Tantric Techniques (57 page)

When it is sent above the ninth joint,
a
There is that called “transference.” Through this path [the ill effects

Of ] killing Brahmins daily,

Committing the five deeds of immediate retribution, Theft, and using desirous attributes are stopped.

One will not be polluted with ill deeds,

And the phenomena of cyclic existence will become distant. Just as the color of a lotus

Grown from mud is beautiful,

So a pristine wisdom body arises of its own accord From the body of an excellent [yogi].

When the time comes, transference is to be done. When through this the physical signs arise,

The intelligent initiate the yoga.
b

It is said that if the supreme [feat of Buddhahood] is not achieved through transference, one achieves [the level of ] a Knowledge Bearer, and then gradually achieves the supreme. For, the
Great Sacred Word
says:

If the three bodies are not achieved,

One will become a chief of Knowledge Bearers, Gradually becoming the great seal.

and the
Condensed K
ā
lachakra Tantra
also says:

When the winds of the two [channels] are stopped, an opening is made at the crown of the head, whereupon one goes to the cities of the supreme.

By thoroughly activating the vajra in the mind, everything together with the area becomes just [a land of deities] making use of space.

If one is not endowed with effort [but] is without infractions, one achieves [the supreme feat of Buddhahood] in three or seven births. Jñ
ā
n
ā
kara’s
Introduction to Secret Mantra
says:
c

Those who are endowed with the cause but lack

a
Translation doubtful; the text (28.5) reads
tshigs dgu las ni yar gtong na
.

b
Whether
sbyor ba
(yoga) here refers to the main part of the yoga of transference or to the connection to the new life-situation, the meaning is similar.

c
gsang sngags la ’jug pa, mantr
ā
vat
ā
ra;
P4541, vol. 81, 196.3.2.

238
Tantric Techniques

Certain conditions, like a great medicinal tree, Will in three lives see emptiness well

And be released without [the passage of much] time.
a
and the
Buddha Skull
says:
b

Though the [supreme] feat is not attained in this birth, In another birth the feat is attained.

and the
Secret Treasury
says:
c

If one is endowed with thorough bestowal of initiation, Initiation will be conferred in birth after birth.

In the seventh birth of that [person]

Feats will be attained even without meditation. If those who possess feats

Abide in the pledges and vows,

Even though due to karma they do not achieve [the supreme feat] in this birth,

They will attain the [supreme] feat in another birth.

For those who temporarily let their pledges deteriorate, Never mind the attainment of feats

Even human birth is difficult to attain. Also, Kalk
ī
Pu
ṇḍ
ar
ī
ka’s
Stainless Light
says:

When those who have thoroughly entered the path die without having attained yoga, then through the force of predispositions they attain all in another human birth again. Over seven births at the most, even those who are not endowed with effort and do not meditatively cultivate pristine wisdom [do so].

In the
K
ā
lachakra Tantra
there is no mention of more than seven births, but lamas say that the lowest achieve [the supreme feat of Buddhahood] in sixteen births. Moreover, the
Vajrashekhara
says:

a
Peking (196.3.2) misreads:
stong nyid legs mthong
du
med grol,
whereas it should read
stong nyid legs mthong
dus
med grol
in accordance with 29.3.

b
sangs rgyas thod pa shes bya ba rnal ’byor ma’i rgyud kyi rgyal po, buddhakap
ā
lan
ā
mayogin
ī
tantrar
ā
ja,
P63, vol. 3.

c
de bzhin gshegs pa thams cad kyi gsang ba gsang ba’i mdzod chen po mi zad pa gter gyi sgron ma brtul zhugs chen po bsgrub pa’i rgyud, sarvatath
ā
gataguhyamah
ā
guhyako
ś
a-ak
ṣ
ayayanidhid
ī
pamah
ā
vratas
ā
dhanatantra;
P453, vol. 9.

Bu-tön Rin-chen-drup’s Stimulating Catalogue
239

[If ] vajric [practitioners] make manifest effort In all births—birth after birth—

At the most in sixteen births

They will attain peace, Buddhahood.

The main causes of accomplishing this path are purity of pledges and vows of restraint, predisposing latencies for a good path in this life, and the power of aspirational wishes such as:

May I in birth after birth

Be born in [a family of good] lineage,

Have a sane
a
Hevajra teacher endowed with the pledges, Have respect for gurus, and possess the pledges.

May I in birth after birth

[Hold in] my hands vajra and resounding bell. May I read the doctrine of the profound

And have the food of a consort’s essential fluid.
b

The Chapter on the Internal in the
K
ā
lachakra Tantra
says:

If yogis—who due to a very fluctuating mind do not attain the king of yogas—die,

They will be born in a glorious human world possessing yo-ga in a [family of good] lineage able [to accomplish] the very supreme.

Due to prior familiarization, those who lack the yoga of pristine wisdom will again thoroughly encompass it.

When pristine wisdom has been attained, they will proceed to the inexhaustible supreme state without being reborn.

That is the feature of a swifter path. [The features of ] having easier and more methods were explained earlier [in connection with Tripi
ṭ
akam
ā
la’s
Lamp for the Three Modes,
209] and [the feature of ] greater skill in means is similar to [Tripi
ṭ
akam
ā
la’s description of ] nonobscuration [208].

a
Read
smyo
med
for
snyo
med
at 29.2 in accordance with the
Medium-Length
version, 639.4.

b
Read
mnyam
zas
for
mnyam
za
at 29.3 in accordance with the
Medium-Length
version, 639.5. The meaning of
mnyam
is unclear.

240
Tantric Techniques

[How Ratn
ā
karash
ā
nti Divides the Perfection and Mantra Vehicles]

Moreover, the master Ratn
ā
karash
ā
nti [in his
Presentation of the Three Vehicles
]
a
says that the Perfection and Mantra vehicles do not differ with respect to the ultimate truth but do differ with respect to the profundity and vastness of conventional truths. Because whatever objects of observation appear are meditated as deities, [Mantra] is more vast. Since [M
ā
ntrikas] hold in mind the pledges that the Buddhas of the three times have undergone, special blessings into a magnificent state are engendered, whereby [Mantra] has vaster assistance. Also, in accordance with how Buddhas and Bodhisattvas bring about the welfare of transmigrators and bless lands into purity, [M
ā
ntrikas] similarly engender [such marvelous deeds]; therefore, [Mantra] has vaster deeds. Because Proponents of the Middle Way School, Proponents of the Mind-Only School, Hearers, and Solitary Realizers do not have these three, they become fully purified over three or four periods of countless eons. However, since Mantra has these, full purification occurs in a short time; hence, there is a great difference. [As Ratn
ā
karash
ā
nti says:]
b