We start the practice with the focus on samsara. Now samsara
consists
of six realms or the six states;
so there is a separate meditation for each of these. In each case
you
meditate on the sensations of
that specific realm and then on the emptiness of those sensations.
You
do so by looking at the direct
nature of your own mind and thereby experiencing the emptiness of
the
sensations.
So the first realm is the hell realm and, among the two types of
hell
realms, the hot hell. During
these meditations you will be visualizing yourself in your
ordinary
form with the exception that you
visualize your body as hollow. So, from the outside, you will look
as
you look and from the inside
there are no bones or guts.
In the center of your right foot towards its heel, visualize a
black
Duh syllable. You then think that
all of the karma which is likely to cause your rebirth anytime
in
hell, all of the karma accumulated
by others which will cause their rebirth in hell, and all of
the
hellish kleshas that afflict you and
others, are drawn into that black Duh syllable. The syllable in
your
foot is then transformed into the
realm of the hot hell, clearly like an image in a mirror. Then
you
imagine that you, in the form of a
little body, are actually in that hot hell inside your right foot.
Try
to imagine it as clearly as
possible, the inconceivable suffering of the hot hells. While you
are
doing so, you repeat the mantra
Ram Naraka at least seven times. The first part, while doing
this
contemplation, is to imagine
yourself burning in the hot hell and then towards the end of it
you
look directly at the nature your
mind which causes the appearance and the sensations of the hot
hell
realm to dissolve into emptiness.
Next, in the same way, you visualize in the corresponding place
in
your left foot an identical black
Duh syllable, and withdraw into that all the karma and
kleshas
accumulated this life and in previous
lives by yourself and others that causes rebirth in the cold
hell.
Again, imagine that you are stuck
there and are experiencing all the inconceivable suffering of
extreme
cold. While doing so, you recite
the mantra Kham Naraka seven times and then you look at the nature
of
the mind of the meditator, the
person visualizing this, the experiencer, the person who is
experiencing the suffering and looking at
the nature of the mind. At this point of course is the return to
the
practice of Mahamudra or Trekcho,
and by doing so the appearances dissolve into emptiness.The purpose
of
these first two meditations is,
through the direct experience of emptiness, to purify the habit of
the
two hells.
The second realm, from the bottom up, is the preta or hungry
ghost
realm. The corresponding meditation
concerned with this realm begins by visualizing a red Preh in
your
lower abdomen that is in the center
of your body at the level of the genitals. You think that all of
the
karma accumulated by yourself and
others, through greed and the klesha of greed itself, in short
all
wrong doings and obscurations that
can cause birth as a preta are withdrawn into this red syllable.
At
that point, it is transformed into
the preta realm. You imagine, after being born there, intense
suffering of hunger, thirst and craving.
You recite the mantra Sarva Pretaka at lease seven times and
then
again you look at the nature of the
mind of the person meditating, the person experiencing, and by
doing
so the contents of the meditation
dissolve into emptiness.
The third samsaric realm is the animal realm. For this you
visualize a
dark red colored syllable at
the level of the navel in the center of your body; its a dark red
Trih.
You think that all of the karma and kleshas that cause the rebirth
as
an animal, principally the karma
and kleshas associated with stupidity and apathy, are drawn into
this
syllable which is transformed
into the habitat or realm of animals. You imagine yourself born
in
this realm and, as vivid as
possible, imagine the suffering you are experiencing being born
an
animal, such as enslavement and
being preyed upon. The suffering that is fundamental to this realm
is
the suffering of stupidity and
the inability to communicate. You recite the mantra Sarva Tiryaka,
at
least seven times. Then at the
end, as before, you look at the nature of the mind of the
meditator,
the experiencer, causing all the
appearances of the meditation to dissolve into emptiness.
