$2.8 A Lamp to Illum inate the Five Stages freedom, and Patsaps translation has the same The Chak translation has “The best o f those activities is the activities o f the bhusuku.”m This is a better translation, and so those other activities have not been taught The Later Tantra speaks o f universal activities and mantra activities.975 The first o f these is a general name for all three types o f activities The sec ond refers to the guarding o f mundane and supramundane pledges and vows as described in the seventeenth chapter Bodhisattva activities aris ing from attachment and divided into those with elaboration, those with out elaboration, and those completely without elaboration are found in the Compendium o f Practice The second-stage chapter from Five Stages976 and Illuminating Lamp also describes these three The prime object o f desire o f the activities is that o f the wisdom woman She is o f two types: an actual wisdom lady and an imagined exalted wisdom consort The first two types o f activities are assigned for engaging with the first o f these consorts, and the third type is assigned for activities with the second type The description in the Compendium o f Practice and the second stage from the Five Stages o f these three activities as those o f the completionstage practitioner is only for the purposes o f illustration Therefore each o f the three activities can be found in both stages As Illuminating Lamp on the tenth chapter says: Dwelling in the supreme practice or in the ordinary, if the yogi who has developed insight into the three activities, such as those with elaboration, does not gain siddhi, then at that time he should invoke the essence with regard to the deity.977 This is saying that the activities of each stage are for accomplishing the appro priate siddhis of each stage, and if they are unsuccessful, invoke the essence of each stage Illuminating Lamp on chapter of the tantra speaks of general activities as those with elaboration, hidden activities as those without elab oration, and ultimate activities as those completely without elaboration.978 This is based on the meditative mind that is engaged in these activities It is not asserting that the other activities are not included in “general activi ties,” because in the commentary to chapter 1$ it speaks of the unelaborated activities of the five tathagatas of the generation stage.979 [342.] In terms of the meditative mind, completely unelaborated activities cannot be found in the generation stage, but deeds and so on completely without elaboration can be Generally, there are two types o f activities performed when taking attach- Highest Yoga Tantra Activities 529 menc to objects o f desire as the path: those during the initiations that turn practitioners into suitable vessels for meditating on the two stages and, hav ing become a suitable vessel, those performed while meditating on the path The latter is o f two types: activities designed to develop paths as yet undevel oped and activities designed to enhance paths already developed The first o f these are practiced from the initial meditations on the path until the stage o f no further practice The Condensed Sadhana says that having entered the generation stage, you should practice in this way: Having abandoned completely the five sensual objects and yet not tormented by austerities, follow the yoga tantras, and through bliss, accomplish enlightenment.980 On the second type, Samayavajra speaks o f only two occasions for enhance ment practices: when attaining the ordinary siddhis, having already perfected the coarse and subde generation stages, and when accomplishing the supreme siddhi, having accomplished the three isolations and the completion-stage two truths.981Therefore he speaks o f carrying out activities at these two times Yosa, relying on the passage beginning “Although knowing the divisions of the intrinsic natures,”982posits two occasions on the completion stage for the practice o f activities— from the attainment o f the illusory body and from the attainment o f the practice stage o f union—and asserts generally that there are three types o f activities Our own position is that over the two stages, there are four occasions for practicing the enhancing activities Those for the generation stage are as described earlier On the completion stage the necessity o f practicing activi ties in order to advance from the attainment o f mind isolation to that o f illu sory body has already been established Having attained the illusory body, the necessity o f practicing activities as a way to achieve and to eliminate, in terms o f achieving the practice stage o f union and eliminating afflictions, is found in the commentary to the sixteenth chapter in the section describing the benefits o f practicing the unelaborated activities: “Exalted wisdom o f the three vajras arises.” This means that by the body vajra and so on, the vajra body and so on will be created “Buddha enlightenment” refers to the ultimate truth “Engag ing” in that means attaining it This achieves the attainment o f the exalted-wisdom body made pure by clear light.983 530 A Lam p to Illum inate the Five Stages This refers to the benefits o f attaining the exalted-wisdom body purified by the clear light Once the stage o f union has been attained, the illusory body is no longer purified by the clear light The need for activities practiced from the attainment of the practice stage of union can be understood from Five Stages and the citation from Nágabodhi quoted earlier It can also be understood from the Compendium o f Practices statement that the practitioner of activities has perceived the con ventional truth, [343] because this statement can be applied to the practi tioner as the basis of the conventional-truth illusory body of both the third and fifth stages Furthermore, the Compendium o f Practice continues: W ithout the activities of special behavior,984the imprints o f afflic tions from time without beginning will not be eliminated.985 The actual imprints o f afflictions are the obscurations to omniscience, and these cannot be eliminated without the activities o f special behavior For eliminating them in this life also, activities are indispensable The speedy elimination o f the seeds o f the afflictions, which are labeled as “imprints,” also depends upon the activities Therefore it can be understood that to attain the practice and no-further-practice stages o f union, the activities are necessary If the practice o f bringing attachment for objects o f desire into the path begins from the time o f receiving initiation, the main features o f the three activities are all covered by that practice So what is the point o f separately engaging in