468 A Lamp to Illum inate the Five Stages It is good to explain this extensively because, “Those who understand the teachings will clearly understand this point.” ThtH evajra Tantra says: Having manifested a mandala of a violent circle of flames, Tilottama was summoned to grant the initiation of the vajra essence.850 This is the reference for asserting that the tenth-level bodhisattva is initiated by relying upon an actual consort It might be wondered: In the Perfection Vehicle it is stated that unless buddhahood is attained in the Akanistha form realm previously, the deeds of a buddha will be not shown subsequently in the desire realm It also states that the Sakya master attained enlightenment many eons previously Presen tation o f the Guhyasamaja Sadhana also says the bodhisattva who is one life away from enlightenment is shown entering the womb of his future mother in order to take a nirmanakaya because the sambhogakaya cannot act out the deeds of working for human beings.851 So, before he displayed deeds of the austerities and so on by the river as described in the Great Play Sutra , Sakyamuni was already a buddha In that case, what does it mean here to say that he became a buddha by the path of mantra at the conclusion of the path of the Perfection Vehicle after the deed of performing austerities by the river? This should be explained At the end of the Perfection Vehicle path, there are final-life bodhisattvas who first attain buddhahood in the realm of Akanistha in the form of a sambhogakaya, and final-life bodhisattvas who attain buddhahood in the desire realm in the form of a nirmanakaya For both of these occasions there can be an actual buddhahood in which the bodhisattva is aroused, as described earlier, as well as a display of the act of becoming a buddha Therefore, in the second of these, while there is no new attaining of buddhahood, such a display shows that, in general, the final-life bodhisattva on the tenth level of the Perfection Vehicle has to develop the path of mantra in his mind and then become a buddha In the commentary to the Vajra Garland it says that the buddhas man ifested a mandala for bodhisattva Siddhartha, performed the preparation ceremonies, and conferred the fourth initiation.852 Then, through the three samadhis, the hundred-family body-isolation practices, and the teachings on H ow the Path o f Tantra M u st Occur on the Sutra Path 469 the five stages, he became a buddha in the middle of the night and destroyed the maras The latter part of this assertion contradicts both Five Stages and the Compendium o f Practice The first parts also contradict the teachings, which only speak of the stages o f clear light and union The Go tradition maintains that traveling as far as the tenth level by way of the Perfection Vehicle path replaces the path from the generation stage up to mind isolation, because Five Stages says: By the initial yogic practices, [303] the eighth level is gained Achieving the three appearances, you abide in the tenth level.853 Therefore it is acceptable for the final-life bodhisattva of the Perfection Vehicle to begin meditation from the illusory-body practices At dusk he receives the secret initiation and actualizes the illusory body In the middle of the night he receives the third initiation and realizes the clear light, and at dawn he receives the fourth initiation and actualizes the no-further-practice stage of union In doing so he has become a buddha in just a single night This is the Go tradition Here the point of entrance at the end of the Perfection Vehicle into the path of mantra is on the tenth level More specifically, it is the final-life practitioner on the tenth level rather that the tenth-level practi tioner separated by one more life This can be understood by the fact that he attains buddhahood in a single night The way in which such a practitioner enters the path of mantra is not by first abandoning his own path but by adding the path of mantra to his own path As to what is to be added, the beginning of the generation stage up to mind isolation does not need to be developed, as asserted by followers of the Go tradition The third-stage illusory body also does not need to be added; this can be understood from the reasons why a practitioner who has entered mantra from the beginning has to develop illusory body before actualizing clear light.854The conferring of the third initiation implies the conferring of the fourth, and so these two initiations are to be added When the third initi ation is conferred, you first enter the three appearances followed by the clear light of the close-to-attainment appearance, where even the subtlest of dualistic appearance is purified and the actual innate bliss is realized It is true that this bodhisattva has directly realized reality from the first bodhisattva level, but the innate great bliss directly realizing emptiness has not been previously 470 A Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages experienced Thus, it is developed at this point Then, by meditating on this, at dawn he attains a form described as an illusion-like samadhi, which is illus trated by the similes of an illusion, such as the moon in water and so on This refers to the actual clear light of innate exalted wisdom and the completely pure illusory body of the no-further-practice stage of union created from the winds that act as the mount of that wisdom On the Perfection Vehicle you gain a form adorned by the marks from the very first bodhisattva level, and on the succeeding levels this is developed to greater degrees of perfection, until finally, through the Perfection tradition, you achieve the final marks on the path of practice However, highest yoga tantra says that a form body of no further practice will not be achieved from this alone Because of that, if you understand the prior development of the exclusive wisdom of clear light together with the winds, which is the foun dation of such a body, then you will understand well whether or not the illu sory body can be generated from the coarse body of ripened karma at the third stage and at the practice stage of union All this teaches that until you meditate upon the innate great bliss directly realizing reality, [304] you will not attain the dharmakaya of the complete abandonment of obscurations to