Essence of Vajrayana. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
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of delusions and thereby experience the permanent inner peace of liberation, or nirvana. We need to attain liberation because for as long as we are trapped in samsara, the vicious cycle of uncontrolled death and rebirth, we will never find real peace and happiness.
We can attain the ultimate peace of enlightenment by training in the meditations explained in this book. We need to attain enlightenment so that we can benefit all living beings. At present our mind is obscured by the inner darkness of ignorance, which prevents us from seeing the true nature of all phenomena; but by training in wisdom and compassion we can completely remove this inner darkness. Once we have done this, our very subtle body, speech and mind become inner light, the nature of omniscient wisdom. This is enlightenment, or Buddhahood. Having dispelled all darkness from our mind, we become a Buddha and can see all phenomena of the past, present and future directly and simultaneously. We are then in a position to benefit all living beings without exception by bestowing blessings, emanating whatever they need, and guiding them along spiritual paths.
To encourage ourself to train in the stages of the path to enlightenment, we should continually recall the three special characteristics of our human life: its freedom and endowment, its rarity, and its great meaning. Due to the limitations of their body and mind, those who have taken rebirth as animals, for example, have no opportunity to understand or practise the path to liberation. Only humans are free from such hindrances and have all the necessary conditions, known as ‘endowments’, to engage in spiritual paths, which alone lead to everlasting happiness. This freedom and endowment is the first special characteristic that makes our human life so precious.
The second special characteristic of our human life is its rarity. Although there are many humans in this world, each one of us has only one life. One person may own many cars and houses, but even the richest person in the world cannot possess more than one life, and, when that is drawing to an end, he or she cannot buy, borrow or manufacture another. When we lose this life, it will be very difficult to find another similarly qualified life in the future. Our human life is therefore very rare.
The third special characteristic of our human life is its great meaning. If we use our human life to accomplish spiritual realizations, our life is immensely meaningful. By using it in this way, we actualize our full potential and progress from the state of an ordinary, deluded being to that of a fully enlightened being, the highest of all beings; and when we have done this we will have the power to benefit all living beings without exception. Thus, by using our human life for spiritual development we can solve all our human problems and fulfil all our own and others’ wishes. What could be more meaningful than this?
Through contemplating these three characteristics we arrive at the determination:
I will not waste my human life because it is so precious, so rare and so meaningful. Instead, I will use it in the most beneficial way.
We hold this determination as our object of meditation without forgetting it, and meditate on it single-pointedly for as long as possible.
Having developed this deep desire to make our life meaningful, we then ask ourself, ‘What is the essential meaning of a human life?’ Finding good external conditions cannot be its essential meaning, for even animals can do this. Many animals are very skilled at finding food, protecting their families, destroying their enemies, and so forth; these abilities are not exclusively human. However, it is only humans who have the opportunity to attain enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings. This is the real meaning of our human life. With this understanding, we can extract the full meaning of our human life by receiving the empowerment and commentary to Heruka body mandala and then putting the instructions into practice.
In general, Vajrayana is the actual quick path to enlightenment, but whether or not we attain enlightenment quickly through Vajrayana practice depends upon our faith, motivation and understanding. In particular, gaining the realizations of Heruka body mandala – the very essence of Vajrayana – depends upon our having strong faith in the instructions and a clear understanding of their meaning. Then, with a pure motivation, free from selfish intention, we should practise these instructions sincerely and continually until we attain our final goal.
Geshe Kelsang Gyatso,
Dallas, Texas,
March 1997.
PART ONE
Generation Stage
Twelve-armed Heruka
Preliminary Explanation
The commentary to the Highest Yoga Tantra practice of Heruka body mandala is presented under three main headings:
1 The preliminary explanation
2 The explanation of the practice
3 Dedication
THE PRELIMINARY EXPLANATION
This has five parts:
1 The pre-eminent qualities of Heruka
2 The origin of these instructions
3 The benefits of practising these instructions
4 Examples of previous practitioners who accomplished attainments through these instructions
5 The qualifications of a sincere Heruka practitioner
THE PRE-EMINENT QUALITIES OF HERUKA
The Sanskrit term ‘Heruka’ is composed of the three syllables, ‘He’, ‘ru’ and ‘ka’. ‘He’ teaches the emptiness of phenomena in general, and ‘ru’ the emptiness of persons in particular; together they reveal the emptiness of all phenomena. ‘Ka’ refers to the union of Heruka’s mind of great bliss and the emptiness of all phenomena. This union is Heruka’s Truth Body. An I, or self, imputed on this Truth Body is definitive Heruka, the real nature of Buddha Heruka. This can only be seen by Buddhas.
Another term for Heruka is ‘Chakrasambara’. ‘Chakra’ means ‘wheel’, and in this context refers to the ‘wheel’ of all phenomena. ‘Sambara’ means the supreme bliss, which is called ‘spontaneous great bliss’. Together ‘Chakra’ and ‘sambara’ reveal that by practising Heruka Tantra we gain a profound realization that experiences all phenomena as one nature with our mind of great bliss. This realization directly removes subtle dualistic appearances from our mind, and due to this we quickly become definitive Heruka.
To lead fortunate disciples to the state of Buddha Heruka within one life, Buddha Vajradhara manifested his compassion in the form of interpretative Heruka, who has a blue-coloured body, four faces and twelve arms, and embraces his consort, Vajravarahi. Attaining the state of Buddha Heruka depends upon abandoning the twelve dependent-related links of samsara by gaining the realizations of the four doors of liberation; and in particular it depends upon realizing the union of great bliss and emptiness. These are symbolized respectively by Heruka’s twelve arms, his four faces and his embracing Vajravarahi.
It is possible that those who do not understand the deep meaning of Buddha’s Vajrayana teachings may feel uncomfortable with Heruka’s wrathful aspect. Such practitioners need to understand that all phenomena are equal in lacking inherent existence. In ultimate truth, emptiness, there are no wrathful or peaceful aspects because all phenomena are of one nature. Therefore, those who possess deep knowledge of ultimate truth have no basis for developing unpleasant feelings upon perceiving unattractive objects because they realize that ultimately there are no truly existent unattractive or attractive objects.
For example, although Heruka’s long necklace of human heads may seem to be real, in fact it is a manifestation of Heruka’s omniscient wisdom. All the various features of Heruka’s body are merely manifestations of his omniscient wisdom and do not exist outside of his mind. However, for faithful practitioners, visualizing the wrathful aspect of Heruka is a powerful method for swiftly receiving his blessings and protection. It is for this reason, as well as to display in a visible manner how to progress along the entire