Highest Yoga Tantra and Mahamudra
By Master Sheng-yen Lu
Translated by Cheng Yew Chung, Edited by Dance Smith
Translated by Cheng Yew Chung, Edited by Dance Smith
This was translated from Grandmaster Lu's 51st book, 無上密與大手印.
While in the spiritual state of supreme bliss, the winds flow through the channel knots and the psychic heat rises, circulating within the physical body.
At this stage, mind and matter are fused into a single entity, which gives rise to a sense of synchronization.
One experiences the appearance of the true nature of mind, and the emerging presence of the divine spirit.
Upon reaching this spiritual state, the Mahamudra practitioner has entered into the initial stage of samadhi.
When the Mahamudra practitioner attains this level of spiritual unfolding, his true mind is merged into the supreme cosmic consciousness and he enters into the deep state of meditation.
The deep meditative state can be considered to be the meditation of the sages, which is far from the level of mundane beings.
If one continues to gain spiritual responses, ones mind becomes completely fused with the universal mind. And as the practitioner continues his practice diligently, he becomes able to slip in and out of this spiritual state at will.
As one dwells longer in this spiritual state, one becomes able to return to it at the time of death and gain release from the suffering of cyclic existence.
One attains buddhahood in this very body, and is completely liberated.
When dwelling in the spiritual state of supreme bliss, hallucinations may appear when the psychic heat passes through the channel knots.
Such hallucinations are associated with demonic states, and a mental disorder may arise at this point.
Generally, one experiences a spiritual lightness as one abides in the state of supreme bliss, a sensation that is like being afloat in space.
One finds oneself drifting into the ethereal, seeming to disappear completely.
This is when hallucinations begin to surface.
Some practitioners are entranced by these hallucinations, and preferences of desire and dislike arise from their minds.
Their preferences draw them to attachment.
Once attached to the hallucinations, they are caught in a demonic state.
Thus, handling hallucinations is the most vital link in the whole practice.
Most teachings of the sutra tradition do not dare reveal this secret of psychic heat because of the fear that most mundane humans would fall into a demonic state if they reached the state of supreme bliss without first developing sufficient stamina of concentration.
The teachings of the sutra tradition focus on instructing people to recite the Buddhas name.
By riding on the power of the Buddha, for example Amitabha Buddha, one gains rebirth in the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss and continues on from there.
When the individual reaches Sukhavati and begins his practice of attaining buddhahood, he will not drift into the demonic mara states.
I first cultivated Taoism, then practiced the Sutric Buddhist teachings, and subsequently the Tantric Buddhist teachings.
I have wanted to write this book on the Highest Yoga Tantra and Mahamudra.
I have mastered the Eighteen Assemblies in the Vajrasekhara Yoga, and penetrated the Heart Teachings of the Five Groups of Empowerment of the Great Compassionate Womb Treasury, attaining the wonderful dharma of the Three Secrets.
In my eyes, the natural capacities of sentient beings are indeed diverse and divided.
Therefore I want to mention that anyone who obtains this book and desires to practice the vehicle of the Highest Yoga Tantra must first seek out and take refuge with a true master to receive the appropriate empowerment before commencing practice.
A person should not practice without proper guidance from a qualified master.
In Tibet, the requirements are stringent for selecting those who wish to practice Mahamudra.
If an individual whose power of concentration (Samadhibala) is weak and whose spirit is unsettled should practice it out of curiosity, he would be bound to be trapped in a demonic mara state.
Many Tibetan lamas and Chinese Tantric practitioners avoid practising Mahamudra simply because of the possibility that upon reaching the spiritual state of supreme bliss without the guidance of a guru, they might fall into the mara realm and lose all their accomplishments of cultivation.
Therefore, without the additional detailed instructions from a vajra guru, even if you have this copy of the Highest Yoga Tantra and Mahamudra, you cannot practice Mahamudra.
Please commit this point to memory, and remember it well!
Perhaps someone might ask me, You have disclosed the Highest Yoga Tantra and Mahamudra, yet you discourage people from practising it. Isnt that contradictory?
My reply is, I hope to inform you of this great teaching, which is supreme.
Those with little affinity will browse through this book without interest.
Those with affinity should quickly seek a true vajra guru and ask for transmission.
My intention in writing this book on Highest Tantra Yoga is to preserve the teaching in this world.
The individual who receives true transmission and with instructions from a guru may practise it, and he shall likely gain great realization through his practice.
If you practise Mahamudra superficially, without receiving proper transmission from a vajra master, it is easy to fall into the pitfalls of mara, so be careful!
My American disciples have wished to translate this book of Highest Yoga Tantra and Mahamudra into English so that these secrets and great teachings will always be preserved in the west.
