16 A Lam p to Illum inate the Five Stages of a drop is explained in Illum inating Lamp on the sixth chapter as follows: While method and wisdom are in union, the pranayama wind dwelling in the upper part of the body is induced by the joy of union and melted by the fire of desire to become a drop.518 [164] In all translations o f this Later Tantra passage as cited in Illum inating Lamp on the sixth chapter, in both later translations o f the same passage cited in the commentary to the twelfth chapter, and in the Chak transla tions o f Five Stages and Compendium o f Practice, the phrase “at the nose-tip o f the lotus” appears In the revised old translation o f the commentary to the twelfth chapter, in the Later Tantra, Five Stages, and the Compendium o f Practice as translated by the great Rinchen Sangpo, however, there is no “lotus.”519 It is clear that both versions appear in the Indian scriptures The Compendium o f Practice says, however, that the vajra repetition o f the three syllables applied to the winds o f the four mandalas and practiced at the upper nose-tip is clearly taught by the six lines beginning “Breath, the nature o f five wisdoms.”520 Therefore the no-lotus version is evidently more correct Krsnacarya talks o f the “lotus nose-tip o f the face,” but that does not fit If these lines are applied to the present discussion o f vajra repetition prac ticed at the nose-tip o f the face, then as the Compendium o f Practice states, the winds are the four winds with the pervading wind omitted The “nosetip” is the upper opening o f the nostrils, and “emerge as a spherical form” refers to the state o f those winds when one wind is flowing as the main wind while the other three are included within it Ekadaiasvaras Secret Ambrosia says that these winds become those entering, abiding, and rising and that this is the “sphere.” Also, they arise in the form o f the three syllables.521 Bhavyaklrti says that the instruction to meditate upon the nose-tip o f the lotus is just an illustration and that meditation at the tip o f the vajra is also being taught This is the tradition o f males and females individually medi tating on their own individual tips Here, meditation is on both your own and the consort s tips because meditation on individual tips has already been taught at the subtle generation stage and in the body-isolation practice Illu minating Lamp on the sixth chapter states that these lines explain medita tion practice on the subtle drop at the lower gateway for the generation-stage practitioner This statement is being made on the basis o f a similarity, but their actual significance is for the completion-stage practitioner The meditation on both tips is found in the Vajra Garland: Descending everywhere from channels, bodhicitta is made firm Prdnaydma M editations 169 At the tips of vajra and lotus, in the instant of the winds being held, by application of syllables on the palate and application of the ksmam mantra, the supreme yoga will be achieved.522 The meaning of this is that the supreme yoga is achieved through the melted bodhicitta descending from the channels, the method for which will be explained later, and stabilizing it at the two tips On the method to stabi lize the bodhicitta, Alamkakalasas commentary describes “palate” as a “long channel in the middle of a dharma-source,” and the “application of being struck523against it is to constrain it tightly.” The ksmam is to be meditated on at the tip of the vajra “In the instant of the winds being held” is explained as referring to the life-sustaining wind, and in that instant, the stability will be achieved by the supreme yoga meditating upon the reality of this wind.” [165] In keeping with this explanation, we get the line “by application of striking against the palate.” Other translations have “held by the winds,” which is better “By application of syllables on the palate and application of thepuksim mantra” is not a good translation “Holding at the tip of the vajra” here means holding at the tip of the lotus also, because it occurs where the two channels meet The Root Tantra says: Recitation by enjoying all desires and not weakening the branches of mantra.524 Therefore, at this point too, it is not contradictory for some yogis with very special qualities to rely upon a karma consort This is a meditation that also relies upon a wisdom consort If you know how to transfer these Illuminating Lamp teachings into instructions for practice on the five stages, it is clearly the supreme pranayama Illum inating Lamp says, “They are breaths traveling upward, o f five colors.”525 The Patsap translation has “those breaths” and is a better translation There fore those winds that were described above as the breaths o f the wisdoms and elements travel upward to the gateways o f the senses, are “o f five colors,” and possess the entities o f the five tathagatas Therefore they are “jewels.” In the old translationsprana means “life” and dyama occurs as “endeavor” and “lengthening.” On this Patsap says, “Because it extends and expands, it is called prdnaydma.” This is a good translation Its meaning is that the 270 A Lam p to Illum inate the Five Stages wind that lengthens prana, or life, is spoken of as prdnaydma Aydma can be rendered as “endeavor,” “stop,” or “lengthen,” and here it refers to the last of these Therefore uprana and ayama”526is a mistaken rendering, because if this phrase were joining two individual terms, it would be in the plural This is the assertion of Tibetan scholars The Kalacakra tradition uses the second interpretation and explained prdnaydma as “stoppingprana.” The Tibetan word “endeavor” {rtsol ba) does not equate with either “stop” or “lengthen,” but the Sanskrit equivalent {aydma) carries both meanings Similarly, there is no contradiction in that “withdrawal” {sdud) from the Tibetan render ing “individual withdrawal” {so sor sdud) can be equated with “taking,” but “individual” {so so) does not equate with “repeated” as it does in the Sanskrit equivalent {prati inpratydhdra) Because those winds traveling through the upper