Sopa Subtle Body

7/30/2019 Sopa Subtle Body

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THE JOURNALOF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF

BUDDHIST STUDIES

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFA . K. Narain

University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA

EDITORSL. M.Joshi

Punjabi UniversityPatiala, India

Alexander W. MacdonaldUniversite de Paris X

Nanterre, France

Bardwell SmithCarleton CollegeNorthfield, Minnesota, USA

Ernst SteinkellnerUniversity of Vienna

Wien, AustriaJikido Takasaki

University of TokyoTokyo, fapan

Robert ThurmanA mherst CollegeAmherst, Massachusetts, USA

ASSISTANT EDITORRoger Jackson

F JRN - > '

Volume 6 1983 Number 2


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C O N T E N T S

I . A R T I C L E SA recons t ruc t ion of the Madhyamakdvatdra's Analysis ofthe Person, by Peter G . F enner. 7Cittaprakrti a n d Ayonisomanaskdra in the Ratnagolravi-bhdga: Precedent for the Hsin-Nien Distinction ofThe A wakening of Faith, by William Grosnick 35An Excursus on the Subt le Body in Tant r ic Buddhism(Notes Contextua l iz ing the Kalacakra)1 , by Geshe

Lhundup Sopa 48Socio-Cul tura l Aspec ts of Theravada Buddhism in Nepal , by Ram esh Chandra Tewari 67T h e Yuktisas(ikakdrikd of Naga r juna , by Fernando Tolaand Carmen Dragonetti 94The "Suic ide" Problem in the Pa l i Canon, by Martin G.Wiltshire \ 24

I I . B O O K R E V I E W S1. Buddhist and Western Philosophy, edite d by N ath an Katz 1412. A Meditators Diary, by Jane H am il ton-M err i t t 1443. The Roof Tile ofTempyo, by Yasushi In o ue 1464. Les royaumes de I'Himalaya, histoire et civilisation: le La-dakh, le Bhoutan, le Sikkirn, le Nepa l, unde r the d i r ec t ion of A lex and er W. M acdo na ld 147


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5. Wings of the White C rane: Poems of Tskangs dbyangs rgyamtsho (1683-1706), t rans la ted by G.W. H ou s tonThe Rain of Wisdom, t rans la ted by the Nalanda Trans lat ion Commit tee under the Di rec t ion of ChogyamT r u n g p aSongs of Spiritual Change, by the Seventh Dalai Lama,Gyalwa Ka lzang Gyatso 149

I I I . N O T E S A N D N E W S1. A Re po r t on the In te rna t iona l Se m inar : Aspects of Indian Thought j5 7


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An Excursus on the Subt le Body inTan t r i c Bu d d h i sm (N o t e s Co n t ex t u a l i z i n gthe Kalacakra)

1

by Geshe Lhundup Sopa

There are two main schemes for classifying the tantras, a ninefold and a four-fold sch em e. 2 W ithin the four-fold sche m e,which we ar e fol lowing, th e highe st or anut tara * class is fu rth ersubdiv ided in to fa the r and mothe r t an t ra accord ing to whe the rthe t an t r i c me thod (updya) or the tant r ic wisdom (pra jna) predomina tes in the t an t ra ' s course o f p rac t i ca l deve lopment , 1 thespecif ical ly tantr ic method being that of an i l lusory body, andthe specif ical ly tantr ic wisdom being that of the knowledge ofem pt ines s insep arab le f rom bl iss . T h e Kalacakra-tantra th en , is atant ra of the anuttara class, and is usual ly subdivided as a mothe r t an t ra / ' However , among t an t ra s o f the anuttara class, whether fa ther or mother , the Kalacakra has severa l unique fea tureswhich are not common to the other tant ras . Among these featu res , t he most p ree m ine n t is the em ptyform m ethod of theKalacakra , in cont radis t inc t ion to the i l lusory-body method ofthe o the r anuttara tant ras , l ike the Guhyasamaja . This br ings usto the main subject of our paper, the idea of subt le body, which,in turn, brings us to the t radi t ional idea of the superiori ty of thetan t r i c me thod .When one speaks of the super ior i ty of the tant r ic method,on e is fo llowing in the ma inst r eam of la te r Ind ian B ud dh ismand the fo rm in which Buddhi sm en te red and was p rese rved inTibet by such i l lust r ious acaryas as Santaraksi ta , Padmasam-bhava,*' Sa skya P an di ta , Atlsa, 7 Tsong kha pa , and o the rs toonumerous to ment ion . S imi la r ly , by "super io r i ty" one meansthe advantages which the tant ras themselves c la im for the tant r i c me thod over the o the r pa th op t ions o f fe red by Buddhi sm.

48


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TANTRIC BUDDHISM 49In par t i cu lar , the t an t ras , be ing a t eaching of the Mahayana ,s u p p l e m e n t t h e c o m m o n 8 path of the Mahayana, i .e . , the Para-mitayana, or path laid out in the Mahayana sutras , by the addit ion of a part icular tant r ic method and wisdom. This i s to saythat the tantr ic method is usual ly held to be in addition to r a t h e rthan in lieu of many of the common paths of the Mahayanas u t r a s . In the l i terature of the subject , the Paramita or sut rapaths are referred to as the vehicle of the cause, or causalvehicle,*' a n d th e ta nt ric p at hs as th e vehicle of th e effect, o rfrui t ion vehicle ,1 0 and i t is repeatedly said that the cult ivation ofthe causal vehicle precedes somewhat the at tainment of thefrui t ion vehicle , or , in other words , that the development of theParamai tayana goes before Tant rayana , inasmuch as the Para-mitayana is the very matrix into which the special practices ofthe Tant rayana are to be ass imi la ted . Here , however , thewords , "cause" and "effect ," refer s imply to medi tat ion on thecauses of en l igh tenment , in cont rad i s t inc t ion to medi ta t ion onth e final resu lt or effect , which is en lig ht en m en t i tself from thepoint of view of i ts quali t ies and realizat ions. Thus, the sutrapaths teach mainly the cul t ivat ion of the causes of enl ightenment , i .e . , the vi r tues of the s ix (and ten) perfecteds (parami-tas); chari ty (ddna), a permiss ib le conduct (sila), to lerance(ksdnti), and med i t a t i on (dhydna) coun t a s me thod (updya), wisdom (prajna) as wisdom (prajna) , 1 1 and manly effort (virya) ascom mo n to t he dev e lopm en t o f bo th wisdom and me thod . 1 2These s ix s taples of a Bodhisat tva 's conduct are the causes ofen l i gh t enmen t acco rd ing t o t he su t r as , bu t t hus b roken down ,the pract ice of the me th od s ide is said to pr od uc e the co rpo rea la g g r e g a t e (rupakdya) of a Buddha, whereas the wisdom side issa id to produce the rea l i za t ion aggregate (dharmakaya) 1 :< of aBuddha a t the t ime of ach iev ing per fec t en l igh tenment .

