notes to chapter three c 265 91 In the superior yoga, one imagines that light radiating from one’s heart invites all the transcendent ones They enter through one’s mouth, melting into bodhichitta, and pass into the lotus of the consort There, the bodhichitta transforms into syllables The syllables are emanated and positioned on seats, and then turn into insignia, which become the deities of the Black Yamari mandala: Vajra Aversion, Vajra Delusion, Vajra Avarice, Vajra Lust, Vajra Jealousy, Vajra Hammer Lady, Vajra Club Lady, Vajra Lotus Lady, Vajra Sword Lady, and the four goddess mentioned in the previous note—Vajra Tsatsika, Vajravarahi, Vajra Sarasvati, Vajra Kaushambi—plus skull cups filled with white nectar, located in the corners of the interior of the celestial palace The uttering of the mantras of these deities causes the deities and skull cups to emanate replicas and accomplish the welfare of beings Then they return and place themselves on their respective seats (a summary of Ratnakarashantipa’s Sadhana of the Black Yamari: Blossoming of the Kumuda Flower, Toh 1935, vol Mi, ff 60a6-61b1) 92 See Shridhara’s Commentary on Difficult Points of the Yamari Tantra: Illumination of the Innate, Toh 1918, vol Bi, f 119a4; and Shridhara’s Sadhana of the Black Yamari, Toh 1923, vol Mi, ff 1-8 93 The emanation of the retinue is followed by consecration of the eyes, and so forth, of the deities The consecration of the sense fields consists in visualization of deities at the sense organs and in two other places, usually the head or forehead and the navel Kamalarakrita’s Sadhana of the Black Yamari describes the procedure for consecration in this system: One imagines that at the eyes is the syllable kshim, from which arises Kshitigarbha; at the ears, from dzim, Vajrapani; at the nose, from kham, Khagarbha; at the mouth, from gam, Lokeshvara; at the head, from ksham, Sarvanivaranavishkambhin; and below the heart (i.e., the navel), from sam, Samantabhadra (Kamalarakrita’s Sadhana of the Black Yamari, Toh 1932, vol Mi, f 53a3-4) In this consecration, the head (or, in some cases, the forehead) represents the sense faculty of touch, and the navel region, that of mental phenomena Kongtrul states that at the forehead, from ksham appears Vajra Body, green; and above the navel, from sam, Vajra Mind, red (Kongtrul’s Five-Deities Sadhana of Lord Red Yamari: The Pristine-Awareness Cudgel That Obliterates Obstructing Forces, f 7b3) This consecration of the senses is identical to that found in the Guhyasamaja system Shridhara explains that the purpose of the consecration of the sense fields is to attain the six types of clairvoyance, namely, the divine eye (lha’i mig), the divine ear (lha’i rna), knowing others’ minds ( gzhan gyi sems shes pa), recollection of previous lives (sngon gyi gnas rjes su dran pa), knowing how to perform miraculous feats (rdzu ’phrul gyi cho ’phrul ), and knowing how defilements are exhausted (zag pa zad pa’i shes pa) (Shridhara’s Sadhana of the Black Yamari, Toh 1923, vol Mi, f 5a6-b2; and Shridhara’s Commentary on Difficult Points of the Black Yamari Tantra, Toh 1918, vol Bi, f 119a5-6) For the details of the syllables and deities of this consecration, see Ratnakarashantipa’s Jewel Lamp Commentary on Difficult Points of the Glorious Black Yamari Tantra (Toh 1919), vol Bi, f 146a1 For the consecration of the deities’ heads, throats, and hearts as the bodies, voices, and minds of all buddhas, one imagines that at the heart an awakened-mind Yamari arises from a vajra marked by hum; at the throat, an awakened-speech Yamari, from a lotus marked by ah; and at the head, an awakened-body Yamari, from a wheel marked by om Then, offerings are made to all the buddhas of the universe While uttering three mantras (oṃ sarva tathāgata citta vajra svabhāvātmako ’haṃ; oṃ sarva tathāgata 266 C not es to chapter th r ee vāk vajra svabhāvātmako ’haṃ; oṃ sarva tathāgata kāya vajra svabhāvātmako ’haṃ), one imagines the deities become the natures of the bodies, voices, and minds of all buddhas To receive initiation, one meditates that light radiating from the syllable at one’s heart invites all the buddhas and bodhisattvas to gather in the space in front These emanate goddesses who, holding vases and uttering auspicious words, initiate oneself and the other deities of the mandala One is thereby crowned by Vajrasattva All other deities are crowned by Yamari Shridhara explains the drawing in of the pristine-awareness deities in the following way: Light radiating from one’s heart invites the pristine-awareness deities to gather in space Offerings of drinking water and other