Tantric Techniques (68 page)

1. The supreme of the supreme meditate on the Great Seal—an indivisibility of wisdom and method—without using either a meditated consort or actual one.
   

2. The next beneath them use a meditated consort, called a
   

   

   a
   Ibid., 149.
   

   b
   Ibid., 146.
   

   c
   Ibid., 150.
   

   Tsong-kha-pa’s Reasoned Analysis of Path-Structure
   283
   

   

   Wisdom Seal.
   

3. The next use a fully qualified actual consort, called a pledge seal.
   

4. The next use an actual consort not necessarily endowed with all attributes.
   

If we add Jñ
ā
nak
ī
rti’s explanation,
a
there is a fifth level, that of trainees of Yoga Tantra and below who meditate on the body of a deity that is given the name “Great Seal”—in other words, deity yoga without a consort.

The first four represent levels within Highest Yoga Mantra. Thus, according to Tripi
ṭ
akam
ā
la,
b
the supreme of the supreme trainees of Highest Yoga Mantra do not use desire for attractive visible forms, sounds, odors, tastes, and touches in the path; they do not make use of even a meditated consort, never mind an actual one. Tripi
ṭ
akam
ā
la holds that those just below the very top rank meditate on an imaginary consort, and he posits the usage of an actual consort only for the third and fourth levels of practitioners. It is clear that he does not hold Tsong-kha-pa’s view that an actual consort is needed even by the very best of trainees in order to bring about a withdrawal of the grosser levels of consciousness as in the process of dying. It seems that he views the usage of a meditated or actual consort only as a technique for those distracted by desire. His thought is likely that by meditating on emptiness and so forth in the midst of ritualized sex, a practitioner could overcome the sense that sex is separate from the scope of emptiness and thereby could undermine sexual desire.

The psychological value of exposing oneself to one’s own inner desires, fears, and so forth in the midst of a different, intentional background in meditating on emptiness is unquestionable (if one can succeed). However, it seems that Tripi
ṭ
akam
ā
la was not cogni-zant of the doctrine of the levels of consciousness manifested in orgasmic bliss and thus did not even conceive of utilizing them in the path. He had a completely different notion of the purpose of using desire in the path; for him desire is brought to the path only by those whose meditation is disturbed by lustful thoughts.

a
In his
de kho na nyid la ’jug pa shes bya ba bde bar gshegs pa’i bka’ ma lus pa mdor bsdus te bshad pa’i rab tu byed pa, tattv
ā
vat
ā
r
ā
khyasakalasugatavacast
ā
tparyavy
ā
khy
ā
- prakara
ṇ
a;
P4532, vol. 81.

b
Tantra in Tibet,
146-148.

284
Tantric Techniques

According to Tsong-kha-pa,
a
just the opposite is the case. Through using an actual consort a person proficient in the meditations of Highest Yoga Mantra manifests the three subtler and the final, subtlest consciousness, thereby enabling completion of the path—from the path of accumulation
b
to the path of no-more- learning
c
—in one lifetime. Later in the
Great Exposition of Secret Man-tra
Tsong-kha-pa explains this to be the system of the
Guhyasam
ā
ja Tantra,
and thus, from his point of view, it is totally mistaken to claim that the supreme of the supreme trainees of Highest Yoga Mantra do not use desire in the path; it misses what, for Tsong-kha- pa, is the most powerful feature of the Highest Yoga Mantra path. Also, it is self-contradictory (1) to claim that the Mantra Great Vehicle is superior to the S
ū
tra Great Vehicle due to not being difficult in the sense of using desire in the path and (2) then to hold that the supreme of the supreme trainees do not use desire in the path.

Again, Tsong-kha-pa is emphasizing the special features of Highest Yoga Mantra. As with his refutation of Ratnarak
ṣ
hita, this refutation of Tripi
ṭ
akam
ā
la is primarily based on a difference of views on Highest Yoga Mantra; Tripi
ṭ
akam
ā
la is indicted for being misinformed about the most profound form of the path. For Tsong-kha-pa, sense, coherence, and consistency are of utmost importance; thus, divergent views
must
be refuted; they cannot just be repeated.