However, f rom the tantr ic point of view, the sut ras do notexpose a l together adequate ly the causes of the form-body of aBuddha, for a l though the v i r tues of those per fec teds (paramita) which const i tute method may be the remote cause of aBuddha ' s form-aggregate , the proximate cause of th i s form-ag gre ga te is a subt le body which nee ds to be f irst gen er ate d an dsubsequent ly r ipened by pract ices above and beyond the s ix (orten) par am i tas . T h us , acc ord in g to the t an t ra s , jus t the su t ramethod cannot l ead beyond the t en Bodhisa t tva s tages , 1 1 a n d


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50 JIABS VOL. 6 NO. 2the Bodhisattva who has obtained the tenth stage wil l st i l l haveto prac t ice the t an t r i c method in order to progress f rom theten th s tage to per fec t en l igh tenment , 1 5 which is to be understood as the fulfi llmen t no t of a single but of a twofold objective, i .e . , the assured wel l -being of onesel f and of othersachieved through the at tainment , respect ively, of the real izat ion-body and the form-body 1 6 of a Buddha. Even more po in t ed ly , a l th ou gh the gen era t io n of a subt le body is the pro xim atecause of the form-aggregate of per fec t en l igh tenment , f romthe medi tator ' s point of view, the di rect or immediate object ofi ts cult ivation is the welfare of others.

Final ly , according to the tantras , the wisdom achieved bythe Pa ram itaya na is excel led by that real ized thr ou gh the tant r ic method. Here, however , the excel lence of wisdom is notbeing measured from the point of view of the object real ized,which for both ydnas is em pt in ess (sunyata) , bu t ra th er from thepoint of view of the quali t ies of the realizing mind or mentals ta te , wh ich is a pa rt icu larly s ubtle and blissful con sciousn essoften referred to as the "clear l ight" (prabhdsvara). The ac tua l(tib. dongyi) clear l ight i s uniquely the product of yoga, and thisclear l ight as the realizer of emptiness is simultaneously anexperiencer of great bl iss ,17 unl ike the neut ra l consc iousnessrea l iz ing empt iness a t the cu lminat ion of the Parami tayanapa ths , and therein l ies the reason for the tantras ' c laim of br inging about a "superior" wisdom. This real izat ion of empt inessins ep ara ble from an ex pe rie nc e of gr ea t bliss is often calledMahdmudra. A lth ou gh the actual clear l ight is solely the pr od uc tof yoga, it has i ts an alo gu e in or di na ry life in an ot he r extre m elysubt le consciousness , which, together wi th i t s support ing mater ial e lement , the tantras hold to have a close relat ion wi th thevi talor biot ic force itself.18 By way of analogy with the actualclear l ight , i t is named "the clear l ight of death," as this consc iousness is o rd ina r i ly d or m an t , o r l a ten t , o r po ten t ia l , ap pe aring as something only at the t ime of death. The tantr ic methodseeks by i ts peculiar yoga practices to arouse this clear l ight ofdeath, and once i t i s manifes t , to t ransform i t in to a knower ofempt iness and so to produce the actual clear l ight .

T h u s , the tantras profess not only to complete the paths ofthe su t ras by provid ing them wi th an adequate mater ia l cause ,bu t a l so by the same methods to expedi te and grea t ly speed up


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IANTRIC BUDDHISM 51the a t ta inment of the f ina l goa l of the Mahayana . As the vehic leof the f ru i t ion , the tant r ic method of cul t iva t ion does not per sefocus on the s low, pa t ient accumula t ion of v i r tuous causes , but ,ra ther , focuses direct ly on the f inal resul t , the form and real izat ion aggrega te s , by emula t ing them he re and now a f t e r t hefashion of a s imula ted 1 9 pe r fo rm an ce , o r a d r e ss r ehea r sa l , o r adry run, and by so medi ta t ing cont inuously , i t seeks to movemore rapidly f rom mere s imulat ion to the actual real i ty of i tsaccom pl i shm ent . Th u s , wha t is firs t p r e t e nd ed for t he pu rpo seof its be in g la te r ob ta in ed is d iv ine min d-b od y, and th e m eth odof i ts a t ta inment is the dei ty yoga of the anuttara t ant ras , wi ththe ir two sets of s teps or s tag es, i .e . , th e s teps of gen era t io n an dthe s teps of comple t ion. 2 0 The pa th sys tem of the anuttara t an t ras might prof i tably be ca l led a Buddhis t pa th of apotheos is , 2 1of which the anuttara t an t ras offe r two m ain types . T h e Guhya-samaja and i t s cogna te tant ras , l ike Yamantaka, Sricakrasamvara,Vajrayogini, e tc . , r epresent one such type and the Kdlacakra th eo t h e r .

In the pa th of apotheos is of the Gukyasamaja type, the basisto be pur i f ied i s threefold: dea th , the in te rmedia te s ta te (anan-tarabhdva), an d b ir th ; the path i tself is th e de ve lo pm en t of theunion of the i l lusory body (maya-deha) and clear l ight {prabha-svara)\ and the f ina l r esul t i s the three pure aggrega tes (tri-k&ya):22 t he aggrega te o f r ea l i za t ion (dha rmakaya ) , t he aggre ga te o f en joyment ( sambhogakaya ) , and the aggrega te o fmagica l appearance (n i rmanakaya) , or , in o ther words , r ea l iza t ion body, enjoyment body, and doce t ic 2* bod y. In this sen se ,de ath is sa id to be pu r if ied by th e a t ta in m en t of the real izationbody, the in te rmedia te s ta te by the a t ta inment of the enjoymentbody, and bi r th by the a t ta inment of the doce t ic body, and themeans of t r ans i t ion f rom bi r th , dea th , and the in te rmedia tes tate to the respec t ive thr ee p u re agg rega tes is the pa th ofcul t iva t ing the union of the i l lusory body and the ac tua l 2 ' clearl ight . The preceding is in the overal l or general sense , but in amore specif ic sense , death may be said to be pur if ied as theactual c lear l ight replaces the ordinary c lear l ight of death,which is to say, when the process and subt le mechanism oford ina ry dea th and dy ing se rves a s t he locus for the deepes trea liza t ion of em pt in ess ; and ju s t as in the process of o rdin arydea th and dying, the k ind of subt le body known as the in te rme-


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52 JIABS VOL. 6 NO. 2diate-s ta te body (or bardo body) a r ises f rom the pneumat ic e le ment of the c lear l ight of dea th , the in te rmedia te s ta te becomeseventually purif ied when in l ieu of the subtle bardo body anil lusory body (mdyd-defia) is pr od uc ed f rom th e m ater ia l substance of the actual c lear l ight . "Eventually purif ied" is sa idbecause the i l lusory body f i rs t genera ted f rom an exemplaryclear l ight is init ia l ly im p u re , la ter pu rif ied , a nd a t leng th perfected as a B u d d h a ' s enjo ym ent bo dy . Finally, bir th is sa id to bepur i f ied when the emergence of the gross body, which is ordina ri ly b ro ug ht ab out by the pow er o f ka rma an d klesa, gives wayto the spec ia l appearances of such a body produced for the sakeof o thers by the perfec ted union of the pure i l lusory body andthe immedia te knowledge of empt iness insepa rab le f rom grea tbliss, which consti tutes the mind-body of an enlightened Buddha.Thus , in the sequence of pa th s tages (sa lam)** of cultivation or yoga of the Guhyasamaja, the s teps of genera t ion mainlyr ipen the medi ta tor for the prac t ice of the s teps of comple t ion,which they ant ic ipa te 2 7 through the use of symbol ism andimagina t ion, and they correspond roughly to the f i rs t , or pa tho f p r e p a r a t i on {sambhdra mdrga) subdivision in the fivefold division2* of the pa th o f the P a ram i tayana . Th ey co m m ence wi ththe medi ta tor ' s imagining himse lf a r is ing f rom emptiness , passing th rough a se t o f t r ans forma t ions , and be ing gene ra ted a sthe de i ty 2 9 together with the deity 's mandala (symbolic of hisabode) and c i rc le of a t tendant gods . Here the istadevatd, m a n da la , and en tourage o f gods repre sen t the n i rmanakaya . Thes teps of genera t ion a re sa id to be conc luded when the medi ta tor can visualize lucidly, in every detail, and for as long as helikes, the de i ty , mandala , and c i rc le of gods toge ther in a spacethe $ize of a m u sta rd seed. F rom h er e begin th e s teps of completion*0 and the non imagina ry p rocess o f deve lopment l eading to the abandonment o f the pass ion and knowledge obscura t ions {klesa a n d jneya dvarana); in the tantras the knowledgeobscura t ions a re unde rs tood to be the o rd ina ry , eve ryday appearances of th ings , and the pass ion obscura t ions a re unders tood to be the apprehens ion of the se o rd ina ry appea rances a ssuch .The s teps of comple t ion a re somet imes grouped in to f ive ,sometimes into s ix s teps. When grouped into s ix, the f irs t threeare the three withdrawals or isola t ions, i .e . , of the body, the