The fourth realm, the first of the so called fortunate or
higher
realms, is the human realm. Here you
visualize the syllable at the center of the heart and the syllable
is
Nrih, it is green. Then you
think of all of the causes of human rebirth, principally the klesha
of
desire and the karma
accumulated through desire by yourself and others, dissolving
into
this green syllable which becomes
the four continents of the human world. Imagine yourself born
there
and the sufferings most astigmatic
to the human realm are birth, aging, sickness and death. Try
to
imagine these four as clear as
possible. While doing so the mantra that is recited is Sarva
Anuse,
seven times. Then afterwards you
look at the nature of the mind, the meditator, the experiencer,
and
the appearances dissolve into
emptiness.
The second of the higher realms and the fifth realm in samsara is
the
realm of the Asuras or non gods.
Here the place is the center of the throat, the syllable is Suh,
and
it is yellow. You visualize that
while thinking that all of the causes of rebirth, principally
the
klesha of jealousy and the actions
motivated by jealousy, are drawn into that syllable which is
transformed into the Asura realm. You
then imagine you are born in and stuck in this realm and that you
are
undergoing the suffering of an
Asura. Now, because their nature is jealousy, their principal
suffering is unsuccessful warfare
against the gods and you imagine all the experiences of being
killed
and wounded. You recite the
mantra Sarva Asurra seven times. And then again you look at the
nature
of the mind, the meditator, the
experiencer, and the appearances of the Asura realm dissolves into
emptiness.
The sixth and highest realm within samsara is the god or deva
realm.
You visualize the syllable Ah,
white in color, inside your head toward the top. Again you think
that
all of the causes for rebirth in
the deva realm are withdrawn into the syllable. Principal among
these
are the klesha of pride and
actions motivated by pride. All of this dissolves into the
syllable
which is transformed into the god
realm, specifically the type of god realm which is called the
deva
realm of desire. You imagine that
you are born in that realm and experience the suffering of a
deva.
Now, generally speaking, the devas
enjoy tremendous pleasure, comfort and prosperity, but since they
are
still within samsara it ends and
when it ends they experience incredible suffering, the suffering
of
death and downfall. Because the
deva realm and life in the deva realm is so pleasant, when they
see
signs of their impending death,
[they do sometimes before it occurs] they suffer terribly because
of
what they are losing. Now,
because of the contrast with the subsequent rebirth, which they
can
see; so obviously if they know
that they are going to be reborn in one of the three lower realms
they
suffer. But, even if they are
going to be reborn as a human or as an Asura, they suffer because
of
not having control or choice.
Think that you are experiencing the suffering of a deva, and
repeat
the mantra Sarva Deva seven times.
And as before, look at the nature of the mind of the meditator,
the
experiencer, which is the practice
of Mahamudra or Trekcho, and the appearance of the meditation of
the
deva realm dissolves.
In that way you eradicate or prevent the birth in and experience
of
the suffering of the six realms.
At the end of all six phases of the meditation you again look at
the
nature of your mind. The point is
to realize that the experience of suffering, such as the
individual
sufferings of the six realms, the
experience of suffering is mind; it is not something other than
mind.
These sufferings occur, but they
occur as manifestations or display of mind and mind is not
anything,
it is empty of being anything. So
by recognizing the emptiness of mind and the emptiness of the
experiences of mind, this is an
instruction for preventing rebirth in the six realms. This is
also
referred to closing the door of
rebirth in the six types of existence.
At this point or phase of the contemplation you recite the
six
syllable mantra of The Great
Perfection, which prevents rebirth in the six realms.
AH AH SAH SAH MAH HAH
Next, in the same meditation, you visualize the embodiment of
the
wisdom body speech and mind of all
buddhas, as the three syllables in your three places. So, inside
your
head, you visualize a white Om,
inside your throat, a red Ah, and in your heart, a blue Hum. You
then
think that the blessing and
wisdom of the body speech and minds of all the buddhas are drawn
into
these three syllables. Once
these blessing and wisdom of the buddhas are drawn into these
syllables, they blaze with wisdom fire,
the fire of five colors in each case.
