaching itself, but the understanding. So, this is Buddhism and the essence of the profound Buddhism is the emptiness. I do remember, a few years ago when we were working on the Jewel Heart Mission Statement, I think it was Amy who said, ‘Let AH be the secret mission statement.’ I said, ‘Perfect, good, I am happy with that.’ It is just like that. In Sutrayana, the essence of the profound Buddhism is emptiness; the essence of the vast Buddhism is bodhimind.

The real essence of the Vajrayana. What is the vast essence of Vajrayana? I am going to talk according to Maha anu yoga tantra, the highest Vajrayana, not on the Kriya and Charya tantra level. They have different statements. According to the Maha anu yoga tantra, the essence of the Vajrayana is the development stage and the completion stage. So the essence of the Vajrayana consists of two parts - the vast essence and the profound essence, just like in general Buddhism. What is the vast essence of Vajrayana? It is the so-called development stage. Now, there is also one more addition, the essence of the essence. The essence of the essence of the vast Vajrayana is the development of the Illusion Body. What about the profound? It is the Clear Light. The Clear Light is the essence of profound Vajra- yana practice. Now, the essence of the essence here is the Union of Clear Light and Illusion Body. If you look back in your notes, you’ll find what the essence of Mahayana Buddhism is. You will see bodhimind and you will see emptiness. Then you look further down, and you see development stage and completion stage; then you look down, and you see Illusion Body, then you see Clear Light, then you see Union of Clear Light and Illusion Body. These are basically the bus stops of Vajrayana Buddhism. Very brief, nice, clean, yet clear. But when you ask what is Illusion Body and what is Clear Light, then it becomes very complicated, right? Otherwise, basically if you look at it, that’s what you see.

In short, I introduce these in the beginning here simply so that you know what you are looking at. I brought in bodhimind and emptiness, because you are familiar with that, and you see how important it is as the real essence of Mahayana Buddhism. Likewise, when you see the development and completion stages, then you will see the Clear Light and the Illusion Body, then the Union of Clear Light and Illusion Body, basically five steps. This is theoretically not right. but basically, when you look these are the five most important steps, or rather five paths23 in Vajrayana. You can’t really label them as five paths, because if you say that Gelek Rimpoche says there are five paths in Vajrayana and they are development stage, completion stage, Clear Light, Illusion Body and Union, everybody will say, ‘What?!! What did he say? Maybe he had a little too much to drink, or something!’ In reality there are five paths, though counted differently. It is like five main courses of food, but you can’t eat them all together; you have to eat one after another. Audience: They are in a certain sequence. Rimpoche: Well, whatever metaphor works. This is the beauty of the way people’s minds work. I

23 A path in Buddhism means a realization.

Introduction 33 thought about saying sequences before, even as I was talking, but then people will immediately think of something like the type of stages. We don’t have to be too quick to label them. In essence we know these are the most important points; they are going to be there. We’ll find the appropriate English labels later. Even in Tibetan this doesn’t have a label, because I picked it up from various angles and put it together. Audience: You said that in the beginning we could visualize ourselves as Tara. How do we do that? Rimpoche: You visualize yourself in Tara form, then look at everything around you as being in the mandala. But you don’t have to do this now, we are trying to do this teaching in a very informal way, so we can joke and talk and do all kinds of things. Actually we don’t want to do all kinds of things, don’t be so quick to laugh! We should not be like the Reverend Rainwater Sunshine. That was in the very early stages. Aura will remember of course. In those early days Aura had the Crazy Wisdom Bookstore. I gave a Vajrayana talk there for the first time, a talk on tantra. A group of young people came, led by Reverend Rainwater Sunshine. I kept on talking basic Vajrayana here and there, and after a little while somebody started going like this [like taking off his belt] and said, ‘When do we begin with the action?’ They were after a practical demonstration of tantra! That really happened. Now, if you keep on taking notes here, I hope some kind of equivalent steps to the Odyssey To Freedom may begin to take shape. A few of you may begin to take notes here.

2. SOURCE AND LINEAGE OF THE TEACHING

{I} Source and lineage of the Teachings Source – historical background of Tara The first step is actually the historical background, though we may or may not include that in the Tantra Odyssey to Freedom24. Here at the beginning I am supposed to tell you the stories how this Cittamani Tara practice came about. With each and every teaching you have received, the first talk is about the historical background. When you get Yamantaka teachings, you hear, at least briefly, how the Yamantaka tantra came about and who brought it. The same goes for Vajrayogini and Heruka.

Tara as activity of all enlightened beings Before I go into the historical background, I want you to remember the two legs of the Vajrayana, the relative and the absolute. Whether white, green, yellow, red, dark blue or multicolored, all Taras are Tara, yet each different manifestation does have some particular responsibilities, some special thing. In absolute reality, however, they are all one Tara: the activities of the enlightened beings. In normal American language, activity means somebody’s work, somebody’s doing something, but in the Tibetan Vajrayana tradition we say that when a human being becomes enlightened, that person will be divided into the four categories of peaceful, prosperity, power, and wrathful or the five categories of body, speech, mind, knowledge and activities. That’s why you find sometimes that there are five or six incarnations of one person, as you may have heard. They say, ‘Well, there are body, mind and speech incarnations within that.’ For example there are two Karmapas, or two Dudjoms, or five Khyentses or now there are two Panchen Lamas. Whether you recognize them both or not, depends on the individual. We probably hold that the one His Holiness has recognized is the authentic one, and not the other one. In the end, however, somehow, it may come out that there are two Panchen Lamas, who knows? If that sort of things happens, then we will use the excuse, ‘Ah, body, mind and speech reincarnations.’ We say that. We are good at adjusting. The point is that the individual person is divided into these categories. At the enlightened level, wherever their body is, their mind is; the mind-body combination functions on the same frequency. That is what we call the extraordinary functioning of enlightened beings. Yet, though body and mind function on the same frequency, you can divide them, too, just like we can do with ourselves. Therefore you can have body, mind, speech, knowledge and activities. In that way Tara is said to be the total activity of the enlightened beings. Their activities have become a being, and that being pops up as the physical form of Tara. In the same way Avalokitesvara is the compassion of all enlightened beings and Manjushri is their wisdom. You can go on like that. So, when you hear this, the message is that at the enlightened level it is possible. This is also why enlightened beings are capable of manifesting and remanifesting hundreds and thousands and millions of manifestations.

24 Rimpoche refers to the idea of organizing the Vajrayana steps the way the Odyssey steps are. 36 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Why prayers are made for a teacher’s quick return. Then the question arises, what happens to those manifestations? Do they become a continuation of another being or do they dissolve back? There is no straightforward, correct answer for that. My understanding is that they dissolve back, and they may or may not re-manifest again. That is why, when some of these great teachers die, those remaining behind immediately request somebody to compose a prayer for their quick return and that their reincarnation will be recognized soon. The reason why you need to ask for a quick return is because it dissolves to the original point where it manifested from, and then it may be called a re-manifestation or not. But that is a different matter. Audience: The point where it manifests from and dissolves back to, is that the Dharmakaya? Rimpoche: Forget it. Don’t bother about that right now. Let’s say it is manifesting from Buddha and dissolving back to Buddha. Let’s say it is manifesting from Tara and dissolving back to Tara. Let’s say it manifests from Manjushri and dissolves back to Manjushri. If manifested from Maitreya, it dissolves back to Maitreya.

Two types of lineages. That is also why, if you look into these reincarnation lineages, there are always two types, the recognized incarnation lineage, and the spiritual incarnation lineage. Almost every incarnation lineage has that. If you look in the spiritual lineage, you are going to find quite commonly Buddha, sometimes Ananda, or Avalokitesvara, Maitreya, or Subhuti [Tib. Ramjong] and then, as the centuries proceed you come down to people like Gesar of Ling. (There are eight big spirits, and you will find one of those Gesar generals or Gesar himself.) Then you come down to the earlier Tibetan kings, some kings’ or ministers’ names will come up all the time. Then you come down to the early Nyingma and Sakya and Kargyu period, where you are going to find Thuptens or Kachens in every reincarnate lama’s lineage. Then you come to Tsongkhapa’s period, where you have Tsongkhapa with Gyaltsab or Khedrup or Duldzin or somebody in his lineage. And from then on one begins to pick up the recognized reincarnation lineages. That is the way it goes. That is all because it is an original manifestation which dissolves and then there will be remanifestations. All this is not a scientific explanation, but a spiritual explanation. You can take shelter under that. That is the idea of the absolute level, where we say that all Taras are the activity of the Buddha. You get the picture, right? At least it is understandable in common language.

Tara’s history Now let’s go to the relative level. How did Tara come to be? In the beginning, you all know, she accepted being a female, and this was the very early period, a time when the female form in itself was treated as a lower. However, Tara, with all these conditions of society at that time, still chose to remain in female form. All other enlightened beings chose to be reborn as males, so much so that even prayers were directed at a male birth. Even when you look at Shantideva’s Bodhicaryavatara, you will see it. In the traditional version it is there. It does say somewhere ‘May all human beings be reborn as males’. I was told in the English translations they deleted that.25 Under those conditions, all other female enlightened beings were dropping out like flies and trying to become males. That was the moment Tara generated that great mind to be a female throughout her manifested lives. That doesn’t mean that she did not manifest as a male somewhere here and there, but her principle function has been maintained. It is not that she only did that today when the feminist movement is popular. She did not switch her flag. Her flag was bound at that time, during the very early period of the Buddha called Drum Beat. Tara was a woman named Bumo Yeshe Dawa. Yeshe is wisdom; and dawa means moon, so the name means Wisdom Moon or Moon Wisdom. She was the benefactor of Buddha Drum Beat, feeding, and providing

25 Refers to Ch. 10, vs. 30. Only in Batchelor’s translation it is deleted. Wallace’s translation and the German and Dutch translation kept it. The Padmakara translation says ‘May all women in this world attain the strength of masculinity’, with justification in a foot note.

Source and Lineage of the Teaching 37 shelter for Buddha Drum Beat and his retinue. She had done that for a hundred thousand years and because of all these virtues, she generated the bodhimind around that time. Then Buddha’s disciples said to her, By this virtue if you pray to become a male and join Buddhism you will become a fully enlightened Buddha. Tara said, There are already lots of male Buddhas but not a single female one available. Therefore I would like to remain as a female until samsara becomes empty. And I will work as a female till the end. That is how she generated the bodhimind. Then she developed a great samadhi, a concentrated power, called Patience and was able to develop the Patience level of the Path of Action26. Some new people may be a bit confused now. If you have the background you need it here. Some of the new people may have heard only general teachings that do not talk about the Five Paths. It doesn’t matter if you get lost here and there. Don’t worry about it; there are U-turns available. You can make a U turn round and come back. (Michigan has a funny way of turning, you know.27) Anyway, because of that samadhi level Tara was able to manifest every morning in hundreds and thousands of different places. Unless she was able to help one hundred thousand sentient beings in the morning, she would not eat her food; that’s written here! 28 The same happened in the evening. She must have been eating only two meals a day, not three. In the morning she would not eat until she helped a hundred thousand people and in the evening she would not eat until she helped a hundred thousand people. Since that time her name Wisdom Moon was changed to Tara [Tib. Drol ma], which means Liberator.

Later, when Buddha Amoghasiddhi was the official Buddha, she came and made additional commitments to liberate people from fears. These are either eight fears or sixteen fears. Tara specialized in protecting people from all these different fears. Then she stayed in the samadhi called Power controlling evils and she meditated on that alone for ninety-five years. Every day she was helping one hundred thousand sentient beings and every night she also conquered thousands of evils. That’s why she had all these titles. If you look in you Cittamani Tara sadhana there, you will find the Praise to the Twenty-One Taras. The first verse says, Homage to you Tara, O swift and courageous One Whose very eyes flicker like lightning, Thou born from the open flower Of the lotus face of the Protector of the triple world. All these names she got because of that. These are the different names of the different manifestations. These are the titles she earned because of these works she did during those eons.

Then one of the most important activities in her lifetimes took place in connection with Avalokitesvara. A monk called ‘Faultless Light’ became Avalokitesvara29. From Avalokitesvara’s heart, two different lights came out. These lights represent yab and yum, male and female, and out of that [union], from the heart of Avalokitesvara, a helper appeared, and that happened to be Tara. If you read Tara’s history, many will tell you that a tear dropped from Avalokitesvara’s eyes and that became Tara. Actually, she had been active long before that, but somehow people had to pinpoint where she came in first. Some chose that level and that’s why some of the Tara biographies begin here.

26 The Five Paths: Path of Accumulation, Path of Action, Path of Seeing, Path of Meditation and Path of No More Learning. The Path of Action has four: Heat, Peak, Patience and Best Dharma. Commentary: Gelek Rimpoche, Perfection of Wisdom Mantra. 27 Michigan has a system of dog-leg turns, where is you want to turn left, you must first turn right. 28 See M. Willson, In Praise f Tara, p. 33ff; Taranatha, The Origin of the Tara Tantra, p. 11ff. 29 Also see M. Willson, In Praise f Tara, n. 9 on p. 377.

38 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

One of the most important points at the level of helping other beings is how Tara protects from the eight fears that the First Dalai Lama’s Praise to Green Tara30 talks about. These activities began at that level, at that time. To make a long story short, by about this time Tara manifested so many manifestations everywhere, particularly the Twenty-One Taras and the One hundred thousand Taras. The Twenty-One Tara manifestation is very meaningful. When Tara came out of Avalokitesvara’s heart as a helper, a handy-person to all the Buddhas, this handy-person then created another handy-person, who again created another handy- person. All these big manifestations came about at that moment, particularly the White Tara for longevity. Also Rigjema31, used for power. Then there is Yangchenma, who is Saraswati in Sanskrit. She is special for literature and language. All these are manifestations of Tara. Even the wrathful protector, Palden Lhamo, is a manifestation of Tara. In that case she is not a yidam but a protector. Palden Lhamo also manifested at that time.

Potala. In short, among the buddhas and bodhisattvas there are so many female forms and there are also male forms manifested by Tara. Her Pure Land is Potala, not the Tibetan Potala Palace which is named after this Pure Land, but the original Potala which is Avalokitesvara’s actual Pure Land. The upper level of that Potala Pure Land is Avalokitesvara’s place and the lower level is Tara’s place. Lots of teachings of Tara come particularly from Potala. Many of the different teachers through whom this lineage comes somehow visited there. They went there either in actual physical form or in the dream state. Whether it is in the physical state or in the dream state, whatever they may say, it is the illusion body which they have used. In Tibetan it is called gyu lu32; which means ‘the body of a magician’. That’s what it is. A magician’s activities are called gyu ma, so it is not really a magician but the magician-like body. That is supposed to give you the idea that this body doesn’t remain subject to the laws of physics. That’s why it is called illusion body. If you start to look for it in English probably you’ll find astral body or whatever. This is not talking about ordinary magicians. You are supposed to go beyond the laws of physics. It is the body of a magician which is not controlled by the law of physics.

Tantras. There are a tremendous number of tantras about Tara. The original source of this is the Tara tantra33 from the earlier Buddhas’ time. Buddha himself gave a tantra called the Hundred and Eight Names of Tara34. Also the Twenty-one Prostrations to Tara, the verses we recite, is from the Buddha. And there is a tantra, Ocean of Tara. Also there is a Tara tantra, Mdon ’byung. And there is the Best Tara Tantra and the Multiple Activities of Tara tantra. There are twenty-eight different tantras on Tara herself with the translation available in Tibetan today. Why do I count these? I noticed somewhere somebody has written that some say, ‘It is Pabongka who has uplifted Tara to the level of Heruka and Guhyasamaja etc.; so it is not authentic.’ Then I noticed some western scholars are also saying that. That is not a fact. It is not Pabongka; it is Takpu Pema Gargyi Wangpo. Pabongka Dorje Chang happened to explain [this practice] in more detail on the basis of Tara’s words herself. So this is an unbased, unproved biased elici- tation. In the root text Tara herself says, ‘According to your wish I will explain how to practice the Tara tantra in the system of maha anu yoga tantra’. Although normally Tara belongs to kriya tantra, this tantra is made into maha anu yoga by Tara herself. And of course, in this particular case, there are many continuing activities through teachings, initiations, and oral transmissions. All different traditions of Buddhism, everywhere, have tremendous amounts of Tara activities. In the Chinese tradition Tara is known as the well-known Kuan Yin or ‘Kuan Shi Yin Pu Sa. Everybody likes to say that Kuan Shi Yin Pu Sa is Avalokitesvara, but to tell you the truth, Avalokitesvara is male, Kuan Shi Yin Pu Sa is female, so it has to be Tara. Actually Avalokitesvara and Tara function almost on same level and not only on the same level, but they are almost oneness, yet with separation. Then of course

30 Gyalwa Gendun Drup, A Crown Ornament for the Wise, in Gelek Rimpoche, Healing and Self Healing through White Tara. 31 Powerful Tara who says HUM 32 sgyu lus 33 Tara’s Tantra; the Origin of All Rites, to be found in Martin Willson, In Praise of Tara, p. 44-85. 34 Also in Willson’s work

Source and Lineage of the Teaching 39

Tara is practiced throughout all Tibetan Buddhist sects or traditions, meaning the Sakya, Kargyu, Ny- ingma, and Gelug traditions. You will find Tara everywhere there. Now you will hear about Tara from the Gelugpa and Kadampa point of view. She is one of the special yidams of the Kadampas. There are seven yidams of the Kadam or eight different dharmas of the Kadam. Among them Tara is one of the most important ones. In particular, it was Tara who enabled or encouraged Atisha to go to Tibet.

How Tara sent Atisha to Tibet. Atisha was not going to go to Tibet; he didn’t particularly want to go nor did those old Indian monks want to send him there. The Tibetans had been paying gold piled upon gold because the Indians thought that the Tibetans would never manage to get that much gold. I don’t believe that Nathanakaraja really wanted the gold, but he must have thought that this was the best policy to avoid sending Atisha. He demanded that the Tibetans bring him an amount of gold equal to Atisha’s body weight before he agreed to let him go. The name Tibet35 comes from preta, the Sanskrit word for hungry ghost. The Tibetans don’t say ‘pre’ they will say ‘ti’. Instead of reading it as preta, they read it as ti ta. So Tibet, to Indians, is the Land of Hungry Ghosts. It is cold, so how could those poor little dusty guys living on the hungry ghost level, who do not have enough food to eat, how could they possibly manage to bring so much gold? The Indi- ans were thinking on those lines and also that he was probably going to gain more weight each year! But the Tibetans did it. Finally somehow those little hungry ghosts were able to find the gold equivalent to Atisha’s body weight. They even lost the gold in between and they lost their king over it too, right? You hear those stories in the beginning of the Lamrim at the outline of Atisha’s biography. Actually the one who really made Atisha go was Tara. Tara told Atisha, ‘Well, you are a great bodhisattva, you choose. If you go to Tibet you will be very helpful but your life is going to be shortened by ten years. Whether you choose to go to Tibet or live ten years longer is up to you. I have nothing to say, you are the great bodhisattva!’ That was what she said, and that made Atisha go to Tibet.

Drom Rimpoche. Atisha had also sort of a helper, companion or special disciple called Drom Rimpoche or Drom Tönpa36 who founded the Kadam tradition. Nobody knows whether he was male or female. You know this is only me; I can be a very funny person. Number one, my disadvantage is that I am a very sceptical person; number two, I am a very critical person, too; number three, I search around for con- spiracies. I also have a sort of inquiring mind. When I look at this person, I notice that none of the hundreds of different biographies say whether Drom Rimpoche was male or female. Everybody assumes Drom Rimpoche to be male, yet all the male [spiritual teachers] at that time were monks, wearing robes and there was Drom Rimpoche with long hair, wearing a lay person’s robe and a very funny belt which was said to be nine times the size of her body length, and went round in like sixteen, seventeen rounds.37 My idea is that probably Drom Rimpoche was female. At that time the Tibetans were in between moving to the pure level of Buddhism. If somebody had put a female figure over there [in the lineage], it would have created a tremendous scandal. They were all monks and then the question would arise, ‘what is she doing up here?’ So they probably left it like that, and did not clarify whatever the position was. At least, I hope it is like that. Anyway, I like to refer to Drom Rimpoche sometimes as she and sometimes as he. That does not mean he was a hermaphrodite or something! Anyway, Drom Rimpoche was also brought to Atisha by Tara. When in eastern Tibet, Drom Rimpoche had visions of Tara, and was told by Tara to go to Mang yul which is in the Ladakh area. When the historians refer to early Tibet, to the early king who invited Atisha and who lost his life, they are not talking some government in Lhasa. It is what in we call the Te now and was traditionally called Mang yul which is on the Ladakh border. There used to be a huge civilization called Ku ki, which

35 The Tibetan word for Tibet is bö (bod). 36 Drom is a place and tönpa means a Buddhist teacher. 37 The stories also say that before meeting Atisha, Drom Rimpoche served his or her previous lama by tending his children and spinning wool.

40 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary is now totally lost. The Chinese anthropologists these days are having a great time writing articles and books about discovering the Kuki civilization which is of course the Mang yul area, near the Ladakh border. That is what we traditionally referred to as Tibet [in the days of Atisha]. Later Drom Rimpoche extended the influence down to Central Tibet to Lhasa and the area around there and built Reting monastery and others. On the other hand, you also have to remember that Songtsen Gampo had built that central temple in Lhasa and then this famous Buddha image was brought there and Samye Monastery had been built in eastern Tibet. But Atisha’s activities happened more in the Kuki area. The king who lost his life could have been from the capital or from the border areas, who knows? Let’s leave it to the anthropologists or historians to figure out. This is why Tara is a very, very special yidam particularly for the Kadampa tradition. Almost every great teacher in this tradition has Tara as their most important yidam, and many of them have practiced longevity through Tara, including the first Dalai Lama, Gendun Drup, and Gendun Gyatso38 and also the Panchen Lamas, more or less everybody. Tara is considered to be a very special yidam of the Ganden Kargyu tradition, which means the Ge- lugpa tradition. There are people these days who discover the Ganden Kargyu tradition and they think that it is the combination of the practices commonly used by the Kargyupas and Gelugpas together. They even write books about it, which is quite a good sign of their individual depth of knowledge! You have to understand that most of the Gelugpa teachings came through the Kargyu tradition or the Sakya tradition. They are all Buddhism, and they all talk almost the same thing.

The lineage of Cittamani Tara In this particular Cittamani Tara practice you have initiations, blessings, empowerment and lots of activities combined together, as Kriya, Charya, and Maha anu yoga tantra. In particular this [Maha anu yoga tantra] practice here was done by Takpu Dorje Chang. I think it was the third Takpu, Kelsang Gargyi Wangpo. Kelsang Gargyi Wangpo himself developed the astral body and traveled to the pure land of Po- tala. There Tara herself gave him this particular initiation and teaching and lineage. The name Cittamani was given at that time, but the original Tara tantra is older. There are also two lineages here, a little shorter lineage, and a longer one. Most of us have this very short lineage through Takpu Dorjechang, which is a wonderful lineage. All of them [the lineage masters] were very close to Tara. Three successive incarnations had close contact to Tara; she talked to them. Pabongka gave the teaching on the basis of his experience39, but other than that it is the Takpu lineage. I don’t have the initiation book with me but it only goes through four or five people and then it comes through my teachers. First I obtained the initiation from Kyabje Lhatsun Rimpoche, then from Kyabje Ling Rimpoche, and I think from Song Rimpoche, and then from Kyabje Trijang Rimpoche, from whom I have obtained it a number of times. Most of you now have both the outer torma initiation and the inner body mandala initiation. There is also the secret heart transplant initiation, which is given to one or two people at a time.

Importance of guru yoga Following a kind master, foundation of all Perfections, is the very root and basis of the path. Empower me to see this clearly and to make every effort to follow well. Guru yoga is very important, for reasons you all know. Basically, this is an unknown path. The western society in particular, is not exactly what this is. We talk about it, some Hindu gurus come, and then Ti- betan gurus and Thai Buddhists monks are there. They all give teachings, some of which are excellent and faultless. But there are also scandals. We have not seen anyone who is enlightened and in our very

38 Second Dalai Lama. 39 There are four different systems. 1. she tri - explanatory instructions; 2. ngal tri - concise instructions; 3.nyam tri - practical instructions; 4. nyum tri - experiential instructions. Also see Rimpoche’s Vajrayogini Teachings, index entry: four systems of teaching.

Source and Lineage of the Teaching 41 presence, in front of our eyes, said, ‘Hey, I got it. I am going. Good bye.’ We don’t have recent examples of that, except for one Nepalese guy who said just that early in the 19th century, during one of the Panchen Lama’s period. He said to people, ‘Hey, I received a lot of sindhu powder in my hair every day. So it is time for me to go.’ He said that to everybody in a crowd and also to the Panchen Lama and within a couple of days he disappeared completely. Not even the body was ever found. Actually, the Cittamani lineage has this funny guy too, who did the same thing. I will tell you that story a little later. Apart from that, there are not so many who obtained enlightenment in such a dramatic manner, like almost overnight. Well, Buddha is supposed to have become enlightened overnight under that tree in Bodhgaya. But of course, you know that no one gets enlightened just like that. These events show you the last, final stage, when he completed his development. And this is how he showed it to the world. According to the Mahayana, he had obtained enlightened many generations before. So this time it was just an act or a performance he did to show how you can obtain enlightenment. Even according to the Theravada system, you don’t just become enlightened suddenly in the human level. One of the most accepted texts by the Theravada, the Abidharmakosha, says The desire and formless realms never have enlightenment. It is only in the form realm that you get enlightened, and in particular, in the realm of Akanishta (Tib: Ogmin), So although the Theravadan system tells you that this enlightenment experience happened in Bodhgaya under the tree, their own philosophical texts say that one can actually only get enlightened in Akanishta. These texts say that during the enlightenment experience in Bodhgaya the maras came and attacked and that Buddha’s love and compassion protected him. Then his consciousness was taken to the pure land of Akanishta and obtained enlightenment there. After that his consciousness re-entered the body under the tree. When it comes to a dialectical debate on this subject, they will arrive at that explanation. So the superficial story of sitting under the tree, defeating the maras and obtaining enlightenment in one’s nights sitting under the tree early in the morning is show biz - even according to the Theravadan tradition. The Mahayana tradition accepts the show bizz as show bizz. They think Buddha has been enlightened long before that and only demonstrated to the people how it is done. However, the Mahayana is also the only system that accepts that one can obtain enlightenment in the human body. Particularly, that is the teaching of the Vajrayana. All this makes it very difficult to show a role model who we can look up to and say, ‘he or she is enlightened and great.’ Yes, of course, we can point to His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, and various others great people, but at the same time they are all human beings. As human beings they have to have their own faults. If you are totally faultless, [then you are not a human being]. With that I don’t mean to say that His Holiness has faults. Don’t misinterpret that.

Some contemporary stories on guru yoga. It reminds me of a story: very early on, during my first visit in Malaysia, in 1984, I was invited by the Karma Kargyu center in Kuala Lumpur. The subject was guru devotion. I said this, ‘Whether the guru is sitting on a huge throne, with trumpets blowing and umbrellas held over him, with a title like ‘His Holiness’ or whether the guru is a carpenter or a cook, who is staying with you, guiding you, sharing things with you, there is no difference.’ I mean this is a true fact. But some people there got very annoyed and reported what I said to Rumtek monastery, the seat of the Gyalwa Karmapa. The Karmapa didn’t know who I was and passed the report on to the Dalai Lama. When he got that he said, ‘I know this guy. It is okay, he doesn’t mean that.’ Then later, the Karmapa told me about it too and another Rimpoche also told me, ‘Yes, we got that report, but we didn’t know it was about you.’ Nothing came of this, but when you look at it, this is straight forward. Whether your guru is a carpenter or sweeper, or whether it is a His Holiness with trumpets blowing and banners flying, it is the same. For me it does not matter. That individual guru represents enlightened society to me, enlightened beings. It is my link to enlightenment. I guess that’s what it means when people say, ‘It is my ticket to

42 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary heaven’ - provided it is validated! Who knows? Yes, there are lots of fake tickets too. That’s why the guru devotion has become such a touchy and difficult subject. Then, even if the guru is a good one, not necessarily everything he or she does is right. Some people are good in the beginning and then later change into something crazy. Some people may not be great right from the beginning but study continuously and develop. All that is happening. I may have to clarify here a little bit. Monks have to follow the vinaya rules. According to these rules, a monk is not allowed to have sex through any of the three doors, whether it is with men or women. Don’t let me spell it out. All I will say is that men have door doors and women have a third door. Having sex within any of those three doors causes you to lose your monk’s or nun’s vows. You are no longer a monk or nun. It is the first sexual downfall. Such a downfall kills the vow. If you keep that secret and don’t tell anyone, then it is not repairable. If you don’t keep it secret and tell everybody that you had sex, before the sun sets on that day, then it is still repairable. Really true. But it has to be on that day before the sun sets or rises. That is the vinaya rule. It is absolutely clear cut. It is very important to the bikshu vows. The consequences are almost as severe as when a monk has killed a human being, or stolen valuable property. The first root vows all have the same consequences. That is the real true sexual misconduct on that level. Whether you throw your monk’s dress away or not is not such a big deal. There are many ex- monks running around with women and children and they are dressed in robes. But that is not the issue here. If you do that, just don’t claim that you are still a monk. Just announce, ‘I am no longer a monk.’ If you do that you are better off personally, Buddhism in general is better off and all future generations are better off. That is my point. Apart from that I am not here to judge whether or not he is enlightened, has seen emptiness or has become a mahasiddha. A lot of people have been calling me and writing to me. So I wanted to make that clear once again. That is my view. This can create misunderstanding. For example, Gangchen Rimpoche, the bearded lama who lives in Italy, wears some kind of funny dress. It is not a real monk, but he also doesn’t say that he is a monk. He claims to be a healer and that is what people can judge. As for myself, I don’t wear monk’s robes. I am comfortable in shirts and pants. I am uncomfortable in the Tibetan dresses too. I don’t know why. I look clumsy and floppy and terrible. In the presence of His Holiness, a lot of people make an effort to wear Tibetan dresses and robes, but I don’t. I go, wearing suit and tie. If you did that back in Tibet there would be a punishment, but not here in the west. I remember, once we did have a reception for Dagyab Rimpoche in New York, and invited Kyongla Rimpoche. He is quite old. He must be about 80 now. That is a few years ago, so he was quite old even then. We offered him a chair, but he said, ‘No, I can’t sit on a chair today. Otherwise, the Dagyab tsang will punish me.’ Dagyab Rimpoche is like a mini-Dalai Lama in the area of Dagyab and Kyong la Rim- poche is from there. He was joking, ‘They will give me 500 lashes’. But of course that doesn’t happen here. In addition to the already confused status of the guru we have all these other difficulties. However, that is not something new. It has always been a problem. Just look back in history how Naropa found his guru Tilopa. He didn’t find a great, well-respected man, surrounded by trumpets and banners. There was no publicity and no advertisements. There were no announcements and security measures. Naropa met him as some crazy fisherman who picked up fish from the lake, shook them and roasted them on the fire and put them in his mouth. Naropa asked him, ‘Are you Tilopa?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ After a while, ‘Are you not Tilopa?’ He said, ‘No.’ And so it went on. There were no visiting cards and no bios. Almost all of them were like that in those days. If you look at the biography of Ra Lotsawa, he used to wear monks’ robes, but at the same time was so well groomed. There was never a single speck of dust on his clothes. Quality and color were always the best and yet he continuously gave the monks’ vows to others. The Kadampa lamas of his time directly criticized his conduct, but he said, ‘If I don’t destroy you within seven days, I will not be called Ra Lot- sawa.’ So there was somebody in history who did this. Also the mahasiddha Nagpopa from the Heruka lineage, behaved in a similar fashion. He was always meticulously dressed. He walked four inches above the ground. He missed his enlightenment several times because of his character.

Source and Lineage of the Teaching 43

So all this causes us a lot of confusion and on top of that we have enough stories what has happened in this country, with real gurus and fake gurus. In the sixties there were a lot of advantages. Nobody talks about that. Then there were a lot of disadvantages and everybody talks about that. That gives us even more confusion.

The root of all development. The root of all development is developing intelligent, profound faith to the guru. This is important. We don’t want blind faith. That misleads people. We have seen examples of that in our life time, like Jim Jones, Heaven’s Gate and so on. It has just been a few years ago. There was a woman professor-guru some time ago who announced that the end of the world was near and created some kind of nuclear-safe zone in Vermont and sold beds there for $10, 000 a piece. People were driving there from as far away as California, collecting lots of speeding tickets on the way, thinking that they wouldn’t have to pay them. I wonder what happened to that place in the end. All that shows that the root is intelligent faith. How do you build that? The first words in the second chapter of the Pramanavartika, Dhar- makirti’s text on logic, say, The way that Buddha is established as perfect is through looking at his teaching. You don’t try to establish it the other way round. You don’t say that the teachings are perfect because Buddha said so. That is what we do a lot nowadays. We quote from them. But in truth, Buddha is perfect, because his teachings proved to be perfect. Buddha is faultless, because his teachings are faultless. That is how the intelligent approach works. There are a few other steps in that. It says that ‘He is the teacher, well traveled, he is the protector’ and so on. But the reality is that because the teachings work perfectly for people Buddha must be perfect. The way for me to establish intelligent faith is through the teachings that I get. Their importance, rarity, helpfulness, all put together, that is the reason why intelligent faith develops. Just accepting that he or she or whoever says that Buddha is great, that is not a good reason at all. Then people can say anything and we follow. You know the story of the birds in the tree? There is this whole tree full of birds and they all go chi chi chi. Then one of them says, ‘Shhh, don’t make noise’. After a little while, the whole tree full of birds will say, ‘Shhh’, just because one of them said so. It is the same thing with the dogs. One starts barking and soon everybody will bark. The difference between humans and dogs is their mind. The dogs hear other dogs barking and start barking too. Twenty dogs will be barking at the same time. But human beings are supposed to think, ‘What is happening’. We don’t just follow something because somebody said so. If you hear the reason, ‘I am doing it because So and So said so’, you know it is not a good reason. You have to think for yourself if it is making a difference to you or not. Also, sometimes something makes sense for a certain occasion and not for others. That is okay. But then, you have to get the overall picture. That is important. That is how you bring the guru devotion, the root of all development.

Three ways of looking at the guru. In the Hinayana system, the guru is regarded as equal to Buddha. In Mahayana you see the guru as Buddha. In Vajrayana you see the guru as inseparable from the fully enlightened beings. These are the different levels. Similarly, you also have the compassion too, not the compassion for the guru but for oneself and for all beings. So you see that guru devotional practice should not be worked out to be guru worshipping alone. Not only do you see the guru as inseparable from Buddha, but in Vajrayana the guru is also inseparable form the principal yidam of the mandala. When you talk about the principal deity of the mandala you are talking about the creator too. The mandala is created by the principal deity of the mandala. You address the guru as gyal wa kyab dag dor je chang….40 That is the old Tibetan system; gyal wa means ‘Lord’ and kyab dag means ‘pervasive owner’. That means you influence and own everything. This is referring to the idea of a creator, very similar to the Christian idea. So the Lord who has created the mandala is the principal deity. Then dor je chang means Vajradhara. That itself indicates that it is the creator of the mandala. The mandala is the only existing world. In my world I am the one who exists and in your world you are the one who exists. Truly speaking you own your world, I own my world. We all own our worlds. I keep on thinking: how does that work? We talk about that when we die, everything gradually dissolves and becomes more and more subtle, until

40 E.g. at the beginning of the mandala offering requesting initiation.

44 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary it is so subtle that there is only one tiny continuation type of thing left that travels from one life to another. That is the transition.

We are our own creator. On the other hand we all carry our own world - absolutely. The way I try to picture that is like we come along with our world into this collective world and plug in. That way we all become part of the collective world and of each other’s worlds. Then, at the end I unplug and take my world somewhere else, like you unplug your computer [from an internet café] and plug it in somewhere else with another group of computers and you chit-chat with them. It is very similar to this. So truly speaking, we are our own masters, our own creators. There is no doubt about this. There is no question. You are your own creator, you created yourself, not as an individual being, but you created your existence, your functioning, your future, your everything. I did the same and likewise each and every one of us created their own world. It is very logical. Just think. Don’t even bring Buddhist or Christian influence in here. Take off the Christian suit. Actually take off the suit of religion all together and be an atheist and think. It is really true. If we don’t create our own future, why should we even bother to go to school? Why do we learn? Why do we give a hard time to the kids who don’t want to go to school? We try our best to bribe them, give them something, reward them and threaten them with consequences. Why do we do that? It is because our future is created here and now. Everybody creates their own future. We all come together and plug in and function here. Therefore, you yourself are the pervasive lord of your own creation. The deity happens to be the pervasive lord who created their own mandala. In other terms we call that a pure land, a pure environment. The Greenpeace people will buy that. It is a pure environment. When you think on those lines, seeing yourself as your own creator, you get the idea. We are not saying that there is one big creator who created all of us. That would be a very Christian idea. I don’t know how that is supposed to work, but we hear that idea from there. That is not what I am saying. Each and every one of us creates their own mandala. So when you try to enter a deity’s mandala it is like trying to invade somebody else’s territory. You get there and the doors are locked. You knock and ask for permission to come in. If you try to go in without permission it won’t work. There are all these protection realms. They will get you. There is a proper way to enter into the mandala. By the time you become Cittamani Tara you will have your own Cittamani Tara pure land. The formula of how you do that is repeatable. And that is what we are trying to do with our practice, creating our own pure being and pure environment. When you think on those lines the guru devotional practice is not so difficult. Otherwise you get confused if you hear that you are supposed to look at the lama as inseparable from Buddha. You may wonder if he or she is God and has created you! This becomes impossible. It becomes like a huge mountain that you have to push. Emotionally, it is so heavy. When you are born into this world you plug in and begin to function. You go on creating your own environment, society, friends and everything else. Then, when you die you unplug. And who knows where you are plugging in next time. But you carry your whole thing with you. We traditionally call that: dissolving process and re-establishment process. Maybe it is true. But you probably pack up your world so tight and so small that all that is left is some tiny, little memory, less than a subtle vibration. Every environment is somehow packed in. Then we plug in somewhere else and it starts up again. That is why all these 80 000 thought faculties and so on is when the mental environment expands. We function in this.

All becomes part and parcel of one process. When you look in this manner, and you see that you have guru devotion in the beginning, then love, compassion and wisdom in the middle and then the clear light and illusion body at the end, you see that it is almost the same thing. It has been there right from the beginning, it is there back at the end. It is not a stage that you get into, master it and then go away onto another stage and begin to master that one. It doesn’t work that way. Rather, it all becomes part and parcel of one process. It is funny. You have to think about it. Another question may arise: Why then is not me right from the beginning? Why does not some kind of inner light pop up and becomes luminant rather than building up everything through this complex

Source and Lineage of the Teaching 45 process? There you have of course the usual answer. This is because of obstacles and impurities. I think this is true. When the obstacles are cleared the pure being and pure environment are there, although we call it ‘obtained’.

To come back to the function of the guru: it is the role model, guide, friend, master, father. No wonder every translator finds another name. Every translator likes to say something else and it looks to me they all have valid reasons.

Gomo Rimpoche I have received this teaching from Kyabje Trijang Rimpoche, Kyabje Lhatsun Rim- poche, and from the late Gomo Rimpoche. He just about forced me to take it. I had asked him for a teaching of the 21 Mahakalis, which are the 21 different versions of Palden Lhamos. Gomo Rimpoche was one of the well-known incarnate lamas, not one of the biggest, but very good, medium well known. But he behaved very humble and was the foster father of 15 Tibetan kids. Later he even became known as Chonyen Rimpoche, which means 15 Rimpoche. He used to carry a rucksack on his back and came and went between Delhi and Mussori where he lived. Whenever we asked for certain teachings he would sometimes show up, but you never knew when. So he would suddenly pop up and he knew how to make tormas and everything. He came to Delhi one evening and we spent the evening together, just talking and then went to bed. He, however, got up very early, made tormas and got everything ready. Then by 6.30 am he knocked on my door, ‘Come, come.’ Then he gave the initiation. Then he immediately asked me to go into retreat on it. By the time I was about to reach 400,000, or maybe the first thing was at 100, 000 he showed up and arranged for the fire puja and dressed up and did all sorts of things in Delhi that day. Also Bakula Rimpoche, Lama Yeshe and Lama Zopa came and received the teaching. You never knew when and what he would do. However, I do not remember whether he gave that teaching based on Pabongka’s commentary. I am trying to think what he said but I don’t recall. So the last time I gave the teaching I did what Song Rim- poche did once when he gave Guhyasamaja teachings based on Khedrup-je’s commentary. That was in the style of a teacher teaching in the monastery. So this time I took special pain to go to California and ask Ribur Rimpoche, making sure that the lineage is there for the Pabongka commentary. Like many old Tibetan lamas he said, ‘Oh yes, I am happy to do this. Let us read together slowly.’ So he read slowly and gave me the oral transmission over three days. I was looking for something more and asked him it that was okay [to cover the commentary teaching lineage] and he said, ‘Yeah, that is okay’, and as proof he told me how Kangsar Rimpoche received the teachings on the Bodhisattvacharyavatara from Pabongka. Ribur Rimpoche even knew the date. Pabongka was very unusual. He lived in Tashi Choling, right on the mountain side behind Sera monastery near Lhasa. So many people came to see him every day. You would have no idea who would come in. He had a system that both, Kyabje Ling Rimpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rimpoche followed. By 8.30 in the morning he had completed his daily practice and even had breakfast. So he was sitting in his room and if anybody wanted to see him, they would let them in. They would sit for a while and go and so it went all day. There was no schedule of appointments. That was the old system. Pabongka labrang had so many visitors every day. There must have been someone watching out for who was coming. One day that watcher announced to Pabongka, ‘Kangsar Rimpoche is coming.’ He was another well known lama, a very well disciplined guy. Pabongka was very famous and so was Kangsar Rimpoche. He was a very important, high incarnate lama, but he lived just an ordinary poor monk. He had one horse and went around on that. He had just one attendant, who was holding the horse. So the watcher in Tashi Choling saw him coming from the distance. They probably had binoculars or something. Anyway, he told Pabongka that he was coming. Pabongka said, ‘Oh, Kangsar Rimpoche is coming. Pack up all those gifts and clear the place up.’ Then Kangsar Rimpoche came in, carrying that one little book across the shoulder and asked Pabongka, ‘This is the Bodhisattvacharyavatara. I never received the commentary teaching on this. Would you give me this today?’ Pabongka said, ‘Oh yes, by all means.’ Kangsar Rimpoche looked at Pabongka’s attendants and said to them, ‘Now people, you please leave. Bring the tea pot in and I will serve the tea for Rimpoche.’ So he made the tea on a little stove they brought in. Kangsar Rimpoche then

46 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary asked them to leave and got up and locked the door. Then he served tea to Pabongka Rimpoche. Pabongka started reading through the text and whenever there were some questions they talked about it and in that way the whole commentary teaching was done in one day. So Ribur Rimpoche quoted this incident as a reason that reading through is fine. In this way I tried to make sure that the lineage is okay. Actually, I did receive this oral transmission - type of thing already from the private secretary to Pabongka, Dönjö Losang Dorje who did all the work on Pabongka’s Collected Works. This was earlier, when Losang Dorje had block prints made of the original writings. Every time he made a block print he used to take a few copies to Drepung and then give one copy to Dagyab Rimpoche, one to me and one to Tokden Rimpoche or somebody. So, whenever he brought those copies he used to give us the oral transmission for it. In that way I did receive the oral transmission of all the works of Pabongka at that time. And this Cittamani Tara teaching was part of this.

Oral transmission. So now, I am going to read this oral transmission to you. This will also count for those who are listening on the telephone, but not for anyone who happens to listen through the internet. What happened is that Tara herself gave a number of teachings, particularly to Takpu Dorje Chang, Takpu Pema Gargyi Wangpo, the Takpuwa, just a couple of generations ago. She gave him a lot of teachings a lot of different activities. This particular book is what she herself spoke to Takpu. This is what I have here. This text has a vajra in the middle of the front page, meaning that not everybody can just read it or use it. I have here a rather terrible xerox copy of the text. Actually, one time I received this initiation also from Song Rimpoche in Delhi. Song Rimpoche, after the initiation, gave me this text. He said, ‘This is what Tara herself has spoken to Takpu Dorje Chang’. It was a good xerographic block print copy. The last page which has two chakras on it was missing on that copy. He told me to take it home, read it and use it. His manager overheard this and came to me afterwards and said, ‘He did give you the book, but please don’t take it for good. We don’t have any other copy. Please return it. He does that, gives everything away.’ So I took the text to the xerox copier, which at that time was terrible quality. And that is still the copy I am using today. What Tara spoke to Takpu Dorje Chang is mostly this. Pabongka then did a commentary on this, particularly on the two stages of development and completion. I would like to emphasize that Tara herself gave this teaching in the form of Maha anu yoga tantra with the two stages and all kinds of other activities, like a mother teaching her only son. The raw words of Tara with her warm breath - that is what Cittamani is.

3. ACTUAL PRACTICE

{II} How to guide the disciples by the actual teaching How do we practice, what do we have to do? This point is very similar to Vajrayogini. This practice is a Maha anuyoga tantra, and also a mother tantra. It therefore corresponds to the Vajrayogini and Heruka tantra. They are very similar. The twenty-four holy places etc. also work here. Moreover, there is not much difference between Vajrayogini and this Cittamani Tara, except for the physical look and the sadhana text. During the development stage it may also go along with a father tantra, but at the completion stage it does not correspond to [father-]tantras like Yamantaka or Guhyasamaja. The main division here is: - Who - Where - How

{1} Who can practice this teaching Tara herself says, One who would like to practice me and my practice very quickly, like in the Maha anu yoga system, needs to have the common Mahayana training. It has to be someone with faith in the vajramaster and who likes the vajrayana. It has to be someone who can protect his commitments and who has obtained this particular initiation. Such a person can achieve the accomplishments stated by Tara.

Pabongka adds up, It is very important to have the common Mahayana training, otherwise it will be more dangerous than putting a little baby on a wild horse, or trying to ride on an untamed, crazy elephant. What sort of person can practice this? Anybody who gets the book and notes? Or, one who gets hold of the commentary we’re using here?’ Or somebody that gets the tapes or transcripts, just reads them, takes something out of it, makes it into some nice information and mixes it into one of their books? Or somebody who acts as a copycat and tries to give speeches and lectures, after simply picking up information from here? The answer to those people is No, and No, and truly No. You may choose to do all that at the risk of not only having lots of problems in your life like different illnesses, obstacles in your work, losing money, and losing health, but you may finally fall into the lower realms. I have nothing else to do except simply say, ‘No, No, No!’ If you make this into part of some New Age mixture, you don’t have permission to do that from me at least! That’s it. 48 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Requirements – Tara’s Notes When Takpu Dorje Chang was taken to the Potala by Tara, she taught him and he took notes. In those brief notes Tara said this. 1. Whoever would like to practice this should have the common Mahayana trainings. That’s why we first covered everything from zhing choh dampa [Precious Lama, supreme field of good fortune] to de ne dorje dzin pa de pon gyi [Inspire me to embark on the swirling ocean of Tantra…] that is, up to the initiation.41 2. The second requirement is that those who want to practice this must have profound faith and respect to the lama who gives this teaching, initiation, oral transmission and empowerment. That is important. Therefore we talked yesterday how important guru-devotional practice is. These days there are a number of people who think that they can manage without a guru. They think, ‘Well, the information is available here and I am praying to Tara, I am not praying to that damned person over there!’ There are lots of people who think like that these days. Just as we have this growing great opportunity and interest and development in one way, we equally we have growing destruction and destructive activities. That also comes from within ourselves, not from outside. One has to be very careful with that. 3. The third requirement, Tara said, is that the person who wants to practice this has to be someone who likes Vajrayana. There are lots of people who hate Vajrayana. Even among Buddhists there are lots of people who hate Vajrayana, particularly if you look in the Theravadan tradition. There are wonderful monks really. I have really profound respect for many of those great Thera- vadan monks. They are great, no doubt, but most of them in their heart of hearts think that Mahayana is total bullshit. They think it is the creation of some early wicked, witty Indian people, some twelve hundred years after Buddha or something. They only accept the Tripitaka as the Buddha’s word, and think that all the other collected works are just part of ‘the Buddhist Canon’. Tibetologists and Buddhologists call the collected works of Buddha ‘the Buddhist Canon’. In the Theravadan tradition they called it the Tripitaka, which is made up of the rules of the monks, concentration and a little bit of wisdom. It sort of is the mind of the three higher trainings, actually. Even among Mahayanists, lots of great Chinese Mahayana teachers, for example, also don’t like Va- jrayana at all. Number one, they are vegetarians, and don’t like it for that reason. Number two, they are pure monks and that is why they don’t like Vajrayana. They have some kind of name for Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhism. They call it mi tzang42 Chinese martial art or kung-fu films project that the bad guys are the Tibetans who sit in the snowdrifts for years and suddenly pop up and start fighting everybody. So there are people who not only don’t like Vajrayana, but really sort of hate it. Even among the Ti- betans, there are some, quite a lot actually. You don’t see them among the usual monks and nuns, but lots of Tibetans don’t like Vajrayana at all. This is why Tara made this very special point here. But notice that it comes after the lama, not before. 4. And then you need to [have obtained this particular initiation] and maintain your commitments.

Necessary requirements for vajrayana in general 1. Common paths. First is the common Mahayana training. At least one has to have good understanding of seeking freedom, developing bodhimind and wisdom. You should have all three of them on both the level of analytical meditation and the level of concentrated meditation together, or at least have some understanding of it. If you do, then you are called people who have just caught the beginning of the path. You just got on the boat. You may have taken refuge and you may be called sangha and all that, but that doesn’t necessarily work. Well, it may work, but that’s that. The real joining point is here, the true mem- bership begins here. You have just got on the boat! That’s why we have difficulty defining the member- ship in Jewel Heart [joke]. When you get a grip on the main points, then you get some kind of grounded understanding at that point, you only just have a slight grip on it. If you don’t have some understanding of bodhimind, then no

41 See p. 10-31. 42 Or mi mi tzang, meaning secret treasury of the Dharma.

Inroduction to the Actual Practice 49 matter how much you practice these two stages of Vajrayana, how much you meditate your body in the form of yidam, how many mantras you say, no matter whatever you do, it will never become a Mahayana practice. Remember, there was a guy who died during a group retreat on Yamantaka. After seven days he appeared as a ghost who looked like Yamantaka. The other meditator thought that he was having a vision of Yamantaka, but this guy said, ‘No, no, no, it’s me! I am born in that way, and now I came here to seek some food.’ Naturally [without bodhimind] no matter how many mantras you say, how much you think you have two horns, how beautiful you are as Tara, how much you do all these things, you are actually creating the karma to take a hungry ghost rebirth.

Vajrayana depends on the three principle paths. That is why on the one hand Vajrayana is important and wonderful, but the importance and wonderfulness is achieved through these common Mahayana paths. If you deal with Vajrayana alone, it is not a big deal. It is like Hatha Yoga or things like that; it is a good and a wonderful thing but not necessarily that great. The greatness of Vajrayana is achieved by the common Mahayana practice and the common Theravadan practice. These are the real things. Tibetans make a kind of cheesecake with dry cheese held together with lots of butter mashed in there. To be able to hold those pieces of powdered cheese together, you need the kindness of the butter. Vajrayana works well because of the kindness of the common Mahayana and Theravada paths. The effectiveness of Vajrayana depends on them. Without them, all the completion stage exercises will be actually like blowing up a hot air Halloween balloon! To make Vajrayana effective you need the basis of the common paths. That’s why Tara made it a very special point here. Here we are still talking about who can do this practice, right? If you don’t have bodhimind, it isn’t a Mahayana practice; and if you don’t have the mind of seeking freedom, there’s no way you can develop great compassion. Without compassion, there is no way to develop bodhimind. Without what we traditionally called renunciation and which we now we call seeking freedom, whatever you do doesn’t even become a cause for liberating yourself, no matter how many hundred million mantras you may say. It is simply creating a samsaric life again and again. Remember, this powdered cheese is held together by butter and these common paths are the butter. Then wisdom is a very important point. We can easily hide behind the word empty and remain like that for a while but we cannot hide ourselves totally in life, [saying it is] beyond words. We really have to think a little more carefully. We hope to see a little more here, and if you don’t do this, you will have a problem with the basis of Vajrayana. Lately we have been saying it is okay to have received the teachings. But what this book says is that you need to have received the teachings as well as having meditated, both, analytical and concentrated, on every point from guru devotion to wisdom. Yes, you have all received the teachings. I am very proud of you, but then your practice just consists of saying the sadhana, as fast as possible. This is better than nothing, but it most important to think about the Lamrim practice. Most of you don’t do that, neither analytical nor concentrated. Many of you say the Lama Chöpa but particularly at the Lamrim level you try to read through as fast as possible. That means you are cutting your root. You need at least some experience of the Three Principles of Path. You have to look back at yourself during the last seven, eight years. You should have built a good base for the First Principle, renunciation - or as I like to call it - love and compassion for yourself. Then in the last couple of years we tried to give you more input of the love/compassion teachings, during Lama Chöpa, Lamrim, Odyssey to Freedom and Lojong teachings. It should build up quite well. In the last year we have also built up on the wisdom teachings. From the information angle you have it all. Whether you practice it or not is entirely up to you. It is not mine or Jewel Heart’s job, it is your individual job. That is the basic requirement.

The base for Vajrayana. Vajrayana is like sitting on a stage. Let’s say I am the Vajrayana, I am sitting on the stage. If there is no stage, I can’t sit on the stage, right? The stage of Vajrayana is bliss and void. If there is no void, you have no stage. Bliss and void are the Vajrayana stage, the Vajrayana base. All the performances that are done in Vajrayana are done on the stage of bliss and void. You may do the per-

50 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary formance without a stage, so then people may not be able to see it. That was supposed to be a joke but nobody laughed! We will talk later about the bliss but as for the void, there is no difference between the Mahayana, Theravada and Vajrayana void. Vajrayana may have a few techniques which may help you to understand it better or quicker, but it is the same void, not a different void. For this reason Vajrayana will emphasize particularly the development of bliss rather than the development of voidness. You need to understand the meaning of voidness through the Vajrayana teaching and Nagarjuna’s viewpoint that is also commonly accepted by all Tibetan sects. Of course, the Gelugpas will tell you, ‘Ours is the best,’ and the Kargyupas will accept that to a certain extent. They don’t say that the Gelugpa system is the best, but they will say that the Gelugpas are experts on debate and argument and all that type of thing, which is indirectly telling you that Tsongkhapa’s way of developing the nature of emptiness is the best way.

The bottom line. You will hear so many things; you will hear dzog chen, and mahamudra and uma and all sorts of things. I have nothing against all of these. But I tell you: the bottom line is that this is supposed to be the real weapon which destroys the ego. If it is not hurting ego, then it is not working! Our development really comes when we completely exhaust the ego or self-grasping, which we call in Tibetan dag dzin or den dzin43. It has to hurt at that point, no matter if it is coming from right or left, whether it is right-wing policy or left-wing liberal policy, as long as the purpose is served. If it is not hurting self-grasping, then the purpose is not served. That is the reason why zhi ne or shamatha meditation is not considered good enough. Shamatha will build your stability of mind and your concentration power, so you have a horse which you can ride and go to war. But what are you going to fight your enemies with? The horseshoes or hooves? The other side may have a horse too! You need a weapon, whether it is a gun or a cannon, a sword or a spear or a lance. That is the real thing which hurts and can destroy. On the spiritual level that is the vipasyana44, wisdom. When I say that, you may think of Joseph Goldstein’s vipassana.45 I am not talking about that. I don’t know what Goldstein’s vipassana really is. Maybe it is really true wisdom, maybe not, who knows? The bottom line is that this weapon must be sharp and lucid, and must really be able to hurt the enemy which actually is the object of negation. If it is achieving that purpose then it doesn’t matter whether it carries various labels like mahamudra, dzog chen, uma or vipassana, wisdom, clear light, etc. It does not matter what the label or title is, if it is not hurting the ego-grasping, then no matter how big the title might be, it just won’t work. It might be called, ‘Direct delivery of the warm heart of Buddha’ or ‘Ex- press delivery of the Buddha mind,’ but the point is that it has to be able to deliver the goods. That’s why Buddha said, ‘Check for yourself,’ and, ‘Don’t buy something I say just because I happen to be Buddha and I said so.’ He gave the example of checking the quality of gold. You have to cut the gold, burn it, rub it; and when you are satisfied, you take it. I want you to remember that and then make your own decision rather than be persuaded by advertisements, articles, propaganda or pronouncements, claims, conspiracy theories or any of that type of thing. Your own spiritual life is at stake now, so it has to be your own decision and that’s it. On spiritual shopping. I have no objection if you people do some spiritual shopping but if you over- shop, your credit card will have no balance left and then American Express will call you and get you and even send the debt collectors after you! That will make your life uneasy. So, reasonable shopping is necessary but overdoing it is not good. Not only will you not have any credit left, but you may not have much time too; the time is limited. Having said that, you should not buy just before you check. What I have said up to now all relates to the first qualification which Tara mentioned.

2. Initiation. The second qualification here is that in addition to the general Four Initiations you need the Four Initiation Blessing through Torma for this particular Tara. Then you also need the body mandala initiation. You have to have received these three initiations: basically the four initiations in any maha anu

43 bdag ‘dzin means self-grasping and bden ‘dzin means grasping at true existence 44 Tibetan lhak tong, sometimes translated as special insight, the highest development of analytic meditation. 45 A Theravadan based general meditation system also known as Insight Meditation.

Inroduction to the Actual Practice 51 yoga tantra, plus the outer torma initiation and inner body mandala initiation of Cittamani Tara. These three kinds of initiation are the second requirement. Without these you cannot even read or talk about it. No matter how much you would practice it you would never be able to gain anything. Without this particular Cittamani Tara initiation you would not receive the blessings of this short lineage.

3. Commitments. The third requirement is to maintain the commitments which we have already mentioned earlier. Without that it becomes very difficult. You have to maintain the root and branch commitments of the Vajrayana as much as possible. This is the life of the siddhis. These are the three sets of qualifications one must have in order to practice this.

Four causes of achievement If you ask, ‘If I have these three, will I be qualified?’ the answer is ‘No, that’s not enough.’ In addition, you need the four causes for achieving accomplishments or siddhis. What are these? a. Unshakeable profound faith is the first. b. Then wisdom which understands what you are doing clearly so that it cannot be destroyed by doubt. There are people who doubt everything. That is wild wisdom. You will die doubting. This wisdom has gone wild and is too far gone, like a wild elephant. There are just doubts, no answers and no solu- tions. c. Further you need single-pointed focus. d. And lastly you have to maintain the secrecy, which means that you don’t talk about it. You don’t know anything. If anybody asks you, ‘Do you know about Cittamani?’ You answer, ‘What is that? What did you say? Never heard about it.’ That much secrecy is needed. Actually these four are absolutely necessary causes for achieving results: unshakeable faith, wisdom that can never be disrupted by doubts; single pointed focus, and top secrecy. If all that is achieved, then you are qualified. Tara, Takpu and Pabongka all say that if you do this the result is guaranteed. We have mentioned that here to you, so that you know how to find out whether you are qualified or not. If you are qualified, be happy; and if not, then pray that you may be qualified.

{2} Place where the practice can be done Where is the right place to practice? I don’t have to talk too much about that, because you know exactly. You have heard it in all Vajrayana teachings everywhere. Actually Tara herself said: The right place is where you feel good and where there are no obstacles. Put up an image of me and make offerings as much as possible. If you are sitting in the midst of a toxic dump somewhere you are not going to feel good, especially if you know that there is also a bunch of dynamite sticks there!46 You know it is going to explode so you are not going to feel good. Why is it important to practice in a place where you feel good? Because sometimes we are not strong enough. We are talking about the situation when you are totally dedicated, doing retreat, doing practice. Where should you do such a retreat? Not simply wherever you can find a place. That is not the first choice. When you say ‘when and where you can get it’, that becomes sort of the last choice. For instance, we have got to do our retreat here, because we cannot go anywhere else, we have no choice with reasonable prices and so forth. It is not the best choice, but that is what you can get. It is okay. The reason why the place must be one where you feel good is because if you are not strong enough, and then the place is also not good, and you don’t feel nice about that place, it can irritate you and make things worse. You could already have a tremendous amount of stress in your life and people give you even more for whatever reason. If at least if you can avoid environmental stress, that would be nice.

46 Rimpoche is referring to the story of a Jewel Heart student who meditated for a long time in a mountain cabin before discovering that the basement was full of dynamite!

52 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Also, there should be no obstacles. Obstacles mean things like a strange animal coming in and disturbing you and eating you up or biting you - like mice. Mice are actually not that bad, but you would not want rats or snakes. That sort of place would not be right. There are further obstacles, but I think that will come later, anyway.

Points about the place to practice. Now let’s talk more about the place where you practice. If the place has been blessed by a great many masters, it is better because it will help the practitioner. If not, it is still fine, but it should not be a place where the sangha members have been fighting among themselves or where a schism has occurred. Instead of helping, this could even create a problem. It is very difficult to have a good sangha. Through buddhist history you see that. When you read it, earlier there were hundred of this and thousands of that, but if you read carefully you read there were difficulties too. In India, Tibet, China, Mongolia. And it is very difficult in the west to have a good sangha. When you have it, it is very fragile. Most importantly, you should not practice in a place where those who have broken commitments to your own spiritual master as well as to this dharma itself, have been. There should not be any such influence or undesirable blessings given by them. That is definitely a very important point. Kyabje Ling Rim- poche and Kyabje Trijang Rimpoche always said in Lamrim teachings that the place blesses the person and the person blesses the place. It goes both ways. So, even if you are good, but you are in a bad place, it creates trouble. The next points are as usual. It might not be necessary for me to talk more on how to arrange your cushion, how to sit and all that. You know all that. The most important thing is to be comfortable. It is not necessary at this moment to sit cross-legged. If you can’t sit cross-legged, you can sit on a chair, it doesn’t matter. Sit in whatever way you feel comfortable. But you cannot lie down. This goes for the teachings as well as for your normal practice. You should not do your practice lying down. You know that’s not right. Otherwise whatever you feel comfortable with is okay. You can say your daily prayers on your bed; however, if you are doing a retreat, then you should not use your bed as a cushion. You should have a separate cushion. Of course, if conditions don’t permit that at all, then it may be okay, especially if you are in Hong Kong or Singapore, where people rent beds. That could make it very difficult. There are places where you don’t rent an apartment, but just a bed. I believe you have just got a little bit of a box in there, and you have a cupboard of yours, that’s it. In that case you might as well do your practice on the bed. You’ll be fine.

Setting up an altar and laying out offerings Having a Tara image. In a retreat with these requirements, those who would like to practice this Citta- mani Tara sadhana should have a nice, quiet place, and place an image of Cittamani Tara. Normally, we put Buddha as most important and then the guru and Tsongkhapa, but over here, in the case of vajrayana, it is always the yidam which is inseparable from the lama. If space permits, you should put up a picture, [a thangka] or even a statue of Cittamani Tara. That picture or statue should also be as good as possible. It is an accumulation of merit for you. It has to be Cittamani Tara for this practice. If you do White Tara, you get an image of White Tara and if you do Green Tara you get an image of Green Tara. Traditionally, in the iconography, Green Tara has one flower and Cittamani Tara has two flowers.

Offerings. Then in front of Tara, you can make all kinds of offerings, whatever you can. Tara herself says, ‘Have all the varieties of offerings you can afford, also with the art of presentation.’ If possible, you should make offerings of gold, silver, and jewelry and so on. Anything good that you can offer is actually a good offering. When we talk about offering water, flowers, light and incense, that is sort of the lowest category of offerings actually, not necessarily the best offering. You know, in one way you say the flowers are pure, water is pure, and incense smells good and all that, but on the other hand, incense can irritate your sinuses and the flowers can cause allergies, so this really tells you that these things are not that pure anyway. Although it represents purity and is nice and wonderful, remember that in samsara, whatever there is, is terrible, even gold. If you put up an offering of gold bricks and if one falls down and hits you on the head,

Inroduction to the Actual Practice 53 it may kill you too! So it is not necessarily that great. However, in general, whatever costs you more is considered a good offering because it is part of the practice of generosity. In generosity practice, don’t look for what is the cheapest. Generosity will look for plenty, it is always like that. We have been through a number of difficulties here, too. When I first started teaching Westerners in Delhi, we made a tsoh offering and I thought, ‘What the hell are they doing?’ They got a big plate, because somebody told them that they had to have a big plate. Then they took biscuits out of the biscuit packet and put them on the plate one by one so that the surface of the plate was just covered. That was really not nice!47 Truly speaking, we should not look for the cheapest thing to offer. We don’t want to do that. We actually see which costs the most, and that way the generosity benefits better. Instead of seeing what is cheapest, we see what costs the most, and what we can afford. There is of course another question. Don’t buy what you cannot afford. You should not put the ex- penses of an offering on your credit card! Don’t do that, but buy the best you can afford; that’s the bottom line. Also, for the purpose of generosity, don’t try to find out how you can get the maximum amount for the dollars you can spend. Let’s say you are buying tsoh, and it costs you $100 or $200, or maybe only $10, or $20 or $15. Just go ahead and do that. Don’t try to compare prices. Don’t try to work out that if you buy the tsoh material in Zingerman it will cost more, and for that dollar amount you can get more if you buy them at Farmer Jacks or somewhere. Don’t do that, wherever it is, just buy it straight away. That is the point how you act in generosity. I am using that as an example. This is one place where you should not try to be so economical. Here we are trying to be generous and accumulate activities of generosity. At the same time you don’t want to waste things either. Whatever the generosity may be, it should be enough. I am talking about the food. It should definitely be enough for everybody, it should not run out. We should not waste anything; however, it should be enough.

Rimpoche’s geshe offerings. Let me give an example. I did my geshe offerings in late 1957 or 1958. This was not really the test, but the geshe offerings. In Drepung we were supposed to feed all monks of the Drepung Loseling College with some kind of soup, that was not really a soup but rather some kind of pie like rice pudding, but very thick. We were supposed to offer two ladles full each to ten thousand monks. These ladles are not like the ones we usually see, but huge, and the monks had big bowls which they carried with them. They scooped the soup in there, two huge ladles full. The bowls were all placed on individual little pieces of cloth and by the time the two scoops went into the bowl, it would be overflow- ing and there would be more food outside the bowl then inside. As the one making the offering to all of these monks, I was the responsible person sitting up there, watching them. I began to worry that we might run out of food. There were ten thousand monks there with fifty, or sixty dub dos running up and down the rows where the monks were sitting with their bowls in front of them, and they would scoop out the soup. Meanwhile the disciplinarians in the back were hitting them and pushing them to be faster, so they would run and fall, trying to hold the big pots and throwing the soup all over the place. On top of that, some people would take seconds. Sometimes the disciplinarians pretended not to see it. Sometimes, though, they would see it and catch the person, make him stand in front of everybody, and then they’d get a handful of soup and rub it on his head! All these things were going on. Normally we’d provide three times the amount of food we thought we needed. That was done sys- tematically, it was almost a rule, but even then you may run out. So you have to worry whether it runs out or not. You watch from up there, and you see that fellow giving one scoop after another and so much is wasted! This was good old Tibet, really, and things like that were opportunities for us to be generous. Tibetans were actually not particularly worried about the waste issue. The Chinese came and said ‘These Tibetans waste all their butter. They burn it all up as butter lamps!’ And then we did things like these offerings. The food of the geshe offering was a sort of rice pudding, there were all sorts of dried fruits in there, nuts, even dried honey, really huge chunks. There would also be big chunks of meat in there. It was great! Everything was in there. The amount was huge; the amount of rice they put in would have been two to three hundred bags.

47 Rimpoche always stresses both quality and quantity. Food offerings were always piled up high.

54 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

On top of that, I was fortunate enough to be able to give to each monk in Drepung the equivalent of a ten-dollar note which is a Tibetan sang note and to each Loseling monk we offered a Chinese silver coin, the big Sun Yat Seng coin, which was ninety nine per cent silver. The coins came in thousands, in these wooden crates, a thousand in a crate. We must have had fifty, sixty, seventy crates and even then I began to worry whether that was going to be enough or not. You never know exactly the number of monks that are there. The more money you have to distribute, the more monks seem to be there! In addition to that, a number of people received additional things. For example, the Loseling abbot will take fifty coins extra for the Dalai Lama’s throne, and then the abbot himself will have thirty. All the incarnate lamas collect fifteen coins each. If one ordinary monk collects one silver coin, we incarnate lamas will collect fifteen! It was like that. There was a big list we read out what the offerings were and to whom they should go. And we did run out of things! We had a jeep and we sent it to Lhasa to borrow five more crates of coins from somebody, and the jeep just arrived back before we ran short. We just managed to get all these things happening. This is just to give you an idea of what generosity means. You don’t worry about wastage at that moment. From my labrang’s point of view, it was an opportunity to act generously, so our only worry was whether we would have enough, no matter whether it was three times the amount that we estimated we would need. We did not worry about how many people would fall and overfill the bowls and how many people were going to take extra. We did not even think about that. I am just giving you these examples, since we are talking about making offerings. The same principle applies to the mandala offering. If you have a copper mandala, it is better than a wooden one. If you have a wooden mandala, it is better than a slate mandala, but if you have a silver mandala it is better than the copper and the brass. The best of all is pure gold. That’s why you try to get precious metals for your ritual implements. For example, this one here is silver, and that one twenty-four carat gold. It is washed gold or gilded. Normally people have copper mandala plates or something gilded and they try to show the silver. But it is for your own benefit. This one here is a silver base with gold on it. This is just an example. The same goes for offering bowls; many of them are gilded inside. You don’t even see it from outside. Many times you will find that. Just being more expensive, just costing you more, and there being a little more for you to do, makes it better generosity. That is normally how the offerings go.

Offerings to front generation and self generation. You should also always have one offering to the yidam as the front generation and one for yourself as the self-generation, so you have two sets of offerings. One goes from the right hand side of the yidam, and one goes from the right hand side of yourself. You don’t put them in front of you. You put them in front of the altar together, but it is meant to be offered to yourself as the yidam with the sadhana offering, so it begins with your right hand side. If it is a mother tantra deity, you start from the left [of the deity]. It depends on the deity, like Heruka and Vajrayogini, all these all start from the left. And Guhyasamaja, Yamantaka, in their case it goes from the right. I think in this case of Cittamani Tara here it is from her right, although it is a female [or] mother tantra. Pabongka, in his commentary, has a long discussion about whether Cittamani Tara is father tantra or mother tantra. That is because in his Tara’s own words [to Takpu] she has not spelled it out. At the end Pabongka concludes that it is a mother tantra because at the zoh rim level Tara’s explanation is going absolutely along with the system of mother tantra. Since it is mother tantra, all the offerings should go from left to right. However, it being a mother tantra does not necessarily mean that the offerings go from left to right.

Implements. In front of you, you also have to have your inner offering, vajra and bell, and damaru. All of these are your own hand implements, actually the signs or signals. The vajra reminds you of bodhimind; the bell reminds you of wisdom; bell and vajra held together by one person represents the union of method and wisdom. The damaru is the sound which generates the psychic heat. That’s why it is important. These are the sort of reminders. Also included is a mandala set, which comes very often, also in Vajrayogini.

Inroduction to the Actual Practice 55

How to sit. That is as usual. Where to face is usual. Put the deity in front. It is recommended to face west, or wherever it is convenient for you. We talked about what sort of offerings to make. You put as many as possible, but as a minimum you have to have two sets. One this way, one that way. In your normal practice of this Cittamani Tara there is no sadhana commitment, but there is a guru- yoga commitment for this, because that comes with the initiation. With the guru yoga commitment for this you don’t have to make any tormas or anything of that sort. If space and everything else permits, with each and every practice you should have different offerings, different sets of offerings, but if space doesn’t permit, at least you should have two sets, one for the self generation and one for the front generation. As a torma offering you normally keep biscuits and things like that. For certain tormas you have to have meat. You can keep luncheon meat and things like that in cans; that will do.

To summarize, you have to have an altar and offerings set up, just as you have learnt in the preliminaries of the Lamrim. Whatever yidam you practice, that image becomes the most important image on the altar. When you do the different initiations the respective thangkas are put up. That is not for show. The offerings should be nicely presented. If you don’t know how to do that go to the Japanese restaurants. They can show you what art of presentation is. Even though the quantity of their food is not that great, and the quality is so so, they do have the art of presentation. Every place is almost fine to meditate, but it should be blessed by a great master. There should be no sangha schisms taking place. One should not be practicing in a place where there is somebody who has a broken commitment with your master or your Dharma. That is important. If you have such a place, it will affect you negatively. As a maha anu yoga tantra practitioner] you also need the commitment materials, like bell and vajra and so on. If you do have the actual materials, good, but as you can’t hide those, you keep an image of the materials with you, as a secret. Audience: Are the two sets of offering required for the initiation only or for the everyday practice, too? Rimpoche: For the everyday practice. I am not talking about the initiation. Those who say the sadhana should have the offerings set up every day if they can. Why not? Audience: Is it required or should it be done? Rimpoche: It should be done, but it is not compulsory. What I do is to put the offerings into jars. You know those jars where you keep jam in, these small mason jars. I put the offerings in there and seal them. You can keep them in there for one year. The reason for that is this laziness of mine. Audience: Rimpoche, do we have different sets of offerings for each yidam or two sets? Rimpoche: If you can, yes. If you can have different sets for each yidam, it would be good, but if you can’t just simply have two sets for all of them. That can also be done. Even without them will also do, whatever is convenient or if not convenient, whatever you can. Audience: Two sets of offerings for guru yoga as well? Rimpoche: No, no, no. Guru yoga doesn’t demand any offering set. I am only talking about sadhanas.

{3} Method of the actual practice - Development Stage - Completion Stage

[I] Development stage [Tib. ke rim48] So far we have covered what kind of person is fit to practice and where that practice should be done. Now we should go to how the actual practice itself is done. Under this category I would like to see as point one: the development stage. Actually there are two headings under this [development stage and

48 bskyed rim

56 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary completion stage] but let us deal with the development stage first. The subheadings under the development stage are: - The reasons why the development stage is necessary - How to practice the development stage

[1] The reasons why the development stage is necessary I should tell you the reasons a little bit; otherwise it will be a problem. Some people say that the completion stage is the actual delivering key so therefore development stage is not necessary. What does the development stage really do? It really gives you the training that enables you to handle the completion stage easily. It is really a training point. The actual practice itself might not be that different between the development stage and completion stage, but the development stage is actually preparing and training yourself to be able to handle the completion stage. That is the bottom line. It is actually said to be like a staircase, like a ladder that you can climb up to reach the highest stages. Maybe they didn’t have elevators in those days! You have to take all the steps. I believe there are eighty-seven steps49 and they are necessary. If you read these Tara’s Notes, this is what she herself said: First, start with guru-yoga. She says, I am going to show you the completion stage, but first begin with the guru-yoga. That is her thing, she said it herself, so the steps are necessary.

Khedrup Je, Tsongkhapa’s disciple, says that if some people claim the development stage might not be needed and the completion stage is the most important that this is a sign of stupidity. Without development stage, how can there be completion stage? Some people say that in development stage you just visualize yourself as a deity and that doesn’t help you with anything. Khedrup je says, ‘If that person is not stupid, then who is?’ He says, ‘If people are building stupas, monasteries, temples and images, do you consider that as building something?’ You would have to say: of course. Then Khedrup je says, By meditating your body in the form of the yidam, your speech in the form of mantra, your mind in the form of Dharmakaya, if that does not help to become a buddha, then how can building a little stupa or metal statue help you do that? In other words, if meditating yourself in the form of a yidam and saying mantras doesn’t help, then if there is someone who has nothing to meditate, just says mantras and builds images, how could that help? To think that is stupidity. Here you are utilizing your own body, building it up. You can’t change your physical body with a hammer and bang it into another shape. But from your mind level you are completely purifying your body, dissolving it into the nature of emptiness, and then re-building it, using the traditional mantras and blessings. If this one doesn’t help, then nothing else can help. That is a true fact. All of that may look like trying to gain the ‘horn on the rabbit’s head.’ That is the famous dialectical example. You can easily mistake a rabbit’s ear for a horn, a horn that moves. In reality there is no horn, you just see one in the shadow. This is used as an example for delusion, seeing something wrong. All you saw was the shadow of an ear, not a horn. No matter how much you try to grow horns on a rabbit’s head, it will not grow. So we do all our practice and at the end dedicate it to obtain the Buddha level. It may seem similar to saying, ‘I do this practice and dedicate the virtues to be able to grow horns on the rabbit’s head.’ But do we do that? No, we don’t. This practice actually works. Therefore, development and completion stages are like steps, the lower and the higher steps. You have to have both.

49 What these are remains to be clarified by Rimpoche.

Inroduction to the Actual Practice 57

[2] How to practice the development stage Now let’s go to the actual practice itself. What are you supposed to do in the development stage? Actu- ally there are two activities. 1. Activity during the session 2. Activity in-between session.

[i] Yoga of the Sessions The activity during the session has three parts: Beginning of the session – Preliminary Practice or Prerequisites Actual End. That is the order which Tibetan Buddhist teachings and practices always have.

4. PRELIMINARY PRACTICES

Beginning of the Session Sit yourself in a comfortable posture. Develop good thoughts, take refuge, generate the bodhimind and practice the four immeasurables. That’s what Tara says. You can sit either in the Buddha Vairochana Sevenfold posture or in the Vajra- yana mi tab druk ching posture, called ‘Fire Stove Six-triangles-knot’. If you sit in this posture, wearing the meditation belt, you see that the way your arms and legs are folded forms a number of triangles. In any case, you should sit in a comfortable position. Pabongka says, ‘Most importantly, correct your mind.’ Having good thoughts means to correct your motivation. He quotes Tsongkhapa, Good or bad, whatever you are going to get, the root really lies in the mind itself. Whether you are doing something right or wrong, it can only be done in three ways, through body, mind or speech. Body and speech follow the direction of the mind. They don’t have independent choice. This is true, unless you are crazy; then your speech can say ‘Let’s go east’ but you are walking west. Normally body and speech are in the service of the mind, controlled by mind. Therefore mind is the real one. Tsongkhapa goes on to say, Check your mind; see if your principal mind is accompanied by positive or negative mental faculties. If it is strongly negative, try to change it. Don’t force it, but first find a neutral place by counting your breaths. Once it is on the neutral level, then develop it into a positive mind. But if you are in a positive frame of mind already you don’t have to take those troubles. Go straight. From embracing the human life up to bodhimind you should perform analytical meditation and try to get a bodhimind, at least through pushing your mind in that direction through analyzing.

<1> Taking Refuge First, in order to make yourself right, in other words to make your practice better and perfect, you need refuge and bodhimind together. Why? Refuge is to make it a pure Buddhist practice; it is not a Hindu practice. Bodhimind is there because this practice is not Hinayana, but Mahayana. Normally the teachings say: To distinguish the correct from the wrong path you take refuge, and to make it an extraordinary practice, you generate bodhimind. The object of refuge can be just like in Lamrim or Lama Chöpa but most importantly, Tara has to be in the middle. Otherwise you can visualize a single, solid refuge object in the form of only the lama. I and the infinite space of all beings take refuge In the glorious lamas from this moment until we reach enlightenment! 60 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

We take refuge in the perfect Buddhas! We take refuge in the Dharma! We take refuge in the Sangha! (3x or 7x)

<2> Generating the bodhimind, the special bodhimind and the four immeasurables Generating the bodhimind When you take refuge to Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, in this case it should be the Mahayana refuge. The usual refuge is different, remember? In the Mahayana refuge compassion and love are emphasized. So, going through the sadhana from the beginning, first comes refuge, then bodhimind. Here you think, ‘All sentient beings, including myself, are suffering in samsara generally, and in particular in the lower realms. I cannot bear it. Therefore I like to attain enlightenment and help all beings.’ That is generating the bodhimind. I take refuge in Buddha, Dharma and Sangha Until I obtain enlightenment. By practicing generosity and the other perfections May I be able to obtain enlightenment, for the benefit Of all sentient beings (3x)

Generating the special bodhimind Then you have the verse about ‘special generation of bodhicitta’. This is also done in the Lama Chöpa and in the Vajrayogini practice. It is the special generation of bodhimind, for the benefit of all, quickly, quickly to obtain enlightenment. In particular, for the sake of all mother sentient beings, quickly, quickly, I must somehow obtain the precious state of complete and perfect Buddhahood. Therefore I shall practice the yoga of Venerable Arya Tara.

The Four Immeasurables There are shorter or longer versions of the Four Immeasurables. You can say condensed words, but you have to think all of it. Speech has limitation, it takes time to say things. Mind has no limitations; it does not take time to think, especially if you are used to it. May all beings have happiness May they be free from suffering, May they have the joy that has never known suffering, May they be free from attachment and hatred. Then the objects of refuge melt into light and dissolve to you.

<3> Requests to the Gurus of the Close Lineage Now the guru lineage. In our text we have it up to Pabongka. Tara’s own commentary doesn’t talk about it, but the other commentary says one should have it. That’s why it has been provided in the sadhana. You visualize the lineage lamas sitting on the crown of your head on top of each other, like in Ya- mantaka, not like in Vajrayogini, where they sit in a circle. On top you have Tara herself. Below Tara, everybody else, down to your root master, all appear as Tsongkhapa look-alikes. In reality they are this guru and that guru, but they appear looking like Tsongkhapa. NAMO ARYA TAREYA! Essential grace of all infinite Buddhas’ actions, displayed in the form of a charming, beautiful goddess, Lady who frees from all fears of samsara and peace (nirvana) to you I request: grant supreme and common siddhis!

Preliminary Practices 61

Treasure hold of Losang Gyalwa’s vast and profound dharma, arrived at the stage of the eight powers ( = buddhahood) Gargyi Wang po, whom Arya Tara cares for, to you I request: grant supreme and common siddhis! From the firm root of wisdom and branches of good understanding springs the sweetness of your discourses, practice and teaching O mighty one, wish-granting tree giving realizations, to you I request: grant supreme and common siddhis! Deep, clear wisdom waves billow in Lake Mapham, your mind sea. Your skill makes the rivers of the four rites gathered there flow down, all-pervading Lord, Naga-King! to you I request: grant supreme and common siddhis! Combining the gem-store of the speech-lord’s scriptures and insights with morality, you ripen and free migrators, as a wish-granting gem bringing rain of all they wish! to you I request: grant supreme and common siddhis! The thousand eyes of your splendid wisdom see all sutra and tantra teachings. Your wonderful speech is a store of mysteries, powerful vajra holder! to you I request: grant supreme and common siddhis! Ceaseless holder of Ngawang Jampel Nyingpo’s perfect teachings universal guide, great banner, holy servant, king of siddhas, to you I request: grant supreme and common siddhis! Of Master Losang Jambelyang’s own teachings unrivalled in preserving the essence, realized mighty one showering a rain of siddhis, to you I request: grant supreme and common siddhis! Full of loving-kindness and wisdom, glory of the holders of the essence of Losang Gyalwa’s teachings, kind guru whose divine actions are like an ocean, to you I request: grant supreme and common siddhis! Thus, by the blessings and the power of the yidam and guru, may I purify my mind well by the common path, then realizing the insights of the deep path’s two stages, in unity soon see the Arya Mother’s own face. If I cannot do this, then when I come to die, at the end of the path blending basic path and the four voids by the quick path technique of uniting clear light and illusion (body) may I pull out by their roots the enemy host, the four maras. In all my rebirths, not parted from perfect gurus, may I enjoy the splendor of the dharma; perfecting all qualities of the stages and paths - may I quickly attain the rank of Vajradhara. As you say the verses, the upper ones dissolve into the lower ones until it is only your root master. The root master then dissolves to you. Your mind and the wisdom Dharmakaya mind and the mind of the lama, all become inseparable. That is the conclusion of the lineage prayer.

62 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Transmission. I will continue reading sections of the oral transmission to you as the teaching progresses. If you miss a day or session, you will have to substitute that by getting the oral transmission from somebody else later. When it comes to transmission there are: wang, lung and tri50. The wang is the initiation. The lung is the oral transmission and the tri is the explanation. In order to ripen the disciple’s mind he initiation is given. In order to develop the disciple the teaching is given. In order to support the disciple the oral transmission is given. The oral transmission is equally important. In the west it sounds funny to us. There is somebody sitting there reading, and we don’t understand anything. If you have to sit there a long time listening you might find it difficult. Therefore, I want to give you at least the oral transmission of the sadhana and do it in sections, along with the teaching.

<4> Uncommon Guru Yoga In order to mark the practice as a buddhist practice, we had the refuge. In order to receive the blessings, we have the guru yoga. This practice has a special guru yoga. Let’s go through that a little bit. It is important and we have never talked about this particular guru-yoga before. Guru yoga is important and necessary here and everywhere in order to quickly obtain blessings and accomplishments. Wherever you turn, right or left, you’re going to get that guru stuck in your face! Why is this necessary? As Jamgon Tsongkhapa has said in Lines of Experience: Then after (having taken refuge), you should see that the root cause excellently propitious for as great a mass of good fortune as possible for this and future lives is proper, zealous devotion in thoughts and actions to your sacred Guru who shows you the path (to Enlightenment). Thus you should please him by offering your practice of exactly what he says, which you would not forsake even at the cost of your life. I, the yogi, have practiced just that. If you would also seek liberation, please cultivate yourself in the same way. Pabongka quotes this as reason for needing the guru yoga. In addition, he says that the root of development is the kind and compassionate guru. In short, from the lay person’s level where we are up to total enlightenment, all qualities depend on the guru yoga. For all the development we have not grown yet, for all the development we have to remain with us, whatever has remained with us, so that it may complete, ordinary or extraordinary accomplishments, for all those the root is only the guru yoga. Especially, in order to reach the development of the two stages, you have to receive the blessings of the lama. So, in order to obtain the blessings and accomplishments as quickly as possible, as key to that, the guru yoga has been put in. When you take the Cittamani Tara initiation you have say this guru yoga as a commitment every day. It is different from the Six Session Yoga. The Six Session Yoga doesn’t substitute for doing this one. This particular guru yoga was spoken by Tara herself. dak lü ta mäl chi wor pä dä teng tuk je ter chen gyel yum dröl ma dang yer me drin chen tsa wä la ma ni ku dok kar mar tsän pe lang tsor dän At the crown of my head, seated on lotus and moon, inseparable from the great treasure of compassion, the conqueress Tara, is my kind root guru, radiant, vital, and with extraordinary presence. Dak means self, lü is body, so ‘the body of oneself’. Ta mäl means: in ordinary form, not in the form of the yidam. Chi wor is on the crown [of my ordinary human body] Pä dä teng: lotus and moon cushion. Teng is not the word for cushion, but cushion is to be understood here.

50 dbang, lung, khrid.

Preliminary Practices 63

Tuk je terchen is treasure of compassion. Gyel yum means the mother of all buddhas, Dröl ma is Tara. So Tara is mother and compassion! Yerme means inseparable. Inseparable from what? Rinchen tsawa lama – my kind root guru. Ku dok kar ma means: looks like white with a bit of reddish, the normal human complex. Any being in human form this is the color: basically white with a little red influence. Tsän refers to the 32 major marks en pe the 80 minor signs [of en enlightened one]. Lang tsor means youthful.

At the crown of my head, seated on lotus and moon. At this moment you yourself are in the form of an ordinary human being. Now you generate the guru. At your crown, just above your crown, is a lotus. Whether the lotus is coming out of your head or just happens to be there, it is okay. It is a multiple- petalled lotus. No number of petals is given, which is an omens here. The lotus is fully open and fresh. On top of that is a moon cushion. Don’t think you’re looking at a thangka; it is living. On that cushion sits the kind compassionate guru, your root master, who is inseparable from the kind, compassionate yidam. He is facing the same direction as you. The guru should be visualized as sort of a normal human being, the form of whenever you are meeting, but a little more majestic than what you usually see. In other words, your guru looks great! The white parts should look whiter than normal and red places redder than normal. The skin is sort of a nice, pink, peachy color, like the best makeup possible. Everything is healthy and perfect, no abnormalities. Though the text tells you that he has these wonderful marks and signs, you visualize him like a normal human being rather than like Buddha with a little sort of extended egg head and not with extra long ears. Don’t visualize him in that way, but just in the normal human being form. chak yä chö chä dor je pä kar dang yön pä dril bu dang chä pä ma kar dzin pä chu kye nyän tä dap ma gyä chö gö sum söl ser dok pän shä dze dor je kyil trung ö gur ü na zhuk The right hand, in the gesture of bestowing the Dharma, holds a vajra and a white lotus. The left hand holds a bell and a white lotus. Lotuses blossom by the ears. Wearing three illustrious robes, and a beautiful golden hat, the root guru sits in the vajra posture at the center of a dome of light. Chak yä means the right hand, chö chä - teaching mudra (The thumb and index finger of the teaching mudra look like a bird’s beak. There are reasons for it.) Yön pä means the left hand, dril bu the bell, [dang and] and pä ma kar white lotus. Chö gö sum söl means wearing three types of saffron robes. Full-fledged bikshus have three types of robes: one called du sän, above that a smaller yellow one with less cuttings called chö gu, and above that the more elaborate robe called nam jar51. Ser dok pän shä dze52 refers to the yellow pandita hat. So the guru almost looks like Jamgon Tsongkhapa. Dor je kyil trung53: the legs are in the vajra posture. Ö gur means aura. Ö gur ü na zhuk gives you the idea of being covered with light, a sort of tent made out of light.

The guru holds his right hand in the mudras of teaching. This hand is also holding a vajra and the stem of a white lotus, and in his left hand, which shows the meditative state, a bell and the stem of a white lotus. The two lotuses are blooming beside each of his ears. He is wearing the three saffron robes of a monk. That means one at the top, one at the bottom, and one additional at the top; a sort of double blanket

51 Names of the three robes as understood, no references found yet. 52 Ser is yellow; 53 rdo rje dkyil dkrungs

64 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary wrapped around him, [a vest] and a saffron skirt. He is wearing a pandit’s hat, a pointed hat like the one you see Tsongkhapa wearing on images and paintings. That is your normal visualization. In short, in absolute reality it is your own root master who looks like Tsongkhapa, is dressed like Tsongkhapa, and also looks like your usual own root master with a more dignified appearance than usual. Not crazy, but more dignified than usual and more refined, majestic and also more cute, and more attractive. That is the generation of your root guru at this level. It is quite simple here, not as difficult as in the Lama Chöpa. The guru sits in what many call the lotus posture but the Tibetans call vajra posture or vajra style of sitting, with legs crossed and each foot placed on the opposite thigh.54 There are four or five different postures, like the vajra posture, then what is called in the west lotus posture, there is also the bodhisattva posture, which is one leg stretched out and the other one drawn in etc. The lotus posture is open, the vajra posture is closed, and there is a half-vajra posture too. The guru also has a halo or aura around him. It does not say in the text what color it is, but if you are doing purification, you can have white; if it is more for prosperity, you can have yellow; for power, red; and for wrathful purposes, blue. Sometimes you have to be wrathful, putting down, sort of pushing down, or crushing.

Appearance of a bikshu. Here the Guru’s description is slightly different from usual. He is in saffron- robed monk’s form, but holds bell and vajra in hand. With Tsongkhapa you don’t usually find that, but here you do. It is significant that the Guru looks like Tsongkhapa. I asked Song Rimpoche once, saying that it can become difficult having so many different gurus. He said, ‘In the Cittamani Tara guru yoga the root guru is described as looking like Tsongkhapa. That is what you should project.’ Also, having the guru appearing as a full-fledged bikshu has important reasons. It is not that only monks can do this and others can’t. But the point is that if all of us could be real good monks or nuns, we would rather be. But it would have to be real good ones. If you just wear robes and are not a real good one, it doesn’t make that much difference. On the other hand, real true good monks and nuns are very important. They are the root of the vinaya. In the tradition, the monks and nuns are considered to be the sangha. Traditionally, there were more monks than nuns. That is because the Buddhist countries were mainly male chauvinist countries. There is no point in denying that. We are dealing with a 2600 year old tradition. India at that time was a chauvinist country. I think that influence is here. Then also the question whether the full nun ordination is available or not has never been settled. The celibacy is supposed to be a representation of the purity. Therefore, they have the eight qualities of the sangha55. If we really had those, it would be fantastic. As an omen for this, that we may be pure monks or nuns, if not in this life then in future life, it is important to have the guru looking like Tsongkhapa. I think that is the reason. Song Rimpoche did not give me the reason, but recommended to visualize the guru looking like Tsongkhapa. When I said that this would look like an image, he said that one should visualize him as a real person.

Position of the hands. There are systems for how to visualize the position of the hands. One says both hands should be in the position of the teaching mudra. In that case stems of a lotus flower would come out from each of the two hands and on top of the opening blossom there is a vajra on the right and a bell on the left lotus. Tsongkhapa himself looks just like that except instead of vajra and bell he has a sword and a book. That is most convenient for me personally. If you think that hand is empty, you can put the Cittamani tantra there, if you want to, or if you want a long life, you can put a long-life vase there, or if you want healing you put a pot of the Medicine Buddha, I guess. I haven’t seen it, but… Also the simple meditation posture is fine. Some people say you can visualize that the guru is holding vajra and bell in the hands in the teaching mudra. That is a little difficult; the way the teaching mudra with both hands is meant to look would

54 Tibetans call a different posture lotus posture, with the soles of the feet together and knees spread. 55 For the eight qualities of knowledge and liberation, see Pabongka Rimpoche, Liberation in Our Hands, vol. I, p. 185.

Preliminary Practices 65 make it difficult to hold vajra and bell. Sometimes you will find two birds in that position, representing the teaching mudra with both hands. According to this sadhana text here, the guru is holding the bell in the left hand – that is held in the meditation posture – and then the vajra is held in the right hand at the heart level. All three ways are okay. You can do whatever is easy for you to visualize. If you have bell and vajra already in the hands you don’t need to have them on top of the utpala flowers. That is simple.

Pandita hat. The guru is wearing a yellow pandita hat. In Tibet, there was an extremely learned abbot, known as Tsukhang lama, which was not really one of my teachers. My teachers, like Gen Pema Gyalt- sen and Gen Nyima, and this Tsukhang lama debated one time at a picnic. Both of them tried to corner Tsukhang lama in the debate. At first he had some difficulties to answer. Then he saw a couple of young incarnate lamas sitting down, listening. He told them, ‘You people, get out.’ Then he started lying down, face down and put his legs up, which is funny if you are wearing robes. He was thinking and then he started answering and from then on both Gens couldn’t really challenge Tsukhang lama at all. They tried for two, three hours - nothing. He was such a great scholar. But he was very pro-China. Extremely so. He did not become abbot for a very long time. None of the authorities wanted to give him the abbotship because he had that big pride. And abbots have lots of exceptions in the monasteries, while others have to have some discipline. When His Holiness took over the government in Tibet and the Chinese also put pressure on, he was appointed as abbot to one of the smaller sections within the monastery. I went to see him. It was a funny monastery. There was not a single monk. You occupy a huge three-story-building, with sixty rooms and you have your own personal courtyard. When I came in there, he was sitting on a chair in the middle of the courtyard, wearing what looks like the kind of hat that Tsongkhapa wears and that all the Dalai Lamas used to wear. It is supposed to slightly curve down in front. But this one was completely straight. There was brocades hanging down and he was wearing the hogtutu style of dress, yellow brocades covering him, using a big mala made of corals and wearing these funny shoes too. I said to him, ‘What kind of costume is this?’ He said, ‘You have never seen this before? You stupid fools. Let me tell you, this is the hat of a proud pandita. That is a person who says, ‘I know everything. There is nothing that I don’t know.’ I mean he was really very learned, no doubt about it and he had become pro- Chinese communist. He said, ‘There is no way the Tibetans can do anything, so might as well go with them’. He said that right from the beginning and cooperated, saying that one might as well see what one could get out of it. That was his view. He was very strongly pro-Chinese. So he was sitting there in the courtyard with that straight ‘proud pandita’ hat.

Three beings This Tsongkhapa look-alike guru is the commitment being. Tsongkhapa’s hat is also slightly bent forward. It is symbolic for reduced pride. It is not the American pride that we build. tuk kar lhak pä lha mo mar gä dok chak yä chik jin yön pä ut pa la kön chok sum tsön chak gyä tuk kar dzin At the heart is the emerald-colored special goddess. The right hand is in the gesture of supreme generosity; the left hand, at the heart, holds an utpala flower, symbolizing the three jewels. Tuk is heart; lhak pä lha mo is special goddess, in this case Tara; mar gä56 means emerald green; Chak yä – right hand gesture; jin – generosity; yön pä – left hand; ut pa la – the flower; kön chok sum – three beings naturally together; tuk is again heart. At the heart of the commitment being, the Lama, you have the wisdom being 57 Tara, seated in the usual posture, her right leg stretched our, her left leg inwards. Her right hand is in the giving mudra. It is

56 ma rgad - emerald

66 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary granting wishes, it is generosity or offering, giving the best food or whatever. The left hand is held in front of her chest, with three fingers outstretched, representing the Three Jewels. This is called protecting mudra. dar dang rin chen gyän gyi dze par lup yä kyang yön kum ö gur ü zhuk pä She sits at the center of a dome of light, and is beautifully adorned with silk, and jewelled ornaments. Her right leg is outstretched; her left leg is drawn in. That is the general Tara as wisdom being. Green Tara belongs to kriya tantra, Cittamani Tara belongs to maha anu yoga tantra. Mind you, this is not Tara drawn as a picture on the Lama. No. What you visualize is transparent and alive, and you are seeing one within the other. tuk kar tam yik jang gu ö zer bar sem pa sum gyi dak nyi chän gyur pä nä ngar OM AH HUM dang SO HÄ tsän nang tong ye she rang nang rik tsäl säl At her heart is a green letter TAM radiating light. The guru’s five chakras are the nature of commitment, wisdom, and concentration beings and are marked by OM AH HUNG SO HA.

At the heart of Tara is a green TAM that radiates light. That is the concentration being or absorption being. There are two possibilities for the concentration being: a blue HUM58 or a green TAM. This sadhana text recommends the green TAM. Sempa sum: three beings. The guru is in the nature of the three beings: Commitment Being, Wisdom Being, and Concentration or Absorption Being. It is a sort of triple being together: Guru, Tara, TAM; TAM, Tara, Guru. That is it! That’s how you get used to it. I am not even joking. Guru, Tara, TAM; TAM, Tara, Guru. These are the three beings.

TAM or HUM. A number of earlier teachers say at the heart level it should be TAM marked by HUM, others are saying it should be HUM marked by TAM. I believe it is HUNG marked by TAM. That means: within the HUM you have the circle on the top and in there you think the TAM. My commentary says: HUM marked by TAM, but according to this sadhana-text it is: TAM marked by HUM. The word ‘marked’ is found very often in vajrayana. It is used for initials. HUM becomes an issue here because it represents mind. TAM is Tara’s seed syllable and also represents mind. Normally, OM AH HUM is used to represent body, speech and mind. Nobody uses OM AH TAM. That’s why it becomes an issue what is marked by what. But, in reality, whatever is convenient for us, is fine. It is left up to the individual. You don’t have to worry about one fading away and the next one appearing. You can see them all simultaneously. One doesn’t block the other.59 In the English language they try to make everything as clear as possible, but in Tibetan they try to make things as vague as possible. We want to say that both are possible. There is a reason why you don’t want to make everything absolutely clear. For different people it works differently. To some people the TAM will work perfectly. They will feel comfortable and the blessings and the development will come faster. To some people the HUM works better. Likewise for some TAM marked by HUM is better and for some HUM marked by TAM works better. You never know all people’s emotions and mentality. That’s why these things are not made absolutely clear cut. It gives room for the individuals. But then, the English language demands

57 This Wisdom Being [Tib. yeshe sempa] is somewhat different from the Wisdom Being(s) [Tib. yeshe pa] that come after any invocation and dissolve into the figure you have visualized. 58 Pronounciation: HUNG. 59 For larger pictures see the Appendix

Preliminary Practices 67

that it should be as clear as possible. That may sometimes do a disservice. A particular person may not be able to visualize exactly the way the books and teachings say, then the person will feel forced to do it and that creates a distance. That is the general reason why it is not good to make everything clear cut. I am saying that because there are a number of editors here. They will point out when something is not clear and consistent, right? But they of course have their job to do as well. Pabongka does make it clear in his commentary, saying, ‘Make it a blue HUM and put the TAM in there.’

Visualizing syllables at the chakras. Nä nga… tsän: the five major points are marked 60 by OM AH HUM SO HA. At the five places, you have to put the five letters. You visu- OM white alize a white letter OM at the crown, a red letter AH at the throat, a blue HUM at the AH red heart level; a yellow letter SO at the navel level, and an emerald green letter HA at the secret place. SO is: S-AH-O. We don’t pronounce the AH in there, but it is part of it. I am not sure about the western languages, but in the Asian languages they say that HUM blue the life of the syllables comes from AH. In Sanskrit there is A and AH, the short and the long AH. In this case it is the AH. Actually, if the letters don’t have life, they can’t SVA yellow produce sound. For example, the letter N by itself doesn’t have a vowel. In the Ti- betan and Sanskrit alphabets the equivalent letter says ‘Na’. In English we write ‘N’, HA green but when we pronounce it we say ‘eN’. nang tong ye she rang nang rik tsäl säl The clear wisdom of the root guru is the wisdom which knows itself upon seeing, perceiving inseparable appearance and voidness. Nang tong ye she rang nang rik tsäl säl. Now this is going to be difficult. It is simply saying that when you look at the guru, you can see him. You have a perception, but if you try to catch that, you will not be able to catch it because it is void. You can perceive it, you can feel it, you can talk with it, you can do all that, but if you are trying to trace it, you are not going to find it. That is the meaning of nang tong ye she61 wisdom nature [that appears yet is empty]. This is a complicated thing. It has sort of grown within itself, it is self by itself. It is wisdom by itself; it is knowledge by itself; and it is sort of gained by itself. Trying to explain the total nature clear light of the guru in this one verse is going to be difficult. We will talk about the clear light level later, and then let’s try to come back and see if this sentence makes any more sense.62 The meaning of this line is very deep. Let me just say this: wisdom appears but is empty. It is inseparable appearance and voidness, nang tong. That’s right; it appears, yet is void in nature. And that is wisdom, yeshe. It is the internally illuminating wisdom. This wisdom is also known as ‘self-illuminating’, which means knowing how you exist as enlightened being and as empty of inherent existence. It is the full development of the buddha nature without obstacles. Rang nang is self-appearing, or self- illuminating. The rang nang rik tsäl säl is more the difficult part. But let me leave it here. Audience: Does it know itself upon seeing emptiness? Rimpoche: Seeing the guru. When you see the nature of the guru, when you look at him, you can see him. You can perceive, yet it is wisdom nature, empty nature - nang tong. That’s why appearance exists; in absolute nature it is void. This is the wisdom of the guru; it is the wisdom which knows itself upon seeing. Audience: Is this supposed to be knows itself uponseeing inseparable appearance and voidness? I thought that’s what it means. Rimpoche: Is there second line there?

60 What is pronounced SO is in written language SVA. 61 snang stong ye shes 62 Not addressed further in this transcript.

68 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Audience: knows itself upon seeing, perceiving inseparable appearance and voidness Audience 2: Are we talking here about how if you perceive the object, you perceive the emptiness; if you perceive the emptiness, you perceive the object; and their inter-relatedness? Audience 3: It seems more likely that it knows emptiness upon seeing means it is supposed to know itself. It is a little confusing. Rimpoche: Let’s not go into detail tonight. Let’s just leave it there. Actually it means that, when you look at it, you can see it; when you try to catch it, you cannot catch it.

Nang tong ye she rang nang rik tsäl säl.63 appearing as you have meditated, emptiness in nature, wisdom, illuminating and clear. Nang: appearance is there because you visualized it and you can see it. Tong: yet it is empty in nature, because you imagined it. It is wisdom, ye she, and self-sufficient. rang nang. And it illuminates! That word is there, if you need to think about it. Normal commentaries will skip that particular word. They don’t say much, but this is what it is.

Inviting the wisdom beings Light rays from the heart invite all enlightened beings; they dissolve into the guru, who becomes the embodiment of all objects of refuge. Now light goes out from heart syllable - whether it is TAM marked by HUM or HUM marked by TAM. This light going out from the guru, invites the wisdom beings, all these protectors, like Guru, Buddha, Dharma, Sangha, Bodhisattvas, Yidams, Dakas and Dakinis and Dharma protectors. No one left out; all are invited. They all dissolve into the guru himself. That guru, the three beings you have imagined, becomes the embodiment of all refuge. They become one; they become light nature and wisdom nature. They are perceivable but not cacheable, not traceable. In other words, if you try to analyze, try to divide atom by atom, and say which one is really finally the last one, it is not there. You cannot say, ‘That’s it, I found it. That’s really here.’ You cannot catch them in the chips. You heard me right - I am talking about computer chips! You cannot sort of box them in there. You cannot say, ‘This is it!’

The seven limb practice Please remain as a jewel at my crown until I attain enlightenment. With respect, I bow down in body, speech and mind. I present limitless offerings both actually arranged and mentally created. I purify all transgressed vows and non-virtuous actions accumulated since beginningless time. I rejoice in all virtues of ordinary and realized beings. I request the teaching of the profound and extensive Dharma. I dedicate the virtues of myself and others towards great enlightenment. The usual Seven Limb offering has been taught in great detail in a number of places, so you don’t need additional explanations, except remember that the offerings are grown out of the nature of emptiness and are in the nature of generating bliss.64 That is the usual Vajrayana thing that is not in the sutra path. That is what you add up. Otherwise, it is all the same as in sutra, except that requesting teachings here also means requesting Vajrayana teachings. The seven limb practice is used throughout the Buddhist practice, whether it is at the very preliminary level, at the Lamrim level or at the Vajrayana level. It is the same seven limbs. In Vajrayana it is called ‘Seven Purities’65, but here in this [part of the] practice they call it Seven Limbs.

63 The two explanations given at different times and places are kept separate. The first one is from winter retreats USA 1998 and 2004; the next one.from the autumn retreat The Netlherlands 2007. 64 Nature pure, offerings appear, arousing bliss-void, filling space. In appearance the offerings are what they are, their actual nature is empty and their purpose is to generate the mind of inseparable bliss and emptiness. 65 For the Seven Purities see pg. 81.

