Tantric Techniques (53 page)

They illuminate sources of worship In countless Buddha lands.

They listen to the unthinkable excellent doctrine.
a
Through hearing
b
such with intelligence,

The unthinkable qualities of a Buddha arise. and the
Vairochan
ā
bhisambodhi
also says:

Having practiced this, M
ā
ntrikas Themselves go about in space.

Living for an eon with great magnificence, Those Conqueror Children die when they wish. They even go to other worldly realms.

They assume various forms of principal beings. Through achieving mantras arisen from substance, They thoroughly make offerings to the glorious.

This is described as the feat

Of nondeteriorating substance. and:

Through this their minds become very joyous, and having also attained long life, they thoroughly enjoy play and joy with the five attributes of the Desire [Realm]. They make offering to the Buddhas, the Supramundane Victors, and achieve this path discordant with the world. The Ones-Gone-Thus and the Bodhisattvas, having perceived the im-port of this, happily set forth rites of the mode of Secret Mantra practice. Why? That which is not attained even upon endeavoring at difficult deeds with exertion and striving over many eons is attained in only this one life by Bodhisattvas practicing the Bodhisattva deeds by way of Secret Mantra.

Objection:
This contradicts the statement in [Ratn
ā
karash
ā
nti’s]
Commentary on the “All Secret Tantra”
c
[a Yoga Tantra text] that [Buddhahood] is not quickly attained through Action and

a
Read
bsam med
for
bsa pa
at 18.7 in accordance with the
Medium-Length
version, 628.1.

b
Read
nyan
for
nyang
in accordance with the
Extensive
version (18.7).

c
thams cad gsang ba’i bshad sbyar gsang ba’i sgron ma, sarvarahasyanibandharahasyaprad
ī
pa;
P3450, vol. 76. This is a commentary on
thams cad gsang ba rgyud kyi rgyal po, sarvarahasyo n
ā
ma tantrar
ā
ja;
P114, vol. 5.

Bu-tön Rin-chen-drup’s Stimulating Catalogue
225

Performance:

Full purification through causal yoga is described in the systems of the Perfection [Vehicle] as well as Action Tantra, and so forth; it arises over a very long time. [However,] because all of the Great Vehicle is included in Yoga Tantra through causal and resultant yogas and so forth, enlightenment is attained just very quickly.

Answer:
There is no such fallacy because that [passage] is referring to attaining the fruit [of Buddhahood in Action and Performance] more slowly than in Yoga Tantra and above, whereas here the reference is to [attainment of Buddhahood in the Mantra Vehicle, which,] due to method, is speedier than in the external Definition [Vehicle]. Since there is no bestowal of feats
a
through the power of a deity in the external Definition [Vehicle] but there is here [in Mantra], there is a difference [between the two]. For, (1) a
Commentary on the K
ṛṣ
h
ṇ
ayam
ā
ri Tantra
says:
b

Even in the Action and Performance systems, the object of achievement and the means of achievement do not work but for a long time; those are just arisen from imagination because there feats are completed through the power of a god
c
included in a painting, and so forth. Yoga Tantra differs in this way: through the yoga of one’s own deity, concordant feats are achieved upon observing the deity included in the painting, and so forth.

1. In Yoga Tantra practiced persons
   d
   enter a ma
   ṇḍ
   ala, and through the mere descent of pristine wisdom the first ground is attained; then, they become fully purified [as Buddhas] very quickly. Non-practiced persons assume a vow henceforth to turn away from nonvirtue and gradually become completely purified; even
   

   

   a
   dngos grub
   ,
   siddhi
   .
   

   b
   There are four commentaries on the
   K
   ṛṣ
   h
   ṇ
   ayam
   ā
   ri Tantra
   , P2782-2785, vols. 66-67, by Ratn
   ā
   karash
   ā
   nti, K
   ṛṣ
   h
   ṇ
   a chen po, Avadh
   ū
   ta Kum
   ā
   racandra, and Padmap
   āṇ
   i; for instance, the one by K
   ṛṣ
   h
   ṇ
   a chen po is
   gshin rje gshed nag po’i rgyud kyi rgyal po mngon par mthong ba lam gyi sgron ma zhes bya ba’i rgya cher bshad pa
   ,
   k
   ṛṣṇ
   ayam
   ā
   ri-tantrar
   ā
   j
   ā
   prek
   ṣ
   a
   ṇ
   apathaprad
   ī
   pan
   ā
   ma
   ṭī
   k
   ā
   .
   

   c
   Read
   lha’i
   for
   lhas
   at 20.2 in accordance with the
   Medium-Length
   version, 629.3.
   

   d
   chos ldan gyi gang zag
   . Kensur Yeshi Thupten tentatively identified this as someone who is maintaining vows.
   

   226
   Tantric Techniques
   

   

   the lowest [among them] definitely become fully purified in sixteen births. After the passage [quoted] above from the
   Vajrashekhara Tan-tra,
   it says:
   

   The Very Joyful ground is attained, There is no doubt about Vajrahood.
   

   Or through only seeing [the ma
   ṇḍ
   ala] they pass Beyond sorrow in sixteen births.
   

   The Very Joyful is attained Or even Vajrahood itself.
   

   They make sun and moon fall to the earth And become of the nature of space.
   

   A common being achieves Buddhahood, It is not otherwise.
   

   The master
   Ā
   nandagarbha says on the occasion of indicating the benefits of seeing a ma
   ṇḍ
   ala:
   

   Through mere entry [into a ma
   ṇḍ
   ala] pristine wisdom descends. Then, those on whom wisdom has descended attain the Very Joyful ground and so forth. Therefore, it is said that if it is not difficult to gain even the full achievement of a One-Gone-Thus, what need is there to say anything about other feats! This indicates that due to abiding in the vows of a fully ordained monk, a fully ordained nun, and so forth feats are attained very quickly and that others [will attain feats] later upon taking vows of restraint.
   a
   

   On the occasion of the benefits of having achieved the great seal, in commentary on the passage:
   

   If you become mindful [of yourself ] as a Buddha, You will quickly become just a Buddha.
   

   [
   Ā
   nandagarbha] says:
   

   That [indicates that] when this [deity yoga] is thoroughly accomplished, one becomes just a Buddha. In this very life, one attains Buddhahood.
   

2. In Great Yoga Tantra [that is, Highest Yoga Mantra] those of sharp faculties and great effort achieve [Buddhahood] in this very
   

a
The meaning of “vows of restraint” (
ldog pa’i sdom pa
, 21.2) is unclear; according to Yeshi Thupten, it may mean to turn away from the unfavorable.

Bu-tön Rin-chen-drup’s Stimulating Catalogue
227

life; the middling achieve it as they are about to die or in the intermediate state, and the lowest, at the most in seven or sixteen births. The
Guhyasam
ā
ja Tantra
a
says:

The enlightenment that Bodhisattvas do not attain, though they strive and seek it for as many eons as there are grains of sands of the Ganges, [is attained] in this very life by Bodhisattvas who take joy in the union of the secret,
b
who come to be among the number whom the Ones-Gone-Thus call “Buddha.”
c