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Lineage Supplication

Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche

First of all, the foundation for the Vajra Vehicle of Secret Mantra is called “tantra, scripture, and instruction”—in Tibetan, gyü lung menngag. In this context, tantra means Mahayoga, scripture means Anu Yoga, and instruction means Ati Yoga. The way in which these are interconnected is called the “fourfold linkage” or the “fourfold relatedness.” Thus, the tantras are combined or contained within the scriptures, the scriptures are contained within the instructions, the instructions are contained within the application, and the sadhana is contained in the application. Application means the “way of chanting, the actual sadhana practice.”

Regarding sadhanas, there are different ways to practice a mandala. In tantra Mahayoga, the mandala is called the “mandala as a reflection or form that is external.” At best, it is made of colored sand; next best is painted canvas; and, at minimum, it is assembled from heaped grains. By taking the support of an external mandala, the practitioner accomplishes the deity. In scripture Anu Yoga, the mandala is internal, meaning it is “within the vajra body.” The vajra body mandala is called the “three seats of completeness,” the densum tsangwey kyilkhor. In instruction Ati Yoga, the mandala is mental, or the mandala of mind. Here, mind refers to “buddha-nature,” which is present in everyone. This is the mandala used to accomplish the deity. So the intent of Mahayoga is related to or contained within the application of Anu Yoga, while the intent of Anu Yoga is contained within Ati Yoga. And, then, Ati Yoga is contained within the application of a sadhana.

Within Ati Yoga, there are different aspects: the Mahayoga aspect of Ati, the Anu aspect of Ati, and the Ati of Ati. Using a sadhana practice from the Ati Yoga perspective is called the Mahayoga of Ati, or Maha-Ati. That is the practice of the peaceful and wrathful deities we have before us here. So this practice is a sadhana that belongs to the Mahayoga section of Ati Yoga. We combine the peaceful and wrathful deities, the Shitro, with Ati Yoga, because later on, during the practice of Tögal or Direct Crossing, these peaceful and wrathful deities will unfold within our vision. Moreover, at the time of death, while in the bardos, the peaceful and wrathful deities—the intrinsic mandala—will manifest. That is the purpose of combining the peaceful and wrathful deities within a sadhana practice.

There are different ways of practicing the Shitro, according to Mahayoga, Anu Yoga, and Ati Yoga. Chokgyur Lingpa had Shitro practices for each of the three levels of inner tantras. The Mahayoga version of the Shitro sadhana is called Gyutrül, meaning The Magical Net. Chokgyur Lingpa’s terma for this is extremely extensive and yet totally identical with that of the Kama tradition, the Nyingma oral tradition. The sadhana for the Gyutrül Shitro has separate practices for both the peaceful and wrathful deities, as well as one for the combined mandala of the forty-two peaceful and fifty-eight wrathful deities. Moreover, he had a terma for the Anu Yoga version of the Shitro, called Narak Dongtruk. The terma Chokling revealed for Ati Yoga is the Kunzang Tuktig.

This sadhana is extremely condensed, yet nothing is missing. It is identical with another Ati Yoga Shitro terma, the Karling Shitro, revealed by Karma Lingpa. This terma is quite famous, and the Bardo Tödröl comes from it. The Kunzang Tuktig differs from the Karling Shitro only in size, not in essence. In fact, you will have a difficult time finding any sadhana more condensed or shorter than this one. It’s only a couple of pages long, disregarding the major sections of confessions and mending and the lineage-masters’ supplication written by Chokgyur Lingpa. Yet, nothing is missing. It is complete; everything is contained. The deities themselves, although their attributes and details are not spelled out, are exactly the same as those found in the Karling Shitro. Nothing is omitted. The Leyjang is extremely condensed. According to the intent of the instructions, the extensive one is Mahayoga. Anu is more profound, while Ati Yoga is extremely profound.

Traditionally, one always supplicates the masters of a lineage before beginning a sadhana practice. The lineage supplication is never included in the terma, because we never know precisely what will happen in the future. Therefore, the supplication is composed after the revelation and after having seen through whom the line passed. Chokgyur Lingpa, himself, wrote this very short lineage supplication.

The name of the supplication to the lineage masters is called Ösel Rangshar, meaning Self-Manifest Luminosity. The imagery of the shining sun is very significant. The sun’s radiance is not created or formed by anyone. It shines naturally. In the same way, the basic state of awareness, the buddha-nature present within everyone, is manifest or radiant all by itself—it is self-existing, naturally and spontaneously present. No one made it; it is totally uncreated. This is the basic intent of the Dzogchen teachings, which were transmitted first in the divine realms of Akanishtha, Tushita, and the realm of the thirty-three deva kings on the summit of Mt. Sumeru. Afterward, these teachings appeared in the human realm.

