352 Chapter : T h e Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum This is followed by a more detailed instruction on the visualization used for the actu al gtum mo practice, providing further elements than found above It is explained how the meditator should visualize the straight vertical stroke of the Indian Jetter A, which is stated to looks like a Tibetan shad ( *dmyja) punctuation sign It stands upright centrally in the body below the navel and is fiery in nature While holding the breath pressed together in the abdomen, a blissful heat is said to appear Finally, it is briefly indicated how there are five ways of focusing on the letter A, and it is said that there are no differences between the present instruction called " the short A stroke" (a thung, *a-hrasva) and "the four yogas of master Mi la" (rje mi la 'i rnal 'byor bzhi) in terms of how to visualize the flame and the vowel stroke of the A-letter, but that there are some differences with regard to the minor details (bshad yam) The segment ends with the short colophon quoted above Segment DK.A Pa.7 : The segment begins (DK.A.Pa 7b ) : /Ina mo gu rul gtum mo 'bar 'dzag nyams su Zen pa la/ It ends (DK.A.Pa.7 a2 ) with the colophon : lgtum mo 'bar 'dzag zhal gyi gdams pa/ 88 The seventh segment offers yet a third instruction on Inner Heat with special attention to how the practice should progress once the initial experience of heat has arisen As stated in the brief colophon placed at the segment's end (quoted in Tibetan above), the segment contains an " oral instruction on the Inner Heat of blazing and dripping " (gtum mo 'ba r 'dzag) The segment, written entirely in prose and without quoting any root-text, starts by outlining the same visualization of the central channel explained previously It then instructs on how to visualize four cakras or 'wheels' ( 'khor lo) at different vertical points along the central channel with various numbers of secondary chan nels radiating out from the central channel like the spokes of " an open umbrella" (gdugs bdal ba) At the navel , there is the emanation - cakra (sprul pa 'i 'khor lo) with 64 channel spokes At the heart, there is the Dha rmacakra (chos kyi 'khor lo) with spoke s In the throat, there is the enj oyment-cakra (longs spyod kyi 'khor lo) with spokes At the top of the head, there is the great-bliss-cakra (bde ba chen po 'i 'khor lo) with 32 spokes These spokes are enclosed by the two side-channels starting at the nostrils and going down along the central channel until they reach below the navel, where they j oin the central channel Again, it i s instructed that the practitioner should hold the breath below the navel to make the A-letter flare up like a flame, the fire reaching so high that the flames strike the letter hmJi visualized in the great-bliss cakra This causes an energy called bodhicitta (byang sems), which i s stored in this cakra , to trickle down through the central channel As - it fills up the different cakras on its way down, it generates different experiences of bliss After reaching and filling the navel-cakra, the bodhicitta is visualized as flowing back up, while yogi continues to use the gtum mo breathing technique of holding the breath for as long as possible in the abdomen At the end of the practice, the practitioner stops visuali zing (yid la mi byed) the channels, winds, and drops, and instead rests in an uncontrived state of Mahiimudrii (phyag rgya chen po ma bcos pa 'i ngang) Thus, the present Tantric 88 Correlated passages : DK.a.Nga 36br l 37a3, DK.B Pa 7bz-8a2, DK.P.Pa.7 294ar295 a1 , DK.Q.Pa.7 256b -257ai , DK.R.Pa.7 l 0b4- l l b2, DK S Pa.7 2b3- 3b3, DK.T.Pa.7 7b-8n The text is not included in DK.D Chapter : The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum 353 yoga practice of gtum mo ends in Mahiimudra practice just like the meditations explained in the first textual cycle of segments in text DK.A.Pa However, whereas the experience of Mahiim udrii in the first cycle of texts was entered by relying on guruyoga, it is here entered by generating the experience of bliss arising from the breathing and visualization tech niques of Inner Heat The segment ends with the brief colophon quoted above Segment DK.A.Pa.8: The segment begins (DK.A.Pa 8a ) : /Ina mo ratna gu ru! snying kha chos kyi 'khor lo la brten nas gnyid 'od gsal du 'jug pa nil It ends (DK.A.Pa 8b ) with the colophon : /'od gsal zhal gyi gdams pa// 88 The eighth segment puts forth an instruction on the yogic practice known as Clear Light, Luminosity, or Radiance ( 'od gsal, *prabhasvara) This practice is done while falling asleep The