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TANTRIC BUDDHISM 53speech, and the mind, fol lowed by the s teps of i l lusory body,c lear l igh t , and union . 3 1 The th ree wi thd rawals o f the body ,speech , and mind compr ise a se t o f s teps recapi tu la t ing thes tages o f dy ing . Through the f i r s t , t he pneumat ic e l emen ts o rwinds which are the suppor t o r vehic le of consc iousness aresuccessive ly w i thdr aw n f rom the i r o rd i na ry ac tiv it ies an d m ad eto en te r the med ian channe l* 2 (avadhuti), then to ab ide the reand f ina l ly to be d isso lved there . Through the second, var iousknots w rhich constr ict the movement of wind through the medianchannel a re loosened suf f ic ien t ly to permi t the winds to en ter ,ab ide , and be d isso lved in the hear t a rea of the median channel .By the th i rd , the f ina l knots a re loosened , and the winds aremade to enter , abide, and be dissolved into a point , l i t t le largertha n a m us ta rd seed , in the he ar t regio n, which is the seat of thevital force itself. The d isso lu t ion of a l l the pneumat ic e lementsin to th is " indes t ruc tab le drop" 3 * com ple tes the recap i tu la t ionof the act of dying, and there ar ises a manifes tat ion of the clearl ight , cal led the "exemplary clear l ight ." 3 1 This exempla ry c lea rl igh t , havin g been pr od uc ed by yoga , is m or e ref ined than theordinary clear l ight of death, but is not yet the actual clear l ight .Th i s co r responds rough ly to the pa th o f r each ing (prayogamdrga) of the fivefold path system of the Paramitayana, whereinan approx imate bu t no t a f ina l d i r ec t under s tand ing o f empt i ness is ach ieve d . H er e , the c lear l igh t of de a th has no un de r s tanding of empt iness , whereas the exemplary c lear l igh t c losely ap pr oa ch es bu t doe s not qu i te reach the fina l d i rec t know ingof empt ines s . The p roduc t ion o f th i s exempla ry c lea r l igh tmarks the c l imax of the three wi thdrawals and serves as themater ia l cause for the cu l t iva t ion of the next s tep , the product ion of the impure i l lusory body.To summar ize very br ief ly the remain ing s teps : before thes tage of union, the clear l ight and i l lusory body exis t a l ternately , and not a t the same t ime. Here , then , a t the s tage of un ion ,the meditator ut i l izes the impure i l lusory body as a basis forbr inging about a new manifes tat ion of the clear l ight , th is t imethe ac tua l c lear l igh t which d i rec t ly perce ives empt iness . Thisp roduc t ion co r responds to the Pa rami tayana ' s pa th o f s ee ing(darsana mdrga), on which those obscura t ions abandonab le byseeing real i ty are got r id of . Here, on the tantr ic path, a l l theremain ing obscura t ions a re r e l inqu i shed th rough the f ina l


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54 JIABS VOL. 6 NO. 2s teps of the pa th , and again , these cor respond to the Parami-tayana 's path of cul t ivat ion (bhavana mdrga), on which the mostsubt le knowledge obscura t ions are got r id of . On the tan t r icpa th , th is is acco m pl ished th ro ug h s till an ot he r prod uct ion ofi l lusory body, this t ime the pure i l lusory body which s tays conjoined with the actual clear l ight , and this is the union iyuga-naddha) of clear l ight and i l lusory body. Through the ut i l ization of this union, the final stages of purification of theobscura t ions are accompl ished , and these in turn are c l imaxedby a pa th of no more t ra in ing (asaiksa mdrga), which is therea l iza t ion of en l igh tenment i t se l f th rough the a t ta inment ofthe th ree bod ies (trikdya).The above has necessar i ly been a highly abbreviated sketchof the sequence of path s tages of the Guhyasamdja, with minimale labora t ion and wi thout d iscuss ion of the var ious medi ta t iontechniques ut i l ized in the development of a path of this sor t , aseach of these topics is large in itself and all together quite voluminous, and this is to say nothing of the many specif ic phi losophical, scientific, etc. , types of problems which a subject matter of this sor t wil l pose for this or that par t icular reader . Ingenera l , the anuttara tan t ras (wi th some except ions on the s ideof the Kdlacakra) teach the development of a pa th sys tem of theabove kind. Some, l ike Yamdntaka, etc . , g ive a grea ter emphas isand expat ia t ion to the genera t ion and development of i l lusorybody; o th ers , like the Cakrasamvara, Vajrayogim, etc. , to the gen era t ion and development of c lear l igh t ; and of course , there area great many specif ic differences in the detai ls of the forms ofth e yidam to be v isual ized , the par t icu lars of the mandalas , andnumerous o the r such cha rac te r i s t i c s . However , the fundamental bas is of purif icat ion ( i .e . , death, intermediate s tate , andbirth), the path (i .e. , the cultivation of the union of i l lusorybody and clear l ight) , and the f inal resul t ( i .e . , the three bodies) ,remain a cons tan t in the many anuttara tan t ras (except ing theKdlacakra). St i l l another impor tan t fea ture shared by a l l o f theabove (again except ing the Kdlacakra) is the teaching that enl ig ht en m en t is of ten ach ieved no t in th e cu rr en t life bu t in thein termedia te s ta te . Thus , wi thout pass ing s t ra ight on to theKdlacakra, the wri ter would l ike to digress for a moment to thesubject of the at tainment of the f inal goal in the intermediates tate (Tib. bardo, Skt. antarabhdva).

