kalac h akra and hevajra c 165 The Eighth [h] The great adept Shantigupta’s system comprises four seals: the pledge seal, Practiced by applying subtle and vital-essence yogas; the real action seal; The phenomena seal on all appearances; and the great seal of six branches As a supplement to those, there is an introduction to the authentic view [This] Hevajra completion-phase [system] containing four essential principles [is] the essence of four seals: [The first is] the pledge seal This is practiced through applying in combination the subtle yoga based on the winds68 and the vital-essence yoga of blazing and dripping based on the four channel-wheels and the two.69 [The second is the action seal.] Once one is able to elicit bliss and emptiness by means of one’s own body as method70 and has gained mastery over the winds, one trains in [methods involving] a real action seal and an imaginary seal.71 [The third is the seal of phenomena.] Once bliss has been developed to the fullest extent, [one practices] the seal of phenomena, which is to seal all appearances with bliss, whereby all phenomena become the seal.72 [The fourth is the great seal.] Having perfected one’s experiences of [the first] three seals, or having gained [at least] some familiarity with them, one meditates on the great seal, the six-branch yoga of withdrawal, meditative absorption, and so forth As a supplement to those, there is an introduction to the [authentic] view, [which entails] (1) equipoise73 [with the understanding] that external things are [simply] experiences of the mind; that these mere experiences have no inherent nature, like the moon reflected on the surface of water; and that the cognizer of experience also lacks inherent nature; (2) the unification of intrinsic awareness and natural bliss; and (3) [the knowledge] that cyclic existence is uncreated and that everything exists as the naturally present mandala of true reality [This] pursuit of the definitive meaning of meditation is the system of Shantigupta,74 a great master in this age of conflict It contains the literal meanings of the actual tantric teach- 166 C t he t reasury of knowled ge ings and elucidates them in close connection with the ultimate and definitive meanings of tantra Minor Systems [2] There are many minor teachings such as the Single Lamp [In addition to those eight,] there are many minor cycles of teachings on the completion phase of Hevajra, such as [those contained in] the cycles of the path to be explained [in subsequent sections of the Infinite Ocean];75 the great master Shantipa’s system of the completion phase of the Innate Yoga;76 and Shri Sattvanatha’s Single Lamp esoteric instructions.77 Mother Tantra Systems: Chakrasamvara cc The Chakrasamvara Completion Phase [II.B.2.c.ii.cc] 1 The Preamble 2 The Detailed Exposition a The Tradition of Luipa b The Tradition of Ghantapa c The Tradition of Krishna [This chapter presents] part three [of the discussion of completion-phase systems in highest yoga mother tantras]: the completion phase in the Chakrasamvara tantra A preamble is followed by a detailed exposition The Preamble [1] There are three great chariot traditions of Chakrasamvara The Detailed Exposition [2] This section has three parts: the tradition of Luipa; the tradition of Ghantapa; and the tradition of Krishna The Tradition of Luipa [a] Luipa’s tradition has a completion phase to strike crucial points of the cause 168 C t he t reasury of knowled ge And a second one to acquire mastery of the awakened qualities of the result The first is twofold, based on the emissary path and based on the yoga path For the yoga path, the followers of Pamtingpa use the three designations: Gathering of vajra-beings, gathering of syllables, and gathering of vital essences, Corresponding to the instructions on the great yoga (relaxation), instructions On wind recitation (the coarse), and instructions on vajra recitation (the subtle) The body of the deity, luminous clarity, and their union constitute the result The lord of adepts, Luipada,1 was the first to establish a chariot[-like] tradition of Chakrasamvara, the very heart of the mother tantras From his teachings was derived a tradition of the completion phase of the [Chakra]samvara Abridged Tantra,2 consisting of two aspects: a completion phase to strike the crucial points related to the vajra body (the cause); and a completion phase to acquire mastery of awakened qualities (the result) The first aspect has two [approaches]: the completion phase based on the female-emissary path; and the completion phase based on the yoga path.3 To the latter completion phase, followers of Abhayakirti (Nepal’s Pamtingpa)—Malgyo Lotsawa and others—4 applied the designation “the three gatherings,” namely, the gathering of vajra-beings, the gathering of syllables, and the gathering of vital essences.5 The meanings indicated by those names6 can be explained using different names: the esoteric instructions on the great yoga (relaxation), the esoteric instructions on recitation [connected with] winds (the coarse), and the esoteric instructions on vajra recitation (the subtle) By means of the first, the great yoga, the winds are gathered and the channel pathways purified.7 By means of the second, wind recitation, the channel-knots are loosened and the winds mastered.8 By means of the third, vajra recitation, the winds and vital essences are bound (as the preliminary practice), and the winds and mind are halted and made to dissolve in the central channel (as the main practice).9 c hakrasamvara c 169 If one is cultivating the yoga path [as one’s main practice], during the third aspect (vajra recitation), one’s practice will be enhanced by applying the female-emissary path If one is cultivating the female-emissary path, one’s practice will be enhanced by applying the yoga path If one is cultivating both of them equally, they will act together, like competitors [aiming for the same goal] Luipada, the crown ornament of the lords of yogins, explains these points in his work known as the Sequence of Visualization of the Glorious [Lord],10 a synopsis of the Yoginisancharya Tantra11 and the earliest of the commentaries on the Chakrasamvara [Tantra] That being said, with regard to the yoga path, Luipa’s text [Sequence of Visualization of the Glorious Lord] states:12 With vowels and consonants imagined in front, Settle at rest by means of the great yoga That represents the first esoteric instruction [that of the great yoga] [The text] also says:13 With the sphere of the moon complete, Imagine it to be in the channel’s center Here “center” means the center of [each of ] the four channel-wheels (or five), referring to the practice in which one trains in the coming and going of the “moon”—[white] bodhichitta—through those channel-wheels Those lines therefore represent the second and third esoteric instructions, taught in those terms because [these esoteric instructions] concern the coming and going of the winds and vital essences in the central channel Moreover, [the same text] says:14 Imagine it in the center of the abode Of the supreme syllable This refers to the attainment of unchanging bliss from the melting [of vital essence]; that is to say, the result of those [practices manifests as] the four descending levels of joy If [the above quotations] are applied to the female-emissary path, the lines that begin ... phase to strike crucial points of the cause 168 C t he t reasury of knowled ge And a second one to acquire mastery of the awakened qualities of the result The first is twofold, based on the emissary... traditions of Chakrasamvara The Detailed Exposition [2] This section has three parts: the tradition of Luipa; the tradition of Ghantapa; and the tradition of Krishna The Tradition of Luipa [a]... Detailed Exposition a The Tradition of Luipa b The Tradition of Ghantapa c The Tradition of Krishna [This chapter presents] part three [of the discussion of completion-phase systems in highest