The Nyingma master Long-chen-pa’s exposition of Tripi
ṭ
aka-m
ā
la’s stanza is different in both style and content. He takes the “object” of the first line (“Though the object is the same”)—which Bu-tön explains as referring to the fact that nondual omniscience is similarly the goal of both the S
ū
tra and Mantra systems—as indicating not that the goal of Buddhahood is the same, but that the basis, the essence of clear light, is similarly described in both systems. He takes the line as meaning that the S
ū
tra and Mantra Great Vehicles similarly delineate this basis as well as the phenomena that depend upon it; thus, he incurs no self-contradiction when later he says that the goal of Mantra is higher than that of S
ū
tra. Long-chen-pa creatively comments on Tripi
ṭ
akam
ā
la’s stanza in a way that fits his own system, without even hinting that Tripi
ṭ
akam
ā
la himself

a
Ibid., 150.

b
tshogs lam, sa
ṃ
bh
ā
ram
ā
rga
.

c
mi slob lam, a
ś
aik
ṣ
am
ā
rga
.

Tsong-kha-pa’s Reasoned Analysis of Path-Structure
285

explains this stanza differently.
a

From Long-chen-pa’s explanation of the four distinctive features of Mantra, let us consider how Tsong-kha-pa and his followers might object to two of them—being for the nonobscured and not being difficult. Long-chen-pa says that those of the Perfection, or Definition, Vehicle are obscured with respect to the basis, paths, and fruits. He identifies the basis as the profound and the vast—the first being ultimate reality and the paths to it and the second being

1. the mode of procedure of the path of compassion and (2) the conventional phenomena in terms of which that procedure is carried out. He says (246):
   

   The Definition [Vehicle] has no more than only a profundity that is concerned with a basis fabricated by the mind, an ultimate truth known by determinative inferential valid cognition breaking down [objects] through reasoning.
   

   His assertion that in the Perfection Vehicle the ultimate truth is known only inferentially would not sit well with Tsong-kha-pa who holds that in the Perfection Vehicle inferential realization is a necessary prerequisite to direct realization of the ultimate. Indeed, if there were no direct realization of emptiness in the Perfection Vehicle, it would contradict the assertion of ten Bodhisattva grounds, which are levels centering around direct realization of emptiness in meditative equipoise. Long-chen-pa’s view that the ultimate truth described in the Perfection Vehicle is a mere mental fabrication is diametrically opposite to Tsong-kha-pa’s who holds that inference incontrovertibly knows the actual ultimate truth, albeit by the route of a generic image
   b
   and not directly. For Tsong-kha-pa, inferential realization leads to direct perception of the same emptiness. The change is epistemological, not ontological.
   

   For Long-chen-pa, however, the ultimate truth as presented in Mantra or, more specifically, in Highest Yoga Mantra is actualized in the completion stage of the path of method in Highest Yoga Mantra through concentrating on special points in the body to in-duce the winds to enter the central channel so that the inner heat
   c
   can be generated, melting the drops at the top of the head and
   

   

   a
   For Döl-po-pa Shay-rap-gyel-tsen’s explanation of this stanza, see Hopkins,
   

   Mountain Doctrine,
   207, 447, and 456.
   

   b
   don spyi, arthas
   ā
   m
   ā
   nya
   .
   

   c
   gtum mo
   .
   

   286
   Tantric Techniques
   

   

   causing their descent within the channel structure and the subsequent generation of the four empties, or four subtle consciousnesses.
   a
   He says (246):
   

   Mantra, however, delineates—as the ground—nonconceptual pristine wisdom unfabricated by the mind, the essence of the Body of Attributes, merely through concentrative emphasis on focal points of body, speech, channels, winds, drops of essential fluid, and so forth without depending on reasoning.
   

   Here the procedure for getting at the ultimate truth is not reasoning but special techniques for inducing manifestation of pristine wisdom; a more profound means of perception realizes a more profound reality.
   

   When the mind of clear light is actualized and objects are seen as manifestations of it, one is beyond the need for discarding nonvirtues and adopting virtues as everything has become an appearance of this fundamental mind; everyone and everything of its own nature appears as divine. The style of the narrative itself is meant to yield glimpses of this hierophany in which everything, of its own accord, shines in self-established purity, divinity.
   