The not ion of an in termedia te s ta te and i t s subt le bardo


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TA NT RIC BUDDHISM 55body is no t pec uliar to the ta nt ra s , but is co m m on to all ofB u d d h i s m ,3 5 bo th the Hinayana and Mahayana su t r as andthe i r commenta r i e s . P r inc ipa l commenta r i a l sou rces fo r theHinayana may be found in Book I I I o f Vasubandhu ' sAbhidharmakosa, and l ike sources for the Mahayana are Asanga 'sAbhidharmasamuccaya and the Bhumivastu section of hisYogacarydbhumi. Similar ly , the teaching tha t many who are proceeding on the path achieve the f inal goal in the bardo is sharedas wel l by the Hinayana and the common Mahayana . For instance, Vasubandhu says in Book VI of the Kosa, "non- re tu rne r s ,by the exhaust ion of these nine, are (obtainers of) nirvana inthe intermediate (s tate , or the next) l i fe , (and then) with diff i cul ty , or without diff icul ty ."36 These two l ines occur in a longerpassage discuss ing twenty Sar ighas 3 7 ( i.e. , twenty k inds of ar ya nindiv iduals proceeding on the aryan pa ths 3 8 ) . The twenty isfrom th e poi nt of view of two subd ivisions (i .e., en try a n d abiding) in the four f ru i tions ( i.e. , s t ream w inne r , once re tu rn er ,non- re tu rne r , and a rhan t ) , mak ing e igh t , toge the r wi th va r i able subdivis ions within this resul tant eight . These two l iness ta te tha t some who have become non- re tu rne r s on accoun t o fthe i r hav ing exhaus ted n ine klesas (pass ions) belonging to thedes i re rea lm {kamadhatu) achieve arhantsh ip (1) e i ther in theintermediate s tate or (2) in the next l i fe , and if the lat ter , e i ther(3) with difficulty, or (4) easily in that next l ife. The longerpassage cont inues tha t those who do not rea l ize n i rvana by oneof the above four proceed to ye t another b i r th , bu t in a h igherregion of the form realm (rupadhdtu), etc. Likewise, the Abhisa-mayalamkara, tou ch ing on the top ic of the sam e twenty S ar ighas,says in Book I , in s imilar language, "In the intermediate (s tate ,or the next) l ife, hard, (or) easily. . . "M iThe Abhlsamaydlamkara,be ing a M ahaya na work and a com m enta ry on the Prajnapdra-mitd sutras, is referr ing the twenty Sar ighas analogical ly to thepaths of Bodhisa t tvas a lso . Thus , for bo th the Hinayana andthe common Mahayana , one of the modes of achiev ing the f ina lgoal is in the in t erm ed ia te s ta te , jus t as for the un co m m onM ahay ana ( i.e. , tan t r ic ) . T h e re is , how ever , th is d i f ference , tha tfo r the Hinayana and common Mahayana , the one a t t a in ingthe f inal goal in the intermediate s tate possesses a bardo body atthe t ime of h is a t ta inment , whereas for the tan t r ic Mahayana ,such an a t ta in er no long er is ex per ien cin g a bardo body, s incesuch a body has previously already given way to an il lusory


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56 J1ABS VOL. 6 NO. 2body, and i t is through the i l lusory body that the final goal isa t t a ined by the adep t in t an t ra , whe ther in the bardo or in life.R e g a r d i n g t h e Kalacakra, then , one of the features of i t smethod which sharp ly d i s t ingu ishes i t f rom the o ther anuttaratan t ras i s the absence of bardo as one of the bases of purificat ion , and wi th the absence of bardo there is an absence of i l lusory body in the above sense as wel l. N otw iths ta ndi ng, the Kalacakra does deve lop ano ther k ind o f sub t le body (suksma-deha),usua l ly re fe r red to as "empty fo rm" (Tib . stong gzugs). C o n s e quent ly , in the Kalacakra the " immedia te rea l i za t ion o f empt i ness inseparable from bliss" is held to have a sense sl ightlyd i f fe ren t f rom i ts m ea n in g in the o th er anuttara t an t r a s . 4 0 Inth e Kalacakra, the "em pty" in em pt iness re fe rs to em pty fo rm ,an d "bl iss" to the exp eri en ce of the mi nd d i rect ly k now ingem p t in es s . 4 1

T h e Kalacakra-tantra itself, tog e th er wi th its g rea t co m m entary, the Vimalaprabha,vl and subsequen t commentar ia l l i t e ra ture , cover extens ively and in deta i l a wide ranging subjectmat te r , a l l o f wh ich may be g rouped under th ree top ics : anouter Kalacakra (or wheel of t ime) , an inner Kalacakra , and analter-Kalacakra. T h e ou te r Kalacakra deals wi th the univ erseconven t iona l ized4* in to a sys tem of cosmology, the inner Kalacakra wi th the s t ruc tu res and meta -s t ruc tu res and func t ions o fthe human body (mos t no tab ly the channe l s , winds , and semina l d rops ) , and the alter-Kalacakra with the pa th of th e gen er at ion and complet ion s tages and i t s f inal resul t .In th e path of the Ka lacakra , ju s t as in the path of theGuhyasamaja type, the bases of puri f icat ion are the same forbo th the s teps o f ge ner a t io n an d the s teps o f com ple t ion . H er e ,

howdyer , the alter-Kalacakra take s as th e bases of pu rific atio nthe ou te r an d inn er w hee ls o f time , tha t is the ou te r an d inn erworlds as convent ional ized and set for th in the Kalacakra tantras. Among the var ious meta -s t ruc tu res o f the inner Kalacakra ,four in par t icu lar serve as specia l bases for the path . These arefour semina l d rops o r germs which a re iden t i f i ed as the "germsof the four k inds of s ta tes ," and are located in the head, throat ,hear t , and nave l reg ions o f the med ia l channe l . Toge ther , theyare sa id to be the roots of a l l the obscurat ions . 1 1 Hence , bypuri fy ing these , a l l the obscurat ions can be got r id of . Theabove four s ta tes , of which these are the seed , are four s ta tes of


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TANTRIC BUDDHISM 57consciousness , namely the waking s ta te , the dreaming s ta te , thedeep s leep s tate , and the fourth s tate . In ordinary l i fe , the f i rs tof these funct ions to produce the appearances of the var iousobjects of the f ive senses and of the mental consciousness; thesecond to pro du ce sy llab les , t e rm s , an d lan gua ge e tc . ; the th i rd ,a d i f fuse and vague awareness ; and the four th , o rgasm. Whencompletely puri f ied, they resul t in four vajras (or four sovereigns) , namely, vajra-body, vajra-speech, vajra-mind, a n d vajra-bliss, an d as the p ath of pu ri f icat ion, the f irst is the em ptyforms which wil l r ipen as vajra-body, the second the subt lemantr ic sounds which wi l l r ipen as vajra-speech, the th i rd thenondiscurs ive wisdom of real izat ion which wi l l r ipen as vajra-mind, and the fourth the wisdom of great bl iss which wi l l r ipenas vajra-bliss. T he se fo ur va j ras may a lso be un de rs to od as coextensive wi th the three bodies , vaj ra-body being the ni rmana-kaya , va jr a -speech be ing t he s a m bh og ak ay a j^ an d va j ra -mindtogether wi th va j ra-b l i s s be ing the dharmakaya . 1 7

As for the path of the s teps of complet ion, these are coextensive wi th the famous s ix part yoga (sadangayoga) of theKalacakra, a set of s ix sequent ial s tages . The s ix are: col lect ion,abso rp t i on , w ind con t ro l , r e t en t i on , m indfu lnes s , and en rap t u r e . 4 8 For t he pu rpose o f under s t and ing t he pa th , t hese maybe ar ra ng ed in th re e pa i rs , each pa i r l ay ing the gr ou nd w or k forthe a t t a inment of one of the th ree bodies (trikdya). T h e f o r m e rof each pa i r is l ike an en try into a new ph ase or p rocess and thela t t e r l ike i t s s t rengthening or conf i rmat ion . Thus , co l lec t ion /absorp t ion are for rea l i z ing the n i rmanakaya , wind cont ro l /re ten t ion for rea l i z ing the sambhogakaya , and mindfu lness /en-rap ture for rea l i z ing the dharmakaya . Qui te br ief ly , then , co l l ec ti on /abso rp t ion g a the r t oge the r t he winds an d m ake t hemm anag eab l e for u se . W ind con t ro l / r e t en t i on m ake t hem en t e rin to t he med ia l channe l and pene t ra t e t he "ge rms o f t he fou rk inds o f s t at e s ." M indfu lnes s / en rap tu re b r ing abou t un ion 4 9and t h rough un ion t he en t ry i n to and accompl i shmen t o f t hearyan pa th . Here , however , the major i ty of the sa l i en t fea turesof the s teps of th i s pa th do not requi re ment ion in a paperdealing mainly with the subject of subtle body, for, as saidabove, the K alacakra is a m ot he r t an t ra , and conseq uent ly i tscomple t ion s tages main ly emphas ize the pa th of in tegra t ion ofem pt iness an d g rea t b lis s. T h u s , pass ing over these man y, a l-


