Introduction to Tantra: The Transformation of Desire (21 page)

The great meditators of the past have said that if we cultivate these four causes—indestructible devotion, freedom from doubt, single-pointedness, and secrecy—and practice steadily and correctly, then all the powerful attainments of the path are definitely within our reach. According to the experience of many practitioners, we can reach a certain point in our meditational training when a great explosion of knowledge and realization occurs. It is as if before we were an ordinary, ignorant being and suddenly we are transformed into a highly realized yogi! This is not a Tibetan religious fantasy; it actually happens.

As ordinary human beings, we are wrapped tightly in blankets of superstition. If we can somehow let go of these smothering concepts, we can cut through to an unbelievably profound dimension of reality immediately.

Even though we are not expecting anything special to happen, suddenly this great explosion of realization takes place, effortlessly and spontaneously. This is definitely possible. But it is no use merely reading about the experiences of others; if we want to receive the benefits of tantric transformation, we must cultivate the experiences ourselves.

Gl ossa ry

Avalokiteshvara (Tib. Chenrezig): male meditational deity embodying fully enlightened compassion.

awakening enlightenment: an enlightened being’s state of having awakened from the sleep of ignorance.

bardo (Tib.): the intermediate state between death and rebirth.

bindu (Skt.):
see
drops.

bliss: an extremely pleasurable feeling; in highest yoga tantra, the very subtle clear light mind experiencing great bliss is focused on emptiness.

bodhichitta (Skt.): the altruistic motive of a bodhisattva; the wish to attain enlightenment in order to benefit others; the fully open and dedicated heart.

bodhisattva (Skt.): someone whose spiritual practice is directed toward the achievement of enlightenment; one who possesses the compassionate motive of bodhichitta.

buddha (Skt.): a fully enlightened being; one who has removed all obscurations veiling the mind and has developed all good qualities to perfection; the first of the Three Jewels of refuge.

Buddha:
see
Shakyamuni Buddha.

buddhahood:
see
enlightenment.

central channel (Skt. avadhuti, shushuma; Tib. tsa uma) the major energy channel of the vajra body, visualized as a hollow tube of light located in front of the spine.

chakra (Skt.): energy-wheel; a focal point of energy along the central channel upon which one’s concentration is directed, especially during the completion stage of highest yoga tantra.

channels (Skt. nadi): a constituent of the vajra body through which energy-winds and drops flow.

clear appearance: visualization of oneself and one’s surroundings in the purified form of a meditational deity and mandala; cf. generation stage.

clear light (Tib. ösel): the very subtlest state of mind, achieved when all the energy-winds have dissolved into the central channel as happens during death and the completion stage of highest yoga tantra.

compassion (Skt. karuna): the wish for all beings to be separated from their mental and physical suffering; a prerequisite for the development of bodhichitta; symbolized by Avalokiteshvara.

completion stage (Tib. dzogrim): the second of the two stages of highest yoga tantra, during which control is gained over the vajra body through such practices as inner fire.

concentration: the ability to focus the mind on any chosen object of meditation and keep it there.

cyclic existence:
see
samsara.

daka (Skt.): literally, a sky-goer (Tib. kadro); a male being who helps arouse blissful energy in a qualified tantric practitioner.

dakini (Skt.): literally, a female sky-goer (Tib. kadroma); a female being who helps arouse blissful energy in a qualified tantric practitioner.

Dalai Lama: the temporal and spiritual leader of Tibet, recognized as the human embodiment of Avalokiteshvara, the buddha of compassion; the current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, was born in 1935 and is the fourteenth of his line.

death: the separation of the mind from the body at the end of one’s life.

definite emergence (Tib. ngejung): the attitude of wishing to leave behind the sufferings of samsara and their cause and to attain instead the peace of nirvana or the full enlightenment of buddhahood; commonly referred to as renunciation.

deity yoga: the tantric practice of generating oneself in the form of a meditational deity within purified surroundings.

delusion (Skt. klesha; Tib. nyonmong): an obscuration covering the essentially pure nature of the mind and thereby responsible for suffering and dissatisfaction; chief among the delusions is ignorance, out of which desirous attachment, hatred, jealousy, and all the other delusions grow.

Dharma (Skt.): spiritual teachings; literally, that which holds one back from suffering; the second of the Three Jewels of refuge.

dharmakaya (Skt.):
see
truth body.

divine pride: the strong conviction that one has achieved the state of a particular meditational deity; cf. generation stage.

drops (Skt. bindu): a constituent of the vajra body used in the generation of great bliss; of the two types, the red drops are received from one’s mother and the white drops from one’s father at conception.

dualistic view: ignorant view characteristic of the unenlightened mind in which all things are falsely conceived to have concrete self-existence; to such a view, the appearance of an object is mixed with the false image of its being independent or self-existent, thereby leading to further dualistic views concerning subject and object, self and other, this and that,
etc.

ego-grasping (Skt. atmagraha; Tib. dagdzin): the ignorant compulsion to regard one’s own personality or “I” as permanent, self-existent, and independent of all other phenomena.

emanation body (Skt. nirmanakaya): form in which the enlightened mind appears in order to benefit ordinary beings; cf. three bodies of a buddha.

empowerment (Tib. wang): transmission received from a tantric master allowing a disciple to engage in the practices of a particular meditational deity; also referred to as an initiation.

emptiness (Skt. shunyata): the absence of all false ideas about how things exist; specifically, the lack of the apparent independent, self-existence of phenomena.

emptiness-yoga: in Buddhist tantra, the practice of dissolving all ordinary appearances into emptiness as a prerequisite for arising in the purified form of a meditational deity.

