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Drubchen Dharmavajra

The Preliminary Practices

THE ACTUAL INSTRUCTIONS

The actual instructions on Offering to the Spiritual Guide are presented under two main headings:

1 How to practise during the meditation session

2 How to practise during the meditation break

How to practise during the meditation session is presented in three parts:

1 The preliminary practices

2 The actual practice

3 The concluding stages

THE PRELIMINARY PRACTICES

There are four preliminary practices:

1 Going for refuge and generating bodhichitta

2 Self-generation as the Deity

3 Purifying the environment and its inhabitants

4 Blessing the offerings

Going for refuge and generating bodhichitta has two parts:

1 Going for refuge

2 Generating bodhichitta

GOING FOR REFUGE

Before sitting down to begin the sadhana, we should clean the room and set up a shrine consisting of representations of Buddha’s body, speech, and mind. In particular we should set up images of our Spiritual Guide, Conqueror Vajradhara, Buddha Shakyamuni, and Je Tsongkhapa. In front of these we should set out at least one row of offerings including four waters. These will be explained below. We should then sit in a comfortable posture, either on a meditation cushion or on a chair, and begin the sadhana.

At the very beginning we should make sure that our mind is calm, peaceful, and free from conceptual distractions. Je Tsongkhapa once composed a text in which he asked a number of questions of Tibetan meditators. Later the first Panchen Lama wrote answers to these questions. One of Je Tsongkhapa’s questions was ‘What is the most important thing to do at the beginning of a meditation session?’ The Panchen Lama replied that we should begin by examining our mind. Sometimes the mere act of examining the mind, if it is done conscientiously, will pacify our distractions. At the beginning our mind is very much orientated towards external phenomena and we are preoccupied with worldly affairs, but by bringing our attention inwards to examine the mind it is possible that these conceptual distractions will cease.

We should sit quietly for a few moments, watching to see what kinds of mind are arising. If they are pure, virtuous minds we can proceed immediately with the sadhana. If on the other hand they are non-virtuous or worldly minds we should first practise breathing meditation to eliminate them. All minds depend upon inner winds. Pure minds depend upon pure winds and impure minds depend upon impure winds. If we eliminate our impure winds we will naturally pacify our impure conceptual minds, and if we then generate pure inner winds we will naturally generate pure minds. Therefore we begin by imagining that all our impure minds and impure winds assume the form of dark, black smoke within us. With a strong wish to eliminate these we exhale gently through the nostrils. As we do so, we imagine that all this black smoke rises from the bottom of our lungs, leaves through our nostrils, and disappears into space. We feel completely clean within. Then as we slowly breathe in, we imagine that we are inhaling all the blessings of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the form of pure, white light. This white light fills our body and mind and we feel completely pure. We repeat this two, three, or more times until our mind is completely pacified of all conceptual distractions and has become pure, happy, and single-pointed.

We practise breathing meditation at the beginning of a sadhana to eliminate impure minds and bring the mind to a neutral state. From that neutral state we can then easily generate a virtuous state of mind. If we do not first pacify our impure conceptual minds we will find it very difficult to generate pure minds. For example, if we wish to dye a piece of cloth that is already coloured, we will find it very difficult to achieve the colour we want without first bleaching the cloth. Pacifying the mind with breathing meditation is like bleaching cloth. If we use breathing meditation in this way, as a preliminary to more practical types of meditation, it is very helpful; but if we adopt breathing meditation as our main practice we will not attain any lasting results. We may temporarily pacify our mind and achieve a degree of inner peace, but unless we subsequently engage in practical meditations on the stages of the path – such as meditations on renunciation, compassion, bodhichitta, or emptiness – we will never bring about any lasting changes in our mind but will remain ordinary beings constantly prone to suffering.

Once we have brought our mind to a calm and neutral state we then need to generate an especially virtuous state of mind. This is done in association with the first verse of the sadhana:

With a perfectly pure mind of great virtue,

I and all mother sentient beings as extensive as space,

From now until we attain the essence of enlightenment,

Go for refuge to the Guru and Three Precious Jewels.

This verse reveals the causes of going for refuge, the way to go for refuge, and the objects of refuge. The causes of going for refuge are revealed by the first line. In general these are renunciation, great compassion, and faith in the Guru and Three Jewels. Because Offering to the Spiritual Guide is a Highest Yoga Tantra practice, it is particularly important to emphasize the second cause, great compassion.

We begin by briefly generating a mind of renunciation through recalling the faults of samsara. We need to be firmly convinced that the so-called pleasures of samsara are thoroughly deceptive and finally lead only to more suffering. If we find this difficult we should briefly contemplate death. No matter how many transient pleasures we may enjoy in this life, sooner or later we will have to die. At that time all the pleasures of this life will amount to nothing; they will just be vague memories, like a pleasant dream that has passed. All that remains at death are the results of our own actions, and all we can take with us are these karmic imprints. If we have used this life to create virtuous karma we will experience happiness in the next life, but if we have created negative karma we will have to experience suffering by taking rebirth in one of the lower realms. Moreover, if we do not attain liberation in this life we will have to continue taking uncontrolled rebirths in samsara where there is no real happiness but only suffering and dissatisfaction. Thinking like this, we should try to generate fear of the sufferings of samsara in general and of the lower realms in particular. In this way we generate a mind of renunciation.