The future shall see individuals with great capacities incarnating in the west who will, upon encountering this book, propagate the Tantric teachings in the west.
This is the greatest cause and condition for my writing this book.
The most challenging test facing anyone reaching the spiritual state of supreme bliss is sexual desire. The seed of sexual desire is inborn, and is derived from the genes of our parents.
Anyone without actual cultivation is subject to the influence of sexual desire.
Due to the effect of psychic heat, a practitioner is bound to see the beautiful women that he dreams about in his daily life appear before him in great shape, seducing his heart with all kinds of seductive poses in full nudity, striking different sensuous dance postures and movements.
It is rare to find a practitioner who is unaffected by these visions.
Once he is attracted to them, he is drawn into sexual fantasies.
Anyone whose heart is distracted in this state is doomed to fall from grace.
The female practitioner may encounter a handsome man who is manifested from her mind, and engage him in sex.
She would enjoy the great sexual pleasure derived from the union and find herself in heat.
It is at this stage that she enters into the demonic mara realm.
Some assume they are strong enough to withstand any sexual temptation.
This assumption is due largely to the absence of any temptation in the first place.
Confucius described men and women on earth as men and women of dining and wining, and he added that food and sex are human nature.
There is truth in this, and I feel that unless one is truly grounded in actual practise, no one can escape the temptation of sexual desire.
There is certainly no exception.
When an individual whose mind contains any fear, even in the minutest degree, reaches the spiritual state of supreme bliss, he will find this fear manifesting in his mind as a fearsome being.
This fearsome being, a great deva mara with a single horn, stands several stories tall and stares angrily at the individual with eyes as big as a bronze bell.
He roars and extends his huge tongue; his mouth opens to reveal jaws with razor-sharp, knife-like teeth.
Sometimes a single devil appears, and at times a legion of maras numbering tens of thousands approaches the practitioner, stirring great fear within his heart so as to keep him from entering into meditative absorption.
Even as he enters into meditation, he finds visions of mara appearing before him.
As a result, he can no longer eat and sleep properly, and his mind simply breaks down.
This is the condition of falling into mara psychic traps that arise from fear.
Such occurrences are many indeed.
In these illusory visions, many events of joy and sadness will manifest themselves, such as witnessing the death of your loved ones and seeing the punishments of hell.
Or you may see your spouse dump you for another person, and so forth.
These are examples of sad occurrences.
On the other hand, joyful occurrences are just as plentiful, including visions such as seeing yourself becoming a king or transformed into Sakyamuni Buddha Himself, or perhaps finding yourself becoming the richest man on earth, or seeing someone you love most decide to throw herself into your arms, and so forth.
There was a Tantric guru who saw a vision of himself after death during his deep meditation.
He observed that two strings of red pearls were hanging from his nostrils, and that five rainbows appeared in the sky, each appearing in five colours.
His corpse emitted rays of red and orange lights, and his body of bones displayed multiple colours, with his heart remaining intact and undestroyed, forming a heart relic.
He left huge amounts of other relics, including five to six hundred sariras, which could fill a big sack. He saw how his disciples were overwhelmed with joy at the sight of his many relics, cheering in elation over them.
After this experience, this Tantric guru desired to review the whole illusory vision every time he entered into meditation, and this vision fulfilled his vanity.
Once this desire was aroused, he found himself experiencing the vision of his own cremation during every meditative session.
When he finally realized something was wrong, it was too late, as the vision could no longer be removed. It was pitiful.
Another Tantric practitioner who followed a disciple of the famous Atisa learned to merge with his inner mandala.
In the past, his guru had studied dharma at the Monastery of Toling.
This practitioner himself had practised The Great Perfection: Illusion, the Easer of Weariness Called the Great Chariot, and also cultivated The Great Perfection: Great Quintessence of the Graduated Stages of the Path.
Once this Tantric practitioner entered into deep meditation and saw a beautiful lady approaching him.
Who are you, pretty face? the Tantric practitioner asked.
I am a Tibetan Princess.
Why are you here? the Tantric practitioner asked.
I am here to continue our past affinity.
The beautiful lady pointed to another dimension as she spoke.
A vision appeared in another dimension, which showed that the Tantric practitioner had been a senior lama of the Nyingma School, and had practised the consort practice.
His consort was none other than the Tibetan princess herself.
They proceeded from the initial stages to the deeper levels, moving deeper into the wonderful stages and finally into the mystical level.
He lost his righteous thoughts of enlightenment and was manipulated by his desire, with his thoughts running wild.
He could not see through the illusion and realize that the lady from his past life was only a skeleton.
