Category: Mahabodhi Mission

Bhagavati Prajna Paramita Hridaya  (Sanskrit)

“The Blessed Mother, the Heart of the Perfection of Wisdom” (herein abridged)

A pith presentation of the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajnaparamita) sutras, is of only one part.

Heard in Rajgriha at Vulture Park with monks, bodhisattvas and the Blessed One in attendance. Wherein noble Avalokiteśvara beheld the profound Perfection of Wisdom, that even the five aggregates are empty of intrinsic existence.

Sāriputta, inspired by Buddha, asks the noble bodhisattva, “How should a noble son or daughter desiring to engage in practice of profound perfection train?”

Avalokiteśvara spoke, “Sāriputta,  that one should see clearly that even the five aggregates are empty of intrinsic existence. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form, emptiness is no other than form, form is not other than emptiness, Likewise, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness are all empty. All phenomena are empty, without defining characteristics, they are not born, they do not cease, are not defiled, are not undefiled, not deficient, nor complete.”

“In emptiness there is no form (rūpa), no feelings (vedanā), no perceptions (saṃjñā), no mental formations (saṅkhāra) and no consciousness (vijñāna). No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind. No form, sound, smell, taste, texture, concepts. No elements of sense sources. No  links of dependent origination. Likewise  no suffering, no origin of suffering, no cessation of, nor path. No wisdom, no attainment, no non-attainment.”

“Since there is no attainment, rely on the Perfection of Wisdom, abide in it. With no obstruction in mind have no fear, beyond error, reach the end of nirvana. Rely on this profound Perfection of Wisdom, attain the full awakening of unexcelled,  perfect enlightenment of the Buddhas abiding in the three times.”

“Know that the mantra of the Perfection of Wisdom -the unexcelled, unequaled, mantra of great knowledge that quells all suffering- is true for it is not deceptive.

tadyatha gaté gaté paragaté parasamgaté bodhi svaha!

(thus go go go beyond go totally beyond  rooted in enlightenment)

Sāriputta, bodhisattvas should train in the perfection of wisdom in this way.”

Thereupon the Blessed One said “ Excellent. Excellent. Noble child, it is just so, it should be just so. One must practice the profound Perfection of Wisdom just as you revealed. Then, even the tathagatas will rejoice.”

All in attendance rejoiced in what the Blessed One said.

In brief, a preliminary practice from the Six Yogas of Naropa. In meditation, visualize the vajra body as hollow, crystal-like, radiant rainbow light, with channels and chakras (described below) until familiar. 

The Three Principle Channels

Visualize  the three principle channels (the central, and the left and right) as rainbow-like tubes, smooth, transparent, clear, flexible, and as shiny as silk. The central channel (avadhuti) starts at a point midway between the eyebrows, and the two side channels start at the nostrils. All three curve up to the crown and then run down the length of the body just in front of the spine. Visualize that the three channels end about four finger-widths below the navel chakra. The two side channels curve up into the bottom of the central channel, similar to the Tibetan letter cha (ཆ). The central channel is blue on the outside and red inside. The right channel is red, the left white.

The Four Main Chakras (“wheels”)

• The navel chakra (manipura) is red, shaped like a triangle, with 64 branch channels that point upward
• The heart chakra (anahata) is white, shaped like a ball, with 8 downward branches
• The throat chakra (vishuddha) is red, shaped like a ball, with 16 upward branches
• The great blissful chakra (ushnisha kamala) at the crown is multicolored, and shaped like a triangle. with 32 branches opening down.

The branches opening toward each other symbolize method and wisdom, the triangle is symbolic of the wisdom-female energy and the ball shape symbolic of male method energy.

The navel chakra is the most important in Inner Fire Meditation. 

Seed-Syllables

• The short a (or Tibetan a tung, broad at the bottom with a sharp tip, like a candle flame or torma) is bright red in color, topped with crescent moon, a drop, and nada, sits in central channel, in center of navel chakra.
• The blue hūm at the heart chakra in the central channel, with crescent moon, drop, and nada, is upside down on a moon disc.
• The red om (or am) at the throat chakra is upright, topped with crescent moon, a drop, and nada.
• The white ham at the crown, chakra of great bliss, with crescent moon, drop, and nada, is upside down on a moon disc.

A ཨ

Hum ཧཱུྃ

Om ཨོཾ

Ha ཧ

“May I be successful in inner fire meditation. May my entire nervous system experience an explosion of blissful energy. May this blissful energy enter the central channel, and may it comprehend the wisdom of non-duality.”

