ii A Lamp to Illuminate the Five Stages of the mantras as a meditation focusing on the dissolution of the om at the crown into the ah at the throat, the ah into the hum at the heart, and this syl lable s anusvara drop symbol, the crescent moon below it, its head, the body of the letter ha, successively dissolving into the u vowel sign, which becomes a short-vowel a.m LaksmI and many others explain likewise This, however, is not the understanding of the Later Tantra and the Vajra Garland, and I not see it as being the position of Five Stages and the Compendium o f Prac tice Therefore the instruction to engage in these three realities successively means, as asserted by the master Go, initially to understand the reality of the winds, then to understand the reality of the mantras This is done by study and contemplation on both of them and is followed by meditation upon vajra repetition [129] Faults and advantages o f not knowing and knowing the reality of the winds The Vajra Garland states: Now, the reality of the winds I will definitely explain, so listen If the yogi meditates on the winds, he will quickly gain the siddhis.396 Also, the Samvarodaya Tantra: Those not knowing the yoga of the winds, or knowing but not meditating on them, will be tormented by various sufferings and will become an insect in samsara.397 Having understood wind yoga, in order to meditate on it, it is very impor tant to understand well the essential points of the winds Therefore, not only for actual meditations upon the winds, such as vajra repetition, but also for meditations focused upon the drops situated at points in the body and for generating the path through outer pranayama, you should know these vital places By understanding how all completion-stage meditations of penetra tive focusing on the body’s vital points involve the workings of the winds, realize that meditation direcdy and indirectly on the winds is indispensable for this path Divisions, Functions, and M ovem ent ofthe W inds 219 Divisions o f the winds How many different types of winds can be ascertained? The Illusory Samvara Tantra and the Vajra Wisdom Compendium talk of the ten winds using non literal terms such as kotakhya.m A tantra called Vajra Gateway talks of them in literal terms: life, evacuative, fire-accompanying, upward-flowing, pervad ing, moving, roving, perfectly flowing, intensely flowing, definitively flow ing.399 The Vajra Garland and Explanation o f the Intention list the first five similarly and refer to the next five: Naga, turtle, and lizard, devadatta and dkanva)ijaya,400 The commentaries also refer to the tenth as dhanamjaya.m The convention o f dividing these two sets o f five into root and branch winds is followed by Ekadasasvara, but this is not clearly followed in other works o f the Arya tradition The Vajra Garland talks of 108 winds, mucilinda?n and so on Are these included in the ten winds? Some Tibetan scholars explain this by saying that each of the ten winds has ten synonyms and that there are eight common syn onyms The commentary on the Vajra Garland says: In the emanation, dharma, fire, enjoyment, wind, and great-bliss cakras, the pervading wind has no activity but pervades the entire body The remaining nine flow through them O f these, there are fifty-four of the daytime and fifty-four of the night This makes 108 The life-sustaining wind flows from the centers of all six cakras The eight winds from the evacuative wind to the definitely flowing wind move through the petals of four cakras, excluding the fire and wind cakras [130] It is explained that the fire cakra below the enjoyment cakra has three petals and the wind or brow cakra has six petals O f the first, there are three channel knots on the dhutl, two channels of the left and right breasts, and three petals This makes eight The second cakra has six petals and two channels either side of the brow This also makes eight, through which the remaining eight winds flow.403 Separate translations o f the tantra speak of fifty-four from the middle of the night to the middle of the day, and fifty-four from the middle of the day to 210 A Lam p to Illum inate the Five Stages the middle of the night This description is not found in the translations of the commentary This is clearly an explanation of there being 108 winds by way of nine winds flowing through the six cakras Therefore the first explana tion above contradicts the tantra Also, when each of the nine winds—lifesustaining, evacuative, and so on—are flowing through each o f the cakras, if they are flowing through the other cakras as well, then the count o f 108 winds still has to be explained If they were not thus flowing, then when winds are flowing from the navel to the nostrils, they must also be flowing from the cakras of the throat, heart, and so on, and so that position is incorrect Furthermore, the way that lines from the text have been reproduced in the commentary is not right: From the beginning of the session, the nature of the nine in the six cakras at the end of half the session 404 Nevertheless, it is clearly the position