70 C t he t reasury of knowled ge In the context of the creation phase, all the steps from the manifestation of the forms of the main deities up to the [contemplation of the] supremely victorious mandala constitute the yoga of shape The supremely victorious action corresponds to the yoga of mantra [The yoga of ] the subtle sphere, and so forth,7 constitute the yoga of reality According to a different explanation, creation corresponds to the yoga of shape; recitation, to the yoga of mantra; and entering luminous clarity and emerging from it, to the yoga of reality.8 Three Yogas [3ʹ] Other tantras teach consecration, imagination, and completion of the form; A number of other [tantras] teach three different yogas In his Illuminating Lamp,9 Chandrakirti cites the splendid Net of Magical Manifestation: King of Tantras:10 Three kinds of yoga should be known: That of consecration, imagination, And the completion of the form itself These yogas are praised by all buddhas Generating pride through mantras’ blessings Is said to be the consecration yoga The purified mind of awakening Is a great source of secret-mantra seeds The complete form manifested in steps, Imagined as a set of symbols, Is taught as the ritual yoga Referred to as imagination Instantaneous manifestation of pristine awareness Endowed with the supreme of all aspects, The performer of emanation and withdrawal, Is said to be the yoga of completion enter ing pr istine awareness c 71 As stated, there are three yogas: the yoga of imagination, the yoga of consecration, and the yoga of completion The first, the yoga of imagination, refers to creating, from within the state of emptiness and through the steps [of visualizing] the seed-syllable, insignia, and so forth, the complete form of the deity with faces and arms This is the actual deity yoga of the phase of creation Moreover, it includes all the steps in what is known as “the phase of completion with signs,” which entails visualization of syllables, spheres [of light], the emanating and withdrawing of light,11 and so forth, and which, in terms of being [a method] to elicit bliss, is [considered to be] deity yoga The second, the yoga of consecration, refers to the consecration, by means of bliss and emptiness (the mantra), from which is instantly created the deity with faces and arms [at the stage of ] body isolation; the inseparability of wind and mantra [at the stage of voice isolation]; and the bliss, and so forth, manifested in just an instant, without using imaginative techniques, [at the stage of ] mind isolation, devoid of faces and arms The third, the yoga of completion, refers to the illusory body with faces and arms [at the stage of ] union; and the great bliss [at the stage of ] luminous clarity, devoid of faces and arms.12 The five stages [of the completion phase] are included in this [yoga] The way [this last yoga] itself applies to the phase of creation alone is easily understood.13 Four-Branch Frameworks [bb] This discussion has four parts: the system of the Net of Magical Manifestation [of Manjushri]; the system of Guhyasamaja; the system of the Yamari cycle of tantras; and the system of the Rali tantras The System of the Net of Magical Manifestation [1] The four sets of actual awakenings—in an instant, in five parts, in twenty parts, By means of the net of magical manifestations—encompass all three continuums; In particular, the set of awakenings in five parts is referred to in many systems, But here is meant that of the Net of Magical Manifestation 72 C t he t reasury of knowled ge The Net of Magical Manifestation of Manjushri14 presents four sets of actual awakenings: the actual awakening in an instant; the actual awakenings in five parts; the actual awakenings in twenty parts; and the actual awakenings by means of the net of magical manifestation These four sets of actual awakenings constitute a major framework that encompasses all three continuums15 and form twelve [branches] when each of the four is divided into the three contexts—ground, path, and result.16 In the context of the path, each set pertains to both the creation [phase] and the completion [phase] Here, in the context of the phase of creation, the four are considered from two perspectives: that of one continuous sequence of visualization; and that of the distinct steps of the methods As for the first, one continuous sequence of visualization, the actual awakening in an instant corresponds to [meditation on] emptiness; the actual awakenings in five parts correspond to the completion of the form [of the deity]; the actual awakenings in twenty parts, [the steps] from urging with songs the molten [form of the deity]17 up to [merging] with the pristine-awareness deities as a single flavor; and the actual awakenings by means of the net of magical manifestation, the yoga of the subtle sphere.18 The correspondences of the first, second, and last are easily understood The third, the set of actual awakenings in twenty parts, corresponds to [urging with songs, etc.] in that [the twenty parts] are related to the number of the ten winds, the life wind, and so forth, and the winds of the ten mandalas, which emerge after the child is born.19 As for the second, the distinct steps of the methods, there are many comprehensive presentations of the visualization procedures for each of the four sets That being said, an example of the first, the actual awakening in an instant, would be the method of creation of the full forms of all the deities all at once or creation by means of the yoga of completion formulated by the master Abhayakara20 for the sake of practitioners of sharpest faculties An example of