Lama Yeshe

The Venerable Khemaka [while] sick, afflicted and gravely ill [answers inquiry of] the elder monks dwelling at Kosambī in Ghosita’s Park:

“These five aggregates subject to clinging have been spoken of by the Blessed One; that is, form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness. Does the Venerable Khemaka regard anything as self or as belonging to self among these five aggregates subject to clinging?”

“These five aggregates subject to clinging have been spoken of by the Blessed One; that is, form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness. I do not regard anything among these five aggregates subject to clinging as self or as belonging to self… Friends, [the notion] ‘I am’ has not yet vanished in me in relation to these five aggregates subject to clinging, but I do not regard [anything among them] as ‘This I am.… Even though a noble disciple has abandoned the five lower fetters, still, in relation to the five aggregates subject to clinging, there lingers in him a residual conceit ‘I am,’ a desire ‘I am,’ an underlying tendency ‘I am’ that has not yet been uprooted…. As he dwells thus contemplating rise and fall in the five aggregates subject to clinging, the residual conceit ‘I am,’ the desire ‘I am,’ the underlying tendency ‘I am’ that had not yet been uprooted—this comes to be uprooted.”

(Saṃyutta Nikāya 22:89)

From: The Dalai Lama; Bodhi, Bhikkhu. In the Buddha’s Words: An Anthology of Discourses from the Pali Canon (Teachings of the Buddha)

Bardo Tödröl Chenmo (Tibetan: bar do thos grol chen mo): ‘The ‘Great Liberation through Hearing an Elucidation of the Intermediate State of Reality’ (i.e. ‘The Tibetan Book of the Dead‘) an extract from the ‘Peaceful and Wrathful Deities: The Profound Teaching on Natural Liberation through Recognition of the Primordial State. ‘

“It is the teaching whereby liberation can be attained without meditation… whereby liberation can be won by hearing.”

May all find refuge on the path of liberation.

Prologue

“The ‘Great Liberation through Hearing’, “the method that liberates yogis of middling capacity during intermediate states…”

Is of three parts:

I. Premise
II. Instructions
III. Conclusion

I. Premise

“Methods by which beings of physical body can achieve liberation… [to be] repeatedly read during the intermediate states… with correct pronunciation and clear dictation.”

II. Instructions

• Offerings to Three Supreme Jewels
• Invocations, Root Verses read aloud
• Bardo Thodo Instructions read aloud

Bardo Thodo “Instructions are of three parts:

Introduction to the…

1. Clear Light
2. Intermediate State of Reality
3. Intermediate State of Rebirth

1. Introduction to the Clear Light in the Intermediate State of the Moment of Death

“Attaining the unborn enlightened dimension of the dharmakāya.”

Is of two parts:

1. 1. Introduction to the Clear Light of the Base
      1. “Recognize the brilliant essence of your own awareness as buddha nature”
   2. Introduction to the Clear Light of the Path
      1. Focus intently on your meditation deity/Mahakarunika

2. Introduction to Recognizing the Intermediate State of Reality

“Recognize all that appears as pure awareness, naturally manifesting…”

The Vision of the Peaceful Deities in the Intermediate State of Reality…

Wherein Manifests:

• First Day: Blue light of Space, wisdom of expansive reality. From central Pervasive Sphere, White Vairocana on Lion Throne with vajra and consort Ākāsadhātvìśvari.
• Second Day: White light of Water, mirrorlike wisdom. From eastern Perfect Joy realm, Blue Aksobhya-Vajrasattva on Elephant Throne with vajra and consort Buddhalocaña. Retinue, four within expanse of rainbow light.
  
• Third Day: Yellow light of Earth, equanimous wisdom. From southern Glorious Śrimat, Yellow Ratnasambhava on Horse Throne with jewel and consort Māmaki. Retinue, four within expanse of rainbow light.
  