Now, previously after visualizing each realm, you looked at the
nature
of your mind, and the
visualization of each realm dissolved, but you didn’t totally get
rid
of the realms. Here you are
going to get rid of them. So you think that the wisdom fire
which
comes from these three syllable
fills your whole body, burning up and away the six realms all at
once,
and the seeds which cause the
rebirth in them. While visualizing that, you recite the mantra OH
AH
HUM. That’s the samsara part.
Now we come to the nirvana part. The nirvana part is the
contemplation
of the Three Jewels, but
starting from the bottom up. So first sangha, the dharma and then
the
buddha. Now during the previous
meditation you visualized yourself in your ordinary form. You
are
going to change that; first you are
going to visualize yourself as the sangha. The supreme member of
the
Mahayana sangha is the
Bodhisattva Maitreya because he is going to be the next buddha. He
is
the closest member of the sangha
to buddhahood. You visualize yourself as Maitreya and while doing
so
you recite the mantra; NAMO
SANGHAYA.
Next is the contemplation of the jewel of the dharma. You think
that
your body, as the Bodhisattva
Maitreya, is transformed in an instant into the embodiment of
dharma.
The realization of dharma is
depicted as the female deity. The cause of all awakening, the cause
of
all buddhahood is the
perfection of discernment, Prajnaparamita. Although the perfection
of
discernment is truly the
realization of the nature of all things, because it is the cause
of
all awakening when it is depicted
as a deity, it is called the great mother Prajnaparmita. So
you
visualize yourself as her because she
is the embodiment of all dharma. She is gold in color with four
arms
and so on. You recite the mantra;
NAMO DHARMAYA, three times.
Then there is the jewel of the buddha. You think that you, as the
form
of the great mother, are
transformed in an instant into the Buddha Sakayamuni, and
visualizing
yourself as the buddha you
recite the mantra NAMO BUDDHAYA, three times. Then having
visualized
yourself as the buddha, you
visualize yourself as the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. The reason
you
visualize yourself as Chenrezig
at this point is that he is the embodiment of the compassion of
all
buddhas. So you think that you,
the Buddha Sakayamuni, are transformed into the Bodhisattva
Avlalokiteshvara, and you visualize
yourself as him in the usual manner, white in color with one face
and
four arms, and you recite the
mantra OH MANI PADME HUM, three times.
Then in order to reveal or enhance the power of compassion you
think
that Avalokiteshvara is
transformed into his ferocious or wrathful form, Hayagriva.
Now
Avalokiteshvara has these two aspects
because compassion itself is embodied in the peaceful form and
the
power or effectiveness of
compassion is in the wrathful form. So you visualize yourself
as
Hayagriva, who is red in color and
recite the mantra; OM HAYAGRIVA HUM PHAT, three times.
Now all of this is basically connected with the purification of
the
body, and your body is composed of
the five elements, earth, water, fire, air, and space. Not only
your
body but all of the external
phenomena are composed of the five elements as well. While
reflecting
that the five elements do not
exist independently, that things appear that way as the display
of
mind, you recite the essence
syllable of the five elements; E YAM RAM BAM LAM, three times. E,
the
essence of space, YAM, the
essence of wind or air, RAM, the essence of fire, BAM, the essence
of
water and LAM, the essence of
earth. That section is the purification of body.
The second section is the purification of speech. The purification
of
speech is done through the use
of the syllable HUM, by mantra.You sit in the same posture,
except
that you join the palms of the
hands above the top of the head, and you visualize your body as a
five
prong golden vajra. In the
center of the vajra you visualize your mind as a blue HUM, and
you
think that from the bindu at the
top of the HUM lots of blue HUMS emerge and come out of your body,
the
golden vajra, and fill the
entire universe with HUMS. Then you think; they return and
come
together into one cubic size HUM, in
the space in front of you. Then you think from the HUM, in the
center
of the vajra, which is somewhat
identified with your heart, more HUMS come out and this time they
fill
your body. While doing this
recite three long HUMS, and then after that, for the rest of the
time
you do short HUMS, recited in
groups of three.