Thus, when the beautiful lady threw her arms around him, he let his guard down and embraced her in sexual union.
This Tantric practitioner became entrapped in the mara realm of consort practice in his deep meditation, and was mesmerized by her illusory beauty.
He has not been able to extract himself from his delusion ever since.
The beautiful lady would engage in sex with him whenever he entered into meditation.
Initially he felt there was nothing wrong with that.
However, it was only much later that he realized the vision was nothing more than the manifestation of the three poisons, the five dusts, and the six thieves.
The Tantric practitioner had lost the aura of light gained from his Dzogchen practice, as all his radiance had been transformed into thoughts of love and hatred.
When the beauty failed to show up, he suffered immensely.
Subsequently, the Tantric practitioner could no longer continue with his practice, for once his righteous thoughts were lost, he lost all that he had achieved in his cultivation, and he was reduced to being no better, if not worse, than a mundane mortal.
What a pity!
Here is a verse I wrote in regards to this incident:
The practices of yoga on the highest pathThere was another Tantric practitioner who studied the Tantric teachings with a lay Buddhist known as Da-xin (Great Mind).
Have as their most vital key, non-attachment.
Illusion and reality are really one truth
Thus a beauty is also a laughing skull and skeleton.
He professed to practise the Mahamudra practices as transmitted by Tilopa and Naropa, and had obtained the quintessence of Gampopa, and practised the Heart Essence of the Most Supreme Light of the Nine Vehicles.
He had entered into the dark retreat for two years, and claimed to have attained supernatural powers.
Once, while abiding in a state of profound meditation, he saw himself transformed into a being with a golden body who was endowed with the thirty two marks of a buddha radiating lights.
In his vision, he was seated on a white lotus and was expounding the dharma to sentient beings.
His left hand grasped the edge of his dharma robe while his right hand was raised; his thumb and
fourth finger joined to form a mudra.
These thirty-two marks are described in the Yogacarabhumisastra as:Sakyamuni Buddha, as depicted in the two mandala realms of Tantric Buddhism, is seen as the main deity in the Womb Mandala, and stands side by side with the Amoghasiddhi Tathagata in the Diamond Mandala.
1) feet that are firmly planted on the earth with balance
2) the symbol of a thousand-spoked wheel imprinted on the soles
3) long, slender fingers
4) flexible limbs
5) webbed fingers and toes
6) full-sized heels
7) long legs
8) slender legs like those of an antelope
9) arms extending past the knees
10) a concealed male organ
11) height and stretch of arms equal
12) every hair blue-black in colour
13) body hair curls upward
14) a golden hued body
15) surrounded by a ten-foot aura
16) soft, smooth skin
17) soles, palms, shoulders and crown of head well-rounded
18) the area below the armpits well-filled
19) a dignified body like that of a lion
20) body erect and upright
21) full, round shoulders
22) forty teeth
23) teeth are white and grow evenly, and no gap is found between teeth
24) four pure white teeth
25) full cheeks which are round like those of a lion
26) saliva that improves the taste of all food
27) the tongue long and broad
28) a deep and resonant voice
29) eyes deep blue
30) eyelashes like a royal bull
31) white urna curl that emits light between the brows
32) fleshy protuberance on the crown of the head
Sakyamuni Buddha, according to general Buddhist teachings, is an enlightened being who truly attained buddhahood in the saha world.
Hence he is seen as the spiritual head of the saha world.
This Tantric practitioner who had taken refuge with the lay Buddhist Da-xin to study the Tantric teachings was immediately filled with joy.
Someone even saw that his crown was emitting light and his spiritual attainment was verified by some Tibetan tulkus and lamas.
After receiving his verification, the Tantric practitioner felt that he was truly the incarnation of Sakyamuni Buddha, and whenever he entered into absorption, he desired to review his dharma form from his previous incarnation.
Even Sages who lived in Sakyamunis times, such as Bhargava, Arada Kalama, Ksantyrsi and Utpala, appeared in his meditation and exchanged views with him on cultivation practices.
He felt he had experienced the forty-nine years which Sakyamuni spent expounding the dharma.
Later, a guru observed that he appeared strange, and realized the Tantric practitioner had taken on an air of superiority and had fallen prey to the manifested mara realm.
This was indeed a terrible thing, as the Tantric practitioner still insisted that he was Sakyamuni Buddha at his death bed, and was unaware of his true situation.
In reality, he was kept in a mental hospital for seven years as a consequence of his delusion.
The teachings of Mahamudra state that when one reaches this spiritual state, one must act as if one is a child looking at the paintings in an art exhibition, studying each painting in detail from the first to the last, yet unaware of what the painting is all about.