   One can see how difficult it might be for those trained in Long-chen-pa’s and Tsong-kha-pa’s traditions to appreciate the other’s approach. Neither could find in the other’s teaching the particularly attractive taste that they find in their own—it would appear to be devoid of the most intriguing essence of their own path. Yet, for me, once this distinction of approach and of content is made, the two styles are more like two sides of a coin, without appreciation of which the whole picture might not be gained. I would suggest that to appreciate both styles, it is helpful to recognize the seeming contradictions and inconsistencies in each presentation when viewed from the other perspective.
   

   With respect to Mantra’s feature of not being for the difficult, Long-chen-pa concludes that “achievement arises through using the attributes of the Desire Realm and so forth.” This specifically refers to making use of the pleasant visible forms, sounds, odors, tastes, and touches of a consort in the path. As we have seen, desire
   

   

   a
   In Nyingma this is the general procedure of the path of method (
   thabs lam
   ); the Great Completeness utilizes a more direct procedure in the path of release (
   grol lam
   ). See, for instance, the second of Mi-pam-gya-tso’s
   Trilogy on Fundamental Mind
   .
   

   Tsong-kha-pa’s Reasoned Analysis of Path-Structure
   287
   

   

   for these is used in or as the path
   a
   in the sense that desire leads to a bliss consciousness realizing emptiness. Specifically, in Highest Yo-ga Mantra sexual union is used to manifest (in orgasm but without emission) the subtler levels of consciousness mentioned above.
   b
   However, their mere actualization is not sufficient; those bliss consciousnesses, according to Tsong-kha-pa, must take the emptiness of inherent existence as their object, thereby eradicating desire. Long-chen-pa does not explicitly say such, but he would seem to hold that, far from merely arising from being fed up with the rigors of a wearying path, the practice of using desire in the path serves as a technique for highly qualified persons to proceed on the path more quickly.
   

   As will be discussed later (340), in the three lower tantras— Action, Performance, and Yoga—desire is also used in the path, though not to generate subtler consciousnesses. However, Tsong-kha-pa is unwilling to hold that the usage of desire in the path is a distinguishing feature of Mantra because S
   ū
   tra Bodhisattvas are well known for using the afflictive emotions of desire and so forth to aid sentient beings, thereby accumulating merit
   c
   which contributes to their eventual full enlightenment. As a source he cites the
   K
   ā
   shyapa Chapter S
   ū
   tra:
   d
   

   Just as the filth of city-dwellers
   

   Helps the field of a sugarcane grower,
   

   So the manure of a Bodhisattva’s afflictive emotions Assists in growing the qualities of a Buddha.
   

   In his commentary, the Dalai Lama
   e
   gives as an example a S
   ū
   tra Bodhisattva king’s using desire in the path in order to father children so that they can be of service to the kingdom. The implication is that desire is necessary for erection and orgasm; thus, even though
   

   

   a
   chags pa lam du byed pa
   .
   

   b
   In the Great Completeness manifestation of these subtle minds is not sufficient; a permanent fundamental mind must be realized. See, for instance, Mi-pam-gya-tso,
   Fundamental Mind: The Nyingma View of the Great Completeness
   with practical commentary by Khetsun Sangbo Rinbochay, trans. and ed. by Jeffrey Hopkins (Ithaca, N.Y.: Snow Lion Publications, 2006).
   

   c
   bsod nams, pu
   ṇ
   ya
   .
   

   d
   ’od srung gi le’u, k
   āś
   yapaparivarta;
   P760.43, vol. 24. Cited in
   Tantra in Tibet
   by the Dalai Lama, 71, and by Tsong-kha-pa in laying out Ratnarak
   ṣ
   hita’s position, 144.
   

   e
   Tantra in Tibet,
   58-59.
   

   288
   Tantric Techniques
   

   

   the causal motivation
   a
   for such copulation is compassion and thus is nonafflicted, the motivation at the time of the act
   b
   is mixed with the afflictive emotion of desire.
   

   As an amusing aside, let me cite the comment by the late seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century Ge-luk scholar Jam-yang- shay-pa
   c
   that Bodhisattva Superiors,
   d
   those who have reached the path of seeing
   e
   and above, can have a “serviceable organ”
   f
   without an afflictive emotion being involved:
   g
   

   If [Bodhisattva Superiors] are able to display endless emanations in actuality [and not just in imagination], what need is there to mention that they could emanate an actual serviceable organ!