90 C t he t reasury of knowled ge At this point, to propitiate the elemental spirits by making sacrificial offerings will bring excellent [results] to yogins.20 The Ocean of Dakinis Tantra and Saroruha’s elucidation of that tantra21 explain that, as the first step in sadhana practice, one [should] make a sacrificial offering This offering serves to pacify obstacles caused by obstructive forces and misleading [spirits] Two Examinations states:22 In order to protect the lives of all beings Against obstructive and misleading forces, Vajrasattva prescribed sacrificial offerings The second step consists in visualizing a circle of protection in order to dispel adverse conditions There are many [types of ] protection circles described [in the tantras] The common protection circle entails imagining such details as the ground, enclosing fence, and tent, [all] formed of vajra-crosses.23 The special protection circle [involves meditation] on ten wrathful deities arranged on the spokes of a ten-spoked golden wheel,24 who annihilate all obstructive forces.25 Both those methods are described in the Indestructible Tent and in the Guhyasamaja tantras Abhayakaragupta explains that for the protection circles of most sadhanas [one visualizes] the deity Humkara positioned at the hub of the wheel, with ten wrathful figures on the spokes He also discusses the various actions [to be carried out] in cases of obstructive forces causing serious harm, such as summoning the obstructive forces and piercing them with daggers.26 For the protection circle in the Chakrasamvara cycle of tantras, [one imagines] wrathful deities positioned on the spokes of an eight- or tenspoked wheel27 within a common protection circle [i.e., the vajra tent], who pierce [obstructive forces] with daggers, and so forth [As another method,] by [uttering] the four-faced mantra, the cardinal and intermediate directions are sealed; then, the female guardians of the gates and the intermediate directions arise from that mantra and pierce [obstructive forces] with daggers, and so on.28 The third step comprises two types of fostering [that of positive potential and that of pristine awareness] in order to establish conducive conditions The fostering of positive potential is described in the Indestructible Tent:29 visualization sequences c 91 Offerings to one’s master, a vajra-holder, Perfect fulfillment of the sevenfold [service], Forming the mind of awakening, …30 The fostering of pristine awareness is explained in the Indestructible Tent, Two Examinations, and other scriptures, as meaning meditation on emptiness One meditates on the meaning of the mantra om svabhava [shuddhah sarva dharmah svabhava shuddho ham]: all phenomena—the apprehended and [oneself,] the apprehender—are naturally pure, devoid of inherent nature, emptiness; and on the meaning of the mantra om shunyata [jnana vajra svabhavatmako ham]: [oneself is] the essential nature of the indivisibility of such emptiness, which is the object, and pristine awareness, the subject To expand, all phenomena are primordially devoid of an inherent essence, nature, or identity, and are therefore free from all elaborations of superimposition: unborn emptiness According to the works of great tantric adepts, once one has resolved that with certainty and become well acquainted with that view, one brings to mind that [unborn emptiness] Someone who is not well acquainted with that view must ascertain the emptiness [of all phenomena] through examination Some scholars call these two approaches “forceful meditation on emptiness” and “meditation on emptiness based on examination,” respectively.31 Some texts state that at this point [of the sadhana] one meditates on emptiness following the dissolution of the environment and inhabitants into luminous clarity To that, however, one needs both to remain without any conceptions once the appearances of the environment and inhabitants have been withdrawn into luminous clarity and to have present in one’s mind the emptiness that is the meaning of [the above] mantras Some assert that, at this point, in order to generate a clear visualization of the pure residence and pure resident deities, and so forth, one meditates that the impure environment along with its inhabitants is a voidness that is nothing whatsoever However, this is not what is meant [by contemplation on emptiness] The purpose of contemplation on emptiness is as explained by Lord Atisha [in his Analysis of the Sequence of Visualization]:32 The reason for saying the two mantras33 three times each in that way is to enable one to realize emptiness, to nurture one’s 92 C t he t reasury of knowled ge awareness of emptiness, to abide firmly [in the understanding of emptiness], to perfect the fostering of pristine awareness, to overcome ordinary concepts of body, speech, and mind, and to understand the residence and the resident [deities] as the [magical] display of emptiness The Main Practice of the Creation Phase [ii] This discussion has three parts: creation of the celestial palace of residence; creation of the resident deities; and the branches that complete the sequence The Celestial Palace Residence [aa] … For the main practice, one creates a celestial residence The visualization of the celestial palace of residence is the first step in entering the main practice of the creation phase The base for the generation of the palace, according to most of the principal texts, is the creation of a tetrahedral source of phenomena, the tiers of the [four] elements, and so forth.34 There are several different presentations of the visualization