It starts out with EMA HO, which means “how amazing!” The first three verses in the lineage supplication are linked with the meaning of ground, path, and fruition. Here, the word tantra is used for “ground, path, and fruition.” The very meaning of tantra is “continuity or ceaslessness,” in the sense that buddha-nature is uninterrupted throughout ground, path, and fruition. In the first verse, referring to the ground, it says, within the dharmadhatu realm of Akanishtha. Here, Akanishtha means “unsurpassable, the unexcelled, the highest, not beneath anything else.” It is densely arrayed, meaning that all the qualities of complete enlightenment are spontaneously present, such as the attributes, the scenery, the qualities, and so forth. They are present in a dense array—nothing is missing; it is utterly perfect. Within this realm, I supplicate Samantabhadra Vajradhara. Sometimes we think of Samantabhadra and Vajradhara as two different buddhas, but actually they are identical. They are not two at all.

Concerning path, mind is “unified, empty cognizance.” The second verse refers to the cognizant quality of mind, as the appearing aspect. It is often said that the identity is Samantabhadra, the appearance is the five buddhas, and the manifestation is the buddhas of the six realms. This indicates the relationship among dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya. This is known as “identity, appearance, and manifestation.” The identity is Samantabhadra; the appearance is the five buddha families; and the manifestation is the munis, or buddhas of the six realms. This is also called “not different and not separate.”

The first four lines are about the continuity of ground, which is primordial purity. The second verse, which asks to grant your blessings for realizing the continuity of path, refers to spontaneous presence. May we perfect the path, in the third verse, is about fruition. When the ground manifestation arose, the buddhas of the six realms appeared. This is related to nirmanakaya. One of the realms includes the one thousand buddhas of the Good Aeon. In this sense, manifesting as nirmanakaya is compared to the fruition—may we realize it.

The first three verses are general, while the fourth verse begins with the word khyepar, meaning “in particular.” So, in particular, in the buddhafield of True Joy, Abhirati, the pure land of Vajrasattva—who is identical with Akshobhya, one of the five buddhas—we ask for the blessing to realize the view of Trekchö. Next, we supplicate to realize the view of Tögal. The next four lines are a supplication to Garab Dorje to attain certainty in, or to establish with certainty, the inseparability of space and awareness, which is the basis for Tögal practice.

In the next verse, grant your blessings that experience and visions may increase, we pray to Manjushrimitra, asking for the blessing to realize the second of the four visions.

Among the four visions, the first is called the “actuality, or the direct perception, of the innate nature of dharmata.” The second one pertains to this experience increasing further and further. In the third, experience reaches fullness and is completely manifested—the culmination of awareness.

The next verse is a supplication to Padmasambhava, residing in his magically created pure land called the Palace of Lotus Light, located atop the Glorious Copper-Colored Mountain, situated southwest of Bodhgaya. We invoke him, praying, Grant your blessings that we may reach the exhaustion of phenomena.

The next verse addresses Yeshe Tsogyal, Prince Lhasey, and his consort, requesting them to please bestow your blessings to ripen and liberate my being. This signifies that empowerment brings us to maturity, while the instructions and reading transmission liberate us. The verse mentions Yeshe Tsogyal by name, but the prince and consort actually refers to the royal ruler, King Trisong Deütsen and his sons.

The first of the next three verses supplicates Chokgyur Lingpa, the revealer of this terma. Wherever he resides is the wishfulfilling origin or source of the teachings honors him as the regent, or emissary, of Padmasambhava, indicating his mere presence in the world ensures the authentic transmission of the teachings.

The next verse invokes the place of revelation, a mountain in Kham called Namkha Dzö, the Sky Treasury mountain. The Kunzang Tuktig teachings were revealed in a cave on the slopes of this mountain. Padmasambhava and his twenty-five close disciples flew through the sky, landing on this mountain. It is where he disclosed the mandala of Kadü Chökyi Gyatso, The Dharma Ocean Embodying All Teachings.

The following verse is a supplication to the dharma protectors, especially the great dakini in wrathful form, who is the manifestation of Ekajati. Primordial purity and spontaneous presence, and the seventeen Dzogchen tantras are entrusted to this protectress of mantra. She is the wrathful form of Samantabhadri, who pervades all places and remains everywhere the wheel of dharma is turned.

The next verse supplicates our dharma friends, wherever they may be. Their place of practice, the cave where luminosity continually manifests, is depicted as a place of “unceasing experience.” As in the past, with all the Kagyü and Nyingma practitioners, the guru foretells the place. Naropa told Marpa where he should practice to attain accomplishment. Marpa told Milarepa to go to such-and-such cave to practice. This is used as a model for a guru telling a disciple to go to such-and-such place to practice until they reach accomplishment. Later, this becomes a sacred place for followers. In this way, one supplicates fellow practitioners and their place of practice to receive blessings from those who will be future buddhas. The idea is also to develop some degree of pure appreciation for fellow practitioners, who have received teachings and practiced—whether they’ve just embarked, are firmly established, or have already reached fruition on the path to enlightenment. Fellow practitioners are incredibly precious. Thus, we pray that impartial pure perception may arise. All have buddha-nature, so there is no basis for impurity and wrong views. One needs pure perception for the path of mantra, in which all forms, sounds, and thoughts are deity, mantra, and samadhi.

