notes to chapter nine c 375 (thig le) (a summary of Krishna’s Extensive Commentary on the Vital Essence of Spring, Toh 1449, vol Wa, f 324b1-6) 63 This is the seventh of the nine cycles on the path, Krishna’s cycle of Olapati (o la pa ti lam skor), based on the Chakrasamvara See above, Chapter 8, n 75 Drokmi Lotsawa Sakya Yeshé (’Brog mi lo tsa ba sa skya ye shes) (993-1050) was a renowned translator and master who was sent to India and Nepal with Taglo Shönu Tsöndru (sTag lo gzhon nu brtson ’grus) during the second period of the propagation of Buddhism in Tibet While in Nepal, Drokmi studied with Shantibhadra, a disciple of Shantipa, who directed him to his master Drokmi studied the sutras and the tantras for eight years with Shantipa He received the path-and-fruition (lam ’bras) instructions from Prajnendraruchi (Shes rab kyi dbang po gsal ba), who belonged to the Virupa lineage, and remained with him for three years, receiving the initiations and teachings of numerous tantras It is through these teachings that he gained confidence and understanding Later, Gayadhara visited him in Tibet and conferred on him the path-and-fruition instructions Drokmi translated into Tibetan the Hevajra Tantra and numerous other tantric texts in addition to revising existing translations It is said that he taught mainly the Samvara Tantra From his lineage transmitted through his disciple Kön Könchok Gyalpo (’Khon dkon mchog rgyal po) originated the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism See The Blue Annals, trans Roerich, on the new tantras and the followers of path and fruition, pp 204-240 64 bsang mtha’ pa’i lugs 65 Venerable Sakyapa (rJe btsun sa skya pa) likely refers to Sachen Kunga Nyingpo (10921158), the son of Kön Könchog Gyalpo, who founded the Sakya Monastery in 1073 66 Mar Chögyal (dMar chos rgyal), a student of Purang Lochung (Pu rang lo chung), was also known as Mar Chökyi Gyaltsen (dMar chos kyi rgyal mtshan) He became very learned in the Chakrasamvara tantra See The Blue Annals, trans Roerich, pp 382, 388, 555, 706 67 Jetsun Drakpa (rJe btsun grags pa), a reference to Drakpa Gyaltsen (Grags pa rgyal mtshan) (1147-1216), the brother of Sönam Tsemo and one of the great patriarchs of the Sakya school 68 The Vital Essence of Spring (Toh 1448) and the Illumination of the Secret Principle (Toh 1450) are the only two of these six compendiums attributed to Krishna that we have found recorded in the Tengyur There are different viewpoints concerning which are the six works of Krishna According to the tradition of Naropa, the six are the Rite of Initiation, the Sadhana (Toh 1445), the Rite of Fire (Toh 1255), the Four Stages (Toh 1451), the Vital Essence of Spring, and the Illumination of the Secret Principle Mardo the Translator has asserted that the Rite of Fire does not contain the true words of Krishnacharya Gayadhara, on whose viewpoint the assertions of Jetsun Drakpa and others are likely based, refers to them as the six compendiums and affirms that they treat the phase of completion However, Gayadhara mistakenly includes among them the Explanation of the Vows, the Epitome, and Vital EssenceGreat Seal Although those belong to the extraordinary cycle of Krishna’s teachings, they have not been written by him but rather by one of Krishna’s disciples who 376 C not es to chapter ten came to be known as “Krishna the Second” (according to the life story of Krishnacharya by Taranatha) 69 Four extremes (mtha’ bzhi): the notions of existence, nonexistence, both existence and nonexistence, and neither Chapter 10: Mother Tantra Systems: Chatuhpitha, Mahamaya, Buddhakapala, and Tara Yogini 1 In the Tibetan Buddhist canon, the cycle of the Chatuhpitha, a mother tantra of the permanent family (rtag pa’i rigs), includes Toh 428 to 430 of the Kangyur and Toh 1607 to 1621 of the Tengyur The deity of this tantra is blue, with three three-eyed faces, sitting in the bodhisattva posture, wrathful and mesmerizing in appearance Adorned with five skulls on the head and snakes on the body, his gaping mouths utter terrifying sounds The three right hands hold staff, ax, and vajra; and the three left, bell, kapala, and sword He is embraced by a beautiful consort, white, whose upper teeth press upon her lower lip See Aryadeva’s Sadhana of Chatuhpitha, Toh 1610, vol Ya, ff 75b7-76a4 2 Here, for the instruction of the cow’s udder (ba’i nu ma) related to the phase of creation, one trains in the two nose-tips: the nose-tip of the lower door, which means the nose-tip at the secret place ( gsang ba’i sna rtse); and the nose-tip of the upper door (steng sgo sna rtse), which means the nose-tip