outer articles are made to them By uttering one mantra, these deities are summoned; by uttering a second, they are made to enter one’s body; by uttering a third, they are bound inside oneself; and by uttering a fourth, they are dominated For the rite of offering and praise, one invites all the buddhas and bodhisattvas From one’s heart are emanated goddesses holding flowers and other articles, dancing in various ways and singing charming songs, making offerings to the buddhas and bodhisattvas, and uttering verses of praise (a summary of Shridhara’s Sadhana of the Black Yamari, Toh 1923, vol Mi, ff 6a7-b5) The tasting of nectar (bdud rtsi myong ba) is explained in the third chapter of the Black Yamari Tantra There are five nectars (bdud rtsi lnga), namely, urine (dri chu), feces (dri chen), blood (rak ta), semen (byang sems dkar po), and marrow (rkang mar); and five kinds of flesh (sha lnga): human (mi), ox (ba glang), dog (khyi), horse (rta), and elephant ( glang po che) These, each marked by its respective syllable, are imagined to be all contained in a skull cup (kapala) set on three skulls Below the skull cup arise wind and fire from their respective syllables Above the skull cup manifests a moon, and above the moon, a white club marked by a vajra Fanned by the wind, the fire blazes, causing the substances in the skull cup to melt The club stirs the substances three times Then, the moon, club, and vajra dissolve into light and merge with the substances, becoming a nectar, like mercury in appearance In conjunction with mantras and symbolic hand gestures, one imagines that pristine-awareness nectar from the minds of all buddhas is drawn in and made to merge with the nectar The skull cup of nectar becomes infinite in size After consecrating the nectar in this way, one offers it to oneself, the lord of the mandala Imagining that one’s tongue is a white hollow vajra, one uses it to draw in the nectar, which is then offered to all buddhas within oneself Then, light radiating from one’s heart dispels all thoughts, and one enters the ultimate meaning of reality See Ratnakarashantipa’s Jewel Lamp Commentary on Difficult Points of the Glorious Black Yamari Tantra (Toh 1919), vol Bi, ff 147b4-148a3; and Kongtrul’s Five-Deities Sadhana of Lord Red Yamari: The Pristine-Awareness Cudgel That Obliterates Obstructing Forces, f 2a3-b4 After the above steps is the recitation of mantra Then, when one wishes to dispense with recitation, one makes offerings to the pristine-awareness deities in front and asks them to leave, while the pledge deities dissolve into the seed-syllable at one’s heart See Ratnakarashantipa’s Sadhana of the Black Yamari: Blossoming of the Kumuda Flower (Toh 1935), vol Mi, ff 61b1-62a2 94 Circle of the Sun (Toh 397), vol Ga, f 228b6-7 The Rali tantras belong to the Sam- notes to chapter three c 267 vara class They include the texts from Toh 383 to Toh 414 of the Dergé Kangyur Some scholars exclude the Mahabalajnanaraja (Mahābalajñānarāja; sTobs chen ye shes rgyal po) (Toh 410) and in its place list the Rigi Arali Tantra (Ri gi a li, Toh 427) (Butön’s General Presentation of the Sets of Tantra, f 215a3) 95 The notes on the preceding section should suffice to give an idea of what is meant by the steps of the phase of creation delineated by the “four dwellings” ( gnas pa bzhi) taught in the Rali tantras 96 Drokmi (’Brog mi), or Drokmi Sakya Yeshé the Translator (Sakya ye shes lo tsa ba) (993-1050), taught the Hevajra tantra system to Könchok Gyalpo of the Khön family, who founded the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism This school takes its name from the Sakya monastery that Könchok Gyalpo established in 1073 at Sakya in southwestern Tibet 97 Maitripa is known by various names such as Advayavajra (gNyis med rdo rje), Avadhutipa, Maitrinatha, and Maitrigupta He was born in the early ninth century and lived to the age of seventy-eight He was a Brahmin scholar and became a Buddhist after meeting Naropa, who was evidently his first master Having become a monk at Vikramashila Monastery, he studied with Shantipa and others He was evicted from the monastery by Atisha, who had seen him drinking beer in the company of a woman Later he became a student of the great adept Shavari Maitripa is particularly linked to the transmission of the great seal (mahāmudrā) His famous students include Sahajavajra, Shunyatasamadhi, Ramapala, and Vajrapani His Tibetan students were Khyungpo Naljor and Marpa For details of his life, see Taranatha’s Histories of the Masters of the Seven Transmissions The reference here is to Maitripa’s Esoteric Instructions on the Four