It is said that Vajrayana is the path of pure perception. This sacred outlook, or pure perception, is the special quality of Vajrayana. As it is said, “Simply through pure perception, or sacred outlook, half the path is already traversed.” This is not complete imagination. Sacred outlook refers to “seeing things as they actually are,” not in the ordinary deluded way, where we think earth is simply solid matter, water is merely water, wind is wind, and so forth. The five elements, as they appear to us in our ordinary experience, are actually the five female buddhas, the five aggregates are the five male buddhas, and so forth. Therefore, training in pure perception is not a way of convincing ourselves that things are what they are not; rather, we are training in seeing things as they truly are.

That is not the case in the sutra teachings, where we merely think everything is perfect. The Buddha did not teach pure perception, meaning the “correct outlook” in sutra. He saw that people who gravitated to the sutra teachings would not trust the Vajrayana teachings in the same way. It is a special quality of Vajrayana, knowing things to be as they really are. In this sense, since our dharma friends possess buddha-nature, they are dakas and dakinis. It is said that we need to train in pure perception.

Next, we pray to be blessed with faith and trust and to have the intelligence, firm understanding, and ability to take to heart the preciousness of the human body, impermanence, karma, the defects of samsara, and so forth.

The next four lines deal with trusting in the Three Jewels and having compassion for all beings, my parents. Bless me to equalize life and practice. In short, there are three indispensable things: to have devotion upward toward the buddhas, to have compassion downward toward all beings, and to be diligent in-between.

Next, we supplicate to realize the view of Trekchö. Within the mind-stream of all beings is the self-existing buddha-nature, in the form of the self-appearing peaceful and wrathful ones. The development stage is not something foolish. The second line refers to the fact that the outer world and the inner contents are all peaceful and wrathful buddhas, which is actually Tögal.

In the third line of this verse, the main image of dharmadhatu is that of space—the space of all things, within which all phenomena manifest, abide, and dissolve. This is similar to physical space, which is like a container, within which the remaining four elements appear, abide, and disappear. These four elements do not come out of any other source; they emerge from space itself. They do not remain anywhere else other than within space; neither do they go anywhere outside of space. In the same way, dharmadhatu is the basic environment of all phenomena, whether they belong to samsara or nirvana. It encompasses whatever appears and exists, including the worlds and all beings. Everything takes place within and dissolves back into the state of dharmadhatu. Dharmadhatu encompasses all of samsara and nirvana. It doesn’t include only nirvana and exclude samsara; it’s not like that.

External phenomena appear within space, remain within space, and disappear within space again. Is there any place where earth, water, fire, and wind can go that is outside space? Don’t they always remain within space? When they disintegrate, don’t they dissolve within space? Is there any place at all to go beyond or outside space that is other than space? Please understand very well this symbolic resemblance between dharmadhatu and physical space.

The prayer says, within the realm of dharmadhatu, which encompasses all of samsara and nirvana. The relationship among dharmadhatu, dharmakaya, and dharmadhatu wisdom is like the relationship among a place, a person, and the person’s mind. If there is no place, there is no environment for the person to exist in; and there is no person unless that person also has a mind dwelling in the body. In the same way, the main field or realm called dharmadhatu has the nature of dharmakaya. Dharmakaya has the quality of dharmadhatu wisdom, which is like the mind aspect.

We also need to clearly understand what is meant by the terms samsara and nirvana. Nirvana means the “fully realized buddha-nature that consists of body, speech, and mind aspects.” The body is the essence that simply is. Speech is its nature, the cognizant quality that is vividly present. Mind is the capacity, which is radiant. These three aspects comprise the basic presence of all buddhas, as their essence, nature, and capacity. All sugatas have this same identity. Similarly, samsara is the “body, speech, and mind of all sentient beings.” These are the deluded expressions of their essence, nature, and capacity. In this way, dharmadhatu encompasses all of samsara and nirvana.

Dharmadhatu is adorned with dharmakaya, which is endowed with dharmadhatu wisdom. This is a brief but very profound statement, because dharmadhatu also refers to sugatagarbha or “buddha-nature.” Buddha-nature is all-encompassing: thus it is present, or basic, to all states, regardless of whether they belong to samsara or nirvana. Remember, nirvana refers to the body, speech, and mind of all the awakened ones. Body is the abiding essence, speech is the vividly present nature, and mind is the radiant capacity. These three, the body, speech, and mind of all buddhas, are also known as the three vajras.