We generate renunciation by contemplating our own suffering. If on the basis of this we then turn our attention to others’ suffering, we will naturally develop compassion. We should think:

I am only one but others are countless. All these countless living beings have been my kind mother in previous lives. They are all trapped within this vicious cycle of uncontrolled death and rebirth, experiencing suffering in life after life.

We contemplate in this way until we find the suffering of others unbearable, and then we firmly resolve to do whatever needs to be done to free them from their suffering. This is the mind of great compassion.

Without losing this motivation, we then consider how we can free mother sentient beings from their suffering. We realize that only the Guru and the Three Jewels have the power to protect us. In this way we generate a mind of faith, the third cause of going for refuge.

In the root text it says ‘With a perfectly pure mind of great virtue’. Here, ‘mind of great virtue’ refers primarily to the motivation of great compassion combined with faith in the Guru and Three Jewels. The words ‘perfectly pure’ indicate that this motivation is free from self-grasping and self-cherishing. All virtuous minds and virtuous actions are pure to some extent, but they are only perfectly pure if they are completely free from contamination by self-grasping and self-cherishing. Buddha said that if we engage in virtue with a mind polluted by self-grasping or self-cherishing it is like eating delicious food that has been laced with poison. If we were to eat such food our initial experience would be one of pleasure, but this would soon give way to suffering as the poison took effect. In the same way, the effect of contaminated virtue is rebirth in one of the higher realms of samsara as a human or god, but, although the initial effect is good fortune, the long-term effect is all the suffering and misery of another rebirth in samsara. This point is explained by Chandrakirti in the second chapter of Guide to the Middle Way.

The next two lines of the root text reveal the way to go for refuge. We go for refuge not merely to seek protection for ourself, but to free all sentient beings from their suffering. We imagine ourself surrounded by all mother sentient beings, a vast assembly as extensive as space, and then lead them in the practice of going for refuge. For auspiciousness we imagine all these beings in human form, but with compassion we remember that in reality each one of them is still experiencing the sufferings of their particular realm. Furthermore, we do not go for refuge just for a short time, but continuously, until we and all other living beings have attained the essence of great enlightenment. If we think like this it will strengthen our practice of refuge. Otherwise we may remember to go for refuge when we are experiencing manifest difficulties, but at other times complacency may get the better of us and we will allow our refuge to degenerate.

The last line of this verse reveals the objects of refuge, the Guru and Three Jewels. According to Offering to the Spiritual Guide, the principal object of refuge is Je Tsongkhapa, the Unification of Three Holy Beings, or Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang. Thus, according to this sadhana, we visualize our Spiritual Guide as Je Tsongkhapa who has Buddha Shakyamuni at his heart, and Conqueror Vajradhara at his heart. Why is this? There are two main reasons. Firstly, we need a common visualization for our Spiritual Guide. It is possible that a practitioner may have more than one Spiritual Guide. If we did not have a common visualization we would need a separate Guru yoga for each Spiritual Guide, which would display a complete misunderstanding of the nature of the Guru. Moreover, if we have a common visualization, when we are practising Guru yoga in a group there is no need to decide whose Guru we should visualize because we all visualize our Spiritual Guide as Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang.

The second reason for visualizing our Spiritual Guide as Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang is that to attain Tantric realizations it is essential to regard our root Guru as the same nature as all the Buddhas. When we visualize Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang we do not think that there are four separate beings in front of us – our Spiritual Guide, Je Tsongkhapa, Buddha Shakyamuni, and Conqueror Vajradhara – but only one being who has four different aspects. In reality they are all the same nature. Conqueror Vajradhara is the subtle Enjoyment Body of Buddha. He appears directly only to highly realized Bodhisattvas to whom he gives Tantric teachings. To benefit those with less fortune, Conqueror Vajradhara manifested a more visible form as Buddha Shakyamuni, who is an Emanation Body aspect. Buddha Shakyamuni gave extensive Sutra teachings to countless beings in this world. There are two types of Emanation Body – a Supreme Emanation Body and an Emanation Body appearing as an ordinary being. Buddha Shakyamuni is a Supreme Emanation Body. Even though it was possible for ordinary beings to see him and receive teachings from him, they had to possess immense good fortune. Compared with beings in these impure times, beings who were born during the golden age when Buddha Shakyamuni was actually teaching had great good fortune. As times became more and more impure and sentient beings’ fortunes declined it was necessary for Buddha Shakyamuni to manifest another form as an Emanation Body appearing as an ordinary being. This he did by manifesting in the form of Je Tsongkhapa. Thus, although Je Tsongkhapa appeared in an ordinary form as a Tibetan monk, we can be certain that in reality he is the same nature as Buddha Shakyamuni who, in turn, is the same nature as Conqueror Vajradhara. In fact, Je Tsongkhapa is often referred to as the ‘Second Conqueror’. Later, when times had become even more impure, Je Tsongkhapa manifested again as an ordinary being, this time in the aspect of our Spiritual Guide.

If we think in this way we will have no difficulty in regarding Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang as one being who has four different aspects. Every time we see our Spiritual Guide we will immediately recognize him as Conqueror Vajradhara, Buddha Shakyamuni, and Je Tsongkhapa; and whenever we think of Conqueror Vajradhara, Buddha Shakyamuni, or Je Tsongkhapa, we will immediately remember our Spiritual Guide. This is a very profound experience. If we achieve this we will easily understand the experiences of great practitioners such as Naropa and Milarepa, and we will have no difficulty in attaining Highest Yoga Tantra realizations.