the actual awakenings in five parts would be the sadhana of the circle of yoginis taught in the eighth chapter of the first examination of the Hevajra Tantra [Two Examinations].21 An example of the actual awakenings in twenty parts would be the sadhana of the Blessed One [i.e., the main deity] through the step called urging with songs the molten [form of the deity] taught in the fifth chapter of the second examination of the Hevajra Tantra [Two Examinations].22 (Here, the meaning of “twenty” is as explained in a previous [section] according to enter ing pr istine awareness c 73 the Commentaries by the Bodhisattvas.23 According to other commentaries, [twenty] refers to ten causal factors for creation and ten resultant factors.)24 An example of the actual awakenings by way of the net of magical manifestation would be the capacity, owing to the force of the yogin’s perfect knowledge, to emanate and transform mandalas perceptible by those to be guided Of those four sets of awakenings, one should understand in detail the set of awakenings in five parts since the use of this expression is often found in yoga tantras and the highest tantras The set [of five] should be regarded as follows: The root [tantra] and commentaries of Secret Manjushri25 explain that the five actual awakenings are of the natures of the five pristine awarenesses, the mirror-like and the others,26 and teach meditation [cultivated] by means of intentional imagination [That entails] step-by-step visualizations that are in accordance with the focuses of contemplation specific to these awakenings.27 The Summation of Essential Principles, [the root scripture of ] yoga tantra, correlates the five awakenings with five mantras It teaches an intentional application of the five pristine awarenesses by means of the five awakenings, which [in this system] are called “discerning knowledge of mind,” “resolve of the mind of awakening,” “vajra of stability,” “essential nature of the vajra,” and “equality with all transcendent ones.”28 A similar explanation is found in the Indestructible Peak [Tantra].29 The Vajradaka and Samputa tantras 30 present a slightly different way of meditating on those same five mantras Followers of the Arya [Nagarjuna] tradition of Guhyasamaja,31 in [the context of ] creation of the original lord,32 refer to the five awakenings by the names “awakening by means of essential reality,” “awakening by means of the moon [disk],” “awakening by means of the seed-syllable,” “awakening by means of the insignia,” and “awakening by means of the manifestation of the complete form [of the deity].”33 The Luipa34 system of Chakrasamvara presents the five as follows: [One imagines] the vowels and consonants [of the Sanskrit alphabet] appearing on a reddish-white moon The vowels and the white hue represent the mirror-like [pristine awareness]; the consonants and red hue, [the pristine awareness of ] sameness; seed-syllable hum [in their midst] (the causal vajra-holder),35 74 C t he t reasury of knowled ge the discerning [pristine awareness]; the emanating and withdrawing [of rays of light from the hum], all-accomplishing [pristine awareness]; and the instantaneous manifestation of the residence and resident [deities], the pristine awareness of the ultimate dimension of phenomena The Hevajra [Tantra] states:36 The moon is said to be mirror pristine awareness, The sun,37 the pristine awareness of sameness, One’s deity’s insignia with the seed-syllable Is the pristine awareness of discernment, All becoming one, the active pristine awareness, Full manifestation, the pure ultimate dimension: These steps which were taught by the wise Constitute the meditation of five parts.38 Thus, [the Hevajra Tantra] presentation [of five awakenings] differs from those of the approaches mentioned above In the Kalachakra system, the moon with the vowels represents [awakening by means of ] mirror[-like] pristine awareness The sun with the consonants is [awakening by means of ] the pristine awareness of sameness The syllable hum, [which symbolizes] the scent-eater,39 is [awakening by means of ] discerning pristine awareness The merging of all these into one, endowed with the syllable hi, [which symbolizes] the life wind, is [awakening by means of ] accomplishing pristine awareness That merging into one gives rise to the full manifestation of the [deity’s] form, which, endowed with the syllable ham40 [symbolizing] consciousness, represents [awakening by means of ] the pristine awareness of the ultimate dimension of phenomena.41 Thus, the deity is complete as the essence of Akshobhya It is due to distinctions in the pristine awareness of the ultimate dimension of phenomena that, inwardly, there are five pristine awarenesses For this reason, outwardly, in the mandala, Akshobhya [i.e., the Kalachakra arising from the pristine awareness of the ultimate dimension of phenomena] radiates five lights The [above] synopsis accords with the viewpoints of the majority [of scholars] in this tradition [of Kalachakra] While that is so, the five actual ... system of the Net of Magical Manifestation [of Manjushri]; the system of Guhyasamaja; the system of the Yamari cycle of tantras; and the system of the Rali tantras The System of the Net of Magical... systems, But here is meant that of the Net of Magical Manifestation 72 C t he t reasury of knowled ge The Net of Magical Manifestation of Manjushri14 presents four sets of actual awakenings: the actual... yoga of imagination, the yoga of consecration, and the yoga of completion The first, the yoga of imagination, refers to creating, from within the state of emptiness and through the steps [of visualizing]