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Mantra recitation At Tara’s heart the ten syllable mantra circles around the concentration being. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA OM AH GURU VAJRADHARA [SARVA] SIDDHI HUNG The concentration being, TAM, is surrounded by OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. The mantra recitation here is separate from the sadhana mantra-recitation, because here you don’t generate yourself in the yidam form. It is the guru yoga part. The teaching does not give clarity on how the mantra goes. If I remember correctly it is clockwise. The meaning of OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA is actually the Four Noble Truths.66 It is known as the ten-syllable mantra. If it is eight syllables, you take the SO HA out, if you want seven syllables, you take the OM out as well. That is how it works. This mantra is facing inwards. The mantra is in a circle around the concentration being and the syllables are all standing up, three-dimensional, facing towards the concentration being. It is recommended to say the Tara mantra at this point 100 times. The letter TAM is green; the color of the other syllables is not made clear. If you want them multi-colored, that’s fine. You can also make them yellow or red or black or white. Actually, it depends on what you need. If you need pacification, they are all white. If you need prosperity, they are all yellow. If you need power, they are all red. If you need a little wrath, they are all dark-blue or a smoky, thick, dark color. That is the reason why the color is not clarified. Then on top of that you can do your Guru’s mantra, or in this case we introduced the mantra OM AH GURU VAJRADHARA SIDDHI HUM. If you add SARVA before SIDDHI it means all. SIDDHI is accomplishment and then comes the HUM. It means: ‘Give me all the accomplishments, give me all kinds of accomplishments - SARVA SIDDHI. The Guru mantra you do about 21 times.

Receiving the four initiations Through the power of my fervent request white, red, and blue light rays are radiated from the guru’s three centers of body, speech and mind and are absorbed by my own three centers. All negativity and obscurations are cleared and I obtain the vase, secret and wisdom initiations. From the crown of Lama Tara white light and nectar comes, from the throat red light and nectar and from the heart of Lama Tara blue light and nectar comes and dissolves into your crown, throat and heart, purifying the negativities. You obtain the vase initiation, the secret initiation and the wisdom initiation. So three lights, three initiations. Again, from SO and HA, multicolored lights emanate and are absorbed by my five centers. I obtain the fourth initiation, and the potential to accomplish the four kayas. Then, multicolored lights come [also]67 from the letters SO and HA, reach to all the body, mind and speech places, you obtain the fourth initiation and the seed is laid for generating the four kayas of a buddha, the dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, nirmanakaya and nature kaya [Skt. svabhavika kaya].

How to visualize the lights and liquids. One important thing: The guru is not in front of you, but is to be visualized on the top of your head. So, the light and liquid is coming down directly from the guru who is sitting on top of your head. That might not be easy to visualize. Somehow the light goes out, makes a U- turn and comes back down to you. That is how it works. Audience: What’s wrong with visualizing the guru facing me? Rimpoche: You could do that because you do that in Ganden Lha Gya Ma, but basically according to this

66 See Rimpoche’s teaching on White Tara for an explanation of the mantra as the Four Noble Truths. 67 Ref. Lama Yeshe, Cittamani Tara, pg. 47.

70 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary ritual itself, the guru is sitting on top of your head, so we should leave it there, better not change it. In the case of the Heruka Vajrasattva recitation, you don’t use the U-turn method. In the Heruka Vajrasattva recitation, the nectar falls straight down from the Vajrasattva yab yum’s joining point and comes down straight into your crown. Here it does not do that. Each practice has its own little rules. Just because you can do something in one place, you can’t necessarily do it someplace else. You don’t do that, because each practice has its own system, so you leave it there.

Dissolving O, Glorious and Precious root guru, come take your lotus seat at my heart, and keep me safe in your great kindness. Bestow on me please the powerful attainment of your body, speech and mind. This last verse [of the guru yoga part] is the famous verse from the Gelug tradition. There are two ways to visualize the dissolving. One is where the guru shrinks into the light form, one inch size light ball, exactly as he looks. Or the lama dissolves to Tara at his heart and Tara herself comes down and dissolves to your heart level and becomes oneness with you. Then there is one more thing I am not supposed to talk about here. In the Ganden Lha Gyema the guru comes down into your heart and sits on a lotus, the lotus closes around the guru, and a little ‘pony tail’ is still sticking out from the lama’s head, connecting to the pure land. Here there is nothing like that. It is very simple and straight forward. You think the guru becomes smaller and smaller, the size of e.g. a small bird’s egg or an inch. This process you find in many places. In the Six-session Guru yoga it is there, in the Lama Chöpa it is there, in the Mahamudra it is there. It is emphasized in detail in the Vajrayogini sadhana. In the case of Vajrayog- ini this little ‘egg’ is red. Here no color is indicated, but you imagine it is reddish. It is the bliss-void combination of Lama Tara and in the nature of the five wisdoms. That dissolves into you according to the usual system. Obviously you first dissolve the lotus seat to the moon cushion, the moon cushion dissolves to the Lama, and then the Lama, [becoming smaller and smaller] dissolves to us and is received by us, at the center of our heart, in the central channel, the avadhuti. When dissolving to us, the mind of the lama and our mind become oneness. Also, this is the mind that will be obtaining enlightenment! This here is an important point. When you become fully enlightened, your first dharmakaya will be in the lama’s mind. Or rather, you become the dharmakaya in the lama’s mind itself. (I don’t want to say in the nature of the lama’s mind; that will be hiding behind words. [Technically speaking] the dharmadhatu, chö kyi ying68, of the lama’s mind. That is how we finally become a buddha. That is what we call transmission. That is why all the teachings are coming from the lama. And that is why and how the teaching are not just information and knowledge, but will become the quality of the individual, the student. That is the real link! That is the reality here. That is why every activity we carry on thereafter; dealing with the guru, receiving teachings, giving courses in Jewel Heart [is done by the guru at your heart]. The courses give the information, the information is the transmission, and that is how it really will work. When it does not work, then the lineage is broken. Although physically it is the instructors that are teaching, the teaching they are giving is this: the linkage. That is the seed that is laid within the individual to become enlightened later. In case you look at it as passing on information only, it becomes an academic teaching and does not serve the purpose of a dharma center teaching. So, that is the important link that all those that teach the dharma have to bring in. It is their responsibility. This is the responsibility of the dharma instructors and dharma facilitators. It is you, instructors and facilitators, who have to understand this and be aware of it. That is why we have set up courses, study groups. And the courses do have guidelines. Instructor’s guidelines as well as the materials for the instructors and for the students both, are on the website. The idea behind is this! The linkage! That is coming from here; it is coming from the Six-session Guru yoga, from Mahamudra, from Lama Chöpa, all. If you don’t understand that, it will be information only.

68 Tib. chos kyi dbyings - realm of phenomena, ultimate reality, synonym of voidness or openness, boundless space.

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If you have received the Secret Heart Transplant, you have to say this verse Palden tsa wai la ma rin po che … O Glorious and Precious root guru…three times and there are three different visualizations to go with that. If you have not received it, say this verse just once. Once the lama has reached your heart level, you have to think that he is inseparable from your own mind and energy. He is going to remain there forever, until you become fully enlightened.

The meaning of the word glorious69. I want to talk about the meaning of ‘glorious’ in this context. What does ‘glorious’ mean in general? Audience: Shining; magnificent, wonderful. Rimpoche: What is shining, magnificent and wonderful? Audience: It can be used in the spiritual sense. Audience: Also in war Rimpoche: Not physical? Audience 2: Physically too. They talk about the glory of war, glory of God, Audience 3: ‘Glory’ means light; glorious means ‘gives light’. Rimpoche: The word in Tibetan is palden as in palden tsa wai la ma rin po che. Here you have to think in terms of the Clear Light and the Illusion Body or astral body or whatever you call it. Audience: Leave the ‘astral’ out, it is too New Age. Rimpoche: You people are the editors, not me. You don’t like ‘astral body’? Audience 4: No. Rimpoche: It is not only you, Amy nodding like that, too. Actually what is shining is the Clear Light, and the ‘gloriousness’ is the quality you are reflecting through the combination of the Clear Light and Illusion Body. That’s why the word palden tsa wei lama is used, and has been translated as glorious root guru. You say pal den tsa wai la ma rin po che even in the beginning of the lineage prayer. Sometimes in the mother tantra you can leave it as the Clear Light alone, and in father tantra, Illusion Body alone, but it is easier to have the combination. Audience: Is there any activity during the guru Vajradhara mantra? Rimpoche: Same as with the Tara mantra. In case of the Tara mantra you visualize light and liquid coming from Tara or the TAM, and the body of the Guru. Focus specifically on Tara and the TAM. When you say the guru mantra, you focus on the Guru. It is just like the Migtsema, you can do the same thing here.

The importance of guru yoga. In these particular Tara Notes, it says, The lama neljor, guru yoga, is not only the backbone of the practice; it is the life of the practice. It is the absolutely necessary step that boosts you up to be able to reach the level of liberation. All the blessings and achievements and accomplishments totally depend on the guru yoga. So this must be practiced. It means that this guru yoga is extremely important. That’s why we begin with introducing people to the Ganden Lha Gyema, which is a guru yoga. Then in between we have the Six Session Yoga, which is a guru yoga. Then we have the Lama Chöpa which is also guru yoga. Now we have this one. All of them are guru yoga. It pops up everywhere. I think I did mention to you last night that wherever you turn, the guru sort of sticks in your face! It is because it is important, that’s why. This guru yoga is not different from what is taught other places in the tradition. Ultimately, it is talking about your own guru and that you have to try to see the guru as the collection of all Buddhas and all enlightened beings, develop a very strong perception of that, and then that perception itself is generated in the form of a yidam, which could take the form of Tara, Yamantaka or any different yidam. There is nothing separate from that. There are people who think, ‘Let the guru be the guru; he’s only the provider of information. My deal is with the Buddha.’ That doesn’t work. I think it is important to realize that, because lots of people think it is just a matter of training the mind. They think, ‘I can train my mind with information that I get out of the

69 dpal ldan – Skt. Shri.

72 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary books, and tapes, talking to people and my own reading and understanding, so what’s the need for a guru?’ I believe there is not a single Buddha that you can point out who developed the buddha level without having a guru. You will not find a single one. Rejecting the need for a guru may become a disservice for your deep spiritual development, so you have to be a little more careful. I normally don’t say that much about guru yoga, because it sounds like, ‘You have to bow down to me; you have to do this to me; or do that to me.’ I don’t really care whatever you do, as a person, I really don’t care. It doesn’t matter what you think of me, or what you perceive me as. If you think of me as a great being, it doesn’t make me better, and if you think of me as total bullshit, it doesn’t make me worse. For me, it really doesn’t matter whatsoever! If you think, ‘Well, that way we can stop him; there’ll be nobody who wants to come and listen, ‘ then fine, that would be great! Really true, I’ll have the best time. I am absolutely telling the truth. A few years ago some American Buddhist teachers told me personally, ‘We must stop Sogyal Rim- poche.’ I said, ‘He will be very happy if you stop him,’ and one of them said, ‘What do you mean - he’ll be very happy?!’ It is true, because if you don’t have to talk and yap and chat with people unnecessarily or necessarily it is the greatest achievement. Milarepa and others had this attitude. The actual dharma practitioners, how do they really like to have it? They will like to get out of the human category, and maintain themselves along with the dogs, (Not all dogs are like Karma70; so not everybody will treat you like they treat Dr. Karma), but even then it is fine. It is said, You get out of human dignity, and you find the dog’s stage, and you will obtain the stage of Buddhahood, or stage of God. That’s what they say is the real achievement, so it doesn’t matter to the individual practitioner what people think of them, but for the students it is important to have the guru yoga. It is said, People that leave the actual lama or guru aside and say, ‘I make a deal with the enlightened beings over there’ and then try to visualize themselves as a perfect person that they want to be, in the form of a yidam, and then make offerings, prostrations and so on, such people don’t even have an imaginative copy-cat activity. There is no actual development at all, even not a copying activity or anything. This doesn’t work at all, so it is probably the greatest disservice you can do for yourself. Tsongkhapa says in the Lamrim chen mo, Talking about guru yoga: that’s what you practice constantly, everyday, otherwise if you try to do it on one or two occasions, and try to turn your eyes white and blue and all that gets you nowhere. Tara’s Notes say, Following a kind master, foundation of all perfections, is the very root and basis of the path 71 In the Lama Chöpa it says, Precious Lama, supreme field of good fortune, root of all goodness and joy, my Protector 72 Why is the guru the root of all development? There are three most important reasons. 1. Any new development totally depends on the guru. 2. You have then to maintain the development you already have, which also depends on the guru. 3. Then, whatever you are maintaining, you need to be able to bring to completion and that also depends on the guru.

Tara herself said, The guru is not only the root but also the life of the practice. He is not only the backbone of the practice but its life. He is the staircase to liberation. You cannot do without it. All blessings and

70 The name of Yael’s famous and wonderful therapy dog. 71 Foundation of All Perfections, vs 1 72 See Lama Chöpa, first verse of Reviewing the Stages of the Path.

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siddhis are obtained because of the lama and therefore you have to have this practice. Many people think that the guru yoga and other practice are meant to be beginning practices only, but when you look carefully you will see that the really important essence practices are being introduced at the kindergarten level and are carried and developed further from there on. It is our habit, especially in the west, to want the ‘real’ practices. We want to get emptiness, we want dzog chen73 and zoh rim74, but the real stuff is already there, right in the beginning and then wherever you look, it will be repeated and more and more intensified. You have to remember that.

<5> Instantaneous rise - Oneself becoming Tara (via meditation on the three kayas) Instantaneously I arise in the form of Venerable Arya Tara. That is very similar to Yamantaka, Vajrayogini and so on. The instantaneous rise must have the three- kaya practice in it. It is not just a simple hamburger flip flop: you are there as yourself and suddenly you are Tara. It does not work that way. Your physical body should be dissolved into the nature of emptiness. From the nature of emptiness a green light appears. (In Yamantaka you have a blue light, in Va- jrayogini sometimes you have a red letter BAM, in Heruka there is blue light.) In Yamantaka the light has to be the size of [a forearm], but here in Tara the green light can just be a green light ball. If you go into detail there probably has to be a letter TAM. The shortest sadhanas, that we put in with the Lama Chöpa75, just talk about a ‘ball of light’. I am thinking from that point of view. So likewise, here you can have green ball of light and that is acknowledged as Sambhogakaya. Then it becomes the Nirmanakaya, suddenly rising as Tara. Then you say, ‘Instantaneously I arise as Tara.’ When you look in the sadhana it may not talk about a ball of light, it may be a letter TAM or whatever, but that doesn’t contradict this way of doing it. The light ball is commonly used for different deities, just changing the color: in Vajrayogini red, in Heruka blue. You have to remember this is not a flip-flop arising as Tara. Especially Tsongkhapa’s tradition doesn’t go that way. Everything is a process. This Three-kaya practice is really important. If you can do that nicely for the instantaneous rise it will have a tremendous effect on the individual.

<6> Inner offering blessing (Eliminate interferers and bad vibrations and drive away bad spirits with:) OM VAJRA AMRITA KUNDALI HANA HANA HUNG PHAT! (OM vessel of vajra nectar, kill, kill HUM PHAT) (Eliminate ordinary, dualistic concepts with:) OM SVABHAVA SHUDDAH SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM (OM all phenomena are pure of own-being = inherent existence) All becomes voidness. Out of the void from YAM comes air, from RAM fire, (from OM AH HUNG come three heads and above these, ) from AH, a wisdom-knowledge skull, broad and capacious. In it five meats, five nectars. From their melting comes a great ocean of wisdom-knowledge nectar. OM AH HUNG OM AH HUNG OM AH HUNG In some teachings the majority of time is spent on the inner offering blessing. There could be a thirty day teaching and fifteen days of that spent on the inner offering. That happens. The base of the inner offering can be whiskey or something similar. But if you are monk or nun it cannot be alcohol at all. You are supposed to use tea. For us it is much easier to keep the inner offering in

73 rdzogs chen 74 rdzogs rim – completion stage of vajrayana 75 Rimpoche refers to the ‘four line’ sadhanas.

74 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary alcohol, because we are not monks and nuns. We don’t have the vow of not touching alcohol, unless you are in the AA program. And if you go back, you become AAA. [laughs]. If you are in the AA program you are not only supposed to quit drinking but not to even smell and touch alcohol, just like monks and nuns. So then it is questionable if you should use alcohol for your inner offering. I will be happy to say that if you are in the AA program your inner offering should be something else. But you have to have the continuation of the nectar pill that you can collect from my inner offering. Most of you have it. So much for the base. The blessing of the inner offering goes just like usual. From the heart of yourself as Tara wrathful deities drive away any obstacles with OM VAJRA AMRITA…. 76

Ordinary perception and conceptualization. The moment you talk about obstacles people get the idea of interferences like evil spirits doing something. But most of our obstacles are within us. In the sutrayana practice we deal with them as delusions and negative karma. In vajrayana practice it is the same old thing: negative karma, negative emotions and so on, yet wearing a different costume. In vajrayana we call them: ordinary perception and ordinary conceptualization. We are supposed to see everything as pure: the land is pure, the houses are mandalas, the beings are pure beings, everything is pure, pure, pure. The earlier Tibetan lamas, particularly the nyingmapas, say that every male is Avalokitesvara, every female is Tara. This is where that comes from. Pure vision, pure perception is a most important point in vajrayana, so every obstacle to that becomes an important obstacle. Therefore ordinary perception and ordinary conceptualization are the major obstacles here. Some people have difficulties when they generate themselves in form of a deity, wondering what the difference is between generating oneself as Yamantaka or as Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Alexandra David-Neill, or whatever. The difference is this: all our problems and obstacles are due to ordinary perception. That doesn’t mean that your car doesn’t get smashed if you have an accident. It doesn’t mean that you don’t lose your car door. You do. But it still is ordinary perception and conceptualization. If it was pure conception and perception, this would not even happen. Longdol Lama77 asked Gungtang Jambelyang78, the famous 17th century teacher from Amdo who came to Tibet, ‘Why do we say OM SVABHAVA SHUDDAH SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM?’ Gungtang replied, ‘In order to accumulate wisdom merit.’ Longdol Lama said, ‘Yes, that is true. But there is more than that. The ordinary perception and conceptualization are so strong and so powerful within us that unless we have a very good dissolution into emptiness we will not be able to challenge ordinary perception and conceptualization.’ Gungtang Jambelyang was so impressed by this answer that he referred to it all the time, even when he went back to Amdo. He said, ‘These words of the Ratö Lama79 are just a single statement. But it would be a great pity if we forgot them.’ So the flip-flop arising as a deity doesn’t work. You have to process it through the three kayas. Oth- erwise, it would be like dancers who get dressed up in different costumes, pretending to be somebody else. Or it would be the same as Rochelle getting dressed up as Martha Stewart, the only difference being that Rochelle doesn’t have to go to court. This three-kaya practice is important throughout the sadhana practice. You will see that even in the completion stage, zoh rim, there is nothing more than the three-kaya practice. Really. It may be more intensified, but it is the same thing. And here it is already introduced at the level of the instantaneous rise. Driving away obstacles, therefore, it is not just driving away evil spirits. It is more than that. It is dealing with internal negativities, particularly with the ordinariness, the ordinary perception and conception. In vajrayana, you have to remember, the target obstacle changes. That doesn’t mean that you have already overcome the negative emotions. They are still the target, but more so in the sutrayana part. In vajrayana the target becomes subtler than just anger and hatred. It is ordinary perception and conceptualization because the [grosser] negative emotions are all rooted down in that anyway.

76 Here you open the skull cup, Tib. kapala. 77 1719-1794. 78 Gungtang Konchok Tenpay Dronme (1762-1823) 79 Synonymous for Longdol Lama

Preliminary Practices 75

Then comes OM SVABHAVA SHUDDAH SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM. I am not going to spend much time explaining it, but as you know, OM is the beginning of mantra. The translation of the whole mantra is: nature empty, everything’s pure, naturally pure, that’s what I am. Here you are focusing your thoughts on the inner offering. And the very specific purpose [of the ritual] is to bless the inner offering. The offering utensil and everything inside of it becomes completely empty. Emptiness. We have been substituting the emptiness-understanding for a long time by saying, ‘there is nothing’. Now is almost the time for us to think a little more than just ‘nothing’. Only when you don’t know what to think, you can think, ‘it is empty, like space.’ That will do. But if you leave it at that for too long and not think about the real emptiness, then you will get a problem. Not only do you not get into the real serious emptiness, but instead of creating a karma that leads you to enlightenment you will create a karma that leads you to a rebirth in one of the four formless realms: infinite space, consciousness, nothingness and the peak of samsara. Almost all meditations, in which you are thinking nothing, just sitting there, although it may be wonderfully relaxing, from the karmic point of view, you are merely separating your mind from the influence of the direct negative emotions and thereby reduce their impact. Through that it does becomes a virtue, however, it will not be a strong enough virtue to be able to deliver either liberation or enlightenment. Therefore, it only becomes a positive karma that gives you a positive result within the limits of samsara. Please do not think that I am criticizing anybody or any particular practice. I am just stating the facts that I know of. Therefore, we do need to sit in meditation, for hours and days and weeks and months, but just sitting blank will not do that good. The ‘space-like’ concept during the emptiness meditation is only a temporary substitute. The reality of emptiness is the wisdom knowledge you have to have. The least you have to think is that there is no true or intrinsic reality. Just to say that and think that still doesn’t give you the satisfaction of understanding emptiness. ‘Lack of intrinsic reality’ – that in itself is just a language twister or brain teaser. The true reality is that wherever you look, whatever you see, touch, smell, hear or whatever, if you trace it there is nothing. You cannot catch it. You cannot find something that you can ultimately point at and say, ‘This is it’. I talk to you all the time: east never touches west. Even the smallest particle, beyond the smallest size of an atom of neutron, even if there is no more physical size at all, just a vibration or something, even then, no matter how deep down you go, that particle will still be dividable. There will never come a point where a particle cannot be divided. Never ever. The more sophisticated your knowledge and your equipment becomes the more you will be able to see that. That is the reason why there is no ‘This Is It’. Therefore, whatever exists, is more than one singular thing. When you have more than one, it cannot be independent, it becomes dependent. Whatever your level of understanding of emptiness is, you have to apply here. You keep on applying it, to persons, particles, cells, everything. That will give you results. Yes, for years we have been sharing how to overcome hatred through compassion, through patience. But the real key to overcoming all negativities is this very emptiness. This is the one, this is it. (Oh, my god, just now I said, ‘There is no ‘This is it’. But really, the emptiness is it.) That’s why wisdom is so much talked about. This is what you have to keep building up. Audience: To me that is still all just intellectual information. Can you give us a more experiential per- spective? Rimpoche: Well, I have no experience of emptiness. I think when the teachers and commentaries talk about the three kayas, it is an intellectual introduction. It is not just a lama mani, where someone comes with a little thangka, says OM MANI PADME HUM, points to the thangka and tells you, ‘This is the pure land, this is the hell realm, and this is how you go’. That is pointing outside and talking about it. In the three-kaya teaching you will hear, ‘You will experience this, you will experience that.’ The experiential earlier masters are leaving this teaching for us. I believe that is talking about experiential points, rather than pointing at the external things. When in a debate you talk about emptiness, maybe that is intellectual. But when these teachings say, ‘you will see this, you will feel that’, I believe they are talking about experience. You probably have a pre-fabricated idea that everything they say must be a theoretical point, so then you hear and read everything as theoretical. But if you could change that prefabricated idea just

76 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary slightly, you will see that maybe they are talking about experiences. Perhaps if you could visualize a little and follow along with this, maybe you’d have a different perception.

Then, as you read it in the sadhana, from emptiness comes letter YAM and from that the bow-shaped air mandala. RAM becomes a triangular fire mandala, whose edges to not go outside the boundary of the air mandala. On top of this comes from AH a wisdom natured skull cup [kapala]80. Inside are the five meats and five nectars. For example, OM KHAM AM TRAM HUM are the five nectars and LAM MAM PAM TAM BAM are the five meats and those are marked by - OM the initials. The marking business has an important point I would like to mention. The initial marking gives you the special message. With information the message is capable of - KHAM delivering the message. The initials give you the first syllable of the name of whatever the animal is that is used for the offering material, like the elephant meat, horse meat or human - AM meat. The message is that the offering material is just simply name and label. In other words, there is no inherent existence. It exists just as the combination of parts and parcels. It - TRAM is name and introduction only. If you only have the label and don’t have the introduction what it stands for you won’t know, right? So it is not only the label but the introduction to its meaning to project whatever it is. The existence is only this much: introduction and label - HUM combined together. That only is the existence, there is nothing beyond that. These labels and seed syllables are also set up with a zero on the top: LAM MAM PAM LAM TAM BAM. It is not LA MA PA TA BA. In the Tibetan or actually originally Sanskrit system, - the moment the zero comes up on top of any letter it becomes a M [pronounced ma]. So out - MAM of PA it becomes PAM. TA plus the zero becomes TAM. This M or zero is the mother, which is [or indicates] emptiness. That is the reason why the zero or circle is added up on top. - PAM When you generate the inner or outer offering, you do it from emptiness. You don’t get this particular glass of water to become offering water for the feet. It doesn’t become that straight away. It dissolves into emptiness and from there it appears as water for the feet or - TAM whatever. Whenever you say OM SVABHAVA… it dissolves into emptiness. We talk about inner offering materials or outer offering materials and they all dissolve into emptiness. Even - BAM ourselves, before we generate ourselves into the form of the yidam, we have to go into emptiness. From the emptiness we arise as this or that yidam and so on. All is coming out of emptiness. This tells you that emptiness is the essence of existence. Things only exist relatively, in interdependent relationship. When you say that all these are coming out of emptiness it means that emptiness is the essence of existence. If you search and dig for the essence of existence you are not going to find anything - it is empty. That’s what it is. Emptiness is the meaning of interdependent existence. The seed syllables marked by zero means the interdependent existence is empty and vice versa. That says: form is empty and emptiness is form. Even the mandalas are generated out of emptiness and [finally] will be dissolved into emptiness. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Why do we do this exercise of dissolving and generating? We are training ourselves to be able to rise from the [example] clear light of emptiness into an [impure] illusion body. Likewise, that illusory body deity will melt into the absolute clear light. From that you will be able to rise as pure illusory body and from that you will have the combination or union, first with effort and finally effortless. That is what we are taught at the kindergarten level of the vajrayana. The essence message at the ultimate level is also included in it. That is the meaning of ‘Form is Empty, Emptiness is Form’. I believe these things are called profound and secret. You can’t speak everything you think. Honestly, it is profound, secret, but we need to know a little bit.

Above all [the substances] is OM AH HUM, one standing above the other. The moment you say OM AH HUM light is radiated. That invites the power of the buddhas en bodhisattvas and that dissolves to those three letters. HUM drops down first, circles three times clockwise, and melts into the substance. It purifies its

80 For the skull cup see p. 78

Preliminary Practices 77 color, smell and even the proteins and nutrition. This is mother tantra, but still I think this goes clockwise. AH then drops down, circles three times, transforms the ordinary liquid into nectar. OM drops down, circles three times and the nectar becomes inexhaustible. This is all business as usual. Whether you look in Vajrayogini or Yamantaka or anywhere else, it is the same process. Air moves, fire flares, the substances melt and so on. In some sadhanas it is described more elaborately. Here it is quite short, easy. Why is it called inner offering? It is an inner physical body related offering. Although the material used is alcohol or tea or whatever, when you look into [the ritual] it is different meats and different liquids, inner bodily connected materials. 81

<7> Outer offering blessing (Cleanse the offerings with:) OM VAJRA AMRITA KUNDALI HANA HANA HUNG PHAT (purify them into voidness with:) OM SVABHAVA SHUDDAH SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM It becomes voidness. Out of the void, KAM, whence skull vessels. In them, from HUNG, offering substances, whose nature is voidness, whose aspect is to have the aspects of distinct offering substances, and whose function is, as objects of the six senses, to give special uncontaminated bliss (visualize OM AH HUNG sinking into each kapala) OM ARGHAM AH HUNG; OM PADYAM AH HUNG; OM VAJRA PUSHPE AH HUNG; OM VAJRA DHUPE AH HUNG; OM VAJRA ALOKE AH HUNG; OM VAJRA GHANDE AH HUNG; OM VAJRA NYUNDE AH HUNG; OM VAJRA SHABDA AH HUNG This is [blessing] the outer offering. These are external materials. Again, you clear obstacles with OM VAJRA AMRITA KUNDALI HANA HANA HUNG PHAT. Note that the mantra of activity changes with the yidam. In the Yamantaka practice it is OM HRIH STRIH VIKRATA NANA HUNG PHAT; In the Vajrayogini practice it is OM KANDAROHI HUNG HUNG PHAT. Here it is OM VAJRA AMRITA KUNDALI HANA HANA HUNG PHAT. Literally that means ‘nectar-filled wrathful deity’; it is a heavy one with big fat belly. From your heart a number of wrathful deities in the form of whatever the mantra says, come out and you sprinkle from the inner offering. Clearing obstacles here is not talking about external ghosts, but about the obstacles for the individual practitioner, like negative thoughts, negative emotions and negative deeds. For some of us the obstacle is ordinary perception and conceptualization. And for some it is the imprint of ordinariness. You see, the obstacles depend on the practitioner. So, clearing obstacles [means clearing] the ordinariness of whatever you are blessing, and what that exactly is, depends on the practitioner. Remem- ber the blindfold in the initiation. That is very similar to these blessings.

After clearing the obstacles, everything - the physical offerings laid out and those mentally created - become emptiness with the mantra OM SVABHAVA SHUDDAH SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM. From that emptiness comes a letter KAM, and from that a kapala. This is one huge, gigantic kapala with everything inside. Alternatively you can have eight smaller ones with each an item in it. The word nam82 here is plural. So the sadhana here may be saying it are more skull cups.

81 For a detailed explanation of the inner offering in mother tantra, see Gelek Rimpoche, Vajrayogini Teachings, index entrance: blessing inner offering. 82 Sadhana: tong pä ngang lä KAM lä tö pä nö nam kyi

78 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

You may have the offerings physically laid out. However, the offerings you lay out are symbolic offerings. The real offering is what you mentally create, purely, out of emptiness. In reality the offerings are in the nature of the five wisdoms. The letter HUM represents the five wisdoms. There is pure water to drink, pure water to wash the feet, flowers, incense, light, ointment (ghande) [and food]. The ointment what the massage people use. I don’t think it is perfume. It is good-smelling, but not perfume. I went to the Menlha retreat center in upstate New York last summer and there was a guy who had essence oils. He gave a talk about it too. I was looking for the mud essence oil, because I had that before and he told me that he heard about it but that it was very difficult to get. Then I went to India. The person who had given me that before was Rabindabrahma. I went to see him and asked him about the essence of mud oil he had given me twenty years ago. In Hindi that is gil attar and it is the essence of a very specific mud. After a long dry season, when you don’t have rain and then, after the first rain fall in spring, the earth smells very different and that is the essence that is collected. Rabindabrahma said that it is not oil and doesn’t come under the category of essential oil. It is attar. Therefore, the ghande offering can’t be only perfume. It stands for smell and not every smell is perfume. I don’t know what ghande means in Sanskrit but in Tibetan it becomes tri shi and that means ‘best smell’. Then nyunde83 is food and shabda is music. In Tsongkhapa’s system we don’t physically lay out any symbols to represent music, like conch shells or something. Some other traditions do. The offerings have three qualities: their nature is emptiness, they appear as the different offering substances, and their function is to give uncontaminated bliss.

The skull cup. During the time of blessing you mentally generated all these beautiful offerings inside a gigantic skull cup. The commentary says that the skull cup should be white outside and red inside. This is not to get people scared. Nor is it what the Chinese propaganda says, ‘The Tibetan lamas have been killing all these people and collecting their skulls’. (That is also not true. The Chinese did collect lots of skull cups and presented them at an exhibition, as if they had found them in a mass grave.) Rather, it is very symbolic. Another name for the skull cup is dhe kyong. That means: protecting joy. In our Setrab pa practice we have the line: dhe kyong no tu dang wa bul lag na - I offer in the cup of bliss protection…. It is the same as kapala, which is the skull cup. The meaning of dhe kyong is that the basis of joy is the kun du dhe pay jang chub kyi sem – that is the essence in the body, in normal language called semen. But the ordinary semen we release in our ordinary sexual activity is not the ‘real’ thing. It comes out from somewhere near the kidney area. I asked Song Rimpoche about that once. It is a very wrong thing to ask, but I was sometimes a little crazy. In the vajrayana vows you hear that if you let semen drip out that is a downfall. But in our ordinary sexual activity we release a lot of semen. We actually wait for that! True! So I asked Song Rimpoche if you get a downfall for that too. He said, ‘No, in ordinary sex the semen comes from around the kidney area and from places in the lower body.’ That is not the semen that vajrayana is talking about. That semen comes from the brain, from the crown. That’s why the joy is also extraordinarily powerful, but if you lose that semen you die. That is the reason for the rule not to drip semen. Song Rimpoche said, ‘If you drip that there is no question that you die.’ I actually put my question as a joke, ‘Do we lose that when we have ordinary sex? ‘, and he said, ‘I see that you are still here, so what does that tell you?’ So this semen in the crown or brain is protected by the skull. That’s why the skull is called dhe kyong – protecting the joy. The white color on the outside represents the male, the red color on the inside the female. That is why in the Heruka and Vajrayogini practices they always talk about outer white and inner red. The early ‘crazy’ mahasiddhas used to eat and drink out of such skull cups, because they loved joy, they were looking for joy. This particular inner and outer offering doesn’t mention the color of the skull cup, but the idea behind it is that. So, the skull cup is not to frighten people and its main symbolism is not impermanence, although it also serves that purpose. The real reason is what I just told you.

83 Skt. naividya

5. ACCUMULATION OF MERIT

II> Actual Session <1> Accumulation of Merit Merit We covered the beginning part. Now we’re on the actual practice84, which is the development stage.

Inviting the Supreme Field of Merit After doing the blessing you invite the Supreme Field of Merit. I am the divine mother (Tara). In my heart from the TAM letter resting on the moon seat, light rays radiate. From her natural abode they invoke before me the divine mother who is non-dual with the guru surrounded by an assembly of buddhas and bodhisattvas. As you can read in the sadhana, you are in the form of Tara. Light comes out from your heart, from the letter TAM. Tara who is inseparable from the lama is invited from wherever she is, surrounded by buddhas and bodhisattvas. They come and sit in front in space.

Actually, you know we made this book mark as an outline for the Odyssey to Freedom. Just like that, for the vajrayana, more or less based on Cittamani Tara, Aura made an attempt to put a book mark together. That one does not have as many steps, maybe thirty-seven. It is not finalized yet, but you will get it soon. The first one in that I noticed is called: Lama Yidam Inseparable. This is right, because here in this case the field of accumulation of merit you invite is Tara and her mandala, inseparable from the lama.

Prostration or praise … la ma rin chen ta bu yi … O Guru, Vajra holder, Your body like a magic gem, Your kindness instantaneously Lets me reach the great bliss state, I bow to the lotus of your foot! You will find this praise everywhere. The word rinpoche means ‘the most precious’. That is what lama rinchen says. So I don’t need to explain it here. Then you say: dak gi tse rap ngön nä drup pä lha…. Deity, whom I have practiced in previous lives, divine activities of all the three times Buddhas, green, one-faced, two-armed, swift bringer of peace,

84 For the outlines see the Appendix. 80 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

O Mother who holds an utpala, homage to you! Whether she is white or green or blue or yellow, we always build the connection, the relationship between us and Tara. There maybe one or two people here, who for the first time make a connection with Tara. But most of us, almost all of us, do have a very long connection with Tara. That is why this verse says: Deity, whom I have practiced in previous lives… Lha – deity- God. That is a very direct translation, except for one thing. Nowadays, most translators translate Lha as ‘deity’ in order to avoid confusion. I am noticing that the translations of the early Tibe- tologists like Sarat Chandra Das and Sir Basil Gold or to a certain extent Hugh Richardson, while not the best English, were much better than today’s translations. I don’t know why, but they are. The earlier translators would have translated lha as ‘God’, with capital G. And if you look at the meaning of a mandala, the intention really is that. The central person in the mandala is God. There is only one God in there. In the Tara mandala that is Tara. In the Yamantaka mandala that is Yamantaka, and so on. So to translate lha as ‘deity’ means to lose some of its value. However, if you do translate it as ‘God’, it will cause great confusion for a lot of people. You have to know all this. So the meaning of the first line of that verse is: The God with whom I had a relationship for many life times. Talking about lha and deity, the term yidam is the real answer in between. It gives the perfect meaning and less confusion, because nobody knows what this term really means. Maybe that is better. Those who know about it, they know. They [initially] have to take a little trouble looking into it and then they have to know. That is better. Then it says, ‘You Tara, the female one, are the activities of the enlightened ones in past, present and future.’ It says, ‘In this case you are green, one face, two armed (in other cases you are ‘white, one faced, two armed). You are the mother of all enlightened beings, who holds and utpala. I prostrate to you.’

Offering to the Field of Merit Then you make the actual offering to Lama Tara. What do you offer? The outer offerings that you have blessed. Who are doing it? The offering deities manifested from your heart. To show the activity of offering, you have the hand gestures That goes as follows: You snap your fingers, the offering deity comes out, you make the lotus mudra at the heart level and she dances in three rounds, carrying the offering. The dancing should be very smooth and swift, so you perform the mudras gracefully. The finger snapping is the indication of the manifestation. Snapping your fingers outwards indicates manifestation of offering deities for offering to others; snapping your fingers inwards indicates manifestation of offering deities for offering to oneself as a deity. After the offering you dissolve the deities back to your heart by snapping your fingers inwards.

If you have time, after having offered water for the mouth you dissolve the offering deity back by snapping your fingers inwards and you snap your fingers outward to get a new offering deity to pour the water for the feet, etc. 85 So now it goes: OM GURU ARYA TARA SAPARIWARA ARGHAM, PADYAM, PUSHPE, DHUPE, ALOKE, GANDHE, NAIVIDYA, SHABDA PRATICCHA HUM SVAHA

argham padyam pushpe dhupe aloke gandhe naividya shabda water mouth water feet flowers incense light scented water food music The mudras are the same as for all other maha anu yoga tantras, so not like in kriya tantra. Why are you making offerings and praises? You try to accumulate merit. Remember, according to the Seven Limbs to

85 For more details on the offering deities and on the mudras, see Gelek Rimpoche, Vajra Yogini Teachings, index entrance: ‘offering deities’ and ‘mudras’ respectively.

Accumulation of Merit 81 rejoice is the best way to accumulate merit. To praise Tara in this way is an activity of rejoicing and does accumulate a lot of merit. Then, naturally, to make offerings is also accumulation of merit, especially to your own supreme field of merit. That is far better than anything you could give to anybody else.

Seven Purities I take refuge in the Three Jewels I confess one by one all sins I rejoice in beings’ virtue I embrace the Buddha enlightenment In Buddha, Dharma and the Holy Community, I take refuge until enlightenment, To fulfill the aims of self and others, I conceive the spirit of enlightenment Having conceived that spirit of best enlightenment, May I entertain all beings as my guests, May I engage in beautiful best deeds of enlightenment, To help beings, may I attain Buddhahood Merit alone cannot function. Therefore we take vows, the refuge and the bodhisattva vow, both in prayer and action form.86

The Four immeasurables Here we don’t have the vajrayana vows, but we do have the Four Immeasurables. They are called ‘immeasurable’ because you can’t even imagine how great it is. There is the immeasurable compassion, the immeasurable joy, the immeasurable equanimity and the immeasurable love. May all beings have happiness May they be free from suffering, May they have the joy that has never known suffering, May they be free from attachment and hatred. I would like to remind you of one thing. Out of the Four Immeasurables, the immeasurable compassion is not the Great Compassion we always talk about. There is a big difference, although it is the same name. Dr. Allan Wallace gave a presentation on this in Washington, using Power Point. He said it means ‘I wish that all sentient beings may be free of suffering. How wonderful if they were free of suffering. I will pray for that and I will act for that.’ When you say ‘how wonderful if… free of suffering’, that is compassion. Thurman was quick to point out that this is the Four Immeasurable part of it, not the Great Compassion.’ There is a big difference and you have to know all this.87 The fourth one, the equanimity, is tricky. The idea of equality is also in there. There are materials available on [different types of equanimity], in particular in the Lojong.88

Absorption of the Field of Merit (Visualize:) tsok zhing nam rang la tim pä jin gyi lap par gyur The Field of Merit sinks into me, inspiring me. Finally the Supreme Field of Merit dissolves to ourselves. In Vajrayogini you dissolve the lama in the form of a red bird-egg sized light ball to your crown. Here nothing is mentioned specifically, but what-

86 Also see Gelek Rinpoche, Vajra Yogini Teachings, index entry: seven pure practices. 87 For Great Compassion, see p. 88 88 See Gelek Rimpoche, Lojong – Training of the Mind in Seven Points. Point Two.

82 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary ever it is, it has to dissolve to our crown in the form of light. Just dissolving is not enough. Dissolving always has activities. It is the cause of joy. So again you have to focus on joy. [The sadhana says:] (As the absorption progresses, the visions produced at death by the absorption of the elements, etc, occur): 7 1 Field of Merit and universal environment 6 sinks into you as Tara: mirage vision 2 Tara absorbs into TAM: smoke vision 5

3 A-chung absorbs into TA: vision of sparks 4

4 TA-body into head: dim flame vision 5 TA head into crescent: white vision 3

6 Crescent into dot: red vision 7 Dot into flame (nada): dark vision 8 Flame disappears: clear light vision89 2

Next will be the Dharmakaya, again with OM SVABHAVA…So there is a link between the dissolution and the dharmakaya. We have concluded the outline: accumulation of [merit] merit. Now we are getting to the level of accumulating wisdom merit. The three-kaya practice is what we call development stage in the maha anuyoga tantra.

89 For the meditation, see p. 106.

Accumulation of Merit 83

6. THREE-KAYA PRACTICE

Development stage What is the development stage? We need to discuss it a little bit before we read the sadhana. I do have to touch on that question, although I have been sort of bypassing it all the time. I intended just to run through the sadhana or the commentary, but you really need to know what the development stage is. You may have the idea that it builds up or goes on, developing one by one and so on. I am going to explain to you the essence of the development stage, but it might not be a perfect explanation, i.e. it may not be able to stand against some scholarly arguments. However, what you really need here is a practice, right? When you practice, on what basis do you practice? What do you practice? What do you gain? These are three most important things: • On what basis are you doing something? [Base] • What are you doing? [Path] • What you are going to get? [Result] It is important to recognize the basis you are working on, what you are doing, and what you are hoping to gain. By doing that, by recognizing and understanding that, you will be able to have the three-kaya practice on that. You have to have the essence of the three-kaya practice put on this basis. Then that yoga or that mind is actually simply your own projection, and your own creation. It is not naturally developed; it is built in, projected. The base on which you are working, and the path which you are utilizing, which means what you do, and then the result that you want to achieve – that has to be recognized together with the important points of the three kayas. This creates and projects something that you would almost call ‘false’. It is not naturally coming in, it is not real; it is a ‘falsely’ projected yoga or practice. You don’t really have the three kayas, you don’t have dharmakaya, the sambhogakaya or the nirmanakaya, but you are projecting them, you are thinking that you have them, and you are presuming they are there. It is a false projection, not wrong in the sense of right and wrong, but in the sense of not really being there. Audience: Imaginative or artificial? Rimpoche: Artificial, thank you. Audience 2: Simulated? Rimpoche: There you go, all that. I think Ganden Tri Rimpoche90 uses the term ‘Virtual Reality’. So it is not reality; it is a hologram. Audience 3: I would like to avoid that for the computer sense because the question is whether it exists or not. Audience 4: The hologram? Audience 3: The virtual reality. I think I said it is a bit dangerous. Anybody who knows computers will be lead in the wrong direction. Audience 4: Not necessarily. It is a device you use for development but it is not reality itself

90 Rimpoche was here teasing Robert Thurman, who holds the Je Tsongkhapa Chair at Columbia University. The Ganden Tripa is the Throne Holder of Ganden. 86 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Rimpoche: That’s right. Again, what are the criteria of the development stage? Number one, to recognize the base on which you practice; number two, what you are going to practice; number three, what is the result. Recognize all these three very carefully, and the yoga you going to apply to that is not real, but simulated. For example, before we started Cafe Tibet, I saw Supa creating a diagram on the computer, and he showed me exactly what the layout of the cafe was going to look like, where the chairs were going to be, how big the space was going to be, how many people could sit in, and so on. Generally, the development stage is only a projection, and there’s nothing sort of real, but that doesn’t mean it is not true. It is not naturally created; it does not naturally pop up yet. It is all a mentally projected imagining which you build up with a lot of effort and then try to hold on to. Then you try to function in that imagined state that you have projected. The difference in the completion stage is that it is not projected, that you might not have to put efforts. At the development stage level everything is totally imagined and projected. You try to hang on to that and try to perceive it. Such a yoga is really called development stage. That is what I want to project first from these Tara’s Notes.

Reason for the development stage. So, why do we have the development stage? It is the training period for the individual to have perfection at the completion stage. It is like a dress rehearsal. Perfection means: without effort, without forcing it, without projecting it, but able to naturally happen. The perfect completion stage should be called ‘Natural Flow’. Right now, since it is not a natural flow, it is artificially created. If we call the completion stage ‘yoga of perfection’ we have to call the development stage ‘imperfect, created yoga’. We are creating, forcing it, pushing it with effort. In order ripen your mind for the completion stage, you are working with imagination, mental creation, projection and picturing. The word in Ti- betan is tak pey nal jor91, which means ‘labeled yoga’. You make it, force it, push it in and label it. The completion stage is naturally happening. In order to make this possible, you have to first artificially create and label it at the development stage. The completion stage is not created, not labeled; it is perfect. Therefore, the development stage is the training, the rehearsal. That is the difference between development- and completion stage. In order to obtain the enlightened stage of the three kayas it is necessary to have the not created, not made up, but natural flow of the three kayas of the completion stage. In order to do that you use the labeling, creative development stage. Ke rim92, development stage is also called ming ke93, the ripening stage. It is like a ripening fruit. Making it to ripe is development stage, when it is ripened it is completion stage. The ripening three kayas should become the totally ripened enlightened three kayas. Level 1 is making it to ripen, Level 2, it ripens, Level 3, this ripening brings forth the genuine, enlightened, totally ripened three kayas. You can think in terms of three stages where one pushes the next. It is almost like in the Lamrim, where the [realization of the] importance of life automatically leads to [the realization of] its rarity. Just like that. One level system- atically pushes you to the next, transferring the individual to the next stage. This happens through the individual’s practice experience. That is how it works. We need the definition of what the development stage is. The definition of the development stage is: jang zhi, jong se, jang de ngo tro pey go ne.94

Remember, in the initiation of Vajrayogini the most important part is not the vase, secret, wisdom and word initiation, but something else… Audience: The outer, inner and secret Dakini. Rimpoche: That is right. But what is happening with these three dakinis? Audience: No answer. Rimpoche: So you heard something but you don’t know what that means. The real initiation in Vajrayog- ini is the perfect introduction to the outer, inner and secret Dakini.

91 btags pa’i rnal byor 92 bskyed rim 93 smin bskyed 94 The base you work on, the path you take and the result you hope to gain

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Base, path and result Just like that, over here in Cittamani Tara you need three things: 1. the base on which you are working - jang zhi95 2. the method or path you are using - jong se96 3. the result that you hope to get - jang de97 In other words: 1. what do you work with? 2. with what method? 3. what do you expect to gain? Simply: 1. what is the capital that you have to work with? 2. what is your trade or what technique are you going to apply? 3. what is your aim? I am just trying to put it into a language you can understand. It is not written in stone. So, the capital that you work with is your death, bardo and rebirth. That is what we have. That is not a mystery or secret. It is there. The method you are using is the three-kaya practice. The goal you hope to gain is the real three kayas of enlightenment. Right now, this has to be an artificial, projected yoga. But the goal you want to reach is like the real amount, not the projected, speculative figures. When you really look at it, you could say: 1. what do you invest? 2. in what business? 3. what is your projected profit? If you are a student it would be as follows: 1. your capital is your brain and your time 2. your method is learning 3. your aim is a degree If you are an artist: 1. your investment is your brain and your creativity 2. your method is painting, singing, weaving, or whatever 3. your result is the end product So you really have to know what you are doing. Importance of the three-kaya practice. The three-kaya practice combined with your investment and the artificially created yoga is the definition of the development stage. Without the three-kaya practice you would simply be visualizing yourself in the form of a deity, with nothing deeper going on. The three-kaya practice makes the difference between the kriya-, charya- or yoga tantra [on one side] and the maha anu yoga tantra. Kriya and charya [just] have the purity of visualizing yourself in form of a yidam. E.g. in White Tara you are meditating yourself into the form of the yidam. There are activities and chakras.98 They are all there, yet there is nothing directly contradicting the root of all problems, the ego, directly. That’s why the three-kaya practice is necessary. Even though [during the development stage] it is an artificially created yoga, even so it is necessary.

Base, path and result in the dharmakaya 1. The base on which we are working, called base dharmakaya, is the ordinary death. 2. At the path level the dharmakaya has to help us to ripen the example- and absolute clear light. 3. At the result level we should be able to bring [about] the real dharmakaya.

95 sbyang gzhi - basis of purification, the ground that is to be purified; the ground that is to be purified; ground to be refined 96 sbyang sa pa - training, practice, be educated, experienced, purify, cleared away 97 sbyangs ‘bras - outcome of purification, refined result 98 See Gelek Rimpoche, Healing and Self-healing through White Tara; CH. VIII.

88 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Even in the sutra system we talk about the base, path and result. In there, we say: the base is the two truths, the path is wisdom and method, and the result is rupakaya and dharmakaya. So it is a very fundamental principle: the base on which you work, the path you apply and the result you hope to get.

This base, path and result is a very important thing in every Buddhist practice. Even at the beginning, in the guru yoga, base, path and result are necessary. Also in order to realize the precious human life you have to have those, otherwise you lose the foundation, you haven’t landed, are not grounded. If you have a base you are working on and an aim you are working towards then you are grounded. Otherwise, it will be love and light business. Love and light doesn’t have any framework. Everything is great. ‘I feel it is right’. Sometimes that is irritating. When everything is right and wonderful, what can you do? Everything is ha ha ha. There is a Tibetan saying about abbots and caretakers in the monasteries: Even if your offerings are eaten by the dogs, you just smile: ha ha ha. If your temple is catching fire and everything is burning down you still go: ha ha ha. That is a sign that you are not grounded. So you need a goal to work for. Of course, we all hope to get fully enlightened, to become buddhas. That is good, but it is too general a goal, not specific enough. Saying, ‘the base is ‘me’, the path is ‘Dharma’, the result is ‘Buddha’, that is too general. Maybe it is a little better than love and light, but not specific enough. You have to know more specifically, where you are and what you want. I say very often: Bite what you can chew. On the development stage level, of course you are dealing with dharmakaya, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya. But we really hope that we will be able to make the transition from the artificially created yoga to the non-artificial, real yoga. That means you have something solid to work on. Likewise, you work on the bardo, trying to improve the impure and pure illusion body, which finally contributes to bringing about the sambhogakaya level. Likewise you work on the rebirth. On the path level you contribute to the ability of the illusion body to transit to the gross nirmanakaya level. That is taking rebirth as nirmanakaya. When you say the sadhana with all that in mind, you will begin to realize how serious you are, how grounded you are, how seriously you are working. At that level you will see it, otherwise you won’t. That much just to give you a basic idea.

Great compassion as motivation. When you enter into this, the motivation has to be compassion. Here we are talking only about great compassion. The other types of compassion are not even being considered here. Except for great compassion, none of them are good enough. The focal point of great compassion is all sentient beings. The aspect of the mind is being unable to bear their suffering. Seeing all sentient beings suffering so much, is unbearable. So you have got to do something. You don’t know what do, so therefore you have attain the stage of Lama Arya Tara. [So you think:] Within this session alone, right in this sitting I would like to obtain the wisdom dharmakaya of Lama Arya Tara. From there I will rise into the sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya and help all beings to obtain the same level. This motivation is always applicable to every practice of maha anuyoga tantra. Result-oriented practice. When the level of transition comes you almost have to project that this is my dharmakaya, my sambhogakaya, my nirmanakaya. You have to think: This is. You don’t say: this will be. Why? This is a result-oriented practice, not a cause-oriented one. You pretend to be at that level already, although you are not. So you say: It is. We are functioning as though we have already achieved what we want. We don’t think that we work to get there, but think that we are already functioning on that level. It is very efficient organization. When you start work you are already functioning at the achievement level, rather than trying to achieve something.

<2> Actual Practice – Accumulation of Wisdom Merit We are reaching to the actual practice level. Basically, we should make two outlines: 1. In order to accomplish our personal needs: three-kaya practice

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2. In order to accomplish the needs of others: offerings, prayers, mantra recitation.

In order to complete our own personal purpose, the practice of the three kayas Introduction into the three kayas We have to go through the three kayas one by one, and then, in order to accomplish benefiting others you have making offerings, praise and recitation. Both of these are part of the development stage. Within the development stage we have Death as dharmakaya; Bardo as sambhogakaya, and Re- birth as nirmanakaya. So, if you say ‘Death as’ it signifies that it does not become a total reality.

Working on the basis of our future death. In the explanation of the development stage first we look at the base, then comes the path, and then the result. The base for the Dharmakaya here is the actual death which the yogi or yogini is going to experience. That is what you are working on, your subject. You try to practice on that to try to gain the Clear Light [the path]. And that’s not enough. The final result level to be accomplished will be the Dharmakaya. Remember, this is a simulated yoga, an imaginative yoga. I am not going to go into the death process in detail and tell you about the signs of death.99 You know that already. But you have to be able to understand the Death-as-Dharmakaya practice and the criteria of that. You should definitely be working on the basis of the future death which is bound to be experienced by the yogi or yogini – your own future death.

Prepare now. Of course, we could just die and take rebirth without doing anything. But on the other hand we came into this life completely loaded with positive and negative imprints. We carry all that karma, emotions, karmic needs, karmic consequences. When you look to the future, you have to be well-packed, that means take with you what you need and discard what you don’t need. What you need to pack is called ‘relative merit collection’. What you don’t need, what you discard, comes within the collection of wisdom merit. This may not be called that way in the teaching tradition, but according to my understanding and interpretation wisdom is mainly about discarding what you don’t need. Both, packing and unpacking is done in accordance with our own experience. There is an expression: prepare now in accordance to how you want to experience the future. In other words, you imagine what you are going to be in future. When you project that, you prepare accordingly. For example, if you want to be a King of Shambala, you have to prepare for it here, or if you just want to be comfortable, you prepare that here. Remember the story of Longdol Lama. I shared this story somewhere earlier. Longdol Lama was a simple monk, a true simple monk. He was very famous too, very very well-known. One day the Panchen Lama came into the area. Longdol Lama was already quite old then. He was unable to go and see the Panchen Lama. So he sent a gift through somebody and asked the Panchen Lama, ‘Please tell me whether my wish will be fulfilled or not.’ So the Panchen Lama recognized, ‘Ah, the Longdol Lama, yes, yes.’ When he got that message he said, ‘Oh, he wants me to check? All right.’ So he threw the dice a few times and then said, ‘Oh my God, I did not know that such a simple monk has such a huge desire. But tell him, that it will be okay. It is done. It is ready.’ Now, what Longdol Lama wanted was to become King of Shambala. That’s why the Panchen Lama got the biggest shock when he got that message. That is what I mean by figuring out what you are aiming at for your future. Then you know how to prepare accordingly. That is the packing part. That is accumulation of merit. Tara herself confirms that.

What to do at the time of death Now, I’ll like to talk to you about something else related to this subject. That is, when you die, what do you do? I get this question very often. I’d like to talk about that topic today. People like us who have received initiation, we try to keep some commitments, we try to say some sadhanas and a few mantras here and there; we understand a little bit about the development stage, ke

99 For the dissolution process, see p. 82. For more elaborate teachings on it see Gelek Rimpoche, Solitary Yamantaka, Teachings on the Generation Stage; index entrance ‘eight stages of dissolution at death’.

90 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary rim, and that’s where we are. That’s our level, but we don’t have anything very concrete yet. If we are about to die while we are at this level, what shall we do? The biggest point for us to remember here is that as human beings we normally have very strong attachment to our wealth. So first of all, it is very important to make it very clear where your savings, in- vestments, insurance and all of them are going to go. You have to spend more or less most of them to be able to create some positive karma. People actually have the strongest attachment to the label, their name, their popularity or fame, and their work. (Normally in Tibet, in the good old tradition, you don’t have to say those words, just pull on your earlobe and people understand.) We have very strong attachment to food and clothes, and to name and fame. Out of these, it is very easy to give up the attachment for food and things like clothes. The attachment to the name and fame is the worst. People hold that very often. Even the meditating person, who gave up everything and meditates in no man’s land up in the mountains in the snow, occasionally cannot give up this longing for recognition, hoping that there may be somebody, some shepherd who looks after the sheep, who will know that they are meditating up there. They think, ‘Hopefully that shepherd will go down and talk to the village people and tell them that there is a great meditator up here!’ These kinds of examples were given by the great early masters. Now we can figure out where we are ourselves. This is one of the reasons why I told people not to carry their malas around, not to look funny etc. I have no objection to malas, I even don’t have much objection to funny looks [or appearance]; my objection is that people may show off, ‘I am somebody different and greater than you.’ That is the major point of objection. That is the attachment of hoping that somebody will acknowledge you. It is the hope for recognition. Even the spiritual practitioners have that. That’s why cutting that attachment is the most important thing before you die. Otherwise it can hold you back for quite a while. You can give up everything, no big deal, but you cannot give up the ‘ear lobe’. Most of our negative emotions also due to the ‘ear lobe’. You have to cut that off first, making sure that you have no attachment to retinue, family, body, wealth, and everything. That is important. Secondly, do purification. Purify all negativities in general and particularly broken commitments. Purify all of them very strongly in the presence of Lama, yidam, mandala, or whatever. Thirdly, dedicate all your virtues to all sentient beings, thinking that for their purpose you would like to obtain the state of a Buddha as quickly as possible. Then, when you have those signs [of the dying process] coming, meditate yourself in the form of the yidam. In your mind, think, ‘I am going to transform this ordinary death that I am bound to experience into the wisdom death level, and then I’ll come back in physical form, whether in a Pure Land somewhere or as a human being. I will come back to help.’ Let’s say you are [in the form of] Yamantaka, or Tara, or Vajrayogini, or Heruka. Next thing in that situation you meditate the union of male and female deity. From the point of joining of the sexual organs, a blue light comes out, a joyful natured blue light. This dissolves the mandala and the whole environment into the body of Yamantaka, and every sentient being now becomes Yamantaka, or Tara, or Vajrayogini or Heruka or whatever. Try to hold that projection of joy as much as you can. Then absorb all these signs one after another, and finally, when you get to the point where ultimately even the nada doesn’t exist, then you acknowledge Dharmakaya wisdom, and think, ‘That is actually what I am.’ If you can go onto that level there is a great chance of connecting the child-like clear light with the mother-like clear light. That is the number one way you can help yourself.

How to help a dharma friend who is dying No attachment. Now, let’s say some Dharma friend is dying. If you happen to be there, what can you do to help the person? By the time he or she realizes that he or she is going to go, and by the time when you realize you are there to help, remember, the first thing is to help them not to have attachment to anything.

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Attachment is such a funny thing, you can be attached to anything. It doesn’t have to have any value or importance. It can be some kind of two dollar note or something. Find out very carefully and help them let go of any attachment at all. Purification and Prayer. Help the person purify negativities by using the Four Powers. Dedicate all virtues in order to obtain enlightenment. Pray to the Lama-yidam and all of them. Dissolving system. Help the dying person say the sadhanas and generate the dissolving system as we have mentioned. Talk in the language they understand, and make it loud and clear, and not too many things. Not too fast. Nobody will understand, even in life, and when you are dying, it is very hard to understand. Speak clearly and loudly without hesitation, without creating doubt, nicely. Try to remind the person of the stages of the death process. External signs of dying. Then, after a little while, you begin to see that the person’s body can no longer move. That is the earth element dissolving into the water element. Next you begin to see the lips becoming dry, and the tongue is dry and some kind of funny coating appears on the teeth and so on. At that point, you know that the water element has dissolved into the fire element. Then, you can see that the heat in the body is getting lost. You can really observe that. The heat is supposed to absorb from all ends of the body, and the final heat remains at the heart level. That is the sign of the fire element dissolving into the air element. Finally, naturally, the breathing stops, and that is the outer sign that the air element dissolves into consciousness. When you are seeing the external signs, it is helpful if you can talk to the person nicely, with understanding. That’s very helpful. That is how you say goodbye to the person. After that there are no more external signs. Then you have to figure it out by yourself, you have to imagine. You have to make a decision by yourself. That is how you can help the person to die. Phowa. If there is a person who doesn’t know anything about that, if there is no knowledge of ke rim and nothing of that sort, then if you know how to use the phowa, use that. I am not going to talk detailedly on that here, because this is not the time for me to talk about phowa [transference of consciousness]. If the person does not have the practice of phowa, and you have little understanding of ke rim, you might not be able to do much [beyond praying to the Lama yidam and all enlightened beings].

What to do in case of a sudden death If all of a sudden you die, what should you do? What can you do if you die all of a sudden? Buddha has given five interesting points to remember. 1. Point number one, remember emptiness. 2. Point number two, remember compassion. 3. Point number three, imagine [or recognize] that your own mind and others’ minds, although having temporary blocks and obstacles, are in absolute reality pure. 4. Point number four, have no attachment. 5. Point number five, remember the Buddha nature within yourself. We somehow do not recognize it now, but we don’t have to search outside, it is within ourselves. If you die thinking within those points, that is another way of going. At the time of dying it is not going to be easy to try to remember. Therefore it is good if you could practice a little bit occasionally by yourself, just like when you learn phowa – you practice it occasionally and when you need it, it will be there. Likewise here, first learn and remember, then occasionally think about it, and then if the need is there, then you can use it. If you don’t think about it, then at the time when you realize you are going to die, you will think, ‘Well, I have some five points somewhere - where are they?’ The telephone’s not working; the person you want to ask is not available to answer you; you cannot find your notes, and so on. That is not very helpful. If it remains in some tape recorder or some notes, then it doesn’t help. That’s why we need occasionally to remember these points, once a month, or maybe twice a month or something, and then when the emergency comes, it is available to you. It is because we are talking about Death as Dharmakaya that I want to share that with you. Actually, chances are that there are only very few people who have the practice of Death as Dharmakaya. We are

92 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary bound to go in some different way anyway, so that’s why we have those other points. Let met talk to you about the Five Powers.

The five powers at the time of death In the Lama Chöpa it says in the section of Overviewing the Stages of the Path If my death should come before I enter the path Bless me to reach a pure land, Through applying the instructions on the five powers, The supremely powerful method of transference to buddhahood. This set of five forces or powers in this verse is not exactly the same as the five points I just counted. When you know you have a chronic fatal disease, you can’t help it, you have got to go. It is the reality that will come to all of us, one time or another, nobody knows when. If it doesn’t come for another two hundred years, we’ll be very happy, if you can manage that long a life. But it is bound to come. 1. The force of the white seed. That is almost the same as before, having no attachment for anything, particularly money, wealth, paintings, instruments, antiques, and also family, children, pets and so on. That doesn’t mean that you don’t care about them. Take care of them in whatever way you can. Try to settle as much as you can from your own point of view. Remember, you are not going to have even a penny to take with you. Your name and your work may continue, however, it is no longer your work, it is your past work. Even a book you published is not your book any more, it is your past work somebody else is publishing. So cutting attachment is called the power of the white seed. 2. The force of prayer. You are praying that you want to go to a Dakini Pure Land, or Tushita, or any great place wherever you want. It is making up your mind and praying that you may take rebirth there and dedicating your positive karma for that. 3. The force of the antidote. Again, recognize that the ego and ego-grasping is your enemy. Recog- nize it as the internal enemy you want to destroy and make sure you are not used as its servant under any circumstances. 4. The force of the determination. It is the thought that, ‘No matter what pain or unconsciousness I have to go through, whatever I will experience at that level of dying, I will try not to forget, I don’t want to be unable to concentrate; I will remember and concentrate, I would like to do that.’ 5. The force of familiarity. You have to get used to such a practice, so that any illness you get won’t make you forget. Think, ‘I may become unconscious or I may have so much pain that it may be hard to remember anything, but I will not let that happen, I will remember.’ Keep on thinking that very often, meaning: get used to it. Practicing that occasionally, trying not to forget, becomes the power of getting used to it. These are the five forces, and these are real business, you know. It is not joking; it is real business, because we will go through that at one time or another. I hope those five forces are useful for you. It is a Vajrayana teaching not normally taught at this three-kaya practice level Still, I thought it would be useful. Rely on Lama-Buddha-Yidam. Then in the worst of worst cases, if even that can’t help, then remember the Guru, remember Buddha, remember your yidams, and rely on them. These are a couple of choices that Buddha recommended, that many great masters one after another have told us, shared with us, and even showed us. Sometimes people call me when one of their friends is dying and they don’t know what to do. When you call me, what can I say on the phone? I normally say, ‘Do your usual practice.’ True. If your usual practice is unable to help, then what’s the use of doing your practice? That is very true, but now we have taught you also these other things than can be added up on that.

Clear Light. During the practice period you are trying to imaginatively gain the Clear Light. That’s why they say that there is this mixture of Clear Light and death, of Illusion Body and dream and so on. There are nine mixings.100 We will go into that later. The mixture of sleep and death and Dharmakaya and Clear

100 See Rimpoche’s transcript Guru Devotion, How to integrate the primordial mind, under verse 76.

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Light comes in because what you are trying to do is use a shortcut, you are trying to reach the point of Dharmakaya by way of the Clear Light, through the way of death and through the way of sleep. On what ground are you playing? Your future death. What are you playing? The Clear Light. And what are you hoping to get? Your Dharmakaya. Recognize these three. The yoga you are practicing is an imagined or simulated yoga. This is Death as Dharmakaya at the level of the development stage. At the level of completion stage you do the same thing, but then the purpose and everything will be shifted. Here I am not giving you the definition but the understanding of the development stage itself. Similarly, the Sambhogakaya. What basis are you playing on in this case? You are playing on the basis of the bardo, you are trying to practice and make it perfect. You are trying to gain the Illusion Body and you are trying to ripen the virtuous cause to awaken the state of Sambhogakaya. Therefore, if you try to ripen the cause to develop Sambhogakaya, it is automatically pushing to gain and develop Sambhoga- kaya itself. This is also a simulated yoga because it is not actually there; it is an imaginative yoga.

Five qualities of the Sambhogakaya. Basically you have Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya. The Dharmakaya is actually a mental state, and the Sambhogakaya is a shift between the mental state and physical state. The Sambhogakaya is the first level of the physical state of the enlightened level which also has five qualities. 1. It is timeless or rather of indefinite or timeless time. [time] 2. It gives definite teachings, Mahayana-Vajrayana teachings only. [teachings] 3. It is a very defined, exclusive club into which only exclusive members are allowed. [students] 4. It is a very exclusive place where not just anyone can enter. [place] 5. Sambhogakaya beings all have the major and minor signs; all these funny looking ‘fixtures’ are there. [body] Now we are trying to have this Sambhogakaya correspond to the bardo or in between state. We are playing with the bardo, and trying to shape the physical qualitative form through an imaginative, simulated yoga. That is why we call it Bardo as Sambhogakaya at the development stage level. Audience: So it is merely a projection of a physical state? Rimpoche: Yes, it is a simulated or artificial projection. It is not the real Sambhogakaya. Audience: Doesn’t that correspond to the dream state? Rimpoche: Yes, right, it corresponds to dreaming. Audience: You said that the Illusion Body also corresponds with the bardo? Rimpoche: Did I? Then if it is so, there may be two types of Illusion Body - a gross level and a subtle level. It probably works that way. The gross first, the subtle later. Audience: Can you please clarify which is the gross Illusion body, and which is the subtle Illusion body? Rimpoche: The first gross body which you develop is the gross Illusion Body; and then the refined body will be the subtle Illusion body.

Now, let’s move to Birth as Nirmanakaya. It is the same process. The Nirmanakaya here is working on the basis of rebirth - your own future rebirth. First you establish what you are practicing on or playing with. Here it is your own future, the virtue which delivers the Nirmanakaya itself.

Summary and further remarks on the development stage There still seems to be some confusion, so let me go back once again. At the beginning of the development stage, it is important to establish on what ground you practice, what you practice, and what you hope to gain. You have to recognize them all and have the essence of the three-kaya practice within that. Such a simulated yoga is called development stage. Let that be clear, and let it be there. The question now arises, if you don’t have those three things we mentioned over here, but you have generated yourself as yidam, and even meditated a mandala and so on, will that be a development stage? No, it will not. For example, in the White Tara practice, we generate ourselves in the form of White Tara, and we have all kinds of activities going on such as healing, rejuvenating, etc. The yidam even has its body, and the shells and all of those things are there, but that is not a development stage practice because

94 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary it is not dealing with the Dharmakaya, nor with the Sambhogakaya, nor with the Nirmanakaya. You are neither training your death, nor your bardo or rebirth and therefore, that is not considered a development stage.

Development stage practice has to be practicing and training and actually perfecting the future death by trying to gain the Exemplary and the Actual Clear Light. You are simulating the virtue which you generate as the Exemplary and Actual Clear Light and which will automatically create the Dharmakaya. Such a simulated yoga will be called death as Dharmakaya practice. Next you are trying to perfect the [future] bardo, you are trying to develop the Impure and Pure Illu- sion Bodies, to simulate the virtue which is directly developing the Impure and Pure Illusion Body. That automatically brings about the Sambhogakaya. Such a simulated yoga will be called Taking bardo as the path to Sambhogakaya. (Actually we should not say Bardo as Sambhogakaya, but Taking bardo as the path to Sambhogakaya. That means: bardo should be taken as the path which leads to Sambhogakaya.) Then, the Nirmanakaya practice tries to [have a] perfect rebirth. What is the simulated virtue here? It is the virtue of the person who is on the Illusion Body level and who has not attained the Nirmanakaya yet. So it is the virtue which simulates the gross Nirmanakaya for the person who is on the level of the Illusion Body, whether pure or impure. The purpose of Nirmanakaya is not to develop the gross or subtle Illusion Body, but the person who is on the Illusion Body level will simulate, will try to grow and develop the Nirmanakaya. Some confusion may arise and that is because of differences between Father and Mother tantra. We will sort it out gradually, but right now, we go in accordance to the Mother Tantra. So it is from the Illu- sion Body that the practitioner will simulate to create the gross level of Nirmanakaya, which means that the Nirmanakaya will be created anyway. The result you hope to gain is the Nirmanakaya. That is called Taking Rebirth as the Path to the Illusion Body which will lead to the Nirmanakaya.

Audience: I thought you would use the term Emanation Body instead of Nirmanakaya. Rimpoche: That’s fine. Nirmana [Sanskrit] is manifestation or emanation so that is fine. It can be interpreted in that way. Audience: What is the difference between Exemplary Clear Light and Example Clear Light? Exemplary has a different meaning than example. Rimpoche: You want to become an editor? You are welcome. You have a point, I know that. Audience: The teachings use the term Child Clear Light and Mother Clear Light; Mother and Son Clear Light and so on. There are also other terms that come up. Rimpoche: Yes, lots of them will come up. Audience: You use exemplary and actual Clear Light Rimpoche: Oh, I mean ‘example’. In Tibetan it is pe te101 which is ‘example reality’. What I am saying is when you are looking at Death as Dharmakaya, within that you recognize three points: the basis on which are you playing, what you are actually playing, and what you hope to gain. There are three for each of the three kayas, which makes it nine different recognitions. Audience: When you are on the Illusion Body level, isn’t that already Completion Stage? Rimpoche: Yes. That’s why here on the development stage we have to simulate, project, or imagine the practice. If you were actually in it, you would be on the completion stage level, but you are not. That’s why it is simulated, projected. You are pretending.

Divine prideYou actually have to recognize what I said about base, path and result before you start the practice. You have to be aware of that before you say OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHAH SARVA DHARMAH SVABHAVA SHUDDHOH ‘HAM. You read and think about it now, but during the practice itself the divine pride is what you have to gain.

101 dpe’i ‘od gsal example or metaphoric or examplary clear light

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You have to focus on the pride that thinks, ‘This is my actual Dharmakaya.’ This is the focus at this particular level, rather than thinking, ‘This is my base, this is my path, this is my result,’ which is actually analytical meditation. When you are concentrating, you concentrate on the combination of all of these, thinking, ‘This is my true Dharmakaya.’ You sort of hold the pride; that is the important point. Remem- ber, we are talking about the development stage right now. Audience: What do I as a perceiver perceive in this situation? Rimpoche: At this moment you don’t think of a perceiver at all. You just sort of focus. The only focal point left is: ‘This is my actual Dharmakaya.’ You don’t think anything else. Audience: You focus on the pride of dharmakaya. Does that pride also simultaneously know emptiness? Rimpoche: Naturally, because you don’t have any [other] focal point, the point is this. At that level there are no appearances, actually. Audience: I would like to know how you connect the Dharmakaya meditation with the Sambhogakaya. Rimpoche: I think you can wait for a little while. It will come. Right now we are trying to establish what is Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya. I am trying to pick the important points, and then go from there. The link will come. Sadhanas are great things; they link up all the stages really: from emptiness you arise in this and that form and then create the mandala and so on, and within the mandala you join in. That’s how every thing is linked. Every sadhana does that, Yamantaka does, Vajrayogini does, and Cittamani Tara does. The linkage is there. There’s no big problem. Here I am trying to give you the important points.

Special Vajrayana quality. What is the most important point in the development stage [Tib. ke rim]? Ac- tually, no matter what you are imagining, whether it is Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, Nirmanakaya, mandala, cemeteries, inconceivable mansion, and the yidam and retinue, for all of them the focal point really has to be emptiness, totally emptiness. Then, let’s not say ‘within emptiness…’, because when you use the words ‘within emptiness’ you may project things growing out of emptiness, but what really happens is that without losing the focal point on emptiness, those things appear. What is being projected, what is being perceived? Whatever you are projecting is the object which the mind thinks about. [It is] the mental activity: seeing, perceiving, acknowledging. Your mental focus is based on a mental simulation. What you really have is the emptiness and those deities and mandalas appearing without losing the force of emptiness. That is the special quality which you don’t have anywhere else. Kyabje Ling Rimpoche used to make this a very special point. That was his mantra. He would say that very often in any Vajrayana teachings. This is a very important point in Vajrayana, not only on the development stage, the ke rim level, but also on the completion stage level, the zoh rim. In Sutrayana, the non-Vajrayana, the mind does only one job at a time. If you are focusing on emptiness, that is all you are doing, nothing else. If you are focusing on bodhimind, etc.., you are focusing on bodhimind and nothing else. There may be a little grey area where absolute bodhimind comes into the picture. but the basic principle functioning is one by one, byte by byte, day by day. That is the normal Sutrayana style. Here in Vajrayana, every single mind that you are generating does two things together. You are accumulating both merit merit and wisdom merit; both of them are done together. That way, in the development stage, you are simulating the causes of both the rupakaya and the dharmakaya. Rupakaya is the physical form of enlightened beings and Dharmakaya is the mental aspect of enlightened beings. You are simulating the causes to develop the physical form and the mental level of enlightened being together, something that is not available in the Sutrayana at all. In the Sutrayana, if you practice generosity, then that is what you do, if patience, you focus on patience, if wisdom, you focus on wisdom. You do these one by one, but not together. Here, you are simulating both together. These are the Vajrayana special qualities. Actually, in Sutrayana, each of the six paramitas has the five other paramitas within it; things like that are actually the Vajrayana influence coming in slightly, but even then, one mind will not do that together anyway. So, this is a Vajrayana quality.

96 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

(1) Taking Death as the Path to the Dharmakaya The meaning of the mantra Now look in your sadhana102, go down all the way to where it says: OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHAH SARVA DHARMAH SVABHAVA SHUDDHOH ‘HAM All becomes voidness. If you look in the Yamantaka long dedication, there is one verse about that mantra. Having with stainless reason examined the meaning of the mantra and having with awareness which is sure of the profound emptiness strongly established the Pride of Dharmakaya may I become habituated with the Peerless Wisdom.103 This OM SVABHAVA is the mantra they are talking about. You know the meaning of OM. If you really understand it, then sometimes your practice will be good enough [by just] saying OM. If you really understand. Therefore OM is called the jewel-like mantra It combines the three letters A, O, M. which stand for body, mind and speech and also refer to dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya. That’s why OM is important. I must share a little story here. A few years ago I read through the collected works of Kyabje Trijang Rimpoche, the junior tutor to His Holiness. I was reading through his letters and there was a Rimpoche in Switzerland, Rara Rimpoche, who kept on writing to Kyabje Rimpoche, saying things like, ‘We are in Europe now, we can’t say all these long and difficult prayers, so how can I make the sadhanas shorter?’ He did so repeatedly. At the end Kyabje Rimpoche replied, ‘Well, if you really know what you are doing, the letter OM is enough. So you make your choice.’ No more reply. SVABHAVA, rang zhin in Tibetan, means ‘nature’. SHUDDHAH is ‘pure’, SARVA means ‘all’, DHARMA, chö in Tibetan, means ‘every existence’. SVABHAVA SHUDDHO is ‘nature pure’; AHAM or ‘HAM means ‘That’s me.’ It does not mean that directly, you have to explain how it becomes ‘me’. There are those linguists who can tell you how it comes down to the ultimate meaning. They do something with the Sanskrit, they have a special way of doing it; in the universities all the professors will know. [In Tibet] now only very few people know. The last person I know who knew that was Kyabje Ling Rimpoche. I was told to learn that, but I went there one day and then decided that I couldn’t learn any more. They draw letters on the black board and there are so many different transformations. They cut a little piece of here and cut a little piece of there, and point it out and finally they come to the bottom line, meaning that SHUDDHAH AHAM will become ‘I am’. They write the ‘a’ there and cut it out, move and add up an ‘i’ and cut it out and turn it around , then cut them all out and that becomes something else and in the end it will become ‘I am’. So the meaning of the whole mantra is: Nature empty, everything’s pure, naturally pure; that’s what I am. That has become a very good translation. In simple language it says: ‘Every phenomenon is pure. It is in the nature of emptiness. I am also in the nature of emptiness. That emptiness is me.’ Audience: Where is the ‘empty’ in the Sanskrit? Rimpoche: It is in the word ‘pure’, it becomes empty.

Two types of emptiness. The mantra gives you two types of emptiness [or selflessness]: a) emptiness of persons; b) emptiness of phenomena. Chandrakirti mentions two kinds of selflessness: that of persons and that of phenomena. So emptiness is divided at least into two. You can further divide it into sixteen104 and so on, but basically there are two, persons and things other than persons. The OM SVABHAVA mantra gives you both: SARVA DHARMA means ‘all phenomena’ and ‘HAM means ‘me’. What do we mean by selflessness or emptiness? We play with these words a lot. Playing with words sometimes works well, and sometimes it doesn’t. Changya Rolpai Dorje says:

102 For the dissolution that precedes this mantra, see pg. 82. 103 See pg. 96. 104 For the sixteen emptinesses see Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Ocean of Nectar, pg. 351-386

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The great mother’s face doesn’t have lumps. If you talk too much the mother will run away. Sometimes we need words to play with. But sometimes they become more harmful than helpful. When we say: self-less, what is it less of? What does -less mean in English? You have negated or discarded something. If you had hundred dollars and now have ninety less, it means ten are left. It means ninety are missing, have been discarded. In this case, what has been discarded and what have we found? What we are discarding is natural existence, the natural existence of a self and of phenomena. There are various terms for that: natural existence, inherent existence, intrinsic existence. That is what we are discarding. Audience: Aren’t we discarding a particular wrong view? Rimpoche: Yes. What does this view accept? It accepts inherent existence. Whenever we use the word view and acceptance, it shows a dualism. Someone is watching, electing and accepting. But in reality there is no separate one, choosing, electing. When you really look into it, the view is what you accept and believe. You are holding it. When you are negating, you are not only negating a view. It is not only what you think, but your truth is being rejected. Whether you call it view, acceptance, idea or belief or what you are holding, it is your truth. That is what is being negated, according to Chandrakirti and Buddhapalita. It is so subtle, there is almost nothing. There is simply the collection of parts and parcels. That becomes the true existence. It is very hard to comprehend. We might think that we are falling into nihilism. But in reality that is what is supposed to be: there is nothing to be found. That is very hard to accept. If there is nothing to be found, then who is the one who comes from the previous life, living here now and going to the future life? Again, it is the combination and continuation. The word continuation is trying to give you a meaning. It is not ‘me’ or ‘So and so’, who is continuing, but simply the continuation. It is an extremely subtle something of me that is continuing. Even that is dependently arising and is just a collection of parts and parcels. When we talk in that way we actually get a better idea. When we just read or meditate on nothing, it becomes uneasy. It looks like everything is gone and nothing is left. Earlier, when Tsongkhapa – or one of his disciples, I am not sure – began to realize emptiness he happened to be leaning against a pillar. Through that [realization] the pillar became crooked. Also, one of his disciples had the experience of emptiness, while sitting in group prayer. He had to touch his robes to make sure that he was still there. So when I talk to you like that, it may make more sense than reading about it and meditating. Whatever we project on a gross level, and the identification with a self, is becoming the object of negation. In the case of subtle emptiness, even the subtle identification with a self becomes the object of negation. However, if you go too extreme, it is not good. Then you will think, ‘All right, if everything becomes nothing, why should I worry about it?’ That is going too far. Or perhaps that is the right point. Because there is nothing really there from its own side and that’s why there is no point for obsession and hatred. There is nothing to be obsessed about; there is nothing to be hated. We will continue to study these things. It shouldn’t remain theoretical, but it is subject for study.

Combination of the profound and the clear. Without the wisdom of emptiness, nothing in samsara is really getting attacked. That is why this wisdom is called ‘profound’. The real essence, the real truth here is recognizing emptiness. That is not just seeing the emptiness like ‘I have seen it’. That is not the recognition I am talking about. It is not like recognizing somebody in a gathering. Here recognizing emptiness means that the individual is totally absorbed in it. The individual knows the emptiness, nothing else, but what you see is the yidam and the mandala. That is called the combination of the profound and the clear. Without forgetting or losing the power of the negation you still perceive the yidam and the mandala. That is why the sadhanas say ‘within the sphere of voidness.. ’. That emphasizes this reason. In Tibetan we say, The knowledge is emptiness. The appearance is the clarity of yidam and mandala. The combination of this is the union. In other words, one mind not only has to recognize but has to become part of both, the profound and the clear, together. It is one mind doing both together, simultaneously, not turn by turn. Can we do that right

98 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary now? No, we can’t. We are doing it turn by turn. But there will be a time when these two will go together. That is what we are training for and become perfect in. Now, when you simply know it and see it, it is different from knowing and seeing it happily. Know- ing it happily is different from knowing it joyfully. Knowing it joyfully is different from knowing it bliss- fully. Why is bliss needed? It is necessary because [through that] how you acknowledge, accept and understand, is a hell lot of different. Allen Ginsberg told me once that he was trying to have sex and write poetry together. He said the quality of the poetry was better, but unfortunately the sex didn’t last long enough. Emptiness is not a specialty of Vajrayana. Yidam meditation is part of Vajrayana, but is not the special quality of the Vajrayana. The special quality [that enhances the practice] really is the bliss. That is why Vajrayana, especially during the completion stage, emphasizes to bring the bliss. With that [blissful] mind, at that stage, you revisit and observe closely the wisdom itself. That becomes very powerful. If you only pay attention to bliss, it is like getting high; that will just disappear. You have to focus [that blissful mind] on emptiness. It becomes more effective if not only the gross mind but more and more the subtle mind is engaged. Not only the subtle mind, but [eventually] the primordial mind itself has to be brought into the nature of bliss and then utilized. That probably is the real essence of the completion stage. On the development stage, we will not be able to see much of the primordial mind. You may see it to a certain level. During the last Vajrayogini teachings I gave a fairly good introduction to the primordial mind, which can be used here too. This is interchangeable and can be transported from the Vajrayogini transcript into this transcript too. 105 So, [at that stage] you try to bring the primordial mind, which is free from any [concepts] into the joy nature and then focus it on emptiness. This is important. You may recognize the primordial mind itself. That is itself extremely important and extraordinary. However, this alone is not the wisdom yet. I don’t think [it is]. Many teachings will tell you that all you need is to recognize the primordial mind itself, that there is nothing beyond that. This shows a limited understanding. Everybody encounters the primordial mind at least at the time of death. What happens is that the gross mind has gone out and created the eighty [indicative] conceptions [Tib. rang zhin gye gyur nam tok]106. At death, all of them gradually dissolve and finally that becomes the subtle mind, which also dissolves and then you are in touch with your primordial mind. Whether your primordial mind gets rejected, like a kid by its mother, or whatever happens, it then goes back [to become a gross mind]. The process of purifying is also this: trying to get in touch with, get close to the primordial mind in its original state. At death we all get in touch with it, but when we are rejected we come back [to the ordinary gross mind]. So simply encountering with the primordial mind does not make you enlightened, it doesn’t even make you see the true wisdom. In the development stage, to artificially create the bliss that recognizes emptiness is also not enough. You have to acknowledge to yourself: this is me, this is my Dharmakaya. That is the last syllable of the mantra: OM SVABHAVA… AHAM – I am that.

Base, path and result in the Cittamani Tara practice. As we have discussed107, base, path and result are needed for a well grounded vajrayana practice and as a matter of fact for any practice. Applied to the Cittamani Tara guru yoga, the base is our own body, speech and mind. The path or practice is the blessings of the guru and from our side making the seven limb offering, which is the accumulation of merit; then the mantra recitation and the dissolving system are the wisdom aspects of it. Finally, trying to merge our mind with the mind of Guru Arya Tara is the result. In the guru lineage prayer, the base is the guru and the lineage masters. The path we apply is the supplication and the result we hope to achieve is the ordinary and extraordinary accomplishments. Then take the instantaneous rise: the base is our body, speech and mind as well as our death, bardo and future life. The path we are using is this: based on emptiness we simulate the death process, the transforming bardo into sambhogakaya and the arising in the nirmanakaya as Arya Tara. [Becoming Arya Tara] is the result you hope to get.

105 To be found in the Appendix. 106 rang bzhin brgyad cu’i rnam rtog - 80 innate thought states. See Lati Rimpoche, Death, intermediate state and rebirth, p. 38-41. 107 See p. 87.

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In the inner offering blessing, the base on which you work is the inner offering materials; the path you use is the ritual as well as the meditations described in the sadhanas; the result you hope for is the pure nectar. Then the same goes for the outer offerings. Etc. When we reach to the dharmakaya level, the base we are working on is our own future death. The method consists of two. The first is wisdom.

The wisdom we need. The wisdom we are applying is no different from the wisdom described in the usual sutra teachings. There is no wisdom that is extra or more profound than the wisdom described in Nagar- juna’s teachings. Words like description or presentation could make you think it is theoretical, but it is not. Nagarjuna and Chandrakirti did not present the wisdom as a theory, but from personal experience. In general, Buddha’s teachings are all based on his personal experience, not on his intellectual knowledge of enlightenment. For us it is a learning process. At the moment we can only utilize certain words. The effect on the mind of the learner first will be theoretical; our mind immediately connects to the intellectual level rather than what the individual is supposed to experience. [But, mind you,] this is supposed to be experienced physically, mentally and emotionally. In the sutra system you think: some time in the future I am going to have these qualities. In tantra, which is the result yana, you think: already right now this is my physical, mental and emotional feeling. Then, if that is not there, you ask yourself: why. Then you trace back: what went wrong, where and why. Tracing back and visualizing. In Jewel Heart we do have that experience. In 1994, when the Dalai Lama came, we had an action plan four months ahead. We projected everything that had to happen in the coming four months, from minute to minute, from hour to hour. In order to achieve the goal, we traced back from the projected goal 90 days, every day what was supposed to happen to get to the result. Any time we couldn’t move on we checked back what went wrong and found that So and so didn’t do what they were supposed to do on a given day. Then we could fix it. That is an example. We virtually visualized the event we wanted to happen a year ahead and made a detailed action plan for the last 90 days. We completely visualized and rehearsed everything that we wanted to happen, minute by minute. It is the same process here. We have already established: this is the result that is supposed to be achieved and these are steps to take to make it happen. If it doesn’t happen, then why? So we trace back and find: in order for this to happen, I need that preparation and so on. You trace back. That is also the approach of the dzog chen teachings. They tell you: sit over there and experience the result. Oh, it is not happening? In that case you need pre-this and pre-that. So again, the presentation is from the result level but in order to make it happen to have to trace back until you are at the present preliminary level.

So we have to have that wisdom. Do we have it? No, we don’t. We are focusing on wisdom, but we don’t have it, so what to do? We can temporarily substitute it, until we can get Nagarjuna’s perfect viewpoint. Pabongka says so. Here emptiness is the object and I, the mind that observes, am the subject. Non- dualistic perception means that you observe the object so much that you see, hear and feel nothing else. Non-dualistic perception is even known in the sutra system. Out of the five paths, on the path of seeing, the meditator has a non-dual experience. The absorption is so strong that even the technical name for that is ‘no obstruction’, ‘no intervention’, ‘no disturbance’. That means you are completely absorbed. In your perception at that moment nothing else exists. That idea is probably at the base of certain Buddhist traditions saying that there is no past and future, only the present. Similarly, we have the statements from the Heart Sutra: ‘No eye, no ear, no nose, no taste’ and ‘Form is emptiness, emptiness is form.’ It means that the individual who is in that absorption feels that way. That is why they have to touch their collar to make sure they are still here. At that moment they are not completely absorbed yet. There is still a side mind watching. The statement that there is no past and future goes along the same lines. Having said that, this does not make it a special Vajrayana experience. We know that. This happens in sutra and it is talked about, presented and experienced. Personally, we might not have the experience. But the experienced persons tell us that this is what you experience. And I also believe that the mental and physical experience of emptiness by the individual is this. I don’t think it is what some people say, that it is like experiencing an electrical shock and so on. Some people at that moment will walk through

100 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary the walls. That happens. That is the reason why I said that the pillar was bending when such a person was leaning against it.108 The pillar doesn’t collapse, but literally bends. To sum this up let me say just this: when you have the direct experience you are going outside of the law of physics, you are no longer gov- erned by the laws of physics. So far this is all available through the sutrayana. In vajrayana, as I said earlier, the bliss is the distinguishing thing. During President Clinton’s candi- dacy, they had the slogan, ‘It’s the economy, stupid!’, right? Similarly here we should say, ‘It’s the bliss, stupid!’ What does the bliss do? One of the major effects is that it reduces the gross activities of the consciousness, causing it to become subtle. It is such a subtle mind. We have already described the absorption on the sutra level. Now [here in vajrayana] the observer, or the subject that perceives the object, becomes even more subtle than on the usual, gross level. That makes it much sharper and more focused and more penetrating than anything else. Probably the vajrayana presents the very penetrating point. This is not so much focused on the wisdom itself, but on the experiencer of that very wisdom. This is the sharp- est, subtlest point. A sharp, subtle point penetrates better than a gross fire. When you watch the people in the welding business you see that they focus the flame into a sharp point. This is better than a big, burning fire. So, if you wonder why a subtle focus is so important, watch the welders. Before I quote Pabongka, I have to point out that the clear light can be divided into two: example clear light and actual clear light. The example clear light itself is divided into gross, subtle and very subtle phases. Pabongka says, Especially on the ultimate stage of example clear light the subject or perceiver is the primordial mind. That subtle primordial mind itself becomes the nature of bliss, making it even more subtle. Within that bliss, the subtle primordial mind observes the object, emptiness. This is the most difficult, very subtle point of vajrayana, the union of bliss and void. Pabongka has an interesting way of presentation. He presents the point in a beautiful way and at the end loads it with something. He says, With regard to recognizing and achieving the development of this level, besides Tsongkhapa, no one else can even say as much as a single word about it. Pabongka always has to put these loaded statements in his writings. No wonder a lot of followers of non- Tsongkhapa traditions hated him for it. Wherever he makes important points like this he will add, ‘It is only Tsongkhapa who really knows this. Nobody else even knows a word about it.’ One time, Sogyal Rimpoche asked me what I thought about Pabongka. I said, ‘For me, for the Gaden Kargyu tradition, he has been extremely kind and wonderful.’ He just said, ‘Okay’ and didn’t ask any more. Of course, His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, as head of all Tibetans, has to do whatever he has to do. That is why we get scoldings here and there too, because of Pabongka, you know. But Pabongka does say, ‘Nobody else is even talking about this subtle level.’

Pretending as practice. Pabongka adds up, Sometimes you may not encounter with the primordial mind, but your principal mind may become bliss nature and then recognize or concentrate on the wisdom. In very special, few cases, some few people may have that. Otherwise, that doesn’t happen. That may also happen [only] at the completion stage. But what we need to do here, on the development stage, is to pretend, to copy-cat, to visualize. That is the practice at the level of the development stage. I think that is quite clear and answers a lot of questions that people have. Why do I have to pretend to be a deity? Pretending is your practice at this level. How do we pretend to have bliss? What do we know about bliss? Usually, our closest experience to bliss is to have some good sex, right? One time or another in our life we have experienced that. We can talk about it. (This is the advantage of not being monk or nun, and also not having any monks or nuns around.) Whatever the best experience of sex is that you had, go and revisit that and re-establish that feeling. Then try to bring it back and think that you are experiencing it. I believe that is sexuality as spiritual-

108 see p. 97.

Three Kaya Practice 101 ity. People talk about that a lot. I don’t know if sex is the only example for bliss. There might have been other great experiences due to other factors. After all, most of us have come out of the sixties. So refresh your memories and bring the joy back and pretend to have a fantastic orgasm or whatever great feelings you have experienced. Project that and try to make your mind oneness with this. For some people it is not necessarily sex but can be a glimpse of some wonderful things. This is somehow our good fortune – to have had certain chemical experiences that we can utilize in our vajrayana practice now. Although it is thirty or forty years later, it is not too late to make use of that. If you look at the Indian saddhus and siddhas, you know, they have used a lot of substances, for example bhang, which is hashish. I don’t think the ancient, great Indian saints and siddhas were addicted to that; they were utilizing it. With that I don’t mean to encourage you to use these things. But refresh your memories and generate that joy. Perhaps the teachings haven’t been able to find a better example apart from a great sexual experience, a fantastic orgasm; therefore that is mostly used. So, pretend to have that, relive that memory, but don’t actually us the chemicals. Nowadays they are not available in pure form anyway. [laughs]. And even if it is pure, don’t use it, okay? But that is how you pretend. Pretending may or may not have some effect. But that effect alone is also not the practice. We all know, many people had the effect in the sixties. Taking these chemicals or having great sex is not the practice. [The practice is] using the memory of the experience and keeping control of your principal mind: not let the mind go crazy, but focus on the focal point, the object, which is in this case is the wisdom. Then that becomes Dharma. It will be the direct antidote to ego, the direct threat to all negative emotions.

Acknowledging the result level. But that also is not enough. To become a vajrayana practice that also has to be acknowledged as the result level. You have to tell yourself, ‘This is my Dharmakaya.’ You have to force yourself to believe that this is your dharmakaya. If you keep on saying that to yourself, you will first develop the dra gyi109, the understanding that follows sound. After a while, without relying on sound, a mental image of the understanding will form. Then, when you focus, without depending on the sound projection, the mental image will rise. That is called don gyi110, the understanding that follows a glimpse of meaning. This is still not the understanding of actual absolute reality. However, your focal point is no longer the sound of the information, but has shifted to the feeling of a personal experience of something. This is the level where we pretend and project. At the same time we try to bring the mind to the subtle level through projecting the dying stages, the dissolving system. Following the dissolving system makes the mind subtler and sharper. For that reason, simulating the dying stages is very useful. Not only that. When the actual death comes one should be able to do that together. For now it is the projected, the speculative dying stages. It will enable us to utilize the actual dying stage when it comes. The external intervention or disturbance is thereby reduced to almost none. The more the dissolution gets down deeper, the more the observing mind becomes sharp and subtle and the more the object you are observing becomes subtler. Concerning the dharmakaya, we always say, nang wa tong sa - appearance of emptiness; nying ngor rang zhin gyi me pa - understanding of no self-existence (1) What you are seeing, feeling and hearing at this point is zero. You perceive nothing. (2) But what you should understand is emptiness. (3) That observing mind, that subject itself is in the nature of joy. (4) Then add to that the pride of being the dharmakaya. These are the four qualities [of the dharmakaya]111. The second point, of recognizing emptiness, when that intensifies the perception of object and subject will be naturally reduced. That is why even on the sutra level, on the third path of seeing, there is no dualistic experience. That is not something we project, but we are focusing so strongly on emptiness that this produces the non-dualistic experience. So therefore, the perception of emptiness, nang wa tong sa, is very much helped by the second point, recognizing emptiness.

109 sgra spyi - sound-image, verbal generality. 110 don spyi - mental image, meaning generality. 111 Also see p. 105.

102 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

The meaning of OM AH HUM. But here, in vajrayana, the non-dualistic perception is not enough. It has to go according to our future death. So we meditate the dissolving system. Yes, we are training ourselves by simulating the death stages for our actual death. That is one point. But the major point is to train in bringing ourselves to the most subtle point of the observing subject, the subtle mind, focusing on the object emptiness. In order to get to that level, physically all our airs and energy have to be collected at the center of the body, the center of the central channel at the heart level. When all airs are collected at the center of the heart chakra, when this is actually functioning, it is exactly like what happens during the stages of dying. That is why the meditations on the dying stages are the training and contributing to the understanding of collecting the airs at the heart chakra. Collecting these airs is also not enough. They have to be maintained there and remain. That also is not enough. They must dissolve there. That is the meaning of OM AH HUM. It becomes an important mantra at that point. Different tantras will tell you this in different ways, but OM AH HUM stand for entering, remaining and dissolving the airs in the central channel. Otherwise if you only have the OM restaurant and OM yoga, that won’t do that much good. You have to have the understanding of the whole process; otherwise even a parrot can learn how to say OM AH HUM, if you give him some nuts. Geshe Lobsang Tharchin in New Jersey referred to as Khen Rimpoche, once told me that his dog can say OM MANI PADME HUM. He used to feed this puppy dog with cream cheese crackers and prosciutto and before giving it to him, make him stand on the hind legs and go: au au au au au au au. So then he says, ‘See, he said OM MANI PADME HUM’. I am reading from a Tibetan text and the foot notes in those texts are right in the middle of the page, not somewhere underneath. The print is just a little bit smaller, but otherwise there are no brackets or other marks. One of those foot notes here says,

Say the OM SVABHAVA mantra until the meaning of it becomes oneness with your mind. That means you have to spend a little time and try to get it.

A few side remarks. In the monasteries you don’t stop the recitation at this moment. You go straight ahead and continue with the sadhana. But I am sure they do expect you to be able to think perfectly. Then, in my personal experience, I remember Gomo Rimpoche scolding people when they stopped at that point. He said, ‘What do you people try to pretend? Who do you think you are? You are thinking you are better than Buddha or Tsongkhapa?’ So probably you have to learn the art of doing the meditation without showing that you are doing it. That is the old system of the great masters: on the one hand it is taught that you should focus on it until you get it, and on the other hand they say, ‘Who do you think you are to pretend like this?’ The great Kadampa lamas like Potowa and Chekawa meditated for so long that their mandala offering sets collected dust. One day Drom Rimpoche came by, saw that and he said, ‘Oh, these mandalas are collecting dust. What happened?’ Chekawa, a little embarrassed, said, ‘That’s because I have been thinking a little bit.’ Drom Rimpoche said, ‘Atisha has much better power to meditate than you do, but he never misses doing the mandala offering.’ That is how the teachers push you back and forth, drive you to the extreme that way and then to the extreme this way. That probably tells us to learn the art of handling ourselves, really doing something, without pretending. In the west, we are very nice to people meditating. We say, ‘They are meditating. Don’t disturb.’ In a way that is nice, but on the other hand it is not. As far as I remember, when someone in Tibet was doing their practice, nobody would care. They would call them by name; drag them away from their seat. No one would say to anyone, ‘I don’t like to be disturbed.’ That is something very rude in the American culture; it is also rude in the Buddhist practice. Anyway, these are just side remarks.

Appearance and emptiness Togetherness of method and wisdom. The major focus or acknowledgement, and the major point that you are focusing on is emptiness and then you get the appearance of the yidam, the mandala and all of those. These are one mind. So, within the one mind you not only have the profound practice, [emptiness], but also the vast practice: the generation of the yidam and the mandala. All of them are functioning together.

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Not only you generate the merit of absolute and relative together, but also – one of the most important points – the togetherness of the profound and the clear [or vast] without separation, which is also known as the togetherness of method and wisdom. Normally, when we talk about method, we talk about bodhimind and those types of things, and when we talk about emptiness, we talk about the profound, or the wisdom part. Here you have wisdom and method together, the profound and the vast together. These are the real essence of Vajrayana. Generally all the Vajrayana practices should have both together. Particularly on the ke rim and zoh rim levels you must have them together. If you simply, with no idea of emptiness, generate a huge yidam in your own place instead of in your own mind and in your body, if you simply generate a huge yidam alone, it will not be a good Vajrayana practice at all. You have to be very much aware of that.

The obstacles in Sutrayana and Vajrayana. It is also necessary to acknowledge being the yidam, because in Vajrayana the obstacle that you have to clear is different from the Sutrayana. On the usual Mahayana or Theravada level, we have our neuroses, also called the delusions or ‘afflictive emotions’. They afflict you inside. These are our normal, familiar obstacles, right? In Vajrayana, that view is shifted. By the time you practice Vajrayana you are supposed to have handled that level of obstacle carefully. Now, your obstacle is ordinary perception and conceptualization. This is what you are working against now rather than against anger, or attachment, and so on. You are presumed to have taken care of the afflictive emotions by the time you reach this level, so your real obstacle is the ordinariness of beings, of everything and the ordinary appearance of yourself as an inferior quality being. We use the word ordinary because the Tibetan word ta me112 is often translated as ‘ordinary’, however, it is really talking about an inferior quality being or existence. These are your real obstacles. In order to counter that, you make yourself a superior, wonderful yidam, and the things that you use, like the house, you make into a mandala; all the things you use are in an extraordinary form in order to overpower the inferior appearance. It is almost like an inferiority complex; the problem is the inferior perception and conception. That’s why it is necessary that you generate yourself as a yidam. However, we need to know about emptiness in order to do that. If we don’t really have a good understanding, at least we need some idea about emptiness. You should not just simply visualize, ‘All is empty, and there is nothing, it is just like space.’ People do that a lot, and it is a big problem, because they have no understanding, no idea at all. You are thinking, ‘There is nothing! All empty, like sky!’

Avoiding nihilism. If you do that, what are you doing? [Then] you are really having inferior perception here. Even the actual articles right in front of you, like this crystal or the clock, the book, the table, all these ordinary things are real, they are here, they are reality. To simply ignore that things exist, thinking that they are not there is the worst inferior projection! This is what we call a real nihilistic viewpoint. Though there are lots of people who teach you to do that, with that you are not at all creating a cause to cut your ego-grasping point. You are actually cutting the crystal itself, the actual clock, the actual table, so it is truly nihilistic. You are not going to gain freedom, but will be born in one of the Formless Realms called ‘Nothing there’, ‘Space-like Formlessness’, ‘Conscious-like Formlessness’ and ‘Nothingness’, which is the ultimate top of samsara. Nihilistic perception is the direct cause to take rebirth in that nothingness, so that can become a big problem.

Two emptinesses. What shall we do about this problem? OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHAH SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDHOH ‘HAM, that’s it! What is that really talking about? This mantra is saying that all phenomena are pure, pure of inherent existence, free of inherent existence; I am also pure and that nature is me. We are talking here about two emptinesses - the emptiness of beings, and the emptiness of phenomena. So, SVABHAVA SARVA DHARMA. That’s why I said ‘all phenomena’. Emptiness of beings and emptiness of phenomena, these are the two emptinesses.

112 tha mal

104 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Now how is everything empty? Phenomena and persons, how are they empty? When we simply perceive ourselves, when we look at the being, the person, the name, a projection of our mind, the labeling sort of comes by itself. A few years ago Professor Thurman gave a lecture on Buddhism at the University of Michigan at the invitation of the Christian Religious Department, not the Buddhist department. While talking about emptiness, he drew a Sanskrit OM on the blackboard, and asked the audience, ‘What do you see?’ Natu- rally for nearly all of them there was just some kind of squiggly drawing there on the blackboard. Most of the people saw just that. Then Thurman said, ‘If you ask Dass Pandit, who is teaching Sanskrit here, he will see that as ‘OM’ coming out from the blackboard, because he has been introduced to that individual little drawing which is labeled as ‘OM’ and when he recognizes it, it looks as if the OM comes out of the blackboard.’ Likewise, when we see Chris, we look at Chris, we see the beautiful face of Chris, we see her hair, we see her body, we see her name, we see her glasses, and say, ‘Oh, that is Chris.’ In our perception, Chris is really coming out from that person. She is sort of presenting Chris to us. When you say, ‘May I present the President of United States,’ this kind of perception comes out, right? That is our basic perception. We perceive that this person is naturally there. However, we are forgetting that we have labeled this person ‘Chris’ or her parents might have labeled her as ‘Chris’ and we follow. If that labeling were not there, there would be no ‘Chris’; she would be Mary or Bunny, or something else. This is what we normally call in Tibetan ta nye che drub which means it is not only on the thing itself, but also the labeling and all of them together. Chris’s existence depends on all of those. Basically, the base on which we label her, her physical shape and identity, all of those parts have to be there, and on top of that we label her ‘Chris’; the combination of all that establishes ‘Chris’, just the combination alone. You could go deeper into it and search among all the components and ask, ‘All right, so which one is Chris?’ It is as if Chris had been introduced to a totally blind person. That blind person will go and feel her, touch her nose, her ears, etc.. and would think each time, ‘Is this Chris? No. Is that Chris? No. This is the nose, this is the mouth, this is a hand, this is a breast,’ and so on. If that blind person proceeded in that manner, trying to feel and touch the person, he or she would not be able to find Chris, no matter what part of the body was touched. Yet, on the combination alone, she does exists she talks, she thinks, she eats, she sleeps, she walks, she does everything. That is what we mean by saying that the combination does exist. The existence is just based on all these combinations. If you search you will nothing beyond that. If you have at least that much understanding, you will avoid sitting like in empty space when thinking about emptiness. That will cut the nihilistic viewpoint down. At least that much understanding is necessary. The ‘King of Logic’113 that is often quoted really means that for example this crystal is not truly existent because it is a dependent arising; it does not exist independently because it is a dependent arising. This is very easy to understand if you look at someone using a walking stick. What does that mean? It means you cannot walk by yourself, unless you are in show biz, like that little Charlie Chaplin, that’s different. Otherwise, if you are carrying a walking stick, you cannot walk independently, you depend on the walking stick. When you are dependent, it shows you are unable to be independent. That is normal understanding. If you can independently walk and run, why would you use a walking stick? To make sure you don’t fall, yes, maybe, but no one does, that’s the idea. When you depend on something, you are not independent; you are free [or empty] of independent existence. At least that much you can understand. If you want to go deeper into this, you have to study Uma.114 That is good enough I think Actually when you analyze the meaning of the OM SVABHAVA mantra, that’s what you get, the emptiness of phenomena and the emptiness of beings. That is sort of the idea of emptiness.