at the crown of the head (spyi bo’i sna rtse) or, alternatively, the nose-tip at the mid-point between the eyebrows (smin mtshams kyi sna rtse) For the lower door, one first carries out the preliminaries, such as taking refuge, generating the awakening mind, creating the protection circle, and making sacrificial offerings, and then completes the meditation of the concise creation Next, one visualizes oneself as the female deity Jnaneshvari in union with the deity Vajrasattva At the point where the channels of the secret places meet, at the nose-tip of the lotus, there arises, from a syllable, a vajra of the specified size and color In its center is a tiny sphere on which one focuses Alternatively, one visualizes oneself as the male deity with consort and focuses on a sphere at the tip of the vajra In conjunction with that visualization, one maintains the correct posture and applies the specified breathcontrol technique, eliminating the residual breath three times, drawing in the upper breath slowly, and so forth, training in that way for a month or so, until the visualization is clear and signs that the winds are under one’s control arise Next, one imagines that the lights of the winds are absorbed into the sphere in the vajra of the nose-tip of the secret place (if one has visualized oneself as the female deity) One then carries out the steps in the visualization, which include a fire arising in the secret place, vital essence falling from the crown, and so forth This practice gives rise to a special experience of bliss and emptiness For the upper door, one first performs the preliminaries mentioned above and then visualizes, at the mid-point between the eyebrows within the forehead, a tetrahedron as described in the instructions Inside is a tiny white sphere with a syllable above One applies the specified breath control while imagining that the winds as lights strike the sphere, and so on, through the steps of the visualization, until one experiences bliss, which one views as an illusion At the end of the session, one imagines that the syllable notes to chapter ten c 377 and the sphere dissolve into nectar One remains in a relaxed state, breathing naturally In that way, the appearance of the deity is sealed with bliss, and bliss, with emptiness This practice will also enhance the visualization of the deity (a summary of Taranatha’s Chatuhpitha Tantra Manual of Instructions for the Practice, pp 833.7-836.7) 3 Closing off the nine gateways (sgo dgu dgag pa) means to block the nine points from where the consciousness can exit at the time of death The nine vary according to different sources The Chatuhpitha lists what are known as “gateways to the intermediate state”: navel, forehead, crown of the head, nostrils, ears, eyes, mouth, urethra, and anus The forehead actually means the point midway between the eyebrows called the “gateway of the stupa” (mchod rten sgo) or “sphere at the forehead” (dpral ba’i thig pa) The urethra is also called the “gateway of the vajra” (rdo rje’i sgo) and refers to the reproductive organ of the male and that of the female The anus (bshang ba’i sgo) is called the “gateway of what is not urine” (chu sgo) or solid waste (dri chen) The crown of the head is called the “golden gateway” ( gser gyi sgo) The mouth (kha) is called the “gateway of existence” (srid pa’i skye sgo) because the food that sustains the aggregates of existence is taken in through the mouth The nine are differentiated as the gateways of qualities ( yon tan gyi sgo) and gateways of the faults of existence (srid pa’i skyon gyi sgo), or six good doors (bzang po’i sgo) and three bad doors (ngan pa’i sgo) Six of these gateways provide the ways to higher existences; and three gateways, the ways to three lower existences The exit of one’s mind through the navel during transference practice or at death is prognostic of birth as a god in the realm of desire; exit through the forehead, birth as a god in the realm of form; exit through the crown of the head, birth in the formless realm; exit through the nostrils, birth as a yaksha on top of Mount Meru; exit through the ears, birth as a deity with special powers (the powers of the sword, the medicine, the pill, the netherworld, invisibility, moving instantaneously, flying, and seeing all places); and exit through the eyes, royal birth among humans The exit of the mind through the mouth is prognostic of birth in the realm of hungry spirits; though the urethra, birth in the animal realm; and through the anus, birth in the hell realm See Bhavabhadra’s Commentary on the Chatuhpitha, Toh 1607, vol ’A, f 260b; and Kalyanavarman’s Exposition