How do we visualize the objects of refuge? In the space in front we visualize a vast jewelled throne supported by eight snow lions. In the very centre of this there is a much smaller throne of the same type. On this throne, on a seat of a lotus, moon, and sun, we visualize our root Guru in the aspect of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang. He is in the aspect of a fully ordained monk wearing a golden Pandit’s hat. His right hand is in the mudra of expounding Dharma and his left hand, in the mudra of meditative equipoise, holds a jewelled bowl filled with three nectars. Between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand he holds the stem of an upala flower which blossoms at the level of his right ear. Upon this stands a blazing sword of wisdom similar to that held by Manjushri. His left hand holds the stem of an upala flower which blossoms at the level of his left ear. Upon this rests the Kadam Emanation Scripture.

There is great meaning in the hand mudras of Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang. His left hand symbolizes that his mind, the Truth Body, never moves from meditative equipoise but always remains mixed with emptiness, like water mixed with water. His right hand indicates that without rising from meditation on emptiness he is able to perform activities of subsequent attainment such as giving Dharma teachings. This quality is unique to Buddhas. Even highly realized Bodhisattvas are unable to perform activities of subsequent attainment while remaining in meditative equipoise. When they are in meditation and ultimate truth, emptiness, is appearing directly to their mind they are unable to cognize conventional truths and therefore cannot perform actions such as giving teachings. On the other hand, when they rise from meditation and directly cognize conventional truths, emptiness no longer appears directly to their mind. Buddhas however are able to cognize both truths simultaneously because they have completely abandoned the conception that holds the two truths to be different entities. Their minds realize directly and simultaneously all objects of knowledge. Thus, without their mind moving from a state of single-pointed absorption on emptiness, they are able to talk and give teachings to others.

Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang’s mudras also have other meanings. His right hand indicates that first we should listen to and contemplate the meaning of Dharma teachings, and his left hand indicates that we should then meditate on the meanings we have understood. In this way we will become free from the four maras. Freedom from the mara of the delusions, the mara of contaminated aggregates, and the mara of uncontrolled death is symbolized by the three nectars within the jewelled bowl held in his left hand. Freedom from the Devaputra maras is symbolized by the mudra of meditative equipoise itself. Thus these mudras indicate both that Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang himself is free from the four maras, and that by relying upon him we too can attain the same freedom.

In each of the four cardinal directions around Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang is another throne. On the throne to his right sits Maitreya surrounded by all the Gurus of the lineage of the stages of the vast path, such as Asanga and Vasubhandu; on the throne to his left sits Manjushri surrounded by all the Gurus of the lineage of the stages of the profound path, such as Nagarjuna and Chandrakirti; on the throne behind him sits Conqueror Vajradhara surrounded by all the Gurus of the lineage of Secret Mantra, such as Tilopa and Naropa; and on the throne in front of him sits our present root Guru in his normal aspect surrounded by all the other Spiritual Guides from whom we have received teachings in this life, who share the same lineage and view as our root Guru. Above Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang are all the Gurus of the lineage of Vajrayana Mahamudra, seated one above the other. At the very top is Conqueror Vajradhara, and beneath him all the other lineage Gurus appear in the aspect of Manjushri. Around these five groups of Gurus are all the other objects of refuge: Deities of the four classes of Tantra, Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Emanation Hearers, Emanation Solitary Conquerors, Heroes, Heroines, and Dharma Protectors.

Within this visualization, Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang, the five groups of lineage Gurus, the Tantric Deities, and the Sutra Buddhas are all Buddha Jewels; and the Bodhisattvas, Emanation Hearers, Emanation Solitary Conquerors, Heroes, Heroines, and Dharma Protectors are all Sangha Jewels. Within the mental continuum of each of these beings are special realizations, such as the direct realization of emptiness, as well as permanent cessations of delusions, of suffering, of samsara, and of true appearance. All these realizations and true cessations are Dharma Jewels.

Gyalwa Ensapa

To begin with we should not try to visualize all the objects of refuge clearly but be satisfied with a rough mental image of them. If we try too hard we are likely to end up with no image at all. What matters most of all when visualizing holy beings is to have strong conviction that they are actually appearing in subtle forms in the space before us.

Once we have generated the causes of going for refuge, understood the way to go for refuge, and visualized the objects of refuge, we can actually go for refuge by reciting the refuge prayer three times or more while contemplating its meaning. In the sadhana the refuge prayer is given in Sanskrit:

Namo Gurubhä

Namo Buddhaya

Namo Dharmaya

Namo Sanghaya

The meaning is ‘I go for refuge to the Gurus, I go for refuge to the Buddhas, I go for refuge to the Dharmas, I go for refuge to the Sanghas.’ Tibetans often recite this prayer in Sanskrit because these were the very first words of Dharma to be spoken in Tibet, and they remind them of the kindness of the original Indian Pandits who brought the Dharma to their country. At one time there was not even the sound of Dharma in Tibet. Then the Tibetan king, Trisong Detsen, invited Padmasambhava and Shantarakshita to come from India to teach Dharma to the Tibetans. They began by trying to teach the Tibetans to say this refuge prayer in Sanskrit. The Tibetans had never heard Sanskrit before and had great difficulty in pronouncing it correctly to start with, rather as western practitioners are currently struggling to pronounce Tibetan. Eventually they mastered the prayer and, to this day, the Tibetans still cherish these precious Dharma words.