The difference in Vajrayana is not the emptiness. Now you may say, ‘We know that from Sutra Maha- yana; what is special about it here in Vajrayana? Is there some special emptiness here?’ No, it is the usual emptiness. However, there is something special in Vajrayana and that is: the attention is not only put on

113 An argument for emptiness called ‘The King of Reasoning’ 114 Madhyamika, the Middle Way School of Buddhism, not Uma Thurman.

Three Kaya Practice 105 the object itself but on the observer, or rather perceiver. (‘Observer’ is not such a good term). You are [also] focusing on the emptiness of the person, of the mind that is perceiving. That is a difference here between Vajrayana and sutra Mahayana or Hinayana. In Vajrayana the perceiving mind itself is a blissful mind; even if you don’t have bliss, you imagine that you are in a state of joy, that you are in the bliss nature. You imagine whatever bliss you know, whether it is sexual bliss or whatever. Each and every person has their own little taste of bliss. Use your own understanding of joy and bliss as an example, and generate your mind in that bliss, in the sense of simulating, pretending or imagining you have it. You artificially generate it at this point. That is not available in either Mahayana sutra or Hinayana sutra. It makes a hell of a difference. Number one, you enjoy. Yes, that’s true; it is not boring any more, unless you are going to throw up, then that’s different. Somebody once told me, ‘If I hear any more of bliss and void I am going to throw up.’115 Not only that, by simulating your mind in that joyful nature, by trying to perceive emptiness within that state, your mind is no longer gross or rough; it almost automatically becomes subtle, sharp and stable, so it makes a hell of a difference. The Vajrayana quality is therefore not from the point of view of the object, but from the point of view of the perceiver. I hope this is clear. Ultimately, if you keep pretending to be in joy nature, and at the same time perceiving emptiness, it may lead you to the state of the Example Clear Light, and not only to the Example Clear Light, but the state of the Actual Clear Light. It will probably become a mind that will actually encounter with and directly perceive the primordial mind’s nature of emptiness. That is the point of the development stage here. That is why we pretend to be a yidam and so on. At the development stage, at the ke rim stage, we imagine that, and later it will actualize; actually become reality. These are the important points we have to clearly remember and acknowledge. Once that actually happens, you have the union of bliss and void together. That is how the union of bliss and void comes in.

The whole point. When you have any type of meditation or practice like this, you can see how it destroys the ego. You are really going to see there is nothing there [ultimately] and that will really destroy totally the ego. Other than that, if all you do is run after space-like feelings and beautiful names like equipoise, how is that going to hurt the ego and the ego grasping point? However, if you have something, and it doesn’t matter from which tradition it is coming, as long as it is hurting the ego, then it is worthwhile. If it is not hurting the ego, no matter whatever the title and whatever propaganda there me around it, it doesn’t do any good. That’s how you can observe for yourself, and that way, you can make sure you don’t kid yourself. We will talk more about this on the zoh rim level116. Is it actually possible at the ke rim level, to generate your consciousness in the nature of joy and perceive emptiness at the same time, even though you do not actually encounter with the primordial mind? Maybe in some exceptional cases, one or two in a thousand perhaps, but mostly this will become actualized at the zoh rim level rather that at the ke rim level. At the ke rim level, again, it is just done in an imaginative way. You have to almost push yourself and do this.

Four qualities of Dharmakaya. Now the question comes, if you have that, is that enough for the death stage meditation to project as Dharmakaya? No, because it is not perceived as Dharmakaya. It has to be perceived as Dharmakaya, and for this you have to have four qualities or criteria. 1. The criteria of your perception is that what you are perceiving is empty; it has to be empty. 2. Then, what you are acknowledging is pure, naturally empty; the meaning of ‘pure’ here is ‘empty’. 3. Thirdly, the perceiving mind has to be in joy nature. The perceiver who is experiencing is joyful. 4. Finally, you have to imagine [acknowledge, recognize] that as Dharmakaya. The interesting part over here is that if you keep on perceiving empty, not like space, but with understanding, and if you really meditate on that for very long and strongly, actually the dualistic perception normally goes away, it disappears. You don’t see it, you don’t feel it; it disappears. If you keep on acknowledging emptiness, that power can influence your mind, even your perception so that you don’t see duality any more.

115 Reportedly said during a long Vajrayana teaching. 116 The zoh rim [completion stage] level is not inserted in this transcript.

106 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

For example, some people are so focused and absorbed on certain points, normally we will call them ‘absent-minded professor’ and things like that. Such persons cannot project, see or do anything other than what they are focusing on. We can see that with a lot of people. This is giving us a message about what you are getting out of this practice. If you keep on acknowledging the emptiness, you don’t fall asleep, but the perception you normally have, which we call dualistic perception, disappears. That’s why on the actual path of seeing the practitioner will only see emptiness and nothing else. He or she is so grossly absorbed in that experience of emptiness, that nothing else appears to him or her.

Meditating the stages of dying. Is that enough, just the disappearing of your perception of dualistic things? No. It’s not. It has to function within the individual in accordance with the usual stages of the death process, called the base. The practice needs to recognize the base on which it can play. The [natural] stages of the death process are the base. The path we use has to function almost exactly in the same way. Song Rimpoche used to tell us that there was a student of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso who was having all these strange perceptions [of the dying process] but they were not coming in the right order. That was because his practice didn’t go according to the path which you are supposed to use and according to the base on which you are working. It did not correspond well enough with that, which means something was wrong somewhere. If you practice according to the base and the path, all your energies and all your airs, which are actually part and parcel of all your different minds [normally] scattered all over the place, may actually be able to enter into the central channel and remain there and even dissolve. That is actually your completion stage. Why is it necessary right at this moment to go according to this system? Because this practice has to be the causal effect; this should simulate what is actually happening on the zoh rim level. Simply thinking, ‘This is empty,’ is not good enough. Simply thinking, ‘This is emptiness,’ and acknowledging that is still not good enough. It also has to have the joy nature. That also is not enough. It has to go according to the eight different signs we always talk about. In your visualization you had the Field of Merit to which you made offerings, purification etc. Fi- nally Lama Tara dissolved into the light form and dissolved to yourself.117 Now, 1. In your visualization, the whole universe, all environment and inhabitants, dissolve into light and to yourself. This corresponds with earth element dissolving into the water element. The internal sign for that is the mirage. You think, ‘This is the earth element dissolving to the water element and therefore I see the sign of the mirage’ 2. Then, in your visualization, in the case of Cittamani Tara, you yourself in the form of the yidam dissolve into the syllable TAM at the heart level. This corresponds with the water element dissolving into the fire element. The internal sign is the vision of smoke. 3. Then from the whole syllable TAM, the long A [underneath] goes into TA itself. Here the fire element dissolves into the air element and the internal sign is the vision of sparks. 4. Next, the body of the TA dissolves into the head, the air element dissolves to the space element and you have the vision of a burning lamp or the reflection of candlelight. 5. Then the head of the TA dissolve into the crescent moon above it. You get the sign of whiteness [white appearance]; 6. That crescent moon dissolves into the tigle or drop, and you get the reddish vision [red increase]; 7. The tigle dissolves to the nada or squiggle. You get a feeling of darkness [black near attainment]; 8. Finally the nada disappears. Then there is almost nothing to hold. It becomes a big void. We call that stage Clear Light. We sort of tell you, ‘This is Dharmakaya, hold on to that.’

117 See pg 81. the absorption part in the sadhana, with drawings.

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When you follow that system, you have the four criteria, you have the four empties,118 you have the acknowledgement of emptiness, and you have the joy – all of them together. At least that much is needed in order to become a true Dharmakaya practice and that is the meaning of OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHAH SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDHOH ‘HAM. And with that you have quite a good Dharmakaya.

Now, there is one more important thing. Let’s say you couldn’t figure out all these emptinesses at all. Do you still have any opportunity to meditate on this Dharmakaya business? Sure you do, for the time being, until you are able to figure it all out. It will come. Just don’t go like ‘space-like empty’ and think there is nothing. If you just see the big, beautiful, universal space with a space ship floating in there, a wonderful picture like that, that’s not enough. At least you have to acknowledge that all things are naturally empty. You are not seeing that nor denying it, but you have to really imagine that nothing exists, in the sense of being naturally empty; things are by nature empty. They all exist only through the combination of various factors. If you go deep down into the parts and parcels and pieces, you cannot hold on [to the existence of anything.] This kind of understanding is actually is like the mantra. You have some understanding following on the explanation, by words. It is based on the sound. When you are perceiving on the basis of that, you are not really perceiving any meaning, you are simply perceiving a message that has followed from sound and that is not great, but at least it will do for the time being. It is better than thinking ‘space like nothingness’, because that becomes the extreme of a nihilistic viewpoint. The explanation of the mantra at least stops that, so it helps. That is Death as Dharmakaya. If you do not understand this, and keep on projecting simply ‘space- like emptiness’, there is a danger that you will waste your total life on that. Do not ever do that! Don’t kid yourself.

The meaning of the mantra again. We are still on the meaning of OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHAH SARVA DHARMAH SVABHAVA SHUDDHOH ‘HAM. You find that this mantra is used everywhere in your sadhanas, at the inner offering blessings and any other blessings you have. Whatever you are focusing on, whether it is the inner offering or outer offering, or the offering to oneself as the deity or anything else, you have to remember the meaning of this mantra. In other words, you have to remember emptiness. You dissolve everything into emptiness and in the case of focusing on yourself as the deity, which means that you yourself dissolve; if not, it is the inner offering or outer offering or something else that dissolves. The most important thing you are actually dissolving is the inferior perception and inferior conceptualization. In other words, the ego. This ego is so funny! In one way the ego pops you up into this big thing, it develops your pride. In another way, ego also makes you inferior, underestimating yourself, cutting yourself down. It does both. One doesn’t have to be a psychologist to know that because that is very much within us all the time. We experience both of them; that’s why we are on this bumpy, zigzag, high and low ride all the time. The ego is twisting you within yourself. It is like this mechanical toy monkey that you wind up. When you wind up the spring, the monkey will bounce up and down, right? When you are having those up and down bumps, it is actually a sign that the ego is winding up that spring within you. You should know that taking alcohol or any other intoxication or things like that are not going to help you much, because the re-winding is done within yourself. You have both the high level bump and the bump that hits the lower level. That is ego winding you up. Actually when you dissolve things into emptiness, it is not only the inferior quality within yourself, but also the [inferior] perceiving and conceptualizing that you are clearing. That is the main purpose. It is not the case that when you bless the inner offering and say OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHAH SARVA DHARMAH SVABHAVA SHUDDHOH ‘HAM the inner offering disappears. It is there. We talked about that. Even if you simply think that everything is gone and empty, the actual physical thing is still there. If you try to make yourself believe that it is not there, it is one of the worst nihilistic points. Remember that the most important thing you really have to clear here is the ego tricks and perceptions. That really means the ego grasping points; [ordinary or inferior] perception and conceptualization all have

118 For the four empties, see Lati Rinbochay, Death, Intermediate State en Rebirth, p. 42-47.

108 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary to be cleared. That is the most important job of OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHAH SARVA DHARMAH SVABHAVA SHUDDHOH ‘HAM wherever it comes up. This is also important thereafter, in the rest of the sadhana.

Imputation. One important point I want to raise here is in relation to the first syllables of the inner offerings substances. For example, in the east, you have the flesh of a bull marked by GO, in the south the flesh of a dog marked by AM and so on, right? The initials are known as mi ni tang po in Tibetan which really means ‘the first syllable of a name.’ What does the word ‘name’ give you? Audience: It is a label, right? Rimpoche: Yes, and something more. Audience: Identity or crystallization. Rimpoche: Yes, but you are going a little too gross now. Audience 2: Ownership? Rimpoche: Now you see how our minds work! On the one hand we try to go into emptiness, and here we try to establish ownership, identity! It is mine; this is mine. Identity, ownership - it is all of those. Audience 3: I was thinking in the opposite direction, that the letter TAM would symbolize the quality of the Tara and so on. Rimpoche: You are in the middle, but you are not really getting there. Audience 4: Imputation? Rimpoche: Yes, imputation - that means label, right? So your existence is based on the imputed labels. That’s why in the inner offerings you have those substances marked by certain initials, like horse meat marked by KHAM, buffalo marked by GO and so on. On top of that, you also have this tigle, this circle, right? Many times there is a circle on top of Sanskrit syllables called tigle.119 It is a zero going round and that gives you another message, meaning it is empty. Whenever you are calculating, you work a lot with zero. Zeroes are very important. In one way the tens, and hundreds and thousands are represented through zeros, but on the other hand, zero also functions as nothing. This gives us lots of interesting messages for our life. This is another universal language - this zero is universal language; everybody uses it everywhere. It gives you the same meaning.

Emptiness and relative existence. Then from the emptiness arise this and that. From the emptiness I arise or the offerings arise, and that tells you that the relative existence is the meaning of emptiness. In Tsongkhapa’s Three Principles of the Path120 there is one verse that explains the relationship between relative existence and emptiness. Actually the idea of emptiness and relativity present each other; one presents the other. Interdependent appearance—infallible. Emptiness—inexpressible reality. As long as these two seem separate Buddha’s insight is not understood. Perceived simultaneously without alternation, seeing infallible interdependence destroys objective identity. With this, the analysis of wisdom is complete. Further, appearance eliminates the extreme of existence. Emptiness eliminates non-existence. Emptiness itself is cause and effect. Understanding this protects from these extremes.

119 In seed syllables, the final M is represented as a little circle drawn above the letter. 120 Verse 11-13.

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When the two understandings occur as one, without imbalance, then simply perceiving the unfailing conventional reality of dependent arising describes the apprehension of ultimate reality. What you really need is to see the emptiness from the angle of the appearance and to see the relative existence, even the interdependence or dependent arising from the emptiness side. One doesn’t block the other. Not only that, on the contrary, one compliments the other, one demonstrates the other. That really gives you the true meaning of emptiness. Unless and until you find that, when somebody tells you that emptiness is nothingness, it means they are a nihilist. When somebody tries to tell you that your existence means truly existing, that there is a permanent, static, unchangeable, everlasting existence, then they have fallen into the existentialist or eternalist extreme. This is uma, [Sanskrit Madhyamaka] the central, the middle path or balanced point, which moves away from the two extremes, the extreme of the nihilist and the extreme of the eternalist. Moving into the center is called uma. In Tibetan, u means center and ma is a feminine ending. The central lady, the middle lady, the balanced lady - that is the emptiness point. The balance away from the eternalist and nihilist, in the middle. In that way these circles above the syllables give you this message, and those labels in the inner offering give you that message. You can also read in the Heart Sutra: Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Form is empty. From the appearance side emptiness is presented. Emptiness is form. From the emptiness appears the form. Rela- tive existence is emptiness. Emptiness is relative existence. Existence depends on how it exists. Audience: The appearance of things eliminates the extreme of is; and the emptiness eliminates the extremes of is not. Rimpoche: That is what it says in the Three Principles of the Path. Chandrakirti has additional words on that. He says, Every existence is emptiness, every emptiness is existence. Normally it is the yö mey121, the have and have not. [The way we normally think] when you see it, it is there, you have it, [it exists] and if it is not true, it is not there, you don’t have it, [it doesn’t exist]. But at this level, it goes the opposite way. I see it because it is empty. Because it is empty, it is there. It is interesting. If it is not empty you cannot put anything there, because it is already filled up! Anyway, I think that is good enough. In that manner you also meditate on the yidam and on the mandala. If there is no emptiness, you can’t have a mandala and yidam, and all those things you meditate like the measurements of the mandala and so on. So it has to be emptiness.

Emptiness makes things very easy. If you keep on meditating at this level in that manner, then at the level of zoh rim, the completion stage, it becomes very easy. From the Clear Light you can rise as Illusion Body. It is very simple, very easy. Not only that, this Illusion Body can again melt into Clear Light, but that comes at the zoh rim level, so let it be for the time being. It does, however, make it much easier to rise into the Clear Light as the Illusion Body, and then the Illusion Body melts into the Clear Light again, and then you get the actual true Clear Light and the Illusion Body combined in union. That union is labeled lo pa zung juk. That means that it is a union but not at the completely enlightened level; it is sort of a level of unenlightened union, a pre-perfect union level.122 These advanced levels are made easier through understanding at the level of emptiness. That’s why Tsongkhapa’s way of showing the emptiness is said to be extraordinary and wonderful. They don’t say that for nothing, but for these reasons. This really makes a big difference from the very beginning to the end. If you just keep on sitting with the space-like empty feeling, ‘There is nothing,’ this is good for beginners. Introducing them to emptiness that way, makes it easier at first; they think they have something. But you can’t leave them there because if you do, you are misleading them. That is very important and that is why I have to mention it.

121 yod pa, med pa in Tibetan these words can be translated either as ‘being and not being’ or ‘having and not having 122 Also called Learner’s Union slob pa’i zung ‘jug

110 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

(2) Taking Bardo as the Path to Sambhogakaya123 From the void: ground, blue like lapis lazuli, as smooth as the palm of the hand. All around it is filled with gardens of green grass, lotuses and blue utpalas (lotuses), giving off sweet scents, amid an ocean of milk, where various water birds frolic and fly around. Many streams adorn (the land). (Yet all this is a reflection of (the Dharmakaya) wisdom, of the character of a rainbow (with colors distinct and) not seen (mixed) together.) (All) is clean and clear. In the middle, from a PAM, an eight-petalled lotus, in whose center a green TAM letter suddenly appears. From this radiate light rays, performing the two purposes. (purifying all living beings and offering to all the Tathagatas. All the beings become Taras) Now you think, ‘If I remain in that joy-natured dharmakaya too long, that is only available in the buddha [state], I will not be very useful. In order to help all beings I would like to rise as sambhogakaya. With this mind, from the nature of emptiness, you have lapis lazuli ground etc. The description here is detailed enough. It tells you what the ground looks like, how smooth and beautiful it is. There is a lotus, an utpala and the smell is beautiful. There is a wonderful milk lake and beautiful birds are playing there. There are little rivers running and so on. That is the description of the Pure Land of Tara. It is beautiful and wonderful place. Whether it is birds, or lotus or the water, in reality it is your own mind, joy-natured, empty-natured, appearing in this and that form. Suddenly, in the middle of that, there is a syllable PAM. That turns into an eight-petalled lotus. On top of that appears your mind as the seed syllable TAM, green. The PAM does not consist of three separate letters; we try to visualize it as one character called PAM. The same goes for TAM.

Lack of inherent existence. It doesn’t matter in which language this character appears. Why? Because there is no inherent existence. Everything is labeled. There must be a base on which you apply the label. There must be a method how to label. And it must serve the purpose of being recognized by everybody else. Again here you have base, path and result! The lack of inherent existence functions everywhere. I remember, in the sixties, Taktser Rimpoche, the Dalai Lama’s brother, came back from America to India and reported, ‘There are some people now who say that there is no difference between gold and pebbles. They take a pebble to an airline office and try to buy a ticket with that.’ I didn’t know whether he was joking or not. He used to make tremendous jokes. So you never know. But whatever it is, in absolute reality, in the nature of emptiness, you can call gold brass and brass gold and pebbles gold too. You can do whatever you want to; it is your freedom. However, brass doesn’t work as gold. That is the difference. So you need base, path and result. If the base is different, the result will be different. Tsongkhapa said, ‘For emptiness, you can do anything. But whether it works or doesn’t work, that depends on base, path and result. That is the difference.’ That’s why when we want to be grounded; we have to pay attention to base, path and result.

Just reading won’t do. When you read your sadhana, just reading won’t do. Along with reading, the picture must be projected. The picture is a mental activity; it is meditation. Tibetan Buddhism, as far as I know, is the only one that gives you both, the sound of reading and the meditation together. I cannot say it for sure, but I haven’t seen this elsewhere. The Tibetan way is that you have the words here that tell you what to meditate. If you only say the words, it just serves the purpose of protecting yourself from the

123 The sadhana is not very clear about whether the bardo starts here or at the next paragraph: ‘(All) is clean and clear.’ Also, some sadhanas have here ‘Visualisation of the Twenty-One Taras’ as a heading instead of Three-kaya practice. Needs a check with Rimpoche.

Three Kaya Practice 111 downfall of not saying your sadhana, but still, it is not good enough for meditation. When the words come out, the pictures that they describe must be projected. Words and pictures work together. When you get used to that it goes quite easily. Many people say, ‘Where do I find the time to do all this? I have to work and do all kinds of things.’ When you get used to it, anything is possible. Remember, in the Lamrim tradition they say that some lamas can do the whole Lamrim meditation while getting on a horse, while putting one foot into the stirrup and by the time the other leg has swung over and the butt is sitting in the saddle the whole Lamrim meditation is completed. Really. This can be done. That is training. When your mind is not trained, then when you get one picture and go to the next, you lose it and can’t keep them together. Learning English is like that for me. I learnt a little bit how to speak. Then I learnt a bit how to read. But unless I practice, I can’t write much. And that is not only me, I am sure it goes for everybody. You have to practice. Practice makes perfect. So the moment you say the words you project the image, a mental image. So a green letter TAM appears, whichever way you want, as Sanskrit character or as the latin-based character that I created.

Two purposes. Light radiates out of that TAM. It serves the two purposes: the purpose of self and that of others. When in this case you radiate light, just imagining light is not good enough. All bald heads are shiny. The important thing is that the light does have activities to benefit oneself and to benefit others. Purpose one is to benefit yourself and purpose two is to benefit others. As the foot note in the sadhana says: purifying all living beings and offering to all the Tathagatas. All the beings become Taras. Purify- ing all living beings is benefiting others and making offerings to the enlightened beings and in return receiving their blessings is benefiting oneself. There is an unspoken understanding about this [type of] visualization: whatever you generate out, you must collect back. Especially anything you generate from the heart level, you must collect back to the heart level. Why? Ultimately we have to collect back all airs and energies into the heart chakra. As an omen [for that] you don’t leave anything out there. In Tibetan there is the term dü, which can mean ‘join together’, it can also mean ‘having a meeting’.

Pride of the Sambhogakaya. One more important thing about the Sambhogakaya. In the Yamantaka practice the sambhogakaya is represented by Manjushri, in Vajrayogini we have the letter BAM, in Heruka the squiggle. So sometimes the sambhogakaya is represented by a syllable or a squiggle only. But when there is no yidam or anything, how can you think, ‘I am the Sambhogakaya?’ The Sambhogakaya has normally, as we said, these [five] extraordinary qualities124, and if you only have a little squiggle up there you will not have much of a base to have these major and minor signs and so on. The decorations [adorning the deity] are going to be much bigger than the actual nada! For the BAM it is also going to be too big. The important point here is this. You should remember that the establishment of the divine pride of the Sambhogakaya is not being done on the physical shape of your physical identity at that time; it is done on the base of the identity of the subtleness. It could be a subtle point like the letter BAM, it could be as large as Manjushri or it could be as tiny as a squiggle. It is the subtle body you have that is being recognized as Sambhogakaya and therefore you apply the divine pride of the Sambhogakaya not on the physical appearance of the Sambhogakaya but on the actual level of it.

To repeat, the dharmakaya is the mental aspect. Whenever we become fully enlightened our mind becomes enlightened mind. The sambhogakaya is the first form you take, a perfect form. The perfect form is normally not accessible to everybody. Not everybody can see it. I have taught in other places more in detail about the five qualities of the sambhogakaya:125. This tells you how pure it is. Not everybody can

124 See p. 93. 125 (1) Definite retinue. It is accessible only to aryas, those who have seen the emptiness and above. (2) Definite dharma. The dharma shared by the sambogakaya, is only mahayana-vajrayana dharma. (3) Definite time. The sambogakaya remains until the samsara ends, It is almost; it’ll remain until everybody is liberated. (4) Definite place. The sambhogakaya always remains in the pure lands. Technically it is said the sambogakaya remains in Akanishta, which is supposed to be at the top of the form

112 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary see everything pure; therefore it is not accessible to everybody. It becomes exclusive for extraordinary people only. In English the sambhogakaya is called Enjoyment body. What is it enjoying? Maybe these five qualities. In this case the sambhogakaya is represented by the green letter TAM. The TAM is not a body like ours; it represents the subtle body that you take as sambhogakaya. That is the same in Vajrayogini, where you have a letter BAM in the air. In Heruka you have the nada, which is tiny squiggle. In the mother tantras the sambhogakaya doesn’t have much of a physical deity appearance. But in the father tantras it does. For example in Guhyasamaja, you have the Dangpo Gönpo, the primordial Buddha, white in color. In Yamantaka it is the yellow Manjushri. In the mother tantras often just a syllable is used or even just a squiggle. This is because it is about the subtle body. Just as in taking death as dharmakaya, also in taking the bardo as sambhogakaya and taking rebirth as nirmanakaya we have to recognize base, path and result. In the sambhogakaya, the base is the bardo, the path is the recognition of emptiness by the joy mind and the acknowledgment of those and so on. The same goes for the nirmanakaya part.

(3) Taking Birth as the Path to Nirmanakaya (i) Actual Nirmanakaya practice As the sadhana continues to say: When these all come together (and sink into the TAM) it becomes a blue utpala marked with TAM. This melts into light, becoming myself, the Venerable Mother. Out of the lights coming back together [after fulfilling the two purposes], the TAM becomes a blue utpala marked by TAM. That melts into light and you arise in the form of Arya Tara, peaceful and with all the qualities as the sadhana describes. She is emerald colored, perfectly green, with one face and two arms, peaceful and smiling, with long, shiny, black hair half bound up and decorated with blue utpalas and many precious ornaments. Her eyes are long and rounded. The right hand has the mudra of giving realizations, the left at her heart that of the Triple Gem. Both hold blue utpalas. Her breasts are prominent and full. She is adorned with all the precious ornaments. She has garments of a variety of silks. Right foot stretched out, left drawn in, she has a moon as back-cloth. She has fully perfected all the marks and signs separately. At her crown, the essence of vajra body, a white OM. At her throat, the essence of vajra speech, a red AH. At her heart, the essence of vajra mind, a blue HUNG. So the right leg is stretched out, the left is bent, just like in the pictures. Tara has a moon-like aura and is decorated by major and minor signs. At the crown is a white OM, at the throat a red AH, at heart a blue HUM. They are in nature vajra body, speech and mind.

realm. (5) Definite form. The physical form has all major and minor signs of a buddha. (Ref. Gelek Rimpoche, Solitary Ya- mantaka Teachings on the Generation Stage.)

Three Kaya Practice 113

(ii) Entering the Wisdom Beings Invocation From the TAM letter at her heart (in the dot of the HUNG)126 light radiates, invoking from their natural abodes (Dharmakaya) a similar Venerable Mother (Cittamani Tara) surrounded by the twenty-one Taras, to the space in front of me. From the TAM at the heart [of you as Tara] lights go out and invite the wisdom beings from their natural places, wherever they are. If you have bell and damaru, ring the bell here and play the damaru. Normally, in the practice of White Tara or Green Tara, you don’t use the damaru, because that is kriya and charya tantra level. But this one is Maha anuyoga tantra. Therefore you do use the damaru and you do use the inner offering.

How to use bell and damaru. You have to learn a little bit how to ring the bell and how to use the damaru. The bell has to move smoothly, gracefully. The bell is in your left hand and the vajra in your right. If the vajra is not too big you can hold it together in the right hand with the damaru. The damaru is supposed to be played with two fingers only, but if you can’t, it is okay to play it [whichever way it works]. The damaru is supposed to show the rising of the heat, the tummo energy, at the navel level. That is why you keep the damaru down at that level. This is according to the Tsongkhapa tradition. Some Kar- gyu traditions have a different way of playing the damaru. They take it up and down. That is a completely different system. We leave it at the navel level, but slightly turned up. There also is a dakini way of turning it downward, but we don’t normally do that. We have it face up, because it is the sign of the tummo rising. The drum sound does vibrate and affects the navel chakra. So if you know how to do it right and you see someone doing it wrong, catch their hand and show them.

Then we invite Tara, the wisdom being, together with her retinue, from Potala Paradise. This is Avalo- kitesvara’s place. He is the male part and Tara is female part. That’s why it is also Tara’s place. So here you say the invocation verses: From the pure land of Potala, one born from a green TAM letter, your head adorned with Amitabha, action mother of the three times’ Buddhas, Tara, please come with your attendants! Gods and titans with their crowns bow down to your lotus feet. Liberator from all problems, Mother Tara - homage to you!

Offering the Seven Limbs Then you have the Seven Limbed Prayer. In the Tibetan text it is not even printed out. It just says: From the first to the Seventh Limb. We don’t have to talk about that here. You know what the Seven Limbs are. To Venerable Arya Tara and all Buddhas dwelling in the three times and ten directions and their sons, I prostrate with a pure state of mind.

126 Editor’s remark: Concerning the drawn syllables, (a) it is not yet completely clear when a moon is required and when not. (b) As to the flame, or nada, a seed syllable should have, we could not get a satifying result: either the nada doesn’t look like it should because the drop, the tigle, is enlarged to fit in the other syllable, or - if the drop is drawn smaller - the syllable drawn in it will not be visible. The practitioners in their imagination will definitely do better.

114 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Flowers, incense, light, perfume, food, music and so on, real and emanated, I offer you. Please accept them, assembly of Aryas! From beginningless times till now, the ten non-virtues and five immediate (negative actions) that with a mind ruled by defilements I have committed, I confess them all! Hearers’, Pratyekas’, Bodhisattvas’, ordinary beings’ and others’ virtues, accumulated in the three times- at all these merits I rejoice. According to the varieties of sentient beings’ thoughts and minds, turn the wheel of doctrine, please, of the great, small and common vehicles! Until samsara is empty, please do not pass into nirvana, but at sentient beings sunk in the ocean of suffering, look with compassion! May all the merits I have gathered become the cause of enlightenment, so that I soon become the glorious liberator of sentient beings!

7. THE TWENTY-ONE TARAS

Praise to the Twenty-One Taras Introduction When you look at the Cittamani Tara sadhana, next comes the Praise to the Twenty-One Taras. It begins with I want you to read that occasionally. We do have a nice English translation [and many others are also available]. Every school in the Tibetan tradition uses this very often. It is recited very often in every monastery, every nunnery, by all individuals. There is no commitment for any one of you to say it, but this praise is very important. There are considered to be twenty-one different manifestations of Tara and the praise is for each one of them, so this is very good and important and I hope we will be able to do this at Jewel Heart from now on in our gatherings occasionally.

The White Tara practice is well-known in Jewel Heart. It is very well practiced, shared and taught127. Though all Taras are Tara, now our focus is on Cittamani Tara, who is part of Green Tara. Today we have the Twenty-one Tara forms: the peaceful and wrathful manifestations. Some things, like the Tara stories of protecting from fears etc., though people may say that is specific for Green Tara, are applicable to all Taras. But what you don’t do is mix up the [classes of] tantra. White Tara is a kriya tantra, while Cittamani Tara is maha anu yoga tara tantra. For the practice of White Tara you keep vegetarian; you can’t eat a big steak and then start her peaceful practice. Each Tara has its own tantra and you leave it there. That is why when a Tibetan lama gives an initiation it may look disor- ganized, but it is not. All these different tantras have their own rules.

Author and commentaries. Nyima Bepa, often shortened to Nyi bä, is Suryagupta [in Sanskrit]. Surya means sun; gupta means caste. This particular wrathful Twenty-one Taras128, which I have been requested to teach, has its own mandala system and its own full initiation. However we are not here to do that initiation or to introduce you to the mandala, but to explain these twenty-one Taras. The introduction of the Twenty-one Taras has to be based on their sadhanas and rituals. I looked into a couple of sadhanas and I found that the easiest one is the system of Palmang, whose personal name is Könchog Gyaltsen. Why did I chose Palmang? Because he is very well-known, very well-respected in the Gelugpa tradition in general and particularly in the Amdo area. 129 Then [there is] Ngulchu Dharmabhadra’s130 work. Then Dagyab Rimpoche gave me two separate texts, one from an unknown person from centuries ago, with a simple short name Bikshu Namgyal Gyalt- sen131, This is from Amdo area. (The spelling is different from Lhasa. For Bepa he wrote here Big W so it almost says Nyima Weba; that is local dialect. Even Balmang in local dialect from his hometown it is

127 Gelek Rimpoche, Healing and Selfhealing through White Tara. 128 Though there are also peaceful Taras in there, the system is called ‘wrathful Taras’ as opposed to the Atisha system that is called ‘peaceful Taras’. 129 dBal mang dKon mchog rgyal mtshan 1764-1863. His collected works have been republished by Gyaltan Gelek Namgyal, New Delhi, in 1974. 130 1772-1851 131 Bikshu is Sanskrit for monk; Tib. ge long 116 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Walmang.) The other text Rimpoche gave me is by someone called Gelong Trinle Töju, also probably an Amdo lama.

The two systems. What I like to do today is give you the two different versions of the Twenty-one Taras, the wrathful and the peaceful system [i.e. the Suryagupta system and the Atisha system] on a powerpoint presentation side by side. In the Atisha system all Taras have one face and two hands [as well as the same posture]; only the color [of the body and the vase] changes. [In the Suryagupta system the Taras differ in all details.]. My comments [to the Suryagupta system] will be based on the four or five different texts I have.132 So it is going to be very messy. Please, be prepared. And then, the numbers may not match! Re- member that! Okay?133 Also, be aware: The mandala is only according to Suryagupta system; Atisha has no mandala system.

Pictures, commentaries and practice texts. This thangka [of the Atisha system] comes from the Rubin museum in New York.134 It won’t match with the mandala system [of Suryagupta] at all. Not only it does not match with the mandala system, even the principal deity is different. We are going to base on a little text: Praise to the Twenty-one Taras. The pictures you received in [the distributed] text135 are not likely to match! Why? Because this is from two hundred years ago. It was never organized the way the westerners organize. Also each Gelugpa lama had his own system of doing. Plus we are trying to bring them together [from different texts]. In addition to all this, the Sakyas have their own system and texts, likewise the Kargyupas and the Nyingmapas do. So all funny things altogether. But hereafter it may be nicely organized. That is what we are looking for. Please bear this in mind. What all these texts have in common is: taking refuge, developing the bodhimind, the four immeasurables, practicing the seven limbs, the Vajrasattva recitation for purification, and the additional practice of reviewing the pre-vajrayana paths; that is from guru-devotion up to vajrayana. As they do have that in common, it must be important!

Visualizing the mandala of the Twenty-one Taras according to the Suryagupta system136 Like with every other mandala, there is [from emptiness] a sun mandala, marked by a vajra. That vajra radiates light and produces the vajra ground, the vajra fence, the vajra tent and the vajra canopy. [Around that] is the fire mandala with the five different colors of fire. At the center of that vajra protection rim is the basis of the mandala: a crossed vajra, as usual. As usual, the eastern vajra spoke is white, the southern one is yellow, the western one red, the northern one green and the center or hub is blue. As usual, the mandala palace is square, all made out of jewels. The walls consist of five-colored layers, from outwards in: white, yellow, red, green and blue. Inside the mandala-palace, the east is white, the south is yellow, the west is red, the north is green; and the center is blue. The colors correspond to the outside vajra-spokes. It is a completely normal mandala. In the center of this mandala-palace, i.e. in de blue part, is an eight-petalled [multicolored]137 lotus, which has internally a four-petalled lotus. That is special here.

132 The commentary on the Atisha system is based on the First Panchen Lama, Panchen Lozang Chökyi Gyeltsen. 133 Regarding the non-matching of certain Tara pictures with the text of their praise, also see Willson, In Praise of Tara, p. 119. 134 This refers to the thangka used to explain the 21 Taras according to the Atisha system, US summer 2005. 135 From M. Willson, In Praise of Tara. Of the different sets we could find, in the end this sets corresponds best. 136 The Suryagupta system was taught in a separate teaching, not during the Cittamani teachings. As all Taras do have their own sadhana, whether or not they will be visualized as described here in the context of the Cittamani Tara sadhana is not clear. Needs a check with Rimpoche. 137 Four main directions: red; south-east + north-west: yellow; north-east: black; south-west: green, center: green. Picture: p. 275

The Twenty-One Taras 117

Visualizing the Twenty-one Taras according to the Atisha system138 [For introducing the Principal Tara to you] I’m going to use the First Dalai Lama‘s famous praise, A Crown Ornament for the Wise; a praise of Green Tara [Tib. lek dri ma], in which he says: 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. Ying rig nam dag pad me ten… Let’s look at the first little word, ying and rig. (One syllable means a lot! You won’t be able to read poetry unless you know Tibetan extremely well!) Ying is referring to rang zhin ying, which refers to nature. Nature refers to shunyata. Shunyata is in one way emptiness, in another way dharmadhatu139. (That is the name Trungpa Rimpoche gave to his organization.) Dharmadhatu refers to shunyata. In the Tara sadhana you find OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHA SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDHOH ‘HAM. Allen Ginsberg translated it as Nature empty, everything’s pure, naturally pure, that is what I am. Ying refers to that and to represent that ying you have a lotus. Rig is short for rig pa, which represents the pure mind, which represents enlightenment (That is why Sogyal Rimpoche uses Rigpa for his organization. So you have Trungpa Rimpoche as well as Sogyal Rimpoche here. Ying and Rig.) The moon represents that purity. In the Hindu and Buddhist mythological stories the sun is associated with heat and the moon with coolness. That goes with our common language, ‘It is cool man!’ So ying represents the purity by nature, [the natural purity], and rig the purity of the impure things that suddenly come up. It is like when we talk about obstacles, we can talk about natural obstacles and temporary obstacles. Temporary obstacles are easy to talk about, but natural impurity is also there. When we talk about delusions and the imprint of the delusions, we use the example of the garlic and the garlic smell, the smell goes into the natural aspects of the impurity. So ying and rig, symbolized by lotus and moon, represent both purities: the lotus the natural purity and the moon the purity of the temporary things. On such a cushion sits the One who has the color of emerald [Tib. ma ge140]. She has one face, two hands. The emerald color represents out of five wisdoms the wisdom of activity. That is in one way what Tara represents. In other words, Tara is coming out as one that rolls her sleeves up and is ready to work. That is indicated by the wisdom of activity. Tara is sitting. She is very youthful: sixteen The right leg slightly stretched out, represents the appearance side, the left leg, drawn in, represents the wisdom aspect, the emptiness side. To praise Her, the First Dalai Lama says, 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. Wow, really beautiful! He says, The right and left chest of your body fully developed, rising beautiful and youthful.’ So, beautiful youthful breasts. She gives the message: ‘I am the keeper of uncontaminated joy’ or, ‘I am the treasure that keeps and shares the uncontaminated joy.’ Her face is like a full moon. ‘Full moon’ means: nothing is missing. (Each one of these words in Ti- betan gives you one insight and one opposite; that is the beauty of this poetry. You don’t have to write so much, by just one little word here and there, if you know how to read it, you will know.) It means this being is physically fully matured, like the moon of the 15th of the lunar calendar. She is radiating light. Her beautiful eyes look at all living being and in particular at those that are downtrodden, those who are helpless and hopeless and who think themselves to be helpless and hopeless. She looks at them with a

138 The Atisha system belongs to the kriya tantra; the explanations shared by Rimpoche during an open retreat in the Netherlands, Spring 2005, were based on front-generation. 139 Dharmadhatu [Skt. Tib. chos kyi dbyings] ‘realm of phenomena’. 140 ma rgad

118 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary slight indication of, Hey, I like you, I love you!’ That message she gives from her eyes, long eyes. Not circle bulging eyes that say, ‘I’m going to hit you’, but long eyes that indicate her love and affection. She lives in the forest of the Sandalwood; that is growing in her pure land, Turquoise Land.141 You are such a wonderful mother, to you I bow. 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. Her hands are like a turquoise tree branch that is stretched out: soft, smooth, a gentle touch and very flexible. Her right hand is put on the right knee, showing the palm of her hand to all in the offering mudra, I am here to offer you the ultimate siddhi, the ultimate accomplishment: total enlightenment. I invite you to be the guest of the joy-celebration of total enlightenment. Please join with me quickly.’ 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.’ The left hand is hold at the heart level of Tara herself, and indicates, ‘I am a buddha – my mind is buddha; I am dharma – my speech is dharma; I am sangha – my body is sangha. ‘I am the total collection of the Three Jewels’. She indicates that by rising three fingers in the refuge mudra. Along with this she holds her left hand at the side of her left breast, which indicates she is the giver of protection: protection from samsara in general and particularly from the hundreds of fears. ‘Those who are suffering from the hundreds of different fears, I am telling you don’t be afraid, I am here to help you. I am inviting you to join me. She doesn’t say ‘Help is on the way’. She is saying, ‘I am here to protect you from the hundreds of fears of samsara in general and in particular from the sufferings of the lower realm. Please, don’t be afraid. I am buddha, I am dharma, I am sangha, I am Tara. I am here at your service, to quickly deliver you.’ ‘I am here’, she says; she does not say, ‘I am on the way’. 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.’ Both hands of Tara are holding a beautiful blue utpala flower. It is not a lotus. It is more rare than a lotus, but not as rare as an udumbara flower, which comes out only when a buddha has come. It gives us the message, ‘Don’t be silly, don’t be attached to the contaminated joys that we experience. Don’t have obsession for samsara’s picnic spots. Join with me in the city of liberation’. That is an invitation. In my mind, Tara’s hand gesture indicates, ‘Be fearless. Choose love.’ Not to be obsessed is very difficult, so one needs to be fearless to be able to do that.

I explained the body of the Principal Tara, the others are totally the same142. [So, you visualize:] In front of you, in the space, on a lotus and moon cushion sits Cittamani Tara as the principal deity of the Twenty-one Taras. She is known as the Forest Tara. The Tibetans call her drol jang, Green Tara, but her actual name is seng ldeng nags kyi sgrol ma -’The Liberator who lives in the Forest of the Sandalwood.143‘ She also carries the name of Swift One. The twenty-one Taras sit around the principal in the middle. Starting with the one in front of the principal Tara it goes in a circle. It is recommended to go counter-clockwise, but you can go clockwise if you want to; it can go either way. [The Atisha system has no mandala.]

141 Yulo Köpa, Paradise Arrayed in Turquoise Petals. Tara’s Buddhafield. 142 Except for color and vase. 143 Skt. Khadiravani Tara

The Twenty-One Taras 119

The Practice in the Atisha system If you want to practice them – there is no commitment – you practice them individually, as a front generation. For every Tara you practice, you do: Prerequisites. You take refuge, generate the bodhimind and do the four immeasurables. Visualization. You visualize the specific Tara of your practice, as a front generation. Tara wears a wonderful dress, skirt as well as shawl etc. of panjelika, the finest of finest, gone beyond any known dress material; it is of joy nature, compassion nature, wisdom nature. She has the 32 major and 80 minor marks of a buddha144. She is radiating light from her body, and sitting in the bodhisattva style of sitting. She has OM at the crown, AH at the throat and HUM at the heart level, representing body, speech and mind successively. Invitation. Light radiates from the letter HUM at Tara’s heart, the light reaches to all pure lands and in particular to the Turquoise land. All enlightened beings are invited in the form of Tara. They come and dissolve into your image of Tara. DZA HUM BAM HO – they become oneness. Seven Limbs. You can either use Tara’s own Seven Limbs, or the shorter one145 or use our own Jewel Heart version. If you do this practice for somebody in particular, that somebody should be visualized along with you in front of that Tara. [After you have said the particular praise], wonderful light is coming out of the body of Tara and in particular from her vase. While saying the mantra146, you visualize that from the HUM [marked by TAM] and the mantra mala at the heart level of the Tara, white nectar comes and purifies that individual of all negativities, negative emotions, negative karma, obstacles in life, obstacles to spiritual development, obstacles to well-being and happiness, and obstacles to peace. All of them are purified. White light and nectar pacifies all undesirable, unwanted things. Yellow light gives all prosperity things, red light is generated for power and dark-blue light is generated as wrath for whenever it is necessary. The green color is for multiple activities. 147 At the end you dissolve the Tara you dealt with, to you. But, if you just forget about the previous one, that is also fine. And if you can keep them in your visualization up to the last Tara, that is fine. If you just want to say the Tara praise and so on, fine, but I like to present the Taras to you one by one.

I have to say, we are very grateful to the Rubin Museum. They have provided all our needs. They have provided a high resolution film of a beautiful thangka of the Twenty-one Taras. And also the film of the Eight Protection of Fear Taras thangka. We have been struggling to find out who is who. Unlike in the West, traditionally the Taras do not appear in chronological or logical order on the thangka. All twenty- one Taras will be sitting in the same way. [That is the Atisha system.] Hand implements and purpose will change. There is also the system brought in by the mahasiddha Suryagupta, [Tib. Nyi be]. In there all twenty- one Tara’s have completely different postures and hand implements.

144 To be found in Pabongka Rinpoche, Liberation in Our Hands, p. 308-314. 145 See p. 113 and p 68 respectively. 146 You can use either that Tara’s specific mantra or OM TURE TUTTARE TURE SOHA 147 The color of the nectar as well as the activity of the Tara are to be adapted to the specific Tara you are practicing.

120 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Praising the Twenty-one Taras [The sadhana says, Recite these as many times as possible, from OM JE TSUN MA PAK MA DROL MA LA CHAK TSAL LO! up to CHAK TSAL WA NI NYI SHU TSA CHIK. Each time you say the words CHAK TSAL (homage), visualize that a replica comes from the relevant Tara, just as one lamp lights another, and sinks into you. ]

Outlines for the 21 praises148 I. Abbreviated way of praising Tara: opening sentence II. Detailed way of praising Tara. A. Praising in terms of her historical background: verse 1. B. Praising in terms of her physical appearance: verse 2-15 1. Praising in terms of her Rupakaya aspects – which means more or less her physical aspects [v.2-14] a. Praising in terms of her peaceful aspects [verse 2-7] b. Praising in terms of her wrathful aspects [verse 8-14] 2. Praising in terms of her Dharmakaya aspects – which means more or less the mental aspects [v. 15] C. Praising in terms of her activities verse 16-21 III. The benefits of praising I. Abbreviated way of praising Tara149 om je tsün pag ma dröl ma la chak tsal lo OM, to the Venerable Arya Tara I bow down. This Praise to the Twenty-one Taras, supposed to have been said by Buddha Vairochana150, begins with om je tsün pag ma dröl ma la chak tsal lo. OM. Here, the M [pronounced MA] particularly means ‘the outstanding mother of all lords’, which is referring to the buddhas. It is the conclusion of the OM, which has three letters - A O M, referring to body, speech and mind of the object of prostration 151. The combination of body, speech and mind is wisdom, which is emptiness, which is the mother of all buddhas. Je tsün ma152, This is the same word as used for His Holiness Sakya Trizin’s sister. It is translated here as Venerable. Je is leader, tsün refers to the quality of morality and ma makes it female – the one who kept intact the three vows: self-liberation, buddhayana [or mahayana] and vajrayana. This is Tara herself, the mother of all enlightened beings. You may say, ‘There are thousands and thousands of enlightened beings, how can she give birth to all of them?’ You don’t think here that way. The mother here is actually ‘the one who gives [birth] and that is the mother of emptiness. And emptiness is the wisdom. Though all enlightened beings are a combination of wisdom and compassion, the wisdom part will give you the idea of a mother being. Venerable also indicates what Tara clearly says herself, ‘Not only am I the mother of all enlightened beings, I also have all three vows: the vow of self-liberation, the bodhisattva vow and the vajrayana vow. That is why you say ‘Venerable’. Pagma: [Skt. arya] means ‘special being’. It indicates, ‘I am beyond samsara, I am even beyond nirvana.’ That is why she is special. In the Hinayana system nirvana is peace, samsara is suffering. That is part of the Four Buddhist logos153. In mahayana and vajrayana however, nirvana is peace, but not free of suffering. Total enlightenment is free of both samsara’s and nirvana’s suffering. The word in Tibetan is si zhi154jig pa – fear of suffering and fear of nirvana. Tara is fearless, meaning fearless of both samsara and nirvana. Samsara has the fear of suffering. Nirvana has the fear of peace, boring probably, lukewarm,

148 The headings are by the First Dalai Lama, Gedün Drup (1391-1475). 149 The outlines probably belong to the Suryagupta system. 150 Ch. 3 of the Tara Tantra. To be found in M. Wilsson, In Praise of Tara, part one, ch. 2. 151 Also see pg. 96. 152 For Je tsün also see Rimpoche’s, Guru Devotion,how to inegrate the primorial mind, commentary to stanza 50. 153 All created phenomena are impermanent. All contaminated phenomena are suffering. All phenomena are empty. Nirvana is peace. 154 srid zhi - Existence and peace. Synonymous with samsara and nirvana. ‘jig pa - terrifying, perishable, destruction.

The Twenty-One Taras 121 sleeping, you can’t sleep fourteen hours a day. Fearless is pag ma. Pagme Drolma, Arya Tara, Noble Tara. Tara is emerald green. Pag has a double message155. [There is the word ‘phags156, in which the ‘is the prefix, ph is the main letter, g is the suffix and s is the fixafterfix. In that spelling it becomes the word ‘extra-ordinary’, meaning gone beyond the ordinary level and having reached the arya level; that is, [out of five paths] the path of seeing and [out of ten bhumis] the first bhumi. When you reach that level you are called ‘phags pa if you are a male and ‘phags ma if you are a female. In colloquial Tibetan [in a different spelling] phag means pig. You can’t hear the difference; it is in the spelling only. Drolma. That is the name of Tara, but it has a meaning. Drol means to liberate. Ma makes it the female liberator. So it means: ‘One who protects from suffering’ or ‘one who liberates from suffering.’ Chag tsäl lo. Prostration, homage, bowing down, veneration, showing the highest respect, very respectfully bowing, very humbly praising. The meaning of the word is: I very respectfully bow to you with body, speech and mind, showing my respect to you and your qualities, and I seek those qualities. In short we say: chag tsäl. Translating it in different languages the original word looses on its qualities. That is maybe the reason why the Sanskrit mantras have never been translated into Tibetan. In Tibetan [the text has] no linkage, no conjunctions, nothing. [In my explanation of these verses] I will go according to the Tibetan, otherwise we’ll be nowhere.

II. Detailed way of praising Tara has two: A. Praising in terms of her historical background [v. 1] B. Praising in terms of her physical appearance [verse 2-15] A. Praising in terms of her historical background [v. 1] 1 chak tsäl dröl ma nyur ma pa mo chan ni kä chik lok dang dra ma jik ten sum gön chu kye zhäl gyi ge sar je wa lä ni jung ma 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. Praise. It says, Chak tsäl dröl ma nyur ma pa mo. ‘I prostrate to you, you who are the Swift and Fearless one’. Chak tsäl is respect, as we discussed already. Who you are giving the highest respect? Drölma, the liberator who liberates all sentient beings, who is quicker than all other enlightened beings, therefore called ‘Swift’ - nyur ma. She said ‘as a woman I can do it’ and she put in double, triple efforts. Even today women in the offices have to work with more effort. Whether you accept or deny it, I see it. Because she doubled or tripled her efforts, she got this title of Swift. She is also called ‘Heroine’- pa mo, one who destroys all evil forces. Don’t think of evil with horns and tail, think of the evil within us: our negative emotions, negative karma, our hatred, our obsession and especially our ignorance. Here it is translated here as Fearless. The translator probably thought a hero or heroine is Fearless. The direct translation from Tibetan is: Swift Heroic One. In our own translation we may consider to change that.

155 phag – swine; ‘phags pa – noble being 156 s is fix afterfix

122 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Chan ni kä chik lok dang dra ma. ‘Whose eyes flash light lightning’. That translation is fine. She is not sending out light from her eyes like lightning, no. Eyes here does not refer to physical eyes, but to the wisdom eye that perceives every existence, every outer, inner and secret reality, simultaneously within a matter of a second, all the time. Everything is seen by that wisdom eye, like whenever lightning is happening; everyone sees everything at the same time. The wisdom eye sees every existence just as when it lightens and also it is as quick as lightning, both. That means it is enlightenment.You can leave the translation of this sentence as it is, because if you put all this meaning in, then it will no longer be translation, but a commentary. We leave the job of explaining to the instructors. (A lot of our sadhanas are like a commentary, with all explanations put in; that way saying the sadhana takes too long. That is a general problem with translators.) Jik ten sum gön157. This refers to Avalokiteshvara, is the buddha of compassion [here called] Lord of the Three worlds. What are the three worlds? Not US, Europe and Asia, but the world of the nagas, the spirits that live under the ground; the world of humans on the ground, and sala or space, the world of the gods above the ground. In western language: hell, heaven and earth. Chu kye zhäl gyi = born from the lotus. The lotus is born out of water, so the lotus is sometimes called ‘waterborn’. The lotus is born out of the mud but there is no fault of the mud. Here we may have a problem with the translation. Chu kyi is lotus and here refers to the face of Avalokiteshvara. Chu kyi also represents the bha ga158, the giver of joy: though born out of attachment, there is no fault of attachment. It represents purity. In this translation the tears have been linked with Avalokiteshvara, but not the lotus. Okay, let us do a justification for the translation. Let us say, the Lord of the Three Worlds is Avalo- kiteshvara. In Avalokiteshvara’s face you have Avalokiteshvara’s eyes and out of the tears of Avalo- kiteshvara came a lotus from which Tara was born. That has some historical link and that way we can justify ‘born from a lotus’. Ge sar je wa la ni jung ma.… Je wa means tens of hundreds of thousands of tears. Probably the translator tried to use ‘ocean’ for that.

Manifestation - Suryagupta system: Tara Swift Heroic – Nyurma Pamo This particular Tara is red in color. She has one face, eight hands. The first two hands hold a bell and vajra above her crown. The second pair of hands holds a bow [r] and an arrow [l]. The third pair of hands holds a wheel [r] and a spear159. The fourth pair holds a [wisdom-]sword [r] and noose [l]. This is according to the [commentary]-text. Sometimes the text and the pictures won’t match, but the text is more important. We stick to the text. Unless it is initiation material, we do not completely rely on the picture. As to her place in the mandala, she sits in the center of the four-petalled lotus, which is inside the eight- petalled lotus.160 Audience: What is the meaning of the triangle underneath [on the picture] Rimpoche: I’m sure the triangle underneath has a meaning, but at this level we won’t need it. Each one of these Tara’s has her own little sadhana, probably it will be in there.161 The three points of the triangle underneath could represent the three worlds. With the lotus on top of the triangle, it could refer to her origin. That is a possibility, especially as the explanation here is from the historical background. Remember, we always put the world in a triangular shape, in Vajrayogini and all of those162. That is possible.

Manifestation Atisha system – Tara Swift and Fearless – Nyurma Pamo Right in front of the Central Tara is nyur ma pa mo, the swift and courageous one. She is red in color, slightly wrathful. She sits just like Tara herself. But her right hand, while in the giving gesture, is holding a red colored vase. Her [specific] mantra is: OM TARE TUTTARE TURE VASHAM KURU SO HA.

157 Alternative counting of the three worlds: worlds of desire, form, and the formless. 158 bha ga – womb, vagina; also referred to as lotus. 159 Willson p 124: conch or vajra. 160 A scheme of the seats of the Taras in the mandala is to be found on p. 275. 161 Separate sadhanas of the 21 Tara’s not yet found. 162 Reference to the reality source, chöjung.

The Twenty-One Taras 123

B. Praising in terms of her physical appearance has two: 1. Praising in terms of her Rupakaya aspects (v. 2-14) 2. Praising in terms of her Dharmakaya aspects (v. 15) 1. Praising in terms of her Rupakaya aspects has two: a. Praising in terms of her peaceful aspects (v. 2-7) b. Praising in terms of her wrathful aspects [v. 8-14) a. Praising in terms of her peaceful aspects has six verses a1. Praise in terms of her brightness and radiance 2 chak tsäl tön kä da wa kün tu gang wa gya ni tsek pä zhäl ma kar ma tong trak tsok pa nam kyi rap tu che wä ö rap bar ma Homage to she whose face is made of one hundred full autumn moons and blazes with the dazzling light of a thousand constellations. Praise. It says, ‘Chak tsel tön ka da wa kün tu…’ Chakt tsel we know: ‘I bow to’ or ‘Homage’ or ‘I see the qualities of you and I seek your quality’. Each verse here begins with that. Da wa is moon. These first lines mean: One whose face is so beautiful, so wonderful, that it is more majestic and more beautiful than that of [one hundred] full autumn moons. She is so wonderful that it is expressed as one hundred full moons together. This is the poetry system, called rab da, meaning ‘make it much bigger’. However, it is not really an exaggeration, she does have that value. Why autumn? That is very Tibetan. In winter we have a lot of dust storms. Those all settle down in the rainy season, which is the summer. Then the end of the summer and the autumn is the period that the dust is completely settled. Not only is autumn free of dust, in autumn there are not so much clouds either nor is there smog. Therefore it is the best period of the year: beautiful weather, free of clouds, free of dust and free of smog, especially in the cities. I do remember once in Nepal in august I was so sick, because the free air form the ocean had not reached nor had the cool air from the mountains come down, so the bad air was stuck in the Kathmandu valley. Everybody who knows will try to escape from Kathmandu in August. In case you didn’t notice, I counted three things: clouds, dust and smog; free of those three means free of the three poisons163. So, using the metaphor of the full autumn moon, we are saying Tara’s face is so beautiful because she is free of the three poisons. Not only is it free of the three poisons, not only is it just one moon, Tara’s face is as hundred of those moons put together - so white, so beautiful. (You see, Tibetans think that white is beautiful, that Caucasians are beautiful). From her beautiful face radiates light like that of a thousand stars – that strong. She is radiating thousands of light rays all the time. She is the one to whom I prostrate. Another interpretation is: ‘Your face has this majestic look of hundreds of autumn moons put together. Like the moon is outstanding amidst the thousand stars, you are outstanding among enlightened beings.’

Manifestation - Suryagupta system: Radiant White Moon – Da wa dang chen ma Earlier I said you have a four-petalled lotus in the middle of the eight-petalled lotus. Now we talk about the eastern petal of the four-petalled lotus.

163 Obsession/ attachment, hatred, ignorance

124 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

This Tara has to be white in color, because she is compared with an autumn moon. She has three faces: white [m], blue [r] and red [l] (The thangka we have here shows a red face, one of my texts says the left one is yellow and other texts say it is red. You find such differences more often. Let’s say these are ‘typographical’ mistakes). We will stick to red. This Tara has twelve hands. The first two hands are in the meditative state. Then from bottom upwards, the second two hands carry a katanga [r] and vase with water [l]. The third a wheel [r] and an utpala flower [l]. The fourth a jewel [r] and a bell [l]. The fifth a vajra [r] and a vase [l]. The sixth a flower [garland][r] and a dharma book [l]. According to the thangka she is standing. Some of my texts she is sitting crossed-legged in vajra style in a radiating light. Some say she is standing, and one of my texts even says there are different systems. Which means, she is not always sitting, neither always standing. These Taras [in the two different systems shown here] have different names and different explanations – don’t worry about that.

Manifestation - Atisha system: Great Peaceful Tara – Yang chen ma [Skt. Sarasvati.] This second Tara is the ‘Peaceful One’. She is white, white like the autumn moon. (For the Tibetans, silver, conch shell, moon, are all white). She has one face, two hand, same mudra. Why is she called ‘peaceful’? Her activity is to heal. Because the activity of this particular Tara is pacifying; pacifying illnesses, pacify evil disturbances, pacifying the mind, the country, the world, pacifying wherever there is lack of peace. Lack of peace is disturbance. The nature of the mind is peace-loving, nature is peace- loving, nations are peace-loving. Everything is sort of peace-oriented, love-oriented, not war-oriented, not hatred-oriented. However, disturbance comes up. When disturbance comes up, it gives opportunity to all these negativities. Disturbances are unfortunate incidents, like 9-11, which completely disturbed the peace here in the US. Even the love and peace [people], by fear or by whatever will be talking about wars. That gives room to the war makers. That may create disturbance through the world. So, pacifying is the job of this particular Tara. Clearing the obstacles that disturb the peace, whether it is the mind or family situations or world situations. Small as a family or large as a nation – that is external. Internally it is the mind, the emotional level. At the deepest level our mind is very peaceful and love-oriented. Each and every one of us has that. This pacifying Tara carries a transparent pure white vase in her right hand. Otherwise everything is the same as the first one. That is, in this tradition, Atisha’s system of the Twenty-one Taras, they are all the same, only the vase and the color change. This particular vase with the nectar in it has the capability of purifying in general negativities and in particular obstructions and of healing illnesses. Her mantra is OM TARE TUTTARE SHINTAM KURU SOHA. These mantras you can look at, but I’m not sure whether you can really utilize each mantra. When you have done one or more mantra retreats of a million of Tara mantras I don’t think there will be any difficulty. Otherwise, I recommend not using them. [Tara’s mantra OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SVAHA can be used for each Tara.]

Praise in terms of her color, hand implements and causal aspects 3 chak tsäl ser ngo chu nä kye kyi164 pä mä chak ni nam nam par gyän ma jin pa tsön drü ka tup zhi wa zö pa sam tän165 chö yül nyi ma 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.

164 chu skyes - ‘water-born’ = lotus flower; ser – gold; ngo – blue. 165 jinpa - generosity; brtson ‘grus - diligence; dka' thub - ascetism; zhiwa - peace; bzod pa - patience; bsam gtan - concentration

The Twenty-One Taras 125

Praise. Homage to the Golden-blue one. ‘Golden-blue one’ is great. The commentary says: She is beautiful, majestic, as pure as 24 karat gold, yet in this case with a touch of blue like lapis lazuli. She is holding a lotus, which means an utpala, of which the root is in her left hand and the flowers bloom at her ear. That is as we describe White Tara. The actual Tibetan says: I prostrate to the Golden-blue one, who is waterborn, lotus decorating the hand. Actually this is a very good translation. The hand implements of the yidams are the signals or initials of the deity. Here it is the lotus, or utpala flower. The commentary here is great. It says, ‘lotus, the utpala one.’ These are actually two different things, however you don’t want to say ‘lotus which means utpala’. In the Tara practice, the flower she is holding is an utpala, however the tantra says ‘water-born’, which is a technical name for lotus. Where does that come from? You can’t say ‘from the water’. The water is the condition, not the cause. The causes are multiple. They are mentioned in the next two lines: generosity, enthusiasm, ‘difficult to maintain’, which refers to morality, peace, meaning the darknesses of ignorance being pacified by the wisdom, patience, concentration. That means: the six paramitas are the causal factors. Their order is changed here. The translation says, ‘She is giving and joyous effort. etc. I would have said: She is born out of generosity etc.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara The Golden One – Drol ma ser dog chen ma Now comes the southern petal of the four-petalled lotus in the eight-petalled lotus. This Tara is of golden color, one face, ten hands. She sits on a sun cushion. She is sitting crossed-legged. The first right hand holds a jewel mala at her heart. The left one holds a scarf. The second right hand holds a sword and the second left a lasso. The third right hand holds an arrow and the left a lotus. The fourth right hand holds a vajra and the left a bell. The fifth right hand holds a stick and the left a bow. Don’t think of a walking stick, it is more a baseball stick; it is something to hit rather than a stick to depend on.

Manifestation Atisha system: Giver of Supreme Virtue – Su nam chog ter ma. This Tara is the one of longevity as well as wealth. She is a yellow Tara. There are two Taras in yellow color holding a yellow vase. (There are two more wrathful ones holding a red vase. There are two who are black in color and they hold a dark colored vase, the color like in Yamantaka. These are wrathful ones. Maybe the description I have doesn’t correspond with the praise. If you read according to the root praise it will be confusing.) This yellow Tara’s activity is to grow longevity, power and wealth. The mantra you can say is OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. Or you can say OM TARE TUTTARE TURE PUSHKTIM KURU YE SOHA. Or: OM TARE TUTTARE TURE BU SHINTAM KURU SOHA.

Practice. During the mantra saying period golden light radiates from this Tara. That golden light comes to yourself and in particular the one you are doing the practice for, or all sentient beings. It reaches them. Millions of light rays come out from this Tara. At the tip of each light ray is a Golden One carrying the vase and pouring the water/nectar purifying the being(s). That purifying water not only washes the outer, but also the inner and secret obstacles. All of them become gold, representing perfection. Plenty of longevity and wealth has come to you. You can say OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA or you can say OM TARE TUTTARE TURE PUSHKTIM KURU YE SOHA.

Praising in terms of being respected and praised by all buddha and bodhisattvas 4 chak tsäl de zhin shek pä tsuk tor ta yä nam par gyäl war chö ma

126 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

ma lü pa röl chin pa top pä gyäl wä sä kyi shin tu ten ma 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. Praise. It says, ‘She who crowns the heads of all buddhas’. That has a double meaning in English: she puts a crown on the head of the buddhas or she is the crown jewel of all buddhas. The last one is correct, according to the commentary of the First Dalai Lama, Ganden Drub. Tara is the crown-jewel of the buddhas, because she is the mother of all the buddhas. She is the mother of all, of yourself and of all enlightened beings. Whose action is victorious without limit. These first two sentences have to link together. She is the crown jewel of all buddhas that represents their limitless victorious deeds. In other words, metaphorically she sits on the head of all the buddhas as their victorious crown jewel. Meaning, she gives unlimited victorious support to all the buddhas. Therefore all buddhas and bodhisattvas who have obtained the complete ten bhumis treat her with highest respect, maintain her. That is why she is called Ushnisha. Possessing every transcendent perfection should be ‘possessing the ten transcendent perfections. Ma lü means ‘nothing left out’. The bodhisattvas who have obtained the ten stages, are all like a crown jewel. The bodhisattvas themselves rely on her is fine. Why is she called Vijaya? Vijaya means Victory, victory over all obstacles.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Ushnisha Vijaya Tara – Tsug tor Drol ma This Tara sits on the western petal of the four-petalled lotus. She is named Tsugtor Drolma – Ushnisha Vijaya Tara or Tsugtor Nampar Gyema. Tara sits on a moon, yellow or golden in color. She has one face and four hands. The first two hands are in the mudra of giving [r] and holding a water vase [l], not a bumpa but a chi lu166. The two last ones hold a mala [r] and a stick [l]. This Tara is sitting in the bodhisattva style. That way of sitting is a little more relaxed than the lotus- or vajra crossed-legged style. The way Vaishravana and Jambhala and so on are sitting is also called bodhisattva style; it is semi-cross-legged. This picture seems to be more crossed-legged. The Green Tara also leans a little back and one leg is sort of stretched. That is the bodhisattva-style [ready to jump up to help].

Manifestation Atisha system: All Victorious Ushnisha Tara – Tsug tor nam par gyel ma The fourth Tara, called has an Ushnisha-vijaya type of appearance. Normally, out of the three longevity deities167 normally the Ushnishavijaya is white. This Tara is yellow in color and holds a yellow vase. In this case Tara has an ushnisha on the head, though in the picture it is not very clear Actually, all the female deities you see have something to do with Tara. (I knew one crazy geshe who was very effective in any ritual he did. For him every female deity was Tara. So even if he was supposed to do the Palden Lhamo prayer he would say, ‘I don’t have the book nor the time, so I will do the Tara prayer’. So probably for that level it works that way.) If you want to, you can say OM TARE TUTTARE TURE AYUR JNANA PUSHKTIM KURU SOHA. Ayur means life.

166 A little vase for drinking water out of. 167 Amitayus, White Tara, Ushnisha Vijaya.

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Praise in terms of her overpowering obstacles and oppositions 5 chak tsäl tuttara hum yi ge dö dang chok dang nam ka gang ma jik ten dün po zhap kyi nän te lü pa me par guk par nü ma 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. Praise. To whom do you prostrate? To the one who says TUTTARE and HUM, whose mantra of TUTTARE is protection form fears, like from the eight fears and your bliss-void mind combination is represented by the HUM. That is not just sound. Sound refers to the mantra. We read the mantra in the letter form but the mantra itself is sound. You have a mantra mala circling at your heart. From that mantra light radiates. And also she produces the mantra sound HUM and that is: emptiness in essence compassion. ‘Tong gyi nying gi nying po chen – Empti- ness is in essence compassion’ is a very profound buddhist and vajrayana slogan. The HUM in OM AH HUM is the same thing. HUM is union, whether of body and mind, male and female, wisdom and compassion, or clear light and illusion body. The union has the nature of love, yet it comes out of the void, emptiness. So it is the combination of emptiness and compassion. Which means, the essence of emptiness is compassion. This Tara shows that by saying HUM. What does this sound do? It fills the seven layers of existence or the seven worlds – jig ten bdun. Those are: the hell realm, the hungry ghost realm, the animal realm, the human realm, the samsaric gods’ realm – the five desire realms168 – plus the form realm, chok, and the space, namka, or formless realm. Together seven worlds, jik ten dün. The sound of HUM helps to ease the suffering of those in the hell realm, in the realm of the hungry ghosts, in the animal realm, the human land, and samsaric gods, which are the five different groups in the desire realm. Why is it called desire, dö, realm? We are dictated by desire. Whatever we do in this realm where we are, is pushed by desire. Hell, heaven and earth are controlled by desire. What can she do? She can calm. Her sound of HUM is able to pacify and purify and ease the suffering of beings in all of these realms. She fills up these seven layers with the sound of HUM and with light. Also by her physical body she presses them with her feet. [It could also be interpreted thus:] She presses not in the sense of suppressing, but in the sense of ‘comes and visits’. In colloquial respected upper class Tibetan language, used in the higher circles, ‘put your foot on’ also means ‘to visit’. Why she visits? To help and to serve all of them; no one is left out. This is a very profound [interpretation]. If you look into a Tibetan dictionary, you won’t find this meaning of the word. So, it does not mean put under her feet and press, but visit. However, the praise itself is ‘to destroy the opposition’. This also means, if you make it too pacifying, then that [fierceful] aspect is cut out. Probably she does it peacefully. That is what it is. ‘Under her feet’ is really questionable; ‘who visits’ would be better. Audience: Is there a word of command in there? Rimpoche: Yes, there is a word of command in there; that is why I am hesitating. Otherwise you could make it very pacifying. It is easy to criticize somebody’s work, but difficult to substitute it by something better. So one should not be easy to criticize. It is not necessarily summoning, she gets in touch with and contacts all beings, no one left. [We can also explain it thus]: in case the peaceful points are not accepted, she can put her foot down and strike and shake the seven worlds. She has the

168 The gods and the demi-gods counted together.

128 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary ability to do it, but not necessarily she wants to do it. So the first comes first: pacify with the letter HUM. If not, she has the capability to [use stronger means]. To you, who have the power and capacity to contact, get in touch with all beings of the seven realms I prostrate. So visualize whatever you want to achieve over here. In particular, whenever you have difficulties of your own or of the people with you, this is the one who can help you and the ones with you. Particu- larly in difficulties of being harmed, if someone has been mean to you or to somebody, and if you want to help the person to get rid of that meanness, you can visualize that this Tara goes there and says HUM re- sounding HUMMMMM . That HUMMMMMM becomes so strong inside the ear of that particular person, that the person will let go of their meanness. There are more wrathfulnesses there, but not for us.169 Dö dang chok dang nam ka gang ma. The English translation ‘fills the sky with all things good’ I don’t think is correct. I would have translated: She who with TUTTARA HUM fills the sky, ground and desire realm or simply: She who with TUTTARA HUM fills all three realms. Jik ten dün po… ‘Who holds the power to invoke all forces etc …’ looks like we can leave that sentence. We praise her for overpowering obstacles and oppositions. Every time I read the verse aloud in Tibetan, because I want you to give you the oral transmission together [with the explanation].

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara who proclaims HUM – Hum dra drog pay drol ma Tara known as Hum dra tog pay drolma, Powerful Tara who says HUM, sits on the Northern petal of the inner lotus in the mandala, on a moon disc. This Tara is yellow in color, has one face, two hands. Her right hand is in the mudra of giving, the left is holding a yellow lotus. She sits in the vajra style of sitting. These are the four main ones. Then it goes to the eight-petalled second layer of the lotus.

Manifestation Atisha system: Powerful Tara who says HUM – Rig je ma This Tara is slightly wrathful. Not very wrathful. She is red colored. She is known as ‘One who makes the sound of HUM’. She has the peaceful attachment. Red is the color of attachment and of love, too. She shows you that. Along with that she is slightly wrathful. She is carrying a red-colored vase that attracts or draws everybody’s attention. Her mantra is OM TARE TUTTARE TURE CHE GE MO A KA RASH YA HI SO HA.

Praised by the great worldly gods 6 chak tsäl gya jin me lha tsang pa lung lha na tsok wang chuk chö ma jung po ro lang dri za nam dang nö jin tsok kyi dün nä tö ma 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. Praise. Not only is Tara great, but even the big samsaric gods worship her. To whom do you prostrate? The word gya jin refers to the eastern protector, Indra. Remember those are the protectors you also find in the Yamantaka practice. The Fire god Agni, me lha, is the south-east protector. Brahma, tsang pa, is the upper protector. Vayu, the Air god, lung lha, is the north-west protector. Ishvara, wang chuk, resides in the north- east etc. All powerful samsaric and non-samsaric, [gods] praise her. And all kinds of spirits, yakshas and zombies and smell-eaters and all of those 170 also all praise her.

169 Using wrathful mantras can only be done after having completed the appropriate retreat. 170 jung po = spirits or demons, ro lang = zombies; dri za = gandharvas = scent-eaters, nö jin = yakshas = harmbringers.

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Why did we say all this? If you pray to Tara, say Tara’s mantra, say Tara’s praise, you get protected from all possible types of spirits, like the tree gods, the water gods, the earth gods etc. – in case they try to harm you. If you look into these types of [worldly] gods in detail, Tibetan vajrayana buddhists have much more of those than e.g. the Egyptians. If you go in China around any corner, you see another deity etc. These are ghosts, actually; there are ghosts that harm and those that do not. (As to the English translation – scent-eaters is fine, living-dead sounds terrible.)

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara The Victorious of Hell, Heaven and Earth – Nam gyal Drol ma We are on the first one of the eight petals. East. That is in front!171 The front or East is wherever you face. Then from there it goes clockwise. This is a red Tara. She has one face, four hands. She sits on a sun cushion. The first pair of hands holds a vajra [r] and shows the threatening mudra [l], (index finger and little finger out, other three folded in). Our powerpoint picture shows a crossed vajra; that could be. The two upper hands hold a sword [r] and a lasso [l]. She is slightly wrathful. She has a different way of sitting, but anyway it is cross-legged.

Manifestation Atisha system: Tara Victorious over the Three Worlds – Jig ten sum la gyel ma. This Tara is dark red. She is slightly wrathful. Her bulging eyes indicate that. She is slightly more wrathful than the previous one. She is called ‘Victory over three realms’. She is the leader of the three layers of existence: under the ground, on the ground and above the ground. She resembles Ushnisha Vijaya, but is slightly more wrathful. All evil ones who try to obstruct us, she will make angry, mad and go crazy. Since she is wrathful, her red vase carries a drink that could really make you drunk and very high, and when you are high you can do anything you want. Those of you who have known the sixties, will know….. (laughs).

Practice. You take refuge, etc. – all the same.172 During the mantra recitation, from the HUM and the mantra mala at the heart of that Tara, fire-like fire-colored light radiates. It goes everywhere, and all these evil spirits [she deals with]. You can use the usual Tara mantra. And if you want to say the wrathful mantra, you can do it, but it’s not necessary. The wrathful mantra is OM TARE TUTTARE SARVA BIGH NEN SHATUM U SA TA YA SOHA. In your visualizations, if there is any spirit that wants to harm you, you have to pacify them, you have to control their negativities, but if you cannot, you send them away. It goes against the advices of bodhimind, but you may send them away temporarily, not for ever. Buddhist rituals say best is to send them beyond the ocean [seen from the Indian side], which that means over to the US.

External evil. This external evil business is very questionable. Yet you cannot rule it out completely either, because there are ghosts that are sometimes around us. Most of them are not coming here to hurt us, most of them are there to seek help. One time we, the Jewel Heart people in Ann Arbor, organized a picnic; we took a tent and went somewhere. And that Saturday night we had a most powerful storm. A lot of people lost their tents and finally we managed to sleep somewhere, but nearly everyone had horrible dreams at night. Next morning some said, ‘This is the spot called Battle Creek, where the people had a battle with the native Americans’. Thousands of people were killed on this particular spot where we camped. That happens. It was an indication they were seeking help. They were showing their sufferings. They say kind of ‘Great you are here, help us’. They are the objects of compassion. They are the objects of generosity, generosity of love, of affection, generosity of dharma. Generosity of dharma means: when you say your prayers and you dedicate that to all sentient beings it becomes a great treat for them. Also, there are some mean spirits here and there and some of them are quite powerful. Many times in history sometimes practitioners did get obstructed by evil spirits sometimes. Even you in the West are

171 If you face the mandala in front of you, then - projected on paper- the East is towards the bottom; If you are the center of the mandala; then -projected on paper- the East is towards the top. 172 See p. 119.

130 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary familiar with this. All of those spirits fall under the control of the ten directional protectors. The verse mentions some of them: Indra is the worldly god, Agni is the fire god, Brahma is [a worldly protector], Vayu is the air god, Ishvara is the king of smell-eaters, called Lord of the world. How do they control? They try to make the minds of those [spirits] get transformed from hatred into compassion. Their negativities they sometimes purify through burning. This particular Tara does this job. And those who can not be controlled by peaceful means, she collects with her power of air, puts them in the air mandala, puts that on top of a camel and sends them over the ocean. (laughs) This is a traditional story, and even visualization, too. Why put them on a camel? In earlier times, at the time of the big monastic universities Vikramashila and Nalanda, the camel was considered an inauspicious sign. Tibet didn’t have any camel at all, though there is a lot of dry area. The old tales tell us in Tibet the camel was considered a bad omens and so cam- els were kicked out of Tibet. The Mongols welcomed the camel and made best used of them in the desert. So during the teachings in Tibet they say: ‘The inauspicious has been transformed into a welcoming thing’ and then they tell you, ‘Do like the Mongols do.’ So in case they don’t listen, Tara lets them go. Sometimes we do have that kind of difficulties. If you try by peaceful means and they won’t listen, you sometimes can’t do anything but let people go. Sadly, but that is what it is.

Praise in terms of destroying her opponents 7 chak tsäl trat che ja tang phat kyi pa röl trül kor rap tu jom ma yä kum yön kyang zhap kyi nän te me bar truk pa shin tu bar ma Homage to she who crying TRÄT and PHAT thoroughly shatters magicians designs, left leg outstretched and right leg withdrawn, wrathful one amidst blazing fire. Praise. This is Tara who cannot be bullied by others, one who destroys the opponents. I prostrate to the Tara who from her mouth says the sounds of TRAT and PHAT. The mantra language TRAT and PHAT replaces saying a lot of words like ‘return’ ‘chase off’ ‘vanish’ and this and that. With one little word all returning, pacifying, banishing and destroying is done. It is like a slogan type of thing. We bow to that wrathful Tara, who uses a wrathful mantra, saying TRAT and PHAT. By saying that those words and with the threatening mudra she destroys all black magic created through mantra power, through magical power, and even through spiritual power. Any one of those – through mantra, tantra and yantra – are simply pacified within a matter of a second. I prostrate to the one who sits in the Tara posture, and has under her feet those representing the black magic creator, transformed into compassion and emptiness. You are with the wisdom fire out of your body. That wisdom fire burns all black magic power just like fire burns a feather. This is 2500 years old. Black magic was a large obstacle at that time. That is why you have that here.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara Undefeatable Wrathful – Zhan gyi mi thub pa She sits on the south-eastern petal with her right leg slightly in and her left leg stretched out and she has a number of ghosts under her foot. She is in the midst of a blazing wisdom fire. That fire is so powerful, has such a tremendous burning power that even the ashes will be burnt too. Although she sits with her legs in the peaceful way, because she has that burning wisdom fire she must be slightly wrathful. This

The Twenty-One Taras 131 drawing is completely wrathful. (This might not be right, but anyway…). So though she is part of the peaceful means, the transition from peaceful to wrathful is made here. The outlines distinguishes six deities in a peaceful aspect and seven in a wrathful aspect. She is black in color and sits on a moon cushion. She has one face and four hands. The first two hands hold a [right] wheel and [left] a lasso at about the navel level. The remaining two [higher up] hold right a sword and left a lotus and that hand is supposed to be in the threatening mudra. She is slightly wrathful. Her hair is standing upright. Her left leg is stretched out and she wears a snake ornament. Ac- cording to the commentary she wears a yellow-colored silk cloth. The pictures show a tiger skirt but my commentary, all three different sadhanas I have here, do not mention a tiger skirt, even not in the self- initiation!

Manifestation Atisha system: Destroying others’ power Tara – Shen gyi mi thub ma This Tara is a black wrathful one. Very similar to the ones before. [She carries a likewise colored vase with nectar]. Her mantra is: OM TARE TUTTARE TURE BOE SER SAR WA DOK CHO SO HA.

Praise in terms of the fierce or wrathful aspects – verse 8-14 Praising her quality of cleansing maras and the two obscurations 8 chak tsäl ture jik pa chen mon dü kyi pa wo nam par jom ma chu kye zhäl ni tro nyer dän dzä dra wo tam che ma lü sö ma 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 Praise. I prostrate to she who says TURE, because that sound protects from the great fears. Jik pa chen mo is Fearful One. By the wrathful aspects of her body and by her look she destroys the most difficult evil, which is out of the four evils the evil of delusion173. Your beautiful face, born out of water174 - which means ‘your lotus face’ - is like a magnificent full blooming lotus, yet it is also slightly wrathful. Because she can destroy the internal evils, she also easily destroys all extern evil forces. She does not really destroy [them] to nothing, but is changing their mind, so they change into good beings. She is indicating two important things. (a) The enemy to liberation is delusion. (b) The enemy to total enlightenment is the imprint of the delusions. This English translation is okay.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara Conqueress of Evil - Dud jom ma In the mandala this Tara sits on the southern direction petal of the eight-petalled lotus. She sits on a moon disc. Also she has some kind of cushion that we call ‘water lion’, a crocodile175. She is known as the Evil Destroyer. According to the text she is yellow. She has one face and four hands. She is a beautiful one. Her first right hand is holding a branch of an Ashoka tree and her left a vase. As to the two remaining hands,

173 The four evils or deils or maras are: the mara of death - shi; the mara of delusions or conflicting emotions - nyong mong; the mara of [holding on to] the skandhas - phungpo; the cupid-like mara called ‘son of god - lha’i bu. 174 chu skyes - water-born, refers to lotus; zhal - face. 175 Willson, In Praise of Tara, p. 136: to tame the wicked.

132 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary her left hand is in the protection mudra176 and the right hand [in the inviting mudra] holds a Three Jewels sign. She sits half crossed legged and her hair is up.

Manifestation Atisha system: Destroyer of Evil Tara – Shen le nam par gyal ma Again a wrathful one, a very wrathful one. Again a chocolate-colored [dark-red] Tara. This Tara is the one who controls evil in all existences. She is obviously red in color. She carries the controlling-power vase, which has the capacity to destroy any enemy. Our enemy is the internal enemy. Her mantra is: OM TARE TUTTARE CHE GE MO MA RA YA PHAT.

Praise in terms of her hand implements 9 chak tsäl kön chok sum tsön chak gye sor mo tuk kar nam par gyen ma ma lü chok kyi kor lo gyen pä rang gi ö kyi sok nam trug ma 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. Praise. I prostrate to whom? To the one who holds the utpala stem by her left ring-finger and thumb while the remaining three fingers are standing, indicating the Three Jewels, showing their protection. The message is: ‘Come here and join me, I will protect you’. Such a hand gesture, mudra, is hold at the heart level as a heart ornament. Also in the palm of your right hand, that shows the giving or inviting mudra, you have a chakra, a ‘glorious wheel’ and from that wheel you radiate a tremendous amount of light. It is one of the 32 major and 80 minor marks. That wheel is not painted on the hand, nor is it a three-dimensional thing she holds. It is sort of drawn in the palm. All protection things normally are between the skin and the flesh. The light is radiating out and coming in, a tremendous amount of light, outstanding among all lights, almost overpowering the lights of all others. To such a person I prostrate. Rang gi ö kyi… gives you a little more than a burst of light. The idea is going out and coming in. A tremendous activity of light is going on, a two-way stream of light it is, with so many lines, incoming and outgoing. It is a sort of four-way street of light. The idea is this: when you are about to land with a plane, you see all kinds of activities of light down on the ground. It is more in that way rather than what we usually say, ‘blessings coming like a snow-storm’. It is overwhelming in the sense that it is extra-ordinary, distinguished, dignified, and more important than any other light. That is what the word ‘overwhelming’ should cover. That light not only pacifies but also to those who are unable to be controlled or settled peacefully, this light sometimes may become a little threatening.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Sandalwood Forest Tara - Seng Deng Nag drol [Skt. Khadiravani Tara] In the mandala this Tara sits at the northern gate177, on a lotus and a moon cushion. She is Sengdeng Nagkyi Drolma178 - the Sandalwood forest Tara. She is green in color, and has one face, two hands. Her

176 The three fingers up represent the Three Jewels, Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, which are the protectors, protecting from whatever you are afraid of, in particular from the eight nightmares of the spiritual practitioner. Also called ‘mudra of bestowing refuge’. (Source: Gelek Rimpoche, Healing and Self-healing through White Tara). 177 As to the mandala, this Tara is the last one to take her seat: at the Northern Gate. As to the Praise however, she corresponds with verse 9. Consequently, the Tara praised in verse 10, occupies seat number 9 and so forth. 178 Tib. seng ldeng nags kyi sgrol ma

The Twenty-One Taras 133 right hand is giving the invitation and the left hand is holding an utpala like normal at the height of her ear: the utpala flower has a bud, a full bloom flower and a fruit. The right leg of stretched, the left leg drawn in. It is our usual Green Tara.

Manifestation Atisha system: Protection Tara, Jig ten sum la gyal ma This Tara has three fingers up. Her name is: Three Jewel-like. She is white in color and youthful. She also holds a [white] vase. This Tara particularly protects from fear. Her mantra is OM TARE TUTTARE CHE GE MO LA NOE PA SAR WA RAKSHA SO HA

Praise in terms of Her crown jewel and laughter 10 chak tsäl rap tu ga wa ji pe u gyen ö kyi treng wa pel ma zhä pa rap zhä tuttara yi dü dang jik ten wang du dzä ma 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. Praise. You prostrate to whom? To the one who is happy by fulfilling the wishes of those who seek help, those who want her help, those who respect her and those who have faith in her. Also those who have doubts, who think bad about her, and those with broken commitments, those who do not have a good relationship with her, she overpowers by her power in general and in particular by the jewel ornament on her crown. From that jewel ornament she generates multicolored lights and she says the mantra of TUTTARA by her laugh. Zhä pa is the word for the sound of laughing. By that laugh she completely overpowers the maras, such as Garab Wanchuk, king of all devils179, and the beings who have been controlled by him. This Tara has the special power of subduing. Dü is evil and jig ten is the word for samsara, but refers here to those who are influenced by the evils. The light develops satisfaction of being able to help and the mantra overpowers the evils. The Eng- lish translation looks smooth and nice. However, according to Dharmabhadra’s text the light radiating itself and the laughter itself both contribute to overpowering the evils. The Tibetan is not completely clear. It does not tribute to anything. It is a problem we always face. In English you have words to indicate the why, to whom and for what and how. In Tibetan we don’t. The Tibetan grammar is correct, but when translating it into a western language you get these kinds of problems. This translation seems very smooth and I will not recommend changing it. This is Dharmabhadra’s way of reading it and maybe someone else interprets something else.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: One who dispels distress – Nya ngen sel ma This Tara sits on the south-west lotus petal [seat 9]. She is sitting on a moon. Nya ngen Selma: one who dispels distress. Nya ngen means carrying heavy worries, sadness, depression. This Tara is the one who dispels all this. (Yesterday someone told me there is no word for emotions in Tibetan. First I thought that is true but thinking about it, it is not true. There is a word for emotions.) She is red in color and has one face and four hands. The first two hands are folded in prayer form above her head. The next pair of hands

179 dga’ rab dbang phyug - Garab Wangchuk, the chief Mara.

134 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary have a sword [right] and a branch of the Ashoka tree [left]180. That has something to do with Ashoka tree, which in the Indian culture represents relieving from suffering and pain. That is why his famous buddhist king is named King Ashoka. En in today’s India something in the government emblem is called Ashoka. Her style of sitting is the royal style.

Manifestation Atisha system: Tara who controls evil doers and wrong believers – Rab shi ma This Tara completely overpowers and subdues all evils as well as the anti-religious ones. She is red in color. As I told you before, the color red represents attachment and love. There is no attachment in the enlightened beings; they have pure love. Her name, ‘Tara who controls evil doers and wrong believers’ should rather be: ‘Tara who invites the living beings’. In the activity of this Tara there is satisfying the doubters and non-faith people as well as conquering the evil. So as activity you have satisfying as well as overpowering, but her name should not carry the overpowering aspect but the inviting meaning. How does she subdue? She does not subdue by threatening or by bombs, but by showing affection. As a matter of fact that is much more powerful than a barrel of guns. A barrel of guns may subdue temporarily, but within a few years there will be more insurgence. That is the consequence of unjustified unnecessary loosing lives. But [pacify] with love, care, affection, like the earlier great American leaders have done, that is really a great way to do. Here Tara shows the same thing in her red color. She has the hand gesture [mudra] of giving. However, the vase she carries has the power to subdue all evil forces and all anti-religious ones. I am not talking about worshipping religion, but religion in the sense that you are helping yourself to overcome your negative emotions and to develop positivities, love-compassion and wisdom, leading to total knowledge. I am coming from Tibetan Buddhism and I do believe everyone will be fully enlightened one time or another, no matter what spiritual tradition you are following. It is not that one tradition only can give enlightenment and other traditions cannot. They contribute. The information may not be given in certain traditions; that is different. Apart from that, whatever path is shown it is leading towards that, is a positive path. That is how I feel. Who or whatever obstructs the individual proceeding forward to the development of total enlightenment, that is the evil force this Tara subdues. The mantra here is: OM TARE TUTTARE TUE SAR WA PHA PAM MA RA YA HUM PHAT Practice. As I said before, you can look at these mantras, but I’m not sure whether you can really utilize each mantra, in particular the wrathful ones, like this one. A mantra like the one of this Tara is a little wrathful. So I don’t what to translate it.

Praise to Tara who is served by the (10 directional) protectors 11 chak tsäl sa zhi kyong wä tsok nam tam che guk par nü pa nyi ma tro nyer yo wä yi ge hum gi pong pa tam che nam par dröl ma 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. Praise. To whom do I prostrate? To she who is praised and served as retinue by the ten directional protectors and their retinue. She is showing a slightly wrathful face. I bow to you who have the power to invoke all ten directional protectors and their attendants as your subjects. You are able to help those who are, weak, downtrodden, helpless, suffering. All will be helped by both your face as well as the light coming from your heart HUM.

180 Ashoka is one of the most legendary and sacred trees of India. It belongs to Caesalpaeniaceae family. It is a very handsome, small, erect evergreen tree, with deep green foliage and fragrant, bright orange-yellow flowers, which later turn red. The flower- ing season is around April-May. Ashoka is a Sanskrit word meaning that which gives no grief. The tree is a symbol of love. As Buddha was born under the Ashoka tree, it is planted in Buddhist monasteries.

The Twenty-One Taras 135

I prostrate to the one who can bring in all the help of the lords who are the leaders of the ten directions181 and their retinue. They can be used by you as your attendants or subjects. Your face is wrathful and you have moving wrinkles. The letter HUM from her heart radiates light and collects all fortunes, like the sky treasure fortunes182 and brings freedom from poverty. Or: the letter HUM liberates the ones who have fallen into poverty.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara the Receiver – Dro wa gu pai drol ma This Tara is sitting on the western petal [seat 10], sitting on a sun cushion. Her name is Dro Gu Pai Drol ma – Tara the Re- ceiver. She has one face, two hands. Her right hand is holding a hook, the left a lasso. The idea is, not the people, but the directional protectors and those powerful spirits, she controls by her hook and lasso. She is slightly wrathful, sitting with the right leg [extended] in the sort of royal style. Her color is black.

Manifestation Atisha system: Tara, Reliever of Poverty – Nor ter ma She is an interesting one. She brings in the ten directional guardians. She has got the wealth vase. She protects us from poverty. Her body color is golden-orange. She has one face, two hands. The [golden- orange] vase she holds has the capacity to actually clear the difficulties of lack of necessities. In other words, the suffering of poorness will be cleared by her. Her vase gives whatever is needed. Traditionally, 2600 years ago, what you really need is: food, shelter and clothing, all necessities for the family to live. Today you translate them all in ‘green’. Therefore this particular vase will throw a lot of ‘greens’ in the form of light. The mantra even is: OM JHAM BA NI MO HI SO HA. Jambhala is the keeper of the sky- treasure. There must be a connection between them. [Alternatively: OM DZA MI HA NI MO HI SO HA]. Mind you, comparing the colors of the different systems makes no sense. These are different systems!

Praise in terms of her crown ornament 12 chak tsäl da wä dum bü ü gyen gyen pa tam che shin tu bar ma räl pe kur na ö pak me le tak par shin tu ö ni dze ma 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. Praise. To whom do you prostrate? To you who has a moon of the first day on your crown183. She has a tremendous amount of jewel ornaments that radiate white-colored light for pacifying sufferings. Not just pacifying but very strongly radiating, pacifying. She has beautiful black-colored hair and in the midst of it you have the Buddha of Infinite Light [Amitabha] as her guru,

181 Indra [brgya byin] in the East, Yama, the lord of death, in the south, Varuna, the water god [ chu lha] in the west, Vaishra- vana/Kumbera [nö yin], the god of the yakshas/wealth, in the north. Agni, the fire god, in the south east, Raksha, the lord of the rakshas in the south-west, Vayudeva [lung lha], the air god in the north west, Ishvara/Mahesvara in the north east [wang chuk], Brahma up in the zenith and the Earth goddes, Basuma [ter ma] down in the nadir. 182 Kumbera is the protector of the sky treasure 183 She carries a crescent moon of one day old as a diadem on her head.

136 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary leader or protector. Through that and by radiating light she benefits and helps all beings very strongly. Ö ni dze ma means: always radiating light.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara Creator of Auspiciousness – Tashi drol ma This Tara is sitting on the north-western petal of the eight-petalled lotus [seat 11], sitting on a moon cushion. She is called ‘Giver of Tashi’ - Creator of auspiciousness. Tashi Drolma. Literally: Tara who gives auspiciousness. She has the color of 24 karat gold. She has one face and eight hands. [Counted from the top downwards]: the first right hand holds a three-spoked-trident katanga. (A katanga normally has three human heads and vajras and all of those, representing the male deity in female yidams and vice versa. It is a bit similar to a totem pole in Native American Indians or the Mayas.) The [first right one holds a vajra] and the left one holds a jewel at the heart. The second pair of hands holds a trident [r] and a hook [of compassion] [l]. The third pair: a hook [r] and a stick or staff [left]. The fourth pair: a [wisdom]-sword [right] and a vase or pot [left]. She sits in vajra style, hairknot up.

Manifestation Atisha system: Auspicious Tara – Ta shi dun je ma This is a very loving pacifying Tara. She is Golden colored. Her vase clears all non-auspicious and gives all auspicious. Her mantra is: OM MEN GA LA PUSHTIM KU RU SO HA

Praising way of sitting 13 chak tsäl käl pe ta me me tar bar wä treng wä ü na nä ma ye kyang yön kum kün ne khor ge dra yi pung ni nam par jom ma 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. Praise. To whom do you prostrate? To the one who ‘sits’ in the midst of a wisdom-fire strong like the fire of the end of an eon. Her right leg is stretched and her left is withdrawn. She dances according to the dharma chakra and gives the dharma teachings. She is also called a ‘Giver of joy’. Why? Kün ne khor ge - always giving teachings. She gives you a path, gives you a practice, gives you guidance, introduces you to your ultimate goal and tells you how to get there. That is the great joy of her disciples and followers. By joyfully giving dharma teachings, she destroys within her disciples’ mind the outer, inner and secret enemies – negative emotions are the inner and the obstacles of channels and energies the secret enemies.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara who brings efforts to fruition – Min je ma She sits on the northern petal of the eight-petalled lotus on a sun cushion [seat 12]. Her color is red. She has one face and four hands. The first two hands hold a sword [r] and a wheel [l]. The remaining two hands hold an arrow [r[ and a bow [l]. Her face and her lips are a little puffed up, representing helping people. She sits with her right leg out and left leg in.

Manifestation Atisha system: Tara protector from eight obstacles – Da pung som ze ma This Tara is a Protection Tara. She is red in color and she has big, bulging eyes. She should have slight fangs coming out. (This artist seems mostly the work on the eyes, expresses via the eyes, more than on

The Twenty-One Taras 137 the fangs. The instructions always say that even the wrathful Taras are peaceful, yet slightly this this that, so what can he do? The artists have many rules to follow.). The fire burning Tara is obviously red. She has three eyes that are looking straight, wrathful and fearful. She holds a [red] protection vase. The mantra is a wrathful mantra: OM SO HA BHA MI KU RU SO HA. This is the best protection; evils and ghosts and any obstacles cannot harm you.

Praise in terms of radiating light from the HUM 14 chak tsäl sa zhi ngö la chak gi til gyi nün ching zhap kyi dung ma tro nyer chän dze yi ge hum gi rim pa dün po nam ni gem ma Homage to she whose feet pound and palms of hands press upon the earth; with a wrathful glance and the sound HUM she subdues the seven dimensions. Praise. To whom do you prostrate? To the one who in the midst of the ‘great ground’ – the ground where we exist, in the center of the universe – sits with the threatening mudra and presses the ground very strongly with her palm. And also she beats the ground with her feet, like charging buffalos do. She is very wrathful, giving a wrathful look, tro nyer. The palms of her hands and the soles of the foot have a blue HUM radiating fire-like light. Along with the fire rain, vajras come out. By those she overpowers all nagas, demi-gods, yakshas and rakshas, the four kinds of spirits, in the seven worlds. Here they are called rimpa dünpo - seven layers of existence. These are a little hard to count: special base, very special base, baseless dimension, base itself or essence, good base, pure base, underground base.184 There is a mythological way of counting every existence, every universe or dimension.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara Wrathful Black One - Trol mo nag mo This Tara is on the north-eastern petal of the eight-petalled lotus [seat 13]. She stands on a sun cushion and a dead body. She is wrathful, black in color. She has three faces: a white [right], a red [left] and a black face [in the middle], almost like Heruka. The first pair of hands hold a sword [r] and a kapala, [skull cup], filled with blood [l]. The second pair holds a hook [r] and a lasso [l]. The third pair a stick [r] and a brahmin head [l]. Each face has three eyes, wrathful, looks like eating human intestines. Her hair is brown and she is standing in the midst of a wisdom fire.

Manifestation Atisha system: Wrathful Tara – Tro nyer chen This Tara is quite wrathful. She is black in color. She shows her wrath. She has wrinkles on her forehead or a ‘furrowed brow’. She holds a vase with nectar that specifically works against evil; it controls all evil forces. Her mantra is: OM VAJ RA TARE VAJRA MA HA PA TA A MI KU RU YE SO HA

Praise in terms of Her Dharmakaya aspect 15 chak tsäl de ma ge ma zhi ma nya ngen de zhi chö yül nyi ma soha om dang yang dak den pä

184 M. Willson, In Praise of Tara, p 148: Patala, Mahatala, Talatala, Rasatala, Sutala, Vitala, Atala

138 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

dik pa chen po jom pa nyi ma 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. Praise. To whom do you prostrate? To De ma, ‘Giver of Joy185‘, who brings the joy that never knows suffering and Ge ma, ‘Giver of Dharma’ [virtue], who constantly helps creating the causes of joy, the virtue that is free of negativities. She is called Zhi ma, ‘Pacifier’, because she pacifies all delusions and negative emotions and negative actions. Zhi is peace. Chö yul nyi ma: one who is accessible for enlightened ones. She is the one who has gone beyond samsara and obtained the ultimate peace, the dharmadhatu, and remains within the dharmadhatu all the time. Because of that power she has a powerful mantra: TARE TUTTARE TURE which is suffixed by SO and HA and prefixed by OM. Thus it becomes the ten- syllable mantra. The meaning of the mantra is the Four Noble Truths. If one recites this mantra properly, the reciting person him- or herself gets purified, even if having all five limitless negativities and also the cause of these negativities, the negative emotions such as hatred and obsession. The result of such negative karmas, the suffering of hot and cold [hells] etc, all undesirable things are completely, properly and fully exhausted by this mantra of this deity. That is the one I prostrate to. A lot of additional information is given here. By saying this mantra one can purify not only the five limitless non-virtues but also such a heavy negativity as giving up the Dharma – chö pong186. That does not mean ‘I am practicing buddhism and tomorrow I’m going to give up. It means: ‘I am a Mahayana and look down on those that follow Hinayana’. Or, ‘I am a Vajrayana practitioner and look down on all others.’ This sort of thing is considered a very heavy negativity and therefore clearly mentioned. If such heavy negativities can be purified by saying her mantra OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA, then all others definitely can. Not only this mantra deals with the actual action but also the causes of it, the negative actions, such as hatred etc. Not only it pacifies the action and its cause, it also pacifies the results, such as taking rebirth in the lower rims, like the hell, the hungry ghost or animal rims or even rebirth as a human being in a difficult area, in difficult conditions. Not only she pacifies them, but we ourselves can pacify them through her power by saying her mantra.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara White One – Drol ma kar mo Now we get out of the lotus. The following ones may not get a lotus cushion. This Tara sits in the south- east [corner of the palace.] [seat 14]. This Tara brings in her own cushion, a white lotus with a white moon. She is called ‘Great Pacifier’ or ‘Tara the White One’. She is white in color, one face, and six hands. The first right hand holds a mala at the heart level, the left a lotus. The second right hand is in the mudra of giving protection and the left holds a brahmin water jar. The third right hand holds a stick and the left one an utpala flower [with a book on top]. Her hair is up and she sits crossed-legged.

Manifestation Atisha system: Tara, destroyer of negative karma – Rab shi ma This is a very nice one, a peaceful Tara. Beautiful white in color. She carries a white vase with white nectar that particularly purifies sins, negativities This is not covered with the word negativity; sin is bet-

185 bde - joy or bliss; dge ba - virtue; zhi ba – peace. 186 chos spong - forswearing the Dharma teachings

The Twenty-One Taras 139 ter. In Tibetan we call it dig pa and that completely corresponds with what in the Christian language is called sin. If you do this practice, you think you sit on moon cushion. That represents purity. Then this is the mantra: OM TU RE SAR WA PHA PAM TRA SHA MA NA YE SO HA. Phapa is sin in Sanskrit; sarwa phapam means clearing all sins. According to this commentary saying the mantra purifies your negativities. OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA is equally good for purification. Like the Vajrasattva purification. If you are a person who only does one practice, the Tara practice, you have everything within it.

Atisha and Tara’s mantra. As you all know, when Atisha, the great Bengalian saint and scholar, [was about to come to Tibet], in order to find and invite him the Tibetans have sacrificed the life of their ruler. That was not because Atisha was a handsome, a blue-eyed boy, but because Atisha carried a tremendous amount of wonderful [teachings], easy to practice, a perfect path leading to enlightenment, later known as Lamrim, which nowadays we call Odyssey to Freedom. While Atisha was in Tibet, someone asked him, ‘You have a lot of stories to tell about India, like this one achieved this and that one that. In Tibet we have nothing, how come?’ (We ask the same thing in us today.) Atisha replied, ‘In India one person will take one yidam and practice and achieve and you Ti- betans get a hundred yidams and you get nowhere.’ So, as I said, if a person has only the practice of Tara, he or she has everything within it. OM TARE TUTTERE TURE SOHA has both sutra and tantra, and Lamrim in it. One only has to find the key to unlock it. The key is the teachings. What I tell you and the questions that you raise in your head, if with that you look and you find the key you find it is nothing more than sutra and tantra Lamrim. Bring them in and merge them with the mantra OM TARE TUTTERE TURE SOHA, which is the Four Noble Truths. That is a practice extremely easy to handle. Then, if in the meantime, you need some powerful, wrathful or multiple activities, including enlightenment, it can be delivered by this mantra. This is also able to pacify all wars, bad dreams, illnesses and obstacles, or even zombies arising. A zombie is a spirit that enters and occupies the person that died and then influences everybody. Sometimes these are very harmful. In early India a total village turned into zombies. Because if one zombie touches the other, that one becomes a zombie, and so on, so you get a village full of zombies and that becomes a big problem.

Praise in terms of Her activities – 6 homages Activities of peaceful and wrathful mantra 16 chak tsäl kün ne khor rap ga wä dra yi lü ni rap tu gem ma yi ge chu pe ngak ni kö pe rik pa hum le dröl ma nyi ma 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. Praise. Kün ne khor: always turning the dharmachakra brings happiness and joy to the people. Dra yi lü ni rap tu gem ma refers to the disciples’ outer and inner enemies; their bodies will be frozen. That is probably referring to wrathful Tara. The last half of the verse says: ‘the ten letter mantra around the TAM at your heart level…’ For the peaceful Tara there is a letter TAM at the heart level and around that the mantra OM TARE TUTTARE…. . For the wrathful form of Tara there is a letter HUM at the heart level and around that the mantra NAMA TARA NAMA HARE… So, to whom do you prostrate? To the one who always gives dharma teaching and helps and liberates, pacifies the mind of the followers, one who destroys the bodies of their enemies, outer and

140 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary inner ones. Within the individual’s mindstream, the bodies of the enemies are fully destroyed. That means, not only are anger, hatred etc. all these delusions destroyed, but even their structures and systems are completely destroyed. This pacifying Tara has the letter TAM surrounded by OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA.187 She has the ‘ten sounds’ – that means the ten syllables – at her heart wheel, which we showed you during the [explanation of] White Tara. By putting that mantra at your heart level, you destroy the structure and force of all negative emotions. Rik pa hum le… ‘the knowledge letter HUM’. Rikpa188, here translated as knowledge, can be translated as knowledge, as wisdom, as primordial wisdom, or as mahamudra… Rikpa is such a tricky word; you can pull a hundred different meanings from it. This translator chose to translate it as knowledge. However, I would like to use rik pa here as either ‘liberation’ or ‘pure’ or ‘profound’ and say ‘the profound HUM liberates all’. We just said ‘the letter TAM surrounded by OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. Now here we get a HUM. So where does that go? That is a dilemma. In peaceful’ [activities or emanations it is TAM.]; In case of a wrathful [emanation the TAM changes into HUM! We do have a system with a TAM with a HUM inside and a HUM with a TAM inside, right? But in wrathful cases, the TAM changes into HUM. So even Tara’s mantra, sometimes, when it is for wrathful purposes, instead of OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA is said: NAMA TARA NAMA HARE HUM HARE SOHA. (All TA’S become HA’s). That becomes a wrathful mantra. You don’t have to say it. At that point, that letter HUM at the center of the wrathful mantra radiates powerful lights which destroy all evil forces – physical, emotional, mental, or outer, inner and secret. And thus the letter HUM bestows liberation.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara Destroyer of obsession – Chah jom drol ma This Tara is in the south-west [corner of the mandala palace] [seat 15]. She sits on an orange lotus and a sun cushion. Chah jom Drol ma. (This spelling with h at the end, like spelling tsoh, soft ending is very good). Chah stands for chags pa, meaning desire or attachment or obsession. Jom means destroyer, specifically destroyer of attachment or obsession. (Maybe we don’t want her, who knows? ) Her color is orange. She has one face, three eyes, two hands. Her right hand carries a trident at the heart level. The left one holds a branch of a fruit tree. Half of the hair is up and half is loose covering her back. She is sitting in a relaxed crossed-legged posture.