activities? Enhancement activities on the completion stage are for attaining enlightenment in that very life The second stage from Five Stages says: Although knowing the divisions o f the intrinsic natures and relying upon the fourth reality, those who not train in the three aspects will not swiftly attain the results Just as fire dwells in the wood but until the rubbing does not appear, likewise, without training in enlightenment, it will not appear in this life.986 The Compendium o f Practice and Illuminating Lamp also say that by prac ticing activities, the supreme siddhi will be gained in this life.987 The way Highest Yoga Tantra Activities 531 this is accomplished is that when you have the ability to generate the three exalted wisdoms though the force o f having perfected wind yoga, if you not have the assistance o f an external consort, the complete and definitive exalted wisdom o f mind isolation cannot be generated Relying on a consort for this reason has been explained previously In this way, having gathered the winds and ignited the candáll by pene trating the vital points o f the inner body, the ability to melt the bodhicitta is perfected Within such an achievement it is clear that there is still room for moving to a greater understanding o f reality by attaining special levels in the above practices through the use o f a consort Therefore, when the ability to penetrate the vital points o f the inner body has been perfected, combin ing that with making use o f the objects o f desire o f a consort, together with all the branch practices, and then meditating on reality is what it means to practice the activities as a completion-stage enhancement Just as many kinds o f bliss arise from penetrating the vital points o f the cakras within, similarly, various features o f bliss are created within the yogi from the nature, num ber, movement, and differing abilities o f the consorts And at that time you should know that there are many ways in which the insights o f this bliss med itating on emptiness can become special If the ordinary siddhis will not be attained without practicing these activ ities, [344] this is in conflict with the three lower tantras, which state that there are coundess siddhis to be attained ff om practicing the paths of these lower tantras Also, although they are practiced for the attainment of ordi nary siddhis, how these activities assist the attainment of these siddhis? Although it is not necessary to meditate on emptiness in order to achieve many of the minor siddhis, meditation on emptiness is taught for the achieve ment of many special siddhis found in the lower tantras Some say that such a meditation is indispensable, while others say that with such an understand ing, the achievement of siddhis will be easier Concerning the achievement o f the ordinary siddhis by the highest yoga generation-stage practitioner, there are many not achieved by the lower tan tras For the ultimate attainment o f ordinary siddhis, and for many other siddhis, the activities are a method to achieve them easily and quickly For example, it is taught that those o f the three faculty levels will attain them within seven days, half a month, and one or one and a half months, respec tively This is because when the generation stage has been perfected, you will have gained the signs o f touching and seeing, and by the meditation o f the syllable phat at the secret-area opening, the ability to halt the emission o f $32 A Lamp to Illum inate the Five Stages bodhicitta will have been developed Bliss will be generated from union with a consort, and with that bliss meditating on emptiness a special power is cre ated and siddhis will be easily achieved The existence of such a bliss-andemptiness meditation on the generation stage has been explained previously It is possible for some practitioners to bring the winds into the dhutl when they have completed the subtle generation stage, and if they under stand the points of turning union with an external consort into pranayama, they will develop the ability to generate the four joys of dissolving the winds in the dhuti through such a practice When this happens, these two develop ments occur during the generation stage, but in terms of the path they must belong to the completion stage This is like Buddhasrijnanas Oral Teachings o f M anjuiri explaining that the innate wisdom that arises in a similar way during initiations, before meditating on the path has begun, is the comple tion stage This practicing of activities during the generation stage in order to develop the ordinary siddhis is not the practice of the jewel-like practitioner but is for those of inferior faculties, such as the white lotus-like practitioners, whose minds have been seduced by the ordinary siddhis Definitions o f the three types o f activity It is taught that there are three types of enlightenment activities arising from attachment So in which tantras are these activities taught, and what are the essential characteristics of each? The Compendium o f Practice states that “the extensive dralim of all the tathagatas actually taught in the section on the encouragement989 of the tathagatas and Vajradhara is activity with elabora tion O ut of necessity sporting with a few consorts rather than with an allpervasive host of consorts is activity without elaboration Abandoning all social association, living off the food of meditative absorption alone, and practicing via union with a wisdom consort is activity completely without elaboration.” [345] It also says that in the same way that wood, the palm leaf, and cotton are no different insofar as all three turn to ash when burned, so all three activities produce the state of Vajradhara The text speaks of the divi sions in terms of great, intermediate, and lesser and o f training in the three activities in keeping with your age.990The Illusory Samvara Tantra speaks of the encouragement from the five buddha families that tame living beings.991 This is the first encouragement It also speaks of the encouragement from Vajrasattva that tames living beings This is the second encouragement On ... which tantras are these activities taught, and what are the essential characteristics of each? The Compendium o f Practice states that ? ?the extensive dralim of all the tathagatas actually taught... enlightenment.980 On the second type, Samayavajra speaks o f only two occasions for enhance ment practices: when attaining the ordinary siddhis, having already perfected the coarse and subde generation stages, ... in the section on the encouragement989 of the tathagatas and Vajradhara is activity with elabora tion O ut of necessity sporting with a few consorts rather than with an allpervasive host of consorts