It is worth mentioning in this context that for a long time Sanskrit was more important than Tibetan because it was the language in which Buddha taught and the language in which the original scriptures were written. Gradually, however, all the scriptures were translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan. The Tibetans took great care over these translations, consulting Indian scholars at every stage and translating the texts back from the Tibetan into Sanskrit to test their authenticity. Eventually they had translated into Tibetan a collection of over one hundred volumes of Buddha’s teachings and more than two hundred volumes of various commentaries to these teachings. These two collections are known as the Kangyur and Tengyur respectively. Subsequently, many of the original Sanskrit scriptures were irretrievably lost and so these days the only complete collection of scriptures is in Tibetan. If the Tibetan scriptures are lost there will no longer be a complete collection of Dharma texts in this world. Moreover, the pure Sanskrit in which the teachings were originally given has gradually become mixed with colloquial strands and these days only impure forms of Sanskrit remain. The written Tibetan language, however, has not undergone the same kind of degeneration. Therefore there is good reason for claiming that, from the point of view of Dharma, Tibetan is now more important than Sanskrit.

As mentioned before, Offering to the Spiritual Guide is a preliminary practice for Vajrayana Mahamudra and was compiled principally as a method for practising the fourth great preliminary guide, Guru yoga. However we can, if we wish, collect all four great preliminary guides with this sadhana, in which case we should collect the first great preliminary guide, going for refuge, at this point. The way to do this is explained in Joyful Path of Good Fortune and The New Guide to Dakini Land. Both of these books also contain an extensive explanation of the practice of going for refuge.

GENERATING BODHICHITTA

This has two parts:

1 Generating aspiring bodhichitta

2 Generating engaging bodhichitta

GENERATING ASPIRING BODHICHITTA

Having gone for refuge, we now generate a special motivation of bodhichitta. This is done in conjunction with the next verse from the sadhana:

For the sake of all mother sentient beings,

I shall become the Guru-Deity,

And then lead every sentient being

To the Guru-Deity’s supreme state.

On the basis of the compassionate wish generated on the occasion of going for refuge, we now generate the wish to become a Buddha to free all mother sentient beings from the sufferings of samsara and lead them to the supreme happiness of Buddhahood.

Because this is a Highest Yoga Tantra practice, we generate a very special bodhichitta wish. This is expressed by the words ‘I shall become the Guru-Deity’. To become enlightened for the sake of others we first train on the common paths of Lamrim and Lojong and then enter into the uncommon Vajrayana paths of generation stage and completion stage. The purpose of practising the two stages of Vajrayana is to accomplish the state of our personal Deity. For example, if our personal Deity is Heruka we strive to become Heruka, and if our personal Deity is Vajrayogini we strive to become Vajrayogini. How is this done? The only way to become a Deity is to rely upon a Spiritual Guide whom we regard as being the same nature as that Deity. For example, if we are striving to become Heruka, we regard our root Guru as by nature inseparable from Heruka. With this recognition we perform either an extensive or a brief Guru yoga and dissolve our Guru into our heart. We feel as if our root mind and our Guru’s mind have become inseparable, the nature of Guru Heruka. With this special feeling we then generate ourself as Heruka and maintain divine pride of being the Guru-Deity.

To begin with, this is accomplished through correct imagination but eventually, through training in completion stage practices, we will generate a subtle body called the illusory body, which is an actual body of a Deity. Once we have attained the illusory body we have a pure mind and a pure body. Through continuing to improve our experience with the yogas of completion stage, our pure illusory body will become the actual body of a Buddha and our pure mind will become the actual mind of a Buddha. Then we will have become the actual Guru-Deity, Guru Heruka.

Without first generating a completely new subtle body, the illusory body, there is no way we can become a Buddha. No matter how long we meditate we will never be able to transform our present gross body into a Buddha’s body. To generate the illusory body we need to train in the generation stage and completion stage of Highest Yoga Tantra, and to do this we must practise Guru yoga, regarding our Guru as inseparable from the Deity. In other words, the only way to become a Buddha is to practise Guru yoga in conjunction with the two stages of Highest Yoga Tantra. If we understand this we will realize just how precious is the practice of Offering to the Spiritual Guide. We will also see that the way of generating bodhichitta according to Highest Yoga Tantra is much more profound and much more realistic than the way of generating it according to Sutra.

We may wonder why it is necessary to rely upon a Guru to practise generation stage and completion stage. Why can we not simply practise these yogas on our own and generate ourself as the Deity? The answer is that at the moment we are completely different from the Deity, and without the Guru we have no way of establishing a connection with the Deity. For example, the Deity Heruka is a transcendental being completely beyond the realms of ordinary experience. The only way we can connect with Heruka is through our Guru. The Guru’s extraordinary characteristic is that although in reality he is a transcendental being who is the same nature as Heruka, he is nevertheless able to appear in an ordinary form and communicate with us directly. In this way he is able to introduce us to Deities such as Heruka and guide us through the stages of transforming ourself into that Deity. Thus we should regard our Guru as an emanation of the Deity. Without the Guru it would be impossible for us to receive the blessings of Heruka or any other Deity. This is why Guru yoga is called ‘the gateway to receiving blessings’. All Tantric realizations depend entirely upon the blessings of the Guru. Without the water of the Guru’s blessings our minds are like dry seeds, incapable of spiritual growth.

