Читать книгу The New Guide to Dakini Land - Geshe Kelsang Gyatso - Страница 11

The Yogas of Sleeping, Rising, and Experiencing Nectar

The first three of the eleven yogas, the yogas of sleeping, rising, and experiencing nectar, are methods for purifying our body, speech and mind. Collectively they are known as the ‘yogas of three joys’ or the ‘yogas of the three purifications’. The latter title is more correct as it is the one given in the sadhanas of Heruka. The yogas of sleeping and rising purify our mind and body, transforming them into the mind and body of Vajrayogini, and the yoga of experiencing nectar purifies our speech, transforming it into the speech of Vajrayogini.

THE YOGA OF SLEEPING

In general, the yoga of sleeping is included within the eleventh yoga, the yoga of daily actions, along with the yoga of eating and other daily activities. However, there are good reasons why the practice of Vajrayogini begins at night, with the yoga of sleeping considered as a separate practice. One reason is that during the night the Dakinis of the twenty-four places visit sincere Vajrayogini practitioners and bestow their blessings. In Vajradaka Tantra it says:

The Ladies of these places

Bestow attainments upon practitioners.

They always come at night,

They always go at night.

Here ‘The Ladies of these places’ are the Dakinis of the twenty-four holy places of Heruka and Vajrayogini, which are listed in the extensive sadhana of Heruka body mandala. We can visit these places today.

Buddha Vajradharma

If we are not accomplished meditators we cannot maintain mindfulness and alertness during sleep. This leaves our mind unguarded and exposed to unseen influences. For example, we may fall asleep with a positive mind but wake up feeling bad because during the night we were disturbed by evil spirits who took advantage of our defenceless state. Sincere practitioners of Vajrayogini, however, may find the opposite happening. They may go to bed with a mind preoccupied with the problems of the day, but wake up refreshed, with a clear and positive mind. Although the external situation may be much the same, they are now able to face it with a peaceful mind. They may also find that obstacles to their Dharma practice inexplicably disappear overnight. These are signs that during the night they have been visited by Dakinis from the twenty-four holy places, who blessed their mind and subtle body. Dakinis are able to help a practitioner in this way when he or she establishes a connection with them through pure Vajrayogini practice.

Another reason for beginning the practice of Vajrayogini at night is that during sleep the clear light mind of sleep manifests naturally and, with training, this mind can be used to progress along the spiritual path towards the realizations of example clear light and meaning clear light. One of the main reasons for practising Vajrayogini Tantra is to gain these realizations.

During the day we perceive many different things, but in the darkness of night all these appearances vanish. The day therefore symbolizes conventional truth and the night symbolizes emptiness, or ultimate truth. Beginning our practice at night reminds us that the main purpose of training in these instructions is to develop a mind of clear light that directly realizes emptiness. Remembering this, we begin our practice of the eleven yogas of Vajrayogini with the yoga of sleeping. Other texts present different reasons but the ones given here are the most accurate.

Since we all spend a large portion of our time asleep it is important that we have a method for transforming sleep into the spiritual path. Sleeping, dreaming and waking are similar to death, the intermediate state and rebirth. Through continual training in the yogas of sleeping and rising we will gain the ability to purify and transform our death, intermediate state and rebirth into the spiritual path. This is the main purpose of generation stage meditation.

Briefly, there are seven principal benefits to be gained from practising the yoga of sleeping:

1 We accumulate great merit

2 All our hindrances and obstacles are dispelled

3 We will receive direct care and guidance from Vajrayogini in all our future lives

4 We will be blessed by the Heroines of the twenty-four holy places of Heruka

5 Our practice of generation stage meditation will be strengthened and stabilized

6 We will attain both outer and inner Dakini Lands

7 We will attain enlightenment quickly

There are two ways to practise the yoga of sleeping: accord­ing to generation stage and according to completion stage. We may choose either method.

THE YOGA OF SLEEPING ACCORDING

TO GENERATION STAGE

Sleeping according to generation stage creates great merit and is a cause to attain the Form Body of Vajrayogini. Successful practice of the yoga of sleeping depends upon having gained proficiency in the sixth yoga, the yoga of self-generation.