of the base: As one way, a vajra-cross is generated from the melting of the tiers of the [four] elements, and the celestial palace is created in the center of that As another, the celestial palace is created from the melting of the tiers of elements, and so forth, within a tetrahedron and in the center of a multicolored lotus and vajra-cross As another, the celestial palace is created within a tetrahedron and on top of a multicolored lotus and vajra-cross, without the tiers of the elements As yet another, both the celestial palace and deity are created simultaneously above the tiers of elements and Mount Meru and in the center of a multicolored lotus and vajra-cross In addition, there are various other descriptions, such as the celestial palace generated from the syllable bhrum; from a wheel; from the melting of [the form of ] Vairochana; and so forth As to [the form of ] the celestial palace, Two Examinations states:35 The Teacher described the mandala As four-sided and glowing radiantly, With four portals, utterly resplendent, visualization sequences c 93 Bedecked with jewel tassels and loops, A variety of garlands and yak-tail fans, And beautified by eight supporting pillars The Abhidhana Tantra states:36 With a portal on each of four sides, It is ornamented by four archways, Beautified by lattices and streamers, Adorned with garlands and banners Details such as these are found in all the different tantras.37 The [systems of ] Chakrasamvara, Hevajra, and other tantras explain that charnel grounds are to be imagined outside the celestial palace The Samvarodaya Tantra instructs one to imagine the charnel ground within the vajra fence [i.e., between the palace and the vajra fence]; the Vajradaka [tantra], beyond the garland of light [i.e., beyond the flames surrounding the vajra fence] [The names of ] the charnel grounds are stated in the Samvarodaya Tantra:38 Violently Hostile; Wild Thicket; Blazing Vajra; Place of Skeletons; In the northeast, Terrifying Laughter; The southeast, Supreme Auspiciousness; The southwest, Fearsome Darkness; And the northwest, Sounding Kili Kili.39 Special features of each charnel ground, such as the tree and guardian of the direction, are also described extensively [in the tantras].40 An additional element related to the celestial palace is the visualization of seats [formed of ] a lotus, and so forth, for all deities of the mandala within the palace The Resident Deities [bb] Next, one meditates on the circle of resident deities in its entirety Using the creation methods—creation by means of the five actual awakenings, 94 C t he t reasury of knowled ge Creation in four vajra steps, and creation by means of the three rites The first comprises moon, sun, seed-syllable, merging, and deity manifestation; The second, emptiness, seed-syllable, deity manifestation, and syllable placement; And the third, seed-syllable, insignia, and full manifestation of the deity’s body Upon completion of the creation of the residence (the celestial palace as well as the seats), one meditates upon the entire circle of the resident deities There are three main methods to perform that creation: creation by means of the five actual awakenings; creation in four vajra steps; and creation by means of three rites (These three sets should be correlated with the last three lines, respectively, [of the above root text].) The first of these entails the following visualizations: [First, one imagines that] above a seat formed of a lotus, and so forth, a moon disk arises from the vowels [Second,] a sun disk arises from the consonants [Third,] between the two disks is imagined the insignia of the deity marked with the seed-syllable, from which light is emanated and then withdrawn [Fourth,] all these elements merge [Fifth,] from the merged elements, the body of the deity fully manifests Those steps are referred to as “creation by means of the five actual awakenings,” which Two Examinations explains as being awakening by means of mirror[-like] pristine awareness (the moon); awakening by means of the pristine awareness of sameness (the sun); awakening by means of the discerning pristine awareness (the seed-syllable and insignia); awakening by means of the pristine awareness of accomplishment (the merging of everything); and awakening by means of the pristine awareness of the ultimate dimension of phenomena (the full manifestation of the deity’s body) In major tantric texts, one finds other versions of the five actual awakenings having the same names but differing in meaning However, it is generally explained that the moon symbolizes the white vital essence; the sun, the red vital essence; and the seed-syllable, the consciousness of the intermediate-state being The merging of all these elements corresponds to conception; and the full manifestation of the deity’s body, to birth from a womb The second is creation in four vajra steps In this procedure, [the first step is] to meditate on emptiness [The second is] to imagine, positioned ... sameness (the sun); awakening by means of the discerning pristine awareness (the seed-syllable and insignia); awakening by means of the pristine awareness of accomplishment (the merging of everything);... he t reasury of knowled ge awareness of emptiness, to abide firmly [in the understanding of emptiness], to perfect the fostering of pristine awareness, to overcome ordinary concepts of body, speech,... awakening by means of the pristine awareness of the ultimate dimension of phenomena (the full manifestation of the deity’s body) In major tantric texts, one finds other versions of the five actual