THE EXTRAORDINARY OR INNER PRELIMINARIES within it are transformed into white, yellow, red, green and blue Vajrasattvas 189 Recite the mantra, imagining that all of them are pronouncing the mantra "Om Vajra Sattva Hum" too with an immense humming sound This visualization establishes the connections through which you will attain the riipakaya• and benefit others Concerning this type of visualization, The Dharma Practice that Spontaneously Liberates Habitual Clingings says: Bringing benefit to oneself and others by emanating and reabsorbing light, one is cleansed of conceptual obscurations Using such visualization practices, the skilful means of the Secret Mantra Vajrayana enables one to accumulate inconceivable amounts of merit and wisdom in an instant, while simultaneously benefiting all living creatures throughout the universe Recite the mantra as many times as you can, and when the time comes to conclude the session visualize that the whole universe, which you have been perceiving as the Buddhafield of Manifest Joy, dissolves into the beings dwelling in it, the Vajrasattvas of the five families These deities themselves then gradually melt into light and dissolve into you Then you yourself melt into light from the outside inwards, and that light dissolves into the om in your heart The om dissolves into the vajra, the vajra into the sa, the sa into the tva, the tva into the shapkyu of the hum, the shapkyu into the small a, the small a into the body of the ha, the body into the head, the head into the crescent moon, the crescent into the bindu and the bindu into the nada n4da / • bindu ~ hum its pans: -crescent head of ' ) - body of r;, - ~-small a \ ; - shapkyu The nada, in turn, like a rainbow vanishing into space, dissolves into simplicity free from any concepts and elaborations Remain relaxed in that state for a while When thoughts stan to arise, see clearly the whole universe and the • Riipakiiya, gzugs sku: the body of form (see Glossary) 272 MEDITATION AND RECITATION ON VAJRASATTVA beings it contains as the Buddhafield of Vajrasattva Dedicate the merit with the words: By the merit of this practice may I quickly attain The level ofVajrasattva and so on, and say other prayers of aspiration While practising any meditation and recitation, including this one on Vajrasattva, it is imperative not to let your mind be distracted from concentration on the practice, and not to interrupt the recitation with ordinary speech It is said in the tantras: Reciting without concentration Is like soaking a rock in the depths of the sea; Even for a whole kalpa it will bring no result • and also: Purity is a thousand times better than impurity, t90 Concentration is a hundred thousand times better than no concentration Gold or silver, if they contain even small quantities of brass or copper, are considered "not real gold" or "false silver." Likewise, mixing ordinary gossip with the recitation of mantras or the approach practice renders the mantra impure That is why the Great Master of OQQiyana said: A month's recitation with no other speech Is better than a year of defiled recitation This being so, it is of primary importance that those who perform ceremonies in villages refrain from chatting within the ranks of the assembly while they are saying prayers and mantras If such recitations are mixed with ordinary speech they lose all their meaning In particular, when a ceremony is being performed for someone who has died, that being, in all the terror and suffering of the intermediate state, will rush to the sponsor, the invited monks and the officiating lama in the hope of obtaining help Beings in the intermediate state know what is happening in others' minds If the people doing the ceremony are not clearly concentrated, if they have not kept their vows and samayas, or if what they say and think arises from attachment and hostility, the being in the intermediate state will feel hatred towards them or have negative views • However long the rock stays there, the water will never penetrate it 273 THE EXTRAORDINARY OR INNER PRELIMINARIES about them, and as a result will fall into lower realms One would be better off without the services of such officiants as these It is said of the rituals of the Secret Mantra Vajrayana that "to recite the visualization texts of the generation phase is to use words as a means of access." The words of the visualization are there to call to mind the details of the generation phase 191 But for people performing such ceremonies the proper subject of the visualization, which is the meaning of the generation and perfection phases, does not even cross their minds They unthinkingly mouth the words of the ritual, like "visualize," "meditate" and "concentrate," using all sorts of ornate intonations, blaring their trumpets and banging away at their cymbals and drums Finally the moment comes for what should be the most essential point, the approach practice, where the mantra is recited-at which point they just feel released of their duties They no longer even make the effort to sit up straight They start smoking tobacco, the source of hundreds of wrong actions, 192 and let loose a rich store of useless chatter, endlessly discussing all the local goings-on from the mountain tops to the valley floor, from the passes to the lowlands Meanwhile they spend the time pushing the rosary through their fingers at top speed, as if they were making sausages Towards evening, they glance up at the sky and, seeing the sun's position, with a huge clattering of cymbals start chanting, "Vajra pu!ipe dhiipe " 193 and so on This is not even a pale reflection of a proper ritual, nor even the reflection of a reflection There can be little doubt that just reciting the Confession of Downfalls or the Prayer of Good Actions once, with perfectly pure motivation, would be far more worthwhile Lamas like these, whose impure recitation and travesties of rituals send the dead off to lower rebirths, will likewise far more harm than good with their rituals for the living Moreover, abusing people's offerings in this way is exactly what is meant by "swallowing red hot metal balls " 194 Lamas and monks who profit from the offerings of the faithful and the possessions of the