When the time for sleep approaches we should regard our surroundings as the Pure Land of the Dakinis and our room as Vajrayogini’s phenomena source mandala. The phenomena source is the nature of Vajrayogini’s wisdom. It is made of red light in the shape of a double tetrahedron, and we should visualize it as large as possible. Inside the phenomena source we visualize a precious jewelled throne supported by eight snow lions. Covering the surface of the throne there is an eight-petalled lotus, and on top of this there is either a sun cushion, a circular cushion of yellow light, or a moon cushion, a circular cushion of white light. When we lie down to sleep we visualize ourself clearly as Vajrayogini, only without the usual ornaments and hand implements.

If we wish to sleep lightly and wake quickly, or if we wish to sleep with strong concentration, we visualize ourself lying on a cool moon cushion. If we feel cold, or if we wish to sleep deeply or for a long time, we visualize ourself lying on a warm sun cushion. Usually, however, we need a balanced sleep. If we sleep too lightly we may wake too readily, but if we sleep too deeply we will be unable to maintain mindfulness during our dreams. To achieve a balanced sleep we visualize ourself lying on a sun cushion but without imagining it to be warm.

We should lie facing west with our head towards the north. Facing west is auspicious because we invite the Dakinis to visit us from the land of Odiyana, which is in the west. The soles of our feet should point towards the south. This is auspicious for a long life because it symbolizes our wish to subdue Yama, the Lord of Death, who is said to live in the south. Our practice is enhanced by sleeping in this position, but if it is not practical because of the shape of our room or the position of our bed we can simply imagine that we are doing this. Directions are merely imputed.

On the northern petal of the lotus flower we visualize our root Guru in the aspect of Buddha Vajradharma. Visualizing our Guru in the aspect of a Buddha is a practice unique to Secret Mantra. According to the Vinaya the Guru should be regarded as like a Buddha, but according to Secret Mantra the Guru should be regarded as a Buddha.

Although some texts state that we should visualize our Guru in the aspect of Hero Vajradharma, there are in fact three ways in which we can visualize him: in his outer aspect as Hero Vajradharma, in his inner aspect as Buddha Vajradharma, or in his secret aspect as Buddha Vajradharma with consort. In essence there is no difference between these three aspects of the Guru because Hero Vajradharma, Buddha Vajradharma without consort, and Buddha Vajradharma with consort are exactly the same nature. Whichever aspect we choose to visualize, we should regard him as our root Guru, the syn­thesis of all the Buddhas.

Hero Vajradharma is red. His left hand holds at the level of his heart a skullcup filled with nectar, his right hand is raised holding a damaru, and his left shoulder supports a khatanga. Buddha Vajradharma looks exactly like Buddha Vajradhara, except that Buddha Vajradharma is red and adorned with six bone ornaments whereas Buddha Vajradhara is blue and wears ornaments made of jewels.

Buddha Vajradharma is similar to Buddha Amitabha in that he is a manifestation of the speech of all the Buddhas. It is primarily through receiving teachings from our Guru that we receive the blessings of Buddha’s speech, so for us our Guru functions as the manifestation of Buddha’s speech. To help us develop this recognition we visualize our Guru as Buddha Vajradharma.

When we practise the yoga of sleeping according to gener­ation stage the most important thing is to maintain strong divine pride that we are Vajrayogini, that our room is the phenom­ena source, and that our bed is a sun cushion or moon cushion. As we lie on our bed we imagine that we rest our head in Guru Vajradharma’s lap, and then with strong faith in our Guru we go to sleep. As we fall asleep we should prevent all ordinary appearances and maintain only pure appearances.

When we wake up we should immediately recollect that we are Vajrayogini, that our room is the phenomena source mandala, and that our root Guru is on the northern petal of the lotus in the aspect of Buddha Vajradharma.

THE YOGA OF SLEEPING ACCORDING

TO COMPLETION STAGE

In the completion stage yoga of sleeping, before we go to sleep we imagine that the entire world system and all its inhabitants melt into light and that this light dissolves into our body. Our body then gradually melts into light and diminishes in size until it dissolves into the letter BAM at our heart. At this stage only the letter BAM appears to our mind; we perceive nothing else. Then the letter BAM gradually dissolves into its head, or upper horizontal line, the head dissolves into the crescent moon, the crescent moon into the drop, and the drop into the nada – the three-curved line at the top of the letter. The nada then gradually decreases in size until finally it dissolves into clear light emptiness.