• Fourth Day: Red light of Fire, wisdom of discrimination. From western Blissful Sukhāvatī, Red Amitābha on Peacock Throne with lotus flower and consort Pāndaravāsin. Retinue, four within expanse of rainbow light.
• Fifth Day: Green light of Air, action-accomplishing wisdom, from northern Perfect and Complete Enlightened Activities realm  Green Amoghasiddhi on Civamcivaka Bird Throne with double vajra and consort Samayatāra. Retinue, four within expanse of rainbow light.
• Sixth Day: All Five Enlightened Families with retinues. Union of four wisdoms vision. Six dim lights of six realms of Samsara, “do not be enticed by them”: God (pallid white); Hell (murky); Human (pallid blue) Hungry Ghost (pallid yellow); Demigod (dim red); Animal (pallid green). The Wrathful Gatekeepers. The six nirmanakaya sages. Samanthabhdra and Samanthabhdri. “Recognize… your own pure vision. “
• Seventh Day: Light of five colors, purity of your tendencies in expansive reality and innate wisdom. Assembly of divine awareness holders from Pure Realm of the Skyfarers with attendant dakas and dākinīs, “to lead you with great love on the path of the radiant light of innate wisdom.”

The Vision of the Wrathful Deities in the Intermediate State of Reality…

Wherein  “the blazing assembly of the fifty-eight wrathful [blood-drinking] herukas, who are transformations of the previous peaceful deities” appear. “Do not be afraid. Do not be terrified. Do not become bewildered. Recognize them [as your own meditation deity] and do not be distracted [dissolve inseparably into them, and thereby become enlightened].”

Wherein Manifests:

• Eighth Day: From within your own mind, blackish-brown in color Great Glorious Buddha Heruka with consort Buddhakroddhishvari
  
• Ninth Day: From the east, blackish-blue in color Vajra Heruka with consort Vajrakrodhishvari
  
• Tenth Day: From the south,  blackish-yellow in color Ratna Heruka with consort Ratnakrodhishvari
  
• Eleventh Day: From the west, blackish-red in color Padma Heruka with consort Padmakrodhishvari
  
• Twelfth Day: From the north, blackish-green in color Karma Heruka with consort Karmakrodhishvari
  
• Thereafter: From within the mind, the eight wrathful female gaurī (symbols of the eight consciousnesses) will arise : white Gauri; yellow Cauri; red Pramohā; black Vetālī; reddish-yellow Pukkasī; blackish-green Ghasmarī; pale yellow Candālī; blackish-blue Samašāni. And the eight wrathful female piśācī (symbols of the eight objects of consciousnesses), with different animal heads, will arise: lion-head Simhamukhī; tiger-headed Vayāghrīmukhī; fox-headed Śrgālamukhī; wolf-headed Shvānamukhī; vulture-headed Grdhramukhī; kangka bird-headed Kankamukhī; crow-headed Kākamukhī; owl-headed Ulūkamukhī. Four female gatekeepers. Twenty-eight īśvarī (manifestations of the natural energy of your own pure awareness).  Six yoginīs of the east, six yoginīs of the south, six yoginīs of the west, six yoginīs of the north, four yoginī gatekeepers. Through energy of emptiness, dharmakāya, manifested the Peaceful Deities. Through energy of clarity, sambogakāya, manifested the Wrathful Deities. Mahakala. Yama. 

Conclusion of the Introduction to the Intermediate State of the Moment of Death and the Intermediate State of Reality

“It is extremely important to train the mind in the ‘Great Liberation Through Hearing’ while alive… It should be read aloud… to meet this teaching is a great fortune. Thus cherish it greatly.”

3. Introduction to the Intermediate State of Rebirth

“The intermediate state of reality arose within you, you did not recognize it, so you are compelled to wander here… recognize and sustain without distraction your own essential nature.”

Is of three parts:

1. Introduction to the Mental Body
   • “Your awareness without physical support, is buffeted by currents of vital energy of past actions”
   • “Do not be afraid. This is your own illusory vision”
   • “Be free of attachment and grasping”
   • “Renounce yearning for a body, remain in a state of undistracted nonaction”
   • “Dwell in contemplation of The Great Symbol”
2. Obstructing Womb Entrances
   • Maintain a strong resolve
   • Unite propensities of past good deeds
   • Recall methods of reversal
   • Steadfastness and pure vision are vital
   • Renounce jealousy, meditate on your spiritual teacher and consort
3. Choosing a Womb Entrance
   • It is crucial to keep in mind the meaning of emptiness, the essence of the Great Symbol
   • Meditate on the Great Compassionate One, Mahakarunika (an epithet of Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of compassion)
   • “For the benefit of all beings, I shall be born a universal monarch…”
   • Take refuge in the Three Precious Jewels. Invoke The Great Compassionate One. Give up all attachment
   • Enter the blue light of the human realm, the white light of the  god realm, the celestial palaces.