There is a traditional Tibetan saying that the Guru possesses the four bodies of a Buddha, which are like a large snow mountain, but if the sun of our faith does not rise, the waters of the Guru’s blessings cannot melt. Considering this we should develop deep faith in our Spiritual Guide and generate a strong wish to become the Guru-Deity. Then we can lead all other sentient beings to that state, just as our Guru is presently guiding us.

GENERATING ENGAGING BODHICHITTA

With the previous prayer we generated a simple wish to become enlightened for the sake of others. Now, with the next two verses, we transform this wish into engaging bodhichitta by generating a determination to engage in the actual method for becoming enlightened, the profound path of Guru yoga.

For the sake of all mother sentient beings I shall attain as quickly as possible in this very life the state of the Guru-Deity, the primordial Buddha.

I shall free all mother sentient beings from their suffering and lead them to the great bliss of the Buddha grounds. Therefore I shall practise the profound path of the yoga of the Guru-Deity.

When we generate bodhichitta according to Highest Yoga Tantra we generate a special wish to become enlightened as quickly as possible in this very life. This is not because we are impatient, but because our compassion is so strong that we cannot bear sentient beings to suffer for a moment longer.

Another feature of Tantric bodhichitta is expressed by the words the ‘primordial Buddha’. This shows the uncommon Tantric method of attaining enlightenment. Since beginningless time all sentient beings have had a very subtle body and a very subtle mind. At present these are obscured by the two types of obstruction: delusion-obstructions and obstructions to omniscience. When through training in the two stages of Highest Yoga Tantra this very subtle body and mind are completely freed from the two obstructions, they become the body and mind of a Buddha. Because the substantial causes of this Buddha’s body and mind, our very subtle body and mind, have existed since beginningless time, this Buddha is called the ‘primordial Buddha’.

Some people misunderstand the term ‘primordial Buddha’ and think that all sentient beings have been Buddhas since beginningless time. This is obviously mistaken because if it were true it would follow that ignorance and enlightenment would exist in the same mind at the same time, or that Buddhas experience the sufferings of hell! Je Tsongkhapa explained very clearly that because all sentient beings have a very subtle body and mind they all have Buddha nature – the potential to become a Buddha in the future – but for as long as their very subtle body and mind remain covered by obstructions they are not actual Buddhas.

The second of these two verses also includes the practice of the four immeasurables. The words ‘all mother sentient beings’ indicate immeasurable equanimity, completely free from discrimination; the words ‘I shall free . . . from their suffering’ indicate immeasurable compassion; and the words ‘and lead them to the great bliss of the Buddha grounds’ indicate immeasurable love and immeasurable joy. Finally, the words ‘Therefore I shall practise the profound path of the yoga of the Guru-Deity’ indicate the special determination of engaging bodhichitta. We should contemplate all this while reciting this verse.

After going for refuge and generating bodhichitta, if we have time we can visualize white lights and nectars flowing from our Guru and all the holy beings in front of us and dissolving into our body. We imagine that our entire body and mind are pervaded by blissful white lights and nectars, which purify all the negative karma we have created since beginningless time, all obstacles to our Dharma practice, all our mental and physical problems and, in particular, all the negative karma we have created with respect to our Spiritual Guide and the other holy beings. We feel completely clean and purified, and pervaded by bliss. Then we visualize yellow lights and nectars flowing from the holy beings and dissolving into us. In this way we receive their blessings to increase our Dharma realizations such as compassion and wisdom realizing emptiness, as well as our life span, merit, and wealth.

After this we imagine that lights radiate from Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang and pervade all the holy beings around him. They melt into light and gradually dissolve into Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang. Then Je Tsongkhapa dissolves into Buddha Shakyamuni, who in turn dissolves into Conqueror Vajradhara. Finally, Guru Vajradhara, who is the very nature of our Spiritual Guide and all objects of refuge, comes to the crown of our head and, entering through our crown, dissolves into our root mind at our heart. We feel that our mind mixes with our Guru’s mind of spontaneous great bliss, like water mixing with water, and as a result our mind also transforms into spontaneous great bliss. Because our Guru’s mind is a mind of spontaneous great bliss, and because we have mixed our root mind with our Guru’s mind, we have a perfect reason for thinking that our mind has actually become a mind of spontaneous great bliss. We should develop strong conviction that this fusion of minds has actually taken place and try to generate a special feeling of bliss. The essence of Highest Yoga Tantra is to generate spontaneous great bliss and then to meditate on emptiness with this mind so as to remove the subtlest obstructions from our mental continuum and thereby attain Buddhahood. At the moment we are not able to generate actual spontaneous great bliss, but by mixing our mind with our Guru’s mind we attain a similitude of it, and with this we can engage in actual Highest Yoga Tantra practices.

