45 A Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages making all into non-phenomena It also enters oneself, by which the “vajra wisdom becomes as expansive as space,” and those with the entity of the three sattvas become one “Kham” refers to clear light.825 The Patsap and Chak translations have “This is the subsequent dissolution process making all invisible.” [296] This passage says that the dissolution eventually enters oneself, and so the light rays that emanate from the seed syllable in your heart dissolve sentient beings and their environment into light, and then this mass of light enters oneself and they become invisible Usually the syllable orp is meditated on at the crown and the syllable ah at the throat The reason why it is taught that all three syllables are meditated upon at the heart has been explained previously Therefore the assertion of LaksmI and others that emanation and withdrawal is performed within the navel from syllables that are placed at the center of a cakra at the navel is not correct Regarding the teaching here that the benefit is the attainment of an exaltedwisdom body divorced from the ordinary body, while it is true that you have already gained the exalted-wisdom body that is the illusory body separated from the ordinary body, here you gain a vajra body of union that has not been achieved before, and so there is no contradiction Five Stages says: The illusion-like samadhi is purified by the limit of perfection.826 Compendium o f Practice also says that the conventional truth is purified by the ultimate truth,827 and Illum inating Lamp says that the illusory body is brought into clear light by the two masteries.828 Do not think, “It is con tradictory for the meditation on the bodies of the three vajras to enter into clear light because the illusory body is the body of Vajradhara.” It is true that the form of the illusory body is that of sambhogakaya Vajradhara, but hav ing meditated with that form upon the emanations of the three vajras, you practice withdrawing again and again into the clear light from which will arise the actual clear light, and at that time the illusory body disappears like a rainbow in the sky A body created from the winds and purified by the actual clear light will not vanish when actual clear light is being realized This is very different from a body created by winds and purified by the illustrative clear light The Two M editative Absorptions 459 If you not follow the practice of the two meditative absorptions and reliance upon a consort to arrive at the fourth empty state and then medi tate again and again on the union of bliss and emptiness as object-holding consciousness and conclusive-reality object, and instead you meditate on the four empty states arising merely from the withdrawal process of the winds and mind, then no matter how much you develop them, it will not be pos sible to make manifest the actual clear light Therefore a skillful way to unite bliss and emptiness is definitely needed In that connection, there are many instances where the purification of the coarse dualism arises like the pris tine sky at the break of dawn but where the very subtle dualism has not been reversed Also, up to the point of a direct realization of emptiness with the object-holding consciousness of bliss and the conclusive-reality object hav ing become of one taste, there are instances where the illusory body has not been purified in clear light It is important therefore to properly separate these out [297] If this is not done, then at lower levels that have not even reached mind isolation, the arising of the three empty states will be held as being actual mind isolation At the end of that process, the form that arises to the mind as a deity, very bright and vivid like the colors of a rainbow, will be held as the actual illusory body Then, through the meditation on the two meditative absorptions, that form is purified and vanishes to leave a state resembling the pristine sky, in which there is a firm absence of any manifest apprehending by a mental engagement that thinks, “this is it.” This is then held to be the actual clear light At the end of this process, the deity form that arises is held to be the actual stage of union If the above experiences are classified as being facsimiles of the actual four stages of mind isolation and so on, then without making a distinction between actual names and merely designated names, it is acceptable to use this terminology to describe them, but if they are regarded as being the actual four stages found in Five Stages, you will never unlock the main points of the root and explanatory tantras with the key of the ultimate core teachings that is Five Stages and the Com pendium o f Practice Therefore the root and explanatory tantras and the works of the master and his disciples are mostly centered on the main jewel-like disciple, and they teach the way for that disciple to complete the preceding path before entering the next In that sense, it is very important to know exacdy how these paths are developed in the mind of that disciple The four other kinds of disci ples,829who lack these capabilities, and especially disciples these days, should distinguish the way that earlier paths and facsimile paths are produced in 46 A Lamp to Illum inate the Five Stages meditation and not hold any of the insights produced by facsimiles of the five stages as being the same as the genuine paths of the five stages W hen you truly experience the signs of being very close to the realization of the actual clear light through continual development by way o f the two meditative absorptions, you will receive the initiations at midnight, the core teachings at dawn, and realize actual clear light Synonyms and verses o f praise Synonyms for the actual clear light in which innate bliss directly realizes the meaning of reality are found in Aryadevas Compendium o f Practice and include “clear light,” “the all-empty state,” and many others Also, in the Root Tantra second chapter, the six tathagatas talk of it in terms of bodhicitta.830 Another highest yoga tantra says: Beyond meditation on all the branches, all conceptualization abandoned, beyond the vowels and drops, this is the supreme mandala.831 And so on In summary: The difficult meanings of the terms found in the 84,000 catego ries of Dharma and these words that lack any certainty of charac teristics depend, it is said, upon the ultimate truth.832 [198] These passages are found in the Compendium o f Practice and are taught in order to eliminate the manifest apprehension that apprehends each term as possessing a separate meaning The second stage from Five Stages also says: In various sutras and tantras, the reality that is taught there is not spoken of as being other than this that abides as the all-empty state.833 This is saying that everything taught on the meaning of reality in the sutras and tantras is not being spoken of as something other than the all-empty state clear light The meaning of this statement is that although the exalted The Two M editative Absorptions 461 wisdom of great bliss is not being taught in those places, there is much that is taught on the meaning of reality Thus the clear light that is the innate bliss realizing reality is not being taught everywhere Nevertheless, teachings on the ultimate clear light as the object of that exalted wisdom and the clear light that is other than the great bliss that is the object-holding wisdom con sciousnesses cognizing reality are found in the sutras that teach the reality of the perfection of wisdom and in the lower classes of tantra The above state ment is based on this This kind of clear light is clear light in general, whereas great bliss realizing reality can be categorized as hidden clear light or ulti mate clear light Therefore, within the exalted wisdom that has become one taste with the meaning of reality, there are two kinds—that which is and that which is not the exalted wisdom of the completion stage W ith the instructions on the two stages of mastery and the two medita tive absorptions, which are the methods to achieve them, and with doubts concerning the synonyms of clear light all dispelled, the disciple offers up praise to the guru who has taught these and to the Dharma itself W ith a bright face and hands placed together, the disciple recites: Emaho Buddha! Emaho Dharma! This wondrous teaching of the Dharma, the perfect reality, the purified reality: I prostrate to the bodhicitta.834 This verse is found in the Guhyasamaja Root Tantra second chapter Utter ing “emaho” twice is to offer praise by way of the conventional truth and the ultimate truth in that order The second line is an offering of praise through expressing the two truths in union “Perfect reality” refers to the clear light, and “purified reality” refers to the reality of the completely pure deity form purified by the perfect reality Prostrations are made to the great Vajradhara who possesses such qualities This verse also illustrates what is to be done at the conclusion of the teachings on the other stages ... all-empty state,” and many others Also, in the Root Tantra second chapter, the six tathagatas talk of it in terms of bodhicitta.830 Another highest yoga tantra says: Beyond meditation on all the branches,... the main points of the root and explanatory tantras with the key of the ultimate core teachings that is Five Stages and the Com pendium o f Practice Therefore the root and explanatory tantras... order to eliminate the manifest apprehension that apprehends each term as possessing a separate meaning The second stage from Five Stages also says: In various sutras and tantras, the reality that