The final part of the preliminaries done after that is called
the
natural settling of body, speech and
mind. So after doing all of these you then rest your mind without
any
contrivance or artifice in
primordial purity, which means you return to the Trekcho or
break
through practice that you did
earlier.
The practice of breakthrough or Trekcho is the basis for the
teachings
and practice of the six lamps,
which constitute the path of the leap over. The practice of Togel
in
itself has two aspects, the
preliminaries and the main practice.
Now we come to the presentation of the actual practice, which
is
called the introduction of the six
lamps. The use of the term lamp, or torch, connotes or
denotes
something that dispels darkness. What
we are trying to do in our practice is recognize a direct
experience
of the Dharmata, or nature of all
dharmas or things. This is of course the nature of our own
mind.
Principally we recognize it by
looking at our own mind. The first thing you can say about your
own
mind is that it is emptiness
because it is empty of any substantial existence. If that was all
the
mind was, just emptiness and it
was nothing, then we could not call the mind, or the nature of
the
mind, a lamp. It would not have the
capacity to dispel darkness; in fact it would be darkness
itself.
While your mind’s nature is
emptiness, it is not obscurity or darkness, it is illumination.
Along
with the mind’s emptiness, the
other character that defines the mind is cognitive lucidity
or
awareness. So here the first use of the
term lamp is to refer to the nature of your mind, which is like
a
lamp, in being the unity of
cognitive lucidity and emptiness.
There are six aspects to this lamp or the illuminating quality of
ones
basic nature. The first is
called the abiding lamp of the ground. This is what was pointed out
in
the chapter which introduced
Mahamudra and Trekcho or breakthrough. Any sentient being by
definition has a mind. Any being that has
a mind possesses the same fundamental nature. All minds are of
the
same nature and this nature is
emptiness, not obscurity. It is an emptiness that is
inseparability
from lucidity. This lucidity which
is the defining characteristic of a mind, or of cognition, is at
the
same time the innate ability to
achieve the perfect wisdom of buddhahood, the innate ability
to
realize the nature of all things.
Therefore, this lucidity, which characterizes any and all minds,
is
called Sugatagarba or the seed or
nature of those who have gone to bliss. Now the term sugata refers
to
a buddha and it means those who
have gone to bliss, those who no longer are remaining in a state
of
suffering. When it is said we all
possess the basic nature of that, it means we all possess the
ability
to transcend suffering, the
ability to achieve buddahood. So cognitive lucidity in and of
itself
is the seed of the potential to
achieve and the ability to achieve awakening. And this is so
because
we always have this as our basic
nature.
The first of the six lamps, the abiding lamp of the ground, is in
a
sense an explanation or common to
Togel and Trekcho. The others are uncommon, in that they are
only
explained or pointed out in the
contents of Togel instruction. Now Dharmata, the nature of things,
if
you look at it from the point of
view of its vastness in scope is literally the nature of all
things.
Therefore it is all pervasive.
But the root of Dharmata is the mind and therefore the
primary
observation of Dharmata is in one’s own
mind.
We saw before that the mind has two aspects, what it is or how
it
really is, and what it appears to be
or how it appears. In terms of how the mind appears, the mind
appears
to reside in the body. The way
we experience is our appearing to be a resident of our body.
This
means that while Dharmata is all
pervasive, because it is the nature of mind and because the
mind
appears to reside within the body,
Dharmata is most apparent within your body. Now your mind
pervades
your whole body, but especially the
mind itself.
In the primordial wisdom of the sugatas, the principle mind is
seated
within the heart. Therefore, the
second lamp is called the citta flesh lamp. So the heart is the
lamp
made of flesh or living tissue.
The reason for this is that, as we saw earlier, while you are
alive
the fundamental seat of the eighth
consciousness is your heart. Now when you die and your mind
leaves
your body, that’s a whole different
thing. Your body becomes a corpse. But as long as you are alive,
your
body and mind are
interconnected. Therefore, the second lamp is the heart, which is
the
seat of mind.
