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Visualization Alexander Berzin Visualization Means Working with the Imagination The topic for this evening is visualization and its place in Tibetan Buddhist practice. One of the things that characterize the Tibetan form of Buddhism is its extensive use of visualization, much more than in any other form of Buddhism. Of course all these methods developed in India, but Buddhism there died out. In order to understand the various levels and usages of visualization, first we need to throw the word visualization out of the window. It is the wrong word because the wordvisualization implies something visual. In other words, it implies working with visual images and it also implies working with our eyes. This is incorrect. Instead, we are working with the imagination. When we work with the imagination we’re not only working with imagined sights, but also with imagined sounds, smells, physical sensations, feelings – emotional feelings – and so on. Obviously, we do that with our minds, not with our eyes. If we think of the Western psychological division of the brain into a right side and a left side, Tibetan Buddhism develops both sides – both the intellectual, rational side and the side of creative imagination. Therefore, when we speak of visualization in Buddhism, we’re not talking about some magical process. We’re talking about something quite practical, in terms of how to develop and use all our potentials, because we have potentials on both the right and left sides of the brain. When we work with the imagination, we’re dealing with creativity, artistic aspects and so on. We work with the imagination on many different levels. We can divide these into sutra methods and tantra methods. Of these two, those of tantra are the most advanced. Visualization Methods in Sutra In sutra, we use our imaginations first of all to help us overcome negative aspects of ourselves, in other words, disturbing emotions and attitudes. If we are very much under the control of obsessive desires, let’s say desire for young attractive looking people as sexual objects, we would then try to imagine what these persons will look like when they are 80 years old. Remember, obsessive desire is based on exaggerating someone’s qualities, and so when we have this sexual desire we’re imagining that this person is going to look young and beautiful forever, which obviously is not true. Imagining 1

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VisualizationAlexander Berzin

Visualization Means Working with the ImaginationThe topic for this evening is visualization and its place in Tibetan Buddhist practice. One of the things that characterize the Tibetan form of Buddhism is its extensive use of visualization, much more than in any other form of Buddhism. Of course all these methods developed in India, but Buddhism there died out.In order to understand the various levels and usages of visualization, first we need to throw the word visualization out of the window. It is the wrong word because the wordvisualization implies something visual. In other words, it implies working with visual images and it also implies working with our eyes. This is incorrect. Instead, we are working with the imagination. When we work with the imagination we’re not only working with imagined sights, but also with imagined sounds, smells, physical sensations, feelings – emotional feelings – and so on. Obviously, we do that with our minds, not with our eyes. If we think of the Western psychological division of the brain into a right side and a left side, Tibetan Buddhism develops both sides – both the intellectual, rational side and the side of creative imagination. Therefore, when we speak of visualization in Buddhism, we’re not talking about some magical process. We’re talking about something quite practical, in terms of how to develop and use all our potentials, because we have potentials on both the right and left sides of the brain. When we work with the imagination, we’re dealing with creativity, artistic aspects and so on.We work with the imagination on many different levels. We can divide these into sutra methods and tantra methods. Of these two, those of tantra are the most advanced.

Visualization Methods in SutraIn sutra, we use our imaginations first of all to help us overcome negative aspects of ourselves, in other words, disturbing emotions and attitudes. If we are very much under the control of obsessive desires, let’s say desire for young attractive looking people as sexual objects, we would then try to imagine what these persons will look like when they are 80 years old. Remember, obsessive desire is based on exaggerating someone’s qualities, and so when we have this sexual desire we’re imagining that this person is going to look young and beautiful forever, which obviously is not true. Imagining what the person’s going to look like when old and decrepit, fat, and so on helps us to have a much more realistic attitude toward the person and to relate to him or her as a person rather than as a young body. This is one usage of the imagination, and as you can see, it’s creative: it’s artistic and very helpful.Likewise, we can use our imaginations to help us to develop positive qualities, such as  compassion. For instance, we can imagine a sheep about to be slaughtered and imagine ourselves as that sheep about to be slaughtered, and how we would desperately want to be free from that fate. Then we could imagine our mother, our father, our friends, and so on as this sheep. This helps us to develop a strong wish that they be free of having to be killed as well. And eventually we think about the sheep itself that is to be slaughtered. In this way, we open our hearts out to developing more compassion for others and wishing they be free from suffering.In the sutra path there’s a tremendous variety of things that we imagine to help us overcome negative qualities, develop good qualities, and become more realistic. Like, for example, imagining if we were to die right now, would we really be emotionally prepared for that?

How to VisualizeMany people say, “Well, I can’t visualize. So how can I use these methods?” Actually, if we take a  moment to investigate, we find that we all do have powers of imagination. For instance, try to remember what your mother or your best friend, it doesn’t matter who, looks like. Please do that for a moment. We all are capable of remembering what our most closely loved ones look like. So, we are able to visualize.

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I remember once I was in India with a friend of mine who really had a problem with visualizing. We were on a long bus ride together on a very hot day and she was suffering very much from heat and thirst. So I started to torture her in a sense by saying, “Wow, wouldn’t it be great if we had some nice cold oranges. Can you imagine how refreshing they would taste? And their smell?” And all of a sudden she discovered that she was able to visualize and imagine an orange very well. So, we all are capable; it’s just a matter of training.Another use of imagination in sutra is imagining a Buddha in front of us as an object of focus to gain perfect concentration. The sutra path is divided into the Hinayana and Mahayana, the “modest vehicle of mind” and the “vast vehicle of mind.” In the Hinayana schools, the usual way to develop absorbed concentration is to focus on the breath, which uses senseconsciousness. We focus on the physical sensation of the breath going in and out of the nose. Mahayana, however, points out that we have to consider what are we using the concentration for. We’re using it to be able to focus on reality with concentration and to stay focused on feelings of love and compassion. Therefore, what we want to be able to do is to concentrate with our mental consciousness, not with our sense consciousness. And so, in Mahayana, the preferred way of developing concentration is on an imagined Buddha.When we imagine a Buddha, we imagine a very small Buddha-figure in front of us at the level of our eyes, about an arm’s length away, and we imagine this figure to be not solid, but made out of light, and alive. We imagine that there’s a little bit of corporeality – some weight for that light – this is just a little trick to help keeping that image stable. If we think too much in terms of it being just light, the image tends to float around too easily. What’s important in working with this type of visualization practice is that we don’t focus with our eyes staring ahead as if we were looking at the Buddha in front of us. Rather, we look down toward the floor and imagine something in front of us at the level of our brow. Try that for a moment. Look down in front of you and hold your hand in front at the level of your eyes. Now, while looking down at the floor, you can concentrate where your hand is and imagine that your hand is there, even though you are not seeing it, can’t you? So, it is possible. That’s what we do when we visualize a figure in front of us.But, we’re not just imagining an apple in front of us, we’re imagining a Buddha. This is very significant because in Buddhism, as you know, we tend to do many things simultaneously. By focusing on a Buddha to gain concentration, we also focus on the qualities of a Buddha. This helps us to keep our perfect concentration on those qualities as well. What’s more, by focusing on a Buddha, our concentration can be accompanied with a very strong taking of refuge. In other words, “This is the safe direction I want to go in my life.” We can accompany our concentration with a bodhichitta aim as well, in other words, “I want to become a Buddha like this figure I’m imagining in order to be able to benefit everyone.” If we canaccomplish perfect concentration on the figure of a Buddha, keeping in mind the qualities of a Buddha, and we want to go in the safe direction a Buddha indicates and become a Buddha ourselves in order to help everybody – if that’s the package that we’re gaining concentration on – then that has much more far-reaching benefits that just concentrating on the sensation of the breath going in and out of our nose. So, this is a vast method. That’s why we call it “Mahayana”: a vast vehicle of training through vast techniques.

Visualization Methods in TantraTantra is the main area in which we find the use of imagination, and so the rest of this talk is going to be about tantra. I think that even if we’re not yet involved in tantric practice, or don’t even have an intention to be involved with tantric practice at this point in our Dharma training, it can be very helpful to have some idea of what goes on in tantra practice. This will help us to dispel any misconceptions we might have about it, such as it’s all magic, exotic sex, and that sort of stuff. Having a clearer idea of what it is helps us to decide on a more rational basis whether or not we would really like to involve ourselves with this level of practice.The use of imagination in tantra is a very sophisticated topic, so I’d like to present it in a fairly sophisticated way. Let’s start on a general level. In tantra, we use our imaginations to imagine various Buddha-figures,  yidam (yi-dam) in Tibetan. These Buddha-figures are sometimes referred to as “deities,” although the Tibetan term being

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translated here, lhag-pay lha (lhag-pa’i lha), actually means “higher deities.” They are higher in the sense that they are not samsaric gods in a samsaric god-realm, but are beyond the uncontrollably recurring rebirth of limited beings. So, they’re not creator gods and they’re not like ancient Greek gods or anything of the sort. Rather, all these figures represent the full enlightenment of a Buddha and each of them also represents prominently a particular aspect of Buddhahood, like Chenrezig or Avalokiteshvara embodying compassion and Manjushri embodying discriminating awareness or wisdom.When we work with these Buddha-figures, we either imagine them in front of us or on top of our heads or, more frequently, we imagine ourselves in the form of one of them.

“Clarity” and “Pride”When we imagine these figures, we need to work on two aspects simultaneously. These are usually translated as “clarity” and “pride.” This is somewhat misleading. One of the biggest problems that we face as Westerners dealing with Buddhism is that most of the translation terms are misleading.First of all, “clarity” doesn’t mean what we usually understand clarity to mean. The word translated as clarity here doesn’t mean “in focus,” but rather it means “having or making something appear.” This means that our minds actually make an image appear. That’s one side of the story we have to work on, getting an image to appear. When we work with these figures, what we try to do is to focus on what our minds make appear and, as our concentration develops, then the focus, the details, will improve automatically. There is no need to strain to get all the details and everything in focus. To start with, all we need is a rough image of something appearing, even if it is just a ball of light.The second aspect, “pride,” doesn’t mean arrogance. Rather, it means feeling ourselves actually to be this Buddha-figure or feeling that something is actually present, on our heads or in front of us, for instance. This is a special usage of the word prideas found in the chapter on joyful perseverance in Shantideva’sEngaging in Bodhisattva Behavior. There, this Indian Buddhist master wrote:

I shall triumph over everything

And nothing shall triumph over me!