energy-wheel:
see
chakra.

energy-wind (Skt. prana): a constituent of the vajra body; the energy serving as the mount for the various gross and subtle states of consciousness.

enjoyment body (Skt. sambhogakaya): form in which the enlightened mind appears in order to benefit highly realized bodhisattvas; cf. three bodies of a buddha.

enlightenment (Skt. bodhi): full awakening; buddhahood; the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice, attained when all limitations have been removed from the mind and all one’s positive potential has been realized; a state characterized by unlimited compassion, skill, and wisdom.

equanimity: an even-minded attitude toward everyone, cultivated by overcoming the habit to classify others as either friend, enemy, or stranger; the necessary basis for developing the compassionate bodhichitta motivation.

four classes of tantra: the division of tantra into kriya (action), carya (performance), yoga, and anuttarayoga (highest yoga).

four noble truths: the subject matter of Shakyamuni Buddha’s first discourse, or sutra; namely, (1) suffering, (2) the cause of suffering, (3) the cessation of suffering, and (4) the path leading to this cessation.

generation stage (Tib. kyerim): the first of the two stages of highest yoga tantra, during which one cultivates the clear appearance and divine pride of one’s chosen meditational deity.

graded path (Tib. lamrim): a presentation of Shakyamuni Buddha’s teachings in a form suitable for the step-by-step training of a disciple.

guru (Skt; Tib. lama): a spiritual guide or teacher; one who shows a disciple the path to liberation and enlightenment; in tantra, one’s teacher is seen as inseparable from the meditational deity and the Three Jewels of refuge.

guru yoga (Skt.): the fundamental tantric practice whereby one’s guru is seen as identical with the buddhas, one’s personal meditational deity, and the essential nature of one’s own mind.

hatha-yoga (Skt.): physical exercises designed to make the body more supple, thereby helping to remove blockages impeding the proper flow of the energy-winds; used in certain practices related to the vajra body.

Heruka Chakrasamvara (Tib. Korlo demchog): male meditational deity of highest yoga tantra.

highest yoga tantra (Skt. anuttarayoga tantra): the fourth and supreme division of tantric practice, consisting of generation and completion stages, capable of leading the practitioner to full enlightenment within one lifetime.

ignorance (Skt. avidya; Tib. marigpa): the mistaken belief in the independent, self-existence of things; the delusion which is the root of samsara and the source of all suffering, eradicated by the wisdom of emptiness.

illusory body (Skt. mayakaya; Tib. gyulu): a subtle bodily form generated through the practice of the completion stage of highest yoga tantra.

initiation:
see
empowerment.

inner fire (Tib. tummo): energy residing at the navel chakra, aroused during the completion stage of highest yoga tantra and used to bring the energy-winds into the central channel; also referred to as inner heat, psychic heat.

insight meditation (Skt. vipashyana): investigation of and familiarization with the actual way in which things exist; used to develop the wisdom of emptiness.

intermediate state:
see
bardo.

Kalachakra (Tib. Dukor): literally, cycle of time; male meditational deity of highest yoga tantra whose practice contains instructions in medicine, astronomy,
etc.
as well as the path to enlightenment.

karma (Skt.): action; the working of cause and effect whereby positive actions produce happiness and negative actions produce suffering.

kaya (Skt.):
see
three bodies of a buddha.

kundalini (Skt.): blissful energy dormant within the physical body, aroused through tantric practice and used to generate penetrative insight into the true nature of reality.

lama (Tib.; Skt. guru): a spiritual guide or teacher in the Buddhist traditions of Tibet; cf. guru.

liberation:
see
nirvana.

Madhyamaka (Skt.): the middle way; a system of analysis founded by Nagarjuna, based on the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras of Shakyamuni Buddha, considered to be the supreme presentation of the wisdom of emptiness; cf. middle way.

mahamudra (Skt.): the great seal; a profound system of meditation upon the mind and the ultimate nature of reality.

mahasiddha (Skt.): a greatly accomplished tantric practitioner.

mandala (Skt.): a circular diagram symbolic of the entire universe; the abode of a meditational deity, understood as the emanation of the wisdom of that deity; figuratively, one’s personal surroundings seen as a reflection of one’s state of mind.

Manjushri (Tib. Jampelyang): male meditational deity embodying fully enlightened wisdom.

mantra (Skt.): literally, protection of the mind; Sanskrit syllables recited in conjunction with the practice of a particular meditational deity and embodying the qualities of that deity.

Marpa (1012–1096): founder of the Kagyu tradition of Tibetan Buddhism; renowned tantric master and translator; disciple of Naropa and guru of Milarepa.

meditation: the process of becoming thoroughly familiar with beneficial states of mind through both analytic investigation and single-pointed concentration.

meditational deity (Tib. yidam): a male or female figure embodying a particular aspect of the fully enlightened experience and used as the focus of concentration and identification in tantra.

middle way: the view presented in Shakyamuni Buddha’s Perfection of Wisdom Sutras and elucidated by Nagarjuna that all phenomena are dependent arisings, thereby avoiding the mistaken extremes of self-existence and nonexistence, or eternalism and nihilism; cf. Madhyamaka.

Milarepa (1040–1123): foremost disciple of Marpa, famous for his intense practice, devotion to his guru, attainment of enlightenment, and his many songs of spiritual realization.

nadi (Skt.):
see
channels.

Nagarjuna: Indian mahasiddha who elucidated the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras of Shakyamuni Buddha and founded the Madhyamaka school of philosophy.