The third lamp is called the smooth white channel lamp. This is
the
channel which connects the heart
to the eyes. The eyes are the fourth lamp and the third lamp is
the
channel that connects these two.
It is this channel that causes the appearances of Dharmata, seated
in
the heart to be visible. In
order to be visible obviously they have to appear to the eyes and
the
connection between the heart and
eyes is called the smooth white channel lamp. Now it is a channel,
but
it is a channel that does not
contain either blood or lymph. It is empty of everything except
wind.
For example, in some Dzogchen
tantras it says, “It is in the white place of the brain that
the
appearances arise to the senses.”
This refers to the vision of the eyes because this channel
passing
from the heart, the smooth white
channel lamp, passes via or through the brain.
The fourth lamp is called the distant lasso water lamp. This refers
to
something that is in the center
of the eyes. Because you can see things that are distant, its
called
the distant lasso water because
of the composition of the eye. It refers, not to the entire eye,
but
to the sense faculty within the
eye that is at the end of the smooth white channel lamp. The
smooth
white channel lamp starts at the
heart and ends at the optic nerve.
The fourth lamp is the gate for the appearance of wisdom. The
wisdom,
in this case, refers to the
display of Dharmata and the condition for its appearance is the use
of
the eyes in a particular way,
or gaze, in connection with a source of light. Traditionally the
sun
is given as the main example but
it can also be the light of the moon, an electric light, or a
light
from a flame. Through the
application of gaze you cause to appear to the fourth lamp, or in
the
fourth lamp, the eyes, a rainbow
like light phenomenon. This embodies the purity of the Dharmakaya
and
the five certainties of the
Sambhogakaya, initially appearing as multi colored light and
circles
of light. The gate for that
appearance is the distant lasso water lamp. When you do this and
apply
the gaze and make use of the
four lamps explained thus far, what you will see looks something
like
the tail of a peacock which
contains circles, which are often five different colors; one
surrounding another like circular shields
used in warfare.
What you are seeing with the fourth lamp is the fifth lamp which
is
called the pure lamp of the
expanse. Here it is called the pure lamp of Dharmadhatu. Through
the
meeting of the fourth and fifth
lamps you experience the spontaneous display of the nature of
all
things. This means that what you are
seeing is not a created or composite physical phenomenon. Within
the
rays of light, which are created
by the gaze, you see not only large circles or spheres but lots
of
minute or little ones, like a net
of pearls or little drops like fish eyes, and sometimes they appear
in
moving patterns of lattice
networks. That aspect of what you are seeing is the appearance of
the
unceasing activity of
Nirmanakaya. What you experience is called the display of the
Trikaya
in the form of rainbow lights;
they are the unlimited display of the same nature; the Dharmata.
What
you are seeing are the three
kayas as the unified appearances. Know that they appear in
different
ways; know that in reality the
different modes of appearances of the three embodiments are in
essence
indivisible from reality
itself.
The way you do this is by using a light source and in this text
the
example used is the sun. Usually
you use the sun as soon as it has arisen or as it sets. But,
whenever
you do it, it has to be done in
a certain way for this to work and for it to be safe.
First thing, you do not look at the sun. You are not trying to get
the
direct light of the sun into
your eyes. Nor do you look at the rays of the sun in the usual
sense,
as the sun has rays coming out
of it. What you do is look one cubit below the sun, some distance
from
it, and you cause the
appearance of rays by squinting. By closing your eyes half way
you
adjust them exactly as to how much
you close them, to what or how much you need to, in order to
generate
the appearance of rays. When
this happens, one of the things that occurs is you cause the
appearance of refractions of the light,
so that it appears in different colors. The squinting of the
eyes
causes the rays of light to appear
like aligned weapons, like parallel spears, which seem like a
downpour
of weapons shooting into
oneself at your heart.
This one aspect of this training, and one benefit of this, is that
you
prepare yourself for the
appearances of the bardo. Because, in the bardo after death the
light
of wisdom appears in part as
brilliant rays of light that you perceive as threatening, as
weapons,
as something that you have to be
afraid of. So one thing you are doing in this practice is learning
to
recognize such phenomena as your
own display and not as something coming from outside
yourself.