Manifestation Atisha system: Tara Developer of wisdom with HUM – Rigpa Hum le drol ma This Tara is called Rig pa hum le drol ma. That means ‘One who protects from magic’. Black and white magic. This Tara is called ‘Giver of wisdom’. We talked about rig pa before189. Actually the idea is, the word rig pa comes out of ta mel gi she pa190, which comes out of dzog chen. Remember the ying and rig we talked before. Both refer, bottom-line, to wisdom. She is red in color. The red vase she carries protects her practitioners from yantras, tantras, chakras and all black and white magical activities. The purpose of this particular vase is to increase the mantra power. Her mantra is OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. She has another mantra too: NAMO TARE NAMO HARE HUM HARE SOHA. That is also there. This Tara also has a third mantra: OM TURE SARVA DHARMA TRANDZANYA TRATI PARI SHODANI SOHA If you want to be a little wrathful the TAM changes into HUM; if you want to be peaceful, HUM changes into TAM. That is how Tara works. The interesting thing is that the traditions will not tell you straight, you learn here and there. The reason why the TAM and the HUM are exchangeable is because of [the choice or necessity to be] pacifying or slightly wrathful. It is trying to catch both the bird and the fish.

187 Rimpoche adds: Mantras written in Tibetan do not have dots between their words! 188 ususally spelled rigpa 189 See p. 117. 190 tha mal gyi shes pa - Ordinary mind. Not the ordinary state of mind in an unenlightened person but ‘ordinary’ in the sense of one’s present wakefulness not being fabricated, altered or corrected in any way.

The Twenty-One Taras 141

Practice. From that letter TAM marked by HUM or the other way round radiate a tremendous amount of duplicate Drolma’s everywhere, who clear all obstacles. This has one additional thing. It also brings the power of all the mantras, the wisdom of Indra, Brahma, pandits etc. Buddhas’ and bodhisattvas’ knowledge, kindness and compassion, all in the form of light. The light dissolves into yourself and you become dharma, wisdom, anything to be known you get, you become a great wisdom person.

Praising her wrathful activity of shaking the three worlds 17 chak tsäl ture zhap ni dag pe hum gi nampä sa bön nyi ma ri rap mandara dang bik je jik gen sum nam yo wa nyi ma 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 The idea is she can shake hell, heaven and earth. Tara can shake and empty the hell, she can grow the heaven and stabilize the earth. That is what it in reality is: emptying the hell by reducing the causes for being reborn in the hell realm. Growing the heaven by the prosperity causes for rebirth in it and stabilize the earth by bringing good, kind and gentle peace and harmony to it.

Praise. To whom do I prostrate? To TURE, meaning: the Swift One, quickly stamping her feet. How come quick? Hum gi nampä sa bön: HUM looks like your seed syllable. From that letter HUM, without delay, immediately she can manifestate a number of wrathful dakinis, as many as she wants. What for would she quickly stamp? She can shake Mount Meru, ri rap, Mount Mandera, a smaller mountain, and the black mountain Vindhya, which means: earth, heaven and hell [respectively] and their inhabitants, both together, in a minute. Such a powerful lady she is! I bow to you: I respect you and seek your qualities!

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara Giver of Joy – Dhe zhin Drol ma This Tara sits in the north-west [corner of the mandala palace] [seat 16]. She is sitting on a white lotus and a sun disk. Her color is golden orange. She has one face and two hands, holding a moon mandala.191 Half of her hair is up [and half is loose covering her back] and she sits in the bodhisattva style.

Manifestation Atisha system: Tara Shaker of the Three Worlds – Pag me nun ma This Tara is overpowering evils and obstacles. It is Tara who can shake all three realms, all existence. She has the color of saffron. She is very peaceful, yet slightly wrathful. She has one face, two hands. The right hand holds the vase. The liquid of the vase overpowers or subdues the black magic, black mantra, or anything of that type, overpowering people doing harmful activities. Her mantra is: OM TU RE CHE GA MO SAR WA THA MA HA NI TA RE SO HA.

The activity of dispelling poisons, animal and otherwise 18 chak tsäl lha yi tso yi nam pä ri dak tak chän chak na nam ma tara nyi jö phat kyi yi ge

191 Though the moon is talked about in verse 18, it does belong to the Tara of verse 17.

142 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

duk nam ma lü par ni sel ma Homage to she who holds in her hand a moon resembling a celestial lake; saying TARA twice and the sound PHAT she dispels all poisons entirely. Praise. To whom do I prostrate? This is interesting: the first two lines in English is a very good translation. Lha yi tso192 means ‘lake of the gods’ which is supposed to be absolutely clean and pure. The samsaric gods are supposed to have a mental lake, beautifully white and round. That is the moon, clear, clean, crystal and round. The moon also has the sign of the animal. The Hindu-buddhist mythological story tells the moon has a rabbit sitting in there. When I was a kid, they used to tell me, ‘Look at the moon and ask for bread, the rabbit will give you sweet bread’.193 From the poetry point of view, in the west you try to be consistent. Whenever you have used the word moon, you keep on using it [in that text]. But in the Tibetan system you try not to be consistent. Being consistent is interpreted as shortage of vocabulary, shortage of idiom. You have to know twenty different names for one thing. One of the names for moon is ‘animal sign’, the animal being a rabbit/hare. Why? When you look into the moon, you see some structure; they is interpreted as a rabbit. So, according to this text she holds a moon. By showing that moon she purifies all poisons. Also she has the two sounds of TARA; that refers to her mantra having two times, Tara. And instead of SO HA she probably says PHAT. Phat kyi yi ge refers to her wrathful mantra: OM NAMA TARE NAMA HARA HUNG HARE SOHA. By using PHAT instead of SOHA she destroys al poisons, evil forces, etc., all the poisons. To such a Tara I prostrate.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara the White Victoria – Nam Gyel ma kar mo Nyam Gyel Kar Mo - White Victoria or Victory Tara. Her place is the north-east [corner of the mandala palace] [seat 17]. She sits on a white lotus and a moon cushion. She is white in color and has one face and four hands. The first two hands hold hooks on her crown. Of the two remaining hands the right one is in the protection mudra en the left holds the stem of an utpala flower with a book on it. She has the Vajra- sattva style of sitting. The picture looks like she is riding on a swan, but none of my texts describes the swan or goose.

Manifestation Atisha system: Tara, purifier of poisons – Ma ja ma This Tara in particular can overpower the naga poisons. Traditionally skin problems are seen as naga problems. She is white in color, like a moon. Peaceful. Her [white] vase obviously contains poison- clearing nectar. Her mantra is: OM TURE SARWA NAGA SHINTAM KU RU SO HA.

The activity of pacifying argument-based conflicts and bad dreams 19 chak tsäl lha yi tsok nam gyal po lha dang mi am chi 194 yi ten ma kün nä go cha ga wä ji kyi

192 lha yi mtsho 193 ri bong ‘dzin ‘hare-holder’ is the word for moon 194 mi ‘am ci - kinnara. Mythical beings with a horse’s head and a human body (or vice versa). Along with the gandharvas [Tib. dri za] celebrated as celestial musicians.

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tsö195 dang mi lam ngän pa sel ma Homage to she upon whom all gods, their king and all spirits rely; her armor radiating joy to all she soothes quarrels and nightmares This is the Tara who pacifies argument-based conflicts, the Tara who provides conflict solution and clears bad dreams, including nightmares. Praise. To whom do I prostrate? [To the one that] the kings of the samsaric gods, such as Indra, Brahma etc., the ordinary gods and the demi-gods, hold as their crown jewel and pray to. Lha yi tsok nam gyal po means king of all the gods, Indra, Brahma etc. The category of the demi-gods includes the mi am chi – the scent eaters, [depicted as] physical human body with a horse head. Their king Triza was supposed to be the last disciple of the Buddha during his life time, the last one he has been able to give teachings.196 He is blue-colored, horse-headed and has a guitar in hand. Kün nä go cha… Go cha here refers to meditation, practice, saying mantras, protection rim etc. It frees you from the obstacle of fighting, bad dreams etc. By meditating on your body, by saying your mantras, not only our health and dignity and majestic looks improves, [but also] the other people’s creation of conflict, our bad dreams, nightmares etc. get pacified. In other words, through the practice of Tara you can provide a conflict solution and through the practice of Tara you can make sure that when you have bad dreams it won’t materialize, make sure that when you have good dreams they will materialize. As a child, like many children, I did have nightmares very often. Not necessarily I was scared but sometime when lying down all the zillions of stars would come down and started landing on my chest and you can’t breath. That happened so many times to me. So my father once gave me his belt, put a hooked knot in it, blessed it by saying Tara’s mantra OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA and told me, ‘Put it across your bed and you will sleep’. Then the nightmares stopped for a long time, as far as I remember. I did put that belt on my bed every night. But then after a little while I forgot. And when the nightmares started again I put the belt back on the bed and again they disappeared. A couple of times I repeated it. So that must come from here, [from this Tara]. You can try it out. For Tibetans it is easy, because the belt is a cloth belt. There is a separate ritual to clear those types of things too.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara who burns all pains to ashes – Duk ngel sek pei drol ma This Tara sits at the eastern door [of the mandala palace] [seat 18] on a white lotus and a sun cushion. She is white in color, one face two hands, holding a cooking stove at the heart level. That triangle looks like a torma but is a stove.

195 rtsod - dispute, quarrel, argue, debate, discuss, contend [betogen, twist], strife. 196 ‘Then there remained for the Teacher two disciples whom he had to convert personally, - Subhadra and Sunanda [Pramudita; Tib. Triza]. In order to subdue the latter, the Lord took a lute with 1000 strings and a frame of Vaidurya stone. Then, having transformed himself into a gandharva, he appeared before the doors of Sunanda and proposed a match in the skill of music. He gradually cut off all the strings with the exception of one, but the sound nevertheless remained the same. Finally, the Bud- dha cut off the single string that remained, likewise. But in the empty space the sound continued to ring as before. The pride of Sunanda was thus humiliated and he was greatly astonished. The Teacher then appeared in his true form, and Sunanda, full of faith, made his salutations and sat down in order to hear the Teaching. And, as the Lord preached the Doctrine to him, Su- nanda came to the intuition of the Truth.’ Obermiller, The History of Buddhism in India and Tibet, by Buston, p. 55.

144 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Manifestation Atisha system: Tara who clears arguments, fights and bad dreams – Mi pam gyal ma She is Tara who clears disputes (the lawyers won’t like it), fights and also bad dreams. Her name is ‘Suf- fering clear’. Disputes can give you a nagging suffering throughout for a long time. She is white like a snow mountain. One face, two hands. Holding the [white] suffering-clearing vase. Clearing dreams. When you look at her, really pray to her, and say her mantra you may focus on a very specific dispute you engaged in or specific bad dreams you like to clear. If you want to clear your bad dreams, it is important not to share the dream to anyone before you do this practice. (Each one of the different practices does have a method of doing it and the teachings will tell you.) Think, imagine, visualize the dream and then de deity Lhamo - Lhamo means female deity - will clear this particular thing. It is all pacifying. All bad omens are transformed into auspicious omens. The mantra here is OM TURE MO TSA NA SO HA. This is also particularly good if you want someone to reduce the time of sentence to jail. This is the recommended practice for that. Helping someone. If you want to help a particular person, you visualize him or her in between you and the front-generated Tara. Put the individual on a moon cushion and having the purifying light and nectar coming from that Tara. With that visualization you use the normal mantra, OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. That helps. It is not necessary to use the mantra just mentioned.

Activity of dispelling fever 20 chak tsäl nyi ma da wa gyä pä chän nyi po la ö rap säl ma hara nyi jö tu ta ra yi shin tu drak pö rim ni sel ma Homage to she whose two eyes like sun and moon are brilliant; saying HARA twice and also TUTTARA the most fearful plagues she quells. Praise. I prostrate to whom? To you whose eyes are just like sun and moon. From the wrathful point of view your eyes are just like the sun. From the peaceful point of view your eyes are white like the moon. So at the appropriate time both eyes will give you a burning radiating light or a pacifying, cooling light. You who say HARA twice, nyi, - that means the wrathful mantra of Tara OM NAMA TARE NAMA HARA HUNG HARE SOHA. The peaceful mantra is OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. By the power of both these mantras all diseases and all illnesses are pacified. ‘Your two eyes like sun and moon are brilliant’. The two eyes here are not to be read as right and left eyes, but the peaceful and wrathful eye, which means: during the peaceful time it is the peaceful eyes that go with her peaceful mantra and peaceful light radiating. At the wrathful time with the wrathful mantra the red wrathful red eyes radiate wrathful powerful red light. ‘Saying HARA twice’ – that refers to the wrathful mantra that carries twice HARA. ‘and also TUTTARE’ – that refers to her peaceful mantra. ‘The most fearful plagues she quells’. Her mantra is capable of pacifying contagious and other diseases.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: Tara Giver of Accomplishments – Ngoi Dru Tsol Wai Drol ma This Tara sits at the southern door [seat 19] on a red lotus and a moon cushion. She is called Tara the ‘Giver of siddhis’. She is orange in color, one face and two hands, and holding a golden vase at her heart level. Her hair is half knotted up and the other half is loose down. She sits in the bodhisattva style of sitting.

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Manifestation Atisha system: Tara, Remover of epidemics – Ri tu ma She is the one that clears infectious diseases, epidemic illnesses. She is orange in color. One face, two hands. Her vase clears epidemic illnesses. She is peaceful and very loving to the patients, yet very wrathful to the epidemic disease. She says, OM TARE TUTTARE TURE and with this, mantra light is generated and a lot of Tara’s are coming out, peaceful and wrathful ones. All of them generate [from the vase] a tremendous amount of uncontaminated nectar that clears all diseases completely and if the disease has been created by an evil spirit the nectar satisfies the evil one and [gives that one] pacifying dharma teachings, and make that evil one even give up the meanness, hatred etc. In case someone is not satisfied and not cooperating, the wrathful deities will drive that one away. The specific mantra here is OM TU RE BI SA RA THA SO HA

Activity of subduing evil spirits and zombies 21 chak tsäl de nyi sum nam kö pä zhi wä tu dang yang dak dän ma dön dang ro lang nö jin tsok nam jom pa ture rap chok nyi ma 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! Praise. I prostrate to whom? De nyi sum refers to body speech and mind. The basis of the body is the crown, the basis of the speech is the throat, and the basis of the mind is the heart. These three are the most important things we posses. The suchness of the body is the vajra body, the suchness of the speech is the vajra speech, and the suchness of the mind is the vajra mind. Those three suchnesses are represented by OM AH HUM. These three are even called the three suchnesses. So de nyi sum kö means ‘One who places the three suchnesses’. That means, by putting these three letters at your three places and meditating, it purifies and pacifies all outer, inner and secret obstacles completely. That important OM AH HUM is! This is substitutable and applicable for all yidams. OM is not only the beginning of the mantra but the combination of body, speech and mind and therefore OM alone is called the jewel-like mantra. AH is the essence of all speech. The Manjushri namasangiti says: ‘AH is the most important of all. It comes from deep inside. It causes any other sound’.197 That is why it is the vajra speech. HUM not only is the union: the union of the ordinary body, speech and mind of ourselves and the extraordinary body, speech and mind of the enlightened ones, but also the six different parts of the HUM represent the six realms. And purifying, pacifying and developing and all of those are represented by the HUM. So OM AH HUM is extremely important. Not only that Tara carries these three letters of body, speech and mind, also the [vajrayana] practitioner can carry the OM AH HUM. With that we can pacify the obstacles to our three doors. So far the first line. The translation says ‘Homage to she whose body, speech and mind are perfect with serene strength’. It means ‘Om, to you who has the three suchnesses It does not mention the three suchnesses zhi wä tu dang yang dak dän ma. ‘One who has the strength to crush’.

197 Vs 28-29: ‘Like this is the Buddha (Manjushri), the Vanquishing Master Surpassing All, the Fully Enlightened: He’s born from the syllable A, The foremost of all phonemes, the syllable A, Of great meaning, the syllable that’s deepest . The great breath of life, non-arising, Rid of being uttered in a word, Foremost cause of everything spoken, Maker of every word perfectly clear.

146 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

dön dang ro lang nö jin tsok nam. Dön is devils/demons, that is fine; ro lang = zombies, nö jin = ghosts but not all ghosts are nö jins [yaksha]. jom pa ture rap chok nyi ma. You who are able to quickly immediately destroy, overpower all those obstacles, to you I prostrate. In other words all mystical and non-mystical obstacles can be pacified by Tara immediately.

Manifestation Suryagupta system: The Total Accomplisher – Yong Zog Drol ma This Tara sits at the western door [seat 20]. The picture shows a bull, in Tibetan chu chok, meaning ‘leader of a herd. She has one face with three eyes, two hands holding a mala [r] and a spear [l]. The hair is held up. She wears a tiger skirt, indicating wrath [W: to purify hatred]. She sits in a half-crossed vajra- style of sitting. In one of my texts her color is not mentioned. According to another text (Palmang) she is white. According to the third text she is of golden color. Let us stick to the white one.

All peaceful Tara’s have jewel ornaments and silk dresses; All wrathful ones have a head dress of five skulls and 50 skulls malas.

Manifestation Atisha system: Tara who fulfills/completes all activities – Od zer chen ma This is the Tara of all activities. She is white in color, peaceful, and has one face, two hands (though the picture is black.198). Her vase gives all siddhihoods. Her mantra is: OM TU RE SA TA PA SO HA.

Activities during the mantra recitation. During the mantra OM TU RE SA TA PA SO HA you can do multiple activities. That is pacifying, prosperity, power, wrathful. All of these we shared with you in the White Tara practice with you.199 White light and nectar pacifies all undesirable, unwanted things. ….etc. Yellow light is generated and gives all prosperity things, red light is generated for power and dark-blue light is generated as wrath for whenever it is necessary, so that you don’t become a doormat for everybody. Then you have the green color for multiple activities. Only for White Tara specifically, you also have a rusty color, covering, protecting. In general all Taras are especially very kind, mother-like, compassionate, caring so much. Caring makes a big difference. It is not that other enlightened beings don’t care, but it is different. You know, the mother who cares for the child and the grand aunt that cares that is slightly different. A mother acts immediately no matter what the circumstances may be. That clearly indicates it. Therefore even the leader of all samsaric realms, Avalokiteshvara, the buddha of love and compassion, who cares tremendously, even he praises Tara as ‘Swift Destroyer; Great One’. Tara generated a tremendous amount of manifestations throughout, everywhere. Since now you know, at the enlightened level body, speech and mind function as one. Mind is total knowledge therefore it is everywhere; it does not depend on manifestation. However, to satisfy our rational mind, there are millions and zillions of manifestations throughout, everywhere. Each and every one of them doing their own work, helping, serving everywhere: through teachings, through radiating light, through prayer, through everything that can be of help. Saying Tara’s mantra clears our temporary obstacles and it gives you total enlightenment. This practice is capable of that. he practice is very simple, easy to do, yet it is far reaching.

The benefits of saying this Praise The introduction into the 21 Taras is completed here. Out of the basic three outlines for the Twenty-one Praises we are now at the concluding part. That describes the benefits. There are another few lines here in addition to what you have. Normally you cut at chak tsäl wa ni nyi shu tsa chik. tsa wä ngak kyi tö pa di dang chak tsäl wa ni nyi shu tsa chik…

198 The thangka used was short of one white Tara and was left with one black Tara. 199 Gelek Rimpoche, Healing and Selfhealing through White Tara.

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lha mo la gü yang dag dän pai lo dän gang gi rab dä jö de With this praise of the root mantra twenty-one times, I have paid homage. Those endowed with perfect and pure respect for the Goddesses The intelligent who recite these praises with the most supreme faith Peaceful, wrathful, root mantra or combined mantra etc., through praising the 21 Taras with the 21 Verses and the 21 chag tsels, the people who respect this great goddess, remember her kindness and one who has a perfect way of living, who is intelligent and who says this praise properly, will definitely get the benefits that we are going to describe here. sö dang to rang lang par jä nä drän pä mi jig tam chä rab ter dig pa tam chä rab tu zhi wa ngän dro tam chä jom pa nyi to both in the evening and upon waking at dawn - will have fearlessness bestowed on them by this remembrance. After being purified of all evils completely they will attain the destruction of all lower realms, When do we pray to Tara? Sö dang – in the evening after dark or early morning at dawn. When you get up of go to sleep, remember Tara. If you do so you protect yourself from the fears. Why evening? Today our life is totally different, but in earlier times the darkness was the end of one’s day, people would go to sleep because there was no electricity. So darkness meant end of the individual’s day. Dawn was the beginning of one’s day. Beginning and end of the day is so important: we have motivation [at the beginning] and dedication [at the end]. Just like that, the beginning and the end of the day is the time to remember Tara, to say mantras, do prayers. That will grant fearlessness; it will destroy all the fears, all fears that we are afraid of. Forget about the most important one, the ego fear, for a moment. Besides that we have the fear of getting sick, of being lonely, of dying, of getting losses. etc. All of them can be overpowered by this mantra. As well as dig pa tam chä rab tu zhi wa ngän dro tam chä jom pa nyi to – by destroying the negativities you destroy the lower rims full of sufferings. Another way of explaining is this. Fears in our lifetime like illnesses, obstacles, being overpowered by enemies, loss etc., can be protected by the wrathful Tara if you pray in the evening! And if in the morning you remember the peaceful Tara, that will protect you from negative emotions, negative karma and the results of negative karma, rebirth in a lower realm. Also you’ll be protected from the outer and inner eight fears, as well as from the sixteen fears. It gives you fearlessness. Here that means the following. The cause of lower rebirth is the ten negativities. By destroying these causes for suffering one obtains fearlessness because there is no cause for fear. This particular verse indicates the time we should pray to and practice Tara. gyel wa je wa trak dün nam kyi nyur du wong ni kur war gyur la di lä che wa nyi ni tob ching sang gyä go pang tar tuk der dro And the seven million conquering Buddhas Will quickly grant them every empowerment. Thus they will attain greatness and go forth To the ultimate state of supreme buddhahood. Actual benefits for yourself. For yourself as practitioner the benefits are clearing obstacles and obtaining qualities. Obtaining qualities is in this verse. The words say, ‘All the buddhas that are all there with Tara in the nirmanakaya form, all of them are not only going to give you blessing and initiations in the form of

148 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary light and nectar constantly, but also because of that, at the present time your needs such as place, body, wealth, retinue all will be perfectly met with. Ultimately you obtain the state of a buddha quickly. de yi dug ni drag po chen po tän nä pa am zhän yang dro wa zö pa dang ni tung pa nyi kang drän pä rab tu sel wa nyi tob As a result of all violent poisons - Whether abiding within or spreading to others - That they have eaten or drunk, By this remembrance will be completely removed, Clearing obstacles has two: clearing suffering and clearing the cause of suffering. In order to obtain the self-benefit of clearing obstacles and obtaining the quality, one needs longevity, good health etc. Poisons can obstruct that. Poisons here refer to material poisons, like toxic effects, nuclear disaster and all types of environmental harmful toxic things. These are the poisons we live on all the time. Everything we touch, soaps and cleaning materials, has enormous poisons in it. Then, anger, attachment etc., these internal poisons, are the poisons that take the life of a good future. These are referred to as powerful poisons. These also destroy the life of liberation and build or strengthen a suffering rebirth. Therefore these are called big powerful poison. By remembering Tara and saying mantras all of them will be cleared. dön dang rim dang dug gi zir wai dug ngäl tsog ni nam par pong te sem chän zhän pa nam la yang ngo nyi sum dün du ngön par jö na And they will eliminate completely affliction by spirits, Epidemics, poisons and all various sufferings. If for oneself or for the sake of all others, These praises are read two, three or seven times sincerely, It protects from evil spirits as well as contagious disease and all other pains. How and why? Because it can clear the causes for that. That completes the self-benefit. Benefit for others. That is one line only, the third [Tibetan] line. You can do this practice for yourself but you can do it for other people too, for someone who makes a request to pray for them. This is Vairo- chana’s words here. Practice. How many times do we have to pray: nyi sum dün – 2,3,7. That does not mean 2, 3 or 7 times but 2, 3, 7 times. It means, you pray to Tara, do the seven limbs, make offerings, including a mandala offering, and say this praise twice. Repeat everything and say the praise three times. Then do so again with saying the praise 7 times. Then you have the set of what is called The Four Mandala Offerings. It is nice to do that well-known practice occasionally.200 Another way of explaining this line of 2,3,7 is: you divide the day into three and the night into three, you get six sessions and at every session you do the Tara praise 7 times. bu dö pä ni bu tob gyur ching nor dö pä ni nor nam nyi tob dö pa tam chä tob par gyur te geg nam me ching so sor jom gyur chig Those wishing a son will attain a son And those wishing wealth will attain this as well.

200 The practice text is available from FPMT.

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Without obstruction all their wishes will be granted And every single hindrance will be destroyed as it arises. 201 Whatever you want you get. Those that want children will get children. Originally is says ‘son’[bu]...and all obstacles will be cleared. By that the praise according to the Suryagupta system is done. It says here, The Praise of the Twenty-one Homages to the Venerable Lady, the Goddess Arya Tara, spoken by the glorious Complete and Perfect Buddha Vairochana, is complete and concluded.

The Tara praise done by whom and when? This Tara praise is everywhere, In earlier days everyone said this. It is sung by the nuns. It is their duty to sit in the corners of the temple in Lhasa and sing. They use a Tara big prayer wheel and keep on singing all the time. In the great monasteries, each and everyone of them will say the Twenty-one Praises. Each monastery has its own tune. The best tune is the nun’s tune. The beggars say this verse while begging for food. For the household people it is part of their daily prayers, whether they are Nyingma, Sakya, Kargyu or Gelugpa [followers]. This prayer they perform for sick people, for healing. This is the prayer the business people use to have success in their business. This is the prayer used by those who want to get a better or a new job. This is the prayer done by the government authorities to have success in their work. The Mongolians do it too. So it is something everyone, rich and poor, monk and lay people do. Also for giving birth well and for the kids to become a [healthy and] good person etc. People threatened by powerful ones, also do this prayer. This prayer is also done in the prison. Those who are imprisoned do this praise in the hope to get a better treatment. So, you see, it is an extremely important practice: simple, easy, everybody can do it anytime anywhere.

Three different types of picturing the Twenty-one Taras. Mostly, what we see is Tara herself repeated 21 times, which is okay. Then, a little more detailed: Taras with different body colors and holding various vases – sort of medium system we did202. Then what we did is a description of the Twenty-one Taras where they carry different vases and different hand implements, and have different colors. These are available in the book In Praise of Tara by Martin Willson.203 If you want to learn, for those who know Tibetan there is a nice commentary by Ngulchu Dharmabadra. I think it is out of Vol. 6 of the Delhi edition. Let me just read from the foot note to that: When you are saying [the praise] at each verse, you visualize the Tara whose name you are evoking and at the end of the verse, a duplicate of that Tara, whose name you are calling, comes and dissolves to you. That is a little hard to do, but [alternatively] at the end, when you say nyi shu tsa chik, -meaning 21x, the 21 Taras come and dissolve to you. Short Praise Now I want you to look at the end of that Praise to the Twenty-One Taras, where it says in English: ‘With this praise of the root mantra, twenty-one times I’ve paid homage.’ The translator probably thought the whole Twenty-One Tara Praise is the root mantra praise, thinking that with this, one has praised twenty one times. It is true, the Twenty one Praises to Tara is in fact [sometimes] called Root Mantra Praise. However, in addition to that there is some other verse called Root Mantra Praise: OM, I and all prostrate to the liberator, the fully realized, transcended subduer I prostrate to the glorious mother who liberated with TARE The mother who eliminates all fears with TUTTARE The mother who grants all success with TURE To SOHA and all other syllables we offer the greatest homage.

201 Alternative translation M. Willson, In Praise of Tara, p. 115-116 and Gonsar Rinpotsche, Tantra der 21 Taras, p. 167ff. 202 Both Atisha system. 203 These blockprints are inserted here.

150 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

This particular verse is also known as tsa wa ngak kyi to pa, which means Root Mantra Praise. Lots of translators may think that the long Twenty-One Tara Praise is the only root mantra praise, so they thought they did not need the last two lines, and decided to delete: With this praise of the root mantra, twenty-one times I’ve paid homage. In a lot of translations of the Twenty One Tara Praise you don’t find these two lines. Somehow, they thought that these are just a colophon. That is a problem - not only in the English translation but even in old Tibet. It can be read that way, but on the other hand there is also this separate praise called Root Mantra Praise. So, these two lines should not be deleted, they should stay at the end of the Twenty One Tara Praise. And the translation of the two lines can’t say: with this praise of the root mantra, making people think that the Praise to the 21 Taras is the root mantra. It should just say: with the praise of the root mantra. Audience: The way these two lines have been translated it sounds like past tense. There is a difference between saying ‘I pay homage’ and ‘I have paid homage’. Rimpoche: You have just read it, so the past tense is fine. Whether you are paying homage, or you paid it, or will be paying it, please have these words in there. Audience: Is there an appropriate place where we could insert that second shorter Root Mantra Praise? Rimpoche: Very definitely, yes. Another question is, ‘Can we insert the long Twenty-One Tara Praise into the White Tara practice where the short homage is?’ The answer is yes, definitely. As a matter of fact it will be like the icing on the cake. Sogyal Rimpoche when he was in Washington, said, ‘There are a lot of great teachers here and the Dalai Lama is the Cream of the Cream.’ Well, I would settle on ‘icing on the cake.’

Optional Praise That is the Praise by Matisara. Again, in the Tibetan it doesn’t print the whole text but just says, from nama arya tareye rap jam gyal wa kun gyi trin le le….up to nam dak lam dang dral war ma gyur chik. So you have to find the whole text elsewhere.204 The person who wrote this Praise was the second Takpu Dorje Chang205. This praise is not really part of the sadhana, so you don’t have to do it. It is quite long. It is not only a praise to Tara, but almost a complete Lamrim prayer, like you find in the Lama Chöpa. Tara is said to have liked this very much. She called it ‘Mati’s Praise’. When you read her words it always says, ‘Mati does this’ and ‘Mati’ says and so on. Therefore it is recommended to say it. If you don’t have it, you can’t say it. The last words are in English May I never be separated from such a pure path. The Foundation of Perfections goes similarly.

(Rimpoche gives the transmission of various Tara Praises, including 21 Tara Praise, the root praise, the First Dalai Lama’s Green Tara praise and the White Tara Praise). I don’t remember receiving the oral transmission of the Matisara’s Praise. According to this sadhana all these praises206 are to be done. Citta- mani Tara somehow likes that Matisara Praise.

Mandala Offering OM BENZA BHUMI AH HUM, wang chen ser gyi sa zhi OM BENZA REKHE AH HUM , chi chak ri kor yuk gi kor wei ü su ri gyelpo ri rap, shar lü pak po, lho dzam bu ling, nup ba lang chö, chang dra mi nyen, lü dan lü pak, nga yap dang nga yap zhen, yo den dang lam chok dro, dra mi nyen dang dra mi nyen gyi da shar du, lang po rin po che, lhor, kyim dak rin po che, nup tu, ta Rimpoche, jang du, tsün mo rin po che, shar lhor, mak pön rin po che, lho nup tu, kor lo rin po che,

204 For these Praises tsee the Appendix. 205 Matisara and Lodrö Gyatso are synonymous. Monk of Drepung Monastery 1664-1740. (M. Willson, In Praise of Tara, p. 307). 206 See sadhana, at the end of Making Requests, before the Dedicationa and Prayer containing all the subjects of Cittamani Tara.

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nup jang du, nor bu rin po che, jang shar du, ter chen pöi bum pa, nang gi shar du, nyi ma, nup tu, da wa. (OM indestructible base AH HUNG) Mighty golden base (OM indestructible wall AH HUNG) Outside, a surrounding wall encircles it. In the center, the king of mountains, Mt. Meru. East, the continent ‘Noble Body’. South, Jambu Fruit Land, West, ‘Cattle Enjoyments’, North, ‘Unpleasant Voice’, The sub-continents of ‘Noble Body Land’: Yak tail and Other Yak tail islands, ‘Deceitful’, and ‘Skilled in Mantra’, ‘Unpleasant Voice’ and ‘Moon of Unpleasant Voice’ (islands) In the East, Precious Elephant. In the South, Precious House keeper. In the West, Precious Horse. In the North, Precious Queen. In the South-East, Precious General. In the South-West, Precious Wheel. In the North-West, Precious Jewel. In the North-East, Great Treasure Vase. Inside, on the East, the sun. On the West, the Moon. This mandala is slightly different from the mandala we usually say. Usually we use the 37 heap mandala. This one is the 23207. Basically it is the same. The mandala is very important. It is a good way to accumulate merit and purify negativities. The word mandala is the same that is used for the deity’s mansion or for the mandala offering. Literally it means ‘center’, the center of the universe. The mandala of a deity, like Yamantaka or Heruka, is also the center of the universe. For that mandala that is the only universe that exists and it is the center of all activities. Likewise, here, the mandala offering is the whole collection of the universe. Talking about generosity! You give the whole universe, what else could you give! We are visualizing here, we are not really giving it, but remember, this practice is first pretending to do it. The ground, as in other mandalas, is the great pure golden ground. So by using the most precious substances you can find you accumulate also more merit when you make the offering. Traditionally, in Tibet, a lot of pure 24 karat gold mandalas were around. Many people had one. In Tibet there were lots of thieves, but somehow they never took things like that. Particularly for teachings like this, almost everybody would bring a mandala, since before and after teachings elaborate mandala offerings were done. So everybody carried their set with them. And somehow nobody would steal it during teachings like this. If you left it in your house and went away, with the door open, then thieves might take it too, but not in a teaching with a couple of thousand people, where they would leave the mandala set in between teachings and go to the bathroom or to eat and would never lose. I never heard of one being stolen. And many of them were pure gold 24 karat. By itself 24 karat gold is not stable, so they would put silver inside and cover it with 24 karat gold. So whatever you can find, use the best. How- ever, if you don’t have anything else, even a stone slate will do. When Tsongkhapa accumulated 100,000 mandala offerings in retreat he used a flat stone that was outside somewhere near his cave. He would go out and clean the stone first.

207 It is also sometimes called the 25-heaps mandala. In that case, ground and fence are also counted.

152 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Cleaning the mandala. I would like to remind you: for cleaning the mandala you have to use your skin. You can’t do it with the sleeve or your green sweater. You have to use the wrist of your right hand. Audience: What if you are left-handed? Rimpoche: I don’t think it makes much difference, but the idea is that there is a wisdom channel here on the side of the forearm. I am sure that wisdom channel is also on the side of the left forearm. When cleaning you wipe it three times clockwise to accumulate merit and three times counterclockwise to purify negativities. Every time you pour a little bit of the offering material and either clean it off or collect it to yourself. Tsongkhapa used this stone and cleaned it with his forearm. After some time he started bleeding, but he continued. These were the good old days. I don’t recommend to you people to do it that way. It doesn’t work like that today. We are in the 21st century. The mandala is based on a center, surrounded by eastern, western, southern and northern continents, plus the subcontinents between that. Then (second circle) it goes to the elephant in the east, the housekeeper in the south. (Here, housekeeper means house holder or home owner. It is the master, not the servant.) In the west is the horse, in the north the queen. Further there is the minister, the wheel, the wishfulfilling jewel and the treasure vase. Internally, on the third circle, in the east there is the sun, in the west is the moon. And then the actual offering: without any hesitation and without hoping for anything in return you offer it the entire universe to the Lama. dak zhän lü ngak yi sum long chö, dü sum ge tsok chä rin chen mandal zang po kün zang, cho päi tsok chä pa lo yi lang nä lama yidam, kön chok sum la bül tuk jei wang gi zhe nä dak la, jin gyi lap tu söl. Body, speech, mind, wealth and virtues of the three times - my own and others’ - This fine, precious mandala and a mass of Samantabhadra offerings, I mentally take and offer to my guru and yidam and the three jewels. Please accept them through compassion and bestow your inspiration. This is the 23 or 25 heap mandala208. You go along with whatever the ritual describes. You can’t say that you prefer another version and do that one. You don’t mix them. There is a system and you have to follow it. Here it means 23 heaps. However, they give you a choice here, saying that you can do the 7 heap mandala as in SA ZHI PO KYI… Note, the 37 heaps don’t correspond with the 37 practices of Buddhad- harma. You can’t just put everything that has 37 parts and correlate them together.

Request (to be said with strong devotion:) Mother producing the three times’ Sugatas, Venerable great store of compassion, please cleanse my sins and obscurations, O Mother Arya Tara!

Purification On this request, from the left hand making the mudra of giving refuge, from the ring finger a tube of white light, about the thickness of a straw, comes continuously. It enters the Brahma opening in my crown. Inside it, white nectar, like a stream of milk is carried, flowing. It fills up my whole body,

208 This 23-heap mandala is described in: Tsongkhapa’s A Book of Three Inspirations, to be found in: Glenn H. Mullin, Tsongkhapa’s Six Yogas of Naropa, pg. 235-236. When called 25-heap mandala, the base and will are included.

The Twenty-One Taras 153

cleansing and purifying the whole mass of sins, obscurations, faults, offences and stains. My body becomes like a clear lump of glass. On our request from the left ring finger of Tara light comes out, and reaches to ourselves. From the crown, white nectar like milk continuously flows, purifies all our illnesses in body and particularly negativities, downfalls and obstacles. As you have in the words of the sadhana you have visualize that tube like light what carries the nectar, reaches to our body, purifies and washes.

Absorption of the Twenty-One Taras The twenty-one Taras melt into light and absorb into the principal Tara. The principal Tara also absorbs into me, and we become non-dual. (while visualizing this, say:) DZA HUM BAM HOH Finally all the 21Taras melt into the light form and dissolve into the principal Tara. The principal Tara comes to our crown, enters into our body and then you say DZA HUM - she becomes one with you, inseparable. BAM - she becomes really inseparable. HO - she will never separate until we obtain enlightenment. That completes the [3rd branch209] wisdom invocation, offering, praise and entering.

(iii) Empowerment by the Buddhas of the Five Families Now we are moving into the fourth branch: Initiation. Again, from the seed-syllable at my heart, with Amitabha as the principal, empowering deities of the five families and their entourage are invoked. Make offerings with OM PANCHA KULA SAPARIWARA ARGHAM, (PRATICCHA HUM SOHA) (etc,. for) PADYAM, PUSHPE, DHUPE, ALOKE, GANDHE NAIVIDYA, SHABDA Please will you give me empowerment! Thus requested, they lift up their vases full of wisdom knowledge nectar, saying: OM SARVA TATHAGATA ABHISHEKATA SAMAYA SHRIYE AH HUNG They empower me with the nectar liquid. It fills my body and purifies stains. The excess liquid flows together on my crown making a Guru Amitabha who decorates my head. The empowering deities sink into me. Light goes out. It invites the initiation deities. Then you make offerings to them with OM PANCHA KULA SAPARIVARA210… Actually, the abisheka, the water pouring, is done by the consorts of the five Buddhas. The five consorts of the five Buddhas pour water on our crown, which purifies all impurities inside and out, and the left over water marks us to be in the family of Lama Amitabha, which is the lotus family. The initiation deities dissolve to us. There is a comment by Pabongka here why Amitabha is mentioned in this case. He says that this is trying to show you that the guru-devotional practice is the root of all development. Although in Maha

209 For the Four Branches see p. 154. 210 Pancha kula: five buddha families; saparivara: retinue

154 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary anuyoga tantra Amogasiddhi [Tib. Dön yo drupa] [is the buddha family of Tara], Amitabha comes up because he is supposed to be the guru of Tara. Pabongka also says, Although the sadhana says this, according to Maha anuyoga tantra it should be Amogasiddhi. Although I cannot say that you have to do this, those who are intelligent should think and make their own decision.’ So, normally in the case of Tara the head of the Buddha family, is Amitabha, the lotus family. But when it becomes Maha anuyoga tantra, Tara gets crowned by Amoghasiddhi, [Tib. Dön yo drupa]. It has to be. I think in the initiation book this will come up. So although the Cittamani Tara sadhana says that the left over water of the initiation becomes Amitabha, it is Amogasiddhi. But don’t change the sadhana. We did not write the text. I don’t know who wrote this sadhana, maybe one of the Takpus. Translation is translation; you can’t change the actual words. But remember, in Maha anu yoga tantra it is Amogasiddhi. These things you will find a lot here and there.

The Four Branches [in the Cittamani Tara practice] At the nirmanakaya level of Cittamani Tara, you have to recognize the four branches of activities. Re- member, we have a set of shortest possible sadhanas connected with the Lama Chöpa. (I am not even sure if they are fit to substitute even our emergencies or not. But if you are very sick, it is better to do these than nothing.) In this shortest Yamantaka sadhana it says: The light transforms into the self-illuminating body of Yamantaka, which enjoys the four branches It is the same thing for Vajrayogini and Heruka and Cittamani Tara, except for White Tara. The four branches, nyen drup yen la zhi211, not as a perfect translation, but as working titles, are: 1. Nyen ba212. Pleasing the Yidam, or: getting closer to the yidam. That includes mantra recitation. 2. Nyen drub213. Making whatever you did in pleasing, strong and stable. 3. Drub pa214. A sadhana is called drub tab215, meaning ‘method of creating’. It goes in the direction of contemplating, making it happen. This is the branch of making it happen. Think that way right now. 4. Drub pa chen po216. Making it happen gradually, in a big way.

First branch – pleasing the yidam For the first branch, pleasing the yidam, the main activity is to generate oneself in the form of the yidam. This means, from the sambhogakaya level transiting into nirmanakaya level.217 This doesn’t happen suddenly; you gradually merge from one to the other. In the Cittamani Tara sadhana it says that the letter TAM melts into light and thereby you arise in the form of Tara. That is all. Other sadhanas have more elaborate processes. Either you generate yourself in the form of the yidam through body, speech and mind activities or through the five wisdoms, as is mostly done in the mother tantra. It is a long process, not a flip-flop act.

Generation through the five wisdoms. When in the sadhana you look at the letter TAM, at that point you have to remember that you have to have the base, which in this case are the body, speech and mind of the bardo person. The path and the result are the body, speech and mind of the enlightened level. All three have to be there. How does that work with the letter TAM? The letter TAM has this circle above it. That represents the body. The TA itself represents the speech. That exists only because of the A. Without the A

211 bsnyen sgrub yan lag bzhi 212 bsnyen pa: approach 213 bsnyen bsgrub: approach and accomplish 214 sgrub pa: accomplishment 215 sgrub thabs 216 sgrub pa chen po 217 For the corresponding sadhana text see p. 110 and 112.

The Twenty-One Taras 155 it would not be TA, but just T, which you can’t even pronounce. The A is the life of every consonant and represents the mind. Generation in Mother tantra. In the Vajrayogini sadhana at that point you are sitting as a letter BAM in the air. You look down and see the place where you are going to take rebirth. You see the double triangle and within that the moon disc and on top of that the Three-OM mantra. Then you as the BAM enter that moon disc and mantra. In the Heruka sadhana that process is even more intensified. Instead of the Three-OM mantra you have one round of the vowels of the Sanskrit alphabet going to the right and again another round going to the left, and likewise you have two rounds of consonants. The bardo individual here is in the form of the nada, the squiggle, up in the air and looks down into the mixture of semen and blood of enlightened yab- yum. In the Vajrayogini practice that is not exactly clarified; it only talks about a white moon and a red mantra garland and that’s where you enter; in the Heruka practice it is more clarified. It says [in Vajrayogini], ‘This white base and red alphabet are the mixture of blood and semen of the enlightened yab and yum. I like to enter into it’. So you shoot down there, like an eagle that zooms down from the air to grab its prey. The five wisdoms in Cittamani Tara. Looking at the vowels and consonants on the white moon disc, the whiteness represents the mirror-like wisdom. The Sanskrit alphabet and the reddish influence-aspects of the moon is the wisdom of equality. You may say that in the Cittamani Tara sadhana there is no reference to the Sanskrit vowels and consonants. But you have to know that this is the general system of mother tantra. Though it is not written here, it is applicable. So when you are doing the sadhana you should be meditating in that way. If you don’t, if you just read it, does that mean your sadhana is incomplete? No, but it almost becomes [a] flip-flop [manifestation] for you. In reality it is not flip-flop; it has to go through the five wisdoms. Then you yourself in the form of the TAM, begin to see the moon disc and want to enter in the middle. So the TAM shoots down – just like in Vajrayogini the BAM shoots down and in Heruka the squiggle shoots down. That [entering] represents the discriminating wisdom. Then you meditate the light radiating out, fulfilling the two purposes. The light collects back and transforms into a blue utpala and the letter TAM. The process up to that point represents the wisdom of activity. Then the moon disc, seed syllables, utpala and TAM all melting into the light form and transforming yourself into the complete Tara form is the dharmadhatu wisdom. This is the system of the five wisdoms.218 This is what is happening when you meditate, even if you don’t say all the words. It just needs to be introduced that this is happening, then that is happening and so on.

What the nirmanakaya is like. Then there is another important point I like to raise. This goes for all deities, whether Yamantaka, or Heruka or Vajrayogini or Tara or Hayagriva or whatever it may be. There is a sentence I want to quote from the Guhyasamaja tantra. It says, The [Nirmanakaya] body is not the hollow parts. The hollowness is not your body. You don’t have a hollow in your body. Neither do you have flesh and bones, nor do you have blood. Rather, the Nirmanakaya is like the rainbow in the sky. That is how you manifest your body. When you generate your body as a yidam and when you think about it, don’t think about the flesh and blood and bones, and also don’t think that it is empty or hollow like a cast metal statue which is hollow inside. Again, your body is not hollow, but neither do you have flesh, bones nor blood. It is like a rainbow in the sky. Basically when you are generating yourself in the yidam form, your body is not hollow, and it is not a mask.

218 Also see Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Essence of Vajrayana, p 86-87 and Geshe Loden, Path to the Union of Clear Light and Illusory Body, p. 263

156 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

A number of people I know said at the beginning of practicing tantra that they imagined being there, wearing the costume of Yamantaka, acting like Yamantaka. Then, when meditating on Vajrayogini they were thinking, ‘Now I am wearing the costume of Vajrayogini.’ I once saw a movie in which some guys went to Washington to find out what the agricultural secretary was going to do on the stock market and put on a gorilla suit. That’s not the way you function in Vajrayana. You do not imagine wearing a Ya- mantaka suit, or wearing a Vajrayogini suit. If that is so, then it becomes a costume, right? Like a drama or performance. It should not be that way. Neither is it a hollow picture like a hologram, nor does it have blood and bones and flesh. So what does it look like? The vinaya sutra describes it as: your right leg, your left leg, your torso and your head, everything is solid fire. There is no inside-outside business. It is just a ball of fire, including hands, head and everything. My commentary here says it is like a rainbow. It is total fullness. You are definitely not going to see a flat, two-dimensional body; we are not thangkas! We see a three-dimensional body and it is not hollow. It is like a rainbow in the sky. Or it looks like a flame with the shape of a human being. You know sometimes when a fire is burning, the flame looks like a human being, however, you know it is fire. In that manner, you have to rise as the Nirmanakaya deity. When you have a golden lamp shade and the lamp burning inside, you get a golden glow, an aura. That is the manner in which you arise in the yidam form - not in this ordinary bone and flesh form. If you try to think that ordinary bone and flesh body is a yidam, then that may be a little problem. Actually, that is the same for the Sambhogakaya and the Nirmanakaya. So, generating oneself in the form of the yidam up to here, that is the first branch.

Second Branch - making it strong and stable This is the blessing of body, speech and mind with OM AH HUM.219

Third Branch - making it happen That is the invocation of the wisdom beings. I think I talked about that earlier.220 We read through. It is just a matter of introducing this here. There are different ways of invitation like from the natural abode [or the specific Deity’s Pure Land, in this case the Pure Land of Potala.]

Fourth Branch - making it happen strongly How to really make it happen is through inviting the initiation deities. They give the initiation and the left over water earmarks whatever the Buddha family it is.

These are the Four Branches. When you say the words: ‘The Four Branches are completed’, you only have those words, but the process you have to have in mind is all those activities. So almost the whole sadhana [part] of the nirmanakaya is there: generating, blessing, wisdom invocation, initiation with the family deity. That is the meaning of saying: ‘the four branches are completed and you become the deity seeing its empty nature’. The moment you say those words you got to remember these four processes which include almost the whole sadhana. In the shortest sadhana221 there is no lineage prayer, no generation of offerings and blessings, accumulation of merit, inviting the field of merit, making offerings, purifying, taking vows, etc. Why? Be- cause that is all contained in the Lama Chöpa. So that is all completed. What is not in the Lama Chöpa is the three-kaya practice. So the process for that is that light is coming from the respective deity, hitting you, dissolving you into emptiness, you become the sambhogakaya form, a blue, red or whatever colored light, and then the nirmanakaya with the four branches develops. That’s how the whole sadhana is substi- tuted with four little lines.

219 For the sadhana text see p. 112. 220 See p. 113. 221 Referring to the four-line sadhanas.

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To review, there are the outlines of prerequisites222, actual and conclusion. So far, we have done the prerequisites and we are in the actual practice. Out of the three kayas, we are on the Nirmanakaya level, the manifested body level. There are four branches to that: Bringing it closer - generating yourself in the yidam’s form. Making it happen - in this case being marked by OM AH HUM Making it happen stronger: invocation of the wisdom beings. Making it happen in a big way: initiation by the initiation deities. That was benefiting oneself.

Questions and answers Audience: When you meditate on the dharmakaya, do you see the mandala and the yidam or are you in fact the yidam and the mandala? Rimpoche: I was talking in the context of seeing profound and clarity together. That is not only applicable to the dharmakaya meditation. Throughout the sadhana you should have the strong influence of emptiness. Yet, when you develop the mandala you have all these deities. You perceive the deities, but beyond the appearance, what is all that made of? The chocolate toes are made of emptiness. You may see the chocolate toes, but when you investigate and touch them, chew or bit them, it is emptiness. That is what I meant. Combining them is becoming profound and clarity together. It looks like the emptiness- figure is covered with the skin of the appearance that you perceive, the yidam or whatever.

Audience: You were talking about emptiness. I heard that when in a laboratory the tiniest particle is observed the particle changes by being observed. I was wondering whether that is a kind of emptiness. It seems that particles affect each other and therefore don’t exist inherently, solidly by themselves. Rimpoche: That emptiness would be easy. But it is true, because of emptiness this is what is happening. Because things don’t solidly or inherently exist, they change and affect each other. I wouldn’t call that knowing emptiness, but because of emptiness this is happening.

Audience: You said that in vajrayana the perceiving mind is made blissful. Is that perceiving mind the same as the ‘watcher’ you were talking about earlier [during the shamatha meditation]? Rimpoche: You figure out. There are no two at this point. There is no relative self here at this moment. At this level of absorption the relative self is gone. It is [suspended] in a quantum leap.

Audience: Is the primordial mind not inherently existing? Rimpoche: We have been saying that there is no inherent existence at all. Period. Whether the primordial mind has inherent existence or not, I don’t know. It is a question one has to think about.

Audience: In the beginning of the discussion on death and dharmakaya you said that there is the collection of relative merit and the collection of wisdom merit. You said that we needed one and the other we would discard. That was not clarified. Why do we need one collection of merit and not the other? Rimpoche: I thought it was quite clear. By making offerings, doing the seven limbs, purifying and contemplating, we are collecting good karma. During the wisdom merit period we are discarding the source and the consequences of the bad karma. We have labeled that ‘self existence’ or ‘inherent existence’ or ‘ego’. It is important to keep that in mind. If we lose the understanding that with that we are discarding the source and consequences of bad karma, then [philosophizing about emptiness] would just become theoretical. Even though it is a process of discarding, it can be called ‘accumulation of wisdom merit’.

Audience: Is the emptiness to be understood as the potential in which cause and effect can happen? Rimpoche: Emptiness itself is interdependence. Interdependent is emptiness. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Neither is form the potential for emptiness, nor is emptiness the potential for form.

222 Rimpoche adds: We should call it prerequisites. Preliminaries sounds like it is just fooling around in the beginning, not really necessary.

158 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Audience: Emptiness is said to be total freedom. Therefore, if it becomes interdependence, doesn’t it become restricted? Rimpoche: That is a very rational, normal thought. But I think that emptiness itself is interdependence and vice versa. Without interdependence there is nothing else. That’s why interdependence is emptiness. The nature of it is that things are dependent on each other. So there is no independent existence. There- fore it is empty. I know you are thinking that emptiness does provide the framework for anything that is possible to happen. Within the interdependence there is restriction, of course. There are rules, regulations and so on that will apply. That is your rational thinking. But I don’t think it works that way here.

Audience: Can you clarify again what you mean by dra gyi223 and dön gyi224? Rimpoche: the dra gyi gives you the understanding through explanations. You are gaining wisdom because of the words you heard. But when that understanding becomes better and becomes reality, then later, when your memory recollects [it], what you are recollecting is not the understanding that follows the description, but the understanding that follows from what you have experienced. That becomes dön gyi. An example: you tell me something about glass. I get the picture of glass. I trace that picture back to my previous encounter with glass and connect that. This would be dön gyi. But [if] I have no idea of what glass is and you tell me that a glass is clear and shaped like a pot, but it is not china, wood, stone or something, but rather crystal-looking transparent material. Then the understanding I gain from that will be the understanding following sound, dra gyi. The dra gyi helps to know and recognize and you connect that with something in your experience. For example, when in the case of glass you say, ‘Oh, that is glass? We talked about that a lot. Now I now what that is!’, then your dra gyi becomes dön gyi. Dra gyi would be trying to explain a shape to a blind person. In Indian Buddhism they always use the elephant for that example. Audience: I have a completely different question. Is it a coincidence that the nada and the tigle, the squiggle and the drop, look like a sperm and egg? Rimpoche: I can only say it is a good observation, a very good observation. It might not be a coincidence. There might be some meaning in there. It probably tries to give the message that you have got.

In order to accomplish the needs of others: offerings, prayers, mantra recitation Blessing the outer offerings (cleanse the offerings with:) OM VAJRA AMRITA KUNDALI HANA HANA HUNG PHAT (purify them into voidness with:) OM SVABHAVA SHUDDAH SARVA DHARMAH SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM Out of the void, KAM, whence skull vessels. In them, from HUNG, offering substances, whose nature is voidness, whose aspect is to have the aspects of distinct offering substances and whose function is, as objects of the six senses, to give special uncontaminated bliss. (Bless them with) OM ARGHAM AH HUNG, OM PADYAM AH HUNG OM VAJRA PUSHPE AH HUNG, OM VAJRA DHUPE AH HUNG OM VAJRA ALOKE AH HUNG, OM VAJRA GANDHE AH HUNG OM VAJRA NYUNDE AH HUNG, OM VAJRA SHABDA AH HUNG

223 sgra spyi - generality, [universal]. sound-image. 224 don spyi - conceptual generality; abstract concept; mental image, notion, idea, mental image.

The Twenty-One Taras 159

The sadhana at this point has the [blessing of the] outer offering only. The inner offering blessing has been done before225.

(1) Offering (Offer them with) OM ARYA TARE SAPARIVARA ARGHAM, etc. PRATICCHA HUNG SOHA (offer the inner offering) OM ARYA TARE SAPARIVARA OM AH HUNG From your own heart you generate the offering deities [and offer] with ARGHAM, PADYAM… PRATICCHA HUM SOHA and OM AH HUM, the inner offering. Each one of them, whatever the physical aspects of your yidam form body are, you make that offering to that specific consciousness, such as ghande to the smell, shabda to the sound, [sometimes] rasa to the taste, sparsha to the touch etc. Each one of them you are offering and you have to think that this brings bliss and joy to each and every point you touch and give. And it doesn’t end there. Each one of them brings joy. That in turn sends the joy message to the principal mind. The principal mind becomes in nature of joy.

(2) Praise Deity whom I have practiced in previous lives, divine activities of all the three times’ Buddhas, green, one-faced, two-armed, swift bringer of peace, O Mother, who holds an utpala - homage and praise! If you praise somebody the person likes it. That happiness is joy. The ordinary praising is the example. But this is an extraordinary praise with extraordinary joy. It is the ear consciousness which has the joy and that sends the message to the principal consciousness which then has tremendous joy.

Praise-offering deities. Offering deities come from your heart. They do have their ornaments but no implements. They praise with folded hands. With the actual praise these offering deities bring bliss-void to the mind of the receiver, the Lama-yidam. Then the deities are generated back to you, like at the offerings.

225 See p. 73.

8. MEDITATIVE STATE

(3) Development of shamatha – through the gross and subtle development stage [Tib. ke rim]226 Levels of the development stage, ke rim Now we have almost come to the development stage practice. That has two categories, gross and subtle. You first reach the gross level and then go on into the subtle. Shamatha itself has also two divisions: shamatha-like and actual shamatha or stability.

Your focal point. The development of shamatha itself is no different here than in the sutra tradition, as taught in the Lamrim and the Odyssey to Freedom. And from the method point of view there is nothing more profound. It is based on the five faults, eight remedies, six powers, nine stages and four conjunctions.227 [As to the object of meditation] the teaching tradition will say, ‘You can meditate on anything from the yak’s horn to the cow dung.’ However, it is recommended to meditate on the image of Buddha, because it accumulates merit. If you meditate on the yak’s horn or cow dung, you will develop stability of mind, but you won’t develop either virtue or non-virtue. You could for example meditate on things or beings that you develop attachment or attraction for. Or you might meditate on things or beings that make you mad and cause you to develop hatred or anger. It may build your shamatha, but along with that negativity and non-virtue could come. That is why it is recommended to meditate on the Buddha. Since here we are doing the ke rim, or development stage, the focus is not on any object outside, but on yourself in the form of the yidam. That is your focal point. Tara says, You have to focus and concentrate on yourself in the deity’s form. You are appearing as deity, perceiving [yourself] as deity, acknowledging emptiness and make it inseparable. This is most important. Tara’s commentary says, You have to practice the profound and clear together. If you experience sinking of the mind, think of the dot at the higher level; and if you experience wandering of the mind, focus on the dot at the lower level.228

Gross development stage – gross ke rim229 The gross ke rim level needs to also be developed by the analytical meditation. Actually the analytical meditation will bring the clarity, and concentrated meditative state will bring the stability. Then you gain the divine pride by identifying yourself [as the yidam].

226 Literature: Lama Thubten Yeshe, Cittamani Tara, p. 142-159. 227 See Gelek Rimpoche, GOM – a course in meditation 228 Refering to subtle ke rim technique. See pg. 182. 229 bskyed rim rags pa

162 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Building clarity and stability of mind One thing regarding clarity and stability I would like to emphasize here. We are in the habit, the moment we mention clarity, to think about the object. But here, the clarity is not only referring to the object. Remember, sometimes we say that in the beginning, if you can’t see Buddha’s image clearly, even a yellow lump will do. Here at the ke rim level, at least you should see head and hands and all of those. It should be a bit better than at the Lamrim level. Also, we are doing both, concentrated and analytical meditation together. During the analyzing, we build up the image mentally one by one, from the crown to the toes and from the toes up to the crown. In the beginning, when we concentrate on the upper part, we forget about the lower part and when we are on the lower part we can’t see the upper part. That is our practical experience. Gradually, we have to learn to keep one part and add the next part. You remember the sitting posture of the legs, and without losing that you put up the stomach and the other half of the body. You build it up piece by piece, without losing what you have. You may not be able to see it altogether at that time, but give yourself a little time and look back to keep what you have and then add up another piece, like the nipples and so forth. Then see all of them together and then add up the neck, hands and head. Gradually, when you do this there will be a time when you see all details together. It may not be absolutely clear, but at least you see hands, legs, head and the whole body together. The moment you get that complete picture, hold that as your focal point. Don’t try to make it any more clear at that point. The clarity mainly has to be in your mind at that point. The clarity has to be in the mind itself. The mind should be upbeat, excited. Obstacles. The obstacles to that, as you know, are sinking and wandering mind. Sinking will be overcome by clarity and wandering will be overcome by mindfulness. By overpowering those, without interruptions, you will build up the gross body of Tara. Eventually you will be able to see that clearly. I just said that the main point of the clarity is in the observing mind. But when the subject, a clear observing mind, is settling on the object, automatically the object will become better and better [too]. It is not going to remain stuck. Although you don’t make extra efforts to make the object clearer, by focusing with the clear mind, the object will be getting better and better, up to the point where you can see everything in the body, including the lines between the black and white of the eye balls. Sign of stability. When you get it clear to that level, without interruption of wandering and sinking, if you can sit and meditate for four hours (the 6th part of a 24 hour day), with the clarity of the observing mind also quite good, that is the sign of stability in the gross development stage. Some people think it is some kind of promotion, where you get promoted from the gross to the subtle development stage and from there to the completion stage. No. It is an automatic process within the individual. The first is the clarity and stability of the gross development stage. Still, just simply focusing is not good enough to be able to get the ke rim. It is the sign of stability [that counts]. When you first train, you can’t sit there for four hours. You will probably sit there for two minutes, or maybe two seconds. Keep on extending that. It is the same thing as with doing your exercise. Try to keep adding one minute a day or a week. It depends on how much time you have, how much you are willing to do and so on. There is no one who is telling you what to do. It is not your commitment, but it is your practice. It is up to you what you do. That is one good thing in Tibetan Buddhism. They teach you what you are supposed to do, then whether you do it or not is your choice. Nobody really chases you to do anything. You can keep on lying down and do nothing; nobody will say anything. You can get up early in the morning and do everything and don’t even sleep at night; nobody will say you are great either. That’s how it goes: no encouragement, no discouragement. It is very much counter to the American culture, which is very much based on encouragement. Then on the other hand, if you are not doing things right, there are all kinds of measures, like grounding you.

Negating ordinary appearance and acceptance230 When you are building it up, the focus alone is not good enough. It is good enough to bring shamatha, no doubt. But it is not good enough to be part of the development stage. Some people have the idea that

230 Also see p 176.

Meditative State 163

‘development’ in the development stage refers to building up the image of the yidam and the mandala. While this is true it is not enough. Why? A stable focusing mind alone doesn’t do anything against samsara. That remains solidly intact. Yes, a strong focus reduces negative emotions. But that is only a temporary reduction. You didn’t get rid of them. So you have to have something more than just stability. Par- ticularly, at the ke rim level, what is your target, or object of negation? According to the teachings the object of negation here is ordinary perception and conceptualization - the ordinariness. I have been telling you that between sutra and tantra our target is shifting. On the sutra level the target is the negative emotions, like attachment and hatred. Over here it is ordinary perception and conceptualization. The ordinariness has the much deeper and subtler points of our hatred and obsession. You will see it, if you think carefully. The gross levels of delusions have been taken care of at the pre-requisite levels. Now you are taking care of the subtle levels. Ordinary appearance and ordinary acceptance are the true objects of negation. To overcome these is the goal. You see Rocky with dangling glasses and ear-rings, and then accept her as such. If you go on debating you can say, ‘I still see Rocky with her glasses and ear-rings’, but in ke rim we are expecting to see the purity of Rocky inside, which is Tara. The one who is observing is also not an ordinary person, but me, Tara. In other words, one Tara is seeing another Tara. Whether you are male or female, it doesn’t matter. When you are in the female level, all male things are cut off; when you are becoming male deities, all women get extra bits. That’s how it is; not a big deal here. When you have one Tara looking at another Tara you are directly contradicting ordinary appearance. However, we have not done anything about accepting that appearance. In order to attack the ordinary acceptance you need the pride of ‘I am Tara’. The reason is nothing more than killing the ordinary appearance and the acceptance of that appearance. For us, we can’t have two together. You can’t think, ‘I am So and So’ and ‘I am Tara’ at the same time, can you? They come one after another. First you have to rely on understanding by sound [Tib. dra gyi]. Then, after that you have the understanding following some experience [Tib. dön gyi]. It comes one after another. We learn separately. Eventually, when you get okay with that, they should be functioning together. If I am telling myself, ‘I am the perfection of the ultimate stage of Tara’, that is with effort. First even my own brain will reject it. I am sure you get that thought in your head, ‘This is crazy. What are you talking about? I am not Tara!’ When you don’t have a proper understanding of this, sometimes it can create tremendous difficulty. Right now, I am talking to you and you are excited about hearing all this and that is fine. But when you go home and start doing this, after a while you will go, in my case, ‘Me, is that the guy called Gelek, the big, fat, oriental guy or who is it?’ You have to remember that we got to this point by following the sadhana, through the development stage. The big, fat, oriental-looking guy was already dissolved and gone by the time of the death and dharmakaya. How many times have we said: ‘OM SVABAVA SHUDDAH SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM - tong pa nyi du gyur. All is empty.’ We do say that all is empty, but all is also still here. The moment we say ‘me’, the projection we have is that of the ordinary appearance and acceptance. When you say that this ordinary appearance and acceptance is Tara, then it is the same as saying, ‘I am Cleopatra’. But when you think through the whole process of going into emptiness meditation, then ‘all is empty’ does mean something.

A story. I remember the last Yamantaka teaching I received from Kyabje Ling Rimpoche. That was in India, in Drepung Loseling. There was a nice geshe from the Himalayan region attending that too. Mrs. Taring, the Tibetan Homes Foundation Secretary, had come to me some months before that for instructions on the Tara practice. When it came to the OM SVABHAVA part, I was going to emphasize that a little more, but she said, ‘I know that very well. Geshe Rimpoche told me.’ She told me that this geshe had taught her: ‘OM SVABAVA SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH - ham tong pa nyi du gyur. Now, Ham in Hindi means ‘self’. So he interpreted it to mean ‘I become empty’. So Mrs. Taring was doing the same thing. A few months after that was the Yamantaka teachings with Kyabje Ling Rimpoche. He told me, ‘I heard Mrs. Taring came to see you for Tara teachings. What did you tell her?’ I told him what she had already learnt from the geshe and that therefore I didn’t insist. So he asked me what that was and I had to answer it was ‘ham tong pa nyi du gyur’. In that teaching there were many people and that particular

164 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary geshe was also sitting there. He was very nice, really true. Very simple dressed, wearing faded yellow robes, almost turned white. Suddenly Kyabje Rimpoche obviously recalled what I had told him about ham tong pa nyi du gyur and he started laughing, looking at me and pointing at that geshe-la. The poor geshe was sitting there, ready to disappear. Kyabje Rimpoche couldn’t stop laughing for half an hour. His manager was gesturing to him to stop, but Kyabje Rimpoche couldn’t stop. Even Song Rimpoche, who was also there, started pulling on his moustache and asked, ‘What happened?’ Kyabje Rimpoche couldn’t stop and finally said, ‘Let’s take a break’. In the break he told me, ‘I remembered what you told me and I was looking at that geshe and his robes had faded to almost white.’ This geshe was a very sincere and humble practitioner. Normally, in Mundgod, all the geshes live in houses, but this geshe had made a hole in the ground somewhere and that’s where he lived. So he always had a lot of dust on his faded robes. He really looked like he was ready to disappear! So, looking at him and remembering the ‘I become empty’, made Kyabje Rimpoche laugh so hard he couldn’t stop. So he had to take a break, way before the regular break time. There were probably 2000 people there and they did not know what was happening. This just came up in my mind. Normally the teachings would start from 12 and go up to 3. Then there would be a break and teachings would resume after 5 or 5. 30. So, anyway, even these schedules and rules and breaks are impermanent and can be changed. It is the nature of interdependence, - just relatively created. It is empty nature. That can be easily identified by destroying it. You just take the break at another point. You do need certain excuses to do it and the excuse happened to be that joke about this geshe and about what had happened.

Pure being. In any case, when you do the sadhana, when it talks about ‘I do this’ and ‘I look like that’, you should never think about your usual person. You have to remind yourself that we are here to directly contradict ordinary appearance and ordinary acceptance. The fat, ordinary guy has been dissolved into emptiness and is reborn through TAM as Tara. The impure part of the being is already completely purified and dissolved. It is gone, gone, gone - completely gone, at the Dharmakaya level. From the nature of emptiness it will re-appear as pure being. That pure being is now recognized and labeled as Tara. What- ever we are referring to, the point where we say ‘I’, is no longer the ordinary one. It has been processed and changed. Yes, we see a physical body. Yes, we see a consciousness. But that physical body is not the ordinary body. That consciousness is not the ordinary consciousness. It is the nirmanakaya, sambhogakaya, dharmakaya. These are the pure parts of Tara, inseparable from the wisdom being who is invited and invoked. It comes, it merges and is initiated: stamped, sealed signed - all done. That ‘me’ is the basis for the pride of the deity. If we have an idea of wisdom and emptiness, that process is not a problem. When you don’t have any idea about it then you get into problems.

Two types of ordinariness. Pabongka says that ordinary appearance and acceptance has two different points: 1. When you look at your form, your skandhas, yourself, you see yourself as truly existing, you see a truly [or inherent] existing body, self and name. 2. Simple ordinariness. We usually try to emphasize that ordinariness is the true existence of the ego-oriented self. Our mind will hide in that. That’s why Pabongka mentions two types of ordinariness, the ordinariness of true existence and simple ordinariness. Of course, we are bound to say that what we are talking about is the first type, the inherent existence. Pabongka emphasizes this point, saying, ‘No, it’s not. Even the Hinayana arhats have the realization of [negating] the first type of ordinariness. So that is not special for vajrayana.’ In vajrayana [however] we are talking about the simple ordinary me, the simple ordinary appearance and acceptance [that needs to be overcome]. As we pointed out earlier: the clarity of seeing the pure mandala and pure deity will block the ordinary appearance; the pride will block the ordinary acceptance. These two are the major important things at the development stage [of vajrayana].

Profound and cleartogether Still, that alone is also not enough. (You see, we are adding up so many things here.) That will simply be able to develop stability or shamatha. It still doesn’t make any effect on samsara at all. The need here is to

Meditative State 165 develop true perception as the antidote to the perception of true existence and that again is nothing but the emptiness. Right from the beginning the emptiness comes in, when you say OM SVABHAVA…From beginning to end, the emptiness is there, everywhere. Without that you cannot do anything. You always need the strong influence of OM SVABHAVA… (a) The appearance becomes the yidam and its circle. There is strong pride and clarity. (b) Then, from the side of the emptiness: in general every existence is free of [inherent] existence, and especially right now the yidam that I am meditating, is free of [inherent] existence. It is simply the combination of the right label put on the right base – only that, nothing more than that. The combination of these two is called the ‘profound, clear, non-dual yoga’. All of these points have to come together on one point, in one mind. When that happens then it is called ‘Method and Wisdom Joined’. When method and wisdom join, the direct cause for the completion stage is created and through that, both dharmakaya and rupakaya, the physical and the mental aspects of enlightenment. This probably covers the gross level of the development stage along with the gross shamatha, i.e. the shamatha-look-alike stability. Then the actual true shamatha and the subtle development stage somehow become a mixture of development stage and completion stage.

Gross ke rim – second explanation231 We can do the analytical meditation and achieve clarity easily, but you also have the get the focal point. Without zhi ne [Tib.] or shamatha [Skt.] you will not be able to do this ke rim at all. So at this level, the zhi ne is a must. If you have zhi ne, you won’t have any difficulty developing clarity as well as stability. The gross ke rim will deliver you a sort of semi-zhi ne, and subtle ke rim will help you develop perfect zhi ne. Concentrated meditation alone is not necessarily zhi ne. Zhi ne is a state of [advanced] concentrated meditation which you gain by training for a long time in concentrated meditation itself. Basically meditation in zhi ne here is the same thing what we normally teach in [Lamrim and so forth]. There are no different basic important points. You have the five faults, eight major acknowledg- ments, all of which you get in the normal teachings. Now here is something interesting. It says here, These days lots of people regard it as much more important to generate themselves in the form of a yidam, and they simply keep on saying the mantras. [They regard] that as the ultimate practice. That is a very clear sign of the degenerated age. Here your major point really has to be gaining the pride of yidam and developing clarity. These are more important than visualizing yourself as the yidam and saying mantras alone. Some people think that ke rim functions independently without bringing anything from that level. That is a complete misunderstanding. That’s why you don’t see many people who have developed ke rim. There are only very few people. It is as rare as a star in the daytime. So, basically here, whether it is tantra or sutra, it is important to develop a stable, good shamatha.

The obstacles to developing zhi ne [Skt. shamatha] and their antidotes Obstacle 1: laziness. The number one obstacle to developing zhi ne is laziness. We won’t meditate. We are either busy, or it is not possible, it is the wrong priority, other things are urgent, there are emergencies, or whatever. These are the various forms of laziness. How are we going to challenge that laziness? Actually laziness is overcome by enjoying what you are doing; however at our level we have very limited enjoyment, even in our practice. People intend [or are here recommended] to use faith, or even belief systems to some extent; sometimes faith and belief have their value. A little bit of faith, trust and interest should be able to be translated into a little effort. The effort in turn should bring some joy. Then the joy really cuts the laziness.

231 This and the previous part on gross ke rim are teachings from different years: too hard to assemble, too beautiful to strike out.

166 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

But the best challenge to laziness is trying to understand the quality of proper samadhi [or concentration]. It brings you many benefits. You can read the mind of the person next to you, or you can read your spouse’s mind and know whatever he or she is thinking about, you can read your child’s mind, or you can read your parent’s mind, or of course, you can read your opponent’s mind. So you see, how great it is! Think about these ideas. Pick up at least one quality of the samadhi that you can gain. Pick up one of the qualities and build interest on that, and that will cut laziness down. When your laziness is cut down and you are interested and have attraction, then naturally desire of wanting to do the practice will develop. When you want it and you have the desire, naturally you will put efforts in, and also endurance will come naturally. Actually, it is a good idea. Imagine if you could read your spouse’s mind! What is he or she thinking about? What is your boss thinking about? And especially if you are a lawyer, what is your opponent planning to do? If Clinton had samadhi he would be very happy; he would know each and every one of the senators’ minds, so he could plan accordingly! So it is wonderful. Thinking about [things like] that brings interest and then efforts and endurance. If you put the effort in and gain endurance, then the result, the joy, will grow. By the time the actual physical and mental joy develops, you don’t have to force yourself any more. Until then, you follow the example of the dead-tired donkey pushing a load uphill. We feel like that, because we don’t have enough interest. We don’t see any quality that we can get out of there. So first, interest, then efforts, and finally the result. That will probably cut laziness completely down. At the beginning level we have only half of the interest, even faith we only have half of. Try to build that up. Then the desire will come, then effort and then joy. By that level laziness will be completely taken care of. I believe that is step one. Many of the detailed teachings on zhi ne will tell you the qualities you gain through samadhi. You really need a good presentation of the qualities that you can gain. Think of Clinton reading the minds of hundreds of senators and being able to develop his strategies better. If you could do that, Clinton would hire you - for sure! No question.

Obstacle 2: Forgetting the focus. By the time you have taken care of laziness, your next obstacle is actually not remembering what you are doing. You cannot remember what you are focusing on. In other words, you lose your focal point. That will be your second obstacle. So what is your focus, what are you focusing on? There are lots of different types of focus. You can concentrate on the body of Buddha; you can focus on yourself as a yidam or on your mind like in Mahamudra. But when you are focusing on the ke rim you don’t have much choice. You know the Kadampa masters used to say, ‘From cow dung to a yak horn, you can focus on anything.’ The horns are in front, the dung comes out at the other end. So from here to there anything can be an object of concentration. You can focus on your girlfriend’s face, or your boyfriend’s face for that matter, or anything else. If you meditate on your girlfriend’s face, it might not be virtuous. It may be generating more attachment, I don’t know, but you could develop focus on that. However, on the ke rim level, you have to focus on the yidam’s form itself. You have no choice. Your focus is the particular yidam of the sadhana you are practicing. Your body in that yidam form - that is your focus, your point. Let’s say you are in the form of Tara. You are going to generate Tara right from the top of the hair knot down to the lotus cushion, and at each point you recognize, you acknowledge, ‘This is like this, that is like that, there’s a nose, there’s a mouth, there are dimples and there are nipples, too.’ In that manner you go down all the way to the lotus cushion. Then you go up again, focusing on the crossed legs and everything, right up to the hair knot. That is called analytical meditation, because you are analyzing and pointing out all the different features. Analytical meditation does not necessarily have to be very argumentative, or to involve reasoning. You can do that, reasoning is also analytical but here you are pointing out the details one by one, producing them together, trying to fit all these puzzle pieces together, and that is also analytical meditation.

Meditative State 167

At our level, it is quite difficult to get a reasonably clear picture. However, you can at least have a basic framework of head, legs, body shape, and so on. You can almost imagine it. When you find that, you have to be satisfied with it for the time being. You have now found your focal point. In the Lamrim we used to say, ‘When you try to visualize Buddha Shakyamuni, first be satisfied to just see some yellow lump.’ But here, because now you are on the ke rim level, you have to be a little more careful; just a lump won’t do. You have to really have the face, and the hands, legs, the shape, at least that much. When you have found your focal point, it is important to hold on to it. You have to actually hold it quite tightly, not very loosely; you have to hold it firmly. Right now you have to be firm. You know why? Because your next obstacle is now going to be the sinking and wandering mind. You do not want to allow yourself to be overtaken by either the sinking or wandering mind. So by analyzing you develop some sort of clarity; now here you try to develop stability. Remember these two have to go one after another, or rather work together like this: [Rimpoche interlocks the fingers of both his hands]. Audience: inter-digitated! Rimpoche: Interesting word, okay, inter-digitated. Now, when you try to gain stability, sometimes you lose clarity. When you are losing clarity, go back to the same old method of pointing out the head, the tail and all these other details. No, Tara doesn’t have a tail, but her hands and feet and so on. Try to bring the clarity back and when you have reasonable clarity, try to gain more stability. That’s what Tony called ‘inter-digitated’. Do that focusing a couple of times. Don’t spend too much time. We are at the lay person’s level. On that level it is never going to be absolutely clear. The clarity will not be there right now, whatever we do. So, whatever we get is fine. I always say: it is okay if all you get is a green lump, a yellow lump or white lump. The least you have to have is that and some hands, legs, or a body. When you found something you have found the subject. Don’t try to work too much for clarity. Just now, it is not going to happen. Be satisfied with what you can find and then shift from the analyzing to holding, focusing.

Obstacle 3: Wandering and sinking mind. While you are doing that, your [third] obstacle is the wandering and sinking mind. What can you do about wandering? Keep on watching very carefully, very often making sure that you are still focusing on the object of your concentration. [Anything] which takes you away from the focusing point of firmly holding is an obstacle. People go to the sinking point, which can be either gross or subtle, plus what is called mug pa232. (This is not the Mukpo, which is the family name of Trungpa Rimpoche’s family!) It is a heaviness. The body is heavy, the mind is heavy. In conjunction with this, there is another one: you have a little bit of clarity and you also have a little bit of stability, yet there is no crispness. You can call it lack of vividness too. It is a sort of fogginess. I would rather call it crispness than vividness, because of that fogginess. That is better than muk pa, but it is still a gross sinking mind. It is very foggy, as though the dusk is settling on your mind. That is the gross sinking mind. Subtle sinking. This is followed by the same conjunction. You have stability and not only clarity but also crispiness, but you do not have firmness or tightness of holding the object. It is becoming sort of over-relaxed and your concentration drops off a little bit. You have clarity and stability and crispness, but not the firmness. It is a sort of relaxed way of holding the object. This can be subtle sinking. This particularly is very important, extremely important. Some people at this point [wrongly] consider that this could be almost the achievement of zhi ne. That can be very dangerous. How do you know if it is true zhi ne? If it is true zhi ne, then, even if it does not build up the sharpness of your mind or your wittiness, at least it will not cut it down at all. True zhi ne should help you to build the sharpness of your mind, even when you are getting old. It should make you wittier. Intelligence is too broad a term. Wittiness makes you understand more and very fast. So even if zhi ne does not build up that sharpness, at least it should not harm it. If you have subtle sinking, you will notice gradually that these qualities are decreasing. The sharpness of your mind and the wittiness are going to go down. If you are noticing that, it is clear that you have

232 rmugs pa – also translated as lethargy, drowsiness, sloth, depression. As part of the 20 secondary delusions, it falls in the category of ignorance [gti mug]. Tsongkhapa, The Great Treatise, vol. III, p. 59: ‘eaviness and inserviceability of body and mind.’

168 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary the subtle sinking mind. It is very important by that time to review what you are doing. You should sit down with somebody and go over it, read more, get more information. Try to find out. Otherwise you will become like an absent-minded professor or even worse than that. Sometimes even much worse than that. This is quite a good, not too detailed, easy to handle, shamatha meditation technique. You recognize the obstacles and antidotes and how to apply them. This is going to be very useful. It is better to have shorter points, so read your notes and think about it. Try to understand and talk to each other, so you can understand better. The gross sinking and wandering mind is easy to recognize, but the subtle sinking mind is very, very hard to recognize. Sometimes people sitting too long with the subtle sinking mind even stop breathing through the nostrils. They stop breathing and then they start thinking that this means that they are beginning to collect all the airs into their central channel, like you do on the zoh rim stage. People can make a big mistake here. Since you don’t die and no longer breathe through the nostrils, the breath becomes very subtle and happens down at the navel level. There is probably no air coming in and going out of the nostrils at all. Many people make the mistake then of thinking that this is now the time where the airs are entering the central channel or even start remaining in there or even dissolving. As I mentioned earlier this morning, if it reduces your intelligence and increases forgetfulness, then it is definitely an indication that something is wrong and that you should not continue to sit in meditation this way. You have to pay close attention, because it is very easy to make mistakes here, very easy. Since it is so important, the activity of acknowledging the subtle and gross wandering mind has to be very carefully observed. The moment you notice [the subtle sinking mind], make sure you apply the antidote. At the beginning level, always check yourself, whether you are on the focal point. Check that there is not only clarity and stability, but also tightness or firmness. At the beginning level, have an alarm clock with you and set it to go off every second or third minute. You could put the snooze alarm on to alert you every five minutes. That gap is actually still too long. Make it 3 or 4 or 5 minutes. It may seem to you to be irritating or disturbing, but it is very helpful. Make sure that checking part of your mind is watching. When you look at the Discovery Channel you sometimes see shows on wild animals. For example they show a group of deer. And there will be one deer watching from the side if any tigers or snakes are coming. They will then inform the others. Like that, a part of the mental faculty should be given the job of watching. In Tibetan it is called she zhin.233 That is the spying, observing mind. If you don’t do it very often, you don’t realize that you have forgotten or lost the subject. As I said: it is not as much forgetting as just not focusing. By the time you realize it you have gone off a long way. That is no good. You have to check your mind very often. Over- and underchecking. But then, if you have build some stability in your mind and you over- check, then that also becomes a problem. It has to be balanced. If you develop that [balance] for a while, you will be able to focus for much longer than what we can now. It is the beginning of gaining a stable mind. If you try to develop shamatha at this point it is sometimes more effective and helpful, because of the blessings of the yidam and lineage master and the practice all together. Subtle sinking. Let me say something just briefly about the difference between perfect meditation and subtle sinking. Subtle sinking is very hard to distinguish from true meditation. By words you can say that true meditation has clarity and tightness and subtle sinking does not have these two. Tightness and clarity are also not mentioned in regards to the object but to the subject, the meditating mind. The mind itself is holding tight and is clear. There should be an upbeat state of mind, with excitement. At the same time it should be loose. If it is like a dead-tired donkey pushing a load uphill, then that would be subtle sinking. That is the clarity as from the point of view of the subject, the observer.

Obstacle 4: Not applying the antidotes. Then, whenever you notice obstacles and do not apply the antidotes, that becomes an obstacle. Therefore you should apply the antidote. If you have the subtle wandering mind, that comes from the problem of having too strong firmness. Naturally, you need to relax a little bit. If even then, the subtle wandering mind is not cut through, it will become a little grosser wandering

233 shes bzhin

Meditative State 169 mind. The obstacle is now becoming the gross wandering mind. At that point, your mind is a little too high - in the sense of being high, as if using marijuana or chemical substances, a little high, maybe a little too happy. The idea here is trying to reduce that. You don’t really have to stop your meditation here. You may have to stop focusing, but you don’t have to get up and interrupt your session. You probably should however change your focus to meditate on impermanence and suffering, the lower realms, etc. That will bring you a little bit down, make you a little sad. That may help to cut the wandering mind. If even that does not help, you may have to stop that meditation and just concentrate on your breath. You can count your breaths, or do the nine round breathing meditation. You can do these nine rounds three times, nine times or twenty-one times, etc. I will probably tell you a little later how to use the techniques of the lower and upper dots and switch the focus of the mind round [from one to the other] at this level. If even after trying all this you still have the subtle wandering mind, it is recommended not to continue the session itself. Close your session, get up and do whatever you have to do. Relax your mind completely. It is also important not to force the mind too strongly. The same thing goes for the subtle sinking mind. In case of the subtle sinking mind, the firmness is a little too loose, not firm enough, so you have to make it a little firmer and tighter. If even that does not help, you should change your focus. Your mind is a little too low, too sad, so focus on things like embracing human life, rejoicing in the life you have. Also meditate on the qualities of the refuge, of bodhimind, of samadhi or shamatha or power of concentration, etc. Just as you meditate on impermanence, death, etc., on the other side [in case of the wandering mind], you have the balancing points here. If even that does not help, there is one other little method: Meditate your mind into the form of a very light, small ball of air. Throw this mind into the clouds and even above the clouds, where you have beautiful sunshine. Then gradually take it back down. You can also work with the subtle dot we have mentioned earlier. These are the ways of balancing up and down, wandering and sinking. If all that does not help, it is recommended to interrupt the session and get up. Go to higher elevated areas. In Tibet there is no shortage of that. You can go to all those mountaintops. Go to some summit overlooking a nice, little valley. Or you could go to Nova Scotia, overlooking the river or the sea. The subtle sinking mind is not like falling asleep [the way the gross sinking mind is]. It can go on for a long time. It can be a long-term process. What you have to do is take a vacation. Go to the beach or to a mountaintop. Do whatever uplifts you, anything that you enjoy. That is what you should indulge in, even things like writing poetry or drawing art. All that will help to get rid of the subtle sinking mind. It is actually not the subtle sinking mind, but the semi-gross, semi-subtle sinking mind. That is our biggest problem. You know, I divided the sinking mind right from the beginning into the gross and subtle stages, from falling asleep to having a personal darkness, etc. Personal darkness is like, ‘Everybody is having sunshine, but I have the dusk descending on me.’ That is still a gross level, but almost in between the gross sinking mind and the subtle sinking mind. The category in between is what we hang on to very much, I think. When you are at the level of the dusk settling on you, that is one thing. If you go even beyond that, to a grosser stage, you are depressed. These are all part of the sinking mind. Ways of counteracting a sinking mind or mild depression. To counteract a sinking mind, do things you enjoy. Go mountain climbing. Go up to the snow line and even up to the snow peak. Enjoy that and anything that is enjoyable for you, music, poetry, drawing, art, etc. You may have to utilize all types of things. Sometimes it is difficult to try to take care of the sinking mind by meditative means alone, though this problem is supposed to be taken care of by joy. The joy recommended to us is that of the quality of life, the quality of the benefits of bodhimind. The problem is that we ourselves don’t really know about those. That is why we have limitations of helping ourselves at this level. The recommended level of top joy is in fact not very real for us at this point and that is the practical problem we have. Since we don’t yet know the real joy, instead we pick up more practical things, like whatever hobby we have. That may help. In the tradition the example of going to the mountaintops is used so much, I don’t know why. Also burning incense and letting the smoke rise up very high, like making a smoke puja

170 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary on the peak of some mountain and watching a huge amount of smoke going up very high from there. This kind of enjoyment could be very helpful. There could be some environmental objections, though. In that case you could use a helium balloon and write your own astrological sign and zodiac on it and write your own notes about what you enjoy and then let the balloon go and watch it go up. You know the astrological signs in the Tibetan system. There are the twelve animal signs which join up with the five elements. Each of the twelve years is divided into a male and a female year. This division is made on the basis of the elements, so you have wood, earth, water, fire and metal. Wood is green, earth is yellow, fire is red, metal is white, etc. So write all that down and include your zodiac sign and then let all of that go. All that does help. But for the helium balloon there is environmental objection, you know that? Apparently, if one of them falls down, animals can get choked or something. All of these methods can help to clear that sadness. If you regularly visit the high park areas, it is particularly helpful to watch the sunrise and even more helpful watching the sunset. For this you should stand on your toes and pump yourself up a little bit, [bouncing up and down on tiptoe]. You can also observe the rising full moon. That may help us. When I was a child, they used to take me to watch the moonrise all the time. I did not want to go watch it, because it was cold, so they used to tell me ‘When you go out there and talk to the moon, the moon will give you cookies!’ But it never did. These are some of the different methods. The Six Yogas of Naropa give you a few additional things to do there. All of those will help with the sinking mind. For us, the sinking mind is a more serious problem than the wandering mind. The wandering mind is equally difficult to handle, but it does not really sit on you as much as the sinking mind does. Once this catches you, it will not let you go easily. For week after week, month after month, or even year after year it will hang around. That is a big problem. Then, if it [i.e. depressions] even goes beyond that level, our usual medical treatments can be very helpful, as long as you don’t become dependent on chemical substances. I do not know, when you become chemically dependent, what that does to your system. I have no idea. It is much better not to become dependent. Then it is helpful. People have been doing a lot of research and have come up with lots of suggestions and have tried things. So whatever help we can get, we need it. Meditative help is not enough, because what these techniques really recommend is the appreciation of life, and if you do not appreciate you life, it may not even work. Maybe at that time you even hate your life. Right now we lack understanding of the depth of the quality of life itself, and that’s why the recommended meditations are not that helpful for us yet. By using all these different methods, the true samadhi, the true shamatha, has to be completely free of both gross and subtle obstacles of wandering and sinking mind. When you are free of the sinking mind, because you have found the object of meditation already earlier, and you have been improving it, then whatever is not clear for you is that either you are not concentrating enough or you are holding the object too tight or firm. Maybe you push too hard. These are the two problems.

How to cultivate clarity and crispness of mind. For the beginner to hold tight is better is than letting loose. Holding tight should also be done for very short periods. Don’t force yourself to do it for long periods. That is another cause for bringing on the sinking mind. Maybe you do it three hundred times for three or four minutes each - focusing, letting it go and focusing tight. It is very common that within twenty-five minutes you let it go and re-focus three hundred times. It is very common, nothing is wrong with that. If you try to force yourself - we do that, because in the beginning we can focus a little bit - and if you try to hold that, it can bring about that problem. In the beginning, you should meditate for short periods, with clarity and tightness and crispness. That is important: not only the clarity, but also the crispness. If you are free of that [sinking and wandering], your mind will see the object very clearly. When you see it very clearly, that does not only mean that you see the object itself very clearly, but that you have the tightness and crispness of the perceiving, observing mind itself. That is called sem gyi sel war tong. The seeing mind itself has the quality of clarity and crispness. That way it is much more clear to you, when it is said that ‘My mind sees clearly’. That does not mean that ‘I see this crystal here clearly.’[Rimpoche

Meditative State 171 picks up a crystal as example.] It is more than that. It is also the crispness of the mind itself. That is important. Another important thing: it says here in Tara’s Notes: Even if the object you are looking at, which in this case is the form of the yidam, might not be very obvious and clear, however, the mind which perceives it has to have the clarity and crispness and holding the object tight. That must be there. There must be reasons for that statement. We are putting a lot of time into thinking about what we focus on. [The object] may not be that clear and we don’t bother about the quality of the observing mind. We may be holding on to the object for too long, you know, and that could create the sinking mind problem. Even if the observed object is not very clear, even then it is okay, as long as the mind perceiving the object has clarity and crispness and is holding it tight. Our text says that this is one of the most important points. Even if the object that we are observing is not very clear, the observing mind must be very clear and fresh and strong and hold the object firmly. The text now states again that if you think that you are falling under the influence of the sinking mind, try to hold tight, and if you think that your mind is going to be wandering, let it loose a little bit. Whatever you do, tighten it or loosen it, the most important point is not to be controlled by sinking and wandering mind. You have to be in control. You need to find out how to manage. Once you know that, only then you look at how long you can hold the object. Stability is beginning by then. The moment you are getting a little stability, you immediately have to be alert for the sinking problem. The sinking problem will come along with the stability. We may try to meditate on something and it may not be very clear, but we try to force ourselves, until the sadhana is over, or we even try to spend some extra time and try to hold the object. Our mind holding the object may not be very clear, the object itself may not be very clear, yet we are not letting it go, we are forcing ourselves, we may be falling asleep a little bit here and there, but we are still keeping up our mind - that might be a cause for a problem. Otherwise it would not have to be said that from the moment you are getting some stability, you have to be immediately alert for the sinking mind. The text says, As long as you don’t let the wandering mind take over, it is always better to try to hold the object tight, rather than letting it be loose.

Obstacle 5: applying antidotes when they are not needed When you gain some stability, and you are keeping yourself alert for the balancing point, then at this level, that alertness may become itself an obstacle; too much looking for whether there is sinking or wandering mind. But that will become a problem only at this level. For us, let us not worry about it. For us it is better to hold the object tight, but at the level where you have gained some stability [looking out for problems itself may become a problem]. Actually there is a benchmark for good stability. The day and night is divided into six periods. Let’s say we have twenty-four hours divided by six. If you can, without any problem of sinking and wandering mind, focus for four hours, you probably have a good zhi ne. That is very difficult. People also take an incense stick and see if they can focus for as long as the incense stick is burning. There are all sorts of methods, but the easiest way is this: touching the right knee, the left knee and your forehead with your right hand is counted as one. If you can do that six times, that period of six seconds or so, if you can focus for that long without any obstacles, that is almost the beginning - you are really getting to it. You are actually on track. I think I mentioned that earlier. Those of you who have read other transcripts will probably remember. At this level, the inquiring, watching mind, the spy mind, which is watching whether the sinking or the wandering mind is coming, the mind which we call ‘mole’, (like a Russian agent working secretly for the CIA for twenty years), if you keep this mind too active, that can become an obstacle, so now is the time to let this mind loose a little bit. You know, sometimes you hear that the really great meditation is done in a loose, relaxed manner. If you apply this to the beginner’s level, you are misguided, according to Tsongkhapa, because that will, without any doubt, lead to the subtle sinking mind. That is almost guaranteed. You will not breathe any

172 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary more, after some time even your abdomen will not move any more. All that is possible, yet your intellectual capacity is not rebuilding, you are forgetting everything, you begin to lose your memory, you are becoming a more dull person, and then even the little bit of knowledge you have, will go and you become duller and duller. After some time you will not even be able any more to figure out whether something has to be taken in or let out. You know what I mean. I don’t have to make that more clear. I am not going to talk to you about the nine stages of development of concentration. You can read about these in all the different Lamrim books where it is covered in quite some detail.234 The nine stages are necessary to be joined in here, but we don’t have to talk about them now. When you focus on yourself as the yidam, the clarity of the yidam at this level should be quite clear. Even the lines in the eyeball between the iris and the white part of the eyeball should be clear. These lines don’t appear blurry grey to the meditator. You not only think that you as the yidam have eyes, but looking at the eyes, your focus is able to observe the lines between the iris and the white part of the eyeball. With that much clarity and without any subtle wandering and sinking mind for four hours, if you can focus and concentrate in this manner, that is not only the stability of zhi ne, but also the stability of the gross ke rim stage as well.

Clarity, stability and divine pride together. If your purpose is only to develop zhi ne, then meditating for four hours is enough, but our purpose is not that. This is not good enough for us. Our purpose is to cut down inferior perception and conception, and therefore we need the pride [of the yidam] as well. Right from the beginning we have to develop pride, clarity and stability of focus together. For zhi ne alone, you look at the image mentally and meditate on that, but here you also have to join that with the divine pride, the pride of the yidam. If we think that the pride of ‘I am Yamantaka,’ or, ‘I am Vajrayogini,’ or, ‘I am Tara,’ or ‘I am Heruka,’ consists of simply thinking your ordinary ‘me’, with its ordinary identity, with whatever round, fat face or long face you may have, is simply wearing a Yamantaka suit or a Tara suit, and then thinking that this is the actual yidam, that is a big problem. That is equally as good as saying, ‘I am Napoleon,’ or, ‘I am Julius Caesar.’ I remember a movie called The Dark Crystal, where a guy says, ‘I am still the emperor!’ even though he is at the point of dying, so that is not right. When you just think that you are wearing a Tara suit, and keep on thinking that you are Tara, the automatic pride [of the yidam], the pride that thinks, ‘I am the ultimate level, free of all faults, with the total knowledge and benefit of the actual living yidam,’ this automatic pride will not be able to come. Even that guy could not say, ‘I am still the emperor,’ until the others started to attack him. It did not come automatically to him. It is very difficult. Even Maudgalputra, one of the Buddha’s best disciples, whom Buddha considered the person with the most powerful magical abilities (Shariputra was the disciples with the greatest wisdom), was beaten up so terribly by anti-Buddhists that could not even get up or walk. Shariputra and some others had to put him on some cloth and carry him. They asked him, ‘Hey, you are considered to be the most magical person. You have all these magical powers - dzun trul235. So what happened to you?’ He said, ‘Forget about the magical things, I could not even remember the mind of producing magic, because my karmic forces were so powerful.’ So it did not happen automatically for him. But the pride of the yidam, when you get used to it, comes automatically. Not only will it come as ‘I am Yamantaka,’ or, ‘I am Tara,’ but also, ‘I am totally free of all faults, with total knowledge, the awakened state of Tara.’ For that automatically to come is very difficult. Even if you wear the Tara suit, and say, ‘I am, I am, I am,’ it will not come.

Gone with the wind. What we have to do here is very important. Pay attention to this. When you are looking at this level, our basic, normal body, which hurts when we pinch it, this basic body is gone with OM SVABHAVA SHUDDAH SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM. It is gone with the wind at that time. When it is gone, the meditator by this time should not be perceiving that mind, but however, this does not

234 In any extensive Lamrim, this topic is covered under the paramita of meditative concentration. 235 rdzu ‘phrul

Meditative State 173 seem to happen for us. The ordinary, inferior quality self-perception comes up all the time in our minds. Instead of being gone, it still pops up all the time. This is the clear sign that the OM SVABHAVA did not really work that well with us. It should have gone, but it didn’t. Gungtang Jambelyang from the Amdo area (or Xinhua province), came up to Central Tibet. That time, Longdol Lama was there. So Longdol Lama asked Gungtang Jambelyang, ‘What is the purpose of saying, OM SVABHAVA SHUDDAH SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM?’ Gungtang Jambelyang replied, ‘It is to build wisdom merit.’ Longdol Lama said, Yes, true, it is to build wisdom merit. However, if this disappearing is not done very well, our inferior feeling and perception is so strong. That is why we keep on saying OM SVABHAVA SHUDDAH SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM all the time. The inferior perception and conception has to go and that is hard to do. When Gungtang Jambelyang later went back to Amdo and gave teachings, he said to the Amdo lamas, ‘That is the Longdol Lama’s one-word-advice. If we forget that, it will be a big loss.’ For the rest of his life he kept on repeating that all the time during his teachings, because it is that important. So the ordinary thing, with the Santa Claus beard, popping up again and again, is because the OM SVABHAVA did not work well. If it did, there would be no need for a reminder. When we build the pride of ‘I am Yamantaka,’ this is very different from saying, ‘I am Napoleon.’ The point here is that normally we see our body, our bones, flesh, etc., as our identity. We identify with that as ‘me’. That is going to be destroyed during the OM SVABHAVA period, or at least it is supposed to be. We pretend to eliminate that and perceive that it is gone. What you have left is the identity of the yidam, in this case Tara or else Yamantaka, or maybe Vajrayogini, a yidam identity. This is the physical appearance which you are going to obtain in future. This future Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya is what you bring in earlier now. It is like playing with time, saying that the future is here. In the movies or on TV you people who say, ‘I am from the year 2022,’ so they are bringing the future into the present. In that manner, like time travel, you are bringing that Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya over here and you invite the wisdom beings with DZA HUM BAM HOH and dissolve them. They come down, the two images become like an unfocussed camera, then the focus becomes right, then it becomes oneness with happiness. We have already done all of that and such a time-traveled physical identity with the wisdom beings dissolved is the identity which we acknowledge as ‘This is me, the yidam.’ That makes a hell of a difference. This is not simply saying, ‘I am the emperor!’ or something like that. Your time-traveled future yidam together with the invoked wisdom beings - that physical identity is the base for you saying, ‘I am Tara.’ This is different from saying, ‘I am Napoleon,’ ‘I am Caesar,’ ‘I am the Emperor.’ These are the important points you have to remember in Vajrayana. It is not ego-building, it is deity pride. Deity pride is not ego-service. Not only that, it cuts and hurts the ego, it destroys the ego. That is why right from the beginning, when we talk about emptiness, I told you that the OM does not come out of the letters, but out of the labeling, and that the initials of names are also just labels. That makes the difference, so it is not so difficult to bring in the time travel, the wisdom involvement and the labeling, and then build the pride. These are the qualities. That makes a hell of a difference to how you think. If you start to lose the pride, then you concentrate on the image, the head and the feet, the ears, the nipples, and whatever you want to think about. Then rebuild the pride and hold it. When you lose it, apply analytical meditation again and then use concentrated meditation to hold it. That’s how you learn. Very simple. You are building up the pride and clarity combined together which is the gross ke rim. That is the point you really meditate on in the gross ke rim level. Again, the purpose is to cut the inferior perception and conception. It should really cut the ego and its root completely!

What inferior perception and conception really is. When we talk about inferior perception and conception, you may think that it is the perception and conception of inherent existence. You may think that your body and all other things are the conception and perception of inherent existence, but we are not

174 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary talking [just] about that. Cutting the perception of inherent existence is even available in the Hinayana and naturally also on the Mahayana level. Over here, it is the inferior conception itself, the mind that thinks, ‘I am not good enough, I am not right, something is wrong with me.’ All of these are inferior perceptions and we have to cut all of them here. This is the reason why every land you are utilizing is a pure land, every sound that you hear is superior sound, every body you encounter is a superior body, a deity, whether male or female. Building this pride becomes so important. I don’t know whether I have told you or not about when I first interviewed [Dilgo] Khyentse Rim- poche for a radio station in Delhi. I did not even know what to say, so when he asked me, ‘What do you want me to say?’ I replied, ‘Anything you want to!’ I turned the tape recorder on and he kept on saying that every male is Avalokitesvara, every female is Tara, every sound is mantra, and so on. He went on about that on the radio for about half an hour. Remember, all these techniques ultimately come down to this: cutting the ordinary perception and conception.

Use these special points to understand what you are doing in Vajrayana. This has been quite enough information on this, really solid information. Perhaps you will not get many of these points in normal teachings, because when you go through according to the sadhana, these things will not come up. Nor- mally development and completion stage teachings are given on the basis of the sadhana, mostly development stage. Usually we will only talk about the completion stage for about half an hour. Normally the sadhana will have all these bits and pieces like offerings, praises, and so forth and we have skipped [a number] of those in this teaching. I hope we have given you quite a lot of good information and I hope you people will keep it in mind. Don’t leave it in the tape recorders and notebooks! I hope that we will be able to shape something from this for the Vajrayana equivalent of the Odyssey to Free- dom. We may be able to shape something like that by putting in a couple of additional efforts. It is not going to be sixty-four steps, more like eight, nine steps - that will be the maximum. I am looking for that. With sixty-four steps it will not work. It should be something that can be comprehended.

Again, I would like to emphasize once more: when we talk about ke rim, development stage, and the method of stopping the inferior perception and conception, that does not mean that through meditating on ke rim your ordinary perception is completely wiped out. If you think that this is what ke rim does, you are mistaken. Ke rim is going to block the ordinary conception and perception that we sometimes label inferior. I don’t mean the normal human feelings of inferiority. I am not looking below the human feelings. Of course these are included, but even ordinary human beings’ perceptions like. ‘I am Mr. or Mrs. Nobody in the sea of humanity,’ these are the inferior conceptions and perceptions I am talking about. When I say that ke rim meditation stops that, it means only in the session itself, so when after the session you function outside and you find the same old person, don’t get disappointed or surprised! That is not the job of this practice. It only works during the period of the session, but that period will continue to expand and finally a time will come when whatever you do, walking, talking, chit-chatting, making jokes, singing songs, dancing, driving a car, attending strategy meetings or fighting litigation in court, you will be in session. That time will come. You will be able to handle both together without any obstruction; on the contrary, they will be complimenting each other. That will be the time when the ordinary inferior perception and conception will be totally blocked. Do not expect that, when you are meditating for half a second per day, you will be immediately able to block all these ordinary perceptions and conceptions. This is not going to work all at once, but gradually it will. That is the main argument that was raised yesterday. Yes it is true, you have to go up to the snow line, but you do not necessarily have to go to the peak of the mountain, or if you want to, you can take a ski lift! I did that in China, when I went to see the Great Wall of China. You could not walk up, but a ski lift would take you up. The feeling in oneself that thinks, ‘I am not good enough,’ is a very gross example of this ordinary perception and conception. But even our normal perception of ourselves is also still an inferior percep-

Meditative State 175 tion, because in the sadhana you are perceiving yourself as a deity, a yidam, all sounds that are produced are mantras and the place where you are is the mandala. Therefore, even the usual perception of oneself as a person becomes inferior in comparison. The idea of ‘I am not good enough’ is a worse example of that and the feeling ‘I am terrible’ is even worse, likewise ‘I am useless, I am hopeless and the most horrible you could ever identify.’ Isn’t that even called an inferiority complex? This ke rim level of emptiness, which is associated with blocking ordinary perception and conception, is superior to the Hinayana and sutra Mahayana emptiness, and, in addition you have the joy nature. Don’t ever forget that the mind perceiving this is not only crispy-fresh, but also is in the nature of joy! It is only a projection and imagination at this moment. You use any joy that you can, whether it is sexual joy or whatever joy it maybe. Some people do not enjoy sexual joy; some people are like that. For them, if you try to take sexual joy as an example, you are creating trouble, rather than help. Take whatever you enjoy, intensify that joy thirty-two times or so and try to live in that!