Now only emptiness appears. It is important to feel that our mind of clear light has become one with emptiness, like water mixed with water. This inseparable union of our very subtle mind and emptiness is called ‘clear light emptiness’. We iden­tify this as the Dharmakaya, or Truth Body, of Vajrayogini, and then fall asleep maintaining this recognition throughout our sleep. When we wake up the next morning we immediately remember emptiness. This practice increases our wisdom, causing us to gain experience of the clear light and eventually to attain the Truth Body of a Buddha.

The clear light mind manifests automatically during sleep and death, but only those proficient in completion stage meditation are able to retain mindfulness at these times. Most people are unable to recognize either the clear light of sleep or the clear light of death. Besides sleep and death, the only other time the clear light manifests is when all the winds are deliberately gathered and dissolved within the central channel through the force of completion stage meditation. Yogis or Yoginis who can cause the clear light mind to manifest in this way are able to use this mind to meditate on emptiness. When they fall asleep they remain mindful throughout their sleep and use the clear light of sleep to deepen their experience of emptiness. In deep sleep the winds naturally and forcefully gather and dissolve within the central channel, and the clear light that manifests at that time is purer than that which a novice completion stage meditator can induce through meditation alone. Therefore, sleep becomes extremely valuable for these Yogis. Their most profound experience of emptiness occurs during deep sleep.

Meditators who are familiar with transforming the clear light of sleep into the spiritual path will also be able to transform the clear light of death. They will remain mindful throughout their death process, and when the clear light of death dawns they will be able to transform it into the mind of ultimate example clear light. This realization directly prevents ordinary death. For this reason, transforming sleep into the path is one of the principal practices of Secret Mantra and one of the most important methods for attaining enlightenment.

THE YOGA OF RISING

There are two ways to practise the yoga of rising, depending upon the way in which we practise the yoga of sleeping. If we sleep according to generation stage we should practise the yoga of rising according to generation stage, and if we sleep according to completion stage we should practise the yoga of rising according to completion stage.

THE YOGA OF RISING ACCORDING TO GENERATION STAGE

Immediately upon waking we should recall our visualization from the previous night and try to prevent ordinary appear­ances. We should develop three recognitions: (1) the world is the Pure Land of the Dakinis, with our room as the phenom­ena source mandala; (2) we are Vajrayogini; and (3) all other beings are Heroes and Heroines. We imagine that in the space around us Dakas and Dakinis are reciting Vajrayogini’s mantra. This causes us to rise with the joyful motivation to benefit others. Throughout the day we regard any sound we hear as the sound of this mantra.

While dressing, instead of putting on ordinary clothes we imagine that we are offering the five ornaments, such as the crown and the earrings, to ourself generated as Vajrayogini. We then prostrate three times to our root Guru on the northern petal of the lotus, which causes him to generate a joyful wish to enter our body and mind. We imagine that he melts into light and diminishes to the size of a small egg. He then enters through our crown and dissolves into the letter BAM at our heart.

Throughout the day we should remember that our Guru is at our heart in the aspect of a letter BAM. We should also maintain the divine pride of our body and mind as Vajrayogini’s body and mind, our room as the phenomena source mandala, the world as the Pure Land of Vajrayogini, and all beings as Heroes or Heroines. If we find that we are about to develop negative states of mind we should immediately recall these recognitions. If we can maintain this pure appearance there will be no basis for delusions to arise. We should try to maintain these three recognitions until we go to sleep, when we once again practise the yoga of sleeping.

The yoga of rising is practised continuously throughout the day, and the yoga of sleeping is practised continuously throughout the night. If we practise these two yogas diligently, all our daily actions become a quick path to enlightenment and we will definitely attain Buddhahood before very long.

THE YOGA OF RISING ACCORDING TO COMPLETION STAGE

If we have slept according to completion stage yoga, absorbed in the clear light of emptiness, then upon waking we imagine that from that state of emptiness we arise instantly in the form of Vajrayogini, just as clouds might suddenly appear in a clear sky. As in the practice of generation stage we should de­velop the three recognitions: ourself as Vajrayogini, the world as the Pure Land of Keajra with our room as the phenomena source mandala, and all other beings as Heroes, Tantric male Deities, and Heroines, Tantric female Deities. The previous night we dissolved all phenomena into emptiness, and our mind of clear light was mixed inseparably with this emptiness and identified as the Dharmakaya. From this union of bliss and emptiness a new world now appears, arising from the substance of our blissful mind and having the same nature as our mind. If we think like this it will be easy to generate pure appearance and develop the three recognitions.