When you do this you see five colors of light. The five colors
of
light are considered the display of
emptiness. The reason that you see the five colors is because in
the
impure context or form, we
experience the five poisons, attachment, aversion, pride,
jealously
and apathy. If they are recognized
in their pure nature, these are the five wisdoms, which are
inseparable from the five buddhas. In the
impure context we experience the five aggregates, form,
sensation,
perception, mental formation and
consciousness. In the pure form they are the five buddhas;
Varochana,
Akshobhya, Ratnasambhava,
Amitabha and Amoghasiddhi. In the impure contents we experience
the
five elements. Blue light is the
element of space, white light of water, yellow light of earth,
red
light of fire and green light of
air. In their pure form they are the five female buddhas. The
dark
blue light is Akasadhatvisvari; the
white light is Buddhalocana; the yellow light is Mamaki; the red
light
is Pandaravasini and the green
light is Samayatara.
The five colors of light are the five families in nature, white
sugata
family; blue vajra family;
yellow ratna family; red padma; and green karma. But if they
are
unrecognized, they are the five winds
which give rise to the five physical elements. Again, if
unrecognized,
they are the five directions;
the center, south, west, east and north. If their nature is
recognized
they are the five pure realms.
If unrecognized they are the five maras; the mara of the lord
of
death, means everyone is subject to
death which of course interrupts their practice. The mara of
the
aggregates refers to the physical
body, encased in this material human body subject to its changes.
The
klesha mara or mara of
disturbing emotions is to be caught up in these emotions, as
all
sentient beings are. The mara of the
child of the gods is the demon of seduction. It is our inner
voice
that whispers to oneself and gives
wrong advice, such as, there is something more interesting
than
practicing. Do it later, tomorrow,
next week or next month. If recognized they are the five
wrathful
deities, vajra heruka, ratna heruka,
and so forth.
The technique just presented using the creation of appearances of
rays
from a light source, such as
the sun, is called the ‘introduction to rays.’ The appearances
are
classified as light rays and sound.
Another instruction that is given is called the ‘introduction
to
squeezing the oceans.’ The word
‘oceans’ is referring to the eyes and this is the technique where
you
squeeze or press on your eyes
with your fingers, and by doing so you see light. The light that
you
see is said to be the display of
the wisdom light of the peaceful deities in your heart. In order
to
see this particular light you have
to squeeze quite hard. So don’t do it for very long.
The third one which is connected to sound is called ‘the
introduction
to the waves of the ocean.’ This
one, with your fingers, you block the ears by pressing on them.
First
very indistinct and then
progressively louder and louder, you hear a hum or humming, that
is
said to be the nature sound of
Dharmata.Now the point of all these techniques is to use the
appearance as a means for realizing the
nature itself, or Dharmata. You can also do this by remaining
in
complete darkness. Generally speaking
the techniques that use light are called instructions or guidance
in
brightness and the ones that
depend on darkness are called the instruction in darkness.
These appearances can arise through meditation practice using
these
techniques or they also happen
after you die in the bardo. When these appearances arise in the
bardo
they constitute the sixth lamp,
which is called the ‘bardo lamp of time.’ Although in the bardo
the
appearances of light and sound are
far more intense then what you experience through practice in
this
life. Nevertheless, through
familiarization with this phenomenon in this life in practice,
you
gain the ability not to be
intimidated by these appearances through your recognition of them
as
empty display.