SELF-GENERATION AS THE DEITY

As already mentioned, Offering to the Spiritual Guide is primarily a preliminary practice for Vajrayana Mahamudra. The meaning of ‘Mahamudra’ is as follows: ‘maha’ means ‘great’, and refers to spontaneous great bliss; and ‘mudra’ here means ‘non-deceptive’, and refers to emptiness. Thus the actual Mahamudra is the union of spontaneous great bliss and emptiness that is accomplished in dependence upon the completion stage practices of Highest Yoga Tantra. In Clear Light of Bliss, three types of Mahamudra are explained, of which the union of spontaneous great bliss and emptiness is the first. In dependence upon this union we attain the union of the two truths, which is the union of illusory body and clear light; and in dependence upon this union we attain the union of body and mind, which is the resultant Mahamudra, or enlightenment. More details on Mahamudra can also be found in Mahamudra Tantra and The Oral Instructions of Mahamudra.

Khedrub Sangye Yeshe

Before we can engage in the completion stage practices of Mahamudra, we must first practise generation stage. With generation stage practices we generate ourself as a Buddha primarily through the force of correct imagination, and then with completion stage practices we transform that imagined body of a Buddha into an actual body of a Buddha.

According to Secret Mantra, the root of samsara is not just self-grasping but also ordinary conception and ordinary appearance. The purpose of generation stage is to overcome ordinary conception and ordinary appearance by generating ourself as the Deity. Therefore, at this stage in the sadhana we practise self-generation as the Deity. Moreover, during the sadhana we have to perform certain rituals such as blessing the inner offering and making the secret offering, and to perform these rituals we must first generate ourself as the Deity.

As already explained, when we practise Highest Yoga Tantra we have to generate a special motivation of bodhichitta, wishing to become the Guru-Deity as quickly as possible in this very life. In particular, we need to generate the wish to become a Tantric Buddha. This is sometimes referred to as ‘the resultant Mahamudra, the state possessing the seven pre-eminent qualities of embrace’. These seven qualities are:

(1) A Form Body endowed with the major signs and minor indications

(2) Continuously in embrace with a wisdom knowledge consort

(3) A mind always abiding in a state of great bliss

(4) This mind of bliss always mixed with emptiness, lack of inherent existence

(5) Endowed with great compassion that has abandoned the extreme of attachment to solitary peace

(6) Uninterruptedly manifesting Form Bodies that pervade the whole world

(7) Unceasingly performing enlightened deeds

Any being who possesses these seven qualities is a Tantric Buddha. When we generate Tantric bodhichitta, we generate the wish to become a Buddha possessing these seven qualities.

Tantra is characterized by bringing the result into the path, that is, identifying with the result of our training right now as a method for accomplishing that result more swiftly. When we perform self-generation we are generating bodhichitta by bringing the result into the path. We have already generated the wish to become the Guru-Deity as quickly as possible, and now we imagine that this wish is actually fulfilled, by generating ourself as a Tantric Buddha endowed with the seven pre-eminent qualities of embrace.

According to some Tibetan commentaries to Offering to the Spiritual Guide we should generate ourselves as Yamantaka at this point, but according to the first Panchen Lama we should generate ourself as our personal Deity. Thus, if we usually practise Yamantaka Tantra we should generate as Yamantaka at this point, but if we usually practise Heruka Tantra we should generate as Heruka, and so on.

As already explained, when we practise Offering to the Spiritual Guide it is very beneficial to try to receive the blessings of the three principal Deities: Yamantaka, Guhyasamaja, and Heruka. One way to do this is to regard Lama Losang Tubwang Dorjechang as the same nature as Yamantaka, visualize the thirty-two Deities of Guhyasamaja within his body, and generate ourself as Heruka. Even if our normal practice is Vajrayogini, we can still generate ourself as Heruka for the purposes of this sadhana because Heruka and Vajrayogini are the same nature, and if we visualize ourself as Heruka we necessarily visualize ourself as Vajrayogini.

There now follows a brief explanation of how to perform self-generation as Heruka. If we have the time we can practise a more extensive self-generation according to the sadhanas entitled The Yoga of Buddha Heruka, which can be found here, and Essence of Vajrayana; but if we do not have much time or if we are performing Offering to the Spiritual Guide as a group puja, we can practise instantaneous self-generation as follows.

Having dissolved the objects of refuge and mixed our mind with our Guru’s mind we strongly imagine that our mind has transformed into spontaneous great bliss mixed with emptiness, and we meditate on this for a while. Then we imagine that our whole body is pervaded by blissful blue light, the nature of our mind. This light slowly spreads outwards from our body, dissolving the entire universe and its inhabitants into light. Gradually, from the outer edges of the universe everything then dissolves inwards, leaving behind only emptiness, until everything has dissolved into our body. Then our body slowly dissolves from below and above until it completely disappears. Now everything has become emptiness. At this point we imagine that our mind of spontaneous great bliss, which is completely unified with our Guru’s mind, mixes with emptiness like clear water mixing with clear water. Without losing this experience of bliss and emptiness, one part of our mind identifies this experience as the clear light of a Buddha’s Truth Body, and we develop divine pride of being the Truth Body, thinking ‘I am Truth Body Heruka.’ We meditate on this for a while.

