MEDITATION AND RECITATION ON VAjRASATTVA Meru itself," he said, "they are purified in one instant of seeing that nature." There is indeed no deeper way to cleanse oneself of past misdeeds than to meditate on bodhicitta and to maintain the flow of the unaltered natural state Keep these two things in mind as you go through the details of the meditation on Vajrasattva-purification by the stream of nectar, recitation of the hundred syllable mantra, and so on To practise the actual meditation and recitation, proceed as follows, remembering all the time the specific pure meaning 180 of each element in the context of the four powers as antidotes III THE ACTUAL MEDITATION ON VAJRASATTVA For the visualization that follows, see yourself as staying in your ordinary form 181 Suspended in space an arrow's length above your head, visualize an open white lotus with a thousand petals, and upon it the disc of a full moon We say "a full moon" here not to indicate how big the disc should be, but to signify that it is perfectly round and regular and looks like the completely full moon on the fifteenth day of the lunar month Upon this lunar disc, visualize a brilliant white syllable hum • In other traditions the syllable emanates and reabsorbs rays of light, but that is not the case here In an instant the hum is transformed into your glorious root teacher, that incomparable mine of compassion who in essence is the nature of all the Buddhas of past, present and future in one He appears in the form of the sambhogakaya Buddha, 182 Vajrasattva, white in colour, like a snow peak lit up by a hundred thousand suns He has one face and two arms With his right hand, he holds before his heart the five-pronged vajra of awareness and emptiness With his left, he rests the bell of appearance and emptiness at his left hip 183 His two legs are crossed in the vajra posture and he is adorned with the thirteen ornaments of the sambhogakaya-the five silken garments and eight jewels The five silken garments are: 1) a headband, 2) an upper garment, 3) a long scarf, 4) a belt and 5) a lower garment The eight jewels are: 1) a crown, 2) earrings, 3) a short necklace, 4) armlets on each arm, 5) two long necklaces, one longer than the other, 184 6) a bracelet on each wrist, 7) a ring on each hand and 8) an anklet on • The Tibetan syllable hum is shown on page 272 267 THE EXTRAORDINARY OR INNER PRELIMINARIES each foot Vajrasattva is seated above your head, facing in the same direction as you He embraces in inseparable union 185 his consort, Vajratopa, who is also white Their bodies are empty appearance, vividly present but without any substance of their own, like reflections of the moon in water or forms reflected in a mirror This visualization provides the power of support It is not a flat image like a tangka or a fresco Nor is it inert and inanimate like a clay or gold statue, which is solid and material It appears: every detail appears clearly and distinctly, even the pupils and whites of the eyes Yet it is empty: there is not one atom of solid substance to it, no flesh, no blood, no internal organs It is like a rainbow appearing in space or an immaculate crystal vase And it is imbued with wisdom: Lord Vajrasattva is identical in nature with your own compassionate root teacher, and his mind reaches out to you and to all beings with great love As the power of regret, in his presence call to mind all the negative actions you can think of that you have accumulated until now, in one samsaric existence after another since time without beginning: the ten negative actions of body, speech and mind, the five crimes with immediate retribution, the four serious faults, the eight perverse acts, all transgressions of the external vows of pratimok~a, the inner Bodhisattva precepts or the secret tantric samayas of the vidyadharas, all the ordinary promises that you have not kept, all the lies you have told and everything you have done that is shameful or dishonourable Feel that you are confessing them all in the teacher Vajrasattva's presence, your whole body breaking out in gooseflesh with shame, fear and remorse You can be sure that during all those infinite lives in sarilsara you have done many negative actions that you cannot remember, so confess them all too, saying: "I am keeping nothing secret I am hiding nothing I confess openly and ask for forgiveness Have compassion on me! Right away, at this very moment and in this very place, cleanse and purify me of all my negative actions and obscurations, so that not a single one remains!" As the power of resolve, think, "Until now I have accumulated those harmful negative actions because of my ignorance and confusion But now, thanks to the compassion of my kind teacher, I know what is beneficial and what is harmful, and I will never commit them again, even if it costs me my life." Keeping in mind the pure meaning of the visualization, 180 recite the root text, starting from: Ah! I am in my ordinary form, and above my head 268 MEDITATION AND RECITATION ON VAJRASATTVA down as far as the words: Purify me until not a single one remains! Then, in the heart of Vajrasattva, who is indivisibly united with his consort, visualize a lunar disc no bigger than a flattened mustard seed, and upon it a white hum, as fine as if it had been drawn with a single hair As you recite the hundred syllable mantra once, "Om Vajrasattva Samaya " and so on, visualize its syllables arranged around the hum in a circle None of them touch each other, like the horns of cattle when they stand close together • Then recite the hundred syllables as a prayer, imagining at the same time that a nectar of compassion and wisdom drips down from each of the syllables, one glistening drop after another, like water dripping down from ice as it melts near a fire Pouring down through the body of Vajrasattva, the nectar emerges from the point of union of the deity and consort, and, passing through the crown of your head, flows into you, and into all other sentient beings too Like particles of earth being washed away by a powerful stream, all your physical illnesses are flushed out in the form of rotten blood and pus All negative forces are expelled in the form of