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58 JIABS VOL. 6 NO. 2though impor tan t , de ta i l s , we may has ten to refer to the corporeal s ide of this path ( i .e . , the body of empty form).Al though the empty form of the Kalacakra de i ty i s genera ted a t the very beg inn ing of the com ple t ion s tages ,5 0 i t remainsl i t t l e more than an ex tens ion of the imaginary form producedfrom the samadhi which seals the cl imax of the s teps of generat ion,5 1 and i t is not unti l the t ime of the union" '2 which isachieved by the pract ice of the l imb of mindfulness ( i .e . , thefifth part or l imb of the six part yoga) that this empty formcomes into i ts own, for i t is the union achieved by this practicewhich becomes the proximate cause of the mind/body of per fec t en l igh tenment . This un ion thus ach ieved , the en t i re remaining path may be qui te rapidly obtained by the s ixth or f inalpar t , the l imb of enrap ture . Through i t a l l , the winds whichare the suppor t o f samsar ic consc iousness are checked . According to the Kalacakra there are 21,600 such karmic winds whichcou rse th ro ug h the bod y in a dai ly ci rcui t . All these winds are tobe wi thdrawn and the ci rcui t s topped. With the cessat ion of thisdai ly ci rcui t , samsaric consciousness l ikewise ceases . Here, thechief m et ho d of real izing this cessat ion is th ro ug h the cul t ivat ion of a suff icient ly powerful ant idote. Such an ant idote is theyogic rea l i za t ion of empt iness inseparab le f rom unchangingbliss, a n d th e pro d uc tio n an d fort ificat ion of a sufficiency ofsuch a realizat ion is the function of the final l imb or part of thes ix-par t yoga , ca l l ed "enrap ture . "

Within this f inal part , the main procedure for effect ingth i s might be t rans la ted as "p i l ing up" (brtsegs pa). H e r e , t h erea de r mus t back t rack fo r a m om en t . T h ro u g h co ll ec ti on andabso rp t i on , t he winds a re made more and more manageab l e .Then , t h rough wind con t ro l t hey a re made t o en t e r t he med ia lchannel . Then , on account of the i r be ing he ld in the media lchannel th rough re ten t ion , a subt le psychic hea t (gtum mo) isgenera ted in the lower reg ion . Then , the un ion ach ievedthrough mindfu lness in tens i f i es the psychic hea t , making i tb laze up w ard t h r ou gh the med ia l cha nne l , caus ing t he bodhicitta(or white thig le)r> 4 in the head reg ion of the media l channel tomel t . F ina l ly , th rough enrap ture , the mol ten seminal d rops ofthe whi te bodhici t ta begin to pi le up or become s tacked fromthe bottom 5" ' of the m edial ch an ne l , an d wi th each inc rease ahig he r an d hig he r level of yogic real izat ion is at tain ed , and wi ththese a t t a in m en ts the re is a cu t t in g of f o f an increas ing nu m be r


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TANTRIC BUDDHISM 59of karmic winds . 5 6 Th ere by , the a ryan pa th is en te r ed up ona n d c o m p l e t e d .In this f inal part of the six-part yoga, the path is dividedinto twelve. The f i rs t sect ion corresponds to the prayoga mdrga;the second to the first of the ten levels (dasabhumi) and is coextensive with the path of seeing (darsana mdrga); the th i rdthrough the e leventh to the pa th of cul t iva t ion (bhdvand mdrga)an d is coextens ive with the secon d th ro u g h th e ten th of the tenlevels; and f inal ly, the twelf th to the path of no fur ther t ra ining(asaiksa m drga) o r e n li g h t e n m e n t itself. Thus , w i th the accumulation of the white and red bodhicit ta in each of the twelveregions of the medial channel, a sufficiency of yogic realizationis generated to br ing about a rapid t raversal of the path to thef inal goal of the a t ta inment of the three perfect bodies of f inale n l i g h t e n m e n t . H e r e , t h e Kdlacakra teaches that with each piling up of the bodhicitta, the gross physical body is progressivelyconsumed leaving in the end the pure body of the Kalacakradeity of empty form, l ike the elixir which dissolves iron, transforming i t in to pure gold . Wi th the d isappearance of the grossbody, the pi led up bodhicitta vanishes as wel l . Thus, the Kalacakra path becomes in the end l ike a kind of a lchemy.

With this , we are brought back to the topic with which webegan this discussion, that the Kalacakra does not ut i l ize thebardo as a basis of pur if icat ion. Relat ions between the gross andsubt le bodies being such as they are in the Kalacakra , the subt lebody of the bardo, or " i l lusory" type , cannot suppor t the deve l opment of the Kalacakra path, for only the gross physical bodyis prov ided wi th the m eta-s t ruc tur in g necessary to do th i s. Thisdif ference, and others such as we have noted above, have givenr ise to a great deal of discussion, sometimes controversy, withinna t ive T ibe tan schola rship , d i scuss ions 5 7 which are way beyondthe scope of this paper .

T h u s , we con c lud e by no t ing tha t the Kalacakra pa th d oesnot par t icular ly lend i tse lf to such br ief t reatment . The reasonfor this has a l ready been given previously, that the Kalacakrapath takes as i ts basis of pur if icat ion the mult i far ious convent ions of the inner and outer Kalacakra , i .e . , i t s intr icate systemsof cosmology and meta-phys iology. Notwi ths tanding these dif-f icul t ies , we have t r ied somewhat to del ineate the Kalacakrapa th aga ins t the background of the o ther anuttara t ant ras , especially with respect to i ts treatment of subtle body.


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60 J1ABS VOL. 6 NO. 2N o t e s

1. T h is pa pe r had i ts o r ig in as a ra th er long foo tno te to a la rger pap er ,"Some Notes Contex tua l iz ing the Kalacakra ," which was prepared for de l iv ery a t the s ix th IAB S Co nfere nce in To kyo , Ja pa n , in Septem ber of 1983 . Iwould l ike to tha nk Elvin W . Jo ne s for his edito r ial an d l i terary assistance inthe prepara t ion of th is paper .

2. According to the ninefold classif icat ion: three Sutrayana, i .e . , Sra-vaka , Pra tyekabuddha , and Bodhisa t tva ; th ree ou ter Mantrayana , i . e . , Kriya,Caryd, and Yoga; and th ree inner unsurpassab le , i . e . , Mahdyoga, Anuyoga, an dAtiyoga. Vid. Ny ingm a sec t ion , page 7 o fT h u 'u khan chos kyi nyi ma ' s H is toryof the Tibetan Sects, L egs bshad shel gyi me long.

According to the fourfold classif icat ion: Kriyd, Caryd, Yoga, and Annuitant, Kriya emphasizes main ly ou ter ac t ion , Caryd half outer half inner act ion,Yoga ineer act ion, Annullara highest inner act ion.