During this meditation one part of our mind is experiencing bliss, another part is perceiving emptiness, another part is meditating on emptiness, and another part is generating divine pride of being the Truth Body. This meditation is called ‘bringing death into the path of the Truth Body’. It is a very powerful meditation that performs many functions simultaneously. It purifies the mind, it helps to reduce and eventually to eradicate our self-grasping, it is a powerful method for overcoming ordinary appearance and ordinary conception, it functions to prevent ordinary death, it causes the ripening of the completion stage realization of clear light, it sows the seed to attain the actual Truth Body of a Buddha, and it is a collection of wisdom. When we train in this meditation, we are training in ultimate bodhichitta. Previously we generated conventional bodhichitta by developing the wish to become a Buddha for the benefit of all sentient beings; now without losing this motivation we train in mixing our mind with emptiness. This is training in ultimate bodhichitta.

We meditate like this for a while and then one part of our mind thinks:

Even though I have attained the Truth Body of a Buddha, if I remain like this I will not be able to benefit sentient beings because they are unable to see me. Therefore I must arise from this state as a Buddha’s Form Body.

With this motivation we imagine that our mind of inseparable bliss and emptiness transforms into an oval-shaped beam of blue light, about one cubit in height, standing vertically on a lotus and sun cushion. Without paying too much attention to the actual form of our body we should generate the thought ‘Now I have attained the subtle form of a Buddha’, and in this way meditate for a while on the divine pride of being the Enjoyment Body. This meditation is called ‘bringing the intermediate state into the path of the Enjoyment Body’.

After a while, one part of our mind thinks:

Even this form is too subtle to be seen by most sentient beings. If I am to help all sentient beings I must arise in a more visible form.

With this motivation, we imagine that our mind in the form of blue light gradually expands in size and assumes the form of Heruka, with one face and two hands and embracing Vajravarahi. We then develop divine pride thinking ‘I am Emanation Body Heruka’, and meditate on this. This meditation is called ‘bringing rebirth into the path of the Emanation Body’. Then, while maintaining the divine pride of being Heruka, we recite the line from the sadhana:

From the state of great bliss I arise as the Guru-Deity.

When we practise self-generation in this way we forget our ordinary, gross body and mind and identify with the completely pure body and mind of Heruka. In this way, our mind remains calm and peaceful and our delusions gradually diminish. We never generate anger, attachment, or other impure minds, but see everything purely as a Buddha does. If we are able to maintain divine pride of being Heruka at all times, there will be no basis for self-grasping or self-cherishing to arise, and we will have attained a ‘perfectly pure mind of great virtue’.

These three meditations are called ‘bringing the three bodies into the path’ because they are a special method for bringing the three resultant bodies of a Buddha into the present path and using them right now as a means to attain enlightenment. Through regular training in these meditations our ordinary appearance and ordinary conception diminish and we gradually purify ordinary death, intermediate state, and rebirth, and transform them into the three bodies of a Buddha. Eventually we become the actual Guru-Deity.

PURIFYING THE ENVIRONMENT AND ITS INHABITANTS

A fully qualified Tantric practice must include the four complete purities:

(1) Complete purity of place

(2) Complete purity of body

(3) Complete purity of enjoyments

(4) Complete purity of deeds

The second of these, complete purity of body, is included within the practice of self-generation; the first and fourth, complete purity of place and complete purity of deeds, are included within this preliminary practice; and the third, complete purity of enjoyments, is included within the next preliminary practice, blessing the offerings.

As already explained, from the point of view of Highest Yoga Tantra the root of samsara is ordinary appearance and ordinary conception. The reason why we see faults in our environment, our friends, and even our Teachers is that we have ordinary, impure appearances. Someone who is free from impure appearances sees everything purely. A pure mind experiences a pure world and an impure mind experiences an impure world. A Buddha, for example, has no impure appearance. He or she has a completely pure body and a completely pure mind. He experiences his environment as a Pure Land and all the beings who inhabit it as Heroes and Heroines; and he experiences all enjoyments as pure enjoyments. Whatever a Buddha eats or drinks, for example, is experienced as nectar; he or she never experiences anything as unpleasant. Why is this? It is because his mind is completely pure, like a radiant sun unobscured by clouds.

According to the Highest Yoga Tantra method of bringing the result into the path, we have to train right now in experiencing complete purity of place, body, enjoyments, and deeds. By training ourself to see the world in a pure way we will develop pure minds, and as we develop pure minds we will naturally see the world in a pure way.

Having generated ourself as Heruka with a completely pure body and mind, we now imagine that five-coloured lights, the nature of our five wisdoms, radiate from our body and pervade all worlds throughout the ten directions, completely purifying these worlds and the beings who inhabit them. We imagine that all the impurities and imperfections of samsaric environments are purified. All rocky and uneven ground is made smooth, all extremes of heat and cold are removed, deserts are transformed into beautiful parks, floods abate, darkness is dispelled – the whole environment is transformed into Heruka’s Pure Land. At the same time all the defilements of body, speech, and mind of sentient beings are purified, their obstructions to liberation and omniscience are eliminated, and they all become Heroes and Heroines within Heruka’s Pure Land. Wherever we look we see only immaculate purity; not an atom of impure appearance remains. As we imagine this we recite the words from the sadhana:

Light rays radiate from my body,

Blessing all worlds and beings in the ten directions.

Everything becomes an exquisite array

Of immaculately pure good qualities.