This is not a wild goose chase. In normal American society they may even tell you, ‘Oh, you are building an ice-castle!’236 Yes, it is true, [it looks like] you are building an ice-castle, but you are building a solid crystal castle, in which you are going to live. It may be an ice-castle in the beginning, but it will become a crystal castle, a diamond castle. So don’t worry about it, if somebody is telling you that you are building an ice castle or that you are on a wild goose chase. Any critical observer from outside can very easily project this as a wild goose chase or perceive it as building an ice castle. That is their problem. For you it may be an ice-castle right now, but it is going to be a crystal castle later. You are going to live in there. Don’t buy it if people tell you that you are on a wild goose chase. You are chasing enlightenment with that. It is a very wild goose you are chasing there and by and by you will catch it! That is why it is not only necessary to have clarity, but also to have the pride of being the yidam. This pride is not based on our usual, ordinary body. We have already sent that body away with the wind, when we meditated on the OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHA SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM. What you are really left with as your identity is your time-traveled future Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya, rising as your yidam in conjunction with the Nirmanakaya, inviting the wisdom beings, dissolving into oneness with them and remaining as the basic appearance of the yidam. Identifying yourself with this time-traveled future yidam and developing pride on the basis of that is very different from thinking that you are Napoleon or Julius Caesar or Queen Victoria or Emperor Ta Ho Chan. I used to get that very often when saying the Yamantaka sadhana for example, like thinking, ‘Why don’t I say that I am Gesar of Ling?’237 That is similar to saying, ‘I am Napoleon,’ or, ‘I am Julius Cae- sar.’ When you look at the process we have been talking about just now, you see the difference. The Julius Caesar and Napoleon perception did not go through the time-traveling process. In that case they would have had to go back to the past instead of going to the future, so that does not work. I want you to remember that very clearly, because for a number of people this idea will come up, particularly witty people will think about it.

Vast and profound in the development stage. In the ke rim, you have the combination of nang chö ngai korlo and tong chö ö sel. The first, nang chö ngai korlo, refers to the vast, which comprises the yidam, the mandala and everything. The second term refers to the profound, which is emptiness in general, in particular the fact that every phenomenon is free from inherent existence. Especially the yidam, the form of which I am meditating myself, the physical form of a time- traveled future Buddha, only exists because there is a base and because I put the [appropriate] label on it. It is the combination of that [which makes it existent]. Understanding that profound aspect should cover both the vast and profound in one single mind: perceiving the mandala and acknowledging the profound nature of it. The combination of these together is called tab shes sung dre tsok nyi sung dre chö zu ku nyi gyu sung dre.238 That is the combination of both method and wisdom together, the collection of both

236 Or a castle in the air. 237 A heroic Tibetan warrior king. 238 Thabs shes zung sbrel the union of method and wisdom tshogs gnyis zung sbrel the union of the two accumulations (merit

176 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary merit and wisdom-merit together, it is the building of the rupakaya, the form body, and the dharmakaya, the mind kaya, together. These are the profound points of ke rim. Otherwise there would be no difference between this and saying that you are Napoleon, Julius Caesar, or Queen Victoria!

Blocking inferior perception and conception239. The most important thing is that the ke rim is not only the blocking of the inherent existence of the ego, but more than that. It is the blocking of the inferior perception and conception and also of the self-image of ‘I am hopeless, useless,’ etc. Other examples of that are, ‘I am not intelligent enough,’ ‘I am crazy,’ ‘I have wasted my life,’ ‘Nobody loves me,’ ‘I am everybody’s slave,’ ‘Everybody is mad at me,’ ‘Everybody is better than me,’ ‘I am not smart enough,’ ‘I am a fake, I am a copy-cat,’ ‘My needs are never met, I will never be satisfied in my life,’ ‘If people knew me, they would not like me, and I am scared to deal with people because of that,’ ‘I am unforgivable,’ and so forth. Audience: Daniel Goleman has put together a list of the top ten such self-debasing statements: 1. Deprivation: My needs will not be met 2. Abandonment: The paradigm of fear that this will happen again. 3. Unlovability: If people really knew me, they would not love me. 4. Social isolate: I don’t belong in that group 5. Vulnerable to harm: whatever can happen, it is happening to me. 6. Perfectionism: your parents don’t want you to just have an A, it has to be an A plus. 7. Entitlement: The rules really don’t apply to me here 8. Distrust: because of abuse in childhood 9. Failure: I am a fake, I will be found out, I am never going to do well 10. Subjugation: I am under the rule of somebody else, I am everybody’s servant. Rimpoche: You know, when any of these thoughts pop up you have to say, ‘This is the target of wisdom, this is my imagination, this is the ego playing tricks on me. When I am cutting out inferior conception and perception, this is what I am supposed to cut.’ Think about that when you say your sadhana. We have been practicing together now for ten years and compared to the beginning, we now have fewer tears than before. Many people here will acknowledge that. If you look back, that is an achievement - at least that!

Confront the real target. It is interesting. People put together all this information into books, do a lot of scientific research with a lot of energy and so you have books like Goleman’s and you have some Maha- yana and Vajrayana information, knowledge and practice. You can put all of them together and apply them on yourself. Why not? If you just look at them like an observer looking through a window and stay disconnected, that won’t help. When you realize, ‘This information applies to me, I have found the real target here!’ then you time- travel and generate yourself as Yamantaka with two horns and you stand there and confront that thought, ‘I am not good for anything,’ and so you put your horns through that and clear it out! So do that! If you are Vajrayogini, you pick that idea up, cut it up with your chopper, put it in the skull cup with the blood, drink it and spit it out! Why not? Our problem is that we don’t do that. In one way, it sounds like a joke, but in another way it is true reality. You do identify with these thoughts [like ‘I am a fake,’ etc.] and you hang on to them, and don’t want to let go of them and you keep them, thinking, ‘I don’t want to you to see it, this is my personal thing only, I don’t want you to come round, don’t talk about it, get out of here, leave me alone!’ Thinking like this is our problem. We do that all the time. A Vajrayana practitioner is not supposed to do that. Put these thoughts out there nakedly and then destroy them! That is the reason why as a yidam you have all these weapons in your hands. If you can’t use them for this purpose, what are you going to use them for? The problem is that you cannot use them, because you are identifying with your inferior ideas of yourself. You have to recognize that this is the object you are trying to destroy. Now don’t tell me that Vajrayana does not work with your daily life! Some time ago some people were saying, ‘I can understand how the Lamrim works with my daily life situation, but with Vajrayana, I

and wisdom or as Rimpoche often puts it merit-merit and wisdom-merit) chos gzugs sku gnyis rgyu zung sbrel The union of the causes for the dharma-kaya and the form-kaya. 239 Also see p. 162.

Meditative State 177 don’t see it.’ I told these people to be patient and wait a few years. Now you can see it, can’t you? Vajra- yana deals with life much more, both gently as well as harshly.

Questions and Answers Audience: In trying to find the focal point, is it better to work with one part of the visualized image or hold the whole image? Rimpoche: The whole thing. In Vajrayogini, at the teaching level, we will tell you sometimes to just focus only on the eye or on the nose. Here it is different. You try to hold the whole image. Audience: Can you go over what is the profound nature again? Rimpoche: Perceiving the yidam and recognizing that it does not have any inherent existence becomes the profound nature. The profound nature is emptiness. Instead of the word empty, I used profound. That probably confused you. The quality of ke rim is that it has to have the union of method and wisdom functioning together. The merit-merit and the wisdom merit are collected together in one action by one mind. The causes for rupakaya and dharmakaya are laid together. Ultimately these different statements are talking about the same thing. Different words are used to help you to remember more clearly, so it is not a listing of different steps. Audience: How legitimate is it, in order to overcome laziness, to work up a motivation to practice zhi ne [Skt. shamatha], wishing to attain the ability to read other peoples’ minds? Rimpoche: Some people will be very motivated by that. If that does not motivate you, [don’t use it]... Audience: But how does a motivation, like trying to achieve zhi ne in order to get a job on Clinton’s team because you can read people’s minds, tie in with bodhimind? Rimpoche: Oh, you can have bodhimind in the morning and the other just before [zhi ne practice]! Audience: You also said that concentrating on your boyfriend’s face can lead to zhi ne? Rimpoche: That is in general, but over here you should focus on yourself as the yidam. In the Kadampa tradition it is mentioned that you could achieve zhi ne on anything, from the cow dung to the yak’s horn. That does not mean that it is recommended to do that. Audience: How do you overcome obstacles to having the image of the deity appear alive, as a living, breathing being? Rimpoche: In the beginning, you cannot do everything together. Let us take things step by step. But it is true; the quality of the visualization should be that of a living, breathing being, rather than a drawn image. Audience: I remember that in one teaching you said that even the devil can teach you shamatha. Rimpoche: Yes, sure. Audience: You said once that you can build up zhi ne by meditating every day for 15 minutes. But to me it is like this: if you want to practice skiing, there is no value to go up just to the snow line. You have to go up much higher, if you really want to start practicing skiing. If you do your short daily session of concentrated meditation in a state of basically high distraction, it will be very difficult to settle down to really getting the gears of zhi ne practice in motion. Also it is required to have the right environment and so I can’t see how with that kind of practice you will ever get to the point where you start to think about cutting back on the over-control, etc. Rimpoche: Everybody might not be as intense as you are. You are describing the ideal situation, but if you don’t have that, you can settle for the little practice here and there and instead of 3 or 5 years it may take 10 years, but you will get there. Audience: In the example it may be easier to use a ski lift, rather than struggle up the mountain on foot. Audience: You cannot compare that. In the case of shamatha meditation, it takes a great deal of effort especially on the first stages, before you even get to the level of applying antidotes to the more subtle obstacles. Rimpoche: You are right. The ideal thing is to have a three-year retreat or one-year retreat. That would be great. However, that is not the only thing we have to do in our lives, so we do everything together and do

178 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary our best. One thing we have to remember is that we are not living in the 17th century in the Himalayas or in the jungles of South-East Asia. We are furthermore on the verge of a new millennium, so the traditional way of practicing is not going to be possible at all. If you have the ideal opportunity to do something, that is great. Our struggle is that we have to presume that these opportunities are not there. So what can we do? Our daily little practice is going to build up. Remember the example of the bucket. If you add some little drops every day, one day the bucket is going to fill up. Our practices are based on that principle. We have to function that way. I am not disputing your points, I am accepting them. If you can, go ahead and do it, but most probably, most of us cannot. Audience: If you can maintain your focus in your daily life, it will make it so much easier to focus while sitting on the mat [in the formal meditation session]. Rimpoche: That is absolutely true - very good point. Audience: You are saying that zhi ne development is a must for the success of the tantric practice. Are you really stating that the described method of concentrating for 15 minutes a day will be able to build up zhi ne? Rimpoche: Sure, it is not that difficult. Truly, it is not. If you really focus for 5 or 10 minutes a day, in two to three years time, you will see it, really true. It is not that difficult at all. Audience: I have trouble with the sinking mind. I get so tired through practicing zhi ne during my Vajra- yana practice that now even the sight of my meditation cushion acts as a narcotic. Yet I have to maintain my Vajrayana commitments. Would you recommend separating the practice and should I try to practice zhi ne in a non-Vajrayana context? Rimpoche: No. Zhi ne practice within Vajrayana practice is so important. The time to do zhi ne in the Yamantaka practice, for example, is at the level where you focus in detail on the meaning of the nine faces, two horns, etc. I recommend doing zhi ne at that point in the Vajrayana practice, rather than non- Vajrayana zhi ne, because that way you really kill two birds with one stone. It is much more important and much better to do that rather than try to cut across the same river this way once and that way once. You know it is twice the effort. If you have the kind of problems you mentioned, sometimes it is interesting to just change your cushion or even change the place of your practice. It is sometimes helpful. Sometimes you may want to go up to a higher place. Where do you live? Audience: I live in a half basement situation and I can’t go upstairs, because that is where the landlord lives. Rimpoche: Throw him out like these Korean monks did! And if she tries to come up with a ladder, push the ladder down!240 I am just joking. You work in Ann Arbor, don’t you? Maybe you want to come to Jewel Heart and do your practice there for a few days, that may be a good idea, and maybe next summer you could go up to Sunset Park which is above where you live. That may be helpful. Try it. And if you have difficulty with approaching your cushion, don’t force it. You remember the example of the dead- tired donkey carrying the load uphill. Audience: We were talking earlier about that example of going up high above the snow line in order to learn to ski... . Rimpoche: It is very easy to break your legs that way, too.

Audience: You said that our transformation is not working, because our meditation on OM SVABHAVA did not work that well. So we have to pay attention to emptiness, that things are only labeled, etc.-- Rimpoche: And on this point you are making gains, too. Just look at the inner offering, where it tells you that for example the horse meat is marked by HA, which is nothing but a label. Things like that are popping up here, too. That is how you gain understanding of it.

240 Rimpoche is referring to the siege of the main Zen temple in Seoul, South Korea where towards the end of 1998 one group of monks occupied the temple, while a rival group tried to force their way in.

Meditative State 179

You have to remember that there is no such thing as ‘This is emptiness,’ because if you could point that out, you would have an inherently existing emptiness. That does not exist, but you are constantly improving your understanding. When you look back, you will see the difference. We have been talking about that emptiness verse from the Yamantaka long sadhana dedication prayer: Examine with stainless reason the meaning of the mantra.... That particular verse will really tell you a lot. If you read through that fifteen or twenty times and think about it, it will give you a different taste. Read that again after listening to the teachings here, keep on reading that and think about it. That is how you can really build up. Audience: We have been hearing a lot of examples of the inferiority complex, but I think that the other side of the coin, the undue feeling of superiority is even much more pervasive. Rimpoche: You can deal with that too. With regard to emptiness, it is actually not so much the point how much you study, but to what extent you get it. That is really very true. How much you get it, that is the point. There was a rimpoche called Miyang Kuchang during my childhood, when I was about seven to nine years old. He was very learned, wonderful and liberal person, a little senior to Lochö Rimpoche. Most of the time you would see him at picnics or playing sports or Mahjong or dice, even during the session period, when everybody in the monastery was studying, but somehow he still became one of the most learned monks. You could almost compare his level of learning to that of Gen Pema Gyaltsen. They did their Geshe examination at the same time, and the question was which of them would come out as the best. Kuchang Rimpoche once told Lochö Rimpoche, ‘My God, you spend so much time studying! If I spent five per cent of the time that you spend on reading, learning, debating and thinking, there would be nobody like me throughout Tibet! However, I hardly read at all, maybe one or two short texts, and that is enough for me.’ He got it. Without spending a lot of time on reading, studying, etc., everything he did, became perfect. The most important question is: ‘Are you getting it?’ That is even more important than what you are doing. But of course if you don’t get it and if you also don’t do anything, you have nothing! Earlier, I made a point of mentioning that during the session you are blocking your ordinary perception and conception. At our level, this only happens during the session. In the session you are destroying the inferiority feeling, but this will have an impact and an effect on you even when you are not in session. It will not be able to block the ordinary perception and conception then, but it will influence and affect it. That is how it comes in, rather than taking an aspirin and your headache is gone. With an ordinary cold it seems to work up to a certain extent, but if I eat too many aspirins I get heartburn and feel a little nervous. Audience: Then you have to take another drug! Rimpoche: If you keep on thinking now that you are abandoning the ordinary perception and conception forever, it is not going to happen. You have to go out there and walk and eat and speak and work, you have to deal with real people with real names, real faces and real minds. Audience: How do you deal with superiority as opposed to inferiority? Rimpoche: You deal with superiority separately. Actually, both superiority and inferiority will be dealt with when you meditate on OM SVABHBAVA SHUDDAH SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM. Both of them should go then. Feelings of superiority are the direct result of ego-boosting. When you cut the ego with emptiness, when you break the ego down by thinking that this perception is wrong and dualistic, etc., you are really beating the ego right down and thus you not only cut the inferior perception but also the superior perception or feeling of entitlement. Personally, today I feel quite comfortable talking about the inferiority perception and not very comfortable talking about the superiority problem. Audience: You said the other day that conceiving of emptiness in terms of empty space is doing yourself a disservice and veering too far towards nihilism. There is a lot of language in the translated sadhanas suggesting that emptiness is like space however. That seems to be misleading.

180 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Rimpoche: The idea is to attach the right message to the picture of space-like emptiness. It is not that things disappear. That is why we had the example of a blind person [unable to find the identity of another person by touching the different parts of that person’s body]. You have to attach the message of a conceptual understanding of emptiness to the space-like emptiness. We must not just project a visual image of nothingness. There has to be a message along with that. Otherwise you are left with an emptiness which becomes just a blank. That is why there is this big objection to Ha Shang Mahayana’s ideas. Ha Shang Mahayana [a Chi- nese Buddhist teacher] came up and stated, No matter what kind of thoughts come up, all thoughts are thoughts. It is not right to have thoughts, because whether you are tied up by steel hand cuffs or by golden hand cuffs, you are still hand-cuffed. There is no difference. However, we have to disagree. You have to have thoughts involved here. The message must go along with that [visual] blankness; otherwise everything just becomes blank and will act as a cause to be reborn in the formless realm of nothingness. Audience: The language in the sadhanas which goes like ‘from emptiness I arise...’241 creates a picture of something popping up out of an empty, big nothingness. Perhaps if there was a particular word that could act as a marker to think at that moment of dependent arising and lack of inherent existence. For example it does help to insert that little translation of OM SVABHAVA, etc., by Allen Ginsberg: Nature empty, everything pure, naturally pure, that’s what I am. Rimpoche: We don’t want to insert any commentary into the sadhanas. That is why Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s Lama Chöpa became so wordy. He tried to put all that in. I am sure he speaks better English than I do, but on the other hand people who have talked to him say that his English is much worse than mine. Probably his students repeat to him every word [of the translation] and then he must be saying that it probably does not sound right and tells them to put this and that in. That is why the translation has become like that. Audience: In some moments in daily life, if you become aware of ego-grasping, even if you are not saying your sadhana at the time, is it still useful to say OM SVABHAVA SHUDDAH SARVA DHARMA SVAB- HAVA SHUDDOH HAM? Rimpoche: Yes, why not? But say Nature empty, everything pure, naturally pure, that’s what I am. It is better for you to say the English translation than the Sanskrit mantra in such situations. Audience: Again, in everyday situations, if you become aware of ego-grasping, is it okay to arise as the yidam and chop the head of ego-grasping off, as you have described? Is it all right to just pop up as the yidam or is it necessary to go through the whole step by step self generation? Rimpoche: You can do it - as long as you are not in a meeting! Audience: Actually, especially when I am in a meeting. Rimpoche: As long as you don’t show anything outside, that is okay. It could be that the other people think you are acting a bit strange or absent-mindedly and we would not want that. Audience: Sometimes, when I hike up high in the mountains, I can see the air and everything is so crispy- clear. Is it all right to take such images of ordinary perception into the sadhana process to remind oneself of emptiness? Rimpoche: When you are hiking high up in the mountains, probably the crispness and clarity that you experience is actually your perceiving mind. It may have something to do with the nature of the area at that time, but mostly that clarity and crispness is your acknowledging mind and that is the mind we were talking about last night. We need a mind of that level, not a sleepy, half-sinking mind. That is sort of the example for the kind of mind you want. However, I don’t look at that image as an example for emptiness,

241 Tibetan tong pai ngang le could be translated as ‘Within the sphere of emptiness’ or ‘Within the influence of emptiness’.

Meditative State 181 but I see it as the quality of the mind observing the emptiness or even observing a yidam body. It is not necessarily seeing emptiness, or seeing beyond the tree or the wall. Audience: Can you give us an example then and some guidance of how to link up with the non- conceptualization of the state of Nature empty, everything is pure, naturally pure, that’s what I am? Rimpoche: The best image so far is the space-like emptiness with a message attached. If you don’t attach the message you can get problems. That is why the newer translations add the qualifying ‘empty of inherent existence.’ This is coming up everywhere now, because somehow they are trying to throw in that message in there. Actually, the example I gave the other day, with the blind person trying to feel who that person is in front of them, is a very good example, because of the blind person. I got that idea from an Indian drama in which they introduce an elephant to a blind person.

Subtle development stage – subtle ke rim242 One tantra says that apart from ordinary perception and conception there is no cause of any suffering at all. The total cause of suffering is rightly blamed on the ordinary perception and conception, the inferior as well as the superior one.243 Whatever goes against that, the direct opponent of that thought, is the truth which you really have to perceive. When you begin to see this truth you have the profound and the vast knowledge. That knowledge blocks the original cause of all the sufferings, the [false] knowledge of ordinary conception and perception, whether it is inferior or superior. How do we go about blocking that? By meditating the vast yidam mandala and acknowledging the profound emptiness together in one mind. Stabilizing that for the period of one sixth of twenty-four hours, which is four hours, is called gross ke rim level rag pa dran pai chig pa’i na ljor. This literally means gross single-pointed mind yoga. Remember at this level you have the gross zhi ne, not really the profound zhi ne. In Tibetan we don’t use the expression ‘gross’ in this case. We more or less say ‘artificial zhi ne’ or ‘semi-zhi ne’, as opposed to the real zhi ne. I learnt that expression with ‘semi’ from India. I was going to buy an automatic toaster, but three times I was offered a ‘semi-automatic’ toaster which meant it looked like it was an automatic one but really it was not. So likewise, here you have the ‘semi-zhi ne’ [semi-shamatha].

Two ways of cultivating zhi ne. The true zhi ne [shamatha] and subtle ke rim stage can be cultivated on two things: 1. Through the trak tig, the subtle tig le [or drop] – I will cover this second. 2. Through the body mandala – I will talk about this first.

The body mandala.244 These are the small, subtle deities which you put [inside the main yidam body]. In Vajrayogini for example, you have thirty-two body mandala deities. You have the four syllables YA RA LA VA which become the four dakinis and then you have thirty-two other dakinis. Together with the central yogini of the body mandala that makes 37 altogether.245 Also in Yamantaka you can concentrate on the letters which you put onto the eyes, ears, nose, etc., of the Yamantaka main face. In the Cittamani Tara body mandala246 there are so many deities. In the initiation we go through them in detail. There are body mandala deities at the crown chakra, throat chakra, heart chakra, navel chakra, etc., so many little Taras crawling around in the chakras almost like people crawling through heating ducts! It is very similar to that. We do have slides which show exactly that. Seeing all these deities clearly and even seeing clearly the boundary or line in their eyes between the black circle and the white part of the eye is the measure of the subtle ke rim.

242 bskyed rim phra mo 243 See p. 164: two types of ordinariness 244 For sadhana text and commentary see p. 184ff. 245 See Rimpoche’s commentaries on Vajrayogini and Yamantaka for more details about this and the following paragraph. 246 See pg. 184ff.

182 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Also, you are not only seeing the major physical appearance of these little body mandala deities. Remember, in the development stage you are not supposed to lose the earlier visualizations, so you re- tain all the earlier visualizations [of the sadhana] plus the little body mandala deities and not only that, even the line between the pupil and the white part in their eyes. You have to be able to do that clearly without wandering or sinking mind for four hours. This is the subtle ke rim and actual zhi ne level.

The special technique of the subtle drop Now I have to talk to you about the trak tig, the subtle tig le. It is very simple. We have mentioned before that in the case of the sinking mind you move your concentration to the tigle or drop at the upper nose tip and when you have the problem of the wandering mind, you move the drop to the lower nose tip.247 You know what I mean, don’t make me spell it out! You can figure that out. We have only two noses, the upper one on our face and the lower one. Tara’s Notes say, On the tip of your nose a small five-spoked vajra is able to sit. You shrink the vajra until its size is down to about a quarter of an inch or even to a few millimeters or a large pea. At the hub of that vajra you have a flat white moon cushion. This is a little dot, a tigle, and it is white, the size of half a small dhal or lentil. On top of that you have a little Tara the size of a sesame seed. At the heart of that sesame-seed size Tara you have a letter TAM along with the Tara mantra OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SVAHA. You can see, it becomes very subtle. It is almost impossible to imagine that. You probably would need a triple magnifying glass to see something. But it is imaginable. This is called trak tig or subtle dot.248 Now why is this technique special? All other yidam systems will keep on changing the top and bottom levels of the two noses around, because when there is the problem of the wandering mind, the focus will shift to the lower nose tip and when there is sinking mind, the shift will be to the upper nose tip, but in this particular Cittamani Tara practice, you don’t have to do that, because of its subtlety. It is so small that it cuts the wandering mind and it is situated high enough that it cuts the sinking mind as well, so there is no need to change the focus from up to down. It is considered to be very special with tremendous amounts of blessings, because it was Tara herself personally talking to Takpu Dorje Chang about this. This is considered to be one of the most important points here. When you sit through this and visualize this for one session clearly you can cut across all the levels we have just been mentioning, like the artificial zhi ne and the level of where you can see the details of the eye clearly, etc. When you see all of that together in one session, that means that you not only have obtained the gross ke rim stage and the perfect zhi ne stage but you also have developed the subtle ke rim stage together with that. It becomes so easy here. In the case of Yamantaka, I remember that I talked to you about that once; you have one little dot, then two little dots, then four, then eight little dots, then sixteen and then thirty two little dots, etc. You send them out [in a particular order] and then collect them back [in the same order] without making mistakes. Instead of this, here it is simple. Then of course, Heruka and Vajrayogini also carry the side zoh rim practices (shar dzung zoh rim). Here you don’t do that. Tara is so simple here. You just have a little white vajra and in the hub of that, that little moon cushion the size of a half-lentil. On top of that a sesame-sized Tara. Within her heart you have the little letter TAM, surrounded by her mantra OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SVAHA. You keep on thinking about this and that’s it! It is as simple as that. We talked about the trak tig, the subtle tig le meditation of the subtle ke rim stage.

Developing true shamatha - combination of development stage and completion stage So now we shift our outline to the combination of development- and completion stage together. On the division between subtle ke rim [development stage] and zoh rim249 [completion stage], there is not so much to explain here, because this is what you have to learn through experience. I am running out of

247 See page 161. 248 For the meditation on the subtle dot also see p. 202. 249 rdzogs rim

Meditative State 183 words. This is now the point at the development from ke rim to zoh rim where you have to look at them together. There is continuity here, like pipes being joined together. On certain levels it is going to be zoh rim, on certain levels it is going to be ke rim. This is where the division between them joins together.

Four stages of shamatha 1. The layperson’s stage 2. Slight wisdom (very little wisdom) 3. Little power over wisdom 4. Perfect power over wisdom You can’t just divide the ke rim, the development stage, into four parts, because at stage 2 and 3 you begin to get into the zoh rim. It mixes and merges. It is not just clear cut.

1. Lay person’s stage his is from the beginning of meditating on ke rim, the development stage,up to the level where you are not quite able to concentrate on the line between the iris and the white part of the eye of yourself as the main yidam. That means you have the mandala, the yidam’s body and head, arms and legs, dress, and you see everything together, but you are not able to see it in so much detail that you see the line between the black and white in the eye. Up to that level it is called the layperson’s stage. In other words, when you practice your sadhana, and from the beginning to the end of the sadhana you are able concentrate on the words you say and on the things you visualize - when saying the words from the mouth and building up the meditation you are able to go through the whole structure, that is called ‘ordinary-level’ practice or beginners stage. That is what we do. You don’t completely lose it, you may have all of them there, but it may not be very detailed because you are moving on. You haven’t lost everything from before but you are concentrating on the details that you are saying and you hold that. That is the beginning [or the lay person’s] stage.

2. Slight wisdom Then when you get it a little better than that, you will be able to produce a little more the whole mandala and the deities all together. Very grossly: the mandala and the gross deities are clear, the subtle deities, like in the case of Yamantaka the deities on the eyeballs, on the ears, between the crown and forehead etc. are not very clear. Looking at the mandala and Yamantaka, when the rough hand-implements, the horns and the nine faces and all of them are quite clear to you, but the small deities, within the eyes etc. are not very clear, you are in the period that is called slight wisdom-blessings obtained. The difference between the first and this one is this: when you say your sadhana, the first-level person says the sadhana very slowly and is able to produce the environment and the inhabitants of the mandala gradually as the words pass through. This one stage better is this: the gross deity and the mandala are not necessarily produced one after another according to the sadhana said, but you may be able to produce instantaneously the mandala and the deity, the environment and inhabitants. Now, if you can concentrate and get that clear, at that level it is not necessary to say the whole sadhana. For us however it is; where in the Vajrayogini sadhana it says ‘the living and environment mandalas are instantaneously perfected’ the whole visualization is nevertheless described. That is somewhat in between, [suiting both levels of realization]. In the case of Yamantaka, [on this second level] not only you have the whole mandala complete but you see and hold even the upper level where the twisted pil- lars go to the tantra room. The tantra room is four squared, four pillared and on top of that a smaller thing goes with the golden Chinese roof. You have an architectural problem there; if you don’t twist them it won’t work. When all [gross visualization appears instantaneously] is clear to you and the small details – like in the Vajrayogini practice the armor deities and the body mandala – you have to generate one by one, that is this second level. In other words, this is the level from seeing the black and white in the eyes of the main yidam up to seeing quite clearly the individual body mandala deities altogether. You first see yourself as the yidam

184 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary and then add up all these smaller deities. You see all these additional deities, but not so clearly that you would see their irises.

3. Little power over wisdom So slightly you have wisdom and slightly you have the power to use it. Mind you, they are still called slight. The difference between this one and the previous one: on the previous level you can do all the gross things together, but the subtle things you have to develop slowly one by one. Here you don’t have to do that; even the subtle deities like the armor deities and the subtle deities on the sense organs in the Yamantaka-practice, and the dakas and dakinis of body, speech and mind together with their consort, you will be able to see clearly. When you are able to produce that simultaneously and concentrate on it, you have gained a little power to use wisdom.(I don’t want to use the Heruka body-mandala example, because that is a slightly different system.) In other words, when you see these small body mandala deities and even the line of their iris clearly, then you have attained the level called a little power over wisdom.

4. Perfect power over wisdom This is the higher zoh rim level.250

(4) Meditation on the Body Mandala [Now please, look into your sadhana]. It says, The rainbow body of - oneself as the deity - appears, but has no inherent existence. As long as you can abide in this indivisibility of appearance and voidness, you should set your mind upon it; as it is the main point of the development stage (ke rim), it is very important. When you can (no longer) manage it, begin the recitation of the mantra. In other words: see yourself as appearing as the yidam, without inherent existence. Meditate for as long as you can on the combination of appearance and voidness. This is the most important aspect of the development stage. When you cannot do that, say mantras. In the case of Vajrayogini it is extraordinary: just simply saying the mantras alone, that is enough. You don’t see that statement anywhere else, not even in the case of father Heruka nor in the practice of Tara. It is the truly extraordinary thing in the Vajrayogini practice. Here Tara says, ‘If you cannot meditate, then say mantras’. That doesn’t mean that saying mantras can substitute for the meditation. It cannot. The commentary on that statement of Tara says that when you meditate on the gross and subtle development stage and you cannot meditate any longer, you have become too tired to meditate, then switch to saying mantras.

What is not a body mandala. Generally, when you talk about a body mandala, it means that there is a yidam on the body. But that alone does not become a body mandala. For example, almost all father tantras have some yidams on the body. In Yamantaka you have deities put on the places of the sense organs, like on the two eye balls, the nose, and so on, and you also have OM AH HUM as vajra body, vajra speech and vajra mind. As it says in the long Yamantaka sadhana:

On my two eyes are the syllables KSHIM (in nature Ksitigarbha), my two ears are the syllables JRIM (in nature the Vajrapani); at my nose is KHAM (in nature Akashagharba), on my tongue is RAM (in nature Avalokitesvara), at my forehead is KAM (in nature Samantabadra); at my crown is OM (in nature vajra body); at my throat is ah (in nature vajra speech); and at my heart is HUNG (in nature vajra-mind).

250 Literature: Daniel Cozort, Highest Yoga Tantra, p. 52-54; S. Beyer, The Cult of Tara p. 71-75.

Meditative State 185

In actuality, there is no difference between mantras and yidams. It is the same thing. There is no difference at all. Mantra is yidam and yidam is mantra. If there is a mantra written somewhere it is as good as an image or a picture or the actual being of a yidam. In the Vajrayogini practice, there is also a place where you put letters on the body. That is in the body armor for protection: At my vital spots upon moon discs are: at my navel center red OM BAM, actual Vajravarahi at my heart center blue HAM YOM, actual Yamani, at my mouth white HRIM MOM, actual Mohani, at my forehead yellow HRIM HRIM, actual Sachalani, at my crown green HUM HUM, actual Samtrasani, at every limb smoke-colored PHAT PHAT, actual Chandikas. These syllables are mantras and they are all yidams. But it is different from the body mandala in Va- jrayogini, because there at the heart level you put deities as physical beings into the heart chakra. In the body protection you insert flat mantras between skin and flesh. So these are appearing as and presented as syllables, but it is a yidam. There is no difference. Gungbar Rimpoche, when he visited Indiana, was invited by J.W in his house. He gave him a thread and said, ‘Hang this on a beam in the house. That is a yidam.’ That’s what happens in Vajrayana. The threads and protection knots are also yidams. Mantras and seed syllables are all yidams.

What is a body mandala. Just putting a yidam on the body, however, does not become a body mandala. To qualify as a body mandala, the base on which you label the yidam, has to be part of the body. It is not something added on the body. In the Vajrayogini tantra, where do the thirty-seven body mandala yidams come from? What are they made of? They are not just light. They are made of the actual ends of the channels or veins [Skt. nadis] and the energy within them. It is part of the actual ordinary body. That part of the body is made into deities. That’s why it is called ‘body mandala’. In case of Vajrayogini you are dealing with the central channel. Within that, at the heart chakra, you have the letter BAM, which splits up into YA RA LA WA, which become four deities around the central one – that makes five – and around those you have thirty-two further ones, which makes thirty-seven. They are the inner ends of the channels and the energies at those points. In Cittamani Tara it is the same thing. It is our psychic veins and energies [that are made into the body mandala]. The Tibetans term for the channels is tsa. That also means grass! Actually, these channels or veins look like grass blades in the body.

Tara’s body mandala. You are in the form of Tara. At the center of your body you visualize the central channel, along with right and left channels. Then you visualize the five chakras. In the case of Vajrayog- ini all these channels are greenish on the outside and greenish-reddish on the inside. Over here, in Tara, it says that you could see them in all five different colors or all white, but in any case, they are all kind of reddish [too]. Tara herself says that in her commentary: white and reddish. So sometimes, it doesn’t matter. But whatever it is, you should follow whatever is taught in each practice. But you cannot go and say, ‘In the Vajrayogini teachings it says ‘green’, so it has got to be green.’ Then another person will say, ‘Well, the Tara teachings say it is white and red. Therefore it is white and red.’ There is no argument to be made of that. You follow in that particular practice whatever the particular teaching says.

A channel experience. One time I had an experience. Some people that I had lunch with in Delhi in India, gave me some bhang. Actually, they told me it was sweets and it tasted all right. A it was sweet, B it was pleasant, and I did not know what it really was. The lunch was with Tendzin Chodrak, one of the Dalai Lama’s personal physicians. He was invited by some Indian business people and ministers. There were two or three ministers of the Central Indian government, like secretary of state and secretary of defense. They brought this bhang. When it came to sharing it, they excused themselves, saying they had to go to the bathroom or something. I did not know what was happening. The business person who was serving the lunch though, he knew and he said, ‘Don’t put too much on the doctor’s plate. He has to see patients.’ Those who knew, they knew. It was bhang mixed into the sweets. Anyway, I had quite a few of these sweets and afterwards, I don’t know, but the greens were so green, the whites were so white, and I could

186 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary hear people talking three rooms away as if they were sitting in my ear. When I heard the toilet flushing it was as if the toilet was flushed inside my ear. Then I realized what I had eaten. So I thought, ‘Well, might as well as look what the Central Channel looks like.’ I didn’t project anything, just looked and I could see the chakras appearing. They were spinning very fast. It doesn’t tell you that in any teaching. I mean, the structure was exactly like what the texts say, but the colors were like bamboo type of things, which were green on the outside and inside was much more red. Maybe individuals experience the colors differently or maybe it was purely because of the bhang. But the funny thing is, the moment you try to focus on one chakra, it really comes huiiiiiiiiiick, when you have that bhang. Also, you hear people three rooms further as if they are talking in your ear. The only other experience of taking something like that was when I had a joint. But that was terrible. I kept on throwing up all the time.

Description of the body mandala251 The channels. It is simple here. You are in the form of Tara, with the three main channels and the five main chakras. (These are knots within the main channel, but you don’t think about those right now.) First you visualize the three channels. The central channel [Tib. u ma] ends at the level of your sex organ. The right channel [Tib ro ma] and the left channel [Tib. kyang ma] are inserted into that from below. The example given is the Tibetan letter CHA. The circling in is pointing out where the two channels enter the central channel. The top end of the central channel is coming out at the level of the forehead. Only when you do phowa practice you visualize the end of the central channel at the crown of the head, because that’s where your consciousness jumps up from. Otherwise, normally, the central channel ends at the forehead level. In the Hindu tradition they tell you to focus at that point a lot. That is where the Third Eye is supposed to be. In the sutra tradition they don’t talk about the Third Eye, but about the Buddha’s hair treasure, the urna, coming out from there. It is one single hair, which curls around and sits like a little pimple exactly at that spot. That is the bad way of saying. The good way of saying is that it looks like a jewel. The sutra also tells you how much virtue you have to create to get that. It takes zillions of virtues to create one hair pore, then zillions of hair pores create an ushnisha, zillions of ushnishas create this hair treasure. Anyway, the central channel comes out exactly at that point. The Third Eye is the same place. So there is something important going on there.

The chakras. Then, we visualize the chakras. In this Tara sadhana it is very easy. The spokes or branches [that make up the chakras] are coming out from the central channel itself. Don’t think they plug into the central channel; they extend out from it. Here you don’t have the complicated branching off into four, which branch off into four each, like tree branches.252 Here it is simple and straightforward. The crown chakra has 32 petals or branches and you can just visualize all 32 coming out from the central channel. The sadhana guides you through and the commentary does not give you any more details than that. They are bend down like an umbrella. The chakras go like that: the crown chakra bends down, the throat chakra curves up. They are trying to make a union, so topmost one naturally has to curve down and the one below that naturally has to go up. Likewise the heart chakra is curved down and the navel chakra up. We will see about the lowest one later. Pabongka’s commentary here says that there is a tradition of ‘hands-on teaching’ on that, but I have never received it. That probably means that somebody will draw all the chakras and explain them that way. In any case it is quite simple, right?

The Taras. In the middle, in the central channel, you put [from a white TAM] a white Tara. Then you put your mouse on it and drag a duplicate to each of the thirty-two branches, where they come out of the central channel. According to the sadhana, they are exact duplicates. The sadhana says, (The visualization is as follows) I appear as the deity. At the crown (of my clear light body)

251 For pictures of the channels see the Appedix, p. 276 252 So in this practice here the branches are not like you see them depicted in the Appendix on p. 276-277.

Meditative State 187

the chakra of Great Bliss, with thirty-two ‘petal’ nadis; in their center, a white TAM, which becomes a white Divine Mother (Tara) surrounded by thirty-two similar. The throat, or enjoyment chakra has sixteen ‘petal’ nadis; in their center, a red TAM, becoming a red Tara, surrounded by sixteen similar. Likewise, in the throat chakra. There the TAM in the center is red, becomes red Tara, surrounded by sixteen 16 red Taras. The throat chakra is at the level of the adam’s apple. The heart, - or dharma chakra has eight ‘petal’ nadis; in their center, a blue TAM, becoming a blue Tara, surrounded by eight similar. The heart chakra has nine blue Taras, which is [from a blue TAM] the central Tara plus eight similar. At the navel, the emanation chakra, with sixty-four ‘petal’ nadis; at their center, a yellow TAM, becoming a yellow Tara,’ surrounded by sixty-four similar. At the navel chakra yellow TAM becomes yellow Tara, and above the 64 branches of the navel chakra you have 64 yellow Taras sitting. At the private parts, the bliss-guarding chakra, with thirty-two ‘petal’ nadis; in their center, a green TAM, becoming a green Tara, surrounded by thirty-two similar. The secret chakra is also known as ‘Joy protecting Chakra’, which is same as ka pa la. Here you have [from a green TAM] 32 green Taras surrounding the central green Tara. The sadhana says, ‘Fix this clearly’.

Developing clarity and pride. Counting all of them, the crown chakra has 33 white Taras, the throat chakra has 17 red Taras, the heart chakra 9 blue Taras, the navel has 65 yellow Taras, and the secret chakra has 33 green Taras. In total 157. You have to think that each one of those [chakras] not only has channels and the energies within, but also that the deities sitting there are completely part and parcel of your body. All are definitely Taras. Therefore there is a great opportunity to develop clarity and pride. At first you may only be able to see the white Tara in the center and just see that the surrounding 32 Taras are there. Gradually you may be able to see more. You may feel that they are all there. Then it may look like they are all there. Then you will really see them. Likewise the throat, heart, navel and secret chakra. Not only that: the heart chakra dakinis are the ‘sky goers’ or sky travelers. The throat chakra dakinis are the ones who ‘travel on the ground’. The navel chakra dakinis are the ones ‘traveling under the ground’. [Together] they are known as the ‘Dakinis of the Three Places’. You have to think that they are truly what we have projected and labeled. They are the true ones. By doing this, our channels [Skt. nadi, Tib. tsa], our airs or circulation or energies [Skt. prana, Tib. lung] and our drops or essences [Skt. bindu, Tib. tigle] are blessed by the dakinis of the three places. They help us to collect, absorb, maintain and dissolve all the energies at the heart level easily.

188 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Essence of the body mandala. There are three different ways of presenting the body mandala, short, medium and detailed. The detailed one is the one in the sadhana. We are meditating our outer, physical body in the form of the yidam. That already is wonderful and great. But there is more than that. Meditat- ing the subtle channels and energies, and meditating these absolutely close to the heart level, at the heart chakra, makes it even much more profound and wonderful. Perhaps that is the essence of the body mandala.

Placing the mantra. Before you start doing the mantra recitation, you put the mantra in at the heart level. In the middle of the heart-dharma chakra, at the heart of the blue Tara, a moon disk, like a disk of crystal upside down.

At its center, a TAM letter, marked with HUNG253 (or as easier alternative, a TAM inside the dot of the HUNG254) At the edge, starting at the front and running round to the left, the ten letters surround it. Remember, you are the big Tara, with 33 small ones at the crown, 17 at the throat, 9 at the heart, 65 at the navel and 33 at the secret chakra. At your heart chakra, in the center of the central channel, you have a blue Tara. At the heart of that blue Tara you have a moon disk, which looks like an offering mandala plate with the surface up. On top of that is a letter TAM. This sadhana says, ‘TAM marked by HUM’. But the teachings will tell you, ‘HUM marked by TAM’. It doesn’t matter – do whatever is convenient for you. Then, OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA around. In Vajrayogini we say that the mantra is like tiny corals. Here the color is mar gad, [emerald]. So the ten letters of the mantra are surrounding that TAM or HUM at the heart of the heart center blue Tara in the center of the heart chakra central channel. This is difficult. Here you have to learn that neither the Tara is getting bigger, not the mantra is getting smaller. You have to learn how to meditate that.

The story of Milarepa and Rechungpa. Milarepa and Rechungpa were traveling somewhere and Re- chungpa had that pride, because he went to India and learnt much more than Milarepa had learnt. Re- chungpa thought, ‘I can present to Milarepa a gift of many teachings that he doesn’t know’. At that time, suddenly a huge storm came up that carried away whatever they had. A huge rain came down and Mi- larepa suddenly disappeared. Rechungpa could only hear his voice, If the son is equal to the father, come into this little yak horn. There is a nice, open space inside the yak horn. Join me in there. Rechungpa couldn’t find Milarepa, but traced the sound of his voice and found that little yak horn in the dust in which Milarepa was. And it is said, ‘Neither the yak horn got bigger, nor did Milarepa shrink’. Similarly here, neither do the mantras and Taras shrink nor does Tara get bigger. That doesn’t suit the law of physics, but that is what you are learning and training here. And by the time it has its effect you are gone outside the law of physics anyway. That’s how it works. They are telling you to do something impossible.

The sadhana in English says the mantra is ‘starting at the front and running round to the left.’ The Tibetan sadhana says, ‘yä kor du - going right’. Left is counterclockwise and right is clockwise. Since the sadhana says ‘right’ we can stick to that.255 In any case, OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA is the main thing. It is bluish, yet with a lot of deep maroon in the blue. Let’s stick to sapphire, but don’t make it that blue. Lapis lazuli would be too blue. Anyway, you have to think it is alive. It is not flat, but living. Each syllable is in

253 See note 126 on p. 111 254 For a remark on these pictures, also see note 126 on p. 111. Bigger pictues are at pg. 278. 255 Nijmegen november 2007: Though the sadhana says clockwise the teaching will say ‘anti-clockwise’. In the Tibetan tradition things like that are purposely left ambiguous.

Meditative State 189 the nature of sound. It constantly, continuously presents itself in sound form. All the mantras sound themselves all the time. It may be a little inconvenient for some people to have all this big noise going on inside. But by nature, it is sound. That is generating the mantra. From the deities in the five chakras and the mantra, light radiates. It contacts all the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions, invoking all the Conquerors and their Sons. Like heavy rain falling, they quickly sink into me, inspiring my mind stream. Tara says, ‘Those chakra deities and mantras bless you.’

Mantra visualization-recitation for the purpose of helping self All the bodies of the 157 body mandala yidams, the ten syllables of the mantra, and at the center of the mantra, the letter TAM marked by HUM or HUM marked by TAM, as well as their crescent moon, circle and squiggle, all radiate a tremendous amount of light, as though inside the body 100,000 suns shine all together. Then the light radiates out tremendously, reaches the pure lands of all the Buddhas, and makes tremendous, unimaginable offerings to them. You may call it ‘inconceivable offerings’. Inconceivable offerings. Before I went to Asia I went to California to take this teaching once again, making sure that I received properly the Pabongka’s commentary teaching lineage from Ribur Rimpoche. Ribur Rimpoche is staying near one of the houses of Lama Zopa. When I went there, Lama Zopa was not around. I visited the place with Ribur Rimpoche. The nuns who are staying in that house invited me for tea. Then they said, ‘Do you want to see Lama Zopa’s inconceivable water offerings?’ I said, ‘Sure, why not?’ I did see a lot of these things in Ribur Rimpoche’s house. But if you go to Lama Zopa’s house, there is no comparison for whatsoever. O my god. That’s a huge house. The moment you walk on the 1st floor you see everywhere the crystal bowls as big as [hot tubs]. They are everywhere, lining the stairs, on the railing, on the altars and everywhere. Hundreds and hundreds of these crystal bowls everywhere filled with water. And they are all accompanied by light, so much light. Everything is light, light, light. There are big lights and small lights. You know these Chinese flowers and in the middle between them four, five, six lights. And they are rolled out, line after line, everywhere. Also the Christmas tree lights are everywhere, on the walls, floors, ceilings, everywhere. Even the balconies are completely covered with lights. It is really inconceivable offerings. It is like Disney Land. That one nun told me that her job was exclusively to make water offering. She starts at 7.30 am and finishes 8.30 pm at night. Then the tea offering is made in a huge cup, the size of a bucket. It is inconceivable. Nice or not nice, I am not sure, but a great thing to rejoice in. I mean, I couldn’t live there; it would be too much. The light is not even inter- mittent or dimmed down, but full on day and night, for 24 hours. I did enquire about the water and electricity bill, but I don’t want to share that with you. So, while reciting the mantra, you visualize that you are making offerings to all enlightened beings – outer, inner, secret and suchness offerings. Some of the lights even touch the enlightened beings’ bodies. That is reminding and asking them to give their blessings of body, speech, mind, knowledge, qualities and activities. All of those blessings are collected in the form of Tara, of the five major Taras, or Tara mantras, body mandalas, seed syllables TAM, jewels, utpala flowers, hand implements, etc. They all come and dissolve to ourselves. In that way we are collecting the blessings of the enlightened ones.

Mantra visualization-recitation for the purpose of helping others Again, light radiates. It contacts all sentient beings, purifying their sins and obscurations. They become of the form of Tara and sink into me.

190 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Light reaches to the non-enlightened beings. Just as before unimaginable amounts of lights have reached to the enlightened beings, now light reaches to the unenlightened beings. Just by the touch of the light they are transformed completely from the ordinary, impure level to the extraordinary perfection level. Each and every one of the sentient beings obtains the absolute clear light. Their mind becomes the acknowledgment of Dharmakaya. Their body become uncontaminated Sambhogakaya Taras - in this case Tara. Some of these nectars reach to others who are left out. By reaching to them, going through their mouth for drinking, touching their bodies, they help them to become Buddhas.

Mantra visualization-recitation on Tara’s hands From the light radiating [from the 157 Taras of the body mandala] countless Taras go in front of countless sentient beings. The sentient being will have one Tara each. From that Tara’s hands nectar goes out. They drink it. From the [hand in the] giving mudra the beings are touched on their heads, not in a condescending patting way but in the way you sometimes rub your kid on the head – in that manner. Also nectar drips from the feet of these Taras. The sentient beings touch with their foreheads to the Taras’ feet. Tara is giving teachings to them, radiating light blessings. Sometimes these Taras goes to the crown of sentient beings and initiates them, after which the Tara generates a duplicate of herself or she herself dissolves to the sentient being.

Mantra visualization-recitation on compassion Looking at all sentient beings you see they need to be liberated from samsara and from nirvana both. You would like to liberate them, bring them to the level of the Tara state. From the body mandala Taras and from the body of [yourself as] Tara duplicates come out and dissolve to them. These are the mantra meditations and visualizations. That’s what you visualize when you say the mantra OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA.

Mantra visualization-recitations with the different Taras of the body mandala Again, from the Tara at my heart, replicas are sent out (through the right nostril with my outgoing breath). They purify the hatred of hateful sentient beings and establish them in the dharmadhatu wisdom knowledge. (The beings) realize the state of Akshobya. Taking the form of blue Tara, they recite the mantra. The deities emanated from me come back and absorb into the deity in my heart. The heart-chakra meditation. While you are reciting the mantra you generate a very strong compassion for all living beings. They are all suffering, particularly from the sufferings of samsara and nirvana. In order to liberate them from both, the sufferings of samsara and nirvana, one would like to bring them to the level of Arya Tara, for which you like to do this practice. With this motivation, now you visualize that from the nine blue heart-chakra Taras a duplicate set of nine Taras, or actually many of them, [go out via our right nostril], reach to all sentient beings, touch their hatred, their tremendous amount of hatred. Those Taras not only give teachings to show the way how to overcome the hatred, but also teach the complete path, from guru-yoga to bodhimind. They also give initiation and allow the person to enter the mandala with the four initiations. Out of the five wisdoms the wisdom of dharmadhatu is achieved. Out of the five Buddha families the Akshobya state is achieved and the nirmanakaya manifestation of that is blue Tara.

Meditative State 191

All sentient beings become that way and all are saying the ten-syllable mantra of Tara. They remain permanently with all qualities of totally enlightened ones. Then all the manifested Taras that have come out of your heart come back. They have done their work, liberated the beings, especially from hatred, and taught them how to overcome it. The manifestations then dissolve back through our left nostril into the heart level. At the heart chakra, in the central channel, there is a Tara and at her heart level you have the mantra and you dissolve all of them – mantras to mantras, yidams to yidams. Dharmadhatu and dharmakaya. Dharmadhatu, in Tibetan chö kyi ying, means sphere of Dharma –chö ying. Ying is a funny word, hard to explain. When you drink a couple of glasses of wine you get a little tipsy and happy, a state of some kind of kick. When you smoke dope you get a kick. People talk about getting a kick out of something or not, don’t they? That is what ying refers to. Whether you call it state or space or sphere, it is a state of mind in which your body, your mind and your emotions enjoy. The ordinary example is getting a kick out of something, like a drink, a joint or a person’s company. That is a not a translation, but a description of what you feel. It is a state which the mind enjoys tremendously and which even influences your body and emotions. That is the dharmadhatu. On the other hand there is the dharmakaya, the major thing we are talking about here. Out of the three kayas, the dharmakaya is the perfection of the dharmadhatu, so much so that the kick is so great that you have no more body left. It has all melted completely. The perfection of the dharmadhatu will be the dharmakaya. Therefore, dharmakaya is dharmadhatu too. Let it be there.

Qualities of the enlightened ones. Normally, the qualities of enlightenment are given as the seven qualities of the union or the seven kisses of perfection. These are the seven qualities of Buddha Vajradhara. Don’t let me count them.256 I will leave them for the Guhyasamaja teachings with Lochö Rimpoche. These seven qualities come in there in the development stage teachings. The text itself starts with a mention of these Seven Kisses of Buddha Vajradhara. It is very similar to the five qualities of the Sambhoga- kaya. We always say that even in vajrayana, which is so esoteric, still the sutra foundations are very necessary. Sometimes we may say that ‘just by the touch of light all beings become liberated’. But in reality when you manifest Tara, what she does is show them the way, give them guidance and teachings, from guru devotion to bodhimind, and from the initiation to the total union. This is exactly what Buddha said: The sufferings of beings cannot be washed away by water, nor can the non-virtues be picked up by hand, nor can the development of the stages be transferred. That gives us a lot of messages. From the Tara in my crown, countless replicas go out. They purify the delusions of deluded sentient beings, and establish them in the mirror-like wisdom knowledge. They realize the state of Vairochana. Taking the form of white Taras, they recite the mantra. The deities emanated from me come back and absorb into the deity in my crown. The crown chakra meditation. At the crown are thirty-two plus one white Taras. They radiate out duplicates, which [go out via our right nostril], reach to all living beings, especially to those who have so much ego and self-centeredness, the ignorant ones. They purify their ignorance and ego, show them how to develop wisdom, from the level of gross impermanence to subtle impermanence and ultimately to the level of wisdom.

256 See Glossary: Seven qualities of Enlightenment.

192 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

They enter them into the mandala, and initiate them. When their ignorance transforms, the mirror-like wisdom develops. Out of the five Buddha families the Vairochana state is achieved and the nirmanakaya manifestation of that is white Tara. The beings transform into white Taras. They all say the ten-syllable mantra, and attain the seven qualities of the fully enlightened ones. They remain forever like that. Then all the manifested Taras dissolve back through our left nostril into the crown level. So the base here is ego or ignorance, the path is mirror-like wisdom and the result is the transformation into Vairochana. This is the way it works with all the chakras. The first was hatred that, through the dharmadhatu wisdom becomes out of the five Buddha families Akshobya Buddha. In Vajrayogini, during the 7th yoga, light comes out, radiates everywhere, liberates beings who fly like 100 000 birds. Here in Tara it is a different visualization, but the same idea is behind it. The outward-generated yidams come back through our left nostril and dissolve to the crown chakra. When they go out they leave through the right nostril, as the sadhana says, and when coming back they enter through the left nostril. That makes sense. When you move to the zoh rim, the nostril breathing becomes important. From the Tara in my navel, countless replicas go out. They purify the avarice of avaricious sentient beings, and establish them in the wisdom knowledge of equality. They realize the state of Ratnasambhava. Taking the form of yellow Taras, they recite the mantra. The deities emanated from me come back and absorb into the deity in my navel. The navel-chakra meditation. Next will be purification of stinginess. At the navel there are 65 yellow Taras. Duplicates go out [via the right nostril], and then the process is the same as before. They show each living being how to overcome negativity in general and stinginess in particular. The wisdom in this case is the wisdom of equanimity. The resulting state is out of the five Buddhas Ratnasambhava. Out of the five wisdoms it is the wisdom of equality. What you are transforming is the incapacity of not letting it go. The nirmanakaya form of this is the yellow Ta- ras. They are all saying the Tara mantra, not only once, but all the time. At the end the generated Taras are dissolved back to the navel yidams. The passage is down the left nostril to the navel level. You can see this is all about the five skandhas and five negativities transforming into the five wisdoms and the five Buddhas. Stinginess is such a strange word. We know it is miserliness. If you think of miserliness you normally think of someone who is not spending any money or doesn’t share or give anything. When you are talking about not sharing, not giving, the idea of letting it go or not letting it go – that is the real idea of stinginess. Not letting it go is obsession-oriented. It is not simply miserliness. It is thinking, ‘I want it, I want everything, I cannot let it go.’ In Tibetan the word is ser na257, which is translated as miserliness. But you have to understand what is behind it. It is not just that such a person has a tight fist. It also does not only refer to objects, things and wealth. It refers mostly to clinging on, hanging on. People do that very often. A Tibetan example is this: the plateau on the mountain top is completely gray and white, but the rabbit is still up there, hanging around, hoping to find some green grass. We do that very often, when we have a problem with relationships. We do that when we have a problem with our health. We do that when the time comes for us to die. We all have that. The translation ‘miserliness’ will only drag us down to the level of the wallet. I don’t think we should be limiting ourselves to this point. This stinginess goes fur-

257 ser sna

Meditative State 193 ther, particularly to not letting it go. The green grass is not only getting gray, but also very dry and the snow is about to fall. The rabbit should not be hanging around up there, hoping to find some green grass there. The rabbit should move down to the low lands, letting it go. From the Tara in my throat, countless replicas go out. They purify the desire of desirous sentient beings, and establish them in the discriminating wisdom knowledge. They realize the state of Amitabha. Taking the form of red Taras, they recite the mantra. The deities emanated from me come back and absorb into the deity in my throat. The throat chakra meditation. From the throat chakra a lot of red duplicate Taras emanate. That color is the color of desire, of obsession and attachment. It is definitely the attachment color. If you are very attached, your eyes are getting red, right? The media through which you are working is the red Taras, who give teachings, from guru- devotion to bodhimind, from initiation to total transformation through discriminating wisdom. Attachment and obsession of all sentient beings is transformed into Amitabha. The nirmanakaya here is red Taras, saying the mantra. Then the manifested Taras dissolve back through the left nostril into the throat chakra. Though normally we refer to Maitreya as the Buddha of Love [Tib. Jampa], actually, truly, the Love Buddha is Amitabha Buddha. Not the Buddha of Love, he is the Love Buddha. Maitreya is more the affectionate one. Although jam pa is translated as love, Amitabha is the true Love Buddha, red in color, result of transformed obsession. From the Tara in my lower chakra, countless replicas emanate. They purify the jealousy of jealous sentient beings and establish them in the all-accomplishing wisdom knowledge. They realize the state of Amogasiddhi. Taking the form of green Taras, they recite the mantra. The deities emanated from me come back and absorb into the deity in my lower chakra. The secret chakra meditation. From the secret chakra lot of green Taras emanate. They purify jealousy. Out of the five wisdoms it is the activity wisdom. Then it becomes Amogasiddhi. All sentient beings become green Tara, saying the mantra all the time. The manifested yidams enter you back through the left nostril and dissolve to your secret chakra. Jealousy is interesting. It is obsession-oriented as well as hatred-oriented. It is a strong combination of both, obsession and hatred together. That’s where the love-hate relationship comes in. It is almost equally involved in there. It is also a neutral state. It can shift and change very quickly and become a permanent, solid hatred. It can also become a very stable and solid obsession. It is sort of a round ball sitting on a plate. It can roll this way or that way. So that’s in a sense a neutral state. It can easily become something else. When it does become hatred or obsession it is very difficult to work with. It means that the hatred or obsession that was already there has been intensified. In case it rolls towards pure love it can become a good thing also. It then lasts much longer and better and will be stronger and nice - although it more or less falls into the category of negative emotions. That’s why it has to be transformed here. Perhaps the wisdom of activity here is to make sure that the ball doesn’t roll towards hatred or obsession, but towards pure love and affection.

194 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Questions and Answers Audience: I have a question regarding the sexual union meditation. When the sexual organs meet, how can the central channels of the male and female connect when according to the explanation the central channels runs at the back of the body, close to the spine and stops at the level of the sexual organs? Rimpoche: True, the central channel does stop at the level of the sexual organ. It doesn’t mean that it touches the sexual organ and then stops. Otherwise it would have to be L-shaped at the end and that is not the case. It stops at the level of the organ. Mostly these details are talked about in the female tantras. In general, the most detailed chakra system explanations are to be found in the Guhyasamaja tantra, but the major points are mostly talked about in the female tantra. And the real sex organ, the real point, differs from person to person. Some people really do have it slightly or deep inside. You know what I am talking about. The Tibetan Buddhists have known for centuries what we in the west call ‘discoveries of the sexual revolution’, – some ‘spot’ they found in the sixties. There is definitely uneasiness in the male sexual organ explanation. More or less they talk to you about that at the female tantra level. But because of the male culture, they always try to flip back to the male and therefore you have all these flip-flops and zig zags going round. Especially when the description of the joys comes they switch it round again. For example, in Tara, at the point of the sexual union, they switch to Amogasiddhi. That’s why I am saying that the consort in the case of Cittamani Tara is Amogasiddhi, not Amitabha. Audience: I have heard several explanations that there are 4, 5, 7 or even more chakras. Rimpoche: If you go more into detail there are some 130 chakras. You can talk on the basis of 3, 4, 5, or whatever people can visualize. The details will come at the zoh rim portion. First you establish the three main channels. Then you focus on the five main chakras.

9. MANTRA RECITATION

(5) Recitation of the Mantra (visualize that:) Thus all these deities, transformed into Taras (who are the Buddhas) of the five families, recite the mantra (recite as much as possible) OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA –

By this time all the enlightened beings of the five families of Tara, and the 157 body mandala yidams within your body, and yourself, all of them are saying the mantra OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA together. In the sadhana it says, ‘Say the mantra as much as you can’.

Meaning of the mantra When you say the mantra, what does that mean? And how do you say it? The meaning is this: OM is the beginning of the mantra. OM consists of A - O - M together. Neither of these three exists independently. There is no M without the A. However, these three represent body, speech and mind. When they become one syllable, when you make the sound OM, it becomes body-speech-mind inseparable. The Vajra Peak tantra says, ‘OM is the jewel mantra’. Tara, or Drol ma in Tibetan, means ‘liberator’. Tuttare is freeing from all sufferings. Ture means quickly liberating and protecting. Soha258 has many ways of explaining. One explanation is: Lay the Foundation. In that case, the foundation of you, the great Tara’s body, speech and mind may be the foundation for my body, speech and mind. Another explanation, according to Ngulchu Dharmabadra, is ‘give all the joy’. So, we are calling Tara by name, making her feel that she cannot just stand by and ignore our suffering. ‘You are the liberator, the quickest and best’, that’s what you are saying. Chone Lama, the great maha pandit, translates OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA into Tibetan as drol ma drol ma shin tu drol ma, meaning ‘liberator, liberator, very liberator’. Chone Lama puts the first ‘liberator’ as equivalent to the lower scope of the Lamrim teachings. The second ‘liberator’ as liberation from samsara, the medium scope, and the ‘very liberator’ is liberating not only from samsara, but also from nirvana; it is delivering us to the total enlightenment of the mahayana.

Mantra recitation retreat The sadhana says, Do retreat with sign, until a sign comes; or a counting retreat, one million mantras; or a timed retreat, of six months. When you do a mantra recitation retreat there are three ways of doing it: 1. Until certain signs arise 2. For a particular time

258 Skt. SVAHA 196 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

3. Up to a certain number of mantras

1. Signs That means you do retreat until you get a sign, whatever the sign may be. You might get a nice little dream or a bad little dream, which does not get easily disturbed. A good or a bad dream – if it is constant and continuously appears, that is a sign. Sometimes it is like chapters in a story, running day after day, week after week, month after month, continuously, like the melodramas. That is something else, it could be a sign of Tara blessing you. It is different from a dream caused by something that you ate, or influenced by what you did in the day time activities. That’s just bits and pieces, here and there. If it is constant and continuous, day after day, week after week, it is different. You would have some funny dream and wake up. Then you function in your daily life. When you go back to sleep your dream starts again where it stopped the previous night. It will continue till you get up. Then the same thing happens the next day. That is a little more than a dream based on your physical condition or what kind of food you had the night before. This is something else. Somebody is trying to tell something to somebody. It is not necessarily to ourselves, nor is it necessarily not to ourselves. The true sign is if Tara appears personally and talks to us, showing her hand gestures. You know, whatever we have been visualizing, touching your head, but not in a condescending way. Tara never does that. You shouldn’t hope for that, however. Our hopes and desires often interfere with our dream states. So don’t have so much hope, not so much excitement, nor be hopeless and helpless, just be normal and stable. That’s how you work.

2. Time If you are going by time, it will be six months. That doesn’t mean six months doing something here and there, but six months of actual mantra saying time.

3. Numbers For us the most reasonable way is to go by numbers of mantras. Here [in the commentary] it says, ‘one hundred thousand times ten’, which means one million.

How to recite the mantra There are many kinds, but the most important two are these: 1. Lalitavajra’s system: Focus on the letters in the form of radiating light. Lalitavajra actually taught this for the YAMARAJA SADOMEYA mantra. Each syllable is a light-natured, radiating, burning light ball. In Yamantaka this mantra comes before the torma offering is made to the directional protectors. And the syllables of that mantra sit on the rim of the skull bowl. While you are saying the mantra, the syllables one after another fall into the skull bowl. That is the burning-ball recitation. Here in the Tara sadhana, you are focusing at your heart level. Each syllable is a burning radiating light ball. This is the ball-like recitation. This has the special effect of delivering the accomplishments quicker than others. To remind you, at your heart as Tara, there are the eight blue Taras, around the central heart deity. In her heart chakra there is a moon disk, looking like a mandala plate. In the center of this is the mantra OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. You can’t think of it as a huge ball. When you really think it is very, very subtle. You have to reduce the size of the deities and mantras proportionally to your own size. You can also call this light-bulb like recitation. The mantras can be proportionally round - I don’t want to say ‘drop-like’. The letters going in a circle. They are three-dimensionally round. 2. The system of benefiting self and benefiting others. I have already explained that. Benefiting self is when light reaches to all enlightened beings and collect their blessings. Benefiting others is radiating the duplicate Taras and purifying the five skandhas and transforming them into the five buddhas. 259

259 See p. 189ff

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These are called ‘samaya recitations’. Samaya is translated as ‘commitment’. I don’t know if it is correct.

Rules for saying the mantra Next we have the rules how to say the mantra. It is the usual system for every mantra. 1. Don’t say the mantra so loudly that other people can hear it. If I mumble to myself and you can hear it, that’s too loud. 2. Don’t say it so quiet that you can’t hear it yourself. 3. Don’t say the mantra too quickly, so that not one syllable sits on top of the next. Some people are very quick to say mantras. When we did the last mantra retreat, some people finished in half the time it took others to do it. If they are saying the whole mantra, it is great. But if it is going too fast and words are jumping on top of each other, it is wrong. Don’t do that. Don’t stumble over the words. 4. Don’t say the mantra too slowly. That is also a fault. Here we are not in chanting mode. 5. Don’t talk to others and say the mantra at the same time. 6. Don’t let your mind wander. This is most important! You are saying the mantra, but your mind is hundreds of miles away, thinking all kinds of things. We have an example for that, which has been mentioned in the teachings for a couple of generations. There was a Tibetan official who went into retreat and he also used to say his prayers. He was a big shot and had a lot of servants. He used to tell his servants, ‘Don’t forget to leave pencil and paper near my meditation cushion.’ So he sits in his prayer session and when he comes out he gives all these slips to his attendants, ‘You have to do this, you have to do that’. He also wrote down how much he owed different people and how much they owed him. He would come out with slip after slip of notes. That is the example of what not to do. So don’t think about something else, when in retreat. You think something else and your mouth says the mantras, while your mala goes round as fast as possible. The lips are moving, it is becoming automatic, so much so that the mala goes round faster than what you say. Don’t do that. 7. Don’t lose the vowels. When you say it very fast, it is possible to lose the vowels. 8. Don’t lose the consonants.

Out of all this the most important fault is to think something else while you say the mantra. Don’t let the mind go round too much. Think about the subject and pray and practice. The teaching tradition will urge you to say one or two rounds of mala wile concentrating on the visualization and then concentrate on the Lamrim development stages, on whichever topic your development is related to. The teaching tradition not only permits you to do that, they urge you to do it. It is even permitted to read relevant books. You are not permitted to read your office manuals or novels or story books. But you can read books about the practice - in this case Tara. But I have to tell you, if you do read books during the mantra saying it will take much longer. It makes you slow down. But if you push it, that’s also not good. It is said in the tantra, If you are thinking something else while saying the mantra, you can say the mantra for one million eons, nothing will happen. That is because you are not focusing and not thinking. All the faults should be avoided, but especially the fault of not thinking.

Before the session finishes, recite the hundred syllable mantra of Padmasattva) OM PADMASATTVA SAMAYA … (3X) Then, after the mantra recitation you do the Vajrasattva recitation. In this case, even though it is maha anuyoga tantra, we still use the Padmasattva samaya mantra. This is the 100-syllable mantra for mistaken or misspoken mantras, for not focusing and so on. All of these faults are purified. Normally you even invite purifying deities, have them give water initiation and purify. In Tara’s own words, she doesn’t say it, but light and nectar comes from the Lama Amitabha on her crown. All mantras that are not properly said, all the eight faults we have mentioned are purified. Missing syllables is a fault, but also saying extra syllables is a problem. You can’t say OM TA TA TARE TUTTARE SOHA or OM TARE TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. Not properly saying, it wrongly saying, missing something, all that is purified.

198 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Whatever blessings we receive from the recitation is made permanent by the light and liquid coming from Lama Amitabha’s heart level. It is recommended to say the 100 syllable mantra 7x, 3x or at least 1x after each recitation.

Then, also remember our usual praise to Tara: OM, I and all prostrate to the liberator, the fully realized, transcendent subduer. I prostrate to the glorious Mother who liberates with TARE, the Mother who eliminates all fears with TUTTARE the Mother who grants all success with TURE, To SOHA and the other syllables we offer the greatest homage. 260

The wisdom mantra If you do retreat you have to do the wisdom mantra as well. There are two ways: OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA – HUM HA ANDZE or OM TARE TUTTARE TURE HUM HA ANDZE SOHA. Remember in Vajrayogini you also have the option of doing the HUM HA ANDZE before or after the SOHA. Either way, the main thing is the HUM HA ANDZE. However, you can’t just do HUM HA ANDZE alone without the Tara mantra. You always have to say ten per cent HUM HA ANZE of however many mantras you have said. If you did a million Tara mantras, you would say 100 000 HUM HA ANDZE. You can divide these 10 per cent and say some in every session, but you can’t count them as regular Tara mantras. Alternatively you can wait and do the whole ten per cent after completing the main mantra. HUM HA ANDZE means something like ‘Come here and be here’. The visualization for this is as follows: Red colored light comes from the seed syllable and mantra at your heart, like a hook, collects all the blessings of body, speech and mind of all the enlightened beings in the form of Taras, Tara mantras, Tara’s seed syllables, etc and dissolve to our body, like snow storms. Some remarks on the numbers. It is funny. In Tara’s own words: It is like a very hot stone outside in the snow fall. Every snow flake that touches it melts immediately. In that manner they all dissolve. These are old-fashioned examples. You could also say it is like a hot char coal grill put outside. When snow falls on that, it will melt.

Tara herself said, If you are doing recitation for sign, meditate until you get the sign. If you go by numbers, it is a million. If you go by time, it is six months. The commentary says, If you go by signs, you have to get them directly, indirectly or through feelings, the blessings of body or speech, stable, unmistakable. Meditate until you get that. Just be able to do the activities, 100 000 will be okay. One million is a full retreat, which would be equivalent to a three-year Yamantaka retreat or similar big retreats. So the commentary gives us discounts. You can say as little as 100 000 or 400 000. If you do a long retreat of one million, you have to also say 10 per cent for the fire puja, and one of them has to be completely over night and so on. I don’t think we need that so much, but for the benefit of the transcript, I am just telling you that this is also there. The commentary says, The best retreat is 100 000 multiplied by 100. That is ten million. A big retreat is at least 100 000 times 10, which is one million. The yeshe pe nga, the wisdom [showering] mantra has to be 10 per cent of the total mantra count. The 10 per cent of the fire puja offerings,

260 The sadhana has: lha dang lha min chö… Gods and titans…

Mantra Recitation 199

out of peace, prosperity, power and wrath, it is recommended to be power. The prerequisite to this is the fire deity’s 10 per cent. All of these are recommended, not compulsory, but it helps. If you do this, then all the other activities you do through this Tara practice will be very effective. That includes healing, rain making, stopping rain and so on.

Demo Rimpoche and Cittamani Tara. My father, Demo Rimpoche, told me that he used to do these activities through Cittamani Tara. He was well known for mystical powers in Tibet. Very often he would get a letter from the Tibetan government, requesting rain fall or stopping hail or something like that. Sometimes these letters would say, ‘If the result is not produced, you will be punished by the law.’. That is a government which has no balance. Judiciary, legislative and executive all fall under one. Then they can say anything they want to. Anyway, sometimes my father would say in the morning, ‘Today I have to produce rain.’ Then he would go round and do his business as usual. My mother used to drink a lot, but my father only drank very little, just occasionally. My mother really drank a lot. She preferred Chang No 1. That’s chang which has been fermenting for one year. She had 364 big pots that were fermenting. They were all numbered. And when the particular day was due, that particular chang would come out. It was like wine, but much thicker and stronger. It was sweet and like soup. She would drink that huge pot. In terms of glasses it probably was 70 to 80 glasses. No wonder why she was huge. But she was also very efficient, extremely effective. Our labrang had a civil war with the Tibetan government. It was a huge labrang, yet through the war it was completely poor. There was no money, no grains, nothing. But then she managed everything and the labrang became very strong later. There were 10 officially appointed managers, but they were not that good. Especially, when something was produced, it would go to the managers’ house first. Anyway, later she did away with all these managers and did it all herself and did very well. On top of that she drank tremendous amounts of chang and played majong. My father used to play majong too. He was very fond of that. Then he talked about making rain and at some point during the game he would say, ‘Is it raining?’ The answer sometimes was, ‘no, but it is very windy’. Then he would say, ‘Oh no’, and keep on playing majong for a while. Then he would ask, ‘Is there anyone that can make a small torma?’ Usually there was people around who could make tormas, but if not he would just take some biscuits. He would check a bit later if we had brought the torma in and kept playing. Then suddenly, in the middle of the game he would shout, ‘Dzimmo’, which is something you do in majong, if you know the game, and then he would say, ‘Take the torma out’. After a little while he would ask again, ‘Is it raining?’ And then it was really raining. That happened many times. It was always like that with my father. And he said that he did it through Cittamani Tara. Maybe, maybe not, who knows. Then, one day, something happened. I don’t even remember, but Ribur Rimpoche remembers. Suddenly, that day the Dalai Lama’s personally family manager came. He came with an extra horse. He said, ‘The Dalai Lama’s sister is very sick. She is dying. You are requested to do something. I brought the horse.’ You know the Dalai Lama was so powerful, if he ordered something you just had to do it. ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ does not exist. It is ‘Right now’. So my father went and saw her. She was lying in bed and almost not breathing. He sat there for a while and then called her name. She said, ‘What?’ and got up! That happened. There was another incident which was very similar.

So this Cittamani Tara is very effective. We all now know how effective the White Tara is. There is no doubt. And Cittamani Tara is even more effective. When you do the Cittamani practice [retreat], you can eat meat. When you do the White Tara practice, you are supposed not to eat meat [because it is a kriya tantra].

Outer Offering OM ARYA TARE SAPARIVARA ARGHAM etc. SHABDHA PRATICCHA HUNG SOHA

200 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Inner Offering OM ARYA TARE SAPARIVARA OM AH HUNG Praise Gods and titans with their crowns bow down to your lotus feet. Liberator from all problems, Mother Tara - homage and praise

10. CONCLUSION

End of the Session There are three points: • Torma offering • Dissolving system [Absorption] • Subtle development stage: Meditation on the subtle dot According to the explanation the dissolving happens before the torma offering; according to the sadhana the torma offering comes earlier and the dissolution later. But while I am explaining I would like to do this subtle-dot meditation first. It is not a mistake. It is supposed to go that way anyway.

Absorption At the end of the sadhana you have the dissolution261. You are in the form of the yidam. Light comes out from your heart, reaches everywhere. All environments become the pure mandala and the inhabitants become pure deities. The environment melts into light and dissolves into inhabitants-yidams. The inhabitants dissolve into light and into yourself. Then all the five chakra deities [are going to] dissolve to your heart chakra [in the following way]: [In the secret chakra the surrounding duplicate Taras dissolve to the principle Tara. In the navel chakra the surrounding duplicate Taras dissolve to the principle Tara. Then] the secret, joy-protecting chakra principal Tara dissolves to the navel chakra principal Tara. The navel chakra Tara dissolves to the central heart chakra Tara. This has special good omens; it becomes the cause to develop the tummo. Similarly, in the crown chakra the surrounding duplicate Taras dissolve to the principle Tara. In the throat chakra the surrounding duplicate Taras dissolve to the principle Tara [Then] the crown principal Tara dissolves to the throat principal Tara. The throat chakra principal Tara dissolves to the heart chakra principal Tara. The [dissolving from above] represents the source of joy, the white bodhicitta semen, melting from the crown. It becomes the cause for developing the four joys. That is why the body mandala deities dissolve in that order. Finally, the heart surrounding yidams dissolve to the principal heart yidam.

261 Also see p. 209. 202 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Then you as Tara [melting from above and below] dissolve to the central heart yidam too. That yidam dissolves to the mantra mala at her heart level. This dissolves into the letter TAM. The TAM dissolves to the HUM, the U to the HA, that to the HA head. That into the crescent, that into the circle, and that to the squiggle. That also dissolves, becomes very, very, very subtle, and then dissolves to emptiness. And you acknowledge the emptiness. 262

(vi) Subtle development stage: meditation on the subtle dot263 It is quite simple actually. From emptiness you arise like a fish out of water. That may not be such a good example. Maybe like a bubble out of water. That might not be that good example either. A bubble is very impermanent. Anyway, you suddenly pop up in the complete Tara form. Don’t forget: Even if you suddenly pop up as Tara, it is not a hollow body, nor bones and flesh. As I told you, the vinaya even says it is like a fire body264, with the physical shape of Tara. In that manner you arise. Now you meditate a small, five-spoked white vajra on the tip of your nose. You cannot have a small nose with a huge vajra on it, so it has to be a proportionally small vajra. This means a full- sized vajra, not a half vajra.265 At the hub of that vajra you have a little, white drop, the size of a half pea, small, moon-like. In the center of that ‘moon’ you have a white Tara the size of a sesame seed. Now it is getting harder. At the heart of that Tara is the seed syllable TAM, surrounded by OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. Focus on that constantly. Continuously. This is the subtle-development-stage meditation. There is going to be strong obstacles of wandering and sinking mind. So, do a little session, then go away, do something else, come back and do a little bit, go away, do something else, and so on. What should the ‘something else’ be when you are not focusing on the subtle dot? Focus on yourself as the big Tara and visualize and analytically look through that big Tara picture. This [meditation] is very simple. In many other systems of the development stage you have such a dot, but then you have to visualize that from this dot two others come out, from those four, from those eight, then sixteen and so on – there is all this duplication. Then you have to dissolve them back in exactly the same order, without making a mistake. I think that is happening in Yamantaka. In Vajrayogini you have a rainbow type of tent on your nose. A small Vajrayogini is having a picnic there and is sending out duplicates which fill the space, and so on. Then you can shift the focus point from the nostrils to the level of the third eye, and then transfer it down to the lower level. These meditations are all there. Here, unlike any other system, it is just the vajra and small Tara on your nose. So after the dissolving system, that’s what you can do. This will be only possible when you have perfected the gross development stage. At this level you will be able to get true shamatha.

262 For a drawing of the dissolving system, see pg. 263 Also to be found on pg. 182. 264 See p. 156. 265 Rimpoche adds: Usually, a five-spoked vajra refers to a complete vajra, with the central spoke counting as one, and the others up and down together as four. Don’t make it nine.

Conclusion 203

Audience: Does that vajra on the nose stand up or lie down on the nose horizontally? Rimpoche: If you are big person with a big nose, maybe the vajra can stand up on it. But for me it is easier to have it horizontally lying down. For us, when we say of something, ‘stands on top’, it looks like we have to have it on the cushion. But no. Again, there is no flesh and bones. You can even put [that drop] inside this hub. It is transparent. Whatever is happening inside also can sit on.266 But the main focus is to make it so small, so subtle. It is a sesame-seed size Tara and even at her heart level there is the seed syllable TAM and the mantra going round. You focus on that. It is very subtle. You should learn to do that without interruption of a wandering and sinking mind. Why do we choose this one for the subtle development stage? Because it is much simpler than any other system. Yet it serves all purposes and it is effective.

Torma Offering (Optional) Preparation. One of the most important points in Vajrayana is: you need complete purity. I asked myself some time ago, ‘What is that practice of being positive that people always talk about?’ And someone told me that the vajrayana is was the ultimate positivity. Indeed, all the environment is pure, all the inhabitants are pure, what more positive thinking can you get? Maybe it is the ultimate positivity. It is completely positive, pure and clean. Maybe these vajrayana deities have forgotten that vajrayana practitioners live in shabby, old houses or dusty mountain caves! [laughs]. I told you the story of that geshe who didn’t even have a cave, but lived in a hole in the ground.267 It is not that they don’t have a house. In the monasteries there are houses available. But he preferred to dig a hole in live in there. So he looked dusty and ready to disappear. Because of the purity in vajrayana you can’t offer anything that is not blessed. Nothing can be offered that is not pure and clean. Tibetans are not necessarily the best example of hygiene. However, when they are making tormas, traditionally, in Lhasa, they had to observe cleanliness. In Lhasa it is cold and there are no heated rooms. Even in India, in winter it is quite cold. Not that the climate is that cold, but the houses are not heated, so you feel cold. In Lhasa, on 11500 feet, the torma makers would wash their hands completely, almost three times, before they touch the offering materials. They also have to clean their nails completely. They wear a scarf, supposedly white, that covers their mouth and nose so that they don’t breathe on the materials. They put their hands in the cold water until they finish making the butter decorations. That means putting their hands in cold water for hours and hours. They do take care that much. From the practical point of view, every offering you see in the offering, you have to first bless them all. There are so many things, inner offering blessing, outer offering blessing and so on. With this you are trying to make it pure. You don’t want to offer anything impure at all. Especially, in vajrayana, not blessed things are never offered. Therefore, before offering a torma, you have to bless it. The torma blessing is in the sadhana: OM VAJRA AMRITA KUNDALI HANA HANA HUNG PHAT OM SVABHAVA SHUDDAH SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM Out of the void, YAM, whence air. From RAM fire. From AH, a wisdom-knowledge skull, broad and capacious. In it, five meats, five nectars. From their melting comes a great ocean of wisdom-knowledge nectar. (Bless the offerings by saying three times) OM AH HUNG

266 Clarification Hartmut Sagolla: It is just not physically solid, so whether the vajra stands, lies or hovers, doesn’t matter. It is all translucent, non-material – no flesh and bones. So inside of the hub of the tiny vajra you can visualize Tara on the moon disc, so not only can Tara sit on one’s nose, but within a tiny vajra, which is translucent and you can see everything. 267 See the story on p. 163.

204 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

The first, line is the activity mantra: OM VAJRA AMRITA KUNDALI HANA HANA HUNG PHAT. Remember, in Yamantaka that would be: OM HRIH SHTRIH WUTITA NANA HUNG PHAT. In Vajrayogini: OM KAN- DAROHI HUNG HUNG PHAT. In Guhyasamaja: OM AH VINGANTA TRIH HUNG PHAT. Here OM VAJRA AM- RITA KUNDALI HANA HANA HUNG PHAT is the activity mantra of the deity and that one has been generated in the vase.

Vases. In this case there is only one vase. In Vajrayogini too, there is only one. In other initiations there can be two vases or eight vases or a different numbers of vases. The difference between the activity vase and the mandala vase is that the activity vase has a spout and mandala vases don’t have spouts. There is often a set of two vases, one with spout and one without. Normally, vases are not kept on the altar, but as a set in front of you along with the bell and damaru and so on. But when you have a group together, not everybody keeps all these in front of them. Only one person does. A complete set is: one pot with rice, one pot for the inner offering and two vases. If you don’t have the vases, then only the two other pots become a small set. If you want to elaborate, you can have an additional container, in which you keep the two types of tree sap known as gu gul and then frankincense and also sesame seeds. So when you have an elaborate set up there are three sets. I have that.

When you say that activity mantra you think that a wrathful deity comes out from the activity vase, in which she was generated earlier, and also from the inner offering. The gesture is that of picking up inner offering. The visualization is that of driving away all obstacles, evil spirits, negative karma, negative emotions, ordinary appearance and ordinary acceptance. They are all driven away. Then you say OM SVABAHAVA…and you then you generate the five meats and nectar, just like in the inner offering [blessing]. The essence of the blessing is the activity of OM AH HUNG. In some cases you have here the Sanskrit alphabet but I think here it is OM AH HUNG. The nature of reality of body, mind and speech of all enlightened beings in the form of OH AH HUNG drops into the offering materials. HUNG drops first into the big stew pot – that is what you are cooking them in. When the HUNG drops down it circles three times and merges into the cooking. This might not be clearly mentioned in this Cittamani Tara sadhana but if you look into Yamantaka and Vajrayogini you have them there. What you have is the five meats and the five nectars268. These are things you don’t want to even touch. That is why purification is extremely important. HUNG is the mind part. It merges with the substances. When you put a spoonful of cream into your soup or a spoonful of butter, the butter doesn’t melt immediately, but moves. Just like that, the HUNG does not melt immediately, but moves around three times. It purifies everything in general and in particular the color, smell and potential. What that means is the nutrition in the materials. All of that is purified. The impure part of the nutrition is purified. I mean you have urine, blood, human waste and everything here. So that has to be purified. When the HUNG has finished its business, the AH drops down. AH represents speech, power and all kinds of things. So that goes round three times and transforms the substance into real nectar. It is just like our obsession is transformed through discriminating wisdom into Amitabha. OM makes it inexhaustible. It doesn’t finish, no matter how much is taken. Normally, if we have guests, we have to count the people and cook accordingly. But here whatever you take out gets refilled all the time. That is the job of OM. It is the multiplication. Then next in your visualization it will be like a thick, heavy soup. All these five meats and nectars melt. The [detailed] ritual says that the wind moves, fires flares and the substances melt. You know that better than I do. It becomes like liquid. However, you visualize that the material does not remain drinkable. It should come as something edible, something you can chew and bite rather than something you can lick and swallow. If it is yogurt you can lick. If it is soup you can sip. But this is chewable, edible. The Tibetan word is sa kya, edible and no longer tung wa, drinkable269. That has to be changed.

268 For more details on the inner offering blessing, see Rimpoche’s Vajrayogini Teachings – blessing the inner offerings. 269 bza’ ba edible; btung ba drinkable.

Conclusion 205

Tormas needed. If you look at the set up of the complete torma there is one for Tara, one for the land lord, and two for the protectors, Ekajati and Marichi. So there are four. Sonam can actually make the tormas for you. You can order them from him. He makes them and keeps them in a little square glass box. You can offer the tormas either in the traditional form or in the form of biscuits or you can even use tiramisu or something. Whatever the form, it doesn’t matter. In my opinion the tormas are made according to the culture. The culture adopts a particular shape and then it becomes part of the ritual with its own description. Cittamani Tara of course, is a very short lineage, but otherwise the lineages come from India and I don’t believe that the mahasiddhas like Tilopa and Naropa, all these crazy guys, would make tormas like that. It is not in their culture at all. So I don’t see any reason why you can’t use biscuits and wherever there is the requirement [for meat], you can place some luncheon meat. So whatever you enjoy most is fine. It just has to be edible. You people don’t need to have the tormas for Cittamani Tara, because you don’t have a sadhana commitment. But you do have the guru-yoga commitment. Some people think that is a shorter version of the sadhana, but that is not the case. It is simply a guru yoga.

Invitation of the guests Whatever you have to offer, give it to Lama Tara. This offering here is not made to yourself. You have to invite the guests to whom you offer. Light goes from your heart and invites the great Pag ma Tara, surrounded by buddhas and bodhisattvas. You know the invocation: each sadhana has a certain way of doing it and there is a whole duplicate mandala, remember? In Yamantaka there is a complete duplicate mandala that is invited and comes in and lands in the courtyard of your own mandala. You have them sitting face to face and then the offering is going. Here you don’t have so many guests. There is great Mother Tara in the center, surrounded by buddhas and bodhisattvas. From the seed-syllable at my heart, light rays invoke the Divine Mother, surrounded by a host of buddhas and bodhisattvas. With tubes of light from their vajra tongues they draw it in and eat it. In the case of Yamantaka, the tongue is like a light straw. In the case of Tara, the tongue is sort of normal tongue with a vajra inside. Actually, the tongue touches the torma and takes out the essence of the torma. (Offer by saying three times) OM ARYA TARE SAPARIVARA IDAM BALIMTA KHA KHA KHAHI KHAHI

The offering mantra is to Arya Tara with her retinue [Skt. saparivara]. Then idam means probably ‘this’ and balimta means edible stuff. Then kha kha means to eat, and khahi khahi means ‘eat now’. Kha kha is less polite and khahi khahi is more polite. In your visualization the guests take the torma by touching it with their tongue, not by biting it, and they are taking the real essence, the food value of the torma. That is why in the traditional culture the leftover torma is thrown away, but people do eat it too sometimes. In old Tibet they would make edible scone types of things; they would sell it and poorer people would buy it. Quality-wise it is very good, actually, because there is a tremendous amount of butter, sugar, maybe honey and cream in there. It is better than scones, except there is not the process of making it soft. So people do eat it. Whether it is biscuits or a real torma, you have to change the every year. By making the offering Tara becomes extremely happy. Instead of saying thank you, light radiates from her body and whatever your wishes may be, you think they have been fulfilled. Then you make the outer offering and the inner offering: (Offer outer offerings with:) OM ARYA TARE SAPARIVARA ARGHAM, PADYAM, PUSHPE, DHUPE, ALOKE GHANDHE, NYUNDE, SHABDA PRATICCHA HUNG SOHA (Inner offerings) OM ARYA TARE SAPARIVARA OM AH HUNG

206 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Praise Recite the Homages to the Twenty-One Forms of Tara: OM JE TSUN MA PAK MA DROLMA LA CHAK TSAL LO,...... etc.

(Optional homage in one verse instead of twenty-one verses:) OM, I and all prostrate to the liberator, the fully realized, transcendent subduer. I prostrate to the glorious Mother who liberates with TARE, the Mother who eliminates all fears with TUTTARE the Mother who grants all success with TURE, To SOHA and the other syllables we offer the greatest homage.

Making Requests Oh compassionate Venerable Lady, let me and the infinite sentient beings purify both obscurations and soon complete the two collections, attaining perfect enlightenment In all my lives, until I reach that goal, let me find the best divine and human happiness, then realize omniscience. Please quell speedily and annihilate all obstacles to this, all evil spirits, the various causes of untimely death, as plagues and sicknesses, bad dreams, ill omens, and all dangers such as the eight fears. Let mundane and supermundane auspicious qualities, well-being and perfection increase and develop, so that aims may all be achieved without effort, of themselves May I strive for attainment, increase the holy Dharma, practice you always, and see your sublime face; make my understanding of voidness and the precious Bodhimind increase like the waxing moon. In the joyous and noble mandala of the conqueror, may I be reborn from an excellent, most beautiful lotus and there attain the prophecy I receive in the presence of the conqueror Amithaba. By the force of my offerings and requests to you, in the lands and directions where I and others dwell, please quell all diseases, poverty, fighting and quarrels, and make the Dharma and all that is auspicious increase With this, the Lek dri ma, the Dung bö ratnäi treng wa, the Dung bö lu me ma, and other prayers, make requests as much as possible for your desired aims.

The Making Requests is the same as praises. At the end of that section is refers to the lek dri ma, which I have also given the oral transmission of. I don’t remember receiving the oral transmission to the other two [praises] mentioned here, the dung bo ratnai trengwa and the dung bo lu me ma.

Conclusion 207

Dedication By this virtue may I quickly achieve The actuality of Arya Tara hood And may every being, without exception, Be established in that state!… Prayer Containing all the Subjects of Cittamani Tara. Through the merits of meditating, in pure mind-lake, on this special deity’s form with the marks and signs, and of offering, praising, reciting and so on, may I be cared for by a qualified teacher of the Supreme Vehicle. Through the merits of meditating, in pure mind-lake, on this special deity’s form with the marks and signs, and of offering, praising, reciting and so on, may I be cared for by a qualified teacher of the Supreme Vehicle. Through his kindness, may my mind be driven by strong, disgusted renouncing of samsaric pleasures, to generate the wishing and engaging Bodhicittas and live in the practice of the six perfections and four collections. Then, with four pure empowerments from my qualified vajra master in the general and uncommon body mandalas, may I properly mature my mindstream and protect my vows and pledges like my eyes. The most perfect method to realize innate great bliss is the deep path of highest guru yidam yoga. By actualizing it perfectly, may my mind be satisfied by a rain of blessings and siddhis. Completing preparatory gatherings of merits, the four preliminaries to the actual practice- offerings, praises, body mandala and recitation- by yoga of non-duality of the clear and profound, may pacification (and the rest of the four main rites) and the twenty-seven sets of rites (rainmaking, etc,) come of themselves.

(the next six verses are on the completion state (dzog rim) In the great palace of my unmade vajra body, may I clear the four chakras’ obstructions in the three nadis, and having the left-turning joy in the emanation lotus, be meditating on a TAM, remove agitation and fading. Through this, by uniting the upper and lower winds, may I make them enter, remain and absorb finally. By practice of the (nine) mixtures, progressive destruction and so on, when the four voids induce clear light, let me rise up in the illusory body of the deity, empty, although it appears. Midst the drops in the navel and crown (chakras) may AH and HAM flare up and trickle down, the united airs producing heat, and by a stream of melting pieces of moon descending,

208 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

may chandali blaze up. Through this, may nectar of melted HAM flow down to the crown, the throat, the heart and the navel chakras successively, and by combining the four joys with emptiness, may I realize bliss-void wisdom. By increase of the power, may the white jasmine essence fill all the nadis, and through the cosmic fire come down. By its pervading my entire body, may the joyful experience of innate bliss shine forth. Then, having gained control over the points of the nadis, winds and drops, by relying correctly on the good path of a place – or mantra born dakini May I attain Vajradharahood in this life! Furthermore, skilled in the rainbow and light body trainings The method of reaching the Pure land by Phowa’s quick path (consciousness transference) transforming the bardo state into the sambogakaya and so forth, let me complete the points of the practice! In short, from now until I am enlightened, May I be cared for the Venerable Lady Tara. Completing unhindered the passage of stages and paths May I quickly gain unification, the state of the four kayas. By the power of the Buddhas’ and their wondrous sons’ blessings, Of the infallible truth of interdependent arising, And of my pure superior motivation, May every point of this pure prayer be fulfilled! I already gave the oral transmission of that when I gave the oral transmission of the whole sadhana.

Padmasattva mantra OM PADMASATTVA SAMAYA MANU PALAYA, PADMASATTVA TENOPATISHTA, DRIDHO ME BHAVA, SUTOSHYO ME BHAVA, SUPOSHYO ME BHAVA, ANURAKTO ME BHAVA, SARVA SIDDHI ME PRAYACHHA, SARVA KARMA SUCHA ME, CHITTAM SHREYAH KURU HUM, HA HA HA HA HO BHAGAVAN, SARVA TATHAGATA PADMA MA ME MUNCHA, PADMA BHAVA, MAHA SAMAYA SATTVA AH HUNG PHAT (3X) For this purification you visualize that from the Lama Amitabha light and liquid comes and purifies everything. In particular, if you have bothered or insulted Tara, or you have done anything that she might dislike or caused her even the slightest discomfort – by the light and liquid coming from Lama Amitabha all gets purified. You do that three times.

Prayer for forgiveness and request for realization The not carried out and the impaired, Whatever with my obscured mind I have done or caused to be done – For all these, Protector, I beg your pardon! My additions and omissions, Parts of the ritual that went wrong, And whatever I forgot –

Conclusion 209

Be patient with this too! Grant me the supreme realizations, And grant the results of all samadhis! To all sentient beings, grant whatever They need, and the highest realizations! Sending away the wisdom beings OM VAJRA MU The wisdom beings return to their natural abodes. The symbolic beings sink into me. That is what you visualize. If you don’t have the image you say OM VAJRA MU, which means Good bye! This sending away you don’t need if you have a Tara image. Then you say: OM SUPA TITA BENZAYE SOHA, which means: Please remain here forever!270 The choice is yours. The sadhana doesn’t say it, but you can go along with the sadhana.271

Absorption Then comes the dissolving system272 I appear as the deity; from my heart, light radiates. It contacts all places and beings. All the environment becomes the (mandala) palace And all beings Become like the special deity. All the environments melt into light and sink into the Sentient beings who appear as Tara. These melt into light and sink into me. The deities of my five chakras also Absorb into the Principal Deity in my heart. My body too melts into light from above and below

And absorbs into the heart deity. The deity melts into light and absorbs into the mantra. This absorbs into the TAM. This dissolves into the HUM.273 The U of the HUM dissolves into the HA. The HA into its head. That into the crescent. That into the dot. That into the flame. This becomes smaller and smaller And disappears. Here concentrate single-pointedly on shunyata.

Then (suddenly), like a fish leaping from the water Out of the void I manifest as the Venerable Mother, Marked at my crown with OM,

270 Vajrayogini sadhana: ‘Please remain here inseparable from this image, For the sake of all living beings. Please grant us long, healthy, and prosperous lives and bestow the supreme attainments. OM SUPRA TIKTRA VAJRA SVAHA.’ 271 The optional torma offering ends here. 272 For the meditation see p. 201. 273 For the combined syllables, see note 126 on p. 111.

210 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

At my throat, AH, At my heart HUM.

You arise like a fish out of the water in the form of Tara. Or you rise like a bubble out of water. Or you rise suddenly like a cloud in the middle of the air. Or like a rainbow that is suddenly seen and you have no idea where it came from. You are Tara with all ornaments and hand implements. That completes the Yoga of the Session. Next will be the Yoga between Sessions.

About sadhana commitments. People are asking if there is a commitment with the Guhyasamaja. Tradi- tionally, there is no additional commitment at all, except the Six Session Yoga. But His Holiness, whenever he gives the Guhyasamaja initiation, not even the teaching, gives the sadhana commitment. The other day we were talking with Geshe Lobsang Tendzin in Atlanta that Lochö Rimpoche expected there to be the shortest sadhana commitment. I told him, ‘No. Please ask Lochö Rimpoche not to give this commitment. People have too many of them and won’t be able to do them anyway. They are going to drop it.’ Then I didn’t talk to the geshe again but I heard from somebody else that Lochö Rimpoche said, ‘Yes, that is the old way, without commitments, it is okay to just have the Six Session Yoga. So there won’t be any additional commitment.’ But His Holiness does give the commitment. Lochö Rimpoche did receive the Guhyasamaja from Kyabje Ling Rimpoche, and I am sure from Kyabje Trijang Rimpoche and Kyabje Lhatsun Rimpoche as well. In those days we didn’t have a commitment for Guhyasamaja, but since His Holiness there is. And I think Lochö Rimpoche agreed to go in the old style, without commitment. I know that from the manager of the late Kyabje Ling Rimpoche who happens to be in Atlanta.

11. YOGA BETWEEN SESSIONS

[ii] Yoga between Sessions The next thing we probably have to talk about now is something we normally don’t pay much attention to. So far we have talked a lot about what you do when you are sitting in session, but equally important or even more important is the time that we spend between sessions. Most of the time we waste is in between sessions. During the session we try to do our best and put a lot of efforts in, but in between sessions we just go crazy. That is how we waste most of our time. Also just look at the amount of time we spend in session. It is much, much shorter than the time we spend in between sessions: there is no comparison. The sadhana says [in the foot notes]: You should be devoted to this practice of recognizing yourself as the deity. In the breaks between sessions also, you should practice the yoga of the three recognitions (recognizing all sentient beings as Tara, all sounds as her mantra, and delusions as Dharmakaya), and the yoga of sleeping and waking, eating, dressing, etc, as explained in the commentary.

Basically, I would like to discuss this in five points: 1. Normal daily routine chores 2. Shower, cleansing, swimming, taking baths, 3. Eating, drinking, etc. 4. Sleeping 5. Waking up

1. Normal daily routine chores This is also important. For us, we have great difficulties. Our life is such that we have to do retreats sometimes, yet when we are doing them, in between sessions we have to attend to our business, work, home, family affairs, job and so on. That becomes a little difficult. Traditionally, in good old Tibet, we would take off months together. Life was totally different, absolutely. We keep on saying that. That may be true for us, who belonged to the privileged society. It was also true for the monks. But if you look at the servants and attendants, if they would ask for leave for two or three months, they sometimes would get it, sometimes not. So it is not exactly what we project. But we here do have to figure things out and have a lot of difficulties in between sessions, maintaining our job and so on. Strictly speaking from the orthodox point of view, the time in between sessions is sometimes more important than the actual sessions. In the sessions you are bound to focus and do something. But in between the sessions we do waste a lot more time than we should. Strictly traditionally, what are we supposed to do in between the sessions?

Vajrayana mindfulness. After having gone through the process of OM SVABHAVA, etc., we should perceive anything we encounter as pure and all beings we encounter as pure beings. I told you that [Dilgo] Khyentse Rimpoche emphasized that we should do that. Many Nyingma lamas say that. 212 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Tara’s Notes say that anything you encounter through your eyes, acknowledge them as manifestations of Lama Arya Tara. We are using Lama Arya Tara as example here, but it can equally be Lama Yamantaka, Lama Vajrayogini, Lama Heruka or whatever. Then, all the sounds you hear are the manifestations of Lama Yidam’s speech, including whenever you hear people singing, yelling, and screaming. It must be a little confusing to think that when somebody is yelling at you, that they are singing to you! Any thoughts that occur in our minds and any ideas, whether they are good or bad, are considered as manifestations. In short, whatever you see, hear or feel, smell, taste, everything is pure and wonderful and a manifestation of the Lama Yidam. It is here for you to generate the great bliss and void combination. Ac- knowledging, thinking about and using that is actually the Vajrayana mindfulness, or the Vajrayana system of discipline. In the Hinayana discipline you really have [external] discipline. You have to sit tight and don’t move. The monks are supposed to walk in a line like elephants. When you see elephants going to the water hole, you see the biggest one go in front and then they all follow, one behind the other, in a perfect line. They don’t make so many different footprints, but everyone follows in the same footprints. That is the way an elephant herd moves and the Hinayana monks are supposed to be disciplined like that. That is supposed to happen - except in strange circumstances like we see these days in Korea!274 That is the Theravadan and also Mahayana discipline. When you look at Chinese Mahayana monks, they also have a very strong discipline. They don’t eat meat, they are not supposed to eat in the afternoon, just like the Thai and Burmese monks. Even Tibetan monks are not supposed to eat in the afternoon, but they do. At least the Tibetan monks eat openly. Thai and Burmese monks will close the temple doors and then they eat. It does not really matter, but that is what they do. Anyway, that is their style of discipline. Then of course you know how the zen tradition disciplines you. Vajrayana discipline is this: seeing everything as pure, perceiving everything as something extraordinary, and when you encounter anything physically, mentally or emotionally, it becomes some kind of manifestation of the Lama Yidam in order to generate bliss-void, in order to develop and maintain and progress bliss-void.

A shift within ourselves. You may raise the question: ‘Am I kidding myself to think like that?’ Maybe you are, in the beginning. Right at the beginning we are kidding ourselves, but what happens is that it becomes mind over matter. After a little while, a certain kind of shift will take place. That shift will not really change the external events that are taking place, but it will change the internal consequences of that. It changes the karmic consequences, whether you are accumulating virtues or negativities. That will shift. That shift takes place within ourselves. For example that tree out there is never going to have a lapis lazuli trunk, but internally, if you as an individual person perceive that tree as a lapis lazuli tree, with the trunk made from lapis lazuli, the leaves from turquoise, the fruits are jewels, and even the acorns are coral or ruby, and if you then offer that as inner and outer mandala, the result which you as an individual will gain is that of offering a lapis lazuli tree with turquoise leaves and ruby acorns. That is a comprehen- sible shift or transformation. We can imagine that. But there is also an incomprehensible shift. This is actually tremendous and through that we are banking a lot of our karmic virtues. It is incomprehensible, but it does take place within the individual. That is why all these great beings don’t emphasize for nothing that every male is Avalokitesvara, every female Tara, every land is a pure land, every tree is made of jewels, every flower is a precious stone or gem. That is what they really mean and that is what you have to be aware of in between sessions.

One difference between Vajrayana and ‘love and light. That does not mean that you shift your perception so much that everything becomes ‘love and light’! The ‘love and light’ approach really does not have any foundation. Some [New Age] people must have heard about this [aspect of Vajrayana] and started to use

274 Rimpoche is alluding to the recent siege of the main zen temple in Seoul, South Korea, where one group of monks occupied the temple and another group tried to capture the temple and occupy it themselves.

Yoga between Sessions 213 it, saying that everything is wonderful and nice. They tell you to keep on thinking positively and how nice and great and wonderful everything is. That seems to me an extreme move from out of this concept, and without being based on any reasoning. There is no stainless reason that can prove [what they are doing]. If you don’t watch carefully, then the things you should do and the things you should not do sound almost the same, but there is a big difference. ‘Love and light’ is simply saying that everything is wonderful for no reason. But the way you are thinking here, there are reasons why you perceive everything as pure: 1. You have meditated along the lines of OM SVABHAVA SHUDDA SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUD- DOH HAM. 2. You try to bring the time-traveled, result-oriented environmental level into the present. 3. Even the projection of the jewel tree that you are creating is based on an actual tree standing there. However, you are not pointing to that dry little bush, but to a different nature altogether. I think that makes a difference. It is just like we said before with the creation of the yidam. Saying ‘I am the yidam,’ is very different than saying, ‘I am Napoleon.’ That is why I think it is right to criticize ‘love and light’ and wrong to criticize the Vajrayana way of functioning. Vajrayana is different from ‘love and light’. I want to make it clear that what I am saying is not directed against anybody or anything. What I am really seeing here in the United States in the last decade is that clever, witty people attempt to take little bits of information almost randomly from here and there and then put efforts into thinking, analyzing and writing, until something funny comes out as result. It sounds wonderful, but it is not so much geared towards what helps the individual. I don’t think that the presenter, writer, or guide or teacher in cases like that has a very comprehensive understanding of what is going on.