of the Exalted Chatuhpitha, Toh 1608, vol Ya, f 60b1-61b3 To close the gateways, Taranatha explains that one visualizes, as in the previous meditation, oneself as the female or male deity, and at the brahminical aperture, a yellow syllable that radiates light One imagines that the light blocks the gateway at the crown of the head One focuses on that light and applies the vase-shaped holding of the breath as specified in the instructions One then visualizes a black syllable at the brow and performs the breath-control technique Similarly, one visualizes a syllable in each of the eyes, in each ear, at the uvula, at the urethra, and at the anus, at each place a different syllable and of various colors Except for the syllable at the uvula, the tops of the syllables face toward the inside of the body At the neck, one visualizes a column of syllables, yellow on the right side and white on the left; similarly, at each of the two shoulders, the heart, and the navel, a column of syllables, one color on the right side and another on the left All those columns stand upright While visualizing those, each in turn, for seven days, one performs the specified mild vase-shaped holding of the breath Then, whether the images of the syllables are clear or not, one visualizes all 378 C not es to chapter ten of them, from the top of the body to the bottom and vice versa, and repeats that process for a long time until one can visualize the entire set of syllables all at once For the vajra recitation, having taken the proper posture, one does the two sealings of bliss and emptiness (as mentioned in the previous note) or a brief session of meditation on the phase of completion (as mentioned in the text) The bliss will bring about the sealing by itself; otherwise, one simply imagines that there is sealing by bliss The phases of the breath are synchronized with the awareness of the sound of hum and the clear manifestation of the form of the deity as bliss; the sound of ah and all beings as bliss; and the sound of om and all appearances as bliss (a summary of Taranatha’s Chatuhpitha Tantra Manual of Instructions for the Practice, pp 836.7-839.3) The pervading phase of completion consists of two yogas: the yoga of the inconceivable (bsam mi khyab kyi rnal ’byor) and the action-seal yoga involving passion (chags can las rgya’i lam) For the yoga of the inconceivable, one imagines oneself as the deity At one’s heart is a four-petalled lotus in the center of which is a blue sphere and on each of the other four petals, a sphere, each of a different color One focuses on all of them together if possible; otherwise, each one individually This visualization, accompanied by the inhalation, pause, and exhalation of the breath, brings about the experience of clarity When there is some familiarity with that clarity, one focuses on a subtle sphere at the secret place, breathing naturally, and experiences bliss and emptiness, beyond center or periphery, as well as spontaneous, uncontrived nonconceptuality Through the body of the deity arising as clarity, emptiness, and bliss, and being sealed by bliss and emptiness, all appearances are sealed During this practice, one sits comfortably, eyes focused at the tip of the nose, and abandons all thoughts related to the past, present, and future Another aspect of this yoga of the inconceivable consists of the meditation in which inner and outer, subject and object, birth, cessation, and abiding, and so forth, are realized to be without inherent nature One “searches for” the mind in order to realize its natural purity Then, one continues to examine whatever arises Although appearances never cease, one remains in awareness of the inexpressible nature of mind Once one has familiarized with those aspects, one intensifies awareness itself while gaining certainty of emptiness, the inner aspect—that one’s mind is empty—and the outer—that objects are empty; and certainty that the inner and outer are of one nature One cultivates bliss and clarity as before and trains in mixing those with nonconceptuality By so doing, without relying on any external focus, everything—oneself, others, the universe and all beings—arises as bliss and emptiness See Taranatha’s Chatuhpitha Tantra Manual of Instructions for the Practice, pp 839.3-842.6 The second yoga, the action-seal yoga involving passion, is the same as the secret fire offering ( gsang ba’i sbyin sreg) or inner-fire offering (nang gi sbyin sreg) See Chapter 10, n 8, concerning instructions called “coiled king of the nagas.” The pervaded completion phase consists of different sets of instructions—the bull’s hoof (ba lang rmig