We should maintain the three recognitions strongly throughout the day, recalling them again and again until we go to sleep. To sustain this practice we need both mindfulness and alertness. By relying upon mindfulness we should maintain the motivation and the three recognitions that we generated upon rising. From time to time we should apply alertness to check that we are still holding these recognitions. If we fail to apply alertness our practice of maintaining the three recognitions will quickly degenerate. We will lose pure appearance and revert to viewing ourself as ordinary. This happens because we are so accustomed to ordinary appearance. Whenever we find that we have forgotten our initial motivation or the three recognitions we should recall them immediately. To maintain pure appearance we do not need to recite words or sit on a cushion. If we perform our daily actions with mindfulness of the three recognitions they all become a method for attaining enlightenment quickly.

When we are able to maintain these three recognitions all the time, everything we see will help us to develop great bliss. Nothing will appear as ugly, irritating, or disgusting; rather everything experienced by our senses will seem attractive and will stimulate pure pleasure. Because at this stage we will be very familiar with meditating on the union of bliss and emptiness, even our sense pleasures will remind us of emptiness. Thus, by maintaining the three recognitions all our daily experiences can be transformed into the wisdom of great bliss and emptiness. The practice of the three recognitions is the supreme moral discipline of the Vajrayana. If we understand and really believe that our self, our world and all other phenomena that we normally perceive do not exist, as explained in detail in Modern Buddhism, we will not find it difficult to maintain these three recognitions day and night.

THE YOGA OF EXPERIENCING NECTAR

The main purpose of practising the yoga of experiencing nectar is to transform pleasures into the spiritual path. Because we are beings of the desire realm we always take delight in seeing attractive forms, listening to beautiful sounds, smelling fragrant scents, tasting delicious food, and touching smooth and sensuous objects. These five objects of enjoyment are known as the ‘five objects of desire’. We usually enjoy them with a mind of attachment, and so most of our actions related to these objects are non-virtuous and lead to experiences of suffering in the future.

It is only through Dharma practice, particularly the practice of Secret Mantra, that our experience of these five objects of desire can be transformed into a spiritual path. According to Sutra teachings we prevent attachment to the five objects of desire by recognizing their faults and avoiding contact with them. In the practice of Secret Mantra, however, we transform our enjoyment of desirable objects into the spiritual path. This transformation is one of the special attributes of Secret Mantra.

The practice of transforming enjoyments is very extensive because it applies to every object of desire. One method is to regard all visual forms as being in essence Rupavajra Goddesses, all sounds as Shaptavajra Goddesses, all smells as Gändhavajra Goddesses, all tastes as Rasavajra Goddesses, and all tactile objects as Parshavajra Goddesses. When enjoying a delicious meal, for example, we should overcome our ordin­ary appearance of the food by dissolving it into emptiness, and then in its place visualize Rasavajra Goddesses who offer us pure nectar that induces spontaneous great bliss. We can transform the enjoyments of the other senses in a similar way.

Another way to transform our experience of pleasant objects into the spiritual path is to consider them to be by nature indivi­sible spontaneous great bliss and emptiness. We should regard every visual form, sound, smell, taste and tactile object as having this nature.

Among the many Tantric methods for transforming pleasant experiences into the spiritual path, the yoga of experiencing nectar is a method for transforming our enjoyment of food and drink, thereby enhancing our practice of Secret Mantra. There are three ways to practise the yoga of experiencing nectar. The first is to taste and swallow a nectar pill that has been made in the traditional way, the second is to taste nectar that has been made by dissolving a nectar pill into inner offering, and the third is to regard our daily food and drink as nectar.

We should try to obtain a genuine nectar pill that has been blessed by our Spiritual Guide. There are various types of nectar pill that are produced according to the different traditions of Mahayana Buddhism. In all traditions the ingredients are first blessed through meditative concentration and mantra recitation and then they are made into pills. A meditation similar to that for blessing the inner offering is then used to consecrate the pills, and the mantra OM AH HUM is recited many times with strong concentration until certain signs of accomplishment occur.