Seals (Toh 2295, vol Zhi), as well as to the Definite Explanation of the Initiation (Toh 2252, vol Wi), texts whose contents are closely connected to, if not actual commentaries on, Nagarjunagarbha’s Ascertainment of the Four Seals (Toh 2225, vol Wi) In his Esoteric Instructions on the Four Seals, Maitripa distinguishes different phases of the tantric path: the outer phase of creation (phyi bskyed pa’i rim pa); the profound phase of creation (zab mo bskyed pa’i rim pa); the phase of completion (rdzogs rim); the phase of perfect completion ( yongs su rdzogs pa’i rim pa); and the phase of the essential nature (ngo bo nyid kyi rim pa) He correlates the four seals, each of which represents a set of four joys, with these phases: the action seal (las kyi phyag rgya, karmamudrā) with the profound phase of creation and the phase of completion; the seal of the doctrine (chos kyi phyag rgya, dharmamudrā) with the phase of perfect completion; the great seal (phyag rgya chen po, mahāmudrā) with the phase of the essential nature; and the pledge seal (dam tshig gi phyag rgya, samayamudrā) with the outer phase of creation The outer phase of creation consists in the circle of deities The male figure of such a circle symbolizes method; the female, wisdom; and their embrace, nonduality One therefore speaks of “pledge.” In regard to the phases mentioned above, Ramapala uses the expressions “brief phase,” or “outer phase of creation,” and “inner phase of creation,” and states that the second means vajra recitation (rdo rje bzlas pa, vajrajāpa) He explains that the phase of completion, phase of perfect completion, and phase of the essential nature are equivalent to self-consecration (bdag byin gyis brlabs pa, svadhiṣṭhāna), actual awak- 268 C not es to chapter th r ee ening (mngon par byang chub pa, abhisambodhi), and union (zung ’jug, yuganaddha), respectively These last three are similar to the last three of Nagarjuna’s five stages of the completion phase, namely, illusory body, luminous clarity, and the union of these two (Ramapala’s Elucidating Difficult Points of the Definitive Explanation of the Initiation, Toh 2253, vol Wi, f 159b3-4) Kongtrul explains that by “outer phase of creation” Maitripa means simply the clear appearance of the deity generated through creation-phase meditation that relies on imagination, while the “profound phase of creation” refers to the yogas with the action seal and pristine-awareness seal and to the vajra recitation (Kongtrul’s Manual for the Performance of Retreat, ff 4b7-5a2) Moreover, Ramapala explains that for the pledge seal, the arising of the male and female figures together is the joy; the jewel city, the supreme joy; the dwelling of the deities in the midst of solar and lunar essences (symbolizing method and wisdom), melted by passion, is the innate joy; and the arising of the deities in forms of the enjoyment dimension of awakening after having been urged with songs by the goddess Pukkasi and the others (of the Hevajra mandala), the joy of separation (from attachment) (a summary of Ramapala’s Elucidating Difficult Points, ff 157b5-158a5) This accords with Maitripa’s system in which the innate joy is taken to be the third joy, and the joy of separation, the fourth joy 98 The Indestructible Tent (Toh 419), vol Nga, f 44b1-2 This tantra belongs to the Hevajra class of tantras The Dergé Kangyur reads: sangs rgyas gnas ni rab rdzogs dang/ rnam pa lnga po bsgom pa dang/ kun tu bzang po’i rang bzhin dang/ rang gi lhag pa’i lhar sgrub dang/ dkyil ’khor rnam gyi dgod pa dang/ mchod bstod bdud rtsi la sogs pa/ rim pa rjes su bsgom par bya/ rnal ’byor yan lag drug tu ’dod That differs in several ways from the citation as found in IOK Yet another version of this citation is found in Indrabhuti’s Commentary on the Indestructible Tent Tantra (Toh 1194), vol Ca, f 48a1-2: sangs rgyas gnas gzhi rnam rdzogs par/ rnam pa lnga po bsgom byas la/ kun tu bzang po las byung ba’i/ rang lhag lha yi sgrub pa’i thabs/ dkyil ’khor de bzhin dgod par bya/ mchod bstod bdud rtsi myang la sogs/ rim pa yis ni bsgom bya ste/ yan lag drug tu sbyor bar bya 99 Durjayachandra (Mi thub zla ba) was one of the twelve tantric teachers of great renown at Vikramashila Monastery His teachers were Dombiheruka and Dombiyogini, wife of Dombiheruka Durjayachandra had entreated them to teach him, and after receiving their instructions, encountered Heruka in a vision and attained an extraordinary level of realization See Taranatha’s History of Buddhism in India (English translation), pp.18, 327; and Taranatha’s Histories of the Masters of the Seven Transmissions Tibetans had several