Feel-good spirituality. Therefore the whole idea of really helping the individual has been shifted from cutting down the ego and eliminating negativities to whether the readers will like it or not, whether they will enjoy it and be entertained by it. The criteria are whether it is fun or boring. You have a little bit from here and a little bit from there and something entertaining emerges. Then of course, some people have a commercial interest in the product, some don’t, and all of these things come out. When you look at them carefully, you will find that it has become some sort of halfway Hollywood type of entertainment in a spiritual suit or mask or presented within a spiritual structure. When you add up bits and pieces of information from here and there, then the ‘love and light’ comes out from there, what else? I am not sure whether this kind of approach is a service or a disservice. I have nothing against any particular person, system or group, but believe me, that is what is happening. I have been here [in the US] now for ten years, so I know a little bit. Either you have that kind of approach or the one where you have to pray and have strict discipline and only this path counts and nothing else and with this mentality people create cult systems. So even the spiritual path itself is almost coming to the point of being either nihilistic or eternalistic and the balance of the real spiritual path is being shaken. Then of course you have the commercialization of that which spoils it even more. That is why, in spite of all financial difficulties in Jewel Heart, we insist not to charge for teachings, but we charge you [the participants of the retreat] for the retreat, because of the necessity for food and lodging, and this way we can make some money in between. But seriously, the commercial exploitation [is a big problem]. Then people will change the tune to a popular drum beat - it is not just paying your bills any more. As long as you do only just use it to pay your bills, it is fine, but it goes further than that. The other day I was watching a program on TV about the so-called ‘Ramas’. They call themselves ‘Ramas’, not lamas. It is a very professional group. We in Jewel Heart are also professional people, but if you look at the rama system, they work in a three-piece suit, whether men or women. It is working very well and the organization is so rich, in the realm of billions. The group functions out of New Jersey. Un- fortunately the leader of the group died - he committed suicide, wearing his dog’s collar! He jumped in the lake behind his house. The leader had spent a tremendous amount of time thinking about it and the solution was to call them ‘ramas’. Whether that means anything does not matter. Actually, in Tibetan ‘rama’ means female

214 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary goat! In the program on ABC they showed that this group uses some kind of mahasiddha thangkas and then some kind of electrical display is going on and then suddenly you see a very nice, young gentleman in a three-piece suit. Anyway, we are also very professional people; however, we don’t wear three-piece suits. I guess we are not ramas! In their system they have a program on how to become a rama. The criteria are mainly how long you have been a member and how much you have paid. That is really true. Audience: I have to say that some of the teachers out there are really sincere. They don’t have the information that we have, but their motivation is good and they do the best they can with what they know. They do want to help people and make money at the same time. Rimpoche: I don’t deny that. There are genuine ones and then money comes in between and what is wrong with that? The same thing had happened in Tibet in the late 1950s between the two regents in power. Their main goal was to be anti the previous regent and if some money came in the process it was all right. But after some time the people were saying that the whole system was totally corrupt. They did not primarily do it for the money, but to save their principle. However, as the money came in, they kept on taking it. Things like that happen. I am not criticizing that, but I think we should know a little bit about it. It does not mean that everybody is bad, that their motivation is bad, but I am just explaining how all this mumble jumble comes out. People have certain limited information, pick up things from here and there and then you get these results. That is why in Vajrayana is so important not mix things up. There are things in Yamantaka which are not applicable anywhere else. Likewise you talk about certain things in Vajrayogini that are not applicable to other tantras. To maintain a system with all its fixtures makes a big difference. That is why I said right from the beginning that you cannot pick up a buffalo’s head and stick it on a goat’s body. Audience: What about somebody who holds different lineages without mixing and matching them, but keeps each one of them pure? Rimpoche: I don’t know much about those things. I have nothing against the ri me system, which claims to be non-sectarian, but that actually implies that they are the only people who are not sectarian and everybody else is sectarian. If that is the idea, I have a little problem with that. But frankly speaking, it does not matter what a person does; whether it is Judaism or Christianity, or Hinduism or whatever, personally I have no problem, as long as you are helping yourself. However, in Buddhism, all the different lineages are traceable to Buddha and no matter who is teaching and talking, they are teaching Buddha’s dharma, not their own dharma. That is one important point. To elaborate what I said before: you have for example in Yamantaka the five special qualities. You cannot just go and apply them to Heruka. It does not work. Of course you could cook something up and manufacture it, you can present it that way until somebody refutes you; however, it will not work.

Skillful means. [Back to the practice of perceiving everything as pure:] That is the imaginative functioning. If that happens on a higher level, when this shift has taken place within the individual, then even actions of negative nature become transformed into positive nature. That means, if you have strong mindfulness, you will be able to transform every negativity created through body and speech. Even if you are not able to do that, you can transform every neutral action into a positive one. To prove this, the Heruka tantra says, All remains in the state of Heruka. All branches and activities are Heruka’s functioning, all words are mantras. That is where the excuse of skillful means comes in. People try to misuse that and that is corruption. But wherever there are some good things, some bad things come in, too, so the corruptions come because of that. It is important to be clear about it. Highly developed people are able to transform even negative actions into positive nature. That is for them, but for us, we don’t have good achievements. Even then, the methods we have been talking about earlier can make the neutral actions positive - easily. For example idle

Yoga between Sessions 215 gossip or just sitting there, doing nothing and thinking nothing - a sort of dull state, or the dream state, or regret or analyzing, all that can be transformed.275 Analyzing is interesting. If a business person tries to analyze how he or she could best defeat their competitor without breaking the law, it could be a negativity, because the motivation would be how to get the other person. Let’s say the members of the Republican Judiciary Committee and their advisors and the phone calls they receive from some people with dark glasses sitting in dimly lit rooms (You want conspiracy theories? This is one - just joking) - if their idea is just how to get that guy Clinton, this could be very negative. Out of the ten non-virtues this one is one of the three negativities of the mind. It is hatred and wanting to cause harm. On the other hand, at this moment Clinton’s helpers don’t have any hope of catching the Republican Judiciary Committee. Their whole intention is how to defend and I don’t see any negativity coming in there, although you don’t know what they will be able to exploit themselves [to harm the others]. Audience: Like Larry Flint?276 Rimpoche: Yes, like Larry Flint, but I don’t know whether Larry Flint is on Clinton’s side or not. He may he, who knows? At least he claims to be. However, the main thrust of Clinton’s people at the moment is to defend, rather than to harm others.

All these things are analyzing. Strategy is nothing but analyzing, and that can be negative or positive karma. It depends how we move and function. When we base our lives on principles like compassion and wisdom, chances are that almost all our analyzing activities can become positive. It does not really take a spiritually highly developed person to transform these neutral actions of analyzing into positive ones. We all can do that. Likewise sleep and regret. For example, take Clinton’s regret. I am sure it is big now! Again, it does not take a spiritually developed person to transform this into something positive. I would like to quote the Heruka tantra at this point: Basically, our functioning in between sessions, the normal disciplines which are mentioned in the Lamrim levels, the levels common with the lower, medium and the Mahayana levels, plus maintaining awareness and alertness, and on top of that, from the Vajrayana point of view, the yoga in between sessions, these are basically the general guidelines how to function in our everyday lives, while we are not sitting down and meditating, saying mantras, etc.. Audience: When I do my martial arts practice, should I visualize myself as a yidam at that time? Rimpoche: You don’t have to keep on thinking that you are a yidam while you are hitting things. The basic motivation is enough, thinking that all your tai chi and kung fu is the activity manifested by the Lama Yidam. I do not recommend that you reduce the concentration on your physical movement by adding up thoughts of the yidam. Leave it at the level of motivation and maybe after you are done, you can look back, but during the activity itself I don’t want you to get distracted by different thoughts, because you have been training in a particular way for a long time and it would probably take a very long time to adapt your practice in the way of [visualizing yourself as a yidam]. That is what you are supposed to do in between sessions and that should contribute to the actual sessions. And what you do in the actual sessions should be contributing to what you do in between sessions. So they are helping each other, contributing to each other. In our case this is quite difficult. In between sessions I am watching TV and so on and what you see in TV does affect you. If you go back into session, the first few minutes your mind will go to whatever you have seen on TV.

2. Activities or yoga of swimming, washing, bathing, etc., Here you can include everything from shower to jacuzzi and others. Audience: Sauna?

275 The four neutral or changeable mental factors that can become either positive or negative are sleep, regret and two types of analysis. 276 Larry Flint published in his magazine Hustler details of the House Speakers extramarital affairs, causing him to resign.

216 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Rimpoche: Sauna may not work very well here. Maybe it will. The Turkish bath will definitely work, but a dry sauna, I don’t know how well that will work here. Anyway, I will leave you to be the judge. So, when you take your shower, the shower head could be considered to be one of the five consorts of the five Buddhas and they are bringing you different types of nectar, particularly if you have one of these shower hoses that deliver these beautiful rain-like showers. The idea comes from the traditional Indian showers they take using a bucket. They fill the bucket with water and then pour the contents over themselves. If you watch Indians taking a shower, they will wash themselves very well and finally pick up the bucket and pour the whole contents over themselves. So it is said that the five Buddha consorts pick up five buckets and pour the nectar over you, not only one, but five! Also in Buddha’s life story, when he was born, the enlightened beings are supposed to have showered him with some kind of holy water.277 The text says here: During washing, taking bath or shower, [you visualize that] all the five buddhas of the five buddha families and particular their consorts, the female buddhas, are picking up buckets of water and together pour it on you. You can say: ‘OM SARVA TATHAGATA ABISHEKATA SAMAYE SHRIYE AH HUM. When Buddha was first born, all the enlightened beings gave him a shower. Likewise by the pure yidams’ water, I am also washing.’ The water poured over you is the pure nectar of the enlightened beings. Thereby not only the external spots on your external physical body are cleansed, but also all internal spots of neuroses which you have collected on your consciousness.’ You can say mantras. For example there is Dorje Nam par jor mai’s mantra: NAME TZENA MENA TROTAYA HULU HULU DIRI DIRI BENZA BENZA HANA HANA AMRITA HUNG PHAT. That particular mantra has been extremely helpful for some people when they were sick. Black Manjushri is also very helpful: OM TRA SÖ CHU SÖ TRU TA SÖL TUR MI SÖ NYING O LA CHÖL KHA LA DZA KAM SHAM TRAM BE PHET SOHA. In this manner you can visualize whenever you take a shower. The nectar is poured on your crown, fills up your body completely, purifies all your negativities, and you then feel good about it. Naturally, if you take a warm or cold shower, you are bound to feel good. Likewise, when you swim you can do the same thing. We used to enjoy the swimming around here in the summer. Like that - it works just like a water initiation. It purifies all obstacles and there are a lot of other things, too. And I suppose it is possible to do it in the sauna too. Although there is not necessarily a bucket of water being poured over you, internally the physical toxins that you hold onto are released. Along with that you also release the mental toxins such as neuroses, etc. That is the second of the five activities done in between sessions.

3. Yoga of food and drink Khor. We may identify ourselves with the sangha here, but right now in the West there is not so much support by others. All sanghas in the west are paying their own bills and making their own things, rather than living on charity or gifts. But some few people do - like me. When we do that, basically we have to remember one thing. If a friend gives you one thing, just because they want you to have it, it is okay. It is an absolutely normal gift. It is fine. But if the person would like to gain some benefit by giving you something - I don’t mean tax deductions, but spiritual benefit - it is different. With the exception of a few, most of my gifts come to me in that manner. We have a particular name for that. That also goes for the giving of food and clothes to monks and nuns. That is what sangha really is. We call such gifts khor or khor se. This is considered to be extremely difficult to digest. If you remember, the first verse of The Wheel of Sharp Weapons278 gives the example of a peacock. I used that example a number of times in the West, but somehow it does not seem to be work so well.

277 The initiating dieties confer abisheka. 278 A lojong text based on Yamantaka.

Yoga between Sessions 217

Anyway, this particular verse says that when the peacock lives in a field of poison, the nutrition that comes from the poison nourishes the peacock and increases the beauty of the peacock feathers. Ingesting the poison makes the peacock more powerful and beautiful. Many people have told me that this is not true. However, that is what this particular text says. It says that peacocks and heroic people are able to digest this, but if you are like a crow, you will die. Right? If the crow lives in the poison field, instead of being nourished, it will get sick and die. So what we call khor, according to Buddha is like swallowing a hot iron ball. In one way people are giving you things with the hope of receiving help. That includes things like people saying, ‘I will not be able to do the tsoh this time, here is $10, please buy yourself lunch,’ or, ‘Col- leen, I could not do the tsoh, please buy potato chips or diet coke for Rimpoche.’ And things like requests to pray for friends and relatives who have just passed away or are ill, etc.. These things belong to the category of khor. If you have good mental discipline and proper moral behavior according to your vows, then you will be able to use these types of things as though you are borrowing from somebody against interest against future payment. You know what I mean? If you borrow money from somebody, you can use it, but you have to pay interest on it. These problems concern you when you are the receiver of such gifts, not the giver. The giver has all the advantages. For a bodhisattva, someone who has bodhimind, it is not khor, and it is not borrowing any more, but it is like using your own belongings. This is still talking from the point of view of the receiver. Bodhisattvas use it as their own things, but they do not get any advantage from it, so they gain neither negativities nor advantages. For Vajrayana practitioners, these things can be used as inner tsoh offering or inner fire puja in the case of food. This is not only no longer khor or borrowing something, but instead it builds merit.

Blessing the food. Whenever you eat food, it is recommended that you bless your food with the inner offering blessing. Therefore we say OM AH HUM HA HO HRIH, etc. If you want to say OM AH HUNG IT is good enough; there is nothing more than that to say. But, just saying that three times and bowing down does not bless the food. You have to understand that each one of the letters has a job to do. And when you visualize that, then it becomes a blessing. Tara has mentioned that you can think thus: The collection of all Lamas becomes Vajradhara [Dorje Chang] at my throat level. The collection of all yidams becomes Tara at my heart level. The collection of all sanghas, the Dharma protectors in the form of the six-armed Mahakala, is at my navel level. OM GURU RATNA IDAM BALIMTA KHA KHA KHAHI KHAHI. Then you eat food and use anything whatever we normally use, like clothes, dresses, perfume, shawls, cushions, mattresses, tables, chairs, the shoes, carpets, decorations, your house, your vehicle, etc. Whether you say the verse or not, think that you are offering to them. Say bon apetit and ‘have a nice drink’. And then have a nice meal. That way it not only does not become khor or a loan, but it becomes credit in your virtue. That is another opportunity there. You don’t have to say the mantra if you don’t want to. The mantra actually means: Guru and Jewels, please enjoy. That includes the yidams and all sangha. That way, even if you have meat, not only don’t you incur in the negativity of eating meat, but whoever that meat belonged to, also benefits from it. That way it becomes virtue instead of a downfall. When you utilize these things for the purpose of [inner tsoh offering or inner fire puja], not only do you generate great merit for yourself, but also equally it builds merit for the benefactor as well. Not only does the benefactor have the benefit of giving, but also the using of these gifts creates much more beneficial merit, particularly for people who are gone, no longer with us. They are counting on their positive, limited virtuous karmic deposit, so for them it is extremely useful. But if you don’t know how to utilize it, it becomes a problem. Lamas like, for example, Kyabje Ling Rimpoche would always say a little verse before eating: ‘I am going to feed the cells in my body with food right now, so that later I will able to feed them with Dharma and lead them to enlightenment.’ He would always say a verse like that. In the case of Kyabje Trijang

218 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Rimpoche, he did not say verses like that. He would just straight away eat, without saying anything, but I am sure he was using this as either inner fire puja or inner tsoh offering. There can be no doubt about that. My father would make jokes sometimes when he ate food. He would say, ‘This is for my lama, this is for my yidam, this one is for my protector,’ etc. He would make all sorts of jokes and have fun.

A story of a Nyare Khamtsen Geshe. It may not be out of place to mention an interesting story here. There was a Geshe called Geshe Agya who was from Nyare Khamtsen, the monastery that I belonged to. Geshe Agya was two generations older than me. When Kyabje Ling Rimpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rimpoche were kids, he was already around. He was a very interesting person, slightly crazy, roaming around and everybody somehow knew that he was a great guy. There was a very wealthy family in Tibet called the Shatar family. They were a wealthy family already in the 14th century, when they were benefactors of Tsongkhapa. This family produced the prime minister of Tibet a number of times. Shatar asked Geshe Agya to have lunch with his family, or dinner or something. Geshe Agya would say yes, but then would never show up. Shatar after some time asked him why he never came, in spite of being invited so many times. Geshe Agya then said, ‘Do you really want me to come?’ and Shatar said, ‘Yes, Geshe-la, we definitely want you to come.’ Geshe Agya then said, ‘But you will not be able to feed me.’ So Shatar said, ‘But Geshe-la, we are the Shatar family, we can definitely feed you.’ Geshe Agya insisted that they would not able to feed him, but Shatar assured him, that they could. Finally Geshe Agya gave in and said, ‘All right, then I will come next month.’ The day that he finally showed up was one of the tsoh days, so the Shatar family instructed the cooks to make a lot of food. They made momos for him alone which would have been enough to feed ten people and for all other guests additional food was made. At the meal the momos were served and no matter how much they put in front of him, Geshe Agya kept on eating. He proceeded to eat all the food made for him, which was the amount enough for ten people, plus then he ate whatever the other people could not eat of their food and then he still demanded more. The Shatar family realized then that they had run out of momos. They then looked into their food store and quickly put together some boiled meat, dough, noodles, and other things and gave that to him. He said to them, ‘I told you that you are not going to be able to feed me! Now you are short of giving food to Kadoma and Wodoma!’ These belong to the sixty-two deities of the body mandala [of Heruka]. Kadoma sits at the anus and the other somewhere else. So Geshe Agya said, ‘Now these two will not get momos, but anyway I will eat this boiled sheep’s meat.’ And he proceeded to eat the complete body of a sheep and said, ‘Well, the combination of different things fed them all right!’ That is what happened! You may be thinking that he must have been a huge, big guy, but no, he was a very thin fellow. I don’t think he normally ate that much, just that day he had all that food. What he probably did was use all this food as inner tsoh offering for each of the sixty-two deities, so naturally he himself did not get the nutrition, although he would use his mouth and dump the food into his stomach. This is the best way to utilize food. But don’t do it Geshe Agya’s way, or else you are going to put on a lot of weight! I also noticed that Rilbur Rimpoche, when he eats food, recites verses from the tsoh offering. I did not notice that earlier on, but these days he does that. Food is given here as example, but everything else follows. Whatever things we utilize, eat, drink, consume, etc., all these have karmic consequences involved [and can be used in a positive way]. Audience: What happens if you just buy your own things? Rimpoche: If you earn money and then go and buy things, no kor is involved. Audience: Can you use things that you have bought with your own money to make offerings? Does that have the same effect? Rimpoche: It may have the same effect, it may, I am not sure. You can use food that you buy yourself as [inner] tsoh. There is no problem with that.

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4. Yoga of sleeping Sleep is one thing we put a lot of time into. We sleep for six, seven or eight hours, at least four hours every night. It is a big chunk of our time. Sleep is a mental faculty that is changeable between virtue and non-virtue. There are four such factors: sleep, regret, analysis and understanding. Whether virtue or non- virtue depends on the mind immediately before that, which influences. So you can make your whole sleep into a positive vajrayana practice279. There are two different systems of sleeping. If you know emptiness well, dissolve everything and go to sleep within emptiness. If you don’t have that understanding, see yourself in the mandala of Tara, and fall asleep with your head in the lap of Lama Arya Tara. Tara’s Notes say about this: When you go to sleep, don’t forget to put your head into the lap of the yidam With great, profound respect, without interruptions from other thoughts, fall asleep. By the time you recognize your dream as dream, don’t forget to have the pride of the yidam and its manifestations and remanifestations, and dissolve them. That is what she says. It is so simple. In other words, until we know emptiness, when we sleep, we should feel that our house and bedroom and so forth are in the atmosphere of the pure land of Tara, in this case. Think it is this, I don’t want to say visualize this. Your bed is a lotus and moon cushion and you yourself are in the form of your yidam, in this case Tara. You don’t want to wear ornaments and hand implements. The lama inseparable from the yidam is right in front of you. You remember in Vajrayogini the lama will be there for you just like the house-keeper. The British introduced the expression cho ki da to India. They needed to have a person that maintained the lawns and areas and made sure no thieves came in and also answered the door, etc. This position they called cho ki da. The Indians had people like that before the British, but they did not call them that. The lama-yidam watches over you while you are asleep. It is so important that before falling asleep you make sure that your mind is pure, thinking about something positive, some Dharma activity. Don’t think something else and fall asleep. This is because the continuation of the unconscious mind becomes important.

Remembering dreams. If you want to recognize, acknowledge and remember your dreams, you simply pray a little bit to the lama-yidam. Pray to be able to recognize dreams as dreams, to be blessed to be able to remember and recognize them. Make up your mind strongly that you will be able to see your dreams and remember them. A lot of times we will not remember any of our dreams and say, ‘I did not dream anything.’ That means they have gotten lost. But it is mind over matter, remember that. Determine that you are going to acknowledge and remember your dreams and direct your mind very strongly in that manner. That helps tremendously. Once you are able to recognize and acknowledge your dreams, you can transform them. You can increase, decrease and clarify them. In fact, almost all basic activities that we carry out during the waking state we can work with very similarly during the dream state. The first point is to recognize the dream; then you practice, you decrease and increase and you also learn and pick up emptiness on the dream level. Most of the dream state techniques and yogas you will see described in the Six Yogas of Naropa. The English translation of that text is available now.280 Actu- ally there are two versions; one is by Glenn Mullin and the other by Garma C. Chang. Many of Chang’s translations can easily be disproved, but on the other hand, hardly anyone is able to produce translations that reach his standard. If you can, read some of those translated works and hopefully we will be able to do a teaching on the Six Yogas of Naropa at one time or another. We may talk a little more about that on the zoh rim level, too.

To summarize: the most important things about your practice during the dream state are: 1. recognizing dreams

279 Part of the 51 mental factors. 280 Glenn H. Mullin, Tsongkhapa’s Six Yogas of Naropa; Garma C.C. Chang, The Six Yogas of Naropa.

220 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

2. transforming dreams 3. decreasing dreams 4. increasing dreams 5. putting them together 6. recognizing emptiness during the dream state

Glenn Mullin’s translation on the Six Yogas of Naropa is the translation of Tsongkhapa’s yig chei sum den281, which means Three Recognitions. Further there is a work by Khedrup je called gyu te chi nam. The translation of this work may not be that great. It was done by some professor of the Columbia Uni- versity called Alex Wayman282. He also did a translation of Tsongkhapa’s Lamrim chenmo. It is great that he was able to do that, but it is a little gross work that needs a lot of editing and re-editing. Not so much the translation, but the understanding of the translator [is limited and therefore his work] needs editing and re-editing and further re-editing. But even then reading his work can give you some idea. Read all that, first from the point of view of picking up information. Don’t try to copy what is written there. The books are meant to give you information, so you can learn. There is no downfall here, especially for those who have received initiations. For those who haven’t received initiations, they may also not get downfalls for reading restricted [tantric] literature, but the translators and publishers get downfalls. The readers only get downfalls if they don’t have initiations and the book explicitly says not to read it without having been initiated or without having received teachings. If you read it then, it is your fault, but if the book publishers refuse to put warnings in them, it is their own fault. Audience: I wonder what you mean by ‘decreasing and increasing’ regarding the dream yogas? Rimpoche: It means generating more activities in your dreams, or less of them, or making [events] shorter, creating shorter and longer time periods in your dreams. Then, if you know about emptiness, working with the sleeping period is so simple. You just make your sleep into clear light, go to sleep into that clear light and when you wake up, it is like a fish jumping out of the water, or like the sun popping up suddenly in the middle of a beautiful, empty, blue sky. If you do this, it will help you to mix the sleep with the clear light yoga. You will provide the causes for that mixing by visualizing accordingly already now. Here it is not [yet] the yoga of mixing sleep with the clear light, but if you know emptiness, then, even if you cannot mix sleep with clear light, it provides the cause to be able to do that later. I might briefly mention here that there are nine different mixings: three during the waking period three during the sleeping period three during the dying period.283 This will come later. I am not sure if we should talk about that in detail at all. In one way I was planning to go a little bit into zoh rim. On the other hand, I have been thinking that normally even these teachings in Tibet for practitioners who have been practicing for thirty, forty or fifty years, only mention zoh rim subjects like that in a very limited way, so I am not sure whether I should talk about it here or not. But up to the ke rim level, I have been going through quite in detail, without going much into the specific sadhana rituals which you know more or less [from teachings on Vajrayogini and Yamantaka, etc.]. At least you have an idea.

5. Yoga of waking up Just like there are two systems of sleeping, there are also two systems of rising. If you sleep into emptiness, you rise up from there suddenly. If you have gone to sleep according to the dissolving system you have to arise accordingly and then do three prostrations to Lama Tara who has been there and protected you during the dream state and sleeping period. You thank Tara with that and it is also a good exercise.

281 yid ches gsum ldan 282 Wayman’s translation of Khedrup Je’s work is titled Introduction to the Buddhist Tantric Systems. 283 These are briefly discussed in Rimpoche’s Lama Chöpa transcript Guru Devotion: How to Integrate the Primordial Enlight- ened Mind, at the completion stage verse in the seeking blessings for the stages of the path section.

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Then you dissolve Lama Tara to yourself. As kids we were forced to make three prostrations every morning and when not forced by anybody I never did them. [So either you are waking up like a fish jumping out of the water or you imagine that you are being awakened] by the sound of dakinis. Think that they are singing the mantra OM TARE TUTTARE TURE SOHA. That wakes you up. You get up rising from emptiness and become active, carrying out the related activities. When you wake up, the mandala and yourself as Tara arise, you do your washing and cleaning and dressing yourself and then you as Tara pick up your implements and ornaments. Then the Lama cho ki da will dissolve to yourself and all these dakinis in the sky who have been waking you up with the alarm clock-mantras dissolve also to you. If you have been sleeping with emptiness as focus, then you just pop up like a cloud in the sky or like the fish out of the water.

Conclusions on the development stage [Tib. ke rim] With this we have briefly covered the main ke rim activities during the session and between the sessions. If you put in strong efforts into your practice [results will come]. It does not matter whether you are practicing Tara or Vajrayogini. It is not the case that the more sadhanas you do the better your practice progresses. You have to have the correct [combination] of sadhanas, like when you do Vajrayogini and Ya- mantaka, you have one father and one mother tantra. Two of them are good enough. More than that will not give you any more, but it is going to be more time-consuming. Tara’sNotes say, If you can think and meditate and concentrate carefully, then it is possible to achieve within this lifetime the rainbow body. Even if you cannot do that, if you practice regularly and pray strongly, then either directly or indirectly, through feelings, somehow you build a strong connection to Tara and build up your spiritual development. You will make it. If even that does not happen, then either at the time of death or during the bardo period you will be protected and guided and helped and taken to a pure land. You will be protected life after life by this dharma, this practice, this yidam. Tara in particular is the activity of all enlightened beings, so her practice has great advantages of obtaining quick blessings. Remember the name of Tara or dröl ma in Tibetan, which means liberator of sentient beings, so even within the name there is special significance. Many great teachers have been protected, their lives have been protected against fears and threats. You can read about it in a lot of their biographies. If you do a good practice and if you do the appropriate retreats well, you can perform many other activities like creating or stopping rain, etc., and these will work. It is true, it did work with me. Many of you witnessed it, too. In the early days, we used to go down to the Hudson River for picnics and barbecues. One time a great storm came towards us, but we were somehow protected. Quite of few of you were there, I remember. The picnic grounds themselves were hit by the storm and it came down to the right and the left side of where we were, but our spot stayed dry, as if there was some kind of umbrella above us. We were able to have our barbecue and pack up and get into our cars and only then it came down heavily at our picnic spot, too. So maybe sometimes it works, when everything is right.

Verses of Auspiciousness Let the vast empyrean and the terrene plane Be thronged with hosts of noble goddesses, Uttering benedictions, raining flowers, while seas of lucky signs Fill the three worlds. Fast saving genetrix of the three times’s conquerors, With realizations of Buddha’s teachings, etc, Root and lineage gurus, yidams, and Buddhas, May perfect good fortune reign! Let all be auspicious! With the four tantric sets, heart of eighty thousand dharmas,

222 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Especially the final true secret, including the practice Of Tara’s two stages, and Dharmas of scripture and insight, May perfect good fortune reign! Let all be auspicious! With the lord of countless heroes and heroines dwelling In the wonderful land, this sect’s holy assembly, The sangha from mere position-holders upward, May perfect good fortune reign! Let all be auspicious! In short, Mother, great treasure of all Buddhas’ compassion, Let us see directly the face of the Lord of Dance, Rejoice in the nectar of your speech and be cared for by you. May perfect good fortune reign! Let all be auspicious!

Questions and Answers Audience: Which is the best yidam to do the yoga of sleeping with? Rimpoche: Usually, you take the deity from the last sadhana you are doing during the day. Audience: How can we use the death dissolution of the eight stages during sleep time? Rimpoche: Recall the introduction from the primordial mind teachings I gave in the Vajrayogini retreat a few years ago284. Then there are the three kayas during waking, during sleep and during death. These are known as the nine mixings. So in case of sleep, you practice: sleep as dharmakaya, dream as sambhogakaya and waking up as nirmanakaya. Audience: How can one do a retreat on Cittamani Tara? Rimpoche: Generally speaking, since it is Maha anuyoga tantra, all the Maha anuyoga tantra rules apply. Audience: Are the eight stages of the death process reversing when you re-arise from that? Rimpoche: Yes. During the nirmanakaya you work with the five wisdoms. You arrive in a new world and unpack your belongings. The unpacking is the reversing. Audience: How does that work in the dream stage? Rimpoche: To rise as yidam during the dream stage you think about what you want to do. Who do you want to be reborn as? In dreams you can gain control over what you do. You can choose your future. Practice the dissolution into the clear light again and again. This is easier in the sleep period. Audience: If I am unable to change my future life during the death process with the yidam practice, I will be subject to karmic forces. What to do then? Rimpoche: You can still keep the Guru-Yidam influence. That will help not to connect with negative karmic forces. Apart from that your accumulation of virtue and non-virtue decides. Audience: What exactly happens at enlightenment? Rimpoche: It is the three kayas in perfection. Right now for us the three kayas are stages to work with but they will link with the enlightened three kayas. First we pretend and finally it becomes actual. That is buddhahood. Vajrayana is called result yana, because already now we try to function at the result level. The generation stage is the formal rehearsal and the completion stage the last dress rehearsal, almost the premiere. Audience: The eight stages dissolution works with the four elements. Going into the sambhogakaya, how do the four elements apply? Rimpoche: Sambhogakaya is a light- natured body, but still the four elements are there. These are the pure parts of the four elements. The teachings don’t mention the reversal stages much because they automatically happen. The Guhyasamaja tantra has a more detailed explanation on that. For example, also the nirmanakaya mandala comes out of the four element mandalas. In that context air is the ultimate base.

284 See Appendix

Yoga between Sessions 223

Audience: For the daily practice in between sessions, which yidams should I associate with? Rimpoche: It doesn’t matter. But most important is to think it is Lama-Yidam. Whatever yidam it may be, it is always inseparable from the Lama. Audience: What is better: to try to see the chakra-branches going out directly from the central channel, like for example at the crown chakra in 32 branches, as at the level of the body mandala or via 4 branches which then branch out into 8, 16, and so on, as the drawings show? Rimpoche: The completion stage has a more detailed presentation. The more details you can visualize the more accurate it becomes. But both ways are okay.

12. SOME NOTES ON THE COMPLETION STAGE

[II] Completion Stage [Tib. zoh rim] Once again I have to emphasize that from the beginning stages up to the period in between sessions, the daily chores, etc., practice is necessary. First we have to understand, then comprehend, and thirdly we have to train ourselves and get used to it. If we don’t do that, it is like holding onto branches of a tree whose roots are rotten. When we hear about attaining enlightenment within the lifetime, it is the completion stage or zoh rim that makes it possible, but without developing the ke rim stage, no matter how much we try to put our efforts into developing zoh rim, it is almost impossible to develop anything. Therefore the ke rim stage is the actual cause to develop zoh rim within you. It is said, If without training in ke rim, you try to practice zoh rim, it looks like you are hanging onto the branches, leaves and fruits of a tree that has no roots. So the first stage is important. Buddha also said, The development and completion stages have been shown like the first and second steps of a staircase. That emphasizes the [step by step development] once again. When you have built a stable ground and your concentration has been stabilized on the ke rim level, then probably it is good to know about the zoh rim.

Focal points Vajra strike. In zoh rim you need special focal points. They are technically explained as points on which your vajra will strike.285 The points on which to strike are the channels and energies. The vajra we are talking about here is not that vajra [joke], but the mind which concentrates on these points. The main thing is now to strike at these points. So the main points are where and how to strike. The whole purpose, the essence of zoh rim, the path, the life, the backbone of zoh rim is to develop the combination of bliss and void. Such a joy-wisdom state is the main purpose. The vajra striking on the points is the actual way to develop this.

Where to strike Are you going to strike on the energies, on the tig les, or on the mantra syllables? In order to know that you have to know the basic structure of the psychic body. I don’t know how best to make that happen. I was hoping to have some kind of chart and work from that, but of course, whenever I try to do something, it immediately becomes some big deal and people feel pressured.286 Often things become too organized and intense and things have to be done right there, otherwise it is impossible. On the other hand, certain people have their own difficulties; we have to acknowledge that.

285 Vajra strike: the focussing mind is as a vajra, i.e. indestructable and strong. Clear Light of Bliss, p. 29: ‘Concentrating single- pointedly upon (…) is known as ‘penetrating the vital point’. 286 Rimpoche made a comment at this point about the difficulty of being too organized or formalized in Vajrayana matters: ‘I have to apologize to those who did the Vajrayogini retreat earlier. I was planning to do this Vajrayogini thing which I was supposed to do, but when I walked into the room and saw the number of people, it was too well organized, and it was impossible to do it under the circumstances and I had to withdraw everything.’ 226 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Anyway, we don’t have a chart or anything like that. This would make it a little easier. We do have slides of the five main chakras287, but then we do not have a projector here, so things like that happen. Perhaps it is not meant to be. Let us go back to the old, traditional way.

One thing I have to point out is that in this context we are talking from the mother tantra point of view, which is slightly different from the father tantra, like Guhyasamaja. In his Guhyasamaja commentary Tsongkhapa definitely says, The base of [the vajra body] is the [channels or] nadis [Tib. tsa], then the energies or airs [Tib. lung] are moving through these, then the tig les [drops] or jang chub sem [bodhicitta] stay in them. These three elements are explained in father tantra. So [in father tantra] the things that are remaining are the channels, the movement in them is the airs and the forces behind them are the tig les or drops. Mother tantra explains it differently. The base is the channels [tsa], whatever is happening on that base is the airs [lung] and the tig les [drops]. I actually would prefer to stick to the Tibetan terms, because different English terms like airs, energies, etc. are very confusing. I myself, am not used to them. In Ti- betan it says, Ten tsa den pa tig le dang lung. Ten is the base, which in this case is the channels or nadis [tsa], and den pa is whatever is functioning within that, which are the drops [tig les] and airs [lung].

[1] Channels, airs or energies, and drops288 Channels [Skt. nadis; Tib. tsa] Main channels. There are supposed to be seventy-two thousand channels throughout the body. Out of that number, the most important are the hundred and twenty channels. Among those, there are twenty- four which are even more important, and among those, there are three which are most important. When you look at the structure of your psychic body, these are the channels which you are going to find. The three most important are the uma [central channel], the roma [right channel] and the kyangma [left channel].289 They are also known as the first three channels developed at the heart level. You are focusing at the heart chakra and these are the first three channels to develop. The central channel goes almost throughout the body, except it does not go through the hands and legs. It is sort of like a big beam within the psychic body. From the point of view of looking from the right side of the body to the left, it is supposed to be in the center. If you look from the angle of front and back, it is supposed to be slightly situated towards the back. The central channel is the major [axis] in which all other hubs are installed. The nadis [or channels] come together in form of hubs and the major hubs are at the heart level, throat level, crown level, navel level and private parts level. They are major points or hubs, like for example Detroit is the hub for Northwest Airlines! Even with the train system you can observe that different train lines join up in certain hubs from where they also spread out and the planes and airports function like that too. Anyway, the first three channels are established at the heart level, and from there you begin to get the branch channels. It looks like a big wheel of water pipes joined in: you have a big hub in the center and to that you connect all these ‘pipes’ and there would be eight of them screwed in. It is almost in that manner. The central channel is the central [axis] into which everything is plugged. Alongside the central channel you have the right and left channels.

Directional channels at the heart. The first of the directional channels is the eastern one,290 which is called sum kor ma, which means something like three rounds. Don’t worry about the meaning of this, it is

287 See the Appendix. 288 Literature: Geshe Jelsang Gyatso, Clear Light of Bliss, ch. 1. 289 dbu ma, ro ma, rkyang ma 290 The east is toward the front of the body.

Some Notes on the Completion Stage 227 simply a name. Then you have the southern one, which is called dö ma291 or desirous one. The three [main] channels plus the eastern and the southern one are known as the first five channels. They are followed by the western pipe called kyi ma and the northern one called tu mo. That does not refer to the tummo which means inner heat. It is different. Now we have all the four main directional pipes. Then there is an additional channel called d del ma292. It stands up alongside the central channel. So now we have the four directional ones plus the three [vertical] ones plus this additional one. That makes eight. These are known as the first channels to be established at the heart level.

Then from the directional pipes, the four ordinal directional channels, you have additional T-joints. From each main directional channel one additional channel branches out. Somebody could do a very nice computer drawing of that one day. The four cardinal and four ordinal channels actually make up what are called the eight petals of the heart.293 (The other set of eight, the four main directional channels, the three, central, right and left, plus d del ma, you don’t count them here.) At this moment, don’t expect clarity of the picture, just get a rough idea. The word ‘petals’ has been introduced into English mostly through Hindu sources. That is why even in some drawings you can see leaves coming out from the heart chakra. Maybe the way it has come about is that Hindus like leaves and Buddhists like pipes. Then the further splitting up of the channels works like this: one into two, two into four, four into eight, eighth into sixteen, etc. That is how all the chakras are composed. You get some with eight pipes, some with thirty-two, some with sixteen, etc. In the directional pipes predominantly the elements are functioning, like earth, water, etc. Therefore they are also known as elemental channels.They are even labeled as earth channel, water channel, etc. The ordinal pipes [south-east etc.] are also known as ‘offering pipes’. That is because the energy which is responsible for sight, smell, taste, touch, etc., normally functions more in the ordinal pipes. That is technical language, like the computer people who use terms like ‘virtual reality’. Maybe if you read the Six Yogas of Naropa book, you will have the technical description there. Audience: Clear Light of Bliss has detailed descriptions of it. Rimpoche: Oh, wonderful. Now I don’t have to put so much effort in. Then I can go a little faster. I have told you about the ‘wild card’ channel¸ d del ma. This goes up to the tip of the tongue. The job of that particular channel is to block the other channels, so that nothing goes through those. That is why I call it the wild card or loose cannon. Not only does it block, but the d del ma, up to the moment of death, does not let anything function within itself. Because of that it is also sometimes referred to as ‘time channel’. It tries to block anything going through until the person is about to die. Because of the blocking function it is also sometimes called ‘blocking channel’.

Three channels again. The left channel, the kyang ma, carries the tig les within it - some semen-type of thing. It has also some mixture of blood in it too. It is sometimes referred to as ‘motivation channel’, or also ‘moon channel’ and ‘method channel’. The ro ma, the right channel, actually carries the egg or blood, but it has also a little mixture of semen in it. Sometimes it is referred to as ‘sun channel’ or ‘wisdom channel’. The central channel is often called ‘dark channel’, because nothing happens there, it is dark. It is also known as neither male nor female, so it is neutral. Basically you people, those of you who know, get quite a clear picture. I believe there is also a teaching on this, coming through an ex-abbot of Sera Ngakpa. They have a system of teaching on this. I never took that teaching, so I don’t know. I am sure we can find somebody that has done this teaching

291 ‘dod ma 292 bdud bral ma - next to [central] channel 293 Drawing on p. 276.

228 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary before in this particular style. Maybe we can use that. Then, if Clear Light of Bliss is also clearly describing this, read it. What you really need here is to get some idea about it.

Main channels counted. Now let’s count a little bit. I had said that out of the seventy-two thousand channels there are hundred and twenty most important ones: 1. Crown chakra, 32 channels 2. Throat chakra, 16 channels 3. Heart chakra, 8 channels 4. Navel chakra, 64 channels That makes 120. These are the most important channels apart from the central channel, roma and kyangma. Of these, the central channel itself is the most important.

The purpose of the completion stage. The whole purpose in completion stage is to get the airs that normally travel through the right and left channels to enter into the central channel. That is the most important point here. We try to change the actual direction through which the energies and so forth are functioning, because the right and left channels are functioning and nothing happens in the central channel, which is dark and non-functional, almost like dead. Every mental balancing focal point corresponds to a physical balancing point. That is the reason why they tell you to keep your backbone straight. When you do that, you can also think straight. Like- wise the same applies here. The central channel is so important, because is the psychic, physical balancing point. It is not functioning, because it is overpowered by the right and left channels, so things are functioning too extremely. Even if we can’t think much about the other chakras, etc., the central channel is the most important, because the main focal point on which to strike the vajra [of the mind] will be the center of the central channel. That is why the central channel is becoming very important at this level of practice. The completion stage practice has the purpose of shifting the energies into the center. So when you are really meditating, you visualize the central channel, the right and the left channel together, a like a Tibetan letter cha. For the same reason, when you make the Yamantaka torma, you form this nostril-type of thing with two little wings turning inwards which signifies that in completion stage meditation the two side channels feed into the central channel from below the navel level. We have so far talked about the channels in the subtle body and the energies and airs functioning in there. I am glad it is so well presented in Clear Light of Bliss, and the less I have to say the better it is for me. Apparently in that book they refer to winds and drops as the things functioning in the channels.

Drops [Skt. bindu; Tib. tigle] The first drops to be established in our system arise at the center of our heart chakra, which is the subtle palace for the subtle mind and subtle air. There are two inseparable things joined together: air and consciousness. They never separate, no matter whatever happens. Now the palace in which this inseparable air and mind is located consists of two drops. These are the drops which we have obtained from the parents, in other words, the egg which has been fertilized by the semen has provided the base for the consciousness to get caught in. This palace will not separate until you die. So there are two inseparables: 1. inseparable subtle air and mind which never separate 2. air and mind which never separate for the current life time. From there we start to grow the white part of energy within the body and this travels always upwards in the body, like to the crown, etc. The white seeds or drops go up to the crown and remain at the crown chakra level where they serve as the source of bliss and joy. That is why the crown chakra is even called joy protection chakra or something.294

294 Also translated as great bliss wheel.

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The red drops go to the navel level and they help to grow the things that we need in the body. Most importantly it becomes the source of heat, normally labeled as tummo.295 The idea of tummo is to grow heat within the body. It also helps to melt the drops. People talk about tummo as if it were some kind of heat, so they presume that it is some kind of fire. However, my understanding is that it is really a liquid. Once the psychic body is established, the white drops or white stuff remains at the crown and the red stuff remains at the navel level. In some channels more white drops are flowing, in others more red ones. Some channels have more air movements in them rather than red and white drops. That’s how the channels are divided into body, speech and mind channels. The division of the channels from eight into twenty-four is all because of what flows in them.

What causes the inner signs of dying at death or in meditation. At the time of death we get the eight different signals. We talked about those at the Death as Dharmakaya stage. Many of these have external signs, because of the decay of the body, and then there are internal signs. We try to have them correspond and put them together. The internal signs are the ones of white, red and dark [visions], followed by the vision of light. So the stages are white, red, and dark, light. We have these visions, because at about that time the red things we store at the navel level start flowing, so naturally they flow upwards. The white things which we store at the crown level start flowing downwards. Because of the movements of the white and red drops we get the ngangwa kar lampa, chepa mar lam pa, nye tob nak lampa,296 which are the white, red and dark feelings. Physically we start to release those drops, which are the base to hold the blood and the semen, etc. Their jobs are completed and they are now being released and because of that the individual is getting those signs. I am quite sure, if anybody did some research on that, [it would be shown] it does fall very much within the law of physics. It is nothing very special, it is natural. The point is to introduce what is occurring naturally now, so that it can be picked up as warning, as an actual sign. As a matter of fact, this is related to what is known as the ‘quietnesses’. Quietness in the sense of being free of any disturbances, like noise, or drawing attention. Over here [in the mother tantra system] we are not going to talk about it, but in general there are [three quitnesses], the body quietness, speech quietness, and the mind quietness.297 In the father tantras you find descriptions of the four levels of quietness. From the point of view of quietness, at about this time [when the last of the eight signs are occurring], you have completely withdrawn from all external attractions, from what is happening outside. You are no longer picking up anything through your intelligence, like through your eyes, ears, nostrils, body, etc. These are all quieted down. Naturally, since you are dying, everything is withdrawing completely within you. That is why the focusing becomes much more sharp and interesting. For example, a blind person can understand much better through their ear-consciousness. It is much more sensitive, simply because their eye-consciousness is withdrawn and they rely more on the ear- consciousness. Likewise, here you not only withdraw from the eye consciousness, but also from the ear, nose, tongue, and body consciousnesses. The subtler the mental level, the sharper it is. It is obvious. There is nothing mysterious about that. Truly, the total practice is a grounded thing, there is nothing abstract or obscure or mystical about it. If you look at it, it is simple and straightforward. If you try to make it mystical, you can be up in the air with nowhere to land. Then that is a big problem. I am telling you, the tummo is nothing but a liquid, a simple liquid which everyone of us has. If you didn’t have it, you would be freezing to death and no food would be processed. I should not talk too much. When you have completely withdrawn through the white, red and dark stages, it is obvious how it feels. In the dark stage you are frustrated. We see that in everyday life. There are a lot of people with phobias. Some, when they live by themselves, develop phobias. They leave their TV on all night, so there is somebody talking. And then you have people going through the MRI diagnostic machine, all tied down [and pushed into that dark channel] and they also develop a phobia

295 gtum mo 296 snang ba dkar lam pa, mched pa dmar lam pa, nyer thob nag lam pa 297 Clear Light of Bliss uses the terms isolation of body, speech and mind – the word in Tibetan is dben.

230 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary and want to get out of there. And here you are really suffocating completely, so naturally, you want to get out. That makes the consciousness get out. Simple. So we call that stage [as the consciousness leaves the body] Death as Clear Light. Is that really the [actual] clear light? I don’t think so, but we label it as clear light. When you come out from the darkness, you get light. It is a little clearer than dark. When you wake up from that, your whole life has been changed, your whole identity has been changed - you have become a bardo wa. Now in the practice here they try to create the same impact on the individual but without dying. It is as simple as that.

Meditative power – simulation. How do you do that? Simply by making the airs and energies quiet. You are trying to quiet down the energies from flowing in the two external channels and take them away and put them into the central channel in which normally nothing flows. Through that you get the same effect [as at death]. It is an artificial simulation. Since you cannot do it chemically - although perhaps if somebody does good research into it, one may be able to do it that way - since a system doing it chemically is not known, it can be done mentally or meditative. You can give nice, little titles to that process. Because of that the tummo being labeled as fire, ‘the process like starting a fire,’ etc. Because you want to melt the white drops, it is also called ‘moon-liquid’. In the Heruka tantras you see the half moon crescent on his head. This is expressing, ‘I carry a tremendous source of great joy.’ Even some Hindus in India wear a piece of metal or tin cut into the shape of a half moon and stuck in their hair. That is trying to give you that message as far as I am concerned. Simply by making things function just like at the time of the death, simulated by meditative power, you try to melt the basic white material. Shall we call that bodhicitta, rather than semen, drop, etc.? Bo- dhicitta is the technical name which makes it a little easier to talk about it. You want to melt this from the crown, so that it will roll around your body in the middle of the central channel. At the same time the red stuff rises up from the navel. The red and white pull each other. You know, it is the basic, usual attraction. Through that you get movement inside the central channel, which normally does not function. The feeling you have on account of that, the joy or bliss or whatever, is very powerful and strong. One reason is that normally nothing is happening in there and suddenly things are pushing around inside, so naturally you get different joyful feelings. On the other hand, also at the normal sexual level, when you come to the end of the activity, your drops start moving and that is why you get that buzz. The drops in the case of ordinary sexual activity are coming from around the navel and kidney area, not so much from beyond that. Over here, however, it is mentally-meditatively simulated and it is coming and crawling right from the navel and from the top of the crown. I believe it is the same function for both males and females. It is not that in general the females have only red drops and the males only white drops. I believe the same thing happens for both of them, although only drops of one color may be thrown out. It really is a dripping down right from the crown onwards - actually from the top of the body to the end of the body, so naturally the feeling will be much more intense. That is why you come to the level of great bliss. It is as simple as that. Then, if you start losing those drops it is almost like losing your brain. You completely squeeze out your brain and you have no alternative but to die. That is why you are told not to lose them. That is also simple. To avoid losing them, you reverse their flow and put them back where they belong. That is why you have them coming down and going back. When they are coming down, you have tremendous joy and pleasure, and when you have the same movement reversing back without losing the effect of the earlier dripping down, you tickle even much more than you did before. Naturally, the feelings will be further intensified. So the reversing back is definitely a more powerful feeling than the coming down. It is as simple as that. These are the physical effects - it is almost like in hatha yoga. The difference is in how you apply your mind. Don’t forget, your power of concentration is tremendous at this moment! You would not know if somebody hit a hammer on your head, because you are completely quiet inside.

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What you focus on. With such an intense, quiet bliss and joy, if you simply think about attachment to the physical appearance of your partner, or if you focus on sexual organs, then it is wasted. It becomes attachment. It does not become anti-samsara, but a samsaric production to develop more samsara. It is as simple as that. So what do you do? You do not focus on sex organs. You focus on emptiness; you focus on wisdom. Let the period of that joy and bliss experience, feel and understand emptiness, nothing else. I really brought that up in a funny, non-traditional way, but that’s what it is - in a simple way!

Safeguards. Now the question really comes: how do you avoid the dripping out? That is where the airs or winds come into the picture, actually the circulation. It is control over the circulation, without any physical intervention298. You don’t have to worry about it right now - as long as you don’t have the power to melt the semen at your crown, you don’t have to worry, you are not going to die - unless you are doing it too much! But the moment you are melting the drops from the crown onwards, if you are not careful, you are going to die. However, you will not be able to melt them, unless you are able to gain [some control over the airs]. It is physiologically natural. There are always safeguards. You know, in one way, samsara is terrible, in another way it is wonderful, everything is worked out by nature: one thing works against another, one thing works for the other. It is like with those insects out there. There are good insects and bad insects, some other animals eat those insects, and if we destroy all of them, we get into trouble. From the ecological angle, if we try to destroy something, something else will happen. It is all like that. It is very much the same thing on the physiological level too. That is why the circulation, the movement within your body, which we label as air or wind or whatever, comes in.

Airs or winds [Skt. prana; Tib. lung] – the five root and five branch energies Basically there are five root airs and five branch airs. The five root airs are: 1. sog dzin life supporting wind - it abides at the heart 2. tur sil downwards voiding wind. It abides at the private parts. 3. kyen gyur upward moving wind. It abides at the throat 4. nyam nai equally abiding wind. It abides at the navel. [Also called fire-dwelling wind.] 5. kyab che299 pervading wind. It abides all over the body. Audience: In Clear Light of Bliss it says that the pervading wind abides mainly at the 360 joints. Rimpoche: I am not very sure about the 360 joints, just leave it at all over the body. The five branch airs are: 1. moving 2. intensely moving 3. perfectly moving 4. strongly moving 5. definitely moving In Clear Light of Bliss it also tells you which color the winds have and which Buddha family they correspond to.300 That is very good work and that is good enough. But let’s talk about their functions.

The five root airs 1. Life supporting wind [Tib. sog dzin]. It carries all other airs to the eyes, nose, etc. It makes the life continue and tries to increase the length of life. When you do the White Tara self-healing practice, etc., you actually try to connect with that particular wind within you. 2. Downwards voiding wind [Tib. tur sil] .It is pushing air upwards. The business of preventing the dripping is the job of this tur sil. It stops the drops from leaving the body. When you develop the tur sil to

298 Also see Akhu Sherab Gyatso, Vajrabhairava-Vollendungsstufe, p. 67. 299 Full names: 1 srog ‘dzin kyi rlung; 2 thur sel gyi rlung; 3 gyen rgyu’i rlung; 4 mnyam gnas kyi rlung; 5 kyab byed kyi rlung 300 Clear Light of Bliss, p. 24-26.

232 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary that level, you don’t have to employ your hands. It also does the business, making sure you are on the pot, before you let it go. Yes, it works like diapers. 3. Upwards moving wind.. [Tib. kyen gyur]. Very simply, it pushes air upwards. It also works with the food, helps you to speak. When this is damaged you can’t speak. It helps with digesting food, supplies essential things to the body, sends the things to be discarded to the right direction. 4. Equally abiding wind [Tib. nyam nai]. This makes you digest food. The upwards moving wind works more with food in the sense that it delivers the nutrients of food and drink and helps the mouth to speak, etc. Some of the winds work together. This wind will digest and make divisions, whether something should be supplied to other parts of the body or be discarded. 5. Pervading wind [Tib. kyab che].This will make you move.

The five branch airs The five branch airs work with eye, ear, nose, tongue and body respectively. Now, forget about the colors. Some are red, blue, yellow, etc. I don’t know on what grounds this is established. 1. Moving wind [Eye awareness]. It is associated with the earth element. If you are able to collect this into the central channel, you will become extremely strong and physically immovable. No one can push you around. In the normal way of describing they say that you are like a mountain. Even if tractors or bull- dozers were used, they could not push you around. 2. Intensely moving wind [Ear awareness]. It is associated with the water element. When you get perfect on that, you will not get burned. You can walk across fire and sit in the middle of it. You will not get burned at all - I mean to a certain extent. 3. Perfectly moving wind [Nose awareness]. It is associated with the fire element. If you can collect that into the central channel, you will not get cold at all. In the Chinese kung fu movies the Tibetan yogis are the bad guys who sit under the snow and ice and all of a sudden pop up. That is just because of this. Those movies are made without reason, but there may be some reasons. Anyway, these movies project the Tibetan yogis as bad guys, but better at kung fu! 4. Strongly moving wind [Tongue awareness]. It is associated with the air element. When you can collect this air into the central channel your movements will be better. You will be able to fly, without depending on physical walking. 5. Definitely moving wind [Body awareness or tactile awareness]. It is associated with the space element These capabilities are called the common accomplishments. Again, all this is physiological, because of collecting the airs into the central channel.

Vajra strike When you are able to collect all the five root airs and branch airs into the central channel you can probably obtain the clear light and the illusion body and you most probably will become enlightened within the same lifetime. Even just collecting the five branch airs into the central channel or even just focusing on them very strongly helps you to read the future, other people’s minds, things like the five clairvoyances and so on. Strongly focusing refers to what we have mentioned before: the vajra striking on certain points. We had labeled the focusing mind as vajra - indestructible and strong. If you apply that to a particular focal point we call that the ‘vajra strike’. If you forget that, you are losing the basic point. When we are talking about airs, energies and channels, it is because we are talking about where you are going to strike your vajra. That is why I am making a big deal out of it. I am even hoping for you people to remember it more clearly; that is why when we were talking about striking the vajra I said that I don’t mean that vajra because I was hoping that then you would remember better. Otherwise there is no reason for me to make reference to make that joke; it is not just for fun. So wherever you strike the vajra, that helps to develop the joy.

Some Notes on the Completion Stage 233

Does Clear Light of Bliss talk about how to avert obstacles during the zoh rim meditation periods?301 They are there? Okay, it looks to me that he had attended the same teachings as me and it appears that he has sacrificed himself by writing them all down in English. We should remain grateful to him. That is probably why he died so early. The author of Clear Light of Bliss is Lama Yeshe, isn’t it? Audience: No, it is Geshe Kelsang Gyatso. A book by Lama Yeshe called The Bliss of Inner Fire has only just come out. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s book was first published in 1982. It was one of his first books. Rimpoche: That is many years ago. Very good. It is amazing that it was one of his first books. Why did he do all that? 1982 was much, much too early. Anyway, it is very good to have it and somebody had to do it and somebody did it. Very good. It is wonderful. So I am still wondering whether I should talk about clearing obstacles or not. Let me talk to you this way.

Meditating the body as hollow. When you normally do a practice like this, you have [done] your sadhana, including mantra recitation and conclusion. That is called nye du, which means collection or packing up, or gye chong, which means elaborately packing up or concluding. You are yourself in the form of the yidam in the period of in between sessions. Your yidam body - in this case it is Tara - will be like a blue rainbow teepee, the Indian tent. You are not putting things in there. You don’t have a [usual physical] body with spaces and organs, etc302. We depend for our function on basic mechanical systems. Our body has all these parts like a clock. Enlightened beings do not function in such a mechanical way. They function on this level which is the light-natured function. In order to identify and recognize, we start with the teepee [empty, light-natured] body, because you have a [new] external form and internally you have to put all these things in [like channels, winds and drops].

The basic qualities of the central channel. The central channel is at the center of the body between right and left side, but slightly towards the back, with all its qualities such as straightness [softness, smoothness and brightness]. Although it does curve [from the crown to the forehead] we call it straight. It is the same as on the highway: when you give directions to people, you say to go straight until such and such an exit, even thought the highway may curve here and there. So when I say that the central channel is straight, it does not matter that there is a curve somewhere. The upper end is just a little bit before the nostrils. It is soft and gentle like the petals of a lotus. It is clear and crisp like a burning candlelight. These are some of its qualities. The color can be reddish, brownish, green-brown and it is sort of shining and dignified. Sometimes, if you don’t wash your face and you don’t have any oil, it looks like there is a bit of dust coming from out of your face, but when you do apply oil it becomes gleaming. You can say radiant, but that is shining too much. That is not what we are looking for. It is sort of reasonably shiny, not light-radiating like a crystal. It is more like when you wash your face, then your nose will shine, it is more like that. Glowing would be the best word. These are the basic qualities of the central channel.

The four main chakras. Basically you meditate on the three channels at the center of your body and then you need the four main chakras. I don’t think you need the chakra at the lower part of your body. The crown chakra is at the top of the head, not on the skin or on the skull itself, but below the skull, between the brain and the skull, somewhere around there. It has thirty-two branches, is white in color and almost looks like an umbrella. These branches are described slightly different from what we have been introduced to in the Cittamani Tara body mandala earlier303. Here simply from the central channel you get the four directional branches. From each of them comes another one, which makes eight. From each of them comes another branch. That is sixteen now. From sixteen you get another one each, which brings it to thirty-two branches. [It is umbrella-shaped].

301 Apparently referring to pages 38 and following in Clear Light of Bliss. 302 Also see: Glenn H Mullin, Tsongkhapa’s Six Yogas of Naropa, p. 136. 303 For the body mandala see p. 184ff.

234 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Actually, it is interesting to point out that each one of these branches, when they come out, create this little triangular root. Is that mentioned in Clear Light of Bliss? Audience: It says here that the center is triangular with the apex [top] facing forwards. Rimpoche: That is clear, that is very good. 304 Now the throat chakra. I believe it has sixteen branches, its color is red and it is located behind the Adam’s apple. Remember this is all inside of the central channel. It has the shape of an upside down umbrella. The heart chakra is at the center of the chest between the two nipples. It is blue in color. The colors will change at the level of the different yidams. Audience: In Clear Light of Bliss this one is white. Rimpoche: Here it is blue, umbrella-shaped. The next is the navel chakra. In this case it is multi-colored, the shape is that of an umbrella facing upside down. [There are 64 channels branching off here.]

Striking at the channels and chakras. Now, what are you striking at? You are striking at the three channels and the four chakras. The hollowness, the empty, hollow, open inside of all these pipes in general, particularly where the chakras are and especially the central hub where all the chakras are connected, especially at the navel level, these are the basic structural points of how the chakras and channels are built. I am not going to talk about the clearing of the obstacles here. Basically, what I am saying here will serve as basic information and when you really seriously begin to practice on this level, we can talk individually. There is some sort of uncommon way here where you generate certain wrathful deities within those channels and their mantras and hand-implements and duplicate deities are flying around, clearing obstacles. That may be a little too drastic to mention here. I am just basically informing you that there is an uncommon way of doing that.

[2] Inner fire – tummo305. Now we reach to the point of how to collect the airs into the central channel. We will talk a little bit about tummo too. At the ke rim level, 99.9 % of the practitioners are not able to collect the five root and branch airs into the central channel. There are very special cases, some special people, but that is just one in a million, or could even be just one in billions. You cannot rule it out, but mostly without doing the striking practice this does not grow. For laypersons like us the most important, easiest way to collect, or rather centralize all the airs and the mind into the central channel is through tummo. There are a lot of different ways of talking about tummo.

Collecting the upper and lower airs – ‘vase breathing’ As we have mentioned earlier, we have the four main chakras and concentrate on the hub of each chakra, particularly the navel chakra. One should visualize or imagine a hollow or hole306 in there, at the center of the central channel at the navel chakra level. Then simply generate a little circle like that round circle we have in our Jewel Heart logo, but with only two sections in it - more like a yin-yang symbol with two parts: male and female, or red and white, maybe a mixture of red and white like we have in the Vajrayogini practice. Visualize such a joy swirl, running counter-clockwise, flat I believe, and light natured. Above that, you visualize the letter TAM in the nature of fire in this case. It is small, green, with half moon, tig le and na da. That TAM is not only a living, live TAM, but exists also in the nature

304 Clear Light of Bliss, p 21, states that the crown chakra’s ‘centre is triangular with the apex facing forward.’ It is not clear to me whether this is what Rimpoche was describing or something unrelated. 305 Literature: Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Clear Light of Bliss, ch. 2; Lama Thubten Yeshe, The Bliss of Inner Fire. 306 Clear Light of Bliss calls this a vacuole.

Some Notes on the Completion Stage 235

of sound, reciting itself. The na da above is extremely hot and sharp, almost ready to catch fire. It has a very sharp, hot nature and is also very glorious. It is much sharper than the point of a nee- dle, so that you almost need a powerful magnifying glass or scientific microscope to see it, but don’t make it too subtle, so that you lose it completely. That would also not be right. That is your focal point. You focus on this free of wandering and free of sinking mind. The first step is to find the focus. Then, once you have found the focus and are holding it strong and stable, the light from it starts going upwards through your body and it is like a magnet. It will attract all the airs. The traditional Tibetan example is a piece of amber which collects dust or small, little particles. If you rub a piece of amber and put a little dust nearby, the amber will collect it all. I don’t know why they used this example, they could have used the example of a magnet collecting pieces of metal, but traditionally amber is the example. Think that the airs are not only collected, but almost dissolved into that navel level. When you are doing this sort of meditation it is so important not to breathe through the mouth, but through the nostrils. When you think that all the upper airs are dissolving to the letter TAM at the navel, you can swallow a bit of saliva, without making noise. Remember, in the Yamantaka practice, when you say the OM ARAPACANA mantra and repeat the syllable DHIH a hundred times, at the end of that you can swallow some saliva without making a noise. Like that, here you can do the same thing. At the time when almost all the air from the top level has been pushed down to the navel level, without breathing through the mouth, then you slightly suck a little air up from the lower part of the body, actually from the lower doors. I don’t want to use the obvious names. Right now, we may not be able to move up the lower airs, but if you make a little movement inside your stomach, moving those intestines slightly inwards and try to squeeze in a little bit, making those tur sil airs work, that is what is meant by sucking up the lower airs up to the navel level. Actually the upper airs are coming down, the lower airs are being sucked up and then you hold them together at the navel level. That is called ‘top and bottom parts joined together’. Basically [vase breathing] is almost like that. Here we don’t talk about bum pa chen,307 because that is a father tantra term. In father tantra, we talk about vase breathing, vajra recitation, all these different names, but this is what bum pa chen is all about. Here it is ka jor308, which means ‘joining the two mouths’. You can perhaps call it ‘kissing of the upper and lower airs’. Maybe that sounds better than the other terms. Dorje depa309 means vajra recitation; however, it is not the recitation of mantras, but generating vajras. But this is not the place to talk about it. We are talking about tummo.

Don’t force yourself. Whenever you have any discomfort about holding the airs together, don’t force yourself to hold the airs for too long, until your face becomes red. Don’t do it! It will create trouble. Basi- cally, with regard to clearing obstacles, people like us, the absolute laypeople, will have no problems, whatever we do. But sometimes, when trying to take very strong breaths, in order to clear [the dead airs] from inside, it does not work for some people. Normally, it does work, particularly when people have some level of training, they can clear the obstacles in a rather wrathful way. It comes very strongly in the Taoist tradition and others. Even some Hindu tradition will tell you to clear obstacles strongly. But I did notice, it does not work very well for some people, on the contrary, it creates other difficulties. It is safer for everybody, and I might have mentioned it to some people earlier, not to blow the air out very strongly. We call that lung ru sel wa or clearing the dead air out forcefully. It

307 Tibetan for vase breathing. 308 kha sbyor 309 rdo rje zlas pa

236 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary is always safer to have a very shallow breathing through the nostrils alone, not through the mouth. That is much safer. You do this vase breath initially for very short periods. I am not talking about minutes, but seconds, actually. Then, later you may be able to go to some minutes. It is always safer to do it gently and in shorter periods at first. You will know and feel [when you can hold the airs together for longer periods]. It is important here: when I say that you will know it and you will feel it, I really mean that. I don’t mean that you imagine it and suggest to yourself that you can do it. That is not the point, but it will clearly show you, without your hoping, thinking, projecting, that you can do it. It will be clear to you that you can remain longer. Then it will go longer and longer easier. You will reach to that level where you can do thirty-two cycles [of touching with your right hand both your knees one after another, and then your forehead, while sitting in meditation posture]. That is considered quite good. From the tantra gyu dum gyum310: ting dang dang dro wai lung yi gyi ka jor tu je te The air traveling from above and below Has been brought to a kiss by your mind That is the statement of the tantra. Wherever you hold the airs, that is where your focus of mind will be. If you try to mentally say, ‘I need to focus on this or that,’ this is not going to work. Even if you put your focus strongly, even if you put your finger on that, you cannot stay very long, you have got to go, but when you are using the airs inside and hold them, it is different. But right from the beginning, don’t mis-train yourself by trying to hold the airs longer than you can. If you do that, you are disturbing the natural functioning of air and mind together, like you are misleading your mind, trying to force it to focus on a point, even though the air is not there. The air is treated like a horse, and the mind is the person who is riding the horse, the horseman. If you separate them, it becomes difficult. That is why right from the beginning it is important not to force it. People do try to force it. They claim, ‘I can do it!’ and then sit there until their face becomes red, trying to hold the airs together. The actual concentration on the air which is inseparable from the mind goes for a long time, but simply refusing to breathe and just holding the air in doesn’t do any good at all. It is like blowing up a hot air balloon and keep on blowing it up until it bursts, so that does not do any good at all. Whatever you focus on, the heart chakra or the navel chakra, your focus is not only in the center of the chakra, but even in the center of the central channel. The point is you want to have all your airs and energies going into the central channel. When they go in there, you get all signs of quietness [the eight signs of isolation of body, etc.] correctly. When you don’t do it correctly, the signs will come, but they are not in order. That means that the energies are collecting somewhere else. Song Rimpoche told me once that he went to England and Geshe Kelsang Gyatso had a student who was doing that practice, only that, nothing else, for years. He had all the signs coming, but in the wrong order. That was a consequence of collecting the airs and energies in the wrong spot. I don’t think in the West it is happening much, but in the East some people are trying to boast about their fat stomach, forgetting that they are too fat, and pretending that they are able to collect the airs, which is supposed to produce a big stomach. That does not do any good either. The purpose is not to blow up your belly, but to collect the airs into the central channel, and if you do that it does not create any belly bumps. The airs are collected inside [the central channel], and the very fact of the extended stomach shows that the airs are not collected inside the central channel, but somewhere outside.

Body posture. When you meditate on tummo it is also absolutely necessary to sit in the style of the Six Yogas of Naropa or to wear a special meditation belt, which allows you to sit in a position which creates two or three triangles out of your body posture. It has to be either one of those two. In the usual Lamrim meditations, etc.., it does not matter, you can sit whichever way you want to, but at this level, I don’t

310 The Arising of Samvara Tantra.

Some Notes on the Completion Stage 237 think you should sit in any fashion, but you really have to follow the seven stages of Buddha Vairochana sitting style. Audience: I was wondering whether all these channels and chakras are visualized as part of the yidam’s body. Rimpoche: You are working on that within your sadhana. [i.e.: in the context of the sadhana you are already visualizing yourself as a yidam].

Dissolving system. So far we have been talking about collecting the upper and lower airs and bringing them to the kissing state of the air lock. The focal point at this moment is the central channel right in the middle of the navel chakra. This striking point is so important to recognize! Now, is the collecting of the airs to that point enough? I don’t think so. You need to have what is called te wai gye shik, which is the collection and dissolving system at the navel level. This is necessary. The visualization then is not only that of striking on the points, but [as follows]:

Visualizing the dissolving system at the navel level From the striking point311 light starts radiating, filling up all the environment and inhabitants. Everything changes into pure lands and pure beings. All environments dissolve to the pure beings and the pure beings dissolve to the bigger physical picture of you yourself as the yidam. By that time it has to correspond to the dissolving system of the elements. When the earth element dissolves to the water, you get the mirage-like sign. Now you yourself dissolve from your upper and lower parts to the letter TAM in this case. This corresponds to the water element dissolving to the fire element and the smoke-like sign develops. Now the longer AH of the syllable TA dissolves to the TA itself and you get the sign of the sparks. Then the TA itself dissolves to the upper part of the TA and at that time you have the sign of the burning lamp. Then the head of the TA dissolves to the crescent which corresponds to the sign of white appearance. The indestructible palace of the consciousness is probably beginning to dismantle. Next the crescent dissolves to the round tig le. At that time the eggs are running round and you get the sign of red appearance. Finally, the tig le dissolves to the squiggle and that will be the appearance of darkness. Then, either you make that squiggle disappear completely, or it is even permitted to leave that subtle, hair-like squiggle there. Maybe. That is because for some people visualizing that everything becomes empty can be a problem [because it can cause them to fall into the extreme of nihilism]. Anyway, this state is empty like space or like the sky. It is free of three faults: the white, red and dark.312 The most important thing here is that this mind is (1) perceiving emptiness, (2) acknowledging wisdom; (3) the acknowledging mind itself is in the nature of joy; (4) you also have the recognition that this is Dharmakaya. You see, the same practice that we have in the sadhana is coming in here too. It is repeated here. At the zoh rim level, you are trying to make it actually happen and at the ke rim level it is a simulation. The practice is the same thing over here [in zoh rim], but here the delivering makes it different. The divisions of the levels probably comes that way, too. So here in one way you are supposed to be meditating on the gye shik, the dissolving system, and in another way you are focusing on the level of tummo too. These two are being mixed together. By doing that the signs we have been describing earlier will actually appear. [mirage, etc..]

311 The sharp point of the nada of the TAM, see p. 235. 312 The white appearance, red increase and black near attainment [nang che top].

238 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Signs of energies entering, abiding and dissolving. With regard to the striking point you should be free of wandering and sinking mind and actually really strike on that point. 1. By doing that the central channel will gradually begin to open up. The movements or the airs from the right and left channels will somehow begin to enter into the central channel. Because it begins to open, the airs can go in, they can enter. When they begin to enter, the sign of that is that your breathing level from your right and left nostrils is almost becoming equal. Before the central channel opens you sometimes breathe only from the right or the left nostril. Sometimes you breathe through both, but the strength of the breathing is always different, if you would measure it. I am sure doctors these days can do that. They may even be doing it anyway, because through that they come to know when people begin to die. So they are probably measuring that and know somehow. I am sure this can be understood by mechanical devices that measure the strength of the air that you breathe. When the air actually enters into the central channel, the breathing level through both right and left nostrils becomes equal. Neither one is stronger or weaker, both sides become very equal, even the subtle points. 2. Causing the winds to enter into the central channel is not sufficient. You still have to strike more on the central point. Then the sign of the airs stabilizing [abiding] within the central channel will be that no breath at all will come through the nostrils - nothing. Some people, when they hear that, may just hold their breath and claim that they are not breathing any more. I don’t think that is what is meant here, but people do that. If you try to learn how to just hold your breath, you can stay for quite a long time without breathing at all. We know that, because when we say the mantra OM ARAPACANA DHIH, we say as many DHIH’s as we can while holding the breath and we can easily do more than one hundred DHIH’s. We can do hundred and twenty, hundred and thirty. People go even up to hundred and seventy. That can be learned, but it is not the point. So people may say, ‘Look, I can enter the airs into the central channel, because I can stay without breathing!’ Don’t do that. By about this time, you can hold the airs so steadily that your abdomen will not move at all. Here you can see the difference to the subtle sinking mind. Earlier we have been saying that the subtle sinking mind can actually look like zhi ne.313 The subtle sinking mind is capable of delivering the result of not breathing through the nostrils, but it is not capable of delivering the lack of movement of the abdomen. Here you draw the line. You could do that same thing here: You could try to hold all your abdominal muscles together and say, ‘Nothing is moving.’ Don’t do that! This creates trouble. People do things like that very often, but whom are you kidding? Yourself, nobody else. 3. After the sign of the winds staying for a long time in the central channel, if you still keep on striking on the point, then the sign of the airs dissolving into the central channel will come. All the eight signs will arise: the earth dissolving to water, water dissolving to fire, etc. At the ke rim level, some people try to pay attention to the sequence of the signs, but mostly we ignore it. But here, on the zoh rim level, it becomes important that at the level of the water element dissolving to the fire element that you acknowledge that, ‘The earth element has already dissolved to the water element and I have seen the mirage-like appearance and I am seeing that the smoke is coming. Now here is the smoke, the mirage is gone, and after this, the spark-like sign is going to come.’ So there are three recognitions: gone, on, coming. 1. what sign has gone 2. what sign you are on 3. what sign is still to come At this particular level it is recommended to have the ten pa sum de, these three recognitions: what is gone, what is present and what is going to be. The moment when the air element dissolves and you get the sign of the burning candlelight is particularly important for the individual yogi of this level. Although you are totally focusing on emptiness, you still have to remind yourself and do whatever you have to do to make sure that your focal point is emptiness. At the moment where you have the space-like or sky-like feeling, you should really have a big empty feeling, like space. At that point you should recognize the emptiness.

313 See p.167.

Some Notes on the Completion Stage 239

The point at which things become automatic. When you do that, I believe it is automatic that the central channel opens. When that happens, it is automatic that the energy goes in there. When you keep on working continuously, it is automatic that the airs remain in the central channel and when you still concentrate more, it is also automatic that the airs dissolve into the central channel, and it is automatic that tremendous levels of heat will be generated. Because of the heat, the melting and descending of the bodhicitta is also automatic. Because of the bodhicitta dripping down, generating the great joy is also automatic. Be- cause of that, the perceiving mind of this level is also becoming the nature of joy. I believe these are automatic processes.

[3] The nine mixings314 I suppose, from here I can jump a little bit. When you are meditating through these ‘automatic’ levels, you are actually mixing the waking state with the Dharmakaya. It is actually happening. At about this time I think the second stage of the zoh rim is being developed. Out of the five paths the path of action is developed. Also you are able to see the combination of vipasyana and shamatha on emptiness. It will be developed almost at the same time. This will raise a lot of questions. Number one: When you really see emptiness you move to the third level [the path of seeing]. But here you may not be seeing emptiness directly. Secondly, in the Sutra Ma- hayana there will be no development of vipasyana or lhak tong without having a powerful, profound analytical meditation, but in this Vajrayana practice, without going into so much detailed logical and difficult analyzing, you are developing both vipasyana points as well as shamatha points together easily. This is the Vajrayana special quality. Waking state. If you look into the Sangwa dupa, Guhyasamaja, there is a level called lu wen315 which is the body quietness [or isolation of body]. This practice is geared towards the clear light and when you are emphasizing the clear light, you will not emphasize so much the development of the illusion body. But sometimes, when you don’t check it, you don’t know where you are, so when you check it, you will see that here you are at about the level of lu wen, which is the level of body quietness. Basi- cally, that is what is happening during waking state meditation. Tara’s Notes say, Just like during the day time, so during the night the same thing applies and you gradually develop the clear light. Sleep state. Next is the nyi du gi sel wa, the sleep period. Sleep itself is mixed with Dharmakaya practice, dream is mixed with the Sambhogakaya practice and the awakening state is mixed with the Nirmanakaya practice. Death state. Along with those, the actual death stage will also be mixed with [all three kayas]. At the ke rim level we also do all this, but we don’t call it mixing, because we are unable to mix with anything. Everything is on the imaginative level. Here [in zoh rim] you are able to mix something. That is why actual death is mixing with Dharmakaya, actual bardo is mixing with Sambhogakaya, actual rebirth is mixing with Nirmanakaya. This way you get the nine rounds of mixing: three during the waking state, three during the dream state, and three during the dying state. This is called sang wa kor gu, the nine rounds of mixings of waking, sleep and death.

Mixing during waking. Sleep as Dharmakaya really means that when you are about to fall asleep, and since you have developed [the waking state of mixing with Dharmakaya already] you are almost experiencing the equivalent of the death stage well before you fall asleep. You get the nang che top, the white, red and black feelings. Ulti- mately you have the sleep state, which we label as clear light. Remember, earlier we had mentioned that the sleep state is labeled as clear light, but is actually not clear light. The actual clear light is achieved during the path, the practice period. You are meditating the

314 Literature: Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Clear Light of Bliss, ch. 4. 315 lus dben

240 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary bliss-void as Dharmakaya and that is the actual clear light. In almost the same way it happens when such a yogi is falling asleep and is trying to use the sleep nature and the meditative nature together. They are mixed together. That is why it is called ‘sleep mixed with Dharmakaya’.

Mixing during sleep Likewise dream mixed with Sambhogakaya. There are a lot of different ways of dealing with dreams. Certain dreams you can hold, recognize and work with by collecting the airs into the central channel. You don’t even have to collect them, just by striking on the five root and five branch airs you are definitely able to hold, play and work with the dreams. This is considered to be more important [than the earlier way of working with dreams]. The other way is through wishing, hoping, through a mental alertness, reminding yourself that you want to dream and at that time trying to recognize the dream. This is all working on the mental level. Instead of working with striking on the airs, you generate the wishing, hoping mind and mental pushing. The mental pushing is considered to be a little weaker than the air-striking dream state utilization. The method of striking on the airs is considered to be more powerful and reliable than the mental meditative state. Then of course on a high level, the practitioners can do everything within the dream state. So basically there are three different levels of handling the dreams: 1. wishing and hoping 2. striking on the branch and root airs 3. actually using it The next mixing takes place when you wake up from the sleep state. You remain in the dream level as long as you want to. You set your mind even before going to sleep and particularly before the dream recognition has occurred. According to that mind, when the time of sleep is over, the airs start moving. The movement of the airs is what makes you wake up. Even in our ordinary sleep, during that period, most of our heat and air are probably collected at the throat level. When somehow some movement occurs at that place, your sleep becomes lighter and gradually you will wake up. This is even just our basic, natural human functioning. There are a lot of reasons why the throat corresponds with the speech and sleep. Even the rising of the semen during the sleep period occurs through the throat. At the waking period it rises through the heart level and other parts of the body. Somehow the body-speech-mind division has a physiological or should I say semi-psycho-physical functioning of basic human nature. Something very important is involved. That’s why the body, speech and mind is pointed out for the head, throat and heart level respectively. There are reasons to have the letter AH at the throat and why it should be red. Red is the color of attachment. Mostly attachment, joy and love arise at the level of the throat. It sounds very funny. Everybody thinks that joy arises at the level of the private parts, but actually at the sleep period it rises at the throat. A lot of people devote a lot of time to the study of dreams. This is wonderful. I don’t know how much they can get, but you will be able to work with dreams even without having any spiritual practice. If you just pick up the dream and start to work with that, it will work; no question. Not only that, those five branch airs, when you strike them, or even if you don’t, if you just work with them, you get a little clairvoyance here and there and all that is bound to happen. It is automatic, it is natural. Once you do that, it will happen. That does not mean that you have spiritual development. Unfortunately, if such a person dies, he or she will go back to the same level or even worse. That is basically all about the mixing with the dream state. Next is the death and dying stage and how death, bardo and rebirth are being mixed with the Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya.

Mixing during death How a yogi or yogini prepares for death. If the practitioner dies before achieving enlightenment, if he does not achieve the clear light and cannot arise as the illusion body, what can he do? We talked about basic death at the ke rim level. I don’t want you to forget about that. Who knows, who dies when? Then, even when you want to help somebody close to you who is dying, you don’t know what to do. Then you call somebody for what to do. Quite a number of people call me up. But what can I say on the telephone

Some Notes on the Completion Stage 241 over the long distance? I can just simply say, ‘Well, do your usual practice and pray and I shall pray for you.’ Now from now on I can tell those who are here now, ‘Look back at your notes!’ [laughs]. So what would such a yogic person do? Again the point of attachment is important, whether attachment to the place where you are, your body, your circle, the family, children, parents, etc., and your responsibilities. These are the things we normally develop attachment to, but not necessarily just those. I shared with you the story of Kyabje Gomo Rimpoche’s two disciples and the one who had a new shirt which created problems for him. It does not necessarily have to be something valuable in terms of money. The other day I was joking with Rilbur Rimpoche. He has a beautiful bell, a really beautiful one. He has a number of nice, antique bells, but one really good one. I pointed that out to him and he said, ‘Yes, this is a good one. I am just a little afraid of this bell!’ I asked him why and he said, ‘Well, when I am going, I am afraid of this bell holding me back!’ Whether he was joking or whether it was reality, I don’t know, but this sort of thing tells you. In a way, we may intend to attribute the taking of responsibility and worrying about that as a service, thinking we are doing something good, but that is not necessarily the case for that individual person who is helping. It is better if you take care of such things long before. Leaving a will is not a bad idea, if it is permitted by the state where you live.316 It might not be a bad idea at all. Actually it is a very good idea. By about this time, at least one of the reasons to hold on to attachments would then be eliminated a little bit. You would not have to worry about it so much. It is human nature that we do this and we consider it as being nice and kind, etc. but still there is a problem. It is recommended to think, They have not come with me from my previous life. They are friends that I have met here. We spent time together. We have helped each other and that is great. We cannot go together, even if we want to. There were so many people like that in our previous lives and there will be so many in our future lives. There is nothing for me to hang on. If I create negativities for their benefit, it is only I that will have to share the consequences. Even if they wanted to, they could not share these negativities with me. If you don’t have understanding of emptiness, think whatever you can about whatever works best for you to cut attachment. This is the time for you to apply it, even if some other people think that you used to be such a nice, kind person, but that at the time of death you turned out to be a horrible person. It does not matter. That is their problem. It is not your problem. For you it is better that you get yourself free of attachment. That is much better. If other people perceive you as a nice person who changed into a horrible person at the end, like in the last couple of months or weeks, it is not a big deal. The big deal is what you really have to do, who you really are, rather than what other people perceive you as. Actually, you are the person who is going, not them. They are the people to whom you are leaving everything behind. You have the right to freak out a little bit, if you want to freak out. That is fine. Then, if you do have a good understanding of emptiness, it is very good. Then you will not have much of a problem. You don’t have to worry.

My enemy is the ego. Whatever you do, your enemy is the ego, the one that makes you have attachment, that makes you hate people, that gives you tremendous amounts of desire and dissatisfaction, whether it for wealth or anything else. This is ego’s gift! Nobody seems to be satisfied with what they have. It is true. When you have nothing and somebody gives you ten dollars, you are very happy. Look at kids, you’ll see it. Then, when you have ten dollars and you get a hundred dollars, it is sort of good, but not enough. If you have a hundred, you want a thousand. If you have a thousand, you want ten thousand. If you have ten thousand, you will want to have a hundred thousand, then a million, then ten millions, then a hundred millions and a billion and even ten billions is not enough.

316 Perhaps there is some unclarity here about the difference between a will and a living will.

242 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Nobody says that they have enough, including Bill Gates. Bill Gates will have to continue thinking more about how to produce Windows 2000, or the New Millennium Windows, or whatever name they may come up with. He has to think and before anybody else produces something, he has to do it. He has to be so cheap that nobody can copy him and no one can compete with him, because his ego dictates. Behind that is dissatisfaction. I am using Bill Gates just as example. I don’t mean the person Bill Gates, I don’t even know him. As a matter of fact, Allen Ginsberg tried to call Bill Gates before he died. Allen told me that he was going to call Bill Gates, because he owed him a favor and that he was going to ask him to give a million dollars to Jewel Heart. He said that Bill Gates owed him that and that he would call him from his deathbed. That is what Allen had told me. I never asked what came of it, then one day Bob Rosenthal told me that on one of his last days, Allen desperately tried to find Bill Gates’ phone number. Bob said that he could not find a number to give to him. I just said to Bob, ‘That is okay.’ The dissatisfaction we have is ego’s gift! You have to cut that down completely. Satisfaction with whatever you have is actually truly satisfying, a blessing and that is pleasure. That is Buddha’s gift. Dis- satisfaction, ego’s gift, is a source of all kinds of pain and trouble and misery. That is why you have to cut these down here.

Making provisions for when one dies. As I mentioned the other day, it is important to set aside a certain amount of money or wealth that you own even if you don’t want to. Make provision for certain dharmic distributions like for the performance of special prayers and rituals for every day of the first seven weeks after your death and thereafter yearly or monthly in order to do something on your behalf. At the time, when you cross over to the other side what you can really take is the results of your deeds, the karmic consequences of what you have done over here. Although there is no scientific proof for it, we rely on the Buddha’s words about that. In the West you have only the funeral and a memorial service, but for Bud- dhists there is more. A funeral is one thing, a memorial service can be done, but actually there is much more than that. Normally, people will ask the different monasteries to do different prayers on different days. There will be a distribution of food and money which is considered to be offerings to the Three Jewels. Then you also ask almost every incarnate lama and particularly those who have a connection with you. You ask them to pray and perform certain rituals on certain different days, and so forth. All of these things are also part of the rites. It is difficult sometimes, when there are no provisions and the individual person has passed away, you don’t know who owns what and then you probably cannot say anything.317 That was my experience sometimes. You can do virtually nothing. Normally, you will ask the three great monasteries, Drepung, Sera and Gaden, to do certain things on different days, you would also ask Gyuto upper tantric college and the lower tantric college, etc. When you plan that and there are no provisions made, then finally what I did in the case of Allen, I gave some personal donations - you cannot sponsor something - but I personally made some donations. This sort of thing is also necessary. Therefore it is said that you should earmark certain things for certain purposes, while you are in control before somebody else will come in and say, ‘What am I going to get and what is he going to get?’ This is not necessarily a bad thing, it is normal, people have no idea. At that point in time I would not go there and say, ‘Look we should allocate this much money [for prayers and rituals].’ That is not my nature. We would probably need somebody to do things like that, but it is obviously better for yourself if you do all that beforehand and allocate some funds. One should also not forget the poor and needy people and hospitals, etc. Further, you should dedicate all of your positive karma for the benefit of yourself, purify your negative karma by taking self- initiation or whatever you want to do.

317 Probably Rimpoche means that, if no provisions have been made, a lama or friend who wants to help can’t ask the family to keep some of the deceased person’s wealth for purposes such as prayers

Some Notes on the Completion Stage 243

Being fully prepared to die. Bring yourself to the point where you can say, ‘Even if I die in the next minute, I will be okay.’ You have to bring yourself to that level. Then, practice guru yoga, the seven limbs, mandala offering, and do prayers. You pray that at the time of death you may not have physical pain and suffering. You pray to be blessed not to experience physical sufferings. This is quite important. Along with that, pray that you may be free of attachment, hatred, delusions, etc. Pray that you may be free of fear during death and bardo. Also pray that you may recognize death as death and bardo as bardo. Your focal point will change to the future life. Pray that in your future life you may be a Vajrayana practitioner with a great Vajrayana master and that you may be able to complete in the future life whatever you have left undone in this lifetime. Especially pray that you may be able to mix death with Dhar- makaya, bardo with Sambhogakaya and rebirth with Nirmanakaya. Pray that you may have the power to continuously remember and not to forget what you have learned in this life, that you may be able to carry it over continuously in future. At this level [i.e. if you can mix death, bardo and rebirth with the three kayas] you can do that. You pray that you may be able to complete in the next life whatever is left over from this life, more in the way of re-building it rather than having to learn it anew. If you are a yogi who has the zoh rim power of collecting the energies and airs, tig les, etc., and if you have the development of mixing the dream stage, you don’t have to wait until the real, actual dying stage develops, because if you have to wait for that there is bound to be some pains and difficulties. Without waiting, you try to develop those stages [of the death process] through meditative levels. With a very strong desire for that, you rise yourself as yidam. If you think you can manage to do that, you better lie down, rather than sitting up. Lie down just like in the way Buddha died, which is called the lion posture, or whatever is comfortable for you. When Ky- abje Ling Rimpoche passed away, he was lying flat on his back. Gomo Rimpoche passed away in the style of the lion posture. It does not matter - whatever is comfortable and convenient for you. Some physical consideration at that time will also be there. If you have such difficulties, it is not necessary to try to change into the lion posture. If you can, it is okay, but if there are physical difficulties, it does not matter. Whichever way, the mind level is more important. If you really can do it, you start with your meditative process and it will take place, it will make you go. That is a good way to go. You don’t wait until you get that shooting pain to get you out of there. That is a good way to go. If you cannot manage, then that is it. There is a story of one lama who got sick and was sure that he was going to die, so he collected a number of monks and started to say the Lama Chöpa, thinking that within that, he was going to go. By the time the Lama Chöpa, was coming to an end, he had become more alert and awake and did not go! But his manager said, ‘Whether the lama goes nor not, I have fixed the funeral for the eighth!’ That would probably have been something like two days later. In a case like that, it is better not to jump to conclusions so early!

The mixing of the mother and child clear light. At the meditative level of mixing the death stage with the Dharmakaya you take advantage of the base clear light, the actual dying stage, which is not really clear light for an ordinary person, but in this case, for this particular person [who can mix death with clear light] this general occurrence of light becomes the mother-like clear light and whatever has been developed on the meditative level is then called child-like clear light. These two clear lights mix together. The natural mother clear light and the meditative child-like clear light mix together and become one function. That is the mixing of mother and child like clear light. The same process happens with regard to the bardo and the rebirth Nirmanakaya level. I think we have covered almost all the important points that I wanted to cover here. If you are not able to obtain enlightenment at that moment or even not in the bardo, it is sure you will not fall into the lower realms and that life after life your spiritual development will further advance and that the Buddha level is not very far. That is the worst of the worst case scenario. Tara’s Notes say, Thereafter, it is impossible for that person to take rebirth in lower, suffering realms. Even if it takes a lot of lives, in every lifetime, one after another, the person will practice

244 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Vajrayana and each life is further advanced than the previous and it is guaranteed that soon the person will obtain enlightenment. These are the physical aspects. Next, I will talk to you about the mental aspects and the development of the rainbow body.

In case of sudden death. I just want to say one little more thing about dying. Let’s say all of a sudden something happens and you have to die. Let’s say you fall off a cliff. Then there is no time to prepare anything, so what can you do? Try to be pure as much as you can. Let’s say there is no time even for that. So don’t have attachment. I think there is time for that. Remember emptiness. Whatever is happening, there is actually nothing that inherently exists. Everything is in the nature of emptiness. Think about whatever understanding of emptiness you have and go with that. I am talking here about this level of people [the level of the nine mixings] and then at the time of bardo, you will have time to mix bardo and Sambhogakaya, etc. These are actually the ultimate important points of the Maha anu yoga tantra teachings. These are the actual practices of the great siddhas and these are the points the yogis will rely on. These are the practices of the nine mixings. These practices actually lead the practitioner to enlightenment. Earlier on we mentioned some stages where one automatically leads to the next. Actually, at about this time, one will follow the other. These are the points that actually lead [to enlightenment]. With that I don’t mean that by doing just these things you can get the results, but that these are based on everything [from guru yoga, three principles on, etc.] I will probably come back to that a little later.

Developing joy or bliss318 There are a number of things I did not mention yet about how to collect the energies within the body and generating the joy. Basically there are three things: 1. inner activities: burning of tummo and melting of the bodhimind and developing joy319 2. melting of bodhimind and developing joy through outer consort [3. melting of bodhimind and developing joy through inner consort]

1. Inner activities - burning of tummo. I already mentioned that in this process you collect the airs from both the upper and the lower part of the body. I also mentioned the basis of the tummo, that yin-yang type of disc, and the tummo itself in form of a seed syllable. You can also use the letter A-tung [short A]. It almost looks like one of these red triangular tormas. It is upside down. It is said that a tung sheh gyi nam par gye.,.320 You know among the Tibetan letters there is one which is sort of a pointed stroke [here with the point upwards].321 Earlier I told you that tummo is actually a liquid, yet in your visualization you can think about it as burning fire. You visualize air coming in, fanning the fire, through which heat develops. This melts the bodhimind. It is almost like having a fire down there [at the navel] and the bodhimind dripping down is like melted butter which drips down on to the fire which in turn burns even stronger. In that manner it is developed through meditation. You also train yourself in preventing the melted [bodhicitta] from dripping out of your body. Actually, the technique here is slightly different than the usual others. At this level, we have tried to dissolve the airs into the central channel before burning the tummo fire. This will automatically help the individual practitioner. You don’t really have to work so hard at holding back your tur sil air [downward voiding wind, in order to prevent bodhicitta dripping out], because at that time it is already functioning within the central channel. In other systems, nothing of this sort is taught at that level, simply the technique of melting the drops, in which case people will have difficulty with holding back the drops and also people can get a

318 Literature: Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Clear Light of Bliss, ch. 3 319 Literature: Lama Yeshe, The Bliss of Inner Fire, ch 15-18; Glenn Mullin, Tsongkhapa’s Six Yogas of Naropa p. 142-164. 320 Similar in shape to the sheh (shad), a vertical stroke that marks the end of a Tibetan sentence. 321 For a drawing see the Appendix, p. 276.

Some Notes on the Completion Stage 245 tremendous amount of suffering. The heat can be too hot for the head and there are people who don’t know how to handle that. There are people who try to teach kundalini or chandalini. Some of these people only know the particular technique itself but not the total way of handling it. The problem is that they can generate a tremendous amount of heat and they don’t know how to maintain themselves. It becomes so difficult. They have to put ice on their heads so many times! I came across a couple of those people. One of them was an extremely well known local Singapor- ean teacher who taught this system. That is what I was told when I was in the Dharmachakra Society.322 This teacher called me up. I did not want to go to his place, so he had to come and because he did not want anybody to see him, he insisted on coming after midnight. All these problems can arise if you carry out single-pointed tummo practice separately. It is somehow like journalists who quote you out of context. Those people pick up the technique out of context and they work really hard at it. The physical effects build up and then they don’t know how to handle them. Then they might have thousands of people following them and don’t know what to do. A number of people have these problems. All this is caused by practicing out of context. Basically, the tummo is like that little stroke, upside down, but it has to be very small. Song Rim- poche always used to remark sarcastically, ‘These Drikung pas, their tummo s are as big as mountains!’ so it has to be really small. The burning of the tummo is just like when a fire burns. You get a little air, which will cause the fire to burn, so that is that. When the heat goes up your body, you are starting to melt the drops within the central channel itself. You know the thickness of the central channel is almost that of a wheat stem. It is thinner than the straws we use for drinking coca cola, yet the drops in there are slightly bigger. The central channel seems to be slightly smaller than the tummo . Also the upside down letter ham at the crown from where the bodhicitta melts seems to be bigger than the central channel. However, we should not hesitate, because the laws of physics do not really apply here. From now on [at that level of practice] the laws of physics no longer apply. That is why Milarepa was able to hide in the yak horn without shrinking his body and without expanding the yak horn. This is physically impossible, but things like that happen here. There is also one description that says that each and every particle of dust has a Buddha within it. That Buddha is surrounded by his whole retinue of Bodhisattvas. Another scripture says that even a little hair pore contains countless numbers of pure lands of buddhas and bodhisattvas. When the laws of physics that we are normally used to do not apply any more, anything is possible. Therefore, in our case, even though the external thing is smaller and the internal thing is bigger, however, it will fit without shrinking the internal thing and without expanding the external thing. It sounds like we are crazy, talking like this. Anybody listening in will probably think, ‘There’s a bunch of crazy people here, what are they talking about?!’ Anyway, through the heat and the melting of the drops joy develops. It is physical and mental joy and that acknowledges wisdom. This really becomes clear light.

2. Outer consort. At about this level the practice with a consort is recommended or rather, not recommended, but permitted. When the yogi is able to collect all the airs into the central channel and can cause them to remain and dissolve in there, at about this time a consort is permitted. Ra Lotsawa. For example, Ra Lotsawa Dorje Drak, the first Tibetan in the Yamantaka lineage, was a strange fellow. He dressed in monks’ robes, and did have a wife and a family, but no children. At the same time he used to give the monks’ vows. A lot of the Kadampa lamas tried to accuse him for that, but nobody dared to speak to him directly, except one of the geshes, I think it was the famous Geshe Chekawa who is known for his seven point mind training which includes tong len. He actually literally begged Ra Lo, ‘Do anything you want to do, but please stop giving the vows. Look at yourself, you have a wife and have broken your monks’ vows.’ But Ra Lotsawa, instead of saying, ‘Yes, you are right,’ replied, ‘How dare you talk to me like that. If I don’t destroy you within seven days, don’t call me a man!’

322 A Buddhist center in Singapore; the event took place in 1986.

246 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

So the Kadampa geshe became a little afraid and went with some others to a place where the collected works of Buddha, the kangyur, was kept. They all sat there together for seven days, reading the kangyur and the prajnaparamita and probably recited a lot of the perfection of wisdom mantra GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASAMGATE BODHI SVAHA. When the seventh day came to a close they thought, ‘Now there is only one night left. We will probably be okay.’ But Ra Lo did not allow them to continue. Somehow a little, flying dagger came in, hit the geshe and he died. If a person is really at that highly developed level, then, even if they have a wife, etc., that probably does not break their vows. There are some of these very exceptional cases where the actual so-called crazy wisdom level begins, but all others, who are not at that level and try to show that they have the crazy wisdom development, are false, really false. They are misleading themselves and others. For yogis truly at that level, there is no such thing called ‘bad’. Even if you gave such a person the actual ingredients of the inner offering [meat of various animals, and substances like blood, urine, excre- ment, etc.] for people like that it would be nectar.323 I am not sure whether you have heard about it, but a couple of years ago a group of people known as American Buddhist teachers organized some conferences here and there and tried to talk about Buddhist ethics. I don’t know whether they can make head and tail out of the ethics or not. Buddhist ethics is very interesting. There is the sutra ethics and the tantra ethics. There is the Vinaya ethics, there is the Maha- yana ethics and there is the Vajrayana ethics. Anyway, with these conferences it became a little bit of a political issue. They went to His Holiness and talked to him. He gave a couple of sympathetic statements and they went ahead and made this big deal out of it. There are a couple of videos. I saw one of them in which His Holiness says, If these people think they are crazy wisdom people, let them eat what we throw out324. For them it should be nectar. He was talking about this level of person. If you give such a person the inner offering literally, it does not make a difference to them, because of the level that they have reached. In that regard Ra Lotsawa - or maybe it was Marpa - said, It is very easy to pull the fruits of the tree just by looking at it, but that is not the point. The point is whether you can put the fruit which you have caused to fall down, to join back to the tree. If you can do that, you are on the crazy wisdom level. Whatever you do then, is true crazy wisdom. So you have to be able to [mentally] pull the fruit from the tree and put them back - but without crazy glue! Demo Nyomba. One of the previous incarnations of my father’s lineage was known as Demo Nyomba; that means Crazy Demo. He used to go hunting a lot. People were criticizing him, saying, ‘You are a well-known lama, a rimpoche, even one of the top level rimpoches of Tibet. How can you behave like this, going on hunting trips with a lot of people?’ One day, when he was hunting, he shot a deer and told his people, ‘We are going to eat the flesh of that deer, but make sure all of its skin is maintained properly and make sure the bones are not broken.’ They had a big feast with the deer meat and after that, he put one of his malas inside of the deer skeleton, covered the skin over that and snapped his fingers. At that, the deer got up and ran away! The kind of person who can do that is the kind of person who not only is able to pluck fruits from trees by mental power, but is also able to put them back up. These things go beyond the laws of physics. All crazy wisdom should go beyond the law of physics. If you have to remain within the control of the law of physics, there is no crazy wisdom. Such a true crazy wisdom person can actually use a consort. Tsongkhapa, at a later stage in his life, told his disciples, ‘All my airs are now collecting into the central channel.’ The first few times he mentioned that, nobody could quite follow. Then Khedrup Je picked up what Tsongkhapa was actually saying with that, so he started begging, ‘You spent your whole life revolutionizing the discipline of the monks. If you now take a consort, the whole life’s work is wasted. For God’s sake, don’t do that!’ Maybe I should say, ‘For the people’s sake.’ Anyway,

323 Some have called this the taste test. 324 Meaning not garbage, but shit.

Some Notes on the Completion Stage 247

Tsongkhapa ended up not showing325 that he had obtained enlightenment within his lifetime. He used the period of death and obtained enlightenment at the bardo level. We consider that to be a great sacrifice and are tremendously grateful for his maintaining that external discipline of a monk.

A person who can practice with an outer consort has to know that there are three types of consort: 1. Shing gye - field born 2. Ngag gye - mantra born 3. Lhen gye - simultaneous born You have heard about all those326 and I am going to make it very very brief, but there are some most important points. If I don’t say a single word about it, it is not going to be right. Let’s say you have a consort and this consort is qualified and that you yourself are qualified. Then of course, the sexual union has to have the three mental recognitions: 1. body as yidam 2. speech as mantra 3. mind as dharma Speech as mantra represents all the different airs. That is why you put syllables on the tip of the sex organs, in order to hold either the egg or the semen to prevent them from dripping out. In addition to that there are also a couple of things such as finding the three postures: 1. nadi [or channel] posture 2. tig le posture 3. airs posture I mentioned that earlier during the Cittamani Tara initiation. If you look back in your notes, you are going to find it. The nadi posture or channel posture actually entails searching for the channel, connecting it. I can’t help thinking that the sexual revolution of the 1960s has been preceded by the Tibetan Vajrayana practitioners by a thousand years! Particular discoveries of the sexual revolution may have been known for a long time. I don’t want to go into detail, but some of you will know. A hint: the initial of my first name is Gelek ‘G’! People are starting to giggle now. All right, I don’t want to be naughty! So much for the body part. Now the mind part. That is about not only the collecting, abiding and dissolving the airs into the central channel - which is the body part of it - but now on the mind. [3. Inner consort]. Before I go on to this, I have to say something. If you look into the Guhyasamaja, Ya- mantaka, etc., into all these father tantras, at this level there are teachings on how one individual obtains enlightenment through the development of the illusion body. That means that the body itself becomes the illusion body, all body parts. All mental parts become clear light. Actually, the subtle air or lung itself is almost getting away separately from the old body, but still within yourself. Separately from your old body [but still within yourself], the illusion body arises as the yidam’s body which we call illusion body. It is simply through the subtle air and subtle mind alone that one can rise as the illusion body within the individual. This is Tsongkhapa’s special explanation on this. This particular text goes on to say, No one else knows even the smell of this. There is a very special way for the subtle air and the subtle mind to arise separately from your old body.

The rainbow body Here, in the Cittamani Tara system in place of this we talk about the rainbow body. Within our body, whatever impure elements are there, are being totally exhausted. By exhausting these, only the pure elements are left. We have the earth element, water element, and so on. Such a collection of pure elements actually turns into the form of the rainbow body.

325 As a manifestation of Manjushri, Tsongkhapa demonstrated or showed how to function. 326 See Lama Chöpa transcript [Guru Devotion; how to integrate the primordial mind] under the verse on the secret offering.

248 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Who is qualified? How does that happen? The practitioner who has had the capability of exercising the burning of the tummo, the dripping of the bodhicitta, and so forth, and gains thereby control over the channels, drops and winds – all three of them. If you don’t have such control, you are not qualified. Meditation on the rainbow body - first step When you are qualified, you meditate yourself, in this case, as Tara. Right in front of you is the lama who is inseparable from Tara, yellow in color, like twenty-four karat liquid gold, radiating light. Let’s forget about hand implements, because I am just briefly mentioning the practice here.

At his heart level is the seed syllable TAM which again is yellow. This is surrounded by the seed syllables LAM MAM PAM BAM. Remember, these occur already in the inner offering. They are also the seed syllables of the four inner yoginis that surround the central yogini. Then pray that you may be able to develop the rainbow body.

Visualize that lights are coming from the heart of the lama, reaching your body which transforms into light. This light body then dissolves into the body of the lama meditated in front of you.

Then again you rise as yourself in the form of Tara, dissolve to the lama, arise again as Tara, dissolve again to the lama, and so on. If you are at that level, it is still recommended to do this practice for three weeks. That does not mean three weeks of our period. We have to eat, sleep, get up, etc. Here the total duration of three weeks is meant. This is the first, preliminary step. Meditation on the rainbow body - second step The actual step now is that you visualize yourself in the form of Tara. In the center of your body you have the central channel and at the center of the heart chakra you have a moon disc on which is your consciousness in the form of Tara. This is the rainbow Tara. She has two hands, is meditating, wears no clothes, is naked, almost ready to disappear. You know she is there, yet not there, in that manner. (But don’t go too far, like in Star Trek where they beam up the people and the light comes and they disappear completely. There you don’t have any image left and all of a sudden the image of the person comes back. It is not like that here.) Here the particles are dismantling, yet you still see the whole physical form. The particle parts are almost ready to disappear. From that Tara tremendous amounts of rainbow colored light radiates, filling up your channels completely with rainbow lights. From there you generate again tremendous amounts of rainbows which fill your room, your house, your city, your county, country, the world, the galaxy, the universe, everything - everything becomes like rainbows. Finally, wherever you look, whatever it is, it is nothing but rainbows. All forms disappear and you see nothing but rainbows. You can’t catch a rainbow: there is nothing to catch. It is empty nature, like the rainbows, yet you see it. Its nature is empty, yet you perceive it. In that manner you meditate on emptiness. Meditate like that, keep on repeating this process. When you want to stop the meditation, you rise from that rainbow illusion-like state as Tara in your normal function. That is basically how you work on developing the rainbow body. At about the time when you work on developing the rainbow body, you begin to see what is behind the walls, then what is behind the rocks, you begin to see what is on the other side of the mountains. You know, the Tibetans live mostly on high plateaus surrounded by mountains. At the place where you meditate, actual rainbows will also develop even without the presence of moisture and sunshine. Your shadow will become much lighter. You will begin to lose your shadow. Heat and cold also don’t affect you much.

Some Notes on the Completion Stage 249

One of Tsongkhapa’s disciples, I forget which one, wanted to check whether he had developed the rainbow body or not. He asked Tsongkhapa, who replied, ‘Get a stick and hit yourself!’ At the time when you are really developing the rainbow body, the stick is going to go right through you! By doing that, taking on the rainbow body, without leaving any leftover of the body, except maybe some hairs and nails, the person really disappears. There is no trace left. When someone has gone that way, there is no question that they have become enlightened through that method.

Sometimes it is so easy. Song Rimpoche told me a story. Somewhere in the Pembo area north of Lhasa there was a farmer who had a couple of children and a good-sized farm. This was two generations before Song Rimpoche, so about three generations ago. After all his children were grown and married, he then thought, ‘Now, all my responsibilities are over, these are now the responsibilities of the children. I am going to go and search for a lama and then practice.’ So he handed over the farm and everything to the kids, went on a journey in search of a lama and did not come back for a couple of months. I forget the name of the lama he found. Anyway this lama gave him teachings on this Cittamani Tara practice and promised to teach him everything, provided he was ready to do exactly what the lama told him to do. The farmer said that he was prepared to do that, so the lama said to him, ‘From now on, whenever you meet anybody, you have to give a big explanation about the dick; what it looks like when you are young, lets say, twenty-three or twenty-four years old and how it functions. Then, what it looks like and what happens when you are in your forties and fifties. Then, how it functions when you are sixty and seventy.’ It was all terrible, dirty stuff and that is what he had to learn and then tell everybody! The lama said, ‘You have to tell that to anybody who asks you [about what your spiritual practice is]. You also have to fold your hands above your head and say, ‘Due to the kindness of my lama (whatever the name was), I learnt this.’ You have to say that. Can you do that?’ The farmer said, ‘Yes, I can do that, if you really want me to. It is a little strange, but I will do it.’ The lama made him promise and then gave him the whole teaching. It took only a very short time. I remember Song Rimpoche saying, ‘Sometimes it is very difficult and sometimes for some people it looks so easy and simple.’ Within a few short months, everything was working perfectly for this guy. At that point the lama said, ‘Now, as you have promised, you have to go back to your family and anybody who asks you a question, you have to say what I have told you to say.’ So he came back home and all the children were very happy to see him and asked how he was. He said, ‘I am fine.’ They asked him whether he had found a lama and he said yes, that he had found his great lama So-and-so. Then they asked him, ‘What did he teach you?’ and he folded his hands above his head and started to tell them what he had promised. His kids thought that he had gone a little crazy and senile! Soon the whole village came to know that the father had come back. He was actually well known in the village, a shrewd guy whom everybody asked for advice, almost like a village leader, so all these people came to see him and asked him about his trip and he kept on telling them these funny things. His children were so ashamed by his behavior. They gave the villagers the explanation that their father had gone senile. Finally, they could not keep him in the family home any more, so they built a little hut at the foot of the hills somewhere above and away from the family home, so that they did not have to be embarrassed when other people came. The family still went to see him, because they loved him, but they really thought that he had gone a little crazy now. They visited and brought him food and served him and everything. After a while, one day when they went to bring him some food, they could not find him. He was gone. They thought, ‘Now he has gone crazy, he has run away.’ They searched all over the place, screaming, shouting, trying to find him. You know it was an empty area, quieter than Montana. Everybody was shouting, all the village people were going around calling and looking for him. They could not work out where he could have gone, whether he had jumped from a mountain or whatever. By the time everybody had gone everywhere, they all started to come back, saying to each other that he was not found in any direction and that he could not have gone that far.

250 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

When they all came back, they heard his voice. They shouted for him, ‘Where are you?’ and the voice said, ‘Up here, don’t you see me?’ Nobody could see him. He said to them, ‘I left my hair and nails, I left my clothes and I left my mala. Apart from that I have taken my whole body in form of the rainbow body. I have obtained the ultimate level of enlightenment. You people treated me as a crazy person. I would have helped you much more, that was my hope. I could have helped you, but you people treated me as if I was crazy, so I could not do anything. Now I am gone, but take my mala and my clothes, build a stupa and all my family members and those who like me can do prostrations to that stupa, do circumambulations and hopefully, in future lives, I will able to help you.’ That is what he said and then he disappeared completely.

Summary of the completion stage It was commonly known in good, old Tibet that people could leave their hair and nails, while their whole body completely goes in form of the rainbow body. In one way, it is difficult; in another way, it is simple and easy, but if you take this out of context and try to get the rainbow body, then get a stick and hit yourself and you will know! Such a thing can only be developed on the basis of having the fundamental principles of seeking freedom, developing bodhimind and wisdom, as explained by Nagarjuna. On top of that, in order to develop zoh rim, you need the three-kaya practice, the simulating essence of the ke rim. On top of that you have the zoh rim practice, including tummo, which consists of burning the tummo, melting the drops, developing joy and focusing the mind on emptiness, striking the vajra of the mind on the points of the body and the points of the mind. Finally, you have to dissolve the airs into the central channel, developing actual bliss. Such a bliss then acknowledges emptiness and the inseparable concentration on this will be used as direct opponent of ego-grasping. It is the opponent of the ego and all ego-tricks. That is why right from the beginning, whatever hurts the ego is a true spiritual path, otherwise it is not. By the combination of all these things, there is no doubt that we can develop the rainbow body and become a buddha. There are the very important points. There are some more additional points here, based on Gungtang Jambelyang’s work comparing this system with dzoh chen, but I am not going to go through this. Actually there are five colors of the rainbow here, there is the yellow Tara, white Tara, red Tara, etc. We have been able to complete roughly what we wanted to talk about here. A number of you put a lot of time, energy and money in. Some of you have gained a better understanding, some a lesser understanding. Some of you understood what was going on in the beginning and were a little confused during the last two days. All that is normal, nothing unusual. Unless you have obtained this teaching at least half a dozen or a dozen times, you will not be able to comprehend. However, if you read Clear Light of Bliss and compare that with your notes, I think these two will complement each other very well.

Sources for this material. I picked up a couple of pieces of information from here and there, based on the Cittamani Tara commentary given by Takpu Dorje Chang on the basis of Tara’s notes. On that is added a little bit of Pabongka’s notes and that is what we did here. Probably it is on this basis that Kyabje Trijang Rimpoche taught and also the basis on which Song Rimpoche and Gomo Rimpoche took teachings. Probably Geshe Kelsang Gyatso used the same thing and [what he has written about in Clear Light of Bliss] probably comes very close to what we are doing here. That way I don’t have to do too much work and you people can read his books and then sometimes we can talk about it and raise questions and things like that.

The goal of Jewel Heart. In short, if we can become a Buddha within this lifetime, this is our purpose. If we cannot, at least we can make sure that we don’t fall into lower realms but attain good future lives where we can continue our spiritual development. That is our whole job and purpose. Actually that is the goal of Jewel Heart. We do need a building, we need a base, but that is not our goal. Our goal is that each and every person who is involved in Jewel Heart should be able to become a Buddha. That is our goal.

13. APPENDIX

Outlines 252

Introduction to the Cittamani Tara Initiations 253

Four Praises to Tara 263

The Twenty-one Taras in the mandala 275

Channels and Chakras 276

Seed syllables 278

Three-kaya practice from the angle of the primordial mind – based on Vajrayogini 279

Cutting down the obstacles at the generation stage 303

252 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Outlines327

{I} Source and lineage of the Teachings {II} How to guide the disciples by the actual teaching {1} Who can practice this teaching {2} Place where the practice can be done {3} Method of the actual practice - How [I] Development Stage – ke rim [1] The reasons why the development stage is necessary [2] How to practice the development stage [i] Yoga of the Sessions Beginning of the session – Preliminaries. (The sadhana begins here) <1> Taking Refuge <2> Generating the bodhimind, special bodhimind and the four immeasurables <3> Request to the Gurus of the Close Lineage <4> Uncommon Guru Yoga <5> Instantaneous rise <6> Inner offering blessing <7> Outer offering blessing Actual Session <1> Accumulation of Merit Merit Inviting the Supreme Field of Merit Prostration Offering to the Merit Field Seven Purities Four Immeasurables Absorption of the Merit Field <2> Accumulation of Wisdom merit In order to complete the own purpose, the practice of the three kayas (1) Taking Death as the Path to Dharmakaya (2) Taking Bardo as the Path to Sambhogakaya (3) Taking Birth as the Path to Nirmakayana (i) Actual Nirmakayana practice (ii) Entering the Wisdom Beings (iii) Empowerment by the Five Buddhas Families In order to accomplish the needs of others, offerings etc. (1) Offering (2) Praise (3) Meditative States: gross and subtle development stage (4) Meditation on the Body Mandala (5) Mantra recitation End of the Session [ii] Yoga between Sessions [II] Some notes on the Completion Stage - zoh rim [1] Channels, energies and drops [2] Inner fire – tummo [3] The nine mixings [4] Developing joy or bliss

{I} {1} [I] [1] [i] <1> (1) (i)

327 The outlines are provisional; still need to be revised

Appendix 253

Introduction to the Cittamani Tara Initiations

Introduction to the Outer Cittamani Tara Initiation328 We are presuming that everybody has received a maha anuyoga tantra initiation already. Without that this Cittamani Tara initiation is not permitted.329

Before we start we have to raise the question to ourselves: Why are we here? What are we doing here? Some have come here from as far as Malaysia. I don’t think you can come from anywhere further than that. Then we also have a number of people from Europe and from all over the United States. Why are you here? What do you want from here? Why are you bugging me? I was talking with a friend the other day who said that another friend of hers looked at me as a ticket to heaven. That struck me. In one way it sounds very funny. But on the other hand, I guess it is. Honestly. And that’s why you are bugging me, why you are here. All of us carry a ticket to heaven and that is Buddha and Buddha himself said that Buddhas can’t wash your negativities with water – although we sprinkle you with water and baptize you during the initiations. The Buddhas also cannot pick up your suffering by hand, like you would pick a thorn out of someone’s feet. Most importantly, they cannot transfer their spiritual development to you. So the real ticket to heaven Buddha gives you is by sharing the truth. That is the teaching he gives. In Bud- dhism teaching is Dharma and Dharma is the real refuge, not Buddha and not Sangha. That is what you practice. That is what makes a difference. Dharma works in so many ways. In certain areas to many people dharma is simply praying. In some of the Judeao Christian traditions you see people going to church and praying. Some people think this is wonderful, but many of us think that although that is good but you could you better. For a lot of people, however, that is the limit of what they can do and it works that way, in the Buddhadharma as well. For many people in the Buddhist countries Dharma is also just simply folding their hands, standing in the presence of the Buddha’s image and offering some josticks, that’s all. That is their limit. In certain areas, people do circumambulations. In Tibet that is very common. That is also wonderful. Also, the Tibetans do a lot of prostrations, more than any other Buddhist countries. The Chinese traditionally will do three- four hundred, not so many. The Tibetans do hundreds of thousands. They even do it all along the road from their native area to Central Tibet. Sometimes doing the prostrations vertically is too quick, so they do them horizontally. Doing that from Amdo all the way to Central Tibet takes years. So doing that takes a lot of devotion and dedication. You can never say how much people who do that know or don’t know but in itself it is very limited. But Dharma can work that way. Other people again, do nothing else but saying the mantra OM MANI PADME HUM over and over, without knowing what the meaning or the purpose is. That also works in its own way. Then there are a number of people who really know what it is and what it is meant for and what Dharma really is. There are a great many scholars and wonderful teachers, great practitioners. That all works. So Dharma works in a variety of forms for a variety of people in different ways. Then you know that generally we have the three yanas330, mainly Theravada and Mahayana. You know the differences between them. Mahayana itself is divided into the sutra and the tantra part. The Bud- dhism that came to Tibet from India, is the tantra, or Vajrayana, which came through a great many Indian Mahasiddhas, such as Tilopa and Naropa, as well through the monasteries of Nalanda, which produced great scholars such as Nagarjuna, Asanga, Shantideva and so on. Think about them, one after another, how great they were. All of these great traditions combined together, reached the Tibetans, who have been able to embody this tremendous wealth of tradition, both in terms of practice as well as scholarship, without contradicting, but rather complimenting each other.

328 US winter retreat 2004 329 Rimpoche adds: I have only given the permission to do this for one or two people who have not had a Maha anu yoga tantra inita- tion before, because of certain circumstances. However, they should take a Maha anuyoga tantra initiation at the first opportunity they can get. There are a great number of teachers giving initiations and even His Holiness comes and gives initiations. 330 Officially counted as two Hinayana (also called Theravada) yanas: sravaka-yana and pratyekabuddha yana.

254 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Base, path and result. If you look at the basis on which we work you find the two truths, the absolute and the relative truth. Correspondingly, the path consists also of two aspects: wisdom and method. Because of that, there are also two kinds of result: mind result and body result: Dharmakaya and Rupakaya. The basis is what we have. We work with this. The actual work you do, the path, becomes wisdom and method. Method is all the different contemplations you do and even practices like arranging flowers. Relative truth is actually impure truth and absolute truth is pure truth. Because of that many people say that everything is within ourselves, that we don’t have to go and search for something outside, but we don’t see it and we don’t get it. That is what people call dualistic perception, confusion and [they use] all kinds of names, like afflictive or negative emotions. All of those fall in the category of relative truth, even our ordinary body, our confused and irritated minds. The absolute truth is the pure part. Since we are confused and irritated and have dualistic perception and so on, we don’t see the absolute truth. So we have to work for it and try to get it. That is where con- templation comes in. Mostly that consists of purification and accumulation of merit. We need to purify the things that are becoming blocks for us, preventing us from getting what we want to get. Purification alone is not enough. We have to be lucky to be able to see the absolute truth. That is where accumulation of merit is needed. Nagarjuna said, ge wa di yi kye bo kun so nam ye she so sor shak so nam ye she le jung we dam pa ku nyi tob par shog Because of this virtue may all people develop wisdom merit and merit merit and through that attain the two kayas. We try to push the impure parts of ourselves out and bring the pure part of ourselves. That is what we are really struggling for. There is nothing outside that we can get. People say, ‘I am having this struggle within myself. I am fighting within myself.’ That is obvious, because we do have these two parts in ourselves. That is the struggle we are facing. All these teachings and methods, Theravada or Mahayana, are methods to get better. They are telling you, ‘This is how you can get better.’ There are different ways, depending on what is more effective for the individual, in order to purify, much stronger and better than usual. To some people the Theravadin tradition is wonderful, perfect. They can’t take the Mahayana, forget about the Vajrayana. So to some people, Theravada is enough and it is wonderful. It is very disciplined, strict. Whether you follow it that way or not, from the tradition’s point of view it is. On that path you are not so much concerned with others; oneself is the most important. But then, we as Mahayana practitioners sometimes tend to look down on them, calling them ‘narrow and selfish’. But we cannot disregard it completely. Maybe it is narrow-selfish, maybe it is not. However, self determination, freedom for oneself, self liberation, is a principle we cannot do without. We as Maha- yanayins sometimes overlook the self-needs. We almost bulldoze the needs of the self sometimes, in the name of compassion and love. Many people think that when we talk about compassion it has to be compassion to someone other than ourselves. Maybe it is true. However, [if] in our personal practice, we cannot help ourselves, we cannot help anyone. If I cannot do anything for myself, then what can I do for anybody else? Think about that. If I can do nothing for myself, it is sure that I can do nothing for you. So, self service, self liberation, becomes our first priority. It is not to be disregarded. It is almost priority number one. If we know how to help ourselves, only then can we talk about helping others. To help ourselves there are two methods: purification and developing wisdom. Why don’t we see the truth within ourselves? There is simply one reason: we can’t see it, we are ignorant. We are overpowered completely by what traditionally is called ti muk331, not knowing, or ma rig pa, or wrong knowing.

331 gti mug – Skt. moha: ignorance; stupidity, delusion, close-mindedness, foggy-headedness, sleepy-mindedness, mental darkness.

Appendix 255

But the true reality is the stupid ego, the big, fat one, standing there, so you just don’t see it. So we have a target, an object of negation. The stupid ego is the target of negation. Now we have to get rid of it. We are ready to shoot the ego, like some guy with bow and arrow, running through the forest, shouting, ‘Where is my ego?’ Shooting arrows into the forest blindly is not going to get us anywhere. We are so used to looking for the enemy outside, always outside. Of course, we have Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and now George Bush! So we always look outside. There was one of the earlier Tibetan Mahasiddha type of people, a prince. Then there was this war lord, or king or ruler. His name was Depa nyiu dom pa. He got sick and people were doing pujas and exor- cisms for him. So this prince Mahasiddha, who was related to him, was also invited to do an exorcism. He carried a little red torma through the house. Normally, that is a torma that you throw outside. Or they would make a collection of hay, burn that and throw all these tormas at it, and the ritual people do the wrathful rituals to destroy the problem. But this guy carried the torma around, up and down in the house, went outside, came back in with the torma, saying, ‘I can’t throw this anywhere’. Finally he came to the room where the sick king was lying. He shouted, ‘Oh, the enemy is here!’ and threw the torma at the sick king’s bed! So the exorcism was done on the sick king himself. So therefore we often refer to the ego as the enemy, and one ‘who lives inside’. That is how it works. That means that the real enemy is really in ourselves. Just like the liberation is within ourselves, the enemy is also inside. In order to attack the enemy, you have to recognize him. Otherwise, you will be simply attacking. The job of wisdom is to recognize the enemy and find out what hurts it most and push the right button. We have to know how we exist.

After many years of preparation we are able to talk now. But it still is difficult to practice. We are like the little guy, riding on a donkey, picking out little arrows, trying to figure out where the target is. That’s why it is difficult. That is where we are all caught. It is tricky. You can talk about it, but you can’t really talk. You can think about it, but you cannot say it. It is growing, yet it is not there. You know, all of those bull shit statements come up because you just cannot pinpoint it. Emptiness is not a bald-headed, bearded one. It is just simply how we exist. The idea is tsok tsam – just the simply collection of parts and parcels. Just the collection of particles becomes a thing. Just like that, the simple collection of parts and parcels and dependent points becomes existence. There is nothing beyond that which can be found. That is the real wisdom. I did some wisdom teachings last year in Chicago, Garrison and Ann Arbor – after many years. It has been transcribed, so you can learn it332. The wisdom, whether you practice Hinayana or Mahayana, is one wisdom. Vajrayana does not have superior wisdom; it is all the same wisdom. Theoretically, one will talk about selflessness and the other about the emptiness of phenomena. These are theoretical points. The truth is, as Shantideva says, ‘Once you see the emptiness of one you know the emptiness of all’. That is the reality. That is the wisdom part. The other part becomes two points: firstly, clearing the obstacles and blocks. For that you do purification. Then secondly, you try to develop. If you look into the wisdom, emptiness, you are not trying to get something which you don’t have. No. You try to see something that is there. When you look into compassion and love, you try to develop something which you don’t have. You are contemplating and accumulating you work and you develop. You have the seven stages development of bodhimind, the exchange stage development of bodhimind, or the combination in eleven stages. You have to work and gain something. [Developing] wisdom is not gaining something new which you don’t have. You have something already and you try to see that. To develop compassion you work and train your mind. Yes, there are blessings and there are miracles. All of them are true. But you can’t count on that. We are not stupid. If we were stupid, all we could do is sit there and pray for it, hoping our prayers will be answered. Intelligent people don’t do it that way, only stupid ones. It is because they are just not capable. There is nothing wrong with them but they don’t have the opportunity to learn or pick up anything. Honestly speaking. If you don’t know what else to do you have to pray and wait. If you want love and compassion you have to develop it. Training of the mind is going against our habit. Our usual habit is ‘me, me me’. You have to change that into ‘you, you you.’ At least you have to get to ‘equal, equal, equal’. Whatever your understanding of compassion and bodhimind is and particularly looking at the principles of recog-

332 Not yet published.

256 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary nizing our life, you should bring to bear. The Foundation of All Perfections says, len chik nye pay del way ten zang di shin tu nye ka don chen she gyur ne nyin tsen kun tu nying po len pay lo gyun che me par kye war chin gyi lob Precious human life gained but once has great potential but is easily lost. Empower me to remember this constantly and to think day and night of taking its essence. This is about embracing the human life, which we have found this once, by chance. We happen to be human beings, with all qualities. The biggest quality of human beings, apart from their mind’s ability to build knowledge is the ability to communicate. Everybody knows what to do for survival. Watch ‘Ani- mal Kingdom’, or any other animal shows on TV. Each and every one of them has survival techniques. But human beings have something better than that, the capability to understand and to communicate. On top of that we have the precious human life with the eighteen qualities. Yet this kind of life is very, very impermanent. Lu sok yo wa chu yi chu bur zhin nyur du jik pay chi wa dren pa dang shi way je su lu dang drip ma zhin kar nak le dre chi zhin drang wa la I must remember that death is quick to strike, for spirit quivers in flesh like a bubble in water; and after death one’s good and evil deeds trail after one like the shadow trails the body. Our life is just like a bubble in the water. It is true, life is short. How the year goes! We are already in 2004 now. When we first started meeting it was the 1970s and 80s. See how the years go by. Yesterday I heard on MPR that 40 years ago the Beatles have come here. That show was wondering whether the Beatles still have the same influence as they had then. That is not my concern. My concern is that 40 have gone. It seems like it was only yesterday. We talk about John and Paul and George and Ringo, as if it was just yesterday. But it is 40 years ago. That is how life goes. Death is definitely true. No one can avoid it, that’s for sure. Some are gone, some are still here. A friend told me that his father died a week ago, suddenly, while talking with his wife, and using the rosary. Suddenly he was gone. It was probably a massive heart attack. That happens a lot. A few weeks ago we were just about to celebrate another friend’s birthday, but right then his ex wife, who he was very close to for many years, suddenly died. If all those people in the past have gone like that, can this happen to me? Yes, it can, any minute, any time, anywhere. That is the reality of our life. The Seventh Dalai Lama said, Everybody is running towards death like a galloping horse. There is not even a minute to rest, since the moment of birth. Gungtang Jambelyang says, Some are high, some are low. It looks like a big difference Some are relaxed, some are stressed, but everybody equally has suffering. Buddha says, Some are here in the evening, and not here in the morning. Some who are here in the morning are not here in the afternoon. Buddha pronounced the Four Seals or Buddhist logos:

Appendix 257

All created things are impermanent. All contaminated things are in the nature of suffering. All phenomena are by nature empty. Nirvana is peace. That is true. We all have that. Everything is suffering. Sometimes it gives you little picnic spots, wonderful, happy, joyful. He agrees with me, she agrees with me, we are all happy. However, the next minute, ‘I received a call. He doesn’t want me to come.’ Or, ‘He did not call me’, for two hours, five hours, the whole day, ‘The whole week end he didn’t call me’. Or we say, ‘I am heart broken again’. And we cry. So even the joyful, beautiful spots becomes painful and sorrowful. That is their nature, because they are contaminated. Then, all phenomena are by nature empty, therefore the only thing that can bring peace is nirvana. The only true joy and true peace and true harmony is to found when you obtain nirvana. These are the Four Seals. All contaminated things are in the nature of suffering. Even death doesn’t end that. There are people who say, ‘I cannot take it any more, therefore I am committing suicide.’ But that doesn’t work. It doesn’t end the suffering. If that worked, we could all just commit suicide. Maybe that is what Jim Jones thought, when they were all committing suicide. Who knows. So nirvana is the only peace. Ending the life doesn’t end the suffering, because it continues. Continuation is true fact. We can’t confirm it scientifically, because we don’t see anybody coming back and saying ‘hello’. Even when we see all these Tibetan incarnate lamas, it sometimes turns out that there are two or three incarnations of one lama, so we don’t know who is what. That is also not good. We have no confirmation. The incarnate lamas can’t confirm it really. They are just born like babies. Who knows where they have come from. You never know. Reincarnation is reality. There is no doubt, but I can’t show you how it works. I can only tell you how it works. Logically, you can understand, provided you understand two, three other points first. One point is: Mind is only result of mind. Non-mind cannot become mind. That is very difficult to establish. Some scientists are trying to say that non-mind can become mind. They are trying to establish artificial intelligence. The central argument is continuation of mind. Scientifically, we don’t know it, but logically we do. Scientifically, there has never been produced a perfect mind. Even scientists now, when thinking about artificial intelligence, are just trying to establish favorable conditions and wait. Ray Cos- well, for example, writes, ‘I am going to capture a consciousness and locking it in my conditioned environment.’ He doesn’t use the name computer for that, but it looks like one. It sounds a lot like inviting wisdom beings and sealing it in with DZA HUM BAM HO. That itself shows, no matter how sophisticated the scientific development may be, it can never produce a consciousness, one that functions like human consciousness. Buddha says it could never work. Consciousness is a continuation of consciousness. Arti- ficial consciousness is possible, but what it means is that if the conditions are right, a consciousness can enter and function. Robots are robots. They don’t become persons. Persons also don’t become robots. They can become zombies, but not robots. Zombies, that is another thing. Is the zombie the same person who died? No. Again, it is another consciousness that has entered, not a superior, but an inferior consciousness, which is only able to function at the level of a zombie at that point. Zombies’ intelligence is less than human beings’. That’s exactly why we call them zombies. According to Buddha, after death you go to either a good or a bad place. It is black or white. There is no gray. When I first came here, I was accused of having no gray, that everything was black or white for me. Maybe I am overly influenced by this teaching. There is no gray. Either you have chocolate toes or milk toes. You can’t have orange toes. Whichever it is going to be, good or bad, there is no second person who decides to go here or there. It is not a judgment. There is no judgment day. The question really is, whether you have a choice or whether a natural process will just go through. We do have choice. You came to listen to the Cittamani Tara teachings. That is going to provide you a choice at the time of death. You can choose where you want to be born, who your parents are, how you would like to look, what you would like to do. You came to pick up that capability of choice. That is the Vajrayana quality. Others don’t. If you only do good things, you will finish off your bad karma and you will be left with only good karma. Therefore, you are bound to have a good rebirth. That is the basic principle of the Theravada or even the Mahayana sutras. In Vajrayana, the idea is that you can do something else. In the next days we will go into the question how that works.

258 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

If you cannot choose, then the natural process goes through, based on karma. That’s why we do purification, avoid bad things and do good things. But we are now in the 21st century. We don’t want too many restrictions, not this, not that. Therefore, the Vajrayana is perfect for us. Actually, we are also capable. We are not only good, we are really capable. You need an open mind, and eagerness and willing- ness. That really gives us the opportunity to do something better than anybody else. I guess that’s why you are here. If you can’t, then the natural process takes place. That means the six realms. There is nothing going beyond. All six realms are within samsara. They are contaminated in nature, suffering in nature. You may get some picnic spots here and there, but you will cry tomorrow. We and all others are in the same boat. It may look different from the outside. Some people look more efficient and more organized. Some are more rightists, others more leftists, you can be extremist or main stream or side stream, or Wall St or side street, or whatever. You may look different. One of our friends some years ago was on Wall Street. He had a three piece suit and nice clothes and so on. But we also know the same friend with a beard, looking like a farmer. But wherever you are from, Wall Street or Side Street, whether you are main stream or extreme, all are in nature contaminated and therefore suffering. It is samsara. We all would like to be free from this and therefore generate the bodhimind. Think whatever you can according to the Vajrayana or the wisdom teachings and with this mind we will be approaching the initiation of Cittamani Tara.

Introduction to the Inner Cittamani Tara initiation Since we need a well-established base for the practice of vajrayana, it is customary in the Gelugpa tradition to give at least a nice, short teaching on the Lamrim tradition. It is very important. This is usually done in the tradition. Even when Purchog Jampa Rimpoche, a great master and teacher of the 13th Dalai Lama, gave Vajrayana teachings or initiations, he gave Lamrim teachings first. Some people even said, ‘Maybe that lama doesn’t know how to teach vajrayana.’ It is not that he couldn’t teach vajrayana, but he knew that for the essence of vajrayana to work the Lamrim foundation is absolutely necessary. So he was always teaching Lamrim even in vajrayana teachings.

Guru devotion. We have been talking about the Lamrim stages and we have talked about guru devotion as the root of all development. Then I will be talking about the particular guru yoga in Cittamani Tara anyway. However, as I have mentioned earlier, the root of your spiritual development is faith. That again, is intelligent faith, by understanding, by checking the reasons that you have already heard about. The teaching is used as reason to prove that Buddha is perfect. From there you have to understand and develop intelligent faith. Then the second point is to remember kindness and appreciation and respect. It automatically follows from the first point, unless you don’t know anything about it. Simple appreciation for the individual is also not enough. The master is a person representing a buddha. Not only that: he is a buddha for you. That doesn’t mean that he has to be a buddha for everybody or that everybody has to follow the same thing. There are certain Dharma organizations where they will emphasize the guru practice in a way that their teacher, whoever it may be, whatever that person does, is totally enlightened functioning. As we see, even today a number of Tibetan Buddhist organizations are doing this. But that is not the main point. Getting organized in that manner doesn’t really help the individual that much. What does help is the personal understanding, personally building it, by understanding and then appreciation. That establishes the root of all development, not an organized prescribed system. I am glad Jewel Heart is not doing it that way. If you do, it becomes quite close to a cult system. The question is: Do we need guru devotion? Yes, we do. But do we need it established through an organization? No. The individual has to find out in their own way and handle it. That is really the point; otherwise it will become funny.

Embracing human life. After developing guru devotion, what are you supposed to do? Embrace the human life. Recognize it’s value, remember its importance, remember how difficult it is to find, if you can from the point of view of cause, nature and example. I am not sure if I am doing a service or disservice if I present it in such a short format, but still, those of you have heard it a number of times will know what I am talking about. Those who have not heard, might have read the transcripts or listened to tapes.

Appendix 259

Why is our life precious? Because of the opportunity we have. Human life in America in particular is more precious than human life anywhere else. True. Sometimes we may say, ‘Oh, that is American ego.’ Maybe, but in reality American life has more opportunities than for example many countries in Asia. Actually, when I name America, Europe goes together with that. That does not mean that I think Caucasians are better than others, but from the point of view of opportunities, this is a land of opportunity. Spiritually, in any case, there is every opportunity here. Granted, many of the great spiritual traditions have come from outside America. The Judeo-Christian tradition is imported and so is the Hindu- Buddhist tradition. And it is growing very well here. If you look at the source of Tibetan Buddhism in Tibet, what you can get there now, it is not that much – mainly a bunch of communists. That’s what it is. Look at India. You don’t have much there either. Whatever is surviving from that tradition is surviving outside its original home. We do have that precious human life with us. There are eighteen qualities. If you look at what they mean, it is all about opportunity. In detail they tell you that it means a life where Buddha’s teaching is available, not too late, not too early and so on. When you sum it up it’s about opportunity and capability. Both combined together can deliver the goods. It is however, difficult to find. This is absolutely true, from a variety of angles. It is difficult to find from the karmic point of view, from the causal point of view. From the example point of view we have this one: Once every 500 years a blind turtle pops up in the ocean anywhere on earth and the chances of it sticking its neck to a yoke floating on the ocean is next to impossible. It is an example of something impossible, but it is happening. We happen to be in this position. It is really a blue moon period.

Impermanence-death. Life is definitely impermanent. It changes. Change is definite. There is no question. We are used to saying that death is definite. That is true. But change itself is definite and you never know when it is going to change. The biggest change we face is the change of identity. We will have to change our physical identity. That is what death is. We are going to unplug form the society that we have plugged in. We dissolve our whole environment and everything and carry whatever we can with us and what we can’t carry is left behind, including our body. It is just like when we move out of a house. We carry whatever we can and the rest we leave it for the next person to clear out, throw away or whatever. When we die we can’t take our body. So we leave it behind for somebody else to clean it up. Death is very definite. No one and nothing can stop it. The second point is that we cannot add to our life span. It continuously decreases, day by day, moment by moment. The third point is that at the time of death, nothing but Dharma can help.

Suffering realms. After death, what happens? It is going to be either a good or a bad rebirth. You have to take rebirth. It is not like a candle light. When the wax is exhausted, the candle goes out. That is not what happens when we die. The continuation totally depends on how we handle it. If we don’t know how to handle it, we can’t make decisions and the process will take over. The process is based on the karmic system. If you have a lot of good karma you will get a good life and if you have a lot of bad karma you will get a bad life. Nothing more and nothing less. It is as simple as that. As long as we cannot get out of samsara, we will be roaming within it and there are three realms, the desire realm, the form realm and the formless realm. These are the three options where we can go. The desire realm is all created by contaminated karma, positive or negative. As long as it is contaminated it will produce the desire realm. If you have obtained shamatha or samadhi but you don’t have the wisdom that cuts the root of samsara you produce the four form realms. Each one of them has a pre- and an aftermath level. That makes it twelve divisions. After that you have the four formless realms: space-like, mind-like, nothingness and the peak of samsara. Beyond that it is non-samsaric, but without wisdom you don’t get there. Even all the positive karmas will still produce samsaric experiences. That is why we divide karma into three categories, not just good and bad karma. The third category is called mi yo wa333, un-moving or unshakeable karma. However, even that karma can’t take you out of samsara.

333 mi g.yo ba

260 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Renunciation. Because of that Buddha has emphasized the mind of renunciation, or seeking freedom or kicking your ego’s butt. Whatever you may call it, it becomes necessary. As long as we have the desire to service the ego or self, all karmas, even positive ones, become samsaric. These karmas cannot give us nirvana. That is why they are called ‘contaminated’. As long as we are lacking wisdom, every good thing still makes us move around in samsara longer. We are traveling from one picnic spot to the next and even the picnic spots of course have pleasure as well as tremendous suffering. Every half an hour we change our mood. First we are happy, happy, happy, then sad, sad and crying. We may be in the picnic spot and enjoy ourselves, but soon we are crying, not tears of joy, but of sadness. We do that. We suffer. Some- times we don’t even know where the sadness comes from and what it is. It is actually great that we go through these sad things now, because if we have to take that into our future life, surely it will give us hell, and hell realm rebirths. However, because of Dharma practice we experience them now. How wonderful, that a little head ache can thus substitute for a whole life in a hell realm. Still we don’t appreciate that. The reason is that we don’t even know what is happening. I know only one person who doesn’t want to get rid of their suffering and that is Gek Hong, a friend in Muar, Malaysia. She cherishes every pain. She will not take aspirin or anything, because she says, ‘I don’t want to lose my opportunity to get rid of my negative karma.’ But that again is too extreme. And then, we do meditation. We may think meditation is sitting still, holding tight, thinking nothing and breathing deeply. Such a meditation will be the cause of rebirth in a formless realm, like the realm of non-consciousness and nothingness and the peak of samsara. That is the difference between the Buddha’s teaching and that of others. Buddha emphasizes wisdom more than mental discipline. Yes, we do require mental discipline and mental stability. There is one stage in the first form realm at the preliminary level called nyer to mi chog me. This is a point you cannot do without. That is shamatha. But the moment you reach that level you do not continue to emphasize sitting without thought and so on, but utilize that capability of focusing and shift the focus from a fixed point to wisdom. That is Buddha’s extraordinary quality that any other teaching does not have. That is why it is possible for his followers to be free of samsara, the circle of contaminated life. You can get rid of it.

Three Higher Trainings. Thus, we embody the Three Higher Trainings, which are discipline, concentration and wisdom. The higher training of discipline [or morality] is the karmic discipline: you can’t hurt anyone, including yourself. That is discipline. Then concentration and focusing we know. Then wisdom. This is the essence of the Three Principles teaching and the essence of the three scopes of the Lamrim teaching. This is the real essence of particularly the first principle. To know how to handle yourself, that is the bottom line. We have been looking for ‘Bus stop Bud- dhism’. I guess this would be it. But there is no bus here. In Michigan there are no buses. There is one that goes from Ann Arbor to Detroit but it takes two and a half hours or something. Anyway, we handle ourselves through the Three Higher Trainings.

Caring for others – bodhimind. Once we know that then our caring and compassion for others are worthwhile. Until then, even though you may have a burning desire to help others, you will not know how. So you have to stand there, saying, ‘What can I do for you?’ When we need help and somebody says that to us, we know it is not that great help. Probably that person does not know what to do, even though you explain. Let’s say you have an illness and go to a doctor and explain all the symptoms. If the doctor still sits there and just says, ‘What can I do for you, how can I help you?’ then we are in trouble. The doctor has to make sure what your trouble is, take x-rays, MRI or whatever. We don’t really know what is wrong with us. We don’t know what kind of help we need. That is why we go to the doctor. But if the doctor also sits there and asks, ‘What can I do for you?’ That is a problem. It is the same thing with the spiritual path. If you need spiritual help and the person you ask can also say, ‘What can I do for you?’ that is a sign that you have to go somewhere else. By now we sort of know the general problem for everybody and we sort of know the general solution, plus we have had personal experience of trying to do that for ourselves. That gives us the actual capacity to help them. Therefore, we should develop great compassion and bodhimind by remembering every sentient being as a mother, remembering their kindness, promising to repay it, developing love for all beings equally and caring for

Appendix 261 them equally, feeling unbearable compassion that really wishes them to be free from the sufferings that they have to experience, taking personal responsibility of doing whatever it make take to help. At that point you think, ‘Right now there is nothing I can, therefore if I want to help I will have to become a buddha.’ Bodhimind is the mind that goes out of the way to become a buddha in order to be able to help all beings. You want to complete your own purposes as well as the purpose of others. Our own purpose is freeing ourselves from samsara, from nirvana, and bringing ourselves to the state of total enlightenment so that we can bring others there too. For example when we take the tantric vows we say: I will save those not yet saved I will deliver those not yet delivered I will console those not consoled I will establish all beings in Nirvana. That is the ultimate motivation, the ultimate mind, the precious mind, the bodhimind or Buddha’s mind, the bodhisattva’s mind, bodhicitta or whatever you may call it. But it is the mind that is precious, kind, compassionate, it has ultimate, unlimited, unconditioned compassion. Just getting that alone is of huge benefit. The Bodhicaryavatara says in chapter 1, By developing this mind alone, no matter whoever and wherever you might be, you will be ear-marked to become a Buddha. You are almost like the Prince of Wales, except I wonder if the Prince of Wales will ever become king! Most probably not. But here you are picked and chosen to be the successor of Buddha. You are going to become a Buddha. You will become a leader, guide, helper, protector of all beings, freeing them from samsara and nirvana. You will be the object of worship by men, women and gods. You will be the protector of hell, heaven and earth. That is what Shantideva says. This is the precious mind. However, even though developing this mind for a short period is wonderful, it is not good enough. We have to maintain that mind. With maintenance we always have a lot of problems. First we have a problem getting it and once we got it we have a huge problem maintaining it. We have so many obstacles. There is anger, jealousy, hatred, attachment. All of them are bubbling up like boiling water. I still see the picture even today. While I was escaping from Tibet in 1959, I was attacked by Chi- nese planes. I could even see the persons up there sitting in the open air plane doors. Two of them were shooting from machine guns. I could see the ground around me popping up like boiling water, right in front of my feet and all around me. Everybody else had taken cover somewhere. There were 30, 40 people with me who tried to lead me somewhere. My manager had this mauve colored umbrella that he was carrying behind me all the time. But suddenly, when the plane came close, the umbrella was upside down, flying around somewhere and when the plain raid was all over, people were popping up from behind bushes, rocks and everywhere. I didn’t go anywhere. So I saw the ground around me bubbling up like boiling water. Somehow I didn’t get hit by any bullets. Later I was told the Chinese thought that the Dalai Lama was going that way. Maybe they were trying to just shoot around me, trying not to get me. Anyway, I can still see that picture in my head. The sufferings are popping up just like that. When you realize that, the question of compassion and kindness and love becomes really relevant, not only for others, but also for ourselves and for everybody. That is the true meaning of leaving no one behind. That is true compassion. The Republicans have that slogan: No child left behind. But through their policies all the teachers are left behind! Or perhaps they mean that no students will be left behind because they have driven them all away. Maintaining that compassion is not easy. We talk about equanimity, but there is no equanimity in our mind. We may have compassion but no equanimity. There is this Tibetan story. Someone asks a kid, ‘What do you feel when your father is fighting with another person?’ The kid says, ‘I like to see my father win.’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because he is my father.’

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‘Then what about if you are fighting with someone else?’ ‘Then of course I like to win, because it is me.’ That is the true fact. We have that in our blood, in our culture, in our bones. We don’t have equanimity at all. We pretend that we care, but we don’t really do it. True bodhimind depends on true equanimity. The traditional example is: Unless you have a smooth wall, how can you have a mural painting? The painting would not be smooth if the wall is not smooth. Bodhimind is like the beautiful painting, but in order to make sure that it can be developed we need the smooth base of equanimity. That does not mean that we can’t get it. We can get it. We are capable. Besides, if we cannot, who else can? Nobody.

Wisdom. Equanimity-based compassion and love is also not enough. We need wisdom. Wisdom is the main key. The opposite of wisdom is ignorance or ego. That is our real enemy. It is running our lives but it is all false. It is completely created but it functions as if it is real. When you go down deeply and search for it, it is not there. It is more than virtual reality. In the case of virtual reality, we perceive it but when we try to catch it, it goes away. But here, we perceive it and when we catch it we can still hold it. We are brainwashed too much, in life after life. We see this as reality. That’s why for some time we can still hold it, [even after refuting it]. But in true reality it is not there. The wisdom of emptiness is nothing new that you can get. It is truly knowing that we don’t have the thing that we thought we had. That is wisdom. You are not searching for something new to discover. Rather, you realize that there is something you thought you had, but you don’t have it. In the beginning I used to tell you: if you look into zero you get nothing. [If you look into interdependence you get emptiness, something exists but not in the solid way that we think, yet it functions]. Why am I talking about this? I said a number of times: emptiness is what really destroys the ego. Empti- ness is the same in Hinayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana. There is no difference. Vajrayana may have some thing to make you discover it better and faster, but what you really discover is the same emptiness.

Vajrayana. Now, what is so special in Vajrayana? Not the object we perceive but the perceiving subject. That subject is the perceiving mind. Sutrayana talks about the same mind as vajrayana. So again, what does vajrayana do? It makes this very mind into joyful, blissful nature. It makes the mind blissful, almost inseparable from bliss. Through that it becomes powerful. Allen Ginsberg said that he tried to have sex and write poetry at the same time. He knew where he was heading with that. That is actually the vajrayana technique. Making the mind into bliss nature and let the mind work at that time, so the efficiency becomes far better than the ordinary, simple faculty of thinking or analyzing. As the American saying goes, ‘Don’t work hard, work smart.’ Such a vajrayana practice not only depends on the preliminaries as we just mentioned, but also on a proper initiation. Without an initiation there is no accomplishment. When you squeeze sand you will never get butter. You may get oil though! Otherwise, why would we go countries that only have sand? Anyway, the initiation is necessary. Particularly for this Cittamani Tara there is its own initiation. The essence of Tsongkhapa’s practice is Guhyasamaja, Heruka and Yamantaka. It is not Tara or Va- jrayogini. But on the other hand this is extraordinarily fantastic and powerful and very easy. Particularly, this teaching has been spoken by Tara herself. It is not like the tantra that Buddha has taught 2500 years ago, which has been carried along. It is Tara herself who spoke to Takpu Dorje Chang, just a couple of generations ago. Even this initiation itself is very simple and very interesting. It is even simpler than Vajrayogini and certainly a lot simpler than Yamantaka, let alone Guhyasamaja. When you look at the words Tara spoke to Takpu, it sounds very much like Milarepa. He said about the vinaya, the disciplinary rules, which is dul wa in Tibetan: I don’t anything about dul wa or do ha, but if you tame your mind that is the real vinaya. He said, I don’t know anything about the ‘beyond’, but when you leave this ordinary state, you are beyond. He had that unique way of teaching. So Tara’s way of speaking here is like that. On the basis of her teaching we have had the outer initiation and are now going to have the inner initiation.

Appendix 263

Four Praises to Tara 1. Praises and Requests to the Assembly of Deities of the Venerable Mother of the Twenty-One Homages - rJe btsun ma phyag ‘tshal nyer gcig gi lha tshogs la bstod cing gsol ba ‘debs pa by Matisara Lodrö Gyatso

Homage to Arya Tara! 0 Well-born of the holy actions of all universal Conquerors! Supreme refuge of all the three realms’ Beings! Venerable treasure of compassion! - I bow at your lotus feet, Tara, mother of conqu’rors! 1. With divine actions quick as instant lightning, You make the foes of the conquerors or objects of practice, And Ganesh and others, all as obedient as slaves - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 2. Demons of sickness and plague and evil spirits, Untimely death, bad dreams and obscurations All such dark adversity you quell! - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 3. All qualities, good collections, merits and power, Glory, excellence, and two kinds of realizations, And the aryas’ seven treasures, you fully develop - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 4. Of beings and world you increase all the splendor and majesty, Granting the special, deathless, supreme siddhi, And you conquer in battle the Lord of Death! - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 5. As requisites for practitioners travelling to freedom, You quickly summon each and every pleasing And longed-for collection and do conducive actions - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 6. By the mere mental thought of you, you make All assemblies of spirits, such as the ten Directional guardians, gather with servile devotion - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 7. Should evil ones, thinking and acting to injure others, Bring down on us magic spells, curses, imprecations And so on, you turn all their power back upon themselves - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 8. From noxious beings, who injure the Conqueror’s doctrine, Perversely rebelling against right Dharma conduct, You quickly separate the life and body - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 9. From outer and inner adversities and harm Through producers of suffering physical and mental, 264 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

You guard and protect us in this and all future lives - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 10. If one seeks refuge in you, you quell his injurious Maras, and perverse thought of tirthika conduct, And then apply him to the perfect path - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 11. With torrents of rain of all desired precious things, Such as food and wealth and stores of enjoyments and beasts, You eliminate every poverty, hunger and thirst - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 12. You let us achieve every aim we intend, as we wish; With mundane and supermundane auspiciousness and Goodness, you fill the directions all the time - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 13. For hindering demons, obstructions and evil signs, just by one’s mentally recollecting your form, You put him in a vajra tent, without fear - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 14. With frowning, very active, open eyes, You smash as if into atoms all bearers in mind Of cruelty, Ganesha and his hindering demons - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 15. All sins and obscurations of karma and klesha Which throw one into the realms of woe, you cleanse And purify, Mother, just through recalling your face - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 16. Deep wisdom which realized true nature’s meaning; explaining, Debating and writing; the wisdoms of listening, thinking, And meditation - all these you increase and develop! - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 17. With power that shakes all the three worlds in an instant, Every enemy, robber and thief, without Exception, victorious mother, you bind and subdue - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 18. Harm from poison and contagion, and all Poisoning by noxious nagas and earth-owning spirits, You quickly allay till the very name does not exist - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 19. Mutual Conflict, torment by the law Through fear of the king, and bad dreams - on all such things You perform the action of rapidly pacifying - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 20. Most violent and unbearable sickness and plagues And every adverse and injurious group -

Appendix 265

All these you protect from, and totally pacify! - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors! 21. Your universal actions, like calming spirits, Corpse-raisers, yakshas and fears; increasing, subduing And fierceness; and all aims, you accomplish at will - Devout, I prostrate at your feet, Tara, mother of conquerors!

Song of Longing and Making Requests

22. Alas! Lady Arya, listen a little to me! All qualities of your body, speech, and mind Are manifested for sentient beings’ sake. 23. You understand well the thoughts of your disciples, And in all the universal conquerors’ holy Actions, O goddess, you directly appear! 24. So, as soon as this name of Her Who Quickly Liberates From the samsaric ocean falls on my ears, Like the beloved in the heart of a lover, Again and again, your moon-like body’s reflection Appears in the dancing lake of my mental devotion. 25. Since, in my previous lives without beginning, I’ve gathered unwholesome karma through defilements, Again and again I have fallen to realms of woe, And experienced endless, unbearable, violent suffering. 26. Of the bodies I’ve taken in human migrations alone, The blood and pus would, collected, exceed a great ocean; The flesh and bones, heaped up, would be taller than Meru. 27. But though I have thus experienced violent suffering, If, supreme refuge, you don’t seize me with your compassion, Still I shall have to wander much more than that. Alas! O rescue me from the fears of samsara! 28. Of yore, in the perfect deity land of Tushita, The supreme holy teacher gave utterance to The conquerors’ son Manjushri, pronouncing that those Who praised with the supreme praises that are taught In the King of Tantras would win immeasurable virtues. 29. If, although with my effort I’ve praised with these praises, Recited and practiced, made offerings and requested, You see the foul conduct of beings of times of decline And, Arya Mother, act with indifference towards us, Then what is the use of your names of ‘Specially Loving Towards Inferior Beings’, ‘Swift One,’ and ‘Saviour’? 30. However, since your loving compassion is free Of near and far, it applies to everyone; Therefore, although, with inferior fortune, I suffer

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From my karmic obscurations, at present I’ve not found another refuge superior to you; 31. So in all future lives, superior deity, will you Look after me without parting for even an instant, And manifest your supreme face as visual nectar! 32. Rescuing from the eight fears, outer and inner; Your twenty-one ways of action, and all such Universal actions - just by thinking, Make all these quickly spontaneously arise! 33. All that hinder my practice of the Dharma - Assemblies of human beings, ghosts, and spirits, And all interruptions such as the eight fears - Please will you pacify without exception! 34. Especially, supreme refuge, from your compassion, In my mindstream let not perverse thoughts Be born for even an instant, but let only Wholesome minds arise - inspire me thus! 35. Especially, on the sole base of all good collections’ Arising, a qualified, supreme, holy guru, Let me rely correctly with thoughts and actions And follow him as he wishes - inspire me thus! 36. The base with which buddhahood can be achieved in one life, This opportune, fortunate rebirth, found but once, Perishes fast as lightning. Let me produce This thought, and grasp its essence - inspire me thus! 37. Driven by fear of woeful rebirth after death, Let me abandon non-virtue and practice virtue, confess with regret all the sins I’ve created before, And be able to stop them henceforth - inspire me thus! 38. Like seeing filthy sewage as amrita, Let me not see samsara’s perfections as bliss. But produce the mind that wants to be free of it quickly, And train in the Conqueror’s doctrine - inspire me thus! 39. Since they are tortured by suffering and poor in happiness, Let me produce well the thought of supreme awakening, Which sets in buddhahood sentient beings, my mothers, And train in the powerful conduct - inspire me thus! 40. Especially, let the path uniting calm And insight - the middle view, excellent and profound Be born within my mindstream well and truly, And grasping at extremes uprooted - inspire me thus! 41. Then let me enter the Supreme Vehicle teaching And ripen my mind with the rivers of pure empowerments, Protecting the vows and pledges that I’ve taken As the apple of my eye - inspire me thus!

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42. Let me understand right the two stages, heart of the various Tantras, then quickly, by good meditation, produce In my mindstream the state of union of the four kayas, A wish-fulfilling jewel - inspire me thus! 43. Showing before each mother sentient being Countless emanations, when I’m buddha earlier, Let me transfer them to buddhahood, through the abandonment Of all their two obscurations - inspire me thus! 44. Let the realm where I accomplish a conqueror’s deeds, My entourage, the measure of my incarnation, And so on, all far surpass even Sugata All-Seeing’s To gain these excellent qualities, please inspire me! 45. From now until I reach the supreme point of enlightenment, Let me know well that the root of all good collections, Samsaric and beyond, is only the Conqueror’s doctrine, And strive to support and enact it - inspire me thus! 46. Wealth, respect, fame, desires, entertainments, diversions Let me not enter such actions blamed by the holy, But sticking to solitude, think well on meanings I’ve learned, And do the essential practice - inspire me thus! 47. Let me realize easily and correctly The subtlest intentions of the Conqueror! May all qualities, such as the aryas’ treasures, Completely fill my mindstream - inspire me thus! 48. Through the infinite virtues arisen from this, May I and all other beings without exception Be well upheld by the holy protector’s compassion, Never becoming separate from the pure path! original colophon: One overcome by obscurations, called Matisara, made this request for his own wishes in the Nyima Ding (Sun Plateau) retreat. Translation: Martin Willson

2. A Crown Ornament for The Wise - A Praise of Green Tara – Lek dri ma by Gyalwa Gendun Drub, First Dalai Lama (1391-1474)

To Arya Avalokiteshvara I bow down.

1. 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. 2. 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. 3. Upon a pure lotus and moon symbolizing knowledge and voidness Sits the emerald goddess having one face and two arms.

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Homage to she bounding with youth, whose right leg outstretched And left withdrawn symbolize wisdom and method conjoined. 4. 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. 5. 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. 6. 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.' 7. 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.' 8. 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. 9. Homage to she adorned with ornaments That embody each and every beauty Of celestial wish-fulfilling gems Made by the craftsmen Merit and Wisdom. 10. 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. 11. 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. 12. 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. 13. 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. 14. 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.

Appendix 269

15. 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. 16. 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. 17. 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. 18. 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. 19. Therefore, O Worthy Refuge, I beseech you, Protect living beings from diseases, ghosts, demons, Untimely death, nightmares, evil omens, And every cause of terror. 20. 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. 21. 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. 22. 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. 23. 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. 24. 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. 25. 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. 26. Protect us from the terrifying waters of Desire, That carry us in the current of samsara so hard to ford

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And that, conditioned by the winds of karma, Toss in waves of birth, sickness, old age and death. 27. 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. 28. 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. 29. 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. 30. 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. 31. Never hoping to benefit myself alone 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. 32. 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

3. The Garland of Jewels, a Song of Longing for Venerable Arya-Tara - Dung-bö ratnä tr’eng-wa. By Lo-dr’ö gyats’o

Homage to Guru Manjughosa 1. Dispelling the eight fears of whoever remembers You, Treasure of Love, never tired of helping others, Constant Protector, Venerable Tara - I touch my head to the lotus of Your feet. Listen a little, while I lament my sorrows! 2 While in the endless dense forest of samsara I wander, careless, drenched in both kinds of defilements, Arya Mother, where is Your hook of Compassion? 3 Ah me! Alas! O loving, kind-natured Mother! All the Conquerors of the ten directions Ordained and appointed You a Refuge for beings. 4 Unattached to enjoying Your own Nirvanic bliss You help migrators, I’ve long heard it said.

Appendix 271

So, turning my mind in Your direction, I Renounce other refuge and seek Refuge in You. 5 If now, Arya Mother, without a glance You abandon me amid my mass of sins, Where has Your loving Mother’s Compassion gone? If You damp down Your surging Bodhicitta, In Your sacred office, is this quite the thing? 6 Of yore, You’ve shown Your face and cared for people Times past counting, here in Tibet, I’ve heard. Arya, is this a lie, or have You favourites? 7 Well, if You’re specially kind to inferior beings, Then, this minute, come and show Your face! With the nectar of Your voice, give me refreshment, Wash off all my stains of evil actions! 8 Next, as soon as I leave this life’s formations, In His wonderful Pure Land, Sukhavati, Near the Protector, Amitabha Buddha, May I taste His Speech’s nectar - inspire me thus! 9 From that most excellent Realm, to other Pure Lands Let me be able to travel through magical powers, And saving migrating beings by my emanations, Let me become like Lord Avalokita!` 10 Throughout all my lifetimes yet to come, Let me meet the Venerable Lady, Tara, hear Her Speech, be cared for by Her, And carry out Her orders - inspire me thus! 11 With rank, wealth, fortune, wisdom, great compassion, Faith, renunciation and firm intention, Let me always strive to achieve Enlightenment, While ev’ry hindrance is quelled - inspire me thus! 12 From my ordination, as long as I live, Contrary to my Pratimoksha vows Let me not perform the slightest action, But practise the common Path - inspire me thus! 13 The best of samsara’s a razor-edge sticking up; This life’s appearances just a play of illusion - This knowledge born in my mind, let me strive in the means Of reaching Omniscience - please inspire me thus! 14 In the six Perfections which ripen one’s own mindstream, And four Attractions whose purpose is helping others, Let me train with the force of continuous effort, Growing them right in my mindstream - inspire me thus! 15 Then, let me enter swiftly the Profound Uncommon Path, the Path of the Vajra Vehicle, And from a fully qualified Spiritual Friend Receive the four pure empowerments - inspire me thus!

272 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

16 Through practising well the path of the First Tantric Stage, May I purify all the stains of birth, death and bardo, And seeing the circle of deities of Great Bliss, Train in the Second Stage - inspire me thus! 17 On the Second Stage also, as taught in the Tantras, Let me gain the full experience of each level, And having perfected the Learning Union, gain The Union Beyond Learning - inspire me thus! 18 After that, to many impure lands Let me send out many emanations, And by the Mantra Path linked with the view of Emptiness Guide ev’ry sentient being - inspire me thus! 19 Through Your Compassion, Venerable Lady, May my sincere words, just as I’ve expressed them, Be fulfilled! In short, may all my wishes Without exception easily come to pass! This is a Song of Longing, the Garland of Jewels. When a faithful disciple strongly urged That an exhortation to the Venerable Supreme Mother of Conquerors of the three times Would have immeas’rable blessings, and in that way One should strive devotedly with the three doors, The Buddhist monk, Lodrö gyats’o, composed it, having With unchanging faith in the Manjughosa Guru Tsongkha-pa, long revered as his Special Deity Venerable Tara, so that by These merits, all beings may gain Omniscience. Translation: M. Willson

4 A Song of Longing for Tara, The Infallible - Dung-bö lu-me-ma By Lozang tänpä gyälts’än

Homage to Guru Arya-Tara!

1. Three infallible Jewels of Refuge combined In one, Divine Mother Whose nature is Compassion, I bow to You from my heart! Till I’m enlightened, Support me, I pray, with the hook of Your Compassion! 2. I call the Jewels as witness - from not just my mouth, But the depth of my inmost heart and bones, I pray - Think of me somewhat! Show me Your smiling face! Loving One, grant me the nectar of Your Speech! 3. Others cheat us with their made-up teachings, Selling Dharma for money that’s marked by impermanence, Proclaiming ignorance knowledge, puffed up with pride Through the eight worldly dharmas, gurus great and small. 4. Since I cannot trust such Friends’ of degenerate times, The principal Guru of mine is You Yourself.

Appendix 273

Inspire me, Mother of the nature of love! Arouse Your great power of Compassion! Think of me! 5. Relied on as Refuge, none of them will deceive us; But, seeing the ways of this degenerate age, Most Buddhas sink down into the bliss of Nirvana; Some, though compassionate, have weak karmic connection. 6. Since I have no other Yidam deity My principal Deity is You Yourself. Grant me siddhis, Mother of loving nature! Arouse Your great power of Compassion! Think of me! 7. Most protectors don’t show their powers and skills Disgusted with their practitioners, they do not act. Others, proud of worldly fame, may be Good for a while, but cheat us in the end. 8. Since I cannot trust protectors such as these, My Principal Protector is You Yourself. Fulfill the Activities, Mother of loving nature! Arouse Your great power of Compassion! Think of me! 9. Common worldly riches, the meaning like the name, Arouse defilements and bind one in samsara. What jewels, except the Aryas’, though they grant wishes, Can let me take even a sesame seed when I die? 10. Since I cannot trust illusory riches, The principal wealth I have is You Yourself. Grant my desires, O Mother of loving nature! Arouse Your great power of Compassion! Think of me! 11. Not fit to be trusted even for one day, Their thoughts determinedly set on misbehaviour, Just acting friendly, these friends of no virtue Play the friend when they wish, the enemy when they don’t. 12. Since I cannot trust these friends of degenerate times, The principal friend of mine is You Yourself. Be close to me, 0 Mother of loving nature! Arouse Your great power of Compassion! Think of me! 13. In short, my Guru, my Deity and Protector, My Refuge, dwelling, food, wealth, friends and all - Everything whatsoever I wish, You are; So make me accomplish everything easily! 14. Let me stop also my present stubborn mind, And rouse the Compassion that even on coming to give A billion times for every being’s sake My body and life, tires not - inspire me thus! 15. The uprooter of samsara’s maker, self-grasping, The deep Middle Way, so hard to understand, Avoiding all errors of the two extremes, Pure Right View - please inspire me to realize it!

274 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

16. Wishing, for sentient beings’ sake, to win Buddhahood, Let me not think for a moment of my own pleasure, But dedicating all virtues to beings and Doctrine, Perfect my renounced Bodhi-mind - inspire me thus! 17. Rich in the Aryas’ Treasures, faith and the rest, Let me become the best of Buddha-sons, able To keep the smallest precept taught by the Conquerors, Never contemptuous of it- inspire me thus! 18. In outward behaviour keeping the Hearer’s conduct," Let me, in inward belief, revere the Profound Vajrayana, and practise the Two-Stage Path, So winning Enlightenment swiftly-inspire me thus! 19. Whether I’m happy or troubled, whether things Go well or badly for me, whatever I do You know about it, Ven’rable Tara, so Think of me lovingly, my only Mother! 20. Myself and all the beings with hopes of me I offer to You, Venerable Tara! Make us Your own, and to the highest Pure Land Make us go quickly, with no births intervening! 21. My mothers, who do not follow the Conquerors’ Teachings, All mother sentient beings, whoever they are - With Your hook of compassionate skilful Means Please transform their minds into the Dharma! 22. Reciting this at morning, noon and night, And bearing in mind Venerable Tara, Let all sentient beings with hopes of me Be born in whatever Pure Land they desire! 23. May every member of the Three Precious Jewels, Especially the Ven’rable Mother, compassionate natured, Look after me till I reach the point of Enlightenment, Letting me conquer quickly the four Maras’ hosts!

If you recite this morning, noon and night as long as you live, not just from your mouth, but from the depths of your innermost heart and bones, with your consciousness penetrating its inner meaning each time you recite it, Venerable Tara will care for you and you will see Her face. No hindrance can harm you, and your intentions will be fulfilled. The Buddhas and their Offspring also will be pleased and will take care of you. Making effort in the Twenty-one Homages and this practice, realize Venerable Tara! This is my heartfelt speech and quite certain. This prayer to the Ven- erable Tara, in heartfelt words making his own requests and also non-deceptive to others, was composed by the Buddhist monk Lozang tänpä gyälts’än, in his nineteenth year, the Water Mouse year (1852), on the third day of the Miracle month, 12 at B’än-gar nam-gyäl ing. It is sure to have great benefits. Translation: M. Willson

Appendix 275

Mandala and lotus

The Twenty-one Taras placed in their mandala

Note that in a double number, e.g. 18/T19, the first number refers to the seat and the second number to the Tara praised in de corresponding verse of the Praise to the Twenty-One Taras. In the case of a single numer, those two correspond. Also see note 177 on p. 132

Eight-petalled multicolored lotus

276 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Channels and Chakras334

Channels Central Channel

Crown

Throat

Heart Side Front

Navel

Tummo

Crown Crown

Throat Throat

Heart Heart Heart

Navel Navel

334 Note: for how to visualize the chakras coming out of the central channel in the development stage and how in the completion stage see page 186 as well as page 233.

Appendix 277

Chakras Crown chakra

Throat chakra

Heart chakra

Navel chakra

278 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Seed Syllables: HUM marked by TAM and TAM marked by HUM

Appendix 279

Three-kaya practice from the angle of the primordial mind – based on Vajrayogini335

Base, path and result I am going to present it slightly different than usual, from a different angle. When you try to do the practice of the first kaya, on what basis are we working, what path do we follow and what result do we try to get? These are the three most important questions. In other words, you want perfection, you need to know how you get there, and what is it that you are wanting to make perfect – in other words, the base on which you are working.

The base Without sleeping you cannot rise. In the same way, without dying you cannot be reborn. Right now we are facing life. The next thing we are going to face is death. With these two reasons the dying stages are introduced. The real issue here is that instead of ordinary death, we are hoping to get some kind of extraordinary death, which is under our control. In order to get that under control we have to train ourselves. The most important point is to understand the ground or base on which we work. For example, if you want to paint something, you may have as base or foundation a canvas. Here it is the primordial, subtle self. Actually there are three kinds of base: the profound base, the vast and the ultimate base.336 In the case of Vajrayogini I think you are working on the ultimate base. (I’ve taught that in Ann Arbor once.)337

I’d like to read out of Takpu Tenpey Gyeltsen’s Vajrayogini commentary called bindu shu me tim kye. I have done the Vajrayogini teaching in the West about five times. This time I would like to bring up something which I normally don’t do. The angle from which I am going to present the base is important. It is the point which we are trying to make perfect. I think we have to recognize that. Takpu Tenpey Gyeltsen says, The essence, the message of the ultimate yana, the maha-anu-yoga tantra, is to show you, to introduce you to the subtle mind which functions in sameness with the subtle energy.

Indestructible drop. Basically there are two indestructible drops. • Indestructible drop until death. • Ultimate indestructible drop.

Indestructible until death. This is the drop which you have since you were conceived. It is part of the seed of the father and the egg from the mother combined together. This holds together until you die and at death it separates. This is the reason why Eastern people say that the mind is at the heart. They are not talking about intellectual thought-processing mechanisms. In the West that is what we are referring to when we talk about the mind. But that is just thoughts being processed through the physical and chemical processing through the brain’s nerves. That is what the psychologists also talk about. They talk about emotional intelligence functioning through neural pathways, etc. All that might be functioning at the brain level. The individual or person is at the heart level because these drops go up and down and occupy any of the different parts of our body at any level. They never separate, and during the waking state they most probably remain near the heart level – the heart chakra level. This drop does not separate until death. That is the relative part.

Ultimate indestructible. The absolute part of the indestructible drop refers to the subtle energy and subtle consciousness. Very often you hear the subtle energy being referred to as horse and the subtle mind as rider. The moment the rider separates from the horse, he is no longer a rider and the horse is no longer a riding horse. The understanding here is that there is a subtle consciousness and a subtle energy which never separate. Even though you change your body, these two don’t separate. They travel together. In

335 Vajrayogini Teachings winter retreat 2000. 336 For the ultimate base see page 290. 337 No transcription available [yet].

280 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Tibetan we call that shin tu trawai lung sem – very subtle air-mind. Mind here is not the knowledge part of the mind but the consciousness part of it. Such a consciousness is extremely subtle and is the one which is traveling from life to life. This is the traveler. It may assume or occupy any mental and physical identity. In that case, that assumed mental identity becomes the understanding- or knowledge part of mind, rather than the stream of awareness. I can’t describe it any further, otherwise I will destroy myself. [meaning that if you try to describe it, it will resemble more and more the ‘knowledge part of the mind’ again]. Takpu Tenpey Gyeltsen says, On the level of Vajrayogini, we talk about the great mahamudra, the union of wisdom and emptiness which will be recognized as the mind or dharmakaya of the enlightened beings. When we are talking about that here in Vajrayogini we will emphasize more the wisdom part of it rather than the creation of an illusory body. So when we are talking about dharmakaya here we are not talking from the energy point of view, but from the consciousness point of view. In other words, the message is that the body and mind union is the merging of energy and consciousness. The energy is the cause of creating the illusion body and the consciousness is the cause of creating the clear light. When they merge they will become one-ness and then you will become the union of body and mind. Remember, I told you during the initiation that the union in this context of Vajrayogini is not the union of body and mind but the union of bliss and void. This is again telling you that the emphasis is more on the side of the consciousness rather than on the energy. If you look into Guhyasamaja you will find a lot of emphasis on the point of energy: there is the body quietness called lü wen, then there is the mental quietness called sems wen. There are four different levels of quietness338. This is the father tantra point of view which emphasizes the energy level, so that it can become the illusion body. Here we are dealing with the mother tantra level which emphasizes the mind level so that it can create the clear light. Is that clear to you? Let me say this: when you talk about enlightenment, the ultimate enlightenment is referred to as union. The two combined together are the ultimate pure body and the ultimate pure mind. Now the ultimate pure mind is called ‘clear light’, whereas the ultimate pure body is called ‘illusion body’. The maha- anu-yoga tantra practices are mainly divided into father and mother tantras. The father tantras try to achieve the ultimate body part. The main production of the father tantra is the ultimate body, the illusion body. It is like General Motors have a section where they make the body of the car and a section where they make the engine. The ultimate production of a car is probably the Cadillac. They produce car bodies with all the push buttons and extras and the engine will be an eight cylinder automatic. They are produced separately and when they are assembled together, they put the engine into the body, stick the price on and drop it off, right? Likewise here, on the enlightened level you have two workshops. The father tantra workshop is the body manufacturer and the mother tantra workshop makes the engine – in this case the mind. Since we are in the mother tantra workshop here, our aim is the production of the ultimate mind. What is the ultimate mind? It is the most subtle of the subtle minds. However, we cannot completely separate the energy from that, because it is after all an indestructible, inseparable drop. It comes as a package together; you have to deal with it a little bit here and there. But our main concern, our main production, is the mind. So now, when we talk about the dharmakaya, the death and dying stage, we talk from the angle of the mind rather than from the angle of the energy. Takpu Tenpey Gyeltsen continues, The teaching will normally say, ‘My subtle consciousness simultaneously-born wisdom.’ You hear that everywhere. What is that talking about? Ultimately they are referring to the very subtle primordial mind – shin tu trawai nyung me sems. The teachings will talk to you in terms of ‘simultaneously-born wisdom’ and terms like that. They may say, ‘Sameness with the inseparable bliss void nature,’ ‘simultaneous born’, etc. All these refer to the

338 Geshe Lobsang Tharchin, mentions on top of these two: speech isolation, ngak wen, and ‘the culmination of mind isolation is known as the proximate clear light [pei wösel]. Sublime Path to Kechara Paradise, p. 113.

Appendix 281 very subtle primordial mind itself. So what is that primordial mind? You cannot actually point it out. That is the difficulty. You can only base it on experience. For the time being you have to presume that you are experiencing. What are you experiencing? From that angle we can talk a little bit.

Primordial mind and emptiness. Takpu Tenpey Gyeltsen says, When you encounter with the primordial mind, there is nothing to hold, nothing to pinpoint. When you encounter the primordial mind of yours, you cannot talk much about its activities. It is inde- scribable. It has no activities, as though nothing is functioning. You cannot say it is really neutral. It is better to say that it has no movement. It is like the weather two days ago, just before the snow came. It was very still, there was no movement. It is a little like that. It is like encountering emptiness itself. There is stillness and there is also clarity. It is like as if you are encountering emptiness. It is like being in the middle of space. With that I don’t mean outer space where you see all the stars, but just open space. We cannot really describe what open space is. Only if there is something built into open space, then you can describe something. You can describe houses, people, monuments, but you cannot describe empty space itself. At the most you can say that it is empty, [that it] allows you to move without being blocked. The subtle mind is like that. This state of mind has the capability of achieving all the qualities of the enlightened level, yet it can also take you down to wherever. Each and every individual being has had that right from the beginning, continuously. I am not trying to select a word for that yet, I am trying to give you a picture. This mind is still, clear, capable and everybody possesses it. That is the base on which you work to achieve the dharmakaya. Now there is a number of people who will tell you that this itself is emptiness. That is big bullshit, true bullshit. I can’t say it is complete bullshit, because even Gyüto, one of the two tantric colleges in Tsongkhapa’s tradition, the upper tantric college, to which I myself used to belong, also says that it is emptiness. At the same time, if this were really emptiness, there would not be a single human being who did not encounter emptiness, because they died a number of times and at that time they encountered the primordial mind. I would like to leave it at that level because otherwise it is going to hurt a lot of viewpoints and a lot of people won’t like that.

This is the base on which we work. We are unable to tap into it at this level, but we do have some understanding of it, because we went through this a number of times. We do encounter that when we die. We have changed lives so many times and we did go through with this a number of times. So when today people have certain experiences – when they are able to pull something, think that they have experienced something, reach somehow close to that level – it could be on the basis of intuition, on chemicals or through meditative power. The reason that we have been able to link with this is because of our personal experience which we had in a number of life times when we have encountered this. This primordial mind is the base, the training ground, the army boot camp. On our ordinary level, if we don’t do anything else, we still experience that during the death stage. Everybody does. That is why I emphasize this is not emptiness, although a lot of people will tell you that it is emptiness. They will even tell you that it is the introduction to the luminosity of mind. However, it is the ultimate ground of mind. You cannot go any subtler than that on the level of ordinary beings. So we encounter that when we die, like it or not. Is it possible to encounter it before death? Yes, provided you are capable of the right practice. You have to be able to collect the total movement of all your energies within the body. If you can bring them into the central channel, keep them in there and dissolve them in there, then even though you don’t die you will encounter the primordial mind.

Three channels. So, it works by meditating. Through meditation you can collect all energies into the central channel. That is why we make such a big deal about the central channel. A channel is a path through which you can go and function. The body is almost like a house and those channels are the wires through which the electricity travels, or through which your water is running, your heat is coming through or your cold air return. All of those are the channels in your body. In a building, at the points where the electrical wires come together, the electricians put a junction box. In the human body these are the chakras. So all

282 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary these channels are going through the body criss-crossing each other and the crossing points are the chakras. That is how we function on both, the physical and the psychic level. There are three main channels339. The two outer ones are functioning quite all right. They could be the electrical pathway and the water pipe or something. What is not functioning, however, is the really good one at the center. This is the one you want to have functioning. The reason why it is not functioning is the faulty wiring. The criss-crossing wires are going through too tight, so that the central one can’t breathe. The central channel is totally choked because of faulty wiring. If this was functioning properly, the two side channels would not have much responsibility. They could relax, there would be no reason to go on overcompensating. Right now, the over-zealousness of the right and left channel is choking the central channel. When the real line is beginning to function, you will be able to encounter the primordial mind. Right now, we cannot see the ultimate nature of the mind or to say it straight forwardly, the primordial mind, because we are not looking through the right window. The middle window is blocked by the overzealousness of the left and right neighbors. When you are able to meditate, to build up the correct window, these exercises will make the central channel stronger. When the central channel becomes stronger, the choking power of the left, the attachment channel, and the right, the hatred channel, loses its grip. It is only through the energy exercises which strengthen the central channel, that the choking power of the side channels can be loosened. When that happens, the subtle and gross airs can function within the central channel. Not only do they enter and move around in there, but they can stay there. That is talking from the psychic-physical point of view. Through that the power of attachment and hatred is being reduced. The real, central one begins to prevail. You may not see the primordial mind but you can begin to experience it.

Qualities of the primordial mind. I’m going to mention now some of the qualities of that primordial mind. The primordial mind has the capacity and capability of maintaining all qualities of the enlightened mind. That doesn’t mean it has them; it has the capability, it is spacious enough to have those. It is available with every sentient being, from the limitless beginning. There is never a single minute when we don’t have it. It is continuously with us, even when we are furiously angry. The primordial mind is not touched by that. It doesn’t matter what kind of life you have had, a good human life or a life as a mean, terrible tiger, it cannot change the very nature of this mind. The nature of the mind is pure. Why is that so? Normally we associate our life with our internal and external experiences. We have a bad life when we have bad experiences and a good life when we have good experiences. This very primordial mind cannot be influenced by good or bad life experiences, neither internal nor external. Whenever and wherever you are born, this primordial mind itself doesn’t change, [doesn’t get influenced by] the quality of your mind. It is like sun rays: pure, clean, illuminating, natural. There is nothing impure about sun rays – unless there is some problems with the ozone layer [laughs]. When this mind encounters faulty emotions like hatred and attachment, what happens to it, since it is always pure? The example given here is that of gold. On the surface of the gold there can be some impurities, but the gold itself cannot be tarnished. It may pick up dust, etc. but that is easy to remove. Unlike silver, the tarnish doesn’t stick to gold. Likewise, in appearance there might be a great deal of activity of hatred and attachment, but hatred and obsession do not really go into the nature of this mind. The nature of the primordial mind itself is not affected! Any kind of dust or rust may only cover the gold. Whatever the appearance may be, it is not stuck to the mind. It is only temporary and separable. It is like pure water in which you mix a little dust. Then the water will look a little mushy-muddy. But if you leave it for a while the dust will settle and the water will again appear pure. Likewise when this mind is freed of dualistic perceptions, attachment, hatred etc., it will show its pure, clean, clear wonderful nature. We cannot see that purity now. We don’t function like that, because we have those faulty perceptions. Like the [muddy] water, there is the appearance of attachment and hatred, but it is all removable, it is temporary. Whatever delusions and dualistic feelings we may have, if you let it be quiet and pure, this

339 For pictures, see Appendices.

Appendix 283 mind is capable of letting the dust settle and maintains its pure nature. It does not affect the nature of the primordial mind. However, due to our addictions we cannot see it, except at death or if we have the mental development. Takpu Tenpey Gyeltsen says, If you look in the water and it is not mixed with anything, you can see the very clean, pure nature of the water itself. Likewise the primordial mind. If all these temporary faults are not there, it is free of dualistic perception and there is quietness by nature. It is clear and lucid. This example is from a thousand years ago. Nowadays we could say that if the water is free from any pollution, it is very clean. You see, you don’t have to go into a dark room to have quietness. That is the primordial mind. We, however, encounter hatred, attachment, jealousy, sadness, happiness. We zigzag from high to low and back. All that is not part of the primordial mind. These belong to what we refer to as negative emotions and their influence and effects.

Yet having the primordial mind as a pure this and that, does not mean you have a buddha within you. You may have a buddha seed within you, but not a buddha. These are the important points we have to remember. Basically [going towards the primordial mind] is the automatic thing happening to the individual when you die and those dying stages come up. These dying stages will automatically take you to that level. That’s home. But then mom sees you and says: “You are not ready to get home, get out of here!” That’s how we rotate again. And that’s what I told you with this Never ending story: the boy looking at his reflection and he couldn’t stand to fall, so he decided to jump in, rather then fall off. So, on our ordinary level we will only see it at the time of death. If you practice, you can encounter it at the level of the nine mixings.340

That, very briefly, is the introduction of the base. (I have not done that in other Vajrayogini teachings. I am trying to give you a different angle. I am trying to do the parts that I did not yet do. I don’t want to repeat what I have already done.) Now you can see it: when you encounter that mind, you might not necessarily encounter with emptiness! A lot of people do think that. And that is why a lot of people do ‘lizard’-meditation, hoping to encounter that state of mind.341 You don’t have to do that however, because when you die, you will encounter with that, for sure, no question, unless you die in a car crash, plane crash or fall from a three-story building. If you die through some kind of tragic, strange accidents, then that primordial mind might not be noticeable. So this is the base on which you work, the dharmakaya, and that is why we go and work with the death and dying stage. We are not training ourselves in how to die, but we are preparing for, when that time comes, how we can use it as an opportunity.

Primordial mind and Vajrayogini. It is interesting that at the ke rim level, the development stage, you do at this point the same thing as on the zoh rim level, the completion or perfection stage. You don’t do anything different. What you achieve, however, will be different. On the ke rim level we imagine everything. It all happens on the imaginative level. We even imagine the primordial mind and we try to acknowledge that and then we try to acknowledge emptiness and the blissful nature of that mind and we call that ‘dharmakaya’. All of that is totally imagined. Why do we do such a tricky, funny imagination? Because this imagination is going to become real. Right now you are imagining an uncharted territory. At some stage this will become real. Right now we are unable to encounter it, because of the blocking power of our negative emotions. Later we will be able to encounter it as directly as I am now looking at your faces and you at mine. This will be possible once we become free of these blocks, obstacles and points of confusion. Can we describe more than that? Probably not. There is a Hevajra tantra quote which might, however, not go a hundred percent according to Tsongkhapa’s thoughts,

340 Practice of the completion stage. 341 Practice does not refer to how you sit down, or to sitting and looking in the air. The lizard does just that – it sits on the rock with its mouth open for air.’ From Ripoche’s Lojong; Training of the Mind in Seven Points.

284 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Such a primordial mind nature is sometimes referred to as base Vajrayogini. This base Vajrayogini is almost the same as the outer Vajrayogini. Here they don’t want to say that it is the same as the outer Vajrayogini. The reasons are obvious. There is an external form: you are generating your physical gross body in the form of Vajrayogini and you bring the wisdom being Vajrayogini in and become oneness with it. That is obviously the outer Vajrayogini. Here they use a different term ‘base Vajrayogini’. In absolute understanding it is however very, very close to the outer Vajrayogini. In this case, if you call this ‘base Vajrayogini’, then the tilaka or tummo, that little red upside down exclamation mark, is the real pure essence of the red and the white drops [red and white bodhicitta] and also the purity of the combination of the red and white drops mixed together. The combination of the three of them is the real A tung (short A) which looks like the Tibetan full stop mark turned upside down.342 The real A tung is the essence of tummo . If what I mentioned earlier is the base Vajrayogini, then this tilaka at the navel is the inner Vajrayogini.

This the subject of one of the verses in the long dedication prayer of the Vajrayogini sadhana Through the kiss yoga of one-pointed meditation On the tilaka heated by the five winds at my navel lotus, When the fragrant drops melt in my body/mind nerves May my mindstream be satiated with that bliss supreme. This is telling us how from the navel level the inner heat rises, drawing the drop from the HAM at the crown. This is about rising from the clear light level into the illusion body. That is the reason why the navel chakra becomes important.

I told you that the baseVajrayogini is not exactly like the outer Vajrayogini. It can be called secret Va- jrayogini as well. In the initiation we introduced that in the context of emptiness. That can be called secret Vajrayogini. But you can’t argue that when one is there the other is not. You can’t say that if it is this one, how can it be the other one as well. They almost get into one-ness. That is during this dissolving phase [of the white and red drop meeting, mixing and dissolving]. It is a little more complicated than that. So in that case, generating yourself in the form of Vajrayogini, let that be the outer Vajrayogini. So these are the three Vajrayoginis again – not the three kayas, although they are connected. That sort of thing has been introduced by the great teachers. Recognizing, understanding and practicing that, is probably the main essence of both, the development stage and the completion stage of Vajrayogini, the real main essence. You know, development stage and completion stage are one, but the level of people’s experience differs.

I happened to be talking about the base in terms of the primordial mind. Normally, this is not done. In very special cases, here and there it is mentioned. Usually you just go through with the dying stages and at the end you say that it is the death stage. So this time we introduced it specifically.

From and to the primordial mind. The primordial mind is your fundamental root and from there it grows and develops into the various manifestations of your life. That is why it is called the ‘magician’s dance’ or the melodrama of one’s life. All these come from the ultimate seed of the primordial mind and at the time of death everything is closing down, packing up and going. You are finally left with the primordial mind again and then you reverse that again. That’s what samsara really is and that is where you find the continuity. There is only that tiny, little thing which is continuing. Everybody encounters the primordial mind at the time of death. There is no one who does not encounter it. You may or may not be able to sit there and think about it. You don’t have the power. You just sit and it goes off. This is the total process which you go through. It is almost like a white cloth soaked in color. I have here a beautiful Pashmino blanket which I have had since I was a kid in Tibet. It was white and when I came to India I put it in a dye and made it golden yellow. Now, after many years, it is fading. I washed it in the machine and it shrank too. This year

342 See Appendices.

Appendix 285

Jamyang tried to stretch it by putting wood on the edges and drying it by hanging it from the balcony. So it stretched back a little bit. But the color is fading continuously. Eventually it will almost become white again. That is the process. Just like that, human beings, from the primordial mind, start creating all these things, starting with the body which develops and matures. You get more ideas, you specialize, start a business, learn about art, poetry, music and so on. You go up to the peak of your career, become a doctor, psychologist or whatever. Then you start going down, shrinking, forgetting, not recognizing, and you continuously go down until you don’t even remember your own name. You don’t even recognize your friends and eventually you don’t even recognize your body, you don’t even feel it and everything goes down and finally there is no sound and no sight and it goes deeper and deeper. You get the stages of mirage, smoke, sparks, flickering light, white, red, black light and by that time you again touch your primordial mind. The meditative stages of the sadhana in general and the different levels of the dharmakaya practice, like the dying stages, recognition of emptiness, acknowledging bliss, etc, on the imaginative level – all that is the path. It is the practice which makes the base perfect.

Primordial mind, emptiness, bliss. The moment they touch the primordial mind, the people with an idea about it, who had teachings and know about emptiness, these people can bring the wisdom of emptiness in. Over here at least we are telling ourselves that everything is empty, that there is nothing really truly existing. Even if you encounter the primordial mind with that understanding, it will still be very hard to stay with it. So you bring the joy or bliss. From the emptiness point of view the emptiness taught in Hi- nayana, Mahayana and Vajrayana is not any different. But Vajrayana has the bliss, which makes a big difference. The bliss enables the individual to not only encounter the primordial mind but to stay much longer [in it] and do something in that state. You don’t get pushed off, you don’t skid off. If you have the bliss you can prevent skidding off. When you skid off that primordial mind, that very moment the imprints of the negative emotions, either hatred or attachment or something, will pick up immediately and because of that you will take rebirth. We should talk here on the basis of human rebirth. You do not necessarily take a human rebirth. However, Vajrayana practitioners such as yourselves, no matter how bad you might be, are not expected to take any other rebirth than a human one, unless you go up – that is different. The human rebirth is the best of the three higher rebirth states in samsara and provides you with the best practice opportunities, no doubt about it. But still it is part of samsara. It is still created by the second Noble Truth [the cause of suffering] and is part of the first Noble Truth [suffering]. So either attachment or hatred rise directly, or their imprints are materializing, which then again becomes samsara.

Development stage and perfection stage. On the development stage we are imaginatively dealing with that level and we are saying, ‘This is emptiness, this is dharmakaya.’ You are saying that there is no indivisible particle that anyone can point out and also you imagine joy and you build the pride of the dharmakaya. Then you say that you don’t want to live in this invisible state for long. You would like to take birth and then suddenly the letter BAM appears. When you hear that sound you go ‘Ha, that is me, that is my identity. I am now the sambhogakaya.’ When you shift to the completion stage the imaginative level which we are training on now, will actualize. When you shift from the invisible level, it will actually become the [rehearsal] clear light343. When you want to become visible, then out of that [rehearsal] clear light you bounce back as the impure illusion body. The next time round it is the meaning clear light and the pure illusion body. So you do this process at least twice. There are also two kinds of clear light, the example clear light and the actual [or meaning] clear light. That is how they are technically called. It is the rehearsal stage and the actual stage. From the level of the rehearsal clear light you bounce back as the impure illusion body. You do the process once again and you bounce back as pure illusion body. The next time round you achieve the union [with effort] of clear light and [illusion body].

343 Synonyms: example clear light, metaphoric clear light, dpe'i 'od gsal

286 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

So, the real transformation happens at the completion stage, zoh rim. The completion stage is not something you can plan; you can’t say ‘I am going to do it now’. In order to get to the completion stage you have to have the artificial or imaginary stage, called the development stage, ke rim. As long as it is imagination only, we are at the development stage, and when it becomes actually happening, we are in the completion stage. Then you move from being a ke rim pa into being a zoh rim pa. The main practice will be: merging the clear light, illusion body and re-manifestation. The ultimate quietness of mind, the example clear light, purifies the death. The illusion body purifies the bardo. And the practitioner dissolving him- or herself into the clear light and re-entering in the old or causal body purifies the rebirth. So, the base you purify is the ordinary death, bardo and rebirth. The path you use is the clear light, illusion body and rising (into a nirmanakaya form). The result you hope to get is the fully enlightened mind-body manifestation. As I also said earlier: it is the imagination becoming actual. I talked about the signs that you meditate on at the dying stage practice. As long as you are imagining it, it is development level. At the level of the exemplary clear light, these same signs [start to] appear as actual. It is almost like this: you are dreaming and you recognize it is a dream, so you want to either correct what is happening or utilize it, but you can’t do anything. That illustrates the transition [from development stage to completion stage]. When you are able to handle the dharmakaya practice that way, then when recognizing the imaginative state of the dying stage and the actual signs happening and being able to merge them by your own power, that, I think, is called mixing. When that actually happens, you are substituting the ordinary death. Likewise bardo and rebirth. That is what is meant when we say ‘having control over dying’. Clear light has exemplary and actual clear light. The exemplary clear light is the perfect imagination and the actual clear light is the real thing. When you have purified ordinary death you don’t have to die. In- stead of taking rebirth you go into the illusion body, which purifies the bardo. Then instead of taking the ordinary rebirth you take an enlightened rebirth, nirmanakaya. When you obtain the mind quietness of exemplary clear light, you are bound to obtain enlightenment in that lifetime. That is because that exemplary clear light purifies the ordinary death, so you have no other choice than becoming enlightened. I believe that is what it is. That is why the long dedication prayer says, The Outer Yogini is the beautiful Buddha-consort, The supreme Inner Vajra Queen is the letter BAM, The Secret Dakini Consort is my live mind’s voidness brilliance -- May I delight in the erotic bliss of beholding your true face! That corresponds with the initiation: outer inner and secret yogini. It also corresponds with purifying death, bardo and rebirth. These may be the most important points. ‘Erotic bliss’ is a good way of putting it. ‘My live mind’s voidness brilliance’ talks about the primordial mind, something we talk about this in the mahamudra teachings. It is also important here. It is very clearly talked about by Takpu Tenpey Gyeltsen here in his Vajrayogini commentary.

Transformation. This procedure of going back to the primordial level and building emptiness and acknowledging that as dharmakaya, etc, is the real procedure of making the mind pure. It is the real transformation. I can’t find anything else. This is the real transformation of negativity. It is like making the blanket white by soaking and washing. Then you can color it how you want it, perhaps red, green or blue or whatever. The three-kaya process is the real process of transformation, whether you do it at the development stage or at the completion stage. At the completion stage you have a little more additional focus on the subtle physical aspects. Without the background of the Lamrim preliminaries such as the Three Principles, bodhimind, etc., the completion stage exercises are mere physical breathing exercises. It is like a bellows. You are taking in and putting out air. Traditionally it is really compared to bellows. Nowadays you could use the example of artificial breathing machines that they hook you up to in hospitals. To make it work you have to know how to use your mind. The work on the level of the consciousness can only be done by mind. Right now it is just imagination. You call it visualization, but it is nothing more than imagining. It is fantastic imagination. Can you believe it? You are thinking that you are a naked woman, red in color,

Appendix 287 chopper in hand, blood dripping from you and you are going through the street like that! That is fantastic imagination. However, it has not been cooked up by somebody’s fancy thoughts. A number of people have gone through this and obtained enlightenment, after which they decided to write these books in which they tell us exactly what is happening. It is actually a scientific study. Unfortunately it was done by non-Caucasians and is therefore not regarded as scientific.

Bliss. The question rises, ‘Where do you pick up the bliss during this process?’ You pick up the bliss at the guru yoga, at that point where you dissolve the lama to you. Remember, I have mentioned that the lama is very happy and comes to your crown and you want to merge with the lama, and so on. Maybe I haven’t been dramatic enough in showing the bliss, but that is where you pick up the bliss. Remember, the lama first dissolves into red light – like that propane gas cylinder – and then shrinks to the size of a quail’s egg which dissolves to you and you experience tremendous joy and happiness. The example of this merging is the meeting with a long lost better half. It is the kind of joy experienced at a reunion, without carrying a heavy load. Normally, even if you have a reunion with your long lost better half, there is some heavy load you are carrying. If you are absolutely open there is no need to carry that sort of baggage. Like that, at the reunion with the lama there is no such baggage and even if there is, let the joy of uniting completely overtake that. Don’t give it any room. Ordinarily we have both. We are looking forward and we are also hesitating. It is the pull-push business. We are so used to it. If there is complete openness, there is nothing to worry about, really. The openness helps you not to have hesitations and sadness, because you have nothing to hide. Many of you will remember, earlier, when Allen Ginsberg was around, he was doing a poetry workshop here somewhere in 1988. The workshop was about spontaneous poetry and he was asking everybody to write down whatever they were thinking. I went there out of respect to Allen. I did not think my English was very good, so how could I know English poetry? But I went anyway. Suddenly Allen turned to me and said, ‘Okay, Rimpoche, say whatever you are thinking!’ At that time, I was thinking about the trouble with Jim and Timmy Baker. I had been thinking that Jim Baker was a nice guy. And I did not want to get into a similar situation as he did. So I said that to Allen. Allen immediately said, ‘The solution for that is not to hide anything. Make everything open and you don’t have anything to worry about. Some people may like it and some may not, it does not matter. Just be open, no hidden closets.’ (Audience: He said, ‘Candor beats paranoia’. Rimpoche: Right, you remember that.) So openness helps the individual. Then you don’t have that heavy pull and push. Then the joy becomes much stronger and more powerful. I am simply talking on the basic ground of experiencing the union with your long lost better half or whatever. That can be used as example. Try to intensify that as much as you can at the end of the guru yoga. That is the transition from the fifth yoga to the sixth yoga. It is here that you pick up that joy. I spent some time talking about how you pick up the joy, because otherwise, you may forget about that when you are going through the visualized death process with all these eight visions. You may suddenly think, ‘Where did I leave my joy?’ Then you realize that you have left it way up there at the lama yoga and you have to drive back for one hour to pick it up again. Therefore, to avoid that, I am trying to make this as dramatic as possible, so that you remember. You know, if you have to drive back for a whole hour on different highways to pick up your joy and then come back the same way, it may be too late to get down there. By that time, the whole process will be done.

Audience: When you say ‘imaginative process’, is it the imagination or the meditative process which is the clicking point for the joy? Rimpoche: It is both. The meditative procedure at this point is only imaginative anyway. There is a process with a certain order, a blueprint. There are steps to follow, there are sequences. However, right at this moment you are doing all that only on an imaginative level. This meditation itself is again imagination. You know, it is both. This is one of the important points. That is why it is said, The order has to be right, not made up from here and there. The steps have to be in order. The steps have to be presented in the right order, because we are only following them in the imagination. Nothing has been actualized yet. The passage you are taking is not marked. It is only marked by the order

288 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary of the practice. If this order is upside down then you get completely lost. If you only pick up one of the points from there, it is quite meaningless. Many people do that. They just pick up one single little sitting meditation and say, ‘Buddhism is so great. You go there, they give you instructions and within five minutes you can do it by yourself. Years later you still get the same instructions. It is just that you have become better at it.’ These statements clearly show that these people pick up and put all their efforts into perfecting just one single, little thing. That does not serve the purpose of Buddhism. Such single-pointed meditations are available in every tradition. Even traditions which only accept existence between birth and death, also have such single-pointed meditations. If you use one or two Buddhist meditation techniques just for that purpose, the whole purpose of Buddhism has been defeated. It is rather unfortunate, but still, it is helping them, making them more open and so on. It is very important not to take any bits out and do them in isolation. The purpose lies in the totality of the practice. This totality has to be in order with the right sequences. Otherwise it won’t work. Vajra- yana is a high-speed vehicle. In such a vehicle you have to make sure that every button is pushed properly. Let’s say the stabilizer on the tail is not working; then a speed plane will nose-dive into the Pacific Ocean. This is similar. You have to make sure that everything works and is in order. You can’t just stick with some points that you are happy with and drop out from the ones that you don’t like so much. It won’t work. There has to be discipline. You have to practice the totality. You have to go through the proper transition between each of the eleven yogas during the development stage. When you hit the right button, – hup, it goes, right? When you hit the wrong button, you have some limitations; you cannot find it and don’t know where it all goes. If you hit the right button, it will be like on the computer everything you want to look at pops up. Just like that the whole mandala will pop up.

Four joys. What you hope to achieve on the completion stage [Tib. zoh rim] of Vajrayogini is that the A- tung or tilaka will catch fire by the power of meditative poking deeper into the central channel. Through that all our airs not only enter into the central channel, but are also able to remain and function there. This will make the tilaka or inner Vajrayogini catch fire and because of that heat the basis of joy at the crown level – here referred to as bodhicitta – melts. In depictions of Heruka you see [that symbolized by] a little moon crescent at his crown level. This bodhicitta, also called semen, drips down the central channel and brings about joy in four different stages. Then it reverses and these four joys become even more intense. I am talking now about a little higher level, not our imaginative level. These intensified four joys become a sort of semi simultaneous-born joy. It is then not only imagined, but begins to really happen. In practice, that then happens more often and often. But again, when thinking about that right now, some people may have some funny feelings of something dripping and melting and feeling good, etc. Don’t hang on that. It is not the real thing. When you continue with this process of the four joys again and again, you will begin to block all external perceptions. Then you can encounter the primordial mind together with that joy. This is probably one of the better stages, better than where we are today. That is where we hope to shift our gear to. Oth- erwise, you may be thinking, ‘Why do I have to imagine all these things all the time?’ We want to shift from this level to that level.

Again, that second gear level of encountering the primordial mind with joy might not even be emptiness. This is the biggest problem. A lot of people get confused on that completely. That state might not be able to cut the root of samsara. You have to go even subtler than that. When you go subtler, by that time you will come to realize that all this bullshit talk about introduction to the mind, encountering the mind and that this is real emptiness, is wrong. You will know it at that time. Even Tsongkhapa thought that this level of encountering the primordial mind was emptiness. He wrote two volumes called ser treng ‘Golden Mala’ on the basis of thinking that this was emptiness. When he realized that it was still not emptiness he got the biggest shock and that is the reason why he had to go and see Manjushri. It had gone beyond the level of teachers existing at that time. This is a very tricky point. The development of the four joys gives us the opportunity to focus on the actual emptiness. By doing this a number of times, we can now overcome the true dualistic perception. At the time of death you

Appendix 289 experience the mind of white appearance, red increase and black non-attainment, the nang che tob. By focusing on emptiness with this joyful mind, the dualistic view of even these three stages is cut out. Now these three stages join in with the secret Vajrayogini, which is the base on which you work and which you actualize during this process. On the level of the secret Vajrayogini we encounter with the subtle primordial mind. In Tibetan it is called nyung ne sem or nyung sem for short. I prefer to use the Tibetan word here, rather than the English. Remember, just encountering the nyung sem [primordial mind] is not the realization of emptiness. During the dying stage, everybody encounters it, at least briefly. Meditating on it alone does not cut the root of samsara at all. The emptiness being talked about in Sutrayana and Vajrayana is the same. The Vajrayana may give you the advantage of seeing emptiness faster and better. The point is that the subtle mind has to recognize the emptiness. Then you encounter the true [conventional] reality and emptiness together. Without one the other will not work. That is the reason why many teachers will tell you that emptiness should be the essence of compassion and compassion should be the essence of emptiness. In this context, I don’t think we are talking about compassion in the sense of love/compassion, but in the sense of the actual [subtle conventional] reality of the person and its emptiness together.

I am explaining all this because that is what you are going to be working on even in the sadhana practice, at the point where it says OM SVABHAVA SHUDDOH SARVA DHARMA SVABHABVA SHUDDOH HAM Nature empty, everything’s pure, naturally pure, that’s what I am. That is the essence of what I have been explaining. To say, ‘That’s what I am’ is not enough. ‘I am’ would just be encountering the subtle nature of the mind. You have to have the recognition of the emptiness of that ‘I’.

Primordial mind: the word and its characteristics Rimpoche: I don’t know whether it is sufficient to call it ‘primordial mind’. I don’t know what understanding you have of ‘mind’. What is the difference between thought and mind? Audience 1: Thought takes place within the mind. Rimpoche: So the mind is general and thought is specific. So all thoughts are mind and not all minds are thoughts. Give me an example of something that is not thought but is mind. Audience 1: Other kinds of perceptions, like sensations. Rimpoche: So these perceptions are not done by mental stimulation? They are not thoughts, but there is understanding? Very interesting. In that case I can stick with ‘primordial mind’. The primordial mind is the base you are working on. What is the work you are doing? You are trying to get what emptiness is on the basis of the primordial mind itself. This itself indicates that the primordial mind is not emptiness. But can we describe the primordial mind? The great Indian Mahasiddha Saraha344, one of the earliest masters in the Heruka lineage, says, ‘No one can talk about the nature of the primordial mind.’ However, we can feel it. It is sort of almost no activity – for our perception at least. You cannot really say that the primordial mind has no activity, but in our perception it almost looks like that. It seems static. But that is not a good description. When you say ‘static’ you get the picture of something permanent, concrete, like a building. Audience 2: It is stillness. Rimpoche: Yes, maybe that is a better word. At the moment we are still experimenting with the language. This will probably go on for another fifteen to twenty years. Then it might settle down – if Buddhism remains that long, who knows. For the primordial mind you don’t want to get the idea of a concrete building or monument or something. It is tricky. This mind has no beginning and no end, it is still, yet you don’t want to say that it is static. So there is no movement, yet there is movement. There is a problem there. When you encounter the primordial mind it is almost like encountering emptiness. The reason why it is said to be like encoun-

344 Literature: Keith Dowman, Masters of Mahamudra, p. 66-72.

290 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary tering emptiness is that the individual person at that time may not be able to focus and function, no matter how brilliant they may be. Yet there is at that time the capacity to perceive. That is why the expression ‘static’ does not work. There is the capacity to perceive and there is lucidity. There is the capability to deliver enlightenment. Audience 3: Stillness is actually a good word because it allows for subtle activity. Audience 4: You could call it a state of awareness. Rimpoche: I would not call the level of primordial mind awareness. That is my reading of the word ‘awareness’. It suggests too much understanding. In any case this mind is capable of developing the re- sultant enlightened level.

Audience 5: The way you have been talking about the primordial mind is always like what I would understand from the term ‘soul’. Rimpoche: Very good comment.

That is another quality. It is always continuing. You may say now that this would make it inherently existing. There is a lot of philosophical argument on this point. But let’s not bother with this for the time being. The easy way out is to say what Trungpa Rimpoche said, ‘It is the continuity of discontinuity’. This tells you that it is impermanent. It changes. Therefore it is not inherently existing. It is also not static if it changes. Yet, it cannot be influenced and its nature cannot be changed by anything, good or bad. It is lucid and light-natured like the rays of the sun. It is like gold. No matter how much tarnish is on it, that cannot effect the actual gold. It is so bright that you cannot look at it. That is why it is said that it is like encountering emptiness. These are qualities of the primordial mind.345

Ultimate base. There are many different ways to introduce the base. You can introduce it as the fundamental base, or profound base, vast base, etc. What we have been talking about is the ultimate base on which you are going to work. I have made it absolutely clear that this ultimate basis on which you work is not true emptiness, but there are a number of Tibetan traditions, including the great tradition of the Upper Tantric College, Gyüto, who do accept that as emptiness. However, that is not necessarily the case. That does not mean that Gyüto is wrong and that it should be corrected. No, they have their own tradition and it goes through so many years and actually centuries. Some scholars and saints say about that: The primordial mind may not be true emptiness, but some kind of emptiness came in between. So there are a lot of viewpoints. Here I have been telling you specifically that it is not emptiness. Others say that it may be emptiness. So don’t get nervous. Some people get very nervous and suspicious, thinking that they are being cheated or not told the whole truth. There is no point in thinking like that. Perhaps this is beyond our judgment right now. But the problem is, whenever we die we encounter that once, and if it were really emptiness, once we have encountered emptiness, then what do we still continue to come here for? This is for you people to think about. Encountering with the primordial mind itself is like… You know, when the individual person dies, it is almost like going home. And when you get there your mother will scold you and tell you, ‘You can’t spent the night here, get out!’ That is because your mind is not at peace. Peace here means joy. Not ordinary joy, but bliss. When the mind is in the nature of bliss, then mother won’t scold you and will not reject you. Then the bliss-void combination comes: the void being the mother, the bliss being your mind’s nature. That’s how it is built. So, encountering the primordial mind, that alone might not be encountering emptiness. However, if you are encountering clear light, – not the clear light of the dying stage, but the real clear light, which has to be emptiness – then that has to be encountering emptiness. These two are very, very similar. So a lot of people become confused about it.

In encountering the primordial mind, the real important thing is not to just recognize it, but to be able to work within it. That’s the most important. If you don’t have the bliss, you get rejected all the time. I

345 Also see page 282.

Appendix 291 think, that is really the difference between sutra and tantra. Great bliss as method, I think that is the essence of Vajrayana. Because, that bliss makes you… When you are high, some people may have horrible experiences, some people may have good experiences. I am not concerned with the experience here. What I am concerned with is, that when you can bring your mind to that level, then if within that high state you focus on something, your concentration will be a big difference. That concentration gives you a better understanding. Like Allen Ginsberg used to say. He used to write his poetry when high and he tried to write poetry when experimenting with sex. Maybe he was trying to use the sexual feeling or the drugs as a bridge to uplift his poetry-breakthroughs. Similarly here the practitioners use this joy, the bliss, as a bridge to break through. I think I shared that story about the bhang with you a number of times. But, I don’t think that hash is good enough to bring about what we are aiming at. What you really are using here is the bliss. That is what it is. a. The conversion of death into the path of the dharmakaya We have been talking about the base on which you work – according to Takpu Tenpey Gyeltsen. To repeat, the long dedication prayer says: The Outer Yogini is the beautiful Buddha consort, The supreme Inner Vajra queen is the letter BAM, The secret Dakini Consort is my live mind’s voidness brilliance, May I delight in the erotic bliss of beholding your true face. In Vajrayogini, BAM, inner Vajrayogini and tummo are the same thing. This verse is about the mixing of the Three Messengers, outer, inner and secret. That really gives you the base on which you work. The navel level inside the body of Vajrayogini, and the tummo, the little red fire shape, and the shape of the BAM letter, are in reality the same source, the same material. In this particular case, BAM represents tummo as well. You don’t have to visualize tummo separately, the BAM will fulfill the same purpose here. In case you are specifically training on the tummo , you may transform the BAM into the shape of the tummo fire, but apart from that it is the same thing.

From now on we can just go according to the sadhana. We are at the sixth yoga, the self-generation. You arise as a yidam and that does not just happen instantly. You follow a procedure. The medium sadhana says,

The BAM grows ever bigger, encompassing the limits of space, as the bliss-void reality. It gradually contracts from its limits and becomes an extremely subtle BAM , which gradually dissolves from below up to the nada. The nada becomes imperceptible, the Truth Body of bliss void indivisible. OM SHUNYATA JNANA VAJRA SVABHAVA ATMAKO HAM Nature empty, everything’s pure, naturally pure, that’s what I am.

