th e ph ase of completion c 125 no end It exists as all animate and inanimate phenomena and throughout all time Thus, it is termed “innateness.” [This characteristic of ] innateness in itself bears the characteristic of nonconceptuality, [the second characteristic of the ground] [These points] are stated in [Indrabhuti’s] Innately Existent.7 [The third characteristic,] known as the totality of all aspects, means that which encompasses the body and all phenomenal things The Hevajra Tantra states:8 It is what pervades all things Although [the ground] exists within the body phenomenon, it did not arise anew from it There is a relationship between the support [the body] and what is supported [the ground].9 Consequently, [the ground] can be made manifest on the basis of the body composed of the six elements.10 This phase of completion of the ground should be known by the many different references to it, such as union,11 vajra yoga,12 and the inseparability of emptiness and compassion The ground-completion phase itself is what is cultivated as the completion phase of the path Consequently, at the time of the result as well, it is solely this ground-completion phase that is made manifest To summarize, innate great bliss, nonconceptuality, natural pristine awareness, and so forth, are what connect the stages: they are the same at the path [stage] as they are at the ground [stage]; and they are the same at the stage of the arising of the result as they are on the path Identification of the Root [of the Path] [b] This section has two parts: an overview; and individual discussions [on emptiness and compassion] An Overview [i] The root of the path is the union of emptiness and compassion From the general perspective of the universal way (mahayana), the root of the path is that which is called “the bodhichitta of the emptiness that has compassion as its essence.”13 That bodhichitta is widely known However, it should be understood that in the unsurpassable ripening 126 C t he t reasury of knowled ge and liberating paths of the indestructible way in particular, and in this context of the completion phase, it is a bodhichitta that is the inseparability of uncommon emptiness and great compassion—the ultimate object to be known, the ultimate object of meditation, and the ultimate result Of those [bodhichittas], the one to be understood in terms of the ground is as described in the Continuation of the Guhyasamaja Tantra:14 Beginningless, endless peace; the sovereign Wherein the phenomenal and noumenal have ceased; The inseparability of emptiness and compassion: That is referred to by the term “bodhichitta.”15 Similar statements appear in numerous scriptural sources The bodhichitta in the context of the path is described in the Brief Presentation of the [Kalachakra] Initiation:16 Emptiness, the image, the apprehended, the cause; Compassion, the unchanging, the apprehender, the result: The inseparability of emptiness and compassion Is the bodhichitta that is not emitted.17 There are many such teachings The bodhichitta at the time of the result is as stated in [Pundarika’s] Stainless Light:18 The emptiness that has the nature of compassion And:19 As for compassion and emptiness, it is explained that “Time” (kala) means the relative, that which has form; And the term “wheel” (chakra) refers to emptiness; “Wheel of time” (kalachakra) means their inseparability.20 There are numerous similar citations Hence, these points [concerning uncommon emptiness and compassion] represent the essence of all the teachings of the sutras and tantras in general and the essence of the unsur- th e ph ase of completion c 127 passable completion phase of secret mantra in particular Therefore, [this bodhichitta is] the ultimate essential purpose of the highest yoga tantras such as Kalachakra, the meaning of évam, and the root of the eighty-four thousand aspects of the teachings.21 Moreover, what is called “Vajrasattva Kalachakra” has the characteristic qualities of the union of emptiness and compassion Thus, all the precious tantras clearly state that [this union] is the essence of their teachings The way in which that [union of emptiness and compassion] itself can serve as the root of the path [is explained as follows]: In the general system of the universal way, it is maintained that, by means of these [emptiness and compassion], the extremes of existence and peace are overcome.22 Likewise, in this [context of the] completion phase, uncommon emptiness and compassion should be considered the means to overcome the two extremes of existence and peace, respectively As to the ways uncommon emptiness and compassion eliminate the two extremes, emptiness cuts through the elaborations of conceptual grasping; compassion [ensures] that the welfare of sentient beings is never abandoned In this context [of the completion phase], compassion is referred to by the word “desire,” in which case desire should be taken to mean the desire that is uncommon great bliss, the great compassion that is the method of the completion phase Moreover, it should be said that great bliss itself will overcome the extreme of peace Since that great bliss has an aspect of desire for sentient beings, [the word “desire”] is used to refer to great compassion, the method This is important to understand and represents a distinguishing feature [of the completion phase] That being so, the inseparability of emptiness and compassion itself is