As a spiritual offspring of the Triumphant Lion,

I shall maintain this pride.

Wandering beings conquered by pride

Are disturbed: they have no pride;

For those having pride don’t fall under the enemy’s power,

But instead, have power over the enemy, pride…

But those who hold on to their pride in order to triumph

over the enemy, pride,

Are the holders of pride, the triumphant heroes.

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And those who kill off the enemy, pride,

even though it’s gargantuan,

Bestow then the fruit of triumph in full

on wandering beings, whatever they wish.

Thus, if we’re visualizing something in front of us, such as a Buddha, we not only have something appear, but we really feel that this Buddha is actually there with all the qualities of an enlightened being.These two aspects, as we’ve described them – that something is appearing and feeling that it’s actually there – are common with sutra, as when we imagine a Buddha in front of us to gain concentration. But, as said earlier, the major use of imagining these Buddha-figures in tantra is to imagine that we ourselves are these figures.We can understand what to “hold the pride of the deity” means by looking at the Tibetan word that’s translated as “pride,”ngagyel (nga-rgyal). This word is made up of two syllables, the first, nga, means “me” and the second, gyel, means literally, “to triumph.” When we speak of pride as a disturbing emotion, what it really means is considering ourselves as triumphant or better than others – in other words, “self-importance.” In this context, however, the term means “triumphing over the self” – in other words, triumphing over the ordinary  concept of ourselves, in the sense of overcoming and ridding ourselves of this concept. This means to no longer feel that we have all the limitations, the shortcomings of our ordinary self, like being confused, being unable to understand things, and so on. Instead, we imagine that we actually have the qualities of this Buddha-figure – that we are Manjushri for instance: We have clarity of mind anddiscriminating awareness; we are able to understand everything.We can see from this example how misleading the word “visualization” is, because it would lead us to think that the only thing involved is actually seeing the image. Because we’re training our imaginations, we’re not only imagining this figure in the sense of it appearing, but we’re also imagining what it would be like actually to be that figure with all its qualities. For example, feeling like Chenrezig, we feel that we have compassion and love. So, the use of the imagination here is quite broad.Of these two, imagining that something is actually appearing and imagining feeling that we have the qualities of what appears, the feeling of having the qualities is the most important. We only need a vague image to help us keep focus, but we put our energy into trying to feel like we have discriminating awareness, for example, and clarity of mind, and then, as our concentration grows stronger, the details of the image will become clearer automatically.

Training the Imagination for VisualizationIn order to be able to visualize a Buddha-figure, of course we have to know what that figure looks like. But visualization of ourselves in some special form is not as difficult as we might think. For example, try to feel your head. First, let’s start by imagining something on top of our heads. The way to do that is to put your hand on top of your head. Can you feel your hand on top of your head? Now, take your hand away. Can you still feel the top of your head? That’s how you imagine something on your head. Focus there. All you need is some feeling of something being there. It doesn’t have to be in focus in order to do themeditation. So it’s not really that difficult.Now, to imagine ourselves as a figure, try to be aware of your head, and also your arms and legs, and your body. Can you be aware of your whole body? That’s how you imagine that you’re a Buddha-figure. Now we may not be able to see our face, we may not be able to visualize it, but can you feel that you have eyes, nose and a mouth? So, that’s how you visualize it, how you imagine it.

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Even when these figures have many arms, that’s not so difficult either. Let’s try Chenrezig with four arms. Put your hands in front of you. Do you have a feeling of that? Now put your hands out to the side. Now imagine this being a double-exposure photo. Put your hands in you lap. Can you still feel those four arms? It’s not that difficult. This is how we work with our imagination with these figures.Even when it gets more complicated, it really isn’t terribly difficult. Let’s imagine three faces. Put your hands on the side of your face. Try to have a feeling first of the face on the front of your head. Now take your hands away. Can you feel a face on both your cheeks as well?Sometimes we imagine that we’re inside a mandala, which is being inside the palace in which one of these Buddha-figures lives. That’s not too difficult either. The key to this is that we’re not working with our eyes. Now we’re all sitting in this room, aren’t we? Can you have a feeling that there are four walls around us? That’s how you visualize a mandala. You don’t need to actually have a visual image of a wall behind you to have a feeling that there’s a wall behind. And can you be aware of the fact that there’s a garden and a road outside? That’s how you visualize things outside the mandala: it’s just a feeling of those things being there. So, this is the actual process of training the imagination.

The Image Arises within VoidnessFor all of this to be much more significant and meaningful, it is crucial to generate all these feelings, images and so on within the context of our understanding of voidness.Voidness doesn’t mean nothingness, but rather voidness is a total absence. What are absent are impossible ways of existing that our minds make up and project onto objects and events, as well as onto ourselves and others. The Sanskrit and Tibetan terms for this total absence are usually translated as “emptiness,” but this is a bit misleading. “Emptiness” implies something that is empty, like an empty bottle, whereas although there is something that is devoid of impossible ways of existing, the term here connotes only the total absence of these impossible ways. The Sanskrit term shunya and the Tibetan translation of it, tongpa (stong-pa), after all, are both also the words for “zero.” This distinction between voidness and emptiness has an important ramification in terms of how we meditate on this crucial Buddhist teaching.Let’s look at a simplified example of what voidness means. Suppose I have done something destructive and, filled with guilt, I believe that I’m a monster. Nobody, however, exists as a monster. That’s totally impossible; there are no such things as actual monsters. When we focus on voidness, we focus merely on “no such thing.” What our minds are projecting does not correspond to anything real; there is a total absence of an actual referent to our projections.It is important to dispel all the crazy fantasies we have about ourselves, such as that we are monsters. This is especially so in tantra where we work with our self-image, which is what we’re dealing with when we imagine ourselves as one of these Buddha-figures. We contemplate how our usual self-image is crazy, without any real referent. We understand, “I’m not a monster, because there are no such things as monsters.” And then we recite in a tantric visualization practice (a sadhana), “Within voidness, I arise as so-and-so.”Often this phrase we recite is translated as, “Out of voidness, I arise as so-and-so,” but the phrase doesn’t mean that we leave our understanding of voidness. Rather, it is within the sphere of all this craziness being gone, coupled with the understanding that it never corresponded to anything real, that we then imagine ourselves as one of these figures. This means that, within this state in which all impossible modes of existence are absent, I now arise as what is possible in relation to my bodhichitta aim.With bodhichitta based on love and compassion for all limited beings, we focus on our individual enlightenments that have not yet happened, but which can happen on the basis of our Buddha-nature qualities. The Buddha-figure that we visualize ourselves as represents that not-yet-happened enlightened state. In other words, our actually being an enlightened being and having all the positive qualities of such a being is possible, not impossible. Why is it possible? Because we all have Buddha-nature, which means we all have all the potentials and capacities to be

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like that. We then label “me” on the basis of those Buddha-nature factors on our mental continuums and on our individual not-yet-happened enlightenments that can be inferred on the basis of those factors.This is very important because, when dispelling all these fantasies about ourselves, we also dispel the disturbing emotions that go along with that. When we think, “I’m a monster,” we have a great deal of self-hatred and low self-esteem. When werealize that we are not a monster – there are no such things as monsters – then disturbing emotions like low self-esteem and self-hatred have no basis. So we dispel that. The same method works with other disturbing emotions, such as when we think, “I’m God’s gift to the world; I’m so wonderful.” This is macho arrogance. We have to dispel that as well. Then, within that absence, we arise as this Buddha-figure based on the fact that we do indeed have the potentials to become it as part of our Buddha-nature.This is not self-deception because we know we’re not there, we’re not yet a Buddha. But it is not distorted or crazy either, because we have the potentials to achieve it. Of course, we could argue that we also have the potentials to be reborn as a dog. But it’s not the same thing, since there’s no benefit to be gained by imagining that we are a dog. There is, however, great benefit to be gained by imagining that we have perfect compassion or perfect wisdom. Imagining and practicing now as if we had perfect wisdom and so on helps us to develop these qualities more quickly.Obviously, it is absolutely essential not to deceive ourselves feeling that we’re there already; otherwise we never make any progress. Just as when trying to gain concentration in sutra, we imagine a Buddha in front of us, here we imagine all the qualities of a Buddha so that it helps us to keep them as our safe direction. Similarly with the bodhichitta aim, the wish to achieve enlightenment to help all limited beings, imagining ourselves endowed with these Buddha qualities makes that focus on our not-yet-happened Buddhahood even stronger. This is the direction we want to go in and we want to achieve this goal in order to be best able to help everyone.

Pure and Impure Appearance-MakingIn order to understand the much deeper significance of working with our imaginations, we need to understand how our minds make things appear, because this is what we’re doing with our imaginations, we’re making things appear. The way that our minds make things appear is by mixing two things, which are usually called  pure appearances and impure appearances. To really appreciate the significance of this we need to take the Tibetan word that’s translated as “appearance,” nangwa (snang-ba) both as a noun and as a verb, but more as a verb. Although we can speak about pure and impure appearances, if we just leave it at that, it sounds as if they exist out there by themselves. What we’re actually talking about is the mind’s making these things to appear. So we have pure appearance-making and impure appearance-making.Whether we want to or not, the impure appearances exist and although we may want to ignore them, or not believe in them, they’re there. So we have to deal with them. What we want to do is to stop our minds from making things appear in an impure way. We can do this because we can work with our minds. If this is the only point that you remember of the following discussion, you will have learned something very, very important.Appearance-making, that’s what we’re talking about in Buddhism. This whole discussion of tantra and of voidness is how to get our minds to stop making things appear in a crazy, impossible way – in other words, to stop projecting fantasies.Pure and impure appearances have two meanings. We usually don’t distinguish these very clearly, and therefore, we get very confused. Let’s deal with one meaning at a time. If we put it in simple language, one meaning is that an impure appearance is an appearance of things as if existing in a solid manner – in other words, a crazy projection of something impossible. Pure appearance-making is making things appear nonsolidly, the way they actually do exist. So, “impure” is making things appear in a way in which they don’t exist, a non-existent crazy way, and “pure” is making them appear in the way that they do exist.We can understand this better with a superficial example: when we see somebody we don’t like, our minds make two aspects appear – what the person looks like and how they exist. Let’s leave aside, for a moment, the appearance of what they look like. Concerning the appearance of how they exist, our minds mix two appearances.

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In addition to how they actually exist as just a human being, our minds also project onto that person that they exist as a monster. What we see then, in terms of how they exist, is a mixture of these two modes of existence. But what predominates is that they look to me like they’re a monster, a horrible person. Conversely, we see a beautiful looking person and not only do our minds give rise to an appearance of how they actually exist, but they also project onto them their existence being established as “the most beautiful, sexy person I’ve ever seen.” Based on that, we develop sexual desire. However, if we analyze, we realize that this is not how they actually exist. This is because if they really existed that way, asinherently sexy from their own side, then everybody should see them as sexy, including the baby and the dog. But, obviously, they don’t see that person as sexy. So that is a projection from our minds that is mixed with the actual appearance of how they exist. This is one level of how our minds mix pure and impure appearances. The pure appearance is how they actually exist and the impure one is an impossible way of existing.The other meaning is that impure appearance refers to the ordinary appearance of what we look like and a pure appearance is our appearance as a Buddha-figure. The impure appearance that our minds give rise to may be either accurate or distorted, depending, for instance, on whether or not we are wearing our glasses if, in fact, we need glasses to see clearly. Here, we are not speaking about distorted impure appearances. But, when we speak of accurate impure appearances and pure appearances regarding what we look like, these are like two different quantum levels. For example, we have a visible gross body, that’s one quantum level. But we also have an invisible body composed of energy channels that in Chinese medicine are called “meridians.” This is another quantum level of our bodies. We know that these energy channels exist because they function: you can stick acupuncture needles in certain points of this subtle body and it affects even our gross body. A pure appearance in the form of a Buddha-figure is just another quantum level regarding our bodies. So, the second meaning of pure and impure appearances refers to these two levels of what we look like, the two quantum levels: the ordinary level and the level of our appearance as a Buddha-figure.If we factor together these two quantum levels of what we look like with the first meaning of pure and impure appearances as regarding how we exist, then we can have a pure appearance of how both quantum levels actually exist and an impure appearance of some impossible mode of existence that our minds project onto either one of them. We can see how, without being clear about these distinctions, we could become confused about this issue of pure and impure appearances.It is important to realize that perceiving a mixture of impure and pure appearances of how things exist involves both our eyes and our minds. Both visual and mental consciousnesses mix the appearance of a nonsolid identity with the appearance of a solid identity. We can understand this through a very simple example. When we see something, what are we actually seeing? We’re seeing several things mixed together. The first thing we’re seeing is innumerable dots of light from each of the cells in our retina and we perceive them appearing with a nonsolid manner of existence. Mixed with that, our minds put these dots together and perceive as well the appearance of not only a conventionalobject, but the appearance of a conventional object that truly exists as something solid. We’re not just talking about seeing somebody as a monster; we’re talking about how our ordinary sight works.One of the important points that Tsongkhapa, the founder of theGelug tradition, made is that the object to be refuted by voidness, the thing we have to work on, is how our minds operate every single instant of our lives. It’s not something that only happens when we’re insane; Tsongkhapa is not just talking about paranoia. He’s talking about how our minds ordinarily work. Our minds put together all the dots and project onto them not just a conventional figure, but a conventional figure that appears to exist solidly as this or that. All the senses work like that. When there is the sound of a voice, all these little hair-like structures inside the ear vibrate and send electrical pulses to the brain; the brain puts these together into words and then we understand them.Now, the problem here is that we believe that things exist solidly, the way that the mind puts them together and makes them appear. Let’s take this point to the level of emotions. Going back to our example, there are all these dots of light and we see the dots combined together into a conventional object, which we take to be a spider. That’s accurate. But then we project onto the appearance of the conventionally existent spider an impossible

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manner of existence, as being solidly “a spider.” We scream, “Ah! There’s a spider” and project onto this accurate appearance of what it is something impossible: “It’s a monster and it’s going to get me.” All sorts of paranoia and fear build on that.The basis for this scenario is putting the dots together first into a spider and then projecting onto it a solid identity of not only a spider, but also of a monster that is going to get me. In other words, we’re not denying the accurate appearance of the dots on another level as being the appearance of a spider. But the spider is merely a limited being that has a whole life of its own. It’s out there on the wall trying to find food and then it’s going to go home to feed its babies and so on. But we put the dots together and see them instead as being solidly “a spider.” We then no longer view it as merely a limited being with an ordinary spider life of its own. Rather, once we’ve made it into a solid monolith of “a spider,” then we hang onto that framework that it’s solidly and inherently existent as a monster. Based on that come our paranoia and fear.It is the same with the feelings that we have about ourselves. We mix a pure and impure feeling about how we ourselves exist. The pure one is that we’re open to many possibilities; we have many facets of personality and talent; and so on. On top of that basic general feeling of what’s actually there, we mix the feeling of having a solid monolithic identity: “I’m God’s gift to the world” or “I’m a loser.” Then we identify with that monolithic feeling and we become completely neurotic. All our disturbing emotions follow from that.

Generating Ourselves as a Buddha-FigureWhat we need to do first is to stop believing that we exist in the impossible ways that our minds project we exist. For that, we need to focus on voidness, which means we need to focus on the fact that these fantasy projections of ours don’t correspond to anything real. It is very helpful to use a rude word that shocks us into seeing that this is ridiculous, namely to think, “This is bullshit! I’m not like this. Nobody is like this.” It’s bullshit that I’m God’s gift to the world, and it’s also bullshit that I am this monolithic solid thing. What that leaves us with is the feeling that the way we actually are is open to many different possibilities based on Buddha-nature, talents and so on.Within that absence of all this bullshit, we then arise with an identity based on the openness of these Buddha qualities. That’s how we arise in the form of a Buddha-figure. And we have the pride of the figure, in other words, we try to feel that we are like this. Rather than feeling that we are this monolithic God’s gift to the world, we feel that we are open to many possibilities, and with the development of these possibilities, we can become a Buddha. So that’s how we “visualize” ourselves as a deity, how we imagine that we are one of these Buddha-figures. It’s a very sophisticated process.

The Inseparability of Samsara and NirvanaThe Sakya tradition, one of the four traditions within Tibetan Buddhism, speaks about the inseparability of samsara and nirvana. This is taken on several levels. On one level – we’ve discussed this already, I’m just putting it into another framework – is the inseparability of how our minds make things appear solidly and non-solidly. “Inseparable” here means that they’re mixed together. If we look at anything, from one point of view we see that there’s a solid appearance-making of it; if we look from another point of view, there’s a nonsolid appearance-making of it. Even when we’re a Buddha, even though our minds will no longer make things appear to exist solidly from their own sides, nevertheless a Buddha will see that for others it is the opposite. The minds of limited beings make things appear as if their existence were established solidly from their own sides, and this makes inseparable samsara and nirvana.The other level of the inseparability of samsara and nirvana is the inseparability of our gross ordinary appearance and our subtle appearance as a Buddha-figure. Within ourselves, we have two quantum levels. One is the gross level of how we ordinarily appear; the other quantum level is the subtle appearance that we have in terms of these Buddha-figures. So, out of the clear light mind, our energy appears in a gross and a subtle form. The gross is impure; the subtle is pure. The gross is samsara; the subtle is nirvana, used in a special sense. We’re not talking

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about the subtle body with the channels and so on that we find in other tantra systems, we’re talking about a pure subtle body. Buddha has this also. Buddha appears as a Nirmanakaya, a Corpus of Emanations, in ordinary looking forms, and as a Sambhogakaya, a Corpus of Full Use, in those incredible Buddha-figure forms that only highly realized bodhisattvas can see. The Sakya tradition makes this point more clearly than the other traditions do.I think the easiest way to relate to this is considering two quantum levels within our bodies that are mixed. If we look at the whole package of our bodies from one point of view, we see an ordinary person and if we look at it from another point of view, we see a Buddha-figure. That’s one of the keys for understanding the tantra vision of seeing ourselves as a Buddha-figure or seeing our spiritual mentor as a Buddha, and so forth. When we work in tantra with visualization, with imagination, we are switching to a pure level from an impure level, not only in terms of the appearance of nonsolidity; but we are also switching quantum levels to the plane of a Buddha-figure.Our minds can make this mixture of the two quantum levels appear as having either solid or nonsolid existence. The problem is, however, that our minds are automatically going to make this appearance that we have as a Buddha-figure, based on Buddha-nature, appear as a solid identity. Then we might feel that we now have this solid identity like, “Yes! I have clarity of mind.” “Yes! I have wisdom. I’m Manjushri.” .It doesn’t have to be as emotional as that, it could be quite subtle, but still there’s this feeling of solidity. When we’re doing this, we forget about all the other aspects of ourselves, so we think that this is “my monolithic solid identity.” However, we know that we’re not there yet.

Applying This in Ordinary Daily LivesThis is a marvelous method for gaining insight into how our minds normally work, because we can apply the analogy of what we’re experiencing with this Buddha-figure to our ordinaryperception in life. This helps us not to grasp at that solid feeling of our ordinary identities of “I’m a loser” or whatever, because we know by analogy that, although we might solidly feel like a loser, we don’t actually exist like that, just as we know that although I might solidly feel as though I’m Manjushri and I’m so wise, I’m not really like that yet. Transferring this insight to our ordinary experience helps us to understand voidness in our ordinary life, as well as to overcome our disturbing emotions.By projecting this imagination of a Buddha-figure and focusing totally on that and on the feeling of being that, we temporarily stop projecting our ordinary appearance of a solid identity. This is not the same as stopping the projection of our ordinary appearance when we go to sleep. That’s not so helpful; it doesn’t do anything. What’s significant here is that, not only do we stop projecting our ordinary solid appearance, but we’ve generated this special appearance within the context of our understanding of voidness. This starts to build up a habit of generating even our ordinary gross appearance within the context of the understanding of voidness, just as we have done with this special appearance. Thus, we take a break from our habitual ordinary solid appearance-making. Even though we might feel solidly like this Buddha-figure generated within the context of voidness, our grasp on it is much weaker than usual because we remember we’ve generated it while understanding its voidness. Thus, visualization in Buddhist tantra is not the same as “the power of positive thinking” or “creative visualization,” with which we imagine the ideal golf shot before taking the shot. Those methods lack the understanding of voidness, not to mention that they lack a bodhichitta aim.

Viewing Ourselves as a Buddha-Figure All Day LongIn tantra practice, we try to visualize ourselves as a Buddha-figure not only in meditation, but all day long. Likewise, we visualize all others as Buddha-figures and our environment as amandala – the palace and pure surroundings of a Buddha-figure. Nevertheless, we need to walk around and function and do ordinary things in life. The view of inseparable samsara and nirvana suggests a good way to understand how to do this.If we’re going about our daily lives while seeing ourselves only as a Buddha-figure and everything around us as a mandala palace, we’re probably going to soon be hit by a car. What we need to do instead, while walking around all day, is to see the two quantum levels of pure and impure appearance superimposed on each other. This is

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symbolized quite nicely in the Nyingma tradition manner of visualizing mandalas, for instance. In those visualizations, we visualize the walls of the mandala as consisting of two levels of image superimposed on each other. One level is as five thin walls pasted together, with each wall being a different color light. Another level is as three thin walls pasted together, with each being made of skulls in different stages of decomposition. We superimpose and visualize both levels simultaneously. This trains us to see other types of different levels superimposed. This is not so difficult to do when we use our imaginations and doing so trains us to see both the ordinary level and the Buddha-figure level of appearance superimposed in daily life. The Gelug tradition provides a technical description of how it’s done.Anuttarayoga tantra, the highest class of tantra, has two stages of practice. On the first stage, the  generation stage, we see ordinary appearances with our eye consciousness, but our mental consciousness superimposes on them the image of Buddha-figures and mandalas. We conceive of these impure appearances as being pure. Then, on the second stage, thecomplete stage, starting with its first step called “body isolation,” we’re able to actually work with the energy-winds of the eye consciousness and generate them in the form of a Buddha-figure. In so doing, the pure appearances of Buddha-figures and mandalas are no longer cognized through a conceptual process.If we study the different Tibetan traditions we get different views that, when put together, make our understanding as to how the process of visualizing ourselves as Buddha-figures actually works much more completely. It’s like the three blind men describing the elephant. One touches the legs, one touches the trunk, one touches the ears and, when we put together all the information they derive, we get the picture of the elephant.

The Benefits of Superimposing AppearancesThe benefit of seeing these two levels simultaneously all day long – the superimposition of the ordinary appearance and the appearance of a Buddha-figure – is that it helps us to understand that we also mix together an appearance of ordinary solid reality and nonsolid reality. In other words, it helps us to gain the insight that we do not exist in the world simply in the way in which we ordinarily appear to exist. On another level, it helps us not to identify solidly with our ordinary gross appearance, let’s say of being old and fat and incompetent. Rather, it helps us to feel that we also possess these various Buddha-qualities, but of course within the context of our understanding of voidness. This, in turn, helps us to deal with our lives with a much more positive attitude, without risking the danger of inflation of our egos.Furthermore, by focusing on a Buddha-figure in meditation, let’s say on ourselves as a Buddha-figure, it’s much easier to develop perfect absorbed concentration than by focusing on our gross bodies. That’s another advantage. The reason for this is that our gross bodies are constantly changing. Our body position is always altering slightly, even while sitting in meditation. Also, one day we’re feeling good and the next day we’re feeling not-so-good, and so on. There are various aches and pains, not to mention itches. Because of these constant changes, we don’t have a consistent stable object to focus on for gaining absorbed concentration. By contrast, if we focus on this Buddha-figure that we imagine, that Buddha-figure doesn’t change. We can always go back to the same visualization. What we’re imagining always stays the same, so it’s much easier to develop stable concentration on it.It’s also much easier to gain full concentration on the voidness of the imagined Buddha-figure than it is to achieve total concentration on the voidness of our bodies. Voidness itself doesn’t change; but here, if the basis for voidness – in other words, the thing that doesn’t exist in impossible ways – is something constantly changing like our bodies, then the voidness of it gets somehow – the word they use in Tibetan is “infected” by that instability. By contrast, if the basis for voidness is something that doesn’t change, then it’s much easier to keep stable focus on its voidness. So, by focusing on the voidness of the Buddha-figure, it’s easier to understand voidness itself.

The Gelug Prasangika InterpretationWhat are we doing when we identify ourselves with a Buddha-figure? We are labeling ourselves, calling ourselves a Buddha-figure on the basis of our Buddha-natures. Yet we can’t find that Buddha-nature and we can’t find a solid Buddha inside us. We understand, however, that this is a valid labeling of ourselves as a Buddha-

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figure. We’re labeling ourselves as a Buddha-figure, the second quantum level, on the basis of our Buddha-natures. But we can’t find that Buddha-nature and we can’t pinpoint this second quantum level of being the Buddha-figure, and yet we understand that this is a valid labeling. We assume that quantum level as a Buddha-figure because we have the Buddha-nature factors that will allow us to achieve that level. Thus, we exist as a Buddha-figure merely in so far as we can be validly labeled as such. There’s nothing solid and findable inside us making us that.So, what actually is this Buddha-figure that we are? If we can’t actually find it, we can’t actually see it, it’s merely what the valid label, or our imagination of it, refers to. In this way it’s easier to understand that, in general, our existence as this or that, as a mother, as a laborer, as whatever, is established by valid mental labeling alone and not by the power of something solid and findable inside us. For example, suppose that we conventionally exist as a mother. What establishes that we exist as a mother? We exist as a mother because we can be validly called a mother based on the fact that we have children. There’s nothing inside us that we can point to that makes us “mother” by its own power, independently of anything else.This is very important to understand, because if we unconsciously imagine that there’s something inside us making us “mother” by its own power, then we have to be “mother” all the time to everybody. Then all the neurotic syndromes come up because of identifying with being solidly “mother.” We only exist as mother in as much as we can be called “mother” and such a label or name is valid because it is dependent on the fact that we have children. This reasoning leads us then to be validly established as a friend on the basis of our friends, as a business woman on the basis of our work, and so on. And so this allows us a tremendous amount of openness to be of help to everybody. We call this type of existence “dependent arising.”What I’ve been describing is the Gelug interpretation of the Indian Madhyamaka Prasangika school of tenets. There are four Indian Buddhist schools of philosophical thought. In addition, there are four Tibetan Buddhist traditions, and each of them has a different way of understanding each of the four Indian schools. This gets rather complicated. But the Gelug presentation of the Prasangika view is that the existence of all phenomena is established merely by mental labeling. There is nothing findable on the side of any object that by its power, either alone or in conjunction with mental labeling, establishes the existence of anything.We can understand this much more easily by working with imagination of ourselves as a Buddha-figure, because it is quite obvious that we can’t find anything inside ourselves that’s making or establishing us as a Buddha-figure, not even a findable Buddha-nature. We can establish that we exist as a Buddha-figure merely by the fact that we can validly imagine ourselves that way and validly refer to ourselves in that way and validly feel that we are like, on the basis of our Buddha-nature factors. Dependent merely on that fact – this is what we mean by “dependent arising” – we can say that we do exist as a Buddha-figure, despite there being nothing inside us, solid and findable, that’s making us exist in that way.There are deeper levels of understanding the importance of visualization and imagination, but this is deep enough for us to gain an appreciation of how sophisticated the use of imagination is in Buddhism.

SummaryIn summary, this has been our survey of the process of visualization, the use of imagination in Buddhism. As we can see, it is a very worthwhile and sophisticated method of practice. At all levels of working with it, from the simplest level of imagining how a young attractive person is going to look like at 80 years old, all the way up to the most sophisticated level, visualization helps us to overcome our disturbing emotions and consequently our problems and difficulties. It enables us to use our potentials more fully to be of best help to everyone. Although using the imagination is by no means an easy method, it is a very effective one for attaining liberation and going on to become a Buddha.

QuestionsQuestion: Following your last reasoning, shall we conclude that Buddha-nature itself is also void?

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Alex: Yes, everything is void of impossible modes of existence. Whatever actually exists, which means whatever is validly knowable, there’s nothing findable inside it that establishes its existence. Something findable inside an object is an impossible way of establishing that that object exists, because there is no such thing as something findable inside it. What voidness negates is the impossible way of existing, by which there is something inside, solid and findable, that by its own power establishes its existence and gives it therefore a solid, permanent identity that has not and can never be affected by anything. So, the only thing that we can say, if we have to say something about what establishes that things exist is mental labeling alone.This doesn’t mean that mental labeling creates them, since we can mentally label someone a monster and that doesn’t make them a monster. What establishes the existence of something is that it is merely the  referent object of names and concepts, as validated by valid cognition of that referent object. This fact pertains to everything, including Buddha-nature, enlightenment, Buddhas, and even voidness itself. Obviously, we need to think deeply about this in order to understand and realize that it is true.We tend to wonder, perhaps from our Western scientific point of view, “What makes me, me?” And we might say, “Well, it’s the genetic pattern of the chromosomes in my cells; it’s my unique genome. That’s something inside me that makes me who I am.” But Buddhism would say “Hey! Look a little closer than that. These chromosomes and genes are made up of molecules, and the molecules are made up of atoms, which are made up of subatomic particles, which in turn are made up of fields of energy. Where is there anything findable?” There is nothing solid, findable inside us making us who we are. There’s nothing solid inside the chromosomes making them chromosomes.So, we exist as who we are because people can conceive of us and think of us and label us and call us by our name and it’s a correct label. And that’s all! Nothing else is needed to establish our existence. That is what is meant by “mental labeling only.” Buddhism has a very complicated and full discussion on how do we know that a label or a name is correct. But again, just because I call that cushion a dog doesn’t make it a dog. But valid ways of knowing is another huge topic in Buddhist studies and we cannot go into that tonight.Question: We don’t have any understanding of what a Buddha is; we can hardly imagine what can that mean or what can that be. Whatever we think a Buddha is, is only a projection of our minds. So, if I can only project that, then when I visualize a Buddha-figure, that’s a mere projection. How can I know if this projection of a Buddha-figure is correct or incorrect? In other words, do I have to merely trust my Buddha-nature – that because of my Buddha-nature, the way I project the Buddha-figure in front of me is correct, or what?Alex: I think that the Sakya approach of inseparable samsara and nirvana can help us with this question. According to the Sakya system, not only are samsara and nirvana inseparable – with samsara and nirvana being understood to have many different levels of meaning – but also the basis, path and result levels are inseparable. So, when we are seeing someone as a Buddha, thebasis level of that is Buddha-nature, the potentials that will allow that. The resultant level, the final level, is the actual state of Buddhahood that people can attain and which now exists as a potential. The pathway for going from the basis to the result is our different levels of more and more accurate conceptualizationand realization of that Buddhahood.So, when we are viewing somebody as a Buddha, these three aspects are inseparably mixed together. Our pathway conceptualization of what Buddhahood is like, which is on the basis of the foundation level – the Buddha-nature factors – is just an approximation of the result, Buddhahood. It’s only natural that the  pathway level is an approximation; it can’t be anything else. Of course we need to validate our approximation according to the various descriptions of a Buddha that we read. We don’t want to have an approximation, let’s say, that a Buddha is omnipotent like the description of God Almighty in the Bible. That is not a quality of a Buddha. If our conceptualization is based on the actual scriptural descriptions and so on, then we can validly work with it even though it is an approximation.Question: How can we work with these Buddha-figures when we have this very strong cultural barrier toward them in their original iconography – Tibetan, Indian or whatever. Because they’re so strange, so alien to us, to our culture and way of seeing, I can’t relate to them. So is it valid that, for example, when I try to develop

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compassion, if instead of visualizing Chenrezig, I visualize a face that has been meaningful for me – a face filled with compassion or love or wisdom or whatever.Alex: Well, we have to be a little careful here. First of all, all these Buddha-figures were also alien to Tibetan culture, yet the Tibetans were able to eventually, over time, feel comfortable with them. Being from a different culture is not an inherent barrier. Second, these figures are not just to be taken at face value. They are used in a very sophisticated method. All the arms, faces and so on represent many different levels of meanings and bear profound symbolism. They stand, for example, for many different realizations that we’re trying to have in our minds simultaneously. To try to have 24 insights simultaneously in our minds is very difficult if we do it abstractly, not only conceptually but also nonconceptually. We’re talking about love, patience, understanding and so forth. But if we represent these 24 insights or qualities graphically with 24 arms, it’s much easier to imagine all of these at the same time. Therefore, visualization of these multi-armed, multi-face figures is a device to help us keep all the things they represent simultaneously in our minds.So, we need to be very careful not to throw away one of the most important purposes of these figures, which is to have all these arms and legs and faces. However when the iconography of these figures went from one country to another – from India not only to Tibet, but also to China and Japan – the facial features, for example, changed from Indian to Chinese features. Some of the clothing also changed. The most drastic change was that Avalokiteshvara underwent a sex change and became female in China. He was male in India and Tibet. So, there are certain things that on a superficial level can be adapted, but one has to be very careful. To make any cultural adaptations, as my teachers have pointed out again and again, requires pretty much thorough knowledge of both the original culture and the culture that you’re going into, and, of course, full knowledge of Buddhism. This requires a very broad understanding, not just deep but broad.Question: I understand that there are two ways of dissolving a visualization, and I want to know if this is correct. One of them is, for example, when we visualize Vajrasattva on top of our heads, at the end of our practice he melts and dissolves into light and comes to our heart. Right? That’s one kind of dissolution. The other one is like with the merit field, where one figure dissolves into another. Is that correct?Alex: There are many different ways of dissolving a visualization. One is certainly that the visualization dissolves into our heart. This has many purposes in terms of understanding how appearances come from the clear light mind and so on. Sometimes visualizations, as you say, collapse into themselves and then either dissolve into voidness or dissolve into us. Sometimes visualizations expand until they become the size of the universe and dissolve that way. Sometimes visualizations go off to a Buddha-field. So there are many different ways and each of them has its own specific purpose.

DedicationLet us now dissolve our session then with a dedication – another way to dissolve an appearance. We think that whatever understanding, insight and positive force we might have gained tonight, may that grow more and more. Particularly, what we’ve discussed tonight has not been easy; it’s very sophisticated. So we hope that our understanding of it will grow deeper and deeper as we listen to the tapes or read the transcription and try to understand more and more, if we are interested in doing so. May we be able to derive more and more benefit from integrating these teachings into our practice and into our personalities, so that they can help us overcome difficulties and realize more and more of our potentials to be of best help to everyone. And may we try to put all the pieces of the Dharma puzzle together, so that we understand more and more and can derive more and more benefit from the teachings and the practices.Take for instance, the advise of looking at the spiritual teacher as a Buddha while the teacher is teaching – which, by the way, is a practice for only very advanced disciples, not for beginners. It is for practitioners who already have put the safe direction of refuge into their lives and who have a bodhichitta aim of working to become a Buddha in order to be able to benefit everyone. For that kind of practitioner, then, it’s very beneficial to see the spiritual teacher as a Buddha while receiving teachings. But what does that mean?

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We need to put the pieces of the Dharma puzzle together. That means switching quantum levels from the ordinary level to the Buddha-nature, Buddha-figure level. Remember, inseparable samsara and nirvana. The teacher has shortcomings, but also good qualities, inseparably. One is the gross level; one is the more subtle level. The subtle level is the good qualities. Just as in meditation, we would only focus on the subtle level for various beneficial reasons, likewise while receiving teachings we would also focus just on the more subtle level of the teacher in terms of this more subtle quantum level of being a Buddha. That will allow us to focus on and appreciate the teacher’s good qualities while receiving teachings, which will help us to have the most open and receptive mind to try to understand what the teacher is saying. To focus on the gross problems of the teacher while listening to teachings distracts us from what he or she is saying. It’s not at all helpful at the time of listening to the teachings.Nevertheless, regarding the teacher as a Buddha while listening to teachings, in other words focusing on this more subtle quantum level, doesn’t mean that we lose our ability to discriminate between the teacher saying something correct or something incorrect. That’s there. Seeing a different quantum level does not preclude the functioning of discriminating awareness. So, in this way we need to put together all the pieces of the Dharma puzzle in order to really understand on a deeper level some of the most confusing teachings.May our understanding and our process of putting the pieces together grow more and more, so that we can truly be of best help to everyone.What Is the Difference between Visualizing Ourselves as a Buddhist Deity and a Deluded Person Imagining They are Mickey Mouse?This evening we are going to speak about what is the difference, if any, between imagining or visualizing ourselves as a Buddha-figure or imagining that we are Mickey Mouse. And although this might sound a bit funny; nevertheless, often it happens when we’re involved with tantra practice that we reach a certain stage at which we question what we’re doing. Because we’re working with all these visualizations and things, which seem so fantastic, and after a while, if we don’t have a good foundation, we might think this is crazy. Especially if we happen to tell anybody else what we’re doing – which of course we’re always told, “Don’t do that” – and we say, “I’m imagining that I’m the Red Fairy, and I’m going to go to Fairyland and take everybody with me to Fairyland.” They would probably want to lock us up. So let’s look at this topic of Buddha-figure or Mickey Mouse in some depth.

Imagining Ourselves as a Buddha-FigureOne of the most characteristic features of tantra practice is so-called deity yoga, with which we imagine ourselves to be a Buddha-figure. The term that’s usually used here is translated by most people as visualize, but we’re not dealing with just some visual picture of ourselves. The term is much better translated asimagine because we really imagine that we really are this figure, and we imagine experiencing everything with all our senses, not just something visual. What I’m translating as Buddha-figure is the Tibetan word yidam, sometimes called a special type of deity – not your usual deity. And the Tibetan term yidamliterally means something – a figure – with which to make a close bond for our minds. So we make a strong bonding with this Buddha-figure in order to actually become this Buddha-figure or a Buddha in the form (with the physical shape of) this Buddha-figure.

The Four PuritiesAnd not only do we imagine ourselves in this form – that’s only the first of what’s known as the four purities. So not only a pure body, a physical body, but that everything around us is a pure environment, and that means to imagine that we are inside amandala. A mandala is a three-dimensional palace, and all around that palace is a pure land – in fact, the palace is in a pure land – where everything is just perfect and conducive for spiritual practice. And we have pure actions. So the way that we interact with others is without any confusion; it’s just totally to help them with the most perfect excellent means. In addition, we also have a pure way of enjoying things. So, rather than our ordinary up and down – sometimes a little bit happy, but then it changes and we’re unhappy, and so on – we enjoy things with what is known as “untainted blissful awareness.” That means without any confusion

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associated with it. So, with these four purities, we have a very vast imagination of what we are, where we are, what we’re doing, and how we feel about what’s going on – how we experience it.

A Buddha-Figure Form as a Precursor for the Form of a BuddhaAnd what we’re doing here is imagining these things which havenot yet happened in terms of our actual experience of them, but which we will be able to experience on the basis of what’s known as Buddha-nature factors, which we all have. This weekend we’ll speak in much more detail about them. So we are working with what these various factors that are part of our mental continuumcan evolve to, what they can become. And all these Buddha-figures that we are imagining now, which are representing the actual Buddha-figures that have not yet happened but which we can experience or manifest in – all of these things are within the realm of possibility of what can actually exist, what can come to be. Buddhas can manifest in an infinite number and variety of forms in order to help others. And a Buddha would only manifest in forms that are possible, that do exist. A Buddha can’t manifest in what’s given as the classic example of what doesn’t exist, which is the child of a barren woman – a woman who can’t have children – a natural child of such a woman.So all of these figures with all these arms and faces and legs, and so on, these are actual figures that our energy can be manifest in to benefit others as a skillful means. It’s a skillful means to have all these faces and arms and legs, because they all represent many different aspects of the spiritual path – of what we need to actually realize and attain. And imagining ourselves in these forms is a method for us to be able to more quickly integrate all of these aspects simultaneously, which we’ll need to be able to do if we want to become a Buddha. The point is not to be able to just imagine six arms or twenty-four arms or whatever, and all the things that they’re holding – that’s just a device to enable us to keep in mind (have mindfulness) of what they represent.So these things do exist. They do exist, in terms of our mental continuum can generate these things the way that a Buddha has – exist here means that it’s possible – and our energy can manifest in these forms. That’s something which is possible, according to the model of what Buddha did, and is doing, and will continue to do, as a skillful means for being able to help others.Now Buddha doesn’t manifest (and therefore our energy wouldn’t manifest) in something that is not possible to happen. So it’s not possible for our mental continuum to give rise to apresently-happening Napoleon or Cleopatra or Mickey Mouse. Napoleon and Cleopatra lived long ago. They’re no longer happening – presently-happening Napoleon and Cleopatra doesn’t exist – therefore, we cannot manifest into a presently-happening Napoleon or Cleopatra. Mickey Mouse never existed. There’s a cartoon – a figure or drawing – which represents Mickey Mouse, but an actual Mickey Mouse never existed; therefore, we cannot manifest as an actual presently-happening Mickey Mouse. Although we could manifest into a not-yet-happening Avalokiteshvara with four arms or a thousand arms.There’s a difference here between manifesting in something which could happen and manifesting in something which could never happen. Or even if we’re talking about a presently-happening Queen Elizabeth of England, who does exist, our mental continuum cannot give rise to a presently-happening Queen Elizabeth of England, can it? We don’t have the factors – we don’t have the potentials to be able to do that. Or, if we get a little bit more profound, our mental continuum cannot give rise to a truly existent “me” in the present form that I have either, because that doesn’t exist either, although there can be anappearance of it. But an actual truly existent “me” in this form doesn’t exist. It can’t happen.Do you see the difference? There’s an appearance in our imagination that represents something that can happen, and an appearance in our imagination we’re generating of something that could never happen. There’s a big difference. Although to explain it and describe it, we have to get a little bit technical, as I just did. Now let’s go a little bit more on a fundamental level, on a basis level, here, in terms of what is the background of visualizing ourselves as a Buddha-figure, and compare that to the background of someone imagining that they are Mickey Mouse or Napoleon or Cleopatra.

Refuge and Ethical Behavior

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First of all, a Dharma tantric practitioner – we’re talking about an authentic one, somebody who is doing it properly – is someone who, to use the terminology that I prefer, has a safe direction in life (that’s usually called refuge). So what does that mean? That means that they have a realistic  view of the four noble truths: They recognize what are true sufferings. They recognize the true causes of them. And they recognize that it is possible to attain a true stopping of these causes and the sufferings they bring about so they never recur again. And they recognize the true pathway minds – often just called the true path, but it’s an understanding that will bring about that truestopping and which will result from it.So the deepest Dharma refuge or Dharma Jewel are these true stoppings and true pathways of mind – the third and fourth noble truths. And the Buddhas are those in whose mental continuum these true stoppings and true pathway minds are present in full – all of them are there. And the Arya Sangha is the community of those in whom these true stoppings and true pathway minds exist in part – some of them are there, but not the full extent of them.So that means that a tantric practitioner, Buddhist tantric practitioner, has put a meaning – a direction – in their life. They recognize the various problems that they have, what the causes are, and they are practicing a method that will bring about the true stopping of these problems – of the causes of the problems and therefore the problems. And the tantric practitioner fully knows that there is a way out of suffering – so, very secure in what they’re doing – and they also realize that they’re not alone, that there are others: Buddhas, Arya Sangha, people who are also working in this, going in the same direction.And the first thing that one needs to do in order to go in that safe direction is refrain from  destructive behavior, since destructive behavior brings about unhappiness and the so-called suffering of suffering. So tantric practitioners practicing these visualizations and so on, within a framework of ethical behavior, seeing that the causes for all the suffering and problems that he or she has are internal, basically – internal in the sense of caused by theunawareness, the confusion, disturbing emotions, karma, etc., on their own mental continuum. And that’s what you have to work to get over; and it is possible to get rid of them forever.A disturbed person, on the other hand, usually looks for a scapegoat for his or her problems. They blame it all on the parents, on society, etc. (usually connected with paranoia). And they don’t recognize that what they do will affect their future, what they will experience; namely, their behavior. And if they think that they are Mickey Mouse or Napoleon or Cleopatra, it isn’t with the intention to use this as a framework for ethical behavior and to achieve liberation and enlightenment free from problems as a Mickey Mouse.

RenunciationThe next difference concerns what’s known as “renunciation.” Renunciation is the determination to be free from our problems and their causes, and entails being willing to give up the problems and causes of course. There are two divisions of this determination to be free: Determined to be free of problems is this lifetime, so we turn away from our compulsive involvement in things of this life. And determination to be free of all problems of all future lives (so, to gain liberation), and you turn away, then, from compulsive involvement with all things of samsara.Well, we might object and say, “Isn’t this escapism? Aren’t we escaping from reality by renouncing this life or the conditions of life in general?” But the answer to that is no. This is not escapism. With renunciation, we see ordinary life for what it is. It’s filled with frustration. We’re born, we get sick, we grow old, we die; we don’t get what we want; we meet with things that we don’t want to happen. Even when things are going well, we are never satisfied; we always want more. Things are changing all the time; it’s completely unstable. With this renunciation, we take all of these problems totally seriously, and we have this strong feeling of “I just have had enough. I don’t want to continue accepting these, taking these. I will seek a solution.” And because we have already, as our foundation, this safe direction in life, we are confident that there is a solution to experiencing all these problems – there is a way out; it is possible to get rid of them. So we turn away from just being totally involved with samsaric things of this life or future lives, and turn instead to this safe direction, working for these true stoppings, true pathways of mind, liberation, enlightenment as aconstructive way to face and solve our problems.

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Whereas a disturbed person imagining that they’re Mickey Mouse is just escaping from life. They are not facing their problems, but are rather escaping into another reality that is totally unrelated with their lives. A tantric visualization is a method to deal with our ordinary life in a creative and constructive fashion, whereas a disturbed person or a schizophrenic person doesn’t deal with it at all.

Transforming Our Self-ImageNow to visualize ourselves as this Buddha-figure, the point is to overcome our ordinary appearance and our grasping at ourselves to exist in an ordinary way. In another words, we have to give up our deluded self-image. Deluded self-image means of who we are, what we are, and that we truly exist that way: that it’s truly established that we exist in this impossible way. So we can have a self-image of being the eternal youth, always handsome, beautiful, strong, sexy – God’s gift to the world. Or we can have a negative one: we’re ugly, no good, unpopular, “Nobody loves me. I’m not good enough” – all these sorts of negative self-images. And we feel this is the way that we always are and will always be. And we act it out, we project it on ourselves, we project it to others, and we try to make it secure because we feel insecure about it and threatened.But we have to realize that this self-image is false. It’s deluded. We have no such thing as a  concrete, unchanging, independent self-identity or image. So there’s nothing that needs to be made secure; there’s nothing that we have to prove. That’s one of the most profound insights that we can have on our initial levels. There’s nothing to feel insecure about. I’ll repeat that: There’s nothing to feel insecure about. You don’t have to prove that I am worthy of your love or any of these sort of things; it will only bring about unhappiness and suffering. It’s like trying to prove that I’m Mickey Mouse. There’s no way that I can prove that I’m Mickey Mouse because there is no Mickey Mouse. So how can I prove it? And why should I feel insecure about being Mickey Mouse when there is no Mickey Mouse?So, similarly, trying to prove or make secure “me” who is ugly and “Nobody loves me. And I’m fat. But I want to be loved, so I have to prove that you should love me, prove that I’m loveable. And everybody must love me.” Well, not everybody loved Buddha, so what do I expect for myself? Buddha had enemies. His cousin was always jealous, trying to hurt Buddha. So why try to knock ourselves out to accomplish something that’s impossible?In any case, what we are doing is: Instead of this deluded type of self-image, we substitute. Instead of thinking of ourselves in terms of a negative self-image, we use a pure self-image. But this isn’t just the power of positive thinking. We’re using a positive self-image – in terms of these Buddha-figures – as a way to overcome our grasping at our ordinary self-image. So we understand the reality of what we’re doing. And we understand that we don’t exist in this way yet – we can, but not yet. So that means in order to practice tantra effectively, we have to have some understanding of what’s known as voidness. Many people translate that as emptiness. That means to understand reality, the true way in which we and all things exist.Voidness means an absence, an absence of a way of existing that is impossible; it doesn’t exist at all. That means a way of existing that is established on the side of the object; that’s impossible. There is something inside me that makes me a bad person, a no-good person – or a wonderful person – that establishes it truly, forever, independent of anything I might experience or do. That’s impossible. And voidness means that although we might feel that this is the way that we exist, it doesn’t refer to anythingreal, like Mickey Mouse doesn’t refer to anything real.So we differentiate between what’s known as the false “me” and the conventional “me.” Conventional “me,” I do exist, but I don’t exist in the manner of a false “me.” If we look for “me,” we try to find “me,” whether we are analyzing on the deepest level or on a conventional level, you can never pinpoint and find there’s “me” – up my nose, or somewhere in my mind, or something like that. You can’t find “me.” Nevertheless, when we’re not analyzing, then, “Here I am. I’m sitting here. I’m talking to you.” It’s neither of the two extremes: It’s not that nobody is talking to you, or a solidly existing “me” sitting somewhere inside my head is talking to you.So what would establish that there’s “me”? Nothing findable inside my mind, inside my body. Is it in this cell? That atom? There’s nothing findable. But we have the word “me,” we have the concept “me,” and it refers to something, something that is functioning – I’m sitting, I’m talking – and that’s the only thing that can establish

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the conventional existence of “me,” that it is the referent object of a word or concept. In Buddhist jargon, that means that the “me” is established merely by mental labeling. But that’s jargon; not so easy to understand just from the words themselves.“Me,” though, is labeled on a continuum – conventional “me” – a continuum of moment after moment of experience that is connected by some sort of causal process. So we can label “me” on what we’re experiencing right now. We can label “me” on what was experienced when I was a baby. We can label “me” on what – if we live long enough – we’ll experience in our old age. And of course I’m changing all the time – I’m not the same as I was when I was a baby – but there’s a continuum. And based on the various potentials that are built up on the mental continuum, that will determine what I experience in the future. And if we look at the factors known as Buddha-nature, then in the future it’s quite possible that I can experience – I mean, it is possible, if all the causes are there – to experience being a Buddha. So with tantra we’re imagining that I am already a Buddha; so we’re labeling “me” on something in our imagination that represents the not-yet-happening Buddha that I will become. We realize that we aren’t that deity or Buddha-figure now, but by practicing like this, that will act as a cause for actually becoming a presently-happening Buddha in this form.Now a crazy person doesn’t have that at all. A deluded person doesn’t have that at all. A deluded person really thinks that they are Mickey Mouse, or that they are Napoleon or Cleopatra, or that they actually are Tara, or they actually are Buddha – or Jesus Christ, for that matter. We can be completely deluded, thinking that we are a solidly existent – “I’m really a deity now. I’m really a Buddha now.” That’s completely crazy. The more ridiculous level, that “I can walk through a wall” – and so you just smash into a wall. Obviously you can’t walk through a wall. So knowing the reality of what’s going on is very, very crucial in tantra practice. Otherwise, we are completely deluded and can become quite crazy.So by changing from a negative self-image to a positive self-image, we’re doing this on the basis of understanding the reality of self-images. And instead of a negative self-image of what I am or what my characteristics are – for instance that I’m stupid, I can never understand anything, or I can’t really relate to people – we have a positive one: I can understand. I have clarity of mind. I am filled with compassion. And we’re doing this as a method for being able to help us to develop these qualities, knowing full well that we’re not there yet, and knowing full well that we have to build up the causes for being able to really have these qualities in full. And that’s what we’re doing with this practice, is building up those causes.A deluded person doesn’t have any of that.

Cultivating the Dignity of Being a Buddha-FigureAlso, when we hold what’s known as the dignity of the deity or the pride of the deity, we’re not talking about pride or arrogance in a deluded sense. It just means to really feel that we are like this.Question: We are feeling we are actually a Buddha, right?Alex: I’ll say this perhaps, hopefully, a little bit more clearly. We imagine that we are, let’s say, Avalokiteshvara (Chenrezig in Tibetan), and we feel, “This is what I am. This is who I am,” although we know we’re not there yet. But, as a method, we are imagining that we are there already, and we have the pride of this – the dignity of this. In other words, we are labeling “me” on this, what we’re visualizing or we’re imagining. And we’re not just imagining what we look like. We are imagining that we have all the qualities of Avalokiteshvara – infinite compassion for everybody equally.This is a wonderful method because, by having the dignity of this – I prefer to translate pride as dignity – it prevents me from acting like an idiot or acting in a cruel way. How could Chenrezig not want to help this person? How could Chenrezig be too tired, too busy? “I can’t be bothered to help you.” Right? If we have our ordinary self-image or deluded self-image: “Waah, I can’t do anything. I’m incapable,” etc., so we don’t even try. “But no, that’s not what I am. I’m Chenrezig. And even if I can’t really help you, and I don’t really know how to help you, I would love to be able to help you. And I have compassion for you, wish for you to be free of your suffering and

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the causes of it.” So that dignity of being Chenrezig prevents me from being cold-hearted and closed. A very wonderful method.A deluded person has none of that.

Our Appearance as a Buddha-Figure Is Like an IllusionAlso, in terms of our understanding of voidness: although things appear to be truly established to our ordinary mind – or, more precisely, to our unenlightened mind – nevertheless, that appearance is just like an illusion. The word like here is very important. It implies things don’t really exist in the way that they appear, like an illusion appears real but it’s not referring to anything real. So even this appearance of ourselves as a Buddha-figure, while we are not enlightened yet, is like an illusion. We understand that. A disturbed person, a schizophrenic person, actually believes the illusion; they don’t recognize that things are like an illusion. So this is very different.Also, it’s very important when we are imagining everything around us to be pure, everybody is a deity, a Buddha-figure, and this is a pure land, a mandala, and all of that – at our level, to our eye consciousness, the ordinary appearance appears; to ourmental consciousness, we understand it in terms of the appearance of a mandala, a pure land, and so on. So, in a sense, we are experiencing two levels of appearance. It’s not that we are so totally dissociated from normal reality (what appears to be normal reality) around us that we can’t function. Whereas a disturbed person, a schizophrenic person, has no idea of that; they really think that things are like in their illusion.

MotivationAnother important difference here is the motivation. In tantra practice, our motivation is bodhichitta. We are aiming for enlightenment, for our own future enlightenment which has not yet happened. And this Buddha-figure that we are imagining ourselves to be represents that goal, that aim. And what we imagine that we’re doing is helping everybody. So imagining ourselves as this deity, as this Buddha-figure, all the time – or as often as we can – helps us to keep focused with bodhichitta on what we’re aiming for, which is enlightenment. The whole purpose of visualizing ourselves like this is to be able to benefit others as much as possible – it’s bodhichitta – so that helps us to overcome our self-preoccupation and our selfishness. Whereas a schizophrenic fantasy, on the other [hand], is even more self-preoccupied, just caught in their own little world, and is not done at all in order to attain enlightenment and help others.

Preliminary PracticesAnother difference has to do with preliminaries. A tantric practitioner usually engages in preliminary practices to purify themselves of obstacles and past karmic negative potentials, and so on, and to build up positive force which will ensure success in the practice. And so there’s a lot of purification practices done as preliminary: prostration, Vajrasattva meditation (which again implies acknowledging our faults, our mistakes; making a strongresolution to not repeat them, based on regret; doing some reaffirming of our direction in life; bodhichitta; and doing something as an opponent), and building up a lot of positive force by mandala offering, getting inspiration from our spiritual teacher with guru-yoga. So we’re very well prepared to do this visualization.A schizophrenic person or disturbed person does no preparation for imagining themselves to be Mickey Mouse or Napoleon.

Empowerment or InitiationNext point. With deity yoga – we do this on the basis of receiving an empowerment; it’s often called “initiation.” This links us to a lineage of thousands of years of practice of other people who have done the same thing. It gives us security and assurance that this is a time-tested method that has worked – we aren’t just inventing it – so we don’t feel crazy doing this. We have permission to do this. And the beginning of doing it becomes a special spiritual event.A schizophrenic person or a deluded person lacks this completely, so they feel all alone.

Relation with the Spiritual Teacher

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The whole practice of deity yoga is done under the guidance and the supervision of a guru or a spiritual master, so there’s no uncertainty about it. It’s like following a doctor’s prescription. And the teacher can answer all your questions. And the teacher serves as a living example of what we’re aiming to become.And a crazy person, a schizophrenic person, even if they go to Disneyland and ask a worker there who’s dressed in a Mickey Mouse costume to give them permission to wear the Mickey Mouse costume themselves and be Mickey Mouse… Come on, that’s crazy! That’s not the same. Because they don’t realize that it’s just wearing a costume of Mickey Mouse, do they? They think, “Really this is Mickey Mouse: they’re in Disneyland. And now I will be Mickey Mouse.” I mean, this is completely crazy.

Vows and CommitmentsNext. At the empowerment, we take various sets of vows concerning our ethical behavior – especially bodhichitta vows to help others – and we take the commitment to do this visualization practice daily for the rest of our lives. So it’s done with a process of discipline and strong commitment, taking the whole thing very seriously, and done with strong conscious effort. Whereas a schizophrenic or deluded person is completely unconscious of what they’re really doing.

SecrecyA tantric practitioner keeps secrecy about their practice. It’s a private affair, so they don’t make a big deal about it and advertise it to everybody. Whereas a schizophrenic often will boast, be arrogant about what they’re doing, make a public display of their fantasy.I remember there was one lady in India, Dharamsala, who was completely disturbed and she thought that she was Tara – and she took off all her clothes and was running around the streets screaming that she’s Tara. This is not what we do with proper tantra practice.

SummarySo this deity yoga, then, is done within a very large wide framework of:

Wanting to get out of our problems. Putting a safe direction in our life as a way to get over these problems. Following cause and effect in terms of how we approach getting rid of these problems and their causes. We renounce our ordinary deluded self-image; we use a pure one to be able to help others and keep our focus on

enlightenment. We understand that it’s not real, that it’s like an illusion; but it’s valid, since we can attain this in the future. We have authorization and empowerment to do it, based on having prepared for this with preliminary practices. We have guidance from a qualified spiritual master who is also doing this type of practice, who has experience. We are linked to a whole long lineage of people who have done this successfully and attained enlightenment

through it, so we have confidence in what we’re doing. We’re keeping the discipline of vowed commitments and various vows that we take in terms of our ethical

behavior. And we’re keeping our practice private and being humble about it.

A schizophrenic or deluded person imagining that they are Mickey Mouse or Napoleon or Cleopatra lacks all of that.So that is the presentation, then, of what is the difference between imagining ourselves as a Buddha-figure within the context of proper tantra practice and a schizophrenic or deluded or crazy person imagining that they are Mickey Mouse.So if it happens further down the line in our tantra practice that we start to question, “What in the world am I doing? This is crazy,” we have to go through the whole checklist of “What are the factors that I am missing or have become weak in?” and restrengthen them. So, for emphasis, let me go through the list again:

Safe and sound direction (refuge). Cause and effect.

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Determination to be free from our suffering. We’re opening out our heart to everybody – bodhichitta – wanting to help everybody through these methods. Understanding of voidness, in terms of the reality of what I’m doing. Preliminaries as a basis: purification and building up positive force. Empowerment: a link to a lineage. Guidance of a qualified spiritual master. Keeping my vows and discipline and commitments. And keeping all of this private. And working with this positive self-image as a means for attaining Buddhahood, with all these arms and legs and

so on representing various realizations on the path. And so that is the main thing that I need to incorporate into my mental continuum – what they represent. That is why these various bodies of these deities are referred to as method. They are a method side, for not just attaining the body of a Buddha, but a method for attaining all the various things that they represent – the various arms and faces and so on.

To summarize it all up: This deity yoga is a method for attaining enlightenment. And we have to understand that it is possible to attain enlightenment – “I am capable of it” – and although I’m not there yet, I’m imagining that I am, as a method for being able to attain it more quickly, knowing full well the reality of what I’m doing. This is very important, all these points. Otherwise, instead of being a crazy person imagining that they are Mickey Mouse, we are a crazy person imagining that we are Chenrezig or Tara. And rather than deity yoga being a path to enlightenment, it’s a path to insanity. When it is stated in all the texts that tantra practice is dangerous, there’s a reason for that. The point is that it has to be practiced within the context of all these variables that we’ve been discussing. Otherwise, you can really go astray. And for this, we need the guidance of the spiritual master to help us to avoid going astray and stay on the correct path and inspire us.Thank you.

Questions and AnswersSo I suppose we have a little bit of time – a few minutes? – for some short questions. The problem is short answers.Question: You said something about a lady in Dharamsala, and she was imagining that she was Tara and she was running around naked in the streets. How do we actually know that she wasn’t Tara?Alex: She’s asking about the lady who took off all her clothes and ran around the streets screaming that she was Tara. How do we know that she wasn’t actually Tara? One would know by her actions, by her behavior. If she were Tara, she wouldn’t take off all her clothes and run around the streets screaming that she was Tara. She would actually be working to benefit others.Question: Can we say that, on the ultimate level or deepest level, these Avalokiteshvara, Tara, and other deities – they exist? And, for instance, that Chenrezig is the manifestation of our compassion, our love, and Vajrasattva is the manifestation of our purity, and wrathful deities are manifestations of our anger or other emotions? So they are like beings or energies that actually exist on their own? Or are they more like creations of our mind, or images and symbols?Alex: That’s a very complex question. First of all, there can be actual beings – according to tradition, Tara was an actual being, Avalokiteshvara was an actual being – with their own mental continuums. So there can be various yidams (these Buddha-figures) that were actual living beings. A Buddha can of course manifest in all forms, so a Buddha can also manifest in the form of another being – a Tara or an Avalokiteshvara. So that’s one type of deity. There are other deities, who would not necessary have their own individual mental continuum, but a Buddha can manifest in such a form. Like Kalachakra. Buddha taught it; he manifested in the form of Kalachakra. I’ve never heard of any account of Kalachakra having actually been an individual sentient being. So that’s from the side of a Buddha.

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Now when we speak from our side, as a practitioner: Inanuttarayoga tantra, the highest class of tantra, we’re speaking about the subtlest level of mind and energy. And that subtlest energy can of course be shaped to appear in any form, just as is the case of a Buddha. Because when a Buddha has all of these different forms – is manifesting in all these forms – it’s also out of the Buddha’s subtlest energy. But now, on our level of practice, we’re not able to actually have our subtlest energy manifest in this form. And even on very, very advanced levels, when you actually have an actual illusory body, it’s called, where you can manifest, you can’t maintain that manifestation in these forms all the time. But now when we visualize these forms, on our beginning levels, it’s a representation of what we have not yet attained, what has not yet happened.Now the interesting question is: Are these just imagination? What does it actually mean that they are just imagination? If you’re familiar with tantra practice: We have within a sadhana – a sadhana is a method for actualizing ourselves as a Buddha-figure, it’s our usual practice – we imagine ourselves in what is called the close-bonding figure (dam-tshig sems-pa) (that’s sometimes translated as a commitment being), and a close-bonding mandala around us, or a commitment-being mandala, and then we call forth what I call the  deep awareness being (ye-shes sems-pa), the deep awareness aspect (sometimes called thewisdom being), to merge with it.So I always thought, and I think many people think this way, that the so-called close-bonding form – it’s called close-bonding because this is what you make a close bond with in order to actually achieve or attain this form – I always thought that this was purely imaginary, and that the deep awareness ones were the real ones coming from the Buddha-fields. But my teacher Serkong Rinpoche said that that was not correct. He said that at a certain stage of practice…And I must confess I don’t remember which stage it was, and he would really scold me for not remembering. He told me this maybe thirty years ago and I don’t remember. He was like that. I remember once I asked him – I was his translator – and I asked him “What does this word mean?” And he scolded me, and he said, “I explained to you that word seven years ago. I remember. Why don’t you?”Anyway, I think it’s on one of the stages of the second of the paths, the so-called path of application, applying mind, or preparation path. And he said at that point, you can actually receive teachings from a painting, from a statue, from these close-bonding beings, from the deep awareness beings. So it’s not just your imagination, in the sense that it can’t function as an actual Buddha. And also the other aspect: the close-bonding figure is the external figure; the deep awareness one is the one inside, in the heart, and so on. So there are so many levels of this. So eventually we can receive teachings from all of them.So if you ask the question, “Are they just purely imaginary? Are they real? What do you mean by real?” this become very complicated, doesn’t it? It’s like the statues and the thangkas; they have to have what’s known as a rabney (rab-gnas) in Tibetan, sometimes translated as consecration, in which the deep awareness aspect is brought and merged with them. And so prostrating to them and making offerings to them is the same as prostrating and making offerings to the actual Buddha. Shantideva said this in Bodhicharyavatara – that you build up as much positive force to a stupa of a Buddha as to the actual Buddha. Is this idol worship? Not really, not really. One has to understand that one can receive teachings from anything – from the wind and so on – when you are at a very advanced level. But very advanced, not our ordinary level.So, from one point of view, these various deities are representing what has not yet happened but which can happen. On another level, they are a different level at which our energy can vibrate, specifically our subtlest energy. On another level, we are imagining it. But, on yet another level, at a certain stage, you can even receive teachings from them, the same as you would from a Buddha. And some of them are based on an actual living being with their own mental continuum, and some are not.Question: So that means that it doesn’t have a mind-stream?Alex: If a Buddha manifests as Kalachakra, it doesn’t mean that Kalachakra had its own individual mental continuum. If a Buddha manifests as Tara, that doesn’t contradict the fact that Tara had her own mental

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continuum. A Buddha can appear as a bridge, so why can’t a Buddha appear as a Tara? That doesn’t mean that the Buddha’s mental continuum becomes Tara’s mental continuum. Think about that.So that’s a good place to end for this evening, with everybody silenced by that question. So we think whatever understanding, whatever positive force has come from this, may it go deeper and deeper and act as a cause for reaching enlightenment for the benefit of all.Question: Is it all right to visualize that we are in the form of a Buddha-figure that’s more familiar to us, like Jesus or Mary, rather than in the form of these traditional Indian Buddha-figures that are hard to relate to?Alex: In general, this is not a good idea, because it is quite disrespectful to the other religions, like for instance, here, Christianity. Even if we keep this private to ourselves and don’t tell this to any Christians, it is still being disrespectful to Christianity. It’s almost as if we are converting Jesus and Mary into Buddhists. Now this doesn’t preclude having Jesus and Mary visualized in front of us and being inspired by their good qualities, and even imagining waves of inspiration in the form of colored lights coming from them and inspiring us to develop their qualities. But what would be inappropriate and disrespectful would be to visualize ourselves as Jesus or Mary.I mentioned in my lecture that there are certain types of Buddha-figures that Buddha manifested in which had their own individual mental continuum (like Tara and Avalokiteshvara) and others that did not have their own individual mental continuum (like Kalachakra). And, similarly, Mickey Mouse does not have his own individual mental continuum. In fact he was not even a limited being, a regular being – living being. And so the question is: Couldn’t Buddha manifest as Mickey Mouse? What’s the difference between Buddha manifesting as Kalachakra and as Mickey Mouse, if both of them did not have their own individual mental continuums?Well, this is also a rather complex question. Kalachakra was manifested by Buddha as a skillful method in order to help others, to help them to attain enlightenment. And so all the various arms and faces, etc., represent the various aspects of what we’re purifying, and the path that purifies them, etc., and the resultant level that is attained.Then another aspect is that at various times over history when various forms of these Buddha-figures have become too popularized, and so, in a sense, have become a little bit stale – that people practicing it has become a little bit stale because it’s too popularized – then a Buddha has manifested to various highly realized masters in pure visions in different forms of the classic Buddhist deities or Buddha-figures.So Mickey Mouse is a little bit difficult an example; let’s use the example of Snow White. If somebody claimed that they had a vision of Snow White with the seven dwarfs around her and now was teaching the Snow White Tantra, people might think that that’s really crazy.Now the test, of course, of a valid teaching from a pure vision is that fully qualified yogis put it into practice, if in fact the practice is based on the general Buddhist principles, and particularly inMahayana and the tantra principles, and they achieve the stated results that one would attain from such a practice; in other words, they attain enlightenment. So if we put these points together, about pure visions of new forms of the standard deities, and then fitting into standard Buddhist practices, standard themes of Buddhism, and they produce their results, and the fact that these various Buddha-figures have all these different aspects that represent different aspects of the path (basis, path, and result), then…For example, Tara has manifested in at least twenty-one forms, the Twenty-One Taras, and there are other forms of Tara as well as these twenty-one. Then it is possible that somebody could have a pure vision of Tara manifesting in the form of Snow White in a mandala with the seven dwarfs around her. And the seven dwarfs represent the seven jewels of the aryas, for example, the seven qualities of an arya mind. And the white color of Snow White represents purification. So all of these things are within the realm of possibility of what would be consistent with the Buddhist tradition, but it’s a bit far-fetched. And there would have to be a pretty good reason for there to be such a manifestation of Tara as Snow White. There would have to be a really good reason, a necessity for that.

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So these are my thoughts in terms of could Buddha manifest as Mickey Mouse, as Snow White, or whatever. And it doesn’t have the same disrespect as a Buddha manifesting as Jesus or Mary. But please bear in mind that I’m only answering in this way based on just analyzing with logic. It’s not that I’m recommending this, or predicting this, or thinking that this would ever be beneficial to happen – that Buddha would manifest a different form of Tara in the aspect of Snow White. But, just for fun, we can analyze in this way.

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