instruction begins by explain what lying-position should be used in the bed and how to start by forming an intention not to dream but instead to " seize the radiance" ( 'od gsal zin par bya ) The yogi then focuses the mind on a visualization of five syllables in the heart-cakra As the state of sleep gradually sets in, the yogi must shift the awareness in a slow, progressive order from one syllable to another If he is unsuccessful, he will enter the state of dream When waking up, he must then evaluate his failure to seize the radiance and decide to try again Following the same procedure as before, the yogi falls asleep again, and once he is successful in capturing the radiance, he will vividly see the visualized syllable Hiin1 in his heart radiating with a powerful light and the sleep will rise as blissful After waking up, he will have the experience of being inside a strong permeating glow, seeing everything around him in the dark very clearly At the end, it is stated that this is a form Mahiim udrii practice for the dream state (phyag rgya chen po rmi lam du bsgom pa) A short quotation is given from A carya S gom pa (slob dpon sgom pa), perhaps referring to Sgom pa Tshul khrims snying po, saying that if someone manages to enter the Radiance of sleep (gnyis 'od gsal) just once, it is unthinkable that this ability would be absent at the time of death ( 'chi kar) In other words, A ciirya Sgom pa is here saying that when the nature of the mind appears at the time of death, which is likewise referred to as Radiance ( 'od gsal) as will be attested below, the yogi will definitely have the ability to recognize it and beco me Awakened when dying, if he has achieved some mastery of the Radiance of sleep practice The segment ends with the colophon (quoted in Tibetan above) : " The oral instruction on Radiance " Segment DK.A.Pa.9: The segment begins (DK.A.Pa 8b ) : l/gu ru na mo/ rmi lam la don bzhi ste/ It ends (DK.A.Pa.9 a7 ) with the colophon : /rmi lam gyis sangs rgyas zhal gyi gdams pa 'o// 88 The ninth segment lays out an instruction on Dream yoga (rmi lam, *s vapna) , which likewise is a practice concerned with sleep The segment begins by out88 Correlated passages: DK.a.Nga 37ar l 7h DK.B Pa a2-8b2, DK.P.Pa 295ai -295b i , DK Q.Pa 257a -257b , DK.R.Pa 1 b2- 2as, DK S Pa l 3b3- 4b2, DK.T.Pa 8n-8b The text is not included in DK.D 887 Correlated passage s : DK a.Nga l 37b3- l 8b2, DK.B Pa 8br9a , DK.P.Pa 295b -296b2, DK.Q.Pa 257b -258a6, DK.R.Pa 2as- 3b , DK.S Pa 4br l 6a+, DK.T.Pa 8b-9n The text is not included in DK.D 354 Chapter 5: The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum lining four steps (don bzh i) of the practice: ( ) seizing the dream (rmi lam bzung ba) , (2) training (sbyang ba), (3) blessing as illusory and getting rid of fear (sgyu mar byin gyis brlab cing yang ba spang ba) , and (4) meditating on reality (de kho na nyid bsgom p a) These points are then presented one-by-one The first point, seizing the dream, contains a detailed explanation on how to fa ll asleep First, during the daytime the yogi must think of all perceptions and thoughts as occurring in a dream Then when feeling sleepy, he should go to bed with a strong determination to recognize the dream in the sense of practicing what in Western psychology has been referred to as lucid dreaming , i e , dreaming with the self-awareness of recognizing that one is dreaming Lying on the right side, the yogi then visualizes a lotus-flower holding five syllables that radiate a gentle light in his throat-cakra and he slowly shifts his awareness from one syllable to another while falling asleep Falling asleep in this way should spontaneously produce the experience of seizing the dream, i e , lucid dreaming, but if unsuccessful , the meditator should evaluate his attempt when waking up, form a new resolution, and try again using the same procedure When the dream is seized, there will be the awareness that whatever one is dreaming is just a dream (rmi lam ci rmis pa de rmi lam yin 'dug snyam du shes pa 'ong) Next, the second point of training in lucid dreaming is explained The yogi is here instructed to think of whatever dream arises as being merely a dream and to relate to it without any fear If he dreams of water, he should plunge into it or walk across it He should j ump into an abyss or sit down to be bitten by dream-dogs or beaten by dream enemies He should fly in air, visit the god-realms , or go sight-seeing in India The third point is then to bless the dream as illusion and to get rid of all fear Here the yo gl is instructed to check his mind during the dream to see if