of this tantra that these 108 winds are included in the ten winds Still, the explanation that posits the nine winds moving progressively through the six cakras is difficult to sustain Therefore there is more investigation to be done on this point Explanation o f each division Explanation of the five root winds Explanation of the five branch winds Explanations common to both types of wind Explanation o f thefive root winds Where are the locations of these five winds, and who are the lords of these winds? The Vajra Garland says: Life wind is located in the heart, born from the family of Aksobhya In the genital area is the evacuative wind, born from the Ratnasambhava family The upward wind is located in the throat and of the nature of Amitabha Divisions, Functions, and M ovem ent o f the W inds 221 The accompanying is in the navel lotus, of the nature o f Amoghasiddhi The pervading is located in all parts, in the entity of Vairocana.405 The Compendium o f Practice says the same The Vajra Garland also says: These clear realities of winds with the entities of the five wisdoms.406 The winds explained as the five exalted wisdoms should be understood on the basis o f the five buddha families The life-sustaining wind that flows through the nostrils is coarse lifesustaining wind The indestructible wind that abides in the heart is the sub tle life-sustaining wind The Vajra Garland Tantra says: In the hollow of the heart s lotus, the wisdom vajra constantly abides.407 Also: That is the worldly realm of Aksobhya, the great and supreme [131] There, a constantly abiding presence under the name of “wind of wisdom.”408 Therefore the wind that abides in the heart for the duration of life is also explained as being life-sustaining wind Thus the life-sustaining wind has to be divided into coarse and subtle Also, Tantra Requested by the Four God desses says: O f half a measure, the supreme and subtle, the substance of mind in the form of a drop, constandy located in the center of the heart, ablaze with great rays of light.409 This states that it is also the indestructible wind shining with five lights The Vajra Mandala Ornament Tantra says: 222 A Lam p to Illum inate the Five Stages Indestructible in the heart center, radiant, like a lamp, unchanging and supremely subtle, the vowel a, the highest lord.410 This also is talking o f the indestructible wind In general, the “indestructible” situated at the heart refers to the red and white bodhicitta, the clear light o f basic state, the subtle life-sustaining wind, as well as many other phenomena In the Vajra Garland commentary, it is referred to as the clear-light wind Cito s Establishment o f Reality speaks o f reality being perceived after other winds have dissolved and the innate wind remains in its place This too refers to the above The Vajra Garland says that at the time o f death, the winds dis solve in the reverse sequence o f when they were first created, and when they were created, the life-sustaining wind was formed first So finally the winds dissolve into the subde life-sustaining wind Therefore, when the Compen dium o f Practice says that the winds finally move into the “indestructible,” it means that they dissolve into the indestructible wind at the heart The inde structible wind and drop at the heart are situated within the dhütl at the heart channel-knot; the life-sustaining wind that flows through the nostrils is also situated at the heart but not in that location The Vajra Garland, in the chapter on the essence o f enlightened body, speech, and mind, says that the evacuative wind is situated in the center o f the anal secret area This refers to the actual location o f the secret lotus and is described as such on the basis o f excrement being evacuated through the anus The Compendium o f Practices description o f the earth wind being located in the “lotus o f the anus” is just an instance o f the secret lotus being labeled in this way In the Vajra Garland it says: Above and below, as if facing, o f sixty-four and eight petals Well positioned above and below, the life and evacuative winds flow.411 [132] Does the third line mean above and below the eight-petal heart cakra or above and below the sixty-four-petal navel cakra? If it were the first, then this would contradict a previous passage on the location o f these winds If it were the second, this would contradict the lines that follow on from the two lines beginning “In space o f the hollow o f the hearts lotus,” which state: ... ing.399 The Vajra Garland and Explanation o f the Intention list the first five similarly and refer to the next five: Naga, turtle, and lizard, devadatta and dkanva)ijaya,400 The commentaries also... synonyms and that there are eight common syn onyms The commentary on the Vajra Garland says: In the emanation, dharma, fire, enjoyment, wind, and great-bliss cakras, the pervading wind has no activity... each division Explanation of the five root winds Explanation of the five branch winds Explanations common to both types of wind Explanation o f thefive root winds Where are the locations of these