30 H ow the Path o f T antra M ust Occur on the Sutra Path How this stage occurs at the end ofother paths Ac the end o f its teachings on clear light, [199] the Compendium o f Practice states: Following these stages, the Bhagavan, the glorious Sakyamuni, was aroused by the sound o f all the tathagacas snapping their fin gers He arose from his unmoving samadhi, and sitting under a bodhi tree, he realized the clear light in the middle of the night He then rose from the illusion-like samadhi and taught living beings From that time, and for as long as the sacred Dharma lasts, it will be transmitted from master to master by word of mouth.835 The Chak translation has “Rising by the illusion-like samadhi, he turned the wheel of Dharma for chose who were disciples.” The phrase “these stages” encompasses the conferring of initiations in the middle of the night followed by the instructions at dawn as taught in the Compendium o f Practice Even if this phrase is confusedly applied to “He will grant the conferment of the wis dom and exalted wisdom initiations,” which is the line immediately preced ing, the meaning is the same The second stage from Five Stages also states: Thus from the pure clear light come the three exalted wisdoms, and possessing the thirty-two marks endowed with the eighty beautiful features with the supreme o f every characteristic, the omniscient one arose.836 This teaches the way to become a buddha through the path of highest mantra itself The verses continue: 464 A Lamp to Illum inate the Five Stages As it is said in the Great Play Sutra, Sakyamuni, the Tathagata, having vowed to attain enlightenment, thought that by the great emptiness he would become a buddha, and so by the banks of the Nairarijana River, he sat in unmoving samadhi At that time the conquerors in the vajra of space gathered like sesame in a sesame pod,837 snapped their fingers at the son of the conquerors, and called to him with a single voice: “This meditative absorption is not pure; through it you will not attain the ultimate Concentrate on the clear light, which is supreme and like space “Having reached the level of clear light, you will gain the form o f joy At that time, with a form that is a vajra of joy, you will become the most powerful o f all.” Then, on hearing these sounds he left the unmoving samadhi, and in the middle of the night, the bodhisattva focused on the reality.838 Also, further on: The wonderful all-empty state, a great wisdom bright and clear, by the kindness of the gurus, he clearly sees.839 Also: By the vajra-like samadhi at the time that the dawn broke, How the Path o f Tantra M ust Occur on the Sutra Path 465 like the moon in water, a mirage, and so on, he was adorned with illusion-like qualities Abiding in the essence of enlightenment, he destroyed the hindering maras The £akya master, having gained the peerless and perfect wisdom, then taught it here [300] to protect and benefit living beings.840 This teaches how enlightenment is attained by the path of highest mantra at the end of the Great Vehicle path of perfection The Chak translation has “From that pure clear light” and “Similarly, the Great Vehicle sutras too ” The second of these is particularly good because it teaches that just as enlight enment is attained by your own path following the processes of clear light and stage of union, similarly, at the end of other paths too, you become a buddha by this same method This is the meaning of the following verses It is not just a scriptural reference for the previous lines The six lines begin ning “Sakyamuni, the Tathagata” explain how Sakyamuni vowed to become a buddha by the “great emptiness,” and how by the banks of the Nairanjana River, he sat in the unmoving samadhi It is the events up to this point that are described in the Great Play Sutra The remaining lines beginning “At that time the conquerors ” are not being taught as coming from this sutra “Great emptiness” is described in some of the commentaries to Five Stages as meaning the close-to-attainment appearance, but that sutra speaks of him dwelling in the samadhi of the fourth absorption as pervasive as space, and so it is better to ascribe it to this state This absorption is also called the unmov ing samadhi The Compendium o f Practice speaks of entreating Sakyamuni, but here the four lines beginning “At that time” explain that the arousing occurred while he was by the side of a river The Compendium o f Reality Tantra only speaks of the tathagatas calling to the bodhisattva Siddhartha, who was sit ting in front of a bodhi tree and is not clear on whether that was in the realm of Akanistha (“None Higher”) or the desire realm The Vajra Peak Tantra explains it as being in the realm of Akanistha Richly Adorned.841 The way he was aroused is taught by the four lines