omniscience, and until you develop the illusory body that is created from just wind and mind and purified by the actual clear light, you will not attain the form body of no further practice This is teaching that combining bliss and emptiness and attaining the illusory body are the ultimate essence of the highest tantra vehicle and that these two are the two exclusive causes o f the two bodies Here, the reliance on a consort during the third initiation is an alterna tive for engaging in the tantric activities The reasons why it is not necessary to engage in the three activities855 can be known from the reasons given pre viously At this level, not being previously conferred with the vase initiation and the secret initiation and only being conferred with the last two, and not previously developing the attainments of the third-stage illusory body and below but only developing the last two stages are to be regarded as excep tions here Therefore teachings on the sequence and fixed number of the generation and completion stages, and explanations of the necessity of having a basis of desire within the path of mantra, desire for the union of the two organs, and so on, are given for those who are definitively the type who enter the path of highest yoga from its beginning Moreover, teachings such as those that state that gods of the desire realm and so on not produce the kunda-like How the Path o f Tantra M ust Occur on the Sutra Path 471 bodhicitta, refer only to ordinary gods of the desire and form realms and not to the special form possessed by someone like a final-life bodhisattva Although we not assert definitive types of practitioners belonging to three ultimate vehicles, we can assert three definitive types temporarily In this way, even though a tenth-level practitioner within the Perfection Vehicle will finally enter highest yoga tantra, it is not contradictory to say that at lev els below the tenth, such a person is a definitive type of practitioner within his or her own path An arhat and a nonreturner are without attachment to food and clothing, but they have the desire that seeks out food and clothing Likewise, a tenth-level practitioner, for example, has extinguished all mental afflictions and therefore has extinguished all craving for the bliss of the union of the two organs Still, that does not conflict with generating the desire that seeks out that bliss If that were not the case, it would be impossi ble to refute the inference of attachment in those who speak, as is maintained by non-Buddhist outsiders who hold to the belief that if you have desire, you have attachment.856 Divisions o f Vinaya857 speaks of the separate causes for making suitable the organs of those with and without attachment to objects of desire Saying that those who have extinguished all craving for objects of desire are not suitable to take a consort are the words of someone who is not greatly learned in the Mantra and Perfection Vehicles The Light Everywhere eleventh level of the Perfection Vehicle practi tioner who attains buddhahood through mantra after traveling the path for three countless eons and the Light Everywhere level of a practitioner who entered the Mantra Vehicle from the beginning and attains buddhahood in one life have no differences at all in terms of superiority [30$] It is not that the two respective paths not have their differences, though, because there is a great difference in terms of the distance to the goal Also, the Perfection Vehicle must have other paths added to it Although the Perfection Vehicle practitioner relies finally upon the path of mantra, it is still not contradictory to say that such a person attains buddhahood by practicing on the path for three countless eons, because in order to actually attain the complete enlight enment, that path must be added on at the end o f three countless eons The Vajra Peak Tantra says: In the past, long ago, when he took hold of the bodhi mind and became a courageous bodhisattva endowed with method and wisdom, A Lamp to Illum inate the Five Stages there was great joy and wonder He endured countless hardships and, in keeping with the stages, made great attainments up to the initiations, and with great wisdom, he completed the levels Having received the clothing initiation, with great joy did this great mind dwell in Akanisdia.858 This is saying that he completed the path of practice, sat in front o f a bodhi tree, where he was roused by the buddhas, and after meditating on the five enlightenments, became a buddha The same work says: Through three coundess eons he practiced giving, gaining the good fruits o f giving, amassing wealth as vast as space, and was conferred the initiation of wealth Through three coundess eons, he practiced the austerities of other traditions, gaming the fruits of perseverance, and was conferred the initiation of vajra activity.859 Also: W ith the four secret initiations, he attained the complete enlightenment of a buddha Then he received the name initiation, and the sage became Vairocana.860 This is saying that by receiving the vajra mind, vajra dharma, vajra jewel, and vajra activity initiations, he gained the nature body, sambhogakaya, the marks and features, and the nirmanakaya, respectively, and became a bud dha This is the same person as the earlier bodhisattva, and these paths are explained as being accomplished over three coundess eons This is because the yoga tradition,861having delineated its own path and those of others, does not affix the above practices to the Perfection Vehicle path, and it is not clear that there is any separate way o f attaining buddhahood at the end o f its own path This is unlike the highest tantra tradition, which speaks of the two ways ... jewel, and vajra activity initiations, he gained the nature body, sambhogakaya, the marks and features, and the nirmanakaya, respectively, and became a bud dha This is the same person as the earlier... Five Stages and the Compendium o f Practice The first parts also contradict the teachings, which only speak of the stages o f clear light and union The Go tradition maintains that traveling as...H ow the Path o f Tantra M u st Occur on the Sutra Path 469 the five stages, he became a buddha in the middle of the night and destroyed the maras The latter part of this assertion contradicts