At the beginning of the consecration the ingredients of the pills are visualized as five ‘meats’ and five ‘nectars’. The five meats that are visualized are the corpses of a cow, a dog, an elephant, a horse and a human; and the five nectars that are visualized are excrement, brains, sperm, blood and urine. These base ingredients are then transformed into precious nectar.

A highly realized meditator can transform the actual five meats and five nectars into the substance of precious nectar pills. When the first Panchen Lama, Losang Chogyan, made nectar pills, there were clear signs of this transformation. Through the power of his concentration, fire blazed beneath the container and the ingredients boiled. However, only someone of exceptional accomplishment can transform impure substances such as urine and excrement into precious nectar pills; it is impossible for an untrained person with few realizations to do this. It has been known for some practitioners to make pills from actual meats and nectars and to distribute them even though they have received no signs that the ingredients have been transformed. We are warned in various Tantric texts not to accept such pills, otherwise we may find ourself eating excrement! Instead we should try to obtain pills made from medicinal herbs by a qualified Tantric Master who is known for his or her accomplishment and integrity. We can then be confident that the pills we are given are both wholesome and genuine.

If possible we should try to obtain blessed pills that originate from those of the first Panchen Lama. These pills are known as ‘fire-blessed nectar pills’. Nowadays it is difficult to find pills that are entirely made by the first Panchen Lama. However it is possible to obtain pills that have been made by later accomplished meditators who mixed a portion of a pill made by the Panchen Lama with fresh substances, and continued doing this with all subsequent pills so that each pill contains part of a pill blessed by the Panchen Lama. If we obtain one of these pills we can use it as the basis of our practice of the yoga of experiencing nectar, and also for making more pills.

If we are unable to make new nectar pills ourself, we should pour some alcohol or tea into a skullcup, or some other small, clean container, and into this dissolve a pill blessed by a qualified Master. Every morning we should bless this nectar as an inner offering, as explained on pages 57-63, and then taste it. To do this we dip our left ring finger into the inner offering nectar and draw a triangle counter-clockwise on the palm of our right hand, with one point towards our wrist. We then dip the same finger into the inner offering three times, each time placing a drop in the centre of the triangle so that they coalesce to form a single drop. We bless this nectar by reciting the mantra OM AH HUM three times. We imagine that the blessed nectar now has three qualities: it is medicine nectar that prevents sickness, it is life nectar that overcomes death, and it is wisdom nectar that purifies all delusions. We then taste the nectar, regarding it as an offering to ourself, the Deity Vajrayogini. As we taste the nectar we imagine that we experience spontaneous great bliss and with this mind we meditate on emptiness, or at least remember emptiness briefly.

If neither a nectar pill nor inner offering is available, as may be the case for instance when we are travelling, we can use our first drink of the day as the nectar offering. We lift the cup with our left hand and bless the contents by reciting OM AH HUM three times. We imagine that the drink transforms into nectar with the three qualities and we offer this to ourself generated as Vajrayogini. As we drink we imagine that we experience great bliss and then we meditate on emptiness, or recall empti­ness according to our own understanding.

We should practise the yoga of experiencing nectar first in the morning and then throughout the day whenever we eat or drink. In this way all our daily actions of eating and drinking become the yoga of experiencing nectar. When practising this yoga, practitioners of the body mandala of Vajrayogini should recall the thirty-seven Heroines at their heart and offer the nectar to them.

There are many benefits from practising this yoga. For example, even if we are old we will retain a youthful vitality because every time we eat or drink we accumulate great merit and create the cause to enjoy a long and happy life. Furthermore, the practice of the yoga of experiencing nectar is a cause to gain Tantric realizations such as spontaneous great bliss. Tasting nectar pills and inner offering reminds us that all eating and drinking is to be transformed into the yoga of experiencing nectar. If we meditate on bliss and emptiness every time we eat or drink, our experience of the essential point of Secret Mantra, the union of spontaneous great bliss and emptiness, will rapidly increase.

An explanation of how to practise the yogas of sleeping, rising and experiencing nectar in a simple manner can be found in Part Two of Modern Buddhism.