Now the part of the bardo or the phase of the bardo, in which
these
things appear, is called the
‘bardo of Dharmata.’ When you are dying, what is called the life
wind
is gradually weakening. Now, it
is the life wind that keeps you alive, and the life wind also
keeps
the white element, which you have
inherited from your father in place at the top of your body; and
the
red element that you have
inherited from your mother in place in the lower abdomen. As the
life
wind becomes weaker and
weakening, these two start to move. It is as though the wind has
a
pressure that keeps these elements
in place. As the life wind starts to become more and more impaired
the
white element, inherited from
your father, descends from the top of your head downward through
your
body, you experience an all
encompassing whiteness. As the red element inherited from your
mother
begins to move upward from the
lower abdomen, you experience an all encompassing redness. When
the
life wind is no longer
functioning, then these two elements meet at the heart and
encapsulate
the seed of the mind within the
heart causing an experience of all encompassing blackness, or
darkness.
Immediately after that there is an experience of emptiness,
an
experience of the nature of all things,
just as it is, without any other appearances or other factors
interfering with it. That initial
experience of emptiness and what happens immediately after that,
is
called the ‘bardo Dharmata,’
because it is the display or experience of the nature of things
itself.
If you have become familiar with the nature of things through
meditation, in the preceding life, then
there will be no difference between the Dharmata that you
have
experience and the Dharmata that
presents itself to you at that point and being able to recognize
the
present Dharmata. Because of your
experience with it in practice is called the ‘meeting of the
mother
and child Dharmatas.’ The mother
is what arises for everyone, and the child is what you have
cultivated
and familiarized in practice.
So in that way through practice you are able to recognize the
nature,
then you remain in that
recognition in the state of samadhi for sometime. If you do
not
recognize it, then that brief glimpse
of emptiness ceases and you start to see the appearances of the
clear
light such as the peaceful and
wrathful deities, lights and sounds and so on. It is at that
point
that familiarity with these,
through meditating on the lights, circles and the forms of
deities
will be of benefit.
In Trekcho and essence Mahamudra the main point is to be able to
rest
in and sustain the continuity of
the view. When practicing Togel while maintaining the view, one
uses
whatever manifests as an
adornment in the sense of acknowledging that all the
different
experiences are actually the display or
manifestation of innate wakefulness.
If you have the habit of meditating on this aspect of The
Great
Perfection, then you can achieve
liberation at that point in the bardo. So therefore, at this
point,
Karma Chagmey Rinpoche says, “In
order to prepare for that aspect of the after death experience,
you
should regularly gaze at light in
this way.” He also says, “If you do this assiduously you will
see
truly wondrous things.” He cautions
us at this point. He says, “Make no mistake what you are seeing
when
you do this authentically is not
like looking at a rainbow that appears in the sky. It is not
external
light in that way, because it is
the spontaneous display of the five families. Therefore, when you
see
these five color rays of light,
it is no different from seeing the five Buddhas themselves.”
He
concludes, “If you have purified karma
you will actually see the forms of deities, peaceful deities
like
Avalokiteshvara, Amitabha and Guru
Rinpoche, wrathful deities, like Hayagriva, and so on.”
The practice, of course, consists of the common preliminaries,
the
four thoughts, the uncommon preliminaries, the practice of
generation
and completion of Mahamudra and the Dzogchen practices of Trekcho
and
Togel. So at this point he presents a way to apply these as an
on
going practice. First of all, whatever you practice you must
insure
that you don’t do it for your own benefit alone. At the beginning
of
any session of practice clarify concisely your motivation for
doing
it. Recollect that there are innumerable beings who are
suffering
intensely, who lack the happiness that they seek. So resolve
that
whatever practice that you do, whatever virtuous actions that
you
perform will be done for their benefit. In that way, before
the
session begins, generate bodhicitta. Then at the beginning of
the
session briefly recollect in sequence the four thoughts which
turns
the mind and then briefly meditate in sequence on the
uncommon
preliminaries; each of the four or five, if refuge and bodhicitta
are
considered separate uncommon preliminaries. For the main
practice
visualize yourself as Chenrezig, as instructed in the text,
and
visualize the Buddha Amitabha present above your head as the lord
of
your family. Then think that Amitabha is the embodiment of all
the
root and lineage gurus and in order to reinforce that thought,
invite
all the root and lineage gurus, including all of the siddhas of
India
and Tibet, and cause them to dissolve into Amitabha. Next invite
all
of the yidams which you are connected with, such as
Vajrasattva,
whomever, invite all of them and dissolve them into yourself
as
Chenrezig.