names for him, such as Jangka Dawa (sByangs dka’ zla ba), Tupka Dawa (Thub dka’ zla ba), and Gyalka Dawa (rGyal dka’ zla ba) The reference here is to Durjayachandra’s Commentary on Difficult Points [of the Hevajra Tantra] (Toh 1185), vol Ga, ff 1-58 “Others” in the text refers to other authors of various commentaries on the Hevajra Tantra found in the Tengyur 100 The terms “nature” (khams) and “family” (rigs), normally used to refer to buddha nature (tathāgatagarbha), the essence of enlightenment, are used here to denote both the unenlightened families and the enlightened families “Unenlightened families” refers to the aggregates and other psychophysical constituents of a person when the notes to chapter three c 269 constituents have not yet been recognized as the five enlightened families, that of Vairochana, and so forth Once recognized, they become the families of enlightenment, the result Ultimately, all families are simply the single state of innate joy (lhan cig skyes pa’i dga’ ba) However, in order to fulfill the aims of countless types of trainees, that innate joy, considered in terms of five elements (earth for Vairochana, water for Akshobhya, fire for Amitabha, wind for Amoghasiddhi, and space for Ratnasambhava), is differentiated into five states of mind or five emotional afflictions, desire, and so forth Hence, innate joy becomes the five families, that of Vairochana, and so forth On this point, see Kongtrul’s discussion in his Commentary on the Hevajra, ff 204b3-205b6 Due to the strength of a particular emotional affliction, a person by nature belongs to one of five families If aversion is the strongest of the five emotions, he or she belongs to the vajra family; if delusion, to the transcendent family; if desire, to the lotus family; if jealousy, to the action family; and if pride, to the jewel family Each of these families is represented by one of the five buddhas: Akshobhya, whose insignia is the vajra-cross, represents the vajra family; Vairochana, whose insignia is the wheel, the transcendent family; Amitabha, whose insignia is the lotus, the lotus family; Amoghasiddhi, whose insignia is the sword, the action family; and Ratnasambhava, whose insignia is the jewel, the jewel family Just below, the text speaks of six families The Vajrasattva family, which encompasses all five families together, is considered to be the sixth 101 On the six practices (chos drug), or six branches ( yan lag drug), see above, Chapter 1, n 17 102 Here, “world system” (’jig rten gyi khams) refers to a universe comprised of Mount Meru, the four continents, and eight subcontinents, as posited in the ancient IndoTibetan cosmology See Kongtrul’s Treasury of Knowledge: Myriad Worlds (English translation), pp 109-111 In the Hevajra creation phase, the creation of the celestial palace and its world system entails the visualization of a tetrahedron, within which arise the configurations of the four elements (wind, fire, water, and earth) from their respective syllables ( yam, ram, vam, and lam) Above them, from a syllable bhrum arises a wheel, and from that, Vairochana From the merging of these elements (which symbolize the world system) manifests the celestial palace Within that palace, through the sequence of the five awakenings (moon, sun, the two syllables am hum, their transformation into vajra and curved knife, the merging of all of them, and the arising of the forms of the deities), one manifests as Hevajra and his consort Nairatmya (a summary of Durjayachandra’s Sadhana called Six Branches, Toh 1239, vol Nya, f 127a2-b2) For the symbolism of these steps, see Devavrata’s Sadhana of the Dakini Indestructible Tent, Toh 1322, vol Ta, f 256a4-b1 103 The nature of water is aversion The purified aspect of aversion is the essence of Akshobhya See Hevajra Tantra Two Examinations, f 34a1-2 (Dharma Chakra edition, Rumtek) 104 In this explanation, the six branches are not presented in the order in which they are meditated upon The actual order of practice is as follows: creation of the mandala ... phases of the tantric path: the outer phase of creation (phyi bskyed pa’i rim pa); the profound phase of creation (zab mo bskyed pa’i rim pa); the phase of completion (rdzogs rim); the phase of perfect... third chapter of the Black Yamari Tantra There are five nectars (bdud rtsi lnga), namely, urine (dri chu), feces (dri chen), blood (rak ta), semen (byang sems dkar po), and marrow (rkang mar);... sems dkar po), and marrow (rkang mar); and five kinds of flesh (sha lnga): human (mi), ox (ba glang), dog (khyi), horse (rta), and elephant (? ??glang po che) These, each marked by its respective