III. Conclusion

Wherein the “instruction[s] on the intermediate state that liberates mortal beings, the profound pure essence titled ‘Great Liberation through Hearing in the Intermediate States,'” is completed. “May it benefit the teaching and all sentient beings.”

Samaya! gya gya gya!

Padmasambhava; Lingpa, Karma. The Tibetan Book of the Dead . North Atlantic Books.

Samantabhadra. (T. Kun tu bzang po). The Sanskrit name of both an important bodhisattva in Indian and East Asian Buddhism and of an important buddha in Tibetan Buddhism… As a buddha, Samantabhadra is the primordial buddha (ĀDIBUDDHA) according to the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism. He is depicted naked, blue, and in sexual union with his consort Samantabhadrī. He is embodiment of the original purity of all phenomena of SAṂSĀRA and NIRVĀṆA. Called the “primordial basis” (ye gzhi), he is regarded as the eternal union of awareness (RIG PA) and emptiness (ŚŪNYATĀ), of emptiness and appearance, and of the nature of the mind and compassion. As such he is the wellspring of the ATIYOGA teachings.

rig pa. The standard Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit term VIDYĀ, or “knowledge.” The Tibetan term, however, has a special meaning in the ATIYOGA and RDZOGS CHEN traditions of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism, where it refers to the most profound form of consciousness. Some modern translators of Tibetan texts into European languages consider the term too profound to be rendered into a foreign language, while others translate it as “awareness,” “pure awareness,” or “mind.” Unlike the “mind of clear light” (PRABHĀSVARACITTA; ’od gsal gyi sems) as described in other tantric systems, rig pa is not said to be accessible only in extraordinary states, such as death and sexual union; instead, it is fully present, although generally unrecognized, in each moment of sensory experience. Rig pa is described as the primordial basis, characterized with qualities such as presence, spontaneity, luminosity, original purity, unobstructed freedom, expanse, clarity, self-liberation, openness, effortlessness, and intrinsic awareness. It is not accessible through conceptual elaboration or logical analysis. Rather, rig pa is an eternally pure state free from the dualism of subject and object, infinite and complete from the beginning. It is regarded as the ground or the basis of both SAṂSĀRA and NIRVĀṆA, with the phenomena of the world being its reflection; all thoughts and all objects of knowledge are said to arise from rig pa and dissolve into rig pa. The ordinary mind believes that its own creations are real, forgetting its true nature of original purity. For the mind willfully to seek to liberate itself is both inappropriate and futile because rig pa is already self-liberated. Rig pa therefore is also the path, and its exponents teach practices that instruct the student how to distinguish rig pa from ordinary mental states. These practices include a variety of techniques designed to eliminate karmic obstacles (KARMĀVARAṆA), at which point the presence of rig pa in ordinary experience is introduced, allowing the mind to eliminate all thoughts and experiences itself, thereby recognizing its true nature. Rig pa is thus also the goal of the path, the fundamental state that is free from obscuration.

Guhyagarbhatantra. (Tibetan: Gsang ba’i snying po’i rgyud). In Sanskrit, the “Secret Essence Tantra,” a central text of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism and the RDZOGS CHEN (i.e. Dzogchen) tradition. The tantra is regarded as an expression of the enlightened intention of the primordial DHARMAKĀYA, the buddha SAMANTABHADRA. It is a work of Indic origin, appearing around mid-eighth century, probably after the GUHYASAMĀJATANTRA. It is unclear whether the text was called Guhyagarbha at the time of its composition or whether that title was added later. In DUNHUANG documents, it is usually referred to as the Māyājālatantra. By the time of a late tenth-century manuscript, it is called the Guhyagarbhatantra. The later Tibetan tradition identifies the Guhyagarbha as the root tantra of the MAHĀYOGA class, as well as the main tantra of the MĀYĀJĀLA cycle of tantras, a group of eighteen mahāyoga tantras. The Guhyagarbha was particularly influential in late eighth- and early ninth-century Tibet, when it was a principal inspiration for the early rdzogs chen movement. Its Māyājāla MAṆḌALA of one hundred deities (forty-two peaceful and fifty-eight wrathful) was widely employed…

Buswell Jr., Robert E.; Donald S., Jr. Lopez. The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism. Princeton University Press.

Rely not merely on the person, but on the words

Rely not merely on the words, but on their meaning

Rely not merely on provisional meaning, but on definitive meaning

Rely not merely on intellectual understanding, but on direct experience

Set forth in the Catuhpratisarana sutra

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