6 o8 A Lamp to Illum inate the Five Stages five stages (rim pa lnga,pañcakrama) A way of dividing the completion stage of tantra into substages body and speech isolation: When using the set of five, body isolation and speech isolation are grouped together Speech isolation includes vajra repetition (rdo rjezlaspa, vajrajdpa) and pránáyáma (srogrtsol) mind isolation' Also known asfocus on the mind [sems la dmigs pa) illusory body: Also known as selfconsecration (bdag la byin brlabs, svddhisthdna), where “self” refers to the subtle wind imputed as self and “consecrate” means to transform (Phabongkha, Compilation o f Notes, 126) actual clear light: Also known as mastery [mngon par byang chubyabhisambodhi) union\ Includes the practice and no-further-practice stages of union four branches (yan lagbzhi) A categorization of the developments on the paths of the generation and completion stages: Approach (bsnyen), close accom plishment {nyer grub), accomplishment (sgrub pa), great accomplishment {sgrub chen) Each set of four occurs on both stages, four empty states (stong bzhi) These are names given to the arising of the three appearances and the clear light The empty state (stong pa), the very empty state {shin tu stong pa), the gready empty state {stongpa chen po), and the all-empty state, or clear light {thams cad stong pa) In some traditions they equate to the four joys, four feats {las bzhi) Pacification, increase, power, and wrathfulness These are powers gained through tantric practice and are used to remove obstacles and hindrances for self and others, four joys {dgaba bzhi).These are experienced when the melted bodhicitta passes through the four main cakras When descending they are experienced as described below When ascending, the order of the cakras is reversed joy: Experienced at the cakra of great bliss at the crown supremejoy: Experienced at the cakra of enjoyment at the throat joy o f absence: Experienced at the dharma cakra at the heart innatejoy: Experienced at the emanation cakra at the navel four modes {tshul bzhi) Often coupled with the six sides, these are four partic ular modes, or types, of tantric text The work is said to be sealed by these four modes and cannot be fully understood without their recognition The four are open mode, general or shared mode, hidden or exclusive mode, and ultimate mode, gradual method See all-at-once method, gradual method, great bliss Although bliss can occur on the sutra path, and even in the basic state before entering the path, this is not great bliss, which has to be caused by bringing the winds in the central channel Great bliss is brought to focus on emptiness to form the “union of bliss and emptiness.” It is also known as innate bliss Glossary 609 held-as-a-whole and subsequent dissolutions {rilpor \dzin pa, rjes gzhig) Two dissolution processes beginning from the extremities and proceeding toward the heart; likened to vapor evaporating on a mirror “Whole” is glossed as being the body; “held” means being held by the emptiness, or clear light, into which the body dissolves Subsequent dissolution is dissolution in which the outer environment dissolves first, followed by the subsequent dissolution of the body holding to true existence (bden dzin) The fundamental ignorance that acts as a cause for the continuation of the cycle of suffering and whose characteris tic is the mistaken perception that the phenomenon held by the conscious ness exists in its own right, from its own side, without depending on other factors illusory body (sgyu lus, mdydkdya) Third of the five stages; a form created during completion-stage practices that is composed of the subtle winds and able to separate itself out from the ordinary body In the aspect of the deity, it is the substantial cause for the resultant form body at the enlightened stage, illustrative clear light (