General Presentation o f A ctivities 513 the practice is carried out For the consort too there are many requirements: a constraint o f the ten nonvirtuous activities, a mind purified by initiation while guardingproperly the vows and pledges, being trained in the samadhis o f the generation stage, and being skilled in the works on the arts o f desire Concerning the second feature—attachment being transformed into something that quickly creates the qualities of the higher paths—it is not enough just to take the mind of bliss induced by that attachment, place it in nonconceptuality, and label it as meditation on emptiness The mind of great bliss is meditatively placed on the view o f the well-ascertained mean ing of no-self, and through the meditations of innate exalted wisdom, enlightenment will quickly be granted It is also not sufficient to take the bodhicitta melted by relying on a consort and prevent its emission by some other method Through that consort union, it is necessary to first bring the winds of the left and right channels into the dhutl and from their disso lution to produce the innate mind Therefore, as a method to develop the innate bliss, the melted kunda-like bodhicitta has to be held by the dissolved winds [339] Making this kind o f attachment the path does not involve meditation on the ugly with a path whose mode o f apprehension directly conflicts with attachment, but it will finally put an end to attachment, because it is a path that subscribes to the valid cognition that directly conflicts with the root cause o f attachment N ot uniting with the emptiness that is the emptiness as the nature o f everything in samsara and beyond but merely engaging with the bliss o f the nonemission o f bodhicitta from the union o f the two organs does no damage at all to the root o f samsara, which is the ignorance apprehend ing inherent existence Therefore, as much as you indulge in that bliss, the craving induced by that apprehension o f an inherent existence will continue to increase, and you will be like someone with the craving o f thirst who sees a mirage as water and runs toward it Such a practice is therefore despised, whereas the ability to unite bliss and emptiness as explained above has been praised as being a quick path This is because without such a method you will not quickly attain buddhahood to fulfill the hopes o f the three worlds Saraha says: Those not knowing the nature o f all things who at all times are engaged in great bliss are like the thirsty chasing a mirage Even if they are dying o f thirst, 524 A Lamp to Illum inate the Five Stages will they find water from the sky? If those who sport in the bliss that dwells between the vajra and the lotus are unable to make use o f it, how will they fulfill the hopes o f the three worlds?963 A tantra cited in Explanation o f the Establishment o f Reality says: With examination thorough and proper, should the wise proceed; whereas entering into fires, will not approach a sixteenth o f that Knowing things in such a way, those who rely upon the goddess, will find attainment Other than that, they fall to the great hell.964 The Guhyasiddhi also says: The precious tattva , o f a nature pure, with all dualism965 abandoned: If this good method is abandoned, those who practice otherwise, with contradictory samaya and so on, will be boiled in the wailing hell and so on Just as in a raging fire grass and wood becomes ash and shoots and so on not appear, likewise, when tattva is not there, they will be greatly surprised when after death they fall to hell, to stay for as long as the sky remains.966 These verses are saying that the wise should proceed having conducted a thor ough examination, and that if you have not been wise in properly determin ing the meaning o f reality, which is the abandonment o f all elaboration, there will be grave consequences for taking, generally or specifically, attachment to General Presentation o f Activities 525 objects of desire as the path Nevertheless, ascertainment of the meaning of the profound definitive scripture that comes from training thoroughly in the subtle paths of reasoning of Nagarjuna and so on is very rare [340] Conse quently, those claiming to be tantric practitioners in this area who possess a complete presentation on this topic are very few The discerning should fol- W ith mind placed into the nature of enlightenment, and with delight in the object of bliss, accomplishment will be found in this life By nature, all of this is pure; ordinary objects have no self and are like illusions, like optical illusions and apparitions, freed from the designations of improper conceptualization W hen those great beings with vast thoughts and nonapprehending minds understand this completely, at that time the innate wisdom shines and these objects have no power to bind.967 These verses are saying that the innate exalted wisdom comes about from the union of bliss and emptiness by way of the melted bliss arising from engaging in objects of desire, and from the faultless ascertainment of the two truths: There is not even a particle of inherent existence found in any phenomenon anywhere, and yet all activity is valid in a manner resembling dreams and illusions This union will outshine those very objects that bring great fear to those who not possess skillful means Similarly, with a subtle, sharp, but broad intellect, you should analyze constantly the methods to develop the innate exalted wisdom of bliss and emptiness united 35 Highest Yoga T antra Activities Specificpresentation o f highest yoga tantra activities H o w the divisions are described in the texts D efinitions o f the three types o f activity Rituals for train in g in the activities How the divisions are described in the texts The fifth chapter o f the ro o t text a nd the seventh chapter in the section on the tid e speak o f “suprem e universal activities” and “suprem e m a n tra activi ties,” respectively.968 Illum inating Lamp explains these as excellent activities th a t accom plish all the needs o f self and others and as th e three activities o f those w ho recite mantras.969 The first o f these is also a generic nam e for the three types o f activities T he n in th chapter speaks o f bodhisattva activi ties an d tathagata activities.970 Illum inating Lamp describes the first as vari ous activities th a t “fulfill the needs o f sentient beings, regardless o f w hether the activities defy worldly convention, and are perform ed by tantric p racti tioners according to their abilities.” The second is described as th e activities o f th e jewel-like practition er o f ta n tra w ho, “having perceived the com ple tio n stage, engages in yogas outside o f m e ditation th a t will change his whole being in this life.”971 The first o f these describes bodhisattva activities in gen eral [341] For the second, the description o f the m as com pletion-stage activ ities is only for purposes o f illustration, and the th in k in g b eh in d m entioning the jewel-like p ractitio n er is th a t such a person is the m ain practitio n er o f these activities Therefore it refers to all special activities th a t engage in the objects o f desire fo und in highest yoga tantra The sixteenth chapter speaks o f “the activities o f taking o n w isdom behav ior.”972 Illum inating Lamp describes this as practitioner and co n so rt carrying o u t activities having changed costum e and w earing masks o f deities.973 C o m m e n tary to che sixteenth chapter describes the suprem e o f the three activi ties in the tw o older translations as being the activities o f enjoym ents and ...524 A Lamp to Illum inate the Five Stages will they find water from the sky? If those who sport in the bliss that dwells between the vajra and the lotus are unable to make use o f it, how will they... precious tattva , o f a nature pure, with all dualism965 abandoned: If this good method is abandoned, those who practice otherwise, with contradictory samaya and so on, will be boiled in the wailing... ing the meaning o f reality, which is the abandonment o f all elaboration, there will be grave consequences for taking, generally or specifically, attachment to General Presentation o f Activities