200 C t he treasury of knowled ge A flash of lightning is an effect that lasts only momentarily A water bubble is simply a form that arises and then vanishes The Illusory Body in Its General Sense [bb] Illusory body in its general sense means the meditation of illusion-like contemplation The understanding that appearances lack true existence is gained through examples There is a pure illusory body The actual illusory body, the goal of one’s practice, is [the illusory body] in its hidden sense However, prior to that one must meditate on what is referred to as the “illusory body in its general sense,” a contemplation of the illusion-like [nature of things] That means the impure illusory body, [a perspective] shared by [the way of ] the perfections.27 What is to be meditated upon and understood conclusively through examples, such as a phantom display, a dream, and so on, is that all these appearances of existence and liberation—the things that make up the outer environments and inner inhabitants of the three realms—have no true existence despite their appearing [as real] To explain, all these external and internal things are the composite creations of causes and conditions They are impermanent, [changing] moment by moment Without any true essence, they are merely the manifestations of dependent origination Hence, they are like illusions Concerning the way to practice [the illusory body in its general sense], whereby the examples of illusion are applied to forms and other phenomena, the Subhuti Chapter of the [Transcendent Wisdom in] Eight Thousand [Verses] states:28 Lord, it is not the case that there are forms on the one hand and illusions on the other Forms in themselves are illusions Similarly, the other [aggregates]—feelings, recognitions, and mental formations—are all illusions Even consciousness itself is illusion The Indra chapter [of the Transcendent Wisdom in Eight Thousand Verses], for example, states:29 th e key elements c 201 Illusions and sentient beings are one and the same They cannot be separated Specifically, one meditates that one’s own body and others’ bodies are like reflections, voices like echoes, and minds like mirages The Samvarodaya [Tantra] states:30 View every creature as being like the moon on water Realize that what is heard is the same as an echo Regard even the mind as a mirage on a desert Thus, all phenomena of existence and liberation, while being empty, distinctly appear as the very embodiments of illusion That, in effect, [defines] the illusory body in its general sense The [Hevajra Tantra] Two Examinations states:31 This nature of all things Is purely illusory form Then, in the uncommon indestructible way, what is meditated upon is the “pure illusory body”: the resident [deities] and residence mandala, the body of pristine awareness, perfectly illustrated by the twelve examples of illusion This is the special illusory body [Nagarjuna’s] Five Stages states:32 It is like the clear reflection Of a finely painted Vajrasattva In an immaculate mirror The body with the supreme of all aspects, Which is gazed at insatiably, Will be shown to a good disciple:33 That is referred to as “self-consecration.”34 The characteristics that reveal its illusory nature Precisely indicate this very same [body]: The illusory [body] that is the relative truth [The special illusory body] accords with the twelve examples of illusion in the following ways: 202 C t he treasury of knowled ge Like a phantom human, although it is without any true existence, it possesses all the limbs and the head, the fingers and toes Like the moon reflected on water, it is a single thing that can appear anywhere Like an optical illusion, it is incorporeal Like a mirage, it shifts moment by moment Like a dream, it is produced by the mind alone Like an echo, it is generated from causes and conditions Like a city of gandharvas, it is an unpredictable appearance Like an hallucination, or like a cloud, it is one but appears as many Like a rainbow, it is vividly apparent yet immaterial Like a flash of lightning, it is sudden but impermanent Like a water bubble, it arises instantaneously Like a mirror reflection, it appears while having no true nature The Illusory Body in Its Hidden Sense [cc] From that special type dawns realization Wind and mind arising as the deity’s body after the luminous clarity of the four empties Is its hidden sense, the very core, illustrated by the rainbow, reflection, and moon on water When experiential understanding of the common [system’s illusory body in its] general sense has been gained through meditation, and when realization of the uncommon [system’s] special [illusory body] has arisen in one’s mind, one then applies the [illusory body in its] hidden sense To expand on that, when the winds have dissolved in the central channel, the three