When we become a Buddha we will be able to perform completely pure deeds and transform worlds and beings through the power of our blessings. At the moment we are practising bringing the result into the path by imagining that we have become Guru Heruka and have transformed the world into Heruka’s Pure Land and all sentient beings into Deities in Heruka’s mandala. This visualization is very powerful. It makes our mind clean and pure and it creates the cause for us to be reborn in a Pure Land, or at least in a good country with few problems. This practice is also a collection of merit, and it causes our Buddha seed to ripen. When we visualize ourself as a Buddha blessing all sentient beings and their environments we are training in bodhichitta by bringing the result into the path.

BLESSING THE OFFERINGS

In general, four types of offering are made during Offering to the Spiritual Guide – outer, inner, secret, and thatness offerings. Of these, the outer and inner offerings must be blessed before they are offered. If possible we should actually set out on the shrine at least one row of outer offerings. This should include the four waters – water for drinking, water for bathing the feet, water for rinsing the mouth, and water for sprinkling – as well as flowers, incense, light, perfume, and food. It is not usual in our tradition to set out a substance to symbolize music because music is sound, not visual form. If it is not possible to set out offerings in the traditional manner, any clean offering substances such as pure water, flowers, honey, fruit, or chocolate can be placed on the shrine. In addition to these, we should set out on a table in front of us a skullcup, or similar vessel, containing the substance of the inner offering. A detailed explanation of the inner offering is given in The New Guide to Dakini Land and Essence of Vajrayana.

Before we offer these substances we need to bless them because it is not appropriate to offer ordinary, impure substances to holy beings. In reality, holy beings experience whatever we offer them as nectar, whether we bless it or not, but so that we can establish a strong connection with them it is very helpful if we bless the offering substances first. Thus, instead of offering ordinary substances in ordinary containers, we imagine that we are offering uncontaminated nectar in jewelled vessels.

If we have time, we can bless the outer offerings and inner offering according to the extensive rituals of the Yamantaka, Heruka, or Vajrayogini sadhanas. The method for blessing offerings according to Heruka and Vajrayogini Tantras is explained in The New Guide to Dakini Land and Essence of Vajrayana. Alternatively, we can bless the offerings according to the brief ritual in Offering to the Spiritual Guide, as follows.

We imagine all the offerings in the space in front of us, and above each offering we visualize the three letters: OM AH HUM. Immediately above each substance there is a white OM, the nature of Buddha Vairochana, the vajra body of all the Buddhas; above this is a red AH, the nature of Buddha Amitabha, the vajra speech of all the Buddhas; and above this is a blue HUM, the nature of Buddha Akshobya, the vajra mind of all the Buddhas. These letters are called ‘the three vajras’ – the body, speech, and mind of all the Buddhas. Countless light rays radiate from these letters and draw back the blessings of all the Buddhas of the ten directions in the aspect of Buddha Vairochana, Buddha Amitabha, and Buddha Akshobya. We imagine that thousands and thousands of these Buddhas appear and dissolve into the three letters. Then the letter HUM turns upside-down, descends, and dissolves into the offering substance, purifying it of all faults and ordinary characteristics such as an unpleasant smell or ordinary colour, and transforming it into a completely clean, pure substance. Then the letter AH turns upside-down and dissolves into the offering substance, transforming it into blissful nectar possessing three qualities: wisdom nectar that destroys delusions, medicine nectar that cures sickness, and life nectar that overcomes death. Finally, the letter OM turns upside-down and dissolves into the offering substance whereby it becomes inexhaustible.

As we visualize this we recite the words from the sadhana:

OM AH HUM

By nature exalted wisdom, having the aspect of the inner offering and the individual offering substances, and functioning as objects of enjoyment of the six senses to generate a special exalted wisdom of bliss and emptiness, inconceivable clouds of outer, inner, and secret offerings, commitment substances, and attractive offerings cover all the ground and fill the whole of space.

We strongly imagine that (1) all the offerings appear in their individual aspects, (2) they are by nature wisdom because all the wisdom beings of the ten directions have dissolved into them, and (3) they function as objects of enjoyment of the six senses to generate spontaneous great bliss and emptiness in whoever experiences them. We should visualize a vast array of such offerings covering all the ground and filling the whole of space.

According to the words of the sadhana we visualize outer offerings (such as the four waters), inner offerings (ten substances derived from the body transformed into blissful nectar), secret offerings (beautiful consorts that we offer to Guru Vajradhara), commitment substances (various special substances that we offer to fulfil our commitments), and attractive offerings (such as parks containing wild animals).

Sometimes, for example if we are travelling or if our domestic circumstances do not permit us actually to set out offerings, we can create offerings with our mind. First we remember the emptiness of all phenomena and meditate on this for a while. We contemplate that all phenomena are of one taste in emptiness, which is the source of all phenomena. Then, from that state of emptiness, we generate completely new offerings. We imagine that all forms appear as Rupavajra Goddesses, all sounds as Shaptavajra Goddesses, all smells as Gändhavajra Goddesses, all tastes as Rasavajra Goddesses, all tactile objects as Parshavajra Goddesses, and all other phenomena as Dharmadhatuvajra Goddesses. All flowers become flower goddesses, all water becomes water goddesses, and so on. We imagine all the ground and all of space filled with these offering goddesses, and later, when the time comes to make the actual offerings, we offer these. More detail on these goddesses can be found in The New Guide to Dakini Land and Essence of Vajrayana.

By blessing offerings in the ways described here we create the cause to experience wealth and riches in the future. We will experience only pure objects of enjoyment and we will be free from problems.