dead should have as the very soul of their practice something more than an evaluation of the quantity of meat, the thickness of cheese, and the quality of the offerings they are getting Whether they are working for those who are sick or those already dead, the moment is crucial for those beings For the latter have no refuge from their suffering They need to be caught and secured by the love and compassion of the lamas' bodhicitta, and the sincere desire to help The lamas should make every effort to practise whatever they may know of the generation and perfection phases, sincerely and without any distraction If they know nothing at all of these subjects, they should simply try to think of the 274 MEDITATION AND RECITATION ON VAJRASATTVA meaning of the words they are saying At the very least, they should focus their body, speech and mind on love and compassion for the suffering being and confident faith in the unfailing power of the Three Jewels If they also make sure that they perform the ritual properly by correctly reciting the different texts and mantras, there is no doubt that through the compassion of the refuge, the Three Jewels, through the infallible power of the effect of actions and through the immeasurable benefits of bodhicitta, they can really help the sick or the dead This is what they should make every effort to do, and as in the expression "dissolving your own obscurations on someone else's cushion, "• they will complete the twofold accumulation both for themselves and for others at the same time They will also establish all those who have contact with them on the path to liberation These days, lamas and monks whom one might expect to be a little better than others, and who know about the principle of cause and effect, are so afraid of the defilements attached to offerings that they refuse even to give blessings or say dedication prayers for suffering beings who are sick or dead In so doing they cut off the love and compassion of bodhicitta at the very root The majority are extremely selfish They take part in ceremonies at the request of their benefactors But, instead of reciting what the families in question need, they pull out their own prayer-books, grimy and worn out from long use, and with the excuse that they must not interrupt the continuity of their own personal practice, they recite from that while everyone else is reciting the prayers 195 Whenever they are reciting the least prayer for their own good, they are all extremely scrupulous and claim to be purifying their own obscurations or their abuse of offerings But they treat prayers in large assemblies for the benefit of patrons as a tiresome chore They look around all the time, say whatever they want, and never even give a thought for the dead or living person that they are supposed to be protecting This cuts off the love and compassion of bodhicitta at the very root Later on, should they ever try to purify themselves of this abuse of offerings, their evil and selfish attitude will make it very difficult to so successfully Instead, take the love and compassion of bodhicitta as your basis from the very start Never give up your wish to help others Make a sincere effort to put everything you know about the generation and perfection • This means that any practice that is performed with the intention of helping another being will benefit not only that being but also the person doing the practice 275 THE EXTRAORDINARY OR INNER PRELIMINARIES phases into practice to the best of your ability To meditate on the generation and perfection phases and recite mantras in other people's houses will then be no different from doing it in your own In either case, the need to be free of selfish thoughts and to care about helping others is the same For these two attitudes are both indispensable If you stay undistracted and not mix your recitation with ordinary speech, to say the hundred syllable mantra one hundred and eight times without interruption will undoubtedly purify all your evil actions and obscurations, and all violations and breaches of vows and samayas Such is Vajrasattva's promise The Tantra of Immaculate Confession says: The hundred syllable mantra is the quintessence of the mind of all the Sugatas It purifies all violations, all breaches, all conceptual obscurations It is the supreme confession, and to recite it one hundred and eight times without interruption repairs all violations and breaches and will save one from tumbling into the three lower realms The Buddhas of past, present and future will look on the yogi who recites it as a daily practice as their most excellent child, even in this very lifetime, and will watch over and protect him At his death he will undoubtedly become the finest of all the Buddhas' heirs Whatever violations and breaches of the root and branch samayas you may commit after setting out on the path of Secret Mantra Vajrayana, the daily repetition of the hundred syllable mantra twenty-one times every day while meditating on Vajrasattva constitutes what is called "the blessing of downfalls." It will prevent the effects of those downfalls from developing or increasing One hundred thousand recitations will completely purify all your downfalls According to The Essential Ornament: To recite correctly twenty-one times The hundred syllable mantra, While clearly visualizing Vajrasattva Seated on a white lotus and moon, Constitutes the blessing of the downfalls, Which are thus kept from increasing Thus the great siddhas have taught So practise it always If you recite it a hundred thousand times, You will become the very embodiment of utter purity 276 ... rush to the sponsor, the invited monks and the officiating lama in the hope of obtaining help Beings in the intermediate state know what is happening in others' minds If the people doing the ceremony... The words of the visualization are there to call to mind the details of the generation phase 191 But for people performing such ceremonies the proper subject of the visualization, which is the. .. offerings of the faithful and the possessions of the dead should have as the very soul of their practice something more than an evaluation of the quantity of meat, the thickness of cheese, and the quality