Then visualize the seed syllable HRIH in your heart and the
six
syllable mantra OM MANI PADME HUNG surrounding it. Reflect upon
the
fact that the mantra is the essence mantra of all yidams
without
exception. Now the reason for this recollection of Amitabha as
the
embodiment of all gurus and Chenrezig as the embodiment of all
yidams,
and his mantra as the embodiment of all essence mantras, is so
while
doing this one practice you can be simultaneously accomplishing
all
gurus, all yidams, and all mantras. Think that rays of light from
the
syllable HRIH and its surrounding mantra in your heart emerge
filling
the entire universe which is transformed into the realm of
Sukhavati.
These rays of light also strike all beings, transforming each
and
every one of them into the bodhisattva Chenrezig, resting in
the
attitude that the entire universe is Sukhavati, and all beings
within
it are Chenrezig. It is the maintenance of the first of what
are
called the three barings, and this is the baring or outlook of
all
appearances as the body or presence of the deity.
After that commence the repetition of the mantra OM MANI PADME
HUNG,
and while you recite it, think that simultaneously all beings in
the
form of Chenrezig recite the mantra along with you.
Contemplating
that, while reciting the mantra, is the practice of the second
baring
or outlook, which is the attitude that all sound is the speech
or
mantra of the deity. The particular value of this is that by
contemplating, without distraction, that all beings without
exception
recite the mantra along with you, every single mantra that you
recite
is the equivalent of billions of mantras. After the recitation,
then
look at your mind and whatever thoughts arise, good or bad,
simply
look at them without distraction and without any attempt to
alter
them. Practicing that is the third baring, the attitude that
all
thoughts and memories are the mind or wisdom of the deity. In
that
way, you practice what is called the three fold baring.
The third part of the three fold baring is the outlook that
all
thoughts and recollections are the mind of the deity includes
the
practice of Mahamudra and the Trekcho aspect of the practice of
the
Great Perfection. In that way, the practice of the three fold
baring,
appearances as the deity’s presence, sound as the deity’s speech
or
mantra and thoughts and recollections as the deity’s mind or
wisdom,
includes the practice of the generation stage, the completion
stage
and their unity. As to how to perform these, you can practice
all
three barings simultaneously. In that way, you have one
simple
practice which includes all the essential points. But if that
is
difficult, you can also practice them in sequence as they
were
explained here.
Now in addition to this Chagmey Rinpoche says: “At sunrise and
sunset
or if you don’t use the sun, when you have access to a
suitable
electric light or candle, do the Togel practice of gazing at the
rays
and when you first arise in the morning and the last thing before
you
go to sleep at night practice Tonglen, taking and sending. This is
the
taking of the suffering of others and the giving to them of
your
happiness, in coordination with the breathing. Finally, just
before
you go to sleep, dedicate all of the virtue you have
accumulated
during that day to the awakening of all beings with the
aspiration
that all beings achieve buddhahood without impediment as quickly
as
possible. In addition, from time to time, make the aspiration to
be
reborn in the pure realm of Sukhavati. If you practice all of this
in
a relatively simple and concise format you have a complete practice
of
dharma.
The ideal dedication is one which you are free of the idea that
the
dedication exists, the dedicated virtue exists and the recipient
of
the dedication exists. But you might ask, how do you do this? The
best
way is to rest in the state of practice without straying and
remain
looking at the nature of your own mind, without straying from
that
recognition, dedicate the virtue to all beings.
Every time you practice, every time you contemplate these things
and
every time you listen to them, seeds or habits are imprinted in
you
all-basis consciousness, habits of generation stage practice,
completion stage practice, Mahamudra, and so on. So you are
very
fortunate to have exposure to these things, to practice these
things,
to gain experience of these things. Recollecting that even when
it
becomes difficult, maintain an attitude of confidence, enthusiasm
and
devotion. In short practice as much as you can.