beginning “This meditative absorp tion is not pure,” which say that this particular meditative absorption cannot completely purify all obscurations and therefore will not result in highest state You should therefore actualize the clear light 466 A Lamp to Illum inate the Five Stages The next four lines beginning “Having reached the level of clear light” are urging him to actualize the state of Vajradhara, the stage of union with its eight mighty qualities.842 The manner in which this is done is much clearer in the Chak translation O n the words used to entreat him, the Compen dium o f Reality Tantra only says, “W ithout knowing the reality of all the tathagatas, you think you will become a buddha through austere prac tices?”843 The way he is entreated and the way he realized his goal after the arousing as described here is not found in the Compendium o f Reality Tantra or the Vajra Peak Tantra, and so it must have been taken from another high est yoga tantra The four lines beginning “Then, on hearing these sounds” and, from the Compendium o f Practice, the part beginning “He rose from his unmoving samadhi” up to “ in the middle of the night” have to be identical in mean ing Therefore he was aroused while sitting by a river He rose from his med itation and went to sit in front of a bodhi tree [301] In the middle of the night he relied upon a consort, was initiated, and actualized the clear light The four lines beginning “The wonderful all-empty state” clarify the phrase “focused on the reality.” The four lines beginning “By the vajra-like samadhi” teach that at dawn he gained the form of the no-further-practice stage of union The two lines beginning “Abiding in the essence ” teach his destroy ing of the maras The four lines beginning “The Sakya m aster ” teach how, having attained his goal, he taught the same to others Analysis o f Karma also says: For eons beyond measure, giving away his head, his wealth, and so on did not bring him the fruit of enlightenment because the appearances were not purified Likewise, for eons beyond measure, the practice of morality, patience, and so o n ,844 The verse continues in the manner o f the first verse Then: For eons beyond measure, the samadhi of the mantra body ,845 This also continues as before Then: How the Path o f Tantra M ust Occur on the Sutra Path 467 W ith the three appearances purified, without doubt, omniscience is gained.846 The first two verses are speaking of the Perfection Vehicle The next verse is speaking of the generation stage alone and the path of the three lower tantras The teaching is that these cannot purify the three appearances, and so the highest enlightenment is not attained The thinking behind this teaching is that during the times of the three appearances, mistaken dualistic appear ances exist, and they cannot be totally eradicated until the imprints of dual istic appearances are completely purified In order to achieve purification by eradicating them totally, meditation is necessary with the realization of the meaning of reality by innate bliss, and this is not found anywhere except in the highest vehicle Drop o f Freedom also states: For countless eons did he accumulate merit but did not realize this At Nairañjaná, while in samadhi on nothingness, all the sugatas turned him from that unimpeded mind and taught him the stainless profundity and clarity, pure like the core of the sky In the middle of the night, he meditated on that, as if in a faint,847 and at dawn, in an instant, he had perfect realization.848 And so on This is similar to the previous two citations “Nothingness” refers to an “unimpeded” emptiness The commentary to this work speaks of being blessed by the accompanying master and attaining the true reality as if faint ing The “master” is explained as being the consort Sheaves o f Instructions says: “For die ultimate also, you definitely rely on this method.” I will explain For example, having received the wisdom initiation given by the perfect buddhas abiding in the skies above, the Sákya mas ter relied upon it in order to attain enlightenment while sitting in front of a bodhi tree Also, the Bhagavan, by this alone, [301] was initiated into the vajra essence by Tilottamá.849 ... Reality Tantra only speaks of the tathagatas calling to the bodhisattva Siddhartha, who was sit ting in front of a bodhi tree and is not clear on whether that was in the realm of Akanistha (“None...464 A Lamp to Illum inate the Five Stages As it is said in the Great Play Sutra, Sakyamuni, the Tathagata, having vowed to attain enlightenment, thought that by the great emptiness he... become a buddha, and so by the banks of the Nairarijana River, he sat in unmoving samadhi At that time the conquerors in the vajra of space gathered like sesame in a sesame pod,837 snapped their