3. anultara = anuttarayoga4. In addit ion to the subdivision of father and mother tantra, anultaratan t ras a re o f ten c lass i f ied as nondual . Here , however , "nondual ' ' does no trefer to the nondual i ty o f method and wisdom, bu t to the nondual i ty o femptiness and bliss. In this sense, all anultara t an t r a s a r e non dua l . H owever , agreat deal of discussion on such points has ar isen on account of such termsand express ions , which are to be found in the tan t ras themselves .5. T h e Kalacakra-tantra is f requently also cal led a nondual tantra. For the

sense of this, see note 4 above.6. Tucci 's speculat ion in Minor Buddhist Texts tha t h is to ry has perhapsoveres t imated the concord be tween the fo l lowers of Santaraksi ta and Padma-samb hava i s maybe too gra tu i to us . Whi le po in t in g to no ev idence in par t icu larit ign ore s the fact that San tara ks ita, aside from be ing the great systematize!* ofthe Yogac arasva tan t r ika-m adhy am ika , is o f ten cou nted as one of the pr inc i pal acaryas of Kriydtanlra.7. By th e time of" Atisa's co m ing to Tibe t in the eleve nth c en tu ry, Bu ddhism in Tib e t had becom e badly f ragm ente d , d ue to gLa ng da r ma 's persecu t ion of Bu ddh ism and the d isr up t ion fo llowing h is assass ina t ion and thebreakdown of the o ld k ingsh ip . Some, for example , fo l lowing the Vinaya ,desp ised the tan t ras , an d m any fo llowing the tan t ras ignored and neglec tedthe Vinaya, etc . Consequently , a large par t of Atisa 's work in Tibet was thereintegrat ion of Buddhism. In this work of reintegrat ion, AtlSa taught thesuperior i ty of the tantras, and in this he was fol lowed later by Tsong kha pa.8. The M aha yan a, being both the vehicle of the sutra s (Su traya na =Paramitayana) and the veh ic le o f the tan t ras (Tant rayana = Mantrayana) , thecommon path means the pa th common to or shared by bo th systems of theMahayana , fo r many pr inc ipa l e lements o f the Mahayana qua Mahayana a r e

taught mainly in the sutras rather than in the tantras, e lements l ike detai ls ofthe Bodhisat tva vows, the pract ice of the paramitas, many of the sal ient featu r e s o f unde r s t and ing emp t iness , o r o f the deve lopmen t o f bodhicitta, etc.Such fea tures rep res en t the comm on p ath , i .e ., co m m on to the param ita a ndt a n n i c p a t h s .


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T A N T R I G B U D D H I S M 619. rgyu'i theg pa10 . bras bu'i theg pa11. "wisdom (prajna) as wisdom (prajna) ," i .e . , wisdom, or prajndpdra-

mitd, which cons ti tutes o ne of the six per fecte ds, as the wisdom which is one ofthe cont ras t ing pa i r o f wisdom and method (pra jna and upaya) .12 . M edi ta t ion ( sam adhi) is som et imes coun ted t oge ther wi th w isdom(prajna) on the wisdom side.13. Body (Kdya) does no t mean "corpore i ty" bu t , ra ther , "an aggregateof quali t ies." Consequently , as we are not t ranslat ing, we wil l of ten refer to

kdya by way of i t s paraphrase as "aggregate . "14. Sa bc.hu (dasabhumi).15. i . e . , Buddhahood itself, the level immediately fol lowing the ten

stages and the fulf i l lment of the entire Mahayana path.16 . In the Mahayana , the form body (rupakdya) may be subdivided into asambhogakaya and a n i rmanakaya , the former be ing the na tura l o r own form(svarupakdya) belonging to a Buddha , and the la t te r be ing any number ofcorpo rea l m anifes ta t ions pre sen ted by a B ud dh a to o the rs fo r the purp ose s ofl ead ing o r in s t ruc t ing them. Othe r than to the Buddhas themse lves , t hesambhogakaya is said to be visible only to Bodhisat tvas of the ten stages.

17 . When one speaks of a rea l iza t ion of empt iness inseparab le f romgre at bl iss, on e is re fe rr i ng to a cogniturn-cogmier (vLsayu-visayin) relat ion. Thisis to say that emptiness itself is the direct object, or cognilum, of a mindcogn izing i t, w here as bl iss is a m en tal quali ty bel ong ing to the cognizing m inditself.

18. Th is biot ic force is env isage d as the subtlest pn eu m atic ele m en t,which is inseparable from the subtlest consciousness. According to the tan-tras, there is no moment of consciousness or mind which is not associated withsome sort of corporeal element that serves as i ts vehicle . Thus, the tantras wil lno t admit to a rea lm of d isembodied consc iousness such as the Hlnayanaholds the formless realm (arupaloka), with i ts four subdivisions, to be. Evenhere, the tantras maintain the existence of a kind of subtle form, for whereverthere is mind, they say there is also a corporei ty on which, in a manner ofspeaking , i t may be sa id to r ide . These mounts o f the mind are he ld to be thepneumat i c e l emen t o r winds (gzhon pa'i rlung) of the o ther e lements . Of thesewinds, the most subtle is the life force itself {srog rlung = gnyug tna'i rlung), th evehicle of the most subtle consciousness (gnyug tna'i sems). During l i fe , this pairof subtlest wind and consciousness are said to reside together in a point of tenca l led the " indest ruc t ib le d rop" (m i shigs pa'i thig le) which pers is t s th rough thecourse of an entire l i fe in the area of the heart . The consciousness associatedwith this pair becomes apparent in death i tself as a vacuous, contentless lucidi ty , i .e . , the clear l ight of death. Subsequently , the mater ial side of this pairserves as a seed for the generat ion of a subtle body form in the intermediatestate , a fo rm ca l led the " in termedia te s ta te body" (bar do'i lus). Similarly, it isthe same subtle wind which provides the base for the production of an i l lusory body (rgyu rna'i lus) th rough the cu l t iva t ion of anuttara yoga .

For fur ther de ta i l s concern ing the ideas of dea th and dy ing to be foundin the anutarra tan t ras see Death, Intermediate Slate and Rebirth in Tibetan Hud-
http://bc.hu/http://bc.hu/http://bc.hu/


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62 JIABS VOL. 6 NO. 2dhism, by La ti R inbochay and Je f f rey Ho pkin s , Lo nd on , R ider and Co m pan y,1979. ,

19 . Development of super ior qua l i t i e s and behavior through a mode ofesoter ic imi ta t ion or s imulat ion {mam pa mthun par) is one of the salient features of tant r ic yoga.20. utpattikrama & sainpunnakrama

2 1 . i .e. , apotheosis in i ts s imple l i teral sense of transformation or metamorphos i s f rom a human in to a d iv ine be ing .22. R e : t h r e e pu re a gg re ga t e s (trikdya), see notes 13 an d lf> abo ve.2 3 . In cont rad i s t inc t ion to the Buddha ' s s ambhogakaya , h i s ac tua l orow n body a ppa re n t t o himself, the appar i t iona l or doce t i c body (n i rmana-kiiya) is a Bu dd ha 's heur is t ic project ion of a seem ing or app ea ra nc e of bo dy toanother . Thus , by a k ind of Mahayana doce t i sm, Sakyamuni , the h i s tor i ca lfo un de r of Bu dd his m , is jus t on e such ni rm ana ka ya, a lbei t a very specia l one

called paramanirmdnakdya, the most excel lent docet ic body.24 . In the body of th is pap er , th ree th ing s a re be ing des igna ted as "c lea rl ight" an d a re dis t ing uish ed as : c lear l ight of de ath {'chi ba'i 'odgsal), e x e m p l a ry clear l ight {dpe'i 'od gsal), and actual clear l ight (don gyi 'od gsal).25. For explanat ion of this exemplary c lear l ight , see page 53 in text .26 . T he re a r e nume rous c omme n t a r i e s on t he pa t h s t a ge s o f t he Guhya-

sumdju. Here, we are fol lowing mainly gSangchen rgyud sdc bzlii'isa lam gyi mamgihag rgyud gzhung gsal byed, by Ngag dbang dpa l ldan , and dPal gsang ba 'duspa 'pliags lugs dang mthun pa'i sngags kyi sa lam m am gzfiag legs bslwd skal bzang'jug ngogs, by dByangs can dga ' ba ' i bio gros .

