Tantric Techniques (66 page)

With regard to its being called the Vajra Vehicle, those which include all the Great Vehicle are the six perfections. Those that include them are me-thod and wisdom; that which includes them as one taste is the mind of enlightenment. That is the Vajrasattva meditative stabilization; just this is a va-jra. Because it is both a vajra and a vehicle, it is the Vajra Vehicle, the Mantra Vehicle.

Thus, the Vajrasattva yoga indivisibly uniting method and wisdom is the Vajra Vehicle. It occurs at the time of both the path and the fruit.

Tsong-kha-pa explains that since the three lower tantra sets do not have the paths necessary for the generation of a fusion of totally supreme emptiness (here referring to a form empty, or devoid, of material particles) and supreme immutable bliss (“immutable” here referring to nonemission), this explanation—in the K
ā
lachakra mode—of “Vajra Vehicle” is too narrow. He adds that explaining “Vehicles of Cause and Effect” in this way is also too narrow for a general presentation. Rather, the general meaning of “Vajra Vehicle” must apply to all four classes of tantra, not just Highest Yoga. Tsong-kha-pa is making the point that the type of union of method and wisdom described in those texts applies only to Highest Yoga Mantra and that a meaning of “Vajray
ā
na” applicable to all four tantra sets must be found elsewhere. As explained above, he indicates that this is deity yoga, an indivisible union of method and wisdom.

Regarding scriptural authority for the distinction between the S
ū
tra and Mantra Great Vehicles, Tsong-kha-pa quotes a passage from the
Lady Sky-Traveler Vajra Tent Tantra,
b
rejects the commentaries of K
ṛṣ
h
ṇ
ap
ā
da and Indrabodhi,
c
and critically uses the

a
gsang ba ’dus pa’i bshad sbyar snyim pa’i me tog, kusum
ā
ñjaliguhyasam
ā
janibandha;

P2714, vol. 64.

b
mkha’ ’gro ma rdo rje gur shes bya ba’i rgyud kyi rgyal po chen po’i brtag pa, d
ā
kin
ī
- vajrapañjaramah
ā
tantrar
ā
jakalpa;
P11, vol. 1. See
Tantra in Tibet,
117.

c
Ibid., 120. K
ṛṣ
h
ṇ
ap
ā
da’s commentary is
mkha’ ’gro ma rdo rje gur zhes bya ba’i rgyud kyi rgyal po chen po’i brtag pa’i rgyal po’i bshad sbyar,
ḍā
kin
ī
vajrapañjaran
ā
ma-mah
ā
tantrar
ā
jakalpamukhabandha;
P2325, vol. 54. Indrabodhi’s commentary is
mkha’ ’gro ma

Tsong-kha-pa’s Reasoned Analysis of Path-Structure
277

commentary of Devakulamah
ā
mati,
a
accepting some parts and rejecting others. Having established that deity yoga is the dividing line between the two Great Vehicles, he reinforces this with citations from or references to works on Highest Yoga Mantra by Jñ
ā
- nap
ā
da,
b
Ratn
ā
karash
ā
nti,
c
Abhay
ā
kara,
d
Durjayachandra,
e
Shr
ī
dha-ra,
f
Samayavajra,
g
Jinadatta,
h
and Vinayadatta.
i
The general drift is illustrated by a passage
j
from Ratn
ā
karash
ā
nti’s
Commentary on (D
ī
pa
ṅ
karabhadra’s) “Four Hundred and Fifty”
k
as Tsong-kha-pa cites the title, or
Commentary on (D
ī
pa
ṅ
karabhadra’s) “Rite of the Guhyasam
ā
ja Ma
ṇḍ
ala”
as it is listed in the
Tibetan Tripitaka:
l

If one cultivates only [a path] having the nature of a deity, one cannot become fully enlightened through that because the fulfillment of [yogic] activities is not complete. Or, if one meditates on the suchness of a deity and not on that deity, one will attain Buddhahood in many countless eons but not quickly. Through meditating on both, one will at-tain the highest perfect complete enlightenment very quickly because to do so is very appropriate and has special empowering blessings.

Since a Buddha has both a Body of Attributes and a form body it is
very appropriate
that on the path one cultivate both emptiness yoga and deity yoga, the former having as its main result the Body of Attributes and the latter, the form body. In short, the path to speedy attainment of enlightenment must involve both deity yoga and emptiness yoga; one without the other is not sufficient.

rdo rje gur gyi dka’ ’grel shal nas brgyud pa,
ḍā
kin
ī
vajrapañjaramah
ā
tantrar
ā
jasya-pañji- k
ā
prathamapa
ṭ
alamukhabandha;
P2324, vol. 54.

a
Tantra in Tibet,
120-121.

b
Ibid., 122-128.

c
Ibid., 129, 134.

d
Ibid., 129-130.

e
Ibid., 130.

f
Ibid., 130.

g
Ibid., 131.

h
Ibid., 131.

i
Ibid., 131-132.

j
Ibid., 129.

k
bzhi rgya lnga cu pa’i ’grel pa
.

l
dpal gsang ba ’dus pa’i dkyil ’khor gyi cho ga’i ’grel pa
,
guhyasam
ā
jama
ṇḍ
alavidhi
ṭī
k
ā
; P2734, vol. 65.

278
Tantric Techniques

Furthermore, as Tsong-kha-pa points out, these two exist in one consciousness; thus, his assertion of the difference between the S
ū
tra and Mantra Great Vehicles is made on the basis of the simultaneous union in one consciousness of the factors of method and wisdom, specifically the appearance of the divine form and ascertainment of its emptiness.

Having cited such passages in Highest Yoga Tantras and commentaries to show the distinctive presence of deity yoga, he makes brief citations for Yoga, Performance, and Action Tantras by referring to Sh
ā
kyamitra,
a
Ā
nandagarbha,
b
and Buddhaguhya,
c
skirting for the time being the considerable controversy over whether Ac-tion Tantra and Performance Tantra have deity yoga, since he tackles that problem at the beginning of the section on Action Tan-tra.
d

Despite Tsong-kha-pa’s many citations of tantras and Indian commentaries, it is clear that they are used only as evidence for his argument. Tradition is only supportive, not the final authority. The arbiter is reason, specifically in the sense of determining coherence and consistency within a path structure. Tsong-kha-pa refutes Ratnarak
ṣ
hita and Tripi
ṭ
akam
ā
la,
e
for instance, not because they differ from the aforementioned sources but because their presentations fail in terms of consistency with the path structure. By doing so, he moves the basis of the argument from scriptural citation to reasoned analysis of a meditative structure.

Refutation of Ratnarak
ṣ
hita

Tsong-kha-pa analyzes and refutes Ratnarak
ṣ
hita’s
f
and Tripi
ṭ
aka-m
ā
la’s
g
presentations on the difference between the Perfection and Mantra vehicles (the first is not included in Bu-tön’s presentation and the second is). In his
Commentary on the Difficult Points of the Sa
ṃ
varodaya Tantra
,
h
Ratnarak
ṣ
hita explains that the generation

a
Tantra in Tibet,
132.

b
Ibid., 133.

c
Ibid., 133.

d
See chapter 11 and also
Deity Yoga,
47-62.

e
Tantra in Tibet,
143-150.

f
Ibid., 143-144.

g
Ibid., 145-150.

h
sdom pa ’byung ba’i rgyud kyi rgyal po chen po’i dka’ ’grel padma can, sa
ṃ
varodayama—

Tsong-kha-pa’s Reasoned Analysis of Path-Structure
279