Tantric Techniques (47 page)

1. 1. 1. Made with perfume,
         

         Pleasant essences of the forest. Receiving them, be pleased with me.
         Ā
         hara
         ā
         hara sarvavidy
         ā
         dhari p
         ū
         jite sv
         ā
         h
         ā
         .
         

         With the seal of divine food (seal 34), offer food, saying:
         With faith I offer
         

1. 1. 1. These foods of mantra, Pleasant medicinal essences.
         Receiving them, be pleased with me.
         

         Ā
         hara
         ā
         hara sarvavidy
         ā
         dhari p
         ū
         jite sv
         ā
         h
         ā
         .
         

         With the lamp seal (seal 35), offer lamps, saying:
         With faith I offer these dispellers
         

1. 1. 1. Of darkness, conquering harmers, Auspicious and virtuous.
         I beg you to receive these lamps.
         

         Ā
         lok
         ā
         ya
         ā
         lok
         ā
         ya vidh
         ā
         dhare p
         ū
         jite sv
         ā
         h
         ā
         .
         

         Praise the Three Jewels—Buddha, his doctrine, and the spiritual community:
         

1. 1. 1. Homage to the One-Gone-Thus, Protector with great compassion, Omniscient teacher,
         Oceanic field of merit and attainments.
         

1. 1. 1. Homage to the pacifying doctrine, Through purity separating from desire,
         Through virtue liberating from bad transmigrations, In all ways the supreme ultimate.
         

1. 1. 1. Respectful homage to the spiritual community, Liberated, teaching the path of liberation, Completely dwelling in the precepts,
         Excellent field of merit, endowed with attainments.
         

         Praise the lords of the three lineages—Mañjushr
         ī
         , who is the physical manifestation of the wisdom of all Buddhas; Avalokiteshvara,
         

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         Tantric Techniques
         

         

         who is the physical manifestation of the compassion of all Buddhas; and Vajrap
         āṇ
         i, who is the physical manifestation of the power of all Buddhas:
         

1. 1. 1. Homage also to Mañjushr
         ī
         ,
         Bearer of the appearance of a youth, Vividly adorned with the lamp of wisdom, Dispeller of the three worlds’ darkness.
         

1. 1. 1. Homage to the always merciful, Whose name is Avalokiteshvara, Composite of all excellent qualities, Strongly praised by all Buddhas.
         Homage to Vajrap
         āṇ
         i, Powerful and fierce,
         

1. 1. 1. Virtuous king of knowledge-mantra, Tamer of the hard to tame.
         

         Ask for forbearance for not having the circumstances to perform the rite exactly according to the tantra:
         

1. 1. 1. Whatever even slightly has been done wrongly Out of the obscuration in my mind,
         Please, O Protector, bear with it all
         

1. 1. 1. Since you are the refuge of all the embodied.
         Whatever has been done here
         

1. 1. 1. Due to non-acquisition, lack of thorough knowledge, Or not having the capacity,
         It is right for the Chief to bear with it all.
         

         Request Avalokiteshvara to depart together with his inestimable mansion, saying:
         

         O
         ṃ
         may you bestow yogic feats
         

1. 1. 1. Concordant with effecting the welfare of all sentient beings. Having gone to a Buddha Land,
         Please may you come again.
         

         From the seal of invitation (seal 20), make the seal of requesting departure (seal 37), and say:
         

         Ā
         rolik gaccha.
         Together with his inestimable mansion he has gone to his natural abode.
         

         Free the directions and intermediate directions that were bound earlier by making the seal of unequal limbs (seal 38), circling it from the left, and saying:
         

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         199
         

         

         O
         ṃ
         hulu hulu ca
         ṇḍ
         ali-mata
         ṃ
         givi sv
         ā
         h
         ā
         .
         

         Between sessions
         

         Between sessions remain within deity yoga, albeit not as complete as before, going about daily activities.
         a
         

         CONTINUATION OF MEDITATIVE STABILIZATION OF EXALTED SPEECH
         

2. Concentration Without Repetition
   

   1. Concentration of Abiding in Fire
      

(Because mantra is heard as if recited by someone else, it is said to be without repetition.)

1. Contemplate the emptiness of inherent existence of yourself and the deity through the six deities.
   
2. While visualizing yourself in the form of Avalokiteshvara and conceiving of yourself to be Avalokiteshvara, imagine a tiny moon at your heart with a blazing tongue of fire, like the flame of a but-ter lamp.
   

1. Your mind of wisdom realizing emptiness appears as the mantra sounds in the flame at your heart, resounding continuously like bells. Within stopping breath and distraction, your mind is as if dwelling inside the tongue of flame and itself is appearing in that flame as the sounds, as if listening to recitation by someone else or resounding of their own accord. Observe mainly the flame and sounds. Because your mind of wisdom itself is appearing as the mantra sounds, the sounds of the mantra and your own final na-ture are completely mixed like water and milk.
   
2. Exhaling, observe your own larger divine body. Repeat steps 3 and 4.
   

2. Concentration of Abiding in Sound

(Because mantra is heard as if recited by someone else, it is said to be without repetition.)

1. While visualizing yourself in the form of a deity and conceiving of yourself to be a deity with a flame at the heart, imagine a tiny deity within the flame.
   

   

   a
   For more on this, see
   Deity Yoga,
   152-153.
   

   200
   Tantric Techniques
   

   

1. Imagine a moon disc at the heart of the tiny deity.
   
2. Imagine a flame on the moon disc at the heart of the tiny deity.
   

1. When this visualization becomes firm, your own mind appears as the mantra sounds within the flame at the heart of the tiny dei-ty. Within stopping breath and distraction, your mind is as if dwelling inside the tongue of flame and itself is appearing in that flame as the sounds as if you were listening to recitation by someone else or the letters were sounding of their own accord. Observe mainly the sounds of the mantra. Because your mind of wisdom itself is appearing as the mantra sounds, the sounds of the mantra and your own final nature are completely mixed like water and milk.
   a
   
2. Exhaling, observe your own larger divine body. Repeat steps 4 and 5.
   

Gradually, calm abiding, which is a state of meditative stabilization conjoined with the bliss of mental and physical pliancy, is achieved. The final stages of achieving calm abiding are:

The “winds” (currents of energy) involved in unhealthy physical states are calmed and leave the body through the top of the head, where a tingly sensation is felt.

Then, a
mental pliancy,
which is a pacification of unhealthy states making the mind heavy and preventing its usage in virtue according to will, is generated; this makes the mind serviceable.

Through its force, a “wind” of serviceability moves throughout the body, inducing a
physical pliancy
that causes separation from physical states of roughness and heaviness, whereupon you are able to use the body at will in virtuous actions without any sense of hardship. Your body is light like cotton and as if filled with this serviceable wind.

Experiencing this special internal sense of smoothness, you have a
bliss of physical pliancy
.

a
A far simpler alternative version of the concentration of abiding in sound replaces the first four steps with first observing the written letters of the mantra around the edge of the moon disc at one’s heart and then leaving the written letters and contemplating only the sounds.

The Practice
201

Due to the mental consciousness paying attention to this bliss accompanying the body consciousness, a
bliss of mental pliancy
is generated. Your body seems to have dissolved, and nothing but the object of meditative observation appears.

Your mind is so buoyantly joyous that it now seems almost unable to remain on its object, but the excessive buoyancy is gradually removed, and you attain an
immovable pliancy,
remaining stably and joyously on the object of observation. This is calm abiding.