Short meditation on the stages of death The lama dissolves to the letter BAM at your heart and then you, the continuation of your mind, become a letter BAM. This letter becomes bigger and bigger. Your house, your town, the state, the country, the continent and finally the whole universe becomes the BAM and even then it becomes bigger and bigger. Wherever there is space, wherever there is existence, there is BAM, inhabitants and environments, all becomes an absolutely huge BAM. At that point wherever BAM is, just by the touch of the BAM everything becomes the nature of bliss-void. Gradually [make the light] come back, trace it back from as far as you have gone out – back to the universe, back to the country, the state, the city, the house, to the person. The teachings say that the BAM becomes bigger and bigger. But the example given is otherwise. It is said to be like pouring water onto a surface of snow. This means that the snow is being overtaken by the wa-

292 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary ter. It is also like salt on ice. So it may not be the case that the BAM becomes huge and bigger and bigger. It is probably that its influence pervades everything completely. You know, when you drop some color onto some soft piece of paper it spreads right through and pervades the sheet of paper. The nature of the paper is almost becoming the nature of the ink. It must be going in that manner. Water poured on snow actually melts the snow rather than becoming bigger and bigger. However, the nature of the snow changes. It becomes liquid. Keep that in mind when you do the expansion of the BAM. A number of people will tell you to increase the size of the BAM more and more until in the end it disappears into infinity. But that is not right here. Tsongkhapa’s point here is: yes, you can go on and make it as big as you want to – there is no limitation – but do not [let it] disappear. When you meditate on emptiness by increasing the BAM until it disappears, you won’t have a particularly different effect on producing emptiness. But if you have to collect your energies into your central channel, then when you let it go out [and remain] that far, you will have problems collecting the airs into the central channel. So therefore it is important to trace back whatever you have projected out. At the time of the completion stage that helps the individual to collect their energies together. Here the example of the ink soaking into the paper may be a problem. You cannot just reverse that process and collect the ink back – unless you collect the whole brown paper back with it. So finally you trace [anything projected out] back to the letter BAM at your heart. When we meditate on the generation stage level we are working towards the completion stage. One of the most important points of the completion stage is to collect all the energies in the form of air into the central channel. Any- thing that goes out and does not come back is an obstacle to collecting the airs back. If you keep this sort of discipline from the beginning, it will help you to collect the airs back later. Finally you yourself dissolve to the letter BAM, which in the Sanskrit alphabet looks like a square. 1. Then gradually, the BAM itself dissolves to the head of the B which is the horizontal stroke of the square BAM. That corresponds to dissolving the earth element into the water element. You have to think that your earth element has now disappeared. We use the word ‘dissolve’, but actually it means that it has signed off, that it does not work well any more. Therefore you can’t see much; your vision is like that of a mirage. In your visualization you have to think that this has happened. 2. Likewise, when the head of the BAM dissolves to the crescent moon above it, that is the time when the water element signs off. You imagine that you are seeing a lot of smoke inside the room where you are.

3. Next, the crescent dissolves [to the sun and that is the sign the fire element signs off. The vision you get is the fire sparks. 4. Then the sun dissolves] to the squiggle and that is the time when all air dissolves to the consciousness and the sign you get is that of a butter lamp burning. At about this time probably the person stops breathing, yet is not gone. The consciousness is still remaining. This would be the time to remind that person to focus and concentrate. You can remind them of the total stages of development from guru yoga to the end of the completion stage. If you can’t do that much, you can introduce that person to the nyung sem [subtle primordial mind ] and remind the individual to think of the nature of reality, emptiness. If not, encourage them to think of Lama, Buddha, Yidam, or at least just remind them to take refuge or say the Three-OM mantra to them. It depends on the capability of the individual. That is how a friend can help at the time of death and that is a good way to say good-bye to them. Traditionally, in the Tibetan culture, you would take self-initiation near the body of the dying person, so that they can hear it and visualize.

In the different commentaries there are various ways to describe this fourth vision. The original teaching will say it is like the ‘burning of a talala tree’ – a banana tree. (In classical Sanskrit talala means banana. The current Hindi term is kyela.) This image is difficult to convey. Tarab Tulku mentions it in one of his dream-yoga explanations. He says that when a banana tree catches fire, it is fast and huge and then just

Appendix 293 disappears. Some teachers will say that the vision is more like the burning of a candle light or butter lamp. All these different explanations are there. It is difficult for me to say that one explanation is correct and the others are not. Each of these sources come from great people. For my own personal visualization it is a nice butter lamp in a big room, but you are not looking at the butter lamp, you are looking at its reflection – just the light from the butter lamp. If the butter lamp moves, the light will flicker, otherwise it doesn’t. So if the light moves behind you, the reflection you see in front will also move. I don’t think you have to worry about seeing your own shadow in between. The example is just an expression of the vision of the reflection. To some people the experience may well be like a huge fire. A dry banana tree will indeed catch fire in seconds. As a matter of fact, a number of people have told me that these signs is truly what is happening at the death stage. One of our friends mentioned that her mother died a few years ago and during the death process she complained that she was seeing this mirage in the room. Then after a while she complained about seeing smoke. She was quite sure that somewhere nearby a fire must have broken out. This has been confirmed by a number of different people who have witnessed people dying who die slowly and consciously, who have a lot of time. 5. Still, the consciousness remains inside the person. The internal breathing is still there. Actu- ally, the squiggle, that zigzag, has three curves. First, the lower one will dissolve to the middle one and with that, you first get the white feeling. 6. Then the middle curve will dissolve to the upper one and then you get the red feeling. 7. Then the [upper curve dissolves into the tip of the nada and you get the] black feeling. 8. Finally that last bit disappears. Finally that black stage will dissolve to the clear light. This clear light is the ordinary death level clear light [Tib. chiwa ösel]. It is not the clear light which is capable of delivering enlightenment; that clear light only comes to the person as the result of practice. This clear light at the death time comes to the person automatically as you are dying. You can reach this level either through the death stage, or through meditative practice. In the practice, when the last bit of zigzag is disappearing from your perception, there is only a total blank left. It is recommended that the individual acknowledge emptiness at that moment. What you perceive is blank, and what you are holding and acknowledging is the emptiness.

Emptiness. How do you perceive emptiness? Whether you call it selflessness or lack of inherent existence at this moment the perception is a total blank. There is nothing. But you have to acknowledge something. Although I don’t see myself or anybody else that does not mean that I am not here or that nobody is there. You could call it ‘lack of tangibility’. You can’t catch, see, or perceive anything. Lack of tangibility still does not give you the proper understanding of emptiness. So the question is: [emptiness is] the lack of what? I have been thinking for a while that if you are a very well-educated scientist who exactly knows the theory of relativity very well, it is going to be much easier to break through to emptiness. What you are really focusing on is the lack of indivisibility. There is nothing that is indivisible. If you look into Stephen Hawking’s presentation of reality346 there is the picture of the Russian doll. You open a big Russian doll and there is a smaller one inside. You open that one and there is another smaller one inside. You go down smaller and smaller and no matter how much you go down, another even smaller Russian doll will come. The difference between Stephen Hawking’s viewpoint and the viewpoint of emptiness is that he postulates that in the end you will find the smallest one. He calls that ‘indivisible being’ or ‘ultimate being’. He says that it may take a long time of searching but that it will be found one day. If you do find that, that would be the proof that there is no emptiness. If it is not found, then the emptiness of that is established. It is very simple. Look at the person. Divide the person into mental and physical aspects. It is easy to get rid of the physical aspects. That is just the body. Now try to find the indivisible mental part.

346 Stephen Hawkings, Universe in a Nutshell.

294 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

People always think that the truth can only be one truth. Why do they say it? Because they think that the answer can only be either yes or no. It cannot be ‘maybe’ or both, yes and no. Therefore they think that the truth can only be one. So when you keep dividing your mental aspect you should sooner or later arrive at a point where you can say, ‘This is it’. This is how we think. In reality however, there is no end to divisibility. The scientists have found the atom. They thought that this was it. After some research they found out that the atom can be divided. And that goes on and on and on. The traditional teachings will tell you to search for the ‘I’. Now which ‘I’ are you looking for? There is the ‘I’ that I perceive. There is the ‘I’ which is the creator. There is the ‘I’ which travels, there is a projected ‘I’ and so on. You can go on dividing. This can be a confusing process for us. But if you look from the modern scientific point of view, if you could come to the end of the division of particles you would have found the ultimate self, the ‘I’, the One. But when you cannot find that, it is what Buddha talked about when he taught selflessness. The point that he made is that East never touches West. The moment East touches West, the point of division is over. East does exist because there is West. No matter how small the particle is that you find, it has to have an eastern and a western side. So you can keep on dividing, way beyond what the human eye can see. Now they have these interesting machines [particle accel- erators] and the more sophisticated the machines become the more they can divide the particles. Earlier we used to do this process mentally and kept on dividing until we came to a point where it had to be realized that there is no end to that and therefore accepted selflessness. Now the scientists, mainly the physicists, keep on looking with all this sophisticated equipment and there also will be no end to that. It will come to the point where the scientists will keep tracing life and realize that it changes to ‘air’ [or energy]. The air will change to a person. You are going to find that. I am quite sure that this is what is going to happen. Already now they talk about vibrations. I told you earlier about the combination of the subtle energy and subtle consciousness. I said that subtle energy is like the horse and the consciousness is like the horse rider. As the scientists keep looking they will begin to see one or the other, either the vibration or the air or movement or whatever they are going to call it. That is the point at which the subtle energy and the subtle consciousness are getting mixed. What the enlightened beings have found through the power of enlightened mind can also be found by the mechanical or material power. The scientific research will not contradict the findings of the enlightened beings and vice versa. I think in the end they will complement each other. That will be the time when the scientists will confirm, ‘Wow, there is no end to life’. At that time people will say, ‘There is no doubt that there are future lives’. It is going to happen. It may take twenty or hundred years, who knows. But it is possible that they may find it. The Dalai Lama always says, ‘If the scientist prove that this is wrong I will be happy to submit everything and pack my bags.’ He didn’t literally say he would pack his bags, but that is what it is. It has to be like that because it is the true reality. Whether you approach it through scientific or spiritual means, the end has to be met. If one of them cannot meet the end, it is wrong. So far the point of selflessness . and emptiness and the Buddhist principles in that regard work extremely well with the well-educated people like Einstein. Not that you have to have a degree!

Point of reference. I have a hard time finding a perfect modern idiom to describe emptiness. So I am trying to borrow Stephen Hawking’s expression ‘indivisibility’ – the end of the Russian doll. If you cannot come to the end of the Russian doll, if you cannot find the last indivisible particle, after some time you have to accept that there is no end to it. You cannot find the One. The lack of that is the important one. Because of the lack of the One any existence depends on conditions. When everything depends on conditions you need points of reference. With that you come back to Einstein and his theory of relativity, which is based on points of reference. That is the point where you can decide if something starts or ends. Otherwise you have no differentiation. Everything could be starting and ending all the time. However, because of emptiness, because of existence through reference points, that is not the case. So you go according to reference points. You keep a center somewhere. From there you can determine east, south, west and north. Otherwise, it gets mixed up everywhere. Every south would be east, every east would be west and every west would be north and so on. But the points of reference lay down conditions. So every existence depends on conditions. That is the point of existence. This is what is called ‘interdependent arising’. So the essence of emptiness is the dependent arising. The essence of emptiness is not nothing-

Appendix 295 ness. If you don’t understand the dependent arising and you just start searching for emptiness, you will get nowhere. Good luck with the lizard meditation! When you think about emptiness you don’t have to study Einstein’s theory of relativity. But you have to rely on points of reference even to say that there is nothing there. If you point to nothingness, that is even not nothingness. It is just the lack of a perceivable indivisible entity. That is the thing which is not there. The lack of that indivisible existence is the point of emptiness. So it is the essence of dependent existence. Can’t you get it now? [laughter]. It is not so difficult to defuse the mystery of emptiness, if you look at it that way. It needs attention. You need information. It is important to look from the scientific as well as from the philosophical angle and see where you meet them up. The scientific contribution to this point is great, it is tremendous. Imagine, if Einstein had not found that the points of reference are the base of relativity, what would we talk today? We would talk like I used to a few years ago: ‘Well, I am not really here, but I can feel, I can touch.’ You can go on and talk on that level for a while, but it becomes just a gimmick. So thanks to Einstein and Stephen Hawking and his expression of ‘indivisibility’ we can talk more. I happened to see him on TV, giving a new millennium lecture in the White House. It was great at the White House. They had invited all these different people talking about different things, which is unprecedented. Normally, American presidents will not do that. So there is Stephen Hawking on television, presenting the object of negation while the graphics show Russian dolls coming out of Russian dolls, one after another and there is no end to it. Then Stephen Hawking turns round to the President and the First Lady and says, ‘Mr. President, I think that eventually we will come to the end of the Russian dolls.’ He called that ‘theory of indivisibility’. Audience : He just said that so he could get more research funding. Rimpoche: Naturally, but that is worthwhile, really. I think it would be good to fund more research on this and see what happens. It is certainly better than doing research on how to make more B2 bombers. So the lack of an indivisible existence is, according to Buddha, emptiness, selflessness, ‘I’-lessness. For anything to exist the conditions must be right. When these come together things function. Einstein calls that ‘points of reference’ or relativity. How wonderful these people are, really. Now we can talk about it. Otherwise we will never understand anything.

Inner science. Here, however, you are not doing external scientific research, but you do it internally. That is why Thurman calls it ‘inner science’. You are actually trying to watch your own consciousness and trace where it goes down to. We have this very interesting life in which we identify ourselves with a physical base, a name, a profession, etc. A few weeks ago we had a discussion going on about ‘Me’ and ‘Life’. We went back and forth and the questioner repeatedly shifted gears between life and breathing and ‘Me’. It is interesting to watch how that happens. Usually, the first questions is ‘Who am I?’ The answer could be ‘I am John the driver.’ Then, if you ask, ‘Who is that John the driver?’ You may say, ‘But that’s me, John.’ That is just shifting the gear between the ‘Me’ and the driver. The same thing happened with the ‘Me’ and ‘my life’. This shifting of the gear shows actually that there is a fundamental lack of identity. That is still on a very gross level. On a very much subtler level you shift gears between ‘Me’ and ‘My mind’, or ‘My mindstream’. You can shift between my consciousness and my memory, my memory and my awareness. At the end of that there are no more gears to shift and then we switch between subtle energy and subtle consciousness. That is the point where we were when we discussed the primordial self, that it is not static, etc.347 We are not able to stay in that primordial-self level because our power to stay there is too little. So we shift from there without control and rebirth will take place gradually. You reverse and everything starts building up to a grosser and grosser level and finally you come back as John the driver! Anyway. So even when you come down to the primordial level, you cannot stay there, you move out from that state. Even that is also a dependent arising. Just think, use your intellectual mind. If that state were really emptiness, it would have to be static, [unchanging, uncaused, almost] inherently existent!348 But it

347 See page Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.. 348 This sentence troubles the transcribers and correctors. Needs a check with Rimpoche.

296 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary is not [uncaused and therefore] it is not emptiness. Even a stupid person like me can think and find out that it is not emptiness.

Anyway, in the process of the meditation of the sixth yoga, you dissolve everything further and further until you come to emptiness [laughs]. That empty acknowledges bliss. You know, bliss helps to go and search more. I totally convinced you that there is no static self. Even the primordial ‘I’ or self is a dependent arising. In the sadhana you find at this point: OM SHUNYATA JNANA VAJRA SVABHAVA ATMAKO HAM. OM is the beginning of the mantra. SHUNYATA means emptiness. JNANA is wisdom. VAJRA is indestructible. SVABHAVA means nature. ATMAKO HAM means I am. Actually ATMAKO means self and HAM means ‘Me’. There is a very nice translation by Allen Ginsberg which would fit here very well too, although he made it based on the mantra from the Yamantaka sadhana: OM SVABHAVA SHUDDHA SARVA DHARMA SVABHAVA SHUDDOH HAM – Nature empty, everything’s pure, naturally pure, that’s what I am. That translation fits here too, even though its sixteen syllables won’t match with the number of syllables of this mantra. In Yamantaka it does. That is the way Allen had composed it. The Long Yamantaka sadhana actually has both these Sanskrit mantras. You have to look at them as a whole compound. You cannot look at them separately.

Seven points of dharmakaya to synchronize 1. The dissolution of the BAM corresponds with the system of the dissolution of the elements and the eight signs, like mirage, smoke, sparks, light reflection, white, red, dark appearances and clear light. In training the first thing is to get the eight signs right. While you go through the eight signs, you have to be able to think, “I am now encountering this sign, I begin to see the mirage. It is the sign that my earth element is going. Next I am going to see the smoke. Here it is. The smoke is coming. I am in the level of the smoke. The mirage is gone. Next I am going to see the sparks. Now here are the sparks. I am in the level of the sparks. Smoke is gone. Next I am going to see some kind of dim, moving light reflection. It is dim, unstable light, like just before a halogen light bulb is about to get burned. It just flickers. I see that flickering, but not the light itself, but the reflection.” 2. Then train yourself to do at the same time the dissolution of the letter BAM in the corresponding eight stages, like dissolving the BAM into its head, that into the crescent moon, etc. You are synchronizing two visualizations. It is a sort of double visualization. First you learn one, then the other and then you synchronize them and do two things together. 3. The next thing you can do at the same time is say that mantra OM SHUNYATA, etc. The tongue will produce the sound automatically if you are trained and then these visualizations will automatically come up. 4. Later, while doing these visualizations and saying the mantra, you can think at the same time about the primordial mind. Spend time on that. Think about it – unless you are in a rush. 5. On top of that, you can think about emptiness at the same time. So far we have five things we can synchronize together. And you can do it. Don’t ever doubt it. There are people now who are doing it. As a matter of fact we can all do it. But again, if you cannot do it right now, don’t be hard on yourself. You will be able to do it tomorrow, and if not then, you try for day after tomorrow. 6. You can add up another, sixth element to the synchronization. That is the bliss. Bliss has to be the primordial mind itself in the nature of bliss. It is not the observer who is observing the primordial mind. You have become the primordial mind which is in the nature of bliss. You are getting emptiness over here and if you are looking at the emptiness as an observer, that is dualistic. It is not that there is no observer or that there is not a thing to be observed. But that is not your concern. On the path of seeing, an arya meditating on emptiness does not see anything else but emptiness. He does not see anything at all. And that is not because there is nothing there. But it is not their focal point, it is not their business at that time. That is why they don’t see anything else. You have to do it the same way here. If you remain as an observer and observe emptiness, then there would be separation. You would not be absorbed. That is why there are the examples of water dissolving into water or milk into milk. They show you the one-ness. When you want to separate, the example is that of a fish moving around in the

Appendix 297

water, without disturbing the water. That is when you are arising from that [single-pointed focus on/absorption in emptiness]. 7. The seventh point to synchronize is the acknowledgement of this state as dharmakaya. In the beginning you will only be able to do these seven things one by one. Then, without losing the earlier, you will sooner or later be able to add up the second, until finally you will have all seven together.

Four qualities of dharmakaya There is another description known as the four qualities of the dharmakaya: Object is perceived as empty Acknowledgement of emptiness Experience is joy Recognition of that as dharmakaya You are using the primordial ‘I’ as base to make it work. As the path you are applying the emptiness. You try to preview the death experience. You know, I talked about looking through the channels and how the central channel was choked and blocked349. All that gets loosened when you are dying. The indestructible drop starts moving differently and all the knots starts loosening. Here you are trying to do that before death. It is really a preview of the death experience and actually gaining that experience in life, rather than at the time of death. You are using the meditative level: the physical and mental yogas together. The physical practices are the yogas like the Six Yogas of Naropa and so on, particularly the yoga of vajra recitation and the vase-like breathing which is a method of air collection, maintaining and releasing. In the vajra recitation you are pinpointing certain physical points in your body and you are using the technique of imagining first and then try to materialize the stages of the death experience. When all that works then, I believe one day, the central channel just opens and all the airs go in very easily. But when it does not work then it is ‘bang bang bang’ and it does not go. At that level whatever you have imagined will become actual. We try to recreate the death experience because that is our experience of primordial mind, the closest we get to the primordial self. We try to make that into clear light. When it works the clear light really arises and when that reproduces, it produces the illusion body. That illusion body goes through the same procedure again and goes back into the clear light. When that reproduces again and goes through the same process, the result is lo pa zung gyu – union with effort.350 The illusion body itself has two phases, impure and pure. The impure illusion body goes through the clear light once again and that clear light will produce the pure illusion body. This goes through the clear light again and the union without effort is produced. There are actually five stages.351 The most difficult one is the banging at the door.

So when you dissolve the letter BAM you think about emptiness. I have been talking about Einstein and his and other scientists’ theories which help us to work out what emptiness is. People are telling me that there are new theories out now which acknowledge that no matter how much you try to divide the smallest particles you will never come to the end of it. In Tibetan the term is rang shin ghyi me ba. We can say ‘Naturally empty’. It is the same as lack of inherent existence. The language which we can all hope to understand is the one that talks in terms of the lack of indivisibility of the self. At the point where you realize that there is no end to the process of divisibility you acknowledge that everything exists only in relation to others and depends therefore on points of reference, and these can shift. Everything can shift, which is a clear sign of emptiness. Actually, it would be better to call it shunyata. The word ‘emptiness’ can be very misleading. The experience of that emptiness has to be completely joined with joy. This joy does not exist as a result of having seen emptiness. You may think that, but it is not the case. You have to start to build up your joy from the beginning, through practice and repeatedly doing it. You have to actually build up that joy, both mentally and physically.

349 See page 226. 350 Also see page 285. 351 Also see Daniel Cozort, Highest yoga tantra, p. 62.

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Right now it is only imaginative. You think that the ultimate, primordial self is completely intoxi- cated with joy. That is the way to go, rather than bringing in joy from somewhere and adding it up and bringing emptiness from somewhere else and sticking it in there too. That is not how it works. Finally you acknowledge that as the ultimate dharmakaya.

In Sutrayana you also have the first two aspects. Your perception is empty, your conceptualization is emptiness. Vajrayana is special because of the focus on the experiencer of this emptiness. That is the subtle [primordial] mind [Tib. nyung sem] itself in the form of joy. That even is not enough, if you don’t have the fourth aspect: labeling that as dharmakaya. When you meditate, you may not always have time to go into the details of going into these four qualities. There is a lot to imagine and visualize step by step until the visualization becomes a little stable. When that becomes automatic, it is good, then you can relax your effort a little bit. However, when you rely on that automatic level too much, your visualization may disappear. Then you have to bring it back. If you put in too much effort, you could become a little tense, then you have to let it go, even if it disappears to a certain degree. Don’t let it go completely, bring it back. You have to do this balancing every day. That will build a true dharmakaya practice. Acknowledging this as dharmakaya makes it a maha anu yoga tantra practice. The lower tantras have similar techniques, but they don’t have the acknowledgment as dharmakaya. Earlier we talked about guru yoga. The Lama had dissolved into red light the size of a bird egg. At that time there was strong joy and happiness. If you have that done well, then this level of the dharmakaya joy will also work well. They are interlinked. In the beginning doing the whole dissolution process is a simulated yoga. You are training. When it actually becomes real, you are on the completion stage. You don’t have to die and go to the bardo, you are substituting that with clear light and illusory body and become fully enlightened. I don’t know whether you have to do it every time you are going to sleep, but if you can do it quite solidly while you are saying your sadhana, that would be good. It is training. For example, first when you try to cook food, you may be doing some funny things, but gradually you get better and better. You are not going to suddenly have the eight signs of death clearly manifesting during meditation. It is going to be gradual. What you are doing will be a little more intensified over time, sometimes you will begin to see those signs, but in the wrong order. You may see them, but one or two of them may be missing. All that development happens because of saying the sadhana. Song Rimpoche met an Englishman, one of Geshe Kelsang Gyatso’s students, who had been doing that dharmakaya practice for some ten years – nothing else, he was doing that from morning to evening. Song Rimpoche told me that apparently he was seeing those signs but in the wrong order. He said that either the practice was done in the wrong order or the person could not completely comprehend it. So I think it is going to be a very gradual process. It is not that one fine morning, all of a sudden, your experience is going to be great. b. The conversion of bardo into the path of the sambhogakaya Out of the state of dharmakaya, you’re going to arise as the letter BAM, like a fish moving about in the water, without disturbing it. You can see that in the Chinese restaurants which have these fish tanks. The fish swim in there, but the water does not move at all. Like that you arise. You think that although it is very nice to be in that dharmakaya state, nobody can see you there, so therefore you must have some physical form, some identity. So you become a letter BAM. The medium sadhana says:

From the nature of emptiness, my mind reappears as a red BAM in the sky. That is your new identity. You think, ‘This is my bardo, this is my sambhogakaya.’ (Perhaps it is your impure illusion body as well.) You eject from the dharmakaya and become the letter BAM, thinking, ‘This is the ultimate sambhogakaya.’

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In Vajrayana you work with the result level. You think and function as though everything is already developed and achieved. That is why it is called ‘result yana’. Vajrayogini here is very easy. It is not like Yamantaka. It shifts straight away into sambhogakaya. In the Heruka and Guhyasamaja practice there are five levels and you have to go through the five wisdoms. Here it just goes flip-flop. That is all. Actually, you can go through the same visualization process as in the dharmakaya for the sambhogakaya as well352, but for now, it is sufficient to think, ‘This is my result sambhogakaya with the five qualities.

Just like the primordial mind is the base for the dharmakaya, the base for the sambhogakaya is the actual bardo of the individual. The path you apply is the emptiness plus the pure BAM – in the case of Vajrayog- ini. In the case of Yamantaka it is the pure Manjushri. Here it is just the letter BAM. I don’t know how we can put all the major and minor signs and marks on that BAM but basically, that is what it is. In very short form it could just be a ball of red light. You label that as sambhogakaya with the five qualities: 1. Time. 2. Retinue. 3. Dharma. 4. Place. 5. Physical Appearance. So the base of the sambhogakaya is the bardo. It is actually the primordial mind going through the experience of bardo. The letter BAM is consistent with the arising of the consciousness as the bardo being. Here you take the BAM as your identity and acknowledge it as sambhogakaya, while having the divine pride and concentration. You have to think, ‘I am the sambhogakaya.’ That BAM also has to be in the joy nature. You can never forget the joy and bliss. You always have to take it with you.

Purity and primordial mind. There is a very interesting question whether the primordial mind itself is pure or not. It says that it is completely pure. What kind of purity is that? It is true, no matter how many negativities we may have created, the primordial mind does not become the negativities. All these are karma. It adds up and affects you. However, it is not you. You don’t become anger. You may be an angry person, but you don’t become anger. That makes a lot of sense. You may fall madly in love, but you don’t become attachment. You may be as jealous as a scorpion, but you are not jealousy. That is why the primordial mind is compared to gold which does not pick up tarnish. There are a great many scholars who tell you different things. It is not for me to say that what they say is or is not right. They may emphasize the quality of purity of this mind, but that does not make it enlightened. I don’t want to get all the Kagyüpas and Nyingmapas mad at us by saying that this mind is not enlightened. We don’t know, but probably it is not. If that mind is enlightened, the question rises, ‘What are we doing over here?’ You may have noticed that when I talk about Buddha nature, that I emphasize very much on its seed state rather than actual being an enlightened mind. You may think now: All right, if the nature of this mind is not changeable, and if it is not enlightened, how can you make it enlightened? That is a big question. I don’t have the answer for that. Think about it. You may find the answer sometime, somewhere. This is one of the important points how Tsongkhapa tried to revolutionize the understanding of this level of practice. It is one of the points he picked up from Manjushri plus the point that finding the level of stillness of the primordial mind is not the encounter of emptiness. It is like emptiness, but is not emptiness itself. These are important points. That is why the Tsongkhapa tradition does not talk about dzog chen. They don’t talk against dzog chen or denounce it, but they don’t emphasize it, they don’t talk about it. These are the reasons why. Since this is a Vajrayana group, I have to share it. I don’t want to be controversial, but these are important points. If the Vajrayana group doesn’t know, then who else will know? I don’t want to carry this information with me to the cemetery either! [laughs]. I am sure a few people will pick that up. You can think about it.

Bardo and sambhogakaya. There is only one line in the medium sadhana about the sambhogakaya. You have generated the dharmakaya with the seven synchronized steps, you arise within that as the letter BAM and you acknowledge that as sambhogakaya with the five qualities. That’s it. The sambhogakaya corresponds to the bardo. When at death you have the encounter with the primordial mind and when you can no longer stay in that level you will get thrown off. What throws you off is your connection with your karma, either positive or negative. Suddenly the bardo appears.

352 In reverse.

300 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Bardo being. Somehow the bardo has unique characteristics or qualities. The bardo being, bardoa, does not have a gross physical body. So it is not blocked by walls, by physical distance and so on. The law of physics does not apply to the bardo, that is for sure. Actually, whoever encounters emptiness, the law of physics does not apply thereafter to that individual, even in that life. To the bardo being, distance does not matter. Wherever it thinks it is there immediately. Its presence is on the mental level – at least in our terms. Their body is a mental body. Whenever the mind gets there, the being gets there. It is as if we sat in here and thought of downtown Tokyo or Beijing or Mt. Everest up in Tibet or the deserts of Mon- golia or below sea level Holland. On the level of thought you can be there without any difficulties. The bardowa travels in the same way. The bardo being has also a limited capacity of reading a bit of the past, present and future. They see their past, if they think. But I don’t think that they can see the future. In the present they can see whatever is happening over the distance. We may think that they are great and better off than we are, but they have their own tremendous sufferings. In particular they are truly homeless. Sometimes they don’t know that they are dead and they try to come back to their previous own place. But they can’t stay. If you are the bardo being, you may try to sit down with people at the dinner table. Eve- rybody is talking about you, but not to you. You try to talk to them, yell, scream and shake them, but nothing happens. They ignore you. Actually they don’t ignore you, they don’t know you are there. This should help you to remind you to realize, ‘Oh, I may be dead.’ And in this phase you still have the memory of the previous life with you quite strongly. So if you think that you might be dead, immediately look whether you have a shadow or not. If you have a shadow, you are still alive. It may not help much to pinch yourself. Your perception may suggest to you that you are getting hurt. As a bardo being, if you think you are not dead, you presume that you have a physical body. However, you don’t and therefore you don’t have a shadow. In the same way, if you look in the mirror, you won’t see anything. These are the little tricks the bardo beings can play to find out whether they are dead or alive. In your sambhogakaya meditation you have to think that in absolute reality your own consciousness is in bliss-void nature, appearing as a letter BAM. This BAM is not completely red, but sort of white-red mixed. Actually it is more white, so it is not pink either. Your mind goes into that BAM and looks like BAM, but in reality you are the complete sambhogakaya. Hold the focus on that one-ness with that BAM. c. The conversion of birth into the path of the nirmanakaya Below the BAM suddenly appear two red letters EH or one letter EH with two vowel markers on it. 353 In your visualization it should look three-dimensional like a piece of coral or a three- dimensional letter made out of red pipe or something. This then becomes a red double triangular reality source. You can see a beautiful drawing of the double triangular reality source by Francesco Clemente. It has gone to Guggenheim in Spain at the moment. These are two intersecting tetrahedrons. You have to see them three-dimensional also. If you cannot visualize that very clearly, just think that a double triangle appeared there with swirls in four out of the six corners. That is how you begin. Remember, when we started meditating on Shakyamuni Buddha I used to tell you, ‘A little yellow lump is enough to start with’. The medium Vajrayogini sadhana tells you very clearly what to visualize.

Within the void EH EH become two red intersecting tetrahedrons. Inside it A becomes a white moon disc tinged with red. Upon it stands the mantra counter-clockwise. This double triangular reality source has [seen from the top] the shape of the Seal of Salomon, this Jewish symbol. Actually you have to think that the EH EH letters melt into light and out of this emerges the double triangular reality source. (In English you could draw two letters EH, either on top of each other or side by side, one EH, the second represented by the extra flag.)

353 See Appendices.

Appendix 301

You are still in the form of the letter BAM, looking down on that reality source. In the center of it you see a white moon disc. It is not completely white, but white with some kind of red touch, a little pinkish, although not really pink; it is still white. On top of that moon disc is Vajrayogini’s [red] thirty-two syllable mantra in counterclockwise direction. It looks like a beautiful necklace of thirty-two corals. Think of really good, rich Chinese red-colored corals. All those letters go in a circle, so that the last syllable, the SO HA, touches with the first OM. If you place yourself in the middle of it, you can read it from inside. It is three-dimensional. You can read each letter from inside, from above, from outside, from near or from far away. From whatever angle you are viewing it, you are able to read it. It should not become an inanimate object though. The mantra is the deity, the deity is the mantra. There is no difference. For example, the protection threads we are giving you are deities and even the triple knots in them are deities. They are light-natured, but not like neon light. It is solid, coral-colored light. You may ask that if the letter BAM is a conscious mantra, whose consciousness is it? Is it yours, the individual practitioner’s? Then you may ask, ‘How can I be up there and yet think that I am inside the mantra circle, reading it?’ You are not bound by the laws of physics. They don’t apply. So if somebody were above the mantra, they can read it, if they are within, they can read it. It is like a dice. You can read it from any side. While you are looking there, you see that interesting mix of red and white colors. You begin to acknowledge that this is the mixture of the semen and egg [white and red bodhicitta] of the enlightened being yab-yum. You acknowledge that as a source where you can be conceived. It is just like when at the time of conception the bardo being is looking for the next rebirth. I don’t know whether this view goes down well with the view of the pro-choice people354, but in reality I believe the formless bardo being is looking for a physical identity. When we talk about something a little sexy, somehow it draws our attention, whether it is a good or bad, whether we like or dislike it. Somehow it draws our attention, even if we dislike certain descriptions. It is because of our strong attachment. So that bardo being is looking to take rebirth and suddenly notices his future parents in sexual union, whether it be dogs, cats, humans, buffaloes or whatever. They are making love and that draws the attention of the bardo being. The attachment is there. If you are going to be reborn as a male, your attachment for the female is very strong and if you are going to be born female, your attachment draws you to the male. Let’s say you are going to be born a human. You are formless, so you have no problem getting in there. You get through all the way and suddenly your view is getting blocked and you see nothing but sex organs bumping round – nothing else. You will definitely get frustrated. You don’t want to see that other organ in there, because you think you should be there and do it. But you cannot push out that other organ. That will probably bounce you completely down and you get a big shock which will make you die from the bardo. You are so focused at that level that the conception takes place in the womb of that female. The time of death of the bardo and the conception of that new embryo are the same. Life begins there. From the Tibetan point of view that is the rebirth time. There may be a problem with the English language here. People disagree on the time of conception, so every language is bound to have different interpretations. Otherwise, the clear-cut view of the Tibetans is that the new life begins at that point. At the same time the free-flowing bardo existence is over. You are trapped in the womb. Before your body was a mental body. The bardo being has some karmic power. Its mental body already looks like the body of the future life’s person of middle age, let’s say 30 or 40 years old. It does not have the appearance of the past life.

All the characteristics of the bardo existence are stopped at conception. If conceived by human intercourse, you now have human characteristics and the law of physics begins to apply to you. That is how the attachment and the hatred both contribute to gaining the next life. We say that attachment and hatred

354 Those in favor of being able to choose after conception whether to keep the being or have it aborted.

302 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary are bad. They also contribute, on the other hand, to have such a life. Without that, we would still be free running spirits. Imagine, getting hammered on your head like that! In your visualization, you as the letter BAM looking down and seeing that mixture of white and red which happens to be the semen and egg of the enlightened beings, think, ‘I would like to take rebirth in there’ and with that, you as the BAM dip into the middle of this ocean of white and red and become the BAM in the middle of the moon disc, surrounded by the mantra. In reality it is Buddha Yab and Yum, in the appearance of the mixture of semen and egg. In the Heruka sadhana there is much more detail than here at this point. You think that you would like to take rebirth in the Buddha Yab Yum’s semen and egg. With that in mind the BAM comes down. So this corresponds with the bardo being taking rebirth at the moment of the parent’s sexual intercourse. The reason why you decide to go in there is that before, as the sambhogakaya, you were only accessible to aryas. You don’t want to think that [as sambhogakaya] you have limitations and restrictions. That you are only accessible to aryas is not your limitation; it is the limitation of the beings. Because you want to make yourself available to everybody, also to the non-enlightened, that is why you take rebirth. The medium sadhana says,

The BAM in the sky sees the moon base and with great longing to take birth within it, enters the center of the moon. Light radiates from the moon, BAM, and mantra rosary. All beings and environments are transformed into the reality of Vajra Yogini, which dissolve into the BAM and mantra rosary. Instantaneously, they appear as complete mandala environments and inhabitants.

When the BAM comes in, the moon, the mantra mala and the BAM become one, radiating tremendous amounts of light. Zillions of light rays go out and on the tip of each of them arises a Va- jrayogini, reaching all sentient beings. All environments and inhabitants are made pure. Every- thing becomes of joy nature. If you really want to think something more you can think that each Vajrayogini at the tip of the light rays gives initiation to a being. The way Vajrayogini gives the initiation is very strange. From her sex organ comes the rata, that is blood, and initiates all the sentient beings. Does that feel comfortable to you or uncomfortable? One good thing about that is that because of this initiation everything becomes joy nature, inhabitants and environments. All sentient beings’ body, mind and speech become purified and joy nature. Not only that, they all become Vajrayogini. The light comes back and dissolves to the BAM and the mantra mala. The double triangular reality source, moon disc and mantra mala all become one tremendous bliss-void nature. That very bliss-void nature now becomes a complete mandala in almost an instant. Like on the computer if you hit the right button everything just pops up, just like that, here the whole mandala instantly pops up. The environment is the double triangular mandala and the inhabitant is Vajrayogini.

***

Appendix 303

Cutting down the obstacles at the generation stage – ke rim355

What is the obstacle during this period? In Sutrayana we use ignorance, hatred etc. as obstacles. The obstacles in Vajrayana are ordinary ordinary perception/conceptualization perception and conceptualization, or the ordinary appearances and ordinary concepts, our conviction that they exist exactly as they appear to us. Not only you feel and see things, but you acknowledge and accept them as existence. What does ordinary appearance mean here? We are not talking about what we see by our eyes or what we hear by our ears. We normally accept what our consciousness, not only eye- ear- or nose consciousness but our principle consciousness, is taking, buying, accepting the ordinary appearance as it is. We get the message, [the visual, audial etc mere appearance] and we don’t stop there, but we sort of take absolutely serious [what our samsaric conditioning makes of it]. In order to overcome that you meditate the physical form of the deity, you meditate the mandala, you imagine or simulate seeing everything as pure, accepting everything as pure. Pure here means: seeing all environment as mandala and seeing every being as the deity. Some Nyingma teachings tell you to see every male as Avalokiteshvara and every female as Tara, to hear every word as mantra and hear even the wind blow Om mani padme hum etc. All this is trying to clear ordinary appearance and ordinary conception. In order to clear the ordinary appearance you meditate the environment and everything as pure and in order to clear ordinary conception you not only meditate yourself in the yidam’s form, but you hold the pride there, saying: ‘That in nature empty deity is me.’ In the Vajrayogini practice you say: ‘All phenomena are in nature empty and that pure nature is me’. That is the divine pride. To see all appearance as the mandala will overpower the ordinary appearance and the divine pride will overpower the ordinary conception. Out of those two the divine pride is considered more important. Looking at everything as the whole mandala is the branch-practice, the tree-trunk is the divine pride.

When you very strongly observe yourself in the divine form, develop divine pride strongly and also hold the environmental concentration very strongly, you sometimes may not see the ordinary appearance at all because of your strong concentration. Dharmakirti has said about that: Sometimes when the principle mind concentrates so strong that you focus completely, you have no other feelings and conceptions; they are totally blocked. That is not a fault or a reduction of the person’s intelligence or perception power, but it is due to the principle mental power being so strong in control that it covers completely that way. Even in the Mahayana sutra it is said that on the meditative stage of the seeing path, there is no other perception and conception at all. When you are completely absorbed in emptiness, encounter it ‘face to face’, there is no other existence in that mind at all. Here it is very similar. You may not have to wait for that level to come, when you have a strong concentration it may also happen. That does not necessarily mean you have encountered the emptiness face to face yet. However you encountered the mandala and the deity. Maybe this is the place to mention the following. Even though you are not directly concentrating on emptiness, though your focus is the deity and the mandala – the environment and the inhabitants – you also acknowledge that all that is in the nature of emptiness. Though the focus is on the deity and the divine pride, you actually perceive and acknowledge it as in the nature of emptiness. You may be focusing on the deity but you perceive the deity in nature empty. The appearance is the deity, the acknowledgement is emptiness. Is that more clear? Here it says: When you are concentrating on the pride of the deity and the pure environment, though it does not become a deity or it does not become pure environment, it cuts down one’s ordinary perception and conception. So it serves the purpose. The point here is not that you become a deity or you become pure, but practicing this cuts your ordinary appearance and ordinary conception.

355 From not yet published Nagrim Teachings

304 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

In order to get the clarity and be able to hold it, one needs to repeat and repeat it and concentrate more and more. That repetition, keeping on focusing and building it up and up, is – out of the division concentration meditation and analytical meditation – the analytical meditation part. Though it may not be really analyzing, but building up, cutting the wrong things out etc. it is considered to be more analytic.

Calm abiding [Skt shamatha; Tib. zhiné] and special insight [Skt. Vipasyana; Tib. lhagtong] in Vajrayana When you are building up this whole mandala and its inhabitants, the meditation you are using is analytical meditation. Every time you build it up, you put up a mind saying: ‘This is true reality’, though it is not yet. We are not Yamantaka yet, we don’t have two horns, we don’t have nine faces, thirty-four arms and sixteen legs, we don’t have it, but still we say: ‘This is the true divine deity and that is me’. Then you concentrate on that. So you combine it: analytically you build up the appearance and you concentrate more on the pride. Now the question rises: to be able to concentrate on that, is it necessary to have shamatha or zhiné developed before? If you have zhiné it is great, but it is not necessary. If you keep on building up the whole image repeatedly, you will be able to build up the clarity of it, but it is not going to be very stable. The picture will become clear, but when you have the horns you will lose the legs and so on. So keeping on building it up helps the clarity, but it doesn’t become stable. If it isn’t stable, it doesn’t hurt the ordinary appearance. That is why it is not necessary to have developed shamatha before, but it is necessary for the individual to develop shamatha during the development stage! If you don’t, you won’t be able to move on to the completion stage at all. Therefore, it now becomes absolutely necessary to develop shamatha! During the Mahayana sutra period we talked about shamatha, we talked about the nine stages, the six powers and the four attentions, but it was not absolutely necessary to develop it at that time; you learned about it. Here now it has become necessary! In which period of the development stage it is necessary [to have zhi ne]? During the subtle development stage, the stage in which you concentrate on the subtle dot. To develop zhi ne you mostly focus on the tip of either the upper or the lower doorway or you focus at the drop at the heart level. Inside that little drop you can also see again the complete supporting and supported mandala. The more and more you go, the more and more the object on which you concentrate becomes smaller and subtler, and things you put in there become more and more detailed. So the development of shamatha now becomes necessary and this is what you do. If you are saying the Yamantaka sadhana, just before it says: ‘The nine faces are the nine scriptural categories, the two horns are the two truths’, you concentrate. Why? You have been building up the gross development stage and over here you are supposed to have it completely built up. You are not looking for what it means or where it comes from, but simply meditating on the appearance. You have completely built the foundations, the mandala, the environment and the inhabitants. You have built it up totally, therefore you begin to concentrate here, on the gross level. And gradually you reduce it to either one of the tip points of the upper or lower central channel and on that you will be able to develop shamatha. That also is not an ordinary shamatha, but a lucid one. Even in a small little drop within that drop you will be able to concentrate the whole mandala, whether shrunk or not shrunk. That is what it is. If a drop is difficult then it can be a hand-implement, in the case of Yamantaka the vajra, in the case of Va- jrayogini the curved knife.

To have the complete mandala and the deity either inside a drop or in the hand-implement is not [gained] at the ‘first-level-activity’ stage nor at the second stage called ‘slight wisdom-blessings obtained’, but it is done during the period of ‘slight power to use wisdom obtained’. When you go that much detailed you are at the third stage level.356 In the first two levels you either focus on the hand- implement or a drop on the tip of upper or lower channel. During those first two periods your focus is on cutting the sinking and wandering disturbances. To really focus and stay on the thing happens from the third stage onwards.

356 For the four stages see p. 183.

Appendix 305

During the beginning period, the ‘first level activity’ you are concentrating on either the hand- implement or the seed-syllable or the drop or whatever. You forcefully hold your mind and try to develop concentration on either the lower tip or the upper tip or the heart level. That will help you – you know that mind and energy go together – to push all the energies in the central channel. You will not be able to bring them in, but it helps towards it. Of course, it can become the cause, it can bring about the right condition to be able to have the energies function within the central channel. This is unlike trying to develop shamatha at the Mahayana stage, where you focus on a buddha- image, on just an external physical thing or on the abdomen etc. That is all different from what happens here. This here helps to bring the energy within the central channel and that is why this is more important. Not only that. During the normal Mahayana sutra meditation period, if you bring in a lot of different analytical meditations it will disturb a little bit the concentration, but in this period it doesn’t. Instead, here analysis helps to have a more concentrated mind. That is because mind and energy go together and you are putting the focus inside, within the [central] channel. You try to build up all these different mandalas, switching your focus from the air mandala, to the fire mandala, to the water mandala, to the earth mandala. While focusing on the fire mandala you are not focusing on the air mandala etc. but while building it up gradually you are not losing [the previously built up parts]. In normal circumstances changing the focus would become a help for the wandering mind, but in this case it helps to focus more rather than that it contributes to wandering. Not only that; it cuts the wandering very quick. When in the Mahayana sutra you start to think a lot, you will lose the concentration, but here, instead of losing the concentration, it helps you to build it up. Most of the earlier Tibetan teachers developed shamatha or focused more on shamatha during this period, [where you are] somehow connected with the deity, somehow connected with internal practice in the body. When you have the gross development stage under control, when you are able to concentrate very strongly on the dot on either the upper or lower tip, that is the time you develop shamatha. When you ‘master’ the gross development stage, shamatha is developed equally. You don’t have to spend extra time on trying to develop it, it will develop together.

By the time you develop shamatha, you complete or stabilize the gross development stage. Then you are looking more into the wisdom and by the time [you develop that] you complete the subtle development stage, you develop the combination of the two last paramitas: concentration and wisdom. So both of them come at the development stage. At the end of both the gross and the subtle development stage, you get there. It says, During the first stage (i.e. gross and subtle development stage) though normally you focus on the activity of the deity and mandala (i.e. clarity and pride), this is also the time for you to learn and try to acknowledge every phenomenon you are perceiving as like a magician’s show. You try to see that clearly and try to learn that during this period. Doing so, what you focus on is the deity, but what you acknowledge is the emptiness. If you are able to do that, what happens? The mind is streaming in into the emptiness and what you have appearing is the mandala and the deity and all this. So it is the combination of the profound and the clear, which is the real essence of the sadhana. Saying a sadhana means that. Whenever you have a sadhana you try to generate that: you focus on the deity-mandala, but acknowledge it is in the nature of emptiness. Try to have a very strong influence of acknowledging emptiness. That brings the profound. You have the clarity and you try to build up the combination of profundity and clarity a little bit every time you say you sadhana. That is really the essence of practicing a sadhana. It is not so much the words that you say, though, of course, when you can’t do it, you rely on the words you say. So far, I have encouraged you people, just to read the sadhana [if you have a sadhana-commitment]. Just reading it will fulfill the commitment, it will at least not break the vow. You remember, earlier we said: if you keep your commitments as basic principle, even if you don’t do anything else, it does the job. If you can’t think, just read it. It is however important not to think the wrong thing. If you start guessing and thinking the wrong thing, then instead of help it becomes a problem.

306 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

Now here the actual yoga is the profundity and clarity combined. That is what you really should do. Practice clarity on the object you concentrate on, which is the environment and inhabitants of the particular deity. Then acknowledge that the appearance is in nature empty. What you are focusing on is an appearance, but what you are acknowledging is emptiness. That becomes combined together. Khedrup Je says, This is the combination of the two merits, relative and absolute merit both. Since you are focusing on the complete deity-mandala, you build relative merit, which is very different from just focusing on your ordinary body or on anything. ‘The moment you see a mandala, how great merit you have!’ That is what you always hear that during the initiation. Since this is really focusing on the deity-mandala, the collection of relative merit is tremendous. And by acknowledging the emptiness of it, it accumulates absolute merit too. Kedrub Rimpoche says, The mind that focuses on the wheel of the deity – mandala and inhabitants – and acknowledges it is empty, has no comparison to the mind which acknowledges the emptiness of a grain. The argument is normally given on the object of a grain: the grain is not truly existent, because it grows out causes and conditions; it is dependently arisen, so it does not truly exist. That, this dependent arising, we normally call ‘the king of logic’. The traditional Tibetan texts also say: this grain is impermanent, because it is created. So, the grain is empty, because it is created by cause and conditions only so from its own nature it does not exist. Kedrubje says that the mind focusing on the emptiness of the grain does go as direct opponent of ignorance and of true perception, which is accepted, but that concentrating on the deity-mandala and acknowledging its emptiness, is a million times more effective and helpful.

13. GLOSSARY

Abidharmakosha (Skt; Tib. Ngonpa dzö). Treasury of Metaphysics. An important hinayana work written by Vasubandhu, probably in the fourth century C.E., as a critical compendium of the Abhidharmic science. A similar text in mahayana is Asanga’s Abidharmasamuccaya [Tib. Ngonpa kundu]. Air (Skt. prana; Tib. lung) Also called wind or energy or circulation. In vajrayana the energy serves as the mount for the various gross and subtle states of consciousness. Akanishta (Tib. Ogmin) The highest heaven of the form-world, where a buddha always receives the anointment of the ultimate wisdom, i.e. achieves enlightenment, reaching there mentally from his seat of enlightenment under the bodhi-tree. Akshobya (Tib. Mikyöpa) The manifestation of the aggregate of consciousness of all buddhas. He is one of the five Tathagatas or Dhyani buddhas. He has a blue-colored body. He holds the commitments of vajra, bell, mudra and reliance upon the guru. Amitabha (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 Avalokitesh- vara. He holds the commitments of relying upon the teachings of the sutra and of the lower and higher tantras. Amogasiddhi (Tib. Dönyo drupa) The manifestation of the aggregate of compositional factors of all Buddhas. He has a green-colored body. He is one of the five Tathagatas or Dhyani buddhas. He holds the commitment of making offerings to the guru and to maintain purely all vows. 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-ente- rer, 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. Asanga [fourth or fifth century C.E.] Extender of the cittamatra or ‘mind-only’ school of tenets. From Maitreya, the bodhisattva of love, the lineage of extensive deeds or widespread activities (method) was transmitted to him. He brought back from Tushita the Five works of Maitreya. The lineage goes from Maitreya to Asanga, via a.o. Vasubandhu, Haribhadra, Atisha, to Tsong Khapa. His brother is Vasubandhu. Atisha Dipamkara Sri Jnana. Also called Jowo Palden Atisha [982-1055] (Tib. Marme dze) A great Indian pandit, perhaps the last of the universally acclaimed 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 Enlighten- ment (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 Amithaba. The Dalai Lama is considered to be a incarnation 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 or the in-between. 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 life. One remains in that state anywhere from a moment to forty-nine days. Bardoa A being in the bardo. Bikshu (Skt; Tib. gelong) Buddhist mendicant monk. Bikshuni is the female counterpart. 308 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

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. Bliss (Tib. dewa) An extremely pleasurable feeling; in maha annutara yoga tantra the very subtle clear light mind experiencing great bliss is focused on emptiness. Bodhicitta: See bodhimind 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 bodhi-mind, 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 as- pires 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. In maha anuttara yoga tantra bodhimind is of two types: the red bodhicitta, which symbolizes female energy; and the white bodhicitta which symbolizes male energy. These are represented by ovum and sperm respectively. In this context buddhahood is the unification of these two forces placed within realization of mahamudra. Bodhisattva (Skt; Tib. jangchub sempa) Also referred to as ‘child of the Buddha’, ‘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 aspiration to enlightenment for the first time to those who have actually entered 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 nature Our potential to attain full enlightenment. Specifically, it is the ultimate nature of the mind. Every living being has buddha nature. Buddha nature and buddha seed are synonyms. 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 expanded (gye) or perfected his mind to encompass all excellences and knowledges. 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) sambogakaya or enjoyment-body or beatific body, (3) nirmanakaya or emanation-body or in- carnational 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) sambogakaya or enjoyment-body and (4) nirmanakaya or emanation-body. Buddhadharma Buddha’s teachings and the inner realizations attained by practicing them. Bumpa (Tib.) Vase. In initiations two kinds are used: the activity vase with spout and the initiation vase without spout. Chakra (Skt; Tib. tsa kor) Energy-wheel; a focal point of energy along the central channel upon which one’s concentration is directed, especially during the completion stage of annutara yoga tantra. Meditating on these points can cause the inner winds to enter the central channel. Chandrakirti (ca. sixth-seventh century C.E.) The most important madhyamika philosopher after Nagarjuna and Ary- adeva. He is regarded the ‘ultimate’ disciple of Nagarjuna as he is the elucidator of the essence of Nagarjuna’s message. He wrote famous commentaries on Nagarjuna’s work, such as Guide to the Middhe Way (Skt. Madhyamikava- tara). So he is considered one of the highest authorities on the subject of the profound nature of reality. Channels (Skt. nadi Tib. tse) A constituent of the vajra body through which energy-winds and drops flow. In the body there are three main channels: the central channel (Skt. avadhuti, shushumma; Tib. uma), the major energy

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channel of the vajra body; the right channel (Tib. roma) and the left channel (Tib. kyangma). From the tip of the sex organ up to the top of the head it is very straight, but from there it bends down in an arch and terminates between the two eyebrows. It is located exactly midway between the right and left halves of the body but it is closer to the back than to the front. It is visualized greenish-bluish from the outside, more reddish from the inside. Imme- diately to either side of the central channel are the right and left channels. The right channel is visualized red and the left one white. 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 appearance. Clear 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. Completion stage (Tib. dzoh rim) Highest yoga tantra realizations that are attained through completing a special method that causes the winds to enter, abide, and dissolve within the central channel. Concentration (Skt. samadhi; Tib. ting dzin) The ability to focus the mind single-pointedly on any chosen object of meditation and keep it there. Concentration meditation is one of the two main forms of meditation, the other one being analytical meditation. Also see Samadi. Dakas and dakinis (Skt.; Tib. kandro and kandroma) Literally ‘sky-goers’; Male and female beings who help arouse blissful energy in a qualified tantric practitioner. Deity See yidam Demon or devil See Maras Desire Can be either negative, like in the meaning of attachment to wordly pleasures, or positive, in the meaning of striving for enlightenment. Development stage (Tib. ke rim) Also called generation stage or creation stage. The first of the two main stages of maha-annutara-yoga-tantra during which one cultivates the clear appearance and divine pride of one’s chosen meditational deity. The second stage is called the completion stage or perfection stage. Dharma Protectors (Skt. dharmapalas; Tib. chö kyong) Manifestations of buddhas or bodhisattvas whose main function is to eliminate obstacles and to gather all necessary conditions for pure dharma practitioners. 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. Dharmakaya (Skt.; Tib. chö ku) Truth Body. The mind of a fully enlightened being, free of all coverings, remaining meditatively absorbed in the direct perception of emptiness while simultaneously cognizing all phenomena. Divine pride (Tib. hla-yi-nga-gyel) A non-deluded pride that regards oneself as a deity and one’s environments and enjoyments as those of the Deity. It is the antidote to ordinary conceptions. Dorje See Vajra Dorje Chang (Tib.) See Vajradhara dril bu bell Drilbu (Tib.) Bell Drops (Skt. bindu; Tib. tigle) A constituent of the vajra body used in the generation of great bliss; of two types, the red drops are received from one’s mother and the white drops from one’s father at conception. Also see Indestruc- tible drop Emptiness (Skt. shunyata, Tib. tongpa nyi) The absence of all false ideas about how things exist; specifically the lack of apparent independent self-existence of phenomena. 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 characterized by unlimited compassion, skill and wisdom. Eternalisme or existentialism (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. Father tantra: The tantras that emphasize the practice of the illusion body, such as Guhyasamaja. 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

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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 buddhas There are five main buddha families or castes, the families of Vairocana, Ratnasambhava, Amithaba, Amoghasiddhi and Akshobya. They are also called the five Dhyani buddhas or the five Tathagatas. 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 paths According to dharma a path is necessarily an internal path. There are mundane and supramundane paths. A supramundane path is any path leading to liberation or enlightenment, for example, the realizations of renunciation, bodhicitta and the correct view of emptiness. Strictly speaking only superior beings, aryas, posses supramundane paths. The five paths are: 1. path of merit or path of accumulation (Tib. tsok lam); 2. path of preparation (Tib. jor lam); 3. path of seeing or path of insight (Tib. tong lam); 4. path of meditation (Tib. gom lam); 5. path of no- more-learning. The first two paths are the paths of ordinary bodhisattvas, the following two paths are the paths of arya bodhisattvas or superior bodhisattvas, on the fifth path the bodhisattva has become a buddha. The paths in hinayana carry the same name but differ in the practice. Five skandhas. (Skr; 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) perception or discernment or discrimination or intellect -the sense of verbal, conceptual intelligence (Skt. samnja), (4) volition, motivation, habits, compositional factors, formative elements or conditioned activities (Skt. samskara) and (5) consciousness or pri- mary mind or pure awareness (Skt. vijnana). Associated 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 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). Supreme attainments are the special realizations of a Buddha. Four branches of ritual service and attainment. - bsnyen sgrub yan lag bzhi. 1. bsnyen pa entails the recitation of mantra and one-pointed prayerful devotion to a deity that is visualised 2. Further ritual service, nye bar bsnyen pa, entails the prayer that the deity's blessings will descend, transforming the mundane body, speech, and mind into the three syllables of indestructible reality, 3. Attainment, sgrub pa, entails that accomplishments are absorbed from the sugatas of the ten directions into deity and thence into oneself, either in actuality, meditation. or dreams. Great attainment, sgrub chen, is the ultimate realisation of beginningless primordial purity which is experienced when body, speech and mind are identical to the deity. Four classes or levels of tantra Successively Kriya tantra (Skt.; Tib. dya gyu) which uses many external rituals such as washing etc.; charya tantra (Skt,; Tib. chö gyu) which balances outer methods with inner ones; yoga tantra (Skt; Tib. neljor gyu) which emphasizes internal methods; maha anuttara yoga tantra (Skt.; Tib. lama me gyu), which exclusively relies upon internal methods. Four initiations: Vase, secret, wisdom and word initiation. Four Noble Truths (skr. 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. Four purification powers. 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 ways of birth Spontaneous birth, birth from moisture, birth from an egg, birth from a womb Gelugpa The tradition of Tibetan Buddhism established by Je Tsong Khapa as a fusion of older sects, sometimes named Ganden Kagyu, also known as the New Kadam, The name Gelug means: wholesome way or: virtuous tradition. The three great Gelug monasteries are Ganden, Drepung and Sera. The other main traditions of Tibetan Buddhism are the Nyingma who go back to Guru Padmasambhava, Sakya going back to Sakya Pandita, and the Kagyu going back to Marpa-Milarepa-Gampopa.

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Guhyasamaja (Tib. Sangwa dupa) One of the three major Gelugpa yidams, the other two being Heruka and Ya- mantaka. Guru (Skt; Tib. lama) See Spiritual master Guru Yoga (Skt.) The fundamental tantric practice whereby one’s guru is seen as (a) identical with the buddhas, (b) one’s personal meditational deity and (c) the essential nature of one’s own mind. Heruka Chakrasamvara one of the major meditational deities of the mother tantras, the principal sources explaining the methods for realizing the clear light. This deity is sometimes referred to as Samvara and merely as Heruka, though this latter term can be applied in general to all deities of highest yoga tantra. Highest yoga tantra (skr. maha-annutara-yoga tantra) The fourth and supreme division of tantric practice, consist- ing 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. Hungry ghosts (skr. preta) Literally ‘departed’. There are 500 kinds of hungry ghosts, including demonic ones that cause certain types of accidents, spirits of the departed, spirits that enter and take possessions of human bodies, and overpowering ghosts kings that cause certain forms of madness. Hungry ghosts, normally invisible to human beings, are one of the six classes of samsaric beings. I or self or ego (skr. 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 ‘Dictator I’. There is acceptance of a relative, impermanent, changeable, conscious entity, which is the continuation of life, linking one’s former life to this life, and this life to future lives. Ignorance (skr. 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. Illusion body or illusory body (skr. maya-kaya Tib. gyu lu) A subtle bodily form generated through the practice of the completion stage of highest yoga tantra. When a practitioner of highest yoga tantra rises from the meditation of the isolated mind of ultimate example clear light he or she attains a body that is not the same as his or her ordinary physical body. This new body is the illusory body. It has the same appearance as the body of the personal yidam of generation stage, except that it is white in color. It can be perceived only by those who have already attained an illusory body. Indestructible drop The most subtle drop, formed from the very subtle red and white drops received from the parents at conception and located at the heart chakra. At death the red and white drops separate and the very subtle mind and its mounting wind or most subtle energy are freed to travel to the next life. Indra A desire-realm god who abides in the Land of the Thirty-three heavens. At the time of Buddha Sakyamuni, Indra and Brahma requested Buddha to turn the wheel of dharma for the sake of all sentient beings. Inherent Existence The illusion that people and things exist by virtue of their own essential characteristics alone, independently of any conditioning factors. Ignorantly assenting to this illusion is the basis for cyclic existence; wisely dispelling it, the basis for enlightenment and liberation. Inherently existent, truly existent, existence from its own side or existent from its own true nature are interchangeable terms. Also see: Self-existence. Also see: Empti- ness Initiation (Skt. abisheka; Tib. wang). Interdependent existence 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. Intermediate State See: Bardo 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. For this reason he is said to be a devaputra demon. Kargyu One of the main Tibetan buddhist traditions, the other ones being Gelugpa, Nyingma and Sakya. In the lineage of the kagyu are well-known Marpa, Milarepa, Gampopa and Trungpa Rimpoche. 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

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Kapala skull cup. Also refered to as dhe kyong – joy protection, bliss-sustainer, guardian of happiness. Ke rim See Development stage Lamrim (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. Lung (Tib. Skt. prana) Air, energy, wind; oral transmission. Madhyamika (Skt.; Tib. Umapa) One of the two main schools of Mahayana tenets. A system of analysis founded by Nagarjuna, based on the Perfection of Wisdom sutras of Shakyamuni buddha, considered to be the supreme presentation of the wisdom of emptiness. There are two divisions of this school, Madhyamika-Svatantrika and Madhyamika-Prasangika, of which the latter is Buddha’s final view. Maha anu yoga tantra (Skt) See Highest yoga tantra Mahasiddha Sanskrit term for ‘greatly accomplished one’. Used to refer to Yogis with high attainments. Maitreya (Tib. Jampa) The embodiment of the loving-kindness of all the Buddhas. At the time of Buddha Shakya- muni he manifested as a Bodhisattva disciple. In the future he will manifest as the fifth universal Buddha. Mala (Tib.) Rosary. 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 Manjunatha (‘Jam mgon), an epithet for Tsong khapa. 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. Mantrayana (Skt.) The vehicle of mantras; a synonym for vajrayana. Maras (Skt) Demons. Anything that obstructs the attainment of liberation or enlightenment is called a demon. There are four principal types of demon: the demon of the delusions (kleshamara), the demon of the contaminated aggregates (skandhamara), the demon of death (mrtyumara) and the heavenly demons (devaputramara). Of these, only the last are actual sentient beings. The principal devaputra demon is wrathful Ishvara, who inhabits the highest of the desire-realms. Buddha is called a ‘conqueror’ because he has conquered all four types of demon. 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 skr. 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 beneficial 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. Method Any spiritual path that functions to ripen our buddha seed, i.e. our growing buddha nature. Training in renunciation, compassion, and bodhicitta are examples of method practices. Middle way See Madhyamika. 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. Mother tantra. The tantras that emphasize the practice of clear light, such as Heruka Charaksamvara and Vajrayogini Mudra (Skt.; Tib. chakgya) Generally, the Sanskrit word for ‘seal’, as in Mahamudra, the ‘Great seal’. More specifically, ‘mudra’ is used to refer to a consort, as in ‘action mudra’ or ‘wisdom mudra’, and to hand gestures used in Tantric rituals. Nada Squiggle; last part of a seed-syllable that dissolves. Nadis See: Channels Nagarjuna Saint, scholar and mystic of Buddhist India, born about four hundred years after the Buddha, who re- vived the mahayana in the first century AD by bringing to light the teachings on the Perfection of Wisdom, the lineage of wisdom, according to the myth handed over to him by the nagas. He is author of the fundamental

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Madhyamika work and founder of the Madhyamika or Middle Way school of tenets. He is said to have lived five hundred sixty years due to his alchemical ability. Naropa Eleventh century Indian mahasiddha who transmitted many profound tantric lineages, including those of Heruka Chakrasamvara and Vajrayogini. Disciple of Tilopa and guru of Marpa. 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. Nihilism (Tib. che-ta) Belief that phenomena are completely non-existent. One of the extremes to be avoided; the opposite is eternalism. Nine mixings The main methods for taking ordinary death, bardo and rebirth as the paths to the three kayas of a buddha. These nine are extensively explained in the texts of the Guhyasamaja tantra. The nine mixings make up one of the essential practices of the completion stage meditation. Nirmanakaya (Skt.; Tib. tul ku) Emanation body. Form in which the enlightened mind appears in order to benefit ordinary beings. Oral Transmission (Tib. lung) The passing of a pure, unbroken oral lineage. All the root texts and their commentaries have been passed in a pure, unbroken lineage from teachers to disciples from the time of Buddha down to the present day. It is customary at the end of a teaching for the teacher to recite all the words of the text, just as he heard them from his own teacher. A disciple is not considered to have received a teaching until he or she has heard all the words from the mouth of a qualified spiritual guide. A teaching that has been received in this way is completely pure and it carries the blessings of all the lineage gurus who transmitted the same teaching in the past. 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. Pandit Scholar. Maha-pandit means great scholar. The word is here normally used for the earlier buddhist scholars in India, like Nagarjuna, Asanga and so and forth. Paramitas See: Six paramitas. Paths See: Five paths. Phowa (Tib. pho wa) A practice for transferring the consciousness to a pure land at the time of death. Prajnaparamita Sutra (Skt.; Tib. par chin) Perfection of Wisdom sutra. The scripture with those teachings of Sakyamuni buddha in which the transcendental wisdom, the wisdom of emptiness and the path of the bodhisattva are set forth. There are nineteen versions of different lengths, ranging from the Heart Scripture of a few pages to the large one of Hundred-Thousand stanzas Prajnaparamita (Skt.) Perfection of wisdom. Transcendental wisdom, being the profound non-dual understanding of the ultimate reality, or the voidness, or relativity, of all things. Personified as a goddess, she is worshipped as the ‘Mother of all buddhas’ (Sarvajinamata) Preliminaries. Preliminary practices (Tib. ngondro); the meditations designed to remove hindrances and accumulate a store of meritorious energy so that a disciple will have success in the practice. Several Tibetan traditions practice four ngondros for the vajrayana practice: 100,000 prostrations, 100,000 Vajrasattva purifications, 100,000 mandala offerings, 100,000 guru-yoga practices. In the tradition of Tsong Khapa the foremost ngondro for the practice of vajrayana is the study and practice of the Lam Rim. As special ngondro one does the 100,000 guru-yoga practices, i.e. the 100,000 Migtsemas within the context of the Ganden Lha Gyema. Pride See Divine pride. Protectors There are Dharma protectors (Skt. dharmapalas Tib. chö kyong) and worldly protectors, also called guardians of the world (Skt. lokapalas; Tib. jikten kyongwa). Puja A ceremony in which offerings and other acts of devotion are performed in front of holy beings. 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 Joyful land, the pure land of Maitreya; Sukhavati, the pure land of Amithaba; Dakiniland, the pure land of Heruka and Vajrayogini. Reality source (Tib. chojung) Also called phenomena source. Emptiness, the source of all phenomena, symbolized as a single or double tetrahedron. Realms In samsara three main realms or worldsare distinguished: the desire realm, the form realm, the formless realm. I. Realm of desire (kama-dhatu). The environment, land or sphere of hell-beings -eight hot hells, eight cold hells, two nearby hells-, hungry ghosts (pretas), animals, humans and demi-gods [or jealous gods] (asuras) are all included in the desire realm, because beings in this realm have very strong desirous attachment. The environments of gods exist in all three realms. The realms of -the first six classes- of gods in the realm of desire

314 Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary

are [upwards] in sequence: 1. Land of the four great royal lineages, 2. Land of the thirty three heavens or thirty three gods [1 and 2 both on Mount Meru] 3. Land without combat (tap.te), 4. Land of Joy (Tushita), 5. Land of enjoying emanations and of performing miraculous power. 6. Land of those controlling others’ emanations. II. Realm of form (rupa-dhatu). Inhibited by the 17 classes of gods, divided into the four meditation-levels or the four concentrations or the four dhyanas. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd dhyana each are divided into three; the fourth dhyana has 8 levels. The highest level of the fourth dhyana -the seventeenth stage- is called Akanishta. III Realm of Non-form or Formless Realm (arupa-dhatu). Inhibited by the top four classes of gods. Divided into 4 stages: 1. Infinite space, 2. Infinite consciousness, 3. Nothingness, and the highest: 4. Neither consciousness nor not-consciousness or ‘Peak of cyclic existence. Sometimes in a gross division of nine levels the desire-realm is called the first level, then four form-levels and four formless-levels. Rebirth The entrance of consciousness into a new state of existence after death and the intermediate state. Renunciation (Tib. ngejung) The realization of detachment from all of samsara, having understood its faults. Also called: determination to be free. 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 Samadhi (Skt. ) A state of deep meditative absorption; single-pointed concentration on the actual nature of things, free from discursive thought and dualistic conceptions. Samantabhadra (Tib. Kuntu zangpo) A bodhisattva known for his heroic aspiration and extensive offerings. Sambhogakaya (Skt.; Tib. long ku) Enjoyment body. One of the form-bodies of a buddha. The body of Buddha as it exists in the Buddha fields or paradises and upper realms; form in which the enlightened mind teaches the highly realized bodhisattvas who are at that stage. This body is fully adorned with the unique physical characteristics of a buddha. It can only be seen by those who have attained the highly realized stage of an arya. Samsara Cyclic existence; the recurring cycle of death and rebirth under the control of ignorance and fraught with suffering. 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 See: I 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. Selflesness (Tib. dag mepa) Two selflessnesses: personal selflessness and phenomenal selflessness, both being descriptions of the ultimate reality, which is the absence of the two ‘selves’, the realization of what is called ‘transcendental wisdom’ or prajnaparamita Sentient Being (skr. 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. Seven qualities of enlightenment (Tib. kha sbyor yan lag bdun) complete enjoyment, union, great bliss, absence of a self-nature, presence of compassion, being uninterrupted, and being unceasing. Shantideva (687-763) A great Indian Buddhist teacher, meditator and scholar, most famous for his masterpiece, Bodhisattvacharyavatara, Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life. Shamatha (Skt.; Tib. zhiné) Mental quiescence or meditative equipoise. The tranquil, single-pointed settling of the mind on an object of meditation for a sustained period of time. A degree of concentration characterized by mental and physical ecstasy. The nine stages leading to shamatha are degrees of concentration Shunyata See: Emptiness 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 (skr. 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

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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 cultivation 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 (skr., 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 esoteric 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. Also see Four classes of tantra. 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. ajrayana, or mantrayana. Tathagata An epithet of Buddha ‘One who has thus gone’. Ten directions The four cardinal directions, the four intermediate directions, and the directions above and below. As a conventional formula it means ‘all directions’. Thangka A traditional painting of a Buddha. 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. Tigle See drops. Torma offering A special food offering made according to either sutric or tantric rituals. Trijang Rimpoche Yongdzin Trijang Dorje Chang [1901-1981], Losang Yeshe. Was the junior tutor to His Holi- ness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and holder of the many lineages in sutra and secret mantra. Disciple of Pabongka Rimpoche. The senior tutor to the Dalai Lama was Yongdzin Ling Dorje-Chang (1903-c.1984), Thubten Lungtog, ninety-seventh holder of the throne of Ganden. Both Trijang Rimpoche and Ling Rimpoche were teachers of Ge- lek Rimpoche. Tripitaka (Skt). Lit. the three baskets. It are the collections of the Buddha’s teachings, the three scriptural collections corresponding to the three higher trainings: vinaya, the collection of teachings on the discipline of morality; sutra, the collection of scriptures on transcendental method and transcendental wisdom both, corresponding to the higher training of meditation, and abidharma, the collection of teachings on metaphysics, corresponding to the training of wisdom. Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) Lit. ‘The man from the union land (Tsong)’. Je Tsong Khapa was a great fourteenth- century scholar and teacher who reforming the Kadampa tradition restored the purity of buddhadharma in Tibet, thus founding the Gelug tradition. His many treatises finalized the work begun 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 Manjushri, Avalokiteshvara and Vajra- pani and therefore regarded as the embodiment of the wisdom, compassion and power of all the buddhas. Tummo (Tib. tummo) Inner fire or psychic heat. An inner heat located at the center of the navel channel wheel. Two Accumulations Also called the two collections. The accumulation or store of merit and of wisdom; all deeds of bodhisattvas contribute to their accumulation of these two stores, which ultimately culminate in the two bodies of a buddha, the body of form or rupakaya and the ultimate body or dharmakaya Two stages of vajrayana In the three lower classes of tantra this term refers to the ‘yoga with images’ and the ‘yoga without images’. In highest tantra it refers to the generation and completion phases. The former is largely concerned with the generation of the vision of the world as mandala, sound as mantra and thoughts as innate wisdom of bliss and voidness. The latter stage mostly deals with completion of this process by the practice of channeling all the vital energies to the heart, producing the illusory body, realizing the two types of clear light, and attaining the state of great union. Two truths All objects of cognition have two modes of existence, called ‘truths’. The truth of appearance or relative truth or conventional truth (skr. samvrtisattya) is the aspect of existence according to worldly convention and expression. And the absolute truth or ultimate truth (skr. paramarthasatya) is the voidness of all phenomena, the mere absence of inherent existence, the reality of existence. So, the absolute or ultimate truth is emptiness; all other levels belong to the relative or conventional truth Union, state of ultimate (Skt. yuganaddha. Tib. zung juk). Tantric term for buddhahood.

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Vairochana (Tib. Nampar namdze) The manifestation of the form aggregate of all Buddhas. He is one of the five Tathagatas or Dhyani buddhas. He has a white-colored body. He holds the commitments of refuge to Buddha, to Dharma, to Sangha, refrain from non-virtue, practice virtue, help others. 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. Vajra body (Tib. dorje ku). The system of channels, energy-winds or airs, ands drops existing within a human being’s ordinary physical body and activated through the practice of highest yoga tantra, thereby leading to the arousal of an extremely subtle and blissful state of mind (cf. clear light) capable of generating a penetrative wisdom that can eradicate delusions from the mind. Vajradhara (Skt; Tib. Dorje Chang) ‘Holder of the diamond scepter’. Conqueror Vajradhara is the source of all secret mantra. He is the same nature as buddha Sakyamuni but displays a different aspect. Buddha Sakyamuni appears in the aspect of an emanation body, nirmanakaya, and Conqueror Vajradhara appears in the aspect of an enjoyment body, sambogakaya. He symbolizes the attainment of enlightenment through the union of simultaneous great bliss and emptiness. Vajra-master Teacher who is qualified to perform the task of a tantric guru. Vajrapani (Tib. Sangwedag) An important bodhisattva whose compassion is to manifest in a terrific form to protect the practitioners of the dharma from harmful influences. 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 Vajrayogini (Tib. Dorje Neljorma ) Female meditational deity of the maha-annutara yoga tantra, who is the embodiment of indivisible bliss and emptiness. She is the same nature as Heruka Chakrasamvara. It is a mother tantra. 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 Void or Voidness See: Emptiness Vows Promises to refrain from certain actions. The three sets of vows are the Pratimoksha vows of individual liberation, the Bodhisattva vows, and the Secret Mantra vows. Winds See Air. Wisdom being (skr. jnana-sattva; Tib. yeshe sempa) An actual Buddha, especially one who is invited to unite with a visualized commitment being. Wisdom (skr. 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. Yab yum yab is father (male buddha); yum is mother (female buddha) Yamantaka A yidam; in maha-annutara-yoga tantra a wrathful manifestation of Manjushri, to overcome hindrances; it is a father-tantra. Many names refer to him: First of all ‘Terminator of Death’ in sanskrit Yamantaka (Yama-antaka) in Tibetan Shinje She; Then ‘Vajra Terrifier’, in sanskrit Vajra Bhairava, in Tibetan Dorje Jigje. He is also referred to as ‘King of the Yamas’, in sanskrit Yama Raja, in Tibetan Shinje Gyalpo. There are many forms of Yamantaka. The Yamantaka referred to in this teaching is the ‘Solitary Hero Yamantaka’, in sanskrit Yamantaka Ekavira, in Tibetan referred to as Dorje Jigje Pawo chikpa 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) A term used for various spiritual practices that entail maintaining a special view, such as Guru yoga and the yogas of eating, sleeping, dreaming, and waking. ‘Yoga’ also refers to union, such as the union of tranquil abiding and superior seeing. Yogi, Yogini (Skt.; Tib. neljorpa) Male resp. female practitioner. Zhine (Tib.) See Shamatha. Zoh rim See Completion stage Zung juk [Skt yuganaddha] union, ultimate goal of integration

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.

14. LITERATURE

Akhu Sherab Gyatso, Vajrabhairava Vollendungsstufe, Chödzong, 2000. S. Beyer, The Cult of Tara, Magic and Ritual in Tibet. University of California Press 1978 Bokar Rimpoche, Tara, the Feminie Divine. San Francisco, Clear Point Press, 1999. Chang, Garma C.C. The Six Yogas of Naropa. Ithaca. Snow Lion Publ Cozort, D. Highest yoga tantra. Ithaca, Snow Lion Publ. 1986 Dalai Lama, Gelug/Kagyu Tradition of Mahamudra, Ithaca, Sbow Lion, 1997 Dowman, Keith. Masters of Mahamudra; Songs and Histories of the 84 Buddhist Siddhas, New York, Suny 1985 Essen, G. W. Die Götter des Himalaya, München, Prestel-Verlag 1989 Gelek Rimpoche, Ganden Lha Gyema. Jewel Heart transcript 1991 Gelek Rimpoche, Guru Devotion: How to integrate the primordial mind. Jewel Heart transcript 1997 Gelek Rimpoche, Lam Rim Teachings. Jewel Heart transcripts 1993 Gelek Rimpoche, The perfection of wisdom mantra, Jewel Heart transcripts 1998 Gelek Rimpoche, Solitary Yamantaka Teachings on the Generation Stage. Jewel Heart transcript 1997 Gelek Rimpoche, Vajrayogini Teachings Jewel Heart transcript 2000 Ginsberg, Allen. Death and fame, Harper Flamingo, New York 1999 Gonsar Rinpotsche, Tantra der 21 Taras, Le Mont-Pelerin. Edition Rabten, 2001 Guenther, H. The life and teaching of Naropa. Boston-London, Shambhala, 1986 Gyatso, Geshe Kelsang. Clear light of bliss. London, Wisdom Publ. 1982 Gyatso, Geshe Kelsang. Essence of Vajrayana London, Tharpa Publ. 1997 Gyatso, Geshe Kelsang. Tantric grounds and paths. London, Tharpa Publ. 1994 Lati Rimpoche and Jeffrey Hopkins, Death, intermediate state and rebirth. Ithaca, Snow Lion Publ. 1980 Lessing FD and Wayman A. Mkhas grub rje’s Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras. Paris: Mouton 1968 Leuschner, Sabine, Handbuch zum Tantrischen Retreat, Langenfeld, Chödzong 1997 Life of the Mahasiddha Tilopa. Loden, Geshe. Path to the Union of Clear Light and Illusory Body. Melbourne: Tushita Publ. 2002 Mullin, Glenn H. Tsongkhapa’s Six yogas of Naropa. Ithaca, Snow Lion Publications 1996 Nalanda Translation Committee. The life of Marpa the translator. Boston, Shambhala 1982 Pabongka Rimpoche, Liberation in our hands, vol. I, II, III. Mah Sutra & Tantra Press, Howell 1990ff Pabongka, Liberation in the palm of your hand, ed. Richards. Boston, Wisdom Publ. 1991 Panchen Sonam Dragpa, Overview of Buddhist Tantra, Dharamsala, LTWA 1996 Sherab, Akhu. Sri Chakrasamvara; Kommentar zur Praxis der Vorstellungsstufe nach der Luipa Tradition.Chödzong 1998 Taranatha, The Origin of the Tara Tantra. Dharamsala, LTWA 1981 Thurman, R. Central philosophy of Tibet [former title Speech of Gold], Princeton University Press 1984 Thurman, R. Life and teachings of Tsongkhapa, LTWA 1982 Thurman, R. Wisdom and Compassion, the sacred art of Tibet. Tibet House New York, 1991 Trungpa, Chogyam. Illusion’s Game; The Life and Teachings of Naropa. Boston, Shambhala, 1994 Tsongkhapa, The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment. Ithaca Snow Lion Publ 2001 Tsongkhapa, A Book of Three Inspirations, In: Mullin, Tsongkhapa’s Six Yogas of Naropa Willson, Martin. In Praise of Tara, Songs to the Saviouress, London, Wisdom Publ. 1986. Willson M. transl. Cittamani Tara; an extended Sadhana. Boston, Wisdom Publ. 1984 Yeshe, Lama Thubten. Cittamani Tara. London: Wisdom Publ. 1984 Yeshe, Lama. The Bliss of Inner Fire; Heart Practice of the Six Yogas of Naropa, Boston, Wisdom Publ. 1998 Yeshe, Lama Thubten. Cittamani Tara Retreat Sadhana. FPMT 2004 Gonzalez. David transl. Chittamani Tara Self Generation Sadhana, Dechen Ling Press 2007

15. INDEX

Abidharmakosha, 41, g Be fearless. Choose love, 118 central channel, 186, 226, 227, absorption. see dissolving bell, 54 233, 288 achievement and damaru, 113 d del ma, 227 four causes, 51 between sessions, 211–21 directional, 226 AH, 145 bikshu, 64, g elemental, 227 airs, 168, 187, 226, 231–32, g blessings. g left channel, 227 and OM AH HUM, 102 bliss, 230, g main ones, 226 five branch airs, 231, 232 dissolving lama, 287 right channel, 227 five root airs, 231, 232 generation of, 244–47 three channels, 281 Akanishta, 41, g primordial mind, 285 cho ki da, 219 Akshobhya. g what does it do, 100 Cittamani Tara, 2, Also see Tara Allen Ginsberg, 98, 287, 291 bodhimind. g and Demo Rimpoche, 199 altar, 52 special, 60 commitments, 55 Amitabha, 113, 135, 153, 154, bodhisattva. g maha anu yoga tara tantra, 115 193, g body as hollow, 233 mother tantra, 54 Amogasiddhi, 154, 193, 194, g body mandala, 181, 185, 186– city of joy, 25 appearance, 165 88, 195 clarity, 97, 157, 165, 167, g and emptiness, 102 clarity and pride, 187 and pride, 164, 187 appearance-acceptance essence, 188 and profundity, 164, 305 negating ordinary, 162–64 initiation, 40 and stability, 162 arhat. g what it is not, 184 divine pride, 172 arya, 296, g body posture, 236 obstacles, 162 Asanga. g Brahma, 128, g of mind Atisha, 139, g Buddha. g how to cultivate, 170 sent to Tibet, 39 bodies. g clear light, 32, 44, 61, 76, 87, Tara practice, 119 enlightenment, 41 92, g attachment, 90 quoted, 17, 225, 256 and glorious, 71 bardo being, 301 buddha nature. g example, 100, 285 channel, 282 Buddhadharma. g mother and child, 243 A-tung, 244, 284, 288 camel, 130 of the guru, 67 Avalokiteshvara, 122, g CHA, 186 colors BAM, 291 chag tsäl, 121 depend on yidam, 234 dissolving system, 292–93 chakra-branches, 223 commentary, 116 sambogakaya, 298 completion stage, 233 21 Taras, 115 sound, 285 development stage, 186 Dharmabhadra, 149 bardo, 299, 301, g chakras, 66, 185, 186–87, 277, g First Dalai Lama, 126 as sambhogakaya, 110–12, four main, 233 Pabongka, 45, 46, 54, 67 110–12, 298 meditation, 190, 191 Takpu Dorje Chang, 250 bardoa, 300, g Chandrakirti, 97, 99, g commitment base quoted, 109 guru yoga, 62 ultimate, 279, 290 selflessness, 96 materials, 55 base, path and result, 87, 88, 89, Changya Rolpai Dorje commitment being. g 98, 279 quoted, 96 commitments, 37, 48, 51, g in dharmakaya, 87 channels, 186, 226, 276, 281, g sadhana, 18, 55, 210 320 Cittamani Tara Teachings compassion, 10, 15, 21, 30 Dharmabadra, Ngulchu, 115, examples completion stage, 86, 109, 225, 149, 195 gold in the ground, 14 285, 288, g, Also see zoh rim dharmadhatu, 70 primordial mind, 282 purpose of, 228 dharmakaya, 96–109, 237, g faith, 48 summary, 250 death as, 291–98 father tantra, 47, 112, 226, 235, concentration. g four qualities, 101, 105, 297 g consort seven points to synchronize, female, 36 3 types of, 247 296 Field of Merit, 11, 79, 80, g inner, 247 Dharmakirti absorption, 81 outer, 245 logic, 43 First Dalai Lama, 38, 126 creator quoted, 303 quoted, 117 of the mandala, 43 dissolving, 81, 90, 91, 106, 237 five branch airs, 232 our own, 44 merit field, 81 five buddhas. g dag dzin, 10 Twenty-One Taras, 153 five categories Dagyab Rimpoche, 46 Dorje Sempa. Zie Vajrasattva of reincarnation, 35 dakinis. g downfalls five paths, 32, g of the three places, 187 publisher, 220 five powers at time of death, 92 Dalai Lama, 294 dream stage, 222 five qualities sambhogakaya, 93 damaru, 54, 113 dreams, 143, 219, 240 five root airs, 231 death recognize, 219 five wisdoms, 154, 299, g and primordial mind, 98 transform, 219 focal point, 161, 228 as dharmakaya, 96–109, 291– drilbu. See bell zoh rim, 225 98 Drom Rimpoche, 39 focus, 71, 95, 167 being fully prepared, 243 drops, 226, 228–31, g central channel, 236 choice at that time, 257 inseparable, 228 emptiness, 98, 102 five powers, 92 melting, 231 forgetting, 166 help dharma friend, 90 red and white, 284 joy, 82 making provisions, 242 subtle drop, 182 pride, 95 prepare, 89, 240 dzog chen, 299 single-pointed, 51 signs of, 91 ego, 10, 13, 20, 50, 87, 92, 103, yidam, 161 stages of dying, 106–7 105, 157, 164, 173, 179, 241 food, 216, 217 sudden death, 91, 244 Einstein, 294, 295 Foundation of All Perfections, what causes inner signs, 229 emerald, 117 256 what to do at the time of, 89–90 emptiness, 31, 75, 101, 157, four activities, 35, 146, g demi-gods, 143 293–96, g four branches, 154–56, 310 Demo Nyomba, 246 and appearance, 102 four causes of achievement, 51 Demo Rimpoche, 199 and four joys, 289 four classes of tantra. g dependent existence, 104, 109, g and interdependentness, 158 four elements, 222 depression and relative existence, 108 four immeasurables, 81 ways of counteracting, 169 and Tsongkhapa, 109 four initiations, 69, g desire. g essence of compassion, 289 four joys, 288 development stage, 55, 86, 93, in vajrayana, 95 four main chakras, 233 94, 165–81, 182, 183, 225 is compassion, 127 four Noble Truths, 138, 139, g and completion stage, 283 mental and physical experience, four purification powers. g and perfection stage, 285 99 four qualities conclusions, 221 primordial mind, 281 of dharmakaya, 101, 105, 297 gross, 161–65 recognize, 238 Four Seals, 256 and subtle, 305 Three Principles, 108 four stages of shamatha, 183 reason, 86 two emptinesses, 96, 103 four systems of teaching, 40 subtle, 181–83, 202–3, 304 energies four ways of birth. g vast and profound, 175 collecting, 244 Gelugpa. g what it is, 85, 86 enlightenment, 222, g generation why necessary, 56 Akanishta, 41 five wisdoms, 154–55 Dharma. g within lifetime, 232 generosity, 29 dharma instructors, 70 equality, 81 giving, 28 dharma protectors. g equanimity, 21 glorious, 71 eternalism. g Golden Mala, 288

Index 321

Gomo Rimpoche, 45, 102 incarnations mandala. g Guhyasamaja, 280, 299, g multiple, 35 23 heaps, 152 Guhyasamaja tantra, 222 indestructible drop, 279–81, of Tara, 116 quoted, 155 297, g offering, 150 Gungtang Jambelyang, 74, 250 Indra. g Vajrayogini, 302 quoted, 27, 256 inherent existence, 76, 293, g Manjushri, 288, g guru, 67 lack of, 110 Black, 216 creator of the mandala, 43 initiation, 50, 62, g Manjushri namasangiti, 145 dissolving, 70 Lamrim overview, 9–33, 253– mantra, 195, g faith, 48 62 Black Manjushri, 216 function of, 45 outer and inner, 40 color, 69, 188 link to enlightenment, 41 secret, 40 Dorje Nampar, 216 root of development, 72 inner signs guru yoga, 69 three ways of looking at, 43 causes of, 229 peaceful and wrathful, 139 guru devotion, 11–12 inseparable drop placing, 188 how it functions, 12 two types, 228 retreat, 195–200 three reasons, 11 instantaneous rise, 73 rules for saying, 197 guru yoga, 287, g base, path and result, 98 visualization-recitation, 189–93 appearance bikshu, 64 interconnectedness, 19 wisdom mantra, 198 aura colors, 64 Ishvara. g mantra recitation base, path and result, 98 Je tsün ma, 120 four activities, 146 contemporary stories, 41–43 Kadampa geshe systems, 196 importance, 40, 41, 71–73 story, 24 visualization wisdom-mantra, mantras, 69 Kagyu tradition. g 198 padita hat, 65 Kangsar Rimpoche, 45 mantrayana. g position hands, 64 ke rim. see development stage maras. g three beings, 65 Khedrup Je, 220 Marpa, 11, g uncommon, 62–71 quoted, 56, 306 quoted, 246 Gyüto Khor, 216 meditation. Also see and emptiness, 281 kriya tantra, 87, 115 visualization Ha Shang, 180 Kuan Yin, 38 crown chakra, 191 Hawking, Stephen Lama Tara, 80 heart chakra, 190 point of reference, 294 Lama-Yidam, 223 helping self, 189 Russion doll, 293 Lamrim. g inner signs, 229 healing, 144 overview, 9–33, 253–62 navel chakra, 192 heart laziness, 165 rainbow body, 247–50 eight petals, 227 lineage, 40, 46 secret chakra, 193 Heruka tantra how to visualize, 60, 61 sexual union, 194 quoted, 215 two types of, 36 stages of dying, 106–7, 106 Hevajra tantra, 283 Ling Rimpoche, 95, 217 subtle dot, 202 highest yoga tantra. g Lojong, 81 merit, 52, 89, 157, g hinayana. g Longdol Lama, 74, 89 absolute and relative, 103 HUM, 66, 78, 113, 127, 188 quoted, 173 accumulation of, 79 change into TAM, 140 longevity deities, 126 wisdom merit, 74, 89, 173 dissolving, 202, 209 lotus, 116, 117, 122, 275 method. g with TAM, 209 lotus mudra, 80 and wisdom, 32, 54, 102, 165 human rebirth, 285 love and light’, 212 Milarepa, 72, g HUM-TAM, 278 lung. g and Rechungpa, 188 hungry ghosts. g lung sem, 280 quoted, 262 I, 294, g, Also see ego Madhyamaka, 109 mind identity sambhogakaya, 111 madhyamika. g bliss, 98 ignorance. g maha anu yoga tantra, 32, 40, nature of, 282 illusion body, 32, 93, 94, 247, 46, 113, 115, g primordial, 98 285, 297, g mahamudra, 280 subtle sinking, 167 imagination, 286, 287 mahasiddha. g wandering and sinking, 167–68 immunity Maitreya. g mind of giving, 28 two kinds, 26 mala. g mindfulness

322 Cittamani Tara Teachings

vajrayana, 211 OM AH HUM, 156 and Vajrayogini, 283 mixing. Also see nine mixings and airs, 102 bliss, 285 mother and child clear light, OM SVABHAVA, 96, 107, 180 emptiness, 285 243 oral transmission, 46, 62, g from and to, 284 moon, 117 ordinariness pure, 299 crescent, 230 two types, 164 qualities, 282, 290 mother tantra, 47, 54, 155, 226, ordinary subtle, 292 g perception/conceptualization, profound mudra. g 74 see clarity, 164 fearlessness, 129 also see appearance, 303 protectors. g lotus mudra, 80 how to clear, 303 directional, 128, 130 offering mudras, 80 Pabongka. g psychic body three jewels, 131 and lineage, 45 structure, 225 nada. g commentary, 45, 54, 67 puja. g nadis. g quoted, 47, 100, 154 pure being, 164 Nagarjuna, 31, g pacifying, 124 pure land. g quoted, 254 pagma, 120 purification, 152 Nagpopa, 42 Palden Lhamo, 38 quietness, 229, 280 Naropa. g Palmang, 115 quotations quoted, 11 PAM, 110 Buddha, 17 story, 11 pandit. g death, 15 nectar. g hat, 65 development stage, 100 negation patience, 30 Dharmakirti, 303 object of, 97, 163, 255, 295 perception guru, 62 nihilism. g bardo being, 300 guru devotion, 11 avoiding, 103 perception and conception, 74 guru yoga, 72 nine mixings, 222, 239–44, 283, inferior, 173, 176 Khedrup Je, 56, 306 g inferior and superior, 181 Nagarjuna, 254 nirmanakaya, 93, 94, 112, 154, PHAT, 130 on death, 256 155, g phowa, 91, 186, g Pabongka, 47 birth as, 300–302 place to practice, 51 primordial mind, 100, 280, 283 five wisdoms, 222 point of reference, 294 Samvara tantra, 236 visualization, 302 Potala, 38, 40, 156 Sherab Gyatso, 12 what it is like, 155 Potala, 113 Tara, 47, 56, 59 Nyare Khamtsen, 218 practice, 129 Tsongkhapa, 59 Nyima Bepa. See Suryagupta direction, 55 ultimate yana, 279 object of negation. See negation place, 51 Vajrayogini, 280 obstacles pretending, 100 quotions and answers, 157, 177, clearing, 148 problem, 9 194, 222 clearing in ke rim, 303–6 requirements Cittamani, 48 Ra Lotsawa, 245 clearing in zoh rim, 233, 234 requirements Vajrayana, 48–51 rainbow, 110, 155, 156 in vajrayana, 103, 303 result-oriented, 88 five colors, 250 to zhi ne, 165–72 Praise rainbow body, 247–50 offering, 80 Twenty-One Taras, 115–50 being qualified, 247 torma, 203–6 Prajnaparamita. g Ratö Lama, 74 offering deities, 80 Pramanavartika reality source. g offering mudras, 80 quoted, 43 realms. g offerings, 52 preliminary practices, 313 rebirth, 301, 302, g from Tara’s right, 54 pride, 161, 163, g human, 285 front- and selfgeneration, 54 dharmakaya, 95 refuge, 59 geshe offerings, 53 divine, 94, 172, 303, g cause, 16 inner offering sambhogakaya, 111 story, 16 blessing, 73 primordial, 289 relativity, 295 outer offering primordial mind, 98, 222, 281– renunciation. g blessing, 77 91, 296, 297, 299 requirements questions on, 55 and death, 98 Cittamani, 48 OM, 96, 120, 204 and emptiness, 281 Vajrayana, 48–51

Index 323 result-oriented practice, 88 subtle, 167, 168 and Amogasiddhi, 37, 154 Reting monastery, 40 sitting posture, 59 and Atisha, 39 retreat, 51, 52, 195–200, 222 six paramitas. g and Avalokiteshvara, 37 rig, 117, 140 Six Yogas of Naropa, 219, 220, and Kadampa, 40 Rilbur Rimpoche, 241 297 and Palden Lhamo, 38 rinpoche skandhas. g and Vairochana, 120 word, 79 skull cup, 78 body mandala, 185 root airs sleeping, 219 Cittamani vs Green, 52 see five root airs, 231 Sogyal Rimpoche, 117 description, 117–18 Rubin museum, 116 Song Rimpoche, 46, 236, 249 description Atisha system, 117– sadhana. g space-like, 238 18 commitment, 210 spiritual development female, 36 essence of practicing, 305 signs, 13 five categories, 35 projection, 110 spiritual master. g front-generation, 119 Sakyamuni buddha. g stability of mind gave teaching herself, 46 samadhi. g sign of, 162 help another person, 144 sambhogakaya, 298–300, g stories history, 35, 36–40 bardo as, 110–12, 298 camel, 130 Khadarivani, 132 five qualities, 93, 111 geshe and ghosts, 24 male rebirth, 36 identity, 111 guru yoga, 41–43 mandala Suryagupta system, pride of, 111 Longdol Lama, 89 116 samsara. g mantra, 163 mother tantra, 54 and primordial mind, 284 Milarepa and Rechungpa, 188 pacifying, 124 Samvara tantra Naropa and Marpa, 11 peaceful and wrathful, 141, 144 quoted, 236 rainbow body, 249 peaceful manifestation, 124, Sandalwood forest, 118 wrong refuge, 16 138, 142, 145 sangha. g striking. Also see vajra strike practice Atisha system, 119 eight qualities, 64 channels and chakras, 234 Praise benefits, 146–49 Saraha quoted, 289 point, 225, 237 Praises, 263 Secret Heart Transplant, 71 subtle drop, 182 pure land, 118 seed-syllables. g sufferings, 17 quoted, 47, 51, 56, 59, 71, 72, self. g Suryagupta, 115 161, 171, 198, 217, 219, 239, self-existence. g mandala Tara, 116 243 selflessness, 293, 294, g Tara system, 116 work as female, 37 sentient being. g sutrayana. g tantras, 38 seven kisses, 191 essence, 32 what she spoke to Takpu Dorje Seven Limbs, 68, 113 Takpu Dorjechang, 40, 46, 48, Chang, 46 Seven Purities, 81 150 which tantra class, 115 seven worlds, 127 Takpu Tenpey Gyeltsen White Tara, 115 Seventh Dalai Lama quoted, 279, 280, 281, 283 wisdom of activity, 117 quoted, 15, 256 TAM, 66, 110, 111, 188 wrathful manifestation, 122, shamatha, 162, 165, 177, g, Also change into HUM, 140 128, 129, 131, 135, 137, 140 see zhi ne TAM-HUM, 278 wrathful protector, 38 four stages, 183 dissolving, 202 Tara mantra, 195, Also see two ways of cultivating, 181 tantra. g mantra shamatha-vipasyana, 239, 304– tantrayana. g Four Noble Truths, 139 6 Tara, 2, Also see Cittamani Tara meaning of, 195 Shantideva. g 2,3,7 praise, 148 wrathful, 124, 129, 137 Sherab Gyatso, 12 21 Taras Tara’s Notes, 48, 56, 72, 86, shunyata, 117, g 3 ways of picturing, 149 182, 212, 221 siddha. g pictures, 121–45 teaching siddhi. g Praise, 115–50 four systems of, 40 signs two systems, 116 three channels, 281 of energies abiding, 238 activities three higher trainings, 18 of energies dissolving, 238 four categories, 35 three kayas, 222, g of energies entering, 238 of all enlightened, 35 introduction, 89–95 sinking mind and Amitabha, 154 three quitnesses, 229

324 Cittamani Tara Teachings three recognitions, 238 vajra body, 145, 226 void, 50 three-kaya practice Vajra master. g voidness. g bardo as sambogakaya, 298 vajra recitation, 235, 297 vows. g birth as nirmanakaya, 300 vajra strike. Also see striking big deal, 18 death as dharmakaya, 291–98 Vajradhara. g three vows, 120 tigle, 108, 158, 181, 182, 187, g vajrayana, 288, g waking up, 220 tilaka, 284, 288 base for, 49 wandering and sinking mind, tonglen, 24 difference, 105 167–68 torma. g emptiness, 95 wisdom, 10, 16, 36, 50, 51, 99, torma offering. See offering essence, 32 120, g tormas needed, 205 five paths, 32 and method, 32, 102 trak tig, 181 love and light, 212 five wisdoms, 154, 155 transformation, 286 mind does two things, 95 wisdom being, 65, 156, g transmission, 62 mindfulness, 211 entering, 113 Trijang Rimpoche. g rarity, 14 inviting, 68 Tripitaka. g special quality, 98 wisdom mantra, 198 Trungpa Rimpoche, 117 three principle paths, 49 wisdom of activity, 117 Tsongkhapa. g vajrayana practitioners yab yum. g and emptiness, 109 human rebirth, 285 Yamantaka. g and Manjushri, 288 Vajrayogini. g ghost, 49 life story, 9 base, 284 yidam, 80, 185, g praise to, 12 inner, 284, 288, 291 ying, 117 quoted, 59, 62, 72, 108, 226, primordial mind, 283 yoga. g 247 secret, 284, 289 between sessions, 211–21 three principles, 10 vase breathing, 234–35, 297 of sleeping, 219, 222 tummo, 113, 201, 229, 230, 234, father tantra, 235 of waking up, 220 244–45, 250, g vases, 204 yogini. g body posture, 236 vast and profound, 32 zhi ne, 165, 178, 181, Also see Turquoise Land, 118 vegetarian, 115 shamatha two purposes, 111 vinaya sutra, 156 in vajrayana, 304–6 two stages of vajrayana. g visualization. g, Also see obstacles to, 165–72 two truths. g meditation two ways of cultivating, 181 union, 280, 297, g collect back, 111 when necessary, 304 energy and consciousness, 280 visualization-meditation zoh rim, 54, 74, 182, 183, 184, utpala, 65, 118, 125, 133, 138, body mandala, 190–91, 191– 192, 225, g, Also see 155 92, 192, 193 completion stage Vairochana, 59, 120, g dissolving system essence of, 225 vaja strike, 225, 232 navel, 237 zung juk. g vajra, 54 nirmanakaya, 302 focussing mind, 232 vase breathing, 234–35

GELEK RIMPOCHE

Born in Lhasa, Tibet in 1939, Kyabje Gelek Rim- poche was recognized as an incarnate lama at the age of four. Carefully tutored by some of Tibet’s greatest living masters, Rimpoche gained renown for his powers of memory, intellectual judgment and penetrating insight. He is among the last generation of lamas educated in Drepung Monastery before the 1959 Com- munist Chinese invasion of Tibet. Forced to flee to India in 1959, Gelek Rimpoche later edited and printed over 170 volumes of rare Tibetan manuscripts that would have otherwise been lost to humanity. In the late 1970’s Rimpoche was directed to teach Western students by his teachers, the Senior and Junion Tutors to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kyabje Ling Rimpoche and Kyabje Trijang . Rimpoche. Since that time he has taught Buddhist practitioners throughout the world. Gelek Rimpoche is an example of kindness, generosity, good humor, and inspirational insight. He is particularly distinguished for his thorough knowledge of English, familiarity with modern culture, and special effectiveness as a teacher of Western practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. In 1989, Rimpoche founded Jewel Heart, a Tibetan Buddhist and Cultural Learning Center. On June 24, 1994, Rimpoche became a U.S. citizen. He has au- thored numerous transcripts as well as the national bestseller Good Life, Good Death (Riverhead Books 2001) and The Tara Box: Rituals for Protection and Healing from the Female Buddha (New World Li- brary 2004).

JEWEL HEART

Jewel Heart is dedicated to the preservation of the Tibetan Buddhism and to the practice of this rich tradition within the context of contemporary American life. Through activities such as on-going public programs, study groups, sponsorship of cultural events, and retreats, Jewel Heart's principal goal is the fostering of inner development. Its programs teach methods for translating the meditative states of love and compassion into effective action. Jewel Heart's spiritual direc- tor, Gelek Rimpoche, is committed to furthering these aims through teaching and practicing the tradition of Tsongkhapa.

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 Bud- dha 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 Head Office: 1129 Oak Valley Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, USA Phone (1) 734.994.3387 Fax (1) 734.994.5577 www.jewelheart.org

JEWEL HEART Chapters are to be found: • In USA in Ann Arbor, Birmingham MI, Chicago, Cleveland OH, Lincoln NE, New York, and San Francisco. • In The Netherlands in Nijmegen, Den Bosch, Utrecht, Arnhem and Tilburg. • In Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Gerik and Panang, and in Muar. • In Singapore.

Jewel Heart Transcripts

1. Gelek 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. Gelek Rimpoche. Karma; actions and their consequenses. 1991; revised 2004 half-size format. An introduction to the concept of karma and how to deal with it in daily life. 3. Gelek Rimpoche. Love and Compassion. 1992; revised 1997 The altruistic mind and the Six Perfections 4. Denma Lochö Rinpoche. The Wheel of Existence. 1992; revised 2004 half-size format. Explanation of the cyclic nature of existence following from ignorance and neurotic patterns. 5. Gelek Rimpoche. Six-session Guru Yoga.* 1 992; 3rd and extended edition 2003. The guru yoga as a requirement for the practice of Highest Yoga Tantra 6. Gelek Rimpoche. Self and Selflessness. 1993; third edition 1998 The nature of the Self in Buddhist philosophy 7. Gelek Rimpoche, Lam Rim Teachings; teachings 1987-1991, 4 volumes. 1993; revised 2005. Comprehensive teachings on the Graduated Path to Enlightenment in the tradition of Je Tsongkhapa. 8. Gelek Rimpoche, Transforming Negativity into Positive living. 1994, half-seize format 2004. Practical advice on how to deal with negative emotions in daily life 9. Gelek Rimpoche, The Three Principles of the Path by Je Tsongkhapa,1994; revised 2003, 2004. Detailed Commen- tary on the Three Principles of the Path: Determination to be free; Altruism, the Perfect View 10. Gelek Rimpoche, The Three Principles of the Path – a Concise Commentary; 2006. Totallly renewed edition in half- size format of the 1995 Three Principles. 11. Gelek Rimpoche, Healing and Selfhealing through Tara.* 1996; revised and extended edition 1999. Healing practices based on the deity Tara, a manifestation of the active aspect of the compassion of all enlightened beings 12. Gelek 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. Gelek Rimpoche, Guru Devotion: How to integrate the primordial mind.* 1997, extended edition 2003. Commentary Lama Chöpa, Offering to the Spiritual Master. 14. Gelek 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. Gelek 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. Gelek 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. Gelek Rimpoche, Lojong, Training of the Mind in Eight Verses. 2000. Commentary on Mind Training based on the root text by Langri Tangpa. 19. Gelek Rimpoche, Lojong, Training of the Mind in Seven Points. 2000. Commentary on the Mind Training based on the root text by Geshe Chekawa.

20. Gelek Rimpoche, Vajrayogini Teachings* 2000; 3rd revised and extended edition 2003/2005. Comprehensive commentary on the Generation stage of Vajrayogini. 21. Gelek 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. Gelek Rimpoche, The Practice of the Triumphant Ma. 1996, revised edition 2002, half-size format 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. Gelek 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 initiation requirement. 24. Tarab Tulku, Unity in Duality; the inter-determinate nature of all that exists. 2003. 25. Gelek Rimpoche, GOM – A Course in Meditation. 2005. 26. Gelek Rimpoche, SEM – The Nature of Mind. 2005. 27. Gelek Rimpoche, The Four Mindfullnesses. 2007. 28. Gelek Rimpoche, Cittamani Tara – Extensive Commentary*. 2008

* Must have Highest Yoga Tantra Initiation to read. If you want 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.