gateways as the enti ties of entering, abiding, and rising are naturally recited day and night, this is “natural mantra.” The commentary on this from the two old trans lations runs: because they are recited day and night “Natural mantra visual ized at the heart” means visualized in the lotus o f the heart The two new translations, however, have “Because they are recited day and night, this is a natural mantra.” This is a better translation The word “because” indicates a reason, but it is not indicating a reason for the preced ing statement of wind being pranayama or for any other statement [166] Therefore it must be affixed to “natural mantra.” Also, Illum inating Lamp on the eleventh chapter says: “Natural mantra” refers to the three syllables having the nature of entering, and so on.527 Naropas commentary on the Later Tantra has: “Prana and aydmal refers to visualizing the short vowel a on the lotus of the heart.528 But there is nothing in Naropas commentary on the explanation of prana yama, the day and night recitation of the winds entering, and so on, or on “natural mantra,” as one finds in Illuminating Lamp This must be a Prdndydma M editations 171 corruption o f the text or a translation error, because in other sections on the six-branch yoga, the text is very similar to that found in Illum inating Lamp The passage describing visualizing the short vowel a at the heart must either be found in some Indian editions o f Illum inating Lamp or is supplement ing the position o f the commentary, because Illuminating Lamp describes the drop as the indestructible, and this is in keeping with a citation in the Compendium o f Practice that describes the short vowel a o f the indestruc tible drop at the heart On the line “the prdna placed as the drop,” Illuminating Lamp only says, “placed within the indestructible.”529 The meaning o f this line is as follows: “Drop” refers to the indestructible to be visualized at the heart, “prdna”means “winds,” and “placed as” means “placed within the indestructible.” Therefore the winds are gathered in the indestructible drop This describes the func tions o f the winds after having meditated on the three types o f prânàyàma On this point Ekâdasasvaras Secret Ambrosia says that natural mantra is the three syllables “Visualized at the heart”530 means meditating that these three dissolve into the winds entering, abiding, and rising, and that these three then dissolve into the life-sustaining wind The meditation on the lifesustaining wind dissolving into the indestructible drop is thus explained as being the meaning o f “the prdna placed as the drop.” Munisrlbhadra says: The natural mantra is meditated on at the heart where the syl lable bum is visualized From the hum comes an “indestructible nada” which is a subtle vowel a in the form o f a drop The mind is placed as a drop, which means that the mind is applied to that and becomes the object o f meditation.531 Light o f the Moon says : At the heart the natural mantra, the samâdhi sattva , is visualized Above its drop, your natural mind is in the aspect o f a nada squiggle Think on this as the entity o f mind.532 Laksmï says that within the dhütl at the center o f the lotus o f the heart, you visualize the drop on the syllable hum , which is the thunder-like sound o f the natural mantra He also says that to place the prdna there is to place the con sciousness, since it rides on the mount o f the winds This point is explained 172 A Lam p to Illum inate the Five Stages differently in other traditions, and even in this tradition it is acceptable here to have hum at the heart and to meditate on the short a, [167] but the mean ing of “natural mantra,” as taught here, is not as is described by these com mentators To ascribe upranan to mind and to place it within the drop above the syllable is not the meaning of “the prdna placed as the drop,” because at this point the common purpose of all three kinds of pranayama meditation is to gather the other winds into the indestructible drop at the heart, where they will dissolve and invoke the four empty states It could be thought that this is the case for two of the three types of pranayama, but in the meditation on the lower-gateway pranayama, it was explained previously that the bodhicitta is placed and held at the tip of the organ, and so the four empty states that arise from the dissolution process at the heart will not be created This is true This is a practice performed initially until the ability to hold the drop at the tip of the secret place is accomplished After that, however, there are exclusive instructions on how union with the two types of consort becomes a method for gathering the winds into the heart, and so there is no fault here The Root Tantra talks of the jewels of five colors, the size of a mustard seed, meditated upon at the tip of the nose To explain this, the Vajra Garland describes the three “nose-tips” and the three drops to be meditated upon at those places: Characteristics of the three nose-tips with the names of secret, heart, and face .533 Also: Drops of wind, mantra, and substance, the three peerless drops.534 Meditation on the substance drop in the secret-area tip was described by a previous Vajra Garland citation Meditation on the mantra at the heart tip is described: In the center of the lotus at the heart, the syllable hum is placed.535 This continues until “This is described as the mantra drop.” Meditation on the wind drop at the tip of the nose is described: ...Prdnaydma M editations 169 At the tips of vajra and lotus, in the instant of the winds being held, by application of syllables on the palate and application of the ksmam mantra, the supreme yoga... stabilizing it at the two tips On the method to stabi lize the bodhicitta, Alamkakalasas commentary describes “palate” as a “long channel in the middle of a dharma-source,” and the “application of being... striking against the palate.” Other translations have “held by the winds,” which is better “By application of syllables on the palate and application of thepuksim mantra” is not a good translation