pa), cow’s udder (ba nu lta bu), bunch of plantain bananas (chu shing snye ma), and stupa-vase (mchod rten bum pa)—that form the root of the path Their branches include miscellaneous instructions (thor bu skor), inner-fire rite (me’i las), transference (’pho ba), and the triad of illusions (sgyu ma sum brgyud ) The instructions produce the experiences of bliss and emptiness by means of prac- notes to chapter ten c 379 tices involving the four channel-wheels (navel, heart, throat, and crown of the head); breath techniques of inhaling, filling, pressing down, and expelling the winds; mixing the white and red vital essences, and so forth These are related to the four seats: the seat of oneself, of others, of application, and of secret See Kongtrul’s Sadhana of Lord Chatuhpitha, f 20b3-5 Read rtsa ba la ba lang for rtsa ba ba lang For the thirteen-syllable bull’s hoof instruction (ba lang rmig pa yi ge bcu gsum pa), one first performs preliminary practices Then, one imagines the syllables that are the natures of wind and fire, one above the other, at the sole of each foot At the heart is an eight-petalled lotus, red, closed; and inside that, just above but not touching the corolla, a moon disk, in nature a vital-essence sphere One visualizes above the moon any of five syllables, but usually a white am is visualized Surrounding that are twelve vowels, red in color, in a counterclockwise arrangement All together, there are thirteen syllables The lotus at the heart is called “bull’s hoof.” One expels the residual breath, applies the specified breath-control technique, and imagines that wind from the syllable at the sole of each foot stirs the syllable above it, causing fire to rise through the body, and so on, through the steps of the visualization As one continues with the next phases of the breath control, the nectar of bodhichitta from eighteen places of the body flows to the crown of the head, then down through the uvula, and arrives just above the lotus of the heart, causing the lotus to open and the nectar to dissolve into the thirteen radiant syllables One then performs the gentle-breath method while carrying out the subsequent steps, which include the visualization of two winds from the right and left channels striking the moon, the moon spinning, and so on After the moon and the thirteen syllables melt and fill the lotus at the heart, one remains with the mind in a state of complete relaxation for some time These steps constitute the thirteen-syllable practice The second, the two-syllable practice, is the same as the previous with the exception that, in addition to the syllable above the moon, one visualizes an inverted syllable at the uvula The nectar gathers in the heart syllable and descends from that For the third, the single syllable, the visualization is similar to the first, except that at the heart is the syllable alone, without the moon, and there is no syllable at the uvula As one applies the breath technique, the two winds (mentioned in the first meditation) strike the syllable, which melts and fills the bull’s hoof For the fourth, the sphere alone, one does the above visualization but in place of the heart syllable one imagines only a white sphere To the right of that is a black syllable, the nature of wind; to the left, a red one, the nature of fire The nectar of bodhichitta from the crown of the head dissolves into the fire and wind (i.e., the two syllables) The red syllable dissolves into the black one, which dissolves into space See Taranatha’s Chatuhpitha Tantra Manual of Instructions for the Practice, pp 843.4-847.4 See also Kalyanavarman’s Exposition of the Exalted Chatuhpitha, Toh.1608, vol Ya, f 52a2-b3 For the cow’s udder, having done the preliminary visualization, one imagines the channel called “coiled king of the nagas” which resembles a coiled snake in seven rings and is located at a point below the navel The tip of one end of the channel sits in the center and faces upward; the other end bends in the direction of the center, with its tip, ... “gateway of what is not urine” (chu sgo) or solid waste (dri chen) The crown of the head is called the “golden gateway” (? ??gser gyi sgo) The mouth (kha) is called the “gateway of existence” (srid... awareness of the sound of hum and the clear manifestation of the form of the deity as bliss; the sound of ah and all beings as bliss; and the sound of om and all appearances as bliss (a summary of Taranatha’s... canon, the cycle of the Chatuhpitha, a mother tantra of the permanent family (rtag pa’i rigs), includes Toh 428 to 430 of the Kangyur and Toh 1607 to 1621 of the Tengyur The deity of this tantra