27. They ant ic ipate inasmuch as the bases of puri f icat ion, i .e . , death, theintermediate , and bi r th, are the same for both the s tages of generat ion and ofcomple t ion , the former be ing main ly imaginary and the l a t t e r ac tua l .28 . fivefold subdivision of the path ( = fivefold path) of the Parami-tayana, i .e. , samblUira mdrga, prayoga mdrga, darsaiia mdrga, bhdvana mdrga, an d

asaiksa mdrga, respec t ive ly the prepara tory pa th , pa th of reaching , pa th ofseeing, path of cul t ivat ion, path of no fur ther t ra ining. Here , the path ofseeing is coe xten sive w ith the first of th e ten stages, an d t he pa th of cult ivationwith the remaining nine of the ten s tages , and the path of no fur ther t ra iningw i t h e n l i gh t e nme n t itself.29 ; Deity = the yidam (Skt. itfadevald). The anutlara t an t ras cente r onvarious such dei t ies , and here in the Guhyasamdja the dei ty, of course , i s( i uhya s a ma j a himself.30. Here, in his Sa lam (op. ci t. ) dB yan gs can d ga ' ba' i bio gros ch arac terizes the s teps of complet ion as complet ing because they are s teps of medi tat ion which do not have recourse to the imaginat ion but ra ther target actual

Ion of the human body, the channe l s , wind , and drops . "Mas blag.s pa (a ma Itospar rang grub Isam na.s rdzogs pa'i lus kyi rtsa rlung ihig le la gnad du bsnun n asbsgom par bya ba'i rim pa yin pas de Uar brjod pa'i phyir."

31 . When classified into five steps, the first two steps, i .e. , body andspeech, of the sixfold classification are subsumed by a single withdrawal ofspeech, the fol lowing four , wi thdrawal of mind to union, remaining the same.The fivefold classification is part icularly venerable as based on the system ofN a ga r j una .


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T A N T R I C B U D D H I S M 6332. In the metaphys iology of the tantras , there are three pr incipal e lements which are objects of the medi ta t ion that a ims a t ef fect ing the psychophys ica l deve lopments ach ieved on the t an t r i c pa ths . These a re the channe l s

or veins (rtsa), w i n d o r p n e u m a t i c e l e m e n t (rlung), and semina l d rops o r ge rm(thig le). These three e lements for the most par t occupy a level of subt le tyin termediate between the gross body of f lesh and bone and the f ines t corporeal essence represented by the " indes t ruct ib le germ" which the tantras holdto be the root of samsara and nirvana. Of these , the veins form a quas i -ana tomica l ne twork o f s even ty - two thousand channe l s th rough which coursethe winds . This ramous s t ructure branches of f f rom a re la t ively few chieframiform channels , the pr incipal of which are the medial channel and twochannels to the r ight and left of i t , respectively rkyang ma a n d ro ma, thesethree a long with two others being the f i r s t to form in the ontogeny of theind iv idua l . These th ree in te r tw ine in numerous p laces , the reby c rea t ing s t r i c tu res o r kno ts which o rd inar i ly p reven t the movement o f the winds th roughthe med ia l cha nne l , whereas ju nc tu re po in t s o f o th er channe l s c rea te va r iousnext of ten cal led "wheels" or "cakra ," which are of cons iderable impor tance inthe process of yoga. In ordinary l i fe , the winds do not deeply penetra te andab ide in the med ia l channe l excep t th rough the ac t ion o f dea th , and thus thede ep p en etra t ion o f th is cha nn el and the loosening of the knots is on e of thepr incipal job s of the in it ia l s tages of the s teps of com plet ion . T h e w inds ha vebeen br iefly d iscussed above in note 18, but whi le they have num er ou s o t he rfunct ions in grow th, bodi ly p rocesses , e tc . , we have been able to men t ion onlytheir im po r tan ce for the tan tra s as vehicles of consciousn ess . F inally , the th i r dof the above e lem ents , the d rop s o r ge rm (thig le) are seminal somat ic essencesboth male and female , respect ively whi te and red , which eventuate in mul t i form s t ructures l ike f lesh , b lood, bone, e tc .

Addi t iona l in fo rmat ion may be found in Death, Intermediate State, andRebirth in Tibetan Buddhism (op. ci t . ) .

33 . " Indes t ru c t ib le g e rm " o r "d r op " has two re fe ren t s , i .e ., the insepara ble union of the subt les t mind/wind l ike kernel , and the red and whi te thig le,which, l ike the husk, encloses them in the region of the hear t , the la t ter thig lebe ing indes t ruc t ib le on ly dur ing the dura t ion o f a p resen t l i f e t ime .

34. i.e., dpe'i W gsal. See note 24.35 . i . e . , Buddhism as i t developed in India and wherever such developments a re p rese rved e l sewhere .36. de dgu zad bas phyir miongl de ni bar skyes 'du byed dang/ 'du byed mtd

yongs my a ngan 'da"I37. In the Vinaya, a Sarigha will ordinarily consis t minimally of fourful ly ordained bhiksus . However , a bhiksu who has obtained the aryan pathand thus become an aryan may perform al l the funct ions of a Sangha in h isown person. Consequent ly , here , the twenty Sahghas refer to twenty k inds ofaryan individuals .38 . In the fivefold division of the path (See note 28 above) the first twodivis ions are the path of ordinary individuals (jmthagjana), whereas the r e m aini ng thr ee d ivis ions are the pa th of the Aryans or aryan indiv idual . Thepoint of en try into the arya n pa th is the f irs t m om en t of the darsana mdrga, o rdirect ( i .e . , nonconceptual , l ike sense percept ion) and unerroneous real i / .a-


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64 JIABS VOL. 6 NO. 2t ion of ultimate reality, for only with this kind of realization of truth doesevery type of purif icat ion become at ta inable .

39. . . . Bar skyes nas dang/ byeci dang byed win. . . .40 . sku dag pa sgyu tna'i sku dung thugs dag pa bde slong dbyer wed kyi ye sitesgnyis gzung du 'jug pa. = gzung 'jug gi sku in Cuhyasamaja.sku dag pa slong gzugs phyag rgya chen po dang thugs dag pa 'gyur tried kyi bde bathen po'i ye sites. - gzung jug gi sku in Kalacakra.