empties (or four) are elicited.35 At the end of the full culmination of that, or the end of luminous clarity,36 in an instant, from just wind and mind, the body of the deity arises This is known as the “illusory body in its hidden sense” and is the very core of the illusory body [Nagarjuna’s] Five Stages states:37 That consciousness triad in itself 38 Truly possessed of the winds Again arises as the body of the yogin: That is known as the “illusory body.”39 th e key elements c 203 [Naropa’s Elucidation] Summary of the Five Stages states:40 Although formed of merely wind and mind The illusory body has an actual appearance Masters differentiate between an actual illusory body and one that is a similitude The actual illusory body is the arising from the special empty as a deity of only wind and mind caused by the winds having dissolved in the heart [channel-wheel] The similitude illusory body is the arising from the empty as a deity of only wind and mind41 due simply to the winds dissolving on their own This [illusory body in its hidden sense] is illustrated by the twelve examples of illusion in the same ways as is the previous [general sense] Nagarjuna states:42 By means of a mirror’s reflection One should understand the illusory body Its colors are like those of a rainbow, Its ubiquitousness, like the moon on water.43 [The illusory body in its hidden sense is] an instantaneously complete form, like an image reflected in a mirror Its colors are vivid and distinct, like those of a rainbow It is a single thing that is ubiquitous, like the moon reflected on water These three examples are thereby used to illustrate [its nature].44 The Ultimate Illusory Body [dd] A link is formed through the illusory body of the union with training; And the ultimate, utterly pure, illusory body of the deity is attained Once perfect familiarity with the illusory body in its hidden sense has been achieved, with the channels, winds, and vital essences cleansed of all obscurations, a link [with the ultimate illusory body] is formed by way of the cause—the union [that requires] training—which consists of the illusory body that is a rainbow body 204 C t he treasury of knowled ge With all karmic traces and emotional afflictions purified by the innate pristine awareness of luminous clarity, one actualizes, as the result, the ultimate, utterly pure, illusory body of the deity in the form of the enjoyment dimension, the union beyond training [This is] the ultimate illusory body The illusory body in its hidden sense, as it pertains to this discussion, has been expounded by scholars in numerous and conflicting ways [This illusory body] is evidently of extraordinary [significance]—the very aorta of the highest yoga tantras—and will therefore [now] be presented according to the viewpoints of Lord Mikyö [Dorjé] and his followers In general terms, [they explain that] within the supreme channel (central channel) there has always been an extremely subtle vital-essence-andwind [union], which is the support for innate bliss, and the seed of the undefiled body This is what is actualized as the illusory body In order to actualize the illusory body, it is necessary first to experience the four joys resulting from the dissolution of the winds in the central channel In particular, at the conclusion of the three empties sustained through the process of gathering winds and mind at the heart [channelwheel], one must actualize wind and mind as the illusory body To so, having first [perfected] the three isolations, with the outer factor of a seal and the inner [factor of ] mind isolation, one fully elicits pristine awareness in the forward order.45 Thereafter, in the reverse order, one actualizes the body of Vajrasattva—adorned with all the major and minor signs—from the pure essences of wind and mind For this, there are many synonyms such as self-consecration and relative truth [Nagarjuna’s] Five Stages states:46 That is referred to as “self-consecration.” The characteristics that reveal its illusory nature Precisely indicate this very same [body]: The illusory [body] that is the relative truth That dimension of enjoyment In itself is a gandharva being The vajra body is that alone, The nature of Vajrasattva ... channel, the three empties (or four) are elicited.35 At the end of the full culmination of that, or the end of luminous clarity,36 in an instant, from just wind and mind, the body of the deity arises... truth [The special illusory body] accords with the twelve examples of illusion in the following ways: 202 C t he treasury of knowled ge Like a phantom human, although it is without any true existence,... body that is a rainbow body 204 C t he treasury of knowled ge With all karmic traces and emotional afflictions purified by the innate pristine awareness of luminous clarity, one actualizes, as