even the slightest fear arises, and if so he should let go of it by recognizing that it is only a dream Once a complete fe eling of unobstructedness appears, he has "blessed his dreams as illusory" (sgyu ma byin gyis brlabs pa) Finally, he should in his dreams meditate on reality by analyzing that all states of dream consciousnes s are his own mind which is unborn (rang gi sems skye ba med pa) If such a contemplation of Mahamudrii did not occur during the night, the yogi should direct his focus on the syllables again in the morning after waking up and then rest in the state of Mahamudrii The segment ends with the short colophon (quoted in Tibetan above) : "The oral instruction on buddhahood through dream " Segment DK.A.Pa : The segment begins (DK.A.Pa 9b ) : Ina mo gu ru/ de la sgyu lus bsgom par 'dad pa 'i gang zag gis !us gnad bcos la/ It ends (DK.A.Pa 9b ) with the colophon: !sgyu lus zhal gyi gdams pa rdzogs so// 888 The tenth segment offers an instruc tion on the practice of Illusory B ody (sgyu lus, *miiyiideh a or *miiyiikiiya) It directs the yogi to assume the meditative posture and stare at the reflection of his body in a mirror 888 Correl ated passage s : DK.a.Nga 8br l 39a2, DK.B Pa l 0.9b , DK.P.Pa l 296br297a3, DK Q.Pa l a6- 8b , DK.R.Pa l 3b - 4a4, DK S Pa l 6�- 7a3, DK.T.Pa 9b The text is not included in DK.D Chapter : The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum 355 placed in front of him He should then speak to himself, voicing many self-criticisms and check whether he feels any unhappiness or expressing praises and see whether he feels pleased As long as such emotions arise, he has not trained himself sufficiently in the practice Once no emotion occurs, he should contemplate all appearances of himself and everything else as having a hallucinatory and dream-like quality A second phase then follows where the yogf trains in the illusory body of a chosen deity (yi dam lha 'i sgyu !us la bslab pa) A picture of a deity should be behind the practitioner's shoulder so that its image appears in the mirror placed in front Again, the yogf scolds or praises the image in the mirror as his self-reflection and sees whether he can provoke an emotional response When a state is reached in which no emotion occurs, the meditator contemplates the hallucinatory nature of himself and the reflection, producing the sensation that everything is essenceless like the body of the deity The segment ends by stating that once accomplished, this practice will allow the practi tioner easily to perfect the complete gathering of the requisites and it will purify all veils This is followed u p b y a scriptural quotation praising the virtues o f contemplating hallucination (sgyu ma, *miiyii) It is said that this instruction is a teaching on the post meditative practice on Illusory B ody (sgyu lus thun mtshams kyi chos), presumably meaning that it is a practice done in-between the sessions of regular sitting meditation practice At the end is a brief colophon (quoted in Tibetan above) : " The oral instruction on the Illusory B ody is finished " Segment DK.A.Pa 1 : The segment begins (DK.A.Pa 1 0a ) : lbla ma dam p a rnams la phyag 'tshal lo/ /spyir 'pho ba la gsum/ It ends (DK.A.Pa 1 1 a3 ) with the colophon: lbskyed pa 'i rim pa 'i 'pho ba zhal gyi gdams pall 88 The eleventh segment comprises a precept on the practice of Transference ( 'ph o ba, *sarrikriinti) , being a practice used to shoot the consciousness out of the body into a state of Awakening at the time of death 90 The segment explains three types of Transference for practitioners of different abilities : ( ) Transference from the state of Radiance used by the best practitioners (rah 'od gsal nas 'pho) ; (2) Transference from the state of Illusory B ody used by mid-level practitioners ( 'bring sgyu !us nas 'pho ); and (3) Transference from the Generation S tage used by lesser practitioners (tha ma bskyed pa 'i rim pa 'i sgo nas 'pho ba) In the instruction of the first type, the yogf assumes the meditation posture, generates bodhicitta, and visualizes the letter h ilm in the heart-cakra Light radiates out from the letter and transforms the external world into a pure palace and all beings into deities The palace then dissolves into light that merges with the deities , and the deities dissolve into light that merges with oneself The yogf's own deity-form dis solves into the hum syllable, which in turn gradually fades completely away The meditator then rests in a state of Mahiim udrii (phyag rgya chen po 'i ngang) It is said that this meditation should be done repeatedly and 88 Correlated passages: DK a.Nga 39ar l 40a4, DK.B Pa l l 0a - l l a2, DK.P.Pa l l 297a3 -298a , DK Q.Pa l l 258b6-25 9h DK.R.Pa l l 4�- 5b6, DK.S Pa l l l 7ar l 9�, DK.T.Pa 1 l On- l l n The text is not included in DK.D 90 The segment has been summarized by MEI (2009 :49-50) 356 Chapter : The Dags po 'i bka ' 'bum even if the experience of Mahamudrii does not immediately appear, the practitioner will slowly come to recognize the mind (sems zin ) At the time of death, the practitioner is then instructed to follow the same procedure, whereby his own nature and the natural state of radiance (rang bzhin pa dang rang bzhin gyi 'od gsal) will appear and merge, leading him straight into buddhahood A short scriptural quotation from the Caturp!fhatantra ( Gdan bzhi) is given, stating that for those who continously rest in Radiance, the city of the interim (bar 'i grong khyer, *anta rabhavapura) will not be seen This is followed by another instruction on the second type of Transference, viz Transference from the state of the Illusory B ody For this precept, there is a preparatory stage of training (sbyang) and a stage of the actual practice ( 'pho ba dngos) The prepara tory stage is done while sleeping The yogf is instructed repeatedly to fly up in his dreams to the celestial seat of B uddha Vajradhara and there form a strong intention to cultivate Mahiimudrii This seat is the flat A rmolika rock (ar mo ling ka 'i rdo Zeb) found in the Heaven of [Vedic gods of] the Thirty-Three [mansions] (sum cu rtsa gsum, Trayas tril7ifo) The actual Transference is performed at the time of death When the subtle bodily material elements of earth, water, fire, and air have dissolved ( 'byung ba rnams rim gyis bsdus pa), the yo gf transfers his consciousness to the celestial seat and appears there in the essenceless form of his chosen deity (yi dam gyi lha) like a reflection in a mirror By meditating on Radiance ( 'od gsal, >rprabhiisvara) from within such a state of a pure Illusory B ody (dag pa 'i sgyu lus, *visuddhamiiyadeha), he is said to reach buddhahood This part of the segment ends with what appears to be an excerpt from a zhus Zan text, where a question is posed with regard to lacking the ability clearly to perceive the celestial realm in the dream An answer is given by " the precious bla ma" (bla ma rin po che 'i zhal nas) about how to solve this problem, namely that the practitioner in that case during the daytime should repeatedly imagine traveling to the celestial A rmolika stone and it then ought to become possible to have this experience in dreams during the night The segment then continues by explaining the third type of Transference, the Transfer ence from the Generation S tage of a yi dam practice The yogf should first visualize himself in the illusory form of a deity and imagine the inner channels having particular syllables in As noted by MEI (2009 :49 fn 43 ) , the Buddha is said to have been sitting on this stone when he gave teachings to his deceased m other Maya in this heaven during his celestial soj ourn For a description of the stone slab's size and location, see WILLEMEN's (2004: 9) English translation of Bia ma 'Phags pa's Shes bya rah gsal To this may be added that the stone is also often depicted in a number of Tantras and paintings as being the celestial seat of B uddha Vajradhara when he gave various higher teachings of the Tantras in the non-human realms Such a non-human outer setting appears in numerous Tantras, perhaps to j ustify the belief of the Tantra followers that the Buddhist Tantra teachings originated with the historic Buddha S akyamuni in his celestial form of Buddha Vajradhara even though the Tantras first emerged historically in the human realm of India and elsewhere many centuries later 92 As will be outlined in later segments , these Tantric practices explain the initial death process through a series of steps in which the four elements dissolve The dissolution process is accompanied by particular outer and inner signs and sensation s , to be explained below ... Bia ma 'Phags pa's Shes bya rah gsal To this may be added that the stone is also often depicted in a number of Tantras and paintings as being the celestial seat of B uddha Vajradhara when he gave... natural state of radiance (rang bzhin pa dang rang bzhin gyi 'od gsal) will appear and merge, leading him straight into buddhahood A short scriptural quotation from the Caturp!fhatantra ( Gdan... type of Transference, viz Transference from the state of the Illusory B ody For this precept, there is a preparatory stage of training (sbyang) and a stage of the actual practice ( 'pho ba dngos)