What this means is that the illusory visions will definitely appear, yet we should not be mesmerized by them.
While it is true that all kinds of illusory visions exist, we should ignore them and act as if they are not around.
As one abides in the mental state of calmness and extinction, the subconscious surfaces and visions appear spontaneously, arising from past karma and from our thoughts of this present life.
The practitioner must learn to remain unmoved by any circumstance, which is to abide in a state of immovability.
One should not be attached to any emotion that touches the body or mind, for attachment only leads to being trapped in the mara realm.
One should thus approach these visions like a child looking at a painting without attachment.
However, the realization one gains at this stage cannot be construed as the actual state of enlightenment, for one must maintain unmoved at all times, and continue meditation diligently until completely aligned in the practice of Mahamudra, where one becomes one with it without falling into delusion.
Only then can a practitioner be considered as having reached the spiritual state of true attainment.
The teaching of Mahamudra leads one to the understanding of right and wrong, mortality and purity.
As the mind is removed from illusion, and one realizes ones original nature, one abides in the spiritual state of immovability, and sees through all illusions with the most wonderful perception.
The practitioner then gains the Wisdom of Perception, and realizes that One Reality encompasses all realities, and that all things are but one singular reality.
Thus, all dharma is but one truth, and when the practitioner gains this realization, he is enlightened.
Thus, the illusory visions are seen as movement, as any observation is itself a form of movement.
Still, the untainted childlike heart remains tranquil.
Thus, movement and tranquility lie within these experiences.
When one remains unperturbed, this points to the immovability of the mind and illustrates the undistracted state of self nature.
In truth, we may continue to experience illusory visions and engage in observations.
The truth of the matter is really profound.
You see, when one steps into the realm of true reality, one finds that birth and death are really the same, just as nirvana and samsara are of one nature.
All knowledge comes to zero, nothing, and nothingness is wisdom itself.
The consciousness of words disappears.
The state of all universes exists in non-form and non-essence, where form is emptiness and emptiness is form; where the heart teaching is the worldly teaching, and the worldly teaching is really the heart teaching.
The animal species are seen as a division of the plant species, and so are the species of plants a division of the animal species.
Here, meat is vegetable, and vegetable is meat.
All combined matters when separated exist as two elements, and when mixed become one entity All things are in reality not different.
The supreme cosmic consciousness is ones own consciousness, and ones own mind is no different from anothers mind.
The spectrum of life may display a multitude of permutations, yet in truth all things exist in oneness.
For example, someone has made an analogy that within a lamp is oil, where the light is ignited.
Heat is produced through the light, and when the oil is exhausted, so also are the light and the heat. When divided it becomes four separate parts, lamp, oil, light and heat. When combined, they form one singular entity.
An unrealized individual would see the light as light, heat as heat, oil as oil, and lamp as lamp.
Yet the realized being naturally knows that when divided they are four elements, which are combined to form one singular reality.
Thus, the supreme cosmic consciousness, oneself, others, good guys, bad guys and so forth are in seen in innumerable forms when separated, but when combined they form one singular body.
This is the great realization gained as I, the Holy Red Crown Vajra Guru, abide in the spiritual state of immovability.
The mind and consciousness seen in an infinite display of forms paint a picture of the universe with all its subjects and phenomena.
These forms are nothing but the projection of mind and consciousness.
I, Vajra Guru Sheng-yen Lu, have long abided in the spontaneous and natural state of mind, where nothing is a hindrance.
I have risen above all matters, and remain unperturbed.
I remain diligent without stop in my cultivation, yet the dharma nature within me remains unmoved, remaining unhindered and spontaneous.
I am thus free to observe my life and death, and such is a display of great realization.
I have thus made my way
through the posture of the seven points of Vairocana;
through the Ekajata Meditation;
through breath regulation and visualization;
through igniting the psychic heat;
through the practice of drops and inner fire;
through being in the absorption of great calmness,
through abiding in the spiritual state of immovability; through entering into Pure Uncontaminated Samadhi;
through gaining the Wisdom of Perception.
I have recognized the nature of all changing illusions, and realize the truth that good and bad people are subject to change and illusion.
Thus, all things are changing and illusory.
Please do not be mistaken and think that what I have said is mystical and beyond comprehension, that I am simply playing with words of Zen, leading you to some form of Zen meditation and realization.
If you are wise, you will know that my words of dharma are indeed true, for I am only trying to awaken the deluded ones so they may enter into the true spiritual state of immovability.
Dawa. Dawa. Dawa. This word, in Tibetan, refers to the highest state of realization
(Dawa means moon).
Amituofo
Lotuschef
Pure Karma
True Buddha School
No comments:
Post a Comment