Tantric Techniques (21 page)

The
Susiddhi Tantra
teaches the approximation and the achievement related with the fierce Susiddhi, the details of his activities, and those topics in the presentation of initiation in the
General Secret Tantra
that need supplement. The
Questions of Sub
ā
hu
teaches the measure of [having completed] approximation of the deities indicated in the
General Secret Tantra
and the
Susiddhi
as well as how to achieve limitless activities.

The Action Tantra
Concentration Continuation
teaches the mode of progressing on the paths in Action Tantra in general—the concentrations of the four branches of repetition, abiding in fire, abiding in sound, and bestowing liberation at the end of sound as well as what to do before and after those, rites for [achieving] yogic feats, rites of burnt offering, how to practice, in what sort of place, and so forth.

Tsong-kha-pa briefly cites the
General Secret Tantra
in connection with initiation, which is the main topic of that tantra, and cites the
Questions of Sub
ā
hu
only a few times—with regard to how to repeat mantra, qualities of calm abiding, and achieving feats—but his presentation is mainly structured around copious usage, cited and

a
legs grub kyi rgyud
,
susiddhitantra;
P431, vol. 9.

b
bsam gtan phyi ma rim par phye pa
,
dhy
ā
nottarapa
ṭ
alakrama;
P430, vol. 9.

c
pa
ṇ
chen bsod nams grags pa,
1478-1554.

d
Presentation of the General Tantra Sets: Captivating the Minds of the Fortunate
(
rgyud sde spyi’i rnam par bzhag pa skal bzang gi yid ’phrog
), as cited in
Deity Yoga,
246-247. See also the translation in Panchen Sonam Dragpa,
Overview of Buddhist Tantra,
trans. by Martin J. Boord and Losang Norbu Tsonawa (Dharmsala, India: Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 1996), 28-29.

86
Tantric Techniques

uncited, of the
Concentration Continuation
and the
Susiddhi,
with their commentaries by Buddhaguhya
a
and Varabodhi
b
respectively. The
Concentration Continuation
and Buddhaguhya’s commentary present the actual meditations very clearly but do not detail the preliminary rites, the pledges, and so forth, which Tsong-kha-pa takes from the
Susiddhi
and Varabodhi’s formulation of it into a daily practice rite called a “means of achievement.”
c
Almost all of Tsong-kha-pa’s presentation can be found in these two tantras and two commentaries. His creative innovation was to interweave them into a complete system of practice of this class of Tantra.

The practice of deity yoga is employed in order to become close to, or approximate, the state of a deity—a pure, ideal being—and hence it is found, but not exclusively, in a phase called “prior approximation”
d
within the triad of prior approximation, effecting achievement of feats, and activities. “Prior approximation” is a prerequisite to techniques, such as making offerings in fire or performing special series of repetitions of mantra, to induce achievement of unusual yogic feats.
e
These feats are in three categories:
f

1. pacification
   g
   such as avoiding untimely death, illnesses, epidem-ics, harmful influences, and contagion
   

2. increase
   h
   such as lengthening life span, youth, magnificence, power, qualities of realization, and resources
   

3. ferocity
   i
   such as killing, expelling, or confusing harmful beings. These accomplishments—which also include clairvoyance, the
   

a
sangs rgyas gsang ba;
eighth century
.
His commentary is
bsam gtan phyi ma rim par phye ba rgya cher bshad pa, dhy
ā
nottarapa
ṭ
ala
ṭī
k
ā
;
P3495, vol. 78.

b
In Tibetan, his name is usually
byang chub mchog,
but Dül-dzin-drak-pa-gyel-tsen calls him
ye shes mchog
. Also called Vil
ā
savajra, he flourished in roughly the same period as Buddhaguhya, the eighth century, and his commentary is
legs par grub par byed pa’i sgrub pa’i thabs bsdus pa, susiddhikaras
ā
dhanasa
ṃ
graha;
P3890, vol. 79.

c
sgrub thabs, s
ā
dhana
.

d
sngon du bsnyen pa.

e
dngos grub, siddhi
.

f
Deity Yoga,
174.

g
zhi ba.

h
rgyas pa.

i
drag po/ drag shul.

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87

capacity to understand all treatises immediately upon reading them, and so forth—are sought in order to enhance the power of the yoga that comprises prior approximation. Thus, although the triad of prior approximation, effecting achievement of feats, and engaging in altruistic activities suggests a movement from the first to the last, the yoga that constitutes the first phase is the most important. The feats that allow a practitioner to perform special activities for the benefit of others bring about merit that further enhances the capacity of this same yoga so that Buddhahood can be achieved. Let us turn to the many steps of the yoga of prior approximation.

As Tsong-kha-pa’s student Ke-drup clearly says in his
Extensive Explanation of the Format of the General Tantra Sets,
a
the phase of prior approximation is divided into two parts—concentration with repetition and concentration without repetition. The first also is called the “four-branched repetition,” the four branches being (1) imagination of a deity in front of oneself, (2) imagination of oneself as a deity, (3) imagination of a moon disc sometimes at the heart of the deity in front and sometimes at one’s own heart, and (4) imagination of the written letters of the mantra, set upright around the edge of the moon disc. Repetition of mantra is
eventually
performed within constant maintenance of these four elements, and thus the entire first phase, much of which does not involve repetition of mantra, is called the “four-branched repetition.”

The concentration with repetition is preceded by many activities that serve as preparations for it, conveniently included within the concentration with repetition by dividing it into two parts— preliminaries and the actual four-branched repetition. Since the actual yoga is our main concern, the preliminaries will be discussed only briefly here.

Preliminaries to concentration with repetition

The preliminaries are in four parts, concerned with establishing the motivational and the physical context in which the yoga will be conducted. They precede imagination of a deity in front of oneself

a
Lessing and Wayman,
Mkhas Grub Rje’s Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras,
158.1.