spiders, scorpions, toads, fish, snakes, tadpoles, lice and the like, and all harmful actions and obscurations as black liquid, dust, smoke, clouds and vapours All this is carried away by the irresistible flood of nectar and pours out of your body as a black shower through the lower orifices, the soles of your feet and all the pores of your skin The earth beneath you opens up and in the depths appears Death, personification of your past actions, surrounded by all the male and female beings to whom you owe karmic debts and all those who seek to venge themselves on your flesh While you recite the hundred syllable mantra, visualize all those impurities pouring down into their open mouths and into the hands and arms they raise expectantly toward you If you can, visualize the whole process simultaneously Otherwise, you can alternate As you recite the mantra, sometimes concentrate on the body of Vajrasattva, his face, hands and so on; sometimes on his ornaments and clothing; sometimes on the flow of nectar purifying illnesses, negative forces, evil actions and obscurations; and sometimes on your regret for what you have done and your resolve never to repeat it At the end, imagine that Death, the embodiment of past actions, and all the others below the earth-every kind of karmic creditor and all those who seek vengeance on your flesh-are appeased and satisfied Past scores • That is, close together without becoming entangled 269 THE EXTRAORDINARY OR INNER PRELIMINARIES have been settled, debts have been repaid and vengeance has been appeased You are cleansed of all past negative actions and obscurations Death closes his mouth and hands and lowers his arms The earth closes again Imagine that your body has now become transparent inside and out, a body of light Running vertically down inside it, visualize the central channel, at four points along whose length are the four wheels, where channels 186 branch out radially like the spokes of an umbrella At the level of your navel is the wheel of manifestation, with sixty-four radial channels turning upwards At the level of your heart is the wheel of Dharma, with eight radial channels turning downwards In your throat is the wheel of enjoyment, with sixteen radial channels turning upwards In the crown of your head is the wheel of great bliss, with thirty-two radial channels turning downwards The nectar then starts to flow down again as before Beginning with the wheel of great bliss at the crown of your head, it completely fills the central channel and each of the four wheels and then spreads outward, filling your entire body to the tips of your fingers and toes Brimming with white nectar, you are like a crystal vase filled with milk Think that you are receiving the four empowerments: 187 the vase empowerment, the secret empowerment, the wisdom empowerment and the precious word empowerment You are also purified of the four kinds of obscurations: karmic obscurations, obscurations of negative emotions, conceptual obscurations and obscurations of habitual tendencies The wisdom of the four joys arises in you: joy, supreme joy, extraordinary joy and innate joy The levels of the four kiiyas are established in you: the nirmiiQakiiya, the sambhogakiiya, the dharmakiiya and the sviibhiivikakiiya Then recite the prayer beginning: Protector, in ignorance and confusion and ending: • I beg you, cleanse and purify me! Imagine that the moment you recite these lines the teacher Vajrasattva is delighted, and smilingly grants your prayer with these words: Fortunate one, all your negative actions, obscurations, violations and breaches are purified • Skt cakra 270 MEDITATION AND RECITATION ON VAJRASATTVA He then melts into light and dissolves into you, so that you yourself are now transformed into Vajrasattva, just as you visualized him before Visualize in his heart a moon disc the size of a flattened mustard seed In its centre stands a blue hum In front of the hum is a white syllable om; to its left is the word vajra in yellow; behi~d is sa in red; and to its right is tva in green: sa tva hum vajra om As you recite "Om Vajra Sattva Hiirh," five rays of light, white, yellow, red, green, and blue, emanate from the respective syllables in an upward direction At the end of these rays are the Lady of Beauty and the other offering goddesses From their hands emanate innumerable offerings, such as the eight auspicious symbols and the seven royal attributes, fringed parasols, victory banners, canopies, thousand-spoked golden wheels, white conch shells spiralling to the right and so on These offerings delight all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the inconceivable, infinite pure fields of the ten directions, completing the accumulations and purifying your obscurations All the Buddhas' compassion and blessings come streaming back in the form of light-rays of different colours which dissolve into you Think that as a result you attain the supreme and common accomplishments; the four levels of vidyadhara related to the path; and the ultimate result-the state beyond learning 188 This visualization establishes the connections through which you will realize the dharmakaya and benefit yourself Then, visualize that innumerable hundreds of thousands of multi-coloured light-rays shoot out downwards from the five syllables, touching all living beings dwelling in the six realms of the three worlds, and purifying all their negative actions, obscurations, sufferings and habitual tendencies just like the light of the rising sun dispelling darkness The whole universe becomes the Buddhafield of Manifest Joy All beings 271 ... shower through the lower orifices, the soles of your feet and all the pores of your skin The earth beneath you opens up and in the depths appears Death, personification of your past actions, surrounded... receiving the four empowerments: 187 the vase empowerment, the secret empowerment, the wisdom empowerment and the precious word empowerment You are also purified of the four kinds of obscurations:... transgressions of the external vows of pratimok~a, the inner Bodhisattva precepts or the secret tantric samayas of the vidyadharas, all the ordinary promises that you have not kept, all the lies you