Tantric Techniques (33 page)

We have been discussing the meditative stabilization of exalted body from within the concentration with repetition. (It is

134
Tantric Techniques

important to remember that “repetition” means repetition of man-tra but there has been no repetition of mantra until this point ex-cept as a technique for resting.) Now meditators pass from the meditative stabilization of exalted body to the meditative stabilization of exalted speech, which itself has many phases that span not only the remaining half of the concentration
with
repetition but also the first two of the three phases of the concentration
without
repetition. This means that the meditative stabilization of exalted speech does not necessarily involve repetition of mantra, as will be explained below.

Having achieved stable appearance of their own bodies as di-vine and having established a stable sense of themselves as deities designated in dependence upon pure mind and body, practitioners move to a more subtle level—the three meditative stabilizations of exalted body, speech, and mind being a series of increasingly more subtle levels of meditation. As Tsong-kha-pa says:
a

Here [with respect to the concentrations of Action Tantra] three meditative stabilizations are to be generated: observing divine body, observing divine speech mantra, and observing suchness—the divine mind. The first is a “very gross” or very coarse meditative stabilization. The second is subtler than that, and the third is very subtle. Hence, the order is definite, since they must be generated in the men-tal continuum in stages, beginning with the coarse.

Within the meditative stabilization of exalted speech itself, there are levels of coarseness and subtlety structured around the objects being observed, meditators always beginning with the more coarse. Also, mantra repetition is done first in whispered form, which is coarser, and then mentally, which is subtler.
b
Success with the for-mer undoubtedly opens possibilities for greater success with the latter, even if it appears that one could perform the latter right away.

The part of the meditative stabilization of exalted speech that is included within the concentration with repetition is basically in two sections—repetition of mantra within observing the
form
of the letters and repetition of mantra within observing the
sound
of the letters. In the first, the practitioner observes the form of the letters

a
Deity Yoga,
164.

b
Ibid., 146.

Mantra Repetition
135

(or syllables) of the mantra initially in the heart of the deity in front and then the letters are moved to the practitioner’s own heart where the meditation continues. Let us consider these stages.

Repetition of mantra within observing the form of the letters at the heart of the deity in front

In the first stage, the mantra letters are set on a flat brilliantly white moon disc at the heart of the deity in front, the moon and the letters being the remaining two branches of the four-branched repetition. “Branch” (
yan lag, a
ṅ
ga
) sometimes has the sense of prerequisite, and perhaps here also it suggests four factors that must be brought together prior to repetition of mantra. The first branch, it will be remembered, is the deity in front which is “not too distant and a little higher than yourself ”;
a
the second branch is oneself imagined as a deity; the third branch is the moon disc imagined at the heart of the deity in front; and the fourth is the form of the mantra letters set around the edge of the moon standing upright and facing inward.

About this phase of the meditative stabilization of exalted speech, the
Concentration Continuation Tantra
says:
b

Flow to sound, mind, and bases.

Dwell on the immutable secret mantra base [the deity]. Repeat secret mantra without losing the branches.

If becoming tired, rest yourself.

One “base” is the deity in front; the second “base” is oneself imagined as a deity.
c
“Mind” is a moon disc at the heart of the deity in front. “Sound” is the forms of the letters of the mantra set on the moon disc. “Flow” means to adhere to these (especially the deity in front with moon and mantra letters) with uninterrupted observation. Because a meditator
continuously
and
without deviation
imagines the deity in front, which is the
base
where the moon and letters are placed, the text says, “Dwell on the
immutable
secret mantra
base
.” “Immutable” here has the sense that the base—in observation of which repetition is performed—should not deviate from appearance as a deity. Since repetition is to be done within

a
Ibid., 144.

b
Stanza 11; P430, vol. 9 53.3.4; cited in
Deity Yoga,
55 and 141.

c
The explanation is drawn from
Deity Yoga,
141-142.

136
Tantric Techniques

constant imagination of the four branches (three in front: the
letters
on the
moon
at the heart of the
deity in front
which are the focus; and
oneself as a deity
but not as a central part of the meditation), the tan-tra says, “Repeat secret mantra
without losing the branches
.”

Tsong-kha-pa
a
reports that although neither the
Concentration Continuation Tantra
nor Buddhaguhya mentions it, other Indian masters advise that one imagine beams of light streaming from the mantra letters, making offerings to Buddhas and bringing about the welfare of sentient beings. According to the process described earlier during the “form deity” in self-generation, from the light rays innumerable forms of the deity emerge, pervading all of space, and the deities, in turn, emanate great clouds of offerings through which they make splendid offerings to all the Conquerors. Also, they emanate great clouds from which a rain-stream of ambrosia descends, extinguishing the fires of the sufferings of all beings— hell-beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, demigods, and gods— satisfying those beings with whatever they want. This technique enhances considerably the therapeutic power of the meditation, although it would have to be done in a secondary way so that it did not interfere with the central concentration on the forms of the letters at the heart of the deity in front. It seems likely that the curative influence of this additional highly moral visualization (quite contrary to Jung’s depiction of amoral yoga) would indeed help to remove some of the emotional obstacles to developing a strongly focused mind and would dispel laxity.

About repetition of mantra, the
Questions of Sub
ā
hu Tantra
says:
b

Reversing quickly from the objects to which A lazy, desirous, and nonvirtuous mind

Is distracted and runs, apply the mind well To the supreme letters of secret mantra.

The
Susiddhi Tantra
warns against being distracted even to virtuous objects:
c

When reciting with repetition,

a
Ibid., 146.

b
Ibid., 147.

c
P431, vol. 9, 64.1.2. This is cited in Varabodhi’s
Clear Realization of Susiddhi
(P3890, vol. 79, 272.1.7). Cited in
Deity Yoga,
50, and explained on 147; cited in Ye-shay-gyel-tsen,
Illumination of the Meaning of Action Tantra,
504.2.

Mantra Repetition
137