4 1 . Here a reader should not confuse "empty" in "empty form" and"empty" in "emptiness." The former refers only to a specia l kind ol subt lebody, and the la t ter refers to ul t imate real i ty.42 . T h e Vitnalaprabha consists of five books, respectively devoted to elucidat ion of the topics of: Cosmology, Mela-physiology, Ini t ia t ion, Sadhana,and Yogic real izat ion (jnana).43 . "C onv entio nal ize d into a system of cosm ology. . . . " because com mentaries deal ing with the subject of the Kalacakra , l ike Bu ston Rimpoche 'sc omme nta ry on t he Vitnalaprabha, often state that i ts cosmology is not to betaken as of d i rec t meaning (nges don, Skt . nltdrtha), i.e., as literally true, butra ther that i ts cosmology represents an accommodation to the views of thepersons to whom the Buddha taught th i s pa r t icula r pa th to enl ightenment .Buddhism in India had two principal systems of cosmology, that of the Abhi-dharma and tha t of the Ka lacakra , wi th many di f fe rences be tween them.44. "Roots of a l l the obscurat ions," words which occur in the tantra itself,is actual ly being said of the potencies of the m ind/w ind unio n which each of

these semina l dr op s inco rpor a tes . T his is a lso a sharp cont ras t to the concentra t ion of the Cuhyasamaja type yoga on the " indestruct ible drop" which i tut i l izes as the psychic and materia l base for t ransformations into the perfectmind /body o f e n l i gh t e nme nt .4 5 . Vajra is sometimes t ransla ted as "diamond," that is , the lord of s tonewhich can cut al l o th e r subs tances , and somet imes as " thu nd erb ol t , " re fe rr in gto the scepter of authori ty of India , the king of the gods. In e i ther instance,there is a strong sense of the sovereignty which rules over all others of i ts kind.4 6 . Not only for the Kalacakra , but for a l l the other anuttara-yoga t an i rasas wel l , the specia l or uncommon (that is unshared by the Paramilayana)

at ta inm en t of the sam bh oga kay a is i ts agg rega t ion of vocal izat ions. For th etant ras ;, the speech e lemen t p red om ina te s in the sambho gakay a , whereas thefo rm, o r c o rpore a l e l e me n t , p re domina t e s i n t he n i rma na ka ya .47 . In the tant ras , somet imes four bodies a re counted . The four bodiesa re jus t th e thr ee bod ies (trikdya) plus a svabhdvakaya (ngo bo nyid sku). H e r e ,th e svabhdvakaya represents the cessa t ions (nirudha) achieved by the Buddhaand also his real izat ion of emptiness. As in the tantras, real izat ion of emptiness is inseparable from the experience of great bliss; i>/m-bliss assimilates toth e svabhdvakaya in the four kaya sys tem, and to the dharmakaya in the three

kaya sys tem.48 . 1. so sor bsdudpa, 2. bsatn rtan, 3 . srog rlsol, 4. 'dzin pa, 5. rjes dran, a n d6. ting 'dzin.49 . i .e ., un ion of th e Kalacakra dei ty and his con sort , each gen era ted as abody of empty form in the navel area . See note 52.


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T A N T R I C B U D D H I S M 6 550. This em pty form of the K alacakra dei ty is pr od uc ed from a subs tance ( the re is a gre at deal of con trove rsy on this point) which ap pe ar s at th ecl imax of a ser ies of wi thdrawals and dissolut ions of the consciousness-suppo rt in g winds. In the Kala cakra, the series is tenfold : four a pp ea ran ce s associated wi th the four 'elements of earth , water , f i re , and ai r , cal led night appearances; and s ix associated wi th part icular forms of consciousness , cal ledday ap pe ara nc es . The day appe ara nce s a re said to be m uch h ar de r to rea l ize .The four n igh t appearances a re smoke, mi rage , sparks , and f l ame of a bu t t e rlamp fol lowed by the s ix day appearances , i .e . , sun ( l ike at the end of a greateo n ) , mo o n , s u n , rdhula (ecl ipse) , l ightning, and a blue thig le . In the cen ter o fthis blue sem inal dr o p is a speck of black substa nce in which ap pe ar s th eKalacakra dei ty . Th is substa nce is taken as a basis for the pr od uc t ion of em ptyform, a nd from it the body of the Kalacak ra dei ty is ge ne rat ed . Th is leads us

to note s imilar i t ies and di fferences to a l ike series of eight appearances ut i lized in the Guhyasamdja when the consc iousness -suppor t ing winds are wi th drawn. This eightfold series ends in the appearance of the clear l ight . Aneffort to elucid ate this subject furth er would req uir e the int ro du ct ion ofseveral addi t ional topics too large for this smal l paper .51 . As above, the s teps of generat ion of the Kalacakra are said to endwhen the medi tator can visual ize clearly , in every detai l , and for as long as hel ikes , the dei ty wi th his mandala and entourage of gods in a space the s ize of am usta rd see d. Th is is a specifical ly t an ni c de ve lop m en t of the m edi tat ivefixation {samatha) which is dev elope d on a ll the Bud dhis t pa ths . The pro du c

tion of the form of the K alaca kra deity at the earl ier stages is l i tt le m or e th anan extension of this imaginat ive power of visual izat ion.52. In the ini t ial s tages of this union developed during the pract ice ofmindfulness , there is not yet a di rect yogic real izat ion of empt iness . At thist ime, i .e . , during the s teps of mindfulness , one generates onesel f as the Kalacakra dei ty and his consort as a body of empty form in union in the navel areafor the f irst t im e. T h ro u g h this un ion g reat bl iss is real ized. Sub sequ ent ly , th isreal izat ion of great bl iss i s made also to become a real izer of empt iness . Thisful l real izat ion of empt iness ar ises later , during the early s tages of the pract iceof en ra pt ur e, specif ical ly , wi th the "pi l ing up " of the fi rs t 1800 sem inal d ro psin the media l channel , an ac t ion which immobi l i zes an equal number o f the21,600 karmic winds. This also brings about the complet ion of the path ofr each i n g (prayoga mdrga) and entry into the path of seeing {dariana mdrga), th ebeg inn ing of the a ryan pa th .53 . One of the fea tures o f the sadahgayoga worth no t ing is its eno rm ou spreparat ion of a technical yogic kind, extending through al l the f i rs t f ive ofthe six parts, at length to be followed on the sixth by a rapid completion of theen t i re M ahaya na pa th , beg inn in g f rom the up pe r level of the pa th o f p re para t ion (sambhdra mdrga) all the way to the attainment of the final goal.54. T h e u n c o m m o n bodhirilta of the lantras are the whi te and red thig le.The whi te descending and the red ascending meet in the hear t jus t beforedea th . Accord ing ly , dea th i s cons id ered com ple te when each ex i ts f rom thebody at the opposi te ends of the medial channel from which i t began i tsmovement . These whi te and red seminal d rops are a l so u t i l i zed in t an t r i c


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66 JIABS VOL. 6 NO . 2yoga for the product ion-of subt le s tates of consciousness , and as the materialcause for subt le kinds of body.

55 . With the pi l ing up of the whi te bodhicitta from the bot tom of themedia l cha nne l , there is a l so an inverse and co m m ens ura te p i lng up of thered bodhicitta f rom the top .56 . For the purposes of this yoga, the medial channel must be dividedinto seven key points and their six interst ices and twelve semi-interst ices, andthe ent i re 21,600 karmic winds are grouped into twelve sets of 1800. Thus,wi th the accumulat ion of 1800 thig le in each of these twelve divisions of themedial channel (that is in the twelve semi-interst ices), a sufficiency of yogicrea l i za t ion i s genera ted to ann ih i l a te a comparab le a rea o f karmic winds .57 . Here , fo r ins tance , the reader who can read Tibe tan might re fer tothe ques t ions and answers concern ing the Kalacakra to be found in dPal dus

ky i 'khor lo i sa lam gyi gnos 'dzin rag rim 'phros dang has pa m khas grub smra ba'i nyima'i zhal lung, by "Jam dbyangs dgyes pa ' i bshes gnyen .

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