88
Tantric Techniques

and involve extensive preparation for the visit of a deity, who is treated like a guest. Practitioners establish themselves in humility, altruism, self-sacrifice, and pure perception in the first phase and then bathe and enter the sacred place of yoga. Offerings are cleansed of obstructors (including autonomous complexes) and then blessed into a state of magnificence. The practitioners themselves as well as the place are similarly protected from the interfer-ing influence of obstructors. The overall structure is that first most-ly
mental
adjustments in motivation, attitude, and perception are made, after which
external
adjustments, enacted both physically and mentally, are taken.

Tantric systems often treat as external forces what many other psychologies would consider internal; in Jungian terms, the wisdom behind this tantric externalization is that autonomous complexes are thereby confronted in a manner preventing identification with them and thus being overpowered by them. Also, the contemporary psychological exaggeration in which complexes are considered to be “mine” as if they were somehow within one’s sphere of control becomes impossible. On the negative side, excessive projection onto the environment could lead to misidentifying as external the source of what are actually internal problems with the result that one becomes paranoically concerned with outside forces—be these beings on a different plane or just other people in one’s environment—which are actually projections of one’s own afflictive emotions. Indeed, some practitioners seem caught in a process of external projection that they seek to relieve through the performance of rites. Still, I do not want to fall into the arrogance of the assumption that
only
projection is involved; I by no means feel justified in assuming that there are not harmful (or helpful) external entities on a subtle level.

Let us list the preliminaries to concentration with repetition:
a

What to do initially in the place of dwelling

Making the seal and reciting the mantra of the general lineage Homage to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas

Offering oneself

Refuge and altruistic mind generation Protection through mantra and seal Reflection on purity

a
For detail see below, 167ff., and
Deity Yoga,
79-101.

The Path in Action Tantra: Divine Body
89

Going outside

How to bathe outside and enter the place of practice

Bathing

Picking up earth Self-protection

Expelling obstructors in the body Creating vajra armor

Dispelling obstructors

Casting mantra into the water Mantrafying the earth Ablution

Protecting and tying up the hair

Mantrafying, circling, and rubbing earth on the body Stirring the water

Offering to the Three Jewels Pouring water on the head

Inviting the deity and bathing his/her body Entering the temple and engaging in the pledges

Having dressed and sat on the cushion, blessing the offerings

Removing contamination Sprinkling the cushion and sitting

Putting on the circlet,
kusha
grass sprinkler, head binder, and image of the crown protrusion

Dispelling obstructors Generating magnificence

Protecting oneself and the place

Self-protection

Making a seal and reciting a mantra for expelling obstructors in the body

Repeating the mantra for all activities into scented water and sprinkling it on yourself, dispelling obstructors

Place-protection Sprinkling

Creating the ritual dagger Fumigating

Binding obstructors Creating a fence Creating a latticework Closing off the area

Many of the steps are concerned with cleansing the environment

90
Tantric Techniques

and oneself of “obstructors”—these being protection through man-tra and seal, self-protection, expelling obstructors in the body, creating vajra armor, dispelling obstructors, removing contamination, again dispelling obstructors, self-protection, and the seven steps of place-protection. The number of times that such rituals are performed suggests that we live in a world bombarded with counterproductive forces, whether their source be external or internal, and that ordinary life is buffeted and swayed by them. When these are understood to include autonomous complexes (as I think they should be), the picture is of a mind subject to a continuous barrage of influences of its own making, much like Freud’s depiction of the unconscious as a seething cauldron of repressed impulses seeking expression, necessary to be held in check, constantly afflicting one’s perceptions and interactions but, for the most part, working unseen havoc. The practitioners themselves, their place of practice, the water with which they bathe, the dirt (like a soap) they use to wash their bodies, their hair, the deity to be invited, and the offerings to be given to the deity are cleansed of the contamination of these forces. At the end of the preparations, all obstructors in the area are bound, and then in what would be redundant were it not for the near uncontrollability of such contents (remember Jung’s reference to their “impishness”), a fence is erected to keep out obstructors. This not being enough, a roof of interlaced vajras is erected on the fence, and a blazing mass of fire outside all of this closes off the area. Now that elements causing interference and interruption have been put at bay, the meditation can begin.

It is said that on the night before the dawn of his enlightenment Sh
ā
kyamuni Buddha conquered with the meditative stabilization of love a host of demons, attractive and unattractive, that appeared to him. At this point in tantric meditation, however, a massive defense-structure to keep demons away is erected, albeit with-in a motivation of love and compassion. Perhaps these defenses are used to create a space in which a basically diseased mind can begin to create positive mental forces, but it is also possible that they are used within a context of projection and denial and are aimed at fo-restalling recognition of their origin within oneself. It is not difficult to imagine that someone attempting this yoga could become a rather nasty person to live with, constantly projecting inner impulses onto the environment and fighting against others in order to ward off evil forces that actually are that person’s own afflictive

The Path in Action Tantra: Divine Body
91

emotions. Still, the quasi-otherness with which these forces are treated constitutes recognition that despite the basic Buddhist doctrine that contamination is from within, the extent of this contamination is so great, so difficult to face, so intimately associated with our being and, when it becomes close to consciousness, so lia-ble to overpower the personality, that it is necessary to treat them under the guise of otherness. Earlier, we saw how Jung’s descriptions of the problems attendant upon inflation revealed the enormity of the enterprise of deity yoga; here, from within this traditional system itself, we gain a sense of the condition of the ordinary mind as swamped in a sea of karmically created forces. Again, a picture of the enormity of the task of purification that is at the heart of deity yoga is painted.