called the “vajra yoga of the union of method and wisdom” and is present throughout [the stages of ] the ground, path, and result Of those [stages,] it is taught that during the time of the path, the pristine awareness of great bliss is inconceivably powerful—even more so than the ultimate truth [of emptiness]—in purifying the habitual tendencies of desire and the other emotional afflictions To explain, first emptiness effects purification, and then great bliss arises from that emptiness That bliss has the capacity to purify every single habitual tendency Therefore, one should understand the statement that of the two—emptiness and bliss—emptiness is the root of the purificatory agent, while great bliss is the principal purificatory agent 128 C t he t reasury of knowled ge Individual Discussions [on Emptiness and Compassion] [ii] This section has two parts: a discussion on emptiness; and one on compassion Emptiness [aa] Emptiness means the emptiness endowed with the supreme of all aspects It is essential to know what is meant by emptiness and compassion [in this context] Therefore, each will be described briefly Many different types of emptiness are delineated in the way of characteristics.23 Apart from those, there are many types of emptiness taught in the superior system of mantra In the first three sets of tantra, [action, conduct, and yoga], emptiness is taught in conjunction with the sixteen Sanskrit vowels24 and the sixteen emptiness-beings Sixteen types of emptiness—the inner emptiness, outer emptiness, and so forth25—are taught in the Indestructible Garland Tantra 26 Fourteen or, alternatively, sixteen emptinesses, such as the emptiness of that which eats and the emptiness of that which is eaten, are taught in the Samputa Tantra.27 Eight emptinesses, the emptiness of looking at form, and so forth, are taught in the Continuation of the Abhidhana Tantra.28 It is, however, the emptiness endowed with the supreme of all aspects, taught in the uncommon Kalachakra: King of Tantras, that represents the final view of all tantras In general, the uncommon emptiness of the completion phase may be differentiated [in various ways] When differentiated according to the ways it manifests, it is classified in terms of light,29 increase of light, culmination of light, and luminous clarity In reference to those, the Indestructible Garland Tantra, for example, speaks of four emptinesses:30 The empty, the very empty, The third, the great empty, And the fourth, the all-empty: These are distinctions of cause and result.31 th e ph ase of completion c 129 As another example, the Primordial Buddha [Kalachakra Tantra]32 teaches ten forms of emptiness, the signs of day and signs of night: Smoke, mirage, fireflies, Lamp, blazing, moon, sun, Rahu, lightning, and great sphere.33 The uncommon emptiness can also be differentiated in terms of phases For example, in the second summary in [Kalachakra Tantra’s] chapter on world-systems, there is a classification of the “sixteen emptinesses” that refer to the sixteen phases that are the elements of the sixteen parts of the dark side [waning moon] These sixteen can be grouped into three categories, or four, when the all-aspects emptiness is included.34 Moreover, emptiness is differentiated according to categories of meanings There are five and six emptinesses when it is divided into conceptual categories: “the five immutable great emptinesses,” which refer to the aspect of freedom from the obscurations of the five aggregates, the five elements, and so forth; and “the six immutable empty essences,” the aspect of freedom from the obscurations of the six sense powers, their six objects, and so forth.35 Although there are these various differentiations, all types of emptiness can be included in three emptinesses: the emptiness to be ascertained; the emptiness that is contemplated on the path; and the emptiness that is the ultimate result The first, the emptiness to be ascertained, is so called because in this context [of the completion phase], [this emptiness] should be ascertained as simply an object to be understood as a general category but need not be an object to be meditated upon The type of emptiness spoken of in the way of characteristics would be an example [of this emptiness] The second is the emptiness that is contemplated on the path In this context, what is principally meant by this is not the emptiness based on analysis, such as the two [types of ] no-self.36 The actual meaning in this context is what is referred to as “unconceived emptiness,”37 the all-aspects emptiness, for example Unconceived emptiness is of two types: emptiness in which appearance and emptiness are not distinguished; and emptiness in which appearance and emptiness are distinguished The first of those, emptiness in which appearance and emptiness are not distinguished, ... he t reasury of knowled ge and liberating paths of the indestructible way in particular, and in this context of the completion phase, it is a bodhichitta that is the inseparability of uncommon... represent the essence of all the teachings of the sutras and tantras in general and the essence of the unsur- th e ph ase of completion c 127 passable completion phase of secret mantra in particular... distinctions of cause and result.31 th e ph ase of completion c 129 As another example, the Primordial Buddha [Kalachakra Tantra]32 teaches ten forms of emptiness, the signs of day and signs of night: